Varia

[ansostuff]

Title: Varia
Author: Anso
Rating: PG
Category: Gen, drama, h/c
Word count: 31 672 words in six parts
Characters: SG-1, General Jack O’Neill.
Timeline: Early season eight. Not directly episode related but the story is set shortly after “Lockdown” and “Zero Hour”. The season 2 episode “Spirits” is mentioned, as is Daniel’s ascension. There are also small references to other episodes throughout the series..
Warnings: None really, except perhaps for an almost naked Daniel and two bad words. The story is also somewhat medically graphic.
Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing. As always, any and all mistakes are mine.
A/N: Big hugs and thanks go to my beta Rosie for giving this a read-through.
Summary: General O’Neill is happy to be able to go with SG-1 on a peaceful mission, but the joy of the mission is somewhat hampered by his and the rest of SG-1’s worry over Daniel…



PART ONE

“Good morning, campers!” Brigadier General Jack O’Neill’s voice rang out joyfully as he strode purposefully into the gateroom, dressed in BDU’s with his ball cap on his head and a P90 strapped to his chest.

“Good morning, sir,” Sam said, looking at her CO bemusedly as she finished adjusting her vest. “Are you ready?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jack had been looking forward to this mission like a little kid. It’d been a while since he’d gone through the Stargate and now the king on P7C 884 had requested that he’d only finalize their business with the commander of the SGC if his people, the Varians, were to trade with Earth.

After SG-7’s initial recon, the SGC had sent a diplomatic unit to do most of the negotiations. Now all that was left to do was to sign the trade agreement and join the banquet. Earth had many things the Varians needed and wanted, and in return Varia could provide Earth with minerals and herbs that the preliminary testing had shown were promising for multiple purposes. Easy as pie, Jack thought. He would get to spend a few days with his team. Or rather, he’d get to spend a few days with the SGC’s premiere team, he corrected himself, thinking he needed to get used to this. They weren’t his team any more. Not officially speaking, anyway. But it was common knowledge that Jack always would have a special place in his heart for SG-1. He was going to get a few days alone with them, and most importantly, go off-world again. Not that he didn’t like being general; it could be fun, but this was what he liked best. Most of the time SG-1 functioned well as a three man team but they had all openly told Jack they’d be more than happy to have him join them on any mission he liked. They missed him. Not that they’d said that in so many words. Well, Daniel had, but Jack understood the others’ subtlety loud and clear.

“O’Neill.” Teal’c inclined his head in greeting and Jack dipped his head slightly in return, smiling, adjusting his ball cap. Was that a smile he’d seen on Teal’c’s face? Jack thought so.

“Morning, Teal’c.” Jack could feel his grin splitting his face in two. Yep, this was going to be fun.

“What is it that amuses you?” Teal’c asked, sounding completely unimpressed by Jack’s joyous greeting.

“Oh, I’m just happy to see you guys, going off-world again and all that. Sign another trade agreement, get some nice new herbs and plants for the geeks to look at, perhaps some technology for Carter to drool over, the usual stuff.”

“Indeed.” Teal’c smiled. “It is good to have you with us, O’Neill.”

“Thank you, Teal’c. Daniel?” Jack walked over to his friend whom so far had been quiet, preoccupied with his pack.

“Jack?” Daniel looked up at him over the rim of his glasses, a puzzled look on his face, as if he was trying to remember or thinking hard about something.

“Good morning,” Jack said patiently.

Silence. Jack stared at Daniel. What was he doing? “Good morning, Daniel,” Jack said one more time.

“Oh. Mornin’,” Daniel’s greeting was, when it finally came, somewhat muffled as he was sitting on his knees on the gateroom floor, his head buried in his pack, rooting around for something, mumbling softly to himself.

Oh yeah. Some things hadn’t changed a bit since he’d taken over command of the SGC. Come to think of it, some things hadn’t changed at all, Jack thought as he watched Daniel do the distracted thing for the millionth time. Jack waited a minute before calling Daniel’s name to get his attention again. “Daniel? What’s the delay?”

“Had to find this,” Daniel said, holding up a blister pack. “I’d thought I’d put it in my vest, but it must have ended up in the pack with the rest of my stuff when I packed earlier.”

Jack frowned. Distracted or otherwise focused as Daniel could be at times, and as littered with all kinds of artefacts, books and things his office was, Daniel was a meticulous, tidy person who knew where everything was and had a place for everything. To others his filing system might be a mystery, but Daniel rarely had to search for the things he needed, he always knew where they were. Unless he’d been away from his office for a while and the other archaeologists had used his office as a library of sorts without Daniel being there to guide them to what they needed to borrow. Then, Daniel had to put everything back how he liked them before he could start working.

“What is it?” Sam asked. “It doesn’t look like your regular antihistamines.”

“That’s because it’s not.” It was SOP that Daniel and one of his team mates always carried blister packs of allergy meds in addition to the epi-pen that were standard equipment in the med kits. The MALP could only tell so much about the floral condition the planets they visited were in, and experience had told them to bring more than what Daniel needed on an everyday basis.

Jack looked at the blister pack as well. He didn’t recognise it. When Daniel descended last year, both Daniel himself and Doc Fraiser had told Jack that Oma had left Daniel just as he was before he ascended, minus the radiation poisoning. Which meant Daniel’s body was basically unchanged. Fraiser had scanned and tested Daniel with all available equipment at the SGC and then some, and found scar tissue, healed fractures and old scars to be where they’d been before he ascended. This also meant that Daniel still had his allergies.

“It’s Zofran,” Daniel said, rising from his kneeling position on the floor and taking the blister pack from Sam. “I’ve been having an upset stomach lately. I’m just a little queasy. It’s nothing to worry about. ”

“And you failed to mention this in the briefing, how?” Jack was in Daniel’s face now, his stomach turning into knots. Was Daniel sick and had failed to tell them? “Daniel, you know the rules. God! You’ve been doing this for years! Don’t you ever learn?” Jack pinned Daniel with his gaze, searching his face for any signs of illness. He couldn’t find anything. Okay, that was perhaps a little harsh, Jack thought. He knew Daniel wasn’t stupid but he still lacked a proper sense of self-preservation in Jack’s opinion.

“Jack, listen to me.” Daniel said, going for the calm and collected approach. The control room was full of people and the communications channels were open.

“No, Daniel, you listen to me. If there is even the slightest chance that a member of a team may be slowing the mission down for health reasons, that team member is to sit the mission out. You know this! God, Daniel! How many times do we have to go through this?” Jack threw his hands up in frustration, the happiness gone in a flash.

“Jack,” Daniel protested. “Calm down.”

“I thought you had learned this by now, Daniel. You have learned how to be a soldier when you need to, but looking after your health is like a blind spot with you.” This wasn’t a dangerous mission, but if Jack knew anything about Stargate travel it was that the seemingly most peaceful world could be the biggest threat. A team member who wasn’t functioning a hundred percent could be a potential danger and hindrance to the mission. Jack knew Daniel knew this.

“Jack!” Getting nowhere fast, Daniel raised his voice.

“Sir, Daniel.” Sam’s voice was calm but stern. “There’s no need to yell.” Sam stepped closer to Daniel, touching his arm. “Daniel?”

Daniel barely glanced at her and turned to Jack. “Jack, listen. I’m not sick. I said I was a little queasy,” Daniel emphasized the last word, drawing it out. “It’s not the end of the world. You’re overreacting.” Daniel sighed. “I’ve been to the infirmary. I got the pills from Dr. Brightman earlier this morning.”

Jack stepped back a little, looking at him properly, almost annoyed that he couldn’t see anything being wrong with Daniel’s health. Perhaps he’d been yelling for no reason? Daniel looked well, a bit pale and drawn perhaps, but that could be anything. Or nothing. His hair was mussed as if he’d had too little time to prepare for the mission and just rubbed it dry after he showered foregoing combing it. Another evidence to that fact was that Daniel hadn’t taken the time to shave. There was a slight hint of reddish-brown beard on his face looking to Jack like two-day old stubble. The somewhat rumpled look wasn’t how Daniel usually looked. Jack knew that Daniel, without being vain, was as meticulous about his looks as he was with his work, but today he looked like he’d skipped a few steps. Jack was glad to know his warning bells still worked.

Looking a little closer Jack wondered if Daniel actually had lost some weight lately. Jack took a few deep breaths. Perhaps Carter was right. Jack’s instincts told him to haul Daniel off to the infirmary for some tests. As Daniel had pointed out, Jack knew he had a tendency to overreact. He had been happy this morning and there was a delegation waiting for them on the other side of the wormhole, so Jack decided to let it go, for now. Jack decided that he probably was overzealous and a little nervous to go off-world with his friends again, and therefore had overreacted. Daniel had an upset stomach. It was perfectly understandable, Jack decided. Everyone could get that without it meaning they would be slowing the mission down or that they were sick.

Actually, knowing Daniel’s eating habits as he did pretty well by now, Jack was surprised Daniel didn’t have an upset stomach more often. But then, perhaps he did, Jack thought, his anger flashing again. He might have that often for all Jack knew. Daniel didn’t tell you how he was feeling unless he was forced to or couldn’t hide it. Even with his friends and after all these years on SG-1 Daniel was still too good at hiding his feelings for Jack’s liking. The good thing was that Jack, Carter and Teal’c knew Daniel so well by now that they saw what he was going through most of the time anyway.

Reminding himself again that it wasn’t every day he got to go off world with SG-1, Jack made a mental note to keep an eye on Daniel and just send him home if he started to get sick. And if Daniel had lost weight Jack would fatten him up in no time. Just give the guy a few hearty, regular, meals, and he’d be back to his match weight in no time. Pulling himself out of his musings and back to the reality of a mission waiting Jack let go of his anger and clapped Daniel on the shoulder and said flippantly

“So, had too much coffee, didja?” Jack asked in his own sarcastic-caring way, locking his gaze with Daniel’s. Jack knew Daniel could read him just as well as he read Daniel, which meant Daniel probably knew what Jack just had been thinking.

“I’m fine,” Daniel said, finishing doing up his pack and clipped it onto the back of his vest.

“If you say so,” Jack said, immediately kicking himself mentally for letting that slip out. He walked out of Daniel’s personal space and stood closer to the ramp.

“Jack,” Daniel said sounding irritated. “You know I’ve been translating runes for SG-22 for a week now. The negotiations will fall through if we don’t understand every word of The Documentation of Law. You know how excruciatingly detail-focus those people are. You’ve sat through hours of negotiations with them yourself.”

“I know,” Jack nodded. Oops. Daniel had seen right through him and now he was trying to explain his behaviour. He shouldn’t have needed to. Couldn’t Daniel just have ignored that comment? Jack knew very well what Daniel had been doing lately. Jack ducked his head and started to fiddle with the strap to his zat, fastening it again. When he looked up again Daniel’s eyebrows were almost up to his hairline and he held his head just so, blinking at Jack then frowning. Daniel was right. He had been working much too hard at that translation. It’d been touch and go there for a while because of the sheer quantity of translation needing to be done and the short time span Daniel had had to do it in. The SGC’s runologist was off on a 2 month long dig that was a two day’s walk through rough terrain away from the ‘gate and Jack hadn’t wanted to recall her unless he was forced to. Jack knew that if he asked Daniel, he’d give it his best shot, which in Jack’s opinion, was as perfect as any translation could be. Daniel always did his best, no matter what task was presented to him. On top of the translation, Daniel had also been occupied with the reorganization of his department due to the newly added personnel and the extensive training they needed just to be able to work at the SGC.

“I finished the translation last night, everything’s ready.” Daniel said. “Nyan’s working on the training as we speak. He’s an excellent teacher and can do a lot of it by himself by now.”

“Good.” Jack said. He looked at Daniel again, first now noticing the dark circles under his eyes. “Did you sleep at all last night?” Jack asked. If Daniel said he’d finished the translation last night it could very well mean that he’d finished it an hour before they were to leave for this mission. Remembering the unfamiliar blister pack, he added, “Have you eaten breakfast?”

Daniel ignored his question, confirming Jack’s suspicion. “Yes.” Daniel said.

”Yes to what?” Jack asked.

“Jack!”

Jack raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said tersely, walking around Jack so he could stand on the other side of Teal’c who had worn an amused look on his face throughout their conversation, clearly enjoying the familiar arguing.

“You sure everything’s okay?” Jack asked, not being able to help it.

Daniel gave a long-suffering sigh. “Yes Jack, I am fine,” He put the blister pack in his vest and zipped it up over his jacket, accepting the P90 that Teal’c had been holding for him and clipped that to the vest.

Jack settled. He believed him. Daniel had enough experience to tell them if he really was sick. But he should have taken the time to get some proper sleep before the mission. The leaders from P82 311 wasn’t due to return in a few days, which was why Jack had time to go with SG-1 on this trip, but Jack relied on Daniel to be with him when they came back to the negotiation table.

Finally turning his attention to the control room Jack waved, indicating the ‘gate. “Dial it up, Walter.” If Dr. Brightman had let Daniel off the hook, it couldn’t be that bad, Jack decided. But he made a mental note to have a chat with the still relatively new doctor about the care of certain archaeologists when he returned. She’d clearly not been reading all the fine print.


*****


Stepping out of the Stargate Daniel had to take a little helping step as his stomach lurched from the transition through the wormhole. He’d stepped through the ‘gate so many times so that unless it was a rough ride, it never registered with him any more how he exhaled before stepping into the wormhole, inhaling as he stepped out, then shivering slightly for barely a second as the coldness of space left his reassembled body and his stomach settled from the tumble his molecules had taken. Now, Daniel swallowed hard and breathed a little more heavy than the smooth transition should warrant and took a moment to let his stomach settle.

He’d not lied to his team. He was fine. But recently he’d begun to feel nauseous more and more often and food was less and less appealing. He’d not intended to say anything at the pre mission physical, but he’d been nauseous all morning and the doctor had noticed he looked a little green. Daniel had insisted he was just a little tired and that it would pass, completely failing to mention this wasn’t the first time he’d woken up nauseous in the middle of the night, consequently lying awake most of the night in hope that it’d pass. By early morning the tiredness outweighed the nausea and he fell asleep with a bowl clutched in his hands in case he’d not make it to the bathroom in time. Most nights he made it. In the mornings, as he went about his daily business, the nausea decreased enough for him to manage to drink a bit of coffee, eat something and do his job. He’d not lied to Jack about having slept last night. He had slept. It wasn’t much and it was more early morning than night when he’d exhaustedly tumbled to bed, but he had slept. A little.

After giving him the blister pack with Zofran earlier, the doc had told him to cut back on the coffee and sent him on his merry way, but also letting him know in no uncertain terms that if he wasn’t better in a few days he’d come see her. If it’d been Fraiser or Warner who’d seen him, Daniel was sure he’d not be let off so easily, but there were several new doctors in the infirmary and they didn’t know Daniel as well as Fraiser had. Plus it’d been a busy morning with seven teams going off almost simultaneously, SG-1 as the last.

Doctor Warner was still around. The old combat surgeon would know Daniel was fooling him the minute he set eyes upon him. His team would, too, which is why he’d carefully avoided breakfast this morning. He could take the time it took to get a few pieces of toast to sit comfortably at home, or skip breakfast altogether, something he’d been doing more and more often. Daniel didn’t want his friends to worry. This was a special mission. It was rare that Jack got to go off-world and Daniel didn’t want to destroy the reunion with a bit of an upset stomach. He’d get through this. After all, they were just signing a trade agreement. For this reason Daniel was especially relieved when the nausea had eased and his stomach settled nicely after he’d been in the infirmary and as he got ready for the mission. Also, Teal’c had not mentioned he looked unwell in the locker room. The Jaffa was ever observant and would have asked Daniel if he was unwell if he’d seen him look even the slightest shade of green. The doc had told him that he could take as much as three Zofran per day and Daniel wanted to avoid taking one as long as possible. They were to be taken on an empty stomach, which Daniel figured shouldn’t be a problem.

“You’re on.” Jack nudged his shoulder and Daniel forced his thoughts back to the here and now.

Daniel looked at the large group of people standing at the bottom of the stairs leading from the Stargate into the vast city lying before them.

The city looked modern in architecture, yet it wasn’t as sleek and dull as some completely modernized cities looked. SG-17, the diplomatic team, had given a thorough report of the negotiations. The report also explained that the people on Varia had been transplanted from many different places of Earth and in several stages, and that although their cities looked modern, they were a simple people, and that their technology was not as advanced as the modern buildings made it appear.

“Look at them,” Daniel murmured excitedly to Jack, indicating the waiting enourage with a slight tilt of his head, “they look like Tonani’s people.”

“You mean those Native Americans we met, when was that again?” Jack asked in a hushed voice.

“A long time ago. The leader could very well be,” Daniel responded, still in a quiet tone.

“At least these guys didn’t take our people hostage and send an arrow through the Stargate to get warn us to not come back.” Jack continued.

“Yes, there is that.” Daniel said, smiling slightly at Jack’s joke, remembering the mission well. His smile turned into a grimace though, when he remembered it was Jack who had been shot with that arrow. It had leapt through the open gate, shot through the bullet proof window in the briefing room, barely missed General Hammond and shot straight into Jack’s arm. That mission had also been Sam’s first command, Daniel remembered. The people on the planet had been friendly at first, almost giddy, but their spirits or guardians or whatever they were weren’t so happy when the SGC had wanted to mine for the trinium that the mountains were full of. The Varians, like Tonani’s people, Daniel saw, appeared to only use the modern technologies at their disposal for what they needed but had kept their culture as original as they could.

The entourage now standing before them was proof of this: They wore elaborately decorated, flowing gowns of rich earthly colours. Unlike Tonani and his people, these people dressed in a mix that wasn’t so much Native American as it was a bit of this and that assembled from the various cultures the people originated from.

The king was simply dressed like the others in a forest green gown yet, instead of the Native American-looking headpiece that Daniel had expected to find accompanying his clothes, his head was adorned with a gold headpiece that Daniel was sure had Norse origins, the slightly protruding horn-like additions on the sides bearing resemblance to a Viking helmet. The skyscrapers and glass facades of the buildings behind bore them a deep contrast to their homemade dress. All over steel-like constructions could be seen, rising high and spreading wide. Among the grey buildings and roads there were large areas of green, lush, gardens and parks with tall trees. Daniel was fascinated and eagerly stepped forth, his arms stretched out to his sides, palms up, in greeting, smiling broadly, pushing down on his lingering queasiness.

“Greetings, friends from the Tau’ri! Welcome to Varia. This is our fair capital city Variana.”

“Thank you. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you and have heard much about you from the team we sent here. I’m Daniel Jackson. This is General Jack O’Neill, Colonel Sam Carter and Teal’c.” Daniel said, indicating his friends.

“I am King Walmar and this is Chi, who will be overseeing the signing of the trade agreement.” Walmar was tall and thin with short white hair and green eyes. Chi was large and muscled and looked Gaelic in origin with his red curly hair and thin moustache. His Chinese-inspired name confusing Daniel at first, until he remembered what he’d read about Varia’s history in SG-17’s report. If there was a planet where cross-pollination of cultures really had happened, this was it, Daniel had read, intrigued by the diversity of the population. Many planets had people transplanted from several different parts of Earth, but he’d never seen or read about it happening as much as it had on Varia.

