Tagline:
Love is the emotion of creation.
Notes:
Set after "Heroes, Part 2" (7.18), somewhere in Season 8
Spoilers for "Maternal Instinct" (3.20), "Meridian" (5.21), "Fallen, Part 1 (7.01), "Heroes, Part 2" (7.18), "Lost City, Part 2" (7.22), "New Order, Part 1" (8.01), "New Order, Par 2" (8.02), "Lockdown" (8.03), "Gemini" (8.11), "Prometheus Unbound" (8.12), "Reckoning, Part 1" (8.16), "Reckoning, Part 2" (8.17), and "Threads" (8.18)
Not Beta'd
Disclaimer:
No credit was assumed for any of the characters, whether major or minor, from the Stargate: SG-1 television series.
The following story is fictional and does not represent any actual person or event.
Author's Message:
This is just a curious look into what might have happened after "Heroes, Part 2" (7.18) to Janet and Daniel.
Happy Readings.
Doctor Daniel Jackson stood in his bathroom, staring at himself in the thin reflective glass above his sink. Glasses were sitting off to the side on the counter, next to his shaving cream and razor, but even without them he could still see the tears in his darkened slate eyes. It had been almost an entire year since a part of him shattered in his chest and sliced his heart into large chunks. The light that filled the room was soft and a dim yellow, but somewhere inside his head it was blaring and an angry orange. It cut at him, bled him to his soul, which had turned black. Shaking his head to send the tears to the backs of his eyes, he lowered his head and dipped his hands in the cold water that was in the basin of the sink. He cupped his hands and sent a splash of icy water to his face, but it did nothing to relieve the stinging in his mind. It was a sting of pain, abandonment, and bitter loss. It never dulled, it never went away. He could not escape it, even for the sanity of what remained of his old self. It was a constant reminder that life as he knew it was slipping away, just like she did close to a year ago.
He turned the light off and shuffled out of the bathroom, heading in the direction of his bedroom in nothing but a thin white t-shirt and dark blue boxers. It had been almost twelve months since Doctor Janet Frasier had been killed in battle on P3X-666, dying trying to save a life. When that staff weapon tore into her torso and ripped her life from her, a voice in his mind had screamed in agony. She had been his confidant, his savior, and something more important than he had ever realized. She had been an embodiment of all the virtues that were assigned to the immortal, all of which had somehow managed to cling to the mortality of human beings. It was through her that he found peace in times of intergalactic turmoil. She had been a constant, someone who would always be there when he came home from the galaxy. But, through it all and in the end, she was gone.
Daniel stumbled to his bed and threw himself on the sheets, not bothering to crawl in their silky darkness and hide from the world that would enter his head once he fell asleep. He found that if he slept above the covers and in utter discomfort he would sleep without the nightmares, and he did not want them to converge on him again. Sleep was most evasive when he put his mind to it. He sighed through his nose and folded his hands atop his hard stomach, leaning into the thick but tough pillow and slamming his eyelids over his eyes. The moon, hovering outside, was trapped behind some clouds, enabling him to force his way into sleep without tipping into the realm of dreams.
But tonight, something happened, something changed.
---
"Daniel," said a female voice. It was soft and calm, calling out to him in tone.
Daniel opened his eyes to find himself lying in an open field of short grass, the sky covered in night with small flashes of stars blinking down. His usual night attire was traded for a black suit with a blue tie that was the color of his empty eyes, but he remained shoeless. He furrowed his brow and glanced around while remaining on his back, not seeing anyone in the immediate vicinity.
"Uh, hello?" he called. He twisted his head from side to side, searching. "Is anybody here?"
"Anybody is always here, but only when you choose not to expect them," replied the voice.
Daniel set his eyes to look straight up, and he blinked slowly. "Oma…"
"Yes, it is I."
Daniel turned to his left and saw Oma Desala, the renegade Ancient, standing in the deep green of the grass, dressed in her usual white dress suit that she wore when she spoke to him. He sat up quickly but pushed from the ground slowly, coming to his feet as if they were foreign. Wiping stray blades of grass from his trousers, he walked to Oma in the starlight.
"Ah, hi there," he stuttered. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Oma took a step towards him, a cross between a frown and a smile on her lips. "Come, we must walk."
