Season 7 story.
Falling Too Far
There is more to the story than just waking up naked on a distant planet. Nothing the ancients do is done without reason. There was a reason why it took two months for SG-1 to be led to Daniel. Why it was at that moment that Jonas had the epiphany.
Because before that would have been too soon.
Shamda, the old story teller who found Arrom liked having a new story to tell, and he liked having someone new to tell his old stories to.
Finding the naked man brought a whole new crowd of listeners to Shamda's tent. And the naked man, Arrom, was also an attraction for those visitors. Fallen out of the sky like a shooting star, a fully grown man with no memory. Arrom spoke rarely, but he was always paying attention.
The belief of the villagers that he'd been sent by the lightning gods. He was a gift and a test.
At first, Arrom mostly slept. The naked man was not much use. That was another test from the gods, to care for the fallen one.
He had many dreams, dreams that were frightening or sad, because Shamda often heard him cry out, there were tears, or the naked man would be shaking.
"What do you dream?" Shamda asked.
"I don't know." Arrom answered, his eyes haunted by whatever visions lingered in his head.
With a weakened body, poor eyesight, and no memory, all that Arrom could do was listen to Shamda tell his stories, and that suited Shamda just fine.
"Are you a god?" Shamda asked him.
"No."
"You are a gift from the lightning gods."
"Why?"
"To test our hospitality."
"I don't think so."
"Why do you not think so?"
"I dream of war, and of things that are evil. And I have a feeling, that I am being punished."
"Do you believe you are evil?" Shamda asked.
Arrrom placed his hand on his chest. "I feel wrong. I think I've done something terrible, maybe something that made the gods take my memory."
"But they delivered you to us, and we are a good people. Perhaps then it is for us to give you a second chance?"
"But if I am evil?"
Shamda nodded. "Do you have the desire to do evil things?"
"Well, no. But…"
"Arrom, you fell from the sky, a gift to us, and it is for us to raise you back up."
That wasn't an explanation Arrom liked. Eventually Arrom became more independent. Because of his poor eyesight, he was no good for hunting, but an elder woman of the village saw that he was interested in letters, and she taught him the art of scribe. There was not much to teach, he seemed already to have the knowledge waiting. She demonstrated how to prepare the ink, and heat the pen. He already knew the sacred letters. And so that became his task. The art of scribe was rare, and Shamda used the opportunity to scribe his stories. Arrom requested a tent of his own, the village men helped.
While he was not working, Arrom took walks. There were some who felt apprehensive about him being on his own. Other than Shamda, Arrom didn't have people he would call friends, but there were those who worried. It was understood that Arrom was not of the people, that Arrom was theirs to take care of, but it was also understood that he may be dangerous. The villagers worried that if they were remiss in their care of the naked one, the lightning gods would take vengeance. Parents told their children that Arrom had inside him a sleeping demon, and they were warned to be careful not to do anything that may wake it.
Then the people of war came through the chappa'ai.
Arrom spent many mornings walking through the temple ruins where he'd been found. The story Shamda told, about the naked man falling from the sky, it felt like a fairy tale. There were times that something seemed to be hovering just on the edge of his mind, something important that needed to be done, and then it was gone, and the closest he ever felt to finding it was out in the ruins.
The rumours the villagers told, about him being a test from the lightning gods, about there being a sleeping demon inside him disturbed him greatly. He knew there had to be more to it. Why would the lightning gods put him here? Why would they do this to him, if they did this to him? The stories about the sleeping demon, it scared him that they were right, that there was evil inside him waiting for his memory to return. Staying in the village, though painfully alone, he knew there were many watching over him to ensure if the demon inside ever awoke, that it could do no harm.
He'd been thinking about the writing on the temple, head down and not paying attention to his surroundings when they found him.
Guns.
Though he knew he'd never seen weapons like that in the village, he recognized them for what they were. The men were dressed in green, weapons ready, staring at him. Arrom froze.
They recognized him, he could see that in their eyes, and he also saw apprehension and fear. Arrom raised his hands, to show that he was unarmed.
"Dr Jackson?"
Arrom blinked, shook his head slightly. "No."
The men lowered their weapons slightly. "You had better come with us." The man in front said excitedly.
His heart pounded. They know me. These were the people that he dreamed about? Were they the ones who sent him here who wanted him punished, or had he escaped from them somehow? What were they going to do to him now that they found him?
He'd known that the village wasn't going to be his home for long, but he was unsure how to react to the sudden prospect of losing the only home he knew. Did these people intend to take him prisoner, or kill him? What had he done to them?
They surrounded him, and he decided then that he wouldn't run. This many people with weapons could kill everyone in the village if they wanted to, he would not be the one to give them cause.
When he stood face to face with the ones the men brought him to, he felt ready to burst with anxiety. Keeping his expression neutral, he faced three people who looked shocked, and relieved to see him.
What did it mean? Obviously they weren't here to kill him as he'd expected, but then if they were allies to the man he'd been, and if the man he'd been was evil, what did that make these people? Suddenly faced with the new prospect of being found, he feared the story of the sleeping demon may come to pass.
These people of war, these people with weapons called him friend.
He didn't want to wake the evil inside. And so he tried to explain to the grey haired man that he couldn't remember, that he wasn't who he had been. That even though he'd tried to remember, he couldn't.
The grey haired man described a war. A war he'd been a part of.
"These people are all I know."
It was the woman, Samantha Carter, who gave him hope.
"What if I don't like who I was, what if I don't want to be that person? What if I don't have it in me to make up for something I've done wrong?"
The man she described wasn't a demon. She spoke of honour and courage. These people wanted him to return with them.