“Pleased to meet you,” Daniel said. SG-17 had explained that Jack wasn’t a king but that he was their leader and had the authority to trade on Earth’s behalf.

“Come,” Chi said to Jack, leading the way. “We have prepared some refreshments for you. Then we will give you a tour of our city. We are expecting a heavy rain storm later today so we’d better get started if you want to see what we have to show you before the storm sets in. The weather is quite unstable this time of year.”

Daniel listened to Chi’s chatter with half his attention and tried not to gulp. Refreshments? And here he’d been happy that he was feeling fine. Daniel didn’t want to ruin that by eating now. He felt for his canteen. He was thirsty. He could do with a sip of water, but he didn’t think he’d be able to keep anything down. He’d had a sip of coffee before leaving for work, but the bitter liquid had burned going down and not sat well with him since, which was why he’d been caught feeling nauseous in the infirmary. He’d started using milk and sugar in his coffee to mask the bitterness, but that didn’t always help relieve his upset stomach.

Jack must have heard him because he turned and looked at Daniel expectantly, an eyebrow raised in question. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Really?” Jack retorted. “Because I saw you turn a little green just now, and I don’t count that as fine. Have you eaten anything today at all?”

“I’m fine. I’m just a bit queasy, is all. I’ll take one of those pills.” Daniel patted his vest, indicating where he’d put his meds and took out the blister pack, popping one of the pills out and returning the rest to his vest. He reached for his canteen and took a small sip.

“I’m just worried about you,” Jack said, He’d give Daniel the benefit of the doubt for now, but it did not escape him that Daniel hadn’t answered if he’d eaten or not. Carter had been right earlier. It wasn’t necessary to blow this out of proportions. Jack watched Daniel as they walked towards the palace. Daniel was drinking from his canteen, so he couldn’t be feeling that bad, could he?

The palace was neither large nor elaborately decorated. Constructed of the same steel like material as the rest of the city, it still stood out from the other buildings by the simple fact that it was only three storeys tall. It was situated at the end of a long, winding walkway flanked by yellow bushes and tall trees. At the top of the walkway you could see the whole city before you. Chi led them through several rooms before showed them into a comfortable sitting room with large windows overlooking a large patio and a lush garden. There were several groups of chairs and tables and along one wall there was a large table filled with all kinds of food and drink. If Daniel had been the slightest bit hungry he’d be salivating over the smells and look of the delicately arranged food.


“Friends, visitors! Please sit.” Daniel watched as Chi loaded a plate with samples of the food and presented it to king Walmar with a bow. Chi then turned to SG-1 and indicated the table with his hand. “Please, sample our foods and drink. It is prepared by our finest cooks.” He walked towards the table, indicating the platters and several jugs on the table. “This is water, this is wine and this is sweet juice.”

“It smells and looks delicious,” Daniel offered, figuring he ought to say something. “I’m sure it’ll taste wonderful as well.” Daniel waited till Jack had started loading his plate before taking a cup and filling it half full with water. He then took a plate and picked two small pieces of fruit that looked like grapes from an overflowing bowl and put them on his plate with some bread.

“So, king Walmar, please tell me about this city of yours. Or diplomatic team explained their theory about your people being transplanted from many different places on Earth?” Daniel said when everyone had filled their plates and eaten in silence for a few minutes.

“That is correct. We had suspicion that we did not originate here and your team explained to us how and why they thought we’d been placed here all those generations ago. It is my understanding that a race called the Goa’uld once reigned this part of the galaxy through fear and destruction and that the peoples of the planets they ruled were slaves. Isn’t that so?”

“Indeed,” Teal’c said. “I myself have been a servant of one of these Goa’ulds but now my people are free.”

“Incredible.” Walmar said, smiling at Teal’c. “You must tell me more about how that came to be.”

Daniel listened as Teal’c started explaining about symbiotes and Jaffa, slavery and System Lords. He felt Jack watching him and started to nibble on the piece of bread in his hand.

The conversation flowed around him, Jack and Sam joining in occasionally, explaining things, asking questions. For a while Daniel’s concentration was on the queasiness which got a little worse before Daniel felt it recede almost completely and the bit of bread settling. Breathing a sigh of relief he ate the rest of the chunk of bread he’d torn off and started on one of the fruits.

“Dr. Jackson is our expert on languages, so he would be able to tell you more about the origins of your language,” Daniel heard Jack say and focused on the conversation again.

“Jack?”

He could almost hear Jack say ‘Damn it, Daniel! Where did you go?’ but what came out was “Chi here is a bit of a cultural buff, just like you. Imagine that?” Jack said with a smile. He was getting worried about Daniel. He was sure Daniel had looked a little green there for a while, beads of sweat forming on his upper lip. Daniel usually headed these kinds of conversations with ease, flowing over with questions and curiosity. Sure, SG-17 had laid the ground for them, explained quite a few things. But they weren’t Daniel. And now Daniel had been much more quiet than he usually was. SG-17 was good, but they didn’t know everything Daniel did about the cross-pollination of cultures and how and why the people of Varia came to be.

“Yes of course.” Daniel answered quickly, feeling even more embarrassed. What was up with him today? Feeling chilly all of a sudden, he shivered. A headache was starting behind his right eye, as well as a sudden ache in his belly that did not feel like the nausea he’d experienced earlier. Was there something wrong with the food? He’d not felt this way earlier when his stomach had been upset.

“It is quite simple, really. You have been transplanted here from various corners of Earth by the Goa’uld’s. As it looks their initial plan for your people was to use you as slaves, and from what I’ve read there is evidence to that fact in your history.” Daniel said.

“Yes, that is true,” Chi said.

“The transplantation and the cultural development you have gone through over the centuries isn’t in general terms too far from what has happened on Earth. This means that the language you speak today is close to the English we speak and makes it possible for all of us to understand each other. Your technical development is similar to ours in some ways. Your houses and buildings looks a lot like the modern cities of Earth. To come to this point you also need a developed language. English, as the language is called on Earth, is originally based on words from many different languages, something that we see more clearly in the version of it you speak here. For instance…” A loud thunder could be heard in the distance and Daniel stopped speaking and looked out through the vast expanse of glass on the other side of the room. The sky was darkening a little.

“I’m sorry. The rest will have to wait, Dr. Jackson. The storm is approaching. You must come if you wish to see the city before it is here,” King Walmar rose from his chair. “It is time for our tour.”

“Of course,” Daniel was used to Jack’s interruptions all the time and din’t think twice about being interrupted by their host. He rose with the others and he and Chi continued the conversation as they walked out of the palace towards what was one of the governmental buildings.


*****


In Jack’s opinion the tour was tedious and boring, but he enjoyed watching his team enjoying the tour. There was much for them to see and nothing here warned him that things weren’t as kosher as they seemed, but he kept his hands on his weapon all the same. It didn’t hurt to look prepared for anything. The reports, both the preliminary report from the initial recon, and the report SG-17 delivered, showed no potential dangers. Now Carter and Daniel were constantly asking questions, walking up front with Chi and King Walmar. Teal’c kept pace with Jack and the rest of the entourage followed behind, occasionally making conversation with them. Daniel was doing a good job at hiding that he wasn’t feeling as well as he wanted everyone to believe. Daniel had definitely taken a turn for the worse at the end of their meal and Jack was pleased to see that Carter had caught on as well and was constantly assessing Daniel’s condition and keeping a close eye on him. Jack had seen the pinched look on Daniel’s face that clearly indicated that he had a headache.

After two hours of touring they stopped to rest at an indoor garden where there were more food set out for them. Chi waited on Walmar and SG-1 helped themselves to a few pieces of meats, bread and fruit before sitting down. Jack hadn’t been happy with the small amount of food Daniel had put on his plate earlier. Now Daniel was eating, but Jack wondered if he only ate to be polite. He was sure he hadn’t missed Daniel being nauseous earlier. If Daniel was all better again now, no one was happier than Jack. He caught Carter’s attention but she only shook her head. Apparently Daniel suddenly feeling better was a mystery to her as well. Perhaps what ailed him was only something that passed quickly and they’d been worried for no reason? Only time could tell.

“You’d think these people would be fatter if they eat this often.” Jack murmured as he sat down beside Daniel, his own plate loaded with all kinds of delicacies.

“Not necessarily. It depends on what and how often they eat. With most people food play an important role in showing the prosperity and wealth of a culture and it is also important in a social context.” Daniel cut a bit of red meat off a bone, adding it to a broccoli-like vegetable he’d already speared on his fork. “Just think what we do on Earth. Every social gathering includes foods in one form or other.”

“I know that,” Jack answered. “I’m just saying.”

“Okay.” Daniel smiled indulgently, knowing Jack’s attention span was short and that he wasn’t half as stupid as he let on. Letting the subject go Daniel turned back to Chi and Jack faced his 2IC.

“So, Carter, what do you think of the construction work around here?” Jack asked.

“It’s incredible, sir. It’s comparable to steel, but I haven’t quite figured out what makes it different from what we’ve seen so far. It has a few common aspects with trinium but the density reminds me of naquadriah. We got a few samples for study when the SG-17 was here, there is an alloy—”

“Carter!” Jack interrupted, sensing a lengthy explanation was coming. “Bottom line?”

Sam smiled. “The preliminary testing shows that the material has the same qualities and purposes as steel.”

“So it’s steel,” Jack said.

“Yes sir, in a matter of speaking.”

“Okay. Teal’c, have you seen any signs of Goa’uld or other activity that we should be aware of?”

“No, I have not. It is a peaceful world. The Goa’uld’s have not been here for centuries.”

Satisfied that his team was doing their jobs, Jack focused his attention on his meal again. The fish here was to die for, he decided. And those red pea-like vegetables were not at all bad.


*****


The tour continued after they’d eaten. “This is where we store our ancient scrolls and historical documents,” Chi explained. “If you would like to, I can show you some of them now,” he said to Daniel. “I was most intrigued by what you said about our language earlier. I have not seen much recording of the origins of it. There are however scrolls in the archives that may help further explain the things we’ve already talked about regarding the various cultures our ancestors brought with them from Earth.”

“Thank you, that is very kind of you. It seems as though you’ve found a nice way to coexist. The development of your language shows that. With peoples from as many cultures as you have on Varia it’s amazing that you’ve found enough common ground to develop your language this far.”

“There have been wars, as I’m sure you can guess, and we’ve had our differences. But it was decided a long time ago that a simple life is what is the best for all of us and the governments have always tried to keep things simple. Time and again this has prevented wars among our people. There is no status in wealth or earthly riches here. There are always those who believe so and attempt to gain these things, but they soon learn that it does not make them happier.”

“How do you manage that?” Jack asked.

“It is simple. It is in bettering ourselves and doing our best to become wiser and more educated we do this,” King Walmar explained.

“Do you believe in a higher power, a god?” Daniel asked. “Is there something that is bigger than yourselves that unite you as a people aside from the education?”

“When we learned that the Goa’ulds were only people who were slaves to a parasitic demon we renounced all religion and only seek to increase our knowledge and understanding of the world. Some believe there is a higher power but it has not been defined. When your team came through the Gateway and explained much of what we had guessed a peace settled upon many of our people. We got answers to many of our questions. And quite a few questions arose from the answers, I might add. I’m glad to see that you are able to provide answers to some of those. You are very wise, Dr. Jackson. You must be held high in esteem on Earth?”

“Thank you,” Daniel said embarrassed. “Things are a little different on Earth. Knowledge and education are valued, but only to some extent. You are a small group of people compared to all the millions of people populating Earth, which I guess is the reason why you’ve managed to come to some form of cultural consensus. That is not possible on Earth. There are too many people and too much belief in the material wealth and the power money can buy.”

“Is that so?” the king asked.

“Yes. That is also why there are many wars continuously taking place.”

“Why do they fight?”

“Religion, politics or money. It’s all connected. Everyone want power in some form or other. Some do not know how to gain it the peaceful way and war ensues.”

“Is this why you are armed?”

“No, not exactly. It is not allowed to carry weapons on the streets most places on Earth. We carry these,” Daniel put one hand on his P90 and the other on his Beretta, “for security reasons. They are not meant to be used against peaceful people. We don’t shoot unless we have to. I am sure that is why your guards are armed as well, to protect the king?”

“Yes,” Chi said. “How about the other populated planets out there?” he asked, peering curiously at Sam’s P90 and Teal’c’s weapon.

“Some are peaceful worlds like this one, others are at war. Some are abandoned or extinct. Others again are inhabitable for other reasons.” Daniel explained. A new clap of thunder could be heard, a little closer this time.

“Chi?” King Walmar walked over to the two at the table. “Perhaps you and Dr. Jackson can continue this conversation later. I admit it is fascinating, and there is much to learn, but we need to continue.” There was finality to his voice. It wasn’t a question. Despite his un-royal appearance, the king was still king and had the last word.

“Of course, King Walmar, my apologies. I sometimes get carried away when I meet someone whom I can discuss my theories with.” Chi turned to the table and started putting away the books, putting some of them in a bag he had over his shoulder. “Dr. Jackson?”

“Yes. That’s fine with me.”

“Good. Let us return to the palace where there will be a feast later today and tomorrow we shall finalize our trade. The rain will arrive very soon and you do not wish to be outside when it comes.”

“No? Why not?” Daniel asked out of reflex.

“You’ll get wet,” Jack said, ignoring the reproachful look Daniel gave him. It wasn’t often Daniel deadpanned, but when it happened, Jack couldn’t help but seize the opportunity to tease his friend a little.

Chi smiled. “Not only that. It is very heavy.”

“Heavy, how?” Daniel asked, looking at Sam.

“The MALP showed that the rain comes down pretty hard, like hail, only worse,” Sam replied. “That is one of the reason their buildings are made of steel and glass. They withstand the assault by the raindrops much better than the wood or brick we have seen other cultures who strive to live a simple life use to build with.”

“And there is more than enough of trees here,” Jack murmured. The city was on the outskirts of a large forest. When he’d first been able to go off-world, couldn’t they have gated to a planet without trees for once, or to somewhere with a new alien race, a new formidable ally? The Furlings perhaps? They hadn’t met them yet and according to what Daniel had found out about that “meaning of life stuff” they’d found along with Earnest in the very early days of the SGC, the Furlings were as formidable as the Asgard or Ancients.

“Exactly so is it, Colonel Carter.” King Walmar said. “We have relied upon this building technique for a long time. The rain is frequent and we must keep inside while it lasts.”

Daniel had noticed the covered pathways. “So that is why almost all walkways are covered with a roof?”

“Yes. And also, our transport vehicles are sturdy and do not need to be further protected.”

Daniel looked up at the sky. He’d noticed it was overcast earlier, but now it was turning an ominous black and he could hear the rain falling. Most of the important buildings were located close to the palace so they’d been walking, not needing to be transported anywhere by the car-like vehicles they saw.

Happy he didn’t have to walk very far if the rain come upon them faster than expected Daniel hurried along the pathway along with the others. It’d been an interesting day so far and Daniel looked forward to seeing more of those books and documents Chi had started showing him. Perhaps they could go there before the feast.

Daniel was also satisfied that his stomach appeared to have settled even if it’d protested again when they ate in the garden. He was still somewhat chilly and the headache was present but it wasn’t something he couldn’t live with.

They’d barely made it inside and back to the sitting room they’d been in previously before the rain started.

“Wow.” Sam said in wonder, looking out at the downpour. “Now I see what you mean.” The rain was falling pretty hard and the bushes and plants in the garden were soon heavy with water. “Won’t the plants die or break? I mean, I see some of them have very sturdy trunks and branches, but those smaller ones look so fragile.”

“They will stand, not to worry. Look.” Chi pointed and a sturdy covering of sorts was rolled out from the wall to cover the smaller plants with, snapping into a catch at the far end of the garden.

“Nice.” Jack commented.

“Indeed.” Teal’c intoned.

“I want some of those for my garden,” Daniel mused. “That way my plants won’t die so often.”

“It helps if you actually water them,” Sam mocked.

“I do water them,” Daniel said sulkily, but not without a hint of amusement. He knew what she meant. He was home so randomly that having living plants in his house was almost impossible. Daniel liked plants and gardening. It was peaceful to tend to them and it allowed him to dig in the dirt a little. Not that he hoped to find any ancient artefacts in his own garden, but he got to get down on his hands and knees and use a shovel and garden fork once in a while. These days it was far between the missions where he got to excavate tombs or unearth pieces of ancient civilization. Having a garden compensated for that a little and was one of the reasons he’d bought his little green house when he came back from being ascended last year.

“Friends,” Chi’s voice turned them back to the present and everyone turned away from the window to face him and the king again. The temperature had dropped drastically with the rain and Daniel shivered again, zipping his vest and jacket up more tightly. “Come, you will be warmer inside. There is a fire in the Great Room.” He nodded to Daniel, “And you may study our documents there if you wish. The feast is still a few hours away.”

“Thank you, I would like that very much.”

“If you would like, I shall first show you your quarters for the night.”

“Please,” Jack answered.

“I have other business to attend to for a while, but I shall see you all later,” King Walmar said.

“Thank you for your hospitality, King Walmar,” Daniel said, bowing his head slightly. “You are very kind.”

“It is my pleasure, Doctor. We’ve learned much about your culture and customs from your team and I would be pleased if you would elaborate even further on some of them when we eat.”

“Of course, I’ll answer any of your questions to the best of my ability,” Daniel said.

“Excellent. I shall see you then.”

The king retreated through a back door and SG-1 was left with Chi who started walking towards the entrance they’d come through. As they entered the main hallway Chi indicated the way to the Great Room and led them up a flight of stairs to a series of guest bedrooms. “We have a suite with several bedrooms prepared for you. I hope it is acceptable. If there is anything you need do not hesitate to ask. Dr. Jackson, whenever you’re ready, I’ll be in the Great Room.”

Daniel thanked him again and followed his team into their rooms. The suite was just like the rest of the palace, not too elaborately decorated, but enough to indicate it was a royal residence. As in the other buildings they’d been, the structures were of steel and there were large windows everywhere. Yet the rooms did not seem cold as the furniture, carpets and curtains were all in the same earthly colours as the people’s clothing. Daniel was glad his stomach had settled but now he was beginning to feel tired. Still, he’d promised Chi he wanted to look at those books now before dinner and he was curious about their history.

“Hey, you okay?” Sam asked, touching his arm, startling Daniel out of his musings.

“Sam,” Daniel almost jumped. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired. I’m going to go down to look at those books Chi brought.”

Jack joined their conversation, scrutinizing Daniel. “Wait a minute. How’s your stomach?”

