I beg of thee here and now, Please Review.
Chapter 3
Seeing as how the next commercial flight wasn't until the morning, and SGC had a lot of military resources, 5 hours later Teal'c, Sam, and Jack stepped off of a jet on the edge of the airport in Troy Montana.
"So kids, where do we go?" Jack asked in general. Sam glanced around before saying.
"I think we should try Yaak first, it's more than likely that Daniel already knows everything that could be found out at the Hospital." she paused a moment, "It's also a small town which should make it fairly easy to search."
"Murry?"
"I concur."
"Alright campers, lets go." Jack said before hopping into a nearby jeep that had been pre-arranged for their use. The drive was silent, everything that could be said, had been said.
The sun had set by the time they reached Yaak. It seemed that everything but one hotel had closed up shop for the night.
"So," the younger looking girl behind the counter asked, "what brings you to Yaak? The three of you don't seem like the roughing it type." She smiled.
"We're looking for this man," Jack showed her a picture of Daniel, "We think he might have come here."
The girl took a look at the picture. "Here? He doesn't seem like the roughing it type either. I'm not sure, he looks kinda familiar." She shrugged and handed back the picture, "you're room number is 108, if you go out these doors," she pointed to a set to her left, "and down six rooms, it'll be on the left." With no other option until morning, the three retired for the night.
They started out early, visiting all the morning cafes. By the time ten o'clock rolled around, it seemed news of them spread faster than they could travel. People were cheerful, but as of yet, only one person said that they had seen Daniel. That person had seen Daniel get off of the shuttle that went to the Troy airport in the evening two days previous. They walked into a general store & caf seemed to be a popular hangout of some of the more elderly citizens of the town.
"Well, at least we know he's been here." Jack said as they sat down at a small table with checkered tablecloth. There was a man sitting at the nest table over. He looked to be in his seventies, but in good health. A grey pinstriped hat graced his head. It didn't go too well with his red suspenders and light blue Cambridge shirt. Then again, he was an old man and aloud some eccentricities. He seemed to have good hearing because just after Jack spoke, he turned his attention to the four now at the table.
"Yes sir, but that was two days ago, he could have gone anywhere by now."
Teal'c remained quiet, but his glance moved to the old man after noticing the attention. Jack noticed Teal'c's shift in attention and followed the jaffa's gaze. Seeing the old man, he showed the man the picture.
"Have you seen this man?" Weariness had unwittingly crept into his voice The man smiled.
"He looks so much like his father did at that age. The resemblance is uncanny." The man leaned back in his chair. "I thought I was seeing a ghost when he wandered in here. The boy was so pale, he seemed like a strong wind would blow him over."
Jack seemed to be bursting with inpatients and just holding himself back from yelling at the man to get on with it.
"Do you know where he went?" Sam, it seemed, couldn't hold back.
The man leaned forward and glanced over them. After a moment of his scrutiny he sat back and said. "You're his friends. Good, the boy needs them."
"But do you know where he is?" This time it was Jack. The man smiled good-naturedly.
"All in good time. All in good time."
"What do you mean by that?"
"From what he told me, he just started to remember fifteen years of his life, he needs time to get used to those memories." The man's hazel eyes twinkled, "so sit back and relax for a bit, maybe have lunch. Then I'll tell you where he's gone off to."
Jack gave the old man a death glare, but it didn't seem to phase the man.
"Wait," Sam said, " you said that you knew his father?"
The man smiled, "Yes," he got a far off look in his eyes, "Sean Alexander Murphy, we grew up together, old Sean and I."he leaned in conspiratorially, "I always was a bit jealous that he snagged Lizzy, but he loved her. It seemed the happiest day of his life was when Alex jr. was born."
A waitress came around, took the trio's order, and left a can of soda by the old man. He took a sip before continuing.
"Alex was always a curious child." He gave a quick laugh, as if remembering something funny. "Always got himself into the most strange situations. Why when he was six, he somehow got himself stuck in the chimney. Lizzy had been busy with Sarah." The man's eyes went sad, "Lizzy died not too long after that. It threw their family into chaos for a while. Alex was a big help then. Or so Sean told me, we worked together you know."
The waitress returned with SG1's orders and a smile. The man paused and looked thoughtful.
"It's strange, when Alex was younger, he looked so much like his mother, but with his father's eyes. Now he's a spitting image of his father." He grinned, "well, his hair's a bit longer."
SG1 ate very quickly, hoping to get this man to hurry up and take them to their missing member. Jack finished his food and looked at the old man.
