Chapter 24 – Comfort

Alex awoke to the rhythmic sound of the heart monitor connected to her heart, monitoring her heartbeat. The room was blurry, so she blinked a few times before it came into focus. Along the back wall stood everyone from GC-1, the team, the extra personnel…everyone. But the only one who came clearly into focus was Daniel, who looked to be nursing some wounds on his arms and chest.

"Sir?" she said weakly. "Daniel?"

"We're here, Major," Hoffman said while coming to the side of the bed. Colonel O'Brien was next to him, as was Dagón; and Daniel, Dude, and Kate crowded around on the other side. "How do you feel?"

"Okay," she said. "What happened?"

She caught Hoffman glancing over at Daniel before he motioned everyone else to vacate the room. "I think Daniel had better tell you in private," he said, and he, too, left the room. Alex looked up at Daniel.

"What happened?" she asked again, and Daniel sat down next to her bed, taking her hand in his.

"You don't remember?" he asked gently.

"I do," she whispered. "But I would like to know what you did."

"All right," Daniel said. "I'll start from the very beginning. Last night I fell asleep, only to wake up with a terrible nightmare. You were in it, and so was Sol—uh, Zeus. You were smiling, but when Zeus walked into the picture, you began yelling—like you did before I came in—and Zeus began to advance on you. Right then it became fuzzy, and I woke up, just thinking it had been a really bad dream. But then I had that same dream two more times in a row.

"I told Hoffman about it, but he just thought it had been a very bad dream, even though I had it more than once. The last time I woke up, I knew something needed to be done." He looked from their clasped hands to her face again, and saw an emotion shining in her eyes…one he didn't know for sure what it was. Smiling a bit, he continued.

"I knew what I was about to do was going to get me into a lot of trouble when I got back, but I did it anyway, acting on instinct—which you told me was a good thing. I set the Spacegate to take me back to '080 without anyone else. I disappeared before they could catch me, and ended up on the planet where you were. Concentrating, I could see where you were, and most importantly your situation. I knew you were chained up, I knew you were hurt badly, and that's when my body took over.

"It was the weirdest thing. I mean, I knew where to go, and my body just began to run in that direction; my mind blocked all else from it besides the fact that I needed to get to you."

He paused and looked back at her. She shifted position weakly on the hospital bed. "I have that same gift," she whispered. "It's that of intense focus—it's a curse, but it helps a whole lot with things. You only see the goal…you don't see anyone or anything in your way, you don't see any personal danger…only what you need to accomplish. It took you directly to me, didn't it?"

Daniel nodded. "I was so enraged at what Zeus was doing, I didn't see anything else but the path that took me to you. When I got to you, though, and saw what he was doing to you…well…I somewhat blanked out. I remember dodging lightning bolts and killing him, but everything else in between is all fuzzy."

"Well," Alex started weakly as she shifted position again so that she was looking directly at him, "from what I heard, you screamed at him to get away from me and then you began to fight with him. He began unleashing lightning and told you that you'd pay for your insolence. You shouted back, 'No, it is you who shall suffer! I am the Preserver. Fear my wrath!' Then, a while later, Zeus was killed and you came for me."

Daniel smiled sheepishly. "I said that?"

Alex nodded. "Yes, you did. From where I had been, I could see Zeus, but not you. When you told him that you were the Preserver, he seemed to get worried, and then you killed him. I think they have all heard of the Preserver legends."

"Yeah…everyone besides me," Daniel muttered, and Alexandra began laughing, though it quickly turned into a cough.

"Oh," she moaned, clutching at her stomach. "There must be some internal damage Kate hasn't gotten around to fixing yet," she said. "You see, Kate can heal anything and everything, yet when the body has too much damage, she can't use her powers to heal it all at once. She does it in increments; otherwise she'll pass out from exhaustion and will have to recover even more to finish the job later anyway."

"I hope you get better soon," he said truthfully while looking at her. Alex had a faraway look in her eyes, and Daniel thought she saw a glimmer of an emotion he didn't know. Seeing her in that state, he didn't want to ask what he wanted to ask of her but he knew he should. Sighing, he damned the question to hell and asked it anyway.

"Alex?" he asked after a moment's pause.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him and saw caring and sadness in his intense blue eyes, paired with a touch of grief.

"I'm sorry, but I need to know. The question has been gnawing at the pit of my stomach ever since we got back. Did he…uh, did Zeus…?"

"Rape me?" she supplied quietly, with a hint of grief in her voice.

All Daniel could do was nod, punishing himself for bringing it up so soon after she experienced it. "Yeah," he said, a pained look on his face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"But you have the right to know," the Major said, straining to keep control of her voice and failing. She looked up at him as she shook her head no, her tears spilling out. Daniel felt the pent-up breath he didn't realize he had been holding rush out in a sigh of relief, and he let go of Alex's hand.

"Come here," he said to her softly while he held his arms out to her. Sliding gratefully into them, she cried away the fear, the guilt, and the relief of being rescued in time before the Androidian raped her. Daniel sat there and held her, trying to comfort her.

