Chapter Seven:

When Doc Fraiser entered the infirmary five days later, she couldn't help but roll her eyes in exasperation. I laughed her expression. "Want to join in?" I asked cheerfully.

"No, thank you." She said, caught between annoyance and amusement. "Some of us have better things to do than play poker all morning."

I laughed again. Janet was rumoured to be one of the best poker players on the base. "And, Daniel, I'm disappointed in you." She added.

Daniel just flashed her a roguish smile. He, along with Major Mackenzie, Captain Morgan and Teal'c, was sitting around my bed, cards in hand. "Sure you don't want to join, Doc?" Mac asked.

"Quite sure, Major." Janet replied. "I'm just here to check on my patient."

With a fair bit of good-natured grumbling, the four men all got up and said their good byes (although I had to admit, Teal'c didn't really grumble at all). They all knew better than to argue with the Doc.

"So, how are you feeling today, Shannon?" she asked me.

"Perfect." I replied. "Are you going to let me leave today?"

Janet sighed. "We'll see." She said.

For the next fifteen minutes or so, Janet ran the standard test she had been running for the past five days to see how much I had improved over night. "You've been sleeping well?" she asked.

"Yes, Doc."

"And eating everything you're given?"

"Yes, Doc?"

"Have you had any dizzy spells? And more headaches?"

"No, Doc."

"Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"No, Doc." I replied for what felt like the hundredth time. "I feel fine."

Janet sighed. "Well, then I guess you can go home this afternoon."

I turned to her, delighted. "Really?" I asked eagerly. "Not that my stay in the Hotel de SGC Infirmary hasn't been wonderful, but I can go back to my own bed now?"

"Yes, Shannon." Janet smiled. "But I'm going to want to see you every morning for the next couple of days, just to make sure you aren't overdoing yourself. And I have to recommend to the General that you go on no missions for the next week."

I sighed. "At least I get to go home." I said.

Janet nodded. "And work in your lab." She said. "Because if you're anything like your mother, nothing I say will stop you."

I couldn't help but smile as I looked at her. "Yeah, I did want to run an experiment or two…" I agreed, then frowned as a thought struck me. "Oh, God. How much paperwork will have pilled up on my desk by now?"

Janet grinned knowingly. "A lot." She said.

I sighed. "I guess I'd better go do it." I groaned. "Or it might start breeding."

Two hours later, my eyes were gritty from staring at paperwork for way too long and I was sick of people coming in to ask me if I felt better. I mean, I was out of the infirmary, wasn't I? That meant I did feel better.

I sighed and reached for my now cold cup of coffee. At least I was halfway through the stack. I guess it was funny, since I was a scientist and scientists are known for their masses of paperwork, but I detested the stuff. And since mom didn't, I've always wondered if I got that from my father.

"You did." Said a voice, startling me. "I never did like paperwork either."

I let out a surprised squeal as I looked up and saw the source of the voice. My coffee cup went flying and shattered on the floor, spraying cool brown liquid everywhere. I continued to stare in shock at the man, my heart beating so hard and fast I was scared it would jump right out of my chest.

Because standing, not more than a few steps in front of me, was my father. He looked just like his photograph, dressed in a green Air Force uniform, his brown eyes looking into mine. "What the hell is going on!" I said, my voice sounding choked and breathy from fear.

"Don't you remember me, Shannon?" my father asked.

"You're dead." I stated, trying to make myself believe my father wasn't standing right in front of me. "That's it. The paperwork has made me crazy. You're not here. You can't be here. You're dead!"

Jack smiled and shook his head. "I thought you'd say that. You haven't spent enough time around the SGC to find out this is actually kind of normal."

"So you're really here? And somehow not dead?" I snapped.

Jack winced slightly. "Not so much."

"Not so much?" I snapped, scared I really was going crazy.

Maybe it was stress. Yes, that was it. I'm not crazy, just stressed. Right?

"Think of me as a…spirit." Jack said. "Sent to help you."

"This is not real." I muttered to myself, closing my eyes. "I'm just delusional."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, scared to death that when I opened my eyes, dad would still be standing there. Don't get me wrong, I would love to meet my father. But as a ghost? Not really. Not unless I was ready to except I had gone stark raving nuts in the past few minutes.

"Shannon, are you alright?" came Uncle Danny's familiar voice. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I jerked a little at his voice, startled. But, thankfully, when I opened my eyes again, dad was gone. Strangely I felt sad and disappointed too, but I ignored that. "Shannon?" Daniel asked again.

"Sorry." I said. "I guess I was…" I hesitated. Should I tell him what I had seen?

I turned to look at him and saw the love and concern in his blue eyes. Daniel had always been family to me, a man who had never tried to be my father, perhaps knowing he couldn't be, but had been someone I wouldn't hesitate to go to if I was in trouble.

"Promise you won't tell anyone yet, Uncle Danny?" I asked, biting my lip in nervousness.

