'He's not our Daniel Jackson.' Janet Fraiser shoved her hands in the deep pockets of her white medical coat, her dark eyes going unwillingly to the occupant of the single bed in the treatment room visible through the observation window.

Her words seemed to register slowly with the members of SG1. All of them were glued to the sight of a man who looked exactly like their Daniel, and who until Janet had spoken they had believed was their Daniel, lying unconscious mere feet from where they were stood.

Jack was the first to turn around and look at where Janet was stood by the door with General Hammond. Sam followed his lead, visibly tearing her gaze away from the window. Teal'c adjusted his stance as Jonas swivelled around on his stool.

'How do you know that?' Hammond asked, his pale blue eyes stealing to the window briefly before landing back on the petite doctor's.

'No appendectomy scar.' Janet began.

'Maybe the glowy thing got rid of all that.' Jack interrupted.

'He's right.' Sam leaped into support her CO. 'Maybe when somebody descends they don't have any physical scars anymore.'

Janet sighed and shook her head regretfully. 'He has plenty of scars I do recognise.' She paused. 'And plenty I don't but either way the appendectomy scar is not one of them.'

Jack assimilated the information quietly as his brown eyes took in Sam's crushed hope that their Daniel had been returned to them before her face closed up and her expression became guarded. He sighed and rubbed a hand through his grey hair. 'Well, if he's not our Daniel, whose is he?'

The comment lightened the mood in the tiny space and Janet smiled appreciatively at the Colonel. 'That I don't know, Colonel. We're going to have to wait until he wakes up before we get to know that but at a guess I would say we were dealing with an alternate reality version of Daniel.'

'What's his status, Doctor?' Hammond asked seriously.

'He has some bad bruising indicative of being beaten with a large club like object and a nasty blow to his head. His MRI came up clean as did the rest of his x-rays.' Janet sighed. 'He's been very lucky.'

'Do we know who gave him the beating?' Jonas asked.

Hammond shook his head. 'According to SG2 there was no sign of anyone else on the planet.' He pointed at the man on the other side of the window. 'They found him near the Stargate when they were returning to check-in.' He gave a sigh. 'In the circumstances, I've ordered SG2 to vacate the planet just in case.'

'There's no sign of any ruins or building?' Jonas checked. 'No sign of a quantum mirror?'

'Nothing.' Jack said absently, his gaze drifted back to Daniel. 'There were no signs of any inhabitation on the planet according to the UAV or the original team survey.'

There was a stunned silence and Jack glanced around inquisitively. 'What?' He demanded defensively. 'I took the briefing.'

'Well, there has to be a mirror, right?' Jonas asked, jumping in. 'I mean, from Doctor Jackson's journals, that's the way people travel between universes.'

'It's the only method we're currently aware exists.' Sam clarified.

'Major?' Hammond questioned, the single word giving away his worry.

'Sorry, sir, but we have no way of knowing if the quantum mirror is the only means of travel between universes.' Sam explained hurriedly.

'There's a comforting thought.' Jack quipped, rocking back on his heels.

'Perhaps this version of Daniel Jackson will be able to assist in informing us of the means by which he travelled to this universe.' Teal'c suggested quietly.

'Well, he has to be awake to do that and it could be some time.' Janet commented, folding her arms across her chest.

Jack nodded, his attention returning to the man lying unconscious in the infirmary bed. 'So we wait.' He said simply.

'Agreed.' Hammond said briskly. 'I'm putting your team in charge of our…' the General searched for an appropriate phrase, 'guest, Colonel. As soon as he's awake, I want to know how he got here and who attacked him.'

'Yes, sir.' Jack's eyes moved back to the older man gratefully.

The General left as though to underscore his decision.

'I suggest you wait up here in the observation room.' Janet suggested.

'Why?' Jonas asked. 'Won't he appreciate seeing a familiar face when he wakes up?'

Sam replied before Janet could speak. 'Well, we don't know who he will be familiar with Jonas.' Her gaze was affixed through the window. 'We don't know anything about his universe.'

Janet nodded. She gestured at Daniel through the glass. 'He's going to be extremely disoriented when he first wakes up. I'm going to need to make an assessment of his condition before you question him.'

'OK,' Jack cleared his throat, 'we'll stay in the observation room until we get your go-ahead, Doc.'

'Thank you, Colonel.' Janet said dryly. 'If you'll excuse me, I have rounds to make.' She backed out of the room leaving SG1 alone.

Jack jerked his head at Jonas. 'I want you to go over the survey reports and see if you can spot anything that was missed.'

'Yes, Colonel.' Jonas's face fell but there was a gleam of understanding in his eyes. It was extremely probable that the Daniel lying below them unconscious wasn't any more acquainted with him than their own Daniel Jackson. It made sense for him to do the leg work on the research.

'And talk to Ferretti and the rest of SG2. I want to know everything they know about that planet and what happened.' Jack continued.

'I will assist Jonas Quinn.' Teal'c noted the surprised look on his team-mates' faces. 'In the alternate realities we have encountered to date, I have always been First Prime of Apophis. My presence may only alarm this Doctor Jackson.'

Jack sighed but couldn't argue with the Jaffa's logic. 'OK.'

Jonas gave Sam a quick grin as he slipped off the stool and headed out of the room. Teal'c took a final look at the man in the infirmary room below before he followed after their newest team-mate.

