Wow. Fic! :)
::reposting, 'cause in a stroke of brilliance, I back-dated this entry the first time around. *facepalm*::
So um... the fic below was kinda part of a dream I had. Well, more than half of it was anyway, lol. If you decide to take a chance and read it, I hope you'll enjoy. :)
Title: Deus Machina
Author: Artifuss
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Rating: Mature
Spoils: Fragile Balance, Chimera, Beachhead, Ex Deus Machina, (essentially first half of) Season Nine.
Summary: Ba'al takes his "godship" one step further, creating a disastrous mess for the SGC.
Warnings: (not main) character deaths
A/N: Lots of lufs and hugs to stephicozar for her kick-ass betaness! :D
(Psst! Steph! Is "betaness" a word? :P)
Disclaimer: Not mine now, nor will they (SG1 and the Stargate Universe) ever be. Shame.
"No! You son of a bitch!" Daniel screamed, as those strong arms held him from behind. The hated voice whispered in his ear, "Tell me what I want to know, and then you can go free." His muscles ached from days of constant tension; his body shook mercilessly as he watched the two Jaffa pull the bloodied mess down from the hooks before him. Sam could no longer be in that mangled shell, it wasn't possible. She was well and truly dead. The guards dragged the disjointed flesh out of the chamber by an arm and a leg. If he broke free now, he could follow the trail of smeared blood left by his team-mates on the tiled floor and... He didn't know how to save them.
"No." The simple word tore from his sore, overused throat as Ba'al easily kept him in place from behind with one arm around his waist and the other across his shoulders. Daniel finally gave up pulling away from that monster. He hardly had any energy left to stand.
"Well, then." Ba'al chuckled, finding the whole situation highly amusing. His nose brushed into his captive's matted hair, taking time to smell the sweet scent of hate, fear and pain that emanated from every pore of his child. "I have a little surprise for you."
"You have a sarcophagus." Daniel said, tonelessly. Sam was the last of their team's massacre that Daniel had to witness. Their lives were the incentive for him to do Ba'al's bidding. The Goa'uld somehow got his hands on Ancient technology that the SGC had found on recent expeditions, and he wanted Daniel to figure out their purpose. The problem was, even if Daniel wanted to give him the information he was seeking, he couldn't.
He didn't have an answer to give.
The writing was in Ancient, but it read as nonsense. If it was in code, he couldn't decipher it. And his friends suffered for his lack of understanding. They were stabbed, burned, poisoned, and mutilated in so many ways, because he couldn't read in between the lines.
"No, child. I haven't yet managed to procure such a device while on this backwards planet." Ba'al smiled as he heard his minions coming back with his gift. "Look!" He commanded his toy, grasping the young man's jaw and holding it in line of the room's entrance. The weak body he held buckled the moment he recognized his gift. Daniel couldn't stand on his own anymore, and the monster behind him held him up with ease.
Daniel's gift was strapped to the crimson manacles that previously held Teal'c, Mitchell and Sam before. Judging from the many rips and tears in his gift's clothing, mostly stained dark red, he knew that this man was tortured long before being brought into this room. The fact that he had yet to make any noise at all diminished all hope that Daniel had left of their survival.
"Jack."
III\
"So - Any idea, on what this is all about?" Mitchell asked as he walked into the briefing room, finding the rest of his team already sitting at the table. He grabbed a mug from the side display and brought the carafe over, offering each member of his team a refill. He didn't know about the rest of SG1, but he didn't get much sleep last night. This weekend was supposed to be their time-off from saving the galaxy.
"Well, whatever it is, it definitely has the General spooked," Daniel said as he pushed his mug forward towards the offering, then tipped his head in the direction of the General's office, indicating that they should all take a look. Through the window, SG1 watched as their leader stood at attention while speaking to someone over his main line. Even from this distance, they could all tell that he was vibrating in anger.
"Wow," was all Sam could think of saying, after turning away from the sight.
Teal'c punctuated her comment with, "Indeed."
Daniel jumped a little as Landry slammed the receiver onto his desk. His quick stride placed him at the front of SG1 in seconds, and without any preamble he stated, "I want you all to see this. Lieutenant!" Mitchell placed the carafe in the middle of the briefing table and took a seat beside Sam.
As the A/V technician lowered the video screen, Daniel and Teal'c caught a glimpse of Walter running into the General's office to place the phone's receiver back into its cradle.
Landry took a calming breath, but didn't bother to turn his chair towards the screen. He handed the remote to Mitchell as he sat down. "Late last night, one of our forensics teams at Ba'al's former compound managed to save a cache of files that were first thought to be wiped out from the main hub. I want you all to tell me what your opinion is of this new intel." He indicated to Mitchell that he should start the video, intent on watching them as they watch the screen.
"Please." He begged once more, no longer caring about anything other than peace. He wanted nothing more than to finally rest in peace.
"Just tell me what I want to know, child," his captor reminded him, kneeling over his supine form.
"I can't. I-" He choked and coughed, his face was a mess of tears and sweat. He felt too weak to get up off the floor, even too weak to read.
"Very well, my child," his master taunted him, while stroking his hair. Always taunting him with that damned name. "I ask that you do one thing for me, and then it will all be over." The monster lowered his head to whisper in his ear, and then lifted his head slightly so that he was in sight of his prey once more, his eyes sparkling in mirth. "That is all I ask."
SG1 sat in shocked silence as they watched a familiar figure on the screen struggle to lift his head, and gave an open-mouthed kiss to the man hovering closely above him. The desperate man used all the energy he had left in that final act, until he couldn't keep his head up off the floor any longer.
