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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Daniel and Teyla parted, and the archeologist went in search of Jack, Teal'c and Janet.  As he walked through the city, he noticed a lot of people staring at him.  Up until now, most of the people here didn't know about his abilities.  They probably all knew now, hence the stares.  Daniel liked it better when they didn't know.

Receiving directions from a man who couldn't stop staring at him, Daniel found his friends.  They were in the jumper bay.

"Hey, Daniel," Jack greeted.  "I was just about to ask Doctor Weir if I could take one of these babies for a ride.  She said that I have the right stuff to fly them."

"Just don't go for a trip back in time, Jack," Daniel responded.

Everyone stared at him, perplexed.

"Back in time?" Jack inquired curiously.

Daniel blinked, puzzled.  "I . . . have absolutely no idea why I said that."

"Daniel, do you know something about the puddle jumpers that we don't?" Elizabeth asked.  "I don't know how we could have missed something like that, but I suppose it's possible."

"No.  I doubt I know as much about them as you do.  All I did was start one up accidentally."

"Yet the remark you made would suggest that your abilities have revealed something to you," Teal'c stated.

Daniel stared at the cockpit.  He really didn't have a clue why he'd said that.  He hadn't had a vision, no flash from his sixth sense.

Not sure if he should be doing this, Daniel approached the ship's controls.  He rested his hand on the control console and focused his inner vision, turning it toward the future.  He saw a series of images, most likely missions this ship would be going on.  Daniel attempted to focus his thoughts on a time travel mission in the jumper, but nothing happened.

On a hunch, he stopped attempting to see the future of the jumper itself, and the vision abruptly changed.  His mind's eye filled with a scene that sent a mental gasp through him.  It was Egypt, but not the Egypt of today but, rather, of many thousands of years ago.  The architectural wonders of the Giza Plateau stood whole and undamaged.  Before Daniel could marvel at what he was seeing, the face of Ra reared before him, the Goa'uld's cruel, resonant voice giving a command, an order of the execution of the three people before him.  Staff weapons were aimed and. . . .

With an audible gasp, Daniel reeled backwards, hurling himself out of the vision.  Shaking, he nearly ran out of the puddle jumper.  He leaned against its hull, drawing in several deep breaths, trying to blot out what he'd seen.

Jack grasped his friend's arm.  "Hey.  You okay?"

"No, not really."

"Daniel, what did you see?" Janet asked, concerned.

"I don't really understand it.  I saw Egypt of perhaps five thousand years ago.  Ra was there."  Daniel looked at Jack and Teal'c.  "But you and Sam were there, too."

Jack just stared at him.  "In Egypt?  Five thousand years ago?  I know I'm getting old, but I'm not that old.  Not even Teal'c is that old."

"What else did you see, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked, ignoring Jack's remark.

Daniel met his eyes, then Jack's.  "He executed you, all three of you."

That left everyone stunned.

"If you were looking into the future, how could you see Egypt in the past?" Jack asked.  "And what the hell were we doing there?"

"Perhaps Daniel Jackson's earlier comment about time travel is the answer," Teal'c replied.

"You mean that, some day in the future, we're going to travel back in time to 3000 B.C.?  Why in the world would we do that?  We killed Ra.  Going back to pay him a visit would not be my choice of fun vacations."

"Well, whatever the reason, we're not going to do it," Daniel declared firmly.  "If we don't go back, Ra can't kill you."

"Right now, I'm wondering how you were going to do it," Elizabeth said.  She looked at Daniel.  "You saw this vision while touching the puddle jumper.  What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure this ship had nothing to do with the trip in time.  It was only after I stopped trying to see its future that I had the vision of Egypt."

"Well, I guess all we can do is be wary of time traveling paraphernalia," Jack remarked.

No one felt like resuming the tour.  Elizabeth excused herself to get back to her duties, and Janet returned to the infirmary, which didn't make Jack very happy.

