CHAPTER FOUR
Daniel gave a little sigh and stared at the papers laid out before him on the dining room table. They were the forms for a new will. This was not the first time that he'd changed his will, but this time was proving to be the most difficult.
The first thing Daniel had done when he left the base yesterday was to increase his life insurance policy. Sam, Jack and Teal'c were the beneficiaries on the policy. That he kept the same. But, because of one very important change in his will, he had wanted to make sure that Sam would be getting plenty enough money. He was giving the house to her, the house that she had helped him find, the house she had fallen in love with – the house he had hoped would one day belong to both of them. He was increasing his policy so that there'd be enough money for Sam to pay off the mortgage and still have plenty left over.
Another new thing he was doing was to will his collection of artifacts to Catherine Langford, the ones that weren't destroyed in the fire, of course. There was only one exception, the vase that Sam had given to him for Christmas. It would go to her. All of the furniture would be going to her as well. It only seemed right since she had helped him pick it out.
Those had been the easy decisions. There were some others that weren't. Ever since Daniel descended, he had been intending to change his will, but it was something that never got done. Now that he couldn't put it off any longer, he was finding that there were things he didn't know what to do about, to whom he should give them. He had always intended that all of Sha're's things would be returned to Kasuf if something ever happened to him. But Kasuf was gone, along with all of the other Abydonians. There was no one left to accept into their care the cup Daniel and Sha're had drunk from at their formal wedding, the little hair piece that had been Sha're's favorite, the beautiful stone that Daniel had found and given to Sha're on her birthday. All these things and more had been spared from destruction in the fire because they had been in that plastic box, and, now, there was no one to whom they could be given.
And what of the things that had belonged to his parents? Daniel had always hoped that, someday, Nick would return from P7X-377, but it had now been four years without a word from him. For all Daniel knew, his grandfather was dead. He didn't know who to give those things to now. There were no other relatives except for distant cousins, most of whom he'd never even met.
Sighing, Daniel stood and got some juice. He was heading back to the table when he sensed that someone was coming up to the house, and that someone was Sam.
The archeologist quickly gathered up the papers and thrust them into a drawer. He'd no sooner done than when the doorbell rang.
"Hey," Sam said with a weak smile after Daniel had answered the door.
"Hey." Daniel stood aside to let her in.
"I, um . . . was in the neighborhood," she said as she went into the living room.
Daniel smiled a little at that, knowing that there would have been no reason for Sam to be in this neighborhood unless she was coming to see him.
He headed toward the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink? Some juice or coffee?"
"Juice would be good." Sam sat down on the couch.
Daniel poured her a glass and fetched his from where he'd left it on the dining room table. He gave Sam her drink, then sat down beside her.
"How, um . . . how are you doing?" Sam asked after taking a sip.
"Okay. But we didn't expect anything to happen this soon."
"Yeah. I didn't sleep at all last night," Sam confessed. "I just kept thinking about this. I wish there was something I could do."
Daniel gave her a gentle smile. "I know, Sam."
Sam sighed in frustration. "If there was just some way that we could get hold of Thor or one of the other Asgard."
"They're probably pretty busy with their own problems."
"But I know that they'd come if they knew how important it is, Daniel."
Silence fell between them. After about half a minute of staring into the contents of her glass, Sam put it on the coffee table beside where Daniel had set his.
"Daniel, I. . . ." Sam took a deep breath. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you, but every time I tried, something else came up." She met his gaze. "I know the timing really stinks, but I wanted to know if. . . ."
"If what, Sam?" Daniel prompted gently, searching her eyes.
The question Sam was going to ask died on her lips as she found herself caught in the blueness of that gaze. She felt something snap inside her. "Screw this," she said under her breath. An instant later, she grabbed Daniel's head with both hands and yanked his mouth against hers. Utter shock made the archeologist freeze, but the immobility lasted only a couple of seconds. With a low, deep moan, Daniel crushed Sam to his body. In moments, they were immersed in a kiss of hunger and desperation, the kiss of two people who knew that they may soon be parted forever. Hands clutched and caressed, pushing clothing aside to reach bare skin. Sam was soon straddling Daniel's lap, hips pressed tightly against his. A moment after that, the hand Daniel had underneath her top found one of her breasts, wrenching a groan from her throat. His lips had descended to her neck, covering its entire length with hot kisses, tongue teasing her skin.