"There's we've had lunch, can you please tell us where he is?" It seemed that he was fighting all of his inpatients to be polite to the old man.
The man smiled and nodded, "Jennifer, could I have a pen and paper?" He called to the waitress. She smiled and brought the requested items.
"Seeing as I doubt the boy's going to be wanting my company, I'll just draw you a map." He smiled and sketched a rough map on the paper, he marked a few landmarks and roads before handing it to Jack. "I circled where his house is. I kept that old place exactly the same as when they disappeared." the man shrugged, "to be honest with you, I don't think I ever gave up hope in seeing ol' Sean again. The house is the boy's now, I hope he takes care of it." With that the man went back to his soda. Leaving the three to their business.
They were out of there so quickly, they nearly forgot to pay for the lunch. The drive was short, yet confusing. The map was good, but many of the roads were dirt and didn't have any signs. They had passed the one they wanted because it had grown over through lack of use.
The outside of the cabin was maintained, but it felt empty. Jack quickly walked up to the door and knocked. "Daniel? Are you there?" There was no answer. Jack had a sudden flash of deja vu and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Jack took a quick glance at Teal'c and Sam before easing the door open. A soft noise could be heard, as if someone was crying.
"Daniel?" There was no response. The entry room was neat, if a bit dusty. An old sixties style couch rested along one wall. Next to it was a large floor standing radio. The mantle over the fireplace had a collection of pictures in frames, but there were holes, as if some of the frames had been taken. There were dirtied old curtains over the windows. A door and a hallway were the only exits. The noise seemed to be coming from the hallway.
The sounds cleared as the small group moved to the hallway.
"So sorry. . .. I didn't mean to. . . it's all my fault. . . I'm so sorry." The words were repeated with small sobs interspersed at uneven times. They followed the voice to a room that had been decorated in bright colors at one point. Now they had dulled and the life had been bleached out of the room. A child sized desk sat near the door and just beyond that, next to the window was a small bed.
On that bed, wearing the same rumpled clothes that they had last seen him in, sat Daniel. He was hugging his knees to his chest with his eyes staring at a picture that he held.
"Daniel?" Sam moved to his still form. He reacted as soon as she touched him.
"Don't touch me!" his voice was horse and he threw himself closer to the wall. His voice softened, "it's all my fault." He hugged his legs harder and continued at a near whisper, "I don't want to kill you too."
"Daniel, you're not going to kill me." Sam said in a reassuring tone and sat on the corner of the bed. Daniel's eyes were puffy and red from crying, and Jack could see the lines where tears had repeatedly fallen down his face.
"Do you think I wanted to kill them?" Daniel's soft voice cracked. He shoved the picture he had been holding in Sam's face, "Sarah," he choked, "and Sean," A fresh sob wracked his frame as he rested his head back on his knees. "I didn't mean to," a sniffle, "I didn't want to," he raised his head again. "But they're dead and it's my fault." Sam quietly looked at the picture then handed it to Jack.
There were two figures in the picture. A small brown haired girl, about six years old with wide eyes and a soft face was sitting on a picnic blanket next to a boy who seemed to be ten years old. He had light brown hair and a mischievous face. It looked like he was about to pour water on the unsuspecting girl.
Jack handed the photo to Teal'c and said, "I'm sure it's not your fault Daniel, you'd never hurt anyone."
"But I'm not Daniel." he paused, his eyes took a far off expression. "I never was." He turned to the wall and muttered, "I'm nothing but a murderer."
"Who are you then." Jack snapped, all this searching, and now this. This was supposed to be easy, find Daniel, or whoever he was now, and go back. He hadn't signed on for any of this emotional stuff.
"I," he gazed out the window, "I was Sean Alex Murphy." He lowered his head, "now I don't know who I am."
"Why do you think you killed them?" Sam's voice was soft and entreating.
"It was me, it had to be me." Daniel looked strait at Sam, "there was no one else there."
"Daniel," Sam started, but Daniel interrupted.
"I'm not Daniel."
"Alright, but what were your reasons? You had to have some." Sam seemed to waver between moving closer to Daniel's curled up form and holding herself back. Instead her hand inched forward, but didn't quite get to him.
"I don't know," He started to sob again. "We were climbing," his eyes unfocused as if he was traveling along with the memory. "I. . . I slipped. I don't really remember the fall, but when I woke up." He paused, unfocused eyes widening in remembered fear. "They," a choked sob, "they were dead," he started rubbing his hands together as if trying to wash them. "There was so much blood," he sighed, "it was all over," fearful eyes once again locked onto Sam's. "I was bathed in it. I was so scared. . . I ran and ran and ran." He started to rock himself unconsciously. "I killed them." he started chanting in a low voice.
