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English
Series:
Part 9 of Beyond Meridian
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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1,434
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1/1
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13
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Imaginary Friend�

Summary:

This is YET ANOTHER story based on the SG1 alternate reality brought to light by SIMON WARREN & BETHANY S. HEARD through “BEYOND MERIDIAN” (title chosen by SIMON BLEAKEN)… I, BETHANY S. HEARD, hereby APOLOGISE to SIMON and the REST OF CREATION, for incessantly receiving INSPIRATION through the little radar system I sometimes not so lovingly call MY brain…! ( Written:  23.10.02)

Work Text:

Imaginary Friend…
by Bethany

Daniel Jackson was tired, tired, but not willing to retire to his bunk. He doggedly sat in his office, knowing that it didn’t matter anyway… Tomorrow was a scheduled day off for SG1, he hoped, and he could go straight to sleep here in his room at the SGC if he wished… He had nothing to go home for. Pain lanced through his neck as he stooped over his chosen book of study. He had no choice but to sit up, rub his sore neck, and take a break from slouching over the book. A smile crossed his face as he thought of his Archaeology Professor, Dr. David Jordan, who would have, at first, chided him, then pulled up a chair and joined him… His mind went back to how his Professor had died. His heart twinged. He then thought of Steven, who had ‘borrowed’ the amulet, and been so enthralled by what he thought the Osiris jar contained. Canopic Jars, any self-respecting Egyptologist knew, would never, ever contain the heart of a Pharaoh… Yet you, the one who is always so concerned with the right image, the right portrayal, the right appearances, even you, Steven, could not resist thinking about the possibilities… Daniel thought. Thank God you don’t have to think about too many of them… Daniel was reminded, also, of the poor soul prisoner to the will of Apophis, and wondered, not for the first time, if he had, in fact, managed to truly die, beyond reach of being recalled, when Solkar undoubtedly retrieved Apophis… He hoped so. Not ever having been one to find that self respect came easy to him, Daniel Jackson had been able to open up his mind to a whole plethora of possibilities.

“Daniel Jackson, it is very late…” Teal’c’s voice softly boomed from the doorway.

“Yes. It is, Teal’c, so why are you up and about so late?” Daniel smiled good-naturedly at his friend.

“My Kel’nor’eem has been completed.” Teal’c said, simply, and walked over, pulling up a chair, as Daniel had imagined Dr. Jordan doing. “What are you doing?” He indicated the book, still open, in front of Daniel.

Daniel looked at the book, “Oh, not paying that much attention to this, I’d say…” He grinned.

“What is on your mind, Daniel Jackson?” Teal’c asked unobtrusively.

Daniel was suddenly reminded of how Dr. Janet Frasier used to call the Jaffa warrior, Mr. Teal’c.

“Are you sure you wanna hear?” Daniel laughed gently.

“Why would I not?” Teal’c reasonably asked.

“Jack gets very bored when he asks me that question…” Daniel observed.

“ Ah, I see…” Teal’c thought his options over. “Continue…”

“Well, the Goa’uld took over where mythology and actual events left off, correct?” Daniel began theorising.

“Indeed.” Teal’c affirmed.

“And every book I’ve ever studied says that the heart was kept inside a mummified Pharaoh, or any Egyptian wealthy enough to have their remains put through this process, yes?” He continued.

“You have told me this, yes.” Teal’c, again, confirmed.

“But this was probably before the Goa’uld turned a sarcophagus into a kind of stasis chamber, which literally resurrects the body…” Dr. Daniel Jackson was in his element.

“Where are you headed, Daniel Jackson?” Teal’c asked interestedly.

“Do you remember when I read the Last Rights to the host of Apophis?” Daniel asked.

“Of course…” Teal’c rumbled patiently.

“And I told him that his soul would be carried by that funerary statue back home to the sands of Egypt?” Daniel furthered.

“I remember…” Teal’c genuinely stated.

“Well, the Osiris Jar, to Dr. Jordan, and to Steven… Remember, they had never seen the Goa’uld language, it looked as if it read that it was the vessel for the life-force of an Ancient Egyptian…” Daniel pieced together the puzzle, slowly, deliberately.

“When, in fact, it contained the Goa’uld Osiris, brother of Seth…” Teal’c added thoughtfully.

“Yes, but Dr. Jordan and Steven interpreted that they had, in fact, discovered something unheard of…” Jackson was building to a summary.

“Neither are the Goa’uld, to the likes of them…” Teal’c reminded.

