DISCLAIMER: I do not own Stargate SG-1. Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only. No money has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Written in 2005. always wondered what would happen if Daniel descended somewhere other than Vis Uban. Big thanks to Rowan and Lex for helping me out with this story. Thanks, guys! This story was originally published in the zine Ancient's Gate II: Raising The Gate from Ancient's Gate.

***Return To The Fold***

First, he felt nothing.

He remembered feeling something – not pain, just a lack of comfort, the loss of warmth.

Then…

Falling.

He was falling.

The wind was whipping around him as he felt the air sucked out of his lungs and saw the ground rushing up to meet him. He was changing as he fell. He could feel… nothing... then everything… then darkness.

STARGATE COMMAND

"Are you sure?" Siler asked Sergeant Davis as they strolled through the corridor.

"Positive. The last diagnostic confirmed it. Backup computer memory and processing time were affected. Those went below 90% efficiency for a moment. That part of the system lagged, secondary e-mail addresses were affected and that server almost went down."

"How much bandwidth was it using?" Siler inquired. "Was it enough to jeopardize the gate's computer network or security?"

"No, since it was on the backup server, it didn't affect any of the main systems. I don't think it's enough to be concerned with, but it did show up on the tracking program. It was for only a few moments, and I can write it off as minor interference in the lines, but if it keeps happening during the times SG-1 is on-world, it'll look suspicious."

They paused their conversation as they passed by two other airmen.

"So who won?" Siler asked, his voice quieter than it had been.

"O'Neill. The SGC players beat NORAD's by at least 400 points."

Siler stopped, thought for a moment, and then said; "You'd better find a way to keep that information from General Hammond. I don't think he'd like hearing that Colonel O'Neill and Major Prescott up at NORAD have been fighting cyber aliens in an online game instead of doing paperwork again."

They shared a conspiratorial smile. Sometimes it was fun watching a little rebellion go on, especially rebellion O'Neill style.

They passed by the storeroom door. The infamous storeroom as it was called sometimes. No one ever called it that when Colonel O'Neill was around. No one wanted to remind him of the time his best friend held a gun on him when coming down from a sarcophagus high. He didn't like to be reminded of that time or the fact that Doctor Jackson wasn't on Earth anymore. It was common practice to ignore it.

They turned the corner and walked toward the elevators.

"It looks like it's going to be a slow day," Davis told him. "Most of the off-world teams aren't due to check in until this afternoon and no one's scheduled to go off-world until tomorrow."

Siler pressed the button for the elevator and waited. "The general wants us to do an inspection of some of the equipment. He doesn't want a repeat of that MALP incident last week."

"I didn't know MALPs could –"

A brilliant light flashed through the corridor they just vacated, stopping Davis in mid-speech. There was no sound, no blast, just an intense light erupting out of the corridor and then dying down as quickly as it had appeared. The two sergeants pulled their sidearms and rushed back the way they came. Nothing was disturbed… except the storeroom door was open. Siler motioned for Davis to move ahead. Cautiously, they took position on either side of the door and peered into the room. Nothing seemed wrong. There wasn't a single supply out of place.

"What –" Davis started to whisper before Siler raised a hand to silence him.

There, on the floor behind one of the shelves, was the form of a naked man lying in a fetal position. Siler inched his way into the room, gun at the ready, his attention on everything and everywhere at once as he approached the prone individual. He stopped, looked, then rushed to the fallen man's position. "I don't believe it," he mumbled as he reached out to take the man's pulse, noting the tremors in the arm beneath his fingers. Then, he put his hand under his nose. "Pulse is a bit erratic but he's breathing," he told Davis as he grabbed a blanket from one of the shelves and covered him.

Davis maneuvered a bit to look over Siler's shoulder. His eyes grew wide at the revelation. "Oh, my God," he muttered. "He's alive?"

"Yeah. Better call medical," he told Davis. "His pulse isn't doing too good. I think he's seizing."

Davis didn't waste any more time. He hurried to the phone outside in the corridor. "This is Sergeant Davis. We need a medical team at the storage room on Level 21. Doctor Jackson's back."

So much for their slow day.