"Okay…sure," he responded, nodding swiftly.
The two of them began to walk along the slopes of the field, not a single tree in sight. The ocean of grass below their feet ripples in the cool breeze that ruffled their hair, and the stars twinkled upon them with an almost tickling light. Daniel dared not to speak, believing that Oma had called upon him for some greater purpose, but her silence feigned something else. He was not dead, far from it, so ascension was not her reasoning. Yet there was something in the way her face was set and determined, the way she walked as if marching to a holy land, which made him the most curious.
"Oma, what's going on?" he inquired finally, after over an hour of walking on the plain.
She did not slow her gait, only pressed on with more vigor. "The journey is long, and we must complete out voyage before the dawn. Time has the highest place in places empty of all time."
Daniel's brow wrinkled and his lips pursed at her riddled words, but he continued to trek beside her. "Who needs me?"
"Come, we must hurry, it is not far now," she replied. The haste in her voice urged him to keep quiet as he continued beside her. When Oma was ready to tell him what he needed to know, she would, he trusted her enough.
A graceful hill swelled in the ground, long and wide, and Daniel found that he almost had to jog to keep up with Oma's elegant strides. He found that he never tired, that he was never short of breath, but his heart was beating madly inside his chest in anticipation. They reached the top of the smooth hill and Oma stopped on the crest, Daniel coming to a halt by her. She pointed in the far distance, and he peered through the night to see it. There had been nothing around them in this open field, so what she was motioning to must be obvious, but the harder he looked the less detail he could capture. Whatever was out there he could not see it.
"What is it?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"You cannot find what you require if you seek for what you believe is not there," instructed Oma. Daniel looked back to her and she directed him back to the horizon with her eyes. He sighed, closed his eyes as he turned back, and opened them to the area before him. His mind was open, searching for something, anything. He could see it clearly now, almost directly in front of him yet entirely too far away.
Situated in the field was a stone well, circular and uncovered. It was roughly four feet tall but narrow and small, and it stood out horribly in the vastness around it. Daniel looked back to Oma, who nodded, and they returned to their pace towards it. Although the speed of their walk was the same, they seemed to come upon the well rather quickly, and once there Oma circled it while Daniel stood back and watched.
"I have come for you on the wishes of another," she explained, running her fingertips on the smooth grey stone.
The wind picked up momentum around Daniel, brushing loose grass into the air. "Really?" he asked, slipping his hands in his pockets; "who?"
"They are far beyond my powers to save, but not of your own," she continued, coming to a stop to his left. He looked at her as she pressed on. "Somehow they have risen to another plane of existence that I have never encountered, and they are trapped. I have listened to their cries ever since they rose, but I have been unable to retrieve them."
"Wait," interjected Daniel. He raised a finger to indicate his introduction. "Someone tried to ascend and they didn't make it? That doesn't make sense."
Oma shook her head with a slightly bemused smile. "They did not mean to ascend, however they have completed the process. They are within a plane higher than my own."
"There are higher planes than yours?" asked Daniel. "You're kidding."
"I am not. I never said I was on the highest plane, only on a higher one in comparison to your own. There are many planes of existence, some higher than mine and some lower than yours. I know they came from your plane originally, but why they ascended to a higher plane than mine is uncertain. They are alone on this horizon, for no one has ventured to it in some time."
Daniel raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "And what's this got to do with me?"
Oma stepped closer to him, almost whispering her answer. "They called for you by name."
Daniel did not fully comprehend Oma's words. Someone was trapped on a high plane of existence, higher than her own, who had been human like himself, and they called for his help by name. It intrigued him but also worried him, for he could not think on anyone who had ascended recently. Several had died, and the pain of those memories echoed in his ears, but none of them had ascended. Exactly who this was puzzled him while at the same time brought out his curious mind. He was not sure as to what he could do, but he would try. If someone needed help, and if he could give it, then he would do whatever possible action he could.
"Daniel…" beckoned a voice. It was distance, almost a whisper in the breeze that sailed by his ears.
