Title: This Ruined Puzzle

Author: mysticalweather

Summary: An old friend saves Janet. But, is it really her? How does Daniel react?

Rating: PG

Spoilers: Some Season 8 references, but nothing major

Disclaimer:
This Ruined Puzzle is property of Dashboard Confessional. It's not mine, but it is a good song. Come to think of it, Janet Fraiser, Jack O'Neill, Thor, Stargate SG-1...they aren't mine either. Neither is Daniel Jackson...but I'll take him if the person/persons who do own him is offering! (haha) But, you get the point.

Author's Note: I'm new here. Please be patient! :) ...anyways, I'm on this kick of writing as many possible and feasible ways of bringing back Janet Fraiser and addressing her relationship with Daniel. For this reason, don't be surprised if some things repeat in the various stories I've written. That's just the way it is.

I HATE that they killed Janet. So, right now I'm in denial and coming up with all these ways they could bring her back. I hope you enjoy.

I LOVE feedback. So, if you like my little musings, please drop me a line and let me know. Thanks! :)

And now...on with the show:

Dashboard Confessional's This Ruined Puzzle:

This ruined puzzle is beige with the pieces all face down

So the placing goes slowly
The picture's of anything other than it's meant to be

But the hours they creep
The patterns repeat
Don't be concerned
You know I'll be fine on my own

I never said, "Don't go" (Don't go.)

But I've hidden a note
It's pressed between pages
That you've marked to find your way back

It says, "Does he ever get the girl?"

But what if the pages stay pressed,
The chapter's unfinished,
The story's too dull to unfold?

"Does he ever get the girl?"

Well this basement's a coffin
I'm buried alive
I'll die in here just to be safe
I'll die in here just to be safe

'Cause you're gone
I get nothing
And you're off with barely a sigh

I never said, "Good-bye"

But I've hidden a note
It's pressed between pages
That you've marked to find your way back

It says, "Does he ever get the girl?"

But I've hidden a note
It's pressed between pages
That you'll read if you're so inclined

"Does he ever get the girl?"

But the hours they creep
The patterns repeat
Don't be concerned
You know I'll be fine on my own

I never said, "Don't go" (Don't go)

"Does he ever get the girl?"

Janet felt herself get shot. The force of the blow violently shoved her to the ground. She noticed the chaos around her seemed to be going on in slow motion. Daniel's face came into view, and from far away she heard him scream out her name. She tried to answer, tried to tell him she was okay, but the blackness that she'd been fighting overwhelmed her mind.

(Months later)

Daniel sat in the infirmary, waiting for his post-mission check up. The infirmary had never been his favorite place on base, yet somehow he always seemed to be here for some reason or other.

Daniel starred at the floor and half-expected to hear Janet's high-heeled shoes clicking on the infirmary floor. She'd be coming to yell at him for drinking too much coffee, not getting enough sleep, or not eating properly.

What he wouldn't give to sit through another one of her lectures! It would mean she was alive and well. But Daniel knew that wasn't true.

Like so many others who had briefly smiled on his life, she too was gone forever.

This ruined puzzle is beige with the pieces all face down

So the placing goes slowly
The picture's of anything other than it's meant to be

But the hours they creep
The patterns repeat
Don't be concerned
You know I'll be fine on my own

I never said, "Don't go" (Don't go.)

But I've hidden a note

It's pressed between pages
That you've marked to find your way back

It says, "Does he ever get the girl?"

Jack was about to announce his presence by knocking on the door of Daniel's lab. But, something stopped him before he was able to strike his knuckles to the door.

Jack peered into the room and saw Daniel sitting at his desk, a book laid out before him. But something was wrong. Daniel wasn't reading, he was just staring off. And it wasn't the kind of stare that meant he was deep in thought, either. Daniel appeared to just be looking into nothing, completely oblivious to the world around him. How long had he been sitting there like that?

"Daniel?" Jack tried.

Hmm, no response.

"Daniel!!" Jack said loudly, snapping his fingers in front of the archeologist's unfocused blue eyes.

"Hmm, what?" Daniel said as his mind snapped back to reality.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was, uh, just catching up on some reading."

"Wow, didn't know you could read a book without actually looking at it."

"Oh, well...I guess my mind must've wondered off for a minute."

"Uh-huh"

Jack knew there was more to it than his friend would let on, but Jack decided not to press it.

"Hey, I'm headed up to get some lunch. Wanna come?" Jack asked.

Daniel checked his watch, "Oh, I can't. I still have a lot of things to catch up on."

Well this basement's a coffin
I'm buried alive
I'll die in here just to be safe
I'll die in here just to be safe

'Cause you're gone
I get nothing
And you're off with barely a sigh
I never said, "Good-bye"

"Figures," Jack said under his breath.

"What?"

"Never mind, I'll see you later." Jack said as he walked out of Daniel's lab.

Jack sighed as he rounded the corner of the hallway. Daniel had been usually distant and withdrawn ever since that mission on P3X-666. Not that Jack could blame him.

