Part 3

Daniel had fallen asleep not long after their strange conversation about memories and debts that could never really be spoken aloud yet could never be fully repaid. While Jack knew Daniel well enough to know that no one could force the man to do anything he didn’t want to do, he also knew Daniel crossed Oma’s boundary lines at his own urging. Daniel’s personal sense of justice, duty and rightness (fully developed long before Oma Desala ever appeared on the scene), egged on by Jack, had cost him glow status, maybe forever.

Daniel, being the man he was, had worked Oma’s restrictions like the charmingly adept system-playing pro that he was. Jack was aware of three distinct instances of Daniel bypassing ass-ended procedure and he was willing to bet there were more he would never know. Jack was sure Daniel had no regrets about helping them, but part of him nonetheless felt badly for what helping had cost Daniel. Only part of him, though, a very miniscule part. Jack couldn’t find it in himself to regret that one of the very things he had initially found most irritating about Daniel was the one which had brought him back to them in the end.

He had a long talk with Hammond scheduled in the morning, so he set down his beer. It was time to get both of them to bed.  Jack needed to get to the base as early as possible to type up two reports: one on the whole feelings thing and another on the results of his off-world research. As pissed as Hammond was bound to get over the former, Jack intended to present the latter first thing. Daniel, and the way he’d been overlooked so long for acknowledgment, deserved Hammond’s full attention before the shit hit the fan. Whatever happened, Jack would accept any punishment his commander felt appropriate. Alien influence or not, Jack should have reported what was going on in the very beginning.

Daniel stirred and muttered something that sounded like ‘Skaara’ before settling down again and Jack sighed.

He was worried about the coming mission; they were so far out of their element where all this glow stuff was concerned. Apophis had never been all that easy to kill when he was just a normal goa’uld and he sure as hell wasn’t normal now. Yet he found he was also, oddly, very hopeful. SG1, when on top of their game, had beaten some damn stiff odds over the years. And they were back on top in a big way. There was reason to hope.

 

Lightning crackled in the air and a vague smell of ozone permeated the room. Daniel stood firm, trying not to let his nervousness show. This was one time when signs of weakness were not only a bad idea, they could prove fatal. Presentation was everything.

Taking a deep breath and nodding resolutely, Daniel brought his hands forward and hurled the building fireballs toward his target, hitting it dead center.

“Daniel three, chair nada,” Jack drawled from his place behind the protective barrier Sam and Bill Lee had set up in the little-used lab now designated A (for ascended) OK Corral. The pair of scientists had spent the better part of three days secreted away down here concocting a bag of tricks intended to fool Apophis into thinking Daniel still possessed the power of the Ancients.

Daniel threw Jack a sheepish grin then turned to Sam. “It looks right from my perspective, guys.”

Lee beamed at the approval and Sam smiled. “It should stand up to general observation. Just be sure to keep your palms down until the last minute so no one can see the emitters.”

“Just remember, two or three shots are all you get before you either fry your hands or the emitters.” Lee warned. “Or both.”

Daniel nodded his understanding, raising his arms to allow Lee to remove the vest-like apparatus with its flowing wires and absurdly small power supply.

“So, Daniel. Did you ever get to do the real thing?”

Daniel nodded, looking down and remembering another place and time, the fear and the power, the need to protect his people, his friends….

“Almost. Once.”

Jack’s voice was gentle. “Abydos?”

Daniel nodded again, turning away, making an effort not to allow the full impact of the loss to overwhelm him and was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. Jack.

Nodding gratitude, Daniel shook off his sadness and turned to Sam. “Any word on the, um, nanite problem?”

With a flash of almost-anger, Sam shook her head. She and Jack were working hard to fight the effects, but there were still moments when the old habits the nanites had ingrained in them surged to the fore without warning. “We called Dad; he’s due any time now.”

Beside him, Jack sighed in relief. If anyone could figure that particular problem out it was Jacob and Selmak, but Daniel figured Sam had to be dreading telling her father the full story.

