Enduring the Storm

Chapter 5

The beeping of one of the monitors changed as though shifting gears, bringing Jack to his feet. A nurse responded almost immediately and Carter and Teal'c moved back, allowing her to check the readout and then Daniel.

"What's going on?" Jack asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Fraiser suddenly appeared, pushing past Jack to check on her patient. "His organs are failing," she said. "If Thor doesn't—"

There was a bright flash of light and Jack found himself on Thor's ship, along with the rest of his team and Fraiser. Daniel was now lying on a low platform in the center of a circle of light, free of the intubation tube and all of the leads and monitors that had been attached to him.

"I apologize for the delay," Thor said as he stood at his console.

"Better late than never," Jack quipped, trying and failing to relieve his own tension.

Thor moved several control crystals on the console. "This is most unusual."

"What is it?" Fraiser asked, gaze shifting between Thor and Daniel.

"I am afraid I am unable to remove the Ancient knowledge from Doctor Jackson's mind."

"What?" Jack was stunned, unable to process the implications of Thor's statement.

"But you've done this before," Carter countered. "Why not now?"

"That is true, however, that situation was different. O'Neill interfaced with one of the Ancients' repositories. The information was foreign to his mind and easily detected and removed."

"And what of Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"The Ancient knowledge in his mind was not introduced from an outside source."

"And? So? Therefore?" Jack's patience was stretched like a rubber band ready to snap.

"The knowledge is a part of him. In that respect, he is an Ancient."

"But he's been carrying the knowledge inside him since he descended," Fraiser said. "He believes Oma locked it away so it wouldn't overwhelm his mind. Can't you lock it away again?"

"I do not have the knowledge or technology to do such a procedure. I am sorry."

"But… " Jack looked from Thor to Daniel, fear turning his blood to ice. If Thor couldn't heal him… He settled himself on the pallet and laid his hand on Daniel's arm. "Can you heal his body?"

"I may be able to heal some of it, but I'm afraid it will only be temporary."

"Sir," Carter said quietly, settling on the other side of the pallet, "do you really want to put Daniel through this again?"

Jack looked up and met her red-rimmed eyes. As much as he wanted to keep Daniel here with them, he wouldn't subject him to more pain, especially if it wasn't going to… save him. "No, I don't."

Teal'c and Fraiser moved closer, closing ranks around their teammate, as though the warmth of their presence would provide a miracle cure. Stranger things had happened. He just hoped Daniel knew they were here—that he wasn't alone.

The light surrounding them suddenly intensified and Daniel's body glowed for a brief second.

"Thor? Did you do something?" Jack asked.

"I did not. However, the readings have changed."

"Changed?"

"Yes. This is most unusual. It appears Doctor Jackson is—"

"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed as Daniel's arm moved in his grasp.

"—healing," Thor finished.

Daniel turned is head towards Jack and opened his eyes. "Jack?"

"Daniel? You're… how… what happened?"

His friend's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Not… sure."

Fraiser leaned in and took Daniel's pulse. "How are you feeling?"

"Janet?"

Fraiser beamed at him. "Glad you remember me."

She continued checking him over while Jack kept his hand firmly on Daniel's arm, as though he could anchor Daniel to this world, afraid if he let go his friend would dissolve into a million beads of light and float away. Not this time.

Fraiser finished her exam. "Pulse and temp are normal; he's breathing okay—"

"My scans show his body is returning to normal," Thor stated.

"Thor?" Daniel craned his neck to look around Jack, searching for the Asgard.

"How is that possible?" Jack asked.

"I do not know," Thor replied.

"Where are we?" Daniel's gaze was darting around the room.

"On Thor's ship," Carter replied taking Daniel's other hand in hers. Jack wasn't the only one trying to keep Daniel anchored to them.

"Why?"

"You were, uh, pretty sick," Jack answered, not wanting to reveal just how serious it had been, since his friend seemed to have no memory of it. Leave it to Daniel to figure it out.

"I must have been pretty bad if you called Thor. Wait… was I… dying?"

"The Ancient knowledge you possess was overwhelming your mind, which in turn led to your body shutting down." And leave it to Teal'c to state the blunt truth.

Jack was sure Daniel was going to have a permanent crease in his forehead if he didn't quit scrunching it together. "I know you've got a lot of questions, but maybe we should save them for later."

"Help me up."

Or not.

"Take it slowly, Daniel," Fraiser admonished as Jack and Carter helped him sit up. "Are you hurting anywhere?"

"Uh… not really. A little tired maybe. Anyone gonna tell me what's going on?"

Jack exchanged glances with his teammates and Fraiser, none of whom made a move to explain. He sighed. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Daniel's forehead creased again as he considered the question. "We were negotiating with the Rastarians."

"That's it?" Could he dare hope Daniel wouldn't remember the horror of the past six weeks?

"Colonel," Fraiser cautioned, "maybe we should save this for later."

"No, I need to know." Daniel closed his eyes as he fought to draw out the memories. "We toured the city. They weren't as advanced as us—very low tech. They let me look at some of their ancient texts and—" Daniel's face went pale and Jack felt minute tremors under his hand. "Oh, God."

