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Part Two
Jack was sitting with Teal'c and the Jacksons at the commissary, eating a late meal. Two armed SFs were standing conspicuously by the doors. Dan entered the room and spying Jack, grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the table next to them, taking the seat beside Jack. His mother smiled at him, his father ignored him.
Jack noticed that Dan had changed his clothes. He was wearing faded jeans and a black T-shirt, and his earring and other jewelry were gone. Giving Jack an apologetic smile, he said, "about our conversation earlier. Umm, I think maybe you were right on some points." He looked down at the cup cradled between his hands.
Jack waited for him to go on. The Jacksons had stopped talking and were listening to their son.
"If you think I can, er, help, I'd like to maybe, um, learn what he can teach me about the Goa'uld language. If I can get a start on it, I can probably decipher the rest eventually." He looked up quickly and glanced at Jack, then at Teal'c, returning his gaze to the coffee cup.
Teal'c interrupted. "There is insufficient time to teach someone to speak the Goa'uld tongue, O'Neill."
"Ahhh, but Teal'c, we're talking about Dan here. Remember, his brain is the same as Danny's. How much time d'ya think it would take our Daniel to learn, hmmm?"
"You have a point, O'Neill. But will DanielJackson be well enough to attempt to teach him?"
Dan's father said sarcastically "Oh, so you've suddenly decided that you want to help us out now? What, your friends decide to stop clubbing all of a sudden?"
Dan didn't look at his father, but said quietly. "Dad, I want to help. You know how I feel about things here, and I know that I haven't been very…nice…lately. I guess I'm saying I'm sorry." He looked up at started intently at his father. "I really want to help."
"Dan," his mother started.
"No, Claire, let him be. If he wants to help, fine. Let him work till he gets bored again."
Mel got up laboriously and limped out of the room. His mother patted her son's hand for a moment, smiled encouragingly, and followed her husband out of the room.
Jack looked at Dan and when he caught his eye, he said, "Let's go check on Daniel. If the Doc lets him out, we'll see about you learning language number thirteen. Teal'c, I'll come get you if Daniel's not up to this, you could maybe teach Dan some of the basics."
Teal'c remaining sitting, but inclined his head in agreement.
- - - - - -
Jack stood by Daniel's bed, watching his friend sit up groggily. Jack had hated to wake Daniel up, he hoped that the several hours of sleep he'd had would be enough to help him get through a few more hours of work. Janet clearly hadn't wanted Jack to disturb him, but if they were going to help these people, they were going to need Daniel.
He himself was only able to keep working due to the stimulants that Janet had handed out. He felt like he wanted to join Daniel in that bed and make like Rip Van Winkle.
It was only when Daniel got up off the infirmary cot that he noticed his double leaning against the wall by the door. Looking at Jack, he tilted his head towards Dan in a silent question.
"What?" replied Jack to Daniel's look.
"What's he doing here, Jack?"
"Waiting for you."
"Waiting for me for what?"
"Waiting for you to go teach him Goa'uld."
"Yeah, right" Daniel said, smiling. Daniel had started walking unsteadily away from the cot.
"Yeah, really."
Daniel froze at Jack's words. He turned at Jack and started at him incredulously. "You're serious?" At Jack's look, Daniel continued. "You expect me, to work with him? Mister toyboy over there?"
"Danny, he really wants to help."
"You're kidding? For how long? Till he finds something more interesting to do?"
"I think there's more going on here than we know about. He really does want to help. Give him a chance. I think that working with him is going to make it much easier on you…if you can give him a crash course while you're looking over some of the artifacts, he can take over after you leave. That way they'll have somebody here who can speak and read'n'write Goa'uld. It's an advantage we can't not give 'em."
"Jack, I can't believe you're doing this to me…".
Daniel realized that Jack had a point. He stopped by the door, looking at his counterpart. Dan pushed off the wall and straightened up. "I should apologize for what I said earlier," he started.
Daniel nodded. "Look, it's okay. Let's just get on with it. Jack says he wants me to give you a crash course in Goa'uld. There's some similarity to the Abydonian tongue. How fluent are you in that?"
Jack asked, "You two don't need me anymore, do ya?" They both shook their heads distractedly. He grinned and went off in the other direction.
They started walking towards Dan's office. He replied to Daniel's question. "I know some basics, Mom's better at it than I am, though."
"But you've been to Abydos , haven't you? You should have picked up the language."
Dan pulled out a chair for Daniel as they entered his office. He laughed mockingly. "Oh, yeah, go offworld. Now there's a joke."
"What's so funny about that?"
"Like they'd let a civilian go."
"What?"
