Sojourns

 

 

Email: travelling_one@yaoo.ca

website: http://www.travellingone.com/

Season: 9

Summary: This is an episode tag for Avalon/Origin (my personal Jack-fix, Ori-quash).

Related episodes: Avalon, Origin, *Beachhead, *Promethius Unbound, *Full Circle (*minor references).

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM Global Holdings Inc, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. I have written this story for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. Any original characters, situations, and storylines are the property of the author.

 

Nov./05

__________

 

Part 1

 

"Dr. Jackson missed the Daedalus. I figured you'd want to know."

 

Jack's attention was caught between blinks, but he was almost certain his quiet intake of air couldn't be heard over the telephone. The inner yes! bursting from cloaked mind bubbles was stifled in the calm repose of appropriate General demeanor. And so, all Landry heard was a reserved, "Why?" Good thing there was no web cam trained on his face.

 

So Daniel had missed the Daedalus - why? how? He'd only been anticipating it for, oh, days and days and days, preparing and packing and talking about it. When he'd called only two hours after getting the okay to depart, Jack had given him an earful.

 

"The minute my back is turned, there you go; what, you couldn't wait for me to leave?"

 

"That's not true, Jack. About waiting for you to leave, I mean. I asked for this a year ago and you turned me down."

 

"And if I were still there I 'd turn you down again."

 

"If you were here, SG1 would still be intact, and I might not want to go. So badly," he'd added.

 

"So you're doing this to spite me? Get back at me for leaving?"

 

"That's not fair, Jack. Since you and Sam and Teal'c have gone your separate ways, what's there for me here?"

 

Jack had been caught off-guard for a second there. "Exploration."

 

"That's my intention."

 

"Of our galaxy."

 

"Sam's working on the Daedalus to send us into other galaxies. The least I can do for her is be on the test run." The slight humor in the tone had fallen flat, and Jack chose to ignore it.

 

"Don't push it."

 

A momentary pause, then a change of cadence. "I'll be fine."

 

"You'll be gone."

 

"So are you."

 

"Not that far, Daniel. I'm still here talking to you."

 

 

"He was in the infirmary, unconscious when it left, Jack. Otherwise, I'm certain wild horses couldn't have kept him back."

 

Landry's voice returned him to the present with a thud. That response had been unexpected, and froze Jack down to his toes. Memories of too many missions past, of worries and stress... and it wasn't ending with his pilgrimage to Washington. Out of sight, out of mind had no footing on this journey. "Whoa - no pun intended - back up there. What the hell do you mean, he was unconscious?"

 

"You sitting down, Jack?"

 

And so Jack heard about the return of the woman who had single-handedly stolen the Prometheus… and who had just stolen Daniel, in plain view and without remorse, and now seemed to have the run of the SGC. "She's dangerous, Hank. Don't trust her with a paper clip." Hathor had been dangerous too, a Vala with the Goa'uld still inside.

 

_____

 

"I leave, and look at the mess you get yourself into." Jack was pretty sure Daniel wouldn't recognize those words, but they had to be said. "On second thought, you got yourself into messes when I was around, too. Forget the previous sentiment." Jack paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. This, he kind of missed - eating here in the commissary with his teammates. At least one third of his team was still here, for the moment anyway, and had seemed eager enough to buddy up. It had felt good, seeing Daniel still sitting in that office. Jack had psyched himself up too heavily over the past few weeks with the disturbing idea of Daniel heading out to the distant unknown, indefinitely, away from the so-called safety of home, where news would reach him only weeks or even months after the fact. A place to which Jack would be helpless to interfere.

 

"So… tell me again? Why'd you go?" Daniel nonchalantly peered at Jack, eyes wide and deceptively innocent.

 

Jack studied his friend, contemplating the motivation of that question. How many times had they been through this? Oh. Once, actually. Daniel had tried to make the move easy for him, and hadn't dwelled. So, all doubts were finally bubbling to the surface. "I thought you were okay with this."

 

"Yes. Not so much." Daniel shook his head.

