Note: Wow been busy couple of months – I had to have repair work done to my home, which required everything that wasn't in a built-in cupboard to be boxed up. Played box Tetris for two weeks moving boxes, crates, and the many house plants around the house in a constant puzzle to allow the work guys access to different walls and ceilings. That done, I then got a bug (not Covid) for a week, which then turned into 3 weeks of painful exhausting sinusitis. Not had to take painkillers like that since I broke my ankle many years ago! That was NOT fun. I hope that you all have had a far better couple of months. But, all that over now, I can finally crack on again with this fic…
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ACT 1 – DISCOVERY
Chapter 5 – Arrivals
Despite the focused efficiency of Central Station around Halling, he could still somehow sense the excited anticipation in the air from the crew.
In short minutes, the Sythus would finally drop out of her long two week travel through hyperspace, and it could not occur soon enough.
Looking away from the glow of screens across the tactical display table, he focused past the quietly efficient Central Station crew to the front view where the largest display screen showed the recent ever-present swirls of hyperspace outside. He normally found the sight calming, a steady flow of motion that represented the ever changing movement of his life; yet, after these last sixteen days, he was more than ready to finally reach their target point at the Alliance border and actually start the hunt for the Skerti.
He imagined such anticipation and faint frustration was shared by those in the Fleet ships already there waiting for the Sythus and her own support ships to arrive these past two weeks. He had little doubt that impatience would be especially felt on the lead Fleet ship there, the Valse, a Satedan ship. Satedans were infamous for their powerful personalities and warrior nature, but also for their hot-blooded impatience. Even for such highly trained and experienced crew stationed on the Valse, they were still Satedans and sitting waiting for two weeks for support to arrive had no doubt had not been easy. He wondered how Seifer was faring, still stationed there on the Valse, and whether he had grown weary of the Satedan desire to constantly challenge Elite to prove their fighting skills.
But Seifer would not have to suffer too much longer, none of them would, as it was almost time for this small hunting fleet of eight ships to form and start their mission.
He looked away from the moving light of hyperspace, his eyes instantly finding the countdown display at the centre of the tactical display table. Only a few minutes left in hyperspace.
Impatience was not a common emotion for him on missions or in life, but this mission ahead felt very personal to him. After all, he was the only Elite to have faced a Skerti in battle, and he was determined that the mission would successfully find something of their hidden new enemy. Given what the Valse and her support ships had found on that Salvager Processing ship weeks ago, the sooner the Skerti could be found, the sooner they could stop anymore Humans being brutally slaughtered like that Salvager crew.
The reality though was that there were probably far more already dead at the fangs of the Skerti in the rather nondescript sector of the galaxy into which they were headed. Salvagers were the only people to venture into that area, drawn only by the potentially valuable metal ores and minerals that could be found on vast drifting asteroid fields in an otherwise empty edge sector of the galaxy. But apparently already a large number of the nomadic Salvagers had disappeared in that sector and, given what had been found on the Processing Ship, it was unlikely the hunting party would find any survivors.
Yet, despite that horrible prediction, the numbers of Salvagers missing, and even a reportedly disappeared Traveller Generational Ship relatively nearby, was at least a good clue as to the location of where the Skerti were hiding. Given also Atlantis' discovery that an entire large asteroid field had somehow shifted location in one area of the sector, something for which there was no obvious explanation, hopes were high that this hunt would finally discover the Skerti. And when they were found, the Elite would deliver their clear and concise message that the Skerti were to cease all violence towards Humans or they would be stopped permanently.
Given his own encounter with a Skerti Queen, he suspected he knew what the Skerti response would be, but every avenue of resistance needed to be pursued. And if the Skerti turned down the ultimatum for peace, then the hunt mission would discover everything it could about Skerti tech and strategy, and how easily they could be defeated.
In many ways, this mission rather reminded him of his earliest years as an Elite, when the Alliance had still been young and growing, and each mission had been a vital push to defeat the powerful Wraith and claim more protected safe territory from them. Now the Skerti were the new enemy, and one that had made even wise and mature Sitayi grow pale with fear in her visions of possible futures of their dominance. He was determined to meet this new threat face on with this fellow Elite and Military support. And if war was the only way forward, then a decisive first strike could set the balance for all other battles ahead.
