Title: Choice
Rating: G
Word Count: 1498
Pairing and/or Characters: Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, General Hammond
Warning/spoilers: minor spoilers for season seven's Fallen and Homecoming
Synopsis: Sometimes we need to know there's a choice.
Disclaimer: Stargate belongs to MGM, Gekko, and other people who aren't me.
This story was written for a livejournal challenge. It's an alternate ending for Homecoming.
~o~
Preface:
After shaking hands with everyone, Jonas Quinn walked up the ramp with the ambassador to return to Kelowna, leaving SG-1 and the rest of the Stargate personnel behind.
~o~
The wormhole closed behind Jonas. Daniel stood watching the empty circle and Jack stood watching Daniel who looked both tired and confused.
"You okay?" Jack asked. He knew Carter and Teal'c were right behind him. Everyone else had exited the 'gateroom, but neither Carter nor Teal'c would have left Daniel here alone. Jack felt the same way. The mission had left them so little time to welcome Daniel home. While Jack understood the need to act quickly to protect the tablet on Vis Uban and to protect the SGC's interests, he also knew the team needed time to adjust to having Daniel back.
Daniel certainly needed time to become human again. His memories were sporadic and disjointed, like a sketch but not a complete picture. Hopefully, now that the mission was over, they'd have time to help Daniel regain his memories. For better or worse—many of them worse, sadly--his experiences were part of what made Daniel, Daniel.
"I'm fine," Daniel said. Jack hid a smile. It was the most "Daniel" thing he'd heard the man say since his return. "I'm just... I'm not..." He turned back to the Stargate, lips pressed together.
"You're just what, Daniel?" Sam asked, coming to stand beside him.
"Do you have questions about the Stargate?" Teal'c came to the other side. "We are eager to answer any questions you have. It has been difficult the past few weeks to find the time to simply talk. We would be glad to do so now."
Jack noticed the two of them flanking Daniel, not touching but close. For all three of them, Jack, Sam, and Teal'c, it was still a little odd, amazing even, having Daniel in the room. Sure, he and Teal'c had both "seen" Daniel (he thought Carter was still a little offended at being left out), but they'd seen a phantom, a ghost, not a real person. For Jack, Daniel's appearance during his torture in Ba'al's fortress had saved his life—and more importantly, his sanity. Teal'c, too, when he'd finally admitted his vision, had stressed how vital Daniel's role had been in his survival. However, an ascended Daniel you could throw a shoe through wasn't the same as a Daniel who'd risked his life on Anubis's ship—and again on Kelowna.
Now that all the fireworks were over, Jack wondered why they'd included Daniel on the mission in the first place. They should have locked him away in a nice safe room and kept him from harm--Goa'uld, Ascended, or otherwise--while the rest of them went out and saved the galaxy. It was their job after all, a job Daniel had left, voluntarily if not willingly. What choice did a man dying of radiation poisoning have but to escape a decaying body and go to live on a higher plane of existence?
He watched Daniel stare at the 'gate until he wondered if Daniel was asleep on his feet. Maybe he'd turned back into an ascended being again, he stood so still. Jack almost expected feathery tendrils to appear and take Daniel away. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep himself from touching flesh and blood. He'd get them out of his pockets fast enough if Oma came to grab him.
"Do we really go through that thing a lot?" Daniel's voice made him jump.
"All the time," Jack answered as casually as possible.
"All the time?" Daniel didn't sound amazed; he sounded alarmed. "That sounds dangerous."
"Nah," Jack insisted. "It's a piece of cake."
Daniel muttered, "It didn't feel like a piece of cake to me."
"After your recent experiences, DanielJackson, you must know that we travel through the Stargate to defeat our enemies. Anubis is but one of them," Teal'c said.
Daniel didn't answer. He walked up the ramp until he stood close enough to touch the surface. Jack fisted his hands in his pockets and resisted the urge to pull Daniel out of the way. If there was an off world activation, Jack knew they'd have plenty of time to get clear of an incoming wormhole. He still wanted to grab Daniel and haul him down the ramp.
Finally Daniel turned. "I don't know who you are, really," he said, "but I'd like to remember. I think I'd like to go through this thing again—if I can." His hand waved past the 'gate and towards them in a gesture Jack remembered so well. It was the "we're peaceful explorers" gesture. Jack's throat tightened.
"What do you mean 'if,' Daniel? Of course you'll go through the Stargate again. With us." Carter paused for a minute. "I mean, if you want to. You do want to, don't you?" The pleading note in her voice wasn't lost on Daniel.
"Do you want me to?" he asked.
"How could you ask such a thing?" she scolded. She walked up the ramp and stood beside him, hooking her arm through his. "Of course we want you to. It hasn't been the same without you."
Bless Carter, Jack thought, as a small smile appeared on Daniel's face.
"I, too, wish you to go through the Stargate—if you wish it." Teal'c bowed his head in a gesture of respect. "But the decision to return to us must be yours."
That's when the two-by-four hit Jack. No one had asked Daniel if he wanted to come back. They'd assumed that post-ascended Daniel was the same as pre-ascended Daniel. What had he said: "I don't really know you"? He didn't. He'd been stripped of his past. How much he truly knew or remembered, Jack couldn't guess.
"You've managed without me for a year," Daniel said, looking not at them but at the gray walls of the 'gateroom. "You could manage without me on the team," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Yes, we could," Jack admitted. "None of us is irreplaceable—a sad fact, but true. If one of us leaves... or dies," Jack choked on the word, "the rest of us carry on. It's the only way the mission gets done." Jack cleared his throat. "It doesn't mean we like it. It's just what we do—what we have to do if we want to keep fighting the bad guys." Looking directly at Daniel, he said, "It's your choice to come back to SG-1. We want you back—you know that. But we can do it without you."
Daniel stared at him open-mouthed.
"In the locker room, you told me you remembered enough. You do. But if you want time on your own to think it through, or time to decide to do something else, we'll all understand." He stepped up the ramp and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "The decision is yours, Daniel."
"On Vis Uban Sam said she wanted to show me who I am."
"She's the man for the job," Jack said. "Er... woman... for the job."
"Thank you, sir," Carter said dryly.
"SG-1." For the second time in a half an hour a voice startled Jack. Maybe he was the one who needed to think about another job.
General Hammond continued, "I have a base to run, and you people are cluttering up my 'gateroom. Aren't you off duty? I can rescind your leave if you're just going to stand there."
Jack turned to wave at the smiling man in the control room. "Leaving now, sir. Just taking in the scenery." Hammond stood with his arms crossed, waiting. "Look, kids, we'd better go now before the world needs saving again. I've got steaks at my place." He took a few steps toward the door, leading the team out. Carter waved to General Hammond calling up a "sorry, sir," while Teal'c bowed to the window before following Jack. Only Daniel remained on the ramp.
"I'm sorry, sir," Daniel called. "I didn't realize we were--"
"I'm joking, son," General Hammond said kindly. "After the kind of mission you've had, you should all get off the base. Let Colonel O'Neill take you home and feed you. As I recall, he barbeques a good steak."
Daniel smiled. "So he says." The general turned away, and Daniel called again, "Sir?"
"Yes, Doctor Jackson?"
"I want to thank you for...." His voice faded. "Just thank you."
"I think we should be thanking you, son," Hammond replied. "But you're welcome." He walked out of the control room.
"He's a good man," Daniel said, still watching the window.
"One of the best," Jack agreed. "Now let's go home. You can't know who you are on an empty stomach, and the steaks are waiting."
Daniel walked down the ramp toward them. "Jack, do I really owe you fifty bucks?"
~o~