Spoilers for "Torment of Tantalus" and "Fire and Water"
Two Weeks Later
Sam and Jack are off-world, on one of Jack's pre-natal appointments. The doctor smiles at him, "You're far enough along for our scan now."
"Just now? Our doctors have been able to do sonograms since the very beginning," Jack says in surprise.
Then the baby appears above his stomach in three dimensions and motion. "The baby looks like you could reach out and touch it!" Jack explains.
The doctor blinks at him, "Do not your scans have the same effect?"
Sam giggles at her husband, having to eat a bit of crow after his rather pompous comment a few minutes ago.
"That is impressive. Does it say that everything is all right?"
The doctor smiles, "Your daughter is perfectly all right."
"Daughter?" Jack says with a grin.
The doctor looks at the computer in front of him, "Oh, your daughter does have a slightly genetically higher chance of three disorders; all of them are fairly minor things. I'll print out the percentages for you."
"How do you know this?" Sam asks in awe.
"You are a scientist, would you like your daughter's genetic profile? There are several highly beneficial genes in it. You daughter has a good chance of being both physically fit and intelligent."
"How do you know all this?" Jack asks this time.
"Her genetic profile," the doctor says, as if the couple was particularly dense.
"On our world, most people don't figure out their child's genes until after the child is born. It's possible to do it before, but there is a little chance that it could result in losing the baby, so people don't do it unless they have a good reason. And most people don't do a genetic test even after the child is born. And even if our people do the test, they wouldn't be able to find out as much about the baby as you seem to do."
"So you want a copy of your child's reading?" the doctor asks again.
"Yes, please, and if there would be a way to get a textbook on this sort of technology I would appreciate it as well."
"Have you not unlocked the secrets of the genetic code?" the doctor asks in surprise.
"Apparently not as well as you have. We've haven't even finished mapping the genome.* We certainly haven't figured out what most of the genes do!"
"This knowledge is very valuable," the doctor says with a smile.
Jack flinches, he knew this wasn't going to be this easy.
"We might have to send a diplomat through to discuss the exchange of gene technology for knowledge of the Stargate."
The doctor smiles, "I think that might be a wise plan."
Two Months Later
Daniel stops Janet's office after work. "Ah… Catherine and Ernest are going to be on Earth for a couple more days. We were all going out to eat with them tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come."
Janet blinks in surprise. "It would be an honor."
-0-0-0-
As Janet approaches the table, Ernest stands up. She thinks for a minute that he's just being delightfully 1940s. But he pulls her into a hug.
"Ah… ok," Janet says awkwardly, trying to escape from his embrace.
"I told you to lay off the hugs there, old boy," Jack says.
"Give him a break," Daniel says, "He's been without human contact for a long time." There is something in his eyes which makes Janet suspect that Daniel knows what that is like; to a lesser degree of course.
"I like your necklace," Janet says to Catherine as she sits down.
"Oh, thanks, honey; it's from Ancient Egypt. Daniel took it to Abydos on the first trip," she says.
Daniel's cheeks go red.
"Yeah, it made the natives worship him," Jack points out.
"They didn't really worship me so much as…." Daniel starts to object.
"No, they pretty much worshipped him," Jack objects.
Everyone at the table laughs, including Daniel.
"You know, Daniel, I didn't have a chance to ask you before. What happened with Sha're?" Catherine asks.
He hangs his head for a second. No one speaks. Sam clears her throat, and says, "Ah… Sha're died, about six months ago."
"I'm so sorry," Catherine says taking his hand.
Daniel looks, for one brief second like he's going to cry. Then he looks directly at Catherine, "I'm going to make sure that more people don't have to die because of the Goa'uld."
"That's a noble task, sweetie," she says, tapping his hands.
"What about you, any men in your life?" Ernest asks Janet abruptly.
"Ah…" Janet glances at Daniel. The maybe-date happened quite some time ago. He hasn't said anything to her since then. She's dated a few men since then, but there has been nothing serious. "Not really."
"Jack and Sam just got engaged," Daniel says cheerfully.
"I thought I saw a bit of sparkle on that finger of yours," Catherine says, holding up her hand toward Sam. Sam places her hand in the older woman's and the woman admires the ring.
"I should get you one of those," Ernest says.
"I still have the one that you gave me years ago. I just didn't want to start wearing it again until you said something."
Ernest slides off his chair and onto the floor. Teal'c tries to catch him, obviously being under the impression that he is under some kind of distress. The man shakes him off, and goes down on one knee. "Catherine, may I have the pleasure of marrying you?"
Catherine grins, "Of course," she says, leaning over to give him a kiss.
Daniel starts a loud clap that spreads around the room. Sam lets out a whistle, and Jack let out a whoop.
Everyone stands up, and hugs are passed around the group, much to Ernest's delight. Daniel's hug with him is a little longer than most. Daniel remembers how desperate he was for touch when he was eight years old and his parents were dead. And he never spent decades as the sole inhabitant of a planet.
"So Ernest, have you noticed a few changes since coming back to Earth?" Daniel asks.
Ernest leans forward with a scandalized face, "The women wear pants."