Jack couldn't handle seeing his friend in this state any more, so he left the room. The rest of the house had a long past homey feel. In the jeep they had some medical supplies. Jack was just hoping for a tranquilizer. It wasn't very nice, but it looked like Daniel needed some sleep. His search for a tranquilizer was interrupted by his telephone ringing.
"O'Neill"
"Colonel O'Neill," General Hammond's voice came from the phone. "Have you found our missing boy yet?"
"Yes sir, but he seems to be having a tough time with what he's learned."
"As in?"
"Calling it a nervous breakdown would be like calling the Goa'ould a little irritating."
"Is there any particular reason for the severity of his reaction?"
"From what I can tell, his family had been killed before his eyes, and when he was running away, he got injured and ended up in the hospital." Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "He has the worst case of survivor's guilt I've ever seen."
There was a pause before the General continued.
"Take as much time as is needed colonel, SG1 is officially on standby until you get Daniel well."
"Right sir."
Jack hung up and finished his search. No luck. Jack turned to go back into the house with a sigh. This was not his area and he was feeling like he'd forgotten how to tread water. As he entered the house, he noticed Teal'c was sitting on the couch and Sam had just entered the front room. She took one look at Jack and put a finger over her mouth.
"He's exhausted, I just got him to go to sleep." She whispered to her CO. Jack nodded his head towards the door before leaving again. Sam and Teal'c followed without a word.
"Carter, what do you think of the situation."
Sam was about to answer when Jack motioned for silence. The sound of a car coming was faint, but getting louder. Seconds later a old beat up pick up truck came into view. The driver was a young woman and it didn't take long to recognize her as the waitress from the cafe. The old man was sitting in the passenger seat, his form slightly blocked out by a large white paper bag.
When the truck stopped, the woman hopped out, opened the old man's door, and grabbed the two pizza boxes he had been holding, on which rested the white bag.
"Thanks Jennifer."
"No problem Sam."
"What are you doing here?" Jack nearly barked.
Jennifer turned and gave Jack a sheepish grin.
"Sam insisted that we bring you dinner." She gave the old man a sidelong glance. "Wouldn't stop fussing until someone agreed to it."
Sam puffed up in indignation.
"I'll have you know, that was not fussing." Jennifer just laughed. Sam turned to the SG1, "and it's nearly time for dinner. I'm pretty sure you youngins left without thinking about it." The old man started for the door. Jack stopped his progress with a held out arm and a soft.
"He's asleep." The old man raised an eyebrow.
"Taking it really hard is he?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What do you know?" Samantha butted in. The old Sam sat down on a old chair. He paused a moment before fishing a small pendent out of his pocket. It was beautiful and old. A small angel held a ruby rose. He fiddled it with it quickly and it opened with a click. There were two pictures inside. Jack vaguely recognized them as pictures of Elizabeth and a young Sarah. The old man sighed.
"I found this three years after they disappeared. And the remains of little Sarah." His voice dropped as he handed the locket to Samantha. "It was horrible. I don't know what could have done that to that little girl." He shuddered. "The coroner said it was a bear attack." He stared Jack in the eye. "I never told them about the locket and they never identified the body. I figured it was best laid to rest then." He sighed again and stood, grabbing his back. "Bah, old age, just makes all them old bones creak." He held out his hand, "Can I have the locket back? I feel it's just right that I'm the one to give it back to the boy."
Jennifer put the food on a raised log that had been used as a table many times. She moved the bag to a different area before opening the boxes and pulling napkins out of the truck.
"Sup's up, dig in before it gets too cold."
"What's in the bag?" Jack was a little suspicious.
"Little Alex never liked pizza, but I figured you wouldn't mind it at all. It's rather amazing that Sally's still makes his favorite sandwich," the old man shrugged, "but I'm not going to stop and analyze." He headed for the door before Jack stopped him again.
"He just got to sleep," the man gave Jack a toothy smile.
"I'm sure he can get more sleep later, it's been over twenty years since he's had one of these, and I intend to get it to him still hot." He then stepped around Jack and walked into the house.
"So, Jennifer," Sam turned to the waitress, whom had found a comfortable seat. "What is Sam like?"
"Sam's this town's oldest prankster." She responded with a smile. "He hates to see anyone sad." She developed a far off stare. "I remember he's always been there for the children of this town. Mom said he always was a busybody, but since he retired from the forest service he was the best last minute daycare anyone in these parts could hope for." She smiled, "he was always going on about how there wasn't enough smiles in the world. I don't think that there's anyone in this town that he hasn't looked after. Kind of like a father to all of us."
