Finding Memory

[LassyD]

This Stargate SG1 and Guyver crossover is set somewhere in the first season of Stargate, due to the fact I’ve only seen a couple episodes and they’re all in the beginning, but then again, I’ve read a lot of fanfiction, so might end up somewhere else. Which also means that I won’t be getting a lot of characterization accurately, and because I can’t get the Stargate movie Daniel out of my head, I’m switching actors. As for the Guyver, I’m going off of a seven or eight year old memory of the anime and live action, so any discrepancies, well they’re due to time. oh well, there is a reason it’s called “FanFiction”

A name, a name, I’ll have to come up with one eventually. Until then, well, the name shall be NYAR wahahahahaha,

Prologue.

There was silence. The silence wasn’t unusual, for it had been silent for the past few thousand years. Excepting the times a random animal would wander near. The silence of the darkness was broken by a low rumble. The rumble continued on for a few moments before a bright flash of light illuminated the small cave. Resting along the wall was a large blue-gray ring. The face of the ring had many odd symbols carved into it while the light came from within the ring. More like the shinny film that gave a fluid look and stretched across the center of the ring. The rumbling stopped with the appearance of the fluidic barrier.

The new silence lasted only seconds before the barrier seemed to spit out four figures. The first was large, the silhouette on the barrier showed a masculine and bulky build. The figure carried a long staff. The second was smaller, but also had a masculine build. It was still getting it’s balance back when the third and fourth figures appeared. One of the two had a decidedly feminine figure and was shorter than the first two figures while the other was masculine, and a similar height to its partner. Seconds after these last two figures appeared, the lit barrier vanished leaving the four in darkness.

Seconds passed before four soft clicks were heard followed by four beams of light. A few moments passed while the beams studied the dust covered walls. In the center of the cave was a large cylindrical object, no details could be made out due to the thick layer of dirt covering its surface.

“It looks like the Stargate isn’t a big factor in any culture on this planet.” a soft spoken voice said.
“Ya think?” came a sarcastic reply.
“Let’s get out of this cave, it’ll be so much more interesting.” A feminine voice piped in.
“Right,” the sarcastic voice said.

The lights found only one exit out of the cave, and so with no other option, took it. It was a tunnel that though wasn’t overly small, gave only enough room for single file. It twisted and turned for what seemed like a quarter mile before light could be seen, marking an end to the confines of the stone.

The team walked out into the light, first came the large figure, he had dark chocolate colored skin and a gold tattoo on his forehead. The green military uniform stood out greatly in the brown cave pocked mountain side.

“What we got here Teal’c?”
A second figure asked as he stepped into the light. His greying hair cropped short in a military cut. He wore similar clothes to Teal’c.
“I believe that this area is uninhabited Colonel O’Neill.”
Just following O’Neill was the woman, she had blond hair and light skin. Her blue eyes peered at the short brownish plants with interest. Just after her appeared the last of the team, shaggy sandy blond hair was tucked behind his ears. His blue eyes were framed by a pair of glasses.

Turning and seeing the sponge like cliff side, the last one said, “Jack, you think we should mark this cave?” The rest of the team turned and also noticed the holey mountain.
“Good idea,” O’Neill said, “Carter, you should have something.” the woman nodded.
“I think so sir” she said before taking her pack off and pulling out a tent spike. She dug it into the side of the cave they just came out of.

After a quick conversation on where they should try going, the group headed off following the foot of the mountain. The team walked until the planet’s sun reached its apex, then stopped for lunch.

“Hey, what’s wrong,” O’Neill asked Daniel, for the younger anthropologist had seemed distracted all day. The man in question raised his head from the journal that he had been writing in. “Nothing Jack, I just have a lot on my mind.” with that he returned to writing in his journal. Which seemed odd due to the fact they hadn’t met anyone yet. Only a few odd looking animals. Taking the hint, Jack didn’t question the anthropologist any further, but instead finished his food and when everyone else was done, started the team off on their exploratory mission.
The rest of the day passed without incident. There were indications that humans didn’t inhabit the area. One such sign was the animals lack of regard for the team.

Deciding that there wouldn’t be anything useful, the team started its way back in the late afternoon, setting up camp when the sun was on the horizon. Night soon came eased on by the friendly banter of the SG1 team. Soon watch had been set up and the rest drifted off to a comfortable sleep. Well most of them any way.

Teal’c, whom was on watch, noticed that the anthropologist seemed to be having nightmares. The young man was tossing and turning mumbling something incoherent to the Jaffa’s ears. Teal’c moved over to the Daniel and spoke softly, “DanielJackson, wake up, you are having a nightmare.” he accompanied the speech with a soft nudge of Daniel’s shoulder.

Daniel’s eyes jerked awake and were filled with confusion for a moment. His eyes darted around the camp in the near blackness of the night.
“DanielJackson, are you alright?” Teal’c asked with a hint of concern in his voice. The confusion in Daniel’s eyes died with the question from Teal’c.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he said softly. Teal’c nodded and went back to his post. He woke Sam for her watch just as the moon was going down and leaving her in darkness. The rest of the night passed smoothly.

The real surprise was when morning came and Daniel’s sleeping bag was empty. Closer inspection showed that all of Daniel’s belongings were still there, just not the anthropologist. After much commotion and general disorder among the team, they found footprints in the soft earth. Seeing as the prints were their only clue, the three followed the trail. It only took twenty minutes of walking before it dead ended at the mountain. Whoever had stolen their teammate away had climbed up leaving no real trail on the mountain.

“Dammit Daniel!” O’Neill shouted and hit the mountainside in frustration. The impact must have dislodged some loose rocks from above. The small rock slide made the team back up, then look up.

“Sir,” Sam said with a tone of relief and pointed to a sandy blond patch twenty feet up. The blond belonged to a figure, one curled up into a semblance of a ball rocking back and fourth quietly. It showed no sign of having heard either exclamation.

“Daniel!” O’Neill tried shouting to the figure. After not receiving a response he looked at the pocked wall. It looked strong enough for them to climb without crumbling. He quickly scrambled up onto the ledge that Daniel was sitting.

[LassyD]

“What are you doing?” He said to the still figure sitting before him. Daniel didn’t respond, in fact, he hadn’t even blinked. His eyes gazed out blankly. “Come on,” irritation seeped into O’Neill’s voice as he grabbed Daniels arm and gently lifted up. He was slightly startled when Daniel stood at the physical request. It took the team a few moments to decide how to get the non-responsive archeologist off the ledge. Finally Teal’c ended up climbing up and carrying Daniel down over his shoulder.

Upon his touchdown, Sam started to check Daniel for injury or any thing that could be the reason for his near catatonic behavior. She turned to Jack, “he’s not injured,”

“What’s wrong with him Major? A person doesn’t just doesn’t take a mental holiday for the fun of it.”

Sam gave Jack a sharp look, “He’s got no signs of concussion or anything else I can think of. We probably should return to SGC so Janet can take a look at him. . . Maybe there’s something on this planet that’s effecting him.” She paused and looked around quickly, “maybe we should take some samples, he doesn’t seem to be in immediate danger and it might speed up finding out what’s wrong.”

Jack looked ready to protest but the calm voice from Teal’c agreeing with Sam stopped him. He gave off a sigh before saying, “fine, two hours, you two collect, I’ll keep an eye on Daniel.”

The group lead Daniel’s unresisting form back to the camp sight from earlier. Jack sat Daniel down on his sleeping bag while Sam and Teal’c went to collect samples. It was then that he realized that Daniel didn’t have his shoes on, and the rock face had been pretty sharp.

The anthropologist’s feet weren’t bad, but they did have some cuts on them. Jack took a few moments to clean off the sores and wrap them in clean cloth before putting Daniel’s shoes on.

The rest of the time passed slowly. Daniel didn’t move, not even to blink, the entire time. Jack nearly jumped on Sam and Teal’c when they returned. The silence had been unnerving, even more so because the anthropologist was a person who never seemed to stop an endless litany of banter while awake.

“Come on folks the faster we get back, the sooner we can figure out what’s wrong.” The camp got bundled up and soon the group was back in their packs and walking to the cave that they had emerged from. It was a good thing that Sam had marked it because there were so many holes that looked similar.

They got a few steps into the deep cave when Daniel collapsed in a limp bundle.

“It looks like his condition is worsening, Come on, we have to hurry.” Sam said with a small sense of urgency. Over the time she knew him, Daniel had wormed his way into her heart, he had a place right next to her father and brother.

Teal’c stoically picked the now inert form and put Daniel over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. His turning and continuing the way was all the nudging needed to get the rest of the team moving.

The DHD though dusty worked and they sent their signal through. Teal’c first with Daniel, followed by Jack and Sam. The wormhole was just as nauseating and cold as ever. As Teal’c stumbled down the ramp, he nearly tripped because his burden started moving.

“Teal’c? Why are you carrying me?” Daniel had woken somehow and was now looking around from on top of Teal’c’s shoulder. “And why are we back at the SGC? We just went through the stargate.” His voice was confused. Teal’c put him down.

The other two arrived and the liquid like barrier vanished.

“Jack! What’s going on?”

“What’s going on? You tell me. We got there and over night you turned into a puppet, all body, no brain. I wanna know what happened?”

Daniel’s eyes clouded over in confusion, “What do you mean? We just went through that thing.” he was cut off from continuing by General Hammond’s voice,

“Gentlemen, this can be discussed after you’re post mission check up. And in the briefing. Two hours.” He said then walked out of the room.

[LassyD]

Chapter:1

“Carter!” Jack called to figure retreating down the corridor. She stopped and turned.

“Yes sir?”

“Have you seen Daniel? He’s not in his office, and I was supposed to give him a ride home. He gave a little shrug, “Doc’s orders and all.”

“No sir, I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

“Thanks,” Jack said before turning and leaving for Teal’c’s quarters. Maybe he had seen the archeologist sometime more recently. The walk was short and the conversation was essentially the same as he had with Sam. As Jack was leaving Teal’c’s room, the Jaffa said.

“Maybe DanielJackson departed already.”

Jack gave him an appraising look before thanking the big man for the idea and headed to the exit. The gate guard saluted sharply at his appearance.

“Sergeant, has Daniel Jackson left the base.”

