THE OTHER SIDE
Missing scenes from "There But For the Grace of God"
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Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the authors. This story may not be posted anywhere without the consent of the authors.
I should have told him why. I know him well enough by now to know he doesn't follow orders just because he's told to. He has to know why. If you can give him a good enough reason, a reason that makes sense to him, then -- and only then -- will he do as he's told.
'Because I'm your commanding officer' or 'Because I said so' or even 'Because this might keep you alive' just doesn't compute with him. He must've been one helluva challenge to every adult in his life when he was growing up. He's certainly been a challenge to me. But I'm a colonel in the United States Air Force, for cryin' out loud; I don't have to explain my orders. Except to him. He's not a soldier, never will be, and I know that. Why did I forget this time? No, I didn't forget; I just didn't bother to remember. As I said, I'm not used to having to explain my orders; generally, when I give an order I expect it to be obeyed.
"We found the souvenir shop, sir."
"We're outta here."
"What? Why? This place is a treasure chest of artifacts from diverse human cultures!"
"Daniel, I don't want to hear it. Let's go."
If I had just taken the few seconds needed to explain why we were in danger if we remained on P3R233, that Teal'c said the surface was contaminated with radioactivity, we'd be safely back at the SGC right now having a cup of coffee in his office while he pored over some ancient writing and I watched the game-of-the-night on cable.
Instead we've been here for the last six hours with backup from SG-6, staging an exhaustive search of this underground complex for our missing civilian. If anything has happened to him... Of course something has happened to him! He's missing. And whatever has happened will be my fault, because he's my responsibility, and I blew it.
Carter was on our heels as Teal'c and I headed back for the Stargate. It wasn't until we were standing there in front of the DHD waiting for Daniel to dial us home that I realized he wasn't with us. With a sigh of exasperation and more tolerance than I'm usually known for, I gave a shout for him and waited impatiently.
After a full minute passed and still no Daniel, my store of patience ran out. Carter must've seen the warning signs because she hastily offered to go back to retrieve our errant archaeologist. Not trusting myself to speak at that point, I waved her on while mentally rehearsing the lecture he was going to get once we were back on base. I make a lot of allowances for Daniel because he's a civilian -- not that he'd believe that -- but that doesn't extend to allowing him to put our lives in danger by refusing an order to evacuate a dangerous planet. Not that he realized at that point it was dangerous, I reminded myself with a twinge of fairness. But that was still no excuse for not obeying a direct order.
Within minutes Carter was back, without Daniel, and the expression on her face told me immediately something was wrong. "He's not there, sir."
"What do you mean, not there?"
"In the lab, where we left him. There's no sign of him."
I felt a sick coldness settle like a lump in my stomach and saw concern flare in Teal'c's eyes, which did nothing to ease my own apprehension. "It's only been a few minutes," I muttered, more to myself than Teal'c and Carter, and immediately headed for the last place we'd seen Daniel. "He couldn't have gone far." And when I get my hands on him...
My internal tirade and promises of retribution lasted only as long as it took us to quickly search the lab and the immediate vicinity. When that produced no results there was no room for any emotion other than sharp fear -- and a raging anger at myself. He couldn't have been out of my sight for more than two minutes! What the hell could have happened to him?
Three possibilities immediately sprang to mind: there was someone -- or something -- in here that we didn't know about and Daniel had been captured. He'd wandered off exploring and had been injured and was perhaps lying unconscious somewhere, which would explain why he hadn't responded to our desperate shouts. Or, and this thought chilled me to the bone, he had somehow found a way to the surface thanks to that insatiable curiosity of his. And if that was the case, he was probably already dead.
I sent Carter back to report to Hammond and request backup while Teal'c and I remained behind and kept searching. No way was I leaving this planet without Daniel.
Now, six hours later, we had covered every foot of this entire facility and had found no sign of him.
"Any luck?"
"Nothing."
Carter and Teal'c were both looking at me, waiting for further orders, waiting for me to come up with some plan of action that would help us find Daniel, alive and safe. Okay, there had to be something here that we'd missed, some hidden exit or secret room or something. Because, by God, I was not leaving this planet without --
Suddenly there was the sound of a sharp, choked-off cry coming from the direction of the lab. Without thinking I began running, Teal'c and Carter right behind me. I saw him as soon as I pounded into the room, crumpled on the floor on the other side of the lab. "Daniel!" Oh, Christ, just let him be alive...
I was kneeling by his side in an instant, sliding a hand under his head to get it off the floor. He was unconscious, but he was shaking. If he was shaking, he was alive. "What the hell is this?" I asked harshly. His upper right arm looked like it had been barbecued.
Teal'c said grimly, "It appears to have been caused by a staff weapon."
Staff weapon? Ah, Danny, what the hell did you stumble into?
He had a piece of folded paper grasped in one hand and Carter eased it loose and unfolded it. "This looks like a Stargate address!" she exclaimed.
Okay, time enough to solve the mystery later. All that mattered right now was that we'd found Daniel, alive, and he needed medical attention. "All right," I said, getting a better grip on the unconscious man, "let's get him back to Earth."