 

"Daniel, with Hammond's new position you know we didn't trust the other candidates to run Homeworld Security. None of them have enough experience with the Stargate program. The president likes to have people think he's in charge, but what he's in charge of is delegating others to do the work. One wrong step and you guys would be screwed."

 

"If you want a job done right, do it yourself?" Basically. Jack wouldn't be anyone's puppet.

 

"Well… yes. I asked to be Director of Homeworld Security, Commander of the SGC, and leader of SG1, but for some reason they didn't go for that. Something about payroll logistics."

 

That brought a plastic smile, yet Daniel remained disquieted. "You always were too smart to stay leader of a single unit."

 

Squinting, Jack countered, "No one's ever called me 'too smart' before."

 

Daniel sat back, facing his former CO, considering. "How about 'down-to-earth'?"

 

"Mmm, maybe that's more like it."

 

"You don't mince words. You're the man people listen to."

 

"'Cause I'm always right?"

 

"Don't push it."

 

"Quit while I'm ahead?"

 

"I think so." Daniel nodded smugly.

 

Time to get back to business; Daniel was back to being Daniel. That, however, was part of the problem. "So, where is this Vala? I'd like to thank her."

 

Daniel's eyebrows lifted, his eyes growing wide. "Okay, I'll bite. Thank her for…?"

 

"Keeping you off the Daedalus."

 

"Ah. You'd rather I be linked to her the rest of my life?"

 

"Than be eaten alive by a predatory species in a galaxy far far away from home? Give me a minute here… Yes."

 

Breaking the eye contact Daniel focused on his plate, scoring the mashed potatoes with his fork, watching the dips fill with gravy and long narrow rivulets work their way outwards from the crater to the sloping hills. "Oh." Broccoli crumbs formed treetops on the dunes.

 

"Oh? You didn't know there were bad guys out there?"

 

"Of course I did. But I wasn't intending to get eaten by them."

 

"Yet I suppose you were intending to get burned to death." The accusation and concern flaring in Jack's expression turned Daniel's momentary glance downwards again.

 

"Obviously not."

 

"You played with a device you knew nothing about."

 

"I was sure we'd be okay."

 

"Right, this feeling of being looked out for you were mentioning." Had Jack ever felt that way, Daniel had wondered? Not really. Maybe. He'd always optimistically led his team into and out of difficulty, and he'd believed in positive outcomes. Believed in the SGC, in Hammond, in his team. With his shift to Commander of the SGC the previous year, his moments of doubt had increased. His team had remained by his side throughout, and he had valued - and needed - their input.

 

"I don't feel that way any more."

 

Right. I don't think I would say this to anyone else, but for the first time, I'm scared. And that surprising comment had not even been in reference to the Pegasus galaxy. New enemies had arrived who could reach their fingers into any galaxy, ones Daniel wasn't sure he could talk into submission, wasn't sure Teal'c could overthrow, wasn't sure Earth would avoid unscathed. Ones who could burn a person's mind to death while his body felt the flames. Crap. Not good to go into battle with a sense of doom, Daniel. "We've always faced the unknown, faced up to bad guys. What's changed?"

 

"You." Daniel looked up, sincerity keeping his gaze steady. "You're not here any more."

 

"You felt protected by me?"

 

"I guess in a way I did. I trusted you."

 

Maybe it was a good thing Jack had never been forthcoming with his feelings. If Daniel had glimpsed his insecurities in those past years, his whole outlook might have changed. Maybe Daniel would even have been a bit more cautious himself. Jack sighed. "Landry's a capable man, Daniel. I've worked with him, he's the best. Wouldn't have left you in anyone else's hands." Trust me. The general's eyes narrowed. "Although he has already made one big mistake."

 

"What's that?"

 

"Giving you permission to go on the Daedalus."

 

Daniel chuckled softly. "He listens to me."

 

"The man has to learn when he should and should not do that." Should never have assured him you're one of our best. Jack scowled, then nodded. "He listens to me too. He does talk to me, Daniel. I do know what's going on around here, oh, all the time."

 

"You do?"