Sam was just about to tell Daniel to take her into the bedroom when he stiffened, his head lifting, eyes going to the door.
"What? What is it?" she asked.
"Jack and Teal'c."
'Oh, shit!' Sam scrambled off Daniel's lap, hurriedly straightening her clothes and smoothing her hair as Daniel did likewise. A knock on the door brought the archeologist to his feet. He was very surprised that he had managed to sense the approach of his two male teammates considering what he'd been in the midst of, but he was sure glad that he had. He glanced down at himself, and the thought came to his mind that he was also glad that he was wearing his shirt untucked since, if he wasn't, both Jack and Teal'c would see the undeniable evidence that he and Sam had been doing a whole lot more than just talking.
Amused at the thought of the look that would have been on the faces of the two men if they'd seen that, Daniel opened the door.
"Hey," Jack greeted a little uncertainly. "We saw Carter's car out front. We're not . . . interrupting anything, are we?"
'Yes, Jack, you are, but I sure as hell am not going to tell you that,' Daniel replied in his mind. "No, it's fine," he said aloud.
"Because if you want us to come back later, in, say, three, four hours . . . or more, that would be good, great, actually."
Daniel almost laughed at the slight note of hopefulness that he heard in his friend's voice. He was really tempted to take Jack up on the offer so that he and Sam could go back to what they were doing, but, if he did that, Jack would then know what was going on, and that was something Daniel really didn't want. There was nothing more insufferable than a smug Jack O'Neill.
"Just come in, Jack," Daniel told him, standing aside.
The colonel and the Jaffa entered the house. They looked over as Sam, who was trying to look like she and Daniel hadn't been making out like hormone-driven teenagers just a couple of minutes ago.
"Carter," Jack greeted.
"Sir."
"So, let me guess," Daniel said. "You were in the neighborhood."
The colonel looked at him. "How'd you know I was gonna say that?"
Daniel exchanged a look with Sam, who grinned.
"My spooky psychic powers told me," Daniel answered.
Jack stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if he was serious, then pointed to the white box Teal'c was holding. "We brought donuts."
The day passed pleasantly as Daniel's teammates kept him company and kept his mind mostly off his possible impending death. The archeologist knew that they were trying desperately to keep it off their minds as well.
That afternoon, Jack helped himself to some of the beer that Daniel no longer drank because of the alcohol restriction he was under. A while later, they somehow got into a conversation about The Simpsons. Jack seemed to think that there was an analogy between Homer Simpson's boss and the Goa'uld. Daniel just couldn't see it and had told Jack so.
"You are so wrong, Daniel. So wrong. It's the perfect analogy. Burns as Goa'uld."
"They are merely animated characters, O'Neill," Teal'c said.
Jack glared at him. "You're so shallow."
"Hey, now that's not true," Daniel objected. "I happen to think that Teal'c is pretty deep, a lot deeper than some people I know."
Jack's gaze narrowed. "And what's that supposed to mean."
"Nothing."
"You're just saying that because he agrees with you."
"I'm sorry, sir, but I have to agree with Daniel and Teal'c," Sam said. "I don't see the connection either."
Jack looked at all of his teammates. "You are all so blind." He got up. "I'm getting another beer."
He went into the kitchen and pulled a beer out of the refrigerator. As he was coming back out, he noticed the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from one of the drawers. He opened the drawer and reached in to push the sheet in the rest of the way. His hand froze as he caught sight of what the paper was, a sharp, wrenching pain spearing through his chest. The beer he'd consumed earlier instantly soured in his stomach.
Jack closed the drawer, hiding the will from his sight but not from his mind. He closed his eyes, hands clutching the counter, white-knuckled.
"Jack? You get lost in there?" came Daniel's voice from the living room.
"No," Jack replied in a slightly hoarse voice. He cleared his throat. "I changed my mind about the beer. I don't want to drink too much. I'm driving, after all. I've . . . gotta go to the john."
Jack returned the beer to the refrigerator and escaped to the bathroom. He stood bowed over the sink for a long minute, eyes closed once again. Seeing that will, knowing that Daniel had been "getting his affairs into order", had really driven home the fact that there was a very good chance that Daniel was going to die.