Nope, no such luck. Jack wrapped his arm around Daniel's shoulders and held tightly as his friend dealt with the memories of the torture he'd endured. Carter kept her hold on his hand and rubbed her hand up and down his arm.

Jack remembered, too, every detail etched in his mind in living color. Daniel had discovered their 'god' was a Goa'uld and proceeded to tell them so. Which was a big no-no. They'd arrested him for blasphemy and thrown him in prison. And when SG- had been allowed to return, they'd been told that Daniel had sparked an uprising by trying to escape and taking some of the other prisoners with him. Jack had no idea if there was any truth to it, and he wasn't about to ask Daniel. Didn't matter now—it was over; wouldn't change anything one way or the other. Besides, nothing Daniel had done warranted the kind of treatment he'd received. Nothing.

The tremors subsided and Jack felt Daniel's muscles relax. He turned is head, pinning Jack with his deep blue gaze. "How… how long… "

Now it was Jack's turn to tense up. How was he going to explain this to his friend? That they hadn't been able to come for him sooner? Anything he said would sound trivial in the face of Daniel's suffering. But Daniel demanded the truth and Jack wouldn't deny him. He'd accept the consequences, no matter what they were. "Six weeks."

Eyelids fluttered closed, shutters against the truth.

"We're so sorry, Daniel," Carter managed to say, her voice choking. "We tried—"

Daniel grabbed for Carter's hand, eyes flying open and head shaking. "Don't, Sam. I know you guys would do anything to get me out. I'm not blaming you for this."

She tried to smile, nodding her head without speaking.

"How did you get me out?"

"The Rasties had a change of heart," Jack said, drawing Daniel's gaze.

"What changed their minds?"

"I made them an offer they couldn't refuse."

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "What did you do?"

"O'Neill assaulted the First Minister," Teal'c said, voice sounding downright smug.

"I didn't assault him! I just sort of… punched him… in the face."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"The First Minister was extremely forthcoming afterward," Teal'c added.

"He gave us the key, we made our way in, found you, and left again."

"Why do I have the feeling you've left something out?"

"When we found you, you were speaking Ancient." Teal'c was helpful, if nothing else.

"I was speaking Ancient?" A range of emotions crossed Daniel's face, from surprise to confusion.

"Something must have… triggered it," Carter said hesitantly.

"But you managed to hang on till we got there," Jack added.

"I knew you'd come," Daniel said quietly. "It was the only thing… that kept me going."

"It's over now, Daniel. No need to dwell. What's important is that we found you and brought you home."

"They just let you walk in, get me, and walk out again?"

Jack sighed. Like a dog with a bone. "Okay, so they were reluctant to let us leave. Teal'c blew the gate open, some of your fellow prisoners decided to take advantage of it, and the First Minister and his goons tried to stop us."

Daniel searched the faces around him. "How did you get away?"

"Actually, it was a bit odd," Carter replied. "A storm suddenly came up—lots of lightning and wind. In fact, it blew some of the Rastarians off their feet and they ran back to the village. It was almost as though the storm targeted them."

Daniel stared, a faraway look in his eyes. "I remember that."

"Well, you did open your eyes at that point," Jack said. "I figured the storm woke you up."

Daniel continued to stare silently. Jack shook his arm, afraid he was having a relapse. "Daniel?"

His friend turned toward him, his eyes the deepest blue Jack had ever seen them. Daniel shook his head and looked away. "Yeah, that was it."

A tiny shiver slithered up Jack's spine. There was something Daniel wasn't telling him. However, now wasn't the time to press the issue. He'd save that for later.

"I suggest we get you back to the SGC," Janet said, apparently having similar feelings.

"Thor, buddy, thanks for dropping everything and coming to help." Jack was extremely grateful the Asgard were their allies.

"You are welcome, even though I do not believe I did anything to aid Doctor Jackson."

And there it was—a slew of unanswered questions: Daniel's mostly healed wounds that by all rights should have been festering with infection, Daniel speaking Ancient, a sudden storm that facilitated their escape, and a comatose Daniel suddenly returned to health, or at least on his way to it.

Thor had insisted he'd done nothing, but something had caused Daniel to start healing. Jack had his theories, but he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to get any answers from Daniel—his memory, at least for the moment, was like Swiss cheese. Part of Jack wanted to know, and part of him was just happy to have his friend back. Could he be satisfied with that?

Daniel's arm was warm beneath Jack's hand, free of radiation sores, healthy and alive. His friend had been given another chance, but so had Jack. How many people got the opportunity to do things over—to do them right? A chance to say things he hadn't been able to the first time; to let Daniel know he was valued… and yes, loved. It was a gift, not to be questioned. So yeah, Jack could be satisfied with it.

Jack met Daniel's gaze. "Doesn't matter, Thor. We've got Daniel back, and that's all that counts."

A genuine smile from his friend confirmed his statement.

"Let's go home."

The End