Finding Memory Pt. 1
Title: Finding Memory
Author: Obakahime/Bakajin
Rating:pg
Crossover:Stargate SG1/ Guyver (NOT MacGyver)
Episode Related: 112 Fire and Water, 118 Tin Man
Disclaimer:If you recognize it, it’s not mine, nor will it ever be mine, I’m not totally sure who owns the characters and setting that my flights of fancy have influenced here, but I know it’s not me and I’m not making money off this so nya.
Summary: Nem's memory device caused Daniel to remember something he wished he hadn't. Now he's run of to try to deal with the aftermath. Can the rest of SG1 find him and convince him to come home?
Warnings/Author's Note: This Stargate SG1 and Guyver crossover is set somewhere in the first season of Stargate, due to the fact I’ve only seen a couple episodes and they’re all in the beginning, but then again, I’ve read a lot of fanfiction, so might end up somewhere else. Which also means that I won’t be getting a lot of characterization accurately, and because I can’t get the Stargate movie Daniel out of my head, I’m switching actors. As for the Guyver, I’m going off of a seven or eight year old memory of the anime and live action, so any discrepancies, well they’re due to time. oh well, there is a reason it’s called “FanFiction”
Prologue.
There was silence. The silence wasn’t unusual, for it had been silent for the past few thousand years. Excepting the times a random animal would wander near. The silence of the darkness was broken by a low rumble. The rumble continued on for a few moments before a bright flash of light illuminated the small cave. Resting along the wall was a large blue-gray ring. The face of the ring had many odd symbols carved into it while the light came from within the ring. More like the shinny film that gave a fluid look and stretched across the center of the ring. The rumbling stopped with the appearance of the fluidic barrier.
The new silence lasted only seconds before the barrier seemed to spit out four figures. The first was large, the silhouette on the barrier showed a masculine and bulky build. The figure carried a long staff. The second was smaller, but also had a masculine build. It was still getting it’s balance back when the third and fourth figures appeared. One of the two had a decidedly feminine figure and was shorter than the first two figures while the other was masculine, and a similar height to its partner. Seconds after these last two figures appeared, the lit barrier vanished leaving the four in darkness.
Seconds passed before four soft clicks were heard followed by four beams of light. A few moments passed while the beams studied the dust covered walls. In the center of the cave was a large cylindrical object, no details could be made out due to the thick layer of dirt covering its surface.
“It looks like the Stargate isn’t a big factor in any culture on this planet.” a soft spoken voice said.
“Ya think?” came a sarcastic reply.
“Let’s get out of this cave, it’ll be much more interesting.” A feminine voice piped in.
“Right,” the sarcastic voice said.
The lights found only one exit out of the cave, and so with no other option, took it. It was a tunnel that though wasn’t overly small, gave only enough room for single file. It twisted and turned for what seemed like a quarter mile before light could be seen, marking an end to the confines of the stone.
The team walked out into the light, first came the large figure, he had dark chocolate colored skin and a gold tattoo on his forehead. The green military uniform stood out greatly in the brown cave pocked mountain side.
“What we got here Teal’c?”
A second figure asked as he stepped into the light. His greying hair cropped short in a military cut. He wore similar clothes to Teal’c.
“I believe that this area is uninhabited Colonel O’Neill.”
Just following O’Neill was the woman, she had blond hair and light skin. Her blue eyes peered at the short brownish plants with interest. Just after her appeared the last of the team, shaggy sandy blond hair was tucked behind his ears. His blue eyes were framed by a pair of glasses.
Turning and seeing the sponge like cliff side, the last one said, “Jack, you think we should mark this cave?”
The rest of the team turned and also noticed the holey mountain.
“Good idea,” O’Neill said, “Carter, you should have something.” the woman nodded.
“I think so sir” she said before taking her pack off and pulling out a tent spike. She dug it into the side of the cave they just came out of.
After a quick conversation on where they should try going, the group headed off following the foot of the mountain. The team walked until the planet’s sun reached its apex, then stopped for lunch.
“Hey, what’s wrong,” O’Neill asked Daniel, for the younger anthropologist had seemed distracted all day. The man in question raised his head from the journal that he had been scribbling in. “Nothing Jack, I just have a lot on my mind.” with that he returned to writing in his journal. Which seemed odd due to the fact they hadn’t met anyone yet. Only a few odd looking animals. Taking the hint, Jack didn’t question the anthropologist any further, but instead finished his food and when everyone else was done, started the team off on their exploratory mission.
The rest of the day passed without incident. There were indications that humans didn’t inhabit the area. One such sign was the animals lack of regard for the team.
Deciding that there wouldn’t be anything useful, the team started its way back in the late afternoon, setting up camp when the sun was on the horizon. Night soon came eased on by the friendly banter of the SG1 team. Soon watch had been set up and the rest drifted off to a comfortable sleep. Well most of them any way.
Teal’c, whom was on watch, noticed that Daniel seemed to be having nightmares. The young man was tossing and turning mumbling something incoherent to the Jaffa’s ears. Teal’c moved over to the Daniel and spoke softly, “DanielJackson, wake up, you are having a nightmare.” he accompanied the speech with a soft nudge of Daniel’s shoulder.
