Inheriting Knowledge
By SciFiFantasyWriter1
Disclaimer: I own nothing of any recognized characters or universes within.
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Chapter 2
As Daniel had suspected, Ronan was starting off the morning with a good workout. The former runner (from the wraith) was moving through several forms with the shorter wicked looking sword he routinely used. He stopped and stared at Daniel when the archeologist walked in.
"Good morning Ronan," Daniel greeted.
"Dr. Jackson," Ronan replied with his usual tone.
"I was hoping you might consent to spar with me in order to test out the new blade I just made," Daniel proposed. "And call me Daniel, or Jackson as I know you prefer calling people by their last name."
Ronan's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. Sheppard had told Ronan that Jackson and Carter were both experienced veterans at fighting alien enemies so Ronan thought there was more to them than met the eye. But he hadn't expected any of the members of the expedition to use a sword.
"Where is it?" Ronan asked.
"Katana," Daniel called as he held out his right hand like he was holding a sword.
Ronan watched in fascination as a shape that looked like a serpent with no eyes shot out of the sleeve of Jackson's shirt. The serpentine shape sped down his arm and into his hand before it changed shape until it was a sword. The silvery blade gleamed brightly in the room those on the expedition used for training.
"Is that replicator tech?" Ronan asked.
"You are very observant," Daniel complimented. "It is nanite based but it has no sophisticated programming like the replicators do. But I programmed it to remember several shapes."
Daniel demonstrated by making the weapon shift forms. Ronan briefly glanced down at his own weapon and felt it was inadequate.
"Well, let's see if you know how to use that," Ronan challenged just before he lunged.
Ronan's blade arced through the air in a cut that would have dug into Daniel's right arm. Ronan was fast. He had to be to fight the wraith. But Jackson was so much faster. Ronan still wasn't sure what happened but the next moment his blade was cut in two by Jackson's sword and then Ronan found himself on the ground face down and his legs hurt.
"Are you alright?" Daniel asked Ronan.
"Yeah…how did you do that?" Ronan wanted to know as Daniel helped him up. "I've never encountered somebody who could move so fast."
Daniel debated what to tell Ronan. His nanite blade had cut easily through the steel of Ronan's sword. After that the archeologist had swept the Satedan's legs and the rest was history. He hadn't expected Ronan to appear to move so slowly. Daniel was faster than he had realized.
"You might have heard that I have ascended a couple of times now?" Daniel queried. When he received a nod from Ronan, Daniel explained, "I might just be figuring out slowly how to get back there myself without help this time. But please keep that to yourself."
Ronan's eyebrows crawled high up his forehead at this revelation.
"Sure," Ronan agreed. "Any chance I can get one of those?"
In answer Daniel said to his weapon, "Halve."
The sword immediately split into two. He handed the second sword that was half the weight of the parent blade to Ronan.
"The density of the nanites has just been reduced but I can replenish them from my lab later. I haven't had a chance to imprint the blade to myself yet. Let's do that now. If someone other than the rightful owner picks up the sword they will receive a nasty burn and a shock for their trouble," Daniel explained.
"How do we imprint the swords?" Ronan asked.
"Right now the blades recognize my voice only. The swords read our DNA through contact with our skin. Watch what I do and repeat it for you with your blade," Daniel instructed. "Imprint weapon 001 for Daniel Jackson. Recognize only Daniel Jackson's authority." The name Daniel Jackson appeared on the blade of the weapon in a dark blue color. "You'll be using weapon 002."
Ronan repeated the procedure and his name appeared on the blade of his weapon.
"Broadsword," Ronan directed. "I think I like this type better."
Daniel smiled and said, "Would you like to watch the movie Conan the Barbarian with Sam and I tonight? It's where I got the idea for that blade model."
"Sure," Ronan agreed. "How about a rematch."
"Sure," Daniel agreed.
The second time Daniel didn't use so much of his speed. He was only moving at wraith speeds this time. Still it quickly became apparent that he was immensely skilled with a blade. Ronan was skilled too but not as much as Daniel. Ronan worked up a nice sweat just how he liked it.
"You aren't even sweating," Ronan observed.
"No, I'm not am I," Daniel mused.
Ronan felt like he had learned a lot just from fighting Jackson.
"We should spar like this every day," Ronan suggested.
"Sure," Daniel agreed. "Well I need to be getting back to work. I'll talk to Sam and see what time she would like to watch that movie. The rest of your team is invited."
