Okay, new chapter finally. yes, it's short, but it had to be. The next chapter will be longer, and the one after that...anyway, hope you enjoy this and please review! Thanks:)

Chapter 36

"Rise and shine, Jackson!"

Danny squinted and threw his arms up in front of his face as sudden sunlight streamed into the room, the subtle pain from his middle at the sudden movement forgotten for the glare in his eyes.

"Ah! Jack, I'm trying to sleep here for crying out loud," the archaeologist complained, rolling over and sticking his head under the nearest pillow.

"Not anymore, Danny. Time to get up and get back to the base. We've got a big day ahead of us today, whether we like it or not," Jack replied. He moved away from the window in his guest room where'd he pulled up the shade to the side of the bed and pulled the pillow off of his friend's head. Daniel squinted up at him for a moment, then closed his eyes again, turned away and pulled the blanket over his face in defiance. Jack pulled that away, too.

"Really, Daniel, come on."

Finally Jackson sighed and rolled onto his back again, looking up at the colonel and rubbing his eyes. "All right, all right. You don't have to be so aggressive about it…"

"I'm not being aggressive," O'Neill protested. "I'm just making sure you're not late for work again. That's what friends are for, right?"

Danny smiled and sat up, reaching to get his glasses from the bedside table. "Sure, Jack." He slid to the edge, his legs hanging off the bed. The big sweatpants that belonged to Jack bagged at his ankles, and the too large t-shirt left one shoulder almost exposed. He looked down at himself. "Why do you sleep in such big clothes?" he asked, trying futilely to straighten his hair with his hands.

O'Neill shrugged. "I like to be comfortable. And about that hair--we have these neat things called brushes for that."

Jackson grabbed one of the pillows left on the bed and threw it at him. The older man caught it and threw it back at him. It hit Danny in the face and sent him sprawling backwards onto the bed, so he sat up and launched it towards Jack again, who was hit in the chest and let it drop into his hands. He, however, did not throw it again.

"Okay, fun's over. Get ready for work, Doctor Jackson," O'Neill grinned, dropping the pillow on the floor. "I'll get breakfast. We have cereal, cereal, and…cereal."

"Yeah, fine," Danny relented, standing and straightening his glasses on his face as they had been knocked out of whack by the pillow impact.

"I'll get breakfast. We have cereal, cereal, and…cereal," Jack announced as he turned to go and allow Jackson to dress. "What do you want?"

"Cereal's fine," the scientist replied, snickering. After all, he usually ended up eating breakfast on the way to or already in his office, which consisted of a power bar or two. He could certainly deal with cereal.

Jack looked up from where he sat at the small table in his kitchen when Danny tramped in, wearing the same clothes he'd had on yesterday. Not that it really mattered. They'd both change into fatigues once they got to the SGC.

"Sleep okay?" O'Neill asked as his friend sat down and started to pour himself a bowl of Cheerios.

Jackson shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

Yeah, fine--sure. He seemed all right, but Jack was almost sure that at least two or three times during the night he'd woken to someone shouting, or crying, or…something. Vaguely the thought that he should get up and check on Danny had entered his mind, but he'd been too tired for the idea to take full root in his mind and had gone back to sleep. It hadn't really occurred to him what he'd been hearing until he'd woken up this morning. Now he was studying his friends closely, trying to make sure he was okay.

"What?" Danny asked, having noticed O'Neill's scrutiny.

"Nothing," Jack said quickly, turning back to his own cereal. "So…any nightmares?"

"A few," Danny admitted. "But I'm fine, Jack," he added, knowing what was on the older man's mind.

"Okay. How about those wounds?"

"They're fine. I'm fine. I feel fine, Jack, really."

O'Neill nodded slowly. "Okay, that's good."

But both knew it wasn't entirely true. Maybe the ache in his abdomen wasn't so pronounced anymore, and maybe he had managed to pull himself together for the most part, but Danny wasn't completely fine at all yet.

She's going to leave. Jackson's statement from the previous night of what was going to happen later in the morning echoed in Jack's mind. And he remembered the sorrow that had been packed into that one sentence, and the fear that his own Sha're would follow, that he wouldn't get her back, that had been there as well.

Jack could only hope that it wouldn't end that way, and that if it did he would be able to be there for his friend when he needed him.

"Dan'iel, you have syrup on your nose."

