Swan Song
 
by Travelling One
 
Email: travelling_one@yahoo.ca
Website: http://www.travellingone.com/
Season: 8
Major Spoilers: RECKONING; THREADS.
Summary: These are missing scenes from Reckoning 2 and Threads, with excerpts.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. Any original characters, situations, and storylines are the property of the author. Archive only with permission please.
 
March 2005
 
_______________
 
 
….. "Sir, we haven't heard from him in a week!"
 
"Doesn't mean anything."
 
"Sir, we know he was captured by Replicators. Chances are he was on board a Replicator ship when it disintegrated."
 
"All we know for sure is that he's missing."
 
As much as the general wanted to dwell in denial, Carter needed the acknowledgement out in the open. "Sooner or later - "
 
"Forget it. I'm not falling for it this time."
 
"Falling for it?" Like Daniel was playing games instead of lying dead and disintegrated? Come on, sir…
 
"Ya. How many times have you thought he was gone and then he shows up in one form or another? I'm sorry, we are not having a memorial service for someone who's not dead." Jack spoke to the walls, to the ceiling. "You hear that?" He raised his voice. "I'm not buying it." Nope, not falling for it this time. Daniel wasn't dead.
 
Jack knew Carter was staring at him sympathetically, or was it pathetically? "What? He's just waiting for us to say a bunch of nice things about him. Next thing you know he'll come waltzing through that door. Like right now…. Waltzing. Now." Come on, Daniel. Prove me right.
 
But the door didn't open and Daniel didn't waltz through it. Carter could almost feel the intensity of O'Neill's fervent hopes. Her own prayers, though, had been of the more realistic sort, maybe indications that someone had seen bits of Daniel's clothing somewhere amongst the debris, something that would put their minds at a sorrowful rest. This denial by her superior was psychologically unhealthy, and she herself needed to say out loud - in front of a roomful of friends and colleagues - all that Daniel had meant to her. She needed that memorial service.
 
"Sir, I know you don't want it to be true, but we have to face - "
 
"Nothing yet, Carter. If there is any way - "
 
"But there isn't. Sir. Daniel isn't indestructible, he is - was - human. The Ancients wouldn't have taken him back after banishing him once already, and we have no reason to even think that they were hanging around the Replicator ship."
 
"Carter - they gave your Oreo a second chance. And maybe they don't have to be hanging around to know things."
 
"They gave Orlin a second chance to ascend, sir, not necessarily to return here a second time. Even if they did reclaim Daniel, they may not let him come home again."
 
"Even knowing he's a pain in the butt?"
 
"Exactly. Why would they take him back?"
 
O'Neill knew exactly why, and spoke quietly. "Because they know he's a good person."
 
Carter studied her CO. He so desperately wanted to believe. She probably shouldn't continue in this vein; if the general could have so much confidence in Daniel, why couldn't she have just a little?
 
Because she needed that memorial service.
 
Carter's voice was as subdued as Jack's. "Even if he's ascended, he's still lost to us."
 
"He came to me once. And Teal'c."
 
"Then why isn't he coming now, just to let us know he's alright? It's been a week. He hasn't walked through that door yet, Sir."
 
But Jack was not ready to be persuaded. He was not going to give up his last hopes for Daniel's return, the way he had last time. He could keep hope alive forever, and that meant no memorial. Again.
 
"How long are we going to wait, Sir?"
 
"As long as it takes."
 
"And then what? Even if he was re-ascended, and chose to descend again, he could be anywhere in the universe, with no memory."
 
"Or…" Jack's eyes locked with Carter's wide ones. The thought occurred to them both.
 
"Vis Uban?"
 
_____
 
They were going back, just to check… just to make sure Daniel wasn't there again. Jack was going too, for he might be the one who was needed to convince an unwilling friend to return home. And the truth was, Jack wasn't willing to wait for SG1's report to see if Daniel was back on that planet. Every minute counted in his impatience manual.
 
"All set?" The wormhole beckoned, and now the faster the better. Daniel was there, he knew it. He had to be.
 
_____
 
Their relocation had been brief, and the inhabitants had settled in once more after being allowed to return to their home on Vis Uban. Good thing that the F-302 had gotten to Anubis before he'd destroyed the stargate.
 
Good thing as well that these people were pacifists and the forgiving sort, for certainly their lives had become more complicated since the arrival of the Tau'ri. SG1 was welcomed, with the wary and timid hesitancy of trivial conversation.
 
"No, Arrom has not returned. Has he decided not to stay with you?" Shamda studied the team with surprise and confusion.
 
The crestfallen expression on Jack's face was mirrored by his two teammates. All three had begun to get their hopes up during the walk from the forest to the ruins.
 
