TO DIE SCREAMING
By Jules
Synopsis - Daniel Jackson has been trapped on his own inside the Gateroom by the incoming invaders. The staff of SGC and his own team are unable to see what is happening to him or help him in any way.
For Daniel... his pain has only just begun... and they haven't even begun to hear him scream yet.
Author Notes: Takes place before the death of Daniel's wife. Includes mentions of what happened in episodes "Fire and Water" and others.
This is my first Stargate SG1 story, so I not as honed on portraying the characters from this series. I have only just started watching Stargate – so I am only just catching up with some of the episodes.
Please bear with me as the plot of this story will take a little while to get to. My stories are usually always long, and hurt/comfort driven, and focused on a tight knit of characters.
Omission or errors in facts about canon episodes that I haven't seen yet are merely a mistake on my part and not meant to offend. I have not read all of the stories out there, and hope that my ideas are a little original and don't cross over anybody else's story.
I like to add lots of twists and plot changes in my stories and add lots of complexity to what is happening, to keep the reader coming back. So if you think you know what might be happening, or going to happen, keep reading, because it rarely ends up that way.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 and the characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has been exchanged. No copyright infringement is intended. Entertainment value only.
I promise to put all the toys back in the box when I have finished playing with them.
I never claimed to be a sane author. Just a nutty one.
Strong friendship bond between Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson only – no slash.
All medical facts are entirely made up and used to the benefit of the story only in a fictional world.
This is my first attempt at a Stargate story.
CHAPTER ONE – DISTURBED
on with the story:
The weather was pleasant for mid-morning as the four team mates walked along a well beaten path back to the Stargate. If one took the time to stop at look at the landscape one might have even been persuaded to comment about the lush vegetation and pleasing scenery.
There wasn't a cloud in the sky to speak of but you could have been mistaken for believing that a little darker mood had settled over at least one of them.
Sam briefly glanced back over her shoulder at her friend and saw him deep in thought and his brow creased in concentration. She had offered to listen to him back in the city about what he was thinking, but he hadn't offered any plausible explanation.
After four days of intense negotiations and talks, unfortunately they were no closer to gaining the trust or a treaty with the people of this planet than they were before they walked through the event horizon.
Daniel had bore the brunt of the workload, being the only one able to establish a connection with the people and their language. He was courteous, polite and studious and never complained over what was required of him.
Upon arrival, SG1 had been afforded comfortable accommodations and given adequate food and water. The room they had been given was large and split into a number of smaller sleeping quarters by partitions.
This allowed for privacy but also ensured that the team knew where each other was at night and that was something that Jack was definitely thankful for.
The bedding was simple, but warm and there was plenty of ventilation within the room itself to allow the breeze to flow through, giving a sense of openness and freedom.
The first evening saw them join in repast with the city leaders, although the meal provided had appeared as a little unappealing.
Daniel had graciously taken a few mouthfuls of the overly salty dish so as not to displease their hosts, but a bitter oily aftertaste had been left on his tongue and he had not eaten any more.
Jack, Sam and Teal'c didn't object to the taste nearly as much and had calmly consumed what was offered. Daniel had been expecting Jack to make some lame comments about the cuisine, but was grateful when the Colonel ate without talking much.
For the remainder of their time on the planet, Daniel went through the motions of joining in meal times, but kept his consumption to a minimum, using their own food rations away from the hosts at night to keep up his strength.
When meal times were finished, then he had tried to negotiate more with the leaders of the city about working with the people of Earth and establishing another ally against the Goa'uld.
However, thus far all of those efforts had only served to be unfruitful, with the leaders adamantly refusing to meet even halfway on any point of discussion that Daniel introduced.
It wasn't for lack of trying though and the talks continued for the majority of the time during their visit and on a couple of occasions late into the night. When Daniel retired to their guest quarters, he found that he couldn't sleep, the conversations that he had shared swirling around in his mind.
Jack had been alert for any signs of trouble and thankfully none had presented themselves, but he couldn't figure out why Daniel was getting so wound up. It wasn't his usual stance when it came to meeting new cultures and secretly it had him wondering what else might be going on.
He tried to goad Daniel a little at night with playful remarks about the city and draw some comments out of the man, but so far he had remained fairly tight lipped. Another sign that was highly unusual for their archaeologist.
On most missions, you could bet that with any such negotiations, Daniel would come back and exuberantly tell his team what a great chance they had with this culture and how much they might be able to gain in learning their customs and language.
Daniel had been the only one permitted to represent Earth at the talks, closed away for a number of hours until meal breaks. Jack had made it abundantly and clear that he didn't approve of one of his team being anywhere on his own.
His protests fell on deaf ears for the most part and he had to hold his tongue on several occasions to avoid saying something more harsh and hence foiling Daniel's already tenuous attempts at a peaceful co-operation.
There had been a few tense moments and the rest of the team had become concerned about the toll that the extremely long hours had been extracted from their friend, physically and mentally.
Particularly when it seemed like despite the best efforts they were all for nought.
"So………….," Jack prompted as he halted his pace a little and began walking in step with Daniel.
Carter had taken point and Teal'c now remained at the rear of the group, allowing the two men to talk a little more casually.
"I don't know what else to tell you, Jack," Daniel announced, his voice betraying his sense of exasperation and his fatigue.
Jack was sorely tempted to remind Daniel that he hadn't in fact revealed very much at all about the discussions and why he didn't think a treaty would work, but he was beaten to the punch by the Major.
"What makes you think we cannot trust them, Daniel?" Carter interjected, hoping that she could run between the Colonel and the archaeologist and they could understand his point of view.
"I would gladly tell you, Sam, if I knew," Daniel said, still walking slowly towards the Stargate, exhaling wearily. "There was just something………………Not what they said, but……………."
"How they said it," Jack finished the sentence with a smug look on his face.
Daniel stopped walking for a minute and gave Jack the best exaggerated roll of his eyes that he could muster. He was just too tired at the moment to want to argue any further.
It was the same line that Daniel had repeated to his team on at least six occasions since they had left the city, ready to head back home.
"You've been telling us that for the last three clicks back to the gate, Daniel," Jack taunted.
"Sorry for being so boring," Daniel shot back, sounding a little more abrupt than he had meant.
"Carter, dial us home," Jack ordered as the team got close to the DHD.
"Yes, Sir," Sam responded automatically, pressing the symbols in the correct sequence.
Daniel removed his backpack and set it down with an audible sigh, taking off his glasses and rubbing tiredly at his eyes. He tucked them into the pocket of his jacket for safe keeping.
"Look, I didn't mean it that way, Daniel," Jack said, the tone of his voice clearly changing to one of concern as he took a good look at his friend.
The slumped posture and the signs of a headache were not what he wanted to see. He could see the tiredness and the frustration oozing out of every pore.
"Nobody tried harder than you back there," O'Neill voiced in praise, "But they just weren't willing to come to the party."
"But what I don't understand is why, Jack," Daniel responded, frowning again as certain phrases that he had heard came back into his head. He could feel the slight tension in his temples and knew that if he didn't stop thinking soon, he would have a full blown migraine before the day ended.
