"Unscheduled off-world activation."
"Alright, people. You're dismissed," General Hammond announced as he rose to his feet.
Janet breathed a sigh of relief as he left the room. The briefing had taken longer than she'd expected, but she'd been saved by the... gate. Now she was free to go home and have that bath.
She took her time getting to her feet and gathering the papers she'd scattered over the table, so she hadn't yet left the briefing room when she heard General Hammond's voice again. "Medical team to the gateroom. Dr. Fraiser to the gateroom."
'Dr. Fraiser to the gateroom'? Hadn't he been the one to tell her to go home and get some rest? Janet sighed again, this time from frustration. It just never ended.
She jogged down the steps leading to the control room and was about to ask the general what the problem was when she saw the team coming through the gate carrying a man on a stretcher. She couldn't quite see who the sick man was, but she could tell from the anxious looks on the other men's faces that something was very wrong. She ran as fast as she could out of the control room and into the gateroom.
"Stand back, people," one of the men commanded. "Let Dr. Fraiser through."
As the small crowd parted, Janet finally got a good look at the figure lying on the stretcher. Even then, her eyes refused to believe it. "D...Daniel?"
She stood there, staring dumbfounded at his face for a few moments before she finally snapped out of it and moved out of the way of the approaching medical team. She felt someone's hands on her shoulders, and glanced behind to see General Hammond's kind, concerned face. She allowed him to usher her off to the side, far enough away that she wasn't in the way, but still close enough that she could see Daniel's face.
Daniel's face... He was really there. And as worried as everyone seemed to be about him, she could tell that he was breathing. For the moment, that was all she needed to know. He was home, and he was alive. That was more than she'd dared to hope for over the past few days.
"Let's get him to the infirmary," Dr. Warner said, leading the way out of the room as the rest of the medical team followed.
Janet was close behind.
"What happened?" she asked the SG team member who had carried the stretcher through the gate in the first place. "Where did you find him?"
"We didn't find him anywhere, ma'am," the major said. "He gated to the Alpha Site himself. He collapsed as soon as he came through the gate, though. He was kinda talking gibberish, too. I hope he's okay."
Janet hoped so, too. Upon arriving at the infirmary, however, it was made abundantly clear to her that he wasn't.
She was already concerned at the sight of his thin, dirty, bearded face, but it wasn't until his blanket was removed that she saw just how bad his condition really was. For one thing, he was completely naked, and that just served to accentuate how thin he'd become. It was almost as though he hadn't eaten a thing since he'd been gone. His once muscular frame was now skinny and frail, and every rib on his chest could be plainly seen.
On top of that, his entire body was covered in small red marks, almost like cigarette burns that had started to heal. He was covered in blood, most of which was on his hands, but she couldn't see that he was bleeding anywhere. He did, however, have a bandage wrapped around his upper left arm, and when it was removed she saw that there was a relatively fresh wound underneath that seemed to have been cauterized and treated.
What the hell had happened to him?
Janet had a million and one questions as Warner hurriedly examined Daniel and began treating him, but she stayed out of the way while he barked commands to the nurses. She knew she wouldn't be allowed to have a hand in treating him even if she wasn't shaking like a leaf and feeling like she was going to throw up, so she didn't bother wasting anyone's time to ask. She was just glad no one had ushered her out of the room.
She stood there watching the other doctors and nurses work for a minute or two, but suddenly the tones of their voices changed. Her view of Daniel's face was blocked by the people crowding around him, but at the words, "It's alright, Dr. Jackson, you're safe," she knew he was awake. Then she saw his arms flailing frantically in the air and the others trying to catch them and pin them to his sides.
That did it. She had to go over there, whether Dr. Warner liked it or not.
She wormed her way in between the nurses at Daniel's side and made a grab for his left arm. "Daniel!" she said, trying not to sound as worried and frantic as she felt. "Daniel, calm down. Shh, it's alright."
It wasn't until she had hold of his arm that she realized that telling him to shush was unnecessary. He looked over at her with wide, terror-filled eyes, and his mouth was open in an expression of pain and fear, but he wasn't making a sound other than panting for breath.
Janet shook her head slightly in confusion and turned to Dr. Warner. "What's going on?" she asked, not fully expecting an answer but feeling the need to voice the question anyway.
"I have no idea," he said, sounding just as confused as she was. "He's dehydrated, malnourished, and seems to be in a lot of pain - that's really all I've been able to determine thus far. He suddenly woke up a second ago and started thrashing around like this. He didn't even make a sound."
Janet looked down at Daniel again, and jumped slightly when she saw that he was staring right at her with a pleading look in his eyes. His arms had been restrained by this time, but he was pulling against the restraints in what seemed to be an effort to get closer to her.
