Now we're winding to a close...darn it. No, this is not the last chapter, but not too much more to go here. Another chapter or two. Three if I decide to go nuts. But anyway, this is the critical part where I'm winding down, trying to close everything, and I really need all of your input to keep me going so I can finish, so please review these last chapters and let me know if you've enjoyed it and are enjoying the ending. :) Thanks and enjoy this chapter:)

Chapter 39

Daniel managed to get almost to his destination without incident. Just as he turned the corner than brought him within sight of the door he needed to go through, however, déjà vu struck again when he found himself face-to-face with several jaffa.

"Darn it!" he yelped, turning to go around the other way and diving for the cover of the next hallway. But the jaffa had seen him, and a staff blast caught his arm as he dove. Crying out as he hit the wall on the other side of the corridor, he pushed off it with his uninjured arm and kept going, now out of sight of the jaffa. But they were following him. A spot on the top of Daniel's right forearm was now charred and bloody and hurt like heck, but he couldn't let it stop him.

He ran for all he was worth, knowing that he was as good as dead if the jaffa caught up to him. There was no use standing his ground to fight. There was only one of him, and several of them. Besides, if he could just make it into the chamber where the device was held, all he had to do--or so both Samantha Carters had said--was press that one button, and he would be back where he belonged and out of reach of the jaffa. There, only a few feet from another of the entrances to the room now…

Daniel shouted when another staff blast skimmed by his right leg, half of the blast burning away his pants leg there and leaving its mark on his flesh. He stumbled to a stop, clutching the door frame and pulled himself into the large, circular chamber. Gasping in pain, he staggered across the room to the device. Now where was that button…?

Just as he spotted it the jaffa gained on him again, showing up the doorway he had just come through. One of them fired…

Daniel reached for the panel with his good arm and pounded on the button, but it wasn't soon enough. The staff blast slammed into the his left shoulder, he started to fall, and then there was a brilliant flash of light…

The only thought Daniel had before blacking out was of where the blast had hit him. Déjà vu yet again…

SG-1 made it the Goa'uld facility's 'gate room with no problem, but alas an undetected escape was not meant to be. A contingent of jaffa caught up to their retreat just as Carter was dialing the 'gate. Daniel was still unconscious, and even though O'Neill was standing a little straighter he still couldn't walk without Sam's support, so the once the 'gate had opened the she and Jack hobbled quickly to the open wormhole with Teal'c not far behind.

Staff blasts rang in their ears but they made it through unharmed, and the iris was closed before any of the jaffa could follow. More weapons' fire thudded against the solid metal, but soon the 'gate shut down.

Jack sighed heavily as Carter lowered him to the ramp where they all collapsed tiredly, awaiting the medical team. They would need gurneys for both Jackson and O'Neill. The scientist was out cold, and the colonel couldn't walk.

"Another adventure over," he muttered.

"Yes sir," Carter sighed in answer.

Teal'c took Danny from his shoulder and gently set him on the ramp. Sam redirected his head to her lap before it touched the cold metal grating and tenderly straightened his glasses and stroked his forehead.

"He'll be all right…right, Carter?"

The major shrugged, wincing when she finally got a good look at the odd angle his left forearm was at now. Amaunet had really done a number on the limb. "Physically, he'll be fine in a few weeks, as soon as his arm heels, but…" She trailed off and shrugged. "I don't know," she finished quietly.

It was then that General Hammond came hurrying through the now open door to the 'gate room.

"Colonel, what happened?" the general asked, concern evident in his voice.

O'Neill had leaned forward and pressed his aching head into his hands. "Daniel should be back where he belongs now, but we had a little run-in with Amaunet before we could get out," he answered, looking up briefly to give Hammond a glance at the angry red burn on his forehead. The general quickly gave the rest of the team a visual once-over. Jackson had a similar, though not quite as bright burn on his own skin, and the left arm looked horrible. Major Carter looked a bit tired, but all right, and Teal'c was fine.

Hammond sighed. "All right then, colonel. Doctor Fraiser will be here shortly with a medical team. The de-briefing can wait until she's cleared you and Doctor Jackson from the infirmary."

"Yes sir," Jack nodded wearily. For once, he almost didn't mind being sent to the infirmary. After all, he would have a valid excuse to look after Danny until he woke up, and besides that he really needed a good rest himself.

A soft moan came from Carter's lap then, and she and the others looked down to see that Danny was beginning to stir.

"Jack…?" he said groggily, eyes still closed.

O'Neill looked up from his hands again. "Right here, Danny. What is it?"

"Sha're?" he mumbled.

