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This is still a work in progress, it's not really a death fic despite what it looks like

"Sticks and Stones" - by Emma Nisbet

Thursday - Day One

I had a bad feeling right from when we were standing in the gate room waiting for the wormhole to open so we could head to P7X-962. I couldn't tell you why, I just knew this mission wasn't going to end well. Even I couldn't have foreseen just how badly things were going to turn out - just how quickly things were going to go to hell in a hand basket - so to speak. There was no reason that this mission would be different to any other - albeit I admit that we do tend to get in trouble more often than most SG teams and our Archaeologist more so than the rest of us it seems.

This mission to P7X-962 was supposed to be a breeze. The MALP that we sent there a couple of days before detected traces of Naquadah and other important minerals, the atmosphere was clean and the land was dry and arid, if slightly turning to desert conditions in places. The ground was very sandy underfoot and the UAV had sent back some footage of a pyramid complex not far from the gate. Two small pyramids guarding the path to a much larger one. The three were set out in a linear pattern similar to the pyramids on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Obviously once Daniel saw that he was a "man on a mission" to convince General Hammond (and indeed myself) to let SG-1 be the team to go and study these fantastic monuments.

This really didn't need to be a job for the flagship team of the SGC as there were no signs of recent occupation on the planet, no signs of advanced technology or even any current signs of human/bipedal life forms. This said, Carter informed us that on one of the UAV flybys she had detected some anomalous energy readings from the direction of the pyramid complex. However it was only the once and it was generally agreed (by everyone apart from Carter that is) that this may have been caused by an error in the UAV sensors.

Whoever visited the planet would collect the remains of said dysfunctional UAV and send it back to the SGC for Carter to 'dissect'. For some reason Carter herself was reluctant to let another team get their hands on the UAV before her, she wanted to see it in situ on the planet so she could start her investigations on it as soon as possible. Therefore I now had both my 'kids' insisting that they wanted to visit P7X-962 for separate reasons.

Anyhow Daniel was extremely persistent in his hounding of General Hammond and myself, his long suffering team leader. He just 'had' to visit P7X-962 whether it be with SG-1 or SG-11. SG-11 is the SGC's resident 'geek team' which consisted of more members of Daniels staff than any other SG team. They are generally sent to explored ruins, decipher ancient texts or whatever else they were required to do once some of the more 'military based' SG teams had scoped out the planets and deemed them safe for our civilian experts to visit.

"Just imagine the possibilities. Jack this is set up exactly like the Giza Plateau but the Great Pyramid is in a much more preserved state than the one here on Earth. There's even signs that it's golden cap may still be in place Jack only buried in a layer of sediment that's settled there over the thousands of years that it's been standing there. Imagine it Jack, it will be the first time that we've discovered such an intact pyramid from around the time that our pyramids at Giza were constructed. Who knows what wonders we may find preserved inside. These pyramids have been completely abandoned but not robbed for their rocks or indeed in the case of the largest one it's gold cap. The cap would be the first thing to disappear with the crumbling of a civilisation - especially if you think that gold appears to be a very valuable commodity on most of the planets that we've visited over the years. If the government or rulers had been overthrown I would think the first thing to go would be the gold, followed by many of the stones if a regeneration plan was in action. The fact that the cap seems to be still in place says great things for what we may find inside the pyramid itself."

At this point I decided to put both myself and General Hammond out of our misery and found myself agreeing with both my 'kids' and requesting that the General let SG-1 go to P7X-962 to investigate both the pyramid and the erroneous readings from the UAV.

Hammond agreed with me, I think more to get the two scientists off his back than for any other reason. This and the fact that he knew what I would say if he let "my" archaeologist visit the planet with SG-11. The last time I 'loaned' him to another team (SG-8) he was carried back with an ankle that was so badly broken that Doc Fraiser was concerned for the blood supply to his foot. After that I have been more than a little reluctant to let our resident genius out of my site off-world if at all possible. Of course Daniel doesn't appreciate my 'mother henning' routine - sure he tolerates it but I know it bugs the hell out of him that I don't think he is capable of looking after himself. "I'm a big boy now, Jack, I don't need my 'Dad' to look after me and hold my hand all the time. Let me go and play with the big kids - like I'm being paid to" I still do it though, I can't help it, it's in my nature - just don't let everyone know it.

~#~

So here we are in the gate room waiting for the final 'Go' from General Hammond. I'm standing there with this almost overpowering feeling of dread for this trip of 'wonder and discovery'. Daniel is bouncing up and down on his toes in anticipation of the finds that await him at the other end of the wormhole.

Carter is standing with her hands full of notes with a bemused expression on her face - still trying to work out what went wrong with the sensors on the UAV no doubt. I know she's itching to get her hands on the damn thing so she can start to pull it to pieces. We'll be lucky to get it back through the gate in the state we find it in - I half expect Carter to start her 'autopsy' then and there on the sandy floor, where we know it finally came down. I dread to think how heavy her pack must be, she's bound to be loaded down with more tools than normal - not to mention the usual laptop and diagnostic devices that she carries on every mission anyway.

Teal'c is standing at parade rest near the base of the ramp. He has his one ubiquitous raised eye-brow and is watching Daniel with what I can only imagine to be mild frustration. I can't blame him - it is damn annoying when Daniel won't keep still.

For Pete's sake what's keeping them up in the control room? "Is there a problem, General ?" I shout up to the window. I've no idea if they can hear me or not - what with the bullet proof glass and a mountain of concrete between me and them I don't have a clue. However I catch Hammond looking down at me with a small almost-smirk on his face and I know he's understood me even if he couldn't hear me. He presses the button on the comms and says, "It's alright, Colonel, we've just finished the final calibrations that Major Carter suggested earlier. They took slightly longer than expected" He looks down at Carter when he adds the last part.

Carter looks up from her notes, blushing and looking a little sheepish. "Sorry Sir, I know I've been a little pre-occupied by the strange readings that the UAV sent back - I just can't understand what went wrong. We can't send out equipment if we can't trust the results that it supplies. I need to get to the bottom of it so it won't happen again. Otherwise we may either go to chase energy readings or minerals that don't exist or even miss valuable data due to deficient equipment."

I somehow think that the latter is more of an issue to Carter then the former. Most of the SGC and also the NID would be bound to agree with her. I think this is probably what persuaded the General to send SG-1 to P7X-962 - the money men and their unending search for alien technology. Daniel's insistence that there maybe treasures in the pyramid must have helped somewhat, My input…probably had very little if any impact on the decision at all. I can't think of anyone more dedicated than Carter to get to the bottom of the equipment failure and Daniel is certainly the best person to investigate the pyramid.

"SG-1 you have a 'Go'" announces Hammond.

"Thank you very much Sir, we'll report back as soon as we have any news on the UAV." I shout back up to Hammond standing in the window. Then, looking at Carter, and making sure she hears me, I mutter, "It's about time too."

As the gate start to spin and the chevrons begin to lock I think, "Why am I suddenly in a hurry to get this mission underway? I just know it's going to end badly."

~#~

We step through the gate into the dry atmosphere of P7X-962. It's not as hot as I was expecting somehow - still warm though.

We step away from the stone plinth that the Stargate sits on and head over to a few sparse trees. If they can really be called trees any more - mostly they're dead wood now and all the areas of the planet that we've surveyed are the same. This planet is definitely getting drier as the years pass; once the trees are gone I don't think there's much hope for it really.

Carter shrugs off her pack and starts routing through it to find the doohickey that will tell her which way to go to find the UAV. I tell Teal'c that he's to go with Carter and turn to tell Daniel that he's with me. As I turn round I find him clambering around up in the branches of one of the near-dead trees trying to get a better view of the surrounding land.

"Daniel, get down from there, you'll fall and hurt yourself." I yell up to him. "There's no strength in those dead branches. Come down here this instant."

"I can see the pyramid clearly from here, Jack, it's not far at all." he shouts down to me.

"We'll go and find your pyramid in a moment," I reply. "Just come down from there…Please."

Carter finds the doohickey that she was looking for and fires it up. Almost immediately it picks up the signal from the locator beacon on the UAV. Carter points out that it's in the opposite direction to the pyramids and is also much further away than them as well.

We decide to head out to our relevant destinations pretty much immediately. Seeing as we've only just arrived and it's not long since breakfast there's no need to make camp yet and we don't need to eat or drink yet either.

Carter and Teal'c set off in the direction that Carter's gadget told then they needed to go. I turn round to find that Daniel has mercifully got both feet back on solid ground without any mishaps. He sees the others moving off and shouts "Good luck" as they walk away.

"Right then, Dannyboy, I know you can't wait to find this oh-so-exciting replica of the Giza plateau but I'll have you know that you just turned another handful of my hairs grey by climbing that old tree. Do you have no survival instincts? No actually, don't answer that - I don't know why I asked - I already know that you don't. I'm certain that you actually descend from a different race of beings from the rest of us - one that has linguistic lemming genes somewhere in their lineage."

Daniel just stares at me in disbelief, then his face breaks into a beaming smile and he chuckles.

I can't help but smile too and reach out to ruffle his hair.

"Jack, I'm not a lemming and I'm not a dog either so don't pet me!" He complains jovially.

I know he likes it really, and he does too.

"Now can we go and see the pyramids…please…Sir." He grins at the use of my title and even gives me a sloppy salute before bending down to retrieve his pack from the base of the tree that he had been climbing.

I shrug my shoulders and reposition my pack so it sits more comfortably and hold my arm out in the direction of the non-too-distant structures. "Lead on MacDuff. I'll bring up the rear, just be careful. We don't know of anyone else around here but Carter was so sure that the UAV was faulty that anything could be out there and we'd never know about it."

Daniel sets out purposefully toward his goal and I follow close behind him with my P-90 at the ready. Soon we reach the base of the first of the smaller pyramids. I radio Carter to let her know we've arrived, she reports that she and Teal'c have made good progress and expect to reach the UAV in about another 90 minutes. I tell her to check in again with us when they get there.

Meanwhile Daniel is busy examining the first pyramid that we reach - the smallest one of the three. He comments on the amount of wear and tear to the stone of both the smaller ones in contrast to the huge one. Even from this distance and to my untrained eye, that much it obvious. It is clear to see that the biggest one is in much better condition than its comrades.

I look up, trying to see the top of the largest structure - thinking about what Daniel said about the possible gold cap. It certainly looks smooth enough to be some sort of metal but it's definitely covered in years of detritus so it's impossible to tell whether it's actually gold or not.

Daniel decides that until we know better that he's going to call the pyramids after the ones in the complex at Giza. He says it's easier than calling them the smallest, middle sized and largest one and I can see his point! I suppose, as well, it makes him feel more comfortable naming them after a place steeped in happy memories from his childhood.

So Daniel starts his investigations by walking up to the pyramid of Menkaure (the smallest one). He puts his pack down, retrieves his trusty camcorder and starts filming the outside walls. I see that I've lost him to his studies for a while so tell him that I'm going to do a perimeter check round the circumference of the site.

"Don't touch anything while I'm gone, Danny." I request. Chance would be a fine thing but you can't blame an old Colonel for trying, now can you?

~#~

When I complete my circuit of the site I find that Daniel - surprise, surprise - is not where I left him. I look down at the sand and see just one set of footprints - that's good. Now to follow them and track down my errant archaeologist before he goes and does something that I'll regret!