They watched as Ba'al chuckled, leaning forward to finish the kiss, while his left hand begun to glow. Collectively they all held their breath as the jeweled hand device landed an inch away from his victim's forehead. In mere seconds the radiating orange stream of light ebbed away, taking with it Daniel's final breath. "As I promised, you are now free my child."
"What in blue-blazes -," Mitchell rambled off. "Okay! That wasn't in any report that I've read."
"That's because, that never happened!" Daniel stated, trying his best to appear collected. He wasn't so sure he could pull off calm.
"Listen up, because I sure as hell am not going to watch through this file again any time soon,” Landry commanded. Even now he was far from convinced that any of it should have been witnessed by anyone, let alone the people sitting before him, but he needed answers. "The time-stamp indicated that this occurred roughly a week before we even knew of Ba'al taking refuge on this planet. The on-site team has confirmed that the room in the clip is within the same compound. So tell me how all four of you, and our leader of Home World Security, all happened to be brutally murdered three weeks ago."
"Cloning." Teal'c suggested after a moment's thought.
"Right!" Daniel agreed, "H- he- uh, we know that he had cloning capabilities. We've found evidence that he had cloned himself. So it would only stand to reason that he tried duplicating others. Though we had no proof - "
"Until now that is," Mitchell piped up. "What I don't understand is how he managed to duplicate us."
Sam shrugged. "It's theoretically possible that a simple strand of hair is all that's required to define a person's genetic makeup for cloning purposes."
"But that would mean some sort of contact with him, right?" Mitchell questioned. "I've never met the guy up until two weeks ago."
"Maybe we do have a mole," Daniel suggested. They all felt that Ba'al was always one step ahead of them whenever they went in for a strike. The Goa'uld having inside information would certainly explain a few things. "Someone who can get close enough to us, not only for a sample of DNA, but to somehow… scan and save our thoughts and feelings. A strand of hair cannot provide information on brain activity."
"ColonelMitchell," Teal'c interrupted. "I wish to have a closer look at the upper right corner."
Mitchell grabbed the remote and zoomed in on the area that Teal'c had indicated. "Watchya looking for, bro?"
"The woman. Is that not -?"
"Vala." Daniel finished, starring at the image of his lost enigma.
"I believe you'll want to see the next few frames, Colonel," Landry suggested.
Mitchell pressed play on the remote, and watched the screen while it was still zoomed in on their lost friend. They were all left speechless when the pixelated image of her eyes glowed.
"She's not hiding like her boss. You'll find her in San Diego. I want her brought back for questioning, but first find out what cards she's holding. We don't need any more buildings blowing up in the process."
"Wait," Daniel lifted up his hand and wiggled his fingers. "How do we know that we're not the clones?"
"Pardon?" Landry asked, exasperated.
"You mean like John." Sam clarified, for Landry and Mitchell, "Over a year ago, General O'Neill had been cloned by a defunct Asgard scientist, known as Loki. There were complications in the procedure, but John - General O'Neill's clone - didn't know that he wasn't the original until we told him."
"What does that mean for us, Carter?" Mitchell asked.
"There's a chance that we might not be the originals. It is possible that we're the duplicates. We've learned from the Tok'ra that clones carry a marker that would help us decipher the copy from the original. We'll need to be tested to determine whether we're who we think we are - or not. In fact, I think the whole base should be tested, just to be on the safe side."
"Fine. Get yourselves down to the infirmary, and once you're cleared, go pick up Miss Mal Doran."
"What about our mole, sir?"
"You leave him - or her, up to me."
III\
"Daniel," Vala greeted with a smile. "How nice to see you."
Prometheus beamed up SG1 and dropped them off in a discreet location where they met up with the NID. Since the NID found Vala in the first place, it was decided that picking her up would be a joint effort. Teal'c, Sam and Mitchell waited for him in an unmarked van across the street with two agents. Daniel was sure he picked out five other agents hanging around the street and the cafe that Vala sat outside of.
Daniel sat down at her table, but wouldn't speak until the waiter had left. "I know who you are."
"Yes, I believe we've already established that."
"I mean the whole glowing eyes, metallic voice deal," The waiter came back quickly with a new pot of tea. They sat in silence, one with a small smile tugging at her lips, her eyes sparkling; the other nearly slouching, almost looking bored, as tea was poured into Vala's cup.
"Do you really know who I am?" Vala asked when the young man left, stirring the sweetener into her tea.
"You're a Goa'uld." He answered with as much distaste as he could muster.
Vala glanced out onto the street, holding the cup up to her lips with both hands. "Honestly." The street that the cafe stood on was a busy one. Vehicles traveled by, well above its 35mph speed limit, and there were people crowding on the sidewalks, no doubt looking for deals on the early Saturday morning. "I asked you if you knew who I am, Daniel. Not, what I am." She looked back at the man sharing her table, his features were schooled, showing that he didn't care, but she knew what to look for and there was an underlying glint of curiosity and apprehension in his eyes.
"You sure you don't want any tea?" Daniel minutely shook his head, no. "I remember a little cafe, very similar to this one actually, that was a five minute walk from the University. We'd have enough time to sit and chat for an hour each day, in between classes and research." She felt a little thrill as his eyes widened in shock. "Funny how we usually didn't do much more than speak of your research during our break. I must say, you have always been a very focused individual."
"Osiris," Daniel breathed, his mind whirling at the possibility. It couldn't be true. Sarah was free and living with her mother in Yorkshire. Osiris was dead. Unless... "Anubis learned to clone symbiotes as well."
"It really wasn't that difficult."
"Obviously," Daniel agreed. "And Ba'al managed to get a hold of this knowledge."
"He was Anubis' right-hand," Osiris admitted disdainfully. "Ba'al was privy to many projects that his master was working on."
"Where is Ba'al now?"