"So, when are you guys heading home?" Daniel asked Jack and Teal'c.

"Around noon," the General replied.  "So . . . Weir told us about your little chat with the Wraith."

"Don't say it, Jack.  Yes, I know it was dangerous, but I thought I could get some valuable information, which I did."

"Along with some nice claw marks."

"Which are now completely healed."

"Which could have been in your throat."

Daniel let out a sigh.  "Come on.  Let's go find Sam and rescue her from McKay."

"Are you sure you want to do that?  Maybe he'll push her too far, and she'll strangle the little twerp.  I think even the military courts would rule it justifiable homicide."


Sam made a growling sound under her breath.  She was beginning to wish that she'd stayed with Daniel or gone on the tour with the others.  Since arriving at McKay's lab, the Canadian had been impossible.  During the time that she'd been with Daniel in the infirmary, he had continued to work on the power generator project and had arrived at a few conclusions that Sam didn't agree with.  Of course, McKay was certain that he was right and she was wrong.

"Look," she said, trying again.  "If you do that, you're not going to get a steady outflow of power.  There could be spikes."

McKay shook his head.  "I've been working on this longer than you have, and I know what I'm doing.  You're still playing catch-up."

Sam glared at the device instead of McKay for fear that she'd turn him to stone with her gaze.

McKay continued.  "There won't be any power spikes if we. . . .  Yes, maybe we should double-check my figures."

Surprised at the sudden about-face, Sam looked at the Canadian.  He was staring over his shoulder at something.  Sam turned to see Daniel, Jack and Teal'c standing in the doorway.  Daniel's arms were crossed, and he was staring right at McKay.  Jack had a smug expression, apparently having witnessed the transformation when the scientist caught sight of them, or, rather, caught sight of Daniel.  Teal'c looked amused.

"There seems to be a problem here," Daniel said in a cool, calm voice.

"No," McKay hastily responded, his voice squeaking slightly.  "No problem.  I was just coming to the conclusion that perhaps Colonel Carter might be right."

"Well, having an open mind is always a good thing."

"Yes.  Yes, I've always thought so myself."

Sam was trying really hard not to laugh, but it was a losing battle.  Jack recognized this and came to her rescue.

"Come on, Carter.  Join us for an early lunch.  We never had breakfast."

Not saying anything for fear that, if she opened her mouth, laughter would pour out, Sam left with them.  They'd made it perhaps twenty yards when Sam lost it.

"Daniel, you have got to stay with me when I'm working with McKay," she gasped between laughs.  "With you around, he'd probably agree with everything I said."

The four friends shared the meal together, then Jack and Teal'c went to their quarters to pack their stuff.  Leaving the bags in the embarkation area, Teal'c went off to speak with Teyla, whom he had met for a short while and wanted to speak with some more.  Jack headed for one of the balconies.  Janet hadn't arrived yet.

Jack had been gazing at the ocean for a couple of minutes when Daniel joined him at the railing.

"I wonder what kind of fish are in there," Jack said.

"You could ask Teyla.  The Athosians have been doing some fishing.  They're building boats."

"Wouldn't mind going out on one."  Jack looked at Daniel.  "I see why you and Carter love this place.  Pretty impressive.  There are so many gadgets here that it's like one great big toy store to Carter, and I can only imagine all the stuff the computers are packed with that you could spend centuries digging into."

"Yes, it is incredible."

Jack turned fully to Daniel, who was facing the ocean.  "If the Goa'uld weren't a problem anymore, and both you and Carter could be transferred here, would you do it?"

Daniel thought about it a long while before answering.  "I don't know.  A big part of me wants to say yes."

"And the other part?"

Daniel looked at him.  "That's the part that would miss everyone back home.  Jack, if we do ever defeat the Goa'uld, and I'm in the position to make that decision, then that's when I'll make it.  Until then, I'm not going to try to figure out what I'll do.  I don't know what might happen between now and then.  A lot of things could happen to affect my decision."