“It’s settled, thankfully.” His headache was still there, but Daniel didn’t think he needed something for it. He’d weathered much worse without a pain killer in sight. At the moment it was throbbing a little. What worried him more was that he couldn’t quite get warmed up and he rued that he didn’t have any heavier sweaters in his pack, only t-shirts and the BDU jacket and pants he was wearing. The vest gave off little warmth, but it helped keeping the rest of his clothes closer to his body so he kept it on. He unclipped his heavy machine gun though, and set it down on the table beside his pack.

“Good, good.” Jack clapped him on the shoulder and went to look out the window. “Have fun but don’t strain your eyes too much.”

“Thanks. And I won’t.” Daniel turned at the door. “What are you going to do?”

“Oh, we’ll just sit around here and relax. Do a perimeter check. Things like that. And I’m sure Carter has her laptop and some project there she can work on. Don’t worry about us.”

“Okay. See you later.”

“Bye,” Sam waved at him and went to sit down beside Jack by the windows.



PART TWO


Daniel walked down the stairs and found Chi waiting in the Great Room. As he’d said it would, a fire was burning brightly in a large fireplace and Chi sat at a long table with cushioned benched along each side, the books and papers spread out before him.

Daniel joined him by the table and accepted the cup of what looked like pale cider Chi poured for him, taking a careful sip. “Refreshments are also being brought to your friends, should they wish to partake in any of it.”

“I’m sure they’d appreciate that,” Daniel said, amused by thinking how Jack would react at the sight of yet more food. Their conversation flowed freely and Daniel soon found himself answering as many questions as he was asking. The books were interesting and Daniel wrote some of the most important points about Varia’s history down in his notebook. Much too soon they were interrupted by the rest of SG-1 entering the room.

“Having fun, are we?” Jack asked.

“Yes. It’s very interesting to learn how their culture has evolved over the years and—”

“Found anything of interest?” Jack interrupted.

“Yes, as I was saying, it’s very interesting how the culture—”

Jack listened with half an ear as Daniel explained some of what he’d learned.

“Yes I’m sure it is,” he said. “But have you learned anything of importance? As in things pertinent to our mission?”

“Um, no.”

“Okay then. Why don’t you save the rest for the mission report then?”

“Jack?” Daniel asked worriedly, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

“I know. It’s all very interesting and of cultural importance. Take a break. It’s been a long day.” Jack sat down beside Daniel on the bench. “You look tired,” he said in a low voice so it wouldn’t carry to Chi whom Teal’c had struck up a conversation with, skilfully distracting their host while Jack got a good look at Daniel.

He’d not thought Daniel looked paler in their rooms earlier than what he had this morning, but now Jack could swear Daniel was slightly feverish. There was a slight glaze to his eyes and he’d been cold earlier. Daniel hadn’t attempted to take his vest or jacket off here in the Great Room, while both Jack and Teal’c’s vest were hanging open and their jackets unzipped.

Daniel blinked. Then he blinked again. “Wh-what?” He wasn’t sleepy. Yes, he was somewhat tired and his headache persisted, but so what? He had headaches all the time and it wasn’t like this one was particularly bad or this was a physically taxing mission in any way. “We’re having dinner in a little while and tomorrow we are signing a treaty. It isn’t that exhausting!”

“I know that.” Jack said exasperated. “But you could take a little breather.”

“Jack?” Daniel narrowed his eyes even further, lifting his eyebrows. Since when had Jack gone all soft on him?

“Daniel!” Jack exclaimed, frustrated that Daniel didn’t get that he was worried.

“Jack! I’m not a little kid!” Daniel frowned.

“I know that, Daniel. I’m just worried about you. That’s all.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Maybe you’ve lost your touch?”

“I have not!”

“Jack, I think it’s been too long since you went through the ‘gate.”

“That’s got nothing to do with this. I went off-world last….”

“Year,” Daniel said, smiling now.

“Yes, you moron, of course I went off-world last year. I was still on SG-1 last year! I’m talking about last month. And don’t change the subject.”

“Sir, it’s been longer than that,” Sam shot in.

Jack frowned. “No it’s not.”

Daniel nodded. “Yes. She’s right. You’ve not been off-world for at least six months I believe.”

“I have too!”

“No you haven’t.”

“Yes I have.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No, Jack.”

Teal’c calmly interrupted them. “O’Neill. Daniel Jackson. It would be wise for you to end this conversation now. The SGC has record of when O’Neill last ventured off-world. You may consult them.”

“And you’re scaring our host,” Sam said. Chi had looked bewildered from one to the other as Jack and Daniel argued, surprised at how Daniel talked back at his leader.

“Is this acceptable behaviour among your people?” he tentatively asked Sam. “They appear to be acting like children. This is most unsettling.”

“I’m sorry. The General and Daniel are very close friends and when they start to argue they sometimes forget where they are.”

“I see, but as General O’Neill suggested, it is time for a break. Perhaps you would like to freshen up before the meal and come back down here in an hour?”

“That would be fine,” Jack said.

“I’m sorry if we upset you, Chi, or were disrespectful,” Daniel said apologetically. “We sometimes get carried away.”

“Indeed.” Chi smiled. “I have two brothers. We sometimes argue in the same fashion you and General O’Neill just displayed. You must be very close.”

“We are,” Daniel agreed, smiling gratefully, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Why could they never learn? They were off-world, for crying out loud. He gave himself a mental shake and swayed as the headache that up till now had been a minor nuisance upped a notch and the nausea he’d almost forgot about came back, making his stomach roll unhappily. Perhaps Jack was right. Maybe a nap wouldn’t be such a bad idea. He’d get warmer that way too. Daniel looked at the fire. He’d noticed it when he entered the room. Now it was like he would do anything to curl up under a blanket and sleep for a day. Where did this come from? He’d not felt sick earlier.

“Thank you again, Chi,” Daniel said. “We will be back in an hour.”

Taking the cue, the rest of SG-1 and Jack followed Daniel up the stairs into their suite. Daniel went to sit down on one of the sofas and before he could even think about lying down Teal’c’s large hand entered his field of vision, two tablets standing out in stark contrast to the dark skin.

“It is Tylenol. It will ease your discomfort and lower your temperature,” Teal’c said in way of explanation. Daniel looked up at him in surprise, but Teal’c only arched an eyebrow and nodded in encouragement. “You are not well,” he stated.

Daniel took the canteen standing on the table in front of him and opened it before taking the tablets from Teal’c and washing them down with a small sip of water. At Teal’c’s disapproving gaze he took a few more sips and capped the canteen and placed it back on the table.

“You would be more comfortable if you were to lie down,” Teal’c suggested, nodding towards one of the adjoining bedrooms.

Daniel sighed. Jack and Sam flanked Teal’c, all three of them looking at him expectantly. “All right, all right. I’ll go lie down,” Daniel grumbled. As he rose the queasiness turned into full-blown nausea and he ran for the bathroom, hoping only to make it in time. He should have taken another Zofran earlier, the one he’d taken this morning must have worn off.

Jack followed him into the bathroom and divested Daniel of his vest and jacket so he wouldn’t throw up on them while Daniel was occupied with his conversation with the toilet. As the bout ended Jack handed Daniel a wet towel and gently rubbed his back, trying to ease the tense muscles there while Daniel wiped the sweat off his face and sat back, breathing heavily.

“You done?” Jack asked when Daniel had sat for a while, his breathing calming down to an almost normal level.

“Don’t know,” Daniel admitted. Daniel leaned his head back against the wall, a hand to his belly, rubbing it slightly as if it would help to ease his discomfort. A few seconds later he lurched forward and grabbed the sides of the bowl, continuing to retch.

Jack took up the rubbing of Daniel’s back. Sam and Teal’c were standing in the bathroom’s doorway, looking just as worried for their team mate as Jack felt. “You guys feeling okay?” he asked, thinking maybe this was some form of bug Daniel had caught.

“I am well.”

“I’m fine, sir. How are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” Jack said. “Listen, have any of you noticed Daniel behaving strangely lately. Not eating or cutting back on his coffee? Anything to indicate he’s been having problems with his stomach?”

“I can’t say that I have, sir. But then, Daniel never eats regularly,” Sam said. It was routine for the rest of SG-1 and Daniel’s other friends to frequently have to drag him out of his office or one of the archaeological labs in order to get him to eat something or just take a break.

“I have observed he has taken up the practice of adding milk and sweetener to his coffee. But he has been doing that for some time now. I do not believe this is something new.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that. I’ve never talked to him about it though.” Jack stood up as Daniel leaned back again, handing him the towel. “I didn’t think much about it.” That Daniel had something of a sweet tooth was common knowledge.

Daniel buried his face in the soft material, panting and shivering, too preoccupied with his rebelling belly to comment on their topic of conversation.

“Are you feeling better?” Sam asked, kneeling down in front of him, rubbing his bent leg.

“Yes. I think that helped.” Daniel yawned. “And I think I’ll take you up on that nap now,” he added, nodding to Teal’c.

“You do that.” Jack handed Daniel his canteen and Daniel took a sip to rinse his mouth. “You should take a Zofran too, but I guess it won’t stay down if you take it now?”

“No it won’t. I’ll take one before we go back downstairs.” Daniel opened the door to the closest bedroom and went straight for the large bed. He toed off his boots and crept under the covers, burying his face in the pillow. He was less nauseous now, but his stomach was no better. It was as if the nausea had turned into pain, but not like when his appendix blew. That had been raw, torturous pain. This was something else. He could still feel his stomach roiling, but the added discomfort confused him. He couldn’t quite put a finger to what it was; only that it was located in his belly. Daniel burrowed further down into the mattress and closed his eyes. He’d feel better when he’d had a bit of sleep.

Jack looked at the slumbering form of his friend through the open door. Daniel had fallen asleep almost immediately, a testimony to how tired and unwell he was. He hoped Daniel would wake up refreshed and well and ready to participate in the feast they had been promised.

“He’ll be all right, sir,” Jack heard Carter say.

“I hope so.”

“Daniel Jackson is a strong man. He will overcome this.”

“I know. And hey, it’s not like he’s lying on his death bed here or anything. It’s just an upset stomach, right?” Jack asked, not quite managing to hide the worry in his voice, hoping he was right.

“Indeed.” Teal’c answered, bowing his head in acknowledgement.

“Yes, sir. I’m sure it’s nothing dangerous,” Sam said. But she didn’t feel sure. What was ailing their friend?


*****


“I’ll go wake Daniel,” Sam said, looking at her watch and noting the time. They had to go downstairs pretty soon and she was sure Daniel would want to freshen up a bit first. She, Jack and Teal’c had been sitting in the front room, with the door to the room Daniel slept slightly ajar so they would hear him if he should need anything. She found Daniel’s pack and took out a fresh t-shirt and found his toiletries on the bottom of the bag, placing them on the bathroom counter for him. Knocking softly on the door to his room, Sam entered. “Daniel? It’s time to wake up now.”

Daniel immediately stirred, burrowing his nose further into the pillow beneath his cheek. Apparently he hadn’t been in a deep sleep. Waking Daniel could be difficult, especially if he was tired or not feeling well. Daniel waking this easily meant he’d been more or less awake, hopefully rested, Sam thought. Sitting down beside him on the bed, Sam shook his shoulder dismayed that it felt a little too warm. “Hey, time to get up now.”

“What time is it?” Daniel asked, opening his eyes squinting at the brightness in the room and looking for his glasses.

“It’s dinner soon. We need to be downstairs in fifteen minutes. How are you feeling?” She placed a hand on his forehead, brushing her fingers through his hair. “You’ve got a touch of fever.” Sam guessed the Tylenol he’d taken had come up when he threw up earlier. Otherwise they should be working by now. Thinking about what they had in their med kits, Sam couldn’t remember there being anything else that would help make Daniel feel better at the moment. There were stronger pain killers than Tylenol in there, but from experience she knew they often made Daniel nauseous and he wasn’t sick enough to warrant the use of those..

Daniel nodded. “I’m okay.”

“How about your stomach? Are you still queasy?”

Daniel thought for a moment. He had fallen asleep quickly enough but the discomfort in his abdomen had kept him from sleeping peacefully and he’d felt his insides roil occasionally. Now the nausea was nothing like it’d been earlier and the pain he’d felt seemed mostly gone as well. “It’s better now.”

“That’s good. Try the Zofran now and two Tylenol. I’ve put some clean clothes for you in the bathroom with the toiletries.”

“Thanks, Sam.” Daniel smiled at her gratefully and pushed the covers away. He’d gone to bed fully clothed. Looking down at himself Daniel figured a quick shower would not go amiss. He could smell himself and his brain felt somewhat fuzzy with sleep. The nap had helped, but he was tired and achy. The hot water would go a long way in alleviating that.

“Hey, Daniel, sleep well?” Jack asked as Daniel exited the bathroom, feeling somewhat better for his wash and change of clothes.

“Yeah, thanks,” Daniel answered.

Jack rose from his seat, walking towards the door. “Well, if you’re ready, let’s go downstairs again. I believe there is a king and his court waiting for us.”


*****


If Daniel thought the display of food he’d seen earlier was a feast, what met them when they entered the Great Room now, took his breath away. He’d seen a wide variety in food orgies. This array of heaping dishes was as they’d seen earlier, delicately arranged and prepared. It was almost too much. The tables were groaning with all kinds of thinkable foodstuffs; breads, meats, vegetables, fruits and cakes. So much for a simple life, he mused. These people clearly put much attention and resources into their meals. There were pitchers of wine, cider, beer, water and juices. The mix of what Daniel was sure was delicious foods were not making his mouth water like it usually would have. Instead his belly complained about the potential feeding and Daniel rubbed at it to stop the increasing queasiness.

Seeing Daniel’s apprehension, Jack nudged him slightly to get his attention. “You okay?”

Daniel nodded. “The odd thing,” he said, “is that I actually am a little hungry, but I can’t stand the thought of food just now.”

“Well, you did throw up everything you’ve eaten today and probably yesterday as well, so it’s no wonder you’re feeling empty right now.” Jack frowned. This wasn’t all good news. Jack was happy Daniel felt hunger, but apparently Daniel’s nausea had returned with the sight of food. Jack knew Daniel definitely had been nauseous after the first meal they’d eaten here, but he’d seemed much better after lunch. Now he’d been feeling okay after his nap until they entered the food-laden room and his senses prepared his body for being fed. Jack hoped the Tylenol and anti emetic Daniel had taken just before they went downstairs would continue to sit and get the chance to work.

“Maybe you should go home?” Jack offered.

“What for?” Daniel looked at him incredulously.

“I’m just thinking that you’re not been feeling well. Perhaps you should have the docs in the infirmary have a look at you again?”

“I just took another Zofran. Let’s give that a chance to work first, okay? If it doesn’t I’ll consider going back.” Daniel said.

“Okay,” Jack agreed. That made sense. But if Daniel didn’t get better he’d make sure his friend returned home.


*****


Watching his friend as he sat down at the table with their hosts, Jack’s earlier suspicion of Daniel having lost some weight was confirmed. He could clearly see Daniel’s ribcage through his t-shirt and he seemed slimmer all over. He could definitely do with some fattening up.

Loading a plate and purposefully sitting down beside Daniel, Jack started to put items of food on Daniel’s mostly empty plate, slowly filling the plate up. It both worried and amused Jack that it took a while before Daniel noticed what he was doing. Daniel was too busy talking to their hosts to pay attention to his meal and he was clearly not hungry enough to stop talking and actually eat something. Jack watched as Daniel occasionally wielded his cutlery, cutting at something or spearing it onto his fork, but he rarely put any of it into his mouth. Finally Daniel caught onto what Jack was doing and frowned at him hard, cocking his head to the side and spearing Jack with a disapproving gaze. This wasn’t the time to play.

“Jack?” Daniel’s voice was stern.

“Hmmm,” Jack tried to sound innocent and played with the fork he’d just used to place a piece of meat on Daniel’s plate.

“What are you doing?” There was a hint of irritation in Daniel’s voice, and he looked pointedly at his plate, then Jack’s deceptively empty one.

“Just making sure you get enough to eat, Daniel.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can feed myself, Jack.” Daniel replied tersely and pointedly turned back to his conversation with King Walmar.

“Damn it,” Jack muttered. This was not the time or place to have this discussion with Daniel. In a lower voice he murmured, “I’m just worried about you.”

Daniel’s gaze softened at that and he nodded. “I appreciate that. But putting food on my plate when all I can think about is bolting through those doors,” he glanced over his shoulder “and find somewhere to throw up isn’t helping. So unless you want that to happen I suggest you stop right now.”

Jack did a double take. He’d not seen that coming. Looking closer at Daniel he saw his friend was pale. Shouldn’t that pill start working by now? Daniel had pointed out earlier that the sight of food made him worse.

Jack felt like a fool. He was supposed to be in charge here. He was the general for crying out loud. And here he’d been playing with the food. What had he been thinking? The conversations around him were boring and when Jack was bored he played with what was available, but provoking Daniel’s illness what just not done. “Daniel, I’m sorry,” he said quietly, locking his eyes with Daniel’s, trying to convey his remorse through his gaze. Daniel nodded, his lips curving into a small smile.

“It might help if you eat,” Jack continued, sensing he’d been forgiven, not wanting to let this go completely.

“Jack!” Daniel’s voice held impatience and anger. Jack raised his hands in submission and drew his fingers over his lips as if he was zipping his mouth shut.

Jack knew Daniel didn’t appreciate this overprotection, especially when they were on a mission, but the guy had to eat something. All he’d had today was a little piece of bread and a very small lunch, most of which he’d lost earlier. Jack filled his own plate again and sat down to eat, occasionally looking at Daniel to judge how he was doing.


*****


The meal progressed amicably and at times it was downright cheerful. Jack watched as Daniel smiled politely, but when looking closer, he could see Daniel’s the nap hadn’t done as much for restoring Daniel’s energy levels as Daniel had let on. The increased nausea would drain him as well and Jack kept waiting for the moment when enough was enough and Daniel would bolt.

It didn’t come.

Daniel kept up his end of the conversation, but then, Daniel could talk a mile a minute in his sleep. At the moment king Walmar was speaking to the assembled dignitaries, guests and royalties at large and Jack’s Daniel radar beeped a little louder as Daniel closed his eyes, leaning back on the back-less bench a little and rubbed his eyes, then his forehead. Daniel was looking distinctly green by now.

“You okay?” Jack whispered

“Headache’s getting worse,” Daniel murmured.

Jack nodded, putting a hand to Daniel’s back to steady him. “We’ll get out of here soon.”

Catching Sam and Teal’c’s worried glances at him across the table Daniel smiled slightly, but he knew it didn’t fool them. He’d been feeling he’d be able to sit the meal through when the feast had started but now he really regretted the few sips of cider he’d drunk and the even fewer pieces of food he’d eaten.

When King Walmar was done addressing his people, Sam quickly took up Daniel’s end of the conversation. Daniel looked at her gratefully. Smiling encouragingly back at him, Sam turned to share a worried look with Teal’c and General O’Neill. Jack nodded and turned to King Walmar, thanking him for the hospitality.

Jack had noticed Chi had been looking closely at Daniel throughout the meal as well, and now he spoke up, clearly worried. “Are you not well Dr. Jackson?”

