Stargate SG-1 Fic: Visibility Issues
Title: Visibility Issues
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Daniel, Jack, Teal’c, Sam, General Hammond, Robert Rothman, Nick Ballard.
Rating: G
Spoilers: The Crystal Skull.
Summary: Daniel has a bit of a problem; nobody can see or hear him.
Word Count: 1408
Written For: Challenge 60 - Unseen at beattheblackdog.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate: SG-1, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
Daniel had found himself in a lot of extremely frustrating situations since joining the SGC, most of them involving trying to explain something important to Jack, who had apparently decided his mission in life was to be wilfully obstinate in all things non-military, but this one had them all beat to hell and back.
From his point of view everything seemed perfectly normal, except in one crucial respect; nobody could see him. Or hear him, for that matter. It was as if he no longer existed to them, which was enough to make him want to bang his head against the wall, although he resisted the temptation, unsure whether or not he’d go straight through it. He’d already been there and done that, courtesy of the Tollan a few years back, and it had felt weird and disturbing enough then, when he’d only been in an incorporeal state for a few brief moments, under the influence of their vastly superior technology.
This was different in that he had no idea how he’d come to be in his current state, never mind how to restore himself to normal. There was no handy bit of technology that could be turned off, or not that he’d seen.
Abandoning the head-banging idea, which wouldn’t have served any useful purpose anyway, all Daniel could do was follow his friends around and try various ways of getting their attention, even though he quickly realised that was an exercise in futility. There had been plenty of times he’d wished he could be invisible, if only to avoid having weapons pointed at him, but truth be told, the reality wasn’t nearly as much fun as it sounded.
Wandering around unseen and unheard was just incredibly isolating; if he had to stay like that for the rest of his life… Well, it didn’t bear thinking about. There was a good chance he’d go nuts within a year, if he could even survive that long, which was far from certain. On the bright side, he didn’t feel thirsty or hungry, or tired, and while that revelation had been momentarily alarming, making him wonder if he’d died and become a disembodied spirit, he eventually dismissed it. He didn’t feel dead, not that he had all that much prior experience, but still… Wouldn’t it feel more final?
When he automatically leant on Robert Rothman’s desk while trying to psychically project his thoughts into the other man’s mind, he discovered that contrary to his earlier speculations, he was able to interact with solid objects. That was something ghosts generally couldn’t do, which seemed to indicate he was still alive, just on a different plane of existence or something. It was encouraging; it meant there was perhaps a chance of reversing whatever had happened and getting himself back to normal. All he had to do was figure out how.
His newfound optimism lasted right up until Teal’c walked straight through him. So okay, inanimate objects were still solid to him, but people weren’t? How did that even work? Sam would probably know. She might even be able to explain it in layman’s terms so he could understand. Too bad he couldn’t ask her. Of course, if he could ask her, he wouldn’t need to because he’d be just as normal and solid as she was…
Daniel rubbed a weary hand over his eyes. Not that he was tired as such even now, at least not in a physical sense, but frustration was wearing him down and now he was starting to get a headache from trying to work out the cause of his problem and how to fix it when he didn’t even know where to start. Curious. How could it be possible to get a headache in a head that wasn’t entirely in its normal solid state? Maybe he’d try banging it against the wall after all; if it already hurt, how much worse could that make it?
On second thoughts, maybe he’d be better off not finding out.
OoOoOoO
The trip to visit his grandfather was certainly an interesting experience… Or actually, no, it really wasn’t. All he could do was watch the scenery go by and try not to get left behind, because it would be beyond awkward if he got his incorporeal self stranded somewhere away from the SGC. It wasn’t like he could hitch a lift back. Daniel had been in two minds over going, but Nick might well hold the key to whatever had happened to him, and besides, it would be good to see him again. It wasn’t like he could get thrown out this time, what with being invisible, inaudible, and intangible. Maybe there were a few minor plus points to his incorporeal state after all, just not enough of them to make him want to stay this way if he could come up with a workable solution.
If Nick couldn’t, or wouldn’t, help, Daniel didn’t know what he was going to do. This was kind of the last resort. Even though he knew his Grandfather couldn’t hear him, Daniel did his best to impress upon the old man how important it was that he should tell his friends everything he knew about the crystal skulls. For all the good it did him. Might as well have been talking to the wall because Nick wasn’t budging. He wanted to see the skull himself, and he wasn’t going to say another word unless they gave in to his demands. Stubborn as ever, worse even than Jack! Daniel couldn’t say he’d missed that about the cantankerous old man.