 

That surprises you? "It's my job." And more. Studying his friend and former teammate, Jack held out his palm. "Got your cell phone?"

 

Hesitating for only a second, Daniel reached down to his belt and handed over the device, watching as Jack pressed a series of seemingly endless numbers. "What are you doing?"

 

"Speed dial. My cell, my home, my office. Darren'll answer. Maybe Kim. They both have your name, Daniel, so if I'm anywhere in the developed world they'll interrupt me. From anything. Know what I mean?"

 

Call.

 

Yes, Daniel knew what he meant. "Thanks."

 

"Feel better?"

 

Daniel nodded. "No, not really."

 

Jack chuckled. "I didn't want to leave Colorado, Daniel. For some incomprehensible reason the President thinks this job of Homeworld Security is better handled sixteen hundred miles from ground zero. I'm working on changing that, by the way."

 

Hope lit up Daniel's eyes. "You might be back?"

 

"Don't hold your breath, I think the president wants a confidante whose eye colour he can see. Or who looks more uncomfortable in a tie than he does. But I intend to be back here from time to time… you know, just to make sure everything is running smoothly. You know."

 

Daniel couldn't help letting a fuller smile evolve this time. "Yeah. Just to make sure." He mashed down the crater and now muddy river water coalesced to cover the snowy terrain, turning the entire mixture brown, a single whole. "Make sure you call in for some lunch when you do."

 

"Wouldn't miss it. You gonna eat that?"

 

"You've got to be kidding."

 

"Want a steak?"

 

Daniel perked up in surprise. Generals, apparently, can do anything they want. "Now? What time do you fly back?"

 

"Wednesday."

 

"Wednesday?" This was Monday. The full grin lit up his face, and trying to contain it was futile. "D'you have somewhere to stay?"

 

"Nope."

 

"That's… that's good, 'cause I know a place…"

 

_____

 

Part 2

 

The white eyeless face drew nearer, nearer, slimy and translucent, drooling saliva in anticipation of its feast. Sharp bloody teeth bared in a macabre grimace and he could see into the gaping cavity of its mouth, so close was it; not a Super Soldier as he had been expecting, but something no less deadly. And as he frantically tried to back away, tried to turn in the hope of guiding the ship out of orbit even though he had no idea how to fly it, tried to reach out with arms that instead remained plastered to his sides and refused to move, the slimy dripping mouth finally closed over his own and his scream was stifled, as

 

Daniel woke with a start, his loud NO! echoing in the stillness, sheets twisted halfway around him and half on the floor.

 

That was the fourth time this week.

 

Sitting up in the darkness, clock showing 2:47 a.m., Daniel rested his head in his hands, waiting for his heart to return to a more normal rhythm.

 

The SGC armchair analysts were having fun with this one. Cam was convinced it was nothing more than the result of Daniel's missing the Daedalus. Sam figured it was the Super Soldiers transposing themselves onto the Wraith, after the Atlantis team had brought back those photos. Jack had suggested, via those short but increasingly frequent phone calls, the alien creature of his dreams was really Vala; after all, she had come on to Daniel for the first time in the guise of a Super Soldier, hadn't she? Before beating him up, he'd added with a hint of sarcasm or, perhaps, humor.

 

Daniel threw his sheets back onto the bed, untangling them with some frustration, before heading to the kitchen for a glass of water. His body felt as though he'd gone ten rounds with her again - or with something. And he could still smell that thing's face upon his own.

 

_____

 

This time they were burning.

 

Scattered all around the floor were cadavers, their insides sucked out, and he was forced to step over them to reach the controls, determined not to trip into the hollowed out bodies, determined not to watch as the flames claimed and consumed them, their faces twisting in agony as though they could still feel. One of them was Sam, and her pleading grotesque stare caught his horrified one before he could turn away.

 

But even as he frantically reached for the controls he knew they wouldn't respond, wouldn't do anything, for Daniel knew they were the plastic of children's toys. Slumping into the captain's chair, he wondered why it was so quiet, where everyone had gone, and he realized the flames had diminished, leaving blackened corpses in their wake. And their voices started whispering, 'Daniel, Daniel, Daniel'.

