Title: Dreamscape
Author: M.
Feedback: Sure!
Rating: PG
Characters: Orlin, Jack O'Neill, Jonas Quinn, Danielle Jackson (yep, you read right)
Pairing: Sam/Orlin Unrequited, Jack/Danielle UST, Jonas/Danielle UST. Either one you could probably read into things.
Keywords: Alternate Universe, genderbender, ascended. Post-Meridian
Spoilers: None
Series: Could be. We'll see.
Disclaimers: Stargate? Not mine. Danielle? Well...sort of.
Summary: Jack O'Neill hasn't forgiven the Kelownans, and by extension Jonas Quinn, for what happened to Danielle Jackson. Danielle, however, has other ideas...
Author's Note: a while ago, I started a Girl!Jonas AU. azarsuerte asked if I could make it Girl!Jonas/Daniel but, well, the muses didn't accomodate. But the idea stuck with me. So, I decided a while ago to try a girl!Daniel AU. Just to see. Now that one, the muses started to pull out of my plan too. ;-p But, angelsgracie, who is also pulling for Jonas in this one *G*) pointed out I could always write two AUs. Specially since, in Stargate, the concept of alternate universes is canon. Heh.
So, I thought I'd at least try a fic. so thus...here it is.
Oh, and for frame of reference? Danielle? Picture Jennifer Garner with glasses. I was feeling evil when I decided that. See, it's Sydney that irritates me when I get irritated with Alias. Not JG. *G* Click Here to see JG with glasses on.
"Dreamscape"
by M.
----------
Walking through the hallways of Stargate Command, very much invisible to the officers and personnel that passed, Doctor Danielle Jackson had a strong sense of deja vu. The only thing missing was her grandfather by her side...
"Where's Nick when you need him?" She murmured with a brief upturn of her lips as she stopped before a door.
Jack's office.
She had but to think about it and she was inside, sitting on the edge of her old friend's desk, watching him write a report. Or, more accurately, staring at a legal pad on said desk with a look of pure aggravation.
"I'd ask how you are," she began in a conversational tone, "but I've already got a pretty good idea. Ill-tempered, disagreeable and the same pain in the ass you were when I first met you."
Oblivious to her presence, the Colonel kept working, jotting notes.
The former archaeologist sighed. "Damn it, Jack...I know you're upset but this whole thing with Jonas? You have to let it go. What happened to me is not his fault...*I* made the choice. It was my choice. Mine."
She sighed, rubbing her forehead, suddenly feeling more tired than she could remember. "This isn't fair of you and you know it...but you don't care yet. You will. I know you will. But not yet."
Getting up, Danielle walked about the room, noting the things that had changed and the things that hadn't. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the jacket slung across one chair.
Her jacket.
She turned and looked back at Jack, her eyes wide with surprise. "What's this doing here? I left this here the day before we went to Kelowna..."
"This has been here ever since, hasn't it?" A bittersweet smile touched her face. "I always knew there was a soft-touch hidden under the hardass exterior. One of these days, you are so going to hear it about this."
Danielle's smile turned wry. "I hope."
-*-*-*-*-*-
Sam was, like always, in her lab. Danielle had no idea what the device was that sat before her old friend but then, she rarely had. Astrophysics weren't exactly standard fare for archaeologists afterall.
Unsurprisingly, Orlin was perched on a stool, watching the scientist at work.
"Does she know you're here?"
He looked over at her and smiled faintly. "Did Colonel O'Neill know you were?"
Danielle dropped her gaze, hand unconsciously starting to reach to adjust glasses she no longer wore, "No...At least, I couldn't tell."
"Sometimes, I think Sam knows I'm here, feels my presence...sometimes." Orlin sighed and turned to look at her. "Are you all right?"
She smiled wryly. "That's a complicated question. I'm alive...but my friends think I'm dead. I tried to save someone and now he's being blamed for said non-existent death..." Sitting down, she watched Sam studying an alien artifact, moving around the room without any apparent knowledge of their presence. "Basically? I'm frustrated. Homesick...and more than a little angry." Jonas entered the room and she nodded at him. "He's a pariah here. I know they're angry about what happened but..." A weary sigh escaped her. "It's not his fault and they know it...but I wish they knew how much this bothers me."
"So tell them. You know how to speak to them...They may not all realize that it's really you but..." He gave her a knowing look.
Danielle smiled a little. "Jack might."