Jack nodded.  "Fair enough."  The general turned back to the view of the sea.  "Daniel, if that time ever comes and you ask me to let you go . . . I will."

Shocked, Daniel looked at his friend.  He had not expected Jack to ever say that.  That's when Daniel realized that this was Jack's way of saying that he was willing to sacrifice what he wanted for the sake of what Daniel wanted.

"Thank you," Daniel murmured.

Jack pushed away from the railing.  "Come on.  Let's go see if Fraiser's arrived yet."

Janet had, indeed arrived, along with Beckett, who was talking with her.  The sight soured Jack's mood.  Sam was there as well to wish everyone goodbye.

"Try to keep this guy out of any more trouble, Carter," Jack said.

"I'll try, sir, but that might be beyond my abilities to do."

"General, Teal'c, Doctor Fraiser, it's been a pleasure having you here," Elizabeth said, "though I wish your arrival had been under better circumstances."

"This is a pretty little place you've got here," Jack told her.  "And you seem to be taking excellent care of it."

The general noticed Major Sheppard coming in.  During the tour, he had asked Weir some pointed questions about the major.  With Sumner dead, Sheppard was in command of the military presence on Atlantis, and Jack had wanted to know how the guy was doing.  Weir had assured him that Sheppard was doing an excellent job.  Jack suspected, though, that a lot of people would think a major shouldn't be in charge of something like this.  He'd have to put in a good word for Sheppard if that happened.

The wormhole to Earth was established.

"Well, goodbye, everyone," Jack said.  "Keep holding down the fort."

"See you in a couple weeks, sir," Sam said.

Janet looked at Daniel.  "Try not to make it necessary for me to come back, okay?"

Daniel smiled.  "I will."

Jack, Janet and Teal'c picked up their bags and, with a little salute from Jack, disappeared through the gate.


The next day, Sam and McKay had the breakthrough they needed.  They were both so excited that they were actually agreeing with each other.  They went to Elizabeth and told her of their success.

"So, you're saying that you can do it?" she questioned, wanting to be clear on what the two excited scientists were saying.

McKay nodded.  "Yes!  Now, it's not going to have even a fraction of the power of a fully charged ZPM, but it will give us plenty enough to open a wormhole to the Milky Way galaxy a good ten to twelve times before it needs to be refueled."

"The only problem is that it needs parts that we can't manufacture on Earth," Sam explained.  "We can get the parts from cannibalizing some machinery here that we figure won't be needed, but I doubt that we'll be able to make more than two or three of them, which means that we'd have to be really careful with them since they can't be replaced."

"But the original generators can be made without limit?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, within reason.  Some of the parts are pretty expensive, but everything is available on Earth."

"I figured that we'd keep all of the new generators here in Atlantis," McKay said.  "Earth can make more of the old design when they need to.  And it's more likely that we'll have to contact Earth than vice versa."

Sam nodded in agreement.  "And I intend to work on the old generator design to see if I can improve its power output and stability.  I doubt that I'll get much more out of it, but I think I can get it open three intergalactic wormholes without any instability.  Between the old generators and the new ones, we shouldn't have trouble being able to maintain contact between Earth and Atlantis, though we won't be calling each other every week."

Elizabeth smiled.  "That is wonderful news.  Good work."

McKay puffed up a little.  "Thank you.  I was confident that I'd . . ." he noticed the look Sam was giving him, "um . . . that we'd be able to do it."

While McKay went back to his lab to get started on building the prototype, Sam went in search of Daniel to tell him the good news.  She found him sitting at one of the workstations, but he wasn't looking at the screen.  Instead, he was gazing off distantly.

"Daniel?" she inquired.

He blinked and turned to her.  "Oh.  Hi.  I didn't feel you.  My mind was elsewhere."

"Yes, I could see that.  Where was it?"

"I was thinking about what happened while you guys all thought I was in a coma."

