Back at Daniel's, he let them into his house and headed for the kitchen. "I don't know about you guys, but I could use some coffee. Anyone else?"
"Sure."
"Yes, please."
"No, thank you."
"Yeah."
Daniel started the coffee brewing and stood for a minute. Janet walked in to see him standing tense, arms braced on the counter, head down and eyes closed.
"I don't think I'm ready for this, Janet. What if they hate me now? What if they decide they can't trust me anymore? What if I lose them, because they found out what I am? I don't want to lose them, LW. They're the best friends I've ever had." He gave a small smile. "And that's saying something."
Janet smiled back. "I know. And I don't think you'll lose anything with them. They're just confused right now."
"She's right, you know." Jack said as he and the others came into the room. "We aren't going to hate you. We just want to know what's going on."
Sam and Teal'c nodded in agreement.
Daniel looked at them sadly and nodded. "Okay, let's go back in the living room. I think you're going to need to sit down for this." He turned and grabbed some mugs, filled them with coffee, handed them out and lead them back into the other room.
After everyone was comfortable, he began.
"First of all, I'm not 35 like you think. I'm actually a lot older… a whole lot older, in fact. I'm not even really sure how old I am…I never really cared that much, to be honest."
"Well, I know you're over 6,000, but other than that, I don't know either," Janet chimed in.
"Really? I figured you would know." Daniel looked surprised.
"Nope, the records don't go back that far. You were around before us, you know," she answered.
"That's true. Like I said, it wasn't that important. I usually just tell those who want to know that I'm 6000 and leave it at that."
During this, the other occupants of the room look incredulous at the two doctors discussing his age.
"You're kidding, right? You can't be 6000 years old." Jack sputtered out.
"Why not? I'm an Immortal. I can be, and am, over 6000 years old." Daniel replied calmly.
"Immortal? But you died! Several times, in fact," Sam put in.
"But did I stay dead?" Daniel smirked.
"Well, no… but what about when you ascended?" Sam asked.
"That was the closest I've come to actually being dead. I didn't even know I could ascend. The Stargate gave me a lot of new experiences, actually," Daniel mused.
"So… were all your friends tonight Immortal, too? And did that guy you decapitated really die, or is he coming back, too?" Jack asked.
"Some of them are Immortal, some are not." Daniel answered. "He is dead, and he won't be coming back." Daniel said, a bit sadly.
"If he is an Immortal, how can he be dead?" Teal'c asked.
"The only way an Immortal can be killed is by decapitation. It releases their quickening, which is then absorbed by the closest Immortal. That would have been me tonight." Daniel answered. Before they could ask, he hurried on with "The quickening is what makes us Immortal. It's a kind of energy that all Immortals have that contains our knowledge and bits of our personality and memories. When a quickening is absorbed, you also get some of the person, too. So the more quickenings you get, the more knowledge, power, etc, you will have. That's why some Immortals will try to kill others. When one challenges you, you have the option of rejecting their challenge, and most will honor that to a degree. By that I mean, they might not try to kill you, but they will probably not respect you much and will taunt and belittle you. I know this from experience." Daniel said. "But, others will offer the "challenge" then, regardless of your intentions, will attack you anyway. Another bit of experience."
Jack started, "So, I'm assuming that major this morning was another Immortal." Daniel nodded. "Then, why didn't he fight with you?"
"Ahh… a loophole." Daniel smiled, his first real smile since the challenge earlier. "If you challenge an Immortal on holy ground, the quickening cannot be absorbed. And, the SGC is built on what used to be a church. At least it was a church in the way the ancient people about 4000 years ago thought of one."
"Well, that's handy for when you're at work, anyway." Jack said, thoughtfully. "Unless, someone decides that they just want you dead, and to hell with the quickening."
"That is a risk, I suppose, but since I'm not going out trying to stir up trouble with other Immortals, why would they want to do that? Most of them just want my quickening, anyway." Daniel shrugged.
"It seemed that the man this morning wanted more than your quickening this morning, DanielJackson. He sounded like he wanted revenge." Teal'c stated.
