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Carter reached Teal'c as he was hauling the half-senseless man off the ground.
"Has he said anything yet?" she asked.
"He has been uncooperative," Teal'c growled out.
She nodded distractedly as her attention diverted over to the two men she had left moments before. The colonel was talking softly to Daniel, who seemed more lost than ever.
"There's something wrong with Daniel," she said quietly, a dull fear in her voice.
Teal'c followed her gaze, silently watching his two friends across the distance while he kept a tight grip on the assailant. He did not ask her to elaborate, knowing she would have done so if she knew more.
"I need to call General Hammond. We'll need a secured transport to bring this man back with us," she said. "And find someone to deal with what happened. I don't think the colonel would be willing to stay here another minute if he can help it." She did not need to add that neither would she or Teal'c. Their concerns laid with Daniel.
"Indeed." Teal'c could see the flashing lights heralding the arrival of the police and other emergency services. O'Neill never was one who had the patience needed to clear up 'incidences', let alone when it involved Daniel.
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Jack, with gentle prompts and a guiding hand at the elbow, led Daniel to a small office he secured from one of the security guards so that they could talk. He was confident that his teammates would take care of whatever needed to be taken care of out there.
Jack closed the door, shutting out the chaos that was going on outside. He turned to watch Daniel, who was looking back at him uneasily. Jack had never seen his friend direct that look at him before. It was unnerving.
"You want to sit down?" Jack asked.
Daniel nodded and sat. Silence ensued.
Finally, when Jack figured the younger man wouldn't be volunteering anything on his own, he said, "Daniel--."
Daniel interrupted. "Why do you keep calling me that?"
Jack frowned. "Because that's your name?"
Daniel shook his head, not in denial, but in confusion.
"You really don't know me?"
Another shake of the head. Jack sighed, thinking they might as well start afresh. "Okay. I'm Jack O'Neill. We work together and, strangely, happen to be really good friends. Now, can you tell me what you do know?"
"I know I have never met you before," he said. There was, however, doubt in his voice.
"You don't sound too sure."
Daniel said with frustration, "There are gaps. And... some parts of my life are..." The man sighed deeply, as if he couldn't summon the right words to finish that sentence. So he started over. "It doesn't feel like I lived the life I remember, and when I tried to recall any sort of details to certain events, it all falls apart," he finished bleakly.
Jack didn't know what he could say to that, so he remained silent.
"Everything from before I started on the project is so vague. Dream-like, but it wasn't. I know the things I went through really did happen."
"Whoa, back up. What project?"
Daniel, whom Jack thought was just beginning to open up, seemed to withdraw from him almost immediately. "I was recruited to do a translation for someone."
"Who?" Jack asked, knowing this line of questioning was, for some reason, distancing his friend. But he knew this was important.
"He called himself Chris Amery," Daniel said.
"What were you translating?"
"I--" Daniel stopped, eyes narrowing. "How do I know this isn't some sort of trick to extract information from me?"
"What?" Jack stared at him, exasperated. Daniel's face was displaying an expression he knew only too well. He was giving Jack the stubborn 'you're not going to get anything out of me' look.
Nice to know some things don't change, Jack thought as he pointed to his arm. "Does this look like a trick to you? Because it sure as hell hurts like it's real," Jack said.
Daniel blinked in surprise, as he seemed to have forgotten Jack's injury until now. He winced sympathetically and said, "Thanks, by the way."
"For what?" Jack asked, still irked at being accused of trickery. The pain from his arm didn't help his mood. Nor Daniel's apparent quasi-amnesic condition.
"For that." Daniel nodded to the bloody wound. "I'm pretty sure that that was meant for me."
"Yeah, well. You'd have done the same," Jack replied, sounding nonchalant.
Daniel raised a brow. "Yeah?"
Jack debated whether or not to tell him about the first trip to Abydos in which Daniel did take the bullet, so to speak, for him. But he dismissed the idea; it would only bring up more issues and complicate matters.
Daniel continued before Jack could find a proper response. He said, "You should probably get that looked at."
"I've had worse." Which was true, and he would rather not interrupt the progress he had made with his friend so far. "Look, seeing as how I've saved your life and all, do you think you can trust me now?" It pained Jack to have to ask Daniel for trust.
Daniel gazed at Jack for a moment, his eyes searching Jack's. Then, seemingly satisfied, he nodded. "I was told about the project around two months ago..."
