What Dreams May Come - 21/21
Warnings and summary are here: Chapter One
The previous chapters can be found here: What Dreams May Come
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Chapter Twenty-One
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Daniel sat on the edge of his bed in the infirmary, swinging his legs back and forth absently. Every now and then, his legs would swing harder than he expected, and his calf would collide painfully with the bottom of the dropped bed rail. He didn't mind it much though. After two days of having everything he touched, and everything that touched him, feel like a dream, the occasional bump or bruise was a welcome reminder that he was solid once again.
The pain he'd felt on the planet was nothing but a distant, fading memory. Whatever the other version of him had done had been remarkably effective-even his headache was finally gone.
After he'd awoken, still on his stretcher, on the way back to the Stargate, he and Sam had found time to have a short discussion about their new-found abilities to have out-of-body experiences at will. Sam told him that she and Teal'c had both lost their abilities to see their non-corporeal teammates after they'd returned to their bodies on the planet. Daniel figured that if he could still leave his body while unconscious, he'd have done so after he'd passed out. They'd almost concluded that returning to their bodies in the proximity of the glyph had acted as an "off switch" of sorts, just as the beam had turned the ability on in the first place, when Jack had interrupted.
"Don't make me separate you two!" he'd said in a mock-parental voice. "You don't want me to stop this stretcher!"
The memory made Daniel smile, and he glanced across at the bed opposite him, where Jack and Sam were sitting with Teal'c standing behind them. The three of them had come to the infirmary with him to keep him company. At least, that's what they had told Janet and General Hammond they were going to do. But they'd been in the infirmary for nearly an hour, and none of them had said a word to him.
Every time he'd looked across at them, they were just looking at him and smiling.
"Okay, what?" he finally asked.
"What what?" Jack returned casually.
"What?" Daniel asked again. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" Jack asked.
"Like that!" Daniel insisted. "Like I'm going to disappear or something."
Sam smiled. "Maybe because we're glad that you won't."
"Oh!" Daniel exclaimed in sudden understanding. He nodded his head and looked toward the wall. "Oh, yeah."
Jack chuckled lightly and shook his head. "We just wanna make sure you aren't gonna start doing that glowy thing again."
Daniel shook his head quickly. "No. No more glowy thing. I don't know how I did it in the first place."
"So, do you remember how to do that lightning from the fingertips thing?" Jack asked with a grin.
Daniel shook his head again. "Nope."
"Too bad," Jack said. "That might have come in handy some day."
A few moments of silence passed before Teal'c spoke.
"I wonder what became of the other souls trapped within the temple."
Daniel shook his head sadly. "I don't know. Aynad died before you came back, trying to protect me from Belos. And it looked like a lot of them didn't survive the first two fights with Belos. There were a lot less of them with him when he …"
Jack heard the quiet despair in Daniel's voice. He stood, walked to Daniel's bed, and sat down beside him.
"Hey," he said softly. "He saved you, right? So he couldn't have died when he destroyed Belos. He's still gotta be out there, somewhere." Jack knew that his words held no truth. He himself had watched the other Daniel disappear after he'd healed theirs. But still, Jack wanted to hold out hope that somehow, some way, he'd managed to survive. Maybe he hadn't been their Daniel Jackson, but he had been Daniel Jackson, after all.
"No, he's gone. I mean, I knew it was going to happen, it's just …"
"Just what?" Sam asked.
"If I survived, he'd cease to exist," Daniel answered. "He knew that from the very beginning. He did it anyway."
"Would you not give your life to save the life of a stranger, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"Of course," Daniel answered without hesitation.
"And would you not do the same to save your own?"
Daniel couldn't argue with Teal'c's logic. He smiled and nodded.
The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps cut through the silence and announced Janet's return. "All right, Dr. Jackson. Everything looks good. Your heart and lungs are functioning perfectly on their own, and that alone is a vast improvement over this morning."
Janet flashed a large smile in his direction. Daniel felt the warmth rush to his cheeks, and he looked down at his feet.
"Blood work is good," Janet continued, still grinning. "All of your counts are right where they're supposed to be. No damage from the gunshot wounds, no sign of nerve damage, and not a hint of those broken ribs and sternum. Your EEG is almost back to normal-just a few minor fluctuations here and there. I'm guessing that those will work themselves out in a few days, but I'll want you back for a follow-up in forty-eight hours just to make certain."
