CHAPTER FOUR
It took Janet only a few moments to tell that something was wrong with Daniel, though, physically, he appeared to be fine. He was far too quiet, speaking only when asked a question. And he wasn't meeting anyone's eyes.
"Daniel, are you feeling all right?" Janet asked gently.
"I'm fine, Janet. I'm not hurt."
"I can see that. I can also see that something is bothering you."
Daniel gave a soft sigh. "You'll find out soon enough."
The tone of Daniel's voice sent an alarm bell clamoring through the doctor. She looked at the archeologist's teammates and found all of them staring at him, varying expressions of concern and uncertainty on their faces. Realizing that they were being observed, they all quickly looked elsewhere. Okay, something was definitely going on, and, apparently, Daniel was at the heart of it.
Knowing that SG-1 needed to clean up and get to their debriefing, Janet chose to find out later what this was all about. She finished her exams, and, finding everyone fit, released them.
Showered and changed, SG-1 went to the briefing room. Jack, Sam and Teal'c tried not to stare at Daniel, but only partially succeeded. He pretended not to notice, keeping his eyes fixed on what was ahead of him. Fortunately, Hammond arrived in the briefing room just a few seconds later.
Jack and Sam began recounting the events of the mission as Daniel remained silent. He knew that, all too soon, it would be his turn to talk.
"We were pinned down with no escape route," Jack was saying. "The only option we had was to wait it out there until you activated the gate and contacted us."
"Well, clearly, something happened to change that, Colonel," Hammond remarked.
"Uh . . . yeah."
Jack, Sam and Teal'c all turned to Daniel. He could feel their eyes upon him like a heavy weight. He lifted his gaze from the table and looked at the general, whose expression showed his puzzlement.
"Doctor Jackson?" the base C.O. inquired.
"I incinerated them," the archeologist stated abruptly.
"Daniel—"
He didn't let Jack finish. "No, Jack. There's no easy way to explain it. In fact, the only real way is to show him."
"Daniel, you can't!" Sam exclaimed.
A slightly bitter smile twisted Daniel's lips. "Don't worry, Sam. I won't blow up the briefing room." He picked up one of several sheets of paper that had been left on the table. Rolling it up, he held it out before him. A few seconds later, the edge caught fire. Startled, Hammond jerked back. Even Daniel's teammates were caught a little by surprise, though they had been expecting something like that.
The paper burned for only a few seconds, then the flame went out as quickly as it had ignited.
Slack-jawed, the general stared at the burned paper, then looked at Daniel. "Doctor Jackson, would you care to explain how the hell that just happened?"
"Well, sir, to all appearances, it would seem that Daniel has gained the ability to start fires," Jack answered. "And put them out, too, by the looks of things."
Again, Hammond looked at the archeologist. "Is that true?"
"Yes, sir. I can also move objects without touching them."
"How is such a thing possible?"
"I can't answer that for sure, though I have a feeling that it has something to do with the fact that I was ascended. It also has to do with the biofeedback training. That's how I discovered that I could do this."
Hammond was silent for several seconds. "This is extraordinary. How long have you known about this?"
"Since Tuesday night."
"Why didn't you report it immediately?"
Daniel didn't reply for a moment. "Because I knew what would happen when everyone found out."
"Which is?"
Daniel stared at the man. "I think you know, General. The NID may have cleaned up their act, but it's no mystery what they'll do when they learn about this."
That statement sobered everyone.
Jack leaned forward. "Sir, I know that Daniel believes he's the one who's doing this, but I think that there's another possible answer: Oma Desala."
Hammond frowned. "The Ancient who helped Doctor Jackson ascend?"
"Yes, sir. On Kheb, Daniel thought that he was lighting fires and moving things with his own mind, but it turned out that it was really her."
"And you believe that it's the same thing this time?"
"I think it's possible."
"It's not, Jack, not this time," Daniel insisted.
"How do you know, Daniel?" Sam asked. "How can you be so sure?"
"Because I can feel it. I can feel myself doing this. I didn't feel that on Kheb. It also gave me a headache, which didn't happen on Kheb."
Jack's eyes locked on his. "You didn't say anything about a headache before, Daniel."
"It went away."
Sam looked at him worriedly. "Daniel, if you are the one who's doing this, it's possible that it's putting a physical strain on you. There could be some danger involved."
"I only got the headache when I made those fireballs, and since that's something that I hope I'll never have to do again, I'm not going to worry about it."
"Fireballs?" Hammond questioned. He looked at all the members of SG-1. "I think that someone had better explain the rest of what happened on the planet."
Seeing that Daniel really didn't want to, Jack told the general the rest of it. Hammond was clearly stunned by the revelation. He looked at the archeologist, who was once again staring at the tabletop.
