Okay, yeah, this chapter is a bit short...one of those interlude like things, issues that must be taken care of. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hope you will love reading. I REALLY want to know what you all think of this chapter, so please review! Thanks!

Chapter 33

Daniel stopped when his younger self turned an unexpected corner and headed off in a direction other than where he'd thought they were going.

"What? Where are you going?" he asked.

Danny stopped and turned back to him, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "Infirmary." He gave an embarrassed smile. "Janet made me promise to stop by again later so she could check up on me. Now's as good a time as any."

With that the younger Jackson continued on his way, and the older one followed him.

"I guess I'd better come with you. No doubt she's heard about the ECF tremor and wants to take a look at me. I should probably go to the infirmary before she sends someone looking for me."

"But she can't do anything about that-something about it's temporal, not corporeal…" Danny frowned.

Daniel shrugged. "I know. But you know Janet." Not to mention that he would take any excuse he could get to be around the pretty red-haired doctor that he missed so much. He almost hadn't realized how much he had missed her until he'd seen her again here. The only downside was it couldn't last-he would have to leave eventually. And, of course, the fact that he could do nothing about the fact that Janet would be killed four years from now…

Danny smiled again. "True."

The infirmary was relatively quiet, the only activity being a couple of minor injuries from other teams being treated by nurses on the outer edges of the main room. Doctor Janet Fraiser herself had seemed to be heading for the exit until the two Jacksons came through it. She drew up just in front of them and stopped. Her attention went first to Daniel.

"Oh good; there you are. I was just about to come looking for you myself, Daniel. Are you all right?"

Daniel started to open his mouth, but when he realized it was already hanging open and nothing was coming out he shut it again and swallowed hard around the lump that was forming again. Now is not the time to do this! Get a grip Daniel!

"Uh…yeah. I'm fine, Janet. It wasn't bad…I mean, you can't really do anything for it anyway…"

"I know," she nodded. "But I want to look you over, just be sure." Then her gaze shifted to Danny. "And you too. I see you kept your promise," she smiled sweetly at him.

Daniel watched his younger self in amusement as the younger Jackson blushed profusely. "Uh, well, yeah, I mean…don't I always?" He'd still been married at this point, so his feelings hadn't yet gone beyond affectionate friendship, not that they had ever gotten too much farther, but for cryin' out loud, had his subtle feelings for Janet always been so obvious? Fraiser, however, thankfully didn't seem to notice. Okay, so maybe he was only noticing because it was his own face he was looking at-well, sort of.

"When it comes to anything medical--no," the doctor informed him unflinchingly. She waved them over to a couple of the beds. "Over there, boys. Sit. I'll be right back."

The two obeyed her orders and each took a bad, sitting on the edges facing each other and waiting for her to return. A moment later, true to her word, Fraiser reappeared, finishing pulling rubber gloves over hands with a clipboard under her arm.

Danny blinked as she neared them. "Uh, who's that for?"

"You," she said, stepping up to the other side of the bed he sat on. "Now lay down so I can check those wounds."

Danny sighed and pulled his legs up onto the bed. Normally he would have swung them, but understandably didn't feel like doing so at the moment. Janet waited while he lay back against the pillows and gained a comfortable position, and then she pushed the open green shirt out of the way, and pulled his t-shirt up halfway.

"Ow!" Danny yelped purposely. Daniel smirked, knowing was he was doing, then suddenly looked at the floor, partly turned away, as the words that ensued brought back memories.

Fraiser crossed her arms over her chest. "Danny, I haven't even touched you yet."

"I'm practicing."

The doctor rolled her eyes, a rare occurrence for her. "I'm not going to hurt you, now be still," she ordered, and then gently began to pass her hands over the area of his stomach where the stab wounds had been, and where some small amount of scar tissue still remained under the surface. Danny did wince once or twice while Fraiser conducted her examination, but over all the symptoms he'd been having had reduced since the nightmares of the night before.

All the while Janet was talking to him, assuring him he would be fine, telling the latest bit of gossip from the ranks of the nurses, laughing with him, doing her best to boost his spirits as she knew that his mental state had been rather dark since returning from P5R-322. And over all making it obvious she was happy he was alive.