"Yes?" he replied, turning away from Oma and looking by the well. His mouth fell open at the person who he saw standing beside the stoned hole. They were clothed in a simple gown that matched his tie, a steely shade of blue, and as they walked around towards him a golden glow haloed their skin. His eyes traveled from their face to their bare feet and then back up, making sure that he was not imaging anything.
He took a step towards them, whispering, "Janet?"
Salty water cascaded down his cheeks as he saw her own tears slipped down her face. "Yes, Daniel, it's me."
Daniel bit his lower lip at the sight of her, and he slowly approached her while keeping his emotions in check. The shattered pieces embedded in his heart were twisting, and out of pure astonishment he went to embrace her and she him. But when they came in contact Daniel passed right through her petite form, and he found himself resting against the well. He turned around to see Janet looking down, her head in her hands as tears escape through her fingers and onto the ground, where they did not touch the grass. It made their mingling planes feel even more divided.
"Janet…I, I don't understand…" he stumbled.
She sniffed back her grief and raised her head, addressing him in a strong but broken voice. "When I was hit by that staff blast, something happened. I, I don't really know what, but it was like something pushed my soul out of my body. I didn't understand why I was lying there. It didn't make any sense. I watched you, I followed you back home, and I've seen everything that's happened ever since. I kept shouting out, I wanted you to know I was all right, that I wasn't really dead, but, but no one could hear me. It, it was horrible."
She released a sob but forced the words to flow from her lips. "I saw my funeral, my daughter…I watched over General O'Neill when he was in stasis…I was with Sam when Fifth kidnapped her, I was with you when Anubis took over you, I tried to warn everyone of the Replicator Sam's intentions…" she broke in a small smile "…I cheered you on when you were on Prometheus fighting Vala…" Daniel grinned at her, but his lips turned into a frown as soon as her smile fell "…I saw Jacob die…I saw you die by the Replicator Sam…I was in that diner, after she killed you, when Oma and Anubis were talking to you. I've been there all this time, and no one knew…no one knows I'm there…it hurts, so much…" She collapsed in her tears again.
As she spoke, Daniel felt the tears cover his face. He desperately wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her hair and tell her that he was grateful that she was still there. He wanted to pick her up by her waist and twirl her in the air and bless her with his love that he had discovered he felt after her death. He wanted to do so much, but she was trapped, alone, on another plane of existence. What made the splinters in his heart ache even more was that according to Oma she had been calling for him all this time, and he had not heard her pleas. A sob escape his lips as he watched Janet crumple to the ground in her own sorrow, he being completely absorbed by her presence.
"Daniel," said Oma. Daniel had forgotten she was even there. He quickly stood away from the well and wiped the tears from his face, wishing beyond hope that he could brush Janet's away too.
"We do not have much time," continued Oma. "When the dawn breaks the horizon she will be forever trapped on her current plane with no hope of ever descending, if she ever wanted to. I cannot help her, but I can show you the path with which to lead her. Only you can help her."
Daniel swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded quickly. "Only I can help her, right, okay—" he clapped his hand over his mouth and ran his hand down his face "—what do I have to do?"
Oma's long, elegant finger pointed off to his left, her right, and he turned to look in that direction. He saw trees for the first time, tall and dark with think trunks and wide, lush canopies that barely let the starlight cast on the forest floor. As he turned around to view the horizon he found the entire field surrounded by this new forest. It had not been there before, but then again he had to keep an open mind in order for this chip of dreamy universe to continue existing. Soon his eyes were back on Oma, who was crouched down beside Janet and trying to give her comfort.
"You will have to journey through the forest in order to find what you will need to bring her to my grace," she told him. She stood and approached him. "Your time must be well spent."
Daniel nodded with determination, although the tears were threatening to come again. "Yes, okay…thank you, so much," he managed to mumble through his sad joy. Oma did not respond to his words, her lips in a tight line of urgency. Daniel turned back to Janet, who had brought herself to her feet, and he motioned to the forest with his hand. "Let's go for a walk."
Janet nodded silently, the tear streaks clearly visible on her cheeks through the glow of her skin. Daniel would have given anything to be able to reach out and cup her face, to let her know that everything would be all right in the end. It was not entirely fair, seeing that she was dead and he himself alive, but it was how this reality played out. His heart wanted to bleed for her, if it could return her to her body so she could live. He wished that it could have been him who died that day and not her, so she would not be caught in a plane of existence all alone. Yet he could not do such a thing, and he had to except it. She walked over to his side, her eyes cast down, and they began their walk across the field and towards the deep forest.