"I don't know."
"And if you did know, you wouldn't tell me, right?"
Osiris smiled, Vala's dazzling teeth shining brightly behind it. "You know me all too well, Daniel."
Then he saw red.
Vala's blood dripped off the wired frame of his glasses. No one really noticed as the woman fell backwards, her head hanging at an awkward angle. It didn't seem like anyone paid any attention to the fountain of dark red liquid flowing freely out of the pierced carotid in her neck, until a young girl began to wail because her pink dress had been ruined as she walked by. People in the cafe and on the streets froze, unsure of what had happened. The only real sound was of the crying child moving through the crowd as her mother forcefully dragged her away from the scene.
The floral vase centerpiece of their table shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, causing time to move forward once more, creating chaos. The rest of the patrons ran inside the cafe, terrified of being the sniper's next target. People on the streets pushed and shoved, trying desperately to escape the vicinity. But Daniel could only sit there, starring at the now dead body that once held so much information of him and his past. Any chances of re-establishing a connection were lost. The marksman knew what he was doing, killing both the symbiote and host in one swift shot.
"Come with me, sir. Let's get you cleaned up." He looked up to see Sam tugging at his right arm, pulling him up, out of the chair and Teal'c stood behind them, as if he needed to watch their six. Before he knew it, he was across the street and into their van, on it's way back to the NID's base of operations no doubt.
He felt it before the light spanned across the back of the transport van, beaming SG1 back to Cheyenne Mountain.
III\
"Dr. Lee," Landry greeted the man as he walked into the holding cell. "Are you absolutely positive of your findings, Doctor?"
"Yes! Yes, I am," Lee stated, trying hard to not show any apprehension in front of the General. It wasn't working. "But, I'll um - I'll just go and reanalyze the data - for a fourth time."
"You go do that." Landry agreed, watching the all-purpose expert on alien technology and engineering nearly run out of the room. He then turned to look at the man who now occupied the barred cell. A highly trusted member of the SGC, and someone who had quickly gained his respect over the all too short time that he led this base.
"General." The clone spoke as he walked up to the bars that stood between them. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head slowly at the downright unfairness of this universe. "It's not your fault, son."
"Maybe," he conceded, "but it is the fault of the - the real me, Sir."
"Not a chance," the General argued. "Neither of you were a willing participant in this whole mess, of that I am more than sure of."
"I want you to know, Sir," the clone gripped the vertical steel with both hands. "I feel alive. I feel real."
"That's because you are." It was one of the toughest situations that he'd ever had the displeasure of experiencing, and his past was quite colorful. Two members of the SGC were found to have been cloned and he didn't have a damned clue of how or when his people were so completely violated. He didn't even know how he was going to handle their other prisoner in the next cell yet.
In a way, these two were still valuable members of the SGC, but he couldn't trust them in their current condition. Ba'al had an invisible tether around their necks, and he had to find a way to cut them loose.
He also had to find the genuine articles.
"Sir!" Captain Peters announced as he walked swiftly into the holding area.
"What is it, Captain?" Landry asked, without turning around.
"SG1 has returned and are now waiting for you in the briefing room."
III\
"You were supposed to bring her back!" Landry roared, red faced.
"It wasn't us, Sir," Sam tried to explain. "Someone within the NID must have had special orders to take her down."
"I don't give a damn about anyone else's orders. I told you to bring her in!"
"Sir, -" Mitchell started, but wasn't able to defend his team when the General turned and walked away from them, slamming the door to his office closed behind him.
"Well, I knew this wasn't going to go well, but isn't that a bit much?" Sam asked, perplexed at their leader's behaviour.
Mitchell nodded. "I'm thinking we should go find out what's really going on. C'mon."
Daniel followed Colonel Mitchell to the General's office and tentatively knocked on his door, waiting to be let inside. When Landry didn't answer, Mitchell quickly weighed his options, then opened the door.
"I don't remember allowing either of you entry, gentlemen."
"I understand, Sir. But if something's up, we'd like to know if we could help."
"What's up is the fact that the SGC had two moles running around right underneath our very nose."
"Two?" Carter questioned, while standing in the doorframe with Teal'c.
The General sighed. "You all might as well come on in and sit down." Landry pulled out a bottle of scotch from one of his drawers and offered the team a drink. No one accepted, though they thought it best to not stop the man from taking a shot himself. "While you were gone, we found two individuals working under Ba'al's influence. There could be more, but we won't be sure for some time."
"Who were they, Sir?" Mitchell asked.
"Sgt. Walter Davis-Harriman and Dr. Carolyn Lam."
III\
He never knew. Not a single solitary clue gave him the idea that Caro was anything but the SGC's Chief Medical Officer - and his love. They had been together for years. Worked at the same base before the transfer to the SGC. He was working up the nerve to ask for her hand one more time, but now? Now she's not really her.
A clone, who has the same breath and touch as his gal.
He couldn't tell the difference.
She fought him tooth and nail; constantly refused to be a part of his life officially every time he'd pop the question because she had major Daddy issues. He was headed to follow the same path as her father, and she despised it.
She told him the only way she'd consider marrying him, was if he left the Air Force. She couldn't live a life of wondering if the next time was the one where he would never come back. And he couldn't leave. Not even when it did almost kill him
Ironically, she became a doctor to save men like her father, who was listed as KIA back in 1972. She enlisted on a mission to help wives and mothers from going through the same ordeal as she and her mother experienced.
In 1994 her father came back into her life after a twenty year long black-ops stint overseas. The man they buried was a decoy. Major Hank Landry was alive and relatively well. The thrice promoted General obviously loved his country and career far more than his wife and child to be able to stay away that long, having them believe that he was dead all those years.
