Soul Meets Body
A. Rhea King

Chapter 1

"DANIEL!" Carter yelled at the top of her lungs.

Only the birds were disturbed by the yelling, and flew from the trees like black clouds. She found it disturbing that those birds, with their burning yellow eyes and velvet black feathers, appeared to be the only animals on the planet.

"DANIEL JACKSON!" she heard Teal'c yell from somewhere to her left.

"DANIEL!" Mitchell added to her right.

Daniel had bedded down with them last night. She knew that because the two of them talked well into the night about the nearby abandon village they'd found. The writing fascinated Daniel; she was fascinated by the technology. As usual, Mitchell and Teal'c didn't show much interest in either. She fell asleep to his droning and that was the last she'd seen of him. When they woke Daniel was gone. They'd searched the village and they began searching the woods for him.

"SAM!" Mitchell called. "I found him! Over here!"

Carter and Teal'c ran to his voice. He was kneeling next to Daniel, staring through a gaping doorway into a hall. They could see lights lined the ceiling, but only a couple were on and flickered in a desperate attempt to remain alive.

"Is he alright?" Carter asked, kneeling down.

Daniel's eyes were open, but he didn't appear coherent.


Daniel saw faces that were only partially recognizable. Teal'c. Sam. Cameron. But like the forest around them, they tilted and turned and blurred and focused. It made his stomach turn, but worse, it made his headache feel like his brain was being ripped out of his skull. He heard noises, saw their mouths move, but he couldn't reply. He had lost control of his body and he couldn't remember how he got this way. Teal'c leaned in and then Daniel was being lifted over his shoulder. Daniel tried to speak, maybe he even did, but he wasn't sure what he was trying to say. He closed his eyes as Teal'c began walking.

As his consciousness faded he heard Carter say, "Don't you dare die. I need your shoulder to cry on at the wedding."

Her voice faded into darkness.


Daniel opened his eyes, focusing on the familiar cement and pipes of the infirmary.

"Can I recommend something, Doctor Jackson?" Doctor Lam asked as she appeared by his bedside.

"What?"

"Stop ending up in the infirmary. And especially when there isn't anything wrong with you."

Daniel reflected her smile. "What happened?"

"You were dehydrated, needed some sleep, and have a goose egg from a nasty fall, but other than that, you're fine."

Daniel sat up. His head ached dully and his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. He reached for a glass and drank down the water.

"It's really a pity you're alright too, because I could play doctor with you all day," Lam added.

Daniel choked on the water. He turned, expecting to find her standing near him. But she was sitting on a stool holding a clipboard on her lap and writing on the papers on it. She didn't even appear to notice him.

"What did you say?" Daniel asked.

She looked up at him. "I didn't say anything."

"You said..."

She waited for him to finish.

Daniel smiled, deciding to brush it off. "Never mind. Can I go?"

"Sure. They're debriefing in ten minutes, but I'll cover for you if you'd rather not. I heard the planet was pretty boring."

Daniel slid off the bed, pulling on his shoes. Her comment and calm behavior had left him unnerved.

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

Daniel headed for the door, hearing her say behind him, Pity. I rather hoped you'd have wanted a full body physical."

Daniel stopped in his tracks and turned. She was across the room now, working on a computer, again not paying any attention to him. He considered say something about her saying things that just didn't sound like her, but instead he turned and left. The truth was he could face down an enemy out to kill him, but not a woman that may be attracted to him. He hurried off, deciding to leave the comments alone.


Daniel followed Teal'c into the briefing room.

"I do not feel like doing a debriefing today," Teal'c said.

"Me neither," Daniel said.

Teal'c looked back at him as he sat down. Daniel sat down beside him, going over his notes.

"What do you mean 'me neither'?" Teal'c asked.

"I don't really feel like debriefing either. I still have to pack."

Teal'c stared at him. Carter and Mitchell came in, sitting across from them.

"How's the head?" Mitchell asked.

"Fine." Daniel looked up, flashing a smile.

"I too do not feel like debriefing. We found nothing on the planet."

Daniel looked at Teal'c's face. "I know. You said that already."

Teal'c's eyebrow lifted.

"What?"

"Are we ready?" General Landry said as he sat down at the head of the table.

"Sure," Carter sarcastically told him, "Let's waste some tax payers dollars telling you all about those ugly birds and that Daniel fell and knocked himself out. Riveting."

Daniel looked at her. She was sorting through some papers. Daniel started to comment but Landry cut him off.

"So I gather that PX9 3G5 was pretty much a waste of time?"

Carter started talking but her words were just noise. He felt strange, like time was passing slower than it should be. He suddenly recalled some of his lost memories from the planet. He heard his footsteps falling on a tile floor of a long, dark hallway. In the distance he saw artificial light. There was something there, something that disturbed his sense of peace. He felt danger was waiting, lurking beyond the light, but it was as if an invisible hand of a giant that had latched onto him and he was being pulled toward it.

"Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel blinked, focusing on Landry. His expression said he was waiting for something from Daniel. He grimaced from a pain stabbing sharply into his temple.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear the question."

