The place he was in was dark. Quiet. Devoid of any kind of sensation. In a word…peaceful. Daniel knew that if he could stay here, away from the real world, everything would be okay. Unfortunately, it seemed that by simply acknowledging that there was a world outside, he'd let it in.

The pain came first. The worst of it seemed to be in his right…hand. Yes, his right hand definitely hurt the most. He wondered what he'd done to it. If he tried not to focus on the hand, he felt a sharp pain in his left leg and a burning feeling on his left cheek. There were dull pains elsewhere in his body, but those he seemed to be able to ignore. Daniel knew he must he must have been in pretty bad shape, but didn't quite know why.

Just as he was getting used to the pain existing in his own little world, voices began to invade it as well.

"…he doing?" a male voice asked. The man sounded concerned. And very familiar.

Before Daniel could place who the voice belonged to, a woman's voice responded. "The surgery went well. We had to remove all of the infected tissue, but, in doing so, managed to save the leg."

"So… no amputation?" Now the man's voice…Jack, it was Jack's voice, sounded relieved.

"No. And with therapy, he should regain the ability to walk on it." The woman answered. Daniel was sure he knew her too.

"What about his face?" Jack asked.

"The medication we've been administering has almost completely eradicated the infection. He'll be left with nothing more than a scar."

"Good. That's good." Jack said.

Daniel could now hear all of the background noises of the infirmary. His little world was no longer peaceful, so he decided it was time to leave.

He struggled for a moment and managed to open his eyes. The sight was blurry, but familiar. He was no stranger to waking up in the infirmary with an IV pole next to him. And standing near the bed, but facing away from Daniel was Jack O'Neill. Also not unusual. Nine times out of ten, Jack was there to greet him when he'd regain consciousness. Daniel opened his mouth to call out Jack's name, but all that came out was a low moaning sound. Still, it accomplished the same thing.

Jack spun around and grinned when he saw Daniel looking back up at him. "Hey, Daniel. Welcome back."

Daniel was confused. Welcome back? Where had he gone? He wanted to ask Jack, but his last attempt at speech hadn't gone so well. Besides, Janet (the owner of the female voice he'd heard earlier) had come over as soon as Jack had spoken.

"Daniel," she smiled down at him. "How are you feeling?"

With great effort, he managed to make out a single word. "Hurt."

"Where does it hurt?" She asked gently.

"Hand." Daniel summoned all of his strength and continued. Maybe if he told her, she'd be able to help. "Leg. Face. The rest…not bad."

Janet nodded as if she'd already known the answer. "I've given you some pain killers. Unfortunately, I can't give you anything else for a little while." It wasn't the news he'd wanted to hear, but Daniel supposed he could deal with the pain if he had to. It wasn't like he had a choice. "Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?" Janet asked.

"Go…ahead." He answered.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Infirmary."

Janet nodded. "Good. Do you know who we are?"

"Janet. Jack." Daniel wondered why she'd ask something like that. Maybe he'd hurt his head or something.

"Very good. Do you know why you're in here?"

"Hurt." Daniel replied.

"Yes, but do you know how you got hurt?"

Okay, that one he didn't know. He closed his eyes, trying to remember. After a moment, he opened them and looked over at Jack, certain that his friend would be able to provide the answer. Jack exchanged a look with Janet, then nodded once. The doctor turned her attention back to Daniel.

"I'm going to go finish my report. You've created a lot of paperwork for me." She smiled. "The colonel will fill you in. If you need anything, have him come get me." With that she walked off across the room.

Jack cleared his throat, as if he was about to say something. He didn't. He just stood there staring down at Daniel, somehow looking relived yet sad at the same time. Finally, when Daniel couldn't stand waiting any longer, he spoke as loudly as he could manage. "Jack?"

"Daniel." Jack responded.

"So," Daniel began. "What happened?"

Jack hesitated (which was never a good sign) then asked "Do you remember our mission to Kelowna?"

"Kelowna?" Daniel repeated. It sounded familiar, but he didn't… then, as if someone had opened up the floodgates in his mind; images came to him in rapid succession. Stepping through the 'gate…meeting a man, Jonas Quinn, who was working on a project… a weapon using Naqahdah, no, Naqahdriah… trying unsuccessfully to convince the scientists not to create the weapon… an accident… shooting the glass… jumping through… grabbing the device (that's how he'd injured his hand!)… standing there, the crisis over but knowing he was as good as dead… arguing with Jack over who would take the blame for the accident… pain… dying…

"Daniel?" Jack interrupted. "You okay?"

"I remember, Jack… Kelowna… The radiation sickness. I remember." Something was still missing though. "Why…how am I… still alive?"

"Jacob stopped by. He used the Goa'uld healing device. You were in pretty bad shape though. It saved your life, but couldn't fix you up all the way." Jack paused, then added. "But you're gonna be alright."

"Tell Jacob…" Daniel was going to say 'thank you' but suddenly something else came to mind. Tell Jacob to stop. Whoa! Where had that come from? It felt like a memory, but of what? Who had said it and what did they want Jacob to stop? Did they want him to stop healing Daniel? If so, why? Because I'm ready to move on. This time the memory came with a clear voice. His voice. "Jack, why… did I want Jacob… to stop healing me?"

"You remember that?" his friend asked.

"Not really."

"You thought… look, maybe you should get some rest." Jack was stalling.

"No. I need to… know. Why… did I want… Oma!" Daniel exclaimed. "She came to me, Jack. Wanted me… to ascend. I… at first I didn't… think I could. But she convinced me." Daniel took a breath. He felt exhausted, but couldn't rest, couldn't stop now that the answers were coming to him. "I was going… to ascend. But then Jacob… he was… healing me. I had to… stop him." Another breath. "I needed to… I asked you, Jack. But you…" Now he did stop. This memory seemed surreal, almost as if he had dreamt it. But he knew it had happened. And if he'd had any doubts, the look on Jack's face was enough to quell them. Jack had stopped him from ascending. Had forced him back here, back to this pain. "Why?" Daniel asked.

"Daniel, you need rest. We'll talk about this when you're better." Jack took a step back from the bed. Not wanting him to leave without answering, Daniel reached out to grab the other man's arm. Unfortunately, his movements were weak and slow. His heavily bandaged right hand hovered for a moment in midair, before he slowly and painfully lowered it back to the bed.

That one motion, along with all the talking he'd been doing, was too much. He felt himself slipping back into unconsciousness. He fought it, wanting to know why his best friend would have betrayed him like this, but he just didn't have the strength. As the darkness overtook him, he asked once more. "Why?"