The Dog with Blue Eyes
Daniel regained consciousness slowly. He felt...different...somehow. He inhaled a deep breath and nearly choked on the strong odors. He opened his eyes and realized that he was seeing everything in monochromatic tones. It wasn't really black and white but more of a sepia. His head hurt abominably and his body felt clumsy. No make that downright odd.
He rolled over and saw a body lying next to him. 'Jack!' It was a white male so it couldn't be Sam or Teal'c. Daniel couldn't manage to get to his feet, so he crawled over to check the unconscious form. But it wasn't Jack. It was Him! Himself! His brain kept denying it but it was definitely the same face that he shaved in the mirror every morning. What the heck? If he was lying there unconscious, who was he?
Daniel looked down at his hands. What he saw were white furry paws. 'Paws!' Paws for God's sakes! He heard what sounded like a whimper, then realized that he had made the noise. He tried to speak, to say something but all he could manage was a strangled sounding yelp. He tried to get up again, but when he tried to stand on his feet he just lost his balance and landed on all fours. As he tried to look at his body, all he could see was a golden colored pelt of an animal. What the heck had happened? Peachy, just flaming peachy!
When they had come through the Stargate earlier that morning, the dog had been there all ready. As they dismounted the pedestal the animal had greeted them in a friendly manner as if he had been waiting for them. O'Neill, the dog lover of the group, had stopped and patted it on the head. "What are you doing here, boy? Where's your master?" The dog had barked in a friendly way and wagged it's plumed tail in response.
"What is it, O'Neill?" Teal'c had cautiously come forward to the Colonel's side
"It's a dog, Teal'c. Wonder what he's doing here." Jack mused as he looked around.
"Perhaps it is awaiting it's owners. It could be a hunter or a guard animal."
"Well if it's a guard dog, it's not very good at it's job." O'Neill patted the dog one last time. "Looks like a Golden Retriever. Unusual eyes though, blue eyes are rare in Earth dogs."
"It could be the result of genetic drift, too much inbreeding." Daniel commented casually.
"Could be. Well, lets go see what's over the rainbow today." Jack hefted his pack and started out towards their MALP perceived destination
The dog had followed them along in their hike to the ruins that they were to reconnoiter. There they had determined to set up their base camp. Teal'c and Carter had gone off to collect their soil samples and Daniel had found a natural cave that obviously had been excavated and remodeled at some time. Inside he discovered a room with hieroglyphics on all three of it's walls. He hadn't particularly noticed that the dog stayed with him while Jack had gone to do a perimeter sweep. The animal had not been an annoyance, just contentedly curled up across the room while he had started his translations. The last thing he remembered was a bright glow flooding the cave and enveloping both he and the dog.
As he crouched over his human body wondering what to do next, he heard some noises coming from the front of the cave. "Daniel, Daniel are you still in here?" Even with his slightly altered hearing he could recognize Jack's demanding tones. Boy was he in for a surprise! Before he saw O'Neill, he could smell his friend's own individual scent. He could have recognized it blindfolded having lived in chez O'Neill several times over the last few years. There was no doubt that Jack was going to be pissed.
Jack O'Neill entered the cave where Daniel had been working for several hours already that morning. The archeologist was late for lunch as usual, not surprising considering the wealth of information that Daniel had reported. He'd been as excited as a kid over the cave walls' inscriptions that they had located. It was a small cave with only one entrance so O'Neill had been comfortable leaving his friend alone writing and muttering over the engravings on the wall. But the young man needed to eat damn it, and he was going to drag Daniel out by his ear if that's what was going to take to make sure he did.
As Jack rounded the last corner to the great discovery, he saw Daniel's body sprawled senseless in front of the rear wall on a sort of raised dais covered with carvings. Jack immediately drew his weapon and visually scanned the narrow cavern for the cause. Lying next to Jackson was the dog that had met them at the Stargate. The animal had been hanging around their camp ever since they had arrived. The thought flashed through his mind that the animal had somehow attacked and injured his friend, but the dog's demeanor was all wrong. If anything the animal also appeared incapacitated as he lay on the cave floor next to the archeologist whining his dismay.
Jack holstered his pistol and strode over to the unconscious human. He rolled his friend over onto his back searching for a wound or injury. The dog yelped his distress. "It's okay boy," Jack spoke absentmindedly to the animal. "We'll find out what's wrong."
Dog Daniel whined even louder. He knew what was wrong; he just didn't know how to communicate it to Jack. O'Neill, not finding any injury that might have caused his friend's problem, got up and went to the front of the cave where he radioed for Teal'c and Carter.
The two other team members came running to O'Neill's distress call. Carter, the one with the most first aid training pushed past her Colonel and started to re-examine Jackson's body.
Daniel whined again and tried to vocalize his predicament to his team. It came out as a strangled bark. "Colonel, can you move this dog?" She called out. "He's in the way."
