General Hammond left his office, crept across the debriefing room, and into the hall, heading for the elevator. He was taking a well-deserved break from all of the wrangling he'd had to do for the other kidnapping victims, and he knew just where he'd like to spend his little bit of free time.
Their arrival back at the base had been a nightmare. Most of the victims had been hysterical in some way, Pater had still been unconscious, and Dr. Jackson had been dead to the world. That was when General Hammond became very glad that he had Dr. Janet Frasier on his team. She marshaled the infirmary staff, gave orders, calmed the hysteria, and managed to ensure a medical exam, guest quarters, fresh pajamas, and a hot meal for each of the victims.
She'd beat him to the punch of his job, and for once, he was grateful. All he'd had to do was see to Pater's lock-up, and he'd received a call that subsequent medical tests had proven that Pater was only half human. What his other half could be was beyond the resources of the infirmary at present, but Dr. Frasier had assured him that she would keep working on it.
He reached the infirmary, deeply thankful for the lack of noise, and slipped inside, looking around. The lights were dim; staff worked quietly at their tasks, and in one bed lay Dr. Jackson. In a chair on either side of the bed were Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. Both of them were slumped over in sleep, Daniel's hands in theirs, their heads resting on the bed not far from Daniel's. Teal'c was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed, meditating.
George felt a smile starting. When he'd been given his first command, his CO had told him that those he commanded could come to be like his kids, and a much older (and hopefully wiser) General Hammond reflected that that statement was very, very true. The sight of the four members of SG-1 curled up together like that, sleeping, was so unbearably heartwarming that he was hard-put to stifle a sigh.
"I know," Janet whispered from behind him, making him jump. "If Daniel shifts in his sleep, they move so he is still comfortable. If he mutters and seems about to wake up, the colonel tightens the grip on his hand. Once I saw him pat Daniel's shoulder to quiet him. Daniel calmed down after that. Those four are so in synch it's scary."
"But awfully cute," Hammond said, grinning. "You're under orders of silence about that remark, Doctor."
"Don't worry, sir, I don't think they'd believe it anyway. Did you know the nurses keep sneaking in here with cameras?"
"For what?"
One nurse came out of the shadows, holding a camera and smiling. "Because they're adorable," she gushed, taking a picture. "Seeing Dr. Jackson asleep is always sweet, but this is ten times better."
"At ease, lieutenant."
"Sorry, sir," she said, unrepentant as she headed out of the infirmary and back to her work.
Hammond watched her go. "How many nurses have been in here with cameras?"
"I think the good lieutenant there was the last who hadn't taken a picture yet," Janet said, surprising him. She looked over at the sleeping quartet. "You know, I'm torn between letting them sleep some more or waking them up for a meal. Daniel's lost seventeen pounds while he's been gone."
Hammond felt his eyebrows shoot up. Dr. Jackson was a fit man at an ideal weight for his frame, and to lose that much weight could mean problems for his health and for going offworld. "Didn't they ever feed him?"
"Well, blood tests say he's well-nourished, but he is underweight. In stressful situations like kidnapping it's normal for the body to react to the stress and for a person to lose weight."
Hammond nodded. "What can we expect?"
"I spoke to Dr. Mackenzie about that," Dr. Frasier assured him. "He said the physical problems caused by the kidnapping will be fatigue or trouble sleeping as well as weight loss. Sometimes some individuals will develop complaints of pain or nausea, but these will be reactions to stress. What we need to do the most for Daniel is to make sure he has plenty to eat and plenty of rest."
"You mentioned the physical problems; what can we expect mentally?"
Janet led him into her office. "Typical reaction to trauma, at first. In this case, the trauma may have been compounded somehow by that dopamine drug and the brainwashing that Daniel described in his journal. He may begin to doubt himself and think Pater is right after all."
There was no other word for it; the general's eyes bugged. "Why?"
"Daniel's been with Pater for several months and he's been under constant strain. Now that he's no longer constrained by location and the need to resist, he'll start thinking about what he's gone through and what Pater said to him. It's natural for a trauma victim to think about what happened and to try to process it. According to the descriptions I read in the journal Daniel kept, Pater was always logical. Not always entirely forthcoming in what he said, but he was logical. He said enough true things and left enough unsaid to leave behind a large amount of doubt."
"That covers the brainwashing," Hammond said thoughtfully. "What can we expect from the dopamine substance?"