“Yes sir, he left at the beginning of my watch.” He paused, but continued at Jack’s insistent glare. “He said he wasn’t feeling well and had Corporal Jenson drive him home. I must ask, is he alright? He was pale and really shaky on his way out.”

Mystery solved, or at least part of it. Why would Daniel have left without even saying good by? Jack was puzzling over the matter when the Sergeant brought his attention back by asking.

“Sir?” Jack could see genuine concern for the archeologist in the sergeant’s eyes. He gave a reassuring smile before replying.

“Well, the doc said he was alright, just shouldn’t drive for a while. Whatever the device Nem used on him left him a little jumpy, but he should be alright.” It had been about two weeks since the incident that left Sam Teal’c and Jack believing that Daniel had died on Oannes. Since then Daniel had been a little tipsy and more clumsy than usual. He also seemed to sequester himself to his work much more avidly than usual, which was kind of hard to imagine, and Janet had made it an order that he go home with Jack at the latest to get some rest every night.

Deciding that Daniel could probably use his rest, Jack signed out of the base and drove home.

Jack was annoyed. They had a briefing this morning and Daniel had an appointment with Janet to see if he’d be let back on active duty. What does the geeky archeologist do? He won’t answer his door.

“Come on Daniel” he shouted as he pounded on Daniel’s door. Moments went by before he grumbled in frustration and tried the door. Jack wasn’t sure if the fact it was open surprised him. He knew that the other man might not be feeling well, but forgetting to lock the door was a bit much, even for Daniel.

“Daniel!” he barked to the empty apartment. He looked around at the haphazard organization of papers littering whatever surfaces could be found. Whatever Daniel had been doing, he wasn’t doing it now, and hadn’t bothered to pack anything up. Jack searched the rest of the apartment but didn’t find the wayward archeologist. He was about to leave when Daniel’s computer chimed.

Annoyance and a slight bit of worry caused Jack to disregard Daniel’s privacy and look. The computer showed that Daniel had a new e-mail message. But the odd thing was the one that was displayed, and that one was from the Montana Herold.

The message was actually a picture of a newspaper clipping. Jack was unnerved when he noticed that Daniel’s face was staring at him in its black and white glory. Next to him stood a woman with dark hair and light skin holding a baby. A young child stood between the two holding Daniel’s hand. Jack stared unbelievingly at the picture a moment before his eyes were drawn to the caption.

“Last portrait of the Murphy family. Elizabeth holding little Sarah while Sean keeps a close hand on Alex.(March, 1970)”

Jack drew his eyes up to the headline. “Local Family Gone Missing.”

“Sean Murphy, a local forest ranger, and his two children went missing last weekend on a camping trip. The widower and his two children had gone down to the river Saturday July 4nd 1978 for a fishing trip. The police have been unable to find any evidence as to their fate or whereabouts. . . . “ The article went on but Jack was too stunned to read anymore. The man in the picture, it was Daniel, it had to be. But it was taken in the seventy. He quickly glanced at the end of the article to see where it was from, Yaak Montana.

Jack hit the print button and while the article was printing started to look at some of the papers littering Daniel’s work area. They looked like medical records. He skimmed them and noted that they were from Sacred Heart Hospital in Troy, Montana, and from 1979. Looking further, he noticed that the first page noted the patient as John Doe, but toward the end of the stack it switched to Daniel Jackson. The printer finished with a loud clack of plastic and went silent.

Jack took one last look around the apartment before snagging the papers and leaving, intent on getting back to SGC as soon as possible so they could find Daniel. A slight growl of irritation escaped his lips as he slammed the door closed behind him. The drive to the mountain was quiet and Jack was brooding. The false memory of Daniel dying still came back to him, and the feelings of loss he, Sam, and Teal’c had felt were strong, he didn’t want to know how the others would react, but he knew it would be strongly.

Why? Why had Daniel ran away? What happened on Oannes? This had to be because of that. Ever since Daniel got back he had been more distant and preoccupied. Jack had just figured it was because the rest of the mountain was being overbearing, and it would get back to normal once everyone got used to the fact that Daniel was in fact back and never really died in the first place. Jack barely noticed as the gate guard saluted and he made his way through security.

[LassyD]

“Corporal Jenson, do you know why you’re here?” General Hammond’s voice held a hint of controlled worry. The young Corporal sitting at one of the seats in the conference room looked nervous, his dark brown eyes flickering from one person to the next.

“No sir.”

“Dr. Jackson is missing, and you’re the last person to have seen him.” The brown eyes widened and the Corporal’s face paled.

“Wha?” He stuttered, “what happened to him?”

“That’s what we were hoping you could tell us.” Jack broke in. The general gave Jack a silencing glare then turned an encouraging face to the Corporal.

“Is there anything that he said or did when you took him home that was unusual?”

Jenson closed his eyes and bowed his head in deep thought. “He was quiet the entire way to his apartment. I remember trying to get him to talk, but he just sat staring out the window.” Jenson’s voice started out soft as if the memory was vague and he wasn’t too sure about it. “When we got there, I asked him if he was alright and he said something like ‘Am I? I doubt it.’ then walked away.” Jenson gave a little strained half laugh and looked up at the gathered team and General, “Something was really bothering him, but I have no idea what.”

“Thank you Corporal, that will be all.”

Jenson saluted and made a quick exit. As the door softly clicked closed, the four people remaining in the briefing room turned to each other.

“Well, that did us no good,” Jack said, his tone laced with annoyance. “We’re no closer to finding out where Daniel is, or why he disappeared.” Before he could go on anymore, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in” General Hammond said. The door swung open and revealed a wheeled TV, and a quiet voice.

“Sir, you requested the security footage from Dr. Jackson’s office.”

“Yes, bring it in.” The room was quiet while the young technician set up the video equipment, then left the room. Hammond picked up the remote and soon an empty office was displayed. It stayed that way until the counter told Six AM, where Daniel entered the room. The fast forward button was hit, and SG1 was given a glimpse of the busy work ethic of Daniel. Every once in a while someone would flit into his office and out again, or Daniel would get up and leave for a moment. Finally, the mail carrier entered and handed Daniel a stack of mail and left. Daniel started to go through it while walking back to his desk from one of his many trips to the coffee maker. He stopped and opened one envelope and paused a moment to read it. Though the display was black and white, everyone could see his face pale as his hands fell to his sides, the paper barely being held onto.

“Hey, slow it down.” Jack quickly said, “Think this might be something.” His voice was half hopeful, half curious. Hammond slowed the recording just as the image of Daniel fell into his chair, the impact causing the paper to fall to the floor and slide under his desk. Daniel’s eyes just stared strait forward for quite a while, as if he went into shock. Ten minutes passed on the counter and Daniel hadn’t moved a muscle. Then as if someone flipped a switch, he jumped up, grabbed his keys and left the room.

“He signed out of the base 3 minutes later.” Hammond said as he stopped the tape.

“Whatever’s on that paper has something to do with his disappearance.” Sam said quietly.

“Ya think?” Sarcasm laced Jack’s voice, but his face was worried. Whatever was in that note Daniel had read was serious, the Archeologist wouldn’t have reacted so badly if it was not.

Teal’c stood and started for the door, he paused when General Hammond asked where he was going.

“It would be prudent to collect the paper that so unnerved DanielJackson.” With that said the jaffa left the room.

“Well, guess that’s started.”Hammond said to Jack and Sam.

“What do you think was on that paper?” Sam asked, eyes worried.

“Whatever it is, we’ll know soon enough.” The General replied cutting off Jack’s response. The room fell into an uneasy silence. The occupants all lost in their own thoughts.

All eyes swivelled to the door as Teal’c returned, holding a couple sheets of paper. He gave the papers to Hammond and sat down. Hammond looked over them quickly before looking up.

“Teal’c, are you sure these are the papers that Dr. Jackson was looking at?”

“They are the only papers that were under the desk, where we saw the ones DanielJackson was reading fell to.”

“Sir?” Carter’s voice was concerned.

Hammond handed the papers over to Sam as Jack was fidgeting nervously in his chair. Sam took one look at the cover sheet and confusion swept across her face.

“Birth records?” Her eyes met with Jack’s as she slid the stack over to the Colonel. Jack took a quick glance before asking.

“Why on earth would Daniel wigg out about some birth record?”

“The records are for DanielJackson.” Teal’c supplied, having read over them on the way back from Daniel’s office. Hammond glanced quickly at the confused faces before pushing an intercom button.

“Could you have Dr. Fraiser come to the conference room.”
“Yes Sir.” The intercom switched off.

A few moments later Dr. Fraiser walked in the room.

“You wanted to see me sir?”

“Yes, Dr. Jackson disappeared sometime between yesterday and this morning. The only motive we’ve been able to find is this record.” The file slid across the table to Janet’s position. She picked it up as Hammond continued. “There’s something in that file that spooked Jackson, and we were hoping you could give us a clue.”

There was a moment of silence as Janet flipped through the record. Her eyes scanning the paper with the ease of one long used to reading medical reports.

“Are you sure this is Daniel’s?” She looked up from the file.

“The name, hospital and date of birth all match up with our records.” The general’s voice was slightly confused. Janet whispered something under her breath then fell into a convenient chair with a plop.

“What is it Doctor?”

Her eyes took in the worried faces of SG-1 and the General.

“If you’re positive these are Daniel Jackson’s birth records, then,” she took a calming breath. “The man we know is not Daniel Jackson.”

“Are you sure?” Jack beat the General to the punch.

Janet graced Jack with a minor glare.

“I would think that I know the blood type of my patient. Especially with the amount of times he’s been in the infirmary.” Sam interrupted before Jack could formulate a good and sarcastic response.

“I don’t think he knew.” All eyes swivelled to the blond. “I mean, look at his reaction. He must have seen the same thing as Janet, and it floored him.”

“So our archaeologist’s having an identity crisis? The question now is where’d he run off to?”

“Jack, you were in his apartment this morning, was there anything that might give us a clue?”

Jack was about to reply negatively when his mind quickly flashed to the papers he took.

“Well, There were more medical records and an article. I printed them out, but left them in my office.” He stood and double timed it to his office and back. Tossing the papers on the table as soon as he entered. Dr. Fraiser snatched at the medical records but left the printout of the newspaper article.