He found his gaze moving back to the countdown. Only a minute had passed since he'd last looked. Honestly, this was not like him.
He wondered if perhaps it was Oneakka's absence that made the time seem more prolonged. Always one in need of being useful, Oneakka would always find something to do to fill the time and Halling had often found himself involved or hearing about it. Though, in truth, out of the Sythus' crew, it had been Kari who had always been the first so show impatience. Without even thinking about it, his eyes strayed to the point alongside the tactical display table which had always been Kari' preferred place to stand. But, she would never stand at this table or another again. It had been some time since her passing – her death at the hands of the Wraith Queen in the cold snow of the Glisi world – but he still felt her absence. She had been part of the Sythus' Elite assignment for as long as he had, and one of his closest colleagues to have died in some time.
Now, her old spot was filled by young Isen's lean left arm and Si' large muscular right shoulder. Halling ran his attention over Isen's intense focused expression as the young Elite studied the tactical display. He had only graduated a couple of years ago, but had always excelled in everything he had studied and his first missions had been so successful that he had been assigned to the Sythus after Kari' place had…become available. Though generally a quiet male, Isen always asked questions, and it was clear that his experience was growing rapidly in the time he had been aboard the Sythus. He was indeed a good addition and, given the opportunity by events in the future, Halling could see him becoming an excellent experienced Elite warrior.
Looking away from Isen's slightly worried intensity, Halling considered Si. The contrast was intensely apparent between the two males. Where Isen was young, lean of build, light-skinned, thick-haired, quietly anxious and inexperienced, Si was tall, powerfully muscular, dark-skinned, bald, deeply calm and centred, and a Seeker. He was also a fellow Athosian and a good friend.
Seeming to sense Halling's attention, Si' dark eyes lifted from the tactical display to meet his and Si smiled. It was an amused smile that told Halling that perhaps he was not hiding his own impatience and anticipation all that well. Halling returned the smile with a nod and glanced onwards around the table.
Jobrill stood alongside Si, her hands moving constantly across several sections of the busy display screens that comprised the surface of the tactical display table. Always focused and quick-minded, Jobrill was currently studying the reports in from the different departments of the Sythus, checking through the star-charts for the sector ahead, and also running what appeared to be a text link discussion with someone elsewhere on the ship.
Along from Jorbill's activity, the next Elite around the table was Nalla. Stood at the short end of the table, her back to the swirling, dominating view of hyperspace on the front view, she was silently considering something on the display in front of her. There were no signs of any impatience or excitement across her purple features. Instead there was the calm patience that was practically standard for all her fellow Pelydrians. Unique among her peace-focused people though, Nalla was the only warrior among them in thousands of years, and he knew that sat as an ever-present burden on her shoulders. However, that was not all that made her unique on the Sythus, for she was also a powerful empath. It had always been a skill he had found fascinating and it had just simply been a natural part of who she was in the years since they had been Recruits. However, his easy comfort around his old friend had shifted uncomfortably of late.
Following an accidental slip of the tongue on Oneakka's part, Halling had discovered that Nalla had harboured deep feelings for him when they had been younger. After the revelation, Nalla had assured him that her feelings were in the past and his unawareness had not harmed her. Except…he wasn't entirely sure he believed her. Being such a powerful empath, what must it have been like for her to feel for him and know, without doubt, that he felt nothing in return? He had no idea what it was like to be an empath, but they had been friends and colleagues long enough for him to understand that it was a profound experience and that she had only a limited ability to control it.
Whereas before her empathic skills had been fascinating to him, now her ability felt invasive, and he had found himself feeling very confused and cautious around her. He'd tried not to show it, but then, of course, she knew everything he was feeling. She had assured him that their friendship was intact and he need not worry about it, but he struggled to see how he had missed something that had apparently been so obvious to everyone else. After Oneakka's confession of the secret he'd held for Nalla, Halling had asked Si and Teyla in confidence if they had known about Nalla's feelings from all those years ago, and both had clearly been aware of the truth for a long time.