Daniel wanted to talk, but he knew not what about. She knew everything that had happened since her death, but he knew nothing of her time spent. "What's it like?" he asked, keeping the seriousness in his voice.
Janet was caught off-guard by his question, her dark eyes finding his blues with curious confusion in them. "What?"
"What's your plane of existence like?" he reiterated.
"It's empty," she answered hollowly. Her hands were wringing each other. "No one else is here. No one on any other plane can see me."
"I can see you," he defended, "and Oma can too." He wanted to take her hands in his own to ease her troubles, but he knew he could not.
"Not under any normal circumstances," she argued, her eyes still focused on the ground below. "If we were back at the SGC, you wouldn't see me. After a while you get use to it, people walking through you and not needing to eat or sleep. At least I've been able to keep my eye on you."
"Just me, huh?" joked Daniel.
Janet cracked a smile. "You, Cassandra, Sam, Teal'c, General O'Neill, General Hammond…I keep tabs on everybody who was still alive when I worked at the base. It's weird. I can be watching Cassandra sleeping and think 'I wonder what Sam's doing,' and be wherever she is within the next three seconds. It's like I can fly across time, but I can't go backwards or forwards in it, only manipulate the present."
"Yeah, that's how it was for me when I was ascended," related Daniel. "Time really doesn't have much grasp on what you do."
"At least you could do things. I can't even let people know I'm here in their dreams."
Daniel side-stepped a large bush that had heavy thorns, never losing sight of Janet in the corner of his eye. "Have you tried?"
"Several times," she replied with a sigh. "It never works, but I keep trying anyway." She seemed more comfortable talking about ascension than anything else, and he was okay with that. He would do whatever made her the most comfortable.
They reached the outer limits of the forest and stopped their traveling, standing in silence as they revered its massive proportions. The fortress of trees which they were going to enter was much more intimidating up close, the shadows elongated on the ground by their bare feet. The depths within were a shade darker than black, and they felt hollow, ready to suck the very life from them if they even dared to take a step inside. The small twinges of happiness that Daniel had tucked in his bones were seeping out through the pores because of the unknown force that threatened them. He looked over to Janet to see a similar sensation playing across her face. They both knew they had to venture inside, that they had to battle their instincts if they were going to succeed, something that Daniel was set on completing no matter what the costs. Janet's eyes turned to him, and the two of them locked gazes before both nodding and taking the plunge together, side by side.
Once they passed into the sinister darkness they both froze in place, mouths gaping ever so slightly. Daniel felt that all the happiness he had ever kept, all of the joys and jubilees that had once crossed his life, was being sucked from his body. His skin shivered in response, trying to keep those feeling trapped, but it was hopeless. His stomach felt sick, his bones felt weak and brittle, and his muscles were turning to mush. He cast his eyes to Janet and saw something else happening to her. The soft golden glow that took over her skin was visually being drawn from her and into the shadows around them, leaving a trail in the air that flowed deeper into the abyss. She looked sick, almost pale in the radiance that had been her. Her breath was catching in her throat, her hands trembled, and a sense of deep anguish was on her face.
He took a step forward, meeting her eyes out of the corners, and reached out into the phantom gold. When his hand intercepted the path it stopped, and behind him he heard her grateful sigh. He looked back and saw that what his hand had stopped was being lured back to her, being reabsorbed in her skin.
"Are you all right?" asked Daniel worriedly. He lowered his hand and stood in front of her, facing her.
Janet nodded weakly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine now." Her voice was quivering in the air, and he could not help but notice that her skin did not hold the same luster as before. "It was like someone was sucking the life out of me."
"Yeah, me too," he agreed. The nauseous feeling that was crawling under his skin was dying down, but nevertheless this forest was continuing to drain him of all the bliss he kept in his memories.
"Daniel—"
"Janet," he interrupted, "we're going to fix this. You're going to be all right, I promise." He could see that even though he was blocking the initial pull, the air was continuing to gradually elicit the soft glow from her. They did not have much time. He reached out for her hand, and she jerked away with tears in her eyes.
