Catching Sunrise
 
 
by Travelling One
Email: travelling_one@yahoo.ca
Website: http://www.travellingone.com/
Related Episodes: Fallen
Summary: Daniel goes to his Happy Place.
Season: mid 7, after Evolution
 
He wouldn't have imagined that doodling during a briefing could cause such a fuss, except that Daniel had no idea why those symbols had been scribbled under his subconscious manipulations. He swore he really had been concentrating on Sam's theorizing, at least as much as Jack had been, and Jack had not doodled a gate address. Thing was, this address was not in the dialling system, at all.
 
"You made it up. Just random glyphs, that's all they are," Jack had exuberantly protested, putting twenty dollars down that the gate wouldn't open.
 
He'd lost.
 
And Daniel had looked at those symbols with the uncomfortable sensation that he knew them, that he knew this location. Why, he had no idea… except that he'd been dreaming it lately. Familiarity caused a stir in his gut, a tightness that pulled like an urge growing with the waves of a storm.
 
"We have to go there."
 
"Why?" Jack looked at him warily, knowing they'd go even if Daniel hadn't stated that so matter-of-factly. But he was not willing to run head-first into uncharted potential danger. His entire team was already stressed out; Daniel had just recovered from a bullet-wound in his leg and emotional exhaustion that just happens to a person when they're kidnapped and held by terrorists, and Carter had gone up single-handed against a bionic super robot without a soul. Come to think of it, neither of the recent attackers of his teammates had had either conscience or soul.
 
"Because I think I was there when I was ascended. I think this is a message from my subconscious memory."
 
"Or a warning to stay away." Jack shot him a pessimistic grin.
 
"Or… that." Daniel agreed. "But we have to go."
 
"Why?"
 
"Because this is going to eat at me until we see what's out there."
 
"So?"
 
"So why would I have picked this address to remember?" Daniel tried not to let his determination show in his manufactured glare. A scathing look that almost worked, too. But they all knew Jack was riding him, teasing.
 
"'Cause you're a sucker for causes I don't even want to know about?"
 
"There's nothing unusual out there," Carter looked up from the monitors to see if anyone was paying attention. "We're picking up park-like surroundings. It's very calm and quiet."
 
"Just like the Goa'uld like it to be," Jack added, "before the ambush and fiery massacre."
 
"Or the Nox, Jack."
 
The eyebrows said one thing, the tight set to his lips another.
 
General Hammond, however, had the last word.
 
_____
 
"So, the Ancient in you had a reason for coming here, you say?" Jack turned a full 360 in the clearing. Surrounding a field of knee-high colourful flowers were smoothly rounded lush green hills, all within minutes' walking distance. "Weapons hidden somewhere to protect your beloved home planet?" Jack did not really expect a response; in spite of the ribbing, he questioned why Daniel would have placed this gate address into his memory so deeply that even the Ancients could not take it from him. For that matter, however, why had Daniel remembered where he had seen Teal'c's son Ry'ac in trouble? The answer was clear; it had carried the emotional strength needed to implant itself permanently into Daniel's psyche.
 
And so, there had to be something here of importance.
 
This thought alone was enough to put Jack on guard. On guard and on edge; the hedgehog-like animal that stumbled by his feet had him spinning a weapon at the innocent creature, before sheepishly hauling back.
 
"I don't know."
 
"What?" already, Jack had forgotten his rhetorical question.
 
"What?"
 
"Sir?" Carter was staring at both men in exasperation.
 
"What?" came the response in unison.
 
"Uh, shouldn't we…" she made a face, indicating the mountains. There was a path, a trail of sorts, flattened grasses disappearing into the future.
 
"Yeah. Teal'c, take point." Jack slung his weapon strap over a shoulder, adjusting its weight. "Let's go."
 
The path led across the field of wildflowers and twenty minutes later through a gap in the hills, following the gentle contour of the landscape.
 
They emerged from the shadows of the small mountains, cautious but curious. There, spreading out before them a good twenty meters below, was another garden enclosed by hills, this one much larger than the first. Clumps of trees lying in rectangular formations encompassed the entire grounds. As they looked down upon the vista they noticed a structure at the far end - a small house of some sort - shining in the daylight. The sun lit the bluest of clear skies, and the stillness and serenity had the effect of being both eerie and comforting at the same time.
 
"Shall I take point, O'Neill?"
 