Before Daniel could start to protest or say anything at all, Teal’c spoke up. “Indeed. I believe Daniel Jackson wants to retire but is afraid to do so in case he embarrass or insult the King.”

Daniel realized he’d been left with his mouth hanging open. He closed it with an audible snap and stared at Teal’c.

“Do not concern yourselves. If he is ill, I shall call for the royal health services. They will attend you in your quarters shortly. Not to worry, I will explain the situation,” Chi indicated the other people sitting at the table, eating and talking merrily among each other.

“I would hate to miss this,” Daniel said in a dreamy voice, seemingly coming out of a daze. “You’ve gone through all this work for us, and I’m not able to enjoy it fully.” He was relieved that the bull was taken by the horns so to speak and he couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do right now than lie down in a soft bed and sleep.

“Don’t worry,” King Walmar said. “As Chi so observantly has seen, you’re not well. It’s been a long day and we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow. There is no shame in leaving the feast early. It will not affect the outcome of our trade agreement.”

Daniel ducked his head, feeling embarrassed. “Thank you for your kindness, King Walmar.” Daniel then looked at his team. “I’m sorry guys. I guess I’ve been made,” he said, a smile starting, but quickly turning into a grimace as a spasm of pain suddenly hit him.

“I’ll go with him, sir,” Sam offered, already rising, alarmed by Daniel’s pained expression. “You’re needed here.”

“I know,” Jack answered sorrowfully, putting his hand on Daniel’s shoulder to steady him as the spasm went through him. Although Daniel was leading all the talks, Jack was here because he was their highest leader and was the one called upon to sign the trade agreement that they were signing in the morning. Chi had also approached him earlier to ask if he would say a few words during the feast. Now would be a good time to do so, Jack figured, rising with the rest of his team. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“As will I,” Teal’c added. “Rest well, Daniel Jackson. I hope your health has improved by the morning.”

“Thanks, Teal’c. I hope so too.” Daniel managed through clenched teeth.

Walking around to the other side of the table, Sam touched Daniel on the arm and together they bowed slightly in farewell to the king and then to the assembled people. Jack and Teal’c kept standing. As Sam and Daniel left, they heard Jack start to talk about Earth and the trade agreement, explaining that Daniel had taken ill.

“Will he recover?” A voice further down the table asked. It was one of the women from the entourage that had followed them around all day, a dignitary from one of the other cities.

“We have medicines with us that will aid in his recovery,” Teal’c explained. “The Tau’ri can provide treatments or medication for almost all illnesses. Do not worry. He will be well.”

Relieved by the news that the royal medical services also would see to him, a chorus of well wishes followed Daniel out of the room and he turned in the doorway to smile at them. “Thank you. I appreciate your concern.”




PART THREE


Now that he didn’t have to keep up the pretence, Daniel realised how bad he actually felt and he shuddered with exhaustion and fever. Stumbling slightly, he held onto the rail as he walked on rubbery legs up the stairs to their rooms. His energy levels had waxed and waned all day and Daniel could feel he was on his last reserve. The sight of food had made his stomach roil, but eating it had somehow helped, a little, until it had made things worse again. Aside from the nausea, there now was a constant ache in his belly as well and he felt dizzy. The pills were clearly not working properly. He needed to remember to ask for something else when they gated back home tomorrow.

“Hey, we’re almost there,” Sam said softly but urgently as Daniel stumbled over the last step almost falling flat on his face into the hallway leading to their suite. Going directly for one of the sofas in the main room, Daniel plopped down and groaned audibly. The cushion-less sofa was broad enough for him to lie down on in relative comfort. Raising his feet to put them on the sofa, Daniel realised he needed to take his boots off first, and sat up with a groan.

“Here, let me,” Sam hurried to his side and undid his boots.

“Thanks,” Daniel said, lying down again and rubbing his face and carding his fingers through his hair, before lying his head down on his folded hands. Closing his eyes he tried to relax.

“Wouldn’t you feel better if you went to bed?” Sam asked, handing him Tylenol and water.

“This is good for now.” Daniel sat up when he saw what she had given him. “Isn’t it a little early for a new dose of those?” He understood her worry but plying him with too much Tylenol wasn’t the answer.

Sam looked at her watch. “Sorry. Yes it is.” Taking the pills Daniel handed back, she put them back in the med kit. “Where are your other pills? Maybe you should take one more of those?” Sam was looking around the room for the blister pack of anti emetics Daniel had brought with him.

“They’re in my vest.”

“Okay, thanks.” Finding his vest Sam remembered her mistake about the Tylenol. “How many of these can you take?”

“Doctor Brightman said I could take three per day.”

“And how many have you had so far?”

“Two,” Daniel answered, thinking aloud. “One this morning and the one you gave me before we went down to eat.” Accepting the pill from Sam he swallowed it dry.

“Do you need anything else?” Sam had taken the med kit out of her pack and was rooting through it.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay. I’ll just take your temperature then, and you can get some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Daniel protested. He hated those pesky little thermometers. People always wanted to use them when he least wanted, and kept sticking them in his ears or mouth of even up his butt if he was really lucky. Knowing her friend well, Sam just gazed at him levelly when he turned his head away as she approached with the instrument. “Okay, gimme that,” Daniel finally said, putting the instrument in his mouth. He tried glaring at Sam but yawned instead.

“It’s not that high,” Sam said, looking at the display when the thermometer beeped. “100.9.”

Daniel shivered and looked at the sofa to see if there was a blanket he could throw over himself. He squirmed, trying to find a more comfortable position.

“Come on,” Sam urged gently, holding out a hand to help him up. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Taking her hand, Daniel pulled himself to his feet. “Bathroom first,” he said.


*****


While Daniel was in the bathroom, Sam busied herself with putting Daniel’s things together in his room, placing his boots with his pack and vest at the foot of the bed. Feeling a twinge of worry, Sam couldn’t make heads or tails of what ailed Daniel. On one hand it seemed like he’d caught an ordinary stomach bug, but on the other hand he didn’t appear sick enough for that. Then there was the matter of the Zofran. If they’d had a suppository of that Daniel might have been able to keep down what he ate. A stomach bug was fast and furious and not something you could prepare for. Had he been sick for a while without letting them know?

Shaking her head at the thought, she plumped the pillows and straightened the sheets and blankets. They would have noticed something being amiss.

Sam rifled through the medical kit. They’d only brought the small ones, which meant no suppositories except the anti-convulsion drug. The kits were standard Air Force med kits, but the SGC had added some things, like morphine and sewing implements, to the basic kits, because of the special circumstances the SG teams worked under and the need difficulty the teams might have in returning home.

She listened carefully to sounds from the bathroom in case Daniel threw up again or needed her help in any way. She wondered if Daniel had asked for the anti emetic in the infirmary himself or if the doc seeing him had figured out what was wrong and given him the pills. Guessing the latter was the case, Sam’s worry went up another notch. This meant she and the rest of her team hadn’t noticed the signs that obviously had been there for them to see.

Thinking back to the last few days before this mission, Sam tried to remember any signs that should have set her “Daniel alarm” off, but couldn’t think of anything. Sam wrote herself a mental note to ask Teal’c and the general when they returned if they’d seen anything out of the ordinary. Daniel had more or less spent the full last week in his office working on that translation or helping Nyan with the training of the new personnel.

Then, of course, there was the matter of Daniel having got shot in the shoulder and lost a lot of blood. But he’d been treated immediately and had lost his sling two weeks prior. On the other hand, they’d all been busy with the change of command at the SGC and SG-1 had found themselves buffering the rest of the base from the brand new general’s antics. Jack would always be Jack, she thought, His personal aide had come to all of them in turn, asking if he really was like this? The poor man got more and more frightened every day, and Sam couldn’t help but feel sympathetic towards him. He’d adjust. He just needed to learn how Jack worked.

They’d all been on base during the lockdown but SG-1 had been divided into separate sections so she had not seen Daniel for a few days while that lasted. And he was still recovering from the gunshot wound when they opened up the base to normal activity again. He’d been a bit pale after that and come to think of it he still was, Sam realised. He’d lost a lot of blood, which would leave him pale and shaky, but with the immediate treatment he shouldn’t be feeling the affects of the blood loss this much later?

Walking out into the main room, intending to knock on the bathroom door to see how he was doing, Sam rushed there instead as she heard sounds of retching.

“Daniel, I’m coming in,” she warned, not caring if he was naked in there or not. When she opened the door Daniel was sitting on the floor bare-chested, wearing only his briefs. He’d showered again so his hair was wet. Daniel’s almost naked body confirmed her worry about the weight loss she as well as Jack had been worrying about. she saw bones protrude where they usually were hidden by muscles. She also saw that the gunshot wound in his shoulder was healing nicely and her worry over Daniel’s sickness being some residual effect of the blood loss or perhaps a complication to the surgery he’d had to remove the bullet went down a few notches. Daniel sat with his back against the wall, knees bent almost to his chest, breathing heavily, his head in his hands, a wet towel dangling between his fingers.

“Hey.” Sam sat down beside him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. The bathroom was spacious and there was plenty of room for the both of them. “How are you feeling?”

Daniel raised his head slowly, his hair sticking out every which way. “I don’t know, Sam,” Daniel said in a small voice that made Sam’s heart lurch.

Thinking about how to grasp this, she asked, “Are you feeling better or worse than what you did earlier?” Okay, that didn’t help much. “I mean, are you worse now than during the feast?”

“Maybe. Yes.” Daniel had put his head back on his arms but now he looked up again. “I don’t know what this is.”

“The royal medical services should be here soon. Perhaps they know,” Sam guessed. Actually, it was surprising that the local doctors hadn’t arrived yet. Usually when a visiting dignitary got sick on base they were in the infirmary five minutes after they took ill. Now it’d been, what, thirty minutes? “Do you think you’re done?”

Daniel sat up fully, leaning his head back against the wall, willing his breathing to calm down. After a moment he said, “Yeah, I think so.”

“Okay. Do you need some help to get up?”

“No, I’m fine.” Daniel started to get up, swaying slightly. Catching himself on the sink he waved Sam’s outstretched hand away. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”

Sam hovered close to Daniel all the way to his room. He’d barely put his head down on the pillow before there was a knock on the door.

“Speaking of,” Sam said, putting the finishing touches on tucking her friend in. “That’s probably the local doc; don’t go to sleep just yet.” She left the door to his room open and went to let the visitors in.

“Okay.” Daniel made himself more comfortable, curling up on his side. It was frustrating. At the moment he felt awful. The fever made him achy, and with no chance of keeping anything down none of the medicine he’d taken had any effect. The pills were washed down the toilet with the few bits of dinner he’d had. Either he felt horrible, like now, or he felt almost well, just a little shaky and tired from the bouts of sickness. When he felt normal, he could forget he’d been nauseous just a few hours earlier, and when he was unwell, he only longed for the periods where the nausea receded and he could function normally.

Closing his eyes, Daniel listened to the conversation in the other room.

“Hello. I am Samdri, head of the royal medical services. My apologies for not coming sooner. I was in another part of the city where some of the royal family lives, attending to a child there.”

“Come in.” Sam introduced herself. “I’m Colonel Carter.”

“Are you the one who needs my services?” Samdri asked, looking Sam up and down. “I was only told that one of the guests visiting us from another world had taken ill.” He bowed his head.

Sam shook her head. “No, it’s not me. He’s in here.” Sam led the healer to Daniel’s room. “This is Dr. Daniel Jackson.”

“Hello,” Daniel said, opening his eyes and looking at them. He’d taken off his glasses but now he reached for them and put them back on.

“He is a doctor, a healer?” Samdri asked Sam with a puzzled frown, after returning Daniel’s greeting.

“No, no. It is just his title, like mine is Colonel. Daniel is a doctor of archaeology. He’s a historian, a scholar.”

“I see. And what ails him?”

“He’s nauseous on and off and can’t keep anything down. We’ve given him our medicine but he throws it up again. Also, he has a fever.”

“I’m right here,” Daniel murmured, feeling a little left out of the conversation.

“I’m sorry,” Sam quickly apologised.

“If you allow, I will examine you and see if there is anything I can do to help.” Samdri said, sitting down beside Daniel on the bed, putting his bag down beside him.

“Okay, I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll be in the other room if you need me.” Sam said, walking towards the exit.

“A moment, please,” Samdri said. “I’d like to see the medicine he’s taken. It might help me find something similar or better from this world I can use.”

“Sure. Daniel, the Zofran is still in your vest, and you have a med kit, don’t you? There should be Tylenol in there.”

“Yeah, I do. And thanks.” Daniel sat up. “Samdri, if you would fetch my pack, please. It’s by the bed there, I’ll show you.”

Taking the pack from the doctor Daniel dug out the med kit and opened it, explaining their medicine and what the different kinds were fore. “This is the one we use for reducing fever. It’s called Tylenol, and this,” he said, retrieving the pills from his vest, “is to reduce nausea.”

“This is medicine far beyond my knowledge,” Samdri said, regretfully. “We have not yet developed methods of producing medicine in tablet form. I only use herbs and what nature gives us. I am putting much hope into the trade with your people. It will help benefit our medicinal development greatly.”

“Many of our medicines are based on what grows in the nature as well,” Daniel said, feeling tired. The sudden activity had made him sleepy again. He’d sat up to show Samdri the med kit but now he lay down again.

“My apologies, Dr. Jackson. I am here to see how I can help you, not to tax you further. Tell me, how are you feeling?” Samdri asked.

“Well, as Sam said. I’ve got a fever, so I’m achy. I’m nauseous and I’ve got an ache in my belly that I can’t define.” As Daniel talked Samdri busied himself with placing a hand on Daniel’s forehead before moving it to his cheek and nape.

“Your fever is not dangerously high. Have you vomited?” Samdri asked, taking out several instruments of his bag.

“Yes, twice.”

“And what did the vomit look like?”

“Excuse me?” Daniel said feeling the nausea go up a notch, but remembering being asked this question in the infirmary as well. The doctors usually wanted to know if he’d seen blood. “Um… I was too busy throwing up to pay attention to that, but it looked…normal.”

“Good, good. No blood or anything unusual?” Apparently this doctor had the same basic training as Earth’s doctors.

“No. It was food, and medicine.”

“The ache you mentioned, can you describe it?”

Daniel thought for a moment. “It comes and goes. It started slowly, more as a twinge really, before it went away for a while before coming back a little while ago.”

“And how did it feel then?”

“Like someone was sitting inside my belly twisting and turning and pulling at my insides.”

“And now?” Samdri asked.

“It’s still there.”

“What about foods? Have you eaten or drunk anything beyond your usual intakes?”

“Not really. I sampled a few pieces of the food we were served earlier today, but I really didn’t eat that much.”

“I see. Please lie down on your back and remove your blankets.”

Daniel’s mind drifted as the healer poked and prodded. One of the instruments he’d taken out turned out to have the same functions as a stethoscope, Daniel learned, as he was asked to sit up so Samdri could listen to his lungs.

“This wound is recent.” Samdri touched his shoulder gently.

“I was shot a few weeks ago.”

“It is healing well. Does it pain you?”

“No, not any more. The muscles can still be a little sore if I move my arm or shoulder unexpectedly.”

Samdri nodded. “I presume the bullet was removed?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. You may lie back down again.” Daniel did so gratefully, tired of all the questions and feeling naked and exposed and cold from the fever rising. Samdri looked at him and Daniel started to feel a little self conscious. “You appear to have more scar tissue than I would expect from an archaeologist. Have you been injured often?”

“A few times, yes,” Daniel said, knowing it was the understatement of the year. “My work can be dangerous sometimes and we are not always met withwith hospitality and kindness by the local population on the planets we visit.”

“I see nothing is as recent as the wound in your shoulder though. And your heart and lungs sound fine. However, your pulse is somewhat rapid. Are you feeling sick again?”

“A little,” Daniel admitted. Actually, he was pretty close to bolting through the door and head for the bathroom when a bowl suddenly was placed in his line of vision and he grabbed it.

“I guess you can see for yourself now what it looks like,” Daniel said when he was done, handing the bowl to Samdri.

“Please, make yourself comfortable, I will return in a moment with some water for you.”

Seeing Samdri exit Daniel’s room Sam stood up from her seat. “How is he?”

“He was just sick again. I am not finished with his examination. I believe I may need to contact one of my helpers to fetch some herbs.” Samdri walked to the bathroom and rinsed out the bowl and washed his hands.

“Can you say what’s wrong with him?”

“Not yet.”

“What is his prognosis?” Sam insisted. The healer should have learned something by what he’d found if he knew what kind of herbs to send for.

“Well, as I said, I’ve not finished examining him, but I believe he should recover. You are leaving again tomorrow, yes?”

Sam nodded.

“I suggest you contact your own doctors when you get home, he might benefit from their assistance as well as from what I can do for him here. Your medicine is far beyond my knowledge.”

Sam blanched a little at the news. The healer didn’t know if he could help Daniel? “Thanks, we’ll do that. It is our custom when we return home from another world anyway,” she said distractedly, her mind working furiously. Daniel needed medical attention, and if this guy drew a blank, then she was out of options; they’d need to return home.

“I’ll be back shortly.”

“Thank you,” Sam said, sitting down again, just to stand back up and start pacing the room. She’d give the guy the benefit of the doubt. After all, Samdri had said he wasn’t finished.


*****


Daniel had almost fallen asleep in the short while Samdri was gone and was reluctant to wake up at the shake of his shoulder. As soon as the doctor had left he’d grabbed the blankets and burrowed under them again.

“My apologies, but I need to continue.”

“I know,” Daniel said. He’d been through the general exams so many times he knew what would come and when. His pulse had been taken. Had he’d been on Earth Daniel knew a blood pressure cuff was next, but Samdri didn’t have that. Then the doctor had looked intently at his face, holding a lamp close to it and looked at his eyes, proceeding to look in his ears and mouth before feeling along Daniel’s neck. He’d then asked Daniel where it hurt the most then come as far as to listen to Daniel’s chest before Daniel was sick again.

Now he was placing the stethoscope-like instrument on Daniel’s stomach, listening intently, muttering to himself. Putting it away he placed both hands flat on Daniel’s belly in warning and then started poking and knocking on his fingers. This was also familiar and lulled by the familiarity of the exam Daniel closed his eyes. Samdri’s actions didn’t make the pain or nausea better or worse, and Daniel was on the verge of falling asleep when a pain shot through him and he startled awake with a yelp, sitting up abruptly and pulling his knees to his chest, protecting his abdomen.

“Daniel?” Sam was at the door immediately, having heard Daniel’s yelp. “What’s going on?”

“He just startled me. I almost fell asleep and I guess he found a spot that hurts.” Glaring at the healer, Daniel laid down again.

“It seems I have. Does it hurt anywhere else than this area?”

“Not specifically, no,” Daniel answered a little apprehensive of further probing.

“I’ll leave you two alone again then,” Sam said.

“Thanks, Sam.” Daniel said. Speaking to Samdri, he asked “Are you done?” Daniel was feeling more than ready to quit this poking and prodding and actually get some sleep.

