• SPOILERS : Stargate: The Movie, Children of the Gods, also people and events from the Gamekeeper and Crystal Skull are referred to although the eps haven't happened yet
• SUMMARY : After Daniel is injured, SG-1 takes on a temporary replacement who would like to make the position permanent.
• PG-13 [Hc] [A] [D]

Walking along the shore aimlessly, Daniel kicked at the sand with his toes. Water swirled up to tickle his bare feet. He paused to look back, his hand raised to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun. His footsteps stretched up the beach as far as he could see. He frowned, trying to figure out where he was and exactly how he had gotten there.

Where was the rest of his team? Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his eyes tiredly. The last thing he remembered was a planet, green and beautiful. And then… He pinched his nose trying to remember. He had blinked and found himself… where?

Gazing around, there were no clues in sight. There was only sand, water, and sky for as far as he could see. There was no sound. Just the soft swish of water as it rushed up the sand and then a whisper as it was pulled inexorably back to the sea. There were no sea birds crying, no hum of insects, no signs of people that he could see.

On impulse he called out, "Hello? Jack? Sam? Teal’c? Where are you guys?" The silence was oppressive and pressed in on his eardrums. It seemed to swallow his words before they left his mouth.

In frustration he continued walking up the beach. There didn’t seem to be anything better for him to do. If he continued up the beach maybe he’d find his team… or people… or something… It wasn’t like he had a better plan, he just didn’t know what else to do.

There was a shimmer in the air, like a heat wave off the sand. He stopped in surprise when an outcropping of rocks appeared on the beach in front of him where there had been nothing but sand moments before. Blinking to clear his eyes, the rocks stayed obstinately solid and real. Blinking again, he realized that there was a figure sitting atop the rocks. It was no one he knew, but it was a someone, a real person. Hopefully someone who could give him answers about where he was, where his team was. Questions buzzed in his head as quickened his pace.

As he approached he could see the figure was a woman, bent over a book, writing. She looked up as he drew nearer and smiled. As he clambered up the rocks to her side, he could see that her eyes crinkled around the edges with lines well worn from much smiling. Taking her glasses off, she laid them aside in the book.

For some reason she stirred something in Daniel and he studied her closer. She just sat looking at him, seeming to drink in the sight of him.

"I’m sorry," he said diffidently, "do I know you?"

"Don’t you recognize me, Danny?" She asked quietly, her eyes intent upon him.

Maybe it was just her voice, but he suddenly knew who she was, "Mom?"

She smiled at him, "It’s been a long time, Danny. I can’t believe you’re all grown up."

"Mom? G-d, this is incredible." The emotion swelled in him, threatening to choke him. Words crowded in his throat, there was so much to say that he really didn’t know what to say. He just blinked at her. "Do you know where my friends are?" It was inane but it was all that made it out.

"They’re not here," she told him gently, "just you."

"I don’t understand." He swallowed all of the words and asked her, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to meet you. I wanted to see you so badly, see how you’ve grown up. Your father is so proud of you." Her eyes shone with her love as she reached out to touch his face gently. "It’s good to see you, son."

"Dad is proud of me?" The emotions did swamp him then and he pulled her into his arms. She felt so good, warm and solid. He never thought he would have this chance again. When he was eight years old he’d watched his parents die, buried under tons of stone. How was it possible for her to be sitting beside him?

He pulled away so he could study her face. "Am I… dead?"

Standing at the door to the infirmary, Colonel Jack O'Neill could see through the window to the bed beyond. He was a military man. He had seen a lot of friends in rooms like this one. You'd have thought that it would get easier, but it never did.

Daniel looked so small in the bed, not moving or showing any signs of life except the fact that he still breathed. Jack wondered just how many more times his friend could get up out of that bed and rejoin the team alive and well. He was tough and resilient. Would he bounce back this time?

This time had been bad. And they hadn't even seen it coming.

They’d just come through the gate on P29-833. Situated on a stone pedestal in the middle of a pleasant green glade; there had been a gentle breeze blowing and he swore he could smell the sweet perfume of flowers nearby.

There had been absolutely no sign of danger, no sign of hostile intent. Still, things had felt wrong. He turned to tell the team not to wander off when he noticed that Daniel was gone in record time. Daniel was off the platform and walking the perimeter of the gate.

No one knew what caught his interest, most times no one ever knew what caught Daniel’s interest, but it was Daniel who discovered the ground around the gate was seeded with landmines. Vicious alien mines, they inflicted damage to the man's body that O'Neill DID NOT want to remember.

He didn’t know how they got him through the Stargate alive. They did it because they had to. From there the medical team whisked their gravely injured friend into the infirmary. Doc Fraiser didn’t emerge for hours.

Am I dead? Daniel held his breath waiting for her answer, but Claire Jackson didn’t answer. She just smiled enigmatically and took his arm, "Walk with me. Tell me about your life. We have so much catching up to do."

Climbing off the rocks, they walked along in silence. There was so much he wanted to say to her, he didn’t know where to begin. How many times had he wished for just this moment? To be able to walk with his mother again, to tell her he loved her?

"I always knew that," she said, her hand clasped in his.

Had he spoken aloud? "I’m sorry." He stopped, gaping at her in open-mouthed surprise, "what did you say?"

"Just because someone is dead, doesn’t mean that they’re gone forever. You carried us in your heart all these years. We knew how much you loved us."

"Do you know how much I’ve missed you?" He blinked hard, trying to hold back the tears, but it was no use.

She wrapped her arms around him and he surrendered himself to her embrace, "Oh, honey, we know. And we’ve missed you, too."

"But you were together, I was all alone." He couldn’t help it; the words tumbled out before he could stop them. Eight-year-old Daniel Jackson had been so alone. He’d cried himself to sleep more nights than he cared to remember. The foster parents did their best, but none of them had understood the strange quiet child who would dig for hours in the back yard, tears streaming down his face. It didn’t matter how many people surrounded him, Daniel had always been alone with no place to call home anymore.

The team spent the hours Janet worked on their friend sitting vigil outside the infirmary door. They refused to leave, even when the General had made it an order. In the end, he sent them cots and blankets and had some food taken to them.

When he could no longer stand the quiet of his office, the General went to join them. He hoped that perhaps there had been some word on the archaeologist’s condition. He found the sandwiches and coffee untouched, but the cots had been set up in the hallway, out of the way. Carter was lying on one; not sleeping, just staring off into space with a lost look on her face. Jack sat on the floor next to her, his back against the wall. Teal'c, as usual, stood guard stolidly at the door.

He began to turn, to leave them to their vigil, but in that moment Janet Fraiser, CMO in charge to the Stargate program emerged. She was inexpressibly weary and wanted nothing more than to lie down, but she knew that Daniel's team would be waiting. They wouldn't rest until they had some word of his condition.

She was relieved and not at all surprised to find them waiting outside her door, it was where she had expected them to be. Even the General was there. "I'm glad you're all here," she spoke tiredly, they could tell that she could barely stand, "I don't want to have to do this more than once."

Jack stood, taking her arm as if to give her some of his own strength. Teal'c moved in to support her from the back. She was grateful, after what she had just seen, she would have nightmares from this one for some time.

"Skip the medicalese, Doctor," the General spoke gently. "You can put that in your report tomorrow. Just tell us, how is he?"

She smiled a little, that had been exactly her intention. "He's alive." The team looked at one another, hope in their eyes. She hated to add the qualifier, "for now. I can't tell you whether that will be the case in an hour, or two hours, or tomorrow. We've repaired the worst of the damage, but this weapon did some horrifying damage to his body. We had to close just because his body couldn't stand any more trauma.

"When," they all heard the unspoken 'if' in her words, "he's stronger we're going to have to go in and do some more surgery. Right now his vitals are dangerously low, but he’s stable. We've done everything we can." She allowed herself to lean on Teal'c, just a little. He was warm and solid and alive.

"Daniel’s a fighter, he's recovered from bad injuries before." Carter offered. Daniel's ability to bounce back was legendary within the SGC.

Janet shook her head slowly, "The damage was massive...," they would never understand how massive. "Whoever designed that mine didn't want their victims to survive. We found pieces inside his body that were still... burrowing and digging their way to vital organs. It was horrifying... if you hadn't gotten him back so quickly, if...." She shuddered and stopped to pull herself back together. They waited patiently, Jack's hand on her shoulder, steadying her.

"My guess is these 'people'," she said the word with a loathing they had never heard in her voice, "don't want visitors. This device was made to cause fear and terror, to convince travelers to never return."

"Well, they've succeeded in this case," the General assured her. "We've made a note in the files and locked the address out of the dialing computer."

As much as Jack O'Neill wanted to go back to that damned place and kick the shit out of whoever had done this to Daniel, he knew that the General had done the right thing. If they couldn't even leave the gate platform without getting blown to kingdom come, there was little chance they would ever find the perpetrators of this heinous act to gain their retribution. The best they could do was help Daniel recover and move on.

"Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c spoke. "Is there anything we may do for Daniel Jackson?"

The doctor swayed. Jack helped her to sit down next to Sam. "Actually there is. Do what you always do – stay with him, set up a rotation so he's never alone. I don't know how long it will be until he regains consciousness, but I don't want him to be alone when he does. Talk to him, read to him, and tell him bedtime stories, read sport scores to him if you have to. He's still in there somewhere; I want him to know that his friends are with him. I want him to remember that he has something, someone to live for."

"You don't even have to ask, Janet. We're there," Carter assured her.

"I know; my request is for the General." She looked up at the big man, standing so silently. "I would like to request that SG-1 be put on stand down until we've resolved the crisis with Daniel," she paused and then continued, "one way or the other, sir." She refused to meet Jack's eyes.

"Of course," the General answered heavily, "Colonel O'Neill, Jack, I'm officially assigning you to Doctor Fraiser for as long as she needs you. SG-2 and 3 can take over some of your mission assignments until this... situation is resolved. Get Doctor Jackson well." He refused to think that there could be any other resolution.

Jack O'Neill, Colonel in the United States Air Force, former operative in black ops, tight-assed military man that he was, thought he might weep. Instead he fell back on routine, saluting the General, "Yes, sir, thank you, sir." He turned to the rest of his team, "As team leader, I’ll take the first watch. Teal'c get the Doctor to a bed before she falls on her face, Carter get some rest and relieve me in six hours. Got that," he snapped.