Jack looked to see Teal'c questioning a proposed descent down a carved stone staircase, leading into the garden below. He nodded. This place didn't look Goa'uld.
 
The path of flattened grasses continued from the base of the stairs. As the team headed towards the lone structure, they realized that each of the rectangular clumps of trees that they had seen from above - enclosed thickets of something resembling pines - encircled a long low block of granite, embedded with colourful stones, gems, crystals. The smell of pine needles was refreshing.
 
"Wait, Jack." Daniel maneuvered through the overgrown opening leading into one of the enclosures. All that was in the interior of this private space was that solid raised platform of embellished rock. Daniel moved to have a closer look. The gems in the sides of the platform glowed with the capture of the sun's rays through leaves and branches, even though most of the small area was bathed in shade. At the tip of the large rectangular block was a raised surface - seemingly the perfect place to rest one's head.
 
"What's it for?" Jack's voice at Daniel's shoulder startled him, the feeling of peace rushing out as quickly as it had come.
 
Daniel shrugged. "Sleeping?"
 
Jack wrinkled his face, glancing up at the bits of visible sky patterned with overhead branches. "I hope they have better weather than Colorado."
 
Passing more enclosures, all similarly endowed, SG1 made its way towards the shining structure, which they could now see was built of glass and pure white marble. A tiny footbridge led over a narrow stream that ran the width of the garden, releasing its water flow through gaps in the side hills. Thin trickles of waterfall trailed down the hillsides, dripping into the stream as it meandered past.
 
As the structure loomed in front of them, Jack couldn't help thinking he was about to be ambushed and trapped in a fairy tale. Gingerbread house, don't eat the doorknob. Or the porridge, even if it's just right. "If there are seven little beds in there, I'm leaving," he muttered loud enough for Daniel to hear.
 
"What?" Daniel frowned, half lost in his own daydream. Something about this place seemed familiar.
 
"Nevermind."
 
Noses pressed against the glass, they peered inside the house; all the walls were glass, with marble corner panels, beams, and roof. The interior was a single slightly sunken room, covered in what looked to be soft white flooring. Carpeting, by Earth standards. And that was all - except for the raised geometrical shapes on the interior marble columns. A sliding door in the outer glass wall opened into the empty room. A gem-encrusted marble ladder led up to the roof from the outside.
 
"O'Neill, shall we enter?"
 
Hesitating, Jack evaluated the options. "Think they have break and enter rules on this planet?"
 
"Has that ever stopped us before, Jack?"
 
"Usually we visit ruins, Daniel, already open and beckoning. Try the door Teal'c. If an alarm goes off, look innocent and pretend it wasn't you."
 
"Sir?" Carter was softly calling from the top rung of the ladder, overlooking the marble roof. "There's a shallow pool up here. With fish in it. And coral."
 
Jack stared up at her. "Dinner?"
 
"Tropical fish, sir. All colours."
 
"Of course." Giving Daniel a curious glance, Jack asked, "Not where your Ascendedness lived, by any chance?"
 
Daniel's mouth fell open. "I was ascended, Jack. Why would I need a house?"
 
"I don't know, Daniel; why would you be bringing us here?"
 
_____
 
They had set up camp - or rather, taken up occupation - inside the house, comfortable and warm. Neither Daniel nor Carter had yet been able to figure out the purpose of the geometrical shapes on the supporting columns, and Jack was not beyond thinking they were nothing but decoration. Uneasy with the silence and uncertainty of what this place was, his P90 rested on his lap as he watched the others sleep. Darkness was cut by the single ray of moonlight filtering through the glass walls. If any predators were out there, his team was vulnerable, in full view, exposed to the outside world and protected only by panes of glass. There had to be some reason this paradise had been abandoned.
 
Unless it wasn't. If the Ancients were flitting about watching them, they would never know. Was this some sort of experiment? Some ultra-dimensional Daniel-watch? Was Daniel under investigation, to see how he was holding up? And if he failed in their eyes, what would they do?
 
Jack shifted uneasily, his back against a thick smooth column. Turning his back on the geometrical shapes contributed further to a sense of anxiety, but the alternative was to lean against a glass wall, and that meant turning his back on the outside.
 
_____
 
Jack awoke to silence, the early rays of dawn shredding the shadows on the white flooring. Carter and Teal'c continued to sleep, oblivious to the fact that Daniel was nowhere to be seen. But it was Daniel's watch, wasn't it? Jack threw his legs out of his sleeping bag and looked around.
 
Outside.
 
