Chapter 1

Endings and Beginnings

Kakashi Hatake stood with his back pressed against a large rock wall. The sweat was rolling down his neck, along with more than a bit of his own blood. His breathing was far more labored than he was willing to admit, and his muscles burned from overuse. Still, considering he'd been officially dead less than four months earlier, thanks to his run-in with Pein, he couldn't help but be happy he'd lasted this long against the likes of Madara Uchiha.

All around him were the handful of Konoha shinobi and their allies who had joined him in what was supposed to be the final battle of this long and drawn out war. That they had managed to stay alive this long was a testament to all of their abilities, and Kakashi was determined to find some way to keep them from joining the dozens of other names that would need to be carved into the Memorial Stone once this battle was finished. The problem was, he had absolutely no idea how he might manage it. It wasn't like he'd be able to convince Madara to call a truce, and quite honestly, even if the Uchiha did agree, Kakashi knew that the man's promise meant nothing.

Still, one quick look at the haggard faces of those remaining made it clear he needed to do something soon, or they'd all be dead. Many of those with him were no strangers to the inherent risks of war. In fact, more than a few of them had been Kakashi's enemy during the Third Great Shinobi War. But there were still more that had grown up in the relative peace that had existed after that war, and although Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to keep all of this new generation safe, he'd do his best to at least keep those in his own troop alive...even at the cost of his own life.

At the moment, Lee was doing his best to keep Madara's remaining lackeys from getting too close to where an obviously exhausted Sakura was trying to keep Gai from bleeding out. Her pink hair was dyed red in more than one place, and Kakashi pushed down the sudden urge to verify whether it was her own blood or that of her enemy. Of course, he was also struggling with a similar fear for his long-time friend who was lying motionless under his former student's skilled hands. He couldn't imagine a Konoha without the boisterous 'Green Beast' shouting in its streets about the 'Joys of Youth' or whatever ridiculous challenge was next on his long list.

Kakashi forced himself to stop that line of thought and turned his attention to the man who was propped against the rock wall next to him. It had been a stroke of luck that he and his troop had stumbled across where Tenzou was being used to help create Madara's half man-half plant army, and the liberation of his one-time underling was the main reason his group had caught the attention of Madara in the first place. But now, by the glazed look in Tenzou's eyes, and the blood flowing freely down his forehead, it was clear to Kakashi that his friend would not be able to lend any aid in these final moments.

Kakashi's attention shifted to where Madara was lowering Sasuke Uchiha's lifeless body to the ground. The gaping hole in the youngest Uchiha's chest lay testament to the fact that it had been Kakashi who had snuffed out the light in those stolen eyes. Taking Sasuke's life had been one of the most difficult decisions Kakashi had ever made...especially with Sakura there to witness her one-time teammate's final moments. But he couldn't justify letting the young man live after Madara had made it clear that he and the only other remaining Uchiha were focused on nothing less than wiping out everything Kakashi had fought his entire life to protect.

And so he had worked his way through the deadly ranks of Madara's army until he'd found the raven-haired Sasuke about to run his lightning-enhanced blade through the body of one of Konoha's allies. Kakashi had pushed all his personal feelings deep within him and focused only on one thing – pushing his hand through his enemy's chest and destroying Madara Uchiha's bid to take over the Five Great Countries.

Still, when he'd actually managed to hit his mark and he had felt the knuckles of his right hand scrape against Sasuke's shattered ribs on their way toward the heart they'd protected, Kakashi was hit with the memories of the countless hours he'd spent teaching the boy so many things. But he'd pushed those thoughts down with a low growl and finished the task he'd assigned to himself, in truth, the moment it had become clear Sasuke would never return to Konoha.

A stunned silence, as thick and smothering as a blanket, had settled on the battlefield at the soft gasp that had left Sasuke's lips when Kakashi pulled his arm back out of the young man's chest. It had been followed almost immediately by the enraged cry of Madara as the man had watched his legacy slowly sink to its knees and begin to topple to the side. While Kakashi retrieved his comrade and jumped back to where the others were, Madara had appeared at Sasuke's side and caught the falling body with great care.