His team responded in a refreshingly crisp manner. If only Daniel would follow orders... he stopped in mid-thought, not even going there.

~~~~~

Jack stood at the door, staring through the window a moment more before going through into the infirmary. Daniel was surrounded by machines: There were machines that monitored his heartbeat, machines that breathed for him, machines that fed him vital fluids and medicines, the machines that kept him alive.

His face was impossibly pale; nearly as white as the pillow his head lay on. The covers were tucked up around his chin hiding the worst of the damage done by the alien weapon. If Jack didn't know anything was wrong, he might expect his friend to wake at any moment and blink up at him.

'Hey, Jack,' he could almost hear Daniel’s voice in the quiet of the infirmary.

There, in the quiet sanctuary of the dim room with no one around to witness, Jack O'Neill wept. He sat at the bedside of the man who had become his best friend in the world and cried. He cried for the anger and grief that still raged inside of him, he cried in fear that they were going to go through the Herculean effort of this bedside vigil and Daniel would still die. And he cried because if that happened, he would be alone again.

If Daniel died, Jack O'Neill would die. Maybe not in as final a way as Daniel, but it would be death all the same. The death of the man he had become because of his friend, Daniel Jackson.

Finally, he lifted his head scrubbing at his eyes. He took Daniel's hand; it seemed to be the only part of him that wasn't bandaged or bruised or had a line attached to it. Curling his fingers around it, it seemed curiously whole and strong.

Daniel's hands were amazing. He communicated as much with his hands as he did with speech. Jack clutched Daniel’s hand, taking strength from it. He was determined that the rest of his friend would be as whole and strong as that hand again someday.

He took a deep breath and began to talk, telling Daniel the story of Jack O'Neill. It seemed that they never had a chance to talk, they were always caught up in one crisis or another. Now he had nothing but time and a too-quiet Daniel Jackson for an audience.

"Wake up, Daniel," he cried out to his friend, "wake up and tell me about those dusty relics you study. Tell me they're artifacts, tell me to leave you alone and let you sleep, just… tell me something."

The room was even quieter after his outburst. There was only the hum and the beep of the machinery to keep him company in the night.

Claire held onto her son as he cried. She rubbed his back in comforting circles. "We didn’t want to leave you alone," she protested.

"I know that." He pulled off his glasses, rubbing his red-rimmed eyes with the back of his hand. "It took me a long time to forgive you and Dad for leaving me like that." Searching through his pockets for a Kleenex, he muttered in disgust, "You’d think if this was the afterlife, I’d be spared the runny nose."

His mother laughed, "This isn’t the afterlife," she insisted.

He seized onto her words, "Then I’m not dead?"

"Did I say you were dead?" She’d done that when he was a child, answering his questions with questions, to make him work things out for himself. As a child he’d thought it was a fun game; as an adult, he found it a little irritating.

"Then how do you explain all this… this place… my seeing you?" He demanded obstinately.

"You always were too smart. You could confound me at five with your logical arguments of why you should be allowed to stay up just a little while longer. You were so cute…"

He refused to be deterred; a new thought had entered his mind, "Are you really my mother?" His eyes narrowed as he studied her, "You could be an alien posing as my mother." He backed away from her, suspicion beginning to build inside him. "You could be using my memories somehow to make me think that you’re Claire Jackson. I mean, you even knew what I was thinking before."

Her amused smile turned to a concerned frown, "Daniel Jackson, what in the world have you gotten yourself involved in? Has your grandfather…?"

Daniel cocked his head curiously, watching her every move. She looked like his mother, she sounded like his mother. She even smelled like his mother. "You don’t know what I’ve ‘gotten myself involved in’?" He demanded harshly. "I thought you were supposed to keep an eye on me from where ever," he waved a vague hand skyward, "it is that you are."

She laughed, "It’s not like we have a window into your life," she told him gently. "I knew what you were thinking because you had it written all over your face. And yes, we can sense how you’re feeling: your joys and triumphs, your pain and sorrow, but the day-to-day details? No, we don’t know those. You’ll have to fill those in for me."

Daniel couldn’t believe that he was beginning to doubt this woman. He shut his eyes and tried to think. What was the last thing he could remember about SG-1’s mission?

"Daniel, what is it?" He heard the being who looked like his mother say.

He held up a hand to silence her without opening his eyes.

He opened his eyes. "There was an explosion."

She nodded, "You were seriously injured," she told him gravely.

"I am dead then." He sat heavily. "Oh, God, I can’t be dead. What about Sha’re? Who’s going to rescue her? What about my friends? I can’t leave them."

She sat beside him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, "You’re not dead yet," she insisted gently.

"Then what is this place? If I’m not dead, where am I?" He snapped.

"It’s a waiting room of sorts."

"Waiting room?"

"Sometimes there’s no choice whether you have to cross to the other side, Daniel. Your father and I didn’t have a choice." She rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him close, "We wouldn’t have ever chosen to leave you. But sometimes, if the will is strong enough, you can choose life." She put her hands on either side of his face and gently turned his face so she could look into his eyes. "Do you have anything to live for, son?" He searched her eyes trying to find some sign that she was real and right there beside him.

"Oh, Mom, I have everything to live for." He thought about everything he had seen and done since he had discovered how to open the Stargate. "I have a wife, Mom. Her name’s Sha’re. You would love her so much, she’s so beautiful and smart."

"You love her, Danny, that’s enough for me." Her simple acceptance was so like the mother he remembered. His doubts were dissipating, somehow this was his mother sitting beside him.

"She’s not from Earth, you know that don’t you?" He gazed at anxiously.

"I know it now." He started to go on, but she stopped him. "Daniel, our time is almost up. You have to make a decision. Are you coming with me now? Or are you going to go back."

For a brief moment Daniel felt the creeping numbness and the cold. His mother squeezed his fingers.

"It’s alright, whatever you decide. Your father and I will be here waiting when it’s your time. You have friends who are worried about you, and a wife. You can’t leave her." She hugged him tightly; it would have to last for a long while.

He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to sit there with his mother and tell her about everything that had ever happened to him, but he could feel his body, reaching out to pull him back.

"Mom?" He was afraid of the numbness that began to take him.

"It’s alright, Daniel. You have to choose. Do you want to come with me? Or do you choose life?"

Around him the beach was gone, the blackness was pulling at him. He could feel himself losing the battle as the cold enveloped him, reaching for his heart…

As he felt himself falling into the darkness, Daniel wasn’t sure that the choice was his to make anymore.

The lights were low in the infirmary as Sam approached the bed of her friend. It had been 4 days, and Daniel showed no signs of emerging from the deep coma he had fallen into.

She could hear the heart monitor as she drew nearer; it beat in a steady reassuring rhythm. It had stopped once during her first watch. Those had been the longest minutes of her life, listening to the flat monotonous tone as Fraiser and the SGC medical staff frantically worked to bring him back.

They had done their part. Now she had to do hers and make sure that Daniel remembered he had people who loved him waiting for his return.

She smiled as she caught a glimpse of the Colonel. Long legs stretched out, he leaned back in the hard plastic chair, the paper resting on his chest. She tiptoed over to take a peek – it was no surprise to find it open at the sports scores.

She put a hand on his shoulder shaking it gently.

The Colonel snapped awake instantly. "What?" He took in the bed and the monitors at a glance. Assessing that everything was fine, he began to fold his newspaper casually.

"Time to change watch, sir. Why don’t you go sleep in a bed?"

"I was not asleep, Captain," he informed her peevishly, "I was just resting my eyes."

"Whatever you say, sir." It reassured her a little. The first days of their vigil had required constant monitoring. Daniel’s condition must be improving if the Colonel felt he could ‘rest’ his eyes. "Any changes?"

He paused in smoothing the paper, "None that you could tell, Carter."

"But?" She knew her commanding officer well enough to see there was something he wasn’t telling.

He was quiet a moment, searching for the words. "His breathing changed in the night. It was like it was easier." He shrugged, "there weren’t any changes on the machines, so it was probably just my imagination."

"Maybe." She waited, but he didn’t show any signs of vacating the chair at Daniel’s side. "The General said for you to consider yourself ordered to rest, sir. He said ‘don’t make me come down there, Jack’."

He seemed to be considering her words and finally heaved himself out of the chair. "Call me for… whatever… you know," he told her heavily.

"Of course, sir." She watched him as he disappeared into the darkness, his steps slow and hesitant. He turned back once to look at them, waving despondently. She returned the wave with a small salute.

When he was out of sight, she moved to Daniel’s side studying the monitors and the readouts. They showed no appreciable change in their friend. She listened as he breathed, trying to tune out the beeps and the hums. She didn’t really hear anything different, but she respected the Colonel. If he thought there had been an improvement, then it was enough for her.

She sat, putting her hand on Daniel’s. She thought it was important to keep touching him; like a kind of anchor, giving him something solid to hang onto.

"Come on, Daniel, this is getting old. I really need for you to wake up here." She couldn’t imagine her life without him in it.

He was one of the few people who challenged her. He made her look at the world in a new way. When she was ready to give up on a problem, he would turn it on its end. It was maddening sometimes, and exhilarating, when they were trying to solve a problem and he wouldn’t let her quit until they had found a solution.

She pushed his bangs back sighing when the only answer was the steady beep of the heart monitor and the rise and fall of the ventilator that breathed for her friend. It would have to be enough.

She pulled out the book she had brought with her and settled into the chair so recently vacated by the Colonel. She wriggled a little trying to find a more comfortable position. Opening the book, she began to read.

~~~~~

Normally when he kel-no-reemed Teal’c would sit on a small woven rug brought back from his home on Chulak, it was all that he had of the broken pieces of his life there. But on this night he sat on the hard, cold floor, next to the bed of his friend. Tonight he needed the discomfort of the chill floor to keep him from falling too far into his meditations. He needed to remain vigilant as he sat at his friend’s side.

The doctor had removed Daniel Jackson from the ventilator that morning. It was a good thing that the doctor had judged his condition improved enough to be removed from the machine, but it was now important that his breathing be monitored to make sure that it remained even and regular. While it was true that there were machines that performed that task, Teal’c did not altogether trust them. Technology had failed before. It was his duty to ensure his friend’s continued well-being, and he did not take that duty lightly.

Around him the candles flickered casting shadows across Daniel Jackson’s bed and onto the wall. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, seeking that quiet place that would afford him the rest his body needed. One breath and then another, in and out; but it eluded him, remaining ever just out of reach. His thoughts were chaotic, refusing to be calmed. At last he gave up the effort and followed the thoughts where ever they would lead him.

Teal’c had caused so much pain in Daniel Jackson’s life. As First Prime of Apophis it had been he who led the attack on Abydos where Daniel Jackson’s wife, Sha’re, and her brother, Skaara, were taken captive. They were eventually forced to become hosts themselves for the Goa’uld. Again, it was Teal’c who had chosen Sha’re personally to be the host for Apophis mate, Ammonet. He had watched as the loathsome creature entered her body and made it her own.

He hated his G-d, and he hated himself for what he was forced to do in Apophis’ name. But he saw no way out for himself or his people. It had taken O’Neill and the people of the Tau’ri to convince him that there was another way. Teal’c had chosen to give up his own life to save theirs. In them he had seen hope that someday perhaps all of the Jaffa could be freed of their servitude to the Goa’uld. It had been hard, he gave up his life and his family, putting them at risk as well. But there were some ideals that one had to be willing to risk everything for.

Now he took it as a matter of honor that he should protect Daniel Jackson, keep him from further harm. This time he had failed. Again and again, in his mind’s eye he saw the explosion that had shattered his friend. He was haunted with the thought that there should have been some way to have prevented Daniel Jackson’s injuries.

Teal’c searched his memory seeking something he could have done, something he should have seen that might have warned him sooner of the danger. Keeping part of his attention focused on the beeps and the hums of the machinery, on the steady rise and fall of his friend’s chest; Teal’c remembered.

He had seen no sign of inhabitants as they stepped through the gate, just as the MALP’s report indicated. His senses registered the bird song, the scent of flowers in the air; he also noted the close presence of the DHD on the platform with the gate. It sat just out of range of an opening wormhole. The gate itself stood in an open glade, visible for many miles in all directions. It was a good strategic position.

It seemed so innocent, so safe and inviting. Teal’c, more than even O’Neill, knew how deceptive such things could be. He had been the First Prime of Apophis. He had set enough ambushes to recognize one when he saw it.

He called out his warning just as Daniel Jackson had stepped off the stairs onto the grassy meadow. The young scholar looked back over his shoulder at Teal’c. The Jaffa had seen the look of surprise and then the pain when the ground below his feet erupted, throwing Daniel Jackson’s body backwards into the arms of his friends.

There was nothing he could have done, he knew that. And still he searched his memory for some sign he should have seen sooner, some warning he should have noted quicker. It was futile; nothing could change what had happened. But he needed to be prepared, so that nothing like it could ever happen again.

And always he listened for any difference in the sound of Daniel Jackson’s breathing, alert to any movement he might make, any indication that his friend was still in his body somewhere just waiting to join them again.

Daniel found himself in a place that had neither form or substance. He just was. He could feel the pull of his body, but it was filled with pain and he wasn’t sure he wanted to go back there.