"Maybe they are just like the Tollans and the Tok'ra and not willing to share," Jack suggested, walking over a little closer to his friend.
Teal'c had been listening to the two men as they waited for Carter sent the remote access codes through to Stargate Command, letting them know they were coming through.
"What is the main basis of your concern, Daniel Jackson?" the Jaffa queried.
Daniel paused a minute before answering, looking back at the dark-skinned man and then to Jack, trying to think of an alternative word that would sound more correct for what he could feel in his gut.
Picking up his backpack upon seeing the event horizon now engaged and ready for them to enter the wormhole.
"Not concern exactly, Teal'c," Daniel offered, "More like disturbed…………..,"
Jack, Sam and Teal'c exchanged worried glances between each other for a brief second, before heading through the horizon themselves.
Upon hitting the ramp, Jack had to side-step a minute as he came across Daniel still standing at towards the top.
"Watch it, Dannyboy, coming through," Jack joked, but his words barely extracted a glance from his friend.
Within the embarkation room, General Hammond was standing waiting for them, together with the usual armed security detail.
"Close the iris," Hammond ordered, "Welcome back, SG1."
The metallic clang of the iris echoed within the walls as it meshed together, sealing out any possible hostiles or threats.
Jack, Sam and Teal'c continued their way down the ramp and stepped off, ready to go through the usual post-mission procedures and protocol.
"Doctor Jackson?" Hammond enquired as he saw the younger man still standing at the top of the ramp, with a puzzled almost pinched expression on his face.
Jack pointed to his head and silently mouthed the word "headache" to his commanding officer, whilst still looking up at his friend.
Hammond nodded his head in acknowledgement, and could see the young man was troubled by something. He lacked the usual vitality that he had come home with on previous occasions and he looked rumpled and tired.
For the moment Daniel seemed to be still deep in thought, as though wrestling with himself, barely hearing the General's question.
"I think we can scratch any idea of those people helping, General," Jack said, giving some detail on how the mission had faired poorly. "They didn't want to know us."
"Any reason for that, Colonel?" Hammond asked, keeping one eye on Daniel and noting that the young man had still yet to move further down the ramp.
When they had first planned out this mission, Doctor Jackson had been quite eloquent and persuasive in his methods and how he thought they may be able to achieve co-operation between the two worlds.
"Not for lack of trying though, Sir," Jack continued. "Danny gave them the best speeches and played nice guy for days, even into the night. Worked himself ragged, mostly for nothing," he added, hoping to drag his friend out of his slump and accept his efforts had not been worthless.
Upon looking up, Daniel could see everyone looking back at him, waiting for him to answer. "Um er what?" was the best response he could get out taking one step forward.
Sam was prepared to walk back up the ramp. It wasn't too often that her friend was stumped in reporting to General Hammond and his obvious confusion worried her.
"Are you alright, Daniel?"
Daniel was about to give his standard reply of "I am fine" to the blond Major when something else entirely different happened.
Without warning, the archaeologist felt what he could only describe as a powerful electric surge running from beneath the ramp through his entire body. Through his boots and feet, and jolting through all of him.
His body jerked forward and he almost lost his balance, aimlessly reaching out to grab a hold of one of the side railings until he could correct his equilibrium.
What he hadn't heard was the sharp loud gasp of pain that escaped his lips.
From where everybody else was standing at the bottom of the ramp, what they saw and heard was Daniel inhale acutely as if he was in pain and almost fall flat on his face. They could see his body spasm violently and then freeze in a rigid stance and go completely still for a moment or two.
"Daniel!" Jack shouted, diving up the ramp almost as quickly as Teal'c and Sam, all of them forgetting that they may at risk from whatever was attacking their teammate.
"Doctor Jackson!" Hammond called out, before quickly heading towards an emergency phone and calling for a medical team.
Daniel's face had lost colour and he was trying to draw and gulp breath into his lungs to offset the sharp intake of pain that he was experiencing. He went to take a step forward, but his legs felt like jelly and began to betray him.
By the time Jack reached out with a steadying hand, Daniel had fallen to his knees and was still trying to regain his composure and counteract the effects of the electrical current.
"What the hell happened?" Jack asked, his voice a little louder than necessary, earning him a rebuking glare from Carter for the outburst.
Daniel felt someone calling out to him, and turned towards the voice, very much like a minute or two before, not having heard or comprehended the question demanded of him.
He looked up at Jack and then turned to face Sam with a pale, wide-eyed expression, licking his lips to moisten them before speaking. "Felt……"
"Felt what, Daniel?" Sam asked in a gentler tone of voice, none of them any the wiser to knowing yet what had happened.
General Hammond was still standing at the bottom of the ramp, and the defence team who had relaxed slightly a short time ago, were now back to being on full alert, with weapons raised, and waiting for any invading force through the iris.
It took a few more seconds before Daniel spoke again, his voice a little stronger, "felt like electricity……………flowing through me."
"WHAT!" Jack cried out in alarm, thinking that somehow his friend had received some sort of electric shock.
Jack now looked down at his feet and realized that all four of them were standing on the metal alloy ramp and they too might be shocked, but for the moment, he couldn't admit to feeling anything like that. Not even a small flicker.
"For crying out loud, Daniel we just got back a few minutes ago," Jack said too quickly. "Could you at least let us get over that mission first before you do anything else crazy."
Teal'c inclined his head slightly, raising one eyebrow and gave a warning and displeased look towards O'Neill as if to say that this was not the time to be chastising Daniel Jackson when their friend needed medical help and understanding.
O'Neill looked back and immediately thought "Some weird Jaffa revenge ritual" in store for me at some point in the very near future.
Carter had scrambled to grab Daniel's forgotten backpack and quickly jumped off the ramp herself to avoid further potential risk.
"Getting off here now, Danny," Jack said, his actions careful and cautious as he and Teal'c stood either side of Daniel and pulled him to his feet. He gave no resistance at being helped to stand, his face displaying pain.
They didn't know if he had sustained any injuries, but he was still too pale and the two of them could feel small shivers running through his limbs as they supported most of his weight.
"General, Sir?" Doctor Janet Fraiser asked as she and two orderlies came racing into the room, ready for anything, but not entirely too sure what they were facing yet. All they had heard was an emergency request for medical assistance in the gateroom.
Janet was almost ready to put her foot on the ramp when Jack yelled out, "STOP!"
"Daniel says he got an electric shock from the ramp," he informed them.
Fraiser stopped where she was and impatiently waited as she saw the Colonel and Teal'c leading Daniel towards her.
"Do any of you feel anything now?" Hammond asked, worried that more than one of his main team may still in danger of being injured.
"Nothing that I can feel, Sir," O'Neill admitted, looking at the other two for their confirmation. Both Teal'c and Sam shook their heads in a negative response to having felt any form of electrical current on the ramp.
Jack was getting a little anxious at the deliberately slow walking pace of his friend and was tempted to throw him over his shoulder and dump him into Fraiser's waiting capable hands, but something about the expression on Daniel's face stopped him from doing that.
"Daniel?" Fraiser questioned as the young man neared the end of the ramp and was guided off by his team. She could see the slightly dazed look in his blue eyes and the pinched lines on his handsome face.
