Author's Notes: This chapter was too big to be uploaded in one piece, so I did it in two. I tried to keep it the same length as the rest of my chapters, but I didn't want to cut off anything. Thus, this monster. ;) Enjoy!


After another check on Danny, Sam returned to the infirmary to interview some of the refugees as she'd discussed with Lieutenant Colonel Byron. She made a pass through the thinning throng, her few probing questions to the people she encountered telling her they weren't quite ready yet for an analytical discussion of the planet they'd come from. She still made sure they were doing fine, and reassured them the personnel at the SGC would do everything possible to ensure their comfort and safety.

Janet walked up to the main staging area as Sam finished her circuit, and immediately came over to her friend. "How are they doing?" the doctor asked, looking around at the crowd that surrounded them.

"They're still pretty shaken up, nervous about their new surroundings and worried about their friends and families," Sam replied. "I was going to ask them some questions about their original home, so I could start a search for a new one in our database, but I don't think they're quite ready for that."

Janet gestured for the taller woman to follow her into the examination room proper. "I'm not surprised," she said as they walked. "To have your life uprooted like that..." She shook her head. "They've been very brave, all of them. Every one of them completely cooperative, as much as they're able. I wish I got that kind of attitude from the people I normally treat."

Sam laughed. "You wouldn't know what to do with us if we gave it to you. So, how serious did things get?"

"Well, we have one man in surgery; Doctor Warner is handling that. We kept a woman from going into premature labor, and I just finished setting a little girl's leg. Everything's in control on that end, so I thought I'd come back here and help move things along as much as I can." She paused as she saw a nurse gesture to her from the end of the makeshift white cloth hallway in the examination room. "Oh, I hope we didn't just grow an emergency in here," she moaned as she hurried along, Sam in her wake. "The potential for a panic is too large to ignore."

"And impossible to avoid," Sam added.

"What have you got, Lieutenant?" Janet asked as she reached the last bed on the left side of the room.

The nurse handed over a medical chart. "The patient has a cut along the hairline above the left eye. I cleaned it up and examined it, and I don't think it needs stitches, but you should probably double check just to be sure."

Janet nodded at the brunette then gave Sam a wry smile. "I guess I'll start back here and work my way forward. Wait here. I shouldn't be too long." Sam nodded, and the petite doctor went behind the curtain.

As the auburn-haired woman closed the white divider behind herself, she looked over the lieutenant's notations on the clipboard. "Hi there," she greeted her patient cheerfully, stepping over to the side of the bed with only the briefest glance and smile at the man seated on the mattress. She noted that his face was covered in mud and blood, completely obscuring his features, the only clear spot the skin around the cut on his forehead. "My name is Doctor Fraiser. I know that Nurse Williams has examined you, but I'm going to make double sure that your cut is nothing serious then bandage you up."

She turned around and found the man had brought a hand up and was fingering the recently-cleaned wound, blocking the view of his face. "Now, now," she chided, pulling his hand away and taking a closer look at his forehead. "No getting it dirty before I've had my chance at it." A brief examination reassured her and she smiled. "Nurse Williams had it right. I'll just swab it one more time, patch it up with some butterfly bandages, and it should be fine." Janet reached over and grabbed what she needed, performing her tasks quickly. "There you go."

"Thank you," the man said quietly as Janet finished making her own notations to his chart.

The sound of his voice made Janet turn around to give her patient one last reassuring smile, something about it striking a chord deep within her. But her expression froze halfway to completion when she met the bright blue gaze of the man before her. She knew those eyes. She knew them very well.

Or believed she did. Recovering her wits quickly, Janet widened her smile. "If you could just wait here a second, I'll be right back." She turned around and left the screened-off station.

"Come in here," Janet whispered intensely once she was clear of the curtain, grabbing Sam's arm and pulling at her.

"Wait a second," Sam hissed back, digging in her heels. "What's going on?"

"You said you needed to interview one of the refugees, right?" One more tug had the taller woman moving into the examination area.

Sam practically bit her tongue to keep from snapping a sarcastic retort at her friend as she caught her balance. She did spare the shorter woman a wicked glare, though, before straightening with a welcoming smile. Like the good doctor before her, however, she froze when she met the patient's confusion-tinged gaze. Her face fell, she sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyes opened impossibly wide, not a single word leaving her lips.

