Fic (WIP): Suffer the Little Children - 2/?
Warnings and summary are here: Chapter One
The previous chapter (and all that will follow) can be found here: Suffer the Little Children
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Chapter Two
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Jack kicked the damp ground again; he hated waiting. First, they'd had to wait while Sam returned to her car to retrieve her cellphone. Then they'd had to wait for the police and paramedics. Then they'd had to wait for the coroner to arrive. Then they'd had to wait for the investigators to get there. Now they were waiting for an FBI agent that the police had called to make his appearance. Through it all, they'd been waiting for Daniel to do or say something, anything, to show them that he was still in there somewhere.
They were still waiting.
The constant shaking from earlier had been replaced by an occasional violent shudder, but that was the only outward sign of his condition improving. Jack couldn't tell if that horrified, terrified expression was still in his eyes or not, because he hadn't opened them in an hour. He had stopped the mantra of 'Dead, Jenny's dead,' for which Jack was grateful, but in its place was an eerie and, coming from Daniel, unnatural silence that had Jack more than a bit unnerved.
The paramedics had looked him over for signs of injury and Daniel, in a most un-Daniel-like way, had let them. He hadn't helped them, that much was certain, but he hadn't hindered them either. He simply sat there, leaning against the tree. When they'd removed his jacket to listen to his heart and take his blood pressure, he hadn't fought them. When they'd checked his pulse and cleaned the scratches on his face, he hadn't pulled away from their touch. He'd let them pull him forward and push him back and move his arms around, unresistingly, looking much like a ragdoll.
And through it all, he hadn't said a word. Not since the last time he'd talked to Jack.
Sam was still sitting on the ground at Daniel's side, rubbing his hand and talking to him softly. She'd been beyond upset when they told her what Daniel had found in the bushes, and though she'd long since stopped crying, her eyes were still slightly red and puffy. She was holding it together better than Jack had imagined she would. Maybe her emotions weren't still as raw as Jack had thought them to be. Or maybe she was just holding herself together for Daniel's sake. Jack really didn't know.
But what the hell was going on with Daniel?
He'd seen dead bodies before. He'd seen dead children before. He'd seen entire planets filled with dead bodies; they'd found Cassandra on a planet like that. She'd been the only survivor and had been living for days surrounded by the thousands of corpses of what had once been her family, her friends, and her people. But even though he'd been upset, every time, he'd never reacted like this before. Never.
If he had, Jack would have grounded him planetside without a moment of hesitation.
There had to be something different about this, about this little girl that Daniel had called Jenny. There was something that Jack was missing, and he was determined to find out.
But he had no idea how.
Asking Daniel was useless. At first, Daniel had responded to Jack's questions, even though his answers hadn't really made much sense. It had been the same thing every time. Jack would say his name and Daniel would look up from under his hair, his eyes wide and terrified. Jack would ask a question and Daniel would answer, his voice barely above a whisper and so filled with pain that it almost broke Jack's heart to hear it. From there, it had progressed to Daniel keeping his eyes closed and only answering yes or no questions with hesitant shakes or nods of his head. For the past fifteen minutes, there hadn't been even that much.
Jack had watched, powerless to stop it, as Daniel had slowly and methodically pulled himself back from the world around him and had succeeded in sealing himself off from it. If Daniel was aware of the park or of the people in it, he gave no sign. He didn't seem to hear any of them, not even Jack. Not any more.
Jack replayed in his mind the last bit of conversation they'd had before Daniel had completely closed himself off.
"I need you to talk to me, Daniel."
Daniel nodded, slowly and awkwardly, before shaking his head hesitantly. "I can't."
Jack sighed. "Look, I don't know what's going on, okay? I don't know what's wrong. You've got to tell me. Do you know that little girl?"
"He doesn't know her," Daniel whispered. "But I do."
"Who doesn't know her?"
"He doesn't remember her, but I can't forget." Daniel's voice was fading, growing softer with every word he said.
"Can't forget what, Daniel? Come on, you've got to tell me what you're talking about here."
"He was there," Daniel said so softly that Jack had to strain to hear him. "He saw it. But he doesn't ... he can't ... remember."
"Who saw what?" Jack demanded, growing even more concerned. "Do you know who killed her? Daniel?"