“Almost,” Samdri performed one last exam that Daniel definitely didn’t want Sam present for, then let Daniel cover up and get comfortable.

Grateful that Samdri was done, Daniel removed his glasses, closing his eyes again. They were going home tomorrow. Whatever this was he’d be fine till then. Jack’s question about him going home came to him, and Daniel decided he’d just sleep now and see what tomorrow would bring.

“What do you think this is?” he asked. Daniel had field medical training and should recognise his own symptoms, but they mostly confused him. Was he having an ulcer? That was the only thing he could think of that symptoms wise came close to this. But he’d never suffered acid reflux unless he’d had gallons of coffee in a short period of time, and fond of coffee as he was, he rarely drank that much. Despite recent day’s vomiting he didn’t have any problems with his bowels, except that there were nothing to process as it all came up before his insides got much of a chance to get to work. Daniel knew he had an iron stomach. Unless the food was bad or he was poisoned he could pretty much eat anything he liked, strong, spicy, exotic or fat, it really didn’t matter; his stomach accepted it all. And as for alcohol, he liked wine and could tolerate a beer but he never really drank much. Still puzzled Daniel shook his head. “I don’t understand what this is.”

“I am not certain,” Samdri said. “However, I will make you an herbal tea that should help with the nausea, but I’m afraid that is all I can do for you, unless I am to open you up.” Samdri rose from Daniel’s bedside. “Moreover I shall consult my books.”

“You can guess,” Daniel said gently, not wanting to sound ungrateful.

Samdri sighed. This man was worse than the children. “Based on your fever and the location of your pain I’d say there is an infection somewhere, perhaps in your stomach lining. Had you only been feeling sick and feverish I’d say this was an infection that would resolve itself, but because of the added pain I would need to examine your intestines to get a better answer and I can’t do that unless I operate.”

“We have machines and instruments that can see inside the body without opening a person up first,” Daniel explained. Perhaps what was wrong with him was Earth based, that it couldn’t happen here and the doctor wouldn’t have any reference for it, Daniel suddenly realised.

“Please tell me more of these methods,” Samdri asked eagerly.

Daniel yawned, making himself more comfortable. “Ask Sam. She knows more about the technical specifics than I do.”

“Very well. I will return shortly with the tea.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said around another yawn. He was asleep before Samdri had left the room.


*****


Jack was anxious to get back to Daniel. He and Teal’c had been forced to sit a while longer at the table, answering more questions about the trade and about Earth. Noticing his restlessness, Chi addressed the people assembled. “I believe our guests would like to see to their ill friend. If there are any more questions, please come to me and I will forward them to our guests tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you again for your hospitality,” Jack said to King Walmar, bowing his head in the accustomed way. “See you in the morning.”

The King bowed back. “Sleep well, and please convey our concern to your friend.”

“Thank you, we will.”

Hurrying up the stairs, Jack and Teal’c entered their suite of rooms just as the doctor came from another direction with a pitcher, intercepting them at the door.

“You must be the rest of our guests,” Samdri said in way of greeting. “I am Samdri, the royal healer. This is medicine for Dr. Jackson. It will ease his fever and also help relieve his nausea.”

“You have discovered what ails him?” Teal’c asked when they came into the main room.

“I believe so, but without further study I cannot be certain. From what I did learn, he seems to be suffering from an infection of either his intestines or his stomach lining.”

“Sir, Teal’c.” Sam said, coming out of Daniel’s room and closing the door silently behind her.

“Carter.” Jack gazed at the shut door. “How is he?”

“He fell asleep as soon as Samdri left.”

“He says there might be an infection in Daniel’s stomach,” Jack said. “But how can he be certain of that?”

“As I explained to Dr. Jackson, the only way to know for sure is to operate, but he told me you have more advanced methods. He asked me to talk to you about them,” Samdri said, nodding at Sam. “He said you would be able to explain.”

Sam agreed. “I can do that.”

“I appreciate that,” Samdri said. “But first I would like to give Dr. Jackson his medicine.”

“You’re sure that won’t make him worse?” Jack asked, eying the pitcher.

“Yes, it is only a mild mixture and will not cause any harm.”

Jack looked at Carter and shrugged. Sam shook her head and Jack sighed. She didn’t know either.

“I’ll take that,” Jack decided, nodding towards the jug, when Samdri went to Daniel’s door. Jack wanted to see for himself how Daniel was doing. And if the meds weren’t kosher, the healer would be out here talking to Sam so he wouldn’t be able to escape. Jack didn’t actually mistrust the guy; it was more that it surprised him that a culture with such a developed language and technologies hadn’t managed to develop their medicine to a similar level. Perhaps the people here never got sick?

“As you wish,” Samdri said, handing Jack the pitcher.

“How much do I give him?”

Samdri handed Jack a cup. “Give him one full cup every four hours for the first day if he can take it, then a cup every eight hours for two days. Continue until there is no fever or nausea. And please, do not hesitate to contact me should you need my further assistance.”

“Okay. Thank you, we will.” Opening the door softly, Jack entered the mostly dark room. Someone, probably Sam, Jack thought, had drawn the curtains at one point and Jack could barely make out the lump in the bed. From what he could see from the doorway, Daniel was lying curled up on his side, face almost hidden by the blankets, only the top of his head showing.

Tip toeing over to the bed, Jack sat the pitcher and cup on the bedside table, and leaned over Daniel. “Hey, Daniel. You sleeping in there?” Pulling the blankets away from Daniel’s face, Jack gently shook Daniel’s shoulder when his soft words elicited no response from the slumbering man.

“Wh—what? Jack?” Daniel’s muffled voice answered hoarsely. Daniel blinked trying to focus his gaze on Jack’s face but it was too dark to see much. When Jack turned a lamp on the light became too much and Daniel quickly hid his face again before opening his eyes more slowly, rubbing at them with lethargic movements. “What time is it?”

“It’s late in the evening. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. Just need to sleep.” At this very moment Daniel felt fine. He was warm and comfortable and if he didn’t move he could pretend he was just waking up after a nice little nap. Needing to shift position he discovered that fine wasn’t exactly how he felt and he gasped as the pain in his belly made itself known again. The nausea wasn’t as prominent as it’d been and although the ache in his belly was there it wasn’t all encompassing. “Little achy, but I’ll be fine.” When Jack looked at him levelly, Daniel corrected himself. “I’ll be okay by tomorrow.”

“I’ve got some tea for you, courtesy of that healer guy, Smartie or something.” Jack put a hand to Daniel’s forehead to test for the fever he knew would be there. He found the med kit and the thermometer, handing it to Daniel. Daniel wasn’t fine. His face was pinched from the pain and his eyes glazed, looking watery.

“Samdri.” Daniel automatically corrected around the thermometer.

“Whatever. Don’t talk with that in your mouth.” Jack poured a cupful of the lukewarm liquid and waited till the thermometer beeped.

“101.4. Do you think you can sit up for a bit?”

Daniel rearranged himself in the bed before handing the cup over. “He said one cup every four hours to begin with. You think you can keep it down?”

“I hope so.” Daniel sipped the liquid, grimacing at the taste. The first tentative sip stayed down so he took a few more careful drinks, stopping halfway through the cup when his stomach protested and he started to breathe more heavily.

“Slow down,” Jack urged, “I’ll get the bowl.”

“’S okay. I’m okay.” Daniel said, feeling the nausea recede once again. “I just can’t take any more now. I’ll drink the rest in a little while.”

“Okay, try to get some sleep.” One of us will be in the other room if you need us.

“I will. Sleep well.” Daniel was asleep between one breath and the next.

“You too, Daniel,” Jack whispered, turned off the light and closed the door quietly behind him.




PART FOUR


Daniel had slept peacefully for several hours when Teal’c decided it was time he went to check on his friend. Opening his door slowly, Teal’c saw that Daniel’s sleep had been restless. He was clearly in pain. The sheets were rumpled and he was curled up tight on the far edge of the bed. His breathing was also somewhat laboured and Teal’c wondered if Daniel was about to be sick. Picking up the bowl sitting on his bedside table, Teal’c walked around the bed and knelt down beside Daniel.

Daniel’s face was pinched even in sleep and when Teal’c touched his cheek he could feel the dry heat coming off of him. They needed to get him back to Earth soon. Perhaps O’Neill and ColonelCarter could remain and finish the trade agreement while he conveyed DanielJackson back through the Stargate?

It was time for another dose of the tea Samdri had made so Teal’c shook Daniel’s shoulder in order to wake him.

“DanielJackson. You must wake. It is time for another dose of your medicine.”

“Huh?” Daniel licked his lips and cleared his throat. “What? Teal’c? What are you doing here?” To Teal’c Daniel sounded confused, or perhaps even delirious.

“I am here to ensure that you take your medicine. It’s time for another dose. You are still feverish. Perhaps you would benefit from someTylenol as well?”

“Yeah, okay,” Daniel said, closing his eyes again, only to open them just as quickly. He hurt. His head was pounding. The throbbing in his stomach was still there. Trying to get more comfortable, Daniel attempted to turn onto his back, but the pain in his belly only got worse with movement and he gasped. Carefully finding a position that hurt somewhat less than the one he’d previously lain in, Daniel tried to calm his breathing. The activity had brought the nausea up a notch or two as well and he was afraid to throw up in case it made his pain worse.

“How bad is the pain?” Teal’c asked.

“I’m fine,” Daniel responded fully awake now.

“You are not. You are in discomfort. Your abdomen is paining you.” Teal’c continued. “I shall procure an analgesic in stead of the Tylenol. I will also summon the healer and wake the others. You need medical attention.” Teal’c found the med kit in Daniel’s pack and found Percocet.

“Teal’c,” Daniel protested. “We can’t go home yet. We still need to sign that trade agreement.”

“That has yet to be decided. If you are too ill to stay, then we shall take our leave.” He handed Daniel the medicine and watched as Daniel took them with some of Samdri’s tea. Displeased that Daniel hadn’t drunk the full cup, Teal’c tried to convince him to drink more but Daniel only shook his head, looking green.

“What about the trade agreement?” Daniel protested. “We can’t just leave. Someone needs to speak to Chi and King Walmar. And Jack came all this way to sign this agreement. They depend on us. I’ve already made enough of a fool of myself by having to leave halfway through the party they arranged for us. We can’t go yet!”

“DanielJackson,” Teal’c said sternly. “Try to get some rest.”

Leaving to Daniel’s incomprehensible mutterings about the trade agreement, Teal’c knocked on O’Neill’s door.

“Yeah?” Jack’s answer came immediately.

“It is I.” Teal’c said, entering the room. “DanielJackson’s health is not improving. I suggest we summon some means of transportation and convey him to the SGC. He needs medical attention. He also seems confused or somewhat delirious at present, thinking he has let someone down by falling ill yesterday. I tried to assure him it is not so.”

“I’m up,” Jack said, sitting up in bed and rubbing his hands through his hair. “And that’s just Daniel for you, taking all the blame. How is he?”

“His fever is still present and he is in pain. I have given him an analgesic in addition to Samdri’s tea. I do not believe the tea is working but I am hesitant to give him Tylenol as well. I did only give him one Percocet.”

“Okay. I’ll go sit with Daniel. Go wake Carter.”

Teal’c bowed his head in acknowledgement and Jack put on his pants and boots before going in to Daniel’s room.

“Hey, Daniel,” Jack said softly in case Daniel was asleep. “I hear you’re not feeling so good.”

“Jack. I told Teal’c not to wake you guys.” Daniel said, relieved all the same that Jack was there. “And Jack, we can’t go home yet.”

“We’ll see about that. How are you feeling? Teal’c says you’re in pain.” Jack touched Daniel’s forehead to feel for himself that Daniel still was feverish. Daniel tried to get away, but his movement was too slow and instead he gasped in pain, curling up around his belly.

“Daniel!” Jack said urgently. “Let me see.” He turned on a lamp then pulled down the blankets and pushed Daniel’s hands away before lifting the hem of his t-shirt. Daniel’s skin was unblemished. There was no visible sign of trauma or injury.

“Where does it hurt?”

“All over, mostly, but sometimes it is worse here,” Daniel said and pointed to a spot somewhat to the left side, still breathing harshly.

“Could it be your kidneys?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t feel that way.”

“You haven’t had troubles with your kidneys before, have you?”

Daniel shook his head.

“Then how can you know it’s nothing to do with them?”

“Because I don’t feel anything in my back and I don’t have problems with peeing. And it isn’t constant. It’s just that sometimes it’s worse on the left side than all over.” Tired from talking Daniel moved around in the bed a little, pushing at his pillow with his head to make it more comfortable, dragging his blankets up to his chin. He blinked a few times, breathing deeply, before closing his eyes. But now he was awake and the pain was still there, keeping him awake. Daniel opened his eyes again, rubbing them. “Jack?”

“Yeah?” Jack was still seated beside him on the bed, watching him intently, rubbing his shoulder.

“We can’t go home yet, okay?”

“Okay.” Jack said, not wanting to argue just now. “But you need a doctor and that Smartie guy—“

“Samdri.”

“Yeah, whatever. He’s not that good I think.”

“I think he knows what he’s doing, but the medicines they have aren’t as advanced as ours. When he examined me he did what any of our docs would have done if they didn’t have all the fancy equipment of the infirmary at hand.”

“Yeah, well. That tea of his hasn’t helped much.”

“No,” Daniel admitted, scrunching up his face as a new wave of pain hit him. Jack thought it took longer than he liked for Daniel to recover and his breath to calm down.

“Gonna be sick,” Daniel said urgently.

Jack was there with the bowl. He pushed the blankets away and helped Daniel onto his side, supporting him. Jack did not like the sudden change in Daniel’s colour and hardly managed to set the bowl aside before Daniel collapsed in his arms, completely spent, panting heavily, and tears flowing from his tightly shut eyes.

“Oh, god, Jack. It hurts,” Daniel said between clenched teeth, not caring if he sounded like a whining child. “Make it stop.”

“Ssh,” Jack soothed, “try to relax. It might help.” Jack was already looking for the med kit. “We’ll try another pain killer soon.” There should be some syringes in that med kit, Jack thought and started to root around in the kit with one hand while keeping the other on Daniel.

“Carter!” Jack yelled.

Sam was in the room immediately, her hair mussed and her eyes still not fully open.

“Sir? Daniel!” Running over to the bed, she took Daniel’s wrist in her hand and felt his pulse. “It’s very fast.” She took Daniel’s face between her hands, stroking his cheeks gently. “Daniel, can you hear me?” His head nodded in her hands. “Good. I’m going to give you some morphine.” Again the head in her hands nodded and Sam brushed a hand through his hair before letting go.

“Sir, I don’t know what this is, but if Samdri’s right and it’s an infection, we need to go home immediately. Teal’c already went to find Chi and the healer.” She prepared the syringe Jack had found and injected it into Daniel’s bicep. “I’m giving him 2.5 mg; I don’t dare give him more at this point. We don’t know what this is yet.”

“I know.”

“You awake, Daniel?” Jack asked after a little while when Daniel slumped in his arms, his breathing finally calmed down.

“Yeah.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Honestly? It’s getting worse,” Daniel admitted.

Jack was alarmed at this news. Daniel rarely admitted to pain and abdominal pain was not something you fooled around with. They’d all learned that the hard way with Daniel’s appendicitis all those years ago. Thinking at first it was some sort of strain Daniel hadn’t mentioned anything to anyone about they were all taken by surprise when it got steadily worse and he finally admitted that his stomach hurt, a lot. It was only sheer luck that it didn’t burst until Daniel was already lying prepped on the operating table.

Sensing what Jack was thinking, Daniel quickly reassured him. “It’s not as bad as that.”

“Yeah, well, I think the good doctor should have another look at you and then we’ll talk to Chi about coming back to sign that agreement later and head for home.”

Daniel only nodded, which increased Jack’s worry even more. “Try to get some sleep.”

Jack settled himself beside Daniel on the large bed, keeping an eye on his friend. Teal’c had gone off to find the healer and Carter was sitting on the bed beside Daniel, rubbing his arm to try to comfort him. Now they just had to wait.


*****


“Teal’c should be back now,” Sam said, looking out into the main room, having a clear view to the main door to their suite.

A moment later they could hear him return. “ColonelCarter, O’Neill. I have returned.”

“Finally,” Sam said. She patted Daniel’s hand before putting it down between the blankets. “You go ahead, I’ll sit with him.”

“Okay.” Jack rose from the bed and tucked the displaced blankets in closer around Daniel before walking out to Teal’c and Chi who were waiting in the other room. He clasped Teal’c’s shoulder in gratitude and sat down beside him.

“Chi,” he said in greeting. “We’re sorry to drag you out of bed like this, but we need to return home. Daniel is worse and he needs medical attention. More advanced medical attention I mean,” he corrected when Chi frowned at him. “Our doctors can help him.”

“Yes, Teal’c expressed the urgency of this meeting to me. I am sorry. Samdri is already on his way and we are can only say how sorry we are that our medical services can’t be of better assistance to you.”

“He’s doing what he can,” Jack said, sounding calmer than he felt. “But Daniel is very ill.”

“I understand,” Chi said apologetically. “I shall provide transport to the Gateway. But there is also the matter of the trade agreement we need to discuss.”

“Can’t it be postponed?” Jack asked.

Chi shook his head. “King Walmar will not take kindly to that, I’m afraid.”

“But surely he’ll think twice when he learns Daniel is sick?” Jack said.

Chi shook his head again. “I’m afraid that when the King’s mind is set, he is not easy to sway.”

“You can’t mean that he won’t let Daniel go home because we have to sign this trade agreement first?” Jack asked angrily.

“Oh, no. I didn’t mean that. Of course, Dr. Jackson may return home, but I believe you should stay General O’Neill. We will conclude this business shortly after breakfast and you will be able to leave in the afternoon.”

“Okay, that is acceptable,” Jack agreed.

“I will remain as well,” Teal’c said.

“Yeah, okay. But Carter needs to go with Daniel.”

“Of course. I shall go inform King Walmar.”

“I will go immediately and speak to the king.” Chi stood up from the sofa and walked to the door. “I will be back as quickly as I can. I am sorry that Dr. Jackson has fallen ill. I hope it is not something he has eaten here or because of your visit here.”

“I don’t think so, but we can’t be sure. We’ve all eaten from the same food and he is the only one who is sick.” Jack said. To Teal’c he said,” I’ll go back to Daniel.”


*****


Samdri knocked on their door a little while later. Daniel had fallen asleep, and Jack shook him gently.

“Daniel, can you wake up for a bit? Samdri’s here.”

Daniel blinked a few times then opened his eyes. “Okay.”

Jack stood by the door as Samdri performed a quick examination, much like he’d done earlier, not wanting to leave Daniel alone, and to see for himself what the doctor was doing.

“Hurts,” Daniel mumbled seemingly more asleep than awake when he felt Samdri’s hands on his belly. “Go ‘way,”

“Daniel!” Jack exclaimed. “He’s here to help you.”