“I wonder if it is at all possible that, at one time, a faction of the Ancient Egyptians believed that their hearts must be kept in Canopic jars, so that their spirit, freed from the funerary statue, could carry it to their remains, and imbue the reinstated heart, rejuvenating their bodies for the journey to eternal life through the magic door…” Daniel was faraway, considering possibilities, drinking deeply the ambience of Ancient Egypt.

“Magic door???” Teal’c was confused. “But, Daniel Jackson, that is not what the Goa’uld scripture did in fact say… It was a marker for the Goa’uld within…”

“I know, Teal’c, but isn’t it wonderful, considering possibilities…?” Daniel Jackson worked hard at always keeping an open mind, but, more often than not, because he had maintained his mind this way for such a time, it was second nature. It was a magical doorway in itself.  “Y’know, when my parents were still alive, they taught me about Ancient Egypt right from the very start, Teal’c. My lullabies were Egyptian melodies. My bedtime stories were the fables of scripture…”

“I, too, grew up hearing of the stories…” Teal’c stated, smiling because, back then, his mind had been too young to be told the truth. If his elders had told him truth, he would not have wanted to hear it. He had not, at first, even as a man.

“But my Mom and Dad were always making sure I knew all the details as they should be…” Daniel told Teal’c.

“Yet you opened your mind to possibilities for which your peers denied you…” Teal’c stated.

“So did you, Teal’c.” Daniel smiled at the common ground they shared in this topic.

“Master Breta’c is unparalleled as a teacher…” Teal’c proudly told Daniel.

“My parents, too… But it’s someone else whom I have to thank for my open mind…” Daniel recalled bittersweet, but eternally grateful and indebted.

“Whom?” Teal’c simply enquired.

“My Nanna.” Daniel paused, seeing Teal’c’s need for explanation. “My Grandmother. Nick’s wife…”

“Ah.” Teal’c nodded his understanding. “Your Grandmother was as formidable as Bretak, then?”

“Oooh, yeah…!” Daniel exaggerated, but not by much. “You met Nick, you saw what he’s like, and even he wouldn’t debate her…”

“Why not?” Teal’c asked.

“Because he knew better than to mess with Nanna and her theories…” Daniel fondly remembered.

“She was also an Egyptologist?” Teal’c was keen to learn more.

“Na-uh,” Daniel began. “Nanna was just Nanna, and an extremely wise lady… She taught me it was ok to daydream, to imagine, to immerse myself in possibilities… She once told me it was the key to those magical doors Mom, Dad, and Nick, always went on about being in the pyramids. She told me that considering possibilities was not the plaything of the weak, that it’s really just another thing to remember to add to your survival kit… That’s why, when Nick discovered the Crystal Skull after she died, he threw himself into the idea so thoroughly. I think he thought he was paying tribute to her.”

“… Offering up an admission that her intuition might have had a point…” Teal’c realised.

“Exactly!” Daniel agreed, still thinking, still nostalgically remembering.

“What was her name?” Teal’c wondered aloud.

“Dru…” Daniel giggled slightly.

“What?” Teal’c was in good humour himself.

“Nanna didn’t want to let me know what her name was… So, I had a Granddad who wouldn’t let me call him by anything other than his actual name, and a Nanna who’d rather me call her almost anything but by her true name…”

“ I do not understand, what is so terrible about ‘Dru’?” Teal’c asked.

“It’s not the ‘Dru’ bit she didn’t like, it was…” Daniel paused. “Oh, well… She wouldn’t mind me telling you, I hope!… She blamed it on her Polish heritage. She used to say the Romans dropped it off on their warpath…” Daniel paused.

“Did you not tell me once that the Germans and Polish were at war?” Teal’c remembered.

“The Germans invaded Poland in World War Two, yes… And, that’s why Nick and Nanna came to Canada. They managed to get out, together, just before it all started. They knew that if they stayed, it would be terrible for them. You’d think the Germans and Polish were still in conflict, if memory serves me… Those two were, sometimes, anyway!” Daniel said lightly.

“Marriage can be the greatest battle of them all, in many ways…” Teal’c stated sagely.

“ I didn’t tell you Nanna’s full name, did I?” Daniel suddenly thought. “It was Drusilla…” Daniel smiled at the memory of finally persuading her to tell him.

"It is a secret I shall take with me to Keb…” Teal’c emphatically and warmly assured his colleague. “Good night, Daniel Jackson…” The Jaffa warrior stood, and smiled that deep smile he possessed.

“Good night, my friend…” Daniel Jackson called after him.

THE END

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