"I'll talk to them about it. Later Jackson," Ronan agreed.
"Later," Daniel answered before leaving.
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"Do you remember that crystal entity Jack touched that knocked him on his ass and then duplicated him?" Sam asked as she and Daniel shared lunch together in a cozy alcove next to one of the piers.
The pair had decided that a change of pace would be good. They had gotten their lunches and then had used a transporter to reach the nice spot Daniel had found. In truth Daniel had found the spot in the database as one of the many romantic spots designed for couples throughout the city. The couple could see the ocean as they ate their lunch.
"That entity would be kind of hard to forget," Daniel replied. "It came back to Earth impersonating Jack until its form broke down."
"Yep, that's the one," Sam agreed. "The reason I bring it up is because Sheppard touched a glowing crystal while he was on an away mission last night and it also knocked him on his ass."
Daniel was momentarily alarmed until he realized Sam would have taken precautions.
"I take it you checked things out?" Daniel inquired.
"Yes, he was within sight of his team the entire time," Sam explained.
"Well then we'll just have to keep an eye on them. Did they bring the crystal back with them for study?" Daniel asked.
"No," Sam answered. "I think they were a little too worried about Sheppard."
"He reminds me a lot of Jack," Daniel mused.
"His relationship with McKay is a lot like the relationship you and Jack had," Sam pointed out.
"Rodney has come a long way since his days annoying the hell out of us at the SGC," Daniel suggested.
"What do you mean us? As I recall he mostly annoyed the hell out of me," Sam pointed out with one raised eyebrow.
"It annoyed me that he annoyed you so much," Daniel said with a grin.
Sam grinned at her boyfriend and admitted, "He has come a long way. Although that stunt when I first got here warning me he is seeing someone was pretty out there."
Daniel snickered at the memory which caused Sam to send him a mock glare for laughing at her discomfort.
"So I hope you aren't mad but I invited Ronan to watch Conan the Barbarian with us tonight and told him he could bring the rest of the team as long as you were up for it," Daniel announced.
"Well that seems sort of random. I don't mind. It just seems random," Sam observed.
"I may have given Ronan a new sword modeled after Conan's sword because I shattered Ronan's old blade in an experiment," Daniel admitted.
"Ah, that makes more sense. So you want to show him where you got the sword design," Sam surmised.
"Exactly," Daniel agreed.
"Tell them 7 PM works for me?" Sam suggested questioningly.
"That works for me too," Daniel agreed. "So I was thinking that we could expand the recreational activities offered here on Atlantis and gear them towards socializing. History has shown that groups such as ours work better when more socializing and recreation is allowed."
"I'm listening. What did you have in mind?" Sam asked, intrigued.
"A bowling alley equipped with an arcade, pool tables, and a bar, an ice skating rink, a roller skating rink, a basketball court, a dance club, and a theater. I've located suitably sized empty rooms throughout the city and drawn up some plans. I've also thought about looking for sections of beach on the mainland where we can open up a beach. We can use an Asgard site to site transporter to ferry beachgoers back and forth," Daniel proposed as he slid a three ring binder over to Sam with the drawings and designs for what he had in mind. "I emailed this all to you a short while ago."
"Daniel, this is amazing. I didn't know you knew how to use 3D design software. This looks like it would have taken a lot of time," Sam said as she flipped through the pages. "How did you find the time with all of your other projects."
"I built myself a neural interface to the city's database similar to what is used on the Ancient control chair. It was then a matter of getting the computer to translate my ideas into these 3D designs. As for finding time…whatever changes I'm going through only require me to sleep an hour a day," Daniel admitted.
Sam's eyebrows shot nearly into her hairline and she hissed in concern, "I didn't know that Daniel. That can't be healthy. Maybe you should get checked out by Dr. Keller."
"No," Daniel responded vehemently, causing Sam to flinch back in surprise.
She could have sworn his eyes had glowed for a moment there, not like a Goa'uld's eyes but something more powerful and intense. Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again there was no trace of a glow. He reached out his hand and took hers, squeezing it comfortingly.
"Sam, I told you what was going on with me because you are my friend, not because you are the leader of the expedition. I want what I told you kept in confidence. I've done scans of myself with an Asgard class scanner. I'm fully aware of what Dr. Keller is capable of and if she could help me or not. Trust that I know what I am doing," Daniel pleaded.