"Doctor Jackson, I'm not sure what to believe about this. I think that Doctor Fraiser should run some tests on you. For now, I will not report this to my superiors, but I'm afraid that I can only delay doing so for a day or so."
Daniel nodded faintly. "I know, sir."
"All right. Go back to the infirmary and fill Doctor Fraiser in on all of this. Have her run whatever tests she believes are appropriate. In addition to your mission report, I'd like you to write a report on what happened in your home on Tuesday." The general paused. In a gentle tone of voice, he then said, "I hate to do this, Son, but I must ask that you remain on base for now."
Daniel gave another nod and stood. He silently left the room.
"Sir, is it really necessary to restrict Daniel to the base?" Jack asked, not at all happy.
"Colonel, if Doctor Jackson did, indeed, do those things himself, that is a hell of a lot of power for one person to have. Keeping him on the base for now is just a precaution."
"Sir, you can't possibly think that Daniel's a danger to anyone," Sam objected. "This is Daniel we're talking about."
"No, Major, I don't, but that belief will most likely not be shared by certain other people when they learn of this."
Horrified, Sam blurted out. "General, are you telling us that Daniel might be kept a prisoner for the rest of his life because of this?"
"Absolutely not, Major. I will not allow such a thing to happen. But, for now, it may be necessary."
"Pardon me, sir, but that really stinks," Jack stated, not hiding his anger.
"I understand how you feel, Colonel, and I'm sorry that this has to be done. I assure you that it will be for as short a time as I can possibly make it."
Jack, Sam and Teal'c were dismissed. They headed straight to the infirmary. Just outside, they found Daniel. He was leaning against the wall, head bowed and arms wrapped about himself in a hug. That was something they hadn't seen in a long time, and seeing it now upset all of them greatly.
"It's already starting, isn't it," Daniel murmured as they came up to him.
"What's starting?" Sam asked gently.
"Everything is changing. Being restricted to the base is just the first step. Then will come the tests, first those by Janet, then by the NID. After that, they'll insist that I stay at Area 51 so that they can keep studying me, find out what makes me tick. I'll be forced to leave SG-1, and—"
"Now hold it right there," Jack interrupted firmly. "You are not going to be forced to leave SG-1, Daniel, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let anyone treat you like some kind of interesting germ under a microscope."
Daniel looked at him. "You may not be able to stop it, Jack."
"The hell I won't. You have rights, Daniel, and we're not going to let anyone violate them."
"He's right, Daniel," Sam assured him. "They can't force you to submit to tests against your will, and they can't make you go to Area 51 or anywhere else you don't want to."
Daniel appreciated his friends' words of comfort and assurance, but he knew as well as they did that the U.S. Government was not above violating people's rights. They'd seen that more than once during these years in the Stargate Program.
"Before today's mission, I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to tell anyone about this," Daniel told his teammates. "I figured that it would be safer that way, for everyone."
"I'm sorry, Daniel," Jack said. "I'm sorry this is happening. But I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to make this turn out okay." He rested a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "It's going to be all right. Trust me."
Daniel searched his friend's eyes deeply, seeing the man's promise shining there. "Thanks, Jack."
The four of them entered the infirmary. They went over to Janet and told her that they needed to speak with her in private. She led them to her office and closed the door. There, Daniel, with some help from his teammates, told her everything. Needless to say, the doctor was shocked by the news.
"Daniel, this is unbelievable. I know that because of the genetic manipulations performed by Nirrti, Cassandra developed paranormal abilities, but that was something totally unnatural. If you're right about this, it means that, somehow, being ascended for that year made your own natural abilities become active. There are, of course, individuals who claim to have psychic abilities, but nothing on this level. I am concerned about that headache you mentioned, though. Using these abilities might put a strain on your body. Did you feel any other negative physical effects?"
"No, nothing, just the headache, and it went away pretty quickly."
"All right, I'm going to run some tests, an MRI, PET scan, EEG, a few blood tests. I want to see if there are any changes in your brain chemistry. I'm afraid that you're going to be here for a while." Janet looked at his teammates. "You might as well go take care of other things. I'll give you a call when we're finished."
Jack shook his head. "We're staying."
Something in the colonel's voice told Janet that she could argue till she was blue in the face and not budge him from the infirmary. "All right. Just don't get in the way of the nurses."
Thus started Daniel ordeal. He was repeatedly scanned, stuck with needles, and hooked up to various machines. By the time it was over, he never wanted to see the infirmary again for as long as he lived. Now, dressed in infirmary pajamas and sitting on one of the beds with his teammates gathered around him, he was eating the dinner that Sam had brought him, though he really wasn't all that hungry.
He had just finished when the doctor came over. Knowing that Daniel didn't want word of this to get around, she suggested that they all return to her office, which they did.
"So, what did you find out?" Jack asked her.