It had been so nice to sit with his mother, to see her smile, feel her hand on his face. It had been like a dream and the memory was slipping away even as he tried to recapture it. He was tired, bone weary. It would be so easy to just let go and drift away into the grey and waiting void; to choose to move on, he could do that.

But every time he thought of turning away, of giving up his hold on life, he heard voices, familiar voices, whispering his name. He could feel a hand firmly clasped to his, holding him to life. Curious, he concentrated, trying to hear what the voices were saying to him.

"For crying out loud, Daniel."

Jack, it was Jack calling to him.

"What are you doing lying in that bed? If you didn’t want to go to the hockey game you should have just said so."

But he did, Daniel wanted to go to the hockey game, he’d been looking forward to it. He didn’t understand the game, but he did enjoy his time with Jack, the friendship they shared.

He tried to whisper it to him, but it was too hard, the pain was too much. ‘Don’t go away, Jack,’ he tried to say, ‘hold on to me.’

Even though he never said the words, Jack didn’t leave. Jack stayed, holding on to him.

If Jack was gone, Sam was there, "Hey, Daniel," she said. He could feel her hand on his forehead, cool and soothing. "I need you here. Come back to us." She sounded so forlorn and alone.

As much as he wanted to go, he couldn’t leave Sam alone. They shared a bond he’d never had with anyone else, not even Sha’re. She was the sister he’d never had and always longed for, someone who shared his passion and love for learning.

Sometimes he could feel Teal’c there sitting beside him. The alien warrior’s presence was so powerful that he didn’t have to touch Daniel for him to know he was there.

They were the link that Daniel used to hold onto to life. His life line that he clutched desperately as he tried to find his way back.

Choose, he had to choose…

Jack had spent six days sitting, watching the slow rise and fall of Daniel’s chest. He watched for some sign or movement that their friend was still with them. It had been six days of hell imagining what life would be like if Daniel died.

Janet had assured the team that it was all right that Daniel didn't wake. His body had endured so much trauma that what he really needed most was to rest and heal. Still, Jack wished he would just lift an eyelid, twitch a finger, quirk an eyebrow. Something. Anything to let his friends know that he was still in there somewhere. Reading the sports page out loud, he nearly missed the low, almost inaudible sound.

"…Choose?"

The word was croaked out, more of a moan than an actual word. But to Jack it sounded like sweet music.

"I choose…"

"Hey, buddy. What do you choose?" Reaching over, he pushed the call button to alert Janet of the change in Daniel’s condition. "Stay with me." This was the moment he had been waiting for. Jack thanked whatever g-d had granted him this favor; that he was the one to see those lashes flutter and watch Daniel’s eyes open.

He picked up the cloth sitting in a bowl of clean of water next to the bed. He ran it over his friend's mouth, knowing that his lips must be cracked and dry after so many days of disuse. He squeezed it a little so that some of the moisture trickled down into the parched mouth. Daniel licked his lips and his eyes closed.

"Hey, Daniel. Stay with me for a second. Janet's going to be really ticked if she misses seeing those baby blues of yours." Daniel opened his eyes again squinting up at Jack. There was confusion mixed with the pain he saw there. "What is it, Daniel?"

Janet entered, her heels clicking on the floor announcing her arrival. She didn't interrupt, she just moved to Daniel’s other side to monitor her patient's condition.

He tried to mumble something and Jack shook his head. Picking up a cup, Jack held the straw so Daniel could drink. After a small sip he tried again. "Bus?"

Jack looked at Janet and shrugged. Who knew what had been going on in his head the last six days? "I'm sorry, buddy, I don't understand."

Another small sip and then another try, "... bus hit me?"

Comprehension dawned for Jack and he smiled, "It wasn't a bus, Daniel, but close."

"Will I live?" He looked up at them anxiously. Jack quirked an eyebrow to the Doctor, this was her question to answer.

She smiled down at him in her best professional manner, "You might not think so right now, Dr. Jackson, but absolutely."

Some of the anxiety left his eyes, and he was already beginning to drift back into restful sleep. He struggled to stay awake for one more question, "...stay with me?"

"Wouldn't be anywhere else, buddy, they couldn't drag me away."

With that reassurance Daniel closed his eyes. His head rolled over onto the pillow. The lines on his face smoothed for the first time since the nightmare had begun.

Jack looked at the Doctor. "Did you lie to him?"

"No, Colonel, I didn't. He has a long way to go, some more surgery to get through, but he'll make it. Thank you, sir."

He reached out, covering her hand where she was taking Daniel's pulse. "No, thank you, Doc." He always admired and respected her; no matter the hell he gave her when he was her patient. But the past six days he had seen her strength and courage, as he never had before. She seemed to literally will Daniel to live and Daniel had responded. He didn't know if she would ever know the depths of his gratitude.

She put her other hand on his and squeezed it gently. "You’re welcome, sir." There was a little silence between them with his hand between hers. "You know you might consider getting a little rest yourself. You're looking nearly as bad as Daniel. I would hate to have to confine you to a bed."

He started to call her bluff and then reconsidered. He'd never really known the doctor to bluff before. "I'll take some time now, Doc. I just want to sit a minute and make sure he doesn't wake up again right away."

"Trust me, it's not going to happen. Go get something to eat and some rest." She made a few notes on her patient’s chart and left Jack there alone with his friend.

Sam came in to find him just sitting there. "Hey, Janet said he woke up."

"For all of about 2 minutes"

"Still. It's a good sign."

"Yeah. Still." They sat in companionable silence for a moment, and then he stood wearily. "It's your watch, Carter, I'm going to get something to eat, then sleep for about two days myself."

"I'll let you know if anything changes." Watching him leave, she allowed herself to hope. This was the first time in six days that Jack O’Neill had voluntarily left Daniel's side.

~~~~~

Over the days and weeks that followed, Daniel's corner of the infirmary changed markedly. It was transformed from a grey and sterile place into a warm, inviting shelter. Teal'c brought his candles and practiced his Kel-No-Reen there. Jack went to Daniel's place and brought back some of his favorite music and books.

Carter refused to sit in the hard plastic chairs any longer. Instead she brought in a rocking chair with a soft cushion for them to use. There was never a moment of the day or night that one member or another of the team wasn't with him, usually all three were there, just sitting quietly. While Janet insisted that they each leave the infirmary for six straight hours a day, she had three beds moved in beside Daniel's.

It amused her that each member of the team had very distinct ways in which they kept watch at Daniel's bedside. Janet didn't know if Daniel really knew they were there. He would wake from time to time and seemed to take comfort from finding them there, but knowing they were there helped raise Janet's spirits. Sometimes she would stand just beyond the curtained area that was Daniel's private domain, where no one could see her, and just listen.

Teal'c favored telling Daniel stories of his childhood on Chulak and of his training with Master Bra'tac. Occasionally Sam would read to him from volumes of poetry, more often she brought some project or other she was working on. She would work out loud, as if she were trying to bounce her ideas off Daniel. Sometimes she would take both sides of the conversation and imagine what he might say to her.

Jack read the sports page to him every day. Janet smiled to think that it was probably more than Daniel had every known about sports in his life. He read the biographies of sports heroes to him and explained the rules of hockey.

Sometimes Jack would pull out one of Daniel's old journals and read to him the young man's own words from happier days spent on Abydos. Some hours he would just sit and hold Daniel's hand as if it were the anchor to his friend's soul.

~~~~~

It was on a day when Jack was again reading the sports page to him, that Daniel woke at last with some semblance of comprehension in his blue eyes. "Jack?"

Instantly dropping the paper, Jack leaned into his friend. "Hey, Daniel." He picked up the cup of water from its place on the table and held the straw for his friend to drink. It took a minute, but there was more awareness in Daniel's eyes than any of them had seen thus far. Jack smiled down at him. "How are you feeling."

"...Sports scores?"

"Hey, I can't let you get behind on the important stuff just because you're out of it for a while."

The eyes brightened with amusement, "...new form of torture? I give up. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"It's not that bad, have you been listening to some of those science manuals Carter’s been reading from? Jeez, it gives me a headache just looking at the covers. And you know, none of those things have any pictures."

Jack imagined that he saw a ghost of a smile form, but it was replaced by a frown, "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

There was a small shake of his head.

"You don't remember deciding to take a walk in a minefield?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Minefield? No. Was anyone else hurt?"

"Just you. You found them before the rest of us could. Actually it was the perimeter of the gate that was mined. Some people seriously did not want visitors. Seems to me they could have just posted a 'no trespassing' sign. We would have left nicely."

"G-d! How long?"

Jack shrugged. He wanted to downplay the situation, make it not as bad as it was, but how did you do that exactly? "A couple of weeks."

"Have you? I mean, well..."

Jack could read the question in the blue eyes, "We've been here the whole time."

"Thanks," Daniel’s eyes misted at that.

"Hey, we couldn't let you have all the fun alone."

"Fun? Jack you are twisted." Yes, there was a definite smile as his eyes closed and he slipped back into sleep.

Jack paused at the door to the infirmary looking through the window. He remembered the day over a month ago when he had stood there, wondering if his friend was going to live or die. The damage done by the alien mine was on its way to being repaired, Daniel had underwent more surgery and was slowly healing.

It had been exactly a month since he had woken the first time and they knew he was going to make it. So, now, Jack O'Neill, Daniel’s closest friend, was going to destroy him again.

Taking a deep breath, Jack pushed open the door and entered the room. He was greeted with the ever-present quiet hum of the infirmary, the reassuring sound of machines doing their job, keeping a body alive that by all rights should have been dead. Daniel looked like some bizarre half-man, half-machine creature with tubes and IV’s and lines attached to his body in a multitude of places. But he was alive.

Daniel stirred when he heard footsteps and smiled enthusiastically, "Hey Jack, Janet told me they may fix up one of the VIP rooms soon and let me move down there. Something about getting my whiny self out of her infirmary. I don’t whine, do I?"

Jack smiled. Daniel’s voice was getting stronger every day. And if Janet was thinking of moving him out from under her watchful eye in the infirmary, then the young man must be getting better. "Hey, not that I've ever noticed, but I wouldn't argue with her. You know what she does to people who argue with her."

"Oh, yeah, needles...." Daniel shifted uncomfortably as if he had unpleasant memories of what Janet did with those needles. "Anyway, she said I could probably start doing some work once they move me. You know, light stuff, translating and digging through some of the artifacts teams have brought back since my accident. I guess things are piling up."

"I've seen the stuff, Daniel; it’s just piles of dusty rocks. There’s nothing that can’t wait. Besides they're bringing in some kid with credentials up to here," He held his hand up to his neck, "to help us out while you're laid up."

"I don't need anyone to come in and help. I can get caught up..." his agitated tone and raised heart rate caused one of the monitors to begin beeping louder.

From inside the office they heard a feminine voice call out, "Colonel O'Neill, if you're upsetting my patient, I will personally boot you out of my infirmary. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered quickly. You did not upset Dr. Fraiser in her own territory. She was like a mother bear protecting her own when it came to taking care of her patients, and Daniel was one of her favorite cubs.

"Calm down, Daniel, Jeez you're going to get me in trouble. It's only for a few months, until you’ve recovered." Jack spoke in his most soothing tones and the young man did seem to grow calmer, if only a little. Then it occurred to Jack that the calm might be medically induced. He thought he remembered Fraiser telling them that one of those tubes delivered a sedative automatically when Daniel's heart rate was elevated. Well, okay, he would take the calm any way he could get it. "As a matter fact, the General wants SG-1 back in the field."

"Well, sure. I didn't think you guys would wait around for me until I was able to join you again. That may be a while yet." His voice was getting weaker and his eyes were starting to close. Yes, most definitely Janet's medicine was working it's magic.

"So, the General wants us to take the new kid with us, kind of get him up to speed, let him see exactly what it is we do here." The heart monitor went crazy on that one; he could see that Daniel was struggling against the effects of the sedative. The look he gave Jack was one of pure reproach.