"She'll be fine." Danny tried to move, but stopped and grimaced when his shifting sent pain shooting through his arm. "Go back to sleep, Daniel." But it seemed the suggestion wasn't need. Jackson was already nodding off again, and seconds later he was out.

Daniel groaned as consciousness returned. Someone was shaking him, and it wasn't helping his injuries any. On the contrary, it was only making the throbbing wounds hurt more.

"Daniel, can you hear me?"

"Daniel Jackson!"

"You with us, Jackson?"

Sam, Teal'c, Cameron, he realized as his mind cleared somewhat. That meant he was back in his own time, didn't it?

"Guys?" he asked quietly, his eyes opening a crack. All three were leaning over him, looking rather worried.

Carter sighed. "Thank goodness, Daniel, what happened?"

"How the crap did you get staff blast wounds in here?" Mitchell asked in pure confusion.

Daniel's eyes traveled to the device. "That thing," he answered hoarsely. "Don't touch it. I ended up in '99…"

Sam's eyes widened. "It was you!" she said as she realized what he was saying. Cameron looked at her strangely. "I mean, it really was going to be you--the other you that was here then, last time you were here…"

Now Daniel was looking at her strangely. "You remember it that way?"

She nodded, but now she seemed angry with herself. "Darn it, I knew we shouldn't have let you go on by yourself. You needed cover."

Daniel smiled weakly. "Don' t tell me you've been worrying about that for six years?"

"Well, not exactly," she shrugged. "But I sure was today. You scared me half to death when you went off by yourself when we got here earlier…"

"So…this is when I left?"

Carter nodded again. "It did the same thing it did then--returned you to the moment it pulled you from."

"Oh…" Daniel sighed. Then he grimaced, deciding that hadn't been such a great idea. He closed his eyes again as Mitchell said something about having read that mission report before as the colonel seemed to realize what they were talking about.

He felt Sam's hand on his forehead. "Don't worry, Daniel; we'll get you back to the SGC. You'll be fine," she assured him gently.

He was just able to give her a minute nod before he fell back into the darkness.

Once again Danny awoke to find himself staring at the plain white ceiling of the infirmary, its buzz in his ears. His head still hurt from exposure to the ribbon device, and his broken arm had been set and put in a cast. Blinking to clear his head, he turned to look for Jack, but there was no one sitting on either side of his bed as usual.

Sighing, Jackson started to settle back under his blankets for more rest before anyone noticed he was awake, but then from behind him there was a whistle for his attention.

"Over here, Danny-boy," came O'Neill's voice.

Danny turned to his left, and there in the bed beside him was Jack O'Neill. He blinked for a moment, trying to remember why Jack was in here with him this time. After a moment or so it came back to him. He rolled his eyes and dropped back onto his pillows.

"Jack, there's only one of me now. Do you have to keep calling me that?"

O'Neill shrugged. "I was kinda getting used to it."

"Well don't, because 'Danny' stops here," Jackson insisted.

"Okay, okay," Jack relented. "How's your arm?

Now it was Danny's turn to shrug. "It doesn't hurt so much anymore," he answered, glancing down at the cast that encased his forearm and the first part of his upper arm, trapping the limb in a bent position. "What about your head?"

"I've been better," O'Neill admitted.

"Ah…"

Danny sighed, and his eyes began to wonder the infirmary. Jack knew what--or rather, who--he was looking for, but said nothing until his friend stopped looking and sank back onto the bed.

"She's not here, is she?" he asked quietly, staring at the ceiling again.

"No, Daniel," O'Neill answered gently.

"What happened?"

Jack swallowed hard. "We weren't going to let Amaunet kill you. Teal'c had to zat the two of you to get her off you, but it was too soon after the first zat blast she took."

Danny went from tired and pale to white as a sheet. "W-what?" he stammered.

"We had to leave her there. They have a sarcophagus; she'll be fine," the colonel told him quickly. "She's still out there, Daniel. We'll find her again."

Jackson's eyes closed again and a tear or two trailed unbidden down his face. "You're right, Jack, but…I just wanted it to be over this time. I just hoped we'd have that thing out of her by now…But I don't guess we always get what we want, do we?"

O'Neill shook his head even though Danny wasn't looking at him. "No, but think about it this way: At least it isn't over. It didn't end like this. She's still alive."

Danny nodded weakly, not trusting his voice to respond again. Silently he turned over and pulled his blankets up to his neck again, burying his head in his pillows. His heart felt like shattering yet again, but he knew Jack was right. Sha're was still alive; there was still hope.

But no matter what happened in the end, now he knew that she stood by their promise as he did: Forever. They belonged to each other forever, and nothing could take that away from them.

