PART FOUR

Daniel was in his office, sorting through papers but fully aware of the time. Jack was going to return to P3x-989 with the clone in less than ten minutes.  Despite acting cool and telling Jack he wasn’t interested in talking to his clone, he had spent the better part of the past hour trying to throw himself into his work to avoid the feelings that seeing the clone had dredged up in him again.

Feelings that he knew were in his heart and soul at the time of the copying but that he’d thought he’d passed on from now.  Somehow though, since the return of this reminder of the past, Daniel’s suppressed feelings had floated up, controlled his thoughts, demanding a reassessment.  He slammed a book down harder than he’d meant to and realized that although he might want to pretend he wasn’t concerned about what the clone might reveal to Jack, he certainly was.  With another check of his watch, Daniel got up out of his chair and left his office, making his way to the Gate Room.

Finding the clone wasn’t hard. He was the one with the heavy security around him.  Daniel entered the Gate Room, went over to the pile of people near the base of the ramp and tapped a shoulder to get their attention. 

“I’d like to speak with the clone please,” he said to the officer that turned around.

The burly man stepped back. Daniel looked at him, and the other guards around him, then at the clone, dressed in black and looking almost frail amongst the heavily armored guards.  “Uh, can we have some privacy please?”

“I have strict orders, Doctor Jackson, to not let him out of my sight,” the guard barked. 

“Yes, yes, very good, but..” Daniel sighed and held his doppelganger’s gaze.  The Clone looked slightly amused by the situation.  “What if we just go over there?” He pointed to the back of the room.  “I’m sure you can still shoot him if he tries to do anything.” 

The guards exchanged glances then they stepped aside further, to allow the two men to pass through.

The clone walked with a straight back whilst the organic hugged himself, his thumb against his bottom lip, his brow wrinkled in deep thought.

“Thanks,” the clone said.

“I needed to talk to you.” Daniel shrugged dimissively.

“No, I meant for reassuring him that he could still shoot me at this distance,” he said dryly, standing with his hands clasped behind his back lightly. 

“Well, I’m sure it reassures him.”

The clone nodded his agreement. “What did you want to talk to me about?” he asked, the blue eyes looking over the slightly older version of his own face, and the shorter hair.

Daniel looked at him with surprise.  “What wouldn’t I want to talk to you about?” He asked with a soft laugh, trying to lighten the moment.

Rolling his eyes, the clone looked down at his shiny shoes.  “I don't think you’re asking me the meaning of life here,” he said plainly.  “I’ve been here over an hour and you haven’t come to see me.  Now, with less than 5 minutes to go, you show.  What’s on your mind?”

Daniel wasn’t sure he liked being spoken to like that – like the way he spoke to others when he was younger - more straightforward and with no nonsense.  Two years had taught him to restrain some of his impertinence.  Still, he had to admit, it was rather ingrained even today.

“I’m just wondering how things have been.. for you.. over the past few years.”

“Peachy,” the clone said, and then laughed and shook his head as he looked around the gate room. “Sorry, been hanging around with Jack for way too long..” His voice grew softer and he shot Daniel a pained look. 

“I heard about the others..” Daniel said in a gentle tone. The clone nodded but said nothing.

“Can I ask.. how they died?” 

“It’s in the report,” Daniel said then watched as his organic frowned and shrugged like he didn’t know what report he was referring to.  “After my interview with Jack, they sent in a Major Siruis, and he asked me about the others- how they died, what we did in the two years since being ‘left’ there..”

“You weren’t left there,” Daniel said bluntly, as he lowered his chin to his chest and looked at the clone over the top of his frames. “You were made there.”

The clone’s eyes hardened slightly. “For all intents and purposes, ‘Daniel’, we were left there.  I am the person that you were at that time.”  His tone told Daniel that he harbored certain resentment to that.  He taunted, “I have all your thoughts.. all your hopes, dreams.. wishes...desires” just as the ring on the Stargate spun.

Daniel, suddenly aware how close their time was to being up, was about to say something to his clone but he didn’t get a chance as the clone went on to say, “And I was left there!” Suddenly the bitterness subsided and a strange look came over the clone’s face. “So, we learnt to make the best of it.  Learned things about ourselves.. about .. each other.. that we would never had explored-” His eyes shifted around the room with some disdain then back to Daniel,  “- here.”