Sam stared intently into Daniel's chocolate brown eyes that she loved so much and tried to discern something. She wasn't sure what she was looking for. But the eyes were the same intelligent orbs she had admired for years. If anything she saw more intelligence in those eyes than before.
Finally squeezing his hand Sam replied, "I will do my best to give you time. But if I think your judgment has become impaired and your health is threatened I'll be running scans on you myself."
"That actually sounds enjoyable," Daniel said with a wink. Sam leaned forward and kissed Daniel lightly. "What was that for?" Daniel asked.
"Because I can. I had better get back to work. I'll review these plans and we will see what we can do. I really like the idea," Sam admitted as she stood.
The couple returned their trays to the mess hall and shared a kiss before they went their separate ways.
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"Colonel Carter," Jennifer Keller called as she noticed Carter walking down the hall towards the gate room.
Sam turned and waited for Keller to catch up before asking, "What can I do for you Dr. Keller."
"I just had an interesting conversation with Teyla and Ronan at lunch. The three of us have all had nightmares over the past few nights where Colonel Sheppard has been a significant negative presence," Jennifer explained. "These dreams were really bad, enough to rattle us. It happened first with Teyla, then Ronan, and then me."
"That is very unusual and doesn't sound natural," Sam mused as she walked up the stairs towards the control room and the bridge over to her office.
"I know it doesn't seem like much," Jennifer said. "But it did start right after Colonel Sheppard touched that crystal on M3X-387."
"There isn't always hard evidence at first glance when dealing with alien entities. I would like you to run full Asgard level scans on all three of you," Sam directed.
"Excuse me Colonel Carter. I'm sorry to interrupt but there is an emergency situation that requires your attention down in the crew quarters atrium. Security has been called for and has been dispatched," Technician Tso informed Sam.
Daniel heard about the incident as well and arrived on the balcony above the crew quarters atrium at the same time as Sam was coming in from a different direction with Keller.
"Look, Lorne, I don't know what is happening with you," Sheppard tried.
"Me…no, no, no it isn't me. You are a replicator," Lorne replied while holding his sidearm steady on Sheppard.
"Major, how about you lower your weapon," Sam urged as she walked closer so that she was standing next to Sheppard.
Daniel didn't like what was going on. Sam was too close to Sheppard. Daniel snuck back down the hallway and summoned something out of his matter storage device. He crept back to the balcony, took aim, and shot Lorne. Sam looked up as the familiar sound of a zat gun being discharged was heard. Lorne's gun had somehow gotten turned on her. The conversation had progressed slightly in the time it had taken Daniel to retrieve the zat covertly. Whatever had happened it had made Lorne take aim at Sam. Daniel was actually glad the zat was painful. It would teach Lorne not to point a gun at Samantha Carter ever again.
"You brought a zat with you?" Sam asked her boyfriend with surprise.
"I thought it would come in handy," Daniel replied with a shrug before closing the weapon.
Sam gave him a brief warm smile before overseeing Lorne's transfer to a holding room.
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"I'm just really glad nobody was injured," Lorne said from his chair in the holding room an hour after he had been zatted. "I haven't had a sleepwalking incident since I was like ten years old."
"It's quite common for someone such as Major Lorne who is suffering from somnambulism to perform complex activities while they are sleeping. The absence of a memory goes with the territory," Dr. Kate Heightmeyer explained.
"Except they don't generally target me do they?" Sheppard asked.
"No, which leads credence to the crystal you touched being a factor as Dr. Keller and Colonel Carter suggested," Kate replied.
"You are a huge negative presence in the nightmares myself, Teyla, and Ronan have experienced. In this case instead of just acting the nightmare out in his head like the rest of us Lorne was able to act it out in the real world," Jennifer pointed out.
"This is sounding more and more like a crystal-based life form," Daniel put forth.
"I agree," Sam added.
"I read at one point you were taken over by an alien entity," Kate said to Sam.
"One…try several. There was Jolinar, the computer entity, that nasty retrovirus that made us all revert back to Cro-Magnons, the nish'ta incident with Seth," Daniel replied.
Sam reached over and put a hand over her boyfriend's mouth and said, "Quiet you."
The others stared at the SG-1 veterans with wide eyes.
"Ok, but why would this entity do this?" Sheppard asked.
