Cody "Kitt" Weaver sat on a fallen log at the edge of the clearing surrounding the Stargate and examined a decaying tablet she had found. They had been on P4B-896 for close to three hours now. Kitt was having the time of her life, she had always enjoyed a good camping trip. Colonel O'neil, however, seemed less then enthused. In fact he seemed downright bored out of his mind.
"Explain to me again Daniel," Jack said, "Is this whole obsession with rocks thing catching? Or do you people just flock together?"
Daniel frowned at Jack and shot back, "Safety in numbers, oh fearless leader."
Sam suppressed a laugh by coughing. She received a glacial look from Jack and decided that the trees to the north of the clearing looked rather interesting, so she headed off in that direction. Jack continued to verbally harass Daniel.
Teal'c was curious about the newest, if only temporary, addition to their team. He walked up behind Kitt without making a sound and asked, "What is it you have found, CodyWeaver?"
Kitt glanced up at the Jaffa, not at all surprised by his presence, though she could not have known he was standing there. "I'm not really sure Teal'c." She said, slightly intimidated by him. "I can only translate parts of what's written here, some of it's worn away, and the rest is just strange."
Teal'c nodded and looked as though he were completely interested in what she was saying. She wasn't used to this undivided attention, except when talking with Daniel and Sam, and she eyed him curiously.
"Tell me Teal'c, what's it like?" She asked with a slight grin.
"I do not understand. What is what like, CodyWeaver?" He asked, moving to stand next to her, rather then behind.
"Working with two know-it-alls like Dan and Sammy, and a wise ass like Colonel O'neil." She said, knowing that if word got back to Jack that she had called him a wise ass she might regret it later.
"It is like working with friends." Teal'c said.
"Ah, well I suppose it would be." Kitt pretended to understand exactly what that meant, but in reality she was now rather confused.
"I have a question, CodyWeaver." Teal'c said.
Kitt was getting rather unnerved by his calling her by her full name. Nobody had called her that for as long as she could remember. She had just always been Kitt. "Shoot. I mean, what would that be?" She quickly corrected herself, afraid that Teal'c had yet to be taught that particular euphemism.
Teal'c nodded, silently confirming that he understood her meaning. "You consider DanielJackson and Major Carter friends?"
"Yes." Kitt said, slightly unsure of where this was going.
"Then why are you afraid of O'neil and myself?" Teal'c asked.
Kitt suddenly noticed how interesting her shoes were, and spent a few minutes examining her feet, unsure of how to answer. Finally she sighed and looked back up at the Jaffa. "Well Teal'c, I dunno, I guess you two just seem kind of intimidating. It's not that I'm afraid of either of you in particular. It's just that I am not quite sure on how you two see me."
"You do not consider O'neil or myself to be your friends?" Teal'c asked.
Kitt squinted at him, as if trying to decipher the reason for the question. Teal'c didn't wait for her answer. "Why does it matter to you how you are seen by O'neil and myself if we are not among those you consider friends?" He wasn't prying, or trying to be rude. He simply didn't understand, and Kitt accepted this and answered as honestly as she could.
"I guess it's because both you and the Colonel are very close to Dan and Sammy, and I consider them very dear friends. I guess maybe it worries me that if I look bad to the two of you, then maybe Dan and Sammy will see me differently." Kitt wasn't sure if that was completely true, but it was as close as she could come.
"I see." Teal'c said simply and looked off towards the forest but did not move.
Kitt waited to see if he was just thinking of another question for her. After a few minutes of silence she decided Teal'c was just standing guard directly next to her, which was slightly unnerving, but tolerable. So she went back to examining the small stone tablet.
A few yards away, Daniel had finally had enough of Jacks incessant quips on the deep and inscrutable meaning of 'rocks'. Daniel finally threw his arms in the air and gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't KNOW, Jack. Is that what you want to hear?" Daniel was annoyed with his team leader. "Why don't you go point your gun at some trees or do something else that seems threatening to the local flora and fauna and leave me ALONE!"
Jack opened his mouth to retort, but before he could come up with a nasty comment a yell came across the clearing.
"CodyWeaver! Watch yourself!" Teal'c's voice rang out clearly in warning.
Jack and Daniel looked over to where the two of them had been and saw only Teal'c standing with his staff weapon pointed at the trunk of a nearby tree.
Jack would have found it amusing considering Daniel's earlier comment, except for the fact that the kid was missing. "Damnit!" He swore under his breath and ran for where Teal'c was standing. "Carter, Daniel, front and center! Teal'c, where the hell is Weaver?" He said as he reached the base of the tree which Teal'c was standing at.
Before Teal'c could reply a rather annoyed voice came from above. "It's bad enough that Teal'c insists on calling me by my full name, could you at LEAST refer to me as Kitt, Colonel O'neil?"
Jack looked up just as Daniel and Sam arrived at his side. "Oh for cryin' out loud." He said, "How in the name of God did you get up there?"
"Would you believe hours of careful planning?" Kitt said, dangling from a branch of the strange looking purple tinted tree. A large vine was wrapped around her left leg from the ankle to the knee and she was handing upside down, her hair standing on end and her fingers pointing towards the ground below.
"Kitt, what on earth did you do?" Daniel asked.
"Would you guys stop asking stupid questions and just get me the hell out of this tree? All the blood is rushing into my fingertips and I have acrophobia!" Kitt said.
"You have what?" Jack said.
"It means she's afraid of heights Jack." Daniel said, looking worried.
"Oh, I knew that. Hold on Kitt. Teal'c could you shoot the vine?" Jack asked.
