In the old days of King Arthur
Of which that Britons speak great honour
All was this land filled with fairies
"Captain," Jack said seriously, "I am relying on you to avenge my death."
"Sir!" she saluted, and turned to leave, then turned around again. "Who killed you again?" she asked.
"Makepeace! And get him good, Captain. I want him covered in paint by the time you're done."
"Yes Sir. I'l find Teal'c and Daniel."
"Don't bother with me!" a lazy voice called out, from somewhere on the forest floor. Daniel's head popped out of the sea of bracken.
"I got killed ages ago." he explained cheerfully, pointing to the paint splatters all over his jacket.
"Daniel!" Sam said, exasperated. "You did that deliberately."
"Well, I had better things to do then run round the forest working up a sweat trying to learn skills I'll never be any good at."
"Like what?"
"Sleeping!" he said, lying down again. Jack and Sam exchanged glances, then she left to pursue her mission of vengeance.
Jack sighed. He had been pleased when Hammond had said SG1 were going to England for training for a while. He'd envisioned lazy days in lovely country villages, popping down to the quaint local pub for the occasional pint. Instead he'd found he'd been dumped with Makepeace and his team, who really REALLY enjoyed wargames, and had jumped into the local paintballing games with vigour. He'd found himself in a country whose weather could change from blistering heat to freezing downpours in half an hour. He was in the countryside alright, but no-one had ever mentioned how much the countryside stank, especially when the farmers were muck-spreading. And as for the local pub..it was a karoke bar. Then again, it was oddly beautiful, here in the woods. In the distance, he could just hear cries and yelps, and the soft thumps of paint balls hitting flesh as Carter exacted her ruthless revenge against anyone who'd fired anywhere near him. The sun shone through the trees, enveloping him in a soft green coolness. The air was heavy with summer stillness, and the ground soft. He sighed contentedly, and lay back.
"Jack?" Daniel called, softly.
"Mmm-hmm?" he replied.
"Do you know what day it is today?"
"The day the teddy-bears have their picnic?"
"What? No, its midsummer eve."
"Mmmm." Jack said lazily. His eyelids were growing heavy. Sleep was creeping up on him, and he was in no mood to fight it.
"Today," Daniel said, "is traditionally the day we can see fairies, when they can interfere in human affairs."
Jack snored lightly.
"Of course, its only a legend." Daniel said sleepily, as he lay down. "Only a legend." he murmured, as he drifted off to sleep.
*****
It was getting dark by the time Sam arrived back where she'd left Jack and Daniel. The woods were eerie in the dark, softly alive, moving in the windless night. Sam wasn't afraid of the dark, but she was unsettled by being here, in the woods, at night, alone.
"Sir?" she called softly. "Sir? Daniel? Where are you...oh!"
She looked down. She had tripped over a comatose Jack. He didn't seem to have been disturbed by his major falling over him. He just slept on, smiling peacefully. She looked across at Daniel. He was curled up in a little ball, like a child. He mumbled indistinctly in his sleep.
"Sir?" she said, feeling for a pulse. She found one, strong, steady and regular. From what little first aid she knew (which wasn't much, really), she couldn't find anything wrong. All the signs were that he was simply asleep.
"How can anyone sleep out here, in the cold and damp?" she asked out loud, jumping slightly as something ran through the trees. Then again, it was warm and peaceful, and San could feel her eyelids growing heavy. Maybe sleep wasn't such a bad idea. Just a little nap, before they got back to the hotel. Just close her eyes for half an hour...Sam laid down, a few feet from Jack, and slept heavily.
*****
And that was how Teal'c found them an hour later, sent by a worried Makepeace to bring them back.
"Odd." he thought, but maybe it was traditional for the Tau'ri to sleep outside in this country. He heard one of the local people mention something about it being midsummer eve, and strange things happening that night. Maybe this was one of those strange things. He settled down to watch over them..but soon he felt his symbiont stirring, moving, forcing him into kel-no-reem.
*****
And so it was, that when the fairies came, SG1 were asleep.
