PART ONE

That was two weeks ago now.  Two weeks when Daniel felt others were guarded in their dealings with him, cautious not to say or do the wrong thing during his time of mourning.  Sometimes he saw a look cross Jack’s face that almost revealed a level of understanding between them that Daniel found unnerving.  Jack had also known Sha’re, when the other’s had not, but it wasn’t just that. He knew Jack had mourned in the past, for Charlie.  He knew that if any of the others on the team could understand what he was going through, it was Jack.  What he found so unnerving was the need he felt whenever Jack looked at him like that, a need to be held by him, to sit quietly with him, to help him let the demons out.  But Jack pulled away as well, and Daniel’s soul felt bereft again.

Part of him was grateful for the show of respect afforded to him; part of him wished everything could go back to normal so that he could move on.  He needed to move on, to throw himself back into the ‘routine’ of life of Earth, to go through that large gray ring again, not just in search of the Harsesis child, nor for Skaara, but because ‘he’ needed it. He needed this new family, whom he’d come to care about in various degrees.

Major Samantha Carter, a smart, astrophysicist, a good soldier and an even better person.  Daniel was very pleased to call her friend.  She was the sister he never had and he looked to her for guidance and a kindred soul on matters scientific.   Teal'c, a Jaffa, known as First Prime of Apophis, who was present the day Sha’re was taken and was the one whom, ultimately, released her from her prison.  Daniel had long forgiven his friend for his part in the atrocities, as they worked side-by-side to rid the universe of the threat of the Goa’uld, and now he was grateful that Teal’c had saved Sha’re from a prolonged life of abysmal terror.  And last, but by no means least, was Colonel Jack O’Neill, a man Daniel had come to realize these past few years was his *other* soul mate, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

The four of them made up SG-1, the premier team of the SGC, whose mission was to go through that gate at the Cheyenne Mountain and out amongst the stars to search for technologies and life forms that might provide help in the fight against the Goa’uld.  At the start, Daniel felt he was merely there to find Sha’re and take her home with him again, but time has a way of altering one’s priorities in life and situations occurred that had Daniel fighting for his ‘family’ against his wife, and as much as it stung at him to do it, he had no other choice.  The team had to be protected, they had to get back home, and Daniel soon started to discover that Jack’s safety, above all else, was taking precedence in his life.

Analyzing this deep-rooted feeling wasn’t getting the scientist anywhere.  He would often stand on his balcony and watch couples walking around in the park opposite his apartment while he pondered, not only the vastness of the universe but the depths of his heart.   Especially the depth of his affection for Jack...

Did he love Jack?  Most definitely, but the parameters were not clearly defined.  He also loved Sam and Teal'c but with Jack it was a different kind of love; closer and more consuming. The fact that he was not averse to male partners - having had a few in his time - clouded the issue for him also.  But his preference was usually for the darker, more exotic look of Egyptian or Arabic men, not tanned, gray-haired, arrogant, bull-headed, antagonistic American Colonels….

Daniel often laughed to himself over this description — perhaps he was in love with him after all.

So, did he want more? Sometimes – and he felt it was long enough since Sha’re’s death to at least admit that to himself again, even if he knew he’d never act on his feelings.  He’d developed a crush on Jack - who was older than he, more macho, more aggressive, more self-assured – when he went to stay with him after he returned from Abydos.  Jack seemed the antipodes of everything he was.

With the crush unable to go anywhere, Daniel settled for the next best thing. He was, to all intents and purposes, Jack’s best friend. He drew a lot of comfort from this fact, and relied upon it for more than just saving his ass.  With just a look Jack could quell his fears, his doubts, his hesitations, he could fill Daniel with hope, with pride and with a warm feeling of appreciation. Also, with just a look Jack could make his pulse race like no one but Sha’re managed before and for the same reasons. Daniel relished those moments and the enjoyed ordinary the rest of the time.

Thus, Jack was his soul mate.  Daniel accepted that he’d move heaven and earth more for Jack than he would even for Sam or Teal’c, yet he appreciated that Jack would never give him the relationship that he wanted from him, so he settled for a loving friendship instead. Daniel felt that he probably knew Jack better than anyone else on earth did, perhaps even better than Sara did, and in return, Jack knew him far better than Sha’re ever had the chance to. 

Therefore, he didn’t need to turn to the two people coming up the stairs to the control room behind him.  He knew, by the heavy footsteps and the sound of Jack’s melodious sarcastic tone that it was Teal'c and the colonel, coming up to see what the probe had discovered on the world designated as P4x-459— their next mission should the ‘intel’ report back that it had livable air and hospitable surroundings.

Daniel sensed Jack behind him, to the point of being aware that the older man was facing away from him, still talking with Teal'c about the need for protective headgear in Hockey.  Daniel could feel the smirk creep across his lips as Teal'c’s deep voice rumbled, “If it is a friendly game, O’Neill, why would you need protection?”

“Oh, for crying out loud! I’ve just been explaining it to you Teal'c. Come on!”

“I still do not understand why..?”

“Daniel, help me out here, will ya?”

Daniel chuckled quietly to himself at the sound of a desperately frustrated man who hated having to defend the game he loved.  He gave a halfhearted shrug but didn’t turn from the screen until he heard Sam’s chirp as she came into the room.

“Hey guys, what’s happening?”

The anthropologist turned to face his friends now but it was Teal'c who spoke first.

“O’Neill has been explaining the rules of hockey to me.”

“And trying to rationalize why you need so much protection in a friendly game!” Daniel added with a teasing tone.  Jack’s glare would have melted a lesser man but it only made Daniel break into a soft laugh.  Sam smiled as she looked between the three men, finally resting her gaze on the colonel, who was still glaring at his bespectacled friend.

