"Maybe we'll at least get a cellular level analysis on the Goa'uld's, maybe even find some DNA information."
"A lot of that will probably be mine."
"Eeew!"
"Yeah."
***
Daniel had already left the mountain complex by the time Jack got to the surface. All Jack saw was the tail-end of the archaeologist's care as it skewed out of the car park at breakneck speed. He shook his head and hurried to his truck, it was cold in the mountain air and he was finally on 48 hours stand down. Right now all he wanted to do was get home, light a fire, and settle down in front of the box with a beer. He could tell Daniel off for driving like a maniac in the morning.
***
Ahh life was good. The world had been saved from Hathor, he was finally warming up in front of his open fire, his beer was just cold enough and the game was about to begin. Yes indeed, life was good. A shrill ringing pierced Jack's perfect little world and as he realised it was the telephone he sighed heavily. Throwing a stern look at the object in question, he hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering.
"O'Neill." He said in a voice that meant 'if it's not the end of the world, why did you call me?' He was greeted with silence. No, not quite silence, if he listened very carefully he could hear someone breathing at the other end of line.
"Hello?" Nothing.
"Hel-lo?!" Still no response, Jack glared down the receiver before slamming it down on it's cradle.
"Damn kids." He returned to his beer and the game, but couldn't shake the niggling feeling that had landed in his stomach.
***
What the....? Arrghh, the phone again. Jack brushed his hands over his face, it had been a long time since he'd fallen asleep in his easy chair. What time was it anyway? Sparing a glance at the clock as he reached for the phone his mind absently noted that it was almost 3am.
"O'Neill!" The words came out almost venomous.
"Sir? Did I wake you?"
"Yes Carter! You did!"
"Ah, well...I'm sorry sir."
"Carter?"
"Yes Sir?"
"Did you want something?" Jack was fast losing patience.
"Sir, I can't seem to get hold of Daniel, is he with you?"
"Why would he be...never mind that. Why are you calling Daniel at 3am?"
"Well, I know he's something of a night owl, and I needed his help with the..."
"Ack! Whatever it is, it will obviously have to wait. Now he's not here...so goodnight Carter."
"SIR!"
"What?!" Jack was whining now, and he knew it.
"There's no answer at his apartment either."
"Dammit Carter, what do you expect me to do?"
"I thought maybe you'd want to...I don't know sir, " He heard her sigh, "I just thought someone should check on him, that's all."
"Will do Carter. And by the way..."
"Sir?"
"Thanks for letting me know."
"Yes sir, goodnight sir."
"Goodnight." Jack placed the phone down carefully. Then immediately picked it up and started dialling.
***
"Come on Danny....where are you?" Jack wondered aloud as the call was still not answered. Suddenly the ringing tone in Jack ear was replaced by hissing air.
"Daniel?" No one spoke. Jack heard the receiver being dropped and a door slamming.
"Dammit Daniel!" Jack hung up and wearily got out of the chair.
"The things I do..." He muttered as he padded to the bedroom to get dressed.
***
Jack looked at the door before him, unsure as to what he was about to walk into. He hoped that Daniel had simply gotten caught up in his work, or if a miracle occurred, had actually fallen asleep. He raised his eyebrows at the thought, then felt the niggling in his stomach grow. He swiftly raised his hand and rapped hard on the door, thinking he'd have to wake his friend. When the door swung open his heart sank.
He peered into the apartment and saw that no lights were on, the only light coming from the window where the open drapes allowed lamplight to pour in. He stepped carefully over the threshold and let his eyes sweep over the apartment.
***
The phone receiver was on the floor trailing by it's cord. A half drunk cup of coffee sat on the desk along with Daniel's glasses. There was an open notebook beside both items and on closer examination, with a lot of squinting, Jack could see that Daniel had started his post-mission report. A word was half-written, ink marks streaking the page. Something was very wrong here and Jack's stomach knew it, spasming painfully with each discovery. As he walked towards the hall he passed by the fireplace and noticed that every photo frame had been lain, face down. He sped up slightly.
The hall mirror was gone, no wait, that was it. In a million shattered pieces on the floor, Jack bent to touch the fragments and noticed the dark stain they sat in.
It was sticky to the touch and smelt metallic. Jack didn't need to think hard to recognize that this was blood.
He stood and breathed, there was a strange odour to the air and a faint noise could be heard coming from the direction of Daniel's bedroom.
