|
Part Two
“No!”
The word echoed through Daniel's head as he found himself sitting up in bed, tangled in blankets and trying to catch his breath. He looked around, thinking he was still in the museum, his parents lying crushed amongst the ruin of their display. His vision blurred whenever he tried to focus on the drab furniture before him. He couldn't remember where he was or how he'd gotten there.
He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, but he recognized Jack's voice.
“Easy, Daniel. Just a dream.”
With a groan, he closed his eyes as he sank back onto the pillows, his head pounding furiously.
He felt a cloth pass over his face, wiping the sweat dripping off him. Cool fingers touched his cheek, then his forehead.
“Your fever's up again,” Jack said. Daniel opened his eyes and saw two pairs of eyes staring at him. One was brown and familiar, reflecting concern. The other was bright blue, wide with alarm. Daniel blinked, trying to bring the rest of their faces into focus. Their heads were strangely haloed, as if there was an aura around them.
“Headache still bad?” Jack asked as his thumb massaged small circles on his temple. The movement felt good and Daniel turned his head into the pressure. A moment later the pressure was gone and he missed the contact. He closed his eyes, the light hurting his head. He felt the bed move as Jack got up and he heard him walking around the room. He listened dispassionately, feeling strangely detached once more.
Jack walked into the bathroom and ran some water. Someone shifted on the bed beside him and Daniel suddenly remembered Danny. He opened his eyes again, looking at the boy. He was staring towards the bathroom, and as Jack came out, the boy watched him attentively. Daniel saw something beige and furry clutched in Danny's hands. It somehow looked familiar and Daniel squinted, trying to make it out.
As Jack sat down beside Daniel once more, he held out two pills and some water.
“Darvocet,” Jack informed Daniel as he looked up at Jack questioningly. “The Tylenol don't seem to be helping, maybe this will kill the headache a bit.” Daniel raised himself up onto an elbow, the movement worsening the pain.
“Migraine,” Daniel corrected before he swallowed down the pills and water. He got a good look at the toy in Danny's hands, and seeing the torn ear, Daniel smiled despite his headache.
“Oursie?” he asked.
Danny smiled and nodded. Daniel thought what a beautiful child he was, until he realized that this was him. He couldn't believe that he'd looked so adorable as a kid. A little embarrassed, he reached a hand out for the teddy bear.
“Can I see him?” he asked. Danny's lower lip trembled slightly but he handed the bear over to Daniel without a word. He brought the soft toy to his face and inhaled its unique scent.
Daniel's own plush toy had disappeared when the orphanage had gone through his parents' belongings; Daniel figured that they had deemed it too raggedy to be of use. Little had they known that the little teddy bear had been through many an archaeological dig and had been lost who knew how many times under mounds of sand, eliciting feverish searches for the beloved toy. The ragged ear was due to a nervous habit Daniel had developed at age four when he'd started chewing on it. He fingered the tattered appendage, smiling at the memories it invoked.
Jack slipped behind Danny on the bed, lifting the boy onto his lap once more. Daniel saw how the boy relaxed against Jack, and was glad that his young counterpart had been able to find someone to trust. When he handed the toy back to Danny the relief was evident in the boy's face.
“Thank you,” Daniel whispered, as he closed his eyes against his worsening headache.
“Try to relax and let the pills take effect,” Jack told him. He felt the bed shift beneath him as Jack settled closer, and then his fingers took up their massage once more around his temples. Daniel tried to follow Jack's directions and relax, aware that his jaw was clenched tightly against the pain.
He felt something move against his side and he opened his eyes. Danny was lying beside him, his head pillowed against Daniel's shoulder. He was staring up at Daniel with concern. Daniel brought a hand up and cupped the boy's head gently. Danny placed Oursie on Daniel's chest. With a smile, Daniel raised his other hand and gently clasped the teddy bear, accepting the gift. The boy's small hand covered his own and together, they held onto the ragamuffin toy.
- - - - - -
Jack wiped the excess tomato sauce from his fingers on his napkin and then wadded it up into a ball. He aimed for the small garbage can by the door and lobbed it, smiling as his projectile landed right where he'd aimed for. He glanced at his team mates, but none had noticed his perfect shot. The two Daniels were still sleeping, having dozed off before Carter and Teal'c returned from their foray to the library. Carter was sitting at the small table in the corner of the room, busy working on her laptop, taking an occasional bite from a slice of leftover pizza. Jack had just finished off the last piece; by rights it should have been Daniel's but Jack was sure his friend's stomach wasn't up to dealing with pizza at the moment. Teal'c was sitting beside him on the bed, staring at the television, which was showing the local news.
When a news report of the Jackson 's deaths came on, Jack glanced hurriedly at their sleeping sons. Neither stirred, for which Jack was relieved. The reporter went on to say what a terrible tragedy the accident had been, but no mention had been made of their eight-year old son. Jack wondered if this had been done deliberately or if nobody actually remembered that he'd been there.
They had down and out kidnapped the boy in blatant view of a room full of people. Admittedly most of the people in the room had their attention focused elsewhere; but if no one else, the museum worker should have remembered Daniel taking Danny from her.
He shook his head, looking at them as they slept. He and Daniel had curled up together, sharing the same pillow. Daniel's face was too pale, except for two spots of color on his cheeks indicative of his fever. Looking at their faces relaxed in sleep, Jack thought that they could easily pass for father and son. He could see in Danny what Daniel's children would most likely look like, were he to have any.