"You mean you don't know? They don't allow civilians offworld. All personnel who go through the gate are either AirForce or Marines. We have to give crash courses on archeology or languages or whatever else they think they might need last minute, and then hope for the best."
"But that's incredibly stupid? How can they know what they'll need until they get there?" Daniel was shocked.
"During the first mission to Abydos , they sent a civilian with the team, and Steven, well, he got killed. After that, they decided only military personnel would go through the Stargate."
"Steven?"
"Steven Rayner, one of my best friends."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I know Steven, we were good friends too, until I sort of blew it."
"What happened?"
"I had to leave him and Sarah, and Professor Jordan. My wild ideas at the time was starting to discredit the Professor, so I decided it best to distance myself from them."
"Oh. So you know Sarah."
"Yeah?"
"Were you close?"
"At the time, yes. Why?"
"We're engaged."
"What? Congratulations!" Daniel couldn't believe it. Finally, one world where not only his double and his parents were alive, but his double had found someone to love.
"Nobody knows about it yet, you're the first person I've told so far."
"I'll keep your secret, don't worry." Dan nodded his thanks.
"So, when Steven died, I gather there was no sarcophagus around?"
"A what?"
"You've never heard of those? It's Goa'uld technology. It'll heal injuries, even bring someone back from the dead."
"Now there's something we could use."
"Yeah, us too, but we've never been able to get our hands on one. There are other problems associated with them, though." He remembered his time of addiction to a sarcophagus, and quickly changed the subject. "I gather that you'd have liked to go" he waved with his hand "out there."
Dan gave him a wry smile. "Yeah, as soon as I heard about the Stargate, that became my dream. I thought after a while the General would give in and let some of us civilians through, but my father convinced them that it was safer to keep us here on earth. He was very upset when Steven died. I tried talking to the bigwigs, but they remained adamant. No exceptions. I kind of drove them crazy about it. Especially Jack." He smiled slightly at the thought.
"So that's why your Jack…well, I'm going to recommend that they change their views on sending out civilians. Hey, with a bit of basic field ops, they wouldn't be able to do without you out there." Daniel grinned. "You'd need to get into shape first."
"Not a problem, I work out regularly with a couple of friends who just happen to be jarheads." He grinned back at Daniel.
They'd been working for a couple of hours when Dan noticed that Daniel was starting to lose track of his thoughts. He excused himself for a moment and picked up the phone. Daniel sat back with his eyes closed and listened to Dan talk to the other person on the phone. "Yeah, hi it's me. Look, could you do me a favour and pick up some coffee and a couple of sandwiches…yeah, I'm in my office. Thanks sweetie."
Turning back to Daniel, Dan asked, "when was the last time you ate something?"
"Ummm, breakfast?"
"Where? On your world?" Dan teased.
Daniel nodded wearily. Dan was shocked. He said, "that's almost 23 hours ago! No wonder you're tired, your blood sugar must be non-existent."
"Twenty three hours? How long did I sleep?"
"Your last nap was for nearly 8 hours."
"Shit, I told Jack we needed to get this done. He shouldn't have let me sleep so much."
"Daniel, you did as much as you could. We've gotten all of the gate addresses down. Thanks to you, we're going to be incredibly busy in the next few years."
A knock at the door announced Sarah bearing a tray laden with several sandwiches and two cups of coffee. At the disappointed look on her face, Daniel realized that she had expected to be sharing the meal with Dan. His double realized that too, and he quickly got up and took the tray from her. Putting an arm around her shoulders, he held her close and said softly, "sorry sweetheart. Daniel needed something to eat, I didn't think to explain."
She put a hand to his mouth, silencing him. "Shhh, I understand. You're exhausted, not thinking straight," she replied in her lilting voice. She kissed him ardently, then pulled back. "That'll teach you to work twenty four hours straight on a translation, and then staying up another twenty four while trying to learn a new language."
She turned to look at Daniel curiously, and said, "it's incredible, the two of you are totally identical."
Fingering his scar, Dan said, "well, not quite."
Daniel smiled at her gently. "And you're exactly like the Sarah in my world."
"You knew me there?"
Daniel nodded.
"But I see that I make you sad. We weren't close, then?"
"Yes, we were. It's just that, my Sarah, she became a Goa'uld. She was taken over by Osiris."
"Me!" Sara exclaimed. She looked ill. Dan took her in his arms and held her close.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Daniel said.
"She'll be okay, won't you, sweetie," She nodded against Dan's chest. "You'd better go, we still have a lot of work to do." He took her chin in his hand and kissed her gently.
"Daniel Jackson, behave yourself in front of um, yourself." She giggled, kissed Dan once more, then walked over to Daniel, kissed him on the cheek, and left the room.