"Prankster?" Samantha asked for clarification.
"Yeah, he pulls small little pranks that cause laughs." Her eyes gleamed, "Be warned of whoopie cushions while he's around."
The conversation died off for a moment while people ate. Sam stood up and started towards the door with a soft, "I should check on Daniel."
"Please don't," Jennifer said softly. "Samuel, he's wonderful with people that have gone through trauma." Her eyes were pleading. "He's got a gift, and you might disrupt something."
"Sorry Miss, but Jackson's one of my crew, and we need to know how he's doing. Sam, go check on him." Sam nodded at Jack's order and slipped into the house. A few moments passed before she came back out again.
"They're talking sir," she gave Jack a half hearted smile. "He seams like he's doing better." Jack looked over at Jennifer.
"Did you know Sean before he left?" The woman looked about Daniel's age. Her eyes got a little dreamy and she blushed.
"Actually, he was my first crush." She looked down in embarrassment. "I wasn't always very ladylike, and Lexy, well," she blushed harder. "Oh my, I shouldn't say, Carl wouldn't be to happy if he heard about it."
"Carl is?" Jack tried leading the question.
"He's my husband." Jennifer said as she held up her hand, a slim gold band adorned her ring finger. Jack smirked, he had a feeling he knew what Daniel had been like when he was younger.
Jack looked up as he realized it was getting colder. He could see some of the stars coming out. Figuring it now looked like they'd be staying the night at this small cabin he went back in. Maybe a search of the other rooms would prove fruitful at not having to sleep on the floor. Or as he remembered the bed Daniel had been sitting on, one too small.
He first found the kitchen. All of the accessories seemed out dated and in a very ugly olive green. There were a couple of doors on the opposite wall. One led to a pantry and the other outside. The kitchen table had a dusty floral print table cloth and the chairs were neatly pushed in. Jack left and found what looked like the master bedroom. The room was just as dusty as the rest of the house, and the flannel blanket on the queen sized bed looked very warm. There were two dressers, one seemed to hold a shrine, photos and sketches littered the top. The mirror also had photo's stuck into the frame. All of them were of the same woman at different ages. Jack recognized the woman from the photo in the newspaper. It was Elizabeth, Daniel's real mother.
Jack turned to the other dresser. It was plane in comparison. The only thing that rested on its surface was an old forest ranger's hat. Jack turned to leave when a photo on the night stand caught his attention. It showed a lively teenage boy. He was wearing a soccer uniform and smiling at the camera. Next to him, with an arm thrown across the boy's shoulders was another man. He was also smiling and had a forest ranger's uniform on. He had an honest face and seemed somewhat familiar. Jack could see traces of the old man in this younger man's face. He turned the frame over and found a small slip of paper. Sam and Lex, after soccer practice, June 1977.'
Jack turned and scanned the rest of the bare room before making his way out and back to the living room. He saw Teal'c sitting on the couch. It looked like the Jaffa was meditating. Sam was looking at the pictures and nicknacks sitting around the room. There was two more rooms Jack hadn't inspected yet. He stopped on his way down the hallway when he heard the older Sam's voice from behind the closed door.
"Why? Why are you telling me this now?" Concern and worry laced the old voice. "Why didn't you tell me back then?"
Jack could only just make out Daniel's muffled voice.
"I didn't know," a soft snort, "no, I didn't want to believe. I thought it was all a dream." His voice lowered so that Jack couldn't make out the next line. His body unconsciously inching towards the closed door. "They," Daniel's voice cleared, "They paid for my ignorance. I killed them." His voice went harsh with the last word. A moment of silence past.
Jack turned to investigate the room beyond when he heard a loud slap and Samuel's voice in a near growl.
"Listen to me boy," a small pause, "Listen!" the word was harsh, but quiet. "It wasn't you." the words were getting softer and with the wall in the way, Jack couldn't be sure if he heard the next line correctly. "It was that, thing, inside you." Jack backed away from the wall. Hoping that what he thought he heard wasn't what was said.
His mind started to race. A thing' inside Daniel? Did he end up becoming a host to a Goa'uld? No, that was preposterous, they're talking about something that happened twenty years ago. If Daniel had found a Goa'uld, then he wouldn't have aged or fought so hard against them. That and Jack was sure that Daniel's eyes would have glowed at least once if that had been so. Janet would have caught one of the snakes on an MRI if he'd been infected anyway. Shaking his head he dismissed the notion to an overactive sense of paranoia and decided that maybe Daniel wasn't the only one who needed some down time.
