Author's Note: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! Here's hoping I continue to entertain you with my little fic.
oOo
"Unscheduled offworld activation!" Sgt. Harriman announced crisply. Lt. Col. Samantha Carter rushed to the console as the wormhole stabilized.
"Who is it?" General Jack O'Neill asked, and Sam turned from the computer with a frown bunching her eyebrows together.
"It's a high-compression data-burst, sir," was all she could get out before the wormhole suddenly blinked out. "Looks like it's from… Atlantis."
Jack's eyebrows tried to meet with his hairline. "Well, let's see what they have to say for themselves, shall we?"
"Yes, sir." And Sam turned back to her task, her fingers already flying across the keyboard.
oOo
Hours later, Dr. Daniel Jackson was interrupted from his study of an artifact from P3S-947 by a knock on his office door. "Come in," he called out absently. He scribbled down a note in his journal, and flipped a few pages on one of the half-dozen books carefully strewn about his desk as reference materials.
"Daniel," Jack ambled into the room and shook his head at the organized chaos of his friend's office. "Jeeze, Danny, ya think you'd hire a maid or something to help you clean this place up."
"Is there something I can do for you, Jack?" Daniel replied with a small sigh. He was so not up for putting up with his friend's procrastinating from paperwork today. He could already feel the migraine beginning to pulse behind his eyes, and it was only 10am.
"Actually, I think you'll want to check this out." Jack propped his hip on the edge of the overpiled desk and laid a jewel-toned CD case right in the middle of Daniel's work.
"What's this?" His interest piqued, Daniel looked up at his friend. "Please don't tell me you burned some more of that cacophony you call music for me to listen to?"
"I'm wounded Danny, really I am," Jack snarked right back as he laid a hand over his heart. "Actually, it's a message from Atlantis for you."
Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I thought they weren't able to come back through the Gate?" He picked up the CD case and looked at it curiously.
"Actually, no, they can't. Seems like McKay found a way to condense a whole lotta info into a 1 point something second transmission, so they sent us all sorts of crap. Carter tells me this one was a personal message for you."
"Really? From whom, I wonder?" Now Daniel was really intrigued. From what he could remember of the people who'd gone on the expedition, none of them would've really been all that interested in talking to him personally.
"Why don'cha pop it in the ol' computer and see?" Jack replied with a grin.
"I guess you're going to stay and watch it with me?"
"If you like, I could quick run down to the commissary and grab us a bag of popcorn," Jack offered with a sly wink. "Otherwise, I'm dying to see which of your old girlfriends sent you a 'Dear Daniel' letter."
He didn't mean to, but Daniel snorted. "When have I had the time to date lately, Jack?" He shook his head as he popped open the case and inserted it into the CD drive on his desktop.
"A girl on every planet, Danny-boy," Jack teased. "Or have you forgotten?"
"Don't make me remind you of all the women's hearts you've broken over the years, Jack," Daniel shot back, not in the least bit offended. He booted up the DVD player on his computer, and pushed play.
The battered face of a Native American woman came into focus on the screen. "Hello, Daniel. I know it's a bit of a shock to see me after all this time."
Daniel felt the blood drain quickly from his face, and instead roar through his head. He dimly realized that Jack had slapped him on the shoulder with some sort of comment about him being right about that girlfriend thing, but Daniel just didn't have the energy to reply. His gaze was completely riveted to the screen in front of him.
What? How! But… but… She was dead. Dead.
The corner of Jessica Monevata's mouth twitched upwards wryly. "Frankly, I'm surprised I survived this long." She paused a moment to take a careful sip from the water glass sitting on the bed table covering her legs. "There's so much I have to tell you. I don't know where to begin."
"Daniel? Danny? Hey, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Jack felt the warning bells begin to shriek in the back of his mind. Never in a million years would he have expected this kind of a reaction from his best friend.
The woman blinked for a moment before continuing. "I'm afraid I'm a bit of a mess right now, but then we always knew the Goa'uld were never the 'hospitable' sort, huh?" She paused again to wearily scrub her free hand across her eyes. "If you could, please call my brother and let him and Sonam know I'm still alive? I know you won't be able to tell them details, but you know how Manny worries."
