“Hey there big guy!” Daniel said as he woke up from a catnap to find someone lying next to his chair. “How did you get all the way over here?”
Lucas looked up at him with his big blue eyes and promptly drooled all over himself. Daniel laughed and picked up his son, lifting him up so he could see him better. The baby squealed happily and kicked his legs in the air.
“Danyer?” Asked a voice from outside.
“In here!” Daniel replied, putting Lucas down on the table with his scrolls.
Skarra peeked his head into the hut, “I was looking for you!” He accused in halting English, “Where is Sha’re?”
Daniel didn’t answer right away, choosing instead to look for his missing glasses. A moment later he found them and pushed them up to get a better look at his brother in law. “She went out for some food for dinner, why?”
“Because she is never away from her son!” Skarra replied, shaking a finger at Daniel then sitting down. “I have come with some news.”
“Oh really?” He didn’t think that Skarra had come as a courtesy call, “What is it?”
The younger man paused for a second, not sure how he should present this. “My people... their views are changing. Always have been since Ra was killed. Danyer, they want to reopen the Chaapa-ai-” He couldn’t say anymore because Daniel bolted right out of his seat.
“What?! Are they crazy?!”
Skarra shook his head, “No... Restless. They want to see what else it out there,” He swallowed, “They want to meet the people of the first world.”
“No... No way.” Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose, already sensing a headache coming on. “We can’t re-open the gate with out risking the military sending another bomb though. Can’t you make them understand that?”
“They think that only good things come from the gate.” Skarra said, “They can’t-won’t accept that the same people who kill Ra could destroy them too.”
“They have to, Skarra...”
“What is going on?” Sha’re asked, walking in the hut and heading right for Lucas who was having fun crawling toward the edge of the table while his father was distracted.
“They want to re-open the Chaapa-ai!” Daniel said, turning toward her like an enraged bull. Sha’re stood still and pressed her lips into a thin line, clearly stating that she would not be treated like a scapegoat from her own husband. Daniel got the hint and backed down “It’s just a really bad idea.” He finished lamely, “Really, really bad.”
“Let us think calmly,” Sha’re handed the baby to Daniel and thought for a moment, “Worst case: They do send a bomb though... But Danyer, surely we would have some warning before that occurs. Now for the best case: It could open up trade between our two worlds. I am sure that there are things of this planet that the Earther’s want. And I know there are many things that we need.”
“Weapons,” Skarra jumped in, catching his sister’s enthusiasm. “We could get medicine to cure all ill’s and more protection against sand storms...” He trailed off, realizing the implications.
Now it was Daniel’s turn to be silent. They had good points but something inside him. A part of his being that he was not in touch with, was screaming that this was a bad idea. That nothing but evil could come from the Stargate. Daniel suddenly felt a surge of terror and despair so strong a vivid that it made his knees weak.
“Sha’re?” Daniel whispered as he entered their bedroom. He found his wife sleeping, curled up next to Lucas in their bed. Daniel stood there and just looked at the two people he loved most in the world... Just looked at them. He was so lucky, so terribly lucky to have both of them.
Sha’re stirred and opened her eyes and smiled at her husband. “Danyer,” She said, “Come to bed. It is late.”
“Yeah,” He agreed, even after living three years on Abydos he still had a hard time getting to sleep. Jet lag, he suspected, or in this case it was Gate lag. He undressed and silently slipped into bed.
Sha’re turned in the bed and smiled at him, “Danyer,” She whispered, “Help me.”
“What?” He was confused, “What do you mean?”
Suddenly Share’s eyes, which had always been a deep brown in color, turned completely white. Her smile turned into a sneer and she shoved Daniel out of the bed with in human strength.
Daniel landed hard and struggled to get up, but he was pushed back down as Sha’re leaned over him and pressed a jewel in the palm of her hand to his head. Pain exploded in his forehead and shot down his spine. Daniel tried to turn, to twist away but he was completely frozen in place.
“Foolish Tu’rui,” Sha’re said in a thick, mechanical voice. “You thought you could hide her from me?”
