AN- Thanks bunches for all the loving (and sometimes very entertaining) reviews! does the happy dance I'm on 3 "Favorites" lists (though I think that they're mostly for my other story, "Reunion")!

I know I said that this was around S4 or S5, but I think it'll make more sense if it's S7.

Many thanks to Rose of the Gate, my wonderful beta, who, unfortunately, never got around to emailing me back on this chapter, so any and all mistakes here are my own. sorry!

Disclaimer- I own nothing recognizable. Must we go through this every time? I own an empty toothpick container, the dirty Q-tip that's sitting next to me on the desk, and a Taekwon-Do uniform. Anyone who would want to sue for cloth, plastic, and a tiny cotton ball stuck to the end of a stick, has serious mental issues.

Chapter Seven

Close Call

"Well," Kate said. "This is it!" The two of them were standing before the door of a massive mansion that must have been able to house an army. "Now you can meet my oh-so-friendly dad," She stated sarcastically.

Daniel grimaced slightly. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?" he asked.

"Not really, but don't worry; I threatened Father with bodily harm if he's too rude to you, but don't expect a warm welcome, either."

"Thanks for the warning," Daniel's grimace became more and more noticeable the farther they went into the house. One part of his brain, however, was practically dizzy with excitement. He was actually walking through the halls of a dwelling built by the Ancients! He scanned the walls curiously, logging away every detail in his mind for future reference, while the other part of his brain was bracing him for the inevitable upcoming confrontation with Kate's father.

"By the way," Kate was saying, "I don't know if this may happen, but let me know if you have any sudden, sharp headaches while you're with me."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Sudden...sharp...headaches." he repeated suspiciously. "...whyyyyyy?" He drew the word out to make it known that he was concerned.

Kate bit her lip in a gesture that Daniel was finding harder and harder to ignore. I'm starting to remember –vividly- why I find her so beautiful. He thought.

Kate suddenly remembered that he had asked her a question. "Umm...It may be a side effect of the mind link that we're sharing at the moment. Too much stress on your brain at once could cause some pain."

"Great, as if my migraines aren't bad enough when I'm awake." Mumbled Daniel. Suddenly, he was on one knee on the marble floor in the hall. "Aaagh!" He gave a small scream, putting his hands to his temples.

Kate turned at the noise. "Daniel?" She grimaced. "Oh, no. I didn't think this would happen so soon."

The sudden, intense beeping of the machines attached to Daniel brought Dr. Frasier, Gen. Hammond, and SG-1 running to his side from Frasier's office, where they had been discussing whether or not to wake him, and how to do it.

"What's going on, doctor?" Hammond demanded.

"I'm not sure sir!" She shouted over the beeping of the machines and the sudden buzz of orders being given. She gasped as looked at the brainwave readouts. "Give him a neural sedative, stat!"

"What's wrong?" one of the other medics questioned.

"His brain patterns just shifted completely!" Frasier replied, with a worried look on her face.

Kate touched the side of Daniel's head. "Goodbye Daniel. You're on Earth now; I'm having a hard time keeping our link. I won't be able to do this for a few days -the Dream, I mean- because they'll probably keep you on Earth to recover, so I'll see you later. You have to wake up now."

Daniel looked up at Kate. Her face was blurred from the pain shooting through his brain, but he managed to give a strained smile. "Well," He said through clenched teeth, "I hope this isn't really goodbye. Frasier's paranoid about people in comas coming into the infirmary. She'll probably keep me on Earth for a long time."

Kate smiled and bent down to give Daniel a kiss on the forehead. "Goodbye, Daniel. I love you. Never forget that." The hand that had been on the side of his head moved to his left temple.

Suddenly, the building, Kate, and everything else gave way to blackness.

"Dr. Frasier, his brain patterns just went back to normal!" A nurse said from the other side of Daniel's bed.

"Oh, thank God." Frasier wiped her forehead with her sleeve. Checking his vitals again, she was about to change Daniel's hydration drip bag when his eyelids fluttered open. She watched the usual emotional scenario of waking up cross his face; a split second of confusion, wondering where he was, relief, recognizing the SGC, and then a simple why-the-heck-am-I-in-the-infirmary look he always got when waking up here. "Hey, sleepyhead," She said quietly, "You gave us all a real scare there for a second, Daniel. How do you feel?"

Daniel reached up to rub his eyes with his right hand, discovered that he couldn't because of the IV, and used his left. "Like I swallowed a few dozen bottles of sleeping pills," he slurred, "How long was I out?"

"About four days," Came the reply, but this time, O'Neill was speaking.

Daniel noticed him sitting in a chair next to the bed. "Four days?" he repeated.

"Yeah, about half of that was on P63-898."

"Half?"

O'Neill rolled his eyes and sighed. "Is there an echo in here?"

"Echo?" Daniel said before he realized it. He burst out laughing. "Sorry. I swear I didn't do that on purpose."

"Glad to see you're back among the living, Danny." O'Neill got up and patted Daniel on the head. "I'll go tell the others that you're awake."

"Okay," Daniel yawned. "You know," he said to Frasier, "For having been in dreamland for four days, I'm really sleepy."

"Just let me finish these tests, and you can go home and get some sleep." She replied. "Your body is physically worn out from whatever you were doing in 'Dreamland', so you should still feel a little tired."

"Yeah," he yawned again.

On a far off world, a young woman opened her eyes and got up from the pillow she had been sitting on. She crossed the room and stepped out onto the balcony, the drapes teasing her skin as they were blown by the breeze. Kate jumped up and stood, perfectly balanced, on the metal railing. She stared at the sunset, watching the many hues slowly fade from the sky as more and more of the twenty-three familiar moons became visible. She looked down the forty-odd stories below her, marveling at how the sun caught so many objects in its blinding rays. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she noticed the plume of smoke on the horizon, marring the bright blue prairie; a far-off indicator of the battle going on in the fields. "Daniel," She said, "I need you here. We are so lost. You are the only one who can help us."

Only the silent breeze answered her. She had left Daniel to recover; she hadn't known that she would cause him so much pain. Now, because of her own idiocy, she had to wait until he was off-world again. By then, though, it might be too late for her and her people.

Sighing, she hopped back down to the balcony and strode back inside. With a flicker of her mind, she shut the balcony door behind her, plunging the room into near-darkness. She walked to her bedstand and picked up a water-damaged photograph in a frame. She was in a deep purple ball gown, Daniel in a tux, with his arms around her. They looked happy. Those were happier times. She flinched as she sensed the sudden pain of dozens of people, almost physically hearing their screams of agony. Suddenly, as one, they were completely silenced. She walked out onto the balcony again, and again jumped up onto the railing. As she expected, another plume of smoke had joined the first, creating twin columns of black stench against the fading sunset.

AN- dodges thrown produce again I know, I know! I'll try and get the next chap up sooner than this one.