"O'Neill, are you sure this animal did not inflict Danieljackson's injuries?" Teal'c asked in a suspicious tone of voice, looking around the dimly lit room.
"Yea, I'm sure he didn't." Jack responded pushing the whining animal behind him, safely out of Sam's way. "If anything, he was guarding him."
Daniel, the dog, took offense at being shoved back behind Jack. He had to keep reminding himself that his friends were actually concerned about HIM. They just didn't know which him he was!
After a hurried exam, Carter looked up at her CO. "Sir, I don't know what's wrong with him. There're no wounds or marks to indicate any injury. I think we should get him back home ASAP. Janet may have some ideas as to what might be the matter."
"Okay, back it is." Jack agreed. "Luckily the gate isn't far; Danny's no lightweight."
"I shall carry him O'Neill." Teal'c stated, He slipped his arms under the young man's slack body and picked him up as if he weighed no more than a small child. "It will be quicker."
O'Neill nodded. With Jackson totally comatose it made sense to take the safest way of transportation for their youngest teammate. Daniel, the dog, managed to get to his four feet and follow them shakily out of the cave. Jack watched his hesitant progress. "You know, the dog looks hurt too. Maybe he suffered the same assault as Daniel. I think we should take him back with us. He may provide some clues to Danny's condition."
'Good', Daniel thought. 'At least I won't have to fight to get back through the gate to the SGC.' He struggled to keep up with four legs more difficult to deal with than just two.
"Okay, sir." Carter agreed. She picked up the camera from where it lay on the pedestal. "It looks like Daniel had videotaped the wall too. Maybe it can shed some light on what has happened here." As they returned to the gate, Carter watched the animal's progress critically. "He almost looks drugged. Maybe there was a chemical of some sort that Daniel accidentally released...or something." The yellow dog looked up at her with an expression that said. "Ya think!"
During the hike back to the Stargate, Daniel got better adapted to locomotion on four legs instead of just two. He went up to the 'gate' and looked back at them expectantly. Carter hurried over to the DHD and dialed the address of Earth. Jack looked down at the dog and was surprised at his apparent acquaintance with the device. "You look like you know what's happening, boy." Jack reached down and tousled the golden head, "Is that how you got here, with your owners?" O'Neill looked around the wooded glade where the Stargate stood, "And what happened to them anyway?"
Daniel yipped impatiently, trying to express the need to hurry. If only he could talk! If only he hadn't been changed in the first place! If only...whoops!
Jack had reached down and grabbed the large dog around the middle and under his hocks hefting him in his arms. "Come on boy, I don't want you changing your mind mid-wormhole."
Daniel stayed quiet and didn't struggle. He knew that he was as safe as possible firmly held by his friend, a man who loved dogs. He was able to look into Jack's concerned face. He whined his distress. O'Neill spoke soothingly to him as they stepped through the gate.
The wormhole expelled all five of them into the SGC Gate Room. O'Neill immediately called for Medical Assistance for Daniel and put the large yellow dog down on the concrete floor. Major General Hammond came forward with a concerned look. "Colonel, what do you have here? Did he bite Dr. Jackson?"
"No Sir, In fact, if anything, he was guarding Daniel when we located them. We found the two of them together, but he didn't offer to bite. Anyway, Daniel was unconscious and the dog was acting sort of woozy, so we thought we'd bring him with us so we could see if there was a connection of some sort." O'Neill looked down at the dog. "He wanted to come, Sir; like he knew something was up." Jack watched as the medical technician carefully strapped Daniel's unresponsive body onto the gurney. "He was there when we came through the wormhole, like he was waiting for us...or somebody, to come through."
Hammond nodded to his 2IC, "Go on, Colonel. We'll debrief later."
"Yes Sir, Thanks." O'Neill hurried away to follow Daniel's medical team to the infirmary, the dog trotting closely behind him.
Hammond shook his head as he watched them leave. "And Colonel," He called after O'Neill. "Do something about the dog." Jack waved back at him over his shoulder.
The three uninjured members of SG1 lined the hallway outside the infirmary, the dog lying on the floor by O'Neill's feet. Dr. Janet Fraiser stepped out of the exam room. "Well," she began. "He's sleeping. I don't exactly know why or how, but it's a very deep sleep. One so deep I can't wake him up."
"What exactly do you mean...he's asleep?" Carter asked. "He's in a coma!"
"No, Sam." Janet shook her head. "Technically, he's asleep. He has REM. He's dreaming. I'm at a loss to explain it. He just won't wake up!"
O'Neill looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Asleep? Like when the Harsesis kid was teaching him?"
"Yes, deeply, profoundly asleep." She returned his gaze. "And I can't explain it." She noticed the dog at his feet. "Who's this?"
"He was on the planet." Sam explained. "He was with Daniel when we found him."