Jack swallowed the last of his coffee, wishing for a beer instead. He debated whether he should wake Danny up and have him try and eat something, but decided that sleep might be better. Anyway the boy had eaten earlier that afternoon. Daniel, though, was another matter. Jack was anxious to get him back home and to the infirmary, that fever still had him worried.
“That's it,” Carter said as she closed her laptop. She arched her back, stretching what must have been stiff muscles. She'd been sitting on the hard chair and working diligently for the past 5 hours.
“So…” Jack said. “We can go now?”
“Yes sir,” Carter answered. “I just need to attach the device to the laptop and the power source and we could leave here and now.”
“That would not be wise,” Teal'c interjected. “If we are limited in the number of instances that we may revisit this dimension, we should choose our time and place wisely. You must not forget that we must return the child.”
“Yeah,” Jack said sadly. And therein lay the problem. There was no way that he was going to hand over Danny to a care system that couldn't even acknowledge the fact that a young boy was missing.
“We'll leave tomorrow morning from the museum. There must be some place that we can bury that thing where hopefully it won't be found for a day or two. That'll give Janet a chance to check him out, and give the boy a chance to get his equilibrium.”
“Do they not have adequate medical facilities in this era, O'Neill?” Teal'c asked.
“Yeah, they do, but that's not the problem, Teal'c. It doesn't even look like anyone's missed the kid yet, and it's been over twenty four hours. If we were to hand him over to the authorities, he'd just be dumped in an orphanage and become part of the system.”
“Is this what happened to DanielJackson?”
Before Jack could answer, Sam said, “Yes, it was. But I don't see what else we can do, Sir. There's nobody here who'll adopt Danny; we're just postponing the inevitable. We're going to have to hand him over to the authorities, and he'll end up in an orphanage one way or the other.”
Jack ground his teeth together in frustration. She was right, and he had no answer for her. He glanced over to the bed and suddenly saw the slight body lying stiffly on the bed. Ah shit, had he overheard?
“Danny,” Jack said gently as he leaned over the young boy. He lay unmoving but his eyes were squeezed tightly shut, his lips pressed one over the other as if to hold back a scream. When Jack touched him lightly on the shoulder, he turned abruptly and grabbed hold of Jack. He picked him up as the sobs began.
He sat back down on the other bed with Danny on his lap, rocking him back and forth. Daniel cried silently, the only sounds being deep, heart wrenching sobs as the boy fought for breath.
“Jack?”
He looked over at Daniel; his soft voice had been full of worry and confusion.
Jack shook his head and said, “It's okay.”
Carter stepped over to Daniel, talking to him as Jack rocked the grieving and frightened child. Jack heard Daniel asking what had happened, but he tuned his friends out, concentrating instead of trying to soothe the distraught child in his arms. He bent over Danny, whispering nonsensical words in his ear, relieved on the one hand that Danny was expressing his grief, and afraid that his having overhead their conversation might just be enough to send him back into a non-responsive state.
Daniel sat up in bed and pushed himself across the mattress so that he was sitting facing Jack. He held out a shaking hand and stroked the back of Danny's head.
“I know you miss them. It'll be okay,” Daniel said. “Well take care of you. You won't be alone.”
Jack stiffened at Daniel's words. How could he be giving the boy false promises!
“Daniel,” Jack warned. But the man was either too caught up in his own grief and he ignored Jack or he didn't hear him. His anger grew as he continued on.
“Believe me, I know exactly what you're feeling right now. It'll get better, I promise; and we'll be right here for you.”
“Daniel, for crying out loud, shut up,” Jack said softly between clenched teeth. This time Daniel heard him and he looked up at Jack in bewilderment. He must have realized what he'd just been saying because his face simply crumpled. Before Jack could register the guilt he'd just inflicted on Daniel, Danny's sobs turned to hiccupping breaths as he turned to look at Daniel.
“I'm sorry,” Daniel whispered as he saw the boy's tear-streaked face turn towards him. “Oh God, I'm so sorry.” Daniel's voice broke and his eyes shone with unshed tears. To Jack's surprise, Danny shifted in his arms and slid onto the floor, quickly moving to Daniel's side. He clasped Daniel with his small arms as his counterpart picked him up and hugged him to his chest. Both were crying now, both understanding each other's pain and knowing that they'd have to part soon.
Jack saw Daniel begin to shiver, and he grabbed the comforter and covered the feverish man's shoulders with it. When they'd managed to get control over their emotions, wiping their eyes with the back of their hands and snuffling to clear their sinuses, Jack handed them both a few tissues and then urged them to lie down again. Danny was half asleep, exhausted from his emotional overload. Jack was a little worried about the boy, it wasn't normal for an eight year old to be so quiet, or to sleep so much. He helped both settle down once more and picked up Oursie from the tangle of blankets. He handed the toy to Danny, who sleepily clutched it against his chest.
- - - - - -
The night passed slowly for Jack. He shared the bed with Daniel with Danny sandwiched in the middle. The younger man slept fitfully; even with the painkillers, he tossed and turned restlessly most of the night. Carter and Teal'c shared the other bed. Jack was pretty sure that neither slept well either; they were all worried about their friend.
They rose early the next morning, even though they still had several hours to wait until the museum opened. Carter and Teal'c had walked by yesterday on their way to the library and hadn't been surprised to find that the museum had been closed to the public due to the accident. It had been announced that it would be reopening today.