DANIEL

Pain… hurts… where am I… bright… light… falling… help… home…trouble, there's trouble, danger, have to warn… must get home… no time… have to leave…must find a way back… have to warn them… have to get home… have to find a way… damn rules… forget the rules… have to get home… homehomehomehomehomehomehome…

The thoughts came too fast to be coherent. In the confused state his mind was mired in, he couldn't make sense of anything. He could feel, but he didn't know why he could feel anything. Hands, noises, lights, voices, sounds – it was all a mish-mashed jumble of perceptions that pounded his senses and scorched his mind with senselessness. Everything was exploding inside him all at once in a blistering sea of sensations, of sight, sound and touch. He couldn't understand what was happening, just the ever-present thought of danger and getting home. He couldn't let it happen… he had to stop it… he had to think… he had to …

Choose.

He had to choose?

The universe is vast and we are so small. There is only one thing we can truly control - whether we are good or evil.

What happened? He tried to think in the maelstrom, to try to remember…

He chose.

He remembered… the only thing needed for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.

He chose to do something.

INFIRMARY

"Check respiration and BP. Set up an EEG and EKG," Janet's voice snapped through the melee and clamor of the medical team as they wheeled Daniel's gurney into the infirmary. "Get a blood workup. I also want a DNA test. Let's make sure this is really Daniel. Set up an IV, benzodiazepine and magnesium sulphate. Be ready in case he starts seizing again."

Nurse Clark placed the EEG leads on Daniel's forehead as Janet placed the EKG leads on his chest.

"His muscles are spasming again," Clark told her quietly.

"Where's that IV? He may be –"

"Oh my god," Clark muttered as the first results of the EEG began to show on the monitor.

"What?" Janet moved over to the nurse's side of the bed. The EEG reading was erratic and off the scale. Daniel's body began to convulse violently, his body a bundle of brief, massive muscle jerks.

"Move him on his side!" Janet ordered as the medics rushed to turn Daniel over – and it stopped almost as abruptly as it began, before Janet could inject any medication in his IV. A few moments later, Daniel's eyes opened, but there was no recognition in them. It was as if he were unaware of where he was and who was around him.

"All right, people. Let's do a full work up," Janet ordered. "We can't afford any mistakes on this one."

INFIRMARY CORRIDOR

Hammond paced slowly back and forth outside the infirmary. He knew his dash to the infirmary was unnecessary, but it was the most natural thing in the world to do the moment Davis called him to tell him the good news - at least, Hammond hoped it was good. He should have known that Doctor Fraiser wasn't going to let anyone in there until she said so. Even he didn't dare violate that private sanctum unless the fate of the universe was in the balance. That diminutive major wielded a mighty voice, especially when it came to the care of her patients.

This patient… she couldn't save him before, no matter what she did or how hard she fought. This time, Hammond knew Fraiser wouldn't be taking any chances.

Not surprising, Hammond wasn't the only one waiting for news. Others were milling about the corridor. Among the throng assembled there, Siler and Davis were nearby as were Lieutenant Harriman, Major Griff, Captain Coburn, even Major Reynolds. The one non-SG-1 figure that was conspicuously absent was Major Ferretti. The moment he saw Daniel being wheeled into the infirmary, he volunteered his team to take SG-1's place on their mission to P95-RX2 because, as the major so eloquently stated, there was no way in hell Jack O'Neill would forgive them if they didn't. A few minutes later, Ferretti was heading through the wormhole to tell Jack the good news. Again, Hammond hoped it was good news.

Everyone was keeping their voices low but their gazes never strayed far from the infirmary doors. How long had it been? Hammond looked at his watch. Twenty minutes since he got the alert that Doctor Jackson had appeared au naturale in the infamous storeroom. Fifteen minutes since he'd arrived at the infirmary, trailing Daniel's gurney. Ten minutes since the last time he was asked how long it had been. Two minutes since the last time he looked at his watch. That was a long two minutes.

"Sir?" Siler approached the general.

"Yes, Sergeant?"

"Do you think he's back for good?"

Hammond glanced back at the infirmary doors, then straight at Siler. "All I know from the reports Major Carter wrote about her experiences with Orlin is that when an ascended person descends to our realm of existence, they can't re-ascend without the help of the Others, whoever they may be. As for Doctor Jackson, I honestly don't know. Oma Desala ascended him to save his life, but he told SG-1 that he was breaking some very big rules on Abydos. They may have sent him back to us or he may have decided to leave. Your guess is as good as mine."