"Are you replacing me, Jack? Is there something that Janet isn't telling me? Am I going to be stuck in this bed forever?" Speaking of the Doc, Jack heard her brisk footsteps behind him.

"What did I tell you about upsetting him, Colonel? I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." She gave him a withering look that would have frozen a lesser man, but he wasn't done yet. He couldn't leave it like this.

"No, don't make him leave," Daniel struggled to get the words out as he grasped for Jack's hand.

"It's okay, Daniel," Jack took his hand. "The new guy is NOT replacing you. Hey, what can I say? You're irreplaceable. Officially, he's been assigned to SG-3, but he's some new whiz kid and the General wants SG-1 to break him in. You know-show him the ropes, get him used to the routine, and make sure he doesn't hurt himself the first time out."

Daniel looked into his eyes, trying to read the truth behind them. Finally he smiled, relaxing a little. "Well, at least I've given you some experience in knowing what to look out for."

"That's what I'm saying. We're the best-qualified team for that sort of work. Now, we're going to go on this babysitting run with the baby genius. You should see him, Daniel, he looks even younger than you did that first time we went out."

Daniel's eyes were beginning to close again, but he opened them gamely, "Maybe you should put him on a leash," he suggested with a yawn.

"Nah, at least he's military. He'll know better than to go wandering in a minefield." There was a slight hiss from the Doctor and Jack realized what he'd just said. He could have kicked himself, but Daniel only smiled wider as his eyes drooped lower.

"Bet you're not going to have any fun without me..." was all he could get out before he gave up the struggle against the sedatives.

"No bet at all, Danny," he reached out and brushed Daniel's hair back, his breathing smoothed into the regular rhythms of sleep. Jack stood a moment just watching him breathe. Finally he looked up at the doctor with his own small smile, "That went well, don't you think?"

