Part 8 Methos was not exactly feeling sorry for himself: the puzzle that was Shu was far too interesting for that, but the Immortal was slightly worried. The ancient man had been dragged to a holding cell, and chained to the wall. He had no idea what his captors had planned for him, and he had been trying to figure out a way in which he could avoid it. It was the fact that Shu didn't seem to know any of the details of his own Immortality that really had Methos' attention. Why the Goa'uld had not denounced Methos for what he was, and for that matter didn't seem to have any idea of the Immortal call sign, were the questions that plagued the oldest living of them all. If Shu really was ignorant of the truth then it was possible that Methos might get out of this situation with his head. The way to freedom might be very unpleasant, and dying would probably be on the list of things that would happen in between, but it was nothing the ancient Immortal couldn't cope with. He had been pondering these ideas most of the night right up until the point when his royal visitor had arrived. Shu entered the cell closely flanked by a Jaffa, and just stood there staring at his prisoner. If anything it was the golden eyes which bothered Methos the most; they appeared empty as if where the soul should have been there was nothing. It was an eerie feeling and one that the Immortal did not like. "How do you like the accommodations?" the Goa'uld finally chose to speak. Methos decided silence was the better course of action, and just seethed quietly at the alien thing in front of him. Standing up all night chained to a wall was not Methos' idea of fun, but he could think of worse things, and he really didn't want to start a verbal war with the enemy. "Not full of bravado like your Colonel?" Shu jibed with a superior smile. "Just better at controlling my tongue," Methos couldn't help himself, which he found quite ironic considering what he chose to say. Shu laughed at him and stepped closer. "We have great plans for you," the Goa'uld told him as if Methos really wanted to know, "you will draw quite a crowd in the market place when you are executed. Tefnut wishes to kill you herself, and my Queen is very good at what she does. I always find it best to indulge her whims." The Immortal bit his tongue to keep the comment that jumped into his head finding verbalisation. "But before I let her have you I would like to talk to you," Shu continued and then turned to his guard. "Wait outside," he instructed. The royal Goa'uld went back to staring at his prisoner as the Jaffa did as he was instructed. The superior behaviour of the creature that wore his friend's body was beginning to annoy Methos, so he stared right back. It was probably not the most sensible of actions, but he was tired, and Shu seemed to find it amusing anyway. The arrogance in the face that looked at him just basically pissed him off. Then as the door shut something changed. Methos had to blink to make sure he wasn't imagining things and he stared at Shu for a long moment and the Goa'uld stared back in silence. Something wasn't quite right here. "You know you're slipping, Old Man," Shu said suddenly. It took a moment to realise that the Goa'uld's tone had changed completely and then an idea slowly resolved in Methos' mind. He couldn't quite believe what he was thinking, but he had to find out. "Richie?" he asked slowly. "The very same," his friend replied, and actually smiled. "Some rescue party you turned out to be." Suspicion was Methos' immediate reaction, and he narrowed his eyes at the other Immortal. "Is this your idea of a game?" he said tersely. "No game," the Goa'uld replied. "If I ever get a handle on what's happened I will explain it, but let's just say I think it was bad when larva met Immortal." He sounded so much like Richie, and the expression he was wearing definitely wasn't Shu's. Methos actually let himself hope. "What happened?" he asked, not quite willing to trust just yet. "I don't really remember," Richie told him with what looked like total honesty. "They dragged me off to some ritual chamber, tied me down and Shu transferred into me. I panicked like you would not believe, I felt him try to take over, and then everything gets really hazy. The next thing I knew I was lying in the royal apartments with Tefnut hovering by my side. It's funny, but I knew exactly how I was supposed to react, what I was supposed to do. It's like Shu's memory is part of me, but whatever was actually him is toast." Methos looked thoughtfully at his companion for a moment. "I suppose it is possible," he said slowly. His mind continued to muse on the problem, but he didn't voice any of the thoughts. "Well I figured you guys would like to get off this planet," Richie said to fill in the gap, "so I thought I'd come find you. It shouldn't be too difficult to get out of here with a royal escort." "What about