The short respite that was caused while Madara muttered quietly and ran his gloved hands through Sasuke's dark hair was all Kakashi had to formulate some sort of plan. And now that Madara was finished with whatever final words he'd whispered to his dead relative, it was clear Kakashi's time was indeed up. No one present could deny the wave of intense rage that surged from the last Uchiha, just as no one could miss the fact that it was focused entirely on Kakashi Hatake.

With a tired sigh, Kakashi recognized he only had one shot at what he hoped would be enough to end this battle once and for all. He'd have to time this just right if there'd be any hope of keeping those around him safe, and for just that reason, he pushed himself away from the rock wall and started to close the distance between himself and Madara. While he moved, he fed his waning chakra into his sharingan eye to ready himself for this final act. Meanwhile, he could sense Madara was already regaining his focus and was preparing to match Kakashi move for move.

Sakura looked up from where Gai-sensei was finally stabilized to see her former sensei calmly heading toward where Madara was seeping the most deadly killing-intent she had ever witnessed. A quick glance around her showed every eye on the battlefield was trained on what was unfolding. The two men truly showed those watching just what it meant to be an elite shinobi, as their moves blended together into a deadly ballet. Blows were thrown and blocked with a look of ease that was as far off the mark as it could be. Sakura could see it in each man's steps that, in reality, Kakashi and Madara were becoming hard-pressed to keep the flow from faltering, and at nearly the exact same moment, the two pushed apart. In less than a second, they each unleashed what was surely meant to be the final blow against their opponent.

Sakura felt her heart clench when she saw her sensei's sharingan eye morph into the tell-tale pinwheel design that she knew meant he'd activated his Mangekyo dojutsu. While a glance at Madara's red and black eye confirmed what she'd already feared – that the man had triggered his own dojutsu as well. What happened next would be something that Sakura doubted she'd ever be able to come to terms with. Each man's body became rigid a moment before the air around them started to twirl in on itself. In less than a minute, there was a strange sensation of the air around them being pushed and pulled all in the same instant. A moment later and there was a blinding blue-white light that swelled out in a sphere around where Kakashi-sensei and Madara were still standing. The air around her felt thick in her lungs, and just when she felt she'd pass out from the lack of oxygen, the sphere of light disappeared and the air instantly cleared.

Sakura stared at the area where there was now a good-sized crater still sparking with that strange blue-white energy. Nothing was left to show that Madara Uchiha had been there, or the lifeless body of Sasuke. But what Sakura chose to focus on in a moment of pure grief was the fact that there was no sign of her sensei, either. Kakashi Hatake had made the ultimate sacrifice for Konoha and the Alliance and had taken out the leader of the enemy force by offering up his own life.

A sob crept up her throat, but Sakura bit back on the urge to break down in tears, and she channeled her grief into something that her former sensei would have surely appreciated. Sakura clenched her fists and threw herself into the battlefield, choosing to vent her frustration and grief by ridding the world of every last one of the enemy that was foolish enough to get anywhere near her or her comrades. By the end of the battle, the Alliance had proven the victors, but not a single cheer went up as they all realized the tremendous loss they had been witness to that day. Sakura hung her head and offered up a small prayer that her sensei might at last find peace in the afterlife.

The far too familiar sound and flash of a Zat-gun was Daniel's first hint that the mission had gone terribly wrong. That, and the fact that he'd just finished translating a series of hieroglyphs that made it crystal clear that Star Gate Command never should have set foot on this planet to start with. When the initial video feed came back, and Daniel had mentioned that the carvings reminded him of some he'd discovered back on Abydos that had marked out a breeding ground for Goa'uld parasites, he'd been ignored outright. Of course that may have had something to do with the fact the M.A.L.P.'s readings went off the scale for the potential presence of naqahdah. Needless to say, the mission was given a go. Daniel had tried to stress his uneasiness about the carvings as they met in the embarkation room, but he'd been overruled by the commanding officer of SG-4...who went out of her way to remind Daniel that he could always skip the off-world mission if he wanted.