'No, dammit. That's not going to happen. Daniel always makes it out alive in the end, even when he does die. It's going to be the same this time. Either the Asgard will come, or this thing won't get the better of him, or . . . or something. He's going to be just fine.'
Desperate to believe that, Jack used the toilet and went back out into the living room. His teammates were talking about a special on the National Geographic Channel.
"Ya see? This is why you guys need me around," Jack said with forced cheerfulness. "Without me, you descend into absolutely boring discussions about TV specials that nobody who has anything better to do would even think about watching."
"Actually, I like the National Geographic Channel, sir," Sam told him.
"As do I," Teal'c stated.
Jack shook his head. "Not only are you people blind, you're also pathetic."
Daniel lifted his eyebrows. "As opposed to someone who thinks that Jim Carry's 'Pet Detective' should have won an Academy Award?"
"Hey! It was funny! If there was an Academy Award for Best Comedy, it would have been a lock."
Daniel, Sam and Teal'c all shared a look.
"What?!" Jack asked, miffed.
"Nothing, sir," Sam said.
Jack changed the topic of conversation, and the afternoon continued. Daniel was glad of the company of his friends, especially when he knew that this might be the final hours he'd spend with them like this.
"Well, I'd say it's time for dinner," Jack said at around 6:30. "So, what's it gonna be? Go out or takeout?"
"I vote takeout," Daniel answered. "I'm not really in the mood to go anywhere."
"I agree," Sam said.
"That would be acceptable," Teal'c stated.
Jack nodded. "Okay, takeout it is."
They all decided on what to get, then Jack left to get the food. When Daniel sensed his return a while later, the archeologist decided to have a little fun with him. He quickly dashed over to the TV and turned it on, tuning it to a familiar channel.
"Daniel, what are you doing?" Sam asked.
"Just play along, Sam."
The major noticed what channel it was and grinned. Daniel sat beside her on the couch. He motioned to Teal'c and patted the cushion on the other side of him.
"Come on, Teal'c."
The Jaffa rose from his chair, an eyebrow cocking.
"Sit down and pretend like you're totally engrossed," Daniel told him.
Teal'c looked at the screen. Though they couldn't be sure, his teammates could have sworn that they saw a smile tilt his lips upward for a moment. As requested, the Jaffa sat on the couch and pretended to become absorbed in the TV program.
A few seconds later, Jack came in carrying several bags. "Hey, we lucked out. The place was hardly busy at all."
"Uh huh," Daniel said distractedly, eyes glued on the TV.
"That's good, sir," Sam commented in the same tone, also not removing her gaze from the screen.
"Just, um . . . put the food on the table." Daniel waved his hand in the direction of the dining room. "We'll eat in a while."
"This is most fascinating, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c remarked.
"Isn't it?" the archeologist agreed. "Very thought-provoking."
"Yeah," said Sam in a very convincing tone of fascination.
Jack came into the living room. "What are you guys watching?" He looked at the TV. "National Geographic?! I don't believe this! I'm not even gone half an hour, and you guys degenerate into this."
Three faces turned and looked up at him at the same time with identically cocked eyebrows. Jack saw the hint of humor in their eyes and realized that he'd been had.
"Oh, very funny. Ha ha," he said sarcastically.
Grins spread across the faces of Daniel and Sam. The archeologist shut off the TV, and everyone went into the dining room to eat. They had decided to try out an Italian restaurant that opened in the area a couple of months ago and were pleased to discover that the food was quite good.
"Mmmm. This Fettuccine Alfredo is wonderful," Sam said. "Here, Daniel. Try some."
Daniel dug his fork into the pasta and took a bite. "Hey, you're right. That is euge."
Everyone else at the table froze, staring at him.
"What? What is it?" Daniel asked, looking at each of them in puzzlement.
"You said 'euge'," Jack told him.
"I did?"
"You did."
Daniel put his fork down and stared at his plate.
"What does euge mean?" Sam asked, a tight, sick feeling in her stomach.
"Good. It means 'good'," Daniel lifted his gaze to her, "in Ancient."
"Damn," Jack cursed. "I thought it was going to take a couple of days."