Tefnut?" the question sprang to Methos' lips before he really thought about it. "She shouldn't be up for another couple of hours," Richie replied, "it was a long night." The older Immortal stared at his companion after that comment and watched as Richie's cheeks slowly coloured. "Isn't that usually known as fraternising with the enemy?" Methos asked with a dead straight face. ===================================================================== The cell was relatively small compared to the one Daniel and the others had seen in their last stay as Goa'uld prisoners. There was a stone lip around the inside of the room, and SG-1 was sat around trying to come up with something like a plan. Ever since O'Neill had recovered from his blow to the head, they'd been talking. Daniel wasn't very impressed with the amount of useful ideas they had between them, but he also realised that saying so wouldn't do them any good. "But we can't just go back, even if we do escape," Carter pointed out firmly. "We have to make sure that Shu is destroyed and none of the other Goa'uld find out about what happened. If any of them even suspect there may be more like Richie on earth they won't stop until they've found them." "Which means we have to find Adam too," Jack said with an annoyed shake of his head. "But how do you stop someone who's Immortal?" Daniel asked dejectedly, they'd been in some pretty bad situations before, but this was right up there with one of the worst. "I don't know," O'Neill spat back in his frustration. "Drop a mountain on them or something like that." They'd been stuck in the cell all night, and there didn't seem to be any way out. No one had bothered to feed them; it didn't appear that the Goa'uld believed in a last meal for the condemned. Daniel knew they would have to attract attention some how, but doing so without getting themselves killed straight away was not going to be easy. Their planning was interrupted by some loud noises from just outside the door. "Okay, okay, I'm going aren't I," came an unhappy complaint, "no need to shove." The door opened and the sight of a ruffled but seemingly otherwise undamaged Adam being half thrown through the opening backed up the evidence of Daniel's ears. Following closely on his heels was a Jaffa with the markings of Shu on his forehead and an evil looking staff weapon in his hand. The warrior took up a position just to the left of the door, poised should anyone dare to move. As the next figure appeared in the doorway the reason for the Jaffa's vigilance became obvious, and Daniel had to stifle the thoughts running through his head from leaving his mouth. The archaeologist barely recognised Richie in the full regalia of a royal Goa'uld and the gaze that scanned the room showed no warmth and only cursory recognition. Daniel couldn't say he'd had much time to really get to know the Immortal before everything had gone straight to hell, but the creature in the doorway wasn't even close to the person he had briefly known. Shu's peculiar taste in altering his host's eyes and teeth made Richie seem all the more alien and on his left hand was a ribbon device and each finger guard was tipped with a black claw. Daniel couldn't help but stare and he knew his contempt and hatred were probably showing in his face. He'd never been good at hiding his emotions, and as this Goa'uld walked further into the room it was no different. This was the same kind of monster that had taken Shauri from him twice, and if it had been within his power he would have tried to kill it with his bare hands. This was Shu, and Daniel removed Richie from his mind. Behind the parasite was yet another Jaffa, but this one was not heavily armed, in fact he appeared to be acting as a beast of burden. Shu flicked his hand and the vassal behind him placed the box he had been carrying down on the floor. It was at that point that the morning became that little bit stranger. Shu reached out and to Daniel's surprise as well as that of the Jaffa in question took his servant's staff weapon. "Leave," he said coldly, "and close the door." The Jaffa whose weapon Shu had taken looked very startled. "But, Master," were the only words he uttered before Shu turned on him. The Goa'uld's eyes were white with anger, and he did not look at all pleased. "Are you questioning me," Shu said very slowly and deliberately. His left hand came up a small way with every word, and the Jaffa's expression went from surprise to terror. "No," he spluttered. "Get out, and if I see you again before sundown I will have you both killed," Shu said and turned away from his escorts as if dismissing them from his mind. The two Jaffa no longer hesitated and vanished through the door, letting it slam shut behind them. Daniel, as the other members of SG-1, was looking astonished, and for a few seconds nobody moved. The tableau was broken by what had to have been probably the most unexpected