Daniel’s eyes jerked awake and were filled with confusion for a moment. His eyes darted around the camp in the near blackness of the night.
“DanielJackson, are you alright?” Teal’c asked with a hint of concern in his voice. The confusion in Daniel’s eyes died with the question from Teal’c.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he said softly. Teal’c nodded and went back to his post. He woke Sam for her watch just as the moon was going down and leaving her in darkness. The rest of the night passed smoothly.
The real surprise was when morning came and Daniel’s sleeping bag was empty. Closer inspection showed that all of Daniel’s belongings were still there, just not the anthropologist. After much commotion and general disorder among the team, they found footprints in the soft earth. Seeing as the prints were their only clue, the three followed the trail. It only took twenty minutes of walking before it dead ended at the mountain. Whoever had stolen their teammate away had climbed up leaving no real trail on the mountain.
“Dammit Daniel!” O’Neill shouted and hit the mountainside in frustration. The impact dislodged some loose rocks from above and the team backed away from the mountain.
“Sir,” Sam said with a tone of relief and pointed to a sandy blond patch twenty feet up the side of the mountain. The blond belonged to a figure, one curled up into a semblance of a ball rocking back and fourth quietly. It showed no sign of having heard either exclamation.
“Daniel!” O’Neill tried shouting to the figure. After not receiving a response he looked at the pocked wall. It looked strong enough for them to climb without crumbling. He quickly scrambled up onto the ledge that Daniel was sitting.
“What are you doing?” He said to the still figure sitting before him.
Daniel didn’t respond, in fact, he hadn’t even blinked. His eyes gazed out blankly.
“Come on,” irritation seeped into O’Neill’s voice as he grabbed Daniels arm and gently lifted up. He was slightly startled when Daniel stood at the physical request. It took the team a few moments to decide how to get the non-responsive archeologist off the ledge. Teal’c ended up climbing up and carrying Daniel down over his shoulder.
Upon his touchdown, Sam started to check Daniel for injury or any thing that could be the reason for his near catatonic behavior. She turned to Jack, “he’s not injured,”
“What’s wrong with him Major? A person doesn’t just doesn’t take a mental holiday for the fun of it.”
Sam gave Jack a sharp look, “He’s got no signs of concussion or anything else I can think of. We probably should return to SGC so Janet can take a look at him. . . Maybe there’s something on this planet that’s effecting him.” She paused and looked around quickly, “maybe we should take some samples, he doesn’t seem to be in immediate danger and it might speed up finding out what’s wrong.”
Jack looked ready to protest but the calm voice from Teal’c agreeing with Sam stopped him. He gave off a sigh before saying, “fine, two hours, you two collect, I’ll keep an eye on Daniel.”
The group lead Daniel’s unresisting form back to the camp sight from earlier. Jack sat Daniel down on his sleeping bag while Sam and Teal’c went to collect samples. It was then that he realized that Daniel didn’t have his shoes on. The rock face had been pretty sharp.
The anthropologist’s feet weren’t too bad, but Daniel would be walking softly for a while. Jack took a few moments to clean off the sores and wrap them in clean cloth before putting Daniel’s shoes on.
The rest of the time passed slowly. Daniel didn’t move, not even to blink, the entire time. Jack nearly jumped on Sam and Teal’c when they returned. The silence had been unnerving, even more so because Daniel normally was a person who never seemed to stop an endless litany of banter.
“Come on folks the faster we get back, the sooner we can figure out what’s wrong.” The camp got bundled up and soon the group was back in their packs and walking to the cave that they had emerged from. It was a good thing that Sam had marked it because there were so many holes that looked similar.
They got a few steps into the deep cave when Daniel collapsed into a limp bundle.
“It looks like his condition is worsening, Come on, we have to hurry.” Sam said with a small sense of urgency. Over the time she knew him, Daniel had wormed his way into her heart, he had a place right next to her father and brother.
Teal’c stoically picked the now inert form and put Daniel over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. His turning and continuing the way was all the nudging needed to get the rest of the team moving.
The DHD though dusty worked and they sent their signal through. Teal’c first with Daniel, followed by Jack and Sam. The wormhole was just as nauseating and cold as ever. As Teal’c stumbled down the ramp, he nearly tripped because his burden started moving.
“Teal’c? Why are you carrying me?” Daniel had woken somehow and was now looking around from on top of Teal’c’s shoulder. “And why are we back at the SGC? We just went through the stargate.” His voice was confused. Teal’c put him down.
The other two arrived and the liquid like barrier vanished.
“Jack! What’s going on?”
“What’s going on? You tell me. We got there and over night you turned into a puppet, all body, no brain. I wanna know what happened?”
Daniel’s eyes clouded over in confusion, “What do you mean? We just went through that thing.” he was cut off from continuing by General Hammond’s voice,
“Gentlemen, this can be discussed after you’re post mission check up. And in the briefing. Two hours.” He said then walked out of the room.
On to the body,
“Carter!” Jack called to figure retreating down the corridor. She stopped and turned.
“Yes sir?”
“Have you seen Daniel? He’s not in his office, and I was supposed to give him a ride home.” He gave a little shrug, “Doc’s orders and all.”