"He needs to be back," Siler commented lowly, muttering to himself.

Hammond looked at the sergeant, a bit surprised at the statement coming from Siler. "Sergeant?"

Siler cleared his throat, then said, "I don't think SG-1 could handle losing him again. Forgive me for saying so, sir, but they've never really dealt with him being gone."

"I know. When a team is as close as they are, losing a member is difficult. They're not just a team, Sergeant. They're what every team ought to be."

"I hope Major Ferretti has reached the colonel," he added.

Hammond glanced at his watch again. One more minute had passed. Had Ferretti found O'Neill yet? The team needed to be there for Daniel when he woke up. THEY needed to be there when Daniel woke up.

SG-1. When he formed that team, the brass at the Pentagon took bets as to how long they would last. No one thought the mis-matched team would last six months, let alone almost six years. They didn't understand because they only read the mission reports. They didn't see these four remarkable people in action day after day. They didn't sit at a briefing room table listening to them tease or joke or complain or yell or argue loud enough to peel the paint off the walls. They didn't see how these four people could become a cohesive unit so quickly because each filled a unique part on the team.

The infirmary doors opened, and all talking ceased immediately. Doctor Fraiser stepped out to the waiting group as everyone's attention was riveted on her.

Janet answered the most pertinent question that was foremost on everyone's mind. "First of all, yes, it is Doctor Daniel Jackson. All the tests we've run so far have confirmed that it's him. We're waiting on the DNA test to be absolutely sure. I can tell you that he's alive and healthy with absolutely no sign of radiation."

That one statement wiped out the tension and concern of everyone present. Daniel had a lot of friends at the base, and not everyone could be there. The news of his return would be burning a hole in the base grapevine as soon as the impromptu meeting was over – if it hadn't already done so.

"Will he be all right?" Major Griff asked her.

"It's too early to tell, Major," she said quickly. "He woke up momentarily, but at the moment, he's unconscious again. That might be normal for someone who has just retaken corporeal form, but we're also dealing with other medical issues. The truth is that he's presenting a new group of parameters that we're having to take into consideration." She gave a stern look to General Hammond, a silent request that he understood all too well. "As it stands now, we're still running tests. We should know more in a few hours."

Hammond could feel the tension in the room evaporate. Happy return or no, they still had a base to run. "All right, people. I think we can all get back to work now. Sergeant Siler, I believe you and Sergeant Davis have some equipment checks and diagnostics to run, don't you?"

"Yes, sir," they said in unison as they turned to leave.

"Gentlemen?" Hammond got their attention.

They turned back for a moment to hear him say, "Good job."

"Thank you, sir," Davis said, smiling as they left.

It took a few moments for the corridor to clear out so that only Hammond and Fraiser were left. They entered the infirmary, and Hammond saw Daniel lying on the nearest bed. He was asleep and hooked up to every monitor known to medical science. Daniel's expression conveyed the contentment found only in sleep.

"How is he really, Doctor?" Hammond whispered.

"Alive and I hope well, but I honestly don't know what to think about some of these results. I've never seen anything like this. Let's go to my office, sir. I think we need to talk in private, and these walls have ears."

P95-RX2

Lou Ferretti and his team had been walking for almost twenty minutes. All his radio calls to SG-1 were still unanswered.

"Think they're out of range?" Sergeant McCaffey asked after the latest attempt.

Ferretti took his hat off and wiped his forehead as he looked off at the city in the not-too-far distance. "They shouldn't be. Our signal should reach a good ten miles. Maybe there's some interference. The report did say the culture here is industrialized."

The team stopped for a moment, then the sergeant asked, "Do we keep trying to raise them here or go searching for them?"

Ferretti looked back at his team, noticing how anxious they looked – it seemed he wasn't the only one who was eager to find SG-1 – and put his hat back on his head. "The SGC couldn't raise them when they tried earlier… Let's head for the city. They've got to be somewhere close."