"Yeah… you, you could say that," Daniel murmured. His burgeoning migraine violently slammed full force into his forehead, the sudden queasiness making him wonder absently if he should worry about throwing up all over his notes. No, that wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all. He wanted to move, but found he was frozen to his chair, and could only stare helplessly at the woman talking in… was that Aramaic? It was, wasn't it?
Jessica was still talking, but now with a sad smile crossing her face. "I'm sure he's been stubborn about the whole me dying thing the entire time… probably calling you on a regular basis to see if you've heard from me yet. And Daniel," she paused a moment to look earnestly into the camera lens. "I know about what happened to you… and my grandfather. I can't explain how… but I do. I'm just glad he didn't suffer much, and I wish I could've been there for the ceremony. I'm glad you found your way back home, Kuckunniwi. They still need you there."
Jack's arm jumped into Daniel's line-of-sight, a finger jabbing the keyboard and effectively pausing the CD. Daniel felt his shoulders gripped firmly, and Jack turned and carefully shook him.
"Danny? C'mon, man, you're really freaking me out here. Talk to me!"
Daniel blinked a few times as he tried to regain some sort of composure.
"Sir?" Sam stood in the doorway, looking at the two men with growing concern. "Is everything all right?"
"No, damn it, I think Daniel's gone into shock." Jack was really freaking out now. Daniel's face had gone completely gray, his brilliant blue eyes glassy and dazed.
Finally, as Sam quickly crossed the room to check his pulse, Daniel was able to grate out a word. "Jess?"
oOo
"Ya feelin' any better there, Danny?"
Daniel sat on the edge of the infirmary bed, his glasses propped on the top of his head and his right hand pinching his nose. "Yeah, the migraine shot's finally kicking in." His left foot swung a little to tap a staccato rhythm between the metal bed and side table.
"You wanna tell me what that was all about?" Jack slipped around the end of the bed and sat almost directly in front of his friend in the disgustingly uncomfortable plastic chair. One of these days he just knew he'd find a little plaque on this exact chair with his name on it. 'Specially Reserved for Jack O'Neill.' They'd probably forget the extra "l" too, the mooks.
Daniel sighed, one that Jack was all too aware of. It spoke of painful memories… something which his friend had way too many of over the last… well, his entire frickin life.
Blue eyes focused on brown, and Daniel began. "About two years ago, you remember what had happened with SG-11?"
Jack thought for a moment, going over a mental tally of important events before that particular memory surfaced. "Yeah, Goa'uld sniper-trap. Wiped out the whole team, except for that Marine kid. What about it?"
"One of my friends was on that team. Dr. Jessica Monevata."
Jack frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, Monevata. I remember her. She participated in my fantasy hockey series. Pretty cool for a scientist geek. Had great taste in beer, too."
The corners of Daniel's mouth curved upwards in a muted smile. "That was her on the disc, Jack."
Jack's eyes widened. "No frickin way. That's not possible."
Daniel's smile grew until the edges of his eyes crinkled, although it didn't quite extend to his still somber eyes. "Now you know why I reacted the way I did." He ran a hand through his short hair, making parts of it momentarily stand straight on end. "I guess what freaks me out the most, is that for the past two years, her brother's been insisting that she wasn't dead. He's been calling me once a month since I descended to check in and see if we'd found her yet."
Jack blinked. "Talk about denial."
Daniel slowly shook his head. "No. He knew. Jess and her brother have always been really close."
Silvering eyebrows shot upwards, and Jack opened his mouth to no doubt make a snide remark, but Daniel cut him off. "No, Jack, not that kind of close. Get your mind out of the gutter. Jess and Manny are twins. They just seem to know things about each other, even when they're far apart."
"So," Jack scratched the stubble on the side of his face. "They do that whole twin thing, huh? Always thought it was a load of crap."
Dr. Brightman came out of her office and approached the two men. She pulled a penlight out of her medical smock's pocket and raised it as she came up to Daniel's side. "How are you feeling now, Dr. Jackson? Better?"