“No sir, I haven’t seen him since this morning.”
“Thanks,” Jack said before turning and leaving for Teal’c’s quarters. Maybe he had seen the archeologist sometime more recently. The walk was short and the conversation was essentially the same as he had with Sam. As Jack was leaving Teal’c’s room, the Jaffa said.
“Maybe DanielJackson departed already.”
Jack gave him an appraising look before thanking the big man for the idea and headed to the exit. The gate guard saluted sharply at his appearance.
“Sergeant, has Daniel Jackson left the base.”
“Yes sir, he left at the beginning of my watch.” He paused, but continued at Jack’s insistent glare. “He said he wasn’t feeling well and had Corporal Jenson drive him home. I must ask, is he alright? He was pale and really shaky on his way out.”
Mystery solved, or at least part of it. Why would Daniel have left without even saying good by? Jack was puzzling over the matter when the Sergeant brought his attention back by asking.
“Sir?” Jack could see genuine concern for the archeologist in the sergeant’s eyes. He gave a reassuring smile before replying.
“Well, the doc said he was alright, just shouldn’t drive for a while. Whatever the device Nem used on him left him a little jumpy, but he should be alright.” It had been about two weeks since the incident that left Sam Teal’c and Jack believing that Daniel had died on Oannes. Since then Daniel had been a little tipsy and more clumsy than usual. He also seemed to sequester himself to his work much more avidly than usual, which was kind of hard to imagine, and Janet had made it an order that he go home with Jack at the latest to get some rest every night.
Deciding that Daniel could probably use his rest, Jack signed out of the base and drove home.
~^~
Jack was annoyed. They had a briefing this morning and Daniel had an appointment with Janet to see if he’d be let back on active duty. What does the geeky archeologist do? He won’t answer his door.
“Come on Daniel” he shouted as he pounded on Daniel’s door. Moments went by before he grumbled in frustration and tried the door. Jack wasn’t sure if the fact it was open surprised him. He knew that the other man might not be feeling well, but forgetting to lock the door was a bit much, even for Daniel.
“Daniel!” he barked to the empty apartment. He looked around at the haphazard organization of papers littering whatever surfaces could be found. Whatever Daniel had been doing, he wasn’t doing it now, and hadn’t bothered to pack anything up. Jack searched the rest of the apartment but didn’t find the wayward archeologist. He was about to leave when Daniel’s computer chimed.
Annoyance and a slight bit of worry caused Jack to disregard Daniel’s privacy and look. The computer showed that Daniel had a new e-mail message. But the odd thing was the one that was displayed, and that one was from the Montana Herold.
The message was actually a picture of a newspaper clipping. Jack was unnerved when he noticed that Daniel’s face was staring at him in its black and white glory. Next to him stood a woman with dark hair and light skin holding a baby. A young child stood between the two holding Daniel’s hand. Jack stared unbelievingly at the picture a moment before his eyes were drawn to the caption.
“Last portrait of the Murphy family. Elizabeth holding little Sarah while Sean keeps a close hand on Alex.(March, 1970)”
Jack drew his eyes up to the headline. “Local Family Gone Missing.”
“Sean Murphy, a local forest ranger, and his two children went missing last weekend on a camping trip. The widower and his two children had gone down to the river Saturday July 4nd 1978 for a fishing trip. The police have been unable to find any evidence as to their fate or whereabouts. . . . “ The article went on but Jack was too stunned to read anymore. The man in the picture, it was Daniel, it had to be. But it was taken in seventy. He quickly glanced at the end of the article to see where it was from, Yaak Montana.
Jack hit the print button and while the article was printing started to look at some of the papers littering Daniel’s work area. They looked like medical records. He skimmed them and noted that they were from Sacred Heart Hospital in Troy, Montana, and from 1979. Looking further, he noticed that the first page noted the patient as John Doe, but toward the end of the stack it switched to Daniel Jackson. The printer finished with a loud clack of plastic and went silent.
Jack took one last look around the apartment before snagging the papers and leaving, intent on getting back to SGC as soon as possible so they could find Daniel. A slight growl of irritation escaped his lips as he slammed the door closed behind him. The drive to the mountain was quiet and Jack was brooding. The false memory of Daniel dying still came back to him, and the feelings of loss he, Sam, and Teal’c had felt were strong, he didn’t want to know how the others would react, but he knew it would be strongly.
Why? Why had Daniel ran away? What happened on Oannes? This had to be because of that. Ever since Daniel got back he had been more distant and preoccupied. Jack had just figured it was because the rest of the mountain was being overbearing, and it would get back to normal once everyone got used to the fact that Daniel was in fact back and never really died in the first place. Jack barely noticed as the gate guard saluted and he made his way through security.
***
“Corporal Jenson, do you know why you’re here?” General Hammond’s voice held a hint of controlled worry. The young Corporal sitting at one of the seats in the conference room looked nervous, his dark brown eyes flickering from one person to the next.
“No sir.”
“Dr. Jackson is missing, and you’re the last person to have seen him.” The brown eyes widened and the Corporal’s face paled.
“Wha?” He stuttered, “what happened to him?”
