Howatha
December 2nd, 2006

Jack watched as Daniel was led into the room he was being held in. He noticed Daniel's smile, but it was betrayed by his red eyes. Jack knew that he had been crying, and walked over to him, "Did it work?" he asked.

Daniel nodded, "Yes, Jack, it did. There's not any evidence that she had cancer at all."

"I take it she didn't take to kindly to you coming back here," Jack said.

Daniel's smiled disappeared, "No, she didn't. Take care of her Jack. Help her understand. I didn't want to leave, but I had to. She'll live, and that's all that matters to me. Keep her safe," he said.

Jack clapped Daniel on the shoulder, "I will, I promise. What you did took guts, Daniel, and I am so proud of you. I'm going to miss having you around," he said pulling Daniel into a hug.

The leader allowed Daniel to accompany Jack back to the Stargate. Jack typed in his IDC code and was about to walk through the gate when he, Daniel, and the leader of the Howathan people were beamed away.

Daniel, Jack, and the leader looked around at where they were. Daniel and Jack grinned upon seeing who was there. "Thor, old buddy," Jack exclaimed, "what's up?"

The leader looked around suspiciously, "What kind of trickery is this?" he asked.

Daniel turned to him, "This is Thor, one of the leaders of the Asgard. Thor, this is the leader of the Howathan people."

Thor regarded the leader calmly, "Yes, I know who you are. We have come to bargain with the Howathan people," he said, turning to Jack and Daniel, "and we felt it best that you were both here."

"Um, may we ask why?" Jack asked.

Thor let his gaze fall on Daniel, "because I am here to bargain for Dr. Jackson's life. We do not feel that this deal is in the best interest of the Asgard or for you. Dr. Jackson has helped us out many times, and we felt that it was time to return the favor."

"Wait, how did you even know about the deal?" Daniel asked.

"We have our ways, Dr. Jackson," Thor answered.

The leader walked over to Thor, "we had a deal. Dr. Jackson volunteered for the program in order to save his wife. What could you possibly offer in return for his life?"

Thor turned to the leader, "Now we all know that Dr. Jackson doesn't wish to become one of your lab rats, no matter the circumstances of his volunteering. We are here to offer you another alternative."

"What alternative," the leader asked.

Thor pushed a button on the console in front of him, and a door opened, admitting another Asgard being, "This is an Asgard clone. We are prepared to offer you this clone in exchange for Dr. Jackson. Now, you won't learn much from his brain since it is empty, but his body will offer much information. He cannot feel pain as humans can, so you will not have to hear his screams. We are giving you the chance of a lifetime. Only the Asgard have access to what you will have access to by accepting our deal," he explained.

"Why should we accept this deal," the leader asked.

"Sir, I am trying to be diplomatic. As I have already proven, I could simply take Dr. Jackson and O'Neill away right now and you would be powerless to stop it. Dr. Jackson is vital in our war with the replicators and the Goa'uld. We cannot allow him to become one of your experiments. Now, I understand that you and Dr. Jackson made a deal, and that is the only reason that I am offering this alternative to that deal. You would be wise to accept it," Thor said firmly.

The leader thought for a moment, "fine, you, sir, have a deal. You can take Dr. Jackson back with you and I will take the Asgard clone with me," he said.

"Very well," Thor answered, and, pushing a button on the console, caused both the clone and the leader to disappear.

When they were gone, Daniel turned back to Thor, "Thor, I can't thank you enough for that, but I'm still a little curious as to why you did it and how you knew about the deal in the first place," he said.

"Well, unlike you, the Asgard have perfected the act of traveling through time. In the future, your people will find a device, and you are needed to run it. That is one of the reasons. Also, in the future, the Goa'uld have overrun Earth and we are hoping that by changing this one incident, you will be here to help stop them. We were struck by your absence in the future and wondered why you were not present. Therefore, we broke one of the crucial time laws and beamed up your wife. She told us of your deal with the Howathan people, and that you weren't there when the device was found so it couldn't be activated. Now, we know that changing the past is dangerous, and this might not change the future, but we are in the belief that it cannot make it any worse," Thor said, flying the ship away from Howatha and toward Earth, "Besides, we like you."

Daniel nodded, "Well, thank you very much Thor," he said, "I definitely owe you one."

Thor paused the ship above Earth's orbit, "Don't worry, Dr. Jackson, I'm sure we will be needing your help in the future."

"Thanks, buddy," Jack said, "because I really wasn't looking forward to attempting to explain to Alex what had happened. We'll see you around."

Thor nodded, "Indeed you will, O'Neill," he answered and beamed Daniel and Jack back to Stargate Command.