Daniel was outside, staring into a shrub.
 
Quietly sliding open the glass door, Jack crept up behind him. This was his teammate on watch?
 
"Jack."
 
Jack jumped. Daniel hadn't yet turned around. "G'morning. Didn't think you were paying attention."
 
Ignoring him, Daniel pointed. "Look."
 
Peering into the bush, Jack caught sight of a spider - purple - spinning a kaleidoscopic web of silk. Its little legs twisted and turned, the maze resembling an intricate shawl of colours.
 
"Nice."
 
"Nice? It's amazing."
 
"It's a spider, Daniel. And you don't even know if it's poisonous."
 
Shrugging, Daniel continued to watch, mesmerized.
 
Jack walked away, noting the reds and golds of the rising sun highlighting the web, Daniel's back catching the sunrise. Re-entering the glass structure, he smelled the wafting aroma of coffee. Carter was now up and at the indoor camp stove, and Teal'c was in front of the back wall of windows, beginning that martial arts thing he often did on days without gym equipment to tone his body.
 
Jack's eyes followed Carter's movements, and Teal'c's. His team functioned as one, a unit of four parts each complementing the other. Maybe the spider-watcher wasn't doing much as yet, Jack thought, turning again to face Daniel and the outdoors, but the archeologist had been aware of his surroundings.
 
Jack picked up a mug and helped himself to coffee.
 
_____
 
Carter observed as Teal'c practiced his lok'nel. Smooth and flowing, Teal'c forever exuded a calmness that could bring her back to Earth in harrowing moments of disillusionment. She watched as O'Neill drank from his mug, hands cupping the warm exterior, eyes alert and a mind to match. She could think of no other commanding officer she had trusted more.
 
Her eyes drifted to Daniel, outside staring at… something. Or was he daydreaming? Was he alright? Always the daydreamer, she counted on Daniel to envision the utopia the world could be, if everyone would see things in his light. No wonder the Ancients no longer wanted him among the ascended; his dreams of perfection in a perfect world were deeper and higher than their own. He didn't fit in even among them.
 
_____
 
Exploration of the area had turned up nothing useful, if nothing eventful either. Small animals sneaking peeks out of their burrows had scampered back underground; multi-coloured bugs had nestled into tree trunks and trickled past underfoot.
 
"There's nothing here," Jack announced by mid-morning. "I say we pack up before we waste any more time."
 
"We can't leave yet." Daniel was adamantly staring Jack down.
 
"And why not?"
 
"I don't know."
 
"Good argument."
 
"Trust me."
 
The words caught Jack off guard; they were familiar words, words he'd heard in an infirmary bed when Daniel hadn't been quite Daniel. I can do that, he'd replied.
 
I can do that.
 
Jack nodded. "I can do that."
 
Daniel relaxed, giving him a gentle smile. "Thank you." But he had no conscious reason as to why he'd made that request, and hoped - for all their sakes - he'd find out soon.
 
_____
 
The picnic was set in the middle of the garden, much like any other camping mission except they'd used the small campstove instead of a blazing fire. Daniel had stared at the multi-coloured turtle-shelled beetles slithering in and out of the grasses, until Carter had realized the little creatures were making homes for themselves in and above the ground.
 
"They have a series of rooms," she'd exclaimed, watching with as much intensity as Daniel. "Like ants, only they're using grass and dirt and piling it up on top of the soil!" Dozens of little creatures, all busy at work, with as much purpose as any human could hope for, oblivious to the scrutiny.
 
Jack had stared at Teal'c and shaken his head. They're bugs.
 
That was before Daniel had finally risen, wandered into one of the tree-lined enclosures, and settled himself on a rock platform encrusted with crystals.
 
The thing lit up the moment his head touched the headrest, and Daniel glowed.
 
"NO!" Jack rushed in, bombarded with memories of Daniel looking like a flaming ball of light. Jack had not reached out to touch him then, and something stopped him from doing so now. This was different; Daniel still looked like Daniel.
 
"Daniel Jackson!"
 
Daniel opened his eyes, swung his legs over the side, and stood up. Immediately the glow faded, and Daniel was still Daniel.
 
"Shit." Jack let out a relieved breath, heart pulsing, fighting back the impulse to grab his teammate and pull him to safety. But Daniel was already safe.
 
"Feels great, Jack. You should try it." Smiling, Daniel walked past Jack and back into the open sunshine.
 