“That’s what we were hoping you could tell us.” Jack broke in. The general gave Jack a silencing glare then turned an encouraging face to the Corporal.
“Is there anything that he said or did when you took him home that was unusual?”
Jenson closed his eyes and bowed his head in deep thought. “He was quiet the entire way to his apartment. I remember trying to get him to talk, but he just sat staring out the window.” Jenson’s voice started out soft as if the memory was vague and he wasn’t too sure about it. “When we got there, I asked him if he was alright and he said something like ‘Am I? I doubt it.’ then walked away.” Jenson gave a little strained half laugh and looked up at the gathered team and General, “Something was really bothering him, but I have no idea what.”
“Thank you Corporal, that will be all.”
Jenson saluted and made a quick exit. As the door softly clicked closed, the four people remaining in the briefing room turned to each other.
“Well, that did us no good,” Jack said, his tone laced with annoyance. “We’re no closer to finding out where Daniel is, or why he disappeared.” Before he could go on anymore, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in” General Hammond said. The door swung open and revealed a wheeled TV, and a quiet voice.
“Sir, you requested the security footage from Dr. Jackson’s office.”
“Yes, bring it in.” The room was quiet while the young technician set up the video equipment, then left the room. Hammond picked up the remote and soon an empty office was displayed. It stayed that way until the counter told Six AM, where Daniel entered the room. The fast forward button was hit, and SG1 was given a glimpse of the busy work ethic of Daniel. Every once in a while someone would flit into his office and out again, or Daniel would get up and leave for a moment. Finally, the mail carrier entered and handed Daniel a stack of mail and left. Daniel started to go through it while walking back to his desk from one of his many trips to the coffee maker. He stopped and opened one envelope and paused a moment to read it. Though the display was black and white, everyone could see his face pale as his hands fell to his sides, the paper barely being held onto.
“Hey, slow it down.” Jack quickly said, “this might be something.” His voice was half hopeful, half curious. Hammond slowed the recording just as the image of Daniel fell into his chair, the impact causing the paper to fall to the floor and slide under his desk. Daniel’s eyes just stared strait forward for quite a while, as if he went into shock. Ten minutes passed on the counter and Daniel hadn’t moved a muscle. Then as if someone flipped a switch, he jumped up, grabbed his keys and left the room.
“He signed out of the base 3 minutes later.” Hammond said as he stopped the tape.
“Whatever’s on that paper has something to do with his disappearance.” Sam said quietly.
“Ya think?” Sarcasm laced Jack’s voice, but his face was worried. Whatever was in that note Daniel had read was serious, the Archeologist wouldn’t have reacted so badly if it was not.
Teal’c stood and started for the door, he paused when General Hammond asked where he was going.
“It would be prudent to collect the paper that so unnerved DanielJackson.” With that said the Jaffa left the room.
“Well, guess that’s started.”Hammond said to Jack and Sam.
“What do you think was on that paper?” Sam asked, eyes worried.
“Whatever it is, we’ll know soon enough.” The General replied cutting off Jack’s response. The room fell into an uneasy silence. The occupants all lost in their own thoughts.
All eyes swivelled to the door as Teal’c returned, holding a couple sheets of paper. He gave the papers to Hammond and sat down. Hammond looked over them quickly before looking up.
“Teal’c, are you sure these are the papers that Dr. Jackson was looking at?”
“They are the only papers that were under the desk, where we saw the ones DanielJackson was reading fall to.”
“Sir?” Carter’s voice was concerned.
Hammond handed the papers over to Sam as Jack was fidgeting nervously in his chair. Sam took one look at the cover sheet and confusion swept across her face.
“Birth records?” Her eyes met with Jack’s as she slid the stack over to the Colonel. Jack took a quick glance before asking.
“Why on earth would Daniel wigg out about some birth record?”
“The records are for DanielJackson.” Teal’c supplied, having read over them on the way back from Daniel’s office. Hammond glanced quickly at the confused faces before pushing an intercom button.
“Could you have Dr. Fraiser come to the conference room.”
“Yes Sir.” The intercom switched off.
A few moments later Dr. Fraiser walked in the room.
“You wanted to see me sir?”
“Yes, Dr. Jackson disappeared sometime between yesterday and this morning. The only motive we’ve been able to find is this record.” The file slid across the table to Janet’s position. She picked it up as Hammond continued. “There’s something in that file that spooked Jackson, and we were hoping you could give us a clue.”
There was a moment of silence as Janet flipped through the record. Her eyes scanning the paper with the ease of one long used to reading medical reports.
“Are you sure this is Daniel’s?” She looked up from the file.
“The name, hospital and date of birth all match up with our records.” The general’s voice was slightly confused. Janet whispered something under her breath then fell into a convenient chair with a plop.
“What is it Doctor?”
Her eyes took in the worried faces of SG-1 and the General.
“If you’re positive these are Daniel Jackson’s birth records, then,” she took a calming breath. “The man we know is not Daniel Jackson.”
“Are you sure?” Jack beat the General to the punch.
Janet graced Jack with a minor glare.