Things were going black to Daniel as Share’s ribbon device literally hemorrhaged his brain. The last thing that he noticed was the sound of Lucas’s terrified screaming...
Someone was shaking him roughly, "Danyer? Danyer?!" Daniel opened his eyes to meet those of his wife. He gave out a startled yelp and fell out of his chair that he had fallen asleep in while reading ancient texts. Sanity returned to his sleep-fogged mind within a few seconds. It was a dream... Just a dream...
"Are you all right, husband?" Sha're asked, half giggling as she helped him up. "You were screaming in your sleep."
"Yeah, just a dream." Daniel sat back heavily in his chair, just then realizing that he was trembling and in a cold sweat.
Sha're gave him a look then pulled up another chair and sat down, "Tell me."
"Um.. You killed me." He let out a mirthless laugh, "Pretty ridicules really. Your eyes were glowing white and..." He shrugged, "Just a stupid dream, Sha're. You should go back to sleep."
But his wife didn't budge, "Could this be because they are re-opening the Chaapa-ai today?"
Daniel sighed, hating to have to be reminded of that event. He had spent the last few months lobbying to Kusaf and the other elders to not open the Stargate. But all of his work only ended up slowing the process, not stopping it. "Maybe... I just wish I didn't have to go to the ceremony."
"It would be very rude of you not to," She reminded him." The elders all agreed that good things can come from the gate, why not you?"
"I don't know... It's just this feeling I get every time I look at it-" He broke off, "This sounds stupid but I'm afraid of losing you."
Sha're stared at him for a moment, completely unconvinced, "Get dressed Danyer."
"And this day we open the Stargate, not out of fear but out of hope!" Kusaf said to the assembled crowd, "Today marks the day that we mark our independence from Ra by opening up a channel to the first world!" With his speech concluded, Kusaf motioned to the strongest minor's who rolled the final rock away from the Stargate's entrance.
There were some assorted ohh's and awes from the crowd but the ending was anti-climatic. Many people believed that the second they removed the rocks the Earther's would come again. But that was not the case, the Stargate just sat there like the big rock it was.
After about an hour, bored Abydoniens wondered outside and back to the village. Daniel was secretly glad but he schooled his face as he watched the last of the folk depart, leaving just him and Sha're in the pyramid.
"Well I guess that's that." He said.
Sha're looked troubled, "I will have Skarra post round the clock watches. We need to know-"
She was interrupted as the Stargate suddenly sprung to life, it's inner circle twisting and turning. Daniel and Sha're just watched in stunned silence as a great whirlpool of water rushed out then in again, leaving a thin pool right in the middle of the gate. Thirty seconds later a figure was thrown out and the Stargate closed with a hiss.
The pair looked at each other in astonishment, just to make sure that they weren't seeing things. Then they hurried to the new traveler who was lying face down on the stone floor.
Daniel got to him first and gently checked to make sure he was breathing. He was, but there was a whole lot of blood pooling around him. The man started coughing and wheezing so Daniel helped him sit up to get air. It was only then that he saw whose face it was. "O'Neill?"
Colonel Jack O'Neill opened his eyes and looked at Daniel with pure hatred
and loathing, "You son of a bitch." He muttered before passing out again.
Daniel paced outside the entrance of the hut where O'Neill was being tended too. A hundred questions were burning though his mind. Why had O'Neill come back? Did this mean that Earth really wanted to establish an relationship with Abydos? But then there were O'Neill's wounds. Daniel got a really good look at O'Neill's injuries and had no doubt in his mind that they were caused by a staff weapon.
The curtains to the doorway parted and Sha're stepped outside, blinking to adjust her eyes to the noonday son. Daniel was questioning her within seconds, "How is he? Why is he here?"
"Danyer..." She blinked again and took her husband's hand in her own. "O'Neill has suffered greatly. I'm afraid he is beyond the any help, he is bleeding inside and we cannot stop it."
Daniel felt like he had been punched and he didn't know why. Sure, he and O'Neill had gone though that one mission together but he never really got to know the man.
So why did he feel like he lost a brother?
"O'Neill has been calling for you... He wants to speck to you," Sha're tactfully left off, "Before he dies."
