Author's Note:  "I made a promise, Mr. Frodo…"  Wait…not that one.  Though, if I managed to get a Hobbit, I'd never loose him.  I'd stalk the hell out of him, being the pervy Hobbit fancier I am.  But I did promise that I'd give you more of the story, soon, and I delivered.  And, *gasp*, it's long and detailed and dramatic.  My, Laura's getting her groove back, I think.  She can only hope that Becky doesn't kill her for replacing the C-4 for another bit of plot.  *hides from the Creative Consultant of doom*        

"They were frightened by us.  After we kept coming, they decided to attack.  It was all just defensive.  They…they must not have a great history with people coming through the Stargate.  I mean, most of these planets only remember the Goa'uld coming through it."  Daniel, having been released from Doc Fraiser's overnight observation, sat at the briefing table, giving the best explanation he could.  He'd been in virtually perfect health when they'd brought him back a little over twenty-four hours ago; the good doctor had only found faint traces of a hallucinogen and sedatives—the result of the latter obviously being his collapse at their meeting.  Now he fidgeted a bit, and Jack eyed him carefully.  Even in simple explanations of the most boring things, Daniel always seemed to have this passion about him, as if the entire world excited the hell out of him.  Hell, Jack remembered a time when there'd been passionate conversation about dust.  Of course, Daniel'd been drunk then, so…  Yet, now, he sat, talking in a blank manner, as if he didn't care what he was saying.  Janet sat at the table now, still hesitant about Daniel—obviously as trustful of the situation as Jack.  She was making notes on a piece of paper. "I was shot.  Wounded pretty bad.  And I ran.  They caught me, and interrogated me—about why we were there.  What we meant to do.  When they believed me, and realized what they'd done, they healed me and sent me on my way."  He looked down, then, silent, as if now that he'd spoken his piece, there'd be no more questions and he was done for the day.  Everyone was supposed to just go along with what he said and be happy with it.

            "Healed you?"  Sam asked, intrigued.  "What kind of technology did they have?"  She turned to General Hammond.  "If we could get them to—"

            "No!"  Everyone stared.  Daniel swallowed nervously.  "No…  I didn't see.  I was unconscious when they did it.  And they—they wouldn't share if we asked, anyway.  Don't want anything to do with us."  He shuffled the papers in front of him nervously.  Jack noticed Carter's sympathetic look, and, hell, he'd have matched it if he could bring himself to believe what she did.  Obviously, they all thought he was traumatized, scared to death of returning.  But still, something wasn't right.  It nagged at the back of Jack's mind, and Jack didn't just ignore his instinct.  You don't get to be a Colonel in the air force and lead the best team in a facility protecting the world from alien invasion if you ignore your instinct.  Daniel stood, "General, if I could—"

            "Where'd the hallucinogen come from," Jack asked, suddenly, giving Daniel a hard look.  "And the sedative?  You didn't mention those."
            "I—I don't know.  I was out of it for a while.  I don't know why they'd…" He looked around desperately.  "The sedative—they gave it to me.  When they healed me.  I don't know why they…" He shot a desperate look at the general, and Hammond frowned, and then nodded slightly.

            "Dismissed, Dr. Jackson.  But don't leave the base.  We're going to have to set up an appointment with Dr. MacKenzie.  See if he can figure out what you can't."

*          *          *          *          *

            Three days later, and Jack hadn't spoken to Daniel at all.  He'd seen him in the hallways, but every time he moved to speak to the younger man, Daniel'd go in the opposite direction, or turn into a room.  Hell, sometimes he'd just let Jack talk, and completely ignore him.  Now, Jack stood in frustration outside of Daniel's office.  Daniel never, ever shut his office door.  And now it wasn't just shut—it was locked.  He simply wouldn't respond.  Not that it was of any consolation, but he seemed to be avoiding everyone in general.  Hiding away in his office when he wasn't having to talk to MacKenzie, who called what went on during the appointments 'confidential' and wouldn't tell Jack a damned thing.  Jack gave up trying to get Daniel to respond and started towards his office, then stopped and headed in another direction.

            "Hey, sir.  Just a minute…" Carter, finished jotting down something in her notebook—and astrophysicists.  They get to have messy handwriting, too.  Unless that's just Carter.—and then looked back up.  "What's up?"

            "Carter, can you show me the video feed from the security cameras on your computer?"  She shot him a skeptical look, but then opened her laptop and began doing her wonderful Carter-hacking-magic.