"I asked if you know what happened to you."

Daniel shook his head. "I don't know. And I've been trying to decipher the writing I found on the keystones in the village, but I haven't gotten very far on that."

"Mind on the wedding, huh?" Landry smiled. "Well, that's all we need to cover. I'll see you all in Washington this weekend."

"Just the way I wanted to spend the weekend," Carter grumbled.

Daniel's head snapped up and he stared at her. She was putting her papers away, acting as though she'd said nothing. She spoke again, but her lips didn't move. 'Seeing him get married isn't any way I want to spend a weekend. I should never have agreed to be the maid of honor. What the hell was I thinking?'

Daniel's mouth went dry.

"After this bachelor party he'll be lucky if he gets to the wedding sober," Landry's laughed.

Daniel's eyes slowly slid in his direction.

He too was gathering his papers, his mouth unmoving as the words continued, 'I'm sure I can find a stripper bar. Of course, Jackson might be a little uncomfortable, but get him drunk enough and he says the kid will loosen up.' Landry headed back into his office. 'Have to give him grief about robbing the cradle though.'

Daniel's stomach tightened into a knot. It was crazy, but it made sense. He'd been hearing people talking, saying things that no one would say, but things they would think in the privacy of their minds. He was hearing people's thoughts. What the hell happened to him on PX9 3G5?


"Doctor Jackson, there isn't anything wrong with you," Doctor Lam insisted.

He sat on a bed before her and had expected her to say something, anything, but that. How could there be nothing wrong with him when he was hear what everyone was thinking? She had to have found something. "There has to be. I've started getting this headache." He wasn't lying about that. After the debriefing the headache had continued to grow.

"Why are you concerned about a headache?"

"I don't usually get headaches this bad, Carolyn."

"You did hit your head pretty hard, Daniel."

"I don't think it's that. I know there's something else wrong."

"Like..." She smiled. "Stress? Maybe a little pre-wedding jitters? You are the best man. You'll be up there in front of the entire congregation."

Daniel opened his mouth to protest. The words formed in his head, almost reached his throat, and came to a halt before they became sounds. If he told her that he was hearing people's thoughts, she'd want to keep him here for thorough exam. He couldn't miss the wedding – he was the best man!

"It just feels strange that I can't remember the time from leaving camp to when they found me."

"You did hit your head pretty hard, but I've done two physicals," and she thought, 'both of which I enjoyed very much,' and continued saying, "And tested your blood three times now, and I haven't found anything wrong with you." She smiled apologetically.

Daniel's cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Is something wrong?" Lam asked him, but thought, 'Something else you need to take your shirt off, perhaps?'

Daniel slid off the bed and skirted around her. "No. Nope. None. I'll, uh... I have to go pack. Wedding and all. Have to go." Daniel ran into a cart, tipping it. He tried to catch the items on it before they fell without any luck.

'He is so adorable when he get flustered like that,' Lam thought.

Daniel flashed her a smile. "I have to g-go. Bye. Thanks. Bye."

He bolted, hearing her think, 'Maybe I should have asked him out today.'

Daniel didn't stop moving until he was in his car and driving home.


Daniel boarded the plane behind Carter, flashing a smile at the stewardess as he passed.

She returned it with a polite, "Welcome aboard Westward Airlines."

"Thank you," he quietly replied, turning away.

"If I weren't married, I would ask him out," he heard her say.

He looked back. She smiled again at him. Daniel looked away, too embarrassed to press her thought.

"God, why am I even doing this?" Carter said.

"What?" Daniel asked.

She glanced back at him. They were making their way through the cramped airplane toward their seats in the middle.

"You were wondering why you were doing something. Doing what?"

She shot him a quick glance, but he saw color in her cheeks.

"It was nothing. Here are our seats." She reached up and slid her carry on bag into the compartment overhead, and then stepped back to let Daniel slide into the window seat. He leaned over, sliding his laptop satchel under his seat.

"I should have just told him years ago. I didn't realize how unprepared I was for this," Carter said, quietly adding, "Or how much I care about him."

Daniel looked up at her. She sat beside him flipping through a magazine.

"Did you say something?" Daniel asked.

Carter looked up at him. "What?"

"Did you say something?"

"No."

The two were silent for a moment. Daniel looked at the seat in front of him, realizing he was hearing her thoughts but they were confusing. Who was she thinking about?

"Daniel," Carter leaned over the arm of the seat, holding his gaze when he looked at her. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes." He forced a smile.

"You've been acting very strange since we got back. Distracted and jumpy."

"I--" Daniel looked away. He couldn't tell her. She's demand they get off the plane and go right back to SGC. "It's the wedding," Daniel lied. "I'm still getting over the shock."

Carter smiled, sitting back. He heard her think, 'I wish it was just shock for me.'

Daniel smiled at her. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when we ready to land in Dallas."

Carter nodded.

He closed his eyes, laying his head against the back of the seat. Maybe a nap would help his headache. It felt like it was getting worse. Sleep crawled up quickly and he was out before they left the ground, but his sleep was plagued with nightmares of people being honest to the point it was frightening to listen to what they were saying.