"Don't remember," Daniel whispered. "Just ... forget."
Daniel had closed his eyes then, and Jack hadn't been able to get him to open them again. The last words he'd said still had Jack's mind reeling, and he needed to know what they meant. Daniel hadn't sounded like he was answering Jack's last question; it had sounded like a directive, like a plea.
He'd been begging.
And the entire conversation - the tone of Daniel's voice, the expression on his face, the raised shoulders and hesitant posture - had left Jack with the vague impression not of talking to Dr. Daniel Jackson, thirty-year-old archaeologist, but of talking to a very little boy.
He'd talked to the paramedics a bit after they'd finished checking Daniel's vitals, and they had reassured him that Daniel was just in shock. They'd also said that it was being complicated by his being wet and muddy and that it should start to wear off once he was warm and dry again. It was starting to look like they'd been wrong about that part.
Jack almost wanted to call them back over, but he'd been the one that insisted that the examination had to be as abbreviated as possible. In Daniel's condition and with him rambling on the way he had been, there was no way anyone could guess what would come out of his mouth next. If he started talking about Sha're or Shyla ... that would be bad. Very bad.
The police and paramedics had both wanted Daniel taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. One of the paramedics had gone so far as to insist that Daniel needed an immediate psychiatric evaluation. Jack had pulled out the national security argument and had stopped them in their tracks. There was no way that Daniel was being treated anywhere other than in the SGC's infirmary, or cared for by anyone other than Janet Fraiser. They'd insisted on confirmation, of course, and a quick phone call to General Hammond had taken care of most of their questions. Jack had told Hammond what had happened, and Janet was already on her way to the park.
Teal'c stepped up beside him, and Jack shook his head slowly. "This day officially sucks, Teal'c."
"I do not disagree, O'Neill."
Jack glanced at Sam and Daniel once more. "He's not doing very well with this."
"I believe that to be a statement of a lesser importance than facts would support."
Jack couldn't help but smile slightly. "An understatement. And yes, Teal'c, you're right. It is. But I don't know how else to describe it. Hell, I can't even explain what's going on with him, let alone understand why it's happening."
"Daniel Jackson is a highly sensitive individual."
Jack nodded in agreement. "Yes, he is. But I think there's more to it than that, Teal'c. Much more."
Teal'c turned toward Daniel then, but he spoke to Jack. "You believe that he was acquainted with this child?"
Jack shrugged. "I don't know, but he sure thinks he was. He seems to know her name, at any rate."
"His silence causes me great concern."
"Yeah, me too," Jack answered. "But I have to tell you, Teal'c, I almost prefer it to what he was saying before."
Teal'c kept his gaze locked on Daniel, and Jack recognized the concern in those brown eyes.
"Never have I known Daniel Jackson to seem so ...'
"Young?" Jack asked.
Teal'c nodded. "Yes, O'Neill. I believe that to be a perfect description."
Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes. "God, I'm getting too old for this crap."
Jack heard another car pull up, but he ignored it. People had been coming and going all morning and he had long since stopped craning his head to monitor every arrival.
Sam was still watching, however, and she saw who had arrived. She raised herself onto her knees, rubbed Daniel's forearm gently, and said to him, "Daniel, Janet's here."
Jack spun around just as Janet reached his side, carrying her black medical bag in her hand.
"Colonel, General Hammond sent me," she said without stopping. Jack fell into step beside her and Teal'c followed them. "What can you tell me, sir? What happened?"
"Well, Doc, to be completely honest ... I have no idea. He tripped into the bush and he found a ... well ... he found this little girl there, dead. And now ..." Jack gestured toward Daniel as they reached his side.
Janet knelt down beside him and opened her bag. "Has he been like this the entire time? Non-responsive?"
Jack shook his head. "Not the whole time, no. He was talking to us at first. Well ... sort of. He didn't make much sense."
"Daniel?" Janet said softly. "Daniel, it's Janet. I'm just going to take a look at you, all right? I need to see if you're hurt." She inspected his face for a moment and then turned to Jack.
"Where'd he get these scratches, Colonel?"
Jack's head snapped up. "Um ... from the bush, I think. He fell."
"Did he hit his head?"
Jack thought for a moment and then shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't see him fall. The paramedics said he was just in shock."