As they sat on the beds eating coffee and muffins, Jack coaxed Daniel to try and drink a bit of orange juice. He'd managed a few sips but the cold liquid had set him to shivering once more.
“Sam,” Daniel turned towards her, bundled up with the blankets pulled up to his chin.
She moved over to sit beside him on the bed.
“You said that the mirror is also a time machine?” Carter nodded. Jack didn't like the breathless quality of Daniel's voice. “Couldn't we jump back in time five minutes before we got here. We could save my parents…”
“Daniel,” she started. Jack's head ached just beginning to think of the possibilities and problems this could create. “I don't think it's a good idea going back to try and fix events that have already happened,” she said after a moment's hesitation. “We've already managed to change his, *your* future,” she encompassed both Daniel and Danny with a wave of her hand, “and I don't want to waste what might be our only remaining opportunity to return Danny to this reality.”
“Remaining opportunity?” Daniel asked.
“MajorCarter believes the device will only work a limited number of times between dimensions,” Teal'c explained. “If we return to our own world, we may have only one chance to return the boy to his.”
“But you're not sure?” Daniel turned to Sam once more. She shook her head slowly. “So the mirror might allow us two more tries. Jack,” Daniel said eagerly, “we have to try. If we can save our parents…” Daniel stopped as he saw Danny watching him with huge eyes, the half-eaten muffin in his hands forgotten.
“Danny?” Daniel said softly. “Do you understand what's going on?”
Jack had to strain to hear the boy's very soft reply as he nodded his head.
“You're me.”
Daniel nodded. “That's right.”
Danny turned wide eyes to Jack. “Can you save my parents?” he asked hopefully.
Jack didn't know what to answer. He looked up at Carter for help, and saw the indecision in her face. Teal'c's jaw was tightly clenched as he stared at them.
“Danny, I don't think we can, or that we should even if we could.” The boy dropped his head to look down at his hands, his shoulders slumped in dejection.
“Jack,” Daniel said as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. He placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, but the boy ignored the intended comfort. “Can't we at least try?”
“Daniel, remember all of the other alternate worlds we heard of? Most of those that survived Apophis' strike against Earth had you on the team. We can't afford to change the future here; otherwise we've just doomed this world.”
“But our parents…”
“Might influence him into different studies if they were alive,” Jack interrupted. “Might encourage him to work on another continent when the project needs him here; might find the perfect woman for him and he'll be living happily with three kids, unwilling to leave them and join the team. Daniel, he needs to be at the right place at the right time so that he can open the you-know-what.”
“But…” Daniel said, obviously at a loss for words.
“O'Neill is correct,” Teal'c said. “What would be the use of helping the child when his world is certain to end in destruction?”
“What's the you-know-what?” Danny asked, still staring at his hands.
“Something incredible that you'll be asked to work on when you grow up,” Daniel answered before he lay back down.
- - - - - -
A cool wind was blowing as they walked under a dark and threatening sky. They made their slow way to the museum. Daniel was unsteady on his feet, but both Carter and Teal'c were flanking him, ensuring that he didn't falter. Danny and Jack followed behind; the boy's small fingers tightly curled around Jack's larger ones, Oursie clutched in his other hand. Teal'c was carrying the bulk of their supplies and their weapons; Jack had Danny's valise and Daniel's pack. Carter had her pack and laptop in one hand and with the other, she kept a grip on Daniel's arm.
Once they reached the museum, Carter ran up the stairs and went through the main entrance while the rest of the group made their way down the small alley to the smaller, less-used door that they had escaped through almost forty eight hours earlier. The wind howled loudly here, the narrow walls almost acting like a wind tunnel.
Jack eyed Daniel as he leaned against the stone wall, his head turned away from the wind. He could see the tremors coursing through his friend's overheated body as the cold and wind assailed him. Danny was shivering nearly as badly as Daniel, Jack realizing that the boy wasn't used to these colder temperatures. He squatted down and gathered the boy against him, using his body to shield him from the wind. Teal'c stood close to Daniel, attempting to do the same.
Carter opened the door a good ten minutes later and they all quickly squeezed into the dark hallway. They quickly but quietly walked down the hall till they reached the same storage room they had sheltered in the last time. While Carter and Teal'c went to search out the way to the basement, Jack had Daniel and Danny sit in the far corner, out of sight should anyone open the door.
The short walk of four blocks had exhausted Daniel. Jack could see the sheen of sweat on his face even though he was still shivering. Danny sat quietly beside him; he had barely said a word since they had discussed the Stargate programme in a cryptic manner around him. Jack had no doubt that Danny's intelligence far surpassed a normal eight year old child's; he must have understood enough to confuse him and give him false hope.
He didn't know what the boy thought was happening; Jack had been reluctant to bring up the subject of alternate dimensions and time travel to the kid. He was confused enough with his parents' death and the uncertainty of his future, but Jack figured he had no choice but to try and prepare him for what was soon to come on their return.
“Danny, I don't know how much you've understood about what's been going on so far.” Clear blue eyes looked up at Jack, teeth chewing on bottom lip. “You must be very confused, especially after seeing your folks…” Jack swallowed as he saw tears begin to well up in the boy's eyes. He reached over and wiped a tear from his cheek with the pad of his thumb.
“You've been very brave, kiddo.” Danny sniffed and brought his knees up to his chest, his stuffed toy resting between knees and chest. “Now you've heard us talking and you realize that we're kinda going on a little trip, right?” Danny nodded. “It won't be scary; it'll just be a little disorienting. Because we're going to leave from one room and we'll appear in another. Understand?”
