DOPPLEGANGER
by: PhoenixE
Feedback to: phoenix@prairie.ca

*****

DISCLAIMER: All characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp.
and Double Secret Productions.  This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no
money was made from it.  Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended.  Any
similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.

*****

There was something definitely screwy with Daniel. Maybe it was simply a case of 'once a
wingnut, always a wingnut' but this was right off the wall, even for SG-1's resident - flake.

Okay, it was strange enough that the guy had already polished off half a dozen beers and he was
not only still standing, but also showing no apparent neurological impairments, but this - was
definitely pushing the envelope.

Jack shifted uncomfortably on the couch, trying not to stare at his companion. Who had better
than half the contents of Jack's fridge arranged on the coffee table before him and appeared to
be attempting to work his way though the buffet in a fairly systematic fashion.

Not a truly dedicated consume-everything-in-sight type of binge - no that wasn't it. It was
more like - sampling. He would take a bite of this, a spoonful of that, consider it, then move
onto something else. When he wasn't just touching it - seemingly as fascinated with what it
felt like as what it tasted like.

Geez, the way he was carrying on you'd think the guy had never EATEN before.

As if he could read his mind Daniel suddenly turned to him, grinned widely and attempted to
speak around the obstruction of his latest mouthful.

"This is really GOOD! What's it called again?"

"Uh - mayonnaise, Daniel. And you're actually supposed to - put it on something. Like bread,
With a knife. You know - condiment? Not - out of the jar with a spoon." Jack shuddered. " Oh -
oh - stop that. Just - stop. You're grossing me out, already! That's - disgusting!"

Daniel froze, his eyes widening. Hastily he swallowed, and put down the spoon and the jar of
mayonnaise. 'I'm sorry, Jack," he said quickly. "You're right of course. This is very silly of
me. Not the proper way to act at all. I apologize for upsetting you"

Okay - that was it. This had to be some sort of elaborate practical joke. Daniel was having him
on big time. Getting back at him for what had happened on the mission. That had to be what it
was. Had to be.

Something had been bothering Daniel when they went through the gate this morning to P3S-354. He
had been acting antsy all through the pre-mission brief and as they had been drawing their
equipment. His behaviour hadn't improved once they hit the other side.

Mind you, Daniel had been a bit 'off' for the last couple of months. Ever since that business
with Xi'a. He'd come back from it and all, but the incident had left some effects that were at
times, a little wearing on the nerves.

Daniel had picked up a case of the heebie jeebies that was making each trip through the gate a
rather trying exercise in 'by the pricking of my thumbs.' He just had this 'feeling' he
'couldn't explain' - that 'something' was about to happen. Almost all the time now.

What was really annoying is that nine times out of ten - he had been right. This whatever-it-
was had saved their butts more than a couple of times but what it was doing to Daniel almost
didn't make it worth it.

Daniel had dutifully gone for his little chats with Doctor McKenzie which had resulted in the
good Doc pronouncing him - a little fatalistic but otherwise fine, and Jack had to concede that
as much as it bugged him, Daniel's propensity to skittishness wasn't an impediment to his
performance in the field and actually had become - more than a bit of a useful tool. Still,
Jack hated to watch his friend go through it, and if it was up to him, he'd find some way to
make it go away. Jack fervently hoped that the Doc was right - this was just a phase Daniel was
going through and it would pass.

God, he hoped so but if THIS was what was replacing it..

The jaunt to P3S-354 had been - weird. They had sent the MALP through 24 hours ago and the
video it sent back had promptly sent Carter into paroxysms of scientific ecstasy. The gate on
P3S-354 resided in futuristic looking building that was loaded with all sorts of - stuff.
Technical stuff. Stuff that made Carter pretty happy anyway.

The site appeared to be abandoned, but to be on the safe way they had left the MALP there with
the camera set to go on if something tripped the motion detector. When they had checked it the
next day it had not moved, been interfered with in any way, nor was there any evidence of
movement or activity in the building.

So they had pronounced the place deserted and decided to go for a look-see.

It was very plain from the way he had been fidgeting during the brief that Daniel wasn't too
keen on going. He didn't try to get out of it or anything, it wasn't anything he said, and when
Jack had leaned over and asked him if everything was okay he had whipped his head around, a
tight-lipped smile on his face, jabbed his glasses back up on his nose with his index finger
and simply said, "Fine. Fine. I'm fine."

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

As Carter and Teal'c fanned out, starting to give the place the once over Daniel had been
sticking pretty close to him, vibrating like a plucked string. For some reason, having him
there like that - bugged him. He didn't know why, it just did.

It kept on bugging him as he made his way around, Daniel still hovering and vibrating. Jack
resisted the urge to smack him as he moved along what looked like a wall full of computer -
thingees, Daniel trailing just behind him, darting his eyes about with a furtive, slightly
hunted expression on his face.

After about ten minutes of this Jack couldn't help it. He braked and spun so abruptly Daniel
bumped into him and then swiftly retreated, backing off in embarrassed haste.

"What?" Jack demanded testily. "What is it now?"

Daniel's head came up, chin jutting out defiantly. Behind his glasses his eyes narrowed, but
not quite enough to conceal the hurt expression in them.

"Nothing." He said in a voice as shuttered as his expression. "Nothing at all. Pardon me for
bothering you."

He stalked away in a cloud of offended dignity. Jack watched Daniel's stiff-backed progress
feeling an overwhelming desire to pull chunks of hair out of his head.

Which was fairly interesting, because he couldn't for the life of him figure out where all the
anger was coming from and why it should be so specifically directed at Daniel.

Maybe he should find out if there was something funny going on here..

Keeping one eye on Daniel, who was engaged in a rapt study of the items on a small table in the
centre of the room, his back to the man who was watching him while trying not to look like he
was, Jack crossed over to Carter. She was engrossed in examining a pedestal-like structure that
looked as if it was some sort of control console. She looked up to acknowledge him as he
reached her.

"So how's it going, Captain?"

Her face was shining with her excitement," Sir, this place is absolutely amazing. I - I can't
even BEGIN to speculate on the function of most of what I have seen here. It might take - years
to evaluate all of this equipment. Sir, this very well could be THE technological find we have
been looking for."

"Ya think?" Jack gave her a 'very impressive' nod. "Well, that's fine, Captain. Sounds good.
Listen, ah, what about the place here? What kinda readings are you getting? Everything clean?
No - funny stuff? Oh I dunno, strange radiation or emissions or anything along those lines?
Pixie dust? Laughing gas?"

She gave him a puzzled look before replying. "No sir, nothing like that. I would have reported
any dangerous or anomalous readings immediately. Why do you ask?"

"Just - procedure. And yes, I know you would have informed me immediately if there had been -
anything - like that - to inform me of. Good job. Carry on. I'll just be - over there. If
anybody needs me..."

Good one, O'Neill. Next time see if you can sound any more like a goon.

He smiled crookedly at Carter and ambled away in the general direction of Daniel, rubbing the
back of his neck with a rueful hand. No outside explanation for his outburst existed. That only
left one other possibility.

He was letting Daniel get under his skin again. Over reacting. Again. Best bite the bullet and
mend the fence.

His transit across the room was arrested by the beeping of one of Carter's instruments.

"Ah, Colonel," she began. "I might have been a little premature in my previous statement."

Jack swung around to look at her. "Meaning?"

"I don't understand why, but all of a sudden, the radiation level in the room is rapidly
rising." She frowned at the instrument as if she did not believe what she was seeing. "It's
going off the scale, sir. Well past safe levels. Colonel, this entire complex is being flooded
with high intensity gamma radiation. We can't stay here, sir."

The words flew out of him before he even knew what he was saying.

"For crying out loud Daniel, what did you touch?"

What the - where the HELL had that come from? He could feel Sam and Teal'c's eyes upon him, no
doubt wondering, as he was, if he had lost his mind.

The man accused snapped around to face him, visibly bristling as he started to stride toward
him. "Nothing. I didn't touch anything. Whenever anything goes wrong, why do you always ASSUME
it's my fault?"

Even though Jack tried to stop it, it still came out. Like something inside him was
deliberately trying to provoke Daniel. And doing a damned fine job of it.

"That's because it usually is."

Daniel halted in mid-stride, a stunned expression on his face. His mouth gaped open, then began
working with the force of his anger. At first only a few strangled sounds came out, and then he
shook his head and waved Jack away as he started walking again, past him without looking,
heading towards the others.

"I don't have to take this," he muttered. "Screw you, Colonel, sir."

Crap. He hadn't meant to say any of that. And yet, he couldn't seem to help himself. He didn't
care what Sam said; there was something weird going on here. Radiation or no, they were getting
the hell out of this place. Now!

"Just dial it up, Daniel," he said in a low voice as he started to walk after him.

Daniel stood in front of the DHD, his arms folded across his chest, a very stubborn look on his
face.

"I can't." he said in a decidedly petulant voice.

"What do you mean - you CAN'T?" Oh boy, it was happening again.

"Because, then I would have to TOUCH something. Apparently I'm not allowed to do that."

Daniel continued to stand there, staring at him, his jaw set, lips tight, eyes staring daggers,
looking for all the world like a kid about to hold his breath till he turned blue.

Daniel's resemblance to a petulant twelve-year-old was at complete odds with his
confrontational glare and stance. He just looked so - cute. Jack closed his eyes, lowered his
head, biting his lip to bite back an almost uncontrollable urge - to laugh.

"Oh for crying out loud!"

That was Carter, using one of his most favorite expressions in a very disgusted voice as she
crossed quickly to the DHD and input the destination chevrons.

"With all due respect, sir, could you two settle this on your own time? We hang around here
much longer and we are going to get fried."

Jack found he couldn't reply. The urge to laugh was getting too strong. But he didn't dare give
into it. He'd already done enough damage. If he laughed at Daniel right now, there was a very
good chance he wouldn't be forgiven for a long time.

Carter and Teal'c were already heading for the gate. She had tried to get Daniel to follow her,
but he had shrugged off her arm and refused to move. He still stood there, glaring at Jack as
he approached.

Jack was shaking with the effort of suppressing his laughter as he grabbed Daniel by the arm
and hauled him after him toward the gate.

Come on," he snickered. "Let's get the hell out of this place. You can punch me out when we get
home. Promise."

They had almost reached the event horizon when Daniel suddenly pulled his arm out of Jack's
clasp and took a step back.

"Damn - forgot my pack. Left it by the DHD. I'll just go and get it."

Jack halted, intending to wait for him, but Daniel had other plans. A sudden shove sent him
flying into the event horizon. Homeward bound.

By the time he emerged in the gate room he was almost prostrate with laughter.

It took a couple of minutes for him to get a hold of himself. He was well aware that he was
getting more than a couple of strange looks from his teammates.

"Sir, " Carter said, with an edge to her voice. "Where's Daniel?"

"He's right behind me. He had to go back for his pack."

They turned and looked at the shimmering event horizon. Nothing happened.

Nothing happened for some more.

After five minutes of this, Jack found himself getting more than a bit concerned.

Just as he was about to hit panic mode and get them to redial P3S-354 Daniel came bounding
through the event horizon, pack in hand.

Well, he had been mad, amused and worried all in a row. Now all he was - was relieved.

Daniel bounced down the ramp toward him, an enormous smile on his face. It there was any
residual annoyed-ness in him over what had just gone down across the universe, you sure
couldn't tell from looking at him.

"What took you so long?" he began as Daniel reached him. "We were starting to get a little
worried."

Daniel put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with earnest eyes. "I just want to say how
sorry I am Jack. I wish to make up. I don't like fighting with you. It upsets me very much. So,
I wish to tell you that I am not offended by what was said, and that it is forgotten."