“The infection is getting worse,” Samdri said. “His fever is higher and he is in more pain. You need to return immediately.”

“You don’t say?” Jack snarked, looking down at Daniel who had curled up on his side again, arms wrapped around his middle, shivering slightly beneath the blankets. “That tea you gave him hasn’t helped and what we have given him has helped a little, but not enough.”

“I see. I am sorry that I can not be of further assistance to you. I shall provide transport to the Gateway immediately and speak to Chi.”

“I have already spoken to Chi.” Teal’c said. “He is procuring a vehicle as we speak.”

“Very well. I shall go downstairs and wait for him,” Samdri said.

“We should have gone home much sooner,” Sam said worriedly after Samdri had left. “Should we try more morphine?”

“I don’t know. What you gave him doesn’t seem to have had much effect except for making him drowsy.”

“I’ll give him another 2.5 mg in half an hour if we haven’t started for home by than.” Sam said, preparing the syringe and putting it in her pocket, making sure the needle was tightly capped. Daniel was asleep again, oblivious to their conversation.

“Daniel shouldn’t have gone through the gate today at all,” Jack was angry.

“There’s no use in second guessing ourselves, sir. What’s done is done. None of us thought it would get this bad. It’s not Daniel’s fault he got sick.”

“Are you sure about that?” Jack asked, regretting it almost immediately. “I mean, he didn’t intend to get sick, but you know how he is. He might have brought this on himself. “

“Yes, sir,” Sam admitted. “But he wouldn’t be let off-world if he wasn’t fit enough to be going. You know that,” she added with emphasis.

Jack sighed. “Yeah, I do. I just wish he’d learn to look after himself a little better.”

“I know,” Sam sighed, brushing her hand up and down Daniel’s exposed arm.


*****


As they waited for Samdri to return from speaking to Chi, Daniel drifted in and out of a pain-filled and fever induced sleep, moving restlessly on the bed. It was apparent that the morphine did not work sufficiently. His fever kept burning and Daniel came close to throwing up twice before dawn finally brightened the sky and Samdri returned with news of their transportation being on its way.

Sam had just woken Daniel up to take his temperature again, and was injecting Daniel with another dose of morphine when there was a knock on the door. She would have wanted to give him another Percocet, but the one Teal’c had given Daniel earlier hadn’t helped much and Tylenol did nothing for his pain. According to her field medical training, Sam knew that morphine was injected in small dosages till the patient was pain free. But with the kind of pain Daniel was experiencing, Sam was very reluctant to give him morphine at all. Again she rued the fact that they didn’t have any suppository anti emetic. She made herself a mental note to ask the infirmary to add that as standard equipment.

“My apologies, “Samdri said, entering their rooms. “It took time to find a vehicle that can transport Dr. Jackson lying down.”

“Don’t you have ambulances?” Jack asked.

“What?” Samdri just stared at him.

“Transportation vehicles for the ill and injured,” Teal’c explained. “They come equipped with a bed that might be carried or stretcher.”

What was it with this world anyway, Jack mused. They seemed to have some of the modern technologies working to the best for them, yet they didn’t have things like ambulances and proper medical facilities. Wasn’t knowledge and education their goal? Wouldn’t it benefit the Varians if they knew how to treat illness or injuries? Jack guessed this was why medical aid and supplies were high on Varia’s list of things they wanted from Earth.

“We have stretchers, and there are vehicles large enough to convey a stretcher within them, but those aren’t very common and we had to send for one. It is now waiting downstairs. Here people are mostly treated in their homes. Transport is rarely necessary. We are a very healthy people; it is rare that we have use of these vehicles.”

As Samdri finished speaking, two men came up to their rooms, carrying a stretcher between them. Teal’c and Jack dressed a drowsy, half-asleep and therefore compliant Daniel in his BDU’s and put him on the stretcher, blankets and all, before strapping him in securely. They then walked down the stairs, carrying Daniel between them.

“I’ll see you later, sir, Teal’c.” Sam said, climbing into the car after the stretcher had been put down and secured.

“Yeah. Just a second,” Jack said before the doors of the vehicle closed. “I’ll just say goodbye to Daniel first.”

Climbing into the back, he sat down beside Daniel’s head, shaking his shoulder to get his attention. “Hey. You’re going home now, okay? Carter’s going with you. Teal’c and I need to stay to finish the mission, but we’ll be back in a few hours.”

Daniel nodded, licking his lips. “You want some water?” Jack asked.

“Please?”

“Okay, just a few sips.” Jack took out his canteen and lifted Daniel’s head off the stretcher before helping him to drink a few sips.

“Thanks,” Daniel croaked. He cleared his throat a few times then looked at Jack. “Be nice now. And listen to Teal’c.”

Jack laughed, happy that Daniel was able to joke. “Yeah, I will. See you later.”

“Bye, Jack.” Daniel waved.

“Bye, Daniel.”

“I shall see you soon, DanielJackson,” Teal’c said, coming over to the car as well. “Rest well.”

“Thanks, Teal’c. See you later.”

“Get him home safely,” Jack said, patting Sam’s arm.

“Thanks, I will.” Sam waved and climbed into the back of the car where Daniel was waiting.


*****


The trip to the Stargate was short. Thankfully the roads were even and well built. The stretcher Daniel was lying on was thin and there was no covering beneath it to shield him from any bumps in the road. Sam kept one hand on his wrist, taking his pulse, and with the other she stroked her fingers through his hair, rubbing his scalp soothingly. Daniel was breathing heavily, moaning now and again drowsy from the morphine he’d been given, yet not able to fall asleep because of the nausea. There was nothing in here he could throw up in and she prayed he’d be able to keep it in till they stopped.

The ride didn’t last very long and they’d barely stopped before Daniel started to breathe very fast, looking at Sam desperately.

“I know, Daniel. Hold on a little longer.” She opened the doors as soon as the car-like vehicle stopped and hurried outside, dragging the stretcher with her. “Hurry! He’s going to be sick,” she warned the helper who came out of the front of the car. They managed to put the stretcher down on the ground and Sam undid the bindings that held Daniel’s chest and arms in place just in time for him to lurch to the side and proceed to expel what little there was in his belly. What came up was mostly water, and by now Sam figured Daniel had to be dehydrated. If he hadn’t been able to keep anything down the last two days, one of the first things he needed was liquid.

“You done?” She asked gently as Daniel lay back down, still breathing fast.

“Yeah.”

“How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better.” Daniel closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“Okay. Hold on a minute. I’ll give you a Zofran now before we go through the wormhole. It should hopefully manage to stay down that long and have some effect. These men can’t go with us so you have to walk on your feet those few steps. Do you think you can manage that?”

Daniel nodded and accepted the tablet Sam gave him, swallowing it dry and started to get up from the stretcher, fumbling dizzily, not being able to coordinate his movements properly.

“Hold on,” Sam unbuckled him from the restraints and removed the blankets from around him, helping him to his feet.

“I’ll go dial the gate and let them know we’re coming.” Sam helped Daniel sit down on the lower steps beneath the stargate, far enough away for him not to be swallowed up by the wormhole when it engaged, but not so far away that he would have to walk far to get home.

“Okay,” Daniel slumped against the banister, trying to calm his breathing. He was feeling lousy, horrible, actually. But they were going home and that was all that mattered. Sleepily he listened to Sam report in, telling the tech they had a medical emergency and needed to be met in the gateroom by a med team.

“You ready?” Sam asked.

Daniel blinked, looking at her blearily. “Let’s go home.”

Sam helped him to his feet again and together they walked through the wormhole.




PART FIVE


Daniel stumbled through the wormhole, falling painfully to his knees on the ramp, his stomach lurching. Sam let go of their packs and supported him, preventing him from tumbling head over heels. Getting unsteadily to his feet, Daniel saw a gurney and two white-clad people standing by the bottom of the ramp, waiting for them to fully descend the metal decline. They now came towards him and before he knew it he was helped down the ramp and hoisted onto the mattress. Someone divested him of his P90 and sidearm and hands started assessing him, feeling his forehead, placing an oxymeter on his finger, looking in his eyes with the dratted penlight and unzipping his jacket and west all the while asking Sam questions Daniel couldn’t quite follow as he was too busy tracking what was going on with himself.

Now they were moving. From experience he knew gurney rides could be a little disorienting so not wanting to make the nausea any worse, Daniel closed his eyes, only to open them as they entered the elevator. As they shot upwards through the levels more hands were unfastening his boots while other hands snaked his right arm out of his jacket and vest and wrapped his bicep in a blood pressure cuff. Doors opened and they were moving again, preventing the hands touching him from continuing their work, Sam was still answering questions. The movement made Daniel dizzy and his breathing sped up. He was going to get sick again, he just new it.

Sam saw his predicament and shouted out a warning before the gurney stopped with a lurch and several pairs of hands turned Daniel onto his side in one fluid motion. Breathing heavily for a few minutes Daniel finally managed to croak “false alarm,” when he thought he was ready.

Sam moved into his line of vision. “Are you okay to move on?” Daniel nodded and the gurney moved forward again, at a slower pace this time, an oxygen mask fitted over his face to help him breathe more easily.


*****


“What have we got?” Warner’s voice floated into Daniel’s ears. There was a count of “one, two, three,” and he was flying through the air before landing on the familiar softness of an infirmary bed.

“I’ll be right here, Daniel,” Sam said. Daniel saw her sit down on a bed a little ways off from where he was.

“Dr. Jackson, can you hear me?” Warner asked. Daniel opened his eyes and looked at the doctor.

“Yeah, I’m awake.” Daniel answered beneath the oxygen mask before taking it off.

“How are you feeling?”

The adrenaline rush from the near vomiting was wearing off and Daniel felt drained and his mind a little foggy and slow.

“Dr. Jackson? How are you feeling?” Warner asked again, more insistently this time. To a nurse he added, “What are his vitals?”

“BP’s 145/89, pulse 90 and temp 102.2. Colonel Carter said she’d given him 5 mg morphine over several hours when the Tylenol and Percocet didn’t seem to have any effect. Also, she reported that the Zofran he’s been taking has not been working. He’s thrown up several times the last 24 hours. Perhaps that is why he appears somnolent?”

Warner agreed. “Yes, I suspect that is why he’s so distracted. He seems sedated. Pupils are a bit slow but otherwise reacting normally.” The doctor patted Daniel’s face. “Daniel, tell me how you’re feeling?”

“Huh? Oh. I feel sick.” Daniel said after a few seconds of silence.

“Yeah, I caught that,” Warner said, “Anything else?”

“’M cold. Tired.”

“You have a fever.”

When Daniel didn’t answer, Warner turned to the nurses. “Let’s get him out of these clothes and into a bed. I’ll go order some tests and be right back.”

Daniel listened with half an ear as he was shifted around and his clothes exchanged for scrubs. He tried helping a little but his movements were uncoordinated.

“Just lay back and rest, Dr. J. We’ve got this,” one of the nurses said when Daniel couldn’t find the hole to put his arm into on the scrub top. A nice warm blanket was placed over his legs and he considered curling up on his side and sleep when someone grabbed his arm. “Lie still, I’m going to start an IV. You’re dehydrated and need fluids. Then we’re going to take some blood and do an ABG.”

“’Kay.” Daniel kept still, his eyes closed. There was a wet feeling on his hand before a sharp pinprick and then the sound of someone fiddling with something. His arm was grabbed again and something wet was swiped over the inside of his elbow before he felt another needle prick. A moment later a piece of gauze was placed in the crook of his elbow while someone else took his other arm and swiped the inside of his wrist before there was a sharp piercing pain that momentarily jolted Daniel into full alertness. Looking down at his wrist and seeing the small tube being filled with blood, Daniel laid back. Those tests always hurt. One thing was to have blood drawn from a vein in his arm. It was something completely different when a main artery was pierced. Daniel knew the tests were for different reasons so he relaxed and let the nurses work. Soon the pain was gone and someone applied pressure to his wrist before adding another piece of gauze there. The nausea was making itself known again and his breathing quickened. Wanting to breathe more easily and be able to expel whatever there was left in his stomach. Daniel sat up but was persistently pushed back down by a nurse. “Just relax. It’ll just be a moment and you’ll feel a lot better.” A nasal canula was placed on his face and he felt the pain and nausea gradually disappear. The nurse left and for a moment Daniel was all by himself before the curtains snapped and Doctor Warner came over to his bed.

“I’ve given you some intravenous Zofran. It should help with the nausea. Just breathe calmly.” Warner said. “From what Colonel Carter tells, aren’t you due for a dose of Zofran yet, but since you’ve been throwing up everything you put in your mouth I believe it’s safe. When you’re feeling a little better we’ll take some X-rays and see what’s going on, okay? But first I need to have a look at you.”

Warner repeated some of the exams the nurses had done while transporting him from the gateroom to the infirmary. Most of what the doc needed to know could be read of the monitors Daniel now was hooked up to. But Warner, like Janet, liked the hands-on approach and preferred to feel how the patients were doing with their own hands. Warner might seem gruff and military but he really was a good guy and now that Janet was no longer with them, Daniel was glad Warner still was.

“How’s the pain?” Warner asked, putting his stethoscope away and touching Daniel’s hand to get his attention.

“It’s not so bad.”

“That’s good. And the nausea?” Warner was palpitating Daniel’s abdomen, gently pushing down with his fingers.

“I’m fine.”

Warner raised an eyebrow at him, moving his hands closer to where Daniel at the beginning of the exam had indicated the pain was radiated from.

“Still a little queasy,” Daniel admitted. The meds had gone a long way in alleviating his nausea by now, but it wasn’t completely gone.

“And, when I press here, how bad is it?” Warner asked, gently pushing down on Daniel’s belly.

Daniel winced. “That hurts.”

Warner continued to work and without letting Daniel know pushed down hard, then let go. Daniel only looked at him. “Did that make it any worse?”

“No.”

“Good. You can get dressed again now.” Relieved that the doc was done for now, Daniel put his scrubs back on. His stomach still hurt, but in a detached kind of way now that he was on pain killers. His head was still a little fuzzy from the morphine which obviously still was running through his system.

Warner was writing in his chart. Daniel dressed and tucked himself in, pulling the blankets up to his chin. There was less pain, yes, but he was sill feverish and achy and tired. Now Daniel wanted to sleep. But first he wanted answers.

“So…” he asked, clearing his throat, looking around for some water, not finding anything close by.

Warner continued to write, but soon put down his pen and hung Daniel’s chart on the foot of his bed, fixing Daniel with a level gaze. “Knowing you, I’m actually surprised this hasn’t happened before,” the doctor said, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at Daniel with the aura of a man who held all the answers.

“What?” Daniel asked feeling a little affronted. “What have I done now?”

Warner snapped back the curtain around his bed to indicate the examination was finished and Sam hurried over to his side.

“Daniel! How are you? What’s going on? Are you feeling any better?” Sam took his hand between hers, stroking the back of it, smiling encouragingly although not quite managing to hide a frown at the feel of his dry and hot skin. She brushed a hand through his hair, letting it rest on his cheek for a moment. “You really had us worried back there.”

“I’m better, thanks.” Daniel smiled, nodding to his IV. “The morphine you gave me is still working. And I’m not so nauseous now. They’ve given me some of the good stuff. Warner was about to explain what’s wrong with me.” Daniel said expectantly. “Doc?”

“As I said I had expected this to happen with you long before now, “Warner said. “I can’t be sure before we’ve seen the x-rays and blood work. When we get the results back we’re going to decide if we need to do more tests. I’ll also wait for those results before starting you on antibiotics.”

“What kind of tests?” Daniel asked somewhat apprehensive.

“We’ll see. I might have to do an endoscopy or gastroscopy.”

“Is that really necessary?” Daniel asked, hoping it really wasn’t. He could very much do without a tube down his throat.

“We shall see,” Warner said, patting Daniel’s leg and leaving him and Sam alone. “I’ll be back when you’ve returned from radiology.”

“Can I have some water?” Daniel asked before the doctor was out of earshot.

“Just a sip to rinse your mouth, I don’t know yet if you need surgery yet and you need to be fasting for the eventuality of an endoscopy. You may brush your teeth if that helps, but don’t swallow the water.”

“Thanks,” Daniel accepted the water a nurse brought him and took only the permitted sip to get rid of the awful taste in his mouth. “It’s not like there’s anything in my belly now anyway,” he mused out loud, wishing he could drain the cup.

“No, probably not,” the nurse said, leaving Daniel’s bedside. “Get some rest.”

“How long before they come to get you?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know.” Daniel looked around the infirmary. It was relatively quiet. A few beds were occupied by other patients. “It shouldn’t be too long.”

She pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down on it, taking Daniel’s hand. I’ll sit with you for a while then I have to pop into the control room and see how things have been going here and come back when I’ve debriefed Reynolds.” When Jack was away from the SGC, SG-3’s leader Colonel Reynolds was the one who took over command of the SGC.

Daniel nodded. “So, how do you think Jack is managing?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Sam said. “Teal’c will keep him in line.”

“Yeah,” Daniel agreed. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t be there to see it through.”

“I know you are, but they’ll be just fine.”


*****


“Hey, Dr. J. I’m taking you off to radiology now. You ready?” a voice asked, a male nurse entering Daniel’s line of vision.

“Hey Tom, yeah, I’m ready.” Daniel said, sitting up a little, straightening his blankets.

“Good. Doc Warner says you’re mobile so you don’t get the limousine ride today. I’ll unhook you from all this stuff then you are good to go.” Tom said in a conversational tone. Daniel took off the pulse oxymeter from his finger and handed it to Tom. For some reason he hadn’t been given him a catheter yet, for which Daniel was glad. With his completely empty systems it wasn’t like he needed to pee anyway. Daniel guessed that would change pretty soon with the way the liquids were flowing into him from his IV. Hooking the IV pole to the back of the wheelchair, Tom handed Daniel a robe and slippers and helped him get comfortable before he pushed Daniel out of the main infirmary and towards the radiology department.

“I guess this is my cue,” Sam said, following Daniel out of the infirmary, “I’ll see you later. Have fun.” She smiled at Daniel and winked.

“I’m sure I will,” Daniel answered, his voice laced with irony.

“Come now,” Tom said, laughing. “It’s just x-rays.”

“I know,” Daniel said. “But I was comfy in bed. I didn’t want to get up.”

“Well, you’ll be back in a short while, it’s not that busy in the radiology department right now.”


*****


Daniel was almost asleep by the time he was back in bed. Despite not being taxing in themselves, the x-rays had drained him of energy. Just getting out of the chair, undressing, standing up and holding his breath for the chest x-ray and lying down for the abdominal x-ray and then getting dressed and back in the chair had taken more out of him than he liked. It wasn’t that it’d made his nausea any worse but the fever made him ache all over and movement was painful. Warner hadn’t said anything confirming about any other tests now so Daniel relaxed on his bed, finally being able to fall asleep.


*****


Someone was stroking his hair, a soft, repetitious brush of fingers through the hair on the top of his head. Shifting onto his side to face the person by his bed side, Daniel opened his eyes to Sam’s smiling face.