It was the response Janet had been expecting. She mentally pulled on her physician's cloak, knowing she couldn't afford the luxury of emotions right now. She then gave Sam a sharp nudge to the ribs with her elbow. There was no need to panic the patient, after all.

It was enough to snap Sam back to reality. She pulled herself together as fast as she could, and, blinking furiously, put the smile back on her face. "Um, hi there," she said to the man staring at her in wary surprise. "I, um..." Words failed her as she continued to look into the familiar eyes and a wave a pain washed over her when she didn't see an ounce of recognition in the blue depths. Straightening completely, she continued. "My name is Major Samantha Carter," she said reassuringly. "I'm just here to check up on you."

"Okay," the man said slowly, his form gradually relaxing as the two women began acting closer to normal.

"Actually," Sam continued with a brief look at Janet, "I was wondering about your people and the planet you originally came from. I'll be looking for a new home for you all, and it would be best if it was as close to the original as possible."

"Before we worry about that," Janet interrupted, "why don't I have one of my nurses show you to the infirmary showers so you can clean up? It can't be comfortable sitting there in all that dirt."

The man smiled, and both women felt their heart clench at the sight. "Thank you, that would be nice."

The majors looked at one another. "I don't believe I caught your name," Sam said after a moment.

He looked surprised. "Oh, yes, of course. My name is Arrom."

"All right then, Arrom," Janet said quickly to cover up the grief she saw flash through Sam's eyes and even felt herself deep inside. She went over to a metal storage cabinet in the corner and pulled out a set of folded white scrubs. "Here's something for you to wear after you've finished your shower. The nurse I'll send over will make sure you have a towel and the other accessories you'll need. When you're finished, I'll have her escort you back here so you and Major Carter can talk in private. Will that be all right?"

"That should be fine, Doctor Fraiser. Thank you again."

"You're welcome," she said in return, then led Sam away from the bed and the curtains that surrounded it. She quickly flagged down a nurse and gave her instructions. Once the woman walked away to take care of her newly-assigned tasks, Janet led Sam to her office and locked the door behind them.

Sam collapsed into one of the chairs facing the desk. "That's Daniel," she said breathlessly. "I don't care what he says his name is, that's Daniel!"

Janet nodded slowly and sat behind the desk. "At first glance, I agree with you." she said.

"I just wish I knew why he doesn't remember us. Do you think whatever caused that cut gave him amnesia?"

"It's a pretty minor cut, Sam, with no sign of concussion," Janet refuted. "While I won't say it's outside the realm of possibility, things like a little bump on the head causing complete amnesia is more for fiction than reality. It's something else."

"But what?" Sam threw herself to her feet and began to pace. "This doesn't make any sense." She stopped in her tracks. "Oh my God, everyone's going to freak out when they hear about this!" she exclaimed. "Things are going to get even crazier around here than they already are!"

"Calm down, Sam, I already thought of that. That's why I picked Nurse Williams to take care of him. She was only assigned here four months ago, so she wouldn't know Daniel on sight. We just got lucky she's the one who took care of him to begin with."

Sam blew out an explosive breath. "No kidding."

Janet shrugged. "I'll take a blood sample later and do a DNA test. That should give us some answers at least."

Sam sat back down again and ran a hand through her short blonde locks. "It really hurt to have him look at me and not have him know me, Janet," she whispered, her gaze dropping to her lap. "He was gone, and I've been so scared that something happened to him so that I'd never see him again, that there wouldn't be anything to see."

"Oh, Sam, I know. I know exactly how you feel. I just can't let myself feel it right now so I can keep everything under control out there." Janet's chocolate brown eyes were filled with pain and sympathy. "You'll get some answers when you talk to him after his shower, we all will."

"I need to tell Teal'c and the colonel," Sam said, suddenly bringing her head back up. "And General Hammond needs to know."

"Let's wait until you talk with him. If it turns out this really is just a freakish cosmic coincidence, you'll have riled everyone up for nothing."

Sam nodded, the motion a little jerky. "Right, right. Of course. I'll wait. Do you think he's done yet?"