Jack had spent three hours with General Hammond the day after they’d returned to Earth but refused to tell anyone what the general had said or done. Daniel just hoped the general wouldn’t be too hard on his friends, their behavior had been unduly influenced by Nirrti’s devices.  Now more than ever, it was important for SG1 to stay together.

 

No wonder Carter is so… Carter.

Jack leaned against the back wall of the lab and tried very hard to become invisible.

Jacob was pissed at both Jack and his daughter, but Selmak seemed to be tempering the man’s anger somewhat, thank goodness. Jack didn’t want to think about taking on a USAF general and the oldest of the Tok’ra combined.

Besides, it wasn’t like they’d ever even done anything; they hadn’t had so much as a long talk in all those months.  Who’d the man think he was anyway? Jack the Ripper? He wasn’t real happy about the remark that he was old enough to be Jacob’s brother, either. 

Shit happened. To SG1, on an almost clockwork schedule. It sucked, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault and even seemed to Hammond agree. That wasn’t to say the general had been happy to hear everything Jack put in his report, in almost-painstaking detail. The man had made it clear that, once the nanites were no longer an issue, Jack and Carter were on an unofficial probation for an as-yet unspecified time during which any tendency toward non-regulation behavior would be dealt with swiftly and decisively. “Zero tolerance”, actually, was the phrase used. Jack hadn’t been dressed down as thoroughly or as jarringly in his entire career. Both of them had been assigned a little light reading in the form of the UCMJ and all the casework concerning infractions of same. All in all, it could have been a lot worse and Jack wasn’t about to argue the penance. They’d been damn lucky they had resisted the nanites so long.

On the upside, Hammond had been just as shocked as Jack when confronted with the raw facts of Daniel’s service to the SGC. He’d agreed wholeheartedly and assured Jack he would set things in motion to rectify the situation. At the very least, Hammond said, Daniel was years overdue for a pay raise. The wheels of military bookkeeping were already greased in Daniel’s favor and, at last word, the President was in complete agreement that Doctor Jackson had gone above and beyond, more than once, for the good of his compatriots, his planet and others throughout the galaxy with entirely too little in the way of reward or acknowledgment.

Thinking ahead to what they were about to do, Jack could only hope recognition of the man they all owed so much to wouldn’t come posthumously.

 

In between guiding the tel’tak and reading instruments, Jacob was giving him some very weird looks and it was beginning to make Daniel extremely nervous. It wasn’t like he was the one who’d been having lustful thoughts about his daughter, artificially enhanced or otherwise.

That, at least, was no longer an issue. Selmak had devised a method of having the nanites shut themselves off in a remarkably short amount of time. Since then Jack and Sam had been more than a little snippy with each other, when they weren’t being doubly professional. Daniel still didn’t know what the general had said to them, but he was almost certain it involved being on their best, military, behavior. The tracking devices remained, at least in SG1, because they were necessary to the mission, but the rest of the SGC was now clear of them, thankfully, and procedures in place to scan all personnel on a regular basis. Jacob would remove theirs if they had to make a break for it.

Speaking of Jacob, he was still staring…

“What?”

With a shake of his head, Jacob just smiled sadly. “It’s just that I can’t help remembering when you…”

“Died? Ascended?” Daniel shook his head in confusion. There’d been little opportunity for them to talk over the past few months, but it wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen each other since his return.

“Both, actually,” Jacob said, his gaze looking far deeper into the starfield ahead of them than Daniel knew was possible. “You’re a real live miracle, Daniel. Even living as a Tok’ra, I don’t run into many of those.”

Daniel nodded, not quite sure what the older man was getting at.

“We knew we couldn’t bring you all the way back that day, but we were determined to do our damnedest for you. I’m guessing you knew it wasn’t a permanent fix too?”

“Yeah, I did, and I do appreciate you and Selmak trying to save me, you know that, right?”