“He looks exactly like Daniel.” Sam said when she saw the picture. She passed the article to the General. He looked at it and skimmed it without making any comments, then passed it on.

“The similarity is indeed uncanny.” Teal’c said to the general assembly.

All eyes turned to Dr. Fraiser when she uttered a soft “Holy Shit.”

“What is it Doctor?” Hammond demanded. She looked at the assembled.

“If what I’m seeing is right. Then it’s been twenty two years.” She trailed off.

“Twenty two years of what?”

Janet tossed the file towards the general before saying, “Twenty two years ago, a young man was found with amnesia. The foster parents of Daniel Jackson identified the Jon Doe as their missing ward. And that’s who he’s been ever since.” she paused letting the information sink in. “I can’t imagine what he’s feeling right now.”

“This is all well and good, but do we have any clue to where he went now?”

“Well both the article and records are from Montana, so I’d guess that’s a starting place.” Sam suggested, “Think of it, you find out that you’re not who you thought you were. What would you want to do?”

“Find out who you were,” General Hammond said with a hint of realization. “Ok folks, I’ll arrange a flight to Troy for you people. We need Daniel back”

#nosmileys

[LassyD]

Seeing as how the next commercial flight wasn’t until the morning, and SGC had a lot of military resources, 5 hours later Teal’c, Sam, and Jack stepped off of a jet on the edge of the airport in Troy Montana.

“So kids, where do we go?” Jack asked in general. Sam glanced around before saying.

“I think we should try Yaak first, it’s more than likely that Daniel already knows everything that could be found out at the Hospital.” she paused a moment, “It’s also a small town which should make it fairly easy to search.”

“Murry?”

“I concur.”

“Alright campers, lets go.” Jack said before hopping into a nearby jeep that had been pre-arranged for their use. The drive was silent, everything that could be said, had been said.

The sun had set by the time they reached Yaak. It seemed that everything but one hotel had closed up shop for the night.

“So,” the younger looking girl behind the counter asked, “what brings you to Yaak? The three of you don’t seem like the roughing it type.” She smiled.

“We’re looking for this man,” Jack showed her a picture of Daniel, “We think he might have come here.”

The girl took a look at the picture. “Here? He doesn’t seem like the roughing it type either. I’m not sure, he looks kinda familiar.” She shrugged and handed back the picture, “you’re room number is 108, if you go out these doors,” she pointed to a set to her left, “and down six rooms, it’ll be on the left.” With no other option until morning, the three retired for the night.

They started out early, visiting all the morning cafes. By the time ten o’clock rolled around, it seemed news of them spread faster than they could travel. People were cheerful, but as of yet, only one person said that they had seen Daniel. That person had seen Daniel get off of the shuttle that went to the Troy airport in the evening two days previous. They walked into a general store & café seemed to be a popular hangout of some of the more elderly citizens of the town.

“Well, at least we know he’s been here.” Jack said as they sat down at a small table with checkered tablecloth. There was a man sitting at the nest table over. He looked to be in his seventies, but in good health. A grey pinstriped hat graced his head. It didn’t go too well with his red suspenders and light blue Cambridge shirt. Then again, he was an old man and aloud some eccentricities. He seemed to have good hearing because just after Jack spoke, he turned his attention to the four now at the table.

“Yes sir, but that was two days ago, he could have gone anywhere by now.”

Teal’c remained quiet, but his glance moved to the old man after noticing the attention. Jack noticed Teal’c’s shift in attention and followed the jaffa’s gaze. Seeing the old man, he showed the man the picture.

“Have you seen this man?” Weariness had unwittingly crept into his voice The man smiled.

“He looks so much like his father did at that age. The resemblance is uncanny.” The man leaned back in his chair. “I thought I was seeing a ghost when he wandered in here. The boy was so pale, he seemed like a strong wind would blow him over.”

Jack seemed to be bursting with inpatients and just holding himself back from yelling at the man to get on with it.

“Do you know where he went?” Sam, it seemed, couldn’t hold back.

The man leaned forward and glanced over them. After a moment of his scrutiny he sat back and said. “You’re his friends. Good, the boy needs them.”

“But do you know where he is?” This time it was Jack. The man smiled good-naturedly.

“All in good time. All in good time.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“From what he told me, he just started to remember fifteen years of his life, he needs time to get used to those memories.” The man’s hazel eyes twinkled, “so sit back and relax for a bit, maybe have lunch. Then I’ll tell you where he’s gone off to.”

Jack gave the old man a death glare, but it didn’t seem to phase the man.

“Wait,” Sam said, “ you said that you knew his father?”

The man smiled, “Yes,” he got a far off look in his eyes, “Sean Alexander Murphy, we grew up together, old Sean and I.”he leaned in conspiratorially, “I always was a bit jealous that he snagged Lizzy, but he loved her. It seemed the happiest day of his life was when Alex jr. was born.”

A waitress came around, took the trio’s order, and left a can of soda by the old man. He took a sip before continuing.

“Alex was always a curious child.” He gave a quick laugh, as if remembering something funny. “Always got himself into the most strange situations. Why when he was six, he somehow got himself stuck in the chimney. Lizzy had been busy with Sarah.” The man’s eyes went sad, “Lizzy died not too long after that. It threw their family into chaos for a while. Alex was a big help then. Or so Sean told me, we worked together you know.”

The waitress returned with SG1's orders and a smile. The man paused and looked thoughtful.

“It’s strange, when Alex was younger, he looked so much like his mother, but with his father’s eyes. Now he’s a spitting image of his father.” He grinned, “well, his hair’s a bit longer.”

SG1 ate very quickly, hoping to get this man to hurry up and take them to their missing member. Jack finished his food and looked at the old man.

“There’s we’ve had lunch, can you please tell us where he is?” It seemed that he was fighting all of his inpatients to be polite to the old man.

The man smiled and nodded, “Jennifer, could I have a pen and paper?” He called to the waitress. She smiled and brought the requested items.

“Seeing as I doubt the boy’s going to be wanting my company, I’ll just draw you a map.” He smiled and sketched a rough map on the paper, he marked a few landmarks and roads before handing it to Jack. “I circled where his house is. I kept that old place exactly the same as when they disappeared.” the man shrugged, “to be honest with you, I don’t think I ever gave up hope in seeing ol’ Sean again. The house is the boy’s now, I hope he takes care of it.” With that the man went back to his soda. Leaving the three to their business.

They were out of there so quickly, they nearly forgot to pay for the lunch. The drive was short, yet confusing. The map was good, but many of the roads were dirt and didn’t have any signs. They had passed the one they wanted because it had grown over through lack of use.

The outside of the cabin was maintained, but it felt empty. Jack quickly walked up to the door and knocked. “Daniel? Are you there?” There was no answer. Jack had a sudden flash of deja vu and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Jack took a quick glance at Teal’c and Sam before easing the door open. A soft noise could be heard, as if someone was crying.

“Daniel?” There was no response. The entry room was neat, if a bit dusty. An old sixties style couch rested along one wall. Next to it was a large floor standing radio. The mantle over the fireplace had a collection of pictures in frames, but there were holes, as if some of the frames had been taken. There were dirtied old curtains over the windows. A door and a hallway were the only exits. The noise seemed to be coming from the hallway.

The sounds cleared as the small group moved to the hallway.

“So sorry. . .. I didn’t mean to. . . it’s all my fault. . . I’m so sorry.” The words were repeated with small sobs interspersed at uneven times. They followed the voice to a room that had been decorated in bright colors at one point. Now they had dulled and the life had been bleached out of the room. A child sized desk sat near the door and just beyond that, next to the window was a small bed.

On that bed, wearing the same rumpled clothes that they had last seen him in, sat Daniel. He was hugging his knees to his chest with his eyes staring at a picture that he held.

“Daniel?” Sam moved to his still form. He reacted as soon as she touched him.

“Don’t touch me!” his voice was horse and he threw himself closer to the wall. His voice softened, “it’s all my fault.” He hugged his legs harder and continued at a near whisper, “I don’t want to kill you too.”

“Daniel, you’re not going to kill me.” Sam said in a reassuring tone and sat on the corner of the bed. Daniel’s eyes were puffy and red from crying, and Jack could see the lines where tears had repeatedly fallen down his face.

“Do you think I wanted to kill them?” Daniel’s soft voice cracked. He shoved the picture he had been holding in Sam’s face, “Sarah,” he choked, “and Sean,” A fresh sob wracked his frame as he rested his head back on his knees. “I didn’t mean to,” a sniffle, “I didn’t want to,” he raised his head again. “But they’re dead and it’s my fault.” Sam quietly looked at the picture then handed it to Jack.

There were two figures in the picture. A small brown haired girl, about six years old with wide eyes and a soft face was sitting on a picnic blanket next to a boy who seemed to be ten years old. He had light brown hair and a mischievous face. It looked like he was about to pour water on the unsuspecting girl.

Jack handed the photo to Teal’c and said, “I’m sure it’s not your fault Daniel, you’d never hurt anyone.”

“But I’m not Daniel.” he paused, his eyes took a far off expression. “I never was.” He turned to the wall and muttered, “I’m nothing but a murderer.”

“Who are you then.” Jack snapped, all this searching, and now this. This was supposed to be easy, find Daniel, or whoever he was now, and go back. He hadn’t signed on for any of this emotional stuff.

“I,” he gazed out the window, “I was Sean Alex Murphy.” He lowered his head, “now I don’t know who I am.”

“Why do you think you killed them?” Sam’s voice was soft and entreating.

[LassyD]

“It was me, it had to be me.” Daniel looked strait at Sam, “there was no one else there.”

“Daniel,” Sam started, but Daniel interrupted.

“I’m not Daniel.”

“Alright, but what were your reasons? You had to have some.” Sam seemed to waver between moving closer to Daniel’s curled up form and holding herself back. Instead her hand inched forward, but didn’t quite get to him.

“I don’t know,” He started to sob again. “We were climbing,” his eyes unfocused as if he was traveling along with the memory. “I. . . I slipped. I don’t really remember the fall, but when I woke up.” He paused, unfocused eyes widening in remembered fear. “They,” a choked sob, “they were dead,” he started rubbing his hands together as if trying to wash them. “There was so much blood,” he sighed, “it was all over,” fearful eyes once again locked onto Sam’s. “I was bathed in it. I was so scared. . . I ran and ran and ran.” He started to rock himself unconsciously. “I killed them.” he started chanting in a low voice.