Amaunet and her contingent departed from P5R-322 within hours of SG-1's escape, seeing no reason to remain. Daniel would not be able to find her so easily now, and Sha're knew it. Even as the rings took Amaunet to her ship Sha're fought to stay, but the Goa'uld ignored her.

Sha're took comfort in the fact of what she had discovered, however. She could send messages, thoughts through the hand device when Amaunet used it if she tried hard enough. She could use that to gain strength, to aid her in her battle against the demon that inhabited her body. Perhaps the next time the Goa'uld used the device she would try again, even if it wasn't Daniel. Being able to apologize to Amaunet's victims for what the parasite was doing with her body might help to keep her sane enough to stay strong. It was a control she did still have—her own mind, even if it was trapped and her own thoughts, and feelings,—and she would cherish them; use them to her advantage when she could.

Amaunet had not succeeded in killing Daniel. He was still out there, and still looking for her. She knew he would keep his promise, as she would, if only she could hold on until the day he found her again. But even so, Sha're still felt the guilt of what the Goa'uld had done to her husband, and the sorrow of not being able to be with him again, of not being freed this time around, that the encounter was over until the next.

The Goa'uld hu'tack vessel carrying Amaunet to her next destination jumped into hyperspace, and as the Goa'uld stood at the front viewport, watching the swirl of bluish-purple subspace rush by, her control faltered just long enough for a single tear of her host's to slip down her cheek.

Infirmary again, Daniel moaned inwardly, trying to bring the hazy blank ceiling into focus. Blinking, he turned his head to one side at a sound of movement to his right and saw a figure clad in dark blue and topped with silver. At first he thought it to be General Landry, but then realized it was too thin. Not to mention that Landry never wore his uniform jacket around the base. None of the few generals that had commanded the SGC over the years ever had.

"Welcome back," the figure said cheerfully. The voice was familiar, but couldn't possibly be who it sounded like. The man was holding his glasses out to him and Daniel quickly took them and put them back on his face. The only arm uninjured enough to reach out with had been his right, but even that one had suffered a staff blast burn to the forearm, which was now bandaged along with the other wounds. The pain that twinged through Daniel's arm, however, was quickly forgotten when the world suddenly came into focus, showing him just who it was sitting beside his bed.

"Jack? What the heck are you doing here?" he asked in surprise.

O'Neill shrugged. "I flew over, got here an hour or so ago."

"Shouldn't you be back in Washington?"

"Well, yeah, but hey, can't a guy take a day of every now and then to check up on a friend?"

"Jack, in the past two months I've only seen you once, and even then it wasn't because of one of the half a dozen times I ended up in the infirmary. Why now?"

Jack sighed. "Because this time I know what happened," he admitted. "All that…other stuff was new to me. I was just hearing about the Ori and all and trying to get it all straightened out over there….Well, to make a long story short I just never got the chance to come here myself to make sure you were okay. Not that I didn't want to. But I remember this, or…the part of it that happened six years ago anyway. By the way, didn't I tell you not to get yourself shot? And then you go and get shot three times on the way back here? For cryin' out loud, Daniel, sometimes I swear you're making me grayer on purpose."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, eyes going pointedly toward the general's hair.

O'Neill scowled. "Okay, okay, so it's already gray. Whiter then. Really, Daniel, are you ever going to stop making me worry about you?"

Jackson smiled in amusement. "I'll give you the same answer I did six years ago: Probably not."

O'Neill huffed and rolled his eyes. "Didn't think so." After a moment of silence he leaned his elbows on the bed. "So…how you doing?"

Daniel had to resist the urge to shrug. "I don't know," he admitted, looking away.

"Sorry it didn't turn out like you wanted it too," Jack said quietly.

"Yeah, me too," Daniel sighed. "But…at least she's not trapped in her own body with that Goa'uld anymore. She's not suffering…"

He knew it was true, but even as he said it he couldn't help feeling the familiar ache of missing her, worse now that he had seen her again. Not only did he have memories of what had happened six years ago from that point of view of being the younger, which were of course less clear, but of course he remembered it from the point of view he had now and what had, to him, happened over the past few days. The time spent with the older Sha're from his time had been pleasant even if filled with melancholy, but most of the rest of it was painful. Not that Daniel planned on admitting it to anyone, but he didn't know if he would be all right for a while.

O'Neill nodded. "Yeah, there's that…" It seemed as if he was going to say more, but then he looked up at the sound of shoes clicking on the infirmary floor. "Ah, here comes the new Doctor Lam. How's she dealing with you being in here all the time by the way?"

Daniel managed to laugh weakly at that. "I don't think she gets it yet. I think she still thinks all that was just a result of the trouble Vala made, not a regular occurrence."

"Ahh. Well, she'll learn, now won't she?" Jack grinned.