“Hey. How are you doing?” She asked, letting go of his hand so he could tuck it under his chin, pulling the blankets up with him. “Your fever’s down a little.”

Daniel glanced at the monitor which showed his temperature to be exactly 102. “I’m fine. Has Warner said anything yet?”

“No, you haven’t slept more than an hour I think.”

“Oh, okay.” Daniel caught the eye of one of the nurses and beckoned her over.

“How are you doing, Dr. Jackson? Are you in pain?” The nurse looked at the monitor Daniel was hooked up to then felt his forehead and took his pulse.

“Hey Janice,” Daniel said when she was done. “No, I’m fine. I just wanted to know if the results of my tests are back yet.”

“It’s a little early for that but I’ll go check.”

“Thanks.”

Janice went to fetch a folder at the nurses station then returned to Daniel’s bedside. “Most of the blood work is back, but not the x-rays. I’ll go see if I can find them. You need anything?”

“No, I’m fine, thanks.”

“Good. Try to get some more sleep.” Janice straightened his blankets a little before leaving Daniel alone with Sam again.

“Sam? Have you heard anything from Jack and Teal’c yet? Shouldn’t they be back by now?”

“No, it’s a little early for that. Remember, there is a seven hour time lag between Varia and here. It is still midday there. It’s a little after 6pm here.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I forgot about that.” Daniel had been too busy feeling lousy to think about what time of day it was. Now he was comfortable and almost pain free.

“You’ll let me know the moment they’re back?”

“I will.”

“How’s Reynolds holding up?” SG-3’s leader, Colonel Reynolds, hadn’t been in command of the SGC before and Daniel had been a little apprehensive knowing that both Jack and Sam were going with them on the mission, despite Reynolds actually having seniority over Sam on the base and also being known as a good leader for SG-3.

“He’s fine. Nothing happened while we were away, just the usual goings on with teams coming and leaving. No emergencies and no alien invasion.” Sam smiled.

“That’s great. I’m sure Jack will be glad to hear that.” Daniel said, picturing the conversation, or rather, interrogation Daniel knew Jack would have with Reynolds when he came back. Jack was still so new at being general that Daniel knew Jack felt leaving the SGC in the hands of someone else, even for a short while, was like leaving your baby with someone else. It didn’t matter if you trusted the caretaker or not. Jack was and would always be very protective of what he considered his to protect.

They lapsed into a companionable silence. When Daniel yawned, Sam kissed his cheek. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back later.”


*****


This time it was the shaking of his shoulder that woke him. Daniel blinked and tried to focus on the person in the white lab coat standing before him. He sensed he hadn’t slept long and he wished he could go back to sleep again immediately. He was handed his glasses and Warner’s face came into focus. “Hey, doc,” Daniel said around a yawn. “What’s going on?”

“It’s time for another dose of your meds.”

“And you needed to wake me for this, why?” Daniel asked grumpily. “I was sleeping.”

Warner busied himself with writing in Daniel’s chart.

“Aaaand,” Daniel drawled, wiggling his eyebrows at the doctor, not liking the way Warner always seemed to drag things out, as if he was a host on some TV show, holding the audience in suspension before he came with the verdict.

“We got the results of your tests back. Your blood work indicates that you have an ulcer, but I need to do more tests to confirm the diagnosis.”

“What? But I hardly ever have any heart burn.”

“No? That is surprising. With your work hours, the amount of coffee you drink… I would have thought you’d have that now and again. “

Daniel shook his head. “Nope, and I don’t believe I drink as much coffee as people would have me drink.”

“How much do you drink then?” Warner asked, crossing his arms over his chest, not managing to hide his smile. If he got an honest answer to this one he’d be lucky. It had been a ongoing guess almost since the SGC’s inception how much coffee the notorious coffee drinker Dr. Jackson actually consumed.

“It varies,” Daniel answered guardedly, which was true. He knew he had more than was considered normal, but it wasn’t really that much. At Warner’s continued stare he added, “a few cups a day.”

“Okay. But you don’t necessarily have to have reflux to get an ulcer. Reflux is only one of several symptoms of the disease.”

“Then why do you think I have it?”

“The abdominal pain and discomfort you’re suffering from is one of the primary symptoms. Ulcers are caused by a bacterium. Helicobacter pylori are very common bacteria.” Warner said. “The strange thing is that I didn’t expect to find them with you. You don’t fit the common criteria that well, and one would think that that Oma Desala figure would have erased them from you when you were returned.”

Daniel shook his head. “She left me as I was. Fraiser tested me. I’m sure it’s in my files somewhere.”

“Yes, that might be,” Warner said. Then he fell quiet.

“What?” Daniel prompted. He was getting impatient. “I’m confused. First you say you’d expect me to get an ulcer before and now you say I don’t fit the criteria. Why not?” Daniel frowned.

“Helicobacter pylori is a bacteria that is more prominent in people from developing countries than here, but I guess since you grew up in Egypt you’ve had it with you since you were a child and it’s not made itself known before now.”

Daniel nodded. That made sense and would also explain why it wasn’t prominent enough to cause harm when he was ascended. Egypt still was somewhat poor when he grew up. “Could I have prevented this?”

“You couldn’t have prevented the bacteria from being present in your system, no. But if further tests show you have an ulcer, you can do something about that. But let’s not go there just yet. But,” Warner said. “This is more than a simple infection. Your lifestyle has finally taken its toll and your body had enough. Stress, immeasurable workload, ungodly hours, constant pressure…” Warner was rattling off his fingers, looking intently at Daniel to make sure he understood.

Daniel resisted the urge to wrap his arms around himself and sighed heavily. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“On top of the helicobacter you have another infection which I guess is what is causing your fever. It looks like a garden variety stomach bug that you’ve caught here on Earth and may have both made worse and also masked your other symptoms because of the vomiting. Helicobacter pylori most commonly cause problems with bowel movement, not vomiting.” Warner continued, looking in Daniel’s chart. “Am I right in guessing that you've been having indefinable, low-grad stomach pain and queasiness for a long time? Doctor Brightman said she gave you Zofran yesterday morning.” Warner asked, looking at him.

“Yes, yes I have.” Daniel had to admit he had been having an upset stomach to some degree or other for quite a while.

“Do you think you can remember for how long?”

Daniel nodded, thinking back. “I think it started after Jack shot me. I was a little nauseous after that, but I figured that was only because of the meds you guys had me on. It’s been coming and going since then. It might have started earlier but I’ve been so busy I’ve not paid much attention to my body.”

Warner nodded. “Yes. It wasn’t your fault Anubis chose you to hide in so you couldn’t help being shot.”

Daniel nodded. “That’s true.”

“But one should think that a man your age and with what you’ve gone through would know to look after your health better.” Warner admonished.

Daniel blushed, embarrassed. “So, what happens now?” he asked, wanting to change the subject.

“We’re starting you on broad spectrum antibiotics. We need to get a stool sample and then we’ll do an endoscopy to see how much damage the bacteria have done and take a biopsy if it’s created a mass.” He checked the monitors, then Daniel’s IV. “But for the moment, just rest. Let the nurses know when you need the bathroom and we’ll get that sample then. Also,” he placed a plastic container on the bedside table, “pee in this.”

After Warner left, Daniel lay back thinking. He had been right earlier when he’d thought he might have an ulcer. Doctor Warner hadn’t been sure yet about it, but he thought that was what Daniel was suffering from and he was a surgeon so he should know. Daniel dozed, wondering if he should get someone to go to his office to get some of the unfinished work on his desk for him or if he should get someone to check if Jack and Teal’c were back yet. He knew they’d both be coming here as soon as they could, but feeling a little bored Daniel wanted time to skip ahead till they did so he could hear how the mission had ended.


*****


Time passed slowly. He called for one of the nurses when he felt he needed to use the bathroom. It wasn’t far to walk, but still feverish, Daniel was happy to get back under the covers. The antibiotics were starting to work, but Daniel knew from experience that he wouldn’t immediately be fever free. The pain was starting to come back again as well and Daniel figured the morphine had worn off by now. Curling up on his side, knees to his chest, Daniel wrapped his hands around his middle and breathed through the pain.

“We’re ready for your endoscopy,” Tom suddenly said close to Daniel’s ear, then seeing Daniel’s predicament he hurriedly added; “I’m giving you something for the pain, just hold on, okay?” Daniel nodded and watched anxiously as Tom injected something into the port of his IV, looking on as the tiny drops fell through the clear tubing and into his blood stream, wanting the meds to work quickly. Tom lifted the rails on both sides of Daniel’s bed and hooked the monitor and IV pole onto the head of the bed. He undid the breaks and wheeled Daniel out of the main infirmary and into one of the exam rooms adjacent to the main ward.

“Why the limousine ride?” Daniel asked when he felt the pain recede, attempting a joke.

“It didn’t look like you were feeling so well just now and you need to lie down for the endoscopy anyway so I just thought this was easier. How are you feeling? Is the pain any better now?” Tom asked when he’d arranged Daniel’s bed just so inside the exam room.

“I’m fine.” Daniel was sleepy and feeling somewhat grumpy for getting interrupted all the time. “Can’t we just get this over with?”

“It shouldn’t take too long,” Warner said, coming into the room and pulling down the rail behind Daniel. “Turn onto your back and take off your top, please.”

Daniel pushed down the blankets and unfastened the knot in the side of his scrub top. “How come you all want me to undress when I’m freezing here?” he asked. Daniel laid back and looked at Warner in frustration. Warner just smiled and put his hand to Daniel’s forehead and looked at the monitor. “Still 102. It should have gone down a little by now. I’ll see what I can do about that after we’re done. Let’s see how things are going here, shall we?” He gently patted Daniel’s abdomen. “Lie still for me, please.”

Daniel sighed and lay still, enduring another round of poking and prodding.

“No change, that’s good. Open.” Warner was holding a spray of sorts in his hand and motioned for Daniel to open his mouth. “It’s a local anaesthetic. You won’t feel a thing.”

“Yeah, right,” Daniel muttered, lifting his head off the pillow. “You’re putting a tube down my throat. Of course I won’t feel that,” he said, wanting to mock but what came out sounded like a good old sulk.

“Dr. Jackson.” Warner was getting impatient. “You’ve had this done before, haven’t you?”

“No, not that I can remember.”

“I am sure you have. It’s in your chart.”

“Oh. If you say so,” Daniel answered, not really interested in if he’d been through this exam before or not. Getting warm, fever free and pain free was what interested him.

“I do. Turn onto your left side, please.” Warner looked at Daniel closely. His eyes were still bright with fever and he looked somewhat haggard. A little more kindly Warner asked, “Do you want me to sedate you?”

“No!” Daniel protested. “Just get this over with, will you?”

“I could give you a light sedative, just to make you a little detached from the procedure. It might help.”

“I’m okay. Just do it, okay?”

“Okay. But let me know if you need anything.”

Daniel nodded.

“Try to relax.” Warner said, inserting the endoscope through Daniel’s mouth. Tom stood behind him, keeping a hand on Daniel’s shoulder to ground him as his gagging reflex took over and Daniel breathed heavily, thinking he was going to be sick again. Warner looked at the monitor. “Give him 1 litre.” The nasal canula that had been removed when he’d gone to the bathroom was once again wrapped around his ears and air flowed into Daniel’s nostrils. “Keep it flowing. Daniel?”

Daniel looked up at the doctor.

“I’m going to do a biopsy now. You’ll feel a little pinch around here” he touched Daniel’s belly, “but that’s all.”

Daniel nodded and watched Warner watch the monitor attached to the endoscope. “All done,” Warner said after a moment, starting to retract the tubing. “Just breathe normally.” To Tom he added: “keep the O2 flowing a little while longer till he’s cleared his throat.” An emesis basin was placed by Daniel’s mouth and he coughed and spat a few times but nothing came out.

“You can lie back now. We’ll send the biopsy to histology and when we get the result back from that we’ll see if we need to operate, but from what I’ve seen now I doubt that. As far as I can see you’re just shy of getting an actual ulcer so you’re lucky.”

“Can I go home?” Daniel asked as soon as his throat felt clear again, knowing he sounded like a petulant child but at the moment not really caring.

“No, I’m afraid I can’t let you out just yet. You need those IV antibiotics and pain killers for at least a little while longer. I’ll see about getting you on oral meds in the morning. I can’t say for sure that the other infection you’re suffering from is a normal stomach bug or not so I want to keep you for observation at least till you’re 24 hours fever free.”

“Can you have someone go to my office and bring me some work then?” Daniel asked hopefully.

“No, you need to rest.” Warner said. “You can go back to the infirmary now.”


*****


When he returned to the main ward Jack was sitting on one of the beds going through his post-mission physical. “Hey Daniel,” Jack said in greeting, lifting Daniel’s spirits a few notches.

“Hey. How’d it go?” Daniel cleared his throat a few times, drinking a little of the water a nurse came with.

“Chi and Walmar both agreed to our terms and all will live happily ever after,” Jack said, grabbing his jacket and coming over to where Daniel lay. “No problemo. I think you getting sick speeded up the process for them and they didn’t argue about anything. It also made them see how ineffective their medical system is. SG-17 will go back there in a little while to start the actual trading, taking a medic with them to teach them a few things as well.”

“Good.” Daniel put the glass back down when he’d had his fill.

“How are you doing?” Jack asked, looking at him closely, clearly seeing his friend wasn’t feeling all that well despite his perky attitude. “Where did you just come from? I heard they’d sent you off to some test or other.”

“Yeah. Warner just put a tube down my throat and grabbed a piece of my stomach in the process.”

“Sounds like fun,” Jack said, grimacing at the thought. He pulled his chair closer to the bed, looking at the monitors and lines sneaking under the blankets. “You look kinda beat.”

“I really can’t say that it was.” Daniel yawned. “And yeah, I’m tired. I want to sleep all the time.”

Jack fiddled with the IV lead, reading the labels. “They have you on the good stuff, Daniel. That always makes you drowsy.”

Daniel looked at the IV himself. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Sleep, then. I’ll be here. I have to go be a general in a little while, but Teal’c said he was going to come see you after he’d showered so he should be here soon.” Jack patted Daniel’s knee before helping him adjust his pillows and blankets. Sitting beside Daniel’s bed, Jack watched as Daniel shifted, pulling the blankets almost over his head and curling up on his side before falling asleep.


*****


Jack went to find Doctor Warner as soon as Daniel was asleep. “How is he?” Jack asked without further ado.

“He’s lucky. Had he waited any longer with seeing a doctor, he’d have an ulcer and we would have needed to operate.”

“What?” Jack almost yelled. “What do you mean waited this long to see a doc? He had an upset stomach yesterday morning and now he’s got holes in his belly?” How could he have missed that?

“It’s not that way it works,” Warner said, explaining about the bacteria causing Daniel’s problems.

“But he’s got to have been in pain for quite some time. You don’t develop an ulcer overnight,” Jack said. “He’s not mentioned anything to me.”

“Nor to me. He’s been healthy and except for that wound in his shoulder I’ve not had the need to examine him thoroughly for quite some time,” Warner admitted.

Jack nodded. “So, what happens now?”

“I’ve taken a biopsy. At the moment he’s on antibiotics and pain killers to reduce the fever and hopefully prevent this mass I biopsied to turn into an ulcer. I’m keeping him here for at least 48 hours observation, depending on how fast the fever goes down, and then he’s on bed rest for another few days. I’m giving him four weeks medical leave.”

“Bed rest? Isn’t that a bit strict?” Jack wondered. If Daniel was pain free and fever free, surely he didn’t need to stay in bed?

“No. He needs to rest and knowing him, the only way he’s going to get that is if I enforce bed rest. The fever and nausea is most likely caused by an underlying infection as the helicobacter bacteria does not cause that by themselves. It looks like a garden variety of gastroenteritis, but I want to see more blood work before I can be certain. I’m putting him on a strict diet with no coffee or alcohol or spicy food, nothing that can make things any worse than they already are and hopefully also make the bacterial infection go completely away. I’m counting on you and the rest of SG-1 to keep an eye on him.”

“The no alcohol shouldn’t be a problem, he never really drinks that much to begin with, but no coffee? Daniel’s not going to be happy when he hears that,” Jack said.

“No, I’m sure he won’t. But if he wants to get well this is his only choice.”

“We’ll be there for him and make sure he follows the rules,” Jack said, reassuringly.

“Good,” Warner said, squeezed Jack’s shoulder and left the general to check on his other patients.




PART SIX


“Supper time, Daniel,” Jack said cheerfully, taking the tray a nurse handed him and carried it over to Daniel’s bedside table. Daniel had woken just a few minutes ago and now it was time to see if he could manage to keep anything down.

“Ugh. No thanks, Jack.” Daniel turned his head away a little, looking a little pale. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “Don’t feel so good right now.” Daniel placed his other hand on his stomach, breathing a little faster. “Good stuff though it is, it’s not doing much for my appetite,” Daniel glanced over at the IV pole. “I feel sick.”

“Want me to get one of the docs?” Jack asked worriedly.

“No, it’s okay. I think I’m due for another dose of Zofran now. At least I hope so. What time is it anyway?”

“It just passed ten, so it’s a little late for dinner but the docs wanted for you to try to eat something.” Jack looked around for an emesis basin. Daniel was starting to look pretty green around the edges. “I’m getting a nurse.” He rooted around under Daniel’s pillow for the call button and pressed it.

“What’s going on?” One of the newest additions to the infirmary’s staff, Dr. Carmichael, asked, coming over to the bed. Taking one look at Daniel he said, “Oh,” and hurried to find the emesis basin Jack couldn’t locate. Daniel turned onto his side and basically curled up around the basin, moaning and already panting heavily, sweat beading his face. “Hold onto that. I’ll go get your meds,” Doctor Carmichael said. He flipped quickly through Daniel’s chart, wrote something then hurried off to get the medicine.

“Too late,” Jack said, but not loud enough for the doctor to hear as Daniel started to heave.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Jackson,” Dr. Carmichael said when Daniel was done and laid back, still breathing heavily, his eyes closed. “I should have paid closer attention. Dr. Warner’s shift just ended and I’m on call now.”

“’S okay.” Daniel focused on getting his breathing under control, feeling completely drained by the exertion. Here he’d been peacefully asleep when nausea woke him. Then Jack had arrived with the dinner tray, upping the nausea by a few notches when he lifted the lid and revealed the plain meal underneath.

“You should feel better in a few minutes.”

Daniel was still lying on his side. “Jack? Could you cover that up and take it away, please?” Daniel said, turning his head slightly in Jack’s direction but not turning far enough to lie back.

“Sure Daniel.” Daniel heard Jack put the lid back onto the plate and move the rollaway table out of reach. When he was sure he wouldn’t get assaulted by the smells and looks of the food when he turned, Daniel rolled onto his back and squirmed around to find a more comfortable position.

“You okay?” Jack asked, handing him a wet cloth to wash his sweaty face with.

Daniel thought for a moment. The meds should kick in soon and throwing up had helped. “I’m fine. Is there any water?” He felt parched but wasn’t sure if his stomach had settled enough for him to handle it.