_____
 
He was back there, staring at the spider. Carter was inside, looking at the columns. Teal'c was on the roof, watching the fish. Jack was bored.
 
"I wonder how big this web will get," Daniel had heard the CO walk up behind him.
 
"How do you do that?" Jack was certain Daniel had not been aware of him, again. "And how long are you going to stand there?" Taking a closer look, Jack had to admit that the creature had been doing a magnificent job - for a spider. The web had grown quite large, layer upon layer in three-dimensional geometry, the interwoven threads forming a pattern of intricate rainbow colours. Actually, he could see why Daniel was so taken with the thing, and he paused, shifting in closer until their shoulders touched. Together they watched.
 
"Come," finally Jack broke the spell, placing his hand on his friend's back. "It'll be here later. Let's go explore."
 
Daniel nodded, tearing his gaze away.
 
_____
 
They followed the stream between the hills, finding only more wildflower-covered meadows and gem-covered platforms. Daniel had stooped to watch the colourful shelled bugs crawl across the simple pastel flowers, and Jack had watched Daniel. Small animals hopped past their feet, and Jack followed his friend's lead, standing still. One paused to look them over, nose twitching, before stepping closer and then jumping away. Friend or foe; it too was deciding. Jack listened as Daniel called to it gently, his voice melting with the breeze. For a man who had saved worlds and now wielded guns, the archeologist still had a magic aura. There was something about this place, something ethereal, something not quite right. But Daniel seemed to fit right in, somehow. For some reason. With Daniel here, Jack had the oddest sensation of feeling safe - as he had felt once before, in an infirmary bed almost a year ago now.
 
_____
 
Carter found herself again contemplating Teal'c as he did his slow precise lok'nel actions. So sure and confident, a warrior with calm stability. Something in his movements made her feel happy, protected. There was nothing apparently dangerous in this environment, as far as she was concerned, and yet she knew that even if there were, if wouldn't matter. Not while Teal'c was around.
 
In the meditative reverie of lok'nel, Teal'c was aware of his female teammate observing him, a teammate he no longer separated from the others by gender. That had ended long long ago, as he'd grown to know Major Carter. Even in this garden, paying more attention to his inner thoughts than to his environment, he was comfortable knowing she was watching his back. He trusted her - a woman - with his life, and that was quite an accomplishment for a former prime of a System Lord. Smiling within, Teal'c sensed an inner peace with his chosen life.
 
_____
 
Teal'c had insisted on preparing the evening's MREs, and would not allow Major Carter or the others to contribute. Sam watched Daniel leaning against a tree trunk reading, a small gopher-like rabbit thing curled up on his stomach, his fingers soothingly stroking its head as it slept. For some reason, she had nearly forgotten the gentleness of this teammate; with all the wolves trying to huff and puff their doors down these days, there had been little time to bask in each other's company and enjoy the little things. Now the warrior, Daniel had shed his coat of civilianness and become one of them.
 
One of them. Since when had the warrior in her lost that ability to appreciate the lighter side of life? Had it also happened to Colonel O'Neill? She looked around for her CO, and found him staring into a shrub. And yet, for some reason, that didn't seem odd.
 
Was he contemplating life as well? She wouldn't disturb him.
 
_____
 
It was gone. Some bird or animal had run right through the web. It was gone. Jack glanced over at Daniel who was oblivious behind his book, a small creature curled up on his chest. He looked so peaceful - or rather, at peace - and the realization pulsed a sense of warmth through O'Neill. Jack decided not to tell Daniel about the spider; his friend would discover it by himself soon enough and deserved to enjoy the final few moments of R and R without a sense of loss. Tomorrow morning they would leave here; nice as this place was, there was nothing here that could serve them.
 
Jack shook his head; it was just a damn spider, for crying out loud.
 
But it was also a piece of Daniel. And for some strange reason, Jack felt the loss of the intricate rainbow web as well. How the hell had that managed to happen? Exactly what was this place doing to him? What was Daniel doing to him?
 
And what was with Teal'c, playing domestic? Teal'c hated cooking detail, and usually traded it for cleaning the pots. Must have been all that Loch Ness stuff he'd been doing in his boredom throughout the day. Jack watched the former Jaffa, wondering how this team had come together as such a tight unit. A family. Just how had that happened, anyway? No, he knew the answer to that; life and death missions always led to a sense of loyalty, trust, and dependency, and they'd early on had more than their fair share. It also helped when a team member died and came back to life.
 
