Author Notes: Hey everyone! Thank you for the lovely feedback. In this chapter you finally get to see why Daniel is slightly more pessimistic and angsty than usual, but I please ask you to remember the note in chapter 1 before complaining to me:). Also, just in case you missed it, the rattling sound from the last chapter was the rescue team. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

"Look, General, I'm sorry, but it's him. If you wanted a different answer, then I can't help you sir, or explain how this is possible."

"Aww, c'mon doc. You didn't see him, he doesn't even act like him. However crappy our lives might get – there is no way that's Daniel."

Inwardly, Daniel frowned, confused as to why everything seemed as if it were floating in a mist; he couldn't remember being injured. And another thing, why was Janet talking to Jack? Since when did Jack ever come to the SGC anymore? Daniel's brain ground to a halt. Janet. Oh God.

Daniel's eyes snapped open as his memories of the past week hit him, and he immediately began struggling to sit up, trying to remove the IV in his arm at the same time. In one part of his brain, he knew that if being with a past SG-1 offworld could change the timeline, the being at the SGC could only make everything inherently worse. In the other, overriding part of his brain, all he could think of was they had to get out. They had to get away. Sam couldn't take much more.

Doctor Fraiser's attention snapped away from General Hammond and Jack, and she ran over to her distressed patient, "Doctor Jackson, I need you to calm down, or I'm going to have to give you a sedative. Nurse!"

Daniel's instincts, born of years of missions and time with Jack, were on autopilot. He had to get out of this damn bed. He had to get away, "Get off of me!" He lashed out with his arm, confused panic driving his actions. Janet, unused to Daniel putting up this much of a fight with this much strength was thrown off balance, enough for Daniel to succeed in falling out of the bed, his leg buckling under the sudden strain. "Dammit Daniel!" Jack ran forwards, going down onto his knees so that he was level with the new Daniel, and grabbing him by the arms, surprised at the resistance, "Daniel, calm down! No one's going to hurt you!"

At that moment, SG-1, escorting Vala, entered the infirmary. Apparently, they had given into her increasingly annoying requests to see her Daniel. Upon seeing said Daniel on the infirmary floor, trying to get away from Jack, Vala ran forwards, dodging an attempt from Teal'c to grab her. She skidded down in between the beds, and wrenched Jack's hands off her friend. Jack moved back slightly as Vala took his place, taking Daniel's face roughly in her hands, and forcing him to look at her, "Daniel, it's me, Vala. It's okay, we're at the SGC. Adria's gone, she's not here. Remember? We got out, met Apophis?"

Daniel's eyes seemed to clear as his logic overrode his instinct to run. His breathing evened out, his body shaking as it began to come down from its adrenaline fuelled exertion. Jack stood up to allow Janet to move forwards with a sedative. Vala's jaw tensed, "He doesn't need that."

Janet frowned, but didn't reply when Daniel raised his gaze to hers. Colonel O'Neill hadn't been kidding. Those eyes alone marked this Daniel out as not being theirs. "I'm sorry, Doctor Fraiser. I didn't mean to scare you. We've had a tough week, and I thought I was somewhere else."

She recovered, "Nevertheless-"

Daniel shook his head, using the bed to lever himself to a standing position, Vala helping, "The longer I'm sedated, the longer we're here. And I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we should really be going."

Jack had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but that bad feeling began to worsen into a very, very bad feeling when he realised they were going to have to go through a debriefing with these two.

If it had been anyone else, Sam knew that they wouldn't be sitting here, that they would still be in the infirmary. But this was Daniel, and apparently even in the future he had the gift of discharging himself before anyone else could even dream of. Captain Carter suppressed a sigh. Her scientist's mind was screaming that this was bad, that they should lock them up and not speak to them until they worked out the solution. But each time she thought that, the protests were drowned by her heart's plea to find out what had turned one of her best friends into the man before her; and why this new Daniel kept refusing to look at her.

"Okay, SG-1, why don't we start with you?" General Hammond looked pointedly at Jack.

"Well, y'know how it is, General. Go through the gate, routine mission, and then, bam. A giant palace, scores of Jaffa and Apophis showing up. Turns out the snakehead isn't dead. Again."

"We were apprehended about two hours into the mission, sir. They knocked us out with zat guns." Sam spoke up.

"There's not really anything especially significant to add." Jack shrugged. "It was when we were in custody that things got interesting. No injuries to speak of."

General Hammond nodded, "Very well, you can add your details in the report. Dr Jackson, Miss Maldoran, perhaps you can explain how you came to be in the same cell as my team. The specifics, if you please."

Daniel didn't answer, he only stared at the table. He hadn't exactly been happy about the idea of a debriefing, so Vala decided to tell as much as she could whilst still being vague about future specifics, "Well, we were running for the Stargate on planet…well I don't know, I don't listen, but offworld anyway. So we were running. It was a rescue mission, me and two other members of SG-1 had been sent to retrieve Daniel and another member of our team."