"No, he was taken from us again. If he shows up - " If he shows up, what? Should they give Shamda the symbols for Earth? Don't call us, we'll call you? "We'll check back in a few weeks, just to make sure."
 
"Sir - " Carter quickened her pace to catch up with O'Neill's long, frustrated strides, leaving Teal'c to deal with good-byes and explanations. She knew the general was beginning to face the possibility that Daniel was gone for good this time.
 
"Sir." Her hand on his arm, she needed to tell him she understood. The last time she'd seen Daniel he'd been blasting Replicators with her, torn from her side, and she hadn't said good-bye. But the last time the general had seen him was when the remainder of SG1 had walked through the gate to rendezvous with Bra'tac.
 
Jack stopped abruptly, a look of annoyance in his eyes, and Carter removed her light grip. "What?"
 
Looking beyond his shoulder into the distance, eyes beginning to sting, she sighed. What could she say that O'Neill didn't already know? That there was nowhere else to look? That it could be years or never until they found him? That it really was time to plan a memorial? "I'm sorry."
 
"Yeah."
 
"Sir - "
 
"I know, Carter. I'm just not ready to go through that again." Not ready to go through waking up every morning remembering it wasn't just a bad dream. Did that for a damn year.
 
He could tell Carter that he'd known it all along, known that Daniel wasn't coming home, but that would've made it real. Stay dead this time, Daniel. So you won't ever have to die again. Daniel had been up there, alone with Replicators, knowing the bugs would never let him go. Knowing they'd kill him. Knowing that everything he tried to say or do would be futile, and so desperately hoping that whatever he did involuntarily reveal in those painful mind probes wouldn't give away any vital information to the enemy. For a few moments, Daniel had managed to help his friends, desperate moments that bought them all the time they'd needed. A brief respite in which they'd been able to destroy all the Replicators in their galaxy. Daniel would never know it had worked. He'd never even know anyone had noticed.
 
We noticed.
 
Jack couldn't slow down, not for Carter, not for himself. His mind was in turmoil, and the quick pace served to unleash his emotions. Negative energy propelled him forward, giving him an outlet for his pain.
 
Stay dead, Daniel. Stop doing this to yourself, to us. This time just stay dead.
 
The quick pace didn't let up, and Jack didn't turn around. He knew his teammates would be somewhere close behind. Close enough, giving him distance. From ascension to death, Daniel, for your sake let's hope this interlude has been your final appearance. Your swan song, gracing us with one last goodbye.
 
I love you kiddo, my chum. So stay dead this time, okay? For yourself. For your peace of mind. For your own safety.
 
So that no Replicator forces you ever again to suffer that pain that I remember, that Carter remembers, and no System Lord can torture you or stick a snake into that special mind. So that no fear of falling short and failing us ever worries you again.
 
For yourself, buddy, stay dead this time.
 
But not for me. I want you back with a vengeance too strong to ever admit to Carter.
 
Jack knew that in a heartbeat he'd search any planet that lent him the slightest possibility of a newly descended Daniel.
 
_____
 
And now, just days later, Anubis seemed to be gone.
 
Just like that, their self-destruct had suspended its countdown and the threat had been vanquished, neutralized. Who else would have known? Who else would have cared? Just like that, hope renewed itself that Daniel might just walk through that door… in a cream-coloured pullover and white slacks, too surreal to hug or lay a hand on, saying he had things to do and people not to piss off…
 
"I still don't quite understand what happened. One minute Anubis is about to push the button that ends all life in the galaxy, and the next minute he's just gone."
 
"Indeed. It is a great mystery."
 
Bra'tac remained introspective, searching for an answer. Strange things had frequently occurred in the universe over the past century of his life. "One can only assume he was vanquished by some means. If not, why would he forfeit the weapon and his army?"
 
Sam couldn't help sharing a thought with the general. "You think?"
 
Boy, did he think. "I do."
 
"It's the only thing that would explain the self destruct not going on," Growing more and more hopeful, Carter found herself caught up in O'Neill's own whimsical version of 'waltzing through the door' optimism. Please, let it be so.
 
"Of what do you speak?" A confused Bra'tac reminded the teammates that they were not alone.
 
"O'Neill believes that Daniel Jackson is somehow responsible," Teal'c informed his friend and former teacher.
 
"No-o, it wasn't me." The voice of Daniel, the sound of Daniel's voice.
 
And at least Jack's heart skipped its next four beats. Carter's came as close.
 
"Anybody else hear that?"
 
They listened again, and watched the door. Waltzing in…
 
Knew it. Knew he wasn't dead.
 
No, knew it last week. Should never have gone to Vis Uban, where hope had destroyed itself through ignorance.
 
"I'm in here."
 
"That's Daniel!"
 
Through the door. Knew it. Jack rose quickly and made for his office, not knowing exactly what he'd find, but anything that spoke and sounded like Daniel had to be good enough.
 