It's sad but I can even tell from his footprints that he's lost to everything else except for his quest for knowledge. I follow the slightly aimless seeming footprints down the side of the Menkaure pyramid, then track them round in a complete circuit of the exterior. They double back slightly to get one side of the second pyramid - Khafre's tomb - then complete a lap of this one too. 'You've got to give it to Danny, he's thorough' I think to myself.

He obviously stopped and sat down here - I can see the imprint of his butt in the sand. At least that means that he's remembering to take a drink from his canteen occasionally, I can't see Daniel sitting down for any other reason while he's in the middle of such an enormous discovery.

Well I still haven't spotted him, but I'm not starting to get worried…yet. The feeling of dread that's been hanging around all morning is still there, only it's lurking in the background of my mind - nothing I can't handle.

I pick up the trail of footprints which head towards Khufu's pyramid - Geez, Danny, it would be easier to just call it 'the big one'. I work my way along one side and round a corner to finally find Daniel. In typical Daniel style he's got some sort of entranceway open and is obviously trying to decide whether to go completely against my orders and go inside. He hasn't spotted me yet and I'm glad to see that he's at least stopped to think that I might do some damage to him if he goes in there on his own, specially without telling me first. It has taken years but finally I think a grain or two of common sense may have finally percolated through into that amazing brain of his.

When he sees me his face lights up with a huge grin. "See, Jack, I haven't got myself in any trouble. I'm still here and in one piece!"

I have to laugh at that - am I that transparent? I do hope not - that wouldn't do my Black Ops reputation any good, now would it?

"Well done, Dannyboy! I assume that you were actually going to call me and tell me to come and see this doorway thing that you seem to have opened here and that you weren't really contemplating sticking your head in there before I got here?"

He looks at me sheepishly. "Of course, Jack, I was just going to radio you - honestly."

I don't believe a word of this of course - this is Daniel we're talking about after all said and done. Daniel in 'hyperexcited explorer mode' to boot. Not a chance he was going to wait for me before trying to explore this dark tunnel of rock that he's uncovered. He's done it before and no doubt he'll do it again - that's just Daniel.

"So Daniel, how sturdy do we think this pyramid is at this point in time?" I ask him, thinking this would be nice to know before we even think about setting foot inside it.

"Well, judging by the outside walls I'd say that it looks in excellent condition" he states. "Although I still don't understand why the Menkaure and Khafre pyramids are in such poor condition in contrast to it."

"Maybe the followers of Khufu stayed around longer to maintain it?" I answer. He looks at me as if amazed that I remembered who the Great Pyramid belonged to. "You see, Danny, I do listen to you" I say jokingly

"Well OK, Jack, you mist have listened to something this morning" he countered swiftly. "Anyway it's not likely that the ancient people of this world would maintain one pyramid in the complex and abandon the others to the elements. No I think there's another explanation here somewhere but I don't know what at the moment."

I don't like the sound of that one bit. I tell Danny to wait a moment while I radio Carter to tell her that we're going to have a look inside the tomb. She tells me that she and Teal'c are not far away from the UAV's location now.

Satisfied that I know the whereabouts of my team I turn back to Daniel and say, "So what are you hanging around here for? Shall we have a look inside? I'll take point, you bring up the rear."

He grins as I flick the light on the front of my P-90 and aim it through the open entranceway. "Jack, there's no-one here. I don't think that doorway has been opened in the last 3,000 years!"

"Hey it doesn't hurt to be careful. Not after some of the things we've seen in our travels - now does it?" I reply.

"No, Jack, I suppose not. Now can we have a look around please?" He's starting to whine now so I guess we'd better get moving.

He flicks on his lantern and follows me in through the doorway.

It's eerie in here, the combination of dust and the soft sand muffling our footsteps.

As we walk down the tunnel Daniel comments that there are no signs of writing anywhere yet, and no pictographs either on any of the walls. There are only the marks from the tools of the workmen - slaves presumably - who cut the huge rocks from the quarry. Later more skilled workers shaped the rocks for the purpose of pyramid construction and these too left their faint chisel marks on the stones.

The tunnel we are walking in corners suddenly, abruptly turning to the right. We turn the corner and realise that this effectively cuts off all the remaining light coming through the doorway that we entered through.

"Great" I mutter, "Daniel, try and get the lantern round in front of me here, I can't see a damn thing."

With a little jiggling around we manage to get his lantern pointing down the tunnel while making it possible for me to keep my P-90 at the ready. We can now get a better look at where we're headed. Not far in front is another turning, to the left this time, and when we round this corner we find that the tunnel widens considerably. Now we can walk side by side, this is much easier!

Once in the larger tunnel the walls start to change. They are much smoother with a more finished surface to them. Another couple of twists and turns later we see the first signs of writing - well pictographs anyway - drawn on the walls.

We stop so Daniel can look at them more closely. I comment that the people in them look much like the stylised Egyptians on many of the artifacts in Daniel's oh-so-very-cluttered office.

He gives me a sly grin and agrees with me. "This is further proof that the ancient people of Earth were taken and deposited in many different places around the galaxy. Many of these pictographs are very similar to ones in the cartouche room on Abydos. The people here must have been displaced from Earth at a similar time to the original Abydonians."

He looks wistful. Thinking of Abydos always brings up too many memories for the young man - some good but some, for obvious reasons, extremely bad. I decide to try and snap him out of it before he goes all melancholy on me. In a hopefully cheery voice I ask him, "So can you tell which snake dropped these people off on this hunk of rock and then apparently left them here unattended?"

"Oh, Jack, it was definitely Ra" he states confidently. "We know he was the main culprit for displacing the ancient peoples of Egypt and these walls agree with that. What makes you think that he just left them here to their own devices?" he asks me.

"Well there ain't much sign of anyone around here now is there? Hardly a thriving, Goa'uld worshipping population of hard done by people" I state, trying to sound like I might know what on Earth I'm talking about.

"No, Jack, but I think that would be more of an indication that maybe he put them here and then came back for them at a later date - to make them fulfil the roll that he took them for in the first place." He explains.

"Hosts you mean?" I ask. "He couldn't have used everybody surely? What about the children and the sick and elderly people?" Actually I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that…

"Well we know that the Goa'uld don't care too much for the humans that they take captive, on Chulak we saw that the more 'undesirable' people were killed when the Goa'uld decided that they could serve not further purpose. It stands to reason that the same would happen here doesn't it? Some of the sick may have been taken as hosts as long as their ailment was something that a symbiote was able to heal. The elderly would only be taken as hosts as a last resort due to their shorter remaining life spans. I'm sure the Goa'uld wouldn't appreciate having to repair and maintain an elderly body only to 'jump ship' again because of the deterioration of old age. We know that they can extend the life of a human greatly but certainly not indefinitely. Also we know how vain the Goa'uld tend to be, an elderly host would be undesirable in this respect too, along with anyone with physical disfigurements."

He pauses to think for a moment. "As for the children - I really don't know. When we saw Ra on his ship on Abydos he was surrounded by children. Maybe he kept them around while they were young - they did make a very effective human shield if you remember?"

I shudder at this and he continues.

"Then when they were mature enough to accept a symbiote they would be taken as hosts themselves. There's something to be said for training them from a young age to serve the Goa'uld for whatever purposes they should see fit."

This brings a grimace to my face; this isn't something I want to be thinking about - ever if possible.

"Daniel, you worry me!" I joked "I swear you can get inside anyone's head and analyse them - even the Goa'uld. Maybe you missed your calling? You need to go back and get another doctorate - in psychology this time - then we could get rid of Mack the Quack once and for all. You'd even get your own office at the Academy hospital as well as at the SGC!"

"No thank you very much, Jack." he laughs, "I like the qualifications that I've already got fine! If I do another degree it certainly won't be in psychology. I've had enough of shrinks in my life without becoming one myself!"

We resume our walking down the tunnel with Daniel stopping every now and then to study something on the walls that catches his eye from time to time. There are no new huge revelations although as Daniel said there was no way he could take it all in, in one trip. He'll do his best like usual and I expect at the end of the day he'll be begging for 'Just a little more time, Jack'

Without warning the tunnel ends at the start of a large chamber. After the close confines of the tunnel it's nice not to have to walk so close beside each other. Although the room is big it isn't so large that the light from Daniel's lantern didn't reach the outer walls. We can see two other doorways in addition to the one that we entered by.

Daniel immediately heads for the far wall where something has grabbed his attention. I follow him and I can make out that the wall is covered in some sort of writing. Not being my forte can't understand a single squiggle of it. "Danny? What's it say? You can read it can't you?" I ask him hopefully.

"Well, Jack, not straight off. It's going to take a bit of working out. This seems to be a combination of Ancient Egyptian, a bit of Goa'uld and something else that I can't put my finger on at this moment." He said, looking somewhat perplexed. He swings his pack from his back and immediately opens it, looking for one of his many reference journals that I know he carries in his pack at all times.

"Okay, Danny, you make yourself comfortable there and I'll check out those other doorways for signs of life…or danger" I tell him.

"Thanks Jack, although I'm sure you won't find any, I'm certain that no people have set foot in this pyramid for thousands of years." He responds, immediately turning his attention back to the sheaf of papers he has precariously balanced on one knee.

"It's not just PEOPLE that I'm worried about, Daniel, you know me better than that." I send back to him.

"Yes, Jack. I know you're just being thorough" he answers fairly, not looking up from his papers.

I go and look through the first doorway using the light on my P-90. Just another tunnel, one of the wider variety. I walk cautiously down the passage until I reach the first corner. I shine my light round the corner only to find that this next tunnel is a long, straight one, so long that my light cannot reach the end of it. I turn back to go and investigate the second doorway from the room that Daniel is translating in.

The second doorway leads to a short narrow tunnel. I walk a little way down it only to find that it's been blocked up at some point - strange - I wonder why someone would do that ? I'll ask Danny when he takes a break from his walls!

Just then I hear my radio spluttering and crackling with static. Carter must be trying to get through - presumably to tell us that they've reached the UAV. The radio seemed to be useless inside the tunnel so I return to the room where I left Daniel to try it again from there.

Before I even reach Daniel, Carter is trying again - this must be something urgent.

I walk up to where Daniel is gently brushing some dirt off a particularly interesting (to him anyway) piece of text on the wall.

"Carter's trying to get hold of us, could you make anything out over the radio?" I ask him.

"No, so you couldn't either? The tunnels must be blocking the signal pretty bad in here." He replies

"I can't see any obvious threats in here, the left hand doorway leads off down a tunnel which turns a corner and then goes on seemingly forever. The right hand one leads to a dead end." I tell him. "Will you be alright here for a little while so I can go outside and find out what on Earth Carter's got in a flap over. I swear if it's just to tell me that she's found the UAV and there's nothing wrong with it I'm gonna skin her alive!"

"That's not very nice, Jack. You know what Sam's like with her gadgets. She'll probably be over the moon if she found that there was nothing wrong with it. You know that's what the Pentagon want to hear as well." He says. He puts on a deep official sounding and adds "We don't want our troops marching all over the galaxy looking for minerals that don't exist, now do we?"

I roll my eyes at him and chuckle. "Very good, Danny!"