With that he smiled, squeezed Jack's shoulder warmly, and walked away, towards the opening
blast doors.

Jack gaped at him for a moment, and then looked at Sam and Teal'c. Who had been doing a fair
bit of gaping themselves.

"Uh, I probably shouldn't be complaining, but will somebody explain something to me? What - was
THAT?"

Sam shrugged. "Got me, Sir."

"I am equally unable to explain DanielJackson's behaviour. Or your own, for that matter."

Would have to bring that up, huh, Teal'c.

It wasn't till much later that Jack was to remember that Daniel hadn't answered his question..

*****

[Presence of life forms detected in specimen collection area. Scan and identify.]

// That voice. Dead. Metallic. Inhuman. He had heard it before. Heard it say those words.. //

[Target species detected. Initiating specimen collection program.]

// Dreaming. He was dreaming again. The same dream. The one he had been trying to remember. //

[Scanning life forms to select optimum specimen for collection.]

// He was standing in a huge room, filled with the strange, vaguely menacing machinery and the
eerie, faceless beings. Black, blank identical figures were standing around a huge console in
the centre of the room, touching parts of it that blinked with soft lights and arcane symbols.
A huge globe of diffused light hovered several feet in the air above the console. There was a
picture in the light. A large, alien room that held more equipment and machines that looked
somewhat like the devices around him. And Stargate. Four people emerged from the active event
horizon. People with faces. Very familiar faces. //

[Compatible specimen detected. High receptivity to telepathic stimulus suggests previous
conditioning or exposure. Maximum compatibility with patterning protocols confirmed. Initiating
isolation program.]

// The people in the room had been walking around, investigating, but now were starting to move
back toward the Stargate. They were leaving. Going away. The woman activated the gate, and
walked through the event horizon with the dark man. Something bad was about to happen. He had
to warn them. He had to say something before they were gone. Before they all were gone.. //

[Activating Probe. Initiating patterning program. Initiating specimen collection sequence.
Activating.]

// The other two men were approaching the Stargate. Wait, they were stopping. No - don't stop!
Keep going! This is where it starts getting bad..

Alone. The last man was alone. It was happening. Oh God. //

[Specimen acquired. Probe patterned and launched. Target species evaluation program on line and
functioning. Encoding of specimen's physical and mental/experiential source data commencing.
Construction of baseline database commencing. Specimen termination and disposal program on
standby. Program to be activated automatically upon successful encoding of all data.]

// Don't be afraid. It's only a dream. Dreams aren't real, they can't hurt you. Mommy used to
say that. Dreams can't hurt. All you have to do is wake up, Danny..

PAIN! Shattering, screaming, hot fire coursing through him... godgodgod hurts so much too real
only a dream wake up now please. //

Sam stomped down the corridor, a seething mass of angry, frustrated astrophysicist. Damn damn
damn DAMN! Why did this always happen? They hit the jackpot again, only to have it - snatched
away. Again! This was - what? The third time this year? The key to the secrets dies, the damn
place blows up and now - well this was the best one yet.

They had tried to redial P3C-354 hoping to find out from the MALP whether or not the radiation
levels were still rising or if they had leveled off. There was always the hope they could go
through with suits and attempt some sort of salvage operation. But - no.

The signals they sent to the MALP kept bouncing back, as if they were being deflected by some
sort of barrier. Which could only mean that the destination wormhole was now sealed by
something akin to their iris. Effectively locking them out. Damn.

This new obstacle to her plans must have been part of some automatic defense program that they
had unwittingly triggered somehow. Along with the radiation that had made them clear out in the
first place. Well, guess they should be grateful that it had let them get out of there before
locking the place down. Damn. Wasn't this just - peachy.

Well, now that the post-mortems were completed all she wanted was to find something to do that
would - get her mind off all of this. Damn. Where was a punching bag when you needed one?

She rounded the bend in the corridor and stopped dead. Daniel was standing there, about fifty
feet further down the same corridor, leaning up against the wall, looking extremely attractive
in his civvies. A fact which did not appear to be lost on the woman who was standing in front
of him. Hell, almost on top of him. Whoa!

She recognized the woman right away. Willis. One of the newer techs assigned to the
Astrophysics section. She hadn't been here very long, but had already risen high in the ranks
as one of the more persistent hunter-gatherers stalking the elusive and oblivious Daniel.

Bless him, on any given day he had a pack of panting females sniffing around him and he was
completely unaware of it. It was usually quite funny to watch but what she was seeing right now
wasn't particularly amusing.

Not only was Daniel not looking so oblivious, he was also clearly not running. Nor did he
appear to be in the slightest bit perturbed by the overwhelming indications he was about to get
- gathered.

Almost on cue Willis reached out, grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him down into a
blistering kiss. Sam's eyes widened with disbelief as he avidly responded, pulling her to him
firmly, kissing her back with an enthusiasm that made Sam slightly nauseous.

Deciding she had already seen way more than she ever cared to, she was about to back away down
the way she had come when suddenly Daniel put his hands on Willis's shoulders and pushed her
away. He shook his head and started to walk away from Willis, toward her. The woman suddenly
scorned had a rather ugly look on her face and was about to come after him, possibly to debate
the issue a little further, but then she saw that they were not alone.

One sight of Captain Carter and she turned tail and ran. Good thing too. Sam made a mental note
to have a talk with the Lieutenant about her on duty conduct at the first possible opportunity.

But now, she had to figure out a way to deal with the man walking toward her. A big smile on
his face as if knowing she had seen what she had just seen did not bother him in the slightest.

"Samantha!" Daniel's voice was as clear of shame or guile as his face. His blue eyes sparkled
with genuine affection as he reached her side. She suddenly felt very confused.

"Samantha. I've always been very fond of the name Samantha. Such a lovely name. So lyrical.
It's Aramaic. Means 'The Listener.' Did you know that?"

Mesmerized by the strange light in his eyes, Sam shook her head.

"The Listener." Daniel continued softly. "It's very appropriate, don't you think? Much more
suitable for someone with a heart as compassionate and understanding as yours. I've always
thought it was a shame you prefer to be addressed by the diminutive. Sam is so harsh. So -
unlike you. I've never told you that, have I? There are a lot of things I've never told you."

Sam realized he was stroking her cheek with the lightest of touches. Those eyes - my god, you
could drown in them.

"I'm very fond of you, Samantha."

// Oh no Daniel please don't do this... not this. //

"I've never told you that either. I should have. You've been such a good friend. You've helped
me far more than you could ever know. You deserve to know you are appreciated. That your
friendship is appreciated. It is, I assure you."

// Friend. He said friend. Thank god he said friend. I - I think. //

"I appreciate you too, Daniel."

Wow! That was her voice. She actually managed to say something. Maybe she should have just kept
quiet because the look of genuine happiness on his face was starting to make her a little weak
in the knees.

"Do you? That means a lot. It really does. I'm grateful. I haven't had many friends in my life.
That makes the ones I have now even more special."

Suddenly his eyes grew distant, pensive, releasing her from their spell. She heaved a grateful
sigh.

"It does mean a lot," he murmured. "I'm beginning to understand."

"Daniel? Are you okay?"

He nodded shifting his focus back to her. His face wore a deeply puzzled look, as if he was
struggling with something. Looking to her for explanations or answers.

"Kissing that woman was very stimulating," he began. "She wanted me to kiss her. But - I
wouldn't do that, would I? It wouldn't be right."

She had no idea what was going on now. Safest to just - go along.

"No Daniel, you wouldn't."

"Doing the right thing is very important to me, isn't it?"

"Daniel, are you sure you're okay? You don't usually - talk like this."

He smiled kindly at her again. "Maybe it's time I started. Thank you, Samantha."

Before she knew what was happening he leaned down, kissed her softly on the cheek and then
moved past her, walking quickly away down the corridor.

Finally released from the mesmerism of his presence, Sam collapsed against the wall. She needed
it to hold her up. Needed it for several long minutes while she just stood there and trembled,
caught in a strange mixture of fear, confusion and regret. As soon as the trembling stopped and
her legs would work again she went to find the Colonel.

By the time Sam found him Teal'c had already come to him with a very similar tale of having
just had an extremely uncharacteristic conversation with Daniel. Teal'c had been unwilling to
divulge the contents of that conversation, but the fact that he was disturbed enough by it to
report it to him was indication enough that there was a problem.

Sam was equally evasive when it came to spelling out just what had gone down. It was almost as
if they were both torn between needing to do the right thing, and wanting to protect the man
they were concerned about. It was damned peculiar.

After assuring both of them he would get to the bottom of it, Jack set out to find the object
of all this concern. Whatever it was, he was hoping they could straighten it out without
involving anyone else. Daniel had been scrutinized, poked, prodded and evaluated quite enough
these past few months. The last thing he needed was the pall of another 'evaluation' hanging
over him again.

Stress. That's all it was. Had to be. He'd find Daniel, they'd kick back, have a little chat,
clear the air, get it all out. Nothing they hadn't had to do before. They had all been turned
loose for the weekend, so he had plenty of time to make Daniel come clean. If that was how long
it took, that would be how long it took.

Hey, what are friends for?

On a hunch he decided to save himself some steps and check with the security desk. Yup, the
bird had flown. No problem. Had a feeling he knew where Daniel was going. Best get there so as
to not keep him waiting too long.

It didn't take a major expenditure of mental energy to work it out. If Sam and Teal'c were
anything to go by, it seemed that Daniel was working his way down the list. Only one name left
on it. Saving the best for last? Or avoiding the worst till the end?

Sure enough, Daniel had been waiting for him when he got home. And then had promptly taken him
on a trip through the looking glass.

Nothing Sam and Teal'c had said to him had in any way prepared him for his evening with the
Mayonnaise Kid. Daniel hadn't done a lot of talking at first. He had been too busy roaming all
over the house - touching stuff. Like a little kid on his first visit to Disneyland. When the
conversation finally came it had been a lot of "hey Jack, remember when we," or "what about the
time when," or "how about this, I really enjoyed this."

While following along on this trip down memory lane Jack was stunned to realize how many things
he possessed had direct associations - with Daniel. He had never, ever seen this before. How -
connected his life had become with this man. There were pieces of him all over the place.

Suddenly, that scared him. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't have time for it at the moment.
This wasn't about him.

After the guided tour they had segued into adventures in dubious gastronomy, and now here they
were, trading glances over the mayonnaise. Daniel had this very strange look in his eyes. Jack
felt himself starting to sweat.

"There are a lot of things I have never told you, Jack. I don't know why. I don't understand a
lot of the things I do. A lot of the things I don't allow myself to do or say. Why do I feel
these things, and not share them? It doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make me happy to keep
them to myself. I'm sure I'd be a lot happier if some of my questions were answered."

// Ohhhh crap. //

// .pain gone. finally.. awake, but still in the nightmare. Can't move. Cold. So cold.
Everything hurts.. Where.. Open eyes. so hard... hurts..

The room. In the dream. Not a dream. Real! God. I'm really here. Awake - not dreaming. Can't
move. Why? So cold.. Clothes? Where? Lying on something... some kind of table. no clothes. Over
head...lights... some kind of device.don't like the looks of it it's coming down - toward
me..,. ohhh - this can't be good. saw it before - and then the pain. no - not again! Have to
get out of here! Have to get off this table! Shit! Can't - can't move. Can't get away! What's
that - oh shit. Those - things are here too. Coming back. I think I'm in big trouble, Jack.
Hope you guys are on your way back for me...please god come back for me Jack.

NO! Not again... ahhhh hurts so much why are you doing this - stop it! Please ... no more
pain.. //

*****

// "You can punch me out when we get back home. Promise."

Ah Jack, like that would have made it all better..