"Yes, well I better go." Daniel said distractedly, still reeling from the sense of loss. He cleared his throat and walked into the hut, gesturing for the numerous nurses to go out side.
Once they were along, O'Neill sat painfully up, "You son of a bitch,"
"Um, yeah... You've mentioned that."
O'Neill narrowed his eyes, "You couldn't take it, could you? You had to leave-" he broke off in a fit of coughing that left him gasping for air.
"Leave what? Leave Earth?" Daniel asked.
"You really don't know do you?" O'Neill cursed and then laughed sadly, "It figures, it really does figure that I'm the only one who remembered..." He trailed off for a moment, "No one even believed me..."
"Listen O'Neill."
"Jack! You used to call me Jack, don't you remember Daniel?... God tell me that I'm not crazy."
"Ok, Jack..." Daniel pulled up a chair and sat by the older man, "You've lost a lot of blood and you're not making much sense right now."
A tear ran down Jack's cheek, "It wasn't supposed to happen like this, ya know?" He wiped the tear away with an air of disgust, "I guess I better tell you since you're too damned pig headed to figure it out yourself."
"Okkkaaayyy..." Daniel decided that it might be best to let him ramble on, after all he *was* dying.
O'Neill took a breath to steady himself, "All of this," He waved his hand around the tent, "Wasn't supposed to happen. Guess I should start from the beginning... It was a simple mission, to go to the planet PB84653. We came across an old building, and... Something happened... You were separated from the rest of us. Sam and Teal'c, we were thrown out of the building then for five minutes... Then I woke up."
The older man stopped for a moment, "The next thing I knew I was three years in the past. It was right after the day that SG-1 went to Chulak for the first time... Everything was the same except for you. Daniel you weren't with us, no one ever remembered you being with us...except for me. And Hammond wouldn't let me come and get you." He broke off to catch his breath again, "I tried to get others to remember what happened, but Sam thought I was nuts and Teal'c thought it was just a human thing. So I gave up and tried to do the missions without you... But it didn't work out."
Tears were building up behind the Colonel's eyes but he refused to let them fall, "Apophis came to earth... Millions died in the first attack, Daniel. Millions. We tried to fight them off but it didn't work. That's how I got this," He pointed to the staff weapon injury right in the middle of his stomach, "Finally a whole bunch of Jaffa broke into the SGC and killed... I was the only one to get out... I guess all I was thinking was to get you so I dialed up Abydos and went though.... You don't believe me do you?"
"O'Nei- I mean Jack, how can I?" Daniel got up, "Look I have to go now-"
"Wait!" Jack grabbed his arm with more strength then his condition suggested, "Don't tell me you don't remember anything, Daniel because I know you do! All you have to do is think!"
Daniel felt himself loosing patience, "About what, Jack?"
"Remember about Skarra... And... and Apophis?" Jack cursed as Daniel pulled his arm from his grip and started to walk away, "What about Sha're?! Do you remember when you lost her?"
Daniel stopped in mid step and turned around, "What? What do you mean?"
"You lost her to a Goa'uld, Daniel." He replied slowly, sensing that he had gotten Daniel's attention. "She was infested and became the wife of Apophis-"
"Wait, what's a Goa'uld?" Daniel asked as he reluctantly came closer.
Jack shook his head, "Snake like things that crawl into people and take them over. They make their eyes glow and have a weird voice."
Daniel stepped back, shaking his head. "No..." How could have O'Neill known about the dream he had? "No... You're lying..." But in the back of Daniel's head, half-focused images started to play. Sha're... She was pregnant... Her eye glowing...
"You do remember?" Jack's voice had gotten horse, "Tell me that you remember!"
"I... Remember something." He shook his head again, suddenly very aware of what he had to do, "Jack, do you remember the chevrons to the last mission? The one where everything changed?" He asked as he pulled out his pocket journal. Jack nodded and Daniel handed it to him along with a pencil that he kept from Earth, "Draw them for me, please."
Jack did so and when he was finished his hands were trembling from exhaustion, "I'm a little tired." He said, giving a half smile.