She didn't even bother with a reply. She pointed at the door as she began one more check of Daniel's vitals. She made sure Jack was all the way out of the door before she allowed herself a small smile.

~~~~~

Jack caught up with his team in the gateroom. Everything was ready to go, their packs waiting in a pile next to the ramp. Sam squatted next to him as he checked the contents of his field pack. "How did he take it, sir?"

"Better than I thought he would, but I think that was more because of the doc’s happy drugs than anything else. Still, I feel better that I told him. I wouldn't want him to find out from some gossiping nurse that SG-1 had gone out with a new linguist in tow." He glanced around the room, "Have we seen the wunderkind yet?"

"Oh, yes," she rolled her eyes. "He's been in and done all of his pre-mission checks. I get the feeling we're holding him back."

"Ease up there, Captain. The kid's eager, there's nothing wrong with that," he advised her in his best 'command' tone. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Okay, I have to work really hard not resent him myself for not being Daniel," he confessed with a little shrug, "but we need to be fair. It's not his fault that Daniel was injured. Just keep telling yourself that it's only temporary. Daniel's getting stronger every day."

"I know, sir, still..." she trailed off and rolled her eyes, "he's just so efficient. It's grating sometimes."

"Yeah, well, Daniel’ll be back before we know it. Then we'll hand him off to SG-3. They’ll shake some of that efficiency out of him." He smiled and offered the bombshell he'd been waiting to deliver, "Daniel says they're going to move him to one of the VIP rooms soon!"

Carter’s delighted cry echoed round the room. The techs stopped what they were doing to look over at the pair.

It was that moment that Lt. Jonathon Michaels bounded in with all the enthusiasm of youth. He was so ready to go. He'd been talked at and debriefed for days now. He just wanted to walk through the gate and stand on a whole new world. When were they going to go already?

Across the room he could see the Colonel and Captain Carter standing in a corner talking, checking their equipment. The Jaffa Teal'c hadn't arrived yet, but the Lieutenant knew he, at least, was ready. He shifted nervously, should he join his teammates? Then the name 'Daniel' floated over to him and he turned his back.

As much as he had heard about the Stargate program over the last couple of weeks, he'd heard nearly as much about Dr. Daniel Jackson and he was sick of it. You would think that the man was some sort of water walker the way people talked about him. Hell, he wasn't even military.

Michaels had read a lot of the mission briefs to get the history and mission of the SGC and his opinion of the Doctor wasn't particularly high. He second-guessed his commanding officer and he didn't follow orders. Hell, just look at the reason he was injured. If the man had had any discipline, it never would have happened.

Privately, Lt. Jonathon Michaels knew he was the better choice for SG-1. He was determined to take the opportunity offered as a temporary member of SG-1 to prove it to them and the General. If he had things his way, Daniel Jackson would never step through the Stargate as a part of the premiere team again.

Finally the alien Teal'c arrived and everything was ready. The General gave the go for dialing to start and Lt. Jonathon Michaels, lately of the United States Air Force Academy, watched the Stargate spin for the first time. It was one of the defining moments of his life to watch it spin and lock, spin and lock, seven times before the gate engaged and the pool of silvery blue liquid sprang into life before him.

He stood in awe that such a thing existed, that people had walked on new worlds, exploring; and no one in the outside world even knew about it. Now he stood in their number.

He looked over at the three members of his new team and swallowed. He so badly wanted to be accepted. He wanted to succeed. He wanted to show them that he could follow orders, that he could make them the team he knew they could be. He wanted to make them forget that Doctor Daniel Jackson had ever existed.

He wanted these people whom he respected with all his soul, to speak of him as they spoke of the geeky archaeologist, with quiet respect and love. He wanted it more than he had ever wanted anything, and he was determined to prove his worth, no matter what it took. He lifted his pack and followed the other three up the ramp.

He had read all the material about the wormhole, but he didn't really understand how it worked. He just knew that if these people told him that it was safe then he would believe them. He would have followed them to hell if they had asked him to, just for a chance to be a part of their team; the best team – SG-1. Soon it would be his team.

He followed as they stepped through the silvery surface of the gate, and went on the most amazing trip of his life. He thought he would just step through the gate and would be someplace else. He hadn't expected the cold or the feeling of being pulled apart. There was a sense of sliding, sliding, sliding, and then he was pulled back together and born into a new place. He stepped through the other side of the gate and found himself standing on another planet.

He thought he knew what to expect. He’d seen the MALP's information, flat pictures on a screen that was supposed to prepare him to stand on another world. He knew there would be two suns and he was ready with his protective sunglasses. He was unprepared for the rush of wonder that overwhelmed him. He was standing on a new world!

It was a world that humans had never known before. He and the rest of SG-1 were the first from Earth to ever step there. He was surprised at how green it was, at how much it looked like his own Earth. Okay, except there were two suns and it was really bright. He slipped the glasses over his eyes as he saw his teammates doing. He tried to look as nonchalant and easy as they did. He stood there attempting not to gape at the new world around him and looked to the Colonel to follow his lead.

O'Neill glanced back opening his mouth to tell Daniel to not move a step. He stopped himself in time when he realized that it wasn't Daniel standing there. He did his best to quell the swell of resentment he felt toward the kid who was actually standing there. He almost succeeded.

Shading his eyes with his hand, O’Neill surveyed the planet. Even with the sunglasses it was still really bright. Yeah, two suns did that. Hope I packed the heavy-duty sunscreen.

Green grass stretched as far as they could see. In front of them a road ran toward a building silhouetted against the horizon,

"Hey, Carter," he called, pulling her to the side. "What would you say that was?"

Following his gaze to the far-distant ruin, she answered in a lowered tone, "Maybe you should ask Michaels, sir. Isn't that what he's here for? Let him get his feet wet?"

"A temple, wouldn't you say?" He asked in the same low tones she had used. After listening to Daniel’s lectures, he figured he should know a temple when he saw one.

"Looks like, sir," she nodded.

"Good, that's what I thought." He beckoned the younger man to join him as he moved off the pedestal, trusting Carter and Teal'c to move in behind them and cover their six.

Michaels hurried to catch up with his commanding officer. "Yes, sir?"

"So, you studied archaeology before you went to the Academy?" The road they walked on was obviously old, but it was still smooth and flat. Curiously enough it wasn’t cracked and overgrown with vegetation as he might have expected to find.

"Yes, sir. I had a foster brother once who…" Some emotion O’Neill couldn’t identify flickered over his face and then it was gone as he abruptly shut it down. After a moment he continued, "I wanted to be an archaeologist. My dad wanted me to be in the Air Force." He shrugged, "I guess dad won." There was a tone to his voice the Colonel couldn't quite place.

"You never know. You might get to use those digging skills yet. Daniel even gets to use those little bitty brushes he carries around every now and then. You should see him; he gets so excited when he pulls them out. He has this ritual..."

"Yes, sir." Michaels cut him off brusquely, then temporized with, "If I may ask, what are we looking for here?"

The kid didn't waste time with small talk. Okay... "Well, basically we're just on a fact-finding mission here. We're scoping the place out, see if there are any native folk, find out if they've seen anybody walking around with strange glowing eyes..."

"Reconnaissance, sir?"

"Well, yes if you want to put it simply." The kid really didn't waste words. That was a good thing right? "SG-1 is kind of like first contact. It's our job to assess a planet and see if it's worth further study."

Michaels seemed to consider his words, before asking, "It's pretty dangerous, isn't it, sir?"

"Well, I guess that's why we're paid the big bucks."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, Michaels, that's the only way you're going to learn things."

"Well, how is it that a front line team like SG-1 had a civilian in it?"

Had? Jack looked at the kid askance, "Well, Daniel isn't just any civilian, you know. He's the one who figured out the secrets to making the Stargate work. We wouldn't have gotten anywhere without him."

"And I'm sure he's very valuable back on the base translating and researching, but should he be in the first team that ever sets foot on a new world? Isn't that dangerous? I've read the reports and he sounds…, I don't know..., like a geek?"

Okay, the kid had just overstepped his bounds, it didn't matter who his daddy was. The Colonel had his suspicions as to how high that went, but he was not going to let him call Daniel names... Nobody got to call Daniel a geek but Jack O'Neill and he hadn't done that for a long time. Okay, hold on to your temper, change the subject.

"So, Michaels, what would you say that is, there on the horizon?" Jack pointed vaguely in the direction of the building, "Looks kinda like a Piggly Wiggly to me, but what do I know? I'm just a military type."

He paused to consider. "Well, sir, there's just any number of things it could be. I'd hate to make any premature guesses just to be proved wrong later."

"Look, Lieutenant, SG-1 has to work fast. We have to get in quick, find out everything we can and get out. You never know if the locals are going to be friendly or if they're going to want to invite you for dinner and I mean you are the dinner. Or maybe you've accidentally stumbled onto a Goa'uld stronghold; so you've got to use all the tools at hand and think fast, make quick judgments.

"Now let me tell you," he couldn't resist taking a jab at the young man for his 'geek' comment, "Daniel's mind works at the speed of light. Sometimes he comes up with things out of thin air, just by breathing the air of a new planet. So, tell me, what do you think that structure is?"

Michaels took a deep breath before he answered. He knew he was being tested, but it just wasn't fair. Here was his chance to prove himself and the specter of Daniel was there, standing right beside to the Colonel, where he wanted to be. Okay, what was the damned building? "Well, some sort of public place, where people gathered, maybe a meeting hall or a government building. If you look, you'll see, even from here, that there are several roads that converge on it. Everything's kind of overgrown, like no one's been here in a while. It’s obviously long abandoned."

The thought of having the chance to study it, even for a few days, set his heart beating faster. Who knew what he would find there? It was the mystery that made him love archaeology. His breath caught in his throat when he realized that he could be the one to find the weapon that would make Earth safe from the threat of the Goa’uld. That would show his father and Daniel Jackson who was second best.

He imagined himself returning to the SGC triumphantly. He could see the rest of SG-1 gathered around him proudly. The people would be applauding, his dad would be there, and Daniel …

The Colonel’s voice brought him abruptly back to the present situation, "The MALP's data didn't indicate that there were signs of civilization here about. So, I think we're alone right now. This road is going in that direction, why don’t we take a look and see what it is exactly?" The Colonel turned his impenetrable gaze on him for a moment. It was impossible for the young man to tell what he was thinking, but he had the feeling that he was being judged on the scale of Daniel and had been found wanting. As if that had never happened before…

O’Neill slowed his pace to walk with Carter. He exchanged a look with Teal'c, and gave a small jerk of his head. The big Jaffa moved up to walk with the newest member of their team; newest temporary member of their team.

" Carter." They walked in silence. The ruin they headed toward just seemed to keep getting further away as the Stargate receded behind them until they couldn't see it anymore. Finally he spoke, "Daniel's going to recover, isn't he? I mean fully."

"I think so, yes, sir. I kind of snuck a look at his chart, and it was bad. Bad." She shuddered, "but he's doing really well, and he's got the best care. I think he's going to be back with us. It might not be for a while yet, but... he'll be back."

"Good. I was afraid we really were training this kid to take his place. Is there something 'hinky' about this kid, Carter?" He asked finally.

"You mean besides the fact that he's not Daniel?" She grinned at him.

Jack shook his head, "He irritates me just by standing there," he admitted reluctantly.

"He just wants to please you, sir. I think there’s a huge amount of hero worship there. Whenever I’ve talked to him, it’s been ‘the Colonel said this,’ and ‘the Colonel said that.’ ‘I read in a report that SG-1 did this,’ ‘don’t you think he’s brave, smart, a brilliant tactician.’ I don’t think I’ve heard him go more than a whole sentence without saying your name."

"Well, you do have to admire his good sense, there."

"Really, sir, I think he’s okay. He just wants to prove himself to you. It seems very important to him."

"So, what do you think? Is there anything worth studying here?" He gestured at the world around them.

She shook her head. "The MALP didn't indicate any signs of any advanced civilization here - no radio waves, no energy signatures of any kind. I think that the only thing of interest to us is that temple. I'll get some soil samples. There might be something of mineral value, but I don't think we're going to find any advanced allies against the Goa'uld here."

"I agree. So, let's put the kid through his paces and see if he knows what he's doing. Do you know he thinks our ruin is a government building?"

"No way!"

"Way!"

They continued walking in companionable silence, letting Teal’c and Michaels set the pace.

They put their four days to good use. Lt. Michaels scoured the building, making notes and trying to translate the writings he found on every wall. It was Hebrew, he was sure, an ancient dialect. He recognized some of the pictographs along with the letters, but he wasn’t familiar enough with the language to be able to translate it.

He trembled with excitement when he discovered a cache of delicate scrolls hidden within a niche cleverly concealed in the wall. The spidery text on them matched the language on the walls. Much to his chagrin, they were set aside to take back to Earth for study by Daniel Jackson. It made him even angrier when he had to spend precious time filming the structure from every possible angle. He knew that it would be Dr. Jackson taking credit for anything found.

Carter and Teal'c explored in every direction to see what they could find. Gone for hours at a time, what they found was nothing – no sign of anyone or any recent habitation. Whoever had once lived on the planet, the people who had built the temple were long gone.

Jack sat and watched. He watched for a threat on a world where there was none. He watched a man whom he wished was someone else. He watched for something, he didn't know exactly what.

Lt. Michaels was entirely too military. Jack had never known there was such a thing. Perhaps he'd been that way once, too long ago to remember. But since he'd met Daniel, he had changed in ways that he'd never imagined possible.

One of the things he'd learned from Daniel was to not make hasty judgements. He'd done that once with Daniel and been proved impossibly, completely wrong.

So Jack decided he'd leave the new kid alone; let him work. See what he came up with. Maybe he would find that the Jack O'Neill instinct would be proven wrong this time, but he didn't really think so.

It had been four amazing days. Jonathon had spent the time indulging his passion for archaeology. His father had never understood his desire to pursue it as a career. He tried to explain, to tell his father how much he loved finding things from the past, the mystery that it presented, putting together the pieces that each find presented to paint a picture of life as it once must have been.

"It’s just digging in the dirt," the General told his son with a growl. In the end his father won and Jonathon had enlisted in the Air Force. Jonathon smiled at the rage his father must have felt when it was his archaeological credentials that had gained him his place at the SGC and not his father’s rank and privilege.

Jonathon picked up the scrolls he had found reverently. It made him angry that it would be Daniel Jackson studying them at home. He was the one who found them. They were ancient and delicate, any handling further deteriorated their condition. He had the spiteful thought that maybe they would crumble in the other man’s hands.

"Michaels." The Colonel’s voice calling him made him start guiltily. Did the other man knew what he was thinking? He seemed to have a sixth sense where Daniel was concerned.

"Yes, sir?" Jonathon asked nervously.

"You ready to go?" The Colonel gestured toward the waiting Stargate.

"Oh." He breathed out in relief. "Sure. Coming, sir." He answered, packing the scrolls away carefully.

He didn’t want to go home. He wished they had more time to plumb the place of its secrets. They’d only scratched the surface of what it had to tell them. But he knew his duty. And now it was time to go home.

He ran up the stairs of the pedestal where the Stargate stood. He turned for one last look back; this was the first new world he had ever stepped on. He'd never be able to say that again.

He'd had a lot of firsts this trip and he was looking forward to a lot more. He had done well; he knew he had. He was certain that not even the legendary Doctor Daniel Jackson could have done better. And most importantly in his mind, they were going home with a 100% safety record. No cuts, no bruises, no injuries of any kind to show for their time spent off-world. Hell, no one had even got sun burned.

He looked back to see the Colonel watching him with that unreadable expression on his face, but that was okay. He knew he would have to earn the team's respect and trust, but he would do it. He would!

The Colonel tapped his watch, "01200, time to go home." He stepped through the gate after Carter and Teal’c, leaving the other man alone.

Jonathon stepped through the gate, after a last wave at the deserted world. The trip back was just as exhilarating as he remembered; he was going to love being a part of SG-1.

He stepped forward through the alien gate on one side and stepped out on the other side onto the ramp in the SGC. Gazing around at the faces waiting to greet them – the returning heroes; his satisfaction turned to dust. There at the bottom of the ramp, seated in a wheelchair trailing IV's and lines, with Doctor Fraiser at his side, was none other than Daniel Jackson himself.

Michaels nearly bumped into the Colonel who stopped in surprise to see the man there waiting for them. Then all three of his teammates seemed to surge forward to cluster around their friend.

"Hey, big guy," Jack said as he knelt down, "Looking good. You've got a chauffeur and everything."

"It is good to see you here, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c agreed in his ever-grave fashion.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Sam leaned over, hugging Daniel awkwardly around all the lines and tubes strung between his body and the wheelchair. "I mean, we're really glad to see you, Daniel."

Michaels hung back from the group unsure what to do. No one even noticed him or thought to include him. Not that he wanted to be a part of that group. It sickened him to see the way they all gushed, especially Captain Carter, like a schoolgirl with a crush.

He had seen them at their best during the past few days in the field. They had been a crisp and efficient team with no wasted emotion or energy. Now look at them, reduced to gibbering fools at the sight of a man in a wheelchair.

"I really didn't want him to be here, he should be in bed." Doctor Fraiser was saying, "But, no, the General had to show him some of the footage from the MALP, and then there was nothing for it. He had to meet you when you got back. It did give me a certain amount of leverage, in making sure he behaved himself the four days you were gone." She tried to look disapproving, but she knew there was no better medicine for Daniel Jackson than his team and a new mystery to solve.

"I'm really hoping you guys have gotten a lot of footage of that temple you can see in the distance." Daniel waved the sheaf of pictures they had used in their prep for the mission. "That outline is nothing I’ve ever seen before, I really need to see it closer."

At that the young Lieutenant felt a rush of contempt. A temple? What made the geek think it was a temple? He'd seen the same pictures Daniel now held. There was nothing about the blurry and slightly out-of-focus photographs of rocks on a hill to suggest that it was a temple. It could have been a public bathhouse for all they could tell from those pictures.

He had been there, he had seen the building, touched the stones of its walls. It most definitely wasn't a temple.

"A temple, is that what you said?" The Colonel looked over at Carter. Jonathon felt a moment of hope. The Colonel was going to stand up for him. Give Jackson the what for and tell him not to make suppositions regarding something he'd never seen. His hope flickered and died when the Colonel continued, "I said I thought it looked like a temple, didn't I?"

"You did, sir," Carter affirmed.

"I also heard you remark you thought the structure a temple, O'Neill." Teal'c just had to add his word of support.

What were they doing? Jonathon thought furiously. All of my notes indicate that I thought that building was a public hall, some sort of government facility and they knew it! Now, there they stood in front of him saying they had known it had been a temple, making him look like a fool. And in front of their pet civilian who Jonathon knew would be reviewing his notes.

Clutching his weapon tightly, Jonathon was struck with the sudden thought that he could be rid of Dr. Daniel Jackson for good. One pull on the trigger would be all it would take.

Dad would be proud, was his thought. Casually he swung the P-90 marginally to get a better angle on the man. His finger tightened on the trigger, all he had to do was squeeze ever so slightly...

Abruptly sanity returned and he realized just what he had been contemplating.

Surreptitiously he glanced around the room. Had anyone else seen what he had been about to do? The group at the bottom of the ramp seemed to have completely forgotten he was there. The Colonel had taken over wheelchair duty and the Doctor was gone. They were all leaving while he was still stupidly standing there on the ramp. The techs and on-duty personnel in the room busily went about their jobs, oblivious to his presence.

"Lieutenant," a booming voice made him start guiltily.

Looking up he saw the Sergeant at the dialing computer.

"You need to hand off your gear and go with the rest of SG-1 to the infirmary for post-mission tests."

Right. To make sure he didn’t bring back any alien organisms or been infected by a Goa’uld. He thrust his gun and pack into waiting hands and ran to catch up with the rest of his team.

There were already out of sight. They had gone, leaving him behind.

~~~~~

Jack had commandeered the wheelchair from the doc. After four days with a kid who didn’t speak unless spoken to it was a pleasant experience to just listen to Daniel talk, even if it was at the sound of light.

"I tell you, Jack, it's a temple!" Daniel insisted. "If you look at its placement and the way everything is built…" he held up one of the MALP’s photographs and waved it in the air.

To Jack’s eye it was grainy and blurry, he really didn’t see anything there of interest. But then Daniel’s brain never saw anything the way the rest of the world did. It had been so long since Jack had heard Daniel waxing enthusiastic about anything. It felt so right.

"Did you get video of the temple?" he craned around a little to look up at the other man to ask anxiously, "Was there any sort of writing or …"

Before anyone could answer, the Lieutenant pushed himself to the fore. "It was not a temple. I was there. Me, not you; me."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Jonathon felt his face burn with shame that he had allowed the geek to goad him.

Finally it was Daniel himself who broke the silence, "I don't believe we've met," he said mildly.

"This is Lt. Michaels," Sam began to introduce him, a little embarrassed when she realized that no one had done so yet. "He’s going to be a part of SG…"

"I'm taking your place," Michaels informed him bluntly. He refused to back down, even when faced with the glacial stare of one Colonel Jack O’Neill.

"That’s enough, Lieutenant," the Colonel stressed the ‘lieutenant.’ The kid needed to remember who was in charge, it didn’t matter who his daddy was.

"Jack?" Daniel looked up at him, betrayal flashing in his eyes.

Sheesh, they’d covered this four days ago and now the kid had screwed it up. "Michaels is just assigned to us until you’re back on your feet. I told you that." Jack turned to the young man, "Why don’t you go on to the infirmary and get your tests. Carter, you and Teal’c go with him and make sure he gets there. Tell the Doc, Daniel and I will there in a few." He gestured for them to go.