Daniel nodded.
"I'm going to go ahead and release you, but there will be some conditions."
"Like what?"
"For starters, I don't want you driving. No caffeine." Janet ignored the groan of protest. "And I'd like you to stay on base until that follow-up."
"So that's it?" Sam asked.
"That's it," Janet answered.
"What about him passing out on the planet?" Jack asked. "That's not a problem?"
Janet smiled and shook her head. When she noticed Daniel trying to stifle a yawn, she gestured at him.
"That was exhaustion, Colonel. He just needs a good ten hours or so of sleep."
Jack looked at Daniel in surprise. "How can you possibly be tired?" he asked. "You've spent the past two days in bed."
"My body spent the past two days in bed," Daniel corrected. "I didn't."
"So we're clear here, Daniel?" Janet asked. "You're going to go straight to your quarters and get some sleep."
Daniel didn't bother to hide the yawn; he simply covered his mouth with his hand and nodded.
"All right," Jack said as he hopped up. "Carter, Teal'c, you guys take sleepyhead here and start him toward his bunk. I'll catch up in a second."
Sam and Teal'c nodded and stepped forward. Daniel pushed himself to his feet, and together the three of them walked out into the corridor.
Jack turned back to Janet.
"You're sure he's okay? I mean, he's been through a lot in the past two days."
Janet smiled and nodded again. "He'll be fine after he gets some sleep. His mind's been through a lot in the past two days; his body hasn't."
Jack stared at her, incredulous. "Are you forgetting that we watched him bleed to death two hours ago?"
Janet shook her head sadly. "No, Colonel. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that. But his body has forgotten what happened to it, and physically, he's perfectly fine. But between this and the whole mind probe thing last week, his mind needs some time to rest. And so does he. He's just emotionally and mentally exhausted, and the absolute worst that could happen is that he might be a little more open to suggestion than normal for the next few days."
Janet's smile returned, wider than before. "Actually, he is more open to it. I've already tried it out a few times. But if that means we'll actually be able to get him to do as he's told for a while, then it might not be a bad thing."
Jack smiled back at her. "Sneaky, Doc. I like it."
"I thought you might approve."
Jack nodded once more before he turned toward the door.
"Oh, Colonel, one more thing."
Jack stopped and turned back around.
"I'm going to put SG-1 on medical leave for two weeks, just to give you all enough time to recover fully from your … experience."
Jack's grin widened. "Thanks, Doc."
"You're very welcome, Colonel."
Jack left the infirmary at a jog. He maintained his pace until he caught up with the rest of his team.
"Good news, kids," he announced. "Doc's giving us all two weeks off."
Sam smiled; Teal'c nodded; Daniel groaned.
"Two weeks?" Daniel asked. "What are we supposed to do for two weeks?"
"Relax," Sam answered.
"Use the time to rest and recuperate," Teal'c suggested.
"Go fishing?"
"Jack, I'm not …"
"Dr. Jackson! Dr. Jackson!" The voice came from behind them. SG-1 turned to face the out-of-breath airman that was running down the corridor. "Dr. Jackson, thank God I found you!"
Jack shook his head vigorously. "Oh, no. Whatever it is will just have to wait. Dr. Jackson has an appointment with his bunk."
"Jack …"
"No." Jack took Daniel by the shoulders and started pushing him toward his quarters. Sam and Teal'c followed right behind him.
"But, Colonel …" the airman began.
"Whatever it is, the answer is no."
"But, sir!" the airman protested desperately. "General Hammond is waiting, sir!"
Jack froze so quickly that Sam walked into him.
"Sorry, sir," she muttered.
Daniel pulled away from Jack and turned to face the nearly frantic airman.
"General Hammond needs to see me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why?" Daniel asked in confusion.
"You have a delivery, sir. In the gate room."
"A delivery in the gate room? Why on … how did … what is it?"
Jack sighed in frustration and let his arms fall to his sides. Oh yeah, was Daniel ever susceptible to suggestion. And now that his curiosity was piqued, there would be no getting him to sleep until he'd satisfied it.
With a gesture to Sam and Teal'c to follow, Jack took off after the now jogging Daniel Jackson. He and the airman had gotten so far ahead of the rest of SG-1 that Jack barely heard the airman's breathless answer.