"Yea," Jack spoke up. "He seemed to be affected by something the same time Danny was, he couldn't get up at first, then he had trouble walking when he tried to follow us." He shrugged. "We thought it might be somehow connected."
"Well," she looked down at the large yellow dog. "I can run some tests on him and maybe do a MRI. Is he friendly?"
"Very." Sam replied. "In fact, he seems to have adopted the Colonel."
Jack reached down and rubbed the dog's ears. "They can always tell dog lovers. It's a survival technique. Why?"
"If he trusts you it will be easier on everyone if you'll come with me when I do the tests."
The dog scrunched up closer to the chair and looked up at O'Neill. He looked down. "You're not gonna hurt him?"
She grimaced at him. "No Colonel, of course not." She stroked the dog on the head, watching him as the dog gazed up at O'Neill. "Come on, we can do this now. We maybe able to determine what's wrong with Daniel if I can find something wrong with him."
"Ookay." Jack got up to go with her. "Come boy; let's take a walk." The dog scooched up under the chair and pressed against Carter's leg. O'Neill repeated in a cajoling tone. "Come on, boy. I'll stay with you."
The dog whined down deep in his throat and looked up at Sam. She reached down and stroked his head. "It'll be all right. The Colonel won't let anyone hurt you."
Unhappily, the dog stood up and came over to stand by Jack. "C'mon pup. It'll be okay."
Several hours later Janet frowned down at the test results. Col. O'Neill and Major Carter were watching her expressions as they flitted across her pixie like features. Sam had joined them in Janet's lab sometime after they had left the hospital area. Teal'c had remained at the young man's side.
"Well, anything?" O'Neill asked neutrally.
"Yes, and no." She replied, glancing up at the older man. "He's a garden-variety dog all right. But he does show some anomalous readings, especially on his EEG."
"His brain wave patterns?"
She looked sharply up at Jack. "Yes, exactly."
"Hey, hang around with you brainy types; you learn a few things." He excused his knowledge with a wave of his hand at the two women. "So what's wrong with the EG thingy?"
"Nothing is wrong." Janet responded suspiciously to him. "It's just that...well, look at this." She used her mouse to click to a different folder on the computer screen. "Here are the medical test results of the members of your team," She clicked to another screen, "This is one is Daniel's." She stopped and clicked again. "It's the EEG results of his physical when you came back from your last mission." Jack nodded seeing the results appear on the screen. She did something else with the mouse and the monitor displayed a second set of EEGs below it. She indicated the second. "Here's the dog's." She waited a moment for it to sink in.
Sam turned the monitor slightly so she could see it more clearly. "Janet, they're the same! That's not possible!"
"You're right, Sam. It's not!"
Jack looked back and forth between the two then over at the dog. "The brain thingy is the same on Daniel and the Dog? What the hell does that mean! Are you telling me that the dog has Danny's brain?"
Sam looked up at her CO. "That's impossible, Sir. That dog does not the brain capacity. Daniel is a certified genius. This dog is a ...a dog." She continued to her superior.
O'Neill left the workbench where he had been sitting and crossed over to the medical gurney where the animal was lying sedated and asleep secured to the table with straps. "That's Daniel?"
"No Sir. That's impossible." Carter assured him.
"Yea, and you were in a computer...remember!" Jack stroked the animal's blond head. "That was impossible too."
"That was different, Sir."
"How! How was that different?" Jack almost shouted at her in frustration. "You were in a damn computer, Carter. And nobody believed it, except Daniel. Nobody could even imagine it, except Daniel." He turned back to the sleeping animal. "We just have to be sure."
"All right Colonel." Janet spoke soothingly to him. "He'll sleep until tomorrow. When he wakes up we'll do some more testing, just to be sure." She glanced at her watch. "Look, it's two thirty in the morning, you're tired. Let's all get some sleep. We'll be able to think better in the morning." She gestured at the dog. "He is our only clue to this mystery and we won't get anywhere until he's awake." Janet started unfastening the monitoring devices from the golden coat.
O'Neill stood watching. When she had removed all the electrodes, Jack took hold of the edge of the wheeled gurney.
"What are you doing, Colonel?" Fraiser demanded grabbing a side to halt his progress.
"Look," O'Neill stated staring her down. "No matter if he's a dog or if he's Daniel or if he's Lassie: if he wakes up alone in a lab strapped down like Frankenstein's monster, he'll be scared to death. I'll keep him in my quarters and bring him back tomorrow...okay?"
"Colonel..." Fraiser stopped when saw the stubbornness in his eyes. She sighed. "Okay, but...remember Colonel. He may not be Daniel. Don't get your hopes up."
Jack gestured at the table. "He's a dog, Janet and he's in a strange place. He'll feel better with someone he knows. Okay?"
Fraiser reached across the gurney to lay her hand on top of O'Neill's. "Okay, but ... don't get your hopes up." She repeated softly.