“Here,” Jack handed Daniel the glass. Daniel took a sip, waiting for it to settle before drinking gratefully, emptying the glass.

“Listen, I just wanted to come down to see how you are doing. I need to get back to the office, but I’ll come see you in the morning.” Jack was fidgeting with Daniel’s blankets, not quite looking Daniel in the eye. Something was up and Daniel looked closely at his friend.

“Yeah, okay. Was Teal’c here? Didn’t you say he was coming down earlier?” Daniel asked, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to remember and also willing away the headache that had blossomed when he was sick.

“Yeah, but Siler hauled him off to some project he needed more muscles on. Teal’c said he had been to see you, but you were sleeping so he asked me if I was able to check up on you and let you know. He said he’d get to back to you as soon as he could.”

“’S fine. I’m sure Siler could use his help,” Daniel agreed, tiredly. If Teal’c had said he’d be back, he would.

“Yeah,” Jack said, sounding distracted. Here it comes, Daniel thought.

“Daniel, listen. I talked to Warner earlier.” Jack started. He’d not been looking forward to this conversation but it was important that Daniel understood how close he’d come to being seriously ill.

“Oh? What did he say?” Daniel tried to sound casual and failed horribly. He could guess what the doc had talked to Jack about though.

“He explained how close you came to having an ulcer.”

“Yes, that is what he said the images looked like, but he couldn’t be sure before they get the test results back.” Daniel nodded, waiting for Jack to continue, feeling a little embarrassed. “He mentioned that to me as well,” he said in a soft voice. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure you are, Daniel. But couldn’t you have told us you weren’t feeling well?” Jack couldn’t help but feel a little angry and raised his voice. Realising where he was he lowered it again in deference to the other patients. “We’re your friends, Daniel. We only want what’s best for you.”

“I know that and I appreciate your concern, I really do!” Daniel said, forcing himself to meet Jack’s gaze and holding it, wanting to convey his earnest gratitude. It was Jack who broke the eye contact. Daniel continued. “But I didn’t realise what might be wrong myself before I was puking my guts out on Varia.”

“You must have felt something before yesterday morning?” Jack insisted.

“I did. I’ve been a little queasy and thrown up a couple of times, but I didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t feel sick otherwise so I figured it was something I’d eaten or that it was a residual effect of the blood loss.”

“But it wasn’t anything like that, was it?” Jack said. “You weren’t food poisoned.”

“No,” Daniel admitted.

“And while we’re talking about this, what’s up with this new habit of yours, adding milk and sugar to your coffee? When did you start doing that?”

“You’ve noticed that too?” Daniel felt a little foolish for having taken up that. He should have cut back on the coffee instead. “Sam asked me about the same thing last week. I don’t remember exactly when it was. I guess I just wanted to try and then I liked it so I continued.”

“Don’t you think that should have given you a hint towards something being wrong? That perhaps you were drinking too much coffee and that your body was telling you to quit it already?”

“I suppose.”

“And what about those Zofran tablets you got? Did you ask for them or did someone catch you feeling poorly?”

“Doctor Brightman asked me if I was feeling all right and I said I’d been a little queasy and thrown up once the night before last… no the night before that again. She then asked if I’d caught a bug and took my temperature but I had no fever and I wasn’t feeling that bad so she let me go. She would have held me back if she thought it was necessary, Jack.”

“I know that.” Jack sat back, thinking a little. He’d talk to Brightman later, just to confirm Daniel’s story. He didn’t think Daniel was lying, but Daniel had a tendency to leave out little details about how he really was feeling unless he was cornered. As the base commander, as Daniel’s CO it was his job to know if someone wasn’t a hundred percent. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Don’t be too hard on her, okay? It wasn’t her fault.”

“I won’t.” Jack was quiet a little while, watching Daniel as he lay in the bed, tapping his fingers on the blanket, obviously waiting for Jack to finish saying his piece. Sighing loudly, Jack made eye contact again, using his CO voice. “Daniel… just tell me or Teal’c or Carter when you’re not feeling well, okay?”

“I will.” Daniel recognised Jack’s commander voice. Thinking Jack was done with chastening him and feeling a little better now that the meds had started working again Daniel tentatively asked, “Don’t suppose you could spring me out of here?”

“No can do. Warner said you’re stuck here for at least two days. Then you’re on medical leave for at least four weeks.” Jack answered, smiling a little to show Daniel he was done with being angry at him.

“Surely as the general you can shave some time off of that?” Daniel asked hopefully, knowing full well that when it came to medical questions, the CMO of the SGC had the final word. And after Janet had died, Warner was the Chief Medical Officer.

“Yeah, right, that’ll happen.” Jack smiled. “I’m serious, Daniel. You don’t know how lucky you were today.”

“I get it. I’ll behave from now on.” Daniel agreed smiling back. “Now, go be a general and let a sick man sleep, won’t you?” His eyes twinkling, Daniel snuggled down in bed.

“I will. Sleep tight.” Jack squeezed Daniel’s hand, noting the overly warm feeling of his skin. Looking at the monitor, Jack saw that the numbers there confirmed what he’d felt himself. 101.7. Oh yeah, Daniel was going to be stuck in bed for a while longer, but Jack knew he’d be fine. He was going to make sure of that. They all were. And as for tonight, Teal’c was going to sit with Daniel and in the morning Jack knew Carter would be there bright and early.


*****


The next morning Jack entered the infirmary just after dawn, wanting to check up on Daniel before he had to go be a general. As he’d predicted he found both Carter and Teal’c sitting quietly by Daniel’s bedside, both of them watching Daniel sleep. Daniel was lying flat on his back, the hand with the IV lying limply on his chest, the other tucked under his serious case of a bed head, snoring. Daniel looked ten times better this morning than he had the previous day, but there was still a telltale blush in his cheeks, evidence of the fever that hadn’t quite abated yet. Glancing at the monitor, Jack was pleased to see it was down to 101.2. At least it’s going in the right direction, he thought.

“Morning, sir,” Sam said, looking up from her documents. She was sitting within touching distance of Daniel and Jack knew she would reach out and touch him at intervals to make sure he was okay. Teal’c was seated on Daniel’s other side apparently deep in meditation, but now he opened his eyes and greeted Jack.

“How’s he doing?” Jack asked.

“DanielJackson’s health is improving greatly,” Teal’c said. “I believe he is much recovered.”

As if hearing his friends talk, Daniel stopped snoring mid-snore and turned onto his side, his back to Sam and Jack.

“That’s great.” Jack said, feeling a little let down that Daniel was still asleep despite knowing it was early yet. He found another chair and sat down, starting to work on some of the papers he’d brought. “Any of you had breakfast yet?” Both Teal’c and Sam shook their heads. “Okay, but why don’t you head off to the commissary and come back when you’ve eaten?”

“I just want to make sure Daniel’s okay, sir,” Sam said.

“I am not currently hungry,” Teal’c added. “Have you eaten O’Neill?”

Jack shook his head. “No, I thought I’d wait for Daniel.”

“Indeed.”

At that moment Daniel started to stir and Jack leaned closer to the bed, wanting to see if he woke up fully before he had to get to his office. After a few moments of squirming around Daniel blinked a few times before he finally opened his eyes fully to look at them.

“Morning,” Daniel said in a hoarse voice. He cleared his throat, still feeling more asleep than awake.

“How are you feeling?” Jack asked, finding the call button and pressing it.

“I’m fine,” Daniel answered around another yawn. “Sleepy.”

“How’s your stomach?” Sam asked, putting her papers away, giving Daniel her full attention.

“Much better, thanks.”

“That is good news,” Doctor Carmichael answered, coming over to Daniel’s bed. He checked some of the readings on the monitor, before giving Daniel a cursory exam. “You look better.”

“Thanks. I feel a lot better as well.”

“Do you think you’re up for some breakfast?”

Daniel thought a moment. He wasn’t nauseous. A little queasy still, but that might be because he was tired or because of the meds he’d been given. The ache in his bones told him he still had a fever, but Daniel sensed it wasn’t as high as it had been earlier. He was used to the queasiness the potent medicines often left him with. Deciding he’d be okay, Daniel nodded. “Yeah, I think I am.”

“Good. I’ll have someone come over with something for you in a little while.”

“Thanks.” Daniel made himself more comfortable, finding the controls for the bed and adjusting the bed to an upright position.

“So…” he said, wanting to make conversation but not quite sure of what to say to his friends. He’d made a fool of himself not paying closer attention to how he was feeling and get checked out earlier. He was supposed to be a responsible adult. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what?” Jack asked softly, already guessing what Daniel was going to say. “You haven’t done anything wrong.” They’d just had this conversation the previous night. But Jack knew Daniel wanted to apologize to Carter and Teal’c as well.

“Well, I could have listened to my body and seen a doctor earlier,” Daniel admitted. “But the truth is that I didn’t know what was wrong and we’ve been so busy with everything lately that I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“You must have sensed something was wrong?” Sam asked.

“I did,” Daniel felt like a moron. “I was nauseous on and off for about two weeks before this mission. You know me,” Daniel said embarrassed. “I forget to eat and don’t really listen if my stomach complains about the lack of food.”

“You can’t be blamed for falling ill,” Sam said.

“I know that now,” Daniel said. “It doesn’t help me feel any better though. I could have been a liability if the Varians weren’t already friendly and receptive of us, and I really should have known better.”

“Okay, enough of that,” Jack said. “Yeah, you could have seen a doc earlier, but let’s leave it at that, okay?”

“Okay,” Daniel smiled gratefully, looking his friends in the eye in turn.

An uncomfortable silence where everyone but Teal’c fiddled with something or looked away, settled over them, but to everyone’s relief Daniel’s breakfast arrived after a few minutes and Sam took the tray from the nurse, busying herself with arranging the roll away table and the tray just so until Daniel had had enough and gently brushed her hands away. “That’s just fine, Sam. I’ll be fine. I’m sure I’ll be out of here by tomorrow.”

“If you manage to keep that down and your fever breaks today, then yes, you will,” Doctor Carmichael said, coming over to the bed, standing beside where Teal’c sat.

Daniel nodded and started on his food. He wasn’t hungry but to be free of the nausea was a great relief and he ate with gusto the first few bites of his toast.

“Whoa, slow down,” Jack said. “One would think you hadn’t eaten in days.”

“I haven’t,” Daniel answered around a mouthful. “Or rather,” he swallowed, “I’ve not managed to keep anything down in days.”

“Point taken,” Jack said. “I have to go now, but I’ll be back later okay?”

“Sure. I’m not going anywhere.” Daniel ate about half of what was on his plate before pushing it away, feeling full long before his eyes were.

Seeing he was done a nurse came over to gather the tray. “That’s not too bad,” she said, nodding approvingly at the remains of Daniel’s meal.

“I shall take my leave now as well,” Teal’c said, rising from his chair. “SergeantSiler requires further assistance. I am glad to see you are recovering DanielJackson.”

“Thanks, Teal’c. I’ll see you later.” Teal’c bowed his head and Daniel returned the gesture before turning to Sam.

“Yeah, I should go as well,” she said.

“Would you mind swinging by my office and get me something to read?” Daniel asked.

“Sure, anything special?”

Daniel gave Sam the directions to find the book he wanted. Just as he was about to decide if he was going to snuggle down for a nap or if he was going to give into his need to use the bathroom a nurse came over and made the choice for him, a sample cup in her hand. Daniel sighed and accepted the receptacle and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Feeling a little wobbly he made his way to the bathroom, took care of business, brushed his teeth and returned to his bed, feeling completely drained and a little sick to his stomach.

He climbed under the covers and pulled them to his chest, closing his eyes while waiting for Sam to return. Within minutes he was fast asleep.


*****


It was Sam’s voice that woke him. He’d heard her ask the nurse that currently was taking his pulse if he was asleep. Opening his eyes, Daniel shook his head. “No, I was just dozing. Did you find my book?”

“Yeah, it’s on the bedside table.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“You’re sure you’re up to reading?” Sam asked, brushing a hand over his forehead. “You still have a fever and I’m pretty sure you were sleeping there, as well.” She smiled. “You were snoring.”

“I was not!” Daniel protested.

“You were,” the nurse supplied matter of fact, just smiling at him when Daniel glared at her.

To Sam he said, “I needed something to occupy my mind with.” He reached for the book and opened it, placing the heavy tome on his lap.

“Okay. But let me know if you need something else.” Sam waited till the nurse was done with checking Daniel out before kissing his cheek.

“I will.” Daniel smiled at her, squeezing her hand. “Thanks, Sam.” Raising the head of the bed, Daniel settled down to read.

“Anytime,” she smiled back and patted Daniel’s knee in farewell. “See you later.”

“Later,” Daniel mumbled, already occupied with the text.

It wasn’t long however before he couldn’t concentrate on what he was reading. Rubbing his eyes wearily, Daniel admitted to himself that he was tired and that a nap wouldn’t hurt. He glanced at the monitor, his temperature fluctuating around 101. Marking his place, Daniel closed the book and put it on the table beside his bed, taking off his glasses and folding them on top of the book. Pulling the blankets to his chin he was asleep at once.


*****


When Daniel woke from his nap he saw Doctor Warner approaching his bed. “I’ve got your test results from the biopsy,” he said after examining Daniel’s stomach and listening to his chest and lungs. “They confirmed what we suspected yesterday. It looks like you’re all clear and that we caught it in time.”

“That’s great,” Daniel said, relieved.

“Yes, it is,” Warner agreed. “As for the infection that’s been causing your fever and nausea, I can’t say exactly what that is, but it appears Earth based as there are no trace of anything in your system to indicate an alien bacteria or virus. We’ll take some more blood to make sure it’s going back but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. We’ll continue to monitor your progress today and then we’ll see about springing you in the morning. How does that sound, Dr. Jackson?”

“That’s fine,” Daniel said. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Now, get some rest.”

Not feeling tired at the moment and tired of being told to rest by everyone who came to see him, Daniel reached for the book Sam had brought him and started reading again. Lunchtime came and went and he ate about half of his meal in the company of his friends. After, he slept a little more before attempting to play a game of chess with Teal’c.

“DanielJackson, you are not fully recovered,” Teal’c said after Daniel had used an inordinate amount of time on a move Teal’c knew Daniel wouldn’t hesitate to make.

“Sorry,” Daniel made his move, rubbing his eyes. “I guess I’m a little tired, which is odd as I’ve slept most of the day away.”

“You are still recovering,” Teal’c said, moving his knight to block one of Daniel’s pawns.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Daniel countered the move and stifled a yawn.

“I suggest we resume this game at a later time.” Without waiting for Daniel’s answer, Teal’c pushed the table away from over Daniel’s bed and lowered the head of it so Daniel could lay down more comfortably. “Sleep well.” He turned off the bedside lamp and sat down beside the bed to watch over his friend. A little while later Daniel’s fever broke and his sleep became deeper and more restful. Satisfied that his friend would be fine and that he was in good hands Teal’c settled down to meditate.


*****


The next afternoon Daniel was released from the infirmary. Daniel was sent on his merry way with continued oral antibiotics. After a stop at the locker room for a shower and change of clothes, Daniel headed for his lab to sift through the overflowing inbox and see what was most dire that he got started on.

It was hours later when Daniel was stirred out of his world of Phoenician phonetics and pictograms by a knock on his door. Jack entered, Sam and Teal’c in tow.

“Weren’t you supposed to go home and rest?” Jack asked, fidgeting with an enormous tome that sat precariously on the corner of Daniel’s desk. “If I’m not mistaken doc Warner ordered bed rest. As far as I’m concerned that does not translate into work.”

“Huh?” Daniel looked up, startled by the arrival of his friends. “Um… what?” He pushed his glasses back up and looked at Jack in confusion.

“Daniel.” Jack started, drawing out his name in exasperation. “You’ve been laid up in the infirmary for two days and been sick for who knows how long. I don’t think burying yourself in more work was what Warner ordered.” Not giving Daniel time to argue, he beckoned at him. “Come on, we’re leaving. You need some fresh air and I’m sure there’s nothing edible in your fridge so we’re going grocery shopping then you’re cooking us dinner.”

“Wh-what? I am? Jack?” Completely confused now, Daniel rose, capped his pen and put it down on the table. “What was that about me being confined to bed? That does not involve cooking?”

“Well, if you feel like working, you can cook,” Jack said.

“You’re an excellent cook, Daniel, and Teal’c has been craving your home made baked fish for days,” Sam said.

“Indeed I have,” Teal’c said. “It is most satisfactory.”

“You do? I am? You have?” Daniel managed perplexed. “Um… okay. Fish it is then.”

“Indeed,” Teal’c intoned, bowing his head in respect. “Your cooking skills are legendary among the SGC.”

“They are?” Daniel knew he sounded completely befuddled, but he couldn’t help it. He liked cooking and he knew his team liked what he made, but this was absurd. Surely he didn’t cook that well?

“Come on,” Jack said. “I’m hungry.” He ushered Daniel out of his office and flicked the lights off.


*****


Some time later three people sat content and full around a dining room table. The empty bowls and dishes were a testimony to how much and well they’d eaten. Not a single piece of food was left. The three idly played with their utensils, glasses or napkins, too full to even consider getting up and help their fourth. The fourth was in his kitchen, putting on some coffee. He too was too full to prepare the drink that he with his usual efficiency prepared without thinking. He could make coffee in his sleep, and often did, but now it took all his concentration to get the brew ready. While waiting he returned to the table where his friends and team sat, sitting heavily down on his chair. A slow, contented sigh was all he managed in comment to their meal. It was echoed by the three people sitting around him. His friends, his team, his family. There wasn’t anywhere else he wanted to be this very moment and he couldn’t have asked for better company to share the fullness with.

Daniel was feeling a lot better, his friends were well and their planet was safe. There wasn’t anything else Daniel could ask for at this very moment and he relaxed into the friendship and comfortable silence that they shared. When the coffee was done he reluctantly rose and headed for the kitchen. When he returned he lifted his glass of watered-down apple juice and saluted his friends, looking them each in the eye.

“Thanks,” Daniel said, smiling. “I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.”

“Hey, at least Warner can’t prevent you from smelling the coffee,” Jack quipped, lifting his own mug.

“Sir,” Sam protested. “That’s not nice.”

“Oh, come on, Carter. I’m sure he can get his caffeine kick by inhaling the fumes.”

“That is not possible, O’Neill,” Teal’c said.

“Really?”

“Really,” Daniel said forlornly. “Don’t think I’ve not tried.”

Laughing, Jack again lifted his mug of the much-loved, fragrant but bitter drink in a toast. “Cheers, Daniel. It won’t be long now.”

“Indeed,” Teal’c added, lifting his own glass of not watered down apple juice. “In the meantime I shall accompany you in drinking what beverage you’re allowed to ingest.”

“That’s sweet,” Sam said, lifting her own coffee mug.

“Yes it is,” Daniel agreed. “Thanks, guys,” Daniel said again. “Thanks for everything.”


THE END