I'm sorry for that last cliffhanger. I was considering making this chapter a cliffhanger too, but that would just be cruel. I don't want to be that one writer who always leaves the story hanging.

Anyways, the team has found Daniel! But not all may be as it seems...

Chapter 3

Daniel Jackson stood and examined his former teammates with the ocean-colored eyes they hadn't seen in five years. "It's good to see you," he said softly.

Sam gaped, unable to believe what her eyes were showing her. Daniel was alive. He was right in front of her. Teal'c and Jack were no more composed: Teal'c's usual stoic mask had completely shattered for the first time since Daniel originally disappeared, and Jack was staring intently at Daniel's face as if he couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

"Daniel…" Sam rushed forward and hugged him. He lurched back slightly as though startled, but accepted her embrace. She buried her face in his shoulder and let herself cry. The sensation of his arms around her caused a new surge of tears to flow, but she regained her control. Recovering her dignity, she moved to the side to allow Jack to hug Daniel as well.

"Space monkey," Jack muttered affectionately. Sam wanted to both laugh and cry at the old nickname Jack had once used for Daniel, one of the first times he had miraculously escaped death and returned to them. It seemed fitting that he reused it now.

When Jack released the younger man, Teal'c came forward as well. For a long moment, the four friends clung to each other, delighting in the feeling of finally being reunited.

Sam blinked away tears and tried to straighten her thoughts, with limited success. "Daniel," she whispered, her voice trembling. "What happened to you? How did you get here?"

A distant look spread across Daniel's face, as though memories long buried were rising to the surface. He flicked his hand, and Derin and the guards left the tent. Sam exchanged a look with Jack as Daniel exhaled.

"I barely survived the explosion," he explained, still in that same quiet tone. "I managed to beam onto the Goa'uld ship and steal a Glider. The controls were damaged, so I wasn't able to fly it back to Dakara or Earth. I ended up in the outer reaches of the galaxy, where I met this group. I earned their respect, and they earned mine. We've been working together ever since."

Something about his explanation didn't correlate with the reports of the people they'd met along the way. "Daniel… when you disappeared, a lot of us thought you were dead. The Tok'ra searched for you for over a year, and they never found anything. Why didn't you come back?"

Daniel didn't meet her eyes. "I had no way of knowing what had happened. I didn't know if any of you were still alive, or if it was safe."

Jack moved forward. "Look, Daniel, a lot's happened. We got word that there's a group that's rising to fill the gap left by the defeat of the Goa'uld. We were told…" he trailed off. "That you had the knowledge of the Ancients."

What happened next reminded Sam of the Tok'ra, but to a degree that frightened her. Daniel's pale face shifted, his eyes going dark and almost hollow. His posture changed, becoming more tense and battle-ready, the corners of his mouth tightening. If Sam hadn't known who it was that stood before her, she never would have recognized her best friend.

"So you came to ask me to do the Ancients' work for them? After what they did to me?!" Daniel snapped harshly, startling her with the rage that suddenly flared. It wasn't Daniel's voice, at least not the one she knew- it was the same voice they had heard when they'd first entered the tent, but with the malevolent air of it multiplied by ten.

Teal'c tensed, and Jack's eyes widened. Sam recoiled. I've never seen him like this, she thought, shocked. What's happened to him?

There was a minute of silent tension in the tent. Daniel's eyes were still burning dangerously, and Sam didn't dare say anything for fear it would spark his temper again.

Teal'c broke the silence. "How is it that you have the knowledge of the Ancients, Daniel Jackson? Did Oma Desala not erase the memories of when you were Ascended from your mind?"

It happened again- but this time, the anger and rage vanished, the tension dissipated. The fires in his eyes went out, and he was the old Daniel Jackson again. "The memories returned. About a year after the Battle of Dakara."

This doesn't make sense, Sam thought. How is this Daniel? What really happened to him?

The words were out before she even realized she was speaking. "Daniel, what's wrong with you? You're not the Daniel Jackson we used to know! What happened to you?"

Daniel's shadowed blue eyes fixed on her. Deep inside them she saw something: compassion, sympathy. "I've been to a lot of places and I've seen a lot of things, Sam- things I wish I could unsee, but I can't. You're right, I'm not the same person you knew five years ago."

Sam swallowed. No. The old Daniel- our friend- he's still in there, I know he is. He has to be.

Daniel stood suddenly. "You can stay as long as you need. We'll give you supplies. But I'm not going back with you." He strode out of the tent, leaving them alone.