Even though Daniel had never actually admitted it, Jack could tell how much Janet had meant to him.

Jack shook his head sadly. The Gould had managed to take away yet another person from Daniel, and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

Jack got in onto the elevator and jabbed at a button. He looked around the empty elevator and noticed the spot he was standing in with bathed in white light. Before he could react he felt himself being pulled by the bright light above him.

When Jack found himself again, he was in orbit around earth inside the familiar-looking Asgard ship that had been named after Daniel.

'What now' he thought, instinctively looking and listening for signs of Replicators.

A sudden flash of light to his right signaled the arrival of Supreme Commander Thor of the Asgard.

"Thor!"

"O'Neill" Thor acknowledged.

"Ok, what is it this time? More Replicators? Or is it some other run-of-the-mill suicide mission you need us for?"

"Thankfully, no."

"Oh, so this is just a friendly visit?" Jack said, knowing that wouldn't be the case.

"In a way. Actually I have brought something for you."

"For me? Ah, you shouldn't ha...what is it?"

"Follow me" Thor said as he walked down a hallway of his ship.

He paused in front of a room, opened the door, and walked inside.

Jack followed and found himself inside a relatively small room. Jack looked around and noticed an Asgard stasis pod. Jack shot Thor a questioning look.

"Look inside," Thor told him.

Jack walked over to the pod and peered inside. He found himself looking down at someone who appeared to be Dr. Janet Fraiser.

Jack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Fraiser was dead. He saw her body at the funeral. This can't possibly be her.

"Who and/or what is this?" Jack asked.

"I believe this is Dr. Janet Fraiser." Thor replied.

Jack cleared his throat. "Yeah... see, here's the thing...Janet is dead. This can't be her."

"Please, allow me to explain."

"By all means."

'This should be good' Jack thought, sighing inwardly.

"I was sent on a mission by the Asgard High Counsel to a distant planet, hoping to find an element vital to our technology. When I arrived in orbit above the planet in question, I found a Goa'uld battling with the people of earth."

"And you didn't think to help us?" Jack asked, obviously upset at this news.

"I could not interfere with the battle."

"Uh, WHY not?"

"The planet was not covered under the treaty we have made with the Goa'uld. Had I acted, the treaty would have been violated."

"Yeah, yeah I get it."

"As I was saying, through your communication channel I found out that Dr. Fraiser had been hit by jaffa weaponry. The only thing I could do to help your people was to save Dr. Fraiser."

"But she was killed instantly, Thor. Nothing short of a sarcophagus will fix that...and we recovered her body. So I don't see how this could be Janet."

"It is not exactly true that she died instantly. In fact, she did not actually die at all."

"Wwwwhat??"

"After she was shot by the jaffa, I was able to get a lock on her. She was very close to death, but I managed to transfer her consciousness from her body into a storage module. Her body died soon after the transfer took place."

"So if her body died, and was buried, who's that?" Jack said, pointing to the figure in the pod.

"I was able to scan her DNA and I used it to synthesize a new body for her."

"So, you're telling me that you cloned her." Jack sighed. "Thor, buddy, I appreciate the effort, but...a clone is not the same thing as the real Janet."

"You are aware that the Asgard clone bodies and transfer our consciousness from old bodies to new ones?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"Do you view me as any different than I was one body ago?"

"Well, I think you're a little taller..." Jack said. "But, I guess you are the same person."

"I merely constructed Dr. Fraiser a new vessel for her mind to reside in – nothing more, nothing less. She is the same person she always was before."

"So, what took you so long? That battle happened months ago."

"Human genetics is not an easy thing to duplicate. It took time to properly clone her DNA."

"Right. So, now what?"

"I was about to take her out of stasis and return her to your people."

"Good id...hey wait a sec!" Jack paused, thinking something over. "First, can you do me a favor?"

Numb. No feelings, no pain, no nothing. Just numbness. Even after all this time.

Maybe after so much grief, you just don't feel it anymore. Daniel wished that were true, but he knew that it was only a matter of time.

Soon, the reality of it all would set in. He'll start thinking about the regrets and the things that might've been. Then the guilt will stop by, pull up a chair, and never leave. Following closely would be too many tears and sleepless nights to count.

But, the numbness always came first.

But the hours they creep
The patterns repeat
Don't be concerned
You know I'll be fine on my own

I never said, "Don't go" (Don't go)

Daniel blinked rapidly, trying to push the depressing thoughts to the back of his mind. He was going to drive himself crazy with those thoughts.

He tried reading some more, but he hadn't made it past the second paragraph. His mind was a jumbled mess and nothing he read seemed to be registering with his brain.

Daniel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was this so hard?

When he looked up he noticed a bright light had encircled him.

'Great, this time I'm having full-blown hallucinations.' Daniel mused. Before his mind was able to come up with another thought, Daniel felt himself being whisked away from his chair.

When the bright light subsided, he looked around, not quite sure what was happening.

'It's either the Asgard, or I'm insane.' He thought, hoping he'd see Thor, or Freyr, or, at this point, even Loki.

"Daniel," a familiar voice said from behind him.