God knew how many rules they were breaking by taking Nick back to the SGC with them, the existence of the Stargate was a closely guarded secret, but Nick had given them no choice, and anyway, ultimately it was Jack’s decision to make. Daniel wouldn’t have tried to argue him out of it even if he could have; they needed to know what, if anything, Nick knew, and if a visit to the SGC was what it took to get his cooperation, then so be it. Besides, it was kind of nice to know the lengths Jack was willing to go to in an attempt to get him back. It made Daniel feel valued, wanted. He and Jack had come a long way since their first meeting, even if Jack didn’t want to get him back badly enough to work through the night… That hurt; Daniel would’ve done it for Jack, or for any of the team.
OoOoOoO
How did you convince someone that you weren’t a hallucination? There was no training manual for this kind of situation, or actually for a lot of the things he’d faced over the last few years. Maybe he’d write one himself if he could ever spare the time. Right now, Daniel was just grateful that Nick was willing to listen to a voice he believed to be a product of his own somewhat shaky mental state. Convincing the rest of the team, and General Hammond, that he was present in an unseen capacity proved surprisingly easy; just call Jack an ass, throw in a few things Nick couldn’t possibly have overheard, and for the first time since arriving back from P7X-377, Daniel didn’t feel like he was on the outside looking in. Relieved didn’t even begin to describe how he felt. He wanted to cheer, or do a victory dance, or something, but… Well, Nick could see him, and he’d only just got back into his Grandfather’s good graces. A display like that would probably get him disowned for good. Nick was all about dignity…
…and about adventure, which shouldn’t have been a surprise; after all those years of people not believing what he said he’d seen, Daniel supposed it was only natural that Nick would want to remain on the planet, teach the giant aliens about the people of earth, and learn everything he could from them. In a way, he envied his grandfather; it was an amazing opportunity, and he would have jumped at the chance himself, if it had been offered to him, but it wasn’t his path to take. He was needed elsewhere. There were still a lot of other planets to explore, not to mention Goa’uld to battle, and Jaffa to free from slavery. He’d see Nick again someday, he was sure of it, and when he did, they were going to have a lot to talk about.
The End
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Daniel, Jack, Teal’c, Sam, General Hammond, Robert Rothman, Nick Ballard.
Rating: G
Spoilers: The Crystal Skull.
Summary: Daniel has a bit of a problem; nobody can see or hear him.
Word Count: 1408
Written For: Challenge 60 - Unseen at beattheblackdog.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate: SG-1, or the characters. They belong to their creators.
Daniel had found himself in a lot of extremely frustrating situations since joining the SGC, most of them involving trying to explain something important to Jack, who had apparently decided his mission in life was to be wilfully obstinate in all things non-military, but this one had them all beat to hell and back.
From his point of view everything seemed perfectly normal, except in one crucial respect; nobody could see him. Or hear him, for that matter. It was as if he no longer existed to them, which was enough to make him want to bang his head against the wall, although he resisted the temptation, unsure whether or not he’d go straight through it. He’d already been there and done that, courtesy of the Tollan a few years back, and it had felt weird and disturbing enough then, when he’d only been in an incorporeal state for a few brief moments, under the influence of their vastly superior technology.
This was different in that he had no idea how he’d come to be in his current state, never mind how to restore himself to normal. There was no handy bit of technology that could be turned off, or not that he’d seen.
Abandoning the head-banging idea, which wouldn’t have served any useful purpose anyway, all Daniel could do was follow his friends around and try various ways of getting their attention, even though he quickly realised that was an exercise in futility. There had been plenty of times he’d wished he could be invisible, if only to avoid having weapons pointed at him, but truth be told, the reality wasn’t nearly as much fun as it sounded.
Wandering around unseen and unheard was just incredibly isolating; if he had to stay like that for the rest of his life… Well, it didn’t bear thinking about. There was a good chance he’d go nuts within a year, if he could even survive that long, which was far from certain. On the bright side, he didn’t feel thirsty or hungry, or tired, and while that revelation had been momentarily alarming, making him wonder if he’d died and become a disembodied spirit, he eventually dismissed it. He didn’t feel dead, not that he had all that much prior experience, but still… Wouldn’t it feel more final?
