Dr. Janet Fraiser stood between two beds in the infirmary completing paperwork while supervising Nurse Ryan, who was finishing treating Bra'tac's multiple lacerations under the watchful eyes of Rak'nor and Ry'ak.
An amused chuckle turned her attention from this scene to where her staff were finishing up post mission medicals on SG-1. Colonel Jack O'Neill was smiling at Dr. Daniel Jackson, that smile enough to fill Janet's heart - after this last year she never thought she'd see Jack really smile again, though he was still reserved.
Janet's eyes moved over the other members of SG-1 - Major Samantha Carter with an indulgent, affectionate look as she watched her C.O. tease their resident archaeologist and Teal'c, stoic and silent as normal, but Janet could see the emotions swirling in his dark eyes.
Finally her eyes moved to Daniel. Feeling her regard, he looked up and smiled. That smile drew her across the room like a magnet to stand at his side and look into the bright blue eyes, an answering smile on her own lips.
Janet looked down at the charts she was handed by one of the nurses. "Well, you're all clear." Daniel stood and Sam moved to his side. "Don't forget dinner at my house tonight," she reminded them before they left to clean up.
As soon as Bra'tac's treatment was over the other three Jaffa were going through to the Alpha site to help with the new rebels. SG-1 were joining them tomorrow. But first there was dinner at Janet's with General Hammond.
Janet moved back into her office, casting one glance over her organized infirmary before closing the door. She had some reports to finalize before she could leave for the day. The ringing of the phone on her desk, moments later, drew her attention. "Fraiser," she spoke into the hand piece.
"Mum," the excited voice of her teenage daughter, Cassandra, on the other end of the line brought a smile to her face. "I've got everything nearly ready. They're still coming?"
"Yes." Janet chuckled at the enthusiasm coming through the phone.
"Uncle Daniel too?" Cassie asked breathlessly.
"Yes." Janet replied.
"Great! I need help with my French homework." The words didn't fool Janet - she knew how much Cassandra was looking forward to just having Daniel there, needing to spend more time with him than she ever had in the past. "See you in an hour, Mum."
After hanging up the phone Janet looked down at the reports. The words blurred before her eyes, her thoughts moving from the scene she had just witnessed with SG-1 to the one played out here over a year ago. If she lived to be a hundred she would never forget the sick feeling of dread that settled in her stomach when Sam had relayed the level of radiation Daniel had been exposed to. That sick feeling didn't abate for months afterwards.
In the medical profession you have to harden your heart - it's an indisputable fact that you are going to lose patients. Serving in support of the frontline personnel at the SGC just underlined how precious life was - how quickly it could be snatched away. Daniel had cheated death on many occasions but not this time and the loss had overwhelmed Janet.
She had never been able to keep a proper distance from Daniel - his unconscious little boy charm had broken down her defenses a long time ago.
Even knowing she was unable to do anything for her friend medically she had still felt immense guilt the day Daniel died - it took her a long time to deal with what she saw as a failure, her confidence at its lowest.
Telling her daughter that her beloved Uncle Daniel was dead, ascended but still gone, was the hardest thing Janet had ever done. Prior to this Cassie had been going through the rebellious teenager stage but overnight she turned into a mature young woman, quieter than Janet would have liked, but still such a comfort for her mother in this time of grief. Daniel had meant so much to them both, had been a part of their small family.
Janet's thoughts moved back to the first time she had worked with Daniel, during the mission to the Land of the Light. He had seemed so young back then, though she had known his history after reading his file. Over the next few years she saw more of Daniel than she would have liked, due to all the time he spent in the infirmary. He quickly became her favorite patient, 'And my nurses' too,' Janet thought ruefully.
She sighed as she remembered the worst misdiagnosis of her career. She'd truly had Daniel's best interests at heart, had truly thought he was psychotic. It had taken her months to regain even some of the lost trust after Machello's little buggers had caused all those problems.
When Sha'ri died Janet watched Daniel pull away from everyone, seemingly unreachable. Her worries were somewhat abated when she found him talking with the general. That he'd found someone so supportive to talk to was very important. Then Sam stepped in and he slowly came back to them again.
Daniel had given her a lot of frights throughout the time she had known him but none more than when his appendix burst. With SG-1 off world she always had expectations of an injured Daniel returning through the 'gate but to have him collapse on base with a dangerously ruptured appendix was so unexpected. They came so close to losing him that time - if Jack hadn't gone to check on him during the night he would have more than likely died.
Jonas Quinn's presence at the SGC was initially very hard for Janet to accept. SG-1 had loved Daniel so much but Janet had been the only one to truly understand the horror of his death, she had tried to protect and shield Jack, Sam, Teal'c and even the general from the very worst. The fifteen hours Daniel had lay dying in her infirmary were among the darkest of her life - watching someone she loved suffer incredible pain and suffering. To see Jonas on a daily basis knowing the part he'd played in what had happened to Daniel and the aftermath was very difficult.
Jonas may not have had an actual hand in Daniel's injuries as such, but his inaction to clear Daniel's name and his insensitivity had added a heavy burden to Daniel's last hours, a burden entirely unnecessary. It was hard enough to know, barring any alien intervention, they were going to lose this man but to have him simply accepting and not caring that his name was being blackened by the Kelownans hurt all the more.
The Kelownans owed Daniel Jackson a debt they could not repay. They had eventually used the Naquadria bomb on their enemies and seen its horrific effects. Had any of them spared a thought for the brave young man who had died so they didn't meet the same end? Janet sincerely doubted it - they seemed to be a mostly arrogant and selfish race.