Jack couldn’t handle seeing his friend in this state any more, so he left the room. The rest of the house had a long past homey feel. In the jeep they had some medical supplies. Jack was just hoping for a tranquilizer. It wasn’t very nice, but it looked like Daniel needed some sleep. His search for a tranquilizer was interrupted by his telephone ringing.

“O’Neill”

“Coronel O’Neill,” General Hammond’s voice came from the phone. “Have you found our missing boy yet?”

“Yes sir, but he seems to be having a tough time with what he’s learned.”

“As in?”

“Calling it a nervous breakdown would be like calling the Gou’ould a little irritating.”

“Is there any particular reason for the severity of his reaction?”

“From what I can tell, his family had been killed before his eyes, and when he was running away, he got injured and ended up in the hospital.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. “He has the worst case of survivor’s guilt I’ve ever seen.”

There was a pause before the General continued.

“Take as much time as is needed colonel, SG1 is officially on standby until you get Daniel well.”

“Right sir.”

Jack hung up and finished his search. No luck. Jack turned to go back into the house with a sigh. This was not his area and he was feeling like he’d forgotten how to tread water. As he entered the house, he noticed Teal’c was sitting on the couch and Sam had just entered the front room. She took one look at Jack and put a finger over her mouth.

“He’s exhausted, I just got him to go to sleep.” She whispered to her CO. Jack nodded his head towards the door before leaving again. Sam and Teal’c followed without a word.

“Carter, what do you think of the situation.”

Sam was about to answer when Jack motioned for silence. The sound of a car coming was faint, but getting louder. Seconds later a old beat up pick up truck came into view. The driver was a young woman and it didn’t take long to recognize her as the waitress from the cafe. The old man was sitting in the passenger seat, his form slightly blocked out by a large white paper bag.

When the truck stopped, the woman hopped out, opened the old man’s door, and grabbed the two pizza boxes he had been holding, on which rested the white bag.

“Thanks Jennifer.”

“No problem Sam.”

“What are you doing here?” Jack nearly barked.

Jennifer turned and gave Jack a sheepish grin.

“Sam insisted that we bring you dinner.” She gave the old man a sidelong glance. “Wouldn’t stop fussing until someone agreed to it.”

Sam puffed up in indignation.

“I’ll have you know, that was not fussing.” Jennifer just laughed. Sam turned to the SG1, “and it’s nearly time for dinner. I’m pretty sure you youngins left without thinking about it.” The old man started for the door. Jack stopped his progress with a held out arm and a soft.

“He’s asleep.” The old man raised an eyebrow.

“Taking it really hard is he?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you know?” Samantha butted in. The old Sam sat down on a old chair. He paused a moment before fishing a small pendent out of his pocket. It was beautiful and old. A small angel held a ruby rose. He fiddled it with it quickly and it opened with a click. There were two pictures inside. Jack vaguely recognized them as pictures of Elizabeth and a young Sarah. The old man sighed.

“I found this three years after they disappeared. And the remains of little Sarah.” His voice dropped as he handed the locket to Samantha. “It was horrible. I don’t know what could have done that to that little girl.” He shuddered. “The coroner said it was a bear attack.” He stared Jack in the eye. “I never told them about the locket and they never identified the body. I figured it was best laid to rest then.” He sighed again and stood, grabbing his back. “Bah, old age, just makes all them old bones creak.” He held out his hand, “Can I have the locket back? I feel it’s just right that I’m the one to give it back to the boy.”

Jennifer put the food on a raised log that had been used as a table many times. She moved the bag to a different area before opening the boxes and pulling napkins out of the truck.

“Sup’s up, dig in before it gets too cold.”

“What’s in the bag?” Jack was a little suspicious.

“Little Alex never liked pizza, but I figured you wouldn’t mind it at all. It’s rather amazing that Sally’s still makes his favorite sandwich,” the old man shrugged, “but I’m not going to stop and analyze.” He headed for the door before Jack stopped him again.

“He just got to sleep,” the man gave Jack a toothy smile.

“I’m sure he can get more sleep later, it’s been over twenty years since he’s had one of these, and I intend to get it to him still hot.” He then stepped around Jack and walked into the house.

“So, Jennifer,” Sam turned to the waitress, whom had found a comfortable seat. “What is Sam like?”

“Sam’s this town’s oldest prankster.” She responded with a smile. “He hates to see anyone sad.” She developed a far off stare. “I remember he’s always been there for the children of this town. Mom said he always was a busybody, but since he retired from the forest service he was the best last minute daycare anyone in these parts could hope for.” She smiled, “he was always going on about how there wasn’t enough smiles in the world. I don’t think that there’s anyone in this town that he hasn’t looked after. Kind of like a father to all of us.”

“Prankster?” Samantha asked for clarification.


“Yeah, he pulls small little pranks that cause laughs.” Her eyes gleamed, “Be warned of whoopie cushions while he’s around.”

The conversation died off for a moment while people ate. Sam stood up and started towards the door with a soft, “I should check on Daniel.”

“Please don’t,” Jennifer said softly. “Samuel, he’s wonderful with people that have gone through trauma.” Her eyes were pleading. “He’s got a gift, and you might disrupt something.”

“Sorry Miss, but Jackson’s one of my crew, and we need to know how he’s doing. Sam, go check on him.” Sam nodded at Jack’s order and slipped into the house. A few moments passed before she came back out again.

“They’re talking sir,” she gave Jack a half hearted smile. “He seams like he’s doing better.” Jack looked over at Jennifer.

“Did you know Sean before he left?” The woman looked about Daniel’s age. Her eyes got a little dreamy and she blushed.

“Actually, he was my first crush.” She looked down in embarrassment. “I wasn’t always very ladylike, and Lexy, well,” she blushed harder. “Oh my, I shouldn’t say, Carl wouldn’t be to happy if he heard about it.”

“Carl is?” Jack tried leading the question.

“He’s my husband.” Jennifer said as she held up her hand, a slim gold band adorned her ring finger. Jack smirked, he had a feeling he knew what Daniel had been like when he was younger.
Jack looked up as he realized it was getting colder. He could see some of the stars coming out. Figuring it now looked like they’d be staying the night at this small cabin he went back in. Maybe a search of the other rooms would prove fruitful at not having to sleep on the floor. Or as he remembered the bed Daniel had been sitting on, one too small.

He first found the kitchen. All of the accessories seemed out dated and in a very ugly olive green. There were a couple of doors on the opposite wall. One led to a pantry and the other outside. The kitchen table had a dusty floral print table cloth and the chairs were neatly pushed in. Jack left and found what looked like the master bedroom. The room was just as dusty as the rest of the house, and the flannel blanket on the queen sized bed looked very warm. There were two dressers, one seemed to hold a shrine, photos and sketches littered the top. The mirror also had photo’s stuck into the frame. All of them were of the same woman at different ages. Jack recognized the woman from the photo in the newspaper. It was Elizabeth, Daniel’s real mother.

Jack turned to the other dresser. It was plane in comparison. The only thing that rested on its surface was an old forest ranger’s hat. Jack turned to leave when a photo on the night stand caught his attention. It showed a lively teenage boy. He was wearing a soccer uniform and smiling at the camera. Next to him, with an arm thrown across the boy’s shoulders was another man. He was also smiling and had a forest ranger’s uniform on. He had an honest face and seemed somewhat familiar. Jack could see traces of the old man in this younger man’s face. He turned the frame over and found a small slip of paper. ‘Sam and Lex, after soccer practice, June 1977.’

[LassyD]

Jack turned and scanned the rest of the bare room before making his way out and back to the living room. He saw Teal’c sitting on the couch. It looked like the Jaffa was meditating. Sam was looking at the pictures and nicknacks sitting around the room. There was two more rooms Jack hadn’t inspected yet. He stopped on his way down the hallway when he heard the older Sam’s voice from behind the closed door.

“Why? Why are you telling me this now?” Concern and worry laced the old voice. “Why didn’t you tell me back then?”

Jack could only just make out Daniel’s muffled voice.

“I didn’t know,” a soft snort, “no, I didn’t want to believe. I thought it was all a dream.” His voice lowered so that Jack couldn’t make out the next line. His body unconsciously inching towards the closed door. “They,” Daniel’s voice cleared, “They paid for my ignorance. I killed them.” His voice went harsh with the last word. A moment of silence past.

Jack turned to investigate the room beyond when he heard a loud slap and Samuel’s voice in a near growl.

“Listen to me boy,” a small pause, “Listen!” the word was harsh, but quiet. “It wasn’t you.” the words were getting softer and with the wall in the way, Jack couldn’t be sure if he heard the next line correctly. “It was that, thing, inside you.” Jack backed away from the wall. Hoping that what he thought he heard wasn’t what was said.

His mind started to race. A ‘thing’ inside Daniel? Did he end up becoming a host to a Goa’uld? No, that was preposterous, they’re talking about something that happened twenty years ago. If Daniel had found a Goa’uld, then he wouldn’t have aged or fought so hard against them. That and Jack was sure that Daniel’s eyes would have glowed at least once if that had been so. Janet would have caught one of the snakes on an MRI if he’d been infected anyway. Shaking his head he dismissed the notion to an overactive sense of paranoia and decided that maybe Daniel wasn’t the only one who needed some down time.

[LassyD]

A few days passed, Daniel seemed to be improving dramatically. Although he would break down when reminded of the family he once had. Even though Daniel now knew that he was not, nor had he ever been Daniel Jackson, the name he held over twenty years, he still responded to it as if it was a shield against some untold memory. Jack put it to coping with having seen his family die.

Samuel stayed in the small cabin with the team. His easy going humor lightened the mood considerably. Jack was getting the nagging suspicion that there was something that Daniel and Samuel were keeping from him. With a mental shrug he put it to the past. Daniel would open up to him eventually.

The team was preparing to return to Colorado. Daniel had recovered enough to consent to returning. As the team dropped of Samuel at the small café that they had met the man, Daniel started to tear up.

“Boy, remember what I said.” He grinned and ruffled Daniel’s hair, “you can’t keep blaming yourself forever.”

“I know,” the two words and half grin expressed much more than could be said in any words. Samuel gave the team a sad smile.