"He might. So, why don't you try it?"
Danielle's smile became a grin. "Why don't you?" She nodded in Sam's direction.
He blushed a little and followed her line of sight.
"You *do*!" She exclaimed with a smile. "Orlin!! You've been visiting Sam in her dreams?"
Orlin's blush deepened and he nodded. "Yes."
"And?" She prompted, resting her chin on her palm.
"And *that*," he answered stiffly, "is between Sam and myself."
"Ahh...like that, hmm?" Danielle waved off his comment and turned to watch Jonas leave, feeling a wave of sympathy for the man. "I spoke to Jack once...in a sort of a daydream. I don't think it did much good."
"Perhaps this time it will. He may have thought it was wishful thinking then...now..."
Without turning, Danielle allowed a small nod. "Perhaps...but first? First I have someone else to visit."
-*-*-*-*-*-
He was standing in Dr. Jackson's lab, he still couldn't think of it as his own, but everything looked strange. Filmy.
Unreal.
"That's because it isn't."
He turned to find Dr. Jackson standing in the doorway, smiling at him. Her hair was longer than he remembered, curlier, and she was wearing a white dress. Definitely not SGC issue.
"Well...not really anyway."Continuing to speak, Danielle moved closer. "It's closer to reality than a dream would be but still not quite. Mind if I come in?"
"It's your office, you don't need to ask."
"It's your office now. Besides, it's your mind. Yes I do."Stubbornly, she stayed where she was until he nodded his permission.
Watching her suspiciously, Jonas had to ask. "Are you really Dr. Jackson or..."
"Are you dreaming me?"She smiled, dimpling. "I'm really me, Jonas, and it's Danielle. Not Dr. Jackson."
His brow furrowed in confusion. "But you..."
"Died?"Danielle finished with wry humor. "No, I didn't. Not really. I ascended to a different plane of existence which, I suppose, one could consider a form of death. I, however, don't. If I'm dead, that means this is the afterlife and if it is? Heaven is a huge disappointment."
Having researched the humans concept of the afterlife, he was familiar with the term and the meaning of it. Thus, he could see the humor and laughed accordingly, "I see your point."
She hopped up on a counter, crossing her legs then adjusting her skirt. "Which is rare, let me tell you."She let the conversation lull for a moment while she idly contemplated how to approach the reason for her visit. All the ideas she came up with sounded totally contrived and would likely fail miserably if she attempted them.
When no other ideas were forthcoming, Danielle gave a resigned sigh and decided to go with the direct approach. "How have things been going? Any trouble settling in around here?"
Jonas averted his eyes. "No, nothing worth mentioning."
She smiled sympathetically. "You're as bad a liar as I am, Jonas Quinn."She nodded at the photograph of SG1 that had decorated a shelf. "Jack's been giving you a rough time of it from what I've seen...and the rest of the SGC's taking their cue from him."
"They miss you."He said sincerely, finally meeting her gaze.
"And I miss them."She responded in a subdued voice. "More than I'd thought possible but that doesn't excuse the way they've been treating you. You had almost nothing to do with what happened. I made the choice. Me."
"I froze."Jonas argued miserably. "If I had gone..."
"You'd be dead. Oma came for me. I don't know that she would have known to come for you."Sliding off the counter, Danielle walked to the Kelownan, resting a hand on his arm. "I've been with the SGC for a long time, Jonas, and I've been doing things like that for a long time. I didn't freeze *because* I'm accustomed to being forced to react that fast. I was forced to learn to react that way to survive. Believe me...if this had been six years ago? I probably would have frozen."
Her gentle smile turned to a promising grin. "Give it six month of hanging around this place and you'll be a daredevil like the rest of us."
He smiled a little at that. "I wish I could be as confident of that as you are."
She waved a hand. "Don't believe me, huh?"Her eyes danced with merriment. "Ask Jack about the first Abydos mission sometime...there were times on that one where I think he would have shot me if I hadn't been his only shot at finding a way home."
"Colonel O'Neill didn't like you?"Jonas stared at her in surprise. The way the colonel had been acting in response to Danielle's apparent ascension, he would have sworn it was just the opposite.
She stared at him in disbelief for an instant then broke into laughter, holding on to his arm to keep herself on her feet. She stood there and laughed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"Did I say something funny?"Completely confused by her reaction, Jonas watched Danielle try to regain her composure, wiping tears away.