"No, Jack!" Somehow Daniel had clawed his way to consciousness, his breath coming in harsh gasps as he tried to focus on my face. "We're all in very big trouble. They're coming...they're coming..."
Before I could try to figure out what any of that meant, he had lapsed into unconsciousness again. "Dammit, Daniel," I whispered, "what the hell happened to you?" Without taking my eyes off his lax face, I said tersely, "Teal'c."
He had already handed his staff weapon to Carter and was kneeling by my side. Carefully, I transferred my burden into his arms. God only knew what other injuries he might have suffered that we couldn't see. "Let's get the hell out of here," I ground out.
Daniel was still unconscious when we stepped back into the SGC. I shouted for a medical team as soon as my boots hit the metal ramp and watched as Janet Fraiser's crew, who had obviously been standing by, efficiently took over.
General Hammond was waiting also, and turned to me as I watched Daniel being wheeled out. "What happened, Colonel?"
"I don’t know, sir. We searched that entire complex and Daniel wasn't there. Then, he was. Teal'c says that wound looks like it was caused by a staff weapon."
"Goa'ulds?" Hammond snapped out.
I shook my head. "No sign of them, sir. No sign of anyone. Daniel's the only one who's going to be able to tell us what happened." The medical team had disappeared by now and I turned to the general, anxious to get to the infirmary. "Sir, I'd like to --"
"Go," he said.
I didn't need to be told twice. The wound wasn't life threatening, but it would have hurt like hell and I was pretty sure Daniel had been going into shock when we found him. We didn't know what else might have happened to him in the hours he'd been missing, and I wouldn't relax until I heard it from Doc Fraiser herself that he was going to be okay.
***
The news was good. The burn on Daniel's arm was the only injury Fraiser found, and the requisite MRI confirmed he hadn't picked up a snake while he was missing. The good doctor pumped him full of painkillers to keep him out and told us he'd probably sleep for the rest of the night. I sent Carter and Teal'c off to get some sleep themselves, choosing to spend my night in the infirmary. I wanted to be here, keeping watch. God knows, I hadn't done such a hot job of that on P3R233.
I was on my fifth cup of coffee when he started to get restless, and a soft moan alerted me to the fact he was regaining consciousness. His head moved back and forth on the pillow and a frown creased his features as he became more agitated.
I laid a hand on his good shoulder. "Easy. It's okay. Just take it easy --"
At the sound of my voice he gasped and his eyes snapped open. It took him a few moments to focus on me; it was dim in the infirmary at this time of night and between the lack of glasses and the amount of drugs in his system he couldn't have been seeing anything very well. "Ja--" He coughed, his voice sounding like sandpaper. "Jack?"
I tried to smile reassuringly, but he sounded so... uncertain, so anxious, that I reflexively tightened my grip on his shoulder. "Who else would it be?" I said lightly.
That must've been the wrong answer. Even in the dimness I was close enough to see something like panic flare in his eyes. "Oh, God," he whispered, his voice slurred from the drugs. "Tell me I'm home. Please tell me..."
"You're home, Daniel," I said quickly. "You're in the --"
A hand shot out suddenly and gripped my wrist. "You know me?"
By this time I was thoroughly confused, worried as hell, and on the verge of buzzing for Fraiser. I didn't think pain medication would cause this degree of disorientation. "Of course I know you --"
"Sam?" he rasped, his eyes never leaving my face. "Teal'c?"
"I sent them off to get some sleep," I explained carefully. He seemed to be getting more frantic by the second and I leaned over, laying a hand on his forehead in an attempt to both calm him and anchor him to the here and now. "It's over, Danny," I said softly. "You're back home."
His eyes widened. In a whisper he repeated the nickname I'd given him like it was some sort of talisman, and his eyes slid shut. "I'm home," he mumbled in a broken whisper. "I'm home."
"You're home," I repeated, still confused, still worried, but attempting to hide it as I continued to try to ease him back to sleep. "Just rest now. I'll be here when you wake up. Fraiser's given you something to sleep, so--"
"No! No! Can't sleep! Can't --" He was blinking now, his eyelids drooping despite his best efforts to keep them open, and his words were slurring badly as the drugs pulled at him. But, being Daniel, he fought it all the way. "Got to... got to tell you..."
"Tell me tomorrow," I ordered quietly. "It can wait."
"No... can't. Got to..." His voice trailed off as he finally slid back into his drug-induced sleep.
I kept my hand on his forehead a while longer, frowning a little as I registered the warmth of his skin. Janet said he had a bit of a fever but that was to be expected, and she'd be keeping a close eye on it. As I watched his anxious features relax and his breathing even out, I took the hand still gripping my wrist and carefully tucked it under the covers. Then I sat back in my chair, making myself as comfortable as I could for the rest of the night. Whatever nightmare Daniel had been through back on P3R233, there was time enough tomorrow to hear about it. For now I knew all I needed to know: he was safe and he was home.
Whatever else we needed to deal with, we'd deal with tomorrow.
*fin*
August 1999