"That stuff is dangerous," Janet said, sinking into a chair. "From what I can tell, it's effective just from proximity to the source. Initial tests on Pater have shown that his body produces it on its own. It's in his exhalations and secreted through his skin. Just being near Pater can expose someone to it, but Daniel mentioned Pater's insistence on being able to touch him in his journal. My suspicion is that touching someone delivers a higher or more concentrated dose. The substance itself goes straight to the "reward" pathways in the brain. Like the colonel said, it makes you feel pretty good, and his remarks on Pavlov were not far from the mark. From what we've seen today from the other victims, a sudden shock like the one they've undergone and removal from the source can produce symptoms of hysteria. Their brains and bodies have been feeling pretty good for a while, so the transition may have been a little much. I think the severity of the hysteria depends on exposure time and the concentration of the doses each person's been receiving."
"How long do you think it will be before the effects wear off?"
She shook her head. "Hard to say, sir. Tests have shown that our bodies eventually get rid of it, either through the excretory system, respiration, or by secreting through the skin. Breathing and skin take it in, and breathing and skin—and other ways—can get it out. It can get through anywhere, thank goodness. From what tests have shown, the chemical becomes inert after passing through a human body. The measures to remove it from the bodies of the victims that I've taken so far include plenty of soup, water, and juices for the victims. Daniel also had plenty to drink before he went to sleep."
"Good work, Doctor."
Janet looked past him into the infirmary and smiled. "Looks like Daniel's awake, sir."
Hammond practically scooted out the door and Janet followed.
"Hi, General," Daniel said quietly, catching sight of them both. "Hey, Janet."
"Hey," Janet said, grinning. "How do you feel?"
Daniel looked at his company and smiled. "Cozy. Cozy and surrounded, actually. Um, I can't get them to let go of my hands, and I kind of need to get up."
It took a bit of prying fingers away on their part, but Janet and the general managed to get the slumbering colonel and major to let go so Daniel could slip out of bed and into the nearest bathroom. He came back after a few minutes and settled back into bed, and the movement of the mattress woke his friends up.
"Hey, Danny," Jack said, sitting up and smoothing his mussed up hair. "Sleep well?"
"For the first time in ages, yes," Daniel affirmed, sounding infinitely glad to be back in the base. "Where is everybody?"
"They're keeping away from the infirmary on orders so you can sleep," Sam teased. "Do you mean the staff, or your fellow kidnapees?"
"My fellow prisoners," Daniel joked. "Where are they? Are they okay? Have their families been found yet?"
"We have half the staff working on finding their families," General Hammond promised. "So far, all of them have had something to eat and are asleep."
"And Pater?"
Teal'c got to his feet and smiled. "He is in confinement, Daniel Jackson. It is good to see you awake."
"It's good to see you, too, Teal'c. It's great to see all of you. It's great to be back."
The sound of a stomach growling surprised everyone into helpless laughter. Even Teal'c chuckled. When he could breathe, Daniel wiped his eyes and sat up. "I guess I'd better have something to eat," he said, thankfully accepting the tissue Jack handed him so he could mop up his face. He'd laughed so hard that he'd practically cried!
"I'll order you guys something," Janet said, heading for the nearest phone.
"Great!" Jack enthused, punching a fist in the air. "Picnic in the infirmary!"
Daniel laughed, allowing them all to see the man they knew so well.
--
Pater paced his cell, wondering how long it would be before someone came to talk to him. That was how humans behaved when they held someone. They would confine a person, make him wait a while, and then they would come to question him. So far, the only people he'd seen in this place had been the doctor, her medical staff, and the security staff that came into his cell to guard him while she performed tests. He was certain that they knew he wasn't fully human, and the tests were to help them figure out what he was. He sighed, wishing them luck with that. He was unlike anything they'd ever seen before.
Breathing deeply and taking in as much air as he could, Pater searched for the scents of his children. None of them were in rooms close to him, and they were not on this level. What scents he could discern were all scents that told him they were sleeping. They were calm and at rest. The ones closest to him were Carlisle, Mark, Sylvia, and Daniel.
He thought of Sylvia and Daniel. From the moment she'd seen Daniel's picture, he'd been able to tell that Sylvia found him enticing. Attractive, and what she wanted in a mate. The scents swirling around them both during the few times they'd been together had been enough to tell him that Daniel had found her just as enticing, which was why his refusal of her had been so perplexing.
