Tag #33 – Bonds
Daniel felt rather like an ignored puppy as he trailed after Jack and Sam, moving down the hallway to the elevator. He knew they couldn't see or hear him, but he wasn't used to being totally ignored like this, and habit kept him interjecting unheard comments into the conversation.
"...if he really was transported to P7X-377, maybe the skull was trying to send me somewhere and something interrupted the process," he thought out loud, half-expecting Jack to make some smartass response. It didn't come, but by now he wasn't paying much attention to the conversation going on in front of him. Maybe Nick's giant aliens really exist. That would explain a lot. "We have to go back there." It's the only way to find out for certain. "And we have to talk to those giant aliens."
Sam was holding the elevator door open. "Do you get the feeling Daniel's still around?" she asked casually.
Jack paused, almost hearing the familiar anthropological rambling of his best friend being whispered in his ear. "Kinda," he admitted slowly, trying to block out the eerie feeling that someone was standing right next to him. Suddenly he really wanted to go back to the planet and meet with those giant aliens.
"Maybe it's because we miss him," Sam theorized, looking away and ignoring that weird shiver. She'd been having them ever since she woke up in the infirmary, but there was a strange undercurrent to each one that went beyond the physical. It made no sense, so she pushed it away. There would be time to think about it later.
Jack mentally shook himself. What are you doing? he chastised that bizarre inner voice. Daniel's grandfather is nuts. There probably aren't even any giant aliens. So why do I suddenly believe him? "Or radiation sickness," he grumbled, fighting the traitorous thoughts.
Sam attempted to laugh it off. "Good night, sir."
The elevator door shut, finally attracting Daniel's attention. He blinked in confusion as Jack walked off down the hallway. "What? That's it?" he sputtered. "Whatever happened to working through the night?" he yelled as the colonel turned the corner, unaware of his words. He looked over at the closed elevator door. "I'd do it for you..."
Just around the corner, Jack paused. Something was tugging him back into the hallway he just left. This is just spooky. There is no one there. No one! Therefore, there is no reason to go back. Satisfied that his subconscious might finally bow to reason, he continued down the hallway.
Daniel sighed. Nick would be at the VIP room soon. Deciding to get there first, he took a shortcut through a few walls. "Guess I'll have to get used to this," he muttered to himself, barely flinching as an airman walked right through him. "Daniel Jackson, the SGC ghost. It's pretty ironic that it would have to be me."
Resigned to an eternity of restless wandering, he leaned against the wall and waited for Nick to arrive.