Janet shook her head, half in anger and half in frustration. "No, Colonel, I don't think that's all." She turned her attention back to Daniel again. "Daniel? Can you lean forward for me so I can check the back of your head?"
"Doc, he's not ...," Jack began. "I don't think he can hear you."
"Jack?"
The voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but it was definitely Daniel. Jack looked down at him in surprise, and was mildly relieved to see Daniel's face was no longer dominated by the slack, empty expression that it had been wearing for the past half hour. Rather, his forehead was crinkled and his eyes were moving around beneath his eyelids.
"Daniel!" Sam called out. "So you are in there."
"What?" Daniel asked. His eyes opened then, slowly, and he blinked twice. Jack thought he looked confused, but no longer scared, and that had to be a good sign.
Daniel's eyes moved from person to person, Janet and Sam kneeling beside him and Teal'c and Jack standing at his feet, and his eyebrows lowered even further. "What happened?"
Janet finished her cursory examination of the back of Daniel's head, and she pulled her gloves off with a snap. "You hit your head when you fell, Daniel. You've got a rather large knot behind your ear."
Daniel looked up at Jack with a small smile. "Teal'c told you to quit attacking me."
"What?" Janet demanded.
"Hey! I wasn't ... I was tackling him, Doc! We were playing football." Sam giggled and Teal'c inclined his head in amusement. "And besides," Jack continued, "he was fine until he fell into the bushes."
"I fell into the bushes?" Daniel asked. "When did that happen?"
"You tripped while attempting to locate the missing ball," Teal'c explained.
Daniel cocked his head to the side. "I don't ... I don't remember falling."
"What do you remember, Daniel?" Janet asked.
"Um ... Jack tackled me. Again." Daniel shot a disgusted look at Jack, who looked back at him as innocently as he could manage. "He promised to let me tackle him on the next play and then ... nothing. That's it."
"Okay, Daniel. I'm going to have the colonel and Teal'c take you back to the base, all right? I want to run some tests on you, x-rays and possibly a CT scan. Right now, I'm inclined to think that you've just got yourself a concussion, but I want to be safe."
Daniel nodded and leaned back against the tree. "My head hurts," he said.
"I'll bet it does," Janet answered as she stood. "I'll give you something for that when we get to the infirmary. Just stay here with Sam for a minute."
"Okay."
Janet motioned for Jack and Teal'c to follow her, and then she stepped away from Daniel. They stopped after a few feet, and she turned to face them. "If this a head injury, sir, then I'm concerned. The knot behind his ear is proof that he hit his head, but there isn't enough swelling to support this level of confusion and memory loss."
Jack tilted his head in confusion. "So what are you thinking?"
Janet shrugged. "It could be any one of a number of things, sir. What has me the most concerned at the moment is the possibility that the knot is small because he's bleeding intercranially ..."
Jack swallowed. "That doesn't sound good."
Janet shook her head. "It's not, sir. That's why I need him back at the mountain as soon as possible. If he does have a brain bleed, sir, every moment is critical."
"Leave it to us, Doc," Jack said.
"We shall return Daniel Jackson to the SGC immediately."
Janet nodded. "Thank you, sir."
Jack and Teal'c both nodded in acknowledgment and turned to walk back to the tree. Janet turned the other direction and walked over to where the paramedics and police were waiting.
"Upsy-daisy, Daniel," Jack said good-naturedly as he and Teal'c each grabbed one of Daniel's arms. "Back to the mountain with you."
Sam stood and stepped out of the way. Jack and Teal'c pulled Daniel to his feet slowly, and then gave him the few seconds he needed to get steady. Sam stepped up behind him and put her hands on his back, giving him a little extra support as the four of them started walking toward Jack's truck.
"Jack, I don't ... I'm really sorry that I don't ..."
"Don't worry about that right now, Daniel," Jack said. "Let's just get you to the infirmary so the doc can figure out what you've done to that head of yours."
Daniel looked around the park hesitantly. "Hey guys, what ... what are the police doing here?"
Jack and Teal'c looked at each other. Neither of them had thought of what to say to Daniel if he noticed that things weren't quite the way they should be if he'd just hit his head playing football. Sam, however, apparently had thought about it, because she answered him almost immediately.
"That's something completely unrelated to us, Daniel, and you don't need to worry about it at all, okay?"
