Sunday, April 18
Reality A001

Frustrated, Daniel got up again and threw his pen down. He couldn't concentrate. The monument was now two days behind, and he'd barely eaten anything. He was so angry, so disgusted, so . . . damn it . . . so frightened. His thoughts wouldn't focus past the emotions he was feeling.

He started pacing again. He couldn't get his mind into any kind of order. Every time he was sure he'd gotten himself back under control, his thoughts would stray and he'd wind up thinking about what had been done to him.

It was nearly nine o'clock. The lights would be dimming in an hour, and he wouldn't have gotten a single thing done all day. Jack might have been sympathetic this morning, but if he didn't show some progress, he had a feeling . . .

Had he really tried to get the bomb removed? Would he succeed? Would Hammond listen to him? But would Daniel have the courage to be anesthetized again, not trusting the doctor's ethics in the slightest?

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He needed to stop –

The door opened behind him and he turned to see the large airman who'd been with General Hammond the day before coming in, followed by Hammond himself. Daniel stared in shock. Were they about to have one of the 'conversations' Hammond had promised him, or was this something else?

"Good evening, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said, but his tone was sharp and nothing in his eyes reflected the sentiment those words implied. "Please, sit down."

Daniel walked over and sat in what he thought of as his guest chair as Hammond took a seat in the desk chair. "Hello, sir." The airman stood behind the general, as phlegmatic and stoic as before. Daniel noticed his name tag today, though. Berman.

"Now, I have been very patient. I told you that no work would be expected of you yesterday, and that seemed fair. You had a lot to take in." Daniel blinked and nodded uncertainly. "But you've done nothing whatsoever today but behave like a hysteric."

Daniel took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I –"

"Your 'I'm sorry' doesn't get me any translation, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said sharply. "I don't want apologies, I want results."

Emotions were coursing through Daniel, and he couldn't seem to control them. "How can you possibly expect me to work like this?" he demanded.

Hammond looked taken aback. "Don't take that tone with me, young man."

Daniel shot up out of his chair and glared at the older man. "You have plucked me from my home, held me prisoner, forced me to work sixteen hours a day without let up, and now you've placed a bomb in my chest to kill me if I get out of line!"

"Sit down, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said, eyes narrow.

"I'm supposed to spend four or five hours moping and then get over it?" Daniel asked angrily. He shook his head angrily. "What do you think I am?"

"Replaceable!" Hammond snapped. Daniel froze like a deer in headlights, staring at those cold eyes. "And don't you forget it." The general paused for a moment as if waiting for Daniel to respond. "Sit down, Dr. Jackson," he repeated.

Feeling like a coward, Daniel sat.

"I will expect a full day's work out of you tomorrow, Dr. Jackson. Don't disappoint me." With that Hammond rose and took his leave. Daniel sat, staring at the empty chair, until the lights dimmed. Then he got up, walked across the room and fell into bed.

Replaceable.

Monday, April 19

Samantha took a tray to Daniel's room at seven thirty on the dot, but the airman shook his head. "Sorry, ma'am," he said.

"Look, I'm not here to visit, I just want to take him his breakfast," she said.

"No, ma'am, you could go in if you wanted, but we have orders not to permit him to have either breakfast or lunch today."

She stared for a moment, then turned away. Taking the tray with her, she went to Colonel O'Neill's office. "Sir?" she said as she entered the doorway.

He looked up. "Thanks for the thought, Carter," he said, "but I've already eaten."

"This isn't for you, sir, it's for Daniel."

"Then why did you bring it here?" the colonel asked reasonably.

She put a lid on her temper. "Because the airmen have been given orders not to allow breakfast or lunch to be given to Daniel today."

O'Neill looked at her silently for a moment, then stood up. Taking the tray from her, he walked out of the room. She followed him down to Daniel's room where he went through the same dialogue with the guards. When it became clear that the orders were firm, the colonel turned away from the door, his jaw set angrily, handed the tray back to her and said, "Go to your office, lieutenant. I'm sure you have work to do."