"You should rest," Daniel agreed, putting his hand on the older man's forehead.
Jack closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Within a few minutes his breathing slowed and then finally stopped all together.
"This is insane, Danyer." Sha're protested as she watched some helpful minors manually dial in the Stargate for Daniel, "He was dying and spitting off nonsense."
"I know," Daniel agreed, "But I have to be sure, Sha're... I just have to know." Deep inside he was wondering the same thing himself. O'Neill was dying and probably had undergone a whole lot of stress before that. Who's to say he was telling the truth? But he could never forgive himself if he didn't find out for sure.
The Stargate clicked in the final chevron and it opened with a huge whoosh. Daniel reached down and kissed Sha're one final time before he hurried though the portal.
The second Daniel stepped out on the other side, he was assaulted by a huge sense of Daja-vue. He knew the building that was standing right in front of the Stargate... And yet he didn't. "Well I guess it's too late to go back now." He said as he walked towards it. The Daja-vue feeling kept growing stronger and stronger as he neared the building. Once he got inside he realized that the whole building was only one large room. "Well this is strange," He muttered.
DANIEL JACKSON. WE HAVE NOT BEEN EXPECTING YOU AGAIN Said a huge voice that echoed all around the building and inside his head at the same time.
"Do I know you?"
The voice laughed and Daniel got the impression that it was really three voices. Three female voices.
YOU DO NOT KNOW US, BUT WE KNOW YOU.
"How?" He yelled, getting very frustrated, "How do you know me?"
BECAUSE WE ARE THE FATES. WE KNOW ALL ABOUT ALL BEINGS LIKE YOU.
"The Fates?! You mean you're real?" Daniel knew the legend very well. It sprung from Greek mythology: Three woman sprung the thread of everyone's life, determining the course and when that person died and so on.
YOU ARE VERY QUICK, DANIEL JACKSON. The formless fates said. WE SEE YOU HAVE NOT CHANGED A BIT.
"Then it's true? I have come here before?"
There was an eerie silence then suddenly an three-dimensional hologram of himself appeared. Daniel gasped, the other version of himself was so sad looking. His face was drawn from too many sleepless nights and the lines portrayed countless hours of worrying.
THIS WAS YOU WHEN YOU CAME TO US. The Fates said helpfully, WE ASKED YOU ABOUT YOUR LIFE.
The other Daniel began to speak, "What is there to say? I lost both of my parents when I was young. I grew up, found happiness in Sha're and then, though my own stupidness I lost her too."
"No..." Daniel muttered, "This isn't me!"
IT WAS YOU. WE TOOK PITY ON YOUR LIFE AND WE PROPOSED A CHANGE IN IT.
Daniel suddenly felt sick, "And I accepted to get Sha're back.... But, but what about Jack and the others he mentioned?"
EVERY CHANGE IN A PERSON'S TIME LINE ALSO EFFECTS THE PEOPLE HE ENCOUNTERED. WITHOUT YOU TO WARN THE SGC, APOPHIS CAME DOWN AND ENSLAVED EARTH. EVERYONE YOU KNEW ON THAT PLANET DIED AS A RESULT.
"God..." He sank to his knees and almost threw up. How could he have been so selfish?! Because of his quest for peace everyone he knew died... Except for Sha're.
"Can... Can you change it back?" He asked, knowing what this could mean. It meant he could probably never see his wife again, never feel her touch... And as for Lucas, he wouldn't even exist. He would lose his beloved son...
IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?
"Yes."
IT IS DONE.
"What is done? Nothing is done!" Daniel yelled then stopped and looked down, he was wearing military issue clothing. And his head was suddenly full of past forgotten memories... Memories that had know become a reality.
Daniel got up and left the building without another word.
"What took you so long?" Said a very familiar voice. Daniel whirled around to see Sam, Teal'c... and Jack. "Looks like you've seen a ghost." Jack commented sarcastically.
"You can say that. Jack, how long was I in there?"
The older man shrugged, "Five minutes, why?"
"Huh, seemed much longer."
THE END!
© January 20, 2000 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.