The clone’s expression told Daniel he did have something to be worried about.  Panic swept through him and was magnified as the second chevron locked into place.  “What did you say to Jack?”

“About?”

 “Cut the crap.  If you’re me from then.. with all my ‘hopes’, my ‘desires’ …  what in hell did you tell Jack..?”

Putting on a sweet demeanor, the clone eyed him for a moment then finally whispered, “Your Jack or mine?”

“Sorry?”  Daniel winced as another chevron clunked into place.

The clone looked around at the room preparing for the gate to open.  People stepped away from the end of the ramp, some turned away to avoid the brightness of the opening. Despite the growing noise in the room, the clone spoke softly as he watched the ring swing into place, “For people with shorter life expectancies than we have, you have wasted valuable time with Jack..” As another chevron locked home the men’s eyes met.

The ring whirled again and Daniel raised his voice over the noise.  “Jack and I are friends,” he argued over the sound of the chevron setting into place.

The clone stared at him with a look that told Daniel he couldn’t lie to him.  Coolly, the clone said, “That’s not what you wanted when you were.. younger.”

“It’s what I have now!” Daniel was aware that the ring was spinning again and he was desperately running out of time.

The clone tilted his head slightly. “Yes, but is it what you want now?” The sixth chevron locked into place.

“Yes.  It’s all I want.” 

With a frown and a down turned mouth, the clone said, “That’s a pity.  Jack’s a wonderful man..” He leaned into Daniel and whispered, “A wonderful ….lover…”

Before Daniel could speak, the last chevron locked into place and the wormhole burst open, first reaching towards the end of the ramp, then settling into a shimmering mercurial wall, dappling light around the room.  Jack was beside him. He patted Daniel on the shoulder and startled the stunned man.

“Jack?” He wondered if he heard any of it, but Jack was looking at the clone.

“Time to go,” he said, not looking happy about the task he was about to perform.

With the event horizon shimmering in his blue eyes, the clone looked at the gateway back to his home.  He stepped forward but Daniel laid a hand on his shoulder and forced him to look at him again. The Organic’s eyes said it all. How could he go now that he’d dropped that bombshell?  Jack had turned and stepped up to the base of the ramp and the clone gave Daniel a sad smile then stepped away from the touch. 

Daniel’s hand slipped from the grasp as the clone moved forward and onto the ramp with the awaiting Colonel.  Jack looked over at his friend, frowned when he saw the look on Daniel’s face then tilted his head to look at the clone instead. 

“Take me home, Jack,” the clone said, with a sweet smile kissing his face. The older man swept his hand towards the event horizon and followed the clone through. 

.o0o.

Jack stepped into a world he hadn’t thought about in many years.  It looked the same.  A large, ornate globe hung and rotated on the ceiling, a loud hum pounded all around them, vibrating through his chest.  He followed Daniel to the main computer, where he and his team had originally turned around to head home before they blacked out and woke up with a round, happy faced man clapping his hands together crying out, “Cumtryah” and asking them if he could get them to stay a short while to help him. That had been the last thing Jack recalled, until waking up and meeting the clones.  He shook himself from that memory and concentrated on the small, neat ass in front of him.   

A cold shiver went down his back as he became overwhelmed by the thought of spending thousand and thousands of years in this metal trap - alone.  He looked up when Daniel coughed softly.

“Okay, all you have to do is slide this dial down a little by moving the toggle here.” He pointed to something like a trackball.  Jack frowned then nodded as he realised what Daniel was doing. He was showing him how to switch him off! 

“Will you give me enough time to go to Jack first though?” the clone asked.  The colonel’s mouth opened then closed as he gave a shrug.

“Thanks.” Daniel smiled, stepped around the control desk and started down a corridor.  “Oh, and Jack, thank you for doing this for me.  I really appreciate it.” 

Jack stared at the sweet face then dropped his chin to his chest. “I’ll give you five.”