"Hilarious, really. Jonas...Jack *hated* me. I was a nerd...the very picture of extreme geekitude. He tried every argument possible to avoid taking me on the first mission but, fortunately for him, General West - Hammond's predecessor - overruled him."She gave him an encouraging look. "Jack O'Neill is a cranky pain in the ass, Jonas, but he's a good man. Give him time. He'll come around. I promise."
"I hope so."The other scientist agreed, surprised when Danielle kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"Take care of them for me, okay?"
He nodded silently and, as quickly as the strange dreamscape had appeared, it was gone.
Jonas awoke to find himself lying on his bunk, staring up at the drab ceiling.
"Amazing."
-*-*-*-*-*-
He was back on the planet again. P3X-866. The one from the first year of SG1's mission. The planet where they'd thought Danielle had...
"Colonel, help me!!!"Her terrified scream rent the air and he spun to see her, younger, wearing desert fatigues, stumbling back from the fire as it roared up before her.
It was happening again.
He was watching her die again.
"No, Jack,"Danielle interjected quietly, laying a hand on his arm, "you aren't. I'm fine, remember? This didn't really happen. It was a lie. I'm *fine*."
He turned to look at her, the utter helplessness on his face breaking her heart. "You're not fine, Danielle. You're gone. Dead. Or as good as."
"As good as?"Lifting an indignant brow, she pinched him.
Hard.
"OW!"The surprise on his face was genuine. "I felt that!"
"Of course you did. This only looks like a dream, Jack. It isn't. Your body will treat this as reality."Danielle pinched him again for good measure. "I thought you learned your lesson with the Ritou, Jack. Just because you can't see someone, doesn't mean they aren't alive. I exist on a different plane of existence, but I'm still alive."
Jack frowned and started to reach for her only to pull his hand back before it could actually touch her skin. "I..."his voice failed.
"I miss you too."She responded quietly, reaching up to cup his cheek in her palm. "All of you but..."The 'especially you' hung in the air as tangibly as if she'd spoken aloud.
Uncomfortable, Jack stepped back and surveyed her silently for a moment. "You look good. Very....glowy and ascended like."
Danielle rolled her eyes. "Smartass."She looked about them. "Y'know, I never liked this planet."A nod and they were in Jack's home. "Much better."Sitting down on the sofa, she tucked her legs up beside her. "I spoke to Jonas before I came to you."
"Oh."Seeing where the conversation was going, Jack dropped onto the sofa beside her.
"Jonas blames himself for what happened to me and it's my understanding he thinks you believe the same."She frowned. "Why?"
"The Kelownans..."Jack exhaled heavily, frustrated. "Dammit, Danielle, they got you killed!"
"No, Jack, I *nearly* got myself killed!"She countered just as hotly. "I had a very simple choice to make. I made it. No regrets."After a pause, she smiled ruefully. "Well, maybe some."She lifted her eyes to his. "There are some things I know I shouldn't have left as they were. I regret that."
He looked away. "Lost opportunities."
"The road not taken."Danielle observed, watching him with a sad light in her eyes. "I don't have to tell you to give him a chance, I know that, you will anyway. As much as you hate it. You will. But..."She leaned over to curl her hand about his. "Give *yourself* a chance...this was not your fault, Jack. What happened was an accident...nothing you could have done would have changed it. What happened is not your fault anymore than it was Jonas' fault."She let out a frustrated sigh of her own. "You are both so damn stubborn."
"I should have been there, Danielle."He insisted. "I could have --"
"Died."She interrupted calmly. "How would that have helped, Jack?"
"You'd be alive."
"I *am* alive. In my way."She leaned her head back against the sofa for a moment. "Have you considered what kind of an impact *your* death would have? Do you think Teal'c, Sam and I could keep going without you? As much as either one of us is loathe to admit it, I am more expendable than you. The team can get by without me. They can't do it without you."
"Danielle..."
Jack's protest was smothered by her hand on his mouth. "We don't like to admit it...but it's true."She smiled again. "Things worked out the way they needed to. Accept it. I already have."She grinned. "But then, I have no wounded male ego to nurse."
"Hey!"Jack slanted an 'outraged' look in her direction.
An actual amused giggle escaped Danielle. "Oh, I missed that look."
Sensing the moment passing, he smiled faintly. "I missed having a reason to use it."
She smiled back then her expression changed, her eyes growing distant, and she shifted, as if listening to a voice he could not hear.