 

Shut up, he shouted, but the voices continued to taunt, 'You are evil, you did nothing to help us' and the grinning face was in front of his own once more, white and translucent, jelly soft, shutting out his view of black space, hovering so close, its lips suddenly only inches from his own. "Open your mouth and let me dine", it hissed coming even closer, and Daniel screamed NO!

 

"NO!" and he jumped, his pillow landing on the floor and the sheet wrapped around his torso, drenched in sweat, and he wanted to spit.

 

That had been as real as all the others.

 

For three more hours he sat, knees up in the bed, head against the wall, eyes open.

 

He sat there, like that, waiting for the minutes to tick by, until finally the clock read five a.m.

 

He picked up the phone; it would be seven out east. "Jack?"

 

"… leave your message and I'll get back to you."

 

Hesitating, he dialled Jack's cell number, but the thing was turned off. So much for any time of day or night.

 

Daniel hung up, contemplating calling Darren, or Kim. But by the time Jack arrived at work, this whole thing would seem silly, and there'd be no point.

 

_____

 

"Maybe you should take a break for a few days. Change of scenery or something."

 

Daniel stared at Colonel Mitchell. "I've been offworld," he counted on his fingers, "six? times since Vala left. I'm not due for a holiday."

 

"Hey, it's been a rough couple of months."

 

Sam had to agree. "Daniel, he's right. What with Vala, and the Ori, you've been under a lot of stress. Take a few days, go somewhere and relax."

 

"Go somewhere?" Daniel frowned. "Like…?"

 

"Perhaps to visit O'Neill." Teal'c's utterance could be construed as either a suggestion, or a question. Three heads turned his way.

 

"Visit Jack?" Daniel seemed to be pondering the preposterousness of the suggestion. Not so silly, really.

 

"Indeed."

 

Carter smiled. "Why not, Daniel? I think the general would be glad to have the company for a few days."

 

"Yes, he would. But he's not home." Four heads turned abruptly towards the familiar voice.

 

"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed in surprise, his expression matching that of Carter - and, to a smaller extent, Teal'c's - as Jack strode through the doorway.

 

"It's good to see you, General," Carter smiled. "Are you here on business, Sir?"

 

"Always, Carter."

 

"It is indeed good to see you once again, O'Neill."

 

"You here till Wednesday, Jack?" Daniel couldn't help joking. This was Friday.

 

"Something like that."

 

Daniel's voice came out more timid than intended. "Need a place to stay?"

 

"No."

 

"Oh."

 

"Figured I'd be at yours."

 

_____

 

Alone on the Daedalus, or was it the Prometheus, but not alone; he could sense someone watching. There was a presence, as yet unseen, and he prepared himself for another night of abhorrent dread.

 

What? Another night... Daniel was fully aware of being asleep. Yet he wasn't asleep; he was fully aware of being aware. He reached out, taken aback by the substance of that chair, of that monitor. This was no nightmare. How could it be, when he was awake?

 

Scattered fringes of nerves were all that were left. Dead in space and everyone gone; they'd all been eaten, sucked up like flies in a spider's web, but why had they left him alone? He couldn't fly this thing. Vala hadn't believed him that other time, either. Daniel kept glancing around nervously, waiting for that final swoop of a presently invisible predator. Which one this would look like, he didn't want to guess.

 

Then, from all around, from every corner and every nook and cranny of the spaceship that now looked like a Goa'uld mothership, adorned in gold and hieroglyphs and carved eyes of Ra, dark clouds in black capes menacingly hovered, surging forward, then stopped, laughing silently, gloating, and Daniel backed up to the controls, fingers fumbling for a DHD that had never been there at all.

 

Wake up, Daniel, he told himself. But nothing happened.

 

And they pressed forward, dark clouds that sounded like a half-ascended being, but there in the doorway stood a familiar face… a Prior of the Ori, watching, smiling, silently urging them on, his staff held upright. And his eyes said, "Evil. You begot and protected evil. Daniel Jackson, your time has come. I will watch as your fate is fulfilled."