And now, she wouldn't go any farther with him than exceptionally good friends with benefits, because she thought she couldn't handle the chance of another fly-boy hurting her so much.
Cameron stood in the observation room within the SGC while the top specialists worked on deprogramming Caro's clone. They had no leads on what happened to her or the sergeant. He was petrified that this carbon copy, that had the exact same irresistible pout signifying her distrust, was all that was left of his life, his existence. He had carnal knowledge that they were the exact same in every way, except for the part where this one kept in constant contact with the enemy.
And she never realized what she was doing.
A figure came up to stand beside him, his senses immediately recognized Daniel.
"We may have an idea of when part of this happened," his teammate shared.
"Just tell me what you've figured out," Cameron demanded, without taking his eyes off the scene below them. His only link to Caro sat in an all too uncomfortable chair, trying to stare down her doctors, repeatedly telling them that she had no idea of what they wanted from her. He silently promised to protect this one better.
"Walter was the first," Daniel started. "It probably occurred just before Landry arrived to take over Jack's post."
"Why do you think it happened then?"
"Because, the operation was fairly quiet at that point. There was less of a chance of anyone missing him for a considerable stretch in time, when a fair amount of staff was being transferred in and out of the SGC." Daniel explained quickly, "The person who spent the most time with Walter was General O'Neill, and without him around, there wasn't anyone else who could have caught any sort of odd behaviour from the sergeant."
Cameron didn't think that Daniel's Jack could have seen this coming.
III\
Jack opened his front door to confront his uninvited guest. "Are you going to ring the door-bell any time soon? Or are you planning on standing there all night?"
Daniel raised his right hand and rang the bell.
Jack stepped back to let him in with a lopsided grin. "Welcome! Pardon the mess and dinner's almost done. Pasta with my very own special sauce."
Daniel stood on the porch for a moment longer, than finally decided to step inside. "Beer?"
"You're thirsty?"
"Your special sauce."
Jack glared. "You're spending way too much time with Carter."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Daniel took off his coat and gloves and walked into Jack's living room, dropping the outerwear onto a chair. Jack went into the kitchen and stirred the pot once more, changing the temperature to a lower level for simmering, and then followed his friend into the other room.
He found Daniel standing with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at his open laptop on the dining table in the adjoining room, a few files littered the table's surface. "Hank called," Jack explained, while making his way to the table. "I asked him to send a copy of everything here." He closed the laptop without turning it off. They both knew what file had been queued in his video player. "One perk about this job is I actually get to take the weekends off most of the time."
Daniel absently nodded his head, not really listening, "You killed her."
"She didn't have any information that we could have possibly used."
"You didn't know that."
"She wasn't worth the risk, Daniel."
"You were afraid."
"Of course, I was!" Jack bellowed. "Even before we found out that the Goa'uld inside was Osiris, that bitch was dangerous."
"She was just one Goa'uld. We have the proper facilities - "
"For the sake of our planet, she was of no use. The only real purpose she had was to torment you!"
Daniel was tired. He hadn't bummed a transport from the Prometheus just to have a fight with Jack. He could have easily done so over the phone. He fisted the front of Jack's shirt with both hands and pulled him forward to lock lips. Jack's arms wrapped around him, and they stood there for a long time, quietly devouring each other.
Jack was first to pull away. "Dinner's ready, and I don't want it to burn."
Daniel nodded once more and allowed Jack to drag him into the kitchen.
"Did you know the General's daughter?" Daniel asked as he sat down, knowing that Jack and Hank had a past.
Jack paused from serving their plates and looked at Daniel, "Uh, yeah." The pasta slid off the spoon and onto the plates below, which was enough to prompt him to continue serving. The sloppy mess reminded him of why he chose to be a military officer, rather than a master chef, "Yeah. Carolyn was Charlie's big sister." He sat down before further explaining, "The Landrys were our neighbours while he and I served together. The two were growing up as 'only childs,' so they sort of formed a bond."
Jack dug into his dinner, and Daniel was thankful for it. He wasn't sure how much more he could handle hearing tonight.
Tomorrow they would both head back to the mountain to help with clean up. Landry took a leave of absence to contemplate the pseudo loss of his only child. His daughter was now listed as MIA - most likely dead, and at the same time she was still alive as a clone who needed their help. Neither replica could readily believe that they were feeding information to the Goa'uld, until forensics were able to provide neccessary proof. Phone records found that they both made and received calls to and from the same number; to a backdoor line to Hammel Technologies. Neither had any recollection of making a single call, let alone keeping in contact on an almost daily basis. Security tapes provided further information that each time a call was made to Ba'al's headquarters, one or the other were on the phone at the exact same time and duration.
The best explanation so far was that the programming technique used had taken a considerably long time to establish within both victims, possibly weeks or even months to complete. Using the originals wouldn't have been possible without anyone being suspicious about such a long absence, thus Ba'al's plan would have failed almost before it began.
And there were still no leads on what could have happened to the real Dr. Lam and Chief Sgt. Very few had any hope of finding either of them alive.
It made sense though, selecting these two. Who better than the CMO, who would have ample opportunity to scan the minds of SG1. Their knowledge and feelings could have been duplicated during any routine check-up if the device was small enough. And Landry may be the leader of the SGC, but Walter was the one that made everything happen. He was the true controller of base operations, as nothing escaped his attention.
And, unlike SG1, they very rarely left the base.
Signs lead them to believe that there was still more than one Ba'al hiding somewhere on Earth. Daniel couldn't stop himself from wondering how many clones of him were made. How many of them died at the hand of the Goa'uld? Would Ba'al make more?
Somewhere deep down inside, he wondered if the tests were wrong. What if he wasn't the real Daniel Jackson?