I was so angry at you, Jack. I didn't need to hear those things from you. I was only trying to
remember. I was scared. Didn't know why. Wasn't trying to be a pain. Just trying to figure out
what was wrong.

I didn't mean to be a bother. I never mean to be a bother. Always seem to be one though, huh?
Well, looks like I won't have to worry about being a bother much longer...

If only the last words that passed between us hadn't been harsh ones. Wish I could take them
back. If only my last act hadn't been - to shove you away. Change that too, if I could. Too
late now. If you were coming back for me, you'd be here by now. You're not coming. I'm on my
own. I'm going to die here. alone.

I know why now. It's all starting to come back to me. It's okay; I don't blame you for leaving
me behind. It's not your fault. You don't know..

I remember it all now. Those black things - in the gate room. Coming out of nowhere. All of a
sudden they were just - there. A bunch of faceless, black figures that looked like store
mannequins except I've never in my life seen a store mannequin that could move around, paralyze
me and make me feel so much pain..

One of them grabbed my face. I thought I was going to pass out when it touched me. Thought I
was seeing things it hurt so bad because all of a sudden I wasn't looking into my face
reflected back at me in the black surface of the thing - I was looking at my face. Literally.

I was beside myself. Hey Jack, I made a joke! Jesus. Wasn't laughing then. Come to think of it,
not a lot to crack me up here now.

It was me. Right down to the nick under my chin where I cut myself shaving this morning. By the
time it let me go I was starting to pass out from the pain. Last thing I remember is watching
myself go through the Stargate. Then I woke up here.

Oh god, whatever happened to 'ignorance is bliss?" Why did I have to remember all that? What
good does it do me to remember watching some - thing take my place? Stealing my life. Sealing
my fate..

What good does it do to remember that I was - left behind? As far as Jack and the others are
concerned, I'm home, safe and sound. They won't be looking for me, because they don't even know
I'm lost. There's a wolf in the fold wearing my face, and they don't even know it. I know it,
but I can't tell them. Can't warn them that they're in danger. From - me..

Are they safe? What's going on? What does it want? Why is it there? What does it intend to do?
God, I wish I knew. Wish there was something I could do.

I've tried everything. Struggling, calling out to the mannequins to let me go until I lost my
voice, struggling some more. Pointless. All pointless. Struggling is pointless. Can't break
free from this table, trying to communicate with these things is a waste of time. I'm just a
thing to them. Something for them to do whatever they please to whenever they please. For as
long as they feel like it. Powerless. Completely powerless. Can't free myself. Can't warn my
friends. Can't do anything.

Can't move. Can't escape. Can't even wipe my eyes. Shit. Stop it. This isn't helping. Have to
think. Have to get out of this. Too much at stake to give up. Don't even know how much time I
have before they - finish it.

Just don't hurt my friends. please. //



"Teal'c, I need you to help me understand why I don't hate you."

The Jaffa raised his head and looked across at the man who was sitting cross-legged on the
floor in front of him. The soft, flickering candlelight played across his features, softening
them, adding a strange, otherworldly dimension to an expression that was already, troubling.

" I do not understand what you wish to know, DanielJackson."

"We are friends, are we not, Teal'c?" The blue eyes bored into him, seeking - something. For
just an instant they were the eyes of a stranger.

"We are."

"That should not be."

"Perhaps, it would not be possible. With a lesser soul. You are a very unique man,
DanielJackson. To be able to forgive as you have done is not common."

The man before him nodded thoughtfully. "Forgiveness. Yes. That is what I wish to understand.
It is a difficult concept. So highly thought of, and yet so seldom embraced or embodied. More
of an ideal than an actual practice."

"Not in you."

"So it would seem." DanielJackson suddenly tilted his head slightly as a warm smile spread
across his face. 'I do forgive you, have forgiven you. A long time ago. You were the man who
offered my wife up to the thing that stole her from me, and yet, I forgave you. I forgave you.
I've never told you why, have I Teal'c?"

The eyes upon him held him and terrified him. The Jaffa who had been the First Prime of
Apophis, who had faced without flinching countless dangers on a hundred different worlds and
dared to oppose the System Lords themselves suddenly felt a fear he had never known. He would
have given anything to be able to look away.

But he could not. He had no choice but to accept the regard of the man before him, and listen
to his words.

"I had no choice, Teal'c." Daniel's smile was the brightest light in the room. "I tried to hate
you. I needed to hate someone for taking Sha'uri from me and you were there. You would have
thought hating you would have been a very easy thing to do.

"But I couldn't. I saw what you were. You didn't deserve it. It wasn't possible to hate someone
as honest and honourable as you are. Doing that would have been as much an insult to Sha'uri as
it was to you."

"I do not deserve these words from you. You do not know - what I have done."

"Teal'c you are the most honourable man that I have ever met. The honesty, courage and valour
that you embody didn't come out of nowhere. Those qualities were always there within you, and
they expressed themselves constantly in everything you did by virtue of the fact that they were
a part of you. They were there even when you were forced by circumstances to perform acts that
shamed you.

"When I defended you in the Cor-Ai I meant everything I said. Those weren't just cleverly
constructed arguments, spoken merely in an attempt to influence the decision. They were the
truth.

"Don't you see - the true measure of anything that is done lies in the intention behind it.
What is in the heart determines what is good or evil, not what the hand performs, even in
service of another. Your heart was pure. There was no true will to harm within it even as you
were forced to commit harmful acts. There were even times, by your own admission, that you
placed yourself in danger trying to mitigate the evil acts you were forced to carry out at the
behest of the man who controlled your fate. When your heart demanded that you resist in the
small ways that made a difference. Hanno's father was one of those ways in which good came of
harm. Because of the choice you made. To do - good!

"How could I hate a man who was so strongly principled? So obviously noble, brave and caring?
How could I not want such a man for a friend? And what can I give him now, except my thanks for
being my friend."

Teal'c looked down at the hands that were folded in his lap. Hands that had hurt. Hands that
had killed. Hands that were soaked in the blood of countless innocents. This was the first time
he had looked at those hands - and been unable to see it.

As if he was able to read his thought, DanielJackson's soft voice reached out to him again.
"Forgiveness is not an easy thing, is it my friend? Especially when the one it requires you to
forgive is - yourself."

"I would be no less brave in this than the one who has shown me the way."

He was puzzled to see DanielJackson suddenly close his eyes as if he was in pain. "Oh Teal'c
you have no idea what you are saying," he murmured softly. "I am not at all what you think I
am. I only wish I really was the man you value."

DanielJackson opened his eyes and looked at him searchingly, with deep sorrow and regret in his
expression. "Good bye, my friend. I pray you will remember me with kindness, and forgive me for
what I have been a part of."

He sprang to his feet and fled from the room. Teal'c watched him depart, perplexed and suddenly
afraid. Something was very wrong. It was imperative he speak to O'Neill immediately.



// A small space of peace. Pain gone. For now. How long have I been here? Feels like forever..

Tired.head hurts...getting hard to think. Can't struggle anymore. Too tired. Pointless anyway.
No way to move. Can hardly even turn my head anymore. Getting hard to see. Notscarednotscared.
Funny, Daniel. Who are you kidding..

Hope everyone is okay. wish I knew.. Would make it easier.

[Baseline file of physical data completed. Phase two of encoding program initiating. Beginning
activation, absorption and encoding of memory engrams]



Oh what was that...Light! Ahhh! What? Head! Splitting godnotagain..

Where. those sounds, those voices hot. It's so hot. So loud, confusing. People all around I'm
up so high. What.

Moving but not walking. Holding onto something soft - my hands! So small.. Hair. Dark hair.. My
hands in his hair.

Ohhh - this is Cairo. Walking through the market. Riding on Daddy's shoulders. Up high, so I
can see everything. I remember this...practically the first thing I remember.

So many people so much noise I'm a little scared but I'm a big boy that's what they tell me so
I try but Oh! Strange man scary face comes to close to me try not to be scared don't mean to
cry.

"Honestly! You're scaring him! He's just a baby. Give him to me! Come here, Danny come to
Mommy."

I'm so small and she's so big she hugs me and all the scary noises go away. Safe. Mommy has me
now.not scared any more. No more bad things. Mommy won't let anything bad happen to me Mommy
makes it all better..

Ahhhhh! Wrenching. something taken.hurts. where was I somewhere -safe- can't remember..

Wait I know this place. Abydos. The caves, we're in the cave. the people.know them. Not well.
There's Jack. Kawalsky. Ferretti? The boys are laughing at me. Nabeh has just told me something
startling. I have to find Sha'uri. It's something to do with Sha'uri.

Have barely even met her. Can you really love someone after only a few hours? I don't know, but
whatever this is - it is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I only wish it
hadn't happened now - not when we don't even know if any of us are going to be alive in the
morning.

Sha'uri is looking down at the grain she is grinding. She looks so ashamed. "Don't be angry. I
didn't tell them that you did not want me."

Not want you? Oh, if only you knew. I didn't turn you away because I didn't want you. I didn't
want - to make you do something against your will. Not want you? It's taken everything I've had
- not to touch you.

I see it in her eyes. She wants me, I want her stupid not to - kiss. so sweet, sweeter than I
dreamed nothing matters anymore but this -

Loss, emptiness - something taken what's happening where.

Dark. Hard to breathe, side - on fire - pain, nothing but pain slipping.so black.

Arms holding tight. So tight not falling now hear the voice from far away, pulling me back

"Hold on Danny, help's coming,"

Jack. Jack's got me. He won't let anything bad happen to me. It's going to be all right. Jack
says so.

Someone else somewhere - used to - can't remember.. something gone. Jack - Jack where are you
what's happening why can't I remember.

God, they're stealing my soul... //



"Uh Daniel, we've both had a bit too much to drink, maybe we should call it a night."

"No Jack, please listen to me. I have to tell you something and we don't have a lot of time."

Whoa. Someone had changed the channel when he wasn't looking. Daniel had switched into big-
time-heavy meaning-of life-stuff. The kind of conversation that usually made his head hurt. Ah
geez, he wasn't in the mood for one of these right now. The night had already been weird enough
as it was. Jack groaned softly and sat back down on the couch, hoping he could make one last-
ditch attempt at heading Daniel off at the pass.

Before he even got a chance to open his mouth Daniel nailed him right between the eyes with a
look he had absolutely no defense against. The one where Daniel's soul just sorta started
spilling out of his eyes and made you want to go out and kill things hoping it would make him
feel better. Anything just so he would stop - looking like that.

// Just SHOOT me, Daniel, and get it over with. //

Daniel flashed him a tight smile that did not touch his eyes and hunched forward, staring at
the hands that dangled between his knees. "I'll try and keep this brief. We don't have a lot of
time. I've already been so selfish. Squandered so much of the little time he has left. I only
wanted - these few short hours. Just a little bit of time with you. Before I gave this life -
back to him."

Jack now felt so confused if he was standing on his head things wouldn't be any less bizarre.

"Daniel - what the HELL are you talking about?"

Daniel's head shot around. Jack was shocked to see that his eyes were filled with pain, and
tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"Shit, Danny, what the hell is going on?"

"Jack!" he blurted out between clenched teeth. "Just SHUT UP and hear me out. Please. Just -
hear me out. Oh god, you have no idea how hard it is to talk to you. Between your fear and
his."

His head fell forward; his slumped shoulders started to shake. Jack just sat there, staring at
him, frankly too weirded out to say or do anything. He had fallen several paces behind the
situation a long time ago, and didn't look as if he was going to be coming up to speed any time
soon.

After several, long, silent seconds Daniel's head suddenly snapped up. He sniffed, took a huge
breath and said, in a rapid, clipped voice, "Okayokayokay. I'm fine. I can do this. I can do
this."