Jack listened and tried not to interrupt the story. There were several instances where he couldn't help himself and he asked a few specific questions, mostly in regards to the people Daniel saw, the building he found himself in, and the tablet he was working on.
A knock sounded at the door. Both men turned toward it as it opened. A blond head poked through. "Colonel?"
"What is it, Major?"
"The men General Hammond sent will be here in approximately ten minutes. He has also arranged for a prisoner escort," Carter said, surprising Jack. He hadn't realized he and Daniel had been at it for over an hour.
Carter's gaze shifted from Jack to Daniel, who looked back at her without recognition. "Sir?" she asked, her voice soft.
Jack understood her question and his eyes flickered over to Daniel for a second before settling back on his 2IC. Jack shook his head imperceptibly, he hadn't figured out what was going on yet.
Sam looked crestfallen, but restrained herself from further questions. Their Q&A session would have to wait until they got back to the base. She gave one last lingering look at Daniel before withdrawing.
"Um," Daniel said. Jack raised a brow at him. "You're all in the military?"
"That's right."
"And we worked together."
"Right again." Jack wondered if this was going somewhere.
"Oh."
"Oh?"
"I just didn't figure I'm the type to... you know," Daniel trailed off and waved his hand vaguely before resuming, "be a part of this."
"What, the armed forces?"
Daniel nodded. Jack blinked a couple of times before answering, "You betcha, Captain Jackson. Let's get out of here. The general's waiting."
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Sam didn't know whether to laugh or be exasperated with the colonel. "Sir, why did you do that? You're liable to only make him more confused."
O'Neill shrugged helplessly. "I couldn't help myself."
"Sir," Sam admonished, frowning at him.
"How often does an opportunity like that come up? You can't blame a guy for trying to lighten the mood a little."
"At what point do you plan to let Daniel Jackson know that he is, in fact, not part of the United States Air Force?" Teal'c asked. He was giving O'Neill a hard look.
"All in good time."
"Colonel," Sam said, trying not to sound like she was scolding. She was pretty sure it was generally frowned upon.
Before Jack could say anything in return, General Hammond entered the briefing room. The team had only arrived on base ten minutes before and had been requested to report to the general immediately. They were reluctant to leave Daniel so soon, but there was little they could have done except hover around the infirmary as Janet examined him. Plus, there was the fact that one usually should not ignore an order by a general, no matter how sympathetic he appeared.
Hammond waved his subordinates to resume their seats. Once everyone was situated he asked, "How is Dr. Jackson?"
"He's fine, Sir. Aside from the fact that apparently his whole life is a lie," O'Neill said, deadpan. He, along with Carter and Teal'c, had questioned Daniel extensively about what he did remember during their trip back. They had been careful with their questioning so as not to appear too aggressive, and he had been responsive to their concern and obvious affection in their manners and voice.
Sam elaborated, "What the colonel means is that Daniel has a completely different set of memories from what in actuality happened. It's surprisingly extensive, going all the way back to his childhood."
"However, there are discrepancies in the false memories," Teal'c added. "Daniel Jackson himself had begun to question their validity before we found him."
Hammond looked at his people in surprise, though very little could shock him nowadays. "Is there any way to reverse this?"
Sam said, "I'm afraid we will have to wait for Dr. Frasier's assessment before we can make any assumptions, sir. As of right now, he doesn't even remember any of us or the SGC."
"Let's keep it that way for now. He's restricted to the infirmary and his quarters unless he is accompanied by one of you or an SF." Hammond, seeing the looks on SG-1, added, "At least until we can find out more about what happened. He's to be treated like any of our guests who hasn't been cleared yet."
The team didn't raise any more protests so Hammond continued, "Do we know why this was done to Dr. Jackson?"
"No, sir. But I suggest we look someone by the name of Chris Amery up," O'Neill said. "It was the only name Daniel could come up with. There was also some woman named Emily, but no last name."
"What about the man Teal'c caught?"
"Hasn't said one word, but we're looking into it," O'Neill said.
"Very well, Colonel. Your team will head up this investigation. I need not remind you of the potential security breach created with Dr. Jackson's disappearance and the condition in which he was found."
O'Neill nodded. They understood the seriousness of the situation, but there was definitely something else they deemed more important on their minds. Sam waited almost impatiently to see if there was more, but the general said, "Dismissed."
They got up and were out of the room in record time.