Right at the moment, Daniel really wished he hadn't turned down Jack's offer to spend a week at the lake to fish after all. Because then, instead of witnessing the sergeant who'd been assigned to watch over him fall to the ground after being Zatted – twice, he'd be sitting on Jack's well-worn couch, with a cold beer in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other, arguing over something ridiculous like how many times Teal'c had ever cracked a joke.

But no, Daniel just had to decide he wanted some extra off-world experience to bring him back up to par with the rest of SG-1 since his appendix mishap. Thinking back, he really should have taken it as one giant cosmic hint when his backpack strap ripped loose in the Embarkation Room. Or maybe when they'd discovered the fresh corpse a few hundred feet away from the Star-Gate. But every effort the Powers-That-Be used to get through his thick skull had been dutifully ignored, and now he was trying to dodge out of the way of incoming shots from Zats and the occasional staff-weapon blast – a task made all the more difficult with the approaching darkness of night.

A sharp curse from to his left caught his attention, and when Daniel gazed toward where he'd heard the sound he almost wished he hadn't. In the glow of the camp lanterns which were scattered around the perimeter, the Major who was in charge of this little trip was kneeling on the ground, holding her hands against the massive injury that could only have been made by a staff-weapon. The woman's green eyes were wide with a mix of disbelief and pain, and when a second blast came, she wasn't even aware enough to dodge it. Daniel screamed out when the blast of energy erased half her face, knocking her backward and onto the ground.

That scream alerted the remaining enemy Jaffa of his presence, and Daniel tried his best to prepare himself for the death blow that was sure to come next. For one brief moment, he actually found peace in the thought of death, as it meant he might be reunited with his wife Sha're at last. But that moment was swiftly pushed aside when he heard one of the Jaffa shouting orders to those around him.

"Jaffa! Kree! Daniel Jackson must not be severely damaged."

A small part of his mind was happy at that thought, but a larger part knew that if the Jaffa caught him it would likely lead to meeting up with yet another power-hungry, egomaniac of a Goa'uld who would be Hell-bent on trying to wrest information out of him about one thing or another. Which was most definitely something he wanted to avoid at all costs. But, as a group of four Jaffa started to close in with their Zat-guns pointed straight at him, Daniel could already tell he wouldn't stand a chance against them. And, as two more Jaffa joined the group dragging the struggling form of Lt. Anderson between them, he knew that the fight was over.

Daniel could almost feel the fear rolling off Anderson. The poor kid was brand new to the SGC, and this was his very first mission off-world. This was only supposed to be the initial research leg of the mission. It was almost never considered to be dangerous...especially when the team was ordered to check in with the SGC every hour.

Daniel tried to remind himself that these kind of things could happen to anyone, on any of the various off-world missions, but somehow that thought didn't exactly make him feel any better at the moment. Especially when Anderson was thrown onto the ground directly in front of him. The young man had tears in his dark brown eyes, and it looked like he'd been on the receiving end of at least one Jaffa's gloved fist, based on the bruises that were already beginning to color along his cheek and jaw.

"The boy will live if you do not resist us, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel sighed. Just once he wanted the whole life and death card to be placed with someone else. But, as usual, he'd been dealt the crap hand, and now Lt. Anderson's life was what was at stake. He lowered his head in defeat.

"Fine."

The next thing he knew, Daniel was being pulled to his feet, and his radio and handgun were confiscated. Whoever these Jaffa were loyal to, they had obviously learned from other Goa'uld's mistakes. His arms were placed into thick iron cuffs, and a quick turn of his head made it clear the young Lieutenant was being treated in a similar fashion. A moment later and the two of them were being marched back in the direction of the Dial Home Device and the Star-Gate. All Daniel could hope for was that General Hammond would send a search team after him once SG-4's scheduled contact time came and went without word from them. But they weren't supposed to reach out to the SGC for another forty minutes, and as Daniel knew – better than most – forty minutes could likely put him worlds away with no sign left behind.

