Sorry this took so long, and sorry if people drift OOC, but my brain has been uncooperative this week.
Oh, I've been nominated for the Stargate Fan Awards! Yay! I don't think this story qualifies though, because it's a WIP... Still, if you folks want to vote for my other works, they'll be listed under the name "Nerca Beyul".
Experts
Somewhere he could hear the faint, rhythmical sounds of what he thought might be hospital monitors. One did have the oddly sharp sound of a heart monitor, a constantly annoying chirp that set the beat for the harmony—though the noises didn't really blend as a harmony so much as just synchronize themselves. When his sleep-fogged brain finally came around enough to understand what he thought it was that he was hearing, he wondered why in the galaxy he'd be asleep in a hospital.
Then, ever so slowly, the memory of passing out on P32-1161 returned to him.
Not a hospital, he thought. The SGC infirmary. Sam, Mitchell and Teal'c must've brought me back through the Stargate.
When he opened his eyes, light harshly assaulted them, and he reflexively pulled his eyelids back across them tightly. After a moment, he gradually opened his eyes again, and let them slowly adjust to the brightness.
After they did, things were still blurry—Daniel wondered where his glasses had gone—but he still recognized the SGC infirmary around him. Leaning back against the pillow on his bed, he gave a sigh of relief.
Doctor Lam appeared over him and offered his glasses back to him. "How're you feeling, Doctor Jackson?" she asked.
Daniel set the glasses back on his face. "Alright," he responded. "But I have—"
"—a splitting headache," finished a familiar, almost Australian voice.
Startled, Daniel propped himself up on an elbow and looked over to the neighboring bed from whence the statement had come. His eyes found what he expected. Vala gave a monstrous grin, and Daniel could practically feel the glee coming from her.
"I knew you couldn't stay away from me for long," she said.
Astounded, Daniel glanced back to Doctor Lam.
She shrugged, and cleared her throat before saying, "Around the time Colonel Carter indicated you touched the stone pillar on P36-1161, Vala began experiencing extreme and sudden convulsions—"
"Right in the middle of the commissary!" Vala chimed in. "I must applaud your impeccable timing, Daniel."
"—and then passed out," Lam continued, not in the least distracted by the other woman's interruption. "She was brought here, and we found that her blood pressure was high and her body was going into shock. We couldn't find any reason why it should be happening either. Until, about five minutes later, Teal'c and Colonel Mitchell dragged you through the Stargate in the same condition. Colonel Carter explained what happened—and about the inscription on the stone pillar, as well. She theorized that the jolt given by the pillar somehow captured the residue of your bond, and reawakened it. So we brought you in too, and both of you stabilized. But you've both been out," she glanced at her watch, "for about an hour."
"Oh, my God," Daniel muttered, smacking a hand to his forehead. "Oh, no… 'As prophecy foretells, to bind the bound and tie the tied.' I should've known!" He fell back against his pillow, covering his face with his palms.
"Doctor Jackson?" Lam prompted. "There's more."
Spreading his fingers, Daniel looked at the physician through them. What more could there possibly be?
"We—Colonel Carter and I—have speculated that the bond might have strengthened," she said slowly. "A lot. Before, you could only be apart for about an hour without being affected. When you touched the pillar on P36-1161 and reawakened the bond, you both fell unconscious within the space of a minute. It may have been due to the electricity itself, but we're skeptical about that since it didn't happen directly after the electrocution."
Very uncharacteristically, Daniel spat a strong Chinese curse under his breath. If last time with Vala had been frustrating with her constant need to annoy him, now it'd be torturous since he couldn't even stay away from her for any sizeable length of time.
"Now, Jackson, that's not nice in any language."
At the sound of a drawl-tainted voice, Daniel noticed Jameson now standing near the ends of his and Vala's beds. One of her auburn eyebrows was arched at him, and a flush rose to Daniel's cheeks as he realized that the colonel probably had understood what he'd just said.
Vala immediately noticed his blushing, and looked at Jameson expectantly. "Ooh, what'd he say?"
A smile quirked the edges of Jameson's mouth, but she firmly shook her head. "I won't repeat it." When Vala raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth again, Jameson quickly added, "In any language."
Vala's eyes widened as Daniel smacked his hands across his face again. "Ooh, it was that bad?" she asked.
"I said I won't repeat it," was Jameson's short reply. "Which means, I'm not gonna repeat it. Or tell you anything whatsoever pertaining to what Jackson just said." She glanced at Daniel and he thought he saw the colonel wink quickly. But before he could determine if she did or not, she cleared her throat and added, "Actually, Doctor Lee's waiting down in Lab 6 for you two. Been waiting for you to wake up. I'm sure you want some tests run to determine what exactly has changed…"
Daniel hoped that this time Lee could find some way to break the bond between himself and Vala. If it was strengthened, though, he doubted anyone would be able to do anything.
He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that.
