Jack opened his eyes slowly.

He felt disconnected and warm and he was surrounded by lights.

A moment of panic gripped him before he realized what was different.

The smell.

Everything smelled of antiseptic. It burned his nose.

It was the best smell he'd ever remembered smelling before, because it meant he was home. He swallowed back the urge to cry in relief at being back, but also at the thought that he was stuck with these remaining injuries. There would be no warm light to surround him and ease his pain.

Quickly, he shoved that line of thought out of his mind.

He heard Major Carter's voice and focused on it until the words made sense. "Doctor Frasier says he'll probably suffer withdrawal symptoms from so much time in a sarcophagus, but otherwise she expects a full recovery."

"What happened to the woman he went back for?"

Why did Daniel sound so young? When did his voice get the innocence and curiosity back?

Wait, no. It wasn't Daniel. It was Jonas.

Daniel was gone and something lurched inside of him like it was hitting him again for the first time.

He could almost hear the break in Carter's voice, the one that showed she was coming off an adrenaline high and probably no sleep for days and she wasn't sure if she wanted to pass out or stay awake to soak it all in. "Her name's Shallan." It echoed through the synapses of his brain. Shallan. Shallan. Shallan. Yes. Her name was Shallan. Is. Jack's head still swam a little. "She decided to stay with the Tok'ra."

Where she belonged. Jack was pleased by the news even if he didn't outwardly show much emotion. His ability to control the expressions on his face seemed to be taking a vacation day.

He could hear Teal'c. "So she may continue Kanan's fight in his name."

Jack felt a surge of pride in her. Was it him feeling it or was it the remains of Kanan? He didn't know. He was too tired to figure it out. "Hey," he called out weakly. "Trying to sleep here."

The rest of his team turned and huddled around him, all smiles. The urge to cry washed over him again. He knew he should be concerned about the state they'd found him in and worry about looking weak in front of them, but he couldn't muster enough strength to give much of a damn about that. He could barely manage the strength to continue feeling the guilt he'd been carrying around after Daniel's death. Even the guilt over Charlie was hard to keep clutching onto, even though he clawed at it with his fingertips to not lose it. Thankfully the longer he was awake the easier it was to fill the cracks in with superglue and duct tape over them and he knew that it was only a matter of time before his foundation of guilt from transgressions both large and small over the years was solid again. Eventually he'd be back to his normal.

"Sorry, sir," Carter said as she beamed down at him. "Glad to see you're okay."

"Listen," he mumbled, dry tongue scraping over dry lips in a failed attempt at moistening them, "Was a good idea you had there."

Sam glanced at Teal'c and Jonas before looking back at him. United we stand. The whole is greater than the individual. Go Team Us. "Actually, sir, we all contributed to it. Do you need anything or…?"

"Water," he croaked out.

She nodded. "Sure," she said, turning to leave, Jonas and Teal'c following with her. It was that unspoken understanding they all had between each other and he knew they were leaving to let him become better reacquainted with the land of the living and not because they didn't want to be there.

He heard Janet's voice faintly, that soft chiding tone saying enough that he didn't need to hear the words to understand her. He was being left to rest and now that SG-1's members were all satisfied he was awake and overall as fine as he could be, they were probably being banished in favor of rest, food and showers.

Jack watched them from the gap in the curtain as they left.

"I always seem to be saying goodbye to you," Daniel said as he stood there next to the bed. Jack lulled his head to the side to look at him.

"Yeah, I noticed that. Why don't you stick around for a while?" Jack asked hopefully.

"I can't, really."

"You just did."

Daniel smirked a little. "Special occasion."

"Christmas?"

"Nooo," Daniel drawled out, arms crossed over his chest, lips twisted into a frown.

Jack tried to stamp down the lurch in his heart at the familiar stance. How was it possible to miss Daniel more when he was standing in front of him? "Groundhog Day?" he suggested jokingly.

Daniel shook his head. "No," he repeated.

"I've got my journey, you've got yours?"

Daniel nodded at that and smiled sadly. "Something like that, yeah." He paused, expression shifting to one a little more serious. "Look, I know you don't think so right now, I mean I know you have your doubts, but uh," Daniel stammered as if he wasn't sure what to say. He had so many words available to him, it was hard to narrow them down. "Because you've been through something that no one should have to go through… I guess what I'm trying to say is, you're gonna be alright."

"How do you know?" Jack asked.

"You're just gonna have to trust me." Daniel smiled again, that same sad smile as before.

"I can do that. You gonna be okay?"

Daniel nodded again. "Yeah, I'm gonna be fine." Somehow, Jack felt he would be. They both would be.

God he hoped this wasn't a delusion.

Jack's eyes veered toward the door as it opened and Carter stepped in. He looked back and Daniel was gone.

"Here you go, sir," Carter said as she carried in a cup of water to set at his bedside.

"Thanks," Jack whispered to her. Her smile, her bone-weary smile of joy and success, overshadowed some of the dark emptiness he'd been feeling. "Goodnight," she said quietly, touching his arm lightly as if to remind herself that he was actually there.

She walked out and Jack suddenly felt very alone, but strangely not lonely.

He looked at the ceiling and whispered, "Thanks." Somehow he knew Daniel heard.

THE END.

I would like to give everyone who has read this and everyone who has commented on it a very heartfelt THANK YOU. I'm very happy my little writing exercises have been so well received. I'm trying to figure out what episode to do next. I'm very open to suggestions! What was your favorite episode and why?