"I'll be fine, Jack. This is more or less my childhood playground - if you don't count the weird mixture of writing on the walls. Go and talk to Sam so she can give you some technobabble you for a while." He looks at me and smirks at this. "Admit it, you're glad that we're here and she's all the way over there. I bet poor Teal'c's getting a right ear bending!"

"Now, now, don't be mean, Daniel. You know Teal'c doesn't mind" I tease.

"Teal'c puts up with most things without complaint - that doesn't mean he likes it" he retorts.

Just then both our radios kicked in - hissing and spitting again like a pair of wildcats. Still unable to make out a single word from either Carter or Teal'c I look at Daniel, shrug and say, "I'll be back soon, don't touch anything and don't talk to any strange princesses who may want to steal you away from us. You're much too valuable an asset to SG-1 and Earth to lose to some back-of-beyond royal family!"

Daniel just shakes his head at this. "Go, talk to Sam, before she comes all the way over here and makes you listen to the whole 'the UAV is fine' speech. Go - now!" he mock orders.

"Yes sir, on my way sir!" I give him a crisp salute which makes him do an eyebrow lift to rival one of Teal'c's best. I turn away down our original tunnel to the entrance/exit of the pyramid.

I chuckle to myself as I hear Daniel resume his translations - muttering to himself as he tries to fathom out the mystery writing.

Once outside I key my radio "Carter, this is O'Neill do you read me? Come in Carter."

There's a moments pause before my radio springs to like once more. This time I can make out the somewhat frantic voice of Major Samantha Carter. "Sir I was getting worried. I couldn't raise you on the radio, what happened? Are you alright?" she asks.

"Calm down Carter, we're fine. I told you that Daniel opened a doorway into the largest pyramid and that we were going in for a look around. I guess the rocks blocked your signal. Daniel's still in there - reading the walls - some kind of weird mixed up writing. A combination of Egyptian, Goa'uld and something, as yet, unknown." I tell her, "So did you find your piece of flying scrap?"

"Well that's just it sir - no we didn't. We got to where the UAV was supposed to be - where the sensors said it was - but it's not here. Someone or something has ripped the locator beacon out of it and just left it on the floor. Whether whoever they were realised that it was still transmitting I can't tell but it certainly seems like a statement that they have our equipment and we can't have it back. They haven't just smashed it up, they've taken it away almost like it could have told us something that they don't want us to know. Frankly, sir, it's worrying. Teal'c's trying to find some sign of which way they went with the UAV. I know it's not huge but it's big enough that just one person couldn't pick it up and walk away with it. Even a couple of people would be hindered by it. So far he's come up with nothing though."

I don't like the sound of that, not one bit. "Keep me posted, Carter. I'm going to check on Danny, then I'll come back out and you can let me know if Teal'c has found anything"

The hairs on the back of my neck are prickling now, that feeling of dread is making it's presence felt - big style. In fact it feels like it's trying to pick it's way out through my left eye socket - ow - not good.

~#~

I hurry back down the tunnel to find Daniel - amazingly - exactly where I left him. Well that's one less thing to worry about anyway.

"Daniel," I say as I walk up behind him, "Someone's stolen Carter's eye-in-the-sky."

He jumps slightly - he obviously didn't hear me coming despite me rushing. I guess that proves that he's totally engrossed in what he's doing.

"What? Stolen? Who? Why would someone do that?" he stammers.

"Beats me, Daniel, but it was someone who understood our technology. They left the locator beacon behind as a little gift for Carter." I tell him. "The rest of the UAV is nowhere to be seen and Teal'c's not having much luck tracking the thieves either."

"Hmm, that's strange, Teal'c usually picks up a trail pretty much straight away. I wonder why today's any different?" he asks, not really expecting a reply.

"I don't know, Danny. Anyway I'm going out again for an update but just wanted to check on you first. Obviously we're not as alone here as we originally thought" I state.

"No, obviously not." He says, "There's no clue to who took it or to where?"

"Not when I came back in here any way. You getting anywhere with the wall?" Come on Danny, I bet you've got the whole story translated by now.

"Jack, this is fascinating, it's much more recent than the writing in the corridor. The Goa'uld I can read pretty well, and the Egyptian too of course. The combination of the two together make for an odd sentence structure though. The third language is baffling me at the moment. I'm going to have to film as much as I can and work on it back in my office with my reference books." He sighs - he never likes leaving a job half done in the field. He's much better than he used to be at admitting that he's not the fountain of all knowledge in every language and that people really don't mind if he has to finish off the translations back at the SGC.

I know he usually gets the basics down while off-world and hopefully he can do the same here.

"So what does it say?" I prompt him, hoping that he may be able to give me some sort of an answer.

He looks at me with frustration on his face. "I just told you, Jack, it isn't making much sense at the moment. There's something here about a 'knowledge of genetics'. Look at this here…" he points at some squiggly line as if it should mean something. "Roughly translated this talks about something called a 'regeneration chamber' but I'm not sure that can be right. There's also some mention down here..." he points at another section of wall, "…that says something about 'our Goddess', but I can't find anything anywhere yet that actually names her. It looks like another Goa'uld took over this complex after Ra left, maybe a minor Goa'uld trying to make themselves look more important than they were due to the grand location? I can't tell yet how long after Ra though."

"Daniel?" I ask him. "What's wrong with a regeneration chamber? Why not? Sounds like a sarc to me."

"Well yes, I thought that." He agrees. "The only 'regeneration chamber' that we've come across would be a sarcophagus. Although I've never seen it described quite like that. A sarc could hardly be called a chamber now could it? A capsule maybe but 'chamber', I can't see it somehow. Maybe I've just got it completely wrong."

"Have faith, Danny. You'll work it out." I tell him confidently. "I wonder what happened to the other Goa'uld 'owner' of this place. You still think that no-one's been here for years?"

"Looking at this, yes I'd say hundreds of years, maybe even a thousand, or more. This is going to take way more time to translate properly anyhow. Did you say you were going to talk to Sam again? If she's not found any sign of the UAV maybe she can give me a hand in here. If it's getting into genetics it's more her field of expertise than mine. If she can explain some of the things that I translate then maybe it will speed me along in filling in the blanks."

I smile at his suggestion and he just says, "What?"

"My two science twins! You make a great team you two. You know I've heard the rumours about you two. I'm pretty certain there's one of the not-so-secret betting circles as to what IQ your children would have if you two were ever to get together. I know you're on the same team but that doesn't stop the rumour mill in that place. Especially with you being a civilian and all - yes it would be frowned upon by those 'higher up' but there wouldn't be half as many problems as there would be for say - two military team members becoming involved."

"No, Jack, just…NO. That is so not going to happen. Sam is like the big sister that I never had, and sometimes maybe a surrogate mother too. Just like you're my 'Dad' at times. I don't know how I'd have made it through my time at the SGC without you all around me. Having you, Sam and Teal'c around has come to be like family. I know it sounds mushy, and probably a little weak but I've come to depend on you all in my everyday life - even outside of the SGC. I look forward to out Pizza, Beer & Movie nights every Friday and you know I love our team nights too."

He stops then and looks at his feet - more than a little embarrassed about this emotional speech.

"Anyway that is neither here nor there. Please ask Sam to come and help me when she gives up searching for the UAV. I'll be here, there's got to be something in my noted that can help me with this third language. It just doesn't make any sense at the moment, it may as well be written in gibberish."

I give him a consoling pat on the shoulder and say, "I'll see what I can do about Carter. I'll be reporting in to Hammond as well so I may be a little while.

"That's OK, Jack, I've got plenty to do here. In fact the rate I'm going you could be a week and I'd still be sitting here with a puzzled look on my face." He shrugs his shoulders in a defeated manner and turns back to the wall.

I shake my head and start off down the tunnel yet again. When I reach the outside I key my radio and contact Carter. "Carter report, has Teal'c found a trail yet?"

"No sir," she replies. "Teal'c's still had no luck tracking the missing UAV although he did find some odd markings on the ground nearby that could have possibly been made by some type of vehicle. We think that the UAV may have been loaded onto this vehicle and transported away like that. Sir, the lack of tracks have lead Teal'c to speculate that the vehicle may be something akin to a hovercraft."

"So what you're saying, Carter, is that someone or something made your UAV literally float out of there?" I ask her.

"Well, yes sir. It does kind of look that way at the moment. I'm sorry sir, I don't know what else to suggest." She sounds a little uncomfortable at this statement.

"Alright, Carter, you and Teal'c start heading over this way." I tell her "Daniel wants you to help him with the translation in the tomb. He's found something on one of the walls that's talking about a genetics and he thinks that if you can understand what he translates that it may speed things up a bit."

"Yes sir, we'll just get our things together and we'll be on our way. Carter out"

"OK, Carter, I'm going to check in with Hammond via the MALP and then head back to the pyramid. When you're nearly there go ahead and try to radio me. Chances are I won't be able to hear you speaking but I should be able to tell that you're trying. I'll come out and get you and take you in to Daniel."

At this moment Teal'c speaks into his radio. "O'Neill, may I make a recommendation?" he asks.

"Sure thing, Big Guy" I say graciously.

"Thank you, O'Neill." He replies. "Once you have conversed with GeneralHammond on the situation with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, may I recommend that you return with rapidity to the location of DanielJackson. I do not believe that he should be unaccompanied at the present time."

"Do you think we've still got company Teal'c?" I query. "Do you think there still around here somewhere?"

"I believe there is a great likelihood of that being correct, O'Neill." He opined.

Great, now Teal'c's starting to sound worried - that really can't be good. I think about the bad feeling that I've had all day and wonder if a certain Jaffa warrior was maybe experiencing something similar.

"Receiving you loud and clear, Teal'c" I say, hoping that he understands I am taking his warning more than seriously. "I'm heading for the gate now and will be contacting the SGC in a couple of minutes."

~#~

I walk up to the DHD and dial the gate. As I bend down to activate the MALP, I hear a vaguely metallic sounding thumping noise. I stand up and look around but can't see any obvious signs of a disturbance. Even so that dread feeling has just jumped up another notch and I decide to get my transmission sent to the SGC as soon as possible so I can get back to check on Daniel and his translations.

I turn back to the MALP and activate it. I hear General Hammond's voice and inform him that the 'UAV is now officially MIA'. Needless to say he sounds pretty disturbed by the fact that someone has obviously made off with our equipment. A fact that's made even more annoying by the fact that they've removed it's tracking device as well.

Hammond is talking to me, asking me what our next plan of action is when I hear a large muffled 'thump' followed by a loud 'crack'. I tell the General "Sorry sir, something's some up I'll have to call you back" and cut him off before he gets the chance to question me.

As I spin round searching for the source of the sounds my heart is in my throat. This is the moment that today has been leading up to.

This is 'IT'.

I don't even notice when the wormhole blinks out behind me - the MALP transmission not keeping it open any longer.

A deep rumbling noise starts up at this point and I look towards the pyramid complex where I left Danny. The rumbling is now accompanied by a building vibration and I get the distinct impression that it's coming from the direction of the pyramids.

I get out my binoculars for a better view and as I look over towards the pyramids I am dismayed to see a dusty haze surrounding all three. 'What the heck is going on over there' I say out loud, even though there's no-one around to hear me.