Opening the door, Jack lost his mental footing. Everything was trashed, every mirror or piece of glass lay scattered in shards, the wardrobe doors hung open, clothes pulled from rails, shreds still dangled where the garments had snagged. Drawers had been pulled from dressers, overturned and abandoned on the floor. Jack struggled for breath and sagged against the wall.
'What the hell had happened here?
The sound was getting louder now, and Jack determined that it was coming from the bathroom just off the side of the bedroom. He risked a call.
"Daniel?"
A thud came from the small room, but as no intruder emerged Jack decided to go in.
He tried the door handle only to find it locked, from the inside.
"Daniel? Daniel, it's me." He rattled the handle and strived to slip the lock. It wasn't slipping.
"Daniel? I'm coming in there ok?"
Jack took several steps back and braced himself, launching his full weight against the door the flimsy hinges gave easily and Jack was confronted with a wall of steam.
"Jesus!" He waited a second for the mist to dissipate and stepped inside.
***
There was plenty of light coming through the open window to illuminate the floor, and Jack immediately wished there had been none.
The floor was streaked with dark red blood and, lifting his head, Jack saw that the walls were in a similar state. The basin faucets were on full blast, the hot water creating steam that had started to dissolve the blood on the walls, creating a macabre masterpiece.
Finally casting his gaze towards the shower he could make out a small shape near the floor of the unit. He stepped to the shower door and flung it open. His legs instantly buckled and Jack slumped to the ground.
***
Sat on the floor of the shower tray, huddled into a tiny mass of quivering flesh and seeping blood was Daniel Jackson.
***
Jack took one look at the man and then crawled to the toilet and promptly threw up. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he swallowed the bile threatening to resurface and inched back to his friend.
"Daniel?" He reached out a hand and felt the heat of the water pounding relentlessly down. Shakily rising to his feet he reached in and turned the shower off.
Kneeling down once more he brushed his fingertips over Daniel's shoulder. The reaction was instant, Daniel tensed up and tried to retreat further against the wall, his breathing coming in convulsing gasps. Jack withdrew his hand as if he'd been stung.
"Daniel? It's me, Jack." His voice was barely audible over the younger man's hitching breaths. Breaths that were interspersed with murmurs. Jack strained to hear the words.
"Don't make a sound, don't make a sound, don't make a sound." The words tore into Jack's soul and broke a piece of it away.
'No-one should ever make that sound.
Jack drew a deep breath and reached for Daniel once more. This time, he was prepared for the younger man's reaction, and held fast. A slight gentle pressure on the shoulder, enough to feel, not so much to overwhelm.
Slowly after what seemed like minutes Daniel's muscles relaxed a fraction, his breathing pattern changed and Jack heard new words uttered.
"Don't fight, don't make a sound, don't fight, don't make a sound."
'Fight Danny, please fight.' Jack's voice pleaded inside his head.
"Fight Danny, please fight." He finally found his voice and to his surprise it had sounded strong, controlled.
Daniel turned his head slightly at the words, not meeting Jack's eyes, but at least looking in his direction.
"She's gone Danny, she's gone."
A great shuddering breath ran through Daniel's body and he lifted his gaze to rest somewhere near Jack's chest.
***
"Gone, not gone, gone, not gone."
"Trust me Danny, she's gone. I promise." Jack hoped he wasn't making false promises, but he had to get Daniel to believe him.
"It's just you and me here Danny, just you and me."
Finally Daniel met his eyes.
'When did your eyes get so old Danny?' He heard in his mind, but he said nothing.
He shifted a little closer and increased the pressure on his friend's shoulder. Finally getting a look at the battered body before him.
Dressed in little more than boxers, every inch of Daniel's exposed skin was raw, feet torn up, presumably by the broken glass. Hands and fingers bleeding, still frantically scrubbing his body. Jack moved his hand from Daniel's shoulder and bringing his other hand up, grasped Daniel's nervous limbs into submission.
"I'm not leaving Danny. You come back when you're ready, ok?" Jack peered at his friend, waiting for the eventual recognition, getting none he sighed.
"I'm not leaving. We'll get past this."
Daniel began to whimper, his tired body unable to cry freely.
Jack slipped an arm around Daniel's shoulders and finding no protest, let the weight settle.
"I'm not leaving" He said to no-one in particular.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The effects of Hathor not being sufficiently dealt with (IMHO) was a personal bug-bear of mine, so I decided to write it.
© 6th October, 2003 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.