Even his closest and dearest had kept the secret from him, and though he understood why, it had changed things between him and Nalla profoundly. He had hoped that the last two weeks would have made things easier, but they had not. He often found himself studying her when she wasn't aware of him…if that was even possible given her abilities. She was an attractive female, he could see that, but there was a reaction lacking inside him. She was simply 'Nalla' to him. He had let his mind wander a few times trying to picture what a relationship with her might be like, but it felt confusing and almost unnatural to him.
And every time he considered all this, how much of it was she aware of in regards to his feelings? Was she able, in some way, to sense his idle daydreaming on the issue?
She certainly didn't behave as if she did; she had been nothing but her usual smiling kind self, and they were both trying to treat each other the same way they always had. Yet, he also knew her well enough to sense that things were not so easily put in the past. He valued her friendship greatly though, so he could only hope that time would help and allow them to return to the ease and comfort of before.
She shifted her head and he instantly snapped his eyes away before she saw him looking at her. Which was foolish, for surely she could feel his emotions directed towards her? Honestly, he rather wished Oneakka had never made his unintentional medication-fuelled revelation.
He focused back on the countdown. Still two minutes left!
He looked to his left, checking on the last member around the table, who was also his oldest friend. Teyla was stood quietly, one hand resting on the edge of the table and her attention on the displays. Despite her eyes moving across the different sections of scrolling data on the tabletop, she actually looked rather lost in thought; which had been happening a lot over the last two weeks.
Despite Teyla being clearly cheerful and motivated in her duties during this trip, and the two of them enjoying many evening meals together, there seemed as if there was something a little off about her. He considered her profile now, judging whether he could see a faint paleness to her complexion or if it was just the lowered lighting in Central Station during high alert.
He suspected he knew what was distracting her and perhaps causing her to lose some sleep. He knew that missing someone could feel very profound, but he'd noticed that each time Teyla was separated away from her husband, that she seemed more saddened each time. Given that this current mission was to such a far corner of the galaxy, and that there was no estimate as to how long the hunt could even take, he suspected that fact was depressing her a little.
There had been a time when he'd been very worried about her connection with Sheppard, but then he would never have ever predicted she would choose to enter into a Political Marriage. Now his concerns had shifted from the appropriateness of their relationship to the effect it had on Teyla. He felt very confident now that Sheppard returned her affections, the two very obviously in love when they were together, but he did worry now that if something happened to Sheppard, how badly it would affect Teyla. He'd seen firsthand through Massa what grief did to someone who had been in a deep romantic relationship, and he could not help feeling worried for her. After all, Sheppard lived his own dangerous life as a military warrior of Atlantis.
Love was a profound thing that could light up a person, but also confuse old friendships, sadden hearts, and had even once turned his friendship with Oneakka into a battle for the affection of Methren. Fortunately, the love of friendship had overcome between him and Oneakka after Methren's passing, and he put great stock in the love he felt for his Elite family. Whatever happened in Teyla's marriage, he would always stick by her side, support her through as needed. And if a day came that it was Teyla who fell, then he would ensure that Sheppard was told and supported in turn.
He shifted his attention from Teyla's profile to the countdown. A minute now.
Drawing himself up a little straighter, he focused himself back on his work. He tapped onto the area of the display screens directly in front of him, setting it up to monitor and control ship-to-ship link communications. Though Elite worked as a group, he had become an unofficial Lead for this mission given his role in gathering the Skerti data back in the Alliance, and that he had faced a Skerti in person. Among Elite, battle experience and knowledge were of the highest value, and in regard to the Skerti, he currently was the most experienced. He suspected that would change once they tracked down some Skerti, but, for the time being, he was more than willing to take Lead for everyone.
"All departments report ready," Jobrill announced as the countdown dropped closer to arrival.
"Pilots?" Halling called. "Drop us out on your time."
"Yes, Honoured Elite," the rotation's Lead Pilot responded with a crisp tone, their eagerness clear.
