#4 in the Life's Little Problems Series
Color Outside the Lines
A Little!Danny fic by: Maj. Cliffhanger
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Part 11
Danny was shoved back into the 'holding cell slash cargo hold' and turned to glare at the guard. "I want my backpack and coat back!" he yelled even as the tri-piece door slid shut in his face. Behind him, he heard Jason scrambling to his feet. Sighing, Danny turned back around to find the older boy hurrying toward him.
"You okay?" Jason asked anxiously. It was obvious he'd been crying.
"I'm fine," Danny assured him, a little surprised. The other boy had been a ball of questions and angry bravado when Ba'al had taken Danny into the control compartment and locked him in here. Apparently half an hour alone was long enough to realize their captors probably weren't quite as nice and friendly as they seemed. "You?" Danny asked in concern.
Jason shrugged. "I was getting scared everyone had forgotten I was in here," he admitted with a sniff. That half an hour had probably felt a lot longer to him, Danny realized. Jason used his shirt sleeve to wipe his nose. "I wanna go home. Did you help Mr. Ball like he wanted?"
Danny sighed and nodded. It wasn't like he'd really had a choice.
"So he's going to let us go now, like he promised?" The question was half-hopeful, half-demanding. "Man! My dad is going to be so mad...."
"It's not your fault we were kidnapped," Danny pointed out.
"Yeah, but he'll still say I should'a run the other way or something, and he'll never believe me when I tell him the guy who grabbed you was invisible and everything!"
"Your dad knows all about these guys," Danny assured him, glancing around. He knew he'd been in rooms like this before, but he didn't remember them being quite so big and empty. He noted that Jason had taken off his own coat and apparently been using it to sit on over in the corner. "He'll believe you."
"How do you know that?" Jason frowned but went on before Danny could answer. "Mr. Ball said he was a friend of your uncle."
Danny frowned sharply. "He's no friend," he declared firmly. "And his name isn't 'Mr. Ball', it's just Ba'al. Two a's and one l. It's an ancient--" What was he doing trying to explain the guy's name? He shook his head and dismissed it. "Never mind. He's just a bad guy," Danny added in warning. A part of him said he should be making up some sort of a cover story to explain everything away - but the larger part of him said that was foolish and dangerous. There was no telling what else Ba'al might want or do. "He's a very bad guy, but we'll be fine as long as we do whatever he says."
If Danny had been in this alone, the goa'uld would have had a major fight on his hands - as it was, Danny didn't even dare think about resisting him. Ba'al had made it perfectly clear Jason was nothing but a whipping-boy who would pay the ultimate price if Danny didn't behave. So far he hadn't asked anything Danny couldn't give.
Danny didn't know how long that was going to last....
"He said he was going to let us go if you helped him," Jason contended staunchly. "You said you helped him!"
"I did," Danny answered.
"So?"
"So... we have to wait." Danny sighed.
"I don't want to wait!" Jason exclaimed. "He said he was going to let us go and he isn't so that means he lied. He could be lying about everything! We gotta get out of here, Danny." He moved over to the back wall and pointed at the control panel there. "It's another door," he explained. "I think the buttons are a kind of combination lock. If we can figure out the right code, we can escape!"
"It only leads to the engine room," Danny told him dismissively.
"Engine room?" Jason echoed. "You mean like on a boat or something? How'd you know that? And how'd we wind up on a boat? All I remember is a flash of light. I mean, it was like ... 'bam!' and we were here, right? I don't even remember being knocked out but they musta. It was weird."
"They used an Asgard transportation beam. It's--" How to explain it.... "It's like they used to do on Star Trek?" He wasn't sure the other boy would have ever seen that show. He sighed and decided to just come out with everything. "We're not on Earth any more Jason; we're on a space ship. Even if we could get out of here, there's nowhere to go. We're in the middle of outer space!"
Jason blinked and then offered him a sudden frown. "Not funny, Danny!" he claimed angrily. "You might think this is all some kind of joke or something, but I don't! I wanna go home; and I wanna go home now!" He turned to start punching the key pad at random, trying to stumble on the necessary combination to open it. He had no idea how many to press, let alone what sequence to use.
If Ba'al was smart, the key pad had been locked out from the control console. Nevertheless, Danny thought it safer to stop Jason before he could do anything to get them in trouble. He hurried across the room to join the other boy.
Thank goodness the controls for the rings were by the other door.
Even as Danny thought that, the other door suddenly hissed open and the two boys turned in surprise to watch as the same man who'd grabbed Danny tossed Danny's coat and backpack across the room - before noticing where they were and what they were apparently doing.