“Your world?” Danny asked.
“My world. Which is almost exactly the same as this one, except that we're going to be about twenty seven years in the future.”
“I'm not going to be staying with you, am I?” Danny asked, his voice almost breaking. His bottom lip began to tremble as he tried to hold in his emotions.
“You can't,” Daniel said as he pulled the boy against him. Danny hid his face against Daniel's shoulder. Jack could see the tension in the boy's back as he listened to Daniel's words.
“I want you to stay … more than anything,” Daniel continued. “But something happens when two people occupy the same space. It's very complicated, Sam could explain it better than me. But it'll kill you, Danny, if you stay. Just like it'll kill all of us if we stay here much longer.”
Danny suddenly relaxed against Daniel, and Jack realized that maybe the boy had thought that he hadn't been wanted.
“You want me to stay?” he asked in a hopeful voice, looking up at the man holding him and then looking back at Jack.
“More than anything, kiddo,” Jack agreed. “We'll think of something. I just wish I could…” His words drifted as an idea came to him. He'd have to talk to Carter when they got back, see if it was feasible.
- - - - - -
Carter was removing the wires attached to the portable mirror and quickly disconnected her laptop. The time travel/quantum mirror was now stuffed in the corner of a dusty and little used section of the museum's basement. She nodded at Teal'c, and he did the same with the portable battery. They now had sixty seconds to go through the mirror, more than enough time to gather their belongings and remove all evidence that they'd been in the museum.
Jack herded Daniel and Danny forward, ensuring that Danny was holding tightly onto Daniel's hand. Jack took a firm grip of Daniel's arm and clasped Carter's shoulder. Teal'c hefted their packs over his shoulder and placed a hand on Carter and another on Danny. Holding her laptop and the spare battery under one arm, Carter reached forward and touched the device.
The sound of guns being cocked told Jack that they were home. Quickly homing in towards the sound, he let go of Daniel and Carter and turned and raised his hands, showing that they were empty. He saw Carter start to do the same when he heard a loud thud beside him. Daniel lay on the floor, unconscious.
Jack knelt beside his friend, yelling for a medic. Placing his hand on Daniel's cheek, he realized that Daniel's fever was raging. A touch at his carteroid artery showed that Daniel's pulse was both rapid and weak. Teal'c and Carter both joined him by Daniel's side. Jack glanced around, and saw that Danny had taken several steps backwards and was standing with his back against the cement wall. He had his arms wrapped around himself in a defensive posture, so reminiscent of Daniel that it brought an ache to his throat. His eyes were fixed on Daniel; Oursie lay on the floor, forgotten.
One of the SFs put the call through for a medical team while the other was on the phone to Hammond .
“Danny, come over here,” Jack called, raising an arm to the boy. Jack could see that he had begun breathing quickly and on the verge of hyperventilating. “Danny,” he called again in a sterner voice. The boy dragged his eyes from Daniel, then widened as they glanced behind Jack. Oh right, the SFS, guns…
Swearing under his breath, Jack left Daniel in Carter's care as he stood up and took a couple of steps to reach the boy. He bent down and took him in his arms, picking up the teddy bear at the same time. As Danny buried his face against his neck, Jack said, “He'll be okay, we're just waiting for a doctor.” As Jack returned to Daniel's side, he was peripherally aware of the gun following his movements. He ignored them, waiting for either Janet or Hammond to arrive.
The medical team arrived several long minutes later, with General Hammond on their tail. As Janet Fraiser knelt to examine their unconscious friend, the General dismissed the security guards with a wave of his hand.
“What happened to Doctor Jackson?” Hammond asked as Fraiser gave the order to put him onto a gurney. Daniel began to stir as the medical staff lifted him up, his groan sounding loud in the large, cluttered room.
“I don't know. He got sick not long after we got there.” Jack saw Fraiser glance at him as she helped position his friend on the gurney.
“He had a fever and a migraine. Nothing we gave him seemed to help much,” Carter added.
As the team whisked their friend off to the infirmary, Hammond gave Jack a curious look as they all exited Sam's lab and strode towards the elevators.
“I was getting worried. You're 40 hours overdue.”
Jack started at the news. He had assumed that Carter would have returned them within the three hours' deadline in which they had been slated to return. She shrugged when he looked back at her.
“Actually, we're a little early, Sir. Give or take 30 years,” Jack said as he fell into place beside the General, heading for the infirmary. “Carter's toy had a slight side-effect that we weren't aware of.”
Hammond raised his eyebrows, conveying that he expected a detailed explanation during their soon-to-be briefing. “Who's the little guy?” Hammond asked in a soft voice, looking at Danny who had his arms and legs wrapped around Jack's body.
“General Hammond, meet Danny Jackson,” Jack said in a quiet voice.
“You mean…?” the General started, at a loss for words.
“The device is also a time machine,” Jack finished.
“You went back in time, again?”
“Yes Sir, but not in our reality. We went back in his reality.”
“So you're telling me you went to an alternate reality, thirty years back?” Hammond suddenly stopped walking, forcing Jack to take two steps to return to where the General stood. Teal'c and Carter crowded around the two men. “How positive are you that it wasn't this reality?” Hammond hissed.
Jack knew exactly what would happen when the news of the device's properties reached the ears of the NID. It wasn't going to be a pretty sight.