It'll be here later. That's what he'd told Daniel. He'd always expected Daniel to be there later, too - until he no longer was.
 
Bringing his attention back to the present, Jack addressed the teammate snuggled in the grass, his new pet breathing deeply in sleep on his abdomen. "Where'd you get the Gund?"
 
Daniel didn't remove his nose from the book, nor his attention. "What?"
 
"Nevermind."
 
_____
 
"Because there's nothing here. No defenses, no technology, no people. No allies, no enemies."
 
"Why is that all we ever look for, Jack? All our missions these days are for nothing more than finding weapons or enemies and fighting."
 
"Because we're superheroes, Daniel. Two years after the Stargate goes public, they'll be making a comic strip about us and we'll be saving the world once a month for three dollars a shot. You wait and see. Fifty bucks I'm right."
 
Without sticking around to listen to a rebuttal, Jack turned over, pulled his blanket over his head, and made it clear that he was going to pretend to sleep. There would be no further debate. They were leaving at sunrise.
 
_____
 
Morning was now returning uneventfully, and this time Jack was not about to give Daniel any more time, trust or not. There was nothing here to warrant staying. Perhaps something had been going on here while Daniel had been ascended - Ancients' parties or whatnot - but whatever it was had obviously ended. Daniel's intel, whatever part of his mind had informed him of this place, was obviously out-dated. Or perhaps the Ancients had gotten wind of SG1's impending arrival, and had cleared out.
 
Jack rose and looked around. Carter was already up, her sleeping bag rolled up and packed. Always trustworthy, always dependable. She'd make a terrific leader one day, Jack proudly realized. Teal'c was also watching her, way too contemplative for this time of morning. A penny for your thoughts, my friend.
 
And Daniel was out by the shrubs, staring at the spot where the poor spider had been. An odd sort of compassion washed through Jack; Daniel looked so vulnerable, still so young in his approaching fortieth year. Was that because he wasn't really forty? He was, well, really just one, actually. Come to think of it.
 
The sky's orange hues caught Daniel's features, casting a golden glow on his cheeks and hair. Young. No, just younger than two days ago; he'd looked older back at the SGC, and much older last month in Nicaragua. Torture and terror could do that to a person.
 
Slipping out the glass door, Jack made his presence known well ahead of time. "Hey," he softly announced, sidling up behind the archeologist. Jack already knew what he'd find in those bushes, and wondered again how the hell he could possibly care about a spider.
 
"Look, Jack." Daniel was contemplative. There was an oddly reassuring spark to his demeanor. "It had a setback, and got right up and started over."
 
The spider was still there, and had indeed begun to rebuild its web, as intricate as the first, although not yet as large. Give it time.
 
"Just like you." The words were out of Jack's mouth before he could think.
 
"What?"
 
But now that he thought about it, he realized he was right. This planet was getting to him; words of wisdom were not his specialty. Not at this time of morning. "When you came back from being ascended. You had to start all over again." Again.
 
Daniel stared at Jack, pondering. Protesting. His voice was soft and gentle. "You're wrong. There is something here."
 
"Did I just lose a minute?"
 
"Last night," Daniel continued. "You said there's nothing here for us."
 
"Daniel - " No, they weren't staying any longer. No argument. No way to pull the blanket over his head out here and pretend to be asleep. Jack looked around for Teal'c's help or distraction.
 
"Our defenses. Not defenses for Earth, Jack; I mean, why would the Ancients want to give us those? They prefer to work with riddles, the meanings of things." He looked at the spider; the web was much more beautiful this second time. "Do you think that's why I wanted us to come here?"
 
"What? To see a spider?"
 
"No, Jack. To break down our defenses. Free us. Get us to relax."
 
"R and R? They could've sent us fishing."
 
"They did."
 
"You sure you're not still ascended? 'Cause you're making no sense. And this isn't Minnesota."
 
"When was the last time you looked at a spider, Jack?"
 
"Do I care?"
 
"We've been to a lot of planets; do you remember any bugs besides the one that bit Teal'c?"
 
Jack looked at Daniel suspiciously. "I ask you again, do I care?"
 
"Which planet had the most unusual birds, Jack? What colour were the clouds on 382?"
 
"Why does any of this matter?"
 
Daniel wasn't giving up. "Describe the painting hanging outside the general's office. How many new workers were in the commissary the morning we left? Which shirt was I wearing when I dropped by your place on Sunday?"
 