Abandoning the MALP, I start to run towards the tombs. As I get nearer I can clearly see that the dust cloud is originating from within the largest pyramid. Dust and dirt is belching from the doorway that I have been using all day. I look up the face of the pyramid and am dismayed to see that there is also dust escaping from large cracks that have appeared on the surface of the pyramid itself.

In my heart I know it's useless but as I continue to move forward I grab my radio and shout, "Daniel can you hear me, come in Daniel"

Nothing, there's no response from Daniel. Not even a click of acknowledgement on the radio.

However a few seconds later Carter comes on her radio. "Sir, is there a problem? We seem to be experiencing some seismic activity in our area. Can you feel it where you are sir? Have you spoken to the General? Have you made contact with Daniel? I didn't hear him reply to you."

The vibrations in the ground are so violent now that I'm having problems keeping my footing, let alone managing to progress forwards towards the pyramid.

"Carter, yes we have a problem. Yes the ground is moving. It's moving a lot." Maybe I'm shouting louder than it strictly necessary by this point, I'm not sure if this is to make myself heard over the rumbling ground or just the panic that's barely hidden below the surface of my mind.

"I was talking to Hammond when all this started and no, I haven't spoken to Daniel yet. Just get to the MALP, pronto. Put Hammond on alert - we're probably going to need the search and rescue teams when this is over. Get him to get some teams on standby." Please don't question me, Carter, just follow orders - please.

"But sir…" Damn her, I knew she wouldn't be able to leave it at that.

"No buts, Carter - just follow ord…" What I was going to say was cut off as I was shaken to the ground. "Damn it, Carter, just get moving - NOW."

"Yes sir, we're on our way." She replied

Unable to get up due to the vibrations I sat where I'd landed and found myself looking up at the largest pyramid.

The cracks that I'd seen from further away were more vicious than before. Even as I watch they seem to widen and more of the dust billows out. All around are the sounds of stressed stones scraping together.

There is a horrendous creaking noise, louder than all the surrounding noises. I realise, to my horror, that the pyramid is beginning to collapse in on itself. The centre point, with its metal cap, shifts dramatically. As I watch it seems to shudder, then suddenly it plummets downwards into the interior of the pyramid.

Once this happens and the top is no longer holding the structure together the side walls quickly follow it.

I get the briefest glimpses of the walls collapsing into a pile of rubble before I get caught up in the huge expulsion of dust and debris that the falling tomb creates.

As the dust cloud hits me I find that I can't breathe, can't see, can't hear.

As I start to lose consciousness my last thought it that Khufu's tomb has now also become Danny's. There is no way that anyone inside could survive such a total and utter collapse.

Monday - four days after collapse

I start to become aware of my surroundings very gradually. I feel like I've got a car sitting on my chest and breathing - well that's just no fun at all. I lie there and try to take stock of body. I'm vaguely aware that I've got IVs in both arms and by the slight burning sensation 'down below' I've obviously got a catheter in as well. So I've got fluid going in and fluid going out, that can't be a bad thing - not comfortable but not too bad.

I lie still and listen to my surroundings. I don't feel like I want to wake up completely yet.

I hear the beeping of a heart monitor - who's being monitored I wonder. I guess it might be me, kind of figures with all the other things stuck into me at the moment.

There's a little hustle and bustle but all in all it's pretty quiet. I'm obviously in the infirmary.

~What happened to me? Why am I here?~

I try to think back and start remember.

~P7X-962 - feelings of dread all morning - missing UAV - report to Hammond on the MALP. What the hell was that noise? Danny - got to check on Danny. Dust cloud - from the pyramids - damn. Danny - Danny is in the pyramid. Got to run - got to warn him.~

DAMN, I remember

~The pyramid - the top came down and the sides caved in. Daniel was under there. He didn't answer his radio because he was still inside. Have they got him out? Is he alive? Is he OK?~

No…I know there's no way he could have survived a collapse of that magnitude. Hell - I wasn't even under there and I'm obviously well bashed up.

~How long have I been unconscious? Please not long enough that I've missed helping the search and rescue. Not long enough that I've missed the remembrance service or the…funeral.~

Sure I know we've done the remembrance service before but that was without concrete proof that he was really gone. This time - the final time - there would be a body. At least what used to be his body - like Claire and Melburn before him there wouldn't be much left to bury. At least this time though he will be able to be laid to rest next to his parents.

I hope Carter's thought to find out where they are buried. Somewhere in New York no doubt. Danny never mentioned where they were - never mentioned going to visit their final resting place. I hope he knew where they were - that would be too sad if their only child was unable to ever visit them.

Carter will be able to find them. Daniel spent so much of his life alone - he deserves to have companionship for the rest of time. Who knows maybe he and his parents will be reunited in the afterlife.

Charlie's buried next to my parents so he's not alone. Maybe Daniel and Charlie can keep each other company. I'd like to think that my two 'kids' are watching out for one another. Hell, I obviously didn't watch out for them well enough - did I? They both gave me their complete trust and I let them both down - I couldn't save either of them.

I know that Daniel could have never replaced Charlie - I wouldn't have wanted him to. He sure wormed his way into my heart though - like the second son that I never had.

~I've got to stop thinking like this. It's bringing tears to my eyes. God damn it why do my eyes hurt so much? How come I never noticed it before?~

Without thought my eyes fly open and this causes the pain to flare immeasurably.

"Aargh," I yell, "what's going on?" Quickly I clamp my eyes tight back shut again. It doesn't do much for the pain but it makes me feel marginally more in control of my own body.

Two large hands clamp down hard on my arms as I try to sit up. I automatically try to flinch away from my unseen assailant.

"O'Neill, you must be still. DoctorFraiser has been most concerned about your condition." A deep voice close to my ear states.

The person holding me down is obviously Teal'c. He must have been sitting by my bedside in that god damn uncomfy chair waiting for me to wake up. I realise that I am still pulling away from his restraining arms and deliberately try to relax myself slightly so he will let go.

I don't react well to being restrained. It brings back too many memories of my time as a POW in Iraq. I never have quite got over the fear of being of being pinned down in the dark, and that's basically what's happening now.

"Let me go, Teal'c" I say, trying to keep my voice calm.

Teal'c doesn't release any pressure on my arms - maybe he thinks I'll just try and get up again as soon as he does.

"Teal'c, you've got to let go of me…" I know I'm raising my voice but I can't help myself. "Teal'c - NOW." I can't help it but I almost yelp the last word.

I think Teal'c must sense that he's starting to panic me as he lets his grip ease off slightly - not enough for my liking but an improvement none the less.

"O'Neill, I will only cease to restrain you if you give me your word that you will not attempt to move. You have sustained multiple injuries to your body and you will only succeed in aggravating these if you try to sit up."

I try to take a calming breath but this makes my chest spasm and I end up half dazed as a massive coughing fit wracks my body - God that hurts. Mental note to self - that's now two things in the 'not to do at the moment' list - opening eyes and coughing.

Teal'c has the foresight to roll me gently onto my right side to help ease the coughing. This seems to help somewhat and I feel slightly happier as it also means that he doesn't have hold of my right arm any more.

"Teal'c, that's enough. Please help the Colonel lie back down again." That was Dr. Fraiser.

I dare to try and open my eyes slightly to acknowledge her but soon acknowledge that this really isn't a good idea. It feels like I've got half a desert tucked in behind my eyelids.

Janet obviously sees what I'm trying to do. She puts her hand gently on my arm and says, "Colonel, keep your eyes closed for the time being - don't try to open them - I'll irrigate them again shortly. You've got a lot of dirt in there and you'll only make things worse."

I nod slightly say, "Whatever you say Doc."

"Now I've got to ask you the usual questions, you know the routine, Colonel." Fraiser says gently.

I nod again "Yeah, I know Doc, go ahead."

She starts with "What's your full name, rank and date of birth?"

"Colonel Jonathon O'Neill, USAF 66-789-7876-324. Based out of Cheyenne Mountain. Date of birth, October 20th 1952." I answer promptly.

Janet then asks me, "Do you know where you are, Colonel?"

To which I answer, "I'm very obviously in the infirmary, Doc."

"Yes, Colonel you are. Do you remember what happened?" she asks softly.

"Damn it, Janet, I don't want to remember." I snap back at her.

"Colonel, I need to know what you remember. You were unconscious for nearly 24 hours and I've had you sedated for a further 36 to ease the strain on your lungs. I was beginning to wonder if I'd missed something when we got you back here - it's taken you so long to come round from the sedatives." I've obviously been worrying her while I've been out cold.

"The pyramid Doc…" My speech falters and finally stops all together. "…the God damn pyramid…"

Notes:

KIA/BNR (Killed in Action/Body not Recovered)

Category 5, Category unrelated to degree of enemy knowledge.

An individuals whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable as outlined in Department of the Army Technical Manual 10-286, January 1964, section 39.

"Yes, Colonel, go on" Janet urges.

"God, Janet - you want me to relive it? There was some sort of earthquake. I fell down, couldn't get up. The pyramid - there were cracks appearing all over it and there was dust everywhere. Then the top fell in and the sides followed it. Daniel was still in there, he couldn't hear my warning on the radio. Being crushed to death just like his parents - that was his greatest fear. His most frequent nightmare was of falling rocks in dark confined places. Oh my God, his biggest nightmare came true, Janet. His must have lived his last moments in sheer terror. Oh my God…Janet."

My eyes are starting to water again. No I'm not going to let that happen - it hurt too much last time. Get a grip O'Neill, you've got an audience now. I know I should have guessed that one of my team-mates would be sitting by my bedside, watching my six but honestly it never crossed my mind before Teal'c grabbed me. Not the usual team-mate - that was always Danny's place. Same as it was mine to sit by him when he made one of his - all too frequent - trips to the infirmary.

Oh God, that's something that's never going to happen again. Despite my best efforts I'm starting to lose control of my tear ducts again. What hellish drugs has Janet got me on? Things don't normally affect me like this - when did I turn so weepy? I'm special ops trained for Christ's sake - I don't cry - well not in public anyway. I think Daniel is the only person in the SGC to see me with my defensive barriers down. He's seen me like that a couple of times in fact. Mainly because of Charlie - at Christmas, his birthday, and the anniversary of his death. I still find birthdays and Christmases especially hard - they just serve as reminders to how many I missed when Charlie was alive.

The tears are escaping from the sides of my eyes now and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. My breath hitches slightly and I hear Janet talking to Teal'c.

"Teal'c, now that the Colonel's awake I suggest that that you go to the commissary, take a break and get something to eat. I'll stay with him for now. It's pretty quiet in here; the nurses can handle the other patients for a while."

I'm glad when Teal'c agrees "I concur, DoctorFraiser. I will consume sustenance and then retire to my quarters to Kel'no'reem. If you should have need of my presence please do not hesitate to convey a message to me."

As he stands up I hear the slight scrape of a chair leg on the floor, then his soft footsteps fade away as he leaves the room.

Next I hear the swish of the curtains as Janet pulls them around my bed and I feel a soft cloth wiping the sides of my face where the tears fell.

"Thanks, Janet." I whisper.