"We aren't going to be able to answer that until this entity is contacted. The reason for the entity's behavior most likely has something to do with this entity enjoying or feeding upon our fear," Daniel suggested.
"Sheppard, take your team back to the planet and retrieve the dormant crystal. Also see if you can find an active crystal," Sam instructed. "Only interact through heavily insulated devices. The energy transfer you got hit with appeared to be conductive in nature."
"Will do," Sheppard agreed.
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Radak and Rodney worked through the night to come up with what they thought was a method of detecting the crystal based life form in humans. Both Daniel and Sam were present to watch as Lorne was scanned.
"Well that isn't good," Daniel commented as Radak shook his head in the negative confirming that the entity was no longer in Lorne.
"Your research confirmed that the entity needed conductive material," Sam said to Rodney. "The power conduits run throughout the entire city. It could be in anyone. Go take a nap and then get started on modifying the city-wide sensors," Sam directed.
"It's going to take a while," Rodney informed Sam.
"I know. But do your best," Sam replied. "You know…leave me the waveform we are looking for. Daniel and I will get started."
Sam had been on Rodney's end of things plenty of times with a boss who didn't know how hard a task was expecting miracles. In Sam's case she knew how difficult the task was.
"You don't need to do that. I can do it," Rodney said right before letting out a yawn.
"You've already done the hard part Rodney with isolating the waveform we are looking for," Daniel assured. "You need your sleep. You know I read that sleep deprivation can screw up the hormone levels in your body and cause weight gain. You wouldn't want to get fat. I don't think Kate would like that either."
"No, no I wouldn't," Rodney agreed. The hypochondriac suddenly looked worried. "I think I will go get some shut eye."
Sam looked highly amused and after Rodney left the room she complimented, "Nicely handled."
"Colonel Carter, can you come to Dr. Heightmeyer's quarters," Jennifer Keller's voice came over the communicator clipped to Sam's belt.
"I'll be right there, Jennifer," Sam said while giving her boyfriend a worried look.
The communicators were based off of Asgard technology and were a recent institution from Sam. They could reach anywhere on the planet and even into orbit and required no relaying platforms. They also didn't suffer from the bad signals that walkie talkies did.
"This can't be good," Daniel commented. "I'm coming with."
The couple walked briskly out of the observation room and made it to Kate's quarters in a short period of time. They arrived to see Teyla and Jennifer standing over a bed with a sheet pulled up over a still form.
"She's dead," Jennifer told the new arrivals. "I believe it was the entity."
Sam looked as if she was going to be sick.
"Clear the room," Daniel requested.
"What?" Jennifer asked in surprise as Teyla looked at him perplexed.
"Do it," Sam ordered, recognizing the confidence in her boyfriend's voice and trusting him.
As soon as the two women left the room Daniel closed the door, opened the door lock panel, and pulled a control crystal. He then strode over to Kate's form, pulled back the sheet, and stuck his hands on either side of her forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Sam watched in silence. It only took Daniel a few moments to find what he was looking for. She wasn't too far gone.
"If I collapse don't do anything. Don't let anybody else near me," Daniel requested looking back at Sam.
"Daniel…are you going to attempt to revive her?" Sam asked, worry clear in her expression.
Sam was no dummy.
"Yes," Daniel confirmed.
"Do it, but don't hurt yourself, please," Sam requested.
"I may not be able to help it," Daniel said before he closed his eyes and concentrated.
A silver light shot out from Daniel's hands and went into Kate's body. Her skin began to heat up and started to glow with the same silvery light. It was so bright it was painful to look at. Sam had to look away. The silvery light continued for several minutes. When the light faded Daniel had just enough strength left to make sure Kate stayed unconscious before he dropped to the ground in agony.
"Daniel," Sam cried as she dropped to her knees beside her boyfriend who was writhing in pure torment.
She felt helpless, unable to do anything for him. He passed out within twenty seconds but those were a long twenty seconds. Sam wasn't sure what to do. She looked up and saw that Kate was breathing again. Daniel was breathing as well but he was unconscious. Jennifer was probably waiting right outside the door but Daniel had assured Sam that Jennifer would be unable to help. Sam trusted Daniel Jackson with her life. She just had to trust him with his own. She laid her head down on his chest and listened to the sound of his breathing. She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that but eventually she felt him come awake. She looked up to find him staring at her.
"That's never fun," Daniel declared as he tried to sit up.
Sam reached down and helped him sit fully up.