JANET FRAISER'S OFFICE

Janet sat down at her desk and handed the general some paperwork. "I wasn't exaggerating about Daniel presenting new physical parameters. We know absolutely nothing about descension and the toll on the human body. I'm a bit out of my depth, General."

"I have complete faith in your abilities, Doctor," he reassured her. "How is he really?"

Janet pointed to the paperwork in the general's hands. "These are EEG readings I've taken from Daniel. The first is one before he … died from the naquadria radiation. The second is the one we ran as soon as we got him to the infirmary. The last is the one we ran a few minutes ago. Notice the differences?"

Hammond glanced through the three printouts. The first looked like any normal EEG reading he'd seen either on base or on television; the second had markings that were clearly erratic and off the scale. The third looked a great deal like the second, only without as many fluctuations. "If I were to make a guess, I'd say that this isn't normal?"

"It's extremely abnormal, sir, but I may have an explanation. The Ascended are different from us and work on an entirely different set of parameters, so trying to equate their, excuse the term, physicality to ours is a bit problematic, but here goes. If we assume that an ascended person's brain processes much more energy and synaptic activity than a corporeal human's would, then it could be argued that Daniel's brain is now accustomed to existing as an ascended entity. It's moving much faster than it would normally."

"That makes sense," the general agreed. "Colonel O'Neill told me that Daniel's consciousness was in that cell with him when Ba'al had him imprisoned. Perhaps we could use the term disembodied consciousness for the Ascended?"

Janet nodded her head. "Yes, that may be part of it. If we use that theory and suppose that his brain was moving more quickly without being encumbered with a physical body, then becoming corporeal may have exacted a toll on him. A couple of seizures and erratically active brain wave activity could be one of the repercussions."

Hammond placed the paperwork on Janet's desk and sat back, watching the doctor as she tried to diagnose a strange, new condition. Janet picked up the paperwork, saying, "Perhaps all aspects of his physical self are having to become acclimated to being, well, physical again. Perhaps he descended much more quickly than he should have or there was something wrong with the descension. I don't know. I do know that his brain wave activity is slowly coming back to normal."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. When Siler and Davis found him, he'd been descended a few moments. He was already having a very minor seizure. He had another very brief one when we brought him in. We've been administering anti-seizure medication, and he hasn't suffered a third. I've already ruled out tonic clonic seizures – the more common name for that is a grand mal. I believe he did experience some myoclonic seizures."

"How bad is that?"

"Not as bad as you'd think." Seeing that Janet understood part of what her newest patient was going through, the general visibly relaxed. "A myoclonic seizure involves sudden, brief but massive muscle jerks that may involve the entire body or certain parts of the body. Daniel's brain is moving more swiftly than his body can handle. When he woke up from the second seizure, he wasn't moving or responding in any way. After a few minutes, he could move a finger, but I don't think he was conscious that he was doing that. I think it was involuntary movements."

"What's the prognosis?"

"If we were looking at a situation with only corporeal conditions were adding in to it, I could tell you, but I truly believe that part of the problem is triggered by his descension. My best guess is just that, a guess. Right now, he's still not responding to verbal or tactile stimuli. I think that his brain activity will come down to a normal pace eventually, and he'll be fine. He'll have a few rough hours ahead of him."

"Anything I can do?"

Janet cocked her head and thought for a moment. "Having friends and family around at a time like this is crucial to the recovery of the patient."

Hammond smiled. "Major Ferretti has already gone to get SG-1."

DANIEL

Sleep… rest… want to sleep… I'm so tired… I have to warn them… there's danger coming… there's danger coming.

Daniel was tired, right down to his very marrow. Then again, he felt like he could take on the world if he could just move. Why couldn't he move? Was that Janet's voice he heard earlier? Did she say that he was going to be all right? To rest and get some sleep and he'd be fine?

Sleep… he could do that… sleep, perchance to dream…

As Daniel drifted off, he vaguely realized that he had been thinking in complete sentences.

P95-RX2

The village wasn't very large, perhaps a few thousand denizens, but it was rather "homey," as Jack had said as they were invited in and allowed to meet and greet the people. Nice people, good food, pleasant atmosphere – not that Jack was interested in coming back for a vacation any time soon, but it was a nice place to spend a couple of days on walking around the town square while negotiating a trade agreement.