Janet gave a short laugh. "Considering the amount of mud on him, no. I'll go check, though." She stood and headed for the door. "And Sam?" she said in the doorway once she'd opened it.

"Yeah?" Sam replied.

"One way or the other, things will be fine. Just remember the positives of the situation."

"I'm too scared to hope," Sam admitted quietly, then shrugged and motioned for Janet to go.

A few minutes later, Janet returned and told Sam Arrom was just about finished. The two of them went back to the sectioned-off bed where they'd originally come across him just after he'd reseated himself. Now clean, his resemblance to Daniel Jackson couldn't be denied. "Hello again," he greeted them quietly. "That shower was just what I needed. Thank you." He gave them a small smile.

Janet returned it while Sam struggled to keep her expression at least light. "I'm glad," the auburn-haired physician said.

Arrom took a deep breath and released it, giving Sam an expectant look. "I think I'm ready to answer your questions now. How can I help you?"

"Well, I suppose a good place to start would be for you to describe your home planet, what kind of vegetation grows there, how long the seasons are, the ranges of temperatures, those kinds of things," Sam said, hiding her jumbled emotions behind a friendly, inquisitive tone, the logistics of assimilating the information she was asking for her only defense.

"I see," Arrom said slowly, his eyes dropping to his lap for a moment. When he brought his gaze back up it was filled with apology. "I guess I won't be able to help you as much as I was hoping to. I, uh, I've only been with Shamda's people for two moons. I could describe the village they lived in, and the surrounding ruins and landscape, but not the rest of the details you're looking for. I'm sorry."

Sam and Janet shared a look. "Two moons? Where were you before that?" the physicist asked.

Arrom hesitated, then sighed. "I don't know," he said simply. "I'm afraid I don't remember anything before waking up in the ruins outside of Shamda's village. The people there were kind enough to take me in."

Hope flared up in Sam's heart despite herself. "Really? You don't remember anything?"

"Nothing." A desperate look transformed his features. "I've tried. I've tried so hard. Sometimes it feels like everything's right in front of me, but when I reach out it just... disappears." His shoulders sagged as he released a puff of air loudly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be thrusting my personal problems on you, especially after everything you and the rest of the people here have done for us."

"No, don't say that," Sam said quickly. "I want to help you, I do. Maybe there's a way..."

"I can do a more thorough examination and see if there's a medical reason for your amnesia," Janet interrupted before Sam made a promise there was no way to be sure they could keep. "Would that be all right?"

Arrom nodded. "It can't hurt. Thank you very much. I know how busy you and your people are."

Janet smiled. "It's not a problem. Let me take a few blood samples and I can get things going."

"Maybe you can still help," Sam said as Janet began her work. "Why don't you tell me what happened to make you and Shamda's people leave your planet? As long as it doesn't disturb you too much, that is." She shrugged apologetically.

"No, I've had time to calm down, put things in perspective. I didn't really lose that much, after all." Arrom sighed. "It all started about two weeks ago. It was raining off and on for days, sudden heavy rainstorms that had everything a muddy quagmire. The villagers said they had gone through weather spurts like that before, though, so I didn't concern myself with it too much. But then the real rains came, I'd say a week ago. It never stopped. The only respite we had was when the downpour lightened to a drizzle for a time, but the deluge always started again. The spotty storms we had before that had saturated the ground, and the village was in a shallow valley. It didn't take long for the water to start to rise."

"When did you head for higher ground?" Sam asked softly, imagining the situation the villagers had found themselves in.

Arrom considered it. "Well, at first the water tried to head down to the river that flows nearby, but then the river flooded as well. We headed to the Chappa'ai, the only high ground we could get to in the storm, about two and a half days ago."

Sam nodded. "And hoped that the rain would stop so the water level would drop back to normal."

The brown-haired man sighed again. "Exactly. But the storm only got worse. The winds picked up and caused waves that crashed into what makeshift shelters we'd been able to construct. When one of those waves nearly washed away a large group of villagers, including nine children, the decision was made to use the Chappa'ai and leave. The evacuation was chaotic, and when we finally started to think we were safe on the new planet, the Goa'uld attack happened and we were brought here." His bright blue eyes caught and held Sam's own. "These people are nomads, but this is still devastating for them. Wherever they end up, they're going to have to start over and reaccustom themselves to a new environment."

