Previously:

Evening came. Ella knew that she should eat, but the idea of food turned her stomach. She took the phone into her room and lay down. Blindly, she punched Daniel's number. Voice mail. "Daniel, it's Ella." For the first time that day, she heard her voice crack. "Please call me. Something's wrong. Alex is missing."

Daniel sat in a stuffy office trying very hard not to snore his way through what would be the last hour of this meeting. It was astounding how boring saving the planet could be when broken down to financial terms. And it took hours.

All department heads had to attend. It was time to account for the last year and plan for the next. The results of this would be taken to the Joint Chiefs for budget planning. Daniel hated it. He wasn't a numbers person. But the most math friendly person he knew was Sam and she was already sitting next to him, almost drooling in her stupor. To amuse himself, Daniel started to poke her arm with his pencil. He was curious how many times he could get her before she noticed. He counted eight by the time she perked up and swatted at him.

Finally the meeting ended. Everyone stood and stretched, yawning as they exited. Sam turned to talk with Daniel. "You know, these meetings would be more fun if we were actually fighting for the money. You know, actually having to wrestle something. Shoot someone, maybe. Instead we have to sit here. Accounting. For every. Little. Thing." She dragged the last part out slowly.

He gave her a weary smile. "I know. At one point, I think I was praying that a herd of stampeding Jaffe would break down the door."

"Good times," Sam sighed longingly.

They separated at Sam's office and Daniel continued to his own. He was surprised to see how late it was. He had been in that stuffy little room literally all day. He decided to gather his stuff and go home.

There were two messages on his cell phone, both from his friend Ella. That was unusual. He put his coat down and listened. After the first message, he was concerned at the tone of her voice. The second message did not make him feel better. As he started to call her back, his office phone rang. "Dammit," he muttered. "This is Jackson," he said into the phone.

It was General Landry. "Dr. Jackson, I need to see you in my office right away please."

The "please" notwithstanding, the general's voice made it clear that this was non-negotiable. Daniel said he would be right there and grabbed his stuff and headed to the elevator. In the several minutes it took to get there, he pondered Ella's messages. Alex was missing. Ella must be out of her mind with worry.

When Daniel had first met Alex, they were not sure what to do with each other. There was obviously some feeling of rivalry. After all, Daniel had known Ella for a very long time and he felt rather over protective of her. But that wasn't it. There was something about the tall, quiet physicist that just made Daniel uncomfortable. As with many things, it took one of Jack O'Neill's "bull in a china shop"- style observations to point out what it was.

"Christ, Daniel, it's like having another you around," Jack said after first meeting Alex. As soon as Jack said it, Daniel realized it was true. Dr. Alexander Portmanoy was much like Dr. Daniel Jackson would have been if things had turned out different. If Daniel had never learned to shoot a gun. If Daniel hadn't lost his wife. If the Stargate Program had never existed, in other words. Watching Ella and Alex together, Daniel had to let go of his lingering "road not taken" feelings. After that, friendship was easy. Alex knew everything that Daniel had been to Ella, from foster sibling, to friend, to lover and he accepted Daniel anyway. He had no reason not to; Alex loved and trusted his wife implicitly.

The whole SG1 had attended the wedding. Even Janet Fraiser had come. Ella had no family to invite other then Daniel so he had shared his family with her that day.

"Sir, you wanted to speak with me?" Daniel had reached Landry's door.

General Landry looked up from the file he was studying. "Dr. Jackson, I understand that you are acquainted with a certain physicist named Dr. Alexander Portmanoy?" He pushed the file over to the archeologist.

Daniel was very surprised to be looking at a picture of Alex's face. It was a blown up photo, probably from his work ID. "Yes sir. What's - "

"He's missing," Landry interrupted.

"I know. I am very close to his wife. She left a message for me and I was just about to go over to her house."

Giving away nothing, the general continued his questions. "That would be Ella McPherson?"

"General Landry, what's going on?" Daniel asked.

Choosing not to answer, Landry gave Daniel a penetrating look and leaned back in his chair. "How long have you known Ms. McPherson?"

Exasperated, Daniel sat down. "Ella and I became friends when she was twelve and I was fourteen. We were placed in the same foster house. Sir, Alex is also a friend of mine. Is there something that I should know about his disappearance?"