Taking that for the dismissal it was, Samantha went straight to her office, put the tray on a counter out of the way and sat down at her desk. She couldn't figure out why Hammond would be punishing Daniel, so she pulled up the surveillance data to see what had happened.

The day before was a lot of pacing, a lot of sitting at the desk for five or ten minutes, then getting up and throwing things. A few bouts of tears, for which she damned both Hammond and O'Neill. And then, towards the end of his day, a visit from Hammond. The door to her office opened and she hit the shortcut she'd created to minimize the window and mute it instantly.

The colonel came in seeming totally calm on the surface, but she could see that he positively vibrated with tension. He shut the door behind him and then punched it.

"What happened?" she asked.

"General Hammond told me that Daniel was disrespectful and insubordinate towards him yesterday, and that he was being punished. Then he informed me that I had better make sure my personnel shaped up better in the future, or steps would be taken."

Her eyes widened. "You'd better warn Daniel, then."

"I was waiting until my temper cooled. I'd also like to know just what he did, and I'm pretty sure you've got a tie in to the surveillance footage in here."

She blinked and nodded. Then she turned and called up the images again. "I think I was just about to the problem, sir," she said.

He bent to look at the screen, putting a hand on her shoulder, and they watched together as Hammond and Daniel had their confrontation. The utter shock on Daniel's face as Hammond told him he was replaceable made her heart skip a beat. She wondered if he thought at all about the man who would come after him, or if all his thoughts were for himself. If she knew Daniel, he was as worried about the man who would follow.

"I'd better go talk to him. What's he doing right now?"

She tapped a few keys and called up the current images. Daniel was sitting at his desk, working. The view was from behind, so she couldn't get a look at his face, but his shoulders looked very tense.

"I'll see you later, Samantha," O'Neill said. She looked up at him, startled, and he raised his eyebrows as if to remind her of their 'relationship.'

"See you later," she said, biting off the 'sir' that came automatically to her lips.

He squeezed her shoulder and left.

Daniel didn't let anything distract him from his work. Every thought, every emotion that might distract him was shunted aside. Today was the start of his third week here, and he had to keep going, had to survive. If he didn't, a new Daniel would be stolen and the cycle would start again.

Last night, deep in the night, it had occurred to him that this might be permanent. That it might not be possible for his friends to find him here, in this reality. They had no controller, and no indication of where he had wound up. And then it had occurred to him to wonder what they would do here if he was rescued. They'd probably just go out and find another Daniel, and that had made him want to weep. He couldn't save himself at the cost of another man's life.

So he worked. He translated. He focused as hard as he could on the monument and on nothing else. The translation was coming along apace, though he feared its quality was suffering.

The door opened and he hunched. Then he shook himself and got back to work. He wasn't going to be distracted.

"Hey, Daniel," Jack said as the door thumped shut.

"Hello, Jack," Daniel said without looking up.

"Daniel, I need to talk to you."

"I'm sorry, Jack, I can't. I have to finish this. General Hammond isn't happy with how quickly I've been working."

"You can take a couple of minutes to listen to me."

Daniel shook his head, trying to figure out if the word he was looking at was 'lead' or 'follow.' In context it could be either and it was kind of a crucial difference. "Jack, I need to get this done."

"Come on, Daniel!" Jack put a hand on his shoulder and Daniel pulled away.

"I'm trying to concentrate," Daniel said.

Jack slammed a fist down on the desk, making Daniel's pens jump. "Damn it, Daniel!"

He flinched away and looked up, terrified that he had now pissed Jack off, too. "I'm sorry, Jack, please, don't be angry, but –" The look on Jack's face made him falter to a stop. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Please, I have to get this done. I'm not trying to upset you, but Hammond was very angry that I didn't get anything done yesterday."

Jack's expression softened, and he lowered himself to the chair beside the desk. "I'm not angry with you, Daniel. I just . . . I have something I need to tell you, and you need to hear it. It won't take long."

Hand shaking, Daniel put the pen down and turned to face Jack.