thing that Daniel could have thought of. Shu handed the staff weapon to Adam and freed of the burden used his right hand to rub the back of his neck. "Man, these people need a lesson in fashion," he said and his voice was perfectly normal. Daniel just let his mouth drop open, and he could see all the others in equally obvious modes of shock. The archaeologist looked at Adam who grinned back. "Unexpected isn't he," the Immortal said almost as if they weren't on a foreign planet at peril for their very lives. "But how?" Sam was the only one to voice the question. "Shu and I had an argument over whose body this was and I won," Richie told her with an irreverence Daniel had heard before. "Playing god really isn't my style, so I figured you guys might like to get out of here." "But you are Goa'uld," Teal'c pointed out what they had all seen. "Ten out of ten to the man in the corner," Richie replied, "but after you've been possessed by a demon, an alien is a push over. Right now I think we should leave before Sef't decides to tell my beloved sister he's just left me in here on my own." The Immortal turned quickly and flipped open the box behind him. "Guns, ammo, and everything else the Jaffa confiscated," he told them. "Your backup teams were forced back through the gate a few hours ago, but as long as we don't bump into Tefnut, no one is going to try and stop me, no matter who's with me. Shu has a reputation for being erratic anyway." Daniel followed the others as everyone slowly climbed to their feet, and he could tell they were all reticent. The shock over, practicalities were going through all minds. They didn't trust Richie, no matter what he was doing for them. Daniel was right with them on that point: Goa'ulds were trouble, and there were no exceptions. Daniel didn't know Richie well enough to be able to tell if he was really acting like Richie, he appeared to be trying to help them, but Tefnut at least had been shown to have a warped idea of fun, which could mean that anything was going on. "You'll forgive us if we don't take anything you say at face value," O'Neill said as Richie turned back from the box. The young Immortal looked a little unhappy at the statement, but he seemed to understand it. He took a deep breath, and Daniel was a little perturbed to see a momentary flash of white behind the man's eyes. This person really wasn't human anymore, he was the same irreverent young man who had walked into Daniel's apartment, and yet he wasn't at the same time. "Look," Richie said slowly, "I know you don't trust me. Believe me I know all about Goa'uld games. I know I look like an extra from Cats, but I am on your side. I can't explain how I defeated Shu, I can't even tell you exactly what's going on in my head right now, but I do suggest we get out of here as fast as possible. Look at it this way, those guns are loaded, this staff works, so at least you have a fighting chance. Staying here you are all dead." "That is true," Teal'c observed as calmly as ever. O'Neill and Richie stood there looking at each other in silence for a moment. Daniel knew Jack was weighing the odds, and the archaeologist realised with unhappy certainty that there was only one decision. "Okay," the Colonel said finally, "we move out. You step out of line just once and I'll fill you full of holes. I know it won't kill you for long, but I'll make sure it hurts like hell." Richie looked surprised and Daniel realised that Adam must not have had time to fill his companion in on how much SG-1 knew. "I told them," the dark haired Immortal stepped in quickly. "This place was off limits until the gravity of the situation was made clear." "Put that at the top of my 'I thought it would never happen list'," Richie shot back. That comment might even have been worth a smile if it hadn't of been a Goa'uld saying it. The presence of an alien parasite really put humour off the menu for Daniel. The younger Immortal glanced around the room, as if taking in the faces of his companions for the first time. When his eyes reached Daniel the archaeologist felt as if he was somehow being assessed, he just stared right on back. "Okay," he agreed, "I go wacko, you shoot me, fine, but to get out of this we need rules. First play prisoners, look dejected, beaten and hide the guns. I'll carry the second staff, if we run into trouble I'll give it to Teal'c. If we meet anyone I'll do any talking necessary, me they'll listen to, you they'll blast into a million pieces." Daniel watched Jack look at Teal'c who just raised an eyebrow. "It would seem a logical course of action," the Jaffa replied. "Great, good, can we go now?" Richie appeared to have an impatient streak which came shining through. "Okay, now that's the Richie I've come to expect," Adam said, and Daniel had to adjust to the man not just being his grad friend as the Immortal leant past the others to pick up his sword. End of Part 8