"Daniel, we can't…you'll just…it's not—"
"Please," he begged. She bit her lower lip and raised her hand up to him, her palm facing him. His hand mimicked hers and was mere fractions of space from hers before he closed the gap. Their hands slipped into each other, Daniel's mingling inside Janet's, neither one being able to feel the warmth of the other. A tear fell from her eye, but she continued to lock gazes with him.
"C'mon," he urged calmly. She nodded, and their hands fell from within each others.
Taking his place at her left, Daniel and Janet trekked deeper into the void that was sucking them away. Bare feet brushed along the clover, moss, and grass as they moved. The path they were following was wide but not well worn, and even with the darkness and lack of starlight they were managing to find their way. The farther they traveled to the heart of this fortress the harder it was to feel. All the pleasures of Daniel's mind were draining from his sights, leaving behind an empty chasm of depression, and for Janet it was more obvious with the atmosphere ripping her color away from her skin. They had to stop for a few moments on occasion to try and regain any strength that had left with their happiness, but they continued on. Neither knew exactly where they were going or what to expect.
A rumbling in the air startled them to a halt, it coming from the ground and rising through them and into the trees above. Daniel felt his being tremble with the vibrations, and he looked to Janet to gauge her reaction. She looked sickly, spent.
"This is hopeless," she muttered sadly, finding a rock and perching on it. "We're never going to figure this out."
He followed her and leaned against the rock, looking down on her. She looked so incredibly small, and his heart went out to her. His soul wanted to trade places with her. He did not think he could continue living if he failed in saving her. She had saved him countless times, even skipping on sleep to try and bring him back to consciousness. He would be damned if he could not return the favor, just once, before she was lost to him forever.
The subtle roar of the forest beckoned them to press on, and he pushed off from the rock. "We should get going. It can't be far now."
Janet did not verbally respond, but she followed him into the shadows. They did not walk for long before they came upon a sight that made them stop in their tracks. It was a soft mound in the middle of a clearing, covered in calm, tall grass, and perched on its crest was a Stargate. It appeared normal, except for the lack of the usual simmering blue that rippled the inside. Instead there was a deep purple, an almost black in color, whirlpool draining. The chevrons were flashing angry reds, and the inner concentric ring was wildly spinning in a counter clockwise motion. There was no dial-home-device in the vicinity, and small particles of dust and dirt were forced airborne and sailed into the dark spiral. Daniel looked to Janet and saw her eye roll into the back of her head before she collapsed to the ground in a heap.
"Janet!" He knelt beside her and saw with horror that her golden color was seeping through the air and into the Stargate. Without thinking he reached out to touch her face, and his hand went right through her form. Tears stained his sight as he stifled a sob. He could not even hold her as she slipped away from him. His eyes tore from her limp form and focused on the Ancient ring, and his depression was replaced with anger, something the device had yet to evict from his system. He stood and started marching up to it, the force of the wind pushing him along, and his strides soon turned into a run.
When he finally approached it he stood before it with no idea as to what he should do. He did not know what was going on, what it was trying to accomplish. All he knew was that he had to stop it. Out of frustration he slapped the Stargate, kicked it, not feeling any buzzing sensation of pain.
"Why are you doing this?" he screamed at it. He gripped his hair and moved to stand directly in front of it, and then he threw his hand in the air. "What do you want?"
As soon as the words had left his tongue Daniel was suddenly filled with an onrush of indifference. The surge within the whirlpool instantaneously drained him of every possible emotion fabricated by man, leaving nothing but apathy, the most neutral of them all. Joy, guilt, compassion, hate, rage, and depression were no more inside his soul. There was no reason for this object to exist other than to destroy him. That was what the universe was out to do, to kill him and leave his body behind as a shell. There was no hope any more and therefore there was nothing for him to do.
"Daniel…" Janet's soft voice reached his ears, and he spun around to see her body still lying in the grass. His eyes fell on her as he walked back to her in calm coldness, coming to a stop beside her but not dropping down to her level. Her face was extremely pale and lost of the golden luster that had once captivated it, but her eyes were open and staring up at him. "I'm sorry."