"They are?" Janet asked as she completed the labeling of the vials of blood, catching the exclusion of himself from the sentiment. Arrom only shrugged and looked away.

"Well, I think that tells me a lot," Sam said after a moment. She paused as Janet finished gathering what she needed for the tests she had in mind. "I suppose we can get going and, uh, give you some time to yourself. After all this chaos, you could probably use it."

"I'll arrange for a room where you can stay," Janet added. "I'll let you know what I find out as soon as I can."

Arrom's eyes darted between the two women briefly, then he nodded. "All right. I'll be glad for a chance to rest."

Janet smiled. "Then we'll talk to you later. Just wait here, and someone will come and escort you to your room soon." She gestured to Sam, and the two of them left the cubicle.


"If I wait any longer to tell him, the colonel's going to kill me," Sam said twenty minutes later after Janet had taken Arrom's blood samples to the lab with orders that she would be the one processing them. The doctor had also been asked to check on another patient, but it turned out the nomad woman's odd symptoms had come about due to the delayed arrival of her menstrual cycle.

"I'm not saying to not tell him, Sam. But what about General Hammond?"

Sam sighed. "I think Colonel O'Neill deserves to be told first. Probably Teal'c, too. We're more than just teammates, Janet, you know that. They need to know first."

Janet stared at her for a moment then nodded. "I know," she agreed softly. "Tell your team. Let Colonel O'Neill come and see him for himself. Then we can tell General Hammond."

Sam smiled, relieved. "Thanks, Janet." Her expression turned teasing. "Although I think I'm going to tell the colonel what to expect before he gets down here. I can't believe you just dragged me in there without any warning!"

"I wanted your instinctual response," Janet replied with a shrug, unrepentant. "Now go get your team. I don't think we should put it off any longer."

It wasn't long before Sam was standing nervously in front of her team commander's office door. With one last deep breath, she knocked, entering when she was commanded to do so. "Hi, Colonel," she greeted the man within, smiling slightly as she closed the door behind herself.

"Carter," Jack returned with a nod. "What can I do for you?"

"I've just come from the infirmary. I was going to interview some of the refugees to find out what kind of planet to keep in mind for their relocation."

"Yeah, I heard. Byron told me you talked to him about SG-5's mission, and of course Hammond mentioned what you were doing." He raised his eyebrows curiously. "What did you come up with?"

Sam licked her lips. "Well, I'm sure you've heard that the refugees didn't come from P6C-297 originally," she began.

Jack nodded. "That was Byron's big surprise at SG-5's debriefing, yeah. What did our visitors have to say about it?"

"I thought that most of them were still too shaken up to interview properly when I talked with them, actually. I'm probably going to have wait another day or so to avoid distressing them too much." Sam swallowed hard, finding it difficult to say what she needed to say.

"I notice you say most of them', Carter," Jack said, his eyes narrowing as he picked up on her hesitant attitude. "What did you find out up there?"

Sam licked her lips again. "When Janet was through treating the more serious injuries, she was asked to check a cut on the forehead of one of the refugees. I waited outside for her to finish; we'd been talking before that. She suddenly came out and dragged me behind the curtains they've drawn around each of the beds, without a word of explanation why. When I got in there and I saw her patient..." Her words choked off for a moment and her eyes locked with Jack's. "Sir, I saw his eyes and heard his voice. And when he came back after taking a shower it was even more apparent... Sir, Daniel's in the infirmary."

Jack's expression turned suspicious. "The kid's sick again?" he asked.

The major could see the man was being deliberately obtuse. "Not Danny, sir. Daniel. Daniel Jackson. From all appearances he's retaken human form and is sitting on a bed in the infirmary."

"He's here?" Jack asked, hardly able to let himself believe it. "He's solid?"

"Janet took blood samples," Sam said simply.

"Let's go," Jack said shortly, jumping to his feet and taking a few steps toward the door.

Sam reached out and grabbed his arm before he could go too far. "Colonel, wait. There's something you should know." She waited until his brown gaze met her blue-grey one before she let go of him and continued. "He says his name is Arrom. He doesn't remember anything before waking up on the refugees' home planet two months ago."

