TITLE: The Lost Ones

AUTHOR: Cyn(di)

EMAIL: custardpringle@yahoo.com

RATING: PG-13 for weird evil happenings and general suffering/pain on the parts of all concerned. Also language, as always. And "thematic issues," whatever the hell they are.

CATEGORY: supernatural, drama

SUMMARY: Daniel is having terrible nightmares. And the worst thing is, they're not only in his head . . .

SPOILERS: I'm too lazy to keep track, so let's say anything up through "Fallout."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another mostly pointless chapter . . . I hate writing the middle of a story. Fortunately, the end-or what I think is the end, anyway- will start being on the way in another chapter or two. Also, I feel the need to observe that this story has nothing to do with Season 7. Any similarities are entirely coincidental.

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Of all the strange ceilings Daniel had ever seen upon waking up, and there were quite a few, this was one of the strangest. It bore an odd resemblance to a cobbled street, and he puzzled over this likeness for a moment before remembering that he was in a Tok'ra base, and that, therefore, the ceiling was indeed made up of cobblestones.

Or something like that.

"Got yourself some nice beauty sleep, I see," Jack's voice observed cheerfully. "Feeling better?"

Daniel sat up cautiously, discovered that he was relatively stable, and began feeling around on the rest of the bed. "A little better, yeah," he lied. In truth, he felt like he had just come off worse in an encounter with a steamroller, but he saw no reason to tell his friend this.

"On top of your head," the voice said helpfully, and Daniel reached up and pulled his glasses down over his eyes. The vaguely Jack- and Teal'c- shaped blurs in the doorway abruptly solidified and Jack added, "You missed those lights again. T saw 'em, though, you can ask him."

Daniel chose to ignore this last observation. "How long was I asleep?"

Jack glanced at his watch. "Eight, nine hours, I think."

"And the Tok'ra moving effort?"

Sam appeared in the doorway behind her CO. "Pretty much finished. We packed up most of their computers for them, and most of the stuff-most of the people, in fact-have already gotten through the Stargate. They've got the tunneling crystals out now to start collapsing the tunnels."

"In short," Jack explained, "you missed all the fun."

"Shit." Daniel stood up abruptly, swayed a little, and placed a steadying hand against the wall. "I was supposed to be helping with all that."

"You," Teal'c observed, eyebrow raised (of course), "appear to be barely capable even of standing up, let alone moving heavy objects. I do not believe you would have been very helpful."

"Thanks, Teal'c," Daniel said sourly. "So are we leaving now?"

Carter nodded affirmatively. "We were just going to check in with my dad about that, but there doesn't seem to be much left to do here."

"All right." Daniel made his way carefully across the small room, doing his best to pretend there was nothing wrong with him. None of his friends were misled, though, and he could feel their worried eyes on him.

He'd have to have a talk with Oma about this, if he got the chance.

Come to think of it, Daniel wondered, she'd been fully Ascended for millennia. Did she even realize he needed sleep?

Definitely something he needed to discuss with her.

-----

The team reappeared through the Tau'ri Stargate about an hour later, for once not only on time but more or less intact-Daniel was still slightly woozy, but that was all.

"Everything went according to plan, " Jack called up at the control box cheerfully. "Once-in-a-lifetime event, sir. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Hammond smiled. "Glad to hear it, Colonel. SG-1, you debrief in half an hour."

"There is one thing, though, sir."

"Yes, Major?"

"I recommend Daniel be sent to the infirmary." Sam pointedly ignored the dirty look her friend shot her. "He's extremely tired, and sleep doesn't seem to be doing him any good. I think he might be getting sick, sir."

"All right. Doctor Jackson, please see Dr. Fraiser immediately. I'll be wanting to talk to you after the rest of your team debriefs."

-----

"As Colonel O'Neill already told you, sir," Sam said the moment the general had taken his seat, "nothing particularly interesting happened. With all due respect, there really isn't much to debrief us about."

"The Tok'ra were able to successfully move their base?"

"Yes, sir."

"What about those mysterious lights Jacob and Selmak told us about? Were you able to learn anything about them?"

"They did make an appearance, General Hammond," Teal'c interjected, "but they caused no damage. They appeared to be several kilometers above us."

"You saw them yourself?"

"Indeed I did," the Jaffa confirmed. "However, the others remained inside the complex at the time."

"Why?" Hammond asked. "I told you specifically to investigate these things."

"Daniel was having nightmares, sir," Carter explained. "Colonel O'Neill and I went to check on him and found him asleep, but very agitated and in obvious distress. We couldn't wake him up, so we stayed with him until he calmed down."

Hammond narrowed his eyes. "Is this why you had him sent to the infirmary? Because of nightmares?"

"That's not all, sir," Jack spoke for the first time. "The same thing happened the night before, while Daniel was at my house. He wouldn't tell me what was wrong, and once he fell asleep again he seemed to be fine. That was right before you called."

"Why didn't you mention this before, Colonel?"

"Daniel asked me not to tell anyone. He said he could deal with it on his own." Jack decided to keep the other part of the conversation-the "if anything happens to me because of it, by the time you find out it'll be too late to do anything about it" part-to himself. If that was true, there was nothing Hammond could do about it either; no use worrying him further.

"There is something else, General Hammond," Teal'c said.

Hammond turned to look at him. "And here I thought you said nothing interesting had taken place. What is it, Teal'c?"

"The period of time during which the lights appeared last night seemed to coincide quite closely with the period during which Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter report that Daniel Jackson was in extreme distress."

"Are you saying there could be a connection?" Hammond asked.

"Indeed I am."

"Hey, Teal'c," Jack said. "Do you know between what times they saw the first lights?"

"Between approximately noon and three in the afternoon, I believe."

"Oh. That kinda ruins it, then."

"Actually, sir," Sam offered, "thanks to the time difference, that would be about the same as from ten at night to one in the morning on Earth."

"Now that makes much more sense." Seeing the others' look of confusion, Jack explained: "That was about the time Danny was having his nightmares before."

"With all due respect, sir," she argued, "it doesn't make sense. P3A-476 is several hundred light-years away. I can see how something happening there might have affected Daniel while he was on the planet, but not while he was here."

"Neither can I," O'Neill confessed. "But if those things-whatever the hell they are-are messing around with Daniel's head, we need to do something. Personally, sir, I recommend blowing them up as soon as humanly possible."