 

Daniel bumped into the control panels, but they, too, transformed into black clouds, and Daniel knew this was the magic of the Ori. You're not real, he told them, but from all around the room the clouds emiitted the words, "Evil One".

 

"I'm not evil!" he shouted, for that was the one single thing he had always been certain of.

 

Suddenly IT was there. The Super warrior, this time cloaked in black, and it closed in upon him, saying "But you are very attractive."

 

"Don't!" he shouted, as it bent to remove its helmet, head only inches from his own. "Vala?"

 

And as it removed its head covering, Daniel realized with horror that it was not Vala, but a slimy, oozing, waxen, grotesquely inhuman being, created by those black clouds shuffling closer and closer and closer.

 

The creature was mere inches from his face now, dripping gel and saliva from its decaying tongue, its grinning mouth open and beckoning, and the black clouds hovered so near that he was trapped in their grip. "Let me go!" Now the jelly face was upon him.

 

And out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash, a movement, something changing behind him. Suddenly he was thrust forward with a force too strong to be anything but magical, thrust straight into the chest of the waiting creature.

 

But instantly the creature screamed, a ghastly inhuman cry. Daniel fell to the ground and rolled, as the creature burst into flames, screaming, melting. Risking a glance at the black cloud behind him Daniel saw the features of a second Prior shielded within, a dead Prior from a world that had been destroyed by an Ori force field and Tau'ri nuclear warhead, and the echoes of its mind rang out, "There is no ascension."

 

This former Prior's draped arms lifted, and the black clouds were flung into the golden walls and the golden ceiling and were vanishing, one by one. Banished, for their truths were no longer invisible.

 

Daniel's eyes locked with those of the unfulfilled prior Prior, watching as its form descended upon the first such messenger of the Ori, now fading into the ceiling with a look of horror at his betrayal.

 

"Resist, Danyel," a voice behind him spoke. "You are not alone." Daniel turned swiftly, finding himself back on the Daedalus, the gold of a Goa'uld mothership crumbling to the floor. This was the bridge, and in every seat smiled a friend from Abydos: Skaara, Kasuf, Tobay, Cho'qua, and many others whose remembered absence brought hurt to his heart.

 

"Oh my God," Daniel breathed. "You're here!"

 

And when he awoke, wetness was sliding from his eyes and his throat stung.

 

_____

 

Daniel sat on his porch, the cool winds claiming their hold on approaching winter. No more leaves on the trees, no more flowers; it looked depressing and gloomy, even in the darkness of night. Especially in the darkness of night. Shadows watched him with black dark eyes disguised as treetops, windows, car tires, unseeing yet seeing everything. It was all a game.

 

"Another dream?" Jack asked, plopping himself down on the step by Daniel, hugging his sweater close over his track pants and t-shirt. He handed his host the blanket he'd swiped off his bed. "You know, it's warmer inside."

 

Daniel just nodded, to which question Jack couldn't be sure, but he was willing to guess. "Super Soldiers again? Wraith?"

 

"Yeah," Daniel nodded once more. "I think I'm glad I missed the Daedalus."

 

"Feeling's mutual."

 

"There was more this time, Jack."

 

Crap. That sounded ominous."Go on."

 

"I think we may have help."

 

The mist blew from his lips in a cold, surprised burst of air, and Jack drew the sweater tighter around him. "As in…"

 

"As in a Prior who I think died, sacrificing his life for the Ori in the hopes of ascension."

 

Okay, usually getting Daniel to talk wasn't like pulling teeth. "Daniel, I'm freezing. If I didn't want to listen I'd be holding a hot mug of cocoa in the kitchen."

 

"It was the Prior who obliterated the planet Kallana with his force field. He was hoping for ascension, but we know the Ori don't ascend their followers, it's all a lie. But he's in some other plane, or at least, he knows; that Prior was in my dream tonight, watching. Then he destroyed the ones who were about to hurt me. And… and everyone from Abydos was there."