            "What are we looking for, sir?"

            "Daniel's office."

            She gave him a confused look, then lowered her head and began working again.  "About Daniel, sir…"

            "I don't know why he's acting like that, Carter."

            "That's not it.  I was actually going to say…well, with all due respect, you're not treating him very well."  Jack stared at her, and she glanced up, catching the look.  "Well, look at what he's been through.  He's obviously traumatized, and, well, the way you acted in the briefing room, sir…you weren't exactly walking on eggshells."  She looked away again, pulling up the video feed.

            Jack looked it over while he responded to her.  "It's not right, Carter.  Trust me—if I thought things were right, I wouldn't be treating him the way I am.  But it's just—" He stopped and glanced at her.  "You sure this is Daniel's office?"

            "Yes, sir."  She gestured to the desk, covered with artifacts and unorganized papers, and the computer with the scrolling Egyptians on it.

            "It's empty.  His door's been locked all day.  Unless he locked himself out and hasn't bothered to get back in again…  Carter, check the feed.  Make sure it's…now."  She glanced at him.  "You know what I mean—you've seen movies where they fix the security cameras to play footage from the day before.  You can check for that, can't you?"  She nodded, and worked at it.  Jack walked around the lab, checking out samples of odd looking things under microscopes and flipping through sheets of numbers that he wouldn't understand in a million years.

            "Sir…" He walked back.  "You're right.  The feed's been overridden.  This isn't what's going on now.  Without asking, she began working on pulling up the current, actual feed, and then gaped.  "What is he—"  But the colonel was already gone.  She glanced back down at the screen and shook her head.  Certainly, that couldn't be what it looked like, could it?  Daniel calmly opened his cell phone, speaking quietly into the mouthpiece.  Only a few seconds later, alarms began to go off.  General Hammond came over the intercom throughout the base, and she heard his voice echoing through the halls and rooms outside of her lab.  The SGC was evacuating until the bomb-threat had been resolved.

*          *          *          *          *          *

            Jack pushed his way through the crowds of people moving through the hallway through towards the elevator.  He grabbed the explosives-expert outside of a doorway.  They were checking every room on the reported floor without a clue where to look.  The man pulled away, snapping at Jack.  "Damnit, listen to me.  The bomb is in Dr. Jackson's office.  If you don't get there now, the entire place could go up before you even get halfway there.  Now move it!"  The man stared for a second, and without question, shouted to the rest of his crew to get their asses down to Dr. Jackson's office.

            At the end of the hallway, Jack caught a glimpse of Daniel staring at him, before disappearing behind the door leading to the emergency stairwell.  He had the sinking suspicion that Daniel wasn't heading up for the surface, and followed.

*          *          *          *          *          *

            He was being followed.  Of course.  There was something deep inside of him that had made him hesitate.  Made him stop and look at Jack.  Something in him wanted to stop this.  Not that that little voice begging for it would ever win.  Hell no.  He had a mission, and nothing would get in the way of it.

            The gateroom was empty by now; he relaxed the grip on the gun, but still felt a bit disappointed that he didn't get to use it.  There were so many damn people on this planet.  The more to kill the better.  But soon…soon it wouldn't matter.  Soon, they'd all be dead, and he'd have succeeded.  He moved to the bottom of the ramp, and waited, staring up at the open circle of the Stargate.  This is where it all ends.  Right here.  The one thing keeping this damned little planet safe is what's going to kill them all.  A smile flitted across his face at the irony of the situation.  Then he heard the shout, and turned, firing before even looking to see who it was.

            Jack stumbled back a step, his own gun falling to the floor.  Obviously, he hadn't expected that.  Of course he hadn't.  Foolish people, the Tau'ri. 

You're calling them the Tau'ri!  Listen to yourself!

He stayed on his feet, though, and stared at Daniel for half a second before speaking.  "Daniel, what are you doing?"  Blood seeped down through the fingers clutching at his right arm.  "What the hell is going on here?"  Daniel smiled slightly and glanced up at the Stargate.

"It'll be over soon…" he smiled.  "The end.  The beginning of freedom.  She'll be free."

Jack shot him a confused look, but before he got a chance to speak, the 'Gate began to move.  He looked at the Stargate, then at Daniel, and then bolted for the door.  Daniel ignored him.  Not worth worrying over.  He'd done what he was supposed to do.  Now she simply had to do her part.