“I'm sure that Carter can explain all the scientific mumbo-jumbo, but I'm positive that we weren't in our own reality.” Jack looked over at Carter, hoping for her confirmation. “The device we used was still cracked when we came through it five minutes ago, but the one over there was never broken. Teal'c saved it from a fall when we first arrived.”
Carter nodded her agreement to his explanation as they resumed walking once more, adding, “Although it's always possible that the device wasn't meant to be broken at that time, and that it gets broken later.” Great. Why did she have to go and play devil's advocate?
As Carter began explaining that her formulas and calculations proved that they were in another dimension, Jack tuned her out as he leaned against the wall, waiting for the elevator.
Danny had been very quiet since they'd arrived at the SGC; his seeing Daniel collapse and the SF pointing guns at them seemed to have set him back a bit. He didn't make any effort to look around as they continued on to the infirmary, his breathing sounding loud and shaky in Jack's ear.
When they arrived at the infirmary, Jack could see the activity farther down the room where Fraiser was working on Daniel. They all took beds as close as they could get without getting in the way of the nurses.
“Danny, it's okay now, you can let go,” Jack said as he sat down with the boy still clutching at him. His thin arms tightened around Jack's neck as he tried to pull them away. Relenting, Jack said, “I've got you, Danny. Try to relax.” He rubbed the boy's back, feeling the tension in the trembling body.
A nurse came by and gave him an enquiring look. Jack shook his head, he'd like Danny to calm a little more before letting someone start looking him over.
He kept half his attention on calming the boy, the other half caught up with the activity around Daniel's bed. Although Fraiser was barking orders and her staff was quickly and efficiently following through, there wasn't any of the urgency that he'd sometimes seen when patients were dangerously ill or injured. She was concerned, he could tell from her expression, but Daniel didn't appear to be in any immediate danger.
Jack heard Daniel's weak call and Fraiser's quiet words as she tried to calm him. A glance his way indicated that he had her permission to approach.
“Danny, I need to go see Daniel,” Jack spoke quietly near the boy's ear. “I'm just going to put you down for a minute, okay?” When he didn't react to his words, Jack picked him up and sat his now unresisting body on the mattress. Danny tilted to the side and curled up into a tight ball, staring straight ahead. Jack picked up the raggedy toy that he'd placed beside him, offering it to Danny. He ignored the teddy bear so Jack gently lifted his hand and placed it near his chest, under his chin. Feeling the soft fur on his skin, Danny grasped it tightly against his chest.
“I'll be right back,” Jack said as he brushed the long blond hair out of his eyes. Reluctantly he left the child and walked over to his friend. Daniel was lying in nearly the same position as Danny, sans Oursie.
Daniel's face was damp, his hair plastered to his scalp. They hadn't removed his clothes yet, but Jack could see they were darkened with sweat. Despite this, he was shivering. As Jack approached, Fraiser covered him up with a woollen blanket.
“I've given him some Imitrex for his migraine,” Fraiser informed Jack. “It's going to make him sleepy what with his weakened condition,” she warned. “His fever's coming down, although I can't take the credit for that.”
“Jack,” Daniel said as he spotted his friend. Grabbing a clean cloth from a nearby table, Jack gently dabbed the sweat from his friend's pale face. “Where's Danny?” Daniel asked, looking around, his eyes somewhat unfocused.
“He's resting,” Jack said, taking Daniel's chin and gently turning his head towards him as the man continued to search for the boy. “Like you should be doing.”
“I want to see him,” Daniel said, trying to sit up. Both Fraiser and Jack pushed Daniel back down onto the bed. “Where is he? Why won't you let me see him?” he asked as he shifted restlessly under the blanket. His eyes began to close and Jack could see that he was fighting to stay awake.
“Danny,” Jack began chiding when he felt a presence leaning against his leg. He looked down and saw young Danny. Daniel spotted his younger self and smiled sleepily at him.
“You okay?” Daniel asked him. Danny nodded, then moved to hug Daniel. As he pulled back and leaned up against Jack once more, Jack saw that the boy's hands were empty. Oursie lay on the pillow beside Daniel, who had relaxed enough to let the medication carry him into sleep.
“Let's let him sleep,” Jack whispered as he guided Danny back to his bed. As he clambered back onto the bed and lay on his side, he looked up at Jack and said, “My head hurts.”
- - - - - -
The pounding in his head had been reduced to a dull throb by the time Daniel woke up. He could hear the usual goings on of the infirmary. For a moment he couldn't remember what had happened, until he spotted the tattered teddy bear lying inches from his face.
He smiled at the offering of comfort as he picked up the limp toy and stroked the matted fur. He looked around, searching for his team mates, surprised that none were sitting with him. He spotted his glasses on the table beside his bed and reached over to put them on. He noticed Jack sitting in a chair in a shadowed corner of the infirmary, obviously fast asleep by the way his head was lolling crookedly on his neck.
With a feeling of dread, Daniel sat up, vaguely aware that he was feeling much better than he had been in the past few days. He noted the IV in his hand and deftly removed the needle, grabbing a tissue and holding it to the small bleeding pinprick. The floor was cold on his bare feet as he gingerly stood up. He wavered a moment, his legs having trouble holding him up. He took a tentative step and confident that he wouldn't fall over, he slowly padded over to the bed where Jack was sitting vigil.
Daniel looked down in disbelief at Danny's wan figure lying curled up in misery. The blush of fever was the only color on his pallid cheeks, making him look even younger than his eight years. Daniel sat on the bed beside him and gently stroked the soft, hot cheek with the back of his hand.
