EPILOGUE
Three months later...
John walked into the freshly painted observation room, nodding his approval. It looked almost like the one in the other SGC. Someone had a very good memory. He frowned though, when he saw the lights were left on, and wondered who was wasting the rationed energy supply.
With the Asgards gone with only a promise of a visit in another few months, everyone had to create their own resources again, and it had been slow going. Waste wasn't productive to their reconstruction. Although, he thought, looking down at the worn jumpsuit he'd never bothered giving back to his counterpart, some new threads right now would be nice. John picked absently at the thread where a button for his pocket used to be. As he reached for the light switch, he stopped, seeing the thin figure almost hidden behind the flags by the window. He sighed, exasperated.
"What are you doing up?" John walked over to Dan and leaned against the glass, eyeing his brother. He frowned when he saw his younger brother hadn't bothered to bring his jacket or his cane with him, merely buttoning up his several layers of shirts again. "I was going to meet you down in our quarters."
"Wanted to see this," his younger brother murmured, waving a still too thin hand towards the window and the Stargate below it.
John gave the towering ring a quick appraisal. "Yeah, it looks pretty good right now. Siler's performing miracles getting it running smoothly for us again."
"I wasn't talking about that."
John waited patiently.
Dan leaned forward, pressing his forehead to the glass. "Do you remember how I was when I first saw this?"
A smile twitched John's lips. "Yeah."
"I was totally speechless. I thought it was the most wondrous thing in the world. I think I even called it...beautiful."
The smile faded as John began to understand.
Dan raised his head and laughed softly. "What a double edged sword it was, huh?"
"Most things in life are, Mutt."
Considering the large stone ring below, Dan mused out loud. "I don't know whether I'm glad to have seen this or not."
John darkened. "I'm not."
Sighing, Dan hobbled away from the window, shaking his head exasperated when he felt John take him by the elbow.
"I'm okay, John."
"You know what the docs say. Use the cane until you get stronger. And you need sleep. Regular sleep."
Nodding absently, Dan eased himself down into the chair John steered him to. "Say, I saw the guards coming through the Stargate before. Were they from reconn?"
Shifting uneasily, John didn't meet his brother's eyes. "I...uh...think so."
"Joohn..."
"Oh for Pete's sake. No, they weren't, okay?" Sticking his hands in his pockets, John mumbled, "They were from that mirror planet."
Dan sat up straighter. "Really?" He swiveled the chair. It squeaked as it turned back towards the window. "What for? Was it...did we get a message from...them?"
"Yeah." John stood there, debating it and gave up. "Ah hell." He slipped his hand under his jacket and pulled out a thinly wrapped package and an envelope. He dropped them on Dan's lap.
Eyebrow quirking upward, Dan took the envelope in his hands. "What the—?"
"Found them under the rubble of our house while I was there assessing the damage. They were old but looked good anyway," John muttered, acting as if it was no big deal. "We didn't have any labs up here yet, but I figured they could do something with their fancy machines there, so I sent them with our last message packet to them and—" He stopped, hearing Dan suck in his breath. Seeing his brother pull out what was in the envelope, hands stilling over what he held, John smiled, placing a hand on top of his brother's head.
Dan gazed down at the photos in his hands—the photo from Egypt and the one from Charlie's fifth birthday. He smiled sadly, thumb brushing against the glossy photo surface.
"We lost everything in that sub, John." Dan said softly, voice breaking.
Crouching down, John gave Dan's knee a brief squeeze. "Not everything," he reminded Dan in a hoarse voice. He nodded towards the package itself. "Colonel thought you might like this as well. Said he made a copy for you, too."
"Too?" Dan echoed as he unwrapped the package. He paused, fingers drifting over the small book. "Oh God."
John smiled again. "Apparently, your twin didn't have this, and he thought maybe you would like to start up your collection again."
"I was wrong."
Peering at the distant gaze on Dan's face, the hands stroking the item on his lap, John gave him a cautious poke on the shoulder. "Dan?"
Dan lifted his head and smiled. "He wasn't alone after all. He was right. He's not alone anymore."
Nodding, John sat there, staring at the book on Dan's lap. He gruffly pulled his brother closer, hooking an arm around the light colored head and gently pulling it towards him. He hugged him briefly and felt thin arms returning the embrace.
"Happy birthday, Danny."
Dan smiled against his shoulder. "Thank you."
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Cautiously looking at the man sitting on his living room sofa from over the rim of his beer glass, Jack chewed his lower lip thoughtfully, debating whether he should or not.
"Jack, are you going to move or what?"
Grinning, hearing the impatient tone in Daniel's voice, Jack knew the archeologist must have already thought out his next move on the board. Looking up, he was surprised to see the living room had emptied.
"Where did everyone go?" Jack asked, eyeing the remaining slices of birthday cake on the table. He casually got up, knowing it would irritate the hell out of Daniel and sauntered over to take another piece. He was going to have to ask Fraiser where she'd gotten it from. Even Teal'c, who normally didn't have a sweet tooth, had had two slices, along with Daniel. The first one they smeared on his face didn't count.