Nalla reached forward and pushed the sensor scan display chart towards the centre of the tabletop, the digital chart taking prime place on the combined display screens for all to see, the chart ready to be filled by all sensor readings the instant they dropped out of hyperspace. To his left, with a sweep of her hand, Teyla added in the names of the Fleet ships to populate the chart once the Sythus detected them out of hyperspace.
"Dropping from Hyperspace in five," the Lead Pilot called and Halling braced his feet on the floor, one hand on the built-in handles around the display table. In theory, the Valse and support ships would just be waiting for them, however, due to the silent running protocol, it was possible that something could have happened and the Sythus was not aware of it yet. That perhaps the enemy was ready waiting for them.
"Two, one," the Pilot announced.
Halling felt the difference instantly through the floor under his boots, the low subtle vibration of the hyperspace engines that had been a constant for two weeks fading away.
"Sensors?" Halling called instantly.
"No Wraith or Skerti signatures detected," Teyla announced instantly from his left. "We have confirmed border satellite platform signals. We are at the border at the predicted target point."
"Detecting hyperspace windows with us," Jobrill reported a second later. "All our ships report arrived; all on time and with us at predicted target point."
"We are receiving audio link from the Valse, Honoured Elite," a technician reported.
Halling reached out and triggered open the link. "This is the Sythus," he called up into the air.
"Sythus," Commander Ara's voice replied from the speakers, "welcome to the most boring sector of the galaxy."
Halling grinned, Ara's tone and joke instantly reassuring him all was well here. "Sorry to have kept you all waiting," Halling replied, sharing smiles with Si and Jobrill across the table.
"We've been keeping busy," added the familiar sound of Seifer's voice over the link.
"It is good to hear your voice, Seifer," Halling replied. "Report?" he asked.
"We have not detected anything even remotely close to the Skerti Drive tech radiation," Seifer replied. "But we've been running some scouting missions from our group, sending two ships at a time to set points in this region to get some distance sensor readings and we've found a couple of interesting things. We're sending you everything we've found."
"Data coming in," Teyla announced, her fingers moving over the display and then pushing the data into the main sensor chart, which now included all sensor data on the other seven ships and the local neighbourhood's very few number of stars.
Halling leaned forward with everyone else to see the three points of data the Valse's scouting had provided. With the border at the back of the Valse, they had sent scouting parties directly ahead, then to each side from that point to the edge of the local region. It was barely a step galactically into this new vast sector, but it was something and a very useful place to start.
"As you can see," Commander Ara's voice continued from the speakers, "To far left point, we detected little of interest, but at forward point, we detected multiple Wraith weapons signatures."
Across the tactical display table, Si reached out and started running the Valse's sensor readings through the Sythus' slightly more advanced analysis systems.
"The readings were too far away to be a threat, and we detected nothing approaching this direction. But, given the intensity and duration it lasted, it appears to have been a large battle."
The Sythus' computer was concluding the same. "Our analysis suggests it was a minimum of fourteen separate Wraith weapons signatures," Si reported out loud for the Valse.
"Agreed," Seifer replied. "We haven't detected anything more for the last four days, but that it was such a big battle is telling."
"That sector is still very outermost in this area of the galaxy," Nalla noted. "Battles between the Hives is normal enough."
"And we know the Nest Battle victory is still having repercussions among the Wraith Hives outside our border," Si noted deeply.
"Or it could have been a battle against the Skerti," Teyla voiced the other unspoken option.
"We thought the same," Ara replied. "However, we detected no other readings but Wraith in the battle."
"Given Alliance ship sensors are predominantly attuned to Wraith signatures at their furthest extent," Jobrill noted, "that the battle was so big and so far away, it is possible any Skerti Drive radiation readings would have been obscured or invisible to your sensors."
"And the analysis suggests at least two Hive ships exploded," Nalla added, "which would further obscure readings. Ultimately, we cannot know for certain."
Halling nodded as he considered the data on the screen.
"There is nothing that indicates it was anything other than Wraith vs. Wraith territory battles," Seifer concluded.
Halling shifted the sensor chart to the results of the final scouting mission they hadn't yet discussed. "And the right point scouting mission?" He asked out loud as the sensor readings displayed.
