"Disappeared! Th... that doesn't make any sense! How could he just disappear?"
Sam winced and chewed on her lip as she tried to figure out what to say. There was really nothing she could say that would make this any easier on her friend. The truth was, nobody knew how it had happened or where Daniel had gone. That wasn't something she really wanted to say to his anxious wife. "We... we're not sure," she said. "We think the pedestal we were studying must have been some kind of transportation device or... something. We have people on it right now."
"And where would he have been transported?" Janet asked.
Sam looked down at her hands. "We don't know."
Janet took a deep, shaky breath and seemed to be trying to keep herself calm. "Could that be what the writing says?" she asked.
Sam shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "We're really not sure what the writing says," she admitted. "Daniel had never seen the language before, and neither has anyone else here at the SGC. We have our top linguists looking into it..."
"No, you don't," Janet said, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Daniel's our top linguist, and if he couldn't translate it..." She shook her head and raised a hand to her mouth, obviously not trusting her voice to say another word.
"We don't know that he couldn't have translated it," Sam said softly. "He didn't seem to think it was impossible." When she received no response from Janet, she leaned forward in her chair and laid her hand on her friend's arm. "Hey. We'll find him."
Janet nodded and took Sam's hand to give it a squeeze. "I know. I just hate not knowing where he is, or what he may be going through."
"I'm sure he's fine. He may have just been sent to another part of the planet or something. Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c are covering as much territory as they possibly can. Even if they don't find him right away, though, you know Daniel better than anyone. He's strong, and he knows what to do in situations like this. He'll be okay."
Janet nodded and forced a smile. "Thanks, Sam. I know you'll do everything you can to find him."
"You bet we will." Sam stood up from her seat and bent down to give Janet an encouraging hug. "Speaking of which, I'd better get back to work. I just wanted to be the one to tell you."
"I appreciate that," Janet said, though the look on her face told Sam that she would rather not have heard this news at all, no matter who had broken it to her.
With one last supportive smile and pat on the shoulder, Sam left Janet's office and headed straight for her lab. She had diagnostics to run and people to order around if they were ever going to find out what happened to Daniel.
Janet sighed when she caught herself checking her watch for the umpteenth time. Watching the clock wasn't going to make the hours pass any quicker.
Neither was pacing the infirmary.
She knew she should go home and break the news to Cassie, but ever since SG-1 had returned without Daniel hours earlier, some part of her had been expecting him to just reappear out of nowhere, give some logical explanation for where he'd been, and make everything all right again. She didn't want to make this whole situation real by telling Cassie. That would just be too painful.
Still, she couldn't just stand around in the infirmary for the next God knew how long, either. She had to find out whether Sam had figured out what had happened yet.
With that resolve in mind, she made her way out of the infirmary and over to the elevator. Just as she was inserting her key card, however, the off-world activation klaxons began to sound.
It was Daniel. It had to be Daniel.
Thankfully, no one else was on the elevator, so she took it straight down to Level 28, tapping her foot and wringing her hands in her anxiety. As soon as the doors opened again, she dashed out into the hallway, almost careening into a group of SF's along the way. She ran right up the steps into the control room and over to General Hammond, who was standing beside the gate technician on duty, hunched over slightly as he spoke into the microphone.
"Have you found anything, Major?" he was saying.
Janet's heart sank. Not Daniel.
"Not much, Sir," Sam's voice said through the radio. "We still haven't found any trace of where he might have gone, and... we've pretty much ruled out that the device, or whatever it is, is any kind of transporter. We're still examining it now, but I really think we're barking up the wrong tree, Sir. Daniel was at least two feet away from it when he disappeared."
"Then what tree should we be barking up, Major?" Hammond asked, sounding more than a little impatient. "From what you've told me so far, we really don't have anything else to go on."
"I know, Sir. I really don't know what to say."
General Hammond sighed. "Do what you can, Major. Keep me apprised."
"Yes, Sir."
Janet stared at the gate in numb silence until it shut down and the control room went quiet. It seemed like everyone there was taking a moment to reflect on Daniel, and it warmed her heart when she looked around and saw the worried looks on their faces. At least she knew she could trust that these people would do everything in their power to bring him back.
"Is there something I can do for you, Doctor?"
Janet forced a smile for the general, though the kindness in his voice made her want to cry. "No, Sir, I'm alright," she said. "I... I think I'll go home now. Cassie will need me there when I tell her."
General Hammond nodded. "We'll call you as soon as we hear anything," he said.
Janet knew he would.