Now if Daniel were there…

Jack stopped that train of thought immediately. Daniel WASN'T there. He was ascended and flying around the cosmos with Oma, Shifu and the Abydonians. He wasn't there negotiating a trade agreement with the government – a negotiation that would have taken half the time that it took him, Carter and Teal'c to establish. He wasn't there pestering Jack to get a look at nearby ruins or buried nose deep in the local library learning all about the planet's history and the goa'uld that brought them there. He just wasn't there.

No one expected to see him again for a while, and that was probably what hurt the most.

Jack missed his friend.

Seeing him in Ba'al's fortress only drove the fact home to Jack. He knew for a fact why SG-1 wasn't SG-1 anymore, and it was because it had lost more than its conscience. Daniel's presence in that cell, that indomitable will and unfailing optimism was testament to how much SG-1 lost.

Then, to see him again in the elevator at the SGC and on Abydos just a couple of weeks ago… forcing him to make a decision that Jack didn't know the result of… it was frustrating. If Daniel was all right, he'd have made contact, right? Or Oma? Or Shifu? Even Kasuf or Skaara? Wouldn't someone have told them that Daniel was all right?

Jack sat down on the steps leading up to the "courthouse," as he called it. He'd walked around the town square, said howdy-do to any and all he happened to pass by and finally decided to sit and wait for Carter and Teal'c to finish the final touches on the trade agreement. These folks didn't have much, but they did have a plant that had, as Carter put it, incredible medicinal qualities against allergies.

Daniel would get a kick out of that, wouldn't he? No more allergy shots, no more antihistamines, just put a few drops of this plant juice in a cup of coffee and he'd be right as rain.

Right.

"All finished, sir," Carter said happily as she and Teal'c descended the steps toward him. "They've agreed to trade."

Jack stood up and dusted off his britches. "Good work. Now what?"

"We've been invited to remain another day," Teal'c explained, a rare grin on his face. "They wish to learn more about Tau'ri customs."

Customs. Sheesh. Just when you REALLY needed Daniel….

A call over his radio took Jack's attention. "SG-1 niner, this is SG-4 niner. Do you read?"

It was Ferretti. The transmission was full of static and his words were chopped.

Jack answered back, "SG-1 niner. What are you doing here, Lou?"

A brief moment of static passed before the answer came. "We're taking your place. Where are you?"

"In town. At the courthouse. What's going on?"

"We're about ten minutes away. I'll tell you when I get there. Just be ready to leave. Ferretti out."

That was informative. "Teal'c, go tell the leaders that Ferretti and his team will take them up on the offer. Knowing Lou, he'll entertain them with some tall tales. That should keep them busy for a while."

Teal'c inclined his head and went back into the building to deliver the news. After he left, Carter asked, "What do you think it is, sir?"

"You heard Lou. He'll tell us when he gets here."

Jack sat back down to wait.

SGC

"Incoming traveler!" Davis' voice betrayed his excitement as he called out the alert. "SG-1's signal, sir."

Hammond waited at the end of the ramp for the team to come rushing back through the gate. He knew more than the usual number of eyes was watching the gate room. More than likely, the event itself would go down as one of the happier ones in SGC history, so who would pass up the chance to see it actually happen? He also knew that Jack would come through the gate running.

He wasn't disappointed.

Jack ran through the event horizon, not stopping for a moment as he asked, "Where is he?" He had the look of someone who had run a marathon but he wasn't even winded. The rest of the team came rushing in behind him.

Jack didn't stop when his feet hit the floor. He headed straight for the gate room doors. Hammond pivoted on his heel and hurried to follow Jack out of the gate room.

"He's in the infirmary," he told the colonel. "He descended in one of the store rooms over three hours ago. He was unconscious when he was found; he regained consciousness not long afterwards but has been in and out of consciousness since then. Doctor Fraiser just called to tell me he's awake now but that won't last long."

"Ferretti said he was solid?" Jack asked.

"One hundred percent, Colonel," Hammond assured him as they reached the elevators.

"Is Daniel Jackson well?" Teal'c inquired.

"According to Doctor Fraiser, there's no sign of any residual naquadria radiation, and he's perfectly healthy. She's concerned with his EEG readings."