Chapter 3
Seeing as how the next commercial flight wasn't until the morning, and SGC had a lot of military resources, 5 hours later Teal'c, Sam, and Jack stepped off of a jet on the edge of the airport in Troy Montana.
"So kids, where do we go?" Jack asked in general. Sam glanced around before saying.
"I think we should try Yaak first, it's more than likely that Daniel already knows everything that could be found out at the Hospital." she paused a moment, "It's also a small town which should make it fairly easy to search."
"Murry?"
"I concur."
"Alright campers, lets go." Jack said before hopping into a nearby jeep that had been pre-arranged for their use. The drive was silent, everything that could be said, had been said.
The sun had set by the time they reached Yaak. It seemed that everything but one hotel had closed up shop for the night.
"So," the younger looking girl behind the counter asked, "what brings you to Yaak? The three of you don't seem like the roughing it type." She smiled.
"We're looking for this man," Jack showed her a picture of Daniel, "We think he might have come here."
The girl took a look at the picture. "Here? He doesn't seem like the roughing it type either. I'm not sure, he looks kinda familiar." She shrugged and handed back the picture, "you're room number is 108, if you go out these doors," she pointed to a set to her left, "and down six rooms, it'll be on the left." With no other option until morning, the three retired for the night.
They started out early, visiting all the morning cafes. By the time ten o'clock rolled around, it seemed news of them spread faster than they could travel. People were cheerful, but as of yet, only one person said that they had seen Daniel. That person had seen Daniel get off of the shuttle that went to the Troy airport in the evening two days previous. They walked into a general store & caf seemed to be a popular hangout of some of the more elderly citizens of the town.
"Well, at least we know he's been here." Jack said as they sat down at a small table with checkered tablecloth. There was a man sitting at the nest table over. He looked to be in his seventies, but in good health. A grey pinstriped hat graced his head. It didn't go too well with his red suspenders and light blue Cambridge shirt. Then again, he was an old man and aloud some eccentricities. He seemed to have good hearing because just after Jack spoke, he turned his attention to the four now at the table.
"Yes sir, but that was two days ago, he could have gone anywhere by now."
Teal'c remained quiet, but his glance moved to the old man after noticing the attention. Jack noticed Teal'c's shift in attention and followed the jaffa's gaze. Seeing the old man, he showed the man the picture.
"Have you seen this man?" Weariness had unwittingly crept into his voice The man smiled.
"He looks so much like his father did at that age. The resemblance is uncanny." The man leaned back in his chair. "I thought I was seeing a ghost when he wandered in here. The boy was so pale, he seemed like a strong wind would blow him over."
Jack seemed to be bursting with inpatients and just holding himself back from yelling at the man to get on with it.
"Do you know where he went?" Sam, it seemed, couldn't hold back.
The man leaned forward and glanced over them. After a moment of his scrutiny he sat back and said. "You're his friends. Good, the boy needs them."
"But do you know where he is?" This time it was Jack. The man smiled good-naturedly.
"All in good time. All in good time."
"What do you mean by that?"
"From what he told me, he just started to remember fifteen years of his life, he needs time to get used to those memories." The man's hazel eyes twinkled, "so sit back and relax for a bit, maybe have lunch. Then I'll tell you where he's gone off to."
Jack gave the old man a death glare, but it didn't seem to phase the man.
"Wait," Sam said, " you said that you knew his father?"
The man smiled, "Yes," he got a far off look in his eyes, "Sean Alexander Murphy, we grew up together, old Sean and I."he leaned in conspiratorially, "I always was a bit jealous that he snagged Lizzy, but he loved her. It seemed the happiest day of his life was when Alex jr. was born."
A waitress came around, took the trio's order, and left a can of soda by the old man. He took a sip before continuing.
"Alex was always a curious child." He gave a quick laugh, as if remembering something funny. "Always got himself into the most strange situations. Why when he was six, he somehow got himself stuck in the chimney. Lizzy had been busy with Sarah." The man's eyes went sad, "Lizzy died not too long after that. It threw their family into chaos for a while. Alex was a big help then. Or so Sean told me, we worked together you know."
The waitress returned with SG1's orders and a smile. The man paused and looked thoughtful.
"It's strange, when Alex was younger, he looked so much like his mother, but with his father's eyes. Now he's a spitting image of his father." He grinned, "well, his hair's a bit longer."
SG1 ate very quickly, hoping to get this man to hurry up and take them to their missing member. Jack finished his food and looked at the old man.
"There's we've had lunch, can you please tell us where he is?" It seemed that he was fighting all of his inpatients to be polite to the old man.