Sam sat on another chair.  "You didn't say exactly what happened.  All you said was that you saw and heard us."

Daniel told her about that place he'd been in and what Oma had said.  "I've been to a place a little like that once before, when I was dying from the radiation poisoning.  Oma took me there."

"You never told me that."

"I never told anyone.  Jack already knew.  I saw and heard you, Sam.  Teal'c, too.  I heard what you said about me changing you, about how we always wait to tell people how we really feel."

Sam touched his hand.  "I meant what I said that day, Daniel.  You did change me, for the better.  I was so ashamed that I never told you how much you meant to me, how deeply I cherished your friendship."

"I'm guilty of that, too, Sam.  I'd never told you how much I valued your friendship.  It's like you said, we always seem to put off saying things like that, and, too often, they go unspoken until it's too late."

"Did Oma bring you to that place this time, too?"

"No, she said that I did it myself.  I just wish I knew how . . . and why.  Janet thinks that I tapped into a part of my brain that I'd never used before and that's why the PET scan shows an increase in synaptic activity, which would make sense if it wasn't for that place.  The only other explanation I have is that it never really happened."

"But you heard the colonel, and you saw me and Teal'c."

"Well, we already know that I can see things that are happening other places.  I've done it plenty of times.  When I was in that suspended animation after the stuff at the outpost, I was aware of myself.  I was conscious, in a way.  Yet, if you went by what the medical monitors showed, you'd swear that I could not have had any conscious thought at all.  It could be that, this time, my consciousness was . . . wandering.  My ability to see things at a distance enabled me to see and hear you and Teal'c, and Jack was right there at my bedside."

"And Oma?" Sam asked.

"Maybe a dream.  I don't know why my subconscious would have her say the things she did, but our dreams have a lot of unexplainable things in them."  He sighed.  "I don't know.  Right now, I'm just trying to come up with an explanation for what happened."  Daniel made a face.  "To be completely honest, I don't think this is the right one.  I mean, it may be partially right, but something feels . . . off about it."

"Well, I hope you figure it out."  Sam smiled.  "I've got some great news.  McKay and I did it.  We developed a power generator that should give us at least five times the power as the one you and I built and be a lot more stable."

"Hey, that's great, Sam."

The astrophysicist explained everything to him.

"So, though we will be able to communicate with each other, it's something that we'll want to reserve for when it's important," Daniel said.

"Yeah, although I'm sure that Doctor Weir will agree to allow personnel on leave to visit family on Earth.  They should keep some of the other generators here and use them for things like that, save the new generators for more important stuff.  Some of the parts that we'll be using can't be replaced if they break."

"So, now that you've got your project all done, will you be going home?"

"Are you kidding?  No way!  I want to see what else is here, and I'll get to do it without McKay, which will be great.  There are other scientists working on projects that I'd like to learn more about."  Sam looked at the monitor.  "Speaking of projects, did you find anything else of interest?"

"Actually, yes.  The Ancients had a couple more things wrong in their research.  They believed that, if someone reached ascension, they would not be able to reverse it, that, once their physical body was gone, it was gone for good."

"Well, that does kind of make sense," Sam said.  "Generally, once matter is converted to energy, you can't reverse it and convert it back to matter, or at least not in the same form it was in before."

Daniel nodded.  "I found something else as well.  Orlin told you that once an Ascended Being descended, they wouldn't be able to ascend again without help from the others, right?"

"Yes."

"Which means that, with help, a person could ascend more than once."

"Right."

"The Ancients theorized that if an ascended person could somehow descend, they'd never be able to ascend again.  Their bodies couldn't go through the transformation a second time."

"Well, they were researching something that they had no way to test.  It's understandable that they'd get some things wrong."