Daniel shivered.
The End
So um... the fic below was kinda part of a dream I had. Well, more than half of it was anyway, lol. If you decide to take a chance and read it, I hope you'll enjoy. :)
Title: Deus Machina
Author: Artifuss
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Rating: Mature
Spoils: Fragile Balance, Chimera, Beachhead, Ex Deus Machina, (essentially first half of) Season Nine.
Summary: Ba'al takes his "godship" one step further, creating a disastrous mess for the SGC.
Warnings: (not main) character deaths
A/N: Lots of lufs and hugs to stephicozar for her kick-ass betaness! :D
(Psst! Steph! Is "betaness" a word? :P)
Disclaimer: Not mine now, nor will they (SG1 and the Stargate Universe) ever be. Shame.
"No! You son of a bitch!" Daniel screamed, as those strong arms held him from behind. The hated voice whispered in his ear, "Tell me what I want to know, and then you can go free." His muscles ached from days of constant tension; his body shook mercilessly as he watched the two Jaffa pull the bloodied mess down from the hooks before him. Sam could no longer be in that mangled shell, it wasn't possible. She was well and truly dead. The guards dragged the disjointed flesh out of the chamber by an arm and a leg. If he broke free now, he could follow the trail of smeared blood left by his team-mates on the tiled floor and... He didn't know how to save them.
"No." The simple word tore from his sore, overused throat as Ba'al easily kept him in place from behind with one arm around his waist and the other across his shoulders. Daniel finally gave up pulling away from that monster. He hardly had any energy left to stand.
"Well, then." Ba'al chuckled, finding the whole situation highly amusing. His nose brushed into his captive's matted hair, taking time to smell the sweet scent of hate, fear and pain that emanated from every pore of his child. "I have a little surprise for you."
"You have a sarcophagus." Daniel said, tonelessly. Sam was the last of their team's massacre that Daniel had to witness. Their lives were the incentive for him to do Ba'al's bidding. The Goa'uld somehow got his hands on Ancient technology that the SGC had found on recent expeditions, and he wanted Daniel to figure out their purpose. The problem was, even if Daniel wanted to give him the information he was seeking, he couldn't.
He didn't have an answer to give.
The writing was in Ancient, but it read as nonsense. If it was in code, he couldn't decipher it. And his friends suffered for his lack of understanding. They were stabbed, burned, poisoned, and mutilated in so many ways, because he couldn't read in between the lines.
"No, child. I haven't yet managed to procure such a device while on this backwards planet." Ba'al smiled as he heard his minions coming back with his gift. "Look!" He commanded his toy, grasping the young man's jaw and holding it in line of the room's entrance. The weak body he held buckled the moment he recognized his gift. Daniel couldn't stand on his own anymore, and the monster behind him held him up with ease.
Daniel's gift was strapped to the crimson manacles that previously held Teal'c, Mitchell and Sam before. Judging from the many rips and tears in his gift's clothing, mostly stained dark red, he knew that this man was tortured long before being brought into this room. The fact that he had yet to make any noise at all diminished all hope that Daniel had left of their survival.
"Jack."
III\
"So - Any idea, on what this is all about?" Mitchell asked as he walked into the briefing room, finding the rest of his team already sitting at the table. He grabbed a mug from the side display and brought the carafe over, offering each member of his team a refill. He didn't know about the rest of SG1, but he didn't get much sleep last night. This weekend was supposed to be their time-off from saving the galaxy.
"Well, whatever it is, it definitely has the General spooked," Daniel said as he pushed his mug forward towards the offering, then tipped his head in the direction of the General's office, indicating that they should all take a look. Through the window, SG1 watched as their leader stood at attention while speaking to someone over his main line. Even from this distance, they could all tell that he was vibrating in anger.
"Wow," was all Sam could think of saying, after turning away from the sight.
Teal'c punctuated her comment with, "Indeed."
Daniel jumped a little as Landry slammed the receiver onto his desk. His quick stride placed him at the front of SG1 in seconds, and without any preamble he stated, "I want you all to see this. Lieutenant!" Mitchell placed the carafe in the middle of the briefing table and took a seat beside Sam.
As the A/V technician lowered the video screen, Daniel and Teal'c caught a glimpse of Walter running into the General's office to place the phone's receiver back into its cradle.
Landry took a calming breath, but didn't bother to turn his chair towards the screen. He handed the remote to Mitchell as he sat down. "Late last night, one of our forensics teams at Ba'al's former compound managed to save a cache of files that were first thought to be wiped out from the main hub. I want you all to tell me what your opinion is of this new intel." He indicated to Mitchell that he should start the video, intent on watching them as they watch the screen.
"Please." He begged once more, no longer caring about anything other than peace. He wanted nothing more than to finally rest in peace.
"Just tell me what I want to know, child," his captor reminded him, kneeling over his supine form.
"I can't. I-" He choked and coughed, his face was a mess of tears and sweat. He felt too weak to get up off the floor, even too weak to read.
"Very well, my child," his master taunted him, while stroking his hair. Always taunting him with that damned name. "I ask that you do one thing for me, and then it will all be over." The monster lowered his head to whisper in his ear, and then lifted his head slightly so that he was in sight of his prey once more, his eyes sparkling in mirth. "That is all I ask."
SG1 sat in shocked silence as they watched a familiar figure on the screen struggle to lift his head, and gave an open-mouthed kiss to the man hovering closely above him. The desperate man used all the energy he had left in that final act, until he couldn't keep his head up off the floor any longer.
They watched as Ba'al chuckled, leaning forward to finish the kiss, while his left hand begun to glow. Collectively they all held their breath as the jeweled hand device landed an inch away from his victim's forehead. In mere seconds the radiating orange stream of light ebbed away, taking with it Daniel's final breath. "As I promised, you are now free my child."