Daniel looked unsure, but he nodded his head. "I wish I knew why I was so ..."
"So what?" Jack asked.
"I'm just ... I'm dizzy ..."
Anything else that Daniel might have said was cut off by an angry shout from across the park. Jack turned toward the voice and saw Janet having a heated conversation with someone that Jack didn't recognize. Jack tightened his grip on Daniel's arm and moved toward the truck a bit more quickly. Janet's voice, filled with anger, floated over every other sound in the park.
"I know what he is to this investigation, Agent Phillips, but I am responsible for his health. Right now, that takes precedence. He couldn't answer your questions right now anyway, because he doesn't remember anything!"
"Doctor, I understand the gravity of the situation, but certainly you understand that I simply cannot allow ..."
"FBI's here," Jack muttered to Teal'c and Sam. He did his level best to ignore what the man was saying and keep moving, but Daniel had other ideas.
The second he'd heard the FBI agent's voice, he'd stopped dead in his tracks.
"Daniel," Sam said softly. "I told you, you don't need to worry about that right now. We need to get you back to ..."
Without a word, Daniel pulled his arms away from Jack and Teal'c, cut Sam off with a wave of his hand, and started stumbling in the direction of the voice.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" Jack demanded. He ran up to Daniel and grabbed his arm again, stopping his forward progress. "Mountain, Daniel, remember? You hit your head."
"No, Jack, I ..."
"Dr. Daniel Jackson?"
The voice from across the park had obviously gotten past Janet somehow, because the person it belonged to was suddenly standing directly in front of them. Jack watched as all the color drained from Daniel's face. Through his hands on Daniel's arm, he felt the shaking start again. This time was different however, because Daniel's breathing quickened, and he raised his shoulders and lowered his head immediately.
"Dr. Daniel Jackson?" the man said again, a peculiar edge to his voice. "I'm Agent Michael Phillips. I need to see you, Daniel. I need to see you at once."
Jack was not at all happy with the effect this man seemed to be having on Daniel. He started to protest, but he didn't have a chance to even open his mouth before he found his arms full of a suddenly very limp, very unconscious archaeologist.
Daniel had passed out.
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The previous chapter (and all that will follow) can be found here: Suffer the Little Children
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Chapter Two
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Jack kicked the damp ground again; he hated waiting. First, they'd had to wait while Sam returned to her car to retrieve her cellphone. Then they'd had to wait for the police and paramedics. Then they'd had to wait for the coroner to arrive. Then they'd had to wait for the investigators to get there. Now they were waiting for an FBI agent that the police had called to make his appearance. Through it all, they'd been waiting for Daniel to do or say something, anything, to show them that he was still in there somewhere.
They were still waiting.
The constant shaking from earlier had been replaced by an occasional violent shudder, but that was the only outward sign of his condition improving. Jack couldn't tell if that horrified, terrified expression was still in his eyes or not, because he hadn't opened them in an hour. He had stopped the mantra of 'Dead, Jenny's dead,' for which Jack was grateful, but in its place was an eerie and, coming from Daniel, unnatural silence that had Jack more than a bit unnerved.
The paramedics had looked him over for signs of injury and Daniel, in a most un-Daniel-like way, had let them. He hadn't helped them, that much was certain, but he hadn't hindered them either. He simply sat there, leaning against the tree. When they'd removed his jacket to listen to his heart and take his blood pressure, he hadn't fought them. When they'd checked his pulse and cleaned the scratches on his face, he hadn't pulled away from their touch. He'd let them pull him forward and push him back and move his arms around, unresistingly, looking much like a ragdoll.
And through it all, he hadn't said a word. Not since the last time he'd talked to Jack.
Sam was still sitting on the ground at Daniel's side, rubbing his hand and talking to him softly. She'd been beyond upset when they told her what Daniel had found in the bushes, and though she'd long since stopped crying, her eyes were still slightly red and puffy. She was holding it together better than Jack had imagined she would. Maybe her emotions weren't still as raw as Jack had thought them to be. Or maybe she was just holding herself together for Daniel's sake. Jack really didn't know.
But what the hell was going on with Daniel?
