DISCLAIMER: All 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 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.
Sergeant Harriman looked at Doctor Jackson in triumph and was rewarded by one of the slight, shy smiles that all of the support staff strived to receive from the brilliant scientist. It wasn't any one particular thing that made them all so eager to please their favorite civilian SG team member; it was a lot of things. They all knew how difficult things had been for Dr. Jackson and they certainly knew that he'd recently lost the wife he'd searched so long for, but it wasn't sympathy they felt for him.
Harriman knew very well that Dr. Jackson was held in a certain amount of awe among the staff. While most of them were military, they were also largely technically oriented and often regarded as invisible by the field officers, but never by Dr. Jackson. He knew them all by name, took the time to thank them, took the time to see them in ways the others didn't. And in return they took it upon themselves to take care of him...sometimes in ways as simple as making sure he had a fresh supply of pencils so he wouldn't have to ask.
For all of his brilliance, Dr. Jackson always treated them as equals. The man almost died saving the planet, for goodness sake, and two days later he was asking after Simmons' sick mother. In Harriman's estimation the SGC was darn lucky to have Dr. Jackson and it pained him to see the sad shadows in the young scientist's tired eyes.
Harriman looked at Dr. Jackson again and could see his lips moving silently as his mind automatically started translating the message as it came through. Harriman passed over a pen and pad, and received another...albeit slightly distracted...smile. Whatever this message meant, Harriman was sure that Dr. Jackson and SG1 would take care of it. They always did.
Teal'c had not been surprised when Daniel Jackson had requested his presence for another round of translation. Transcribing the spoken Goa'uld from the audiotape had been a tedious task. Interference had blurred the words in many places, and completely obliterated them in others. By transcribing what they could make out and going back to fill in the blanks, they were fairly certain that they had come as close as was possible to an accurate translation.
They had worked well into the night and Teal'c found himself growing more and more concerned about Daniel Jackson. The young scholar had always been the sort of person to focus on a task to the exclusion of all else, but Teal'c could see that this time it was different. Daniel Jackson was literally driving himself to exhaustion, refusing to yield to the needs of his tired body. Teal'c knew as well as Daniel Jackson how important this was, but they had time. They knew that now.
It seemed to Teal'c that Daniel Jackson was once again avoiding sleep. It was a pattern the team had come to recognize at the very beginning of their association. It had started with Sha'uri's abduction and continued well into the first year. Eventually it had seemed to get better, but each new trauma had brought a return of that pattern...sometimes lasting only a few days, sometimes longer. Now Teal'c was certain that this was a return of that pattern and his thoughts brought him directly back to what he believed was the cause...Sha'uri's death.
O'Neill had spoken only briefly of the events on Netu, mentioning that somehow Apophis had manipulated their memories in an attempt to gain information. None of his teammates had offered more than a general description of that experience, but Teal'c knew that all of them had returned to Earth very disturbed by it. Given what he knew of Apophis' cruelty, Teal'c knew that his former master would have spared SG1 nothing...and Daniel Jackson even less. When Daniel Jackson had revealed his knowledge of Apophis' child and its whereabouts before Apophis' 'death'...none of them had ever guessed that his passing would not be a permanent condition. Daniel Jackson had made a grave enemy on that day. Teal'c could only guess the sort of nightmares that being in Apophis' control had caused his young friend.
Teal'c rose to leave, reminding Daniel Jackson of the hour and that he should rest before the briefing, less than six hours away. A bare nod and a tight smile made no promises, a subtle point that was not lost on Teal'c. Teal'c could not bring himself to argue further with Daniel Jackson, but he knew someone who could...and would.
Daniel wasn't entirely surprised by Jack's arrival at his lab in the middle of the night. Daniel hadn't missed Teal'c's concerned looks...or the looks he was getting from the rest of the team lately. He truly appreciated their concern, but....his mind simply refused to shut down. He would try to rest, but couldn't seem to stop thinking, and the few times he had actually slept...he'd come awake in terror at the dreams that didn't seem to want to go away. Dreams of Sha'uri, of Amaunet, of Apophis...and lately dreams of Ra, trying to tell him something, some subtle message that he couldn't quite grasp...
Lying there on his office sofa, Daniel knew it was Jack at his door, even without looking. Years of practice had attuned his hearing to Jack's unique stride.
"C'mon in, Jack,"
The exasperated sigh behind him told Daniel that his team leader was not happy to find him awake. Moments later Jack's face appeared in Daniel's fuzzy field of vision and, even without his glasses, Daniel could see the concern on Jack's face.
"Daniel..."
Daniel nodded acknowledging what he already knew Jack was going to say.
"What's going on, Daniel?"
Jack's tone was almost casual, but Daniel knew better than to be deceived by Jack's tones. Jack could speak volumes with a single word. Daniel shook his head and looked over at Jack, sitting across from him in the desk chair. "It's nothing, it's everything...." Daniel waved a vague hand upward. "This is going to be bad, Jack."
Jack let out a deep sigh. "It's already bad, Daniel. If you don't get some rest before all of this...." Jack waved a hand of his own toward Daniel's paper-strewn worktable, " I don't know if I can let you come along on this if you aren't up to par...."
Daniel had expected that particular threat; this wasn't the first time Jack had used it. "I know, I'll go see Janet tomorrow..."
Jack looked at Daniel in disbelief. "And you'll take whatever she gives you?"
Daniel looked up with a small smile of concession. "Of course I will. You're going to need me on this one, Jack."
Jack looked down at him for a long moment before standing. "We always need you, Daniel. Don't you know that by now?"
Daniel could only lie there, blinking in shock, as Jack's footsteps faded away.