"Yeah," Daniel sighed and pushed his glasses up and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a habit he had when he was a bit frustrated. "He was taught about being Immortal from a man named Walter Night, who, incidentally, I had taught for a bit, years ago. But, Walt decided that I was little too passive, and he wanted to get some quickenings and became a hunter." At their confused looks, he clarified, "A hunter is an Immortal who goes looking for other Immortals just to kill them and get their quickenings. Walter had heard about the Game and wanted to win." Daniel look up, then went on at their increasingly perplexed looks. "The Game is something an Immortal before even my time came up with. Apparently, it's theme is 'There can be only one.' And the goal is to kill every other Immortal so you're the last one. The prize is supposed to be the ultimate power, or to rule the world, or some other such nonsense. I never participated, and really ignored most of what I heard about it. I don't want to rule the world, anyway. Too much paperwork." Daniel grinned and the others let out a surprised laugh at Daniel borrowing one of Jack's favorite complaints.
"Okay, so now we know about you… how does Janet fit into this?" Sam asked, glancing at her friend.
"Actually, I let Janet tell you what she wants to about that." Daniel replied, looking at his friend.
"I'm Daniel's Watcher." Janet stated simply.
At Jack, Sam and Teal'c's stunned and confused faces, Daniel chuckled quietly. "I think you can do better than that, LW."
"Oh, alright… A Watcher is discretely supposed to watch his Immortal and record his life. USUALLY, the Immortal doesn't know who his Watcher is, and MOST don't even know we exist. But Daniel, being an annoyingly curious and alert old guy, found me out my first day on the job." She glared at him.
Daniel just smiled at her.
"Ohh… you're so aggravating some times…" She sighed and continued on. "Daniel's had so many Watchers, and I think he's known about all of them…"
"Of course. I actually started the whole thing." Daniel smiled into his coffee after dropping that bombshell.
"WHAT?!?" Janet shrieked.
"Yup. I decided that we really need some recorded history of what we do, and I didn't really want to go around following other Immortals myself, so I figured this was the best way. Plus, I know that someone besides the Immortals knows about us, and the Watchers are for the most part impartial with their accounts. Present company excepted, of course." Daniel nodded at Janet.
"Are you saying I'm not doing my job correctly, Doctor Jackson?" She stood over him and glared her best at him.
"Of course not," he countered smoothly. "You do a fabulous job. I'm just saying you're not impartial. Joe isn't either." He added.
She deflated a bit. "You're right." She smiled, then, "but I don't think most of your Watchers were impartial, either. If you ever read what they wrote, you can tell they are usually rooting for you to win, and they seem to like you a lot. Especially the females." Janet grinned a little wickedly at him.
Daniel blushed and looked down, then glanced up again and grinned just as wickedly at Janet. "Even you?" He smirked at her.
"Of course not," she shot back. "I know you too well now." Then they both started to laugh.
Jack and Sam smiled a little, not really knowing what was so funny, but enjoying seeing their friends happy.
"If we could get back to the subject at hand…" Jack said.
"Right, sorry." Daniel got himself back under control. "Actually, I don't think there's much else to tell you. I'm Immortal, Janet's a Watcher, there are some people that want to take my head…" Daniel ticked off each of these on his fingers as he said them. "Yep, that's pretty much it, unless you have some questions…" He looked expectantly at the surprised faces of his friends.
"That's pretty much it?!" Jack mocked him. "That's an awful lot! For crying out loud!" He threw his hands up in the air and started to pace around the room.
Daniel looked a little apologetic. "Sorry. I get a little, umm, flippant, about things sometimes... Remember, I've been dealing with this a lot longer than you have." He pointed out.
"We know, Daniel, but it's a lot for us to take in." Sam reassured him, taking his hand.
"It's a little hard to believe, even after seeing you with that sword, and lopping off that guy's head…" She paled a bit, and tightened her hold on his hand.
Daniel squeezed back and gently smiled at her. "I understand. But, really, there was nothing to worry about…"
"Nothing to worry about! That guy looked like he could pick you up and snap you in two without a thought!" Jack exploded again.
"Hmph!" Janet snorted.
"What?" Jack whirled on her.
"Frank couldn't slice his way out of a paper bag. Didn't you see him trying to fight with Daniel? He could barely hold his sword right! Hmph," Janet snorted softly again.
Jack, Sam and Teal'c looked at Janet in surprise. Daniel was beginning to think their faces were going to be permanently stuck that way, and smiled to himself at the thought.