He tried to grin at her and failed miserably. "Look, it'll be okay. I'll bring him back in the morning." He pushed the gurney out the door.
That night O'Neill was awakened from his sleep by noises coming from the floor by the bed in his on base quarters where he was sleeping. The dog was whining and crying out in its sleep, it's muscles jerking in response to a dream. It was remarkably similar to the dozens of times that the same thing had happened when Daniel was staying at his house or when they were camping off planet. Jack reached down from his bed and, not even completely aware of what he was doing, and started talking to him. "Daniel. Daniel, wake up buddy. You're having a dream." But when his hand touched the long fur, he realized he was the one in a waking nightmare. As he stroked the animal's soft coat, he woke up and looked at him with Daniel's expression in his blue eyes. O'Neill slid down from the bed to sit next to the animal and looked at him in frustration. Then the dog reached out to him with it's white forepaw and whined. Jack shifted his position and knelt on the floor to be at eye level with him.
"Daniel?" He asked desperately. "Daniel, is that you in there?" The dog barked once softly and again extended it's paw to Jack. This time he laid it on Jack's shoulder in a mirror image of the well-known gesture of his human self. "Daniel, did you touch something? What the hell did you do?" The dog whined piteously. The Colonel reached back and put his hand on the animal. "And what the hell am I gonna do now?"
The next morning in the briefing room, Dr. Fraiser, SG1 and Major General Hammond were sitting in a circle around a yellow-coated dog with startlingly blue eyes. The dog looked uncomfortable to be the center of attention and General Hammond was looking at his second in command in amazement.
"Colonel O'Neill, let me get this straight. You're telling us that you think this dog is Dr. Jackson?"
"Not exactly, General. What I'm telling you is that Daniel's consciousness is in the dog." Jack felt like he was digging a very deep hole for himself. He glanced over at the animal who raised his head and looked back in encouragement.
"His consciousness?" Hammond looked over at his CMO then back to O'Neill. "How did it get there, Colonel?"
"I don't know exactly, but I'm betting that he either touched something or maybe he read something aloud." He was sounding silly even to himself, but he plowed on. "You know like an incantation or a spell or something."
"A spell, Colonel?" Hammond stated incredulously.
"I know it sounds farfetched, General. But when Daniel works, he's always touching stuff and mumbling to himself. It's..." He waived his hands in dissatisfaction with his arguments.
Carter stepped in; "It's the way he concentrates sir."
"Yea, concentrates." Jack glanced at her and nodded his thanks. "So he probably touched a button or whatever and it zapped him and the dog."
"Sort of like what happened when I was transferred into the computer and the alien entity took my body." Sam continued.
"Yea, like that." O'Neill agreed. "So, maybe if we take them, Daniel and well, Daniel back to the cave we can figure out what he did and get him to do it again."
Hammond looked over at Fraiser. "Doctor, what's your take on all of this? Do you think that this animal is Dr. Jackson?"
She looked helplessly between the two men. "Sir, I just don't know. Daniel, the human one, is asleep in the infirmary. He shows no sign of regaining consciousness. He is exhibiting signs of an extremely deep sleep complete with rapid eye movement. I'm not saying that it's impossible, just a little...improbable.
Teal'c spoke, "Majorcarter, did you not say that Danieljackson had video taped the wall? Perhaps there is a clue to be found there."
"That's right." Sam nodded. "He had used the video camera and he usually records what he's saying into it's microphone." She stood up, "If you'll excuse me Sir, I'll go check and see what's on it." At Hammond' nod, the Major turned and left the room for her lab. The dog watched her go.
Hammond turned to his second in command with a skeptical expression. "I just find this a little hard to swallow, Colonel."
"So did I until last night." O'Neill turned to Teal'c and Fraiser. "He had a nightmare, a Daniel Jackson kind of nightmare and when I woke him up...well; he tried to communicate with me."
"What do you mean, Jack?" Hammond was looking at both he and the dog. "You mean he 'talked' to you?""
O'Neill sort of shrugged and grimaced. "Not exactly talked, Sir." He looked at the dog who was lying with his head on his front paws. He could have sworn that was a 'Don't be an ass, Jack' look if he had ever seen one. "He...uh, "
Teal'c came to the rescue. "I have often observed that Colonel O'Neill and Danieljackson do not need to vocalize to communicate effectively. They read each other very well. If O'Neill says that he is the dog, then I must accept his knowledge as fact."
Hammond watched the interplay between the two men for a moment, noting O'Neill's flinch. He had noticed Jack's ability to read his teammates and in particular his friend, Jackson. They often finished each other's sentences or spoke in unison, but he was loath to accept such a far-fetched notion without some kind of hard proof.
"I have an idea, Sirs." Dr. Fraiser put in. "Why don't we 'test' the dog. Ask him something or to do something. Something that only Daniel would know."