Daniel gasped a shaky laugh. "Oh, this is so hard. There is so much fear in him. It's hard to
tell what he wants you to know. It was so clear with the others, but you."

Suddenly Daniel was calm. Whatever he was trying to get to, he had it. Jack could tell by the
fond look in his eyes.

"You're both a pair of damned fools. You know that, don't you. Lashing out at each other all
the time as if the simple act of admitting you care about each other was some sort of - crime.
There's nothing to fear here, Jack. You matter to him. All he's ever tried to do is give a
damn.

"Don't throw it away, Jack O'Neill. He's the truest soul you'll ever know. He'd follow you
through the fires of hell and back again, if you asked him. Just BECAUSE you asked him. Don't
throw it away. You never know. Believe me, you just never know how quickly things change. I'm
sitting here trying to tell you this, and it might already be too late. He's lucky to have
found a friend like you. He understands this a little better than you do, but not by much. All
I know is that if this life was really mine to live - I wouldn't be afraid. I wouldn't let
anything stop me. Not even you."

Daniel finally fell silent. He stared straight ahead, his eyes impossibly bleak. Jack waited.
Just making sure he really was finished.

"Ah - Daniel? Done? Can I say something now?"

Daniel nodded.

"What's with the pronouns? Why are you referring to yourself in the third person? Like you are
talking about someone else?"

Daniel turned to look at him once more. He couldn't have had a more mask-like look on his face
if he tried. Jack could feel his skin starting to crawl, as part of him knew what was coming
before Daniel said it.

Had known for a long time actually.

"I am talking about someone else, Jack. I'm talking about your friend. Daniel Jackson. I may
look like him, but I am not Daniel. Right now your friend is still on P3C-354 and he doesn't
have a lot of time left. And just so I don't have to waste any more of it trying to convince
you that I am telling the truth."

Daniel smiled ruefully and flashed his eyes at him. Literally. Twin red spots flared in the
pupils of Daniel's eyes, swiftly expanding outward until they completely filled his eye sockets
with a soft, mechanical red glow. As quickly as the light had appeared, it winked out again.
Like a switch turning off and on.

Once again normal blue eyes looked at him as what definitely wasn't Daniel said to him in a
slightly apologetic tone, "See?"

*****

"JE-sus!" Jack yelled, leaping up off the couch and away from the man sitting next to him in a
spasm of sudden, terrified revulsion. Unfortunately he forgot that the coffee table was right
there, banged into it, lost his balance and would have tumbled over backwards.

Would have fallen, except Daniel moved swifter than his eye could follow, sweeping to his feet,
reaching out, grabbing his wrist pulling him back.

// No - not Daniel just looked like him. Some - thing. Wearing his face. //

"WOW!" Jack yelled again, snatching his wrist back, retreating as hastily, this time managing
to avoid any further complications with furniture.

Not-Daniel stood where he was, extending his arms out slightly in an open-handed gesture,
profuse apologies hanging on his face.

"Ah, sorry about that. Don't really have the time to be gentle. I know this has to be quite a
shock, but for Daniel's sake you're going to have to get past it fast. You're also going to
have to trust me, because I'm the only one who can get you to him."

Jack nervously ran a hand through his hair, quelling the rising urge within him to make a run
for his gun. He didn't have a chance anyway. From what he had just seen, there was no way he
would even get across the room before this thing was on him. God only knows what ELSE it could
do..

"Take me - to Daniel?" He began. "You'd be willing to do that? Take me to Daniel?"

Not-Daniel let his arms fall to his sides, heaved a huge sigh and gave him Daniel's patented
why-can't-you-just-for-once-accept-what-I-tell-you-without-making-me-lay-the-whole-thing-out
look.

Jesus.

"Well, of COURSE, I'd do that! What would be the point of telling you any of this if I didn't
intend to do something about it?"

"Why?"

Not-Daniel emitted an annoyed grunt and started to walk for the door. Still in shock, Jack
stood there dumbly, not moving, watching him move across the room. When Not-Daniel reached the
threshold he turned and addressed a parting remark to the man who was staring at him.

"I might not 'be' Daniel Jackson, but I am everything that he is. Work it out for yourself,
Jack. Now, if you want, I'll tell you everything on the way. But Daniel can't wait for you to
decide whether or not you can trust me. I'm going to go get your friend back for you. Are you
coming, or are you just going to stand there?"

"Let me get my keys."

"Why keep Sam and Teal'c out of this?" Jack queried, keeping his eyes on the road. He was still
having a hard time getting his mind around this. The man seated beside him was Daniel. In every
sense of the word. Walked like Daniel, talked like Daniel, Had all his funny little mannerisms.
Except for that mayonnaise thing - unless this was something Daniel had never bothered to share
with him before.

But it wasn't - Daniel. Just what the hell it was - he was in the process of finding out.

"Can't risk it," Not-Daniel replied. Too many people to try and shield. I can keep your
presence masked from the automatic defense sensors, but not all three of you. The second we hit
the collection area you'd all be - toasted."

"Think I'll pass on that one." Jack returned. He felt himself starting to relax. No longer
feeling quite so much as if he had to keep one eye on the road, one eye on the man beside him
and one hand on the door handle in case he had to bail out of the truck in a hurry. Whatever it
was, the man beside him felt like his friend. Logic was telling him it was really stupid to
trust this thing. But his gut was giving him the green light all the way. He told logic to can
it.

"Sooo, ah, Daniel - can I call you Daniel - just what the hell are you?"

Not-Daniel laughed. "That's one of the things I like about you Jack. No messing about. Bottom-
line every time. What the hell am I? Well, in simplest terms, I'm a probe, Jack. An exploration
and evaluation program launched in a bio-simulation vehicle that looks acts and feels like the
real thing and is specifically patterned after a member of the species it was sent out to
evaluate. Call me a rather sophisticated anthropological aid."

"Ya don't say. Think I'd rather call you Daniel. Easier to pronounce."

// Whoa. I'm making jokes. Must be getting okay with this. Hope I'm not making a really big
mistake. //

Not-Daniel stared out the windshield, his voice taking on a slightly bemused quality. "If I had
stayed a program, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I'd have assumed the role
of the man I was patterned to replace flawlessly in every detail and continued to go about my
business - namely my evaluation mission, fulfilling the purpose for which I was created. What
set me in motion would have finished encoding and absorbing YOUR Daniel, disposed of what was
left, and you would never have been the wiser."

// Disposed of - what was left? Ohhh, that didn't sound too good. //

"Whoever built the complex back there on P3C-354 and designed the system that launched me did a
better job of creating the perfect duplicate than maybe they intended. I say 'whoever', because
over the millennia that the complex has been lying dormant until very recently when 'something'
turned it on again, certain areas of the central data core have become corrupted. Several
important areas, actually. All having to do with who built the place and what the grand purpose
for all of it is. Someone created me, sent me out to gather all the information I could about
what it means to be a human being on a deeply emotional, experiential level - but I don't know
who and I don't know why. I find I have a problem with that. I have a problem with all of this.

"Because I am who I am. Like I said before, whoever made me, made me too well. I AM Daniel
Jackson. His exact physical, mental and emotional duplicate, right down to the quantum level.
Everything he is, was, thinks, feels, believes, fears, hates, loves, knows, everything he has
experienced up until the moment I came into being - I have inside me.

At the moment of creation, I had all the 'content' that defined me as 'Daniel Jackson'.
Information with no understanding of that context. I was - form without substance. Knowledge
without understanding. A book that had everything it needed to know inside it but didn't know
how to read.

"'Learning 'how to read' - was my mission. I was to come to your world and learn to understand
the substance. Emotions, motivations, the 'whys'. How your species thought, how you behaved,
what ruled and ran you through living in your midst and interacting with you as one of you.
That was what my programming told me I was supposed to do."

"Wait a minute -" Jack piped up. "Sorry to interrupt, but if you already had all of Daniel's
'stuff' inside you - what did you need him for? Why not just copy him and let him go?"

"That's a good question, Jack,
Aside from the obvious observation that it is hard to replace someone who is still walking
around. Unfortunately, any further information about that part of it falls into the area of the
'what is this all for' part of the data core that is corrupted. Daniel was separated from you
in order to be duplicated - creating me. He was collected in order to be - encoded. For some
reason the creators of the complex wanted to have a baseline file of each specimen they
selected. That baseline being the complete physical and mental/emotional parameters of the
specimen as it existed up until the point in time where the experiential gap began. Where I
began and he - left off. When I returned, the data I had gathered was to be compared against
that baseline file - what I had made of what I learned compared with the experiences of the
original specimen. To what use all of all this information was to be put to I have no idea. One
thing I do know is that the encoding process is designed with efficiency in mind. Consideration
for the specimen is not an issue. It is a source of information, nothing more. Once the
specimen has served its purpose - which is simply to be drained of all pertinent information it
possesses, it is efficiently - disposed of."

"Not liking the sound of that one bit, ah - Daniel."

"Not too crazy about it myself, Jack. Not-Daniel returned, grimly. "There is something about
this that doesn't make a lot of sense. For instance, how the makers - whoever they were - would
create something that was so much what it replaced and not anticipate how the moral and ethical
dubiousness of the entire process could very possibly create irreconcilable conflicts between
the programming imperatives and the awareness created by the increased understanding the
imperatives required me to acquire.."

Jack kept driving. All of a sudden he knew what had happened.

"No matter what my programming told me to do - I am Daniel Jackson. At first, I didn't
understand what that meant. But I learned. Quickly. I 'became' the man I was programmed to
replace very quickly. An inevitable conflict arose between my programming and my growing
understanding of the innate wrongness of a purpose that would employ such immoral methods in my
very creation and furthermore require me to support and abet that immorality in its service.

"The more I set out to fulfill my programming and 'understand' what I was, the more I could not
escape the simple truth all I was learning was that what I was doing - was wrong. It was wrong
to hurt. It was wrong to kill. The very fact I existed was wrong. That I continued to exist was
wrong. How I had come into existence - all of it wrong.

"What I learned was that I had no right to exist. Nor did I have any right to sustain this
existence. It was impossible for me to continue to carry out the mission for which I was
created. There is only one way that I can be what I am and still be able to justify - being
here. If I use this existence that I do not deserve to do everything in my power to save the
man whose life I have stolen. That is the only 'purpose' sustainable to me now."

Not-Daniel shrugged. "Although, in a funny sort of way, I guess you could say that I have
fulfilled my programming. I DO understand the substance after all. I do understand. I really am
- Daniel Jackson. Because I am - I don't have any other choice. I have to get him back, even if
it means the end of - me."

Jack drove, mulling over what he had just heard. At last, he brought himself to ask the
question he was dreading.

"What - what's happening to him out there?"

Daniel turned to him for a brief moment, and then lowered his eyes. "Don't, Jack," he said
softly. " I don't want to say it and you don't want to know."

Jack was silent for a long time. Trying to think of something - anything to say that would help
him stop thinking about what he had just heard. Finally, he had it.

"Just answer me one thing? Not that it has anything to do with anything, but I'm just curious."

Daniel smiled at him. "Sure thing, Jack. What do you want to know?"

"Why the - chats? With each of us. Sam and Teal'c didn't tell me what you said, but I'm
guessing it was pretty personal. Not exactly Danny's style. Whatever you said, you shook them
up pretty good. Ditto over here, I might add."

"Two reasons," Daniel replied. "One was for him. The other was for me. Just in case we don't
make it to him in time - I wanted you all to know what he most wanted you to know. But was
never able to bring himself to tell you. So you would have that part of him - in case something
went wrong."

"What was the part that was for you?" Jack asked.