“I would think that I know the blood type of my patient. Especially with the amount of times he’s been in the infirmary.” Sam interrupted before Jack could formulate a good and sarcastic response.
“I don’t think he knew.” All eyes swivelled to the blond. “I mean, look at his reaction. He must have seen the same thing as Janet, and it floored him.”
“So our archaeologist’s having an identity crisis? The question now is where’d he run off to?”
“Jack, you were in his apartment this morning, was there anything that might give us a clue?”
Jack was about to reply negatively when his mind quickly flashed to the papers he took.
“Well, There were more medical records and an article. I printed them out, but left them in my office.” He stood and double timed it to his office and back. Tossing the papers on the table as soon as he entered. Dr. Fraiser snatched at the medical records but left the printout of the newspaper article.
“He looks exactly like Daniel.” Sam said when she saw the picture. She passed the article to the General. He looked at it and skimmed it without making any comments, then passed it on.
“The similarity is indeed uncanny.” Teal’c said to the general assembly.
All eyes turned to Dr. Fraiser when she uttered a soft “Holy Shit.”
“What is it Doctor?” Hammond demanded. She looked at the assembled.
“If what I’m seeing is right. Then it’s been twenty two years.” She trailed off.
“Twenty two years of what?”
Janet tossed the file towards the general before saying, “Twenty two years ago, a young man was found with amnesia. The foster parents of Daniel Jackson identified the Jon Doe as their missing ward. And that’s who he’s been ever since.” she paused letting the information sink in. “I can’t imagine what he’s feeling right now.”
“This is all well and good, but do we have any clue to where he went now?”
“Well both the article and records are from Montana, so I’d guess that’s a starting place.” Sam suggested, “Think of it, you find out that you’re not who you thought you were. What would you want to do?”
“Find out who you were,” General Hammond said with a hint of realization. “Ok folks, I’ll arrange a flight to Troy for you people. We need Daniel back”
***
Seeing as how the next commercial flight wasn’t until the morning, and SGC had a lot of military resources, 5 hours later Teal’c, Sam, and Jack stepped off of a jet on the edge of the airport in Troy Montana.
“So kids, where do we go?” Jack asked in general. Sam glanced around before saying.
“I think we should try Yaak first, it’s more than likely that Daniel already knows everything that could be found out at the Hospital.” she paused a moment, “It’s also a small town which should make it fairly easy to search.”
“Murry?”
“I concur.”
“Alright campers, lets go.” Jack said before hopping into a nearby jeep that had been pre-arranged for their use. The drive was silent, everything that could be said, had been said.
The sun had set by the time they reached Yaak. It seemed that everything but one hotel had closed up shop for the night.
“So,” the younger looking girl behind the counter asked, “what brings you to Yaak? The three of you don’t seem like the roughing it type.” She smiled.
“We’re looking for this man,” Jack showed her a picture of Daniel, “We think he might have come here.”
The girl took a look at the picture. “Here? He doesn’t seem like the roughing it type either. I’m not sure, he looks kinda familiar.” She shrugged and handed back the picture, “you’re room number is 108, if you go out these doors,” she pointed to a set to her left, “and down six rooms, it’ll be on the left.” With no other option until morning, the three retired for the night.
They started out early, visiting all the morning cafes. By the time ten o’clock rolled around, it seemed news of them spread faster than they could travel. People were cheerful, but as of yet, only one person said that they had seen Daniel. That person had seen Daniel get off of the shuttle that went to the Troy airport in the evening two days previous. They walked into a general store & café seemed to be a popular hangout of some of the more elderly citizens of the town.
“Well, at least we know he’s been here.” Jack said as they sat down at a small table with checkered tablecloth. There was a man sitting at the nest table over. He looked to be in his seventies, but in good health. A grey pinstriped hat graced his head. It didn’t go too well with his red suspenders and light blue Cambridge shirt. Then again, he was an old man and aloud some eccentricities. He seemed to have good hearing because just after Jack spoke, he turned his attention to the four now at the table.
“Yes sir, but that was two days ago, he could have gone anywhere by now.”
Teal’c remained quiet, but his glance moved to the old man after noticing the attention. Jack noticed Teal’c’s shift in attention and followed the Jaffa’s gaze. Seeing the old man, he showed the man the picture.
“Have you seen this man?” Weariness had unwittingly crept into his voice The man smiled.
“He looks so much like his father did at that age. The resemblance is uncanny.” The man leaned back in his chair. “I thought I was seeing a ghost when he wandered in here. The boy was so pale, he seemed like a strong wind would blow him over.”
Jack seemed to be bursting with inpatients and just holding himself back from yelling at the man to get on with it.
“Do you know where he went?” Sam, it seemed, couldn’t hold back.
The man leaned forward and glanced over them. After a moment of his scrutiny he sat back and said. “You’re his friends. Good, the boy needs them.”
“But do you know where he is?” This time it was Jack. The man smiled good-naturedly.
“All in good time. All in good time.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“From what he told me, he just started to remember fifteen years of his life, he needs time to get used to those memories.” The man’s hazel eyes twinkled, “so sit back and relax for a bit, maybe have lunch. Then I’ll tell you where he’s gone off to.”
Jack gave the old man a death glare, but it didn’t seem to phase the man.