Hammond looked at his 2IC. O'Neill nodded his agreement, then shrugged. "It couldn't hurt to try it." He looked a little embarrassed but non-the-less looked at the dog. "Okay with you?"
The dog got up and barked once then looked back and forth between the two officers.
"Well, Jack. What should it be? The General asked.
"Humm," O'Neill thought a moment. "It has to be something that he could carry. Nothing too big, heavy or awkward or that he could break." He looked at the dog. "How about my hat? Can you get that? Remember where it is?"
Daniel thought a moment. Jack hadn't specified which hat but all his caps and hats were on the hat tree in his office. He guessed it didn't matter, but...he cocked his head to the side in a doggy Daniel kind of way and barked again.
Jack looked at him in confusion, then he got it. "What? Which hat? For crying out loud, my BDU cap. Is that all right with you?" The dog sneezed once, turned around and trotted off in the direction of Jack's office. O'Neill called after him. "I heard that!"
Hammond looked at him in curiosity. "Heard what, Jack?"
"Attitude. Even as a damned dog he gives me attitude." O'Neill groused. Hammond just shook his head at his Colonel.
Daniel trotted down the hallway. The people he passed in the hall: his fellow scientists, members of the military and the support staff all got out of the way of the strange dog with a purpose. They had heard rumors that SG1 had brought him back from another planet and they frankly didn't quite know what to make of him.
'If they only knew,' Daniel thought. 'They'd really be worried.' He made it to the elevator and looked up at the button. He reared up on his hind legs and pawed at it finally hitting the right one. 'Oh, how I miss fingers.' Once in the car, he did it again to push the proper floor button.
When he got to the correct level, the door opened and he left the car. Continuing down the hallway he nosed his way into O'Neill's office. (Luckily Jack hadn't managed to pull it all the way closed.) He went over to where the coat tree stood against the wall next to the couch. The dog jumped on the couch and knocked the rack down on the floor. Then he had to determine which hat was which. There was the Service Cap with it's brim with the silver insignias, the narrow, flat flight cap with the eagle pin, a Chicago Nighthawks baseball cap and two others. Daniel knew one was green BDU and one tan DCU but he was having a little trouble telling them apart with his being a dog and color blind. Finally, he decided that the DCU would be more sweat stained than the other one, so he picked the cleaner one of the two.
Then it occurred to him. Jack asked for the hat he wore on 3p42753. 'Damn it Jack, where's the damn hat?' He knew the one Jack meant, that was the easy part. Finding it would be the trick. It wasn't in the jumble of hats that had been on the hat tree.
The particular hat that Jack had requested was a DCU boonie and it had a hole in it's crown. It had been the one that he had worn to the 'Indian Planet'. The hole had come about when one of the children was being instructed in the proper use of bow and arrow by an elder brave. Jack, of all people, had not realized the boys aim was none too steady. He had been watching from the sidelines when the spent arrow had knocked the hat off of his head. Due to O'Neill's quick reflexes, the hat had been the only victim. Daniel remembered his friend's expression then and later again, when Teal'c had made some comment about John Wayne movies. Later, Jack had referred to it as his trophy hat.
"So where was that DCU boonie?' He cast about the office, looking in all of the office's nooks and crannies. Then Daniel saw it. 'Trophy hat indeed!' It was hanging on Jack's 'I love me' wall with all his military memorabilia. Now, how in the world was he supposed to get to it? He sat down and whined in frustration. 'The fishing rod!' Jack's daydream fishing rod. O'Neill had tied a lead weight to the line and would practice 'flipping' into his garbage can for hours when he was bored. It made Daniel and Sam crazy...so he did it more when they were there with him. Teal'c said it was a meditation technique and basically ignored him. 'Well, if I break the rod, it's Jack's fault. Trophy hat indeed.'
Carefully, gently he grasped the cork handle of the six-foot graphite rod and carried it over to the wall. By sliding the end of the rod up the sheetrock, Daniel was able to finagle the tip under the canvas brim and flip it off the wall down on the floor. He dropped the rod, grabbed the hat and left the office wondering if he could get away with biting Jack just because he could.
He entered the hallway and started back to Hammond's office. He only hoped that no one would try to rescue the hat from a dog. He'd just have growl at them. As he approached the elevator, miraculously it opened to reveal Samantha Carter and a NCO from mission support who got off of the elevator leaving Carter holding videotape. Sam looked down and saw him come in. She knelt down to his level and touched his face. "Daniel?" Is that really you?" He couldn't speak with the hat in his mouth but he managed to figure out how to wag his tail. The good thing was that he didn't have to try to punch the buttons now. Sam still had her fingers.
When they got to the proper floor, Daniel led the way to General Hammond's briefing room. As they came in together, Teal'c was talking. "O'Neill, how will Danieljackson get to the correct floor? He will be unable to operate the elevator."
"Oh, you know Daniel. He'll manage, I hope." Actually, he could kick himself, he'd forgotten about the trip to his office. "He'll probably take the stairs."