Daniel turned and saw Jack standing there, hands in his pockets.

'Oh, God, I am insane' he thought as he looked at his friend.

Jack sensed Daniel confusion, and quickly explained, "We're onboard the 'Daniel Jackson'."

"Huh?"

"Remember? It's the name of Thor's ship?"

"Oh, right...good." At least he wasn't crazy. "So, what's going on?"

Jack attempted a smile, but Daniel could sense his uneasiness. "That's the thing. Thor brought kind of a...gift for us. And I knew you'd want to be here for it, so I had him beam you up."

"What is it?" Daniel said, getting an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Jack seemed to be struggling for the right words. "Uh...well, let me try to explain."

"They CLONED her!!" Daniel practically exploded.

"Uh, well, yes and no."

"Well, which IS it?" Daniel demanded.

'How could they do this?' Daniel's head screamed. Janet was a unique, special person – how could they just make another one of her as if it would be the same?? As if she could be replaced as easily as a spare part?

Daniel's hands were trembling with anger, or was it nervousness? His heart was heavy in his chest and he just couldn't seem to get enough oxygen to his brain.

"Listen, Daniel. It was the only way Thor could save Janet. She is the same person – she just has a different body now. Just like how Thor is still...well...Thor."

Daniel was still so confused. How was he supposed to react to this? 'As if I'm not messed up enough.' Daniel thought.

Daniel took a deep breath and tried to sort through his conflicting emotions. Part of him wanted to leap for joy at the thought of having Janet back. Another part of him was convinced that the clone would not be his Janet. How could it be? Janet was dead – he'd watched her die with his own eyes. That was a memory that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

If this wasn't really her, then if he accepted the clone it would be like betraying the real Janet. They would just be replacing her, as if she'd meant nothing to them. As if she'd meant nothing to HIM.

But, what if it was Janet?

'It does make sense' a voice inside him was saying. Thor said he hadn't cloned her mind; he just transferred it to a new place to 'live'.

More than anything, Daniel wanted to have Janet back. To hear her laughter ring down the hall, to watch how her infectious smile lit up her eyes, just to talk with her once again – maybe Thor had made these things possible again.

The more he thought about it, his thoughts of hope began to outweigh his negative feelings.

'Come to think of it, I did the same thing.' When he descended, the Others had given him a new human body. He knew he was still the same person he always was before. That thought comforted him. Suddenly a wave of excitement overtook Daniel. This really could be her! He knew there was only one way to know for sure.

Jack had been watching silently while Daniel deliberated with himself.

Finally, Daniel looked into his friend's eyes and gave him the first genuine smile he'd been able to give in a long time. "Let's go see Janet."

Cold. Headache. Tired.

Her mind was filled with all sorts of fragmented memories and emotions.

Can't move...jaffa...Cassie...afraid...Daniel...

Her mind was a clouded mess as she fought her way to the surface.

"Daniel?" she muttered, sounding frightened.

Her body felt so heavy, why couldn't she move? She felt someone holding her hand tightly. Who was it?

Finally, she managed to flutter to eyes open. The light was too bright to bear, pain shot through her head and she snapped her eyes closed with a groan.

Fortunately, she was regaining control of her body. She shielded her eyes with her free hand and tried opening her eyes again. Everything was blurry, but things were slowly coming into focus.

Two strong arms pulled her into a sitting position and then wrapped her in a gentle hug.

She felt the urge to cry, though she wasn't sure why. The cobwebs clouding her mind still hadn't cleared yet.

Daniel pulled out of the hug and looked at her.

"Janet?" he said, uncertainly.

'Funny, it almost sounds as if he's expecting someone else to answer.'

"Daniel" she said again, this time sounding relieved.

"How do you feel?"

"Groggy"

"Yeah" Daniel sighed loudly, feigning annoyance, "What are your symptoms THIS TIME?" he said, unable to hide his slight smile.

Janet resisted the urge to laugh at their long-standing inside joke.

"Oh, Daniel, don't make me laugh! It hurts. Besides, that's my line, remember?"

Daniel's smile broadened. This had to be Janet. His little joke had been a small test of sorts. He needed to prove to himself that this was the woman he knew and loved.

That last thought caused Daniel's mind to come to a screeching halt. 'Did I just think what I think I thought?"

Whoa, now Daniel was confusing himself. That's never a good sign. Yet, there was no denying the thought that had crossed his mind.

'How is it possible to love someone without even admitting it to yourself?' he wondered.

But, as he looked at the woman sitting before him, he knew without a doubt how he felt for her.

In a weird way, it made sense. He'd been so miserable since her death – that was really no surprise since she was a long-time friend. But now he realized why her loss had affected him so deeply. His subconscious had known his feelings all along.

"What happened? Janet asked.

When Daniel didn't respond, Janet looked into his eyes, "What is it?" she asked, noticing the look he was giving her.

He smiled at her. "Now's not the time. We'll talk after we get home and everything settles down, okay?"

Janet nodded, and leaned against his chest for support.

Does he ever get the girl?

THE END