"Are you having any pain right now, Daniel?" Janet asked, putting her hand on his shoulder and detecting the tremors that Jack and Teal'c could feel.
She put the palm of her hand on his cheek, hoping to gain his attention. There was a distinct coolness to his skin. She could see the tiredness from lack of sleep.
Daniel closed his eyes for a moment and drew in another deep breath before letting it out very slowly, before opening them again and looking back at the doctor. He was about to say something to her when he felt his legs weaken again and his body swaying slightly.
Teal'c released his hold and allowed O'Neill to support his friend more closely. Jack immediately looped a much stronger arm around the younger man's waist, in case his friend was in danger of collapse.
"Let's get him to the infirmary," Fraiser said firmly, keeping a careful eye on her patient the entire time. She took one of his hands as he was lead from the room, reaching for his pulse point on his wrist and noticing a distinct raciness to the rhythm.
Jack carefully guided his friend down the corridor towards the elevator, worried when Daniel failed to even protest at the efforts of his friends and Fraiser.
Samantha Carter was still standing in the gateroom with General Hammond as they watched Daniel and Fraiser leave with Teal'c following behind.
"Major, seal off the gate and the ramp until the proper testing can be done to make sure it is safe before any more teams leave or come back," Hammond ordered.
"I will get Sergeant Siler onto it immediately, Sir," Samantha affirmed.
She too wanted to go to the infirmary and check on her friend, but knew that they had to make sure the gateroom was properly sealed off before anybody else was hurt.
It might take a little while before Janet had an accurate diagnosis about Daniel anyway.
"Major, I would like to debrief as soon as possible, but given what has just happened to Doctor Jackson, I can leave it a little longer. I have a meeting in two hours, the rest of your team can meet with me after that."
"I let the Colonel and Teal'c know, Sir," Sam promised.
"Keep me informed on the progress of the testing and of Doctor Jackson, please," Hammond requested.
"Yes, Sir," Sam saluted as the General walked out of the room towards his own office.
In all the time she had worked at Cheyenne Mountain, she had never heard of an something like this occurring in the gateroom itself. They had just returned safely from a mission, and it didn't make any sense that Daniel was the only one attacked.
Sam started co-ordinating with a few of the marines left to bring out some barricades and warning tape to place around the ramp and gate.
Once that was in place, she would have to join forces with Sergeant Davis in the control room and contact any of the off-world teams that were due to come home and delay that return until the testing was completed.
Back in the infirmary, Jack led a still unsteady Daniel over to the corner bed and waited until his friend sat down slowly on it before releasing his supportive hold.
Daniel's head was hanging low and he seemed to be taking in very little of the chaos and confusion going on around him.
Janet is still standing close by but was currently talking to one of the nurses and giving some directions as to what is to happen.
Jack had his attention firmly focused on Daniel, his thoughts drifting a little as to what might have happened, but was brought back to reality when she turned and spoke to him.
"Colonel, why don't you come back in an hour or two. I am sure Doctor Jackson will be ready for visitors then," Janet suggested.
"You sure you want me to leave him alone?" Jack asked still concerned about the lack of animation of his best friend.
O'Neill knew that Daniel was tired and had seen the drawn features as they approached the ramp, but the concept that he had received an electric shock of some sort just scared him silly.
"I am sure, Sir," Janet smiled, knowing that it was rare for the military man to let his guard down for anybody else but his team who were considered as close as family.
Jack cared deeply about Daniel and the friendship was one that had seen them through a lot of battles. She knew that Daniel was equally as thankful to have such a great friend as Jack O'Neill, even if they baited each other and fought like combative siblings most of the time.
It was when either of them was sick or injured that the other put aside their differences and was just there for the other, weathering each other through whatever storm presented itself both off-world and when back on Earth.
Janet was thankful to share a very strong friendship with Samantha Carter, but both of them had agreed on more than one occasion that they had rarely seen two best friends like Jack and Daniel.
Both women were equally as grateful to have each of men include them in their tight knit little family, that also included Teal'c, General Hammond and a few select members of other SGC personnel.
"Okay then, well I better go and check if Carter needs a hand," Jack said, glancing back at Daniel who was watching them both, but neither of them thought he was following the conversation that was taking place in front of him.
"I will be back soon, Danny," Jack promised and left the infirmary with Teal'c.
"Right now Daniel, let's see if we can find out how to start making you feel a little better," Janet said warmly as she turned her full attention back to her patient.
"Janet, can I take a shower first please?" he asked softly.
It was the first coherent sentence that the young man had been able to string together since the gateroom. He lifted his head expectantly, his hair hanging over his forehead a little as he looked up at her with tired eyes, giving a shy smile.
"I am not sure that is such a good idea at the moment, Daniel," Janet said soothingly, trying to maintain some amount of professionalism but feeling her heart strings being tugged by his boyish charm.
She placed a hand on his arm, checking for the trembling that she had been able to detect earlier and was happy to feel that they had subsided completely. This gave her a little hope that perhaps he had not received as much of a shock as first thought.
"Please?" Daniel pleaded.
"I still have to examine you post-mission and I will have some tests to run on you about the shock that you said you received," Janet reminded him, taking the inside of his wrist again and counting his pulse.
She was pleased to note that it was at a nice steady pace once more. Perhaps Daniel had been extremely fortunate on this occasion and just needed a little TLC.
"Any pain or headache?" she prompted, looking directly at him and wanting a straight answer.
Whether it be because of his fatigue or something else, she found that the young man had very little energy reserves to put up his usual "brave" act of being fine and answered truthfully.
"Still a little dull ache in my head, but no pain," Daniel gave in explanation. "Just tired……….." he said before yawning, putting his hand over his mouth and his head drooping a little towards his chest once more.
"Are you going to be awake long enough to take a shower?" Janet prodded him in mirth.
Daniel just gave a small nod of his head and that was all it took for the usually tough physician to crumble and allow him his small request.
"Rebecca, can you make sure that everything is prepared in the private shower room for Doctor Jackson," Janet asked.
"Right away, ma'am," the stoutly nurse replied and hurried away to complete her task.
"When you are finished your shower, I want to complete those tests, Daniel," Janet spoke, making sure she had some of his attention for his own good.
"Even if you only received a small electric shock back on the ramp, I need to keep you under observation for a few hours and monitor your heart rate and other vital signs for any abnormality."
"I don't want to stay in the infirmary overnight," Daniel tried to argue glumly, but regretting a little of how petulant his complaint may have sounded to Janet. He just wanted to go home and sleep for a few hours.
"Let's just take one step at a time shall we?" Janet responded, not wanting to pre-empt anything until she saw the test results.
The nurse Rebecca had returned and informed Janet that everything was prepared and ready for Daniel.
"Watch him carefully from here to the shower room and remain outside the door," Janet informed her staff member, being cautious without overbearing. She had seen how unsteady he was when being brought here.
Daniel did seem to have made a miraculous and significant step forward since being led here to the infirmary, but experience told her to make sure first. Especially with a special patient such as Daniel Jackson who came with his own set of rules when it came to illness and injuries and how to treat both and generally taking care of himself.