"Much easier to move in," Sam says, with a slightly offended face.
"And you have these, TV-type things," Ernest begins.
"Computers, honey," Catherine says, lightly tapping his arm.
"Right, you have these computers everywhere."
"I would say that would be different," Jack says.
"This this stone music," Ernest says, shaking his head.
"He means rock and roll," Catherine says, covering her mouth with a giggle.
"In that case, you might be glad that you missed the sixties, am I right?" Jack asks, looking around the table.
"Jack, sweetie, I think you and Catherine are the only people at the table who actually remember the sixties," Sam says.
"No way," Jack objects, looking around the table. The rest of the table nods their assent.
"Well that makes me feel old," he complains, rubbing his stomach absently. He feels a bit too old to be pregnant right now.
"Hey, now, watch yourself," Catherine teases.
"Sorry, ma'am," Jack says.
"Don't you start ma'am-ing me now. That's almost as bad as calling me old," she says playfully. "Now, Jack, I've already given Daniel an earful about why you didn't tell me he was back on Earth. What is your excuse for keeping this from me?"
Jack smiles, "Well, Catherine, I've been just a little bit busy."
Catherine glares at him, "You couldn't take five minutes out of your busy schedule to make a phone call."
"It was classified," Sam defends.
"I am going to be kept in the loop from now on, right?" Catherine asks in a voice of accusation.
"We're not going to be able to give you the details," Jack says.
"But the big, world-altering headlines?" Ernest asks with an enthralled look on his face.
"I'll call you with those from now on," Daniel promises.
Two Days Later
Janet rushes into the gateroom for some unknown medical emergency. Whenever she is rushing down the corridor, she tries to prepare herself for whatever she is going to find in the room. The only problem is that at the SGC, there is no way that you can predict what is going to happen.
The members of SG-1 (minus Jack, due to his recent paternity light duty, and plus his wife) appear to be in shock, and even worse, there is a member of SG-1 that is missing. Daniel. He'd gone through some training since joining the SGC, but not enough to survive on his own. If he was on his own, it was bad. Very bad.
"Captain, look at me. Look at me!" Janet demands of Sam. Sam looks up at Janet, but there is almost no understanding in her eyes.
"They're in shock," she informs Hammond, "Get them to the infirmary!" The medical unit grabs the team and pulls them to their feet. Janet really needs to know what happened to Daniel, but this team needs medical attention first.
"Captain? Where's Dr. Jackson?" Hammond demands.
"Daniel Jackson…" Teal'c says, but even this stoic man was unable to keep it together long enough to get the whole sentence out.
"Daniel's dead, sir," Ferretti says, leaving the room, reeling.
-0-0-0-
Janet can't really afford the time for a break right now. The members of SG-1 are still in shock in her infirmary, but they weren't in any danger, and her staff was looking after them. Death always sucks. But doctors, they spend their whole lives fighting death. And when you save someone as a doctor, there is some connection there that is powerful. Daniel, he was hers. Hers to watch over, hers to keep safe, hers to keep alive.
And she'd failed.
Granted, he hadn't been directly under her care when it happened, but still… she felt responsible.
"Sorry, doctor… but we need you to interpret some test results," a nurse says from her doorway.
There will be time enough to grieve when she is home.
-0-0-0-
Sam can't believe she just threw Ty's trike across the yard. She's glad the kid is out of the house for the day because of the wake. He really doesn't need to see mom freak out. She also came pretty close to yelling at General Hammond. She knows there is something wrong with her. Something more than just grief. She never got like this when her mother died.
"Hey, I thought I had dibs on being the crazy one, at least until the baby was born," Jack whispers coming up behind her.
"Jack, I don't know what is going on," she whispers, and her voice sounds more terrified than she meant it to.
"Daniel is dead, Samantha."
"Is he?" she asks.
He whips her around so he can see her face, "You were there, Samantha. You would know."
"I know that, and I know that he is dead. I remember watching him die. But I also keep expecting him to just… show up. I know that sounds like normal grief. But I know what normal grief is like, and this isn't it."
Jack searches her eyes.
"I think I should go back to the base," she says in a stunned voice.
"I'll drive you," he says.
"Jack we have people here; we're in the middle of a wake."
"A wake for someone who might not even be dead; I'll kick 'em out," he says with a shrug.
"You stay, and I'll go to the base," she says firmly.
"Ok," he says giving her a quick smile.
-0-0-0-
"You're back from the dead," Janet says to Daniel as he enters her infirmary. He can't read something in the words as she says it.
"Yeah, well, that happens to me occasionally," he says flippantly.
"You can take a seat, and I'll examine you," Janet says.
"Don't let her near you with a penlight," Jack advises.
"Janet can do whatever she needs to with me," Daniel says, sitting down on the exam table with a bounce which definitely indicates that he ISN'T dead.
"What an invitation, doctor," Janet says in a sultry voice.
Daniel's cheeks go bright red.
Janet smiles. He's fun to tease. She takes the light to shine in those gorgeous eyes of his. "This had better be the last time I sign your death certificate, Daniel," she warns him. She missed him, more than she should have.