"That has happened before?" Sam probed.
"A few times," Daniel admitted.
Sam placed her hands on Daniel's cheeks and stared intently into his eyes before saying, "I was so worried." She leaned in and kissed him tenderly. "You need to tell me what is going on so that I'm not as worried."
"You might worry more," Daniel admitted.
"I would rather know as much as possible," Sam replied.
"I'll tell you as we work on modifying the city's sensors," Daniel suggested.
Sam nodded to show her agreement. The couple stood up. Sam took Daniel's hand, the contact reassuring her. He used his free right hand to re-enable the door lock and opened the door. Jennifer and Teyla were waiting outside. Both women looked to be a mixture of anxious, curious, and concerned.
Jennifer immediately spotted the breathing Kate and asked, "How?"
Ignoring the question and wanting to cover for her boyfriend it was Sam who instructed, "Keep monitoring her Dr. Keller. She should be out of the woods but let's make sure. And speak of this incident to no one. Not even Kate. She won't know anything out of the ordinary happened."
Daniel squeezed her hand to show his gratitude and to convey that Sam had told Jennifer the correct thing. With that the couple walked away and Daniel led Sam towards his lab.
"We can modify the sensors from my lab, or at least make what we need for the physical modification," Daniel said.
Sam said, "So I finally get to see your lab."
Daniel gave Sam a small smile. It wasn't lost on Sam how remote the lab was. When they entered Sam was intrigued by all the projects that were strewn about the lab. Her attention was drawn in particular to a holographic projection of the inside of a man. There were several different colors of what she guessed was energy battling inside his form.
"Is that you?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Daniel confirmed. "The blue energy is vacuum energy with a greater particle density than anything ever recorded by the Ancients. I'm assuming it was initially a remnant from my time as an Ascended. The red and orange energy was initially listed as unknown by the Asgard scanner I used to take the first scans. The closest energies I can find are the unstable chaotic particles Rodney got from his experimentations with Project Arcturus along with some other types of energy I can't identity right now. There are also some really strange variants of vacuum energy mixed in the orange and reddish part."
Sam stared at Daniel in amazement before asking, "How are you even alive right now?"
"I honestly don't know," Daniel answered.
"It's extra-universal in nature," Sam surmised while glancing back at the energy shown in the hologram.
"It would appear so," Daniel agreed. "I've been digging through the Alteran's research on ascension to see if there is anything that can help me but the research is extensive."
"Then I'll just have to help to see if I can't speed it up. I'm not about to let you die on me now Daniel," Sam assured before turning into his embrace and pressing her lips to his.
Daniel happily returned the kiss, glad that Sam wasn't running away screaming. From what Daniel had learned he could explode and take the entire universe with him. The only place Sam could run far enough was to another universe. Daniel had measured the energy contained within his body and as far as the Asgard and Ancient sensors could tell he contained the energy equivalent to 33 ZPMs and the energy was slowly growing.
After they broke from the kiss Daniel showed Sam where she could work on the physical modifications necessary to the sensors. Daniel meanwhile worked on the necessary software modifications. He showed Sam his matter synthesizer, trusting her, and they were able to synthesize what she had designed.
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"Well that isn't good," Daniel observed. "Those are Rodney's quarters."
"Not good at all," Sam agreed. The couple had just gotten the city-wide sensors to display the life form they were searching for. The life form was located within Rodney's quarters. "Rodney could you please report to the isolation room we had Lorne held in before."
"I'll be right there, Colonel," Rodney answered.
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"What did you need with me?" Rodney asked as he walked into the isolation room thinking there was some technical matter that needed his attention.
"You didn't go to sleep like I asked you to did you," Sam said reprovingly as the door locked behind Rodney.
"How did you know?" Rodney asked.
"Because you would be in pretty bad shape if you had," Sam answered.
"The entity is in me," Rodney realized as he saw the now insulated walls of the isolation chamber.
Sheppard came into the observation room at that moment.
"How are you holding up Rodney?" John asked.
"Not well. I'm already beat," Rodney admitted.
"This reminds me of Vagonbrei all over again," Daniel said.
Sam winced.
"That was the planet where you guys couldn't fall asleep because you were infected with something that killed you in your sleep," Sheppard stated.
Daniel and Sam looked at Sheppard a bit impressed.
"He's something of a fan boy. Can we get back to my issue here?" Rodney called out.