Daniel blinked. "I--what?"

"You've gotten syrup on your nose," Sha're repeated, grinning.

The two of them were sitting in the commissary eating breakfast. They had been talking, laughing, and eating, and Daniel had almost been able to forget that they weren't younger and this wasn't Abydos. He'd almost been able to push from his mind that this was the last time he would ever see her, and her him.

"It's right…there," she said, reaching out with one index finger and swiping the sticky substance from his skin. Daniel smiled back and ducked away as she wiped her finger on her napkin.

Jackson looked down at his plate and realized that syrup was all that was left on it; the waffles were gone, as was Sha're's cereal.

"Are you done?" he asked, just to make sure.

"I am," she confirmed.

"Okay," Daniel nodded, picking up his plate and her bowl to put them away. Once he had placed the washable items were they belonged and their trash in its place he returned to the table, where Sha're was standing.

He put his arm around her and they left the commissary together silently. Nothing more needed to be said. They knew what the other felt, what they were thinking, and the jumble of emotions that tumbled in the mind of each, and knew they had to be satisfied with making the most of the time they had left.

But just down the corridor the moment was shattered when Daniel shouted, dropping to his knees as ECF hit again. Sha're went to the ground beside him as he shivered, the space around him warping. When it stopped a few seconds later and he was left gasping she wrapped her arms around him.

"Dan'iel, are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah…"

"It is getting worse, Dan'iel. You still look pained."

He sighed and stood, schooling his features again. "It doesn't matter. With any luck we'll both be back where we belong later today."

Sha're steadied him when he swayed on his feet before regaining his equilibrium. Thankfully the seizure had happened and been over and done with before anyone had come around the corner and seen it. The last thing Daniel wanted was a group of people worrying over him. All he needed right now was Sha're--for the next two-and-a-half hours. That was how much longer they had before her team would return home…and then he would return to his own.

"Yes," Sha're sighed.

And then they were holding onto each other again, as they had the night before. Daniel kissed the top of her head. "It'll be okay," he assured her again.

She held onto him tightly, wondering how she could bear to lose him again but knowing that she had no choice but to. But suddenly Daniel gave another cry of pain and the warm body in her arms seemed to disappear.

Sha're's eyes snapped open. Daniel had stumbled back against the wall of the corridor, his body flickering violently, even worse than a few moments before.

"No!" he shouted, afraid that the Entropy Cascade Failure was trying to take him. He didn't even feel the floor when it came up to meet him, and couldn't see Sha're on her knees beside him even though distantly he could hear her calling his name. He could only feel the pain as the tendrils of time and space pulled at him--whether they were trying to pull him back to his own time or into oblivion, he didn't know for sure, but either way he wasn't ready to go.

"Dan'iel, Dan'iel!" Sha're cried desperately. But he couldn't answer; he shivered on the floor, the distorted space around him making his image blurry, for another minute or so before the ECF finally released him. When it had stopped Daniel lay motionless.

Sha're called his name again, but there was no answer. He was unconscious. But that was the least of her problems when her own world splintered.

Across the base the rest of both SG-1 teams had gathered in the corridor to go to breakfast together, but their short trek to the commissary was interrupted.

Carter went down first, and then the older Teal'c, both flickering wildly and slumped against the wall as the others exclaimed in worry. But then Mitchell followed, and the corridor erupted into pandemonium as Sam tried to explain what was happening and Jack, Danny and their Teal'c tried to understand. After all, hadn't they established in the briefing room the day before that this shouldn't be happening?

After several agonizingly long seconds of confusion, the ECF ceased again and the SG-1 of 2005 straightened again, breathing hard.

"It started early," Carter gulped, pushing off the wall.

"That's not good," Sam agreed.

Mitchell grimaced. "Okay, that was not pleasant."

"You okay?" Jack asked.

"We will be fine, O'Neill," the older Teal'c nodded.

"But let me guess--we should probably get out of here sooner?" Mitchell asked.

"Probably," Sam nodded.

"But wait a second," Danny interrupted. "If that just happened to the three of you, then what about…"

Carter's eyes widened. "Sha're and Daniel!"

They found them just around the corner from the commissary, Daniel out cold and Sha're recovering from her own bout of Entropy Cascade Failure. Without hesitation the older Teal'c scooped Jackson up while Jack helped Sha're to her feet, and the group made straight for the infirmary.