"His EEG?" Sam interrupted quickly as the elevator doors opened and they climbed on board. "What's wrong?"

Hammond pressed the button for the 21st floor. "Doctor Fraiser's explanation was that his brain was working faster than his body can handle. She's performed several tests over the last few hours and each one shows that his mental... speed, for lack of a better term, is slowing down gradually to more normal levels."

"Daniel's always thought rings around everyone else," Jack commented. "How do we know that -"

"Doctor Fraiser has compared his previous EEG readings to the ones she's taken today. They're only now beginning to look normal."

The elevator doors opened and Janet Fraiser was standing there waiting for them.

"Janet?" Sam greeted her friend. "How is he?"

"Before you go in there, there are a few things you need to know," Janet explained quickly. "He's awake at the moment, but not very responsive. That's due to the anti-seizure medication. He probably won't be able to stay awake for long periods of time until tomorrow at least. He has periods of awareness when it's obvious he's listening but unable to respond. The few times we've noticed this, we've tried to get him to speak, but he's having a great deal of difficulty communicating. He can get frustrated before he falls asleep again. Some of his movements are a bit clumsy. It could be that as an energy being, his mind wasn't as influenced by physical laws and could move more quickly and is now adjusting. His last EEG indicates that he should be back to normal in a few more hours. Oh, Colonel, loud noises seem to bother him at the moment, so don't yell."

Jack didn't take the bait at that last sentence. "But he's alive and solid?"

"Very much so, sir. I think he's having a little trouble adjusting to his new reality, so go easy on him until he can speak."

"He can't talk at all?"

"Not clearly, sir, and even then it's only a word. Perhaps two. When he first woke up, he was completely uncommunicative. It seemed it took a few minutes for him to realize he was back in our world. His reactions are a little slow. I think his ability to process speech is being affected as well. In short, things are happening very quickly for him but he's not responding quickly for a while." She motioned for them to go into the infirmary.

They didn't need to be invited twice.

DANIEL

Too many sounds… noises… at least it's not hurting now… things are making more sense… I can think… I have to stop the danger… had to choose… I chose… I chose this… no regrets… had no choice… had to choose… had no choice…

He needed to do something, anything to get himself moving again. He knew he had precious little time to waste.

He tried to sit up, but muscles no longer familiar with gravity and air pressure and sheets and blankets protested. Sitting would be something though. Sitting had a form and a reason and a definition, but he didn't quite know what it was. He knew that it wasn't lying down. It was something to try to get him moving. He tried again and after a great deal of effort, finally succeeded in turning onto his side.

Yes! He did it! Actual movement!

The simple exertion of the exercise exhausted him. He had to rest before trying again.

Why… SGC. I had to come back. Had to choose, no, I had no choice…what was I supposed to do… right. I have to warn them about the danger…

He took a breath, not a deep one but one that let him know he was breathing. Solid. Corporeal. Physical. The mere sensation sent tingles like a thousand needles through his nerve endings. It was so strange, so odd. These physical affectations that he once took for granted seemed new yet vaguely familiar. It felt… good.

He knew he was able to think and make some sense out of his thoughts, but he was still in a jumbled mess of too many thoughts and ideas that had no form or order.

He tried to focus.

He needed to focus to stop the unbearable onslaught of incoherent sounds in his mind.

He focused on his choice.

He had to stop the danger.

He had to warn them.

He needed a few minutes before he tried to sit up again.

INFIRMARY

Entering the infirmary, the team was greeted with a sight they never thought to see again. There was Daniel lying on the nearest bed, his back to the door. He was still hooked up to the monitors but was paying them absolutely no attention.

Even from the back, the team could tell it was Daniel - flesh, blood and bone all wrapped up in a set of blue infirmary scrubs and infirmary bed linen.

Jack walked over to him, set his gun down on the bed and then kneeled down so he was the one looking eye-to-eye with his friend. He saw that Daniel's eyes were tightly shut, his forehead furrowed, his brow peppered with perspiration. He knew that look. He'd seen it too many times. It was the confused-but-still-thinking look he would get sometimes when studying an artifact. Jack reached out and took hold of Daniel's arm. "Daniel? Hey, buddy, can you look at me?"