Janet had come to accept Jonas' presence at the SGC, even like him, over the time he was there but she never understood why he had been accepted as a member of SG-1, knowing there were dozens of more qualified Air Force personnel who deserved the right, whose loyalty to Earth was without question.
Janet and Cassandra had spent the night in each other's arms after Anubis had destroyed the pyramid on Abydos - not only grieving for the Abydonians, but also the possible loss of Daniel again. They had secretly held out hopes that he would descend like Orlin had two years earlier but now there was doubt that Daniel was still around, even in spirit.
Two months had gone by without any word of Daniel, not that anyone expected any, when Janet had received an unexpected visitor in her infirmary. She'd known deep inside something important had happened as soon as she saw General Hammond appear in the doorway. SG-1 were off world searching for the Lost City of the Ancients. Her immediate thought was that another member of SG-1 was dead. The General had quietly walked to stand by her side, catching her eyes.
"Janet," he started and her heart began to beat again. He so rarely called her by her given name and he didn't look like the news was bad, he looked shell-shocked, true, but not with grief. "SG-1 have located Daniel Jackson - he's descended."
"Descended?" She knew her mouth was hanging open but was unable to do anything about it.
"Yes, SG-1 found him on while searching for the Lost City," the general had explained. "He's flesh and blood again but he has amnesia."
Janet had waited on tenterhooks for SG-1 to return. The general explained that Daniel was resisting returning to Earth and leaving the only people and place that he remembered. The ring of the phone was loud in the silence and she jumped in reaction. "Infirmary."
"They're coming through the Stargate with Dr. Jackson in a few minutes." The General told her. "They'll come through to you as soon as they arrive."
"Yes, sir." Janet could hear the tremble in her voice, unable to hide the emotion. And then Daniel was there with SG-1 crowding around him. He looked wonderful. Though she had tried to hold onto an image of a healthy Daniel in her memories, more often than not, when she thought of him, she saw him how he was when he died, racked with pain, covered in bandages. Now to see him standing once again in her infirmary looking hale and hearty was a miracle.
"SG-1," she swallowed the constriction in her throat before trying again, "I need you to leave so I can run some tests." She hoped they would leave quietly but she could see the resistance to her suggestion. Sam had a hand wrapped around Daniel's arm and it looked like they would need C4 to move it. Teal'c hovered protectively at Daniel's shoulder and Jack stood at his other side. Only Jonas, off to one side but smiling broadly, was excluded from this intimate protective group.
"People," No one had noticed General Hammond enter the infirmary. Janet wasn't surprised; she knew how much Daniel meant to him. He wouldn't be able to simply stay in his office while Daniel was here. "Please let Dr. Fraiser do her tests." This said with his eyes fixed on Daniel.
Sam bit her lip, her eyes meeting Daniel's. Janet could see the confusion and unease in his eyes, he didn't know these people but they were crowding him.
"Colonel, we'll need to prepare quarters for Dr. Jackson." General Hammond suggested quietly and this, more than anything else he could have said, worked to move SG-1 from the infirmary. Janet knew Jack had kept a lot of Daniel's personal things and that there were boxes of other items in storage.
Colonel O'Neill, Sam, Teal'c and Jonas quickly left to see to Daniel's accommodations. Janet's eyes met the general's and the emotion she saw brought tears to her eyes. Blinking she saw the general nod to Daniel, who smiled uncertainly, before he turned and left the infirmary.
Then Janet gleefully had Daniel to herself. She barely resisted the urge to take him into her arms and simply hold him, more to reassure herself than to offer him comfort. He sat quietly over the following hours, so unlike the Daniel of old, while she ran the tests - EEG, DNA, MRI and blood work, her nursing staff seeming to have suddenly doubled as all crowded around to see their favorite patient again.
All the results came back the same - this man was Daniel Jackson with no sign of any radiation poisoning. Expectedly it was Colonel O'Neill who came to see how he was doing.
"Well, I'm happy to say sir, that he's in perfect health - except for one small exception." Janet handed Daniel a pair of his glasses she'd kept, just in case.
He opened the wings and slid the lenses into place. Looking around for a moment he said, "Wow, that's different."
"You recognize me now?" Jack asked, bending down slightly.
Janet could see Daniel turn his head and study the colonel. "Has your hair always been that way?" he asked finally.
"What way?" Jack asked, totally at a loss.
"Never mind." Daniel turned to briefly meet Janet's eyes and she could see the confusion in the depths before he turned away. She held up her hands as the colonel turned to her hopefully for clarification of Daniel's remark.
"Come on," Jack said, an inclination of his head to show he wanted Daniel to come with him. Janet frowned; perplexed by the sudden withdrawal she sensed in the colonel.
Over the next few weeks Janet watched Daniel try to find himself again, struggling with memories. Sam and Teal'c barely left his side, they constantly took him to the commissary for meals, got him coffee. Janet had hoped to break Daniel of his caffeine addition but this now seemed impossible with everyone working against her. Only the colonel seemed to hold himself aloof. Janet knew how deeply he had felt Daniel's loss and guessed it would take time for him to trust his friend was really back.
The last few months had been a time of adjustments for SG-1. They had gotten back a dearly loved friend and team member and Teal'c, in the course of this last difficult week, had come to terms to life without a symbiote.
A knock at the door broke Janet out of her recollections and she turned to see a smiling Daniel standing hesitantly in the doorway. Seeing her answering smile he walked to stand next to her desk, his eyes sweeping over the disorganized scatter of papers. Janet quickly looked at her desk and, with a loud sigh, decided the paperwork could wait until morning. "I'm ready," she said as she moved to his side, linking her arm through his and they turned walked out of the infirmary.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to Aloysius for her great beta and the all encouragement and support.
© August 1st, 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.