Jack blinked a few times. "Well, the timing's right."

"I thought of that. But you can't go barging in there, telling him who we think he is and what his past is supposed to be. He doesn't know anything about our suspicions. Considering everything he said he's been through over the past two weeks, especially the last couple of days, telling him he might be our lost teammate might be overwhelming." Sam gave him a pleading look, seeing a tightening around his eyes that spoke of a growing anger. "Janet has blood samples. Let her check the DNA and confirm our suspicions. That way we'll know for sure before we disrupt anybody's life any more than it already has been."

Jack gave her a hard stare, his mouth drawn in a thin, stiff line. Sam never flinched, knowing she was right. Finally, the man released an explosive breath, his muscles relaxing and a flash of hurt rippling across his features before he got himself back under control. "All right, Carter," he said in a low voice. "I'll keep it under wraps. But I want to see him."

Sam smiled. "Of course, sir. That's why I told you."

He nodded. "Thanks, Sam. That means a lot." He took a deep breath and released it. "Well, let's get going. I've got a potential resurrection to witness." The two of them strode purposefully out of the office.


Janet saw the two military members of SG-1 walk into her infirmary and moved to meet them. "He's this way," she said shortly, knowing from the expression on Jack's face that Sam had told him what he needed to know.

Jack nodded sharply. "Lead the way, Doc. I have to see him."

"I know," she said, relieved, knowing by the use of his nickname for her that he hadn't retreated into the emotionless shell he'd constructed after Daniel's ascension nor the angry self-recrimination he'd experienced after SG-1 discovered that Anubis had destroyed Abydos. "Now, I've set aside Isolation Room 3 for him, and any personnel who might know him on sight have been given tasks that will keep them out of the infirmary for at least a half hour. I want to move him with as little possibility for recognition as we can." The other two nodded their agreement.

"Remember what I told you," Sam whispered as the three of them approached Arrom's bed.

"Yeah, yeah," Jack said dismissively, then stepped through the curtain, both women immediately behind him.

Arrom had been examining the medical instruments on the cart beside the bed when his visitors appeared, causing him to turn his head suddenly to look at them. He gave them a very small smile. "Doctor Fraiser, Major Carter," he greeted the pair he had already met. He gazed at Jack curiously.

Jack felt like he'd been sucker punched in the stomach. "Daniel?" he asked involuntarily, his eyes widening. Arrom's expression changed to confusion.

Janet quickly stepped forward, disguising an elbow to the silver-haired man's ribs with the motion. "This is Colonel O'Neill, Arrom," she said in the friendly, almost clinical tone she tended to use with foreign visitors to her domain, ignoring the glare said colonel gave her. "He's second in command here. We have your room ready if you'd like to settle in."

"That would be fine," Arrom replied as he stood, his eyes continually flickering to Jack and his stern expression and pained eyes.

"All right, let's go," Jack declared, stepping forward and grabbing the patient's arm. He led the other man a bit forcefully toward the isolation rooms. Sam and Janet shared an exasperated look before following closely.

"What's wrong with you?" Arrom asked Jack once the isolation room door closed behind the quartet. He jerked his arm away and stepped back toward the bed.

Jack sighed and looked away. "Nothing. I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rough."

Janet cleared her throat as the younger man just shook his head and stared at the colonel. "I'd like to apologize as well. This isn't how I planned things to go."

Arrom waved a dismissive hand, finally tearing his eyes away from Jack and turning to face the bed. "I'm fine. But I think I should get some rest. It's been a long day."

"You're right," Janet agreed. "Go ahead and lie down. If you need anything, just press the call button next to the bed." She pointed to a panel on the wall. "The green button. Either Nurse Williams or myself will take care of it. You can find extra blankets in the cabinet near the door if you need them."

"Thank you," Arrom said, glancing at the auburn-haired woman over his shoulder. His glance flickered over to Sam for a moment, and he gave her a brief smile when he saw her concern.

"Have a good rest," the blonde said. "We'll leave you to it." At his nod, she opened the door. Jack was the first one to leave, never looking back, and Janet followed, Sam right behind her.

