Daniel slammed the notebooks onto his desk and plopped down into his chair. He flipped the top one open and started skimming through the pages, looking for anything he might have missed before that could be of any help at all. There had to be something. There were at least a dozen books filled with notes taken by the scientists who had created this drug. Out of all of that, there had to be something on what to do if a person accidentally received an overdose. Surely it had happened before.
'Of course it hasn't happened before,' a voice in the back of his mind taunted him. 'No one else has ever been stupid enough to put the wrong ingredients into the mixture.'
"Come on," he muttered. "Help me out here. There has to be something..."
He was looking through the third one when he finally saw it - "Over-exposure can cause full reversal. See Ambrocio's notes."
Daniel practically jumped out of his chair. "Yes!" he cried, his hands suddenly starting to shake as he flipped through the rest of the notebook. He didn't see any more mention of "Ambrocio," however, so he put it aside and picked up another.
And another. And then another. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find any other mention of a researcher named Ambrocio.
When he'd looked through the last one and came up empty, he tossed it aside in disgust and buried his face in his hands. He was so close. Someone had obviously had the same thing happen to them as happened to Janet, and it was more than likely that they knew how to fix it. This "Ambrocio," whoever the hell he was, could hold the key to bringing Janet back, and more importantly, to saving her life.
He was on his feet and out the door in a split second when he realized what he had to do. He had to go back to that planet and find Ambrocio. He had to save Janet at any cost.
Janet felt so sleepy in the car and on the plane that she couldn't stay awake for more than a minute or two at a time. She didn't know why she felt so tired. She was usually wide-awake whenever she traveled anywhere, because she liked to look out the window at everything they were passing by. She wondered if it had anything to do with the funny tasting juice Dr. Shaw had given her to drink. She hadn't wanted to drink it, but he'd told her she had to, and since she'd promised Dr. Daniel she would be brave and do what these men told her to, she'd choked it down without argument.
When she woke up alone in a little room she'd never been in before, she wished she hadn't.
Her first reaction was fear. Had she been left all alone? Where was she? Was this a hospital? Were Mommy and Daddy nearby? What was going to happen to her?
A sob escaped from her throat. "Mommy?" she called. Nobody answered. "Somebody?"
She sat up in her bed and hugged her knees to her chest while she quietly cried. She wished Dr. Daniel would come in and pick her up like he had all those other times. She knew it wasn't going to happen, though. He was far, far away, and so was Mr. Jack, Sam, the kind lady doctor, and Mush. Mommy and Daddy probably were, too. She felt so alone that it made her tummy hurt.
It wasn't long before the door swung open and a man and a lady came into the room. The lady was pushing a cart with all kinds of strange things on it. Janet got a creepy feeling when she looked at them, and inched away from them as they approached her bed.
"Ah, you're awake," the man said. "That's good. You don't have to be afraid. We're just going to give you a quick examination, alright?"
Janet didn't believe him, but she kept her promise to Dr. Daniel and let him do what he wanted to. He put something around her arm and pumped a little ball until it was so tight that it hurt. Then he took that off, and drew blood from her arm. While he did that, Janet saw that the lady was fiddling around with a machine that was on the cart. She watched the lady warily as the man stuck a thermometer in Janet's ear and pressed a stethoscope to her chest. She didn't like the looks of that machine.
"Okay," the man said with a sigh as he finished his tests. "Let's get her set up, and then we can begin."
"What is that?" she asked timidly, pointing at the machine that the lady was wheeling closer to her.
"That's just a machine that is going to record your heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and that sort of thing," the man said. "It's nothing to be afraid of."
He made her lie down again, and although he was almost rough with her in his hurry to finish the job, Janet didn't cry out. She was much too scared to make a sound.
The lady started sticking round things attached to wires to Janet's chest, arms, and forehead. They didn't hurt, but it felt strange and made Janet want to scratch. She didn't dare move a muscle, though, as the lady turned the machine on and then picked up a needle.
"Give her the first dose now," the man told the lady, "and if there's a reaction, give her the second dose in an hour. If there's no reaction within fifteen minutes, summon me and we'll try option number two."
"Yes, Doctor."