-*/*-

Daniel slipped out of the camp, being careful to avoid Derin's people and his former teammates, all of whom would be undeniably curious as to why he was going into the Dark Forests, alone and at night.

Navigating between trees, Daniel stopped and leaned against a large, comfortingly solid tree trunk to calm down and collect his thoughts. After five years of nothing- no word, no ships coming in search of him, not from Earth or the Tok'ra or the Asgard- he had given up on them finding him, and he didn't dare return and risk leading the people who were hunting him to Earth. And now, Jack, Sam and Teal'c were here, asking him to solve a problem that was not his doing nor his job to fix. If the Ancients actually cared about the galaxy they had made their home, they would deal with the invaders. If not, Earth and its allies would have to deal with it on their own.

But what if I could help them? a small part of him wondered. What if I could protect Jack and Sam and Teal'c with what I know? With what I've learned?

They'll be fine, something dark inside him snarled. Forget about it. They survived everything the universe ever threw at them. They don't need your 'protection'. They don't need you. The voice was cruelly mocking as it rasped in the back of his mind. He tried to push it away, but its presence lingered, its words echoing in his head.

Daniel pressed his forehead against the rough tree bark. A pounding headache was beginning behind his eyes as his desire to stay away from Earth and continue the new life he had made for himself clashed with his concern for his friends and the planet he had once called home.

-*/*-

It was nearing midnight. Derin escorted them back to their tent and went off to do something. They hadn't seen Daniel since he left the main tent with the declaration that he would not return to Earth with them.

Sam stared off into space. The conversation with Daniel was at the forefront of her mind. She knew he wasn't telling them something, but why would he be lying to them? What could have been so terrible that he would lie to them- his friends, his only family- to hide it?

What had caused that shift- that change that had almost seemed like a Tok'ra host or symbiote retreating to allow the other to speak? It had almost seemed like Split Personality Disorder, but what could Daniel have gone through that had traumatized him so badly as to cause it?

Her thoughts wandered back to five years before. Taking a deep breath and hoping there was something she'd forgotten that could help her discover what had happened to Daniel, she allowed the barriers she had built up between her waking mind and subconscious thoughts fall completely for the first time. The memories flooded over her with such startling totality that she felt like she really was back at the SGC, having just learned of the impending invasion…

Flashback

After General Hammond had made the decision to send SG-1 and the other teams to Dakara with the free Jaffa, Sam wrote a letter for her brother and his family, saying that she loved them and would miss them.

She prayed that she would be alive when this was over, so she could tell them herself, rather than have the letter be delivered to them after she was dead, but she had a horrible feeling that something would go dreadfully wrong.

-*/*-

The forces of the Tau'ri, free Jaffa, and Tok'ra easily overwhelmed Baal's defenses in the temple. Sam stood inside the beautiful alien building, examining the place where the Jaffa had first been enslaved, the capture of which could determine their freedom.

Teal'c wandered within the confines of the temple, his dark eyes clouded with an emotion Sam didn't recognize. Jack coordinated the defense organization with Jacob Carter and the other SG team leaders. Daniel had gone into the temple and was examining the inscriptions with an odd expression on his face.

A shaking was all the warning they got as a Goa'uld landing ship descended. "We got incoming!" Jack yelled.

-*/*-

Repeated attacks hammered on the forces holding the temple. Sam was exhausted after a day and a night and another day of near-constant fighting. Judging by the looks on their faces, the others were not in better shape, but they had to hold.

-*/*-

The latest attack had been repelled. As soon as the last enemy Jaffa had fallen, Daniel once again retreated inside the temple.

Taking an evaluatory look at the empty sky, Sam headed into the temple to check on her friend. She found him seated on the floor, with papers and diagrams spread around him, muttering distractedly to himself.

"What's up?" He jumped at the sound of her voice. She grinned. "I'm not going to shoot you, I was just curious."

He relaxed and tipped his head in the direction of one of the walls. "There's writing here that talks about some kind of weapon made by the Ancients. Sam, if I'm translating this right, this weapon is here, and it has the power to destroy pretty much any life form if you can decipher the right signature."

Sam gaped at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying this weapon has the potential to destroy every Replicator in the galaxy, maybe even the universe. It also has the power to wipe out the Ancients themselves."

"So we can't let Anubis get his hands on it," Sam realized. "Any ideas so far?"