"It's one of those Egyptian coffin things, sir. A great big gold one …"
The previous chapters can be found here: What Dreams May Come
- = - = -
Chapter Twenty-One
- = - = -
Daniel sat on the edge of his bed in the infirmary, swinging his legs back and forth absently. Every now and then, his legs would swing harder than he expected, and his calf would collide painfully with the bottom of the dropped bed rail. He didn't mind it much though. After two days of having everything he touched, and everything that touched him, feel like a dream, the occasional bump or bruise was a welcome reminder that he was solid once again.
The pain he'd felt on the planet was nothing but a distant, fading memory. Whatever the other version of him had done had been remarkably effective-even his headache was finally gone.
After he'd awoken, still on his stretcher, on the way back to the Stargate, he and Sam had found time to have a short discussion about their new-found abilities to have out-of-body experiences at will. Sam told him that she and Teal'c had both lost their abilities to see their non-corporeal teammates after they'd returned to their bodies on the planet. Daniel figured that if he could still leave his body while unconscious, he'd have done so after he'd passed out. They'd almost concluded that returning to their bodies in the proximity of the glyph had acted as an "off switch" of sorts, just as the beam had turned the ability on in the first place, when Jack had interrupted.
"Don't make me separate you two!" he'd said in a mock-parental voice. "You don't want me to stop this stretcher!"
The memory made Daniel smile, and he glanced across at the bed opposite him, where Jack and Sam were sitting with Teal'c standing behind them. The three of them had come to the infirmary with him to keep him company. At least, that's what they had told Janet and General Hammond they were going to do. But they'd been in the infirmary for nearly an hour, and none of them had said a word to him.
Every time he'd looked across at them, they were just looking at him and smiling.
"Okay, what?" he finally asked.
"What what?" Jack returned casually.
"What?" Daniel asked again. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" Jack asked.
"Like that!" Daniel insisted. "Like I'm going to disappear or something."
Sam smiled. "Maybe because we're glad that you won't."
"Oh!" Daniel exclaimed in sudden understanding. He nodded his head and looked toward the wall. "Oh, yeah."
Jack chuckled lightly and shook his head. "We just wanna make sure you aren't gonna start doing that glowy thing again."
Daniel shook his head quickly. "No. No more glowy thing. I don't know how I did it in the first place."
"So, do you remember how to do that lightning from the fingertips thing?" Jack asked with a grin.
Daniel shook his head again. "Nope."
"Too bad," Jack said. "That might have come in handy some day."
A few moments of silence passed before Teal'c spoke.
"I wonder what became of the other souls trapped within the temple."
Daniel shook his head sadly. "I don't know. Aynad died before you came back, trying to protect me from Belos. And it looked like a lot of them didn't survive the first two fights with Belos. There were a lot less of them with him when he …"
Jack heard the quiet despair in Daniel's voice. He stood, walked to Daniel's bed, and sat down beside him.
"Hey," he said softly. "He saved you, right? So he couldn't have died when he destroyed Belos. He's still gotta be out there, somewhere." Jack knew that his words held no truth. He himself had watched the other Daniel disappear after he'd healed theirs. But still, Jack wanted to hold out hope that somehow, some way, he'd managed to survive. Maybe he hadn't been their Daniel Jackson, but he had been Daniel Jackson, after all.
"No, he's gone. I mean, I knew it was going to happen, it's just …"
"Just what?" Sam asked.
"If I survived, he'd cease to exist," Daniel answered. "He knew that from the very beginning. He did it anyway."
"Would you not give your life to save the life of a stranger, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"Of course," Daniel answered without hesitation.
"And would you not do the same to save your own?"
Daniel couldn't argue with Teal'c's logic. He smiled and nodded.
The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps cut through the silence and announced Janet's return. "All right, Dr. Jackson. Everything looks good. Your heart and lungs are functioning perfectly on their own, and that alone is a vast improvement over this morning."
Janet flashed a large smile in his direction. Daniel felt the warmth rush to his cheeks, and he looked down at his feet.
"Blood work is good," Janet continued, still grinning. "All of your counts are right where they're supposed to be. No damage from the gunshot wounds, no sign of nerve damage, and not a hint of those broken ribs and sternum. Your EEG is almost back to normal-just a few minor fluctuations here and there. I'm guessing that those will work themselves out in a few days, but I'll want you back for a follow-up in forty-eight hours just to make certain."