"Just on the edge of sensor range, we detected two ships. There are no power readings or any weapons fire signatures, just metal hulls."
Halling considered the running analysis on the data.
"No engine readings, no motion," Jobrill noted from the results.
"More drifting derelicts, like the Processing Ship," Teyla considered.
"Yes, but smaller," Ara replied. "We know the Processing Ship's smaller vessels were never accounted for following its hyperspace jump to get away from the Skerti attack."
"Possibly," Halling considered.
"And considering that is the general direction in which we're planning this hunt," Seifer stated, "we thought it the best starting point."
Halling glanced up from the chart and looked around the table. Everyone nodded back.
"We agree," Halling stated for the Valse. "We will head towards you, combine our two groups into our hunt fleet, and then head in that direction," Halling stated.
Finally, after two weeks of waiting, the hunt was beginning and they had a conclusive place to start.
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It had been 24 hours in the Midway Station and Daniel was more than ready for his quarantine period to end and to get going to Atlantis.
Despite having stayed long periods in various spacecraft over the years, there was something unsettling about the station. Midway felt a very empty place, and he didn't think the feeling was just due to the tiny number of staff working here or the basic dull military architecture. He had a lot of faith in the people who had constructed the space station, but as he'd spent much of the last 24 hours on the slightly chilly metal furniture in his tiny cabin, he'd been acutely aware of the vast void outside the relatively thin metal hull of the station.
Every ship he'd been in over the last decade had been just as equally vulnerable to the vacuum outside their hulls, but Midway felt so very far away from anything. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to stop being viscerally aware that the station sat alone in the big empty space between the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. There were no passing ships, no nearby planet if something went wrong. There weren't even any local stars here.
He'd tried to ignore the niggling apprehension, which hadn't been helped by Dr Bill Lee's brief guided tour of the station in which he'd pointed out the hatchway to where the emergency use Puddle Jumper was docked. Bill had idly chuckled that currently there was only one member of station staff who had the ATA gene, so if anything happened to that person, then the Jumper would be nothing more than a powerless life-pod in an intergalactic void.
Daniel had pointed out that there were at least two Stargates on the station, so surely they were the most likely evacuation route should an emergency situation happen, to which Bill had pointed out that in the case of a hostile alien invasion through one Gate, the other would be sealed.
After that, Daniel had retired as early as was polite to his tiny quarters and had set to work focusing on reading the last of Janus' personal logs for the distraction. Though the final years of Janus' logs had not been easy reading; the Ancients had lost their ships and territory, and had been forced back to Atlantis. Even in the relative 'safety' of Atlantis, the Ancients had been under siege from a massive fleet of Wraith ships and had been forced to sink the Ancient city under the deep ocean. In his logs, Janus had written extensively about the various ideas he'd had on ways to break the Wraith's siege of the city, but nearly all of his schemes – most admittedly outlandish or illegal by Ancient rules – had been rejected by the ruling council. In the end, Janus had supported the final decision to leave for Earth, but his last entries had been less than positive in tone. What had also been very obvious to Daniel was the glaring omission of Elizabeth Weir's presence in Atlantis in those final days, no doubt because the Ancients had wanted to conceal the success of Janus' time-machine from the database.
But that was not all Janus had left out. Unsurprisingly to Daniel, there was not a single passing comment, reference, or hint that Janus had a secret lab hidden in Atlantis. And also no mention of any research that would need to be kept in said secret lab.
However, that didn't mean there weren't avenues to follow elsewhere in the Ancient database. Since he'd started reading Janus' logs weeks ago, Daniel had been building an extensive list of names of the colleagues, friends, and lovers Janus had mentioned throughout his logs. Just because Janus was careful not to give any clues as to his hidden man-cave, didn't mean someone else hadn't known about it, or at least suspected it existed. It would take some time, but it was at least a place to start, and a concrete plan for him to implement once he reached Atlantis.