Jack's smile grew.
"Sam left right after you moved your knight, remember?" Daniel said in a mild scolding tone. He rolled up the sleeves of his cable sweater, eyeing the chessboard with a contemplative gaze. He absently waved a hand around the living room, now empty of the colorful wrapping paper and people that had filled the place hours before. "After she cleaned up the place."
"Oh yeah," the colonel drawled. "Must thank her for that. She has the makings of a good housemaid."
Daniel snorted. "Are you going to move or what?"
"Why, Doctor Jackson, do I detect a bit of...impatience in your voice?" Jack leaned on the table, slowly taking a forkful of cake into his mouth, pretending to pick the crumbs off his button down shirt. He took another bite, ignoring Daniel's sigh. Muffled, the amusement was audible anyway. "Had this been poker, I would have thought you had a full house or something." He chewed the treat in his mouth with exaggerated care, enjoying the sight of Daniel practically bouncing in his seat, eager to make his next move on the chessboard. Jack gestured towards the cake. "Want?"
Daniel shook his head, paused, then finally nodded slowly. Jack couldn't stop his grin from getting wider and wider. Daniel looked like a kid, fidgeting as he wondered how rude it would be to ask for another piece. Maybe because it was coffee flavored, he mused, remembering Daniel's surprise when he opened the door to let him in. The archeologist was under the assumption they were having a quiet dinner and a chess game, only to be jumped by a dozen friends in the living room. Jack choked back a laugh as he recalled Daniel yelping when Teal'c came up from behind, booming "Surprise" after everyone else had said it, missing his cue. Daniel practically leaped a few inches into the air.
"What's so funny?" Daniel asked suspiciously as he walked over to the table and took the last piece. Popping a stray broken chunk of cake in his mouth, he tried to hide the act of cleaning his finger of the mocha cream.
Jack smirked. "Want to lick the plate?"
Grimacing, Daniel popped the finger out of his mouth and dropped his hand.
Jack's smile faded. He supposed Daniel had rarely had moments like these. Hell, maybe never, knowing the private scientist. And judging by what he did know about Lily Spencer from Daniel and what he'd found out on his own, Daniel hadn't been very motivated to seek out permanent bonds with every family he'd been passed around to.
"What's the matter?" Daniel darted a look over to Jack, reading the dark mood brooding behind brown eyes. Daniel cautiously leaned closer, peering at Jack's face. "Jack?"
Eyeing him up and down, Jack sighed. Putting the plate down, he fumbled around the napkins until he pulled out the hidden thin square box wrapped simply with brown postal paper and tape. "Here," he said gruffly. "Happy birthday." Jack plopped it into Daniel's hand, trading the archeologist's cake for it.
Daniel stared down at the package and blinked. "Uh...excuse me?"
"Birthday? You know...day you get presents?" Jack snorted through his nose. "You're supposed to get a year older and wiser, not dumber!"
"Uh...correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I get something from you already?" Making a face, Daniel nodded towards the box tucked behind the armchair, the wrapping paper folded neatly with the rest. He rolled his eyes, remembering how heavy it had felt before opening it and realizing why. "I thought the rock was it."
"You mean Lucy?" Jack grinned. "Nah. Figured your first pet rock needed a mate now. Some day, they'll have pebbles together."
"Oh...joy." Rotating the package, Daniel gave it a cautious shake.
"Hey, hey! Watch it! That could be an artifact or something!" Jack protested. He frowned at Daniel's disbelieving look. "What? It could happen!"
"You, Colonel Jack O'Neill, would go out there and buy me an artifact at the risk of me babbling," Daniel waved two fingers in the air to quote himself, "about it?"
Jack grinned crookedly, leaning against his table. He grabbed a beer bottle and twisted open the beverage as he drawled, "Yeah, sure. I'm a great connoisseur of rocks."
Daniel opened his mouth, then shook his head. "I'm not going to even try."
Chuckling, Jack shrugged one shoulder. "Figured maybe...wasn't sure if they'd find it in time and well...when they did, the owners gave me a hard time about it and...ah hell! Will you just open it?" He waved his bottle at the package Daniel was still studying in his hands.
Daniel shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips as he plopped down in the armchair, giving the package one more shake before he gingerly peeled back the first cellophane tape.
Jack rolled his eyes. "For crying out loud, Daniel! It ain't going to blow up or disintegrate or anything!"
"Just want to open it nice and neat," Daniel muttered as he slowly peeled off the next piece of tape, making Jack regret sealing the damn thing so securely.
"Hurry it up, will you? I'm aging here!"
Daniel stopped mid-peel, his thumb and index finger still holding onto the tape, and broke into a rare grin, a mischievous twinkle in his light colored eyes. "Oh, don't go blaming me for that!"
"Daniel!"
Chuckling softly, not catching the matching smile on Jack's face as the colonel saw his amusement, Daniel tore off the last piece of tape, parting the halves of brown paper.