Jack's brown eyes flickered to Sam. 'Looks like it's just you and me then, Major.'

Sam gave a smile and slid onto the stool Jonas had vacated. Jack took the second stool next to her. They sat close enough that they were almost touching. There was an awkward silence between them as they watched the man below. Jack sighed. Daniel's death had left a chasm between them which they had only just started to bridge and it felt like that bridge had just given way beneath his feet.

'You alright, sir?' Sam's tentative question had his eyes darting to her and he was surprised to see her concerned gaze directed at him.

He opened his mouth to tell her he was fine, to close down the avenue of inquiry and he couldn't do it. 'Confused.' He replied instead.

She gave an understanding nod and clasped her hands tightly together in front of her on the counter-top to stop fidgeting. He followed her example.

'You?' Jack asked quietly. He shifted a little and their arms brushed.

'I don't know, sir.' Sam admitted without looking at him. 'I just…' she sighed, 'I miss Daniel.'

'Yeah.' Jack sighed deeply.

Sam bit her lip. 'I know it's stupid but I really hoped…' her voice trailed away.

His arm nudged hers deliberately. 'Me too.'

She darted a look at him and found him already looking back at her. Her cheeks coloured a little as they shared a small smile. The tension in the room changed subtly, awkwardness giving way to the unspoken feelings that swirled between them.

Sam broke the eye contact first and Jack pushed his own disappointment away. It was getting harder to hide how he felt about her, he acknowledged inwardly, and wondered what would happen the day he wouldn't be able to do it at all.

'Do you think Daniel will ever come back?' Sam asked suddenly.

'I don't know, Carter.' Jack replied a little guarded. The memory of Daniel sat across from him in Ba'al's cell drifted across his mind.

'I'm energy now.'

'How's that working out for you?'

'Good, actually.'

He didn't think Daniel was going to come back to them any time soon yet on the other hand he couldn't shake the feeling that their friend hadn't truly left them either. That was if it had been Daniel who had stayed with him in Ba'al's cell and not some figment of his imagination…

'Sir?'

Jack's eyes snapped to Sam's. 'Sorry, Carter. I was miles away.' He jerked his gaze away from the guilty compassion in hers and made an effort to push his memories aside. 'What were you saying?'

'I was wondering whether we might have an issue with entropic cascade failure.' Sam bit her lip. 'If Daniel still exists as pure energy in this universe…'

'Then the Daniel down there may end up going through the same thing your counterpart went through when she came across.' Jack completed with a sigh. 'Damn. I hadn't thought of that.' He wasn't surprised Sam had; he sneaked another look at her. She was staring through the glass intently.

'What are you thinking?' He asked impulsively.

Sam glanced across at him and he was surprised to see another blush steal across her cheeks. 'I was just thinking about the universe he's from, sir.'

'Ah.' Jack knew immediately what she had been thinking; were they married in the other universe? Engaged? They had been together in the other alternate universes they had encountered. Of course, Sam hadn't been military either.

'What if he doesn't recognise us?' Sam asked suddenly, breaking into his chain of thought.

Jack's eyebrows shot up. 'Why wouldn't he recognise us?'

'Well, both universes we've encountered so far have been ones where Daniel didn't join the Stargate programme.' Sam pointed out. 'He wouldn't have known us.'

'He,' Jack gestured at the man they were watching over, 'was in a SG uniform, Carter. He joined their programme.'

'That doesn't mean we're part of that programme, sir.' Sam carried on with ruthless logic.

Jack gave a small nod of agreement. 'OK, but there's a good chance we are, right? I mean, I don't see how they got the thing working without you.' His tone was light enough to prompt the smile he hoped for but serious enough that she caught the sincerity. 'I'm more concerned with what happened to him.' His eyes darkened. 'Somebody beat him up pretty badly.'

'But that's what I mean, sir.' Sam replied.

He looked at her blankly.

'Where were we, I mean his us, when he was getting beaten up?' Sam expanded. Her eyes fell away from him and back to the man in the infirmary bed.

'Maybe they were all attacked and he was the only one who was able to get away and go for help.' Jack mused, trying to be comfort her.

'Maybe. I hope he wasn't alone.' Sam murmured, unable to hide how much the idea distressed her.

Jack pressed his lips together. He had a feeling it wasn't their guest being left alone to go through a horrific ordeal that was upsetting her so much; it was her belief that he had been alone through his ordeal with Ba'al. 'It wasn't your fault.' The words were out of his mouth without conscious decision.

Her head whipped around and her shocked blue eyes met his and he knew she had understood completely. 'I convinced you to take the symbiote.' Her voice was barely audible; a husky whisper.

'And if you hadn't I would be dead.' Jack pointed out.

'I know. That was why I asked you to do it.' She admitted. Her gaze fell away from his.

His jaw clenched at her words as his heart began to pound loudly in his chest; could she mean…? He had to clear his throat to speak. 'If it had been you who had been sick, I would have asked you to take the symbiote.'

Sam raised her head; her eyes scouring his as though to check his sincerity. She smiled at him tremulously and turned back to the room below. Her mouth fell open a little and she clutched at Jack's arm. 'Oh my God.'

'What?' Jack asked urgently.

Sam pointed at the blue eyes looking back up at them. 'Daniel's awake.'