He'd seen dead bodies before. He'd seen dead children before. He'd seen entire planets filled with dead bodies; they'd found Cassandra on a planet like that. She'd been the only survivor and had been living for days surrounded by the thousands of corpses of what had once been her family, her friends, and her people. But even though he'd been upset, every time, he'd never reacted like this before. Never.
If he had, Jack would have grounded him planetside without a moment of hesitation.
There had to be something different about this, about this little girl that Daniel had called Jenny. There was something that Jack was missing, and he was determined to find out.
But he had no idea how.
Asking Daniel was useless. At first, Daniel had responded to Jack's questions, even though his answers hadn't really made much sense. It had been the same thing every time. Jack would say his name and Daniel would look up from under his hair, his eyes wide and terrified. Jack would ask a question and Daniel would answer, his voice barely above a whisper and so filled with pain that it almost broke Jack's heart to hear it. From there, it had progressed to Daniel keeping his eyes closed and only answering yes or no questions with hesitant shakes or nods of his head. For the past fifteen minutes, there hadn't been even that much.
Jack had watched, powerless to stop it, as Daniel had slowly and methodically pulled himself back from the world around him and had succeeded in sealing himself off from it. If Daniel was aware of the park or of the people in it, he gave no sign. He didn't seem to hear any of them, not even Jack. Not any more.
Jack replayed in his mind the last bit of conversation they'd had before Daniel had completely closed himself off.
"I need you to talk to me, Daniel."
Daniel nodded, slowly and awkwardly, before shaking his head hesitantly. "I can't."
Jack sighed. "Look, I don't know what's going on, okay? I don't know what's wrong. You've got to tell me. Do you know that little girl?"
"He doesn't know her," Daniel whispered. "But I do."
"Who doesn't know her?"
"He doesn't remember her, but I can't forget." Daniel's voice was fading, growing softer with every word he said.
"Can't forget what, Daniel? Come on, you've got to tell me what you're talking about here."
"He was there," Daniel said so softly that Jack had to strain to hear him. "He saw it. But he doesn't ... he can't ... remember."
"Who saw what?" Jack demanded, growing even more concerned. "Do you know who killed her? Daniel?"
"Don't remember," Daniel whispered. "Just ... forget."
Daniel had closed his eyes then, and Jack hadn't been able to get him to open them again. The last words he'd said still had Jack's mind reeling, and he needed to know what they meant. Daniel hadn't sounded like he was answering Jack's last question; it had sounded like a directive, like a plea.
He'd been begging.
And the entire conversation - the tone of Daniel's voice, the expression on his face, the raised shoulders and hesitant posture - had left Jack with the vague impression not of talking to Dr. Daniel Jackson, thirty-year-old archaeologist, but of talking to a very little boy.
He'd talked to the paramedics a bit after they'd finished checking Daniel's vitals, and they had reassured him that Daniel was just in shock. They'd also said that it was being complicated by his being wet and muddy and that it should start to wear off once he was warm and dry again. It was starting to look like they'd been wrong about that part.
Jack almost wanted to call them back over, but he'd been the one that insisted that the examination had to be as abbreviated as possible. In Daniel's condition and with him rambling on the way he had been, there was no way anyone could guess what would come out of his mouth next. If he started talking about Sha're or Shyla ... that would be bad. Very bad.
The police and paramedics had both wanted Daniel taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. One of the paramedics had gone so far as to insist that Daniel needed an immediate psychiatric evaluation. Jack had pulled out the national security argument and had stopped them in their tracks. There was no way that Daniel was being treated anywhere other than in the SGC's infirmary, or cared for by anyone other than Janet Fraiser. They'd insisted on confirmation, of course, and a quick phone call to General Hammond had taken care of most of their questions. Jack had told Hammond what had happened, and Janet was already on her way to the park.
Teal'c stepped up beside him, and Jack shook his head slowly. "This day officially sucks, Teal'c."
"I do not disagree, O'Neill."
Jack glanced at Sam and Daniel once more. "He's not doing very well with this."
"I believe that to be a statement of a lesser importance than facts would support."
Jack couldn't help but smile slightly. "An understatement. And yes, Teal'c, you're right. It is. But I don't know how else to describe it. Hell, I can't even explain what's going on with him, let alone understand why it's happening."
"Daniel Jackson is a highly sensitive individual."
Jack nodded in agreement. "Yes, he is. But I think there's more to it than that, Teal'c. Much more."
