Chapter 12

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Jack lowered his gun and doubled over, panting for breath. "Geez, Daniel, you scared the crap out of me," he growled. "And what do you mean, what am I doing here? I'm getting kinda sick of that question. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I told you not to follow me," Daniel hissed, darting a look up and down the corridor to see if anyone had heard them, and dragging Jack and Teal'c into the foyer with him.

"Yeah, I heard you," Jack said. "But that was before you shot me. Now all bets are off. I'm taking you back to the SGC."

Daniel shook his head and backed up. "I'm not going," he said. "Not until I've got what I came for. I'm sorry I shot you, Jack, but I had to come. I have to save my daughter."

"And I have to save you," Jack said. "Sounds like we have a bit of a dilemma here."

Daniel wearily raised a hand to his head and turned around to survey his eerily familiar surroundings yet again. "Well, you might be the one getting your way anyway," he said. He pointed to the door on his left. "That was my cell right there. All the rest of them were full of various animal species... I never saw them, but I heard them almost constantly." He shook his head. "They're empty. Every last cell is empty. I haven't seen anyone since I zatted the two guards at the outside entrance. The place looks abandoned."

"What exactly were you hoping to find?" Jack asked, his anger seeming to have eased off a little.

Daniel threw his hands up helplessly and turned back to face his friends. "I don't know," he said. "Syun... some kind of information or technology they weren't willing to give us before... anything."

Jack sighed and banged his fist against his side as he looked around. "Well... Frick and Frack out there wouldn't be guarding this place if it was abandoned," he said. "We may as well take a look around, so long as we're here."

Daniel could have died of gratitude on the spot. He knew Jack was as anxious to help Chloe as the next person, but he hadn't expected him to actually be supportive after all Daniel had done. "Thanks, Jack," he said, hoping Jack picked up on just how thankful he was.

Jack nodded and rolled his eyes. "Thank me later," he said. "Let's just do this and get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

Daniel swallowed hard as they turned to leave the cellblock. Jack wasn't the only one feeling creeped out by this place. He'd had to fight against flashbacks every few seconds since he'd arrived on this planet, and it was wearing him down. So many memories... so many horrible, painful memories...

"O'Neill," Teal'c suddenly whispered, raising his fist for them to stop.

Daniel shot Teal'c a questioning look, but Teal'c's gaze was far away, like he was listening to something.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

A second passed before Teal'c raised his finger and said, "There. Do you not hear it?"

Daniel strained his ears to hear whatever Teal'c was hearing, but he was greeted with silence. "I don't hear anything," he said. "What did..."

And then he heard it. A tiny, high-pitched wail, almost like a kitten mewing. It sounded very far away, but he had definitely heard it.

"What was that?" he said, moving towards the sound.

"Daniel..."

Jack grabbed his arm to hold him back, but Daniel wrenched it away again. "Maybe they moved the animals to another part of the facility," he said. "We have to go check it out."

He didn't wait for Jack's permission. He hurried down the corridor in the direction he thought the sound had come from, and stopped when he reached the end to listen for it again. When he didn't hear it, he looked down the corridors to his right and his left, trying to decide which one to take.

"Daniel, you have no idea where you're going, do you?" Jack said as he came up behind him.

"Wait..." Daniel said, raising his hand to silence Jack. "I think I heard it... it's this way." He turned right and started to jog, pleased that the sound was getting louder with every step. It was almost constant now, and the closer he got to it, the more he realized that it wasn't a cat at all. It sounded like...

"Oh my God."

Jack and Teal'c pushed in either side of him as he stopped in an open doorway, and all three of them gaped at what they saw. On the far end of the room there was a contraption that could only be called a crib, and it was surrounded by equipment that was all too familiar to Daniel. Inside this crib there was a baby, and it was obviously in distress.

Once Daniel's shock had worn off, he rushed over to the child to get a closer look. He was afraid to touch it in case he harmed it in some way, but he laid his hand on its stomach and made soothing sounds in the hopes that it would calm down.

Its cries broke Daniel's heart. Its little face was contorted with either pain or fear, or maybe even both, and its legs and arms were flailing helplessly. It was wearing nothing but a cloth diaper, and its skin felt almost ice cold. He finally couldn't hold back any longer - he reached in and gently picked it up.

"Daniel, I don't think you should be doing that," Jack warned from the other side of the room.

"It isn't hooked up to any of these machines," Daniel said quietly. "I think it'll be okay."

"I was thinking more about you, actually. You don't know what they've done to that kid. It could be..."