 

"It was just a dream." Stress is having its affect on your subconscious. Playing its games. "You need to get away."

 

"No. No Jack, it wasn't. I was there…somewhere. Same as I was there when they were burning me and Vala."

 

Jack still couldn't help cringing at those words; he'd never accept nor get used to that… the first mission-non-mission for his former team buddy since he'd left.

 

And Jack understood how real it had been. He knew how close Daniel and Vala had come to dying. "So, real?"

 

"Real, Jack."

 

"But you weren't on a planet, you were on a ship."

 

"The settings and characters may have been influenced by my subconscious, but I'm pretty sure the Priors were manipulating everything."

 

"Daniel… are you saying they can get into your mind?"

 

Pausing, Daniel shuddered. "I think so. Yes. When I'm asleep. Or they can send me images, at least." If Osiris could do it, so can the Ori. He knew Jack was considering the same thing. "Maybe they're too distant to have complete control. Or they don't really understand our... my mind yet."

 

"All those other dreams? Real?"

 

Daniel nodded; Jack could sense it without even looking. "What do they want from me, Jack?"

 

"To scare you, maybe. To get you to back off. Afraid of your friends in high places."

 

"They've had chances to kill me. We've been face to face."

 

"Maybe they don't want you dying and ascending again, and causing them trouble." Jack almost felt like grinning; Daniel's good-hearted trouble-making tendencies might yet save him. "I mean, the Ori are ascended, right? They've got to know about that, don't ya think?"

 

Daniel nodded slowly. "I guess. Maybe. But the Others won't interfere."

 

"And the Abydonians?" Ascended ones, former friends, helping Daniel. Why not? No one had ever asked the Abydonians to pledge non-interference, when they'd been whisked off to some other plane of existence. And Ascended-wannabe Priors, learning the truth, out for revenge. Out to do the right thing? Maybe more ascended than they realized.

 

"So… a dead guy who didn't ascend is sending you the message that he's going to help you fight an enemy who isn't here yet? And dead friends who may have ascended, coming back to avenge their own destruction? Make the worlds a better place, if no one stops them first?"

 

Daniel nodded again. "That's about it. God, I want a coffee."

 

"Ah!" Jack rose quickly; he would not have to be asked a second time, out here turning into an ice cu…cylinder. "Happy to oblige." He held out his hand to assist his friend. "You know, I know a great steak place in D.C."

 

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "You're not suggesting we go now, are you?" Generals could do whatever they wanted, apparently.

 

"No. Why would I do that? It's 3 a.m., Daniel."

 

Daniel blushed; thank goodness it was dark. "No reason. You inviting me over?"

 

"Seems your team thinks it's a good idea."

 

"That was before I figured out my dreams."

 

"Oh. Well, I have a big place. Okay, will be big, after I put some stuff away. Alright, bigger than this porch." Jack held the door open, shutting it quickly behind them to keep the chill out.

 

"Rooftop balcony?" Daniel headed towards the kitchen.

 

"No. Condo, fifth floor, view of many semi-attractive highrises and a grocery store."

 

"Oh." So not Jack. "Home sweet home."

 

"A place to live. Home, not so much."

 

Daniel bit his lip, stopping in the doorway. "Are you happy?"

 

"What does that have to do with anything?"

 

"C'mon, Jack."

 

"I'm doing a job, Daniel." Wasn't sure I'd be there that long.

 

"But…?"

 

"But I miss going off world. I miss the action. I miss making the life and death decisions." I miss my team. And conversations like this.

 

"You miss that?"

 

"Wouldn't you?"

 

Daniel shrugged, then nodded. "Guess I might. Coffee?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Look…"

 

"Look…"

 

Both words were uttered at the same time, and the two men smiled. Jack continued, "You can use the room with the Pokemon drapes." Noting the glint of surpise and humor in Daniel's eyes, he shrugged. "Sale." Yasureyabetcha. Home sweet home.

 

---

Author's Notes: Barring the possibility of another ep tag, I'd say this is likely to be my only S9 fic. I enjoy the original team.

 

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