"I'll provide you with some stimulants to keep you awake," Jennifer offered.
"In the meantime we will try to figure something out," Sam added.
"Worst case we can put you into a really deep stasis where dreaming isn't possible. It will stop the entity cold," Daniel suggested.
"Ha, ha, very funny," Rodney replied.
"He gets so grumpy when he's tired," Daniel mused.
"You might actually have something there Dr. Jackson. In a deep stasis state like that the brain devotes very little power to the dreaming portions of itself. It might actually starve the creature out," Jennifer said.
"We'll call that a plan B. I would prefer to find another solution first," Sam stated.
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Daniel waited until the others had all gone off to work on the problem or do other things before he slipped down into the isolation room.
"What are you doing in here Daniel? You shouldn't be near me," Rodney said as the door opened.
"I'm saving your life Rodney," Daniel replied as he strode right up to McKay and touched the physicist's hand.
Daniel felt the entity jump into him.
"No," Rodney objected when he realized what was going on but he was too slow to pull his hand back.
Daniel rubbed at his temples as he started to attack the creature inside of him.
"Son of a bitch this is going to give me a headache. Do me a favor and don't tell anyone I saved you," Daniel requested as he strode out of the room and towards his lab leaving behind a bewildered McKay.
Daniel made it to his lab and collapsed into a chair. He closed his eyes and focused inwards. The world around him disappeared and he found himself in his home back on Earth. Sitting in a chair opposite his own was John Sheppard or something that looked like Sheppard. The creature that stole Sheppard's form had a knife to Sam's throat. Sam was sitting on the ground in front of the creature's chair.
"Well isn't this a lovely scene," Creature-Sheppard said. "How would you like me to kill this cunt, Jackson?"
As the creature spoke he cut Sam's slightly on her neck drawing a drop of blood. She winced in pain.
"You're a pathetic creature aren't you. I know that really isn't Sam. Go right ahead and get rid of her," Daniel replied.
Sam disappeared and Creature-Sheppard said, "You shouldn't know I'm even here." Creature-Sheppard appeared thoughtful. "No matter, you can't make me leave. I'll trick you eventually when you tire and then you'll be dead."
"I'm not like the others. I once controlled the entire Milky Way replicator collective with the power of my mind. I'm going to squash you like a fly," Daniel assured as he pictured some of the reddish-orange energy in his body flowing towards the creature.
Creature-Sheppard let out a shriek of agony as he collapsed to the floor of the mental home and writhed. His form began to twist and blur into a contorted indistinct black mist.
"You can't do this to me," Creature-Sheppard cried in a decidedly non-Sheppard sounding voice.
In a flash of dark energy the creature vanished and Daniel said, "I just did."
He came back to consciousness with a start to feel Sam's hands on his cheeks and her calling his name with concern clearly in her expression and demeanor.
"Good, you're awake. Are you ok?" Sam asked.
"I'm fine," Daniel assured. "How did you know what was happening?"
"I got suspicious when I saw Rodney walking to his lab. I managed to get out of him what happened and came straight here. Don't blame Rodney. I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be," Sam explained.
"Don't I know it," Daniel agreed as he pulled Sam onto his lap.
She hugged his head to her chest and instructed, "Next time warn me when you're going to pull a stunt like that. Now I need to come up with a suitable lie for the others."
"Just tell them I found reference in the database for a piece of hardware that could remove the entity. We retrieved the referenced hardware and fixed Rodney right up," Daniel suggested.
"That actually sounds believable," Sam mused. "You sir are entirely too good at lying."
"As long as I don't have to lie to you I don't mind lying to others when I have to. If the IOA found out what is happening to me I would be under a microscope and would never be able to get the research done that I need to do to help myself," Daniel pointed out.
"I know. I don't mind you lying to the others. And I think I would have a pretty good idea if you ever lied to me," Sam said knowingly.
"You have known me so long you probably would," Daniel agreed.
"Enough talk of lies. Let's go tell the others your story and then we will finally go watch Conan," Sam suggested as she stood and pulled her boyfriend to his feet.
"Sounds good to me," Daniel agreed before the couple left his lab hand in hand.
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Daniel answered the chime at his door and opened it to find Sam wearing a pair of short stretchy shorts and a tank top.
"Can I come in?" Sam asked, her demeanor betraying her discomfort.
"Sure," Daniel agreed as he reached out and took her hand to pull her inside.