"What's there to be sorry about?" he asked. His hands found his pockets again. "You said it was hopeless, and you were right."
"I know," she swallowed, hurt filling her eyes, "but before I…before we…I wanted you to know something."
"Yeah, what is it?" The apathy within him honestly did not care anymore about what she wanted to say, but it asked anyway.
"I love you." Her eyes dropped down and a long but shallow breath escaped her parted lips as the last glimmer of yellow washed from her eyes and towards the Stargate.
Daniel blinked at her words, his mouth falling. She loved him. Did he love her? He could not remember. The Stargate had robbed him of everything he ever cared for, so it was only natural for it to have stolen the very essence of his being: his emotions. But even with this, his mind, empty of all emotion, suddenly sparked back to life, echoing her voice in his ears. An uprising of pure passion attacked him full force, nearly knocking him off his feet. It was the strongest and the only thing that would remain in the universe if all life was diminished into dust, for it was what brought about the creation of all things.
It was love.
Turning on his heels, he looked back and saw the Stargate swirling, stealing the very life of the woman he had fallen for when he had lost all hope. It had killed him before, but he was a new person, a stronger person. It was not going to win again, but there was nothing he could do. He returned his eyes on the limp form on the ground, and he fell to his knees beside her. Daring against what he had seen, he reached out to touch her cheek, and found that he could. He did not fall through her. She was solid under his fingers. Bending down, his face was inches from hers, and he opened his mouth to whisper to her.
"I love you." With that, he closed the distance and caressed her lips with his in a purely innocent kiss.
A horrendous screeching echoed in the air, the wind picking up around them, and Daniel pulled away and jerked his head to the Stargate. The image of the blackened purple was warping under invisible stress as flashes of light shot across it. The chevrons turned solid red as energy built up inside the Stargate, and fearing it would explode Daniel covered Janet's body with his own, his forehead touching hers. Shrieks of sparks and flares of fiery fury showered the sky in an instant attempt to salvage, but the energy surged and engulfed the two of them in a bright, white light.
Daniel clung to Janet with his eyes shut tightly, listening for the sounds of fallen debris, but he heard none. All he could feel was the light pattering of light rain on his body. Slowly he lifted his head and opened his eyes to survey the area around him. There was nothing burning, no thick chunks of warped metal on the ground, and he fell upon the Stargate. It was rippling blue, the chevrons their usual orange color and not flashing. Nothing was being drawn into it, but nothing was being expelled from it either. Daniel still felt his emotions returning to him, but he doubted that life itself would come back. His head hung down as he fought against the grief of losing to the powers of the Stargate once again. What startled him from his self-pity was the movement he heard beside him.
His head whipped back and saw Janet's body shifting in the light rain, and he watch in anticipation as her eyes opened slowly. "Daniel?" she asked groggily.
"Janet?" he replied questioningly. He reached over and helped pull her to the sitting position. It was then that he realized that he could touch her again. She was alive and he could touch her, feel her. He choked on the love that filled him and came through his eyes in the form of salty tears. "You're alive!"
"I, I am?" She touched his shoulder and shock filled her face, and the natural color of her skin began to return. "I, I can touch you…" Tears of her own flooded her eyes, mingling with the rain.
"I love you!" declared Daniel quickly, afraid that he may never have the chance to tell her again.
"I know," said Janet, wiping some of his rain-filled tears from his cheeks. "I heard you…"
Passion overcame his senses as Daniel took Janet's face in his hands and pulled her towards him in a simple, chaste kiss that poured all of his love into her. He wanted her to really know, to fully understand, exactly what he felt surging through his soul. Her lips pushed back and he received a warm torrent of her love flow into his mind while she removed his hands from her face. It was a strong flood, filling him and taking over his senses. She took his hands in hers as they exchanged ardors with each other, praying that the moment would never end. All the twisting shards in his chest melted and became the bandages that began to heal his broken heart. There was no more pain, no more agony or grief or guilt. There was only love.
"Daniel," said another female voice. Daniel knew it was Oma, and he and Janet pulled apart reluctantly, still clasping hands. The buzz from the passion remained tingling inside his head as the rain died away and the clouds dissipated in the sky. They looked about and found Oma standing before the Stargate, a smile on her lips.