Dan busied himself handing out the coffee and sandwiches. "I don't know what she sees in me, but I swear she's kept me sane this past year. I got into some trouble after I found out I wouldn't be going off world. Umm, drugs, and I, er, joined a gang. When I finally decided to get clean, she was there for me the whole time. Dad's never really forgiven me, I guess I disappointed him." He fingered the scar under his eye. "That's when I got this. Got into a fight when I was high, nearly killed the other guy. That scared me so much that I quit cold turkey. You have no idea what it's like losing control like that."
"Actually, I do. I went through a period of addiction, not drugs, um, something that happened offworld, with the sarcophagus. That's one of the problems that comes with it, if someone who's not injured uses it, they become addicted to it. Jack's the one who pulled me through." Daniel sipped his coffee. "I almost killed Jack when I was coming down. I still have nightmares about that."
"Looks like we're more alike than I first thought." Daniel looked up at his counterpart, and returned the smile he saw on the other's face.
"You said your dad hasn't forgiven you for getting into trouble. Have you and he actually talked about it?"
"No, and I don't think I want to. I, um, kind of made things look like I'm still part of the gang. Like at the meeting, dressing like I did. They thought I'd gone out partying, when the whole time I was buried under tons of translations."
Daniel laughed. "When you walked into the briefing, I thought your Jack was going to turn you over his knee."
"Yeah, I've been running him hard, too. I just get so frustrated."
- - - - - -
Jack had come by twice in the past several hours to check up on Daniel. He could see that even though the work wasn't physical, it was definitely taking a toll out of his friend. Dan had glanced at Jack worriedly the last time Jack had been there. This third time he came armed with Claire, both carrying heavily burdened trays. The two men were still working enthusiastically side by side. They seemed to be getting along together as well as the Carters were.
"Okay, I think it's more than past time you guys took a break," Jack said, placing his tray on top of the papers spread out before Daniel. Claire placed hers in front of her son.
"But Jack, we're just at the point where…" Daniel whined.
"This is a really interesting part…" Dan complained.
"Ah ah," Jack said, shaking his finger between them. "No arguments. Both of you are going to eat. I want to see everything disappear off of those plates."
"Jaaack, really, I want to finish..."
"Daniel, you're not doing another iota of work until you've eaten. That's an order."
"Is he always this bossy?" Dan asked.
"Actually, he's kind of lenient today. Usually he's more of a nag."
"Daniel," Jack growled. Daniel reluctantly picked up a fork and started picking at his meal.
"Dan, you heard the man. I don't see you eating either."
"Mooom! You're not going to start too, are you?"
"Only if you give me grief. You eat now, you get to work sooner." She grinned up at Jack. It was amazing how similar both Daniels were.
- - - - - -
Teal'c had been systematically cataloguing and translating a variety of artifacts collected from the various forays the SGM teams had made. Some of the work was easy as he and DanielJackson had already translated them in their own world, but there were several of which he had never seen before, and the languages and scripts were not familiar to him. These he had put aside in the odd chance that Daniel would be able to look at them before they left.
Mel asked O'Neill if he would mind bringing the artifacts which Teal'c had culled over to Daniel and Dan. He thought maybe Daniel would have a chance to go over the artifacts and start translating some of them.
O'Neill passed Claire and Dan in the hallway on his way to Dan's office, both bearing the remains of a meal on trays. He had come to speak to Daniel and heard voices coming from the open door. As he approached, he realized that his counterpart was talking with Daniel. He didn't want to eavesdrop, was going to knock on the door, until he heard his name mentioned.
"So, any sparkage between this world's O'Neill and Captain Carter?" Daniel was asking. Daniel remembered in both other alternate universes, those two had either been engaged or married.
"Nuh uh, O'Neill's still married," Jack replied quietly.
"Married? Oh, to Sara?"
O'Neill thought that his counterpart nodded, because he didn't hear a reply.
"Oh, then Charlie?"
"He's alive."
"Jack, I'm sorry."
"No, don't be. God, just think, Charlie's alive! He hadn't survived in the other alternate world you went to either. At least here, one of my other selves managed to save our son. My son. My only regret is that I won't be able to see him."
O'Neill decided he'd come back later, and turned around and returned to his office.
- - - - - -
Walking into Jackson 's lab a short time later, O'Neill saw Dan look up at him with a genuine smile. Which quickly turned into a scowl when he realized that he wasn't Daniel's Jack. O'Neill realized that it had been too long since he'd since such a smile grace this man's face. Lately he usually wore a sarcastic or cynical look on his face. He missed seeing Dan looking at him kindly.