"Some very interesting things. There is definitely a change in the activity in Daniel's brain. Specifically, there is a significant increase in activity in areas where we normally don't see much. Daniel's brain chemistry is unaffected, but his at rest EEG is noticeably different from what it used to be. I talked with Doctor White, and she said that she had seen no significant differences in Daniel's EEG at the start of each of their daily sessions, which means that this change happened within the last two days. Daniel canceled his session yesterday."
"After what happened the previous night, I didn't think it was a good idea for me to do it," Daniel told her.
"That might have been a wise precaution."
"Did you tell Eliza what happened?"
"No, she doesn't have clearance for something like this."
"Is there any way that she could be given clearance?"
"Why?"
"I use biofeedback every time I do this, Janet. It's possible that she might have some insights on what's going on."
Janet thought about that. "All right, I'll talk to the general and ask that Doctor White be brought in on this."
"So, what now?" Sam asked.
"Now, Daniel can relax for a while. Some of the blood test results are not in yet, and he will, of course, have to stay on base tonight in case something shows up, but I'm all done with him for now."
"Staying on base isn't going to be an issue," Daniel said. Not explaining, he left the office, got his clothes, and headed for the bathroom to change. The doctor turned to his teammates for an explanation.
"Daniel is confined to the base until further notice, Janet," Sam told her.
"Why is. . . ." The answer suddenly came to the doctor. "Oh. It's because of what he can do, isn't it."
"Bingo," Jack confirmed. "Hammond figures that there are people who are going to view Daniel as a possible danger to the populace, which is a load of crap. Daniel wouldn't hurt anyone. Just because he can now light fires and move things with his mind doesn't change that."
Janet paused a moment before speaking again. "I hate to say this, Colonel, but Daniel did say that killing those Jaffa was unintentional, and there was the incident at his house. Can we be sure that he can remain in full control of these abilities?"
Jack's first instinct was to say yes, but the truth was that they didn't know how much control Daniel had over these newfound abilities of his, and, until they could be sure that he had absolute control, he would be considered a danger.
"Crap. This is turning into one big mess in a hurry."
"Why do things like this keep happening to Daniel?" Sam asked, her heart aching for her friend.
"I feel confident that Daniel Jackson will gain mastery over his abilities," Teal'c stated. "He is a man of great strength and perseverance."
"Yes, he is, Teal'c," Jack agreed. "The thing is, though, that, even when Daniel does have full control of this, his life is never going to be the same. None of us have normal lives, but at least, up until now, we were all normal human beings. Um, except you, of course, T. But, now, Daniel, uh . . . isn't."
"Sir, Daniel may have abilities now that the average human doesn't, but he's still normal in every other way," Sam said. "As long as the NID doesn't keep causing a big problem, this wouldn't have to change Daniel life that much. In fact, it'll be up to us to see that it doesn't."
"What do you mean, Sam?" Janet asked.
"If we treat him differently, it will affect him." Sam looked at all of them closely. "Daniel's going to be going through a lot, and he needs to feel that there's something he can count on, people he can trust to just be his friends."
"Major Carter is correct," Teal'c intoned. "We must not treat Daniel Jackson any differently than we did before these occurrences."
Jack nodded. "You're right." He got to his feet. "Come on. Let's go drag him to the commissary for some chocolate cake. He could use some cheering up."
Sam smiled faintly. "Chocolate cake, sir?"
"Hey, I may not be a huge chocolate fan myself, but I've read all that stuff about it being good for when you're depressed. And we all know that Daniel loves it."
Daniel had already left the infirmary. His teammates caught up to him on his way to his office and dragged him, not quite kicking and screaming, to the commissary, which didn't have any more chocolate cake, but did have a delicious chocolate cream pie that satisfied everyone's sweet tooth. While they ate, they talked about things that had nothing to do with the mission or Daniel's newfound abilities, though it had taken a while to get the linguist to join in on the conversation.
Daniel appreciated his team's efforts to make him feel better and the fact that they were no longer acting differently around him. The problem was that another thought had come to him a while ago. How were the rest of the people at the SGC going to react when they found out about this? There was no way that it could be hidden from them once Hammond gave his report. How many of the personnel here would be able to get past the fact that Daniel had that kind of power and treat him like a normal person? How many would be too nervous to be around him from now on?
Daniel realized how naive he had been on Kheb when he thought that he'd gained those powers. All he had been thinking about was having the ability to protect Sha're's son from the Goa'uld. He hadn't considered the other ramifications, how it would utterly change his life. Well, he was thinking about it now and was heartily wishing that this had never happened.
Jack, Sam and Teal'c looked at Daniel, who had fallen silent again. They knew that he was worried about what was going to happen. So were they. They didn't want to see their friend's life destroyed by this, but there was a real chance that would happen.
"Daniel, is there anything we can do for you?" Sam asked, resting her hand on his arm.