“So, will I be seeing you folks again?”

Jack looked at Daniel’s figure, still bowed from the weight of his rediscovered memories.

“When we get a chance.”

Samuel smiled and vanished into the café. Jack grinned slightly and turned his attention to getting the group to the airport.

The flight went by quickly and when they departed from the plane, they were surprised to see General Hammond waiting at the gate for them. He smiled when he saw the team.

“Good evening folks, I trust your trip was calm.” He smirked remembering that this particular team seemed to attract more trouble than any other team.

“It was sir,” Jack spoke for the group.

“Very good,” he turned to Daniel making sure to get eye contact and smiled, “I hope everything works out for you son. You’ve got a date with Dr. Fraiser tomorrow morning.”

Daniel looked at the older general and nodded. His eyes were still clouded in sorrow, but there was a hint of recovery in them.

The next several weeks passed and soon Daniel was back to his old self again, with a few moodier moments. It was then that a sarcophagus appeared, sent to Dr. Jackson from an archeological team exploring Mayan pyramids.

*Author’s note: Time flies by sticking with the series until just after Prisoners.*

“Looks like we’re on” Jack grinned as his voice startled Daniel’s hunched over form. It was always nice to remind the anthropologist that his work wasn’t the only thing in the world.

“Jack” Daniel’s voice was exasperated.

“Come on, we’re gating in an hour, just wanted to give you enough warning. You know, put your rocks away.”

“They’re not rock, they’re artifacts.” Daniel’s voice lowered, “although I don’t know why I bother with you.” Jack grinned.

“Because you love me, now I’ve got orders to feed you.”

Daniel snorted “yeah right,” but followed Jack to the cafeteria. There they met Sam and Teal’c for a quick meal before send off. Daniel loudly complained about the MRE’s and was eating with gusto now so he wouldn’t have to eat as many of those tasteless things later.

The conversation quickly turned to the planet which they were about to explore, P2X-353 or something like that. Jack wasn’t too sure.

The trip through the stargate was as normal, cold and nauseating, but it was getting easier, so much easier Jack noted. He looked around, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed movement, but when he turned to look, nothing was there. He had the feeling that there had been a lookout. He glanced around the area, noting the DHD and all the lush trees. Boy was he getting tired of trees. At least these had some variety, the humidity of this place was perfect for rainforest like growth. The trees were dense with layer upon layer of canopy. Even where he stood he couldn’t see the sky the trees had grown so close to the stargate.

“Doesn’t look like the Goa’ould visit very often.” Jack threw the comment to the general vicinity not expecting a response.

Daniel and Sam immediately went to the DHD and made sure they could dial home again. Noting that they could they turned to the present situation. Figuring out where to go.

They chose a random direction and started off, marking their way periodically so they could find their way back. Sam continually took samples of the soil with the help of Daniel. They seemed to be discussing something or other. Jack ignored the two scientists on his team. Soon their path was blocked. A large wall seemed to have materialized out of no where in front of them. Carvings spanned the face of the structure that they could see.

“Amazing” Daniel said as he closed in on the writings, nudging his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Jack gave off an exasperated sigh, “Come on space monkey,” he enjoyed popping that nickname in every once in a while to annoy the younger man. “You can look at your rocks later,”

“But Jack this is the first evidence of Mayan culture we’ve come across, there could be something here.” Jack sighed. Daniel was his friend, but sometimes the man’s disregard for military structure really exasperated the long time military man.

“You can come back later, we’ve got two days,” Jack said as he grabbed Daniel’s pack and started to drag him along the wall of the structure.

It turned out that the structure was big, the base seemed to be larger than the pyramid landing sights that were so common among Goa’ould inhabited worlds. After walking nearly clear around the base, they found a clearing which according to Murphy’s law was ten feet from where they first had run into the structure. The stairs of the structure had been beaten down by the wind and the rain and now were only faint ripples on a incline to a platform at the top.

“This seems to be a larger replica of the Mayan pyramids.” Daniel started to spout all of that uninteresting archeological babble and Jack tuned the rest of it out.

The team set up camp at the small clearing at the base of the pyramid and Jack let Daniel loose to take his video and recordings of the temple. Jack then sat down to take in the relaxing atmosphere of a mission going just as planned, very boringly. Sam was with Daniel helping to record everything for further study back at SGC, while Teal’c stood between them and the camp. Jack was suddenly reminded of a nanny watching her charges. He smirked but didn’t say anything.

Soon enough one of the two had managed to open up a door somehow. The ancient stone ground against other stone making a loud noise. Jack stood and followed the group. The inside of the temple was just still, a thick layer of dust coated the ground and the walls. Daniel eagerly went to the walls and with a quick wipe of the hand revealed more carvings. He turned to Carter with a gleam in his eye that screamed get out now or have your brain dribble out your ears to Jack started talking animatedly, the video camera was soon up with flashlight and the two were off. Jack just looked around long enough to see that there wasn’t any danger and went to the doorway to keep watch.

All in all, that day ended up being one of the rare boring days Jack was aloud to experience in his time with the SGC. Unfortunately he did one of the worst things possible in that position. He wished for some sort of excitement.

[LassyD]

His wish was granted when they started to pack up for the night. Daniel, as seemed to be his habit, dallied while leaving the temple. This wouldn’t have been bad if the ground hadn’t started to shake and toss in an incredibly large earthquake. Jack barely kept his feet and he watched as Daniel fell in the doorway, only to have a large stone drop on him a moment later.

The sound of Daniel’s cry of pain streaked across the small clearing, winning out on the tumbling of rocks for volume. Jack fell to the ground weather from pure shock or just the inability to balance with the earth tossing like it was. He clumsily crawled towards the temple door only to have Teal’c hold him back.

“What are you doing?!”

“Do no endanger yourself too, we must wait for the quake to cease.” The Jaffa’s normally stoic tone was laced with worry.

The quake lasted for five more minutes, it seemed more like an eternity, fortunately no more rocks fell on Daniel. Unfortunately, the screams died out and he wasn’t moving. Within seconds Sam, he, and Teal’c were at the archeologist’s side. Daniel had fallen on his stomach and the bolder had neatly fallen on his pelvis and probably crushed his legs too. His breathing was quick and ragged, his eyes glazed with pain.

“Carter,” Jack snapped, his emotions were running rampant and he barely kept his voice from quivering. “Go back to the stargate. Get Janet and a rescue crew ASAP.” Sam looked like she might argue, but thought better of it and sprinted off.

Jack’s eyes studied the rubble on top of Daniel.

“Teal’c,” his next order was cut off by Daniel’s weak voice calling his name.

“Jack,” it was soft and nearly hissed.

“I’m here space monkey.” Jack unconsciously used the nickname hoping that the miraculous life save would happen again. He bent down and clasped Daniel’s hand. He looked into the pain filled eyes that were searching. When their eyes locked Jack’s heart plummeted, he knew that look, it was the look of a man who was dying and realized it just at the end. He’d seen it enough in his covert op’s days and didn’t want to believe he was seeing it now. What he heard next confirmed what he already knew.

“Please Jack, leave me here,”

“Nobody gets left behind.” Jack’s face went grim. He expected the tone of fear in Daniel’s next words, but not the actual words themself.

“Please just leave me,” a then a quieter whisper, “I don’t want to kill you too.”

“Nobody gets left behind,” Jack reiterated more forcefully this time. “Come on T, we’ve got to get these stones off him. The two started with the lighter stones at the top of the rubble hoping that by the time help arrived they’d be able to get Daniel out of here. The work was hard and tiring, but when Daniel fell unconscious they just worked harder, pushing their muscles to the limits.

A petite brunette broke into their monotony with a shout of “Daniel” she set her bag down and started checking vitals. With her arrival came more help to dig Daniel out. Time managed to both fly and crawl by as the stones were lifted, soon there was enough room to lever the large stone off of Daniel and slide him from under. It seemed like no time passed between getting his form out of the entrance and into the infirmary. Where he was rushed to the OR.

Sam Jack and Teal’c debriefed and were quickly at the window watching Dr. Fraiser battle for Daniel’s life. Unfortunately the battle was a losing one and the remainder of SG-1 watched as Daniel drew his last breath. Janet broke out into tears and sank down to the OR floor. Sam seemed not too far away, but Jack wasn’t certain with his own emotions running rampant. He failed. He failed Daniel and Sha’uri. He fell back into a chair. Just like he failed Charlie. He felt the world falling away in his guilt, just like it had when Charlie had died. Daniel had pulled him out of his self loathing then, but he couldn’t now, nor would he ever be able to again.

He knew it couldn’t be a trick like the incident on Oannes was. They had his body, it was no trick. He looked at the window again, he didn’t want to have preform another eulogy for the man, once had been enough and he had hoped after that it would never have to happen again.

He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, General Hammond was there with a teary-eyed face, “I don’t want to either son,” Jack was startled, had he said that out loud? Time seemed to blur, Jack felt like he was being herded places, but he didn’t mind he was grieving.

He was pulled from his misery when the medical alarm went off. He rushed to the infirmary, only a step behind General Hammond.

The sight that greeted him was strange indeed. Dr. Fraiser and her medical staff were backed away from Daniel’s cooling body. It took Jack a moment to notice that the sheet that covered most of Daniel was moving, twisting as if it covered a bed of serpents and not a human’s corps.

A brave SF reached forward and tugged on the sheet that covered Daniel. The room collectively gasped as it revealed thick greyish blue tentacles wrapping around the body. Quickly covering every area, wrapping Daniel like some sort of organic mummy.

“OUT” Janet shouted and the room was quickly emptied and locked down. Jack quickly ran over to the observation room just in time to see Daniel’s face disappear into the grey wrappings.

The next few hours had everyone that had been present in quarantine while the lab made sure that the thing surrounding Daniel’s body wasn’t giving off any airborne bacteria or chemicals. The man that had pulled the sheet was put under more rigorous testing to make sure the near contact didn’t effect him either. The base had gone through its fair share of medical disasters and wanted to avoid any more if possible.