Checking the time, Daniel packed the few things he'd used this morning back into his backpack and hung one strap over his shoulder. He ran a hand over the sheets from uncomfortable military bunk he'd slept in, assuring himself that he had packed everything, and then very happily left the tiny cabin. The walk to the entrance to the Gate Room took all of three minutes, and Daniel found the trolley full of his books, laptop, journals and his longer stay bag, there waiting for him. The whole bulging trolley was wrapped in thin clear plastic-wrap and had a big sticker on it that declared it had been decontaminated on Midway and was fit to arrive in Atlantis.
"Good morning, Daniel," Bill appeared through a hatchway, dressed in his Midway all-in-one jumpsuit. "Sorry I didn't get a chance to join you for breakfast this morning."
"That's alright," Daniel smiled. It was actually really good to see Bill, as Dr Lee had been a long-time familiar face in the SGC. "I ate in my quarters while I was still working through some ideas for the mission."
"Okay, good," Bill smiled. "We're running a bit behind working on all the security upgrades. The new Iris on the Pegasus Gate was first on the list, but now we're increasing all the security software and procedures in light of the new Skerti threat. Back home they think it's as simple as hitting 'update' on your internet browser, but we need to completely rewrite the system from the base up." Bill scoffed as if Daniel understood the technical requirements involved.
Daniel just smiled and nodded, going with the 'Jack' approach of dealing with such situations.
"And of course, the whole thing would be a lot simpler if I didn't have Kavanagh complaining about every little thing I ask him to do," Bill stressed the complaint in a louder voice angled back towards the open hatchway, through which presumably Kavanagh could hear him up in the Control Room.
Clearly living here in the Midway was starting to fray some nerves. Daniel wondered if the ever present awareness of the empty massive void outside was partly to blame.
"Anyway," Bill continued to Daniel more pleasantly. "Your quarantine period is up in…" he lifted his wrist and consulted his watch, "well, two minutes ago. We're not actually due to dial out to Atlantis for another ten minutes though as we need to keep to the scheduled time with Atlantis, something about them busy talking with Alliance worlds."
"Sure," Daniel nodded, squashing down the flash of disappointment; it was only ten minutes.
"You're welcome to come wait up in the Control Room with us…?" Bill offered, indicating the open hatch behind him.
"No, no, it's fine," Daniel quickly replied. "I've got some more information to think through from Janus' logs." The idea of sitting submerged in the middle of the station staff bickering was not how he wanted to spend the next ten minutes. "I'm happy to wait in the Gate Room," he indicated the entrance through to the massive room.
"If you're sure?" Bill checked.
"Yes, I'm fine, Bill. Thanks," Daniel smiled.
"If you want, we can dial back to the Milky Way end for five minutes; I hear that Vala dialled in last night?"
"No, I'm good, I said bye to her then." After he'd had to listen to ten minutes of reasons why she would be his best partner for this trip to Atlantis, and before he simply pointed out that she didn't have permission to join the mission. She'd eventually reluctantly accepted the fact, mainly because someone out of view had warned her that the dial-out time to talk was up, and she'd finished by insisting that Daniel call her in if he needed any help. He'd said he would if needed, but had not promised to bring back 'a trinket' for her.
"Okay, well we'll initiate the dial out at 11:00 hours, and I'll let you know through the intercom when you can step through," Bill added.
"Great, thanks, Bill," Daniel reached for the trolley and pushed it through the open doorway into the massive Midway Gate Room.
Though he had the entire massive room available for him to wander around for the next ten minutes, he headed towards the Pegasus Gate end, marvelling again at the tall room that stretched the length of the station. He reached the foot of the Gate's ramp and steered the trolled to one side, locked the closest wheel and set his backpack on top of it all. He then sat down on a small ledge available on the side of the ramp, and looked up and around at the amazing piece of Human construction around him.
Like with so many of the accomplishments made by the Stargate programme, hardly anyone on Earth knew Midway existed. There were no accolades for the amazing piece of technology, established and running in between galaxies! It was a piece if engineering brilliance, and yet it also felt very empty and vulnerable.
Life could often feel like that, he mused. And a little cold, like the air in the Gate Room around him.