*****
Jack woke first. He woke slowly, aware of a comfortable warmth against him. As his senses awoke by one, he became aware that his arm was wrapped
round something, and that he could feel the warmth of breath on his neck. He opened his eyes slowly. Sam lay there, his arm around her, snuggled up to him. It was her breath he could feel. He lay there for a moment, not daring to move, to stir, to shatter the moment. He watched her, watched her breath in and out, watched her smile slightly in her sleep. wandering what in her dreams could cause that secret, shy smile.
"What's she doing there?" Daniel said, standing above him.
"Sssh!" Jack hissed urgently. He moved his arm out gently, trying not to wake her. "I don't know. I woke up...and there she was. I've no idea how she got there."
"Huh." Daniel replied, his voice heavy with meaning. "Look, there's Teal'c. Asleep, I think, though how anyone could sleep in that position.."
Daniel went over to wake him. Jack continued trying to pull his arm out from under Sam, and work out which leg was his. How they had got so tangled up in their sleep he had no idea, but he didn't want Sam waking up wrapped around him, and getting the wrong idea.
"Sir?" she murmured, opening her eyes, slowly. She looked up into the Colonel's face, smiling down at her gently.
"Hey." he said softly. "When you did you get here?"
"I'm not sure." she said. "I tripped over you when you were asleep, and next thing I knew, I was falling asleep too. Are you okay Sir?"
"Fine. Except you're lying on my arm, and I can't feel it anymore."
She moved away sharply, freeing his arm. "Sir...I fell asleep over there." she said, pointing to a flattened patch a few feet away. "How did I get over here?"
"Don't look at me Major." Jack said. "I'm as surprised as you are." he continued, standing up, and holding out his hand to help her up. "Not that it wasn't a nice surprise." he said, as he pulled her upright to face him.
She smiled, innocently, unaware of the meaning behind his words, and went to join Daniel.
"So, now what?" Daniel asked her. She shrugged.
"We should go home." Teal'c replied.
"Great idea! Which way?" Jack asked.
"I have a compass." Daniel said, patting his pockets. "Somewhere." Jack and Sam exchanged glances. "I know I... aha! That's not right, is it? Sam, why is it doing that?"
Sam looked at the compass. The needle span round and round, not settling anywhere. "It shouldn't do that." Sam said, confused. "There's no reason."
"So, we'll find North another way. Doesn't moss grow on the north side of a tree?" Jack said, trying to shake off the chills from seeing the compass behave contrary to all the laws of physics.
"I thought it was the south side." Daniel said.
"It does not matter." Teal'c said, pre-empting Jack's sarcastic reply. "There is no moss on the trees."
They looked around. No moss. Bracken, trees, bluebells, lots of small scurrying things, and odd lights through the trees, but no moss.
"What are those lights?" Jack asked.
"Could be anything." Sam said. "House lights, flashlights."
"UFO's." Daniel added, but Jack ignored him.
"So we follow them, right?"
"Well, not necessarily Sir." Sam replied. "They could be will'o'wisps."
Jack looked at her with his usual 'what the hell are you talking about, please explain it now look.' "Marsh lights." she said. "Gas from marshes escapes, and lights with a blue flame."
"They were once considered to be the spirits." Daniel explained. "Very bad luck. They would lead unwary travellers to their doom."
"The point is, Sir." Sam continued, "if we follow the lights, we could find ourselves walking right into a marsh."
"And that's not good?" Jack said. She shook her head. "Okay, I seem to remember there being a path in...this direction." and Jack pointed off in a completely random direction, and strode off. The others followed.
"Of course." said Daniel, "given what night of the year it is, the lights could be something else."
"Oh for crying out loud!" Jack snapped, then seeing the confused look on Sam's face, he explained "Daniel thinks there's fairies about."
"Well, this is a very old part of the world, with very ancient traditions. I mean, that stone circle we passed coming in here, was built before there were even humans in America. There's a lot of very ancient, even prehistoric history there, and its not locked away in a museum, its all around us."