"What in blue-blazes -," Mitchell rambled off. "Okay! That wasn't in any report that I've read."
"That's because, that never happened!" Daniel stated, trying his best to appear collected. He wasn't so sure he could pull off calm.
"Listen up, because I sure as hell am not going to watch through this file again any time soon,” Landry commanded. Even now he was far from convinced that any of it should have been witnessed by anyone, let alone the people sitting before him, but he needed answers. "The time-stamp indicated that this occurred roughly a week before we even knew of Ba'al taking refuge on this planet. The on-site team has confirmed that the room in the clip is within the same compound. So tell me how all four of you, and our leader of Home World Security, all happened to be brutally murdered three weeks ago."
"Cloning." Teal'c suggested after a moment's thought.
"Right!" Daniel agreed, "H- he- uh, we know that he had cloning capabilities. We've found evidence that he had cloned himself. So it would only stand to reason that he tried duplicating others. Though we had no proof - "
"Until now that is," Mitchell piped up. "What I don't understand is how he managed to duplicate us."
Sam shrugged. "It's theoretically possible that a simple strand of hair is all that's required to define a person's genetic makeup for cloning purposes."
"But that would mean some sort of contact with him, right?" Mitchell questioned. "I've never met the guy up until two weeks ago."
"Maybe we do have a mole," Daniel suggested. They all felt that Ba'al was always one step ahead of them whenever they went in for a strike. The Goa'uld having inside information would certainly explain a few things. "Someone who can get close enough to us, not only for a sample of DNA, but to somehow… scan and save our thoughts and feelings. A strand of hair cannot provide information on brain activity."
"ColonelMitchell," Teal'c interrupted. "I wish to have a closer look at the upper right corner."
Mitchell grabbed the remote and zoomed in on the area that Teal'c had indicated. "Watchya looking for, bro?"
"The woman. Is that not -?"
"Vala." Daniel finished, starring at the image of his lost enigma.
"I believe you'll want to see the next few frames, Colonel," Landry suggested.
Mitchell pressed play on the remote, and watched the screen while it was still zoomed in on their lost friend. They were all left speechless when the pixelated image of her eyes glowed.
"She's not hiding like her boss. You'll find her in San Diego. I want her brought back for questioning, but first find out what cards she's holding. We don't need any more buildings blowing up in the process."
"Wait," Daniel lifted up his hand and wiggled his fingers. "How do we know that we're not the clones?"
"Pardon?" Landry asked, exasperated.
"You mean like John." Sam clarified, for Landry and Mitchell, "Over a year ago, General O'Neill had been cloned by a defunct Asgard scientist, known as Loki. There were complications in the procedure, but John - General O'Neill's clone - didn't know that he wasn't the original until we told him."
"What does that mean for us, Carter?" Mitchell asked.
"There's a chance that we might not be the originals. It is possible that we're the duplicates. We've learned from the Tok'ra that clones carry a marker that would help us decipher the copy from the original. We'll need to be tested to determine whether we're who we think we are - or not. In fact, I think the whole base should be tested, just to be on the safe side."
"Fine. Get yourselves down to the infirmary, and once you're cleared, go pick up Miss Mal Doran."
"What about our mole, sir?"
"You leave him - or her, up to me."
III\
"Daniel," Vala greeted with a smile. "How nice to see you."
Prometheus beamed up SG1 and dropped them off in a discreet location where they met up with the NID. Since the NID found Vala in the first place, it was decided that picking her up would be a joint effort. Teal'c, Sam and Mitchell waited for him in an unmarked van across the street with two agents. Daniel was sure he picked out five other agents hanging around the street and the cafe that Vala sat outside of.
Daniel sat down at her table, but wouldn't speak until the waiter had left. "I know who you are."
"Yes, I believe we've already established that."
"I mean the whole glowing eyes, metallic voice deal," The waiter came back quickly with a new pot of tea. They sat in silence, one with a small smile tugging at her lips, her eyes sparkling; the other nearly slouching, almost looking bored, as tea was poured into Vala's cup.
"Do you really know who I am?" Vala asked when the young man left, stirring the sweetener into her tea.
"You're a Goa'uld." He answered with as much distaste as he could muster.
Vala glanced out onto the street, holding the cup up to her lips with both hands. "Honestly." The street that the cafe stood on was a busy one. Vehicles traveled by, well above its 35mph speed limit, and there were people crowding on the sidewalks, no doubt looking for deals on the early Saturday morning. "I asked you if you knew who I am, Daniel. Not, what I am." She looked back at the man sharing her table, his features were schooled, showing that he didn't care, but she knew what to look for and there was an underlying glint of curiosity and apprehension in his eyes.
"You sure you don't want any tea?" Daniel minutely shook his head, no. "I remember a little cafe, very similar to this one actually, that was a five minute walk from the University. We'd have enough time to sit and chat for an hour each day, in between classes and research." She felt a little thrill as his eyes widened in shock. "Funny how we usually didn't do much more than speak of your research during our break. I must say, you have always been a very focused individual."
"Osiris," Daniel breathed, his mind whirling at the possibility. It couldn't be true. Sarah was free and living with her mother in Yorkshire. Osiris was dead. Unless... "Anubis learned to clone symbiotes as well."
"It really wasn't that difficult."
"Obviously," Daniel agreed. "And Ba'al managed to get a hold of this knowledge."
"He was Anubis' right-hand," Osiris admitted disdainfully. "Ba'al was privy to many projects that his master was working on."
"Where is Ba'al now?"
"I don't know."
"And if you did know, you wouldn't tell me, right?"