"When you finish your shower, I can begin the tests and we go from there," she said, trying to perk up his spirits a little. He did seem a little pre-occupied about something, but intuition told her that it may not be the shock that was causing his current level of docility.
"Let me know when Doctor Jackson is finished please," she whispered.
The doctor left her patient in the good hands of the middle aged nurse and went to her office to take care of some other matters.
On any day, when he was feeling well, Daniel was one of the most gentle, caring men she had ever had the pleasure to meet. He was completely different in personality to a lot of the marines that ruefully graced her infirmary with their boorish, brash and downright aggressive selves at times.
He came with his own fair share of secretiveness and mysteriousness and vulnerability that he often didn't admit to, but portrayed regularly. Sometimes she wished that there were more people in this world that saw things so passionately as he did. But then again, that would take away the special-ness that was all Daniel Jackson.
Daniel forced himself to appear more alert and slowly made his way into the shower room, giving Nurse Rebecca a shy smile in appreciation and then closing the door behind him.
He adjusted the temperature of the water until it was fairly hot and steam filled the small cubicle, allowing it to swirl around him. The hot water on his tired and aching muscles felt incredibly good and soothing.
As he leaned his head against the cooler tiles and stood under the massaging streams, his mind was taking him back to the meetings he had on the planet and the conversations that had bothered him the most.
To the untrained eye there had appeared to be nothing of consequence to report, and there certainly had been any direct demonstration of anything wrong or threatening. Their manner had been more standoffish and aloof.
There were just odd subtle words or phrases though that at first appeared odd. The language had been difficult to decipher and it had taken nearly the first full day to have any real grasp of being able to communicate sufficiently with the elders of the city.
'We do not believe that the resources of an individual matter'
'As a whole our nation seeks to renew itself'
'Peace cannot always be achieved, even by those to desperately seek it'
'Weakness'
'Divine Rule'
The words and phrases becoming more consistent in his brain and not wanting to shut off.
He was tired and didn't want to think anymore tonight, shutting off the water and quickly
drying himself, hoping to shove the voices in his head back into his sub-conscious for a few hours.
Daniel was almost startled by a small tap on the door which brought him back to where he was.
"Doctor Jackson, are you alright in there?" Nurse Rebecca asked, having heard the water stop a few minutes earlier.
"Fine, thank you," Daniel said as he opened up the door and exited.
"Doctor Jackson," the nurse said, looking at his attire and frowning a little, thinking that Janet Fraiser was not going to be happy.
Daniel looked back at her calling to him, but wore a puzzled expression on his face at her questioning glances to his clothing. He was wearing a stand black t-shirt and his standard issue green uniform trousers.
"I don't think Doctor Fraiser meant for you to be dressed in your normal clothes just yet, Daniel," the Nurse pointed out, deciding to be direct. She knew that Janet wanted to carry out some testing on the young man.
"I won't tell if you won't," he said, placing an index finger to his lips and looking back her over the rim of his glasses.
Knowing that Fraiser was usually fairly strict about proper patient care whilst they were in her custody. That usually correlated to patients where hospital gowns until they were declared fit and discharged, Nurse Rebecca walked away thinking that she would let Janet argue with him.
"Doctor Jackson is ready for you, ma'am," Rebecca informed Janet as she stood in the doorway of her office.
"Thank you, I will see him straight away," Janet responded. "Is he displaying any symptoms I should know about?" she asked, hoping to pick up on anything that Daniel might be try to disguise.
"Um," the nurse stammered at first, not knowing how to brooch the subject easily. The staff of the infirmary knew that if there was one patient that Fraiser worried about more often, it was Doctor Jackson.
The man had a known medical history of injuries and allergies, but the young man's gentle sweet disposition drew out the strong mothering syndrome in most of the nurse staff, including Janet.
"Let me guess, he is already demanding to go home," Janet assumed with a knowing smile. Daniel had already admitted to wanting to escape as soon as possible.
"Not exactly, but he is dressed in his normal clothes," Rebecca stated, ready to assist Fraiser setting up the monitoring equipment that would be required.
"Oh is he now," Janet smirked, "Well we will just have to disappoint the good Doctor Jackson for a few hours at least," she added heading out into the infirmary.
In the few minutes that Nurse Rebecca and Janet Fraiser had been talking near her office, Daniel had sat back down on the bed designated as his and patiently waited for Janet to come.
He knew that he wouldn't have to wait long before the petite red-headed Doctor would appear and begin her usual regime of tests. She had said something about wanting to do some other testing, but his head was still thumping from the headache.
The hot water from the shower seemed to have aggravated it a little, to a more noticeable level and he rubbed tiredly at his eyes once more, the frames of his glasses lifting with the motions of his hand.
The bed that he was sitting in was the closest to the corner of the infirmary, and had always been an inside joke with various members of the SGC and nursing staff. They all insisted that this was his bed when he had to be here.
It looked no different to any of the other lines of beds most days, but he did notice looking down now that there were two pillows at the head of the bed. The bottom one firm and flat, the one on top, much fluffier and softer.
There was a blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed and the sheets felt nice and cool under his fingertips.
The tiredness that he had been feeling before coming through the gateroom and before his shower began to roll over him again in large crashing waves.
He barely realised that he was laying down instead of sitting up and the softness of the pillow was so inviting that he sighed audibly when his head sank gratefully into it. The headache was still present, making him rub at his temples in a circular pattern, hoping to gain some relief.
Sleep beckoned and he could no longer resist the urge to let the swirling thoughts in his head fade away. Daniel didn't even feel his eyelids begin to flutter close.
Janet strode purposefully towards the bed, ready to do battle with Daniel about any of his pre-conceived ideas that he was going home immediately. Nurse Rebecca was close behind, wheeling a heart monitor and various pieces of cabling that would be attached to the patient.
Fraiser was about to open her mouth and say something, but froze when the two of them spied the heart-warming site before them …………. Daniel laying on his side, his legs drawn up onto the bed and sleeping.
It seemed that any notions Daniel had about going home in the next couple of hours had been thwarted by his own body's demand to rest.
She looked back at Rebecca and both of them had to smile at such a pleasing site. Daniel portrayed the perfect picture of innocent when as he slept. The lines of his face smooth and relaxed.
Nurse Rebecca tiptoed as quietly as she could around the patient's bed, hooking up the heart monitor to a power source whilst Janet did some brief assessing of the patient himself. Both of them were loathe to wake him.
Janet gently removed the thin framed glasses from his face, carding one hand through his dampened hair and brushing it back off his face. She used the back of the same hand against his cheek, surprised that he didn't stir at her touch, but pleased to note that the skin felt warm and of a natural temperature.
One hand was laying silently outstretched beside his face and Rebecca carefully attached the small peg-like clamp electrode to his index finger that would relay all necessary information back to the heart monitor.
Janet knew she would have to extract a blood supply, and thought that Daniel may wake with the procedure, but cautiously noted that he had failed to react to any of their administrations. Even the small pinprick from the needle point extracted only a brief pause in his steady breathing.
Rebecca reached over and turned the dimmer switch on the lights over the bed, giving the patient the chance to get as much rest as he needed without interruption.