Janet watched with wide eyes as the man left the room. The lady came towards her with the needle then, and without wasting a second, she stuck it in Janet's arm.
The sudden pain of it was the last straw. Janet couldn't stifle a frightened cry no matter how hard she tried. The lady gave her a disapproving look, but didn't say anything as Janet dissolved into tears.
"You just remember that Daniel loves you, and that he's thinking about you all the time."
She wished that Dr. Daniel was there with her, but in his absence she held onto those words with all of her might. Daniel loved her, and he was thinking about her all the time. She didn't have to be afraid.
"Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Daemon."
"Well, your message made it seem like a matter of life or death," the scientist said, sitting down at his desk and leaning back in his chair to study the faces of the two men who had just entered his office. "What can I do for you, Dr. Jackson?"
Daniel glanced at Jack for a second before he replied, just to be on the safe side. Jack had made it clear after Daniel's outbursts with first the NID agent in the infirmary and then with General Hammond as he was asking permission to return to the planet that Daniel wasn't to make a move or say a word without permission. Even though Jack couldn't understand anything that they were saying, Daniel knew he would know the instant anything "undiplomatic" was said.
At Jack's raised eyebrow and cocked head, Daniel figured it was safe to proceed. "We... had a bit of an accident with the 'youth' drug you provided for us," he said. "One of our doctors got too much of it in her system, and a few hours later... she was a child."
Daemon nodded slowly as Daniel spoke, his calm attitude of acceptance irritating Daniel to no end.
"You knew this could happen?" Daniel asked.
"There are many things that can happen when one is experimenting with unknown substances."
Daniel narrowed his eyes at the man, but then he felt Jack's hand clamp down on his arm. He swivelled to aim his glare in Jack's direction and received a warning look in return.
Taking a deep breath, Daniel turned back to Daemon and asked, "Is there a way to reverse it?"
Daemon looked thoughtful and shook his head. "I really do not know," he said. "Such a thing has not happened in many years, and the youth serum has never been my area of expertise."
"Then whose area of expertise is it?" Daniel demanded.
Daemon looked down at his hands and pursed his lips.
"Ambrocio?"
Daemon looked up at Daniel in surprise. "How did you know that name?" he asked.
"It was written in one of the notebooks you gave me," Daniel replied. "It said, 'Over-exposure can cause full reversal. See Ambrocio's notes.' Where are Ambrocio's notes?"
Daemon didn't answer, just looked down at his hands again with a stricken look on his face.
Daniel slapped his hands down on the desk in front of the man and shot him his most withering glare. "Where are they?" he shouted.
"Hey!" Jack grabbed Daniel's arm and yanked him back a couple of steps. "I told you to..."
"He's holding out on us, Jack!"
"I don't care, Daniel," Jack snapped. "You destroy peaceful relations with these people, and Hammond will have both our asses. Now calm the hell down!"
"Ambrocio's notes are hidden away," Daemon finally spoke up.
Daniel turned back to him, straightening his jacket and trying to reclaim his dignity. "Where?" he asked.
"No one knows but Ambrocio," Daemon replied. "That is why I could not give them to you in the first place. Otherwise I would have, I swear."
"Where is Ambrocio?"
"He... he is not well," Daemon said tentatively. "He spent his life performing dangerous experiments and working with toxic substances. It took its toll."
"But he's alive?"
Daemon nodded. "His body lives... his mind is all but gone."
Daniel sighed in frustration. "Can I see him?" At Daemon's obvious hesitation, he added, "Please?"
Finally, Daemon nodded and stood up. "I will take you to him," he said. "But please, do not hold me responsible if you do not find what you are looking for. He may not be fit to answer questions."
Daniel gestured for Jack to follow him, and the three men left Daemon's office at an urgent pace.
As they made their way out of the science building and into that planet's version of a streetcar, Daniel started to get antsy. They were so close to finding the cure that he could almost taste it. Any kind of wait now seemed twice as long as it normally would.
He hated to think what the NID were doing to Janet in the meantime, but if there was one thing he could be sure of in this situation, it was that they would keep Janet alive as long as possible, no matter what. They hadn't run out of time just yet, but still, Daniel wished the streetcar would move faster.