Daniel flinched away from the bright light and nodded minutely. "Yeah. You mind keeping that thing away from me?" he practically growled in irritation as he lightly swatted the offending device away.
Dr. Brightman scowled prettily and gently grabbed Daniel's hand. "Dr. Jackson, you were in a pretty severe state of shock when the General brought you in. Not to mention you're suffering from a fairly severe migraine. You should be glad I'm even thinking of releasing you. I'd be much happier if I could keep you for observation overnight, but…" she left the rest of her sentence dangling, knowing that it'd be enough of an argument to get what she wanted.
Daniel grimaced and heaved a deep and put-upon sigh. "Right. Bring on the bright flashy lights, then."
She shook her head. "Nope, not until your symptoms have abated. You'll need to stay here for another few hours…" she broke off at Daniel's pained groan, narrowed her eyes, and continued as if she weren't interrupted. "And only when I'm satisfied with your test results, you can leave. I'd rather you stay on the base overnight though."
Daniel shot a desperate look Jack's way. "Jack…" he pleaded for intervention.
Jack merely shook his head and chuckled. "After all these years, you think I'm gonna butt heads with the doctors here?" he grinned. "My rank means spit when it comes to this stuff, Daniel."
"Traitor," Daniel muttered, and reluctantly laid back down on the hospital bed at Dr. Brightman's urging.
oOo
A few hours later, when the exit examination was finished, much to an increasingly grumpy Daniel's relief, the doctor released him with a warning. "I don't want you working until at least tomorrow morning, Dr. Jackson. I also don't want you driving, so you either find someone to drive you home tonight, or…"
"No worries, doc," Jack replied as he rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Daniel's gonna be staying with me tonight."
"Jack…" Daniel protested, but was immediately cut off.
"We got some talking to do," was Jack's weighted reply, and it took Daniel a moment before he understood the meaning behind the mild sentence. He and Jack needed to figure out what they were going to do about Jessica's sudden reappearance at the Atlantis base.
"Fine," Daniel nodded carefully in deference to his still-throbbing head. "But could I please sleep in my own bed?" he pleaded. "And at least I have edible food in my fridge."
Jack shrugged as he waved at the doctor over his shoulder, and steered his friend out of the infirmary. "You knockin' my taste in food again?"
"Jack, I bet you still have that can of Cheez Whiz and half a jar of black olives in your fridge from last Christmas," Daniel replied wryly, and Jack snorted.
"Yeah, they've probably formed an alliance, and are waiting to pounce on me next time I open the door," he chuckled. "So, your place it is, then."
"Are we leaving right now?" Daniel asked. "It's only 4:30."
"I'm gonna drop you off with Teal'c. Unfortunately I still got some paperwork to finish, so unless you wanna help me with it?" He trailed off with a hopeful note in his voice, looking at Daniel from the corner of his eye.
The corner of Daniel's mouth curled up in a smile. "No working for me until tomorrow morning, remember?" he teased. "I think that includes doing your homework for you, Jack."
Jack merely shrugged with a shameless grin. "Anyway, I gotta wrap up a few things before we head out. And since Carter's wrapped up in decrypting all that data from Atlantis, I don't want you anywhere she can snatch you up and put you to work. I know I can trust Teal'c to keep you out of trouble for an hour or so."
"So nice to feel trusted," Daniel mock-growled. As much as Jack's mother-hen nature irritated him at times, he always had a warm feeling go thorough him knowing that he had a good friend who cared deeply about his welfare.
Jack merely chuckled and patted him on the back as the elevator doors shut behind them. "Someone's gotta look out for your ass, Danny-boy. 'Cause you sure as hell seem to forget about it."
"Too busy hauling yours out of the fire," Daniel replied easily. "Jack," his face suddenly became tense, "we need to find out about what happened to Jess."
"We will, Daniel," Jack soothed his friend. "Carter's gonna be at it probably through the rest of the night. If she comes across anything else about Monevata, then she knows to give me a call. Okay?"
Daniel sighed as the doors opened on the residential level Teal'c's quarters were located on. "Okay."
oOo
Cheyenne
Kuckunniwi - little wolf (boy's name)