"No, Sir. He managed the elevator." Carter stated as she came through the door with Daniel at her heels. "But he couldn't turn the doorknob."
Jack looked apologetic. "Geez, I'm sorry Daniel." He said as his friend delivered Jack's DCU hat to him. The dog sneezed at him again. "I said I was sorry, didn't I. Besides, now you've really proven you are you." He looked over at Hammond hopefully, poking his index finger through the hole and wiggling it at the General.
"I must say, he certainly has." The General shook his head. "I never would have believed it."
Daniel looked Jack straight in the eye and barked once, loud. Jack shook his head. "I don't understand."
Daniel just glared at him. 'You will, buddy. Wait until you see your office.'
Carter proceeded on to the VCR and put the tape in. "And this proves it even more." She commented. At Hammond's nod she started the machine. The picture appeared on the screen and Daniel's voice could be heard as a running commentary. He had taken the video as he was doing a rapid translation into the camera's microphone. Daniel followed the story of a technique used by the people who had inhabited the city. How before they reached their adulthood, there was a test or a challenge that they had to complete. He then compared it to the American Indian Legends of 'Skin walkers', people who could take on the form or another person or an animal. Then a quiet exclamation and his hand entered the viewfinder tracing a particular hieroglyph. Then a bright light flared and the film went black.
O'Neill just hung his head for a moment then turned to look at the dog. "How many times have I told you, Don't touch anything! Huh? But do you listen, No! Now look what happened!"
Daniel the dog whined at him, then put his front paw on Jack's knee. Jack shook his head.
Carter came back around and knelt down so she was eye level with Daniel. "If we go back to the planet, can it work in reverse?"
The dog looked at her and barked. She looked at the Colonel.
"He's not sure but he thinks so." Jack replied for him.
Hammond looked at them in wonder. "How can you tell? He just barked."
Jack was looking down at the table with his hands clasped in front of him. "It's not what he says Sir; it's how he says it."
The General looked over at his second in command, then glanced down at the yellow-coated dog. The two of them were watching each other's faces. He could almost see the communication run between them. He sighed and shook his head. Only SG1. "Okay, Colonel, You have a go. What is the time differential involved, Major?"
Carter did some math in her head, figuring out the time allowances. "Sir, it's early afternoon on the planet now. We wouldn't have time to get prepared before nightfall."
"Then you have a go first thing tomorrow morning. If you need anything Doctor Fraiser, just let me know."
"Yes, sir. I think we have everything we will need. I will need to use a mobile unit for the stretcher." Janet was checking her list.
"Of course, Doctor. Dismissed." Everyone rose from the table and filed out except O'Neill and the dog. Hammond stood waiting.
"Yes, Jack?"
"I just hope we're not cutting this too closely, time wise."
George sighed. "I know. I do too. But there's no purpose in blundering around in the dark."
"Yes, Sir." O'Neill replied.
The afternoon was spent getting the gear ready for the next morning and then straightening Jack's office. Nothing was broken except Jack's nerve when he realized just what he had done to Daniel. He swore that he didn't remember that he had hung the hat on the wall. Daniel sort of believed him and decided not to bite.
That night however, was long and quiet. O'Neill and Daniel ate in Jack's office, two cheeseburgers for each of them (Daniel's was plain much to his disgust) then they walked down to the infirmary. Dr. Fraiser was making her rounds when she found them both sitting by the bed of Daniel's human body.
At her approach, they both turned and looked at her. "Hi." Jack greeted her with a nod.
"Hi yourselves." She pulled up a chair next to the Colonel. "What are you two doing down here?"
"Oh, you know. Just checking on uh, him." He glanced down at the yellow-coated dog sitting by his chair. "Is he ready?"
"Yes, Jack. Everything is ready here. I don't really need to do too much for him. He's actually very healthy. He was awake earlier today." She mentioned as if in passing, watching for any reactions from them.
"Really?" O'Neill commented continuing to watch the 'body'. "What happened?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Janet turned her gaze to the bright blue eyes looking up at her from the floor next to Jack's chair. "If his demonstration today hadn't already convinced me of what had happened, I believe that would have." She shrugged. "He just lay there watching us, didn't try to speak or move for that matter. That's not Daniel. He's more responsive than that when he's asleep."
Jack tried to chuckle but couldn't quite make it. Daniel looked up at him from where he was sitting on the floor by Jack's chair.
"But," the doctor continued. "You two need to get some sleep. Whatever happens tomorrow, I don't think it's going to be easy on either one of you."
"Okay, you're the doc, Doc." O'Neill stood up and glanced down at his friend. "Can you still play chess?" Daniel whined. "Oh, okay." He looked back at Janet. "See ya in the morning." And the two walked off together.