"Can you predict another solar flare so that we can go back in time through the Stargate and keep this from happening?" Daniel asked.
"I wish I could."
"Then I don't think that there's anything you can do."
Sam gave Daniel's arm a squeeze. He looked into her eyes and saw her compassion and concern for him. It was there on the faces of all his teammates. He drew in a deep breath.
"It'll be okay," he said, trying to believed the words. "I mean, we always figure something out, right?"
"You bet," Jack agreed forcefully. "Things are going to be fine."
Daniel gave them a weak smile. "Then there's nothing to worry about."
"Nope, not a thing." Jack stood up. "Come on. Let's all go to the gym and beat up some helpless punching bags."
Deciding he liked that idea, Daniel went with his teammates to the gym. Instead of attacking one of the punching bags, however, Jack suggested that he and Daniel do a little hand-to-hand combat workout. The archeologist knew that, if anything could distract him from his troubles, it would be that.
The two men circled each other on the mat, looking for an opening. In the years that Daniel had been with the SGC, he had learned a lot from both Jack and Teal'c about fighting. He was no longer the hesitant, fumbling academic who didn't want anything to do with such things. In fact, every once in a while, he'd actually managed to get Jack down on the mat, though that didn't happen very often. The colonel had way more years of experience in hand-to-hand combat. It was usually only Daniel's superior physical condition and strength that gave him an edge.
Focusing his entire attention on what he and Jack were doing, Daniel waited for the colonel to make his move. He'd found out long ago that he had a lot more patience than Jack, and, while he could quite easily do nothing more than watch his opponent endlessly, Jack couldn't and, sooner or later, would attack an opening he saw in his opponent's defenses.
Sure enough, they had been circling each for only half a minute or so when Jack suddenly went for Daniel. The archeologist had anticipated the move and countered it easily. They broke away from each other and resumed circling.
A few seconds later, Jack came at Daniel again, and, like before, he successfully countered the action. This time, however, he drove on with an attack of his own. With some effort, Jack broke away.
"Good one, Daniel. I don't think you've ever used that move before," Jack remarked.
"Teal'c showed it to me a few weeks ago."
The two men fell silent, turning their full attention back on what they were doing. Daniel watched Jack carefully, ready to defend himself against attack and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. That moment came several seconds later. Instantly taking advantage of it, Daniel attacked. Almost before he even realized fully what he was doing, Daniel grabbed Jack, flipped him to the ground, and put him in a stranglehold, managing to pin both of Jack's arms at the same time.
Stunned, Jack lay very still, waiting for Daniel to release him. Struggling would do him no good. He had no leverage in this position.
Daniel released him, and the two men sat facing each other on the mat.
"Okay, that was . . . rather humiliating," Jack admitted, never having been taken down quite so easily by an unarmed opponent before. Well, except for Teal'c, that is. "Have you been secretly practicing or something?"
Daniel was also surprised by what he'd just done. "Uh . . . no. I just . . . saw an opening and took it."
"What opening?"
"You, um, were slightly off balance for a second."
Jack stared at Daniel. "How could you tell?"
"I . . . don't know, really. I just could. Maybe something in the angle of your body or the way your feet were positioned."
Jack smiled. "Well, Daniel, I have to say that I'm impressed." His smile took on a wicked glint. "But don't think that this means I admit defeat. I have not yet begun to fight."
Daniel returned the smile. "Whatever you say, John Paul Jones."
The two men faced off again. This time, it was Jack who attacked. He managed to get hold of Daniel and had him down on the mat. But, at the last second, before Jack could deliver the 'killing' blow, Daniel broke his hold and got away from him.
After that, both men tried several moves that failed to bring the other down. Finally, Daniel yet again got Jack on the mat and in a tight hold from which Jack could not escape, though it had been much harder this time.
"Damn, Daniel," Jack panted as the two men sat facing each other. "You keep this up, and I'll have to get tough on you."
Daniel grinned. "Get tough on me, huh? So, you're claiming that you've been pulling your punches all this time, Jack?"
The colonel would have liked to answer yes for the sake of his pride, but the truth was that he had been earnestly trying to beat Daniel. He'd stopped taking it easy on the archeologist years ago, once it no longer became necessary, and Daniel was well aware of that fact.
Jack got to his feet, his muscles complaining. "Come on, tough guy. This old man's had enough for today."
Telling Sam and Teal'c that they'd see them later, the two men hit the showers, then went to Daniel's office. The linguist sat at his desk and watched his friend wander around the room, looking at this and that.
"You know, Jack, you don't have to keep me company. I've got plenty of work to keep me busy."
The colonel looked at Daniel closely. "Are you going to be all right?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay."
"We are going to get through this, Daniel. Count on it."
The younger man gave him a faint smile. "Thanks, Jack."
Jack left Daniel's office, hoping that he'd be able to keep the promise he had made to his friend.