It was while Daniel was running these thoughts through his mind that he heard a scuffle behind him. He turned his head to see what was happening, just in time to see Lieutenant Anderson's bid for freedom. The young soldier had somehow managed to break free of his Jaffa guard and was running off the path and toward the ruins leading away from the gate. For a brief moment, Daniel thought the kid might make it. But when the sound of a staff-blast discharging was swiftly followed by an ear-shattering scream, and then silence, Daniel knew the young man's bid for freedom was over.

Daniel's pulse raced, and his heart clenched painfully, at the thought of another member of SG-4 lying dead on this planet. He only hoped that General Hammond would send the recovery team soon so that Anderson, and the others, might be returned to the SGC in one piece before the indigenous wildlife of the planet found them.

The jab against his back by the business end of a staff weapon was enough to remind Daniel that this adventure was far from over. He moved forward with the clear understanding that these particular Jaffa had no problem shooting first and asking questions later, and he doubted that he'd be completely immune to any number of injuries if he didn't do precisely what they wanted from this point forward. After all, their bargaining chip for his cooperation was dead, and that only left the promise of pain and injury to keep him in check. And personally, Daniel had really had enough of those options in his life, so he continued to move back toward the DHD, hopeful that he'd discover some way to at least let the SG teams that he knew would follow know where he was being taken. Of course, this all depended on whatever Goa'uld he was brought before not wanting to kill him on sight. Somehow, that thought did nothing to boost Daniel's morale.

Kakashi had known there was a high risk of being caught within Madara's sharingan technique when his last minute plan was hatched. He'd known there was also an equal chance he'd wind up dead for his efforts. But death had never particularly scared him, and since he'd actually already experienced the first stages of death such a short time ago, he already knew what to expect.

What he was experiencing at the moment, however, was nothing at all like what he'd gone through the last time he'd used his sharingan in such a manner. No, instead of the sensation of floating through to the afterlife, at the moment Kakashi was being tossed about violently within what could only be described as a tunnel of blue-white energy. His sense of direction was of no use to him as he was tumbled like a pebble in a fast-flowing river. He was bounced off the wall for at least the twentieth time since this bizarre ride had started, and he had come to the conclusion that if this did end with him in the afterlife again, he doubted it would be as pleasant as it was the last time.

Just when he was starting to think that perhaps he'd spend all of eternity being tossed about like this, he heard a loud whooshing sound and felt his body being propelled out of the tunnel of light head over heels. He tried to twist his body around to limit any damage when, and if, he managed to hit the ground, but there was still the unnerving sound of his right shoulder wrenching out of its socket when the hard ground seemed to rise up to meet him. A shock of pain surged through his body and caused his breath to catch in his throat, but that breath was knocked loose again when felt the forward momentum of his body halted by a solid object. Unfortunately, the happy fact he had stopped sliding across the ground was somewhat lessened when he felt, and heard, his ribs cracking against the immovable object he'd landed against.

Kakashi pushed aside his discomfort and went about cataloging everything he could about wherever it was that he'd currently found himself. He hadn't experienced any pain at all when he'd died the last time, so the fact that he was in such excruciating agony was his first clue that perhaps he'd escaped death's clutches once more. Of course, that left him with the problem that he had absolutely no idea where he had landed. At the moment there was an eerie blue-white light casting his immediate area into a disturbing series of shadows. He tipped his head up toward where that light was coming from, and saw a shimmering pool of liquid held within a stone ring that had symbols carved into its circumference. Kakashi had never seen such a jutsu before, and if he had the slightest amount of chakra left, he would have been sorely tempted to open his sharingan and analyze it. But as it turned out, even if he'd had the chakra, there simply wasn't enough time. A moment after Kakashi had taken in the silent beauty of that ring of liquid, it had simply disappeared, casting the area around him into a thick darkness, which was a bit disconcerting considering it had been noon when he'd left the battlefield behind.

Thoughts of the battlefield led Kakashi to spare a moment to worry for his friends and comrades. When he'd left them, Gai's life was hanging in the balance and there were still far too many of Madara's half plant creations wandering around for his liking. Still, he knew those left behind were more than capable of taking care of themselves now that he'd managed to take Madara out of the equation. And that was indeed one thing that he was sure of at the moment...Madara Uchiha had been caught up in Kakashi's Mangekyo technique moments before he'd found himself pulled into whatever the hell it was that had delivered him to this very spot.