Now that her hopes for Daniel's quick return had pretty much been dashed, she figured there was nothing for her to do but go home. She really shouldn't leave it any longer, since Cassie would soon think that something had come up and head off to a friend's house for dinner. As much as she hated to do it, Janet knew that she should tell the girl what was going on as soon as possible. Cassie had often complained in the past that she was always kept in the dark when the people she loved were in danger. She deserved to know.
It didn't take her long to gather her things and sign out, so a surprisingly short time later, Janet was pulling into her driveway. It suddenly hit her then that Daniel's car was still at the base, and might stay there for quite a while. She didn't allow the thought that someone else might eventually have to bring it back to even enter her mind. Before she'd had a chance to dwell on it, she got out of the car, went straight up the front steps, and unlocked the door.
"Oh good, you're home," Cassie's voice greeted her as soon as she stepped inside the house. "I was starting to think an emergency had held you up or something."
This was it. Janet took a deep breath and steeled herself. "No, nothing like that," she said. "I, um... I need to tell you something, sweetheart. Why don't we go and sit down?"
Cassie's face fell as soon as the words were out of Janet's mouth. "That... sounds like bad news," she said, following Janet over to the living room couch.
Janet sighed as she sat down. "Yeah, it is," she admitted. "Or... it might be."
Cassie sank down next to her, her eyes wide but her expression calm and set as she prepared to face whatever she was about to hear. "Is it Daniel?" she asked in a small voice.
Janet nodded, looking down at her hands. "He... he disappeared while he was off-world today. They've been looking all day long, but... so far they've found no clue as to what happened to him."
Cassie seemed confused for a moment. "Disappeared as in... he wandered off and got lost somewhere?" she asked.
"No... disappeared as in one second he was there, and the next he was gone."
Cassie's face drained of all colour. "You mean... he was taken by somebody? By the Goa'uld or... something?"
"We don't know that," Janet said, laying her hand on Cassie's arm. She didn't know how she was supposed to reassure her on that point, though, since that was exactly what she had been fearing all along. "He could have just... activated something he shouldn't have. It's been known to happen before." She tried to force a smile, but Cassie didn't seem to be buying it.
"I... I hope he's okay," the girl said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper.
"I'm sure he will be."
Cassie nodded. "I, um... I have homework," she said. "I'll be in my room."
Before Janet could say another word, Cassie stood up and rushed out of the room.
Janet felt as though she should look into this, as Cassie seemed to be taking the news harder than she'd expected her to, but for the moment Janet was just grateful to be alone to think things over. She grabbed a cushion and hugged it tightly to her chest as she lay down on her side and curled up into a ball. She didn't cry. She didn't feel like crying. She didn't feel as though she needed to mourn, as she didn't believe that Daniel was dead. She just felt... numb. Like part of herself had been ripped away, and the rest was trying not to notice that it was gone.
Her eyes focused on their wedding photograph that was sitting on the shelf by the television. "Where are you, Daniel?"
Cassie didn't sleep a wink that night. How could she, knowing that Daniel might be dead or dying somewhere out there in the vastness of the galaxy where they may never find him?
Their last moments together hung over her like a dark cloud. She felt so guilty now over the way she'd treated him. She'd just been playing around, but what if he'd actually taken her seriously? What if he died thinking she hated him? God, her last words to him had even been a lie. She hadn't heard anything the night before. She'd said it to embarrass him, pure and simple. She hated herself for it now.
It was around 2am when she heard her mother get up out of bed and start wandering through the house. Cassie was concerned about her, but figured she didn't want her daughter following her around asking what was wrong. She was just missing Daniel.
And she wasn't the only one. Cassie didn't know how she made it through the next few days with her sanity still in tact, as it seemed that every five minutes, someone was stopping by to see if everything was okay, if she needed anything, if her mom needed anything... it was insane. Cassie almost welcomed the hours she spent in school every day. At least while she was in class, people left her alone.
Not that she blamed them for wanting to help. They were feeling just as hopeless as Cassie and her mom were. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c especially were taking Daniel's disappearance really hard. She figured that was because they were blaming themselves.
Still, did they have to keep coming around and asking if they were okay? They were fine. She was fine. She was just feeling more and more guilt as each day passed with no Daniel, that was all. Her mom was just starting to cry herself to sleep every night, that was all. Nothing to worry about. Nothing that wouldn't go away once Daniel came home.
And he would be coming home. With all that Daniel had been through and survived throughout his life, he wouldn't just vanish into thin air and be gone forever. That just wouldn't be fair.
Then again, nobody had ever said that the universe was fair. She just hoped it would give Daniel one more break. One more miracle.
For her mom's sake if nobody else's.