The first week of school wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. The days felt longer than normal, but at least I wasn't assigned an essay over the weekend like a friend of mine was. Homework is more evil than cliffhangers.

So last we saw our gang, Daniel had saved the SGC from a Reetou attack. Now we deal with getting things back in order following the attack, and what happens afterwards...

Chapter 6

Cleanup began shortly after the attackers were neutralized. The SGC was back in business within an hour. Jack helped with reorganizing supplies while Sam dealt with repairing the computers and Teal'c assisted in the infirmary.

Several times, Jack saw Daniel appear and do something, like stacking bandages or moving a cot, and then vanish. He guessed that the younger man was making rounds through the SGC and offering help anywhere it was needed.

They recovered from the attack fairly quickly, and learned there were minimal casualties- only seven personnel had been killed and twenty-one more injured. Jack was unsure if it was Daniel's actions during the attack that had caused it, or if the Reetou had been holding back for some reason.

Over the days that followed, Jack found that he overheard less conversations about doubting Daniel's loyalty to the SGC- in fact, the opinion that he was trustworthy seemed to be becoming more popular. Janet and several of the others who had been with the program and known and trusted Daniel for years continued to support him, while Kinsey, among others, still distrusted him (and made no secret of it) but the general opinion was that Daniel was not a traitor. Daniel, Jack noticed, didn't seem to care either way.

When Sam mused to Janet, in Jack's hearing, that Daniel seemed more stable than before, Janet wondered if being back with the team had stabilized Daniel's mental state somewhat, citing the fact that he hadn't shifted to his other persona- at least not in any serious way- since arriving at the SGC. Sam had agreed, and then Jack had been forced to flee before his eyes glazed over as the two women began talking in a sciencey/medical language that he had never understood and harbored no desire to learn.

-*/*-

A week later, Daniel agreed to accompany SG-1 on a scouting mission. Jack was slightly surprised, but glad that his friend was getting involved in the SGC again.

They went to the address, and Jack caught Daniel tracing the shapes on the dialing device as if greeting an old friend. Jack didn't say anything, but directed Sam's gaze toward it and grinned. Daniel sent him a look that was both disapproving and slightly amused, and Jack was comforted by the sight.

Less than twenty minutes later, the quartet was attacked by masked and hooded figures with some kind of energy weapons. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c were all injured, but Daniel somehow dodged the blasts unscathed and dialed Earth, allowing them to escape.

Back on Earth and settled in the infirmary, Jack and Sam overheard a conversation between two of the doctors. One was suspicious that Daniel had been the only one uninjured on the first mission he had agreed to go on, but the other, a close friend of Janet's and one of Daniel's strongest supporters, firmly disagreed, and Janet was forced to intervene before the fight came to blows.

A small part of Jack was amused that the diminutive woman had a strong enough presence and commanded enough respect to cause two men almost twice her size to back down instantly. But the rest of his mind was occupied with the content of the argument.

Jack didn't want to believe that Daniel was a traitor, and told Sam as much. But her expression made him realize that she might actually be considering it.

-*/*-

As soon as she was released from the infirmary, Sam commandeered a computer and went through the video feed from the camera in Daniel's room, wondering if there would be anything there. Watching the clip of herself and Daniel the first night they were there, Sam noticed something that puzzled her. She replayed the video, only to spot the same slight distortion.

She squared her shoulders, praying it was nothing, but a growing sense of dread warning her that her hopes would be fleeting.

-*/*-

Jack and Hammond were in the middle of a conversation when Sam appeared in the doorway. "You should see this."

Hammond strode out after Sam, with Jack at his heels. Sam walked into the control room and sat down at a computer. She touched a key, and the video feed of Daniel's room appeared.

"What is this?" Hammond asked.

Sam barely glanced up. "Sir, I was looking through the video out of curiosity and I found something. Look." She pointed at the screen. In the video, Sam was in the VIP room with Daniel, who stood with his back to her. "This is from the day we originally arrived. Watch this." The Sam in the video stood and left. The video feed flickered. Daniel turned the lights off and lay down on the bed.

There was a long pause. "And?" Jack asked, not understanding the importance of this.

"Wait." Sam's eyes didn't move from the screen. After another thirty seconds or so, the image flickered again, and Jack blinked. Before the interference, Daniel had been lying on his side. Now he was on his back.

"What does that mean, Colonel?" Hammond asked.

Sam looked up at him. "Well, sir, I'm guessing that something happened during those few minutes and Daniel adjusted the video feed to hide it. He has the knowledge of the Ancients; redoing the video would've been no problem."

Hammond hesitated. "Is there any way to find out what really happened during that time?" he asked.

Sam nodded. "I think so, sir. Using the technology the Asgard gave us, it should be no problem for me to reconfigure the feed. But it might take some work. If it weren't for those glitches, I never would have guessed something was wrong."

The general considered. "Do it."