"You have to go, don't you?"He asked, his voice subdued.
"Yes."She agreed reluctantly, turning back to him. "They're calling."
"Ah...Oma and the gang, huh?"
She smiled wryly, a brief upturn of her lips. "Something like that. Yes."This time, it was Danielle who reached and pulled back. "I..."Words failing her, she laughed slightly and ducked her gaze. "I will see you again, Jack."
"Yeah, sure. See you next time."
Sensing his withdrawal, she gave him another hard pinch. "You will see me again, Jack. I know you may not believe this is real, but it is. And I will visit you again. That's a promise. Okay?"
"Okay."Jack repeated with a nod.
"Oh, and just because I'm feeling like stating the obvious...you are going to give Jonas a fair shake, right?"
He looked affronted. "Am I not the very picture of fair play, Danielle?"At the sudden look of suppressed laughter on her face, he waved a hand at her. "No, don't answer that."
She stood, laughter in her voice as she answered, "Okay, I'm won't...but...you know I'm thinking it."
"You think too much."He countered. "You always did."
"Ahhh, but you love it."Danielle teased, already starting to fade away. "See you around the galaxy..."
Then she was gone and he was sitting at his desk, staring at her jacket on the chair, blinking hard.
"Sweet."
-*-*-*-*-*-
"Are you ready?"
Sitting in the very chair Jack was staring at, Danielle looked up at Orlin standing behind her. "In a minute. There's one more stop to make..."
The shift from Jack's office to her old one was seamless. She reappeared, sitting on the counter, right beside where Jonas was working.
"You're going to do just fine here, Jonas." She told the oblivious man. "I know it."
Leaning over, she lightly brushed her lips across his cheek, a phantom's kiss, then left to join Orlin.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Jonas turned swiftly, looking about the room in confusion.
He could have sworn...
Half expecting an answer, he ventured a, "Dr. Jackson?", but didn't receive a reply in return.
Nevertheless, he couldn't help smiling.
"See you next time...or...not...however this works." His smile widened a little as he added. "Thank you...for everything."
finis
Thanks to TVTome for the planet designation. The planet Jack's dreaming about? Is the planet from Fire & Water. Ep 12 of Season 1.
Author: M.
Feedback: Sure!
Rating: PG
Characters: Orlin, Jack O'Neill, Jonas Quinn, Danielle Jackson (yep, you read right)
Pairing: Sam/Orlin Unrequited, Jack/Danielle UST, Jonas/Danielle UST. Either one you could probably read into things.
Keywords: Alternate Universe, genderbender, ascended. Post-Meridian
Spoilers: None
Series: Could be. We'll see.
Disclaimers: Stargate? Not mine. Danielle? Well...sort of.
Summary: Jack O'Neill hasn't forgiven the Kelownans, and by extension Jonas Quinn, for what happened to Danielle Jackson. Danielle, however, has other ideas...
Author's Note: a while ago, I started a Girl!Jonas AU. azarsuerte asked if I could make it Girl!Jonas/Daniel but, well, the muses didn't accomodate. But the idea stuck with me. So, I decided a while ago to try a girl!Daniel AU. Just to see. Now that one, the muses started to pull out of my plan too. ;-p But, angelsgracie, who is also pulling for Jonas in this one *G*) pointed out I could always write two AUs. Specially since, in Stargate, the concept of alternate universes is canon. Heh.
So, I thought I'd at least try a fic. so thus...here it is.
Oh, and for frame of reference? Danielle? Picture Jennifer Garner with glasses. I was feeling evil when I decided that. See, it's Sydney that irritates me when I get irritated with Alias. Not JG. *G* Click Here to see JG with glasses on.
"Dreamscape"
by M.
----------
Walking through the hallways of Stargate Command, very much invisible to the officers and personnel that passed, Doctor Danielle Jackson had a strong sense of deja vu. The only thing missing was her grandfather by her side...
"Where's Nick when you need him?" She murmured with a brief upturn of her lips as she stopped before a door.
Jack's office.
She had but to think about it and she was inside, sitting on the edge of her old friend's desk, watching him write a report. Or, more accurately, staring at a legal pad on said desk with a look of pure aggravation.
"I'd ask how you are," she began in a conversational tone, "but I've already got a pretty good idea. Ill-tempered, disagreeable and the same pain in the ass you were when I first met you."
Oblivious to her presence, the Colonel kept working, jotting notes.