He heard another soft thank you as Daniel took off down the corridor.  He leaned over and watched the familiar swagger, one that he happened to like- a lot - and then he saw Daniel open a door and go into a room at the end of the ramp. 

Going over to a railing, Jack leaned over to look down at the layers and layers of metal mesh floors below him, trying to comprehend what it must have been like for Daniel all alone.  No wonder the clone wanted to die.  He ambled back to the main computer.  Reaching out, his hand trembled slightly as he touched the toggle.  He imagined the clone climbing next to his ‘dead’ lover, probably hugging him, kissing him, saying something akin to a goodbye to him……

Yanking his hand away as if the toggle was hot to the touch, Jack let out a frustrated growl then put his gun down onto the computer desk.  He headed along the corridor after Daniel. He was about to open the door when he decided to knock instead.  It took a few moments then Daniel appeared in the doorway. 

“What?”

“I.. I.. can't..” Jack shook his head.

“Why?” Daniel sounded despondent. 

“I can't kill you, Daniel!” he bemoaned. 

The clone gave a desperate yell as he flung his hands over his head. “I want to die, Jack.  Look around you!  Look around us!  What is there for me to live for?  The man I love is in here and I have nothing to live for!”

Jack scratched at the back of his head.  “Give me time?” he asked. 

Daniel blinked and tilted his head as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard him properly. “Excuse me?”

Jack straightened up a little then held his arms out to his side.  “I said, give me time.  Let me get to know you a little better--”

Daniel frowned.  “Why?”

The older man swallowed.  “Because-” He shrugged.  Daniel looked at him then bit his bottom lip. Jack swallowed hard and studied the scuffs on the toes of his boot.  “I’m being totally selfish here, I know, but I’ve been in love with .. Daniel .. since I first met him,” he confessed quietly.

“Since Abydos?”

Jack nodded then looked up. “He didn’t tell you?”

Daniel shook his head.  “No, he never told me that.”

Rolling his eyes, Jack wondered if it wouldn’t be better to just do this and get it over and done with then get back to his life - such as it was.  But he couldn’t. Something compelled him to stay.  He wanted to know more, he wanted to know what it might have been like for him and Daniel.  And he didn’t have the heart to kill this clone. 

“I just want to talk to you a while.  Is that a crime?” Jack asked desperately. 

Daniel shook his head. “No.” He gave a gentle smile.  “I’m in no hurry to die- now.”  He lifted Jack’s bowed face with the tips of his fingers.  “And maybe after all this is over, you’ll go back and be with your Daniel.  Carry on for us, in a way?”

Jack shook his head.  “No,” His eyes darted into the room to the body lying on a bed inside.  Daniel looked over his shoulder then stepped out of the room, allowing the door to close behind him.  Jack looked at him once more.  “Daniel and I are only friends.”

Raising his brow with a little scornful disbelief, Daniel just said, “Well, you should know.”  He pointed towards another door and headed over to it.  “I have to rest for a moment,” he explained as he flicked the switch to open the door.

“Are you all right?” Jack’s hand came out to touch him in the small of his back. The clone’s eyes darted, indicating that he’d felt the touch, then he looked at Jack and smiled.

“I’m fine.” He moved into the room. “I just need to rest. Being away weakened me a little, that’s all.”  He slipped onto one of the shiny black coffin-shaped beds, his feet dangling as he tucked his hands under his thighs.  Jack looked around the room.

“Hey, isn’t this the room we woke up in?” he asked.

The clone lifted his face to cast his eyes around the room.  He nodded and smiled warmly at the memory of the day they’d all met.

“Remember I came over and removed your gag?  You said, “Daniel?” and I said, “sort of.”. 

“Then you and Daniel started to discuss how fascinating it all was…” Jack recalled dryly.

“And we found out from Sam that we were direct copies, or clones.”

“Always did wonder where that birth mark was-” the colonel muttered as he circled on the spot to take in the wiring hanging precariously overhead.

“Under her right breast,” Daniel said, and then his head shot up quickly when Jack stopped spinning and stared at him. The scarred eyebrow raised in unsaid question.

Blushing slightly, Daniel looked sheepish and dropped his hands into his lap

Jack commented, “Well, you get around.”

