Disclaimer: What do you mean I can't steal them? WHY GOD?! WHY MUST YOU TORTURE ME SO!? I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! GOOD BYE CRUEL WO-

THUNK

Disclaimer: Characters. Universe. Property of Showtime/Viacom MGM/UA Gekko Productions Double Secret Productions. Not affiliated. No infringement intended. Resistance futile. You will be assimilated.

Spoilers: None anymore, I think.

oOoooOoooOo

Daniel, Age 15, Murry Bergtraum High School.

Daniel stood outside the chem lab debating how to spend his lunch break. Work was definitely on the table, as was stopping by the espresso stand. But the Starbucks was in the commons, which was currently full of loud and hungry students. For some reason, negotiating his way through crowds of resenting fellow students didn't appeal to him today. Being a Senior of only 14 years had its drawbacks. It was also Thursday, which meant the library would be used for chessclub. Daniel settled on finding a deserted room to read. The sciences hall was always empty during lunch.

Settling into a back-breaking chair, he pulled out an old book and his journal. He had been copying down hyroglyphs from the library reference book for three days, but found it just as fascinating as when he had first begun. His parents had taught him Egyptian. It would always be the language of his heart.

As Daniel was copying, he started an old familiar game with his mind. He told his senses that his parents were standing behind him, watching his work. He could hear his mother breathing. His dad was tapping a foot. He could almost see them as a blur in the corner of his eye. Once he had convinced himself they were there, he started to give them words. They knew he was listening intently- his mom was trying to embarrass him. She was telling his father about how much he had grown. Daniel smiled to himself, finishing off the phonogram in front of him.

oOo

SG-1, Present Day, Embarkation Room.

"Hello. I have taken the liberty of learning your Earth language, so we may better negotiate the issue at hand."

"That was... thoughtful of you." Jack said uncertainly. The Alien before him looked human enough, though his head had a slightly different shape. He was dressed in a simple robe, had very pale skin, and wore no shoes. He looked slightly out of place beside all the military types milling around in the embarkation room.

"You learned an entire language in 2 days?" Sam asked, her voice sparked with curiosity. The Alien gave her a puzzled look, but Jack stepped in before he could reply.

"Oh course he did, he's a smart fella." He said simply. "Come on in, sir, and we can discuss the 'issue at hand'." The Alien fallowed SG-1 into an unmarked conference room.

Several hours and much patience later, the team had made very little progress with the Alien, who's name no one could remember nor pronounce.

"Will you shut up about that damn threat already!" Jack slammed a fist onto the table, after hearing the Alien repeat the same sentence for the fifth time.

"If our device is not returned within 2 earth days, your planet will be cleansed. This fact, it seems, has yet to have any effect on you."

"We told you, Hectamphet- or whatever your name is- we don't have your little doohicky- we never did!"

"Your words confuse me,"

"What?"

"You are the representatives of your race, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then I see no other possibilities. You have stolen the device, we request you return it, or there will be consequences." Jack pushed his chair away from the table, throwing his hands in the air. Daniel took this as his cue.

"I don't think we are understanding each other." He said patiently.

"Thank god for geniuses." Daniel shot Jack a look.

"I don't see how it can seem so complicated," said the Alien, allowing a rare show of frustration to leak past his mask. "Return the device, or Earth will be-"

"I think you leading us down a road." Jack interrupted. "If you could 'cleanse' our planet, why not do it now?"

"You wish to die?"

"I don't have the time or the patience to do.... this... anymore. We don't have this device thing."

"Then you are forcing me to destroy you."

"Jack-" Daniel said wearyingly. The CO ignored him.

"Empty threat." he said. The Alien looked puzzled. "Dr. Carter, explain to our friend here about Earth's shield." Faces turned to the scientist's side of the table.

Sam covered her shock by nodding slowly. "Sir... It would take a very long time to-..."

"Give him the footnotes, then." Sam gave Jack a heavy glance before launching into a stream of techno-babble even Daniel couldn't fallow. Jack let her continue for almost 2 minutes before interrupting her.

"Needless to say, the thing is complicated. And unbreakable." Alien hadn't understood a word. He sat very still for a moment, then spoke in a dangerously calm voice that made Jack think he may have underestimated him.

"You are lying to me. You have my device, that much is certain. You are unwilling to return it, and that is understandable. I will find new means of persuasion. In the mean time, I suggest you produce my device before things get dangerous." The Alien stood to leave. "I will contact you within 20 Earth hours."

oOo

Daniel, Age 15, Murry Bergtraum High School.

Daniel slung his bag over a shoulder as he walked out of 7th period Calculous, his mind feeling like a wrung sponge. He caught the Metro at the corner, swiped his card, and sat in the back. He was in a good mood, despite the lack of caffeine in his system. He was looking forward to going home, mainly because he had just started to feel comfortable with his new foster family. They treated him alright, and left him alone a lot of the time. He was able to get a lot done with a room all to himself.

He was stepping off the bus when things started to feel weird. First his feet started to tingle, which he observed vaguely and mainly ignored. As the bus disappeared around a bend in the road, his legs started to tingle, fallowed by his chest, then his head. He dropped his bag, gasping and clutching at his throat. His vision was dissolving, breath wasn't coming, the ground was rising- Daniel had just enough time to wonder if he was dying before passing out on the wet pavement.

oOo

SG-1, Present Day, Infimary.

"They found him around 1000 hours, out cold beside his computer. No evidence of trauma- no evidence of anything, really." Daniel was hooked up to more machines than the Stargate, and none of them appeared to be doing him any good. He was deathly pale, almost to the point of translucency. He had an oxygen mask strapped to his face, and was only barely breathing.

Jack looked down at the sleeping linguist with a painful fatherly expression on his face. Why was it always Daniel? Janet pulled his chart from the slot beside the bed. "The labs came back five minutes ago, but they were inconclusive." She said, scanning the page in front of her.

"Inconclusive?" Not good. Janet looked back up at him.

"I'd like to run some more tests... but at the moment, I think we're looking at multiple organ failure."

"Any chance this doesn't have anything to do with a weird Alien looking for leverage?" The doctor looked slightly surprised upon hearing the connection she was just about to make.

"It is my professional opinion that Daniel's condition is not a result of natural causes... But beyond that, there is very little I can tell you at this point." Jack nodded grimly, and Daniel slept on. Why was it always Daniel?