"No, three, and the blue checked one. Did you just get yourself a trivia game, Daniel, or is there a point to all this?"
 
"Two, and the beige one. Jack, we never look at the things around us any more. We go through the gate, beat the bad guys, grab the weapons, go back to the base to get MRI'ed, and go home. We never look at what's on the other side of the gate, or even where we happen to spend every day of our lives. We don't pay attention to where we're going or what we've just passed. We miss everything that has nothing to do with our missions." Little things. The taste of chocolate. The smell of rain. The sound of a friend's voice. Things that ascension denies. The feel of one's feet touching soil.
 
Like Daniel watching a spider, or befriending a soft animal? Like Carter having an answer ready just when he expected one, or Teal'c being everywhere he needed him to be just at the right moment? But everyone lives like that.
 
" … be with one another, starting again, Jack."
 
And Jack hadn't been listening.
 
How many of Daniel's words had he never listened to? And how much had he missed that, when the guy was gone?
 
Too many, too much.
 
He'd missed that, the earnestness in Daniel's eyes, the words. The soft voice lecturing him, theorizing. The gentleness and compassion - the simple kick in the butt taking the form of a little purple spider.
 
A spider with a geometrically-shaped web, resurrecting itself, never giving up. Those symbols on the columns were something; something only this planet understood. And probably Daniel, somewhere in a lost memory.
 
"I remember something, Jack. I remember missing little everyday things when I was ascended. Like watching you play with the artifacts on my desk. Hearing you say "Hey, Daniel". Watching you eat pie. Feeling Sam touch my arm when my thoughts drifted too deep. Sharing looks when Teal'c told a joke. The new sounds on each different planet we visited. The feeling of stepping on soil no other humans on Earth have ever touched." Daniel bit his lip, frowning. He remembered more. "I think I spent time here, Jack. And I wanted to take us here, all of us, together. I wanted you to see this place the way I did. The way I'd left it."
 
In order to relax. To enjoy themselves.
 
To bond.
 
Maybe there was something to Ancient riddles, after all. But this place had nothing to do with the Ancients; they had not sent them here. This was Daniel's place. He was sharing with them more than he realized.
 
"So you planned this for us, during your ascension?"
 
"Well, no, I doubt that. I didn't know I'd be back."
 
"But…?"
 
"But I would have found a way for the rest of you to come."
 
"And I'd've been watching a spider with Jonas?"
 
Daniel shrugged. "I would have been watching you all."
 
Nodding, Jack didn't know what else to say. Daniel had engineered SG1's appreciation of themselves. Not a small task for someone who no longer had been a part of the team. At the time. A surge of satisfaction washed over him, knowing Daniel was with them now. Resting his hand on Daniel's shoulder, together they watched the spider weave its intricate web. There was no real hurry; they could stay here a little bit longer, if that's what Daniel wanted.
 
Teal'c could teach them lok'nel, Carter could brighten their morning… just by being there. Daniel could teach them to see, and Jack could make sure they all stayed safe. And the Ancients could teach them that not everything was about weapons, and enemies, and saving the world.
 
First they would see and understand the world they wished to save.
 
And enjoy the surroundings with each other's company, for a little bit longer.
 
An extra day had actually been well worth it, Jack had to admit. His get-up-and-let's-get-going frame of mind had taken a turn to the pleasant side, spending another day hiking through the wildflowers with Daniel and Carter, no worries of enemies and danger and aliens. What Teal'c had done all day Jack had no idea, but he had chosen to remain behind. Perhaps he had been contemplating all the planets to which Apophis had taken him that he had never bothered to see either, planets where all he had obligingly done was arrive, conquer, and destroy.
 
Where, or how, Daniel had found this place was uncertain, but leave it to Daniel to have come up with the one place, other than Minnesota, that could actually settle Jack's nerves and force him to remember the reason gate travel had once seemed so appealing.
 
As SG1 now retreated back to the gate, by way of the stairs and through the tranquil meadows, Jack could sense the peacefulness circulating within each of his team members. The aura of satisfaction and acceptance was emanating from within, and Daniel seemed happiest of all. He had finally touched a moment and a memory that had connected him to a lost life and missing year. More importantly, he had inadvertently found a way to share it with the members of his team.
 
Several animals darted into tree holes, others skittered nervously towards the edge of the garden. But they were not looking at a team making its way towards the metallic ring; they were looking upward, and Daniel's sense of freedom turned to unease, an ominous sensation stirring within.
 