"Yeah."  Daniel looked at the screen.  "I've skimmed through a lot of stuff, going though it chronologically as much as I could, and I've found that the research suddenly ends.  I can only guess that it was around the time that the plague was sweeping through the galaxy, perhaps when it got really bad.  Sometime after they stopped researching ascension, some of them managed to do it.  They found the key, the thing that had been eluding them.  Yet not all of them were able to do it.  I have to wonder what some of them had going for them that others didn't.  Was it the enlightenment that Oma said was so important?  When I was dying, Oma said that I had to release my burden, basically, to let go.  And that's what I did.  I released all my pain, doubts and grief and chose to ascend, not to escape death, but because I knew it was what I should do.  Maybe the Ancients who didn't ascend couldn't let go of everything.  They couldn't release their burden."

Sam didn't reply.  That day Daniel ascended and left them would always be a painful memory for her, as would many moments during that year he was gone.

She put on a smile.  "Come on.  Let's go to the commissary for some dessert.  I feel like celebrating."

"Celebrating your success in making a generator?"

"Uh uh.  Not having to put up with Rodney McKay anymore."

With a laugh, the two friends headed off to do some celebrating.


Jack sat at his desk, brooding, his mind on something it really shouldn't be on.  Someone, actually.  That someone was Janet.  He couldn't get out of his head the way she'd looked while talking with Doctor Beckett, the smile on her face, the lively sparkle in her eyes.  She was beautiful.

Dammit!  No, she wasn't beautiful.  She was Doc, the little Napoleonic power monger who showed little respect for his rank when he was in her domain, especially when he was under her care.  Okay, so she was a pretty woman, but he wasn't supposed to be looking at her as a woman.  She was his doctor and someone under his command.  That's all she could be to him.  That's all she should be to him.

This was insane.  The woman infuriated him, irritated him, and, on more than one occasion, made him want to scream.  Hell, he should be happy about the possibility that she'd fall for Carson Beckett and leave the SGC to be with him on Atlantis.  Then maybe the SGC would get a doctor who wouldn't constantly forget that he was a superior officer.

Okay, so maybe that was unfair.  Janet didn't actually forget, and she did always call him "sir" or by his rank.  She just really took advantage of the fact that she was the only person of a lower rank than him on base who could boss him around.  And he really didn't want her to leave.  Yes, she could be damned frustrating and aggravating, but she was a really good doctor and a very good person, and he did think of her as a friend . . . sort of . . . on occasion.  Her passion and commitment to the people under her care had saved lives many times, including his own.

So, what if she did leave the SGC?  Jack knew that she was way overdue for some leave and could take it at any time.  She could request to go to Atlantis to study their medical technology, and he really couldn't say no, not if it might be a benefit to the Stargate Program, perhaps resulting in more lives being saved.  So, he'd let her go.  She'd spend a week or more in Doctor Beckett's company.  The Scotsman would win her over with his accent, that smile, his intelligence, and with all the things they have in common, and then. . . .

Dammit all to hell!  Why was he thinking about this?  It shouldn't be bothering him so much.  Yes, she was very attractive, and, yes, he had sort of been feelings things about her for a while now.  That kiss under the mistletoe had been really nice.  But it wasn't like he was in love with the woman or anything.  No way could he fall for the doc.  It was just a mild attraction, that's all, despite what Daniel might think.

Certain he was right, Jack turned his attention back to the pile of paperwork on his desk, ignoring the face that kept popping into his mind.


By Monday morning, the prototype for the new generator had been built and tested.  It appeared to work perfectly, though they hadn't tested it by opening a wormhole to Earth.  McKay was quite proud of himself and had a self-satisfied smile on his face when the test was successful.  He appeared to have forgotten that he didn't design and build the thing all by himself and that the original generator this one was based upon hadn't been created by him at all.  Elizabeth, however, had not forgotten.

"Good work, everyone," she said.  "Doctor Jackson, Colonel Carter, I can't thank you enough for making this possible.  If it wasn't for you, we may never have been able to establish contact between Atlantis and Earth.  Everyone here owes you a big debt."  She smiled.  "I've already had several people requesting that they be allowed to go home during their leave.  Something tells me that we're going to be keeping you busy making more of those . . . what did you call them?  LN1 generators?"

