DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions.  This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it.  Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended.  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.  Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.  Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).

"God, Daniel...where the hell are you?"

Great, now I'm talking to myself....

Two days and not a trace of him.

From the minute we stepped out of the Stargate, I knew he was going to run. But I thought it would be to his office, just like always...or even to the top of the mountain, we all escape up there...

But as I moved to follow him, I found pieces of his gear scattered along the corridor...headed for the elevator that would take him to the main gate. He wasn't just going into hiding here...he was running away. I tried to call and stop him at the gate, but by the time I'd figured out what was going on and got to a phone, it was too late.

Carter, Fraiser, Teal'c and I split up to search the mountain roads surrounding the complex, my house, Daniel's apartment...anywhere we could think of that he might be running to...

We all know what he's running from....

Sha'uri is dead.

No coming back from this one...no Goa'uld surprises, no sarcophagus, no miracles...

Daniel's search, the search that has been as essential to him as breathing for two and a half years, is over. Sha'uri is back on Abydos, buried six feet beneath the sand.

I remember Daniel's face during that weird burial rite, his eyes hidden from me by his sunglasses...I wish I could have seen them, maybe I would've seen this coming. I only got one good look at his eyes when they were doing that scale thing, but he didn't look up at any of us then.

I just can't understand why he's run away from us. Doesn't he know we're here for him...I'm ...here for him? Which is kind of awkward really...I'm here, but where is he? Kind of hard to be there for somebody who isn't...there...

There's a lot of stuff between him and Teal'c right now. Intellectually...and maybe even emotionally..Daniel knows that Teal'c did the right thing when he stopped Amaunet just short of killing Daniel. But that doesn't change the fact that in stopping Amau net, Teal'c also killed Sha'uri. I've never seen Teal'c so...upset. It took a long time for Daniel to learn to trust Teal'c in the first place; I'm afraid that...this time...there's been a hole ripped through that trust that can never be fully mended.

The immediate problem is to find Daniel...we can work on the rest of it then.

I figured this morning that I'd drive into the National Park. If he's working so hard to avoid us, he's probably wanting to avoid people in general. The park's the best place I know to do that...

I ran out of road a long time ago, but I've got a hunch I'm on the right track here; a few years of walking through hell and back teaches you a few things about a guy.

Sure enough, as I come through some dense scrub on what might laughingly be referred to as a road...there's Daniel's car. How the hell he got that little foreign roller skate up in here is beyond me...and I doubt he was in any condition to remember getting here, much less how he did it.

*So where did he go from here?*

I've got some minimal supplies in the back of the Jeep: first aid kit, flashlight, flares, a couple of MRE's *(how'd they get in here?)*, a couple of bottles of water and a pint of something a lot stronger. I pack it all into a backpack I left in here after my last camping trip and pull my personal sidearm out from under the seat, strapping it on as I go.

Looking around Daniel's car, I can see signs of brush recently disturbed and couple of places where he's obviously gone down on his knees...which tells me all I need to know about his state of mind when he got here...

Four days ago Daniel nearly died from that ribbon-device thing Amaunet used on him; Teal'c said if he'd waited any longer, Daniel would have died. The only reason Fraiser let him out of the infirmary was to go to Abydos for the funeral. He was supposed to go straight back to the infirmary afterward,...instead, he took off. Now he's been gone for two days, and I doubt if he brought anything with him...

Two days alone with the memory...

*God, I've got to find him.*

I've been hiking for a couple of hours now, following the few signs I pick up on along the trail. Daniel's learned a few things over the years about hiding a trail; if he seriously wanted to lose himself out here, he could do it. He isn't trying. He probably doesn't expect any of us to get this close to finding him. He's heading upward. As far as I can tell, he hasn't stopped anywhere to rest... which means even if he did bring food, he probably hasn't stopped to eat any of it...

I really should have gone back and called for help on this...but I don't want to waste anymore time. Daniel's been alone with this long enough and, like it or not, he's going to talk to me. Nobody should go through something like this alone...

I feel the sudden chill of my own memories and pick up the pace...

*Daniel's not the kind of guy to even think about...

He's been so quiet since...

I mean, look at the stuff he's had to deal with for the past couple of years...

If he managed to keep it all together through all of that...

Of course, at the bottom of all that, he had Sha'uri; her memory, the hope of finding her...

What has he got now?

Us.

Me.

I just hope it's enough...*

It's getting close to sunset...maybe I should go back and call in the troops.

'Just a little longer, I've got to be getting close...'

I found a place a while back where it looked like somebody had laid down for awhile; I guess he must've finally run out of steam there and stopped to rest, maybe even sleep...I just hope he's not sick; Fraiser said his whole system was thrown out of whack by that ribbon device...appropriate, I guess...so was his life...

I wish he would've waited a little longer, waited for me at least...

I know better than anyone what he's going through, I could've helped...talked...

I've been avoiding calling out to him; I don't want to spook him into running if he's still in the mood to be alone...

But it's getting late, another hour and it'll be dark...

Another night alone....

"Daniel!"

Back
Back to Stories Page