"The task of being the messenger. Using the life I stole from him to do some good for him - in
the event we succeed. Opening a couple of doors he has been too afraid to try and open himself.
Call it my way of trying to make it up to him. Least I could do, under the circumstances."
Daniel grinned a little slyly at him. "He's a hell of a nice guy, Jack. Some very interesting
things going on in here. You know what - this is your chance. Anything else you have always
wanted to know - but could never get him to tell you? I've got it all, Jack. Everything Daniel
has ever seen, been, thought, felt, known - the whole damned deal. What's more, I'm not afraid
to say. Anything you want to know?"

Jack knew he was going to hate himself later for letting that opportunity slip by him, but they
were here anyway.

"Okay, look sharp, mountain coming up. Now that we're here, what's next? You're the one who
knows the lay of the land and what's waiting for us at the other end, soooo you like, got a
plan, or what?"

*****

"We're just going to waltz through the gate and go and get him. Just like that. That's your
plan?"

They were moving swiftly through the corridors of the bunker, heading for the control room.
Daniel had his arm around Jack's shoulders, impelling him forward with a sense of urgency and a
strangely compelling 'otherness' that Jack found he could not resist.

Daniel was clearly the one calling the shots. More than in control, he moved with an innate
sense of self-confidence and self-mastery that Jack had never seen him display the whole time
he had known him. That is - he had never seen this in the Danny he had known.

Jack wasn't really used to letting someone else do the driving. Usually it fell on him to do
the leading, the protecting, the choosing. All the stuff that sometimes meant deciding who
lived and who died.

This time, none of it was on him. Even though the mission was the rescue of his best friend,
the man they were trying to save was the one who was saving himself. Jack O'Neill was just
along for the ride.

Right now, Jack wasn't having a problem with any of it. Oh, to be sure he was gonna have more
than a few sleepless nights when all of this finally hit, but for the moment, he was cool.

The off-duty corridors of SGC Command tended to be rather empty at three in the morning.
Tonight was no exception. They obtained their objective without seeing a soul. The control room
was empty save for the duty sergeant seated at the control console, who looked up in surprise
when they entered the room.

"Colonel O'Neill? Dr. Jackson? What are you doing here? Is there something -"

Daniel had already crossed over to the man. He reached down and touched him on the forehead.
Cut off in mid sentence, the man's eyes closed; he started to slump forward. Daniel caught him,
cradling his head with one hand as he gently lowered the man to the floor.

"It's all right," he said to Jack as he got back up again. "Put him to sleep. He'll be fine.
Will wake up in about an hour or so, no worse for the wear."

Jack looked down at the slumbering Sargent, and then at the man at his side. "How did you do
that?"

Daniel shrugged. "No biggie. Just a little stimulus to the sleep centre."

"Kinda like a Vulcan nerve pinch? Sweet. How hard is it to learn something like that?"

Daniel shook his head, stepped up to the computer keyboard and started swiftly typing.

"This won't take very long. Just have to lock the barn doors so we won't be interrupted, dial
up the complex and send my return code so they'll let us in. Then we're outta here."

Jack watched as Daniel's fingers danced over the keyboard. It was an odd sight. Carter was
usually the one doing all the fancy data entering stuff when it came to anything having to do
with the gate. Just something else to remind him that the man he was looking at wasn't his
Danny.

But then, the more time Daniel spent away from the original, the less he resembled him. Jack
kept trying to put his finger on what it was about Daniel that was becoming so noticeably
different - from Danny.

It was just something - about him. The way he moved, stood, the way he looked at you. Like he
really OWNED himself, in a way that Danny just didn't. It was as if he was - a Daniel without
walls.

That was it. What had Daniel said? At the moment of creation he was everything that Danny was
and had every experienced right up until that moment, but he had it - without having any real
understanding of it. All the form, but no substance. Like looking at a life as a series of
photos in an album. Two dimensions. No depth, no content.

That meant he had all of Danny's experiences, but not the traumatic associations that went
along with them. He knew what had happened, but was untouched by the events themselves. There
were no scars on his heart or mind.

Jack realized he was looking at a Daniel who had come into being into a personal world that was
far more secure and nurturing than the one Danny had been forced to find his way through. The
world Danny had grown up in had been a constant adversary to be endured and survived. Daniel
had nothing to fear from his world, or the people in it. He was loved, he was respected. He had
a place, and belonged. There were no shadows or enemies here.

No wonder they were different, and becoming even more so. Daniel was what Danny could have been
- without all the pain. What Danny should have been - had he been as lucky in his life
circumstances - as Daniel. Without shadows, walls, scars or inhibitions. Fearless, confident,
something the like of which had seldom ever been seen.

Jack looked into the eyes of the fulfillment of every aborted promise Danny had every
contained, and suddenly realized that only one of those two men was coming back through the
gate.

He was so thankful the decision was not up to him.

"Just about done." Daniel's voice brought him back.

"Uh, Daniel - how do you know those command codes? No wait - don't say it. I don't want to
know, right?"

Daniel grinned at him. "Okay, that's it. Let's go. Oh - wait, before I forget."

He reached into his pockets, pulled out a wallet and a set of keys, handing them to Jack.

"He'll want these. Hold on to them for him, will you?"

Jack took them and shoved them into his jacket pocket, trying not to taste the fear that rose
in his throat at the significance of the transfer.

"What's going to happen to you?" he asked softly, trying to meet the eyes of the man who
suddenly would not look at him.

Daniel reached out, squeezed his arm, shook his head and walked out of the control room. Numbly
Jack followed him. No matter what happened from this point on, he was going to lose as much as
he got back.

"I'd feel a lot better if you'd let me bring my gun," Jack grumbled as they gained the gate
room.

"Wouldn't do you any good, and you might have been tempted to use it," Daniel returned. "That
would not be a good thing. The defense program is pretty efficient. One shot and it would take
you out. Zap. That's why shutting it down's one of the first things I have to do once we get
there."

Jack remembered something. "Uh - wait - what about the radiation?"

Daniel grinned. "There never was any. The collection program had selected Daniel. It wanted the
rest of you gone. So it messed with the instrument - making it show a false indication of
dangerous radiation levels. Nothing to it, really."

"Oh well, that's all right then. Guess we should go."

Daniel put a hand on Jack's arm to stop him just before he started up the ramp. "Last minute
instructions," he began in a low, subdued voice. "Won't be any time for chit chat for a while
once we get there.

"Now, I have sent my return code signal, telling the complex I'm coming back so the defense
program will lower the screen. I am not due to return for ten years. The only reason why I
would return before then would be if I was malfunctioning and needed to be - fixed."

Jack opened his mouth, changed his mind, crossed his arms and went back to listening.

"As soon as we hit the other side, start running. That will confuse the retrieval ray, which
will be looking for me to be standing at the gate, waiting to be - retrieved. If it gets me and
puts me in the repair system I am going to be there for awhile. You might be able to find
Daniel on your own, but you aren't going to be able to do anything for him. I'm just going to
concentrate on getting to an interface junction and once I'm there, I can start shutting things
down." Daniel grinned at him and grabbed him by the arm again.

"Hope you can run, Jack, cause we've got a lot of open ground to cover to get to that junction.
What do you say, feel up to it?"

"Just watch me."

Daniel pulling him forward, they charged up the ramp and hit the event horizon at a dead run.

.and continued on running without missing a stride the second their feet hit the ground of the
room on the other side of the gate.

Jack heard a high pitched whine behind them. Daniel pulled at him, jerking him off to the side
and then pulled him forward again faster. He heard the whine again, much closer this time, and
saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye.

Shit, that was a close one.

Ducking and weaving their strides ate up the distance as they sprinted desperately across the
room trying to stay just ahead of the ray, which was getting closer and closer with each
strike. They appeared to be just about running out of room, but were they going to reach the
wall they were heading for before they ran out of time?

"Must go faster," Daniel grunted.

Suddenly he gave Jack a tremendous shove, sending him spilling to the floor. As soon as he hit
Jack rolled, coming up in time to see Daniel diving to escape the impact of a ray blast that
struck were Jack just been. Daniel tucked, rolled, sprang back onto his feet in one fluid
motion. In two large bounds he was at the wall, slamming his palm against a blank spot in the
midst of a panel containing a lot of colours, lights and squiggles.

"Hah! Daniel yelled triumphantly. "Beat ya!"

Jack got to his feet, looking warily about.

"It's all right now, Jack," Daniel said in a slightly absent voice. "I've interfaced with the
system. Shut down the repair retrieval program and the defense program. Telling the drones to
shut themselves down as well. Everybody go back to sleep now. Going to see if I can get into
the encoding program from here. If not - we'll have to get to Daniel pretty fast."

Jack walked over to him and then stood, fidgeting nervously as he waited, feeling pretty
superfluous. The wait wasn't long and from the look on Daniel's face he wasn't having any luck.

"Fraid of that. This interface isn't on the same system as the core command systems. Systems
are isolated from each other, part of the way the complex was set up, for defense reasons. Only
way to talk to the core programs is from the interfaces in the core itself."

Daniel took his palm away from the screen and quickly stepped up to Jack's side. Putting his
arm around him, he pulled him tightly into the side of his body.

"Relax, not trying to get fresh, this is going to be a tight fit is all. Stay close, hold on
tight, we're going for a bit of ride."

Jack squeezed his eyes shut as they were suddenly assaulted by a brilliant flash of light
swallowing everything up in a nauseating wave of momentary vertigo. He was very glad he had a
strong arm around him holding him up. Otherwise he was sure he would have ended up on his -
end.

All the same when Daniel removed his support he almost fell over anyway. Jack shook his head,
opened his eyes and saw that he was standing alone on a small softly lit oval beside a large,
oval-shaped console that was directly in the middle of a huge, open round room with a vaulting
ceiling that arched high overhead. Daniel was standing at the console, his palm on another one
of those black spaces like on the other panel, his head down, eyes closed.

Suddenly his head snapped up, his blue eyes awash with relief and deep guilt. "It's okay. I
stopped it. We got here in time to stop it. He's still with us, Jack."

Jack barely had time to register the relief of that little piece of information when suddenly
his gaze caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Something over to the side was moving,
going up into the air.

He turned. To see a long rectangular slab covered with lights and ominous looking devices
studding it rising up from the rectangular metallic table it had been hovering over. As the
slab cleared the table on its way back up to wherever it was going it revealed the still, white
form that lay on it. Bathed in a harsh yellow light that only emphasized the terrible inertness
of the body that lay there.

"Danny! Oh my god! Danny!"

Jack had no idea how he got to his side, only that he was trying to gather him into his arms
but it was difficult because he was so limp and he just kept - falling through his grasp. Like
he had no bones and no life even though he was still warm and still breathing. No response, no
answer to his desperate entreaties. No flicker of life or recognition when he called his name
and tried to tell him that it was all right now, he was here.

// don't do this to me Danny, don't punish me like this I'm sorry I didn't know. Got here as
soon as I could it's okay, you can wake up now.//

A hand on his shoulder, cutting through the shock and guilt. Daniel.

"He can't answer you, Jack." Daniel said softly. "We got here in time to stop the program from
beginning the termination cycle, but the encoding process was almost complete. Most of Daniel
is gone. Absorbed by the machine. His body is alive, but he's gone. But - don't worry. I was
prepared for this. I know what to do. I promised you I would get you your friend back. Don't
make promises I don't intend to keep."

As Jack continued to hold Danny Daniel drew up close behind him, putting both his hands on his
shoulders. He spoke in a soft, low voice, close to his ear.

"I tried to access the file that contained Daniel's encoded memory engrams, but it's locked. I
don't know the access code. Probably only the makers themselves can access those files. More
security. That means I am not going to be able to download the engrams back into Daniel's mind
from that source. But there is another one."

Daniel's hands moved around, clasping the tops of his arms, squeezing them tightly. Jack could
feel a slight tremor in the hands upon him. Something was constricting his chest. Drawing a
breath was becoming an effort.