Chiding himself for having forgotten Oursie, Daniel got up and made his unsteady way back to his bed. He had to stop a moment to catch his breath before returning the few yards separating them. Obviously he hadn't made as much a recovery as he had thought he'd had. With a forced smile, he waved aside the assistance of a nurse as he returned to the boy's side.
Although sleeping deeply, probably due to Janet's intervention through the IV he saw snaking underneath the blankets, Daniel placed the beloved teddy bear by the boy's pillow, as he had earlier done for Daniel, before sitting back down on the bed.
He jumped when a hand touched his, and he looked up into Janet's concerned face. With a tsk, she wiped the blood leaking from the back of his hand, and put pressure on the forgotten slight wound with a tissue. In the meantime, she took his pulse then checked for fever, but didn't order him back to bed.
“What happened?” he asked softly, not wanting to wake up either Jack or Danny.
“I think he's caught whatever it was you had,” Janet said, also speaking quietly. “He complained of a headache just after you went to sleep, and his temperature rose soon after. I've given him some Demeral for the pain; it was pretty severe.” A bandaid on the back of his hand completed her ministrations.
“Yeah, I know, I remember.” He rubbed his head at the memory of the ice pick chipping away inside his head. “Why us, Janet? Why not Jack, or Sam? Don't you think it's some kind of coincidence?”
“Both the Colonel and Sam admitted that they'd experienced headaches just prior to your returning here, Daniel. Looks like you both got it full force, whatever this is.”
“Carter thinks it's the device.” Jack's sleep-hoarsened voice surprised Daniel. He was sorry to have woken his friend; he looked like he needed the rest, but in a sense was glad because Jack was going to have one heck of a stiff neck if he'd remained sleeping in that position for long. As if reading his thoughts, Jack rubbed his neck as he straightened up in the hard plastic chair.
“The quantum mirror is making us sick?” Daniel questioned.
“Not you, not now. Danny,” Jack said cryptically.
“Huh?”
Shaking his head as if trying to shake sleep from his brain, Jack explained. “I'm not sure if I understood half of what Carter was saying, something about the device causing the traveller to the alternate world to become sick when he gets too close to his alternate self. You and Danny were together from the start, so it's a given you got sick right away.” Jack leaned forward to rub a hand gently over Danny's head, as if to make sure the boy was still physically before him.
“You began getting better almost as soon as we got back here, but then Danny got sick. Carter says the device produces something or other that prevents those Cascade tremors, but the side effect is migraine and fever. She thinks if we'd stayed over there long enough, it'd have killed us just as effectively as the tremors.”
“So how long does Danny have?” Daniel asked Janet.
She shook her head, frowning. “I can't see any physical evidence of what could be causing his illness or what caused yours. All the tests came out negative. But his fever's not responding to anything I've given him so it could get worse very fast.”
Daniel shivered, not sure if it was from Janet's prognosis or from his encroaching weakness.
“By the way, Daniel. His X-rays showed that he'd broken his right arm when he was around five. You never did so that's at least one variance from your childhood.”
He knew exactly when that broken arm had occurred. It had been a close call on his part.
“I disobeyed my parents and climbed up onto some ruins. I lost my footing and nearly fell. One of the workers caught me just in time.” Daniel shivered again, remembering how close he'd come to falling down the tumble of stones he'd clambered over. He'd obeyed his parents for a few weeks after that, the fear of falling having subdued his curiosity for a short while.
“I think you'd better lie down,” Janet said gently as she noticed, to his embarrassment, that he was tilting to the side. He straightened with effort, his muscles shaking with the exertion of trying to remain upright.
“I'm fine,” Daniel mumbled, needing to lie down but thinking that what he'd thought earlier as a short distance between beds now looked too far away to attempt to cross.
“Here,” Jack said as he pushed Daniel down beside Danny. He tried to resist the pressure of Jack's hands, but he seemed unable to move against his friend's insistence. He found himself lying behind Danny, feeling the heat rising from the small body. Jack pulled a blanket from the bed beside him and covered Daniel with it. Before Daniel could pull the scratchy edge to his chin, he'd fallen asleep.
- - - - - -
“1984?” Carter exclaimed after Jack had made his request. She looked up from her laptop and stared at him. They were waiting for Hammond to give his okay to send Danny back to his own world. But if Jack had his way, they'd be going back more than ten years before the time they'd taken the child away from his world.
Jack nodded, knowing that if he could convince a certain couple to take Danny in, the boy would have a loving set of adoptive parents to care for him. And a soon-to-be-born brother to add to his family.
“Can you make the machine work so that we go back on that particular time and day?” Jack asked.
“Yes, that's no problem,” she said. “I just thought that…”
“I know some people who can take Danny in, but it's got to be on that day. I know for a fact that he'll be alone, I can talk to him, convince him while is wife is out.” At her wide-eyed look, he continued. “Do you really want him to go and live out his life in an orphanage, shipped from one set of foster parents to another? I know our Daniel turned out fine, but if we can prevent the heartache and give him a stable home, Carter…”
“What about the Stargate programme?” she asked, fiddling with an empty cup of coffee on the table.
“I'll talk to the guy, make sure he encourages Danny to study languages and archaeology, same as Daniel did. Look, this person can be stubborn but I can probably convince him. He's the best thing for Danny. Trust me on this.”