"Daniel," Sam said, "are you seriously suggesting there's fairies here?"
"Not the traditional kind, all sparkly dresses and wands. I'm talking about spirits, sometimes evil, antagonistic to man. These legends were around hundreds of years before Christianity, and they've never been completely wiped out. I'm just saying that legends that strong and long-lasting must be based on some kind of evidence. Strange things do happen in this country, and tonight is the most enchanted night of the year."
"Daniel!" Jack said, stopping suddenly so Daniel crashed into him.
"This is just another country. Not another planet. And I don't care how old the legends are, or how ancient and mysterious these woods are, as far as I'm concerned, the only mystery in this country is what they put into kebabs! Okay?"
"Okay." Daniel said.
"Now lets just find the path, and go home. There's nothing to worry about. Even the animals are friendly."
"No lions, tigers or bears." Sam added.
"I do not understand that reference." Teal'c said, and so the four of them moved off, Jack trying to explain the Wizard of oz to Teal'c, the others listening, and none of them saw the lights had followed them.
*****
If any wanderers I meet
That from their night-sport do trudge home
With counterfeiting voice I greet
And cause them on with me to roam
"And they all have to follow the yellow brick road to see the Wizard of Oz." Jack said.
"Why do they wish to see the wizard?" Teal'c asked.
"Because they all want the one thing that would make them complete." Daniel replied. "The scarecrow wants a brain. The tin-man wants a heart and the cowardly lion wants courage."
"But in the end, the wizard does not need to grant them these things." Jack added.
Then turned to Carter, who was saying, "Sir, I just need to answer a call of nature."
"Okay." he said, "we'll keep our backs turned." He watched her till she disappeared behind a bush, then turned back to Teal'c.
"Why does the wizard not need to grant them these things?"
"Because they already have them." Jack said. "They just didn't know they had them. The scarecrow was smart enough to save Dorothy, the Tinman loved Dorothy enough to fight for her, and the cowardly lion found he had courage when he had to save Dorothy."
"So, it was Dorothy who made them realise they had these qualities? That explains something that has been puzzling me." Teal'c said.
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"Why you call Major Carter Dorothy."
The three men were silent as this sunk in.
"What do you mean?" asked Daniel.
"I thought after I left Chu'lak that I would never care enough for anything to fight for it again, and that I had lost my love for life. It was you O'Neill that found me."
"As the scarecrow found the tin-man." Daniel mumbled.
"And I am grateful to you, my friend. But it was Major Carter's joy in life, in discovery, her patience in teaching me, her unconditional friendship, and her willingness to die for me if necessary, that reawakened my own interest in living. I know you were both the same, but Major Carter had not lost Sha're, or Skaara. These people meant nothing to her, therefore I meant nothing, but she welcomed me with open arms into her life. She gave me her friendship, in return for nithing. You were my friends, but she taught me how joyful any life is. And you, Daniel Jackson. Your heart was cold and dead after Sha're was taken. You were careless, and afraid to live. You were not a warrior, and only became so to find your wife. Yet Major Carter talked to you, made you think, forced you to live. There was no need for her to join the search for Sha're. I looked to assuage my guilt. O'Neill looked to find Skaara. She risked danger to find Sha're only to help you. And because she would not give up hope, you found hope. She was never afraid of life, and so you became unafraid to live. And, I know she has trained you in the use of weapons. She has taught you to become a warrior.
"Not a very good one." Jack murmured.
"He's right." Daniel said. "She forced me into looking at more than the search for my wife. And she taught me not to be so afraid of life. And I do care for her, more than for myself now. If we were in trouble, I'd risk my life to save her."
"I think its more likely that she'd end up rescuing both of us." Jack replied. "This is all just...made up, anyway. Things aren't really like this. Who's Toto? And the wicked witch of the West?"
"Maybourne's the witch, and the MALP is Toto!" Daniel said, smiling.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"The only reason you are not, O'Neill," said Teal'c, "is that my theory makes you the scarecrow. The one with no brain."
