Death. Quiet, peaceful, it was all it was cracked up to be, and yet... There was something missing. It was like he was waiting for something, someone. If he could just remember.
"Danyel." a voice whispered out of the darkness. "Danyel, you must return."
"Return where?"
"Your fr'nds need you. J'ck needs you. You must return to them."
Jack? Oh, God, Jack! "Tell me how! Show me the way!"
"You must hurry. Follow the light." A small spark appeared in the darkness, glowing a thousand times brighter than the strongest candle. Daniel followed it, not walking, not flying, but moving. It grew larger until it engulfed him. It should have been painful, he knew, but instead it was like a warm hug that penetrated into his bones. And then the pain came. Not his own, and yet his own, a scream of anguish and infinite sadness erupted from him.
"Jack! JACK!" He was alive. The first breath was fire, the second burning coals, and then it faded. A woman lied next to him, breathing shallowly, her throat a mass of bruises.
"J'ck?" she whispered, eyes searching.
"I'll find him, I'll find him. Lie still."
"J'ck." she whimpered, life fading before his eyes.
"Jack, get in here! Sam, Teal'c, anybody! I need help! Jack!"