He was proud of all the work he'd personally accomplished since that day Catherine had approached him with a job offer that had transformed his life. But it hadn't been an easy life since that fateful day. And it was work that he couldn't share with his limited family and old colleagues outside the SGC. He couldn't publish the books he'd written on the Ancient language, or any of the masses of research papers he'd written on various alien cultures and languages he'd studied over the years. In many ways, he barely existed on Earth outside of the SGC.
As often happened in such quiet introspective moments, Sha're slid into his thoughts. He wasn't sure when it had started to happen, but at some point over the last unknown number of years, he'd stopped thinking about her every day. As much as he could appreciate that was probably natural and even a 'good thing' psychologically given how long she'd been gone, it was a fact that still made his heart hurt.
Gone were the repetitive tormenting dreams he'd used to have of living a beautiful life with her back on Abydos. Dreams that had always started full of their never-born children, their family happy and living a peaceful life. Those dreams had been so painful for him, but in his early years in SG1 had helped drive him forward with the hope that he would be able to save her. And then, after her death, the dreams had continued but he had woken each morning full of deep grief and regret.
Now, he couldn't remember the last time he'd dreamt of Sha're.
His dreams nowadays involved missions, research, and frequently flashes of knowledge from his time ascended that always frustratingly drifted away like mist when he woke up. Somewhere along the road, even his subconscious had given up on the idea of having a family, of living a peaceful life. He guessed it wasn't surprising, given the life he and his adopted SGC family lived. For years he'd seen Teal'c struggle with living apart from his son and his people. He'd seen Sam and Jack go through years of denial of the depth of their love for each other, and now, even though they were a couple, they told very few people and usually lived literally galaxies apart.
To find a love that could handle that and have such trust in it, it felt more than a little beyond his grasp.
And after he'd failed Sha're the way he had-
"Dialling Pegasus," Dr Lee's voice abruptly echoed loudly through the big Gate Room, instantly snapping Daniel out of his depressed thoughts.
Daniel leapt up quickly as the Gate dialled, reaching for his backpack, once again pulling the strap over his shoulder.
At the top end of the ramp, the Gate exploded to life a moment later, active and glowing. Daniel smiled up at the wondrous skill Sam and Rodney had used to create this bridge between galaxies.
"Dr Jackson," Bill's voice called out formally. "You are good to go through. Atlantis are waiting for you."
Daniel gave a thumbs-up high above his head as he unlocked the wheel of the trolley and rolled it towards the front of the ramp. Grateful now for the tight plastic-wrap holding everything in, he hefted the trolley up the two steps, and then pushed it up the ramp towards the glowing event horizon. As he reached the top of the ramp, he gave a wave back towards the Control Room, knowing Bill would be watching, and headed into the wormhole.
Just as before when he'd travelled to Midway from the Milky Way end of the bridge, there was a strange extra sensation to stepping through the intergalactic bridge. Intellectually he knew he couldn't perceive the multiple trips he'd taken through a series of Stargates between Midway and Atlantis, but it did feel different somehow as he stepped through into the bright light of Atlantis' Gate Room.
The centre of the room was full of smiling faces looking at him, but in the middle, heading towards him, was Sam.
"Daniel," she grinned as they met in the middle, her arms open and wrapping him up in a hug, all pretence of her being a City Commander forgotten. He let go of the trolley and stepped fully into her warm, familiar embrace.
In an instant, the cool depressing vulnerability he had felt in Midway was washed away with the warm, happy greeting of his beloved old friend.
He kept his arms tight around Sam for a moment longer, drinking in how much he'd missed her and how joyful he felt to be able to hug her again.
"The hug is from Teal'c too," he remembered as they finally let go of each other. "He made me promise."
Sam grinned again as he heard the Gate shutdown behind him, her hands still on his upper arms. "You'll have to fill me in on everything from Teal'c, but first, welcome back to Atlantis." Her hands dropped away, her tone a little more formal now.
"It's great to be back," Daniel smiled as he took in the remembered bright Ancient architecture around him.
His eyes fell on Jack who stepped up next to Sam.