"Oh my God," Daniel said again as he looked down at the child. Its cries had eased off, and it had opened its tearful eyes to look at this strange new person. Its tearful blue eyes. "Jack... this baby is human."

Jack scoffed in disgust and crossed the room to look at the child over Daniel's shoulder. "What, they're stealing babies now? That's sick."

Daniel shook his head as he looked the baby over. "Not stealing them," he said gravely. "Making them. This baby is mine."

The sound of a zat activating behind them brought Daniel's dizzying thoughts to a grinding halt before they had a chance to start making sense. Daniel and Jack spun around just as Teal'c cried, "O'Neill!"

A very stunned-looking alien had just entered the room.

Jack flew into action with his P-90, but Daniel held out his hand to stop him before he could fire.

"Jack, wait! It's Syun."

He and Teal'c eased off a little, but they didn't lower their weapons. Daniel didn't blame them. If he hadn't needed information so badly from Syun, he would have been tempted to shoot him himself.

"Syun," he said, taking two steps closer to the quivering alien, "what did you do?"

"Minal kara!"

Daniel shook his head angrily and gestured to the whimpering baby in his arms. "What the hell did you do!"

Syun looked from Daniel to the baby and then back to Daniel. "Fix," he said. "Minal kara... make. Fix."

"You made this baby from me?" Daniel said slowly and clearly.

Syun nodded. "Fix. Help," he said, looking at Jack and Teal'c as if to see if they were understanding him. "Fix!"

Daniel stared at Syun in disbelief as realization dawned. How he hadn't noticed it the moment the alien had walked in he didn't know, but now it was obvious. "Jack..."

"I know," Jack said before Daniel could say another word. "He's not wheezing."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Janet was attempting to feed Chloe when she heard the news - Daniel had run off to Syun's planet, and Colonel O'Neill was requesting backup to help rescue him.

"Is he insane?" she muttered in disbelief. Then she looked down at the frail little bundle in her arms, and she realized that she would have done the same in Daniel's place.

Still, she couldn't imagine what it must have taken for him to do this. She hated herself for the way she'd treated him before he left. If he died there, she would never forgive herself.

Minutes later, with Chloe sleeping soundly in her plastic box, Janet hurried to the control room to see if there had been any word from the rescue team. Nothing. General Hammond assured her this was to be expected, as they hadn't been gone very long, but she couldn't stop herself from worrying. It was one thing to think she'd lost Daniel when she was furious with him, but now that she knew the motives behind his actions, she just wouldn't be able to handle it if anything happened to him.

It seemed like a lifetime passed before the off world activation alarm began to sound, but it was actually closer to an hour. Janet was standing at General Hammond's side when Colonel O'Neill's voice came through the radio.

"SG-1 and SG-2 accounted for, Sir. And... we're bringing along a couple of guests. We'll need a medical team standing by."

"Understood, Colonel," General Hammond said. "Come on through."

Janet shared an anxious look with Hammond before she headed for the gateroom and he called for a medical team. She didn't like the sound of "a couple of guests." She'd had enough of those aliens for one lifetime.

She entered the gateroom just as the first two figures came through the event horizon. Her mouth fell open as she recognized Syun being led down the ramp by Major Griff. Next came Sam with the rest of SG-2, who were all carrying bags and various pieces of equipment. Then came Teal'c, and finally Daniel and Colonel O'Neill. A moment later the gate shut down.

For a second she was puzzled. Hadn't Colonel O'Neill mentioned a couple of guests? The only "guest" she could see was Syun.

But then she got a better view of Daniel, and saw that he was carrying something wrapped in an Air Force issue blanket.

And then that something started to cry.

She was forced to cease her gaping as the med team arrived and tried to push past her. She quickly hopped out of the way, keeping back against the wall so she was no longer in the line of traffic.

Syun looked at her as he was led past her out of the gateroom, and there seemed to be recognition in his eyes. Janet shivered. There was something menacing about the way he was looking at her - almost as though he were angry about something and felt she was partially to blame.

It didn't occur to her until he was gone that he hadn't been wheezing.

She went back to gaping at Daniel then. He was standing at the foot of the ramp, handing his bundle over to one of the nurses. She tried to get a glimpse of the baby, but there were too many people in the way.

"Janet?" Sam said, suddenly appearing at Janet's side and laying her hand on Janet's arm. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I just... is Daniel alright?" she asked. "And where did that baby come from?"

Sam glanced over at Daniel and then back at Janet. "I think he's okay," she said. "As for the baby... I think I should let Daniel explain that one."