"No problems, Jack." She says softly. It's not often the doctor uses my first name and I appreciate the sentiment. "I guessed you would rather Teal'c not see that. I'm not sure if he realised what was happening but if he did he didn't react. He may just think it's from all the dirt that got into your eyes when the pyramid collapsed. You really must keep them closed for me though. They should really be covered but I knew what you'd think if you regained consciousness and found yourself blindfolded. We cleaned out and irrigated both your eyes several times while you were unconscious but it will need doing a couple more times before they start to feel anything like comfortable again."

"OK, Janet, I'll keep them shut as long as you promise not to bandage them. Deal?" I ask.

"OK deal, Colonel." the doctor agrees.

"So bring me up to speed with what's happening." I ask Janet. "I take it the Search and Rescue teams have gone back to the planet? How are they getting on? How are they going about moving the stones? I mean there is a chance that he's still alive under there…"

"Sir," she says gently. "It's been four days…four very hot days on P7X-962." She's stroking my hair now, just above my ear. I don't think she realises that she's doing it, I think it's a subconscious comfort thing.

"General Hammond has been ordered to scale down the search if they've not found Daniel by the end of the first week. He'll keep sending men though for another week after that but then the Pentagon has demanded that no more resources be used up in what they are calling a 'futile search'. Daniel is officially listed as missing, presumed dead, sir." Janet says this last part in little more than a whisper - she can't believe it either. "He's really gone this time isn't he, sir?"

"I think so, Doc. If he'd stayed where I left him he wouldn't have had time to get down the tunnel and outside once the tremors started. There were too many twists and turns and I couldn't stay on my feet myself - specially towards the end of the quake. No, I'm afraid he wouldn't have stood a chance." My military persona is making it's way to the surface now and I'm talking in a somewhat detached voice. Jack O'Neill's not here any more, the Colonel has come out to protect him. If Jack comes too soon back then he's going to break down and do something stupid. He nearly did it before - when Charlie died.

Ironically what Jack needs, more than anything else in the world, is the one person that he can no longer have. The person who anchored him - the person who grounded him after Charlie - is the person who's causing him to go off the rails this time - Daniel. If Daniel hadn't rescued him before then The Colonel would have never manage to get Jack back on track - ever.

"When can I get back there, Doc? If two weeks is all we get then we need all the manpower there that we can get. I need to be there - he's my responsibility." I sigh as I say this before I continue. "Janet, I need my eyes back."

"Colonel, I realise that you want to get back - that you want to help - but as your doctor I'm not going to risk your health unnecessarily." she tells me. "I'll wash your eyes out in a moment but be warned it won't be pleasant now that you're conscious. Also Colonel you have to realise that you're injured as well."

"I kinda guessed that - the SUV sitting on my chest gave me some sort of clue." I comment.

She then proceeds to give me a run down of my status as it stands. "Colonel, you were partially buried under rocks and rubble when SG-2 found you, so much so that they thought that you were probably dead. Your chest obviously took a huge blow and you have severe bruising around your sternum. That's why I've got you on a heart monitor - which I'm sure you've noticed. I'm happy with your rhythm and I'll probably remove the monitor this afternoon. Now that you're awake I can take the catheter out too. You have IVs in both arms at the moment supplying fluids as well as an antibiotic mix. You badly wrenched your right knee - that's going to require physical therapy, and you suffered multiple cuts and abrasions. The dust and dirt coated you pretty comprehensively and you inhaled a fair amount of it too. Luckily you threw your arm over your face as you fell to the ground so you weren't lying directly face down in the sand. The dust particles are extremely fine and I don't think you'd have survived if it weren't for how you ended up lying."

Thursday - a couple of days later. One week after the collapse.

"OK, Colonel, you're free to leave the infirmary." Janet tells me. "I'm not clearing you for off-world travel for another week though. You'll need to use the stick for longer than that though while you continue the physio on your knee."

"Doc, You know the reason I need to get off-world - we're running out of time to remove the rubble from the site. We've only got another week before Hammond is ordered to abandon P7X-962 completely and resume 'normal operations' around here. Daniel deserves better than that. SG-1 - hell - the whole of the SGC needs closure. How can that happen without a body? Without somewhere that people can go to grieve? You remember how it was when he ascended. No-one knew whether to be sad that he'd gone or happy that he'd gone on to a higher plane of existence. And remember when Nem planter the false memories of Daniel's death in our heads? None of us knew what to think or how to act. Damn it, Janet - I even put a hockey stick through General Hammond's car window. No, this time we know he couldn't have survived and we need to bring his body back for a proper burial."

She puts her hand on my arm and looks at me sympathetically. "Sir, I realise that you need to go but I can't justify the risk to your health by clearing you for gate travel. I promise that the moment I feel you're up to it I will inform both yourself and the General. Keep using the stick and finish the course of antibiotics and that day will come all the sooner. Hopefully we can get you a couple of days on P7X-962 towards the end of the week."

I know that her decision won't be swayed in this. Our 'Little Napoleon' is as stubborn as myself and I know better than to try and argue with her. She might keep me from gate travel for even longer - and with the deadline all too close I can't risk that.

"Ok, Janet, I'll look after myself." I promise her. "I will be cleared for gate travel before the end of next week though." I give her a look that says 'I'm damn well going to be fixed by then or my life won't be worth living.'

"I'm sure you will sir." She says gently as she squeezes my arm. I know she understood me.

"I'm going to see General Hammond to get an update on the SAR teams on the planet." I tell her.

"OK, sir, and please stay off that leg as much as possible." she reminds me.

"I will…and thanks Doc." I use my stick as ordered and tap my way to the elevator.

The doors open and I step inside, only to be greeted by sympathetic looks from the current occupants. I move to lean against the back wall and look at the floor. No-one says anything which is fine by me.

My floor arrives and I walk slowly towards Hammond's office. I knock at the door and heat the General call out, "Come in."

I open the door and enter the office of my commanding officer. On seeing me he stands up, motions to the chair in front of him and says, "Sit down Colonel."

I ease myself into the chair as the General sits back down in his. "How're you doing, son?" he asks as I look over to him. I notice how drawn he's looking - he looks like he hasn't slept in a week. Bear in mind what day we got back from P7X-962 he may well not have done.

"As well as to be expected, sir." I finally answer.

He looks at me closely and says "I hear Dr Fraiser has refused to clear you for gate travel at this time?"

"Yes, General, she's still not happy about the bruising on my chest and doesn't want to risk the gate due to the bruising being close to my heart, sir." I reply.

"I think you had her worried for a while there, Jack. Hell you had us all worried." he tells me. "No-one even knew if you'd got back inside the pyramid before it collapsed. Major Carter got back to the MALP and reactivated the wormhole once the seismic activity had died down. Last thing she knew was that you'd headed back that way before we lost all contact with you. When the SAR teams went through and finally located you under all that debris they were convinced that you were dead."

Hammond stops at this point and looks uncomfortable as he gathers his thoughts. "Son, you need to know that the Pentagon have officially recorded Doctor Jackson as deceased as of 0900 this morning. If we haven't retrieved his body by the end of next Thursday they are cutting off all funding for the SAR team on the planet. I'm sorry, son, but my hands are tied on this one."

He looks down at his desk and I know this is going against what he believes to be right.

"I understand sir. Janet told me something similar while I was still in the infirmary." I tell him.

"I know, son, I asked her to speak to you - to keep you informed as much as possible." The General looks directly at me now and says, "You understand that if I had my way we'd keep a crew their until every last stone was moved?"

I return his gaze, "Yes, sir, I do. However when the Pentagon big-wigs stick their oars in there's not much we can do about it. I take it you've tried contacting the President?"

"Yes, Colonel, I have." he informs me. "Just as soon as they gave me a date that we'd have to leave the planet by. However he also has to keep the financiers onside so he unfortunately had to back down on this one too."

"Damn. I take it Carter and Teal'c are still there?" I ask.

"Yes, Colonel. Major Carter came back through when they brought you back." he tells me. "Once you were delivered to the infirmary she went back to help co-ordinate the deployment of the SAR teams with SG-2 & 6. She's sent word to the Tok'ra but as yet we've not had a reply back from them. Teal'c returned from the planet the next day and stayed by your side until you awoke. Once you were conscious he left to inform Major Carter and hasn't returned to Earth since."

So the Tok'ra are out of things at the moment but they can be difficult to get hold of at the best of times. "What about the Tollan sir? Or Thor?"

"Major Carter managed to make contact with Commander Thor. He was not able to go there himself but sent the nearest ship he had available. Apparently they were only able to ascertain that there were no life signs under the rubble." The General tells me that "Due to some particular minerals in the rock and dust they were not able to pinpoint the remains of Dr. Jackson. Commander Thor requested that Major Carter convey his heartfelt sorrow for the demise of Dr. Jackson."

I nod, acknowledging the Asgard efforts. "Well at least they tried. I take it we didn't hear from the Tollan?"

"No Jack," the General answered gruffly. "They responded alright but were unable to help us at this time."

"Unwilling more like. They really need to get their priorities in order. We're not asking them for weapons of mass destruction of anything like that" I state, "…not this time anyway."

General Hammond looks at me again, his lips pursed into a tight little line. "I know Colonel. We've tried everyone we can think of but unfortunately we've drawn a blank with everyone we've turned to."

"I know, sir, it's just so frustrating. Even more so being that I'm stuck here and can't help out in any way." I shrug my shoulders dejectedly and tell him that, "I feel like a spare part at the moment."

"I know, Jack." he says gently. "I want you to go home and rest up for a few days. Janet tells me that you need daily physio on that knee and if everything looks OK then she may allow you to go to P7X-962 when the supplies go through at 1100 on Tuesday morning."

"Thank you sir. I'll be ready." I state firmly.

"I know you will, Jack, I know." Hammond says as he gets to his feet. "Now I'll get a driver to take you home. Dr. Fraiser will call on you later this afternoon. She's offered to do your grocery shopping on the way to you. Unless we hear any news - which I will inform you of, I if hear any - then I want you to stay there until Monday when someone will be along to collect you and bring you back to Dr. Fraiser for a thorough check over. Hopefully she will then give you the go-ahead for Tuesday morning. Your physiotherapist will call at 11.30 tomorrow and both days at the weekend too. Dr. Fraiser has informed me that you'll be using the stick for at least another couple of weeks - just as a precaution."

I grimace as he says this. "Just as long as it doesn't affect my chances of gate travel I'll put up with anything sir. I need to be there before the teams are recalled. It's something I need to do - to see it through to the end."

He's walked around to my side of the desk by this point and pats me on the shoulder. "I know Jack, really I do. Now please, get your things together. The driver will be waiting for you by the checkout station by the time you get there."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I stand up. "Thank you sir, and if you hear anything at all…" I leave the rest unsaid, I knows that the General understands.

My head knows that I need to be at home to recuperate but my heart says that I should be doing something - I just don't know what. I walk slowly back to the locker room to collect my bag of spare clothes that have been there since last week.

Luckily there's no-one else in the locker room at the moment as I open my locker and drag out the bag. I carefully sling it over my left shoulder while keeping hold of my stick with my right hand.

I close my locker and my eye falls on Daniel's name plate on the locker next to mine. I reach our and run my fingertips gently over his name, remembering the last time I had to clear out this locker - after Daniel ascended. Jonas has taken over the archaeologists locker, job and office not long after that. Not this time, I vow. This locker will be sealed after I empty it this time. No-one will take Daniel's place so completely ever again.