"Jack," Daniel grinned at him, but didn't reach out to hug him. As much as Jack didn't stand on ceremony, he was only really a hugger in certain circumstances. Daniel always respected the fact, but he'd hug him later away from everyone else. "It's really good to see you both," he felt like he couldn't stop grinning.
"Well, it's good to be seen," Jack replied in his usual sardonic way, but it just made Daniel happier. "How's things?"
"Oh you know, brokering Jaffa peace agreements. How about you?"
"We've been working on agreements here too, but we've got space guns in ours," Jack replied. "No Vala with you?" He asked.
Daniel frowned at that random question. They'd only been expecting him. "No." Unless she'd gone and tried to get Jack to allow her to be part of this mission? "Why?"
"No reason," Jack replied with a complete lack of innocence, "Just heard a few things from T."
Daniel frowned at him. What had Teal'c been saying? When had the two been talking and why about Vala?
"Dr Jackson," Colonel Sheppard stepped forward on the other side of Sam, fortunately breaking the weird moment as he extended his hand. "Good to see you again."
"You too, Colonel Sheppard," Daniel shook his hand and then spotted Rodney on the Colonel's right. "Rod-ney." He didn't reach for Rodney's hand and Rodney didn't offer it.
"Hi," Rodney offered with a strained smile.
There was another face close behind Sam's shoulder, and though Daniel didn't recognise the man, the Wraith-like black tattoo running from the corner of the man's left eye over his cheekbone was evidence enough that this was likely the Elite warrior who was assigned to the trading contract with Atlantis.
"Dr Jackson," Sam said more formally as she stepped aside to provide space to the Elite man, "may I introduce you to Honoured Elite Skan."
"Honoured Elite," Daniel bowed his head formally, remembering Colonel Sheppard and Mr Woolsey's reports on the cultural importance of respect and always using the proper title for the Elite warriors.
Skan inclined his head a bit in a silent yet polite nod that Teal'c would have appreciated.
"Honoured Elite Skan would like to be involved in the search for Janus' lab," Sam reported, and Daniel picked up the subtle tension in her voice that suggested this was a very recent agreement with the Elite.
"I would be honoured," Daniel told Skan with another small nod.
Skan had been assessing him closely, his bare forearms crossed over his chest. "You are the Earth's foremost expert on the Ancestors?"
Daniel wasn't sure if he'd picked up doubt and judgement in the question, but he took it at face value. "I suppose I am."
Skan lifted a pale brown eyebrow. The man was clearly dressed for a war, but he looked oddly like he'd be more at home on a sandy beach than fighting Wraith.
"Dr Jackson has extensive personal experience in dealing directly with the Ancestors," Sam told Skan.
"Personal experience?" Skan asked, doubt definitely in his voice now. "An Ancestor appeared in person to you as the Ancestor Janus did to Colonel Sheppard?"
"Umm, yes," Daniel had to agree that was true, "but I've also housed the consciousness of one in my brain, and I've ascended a couple of times too."
Skan's frown deepened. "Then do you know where this Janus' concealed lab is located?"
"Not yet," Daniel answered, "But I've read through all of Janus' database entries-"
"That's work we've already done," Rodney interrupted. "I've been through everything of his, more than once, and there's nothing about his secret lab."
"I agree," Daniel nodded. "So I think we need to start looking elsewhere."
"What a shocker," Rodney muttered.
"His logs mentioned the names of his lovers and assistants, so I think we should start with their logs next, see if we can find any clues there," Daniel explained his plan.
"That sounds an excellent idea," Sam nodded. "We've set up a lab area for you and Rodney to work on the problem." Oh, he was working with Rodney?
"Great, thanks," Daniel smiled towards Rodney and back to Sam.
"First, I'll show you to your quarters," Sam suggested, indicating the corridor entrance off to the left that Daniel seemed to remember from his last visit led into the main part of the tower.
"Actually, I'd like to get started right away, if that's okay with you," Daniel answered as he looked round for the trolley, but Jack was already assigning a nearby Airman to push it.
"Of course you do," Sam smiled as Daniel looked back round. "How about we show you to your lab then?"
"Lead the way," Daniel grinned.
00000
TBC