Now all he had to do was figure out where he was in relation to Konoha, and find some way to get back home, preferably before they took it upon themselves to add his name to the memorial stone. That thought firmly in mind, Kakashi took as deep a breath as his broken ribs would allow him. After all, he knew that each country carried its own unique scents, and identifying those scents would be the first step in finding his way home.

Kakashi frowned. "This can't be right."

He yanked his nose free of his trademark mask and took another, deeper breath of his surroundings, cringing at the pain that coursed through his ribcage. His frown deepened. He had never encountered any of the scents he was taking in before. How was that even possible? He'd set foot on nearly every inch of all of the Five Great Countries, and every small township in between them, over the course of his long shinobi career. He'd made it a point to analyze and categorize every area's unique scents. But here, in this place, he was experiencing odors he couldn't even start to place. For the first time in decades, Kakashi felt unsure of what to do next.

A whisper of voices floated at the edge of Kakashi's hearing and he was pulled back into focus. Those voices spoke in a language he'd never heard before, and his mind helpfully supplied that perhaps he'd ended up somewhere far outside of the Five Great Countries. The tone of at least three of the voices made it clear that, whoever these people were, they sounded quite unpleasant. That thought was confirmed when something that sounding suspiciously like an exploding tag went off, followed swiftly by a shout of pain.

Kakashi hastily pulled his mask back into position and scanned the immediate area to see if there was anything he could use to hide his presence from those who were approaching. Unfortunately the closest cover seemed to be in the direction of the voices, and in his current beaten and weary condition, he doubted he'd make it before being spotted. So instead he stayed where he was, with his back pressed firmly to the object he'd slid into earlier. That object had a wide stone top and thick pedestal bottom that hopefully would block his presence from those approaching.

Before Kakashi could spare another thought about it, a whirring sound drew his attention back to the stone ring. His eye widened when he saw an inner portion of that ring begin to spin on an unseen track and random symbols around it began to glow with a light all their own. His heart-rate sped up when he saw a spire of blue-white liquid rush out of the ring in a spear headed straight for him. Just when he'd thought he'd need to dodge to one side or the other, it seemed to be sucked back in where it settled into a shimmering pool, much as he'd seen after his own abrupt arrival to this place.

The footsteps of those approaching grew louder, and Kakashi pulled his legs in as close as he could to his body in an attempt to limit the chances that those now standing on the other side of his hiding place might see him. He bit back on a groan of pain when he inadvertently jostled his dislocated shoulder. A moment later and Kakashi watched someone being thrown down onto the ground just to the side of where he was hiding. It was a man who seemed to be close to Kakashi's age, with light brown hair that fell in an unkempt wave over wire-rimmed glasses. His clothes held the appearance of a uniform, but nothing about how the man acted made Kakashi think he was a soldier.

The man's head turned toward him, and for the briefest moment Kakashi saw fear flash through eyes that were a clear blue. It didn't seem to be fear for his own situation though. Rather, this unknown man seemed afraid for Kakashi. Before Kakashi had a chance to wonder at this stranger's reaction, a hand reached down and threaded its fingers into the man's hair and forcefully yanked him into a kneeling position. The action caused a sharp hiss of pain to escape the man's lips, but he never so much as glanced over to where Kakashi was still sitting, leaving the man's captors oblivious to his presence.

Of course, his concern over discovery from those people fell to the side when a ripple disturbed the surface of the stone circle. Kakashi found himself watching as four heavily armored soldiers stepped calmly out of the liquid and immediately spotted him. All four of them leveled long pole-arms at him, and the end of each weapon slid open with a noticeable hiss of electricity. Kakashi instantly reached for his own weapons, only to find that his pouches and kunai holster were nowhere to be found. His mind went back to the violent journey through the tunnel of light and he knew that it was likely why he found himself bereft of weapons now.