The former archaeologist sighed. "Damn it, Jack...I know you're upset but this whole thing with Jonas? You have to let it go. What happened to me is not his fault...*I* made the choice. It was my choice. Mine."
She sighed, rubbing her forehead, suddenly feeling more tired than she could remember. "This isn't fair of you and you know it...but you don't care yet. You will. I know you will. But not yet."
Getting up, Danielle walked about the room, noting the things that had changed and the things that hadn't. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the jacket slung across one chair.
Her jacket.
She turned and looked back at Jack, her eyes wide with surprise. "What's this doing here? I left this here the day before we went to Kelowna..."
"This has been here ever since, hasn't it?" A bittersweet smile touched her face. "I always knew there was a soft-touch hidden under the hardass exterior. One of these days, you are so going to hear it about this."
Danielle's smile turned wry. "I hope."
-*-*-*-*-*-
Sam was, like always, in her lab. Danielle had no idea what the device was that sat before her old friend but then, she rarely had. Astrophysics weren't exactly standard fare for archaeologists afterall.
Unsurprisingly, Orlin was perched on a stool, watching the scientist at work.
"Does she know you're here?"
He looked over at her and smiled faintly. "Did Colonel O'Neill know you were?"
Danielle dropped her gaze, hand unconsciously starting to reach to adjust glasses she no longer wore, "No...At least, I couldn't tell."
"Sometimes, I think Sam knows I'm here, feels my presence...sometimes." Orlin sighed and turned to look at her. "Are you all right?"
She smiled wryly. "That's a complicated question. I'm alive...but my friends think I'm dead. I tried to save someone and now he's being blamed for said non-existent death..." Sitting down, she watched Sam studying an alien artifact, moving around the room without any apparent knowledge of their presence. "Basically? I'm frustrated. Homesick...and more than a little angry." Jonas entered the room and she nodded at him. "He's a pariah here. I know they're angry about what happened but..." A weary sigh escaped her. "It's not his fault and they know it...but I wish they knew how much this bothers me."
"So tell them. You know how to speak to them...They may not all realize that it's really you but..." He gave her a knowing look.
Danielle smiled a little. "Jack might."
"He might. So, why don't you try it?"
Danielle's smile became a grin. "Why don't you?" She nodded in Sam's direction.
He blushed a little and followed her line of sight.
"You *do*!" She exclaimed with a smile. "Orlin!! You've been visiting Sam in her dreams?"
Orlin's blush deepened and he nodded. "Yes."
"And?" She prompted, resting her chin on her palm.
"And *that*," he answered stiffly, "is between Sam and myself."
"Ahh...like that, hmm?" Danielle waved off his comment and turned to watch Jonas leave, feeling a wave of sympathy for the man. "I spoke to Jack once...in a sort of a daydream. I don't think it did much good."
"Perhaps this time it will. He may have thought it was wishful thinking then...now..."
Without turning, Danielle allowed a small nod. "Perhaps...but first? First I have someone else to visit."
-*-*-*-*-*-
He was standing in Dr. Jackson's lab, he still couldn't think of it as his own, but everything looked strange. Filmy.
Unreal.
"That's because it isn't."
He turned to find Dr. Jackson standing in the doorway, smiling at him. Her hair was longer than he remembered, curlier, and she was wearing a white dress. Definitely not SGC issue.
"Well...not really anyway."Continuing to speak, Danielle moved closer. "It's closer to reality than a dream would be but still not quite. Mind if I come in?"
"It's your office, you don't need to ask."
"It's your office now. Besides, it's your mind. Yes I do."Stubbornly, she stayed where she was until he nodded his permission.
Watching her suspiciously, Jonas had to ask. "Are you really Dr. Jackson or..."
"Are you dreaming me?"She smiled, dimpling. "I'm really me, Jonas, and it's Danielle. Not Dr. Jackson."
His brow furrowed in confusion. "But you..."
"Died?"Danielle finished with wry humor. "No, I didn't. Not really. I ascended to a different plane of existence which, I suppose, one could consider a form of death. I, however, don't. If I'm dead, that means this is the afterlife and if it is? Heaven is a huge disappointment."
Having researched the humans concept of the afterlife, he was familiar with the term and the meaning of it. Thus, he could see the humor and laughed accordingly, "I see your point."