"Hammond has given orders that you're not to be given breakfast or lunch today because you were, to quote him, 'insubordinate.'"

Daniel nodded tensely. "I see. I suppose I was."

Jack looked a little startled, but he leaned forward and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "You have to control yourself, Danny, and so do I. He's got us both in a stranglehold. I'm sorry, I didn't expect this."

"It's not your fault, Jack," Daniel said. "And I'll manage, I promise. I can't . . . I can't let him bring another Daniel here."

Jack smiled. "We'll see to it that doesn't happen, Danny. Don't worry."

"Thanks, Jack," Daniel said, feeling very surreal. This Jack was his enemy and his ally both at once. He wanted to protect him from Hammond, but if Daniel tried to go home . . . he shook his head. "Now I've got to get back to work, okay?"

"Sure, Danny. I'll be by with your dinner later on."

"Thanks." Daniel turned away and started trying to work out the lead/follow question again. He flipped to another photo that had the word for 'follow' on it, barely even noticing when Jack rose and left the room.

Reality L583

"Janet, if I were an ordinary patient in an ordinary hospital, you'd have sent me home by now. Can't I go someplace a little more private? One of the guest rooms? An isolation room? A closet!"

Jack paused on the threshold to hear the doctor's response. "Daniel," she said, "I don't want you alone. You can't get around on your own."

"So?!" Daniel exclaimed.

"That's really not a good time to be alone, Daniel," she said. "I can't give you crutches because you have a broken arm and broken ribs. A wheelchair is also not really something you can do solo because of the broken arm. You –"

"I need to be alone!" Daniel said. "Please, Janet, you don't understand. I really need some time alone. I can't stand this!"

Jack backed away from the entrance to the room and went to where they stored supplies and pulled out a wheelchair and went back to where Daniel and Fraiser were arguing. "I'm taking you away from all this, Daniel," Jack said. Fraiser shot him an angry glance. "Come on, doc, he needs to be away from people, and you need to have your bed back."

"Colonel O'Neill, the fact remains that he shouldn't be alone."

"He won't be alone," Jack said, and they both looked at him suspiciously. "Or rather, he will be alone, but I'll be there, too."

Fraiser looked thoughtful, but Daniel groaned. "That wouldn't be alone, Jack. I need quiet. I need solitude."

"I can be quiet. You won't even know I'm there."

"It what reality?" Daniel demanded, looking exceptionally dubious.

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere else, so I'd have to say this one."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I just have difficulty imagining a Jack who is capable of silence."

"Now, is that polite?" Jack asked, grinning. "Honestly, Daniel, I'll manage it."

"Fine," Daniel said, giving him a dubious look. He turned to Dr. Fraiser. "Janet, it's nothing against you, but I want out of the infirmary."

"I know," she said. "Our Daniel would have been agitating sooner." Jack snorted, and she gave him a wink.

"Well, I don't know you people," Daniel said, giving her that unbelievably innocent look. It seemed Daniels specialized in them. "I wouldn't want to be rude."

"Lord," Fraiser said after a moment. "Two of them. Get him out of here, colonel."

"Yes, ma'am," Jack said.

With a little help from the good doctor, they got Daniel into the wheelchair. "I'm not so sure about this, colonel," she said as they finally got him positioned. "Daniel, you can't –"

"You said I should start trying to walk in the next few days anyway, right?" She pursed her lips. "Look, I've agreed not to be alone, but I really need to be out of the public eye. You're having more and more trouble keeping people from drifting back this way, and either your Daniel is a hopeless flirt or he has no clue what effect he has on women."

Jack blinked. "You know about that?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Daniel asked. "These women come in and get all . . . well . . . motherly, but there's a hint of . . ." He shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it."

Sighing, Jack sat down. "The thing you've got to keep in mind is that our Daniel is the devoted, grief-stricken husband of a missing wife, and I have a feeling that most of the people on base don't figure we'll ever get her back. There seems to be a strong desire on the part of much of the female staff to offer him solace."

"Oh yeah," Fraiser said. "It's hell on my nursing staff. I wish you'd keep him out of the infirmary more."