“Of course we do, but thanks for saying it.” Jacob hesitated. “We took it hard, losing you. And not just because we couldn’t heal you.”

With a blush, Daniel ducked his head and said, “I’m sorry.”

The other man shook his head sharply and turned to look directly at Daniel. “Don’t be. Our way, you would have lived without much of a life. The way things happened, as hard as it was on all of us, was better. For you and for them, even if they don’t realize it just yet.”

Daniel didn’t understand.

Looking back out toward the stars, Jacob just smiled.

“So, you really think Apophis will buy this dog and pony show you’ve got planned?”

Allowing the subject to be dropped, Daniel sighed. “It has to work, doesn’t it? If we can’t get him out in the open, there’ll be no stopping him. He’ll continue to destroy without mercy until he finally overruns everything.”

“Yeah,” Jacob agreed. “You’re sure the other ascended will do something if he reveals himself, uses his power?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Daniel was more sure of that than he was of anything else about this crazy mission.

 

 

Abydos.

From the sky it looked like it always had. Yellow and blue, safe and benign. But things had changed and they all knew it. Daniel most of all. The closer they’d gotten, the quieter Daniel had become and it had Jack worried. So much so he found himself sticking by his side like glue.

They were minutes away from landing when Daniel excused himself to go check their gear. Not surprisingly, Jack found him sitting alone in the corner of the cargo bay.

Taking the casual but direct approach, Jack slid down the wall to sit beside him
“What’s up?”

Daniel just shook his head. “I’m not sure. Partly knowing they’re all gone down there, partly remembering… what happened…”

“Partly knowing what’s about to?”

Daniel nodded, smiling a little in that way he had of not really smiling at all. “What we hope is about to. Yeah.”

”We’re going to beat him, Daniel. Don’t doubt that.” Jack leaned toward the other man to nudge him shoulder to shoulder. “You don’t, do you? Doubt it, I mean?”

“Not really, Jack. Actually, I feel fairly confident, believe it or not, but…”

“But there’s always a chance.”

“Yeah. There’s also the Others…”

Jack felt that old familiar tingle along his spine. “What about them?”

Turning a bit, Daniel looked Jack in the eye, allowing him to see the fear there. “If they come here, they’ll know I remember. What if…?”

Grabbing Daniel’s shoulders, Jack shook his head sharply. “No, Daniel. We won’t let them do that to you again, I promise. It’s bad enough they did it the first time, kept us from knowing each other from the minute we found you. Not going to happen again.”

With a sad smile, Daniel said, “You can’t promise that, Jack. No one can.”

Letting one hand slide up to tousle Daniel’s hair, Jack pulled the other man to him in a quick hug. “No, no, I can’t. But I can promise that they’ll have a hell of a fight on their hands if they try.”

 

Sand and sky, as far as the eye could see…..

Daniel shivered at the memory of the dream he’d had not so long ago during their team bonding mission. Prophetic in a way. Darkness was coming, coming soon, and there was nothing they could do now to stop him short of running. Which was not an option for any of them.

Jacob was concealed behind the largest Abydos moon in a low orbit that should keep him hidden from detection. He was their eyes and ears, their only warning when Apophis arrived. He was also their only hope if things went south not to mention their only way home. It helped to know he was near, but Daniel was glad he wasn’t there on the planet with them.

Jack, Teal’c and Sam were in the cartouche room a few hundred yards behind the area they had chosen to lure Apophis. The crater where the pyramid, Nagada and his home had once been wasn’t far, but he had no desire to see it. They’d passed over when Jacob dropped them off and that was more than close enough. The sand had shifted, as it always did in the months since the attack until the massive hole was nearly smooth with sand, looking like the sand in front of the pyramid always had, a smooth bowl he had always found welcoming, a sign of home. But home was not here anymore, only in the sense that the rest of his team was nearby and he was not alone.