And Daniel sat where he was, knowing he was welcome in the conversation if he chose to take part, but suddenly being too lost in thought to form many coherent words. He watched them wistfully, knowing that had been him once, remembering Janet…and suddenly it came to a point where he could no longer gulp down the lump in his throat.

Daniel turned away then, staring at the floor again. But before he could stop it, several tears slipped from one of his eyes and down his cheek. But he didn't dare reach up to dry his face, or he would draw attention to himself. Seconds later more fell, and he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop them, drawing in a breath that shuddered much more than he'd wanted it too. Oh perfect. He hadn't meant to do this all. Not to mention in front of an audience…

On the bed across from him he heard Danny sit up, and for some reason he knew that both he and the doctor were looking at him, but he couldn't stop another tear from falling. Oh crap; that was the side of his face they could see, wasn't it?

"Daniel?" Janet asked in concern.

When he didn't answer he heard heels clicking on the hard military base floor, and a moment later felt a soft hand on his shoulder. "Daniel, are you all right?"

Daniel gulped and finally opened his eyes again and looked at Janet's concerned face, but still couldn't answer. What could he say? He couldn't tell her the truth. 'You're going to die.' Oh yeah, that'd go over well.

Danny looked back and forth between Fraiser and his older self, and instinctively knew that he should leave them alone. "Uh…I'm just gonna go fine the other guys…later Janet…" he said quietly, heading for the door. Fraiser nodded over her shoulder at him that he was all right and he could leave, then sat down next to Daniel. When Danny was gone they were left effectively alone; the only other couple of patients were far on the other end of the infirmary.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" Fraiser asked gently, rubbing his arm comfortingly.

Daniel pulled in a breath. "I can't," he whispered. He felt more tears slip from both eyes and wiped at them with his sleeve in frustration.

"What do you mean?" she prodded quietly.

Jackson looked away again, gulping air to keep the rest of the tears back, but it was useless. He missed her so much; if only she knew…He missed Sha're more than anything, and always would, but Janet's death was so much fresher a wound. He shook his head, not trusting his voice anymore.

Not knowing what else to do, Fraiser pulled him into a comforting embrace, and when his face hit her shoulder Daniel's tears broke from him and he cried. Not loudly, not sobbing, but just crying-crying for the lost friend he knew he would never see again after he left this time. When was the last time he had just cried? Had he ever just cried about the loss of the SGC's doctor? His friend? For the grief and guilt he had about what had happened? Had he ever really? Daniel couldn't remember, but now he did.

And Janet held him and let him cry, not knowing why he was, just knowing that he was a person who needed a friend at the moment. She probably thought it had something to do with Sha're, or everything that had happened over the past few days, or stress or exhaustion, or post traumatic stress symptoms, and maybe it was partly a combination of those.

But she could never guess the core reason, and Daniel couldn't tell her--and that only made it hurt even more. She could never guess what happened to be tearing his heart out at this particular moment in his life, as something almost invariably was. Janet was simply there for him as she had always been before she'd been shot by that jaffa, as he needed her to be right now, as a friend.

When the tears wouldn't come anymore Daniel let go of Janet and pulled back, staring at the floor again. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice barely audible.

"For what?" Fraiser asked kindly, her hand still on his arm.

For not being able to save you, either. But he only gave the other answer. "I didn't mean to do that to you. I mean, I-"

Janet sighed and pulled Daniel into another gentle embrace. "Daniel, it's all right. I know there's a lot going on right now. I'm sure you have a lot on your mind. Don't worry about it."

Daniel sighed and returned the hug this time, and held on for several long moments before letting go again and smiling weakly at her.

"Thank you," he said with all sincerity. Because suddenly, for some reason, he felt forgiven, and as if, maybe, he could forgive himself for what had happened to Janet. Because even as he looked in her eyes and wished he could tell her, save her, or at least so he could know for sure she didn't blame him, at the same time he somehow knew he didn't need to tell her. Janet was giving him his answer now; she was his friend, she cared for him, and she never would have blamed him for a death he couldn't have foreseen, couldn't have prevented.

And that was all Daniel really needed to know.