Note for this scene: Closely tied to episodes 8-19 and 8-20, Moebius pts. 1 and 2. Immortalityplus time travel equals confusing.

Daniel was practically dancing with excitement.

Janet smiled at him over her glass. She hadn't seen the old man this thrilled for a long time. This sort of wonder was generally reserved for the discovery of a new friendly race; the last time she'd seen him like this was when they'd first discovered the Asgard for what they really were.

"Janet, none of this can go in your chronicle."

"Understood. But if it's that important a secret, why tell me at all?"

"Because this is so amazing, I have to tell SOMEONE."

Janet took a sip of her brandy and studied him. "Does this have to do with the ancient videotape they uncovered in Egypt?"

"Yes. It solves a mystery that's been bugging me for years now."

He sat down, took a deep breath to steady himself, and then launched into the tale with a gusto.

"You know that when I was on Abydos, I found the cartouche room."

"Yes…?"

"Well, what I didn't tell anyone was that the carvings in the cartouche room were made by me."

"What?" Janet stared at him. "How is that possible? Heck, how did you know?"

"Because I signed it. 'Daniel of Earth, born a child of Abraham in the land of the Chosen People in the year 896 BC.' Underneath I carved an ankh for eternal life. As to how it was possible, well, that was what I didn't understand – until today."

"Of course." Janet breathed. "The tape."

Daniel nodded. "On it I left a short message for myself, in the Abadonian dialect of Egyptian. I – he – told me that he didn't want to risk there being two of us alive on the same planet at once." He took a sip of his own drink. "He knew that I'd be born in a couple thousand years, and at that time there were so few Immortals running around that there was an excellent chance he'd still be alive. He must have joined Ra's court and been shipped off-world before the rebellion. I don't know how long it took him to do it, but he must have gone around collecting Stargate addresses for years before he finally settled on Abydos and carved the map. He wouldn't have had to correct any of the addresses, knowing Carter would be able to do it for him. And he knew that only I would be able to both read and understand the signature." Daniel stared into his drink thoughtfully. "You know, that's why Sha're trusted me? Because my name was Daniel."

"She'd read it in the cartouche room?"

"Yeah. Daniel was a sacred name to them, reserved - they never used it for their children. So when they realized my name was Daniel, and that I had come through the Chappa'ai, and that I was not one of their gods, well…I guess they sort of saw it as a sign. Then when we managed to kill Ra…" He trailed off.

"But, Daniel…You're not going back in time this time. Doesn't that mean the cartouche should have ceased to exist?"

He rubbed his head. "I asked Sam about that. Apparently, whenever someone goes back in time, they create an alternate reality. So this timeline can't be changed – if I were to go back in time, I would create an entirely different world. And frankly, there are so many alternate timelines out there that I can't let myself care about any of them but this one." He sighed and swallowed another gulp of brandy. "Unless this one gets so unbearably screwed up that it's worth it to create a new one in the hopes it will be better."

"Lets hope it never gets that bad." Janet said. Daniel smiled.

"I'll drink to that."