Disclaimer: I get no money for this. They aren't mine… but oh the things I would do with some of them if they were.

Spoilers: Everything through Season 9, Episode "Beachhead"

Rating: K+

Summary: They may have "sent the Ori a message", but now someone's sending one to Daniel.

Pairings: References to Jack/Sam (since that's what the show is doing), and possibly Daniel/Vala as the story progresses – I haven't decided yet.

Author's Note: I always figured my first multi-chapter fic would be J/S, but so far I like how the show has done it. So as Mitchell would probably say, "Don't fix what ain't broke." However, I was a little disappointed with how callous Daniel seemed about Vala's disappearance… and so this idea was born. I don't know how it's going to end yet, but I promise that it will end. I hate unfinished stories. And a personal note – while I will love the original SG-1 forever, I also enjoy the new characters… if you hate them this probably isn't the story for you. Reviews deeply appreciated, I especially like to know if you all think I'm getting the characters right.

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Chapter 1

"Daniel!" Vala screamed as her clothing caught fire and the flames licked at her skin.

"No!" He yelled as he fought against the villagers restraining him. There was nothing he could do. Then came her horrible screams. He made eye contact with her just before the fire engulfed her. The pain in her eyes was unbearable. He looked away and slammed his own eyes shut, trying to block out the sounds of her cries.

Daniel opened his eyes to find himself in his bed, in his quarters at the SGC. It was quiet and dark. There was no screaming and no one burning to death. His hand fumbled around his nightstand until he found his glasses. He put them on, turned on the light, and got out of bed. He pulled on a pair of pants and some shoes and exchanged his sweat-soaked T-shirt for a clean one before heading out to his office. It had been three days now that he hadn't been able to sleep for more than minutes at a time. After Vala hadn't made it back onto Prometheus, Daniel spent the majority of the next two days unconscious as the effects of the bracelet wore off. Once they had, he found himself unable to sleep without being visited by the horrible nightmarish memories of the time he and Vala spent on that planet in the Ori's galaxy. While it had ruined his sleep, he refused to allow fears about what had truly happened to Vala ruin his waking hours. Throwing himself into whatever translations he could find seemed to do the trick, for the most part.

He arrived at his office, coffee cup in hand, and noted that the time was only 3:00 am. It hadn't been more than an hour and a half since he had left the cluttered room. A large stone tablet lay where he had left it on his desk. He sat down in front of it, opened his notebook, and unrolled some papyrus scrolls before getting to work. Apparently right before Anubis ascended, he had his first prime conduct a kind of census of all Goa'ulds in the area that could have possibly posed any kind of threat. It also included assessments of each's tactical positions and holdings. Daniel had mused that it was a "Who's who of the Goa'uld" when SG-14 had brought it to him a week before. But it was in an obscure dialect and detailed – that meant lengthy translation. It should keep him busy for at least a day.

Roughly half-way through the document he mumbled to himself, "I don't know what's more amusing - the irony of this being found now, after almost all the Goa'uld have been wiped out, instead of seven or eight years ago when it would have actually been helpful, or the number of Anubis's Most Wanted that I played a part in eliminating." As he skimmed down the list he recognized all the usual suspects: Ra, Apophis, Hathor, Yu, Cronos, so on and so forth. Then, near the bottom of the list, one name made his breath hitch and the often-present knot return to his stomach. Catesh. As hard as he tried to just keep reading, he couldn't. His eyes refused to move past that one word. "Damnit." He swore. Looking at the clock, he was somewhat relieved to see that three hours had past since he had returned to the office. About this time Teal'c should be in the mess hall eating breakfast. Getting breakfast would be something to do. Not that he would actually be eating breakfast, but pushing food around on his tray while pretending to listen to someone, usually Cameron Mitchell, prattle on about something tended to help pass a decent amount of time. He realized that it used to drive him nuts when Jack would do that when he was talking. The irony of the current situation was not lost on him.

Just then, as if reading his mind, Teal'c appeared at the doorway. "Daniel Jackson, I have come to see if you would care to accompany me for the morning meal."

"Thanks Teal'c. Yeah. Just let me put this stuff away." Daniel closed his notebook, rewrapped the scrolls, and then slid the tablet into a drawer. Out of sight, out of mind.

About half way to the mess hall they bumped into Mitchell. He was wearing an Air Force tank top and sweat pants and carrying a basket ball. "Yo Jackson! You up for some hoops?"

"Not today Cameron. But maybe Teal'c would be interested." Daniel looked up at his friend.

"So whadda you say Teal'c? How 'bout a little one-on-one?" Mitchell asked.

"I cannot accept your challenge, Colonel Mitchell. To achieve victory in sport over a competitor that you know to be inferior is widely considered to be without honor."

"Inferior?" Mitchell coughed out. "Could it be that Teal'c is just chicken?" He made some fake passing moves with the ball. Daniel half expected him to start making clucking noises.

Without changing his facial expression or even diverting his glance from Mitchell's face, Teal'c swatted the ball from his hands in one quick motion. Daniel couldn't help but smile as the ball bounced then rolled down the hallway.