Handing the box over to Daniel, he nearly gasped in shock when he got a good look at him. The man looked on the verge of collapse. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, he was pale, and his hands were shaking. Glancing at Dan, he inclined his head towards Daniel while Daniel rummaged through the box. Dan nodded his head, then shrugged his shoulders. Actually, Dan didn't look much better. His eyes were bloodshot, he was also obviously exhausted.
"Doctor Jackson, don't you think you should take a break?"
"Geez, you sound just like my Jack. Doesn't he, Dan?" Daniel said.
"You do know you look like shit right now, don't you," Dan answered back.
Ignoring Dan, Daniel continued to rifle through the box. "Colonel, I'd like to ask you about your view on civilians being permitted through the Stargate."
Colonel? Oh, we're being official now, are we? Jack thought to himself. "Not gonna happen," admitted O'Neill.
"No, I want to know what you think. You, personally."
O'Neill chewed his bottom lip a moment. "Okay, personally, I think that letting anyone who's non-military through the Stargate is asking for trouble. We need people who have had combat training, who are able to follow orders, who know what to expect. Anything other than that is unacceptable."
"You know, that's exactly what Jack thought at first." Stilling his hands and looking up at O'Neill, he continued. "Just because you lost one civilian on your first outing, doesn't mean it would happen every time. What if, let's say, you took Dan here, and maybe even a couple of other archeologists or linguists or anthropologists, and put them through basic field operations, you know, taught them how to use guns, hand signals, all that stuff. Made sure one military team member was with them at all times for safety's sake, even start with only the uninhabited planets. Don't you think it would be worth the trouble in the long run?"
"You're kidding me? You want me to take civilians through the 'gate?"
"We have a civilian on nearly every SG team. It's worked out in most cases. Actually, it's become a necessity."
O'Neill stared at Dan. "What have you been telling him?" Dan glared back at O'Neill.
Daniel retorted, "Don't you start on him. I've been with SG1 from its inception. I know what it's like out there. As a matter of fact, I died on the first mission. And again several months later. And nearly died a few other times. That didn't cause Jack to kick me off the team. I know that with proper training, Dan would be an indispensable addition to your team. Having an archeologist or a linguist or an anthropologist on the team means making decisions on the spur of the moment. Not having the proper information available on hand can be more dangerous than worrying about whether your civilian can handle himself. If you don't want him on SG1, fine. Put him on another team. But send him out there. His talents are wasted here. And Sarah, she could be placed on another team. Send her to archeological digs if you don't want her put in a dangerous situation. There are plenty of planets that are safe and are archeological wonders. Jack! They're all wasted here. Let them go and do what they're best at. Please, go talk to my Jack about this." Lifting his eyes, he looked at Jack intently.
Daniel resumed rifling through the box. Suddenly, something caught his eye. It resembled a stone tablet, made of some kind of iron, about a foot in diameter. It was covered in writing, with hieroglyphs surrounding the outer edge. Daniel took the artifact with shaking hands. He stared at it for a long time.
"I've seen this before," Daniel muttered. "The hieroglyphs are clearly Egyptian, but the writing, it's a mixture of ancient Latin and Greek, but the words definitely aren't. It's like it's written in code. I can't read it, but I know I've seen it before." He rubbed his face tiredly, his eyes were having trouble focusing on the writing. He could remember that when he had first seen this writing, his eyes also hadn't been focusing properly at the time.
"Where did I… Machello! This was written by Machello!" He waved the tablet in Jack's face. "I have to see Sam, she's seen this before, maybe she can help me translate it."
Daniel pushed his chair back and stood up, but his legs gave out and he landed heavily on the chair, and nearly fell off. Both Dan and O'Neill grabbed him to hold him upright.
"Whoa, head rush" he moaned. A second later, he stated the obvious. "Um, Jack, my legs don't seem to want to hold me up."
"I can see that. Okay, change of plans. I'm going to get Doctor Fraiser."
"Jack no!" Daniel exclaimed.
"Doctor Jackson, look at you, you're about to collapse."
"Jack, please. I'm okay." His shaking hands and pallor contradicted his words.
"No, you're not."
"You don't understand. This is important. It could mean the difference to both your world and mine," he tried to argue.
"Ah ah," O'Neill said, waggling a finger in front of Daniel's face. Daniel looked up at him, unsure if he had heard right. This was the Colonel O'Neill of SGM, wasn't it? He sure sounded like his own Jack. He leaned his head against the back of the chair, his energy depleted.
"Daniel?" Dan said anxiously.
O'Neill was astounded as the worried look in Dan's face. The man had surprised him repeatedly in the past several hours.
"Look, help me get him to the infirmary. Then you take that rock over to his Sam, then find his Colonel and tell them to meet me in the infirmary."