"Wait." Jack interrupted, "That makes a five man team."

Vala shrugged, "Took me long enough to wear them down, but I finally manage to persuade everyone they loved me." Her Daniel snorted, apparently finding the comment funny. General Hammond waved at her to continue. "Okay, so we'd got in, got out, and were running for the gate, under heavy fire. I was at the back, and I'd run out of ammo. One of the guys dialled the gate, and those two must have gone ahead, because a second later, Daniel had grabbed my arm and we were the last ones. We dived through the gate, and instead of landing at the SGC, we landed face first in more lovely grass, and got shot by two Jaffa. We woke up in their cell."

Sam raised her eyes to catch Vala's, "That only makes four."

Vala shifted uncomfortably. Jack frowned, "Carter?"

"She said that there were five of her team on that planet. She only listed four leaving."

The dark haired woman smiled weakly, "I guess you're quick whenever you're from, Sam. You're right. We only succeeded in getting Daniel out. The…other one was already dead."

The future Daniel flinched at the blunt delivery, closing his eyes. Sam bit her lip, "It was me, wasn't it? Daniel? That's why you won't look at me."

The rest of SG-1 had apparently let this pass them by. To her left, Sam saw her Daniel's fists clench on the table, but everyone's full attention as fixed on the Daniel from the future. He opened his eyes, his finger tapping a nervous random rhythm on the table. Jack lost his patience, "Daniel? Answer her question." His voice was tense. He needed to know if Carter was right. Because if she was, it would mean that sometime in the future, he would be too late, and he would arrive to only rescue one of them, and however much he complained about his two scientists, he couldn't bear to lose them to the enemy.

Daniel quirked a smile, his eyes flicking up to meet with Jack's, their gazes matching in pain and intensity, "What do you want me to say Jack? The future's already screwed up enough as it is I guess, so yeah, why not? Sam died. She didn't make it. I watched as Adria finally beat her. As she made her scream, made me scream until neither of us had any voices left. I watched as they dragged her dead body away from me." Daniel's voice was cracking, tears gathering in his eyes, but never falling; they never would. "The future is as fucked up as you can possibly comprehend Jack, and them some more. Does that answer her question?" He stood up sharply, his good leg forcing the chair backwards, and he strode purposefully out of the room, following by his guard.

Sam sat in shock, but felt a hand close in on hers. Daniel. Her Daniel. Teal'c was silent, but was practically radiating violence. General Hammond sighed, "Alright, I think we'll leave it there today. Captain Carter?"

It took Sam a moment to snap out of it, "Yes sir?"

"I want all possible scenarios of how they came to be here. And I want them gone. Dismissed."

Vala watched as Sam and Daniel rose and left together, Teal'c trailing protectively after them. General Hammond had already returned to his office, but Jack hadn't moved. He was still staring at the chair that Daniel had shoved away. Vala smiled weakly, "It makes sense that they were always like that, being a team for so long." Jack's eyes flicked uncertainly to Vala, silently asking her to elaborate, "Sam and Daniel. If I met them in a bar, I would have them pegged for siblings, not friends – and I'm an excellent judge of character. And them there's Teal'c of course. None of us need protecting – not like those two used to I guess – but he never lets them out of his sight. Not really."

Jack tried to find his voice. To find something clever to say, but all that came out was, "I'm sorry."

Vala rolled her eyes, "Why do you need to apologise? I mean, I've only met you a few times, but you seem like a decent guy, especially from the way they all talk about you."

"What?" Jack's attention snapped back fully onto the woman.

"What?"

"We've only met a few times?"

Vala frowned, and then realisation hit her. "You aren't part of SG-1 anymore, Colonel. Sam and Daniel aren't your responsibility anymore. You couldn't have done anything. I mean, you're not even at the SGC."

"I'm what?" Jack was in shock. He had never even let it cross his mind that in the future, he wouldn't be a part of the SG-1, let alone the SGC. And the future Daniel hadn't seemed that much older. Suddenly it all made sense. He'd always had a knack of understanding his archaeologist, but apparently in the future, that disappeared. "I'm an ass in the future, aren't I?"

Vala shrugged, "You seem okay, they all still love you, but then, you tell me."

Jack sat there for one more second, before standing up and leaving quickly. Vala smiled softly, for the first time in a long while, a real smile. Maybe Jack would be the one to break Daniel out. God knows she had tried, so had Sam, but there was only so much the pair of them could shoulder. Teal'c tried too, but he had also failed, and Cameron was too military. Someone needed to snap Daniel out of it, and if the Jack of the future was unavailable, maybe this one might succeed.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Okay, so I have issues with Jack not being in later SG-1 okay? I'm sorry... Anyway, please let me know your thoughts!