It took a second for the shock to disappear from Mitchell's face. When it did he announced, "I better go get that" and scurried off down the hallway.

As they turned to enter the commissary, Daniel noticed a smile on Teal'c's face and swore he heard the Jaffa mumble, "Inferior indeed."

When they sat down at a table, Teal'c asked the question Daniel knew was coming, "Are you unwell Daniel Jackson? It would appear that you have not slept in many days and I find that at times you are… distracted."

"I'm fine Teal'c. It's just… I…"

"You are mourning the loss of Vala MalDoran." Teal'c finished for him.

"No." Daniel stated defensively. "Maybe. I don't know." Teal'c gave him an inquisitive look and he continued, "It's just… it doesn't seem like mourning. It's more like, and I can't believe I'm saying this, being haunted."

"Did you not appear to me after your death, when I was in need of assistance?"

"So I've been told. But I don't need assistance. And we're not even sure she's dead." Daniel dropped his head into his hands.

"Is it not possible that she is the one in need of assistance, and that she is able to somehow communicate with you because of the link you once shared?" Teal'c asked.

Daniel pondered that idea for a moment. "God, I hope not." If she was even still alive, she was in some far off galaxy that they probably couldn't get to, even if they knew where it was. Odds are she was being brutally tortured or killed for not believing in the Ori. Again, she was screaming out to him for help and there was nothing he could do but watch.

Teal'c's voice snapped Daniel out of his reverie, "Perhaps Colonel Carter could be of assistance in this matter."

Later that day Daniel found himself helping Carter move box after box of who-knows-what into what was once again her lab. "I don't know how many times I've already said this Sam, but it really is good to have you back."

"I have to admit, I did kind of miss this place." She smiled, then looked a little more serious. "So Daniel, how are you doing, really?"

"Honestly, I don't know. At first I thought that maybe I was just feeling guilty about Vala. That maybe I should have just listened to her. Don't get me wrong, it's kind of nice not having her around anymore, but she didn't deserve what she got. I know we've already established that death by black hole is not the best way to go, and if she is still alive in the Ori's home galaxy, she's undoubtedly being tortured or killed and there's nothing we can do about it. We don't even know where their galaxy is."

"Actually," Carter interrupted, "I've been doing some calculations. Using the data from Prometheus about the shockwave from the point singularity they tried to create and comparing it to information we have on file from the black hole we encountered on P3W-451, I was able to estimate the amount of energy they were going to have to use to power their super gate. Assuming, of course that the ratio of power needed to gate diameter is truly logarithmically correlated and that there are no major variants in the power distribution equations owing to the continuous wormhole…"

"Sam." Daniel cut her off.

"I estimate that the distance to the Ori's home galaxy is roughly 12.4 billion light years. The only galaxy relatively close to that distance is the galaxy named HE 1013-2136. This particular galaxy also happens to be centered around a black hole." She finished.

"That's incredible! You've found the Ori's galaxy. Have you told General Landry yet?" Daniel never ceased to be amazed by Carter's brain.

"Well, it's only speculation right now. I want to run the numbers a couple more times to be sure. Even then, this galaxy is still over three times further away than Pegasus. Until just recently it was believed to be the furthest galaxy from us in the universe. At this point I don't know if we could feasibly use Prometheus or Deadalus to get there."

"But it's a start." Daniel pointed out. As they continued to unpack boxes he couldn't resist smiling and asking, "So how are things with you and Jack?"

"Daniel, do you realize you sound more and more like a thirteen year-old girl each time you ask me that?" She teased.

"Do not." He protested.

That night Daniel walked to his quarters fully expecting to actually be able to sleep that night. He had done some serious physical labor helping Carter unpack that day and he had learned that she may have found where the Ori were from. As that would be the same place Vala would have been sent, he hoped this progress would ease his mind enough to at least allow him a few hours of sleep.

He got ready for bed, climbed in, and removed his glasses. He placed them on the nightstand and turned off the light. As he rolled over, he immediately realized he was not alone in the bed. He froze in terror for a split second as his eyes took in what was lying next to him.

"Help me, Daniel!" was the barely audible request from the badly burnt body in his bed. He instantly recognized it as Vala.

He screamed, jumped out of bed, and turned the light on all in one movement. There was nothing there. He pulled on his glasses just to make sure the bed was truly empty.

Just then Mitchell burst into his room. "Jackson, you okay? I heard someone scream."

"Yeah, that was me. I'm fine." Daniel was still too spooked to effectively play it off.

"Screaming in the dark doesn't seem 'fine' to me." Mitchell seemed concerned. "Either tell me what's been happening or I'll make you tell it to Dr. Lam."

Daniel let out a sigh, "I think there may be a residual effect from the bracelets, and I'm fairly certain Vala needs our help."

"Here we go again." Mitchell lamented. "I'll call the General. You and the rest of the team, meet me in the briefing room in two hours."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

To Be Continued...