Thanks for my BETA Babsca for correcting this story and helping me out.

Ancients' trail

Chapter 2

Colonel Jack O’Neill drove his car toward his safe haven, the only place where he could be anyone without the world’s weight on his shoulders or his past haunting him. It was the reason this escape as well. Only one month ago he did something he swore to anything holy for him to he never do again. And in spite of everything he’d done it again, he told himself only because it was necessary, it could have endangers Earth’s safety. But he knew it killing him.

He’d hoped his team would understand in the end, but only Teal’c had come around. It hurt him more than anything; they were his only family remaining, they were the ones who kept him alive when his darkest moments came.

If he was honest with himself, he knew Daniel too well to be surprised by his reaction. The bond was… had been strong, Daniel was more like his younger brother than friend. He looked after him, he paid attention to his eating and sleeping habit. But Jack wasn’t prepared for the cool attitude that took over as soon as he came back. At first he’d hoped it was just his payment after his secret mission. He endured it and tried to made up for their hurt feelings, but as the days turned to weeks, nothing changed.

Daniel wasn’t the only one turning a cold shoulder towards him. There was also Sam, the beautiful, brilliant Major Carter. She was another story with her military upbringing and career he’d hoped she would understand that orders were orders and he couldn’t just say no. With Sam’s help he could have convinced Daniel given time, a lot of time. But Carter didn’t come around as Jack had hoped and she was still as angry with him and cold toward him as Daniel was. He understood their reaction, their feelings of frustration and hurt. He hurt as well. So here he was.

Jack parked his car not far from his cabin and started to walk through the clearing, then stopped not far from his car. His dark eyes roamed his surrounding, something was wrong. The wood was too silent. As soon as he heard a gunshot he moved sideways. A sharp pain shot through his side but continued to run knowing if he stopped now he was dead.

As he ran towards the nearby woods, shots flew past him. In the end he found safety behind the trees. His breathing was harsh, his heart beating too fast, and his side was throbbing. He forced his body to calm down. He looked out from his hiding-place. Jack saw he’d left his bag behind, and in it was his side arm. Not good. Not good at all. He mused.

A cracking noise sounded behind him, like a branch being stepped on. His right hand slipped toward his army knife, which was secured in his left boot. The sound came again, closer than before, with a fast turn he threw the knife. It hit its target. The man fell to his knees, his face showed his surprise before going blank as he died.

His wound was on fire, Jack looked down to examine his injury. His white T-shirt had already started to soak through with blood, but he couldn’t take the time to do anything with it. His potential assassins were out there and waiting for him. He needed to strike first before they found him and finished what they came for.

He moved closer the body and took away the man’s gun. Jack pulled his knife from the body and placed it back into his boot. It was not much but it would do. He scouted toward the lake side of the forest where he thought his enemies might be hiding.

He found them not far from where he thought they’d be. One-man seperate in the woods, two left behind one was a guard heavily armed the other was the one who shot him. His gun was trained on the clearing waiting for Jack.

He kneeled down beside a tree for cover, if needed and aimed at his two targets, they were down before they knew he was there. Moving towards their positions he was nearly there when he heard a gun being cocked.

“Drop your gun.” Said a deep voice behind him. He lowered his gun and slowly turned around to face the man who could easily rival Teal’c in strength and weight.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot.” Was the man’s next order. Jack could have laughed out load this amateur. The man could easily have shot him. But didn’t. Here he was trying to chat with him. A cynical smile appeared on Jack’s face.

“Ya think” he said with amusement before he dove toward his target, he managed to shift the larger man off balance and they fell towards the lake. As the icy cold water hit his aching wound he let out a sharp hiss which unintentionally betrayed his weakness to the other man.

A blow to his side was enough for the man to turn their position and press Jack down under the water. With the next punch the air escaped Jack’s lungs. He tried to fight back, but his blows were nothing to his attacker and he easily held him down. Jack’s fingers inched toward his hidden knife, it had saved his life once that day and he didn’t hesitate to use it again. His air was running out, and with a last desperate move he thrust the knife upward at his opponent.

At first he thought he’d missed his target but a second later the body fell heavily on top of him and the last gasp of air was forced from his lungs. Jack’s vision darkened. As he looked up, a flashback came to him as he sank toward the very dark bottom of the lake. Then the man’s deadweight eased up and he surged upwards for a much-needed breath.

After surfacing, he swam tiredly toward the shore until he made it halfway out of the water. Jack felt himself falling, his air starved lungs were on fire, his side screamed in pain. His vision grayed before turning black as he finally lost consciousness.

As if dreaming, images came to him of that nearly fatal day a long time ago and the long forgotten cave with its shining symbols.