Major Croft was not raped! That's something to be grateful about, Daniel thought thankfully as he rocked slightly forwards and back, cradling Alex closely in his arms, offering what comfort he could for something she never should've gone through. Thinking of his dreams, Daniel knew that, being different, his most powerful ability had come to him before anyone else's usually had just for the purpose of keeping one of his teammates safe. The linguist stroked Alex's hair as he thought of what could've happened had he not had the dream.

"I'm sorry," Alex apologized a while later while she wiped her red, puffy eyes.

"No, don't apologize. What you went through…well, I can only begin to guess. You have more right to cry than I did to try to comfort you. I don't know what it felt like, and so therefore I ask your forgiveness for trying to make things all right, even when they weren't."

Alex looked at him with a pained face. "Even if you think you have no right to comfort me…well, it was working…"

Daniel gathered her into his arms once more.

"Debriefing in five minutes," John announced to Daniel and Dude as they passed each other in the hallways.

"You got it," Daniel said, and he and Dude diverted their direction so that they'd start heading towards the Debriefing Room.

Daniel had been in the Debriefing/Briefing/Meeting Room a few times already, but this was the one time he actually paid attention to it. It was a large room with a huge windowed wall to one side, showing the shining silver Spacegate and glittering gold Stargate in the 'Gate Room. In the middle of the room was a very long, black table with a gold outline and middle. The light seemed to radiate from the crystal part of the table, illuminating the room with a pleasant golden glow.

Around the table sat ten chairs—four per side, one on each end—inlayed with silver, giving the person sitting in them a slightly bluish tinge. The General was already seated at the head table, the one closest to the windows, the one furthest from the door. With the glow, he looked almost supernatural in appearance, but Daniel was getting used to those chairs.

"Welcome, welcome," he said as Daniel and Rick took their seats. Daniel sat across the table from Alex, catching her eye as he sat down. Dagón was already at his usual place to the General's left, and Dude sat down on Daniel's other side. The only people they were waiting for were the Colonel and Dr. Fields.

Of course we're waiting for them, Daniel thought as he caught Alex's eye, and then looked towards the two empty spots at the table. Alex seemed to take the hint, and smiled slightly. The relationship between the Colonel and doctor seemed only apparent to the two of them, and they liked keeping it a secret, just between them. Grinning at her, the door opened, and the two missing people walked into the room, seemingly normal, though Daniel could sense a hint of satisfaction between the two of them. The Colonel, to Daniel's mind, had done a bit more than just tell the doctor of the briefing.

"Good. Everyone's here now," the General said as the Colonel sat to his immediate right, and the doctor on the other side of Alex. "Now we can move onto the matter at hand. I've read both Colonel O'Brien's report and Dr. Matthewson's report on what happened and I'm damn proud of both Dr. Matthewson and Major Croft for their actions towards this new threat…especially those of Dr. Matthewson.

"Daniel," Hoffman continued while turning towards him, a slight smile on his face, "even though what you did would've been considered the greatest breech in both security and protocol in the armed forces, I'm pleased you did what you did—following your instincts. While Dr. Fields was patching you up, I had her do some tests on your brain, as we can determine if you've gotten control of all of the gifts by the size of a particular part. It shows that even though you do not have full power over most of the abilities you are to gain, you have gotten control of two of your biggest ones: the one that usually is the first to come, and the one that is usually the last to show itself. The dreams that you had were indeed foresight, Daniel, and I apologize for not listening to you."

"No, really sir…it's okay; I—"

"And for that, doctor," the General continued, smiling as Daniel became quiet again, "I've decided that both you and the Major are to receive Medals of Honor at the Christmas Ball, and it is time to take you to see the Sage."

The entire crew of GC-1 looked at Hoffman, their faces betraying their shocked expressions.

Finally, breaking the numbed silence, Colonel O'Brien asked, "Isn't he a wee bit too young to go? I mean, we all were at least half a year old according to The System standards when we went to see her. Shouldn't he wait a bit longer?"

"Well, Colonel, you all went to see her after you gained the knowledge and ability to control your two most important gifts. Daniel has just done that, so I deem it the right time to let him go see her. You never know when the right instant is, as she would say. But I'd bet she wants to see him. You all leave at 18:00 hours. I need two volunteers to go with him."

"Aye, one of 'em 'ill be me," Dagón said.

John began to volunteer when Alex interrupted. "I'll go with him, General."

"Are you sure?" Joseph asked. "You're recovering from a serious wounding of both the body and mind. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Alex smiled. "Yes, sir. I've wanted to see her again, anyway. She might be able to clear up a few things for me. It's almost my time to visit with her again, as well."

"Aye…that it is for me, too," Dagón said. "We be the on'y ones who could take him, anyway, as she don't like those who've seen her more than once a year ta come back before 'tis time."

Hoffman nodded, seeing the logic. "Get geared up. You leave as soon as you can."

"Aye, sir," Dagón said right when both Daniel and Alex said, "Yes, sir," and the three of them left the Briefing Room.