I guess I'll have to empty his house as well. I hope the General doesn't expect that done any time soon. I couldn't face it yet. Sure I'll make sure that anything classified is brought back to the SGC but everything else will have to wait. I'll keep my eye on the house and keep it safe before I feel ready to empty it.

I turn to the door and set off down the corridor with a heavy heart. I enter the, mercifully empty, elevator and leave it again to get into the next one that will take me to the surface. I enter the checkout area and see an airman waiting near a car by the checkpoint. He nods at me as I sign out so I know he's the driver that Hammond has assigned to take me home. He opens the door for me as I approach the car. I thank him quietly, get in the car and allow him to drive me home.

Monday morning - four days later. Eleven days after the collapse.

"Welcome back, Colonel." Janet calls as I walk into the infirmary. "How are you feeling this morning? Jeannie tells me that your knee is responding well to the physio but we'll have to keep that up for a while longer before you are completely mobile again. How are you coping with the stick?"

"So, so, Doc." I reply. "Although I hadn't realised how god damn awkward my house would be to get round with it. I don't normally even have to think about the steps up and down into the various rooms but I've noticed ever last one of them in the last few days. I definitely won't miss the stick when I can finally get fid of it."

"Yes, I did wonder about the steps. You've not actually gone over though have you? Fallen I mean?" she asks, worriedly.

"No, don't worry about that. I've come close a couple of times but not actually gone down." I assured her.

"That's good to hear, Jack. Very good." she states.

"Oh, and, Janet," I say. "Thanks again for bringing the groceries the other evening, I can't think how I'd have got them otherwise."

She smiles at me and gives my arm a gentle squeeze. "Not a problem, Colonel, it was the least I could do. I didn't want you to have to leave the house unnecessarily and figured you wouldn't feel up to it anyway. It's good to know you've not been trying to overdo it, and that you've been using the stick no matter even if it made things awkward. Now let's have a look at your chest. That bruise to your sternum area is a beauty."

I give her a disbelieving look and mutter slightly under my breath as I unbutton my shirt. Janet smiles reassuringly at me as she gently palpates my bruise covered chest.

"Any discomfort there, Colonel?" she asks as she fits her stethoscope into her ears and warms the trumpet with her hand before placing it on my chest.

I allow her to listen to my heart before answering. "Nothing too bad, more stiff than anything else."

"Have you been taking the tablets that I sent home with you sir?" she looks me in the eye so she can be sure I'm going to answer her truthfully.

"The antibiotics - regular as clockwork. The anti-inflammatories too. But, I've…er…not taken many of the painkillers…" I admit, "…they make me too fuzzy-headed."

"Colonel!" she says and rolls her eyes in exasperation. "You should have called me, I could have sent over a different prescription if I'd known you were having problems."

I just shrug my shoulders and then realise that it wasn't such a good idea. I try to stop the wince before it can form on my face but obviously fail at this and the doctor spots my attempt.

Janet puts a gentle hand on my arm and says "Don't worry, Colonel, I'll get you some different ones before you leave here. Would you like me to give you a shot that will start acting pretty much straight away?"

I can't believe I'm agreeing to another needle - I've had enough of them in the last week. "Sure thing, Doc. I'm not that comfy from the trip in the car. I think the seat belt aggravated things a bit."

She sighs as she turns away from me and walks over to unlock the drug store. I see her load the syringe and when she returns she simply asks, "Ready?"

When I nod she quickly wipes my bicep with an alcohol scrub and jabs me with the needle to administer the painkiller.

"OK, Colonel, get dressed." she tells me. "I'm not 100% happy with letting you travel but I'm guessing that you're going to find a way to get through the gate whatever I say or do?"

"Er, well yeah, I was kinda thinking that Doc." I hesitantly admit. "You know I've got to go…"

She crosses her arms in front of her and closes her eyes as she collects her thoughts together. "Well, I'll make a deal with you sir." she says. "You stay on the base tonight, that will stop us having the seat-belt problem again. Then in the morning I will accompany you through the gate to P7X-962."

I'm shocked - Janet doesn't usually travel through the gate unless it's a medical emergency, and then, usually, only certain members of her team go through but not her.

Janet obviously works out what I'm thinking as she pats my leg and says, "Don't worry, sir. It's only a precaution. In all good conscience, as your doctor, I couldn't forgive myself if you were to become ill again due to the gate travel. At least if I'm travelling with you I can treat you immediately, should something happen…sir."

I'm dumbfounded. I realise just how much Janet does NOT want me travelling through the gate and I say "You can't possibly know how much I appreciate that, Janet. Far, far more than I could say in words."

"I know what it means to you, sir." she says. "I know what it means that you go and see the rescue attempt...Rescue attempt - I don't suppose we can really call it that any more - but I don't know what else to call it, sir."

"I know what you mean, Janet. There's some lack of finality there somehow, calling it a rescue attempt. It's better than calling it 'body retrieval' although, which I suppose is what it is now after all. I still can't believe they're not going to let us finish the job and bring him home."

"Me too, sir. How can they put a two week limit on something like that?" Janet asks sadly.

"Money, Janet…money and politics." I reply.

Suddenly I realise the real reason that Janet wants to travel with me. She's not seen the devastation caused by the pyramid collapse. She's not seen the attempts being made by the Search and Rescue teams out in the field. The doctor needs some sort of closure and knows that she won't get it if we fail to return to Earth with Daniel's body.

I nod in understanding and reach down to squeeze her hand which is still resting on my leg. She squeezes me back briefly before dropping her head and turning away. As she turns I see the tears in her eyes, I slide off the bed and catch her shoulder. I gently turn her round and enfold her in my arms for a hug. To hell with regulations, to hell with the cameras - we both need this.

~#~

I don't know how long we stand there like that but eventually I feel Janet try to move away. I release her slowly and she pulls a tissue from the pocket of her lab-coat.

She wipes her eyes and nose before looking up at me. "Thank you, sir…and, sorry." she sniffs and wipes her nose again.

"Me too, Janet, me too." I say. "I'll meet you here in the morning at 1030hrs before we gate out? I believe the supplies are due through the gate at 1100."

"Yes sir," she agrees. "…and thanks again, Jack."

"Any time, Doc. I'll be in my office if you need me." I tell her, as she hands me my stick.

I slowly make my way back to my office. I expect to find a weeks worth of paperwork for me to lose myself in for the rest of the day. I let myself in, sit down and pull out the first of many files that are awaiting my attention.

~#~

I hear a knock at the door and hear Walter calling to me. "Colonel O'Neill, sir, may I come in?"

"Sure, come in, it's not locked." I call back. I look up from my paperwork and look at my wall clock. I'm surprised to find that it's past 1300hrs.

Walter pushes the door open and backs his way into the room. I wonder what he's doing until he turns around and I see he's carrying a tray from the commissary, complete with coffee, orange juice and two covered plates of food.

"General Hammond asked that I kept my eye on you, Colonel." Walter explained. "He asked that I check you didn't lock yourself in here and not come out for the rest of the day. I figured you needed some time to yourself and guessed that you probably wouldn't want to go to the commissary on your own, sir. I can't imagine that you want to face everyone down there yet so I decided that I'd bring you some lunch. I know that coffee is probably off-limits but I won't tell Doctor Fraiser if you don't. I brought the OJ for you to take your tablets with."

This was all said in rather a rush. I know that, for some reason, I've always made the technicians nervous.

I give him a reassuring smile and say "Thanks, Walter, it's most appreciated. Thank you for the coffee as well, my diet's been severely lacking it in the last week!"

He smiles at this, obviously glad that the sentiment has gone down well. "Well that's OK, sir. I'll leave you to eat your meal. If there's anything else you need please give me a shout."

He leaves the room, quietly pulling the door closed behind himself.

I take a sip of the coffee, lift up the coverings from the plates and allow myself a moment to contemplate the wonder that is Walter. How on Earth does he know what my favourites? Were they actually both available at the commissary today? It's quite late, I wonder about them still being available at this time. Did he have them specially made up for me?

I sniff the aroma of the fresh lasagne and gaze longingly at the Pumpkin pie - amazing! The smell of the food has awoken my appetite and I tuck in voraciously. I know I've not eaten as much as usual in the last week, the IVs were in for four days and since then I've just not had the stomach for it.

Again I silently thank Walter and steadily clear my tray of, first the lasagne, then the pie. When I've eaten I rummage in the pockets of my trousers and pull out the pill bottles. I get out the correct dosages of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and down them with the orange juice. Thankfully I don't need the painkillers at the moment thanks to Janet's injection earlier this morning.

I stand up and walk across the room to place the tray on the small table near the door. I then return to my desk and my paperwork.

I sit there for the rest of the afternoon until my bladder starts to object. I find that it's 17:35 and decide to call it a night. I close up my office and head for my personal quarters. I think I'll get some food a bit later on when more people have left for the night.

Tuesday - the next day. 12 days after the collapse.

The next morning I wake up in my quarters and take stock of my various aches and pains. My knee feels alright this morning, but of course I haven't actually tried to get up yet so that may change. My chest if a little stiff but nothing that I can't handle. All in all I reckon that I should be OK for my trip through the gate this morning, with Janet as my chaperone.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and carefully pull myself upright. Hmm, my knee tells me that it still wants the support that it gets from the stick. Janet told me that I would need it for a fair while yet though and that under no circumstances was I going to step through the gate today without it.

I grab hold of the stick and go to use the bathroom. First I wash, shave and then get dressed. I'm glad I thought to get a set of BDUs delivered to my quarters the day before. I put them on now to save having to get changed again before we travel.

I look at the clock and find that it's way before I need to go and meet Janet. I can't just stay in here though so I'm going to see if the diminutive doctor has had breakfast yet. If I'm going to gate out to P7X-962, stick and all, then the commissary isn't going to beat me this morning - just as long as I'm not on my own. Everyone knows that I always eat breakfast with at least one of my team - well they're not available today so Janet will have to do as a replacement. Stick in hand I head off to the infirmary to find her.

I walk into the infirmary and think that it's surprisingly quiet in here. Truthfully I know that General Hammond has scaled down the off-world missions somewhat while Daniel's 'rescue attempt' is going on. I'm also aware that he won't get away with it much longer as the two week deadline is almost up.

Once the deadline is reached all the personnel will be recalled from P7X-962 and it's been arranged that the USAF will record that Doctor Daniel Jackson was KIA/BNR Category 5 (Killed in Action/Body not Recovered). I think Hammond had a part to play in that, Daniel was a civilian and not military after all said and done.

"Colonel, you're early." says Janet, walking over to me. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Breakfast." I state confidently. I look hopefully at her as I continue. "You and me have a date with the best that the commissary has to offer."

"OK, Colonel, I think I can take you up on that offer." she said. "I've been here since 05:00 so I had my breakfast oh-so-long ago. Have you taken your meds yet this morning sir?"

"No, Doc, I thought I'd get some food inside me first." I tell her. "I'm not feeling all that bad this morning…best I've felt first thing in the morning all week in fact."

"Hmm, well don't get too confident. It's still early days yet." she tells me.

"Don't you worry, Janet, I'm gonna take them." I assure her. "Don't want anything to jeopardise our trip through the gate, now do we?"

