Tag #9 – Revisiting Death
Daniel watched in horror as Jack crumpled lifelessly to the dirt, smoke rising from his back. Something seemed to tear loose from his mind as he watched his friend fall. "Oh God, no!" he whispered.
"COLONEL!"
Before he could warn her, Sam broke cover and took a hit to the chest. The tearing sensation became a vicious burning, as if half of his soul had been ripped from its moorings. This can't be happening! he denied, desperately watching them for any signs of life. There were none. Choking back a cry of disbelief, he stood to run over to them.
The last he knew was intense heat in his chest.
"Daniel."
Daniel paused in confusion, and looked around at the swirling white world he'd found himself floating in. This seems so familiar…
"Daniel Jackson."
He looked up to see a strangely-familiar woman, standing in front of him, dressed all in white and…glowing? "Who are you?" he asked her.
"How does an enlightened one return to the ordinary world?"
"Er…" Daniel blinked in confusion.
She merely smiled at him. "You are not yet ready to join the Great Path."
"The…Great Path? You mean death?" he asked, fighting a surge of familiarity. I've done this before…haven't I?
"Many roads lead to the Great Path. Some take longer than others."
"Look…I don't think it's fair that you should bring me back, and leave my friends…dead." He shivered at the reminder that he was dead right now.
"Things are as they once were."
He looked at her, puzzled. "You mean…all of us are going to be alive?"
The woman said nothing in reply, merely raised her hand slightly. The world fell away.
Daniel drew in a deep breath as he was greeted by blackness, and it took him a moment to realize that his eyes were closed. Opening them, he was surprised to see a thatched roof over his head with no recollection of how he'd gotten there. The last thing he remembered was…
With a gasp, he sat bolt upright and reached for his chest. The shirt, jacket, and vest were all charred away, but the skin underneath was unmarred. He felt no pain, physical or otherwise, and looked over to see Jack and Sam lying on similar straw beds. Cautiously getting to his feet, he moved over to Sam's side and checked to see if she was breathing. Warm puffs of air blew over his hand, and he wonderingly reached down to touch her healed chest wound.
This is just like on Ra's ship, except without the sarcophagus, he thought wonderingly. We're all alive.