Jonathon spun and took off. He didn't need to be escorted. He couldn't believe that he'd been dismissed like a child. One more injustice to add to Daniel’s account.

"It's a temple, Jack," Daniel repeated in a firm clear voice as the young man disappeared down the corridor.

"Daniel, I know that. Listen, the kid's young. He'll learn." Jack couldn't believe he was defending Michaels.

"At what cost, Jack?" Daniel's gaze was steady. It was Jack who broke and looked away first.

"Jeez, Daniel, what is the big deal?"

"Big deal?" Daniel's eyebrows rose incredulously. "G-d, Jack. Today it's a temple. What if tomorrow he makes a mistake on a translation? He could get you guys killed. While I'm stuck here," he pounded on his leg in frustration.

"Hey," Jack caught his hands and held them. "Stop that. The Doc'll have my hide if she finds any new bruises on your delicate body. Now, he's not going to get us killed. I promise you that."

Daniel looked up at him. Jack could see the fear shining in his eyes. "What is this about, Daniel?" He asked quietly. "Not a temple, that's for sure."

This time it was Daniel whose gaze flicked away, he suddenly found the wall behind Jack's shoulder engrossing. Shrugging diffidently he said, "I don't know. I guess I'm just a little worried... Well, you know," his hands moved restlessly in his lap as he tried to articulate his feelings. "He's so military. He probably follows orders..."

"Damn straight he does. I'd have him up on charges if he ever..." Jack affirmed, and then the light went on, "You're afraid we're going to like him better."

Daniel opened his mouth to protest , and then shut it again. "I wouldn't blame you if you did. I mean he's all spit and polish. He probably knows what all those hand signals mean too."

Jack knelt down so his gaze was level with his friend, "He does. But you know what? I would never trade him for you."

Daniel raised a finger to argue with him, Jack stopped him, "Listen to me, Daniel. SG-1 is unique. We all have our place. You're our voice, our moral center if you will. I may not always listen to you, but I always hear you. I need you." He stood, moving to push the chair down the hall again. "And if you tell anyone I said that, I'll have to shoot you."

They walked along in silence until Daniel said, "It's a temple."

Jack sighed, sometimes Daniel was like a dog with a bone, "I know that, Daniel."

"I want to see it."

"Daniel, we filmed it six ways to Sunday. Hell, the kid even found some scrolls just for you to play with."

"Ja-a-a-ck." Jack hated it when Daniel used that wheedling tone. "I need to see it, please." He could never argue with the wheedling tone.

Jack blew out a breath. "Tell you what, be a good patient. Eat all your Wheaties, do your physical therapy, and when…" He held up a finger to forestall Daniel's next outburst, "when the Doc says you're well; then I will talk to the General and see if we can take you on a field trip. The place seemed safe enough."

"Jack, do you think...?"

"Dammit, Daniel, don't push it." They walked the rest of the way to the infirmary in silence.

Intending to hold Jack to his promise, Daniel worked hard at getting better. He had good days when he felt himself getting stronger. He knew that someday soon he would be returning to his team and join them in their exploration on the other side of the gate.

Then there were the days he didn't want to leave his bed. He turned his face to the wall, refusing to see anyone. On those days it was hard to understand why he kept trying. Sha're was gone; taken from him. There was nothing he could do to help her. He had been stupid to think he could.

Somehow Jack always knew his moods. He would appear at the door of Daniel's room, merciless in his cheerfulness.

"Alright, Danny, up and at 'em."

Daniel turned over, pulling the cover over his head, shutting out the world and most especially Jack O’Neill.

"No, you don't, Daniel," Jack snagged the cover and pulled it off him. "Now, you have two choices, you can get out of the bed on your own steam, or I'll get Teal'c to pick you up and carry you out. Which is it?"

"Why, Jack? Why should I?" Daniel shouted at him. It was all so futile. He wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

"Why? G-d. Daniel, there's so much for you to live for."

"Such as?" Daniel regarded him intently, daring Jack to tell him what it was he had to live for.

"Well, not counting SG-1, the SGC and Earth, there's Sha're."

"Jeez, Jack, there's nothing I can do for Sha're. There's never been anything I could really do for her. I was just fooling myself that I could rescue her." Daniel pulled himself into a ball, shivering without the cover. "She would have been better off if she had never known me."

Jack relented, throwing the cover back over him. Sitting beside Daniel on the bed, he asked quietly, "Better to have left her in slavery to Ra? Better to never let her know that there was more to her world than the mines? Better that she never learn to read?"

"Well, no," Daniel answered stiffly, "but if I hadn't uncovered the gate, she and I would still be happy on Abydos. I dream sometimes that we're there and we have kids..." his voice trailed off as he clutched the cover to him.

Jack stroked his friend's hair, he used to do that to Charlie when he was ill, "I dream that for you too, sometimes. But, dammit, Daniel, you have no way of knowing that you would have been safe on Abydos. We know now that the Goa'uld have big honking ships. Apophis could have come on one of those."

Daniel stirred and shifted from under his hand. He pulled the cover up over his head, shutting out the words, shutting out Jack. "I know, I just wish..."

"Me too, buddy, me too. And if wishes were horses..."

"Yeah, yeah, beggars would ride." His voice was muffled from under the cover. "It hurts, Jack. I just get so tired."

"Well then, let's take a break. I'll get Fraiser to let you off the physical therapy today. We'll go topside and have a picnic, the whole team."

"Really?" That got him to pop his head up out from beneath the covers.

"Sure." Jack promised. He didn't tell Daniel, but it was a done deal. He had secured the necessary permission from the Doctor before he even came to Daniel's room.

His friend had been moody for days. The Colonel had decided he needed a break. "It's a beautiful spring day. The sun is shining, Carter has the picnic basket, Teal'c has the coffee. All we have to do is get you showered and dressed. Think you're up to it, or do I need to call for help?"

Sitting up in the bed, hair still tousled from sleep, Daniel looked exactly twelve years old, "There's coffee? Janet hasn't let me have coffee."

Jack smiled at the longing in his friend's voice. He hadn't told the doctor about the coffee, some things she just didn't need to know. "You'd better hustle, 'cause it's getting cold."

Daniel still couldn't move fast, but with the Colonel's help he was ready in record time. They met Carter and Teal'c in Daniel's office and made their way to the elevator that would take them to the surface.

Along the way they encountered Lt. Michaels.

"Sir." He stood stiffly at attention, saluting the Colonel; but his eyes were fastened on the man in the wheelchair. "Dr. Jackson," he greeted him coldly.

"Lieutenant," Daniel acknowledged the greeting, but his attention was wandering; the smell of the coffee Teal'c was carrying was about to drive him wild.

"Michaels, relax," Jack told him with a frown; the kid was always so officious, it made him nervous. "Was there something I can do for you?"

"No, sir. I just thought we should go over the briefing notes for tomorrow's mission."

"Later, Michaels, we're going to take Daniel topside for a while. He needs to get some sun and put some color back in his cheeks. I'll... uh... call you when we get back and we can meet then."

"That will be fine, sir." Michaels watched them as they passed him without so much as a glance or a thought that he might want to come. Not that he did. Not if they had Jackson with them. They entered the elevator and the door slid shut, leaving him alone.

Jonathon bided his time watching as Daniel regained his strength day by day. As Daniel grew stronger, Jonathon's jealousy grew. It was inconceivable to him that the rest of SG-1 - the military-minded O'Neill, the warrior Jaffa and the by-the-book scientist could abide the sloppy ways of the civilian. He couldn’t believe that the man hadn’t died at the hands of one of his own teammates.

But it seemed that no matter what he said or did, Daniel Jackson could do no wrong in the facility under the mountain. If he said that the structure on PY2-443 was a temple, it didn’t matter what anyone else said, then it was a temple.

Even Hammond, whom Michaels judged to be as military as they came, had a blind spot when it came to Daniel Jackson. He couldn't believe how the man had every person on the base wrapped around his little finger, ready to answer to his every beck and call.

He didn't know why he was surprised. He'd seen it happen before. This wasn't the first time that Jonathan Michaels had met Daniel Jackson.

Jonathon had been known as Johnny then, he’d been 8 when a 17 year-old Daniel Jackson had fostered at their home. It was his last summer before he was supposed to enter college. Daniel had been quiet and studious keeping to himself. In the beginning he hadn't really been interested in being a part of their family, just occupying the space until it was time for him to move on.

Johnny had watched him avidly, shadowing his footsteps. His father was a colonel in the Air Force and didn't have time for his young son. Daniel had taken pity on the lonely little boy, perhaps remembering another child who had longed for someone to care for him.

He'd taken the young Johnny to a couple of museums - introduced him to archaeology and his love for it. Then he had left, never knowing what an impact he had made on the impressionable kid. And maybe, if it hadn't been for his father, Johnny would have chosen to follow in Daniel's path.

Jonathon had never felt that he lived up to his father’s expectations before. After Daniel had come into their lives, his father had pushed and bullied him even more, using Daniel Jackson as an example of what his own son would never be. Somehow, Johnny could never be as brilliant or successful as Daniel. Even though he never contacted them, somehow Johnny's father always knew where he was and what he was doing.

Jonathon's next years were miserable listening to the stories of Daniel's successes and hearing that he would never be the son his father wanted. He had felt a great deal of satisfaction when he heard of Daniel's spectacular failure when trying to prove his outlandish theories. Jonathon had felt that he finally had a chance of surpassing the legacy of Dr. Daniel Jackson in his father's mind.

He had been excited beyond measure to be assigned to the super-secret Stargate project. His father, now a general, had been particularly smug when informing him of the assignment. Jonathon had realized why when reading through the mission reports to find that one Dr. Daniel Jackson figured in most of them.

He was determined that this time Daniel Jackson wouldn't win. He would not be allowed to again take the respect and love that was by all rights owed to Jonathon Michaels.