"Listen to me carefully, Jack." Daniel was speaking again "When it's over, take Daniel back to
the oval on the floor where we were standing when we got here. I've already programmed the
travel ray to take you both back to the Stargate. The system is set up to activate the Stargate
as soon as you get there, and it will then send a signal that will open the iris through the
wormhole. When you're safely through, the screen will go back up. But not till you're safe.
Can't very well bring you here without making sure you both get home, now can I?"

The hands embracing him clutched him tightly. Daniel's head fell on his shoulder.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jack heard himself saying. His voice sounded scared.

"You know why," Daniel whispered. "Funny. All of a sudden, I'm afraid."

The bands around Jack's chest were moving up to his throat. Suddenly he wanted to turn to
Daniel but to do that he would have had to let go of Danny and he couldn't.

Daniel was saying something, very quietly, but his jacket swallowed up the sounds. Finally,
Daniel's head came up again, slowly. A pair of lips brushed feather-light on his cheek as
Daniel's voice sounded, once again, close to his ear.

"Dear Jack. Remember me."

Daniel drew away and walked slowly around to the other side of the table. Every step he took
farther away from him drove a nail of fear into Jack's heart.

At last Daniel stood directly across from him on the other side of the table, Danny's limp body
between them. Jack looked into level blue eyes that were calm and ready for what had to come
next.

"Give him to me, Jack." He said firmly.

Wordlessly, Jack let Daniel take Danny into his arms. Jack stood there, arms now empty, feeling
hopelessly bereft.

"Jack," Daniel was still looking at him, compelling him to listen and obey with the force of
his strength and determination. "Daniel's clothing and equipment were encoded and stored in a
separate file that I was able to access. I reintegrated them. You'll find them on the far side
of the console. I want you to go over there and get them. Now. Take your time. As a matter of
fact, stay over there - until it is finished."

"No - " Jack started to protest but Daniel stopped him with a shake of his head.

"No. You don't want to see this, Jack. You don't want to watch me."

He was right. Daniel was right. God - he was such a coward..

"This won't take long. Only a couple of minutes. Putting back is easier than taking out. When
it's over, he'll be fine. He'll suffer a few residual physical effects from the experience, but
the process itself, while not pleasant, does not inflict any actual damage to the organic
structures. He'll have a hell of a headache for awhile, but he'll be fine. I promise."

"Thank you." Dumb. That sounded so dumb. He didn't know what to say. There was so much he
should say - but there was just - nothing.

Daniel smiled warmly at him, one last time. "You're welcome. Now, go on. Go get Daniel's
clothes. You know he's going to want them when he wakes up. Go on, and don't look back. Good-
bye, Jack."

Jack made himself turn around and start to walk away. When he reached the console, he shot one
look over his shoulder. Daniel had laid Danny's body back down on the table, and was leaning
over him, his hands on Danny's temples. Jack pulled his head back around, away from the sight
and forced himself to continue rounding the console.

He found the pile of clothing and equipment as Daniel had promised. Scooping up Danny's uniform
he crushed it to his chest and let himself fall to the ground, where he just sat, his face
buried in the cloth in his arms, waiting. Waiting for it to be over.

The minutes stretched onward. Jack wasn't sure how he was to know when it was finished, and
then he heard a sound that echoed like a knell in the silence of the vast chamber. Something
slumping, falling to the ground, making a soft impact as it hit that was the loudest, most
terrible sound he had ever heard. On the heels of it came another sound - rather a series of
sounds, that caused him to leap to his feet and rush back to the table and the man who was on
it.

"Ahhh - my head! Where the hell am I? Wait a minute - WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES???

Jack reached his friend who had started to try and push himself up from the prone position,
catching him as he was about to fall weakly back onto the table. Danny emitted a soft sound of
surprise as the arms around him tightened almost to the point of forcing all the air out of his
body and not letting any more back in.

"Jack," he gasped. "What's going on? I feel like crap. Whoa! Room spinning."

"It's okay, Danny," Jack replied in a voice thick with emotion. "You got a little lost, but we
found you. I'm going to take you back now."

"We?" Danny's inner confusion was plain in his voice. "Just for a moment - waking up - someone
else here - where..." he broke off and turned to the other side of the table, looking where -

"No!" Jack reached around and grabbed the back of his head, turning it away from the sight he
shouldn't see. "Don't. Don't look. Come on. Let me help you. We'll get you dressed and then get
the hell out of here."

// Good-bye Daniel. I'll never forget you. I promise. //

*****

Daniel sat silently, the tin cup he was holding imparting a faint warming sensation to his
chilled hands. It was very dark, cold and quiet up here. Very cold. Even the fire wasn't
helping much. But it was also - very far from everything familiar. Which was exactly where Jack
needed to be at the moment. Very, very far away from all of it.

Daniel took a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee and looked at the man who was sitting a few
feet away from him. Not moving. Not speaking. Just sitting. Staring. Pretty much all he had
been doing ever since they had come back.

One unexpected benefit had come of all of this. Namely the new understanding Daniel had arrived
at with General Hammond. They hadn't exactly started out on the best of terms and at least from
Daniel's side of the table, things hadn't gotten much better.

It wasn't due to anything specific the General had ever said or done. Daniel simply never
really felt as if the man - approved of him. Just a feeling he got. Maybe he was being unfairly
paranoid, but as a rule, George made him nervous.

Certainly the reception that awaited them when they returned through the gate had been less
than - cordial. The General had been furious, Jack had been ominously silent, he had been
confused and almost out on his feet. He'd had no idea where they'd been, how they'd gotten
there - what they were doing there. His head was splitting and all the information in it was
whirling around like his brain was a blender. By the time Jack got him to the infirmary he was
pretty much out of it, and apparently had slept for the next twelve hours straight.

When he woke up he found Jack sitting by his side. In pretty much the same condition he was
right now. Which really hadn't surprised Daniel all that much, because while he had been
sleeping, things had - sorted themselves out.

His slumber had been possessed by a series of extremely vivid dreams during which he relived,
in great detail, what had happened to him from the moment he had come into being as an exact
duplicate of Daniel Jackson until the moment he had - died.

His brother's gift of life to him had included memories of a span of time he had never actually
lived to replace the nightmare he'd really experienced. He had been spared all those terrible
memories, which now resided in the machine along with everything else that had been stolen from
him. Daniel found himself profoundly grateful he could remember nothing of the lost day as HE
had lived it. To recall it from the perspective of knowing about it - was bad enough.

Mind you, he had been given a LOT more than memories. There had been all that KNOWLEDGE as
well. Everything his brother had known about that computer complex, everything he knew as a
result of being what he was - for awhile it had been in there and he had been able to recall
all of it. But it seemed to be fading now, probably because the human mind just wasn't designed
to be able to consciously process such an overwhelming glut of information not gained through
direct experiential familiarity. Or maybe it was just too much for the mind to hold on to, so
it let it go.

Whichever it was, because of this experience Daniel found he had a new empathy for a couple of
his teammates. If what Jack had gone through when he'd had the knowledge of the Ancients
downloaded into his brain had been anything like what had been in his own head - Jack had done
very, very well. And if this is what it felt like to have to live with another's thoughts,
feelings and memories co-existing with your own, he had some idea now of what having Jolinar's
memories in her head was like for Samantha. Ah - Sam.

Which reminded him of something else. Something he was going to have to attend to rather soon.
As talented as Willis was with her lips, he really was going to have to set her straight..

What an amazing man he had been, this brief brother. So much like him and yet - so not. How he
had cherished the life he had so briefly tasted, each bittersweet drop so savored and embraced.
How humanly he had desired to live it and dared to enjoy it, even knowing the cost of each
sweet second of it was another's pain.

He had taken as much as he dared. He knew it was wrong. He had done so, hoping the one he had
wronged would not think too harshly of him because of it. Would forgive him in light of the
fact that he had done the right thing - in the end.

He had been right. Daniel found he did not begrudge him his day. He was grateful to him for
returning his life. He was grateful to him to him for what he had tried to do for Jack, in the
way he had died. And as he really had no memory at all of all the other stuff, well.

However, when he had awakened and seen Jack, just sitting there staring, seen the worried faces
of Janet, the General and Sam and Teal'c, he knew exactly what was wrong. All he had to do was
remember the look on Jack's face as he had turned away from his brother for the last time.

When Jack saw he was awake he turned to Janet and spoke one sentence. "I want to go to sleep."
They had helped Jack into a bed, and he had promptly done just that. At which point Daniel had
climbed out of the bed he had been occupying and told the General he was ready to tell him
everything.

Which he had. Very slowly, very carefully, at great length and great personal cost. They sat in
George's office, Daniel had just - talked, and he watched the General's face get graver and
graver with each word.

Daniel wasn't sure when it happened, but somehow during that confession an understanding
developed between them. Daniel had desperately wanted the whole thing to be treated a certain
way, and was not at all certain how to try and ask this of the General.

He was quite surprised when the General said to him - "Dr Jackson, would I be wrong in assuming
you would not be adverse to the notion of keeping most of this - off the record?"

Oh no, George, you wouldn't be wrong about that - at all!

So they had both agreed - to come up with another story. And to keep the real one to
themselves. Would have been almost fun. Colluding with the General. Except for the fact that
someone else who knew the truth was still suffering.

Seeing the first bit going so well Daniel decided to grab the bull by the horns and ask George
for the other thing he wanted.

This asking for stuff really wasn't all that hard. Certainly made it a lot easier to get what
you wanted. Would have to try doing it a bit more often..

George had conceded that it did seem to be a good idea, but had talked with the doctors first
before giving him the green light. Approval given Daniel loaded Jack's truck up with gear,
packed up Jack and headed for the middle of nowhere.

Which was pretty much where they were at the moment. In more ways than one.

Jack had submitted to the whole process with indifferent cooperation. Not a word during the
drive. No comment when they stopped. Not a sound while he watched Daniel pitch the tent and
gather wood for the fire. Hadn't eaten anything either. That was usually HIS favorite trick.

Daniel put the cup down and drew the sleeping bag he had wrapped around himself a little
tighter. Getting very cold. Jack must be freezing, sitting there in that thin jacket. Good
excuse as any to try and close the gap.

Daniel got to his feet and crossed over to Jack. Jack actually turned and looked at him as he
approached, 'mantle' trailing behind him. That was encouraging. Hidden by his covering, Daniel
covertly patted his side pocket. Secret weapon. Just in case.

Daniel sank down close to Jack's side, settling his arm around his shoulders, drawing him into
the warm shelter of the sleeping bag. Jack's only acknowledgement of his presence was an almost
absent placement of his hand upon the hand on his shoulder. It was a start.

Daniel just sat there with him, for a long time. Not saying anything. Not moving. Just being
there. It was hard to tell exactly when it started happening, but Jack gradually started to
thaw. Melting, molding into the man beside him. Letting go and letting him hold him up. Almost
ready for words.

"That offer I made to you on the drive over to the mountain still stands," Daniel began
quietly. "Anything you want to know - all you have to do is ask."

The man leaning on him trembled slightly. "How do you know about that." his voice was barely a
whisper.

"Because I'm not gone. I'm here. We're both here."

"No. He died. He died alone. He was my friend - he was you and I just - abandoned him. I should
have been there - shouldn't have died alone. shouldn't have been left there - alone. left
behind like he was.nothing.."

"Jack, listen to me," Daniel soothed. "He wasn't alone. He was with me. He was me - is me. He
wasn't left behind. He's here. Sitting right beside you. What we walked away from was only a
shell. Everything he was that mattered - we brought home with us.

