Artifice Chapter 5

Urngarn placed his hand on the head of the small child. "You can stop this," he said, Jack's brown eyes boring into Daniel.

The child began to shake, his small body jerking under the Minaran's touch.

"No! Stop! I'll give you the symbols!"

Daniel came awake with a jerk, blinking in the dim light.

"Shall I call Doctor Fraiser?" Teal'c rose from the chair beside Daniel's bed.

"No. No, I'm fine," he said, trying to slow his breathing. Glancing around, he realized he was still in the infirmary, and tried to remember the last thing he'd done. Teal'c was the only one of his teammates present, and the only other people in the infirmary were a nurse in one corner tending a patient, and someone in the bed next to them.

"O'Neill is in the commissary per Doctor Fraiser's instructions."

Daniel huffed a laugh, "That's okay. I think he's kind of pissed with me anyway."

"He is not."

"Are you sure about that?"

"His anger is not for you, it is for himself." Teal'c's frankness didn't surprise him; neither did his insight.

"Why is he blaming himself? I don't see what he could have done to prevent this."

"As a leader, he is responsible for those under his command. He believes he was remiss in not pursuing his concerns when we were on Minara, thereby allowing you to come to harm."

"But he couldn't have known the Minarans were shape-shifters; that the real 'me' wasn't going home with you."

"No, but I should have known something wasn't right when you came back from the temple and offered to give them Stargate addresses." He looked over to see Jack leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest.

"You thought I was sick and you did what you felt was right by taking me back to the SGC."

"We should have tried to find out what was wrong before we left the planet," Jack countered as he sauntered over to the bed.

"I do not see the benefit of trying to place blame for what has happened," Teal'c stated.

"Thank you, Teal'c; my thoughts exactly." Daniel stared at Jack waiting for an argument that didn't materialize.

"You're right," Jack sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "But it doesn't mean I won't think differently next time something sets off my crap detector."

"'Crap detector'?"

"Yeah, and ya know, you seem to set it off a lot more than Carter or Teal'c."

Daniel smiled, feeling the tension release. "You never did tell me how you figured out the 'Daniel' that came back with you wasn't me."

"Oh, that was easy—he followed my orders."

"Ha ha. Seriously, what happened?"

"His behavior was very unlike the real Daniel Jackson," Teal'c explained. "He was unsure of himself, nervous—"

"And he had no sense of humor whatsoever," Jack added.

"Really?"

"We continued to watch him closely until he made a mistake and revealed himself as an imposter," Teal'c finished.

It was both comforting and a little disconcerting that his friends knew him so well. Which reminded him of another question. "How did you know where to look for me?"

"We went back to the planet and confronted the Minarans," Jack explained.

"O'Neill was quite persuasive," Teal'c remarked, a pleased look on his face.

"Taking a contingent of Marines along didn't hurt," Jack added.

"That's good... I think," Daniel replied, wondering what kind of persuasion was used and deciding he really didn't want to know. However, it did give him a renewed concern for the Minarans. "What had happened to my double? Is he still here? Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's here—in a holding cell, along with the Minarans who survived the attack," Jack groused.

"He has requested to speak with you," Teal'c added.

"Can I talk to him?"

"Now why would you want to do that?"

"C'mon, Jack, what can it hurt?" Daniel really wanted a chance to speak to the man who had impersonated him. He knew the loss of Urngarn would be a blow to their people, and he wanted to assure him that the SGC would help. At least, he hoped they would. "We are going to help them, aren't we? Janet said she could—"

"I know, I know. Personally, I could care less if they were left on that planet permanently."

"Jack, would you really leave their entire population there to die slowly?"

"Yes." Jack pressed his lips together in a thin line as Daniel continued to hold his gaze. "But Hammond wouldn't. He's already given the okay to start treating them for their 'condition'."

Daniel sighed with relief. Something good had to come out of this, otherwise, everything he'd gone through would be for nothing, as would the deaths of Urngarn and the others.

Sam entered the infirmary and joined her team. "Hey, Daniel, feeling better?"

"Yeah, just tired. Janet said my tests looked good and I should be out of here in a few days, as soon as the Verdian chemical is out of my system."

"That's good news," she smiled, "and I have some more. The Minarans we're holding said to tell you that the people you saw Urngarn kill aren't dead."

"What? How—"

"They said that the people only pretended to be affected—that they really didn't die. They were pretty adamant that it was done just to assure your cooperation."

It had been so real; images of them shaking under Urngarn's touch, the sounds of their cries, all filled his senses. It had been an effective method of gaining his cooperation.