Teal'c turned toward Daniel then, but he spoke to Jack. "You believe that he was acquainted with this child?"
Jack shrugged. "I don't know, but he sure thinks he was. He seems to know her name, at any rate."
"His silence causes me great concern."
"Yeah, me too," Jack answered. "But I have to tell you, Teal'c, I almost prefer it to what he was saying before."
Teal'c kept his gaze locked on Daniel, and Jack recognized the concern in those brown eyes.
"Never have I known Daniel Jackson to seem so ...'
"Young?" Jack asked.
Teal'c nodded. "Yes, O'Neill. I believe that to be a perfect description."
Jack sighed and rubbed his eyes. "God, I'm getting too old for this crap."
Jack heard another car pull up, but he ignored it. People had been coming and going all morning and he had long since stopped craning his head to monitor every arrival.
Sam was still watching, however, and she saw who had arrived. She raised herself onto her knees, rubbed Daniel's forearm gently, and said to him, "Daniel, Janet's here."
Jack spun around just as Janet reached his side, carrying her black medical bag in her hand.
"Colonel, General Hammond sent me," she said without stopping. Jack fell into step beside her and Teal'c followed them. "What can you tell me, sir? What happened?"
"Well, Doc, to be completely honest ... I have no idea. He tripped into the bush and he found a ... well ... he found this little girl there, dead. And now ..." Jack gestured toward Daniel as they reached his side.
Janet knelt down beside him and opened her bag. "Has he been like this the entire time? Non-responsive?"
Jack shook his head. "Not the whole time, no. He was talking to us at first. Well ... sort of. He didn't make much sense."
"Daniel?" Janet said softly. "Daniel, it's Janet. I'm just going to take a look at you, all right? I need to see if you're hurt." She inspected his face for a moment and then turned to Jack.
"Where'd he get these scratches, Colonel?"
Jack's head snapped up. "Um ... from the bush, I think. He fell."
"Did he hit his head?"
Jack thought for a moment and then shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't see him fall. The paramedics said he was just in shock."
Janet shook her head, half in anger and half in frustration. "No, Colonel, I don't think that's all." She turned her attention back to Daniel again. "Daniel? Can you lean forward for me so I can check the back of your head?"
"Doc, he's not ...," Jack began. "I don't think he can hear you."
"Jack?"
The voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but it was definitely Daniel. Jack looked down at him in surprise, and was mildly relieved to see Daniel's face was no longer dominated by the slack, empty expression that it had been wearing for the past half hour. Rather, his forehead was crinkled and his eyes were moving around beneath his eyelids.
"Daniel!" Sam called out. "So you are in there."
"What?" Daniel asked. His eyes opened then, slowly, and he blinked twice. Jack thought he looked confused, but no longer scared, and that had to be a good sign.
Daniel's eyes moved from person to person, Janet and Sam kneeling beside him and Teal'c and Jack standing at his feet, and his eyebrows lowered even further. "What happened?"
Janet finished her cursory examination of the back of Daniel's head, and she pulled her gloves off with a snap. "You hit your head when you fell, Daniel. You've got a rather large knot behind your ear."
Daniel looked up at Jack with a small smile. "Teal'c told you to quit attacking me."
"What?" Janet demanded.
"Hey! I wasn't ... I was tackling him, Doc! We were playing football." Sam giggled and Teal'c inclined his head in amusement. "And besides," Jack continued, "he was fine until he fell into the bushes."
"I fell into the bushes?" Daniel asked. "When did that happen?"
"You tripped while attempting to locate the missing ball," Teal'c explained.
Daniel cocked his head to the side. "I don't ... I don't remember falling."
"What do you remember, Daniel?" Janet asked.
"Um ... Jack tackled me. Again." Daniel shot a disgusted look at Jack, who looked back at him as innocently as he could manage. "He promised to let me tackle him on the next play and then ... nothing. That's it."
"Okay, Daniel. I'm going to have the colonel and Teal'c take you back to the base, all right? I want to run some tests on you, x-rays and possibly a CT scan. Right now, I'm inclined to think that you've just got yourself a concussion, but I want to be safe."
Daniel nodded and leaned back against the tree. "My head hurts," he said.
