A/N: Okay, here's where things start to get interesting…

Chapter 3

Hazy motes of memory floated around Daniel's consciousness like dust caught in a sunbeam. As they passed in and out of focus, he was struck with thoughts of the most important aspects of his life. For a moment, he felt the presence of Jack O'Neill and reflected on the odd yet powerful friendship that the two had formed. An instant later, he could see the figures of Sam and Teal'c, garbed in SGC-issued BDUs. These dear friends, the members of SG-1, had become his only real family after…

Sha're. Her dark, piercing eyes and gleaming ebony hair had transfixed him from the first moment he'd laid eyes upon her. The deep, abiding pain of her loss still resided deep in his soul. Death, ascension and rebirth had not been able to erase the grief. Time had dulled it, certainly, but that dull, persistent ache was part of him as surely as his love of languages or his sandy brown hair was a part of him.

Beneath all those human emotions, however, lay something deeper. Borne of self-reflection and refined through painstaking discipline, Daniel held profound convictions about his place in the world. It was a sense of self that few individuals ever achieved. He knew, without reservation or uncertainty, that there was a definite presence of good and evil in the universe. And he, for one, had no doubt as to which side he was on. Helping the helpless was more than an inspiration to him. It was his sole purpose and driving mission. With Sha're's death, he'd lost his last ties to personal happiness and satisfaction. Now, he knew he was living for something much greater than himself.

For this reason, he clung to life like a drowning man clings to a life preserver. He needed to get back into the battle. It was this deep, emotional connection to the world that had pushed him back to his physical existence after his ascension.

He had no intention of giving up now.

The quiet, steady beeping of the cardiac monitor had lulled Sam into an exhausted lethargy. In theory, she was still on her honeymoon. In actuality, however, she hadn't had more than a few hours alone with her new husband since they'd returned from P6Y-441. At first, she'd been busy with planning Daniel and Teal'c's trip to Iraq. Then she'd been blindsided with Daniel's injury.

The blast had rendered him stable but unconscious. Since it had been deemed safe to move him, he'd been airlifted via helicopter from the hilltop research site to Basra, and then flown directly to the SGC's infirmary.

Sighing, she repressed a feeling of guilt. Daniel had not been confident in his ability to examine the device, and Sam now felt horrible for having talked him into going anyway. She should have given him better directions. She should have been more specific. She should have…

Sam squared her shoulders and slammed the door on those thoughts. If there was one thing she'd learned from Jack, it was that dwelling on past failings was a useless waste of time. It was far more productive to concentrate on the future.

Unfortunately, in this case, the future was rather uncertain. Sam tried not to think about the consequences of Daniel's encounter with the stone ring. Luckily, the force of the blast hadn't killed him outright, and there had been plenty of people around to tend to him after the mishap. She recalled that following the last accident with those stones, Jack had been teleported to Earth and left lying unconscious on a deserted hilltop for almost two days. He'd almost died from exposure. At least that was one thing Daniel didn't need to worry about.

On a positive note, they had learned something new about the stones. Since an entire host of scientific instruments had been monitoring the circle when it had been activated, they'd found volumes of new information.

And that wasn't all they'd found.

Sam remembered her last mishap with alien tools. It had resulted in her illegitimate pregnancy with Jack's twins. At the time, Teal'c had classified her hyper-fertility and pregnancy as "unexpected side effects" of the alien beverage that she'd mistakenly consumed in the presence of someone she'd lusted after for years.

Daniel's "unexpected side effect" was no less impressive or astonishing.

A familiar voice suddenly startled Sam from her thoughts. "I thought you might need some cheering up, so I brought you a surprise."

Turning swiftly, she saw Jack stepping into the infirmary carrying something small and squirming. Teal'c was right behind him with a second, identically shaped bundle.

Grinning in spite of her worry and guilt, Sam stood up and rushed to her husband. Little Janelle was punching and kicking rather impressively as she struggled to be free from the blanket she was wrapped in. At almost four months old, the twins were starting to develop some independence. Janelle especially seemed to like "tummy time," and would sit for minutes at a time with her head and chest raised up off the floor, looking around at the world. Jonathan, who was a bit chubbier than his sister, wasn't quite ready to push his head up for long periods of time, and so he preferred to be held in a seated position. When awake, however, neither baby liked being cradled horizontally, as it interfered with their view of everything around them.