Although she didn't like the idea of Daniel sleeping in his clothes, she wasn't about to disturb him now that he looked so comfortable and peaceful.
"That will do for now," Janet whispered pulling the blanket from the bottom of the bed and spreading it over the slumbering form.
They both stepped away from the bed, leaving Daniel to sleep.
"I want to monitor him for a few hours because of the electric shock, but the readings appear to be within the normal range so far," Janet spoke. "I also want hourly monitoring of his blood pressure, please."
She would wait until Daniel was awake to complete any more of the post-mission procedures.
"I will let you know if anything changes, ma'am," Rebecca replied.
About an hour after Janet had left her patient in the capable hands of Nurse Rebecca, Sam and Jack approached the infirmary, looking for any information on their friend's condition.
Janet met them at the door, motioning for them to be very quiet before leading them over to the corner bed and pointing at the still sleeping Daniel with a satisfied smile.
"He must have been very tired, Janet, are you sure he is okay?" Sam asked looking at Daniel and smoothing out an invisible crease in the blanket.
"Wore him out with your devious little tools did ya?" Jack enquired, pleased to see that his friend was safe and taken care of.
"General wanted to know when he might get some information out of him," Jack stated casually. He thought he had used a relatively quiet voice, but took a step back when both Sam and Janet turned on him and shushed him.
"Hey, I was just asking," he said in his own defence, but stopped talking when Daniel gave a small sigh and turned his head on the pillow a little. The two women glared at him again.
"He fell asleep before I could do much testing on him at all," Janet offered in diagnosis, "but his pulse and breathing all appear to be much better now than they were in the gateroom."
"Right now he is displaying the usual signs of fatigue, but no symptoms that could be attributed to receiving any kind of electrical shock. He didn't stir at all when I took the blood sample."
"Maybe he didn't really receive a shock on the ramp. Perhaps he was just tired and confused after coming back through the gate," Sam suggested in explanation.
Jack took two small steps closer to his friend, looking down as though making his own assessment of Daniel. He went to reach out his hand towards the bed when it was vigorously slapped away.
"You wake him up, Colonel, and so help me," Janet warned in a whisper, stepping closer to Jack to emphasis her intent to do him bodily harm if Daniel woke.
"We can come back later, Janet," Sam said. "I will let the General know that Daniel is getting some rest."
"Sleep well, Daniel," Sam said softly, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.
Janet and Sam shared a small laugh at the Colonel as he looked most perturbed that Carter was allowed to kiss Daniel, but he was threatened within an inch of his life for making any kind of sound or touching and making sure he was alright.
In the briefing room, Jack and Sam were meeting with Teal'c and General Hammond and giving what brief details they could about the negotiations on the planet.
"Doctor Fraiser thinks that Daniel may be just a little overworked and tired and not suffering from any kind of electrical shock from the ramp, Sir. But she is keeping a close eye on him for the next couple of hours at least," Carter reported to Hammond.
"That's good news to hear, Major," Hammond responded, relieved to know the young man wasn't suffering any adverse affects.
"Indeed," Teal'c commented, pleased to hear that his teammate was resting.
"She wants to keep him quiet and just let him sleep," Carter added, giving Jack a sharp look as she spoke.
"What!" Jack declared indignantly, "I wasn't going to wake him up."
"You almost did, Sir," Carter accused lightly, which had him draw stern looks from both the General and Teal'c.
There were few occasions where Major Carter could be seen or heard pointing out any of O'Neill's mistakes or indiscretions, but anything to do with Daniel Jackson was the obvious exception.
Most staff on Cheyenne mountain were aware that Sam treated Daniel like a brother and was usually fussing about his health and general well-being. She would take anyone to task who was seen to be disrupting his routine or bringing harm to him, including the Colonel.
Whilst not all the marines on the base understood the sibling like relationship between the two, and thought that Daniel was quite capable of handling himself in most situations, very few of them thought about crossing that line.
Carter had proven herself on more than one occasion of being the best combat soldier she could be and she had the skills to take on most of them in a good scrap. Most of them secretly wished she would show them even the slightest amount of concern and unconditional friendship that she showered Daniel Jackson with.
Jack was about to say something else, but was pulled up by the General now speaking to all of them as a group.
"What can you tell me about what you experienced on the planet, Colonel?" Hammond asked, changing the focus of the conversation altogether as they sat around the large central table.
"Not much to tell, Sir," Jack answered. "They didn't want the rest of us in the room when talking to Daniel. None of us understood what was being said as usual."
General Hammond smiled to himself a little, knowing that his second in command didn't like it when he didn't have all the information before him. Jack was military trained and having all the facts was what he liked to achieve for any mission, but it wasn't always possible.
"Did Doctor Jackson indicate any reasons as to why the elders of this city didn't want to work in co-operation with us?" Hammond questioned.
"No Sir," Carter responded, "That's what was unusual about this whole mission. Daniel worked harder than us all, but at night when he asked him about what they said, he clammed up."
"It does seem a little out of the ordinary for Doctor Jackson not to voice his concerns," Hammond agreed.
"General Hammond, I did enquire with Daniel Jackson on our way back to the gateroom, the reason for his concern," Teal'c stated.
"And what was his answer, Teal'c?" Hammond asked, knowing that the large man rarely spoke in de-briefings unless he felt it important. Usually Major Carter or Colonel O'Neill would back up the more detailed outline from the archaeologist.
"The word he used was disturbed" Teal'c said in a flat tone of voice.
"Disturbed……….," Hammond pondered, thinking it was a strong word to be using when describing potential new allies.
"Well, I guess we all need to wait until Doctor Jackson has had a little more sleep and tells us his new theories about why the negotiations broke-down," Hammond suggested.
"If you don't mind, Sir, I plan to go to control room and help oversee any necessary testing on the ramp in the gateroom," Carter requested. "With your permission of course?"
"You have it, Major," Hammond affirmed. "Co-ordinate your efforts with Sergeant Siler."
"Jack and Teal'c keep me informed about Doctor Jackson whilst he is in the infirmary," Hammond asked, getting up from the table and heading towards the door and his own office.
"Sure youbetcha, Sir," Jack said cheerfully.
A little over an hour later, Jack was leaving the commissary and heading towards the infirmary once more, bored out of his skull and wanting to check on Daniel again.
He had met up with a number of other SGC members including Lou Ferretti, enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee and chatting about sports.
Word about Doctor Jackson being in the infirmary again after a mission had spread like wildfire, and Jack found himself having to assure all that Daniel was going to be just fine.
Daniel had little comprehension of just how many people at SGC admired him not just for his intellect, but were drawn to him because of his endearing nature. Half of the female staff at the base had asked him out on at least one occasion and some had tried more than once.
Approaching the doorway quietly and looking out for any sign of Fraiser or her staff, Jack looked smug as he crept quietly over to the corner bed without being noticed.
Daniel had rolled over onto his opposite side in the bed, with his face turned towards the wall and away from everybody else, the blanket having slipped down from his shoulders a little.
"Don't want you to get cold in here, Daniel," Jack whispered, pleased that his friend was still oblivious to his presence. No doubt if he were awake, his friend would be protesting about the mother-hen treatment from everybody.
