A/N:

Ok, so there are some answers, not much, but there is something new in here. I would like to thank all of you who reviewed last chapter, you make me want to continue.

Unfortunately there is going to be another long period without new chapters, my exam time has come – too much to do in too little time. I promise to get it moving ASAP.

Have a nice reading. This chapter is not really long and there are neither Weir nor Sheppard here. Just Sam and Daniel talking. And one old (realllllyyyy ooooooooooooold, mind you) person.

Some questions answered

"Hi" Said Samantha Carter entering one of the rooms in the SGC, but she did not get an answer. He was obviously oblivious to her presence in the room. "Good morning!" He was still not responding. He had his full attention to a notebook she recognized from somewhere. "Daniel!" She shouted eventually.

"Oh, Sam!" He turned and looked at her finally. "Sorry, I did not hear you." He stood up and hugged her. "It's so great to see you finally after all the time."

"So, what were you looking for in those old notes of yours?" She asked as they sat down. Then she recognized some ancient signs in the middle of the text on the page and a drawing. "Your notes on ascention? What for?"

"I was just wondering…"

"Daniel…?" She was seriously intrigued. It was one of Daniel's looks meaning he was researching something very intriguing. "What's the matter?"

"I was just wandering. The situation with her…"

"Doctor Weir?"

"Yes. I just wonder. There are several strange things about her and all this situation."

"How she managed to ascend being within a replicator body?"

"For starters."

"Something more to the story that I do not know?" Sam asked leaning over Daniel's shoulder and looking into his notes. "Something more that should not have happened?"

"Actually, a lot." Stated Jackson with a small gleam in his eye. "First, as you mentioned, ascending must have been really tricky even with the help she got. Then, there's the thing with intervening, she should have been stopped before she did something so grand. Last but not least is the thing with her memory."

"What with her memory?" Asked Sam curious as to what did he mean. "As far as I can remember you lost yours for some time. And you were not able to retrieve memories from the time you were actually ascended."

"It's different with Elizabeth."

"How?"

"When I descended I lost all my memory and it slowly returned, leaving only a specific part out permanently. Just what I learned but shouldn't. Elizabeth, however…"

"… forgot just a specific fraction of her memories and the rest remained untouched." Finished Sam for him. "Ok, I agree that this is strange. Any idea how to get to the bottom of that?"

"No, not yet." He admitted angrily. "Anyway, how are you two doing?"

"We two?" Sam tried to look as though she did not know what Daniel was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Sam" he smiled. "I know you are on Earth much more frequently than your visits to the SGC. I know that you spend it somewhere in Washington and…"

"Don't go there, Daniel." She told him quite seriously. "Of all the people…"

"Sam, we all knew there was something between you two for some time now." Daniel explained. "Look, I just want you to…"

"Daniel…" she interrupted. "Let's forget about it and get something to eat in the mess, ok?"

Daniel was really glad to see Sam again. She did not visit really often these days. Her duties as a commander of Hammond took a lot of her time. Then there were those rare occasions she shared a couple of days with Jack. Yes, he knew, he suspected Cameron knew as well since every time she was on Earth and not in SGC Jack seemed to be unavailable by any mean short of beaming him up. He hadn't missed any of her dials from Atlantis and used to send some encoded messages to her. It was a shame that all those military regulations kept them away from each other.

"By the way, Sam." Started Daniel after finishing his meal. "Jack spoke of retirement for quite some time. Any idea when that goin' to happen?"

"He says he will as soon as the situation is properly resolved."

"The situation?"

"Dr Weir… Jack thinks he owes her something and he wants to make sure she is really all right and well settled before he relinquishes control." She smiled sadly which Daniel, as her long time friend, managed to see. "Anyway, you meeting someone these days?"

"Let's go to sleep, its late." Said Daniel trying to avoid answering. Sam just smiled at him.

He went to bed at the end of the day with a serious questions. The way Elizabeth ascended, the way she managed to help, the fact she was able to piss the ascended ancients enough to be descended in such a manner. Finally there was a thing of her strange memory loss. It was all freaking him out.

"You were ascended, you should know there's not much to interpret considering the rules." Daniel heard a familiar voice. "Our ways are stable."

"Ok, am I dreaming again?"

"Yes, Daniel Jackson." Now the ancient was visible to him. He was smiling. "I'm Janus."

"The one that…"

"You know me probably for my inventions." The ancient smiled. "And from Elizabeth's memories."

"Yes, yes, you were the one who helped her save the lost city!"

"That would be me."

"Wow." Was all Jackson was able to utter. "I'm doctor Daniel Jackson." He did not know why but felt it necessary to present himself, if only to express his respect.

"You were ascended, twice, as I heard from Oma, and yet you decided to descend." Said Janus calmly. "I know you from your exploits. And I watched you when you tried to decipher my research with one doctor McKay."

"Wait, you watched me?" Asked Daniel a little shocked. "All the time?"

"Not all the time, but yes" said the ancient with a smile "I made a habit in taking care of my work."

"Do you consider Elizabeth Weir your work?" Asked Daniel, when something started to make sense to him. "Was it you? Did you help her ascend?"

"Yes, I did." Janus looked at a very strange expression on Daniel's face. "I followed her path ever since she was captured by the replicators."

"And you interfered when she stepped through that gate into space."

"No."

"What?"

"I did not interfere."Stated Janus. "I just presented her with the opportunity. Ascending act was purely her own."

"No human was able to archieve ascencion without the actual help."

"I just told her of the way."

"Releasing her burden was…" Started Jackson "shutting down the replicator body, right?" Janus just nodded. "But there is still the question of mental advancement and feeling worthy. Last time I spoke with Elizabeth she was quite far from feeling well about herself and I know from her friends that she felt she did much wrong at the end."

"She was able to accept it as just a mistakes. I was able to show her the path she walked and, in grand scheme, she understood how much good she did." Said Janus moving a little. It seemed he was somewhat restless. "I convinced her to see reasons behind her actions instead of the outcomes. And I was happy to feel her want to do much more."

"Ok, Janus, this is…" started Jackson starting to see some bigger picture here.

"End of our conversation this night." Finished Janus for him. "I need to go now and you need to sleep to be able to be rested in the morning."

"Wait!" shouted Jackson when Janus began to fade. "You said for this night… That means you'll be back, right?" Then there was just darkness and Daniel was in deep sleep again.

He woke with a start to the sound of loud knocking on his SGC cabin door.

"Comin'!"

He jumped off the bed and put some clothes on.

"Hey, you forgot?" Asked Sam Carter standing in the doors and smiling. "It's really late for you."

"What time…?" He tried to find any watch.

"Almost 1100. There was a briefing scheduled for 1000 but you did not show so we rescheduled it to 1200." She said. "But you should get up to eat something. The mess will remove breakfast menu in fifteen minutes."

"Thanks, Sam." Said Daniel and quickly grabbed some clothes. Then he closed the door to his room and left for the mess. After some time they were joined by Mitchell. "I must tell you, I had a pretty strange dream this night."

"Jackson," started Mitchell, "we are both used to your strange dreams. Shoot."

Daniel laughed with them wholeheartedly and started to tell them what he learnt from the Ascended. If they wanted to help Dr Weir, and they did, they had to know everything there was.