"Don't, don't come in!"
 
"Whoa, hey there!"
 
Daniel, flesh and blood. SO not dead. Not dead, again. Stay not dead, Daniel. Tell us you're home, not going back.
 
Jack's mental facilities were swift enough to offer Daniel a flag for his attire. Other than that, emotions ran too deep for him to know what to do, but standing there dumbstruck seemed to be working for the moment.
 
"It's a, long story." Daniel stepped into the briefing room, where all could see that he wasn't just a figment of Jack's imagination. Or a hologram.
 
Faces lit up, although Carter wasn't sure whether to be shocked, thrilled, or embarrassed. She decided embarrassed could wait.
 
"What do you mean it wasn't you?" Jack eyed a newly alive ascended descended Daniel, still feeling quite stuck in the middle of one of Alice's dreams in Wonderland. Oh, if the world only knew what reality really was made of. This time, Daniel seemed to remember.
 
"It wasn't me. I tried, Jack. I tried to stop Anubis, but I didn't have the power. It was Oma." Daniel remained standing, torn between wanting to explain, and wanting to scoot down to the locker room and find something to wear other than a flag. But he wasn't about to make his way through the halls in this get-up, either.
 
"Anubis? Oma?" Jack squinted. "Didn't we send you off to the Replicators? Not our choice, by the way."
 
"Yes. Sam killed me."
 
"She did?" Jack lifted his eyebrows towards Carter, who blushed in protest.
 
"I think he's talking about the Replicator clone, sir."
 
"Ah. I knew that." Jack frowned. "So, dead?" Of course dead; how else would Daniel be in his office wearing nothing, if not for the Omas of the afterworld? Bless their hearts, gotta love 'em once in a while.
 
"Uh, yeah. Dagger through the chest. Hurt like hell."
 
"Ouch. I'll bet." Shit. The empathic pain lurched in Jack's belly. But he was still waiting for his friend to make sense.
 
"I will retrieve some apparel for Daniel Jackson," Teal'c offered.
 
"You'll miss the good part, T," advised Jack. "Apparel can wait."
 
"Uh, no, Jack, the good part can wait. I'd appreciate that, Teal'c. Thanks."
 
Having bowed his head in respect, Teal'c disappeared, leaving the three colleagues and Bra'tac staring at one another. Finally Daniel sat down opposite a grinning Carter. A grin that had nothing to do with a flag. If ever she were to be proven wrong by her CO, she was thrilled that this was the time.
 
"What?" Daniel asked her anxiously.
 
"I was sure you were dead," Carter kept grinning. "It's so good to have you back, Daniel."
 
"Thanks," Daniel smiled at her, then stole a glance at Jack.
 
"He didn't," Sam announced.
 
"What?" Daniel frowned. Jack didn't? What, want him back? That didn't make any sense.
 
"Believe you were gone. He refused to have a memorial service for you."
 
"Oh?" Daniel looked up questioningly. "That's good -- I guess?"
 
"Well, you always come back," Jack argued. "You're resourceful."
 
"They almost didn't let me."
 
"The Replicators?"
 
"The Others."
 
"I thought you were with the Replicators."
 
"I thought we were waiting for Teal'c."
 
Sam rose and leaned behind Daniel, placing her arms around his neck. "It's really really good to have you back," she repeated softly, sincerely, kissing him on the side of his head, once and then again. Her embrace tightened, and she touched her cheek to his, giving him a third kiss before letting go and returning to her chair. She smiled at him again as Teal'c returned, passing the clothing to Daniel.
 
Waiting impatiently for Daniel outside his closed office door, out of the way of the glass planetary map, Jack crossed his arms and rocked on his heels. "You done yet?"
 
"Minute."
 
Jack rocked some more, until a military-looking Daniel exited from the enlcosed space. Inconspicuously touching his friend's sleeve as he passed, Jack convinced himself that Daniel was real.
 
"Shall we now proceed to the 'good part', Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c calmly requested.
 
Daniel sat, Jack sat, Teal'c and Carter and Bra'tac were already patiently seated.
 
"Um, where was I?"
 
"That's what I've been trying to figure out." For the past week. Knew you weren't dead! Jack grinned.
 
"What?"
 
"Nevermind. Continue. You were taken by the Replicators."
 
"Sam - Replicator Sam - used her mind probe and tried to trick me by turning into Oma. Only, I figured her out in time, sort of. After I found out about the weapon on Dakara, I tried to control the Replicators, but she killed me."
 
Killed you. Wincing at the implications, Jack shook the obscenities from his mind. "Then?"
 
"Then? Then, then, then I was dead."
 
"No you weren't."
 
"Ok, I wasn't. I walked into a restaurant."
 
Silence ensued as four puzzled sets of eyes stared.
 
