Daniel figured 'where am I?' was a whole lot better than struggling and panicking. He gave the officer a relieved smile that was mingled with a lot of adrenaline. He'd been sitting in a chair by the officer's bed, waiting for him to wake up, and had dozed off. When Officer Ruff had woken so abruptly, it had actually startled Daniel into wakefulness as well, causing him to fall out of the chair he'd dozed off in.

"You're safe."

Which was a good answer, but apparently wasn't good enough for the deputy. He frowned, turning his head to look around. Daniel knew there wasn't much to see, since Fraiser had put him in an isolated room with the curtains surrounding his bed to keep him from being too distressed when he woke.

"Safe where?"

He and Jack had discussed what he could tell Officer Ruff as O'Neill had walked Daniel to the infirmary. It was obvious they weren't going to be able to keep too much of the place a secret – Ruff already knew far more than they really wanted him to, through no fault of his own – so there was no real reason to hide some of the more general information that could be given. Especially if it helped put the deputy at ease when he was so badly on edge.

"In a military compound under Cheyenne Mountain," Daniel replied. "In Colorado," he added, when Ruff just stared at him.

"I'm on Earth?"

"Yes."

There was a long silence, which Daniel was loath to break. The man looked like hell and had been through even worse. Probably he didn't even believe what he was hearing, or just couldn't bring himself to hope it was true. Daniel could understand that. After several minutes of silence, though, he had to speak.

"I don't know if you remember our first meeting," he said. "I'm-"

"Daniel Jackson," Ruff replied, showing that there was nothing wrong with his memory.

"You do remember."

Ruff nodded.

"I'll never forget it."

Which made Daniel squirm a little in embarrassment. He wasn't used to being the hero, after all. He was usually the guy that got lost. Before he could figure out what to say next, Officer Ruff spoke again.

"We're in a military instillation?"

"Yes."

Another look at Daniel, this one more appraising.

"Are you in the military?"

"I'm an archeologist."

"Really?"

Now Ruff looked confused, and Daniel couldn't blame him.

"Yes. But here at the SGC I'm usually the answer man when it comes to the system lords."

Which meant nothing to Ruff.

"Listen, Mr. Jackson. How-"

"Call me Daniel."

"Thanks. I'm Anthony."

Daniel nodded; putting a pillow behind Anthony's back to support him a little more. Moving hurt, but not as much as it had when he'd first woken up, so maybe he wasn't as badly injured as he first thought he had been.

"How did we get here?"

"Thor beamed us over to his ship and then returned us here so-"

"Thor?"

Daniel nodded, realizing he'd gone way too fast for the confused deputy.

"He's an Asgard. They're the same race as the little alien that-"

"I know what an Asgard is, Daniel," Anthony interrupted. "That's all the sand people would talk about."

"The sand people?"

Anthony shook his head.

"It doesn't matter." He rubbed his face, and winced as he touched a bruised area. Then his head came up abruptly. "I need to call my wife. I can't even imagine how worried she's been this whole time." He smiled for the first time Daniel had seen. "Probably thought I'd gone off and run away with another woman or something, or maybe she-"

"Anthony…"

Daniel felt a pang go through him at the excited tone of Anthony's voice once he'd started discussing his wife. The one thing that would have pleased him the most was going to stab him in the gut.

The deputy looked up at him, his eyes bright. He saw the hurt in Daniel's expressive gaze, however, and knew whatever was coming wasn't good. He'd delivered plenty of bad news himself in his career, after all.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to tell you this…" Daniel told him.

"What?" Ruff asked, sharply. "Is it about my wife?"

The archeologist nodded.

"I'm afraid so. There was an accident last year. A car ran into hers, and pushed her off the road. She was killed instantly. I'm sorry, Anthony."

"She's dead?"

He couldn't believe it. The only thing he'd had to live for in all the time he'd been with the sand people and with the Ghouls, and she wasn't even alive? He felt his stomach clench and would have thrown up if there had been anything in his stomach to lose. As it was, he gagged, and Daniel stepped forward, uncertain what he could do but feeling like dirt for being the one to burst the happy bubble.

"Yes."

Anthony turned in the bed, rolling over onto his side away from Daniel. Since that put him on the injured side, Daniel knew it had to be painful, but the deputy didn't shift positions to avoid the discomfort.

"I'm sorry, Anthony," he repeated, helplessly.

The deputy nodded, but didn't turn back over. Daniel thought he heard a muffled sob, but couldn't think of anything to say. He had to try, though. He'd just broken the man's heart, after all.

"If there's anything I can do…" he started.

Anthony shook his head, his face buried in the soft pillow he was leaning against. He'd been planning on thanking Daniel for helping him escape the Ghoul and Jaffa, but now he almost wished he'd never met the archeologist. He'd still be a captive, true, but at least he wouldn't have learned he'd lost the love of his life and hadn't even known it.

Daniel sighed, softly, and pulled the blankets up over the deputy's shoulder.

"Get some rest," he murmured. "We'll talk again later."

There was no reply, but Daniel didn't really expect there to be. He squeezed the man's shoulder for just a moment, and then left him alone.