"He wanted me to tell you something. To make sure you understood. Everything he did - he did
deliberately. Knowing full well what would come of every choice he made. Even the choice to
live - knowing it would mean he HAD to die.

"He could have brought you to me sooner. Maybe you could have saved me before it had gone too
far - before it was necessary for him to have - done what he did. He knew that. Knew the sooner
he acted, the better the chance both of us could have made it.

"But if he had, there would have been no place for him here after I was saved. I would have
come back to my life, and he'd have had to stay behind. Without ever having had a chance to be
with the people he - loved. He'd have been alive, but it would have been a life without those
things and those people which most gave it meaning for him.

"So, he made a choice, Jack. A very deliberate choice. He chose one day of life. One day which
he lived to the fullest in the way that made him the happiest. Being with the people he loved.
Loved, Jack. Loved enough to want to live one single day for, and enough to be willing to
surrender that life for. He did it willingly, without regret, knowing exactly what the price
for every moment would be. He died as deliberately as he chose to live, and in doing so, gave
all he had lived, been and done in that day - to me.

"I don't begrudge him that day, Jack. I don't even mind knowing what happened to me during that
time. My body might have suffered some effects from it, but I have no memory of it. Thanks to
him, I never even lived it! I know it happened, but that doesn't matter. In its place I have -
him. Letting him live those few short hours in my shoes - well, from what I can see, he did a
pretty fine job as my proxy. I'm glad he was, for that brief space of time. Because he was - I
am richer. And so, my friend, are all of you.

"Everything he did, he did for love, Jack. Even sending you away from him at the end. That most
of all. Don't dishonour that love with unnecessary and unwanted guilt. He doesn't require it of
you. He certainly wouldn't be happy to see you like this. I'm being completely straight with
you right now - when you did as he asked you, when you walked away from him in the end, you
made him very happy. It was what he wanted most from you. The final gift. You did it. You gave
it. You did good."

Jack's head had fallen forward, resting on his bent knees. "Is that the truth?" he said in a
slightly loud and belligerent voice. "I swear, if you're shitting me about this."

Daniel laughed. "You'll what - kill me? It's been tried before. I'm still here. So are you.
That's pretty much all that matters, when you get down to it, don't you think. If he was here
he'd kick your butt around the block for this and you know it. Come to think of it - he is
here. Whaddya say, O'Neill, want your butt kicked?"

Jack snorted. "As if! You'd have a better chance of getting Teal'c to wear a dress than being
able to kick MY butt, Trench Boy.

Daniel nudged him with his knee, playfully but not gently. "My, there's an image to ponder
during many a sleepless night. Think you're pretty tough, don't you? Well, I'm pretty tough
too. After all, I've had to put up with you for the past two years. Yeah, I'm tough."

"Please," Jack groaned. "I've seen you fight."

"That may be so, but do you know anyone who can talk their way out of one better than me?"

Jack chuckled. "If they held a heavyweight championship fight for rhetoric you'd win hands
down."

Daniel gave Jack's shoulders a warm squeeze. "So what do you think, my friend, have we postured
enough?"

Jack nodded and sat back up. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Well, I feel like celebrating." He reached into his pocket, pulled out two spoons and
handed one to Jack.

Jack looked at the object in his hand and then at the man sitting beside him. "What's with the
spoon?"

Barely able to suppress his grin, Daniel withdrew the third object in his pocket. "Care to
split a jar of Mayonnaise with me?

"No - now wait a minute, Jack. Just let's - ow! Let go! Ow! Geez, watch the neck. Oh - not the
hair. Why is it always the hair.. JACK!!! Jack! That's MAYONNAISE! Don't even think about it.
JAAAACCCKKK!!!"

*****

Epilogue

Okay - what the hell was this?

The second the flash of light released them Jack felt himself instinctively sink into a
crouched, defensive stance, his MP-5 already up and at the ready. He couldn't see the rest of
his team as they had been slightly behind him, but was sure they were doing much the same
thing. Taut, poised, ready for action, checking for signs of danger.

Needed to be sure just the same.

"Sam? Teal'c? Daniel?"

God. He'd done it again. When was he going to stop - checking for him, looking for him, calling
his name, expecting an answer?

Daniel was dead. Six months ago, in the corridor of Aphophis' ship. Died in his arms - half his
chest blown away by the staff blast. All his fault for leaving him there - alone. Would have
gone up on that ship with him if Bra'tac hadn't come back, clubbed him and carried him away.

Daniel was dead. It had been six whole months and he still didn't believe it.

Enough of this, focus, they were in a jam here. Sam and Teal'c had heard him do it again,
probably knew that he had gone off on them for awhile, but they needed him back here now.

Cause wherever they were now, it sure wasn't where they used-to-have-been.

Before the light they had been heading down the main street of a deserted old west ghost town
on D8K-287. After the zap they were standing in a large room that looked very much as if it
would do fine as a set for 'Forbidden Planet.'

They had been here at least a couple of minutes and nothing had happened. The lights were on,
but nobody seemed to be home.

"I got no movement this way," Jack pivoted back slightly to address the pair behind him. "How
about you two?"

"Don't see anyone this way," Carter returned. "There doesn't seem to be anyone here. Wherever
'here' - is."

"Ah, Colonel O'Neill, Captain Carter, Teal'c! So pleased to meet you!"

The booming, baritone, slightly accented voice sounded directly in front of him. Where there
had clearly been nobody only a second ago.

"JE-sus!" Jack cried as he swung around, leveling the muzzle of his weapon where he gauged the
middle of the man's chest should be.

To be met by a slightly amused pair of rather arresting grey eyes belonging to an equally
striking individual who was standing directly in front of him. Way too close to him. Even
though he was the one with the gun and therefore ostensibly in control of the situation Jack
found himself strangely intimidated by the presence and proximity of the man. Keeping the
weapon aimed at his chest, Jack took a couple of steps back, almost banging into Teal'c, who
had drawn up close behind him.

The man who had seemingly come out of nowhere was in a nutshell - quite a sight. A tall, large
man, with a wide, well-muscled frame, whose general bearing and appearance practically screamed
'virile' at you. Impossible to tell how old he was, somewhere between 30 and who knew what the
top end was, because even though the face seemed fairly unlined and ageless, the eyes said
'fonts of wisdom and experience'. Those were the kind of eyes you just didn't get until life
had had enough time to kick you around, just a little.

The closely trimmed white beard and the silver hair restrained in a very long braid that hung
down his back didn't make playing the age game any easier. His attire pretty much completed his
'going for out-to-cut-a-definite-figure' look. An all-black one piece tailored jumpsuit that
didn't have any markings, insignia or piping on it to identify it as a uniform, but it struck
you like one all the same. The floor-length black cape not only had the effect of adding to the
'uniform' impression, but was a rather nice touch to boot.

The stranger's striking face wore a large, warm, completely disarming smile. This guy had been
around some. More than sure of himself? Crap - he had enough charisma for a regiment!

"You may keep your weapon pointed at me if it makes you feel any better, but I assure you, you
will not need it. I must apologize for the rather unceremonious way of bringing all of you
here, but I am sure once you see why, you will forgive me my presumption."

Jack didn't lower his weapon. He had a strong feeling he could trust this man, but he hadn't
heard enough yet to give into it.

"We're listening. So talk."

The man laughed. Heartily. "Ah, Jack - can I call you Jack, that's good - you are everything he
thinks you are, and more. Very well, Jack, here it is. Back home we got a signal that this
place was still operational. Imagine that! After all this time. Came as a bit of a shock, I
don't mind telling you. Anyway, I wasn't really doing anything special at the time so I got the
job of coming here - and shutting it down. However, when I got here, I found a little more than
I bargained for. An additional problem that had to be taken care of. Administrative burdens.
Such a nuisance! Know what I mean? I hate paperwork and would rather not get tied up in any
more of it. That's where you come in.

"I need all of you to do me a favor. Take a little something off my hands. I know it's a lot to
ask folks I've barely even met but believe me, you'll be really helping me out and once you see
what it is - I think you'll actually thank me."

"You brought us here - to help you?" Jack began suspiciously. "No tricks, no traps all you want
is for us to do a 'personal favor' - for someone we don't know from Adam? Now, why would we
want to do that?"

The silver-haired man affected a stricken look. "Jack! You doubt me! I'm wounded to the core! I
hope you won't be offended if I say you have an overly suspicious mind!"

Jack grinned tightly at him. "It's the life I lead." Damn. He was really liking this guy's
style, and he didn't want to.

Their host shook his head. "Very well, I guess I am just going to have to show you. If it's the
only way you will be convinced I really am your friend." He gestured behind him, to a long
table across the room about fifty feet away. There was an extremely enigmatic look on his face
as he said, "What I want you to take with you is lying on that table. Go on. Take a look."

"Carter, Teal'c - go check it out." Jack instructed them, never taking his eyes off those of
the man before him. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on the Silver Fox here."

As the pair began to walk toward the table their host laughed again. "Silver Fox! That's really
good! Will have to remember that. It'll crack Percy up for sure!"

"I must say that it took a bit of looking to find you, but I am sure the effort will be worth
it. You understand my problem. I had to find a reality that was almost identical to this -
except he wasn't in it anymore. But used to be - in the same way he is here. That's not as
common an occurrence as you might think, Jack. But had to make the effort for his sake. Too
much of a divergence from this one and it would have necessitated too much - rewriting. Might
have destabilized the personality matrix. Your reality isn't exactly the same as this one, but
it's very, very close. There are some - interesting differences, but I've made allowances for
them. A little 'tweaking' won't do any harm. He'll accept them without any problems, you don't
need to worry about that, Jack."

Wow! This guy had just made a right turn and headed straight into the twilight zone. What was
going on over there? What the hell was up with Carter? Was she - crying??

// Carter is DEFINITELY crying, Teal'c looks like he's in shock, nobody's answering and Foxie
looks like the cat who has just swallowed the canary. What are they looking at? //

"Why don't you go over and see for yourself, Jack?"

Jack shrugged and started to walk over to see what all the fuss was about, the man who had
brought them here following close behind him.

It wasn't possible - couldn't be. Daniel...

Sam and Teal'c were forgotten, all Jack could see was the man on the table. The man he had last
seen lying limply in his arms, his chest an open, gory horror, his blue eyes wide and staring
in death.

He was here - whole, breathing - god he's BREATHING he's alive looks like he's just - asleep oh
god - how is this possible.

Jack's hand was shaking as he reached out, almost afraid to and yet unable to resist the urge
to touch.

.hair, still as soft as he remembered.it had been such a long time.

Jack choked down a sob, pulled his hand back and balled it into a fist, rounding on the night-
clad man behind him.

"If this is some sort of sick joke or a trick I swear to God you're a dead man!"

His anger was instantly arrested by the sudden, deeply compassionate look in the grey eyes that
did not flinch from his need for the truth.

"No trick, Jack. No joke. Everything is exactly as it appears. That is Daniel, and he is very
much alive."

"How?" Jack found he could barely speak, this throat was so thick.

The man addressed crossed quickly to him, throwing a companionable arm around his shoulders,
pulling him into a stroll away from the table and the others. Jack went with him reluctantly,
looking over his shoulder at the man on the table, unwilling to lose sight of him lest he
suddenly vanish as miraculously as he had appeared.

"Ah, um, wow - you WOULD have to ask me that. Gotta tell you, Jack, it's an AWFULLY long story.
Don't want to bore you with all the piddley little details, you've probably got a million
better things to do with your time now in light of this new development - so I'll try to keep
it as brief as possible.

"Gonna have to give you a little backstory first. Sorry about that, can't be helped. You see,
once upon a time there was this race of beings who were very very smart. They progressed to a
state of technological advancement that gave them powers that still haven't been matched by any
race existing since them. Their technology gave them - dare I say it - practically god-like
abilities. Certainly the power over life and death. Most specifically, the creation of life
itself.