Daniel pursed his lips. "I've been working as much as I can, but it'll take time- time I'm not sure we have."

"Then we'd better get working," Sam answered.

-*/*-

Late into the night, Daniel was still working on deciphering the signature needed to fix the weapon to the Replicators. Jacob and Sam worked feverishly to find a way to dial every Stargate in the galaxy simultaneously, with Jack hovering nearby and offering helpful comments from time to time.

"I think I got it!" Sam rushed to Daniel's side and looked at the sequence he'd pieced together.

"Looks right," Jacob decided, taking a second look. "Now there's just the problem of dialing every Stargate in the galaxy simultaneously."

"How far have you gotten?" Daniel asked.

"Not far," Jacob admitted with a sigh.

-*/*-

They nearly had it when a Jaffa scout ran in. "Anubis is about to launch an attack with the combined forces of the System Lords," he said quickly. "We must prepare."

"But we're so close!" Sam protested, the Jaffa already out the door.

"We don't have a choice, Sam," Jacob said gently. "We need everyone to stop Anubis. He's not going to give up without a fight."

Sam sighed but followed her father out of the temple, Daniel at her heels.

-*/*-

The full forces of the Goa'uld System Lords arrayed against the army of the free Jaffa, Tau'ri, and Tok'ra. Anubis, Ba'al, Yu, Bastet, Morrigan, and Kali strode confidently at the head of their armies.

Jack, Teal'c, Bra'tac, and Jacob, as the leaders of their respective groups, organized the defenses, but they all knew that against the forces that Anubis had gathered, they did not stand much of a chance. Both sides hovered uncertainty, neither wanting to strike the first blow in a battle that could result in both armies being massacred.

Sam noticed the Stargate activate. A single figure dressed in SGC fatigues emerged, and the device shut off. She recognized the young man, a cadet who had been accepted into the SGC but had not been assigned to a team yet. With Daniel darting after her, she ran over, ignoring the standoff of armies to their left, and stopped in front of the young man. "What is it?"

The young man's eyes were flashing back and forth, scanning the soon-to-be battlefield and then fixing on Sam and Daniel's faces. "Doctor Jackson- Major Carter- General Hammond sent me to warn Colonel O'Neill. The Replicators are coming. Their fleet is making for Dakara."

And that, of course, was when the battle started.

The Jaffa loyal to the System Lords shot first, aiming staff weapons at the defending lines. Then both sides began firing. Sam saw Daniel throw himself forward. He dodged staff weapon blasts and ran to place himself between the lines of Jaffa.

"Stop!" His voice rang out over the battlefield. Jaffa and humans pulled back and stopped fighting momentarily. "The Replicators are coming! They will destroy all of us if we don't work together!"

He took another step toward Anubis and the other System Lords. "Your victory will be meaningless if the Replicators get here. The only way we can all survive is if we work together. The Replicators will destroy all of the Goa'uld. You don't have any defense against them. Not even the Asgard can control them! None of us stand a chance unless we stand together!"

There was a moment of dead silence. No enemy Jaffa moved, waiting for their gods' word, and the defending forces waited with baited breath to hear Anubis' response, knowing it was unlikely he would agree but praying he would see reason.

Anubis examined Daniel. "The former Ascended," he said in a thoughtful tone. "The one who decided to break the rules and challenge me."

Sam saw Daniel stiffen slightly, reminded of his de-Ascension less than a year before, but he raised his chin and glared at the ancient Goa'uld.

"Tell me, do you really think that those outdated metal creations are any true threat to me?" Anubis asked. "With the weapon that is here I could wipe them out along with humans and start anew."

Sam saw Daniel open his mouth to respond, but then there were screams. Shadows covered the two armies, and Sam looked up to see Replicator ships descending over the battlefield.

-*/*-

The Replicators swarmed the war zone, and a three-way battle began. Each side fought to eradicate the other two.

In the midst of the fighting, Sam managed to locate her father, Jack, and Teal'c, and bring them into the temple. "We have to destroy the Replicators!" she yelled. "We won't get another chance!" They made it into the confines of the large stone structure, and Sam hurriedly picked up where she, her father and Daniel had left off. "Colonel, Teal'c, cover us. Dad?"

"Right with you, Sam," Jacob promised.

Together, they set the program that would dial every Stargate in the galaxy. A flood of Replicators crossed the threshold of the door, and Jack and Teal'c began firing, keeping them back, if only briefly.