Luckily it seemed that the grey mass was happy with Daniel’s body and didn’t try to move after cocooning it. Three hours later, it was sitting in Sam’s lab undergoing whatever test she could think of. Jack stayed with the captain, lending her some strength in trying to puzzle out what happened and what this organism was. The hours whittled away and soon it was apparent that whatever the thing on Daniel was, it wasn’t done yet. The thing secreted some sort of chemical in key points of the wrapping which then hardened and obstructed the x-rays that Sam was preforming.

“Sam, it’s three in the morning, we should get some rest.” Jack’s tired voice was laced with concern.

“No,” her voice was desperate, “I have to know.”

“Then how about we get some coffee and a bite to eat, you look like you need it.”

Sam looked as if she would decline for a moment, but then closed her eyes and lowered her head.

“Sure,” She looked back up and they both went to the commissary together.

“What do you think it is?” Jack was worried for her health, but also insanely curious as to what the thing defiling the body of his friend was.

“I’m not sure sir,” she paused looking thoughtful, “but before the x-rays were being stopped, Daniel’s bone structure was being changed,” she frowned slightly, “shrinking.”

“Shrinking?”

“I don’t have any explanation for it.” She seemed slightly bewildered. Silence reigned a moment more while she sipped her coffee and Jack glanced around the barren room. Sam finished off her coffee and stood. Her posture showed weariness while her eyes shown with determination.

They returned to the lab and were startled to see that the mass had managed to produce thick plating across most of the body. It looked almost like turtle shell and covered the body like a suit of armor. The head was the most drastic thing. A small steel looking ball was now at the center of the forehead with two smaller ones in grooves that started at the temples and slid back over the cranium. Where the eyes would be were two dark glassy looking spaces and the mouth looked like some organic SCUBA respirator. Small spines littered the body at the major limb joints, and it was moving gently as if breathing.

Jack and Sam stopped dead at the sight. They took a quick glance at each other and Jack gave Sam a look of “I’ll go first”. Sam nodded and followed a few feet behind.

As Jack approached, one of the smaller balls moved swiftly in its groove until it was pointed at him. The moment he got within arm’s reach of the body on the table it stood with lightening speed and struck him. He heard Sam shout just before feeling the hard steel of the wall hit his back, knocking the breath out of him. His head hit the wall and he knew by the fuzzy feeling he wouldn’t stay conscious much longer. The innate stubbornness passed along his family line was the only think that kept him awake long enough to see the thing strike Sam into the opposite wall and freeze. All went dark.

[LassyD]

Jack carefully made his way to the briefing room. The pounding headache that blessed him when he woke up felt like lemmings with jack hammers had taken up residence and were not planning on moving out any time soon. As the door loomed ahead Jack massaged his temples for a moment before entering and saluting the general.

He noticed Teal’c sitting in a chair off to the side with some video equipment set up so that everyone in the room could see. The knot of tension in his stomach tightened when his glance passed by the spot Sam usually sat. She was still unconscious in the infirmary with no foreseeable recovery time.

“At ease Colonel,” Jack could hear the worry laced in Hammond’s tone. As soon as he had sat down the general continued. “O’Neill, I’ve asked you and Teal’c here to tell me what happened last night. We had an unauthorized use of the gate. By the look of the security video, it was that thing that has Daniel’s body.”

Jack racked his brain as he took his seat and realized that he couldn’t remember anything after leaving for the commissary with Sam.

“I don’t think I can be of much help sir. I can’t remember much after Sam and I left it on the examining table.”

General Hammond nodded and said “I thought as much, maybe seeing the video will jog your memory. With that he started the video.

“Sam, it’s three in the morning, we should get some rest.” Jack’s tired voice emanated from the speakers.

“No,” Sam’s voice was desperate, “I have to know.” Jack could see the image of her shake slightly.

“Then how about we get some coffee and a bite to eat, you look like you need it.”

The image of Sam looked as if she would decline for a moment, but then closed her eyes and lowered her head.

“Sure,” She looked back up and the pair walked out of the room. Moments later the stillness of the figure on the bed was broken. Solid turtle shell like plates formed, while a silver like ball bearing pushed itself through the tentacle mass and shone through the forehead. The area over the eyes opened and Jack thought he had gotten a brief glimpse of dead blue eyes before it seemed to fill with a liquid and become glassy. Moments later the silver ball at the forehead started to glow. Steam escaped from vents on either side of the cheeks. The only movement in the room now was the gentle motion as if the thing was breathing.

Hammond fast forwarded the video ten minutes. He resumed the normal speed just as the door opened to reveal Jack and Sam. They stared, dumbstruck for a moment before the image of Jack gave Sam a look that said “I’ll go first.”

Jack winced as he saw the thing swiftly stand and knock his image into the wall. No wonder it hurt so much when he woke up. He’d been lucky that he’d only had the concussion and the dislocated shoulder.

The image of Sam shouted “Jack” before rushing and getting herself the same treatment. She wasn’t as lucky and ended up hitting multiple pieces of equipment and getting cut along the way. Jack was so focused on his teammate that he nearly missed the way the thing had twitched and a soft mechanized voice grunt.

“Wha. . .” The thing looked around and it focused on Sam’s body in the corner. Blood was running from a head wound.

“Sam!” It started to move towards her and Jack felt a pang of dread in his stomach. The thing suddenly stopped two steps after it had started and stared at its hands.

“No,” it was barely above a whisper. “No.” The thing started backing up as if it could run away from itself. One step at a time the eyes focused on the hands. Suddenly as it had started the figure curled into a ball with a hint of desperation in the mechanized voice. “Not again.” Jack wasn’t sure, but he almost thought he heard anguish as well. It was trembling violently while rocking back and fourth hands over its head and face into its knees like a child trying to drown out the sound of yelling voices.

Minutes passed before it looked up. The voice soft again. “Not again,” it seemed to come to a decision before standing. With a look at Sam’s crumpled form it spoke with a voice filled with determination “Never again.”

It turned to leave the room and saw Jack’s body. “No, no not you too Jack.” Whatever resolve it seemed to have developed shattered and it twitched as if shot and fell back to the ground. Leaving a slight indent in the ground. The anguish filled childlike voice was back. “No no no.” chanting the one word as if it would change what the thing was seeing. “I told you,” the mechanized whisper managed to be raspy at the same time. “I told you to leave me there.” It was hugging its knees rocking slightly, eyes fixated on Jack’s unmoving image. Jack jumped at the phrase. Daniel had asked him to leave him there, on the planet that killed him. To leave and let the archeologist die. Jack hadn’t been able to do that. Surely this thing didn’t know. Couldn’t know. But it said it again, posture getting more angry. “I told you to leave me there. Now look what’s happened.” The sorrow was back. It sighed and in a resigned voice said “At least Teal’c wasn’t here.” It looked around for a bit before standing. “Out, I have to get out of here.” It then ran out the door. Hammond stopped the recording.

“Just after that, what ever that thing is managed to dial out and managed to escape through the Stargate.” The general looked between Jack and Teal’c. “I wanted you both here to help try to figure out what that was. It knew both of you so the idea that it somehow has Daniel’s memories is not unfounded.” He looked down at a folio. “It also seems that it knew where it could go that we couldn’t follow.” Jack looked up sharply.

“What do you mean sir?”

“It gated to P3X-7763.”

“The Tollan home-world.” Teal’c said weather for clarification or to remind Jack he wasn’t sure.

“We sent a MALP through this morning and it seems that it just used the planed to get to another.” Hammond’s face became very severe. “If this thing does have the memories of Dr. Jackson, than it is imperative that we get to it and neutralize whatever danger it poses. Especially before the Goa’ould get to it.”

Jack mulled over the problem for a moment before the answer came to him.

“Harlan.” He said. Even though it was quiet he got the attention of the others in the room.

“On PX3 989, Harlan made copies of SG1.”

“And?” Hammond seemed interested.

“Whatever happened with Daniel and now with that thing that has Daniel’s memories. It’s acting like Daniel.” He paused a moment, “And it said that this had happened before. So I’m betting the copy that Harlan made of Daniel would know something about it.”

“Good thinking Colonel. I want you and Teal’c ready to gate within two hours.”

[LassyD]

A half of a day later, Jack and Teal’c stood on the launch ramp. Jack had misgivings about leaving before Sam had woken, but as Janet had said there was no telling when the Major would rise. Jack glanced at Teal’c’s impassive face before crossing the barrier. Just to come face to face with his near double.

It seemed that Harlan and the clone of Jack never felt that fixing the burn mark was necessary. Jack wished that they had, seeing the large silver hole in his face gave him the willies. He felt a small amount of relief when he heard Teal’c step through the gate.

There was a silent face off. Jack stared at himself and smirked a bit at how weird that sounded even in his own head. He had more pressing matters and broke the silence.

“We’ve come to talk to Daniel.”

“Why can’t you talk to him yourself?” His double sneered, his words cut into the fresh feelings of loss. Before he could reply he heard the Daniel’s voice, incredibly soft. He was standing off to the side. His figure was silhouetted.

“Because he died, didn’t he?” Jack was sure his face took on a pasty hue because his double’s countenance suddenly softened. The silence from the other man was welcome. The clone waited for him to compose himself before saying.

“Then I’ll leave you to discuss things with Daniel.” With that the man walked away.

Jack’s breath caught in his throat as he saw the clone move into the light. It looked so much like Daniel before. He couldn’t finish that thought. The pain was still too fresh.

“How did he die?” There was a hint of curiosity in the soft voice. Even though he looked like the man, the way he talked was totally different now. As far as Jack could tell, this clone was as unlike Daniel as Jack’s clone was like himself. Which was very odd considering they were supposed to have all the same memories up until the creation. Jack was saved from answering by Teal’c.

“DanielJackson was crushed by a collapsing temple.” Curiosity satiated the clone nodded and leaned against a rail.

“What do you want to know?”

Jack looked to Teal’c and nodded. The Jaffa then pulled out a laptop from his pack and handed it over. Jack placed it on the ground and booted it up. As he worked he explained.

“We managed to get Daniel out of the cave in.” He choked a bit on his words. “And back to base. Unfortunately he died in the OR” Another moment to compose himself. “Shortly after he died, this.” He stopped for a lack of word, “thing enshrouded Daniel’s.” He couldn’t finish the thought. Fortunately he’d finished setting up the laptop and was ready to play back the footage from the lab. “Whatever it is now, it left through the stargate, and apparently with Daniel’s memories. We are hoping you could give us a hint to where he went.”