Sam nodded.  "LN is short for liquid Naquadah.  The new generator that Doctor McKay and I designed will be called LN2 generators.  We'll also have to make sure that you are well supplied with the liquid Naquadah.  Fortunately, thanks to Daniel, we have a very good relationship with the rebel Jaffa, so there shouldn't be a problem with keeping well-stocked."

"Oh, yeah?  What's the story about that?" Major Sheppard asked.

"Oh, that's a long story," Daniel replied, really not wanting to get into it.

"The rebel Jaffa just about worship Doctor Jackson because of his psychic abilities," Lieutenant Aiden Ford said.  "A lot of Jaffa rebelled against the Goa'uld just because of him, and those that aren't in the rebellion are deathly afraid of him."  The young man grinned.  "He's sent a lot of them running for their lives more than once.  He even beat a Jaffa in hand-to-hand combat to the death."

That last sentence really piqued Sheppard's interest.  "Really?  Aren't Jaffa several times stronger than the average human?"

"I cheated," Daniel said simply, wishing that the subject would be dropped.  He didn't get his wish.

"How did you cheat?" Teyla asked, intrigued.

Daniel let out a silent sigh.  "I used my precognitive abilities to predict what he was going to do a split second before he did it, and I augmented my physical strength with my telekinetic abilities.  It was the only way to keep from getting killed."

"So, you killed him instead?"

"No.  I had no desire to kill him.  He thought that what he was doing was right, that I couldn't be trusted."

"Daniel spared his life, and Har'tec is now one of our strongest supporters," Sam explained.

"Wow.  That's so cool," Sheppard said.  "I'd love to see a demonstration."

"Uh, no," Daniel quickly responded.

"Aw, come on.  I can think of a few marines I'd love to see get their butts kicked, especially by a civilian.  My number one choice would be Sergeant Bates."

Teyla's expression darkened, telling Daniel that there was a story here.

"Sorry," he said.  "Using my abilities in that way is dangerous.  I have to be very careful because I could easily kill someone.  That would be especially true with a human being."

Sheppard looked very disappointed.  "Darn."  He smiled.  "Hey, maybe while you're here, he'll tick you off, too.  Then you'll be happy to kick his ass."

"While I admit that Sergeant Bates is a little short on both charm and tact and does still owe Teyla an apology, I don't think you should be asking Doctor Jackson to beat him up, Major Sheppard," Elizabeth said.

"Oh, he doesn't have to beat him up.  I was just thinking along the lines of utter humiliation."

"John, I know that you are angered by his actions against me," Teyla said, "and I appreciate your desire to seek retribution, but the issue with Sergeant Bates and myself is a matter between us."

"What's this all about?" Sam asked.

"Something occurred not long ago that seemed to indicate there was a traitor in our midst," Teyla replied, "one who was passing on information to the Wraith.  Suspicion fell upon my people.  Sergeant Bates accused me of being the traitor."

"He made me go through her personal things, looking for proof that he was right," McKay said, his expression telling everyone how unhappy he'd been about that.

Sheppard frowned.  "I'd have clocked him one for that if it wasn't for the fact that McKay actually did find something."

"It turned out that a locket my father gave to me as a child was actually a transmitter," Teyla said.  "It was activated by Major Sheppard when he touched it because he has the Ancient gene.  Its purpose was to reveal the location of Ancients to the Wraith, which was why it always seemed that, wherever we went, Wraith came and attacked us."

"The one good thing that came out of all this was that we used the locket to lure some Wrath into a trap and managed to capture that one we have in the cell."  Sheppard paused.  "But I'd still like to see Bates get some comeuppance.  He made Rodney do that search without mine or Elizabeth's permission.  And he's a jerk, too."  He didn't add that the man had also shown disrespect toward Sheppard's position as military leader of Atlantis.  That was of secondary importance.  The man's disrespect toward the Athosians in general and Teyla in particular was what really irked him.

