Daniel had only been truly in love twice in his entire life. First Shau’ri. Then Jack. The longest with Jack. The man who’d saved his life and given him a purpose and direction not once, but twice. They’d gone from friends to lovers and then friends again. Life had broken them apart; life and duty and routine, as awful as that was to admit. As Jack’s responsibilities had grown, their personal lives together had shrunk. Moving to DC had been the final, inevitable nail in the coffin around their relationship.

Daniel wondered why their friendship had survived, but the passion hadn’t. It wasn’t as though he didn’t still love Jack, it was just…not the same. Of course, he hadn’t seen Jack but a handful of times in the last few years, but even before the move to DC, they’d grown apart.

Maybe it wasn’t anyone’s fault, he thought for about the ten thousandth time. Or maybe, as Jack likes to say, we had bigger fish to fry.

Staring into his uncaffeinated coffee substitute, feeling unusually maudlin after almost two nights and days without sleep, he wondered if he was doomed to never find a lasting love. Maybe there was just something about him that made it impossible for someone to put him first and not duty. He just wasn’t important enough, there wasn’t enough in him to interest anyone long-term.

“Daniel? Are you all right?”

Breaking out of his reverie at Sam’s soft question, Daniel rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Just thinking.”

She looked concerned as well as exhausted and half-ordered, “You should come out with the rest of us. No one should be alone after this long without sleep.”

Daniel stood from his little corner window seat on the second floor of the village home they inhabited and followed her back downstairs. He said abruptly, “I think this is worse.”

Sam looked back at him and questioned, “Than what?”

“That time we had to stay awake or die thanks to that bug in our brains,” Daniel clarified.

Her lips quirked briefly into a commiserating grin and she agreed, “In some ways, yes. We’ll have to be careful. Humans weren’t designed to go indefinitely without sleep. Sooner or later, we’ll start hallucinating and then things will get dicey.”

Daniel’s eyebrows went up. “They aren’t now?”

“More dicey,” she allowed, moving to her equipment.

Mitchell came back into the house just then with Teal’c and said, “Checked in with SGC that there was no news. There isn’t, right?”

Sam shook her head. “Not yet. I think I’ve almost isolated the source of the frequency, but there’s a local radiation that’s interfering with my scans.”

“The same radiation that’s seeping into us that we don’t want anyone else to get,” Mitchell sighed.

She half-smiled. “That’s the one. The good news is that I’m almost positive it won’t have any long-term adverse reactions like cancer or sterility.”

Mitchell blinked at her. “Well. I’m sure my Mom will be happy to hear that.”

Daniel snorted and pulled out his laptop, which the General had sent through the day before. At least he was catching up on his research. All those times he’d wished for some way to stay awake for days and now that he had one, all he wanted to do was sleep.

* * * *

If there was one thing Cam hated more than anything else, it was being helpless. He’d spent his life putting plans into action, rescuing people, flying missions, and for the last few years, saving the galaxy. Watching Daniel through the glass of the viewing room brought up an all-too-familiar feeling of helplessness, one he’d become very well acquainted with since joining SG1.

Dr. Lam walked around Daniel’s bed checking her monitoring equipment, the bulky environmental suit making her movements seem slow and clumsy. She finally turned to look up at him and say, “No change, Colonel.”

Cam nodded and asked, “He’s stable, though, right?”

“He is,” she confirmed.

The door opened and he half-turned to find Sam walking into the room, concern etched into her expressive face. “How is he?”

Cam looked back at Daniel’s still body and answered shortly, “Stable.”

She rested a hand on his shoulder and said, “You shouldn’t blame yourself for this. General O’Neill couldn’t break him of the habit of touching things before he knew what they were in all the years he was in charge of the team.”

“I know, but I was right there. I should’ve stopped him,” Cam gritted out.

Sam moved to the glass, gazing down as she observed, “I don’t know which is worse; when he’s thrashing around in the restraints, or just comatose.”

Comatose, Cam thought, definitely.

Because at least then there were signs of life instead of Daniel just lying there, eyes wide open like he was dead.

* * * *

Daniel was really starting to go stir crazy, confined to the cell as he was. It looked exactly like the one Ba’al had held Jack in, but there’d been no sign of the Goa’uld himself. There was nothing for him to do except think. He didn’t even have anyone in a nearby cell to attempt to learn where he was or what his captor wanted.

Trapped as he was, Daniel’s thoughts inevitably went in a circle. He started with trying to find a way out of the cell, which always turned out useless. Then he argued with Jack in his head about why he was there in the first place. The Teal’c in his mind counseled patience, which was fine except that Daniel wanted out now. Or, if not out, then someone to interact with.

“Is that it? Are you trying to torture me with solitude?” Daniel asked aloud. He looked up and around at the hidden camera that had to be present and continued, “Because it won’t work. I’ve got plenty of texts memorized to keep me company for a very long time.”