The man smiled and nodded, "Jennifer, could I have a pen and paper?" He called to the waitress. She smiled and brought the requested items.
"Seeing as I doubt the boy's going to be wanting my company, I'll just draw you a map." He smiled and sketched a rough map on the paper, he marked a few landmarks and roads before handing it to Jack. "I circled where his house is. I kept that old place exactly the same as when they disappeared." the man shrugged, "to be honest with you, I don't think I ever gave up hope in seeing ol' Sean again. The house is the boy's now, I hope he takes care of it." With that the man went back to his soda. Leaving the three to their business.
They were out of there so quickly, they nearly forgot to pay for the lunch. The drive was short, yet confusing. The map was good, but many of the roads were dirt and didn't have any signs. They had passed the one they wanted because it had grown over through lack of use.
The outside of the cabin was maintained, but it felt empty. Jack quickly walked up to the door and knocked. "Daniel? Are you there?" There was no answer. Jack had a sudden flash of deja vu and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Jack took a quick glance at Teal'c and Sam before easing the door open. A soft noise could be heard, as if someone was crying.
"Daniel?" There was no response. The entry room was neat, if a bit dusty. An old sixties style couch rested along one wall. Next to it was a large floor standing radio. The mantle over the fireplace had a collection of pictures in frames, but there were holes, as if some of the frames had been taken. There were dirtied old curtains over the windows. A door and a hallway were the only exits. The noise seemed to be coming from the hallway.
The sounds cleared as the small group moved to the hallway.
"So sorry. . .. I didn't mean to. . . it's all my fault. . . I'm so sorry." The words were repeated with small sobs interspersed at uneven times. They followed the voice to a room that had been decorated in bright colors at one point. Now they had dulled and the life had been bleached out of the room. A child sized desk sat near the door and just beyond that, next to the window was a small bed.
On that bed, wearing the same rumpled clothes that they had last seen him in, sat Daniel. He was hugging his knees to his chest with his eyes staring at a picture that he held.
"Daniel?" Sam moved to his still form. He reacted as soon as she touched him.
"Don't touch me!" his voice was horse and he threw himself closer to the wall. His voice softened, "it's all my fault." He hugged his legs harder and continued at a near whisper, "I don't want to kill you too."
"Daniel, you're not going to kill me." Sam said in a reassuring tone and sat on the corner of the bed. Daniel's eyes were puffy and red from crying, and Jack could see the lines where tears had repeatedly fallen down his face.
"Do you think I wanted to kill them?" Daniel's soft voice cracked. He shoved the picture he had been holding in Sam's face, "Sarah," he choked, "and Sean," A fresh sob wracked his frame as he rested his head back on his knees. "I didn't mean to," a sniffle, "I didn't want to," he raised his head again. "But they're dead and it's my fault." Sam quietly looked at the picture then handed it to Jack.
There were two figures in the picture. A small brown haired girl, about six years old with wide eyes and a soft face was sitting on a picnic blanket next to a boy who seemed to be ten years old. He had light brown hair and a mischievous face. It looked like he was about to pour water on the unsuspecting girl.
Jack handed the photo to Teal'c and said, "I'm sure it's not your fault Daniel, you'd never hurt anyone."
"But I'm not Daniel." he paused, his eyes took a far off expression. "I never was." He turned to the wall and muttered, "I'm nothing but a murderer."
"Who are you then." Jack snapped, all this searching, and now this. This was supposed to be easy, find Daniel, or whoever he was now, and go back. He hadn't signed on for any of this emotional stuff.
"I," he gazed out the window, "I was Sean Alex Murphy." He lowered his head, "now I don't know who I am."
"Why do you think you killed them?" Sam's voice was soft and entreating.
"It was me, it had to be me." Daniel looked strait at Sam, "there was no one else there."
"Daniel," Sam started, but Daniel interrupted.
"I'm not Daniel."
"Alright, but what were your reasons? You had to have some." Sam seemed to waver between moving closer to Daniel's curled up form and holding herself back. Instead her hand inched forward, but didn't quite get to him.
"I don't know," He started to sob again. "We were climbing," his eyes unfocused as if he was traveling along with the memory. "I. . . I slipped. I don't really remember the fall, but when I woke up." He paused, unfocused eyes widening in remembered fear. "They," a choked sob, "they were dead," he started rubbing his hands together as if trying to wash them. "There was so much blood," he sighed, "it was all over," fearful eyes once again locked onto Sam's. "I was bathed in it. I was so scared. . . I ran and ran and ran." He started to rock himself unconsciously. "I killed them." he started chanting in a low voice.