"Daniel?" She leaned down so that her face was just inches away from his, and he followed her every move with his eyes. "Daniel, it's Janet. Can you hear me?"
His eyes filled with tears as she spoke and his face screwed up like he was going to cry, but still he made no sound. She felt something move against her side and looked down to see that he was grabbing at her coat with his hand - the only motion he could make now that his arms were tied down.
Janet smiled and took his hand in both of hers. "It's okay, Daniel," she said. "You're home now. You're safe."
"Do you think you can keep him calm while we continue, Dr. Fraiser?" Warner asked her quietly.
She nodded. "Do what you have to do," she said, not taking her eyes away from Daniel even for a second. "He seems to have been traumatized by whatever happened, but I think he knows where he is now."
Janet never took her gaze away from his frightened blue eyes throughout the rest of Dr. Warner's examination. They seemed to be trying to tell her something, but she couldn't figure out what it was. All she knew was that they held so much pain and longing that it was breaking her heart. She just wished he would speak to her. Even one word would have set her mind at ease. His eerie silence was even more frightening than the strange marks on his body.
She could only hope that it wouldn't last for long.
SG-1 were halfway through collecting soil samples from your average, run-of-the-mill, abandoned planet when it happened. The gate started to activate.
Jack snapped to attention right away and ducked behind a nearby bush with his P-90 at the ready. He knew that when one is on an abandoned world and the Stargate comes to life, one of two things is about to happen - the Goa'uld have somehow made your position and are coming to kill you, or you are about to be given news from home, whether good or bad. One always hopes for the latter of the two possible outcomes of a surprise activation, while at the same time hoping that the news one is about to hear isn't that the SGC is under attack or that someone related to you or your team members has died.
Good news, however, was rare, so Jack took every precaution and motioned for his team to do the same.
"SG-1, this is General Hammond. Please respond."
So, it was news from home. He stood up and signalled to Carter and Teal'c, who had taken refuge behind bushes of their own, that the coast was clear. "Go ahead, Sir," he said into his radio.
"Colonel O'Neill, I think you and your team should return to the SGC right away," Hammond said. "Dr. Jackson has been found."
Jack stared at his dumbstruck teammates for a few seconds before the words sank in. Dr. Jackson... found? He wasn't ready to jump for joy just yet, though. "Is he alive, Sir?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice from breaking with emotion.
"He's alive, Jack," Hammond assured him, "but he seems to have been through a terrible ordeal. I'm sure he would want the three of you with him as quickly as possible."
Jack could feel as well as hear Carter's sigh of relief. "We're on our way," he said.
As soon as the gate shut down, Carter dialled Earth's address and punched in their iris code, and back they went. They didn't even bother with the usual formalities on the other side. "Infirmary," Hammond told them as they jogged down the ramp and headed for the door. They couldn't move fast enough.
They were stopped at the door of the infirmary by a rather large aide, however, and no matter what they said or did, the guy just wouldn't let them through. "I'm sorry, Sir," he said over and over again. "Dr. Warner insisted that no one but medical personnel be allowed inside until he says otherwise."
Jack craned his neck to look past him and caught a glimpse of someone lying on one of the beds with a crowd of white coats around him. That had to be Daniel. He was so close. "Come on," he said. "We won't get in anybody's way. The guy's been MIA for a month! We just want to see him..."
"It's okay, let them through," Dr. Warner called from a few feet inside the infirmary.
"Finally," Jack muttered under his breath as the aide stepped aside. He didn't waste a second in entering the room and making a beeline for Daniel's bed.
Carter and Teal'c followed close behind, so Jack could plainly hear Carter's gasp when they finally saw what a mess their friend was in.
He was covered with a sheet from the chest down, but they could still see that he was in pretty bad shape. The docs were attaching all kinds of tubes and needles to him, but he didn't seem to be paying them any attention at all. He was looking straight at Fraiser, who was holding his hand and stroking his hair, whispering soothing words to him as the others worked as quickly as they could. Even so, Daniel looked scared. Scared and broken.
Jack shuddered. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the poor kid had been through. Had he been tortured? Had he been dumped somewhere alone without food or proper shelter all this time? It was killing him not to know.
"Doc," he said quietly as he stepped up beside Fraiser. "How's he doing?"
"Not well," was her simple answer.
"Do we know..."
"We don't know anything yet, Colonel," she said. She sounded a bit snippy, but he guessed that was only to be expected under the circumstances. He was feeling this hard enough - he wouldn't want to be in her shoes.
"Has he said..."
"Not a word." She stroked the side of Daniel's face as she spoke, and he closed his eyes and leaned into her hand in a silent plea for more. "He hasn't even tried to speak."
Okay, something sounded very wrong there.
"He hasn't said anything?" Carter said. She sounded confused, too. "How long has he been conscious?"