Daniel nodded.
"I'm going to go ahead and release you, but there will be some conditions."
"Like what?"
"For starters, I don't want you driving. No caffeine." Janet ignored the groan of protest. "And I'd like you to stay on base until that follow-up."
"So that's it?" Sam asked.
"That's it," Janet answered.
"What about him passing out on the planet?" Jack asked. "That's not a problem?"
Janet smiled and shook her head. When she noticed Daniel trying to stifle a yawn, she gestured at him.
"That was exhaustion, Colonel. He just needs a good ten hours or so of sleep."
Jack looked at Daniel in surprise. "How can you possibly be tired?" he asked. "You've spent the past two days in bed."
"My body spent the past two days in bed," Daniel corrected. "I didn't."
"So we're clear here, Daniel?" Janet asked. "You're going to go straight to your quarters and get some sleep."
Daniel didn't bother to hide the yawn; he simply covered his mouth with his hand and nodded.
"All right," Jack said as he hopped up. "Carter, Teal'c, you guys take sleepyhead here and start him toward his bunk. I'll catch up in a second."
Sam and Teal'c nodded and stepped forward. Daniel pushed himself to his feet, and together the three of them walked out into the corridor.
Jack turned back to Janet.
"You're sure he's okay? I mean, he's been through a lot in the past two days."
Janet smiled and nodded again. "He'll be fine after he gets some sleep. His mind's been through a lot in the past two days; his body hasn't."
Jack stared at her, incredulous. "Are you forgetting that we watched him bleed to death two hours ago?"
Janet shook her head sadly. "No, Colonel. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget that. But his body has forgotten what happened to it, and physically, he's perfectly fine. But between this and the whole mind probe thing last week, his mind needs some time to rest. And so does he. He's just emotionally and mentally exhausted, and the absolute worst that could happen is that he might be a little more open to suggestion than normal for the next few days."
Janet's smile returned, wider than before. "Actually, he is more open to it. I've already tried it out a few times. But if that means we'll actually be able to get him to do as he's told for a while, then it might not be a bad thing."
Jack smiled back at her. "Sneaky, Doc. I like it."
"I thought you might approve."
Jack nodded once more before he turned toward the door.
"Oh, Colonel, one more thing."
Jack stopped and turned back around.
"I'm going to put SG-1 on medical leave for two weeks, just to give you all enough time to recover fully from your … experience."
Jack's grin widened. "Thanks, Doc."
"You're very welcome, Colonel."
Jack left the infirmary at a jog. He maintained his pace until he caught up with the rest of his team.
"Good news, kids," he announced. "Doc's giving us all two weeks off."
Sam smiled; Teal'c nodded; Daniel groaned.
"Two weeks?" Daniel asked. "What are we supposed to do for two weeks?"
"Relax," Sam answered.
"Use the time to rest and recuperate," Teal'c suggested.
"Go fishing?"
"Jack, I'm not …"
"Dr. Jackson! Dr. Jackson!" The voice came from behind them. SG-1 turned to face the out-of-breath airman that was running down the corridor. "Dr. Jackson, thank God I found you!"
Jack shook his head vigorously. "Oh, no. Whatever it is will just have to wait. Dr. Jackson has an appointment with his bunk."
"Jack …"
"No." Jack took Daniel by the shoulders and started pushing him toward his quarters. Sam and Teal'c followed right behind him.
"But, Colonel …" the airman began.
"Whatever it is, the answer is no."
"But, sir!" the airman protested desperately. "General Hammond is waiting, sir!"
Jack froze so quickly that Sam walked into him.
"Sorry, sir," she muttered.
Daniel pulled away from Jack and turned to face the nearly frantic airman.
"General Hammond needs to see me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why?" Daniel asked in confusion.
"You have a delivery, sir. In the gate room."
"A delivery in the gate room? Why on … how did … what is it?"
Jack sighed in frustration and let his arms fall to his sides. Oh yeah, was Daniel ever susceptible to suggestion. And now that his curiosity was piqued, there would be no getting him to sleep until he'd satisfied it.
With a gesture to Sam and Teal'c to follow, Jack took off after the now jogging Daniel Jackson. He and the airman had gotten so far ahead of the rest of SG-1 that Jack barely heard the airman's breathless answer.
"It's one of those Egyptian coffin things, sir. A great big gold one …"