Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Stargate, or any elements of the show. I did create this storyline however. Sequel to "A letter, or two".

No more

Death is not the end of it

The world grew abnormally quiet. His whole body went stiff and numb. His mind, just moments ago screaming at him, was silent and unresponsive. After a few seconds of complete lack of feeling, denial made its way into his heart. Then the words doctor Brightman had given him punched him in the gut, hard. He felt his abdomen cramp, ready to throw up. His head started spinning and his vision filled with black and white spots. He let his head sink into his hands and tried to get back in control. He focused on his breathing, and slowly the world came back into focus. The nausea passed, but the sick feeling in his gut remained. A little unstable he stood up and faced doctor Brightman.

"I need to see her." His voice was little more than a raw whisper.

He registered the pressure of a hand on his shoulder but ignored it. Doctor Brightman hesitantly looked at him, trying to judge whether or not he should go in and see her. Catching the glance Jack straightened his back and locked his face into General mode.

"I need to see her, doctor."

This time the tone of authority made his statement a lot stronger, and doctor Brightman nodded her head. She stepped back into the infirmary with Jack on her tail. Reaching the gurney with Sam's body on it she stopped and allowed Jack to pass by. Suddenly uncertain of it all Jack slowly placed one foot for the other, inching closer to the still form lying on the gurney. Forcing his eyes to look up he saw her face, white as chalk. The muscles of his abdomen tightened again but he managed to keep his posture. Slowly he raised his hand and reached out. He briefly ran his fingertips across her jaw, feeling the cooling skin underneath. It almost broke his composure. Doctor Brightman and Teal'c were standing a few feet behind him, watching for any signs of distress. Teal'c could see Jack's shoulders slumping slightly, and he knew his friend was rapidly losing himself by the way his jaw was set. They stood there for a minute waiting for Jack. For him to break down, or angrily cry out. They were surprised when he calmly spoke up.

"Doctor Brightman."

"Sir?" she softly responded, unsure of her commander's state of mind.

"I want you to perform an autopsy on the body, I want to know what the cause of death was."

- ∞ -

Brightman looked at him with a confused look. "Sir?"

Still with his back to them Jack responded. "I want an autopsy done on this body doctor, I want to know the cause of death. Also do a complete physical and chemical analysis as well as a DNA test to check if this is the body of Lt Colonel Carter."

The doctor found herself tongue-tied, her mind reeling with the many questions his orders had evoked. When Jack finally turned her questions were immediately silenced. The look in his eyes, a hard and steely glint, offered no room for argument.

"Do it now, doctor. Run the DNA test on Daniel as well."

Without giving her time to respond Jack walked to the exit. Brightman quickly snapped out of her confusion due to her medical training.

"Sir, I'm not sure why we should―"

Jack swiftly turned on his heels and gave the doctor one of his most deadly glares. She could clearly see his emotions were in turmoil, but his eyes displayed a clarity and focus she had never seen before. His brown eyes seemed to radiate a complete conviction and seemed as hard as granite. When Jack spoke his voice was icily calm and a chill ran up her spine.

"That is not Carter. She isn't dead, and I'm not giving up on her."

Then he turned again and disappeared round the corner. Doctor Brightman took a deep breath, trying to cleanse herself of the tension that had shot up her shoulders. Without a word Teal'c headed towards the door. She saw him go and called out his name. He stopped at the door and turned his head to look at her.

"Teal'c, would you―I mean, could you please keep an eye on the General. I have a feeling he's not handling the situation well. We have to be careful for signs of denial."

Teal'c silently stood there for a moment. Then he spoke up, his voice almost imperceptibly cracked by his emotions.

"I do not see how he could take Colonel Carter's death well, doctor Brightman. I believe no one on base will. However I will make sure he deals with it." And with that he left.

Doctor Melissa Brightman, Chief Medical Officer of Stargate Command, sat down on one of the nearest available chairs and sighed. "I hope you're right Teal'c, I hope you're right."

- ∞ -

"O'Neill!"

Jack didn't even turn to acknowledge his friend's call. Teal'c quickened his pace to catch up with his commander before he could disappear into the elevator. The doors of the elevator opened and Jack stepped in. Before he could make the doors close Teal'c jumped in.