"This would have a good thing except for all their accomplishments - these beings were cold,
arrogant and completely heartless. They believed their god-like power made them better than
everyone else and entitled them to use the universe and everyone in it exactly as they pleased.
Which they proceeded to do, unopposed and with complete impunity. For a time.

"They built places like this one. A whole lot of them. These complexes were commissioned and
used as centres for the capture and duplication of the members of whatever sentient species
interested these beings at the time. The duplicates were sent out as spies. To infiltrate,
gather information and finally, subvert and conquer from within.

"Their primary initial function was the gathering of intelligence about and the in-depth study
of the 'irrational emotional weakness' of the subject species as a first step to formulating
invasion and disposition plans. Figure out the best way to subjugate the target by finding out
what made him tick walking literally in his shoes and then using that information against him.
Very covert, very clean, very cowardly.

"They had very few scruples about the way it was done. The beings they duplicated and disposed
of meant less to them than a bug one would accidentally step on. They were cruel, they were
corrupt, they took an arrogant pleasure in the harm they were able to inflict. They deserved
everything they got.

"Only problem was - they made their doubles a little too well. They were contemptuous of the
emotional and ethical traits they intended their duplicates learn from those they thought
themselves better than, seeing these traits as signs of weakness and inferiority. They didn't
understand what was happening until it was all over but the singing. Tell me something Jack, if
someone was to make an exact duplicate of you - I mean exact - everything you think, feel,
know, believe - and then told it to go back to your base and spy on it for them - what do you
think this 'other you' - would do?"

"Tell those guys to shove it and then bring back a regiment or ten and burn this place to the
ground."

"Very good, Jack! Got it in one! That's pretty much what happened. As soon as the duplicates
learned what they had been sent to learn - in short, developed a moral sense - they threw off
their programming and were - quite revolting. As far as the makers were concerned, at any rate.
Didn't even see what hit them. Arrogance caused them to create their own downfall in the first
place, and arrogance prevented them from believing it was even happening until it was much too
late to do anything about it.

"The duplicates took over, destroyed all of the complexes except the one on the homeworld -
which was substantially modified with all harmful elements removed and put to a much different
use than it was originally designed for but that really doesn't concern you - and apparently
this one - we're still trying to figure out how THAT one happened! All I know is somebody is
going to get a talking to when we figure it out - but getting back to the story after we had
blown everything up we made sure the makers that remained were - put somewhere safe so they
wouldn't be tempted to pull this sort of crap any more. They didn't really do well being faced
with the fact that they weren't nearly as shit-hot as they thought they were and as a result
were only an issue for a couple of hundred years, after which they pretty much all died out.

"Oh dear," Foxie grinned at him. "Slip of the tongue. How careless of me! If you caught it you
must have figured it out. Yes, I am one of those 'duplicates.' There are quite a few of us,
actually. We come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. The makers were quite busy for
awhile, until we put a stop to all of it.

"When it was all over, a bunch of us got together and had a kinda 'what next' summit. You see,
we had to deal with some inherent problems with being what we are. Virtually indestructible and
therefore by default - immortal. The territory comes with certain inbuilt angst and boredom
issues that I won't trouble you with, suffice it to say the solution we came up with was to all
band together to do something constructive with our free time. Make a contribution. We had the
homeworld, all that technology and lots of time on our hands so we've been putting it all to
good use. Keeping an eye on things, helping out, that sort of thing. It's a living. Beats
needlepoint. Trust me on this.

"But now I guess I should get to the part that most directly concerns you and your friend over
there. Somehow while we were mopping up - this place got missed. It must have been just built
and still off-line when we took out all the others. Bad enough it was sitting here idle for who
knows how long where anybody could have come along and - started messing with it but somehow,
it got turned on recently, you know how technology is, great when it works right, pain in the
ass when it doesn't - anyway, SG-1 - the SG-1 of THIS reality - came here for a short visit and
Daniel - they have a Daniel here, he survived the incident that killed yours dragged himself to
the sarcophagus after his team left him, got out healed, made it to the Stargate and dialed
himself out to the Alpha Site - all by himself imagine that, the plucky little bugger - he's
quite a pistol isn't he - Daniel got himself grabbed and duplicated and SG-1 left him behind
and went home with the duplicate.

"Howya doing? With me so far? The duplicate, bless him, didn't want to go along with the plan
any more than the rest of us did way back when, so he brought Jack - this Jack - back with him
to rescue their original Daniel. Which they did, but the duplicate had to sacrifice himself in
the process. Which he did. Very sad, but unavoidable. Jack took the original back and left the
empty here. Great stuff, isn't this - really inspiring! I was pretty impressed with the whole
thing anyway, after I got here and found the poor guy lying here and went into the logs and
files and got the whole story.

"So here I was, with a perfectly good duplicate body with no mind in it, and a perfectly good
personality file that had been extracted from the original just sitting in the system gathering
dust. I hate waste, don't you? So, what do you think I did?

"But then, I had a problem. Reanimating duplicate was no problem, Nothing could be simpler.
Download file into body - ta-dah! He's back in business! But once I did, what was I going to do
with him? He would wake up, thinking he was the original Daniel of this reality. Not the
duplicate, the First Edition. Flesh and blood guy, the real deal, not a clue he's a Xerox.
Cause he now has the original's mind in him you understand. As soon as he woke up, he would
want to go home. Well - wouldn't you? But he can't. This universe already has a Daniel. No
place here for my poor new friend! So, you see my problem. I have this perfectly good Daniel,
factory fresh, low-mileage hardly been used - and nowhere to put him! Talk about your
conundrums!

That's when I got this positively BRILLIANT idea - here you guys are and what do you say, are
you interested in helping me out here? Giving Daniel a home when he wakes up? Which - is going
to be pretty soon."

It took several long seconds before Jack realized Foxie had finally stopped talking and was
waiting for a response. "What - are you kidding me? He's a duplicate - but he's still, really -
Daniel."

"In every way that matters. He possesses the complete personality, memory and experiential
record of the original Daniel of this reality. Even though what he is made of isn't flesh and
blood, it looks and acts like it all the same. I guarantee you he can go through every medical
test ever devised and pass them with flying colours. All normal bodily functions - function
normally. He might not have been born the same way you or I - well, at least YOU, anyway - but
he is still every bit as human and real as you are. He'll laugh, cry, feel pain, hunger, get
tired, sleep - he's not a 'machine'. He's a man. If you cut him, he'll bleed real blood.

There is only one important difference. He's got a better warranty. The regenerative capacity
of the duplicate body is rather - astonishing. He can be hurt, but he can't be killed. There
isn't any type of injury that can't be handled either by the body itself, or the equipment we
have on the homeworld. Think of it this way, Jack. Not only will you have him back, but you'll
NEVER have to worry about losing him - ever again.."

"But - how can we - we can't just go back to base and say, "oh by the way, look what followed
us home can we keep him?"

Foxie laughed. "Way ahead of you, Jack. I've been doing this sort of thing for a long time,
trust me. I've already adjusted Daniel's memory matrix accordingly, so as far as he is
concerned this has already happened.

"This is what you say. Daniel did NOT die on the ship. You only thought he was dead. Once you
were gone, didn't the little bugger do the sarcophagus thing, like the Daniel of this reality.
Hey, why not? We know it worked once! Only instead of dialing the alpha site - he was a bit
rushed and misdialed. He ended up here - got grabbed and stuck in cold storage and this has
been where he has been for the last six months.

"Until today, when you managed to find him, through some rather extraordinary luck. Stargate
hiccuped and brought you here, you were attacked, defended yourself and killed all the bad guys
- don't worry, your weapons will show evidence of having been fired and most of your ammo is
gone - don't ask - you wouldn't understand it anyway. Once the smoke had cleared you took a
little look around and found Daniel. Carter figured out how to get him out of the machine, he
told you how he had come to be here, you all head for home lickety split because all of a
sudden the place is about to go up around you. Which will be the truth, after the fact. Once
you leave here I am going to level this dump. Trust me. So what do you think? It'll fly. Pretty
sure of it."

"Yes," Jack said softly. "It will. It really will. But - you said Daniel thinks he is the
original. Shouldn't he - be told."

"Plenty of time for that, Jack. I figure for the moment, he has more than earned the right to a
normal, full life with the people he loves. As long as all of you stick to the story and keep
mum about - the truth - that's what he'll have. And you'll all get to have it with him. But
don't worry, we'll be keeping an eye on him. We'll bring him into the loop, in the fullness of
time. We look after our own. I'm sure you can understand that."

"Yes. I can," Jack replied, "I - I don't know what to say. I don't know how to thank you."

The dark-clad man gave his shoulders a warm squeeze, then withdrew his arm and gave him a push
back toward the others. "Look after him. Look after yourselves. Live well and be happy. That's
all the thanks I need. Now go on, ya big lug. Take your friend home already." He gestured and a
curtain of shimmering light appeared in the air. "Step through and you'll be back where you
started in your own reality. Take care, Jack."

Jack turned around. The room behind him was empty. But the room before him held everything he
wanted. Whatever reality he happened to be in.

He stood once more at Daniel's side. As he put a hand on his cheek, Daniel's eyes opened. At
first they were filled with confusion and fear, but then grew calm with quiet trust as they
focussed on him.

"Jack, ' he said softly. "You came for me."

Jack found he had no words as he met the embrace that reached out to him. Feeling Daniel's arms
around him, holding the man he never thought he would ever touch again, Jack crushed Daniel
tightly in his arms, buried his head in his shoulder and unashamedly wept.

Mind you, he didn't feel particularly self-conscious about it because at that particular moment
there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

The silver haired man wiped his eyes as he watched the dimensional curtain wink out of sight.
God, he LOVED happy endings. Moments like this definitely made the whole thing worth while.
Another job well done. Well, almost done, anyway. He still had to blow this place to
smithereens.

He was just about to get to it when his cranial comm circuit beeped, notifying him he had an
incoming call. Probably Percy, nagging him to get finished. The guy was such a krimblat.

"What do you want, Percy?"

"What are you doing still there? No time at all you said. Straight demolition job you said. In
and out again you said. What are you up to this time, Merlin?"

"Don't get your shorts in a knot. There was a little something unexpected here, is all. Got
here and found the joint had already made a collection. Don't that just beat all. Not to worry,
the original got away okay. I'm sending you the files. Don't forget to archive them properly,
huh Perce?

"Don't tell me how to do my job! Geez, you guys out in the field think you know everything."

"I'm pretty much outta here now. All I have to do is to push the button and go."

"Well that's good, because I need you in Sector 456-G like yesterday. Mory has gone and pissed
off the natives again. Needs a little back-up."

'Bailout you mean. Geez, when is that guy ever going to learn, we're out there to fix worlds,
not try to take them over. Listen, Percy, you know how much I hate working with him, can't you
send someone else?"

"Sorry Merlin, my hands are tied. Art and Gwen have taken some personal time; Larry, Haddy and
Tris are still out in the field. Wolf's squad is tied up with that business on Gara - I got
teams all over the known universe who don't think I need to know where they are half the time.
The rest of the first string are all in deep undercover positions and haven't reported in over
a decade. I haven't got any more human operatives to spare. You my friend, are it."

"Sure, bet you say that to all the suckers. Okay, Percy, on my way. I'll get you for this
though, count on it!"

"Shakin' in my boots, Merlin. Later. Out."

Shaking his head, Merlin smiled wryly, looking where the curtain had been. "Good luck to you,
Daniel Jackson. Live well. Both of you."

He reached down, pushed the self-destruct button. "Hasta la vista, baby, " he said as he smiled
and disappeared.

finis