"Now!" Jacob ordered. Sam activated the weapon. They could all feel the temple begin to shake, and in the distance the Stargate activated. A powerful wave of energy swept outward from the temple on Dakara, disintegrating every single Replicator in the universe.

-*/*-

Heading outside, Sam and her companions found a silent battlefield, both remaining sides in shock. Anubis and the remaining System Lords, Ba'al and Kali(Yu, Bastet, and Morrigan had already fallen in battle), stood back from the front lines, their Jaffa surrounding them loyally. The remaining defenders were circled around the temple, their numbers nearly halved. Sam glimpsed Daniel near the front lines, kneeling next to an injured Jaffa.

The moment was broken as Anubis ordered, "Destroy them."

The battle was rejoined. Sam, Jack, and Teal'c began firing again as their allies did, the flashing of staff weapons and crack of gunfire splitting the air.

Some minutes later- how long it actually was, she could never quite remember- Sam felt more than saw another shadow come over the battlefield. To her surprise and delight, it was not another Replicator fleet- rather, it was six Asgard warships, led by Thor's flagship. The Asgard ships rained fire down on the Goa'uld forces, and the tide of the battle turned.

Sam saw the System Lords gathering their remaining soldiers around them, and she saw something small dropped from the second-largest Asgard ship.

The explosion rocked the ground, a blinding wave of light erupting at the head of the enemy forces. When the dust cleared, the System Lords were gone, a smoking crater in their place. Their remaining Jaffa were scattered, either surrendering or fleeing.

Sam's mind slowly caught up with the last few seconds, and a terrible, heart-wrenching scream was torn from her throat as she realized who else, besides the System Lords and their forces, had vanished in that fireball.

"Daniel!"

-*/*-

The next few years were the hardest of her life. The Tok'ra, Asgard, and all of their allies with the power of space travel went to every corner of the galaxy, searching for hints, questions, anything that could lead them to a conclusion. According to the Asgard, their samples of the air had shown no human remains, only Jaffa and Goa'uld- which meant that Daniel had not been killed by the explosion- but they could find no concrete evidence that Daniel was alive, either.

At first, Sam had been numb, unable to focus on anything except the fact that she had lost her best friend and that she had been so close to him when it had happened… if she had just moved faster, seen him there before the bomb exploded, she might have been able to save him. Now, she would never again see those bright blue eyes pierce her soul, never watch him exchange quips with Jack, never listen to him carry on about something that, at the time, she would have thought unimportant. Those moments had never seemed more precious- or forever out of reach.

In a way, this was both better and worse than his first death, less than two years before. Then, she and the others had been forced to watch helplessly as he died slowly and in agony, but as Jack had later explained, he still existed as an Ascended being. This time, it had been quick and relatively painless, if it had been painful at all, but she could have saved him had she realized what was going to happen. And this time, she knew, he had not had the time to Ascend. The mystery of the lack of human remains in the atmosphere and on the surface of the planet stumped anyone who confronted the problem.

After the numbness faded, a process that took several months, she caught herself thinking sometimes as though he were still alive, questions to ask him and ideas to propose appearing in her mind before she had to remind herself that he was gone. That stage lasted another few months before she got a handle on it.

Around when Sam finally solidified the barriers between her grief and her waking mind, it was agreed among all parties that Daniel Jackson was Missing-In-Action, presumed dead unless otherwise confirmed. And over the next few years, everyone, even those who had once known Daniel Jackson and believed in his ability to come back no matter what, had resigned themselves to the fact that he was gone for good.

End Flashback

Sam leaned back against the wall of the tent and stared at nothing in particular. She remembered the sense of loss, of terrible grief, and of knowing that she could have- should have- done something. Bringing all of her memories to the surface had hurt less than she had expected, but it had stung the new wounds of her best friend's change and obvious mental trauma.

Jack was deep in thought. Sam could tell he was thinking about the last battle on Dakara as well. He was probably running through the events over and over again, wondering what he could have done.

Teal'c sat cross-legged in the corner of the tent, silently watching Jack. Sam could tell the Jaffa had been deeply disturbed by their encounter with Daniel, but he hid it well.

In the long silence that followed, each of the remaining members of SG-1 could only think about the darkness that had shone in their friend's eyes- that terrible, cruel fury that was not the man they had once known.

So what do you think? It's clear something is very wrong with Daniel, but what exactly has happened that made him like this? Next chapter will provide some more hints on that...