Just Another Disappointment

by drdjlover

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asd/drdjlover/justanot.php
Summary: Daniel's feelings of 'nobody believes me' come crashing back

The day started out like many others for SG1; going through the Stargate to an unexplored planet in the hopes of finding treasures.

Daniel knew that each had their own dreams of what they might find: Jack was dreaming of 'big honkin' space guns'; Teal'c of squadrons of Jaffa that would be loyal to the rebellion cause; and Sam of the newest Goa'uld technology to assist in their fight against the snakes.

Then, there were Daniel's dreams. His dreams of finding ancient cities and peoples, transplanted by the Goa'uld had long since been dashed. He had become more of a soldier than he had liked to admit.

They had come upon a temple, or so Daniel had described it. Three of the team still had their possibilities of finding something. The structure didn't appear to have been occupied for many, many years. Oh, sure, he would be able to video the writings and the structure itself; however, was there anything really there for his discovery?

As Daniel was videotaping the interior of the building, Sam was taking energy readings from a dais that was at one end of the large room. Of course, Jack had already mentioned to them to 'not touch anything'. Huh, like either one of them ever followed that order. Jack and Teal'c were surveying the area surrounding the structure.

On the stroke of 1230 hours, just like clockwork, Jack announced lunch as he entered through the open doorway. At that precise moment, Sam had been closing one of the sections of the pedestal she had been studying. A flash of light, and a moment later, the section Daniel was standing in was behind what appeared to be a wall that somehow materialized from nowhere.

"Daniel!" shouted Jack. "Carter, what the hell did you do?"

"I don't know, Sir. All I did was..."

"NO," ordered Jack.

Immediately, Sam dropped her hands to her side.

"Touching anything might cause something else to happen, and that's not *ever* a good thing."

~ ~

On the other side of the wall, after his eyes adjusted to the decreased lighting, Daniel recognized where he actually was ... it was a Goa'uld mother ship. The pel'tak, no less. Then, he came to realize that he wasn't alone, as he heard the snickering of somebody off to his left. Turning around, he saw the outline of a figure.

"Daniel Jackson," the figure stated, "you're a long way from home."

"Oh, crap." He'd heard that same phrase a few years ago. The figure finally came into view as the lights grew in illumination. "Osiris."

"Alone at last, Daniel Jackson. It certainly has been a long time. Come closer."

Of course Daniel wouldn't go anywhere near Osiris, if it were up to him. He simply crossed his arms across his chest and stood his ground, glaring at her.

Since he wasn't moving, Osiris raised her hand, and immediately two Jaffa guards assisted Daniel in walking towards their God. Osiris had moved to the throne by this time, and Daniel was thrown to his knees in front of her, after being relieved of his weapons and flak jacket.

"You know, guys, over the years that has just grown a little old," Daniel snarked at the Jaffa.

"What are we going to do with you? You have entered into our home without invitation or permission. Punishment will be severe."

A chill ran down Daniel's back. He knew, first hand how brutal Goa'uld punishment could be. Attempting to sound nonchalant about the impending torture, he simply said, "You don't have a better line than that?"

Osiris was outraged by the remark. "I have decided on your sentence. You will be the first Tau'ri to endure my newest torture. Guards, take him and place him into the restraints."

With their orders given, the Jaffa lifted and all but dragged him to another part of the ship, with Osiris leading the way. Once inside the new room, Daniel's arms were cuffed behind his back and his ankles were shackled to the floor. Almost immediately, Daniel was encased in an energy field, appearing from thin air, while several multi-colored rods emerged from the ceiling.

Osiris, happy that her captive was ready, began.

~ ~

"Look, I don't care anymore," stated Jack.

"But, Sir!"

"I want that fucking door open now. Daniel's been missing now for over an hour and we need to get through there to find him!"

"Yes, Sir."

Sam pulled the C4 from her vest pocket, placed it on the wall, set the timer for 5 seconds and the three ran for cover.

The C4 made short work of the door, and SG1 carefully made their way through the opening to find their missing teammate.

Searching each room as they came upon them, it wasn't long until they found Daniel. He was lying in an unconscious heap on the floor of the fourth room they searched. Teal'c picked him up, maneuvered him over his shoulder, and the team retreated.

After reaching the tree line, several hundred feet from the temple, Jack called a halt. Teal'c gently placed Daniel on the ground and Sam checked his vitals. Deeming them slightly elevated, she pulled a smelling-salts capsule from the first-aid kit and snapped it under his nose.

Moments later, Daniel inhaled heavily and woke up, blinking to clear his vision.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Jack concerned.