Jack prided himself on the ability to sneak up on most people undetected within the base. Years of covert training coming in handy on many occasions. What he hadn't factored in was the ability of a much too large Jaffa warrior being able to make less noise than a mouse.
Jack went to put the blanket back over his slumbering friend, when a number of things happened all at once.
Firstly, the Colonel had failed to hear the approach of Teal'c from behind.
"You were advised not to wake Daniel Jackson, O'Neill."
"JEEZ TEAL'C!" Jack exclaimed loudly not having heard the Jaffa until it was too late. Unfortunately when he had jumped at the larger man's voice, he had inadvertently placed his hand on Daniel's left shoulder, still holding the edge of the blanket and had accidentally dug his fingers in a little.
Daniel had been in a deep sleep but suddenly felt someone grip his shoulder tightly and he had startled badly, jumping up in fright at having awoken and still trying to work out where he was. Someone had shouted loudly near his ear.
"WHAT THE……!"
Jack and Teal'c both looked with dismay at the sound of Daniel's panicked shout, in time to see him sit up and scramble back against the head board as though expecting some sort of imminent attack.
Jack swallowed guiltily at the look on the tired face of his friend as Daniel looked back and tried to work out why he had just been scared half to death.
The two of them watched him rub lightly at where he had felt the fingers gripping as he worked out who belonged to the voice and who had grabbed a hold of his shoulder, "Jack, what are you doing……….?" Daniel asked in a weary voice.
His glasses looked back at him from the bedside table, and he reached over and placed them back on his face, looking back at his alleged assailant and wanting to know what the emergency was. He had no idea of how much time had passed since his shower.
"Sorry, Danny, I didn't mean to grab you like that, I was just pulling the blanket back up over you," Jack explained in apology.
O'Neill was about to say something else when he heard the distinct sound of Janet Fraiser's shoes approaching at a rapid pace at hearing one of her patients in distress and raised voices within her infirmary.
"COLONEL O'NEILL!" Janet protested a little too loudly, wincing herself as she realized that she too was disturbing Daniel's sleep.
"Sorry, Daniel," Janet said, seeing the young man wave his hand in haphazard acknowledgement of her words, but watched as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes and began massaging his temple area again, indicating a headache.
"I didn't mean to wake him, Fraiser," Jack offered, knowing how lame it must have sounded. "I was just putting the blanket back over him," ducking a little behind Teal'c to ward of his impending punishment.
He finished by muttering under his breath about putting an alarm system on the much larger man first chance he got. Ferretti would never let him hear the end of it when word got out.
For a moment, Janet looked back at the Colonel, and displayed a small smirk at the suggestion that Teal'c had been able to get the drop on him.
"Jack probably didn't mean it, Janet," Daniel said, looking up briefly, but continuing to rub his forehead at the dull throb. "Hey Teal'c great to see you," he greeted his second friend with his usual friendly manner.
Teal'c gave Daniel a small smile and bow of respect.
Fraiser's scolding words soon withered under Daniel's defence of his friend and her voice and eyes softened at his willingness to accept that his friend had merely been concerned about him.
"Teal'c take the Colonel out of here, please," the doctor said, hoping to get her patient back to sleep quickly.
"And don't think I will forget this, Colonel," Fraiser forewarned, smiling like a Cheshire cat as she spoke. "I haven't completed your post-mission examination yet and plan to do so before you leave the mountain today."
"Ouch, Jack!" Daniel said with a half amused grin, knowing what the doctor was planning.
"Yeah!" was the only response Jack could think of, a plethora of painful scenarios running through his head at what she might subject him too.
Teal'c and Janet shared a brief laugh at O'Neill's moment of uneasiness, but noted that Daniel had fallen silent again.
"You going to be alright?" Jack asked Daniel as he felt Teal'c beginning to crowd around him, making him take a few retreating steps towards the door.
"Never better, thanks" Daniel replied, though nobody in the room was fooled by his statement.
Daniel and Janet both watched as Teal'c all but manhandled Jack out of the infirmary.
"How about you try and get some more sleep, Daniel?" Janet suggested, hoping he would just take her word on face value.
"Yes, but I think it would be better in my own bed, don't you?" he answered with a question of his own, looking back at Janet with a hopeful expression. He pulled himself over towards the edge of the bed and prepared to stand.
Janet picked up the chart that was hanging on the end of the bed and silently read the readings and measurements that had been accumulated over the last two hours, looking for any reason to be concerned.
"You still have a headache," she pointed out matter-of-factly, calling him on what she had seen over the past few minutes. "But all of your other readings seem normal. Your blood work hasn't come back from the lab yet."
"Yes, but I am sure that it would only take you a minute or two to make sure that there is nothing out of the ordinary in me," Daniel challenged astutely without wanting to argue with the doctor.
"Please Janet, its been a long four days, I just want to get out of here and wind down for a while," Daniel pleaded, his voice soft but expectant of an affirmative reply.
"Let me go and check on the blood work and I will come back. You are already mostly dressed, but I want you to promise me that if I do let you go home, that you will take care of yourself and sleep."
Half an hour later, after taking Daniel's blood pressure for the final time and noting that the readings of the heart monitor still showed normal, healthy and strong readings, she released him.
Janet had offered some medication for his headache, but Daniel had told her that it wasn't quite that bad. He was wary to admit how bad it was throbbing at the moment, in case she changed her mind about allowing him to go home.
Once he made it back to his apartment, he would be able to take a couple of aspirin, close the curtains and darken his bedroom and shut the world out and allow sleep to cure his aching head.
She had made him promise to make sure that he got home safely and avoided too much caffeine for the remainder of the day, reminding him that he wouldn't be able to rest well with too much coffee in his system.
"I don't want to see you back here before tomorrow morning for your debriefing with General Hammond, Daniel, after you have had a good night's sleep," she chastised lightly.
"I just have one thing to do before I leave, and then I am out of here," Daniel promised, not alerting further as to what he intended to do.
"Just don't take any work home this evening, Daniel. Any cultural revelations that you are going to make can be discovered tomorrow," she said, knowing that the man was a known workaholic.
"Cross my heart," the archaeologist said, making the action with his hands in front of her and giving her a genuine smile of gratitude. "Thanks for everything."
"All part of the service, Daniel," she smiled back, watching him leave. Janet made a note to herself to inform the General and the rest of his team of his intention to head home for some rest.
After escaping the infirmary and Janet's ever watchful eye, Daniel headed to the locker room and grabbed out his jacket, getting ready to head home.
He didn't understand why, but he had a strange urge to make a quick stop at the gateroom, which was what he had told Janet. The young man vaguely remembered mentioning something about receiving an electric shock and that was why Fraiser had hovered around him.
"Doctor Jackson," Lou Ferretti greeted him as he walked into the room, surprised to see the archaeologist on his feet and dressed in civilian clothes.
"Hey, Lou," Daniel said warmly as he put his arms through the sleeves of his jacket.
"Just heading home," he offered in explanation as he saw the questioning look on the Major's face.
"Good to know, Doc. Jack said you might have been spending more time in the infirmary."