“It’s to…”  He waved his hands around in the air,  “protect!”

Daniel scoffed and shook his head as he lowered his chin to his chest, not needing to say anything further. *I rest my case, your honor! * you could almost hear him say.  

“Sir!” Lt. Simmons caught the colonel’s attention with his short call.  Jack’s head snapped around, all joking aside and his mind fully on the job at hand once more.  Absently he pulled out a chair and slipped into it beside Simmons, his eyes never leaving the screen of data before them.  Sam leaned over the back of Jack’s chair and peered at the numbers flashing onto the screen.

“Atmosphere looks good..” she mumbled quietly, more to herself  than to the room at large.  Jack sniffed the air, suddenly aware of the Major’s perfume.  Turning his head slightly he pressed his nose against her chest.  She, totally engrossed in her work, seemed oblivious to the touch.   Shaking his head slightly, the colonel turned back to view the screen again, feeling the woman press up against his shoulder as she, again, peered closely at the information scrolling on the screen before them.

“Major!”  He called to her out of exasperation, hoping to draw her attention to the fact that her chest was against his left ear now.  She looked down and immediately knew what he was objecting to.

“Sorry sir,” she said, and pulled back, keeping her distance from the sitting man.  Jack caught  Simmon’s open mouth gape as he turned back towards the screen once more but kept  the smirk from his face.   The group observed the data for a few moments more until Jack said, “Okay, shut it down, Lieutenant.”

Swinging around in his chair, he sat with his arms crossed as he looked at the Major.

“Looked good,” she commented with a shrug.  Jack’s eyes fell to the Jaffa.

“What about you Teal'c?  See anything you recognized there?”

“Nothing,” came the definite reply.

Raising a pen in the air slightly, Daniel broke in quietly. “I saw a….”

Suddenly the Gate started whirling, the iris slid shut and the lights flashed in time to the ear-splitting sound of the klaxons.  The gate was activating! 

Hammond stomped into the room at the summons of the alarm. “Lieutenant, report!” he barked.

“It’s an off world activation, Sir!” Simmons touched his fingers to his earpiece as he looked up at the bald man beside him.

“Anyone due back?”  Jack asked casually. 

“Only SG-5, but not for an hour,” Hammond said as he checked his watch, then instructed Simmons, in a casual tone, “Better get a medical team down there.’

Simmons took a moment then snapped his head around to the three men standing right behind him.  “It’s SG-1’s Code, Sir,” he stammered softly, then glanced at the Colonel.

Hammond and Jack exchanged puzzled looks.

“It can't be!” Sam stated the obvious.

“Could it be Bra’tek?” Daniel offered. 

O’Neill shook his head, “No.  He has a different code..”

“So who would be using SG-1’s code?”

Sam’s eyes widened slightly then she spoke quickly over the loud siren. “Captain Lukus, on SG-5, went to Px4-134 with us a while ago.  Maybe they’re in trouble and he can only recall our code?  He was the one to punch it in when we returned from that mission..”

She exchanged looks with Jack, who in turn, looked at Hammond.

“If you’re looking for votes I’d say we keep the door open, Sir.  Must be someone we know,”   the colonel told him.

He gave a slight shrug of uncertainty when Hammond glared at him as if to ask, ‘are you sure?’. 

Pursing his lips into a tight, white line, the general huffed out through his nose then shook his head. “Double up security in there..!”

Simmons summoned the reinforcement immediately.  Hammond looked at Jack, almost for some kind of agreement.    The colonel gave another little shrug as if to imply ‘well, you’re the boss!’ to which Hammond rolled his eyes.  Then he gruffly ordered,  “Open the iris!”

The iris slid open mere seconds before the gate whooshed to life and the five people stepped a little closer to the window in anticipation. 

To the sound of arms being raised and readied, a slim black figure came rolling out of the gateway, tumbling along the metal mesh ramp at an awkward angle until it slammed into the side rail.  Jack visibly cringed at the sound of the body impacting with the metal whilst Daniel took a step even closer to the window, his head tilted and his mouth agape at the sight before him. 

Before the medical team could swoop onto the stranger, the black-clad man had rolled onto his knees, uncurled and lifted teary eyes up to the gate room.  His face contorted in a panic cry..

“Jack!!” He sobbed.

“Holy Hannah…..!” Sam exclaimed under her breath, as her eyes grew even wider once she recognized the dark figure on the ramp.  The whole room fell silent as everyone stared down at the crumpled man, then they all turned to look at Daniel beside them.  In the gate room, confused guards had their guns trained onto the man dressed in black.

‘Daniel Jackson’ was slumped against the side of the ramp, his body heaving from deep inhales, his teeth clenched in a look of sheer determination as his pale hands gripped the cold metal railing and his eyes strained to make out the faces in the window above him.

“For crying out loud!” Jack muttered slowly as the stranger stared straight up at him then reached a hand out towards him as he gave another pitiful cry, “Jack!  I need you!” The plea was desperate and heart wrenching, the fingers stretched out towards him.

“Colonel?” Hammond asked cautiously, his head turned towards the man beside him but his eyes never left the figure at the base of the ramp. 

“I have no idea, Sir.” Jack confessed in a soft mumble then twisted his head to look at the man slightly behind his left shoulder.  “Daniel?” 

Daniel stepped even closer to the window, stupefied as he stared down on ‘himself’ in the gate room.  Taking in the tight back outfit with the gray detail, he said, “It’s got to be the clone Harlan created..”

“It does?” Jack asked, dubiously.

Daniel stared straight at him. “Doesn’t it?”

Down in the Gate room, with firearms still trained on him, the agitated man on the ramp dropped his face into his hands as he sobbed loudly once more. 

“Jack….! Oh, God! I need you, Jack!”

End of part 1