Author's Note: I'm soooooooo sorry about how long it took to get this chapter up. School and band just started and I have maybe three hours of homework a night if I'm lucky and band for an hour at the least. Sometimes four. I'm really sorry, but I hope you like this chapter!

Fire and Water: Flames

It was almost ironic, Jack thought coldly. In movies or books everything was bleak and rain drenched the world. In those the ground was blanketed in a cold fog. The main character would stand there trying to be strong but crying silently.

But here, the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky and the room he was about to walk into was every color known to man. The main character in this story wasn't crying though, he didn't know if he could.

Daniel was dead. And that was no story.

Taking a deep breath he walked into the daycare and waved Abby over. She said something to the toddlers at the table they were coloring at and walked over to him.

"Hello Sir. Are you picking up Ryan for Dr. Jackson today?" The blonde smiled warmly.

"Airman, something happened today," He started softly. "There was an accident off world, a fire. We were moving toward the water but Daniel didn't get there fast enough. He was killed." Jack found he couldn't meet her eyes but saw her cover her mouth with her hand.

"Oh my God." She whispered, her blue eyes widening. "Does that make you..."

"Ryan's legal guardian? Yeah, it does." Jack shifted uncomfortably as he felt his chest tighten.

"He's in the back room, in his crib." Abby had her hand over her mouth and tears were gathering in her eyes.

"Thank you." Jack walked pass the toddlers coloring and into the room with the cradles. He placed his hands on the sides. Ryan slept soundly. Jack watched the gently rise and fall of the baby's chest and felt his eyes begin to burn.

Biting his lip, he brushed his hand across both damp eyes and gently picked up the baby who squirmed at being woken. "Hey kiddo, you're gonna stay with me for a while."

Sam cradled Ryan in her arms. The grave silence had calmed the baby and he sucked on his pacifier. She watched the officers folding the American flag and her eyes glazed over slightly with tears.

The Captain saw Jack slowly stand and look across the crowd until he met her eyes. He nodded and walked to the podium, placing his speech on the surface.

"Daniel Jackson..." He started after taking a deep breath, his voice thick with emotion. Sam also noticed he kept his eyes on the speech he had written. "Made this place...happen. As a member of SG-1...he was our voice, our...our conscious. He was a very courageous man. He was a good...man. He wasn't just a member of a team, he was a friend, a loving husband and father."

Sam gently gave Ryan to Janet and went to the ramp to help with the ceremony. She felt numb as she carried the wreath to the Stargate with Jack; they saluted as it slowly went through.

Jack smiled at Ryan as he bounced in the bouncy chair. The baby shrieked with laughter and waved his arms around.

"Sir?" He turned to see Sam and Teal'c standing behind him. Jack couldn't help but smile at Teal'c's hat. The Jaffa seemed to have a collection of them lately. "Hey Carter, Teal'c. Do you want something to drink?" He asked and sipped his beer.

"Yeah, beer." Sam agreed; she felt uncomfortable, as if her subconscious was trying to tell her something important.

"Well, there's food upstairs," the Colonel was saying. "Could you grab a few bread sticks for Ryan? He loves those."

"Sure." She nodded and glanced nervously at her shoes while she waited for him to pour her a drink.

Jack grabbed a glass from the bar and began to pour. A rushing noise filled his ears and the room around him disappeared into flames as Daniel's screams echoed around him. Then as quickly as it started, it stopped and he felt the beer spilling onto his hand, thumping both glass and bottle on the table he bolted out of the house.

Daniel took a few steps closer to Nem. His wet clothes were now cold and uncomfortable, sticking to him. The low temperature in the room wasn't helping either.

"Please," He started softly. "Let me go home. I want to go back to my friends. I have a son, he needs me."

"You will not leave until you tell me what fate Omoroca!" It hissed then turned and walked out of the room, leaving behind a despairing archeologist.

Jack shifted through a huge pile of National Geographics. He turned when he heard Sam chuckling softly.

She held one of Daniel's dirty, ragged, journals. "This is from Abydos. 'Colonel O'Neill thinks I'm a geek. I don't know how to get us back, I'll never get paid.' And here's one from when he lived there. 'Ryan just smiled for the first time. He's growing up very fast.' and here's another. 'Sha're is gone. If anyone can find her Jack can.'."

"Come on, that's his diary. I mean what's he going to think when..." Jack froze in mid sentence feeling instantly horrified.

Sam quickly put the journal back in the bookshelf and turned toward Teal'c who was gently holding the baby. He looked ill at ease, she noticed with a slight smile, being that huge and holding a little baby with such care. "Teal'c, do you want me to hold him?" She offered, taking a step toward him. Teal'c willingly handed Ryan over. She bounced him up and down as she walked around the room. Ryan shrieked happily and laughed, holding his hands out towards the fist tank.

"Do you want to see the fish Ryan?" Sam smiled and walked over to the brightly colored fish. She stared into the tank and watched the bubbles rise. Flames leapt up before her eyes and screams echoed in her ears.

Suddenly the world came back into focus and she jumped back, losing her grip on Ryan at the same time. Sam caught him before he fell and cradled the crying, frightened baby against her chest, her own heartbeat roaring in her ears.

Jack grinned brightly as the team, including a soaking wet but otherwise fine Daniel Jackson, walked back to the Gate. They'd found him, it had taken returning to the planet to do it, but they had. They had him back.

"I'm exhausted." Daniel smiled. "I can't wait to go home and sleep."

"Ah...home...about that."

"Oh, you didn't!" Daniel turned quickly to Jack, his blue eyes wide with realization.

"The day after the memorial service." Sam grinned sheepishly.

"Memorial service?"

"The Colonel said some really nice things," she noted.

"He...he did?" Daniel was smiling now, silently amused.

"You're…well, you're lucky we found you when we did," Jack declared, a smile easing onto his face. "The adoption papers were arriving tomorrow." He laughed at the stunned expression on his friend's face. Oh yeah, today was a good day.

The team walked down the ramp to applause. Medics ran up and placed blankets around the shivering former MIA archeologist.

"Is Ryan in daycare?" Daniel asked Janet with a smile as she checked him over.

"He can be brought to the infirmary as soon as we're positive nothing wrong with you." Janet insisted with a smile and led him to the infirmary.

An hour later Janet walked the infirmary's waiting area to find the archeologist's team waiting, one not so patiently. "He's fine, a little tired and hungry, but otherwise perfectly healthy," she reassured and turned to Jack. "You can get Ryan, Colonel."

"Sweet." Jack grinned and spun on his heel. It felt like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he walked to the daycare.

He flung the door open and walked up to Abby who was helping put away toys.

"He's okay," Jack blurted. "Daniel's alive," he added at her confused look.

Confusion melted instantly away as she grasped his meaning. "Thank God!" Abby exclaimed and laughed in built up relief, leading him over to the playpen.

Jack grinned down at Ryan and picked him up. "Let's go see daddy."

Daniel slipped the new pair of glasses on, smiling as the world came into focus again. The archeologist's hair was slicked back with water, but this time from a warm shower. A much better feeling, Daniel decided.

"Hey dad."

He turned to see Jack and Sam in the doorway, the Colonel held Ryan in his arms. The baby's eyes lit up when he saw his father and he stretched his arms out.

"Ryan!" Daniel gathered his son in his arms. "Hey buddy, I'm back." Ryan giggled and tugged on his father's damp hair.