One look into the eyes of the men holding the weapons made it clear they'd have no problem dispatching him if he made any move. So Kakashi stayed where he was, staring back into their dark eyes and wondering what new hell he'd fallen into now. When two of the soldiers who'd brought that other man to the stone circle moved over to where he was sitting, Kakashi wondered why, just once, he couldn't avoid more pain. But pain was exactly what was in store, as he was pulled roughly to his feet. A sharp hiss escaped his masked mouth as the unknown soldiers forced him to his knees to the left of the other man, digging their fingers into Kakashi's dislocated shoulder in the process.

Whispered words from that other prisoner caught Kakashi's attention, but he'd never heard the language being spoken before. The look on the man's face, however, made it clear that he was concerned for him. Kakashi took a slow breath and smiled behind his mask.

"Do not worry about me. I will survive."

A look of recognition lit the man's eyes behind his glasses and Kakashi wondered at the reaction. Had this man understood him? But before he could ponder it farther, another ripple in the film across the stone circle announced the arrival of more people. Two additional heavily armored men stepped through, followed immediately by another man. That man wore a series of sleeveless dark red robes with gold threads running in a serpentine pattern along the edge of every layer. His hair was the color of dark ink, and was pulled back to flow over the high collar of his outer robe. Tanned skin emphasized every muscle in his arms as he walked down to stand in front of Kakashi and the other kneeling man.

By the way this final entrant moved and was dressed, it was clear to Kakashi that this was the one in charge. As such, his full attention was on the dark-haired man who was turning his head to stare down at where the other man was still held firmly in the grasp of more of the armored soldiers. As Kakashi watched, he noticed how that other man's expression had changed from that of concern, to a look absolute disgust.

When the man standing before them spoke, Kakashi couldn't help but frown behind his mask. The words were still foreign to his ears, again making him wonder about just where he'd ended up. As he continued to listen to those unfamiliar words, the man next to him used that same language to respond. By the snarl of the robed man's lips, it was evident that whatever had been said to him had not been what he'd wanted to hear. A moment later and Kakashi was witness to the man kneeling beside him being subjected to some sort of punishment. The robed man held his palm out, and Kakashi tensed as a strange gold and jeweled device emitted some sort of energy that was currently causing the younger man to struggle in obvious pain.

Something in the grin of malice on the robed man's lips reminded Kakashi all too much of Madara Uchiha, and he felt a bubbling rage surge up from within him. How was it possible that he'd rid the world of one megalomaniac only to discover another one less than an hour later? A sharp cry of pain came from the man beside him and something within Kakashi snapped. From one moment to the next, he had twisted free of the powerful hands holding him down, and had launched himself at the villain torturing the helpless man.

A single thought rolled through his mind and he let it escape his lips in a growl as he tackled the robed man to the ground.

"No more!"

One moment Daniel was experiencing the far-too-familiar sensation of his brain frying from the inside out, and the next second he was watching in shock as the Goa'uld was tackled to the ground by the man who, moments before, had been kneeling by his side. He'd moved so fast that the snake hadn't had time to activate his personal shield, and as such, was now promising to kill the stranger slowly for daring to touch him. A moment later, and Daniel couldn't help but cringe in empathy as his savior was sent sailing across the clearing by a powerful jolt from the hand device.

The man slid to a stop in front of two of the Jaffa, and as they pulled him to his feet another hiss of pain escaped from lips that were hidden from view by what appeared to be a cloth mask. Daniel had to keep from laughing out loud when the man spoke in a language that was remarkably close to Earth's Japanese – a language he'd been speaking fluently since he was eight..

"If that's the best you can do it's no wonder you need so many guards."

The Goa'uld approached the man and Daniel saw the bastard's eyes glow in that telltale sign that meant nothing good for anyone he was angry with. And he was pretty sure that anger was aimed solely at the silver-haired man. What worried Daniel at the moment was that he actually had no idea just who this Goa'uld was. The symbol sprawled across the Jaffa's foreheads wasn't one he was familiar with, although it did look vaguely Egyptian in origin. Which, if history proved anything, meant this Goa'uld would lean toward God complexes and violence. Great. He knew he should have waited for SG-1 before going off-world. But, no, he just had to go and see the ruins for himself. Maybe Jack was right. Maybe he really did have a suicidal streak.