When Sam walked into Janelle's line-of-sight, the little girl lit up with an enormous, toothless grin. "Hello, sweetheart!" Sam cooed to her daughter. Leaning over, she kissed one rosy cheek with obvious tenderness. Then, stepping to Teal'c, she performed an identical ritual with baby Jonathan. "How are my babies today?"

Jack smiled at the change in his wife. Since Daniel's accident two days ago, she'd been withdrawn and upset. Sam and Daniel had always been good friends, but since Daniel's unending support after Jack's "death," the two had become as close as siblings. Even though Doctor Brightman had assured Sam that Daniel would likely follow Jack's road to recovery and emerge unscathed, Sam wouldn't relax until she'd seen it for herself.

In typical Carter-like fashion (no matter what her name was, he could not bring himself to think of his wife as "O'Neill-like") she had clung to the SCGs infirmary with single-minded determination, refusing to leave until Daniel showed improvement. In the days since Sarah had happily agreed to watch the twins for the remainder of their honeymoon, Sam hadn't spent more than a few hours alone with the babies. Jack had tried to remind her on several occasions that Sarah was watching the twins so she could enjoy herself, but his wife had simply brushed his logic aside. She'd insisted that she wouldn't be able to enjoy anything, so long as Daniel remained unconscious.

And so, Jack reasoned, if you couldn't bring Muhammad to the mountain, you should instead bring the mountain to Muhammad. He'd coerced Teal'c into helping him load both babies into and out of the car. It was a quick trip from Sarah's home to the SGC, where the babies had become regular celebrities amongst the staff. He'd rarely seen anything as amusing as a bunch of stoic, rigid military personnel turned into baby-talking saps at the sight of two pudgy, bald infants. Thankfully, his wife was more susceptible to the twins' charm than anyone. As soon as she'd seen them, she'd lit up like a Christmas tree.

Jack reached over with his free hand and brushed a stray lock of hair from his wife's face. "They're doing just fine. Thought we'd visit Mommy and Uncle Daniel."

At the mention of Daniel's name, a shadow passed over Sam's features. Still, it was hard to remain gloomy for long in the presence of the two smiling, drooling faces. Gently taking Jonathan from Teal'c, she walked over to Daniel's bedside.

"His brainwaves have become less comatose and more sleep-like in the last few hours. The doctor says that she's pleased with his improvement," Sam said quietly. Clearly, however, from the worry in her voice, she didn't necessarily share that assessment.

Jack followed her, carting a squirming Janelle along with him. "I'm sure he'll be awake in no time."

Sam smiled, but couldn't completely eliminate the anxiety in her eyes. Settling into the chair she'd pulled along side Daniel's bed, she sat Jonathan up in her lap and spoke softly to the unconscious patient. "Hi, Uncle Daniel," she said, raising Jonathan's hand in a pudgy baby-wave.

Jack couldn't suppress a smile at the darling picture that they made. "Maybe if we take Jonathan's diaper off and aim him in Daniel's general direction, it'll wake him up."

Sam opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a weary voice from beside her.

"Don't even think about it, Jack. Besides," Daniel said, prying open one of his eyelids, "there's no need. I'm already awake."

"Daniel!" Sam's response was joyous and automatic. "Thank God, you're all right!"

The exhausted archaeologist squinted his baby-blue eyes at Sam as he winced painfully. "I think 'all right' is a bit optimistic." He groaned slightly. "I feel like I've pulled every muscle in my body."

"I will get the doctor. It is good to see you awake, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c's voice was unusually cheery as he left the room to find Dr. Brightman.

Jack shook his head at his old friend. "Yeah, I remember how that feels." He tried to sound reassuring as he continued. "On the bright side, it does go away after a few weeks."

Clearly, that statement didn't have the desired effect on Daniel. "A few weeks?" Groaning again, he muttered something about "damn alien technology" under his breath. Looking back at Sam, he ground his teeth against the pain and concentrated on something more productive. "Did you at least figure out what went wrong?"

Sam considered the question a moment. Then, suddenly, she reached over to the bedside table, picked up Daniel's glasses and handed them to him. "You might want these," she said distractedly.