When they finally arrived at their destination, Daniel knew right away what it was - a psychiatric hospital. It seemed that they looked more or less the same on every planet. And Daniel did know what they looked like. He'd visited Nick in one plenty of times for it to be burned into his memory.
They were taken straight inside, and after Daemon had a quiet word with one of the attendants, they were escorted up two flights of steps and told to wait in the outer room.
"You're sure about this?" Jack asked for the tenth time since they'd left Daemon's office.
"I'm sure, Jack. Ambrocio knows how to fix it. I know he does."
"And if he can't even string a sentence together, let alone tell us what to do... what?"
"Well… I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when, or if, we come to it," Daniel replied.
They only had to wait there a minute before a woman came in and gave them permission to enter the ward. Then they were led through to another room, where a grey-haired man was sitting by a window in a wooden chair. He was staring vacantly at the floor and was all bundled up in blankets, his stooped posture and wrinkled face making it clear that he was a very old man. Considering that the people of this planet lived to be close to two hundred years old, Daniel guessed that he must be at least that, if not more.
"You are in luck," Daemon whispered to Daniel. "He seems calm today."
Daniel glanced at Daemon and Jack for a second, and then approached the old man slowly. "Ambrocio?" he said.
The old man raised his eyes to look at Daniel, though he seemed to have trouble actually seeing him. "That is not my name," he said, his voice surprisingly soft. "I am Apollo."
Daniel's heart suddenly started to ache for the old man. He knelt down in front of him and forced a tiny smile onto his face. "God of prophecy, music, archery, healing... and youth."
The old man smiled and nodded. "I brought everlasting youth to my people," he said.
"Yes, you did. You made a brilliant discovery."
Ambrocio closed his eyes and bowed his head, and for a moment Daniel feared that he had fallen asleep.
"My lord?" he said, taking one of Ambrocio's gnarled hands in his own.
The man's eyes snapped open again, and he looked down at Daniel in surprise. "Yes?"
"I need your help," Daniel said gently. "A friend of mine has had an accident with the youth serum you created. She became a child again, and now she is dying. Can you help her?"
Ambrocio seemed lost in thought for a long moment, and Daniel waited patiently until he spoke again. "This happened to one of my test subjects," he said. "The chemical was too much for his body to handle. He shrank to the size of a child before my very eyes. The chemical then turned toxic to his system."
"Yes, that is exactly what is happening to my friend," Daniel said. "Did you find a way to stop it?"
The old man shrugged. "You merely have to cleanse the toxin out of her system."
Daniel sighed. "We haven't been able to figure out how to do that," he said. "No matter what we try..."
"Have you tried folleris root?"
"Folleris root... what is that?"
"It cleanses the body," Ambrocio answered. "Give her... half a root, ground and mixed with water. It will neutralize and cleanse the toxin from her body, and she will grow again."
Daniel looked over at Daemon, barely able to contain his excitement. "Do you know where I might get my hands on something called 'folleris root?'" he asked.
Daemon nodded vigorously. "Yes, of course," he said. "I will get you some right away."
Daniel turned back to Ambrocio and grinned. "Thank you, Apollo," he said, raising the old man's hand to kiss it. "I will never forget your graciousness."
He rose to his feet, but Ambrocio gripped his hand and pulled until Daniel was stooped down to his level again. "Do not use it," he whispered.
"Do not use what?"
"The youth serum," Ambrocio replied. "It is flawed. I advised against using it when I realized that the toxic reaction is inevitable in one half of the population. Some may die instantly rather than reverse. My government did not listen to me. You are obviously not of my world; so if your people have not used it yet, do not let them. It is not worth the risk."
Daniel didn't know what to say to that. For the first time since he'd walked in the room, he felt as though he was getting through to the real Ambrocio and not talking around his alter ego. He wrapped his free hand around the old man's and nodded. "Thank you," he said. "I will be sure to let my people know."
The old man looked relieved and allowed Daniel to stand up again. "I wish your friend well," he said.
Daniel pulled his hand free and crossed the room over to Jack and Daemon. "I think we have what we came for," he told Jack quietly. "Let's go home."