Jack watched as Sam typed a command into the computer. She cocked her head and typed something else. "Wow," she muttered. "The Asgard coder worked perfectly." Looking up at Hammond, she added, "Sir, I have it."

Hammond silently gave his assent, and Sam touched a key. The new video began to play on the computer screen, accompanied by audio this time.

"I'd like to be alone, Sam," Daniel was saying.

The Sam in the video looked shocked, but nodded and vanished through the doorway, shutting it behind her. Daniel remained where he was for a few moments, then exhaled and turned, walking up to the bed and sitting down. He flicked his hand and the lights went out.

The real Sam tapped another key, and the screen changed. They could again see Daniel sitting on the bed.

A figure appeared in the corner of the room, barely visible from the angle the camera was facing. Daniel stood and turned to her.

Jack examined the black-robed woman. She was young and beautiful, with long tresses of red-gold hair woven into a simple braid dangling past her hips and glowing golden eyes, in her mid-thirties or so. She stepped forward, toward Daniel, moving agilely around the table as though she could see in the dark.

Her voice came clearly through the monitor. "I'm glad to find you safe." Jack could have sworn her voice was familiar, and judging from the look on Sam's face, she thought so too.

Daniel hugged her. "They would never hurt me," he said quietly. "Are the others safe?"

The woman leaned into his embrace and nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. "Derin brought them to Point Haven. Hala and Garion are with him, too. They're all fine." Daniel sighed, his posture sinking slightly with what Jack guessed was relief. The woman hesitated, then looked up at him. "Are you sure they won't hurt you, Daniel? Even if they knew the truth?"

Jack exchanged a look with Sam. He recognized the names Hala and Derin- that was the girl who could speak to horses and the man who seemed to have been Daniel's second in command back at the camp- but Garion… he didn't know that name, and the woman's mention of "the truth" made him uneasy. What was she talking about?

Daniel closed his eyes as if not wanting to see her expression. "Jack and Sam and Teal'c would never. As for the others… I don't know."

The woman examined him for a moment. "So what's going on?"

"They're afraid of me." Daniel's voice was harsh. "Of what I've become. They think I'm a traitor or a spy."

"I don't think they do."

"I haven't seen any of them in five years… I hate it, but I'm afraid I can't trust them."

She touched his cheek. "You have to believe in them, and make sure they believe in you. And the only way for them to believe in you is for you to trust them."

"You mean tell them what happened," Daniel said softly. She nodded. He shook his head. "I can't…" he hesitated. "I can't bring those memories back yet."

There was a moment of silence. "Daniel… are you going to tell them about me?"

Daniel cupped her chin, lifting her gaze to meet his. Jack half expected him to look at her with the furious devotion that had consumed him when the alien princess Shyla had manipulated him into overusing a sarcophagus, but the younger man's eyes were unexpectedly gentle.

"Rhea, I will not tell them anything about you if you don't want me to," he promised firmly. "They don't know you exist, let alone that you're here."

"I'd like to keep it that way," Rhea agreed with a smile.

"All right then. I won't tell them anything about you, I swear." Daniel returned the smile and kissed her passionately, nearly lifting off her feet. She returned the kiss with equal intensity.

Jack met Sam's confused glance and shrugged. Hammond looked startled. In the video, the young woman broke the kiss slowly, looking up at Daniel.

"I should go," she said softly.

Daniel nodded and kissed her again, this time lingering and gentle. "Be careful," he told her. "Don't give them any clue you're here. They have technology that will be able to see you, and they'll be inclined to shoot first and ask questions later."

Rhea nodded. "I understand." Daniel touched his forehead to hers briefly, and then let her go. She stepped backwards toward the corner she had come from and touched something on her wrist. "Stars' Blessing, Daniel."

He nodded back, and she faded into invisibility. Daniel stood alone in the room for a moment, before lying down on the bed and going to sleep.

Sam switched off the video and stared at the blank monitor. Hammond looked down at her. "Colonel?" he asked quietly.

Jack automatically looked up before realizing Hammond was talking to Sam. "Sir?" Sam responded.

"Do you have any idea who that was?" the general wondered.

Sam shrugged. "I'm guessing she's someone he met after he disappeared, but I think that's not the bigger issue."

"Anyone else having flashbacks of Nirrti?" Jack asked half-jokingly, recalling the Goa'uld System Lord with the technology to become invisible.

Hammond and Sam exchanged worried looks. "We'll have to sweep the base. Hopefully the Asgard sensors can detect her," Sam said, not looking convinced.

"Could we not ask Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked, appearing at Hammond's side. Jack jumped. Freaking ninja stealth Jaffa… he had definitely not been there two seconds ago.

Sam pursed her lips worriedly. "I guess we could, but I don't know if he'll tell us anything." She turned to Hammond. "But it's up to you, sir."

The general considered the proposal for a moment. "Let's ask Doctor Jackson, and if he doesn't tell us anything, we'll sweep the base."