Slowly, Daniel was able to force his muscles into complying with his brain's commands. In a moment, he was able to see things much more clearly. "Thanks," he said. When he glanced around the room and saw his tiny visitors, he couldn't quite suppress a smile. "Hey, little ones!" he said, enjoying the little waving lurches that baby Jonathan was making.

Sam, too, had to smile. "I think he wants Uncle Daniel to hold him." Kissing her son on the top of his head, she directed her next remark to him. "Maybe next time, sweetie. Uncle Daniel has a boo-boo right now."

Jack rolled his eyes. Having been in Daniel's exact position almost four months ago, he could clearly recall the aching misery that their friend was going through. 'Boo-boo' hardly seemed to sum it up properly.

Daniel, however, didn't comment. Instead, he re-directed the conversation back to its original topic. "So," he said curiously, "what did you learn about those stones?"

Sam glanced at Jack and swallowed nervously. Clearly, she was reluctant to discuss the topic. She'd much rather wait until Daniel had regained some strength before having that particular conversation. Still, she couldn't very well lie to him. So, taking a deep breath, she began speaking. "Well," she said hesitantly, "We know that you discovered some symbols on the stones. The men working on the device originally were physicists, not archaeologists, and they apparently dismissed the markings as random scratches. After all," she said, "the stones were very weathered, and those marks were hardly discernable."

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, I thought so. So, I guess I should take back my comments about not being the right person for the job, hey?"

Sam winced. "In light of your injuries, I'm not going to argue the point any further. You may have been better off if…" Suddenly, she stopped, as she appeared to remember something important.

When she didn't immediately continue her sentence, Daniel leveled his blue eyes at her expectantly. "Better off if what?" Seeing Sam exchange another look with Jack – this one much longer and more meaningful – Daniel felt his stomach clench. "Sam? What aren't you telling me?" His voice was quiet and perceptive.

Licking her lips, Sam reluctantly continued. "We discovered something else about the stone circle. As the computers predicted, the – for lack of a better term – wormhole formed by the stones was very unique. It was incredibly warped, similar to what happens when a standard wormhole passes through the gravitational field of a star, but in a more significant manner. Additionally, it gave off energy signals remarkably similar to those emanating from the quantum mirror."

Daniel nodded impatiently. He grasped enough wormhole physics to understand that those facts made the teleportation stones a very powerful tool. They could potentially provide the ability to transport people or items through space, time, or even dimensional barriers. Still, none of that information was new to him. He really wanted to hear what Sam hadn't told him yet. "Go on," he commanded, sounding firm in spite of his fatigue.

Sam drew a deep breath. "Well, we're not sure why… Jack seems to think he forgot a step when he originally placed the 'key' into the locking mechanism on P3X-812… Anyway, unlike our Stargate, the device here only seems to have the ability to dial in, not out."

Daniel looked perplexed. Why was she worried about telling him that? "So, that explains why I'm still on Earth, and not someplace else."

Nodding, Sam still looked anxious. Clearly, she hadn't gotten to the troublesome part yet. "Right. As far as we know, this device can't take you anywhere else."

He still didn't understand what the big deal was. "So, if I wasn't affected by the device, why do I feel like I was hit with a sledgehammer?" Daniel winced again as he shifted his head slightly on his pillow. "That blast was something else. It's amazing I wasn't killed."

Sam shifted Jonathan on her lap uncertainly. "That's just it. You were affected by the device." Pointedly not looking at Jack, her features took on a grayish cast. "According to all our readings, that blast actually did have enough energy to kill you." She swallowed. "And, apparently, that's exactly what it did, right before it reached back in time and grabbed you away in the instant just before the blast struck. It then placed the 'you' who was microseconds younger than the dead 'you' onto the stone circle. It seems that the trauma to your body was caused by a lack of calibration. It should have grabbed the old you a few microseconds sooner. Your body was exposed to some of the energy from the blast."

From across the room, Jack's jaw had dropped open. "Wait!" he said forcefully. "Do you mean to say that my remains really are buried at Arlington?" Clearly, this bit of information was news to him, too.

Sam reluctantly looked at her husband. She said nothing, but nodded slightly.