Oh-dark-thirty earth time found SG1, the dog and Dr. Fraiser exiting the wormhole on the planet of the magic cave at midday. Daniel Jackson's human body, still asleep, lay strapped to the FRED. Janet had come with the group to care for him/it and to ensure everything went as well as it could.
Teal'c took point, O'Neill and Fraiser flanked the carry unit and Carter brought up their six. Daniel trotted nervously around the group. The trip back to the cave was thankfully uneventful. Jack didn't think he could stand much more excitement at this point. When they arrived, Teal'c carried Daniel's human body back into the cave. He then laid him on the raised dais next to where the last scene of the video had been shot.
O'Neill was crouched down by the dog who was sitting looking up at him. "Okay, Danny, we're here. Do you remember what you did, what symbol you touched?"
Actually, he hadn't remembered until he had watched the videotape in the General's office with the rest of SG1. But he knew where about the particular hieroglyph was that he needed. He'd just have to recall which one he had touched. He got up and went back over to the wall where he had woken up and examined it. Nothing looked familiar. This was a creation myth about the planet and how the people had... No. Wait a minute. He had woke up here, but he woke up as the dog! What he was doing, and where he was doing it at was where his human body was lying. That was over here on the pedestal. He crossed to the other wall.
O'Neill frowned at the dog as he went to first one wall then the other. What if Daniel didn't remember which symbols he had pushed? Carter had said that the dog's brain wasn't big enough or complex enough to house Daniel's genius for very long. Jack was afraid that they might have taken too long to get him back to the cave.
Finally, to Jack's relief, the dog raised his head and looked over at the pedestal. Jack watched as the dog Daniel trotted purposefully over to the wall, stepping over the human shape that lay asleep. He could see the animal as he searched for something, a certain carving in the midst of all the hundreds.
He searched along the wall's surface, looking up about three feet high, for something particular. Then there! Daniel was up on his hind legs sniffing the one that was larger than the rest. He finally settled on this one carving. The dog then turned and looked back at them. Jack willed it to be the right one, willed Daniel to be Daniel again.
'There! That was the symbol.' Daniel knew it. He reared up on his hind legs and looked closely at the carvings on the wall. He could even smell where he had touched it with his hand. 'This must be the one. It was slightly larger and deeper than the rest.' He turned and looked at his friends. They were waiting in the center of the room watching his progress, wanting him to succeed. Jack met his gaze with one of his own, one of encouragement.
Finally, in a slow deliberate move, the white paw reached for the script. Then it stopped. Daniel turned and looked at O'Neill again. "What? Push the damn button!"
But he couldn't take the chance with them in the room with him. He barked once, praying that their connection would hold one more time.
Jack sighed and dropped his head. "He's right. Come on, we have to get out of here. He doesn't know the affect the mechanism would have on us. We have to leave."
The thought struck them all at the same time. Teal'c finally spoke. "Then we will leave for now before he tires more." He shepherded the two women in front of him. "O'Neill?"
"Right behind you." O'Neill crossed over to the wall where the two Daniels' waited. He laid his hand on the dog's head and caught his gaze. "We'll be waiting." He then turned and jogged out the small room.
'Well,' thought Daniel the dog placing his forefoot firmly in place and putting his weight on it. 'Here goes noth...' And the white light flared and arched around him.
He felt a cool, moist cloth on his face. His head was lying on something warm and firm. He could hear a voice but it seemed somehow different, then he remembered it. Remembered...he sucked in a chest full of air and it seemed bland. But when he opened his eyes a riot of color seemed to appear. Green and tan, rich skin tones, brown eyes and gold-gray hair. "Daniel. Hey Doc, I think he's coming too."
Fraiser was there by his side in an instant not being really far away. He could see her concerned brown eyes checking him, her sure hands feeling for a pulse to measure. Over her shoulder, he could see Sam and Teal'c, and their concerned expressions. But when he looked up he saw Jack's face over his reflecting hope and expectation. "Daniel, say something." Jack's voice was strained.
He tried to clear his throat but his mouth was cotton-dry. "Whaag.." Boy his reputation as a linguist was gone for good now, but Janet understood and pressed a damp cloth to his lips. She then slipped some half-melted ice into his mouth. After a second, he tried again rolling the ice around his tongue. "What happened?" Not the clearest enunciation, but understandable. He turned his face upwards and saw Jack's expressions change. It shifted from tense expectation to joy in a heartbeat. It occurred to Daniel that he had his head in Jack's lap.
Jack laid his hand reassuringly on Daniel's forehead stressing that it was okay for him to be there. "You touched something again. I told you not to touch anything."
"S..sor..sorry." He could feel Janet's hands on his chest with something cool. Oh yea, a stethoscope. She must have been worried. He had a feeling though that once everyone got over being worried he was gonna get it good. No safety anywhere in sight.
After the quick exam, Fraiser nodded at O'Neill. "Com'on Danny. Can you sit up?" At Jackson's nod, Jack helped him with some lift on his shoulders.