She nodded, and Jack left her lab with a lighter heart. He headed for the infirmary, reluctant to see Danny so ill but grateful that Daniel was recovering. They would have to move out soon, before Danny got worse. Fraiser wasn't going to release Daniel for this trip, and SG1's archaeologist was not pleased. He was still confined to the infirmary, a low grade fever still hanging on tenaciously. Jack was going to miss his presence on their mission.
Hammond had been on the phone all day in his attempt in convincing the President that the device couldn't be used as a time machine for the NID's experimentation. They had one shot at saving Danny's life; and that was to return him to his own reality. The NID had arrived shortly after SG1's mission reports had been filed, ready to seize the quantum mirror, but Hammond had held them off, insisting that they had to return the boy before letting them play with the mirror/time machine. The little detail of how the device wasn't going to last for many more trips had been left out of their reports, and Hammond was now explaining this to the President. Jack grinned at the thought of how the NID's scientists were going to be wasting their time in trying to get the thing to work again.
- - - - - -
Jack was in the infirmary with Daniel as they both sat vigil beside Danny when Hammond came by a short while later. Informing them that SG1 would be returning to the alternate world in thirty minutes to return the boy home, Hammond expressed his regrets to Daniel that he would have to stay behind. Daniel nodded and smiled at the General, but Jack could tell that having to stay behind was tearing him up.
It felt strange going out this time dressed in civilian clothes. Not wanting to call attention to themselves, they'd dressed in plain jeans and tee-shirts. They met up at Sam's lab once more, this time armed with plenty of cash and a suitcase full of Danny's belongings.
Daniel and Fraiser arrived shortly after, Daniel carrying Danny in his arms. The boy was still unconscious or asleep, heavily drugged against the excruciating headache he was experiencing. His teddy bear dangled from Daniel's fingers as he clutched the boy against his chest.
Carter entered the finishing touches to her calculations and asked if they were ready. She picked up her pack containing laptop and battery, Teal'c hefted the suitcase and Jack went over to Daniel and took the boy from him. Daniel swept a finger down the sleeping boy's face before turning away. Fraiser placed a small bag of pills in Jack's jacket pocket, informing him that the instructions for Danny's care were inside.
Daniel stuffed Oursie into Carter's packsack as they all approached the quantum mirror. Jack glanced at Daniel, who had stepped back and was standing with his arms wrapped around his torso. He met Jack's eyes, and Jack wished he could tell him that everything would be all right. He swallowed thickly, hoping that he'd have good news to impart when they returned from this trip.
He turned his attention to Carter, and both she and Teal'c placed a hand on his shoulders. As he saw Carter reach for the mirror, he felt a third hand on his back. He turned as fast as he could despite the burden he carefully held in his arms.
“Damn it, Daniel!” he barked.
He squinted in the dark of the museum basement, the faint light reflecting off of Daniel's glasses.
“Daniel,” he heard Carter say in surprise. Teal'c turned his flashlight on, playing it on Daniel's unrepentant face.
“I couldn't let you go without me,” he stammered as he looked at each of his team mates. “I had to make sure he'd be all right.”
“And what about you?” Jack snapped. Daniel glanced away before looking back up at Jack.
“I'll be fine,” he answered.
“No, you won't. You didn't think, did you?” At Daniel's frown, he continued. “This means that there'll be two of you to look after,” he grumbled. He was immediately sorry as he said the words, doubly so when he saw the hurt look on Daniel's face. But the man had known the reason why he'd been kept back from this trip; he still hadn't fully recovered from their first foray into this world and here he was again, sure to experience the same pain and illness.
Jack shook his head as Daniel turned away from him. He ordered Carter to pack up the device and told Teal'c to go scope out the place; it was early morning and the museum wasn't due to open for another thirty minutes. This would leave them free to find a place to hide until they were able to simply walk out of the museum's front doors.
Teal'c returned after a short time and led them to what Jack believed to be the same storage area they'd hidden in twelve years previously. He sat down on the ground, leaning Danny against his chest. As they waited patiently, Jack saw Daniel rub his temple.
“Headache?” Jack asked worriedly. Surely he wouldn't get sick this quickly. They'd only been in this reality less than fifteen minutes.
Daniel quickly looked up and shook his head. Jack doubted that he was being truthful but after his thoughtless words earlier, he couldn't blame him from holding back. Damn, he wanted to apologize but he was still angry at Daniel's little trick.
He concentrated on their plan; first step was to leave the museum, second was to get to the airport. Jack sighed as he saw Daniel absently rub his temple once more.
- - - - - -
Daniel glanced at Jack out of the corner of his eye. He could tell that Jack was still angry at him and that he was worried about Danny. The boy was still sleeping, and his fever hadn't shown signs of abating yet. Hadn't Janet said that Daniel's fever had begun to go down soon after he'd gotten home?
They'd been sitting in this small room for nearly sixty minutes. The museum had opened thirty minutes ago but they didn't want to arouse suspicion by walking out the moment the doors had opened. The heat in the room had caused Daniel's headache to rise from a slight throb to a severe pounding in that short time. He badly wanted to ask Jack for something for the pain, but he didn't want to see his ‘I told you so' expression when he did.
Jack kept asking him if he was all right, and it was all Daniel could do to put on a brave face. He could tough it out a short while longer, they had to be leaving soon; they needed to get to the airport and onto their flight. Jack had enough to worry about with Danny; he didn't need to know that Daniel was already feeling pretty lousy. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to breathe through the pain.