"Still anxious to help them?" Jack asked, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

As horrible as the experience had been, he still couldn't bring himself to hate them. And at least he knew that they hadn't killed their own people in cold blood. "They were desperate, Jack. What would you have done in their situation?"

"I'd have asked for help."

"They only knew of one way to get what they needed to live—and they knew no one would willingly agree to give it to them."

"You can defend them all you want, but what they did to you wasn't right."

"No, it wasn't. But, like Teal'c said, placing blame is a waste of time in this case—we can help them, and we should."

"Do you really think we can trust them?" Jack pushed back, his voice once again carrying an edge to it. "How would we know if they were impersonating one of us? That's a security breach waiting to happen."

"Perhaps it is an opportunity," Teal'c interjected.

"How's that?" Jack asked.

"I believe they would make particularly good spies among the Goa'uld."

"They'd be able to insinuate themselves into any situation," Daniel added, picking up Teal'c's train of thought.

"Not to mention the fact that we could study their physiology," Sam suggested. "We might be able to learn how their bodies are able to shape shift."

"I get it," Jack said, raising his hands as if to ward off any further arguments. He turned to Daniel, pinning him with his gaze. "But after what they did to you, do you really think you can put this behind you and work with these people?"

Daniel shifted uncomfortably under Jack's scrutiny—the man knew him too well. The memories of the torture he'd endured would stay with him for a long time, most likely supplying fodder for his nightmares for many weeks to come. "I admit it would be hard to forget what they did, in fact, probably impossible. But if it means making a new ally, then I've got to at least try to find a way to put it behind me."

"This guy used my face, Daniel. They used me to hurt you. I don't know if you have a problem with that, but I sure as hell do."

"Enough to turn your back on them and leave them to fend for themselves?" Daniel countered. "Haven't you ever done something out of desperation that's outside the boundaries of your normal behavior?"

Daniel saw something flash across the dark eyes, and he knew he'd hit home. He might not know the details of Jack's time in Special Ops, but he was sure his friend had been called upon to do some pretty unpleasant things in the name of his country. Jack continued to stare at him, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. Daniel saw Sam steal a glance at their CO while silence settled over them.

Daniel pushed ahead. "If we can help these people, I think they'll have no reason to deceive us. We need to show them that we're still willing to be friends; it's the best way I know to make allies against the Goa'uld. The question is, Jack, are you gonna be okay with it?"

Jack turned away, his gaze drifting upwards, and for a moment, Daniel thought he was going to walk away. No one spoke, all waiting to see what Jack's response would be. After a few moments of silence, he turned back, his gaze meeting Daniel's. "I suppose if you're willing to put it behind you, then I can be okay with it, too. That is, as long as you're okay with not offering yourself as a snack for alien vampires."

"They're not vampires, they—" Damn. He'd totally forgotten about the Verdians. "What about our treaty?"

"I wouldn't worry about it, Daniel," Jack placated.

"But we need their naquadah."

"Hammond has been trying to get the Pentagon to rescind it," Sam explained. "He thinks it's too dangerous to send any SG teams in to retrieve naquadah, treaty or no treaty."

He'd have to agree with that. He reached up and touched his neck, thinking what a close call it had been. "I think I'm okay with that, Jack."

"I'll hold you to that," Jack said. His words were light but they held an undercurrent of seriousness. "And there's one more thing I'm gonna hold you to."

Ah oh. Not sure he wanted to know, Daniel asked anyway. "What's that?"

"That you refrain from giving out information about the 'gate to people we've just met."

Daniel cast his gaze down to his hands as they rested on the sheet. Jack was right; a lot of people had paid the price for his mistake in judgment. "That's something I definitely won't forget."

A hand on his shoulder brought his eyes up to meet Jack's. "I thought we weren't gonna play the blame game."

"I know. It's just—"

"Let it go, Daniel. Urngarn didn't leave you with many choices; you did the best you could."

Jack was right—it was all any of them could do. He nodded his head in agreement and smiled at his friend. "So, are we good?" he asked.

"We're good," Jack agreed, one corner of his mouth quirking mischievously upwards.

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked warily.

"Oh, just that it sounds like Fraiser cut your infirmary time from a week to a few days."

"So?"

"So, I just think it's interesting that you've got your voice back and she's letting you go sooner than expected."

"One has nothing to do with the other," Daniel said adamantly.

"You sure about that?"

"Wait, do you hear that?" Daniel said cupping his hand around his ear.

"Hear what?"

"I think your crap detector is going off."

The End