Dan nodded, taking one of Daniel's arms and putting it over his shoulder.
- - - - - -
"It's definitely Machello's writing," Sam confirmed to both Colonels and Dan. "But I can't translate it. Machello never had time to teach me the code."
"Who's this Machello guy?" O'Neill asked.
"Some scientist who created all kinds of stuff and booby traps to destroy the Goa'ulds. Never trusted the guy, though." Jack quipped.
They were standing near the entrance to the infirmary, watching while Janet bustled around Daniel. He had either fallen asleep or fallen unconscious as soon as his body had been horizontal. O'Neill couldn't help wonder at the willpower the man had been exhibiting.
Dan said, "I think the hieroglyphs here say that it's some kind of weapon. I would think that the script inside describes the weapon, either how to make it or where to find it."
"The only thing we can do is to give you the gate address to Machello's world. He may not be able to help you, he was in suspended animation when we found him, close to death. Even if you do resuscitate him, there's no telling if he would live long enough to help you, or even that he'd be willing to do so."
Sam handed the tablet back to O'Neill. "So, Major, what's the prognosis on the mirror?"
"We're nearly ready to transport it to P3S 985. Two more hours, maybe." O'Neill nodded.
Taking Jack's arm, O'Neill steered him away from Sam and Dan. "Look, your Daniel wanted me to talk to you about the civilians on your team."
"I'm guessing that Dan wants in on the action?" O'Neill nodded. "Then let him. You're severely limiting your options when you don't have the best resources with you. Daniel's part of SG1, but most other SG teams have at least one civilian member. Just think, with all those planets we've given you to explore, do you really not want an archeologist or linguist on your team?"
Jack saw that Janet had finished with Daniel, he excused himself and went to sit beside his friend's bed, Sam following right behind him.
O'Neill looked at Dan. "So, you're really serious about going through the 'gate," he inquired.
"Like this is news. You know that's what I've always wanted to do. Even mom wouldn't mind going through."
O'Neill looked towards the sleeping Daniel. "You haven't exactly been acting like someone I'd like to have on my team."
"I know."
"How do I know this isn't just another phase you're going through. That you won't get bored in another couple of months, decide to take off again. Or get high again."
"God, the only reason I acted stupidly then was because I was so frustrated here. You didn't let me do anything except look at things second hand. Damn, I do have a degree in archeology. I do know languages. Yes, I don't know as many as he does, but it's not too late to learn more. I want to do this, I want to go through with you. I want to be able to help."
"I don't know if I can trust you."
"That's understandable, I haven't made it look like I was trustworthy, have I? Look, I haven't touched the stuff in close to a year. I haven't even been to the clubs since then. Every time you thought I was out partying, I was locked up in my room working on translations."
O'Neill looked at Dan unbelievingly.
"Check with mom if you don't believe me. I couldn't have been having a good time and doing all those translations at the same time."
"Why did you try and make me believe you were being irresponsible?"
"Because you hurt me when you didn't want me on the team. I guess I wanted to hurt you too."
Jack shook his head. "You're sure you want to do this?"
"As sure as I've ever been about anything in my life."
"Okay, I may regret this, but…meet me in thirty minutes. You're getting a crash course on weapons, and whatever else I think you'll need."
"And…"
"You'll accompany both SG1 teams to P3S 985. I think that Doctor Jackson may need your moral support if the mirror doesn't work. And if I like what I see, you may be assigned to a few missions in the near future. But you make sure you do exactly what I say." O'Neill walked away, aware of the grin on Dan's face. He tried to hide his own smile.
- - - - - -
When Claire arrived at the infirmary to visit Daniel, she found the Jaffa sitting by his bedside. Coming up to the bed, she smiled at the warrior. He nodded a greeting at Claire.
"I must leave now, it is good that you will sit with him. His sleep has been disturbed by dreams," he said to Claire. Teal'c stood up and offered her his chair.
"Does this happen often?" she asked curiously, sitting down in the chair.
"Upon occasion. ColonelO'Neill is usually there to help calm him when it does occur."
Teal'c took his leave from her; he went on his way to the Stargate to assist in moving the mirror back to its original position on the planet.
Daniel stirred slightly in his sleep. Glancing over, she saw his lips moving. She could barely make out what he was mumbling. She leaned over, listening intently. "Baba, baba laa." // Daddy, Daddy no //.
"Shhhh," Claire whispered, stroking his forehead gently, trying to ease him out of his dream.
" Mama, laa! Khali balak, ha yokaa!" // Mommy, no! Look out, it's falling //.