"O'Neill, doctor Brightman is concerned about you, as am I."

"There is nothing wrong with me, Teal'c. Something's wrong with Carter and Daniel."

Teal'c was beginning to understand doctor Brightman's concerns. He could see his friend was acting with a determination that bordered obsession. He too was grieved greatly by the passing of their dear friend and team member, but was prepared to deal with it. Jack seemed to avoid her death by denying it.

"O'Neill, I understand your reluctance to accept Colonel Carter's passing, however—"

"No! No, Carter is not dead. I told you before, that was not Carter."

Teal'c frowned, his eyes filled with concern. 'Perhaps his denial runs deeper than doctor Brightman anticipated.' He stepped forward and placed his hand on Jack's shoulder again.

"Why can you not accept it was Colonel Carter? We must not dishonor her memory by denying her death."

Jack looked away. Teal'c silently waited for his answer. He could see Jack struggle with his emotions and thoughts. But when Jack turned back and looked him in the eye he was surprised by the display of emotions.

"I know she's not dead Teal'c, I know it. I feel it in my mind, my heart, my blood. I know she's still alive. Just as I know it isn't Carter lying on that gurney. It wasn't her. It can't be her…"

His last words were hushed and Teal'c could hear uncertainty and fear in them. He immediately felt for his good friend. Searching his eyes he tried to see if Jack really knew what he claimed or if he was gripping at straws to keep the pain away. Deciding he deserved the benefit of the doubt he released his hand from Jack's shoulder.

"What do you have in mind, O'Neill?"

Jack's face lit up a little with relief.

"We find out where the real Carter and Daniel are."

Teal'c couldn't help but question his decision. "And how do we do that?"

"Simple, we ask him."

- ∞ -

"Open it up, airman."

The guard stationed outside of the locked room pulled out his key and opened the door for the General. Jack and Teal'c walked in and closed the door behind them. Jack took a look at their prisoner. Sitting behind a small table was Daniel, silent and still, his gaze on the table. Jack noticed a slight gleam of sweat of his brow, like he had run a quarter of a mile.

Jack pulled up the other chair and sat down. Teal'c stood behind him, blocking the door with his impressive frame. Jack laid his hands on his thighs, to refrain him from gripping the man in front of him by his shirt and shake him until he had his answers. He forced his voice to be calm.

"Who are you?"

Daniel looked up. Jack immediately searched his eyes for the familiar sparkle he was so accustomed to, but found nothing more than the blank look he had seen earlier.

"Jack, it's me, Daniel."

Under the table Jack's hand gripped the fabric of his BDU pants tightly in an attempt not to lash out.

"No, you're not. I want you to tell me who you are, and what the hell you were planning to do," he growled.

Daniel's eyelids seemed to droop a little, and his face looked flustered. In a somewhat weary voice he answered.

"Jack, I don't know why you're asking these things of me, me and Sam just wanted to go back to Dimasq, that's all."

Jack's eyebrow shot up. "Dimasq? Why would you want to go there?"

"Well you did decide to sent another team there, so we figured it…maybe was best…we…"

His last words fading Daniel's head dropped unto the table and his body went limp. Jack jumped up from his seat and came around the table. When he touched Daniel's neck to check his pulse he could feel Daniel's skin was hot. His pulse was weaker than normal and he had trouble keeping track of it. He gestured Teal'c with a quick nod, asking him to pick up Daniel's body. Jack stepped across the room and banged his fist on the door.

"Open this door!"

- ∞ -

Four hours later Jack and Teal'c were sitting in Jack's office, waiting for an update on Daniel's condition. Teal'c was stoically gazing at the wall. Jack kept fidgeting with one of his pens, holding it over an opened report he should be working on. 'Maybe I should get the hang of that meditating thing. If it'll help me with the waiting.' The pen in his hand dropped to the floor when they heard a knock on the door.

"Enter!"

Doctor Brightman stepped into his office with two medical files in hand. Jack motioned her to sit in the second chair in front of his desk, and she quickly sat down.

"So, Doc, what can you tell us?"

She took a deep breath, before giving them the account of the situation in the infirmary.