“Wait,” Sam said, “ you said that you knew his father?”
The man smiled, “Yes,” he got a far off look in his eyes, “Sean Alexander Murphy, we grew up together, old Sean and I.”he leaned in conspiratorially, “I always was a bit jealous that he snagged Lizzy, but he loved her. It seemed the happiest day of his life was when Alex jr. was born.”
A waitress came around, took the trio’s order, and left a can of soda by the old man. He took a sip before continuing.
“Alex was always a curious child.” He gave a quick laugh, as if remembering something funny. “Always got himself into the most strange situations. Why when he was six, he somehow got himself stuck in the chimney. Lizzy had been busy with Sarah.” The man’s eyes went sad, “Lizzy died not too long after that. It threw their family into chaos for a while. Alex was a big help then. Or so Sean told me, we worked together you know.”
The waitress returned with SG1's orders and a smile. The man paused and looked thoughtful.
“It’s strange, when Alex was younger, he looked so much like his mother, but with his father’s eyes. Now he’s a spitting image of his father.” He grinned, “well, his hair’s a bit longer.”
SG1 ate very quickly, hoping to get this man to hurry up and take them to their missing member. Jack finished his food and looked at the old man.
“There’s we’ve had lunch, can you please tell us where he is?” It seemed that he was fighting all of his inpatients to be polite to the old man.
The man smiled and nodded, “Jennifer, could I have a pen and paper?” He called to the waitress. She smiled and brought the requested items.
“Seeing as I doubt the boy’s going to be wanting my company, I’ll just draw you a map.” He smiled and sketched a rough map on the paper, he marked a few landmarks and roads before handing it to Jack. “I circled where his house is. I kept that old place exactly the same as when they disappeared.” the man shrugged, “to be honest with you, I don’t think I ever gave up hope in seeing ol’ Sean again. The house is the boy’s now, I hope he takes care of it.” With that the man went back to his soda. Leaving the three to their business.
They were out of there so quickly, they nearly forgot to pay for the lunch. The drive was short, yet confusing. The map was good, but many of the roads were dirt and didn’t have any signs. They had passed the one they wanted because it had grown over through lack of use.
The outside of the cabin was maintained, but it felt empty. Jack quickly walked up to the door and knocked. “Daniel? Are you there?” There was no answer. Jack had a sudden flash of deja vu and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Jack took a quick glance at Teal’c and Sam before easing the door open. A soft noise could be heard, as if someone was crying.
“Daniel?” There was no response. The entry room was neat, if a bit dusty. An old sixties style couch rested along one wall. Next to it was a large floor standing radio. The mantle over the fireplace had a collection of pictures in frames, but there were holes, as if some of the frames had been taken. There were dirtied old curtains over the windows. A door and a hallway were the only exits. The noise seemed to be coming from the hallway.
The sounds cleared as the small group moved to the hallway.
“So sorry. . .. I didn’t mean to. . . it’s all my fault. . . I’m so sorry.” The words were repeated with small sobs interspersed at uneven times. They followed the voice to a room that had been decorated in bright colors at one point. Now they had dulled and the life had been bleached out of the room. A child sized desk sat near the door and just beyond that, next to the window was a small bed.
On that bed, wearing the same rumpled clothes that they had last seen him in, sat Daniel. He was hugging his knees to his chest with his eyes staring at a picture that he held.
“Daniel?” Sam moved to his still form. He reacted as soon as she touched him.
“Don’t touch me!” his voice was horse and he threw himself closer to the wall. His voice softened, “it’s all my fault.” He hugged his legs harder and continued at a near whisper, “I don’t want to kill you too.”
“Daniel, you’re not going to kill me.” Sam said in a reassuring tone and sat on the corner of the bed. Daniel’s eyes were puffy and red from crying, and Jack could see the lines where tears had repeatedly fallen down his face.
“Do you think I wanted to kill them?” Daniel’s soft voice cracked. He shoved the picture he had been holding in Sam’s face, “Sarah,” he choked, “and Sean,” A fresh sob wracked his frame as he rested his head back on his knees. “I didn’t mean to,” a sniffle, “I didn’t want to,” he raised his head again. “But they’re dead and it’s my fault.” Sam quietly looked at the picture then handed it to Jack.
There were two figures in the picture. A small brown haired girl, about six years old with wide eyes and a soft face was sitting on a picnic blanket next to a boy who seemed to be ten years old. He had light brown hair and a mischievous face. It looked like he was about to pour water on the unsuspecting girl.
Jack handed the photo to Teal’c and said, “I’m sure it’s not your fault Daniel, you’d never hurt anyone.”
“But I’m not Daniel.” he paused, his eyes took a far off expression. “I never was.” He turned to the wall and muttered, “I’m nothing but a murderer.”
“Who are you then.” Jack snapped, all this searching, and now this. This was supposed to be easy, find Daniel, or whoever he was now, and go back. He hadn’t signed on for any of this emotional stuff.
“I,” he gazed out the window, “I was Sean Alex Murphy.” He lowered his head, “now I don’t know who I am.”
“Why do you think you killed them?” Sam’s voice was soft and entreating.