Osiris smiled, Vala's dazzling teeth shining brightly behind it. "You know me all too well, Daniel."
Then he saw red.
Vala's blood dripped off the wired frame of his glasses. No one really noticed as the woman fell backwards, her head hanging at an awkward angle. It didn't seem like anyone paid any attention to the fountain of dark red liquid flowing freely out of the pierced carotid in her neck, until a young girl began to wail because her pink dress had been ruined as she walked by. People in the cafe and on the streets froze, unsure of what had happened. The only real sound was of the crying child moving through the crowd as her mother forcefully dragged her away from the scene.
The floral vase centerpiece of their table shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, causing time to move forward once more, creating chaos. The rest of the patrons ran inside the cafe, terrified of being the sniper's next target. People on the streets pushed and shoved, trying desperately to escape the vicinity. But Daniel could only sit there, starring at the now dead body that once held so much information of him and his past. Any chances of re-establishing a connection were lost. The marksman knew what he was doing, killing both the symbiote and host in one swift shot.
"Come with me, sir. Let's get you cleaned up." He looked up to see Sam tugging at his right arm, pulling him up, out of the chair and Teal'c stood behind them, as if he needed to watch their six. Before he knew it, he was across the street and into their van, on it's way back to the NID's base of operations no doubt.
He felt it before the light spanned across the back of the transport van, beaming SG1 back to Cheyenne Mountain.
III\
"Dr. Lee," Landry greeted the man as he walked into the holding cell. "Are you absolutely positive of your findings, Doctor?"
"Yes! Yes, I am," Lee stated, trying hard to not show any apprehension in front of the General. It wasn't working. "But, I'll um - I'll just go and reanalyze the data - for a fourth time."
"You go do that." Landry agreed, watching the all-purpose expert on alien technology and engineering nearly run out of the room. He then turned to look at the man who now occupied the barred cell. A highly trusted member of the SGC, and someone who had quickly gained his respect over the all too short time that he led this base.
"General." The clone spoke as he walked up to the bars that stood between them. "I'm sorry."
He shook his head slowly at the downright unfairness of this universe. "It's not your fault, son."
"Maybe," he conceded, "but it is the fault of the - the real me, Sir."
"Not a chance," the General argued. "Neither of you were a willing participant in this whole mess, of that I am more than sure of."
"I want you to know, Sir," the clone gripped the vertical steel with both hands. "I feel alive. I feel real."
"That's because you are." It was one of the toughest situations that he'd ever had the displeasure of experiencing, and his past was quite colorful. Two members of the SGC were found to have been cloned and he didn't have a damned clue of how or when his people were so completely violated. He didn't even know how he was going to handle their other prisoner in the next cell yet.
In a way, these two were still valuable members of the SGC, but he couldn't trust them in their current condition. Ba'al had an invisible tether around their necks, and he had to find a way to cut them loose.
He also had to find the genuine articles.
"Sir!" Captain Peters announced as he walked swiftly into the holding area.
"What is it, Captain?" Landry asked, without turning around.
"SG1 has returned and are now waiting for you in the briefing room."
III\
"You were supposed to bring her back!" Landry roared, red faced.
"It wasn't us, Sir," Sam tried to explain. "Someone within the NID must have had special orders to take her down."
"I don't give a damn about anyone else's orders. I told you to bring her in!"
"Sir, -" Mitchell started, but wasn't able to defend his team when the General turned and walked away from them, slamming the door to his office closed behind him.
"Well, I knew this wasn't going to go well, but isn't that a bit much?" Sam asked, perplexed at their leader's behaviour.
Mitchell nodded. "I'm thinking we should go find out what's really going on. C'mon."
Daniel followed Colonel Mitchell to the General's office and tentatively knocked on his door, waiting to be let inside. When Landry didn't answer, Mitchell quickly weighed his options, then opened the door.
"I don't remember allowing either of you entry, gentlemen."
"I understand, Sir. But if something's up, we'd like to know if we could help."
"What's up is the fact that the SGC had two moles running around right underneath our very nose."
"Two?" Carter questioned, while standing in the doorframe with Teal'c.
The General sighed. "You all might as well come on in and sit down." Landry pulled out a bottle of scotch from one of his drawers and offered the team a drink. No one accepted, though they thought it best to not stop the man from taking a shot himself. "While you were gone, we found two individuals working under Ba'al's influence. There could be more, but we won't be sure for some time."
"Who were they, Sir?" Mitchell asked.
"Sgt. Walter Davis-Harriman and Dr. Carolyn Lam."
III\
He never knew. Not a single solitary clue gave him the idea that Caro was anything but the SGC's Chief Medical Officer - and his love. They had been together for years. Worked at the same base before the transfer to the SGC. He was working up the nerve to ask for her hand one more time, but now? Now she's not really her.
A clone, who has the same breath and touch as his gal.
He couldn't tell the difference.
She fought him tooth and nail; constantly refused to be a part of his life officially every time he'd pop the question because she had major Daddy issues. He was headed to follow the same path as her father, and she despised it.
She told him the only way she'd consider marrying him, was if he left the Air Force. She couldn't live a life of wondering if the next time was the one where he would never come back. And he couldn't leave. Not even when it did almost kill him
Ironically, she became a doctor to save men like her father, who was listed as KIA back in 1972. She enlisted on a mission to help wives and mothers from going through the same ordeal as she and her mother experienced.
In 1994 her father came back into her life after a twenty year long black-ops stint overseas. The man they buried was a decoy. Major Hank Landry was alive and relatively well. The thrice promoted General obviously loved his country and career far more than his wife and child to be able to stay away that long, having them believe that he was dead all those years.