Jack couldn't handle seeing his friend in this state any more, so he left the room. The rest of the house had a long past homey feel. In the jeep they had some medical supplies. Jack was just hoping for a tranquilizer. It wasn't very nice, but it looked like Daniel needed some sleep. His search for a tranquilizer was interrupted by his telephone ringing.
"O'Neill"
"Colonel O'Neill," General Hammond's voice came from the phone. "Have you found our missing boy yet?"
"Yes sir, but he seems to be having a tough time with what he's learned."
"As in?"
"Calling it a nervous breakdown would be like calling the Goa'ould a little irritating."
"Is there any particular reason for the severity of his reaction?"
"From what I can tell, his family had been killed before his eyes, and when he was running away, he got injured and ended up in the hospital." Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. "He has the worst case of survivor's guilt I've ever seen."
There was a pause before the General continued.
"Take as much time as is needed colonel, SG1 is officially on standby until you get Daniel well."
"Right sir."
Jack hung up and finished his search. No luck. Jack turned to go back into the house with a sigh. This was not his area and he was feeling like he'd forgotten how to tread water. As he entered the house, he noticed Teal'c was sitting on the couch and Sam had just entered the front room. She took one look at Jack and put a finger over her mouth.
"He's exhausted, I just got him to go to sleep." She whispered to her CO. Jack nodded his head towards the door before leaving again. Sam and Teal'c followed without a word.
"Carter, what do you think of the situation."
Sam was about to answer when Jack motioned for silence. The sound of a car coming was faint, but getting louder. Seconds later a old beat up pick up truck came into view. The driver was a young woman and it didn't take long to recognize her as the waitress from the cafe. The old man was sitting in the passenger seat, his form slightly blocked out by a large white paper bag.
When the truck stopped, the woman hopped out, opened the old man's door, and grabbed the two pizza boxes he had been holding, on which rested the white bag.
"Thanks Jennifer."
"No problem Sam."
"What are you doing here?" Jack nearly barked.
Jennifer turned and gave Jack a sheepish grin.
"Sam insisted that we bring you dinner." She gave the old man a sidelong glance. "Wouldn't stop fussing until someone agreed to it."
Sam puffed up in indignation.
"I'll have you know, that was not fussing." Jennifer just laughed. Sam turned to the SG1, "and it's nearly time for dinner. I'm pretty sure you youngins left without thinking about it." The old man started for the door. Jack stopped his progress with a held out arm and a soft.
"He's asleep." The old man raised an eyebrow.
"Taking it really hard is he?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What do you know?" Samantha butted in. The old Sam sat down on a old chair. He paused a moment before fishing a small pendent out of his pocket. It was beautiful and old. A small angel held a ruby rose. He fiddled it with it quickly and it opened with a click. There were two pictures inside. Jack vaguely recognized them as pictures of Elizabeth and a young Sarah. The old man sighed.
"I found this three years after they disappeared. And the remains of little Sarah." His voice dropped as he handed the locket to Samantha. "It was horrible. I don't know what could have done that to that little girl." He shuddered. "The coroner said it was a bear attack." He stared Jack in the eye. "I never told them about the locket and they never identified the body. I figured it was best laid to rest then." He sighed again and stood, grabbing his back. "Bah, old age, just makes all them old bones creak." He held out his hand, "Can I have the locket back? I feel it's just right that I'm the one to give it back to the boy."
Jennifer put the food on a raised log that had been used as a table many times. She moved the bag to a different area before opening the boxes and pulling napkins out of the truck.
"Sup's up, dig in before it gets too cold."
"What's in the bag?" Jack was a little suspicious.
"Little Alex never liked pizza, but I figured you wouldn't mind it at all. It's rather amazing that Sally's still makes his favorite sandwich," the old man shrugged, "but I'm not going to stop and analyze." He headed for the door before Jack stopped him again.
"He just got to sleep," the man gave Jack a toothy smile.
"I'm sure he can get more sleep later, it's been over twenty years since he's had one of these, and I intend to get it to him still hot." He then stepped around Jack and walked into the house.
"So, Jennifer," Sam turned to the waitress, whom had found a comfortable seat. "What is Sam like?"
"Sam's this town's oldest prankster." She responded with a smile. "He hates to see anyone sad." She developed a far off stare. "I remember he's always been there for the children of this town. Mom said he always was a busybody, but since he retired from the forest service he was the best last minute daycare anyone in these parts could hope for." She smiled, "he was always going on about how there wasn't enough smiles in the world. I don't think that there's anyone in this town that he hasn't looked after. Kind of like a father to all of us."
