Chapter Text
“You require rest, O’Neill,” Teal’c addressed the commander of SG-1. The military man sat slumped in a chair in the waiting area outside the infirmary appearing weary and concerned.
O’Neill glanced up at him without moving. “He’s still in there,” he said, gesturing toward the medical ward. “What’s taking so long?”
“Doctor Fraiser has already explained that the procedure to repair the damage to Daniel Jackson’s spleen may take ten hours or more,” Teal’c reminded him.
Nearly twelve hours had elapsed since their arrival at the SGC. Doctor Fraiser had examined them, treated their injuries, and instructed them to rest while Daniel Jackson underwent surgery.
Teal’c had followed these instructions. His kelno’reem had healed the remainder of his injuries and eliminated his fatigue. Major Carter had followed the instructions as well while being observed in the infirmary for her head injury. O’Neill, however, had not.
Teal’c noted the worried lines on his friend’s face and the colonel’s drooping eyes. He placed a reassuring hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Daniel Jackson will make a full recovery. Of this, I am sure. You must rest so that you may assist him in his recovery.”
“Yes, sir, please listen to Teal’c,” said Doctor Fraiser, emerging from the infirmary.
O’Neill leapt from the chair as if a contingent of Jaffa threatened him. “Doc… what’s the word? How is he?”
“He pulled through just fine, Colonel,” Fraiser assured. “He’s being moved to recovery.”
“Great.”
O’Neill charged forward. His entry into the medical ward was halted by the petite healer’s hand. “Excuse me, where do you think you’re going, sir? No visitors until he’s out of post-op, you know that.”
“But Doc —”
“No buts. Daniel needs rest. And so do you.”
“Aw, come on, Doc.”
“Sir, you barely slept during your observation period in my infirmary,” Doctor Fraiser accused, “and the fact that you’re still here tells me that you didn’t go to your quarters and take your muscle relaxants like I ordered you to. You endured a prolonged period of intense pain and spasms from that Goa’uld fire stick. You need rest to recover your strength.”
“Napoleonic power-monger.”
“Keep that up and I’ll sedate you,” replied Doctor Fraiser, shaking the medical chart threateningly in O’Neill’s direction.
“I will hold him down as you do so,” offered Teal’c. Doctor Fraiser smirked.
O’Neill raised his hands in surrender. “Fine. You got me. I’m going.”
“That’s what I thought.” The healer’s face softened. “You can see Daniel as soon as you’ve had a full night’s sleep.”
“Sure. Alright. ‘Night, Doc, T.”
Jack ended up sleeping far longer than he intended. He woke up ten hours later feeling rested and refreshed. He had to admit, the medication and extended sleep had done wonders for his sore muscles. He hadn’t suffered a single spasm since last night in the infirmary.
He met Carter sitting by Daniel’s bedside, head bandaged and arm resting in a sling. “How’s he doing?”
“Sleeping. Finally. He had a rough time.”
“Oh?”
“Let’s just say he went through a lot of anti-nausea medication, sir,” she reported with a little shudder. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better. You?”
“Great,” she said as Teal’c came to join them. Then Daniel began to stir.
“Hey, buddy. How ya feelin’?”
The archeologist opened his eyes partway. He squinted myopically at them, frowned and mumbled, “got a scar on both sides now,” then promptly dropped back off to sleep.
“He’s doing very well, all things considered,” Janet offered with a smile, drawing over to Daniel’s bed, chart in hand. “There were no complications during his surgery. However, he sustained quite a blow to the head. We’ll be watching that closely. Right now, I need to check his vitals, but after that you’re welcome to sit with him.”
Four days later, the team were back at Daniel’s bedside after returning from another trip to Giara. “How are the Giaran people holding up?” asked Daniel taking a tentative sip of water.
“Pretty well, all things considered,” answered Sam.
“It’s my fault their town was destroyed,” said Daniel sadly with obvious guilt.
“Not so fast, buddy,” said Jack. “We all share the blame in that. All of us were involved in digging up that pyramid doohickey. And to be fair, we had no idea what it did, or that it would end up in the wrong hands.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re not responsible, Jack.”