"That's what we all thought, sir," Sam replied, "but we didn't take into account Daniel's increased ability to assimilate the data from the repository."
"So it's happening faster."
"I guess because of the differences in my brain and my genetic makeup, all the knowledge is being absorbed by my conscious mind at a faster rate," Daniel reasoned.
"Soooo . . . is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Jack asked.
"I honestly don't know, sir," Sam admitted. "This does seem to prove that Daniel's mind is better equipped to consciously process the knowledge, but there is no way to know yet if it's going to make a positive difference in the end. It is such a massive amount of data."
"Oh, come on. This is Daniel's brain we're talking about here. I sometimes swear that he must have been born with a massive amount of stuff already in there. If anyone's brain is big enough to hold all that crap, it's gotta be his."
Daniel looked at Jack. "Thanks . . . I think."
"I think we should go to the SGC," Sam said. "There's no telling how fast this is going to progress."
Since everyone had lost their appetite anyway, no one objected to leaving before finishing dinner. Once they arrived at the base, Jack headed to Hammond's office to tell him what was going on as Daniel, Sam and Teal'c went to the infirmary to tell Janet. The doctor was concerned by the development and insisted on doing a new set of tests, which Daniel thought was pointless.
"Janet, running more tests isn't going to magically give you the fallatus to help me." The archeologist noticed the look on everyone's faces. "I did it again, didn't I."
Sam nodded. "You said fallatus."
"Ability." Daniel got up. "I don't understand this. If my brain is better able to absorb and assimilate this, why is it that I'm not aware I'm speaking Ancient? I should know, shouldn't I?"
"Not necessarily," Janet answered. "This is not really happening on a conscious level. In your conscious mind, you are thinking the words in English, but because the Ancients' knowledge is gradually overwriting everything, it sometimes supplants the English words with the Ancient equivalent when you speak."
Daniel thought about that for a moment. "I remember when I was working on my dissertation for my archeology doctorate, I was really sleep-deprived, and I started muttering to myself. I looked up, and this guy sitting nearby in the campus library was just staring at me. I didn't know why until he asked what language I was speaking. I didn't even realize that I'd been talking in Arabic, which was almost like my native tongue since I spent the majority of the first eight years of my life in Egypt, surrounded by people speaking that language."
Janet nodded. "You could look at this in the same way." She noticed the tiredness on the archeologist's face. "You need to get some rest, Daniel. I'm willing to bet that you didn't get much last night."
"I don't have time to rest, Janet. I need to find the information about the Lost City. I know that it's in my head somewhere."
"And you'll be much more capable of finding that information once you've had some sleep," the doctor insisted. She turned to Sam. "And since I can tell that you didn't sleep much either, I want you to get some rest, too," her eyes landed on Teal'c, "both of you. And you can tell Colonel O'Neill the same thing."
Realizing that it was fruitless to argue, the three members of SG-1 left the infirmary. They went to Daniel's office. Jack showed up a few minutes later.
"We tried to get hold of the Asgard again," he told the others. "Still no luck. But they'll come through. You just wait and see. Thor won't let us down."
"We can't count on Thor for asorda, Jack," Daniel told him. This time, the archeologist knew before he even saw the look on everyone's faces that he'd done it again. "Asorda. That, um, means 'help'."
"You were aware that you spoke Ancient this time, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.
"Yeah. I guess things are changing." Daniel rubbed his temple in an effort to ease the slight headache he had.
Sam gazed at him in concern. "I think that Janet's right. We should all get a little sleep."
The four friends all retired to their quarters, but none of them got very much sleep that night. Daniel was plagued by strange dreams, the images so jumbled that he could not make sense of them. He awoke at 5 a.m. with the unsettling feeling that his mind was drowning in an ocean of knowledge that he could not hope to contain.
He stumbled his way to the bathroom. In the shower, he closed his eyes and let the hot water cascade over his head and body. He'd been like that for two or three minutes when a sudden, image of violent volcanic eruptions made him gasp, eyes flying open. This was the second time that he'd had a vision in which he witnessed volcanic activity. He knew that it was important somehow, and, now, he was beginning to believe that it had a connection to the Lost City. He just didn't know what that connection was.