Daniel and Jack appeared in the middle of the gateroom in the midst of three SG teams, who were all pointing their weapons at them. Jack and Daniel immediately put their hands up, "Whoa, boys, at ease, it's just us," Jack said.

"Stand down, gentlemen," General Hammond ordered from the control room above them, "Colonel, Doctor, stay where you are."

Once the guns trained on them were lowered, Jack and Daniel relaxed. Daniel hoped that whatever they needed to talk to the General about wouldn't take long, because he really, really wanted to see Alexia. General Hammond walked into the gateroom followed by Teal'c a few moments later, "What the hell is going on here," he asked, "you didn't come back through the gate, Colonel, why not? We were about to send a rescue mission to retract both of you."

"Well, sir," Jack began, "Thor showed up, offered the Howathans a clone in exchange for Daniel, and then brought us back home."

General Hammond looked from Jack to Daniel, "What?" he asked, "Um, Why?"

Daniel shuffled impatiently from one foot to another, wishing that they would hurry up. General Hammond turned to him, "Dr. Jackson, I believe you are wanted in the infirmary. Colonel, you come to my office and explain exactly what happened," he said leading the way out of the room.

Daniel nodded, "thank you, sir," he said, relieved, and then went as fast as he could to the infirmary. Peeking in the door, he saw that Alexia was awake again, and that Sam was trying to comfort her. He pushed open the door all the way, rushed to Alexia's bedside and pulled her into a fierce hug.

Alexia was in shock; she had truly not expected to be able to see her husband again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, "Daniel," she asked, "what happened?"

"That doesn't matter, love," he answered, "what matters is that I'm never leaving you again." He didn't know if he would ever be able to let her go again, and didn't really know if he wanted to.

Sam smiled at him, and patted him on the shoulder, "Good to have you back, Daniel," she whispered, "I'll see you guys later." She left the room in search of Jack, intending to get the story from him.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again," Alexia said once Sam had left the room, hoping against hope that this wasn't a dream.

Daniel stroked her hair, taking in her touch, the smell of her, and the feel of her in his arms, "I know, love, I didn't think so, either," he answered.

Alexia pulled back and looked into his eyes, "So, what happened?" she asked.

"Thor intervened, and saved my life," Daniel answered, "he offered the Howathans an exchange, and they took it."

Alexia nodded, "Don't ever do that to me again, understand?"

Daniel leaned close to her, "Yes, ma'am," he answered, capturing her lips with his. He pulled back a few minutes later, "Don't worry, love, I'm never leaving you again."

Alexia grinned, "Good."

Daniel grinned back and hugged her tightly, turning to Janet, who had appeared in the doorway of her office, "Janet, can I take her home?"

Janet smiled at the couple, glad that this had worked out for the best, and nodded, "Yes, Daniel, you can take her home. Just make sure that she rests, ok, we don't want to take any chances."

Daniel nodded, "I'm going to invite everyone over for dinner and a movie, that ok with you," he asked Alexia.

"Fine by me," she answered, "want to come, Janet," she asked.

"Sure," Janet answered, "I wouldn't miss it, count me in."

Two hours later, Alexia, Sam, Daniel, Jack, Teal'c, and Janet were all gathered at Daniel and Alexia's house. Jack and Daniel were barbequing. Teal'c was watching them amused while Alexia, Sam, and Janet sat and talked at the table on the back patio.

"Who wants another beer," Alexia said, standing up.

"I do," five voices chorused and Alexia walked back into the house. Daniel turned the cooking of the steaks over to Jack and followed her into the house.

She was pulling beers out of the refrigerator. He watched her for a few moments before he put his arms around her and kissed her neck, "hey, you," he said.

She turned in his arms and gave him a kiss, "Hey, whatcha thinking?"

Daniel grinned, "Just thinking about how happy I am," he answered as they walked back outside.

Alexia handed out the beers before finding herself wrapped back into Daniel's arms. Alexia looked up at him, "And just how happy are you," she asked.

"Well, let's see. I'm not becoming an experiment for some crazy race of people. My beautiful wife has been cured and is here with me," he said, looking at her then out at the yard, "and I have wonderful friends here with me. I'd say that's enough to make anyone happy." He gave her a quick kiss.

Alexia looked at her friends. Sam and Jack were discussing Jack's burning of the steaks, and Janet was attempting to explain to Teal'c the purpose of Alexia's garden of flowers. He didn't seem to understand it since it wasn't used for food. Alexia smiled and looked back up at Daniel, "Yeah, I guess your right," she answered, turning in his arms, "In fact, I couldn't agree more."

Daniel cupped her face in his hands and gave her a long kiss. 'Yep,' he thought, 'things couldn't be better.'

The End.