Daniel, too, looked disconcerted by the revelation. "Wow. So Jack really was killed in that blast. He's only here because that device reached back in time and placed a living Jack onto the stones in Iraq." Seeing that Sam looked a bit ill at that pronouncement, he kept talking, hoping to distract her from those gloomy thoughts. After all, he had been around during the weeks when Sam had grieved her beloved's death. It had not been pretty. "And, you think I didn't get shipped off to another one of these stone circles because this one is an 'incoming-only' device?"

Evidently, his diversion worked, because Sam seemed to snap out of her unpleasant memories in order to answer his question. "That's right."

Hoping to keep her talking, Daniel rambled a bit aimlessly. "So what effect do the symbols have on the device's function on Earth? If nothing is sent to the worlds represented by those symbols, why did anything happen at all when I touched one?"

Sam answered automatically. "Nothing was sent there, but something arrived from there." Then, hearing her own response, she bit her lip with a silent curse.

Daniel glanced at Jack. His eyes were closed, and he, too, had an "I can't believe she just said that" look on his face. In light of his friends' extreme discomfort, he almost dreaded asking the obvious question. Taking a deep breath, he plunged ahead.

"So, what arrived?"

At that moment, Teal'c entered the infirmary with Doctor Brightman following close behind. He was about to speak, when he noticed the palpable tension in the room. "Is something wrong, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel tried to shrug, but immediately winced at the resulting pain. Trying a more verbal approach, he answered the large Jaffa uncertainly. "I'm not sure, Teal'c. Sam and Jack just let it slip that something was summoned here by my accident. They were just about to tell me what that was when you came in."

During Daniel's speech, Dr. Brightman had walked to the many instruments at his bedside. Before anyone had a chance to respond to his last statement, the young doctor spoke enthusiastically to her patient. "Dr. Jackson, you appear to be in excellent condition. In a few days, when the fatigue and pain wear off, you'll be back to your old self."

Jack stood behind her, shaking his head. When Daniel glanced at him, he clearly mouthed the word, "WEEKS."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "That's great, doc," he said, not sounding especially excited. Instead, he looked pointedly at Sam, Jack, and Teal'c as he continued impatiently, "Now, is anyone going to tell me exactly what I've conjured with my mishap?"

After a long moment of silence, Jack looked at Dr. Brightman. With a questioning look, he tilted his head toward the far wall and raised his eyebrows expectantly. In response, the doctor thought for a moment, then reluctantly nodded.

Jack broke the silence, gazing directly at his friend. "Tell you what, Danny-boy. Instead of telling you what you brought back for us, I'll do one better." His words were light, but his eyes told a much different story.

"I'll show it to you in person."

Packing Daniel into the wheelchair had been an unpleasant ordeal. His stiff, protesting muscles had not easily cooperated with their desire to get him seated and mobile. Still, he'd gritted his teeth and borne the discomfort. He could tell by the nervous, subdued atmosphere amongst his friends that he was about to encounter something big.

Once he was situated, Jack had handed Janelle off to Teal'c and gotten behind the wheelchair's handlebars. Wordlessly, he pushed Daniel from the room. With some alarm, Daniel noted that no one else was following. This could only be for one reason – clearly his dearest friends wanted to give him privacy to absorb the upcoming revelation in solitude.

The trip was not a long one. In fact, he was pushed just two doors down, to another room in the infirmary. From past experience, Daniel knew that this room was an intensive-care unit of sorts. Only the most critical cases were placed in this particular cubicle. When the door opened, Daniel took a deep breath and steeled himself for the worst.

His first surprise was in seeing Thor, a gray, fragile-looking Asgard standing in the room. For a moment, this was enough to throw him off-balance. The Asgard were in the process of reconstructing their civilization following a devastating attack by the Replicators. His presence at the SGC was an omen of great significance.

A moment later, Daniel noticed the bed. From his position, it took a moment to identify the small, frail figure. There were dozens of instruments monitoring a slew of vital signs, which further confirmed Daniel's suspicion that this patient was gravely ill. Finally, as Jack pushed him closer to the bed, Daniel got a good look at the ashen face lying on the stark white pillowcase.

Suddenly, the world seemed to tip sideways. Involuntarily, a sharp breath of shock rasped painfully into his throat. Dimly, he felt his hands clench the blanket on his lap, but was so transfixed by the vision before him, that he didn't even register the overwhelming pain the action caused him.

It was impossible.

It was a miracle.

It was his wife.