Suddenly their retreat was broken, the environment ahead flaring with light.
 
None of them had been expecting the brilliant white swirling glares that abruptly stalled them, blocking their way to the gate, and three teammates grabbed out for each other in reassurance. As if surrounded by a white-clad army, the garden was now awash with pulsating glows, slowly coalescing into more tangible presences. Faces… were they those Daniel had known just a few months before? Oma was not among them. Beings, shining in flowing glory -- or in anger.
 
The faces before them radiated disapproval, a sorrow that heated their inner souls. A disturbing impression pervaded the garden, and a single full human apparition took shape out of the myriad white mists.
 
"Daniel." The voice was a sound, perhaps not a word, a name, as they knew it. But they could understand the essence of the message. "Daniel."
 
Watching in shock, Daniel could not sense an emanation of benevolence. He froze, the fingers of two teammates holding onto his sleeves, and realized for the first time in as long as he could remember, he was out of words.
 
The genderless form spoke again, with thoughts or with words was uncertain, but the sounds echoed around them. "We knew you would want to remember."
 
More voices, but whether it was this single being speaking or many, was irrelevant. The echoes penetrating their minds or the atmosphere conveyed the unified thoughts of the pulsating group of lights. "You are too inquisitive, Daniel."
 
"Daniel?" Jack drew closer to his teammate. "What are they talking about? Who are they?"
 
"I have no idea." Daniel whispered beside him.
 
"Daniel." The voices enveloped them once more, the vibrations drawn out slowly. "You have brought your team to this place. Your place."
 
My place. My place?
 
Daniel could only stare, attempting to focus his thoughts. Attempting to remember. I watched them... Jack, Sam, Teal'c. I watched them from here. Yes...
 
"What's so wrong with Daniel bringing us here?" The sound of Carter's voice shattered the ethereal mood. "If this place was special to him, he just wanted to share it."
 
"Knowledge of the Ancients is restricted. Daniel chose to return to you with the promise that he would not reveal anything of his time with us."
 
"Classified information?" Jack frowned. "But Daniel can't remember anything."
 
"He has brought you here. The conditions of his return were to remain silent."
 
"Conditions?" Daniel queried, stepping away from his teammates' grasps and moving forward. "I don't understand."
 
This single glowing being continued to speak, the others forming a barrier across the meadow. The small animals cowered near their holes and bordering shrubs. "Only under silence were you allowed to return to this body. You have not kept your word."
 
"I don't remember making that promise."
 
"You did, Daniel. It was the only way we would allow you to leave us."
 
"What promise have I broken?… what is it you think I've revealed?"
 
"This place. It was private, not to be disclosed."
 
"Why not?"
 
"You were here as one of us."
 
"And now he's here as one of us," Jack cautioned. What did these beings want from Daniel now?
 
"So what do you want?" Daniel's nervous query echoed Jack's thoughts. "Why have you come here?"
 
"Your body was returned to you conditionally, Daniel. You must now release it and return with us. We will decide on your punishment."
 
"What?" Jack stepped forward, blocking Daniel partially from view, futile as the effort might be. "He's been on probation in his own body? Renting it from you?" Until the lease was up? A lease of silence? Crap.
 
"He must be permitted to remember no more."
 
Jack felt his anger and protectiveness surging. "Remember what, damn it? All we did was come to a new planet. We're explorers; it's what we do." Under any other circumstances he would have had his P90 already aimed at the parties who were threatening his teammate. But his weapons and threats were useless here, and he was duly worried that these lights would carry out their plans to take Daniel back with them. He knew only words would work against these odds, and fervently hoped that he could find the right ones.
 
"You did not find this planet by accident. Daniel has been accessing his denied memories."
 
"We did indeed discover this planet fortuitously," intervened Teal'c. "Daniel Jackson had no memory of this place before we arrived."
 
Carter and Jack turned to stare at Teal'c. Technically, he was right.
 
"That's true. We just plugged the coordinates into the computer and - whoosh, here we are," Jack confirmed, his hope renewed that they might all get out of here together.
 
"You had no coordinates that would have worked."
 
"What? Why not?"
 
"Because it was Daniel who created this place. It was his alone."
 
"I'm not following you." Jack noted the confusion on the faces of his teammates; even Teal'c was frowning now. Be in the moment, Daniel? Jack realized he was arguing with a semi-human-looking beam of light, once again for the life of his teammate. Life of normalcy, at any rate. What the hell?
 