"The one Dorothy loved most of all." Daniel said quietly. Jack stared into Daniel's eyes, seeing there a truth he denied too often to himself.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Sam asked, joining the silent group of men.
"We were discussing the Wizard of Oz." said Teal'c. "And why you are nicknamed Dorothy."
"And why am I nicknamed Dorothy?" she asked, glancing at Jack, who just watched her.
"Because Dorothy could really kick ass." Daniel said, defusing the situation.
She laughed. "Just as long as you don't expect me to sing." she said, walking off.
"How about dancing?" Daniel asked her, as he joined them. Jack walked behind them, uncharacteristically silent. Teal'c walked alone, behind them. Teal'c was uneasy. True, O'Neill had dismissed the talk about fairies as legends, but Apophis had been a legend on Earth, and he was all too real. There were lights dancing about the forest, and they seemed to be getting brighter. They were so bright, Teal'c almost couldn't see. He could hear voices too.
"Teal'c. Teal'c, come and play. We want to play."
Teal'c shook his head, and opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. His legs felt sluggish, heavy, as he he was walking through sand.
"Teal'c, big Teal'c, brave Teal'c, strong Teal'c. There's nothing left for you here. Stay. Stay with us. Play with us."
Teal'c stopped. He could no longer move. He could no longer call to the others, as he watched them walk off.
Jack felt like he should turn around and look, but he also felt compelled to keep walking. His head was spinning, and the woods were so dark, it was all a blur. The only thing he could see clearly, was Sam's blond hair. he followed, like a beacon in the night, leading him home.
"And then Teal'c said that Jack was the scarecrow!" Daniel said, laughing. Laughing a lot more than usual actually. He was nervous. He felt like he was being watched. He felt like every dark tree hid a pair of prying eyes, every bush was a hunched attacker. There may not have been lions and tigers and bears in the woods, but there were far more ancient beings.
"What's the matter?" Sam asked.
"See..there you do it again! I'm afraid of something, and you force me to face it. Teal'c was right."
"Daniel..." she said, warningly.
"I just feel like...there's something out there. Following us. Watching us. Jack, don't you think...Jack?"
Sam turned round to see Jack slumping against a tree, his eyes closing. She went to him, holding him up, talking to him gently.
Daniel was left alone, in the path. He could see lights, he was sure. Dancing, magical lights that surrounded him. He could music, laughter, and someone asking him to join them.
"What about them?" he asked. He was told not to worry. No harm would come to them. There was something he should see. He should follow. Now. Don't be afraid. He was afraid. But he followed.
"Daniel, can you pass me the water?" Sam asked. There was no answer. "Daniel?" She turned around. There was nothing there. Only darkness. "Daniel?" she called. her voice echoed round the ancient woods, stirring the leaves, and halting the night animals. Yet Daniel didn't hear her. She bent down to Jack. "Sir, wake up!" she said urgently. "Teal'c's gone, and Daniel's gone, I don't know where. Please Sir, wake up! Don't you leave me too!"
"Because you'd miss me most of all?" he said, lazily.
"Please Sir." she said, softly, curling up next to him, for warmth. "Please Jack, don't go." she murmured, as her eyes closed.
"Whatever you want my love." he said, but she was asleep already, and didn't hear his whispered, sleep-heavy words.
*****
Sam and Jack slept heavily, as midnight ticked away. The bells of the village church sounded throughout the woods, but neither Sam, nor Jack, nor Daniel, nor Teal'c heard them. Only a boy heard them. A young boy, with a smile that was as old as the sun. Grinning, he bent forward and placed a drop of something on Sam's eye.
"Thus do I do my master's bidding." he said. "Keep tight hold of her. She must see you first. I have not falsely created feelings, but awakened those which sleep within her, but she must see you first."
And with that, Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck, also known as whatever name you choose to give him, faded into the night, leaving the magic of flowers and true love to work its spell.
*****
Daniel and Teal'c were not asleep, but under enchantment. They awoke from it to find themselves standing in a clearing.