“It was me, it had to be me.” Daniel looked strait at Sam, “there was no one else there.”
“Daniel,” Sam started, but Daniel interrupted.
“I’m not Daniel.”
“Alright, but what were your reasons? You had to have some.” Sam seemed to waver between moving closer to Daniel’s curled up form and holding herself back. Instead her hand inched forward, but didn’t quite get to him.
“I don’t know,” He started to sob again. “We were climbing,” his eyes unfocused as if he was traveling along with the memory. “I. . . I slipped. I don’t really remember the fall, but when I woke up.” He paused, unfocused eyes widening in remembered fear. “They,” a choked sob, “they were dead,” he started rubbing his hands together as if trying to wash them. “There was so much blood,” he sighed, “it was all over,” fearful eyes once again locked onto Sam’s. “I was bathed in it. I was so scared. . . I ran and ran and ran.” He started to rock himself unconsciously. “I killed them.” he started chanting in a low voice.
Jack couldn’t handle seeing his friend in this state any more, so he left the room. The rest of the house had a long past homey feel. In the jeep they had some medical supplies. Jack was just hoping for a tranquilizer. It wasn’t very nice, but it looked like Daniel needed some sleep. His search for a tranquilizer was interrupted by his telephone ringing.
“O’Neill”
“Colonel O’Neill,” General Hammond’s voice came from the phone. “Have you found our missing boy yet?”
“Yes sir, but he seems to be having a tough time with what he’s learned.”
“As in?”
“Calling it a nervous breakdown would be like calling the Goa’ould a little irritating.”
“Is there any particular reason for the severity of his reaction?”
“From what I can tell, his family had been killed before his eyes, and when he was running away, he got injured and ended up in the hospital.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. “He has the worst case of survivor’s guilt I’ve ever seen.”
There was a pause before the General continued.
“Take as much time as is needed colonel, SG1 is officially on standby until you get Daniel well.”
“Right sir.”
Jack hung up and finished his search. No luck. Jack turned to go back into the house with a sigh. This was not his area and he was feeling like he’d forgotten how to tread water. As he entered the house, he noticed Teal’c was sitting on the couch and Sam had just entered the front room. She took one look at Jack and put a finger over her mouth.
“He’s exhausted, I just got him to go to sleep.” She whispered to her CO. Jack nodded his head towards the door before leaving again. Sam and Teal’c followed without a word.
“Carter, what do you think of the situation.”
Sam was about to answer when Jack motioned for silence. The sound of a car coming was faint, but getting louder. Seconds later a old beat up pick up truck came into view. The driver was a young woman and it didn’t take long to recognize her as the waitress from the cafe. The old man was sitting in the passenger seat, his form slightly blocked out by a large white paper bag.
When the truck stopped, the woman hopped out, opened the old man’s door, and grabbed the two pizza boxes he had been holding, on which rested the white bag.
“Thanks Jennifer.”
“No problem Sam.”
“What are you doing here?” Jack nearly barked.
Jennifer turned and gave Jack a sheepish grin.
“Sam insisted that we bring you dinner.” She gave the old man a sidelong glance. “Wouldn’t stop fussing until someone agreed to it.”
Sam puffed up in indignation.
“I’ll have you know, that was not fussing.” Jennifer just laughed. Sam turned to the SG1, “and it’s nearly time for dinner. I’m pretty sure you youngins left without thinking about it.” The old man started for the door. Jack stopped his progress with a held out arm and a soft.
“He’s asleep.” The old man raised an eyebrow.
“Taking it really hard is he?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What do you know?” Samantha butted in. The old Sam sat down on a old chair. He paused a moment before fishing a small pendent out of his pocket. It was beautiful and old. A small angel held a ruby rose. He fiddled it with it quickly and it opened with a click. There were two pictures inside. Jack vaguely recognized them as pictures of Elizabeth and a young Sarah. The old man sighed.
“I found this three years after they disappeared. And the remains of little Sarah.” His voice dropped as he handed the locket to Samantha. “It was horrible. I don’t know what could have done that to that little girl.” He shuddered. “The coroner said it was a bear attack.” He stared Jack in the eye. “I never told them about the locket and they never identified the body. I figured it was best laid to rest then.” He sighed again and stood, grabbing his back. “Bah, old age, just makes all them old bones creak.” He held out his hand, “Can I have the locket back? I feel it’s just right that I’m the one to give it back to the boy.”
Jennifer put the food on a raised log that had been used as a table many times. She moved the bag to a different area before opening the boxes and pulling napkins out of the truck.
“Sup’s up, dig in before it gets too cold.”
“What’s in the bag?” Jack was a little suspicious.
“Little Alex never liked pizza, but I figured you wouldn’t mind it at all. It’s rather amazing that Sally’s still makes his favorite sandwich,” the old man shrugged, “but I’m not going to stop and analyze.” He headed for the door before Jack stopped him again.
“He just got to sleep,” the man gave Jack a toothy smile.
“I’m sure he can get more sleep later, it’s been over twenty years since he’s had one of these, and I intend to get it to him still hot.” He then stepped around Jack and walked into the house.
“So, Jennifer,” Sam turned to the waitress, whom had found a comfortable seat. “What is Sam like?”