The sound of skin on skin brought him out of his thoughts, and he watched with wide eyes as the unknown stranger actually laughed in the Goa'uld's face as though the slap hadn't hurt him at all. The Goa'uld's eyes flashed once more and Daniel watched as silver hair was firmly gripped in one of the Jaffa's fists. When the head was pulled back, Daniel saw that only one eye was visible, while the other had some sort of headband tilted over it, with a silver plate attached in the center.

The Goa'uld's voice resonated through the clearing. "You will pay for your insolence, dog!"

Again a chuckle came from the man's lips, this time followed by words. "I'm not sure what the hell you just said, but you sounded pissed off."

Daniel had to choke back a laugh of his own, but he wasn't quite successful enough to avoid having the Goa'uld notice his reaction. The bastard turned his glowing eyes on him and Daniel had a bad feeling about what might happen next.

The Goa'uld motioned one hand toward him. "Jaffa! Kree!"

He was pulled to his feet and dragged over to where the others were waiting. The Goa'uld narrowed his eyes and placed one hand around Daniel's neck, applying just enough pressure to make it uncomfortable.

"You know what this dog said. You will translate."

Daniel frowned. The last thing he wanted to do was help a Goa'uld interrogate anyone. "I don't think I can."

The fingers around his throat tightened significantly, and the eyes staring at him flashed once more. "I know of you, Daniel Jackson. You enjoy taking the role of martyr, so I will not threaten your own worthless life."

The fingers released, leaving Daniel gasping for air. Then the Goa'uld switched his attention to the unfortunate stranger. He raised his other hand and revealed the hand device, moving it into position above where the headband was. The other hand lifted and pulled that headband loose, revealing a long scar running from above the man's left eyebrow, through his eyelid, and ending somewhere below the mask. A look of pure hatred shone in the man's un-scarred eye as the metal plate hit the stones on the ground.

"Tell him he has displeased his God by wearing another's symbol."

Daniel blinked in confusion. "What?"

The Goa'uld lips pulled back in an evil grin. "Or don't tell him, and watch him suffer for your stubborn silence."

The hand device activated, and the silver-haired man's back arched in response to the excruciating waves of pain that Daniel was all too familiar with. "Stop it! He doesn't understand why you're doing that!"

The device was deactivated a moment later, and the prisoner's head sank down to his chest. The Goa'uld turned toward Daniel with a satisfied smirk. "Tell him."

Daniel furrowed his brow in frustration, but did what he'd been told to do, calling on his memories of many summers spent in Japan with his parents so long ago to find just the right words.

"Forgive me, but this piece of dung wanted me to explain why he took your headband."

The silver-haired man's head lifted until he was glancing up at Daniel through a curtain of silver bangs. His visible eye held the edge of pain in it. "I see. So he cannot understand my words any more than I understand his. Thank you for that knowledge."

Daniel resisted the urge to smile at that reply, inwardly pleased that the stranger seemed so quick to pick up on the unspoken. "He believes the symbol on your headband was to show your servitude to a god other than him."

The man shook his head back and forth slowly. "That symbol is for no god. It represents the village I come from. And his removing it will do nothing to lessen my loyalty to that place."

Daniel was going to ask more about the village when he was pulled away from the silver-haired man. "Enough! Explain his words."

Daniel chewed on the inside of his cheek while he tried to find an answer that would placate the Goa'uld and keep this man from being injured any further. Perhaps a little truth mixed in would suffice.

"He assured me that the symbol is not to show allegiance to any god."

"Did he, now? Then why was he so upset by its removal, hmm?"

Daniel looked back over to where the stranger was watching everything with a calculating gaze. The Goa'uld also returned his attention toward the silver-haired man, and a moment later was tipping that man's head back by placing two fingers under the masked chin. The movement seemed to cause the masked-man a bit of discomfort, but he had remained silent.