Jack had tried to follow him, seemed like the man was determined to become Daniel’s second skin until this was over. As much as Daniel appreciated the sentiment, Jack had to realize wouldn’t be able to stand at Daniel’s side when he met Apophis. It had been all Daniel could do to convince the man to give him some solitude to get his head together while they still had time. Instead, Jack was making dinner and probably making a nuisance of himself while Sam and Teal’c set up the equipment.

Breathing deeply, Daniel let contemplation of his team wash over him. The journey out had been one of reconnecting moments, unnecessary apologies, and joint reaffirmation. It was as if the preceding two years or so had been erased and they were SG1 once again, and worthy of the name. Against all odds, they had beaten Apophis’ efforts to disrupt their unity and Daniel alternately wanted to thank the false god and kill him a dozen times over for putting them all through such hell.

Sinking down to sit in the sand, Daniel sighed deeply and tried to clear his mind. The last thing he needed when facing Apophis was to let anger rule his actions, but persistent dreams of Skaara, as well as being back on Abydos, had kept his emotions stirred for several days. Between years of missions, Oma’s teachings, and meditation sessions with Teal’c, Daniel felt fairly adept at subduing his emotions in order to act, but he was no longer ascended and the odds of winning were exceedingly slim.

“Slim chance is better than none, right?” Doing a slight double-take at Jack’s apparent mind reading, Daniel waved a hand to invite his friend to sit beside him.

“The universe is so big and we are so small.”

“The bigger they are the harder they fall?”

“A journey of a thousand miles…” It was Sam, coming to sit on Daniel’s other side.

“David slew Goliath.” Teal’c added succinctly, proving once again his Tau’ri education was an eclectic one as he sank gracefully to sit on the sand on the other side of Jack.

“Dinner ready?” Not that he was particularly hungry, but he’d gotten out of the habit of comfortable silences over the past few months.

“Such as it is…” Jack shrugged lightly.

“We should probably go eat.”

The soft sigh of the never-ending wind was the only response to his suggestion as they all continued to sit, contemplating the endless sea of sand dunes before them.

Maybe they’d eat later.

 

Three days of tension and tedium and nothing then, when they were least prepared, Apophis arrived.

One minute the two of them were playing sand hockey, the next Jacob was shouting a warning even as a glow surrounded them and they went from warm sand to the cold, hard metal of Anubis-Apophis’ throne room. No guns, no back up, just Jack and Daniel alone in front of Apophis and a handful of Jaffa. It was one contingency they hadn’t planned for.

“Daniel Jackson.” The filtered voice, knowing what he now knew, now sounded familiar to Jack. “And Colonel O’Neill. How fortuitous.”

Jack watched Daniel draw himself up, watched as he took on a stance of controlled power and confidence Jack knew he did not possess. He wondered if this was how Daniel had looked when the two had their last showdown. Apophis the evil embodiment of darkness, Daniel the shining light for the side of good.

“Apophis.” The single word was a sigh, an accusation, a condemnation. This wasn’t the Daniel of old who snake-baited on instinct even at the risk of his own hide, this was a shadow of the Ascended power Daniel had once wielded, or was stopped from wielding, for the sake of helping others.

“You remember then?”

“As you suspected or you wouldn’t be here.”

Apophis inclined his… cowl, conceding Daniel’s point. “But I wonder what else you remember? The last time we met, I wanted you to try to kill me. It would have drawn the Others here and you would have been dealt with for me. Is that why you are here now? To tempt me?”

Shit, they were so busted. Except…

“No….” Daniel drawled easily. “I’m here to kill you.”

And strangely, Jack believed him.

He couldn’t believe Daniel was attempting to run this bluff to the end, but he bought what Daniel was saying just the same. Sure he had Carter’s little gadgets on under that robe, but both of them knew they would be about as useless as a fly irritating an elephant. But, as hard as it was to accept, Jack realized he was the spectator here. If Daniel wanted to try to bluff it out, then Jack would back him all the way. Going out in a blaze of misdirected glory was better than being squashed like a bug any way you looked at it.