"Not if I can help it," Daniel replied. "See you tomorrow, Lou," he said and gestured with a wave of his hand, exiting the room.
On his way to the gateroom, Daniel had forgotten all about Janet's request of no caffeine, and grabbed a dark blue ceramic mug from the commissary, filled it and carried it with him, savouring the hot bitter taste on the back of his throat.
Upon reaching the gateroom and casually walking inside, Daniel was surprised to see all the yellow and black warning tape that had been erected around the bottom of the ramp.
"Wow, a bit of action happening in here," he said quietly to Sergeant Siler who was standing with several technicians, watching some computer monitors. There was a large array of various cables and equipment hooked up to the ramp and the railings.
He noted that the large security door on the opposite side of the gateroom was currently closed and most likely sealed, making the door he had walked through the only entrance and exit.
"Doctor Jackson?" Siler greeted the young man, as surprised as Major Ferretti to see Daniel walking through the door, holding his usual cup of coffee, his other hand casually hidden away in the pocket of his jacket.
"We have orders from General Hammond and Major Carter to make sure everything is safe before the next teams off-world are due to return," he informed Daniel.
Siler was tempted to tell Daniel that he probably shouldn't be in the gateroom either, especially when it had been assumed that he had been the casualty of the electrical spark in the first place. But he didn't voice his concern out loud.
"Don't worry Sergeant, on my best behaviour and promised Doctor Fraiser that I would head home very soon," Daniel said as he saw the man's almost apologetic expression.
Daniel seemed genuinely interested in what was happening, peering over his glasses at the readings on one of the monitors, but making sure that he kept out of the way of the technicians.
Unfortunately, he couldn't pretend to know what most of the numbers indicated. He was sure that Sam would know if she was here. He had yet to look up and notice the audience gathered in the control room.
In the control room, just before Daniel walked in, General Hammond had entered to gather the latest report on the testing of the gateroom.
"General, Sir," Davis saluted along with Major Carter and other staff present.
"As you were people," Hammond greeted them, returning their salutes, but focusing on what was appearing on the computer monitors before them.
"Colonel O'Neill," the General said as Jack walked into the room followed closely by Teal'c.
"Doc Fraiser wanted me to inform you that Daniel was still sleeping…………," he began to report when the Jaffa stopped him in mid-sentence.
"He is not, O'Neill," Teal'c said in total seriousness.
Jack had hoped that the man would give him a little lee-way and not throw him to the wolves, but obviously knew now that it would not be the case.
"Not, Teal'c?" Sam picked up much to quickly for Jack's liking. Her blue eyes turning towards her commanding officer and silently demanding further explanation.
"Daniel Jackson was sleeping adequately, Major Carter, that was until O'Neill sought to disturb his rest," Teal'c explained.
"You woke him up again, Sir?" Carter asked incredulously, a little shocked as much as the other people in the control room, including General Hammond.
"Janet Fraiser was not pleased to hear Daniel Jackson cry out in alarm and awaken when O'Neill grabbed him without warning," Teal'c continued.
Jack hung his head a little, knowing that there would be no reprieve for him. He looked back at Hammond, seeing the 'what did you do' look and tried to defend his actions as he had done with Janet.
"It would have been alright if you hadn't snuck up behind me, Teal'c," O'Neill declared hotly, trying to deflect some of the blame.
"I did nothing, O'Neill."
The people in the control room watched the conversation unfold between the two teammates, knowing they would soon find out most of what had transpired in the infirmary.
"He was sleeping okay, I just walked in there and made sure that he wasn't getting cold,"he said, not noticing a few sly smirks at his admittance of worrying over his best friend. None of them were quite so brave or as willing to mention it to his face however.
"I merely reminded you that you were supposed to be quiet," Teal'c recounted.
"Yeah, and made me jump about six foot in the air," O'Neill shot back before he realized what he was saying.
"O'Neill reached out and grabbed a hold of Daniel Jackson without warning," Teal'c told them. "And at the same time, yelled out loudly above his bed."
Sam Carter and General Hammond now sighed inwardly, seeing how one event had led to another, and spiraled out of control of all involved.
"I am sure Janet was less than happy with you, Sir" Carter said with a small amount of sympathy creeping into her voice, knowing that the Colonel would have Daniel's best interests at heart.
"Daniel must have been pretty mad too," she added, thinking of what her friend's reaction would have been to being grabbed and yelled out with little warning.
"Yes she was, Sam," Fraiser agreed as she walked into the Control room, making everyone turn at the new voice. "I am afraid I was a little too loud for Daniel too."
"Daniel was a little more forgiving than most at having been woken up like that, but I think he was pretty much out of it still anyway. He had only been asleep a short time," Janet relayed.
"General Hammond, I came to tell you that I have instructed Daniel to get some more rest and released him from the infirmary. He promised me he was headed home for the rest of today," Fraiser informed.
"Thank you, Doctor Fraiser," Hammond responded, satisfied that a amicable compromise had been reached between them both.
"You checked him out first right though?" Jack asked, surprised that Janet wasn't insisting he stay. She had indicated earlier that Daniel needed to have a few more tests.
"As soon as you are finished your duties here, I will be seeing each of you in my infirmary to complete your own post-mission examinations," the doctor told them, not intending for them to argue about it.
"Other than admitting to a headache, and not being able to get any restful sleep yet," Janet said, eyeballing Jack with that particular comment, "Daniel is just fine and hopefully on his way home by now. All his tests came out normally and I can't see a reason to keep him here."
Whilst still listening to Janet's detailed report on Daniel, Jack found himself wandering over closer to the large view window of the control room. He quietly looked down and took note of what was going on within the gateroom, and smiled to himself as he recognized a familiar face amongst the technicians.
"Um, Doc, where did you say he was again exactly?" Jack asked with a smug tone to his voice, pointing to the window, making the others take a look.
"Dannyboy you are playing with fire." he thought to himself with a grin.
"Tell me Teal'c, who do you see down there?" Jack queried, quite pleased with himself that Janet's needles of torture were quickly changing direction from his butt and headed for Daniel instead.
"I see Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered truthfully.
"What!" Janet Fraiser said, scrambling to look for herself. "And what exactly is that mug doing in his hand," she said to nobody in particular with a touch of exasperation in her voice.
"Does that man ever listen to me?" Janet said, concerned more than angry at the young man. But her determined speech was halted by General Hammond talking over the loud speaker system down to the people gathered in the gateroom.
"Doctor Jackson, nice to see you on your feet again, son," he said, leaving any harsher comments about taking care of himself to Janet Fraiser.
"Thank you, General, Sir," Daniel replied though the microphone, giving a quick wave to the control room. "Don't worry about me, I am fine."
"Just on my way home, but wanted to check that everybody here was safe first."
Before they could speak further, Daniel walked away from the microphone and walked directly towards the bottom of the ramp, his gaze seemingly fixated on the iris.
"What is he doing?" Sam asked quietly, but everybody else in the control thinking exactly the same question. There was something about his deliberate body language that made them all take notice, including Sergeant Siler and the technicians standing nearby.