"A restaurant." Not surprisingly, the tone was mildly cynical. Alice was following the White Rabbit again. "And what did you do there?"
 
"Ate waffles, actually." And this is where everyone evaluates my sanity.
 
"Daniel - !"
 
"No one there would talk to me. They were the Others, and I wasn't ascended."
 
"Of course not. No waffles in the higher planes, right?"
 
"Um… that I can't really remember. I wasn't higher yet." No, I had to choose between ascension and death.
 
Jack stopped himself from sighing in exasperation. Did ascended beings dream? But this was a real Daniel, alive, and he wasn't going to complain. And without Anubis to worry about at the moment, they even seemed to have time for this. "Go on. No one would talk to you."
 
"Except Anubis."
 
"In the restaurant?"
 
"Trying to get coffee."
 
"Daniel, I'm starting to suspect concussion here."
 
"No, Jack! Oma was being punished for helping Anubis ascend…"
 
"What?" sounded in triplicate.
 
"Uh, yeah… that was basically my reaction as well. Anyway, they wouldn't let anyone touch Anubis, just to punish her. I was trying to convince them to give up the ego trip, but I must have convinced Oma instead, because she decided to battle him."
 
"Oma killed Anubis? Wait, Oma ascended Anubis? And then killed him? I thought she couldn't intervene."
 
"She didn't kill him. She decided getting him out of the way was worth losing her own ascension. They're still in battle and may be so for eternity."
 
So, not dead. Semantics. Anubis was gone, at least for now. "Daniel… you do realize we still have no idea of where you've been?" Eating waffles and coffee in a restaurant with Oma and Anubis after Sam killed you but Oma didn't ascend you… doesn't really cut it.
 
Daniel sighed. "Neither do I, Jack."
 
Jack nodded. "As long as we're in agreement. You know, as a team."
 
Daniel nodded. "As a team."
 
"Sounds good."
 
"Yeah."
 
"But I still want a full report, Daniel. On my desk. And not the dream version."
 
"No promises, Jack, that's the way I lived it - "
 
"Daniel…"
 
" -- but I'll do my best."
 
"Good enough."
 
Teal'c nodded towards Daniel, and Carter hugged her almost-lost teammate one last time, emphatically. "It's really good to have you back."
 
Jack pulled his lips tight in a smile. Knew you'd choose us.
 
_____
 
"Hey. Come in." Jack smiled as Daniel walked… waltzed in and sat down. Seemed to make his office a much brighter place than it had been the past few days.
 
"Hey." Daniel dropped into the hard chair opposite his CO. "You wanted to see me?"
 
"Sure." Always, any time, yasureyabetcha.
 
"No, I mean - "
 
"I know what you mean." Sitting up straighter, Jack rested his arms on his paperwork. "Yeah, I did. Wanted to thank you."
 
Daniel frowned, his own frustrations still superimposed upon perplexing memories. "It was Oma, Jack, not me. I couldn't do a damn thing."
 
"Sounds like you convinced her to get off her glowy white butt."
 
"Maybe."
 
"You stopped the Replicators."
 
"Sam stopped the Replicators."
 
"You said you were trying to control them. You did."
 
"I did?" Daniel sighed. "For about ten seconds."
 
"Enough time for the Carters to calibrate the weapon. The bugs were here too, Daniel, on this base. Every one of them stopped. Just froze, just like that."
 
Daniel looked up in surprise. "Really?"
 
"Yeah. Oddest thing."
 
Chuckling, Daniel nodded. "I can imagine."
 
"Wouldn't have happened if they hadn't kidnapped you."
 
With a long stare at Jack, Daniel finally spoke. "So you're saying it's a good thing they captured me?"
 
"Not something I'd want you to go through again, Daniel. But just thought you should know that it wasn't in vain." Obviously you know that now. Just thought you should know we appreciate what you did. "I'd thought you'd died without knowing that. And I'm sorry you died up there alone." With a dagger through the gut. Jack cringed. Damn the steely bastards.
 
"You know, no matter how often it happens, I never seem to get used to it."
 
What an inconceivable statement to be uttered from the lips of an archeologist, Jack realized, frowning with a hauntingly dismal thought. "So, Oma's occupied, you say. That means next time, she won't be around to ascend you."
 
"No."
 
"So you're out of lives."
 
"I've had more than I should have."
 
"Not the point. Don't you ever do that to me again, Daniel."
 
"Much as I'd like to follow that directive Jack, - "
 
"I swear, Daniel; I won't ever believe you're gone. I'll be old and gray and still be waiting for you to walk through some door."
 
"You are ol… well, gray."
 
Reaching under his desk, Jack resurfaced holding a boot, and tamely lobbed it at Daniel.
 
"Ow!"
 
Jack grinned. "Yep, you're real."
 
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