With that he started the video and stepped aside to let the clone watch. As the other watched the video, Teal’c and Jack watched the clone. He was not sure what he was looking for, but when the figure on the screen finally finished forming itself, the clone looked a little sick. When it got to the point where Jack was thrown into the wall, the man shook his head near imperceptibly and whispered a soft “no” before darting out of the room.

“Daniel!” He called after the figure had disappeared into the twisted and small corridors. Jack gave a mental sigh and motioned Teal’c to follow. Unfortunately the robot Daniel was fast and soon lost them in the winding corridors. It wasn’t long before Jack and Teal’c were so lost that they were sure finding their way back to the stargate would take more than an hour.

“He’s probably up top.” Sam’s voice made Jack jump.

“What?”

“Daniel, I heard him run past.” Sam’s blue eyes twinkled merrily. “It’s where we go when we need a moment alone.”

“Take us there Carter,” Jack momentarily forgot that this wasn’t the woman whom was under his command, but a duplicate.

“Sure thing sir,”

Sam turned and led the group. They walked in silence for a short while before Jack spoke up.

“Carter,”

“Yes sir?”

“I was wondering, both you and my counterpart act so much like we do, but Daniel seems so. . .” He trailed off looking for the right word.

“Different?” Sam supplied.

“Yeah, that.”

“That’s because I’m not a monster,” Daniel’s soft venom filled voice startled Jack. He hadn’t noticed the other appear near them.

“What?” Jack was minorly amused to note that Sam had said it at the same time. Teal’c had raised an eyebrow.

“How could you say that?” Sam asked with a confused voice. Daniel nodded toward Jack.

“You’ve seen what he is,” he paused, “You even have pictures. How can you say he’s not a monster.” There was a trace of self loathing in his voice.

“Because he stopped himself.” Jack felt confident that whatever had Daniel’s real body he somehow was able to wrestle control. Although by the reaction this was not the correct thing to say.

“Stopped himself?” A snide laugh, “Then why did he murder his own children? Why did he wake up bathed in the blood of his daughter?” the man started to choke on his words. “He’s a monster. He hasn’t been human since nineteen-forty-eight.”
That got Jack’s attention.

“Jackson’s only thirty three?” Jack knew his voice was confused. He looked around and saw Teal’c’s visage show disbelief while Sam was staring at the mechanical Daniel with the type of fear one has when they think their best friend had just gone off the deep end.

“Daniel Jackson would be thirty three. If he’s still alive. He would have been the same age as.” Daniel paused for a moment as if what he was about to say was difficult to think of. “Sean Alexander Murphy junior.”

He paused to perch on one of the many pipes that ran across the complex. “Look, you came here for the truth and you want to find him.” He lowered his head. “In forty eight Sean was hiking around the mountains.”

Daniel took a deep breath, “he fell into a cave and was. . .” he shrugged while looking for the right word. “Attacked. By some sort of organism that ensnared his body.”

Daniel looked up and Jack could see the pain in his eyes. “You’ve seen what it looks like. Now I know too. He passed out and when he woke up it was gone and everything seemed normal.”

Jack was going to interrupt. He couldn’t really believe this, but one look at the eyes of the other man and he was silenced.

“Thirty years passed and he’d forgotten about it. Then that weekend.” Emotion clouded Daniel’s voice.

“They were climbing.” Daniel’s eyes took a far off look. “He fell.” The man was nearly whispering and Jack had to strain to hear him. “Darkness. . . Then he woke, bathed in blood starting at the shredded remains of his little girl.”

Daniel’s eyes focused on Jack, his voice much louder but just as emotionally torn, “He had killed her. Sweet innocent little Sarah. The shock was so great. I don’t know what happened to little Alex. I’m not sure how long he stood there before he noticed that he was not human. The horrible green plating all over him was covered in blood. He screamed.”

Daniel’s eyes lost focus again, his attention turning to memories. “Tried to rip the plates off. It eventually worked, but he wasn’t him anymore. The arms, too small, the clothes fell off. He’d shrunk. He ran. Ran.”

Back to whispering. Jack wished the man would just keep it to one level. “Ended up running off a cliff. Blacked out, but woke up again, with that damn green crap all over him again. I don’t know how many times he managed to kill himself. But every time he woke up again. Until one time he woke up in a hospital bed.”

Daniel focused again. “They told him his name was Daniel. The told him that his parents had died in the museum. And when the memories started to return, he didn’t believe them. Blocked them as figments of the imagination.” A derisive snort. “How could a fifteen year old have the memories of a forty?”

Jack was speechless. He couldn’t believe what Daniel had just said, but the way the man spoke and armed with the knowledge that the stargate brought he couldn’t totally discount it either.

Sam spoke up, “Oh come on, you don’t really expect us to believe that.”

Daniel’s eyes pierced into hers and she stopped looking a little less confident.

“Believe what you want. I can only tell you what the memories of Sean Murphy are.”

“But this doesn’t tell us where he is now.”

Daniel closed his eyes and looked down.

“Do you remember, that planet, the cave.” He looked at Jack, “The sweet seductive voices that no one else could hear. The ones that made promises by a long extinct race?”

Ok, now Jack was confused.

“P3X-780" Jack nearly didn’t hear the whisper.

“What was that?”

“P3X-780, try there.” Daniel said one more time before disappearing into the pipes.

[LassyD]

Jack was brooding, he couldn’t help it. Daniel’s clone had just outright stated that Daniel had been infected with an alien organism long before the stargate was re-opened. He knew this report would have the government scouring the area surrounding Yaak Montana. He glanced over at Sam, she still looked a bit woozy, but that was to be expected with the concussion. Yes it was a gamble bringing her along in her condition, but he was sure that whatever the thing was, it would still react like Daniel and she wasn’t in danger.

His attention shifted as the event horizon equilibrated itself and led the small team through.

The first thing he noticed on the other side was dim light. He reread his reports and remembered that the gate on this planet had been totally enclosed in a mountain. Now, however, there was a strait line access to the exit. It looked as if someone had brought a drill the size of the stargate and bored a hole in the mountain.

The walk out of the mountain was much shorter than the first time. The sight that met the trio when the saw the forest made them pause. Whatever had cleared out the mountain, did the same thing to the forest directly in its path. For as far as they could see, there were no trees or debris in the path, the ground was depressed and a small amount of water collected in the depression.

“What could have done this?” Jack was a little disturbed and nearly decided to turn around right then.

“I don’t know sir, but whatever it was had the power to vaporize the mountain and trees for at least a mile.” Sam answered.

“Teal’c? You know anything?”

“I have not seen anything like this.” Only his long time association with the Jaffa let Jack hear the worry in his voice.

“Well, at least this time we won’t have to mark the cave.” Jack tried to put levity in his voice, the new landscape was making him worry. He looked at the ground hopefully there would still be some tracks from where the creature walked, but if the water in the forest was any indication, it’d rained since Daniel came through here.

Jack could still hear the clone’s voice whispering about a cave, it confused Jack then, but maybe that rambling could help. If he could only remember where they found Daniel after he wandered off during the night.

“This way sir,” Sam’s voice broke in. He raised an eyebrow at her choice.

“If it really does have Daniel’s memories, we went this way before.” She shrugged as if that explained everything.

“DanielJackson stated that he did not remember anything from this planet.” Teal’c stated.

“But the clone knew, I think Daniel lied to us.” Sam countered, proving that even though she was recovering from a concussion, she still was sharp and had read the reports.

Jack took that as sound enough logic and they started on their way. They made sure to keep an eye on the ledges of the mountain face. It was more than six hours before Jack noticed a fleshy colored patch on one of the ledges. He held up his hand and the team stopped. He motioned toward the patch and they headed for the pock marked cliff face that would lead them to the ledge.

“I’ll go first.” Jack said and started up the cliff without waiting for any reply.

As he got to the top, he took a good look at the figure that was seated leaning against the wall. The boy looked thirteen and was stark naked. His body was bright red, most likely a sunburn, but he looked exactly like Daniel would have at that age. His head was tilted back and he was covered in a fine sheen. An eye cracked open and looked at Jack.

“Hey Jack, come back to torture me some more?” The voice was rough as if the boy hadn’t spoken for a couple days, or had shouted himself horse. He opened his eyes further and looked around with only his eyes.

“What? You didn’t bring Alex this time? Got tired of shoving my failure in my face?” He laughed hollowly and Jack for the first time in a long time was scared, down to the core. If this really was Daniel, and had all the man’s memories, it was a safe bet to guess that he’d flipped. Jack stood motionless just staring down at the boy. He heard Teal’c climbing the cliff but the way Daniel seemed so weak and helpless kept his attention.

“What now? You’re really quiet. What happened to all the anger?” He snorted quietly, but didn’t move. “After all I did kill you.”

“No you didn’t.” Jack finally found his voice. He started to crouch down and touch the boy.

“Don’t touch me,” Daniel’s voice was panicked but he only weekly pushed at Jack, his head fell forward and he didn’t seem to have the energy to lift it.

Jack lifted Daniel’s head and noticed that his skin was cool and really clammy, there was fear and confusion in his eyes.

“You didn’t kill me, and Sam only got a concussion.”

“No,” he said weakly trying to shake his head.

“Look, Here’s Teal’c, and you know you didn’t do anything to him. He can vouch for me.”

Teal’c looked to Daniel

“DanielJackson, you did not kill O’Neal or MajorCarter. They are in fact alive.” Jack felt a little bit of relief at the knowledge that Teal’c had heard and knew what to say.

Daniel was still looking at Jack, his eyes unfocused and he was chanting “no” softly.

Jack nearly fell off the ledge when the cliff face opened up and two thin ropes wrapped around Daniel and tugged him inside. Teal’c was off like a light and disappeared behind the cliff face that reappeared before Jack could get through.

Jack slammed his fists on the sharp rock in frustration.

[LassyD]

*woah POV change*

As the cliff face closed, Teal’c was thrown into darkness. Moments later a phosphorescent glow began to illuminate the cave. The atmosphere was warm and muggy, almost totally opposite from what it had been outside. The walls were pliable and smooth. Whatever this cave was, it wasn’t natural.

He followed the noises from deeper in the cave and stopped dead when he saw the burnt body of the Daniel like alien.