"As you know, Dr. Jackson, anyone associated with the Stargate Program is extensively checked out, however minor their association. When all of SG1 went to the wedding of Ms. McPherson and Dr. Portmanoy, Ella was investigated. She didn't know about it, but protocol required it. Her husband had been checked out previously. He had contracted to do some work with the base. Nothing serious, but he was very good. Good enough that we approached him with a job offer. He refused. His reason was that his then-fiancée would, quote, 'eviscerate' him if he ever agreed to work for the military full time." Despite Daniel's deepening concern, he smiled. That sounded like Ella. "He did however agree to work with us as a contractor as jobs came up."

"I'm sorry but I still don't understand how you found out about his disappearance so fast. Are we investigating it? Oh god," a terrible thought occurred to Daniel. "Is Alex working on something for the SGC now?" Ella would burn this place to the ground if that was the case.

Tapping his pen on the folder in front of him, Gen. Landry looked pensive. "When Ms. McPherson tried to make a report to the local police. It seems that they were not that helpful so she told the police that her husband was a very close friend with Jack O'Neill. I guess she was hoping that that would light a fire under their asses and it seems to have worked. This report arrived on my desk 45 minutes ago. Any time something that might be connected to this base gets reported to the local PD, we get notified. But there is a big problem with this report."

"What?" Daniel patience was beginning to shred but he kept his voice level.

Giving Daniel a level stare, the general finally got to the real problem. "In her report, Ms. McPherson clearly states that her husband was doing weapons research. There is no record anywhere of Dr. Alexander Portmanoy doing ever doing weapons research for any branch of the US military."

"But - but that can't be true," Daniel stammered his response. "Ella has mentioned his work before. He's done several projects in the past two years. I don't know what they were, but Ella always complained that they made his mood go sour. He didn't like the work, but he needed the money."

"Dr. Jackson," the older man sighed, "we haven't contracted with Dr. Portmanoy at all this year. Whoever he is working for, it ain't us."

"Then who…" Daniel trailed off in confusion.

"Here is what we know. Someone who is closely connected to you, a top SGC member, is married to a missing scientist who has either been betraying his country, lying to his wife, or…" He voice rose up to lead Daniel to the next point.

"He's been tricked," Daniel realized.

"Exactly," Landry seemed to like this theory best. "There is nothing in this man's file that would target him as a potential spy and he turned down a lot of money at his wife's request. So, him being a pawn in this seems the most likely. And there is another thing." He dug around in the folder. What he pulled out was a crumpled napkin. He passed it over to Daniel. "This was found next to Dr. Portmanoy's cell phone. The campus police thought nothing of it. Luckily, our people thought it was important. Does it mean anything to you."

Daniel stared at the small pencil sketch feeling himself pale. The drawn object was pyramid shaped, rough surfaced. He recognized it instantly; despite the years he had spent trying to forget it. It was a nightmare come to life for him. After all, he'd once tried to take over the world with it.

No, he reminded himself. It was just a vision. It never really happened. I never killed all of those people.

Gen. Landry watched Daniel's reaction, impassively. "It looks a little like a Goa'uld weapon of some sort, doesn't it?"

Daniel had to swallow past the sudden dryness in his throat. "General Landry, does this thing exist? Have we made it?"

"Do you know what this is Dr. Jackson?"

How could he tell the general what this was? He had never given anyone all of the details of that vision, not even Jack. "Sir, I need to know. Does this exist somewhere!" He was on his feet now, leaning over the desk his voice getting louder.

Slowly, Landry got to his feet as well. "Not as far as I know, Dr. Jackson. Now sit down and tell me what you know."

Feeling a little weak-kneed, Daniel took his seat and proceeded to tell General Landry what he had never told anyone. It had always been a great fear of Daniel's that someone would make that weapon. And all of the details on how to make it were still somewhere in Daniel's head.

Whenhe finishedthestory, not mentioning that he was pretty sure he knew how to make that weapon a reality, he looked up at the base commander. "Please sir. I have to go. Ella needs me now and she might know something that can help us. If this has anything to do with Alex's disappearance, we need to know right now."

Landry nodded. "Go. Take Mitchell with you."

"Wh -" Daniel was about to ask why when he realized; Cameron didn't know Ella. General Landry wanted an impartial person there. "Yes sir. I'll give him a call."

"Don't bother. He's waiting for you up top."

TBC