"I apologise." said the young man standing in front of them, "to do this to you, but I have plans, and you were superfluous."
Daniel couldn't have described him if he tried. The man seemed old, yet young, beautiful, yet ugly, real yet ethereal, all at once. His hair was no colour, yet shone brightly. His eyes had no colour, yet they were the loveliest eyes that ever looked upon mortals.
"Oberon?" Daniel stammered hesitantly.
"You have read of me!" he cried, happily.
"Well, seen the movie, anyway." Daniel said, glancing around him.
"Do your plans for O'Neill and Carter mean harm?" Teal'c asked.
"O'Neill! A fine old Irish name. I knew the first O'Neill. Brave as lion, stubborn as a mule. No, no harm. Do you not understand? Tonight is not a night where we do harm. Tonight, is the night where we celebrate love."
*****
Jack stirred awake, and opened his eyes for the second time that night to find Carter asleep in his arms. He could not see Daniel and Teal'c, yet his instinct told him not to worry. He didn't know why his instinct should be sanguine about their fate, but never mind. For the moment, he was content to watch Sam sleep in his arms, her breath warming his neck, her eyes flickering as she dreamed, her voice murmuring indistinctly. He just watched, and revelled for one brief, forbidden moment in his love for her.
*****
"We must thank you." Oberon said.
"No..no thanks necessary." Daniel said, trying to see the strings holding the flying child above him up. Oberon smiled.
"Nonetheless, tonight is the night of love, and everyone in the forest tonight is with their soulmate. I would not have you left out, not when you were so obliging as to leave your friends in my hands."
"We did not have much of a choice." said Teal'c.
"I have a talent few know about." said Oberon, leaning forward. "I can go into dreams. I can bring the dreamer wherever I wish. And tonight, I wish to bring them here."
A familiar figure stirred in the forest. The leaves parted.
"Dan'ey?"
"Sha're!"
Daniel held her, touched her, kissed her. He barely saw Teal'c's wife arrive also, and rush into his arms.
"You have until the dawn." said Oberon. "Then everything that happened tonight will only seem like an unbearably sweet dream."
*****
"Wake up Dorothy." Jack said gently.
"Mmm?" she stirred, but didn't open her eyes.
"Dorothy. Teal'c was right. Dorothy saved her friends because she loved them, and they loved her." Jack said, not knowing if she was listening, but feeling the need to talk. "I know you've saved Daniel. Apparently you've helped Teal'c too. I doubt you even know it. What was it you said Jonas called you? Healer of the emotionally wounded? He knew you well. I'm still glad he's dead though. Bastard should never have touched you."
Sam shifted in his arms, but didn't wake up.
"And what about me? Not so much emotionally wounded as emotionally dead. Well, not quite dead, but almost. Did you know, you're about the only person who laughs at my jokes? Well, Kawalsky did, but his laugh never made me...well, lets just say it didn't evoke the same response as yours does. If you hadn't laughed, there would have been nobody to joke for. And that would have been depressing."
"Sir?" Sam said softly. He looked down. Her eyes were still closed.
"You're dreaming about me. I like that. Well, depending on what I'm doing in the dream, I like that. Anyway, I had a point to all this when I started. The scarecrow didn't have a brain. Well, I'm not stupid, but next to you I'm Mr Dumbo, the worst kid in the dumbest class at Morons High. Well, maybe not that bad but...anyway, when the fifth race made me smart, and made me come out with all that embarressing latin stuff, that sounded really obscene, I hated it. I hated every second.
But then, you were in trouble. And I could save you. And I didn't care what they're done to my mind, or whether I could survive it, because I'd finally paid you back for all the times that you'd saved me. I'd saved you. That was what was important. I'm not saying it right. It's not coming out as it should. I'm trying to say, that, no matter how dumb you make me feel, you don't do it intentionally. You don't treat me like I'm stupid. You treat me like I'm as smart as you are. That makes me feel good. Hell, everything you do makes me feel good. Your smile, your frown, your voice, your eyes, your touch, all make me feel..wonderful. And I can't ever tell you. I can't ever say screw the regs, I...because that isn't right. I know you don't want me. I know I'm an old soldier, way past first youth, and I do not deserve you. I just want to say, just this once, while you're here. I love you."