"What the hell happened?" replied Daniel as he attempted to sit up.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I touched something closing you behind that wall. But, what happened inside?" questioned Sam.

"I don't know, everything's kinda' fuzzy."

"Well, let's get you back to the SGC."

With that, Jack held out a hand to assist Daniel to his feet. They walked the mile to the gate and were home within half an hour.

~ ~

"I already told you, Janet, I don't know what happened. I just want to go home," Daniel pleaded turning on the 'puppy dog' eyes that he knew she would make her give him anything he asked for.

"All right, I'll release you; but, I want you to stay on the base for the next twenty-four hours."

"But..."

"Daniel," Janet said in her firm, 'not-gonna-work' voice.

"Okay. Thank you Janet."

~ ~

Daniel retired to his on-base suite via his office; knowing that if Janet caught him, she'd haul his ass right back to the infirmary. In his office, he grabbed his video cam, laptop computer and notebook then made a beeline for his room. There, he set up his video cam to download its pictures onto his laptop. It was during the download that the first wave hit him.

"Aaghhh!" Daniel screamed, as he was brought to his knees; breathing heavily, while clutching his abdomen.

The pain actually lasted only a few moments; however, to Daniel it felt like an eternity. When the pain subsided, as quickly as it had begun, he heaved a sigh of relief. Catching his breath, Daniel stood and went to the bed, trying to decide whether or not to head back to the infirmary for Janet to check him out.

He decided to blow it off and get back to work. The download had finished and he was looking forward to starting the translation.

Over the next few days, Daniel was able to translate all of the text he had been able to film while in the temple. Happy that the translation was finally done, he decided to leave at a more decent time than his normal 11:00pm. It was 7:00pm when he arrived home after stopping to pick up take-out from his favorite little Chinese restaurant.

Daniel pulled the little boxes out of the paper bag and placed them on the counter in his kitchen. As he reached for a plate to dish his dinner onto, a pain sliced through him, stealing his breath and dropping him to the floor, clutching his abdomen as before. It lasted longer than the last attack; only a minute, but it left Daniel gasping for air from the intensity. Daniel decided at that point to visit Janet first thing in the morning.

~ ~

True to his decision, Daniel made his way to the infirmary upon arriving at the base at 8:00am. He had not slept much the night before, trying to determine what the pain could be. His appendix was no longer an option; but he was not up to date on anatomy and physiology, so his guesses were not exactly educated.

"I can't tell you where exactly the pain was located, Janet," Daniel tried to explain. "It was pretty much all over," making sweeping motions over his belly.

"Had you eaten anything lately that could cause food poisoning?"

"No. I hadn't eaten anything since lunch."

"And what time was that?"

"Around 1:30 yesterday afternoon."

"And you had nothing to eat between that time and the time the pain struck?"

"No."

"Okay. We'll run some blood tests, and, just for good measure, let's run an abdominal MRI." Janet turned to the nurse that was taking notes and the nurse went to the telephone to alert radiology to expect Doctor Jackson for the ordered test within the next ten minutes.

"When you're done with the MRI, come back here and we'll go over the results. I should have some of the blood work back too. Okay?"

"Yeah."

Daniel scooted down from the exam table, went to radiology, and returned when the testing was concluded, as instructed.

Looking at the MRI films, Janet concluded, "Everything looks fine to me. Your blood work was completely normal also. I can't explain the pain Daniel. There are no medical reasons for it to occur. How are you feeling now?

"I feel fine. Look, let's just forget it. It was probably some sort of muscle spasm or something."

Dismounting the exam table, Janet stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Promise me you'll come back if the pain returns?"

"Sure. Thanks Janet."

~ ~

The pain came and went over the next several days. Daniel did not return to the infirmary as promised, knowing that Janet didn't know what the problem was, and not wanting to undergo more of her grueling tests.

The following week, it had increased in intensity, and was happening more frequently. Finally, at his wits end, he went to the infirmary again.

"Did you not promise me that you'd return?" Janet scolded, angry that Daniel had avoided reporting the pain again. "You're going straight to CAT scan, and when you're done there, come back here and I'm going to place you on a twenty-four hour muscle monitor."

"Yes, ma'am," Daniel felt thoroughly chastised.

"Good," Janet began, "I want you back here tomorrow at 1000 hours to have this removed, then back again at 1600 hours to go over the results. Understood?"

"Yeah. Janet..."

"I don't want to hear it, Daniel You said you'd come back if the pain returned. You didn't."

"I know."

"What excuse are you going to give me?"

"None."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Janet?"

"Yes?" She turned from the threshold of the doorway.

"I'm sorry."

Janet smiled, "We'll figure this out. Don't worry."

"Thanks."

