Perspectives is the third part in a series, the sequel to Photograph. It will make no sense if you have not read Photograph. Picture Book is the prequel (Daniel and Ella as children) and this is Daniel and Ella, post-descenion. Unlike Picture Book, I don't think there will be many "violence" warnings. But there are language warnings. Ella is still Ella.

Set post-"Evolution."

I own no one but Ella.

Jack and Daniel

Grocery shopping was the most normal thing that Jack O'Neill ever did anymore. That was one of the reasons he liked it. It brought a sense of normalcy to his abnormal life. And it was a nice distraction from Goa'ulds, Tok'ra, and even his buddies the Asgard. The local grocery store meant home. And it took concentration. His regular schedule might take him off world for several days at a time. Add to that unexpected abductions, gate malfunctions and random base lockdowns, and he could be gone for weeks at a time. Jack had learned a long time ago that there was little worse than coming home after a long, hard mission to a crisper full of liquefied lettuce and a bag of rock-hard, moldy bread. Of course what was worse was coming home to nothing. No butter, no milk, no beer. It didn't feel like home at all. So Jack had learned to shop smart. Non-perishables and frozen foods. It was nice to know that however long the mission would be, there was a steak waiting to be thawed and Guinness waiting to be cracked open. It made things feel normal again.

Jack just wished that he could get Daniel to remember this. After getting the archeologist out of South America, Daniel had had to spend some quality time with Janet Fraiser, healing from his injuries. Jack drove Daniel home yesterday only to find nothing in the kitchen but a box of stale saltines and an old pound of coffee. Jack just rolled his eyes and told his friend to order a pizza and that tomorrow they were shopping for real food.

So here they were. It was later in the day than Jack had intended but at least the usual Saturday crowd had thinned out. Daniel ambled along side Jack in a much better mood than Jack would have expected considering how the anti-Honduran rebels had treated him. Then again, a year and a half ago, Daniel was drowning in his own blood and interstitial fluids while his flesh melted off of his bones. Radiation poisoning did not kill pretty. An event like that probably re-set one's standard for traumatic events, whether it was consciously remembered or not. Torture at the hands of guerilla rebels might not be such a big deal.

"Jack, that's enough pizza," Daniel peered into the cart where Jack was stacking cardboard boxes.

"It would be but you're hosting hockey night on Tuesday. I know how much Carter can eat." Jack grabbed a fifth box.

"Why am I – you know what? Never mind. Thanks for warning me this time." Daniel dug around the cart, dislodging pasta boxes, peanut butter, frozen vegetables and cereal. "I think this is enough food for awhile."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. This should get you through at least two weeks of 24-hour days and a week and a half of you going MIA." They headed towards the registers.

The aisle they walked down held coffee and tea selections. Distracted, Daniel did not notice the tall redhead staring at him in shock. But Jack did.

"Ella," Jack said. Daniel turned to see whom Jack was talking to.

"Daniel?" Ella asked.

Jack realized what was going to happen a half second before it did. Ella's hand basket hit the ground. Immediately after, so did she.

"Oh jeeze," Jack muttered as he and Daniel rushed to the unconscious woman. Jack bent down and checked her pulse, feeling for any bleeding from where her head hit the floor.

"Jack, who is she?" Daniel leaned over her with a look of deep confusion. Jack realized that this was one more of Daniel's memories that had not returned, post-descension.

Jack sat back on his heels considering what to do next. "Dammit, Daniel, it's never just 'normal' with you, is it?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As Daniel stared at the woman on the floor, he knew two things clearly. One was that he knew exactly what she looked like naked, down to the dove tattoo on her hip and the fuchsia polish on her toes. And the second was that he didn't know anything else. Even her name was a mystery, although he thought that he had heard Jack call her "Emma." The exasperated look on Jack's face told him that he should know more than that.

"Jack, who is she?" he repeated.

Jack let out a deep sigh. As he began to speak, the woman groaned and moved her head. "Oh, fuck, ow…" she said softly, opening her eyes. She focused on Daniel. "Oh my god. What are you doing here?"

The question was not what he expected. "Uh, um, grocery shopping."

She tried to blink away the fogginess in her eyes, oblivious to the crowd that was growing around them. "But – you're dead." She noticed Jack behind her. "You told me he was dead."

Daniel hunched down beside her and looked into her panic-filled eyes. "Who are you?"

She reached up to touch his face, lightly, "Daniel…it's me…Ella…"

"Okay folks," Jack interrupted, hearing the crowd start to murmur excitedly. "Let's move this somewhere else, okay? Ella, can you stand?" He held out her hand and helped her up. She was unsteady on her feet and continued to stare at Daniel. Jack steered her down the aisle while Daniel tried to clean up the scattered groceries. After a few moments, he gave up and hurried after the pair, muttering apologies to the crowd.

He caught up to them in the parking lot. The woman was perched on the fender of Jack's jeep with her head between her knees. Jack was saying something to her, too soft for Daniel to overhear. As he approached, she looked up. She got to her feet and walked towards him, almost, but not quite, touching him again.

"Daniel, what is going on? How are you here? Why are you looking at me like that?" Under the harsh lights of the parking lot, the woman's pale skin had taken on an unhealthy cast.