Daniel and Sam both returned to their work.  Though Daniel now knew that what he was learning from the Ancients' research was not going to give them the key to ascension, he hoped that it might still allow him to understand more about the Ancients themselves, particularly the reason for their policy of not interfering in the lives of unascended beings.  There were some clues here and there, the belief by some that the power that came with ascension must, above all, not be abused, that it would be wrong to use it to meddle in the lives of others or to change things to the way it was believed they should be.  There were others, however, who believed that being ascended would make them a superior species and would, therefore, give them the right to use their power however they thought it should be.  That attitude was close enough to the mentality of the Goa'uld to make Daniel uneasy.  What if some people of that mind set did manage to ascend?

It was later that afternoon that Daniel began to get a bad feeling.  He knew this feeling.  Something was wrong or would soon be.  His instincts were telling him that, whatever it was, it had to do with someone close to him.  He went in search of Sam and found her with Doctor Zelenka, a scientist from the Czech Republic.

"Hey," he said.  "Sam, can I talk with you?"

"Sure."

She left the lab with him and walked over to a more private spot.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know, but something is."

"You think it's something here?"

"I don't think so.  I feel like we need to call home."

"Okay.  Let's go talk to Doctor Weir."

They went to Elizabeth's office, where Daniel explained his feeling.

"And you believe it's regarding something that's happening on Earth?" she asked.

"Yes," Daniel replied.  "Don't ask me how I know that.  I gave up trying to understand how this ability works a long time ago."

Elizabeth nodded.  "All right.  I've already seen plenty of evidence that these abilities of yours should not be ignored.  We'll dial Earth."

At that moment, the gate began to dial.  Elizabeth stood.

"We have no teams in the field," she said.

The three of them went downstairs.  The wormhole connected, and Elizabeth ordered the force field to be raised.

"Doctor Weir, it's the SGC," the technician manning the controls said.

"Put it on the speaker."

"Doctor Weir, it's General O'Neill," said a familiar voice.  "I need to talk to Daniel and Colonel Carter.  It's urgent."

"We're here, Jack," Daniel said.  "What's wrong?  I already had a feeling that something was up."

"It's Teal'c, Daniel.  He's in trouble.  I don't know exactly what's going on, but he's gotten himself stuck in that damn virtual reality thing."

"Stuck, sir?" Sam inquired.

"Yeah.  The game won't let him stop playing.  Fraiser's getting really worried, because he keeps dying in the game over and over again, and, every time he does, the chair gives him a nasty jolt.  She said something about him running out of adrenalin."

"Can't you remove him from the chair physically?" Daniel asked.

"No.  Lee and the doc say that could cause brain damage."

Daniel exchanged a look with Sam.  "We'll be there within the hour, Jack," he said.  "I don't know if there's anything we can do to help, but we want to be there."

"All right.  We'll be waiting for you."

Daniel and Sam immediately went to their quarters and packed.  Twenty minutes later, they were standing before the gate.

"I hope that Teal'c will be all right," Elizabeth said.  "I also hope that you'll both be able to come back and visit us again.  I'm afraid that this visit got cut short."

"It doesn't really surprise me," Daniel responded.  "Things seldom go according to plan in our lives.  Thank you for having us.  It's been quite a visit, even if it was shorter than expected."

"Thank you for coming, Doctor Jackson.  You as well, colonel.  You have both been a tremendous help."

As Daniel shook Major Sheppard's hand and wished him and Teyla goodbye, Sam turned to McKay.

"Colonel Carter," he said, "it's been . . . interesting working with you again."

"That's one word for it," she responded.  "Take care of yourself, McKay."

"Yeah, you too."

Elizabeth ordered Earth's address to be dialed.  As the wormhole was established, Daniel and Sam picked up their bags.  With one last goodbye to the people of Atlantis, they stepped through the gate.

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