“Stop there” the voice was still gravely. “Stop or it might decide one master isn’t enough.” A haunted laugh followed.

Teal’c raised an eyebrow and the laugh ended. Apparently this thing knew his body language just as Daniel did.

“Story time,” it said dryly, a tentacle moved from holding a leg still to pulling the head back so Teal’c could stare into the blue eyes. “Some number of millennia ago a race of beings who called themselves the Advents” he spat out the last word. “Left their war torn world in hopes of finding something they could use to defeat their opponent.” He smirked slightly, “Who was themselves, they were the worst in-fighters ever and made humans look like cuddly rabbits.”

“They came across the earth somewhere around two millennia ago and found our ancestors.” He snorted, “or rather mutated the local wildlife into our ancestors. They were looking for an army some life form that had a body that was easily repaired and mutated with their tools. Something that wasn’t strong in intellect and yet had the capacity to learn to use the tools of war that were available.” He paused and waited for Teal’c to nod before continuing. “While they were doing their work, the war escalated. The rival factions on earth started fighting when they found each other and left the broken husks of the defeated ships behind as the went off to fight at home.”

He made a weak gesture in the general direction of the opening. “They wiped themselves out and left their organic ships and cities behind.”

“How does this involve Daniel Jackson?” Teal’c interrupted.

“It has everything to do with him, you see.” He stopped for a while his eyes drilling into Teal’c’s
“Daniel Jackson was a mistake, the result of two things that were never supposed to come in contact with each other. The Advents had armor, It was biological and only partially self aware, somewhat of a cross between a tree and a dog. Fiercely loyal yet not sentient enough to rebel or take orders from anyone but the host.” He laughed hollowly again, “too bad that they couldn’t take homo DNA out of the armor. That mistake cost them quite a few people and they never did figure out how to kill the creature.” His voice dropped to a whisper, “too bad,”

Teal’c nodded, he was starting to understand the picture that this creature, now he was sure it wasn’t Daniel Jackson, was panting. He also understood the indirect implication that he wouldn’t be able to eliminate this threat and had to reason with it to either come back or close down the Stargate so no one could use its power.

There was a moment of silence before it spoke again it was almost wistful.

“I was human once. They called me Alex, I wasn’t yet worthy to be called Sean.” The eyes glazed in the way that happens when someone’s focusing solely on memories. “I was climbing a mountain, fell into a hole, and now. . . now I’m an abomination that will never die.” The last part was spit out. He focused on Teal’c again and Teal’c couldn’t help but notice that his body had returned to near perfect health.

“What will you do with your time?” The thing seemed to have calmed down somewhat and Teal’c figured it was time to start negotiations. It started laughing.

“I should have guessed, but then I was distracted.” The tentacles rested the body on the ground and vanished into the walls. “You were sent to eliminate me weren’t you.”

“Or find out if you will pose a threat.” Teal’c clarified. It laughed again.

“I could be, but I’m happy to wallow in self pity and be thankful that Shau’ri was taken away before we found out what I really am.” His voice went somber and not quite lucid eyes focused on Teal’c. “I should thank you for taking her from that sorrow before it could happen.” Teal’c started having doubts about his earlier decision that it was not in fact Daniel Jackson.

More time passed with neither saying anything. Teal’c was becoming uncomfortable with the realization that he was in fact this man’s prisoner.

A grin spread itself on the younger Daniel’s visage. The boy started laughing hysterically.

“I know.” he laughed as he rested against the wall and suddenly calmed.

“I know how to stop it.” Teal’c barely heard the whisper.

“Know, know” he started chanting and giggling a little more before looking once again looking at Teal’c. “All the sorrow in the world comes from knowledge.” Another giggle “oh it’s fine when you only think you know everything, but when you learn,” a pause, “what truly is, you’d prefer never to have known.”

Daniel’s behavior was worrying Teal’c. The other had obviously lost his grasp and was the only way Teal’c had of getting out of this cavern.

“Is it not better to know than live like a slave?” He asked trying to bring the conversation around to him getting out of here.

“As long as your needs are met, what care have you for how that happens?”

“You would still be a slave.”

Daniel let out a small laugh to the response and said, “But you become a slave to fulfilling your needs where before they were met for you.” His voice sobered. “But I tire of this conversation.”

Daniel pushed past Teal’c and headed toward the cave entrance. Teal’c quietly followed, he figured he could overpower the youthful body but wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea. This person obviously had access to technology he didn’t know or understand and was fairly certain that it would react to any attack on Daniel’s body.

When the reached the block entrance Daniel tilted his head and it opened. The ledge was clear, Jack must have climbed down to talk with Sam. Teal’c quickly stepped out of the doorway only to pause when he heard Daniel speak softly.

“I’ve always wanted to do this.” The boy gave a slight laugh and ran for the edge. It all happened too fast for Teal’c to really respond. As Daniel crossed the barrier it slammed shut. Before Teal’c could make a grab and prevent a painful looking fall, Daniel had passed and leaped off of the edge.

Teal’c could only watch as the silhouette of the creature from before faded into view behind Daniel and enveloped him. Where a young Daniel had leaped off of the cliff, the armored creature landed with a loud thud. Teal’c quickly looked for Sam and Jack, who had been sitting closer to the foot of the mountain. They were immediately ready for a fight, M-90's aimed at the figure. It ignored them.

The figure started to walk away when it started fading, soon the figure stopped and Daniel continued walking leaving it behind to fade into nothing. Teal’c quickly climbed down and heard Jack calling after Daniel.

When he finished descending, Teal’c saw that Daniel had taken off at a run. Both O’Neill and Sam were not in fit enough condition to run after, but they were making their way as quickly as they could. Teal’c scrambled after Daniel.

It seemed like only moments had passed when he lost sight of the fleeing figure but he continued to run in the same direction hoping that he’d find a clue.

His clue came quickly when he saw the opening into the caver where the stargate lay. Teal’c could see the light from the gate as he neared the opening. He picked up the pace but only managed to get there in time to see it shut off.

Ok, Just the final ending, or epilogue, but I worn you, I’ve made two versions figuring that people would be mad at one of them, There’s the not-so-happy ending, and the hopeful ending. I’ve put the Not-so-happy one first. If you want to skip it go ahead, it’s really short anyway.

[LassyD]

Ending One, Finality.

This is the short and not so happy ending, also my original intension, but some people might be mad, so I’ve made a second one. Read that one if you want a Not-So-Unhappy ending.




The off-world-activation alarm blared in the base. General Hammon looked to the people in the command room. There wasn’t anyone scheduled for return. The only team it could be was SG1 they didn’t have a definitive time for their mission. He watched worriedly as the iris closed and no signal came. His worry disappeared as he heard one resounding thud against the iris. The Goa’uld still hadn’t given up on throwing random Jaffa at the iris.

His unease immediately returned when the gate activated within thirty seconds. He looked over to the control man and the man just shrugged.

“It’s SG1" the call came from across the room.

“Open the iris.” Hammond had a bad feeling suddenly and it was worsened when Teal’c was the only one to appear through the worm hole. He was looking around frantically. Well Frantically for Teal’c. Upon seeing no one of consequence in the embarkation room, the Jaffa’s shoulders visibly fell.

“Where are Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter?” Hammond immediately asked, two of his best officers missing.

“Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter are currently on the planet. Their previous injuries inhibited their ability to follow.. . “ here he paused as if he couldn’t figure out what to say, “DanielJackson as he ran from them.”

The implication of the statement hit the General like a brick. The activation, the thud, and Teal’c felt that the creature really was Daniel. His heart fell as he realized he would have to prepare for another funeral. This time they would have the micro layer thick elements that made up Daniel, but that wasn’t a help.

[LassyD]

Ending Two, Hope.

The peaceful surroundings were disrupted by the activation of the gate. Daniel flew out of it at a run. He tripped off the small platform and landed in some bushes. The noises of the wildlife seemed to still for a moment before continuing just as strong.

A few moments passed while Daniel came to the realization that he was in fact still alive. The stress and pain welled up and he started screaming. He wasn’t supposed to be here, they were supposed to have closed off their stargate. They told him. They told him.

Daniel jumped as he felt a hand on his head. He came face to face with Nafrayu, the young Nox boy he’d met the last time he was here. He scrambled back, trying to get away. The boy he just reminded him so much of Alex.

Nafrayu’s eyes held confusion as Daniel retreated. Daniel started chanting “no” over and over again. When he was around ten feet he turned and ran. He ran for a long time, his muscles ached and his lungs burned, but he continued till his muscles collapsed. Daniel curled up into a ball and started crying in a whimper.

Daniel was pulled out of his misery again when he felt another touch. This time he was too tired to do more than scramble back weakly. This time he saw Anteaus.

“You LIED.” He couldn’t help but yelling. His voice was hoarse. “You lied to us, you said you’d burry the gate. You lied.” His voice lowered and he curled up into a ball. “You lied,” he whispered over and over again. The touch of the other man wasn’t enough to make him look up again. He knew, he knew that here, they wouldn’t let him die.

It took time for Daniel to calm down. When he did he realized the other man was talking. No matter how much he wanted to ignore Anteaus, he felt compelled to listen.

“Why do you want to die Daniel Jackson?”

Daniel looked up at Anteaus.

“Do you remember the Advents? Or were they before your time?”

Anteaus paled.

“You did not come into contact with their technology?”

Daniel just laughed in response. A hysterical laugh that held no mirth and didn’t say any more.

“We can help you.” Anteaus’s face was sincere.

“What can you do when even they couldn’t figure out how to fix it?”

“We can help you learn to live, through the pain that they left behind in the universe.”

Daniel laughed again.

“Like humans? They left us behind. Made us and left us like broken little toys after a child loses interest.” Daniel looked at the ground, avoiding Anteus’s face. “We’re nothing but broken toys.” With that Daniel collapsed, his energy spent and the fact that he hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink in a long time taking a toll on his body.

Anteus looked at the body.

“May you wake with less pain.” He said as he gently picked up Daniel and started to take him away.


WOO HOO I’m done. Time for a shower :-)
I’d like to thank everyone who’s read it this far, and been nice to me with reviews. I do think that this will be my one and only post and fic, but I might try posting it edited, if I ever get around to that at crossgate, or some other SG archive.