Disclaimer
Stargate SG-1 and its 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 exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.
Note: The end of the episode when Daniel first ascended. I got to wondering how it might have felt from his perspective.
The atmosphere was tense in the infirmary as his friends fought for his life. Daniel was already detached from his pain racked body and had told Jack to let him go. He left Jack's mind knowing his request for them to stop trying to save him had been heard. Now he felt the change and welcomed the end of his pain. All his friends saw was the glowing light as he left them. Now they were uncertain if he was alive, dead or even of what he might have become. As they struggled with what they witnessed, Daniel floated away from them unrestrained by gravity or any power of man.
'I am adrift… a little cloud of atoms… I think therefore I am…' A silent chuckle accompanies this thought. 'How true that phrase rings now,' Daniel mused. 'I still have emotions then… a sense of fun… but I have no body…unless this invisible cloud could be termed a body… this is strange.
Slowly as he drifts through solid rock and upward out of Cheyenne Mountain he considers what has happened.
'So I didn't need to be perfect, didn't need to have succeeded in anything I'd tried to do... I just had to be willing to move on. Omar Desala, where are you… what do I do now…? While my friends tried to save me, you came and helped me leave. I was willing to leave them… where are my friends now?'
Daniel drifted a few moments in silence, thoughts confused and yet still at peace. Then his sharpened awareness homes in on his perception of time. Was it a few moments, was it hours he had been drifting, perhaps days or even years? In his present form Daniel suddenly realised he must consciously watch the passing of time. 'That is time as I remember it to be.'
'I am adrift… a little cloud of atoms... I could just dissolve, thin out, spread throughout space, and time... No, I will hold together, I will explore. No, I will watch over my friends for a while…
Daniel 'looked' about to find his location and discovered he had not drifted far. It was so simple to find his friends, just a thought away. They were there now in the bowels of the SGC. The rest of SG1 and General Hammond stood waiting for the lift, talking about going to their favourite watering hole. Daniel feels a sense of satisfaction knowing that his friends are well. A sudden sense of mischief takes him and he reaches out with a gentle breeze to stir their hair caress their faces.
The group feel the breeze and are puzzled by its presence in the corridor.
"Must be the air conditioning," Someone comments.
Not all are fooled. A small secret smile appears on Jack's face. He pauses as if waiting for something and then enters the elevator last. As the doors close, Daniel finds another emotion was still his to feel, surprise. 'Unexpected, Jack sensed my presence. Why him and not Sam… or even Teal'c, both sensed my presence when I was out of phase.'
Something else tugged at his mind, indecision filled him as to what he should now do. So much he could see, so much he was free to do.
'Should I stay and help, or should I leave? Yes, I will leave now and learn how to use this newfound freedom… and this power that grows within me. When should I use it… when should I not? Perhaps I could find Shifu… Now where would he be? Oh yes, I know. Then I will come back… Later… Then we will see what we will see.
In that brief moment in time he decided and then he was gone. Now he had truly left his friends behind.