Janet gave the colonel a stern look once the three of them were in the hallway. "I'm not going to go into it here, Colonel O'Neill, but suffice to say I'm not happy with the way you handled that."

Jack stiffened and glared at her. "Join the club, Doc."

Sam frowned. "What happened?"

"I know you told me what to expect, Carter, but when I really saw it..." He sighed, relaxing his tense muscles somewhat. "I guess I didn't believe it until I saw it, and it was overwhelming. I know that doesn't excuse it, but it's all I got."

"I don't think there's any permanent harm done," Janet said. "Now we need to tell General Hammond."

"I'll arrange a meeting. Carter, you get Jonas and Teal'c."

Sam nodded. "Yes, sir. I should also check on Danny. It's been a while."

Jack gave her a lopsided smirk. "Yeah, do that. This just makes that experience all the weirder, you know."

The blonde shrugged, smiling. "Just par for the course around here, sir."

"Ain't that the truth. Go on, Carter. You coming, Doc?"

"Just let me get his file. I wouldn't miss this for the world."


Danny was awake by the time Sam returned to the VIP room, sitting at the table reading one of the children's books he'd received from Siler a couple of days earlier. He looked up when his guardian entered the room and gave her a smile. "Hi, Sam," he greeted her quietly.

Sam couldn't help but return the expression, happy and a little surprised by his initiating the exchange. "Hey, Danny. How are you?"

"I'm fine. You weren't here when I woke up, so I started reading like you told me to." There was a tentativeness in his admission that sought out approval for his actions.

"That's wonderful," Sam praised him, inwardly flinching at the necessity. She glanced at her watch and sighed. "I'm afraid I can't stay long. A situation's come up that I have to help deal with. SG-5 brought a village of refugees here to escape a Goa'uld attack," here Danny's eyes grew large, "and one of them looks like a... lost member of the SGC. I, uh, have to help investigate things since he doesn't remember who he really is." Her eyes dropped to where her fingers were lacing and unlacing against her stomach. She couldn't tell the boy it might be her former teammate. It would be like tempting fate to take Daniel away again.

Danny watched her for a long, silent moment. "You think you know him, don't you? I mean, really know him."

Sam's gaze jerked upward at the unexpected insight. "Uh, well..." She took a deep breath. "Yes, I do. I... hope it's who I think it is, but I can't jump to any conclusions."

Danny smiled again. "I hope he's your friend," he said simply.

"Oh, Danny." Sam crouched down next to the boy's chair and hugged him. "It's times like this that I'm reminded how much I love you."

"You love me?" Danny asked with a gasp, his embrace tightening.

Sam pulled back to arm's length and gave him a shaky smile, her eyes watery with sudden tears. "You bet I do. You are so special; how could I not love you?"

Danny stared at her, dumbfounded. "But what does it feel like to love me?"

The woman's smile widened. "Oh, Danny, I don't know if I can describe it. You... make me feel good inside, and I just want to make sure that you're safe and happy and everything else a child should be."

"So love is a good thing?"

"It's a wonderful thing," Sam declared with a little laugh. "I told you before that I care about you. Love is just caring about you a lot more." She sighed, still smiling. "When Sabrina gets here, I'll see if she can describe things better than that. I haven't always been good at dealing with emotions."

"Oh," Danny said softly, turning contemplative, his gaze dropping to the table.

Sam lifted his head with a gentle finger, a little worried about how he was taking her inadvertent admission. "Are you okay, Danny?"

The neutral ruminative expression on his face reassured her he wasn't reacting negatively, whatever he was thinking. "I'm okay. I... I think I like that you care about me so much. I just... don't remember being cared about before."

"I can understand that. I'm sorry if I confused you."

"You said you cared about me before," Danny said with a shake of his head. "I didn't know you could care about me more." He marked the page then closed his book. The boy looked at Sam again. "May I lay down again until supper?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," Sam said gently, with understanding. She'd just rocked his world, and he needed to think about it. She'd have to let Sabrina know as soon as she arrived in an hour or so. "You lie down. I have to go to a meeting. I'll come back as soon as I'm done and we'll have supper." Danny just nodded and headed for the bed. Sam helped him get under the covers and, with one last kiss to the forehead, left to gather her teammates.