-----
Watching from a corner of Lab 6 as Doctor Lee hooked the "happy couple" to a few monitors, Marla couldn't help but smile internally at Jackson's apprehension about the bond… and the underlying gratitude that he was rebound to Vala. He would probably never admit to it, but Marla thought he was thankful for the opportunity to keep a closer eye on Vala.
And Vala, of course, was completely excited about the whole thing.
For her, being bound to Daniel once more meant that she was never bored again, as she had been very frequently lately. He'd be unable to go off-world now that he was bound to the injured Vala… Which meant that she really could be with him almost all the time.
Which, Marla knew, amused her to no end.
"Now, this is an electro encephalograph and it's going to monitor your brainwaves so we can determine the response to various stimuli…" Lee started, indicating the wires that attached to small monitors on both Daniel and Vala's heads, then into a laptop computer. "Which should help us figure out a way to… break the bond, if that's at all possible. And comparing it to the old readings I have from last time—" Daniel rolled his eyes and Vala grinned. "—we can see how much has changed."
He turned to the laptop, and hit a few keys. Instantly, a frown creased the doctor's face, and he tapped at a few more keys.
"Something wrong, Lee?" Marla asked, walking to peer over his shoulder at the computer. "You're looking awfully concerned there."
"Irregular wave patterns," the scientist muttered, transfixed by the display on the computer screen. Marla stared at them, then raised an eyebrow at Lee. He caught the hint and traced a finger across the wavering lines on the screen. "Brain wave patterns are unique to each individual, and vary greatly. But if you look, here," he pointed to a particular wavy line on the half of the screen displaying Vala's brainwaves, "and then compare it to this," his finger traced a place on Daniel's display, "you can see the same pattern running through them."
Marla had to admit that the moving lines were following a similar patter in the place Lee had indicated.
"Same thing here," he added, indicating a place on Daniel's display, then where a similar line pulsed on Vala's.
"What does that mean?" Daniel asked.
Lee took a moment to stroke his chin thoughtfully before he said, "I think this bond is running deeper than anyone realized." He ignored the look Daniel shot him, and hurried over to the phone on the wall, tapping a few buttons before speaking into it. "Can we get Doctor Lam down to Lab 6?" he asked. "And Doctor Connors," he added after a moment's hesitation.
For a moment, Marla just blinked in surprise at the names Lee had just called. "The physician and the psychiatrist?" she inquired. "Calling in the experts?"
"Why?" Vala asked slowly.
"Lee, what does that mean?" Daniel repeated, jabbing a finger at the laptop.
The scientist didn't answer any of the questions directed at him as he hung up the phone.
"Doctor Lam and Doctor Connors to Lab Six," Sergeant Harriman's voice echoed on the speakers throughout the base. "Doctor Lam and Doctor Connors to Lab Six."
"Lee!" Daniel practically shouted, definitely catching the scientist's attention this time. Marla suppressed a smile as Daniel jabbed a finger at the computer again. "What does that mean?"
Blinking a moment, Lee finally said, "I'm not sure yet."
"About what?" asked Doctor Lam from the doorway. Behind her stood Doctor Connors, the SGC's resident psychiatrist.
Doctor Lee beckoned them both over with a wave of his hand, and both women came to stand by the table where the laptop computer sat. Standing behind them, Marla craned her neck over Connors' short, blond head to look at the display again, even though she'd already seen it.
Tracing a finger over the waving lines, Lee pointed out the similar brainwave patterns. After saying some big psychological mumbo-jumbo that Marla didn't understand or pay attention to, all three doctors remained silent.
"Uh… what does this mean?" Daniel prompted after a moment.
"It means—and could mean—a number of things," Lam said.
Doctor Connors cleared her throat. "Foremost, that you're now bonded on the psychological level. Before, it was only on a physiological level. This is much deeper than it was before, and than anyone expected." She paused for a moment, letting that sink in. "And it might mean that you're… in each other's heads, for lack of a better term."
Daniel and Vala exchanged a bewildered glance. "What?" they chorused.
"Have you been hearing odd things in your minds?" Connors continued. "Or any faint noises in your thoughts?"
Both Daniel and Vala's jaws dropped, then they quickly agreed, "Yes!"
Doctor Connor began pacing. "Interesting…"
"Doctor Connors…" Daniel started. "How is this possible? How can we be expected to get along being in each other's minds?"
"There's nothing we can do," Lee spoke up. "You're going to have to get along."
Slumping back in his seat, Daniel covered his face with his hands. "Oh, great. Psychologically bonded, and in each other's heads, and we have no choice!"
"I did notice earlier that your heartbeats are in sync," Doctor Lam put in. "Beating at once. At first, I thought it was just coincidence. But now, I'm not so sure it is. I think you're likely bonded physiologically too, but much more so than last time."
"Even better!" Vala spoke up.
Daniel shot her a glare, but didn't say anything.
Marla noted that this was going to be a very interesting week.
Oh, yes... Doctor Connors is my own creation... ((pats Connors on the head))