Daniel smiled. "You haven't called me Uncle Danny in years." Then he frowned, looking even more concerned if that was possible. "Is it that serious?" he asked.

"It could be."

"Okay. I won't tell anyone. Yet." He agreed after a moment. "But if whatever this is gets serious, Shan, I'm going to tell whoever I need to."

"I'm scared I might need you to do that." I said softly.

And I was. I mean, who wasn't scared of finally realising they've started hallucinating, and it has nothing to do with drugs?

"What is it, Shannon?" Daniel asked gently.

"I saw my dad." I said. "He was standing right there. I was so surprised I dropped my coffee. It went everywhere."

"I wondered what that was." Daniel muttered. Then he asked in a louder voice, "Are you really sure it was him?"

"Oh, yeah." I said. "He told me to think of him as a kind of spirit."

I looked at Daniel. "Do you think I'm going crazy?"

Smiling, Daniel shook his head. "No. It's probably nothing. I mean, you've just come out of the infirmary, right? Why don't you just go home and get some sleep. It'll look better in the morning."

"You're right." I said. "I should probably do that."

"And don't worry about mess. I'll clean it up."

"Thanks, Uncle Danny." I said and gave him a hug.

"Anytime." He replied.

As I walked out the lab and headed for the surface, I couldn't help but frown. I had seen the worry in Daniel's eyes as he had told me not to worry about it. I knew he didn't think I was crazy, but…well, something about the way he had told me to go home, meant he probably knew something about what was going on. And I knew I wasn't going to like whatever that was.

"You know you've got in Danny in a panic now?" my father said conversationally as I walked out the bathroom.

I screamed and clutched the towel tighter around me. My heart was pounding in my chest and I suddenly felt the urge to hit him. If I could. "Don't do that!" I snapped. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry." He apologised, but I got the feeling he wasn't all that sorry.

"No you're not." I told him.

He grinned. "Guess not." He agreed.

I sighed. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, our earlier conversation was interrupted." He said. Then he looked at me sharply. "Why are you suddenly accepting me? A couple of hours ago you were telling yourself you were going crazy."

I blinked in surprise. He was right. I actually accepted his presence here. That he was actually standing there…sort of. It just felt, well, right.

"I guess I was too annoyed." I said, slightly frowning. "I don't like being surprised."

"You used to love it." He replied.

"That was with presents, dad." I said, walking past him into my bedroom. "And I still do. Having your dead father confront you after stepping out the shower is a little different."

"I guess I can see that." He agreed.

I turned to look at him pointedly. "Do you mind?" I asked, shutting the door. "And no walking through the door!"

Jack sighed. "I wasn't going to, you know."

"Good."

Five minutes later I reappeared, now dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, to find my father standing in the hall with his hands in his pockets. "Okay." I said.

Dad raised an eyebrow. Man, it was weird thinking of him as dad when he was standing in front of me, like that. I mean, I'd known about him for years, but he hadn't been here. I found it was easier to think of a man in a photograph as my father, but when confronted by the real thing – sort of – it was a lot harder.

"So what do you want?" I asked.

"What do you remember about your last trip off world?" he asked.

I frowned. "Not much. We were trying to decode an temple used by the Ancients, and I got knocked out in the process."

"That's not all of it." Dad said flatly.

I glanced at him sharply. "Well, if you know all about it why are you getting me to tell you?"

"Because I want to help you understand what happened."

I blinked for a second, a memory of a glowing woman flashing into my mind. "Oma." I said softly. "This has something to do with Oma Desala."

Jack smiled. "That's my smart daughter."

I glanced at him. "All right, start talking."

"Not here." Dad replied.

I frowned, a thought suddenly striking me through all the surprise and wonderment I felt, souring it. "Dad, you can pretty much appear whenever you want, right?" I asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." He said.

"Then why the hell haven't you ever come back before!" I snapped, years of anger at him leaving coming through. "You have a daughter, a woman who loves you and friends that still grieve for you. Why didn't you ever come back and at least say goodbye?"

Dad winced. "It's complicated."

"Complicated?" I echoed. "Just tell me."

"In a minute, I promise." He said. "You'll understand everything soon, Shannon."

Before I could reply to his rather cryptic answer, I saw a blinding flash of white and felt something similar to travelling through the stargate – being pushed and pulled all at once, just without the bone-chilling cold. When I could see again, I noticed that I appeared to be in some sort of metal room…which either meant an underground bunker, or a spaceship. I was betting on the spaceship.

I turned around at a sound behind me and came face to face with a familiar man. Instead of the Air Force uniform he was wearing a second ago, my father was now wearing some sort of flowing robes and I noticed his harsh military haircut was gone, and his silver hair hung to his shoulders. He didn't look like he'd aged much either.

"Hello, Shannon." He said. "It seems I owe you an explaination."

Damn straight.