Janet nods her head and smiles. "I think that's a sound plan, Colonel. Now enough with the talking, let's get going. I've still got to get changed before I'm ready to go off-world. I see that you came clothed ready to go. Good idea."

We walk slowly down to the commissary and Janet grabs a tray before I get the chance. "Oh no you don't - not with the stick Colonel. We don't want any accidents this morning." she said with a stern look on her face.

"OK." I concede. I'm not here to argue and I agree with her that the trays can be a menace one handed.

Janet puts two plates on the tray and starts to pile a bit of everything onto one of them. She looks at me questioningly and I say, "Sure go ahead. Pick some for me as well, I'm not fussy!"

She smiles at this and adds a bit of everything to the second plate as well. I notice that my portions are quite considerably larger than hers but that hers are far bigger than any I'd ever seen Carter serve up for herself. I smirk slightly as I realise this. Janet obviously notices because she looks at me and asks, "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about Carter." I reply.

"Hmm." Janet gives me a strange look and a knowing smile. "I see."

Wait a minute, that's not what I meant - I guess that's how it sounded though. Aw hell! "I…er…oh never mind." I splutter and I head off to select us a table.

"Colonel, what do you want to drink?" Janet calls after me.

"Oh" I call back. "…coffee please, strong and black." I see her roll her eyes at that but don't bother to comment.

Janet comes over to sit down, bringing the loaded tray with her. I see that I do indeed have coffee although it's definitely not back and there's no way on Earth I would ever call it strong. Janet sees me looking at it grimly and smiles. "Be thankful you've got it at all, Colonel. You're still on you're meds and still under my care remember. And…by the way…that's got real milk in it, not the usual creamer. It's a healthier option…and it tastes better too of course!"

I smile back, "Once a Doc, always a Doc - eh Doc!!"

"Yes, Colonel, something like that!" she chuckles. "Some habits can't be broken easily."

The commissary is pretty quiet for breakfast time and I'm glad about that. We eat our breakfast in companionable silence and I'm amazed at how much food the petite Doctor Fraiser manages to put away. Does the woman have hollow legs?

I finish with my meal and get out my meds. I put the pain killers back in my pocket unopened but Janet puts her hand on my arm and says "No, Jack, I want you to take a couple of those as well, even if you don't feel you need them at the moment. Gate travel's going to be hard enough on you today as it is, and I don't want to complicate things by adding any extra aches and pains into the mix."

I think about this and I can see that it makes sense. I reach back into my pocket and pull out the remaining bottle. I add the tablets to the three already on my tray and put all the bottles back in my pocket so I've got them with me when we travel.

I pick up my coffee, intending to wash the tablets down with it when Janet stops me. "Colonel, you should know better than that. I'm not going to sit here and watch you take your tablets with coffee. Let me get you a glass of orange juice." She gets up and is back with the orange juice before I have time to object.

I grin at her and down the last of my coffee before she can take it away. Then I take all my tablets with the orange juice like a good little Colonel.

"I've got to see the General before we go, Doc." I tell her. "I'm going up there now."

"That's alright, Colonel. I can get changed and ready while you're in with him. I'll meet you in the gate room when you've finished." she suggests.

"OK, I'll see you later, Doc." I say and we both leave the commissary and go our separate ways.

~#~

I knock on the door of General Hammond's office and wait for his call before going in. He tells me to sit down and asks me how I'm feeling. He tells me that he's spoken to Janet and that he's authorised her to go with me this morning. He admits that he wasn't 100% certain about allowing me through the gate but Janet's suggestion that she travelled with me was a solution that he would go along with. Hammond understands, he understands what it's like to lose men under your command and he understands why I must go back at all costs.

He brings me up to date on everything that's been happening on P7X-962 since I spoke to him on Thursday. Obviously I know from Janet (and the fact that the General didn't call me over the weekend) that nothing major has happened. But I need me to know as much as possible before I go to the planet and see it for myself.

Apparently the work on the collapsed pyramid has been extremely slow going. Carter has arranged for a trebuchet to be constructed over the site for the removal of the larger stones. But without heavy duty, mechanical equipment - earth movers and the like - the progress has been painfully slow.

Carter's message finally got through to the Tok'ra and they sent a Ha'tak that was nearby. Carter had been working with them trying to modify the ring transporter in some way. The General told me this had to be abandoned though when the rocks they were testing it on were vaporised and the dust particles were spread all over the test site at near supersonic speed. Luckily the testing area was well out of the way of the pyramid complex and no-one was hurt.

Apparently the rings just aren't accurate enough without the ring platform underneath for them to lock on to. Fiddle with them and then try to make them transport/dig through an indeterminate amount of rock, dirt and sand and they turnout out to be completely unpredictable. They'd make quite an effective drill, I suppose, if you want to completely destroy anything in their path. This would completely defeat the object in this case though seeing as they would also vaporise Daniel without us even realising that we'd found him.

Thor - bless his little cloned heart - sent another ship to try and help locate Daniel. Whatever was in the rocks that messed up their sensors the first time round was tough stuff. The Asgard found that their modified scanners could penetrate a little farther through the rubble than before but they still couldn't find a body.

The General then stands up and I copy. He looks at me kindly and says "OK, Colonel, you can go now. I imagine that Doctor Fraiser will be waiting for you and the supplies will be leaving shortly. I wish that I could ask you to 'bring our boy home' but it pains me to know that is not going to happen this time. Please report back to me on your return, Jack."

I give him a nod and say "Thank you, sir, I will."

I then leave his office and head for the gate room, Janet, the supplies and the wormhole through to P7X-962.

~#~

Janet, the supplies, myself and two marines are standing in the gate room awaiting final checks before the gate is dialled. The marines are here to escort the FRE, loaded with provisions and medical supplies, for use by the crew on P7X-962.

I am there to find the fate that befell my missing team-mate and best friend. Janet, well she's there to escort me through the gate and to get some closure on Daniel's final disappearance.

I'm nervous about what we're going to find when we get there so I dread to think what's going through Janet's mind at the moment. She's not all that used to gate travel - only usually going in a medical emergency where the adrenalin probably does away with her nerves. This time it's calm, there's no rushing, no hustle and bustle - just 'business as usual' in a strange way.

The thing is 'business' will never be 'as usual' again. I've had a quarter of my team ripped away from me - again. It's not like it's the first time it's happened but there's some sort of finality over it this time. When Nem planted the false memories in out minds we always had a nagging doubt that Daniel wasn't really dead. On Apophis's ship, we didn't have time to mourn his passing. By the time we got back to Earth and the adrenalin started wearing off we were all reunited again.

When Daniel ascended - after Kelowna - we knew that he was still around, just in a different form. The little flurries of air in the corridors at first, then came the occasional visits, when we were most in need. When we got him back properly - after his memories returned - we were whole again.

Now though, the team would forever have a chink missing from it's armour - a chink the size of the Grand Canyon, if you ask my opinion.

Even when General Hammond gets us a fourth member, the gaping whole will still be there. Jonas may have taken Daniel's place the last time we lost him but he never really filed Daniel's shoes. Poor guy, I don't suppose we really gave him much of a chance to. He knew he was the outsider - the fourth member although not really part of the team. I have to hand it to him though, he never once complained about it - feeling guilty, no doubt, about his part in Daniel's untimely demise.

"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Fraiser and the supply crew," General Hammond's voice booms over the intercom, "You have a go for gate travel."

The gate starts spinning and the chevrons start to engage.

I look up at the General - he gives me a gentle smile and closes his eyes momentarily as he nods his head in my direction. "God speed, Colonel…Look after him Dr. Fraiser." he adds, looking at the doctor.

"I will sir, I will," Janet promises as I turn away to watch the final chevron lock into place.

"Chevron Seven, Locked," Walter announces over the PA system.

I suck in a deep breath as the kawoosh shoots out from the gate and Janet moves up to stand close by my side. I look down at her and ask, "You OK?"

She looks back at me and replies, "I will be Colonel, don't you worry about me, Sir." She slips her hand into my free one and I give it a quick squeeze before turning my attention to the marines who are moving the FRED up the ramp and through the open wormhole. They follow it through and then it's our turn.

Keeping hold of Janet's hand I walk slowly up to the event horizon. I stop, turn to Janet and check with her, "You ready for this?"

She gives me a tight lipped smile, grips my hand even tighter and says, "As ready as I'll ever be, Colonel. Let's get this done."

With that we step through the gate together, still hand in hand - for moral support.

~#~

The moment we emerge form the other end of the wormhole and step out onto P7X-962 I feel like I can't breathe - my chest is burning. I lean heavily on both my stick and Janet to stay upright as my knee gives way from under me.

Janet staggers a little as I stumble and calls out for help. Suddenly I feel my shoulders grabbed by one of the marines who were controlling the FRED until a few moments before. He helps me off the gate platform and, between him and Janet they sit me on one of the stone steps.

"Colonel, I knew this was a bad idea," Janet tells me as she holds my wrist, taking my pulse.

"Yeah, Janet." I gasp, "Just give me a minute to catch my breath." My voice, I'm dismayed to find, comes out just as raspy as my breathing.

"Slowly Colonel. Breathe slowly. In…Out…In…Out…That's it, keep it slow, don't gasp." Janet says soothingly.

I try to calm my frantic intakes of breath and after a couple of tense minutes start to feel a lot more human again.

"Sorry Doc, and thanks," I say, in much more my usual voice. "I know you warned me, but I never imagined it would be like that. I've been through the gate so many time before I guess I forgot what it actually does to the body."

"Yes, Colonel," she looks at me sternly, "…and you never listen to doctors orders, now do you?"

"I've said I'm sorry, Doc. Don't go all guilt-trippy on me now, please." I'm almost whining now - that's got to stop!

"Well, how about getting you up again? Do you think you can manage that?" she asks me gently, concern evident on her face.

"I reckon I'm up for that," I answer, "I might need a hand to actually get up though."

"Hey, Lieutenant Bowman," Janet shouts to the marine, who is standing not far from that bottom of the steps. I appreciate that he moved away to give me a modicum of privacy while Janet was looking after me, but thought to stay within earshot in case he was needed again.

He moves over to Janet as she hails him, she then directs him to my free arm as she takes my stick in one hand and my arm in the other. "On three, Colonel." she instructs and counts, "One, two, three."

Carefully Lieutenant Bowman and Janet raise me to a standing position and Janet hands me my stick. Bowman keeps a grip on my arm until I've got my balance, then tentatively moves aside without saying a word.

"Whoa, head-rush" I manage to say, "Remind me not to do that again, anytime soon."

"How are you feeling now, Colonel?" Janet asks me, "Are you in any pain?"

"My knee's letting me know it's still not anything like back to normal, but my chest's not too bad now. Nothing I can't handle, anyway." I answer, "Thanks again, Janet."

I wonder if I'm succeeding in looking guilty - that's what I'm intending anyway. It obviously works as Janet gives me a sympathetic look, moves over to my stickless arm and slips her arm through mine.

I raise my eyebrows at her. "Just for a little extra support, Colonel," she explains.

"OK, Doc. If you say so." I resign myself to being molly-coddled for the foreseeable future.

"Shall we?" I say, gesturing in the direction of the pyramid complex, with my stick.

"Lead on, Colonel. Lead on," she tells me and we start to walk slowly towards the ruins.