She hopped up on a counter, crossing her legs then adjusting her skirt. "Which is rare, let me tell you."She let the conversation lull for a moment while she idly contemplated how to approach the reason for her visit. All the ideas she came up with sounded totally contrived and would likely fail miserably if she attempted them.
When no other ideas were forthcoming, Danielle gave a resigned sigh and decided to go with the direct approach. "How have things been going? Any trouble settling in around here?"
Jonas averted his eyes. "No, nothing worth mentioning."
She smiled sympathetically. "You're as bad a liar as I am, Jonas Quinn."She nodded at the photograph of SG1 that had decorated a shelf. "Jack's been giving you a rough time of it from what I've seen...and the rest of the SGC's taking their cue from him."
"They miss you."He said sincerely, finally meeting her gaze.
"And I miss them."She responded in a subdued voice. "More than I'd thought possible but that doesn't excuse the way they've been treating you. You had almost nothing to do with what happened. I made the choice. Me."
"I froze."Jonas argued miserably. "If I had gone..."
"You'd be dead. Oma came for me. I don't know that she would have known to come for you."Sliding off the counter, Danielle walked to the Kelownan, resting a hand on his arm. "I've been with the SGC for a long time, Jonas, and I've been doing things like that for a long time. I didn't freeze *because* I'm accustomed to being forced to react that fast. I was forced to learn to react that way to survive. Believe me...if this had been six years ago? I probably would have frozen."
Her gentle smile turned to a promising grin. "Give it six month of hanging around this place and you'll be a daredevil like the rest of us."
He smiled a little at that. "I wish I could be as confident of that as you are."
She waved a hand. "Don't believe me, huh?"Her eyes danced with merriment. "Ask Jack about the first Abydos mission sometime...there were times on that one where I think he would have shot me if I hadn't been his only shot at finding a way home."
"Colonel O'Neill didn't like you?"Jonas stared at her in surprise. The way the colonel had been acting in response to Danielle's apparent ascension, he would have sworn it was just the opposite.
She stared at him in disbelief for an instant then broke into laughter, holding on to his arm to keep herself on her feet. She stood there and laughed hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"Did I say something funny?"Completely confused by her reaction, Jonas watched Danielle try to regain her composure, wiping tears away.
"Hilarious, really. Jonas...Jack *hated* me. I was a nerd...the very picture of extreme geekitude. He tried every argument possible to avoid taking me on the first mission but, fortunately for him, General West - Hammond's predecessor - overruled him."She gave him an encouraging look. "Jack O'Neill is a cranky pain in the ass, Jonas, but he's a good man. Give him time. He'll come around. I promise."
"I hope so."The other scientist agreed, surprised when Danielle kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"Take care of them for me, okay?"
He nodded silently and, as quickly as the strange dreamscape had appeared, it was gone.
Jonas awoke to find himself lying on his bunk, staring up at the drab ceiling.
"Amazing."
-*-*-*-*-*-
He was back on the planet again. P3X-866. The one from the first year of SG1's mission. The planet where they'd thought Danielle had...
"Colonel, help me!!!"Her terrified scream rent the air and he spun to see her, younger, wearing desert fatigues, stumbling back from the fire as it roared up before her.
It was happening again.
He was watching her die again.
"No, Jack,"Danielle interjected quietly, laying a hand on his arm, "you aren't. I'm fine, remember? This didn't really happen. It was a lie. I'm *fine*."
He turned to look at her, the utter helplessness on his face breaking her heart. "You're not fine, Danielle. You're gone. Dead. Or as good as."
"As good as?"Lifting an indignant brow, she pinched him.
Hard.
"OW!"The surprise on his face was genuine. "I felt that!"
"Of course you did. This only looks like a dream, Jack. It isn't. Your body will treat this as reality."Danielle pinched him again for good measure. "I thought you learned your lesson with the Ritou, Jack. Just because you can't see someone, doesn't mean they aren't alive. I exist on a different plane of existence, but I'm still alive."
Jack frowned and started to reach for her only to pull his hand back before it could actually touch her skin. "I..."his voice failed.
"I miss you too."She responded quietly, reaching up to cup his cheek in her palm. "All of you but..."The 'especially you' hung in the air as tangibly as if she'd spoken aloud.
Uncomfortable, Jack stepped back and surveyed her silently for a moment. "You look good. Very....glowy and ascended like."
Danielle rolled her eyes. "Smartass."She looked about them. "Y'know, I never liked this planet."A nod and they were in Jack's home. "Much better."Sitting down on the sofa, she tucked her legs up beside her. "I spoke to Jonas before I came to you."