~ ~

The next day, entering Janet's office as instructed at 3:00pm, Daniel noticed Jack sitting in the spare seat.

"What's going on?"

"I thought the Colonel should be here to receive the report in person. Have a seat, Daniel, and let's go over the results."

Suspiciously, Daniel glanced from Janet to Jack and back then sat in the offered chair. Janet turned the computer screen around so all three could see the results simultaneously.

"Daniel, these results along with all of our other test results over the past two weeks are completely normal. There is no medical reason you should be having these spasms. The results of the twenty-four hour muscle monitor also showed no abnormalities; even during the times you stated you were experiencing the pain. I don't have an answer for you."

"Fine. Next time I'll be sure NOT to tell you."

Angrily, Daniel left Janet's office, with Jack not far behind. As Daniel stood waiting for the elevator, Jack caught up with him.

"Daniel, it's not that we don't believe you; it's just that we ... don't believe you."

Angrier more now at the statement than when it was used several years before by Jack, Daniel positioned himself well within Jack's personal space, and responded to the accusation.

"I needed you back there! I needed you to back me up. And what do I get? Absolutely nothing! It's just another disappointment. But don't worry ... I'm used to them by now!"

Luckily, the elevator arrived at this point, and Daniel retreated into it. Jack attempted to enter also, but a shove from Daniel kept him outside while the doors closed.

Surprised at the rough contact and the vehemence in Daniel's voice, Jack stood, mouth agape, for several moments before heading back to Janet.

In the infirmary, both Jack and Janet were concerned enough about Daniel to end their day and go find him. A quick call to the front gate, proved Jack's initial guess -- Daniel had left just moments beforehand.

Jack ran to his locker to grab his coat and headed towards the surface.

Janet, already through with her shift, was also able to leave. Being a little slower than Jack though, she was not first out of the checkpoints.

Speeding down the mountain hill in his truck, he noticed Daniel's SUV pulled off to the side of the road, not more than two miles from the checkpoint. Skidding to a stop behind the vehicle, he jumped out of his truck to check out what was going on. The driver's door to Daniel's Montero was open, but Daniel was not inside.

"Aaghhh!"

Jack heard the cries of pain from the other side of the vehicle.

Running around the SUV, Jack found Daniel screaming and panting on his hands and knees in the dirt. Jack dropped to the hard ground to try to assist his friend.

Daniel, vomiting from the intensity of the pain ripping through him, continued seemingly unaware of any assistance. Jack scrambled to hold Daniel's head above the dirt, hoping he was done expelling his stomach's contents.

"Daniel?" Jack questioned as he turned Daniel over onto his own lap trying to comfort the younger man. Daniel grabbed Jack's shirt and hung on.

"Make ... aaghhh ... it ... stop!" Daniel panted through clenched teeth.

Jack heard tires squealing to a stop. Looking up, he saw Janet running towards them with her 'little black bag'. She knelt down, opening her bag and grabbed a pre-filled syringe and injected Daniel in his upper right arm.

Daniel continued to writhe and scream in pain after the injection, which was obviously a huge concern to Janet.

"Aaghhh... please... make it... stop!"

"Give him another shot!" yelled Jack, above Daniel's screams.

"That was enough morphine to keep anyone in lala land for eight hours."

"Janet! Please ... aaghhh."

"I don't care! Give him another. You have to do something!"

Janet again injected Daniel, this time with a powerful sedative. Daniel seemed to relax considerably, although he still kept an ironclad grasp on Jack's shirt.

"I have seen this man take a staff blast and barely blink an eye. The pain... to actually make him scream like he is."

"With the level of narcotics in his system, he shouldn't be able to move let alone still be able to feel anything. I don't know what's going on with Daniel, but this certainly proves that it was not something he was making up."

"God. I feel like a total shit telling him I didn't believe him."

"Let's get him back to the base."

"Can you drive my truck, Janet?"

"Honey," she momentarily slipped back to her hillbilly roots, "I can drive anything on wheels. Can you lift him?"

"Not a problem. I'm gonna' stay in the back with him."

Janet got into the driver's seat and adjusted it for her shorter stature, while Jack placed Daniel in the truck bed and climbed in with him. Janet then placed a call to her infirmary.

"We are only a couple of miles from the base," she told Dr. Warner, "We'll be there within 3 minutes." Janet gave instructions for what would be immediately needed upon their arrival.

As they entered the checkpoints, they waved her through without need to stop. A trauma team was at the surface waiting for them, and they began administering to Daniel's needs. IVs were begun and blood was drawn, all before reaching the twenty-first level.

Throughout it all, Daniel continued to squirm slightly and moan even with the medications that should have stopped his suffering.