"Daniel is currently lying in the infirmary. When you brought him in he was weak and feverish. We checked him and found that he had a temperature of almost a 104 going. We quickly set out to cool him down. When I examined him he was slipping in and out of consciousness. We found problems with his heart, kidneys and spleen. In short, his bodily functions are shutting down one by one. I doubt he'll survive the night."

Jack and Teal'c took in the news. Teal'c hung his head a little. But Jack simply nodded. He knew it would have been terrible to hear Daniel was dying right after Carter had died. But they weren't Daniel and Carter to him.

"Have you done the tests I asked you to do, doctor?"

Doctor Brightman looked down at the files residing on her lap.

"I have, General. The DNA tests on both Colonel Carter and doctor Daniel Jackson turned out positive. Blood types match, as well as physical characteristics."

Jack blinked once. He wondered if his hearing was going. She hadn't said what she said, had she?

"General, I don't know why you ordered me to do these tests but I have, and they confirm the two persons in the infirmary are Colonel Samantha Carter and doctor Daniel Jackson."

He could feel his fear and uncertainty scream at the edge of his mind, trying to drag him down into a pit of guilt, pain and sorrow. But he wouldn't let them. Because of all the things he was certain of in this universe, the two person he had talked to this morning were not his beloved Daniel and Sam. So that left the question what to do next. What had that Daniel impersonator said? Ah yes, Dimasq. PX4-609. They left for that planet, and when they came back things had changed. 'So the only logical thing is that Carter and Daniel are still on that planet, and some sort of impersonator was send back instead of them.'

Jack reached out and dialed a number on the telephone on his desk. "Walter, have Colonel Freeman and Lt. Colonel Saunders report to the briefing room ASAP."

Both doctor Brightman and Teal'c looked at him, a curious expression on their faces. Jack silently looked back at them for a moment, deciding on what to tell them. Doctor Brightman broke the silence.

"Eh sir, what is going on?"

Jack fixed her with a steady gaze, his eyes once more filled with the steely look from before.

"As I see it Doc, the two in the infirmary are not Carter and Daniel. Therefore they have to be on the planet SG-1 visited last. I'm planning a mission to get them back."

Teal'c frowned in silent thought, weighing Jack's words. Doctor Brightman opted for gaping at him, her vocal chords unable to produce any kind of sound. After a moment of complete silence Teal'c stood up from his chair.

"I wish to partake in this mission, O'Neill."

Doctor Brightman's eyes grew a little wider. "You too think they are not here?" she said, retrieving her voice.

Teal'c gave Jack a reassuring look. "Indeed."

"But the tests—"

"The tests are wrong," Jack growled. He stood up and moved to the door towards the briefing room. Teal'c followed him. He closed the door behind him, leaving behind a very confused doctor Brightman.

- ∞ -

SG-6 and 8 were standing in the gateroom, waiting for the gate to activate. Colonels Freeman and Saunders, the leaders of the two teams, were checking the newly added members. When the blast door opened they turned and everybody stood at attention.

"At ease."

Jack walked into the gateroom with Teal'c, both fully geared up. Jack had informed Colonels Freeman and Saunders that he was coming on this mission, and luckily they had not objected. It was something he had to do. He had to prove he was right. He couldn't face the consequences if he wasn't right.

"Sir?" a voice over the intercom asked.

Jack looked up at the control room and saw Walter standing there with doctor Brightman, who looked more than a little apprehensive.

"Walter?"

"Eh…good luck, sir."

Jack nodded and signaled for the dialing of the gate. Soon the wormhole established and he ordered SG-6 and 8 forward. He and Teal'c were the last to go. But just before they stepped through Walter's voice rang out over the intercom.

"Sir, I have the president on the phone for you, he's asking about your weekly report." Walter sounded nervous and a little scared.

For a moment Jack halted, knowing full well he could not go on any mission unsanctioned by either the President or the Pentagon. He looked at Teal'c who gave him a calm and trusting look. Then he turned back to the control room.

"Take a message, Walter. I'll call him back when we get back."

Jack and Teal'c took the last step, leaping into the wild ride across the wormhole to find their teammates.

- ∞ -