Apophis laughed harshly. “You have changed little, Daniel Jackson. This time, however, you have overestimated yourself. You are no longer ascended; you can do nothing to me.”

“Are you so sure?” Daniel said quietly, surreptitiously pushing the button that would charge the device under his clothes.

As the muted glow focused itself around Daniel’s hands, Jack could see Apophis sit up straighter on his throne, clearly shocked to see what was apparently happening in front of his eyes.

“Time for you to die, Pops,” Jack taunted.

Apophis stood as Daniel raised his glowing hands and Jack couldn’t help but think this must have been how the last meeting between these two had looked before Oma had prevented Daniel from stopping Apophis once and for all. Too bad there was no Oma around this time to pull them out. Even forced amnesia would be preferable to death, and at least they’d be in it together this time around.

As Daniel drew his hands back to release the building energy, it seemed to Jack that the glow was different from what he’d seen at the A-OK Corral, brighter, more deadly looking. Weird.

Daniel threw his hands forward and the energy flew toward Apophis in a blur of sparking color and power. Too late, Apophis tried to duck and the energy struck him full in the mask where his face might once have been. He roared, whether in anger or pain, Jack couldn’t tell, but he used the distraction to pull a staff weapon away from the Jaffa standing closest to them, and deal with them as they stood staring, dumbstruck, at their not so impervious god.

Apophis was on the ground, the energy had affected him, it seemed. He was trying to get up, seeming almost blind as he reached ineffectually for some sort of support. Looking over, Jack saw Daniel’s hands were glowing again as he prepared to press their unexpected advantage.

A second charge flew from Daniel’s hands, again striking the face area of Apophis’ mask and he screamed.

“How?”

A third charge hit the mark, a fourth.

It wasn’t possible. Jack knew he’d heard Bill Lee say the emitters would only work a few times before burning themselves out. What the hell?

A fifth and Apophis was …glowing. The shield was breaking down. A sixth and he started to fade out…

Daniel hesitated a moment, and Jack saw a look of intense sadness on his face. There was so much more going on here than met the eye…How the hell was Daniel doing this? He looked magnificent, like some avenging angel from illuminated texts Jack had seen at some cathedral while on leave in Rome once. Jack just hoped when all this was over Daniel wouldn’t wind up a fallen angel. Again.

The seventh blast hit to the sound of a ghastly scream and then Apophis was just gone. Not so much as a scrap of cloth was left of him. Jack turned just in time to see Daniel hit his knees and rushed to his side, catching him before he could fall over.

 

 

It was dark.

It was always dark. After.

Words from a movie Daniel remembered from childhood. The only question was – after what?

He remembered bluffing his ass off with Apophis, hoping against hope to use their only advantage and catch their enemy off guard with the appearance of ascended power. He’d been praying the shock value alone would be enough to cause Apophis to react instinctively to save his own hide.

Then he’d felt a presence, several of them actually, and a power behind the artificial devices he knew was not his own. Seven blasts and Apophis was gone. Then… nothing.

There was a sudden brightness in front of him, like a single spotlight on a stage, then footsteps. Daniel stood and waited, unsure if he should be afraid.

“Hellooo….?”

“Jack?”

“Daniel?”

They met in the center of the patch of light. As he came into view, Daniel could see Jack was trying for nonchalant, but he failed miserably since the first thing he did was grab Daniel in a massive bear hug. “Just what the hell was that back there?”

Daniel shook his head. “I don’t really know, Jack. It wasn’t me.”

“But it was you, Daniel.”

A voice out of the darkness and another light came on. Skaara. Then another: Orlin. Then another: Shifu. Another: Oma. And another: Apophis’ host, the Egyptian scribe they’d met briefly years ago. More lights, more people. More ascendeds, rather. And Ancients. Some were familiar to Daniel, some not.