When Daniel wasn't in physical therapy, he kept busy working on the copious amounts of translations and artifacts brought back by other teams. There was a never-ending stream of work waiting for him on his desk. But when he could, he spent all of his spare energy and time on the scrolls brought back from PY2-443. The Lieutenant had been right about one thing, the text was some form of ancient Hebrew, pre-flood. It wasn’t a language Daniel was strong in, but he knew enough to recognize the beginnings of a story he knew.

~~~~~

Entering Daniel’s office, Sam found him bent over his desk. He was oblivious to the world and didn’t even hear her enter. She could just see a peek of the scroll spread out in front of him. Around it his desk was piled high with books that he consulted from time to time, scribbling like mad on a pad at his elbow.

Pausing, she tried to assess his condition. It had been months since his injury and he was recovering well according to Janet. She had assured them that the archaeologist would be able to return to active duty soon. It couldn’t be soon enough for Sam, she missed her friend. She missed his fire and enthusiasm. She missed him.

Daniel, sensing her presence there, peered up at her with a distracted smile, "Hey, Sam."

"Hi, Daniel." She fixed him with her best stern stare, "Are you ready for your physical therapy?"

"Really, Sam, you don’t have to walk me to each and every session, I am capable of getting there on my own."

She didn’t take offense at his words, she just asked, "Then why are you 10 minutes late?"

He glanced at his watch with a muttered, "damn, late again."

"Come on," she said with ruthless cheerfulness, "before Janet sends the marines to carry you down." Unlocking the brakes on the chair, she maneuvered him out the door of his office and into the hall.

"Sam," he asked thoughtfully, "what do we know about Lt. Michaels?"

His question took her by surprise, he’d never mentioned his replacement before. Temporary replacement, she reminded herself firmly. "He seems to be okay," she said grudgingly. How to tell him that the man was all spit and polish and military efficiency, everything Daniel was not? "He’s doing okay, why?"

He shrugged, "I don’t know, I just get this feeling… Like I’ve known him somewhere… I can’t quite put my finger on it." He waived a hand as if to dismiss the subject. "I’m sure I’ll figure it out."

"What were you working on?" She asked, hoping to change the subject away from Lt. Michaels. Her tactic was only partly successful.

"It’s those scrolls you guys brought back from PY2-443."

Their first mission with Michaels. Damn. "Find anything interesting on them?"

"You might say that. Sam," he leaned his head on his hand thoughtfully, "do you believe in G-d?"

Another question that took her by surprise. Even after all the time they’d spent tracking down and destroying false g-ds, they’d never really discussed the subject. "I don’t know, Daniel. My mom used to take me to church when I was a kid, but once she died, I kind of turned my back on it. I was pretty bitter. Now, after everything we’ve seen… I don’t know. You?"

He shook his head, "I don’t know, sometimes… I feel something when we go through the gate, like a touch or something. But then I think about Sha’re and all the terrible things we’ve seen and I wonder, if there really is a good, benevolent g-d, how could he, or she, or it, allow such atrocities to happen?"

Sam pushed him in silence, trying to figure out what to say. She was saved when he continued, "but then I think about all the really amazing things we’ve seen. The goodness in the people we’ve encountered. I don’t know."

"Does this have something to do with those scrolls?" she asked.

He nodded, "Partly, I guess. There was a mention in one of them of ‘the Children of Enoch’."

"Children of Enoch?" The name rang no bells for her. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them."

"According to the scrolls they were the descendants of Cain."

That story she remembered from Sunday School. "You mean like in Cain who slew his brother Abel?"

"That’s the one. According to the Bible, G-d forgave Cain for the murder of his brother. But Cain was still afraid people would try to seek vengeance against him, so G-d put a mark on his forehead so that everyone who saw it would know he was protected."

"A mark on the forehead, like a Jaffa tattoo?" The idea startled her.

He nodded, excited that she had made the same connections he had, "It doesn’t really say, but that’s what came to my mind. Anyway the text goes on to say that he settled in Nod and built a city. It tells that his son was named Enoch. Now, in the scrolls that you brought back from PY2-443, it talks about the people who arrived there as the ‘Children of Enoch.’ Is it a coincidence?"

She whistled, "That would be one big coincidence."

"That’s what I thought! I mean just imagine if we really have found actual descendants of the mythical Adam and Eve. Think of the things we can learn. We have to go back there and find out…"

Sam smiled indulgently, "I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, Daniel. We’ve got to get you well before you can go off in search of Adam and Eve." She turned the chair into the room reserved for Daniel’s physical therapy.

"Jack promised me that we could go visit the temple," he informed her stubbornly.

"Well then we have to get you out of this chair, don’t we?" She responded reasonably. "Because there’s no way I’m pushing you to that temple in a wheelchair."

Unhappily he gave in. For the next hour they worked with Daniel’s therapist and all thoughts of the temple on PY2-443 were gone.

Daniel sat anxiously on the bed trying to be calm as Janet ran her tests prior to declaring him fit for duty. He waited patiently as she poked and prodded. He opened his mouth at all the right times, he endured the penlight stoically. He knew the drill by heart now.

This was the third time they’d done this particular dance. Each time the doctor had found something not to her liking. Each time she had postponed his return to active duty. He was afraid that if it took much longer for him to heal it would just be easier to leave things the way they were.

SG-1 was functioning fine with its newest member. Except for the fiasco with the temple, Michaels seemed to know his stuff. And it was easier for the other teams having an on-call archaeologist any time they needed one to consult on some artifact they’d found or translate some unreadable text. Daniel was afraid the General would decide that the arrangement was altogether too convenient. Then no one would ever have to worry about him again.

But Daniel needed to be out there with SG-1. He needed to be part of the team making the discoveries. He needed to be back out there again, looking for Sha’re. Night after night, his dreams were filled with nightmare images of the things happening to her while he was sitting at the base safe.

He swung his feet restlessly. How long was this going to take anyway? He knew better than to ask the question out loud. Janet had firmly told him that it would take as long as it takes the first and only time he had asked.

He wished he could at least put his shirt back on. He felt self-conscious sitting there for the nurses to stare at while Janet was off ‘consulting’ with Dr. Warner. Finally he heard the sound of her heels clicking and he straightened hopefully.

"Well, Dr. Jackson, I think everything looks good."

He was prepared with his arguments to change her mind, "Really, Janet, I feel…" He blinked at her, not sure he had heard her correctly, "What?"

"I said that everything looks fine, Dr. Jackson. I am declaring you fit for duty. Get out of my infirmary and I don’t want to see your butt in here again for a long, long time."

He sat in open-mouthed surprise not sure what to say.

"Now," she continued briskly, "if you’ll get dressed, I believe the General wants to see you in the briefing room right away."

"I… oh, okay."

She turned and began to leave him alone to dress.

He licked his lips, "Uhm, Janet," she turned back, a delicate brow lifted questioningly. "I just wanted to say…" he stammered, "I mean I know I’m not the best patient… I just… Thank you."

What else did you say to someone who saved your life every day of the week?

You’re welcome." She smiled warmly at him then turned once again. "I’d hurry if I were you," she threw over her shoulder. "The General said it was important."

~~~~

The door to the briefing room was closed when Daniel arrived. He knocked and heard the General call out, "Come on in, son."

He twisted the knob, opening the door to darkness. What the…? Before he even had time to formulate the question of why the General was in the briefing room in the dark, the light flipped on to reveal a room full of people.

It looked like everyone he knew on the base was there, his team foremost in the crowd. There was a banner decorating one wall that read, ‘Welcome Back to SG-1, Daniel.’ The table that was usually littered with mission reports was now groaning under a ton of food. Daniel stood speechless as he was greeted with thunderous applause. He looked around the room in wonder. He’d never been welcomed back to anywhere. It felt good.

Jack stepped forward, enveloping him in an enormous hug, "We’re glad to have you back, Danny Boy," he whispered so that no one else but Daniel could hear. He had to blink rapidly to keep the tears that welled up from falling. Everyone else gathered in to pound his back in congratulations. Music came on from somewhere and the party was on.

Daniel didn’t think he ever remembered a better party. He ate copious quantities of food and his hand was shaken so many times his shoulder went numb.

"Dr. Jackson," the General approached him as the party was winding down and people began to return to their duty stations.

"General," Daniel did his best to swallow the huge bite of cake he’d just taken, it seemed to settle in his throat, choking him. He swallowed convulsively.

The General placed a kind hand on his shoulder, "I just wanted to let you know that you should get some rest tonight." From somewhere Jack and Sam and Teal’c had appeared behind the General. They watched him expectantly.

"I’m sorry?" He glanced at his teammates, but they weren’t giving away any clues; although there was a little smile hovering around the corners of Jack’s mouth.

"You have a mission tomorrow at 09:00, don’t be late." With a pat on his shoulder, the General left, leaving Daniel alone with his teammates.

"Mission?" Daniel asked a little blankly. Had he missed a briefing?

"Hey, didn’t I promise you a field trip to a temple just as soon as you were declared fit for duty?" Jack reminded him. "Be sure and pack your heavy duty sunscreen. If we bring you back with so much as a hang nail, we’ll never hear the end of it from the Doc."

The morning couldn’t arrive quickly enough for Daniel. When his alarm woke him he was surprised that he had managed to sleep at all. He hadn’t been this nervous about a mission for quite some time.

When he sauntered into the gate room early, Jack raised a surprised eyebrow, "Dr. Jackson I presume?"

"Ha, ha, Jack, very funny." Daniel rolled his eyes.

It felt so good to be back with his team that he wasn’t even upset when he had found out that Lt. Michaels would be accompanying them for this one last time, since he had done the initial survey of the planet.

The young man stood in the corner checking out his own equipment, sulking. Daniel couldn’t blame him for being a little upset. After all, he knew how special it was to work with SG-1. To be relegated to SG-3 after that would be a let down.

Daniel was determined to be nice to the man. They only had a couple of days on the planet, and then Michaels would be gone. He could do this. Haunted by the feeling the he knew Michaels from somewhere, he had tried to talk to him a time or two. The other man had always found business elsewhere, finally Daniel had given up trying to figure it out.

The gate began to move and Daniel watched, transfixed, as it rotated. He stood at the bottom of the ramp, Jack next to him, a hand on his shoulder. Sam and Teal’c moved to either side of them as the gate exploded outward and then settled into place.

"Well, kids, it looks like we’re off to see the wizard," Jack said as he and Daniel walked up the ramp together and disappeared through the gate. Carter and Teal’c exchanged a knowing glance and quickly followed.

Michaels watched them with loathing. If he had his way, this would be Dr. Jackson’s last trip through the gate. He wanted to see the temple, and that was fine. But it would be the last thing he saw.

Picking up his pack, he ran up the gate behind the rest of SG-1, his team.

~~~~~

The sun was hot as SG-1 stepped through the Stargate onto PY2-443. Jack really didn’t think there was anything on the planet to interest anyone, not even Daniel, but he’d promised. And it made a really good milk run for Daniel’s first foray back into the field.

They’d already been here; they knew the place was deserted. They’d covered every inch of the temple. There was absolutely nothing there to get Daniel into any trouble. They’d spend two days with Daniel happily translating; playing archaeologist, then life could get back to normal for SG-1.

As they walked, he glanced over at Lt. Michaels. The man’s face was unreadable as he kept pace with the rest of the team. Something about the young man just wasn’t right. The Colonel had actually looked into his background, but had found nothing. His school records were unremarkable, but he’d performed with excellence at the academy. Pushing it to the back of his mind, he worked on keeping up with Daniel who was setting the pace.

Daniel enjoyed the walking. The place was hot which was fine for him, it reminded him of happier times in Abydos and Egypt. And it felt good to stretch his endurance, the Doctor had made sure he got enough rest over the past months; he hadn’t been allowed to get tired. Now he could see the building that had been his goal for so many months, he could practically reach out and touch it. He quickened his pace.

"Daniel, slow down," Jack said, easily matching his stride. "It’s not a race. We’ll get there."

"We’ve only got 48 hours, Jack. I don’t want to waste them walking," they couldn’t get to the temple fast enough for Daniel.

His friend smiled and shook his head, but Jack kept pace with him the entire way.

They made it to the site in record time. With a quick look to Jack for approval, Daniel disappeared inside, leaving the rest of the team to set up camp.

~~~~~

Daniel pulled a bandana out of his pack, tying it around his head. The day was hot and there was no breeze of any kind so the air inside the temple was stifling. He’d been hot and sweaty already from the walk from the gate, now his BDU’s were sticky and clinging uncomfortably. Dumping his pack in the corner, he took off his vest and shirt and folded them neatly over it.

He hadn’t told Jack, but the video that Michaels had made of the structure all those months ago, hadn’t been very clear. All the out-of-focus tapes had done for him was to whet his appetite. From the scrolls he found that the people who had come to PY2-443 were of Hebrew descent, but they hadn’t told him much more. If they really were from a pre-flood Earth, there was no telling what secrets the place might hold.