"That would not be advisable O'neil. The fall might break her neck." Teal'c said simply, still pointing his staff weapon at the offending tree.
"Gee Teal'c you sure know how to make a girl feel better." Kitt said sarcastically. Her face was beginning to turn a bright shade of red from all the blood rushing to it.
"How did she get up there anyhow?" Sam asked.
"Uh guys..." Kitt said slowly.
"I do not know. I had my back to her when it happened." Teal'c said.
"Guys..." Kitt said again, worry creeping into her voice.
"What we need now are constructive ideas on how to get her down, we can worry about how she got up there later." Jack said.
"HEY GUYS!" Kitt yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Wha..." Jacks annoyed question trailed off as he looked up.
"Is it just me or is that vine pulling her higher into the branches?" Daniel asked.
"It is not just you DanielJackson." Teal'c said. "She has risen two and a half feet in the last five minutes."
"Sweet." Jack said, though he thought it was anything but. "That's it, I'm going up after her."
"That would also prove inadvisable O'neil." Teal'c said.
Before Jack could ask him why, Teal'c shot four vines that had snaked out of the purple tree and were headed right for the rest of SG-1.
Kitt screamed in pain. "Teal'c, could I ask you not to shoot the vines please."
"I had no choice, CodyWeaver." Teal'c said, "They were going to attempt to capture the rest of us."
"I understand that Teal'c, but how bout you guys just back up next time, cause Mr. Tree here doesn't seem to much appreciate your staff weapon." Kitt said grimacing.
"What do you mean the tree didn't like the staff weapon?" Daniel asked.
Kitt gritted her teeth, "I mean, when Teal'c shot out new pal here, the vise grip his vine buddy has on my leg increased ten fold. In other words, I'd like to come out of this situation with my left leg still attached."
"Understood," Jack said, "Teal'c, no shooting the tree unless absolutely necessary."
Teal'c nodded but held his weapon aimed at the tree nonetheless.
"Kitt it may be necessary to shoot you down before you get and higher." Jack said, looking up at her.
"I take it back, I'd rather lose the foot then break my neck." She looked down and Jack.
"We have to get you out of there Weaver!" He said in his command tone.
"Understood sir," Kitt said, though she didn't sound too happy about it.
"Daniel, go grab a tarp from out gear, we'll use it as a net to break her fall. Teal'c, line up your shot and wait for my order."
Daniel scurried off to round up a tarp and Teal'c got into position. "I am ready when you are O'neil." He said.
Daniel had returned with the tarp and he, Sam and Jack each took a corner.
"Okay Teal'c..." Jack began.
Kitt screamed in pain again. "All right already! I get the point! Geez." She said, "Colonel, this won't work. Mr. Tree here seems to have caught onto what you are doing and he's not gonna let me go. In fact, he REALLY seems to object to that." As if to prove her point, another vine shot out and grabbed a hold of her right elbow. The tree had obviously been persuaded not to reach for the rest of the team due to Teal'c's earlier Staff blasts, but that just made it seem all the more determined not to let it's one prize go.
Jack lowered his edge of the tarp. "Carter, use the M.A.L.P., inform the General that we have a problem."
Sam nodded ran off toward the Stargate.
Jack looked back up at Kitt. "Kitt, it looks like you've just made a new friend."
Sam had made it back to the Gate, only to find both it and the DHD wrapped in vines. She couldn't activate the Gate without destroying the vines, and she couldn't destroy the vines without hurting Kitt. When she got back to the tree to report the situation to Jack, little had changed. Kitt was still in the tree, Teal'c and Jack still had weapons pointed at it, and Daniel was standing with a folded tarp in his arms, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully.
"What happened Carter?" Jack asked.
"I'm sorry sir, but the vines have completely covered the gate and the DHD. I couldn't dial out." Sam said, obviously as upset with the situation as he was.
//And why shouldn't she be// Jack thought, that is HER friend up in that tree.
"You know what this means Jack? This plant life is developing intelligent responses to our actions, maybe even reacting to our words. It is showing signs of physical pain. We could be dealing with a sentient life form!" Daniel was getting excited.
"Great Danny, but we'll teach it to sit down and roll over later. Right now my main concern is getting Weaver out of that damn tree." Jack was past annoyed and about three quarters of the way through pissed, he was edging towards homicidal mania. //Or would that be vegicidal?// He thought to himself.
The conversation seemed to remind Daniel that he still had a friend stuck in a tree. The vines had stopped moving her upward, but she was still upside down with both her left leg and right arm entangled. "How are you feeling Kitt?" Daniel yelled up to her.
"Like I'm being drawn and quartered, thanks for asked." She said halfheartedly. She had been hanging there for over an hour now, and her face had turned an unhealthy looking purple. She wasn't speaking much and Sam feared that she might have fainted.
Daniel pushed past Jack and Teal'c and walked up to the tree.
"Damnit Danny, get the hell back over here!" Jack hissed.
Daniel ignored him and stood next to the tree. "What is it you want from us?" Daniel asked in a whisper.
"Daniel, watch it!" Jack yelled as a vine came down next to him.
"No, wait!" Daniel said, holding his hand out at Teal'c and Jack. "I asked it a question."
Jack looked worried, but he watched as the vine snaked out near Daniel and began moving through the dirt.
"Holy Hannah." Sam said, barely above a whisper. "It's writing something."
"What did you ask it, DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked.
"I wanted to know what it wanted from us." Daniel watched as the vine drew in the dirt.
"Well," said Jack skeptically, "What did it say?"
Daniel looked up at them, stunned, he said, "It says that it wants answers."
~TBC~
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