Oma stepped forward with Skaara and Apophis’ host, Simi, Daniel suddenly knew.

“It was you, Daniel. In the sense that you showed us all that sometimes interference is necessary. Sometimes injustice must be defeated, especially those of our own making. Sometimes one cannot turn away and be worthy of being.”

“You showed me mercy for the first time in five thousand years, Daniel Jackson. It comforted me in the days after, when I found myself once more alive and in Apophis’ control. It gave me hope.”

Skaara smiled. “The Others have been persuaded somewhat, Daniel, by your example. Power and enlightenment mean nothing when others suffer due to inaction. Existence is not simply to exist.”

Daniel was confused and said so.

“You got to them, Daniel!” Jack crowed, bouncing on his feet. “You sparked a glowy revolution.” He grinned at Oma impudently. “Nothing surprises me where Daniel is concerned. He showed us how to do better, to be better. He has that affect on people. Me included.”

“Yes, he does.” Oma smiled. “I planned for millennia but those plans were condensed to this short time since Daniel left us. There is no more Others and us; only the Ascended.”

“No more hands-off policy?” Daniel was somewhat disbelieving.

Oma shook her head. “We are still judicious in our interference. We cannot prevent every ill, nor should we. But we are taking responsibility for our actions. Weighing the cost of inaction so we do not unleash another Anubis upon the universe. We are learning a new way.” Oma smiled at Jack, sharing something only the two of them could understand. “We allowed you to meet and destroy Apophis, Daniel, as you should have been allowed to do before. The Abydonians will, in time, be returned to Abydos to live out their lives as they were intended to do.”

“Skaara?” Daniel looked at his brother in law hopefully.

“I do not know, Daniel, in which place I can do more.“ Skaara grinned slyly. “They have much to learn, yes?”

Laughing, Daniel didn’t answer. This was all too incredible to believe. Apophis was gone, Abydos would live again, Skaara was happy, and they….

“Where are we, really?”

“Only in a stopping place, Daniel,” Oma answered. “A place where we could see you and tell you what you have done for us. The Kull warriors have been deactivated and the Jaffa freed. You will be returned soon to Abydos, where your friends wait for you.”

“Will we remember this?” Daniel asked, keenly wanting it. “Will I be able to keep my memories of my time with you?”

Oma nodded again. “But I would advise circumspection in who you share the knowledge with. Evil men would seek to take advantage. That part of your life has helped mold who you are, it was wrong of me to take it from you completely. I hope you come to remember it fondly and, perhaps, return when your time is done.”

“Considering how often he dies, who could tell?” Jack muttered, rubbing Daniel’s shoulder to remove any sting from the words.

Daniel just smiled before turning to the gathered ascended. “Thank you. All of you.”

The all nodded or smiled, winking out one by one until only he, Jack, Skaara, and Oma remained.

“Be well, my friends. We will meet again.” Skaara embraced them both and was gone.

Oma took Daniel’s hand and then Jack’s and pulled them close to walk with her, leading them into the darkness again.

“You will need rest, Daniel. Channeling our energy has drained your physical form. Be sure he does so, O’Neill.” Oma warned, sounding for all the world like Jack at his most hennish.

“Gotcha,” Jack assured her.

Daniel cleared his throat meaningfully, grateful to be alive and to know there was one less evil in the world, but feeling he should assert himself at least a little for the sake of appearances.

The last thing he saw before everything went dark again was identical raised eyebrows of two people who understood him and he couldn’t help grinning in return.

Not a bad day’s work, after all.

 

Oma needn’t have worried about Daniel getting rest, Jack mused. The man had slept two days straight and it had been all they could do to keep him from nodding off on the third when he woke up hungry enough to outdo even Teal’c at lunch.

The time had been used wisely, though, and if he could manage to keep Daniel awake and get him dressed, it promised to be quite a day for their sleeping beauty. As Daniel exited the showers, Jack met him with coffee; Carter handed off the dry cleaning bag containing his suit and Teal’c got his hand slapped for trying to help Daniel remove his towel.