"It is time."
Daniel turned back to Janet and locked eyes with her. They stood in one fluid motion, moving as one entity, with his hands on her waist and hers placed against his chest near his shoulders. Neither one noticed that the forest around them was gone, that they were back in that open field where the well had been, the well being replaced by the Stargate. Neither one saw the soft pink hue of the dawn creeping over the horizon, the retreating of the night to bring about a new day of existence. They only saw the twinkling of the stars in each others eyes and the love that filled them.
"What happens now?" inquired Janet in a whisper.
Daniel began to sway the two of them slightly as he replied, "Well, Oma will take care of you and teach you what she knows." He brushed some stray strands of her brown hair from her eyes, his fingers lingering momentarily against her forehead. "In time, you can do whatever you want."
Janet nodded slowly, never breaking eye contact. "Will I be able to come back?"
It was Oma who answered, saying, "When you believe you are ready and do not think you serve any greater purpose as an Ascended Being, then yes."
Janet's face turned to Oma as she spoke, but Daniel's eyes remained fixed on Janet. He noted that she seemed very cautious about being ascended, now that there were other things to consider. Her unsure idea about it did not worry him, for he had been the same way. Being ascended was an amazing experience, full of magical twists that transformed him into someone better. She could share his affair and enjoy the powers and the knowledge that he earned. All she needed was a little encouragement.
"Hey," he said softly. She turned back to him, looking into his eyes. He returned the stare, searching for her soul and grasping onto it as he spoke. "I know it seems a bit overwhelming, and at first it is, but I promise that it'll be worth it. You'll just have to give it time." His hands released her waist and cupped her cheeks, and his forehead lowered to hers, touching. "Oma's a great teacher, and you'll learn a lot from her. And when you think it's time to come back, you can, and I'll be there waiting for you."
"Promise?" she asked.
He nodded. "I promise." He tilted her head up and captured her lips on another velvet soft kiss, sealing the pledge he made.
When he pulled from her, he saw tears in her eyes and running tracks down her cheeks. He used his thumbs to wipe her sorrow away for good, her eyes closing at his contact. Both simultaneously turned to Oma, who had moved to stand beside them. Janet nodded at her and Daniel's hands left her face reluctantly. Her hands dropped from his body in smooth motions, each hand tracing his arms from the shoulders to the hands. He grasped them in his, folding his fingers over her delicate ones, and turned with her as she followed Oma up to the Stargate. He did not let go until the last moment, when there was no way they could remain connected unless he followed her. But he knew it was not his time now.
He watched Janet and Oma stop in front of the shimmering waters of the Stargate, both turning to look back at him one last time. Oma's gaze was not held long, for she looked to Janet. Janet held his eyes a little longer, but she too broke away, and with one movement she had disappeared through the Stargate. Oma soon followed, leaving Daniel standing in the open field, watching the Stargate's wormhole disintegrate.
---
Daniel's eyes flew open, and he found himself staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom. He blinked a few times, gathering his bearings before he sat up. He looked down his body and saw that he was in his t-shirt and boxers again, lying in his bed atop the sheets. Out of the corner of his eye he read the clock, which dictated to him that it was only three in the morning and that he should get back to sleep. With a long sigh he laid back down, folding his hands under his head as he turned his attention to his dream. Oma had been there, and even Janet, and a Stargate. When the image of Janet flashed in his mind he felt no anger or sorrow for her death, for a part of him said that she was not dead, that she was as far from it as possible.
Maybe, he decided, his dream had been real.
"Did it really work?" he asked the still air around him.
"Yes," was the reply that came from near the window. His head made its way in that direction and he saw Janet standing in his bedroom, dressed in a similar gown to that from his dream, only it was not as dark of a slate color. Her entire body was encased in a soft white light, and her face was covered in a smile. He smiled back, his heart bleeding emotions of love.
"I'll be watching over you," she said. "I love you."
Daniel, for the first time since her death, voluntarily smiled. "I know."
On cue, his eyelids fell over his eyes, which had ceased their burning, and within moments he was sleeping deeply with Janet watching him.