"Coordinates, had you had them, would only have brought you here." As soon as the words were spoken, SG1 found themselves facing an environment of bare rock and sand, the horizons holding no variation of scenery, no enticing monuments or attractions, no evergreen trees or animals or wildflowers. The team turned around, observing, seeing their environment for the first time, but none of the beauty of the past three days remained. The somber sky left a shadowy grayness covering the brown landscape.
 
"This is what it really looks like?" Jack asked, spellbound.
 
"You now see, only Daniel could have brought you here, shown you this place as he saw it. It was his alone."
 
"He had a good reason."
 
"He was not allowed to use his knowledge."
 
"So you're going to take him from us again." Wrong words, Jack thought, but he had no others, yet.
 
"It was a deal agreed to by Daniel himself."
 
"But I don't want to go." The tremor and alarm in Daniel's voice almost masked the insistence.
 
"You must."
 
"No. I won't go with you." He backed away, bumping into Teal'c's body behind him.
 
"Daniel." The light expanded, as if displaying its strength and power. The choice was no longer up to Daniel, not this time. SG1's descended teammate had broken a promise that he didn't even remember making. Even in the world of ascension, it seemed, a deal was a deal.
 
"Please. I don't want to go." Daniel was beginning to panic, and Teal'c gently grasped his teammate's arms. "I'll try not to remember anything else. I…" promise? And they would believe him why?
 
"We gave you your chance, Daniel. You agreed to the terms."
 
"And now you're repossessing his body?" Jack's fury cut through his patience. At any moment he would try that P90, regardless of the futility or consequences. He'd never felt so utterly helpless while being so fully armed.
 
"We knew it would be temporary."
 
"Daniel didn't!"
 
"He was aware, at the same depth as his memories. He took that chance out of curiosity."
 
"He's always been curious. You can't hold that against him."
 
"He must come with us." The light flared again.
 
"No!" Daniel pushed himself tighter against Teal'c. The hands still held him, protected him.
 
"Perhaps you no longer believe the word of Daniel Jackson. Do you have reason to doubt the word of myself, or of Major Carter or O'Neill?"
 
Jack stopped glaring at the glow and faced Teal'c. What was his teammate proposing?
 
"We do not."
 
Teal'c calmly continued. "Then we have just visited a planet with only sand and rock. There is nothing here of further interest. I give you my word that no more will be mentioned of Daniel Jackson's special place. The MALP telemetry appears to have been erroneous."
 
"And I give you my word," Carter agreed, "as well. There's nothing here for us." Which was what the colonel had been trying to convince them of for the past three days, right? She wasn't outrightly lying.
 
"And we won't try to get Daniel to remember anything else. We won't listen if he does," Jack added. "I can ignore Daniel when I want to." His humour was lost on the Ancient being.
 
"You will lie for him," the brightly lit alien concluded.
 
"No." "Yes." Three voices chimed.
 
"Not lie," Jack explained. "Just divert some facts."
 
"You must not allow his knowledge to be put to use."
 
"We can do that."
 
"You have only one chance."
 
"Or?"
 
"We will come for him."
 
One chance. Would they know when Daniel's subconscious memories would be feeding him suggestions? They'd have to be careful to evaluate all information and theories of his from this moment on. His life was literally in their hands; Daniel might slip, but they would be the ones choosing to put his knowledge to use - or not.
 
"Close your eyes."
 
"Why?" Jack had taken enough orders from aliens for one day.
 
"This time you will not have to lie. The knowledge of this planet will leave you."
 
"But we - "
 
"Close your eyes." The instruction was adamantly and vehemently voiced.
 
They did as instructed.
 
SG1 opened their eyes and gazed around at the dismal environment. There was nothing for the eye to see for miles but sand and rock. "Nothing here, kids. Let's head back." Three days in this place had turned up nothing worthy of further study. Much as he trusted Daniel, enough was enough.
 
Daniel looked around uneasily. He'd been so sure about this place, but nothing was familiar. He had no idea why he'd ever wanted to come.
 
Jack was right; there must have been something going on while he'd been ascended, but whatever it was, it was long gone.
 
The stargate glinted in the near distance as the four teammates trudged silently through the sand towards it.
 
As soon as the wormhole shut down behind them, the little animals once again ventured from their hiding places, resuming their nibbling on the soft grasses and vibrant wildflowers, the breeze all that remained to rustle the meadow's stillness.
 
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