*          *          *          *          *          *

            It was locked.  Why the fuck was it locked?  When you're evacuating a building under a bomb threat, why would you bother to stop and lock the door?  He shoved at it desperately as the first chevron locked.  Then he resorted to throwing his left shoulder against it.  Whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon, and there wasn't time to find another way.  The fate of the planet depended on whether or not whoever had built the door had done a shabby job at it.

*          *          *          *          *          *

            She came when the first chevron locked.  He didn't notice her at first.  He was staring up at the moving circles and glowing triangles.  Then his eyes moved down, and she stood in front of him, on the metal ramp.  She wasn't dressed up in one of those Goa'uld queen outfits.  She wore the plain sand-colored clothing of Abydos.  Her eyes did not glow, and she, unlike his parents, didn't show any affect of being dead.  Hell, she didn't even have a wound.  She was gorgeous, perfect, his love, standing in front of him with a sweet smile on his face.

            The second chevron locked.

            "Why are you doing this, my love?"  That soft, innocently confused tone that came when he'd done things like try to cook, as it was the women's job on Abydos.  He'd always tried to cook.  Tried to please her so much.  How did he ever gain someone so perfect?  How was he worthy of someone so wonderful?  He'd always tried to please her, because he knew that she was something he'd never have again in a million years, and he needed to have her happy.

            "I—I've got to do it.  You're not real.  You're not a part of this world anymore.  There's nothing you can do to stop me." 

            Sha're, I don't want to do it.  Don't let me do it…

            "But, my love, you do not love your friends?  You want to kill them?  You want to die, as well?  Why do you do this?"

            "I need to do this!  It's what I'm supposed to do!"

            Why?  Why are you doing this?  Stop it!  You can stop it!

            "Why, my Dan-iel, do you do this?"  She moved towards him, and though the stronger part of him wanted to move away, the voice in the back of his head finally overcame it, making him stand firm.  "You love life.  You have always loved life.  Why do you want to end it?  Why do you want to let this happen?"  She reached him, and her fingers brushed his face.  Warm, soft, real.

            The fifth chevron locked.

            "I—" his voice cracked and the gun clattered from his hand.  He shook his head.  "I can't do this.  I can't live anymore.  Why do I…" The sixth chevron locked as a tear fell down his face.  "You're gone.  Why do I have to live anymore?  What do I have?"

            "You do not think straight.  Your mind has been confused by words and technology of the Goa'uld.  You do not do this for me.  You would not kill everyone because of me.  You would not kill yourself because of me.  You will live on, Daniel, and I will always be with you.  You know this.  Do not listen to what was said to you.  Listen to me, my love."  She cupped his face.  "You do not want this to happen.  Stop it."  She kissed him softly and was gone as the seven chevron locked and the 'Gate opened.  He stared at the event horizon.  Waiting.

            It came through with a thump, and he moved forward quickly, kneeling beside it.  A naquada bomb.  Big enough to blow up Earth, if not the next few planets in line as well.  A countdown in Goa'uld.  Ten seconds.  He had to do this, had to figure it out before it went off.  There had to be a way.  He closed his eyes, running his hands over the wiring, the tubes.  One wrong move…

            Warm fingers touched his, and then touched one wire.  Then another.  A coil.  He followed the movements slowly, deliberately.  At two seconds, the countdown stopped short.  He looked up, and he caught Sha're's dark eyes.  She smiled again, and whispered, "I will always be with you."  Fingers brushed his face and slowly drifted away into nothing.

*          *          *          *          *

            Jack sat against the door, waiting.  Waiting.  And still waiting.  He looked at his watch.  "Well…this is anticlimactic," he muttered, climbing to his feet.  He headed downstairs again, into the 'Gateroom.  The wormhole was deactivated now, and on the ramp at the foot of the Stargate, Daniel sat with his knees pulled up, head bowed.  Beside him a piece of Goa'uld technology.  A bomb.  What else?  It didn't make noise, and, most importantly, didn't explode.  Jack moved silently up the ramp, glancing first at the bomb, then down at the top of Daniel's head.  Daniel let out a soft sob, and Jack knelt, laying a hand on his shoulder.  As bad as things were right then, at least they made sense again.  At least they fit.

TBC.  Again.  Because there has to be the gratuitous smarmy scene.  Of course.  Would I deny you—or me—of that?