The Goa'uld narrowed his eyes and made a show of tipping the man's head from side to side as though inspecting a prized head of cattle. It was something Daniel had witnessed far too often in his life, and it generally meant nothing good for the person being inspected. After all, just such an inspection had happened right before Skaara had been chosen to be the host for Klorel.

A low growl came from the masked man when the Goa'uld hooked the fingers of his free hand under the edge of the cloth mask and pulled it down in one quick movement. Daniel wasn't sure what disturbed him more – the way the Goa'uld's face lit up at what he saw, or the fact that the face revealed was nothing at all like what he'd expected to see.

The man was far younger than Daniel had assumed. In fact, they were probably close to the same age. He had assumed the man wore the mask for much the same reason he had covered his scarred eye, but the face revealed was all fine angles and smooth pale skin. There wasn't a scar in sight, and Daniel couldn't suppress a shiver when the Goa'uld's fingers traced the curve of the man's jawline with obvious wonder. The growl grew in volume, but was soon drowned out by the disturbing laughter of the Goa'uld.

"He has spirit. But that is easily handled."

The Goa'uld's hand pushed back the swath of silver hair that was obscuring half the man's face and revealed the scar that ran from above the fine silver eyebrow down through the closed eyelid and ended halfway between the high cheekbone and beardless chin.

"Even the imperfection seems to add to the allure. And it is only appropriate that our child should have a slight imperfection so as not to overshadow us."

Daniel's eyes went wide, and he was sure he'd paled as well once the implications of what the Goa'uld was saying sank in. This madman wanted to use the stranger's body as a host for his son!

The Goa'uld stepped back from the unfortunate man and headed to the business side of the DHD. A moment later, and the event horizon of the Star-Gate disappeared, casting the area into a thick darkness. Almost immediately, the stone ring began to spin as a new address was punched in on the DHD. Daniel cursed his luck as the gate was behind him, and his current position didn't allow him a clear view of which symbols were being selected on the DHD.

At the familiar sound of the new wormhole settling into the Star-Gate, Daniel felt his heart race. There was no way for him to let those who were sure to search for him know where he'd been taken. His only chance would be finding some way to escape once they'd traveled to wherever it was they were headed. So as he and the silver-haired stranger were pulled toward the event horizon, Daniel did his best to remember as many friendly off-world gate addresses as he could, and hoped he'd manage to get free.

Dammit, why couldn't he have just swallowed his pride, stayed back on Earth to go fishing, instead of trying to beef up his off-world record? After all, now Jack would just have one more reason to abuse him...just what he needed.

Kakashi wanted nothing more than to shove a lightning-filled fist through the man who was currently peeling his mask off him as though he was some much anticipated sweet. But his chakra wasn't able to do much more than generate a spark at this point, and even if he could manage more, his arms were being held securely behind his back. This day was just getting better and better.

A quick glance toward his fellow prisoner made Kakashi's heart sink even farther. Whatever the bastard in front of him had said during his inspection of Kakashi had obviously put the man on edge. The man's face was nearly as pale as his own, and if his eyes went any wider he'd rival Iruka Umino for failure to contain emotions.

Of course, thoughts of Umino led to thoughts of that man's favorite student – Naruto. And that led to thoughts of the blond jinchuriki's former teammates. Which, in turn, brought Kakashi's mind to how he'd pushed his fist through Sasuke's chest and then left Sakura behind to clean up his mess.

This day definitely was shaping up to be his worse one yet. And, considering his past, that was really saying something. But before he could wax on philosophically for much longer, a sharp pain in his shoulder managed to pull a groan from his mouth as he was being manhandled back toward the stone circle. The other prisoner was just beside him, and another pitying look from the man caused Kakashi's brow to furrow.

"What aren't you telling me?"

The look of surprise on his face was nearly enough to make Kakashi chuckle, but the man's words stole that desire away instantly. "You probably won't understand, but he wants to make you a host for his son."

A cold chill ran down his spine at the thought of being forced to be a jinchuriki. But before he could question the man further, they were shoved into the shining surface within the stone ring.