"Oh."Seeing where the conversation was going, Jack dropped onto the sofa beside her.
"Jonas blames himself for what happened to me and it's my understanding he thinks you believe the same."She frowned. "Why?"
"The Kelownans..."Jack exhaled heavily, frustrated. "Dammit, Danielle, they got you killed!"
"No, Jack, I *nearly* got myself killed!"She countered just as hotly. "I had a very simple choice to make. I made it. No regrets."After a pause, she smiled ruefully. "Well, maybe some."She lifted her eyes to his. "There are some things I know I shouldn't have left as they were. I regret that."
He looked away. "Lost opportunities."
"The road not taken."Danielle observed, watching him with a sad light in her eyes. "I don't have to tell you to give him a chance, I know that, you will anyway. As much as you hate it. You will. But..."She leaned over to curl her hand about his. "Give *yourself* a chance...this was not your fault, Jack. What happened was an accident...nothing you could have done would have changed it. What happened is not your fault anymore than it was Jonas' fault."She let out a frustrated sigh of her own. "You are both so damn stubborn."
"I should have been there, Danielle."He insisted. "I could have --"
"Died."She interrupted calmly. "How would that have helped, Jack?"
"You'd be alive."
"I *am* alive. In my way."She leaned her head back against the sofa for a moment. "Have you considered what kind of an impact *your* death would have? Do you think Teal'c, Sam and I could keep going without you? As much as either one of us is loathe to admit it, I am more expendable than you. The team can get by without me. They can't do it without you."
"Danielle..."
Jack's protest was smothered by her hand on his mouth. "We don't like to admit it...but it's true."She smiled again. "Things worked out the way they needed to. Accept it. I already have."She grinned. "But then, I have no wounded male ego to nurse."
"Hey!"Jack slanted an 'outraged' look in her direction.
An actual amused giggle escaped Danielle. "Oh, I missed that look."
Sensing the moment passing, he smiled faintly. "I missed having a reason to use it."
She smiled back then her expression changed, her eyes growing distant, and she shifted, as if listening to a voice he could not hear.
"You have to go, don't you?"He asked, his voice subdued.
"Yes."She agreed reluctantly, turning back to him. "They're calling."
"Ah...Oma and the gang, huh?"
She smiled wryly, a brief upturn of her lips. "Something like that. Yes."This time, it was Danielle who reached and pulled back. "I..."Words failing her, she laughed slightly and ducked her gaze. "I will see you again, Jack."
"Yeah, sure. See you next time."
Sensing his withdrawal, she gave him another hard pinch. "You will see me again, Jack. I know you may not believe this is real, but it is. And I will visit you again. That's a promise. Okay?"
"Okay."Jack repeated with a nod.
"Oh, and just because I'm feeling like stating the obvious...you are going to give Jonas a fair shake, right?"
He looked affronted. "Am I not the very picture of fair play, Danielle?"At the sudden look of suppressed laughter on her face, he waved a hand at her. "No, don't answer that."
She stood, laughter in her voice as she answered, "Okay, I'm won't...but...you know I'm thinking it."
"You think too much."He countered. "You always did."
"Ahhh, but you love it."Danielle teased, already starting to fade away. "See you around the galaxy..."
Then she was gone and he was sitting at his desk, staring at her jacket on the chair, blinking hard.
"Sweet."
-*-*-*-*-*-
"Are you ready?"
Sitting in the very chair Jack was staring at, Danielle looked up at Orlin standing behind her. "In a minute. There's one more stop to make..."
The shift from Jack's office to her old one was seamless. She reappeared, sitting on the counter, right beside where Jonas was working.
"You're going to do just fine here, Jonas." She told the oblivious man. "I know it."
Leaning over, she lightly brushed her lips across his cheek, a phantom's kiss, then left to join Orlin.
-*-*-*-*-*-
Jonas turned swiftly, looking about the room in confusion.
He could have sworn...
Half expecting an answer, he ventured a, "Dr. Jackson?", but didn't receive a reply in return.
Nevertheless, he couldn't help smiling.
"See you next time...or...not...however this works." His smile widened a little as he added. "Thank you...for everything."
finis
Thanks to TVTome for the planet designation. The planet Jack's dreaming about? Is the planet from Fire & Water. Ep 12 of Season 1.