“Long story.  We’d been here a few months and were bored, I mean REALLY bored.  Nothing to read, nothing to play..”

“Sounds like you figured out a good game..”

Daniel smiled weakly.  “Wasn’t like that, Jack. Sam and I connected in a way that – well, that we agreed we probably would never have back on Earth. We spent so much time together while the others went off and did what ever it was they did.  Sulked, mostly.” His legs swung like a five-year old child’s and Jack again felt a tug of attraction to the younger man. 

“I take it you and Jack weren’t..” He shrugged casually- “at this stage..?” 

Daniel shook his head and the soft brown hair shifted across his face.  “Not yet. Jack took it pretty badly, the whole ‘trapped here for thousands of years’ deal.”

“I kinda sensed that from him at the good-bye.” 

“It was tough on us all.  When that gate shut down after you left the reality of it sunk in.  None of us spoke; we all just went off in different directions.  Sam and I were the first to regroup a few hours later, in this room.” He cast his eyes around the room.  “I didn’t think Jack was ever going to come back.  Thought, maybe, he went on the surface..”

“To run out of power?”

Daniel nodded.  “Sam was concerned that the Teal’c Harlan had made again might have gone haywire, but Harlan insisted that the second clone had the symbiot removed when he programmed it into the system.”

Jack inhaled, rocked on his feet and nodded. “That’s why I agreed he could finish it. Seemed only right to keep the team together.”

Daniel gave a sardonic smile. “Was that why?”

“Pardon?” Jack had genuinely misheard the remark. 

Shaking his head, Daniel dismissed his comment. “After you left Teal’c went off, we didn’t see him again for days.”

“And Jack?”

“He came back in a few hours.  I was really glad to see him.”  Daniel’s smile turned shy, like that was the understatement of the year.

Jack moved over and sat beside him on the cold, black bed. The clone searched his face intimately and seemed to lean closer to Jack but that was squashed when the colonel asked, “so you and Carter were an item?”

Straightening up and staring ahead, Daniel hooked his hands under his thighs again as he said, “No.  Good, good friends.  That’s it.”

“Good friends don’t make love.”

Their eyes met again.  “Sometimes, maybe, they should,” Daniel said.. Jack heard his point clearly enough. 

“It can ruin friendships.”

“It can blossom into love,” the younger man argued softly as his gaze shifted across Jack’s face.  

The gray head quirked slightly. “Is that what happened with you and Carter?”

“No.” Daniel shook his head, holding the intense gaze. “Not with Sam.”

Jack blinked, looked down and muttered “Ah,” under his breath.

Sensing he’d made the other man uncomfortable, Daniel shook off the intimacy and looked straight ahead again. “Sam and I only made love once..”

“Once? You restrained yourself, I see.”

Daniel felt the reprimand. “It was her birthday..” he said, as if that explained it. “What else could I give her?” He fingered the wires hanging down.  “A piece of pipe? Some wires?” 

Remarking on how they celebrated Sam’s birthday back on earth, Jack sounded a little affronted as he said, “We gave her cake.. *I* gave her a tool kit for her motor bike.”

Daniel’s eye went wide. “She mentioned that bike to me.  Said she was annoyed that she’d never get a chance to ride it.”

“Still hasn’t,” Jack said as he found a piece of hanging wire fascinating. “Still hasn’t finished it.”

“Do you help her with it?” Daniel asked guardedly.

“Me?” Jack scoffed flippantly. “You know me and mechanical things.”

“But you’re close, right?” The clone seemed to be hedging towards something, but Jack missed that.

“I care about her, as a friend. We don’t get together a lot outside of work though, if that’s what you mean.  Usually Teal’c and Daniel and I..” He looked at the clone then looked away.

“Guys nights?” Daniel sounded relieved.

Jack laughed with a sorrowful sigh.  “If only he knew..” 

“He would if you told him.”

The words hung between them for a moment then Jack tore his gaze from the clone’s and looked at the doorway, his mind mulling over that point. Just when it looked like he was about to say something profound he said, “So you two made love?”

“Several times,” the clone said. 

“Several?” Jack stammered.  “You said it was the once..”