When the Jaffa warrier came to speak to him Arrom asked. "If I don't come with you, will you harm the villagers?"
The warrior looked sad. "Truly, it is unfortunate that you do not remember the lives you have saved, and the people you have helped."
"Why are you here?"
"We are here searching for ways to defeat a great evil."
"So I have a choice?"
"If you do not wish to return, that will be your choice. But I want you to know, that it will bring great sorrow to those who knew you, if you chose to remain where you are."
And so Daniel went, because he knew staying had never been an option anyhow.
The first impression was less than stellar. People greeted him at the entrance, people he didn't recognize who were apparently pleased to see him. It was going to take some time to get used to being called Daniel Jackson.
Jack O'Neil led him towards a medical centre, explaining that tests needed to be done to prove him to be the Daniel Jackson they were talking about.
"What if I'm not him?"
Jack O'Neil clasped him on the back. "Oh you are."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because." The grey haired man answered enigmatically.
They called it an infirmary, a woman in a white coat greeted him, her eyes searching. "Daniel?" She asked, the Colonel shook his head slightly and she cleared her throat and started again. "I'm Janet. I'm a Doctor here."
"A medicine Doctor?"
"Yes Daniel."
"I'm a Doctor, but not medicine." Jack looked shocked and Daniel quickly added, "Teal'c told me." Daniel looked around uncomfortably, feeling uneasy. It was strange to think he was deep underground, surrounded by technology he didn't even know the purpose of.
They walked him into a small room, grey, with many strange looking tools. He missed the air and the breeze of the villiage. The constant background hum of motors and fans was distracting. A small square of cloth was handed to him.
"Please change into this."
"I have to take off me clothes?"
Jack snickered. "Don't worry, you'll get new ones."
Daniel nodded. It was too late to turn back now. The others left the room, and Daniel changed. The new robe was thinner than parchment, and cold. He'd folded his robes up and placed them on the table. Janet, Jack O'Neil and a nurse re-entered the room, and the nurse, a young woman with black hair, took away his belongings.
That left him with nothing. He was no longer Arrom, not yet Daniel Jackson, no clothes, no belongings. "What do you want me to do?"
"Lie down please?"
He lied back and concentrated on staring at the ceiling rather than feeling nervous.
"You don't have to be nervous." Jack O'Neil said, and hearing the echo of his unspoken thoughts made Daniel jump. He looked sceptically at Janet, and Janet frowned.
"Daniel, take deep breaths, I'm going to listen to your heart."
He did as she asked, and she explained each step as they went. A cotton swab of the cheek for DNA, a pin prick in the arm that collected blood. None of the tests hurt, for that he was thankful. It took a very long time. So many questions, many of them he couldn't answer. She placed things on his head, and made him lie down again while a machine beeped to his right. She shined light in his eyes, made him read a chart of letters across the room. She asked him to remove the thin robe.
Jack O'Neil grinned. "It's okay, she's a doctor."
"What about you?"
Jack sighed and turned around. "Better? Geeze, we shared a locker room for six years, you'd think…" He coughed. "Five years."
Jack heard the robe rustle and turned back to see Daniel re-clothed. "That wasn't so bad, right?"
Daniel shrugged. "Are we done?"
Janet smiled. "It will take time for the results of the tests but so far, I'm saying yes. You are 100% Daniel Jackson. Appendix scar and all."
"What scar?"
"Your appendix." Janet gently touched his abdomen. "You were sick a few years ago, and you needed surgery."
"So that's what that's from." He placed a hand over the scar. "And what about here?" He touched his lower leg.
"Shrapnel. There was an explosion and debris hit you in the leg."
He blinked rapidly and looked up at the ceiling. "And this?" He reached behind his back and touched his shoulder.
"Staff blast from a Jaffa weapon." Jack smiled. "Convinced?"
Daniel looked back at him with a baffled expression on his face. Janet cleared her throat. "Daniel, for now I'm issuing you a base pass, you will be under surveillance until the tests clear you completely, but Colonel O'Neil will escort you to a room where I hope you will be comfortable."
Daniel nodded vaguely.
A nurse brought in a sealed package. "You're clothes Dr Jackson."
"Where are my robes?"
Jack glanced at Janet. He hadn't even considered Daniel might want his former clothes back. Jack felt bad, he really did, but he couldn't have Daniel running around the base dressed like a nomad either. "You'll fit in better around here wearing these."
Daniel looked around. "Okay."
When Jack next entered the room, Daniel was dressed in the greens. "What now?"
Jack tried to think of something comforting but couldn't find anything to say. "How about food? When is the last time you ate anything?"
"I- uh, yes, I could eat." He followed Jack O'Neil again through grey drab hallways. There were no windows, no natural light what so ever.
Jack told him to sit at a table in the corner of a large hall while he went to collect food. Daniel felt awkward; there was a group of men at a table near by talking in hushed voices, looking his way.
It was obvious they were talking about him. He wondered if he used to know them.
A tray appeared in front of him as Jack sat down. "You're in luck. Meat loaf."
The food was plentiful, but it smelled strange. "Thank you."
Jack smiled, and watched.
There was nothing Daniel did that didn't feel like it was being examined. Even eating he didn't know if he was doing it right. The tools, he watched others eating and copied their movements. Was there a ritual to follow? Jack was looking at him funny. Maybe Daniel did things differently? If they discovered he wasn't their friend after all, what would they do?
"What?"
"Nothing." He lied and smiled.
He suspected he was doing it wrong, and felt the weight of their disappointment. They kept looking for something in him, and he didn't know how or even know if he wanted to put it there.
To be continued...