When he was sitting vertically again, the room started to swim in large, swooping circles. But Jack's hands held him firmly until the ground stopped moving.
Janet was in his face again. "You're probably going to be dizzy for a minute. This body hasn't been doing much for the last couple of days."
He nodded. Ooops, bad move. There went the floor again. He took a deep breath and looked across the room. The dog was back where he belonged. Daniel looked down at his hands and decided that they were nice hands. Remembering his difficulties in with the elevator he resolved to keep them. He looked over at Jack.
The older man had stood and was gazing down at him from his full height. He nodded at Daniel; everything was okay, again.
Sam sat down next to him on the dais. "How do you feel?"
"Still a little dizzy, but all right all things considered." He rubbed the back of his neck. It was good to be able to do these silly little things for himself again.
Teal'c had come over and was watching him. "Can you stand up Danieljackson?" He extended a large, solid hand to his assistance. Daniel nodded and grasped it, using the strength to regain his feet. Still a little stiff and unstable but definitely upright on his own two hind legs.
The larger man released him to his own balance but stood close by. Janet Fraiser frowned as he wavered a bit. "I'm okay, really. Just a little dizzy."
Carter came over to him and touched him on the arm. "It's good to have you back, to normal I mean."
He nodded to her fascinated by her blue eyes. She turned a little pink at the close interaction.
"I'm sorry," Daniel smiled at her. "I just haven't seen colors for a little while. You have very blue eyes."
Jack came over and clapped him on the shoulder. "You have blue eyes too, remember?"
Daniel laughed. "Yea, but I can't see them." He looked at Jack's brown ones. They were smiling.
"So what do we do with him?" Jack jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the yellow dog lying happily in the dusty corner.
"Oh, him? Well, actually nothing. He lives here. He's the experience." Daniel answered, looking at the animal.
O'Neill sounded unnerved. "The experience... you mean he hangs around waiting for someone to come here and push the magic button? He's the carnival ride?"
"Yes, kind of. The people who live here are very empathic. One of the ways that they teach each other how it feels to be someone other than themselves is to experience life from a different perspective. In this case, the perspective of a lesser animal." He shrugged his shoulders at his team leader.
'So it's like a walk a mile in his paws kinda thing."
"Exactly." Daniel took his first step off the pedestal trying not to wobble.
"Well, what would have happened if you had left and not come back here?" Dr. Fraiser asked.
"I suppose I would have stayed a dog...and someone else would wind up being me, unless of course they brought in another animal. Then I guess my body would have just stayed with the dog's personality."
"Doggy Danny. Nah, can't see it." Jack looked off in the distance for a second then glanced back at his friend. "But it could have its good points. I mean, you're all ready housebroke and all."
"Can we go now, Colonel?" Dr. Fraiser asked meaningfully. "I think General Hammond is waiting for us."
"Ya-sure-ya-bet-cha." Jack was feeling much better. His team was back to what passed as normal and all was right with his world again. He started off out of the cave and noticed the dog was watching him.
"Janet, how's Jack-the-dog doing?"
"Fine. Why?" The petite doctor asked, suspicion colored her tone.
"Well, Cassie's growing up pretty fast, and I bet she doesn't spend a lot of time with him anymore, I mean her being a young lady now and everything." Jack was doing some fast footwork here, hoping that it would work.
"Uh, yes." Janet had been a mom for four years now and she could hear the plot thickening. "She does spend more time with her friend's now."
Daniel and Sam glanced at each other and tried not to grin. Teal'c maintained his best put upon by the Taur'i face.
"Well, with Cassie and you gone so much, don't you think he gets lonely in that big spacious yard all by himself?"
"No, not really." She responded promptly. "He sleeps a lot and chases the neighbors cats and barks at the mailman..."
"You see, he is lonely."
"Jack," Daniel started in. "This dog has a purpose here..."
"Daniel, what did the dog do when we got here?" Before Jackson could answer, Jack beat him to it. "He ran up to the gate looking for someone. He's lonely. If they really cared about him they'd take better care of him." On a role the Colonel continued. "Remember how dirty and matted you were. Took us two washes to get a brush through the coat, didn't it?"
Daniel looked for a convenient rock to duck under. Jack had indeed bathed him in the showers late that night after he had regained consciousness but it wasn't something he wanted the whole SGC to know about.
But Jack was on a role. "And you had fleas."
"I did not have fleas!"
Janet tried to stop them as they left the cave, Daniel-the-dog following them happily. "Okay, I'll keep the dog...but you have to come help take care of him."
"Done deal." Jack smiled back at her, then continued on with his best friend. "Did too."
"Did not!
"Too!"
"Not! I would have known."
"Wouldn't."
"Would."
Teal'c, Sam and Janet brought up back of the group as they all headed to the Stargate. General Hammond was waiting, after all.
the end of the dogs tale.