“Scoot, Carter.”

She pouted a little, playing it large for Daniel’s benefit, but exited the locker room with a grin.

Daniel drained his coffee in three gulps that made Jack think, once again, the man must have a cast iron esophagus. Relieving him of the cup, Jack pointed meaningfully at the suit then at his watch.

“I don’t understand why I have to be at this thing, Jack. It’s not like anyone will notice if I’m not there.”

Jack almost laughed at the unintentional lie of Daniel’s words. Everyone would notice, but he couldn’t tell Daniel that. “Just get dressed, Daniel. You can take a nap after.”

“After what?”

“Nice try.”

With a minimum of fuss but a maximum of attempts to find out what the suit and tie occasion was by Daniel, their boy was ready at last. Looking quite spiffy, in fact. As he turned to present himself to Teal’c and Jack, he seemed so different from the mismatched professor Jack had first met so long ago. He wore his years and his greater experience and wisdom very well, Jack thought. It was more than appropriate, especially today.

Now they just had to get Daniel to the gateroom as clueless as he was right now. Shouldn’t be too hard.

Teal’c took point and looked scary while Jack took Daniel by the shoulder so he could be prepared if the man decided to make a break for it. Amazingly, Daniel only sighed and seemed to resign himself to an afternoon of ‘boring’ officialdom when he’d rather be sleeping or reading or working or having dental work.

All Daniel knew was that some bigwigs from DC were present and speeches were inevitable. Jack and the rest of SG1 had worked hard to make sure that was all he would know until it was too late. Teal’c was under orders to block Daniel’s six, physically if necessary, to keep him in the gateroom.

Aside from one, teasing, attempt to run just as they came to the gateroom door, the trip was fairly uneventful. Now they just had to get Daniel inside and in position for the big ‘reveal’. Jack wiped the grin off his face and swiped his key card.

Everyone was there. Hammond, SG teams 2-15, DC brass including Davis, and all nonessential staff. Tok’ra reps were there, including Jacob, Thor and Heimdall, Lya of the Nox, Tuplo, and many other allies. Daniel tried to lose himself in the back of the crowd, but Jack and Teal’c herded him to the front, totally ignoring the varied curses being slung at them in various languages at a loud whisper. Daniel was so engrossed in dressing them down, he completely missed the fact they were walking right toward the President.

Good thing President Hayes didn’t speak goa’uld.

Daniel was saved from explanations by General Hammond taking the podium and calling the room to order. Jack came to attention along with the rest of the military contingent as Daniel swallowed down his embarrassment and took his place between Jack and Teal’c. Carter joined them from somewhere and SG1 was in it together once again.

Hammond spoke a moment about duty and the cost of same, good stuff, but generic enough that Daniel was still clueless. President Hayes looked like his face would crack with that smile, but Jack had to admit it was a genuine one. Finally, Hammond introduced the man and he climbed the ramp with the air of a kid in a candy store.

Standing beneath the stargate, President Hayes looked the stone structure over with a wondering eye. As the applause died, he grinned his trademark grin and said, “Big, isn’t she?”

The audience laughed, as he obviously intended, then the man set to work.

“My first day in office, I got to take a meeting with the Chief of Staff.  He told me this incredible story about a gate to other worlds hidden underneath Cheyenne Mountain. Frankly, I thought the man was nuts.”

Another ripple of laughter, this time subdued since the Chief of Staff was present.

“But I found out very quickly that he wasn’t nuts. The Stargate was very real and so was everything that went with it. It was a humbling moment, to say the least. I made it my business to read the reports that come out of this place; it was the stuff of dreams as well as fodder for more than a few nightmares. But one phrase has stayed with me all this time and I think it’s the most appropriate thing to say on this particular day.”

Hayes paused for maximum effect.

“’Daniel Jackson made this place happen’!”

Fin