Claire realized then that Daniel was dreaming about seeing his parents die when he was a child. Trying to soothe him, she answered him in Arabic. "Shhh, mafish haga, ya habibi, Mama hena," she whispered softly. // Shhh, it's okay, sweetie, mommy's here //. She remembered the little boy she and Mel had brought to America for the first time, who was more comfortable speaking in Arabic than in English.
"Mama?" Daniel asked, opening his eyes and looking around, slightly confused.
"Danny, shhh. Da helm wehsh bas, ergaa nam." // It's just a bad dream, go back to sleep //.
"Claire?" he asked, looking at her, bewildered.
She nodded. "Rouh nam," // Go to sleep //, she repeated.
For the first time since that terrible accident years ago, Daniel woke up from his usual nightmare to the comforting sight of his mother's face. He shut his eyes contentedly, sleep overtaking him once again.
"Mama hena," // Mommy's here //, she said softly to herself.
- - - - - -
They had finally gotten the be-damned mirror back to its niche on P3S 985. It had taken lots of sweat, swearing and maneuvering to get the thing into position. It was heavy to start with, but it had doubled its weight back on the planet. They decided not to attempt activating it on the off chance that there were Jaffa in the vicinity of the mirror on Jack's world. The mirror was nearly invisible if it wasn't activated as it blended quite well into the wall. So hopefully the Jaffa didn't know of its existence yet, unless one of them accidentally found it the way Daniel had in the first place. They hoped for the best, and prayed that when it came time for SG1 to return home, the mirror would function properly.
They all returned to SGM for a few hours' rest before they would be escorting the visitors home. They still had quite a few hours to spare before the tremors started, and they had all been working hard. Both O'Neill and Jack decided to grant everyone several hours worth of sleep before going back to P3S 985.
- - - - - -
Daniel woke in a panic, for a moment not knowing where he was. Trying to catch his breath, he became aware of someone sitting beside him, patting his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw Dan's father sitting by his bed.
"Are you all right, do you want me to get Janet?" Mel asked.
Daniel shook his head. "No, I'm okay. I was just a little disoriented. Um, Claire was here earlier," he said, looking around sleepily.
"She went to get some rest. She told me you had a nightmare. I never realized what you must have gone through when your own parents died," he told Daniel. "You still have nightmares about it?"
"Yeah. I think that seeing you and Claire kind of triggered them, I hadn't had any for a while lately."
"I'm sorry we've upset you so much."
"Oh no, don't be. You have no idea how much seeing you both has meant to me. I always wondered what the two of you would be like, and now I've had the chance to find out." He smiled shyly at Mel. "Can I ask, um, your leg. Was that from the incident where my parents died?"
"You mean the accident in the museum?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes, Dan saw the coverstone start to fall, and he screamed. His warning gave me just enough time to push Claire away, but my leg got caught underneath. I always cursed the injury, but after having met you, I realize now that even though I'm crippled, at least I'm alive. It's funny how things have a way of falling into perspective." He laughed softly at that.
"Dan loves you, you know," Daniel said sleepily, his eyelids beginning to droop closed.
"Excuse me?" Mel asked, wondering why Daniel was changing the subject.
"Go talk to him. You're both so stubborn. I know now where he gets it from," he muttered, as sleep claimed him once again. Mel smiled, he knew also where Daniel got his stubborn streak from.
- - - - - -
Jack stopped at the infirmary to check up on Daniel before heading off to bed. He arrived there to see Melbourne Jackson sitting beside his friend. Daniel was sleeping very deeply.
Nodding at Dan's father, Jack placed his hand on Daniel's forehead for a moment, saying goodnight in his own way. He was about to leave when Mel spoke up. "You care for him a great deal, don't you?"
"Yeah, he's my best friend."
"It's amazing how he turned out quite differently from my own son."
"Really? I don't see much of a difference."
Melbourne looked up at Jack, confused.
"Look, I haven't been here long, but in the short time I've come to know Dan, I've seen many of the qualities in him that I admire in Daniel. Both of them are caring persons, wanting to help any way they can. Sure, Dan got into a bit of trouble, but from what I heard, he's straightened himself out."
"Where have you been hearing this crap?"
"From the man himself. He and Daniel and I were talking, he admitted to having gotten in with the wrong crowd. But he's kept up the appearance of doing so for the past year to get back at you and the Colonel."
"And you believed him?"
"For crying out loud, he's your son. Don't you know when he's hurting? You and O'Neill knocked his dream out from under his feet, and when he made a mistake and got caught up in drugs, you weren't there to help and support him."
Daniel stirred slightly in his sleep. Jack's lowered his voice, thinking that his tone might be disturbing his sleep.