"Maybe ten minutes," Fraiser replied.
"Now that I think about it, Janet, it doesn't make much sense," Dr. Warner interrupted. His busy hands stilled now that Daniel was all hooked up to whatever machinery was surrounding the bed, and he turned his full attention onto Fraiser. "Didn't Major Gordon say that he was talking gibberish when he first arrived on the Alpha Site?"
Fraiser nodded slowly. "Yet he hasn't uttered so much as a whimper since he arrived here," she said.
Jack felt a shudder pass through him at the eerie silence that followed this remark. He shook it out of himself and said, "Maybe he's just disoriented. Daniel?" He stepped closer to the bed and leaned his hands on the mattress to get a closer look at Daniel's face. "Daniel, you with me?"
Daniel tore his gaze away from Fraiser and blinked heavily as he made himself focus on Jack.
"Hey, buddy," Jack said. He couldn't hold back a smile now that he was finally making eye contact with his friend after spending so much time wondering whether he was dead or alive, and whether he would ever see him again. "Do you know who I am?"
Daniel just stared at him. For a second, Jack thought maybe he couldn't understand what he was saying, but the look Daniel was giving him wasn't blank or confused. He just looked... sad.
"Can you talk?" Jack asked. "Can you tell us what happened to you?"
Daniel sucked in a sharp breath then and squeezed Fraiser's hand. He looked panicked for a second as his eyes moved from Jack to Warner to Carter to Teal'c and finally back to Fraiser. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and rolled his head from side to side on his pillow.
"It's okay, Daniel," Fraiser soothed. "Just relax. No one here is going to hurt you." She bent down to kiss his forehead and rested her cheek against the top of his head as he started to settle down again.
Jack glanced over at Carter and Teal'c and found that they looked just as troubled over this as he felt. Something just wasn't right. Daniel was a communicator by nature. Why would he completely clam up like this? Fraiser was right - he didn't even grunt or whimper or anything.
"Do you think we can release his arms?" Fraiser said, her voice shaking ever so slightly and her eyes glistening with tears. "I don't think he's likely to thrash about anymore."
Dr. Warner nodded and started untying one of Daniel's arms. Jack quickly stepped in to take care of the other one.
As soon as Daniel's arms were free, he raised his right hand and patted his left arm, looking up at Fraiser with a piteous look on his face.
Fraiser looked confused for a second, but then a light bulb seemed to go on over her head. "Does your arm hurt?" she asked. "Do you want something for the pain?"
Daniel started to look panicked again and shook his head. He grabbed at the bandage that was wrapped around his upper arm, tugging and scratching at it like he was trying to rip it off.
"No, Daniel," Fraiser gently chided as she took his hand and tried to force it away from the bandage. "That has to stay on there. You've been hurt."
Daniel reacted like he'd just been slapped. He flinched and pulled his hands away from her, holding them up to cover his face as if for protection. Then he rolled over onto his right side with his back to her.
Fraiser looked helplessly over at Jack as if for help, but Jack didn't have a clue what was going on or what he could do to help. He could only look on in stunned silence as Daniel's shoulders started shaking with silent sobs.
"What the hell is going on, Janet?" Carter asked a moment later.
Fraiser shook her head and raised a hand to her mouth. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."
"I'd like to run a full set of tests as well as an MRI as soon as possible," Warner said, "but somehow I get the feeling that would only upset him further if we did it right away. I think we should let him rest for an hour or two first, see if he'll start talking on his own."
Fraiser nodded. "Okay. I'll sit with him until then, but I think having so many people around all at once is a bit too much for him right now."
Jack could see where this was heading. "I'd like to stay, too," he said before anyone could order him out of the room. "You know... just in case he starts panicking again and needs someone to hold him down... or something."
"Alright," Dr. Warner agreed. "Dr. Fraiser and Colonel O'Neill can stay, but I think it would be best if everyone else left for now."
"But..." Carter tried, but Jack cut her off.
"Carter."
She shot him a puppy-dog look, but he wasn't about to fall for it. He raised an eyebrow to show he meant it. "Okay," she said, ever the obedient soldier. "Call us if there's any... change."
"Of course."
She stepped closer to Daniel and laid her hand gently on his arm. "I'll see you later, Daniel," she whispered.
Daniel didn't respond, and his silent sobs didn't let up. Carter turned away looking absolutely heartbroken.
Teal'c stepped forward then, and he, too, laid a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Be well, Daniel Jackson," he said.
Still no response from Daniel, but Teal'c didn't seem to take it personally. He turned and left the room with his head held high.
Once it was just Jack and Fraiser left with Daniel, they each pulled up a stool on either side of his bed and sat down to wait. What they were waiting for, though, was anybody's guess.