Now that Pater thought about Daniel, he found the man alone extremely perplexing. He didn't behave in a way that he'd come to expect after twenty years with his other children. He was half-human, they were all human, so he felt that he had a pretty good grasp of how humans thought and behaved. There was no doubt in Pater's mind that Daniel was human, but he was lost for an explanation for Daniel's behavior. It was as if something drove Daniel that did not drive other people. Whatever that was, it was a formidable force. It had kept Daniel firmly anchored in himself and his psyche, and even when Pater had locked his memories away, Daniel had still had the ability to break away and escape. Unless he'd had help to remember things on his own, he should have been too frightened and confused to take such initiative. Any other person would have been too afraid to leave the only place where people knew him or her. His children had tried to leave before, that was true, but they never tried leaving after he'd locked their memories.
The whole situation was confusing. Even more confusing and worrying was the fact that Daniel seemed able to fight the chemical that he'd used to subdue the others. After a few days he should have welcomed the physical contact that gave him a higher dose of the substance, but he found such contact repugnant instead. Why? He'd been through Daniel's files several times but he failed to find the cause of his aversion to parental caresses. His other children had craved them, relished them, and seemed to thrive on them. Why had Daniel been so different?
Pater decided to think about this later and sat down, taking deep breaths. There was one thing he could do to influence how long he was locked up, and he was going to do it. Any human here was susceptible, thank goodness. Perhaps Daniel would be as well, since he was no longer fighting to free himself. Perhaps—just perhaps—Pater would be able to influence Daniel as well.
--
Daniel was stuffed to the gills and was using a laptop to write up his final report about his kidnapping for the general. He was about halfway through it when what he was writing made him stop and read it again. He scrolled back and read it again, and to his shock, he felt tears streaming down his face. A loud crash a second later brought Janet out of her office and the rest of SG-1 away from their discussion to stare at the broken computer lying on the floor at the base of the wall. Daniel was sitting on his bed, pale, shaking, and looking ready to break down.
"You know, I asked every day to be let go," Daniel said, drawing his knees up to his chin and resting his forehead on them. "Every day. He always said…always said that I didn't need to go. I was right where I should be."
Jack, Sam, Janet, and Teal'c gathered around the bed, offering silent support.
"He said I should have been glad," Daniel continued, choking a little on his tears. "Glad to have been brought into the Family. Glad to have been adopted. Glad to have been kidnapped." Daniel flopped back onto his pillows and sighed, accepting the tissue that Jack handed him. "Thanks. You know, for a while, I asked myself why I was fighting him. I felt kind of good when he was around. Physically, I mean. I always felt…I don't know, comfortable, I suppose, when I had to be in the same room with him. Mentally, I was a wreck, but physically, I felt good. How could I have two different feelings like that from the same person? Maybe my body was trying to tell me that being where I was was actually a good thing."
"First of all, knowing the way you think, I can say that makes sense," Jack said, putting a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Second of all, let me remind you that we work at the SGC. We come up against weird stuff all the time. Pater definitely qualifies as weird."
Daniel looked at him before accepting another tissue. "What do you mean? I know he's weird—he weirded me out on a daily basis—but how can you guys know that?"
"What the colonel's referring to is the fact that Pater is not quite human," Janet said, patting Daniel's back in a gesture of comfort. "He's half human and half…something else. We don't know what he is, yet, but we're working on it. His body secretes a dopamine-like chemical that goes straight to the body's reward centers. Mere proximity is enough to affect anyone, and I think that Pater's insistence on touching you was so that he could give you a higher dose through the skin."
"You see? He qualifies," Jack insisted.
Teal'c smiled, catching Jack's playful mood. "Am I also weird, O'Neill?"
"No, you're unique," Jack told him. "You're Teal'c, and you're part of what makes SG-1 so overwhelmingly cool. Pater's just…weird."
"So the physical good feeling was just that chemical?" Daniel asked to make certain.
"Ya sure, you betcha," Jack said. "Tell him, doc."
"Your heightened state of stress probably kept you from…well, heightened good feelings, but the physical comfort was definitely from this chemical."
Daniel nodded. "Thanks. I guess I needed to hear this." He cast a guilty glance at the debris on the floor.
Sam looked at the laptop's remains and reflected that bad feelings had to get out somehow. "Don't worry. Things will be okay, Daniel."
Daniel looked thoughtful. "You said proximity was enough to make that drug work?"
"That's right," Janet affirmed.
"Would having Pater on the base count as proximity? What if he can do other things? Like Hathor's mind-control drug?"
Janet's eyes widened as she ran for the phone. "DAMMIT!"