Moments passed before Daniel opened his eyes and looked uncomprehendingly at Jack with no indication that he recognized anyone. More moments passed before Jack saw any reaction at all. He noticed how Daniel looked at his friend's hand where it held his arm and then reached out to touch Jack's shirtsleeve. Daniel was acting as if he'd never seen BDUs before.

"Colonel," Fraiser whispered, "I think that physical contact is something he's not used to. We're being careful about touching him more than necessary."

"Oh," Jack said as he gently let go of his friend but didn't move his arm since Daniel still had hold of his shirtsleeve. Maybe it was okay if Daniel was the one reaching out to touch? It didn't matter. He'd kneel there all day if it helped his friend.

Sam walked in front of them and sat on the opposite bed. "Daniel?" She smiled at him. "We're all here."

Again, moments passed before Daniel moved his eyes upward and looked at Sam. It appeared as if he didn't recognize her either.

"Indeed we are, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c walked to the far side of the bed that Sam was sitting on. Now, Daniel could see all three of them easily.

However, he focused his attention on Jack's shirtsleeve again.

"Janet?" Sam whispered.

"I don't have any answers, Sam. I'm making guesses. If we were only dealing with physical trauma, I could tell you more, but I think the worst part of his condition is from the descension. This is new ground for me too."

Jack watched as Daniel quit studying the BDUs and squinted at the SG-1 patch on his the shirtsleeve itself. His eyes blinked, he shook his head slightly, and then he looked at Jack, eyes squinting as if trying to bring him into focus.

He was squinting.

Jack couldn't believe it! Sheesh! Oma sent him back but didn't fix his astigmatism? Betcha she didn't fix his nearsightedness either.

"Doc," Jack motioned her over. "Got a pair of his glasses hanging around the infirmary?"

Janet smiled and retreated to her office. She came back with a single pair and handed them to Jack. "I kept them just in case," she told him.

Jack promptly put them on Daniel's nose. "How's that?" he asked his friend. "Better?"

It must have been better because Daniel quit squinting as he looked at his friends. Daniel's hands fumbled toward the glasses but couldn't make contact. He barely reached his nose. It appeared to them as if he were trying to put the glasses on himself even though Jack had already done the honors. It seemed that he realized that moments later and let his hand fall back to the mattress. Again, the patch on Jack's sleeve grabbed his attention. This inordinate display of concentration concerned them all.

Jack glanced over at Janet. "Doc, maybe we should call the Tok'ra. Maybe they know something about this kind of thing?"

Janet shook her head. "We already have, sir. Selmak told us that they know nothing about the Ascended or the effects on the human body after being descended. However, they would like a briefing on the information we learn from this."

"I'll just bet they would." Jack looked over at the general. "Sir, I say we tell them to find their own descended person."

"I'll take that into consideration," Hammond said, his eyes almost twinkling.

Oh, yeah, good general. He didn't like that hands-off approach the Tok'ra had either.

"Tok…" Daniel tried to say, his mouth not forming the words correctly.

"Yeah, Tok'ra," Jack finished for him. "They're always wanting to horn in our stuff without sharing themselves."

There was no response to the statement, either verbal or physical. Instead, Daniel reached out and touched the patch on Jack's sleeve. His movements were slow, something very uncharacteristic of Daniel. He never moved slowly.

"It's our team patch," Jack said. Again, he saw Daniel have trouble talking. He kept trying to speak, but nothing was coming out of his mouth. No wonder the doc had said this was frustrating for him. Their Daniel not able to speak or form words, the very things that were part and parcel of his very soul had to be disturbing on a cosmic scale. "SG-1? You, me, Teal'c and Carter. Premiere team? Hammond's pride and joy? Remember?"

Daniel looked at each one of them in turn, as if trying to put face, name and place in perspective. The look of anguish on his friend's face was almost too much to bear. He did remember, he had to; he just couldn't communicate the answer yet.

"It's okay, Daniel. Doc says you'll be fine soon, then you can tell us the whole story."

Sam moved to sit beside Daniel and took his hand in hers. Teal'c took the place Sam had abandoned.

Hammond and Janet looked on silently for a moment at SG-1, whole and intact.

SG-1, as it should be.