"I see," Daniel said, wide-eyed.

"You've been married for as long as those folks have known you, and you have kids. Only the real morons would hit on you under those circumstances."

"I suppose you're right," Daniel said. "And Sha're would probably notice before I did and chase them off."

"Probably," Jack said. "Well, let's get you to one of the guest rooms. Maybe we can have Teal'c spell me. He's certainly big enough to pick you up if you need it."

"Teal'c would be good. He's a lot quieter than you."

"Charming," Jack said. "See if I ever spring you from the infirmary again."

"Let's hope it's not necessary, hmm?"

Jack sighed. "Yeah," he said shortly, the mask of facetious humor falling away from both their faces. Two weeks and Daniel was still gone.

Reality A001

Samantha walked out to her car in the parking lot, a white envelope in her hands. Using some water and a paper towel from the car, she cleaned a patch on her bumper for the sticker that was inside the envelope. She still hadn't looked at it.

Drying the clean stretch of bumper off thoroughly, she pulled out the sticker. It read "I brake for quarks." She stared at it, blinking for a moment, then peeled off the backing. Aligning it carefully, she put it on the bumper and stepped back to see how it looked. Odd, but no one would think twice to see that written on her car.

She shrugged and picked up her purse and the water bottle. Climbing into her car, she drove out of the parking lot. It was five fifteen, so she was going to have to drive like a speed demon to get downtown in time for this meeting, and she had no idea how someone was supposed to meet her there after seeing her bumper sticker.

When she got there, the closest parking spot was two blocks away, so she walked quickly down the street from her car, glancing at her watch. It was six o'clock as she entered the little place and she looked around, wondering who she was meeting and if they were there yet.

It was pretty crowded with the kind of people who had Greenpeace stickers on their SUVs. She ordered a latte and sat down at a free table to wait, trying not to glance at the door too frequently. She didn't want to seem overly conspicuous.

After she'd been there for ten minutes, she heard a voice behind her. "Lt. Carter, what an unexpected pleasure." She turned and stared at Lt. Colonel Harry Maybourne. He must come here often, she thought. Why would anyone in their right mind choose to have a clandestine meeting at a place Maybourne frequented?

"Lt. Colonel Maybourne," she said, forcing a smile.

"May I join you?" he asked as he pulled out the other chair and sat down, ignoring her faint protests. She didn't want to state too categorically that she was meeting someone in case – her thoughts were wrenched away by his next words. "I like this place because they don't waste any resources."

Her eyes met his and he smiled. Maybourne? I'm meeting with Maybourne? The colonel will kill me.

"Lieutenant, don't look so worried. We're on the same side in this. We both want to see a certain person go back where he belongs."

"Maybe so, but that's easier said than done," she replied. "What's your stake in this?"

"Isn't the moral imperative enough?" he asked. "He's an innocent who doesn't deserve this and never asked for it."

She blinked at him dubiously. "I have difficulty believing in disinterested motives."

He shook his head. "I find that altogether unsurprising, my dear," he said. "If you need interested motives, consider this. Sooner or later a Carter from elsewhere is going to figure out where we are and then where will we be?"

"In deep shit," she said flatly.

"Indelicate but accurate." He leaned across the table. "I've heard some very disquieting rumors from the base."

She hesitated. This could be nothing more than a ploy to learn more about what was going on at the SGC. "Rumors?" she hedged.

"Now is not the time and this is not the place for a more in depth conversation. We must meet again. Where and when?"

"When are you on base next?" she asked.

He tilted his head. "I can be on base whenever it suits."

"Then be in that room you use as an office at two tomorrow. Leave the door open." She stood up. "Good bye, sir," she said.

"Good bye, lieutenant," he replied and she walked away.

Out in her car she tried valiantly to wrap her mind around the notion that she was actually thinking about working with the NID. On the other hand, if Maybourne had a plan that would get this Daniel home, she was all for it. Whatever she had to face afterwards would be worth it, so long as they could also keep them from going after more Daniels. No more stopgaps. This had to end.