"I'll bet it does," Janet answered as she stood. "I'll give you something for that when we get to the infirmary. Just stay here with Sam for a minute."
"Okay."
Janet motioned for Jack and Teal'c to follow her, and then she stepped away from Daniel. They stopped after a few feet, and she turned to face them. "If this a head injury, sir, then I'm concerned. The knot behind his ear is proof that he hit his head, but there isn't enough swelling to support this level of confusion and memory loss."
Jack tilted his head in confusion. "So what are you thinking?"
Janet shrugged. "It could be any one of a number of things, sir. What has me the most concerned at the moment is the possibility that the knot is small because he's bleeding intercranially ..."
Jack swallowed. "That doesn't sound good."
Janet shook her head. "It's not, sir. That's why I need him back at the mountain as soon as possible. If he does have a brain bleed, sir, every moment is critical."
"Leave it to us, Doc," Jack said.
"We shall return Daniel Jackson to the SGC immediately."
Janet nodded. "Thank you, sir."
Jack and Teal'c both nodded in acknowledgment and turned to walk back to the tree. Janet turned the other direction and walked over to where the paramedics and police were waiting.
"Upsy-daisy, Daniel," Jack said good-naturedly as he and Teal'c each grabbed one of Daniel's arms. "Back to the mountain with you."
Sam stood and stepped out of the way. Jack and Teal'c pulled Daniel to his feet slowly, and then gave him the few seconds he needed to get steady. Sam stepped up behind him and put her hands on his back, giving him a little extra support as the four of them started walking toward Jack's truck.
"Jack, I don't ... I'm really sorry that I don't ..."
"Don't worry about that right now, Daniel," Jack said. "Let's just get you to the infirmary so the doc can figure out what you've done to that head of yours."
Daniel looked around the park hesitantly. "Hey guys, what ... what are the police doing here?"
Jack and Teal'c looked at each other. Neither of them had thought of what to say to Daniel if he noticed that things weren't quite the way they should be if he'd just hit his head playing football. Sam, however, apparently had thought about it, because she answered him almost immediately.
"That's something completely unrelated to us, Daniel, and you don't need to worry about it at all, okay?"
Daniel looked unsure, but he nodded his head. "I wish I knew why I was so ..."
"So what?" Jack asked.
"I'm just ... I'm dizzy ..."
Anything else that Daniel might have said was cut off by an angry shout from across the park. Jack turned toward the voice and saw Janet having a heated conversation with someone that Jack didn't recognize. Jack tightened his grip on Daniel's arm and moved toward the truck a bit more quickly. Janet's voice, filled with anger, floated over every other sound in the park.
"I know what he is to this investigation, Agent Phillips, but I am responsible for his health. Right now, that takes precedence. He couldn't answer your questions right now anyway, because he doesn't remember anything!"
"Doctor, I understand the gravity of the situation, but certainly you understand that I simply cannot allow ..."
"FBI's here," Jack muttered to Teal'c and Sam. He did his level best to ignore what the man was saying and keep moving, but Daniel had other ideas.
The second he'd heard the FBI agent's voice, he'd stopped dead in his tracks.
"Daniel," Sam said softly. "I told you, you don't need to worry about that right now. We need to get you back to ..."
Without a word, Daniel pulled his arms away from Jack and Teal'c, cut Sam off with a wave of his hand, and started stumbling in the direction of the voice.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" Jack demanded. He ran up to Daniel and grabbed his arm again, stopping his forward progress. "Mountain, Daniel, remember? You hit your head."
"No, Jack, I ..."
"Dr. Daniel Jackson?"
The voice from across the park had obviously gotten past Janet somehow, because the person it belonged to was suddenly standing directly in front of them. Jack watched as all the color drained from Daniel's face. Through his hands on Daniel's arm, he felt the shaking start again. This time was different however, because Daniel's breathing quickened, and he raised his shoulders and lowered his head immediately.
"Dr. Daniel Jackson?" the man said again, a peculiar edge to his voice. "I'm Agent Michael Phillips. I need to see you, Daniel. I need to see you at once."
Jack was not at all happy with the effect this man seemed to be having on Daniel. He started to protest, but he didn't have a chance to even open his mouth before he found his arms full of a suddenly very limp, very unconscious archaeologist.
Daniel had passed out.
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