Finishing his shower, Daniel got dressed and went to his office. He pulled out one of his books on Medieval Latin and began pouring over it, hoping that some word he read would spark something in his mind.
He'd been reading for only about half an hour when he sensed Teal'c's approach. He turned to face the door as the Jaffa entered.
"Should you not still be resting, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"Yeah, I probably should, but since I spent half the night awake, I figured that there was no point in wasting any more time. What about you?"
"I, too, found it difficult to rest. My thoughts trouble me deeply."
Daniel nodded, his gaze falling away from Teal'c's. "Do you think I made a mistake, too?"
The Jaffa came up to him. "I believe that you made the only decision that you thought you could. O'Neill has told me that you had a vision showing that, if you did not do so yourself, he would have interfaced with the repository."
"Yes, but, even before I had the vision, I'd decided that there was no other choice. Someone had to interface with that thing, and I figured that I was the best one to do it."
There was a brief silence, then Teal'c quietly said, "It is possible that, now that I no longer carry a symbiote, the repository would have worked on me."
Daniel shook his head. "Even if it would have, I wouldn't have wanted you to do it. I wouldn't have wanted any of you to do it. It's a whole lot easier accepting the possibility that I won't survive than it would be if it happened to one of you. No. It's better that it was me."
Teal'c's eyes bored into his. "Hear me, Daniel Jackson. You have always been a great asset to the Tau'ri in all the years that you have been with the Stargate Program. This is true even more so now. You have become a weapon of unmeasurable value against the Goa'uld. For this reason alone, any one of us would gladly take your place, for we know that your loss would be a great blow to our fight against the Goa'uld."
"Teal'c, I can't value my life above any of yours, regardless of how important I might be in the fight against the Goa'uld. Even if I hadn't gained these abilities, I really think that we'd have done okay. We did a pretty good job of fighting the Goa'uld all these years without the aid of psychic powers, and I have to believe that will continue to be true if I don't make it through this. I'm not indispensable."
Teal'c's gaze deepened. "That may be true, Daniel Jackson, but it does not change the fact that your importance to us cannot be measured alone by the skills you possess. You are our friend, and, as your friends, we would not hesitate to trade places with you."
Daniel met his eyes. "I know, Teal'c," he murmured. "But, you see, I feel the same way, which is why I'm glad that it was me."
The two men fell silent. Daniel got to his feet. "Look, Teal'c, I know that . . . whoa." He swayed and grabbed the desk for support. The Jaffa was immediately at his side, a firm grasp on his arm.
"What is wrong, Daniel Jackson?"
The archeologist raised a hand to his head. "That was, uhhh, kind of disconcerting. For a second there, it was like the Ancients' knowledge was right there in my conscious mind, all of it, all at once. I thought my fron was going to explode."
Teal'c did not say anything about Daniel's use of an Ancient word. "This is not the way it happened with O'Neill."
"No, it's not. I think that, because of the differences in my brain, the stuff from the repository is 'unspooling' faster, and, every once in a while, it's like someone hits Fast Forward. The problem is that there is so much information that it's just a big jumbled mess, and I can't separate out anything."
"Perhaps if you were to join me in Kel'no'reem, it would allow you to find the information we need."
"You know, that just might work. It's worth a try."
"What's worth a try?" asked Jack from the doorway. Daniel turned to see both him and Sam there. He hadn't sensed their approach and had to wonder if the Ancients' knowledge was beginning to affect his paranormal abilities.
"Teal'c suggested that I try meditation, see if it would help me find the information we need."
"Great idea," Jack said. "Let's all go do that."
"Jack, not counting when you were in Teal'c's body, you've never meditated in your life, and I doubt you could even if you tried. Meditation requires quieting your mind, body and spirit."
"Hey, I'm the one who's into fishing, Doctor I-couldn't-shut-my-brain-off-even-if-it-had-an-off-switch Jackson. Don't talk to me about a quiet mind and body. I think about nothing all the time."
Daniel smiled slightly. "You're right. You'd probably have no trouble with the not thinking part. However, meditation also requires patience and the ability to sit and do absolutely nothing for hours."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"For hours?"
"Sometimes."
"Oh. Well, I guess I could try."
"I'll try, too," Sam said.
Daniel gave a nod. "All right, let's go."