~ ~

"Sir, I can't explain it. Daniel should be unconscious," Janet tried to explain. SG1 along with General Hammond were in the briefing room to ascertain what was happening with Daniel. "Unfortunately, we haven't learned much. He should be unconscious for the next two days, and yet, it seems that he is still feeling this pain. An MRI and a CAT scan of his abdomen show no abnormalities. I don't know what is going on. I'm sorry, Sir."

"Figure it out, Doctor," Hammond ordered, sounding frustrated. Dismissed."

The General was aggravated, and it showed. As the conference room emptied, he bowed his head and said a prayer for his friend in the infirmary.

~ ~

Jack sat beside Daniel's bed watching the suffering archaeologist.

Daniel moaned and opened his eyes. Slowly he scanned the room and finally focused on the figure sitting at his bedside.

"Hey," said Jack.

"Hey."

Jack saw the pain on Daniel's face, and in his eyes.

"You have to kill ... <moan> ... her," Daniel gasped.

Surprised at the words coming from his mild-mannered, the 'never-kill-anyone-no-matter-what-they've-done' friend, "Who?" Jack asked.

"O... siris," Daniel whimpered.

"What?"

"She was there."

"Where?"

Daniel, attempting to control his pain by keeping his breathing shallow, looked intently into Jack's eyes. When he was able to speak again, he continued.

"That wasn't a temple. It was a Goa'uld mothership. <moan> She was there ... aaghhh ... machine ... telepa ... thically linked ... <pant> ... our minds. Sh ... she's doing this. Oh, God it hurts." Daniel curled up on himself, "Please, Jack ... <pant> ... s ... stop her," Daniel pleaded.

Janet, who had been listening from the doorway, came to Daniel's rescue with another sedative injection, which she placed into the port of his IV.

Daniel, then fell back into a semi-unconscious state; yet still seemingly in a great deal of pain.

"Could what he's saying be true, Doc?"

"Let me do an EEG and CAT scan of his brain to see if that shows increased activity." Turning to a nurse, she ordered the tests be done immediately. "Colonel, this will take a while. Why don't you meet me back here at 1100 hours, and we'll check the results together. Okay?"

~ ~

The time Jack spent waiting for the tests to conclude were the longest hours he could *ever* remember spending in his entire life.

Finally, it was exactly 1100 hours, and he was knocking on the door to Janet's office.

"Come," yelled Janet, knowing it would most certainly be the colonel.

Opening the door, and peeking inside, Jack was motioned to the chair in front of Janet's desk. The petite doctor stood while opening the envelope and retrieving the pictures from inside.

"Okay," Janet sighed, "Let's take a look."

Janet placed the films on the wall unit and turned on the lights to illuminate them. Not seeing what she was looking for, she went back to her desk and pulled up the results of Daniel's EEG on her computer.

"Wow."

"What, wow?"

"There is an enormous amount of brain activity going on," Janet stated. "For someone that is sedated as much as Daniel is, there really shouldn't be much brain activity going on at all in certain areas, such as this one; and this one," Janet concluded as she pointed them out on the films.

"Meaning?"

"It certainly gives credence to his story about the mind link," Janet mused. "If Osiris is creating this pain through this telepathic link, then he really is feeling pain; and we have to do something."

"I'll talk to the General. We'll get a go. We have to."

Jack left and made a beeline for General Hammond's office.

~ ~

After hearing the evidence from Jack, the General gave immediate clearance for the mission to go back to the planet and find Osiris.

Jack all but ran from the General's office, after thanking Hammond profusely. The General announced over the intercom, "Major Carter, Master Teal'c report to your gear up room immediately."

"What's going on, Colonel?" asked Sam upon seeing him putting on his sidearm.

"We're going after Osiris."

"Please explain, O'Neill," queried Teal'c.

"Daniel is being tortured by that slimy snake. Some sort of mind link with it."

"How do you know that?"

"Frasier did more testing. His, something-or-other showed increased brain something, even though he's sedated."

"His EEG?"

"Exactly."

With that answer barely out of his mouth, he was making for the door. "Let's go!"

SG1 was finished gearing up and on their way to the gateroom within minutes. Arriving, they noticed that SG3 was also geared and ready.

Looking up to the control windows, Jack asked, "What gives, Sir?"

"I wanted to make sure you had the backup you might need.

"Thank you. All right people, this is a search and retrieval mission. We search for and terminate Osiris; and then retrieve any and all of her doohickeys that have anything to do with the mind-link technology. Any questions?"

"How will we know what doohickeys to retrieve?" Colonel Reynolds asked, smirking and knowing that Jack had no clue as to what he was talking about.