Sam opened her eyes, looked up at him, and said, "I love you too."
Then she pulled him down, and kissed him.
*****
Dawn broke, and Daniel and Teal'c woke to find themselves lying on damp smelly moss.
"I dreamed..." said Teal'c.
"So did I." Daniel said. "We'd better find Sam and Jack."
*****
As the sun rose higher, the day grew hotter. This was good, because when they found their friends, Sam and Jack were almost naked.
"Oh boy!" Daniel said, taking in the sight of the two of then intertwined in each other, fast asleep, looking very satisfied with themselves and each other. "Teal'c don't look! Don't let them know we've found them!"
"Should we not wake them?"
"No!" Daniel hissed, but too late. Sam stirred, and her eyes opened. Daniel ducked down behind a bush, and pulled Teal'c down with him, just before Sam saw him.
Sam stretched, yawned, then opened her eyes. She saw Jack. Naked. "Oh my god!" she cried, reaching for his jacket to cover him up. As her arm brushed his body though, suddenly last night ran through her mind. Jack slipping the jacket off her shoulders, her ripping his open...she could see the buttons lying on the ground, her kissing his chest, right down to his...
"Sam!" Jack yelled, as he woke up to find his naked Major kneeling next to him. He looked away from her, then down at himself. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" he said. She shook her head. "Oh God, I'm sorry Sam." he said, scrambling into his clothes, and passing her the remnants of her trousers. "I should never..I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"Pardon?" he looked down at her, wearing only her black t-shirt, kneeling at his feet, looking forlorn.
"Why are you sorry?" she said. "Sorry it was me?"
"God, no!" he said, reaching down and pulling her up. "How could you think that? I'm overjoyed...I mean...I mean...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done this to you. I should have kept control."
She ran her finger through a rip in his jacket. "Looks like I'm the one who lost control." she murmured. "You weren't the only one there Sir. I did participate."
"Yes, but Sam..."
"Didn't you enjoy it?"
"God, yes!"
"The why do you regret it?"
"Because I risked our friendship for a quick roll in the dirt!"
She backed away, looking hurt. "It wasn't a quick roll in the dirt for me Sir."
He said nothing.
"Can you not see?" she said. "Use your brains, Jack!" she was starting to yell. "I don't know what you feel for me... but I love you! Why can't you understand that?"
And suddenly, his mind opened up, and everything was clear to him.
"Because I'm stupid." he murmured. "Sam..Sam..I don't know what to say."
"Yes you do." she whispered.
"Yes, I do." he said, moving forward, and taking her gently into his arms. "I love you."
"If we do not stop them now." Teal'c said. "We will still be here by sunset."
"I guess you're right." Daniel sighed, then jumped and yelled, "Hey guys!" then turned bright red as he realised Sam was still only wearing her t-shirt.
She just smiled though. "You were right." she said. "About midsummer's eve. About it being magical."
"And it seems I was right." said Teal'c. "Dorothy made the scarecrow smart, and he finally realised the truth."
"We better not tell anyone about this." Daniel said.
"Tell them what Danny boy?" Jack said, examining the rags of his jacket. "That we saw fairies, fell asleep, had our dearest wish granted..well, my dearest wish anyway." he smiled at Sam, "and decided we were all characters from the Wizard of Oz, and Maybourne is a witch? I think we'll just tell them we got lost."
And so the four wanderers made their weary, but happy way back home, watched only by hundreds of ancient, mystical, beautiful eyes.
The End.
Story Notes: QUOTES FROM THE WIFE OF BATH'S TALE, BY CHAUCER, TRANSLATED INTO MODERN ENGLISH BY ME, AND FROM SHAKESPEARE'S PLAY, MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]