"Doctor Jackson?" Siler asked, seeing a complete change to the young man's demeanour from a few minutes ago.
"Are you alright, Daniel?" the sergeant queried, reaching out and trying to gain his attention.
All of a sudden Daniel twisted and whirled away from Siler and the technicians, taking two giant steps backwards and losing hold of the mug in his hand.
To everybody else watching, it was like watching in slow motion as the almost full mug fell and then shattered on the concrete floor, splattering over Daniel's shoes and the bottom of his trousers.
Daniel though hadn't taken his eyes of the iris, oblivious even to the noise of the mug breaking, his hands lifting to in front his open mouth and his face growing paler with each passing second.
"Sergeant I am coming down there," Janet Fraiser announced over the speakers, thinking that something was happening to Daniel. She couldn't see his face up close, but his mannerisms and strange behaviour were ringing alarm bells loudly enough.
Before Janet could take any steps though, the next sound they all heard was the panicked shouting from the archaeologist.
"Daniel, what is going on down there?" Sam asked, hearing her friend's frightened voice.
She exchanged growing worried voices with all in the control room at what might be causing such a sudden shift in mood.
It was not only the volume of Daniel's voice but the underlying tones of outright fear on his face that had Sergeant Siler motion to the technicians to do what Doctor Jackson was telling them.
It was very rare for Daniel to raise his voice ever and certainly not to SGC staff unless there was a damn good reason. Even when there had been some hairy moments in the past year or two, Daniel was known for usually portraying a composed exterior when others did not.
They had all started slowly tracking towards the doorway, convinced that Daniel was somehow able to sense something about to happen that they couldn't.
"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" he yelled, pushing Sergeant Siler towards the doorway, still keeping most of his attention on the Stargate.
"RUN!" Daniel emphasized.
As Daniel neared the doorway himself, he found himself literally picked up and thrown
backwards approximately ten metres, dumped on his back hard enough to have him gasping in surprise.
The archaeologist got gingerly to his feet, and saw Sergeant Siler ready to re-enter the gateroom to help him escape, but without warning, the same unseen forced that assaulted Daniel, pushed Siler and the technicians out the other side of the doorway.
The large steel doorway to the gateroom began to close, ready to trap Daniel on his own.
The young man saw what was about to happen and scrambled to his knees as best he could.
"DANIEL!" Jack shouted as all those in the control room saw their friend tossed like a paperweight for a second time.
"General I can't get the door to unlock from this side," Siler shouted through the speaker system on the wrong side of the gateroom door. "Something is jamming the manual override. I can't get to Doctor Jackson."
"Major, set these controls to manual override," the General ordered quickly, getting ready to enter the necessary double command into the computer system.
"The system has locked us out, Sir," Carter cried out in alarm. "We have lost all automatic and manual controls. Something is taking over our own system."
The surveillance system for the gateroom that was showing on various monitors suspended from the ceiling, sudden switched off, leaving only screens of snowy pixels and static.
As if to verify her concerns even further, the blast shield began to descend effectively cutting off any view they had of the gateroom and Daniel's fate.
"I can't get the shields to lift up either, Sir," Davis informed the General, knowing it wasn't what everyone wanted to hear.
"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Daniel yelled into the speaker system.
"Screw this, come on Teal'c," Jack ordered in a dangerously low voice, headed towards the stairs and ready to use brute force to get the doors open and get to Daniel.
General Hammond was already on the phone ordering a security detail to the gateroom and a team to help cut into the door if it became necessary. It might take a little longer to reach Daniel with such a crude method, but right now it was about their only option with all other systems virtually inoperable.
Jack was halfway down the stairs with Teal'c when the distinct sound of the klaxon alarms and sirens began blaring loudly overhead.
"Unauthorized Off-world activation," came the announcement from Davis. "Incoming Traveller…….I repeat……… incoming traveler."
Jack and Teal'c hurried as fast as they could to the gateroom door, impatiently waiting for the oxy-cutting team to arrive.
"Daniel can you hear me?" Jack said into the intercom.
"J-Jack………," came the crackled reply.
Jack visibly sighed in relief at least being able to hear his friend.
"They are c-coming J-Jack……… got to g-get out of h-here."
"Who is coming Daniel? Who?" Jack shouted but received no further reply.
Somehow Daniel had been able to sense someone trying to come through the Stargate without being detected, but now he was trapped in there with whoever or whatever the threat was.
"Colonel, I tried to get the door to open, but something pushed me back before I could get to Daniel," Siler said, hoping that O'Neill wouldn't blame him personally for anything happening to one of the most important people to the Stargate programme.
Jack nodded his head in acknowledgement, looking at Teal'c and trying to think of a way to get the door open quickly. He was trying to hear any sounds from behind the door, but the thickness of the door prevented them from hearing anything for the moment.
"Sergeant there is nothing showing on our systems up here except for the alarms," Hammond pointed out with his own fear growing.
"Nothing is showing on our computer screens, Sir," Carter affirmed, "But with the surveillance cameras out of action we can't even tell what is coming through," she said, genuinely worried about her teammate.
"Are we able to tell if the Iris is still intact, Major?" Hammond asked.
"Iris is still showing as holding, Sir," Sam answered, rechecking the limited systems they were able to see. They had no way of accessing these controls, only seeing what was being displayed.
"Maybe it is a false alarm?" Sergeant Davis, trying to think of why the klaxon's would go off without any real valid threat presenting itself.
General Hammond looked towards Major Carter for any chance that what Davis was saying might be true, but the fear and worry that was reflected in her eyes quickly quashed any chance of it being so.
The fact that Daniel Jackson was the person trapped in the gateroom only signified further that something was dreadfully wrong. The young man was a trouble magnet at the best of times off-world, but it only served to make them all more nervous when they were unable to help him on their own base.
Janet Fraiser had reported back that the blast shield covering the large thick window of the briefing room was also lowered and impenetrable at the moment. They were effectively blind to everything that was going on in the gateroom to Daniel Jackson.
"Have your medical team ready and standing by for anything, Doctor," the General ordered, not knowing whether they would be waiting minutes or hours to reach the young man.
Major Carter had already tried a number of times to talk to him, and had been thankful that Jack had reported back limited success in being able to reach Daniel downstairs.
Jack had repeated Daniel's short and vague warning, but confirmed that he could no longer get his friend to respond further to his calls through the intercom system either.
The loud speaker system crackled with static again, allowing those standing in the control room and those standing outside the entrance door to hear Daniel's panicked and fearful voice.
"I CAN"T DO THAT AGAIN! NO!"
"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Daniel shouted.
"NO YOU CAN"T DO THAT! NO NO STOP!"
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" he screamed in absolute fear.
to be continued…………………..
Oh well, my first chapter for the Stargate realm is now written – so please let me know how I did. Reviews very welcome and keep me inspired, but please be gentle, I bruise easy.
Any technical errors with how all the control equipment works is purely by accident.
SeaQuest people, going back to write some more tonight, haven't forgotten you or my other stories.
More information about exactly what happened in the gateroom in the next chapter. Quite a few clues thrown around at the moment, but you will need quite a few more yet before the plot is fully fleshed out.
Thanks for reading.
Jules