A soft whimper caught his attention and Daniel opened his eyes. Danny was stirring restlessly on Jack's lap; the older man talking softly to him. Daniel turned to ask Sam for some water for the boy and was surprised to see that she wasn't in the room. He checked his watch, his eyes having trouble focussing on the timepiece. The movement aggravated his stomach and he swallowed down bile with effort.
He must have fallen asleep despite his headache, not noticing Sam leave the room. Teal'c walked over to Jack with a water bottle, blocking Daniel's view as he knelt beside him.
He shivered suddenly, aware that he no longer felt warm. He laid his head back once more, hoping he wasn't going to be sick. He'd give anything to be able to lie down and curl up on the floor. But he'd known this would happen the second he'd stepped forward and touched Jack's back as Sam reached for the quantum mirror. He hadn't planned on coming through with them; it was an impulsive decision, which he was now beginning to regret. At the time, the memory of that killer headache hadn't seemed so bad.
“Daniel, let's go.” Jack's voice startled him. He blinked and saw Jack standing before him with Danny still in his arms. Danny was awake but appeared to be groggy. Somehow Daniel managed to get his feet underneath him and forced himself into an upright position. The room blurred and he kept a hand on the wall until he could make out the doorway. He stepped forward and followed Jack's back as they made their way outside.
Sam was waiting outside for them, having hailed a cab. They all piled into it, with Jack and Danny sitting up front and the rest squeezed into the back. The sunlight sent waves of pain through Daniel's eyes down into the farthest reaches of his brain. He sat there with his head tilted back, one hand trying to shield his eyes from the glare.
The trip to the airport was a blur, and once there he followed Jack's leather-clad back through the streams of people until he was urged to sit. He ignored the nudge against his arm until Jack ordered him to look up. His friend was holding out two pills and an opened bottle of water. Needing relief, Daniel grabbed the pills with a shaking hand and swallowed them down with a small sip of water. He felt a hand on the back of his neck, and then heard Jack swearing softly.
- - - - - -
“Damn,” Jack muttered when he felt the heat rising from Daniel's skin. He'd figured the man was suffering from a headache by the way he'd gone quiet in the storeroom, but he hadn't expected his fever to rise this fast. He'd just given him some Demeral for his headache, but he shifted Danny on his knees and fished in his pocket again for the Tylenol that Fraiser had also given him for Danny.
Thankfully Danny's fever was going down and even with the painkiller wearing off, his headache seemed to be much better. It was ironic that when one Daniel would begin to get better, the other worsened. He shook three pills out and nudged Daniel once more. Red-rimmed eyes looked at him in confusion.
“Take them,” he ordered quietly. Daniel swallowed them down obediently like he'd done with the painkiller. When he saw he'd only taken a sip of water, Jack coaxed him to try and drink some more. He needed fluids. Fraiser had admonished them all for having let Daniel become dehydrated the last time they were here. Right, try to explain to the good doc. that Daniel wasn't keeping anything down…
As he sat in the airport waiting for Carter to return with their plane tickets, he hoped he had made the right choice. It was ironic in a sense that they'd just left Colorado and were now getting ready to fly back to the same State.
He kept a wary eye on Daniel; the man looked like he was ready to collapse. Teal'c sat beside their friend, lending moral if not physical support. Danny shifted on his knees and Jack could see that the boy was much more alert, looking around with curiosity. Carter arrived shortly after and herded them all to the Gate; their flight was due to leave within twenty minutes. Good, he had timed everything fairly well up until now.
They found their seats quickly and Jack settled Daniel in the window seat, pulling down the shade to reduce the light. He sat Danny between the two of them, Carter and Teal'c had the seats before them. He asked the stewardess for a pillow and blanket for Daniel. The stewardess, noticing Daniel's pale face and weak demeanour, asked if she could be of assistance. Jack assured her it was nothing more than a migraine. Daniel fell asleep before the plane had even taxied to the runway.
“We're back, aren't we?” Danny finally spoke in a low voice as he watched the flight crew handing out drinks to the passengers.
“Yes, we are,” Jack answered before he asked for a coffee for himself and a juice for Danny. Handing the orange juice to the boy, he said, “I'll explain later, when we've got a bit more privacy.” Danny looked up at him over his plastic cup, blue eyes trusting.
Daniel slept throughout the four and a half hour flight, curled up against the edge of his seat and the plane's bulkhead. Jack was relieved when Danny showed interest in his lunch and polished off most of it. He curled up against Jack and slept the last ninety minutes of the flight, waking just before they landed. His fever was gone, as so was his headache. Jack wished that his friend had bounced back just as quickly.
Jack, on the other hand, developed a headache an hour into the flight. Although nowhere near as bad as Daniel's, the longer they flew, the more his head throbbed. He took some Tylenol shortly before landing, and as he swallowed the pills he realized that his alternate self was definitely close by.
Once the plane landed and was taxing to the airport, Jack reached over and shook Daniel awake. He was groggy and still feverish, but his headache appeared to have abated somewhat. Jack opted to wait till all of the passengers had passed ahead of them before getting off. He sent Carter ahead to begin procedures for renting a car, telling her they'd meet up with her at the kiosk. She gave Daniel a concerned look before getting into the slow queue of disembarking passengers.
<< BACK TO PART ONE ON TO PART THREE >>
Feedback makes the difference between writing and posting; please contact me at joag_sg1@hotmail.com |