He led Sam over to the bed and laid down before pulling her down in front of him. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled the sheet up over them.
"Thanks, Daniel," Sam whispered.
"What is bothering you?" Daniel asked.
"I had a nightmare where everyone but me on Atlantis was dead. The IOA said I killed them all. It was horrible," Sam explained with a shiver.
"This is about Kate isn't it?" Daniel probed.
Sam nodded before saying, "I have been in charge for such a short period of time and if it wasn't for you I would have already lost an expedition member."
"Sam, this is a dangerous and very hostile galaxy. Losing people is just a fact of life. I know it isn't exactly comforting but these people all came to this galaxy knowing they could die," Daniel pointed out.
"I know. And I know that we experienced the same losses at the SGC. But…," Sam began.
"You weren't in command at the time. It gives you a new appreciation for General Hammond," Daniel finished.
"Exactly," Sam said as she turned her head and stared back at her boyfriend.
"Well I'm here and hopefully I can minimize casualties with these new powers I am developing," Daniel suggested. "Beyond that I don't know what else I can do to help."
"Just hold me, Daniel," Sam asked.
"I can do that. I can always do that," Daniel assured.
Daniel soon felt his girlfriend drift off to sleep. The tension had slowly drifted out of her body as he held her. Not long after he too went to sleep even though he didn't really need it. On a night like that when Sam needed him he would gladly give up lab time to be with her.
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Saturday…
"So did you figure out something special to do tonight?" Sam asked as she finished the excellent meal she and Daniel had just shared in his quarters.
"Indeed I have," Daniel assured with a grin as he stood and took Sam's hand.
As she followed her boyfriend Sam said, "I have noticed you keep working the word indeed into every affirmative response you can. Teal'c would be jealous."
Sam sounded amused. She was led over to a closet where Daniel opened the door to reveal two black suits made out of an unknown material hanging on hangers.
"I find it pretty funny to do it. It makes me think of Teal'c too. These are something the Ancients would often use for recreation," Daniel explained. "They allow the wearer to essentially cancel out the effects of gravity at will."
"You're kidding," Sam said in amazement as she picked up the suit obviously meant for her. "Why haven't we found any of these lying around before?"
"Because the material they are made of decays after a century or so. I found the facilities where they were produced and fabricated new ones for us custom tailored to our sizes," Daniel explained. "Let's change into them and go flying."
Sam looked mischievously over her shoulder and slipped off her dress, revealing some glorious skin and a sexy set of red lingerie. The two teammates had caught glimpses of each other in various states of undress over the years but Daniel had never seen so much skin from Sam. He was highly aroused and Sam knew it. Daniel likewise slipped into the form fitting attire and Sam enjoyed the show.
"How do we work it?" Sam asked as she stepped over to the balcony with her best friend.
"The flight suits are controlled by our willpower," Daniel explained. "Simply desire to go in a direction and the suit will take you there."
With no further words needed Daniel leapt off the balcony and floated into the air. He was grinning widely as he turned and looked at Sam. He held out his arms for her and with a nervous expression she floated off the balcony up into the arms of her favorite male in the universe. Daniel pulled her into his arms and planted a kiss on her lips. He took Sam's right hand in his left as they broke the kiss and started flying out over Atlantis. The couple picked up speed and shot out over the waters of the ocean Atlantis floated on.
"Best date ever," Sam cried with glee as she shot through the air.
Daniel smiled happily at his girlfriend as they flew around the oceans. He dipped down and took her close to the waves. Then he shot up higher into the air. They never went more than a few hundred feet above the ocean even though they could. They reached the mainland in short order and flew along the beaches. Daniel pointed out the spot he had picked out for the beach to be set aside for the expedition members. The couple spent hours flying about. Finally they ended up back close to Atlantis and Daniel pulled Sam up short.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
He pulled her into his arms and asked, "Can I have this dance?"
"Daniel, how corny," Sam said. "You are going to pull a move from the Superman movies."
Sam had a pleased smile nonetheless and took up a dancing position. When Daniel pressed something on his belt and a song began playing Sam couldn't help but laugh as she looked into his eyes. The pair started to dance and continued to do so through various songs for some time. Sam decided she meant what she had said earlier. This was definitely the best date ever and she looked forward to many more to come. Daniel couldn't agree more.