"I've spoken to the Colonel, he's going to put Dan on the team. Let him prove himself. It would mean a lot to Dan if you went and showed your support. He cares for you a great deal, you know."
"I don't know, I don't want to lose my son."
"Doctor Jackson, if you don't do this, you might still lose him."
- - - - - -
"Dad?" Dan asked sleepily, having woken up to the sound of his bedroom door opening.
"Can we talk?" Melbourne limped heavily and sat down on the edge of Dan's bed.
"If it's about my going to P3S 985 with Jack, there's nothing you can do to change my mind or his. It's been decided." He sat up and leaned against the wall.
"I've been told that you've been lying to me the past year." Dan looked at his hands, fiddling with the edge of the blanket. "That you've been putting on an act to make me look like some kind of idiotic fool."
"No! I didn't try to make you look like a fool. I wanted to hurt you. That's the only reason I did drugs. Not because I enjoyed them, but because you hated them. You prevented me from doing something I wanted. I couldn't be part of an SGM team, so I figured that I'd be part of something you hated. So I joined a gang. Now who's the dimwit here?"
"But why did you keep up the act? Your mother told me today that you've been off drugs for over a year, but you kept on acting like you were going out every night."
"Yeah, I, um, didn't know how to stop the act once I started. I would see you get mad each time I came in dressed up like an idiot, and I kept thinking how I was getting my revenge back at you. Until I met Daniel, I didn't realize how stupid I've been. I should have come and told you sooner, and asked for your forgiveness. I'm really sorry, Dad. I…"
His words were muffled as his father grabbed him and hugged him hard against his chest. Dan reached up and returned the hug. God he'd missed his father's affection so much.
"I don't like you going out there, Dan, but if it's what you want, I won't deny you your chance. Just promise me you'll be careful, I don't want to lose you." Dan nodded, too choked up to speak.
- - - - - -
When the Airman knocked on the door, Jack forced himself to get up. He'd had nearly eight hours of sleep, but it felt like he was still thirty six hours short of a good rest. He'd been to the heavy gravity planet twice in less than two days. He'd had too little sleep, he was emotionally exhausted, he was worried about Daniel, worried about getting his team back home.
He'd hadn't slept well, he'd had nightmares about Charlie's death, probably triggered by knowing that this reality's Charlie was still alive. He thought that maybe he should go see Sara when he got home, he should keep in touch, talk, let her know he still cared, even if they weren't still married.
Getting to his feet, he trudged to the infirmary to rouse Daniel. He had a hard time waking him up. He finally got him up on his feet, dragged him to the showers and then to the commissary. Joining Dan and the Carters there, he tried to coax Daniel to eat something. For all his efforts, Daniel only managed to drink a bit of coffee.
They had been on this alternate world for less than 40 hours. It should have been too soon for the entropic cascade tremors to come upon them. Unfortunately, due to his already weakened condition, Daniel was the first to experience them.
They'd been sitting at the table for only a few minutes, when suddenly Daniel moaned, and tensed up. He jerked back sharply and started shaking, as if he was experiencing convulsions, all the cells in his body appeared to be coming apart. It lasted for nearly a minute, and when it was over, he lay sprawled in Jack's arms, unconscious.
- - - - - -
Claire was sitting beside Daniel's bed, and looking down at him, she realized that he was awake and watching her. She smiled.
Daniel saw her smile at him, and his heart ached at the thought that his own mother would never be able to tell him what she thought of him, whether she was proud of his accomplishments, his achievements. What she thought of his friends, his beliefs, his ideals.
He felt something wet slide down his face and realized that he was crying. He brought a hand up to wipe away the tears, hoping that Claire hadn't noticed. Before he could do so, he felt Claire gently wipe his tears with her hand.
"I'm sorry," he said, embarrassed at being caught in a moment of weakness. "I don't mean to act like an idiot."
"Why would I think that? It's obvious you're exhausted, your emotions are just close to the surface right now. What were you thinking of that made you so sad?"
"Oh, um, actually, I was thinking of you. Or rather, what you'd think of me if you were really my mother." His voice was slightly choked up, and he kept swallowing to keep the tears at bay.
"Oh, but I am your mother, or actually I would be her if she was still alive. And I can tell you what I think of the young man lying in front of me right now. I'm very proud of him. He's grown up to be a caring, loving person, even with all the hardships he's had to endure in life. A man who's concern for other people is foremost in his beliefs. A strong, spirited, conscientious young man." She stroked his hair. "I'm sorry you're going to have to leave, because I'd be very happy to call you 'son'."
Her words touched Daniel and the tears started up again. She got up from the chair and sat down on the bed, and gave Daniel something that he hadn't experienced in nearly thirty years - a mother's hug.