"Get away from that door!" the man commanded firmly, striding forward in obvious anger. Jason jumped aside as if his fingers had been burnt but the man kept advancing.
Danny quickly stepped between him and the bigger boy. "Leave him alone!" he shouted.
"Kree, Jaffa!" Ba'al snapped from the doorway before the man could finish closing the distance. The dual quality of his voice caused the hairs to stand up on Danny's neck but also brought instant obedience. The guard immediately stopped and turned to come to attention. "What is happening in here?" the goa'uld demanded with an angry flash of his eyes.
"I caught the Tauri children attempting to access the engine compartment, my lord," the man answered concisely.
My lord? Danny had thought the guy was human, but he didn't think even a member of the Trust would address Ba'al as 'lord.'
Ba'al lifted an eyebrow and frowned at Danny. "Sabotage?" he suggested softly. "Were you hoping that by stranding us in space we'd be forced to call for help and that your friends would suddenly appear to rescue you?"
"More like the Ori," Danny grumbled unhappily. "No thank you."
Ba'al's frown became a smirk. "Smart boy." The smirk quickly vanished. "Then what were you doing at the engine room door?"
Danny had to think fast. The goa'uld wouldn't be happy with the truth and would punish Jason to make sure it didn't happen again. "I ... was looking for the bathroom!" he lied, carefully adding a plaintive whine and pressing his legs together to reinforce his words.
Ba'al blinked in surprise. "I would think you'd be well acquainted with where it is on a Tel'tak, given how often you've been aboard one." The smirk was suddenly back, but there was still a hint of suspicion in it.
"I don't remember," he answered petulantly. That much at least was the truth.
Ba'al studied him for a long moment before turning to signal one of his minions behind him. "Go stand guard in the engine room," he ordered simply and turned back to the boys as the Jaffa moved around his master to take up his newly assigned post. "Come here, Jason."
Danny quickly jumped in front of Jason, between the boy and goa'uld, fearing what Ba'al might do. "No!" he shouted. "I'm telling the truth. We didn't do anything wrong!"
The man Danny now suspected was either Ba'al's Lo'tar or a goa'uld Under Lord decided to take it on himself to enforce his master's order. Danny fell as he was suddenly shoved aside and the guard grabbed Jason by the arm.
"No!" Jason screamed, trying desperately to escape the iron grip as he was dragged forward. "Let me go!" He struggled and kicked to no avail.
"Ar'ee kree!" Ba'al bellowed - there was no other description for it. Everyone in the room, including Jason, froze. After a long moment, Ba'al sighed and offered the scene before him an exasperated shake of his head. He allowed a small smile to tug at his lips. When he spoke, his voice reverted to 'normal.' "It is truly amazing to me that Tauri children ever manage to survive to adulthood."
"Hurt Jason and you'll never get what you want." Daniel's words were loud in the silent room as he got back to his feet. He stood his ground firmly and crossed his arms, a determined look on his face. "I'll tell Jack to destroy it!"
Ba'al regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "You would condemn yourself to your present condition then, knowing I can reverse it?"
Danny's glare was unwavering. "Hurt him and you'll find out," he promised quietly.
Ba'al's gaze narrowed and the smile dropped away. He'd managed to study enough of Daniel Jackson's history to know he was more than capable of carrying out his promise - though Ba'al doubted the IOA, Tok'ra or Asgard would permit it....
He couldn't risk it.
"Let him go," he ordered quietly, never taking his eyes from his young adversary.
The guard released Jason, who immediately scrambled away to stand behind Danny. "You said you were going to let us go!" the older boy shouted over his shoulder, fighting to hang onto his anger and ignore the frightened tears the struggle with the guard had evoked. "You promised!"
Ba'al again lifted a brow in mild surprise. It was evident he was starting to get irritated. "And I will keep my promise," he answered the six year old haughtily. "When we are safe. Koh'vahk!"
The first guard and Jaffa who'd followed him in, spun on their heel to exit the room.
Ba'al abruptly walked over to one of the side walls and pressed a hidden recess. A gilded cross between an urn and a tall chamber pot shot out from beside him. He turned back to Danny and allowed his eyes to flash, his voice once again taking on the characteristic resonance of a goa'uld when he spoke. "I understand you still speak and understand goa'uld...."
It wasn't really a question, but Danny nodded anyway.
Ba'al's eyes darted to Jason for only a moment. "Rin'nok tel'shak - lo'nok kree!" he warned Danny softly before turning and disappearing as well. The door irised shut once more, locking them in.
"What did he say?" Jason asked, not really sure he wanted to know.
Keep him still - or else! "We have to behave," Danny answered simply. With a shrug, he pointed at the device that had appeared out of the wall. "That's a toilet."