Janet looked back over at Daniel in time to see him watch the med team wheel the baby away on a gurney. He looked utterly exhausted.

He looked her way a second later, and their eyes met for just a moment. Then he ducked his head and turned to speak to General Hammond, who was demanding an explanation for whatever Daniel had done.

SG-2 had already left the gateroom, so Janet stepped closer to the small group gathered around the general as they pieced the tale together. She could hear what they were saying, but it barely registered in her brain.

"I had to do it, General. I had to see if I could find a way to save Chloe."

"Daniel Jackson was my responsibility, General Hammond. I am at fault for his behaviour."

"The child was made from my DNA, and Syun said he can help cure this disease. I had to bring them back."

"I don't trust Zombie Boy as far as I can throw him, Sir, but he cured himself somehow. I figured bringing him and the kid back was the wisest thing to do."

Finally, General Hammond raised his hand to stop the rapid-fire commentary. "Alright, I expect to see all four of you in the briefing room in one hour, where you will tell me one at a time what happened here. Until then, I want that Syun creature in a holding room."

"Yes, Sir," Colonel O'Neill said, jogging out of the gateroom after SG-2 and Syun.

General Hammond marched out of the room then, with Sam hurrying after him, leaving Janet alone with Daniel and Teal'c. She moved towards them, but they were already heading for the door.

"Daniel?" she said, cutting them off from leaving.

He hung his head and looked at her through his lashes, a sure sign that he was feeling guilty or insecure about something.

When he didn't speak, Janet sighed. She still felt angry with him for scaring her half to death, but at the same time she wanted to cling to him and never let go. So, she settled for a simple, "Are you okay?"

Daniel gave a slight nod. "Yeah," he said. "Chloe?"

"Her fever's high," Janet said. "But she's hanging in there. Is it true what you were saying? Syun might have a way to cure her?"

Daniel paused, and then nodded again. "He might. I'm hoping... anyway."

Janet smiled, her first real smile in days. "Thank God."

They stood there awkwardly for a long moment, until Janet finally stepped out of the way to let the two men past.

Daniel didn't waste any time in leaving, and it hurt Janet to see that he was so anxious to get away from her. Not that she could blame him... she hadn't exactly given him the impression before he left that she would be welcoming him back with open arms.

Still, things were different now. She knew why he'd done what he'd done. She had to let him know that she was sorry, and that she was willing to just forget about what had happened between them over the past few days and concentrate on making their daughter well again.

Making their daughter well again... she could hardly believe it was true. And the baby Daniel had brought back... he'd said it had been made from his DNA. Had they cloned him? Had they somehow manufactured a baby using his sperm? She had so many questions, and nobody to give her any answers.

By the time she exited the gateroom, Daniel and Teal'c were already out of sight. Janet figured they'd gone to the locker room to shed their gear, so she headed in that direction.

A couple of the members of SG-2 were just leaving their locker room when she got there. Once they went on their way, the corridor was deserted. She stationed herself a few feet away from SG-1's door and waited.

Only a minute or two passed before Teal'c emerged from the room. When he saw her, he bowed his head slightly. "Dr. Fraiser," he said quietly. "I believe Daniel Jackson will be ready momentarily."

"Thank you, Teal'c," Janet said.

Teal'c bowed his head again and walked away.

As soon as he was gone, Janet went to the door of SG-1's locker room and slowly turned the handle. She pushed it open just enough to poke her head inside, hoping that if Daniel was busy with something he wouldn't even notice she was there.

He did. He was sitting on the bench in the middle of the room with his head in his hands, but when he realized she was there, he dropped his hands to the bench and used them to prop himself up.

Janet's heart broke when she saw the pain in his eyes. She opened the door all the way and stepped inside, closing it behind her. "Daniel," she said, moving slowly towards him. "Are you alright?"

Daniel sniffed and shook his head. It was only then that Janet saw the tears on his cheeks, and as she got closer, she saw that he was shaking.

"Sweetheart," she soothed, sitting down beside him and stroking his back. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what you were going to do."

Daniel swiped his hand across his face and shook his head again. He seemed to be trying to say something, but instead his face crumpled and he shuddered.

Janet knew without being told what was going through his mind. All the nightmares, all the memories he'd been trying so hard to repress... he'd had to face them all at once, and it was finally catching up to him.

She put her arms around his neck and gently drew him down to rest his head against her chest. Then she held on tight as he tried desperately not to fall apart.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

To be continued...