And now, she wouldn't go any farther with him than exceptionally good friends with benefits, because she thought she couldn't handle the chance of another fly-boy hurting her so much.
Cameron stood in the observation room within the SGC while the top specialists worked on deprogramming Caro's clone. They had no leads on what happened to her or the sergeant. He was petrified that this carbon copy, that had the exact same irresistible pout signifying her distrust, was all that was left of his life, his existence. He had carnal knowledge that they were the exact same in every way, except for the part where this one kept in constant contact with the enemy.
And she never realized what she was doing.
A figure came up to stand beside him, his senses immediately recognized Daniel.
"We may have an idea of when part of this happened," his teammate shared.
"Just tell me what you've figured out," Cameron demanded, without taking his eyes off the scene below them. His only link to Caro sat in an all too uncomfortable chair, trying to stare down her doctors, repeatedly telling them that she had no idea of what they wanted from her. He silently promised to protect this one better.
"Walter was the first," Daniel started. "It probably occurred just before Landry arrived to take over Jack's post."
"Why do you think it happened then?"
"Because, the operation was fairly quiet at that point. There was less of a chance of anyone missing him for a considerable stretch in time, when a fair amount of staff was being transferred in and out of the SGC." Daniel explained quickly, "The person who spent the most time with Walter was General O'Neill, and without him around, there wasn't anyone else who could have caught any sort of odd behaviour from the sergeant."
Cameron didn't think that Daniel's Jack could have seen this coming.
III\
Jack opened his front door to confront his uninvited guest. "Are you going to ring the door-bell any time soon? Or are you planning on standing there all night?"
Daniel raised his right hand and rang the bell.
Jack stepped back to let him in with a lopsided grin. "Welcome! Pardon the mess and dinner's almost done. Pasta with my very own special sauce."
Daniel stood on the porch for a moment longer, than finally decided to step inside. "Beer?"
"You're thirsty?"
"Your special sauce."
Jack glared. "You're spending way too much time with Carter."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Daniel took off his coat and gloves and walked into Jack's living room, dropping the outerwear onto a chair. Jack went into the kitchen and stirred the pot once more, changing the temperature to a lower level for simmering, and then followed his friend into the other room.
He found Daniel standing with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at his open laptop on the dining table in the adjoining room, a few files littered the table's surface. "Hank called," Jack explained, while making his way to the table. "I asked him to send a copy of everything here." He closed the laptop without turning it off. They both knew what file had been queued in his video player. "One perk about this job is I actually get to take the weekends off most of the time."
Daniel absently nodded his head, not really listening, "You killed her."
"She didn't have any information that we could have possibly used."
"You didn't know that."
"She wasn't worth the risk, Daniel."
"You were afraid."
"Of course, I was!" Jack bellowed. "Even before we found out that the Goa'uld inside was Osiris, that bitch was dangerous."
"She was just one Goa'uld. We have the proper facilities - "
"For the sake of our planet, she was of no use. The only real purpose she had was to torment you!"
Daniel was tired. He hadn't bummed a transport from the Prometheus just to have a fight with Jack. He could have easily done so over the phone. He fisted the front of Jack's shirt with both hands and pulled him forward to lock lips. Jack's arms wrapped around him, and they stood there for a long time, quietly devouring each other.
Jack was first to pull away. "Dinner's ready, and I don't want it to burn."
Daniel nodded once more and allowed Jack to drag him into the kitchen.
"Did you know the General's daughter?" Daniel asked as he sat down, knowing that Jack and Hank had a past.
Jack paused from serving their plates and looked at Daniel, "Uh, yeah." The pasta slid off the spoon and onto the plates below, which was enough to prompt him to continue serving. The sloppy mess reminded him of why he chose to be a military officer, rather than a master chef, "Yeah. Carolyn was Charlie's big sister." He sat down before further explaining, "The Landrys were our neighbours while he and I served together. The two were growing up as 'only childs,' so they sort of formed a bond."
Jack dug into his dinner, and Daniel was thankful for it. He wasn't sure how much more he could handle hearing tonight.
Tomorrow they would both head back to the mountain to help with clean up. Landry took a leave of absence to contemplate the pseudo loss of his only child. His daughter was now listed as MIA - most likely dead, and at the same time she was still alive as a clone who needed their help. Neither replica could readily believe that they were feeding information to the Goa'uld, until forensics were able to provide neccessary proof. Phone records found that they both made and received calls to and from the same number; to a backdoor line to Hammel Technologies. Neither had any recollection of making a single call, let alone keeping in contact on an almost daily basis. Security tapes provided further information that each time a call was made to Ba'al's headquarters, one or the other were on the phone at the exact same time and duration.
The best explanation so far was that the programming technique used had taken a considerably long time to establish within both victims, possibly weeks or even months to complete. Using the originals wouldn't have been possible without anyone being suspicious about such a long absence, thus Ba'al's plan would have failed almost before it began.
And there were still no leads on what could have happened to the real Dr. Lam and Chief Sgt. Very few had any hope of finding either of them alive.
It made sense though, selecting these two. Who better than the CMO, who would have ample opportunity to scan the minds of SG1. Their knowledge and feelings could have been duplicated during any routine check-up if the device was small enough. And Landry may be the leader of the SGC, but Walter was the one that made everything happen. He was the true controller of base operations, as nothing escaped his attention.
And, unlike SG1, they very rarely left the base.
Signs lead them to believe that there was still more than one Ba'al hiding somewhere on Earth. Daniel couldn't stop himself from wondering how many clones of him were made. How many of them died at the hand of the Goa'uld? Would Ba'al make more?
Somewhere deep down inside, he wondered if the tests were wrong. What if he wasn't the real Daniel Jackson?
Daniel shivered.
The End