~#~

As we approach the ruined pyramid, I can't help but hear Janet's sudden inhalation of breath, followed by a soft "Oh my," as she looks towards the scene of devastation. I follow her gaze and utter a quiet curse myself.

There's no proper structure left as such. Just a few small sections of outer wall survive at the corners. The rest is literally just rubble and dist.

Carter's trebuchet is still in place over the main structure/pile of rubble and there's a large pile of stone over to one side that have obviously been moved from the ruined pyramid.

What I wasn't expecting was just how much there would be left that hadn't been touched. Hammond had told me that progress had been slow, but I hadn't realised just what that would really mean. Not until I saw what a mammoth task it was to basically remove every stone in the pyramid, until our goal - Daniel - was reached.

I could plainly see why the General had told me that there was no way we were going to be able to retrieve the body in just two weeks. Looking at the rate of progress, a couple of months may have made a decent impact - but a couple of weeks…not a chance.

"O'Neill," Teal'c rumbles as he moves towards us, with Major Carter at his side. "I am glad to see that you are well again." He's covered in dirt and grime and looks in need of a few hours of Kel'no'reem to recuperate from what has obviously been a labour-intensive week.

"Thanks, Teal'c. I haven't come alone, I was accompanied by the good doctor here." I say, patting Janet's arm and smiling down to her.

"Yes, Teal'c, he has. There's no way I'd have agreed to let him travel otherwise." she tells him, looking at me with a scolding expression on her face. "…and were my fears justified, Colonel?"

"Er, well…I guess so." I admit, "So anyway, Carter - looks like there's a long way to go here?" I ask, changing the subject away from myself.

"Sure is, sir," she says, looking despondent. "There's no way we can make much of an impact on the rubble in just two more days. The pyramids took hundred of slave, decades to build. What we're supposed to do in two weeks, with just a handful of SG teams, and no heavy lifting equipment…I really don't know, sir…"

I hear the hitch in her voice as she turns away. "Carter," I start to say, but she lifts her hand to silence me.

"Don't, sir. Just…just give me a minute," she says quietly.

She moves further away from us. I know she thinks that crying is a sign of weakness - due to her military upbringing - so I let her go. I don't comment but motion to Janet to follow her.

As Janet lets go of my arm, Teal'c moves to my side to replace her. I give him a grateful look, lean heavily on my stick and start to move nearer to the pyramid to speak to the other members of the SAR teams.

About twenty minutes later, Janet and Carter return. Sam looking decidedly worse for wear sue to her crying episode. She looks at me, slightly embarrassed and says, "I'm so sorry, sir. I never meant for you to see me like that. It…it just hit me, suddenly…the enormity of what we've been trying to achieve here…"

She breaks off and I pat her arm. "Don't worry, Major. I'm sure most of us have felt that in the last couple of weeks. You've been here the whole time, haven't you?" I ask.

"Pretty much, sir, yes. After we…er…delivered you back to the SGC, I came straight back here. Dad's been here, with a ship…and the Asgard too," she adds.

"Don't worry, Carter." I tell her, "The General's filled me in on what's been going on. Now when was the last time you ate?"

"Breakfast, sir," she replies.

"Hours ago then, Major. I want you and Teal'c to take a break. Come and sit with Janet and myself and you can tell us everything in greater detail." I urge her.

We move off to the area where the tents are set up. Someone (Teal'c I assume) has already erected one for Janet and myself, near to the one that Carter & Teal'c are sharing. I look wistfully at the arrangement. Carter and Teal'c always share, as do Danny and I. The only time that the arrangements have been any different was when Jonas was on the team after Daniel ascended. Teal'c shared with me, and Jonas with Carter. I didn't query it at the time - I know I didn't make Quinn particularly welcome in the team at first. Maybe he was just too nervous to share with me - or maybe Teal'c just thought that he needed to keep a closer eye on me during that time.

Once Daniel rejoined the team, and Jonas went back to Kelowna, Danny automatically went back to sharing with me and Teal'c returned to his rightful place without comment.

I see Carter and Teal'c watching me and notice a look pass between the two of them. I have a feeling that I've missed and entire conversation in the space of the last twenty seconds when I know a single word hasn't been spoken out loud. I shake my head and turn to the packs to get out the MREs and pull out the stove to make some coffee. While the water is heating, Carter starts telling me about the Asgard sensor problems, the modifications to the ring transporter and the manual work that the SG teams have put in while I've been out of action.

Once the food is ready the conversation peters out and we eat and drink quietly - each lost in out own thoughts.

After the meal, Teal'c returns to the site to haul more rocks, while Carter takes Janet and myself to the ring-transporter-come-drill test site.

I must say that thing was damned impressive in a totally destructive way. I wonder why the Goa'uld have never thought to use it as a weapon against the populace of any planet. They could cause mass extinctions if they so felt like by aiming it at fault lines in the planets crust.

The thought makes me shudder and I get a worried look from Janet. I assure her that it's nothing medical and make a note never to tell either her, nor Carter, about what I was thinking.

When the dusk starts to fall we move back to the tented area to eat our evening meal. We're all staying until Thursday, when everyone will have to leave. Janet told me earlier that she wanted me to recover sufficiently from the gate trip here before attempting to make another one, so that worked out alright in respect that I would have all day Wednesday to recuperate.

When the meal is cleared away we talk for a little longer before moving to bed down for the night. Somehow, I'm not surprised to find that Teal'c is in with me and the two women are sharing the other tent. I guess now I know what that silent conversation was about earlier. I can't help but be comforted by their concern for me, but think it's slightly creepy - they were remembering the same memories as I was at the same time.

I notice that Teal'c has settled, cross-legged, on his sleeping bag. He looks like he's going to Kel'no'reem for a while before actually turning in to sleep. I carefully get into my sleeping bag and bid him 'goodnight' before rolling over and falling asleep pretty much straight away. I guess the day must have taken a lot more out of me than I had realised before.

Wednesday - 13 days after collapse - last day on P7X-962.

The next day, Janet and I wander around the site, talking to the various members of the SGC. I answer their various queries as to what's been happening back on Earth while they have been posted here. They are all too aware that today if their last full day on that planet and none of them are even vaguely optimistic that Daniel's body will be recovered before we have to leave tomorrow.

The day passes uneventfully and I find myself sharing my tent with Teal'c again for the last night on the planet

Thursday - two weeks after collapse - return to the SGC.

There is an oppressive atmosphere in the camp this morning. After breakfast we fire up the gate and speak to the General. He informs us that our return has been scheduled for 1400 hrs and that all the equipment must be returned to the SGC at the same time we are.

It has been decided that the address will not be locked out of the gate computer but no return trip will be authorised. There is nothing of benefit to Earth on this god-forsaken lump of rock and it will be retained on record as the last resting place of Doctor Daniel Jackson.

I find it comforting that Daniel's 'grave site' will be left in peace. That it won't be subjected to soldiers or scientists crawling all over it. Hell we've done enough of that in the last couple of weeks and where'd that get us? True, I'd rather have taken his body back to Earth and given him a traditional burial, but unfortunately that is not to be.

I relay the message to the SG crews working on the site and it's decided that the excavations would be ceased from that moment on. There's a lot of stuff to pack up, tents to take down…goodbyes to be said.

~#~

Not long before 1400, all the equipment is packed, the FREDs are loaded and the signs of our two week habitation are minimal. The gate is dialled and most of the SG team members are waiting, ready to travel back to the SGC with glum expressions on their faces.

Just Carter, Teal'c and Doctor Fraiser are to remain on the planet with me. The two women are very teary eyed and are standing together near to the ruined pyramid. Teal'c is standing with me near the gate as the last of the SG personnel pass through. The wormhole collapses in on itself when it is no longer being used.

Only a brief few moments later the gate begins to spin again. General Hammond is coming to pay his respects to Daniel's final resting place. He has only travelled via the gate a couple of times, officially he is supposed to remain Earthbound at all times. With the President's approval he's making an exception for the young man who he thought of as the son he never had.

The wormhole is established and the kawoosh blooms out of the gate. Once the event horizon settles, the familiar bulk of our commanding officer emerges. Teal'c and I stand to attention as he walks down the steps and onto the dry soil of this dusty planet.

"Colonel, Teal'c," he acknowledges, "At ease, people. All the rescue crews are back and accounted for, no injuries to report, I'm glad to hear. Where is the Major, Colonel?"

"Major Carter and Dr. Fraiser are over by the pyramid, sir. Saying goodbye to Daniel." I reply. I find I can't keep my eyes on his and look at the floor.

"Understandable, Jack," says the General, putting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently, "Shall we go and join them?"

"Yes, sir," I agree, "…but before we do there's something I'd like to discuss with you. Something that I couldn't discuss over the radio link. Teal'c, you go ahead. Can you tell Carter and the Doc. that the General has arrived. We'll be there shortly."

"Indeed I will, O'Neill. If you need my assistance, please do not hesitate to call me." Teal'c answered, with a small bow of his head.

I outline my idea to the General. Obviously because there's no physical body to take back to Earth to bury, there will be no gravesite for people to mourn Daniel's passing. Nowhere that they can sit and 'talk' to Daniel when they need to feel close to him. My suggestion to the General is that he send one last small team through, after we return, to gather one of the large rocks from the pyramid. This could then be engraved with a fitting memorial to our fallen comrade and be situated either in the Colorado Springs cemetery or possibly somewhere peaceful on the mountain above NORAD. We've all escaped up there before now, when things have got rough under the mountain. There's a tranquil atmosphere up there and if you walk a little way you leave behind all signs of civilisation, you can really be at one with yourself and leave your work behind for a short time.

Straight off he seems agreeable to the idea. He explains that he will have to get permission from the Pentagon for the location of the stone but can't see a problem with the idea in principle. I think between the two of us we have pretty much decided that we would want it located on the mountain. If it's set a little way back in the woods then the it's unlikely that anyone not related to the project (with the exception of NORAD personnel) will stumble across it. The SGC are Daniel's only family now, have been for a long time. It's only fitting that he is commemorated near to where the people who care about him the most are located.

With the decision made, as much as possible, between us, we start to walk in the direction of the doctor and the two remaining members of SG-1. We spend more than a few minutes in complete silence, each saying our own personal goodbyes to the youngest member of our team.

After a while the General clears his throat and announces that it's time that we were all leaving. Janet and Carter cling to one another, both in floods of tears and I realise that my cheeks are wet too. Another good reason for doing this personal little parting ceremony with just the five of us here is that Carter wouldn't let herself go like that back on Earth, where people could see her. I'm not sure Janet would have either, for that matter. I know I damn well wouldn't. Here, with just our team and the closest two members of the SGC, I think we've all felt that we could say goodbye like we really needed to. Sure, there will be a memorial service back at the SGC in a few days time, that will be much more of an official, military affair though. This, well this was more like a small ceremony for immediate family.

We wait a few moments for Carter and the Doc. to compose themselves and I surreptitiously wipe my face with my handkerchief. I know the General saw, but I also know that he won't comment. I'm not sure his eyes aren't holding more moisture than normal anyway.

Then the five of us turn away from the pyramid and return to leave P7X-962 for the last time.

Goodbye Daniel, my friend…my best friend. You will never be forgotten.

On To Part 2