Daniel stared at her, at a loss for what to say. She was a stranger to him. I know I've seen you naked just couldn't be an appropriate comment. But his brain had blanked. Desperate, he looked to Jack for help.

Jack walked up to them. "Ella, that's what I was trying to tell you. We were wrong. Daniel wasn't dead. But he doesn't remember a lot of his life from before." Jack's eyes flicked over to Daniel before he continued. "I don't think he remembers you."

The words hung in the night air. That they sounded horrible to Daniel's ears didn't change the fact that they were true.

Ella looked at him. "You don't remember me?"

He shook his head. "Emma – uh Ella – I'm sorry…I don't…"

She gestured helplessly, "But it's me…"

Daniel could only respond, "I'm sorry."

Ella pulled off her glasses and put her hand over her eyes. It looked like she was trying to erase the image of Daniel standing there, miserable and silent. As he watched her trying not to see him, trying not to cry, his heart broke for her. He had no idea how, but his ascension had caused her a world of pain. It felt like he stood there for a small eternity, wanting to reach out to her, but afraid to hurt her more. He didn't know how to make it better.

Thank god Jack was there to help. Jack walked up quietly and placed his hands on Ella's shoulders. "Let me drive you home, okay?"

She didn't argue. She just reached into her coat pocket and handed Jack her keys. Scrubbing her face with her hand, she gave Daniel one last look before turning her back on him. "I'm parked over there," she pointed to a small red compact a row over.

Jack tossed his keys to Daniel. "Follow me, okay?"

Daniel caught the keys and nodded, watching the pair walk away again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

When Jack started the engine, music came blasting from the speakers. Cursing to himself, he turned it down. Ella didn't seem to notice. She was starting out the passenger side window with blank eyes. She told Jack where she lived and then was silent.

After five long minutes, she asked Jack a question. Her voice was so soft that he couldn't hear her. "What?" he asked.

"I said, how long? How long has he been back?"

"Oh. About three months."

She looked over at him. "Three months? Three months and you never thought to call me?"

"Things have been really crazy with work," he replied lamely.

"How could you have thought he was dead when he wasn't? You didn't say 'He might be dead.' You didn't say, 'Daniel's missing.' You said, 'Daniel died four months ago.'" Anger had started to trickle into her voice.

Jack felt distinctly uncomfortable. He had lied then, but he had had no choice. After all… "Ella, as I told you then, most of the details are - "

"So help me, if you say 'classified' I will reach behind my seat, grab my tire iron and beat you to death with it." The sidewise look she was giving him did not tell him if she was exaggerating or not. Seeing no real option, he kept his mouth shut until she spoke again, minutes later. "I am so angry with you," she whispered. "You and him both. How could he forget – everything?" She had closed her eyes and had her hands clenched on to the dashboard.

"When we found him, he didn't even know who he was. He didn't remember us, or his life. He didn't even know that he was on the wrong - " planet, he almost said. "We didn't find him in this country. He was lost."

"Oh god." Jack heard a sob catch in her throat. "Oh god, please pull over."

"Huh?"

"Please pull the fucking car over!"

Quickly, Jack pulled into the shoulder. Ella fumbled out of her seat belt and jumped out of the car. Jack heard her begin to vomit over the guardrail.

Daniel pulled the Jeep in front of him. Jack climbed out of the car and brought Ella a water bottle that he had found in the drink holder. She took a drink and rinsed her mouth with some water.

"Ella - " Daniel started to say.

"Please don't." She held up her hand to silence him, still facing into the darkness.

"Ella, I'm sorry." He tried anyway.

"You're sorry?" Ella turned to Daniel with such fury that Jack stepped back. "You're sorry?" She brushed past Jack and got in Daniel's face. "For what? For forgetting me? For fucking dying on me? You fucking died on me, you dumb son of a bitch!" Tears began to run down her face and she jabbed his chest hard as she ranted. "You left me alone. I was alone! How could you do that to me?"

Daniel was helpless in the face of her grief. "I don't know."

For a second, Jack thought that Ella was going to strike Daniel. And it wouldn't have been a girly little smack. Then, without looking away from her former foster brother, she held out her hand to Jack. "Give me my keys."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jack asked.

"My keys, my car keys. Gimme' the goddamn keys!" She shook her hand in his direction.

Jack tried to calm her down a little. "Ella, I don't think - "

She cut him off with a withering glare. "I really don't care what you think right now." Jack put the keys in her hand.

As she moved away, Daniel put his hand on her arm. "Please wait. We can talk…or something…Please let me help you."

"No. I can't talk to you. I can't even look at you right now. It just…you...it hurts...it hurts…Please leave me alone." She kept her eyes to the pavement.

Daniel let her go.

As the two men stood in the flickering lights of the Jeep's blinkers Jack asked, "Daniel, do you remember anything about her?"

With his fists buried in his coat pockets, Daniel looked tired and very sad. "I know…that I knew her. I know that she has a tattoo on her hip of a dove flying out of a cracked heart. I know that she favors fuchsia toenail polish. But I didn't know how to tell her that I know that but…nothing else."

There was a long pause as Ella's car lights disappeared from view. Finally Jack put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Let's get you home."

As they walked towards the Jeep, Daniel rubbed at his sternum. "I have to say that her poking me like that felt kind of familiar."

"Well, it's a start," Jack replied.

TBC