He took a quick drink from his canteen and set to work. Two days was only going to scratch the surface of what the temple had to tell him.

~~~~~

It hadn’t taken them long to set up camp, so now they sat outside while Daniel was inside doing whatever he did. Michaels sat throwing rocks, trying with each successive throw to get the rock a little further, each stone hit the earth with a little puff of dirt and a thud. Jonathon imagined that it was Daniel out there he was throwing the stones at. Daniel alone and unable to defend himself.

He felt like he should be doing something, but there was simply nothing else for him to do. The Captain was off taking more samples. Something of interest to the SGC had been found, so she was taking back more varied samples this time. Teal’c went with her to watch her back, not that there was anything to watch for. The place was absolutely deserted.

The Colonel just puttered around the camp, not really doing anything either. Occasionally he would wander into the temple to make sure his teammate was still inside and safe. It was just wrong to see the man reduced to Daniel Jackson’s keeper.

He threw another stone, it hit with a satisfying thunk. Michaels couldn’t believe that he had been demoted from trusted team member to flunky whose major responsibility was setting up camp. By all rights it should be him inside the temple.

At the least, he should be showing Daniel what he had found, but the other man hadn’t even looked at him when he’d gone inside. Maybe that hurt most of all. He had thought they were friends and brothers all those years ago, but Daniel showed no signs that he even knew him.

As the sun began to it’s descent into evening, Carter and Teal’c arrived back at the camp. After they had put away their days labors, they helped the Colonel prepare their meal. They exchanged amused glances as the sun continued to set and Daniel failed to emerge.

"I’ll go get him," the Colonel said with a sigh. "Hey, Michaels, dinner," he called out as he went.

Jonathon pocketed his stones, grudgingly going to join the others for dinner.

~~~~~

The hours passed without Daniel even being aware of it. He was too absorbed in the story that unfolded before him on the walls. He had no idea how long he’d been working when he heard a throat being cleared behind him. "Hey, Jack." Daniel spoke without even turning.

"So, Daniel, how you doing?"

"Fine, Mom. You?"

"Having fun?"

Daniel could contain his excitement no longer, it came bursting forth, "Jack, do you know what we’ve found here?" His hands brushed the walls lovingly.

"A temple?"

"Very good, Jack…"

"Are you going to come eat supper?"

"Supper?" Daniel blinked up at his friend in surprise. He finally noticed that the light in the room had dimmed considerably. He’d thought he was having trouble reading the writing on the walls, but he hadn’t stopped to wonder why.

"Yes, Daniel. Supper. Why don’t you come have some and tell us what amazing things you’ve found here?"

"No, really, Jack, I’m not hungry. I want to finish this section…"

"Daniel, you’re going to come out and eat if I have to have Teal’c carry you. Now, I promised the Doc we’d make you eat and sleep and all those important things you do to maintain your health." Jack knew he was in super-mother-hen mode, but he couldn’t help it. They’d just gotten Daniel back. He was going to do everything in his power to ensure that Daniel got through this particular mission without even a hair on his head being mussed.

"Jack!" Daniel glared at him. He relented a little when he realized that his friend wasn’t going to be swayed. "Maybe I can eat my dinner in here? I just want to finish this one little section." He was using the wheedling tone again.

Jack refused to listen to it this time. "What’s so important about that section, Daniel?" Jack thought he was showing an incredible amount of patience with his friend.

Daniel was practically vibrating with excitement, "Jack, it’s the story of Cain and Abel exactly as it is in the Bible. I mean, what are the chances of finding something like that on another world?"

Jack opened his mouth to answer and then realized he had no clue, "Well, Daniel, I guess I don’t know. Why is that important?"

"Jack, these are supposed to be among the first people. And they’re from a completely different culture than we’ve found before. Imagine what we could learn." He looked at his friend expectantly.

Jack shifted from one foot to the other, "I’m trying, Daniel, I’m not coming up with anything."

"Jack!" The Colonel could be deliberately obtuse sometimes. He thought he was making his people think harder when he did it. Mostly Daniel found it annoying, he knew the man was smarter than that. "This section," Daniel’s spread fingers indicated a section of writing, it just looked like so much chicken scratch to Jack, "talks about the ‘Children of Enoch.’ Supposedly they were the descendants of Cain. Now according to the Bible, Cain slew his brother Abel…"

"Slew?" Jack asked just to slow him down. His friend was on fast forward mode, talking faster than Jack could listen.

"Murdered, killed, in cold blood."

"Yes, I know what it means, Daniel. What does it mean? Why is it important to us?"

Daniel blew out an impatient breath, "Cain was afraid of the vengeance of his people after he slew his brother, so G-d brought him here where he founded a new city."

"Here?"

"PY2-443." Daniel threw out a hand to encompass the temple and the whole planet.

"Are you saying…?"

"Jack I don’t know what I’m saying, but these people obviously came to this planet through the Stargate. It says here," he indicated another section of the chicken scratch, "that this temple was built to celebrate the Festival of Enoch. Every year there was a ‘Test of Cain’ and it was held here."

"Well, it doesn’t look it’s going to be held here this year," Jack commented wryly. He gestured to indicate the dusty and deserted temple. "So, where did they go?"

"I don’t know, but it says here," Daniel brushed the stone to show Jack the text he was referencing, resting his fingers on the wall briefly, "that the people grew in the grace of their Lord and he took them to a new place…"

He was interrupted by a scraping noise. They spun on their heels to watch the back wall of the temple disappear into the ground. It was replaced by a vista of a green, verdant valley.

Cautiously they approached the edge to find a sheer drop-off at their feet. The wall literally dropped away to the valley floor thousands of feet below. Daniel hastily backed up. "Wow."

"What was that?" The rest of the team arrived with Lt. Michaels in tow. "We heard a sound…" Carter stopped in astonishment at what she saw. "Wow!"

"Alright, what caused that?" Jack looked at his team expectantly, waiting for his answer.

"That wasn’t here before," Michaels asserted.

"No, no it wasn’t," the Colonel agreed. "Why is it here now, Daniel?"

"I don’t know." Daniel went back to the wall he had been working on, intently studying the place he had touched. The light was fading and it was hard to see. "Does anyone have a flashlight?"

With a disgusted noise, Michaels fished a flashlight out of his vest pocket, handing it to the other man.

Taking it with an absent thanks Daniel didn’t notice the other man’s glacial expression. He trained it on the area of the wall he had brushed with his fingers. "Look," he leaned in closer, his nose practically touching the stone, "look here. There’s a depression, it’s talking about the Test of Cain, about how only the worthy would be tested."

Michaels couldn’t believe it. The other man had not only found hidden mechanisms he had completely missed, but he was translating the words on the walls as if they were English. The other team members were buying everything he was saying like it was gospel. How did they know he wasn’t just selling them a load of goods to save his precious reputation, to keep his place on the team?

He couldn’t stand the sound of the other man’s voice a minute longer. He stalked over to the newly revealed vista to inspect it. There was no green valley on the outside of the temple. They had scouted all the way around it for miles. All they had found was deserted roads and a barren landscape.

Thinking that it was some sort of projection, Michaels tentatively reached out, expecting to touch the wall or find a force field. There was nothing there, just air. Obviously the people who had built the temple were a lot more advanced technologically than they had assumed.

He plucked a stone from his pocket, tossing it through the opening. He watched as it fell to the valley floor.

"Hey, Michaels."

He looked back over at his shoulder to the Colonel.

"You coming for dinner?"

Captain Carter and the Jaffa had already gone back outside. Jackson was collecting his pack, putting the shirt and vest inside of it and slinging it over a shoulder.

"In a minute, sir," Michaels answered.

The Colonel nodded and left the building.

Daniel walked over to stand next to Michaels, to look over the vista one last time. "I wonder what’s projecting this?" He mused. "This isn’t what you see outside."

Michaels knew he would never have a better chance. He could tell the others that Daniel had tripped, he’d tried to catch him but he was just too far away. It was a dammed shame.

Before he had a chance to think about it, Michaels shoved the other man as hard as he could…

~~~~~

Outside there was a chime, like a bell, from the building.

Still standing on the steps, Jack turned and raced back inside. What he saw made his blood run cold.

There at the temple’s edge, both Daniel and Michaels were imprisoned in some sort of force field, holding them like flies in amber.

Jack heard footsteps behind him. "Sir, we heard this bell-like…" Carter’s voice died when she saw caught sight of Daniel.

He was teetering on the edge of the temple floor. Surrounded by the bluish haze of a force field, it was plainly all that was keeping him from falling to the valley floor thousands of feet below. Beside him, Michaels was also trapped, his arms outstretched. It was hard to decide if he was reaching out to grab Daniel before he fell, or reaching out to push him.

"What the hell is happening here?" Jack growled moving toward his friend. He needed to get a hand on Daniel before the field let him go and he plunged to his death. He was stopped just short by yet another force field. "No!" He pounded a fist on the electronic wall in frustration. It crackled with energy, but held firmly in place.

Then, with a flash of light, the team was no longer alone, they were surrounded by people. There were hundreds of people now in the temple.

A woman stepped forward from the crowd. She was tall and graceful, dressed in diaphanous robes of white. Her long brown hair seemed to float around her face, stirred by a breeze that none of Jack’s team could feel. "Colonel," when she spoke it was if he could hear silvery bells, "we are honored to be in your presence for the Test."

"Where in the hell did you people come from?" He growled. "And what have you done to my men?"

"We have always been here Jack O’Neill, if you only had the eyes to see." The people around her bowed. They were human, and not. They had an otherworldly quality about them the Colonel couldn’t quite define. They were nearly translucent, as if they weren’t quite in the world. The woman continued, "As to what has happened to your friends, this was not of our doing."

"Not your doing? Daniel’s hanging over a cliff and you’re not responsible? Then who the hell is?" He was shouting, he knew he was shouting, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He was so afraid the thing holding Daniel was going to shut off and there’d be no one there to catch him.

The woman frowned at him, "It was one of yours who wished to harm the other. We are only here now to witness the Test." She gestured with one hand to Michaels. The Colonel followed her gaze. It did almost look like the other man… Oh, G-d, no...

"The Test of Cain, sir. Daniel was talking about it before," Carter whispered behind him.

"Indeed the Captain is correct." The ethereal woman bowed her head to the blonde captain.

"What the hell is this test?" Jack gripped his weapon tightly. He didn’t dare shoot anyone with Daniel hanging over the edge of the temple, but he didn’t rule it out as an alternative for later.

"It is the first Test and we are honored to witness it. None must be allowed to interfere." The woman clapped her hands. The force field that separated them from Daniel formed a cage, surrounding the team. Jack’s weapon vanished from his hand. Looking around, Carter held up empty hands; her weapon was gone also, along with Teal’c’s staff weapon.

"Carter, what is happening here?" He hissed under his breath, "There aren’t supposed to be people here."

"I know that, sir." She was at least as frustrated as he was. "And I don’t know what’s going on, but at least they’ve stopped Daniel from going over the edge."

They watched helplessly as the woman approached the two men. Turning, she addressed the crowd, "Children of Enoch, I present to you today, our celebrants. Daniel Jackson and Jonathan Michaels. Only one will leave our Temple." The people all bowed again. The woman held her hands to heaven as if in prayer or supplication and then she clapped her hands, "I give you the Test of Cain." With a flash of light, both men disappeared.

~~~~~

Daniel had never been so terrified in his life, teetering on the edge of the cliff, looking straight down. They say you see your life flash before your eyes in life-and-death situations, his had gotten stuck in his throat.

He couldn’t believe that the other man hated him enough to kill him. It was inconceivable. No matter what happened to Daniel in his life, he could never understand that kind of hate. What had he done to Michaels to engender that much hate? Did he just want Daniel’s place on SG-1, or was there more? His mind swirled with questions and his stomach lurched. He was afraid he was going to be sick.

Unable to stand looking down at the sheer drop, he squeezed his eyes shut. Behind him, he heard Jack speak and then there was a new voice. He listened intently as the woman spoke to his team and things began to click in his head. If he could only speak to her… then he heard her clap her hands. The field holding him safe was released. He felt himself falling into blackness.

~~~~~

Michaels couldn’t believe it. Just at the moment when he was going to be rid of Daniel Jackson forever, something had intervened. Did the man have a pact with the freaking devil? Shit!

There he stood, stuck, his sins revealed for the whole world to see. He would never be a part of SG-1 now, but he didn’t care. Daniel Jackson was going to die, he was going to pay for causing him to suffer a lifetime of always being numb