They left the control room. Jack didn't look back, and so didn't notice a slight shimmering in the air near where they had been standing - the faint outline of a woman.

-*/*-

Rhea had alerted him to their approach. Daniel stood with his back to the door, waiting in the near blackness for them to arrive.

He heard the door open, and four people entered. "To what do I owe the pleasure of being visited by all of you at once?" he asked quietly, not turning around.

He could sense their shifting of positions, their uneasiness. Hammond answered, "Doctor Jackson, we wanted to ask you about something that happened the first night you were here."

Daniel sighed internally. He should have known his modifications would not go unnoticed for long. Not wanting to admit to anything, he questioned, "And what is it that you think happened?"

Jack stepped forward. "Daniel, we saw someone in here that night who looked like a Goa'uld. Who is she? What's she doing here?"

Daniel closed his eyes. His mind scrambled for a response that would be enough truth for them to leave well enough alone but not the whole truth. "She's an old friend. I met her not long after the Battle of Dakara. She followed me here to make sure I was safe."

"Daniel, please," Sam pleaded. "We can't help you unless you tell us what happened."

Daniel felt his other side begin to stir, and its anger melded with his own. They couldn't help him. He had fallen too far. Sam already thought he was a monster, and the others wouldn't be far behind if they ever learned the truth about him- or even a part of it. "No."

"What?" Sam asked softly.

"I said no."

There was a moment of silence behind him. "Why not?" Hammond wondered.

Daniel didn't care that they were his friends, not anymore. They had pushed him over the brink. He wasn't their friend Daniel Jackson. They did not understand what he was. They could never understand.

He turned on them, fists clenched. The fires in his eyes caused all four of them to tense. "Because things happened. Things I can't get away from. Things that have made me the monster I am now. I'm too far gone for you to help." He nearly spat the last word.

Hammond was braced, ready to move and alert the guards, Teal'c prepared for a fight should one come, but Jack and Sam still believed they could help Daniel. He knew they couldn't. They could not understand what he went through, and nor could they undo it.

Jack spoke up. "Daniel, whatever you went through, whatever you've become, you have to remember you're not alone. We've all had some rough times, but we came out of it okay because we had each other. There's no such thing as too far gone. I lost hope when I was captured by Ba'al, and you supported me. Let us do the same for you."

His ice-cold heart thawed the smallest amount at his oldest friend's words. Deep within his shattered soul, a voice whispered, …maybe they can help me.

Jack's hopeful brown eyes were fixed on Daniel's shadowed blue ones. Sam watched both of them closely, and Teal'c and Hammond were relaxing slightly, not as battle-ready as they had been a moment before. For some reason, that realization calmed him.

Confusion made the room spin. What was going on? What was he doing? Who am I? he thought. What am I now?

The voice that answered his thoughts was, to his surprise, Sha're's. You are my husband, my Daniel, her voice whispered in his mind. You are their friend, their family, and my love, forever.

A rush of emotion surged up inside him, but for once, the uncontrollable feelings were not rage. They were something he only felt during the past five years when in Rhea's presence: love.

He locked onto that emotion and tried to steady the whirlwind of chaos his soul had become.

-*/*-

Sam watched Daniel's face intently. At first, his expression was as harsh as the moment before, but then she saw something deep in his eyes. She could practically feel his hardened heart softening just a little, the old Daniel- the man who was her best friend and brother in all but name- moving toward the surface.

Daniel tensed, his eyes fluttering shut. There was a moment of silence that seemed to last a fraction of a second and a decade at the same time. Daniel's turbulent emotions were palpable, and he swayed, his face tight.

Disregarding her hesitations, Sam moved forward and took his arm, bracing him. He didn't react to her touch. There was a long moment of frigid silence, and Sam's eyes stayed focused on her best friend.

Slowly, Daniel's eyes opened. The blue orbs were different. It took her a moment to realize what the difference was, but suddenly it came to her: the darkness that had been there since they had found him, the darkness that had burned in his soul and shone through his eyes, was- not gone, but diminished. The rage, cruelty, hatred, and fear that had simmered beneath the surface of his glass-like eyes were now replaced by unending sadness, guilt, grief, and regret, tears glittering desolately in the hollow sapphire eyes.

Daniel didn't speak, but they understood. He had managed to find a balance between the two halves of himself, but now was forced to feel the weight of everything one of those halves had done.

Cognitive recalibration, but luckily no metal guardrails or frying pans involved. Daniel's been through enough, I figured it would be too mean to smack him in the head with something hard and metal.

Anyways, Daniel seems to have been balanced out, but now he's having to deal with all the awful stuff he did while his other aspect was in control. But his team will be there for him, no matter what. Next chapter will finally have Daniel open up about what happened to him during those five years. We are getting close to the end of the first arc of this story and moving on to the second, and I will probably take a few weeks off between chapters seven and eight so I can work out some details in the second arc.

Thanks for reading!