“Oh, Sam? Oh, sorry I thought you meant me and Jack..” He waved his hand dismissively.

Jack pressed the ball of his hand into his eye and groaned.  Daniel laughed and patted his back. “Sorry. I really thought you were referring to..”

“I gathered,” Jack said as he dropped his hand into his lap. 

With a smile Daniel looked up. “I wondered when you’d get back to that point. About me and Sam, I mean.”

“Kinda big point to miss. You and Carter? You’re like brother and sister, for crying out loud!”

Daniel laughed.  “Actually, that was the conclusion we came to ourselves. That’s why it only happened the once.”

 “I didn’t even know you were attracted to her?” Jack frowned.

“I wasn’t, per se.  It was one of those weird moments.  We’d been working on a pipe in Sector 5 while Jack and Teal’c did one of their regular disappearance acts.  She was pasting it while I wrapped the metal patch therefore we were physically pretty close, and we were just joking around like we did-”

“Carter jokes?”

Daniel laughed gently. “She has a fantastic sense of humor, actually.”

“Who knew?”

“And teases. She used to tease me all the time.  That’s what we were doing that day. She was teasing me about Harlan and the whole idea of being alone like he’d been.  Sam thought he had a little crush on me.”

“You?”

“Don’t look like that!” Daniel nudged him with his shoulder. “So did you!”

Jack conceded that with a shrug.

“We started joking about how long it had been since Harlan would have had any. Eleven thousand years is a long time.”

“And I thought I had a drought!” Jack quipped.

Daniel went to speak but laughed at a memory shared between him and his Jack, before going on to say, “I said that we probably weren’t designed for that kind of thing anyway, and Sam said that if Harlan had a crush on me it was very likely that he’d have made me.. functional.”

“Functional?” Jack’s brow darted up. “Romantic.”

Daniel chuckled to himself again.  “I told her I wouldn’t even do him as a favor on his birthday.  That was when she found about my bisexuality.”

“Ah. Take it well?”

“Surprisingly, actually.” Daniel furrowed his brow slightly as he recalled their conversation about his interest in both sexes.  “Then she said that it was her birthday. At first I thought she was still joking but when I did the math I realized she wasn’t.  I told her that if I’d known..”

“You’d have baked a cake?” Jack quipped.

Daniel laughed. “Actually that’s exactly what she said.  We got onto the topic of if you could have anything you wanted for your birthday, what would it be? She said she would return to Earth – be herself again.”

Jack bowed his head. 

“She wondered what her organic was doing.  Wondered what she’d get for her birthday. What did Daniel give her?”

“Not sex,” Jack said then quickly added, “that I know of.”

Daniel laughed again as he raised his face towards the ceiling. Jack looked at the shape of his throat.  “Would that bother you?” the clone asked, slotting his eyes towards the man beside him. Jack returned the gaze but didn’t answer him.  With a shrug, the clone continued, “At first it was a kind of scientific experiment.”

Jack scoffed and lowered his face.

Daniel ignored him as he went on, “to see if we could function normally, see how it would feel.”

“How did it feel?”

“Like sex.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Exactly like .. sex. With one difference..”

“Do I want to ask?”

“No ejaculation.”

“Yet you cry?”

“I’m not sure why Harlan designed us like that.  Maybe his kind don’t ejaculate..”

Jack felt his throat grow dry.  “Ah.”  He nodded and his face flushed slightly. “So you discovered that you functioned.. normally?”

Daniel smiled. “Very.”

“And this was just a science experiment?
 

Blue eyes looked at him. “With a great deal of compassion and friendship..” 

Jack’s lips thinned and he sighed out through his nose.

“You did ask,” Daniel reminded him.

“Guess I did,” Jack muttered as he slipped off the bed.

The clone grabbed his hand, looked at it a moment then up at the man standing before him.  “You’re jealous.” He seemed delighted.

“I’m..” Jack looked past him, unable to meet the blue eyes.  He looked down when he felt the clone tenderly stroke his hand.  Wordlessly, he tugged his hand away gently, not wanting to upset him.  “I’ll let you get your rest.  I’ll wait outside.” 

Before Daniel could stop him again, Jack left the room. 

<end of part 4>