"Oh, I'm sure that Major Carter and Teal'c will be able to point us in the right direction."

"Indeed."

~ ~

Once on the planet, they made their way back to where the mother ship had been, hoping that it and Osiris would still be there.

Finding it just as it had been, they continued to creep stealthily along, so as not to alert any of the Jaffa they came across, of their presence.

~ ~

As they waltzed back through the Stargate, they were welcomed by General Hammond. "Report, Colonel."

"Everything went off without a hitch, sir."

"Everything?"

"Well ... everything except Osiris was no longer there. I'm sorry, sir."

"Major Carter?"

"There are some new devices that we've brought back, Sir. I believe we shut down the linking system that she used on Daniel, too, general."

"We'd like to see Daniel, Sir. Request permission to be dismissed?" Jack asked in his rarely-used military voice.

"Granted."

SG1 and SG3 the left the gateroom. SG1 headed straight for the infirmary, while SG3 went to the showers first.

As Jack entered the area where Daniel was, he was pleased that Daniel seemed to be actually sleeping. Not the pained excuse for slumber he'd been experiencing for weeks, but actual silent sleep.

Janet noticed that Jack was standing next to Daniel's bed, and confirmed his observations.

"He quieted down approximately one hour ago," Janet stated, leaning on the door jam. "From what I understand, that was close to the time that Sam disconnected the device on Osiris' ship. Hopefully, Daniel will sleep for the next 24 hours to recoup. He must be on the verge of exhaustion. Not being able to actually sleep for that amount of time would put a strain on anyone."

"I'm just gonna sit here for a while," Jack stated. "If that's okay with you?"

"You can return after your physical."

"Let's get that done, then."

"Right this way."

~ ~

There was a moan from Daniel, some 26 hours later, and Jack put down the magazine he'd been perusing.

"Daniel?" Jack asked quietly.

"Ja," Daniel replied sleepily, his mouth not cooperating.

"Yeah. It's me. Want to try to open your eyes?" Jack smirked while spooning ice chips into Daniel's parched mouth.

"No," Daniel swallowed.

"No?"

"I like where I'm at."

"Where you're at is in the infirmary."

Daniel's eyes never made it open, and he began to snore again.

~ ~

"I'm happy to say," Janet smiled, "all your tests are negative, Daniel."

"That's what you said last time," Daniel pouted.

"But, we now know what was causing the pain."

"Where is it?"

"Carter has it," Jack began, "or what's left of it."

"What about Osiris?"

"She won't be causing anymore pain."

"She's dead, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Jack confessed. "I'm sorry we couldn't save Sarah."

"It's okay. You did what I asked you to do."

"You couldn't know what you were saying."

"I knew *exactly* what I was saying."

"Then yes. I did *exactly* what you asked."

"Thank you."

"I think we need to destroy the equipment, though."

"Carter won't be happy."

"I really don't care what Sam thinks. That device shouldn't be in anybody's possession. Can you imagine what would happen if the NID got hold of it?"

"Crap. I didn't think of that."

The red lights began to rotate, as the sirens began wailing. Grabbing the wall phone, Jack dialed the control room.

"This is O'Neill."

"Emergency in Major Carter's lab, Sir," Master Sergeant Harriman conveyed.

"Carter's lab," Jack said as he raced from Daniel's bedside.

~ ~

"What happened?"

"I don't know yet, Sir," Lieutenant Garvey stated upon Jack's arrival. "We haven't touched anything yet."

"Carter?" Jack asked insistently as he approached her. "Stay there, the medical team is on it's way."

"I don't know, Sir. One minute I'm working on the Osiris device. The next minute, I'm waking up on the floor."

"The device?"

"Gone."

"See anything?"

"No, Sir."

"Garvey!"

"Sir?" Garvey responded immediately.

"Check the video..." Jack began, but stopped upon looking up at the camera; or where the camera used to be.

"Sir?" Lieutenant Gater began as she walked into the lab.

"Yes."

"I've checked the video feed from the security booth, and the camera was taken out with a zat. I'm sorry, but there is no evidence as to who did this.

"Carter, you go down to the infirmary. I'm gonna inform General Hammond. And nobody, but nobody tell Daniel."

"Sir?" Sam questioned.

"I'll do it."

~ ~

"I can't believe there's no evidence as to who did this."

"Daniel, I don't know what to say. The camera was taken out, as were the cameras in the hallway outside of her lab."

"NID?"

"That would be my guess."

"Look, Daniel," Sam began, "all I can say, is that there isn't any indication that it's still connected to you."

"So there should be absolutely no reason to think that your condition will return to what it was."

"God, I hope not," Daniel pondered.

End