When he automatically leant on Robert Rothman’s desk while trying to psychically project his thoughts into the other man’s mind, he discovered that contrary to his earlier speculations, he was able to interact with solid objects. That was something ghosts generally couldn’t do, which seemed to indicate he was still alive, just on a different plane of existence or something. It was encouraging; it meant there was perhaps a chance of reversing whatever had happened and getting himself back to normal. All he had to do was figure out how.
His newfound optimism lasted right up until Teal’c walked straight through him. So okay, inanimate objects were still solid to him, but people weren’t? How did that even work? Sam would probably know. She might even be able to explain it in layman’s terms so he could understand. Too bad he couldn’t ask her. Of course, if he could ask her, he wouldn’t need to because he’d be just as normal and solid as she was…
Daniel rubbed a weary hand over his eyes. Not that he was tired as such even now, at least not in a physical sense, but frustration was wearing him down and now he was starting to get a headache from trying to work out the cause of his problem and how to fix it when he didn’t even know where to start. Curious. How could it be possible to get a headache in a head that wasn’t entirely in its normal solid state? Maybe he’d try banging it against the wall after all; if it already hurt, how much worse could that make it?
On second thoughts, maybe he’d be better off not finding out.
OoOoOoO
The trip to visit his grandfather was certainly an interesting experience… Or actually, no, it really wasn’t. All he could do was watch the scenery go by and try not to get left behind, because it would be beyond awkward if he got his incorporeal self stranded somewhere away from the SGC. It wasn’t like he could hitch a lift back. Daniel had been in two minds over going, but Nick might well hold the key to whatever had happened to him, and besides, it would be good to see him again. It wasn’t like he could get thrown out this time, what with being invisible, inaudible, and intangible. Maybe there were a few minor plus points to his incorporeal state after all, just not enough of them to make him want to stay this way if he could come up with a workable solution.
If Nick couldn’t, or wouldn’t, help, Daniel didn’t know what he was going to do. This was kind of the last resort. Even though he knew his Grandfather couldn’t hear him, Daniel did his best to impress upon the old man how important it was that he should tell his friends everything he knew about the crystal skulls. For all the good it did him. Might as well have been talking to the wall because Nick wasn’t budging. He wanted to see the skull himself, and he wasn’t going to say another word unless they gave in to his demands. Stubborn as ever, worse even than Jack! Daniel couldn’t say he’d missed that about the cantankerous old man.
God knew how many rules they were breaking by taking Nick back to the SGC with them, the existence of the Stargate was a closely guarded secret, but Nick had given them no choice, and anyway, ultimately it was Jack’s decision to make. Daniel wouldn’t have tried to argue him out of it even if he could have; they needed to know what, if anything, Nick knew, and if a visit to the SGC was what it took to get his cooperation, then so be it. Besides, it was kind of nice to know the lengths Jack was willing to go to in an attempt to get him back. It made Daniel feel valued, wanted. He and Jack had come a long way since their first meeting, even if Jack didn’t want to get him back badly enough to work through the night… That hurt; Daniel would’ve done it for Jack, or for any of the team.
OoOoOoO
How did you convince someone that you weren’t a hallucination? There was no training manual for this kind of situation, or actually for a lot of the things he’d faced over the last few years. Maybe he’d write one himself if he could ever spare the time. Right now, Daniel was just grateful that Nick was willing to listen to a voice he believed to be a product of his own somewhat shaky mental state. Convincing the rest of the team, and General Hammond, that he was present in an unseen capacity proved surprisingly easy; just call Jack an ass, throw in a few things Nick couldn’t possibly have overheard, and for the first time since arriving back from P7X-377, Daniel didn’t feel like he was on the outside looking in. Relieved didn’t even begin to describe how he felt. He wanted to cheer, or do a victory dance, or something, but… Well, Nick could see him, and he’d only just got back into his Grandfather’s good graces. A display like that would probably get him disowned for good. Nick was all about dignity…
…and about adventure, which shouldn’t have been a surprise; after all those years of people not believing what he said he’d seen, Daniel supposed it was only natural that Nick would want to remain on the planet, teach the giant aliens about the people of earth, and learn everything he could from them. In a way, he envied his grandfather; it was an amazing opportunity, and he would have jumped at the chance himself, if it had been offered to him, but it wasn’t his path to take. He was needed elsewhere. There were still a lot of other planets to explore, not to mention Goa’uld to battle, and Jaffa to free from slavery. He’d see Nick again someday, he was sure of it, and when he did, they were going to have a lot to talk about.
The End