- - - - - -
The second set of tremors hit Daniel ninety minutes later as they were all assembled in the embarkation room, ready to gate out to P3S 985. Instead of delaying their departure, they sent the assembled marines onwards to '985, and the two SG1 teams waited for Daniel to recover sufficiently to join them.
Coming to with his head supported on Sam's lap, Daniel looked up blearily at his friend. He remembered the pain of the tremors, it had felt like his whole body was attempting to pull itself apart. He looked around, saw that they were still in the embarkation room.
Jack helped Daniel sit up, waiting for him to regain his equilibrium. Dan came and kneeled by his side, and when he was ready, both Dan and Jack helped him stand. They made their way slowly to the Stargate.
Upon stepping out of the 'gate, Daniel immediately fell to his knees. If Jack and Dan hadn't been helping him, he would have probably injured himself. As it was, his body was too weak to support himself in the heavy gravity. They helped him to the nearby cave containing the mirror, and gently sat him down. Dan immediately settled beside him and kept him company.
Dan and Sam were assigned to stay with Daniel, to safeguard him from the Jaffa in their world. The plan was to go through the mirror, and then fight their way to the Stargate. The others would return home and they would bury the mirror to prevent any Jaffa from following them through. C-4 had been planted all around the mirror in expectation of their return.
Jack held his breath while Sam attempted to turn the mirror on. He let it out in a rush when he saw the block of stone turn shiny and reflective. Quickly, before losing the element of surprise, O'Neill gave the command to send the first wave of marines through to attack the waiting Jaffa , who could be seen in the depths of the mirror. Due to Daniel's continued weakness, Sam and Dan remained on this side of the mirror until the way was safe.
The battle was short and swift. The Jaffa had never known of the existence of the mirror and had been totally unprepared for the attack. Dan and Sam remained standing watch over Daniel, who, unable to remain upright, leaned wearily against the stone walls of the cave near the mirror while the battle raged on in the other reality. Within a short period of time, Jack came to the mirror and they saw him wave them on in.
They helped Daniel to the mirror, all three placed their hands on the reflective surface, and were transported over to Daniel and Sam's universe.
Now that they were back in their own reality, there was no danger that Daniel would experience another tremor. Their main concern now was to get him safely back to the SGC, and into Doc Fraiser's hands.
Daniel could hear the battle outside the cave, and he tried to follow the happenings through the communications coming from their radios. He was so tired and feeling unwell, though, that his brain couldn't seem to make out what was happening out there.
With the way to the Stargate finally clear, Jack and O'Neill returned and both assisted Daniel to his feet. Slinging one arm over each shoulder, they helped him to the Stargate. Sam had dialed the coordinates for home, and sent the code over the GDO. Now that the Stargate was active, there was no danger of the Jaffa dialing in. She turned to say goodbye to her mirror-team.
Teal'c came over and took Daniel's weight from O'Neill. Jack extended his free arm and shook O'Neill's hand. He said softly to him "take care of Charlie and Sara." O'Neill nodded solemnly. Jack then nodded towards Dan. "Watch him carefully, he's going to drive you crazy. He won't listen to you, he won't stay put, and he'll wander all over the place. But you'll soon find that he's indispensable, and you never knew how you got on without him."
To Dan, he said, "go easy on the Colonel, willya." Dan laughed. Dan came up to Daniel and said gently, "Thank you for everything. If it weren't for you, I'd never have gotten to follow my dream. I'm sorry I won't see you again, it would have been nice to have had a brother."
Daniel replied weakly, "A brother, yeah. That would have been nice. Love our parents for both of us, won't you?" Dan nodded, tears in his eyes.
Seeing that Daniel's legs were ready to give out on him, Teal'c bent down and took Daniel in his arms. Daniel rested his head against Teal'c chest. They turned and headed for the Stargate. Teal'c went straight through the Stargate without stopping, but Sam and Jack turned at the event horizon and waved, before stepping through.
- - - - - - -
Two days later, after having spent the majority of that time sleeping, Jack was hunting for his backpack where he'd placed copies of the stuff they'd worked on at the SGM. He needed it for his debriefing with General Hammond, scheduled in an hour's time. He had just checked up on Daniel, Janet would be releasing him this afternoon, and Jack was going to be taking Daniel home with him for the next few days to recuperate.
He finally found the backpack, and rummaging through it, he found two thick envelopes; one was addressed to himself, the other to Daniel. Curiously opening the one with his name on it, he was astonished to find it filled with pictures of Charlie, all taken within the last four years. God bless O'Neill!
Glancing at Daniel's package, he opened it and saw that it was similarly filled with pictures of Claire and Melbourne Jackson. God bless them all!
FINIS
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