It was a book.
Eyebrow arching above the rim of his glasses, Daniel frowned, seeing the plain looking dark blue cover. A book? He looked up at Jack, but the man was taking a sip of his beer, his face concealed behind the amber bottle. Shrugging, Daniel ran his hand across the scratchy surface, the feel of crushed powder under his palms tickling his memory. He'd felt this surface before somewhere...
Daniel stopped.
"Jack..." he murmured, pulling his hand away, unsure.
The colonel smiled, his eyes a soft caramel color as he nodded towards the package. "Go on...take it out." He tilted the beer back, one eye hidden behind the bottle once more, the other peering at him, waiting.
With a pair of shaky hands, Daniel cradled the thin volume, simple, plain, not the fanciest of bindings, no gilded edges on the pages, the sheets not perfectly cut, but Daniel couldn't tear his eyes away from it. Thinking maybe he was mistaken, that it couldn't possibly be, Daniel swallowed, turning the book on its side and nearly dropped the volume.
1970.
Etched in gold, near the bottom, it bore the year of its publishing date. Daniel ran his index finger over the numbers, every single digit. He nervously ran his tongue over his lips as he opened the cover, the smell of fresh ink greeting him as the first page curled under his hand.
Egyptian Mysticism.
"Oh God..." Daniel whispered softly, unable to say anything more. He scanned the pages greedily, never having seen the entire text, only having gotten a glimpse of the book before she took it from him the very next day after he'd received the books from the estate. He'd had only enough time to feel the scratchy surface of the book, rubbing against his fingertips before it left his grasp for hers.
"I liked that inscription inside," Jack suddenly spoke, his tone quiet and somber.
At the mention, Daniel's eyes wandered to the first page again, the words blurring, watery, before they focused once more.
To those who sit beside me. My greatest treasures.
"He wrote this while keeping me company when I was sick," Daniel whispered hoarsely. "He read it out loud to us, but I didn't understand at the time...if only..." He looked up, mouth slightly open. "I...I...how?"
Jack shrugged, shifting in his seat. "Made a few calls." A dozen actually. Those freaking people moved more times than Maybourne changes agendas. He furrowed his brow as he hesitantly added, "Uh...it's not the original as you can tell. They wouldn't part with it no matter what, but they finally let me make some copies, including the handwriting in the margin and got someone to figure out that funny cover they used, but it isn't the same original one, I know and—"
"It's perfect," Daniel interrupted, closing the book, clasping his hands over it as he spoke. "It's just...just perfect." He peered over his glasses at Jack.
"You're welcome, Daniel," Jack replied to the shining gratitude with a soft smile. He knew Daniel wanted to say a lot more, but old habits died hard, and the scientist didn't know how. He coughed, giving Daniel a chance to recover and casually tipped his bottle back, emptying the last of the beer. He looked around his drink, watching as Daniel carefully wrapped the book back in its paper.
"Jack...I..."
"You know," Jack said abruptly in a loud voice, strolling casually over to his seat on the sofa again before sitting down. Daniel stopped, staring at Jack. "I bet," the colonel grinned cockily as he gestured towards the chessboard with his beer, "that I can check you in five moves."
Daniel stared at him, blinking before he slowly smiled. "Are you sure? You were never really good at this game."
"Please...it's all strategy and who better at it than a seasoned veteran?" Peering at the board again, mentally calculating, Jack waggled his eyebrows. "No, make that...four."
Rolling his eyes, Daniel retrieved his beer from the table and took a long sip before walking over to the couch again. Sitting down a short distance from where Jack was, Daniel didn't look at the chessboard. Mimicking Jack's drawl, he countered with, "Three."
Jack's smile faded a bit. He looked back down at the board. "You're bluffing."
"You know I'm bad at cards. I can't bluff."
"Yeah, well you've learned a lot over the years, big guy," Jack grumbled as he scratched his chin with a thumb. He glared at the board, then at Daniel. "Three, huh?"
"Could be two," Daniel added innocently.
Jack's eyebrow arched at the challenge. He reached out and touched his bishop with his index finger and thumb. Then he jerked it back. "Two?" he repeated.
"Or three," Daniel pretended to check his watch. He caught the dirty look Jack gave him and laughed. "Okay, maybe four is the right number."
"Thought so," grumbled Jack as he lifted his bishop.
"Then again...it could be three."
"Daniel!"
The laughter filtered out of the room and slowly carried into the comfortable night. The light inside the house stayed on for a very long time.
The End
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Author's Note: Thank you for reading. I know it was bit of a long ride. This novel's almost 7 years old now, wow. I want to thank the SG fandom, everyone over at Stargatefan, Cathy, Gatejunkie. This was originally a 3o page standalone where Dan was slated to die. It ballooned 900 pages more later thanks to them. I'd never done anything of this length before. It has been quite an experience. I hope it was worth the long read. Again, any related fic to the verse or cough, cough sequels will return back to Stargatefan (dot) com. Where it all began... :)