“Sam’s this town’s oldest prankster.” She responded with a smile. “He hates to see anyone sad.” She developed a far off stare. “I remember he’s always been there for the children of this town. Mom said he always was a busybody, but since he retired from the forest service he was the best last minute daycare anyone in these parts could hope for.” She smiled, “he was always going on about how there wasn’t enough smiles in the world. I don’t think that there’s anyone in this town that he hasn’t looked after. Kind of like a father to all of us.”
“Prankster?” Samantha asked for clarification.
“Yeah, he pulls small little pranks that cause laughs.” Her eyes gleamed, “Be warned of whoopie cushions while he’s around.”
The conversation died off for a moment while people ate. Sam stood up and started towards the door with a soft, “I should check on Daniel.”
“Please don’t,” Jennifer said softly. “Samuel, he’s wonderful with people that have gone through trauma.” Her eyes were pleading. “He’s got a gift, and you might disrupt something.”
“Sorry Miss, but Jackson’s one of my crew, and we need to know how he’s doing. Sam, go check on him.” Sam nodded at Jack’s order and slipped into the house. A few moments passed before she came back out again.
“They’re talking sir,” she gave Jack a half hearted smile. “He seams like he’s doing better.” Jack looked over at Jennifer.
“Did you know Sean before he left?” The woman looked about Daniel’s age. Her eyes got a little dreamy and she blushed.
“Actually, he was my first crush.” She looked down in embarrassment. “I wasn’t always very ladylike, and Lexy, well,” she blushed harder. “Oh my, I shouldn’t say, Carl wouldn’t be to happy if he heard about it.”
“Carl is?” Jack tried leading the question.
“He’s my husband.” Jennifer said as she held up her hand, a slim gold band adorned her ring finger. Jack smirked, he had a feeling he knew what Daniel had been like when he was younger.
Jack looked up as he realized it was getting colder. He could see some of the stars coming out. Figuring it now looked like they’d be staying the night at this small cabin he went back in. Maybe a search of the other rooms would prove fruitful at not having to sleep on the floor. Or as he remembered the bed Daniel had been sitting on, one too small.
He first found the kitchen. All of the accessories seemed out dated and in a very ugly olive green. There were a couple of doors on the opposite wall. One led to a pantry and the other outside. The kitchen table had a dusty floral print table cloth and the chairs were neatly pushed in. Jack left and found what looked like the master bedroom. The room was just as dusty as the rest of the house, and the flannel blanket on the queen sized bed looked very warm. There were two dressers, one seemed to hold a shrine, photos and sketches littered the top. The mirror also had photo’s stuck into the frame. All of them were of the same woman at different ages. Jack recognized the woman from the photo in the newspaper. It was Elizabeth, Daniel’s real mother.
Jack turned to the other dresser. It was plane in comparison. The only thing that rested on its surface was an old forest ranger’s hat. Jack turned to leave when a photo on the night stand caught his attention. It showed a lively teenage boy. He was wearing a soccer uniform and smiling at the camera. Next to him, with an arm thrown across the boy’s shoulders was another man. He was also smiling and had a forest ranger’s uniform on. He had an honest face and seemed somewhat familiar. Jack could see traces of the old man in this younger man’s face. He turned the frame over and found a small slip of paper. ‘Sam and Lex, after soccer practice, June 1977.’
Jack turned and scanned the rest of the bare room before making his way out and back to the living room. He saw Teal’c sitting on the couch. It looked like the Jaffa was meditating. Sam was looking at the pictures and nicknacks sitting around the room. There was two more rooms Jack hadn’t inspected yet. He stopped on his way down the hallway when he heard the older Sam’s voice from behind the closed door.
“Why? Why are you telling me this now?” Concern and worry laced the old voice. “Why didn’t you tell me back then?”
Jack could only just make out Daniel’s muffled voice.
“I didn’t know,” a soft snort, “no, I didn’t want to believe. I thought it was all a dream.” His voice lowered so that Jack couldn’t make out the next line. His body unconsciously inching towards the closed door. “They,” Daniel’s voice cleared, “They paid for my ignorance. I killed them.” His voice went harsh with the last word. A moment of silence past.
Jack turned to investigate the room beyond when he heard a loud slap and Samuel’s voice in a near growl.
“Listen to me boy,” a small pause, “Listen!” the word was harsh, but quiet. “It wasn’t you.” the words were getting softer and with the wall in the way, Jack couldn’t be sure if he heard the next line correctly. “It was that, thing, inside you.” Jack backed away from the wall. Hoping that what he thought he heard wasn’t what was said.
His mind started to race. A ‘thing’ inside Daniel? Did he end up becoming a host to a Goa’ould? No, that was preposterous, they’re talking about something that happened twenty years ago. If Daniel had found a Goa’ould, then he wouldn’t have aged or fought so hard against them. That and Jack was sure that Daniel’s eyes would have glowed at least once if that had been so. Janet would have caught one of the snakes on an MRI if he’d been infected anyway. Shaking his head he dismissed the notion to an overactive sense of paranoia and decided that maybe Daniel wasn’t the only one who needed some down time.