"Prankster?" Samantha asked for clarification.
"Yeah, he pulls small little pranks that cause laughs." Her eyes gleamed, "Be warned of whoopie cushions while he's around."
The conversation died off for a moment while people ate. Sam stood up and started towards the door with a soft, "I should check on Daniel."
"Please don't," Jennifer said softly. "Samuel, he's wonderful with people that have gone through trauma." Her eyes were pleading. "He's got a gift, and you might disrupt something."
"Sorry Miss, but Jackson's one of my crew, and we need to know how he's doing. Sam, go check on him." Sam nodded at Jack's order and slipped into the house. A few moments passed before she came back out again.
"They're talking sir," she gave Jack a half hearted smile. "He seams like he's doing better." Jack looked over at Jennifer.
"Did you know Sean before he left?" The woman looked about Daniel's age. Her eyes got a little dreamy and she blushed.
"Actually, he was my first crush." She looked down in embarrassment. "I wasn't always very ladylike, and Lexy, well," she blushed harder. "Oh my, I shouldn't say, Carl wouldn't be to happy if he heard about it."
"Carl is?" Jack tried leading the question.
"He's my husband." Jennifer said as she held up her hand, a slim gold band adorned her ring finger. Jack smirked, he had a feeling he knew what Daniel had been like when he was younger.
Jack looked up as he realized it was getting colder. He could see some of the stars coming out. Figuring it now looked like they'd be staying the night at this small cabin he went back in. Maybe a search of the other rooms would prove fruitful at not having to sleep on the floor. Or as he remembered the bed Daniel had been sitting on, one too small.
He first found the kitchen. All of the accessories seemed out dated and in a very ugly olive green. There were a couple of doors on the opposite wall. One led to a pantry and the other outside. The kitchen table had a dusty floral print table cloth and the chairs were neatly pushed in. Jack left and found what looked like the master bedroom. The room was just as dusty as the rest of the house, and the flannel blanket on the queen sized bed looked very warm. There were two dressers, one seemed to hold a shrine, photos and sketches littered the top. The mirror also had photo's stuck into the frame. All of them were of the same woman at different ages. Jack recognized the woman from the photo in the newspaper. It was Elizabeth, Daniel's real mother.
Jack turned to the other dresser. It was plane in comparison. The only thing that rested on its surface was an old forest ranger's hat. Jack turned to leave when a photo on the night stand caught his attention. It showed a lively teenage boy. He was wearing a soccer uniform and smiling at the camera. Next to him, with an arm thrown across the boy's shoulders was another man. He was also smiling and had a forest ranger's uniform on. He had an honest face and seemed somewhat familiar. Jack could see traces of the old man in this younger man's face. He turned the frame over and found a small slip of paper. Sam and Lex, after soccer practice, June 1977.'
Jack turned and scanned the rest of the bare room before making his way out and back to the living room. He saw Teal'c sitting on the couch. It looked like the Jaffa was meditating. Sam was looking at the pictures and nicknacks sitting around the room. There was two more rooms Jack hadn't inspected yet. He stopped on his way down the hallway when he heard the older Sam's voice from behind the closed door.
"Why? Why are you telling me this now?" Concern and worry laced the old voice. "Why didn't you tell me back then?"
Jack could only just make out Daniel's muffled voice.
"I didn't know," a soft snort, "no, I didn't want to believe. I thought it was all a dream." His voice lowered so that Jack couldn't make out the next line. His body unconsciously inching towards the closed door. "They," Daniel's voice cleared, "They paid for my ignorance. I killed them." His voice went harsh with the last word. A moment of silence past.
Jack turned to investigate the room beyond when he heard a loud slap and Samuel's voice in a near growl.
"Listen to me boy," a small pause, "Listen!" the word was harsh, but quiet. "It wasn't you." the words were getting softer and with the wall in the way, Jack couldn't be sure if he heard the next line correctly. "It was that, thing, inside you." Jack backed away from the wall. Hoping that what he thought he heard wasn't what was said.
His mind started to race. A thing' inside Daniel? Did he end up becoming a host to a Goa'uld? No, that was preposterous, they're talking about something that happened twenty years ago. If Daniel had found a Goa'uld, then he wouldn't have aged or fought so hard against them. That and Jack was sure that Daniel's eyes would have glowed at least once if that had been so. Janet would have caught one of the snakes on an MRI if he'd been infected anyway. Shaking his head he dismissed the notion to an overactive sense of paranoia and decided that maybe Daniel wasn't the only one who needed some down time.