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October 26th 2007…
"Tell me what we know, Rodney," Sam requested as she and Daniel returned from the mainland where they had been taking the weekend off to relax and enjoy each other's company.
"You didn't need to come back, Sam. We can handle it," Rodney pointed out.
"She feels responsible for Colonel Sheppard and all members of this expedition, Rodney," Daniel explained fondly. "Please just explain what is going on so we can get back to enjoying our weekend."
"Sheppard's jumper was attacked before it ever made it to the space gate. A short burst of radiation in the vicinity of the space gate suggests someone capable of hyperspace travel. The locals don't have the technology for it," Rodney explained.
"Was it the wraith?" Teyla asked.
"Sheppard would have warned us if it was wraith and the weapons signatures I picked up through the wormhole support that," Rodney replied. "The energy signatures are not consistence with Ancient tech either so I doubt it is the replicators."
"So new players on the galactic board," Daniel surmised.
"Here is what we are going to do. Daniel and I will get to work analyzing the long range sensor data and what you were able to get through the wormhole. Rodney, you and Major Lorne will scramble three jumpers through the gate and search the area," Sam instructed.
"We're on it," Rodney replied.
Sam and Daniel headed to Daniel's lab where they decided it was the best place to work. Recently Sam had been spending more and more time in the lab to the point where the couple considered it their lab rather than just his lab. When they entered the lab Daniel could tell Sam was worried.
"Sam, we will get Sheppard back," Daniel assured. He pulled her into a hug and she melted into his embrace. "Try not to worry."
"You can't know that," Sam pointed out. "He could already be dead."
"I doubt that. At the very least whoever took him is going to at a minimum want his puddlejumper and they will need him to operate it. The likelihood of them having the Ancient gene is small," Daniel pointed out.
Sam cared about everyone under her command.
"Maybe I am just not cut out for this command thing," Sam said as she pulled back from her boyfriend's arms and looked into his eyes, seeing concern for her.
"There is no one more qualified to lead than you. You just need something to take your mind off of things during the troubling times," Daniel assured. "Let's get started on analyzing what we have so far and taking new scans of the region Sheppard went missing in."
"Ok," Sam agreed.
Sam may have been the leader of the Atlantis expedition but when she was alone with just Daniel they were equals and she more often than not deferred to his judgment. He had a gift of being able to calm her down and get her to relax. That was a large factor in why the two scientists worked so well together. She had the same ability with him but lately since they had come to the Pegasus galaxy and he had started going through the changes he had been going through he was calmer than at any point in his life.
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"Sam, Daniel, we have nothing," Rodney said from his jumper as Major Lorne piloted the craft through the atmosphere of the planet Sheppard had disappeared above.
"Daniel and I found nothing through the city's long range sensors in that area. We are working on an alternative approach which uses the local stargate to boost long range sensors. It will act like a subspace relay," Sam explained.
"That is brilliant," Rodney admitted. "But that could take weeks to work out."
"No, it won't," Sam assured. "Come back and I will tell you what is going on."
"Will do," Lorne agreed.
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"So the Ancients came up with this idea after they ascended?" Rodney clarified.
"Yes," Sam agreed as she sat in the main briefing room with SGA-1 (minus Sheppard), Lorne, and Daniel.
Daniel was busily typing away at his laptop.
"How can you know of this information if the Ancients came up with it while ascended?" Teyla asked the obvious question.
"Because I know how to carry it out and have no other reason to know it. I have been ascended several times," Daniel replied. "And finished."
"What Daniel is doing stays in this room. Is that understood?" Sam asked as a hologram played above the center of the room showing the space surrounding the gate.
There were nods of agreement from everyone present. They all understood the implications of Daniel knowing Ancient techniques post-ascension.
"This is the space surrounding the planet. There are no ships detectable right now. But using the long range sensors along with the readings being taken real time from the city's sensors I can piece together what happened. This vessel came," Daniel explained as he indicated a moderately large craft with a purple hyperspace signal. "And picked up Sheppard. Then it left the solar system in this direction," He said.
"We have a vector heading," Rodney realized.
"Yes Rodney," Sam said with a smile.
"What does that get us?" Ronan asked.
"It lets us know what direction they were heading in," Lorne realized.
"And with this new system we can dial up the Stargates in that direction and scan for the same hyperspace signature," Daniel finished.
"Let's get to it people," Sam ordered.
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Rev 0 Published 9/23/2018