“No,” Jack agreed. “That’s why we’re helping the Giarans rebuild their town and to put some additional defenses in place. I’m gonna see if they’ll give us one of their shield devices —”
“Jack.”
“Alright, never mind. But the point is, the Giarans don’t blame us for what happened.
“Maybe they should. I translated that text for Re’lar, allowing him to use the artifact to invade their world. If anyone’s to blame it should be me.”
“You did the translation to stop Re’lar from hurting me,” said Jack. “The Giarans don’t know what went down while you and I were captive. They’re grateful for the part we played in helping them overcome the Goa’uld. Actually, they consider Teal’c to be quite the hero. They’re pretty fond of Carter, too.”
Teal’c fixed Jack with an inscrutable look. Daniel still felt uneasy.
“We thought you’d also like to know that the Chief Shield Technician, Carlim, along with Professor Darius’ student Siarra, and many of the university staff set up a memorial for him at the university,” said Sam. “Once you’re recovered enough I told them you’d like to see it.”
“Th-that would be nice.” Daniel winced as his pain flared, through he tried to cover it up.
“I almost forgot…” Sam dug in her pocket for something. She drew out a small stone statue. Daniel recognized it as Professor Darius’ good luck artifact. “Professor Darius’ wife wanted you to have this.”
Daniel took the little statue and turned it around in his hands, noticing the smoother areas where the professor had repeatedly run his fingers over it. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t she rather keep it?”
“She has informed us that there are other items of greater value to her which she will use to remember him by,” explained Teal’c. “She wished for a friend of her husband’s to retain a memory of him.”
Daniel was flattered to hear that Darius considered him a friend after knowing him for such a short period of time. “Thank you. Tell her I apprec—” Pain got the better of Daniel as he shifted. He grunted and sucked in a breath through his teeth.
“Hey, take it easy. You need a hand?”
“Please.”
Jack pushed the button to give his friend a dose of painkillers.
“Thanks.”
“Come on, sir, we’d better go. Get some rest, Daniel.” Sam patted his shoulder and gave him a quick peck on the forehead. As the team left, Daniel continued to examine Darius’ statue, idly fingering the bandage on his head, lost in thought.
“You alright?”
Daniel looked up to find Jack still standing there, studying him. He smiled briefly. “Yeah. I was just thinking… we travel to other worlds, we interfere in the beliefs and practices of other groups of people, we find dangerous artifacts that do serious damage... hell, we almost killed an entire planet of people when we screwed up their sun. At what point does the price of exploration become too high? At what point should we just stop meddling and leave others be?”
Jack heaved a sigh. “Exploration can be risky, Daniel, for us and for the people on the other side of the wormhole. Yeah, we make mistakes. We interfere in other cultures. We turn up stuff that probably should remain buried. But despite that, we’re not gonna stop exploring. We’re not gonna turn in the towel because of what might happen. We’re gonna keep goin’ out there and doing the best we can. Alright?”
Daniel bowed his head with a weak nod, again studying the little artifact in his palm and thinking of the man who had owned it.
“Hey, if you’re up for it, I’ll bring the gang around to keep you company for dinner. Your food will be pretty bland, but Teal’c’s got this great little recipe for Jamaican jerk chicken that’ll spice it right up.”
Daniel grimaced. Jack had to be joking. The thought of food made his stomach churn. Daniel swallowed uncomfortably, wondering if someone could increase his anti-nausea medication. “See you later, Jack.”
Jack smiled fondly in response. “Get some rest.”
Daniel watched him go, mulling over his words. He didn’t want to stop exploring. He didn’t want to stop meeting new people. Yet it was difficult to watch those same people get hurt or killed because of their actions.
Now quite sleepy, Daniel stowed the little stone statue on the cart beside his bed, vowing to be more careful with his quest for knowledge next time he stepped through the ‘gate - there most certainly would be a next time. He closed his eyes. Daniel’s last thought before drifting off was to imagine how Janet would react to Jack sneaking Teal’c’s jerk chicken (or anything that wasn’t broth or mush) onto his food tray. He smiled, deciding she would totally kick Jack’s ass.
THE END