Daniel sighed when there was no response and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall.

“Hey there, Sunshine.”

Cam’s question out of thin air made Daniel yelp in fright and roll away. When he sat up again, the other man just looked at him from the spot next to where Daniel had been with that annoying grin. He was dressed in casual jeans, boots, and a t-shirt that was a hair too snug for Daniel’s peace of mind.

Glaring, Daniel exclaimed, “What is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with you? I’m not the one stuck in a Ba’al cell with no plan,” Cam countered, shrugging.

Testy, Daniel pointed out, “It’s not like there’s anything for me to do. I don’t even have a way to get information if no one comes around. And I’m not Sam. I can’t just pull out panels and start messing around with controls and wires. I’ll probably just electrocute myself.”

“Would that be worse than just sitting here doing nothing?”

Even knowing that Cam was a projection from his mind, it was a good point. He scowled at the man and got to his feet, moving to the area near the control panel. He couldn’t reach it, of course, the force shield kept him from it, but maybe he could pull out a panel on this side to get to it through the wall.

* * * *

By the second day, Cam had persuaded Dr. Lam to let him put in the drops that kept Daniel’s eyes moist, stuck open as they were. The man hadn’t blinked once since touching that damn device on PX-997. Three days after he and Teal’c had carried Daniel through the gate, they knew nothing more about what was going on than directly after his having touched the device. Sam and Dr. Lee were carefully studying it, but that was difficult to do without being able to actually manipulate it physically.

Sitting beside the hospital bed in the isolation room, he dropped in the solution every twenty minutes like clockwork. It was busywork, but no one gainsaid his right to do it. General Landry knew he felt responsible for Daniel’s current state and since there was nothing pressing going on for a change, allowed him to stay with their fallen teammate.

“I think I’m going to make you wear a bell,” he announced conversationally. “The bad guys might here us coming, but I’d also be able to hear you about to do something stupid.”

“It would never work.”

Cam jumped to his feet, coming instantly to attention at General O’Neill’s comment.

Walking over to the bed, O’Neill continued, “I tried it about two months into the job and let me tell you. A pissy Daniel is not a Daniel you want to deal with. Believe me. At ease, Mitchell.”

“Sir,” Cam acknowledged, relaxing a little.

O’Neill stared down at Daniel for a long moment and then glanced at Cam. “You should get some rack time, Mitchell. I’ll take over for a while.”

It was an order, but Cam protested anyhow with, “I really don’t mind, Sir.”

“I’ve got it, Mitchell,” O’Neill said sharply.

Cam automatically straightened to attention and acquiesced, “I’ll leave you to it, Sir. He’s due for more drops in eight minutes.”

When he turned back, it was to find O’Neill sitting on the edge of the bed with an unreadable expression. The gentle hand on Daniel’s face, however, said more than any words ever could.

Cam turned away from the intimate sight with clenched fists.

* * * *

Cam’s cheerful whistling really made Daniel want to pound him with something. Being stuck on a tropical island would have been a great vacation, if he’d had books, or a laptop, or even Sam and Teal’c to distract from Cam’s more irritating traits…like walking around in his boxers and nothing else. Granted it was a broiling ninety-something Fahrenheit, but it wasn’t like Cam had to flaunt it. The man had tanned up like some kind of bronze Adonis while Daniel was stuck hiding in the shade for fear of burning without any sun block around.

Sitting under the palm tree, wishing like hell that it was cold so they would have to be bundled up, Daniel kept his eyes closed. He mentally reviewed budget statistics, but it was no good. He associated tropical with Jack and that one trip they’d managed to take about a year into their relationship. His body was looking for something fun to do and sitting alone in the shade wasn’t it.

“Come on, Sunshine! Get your butt in the water!” Cam shouted from the shore. “It’s awesome!”

Daniel opened his eyes and called back, “I’m good, thanks!”

He watched as Cam cheerfully ditched his boxers and dove into the water nude. Groaning, Daniel thumped his head against the palm and prayed that they wouldn’t be stuck long. Surely the SGC was already tracking them through their implants. It couldn’t be more than a day, maybe two, before they were rescued. He would just have to make the best of it until that happened.

It was about a half-hour later that Cam jogged over to him, fortunately redressed in his boxers, and grinned like a kid in a candy store. “You are missing out, Jackson. The water’s great.”

“I burn,” Daniel informed him for at least the tenth time.

Cam smirked a little. “Your loss. I’ll go spear us some fish for dinner.”

Daniel tried like hell not to watch his ass when Cam ambled back to the shore. Given how the boxers clung to wet skin, it was a near impossible task and he ultimately gave in, his gaze roaming over the muscled body with a hunger that astonished him. Granted, it had been a long time since he’d had sex, Vala notwithstanding, but the want that moved through Daniel was startling in its force.

“I really don’t need this,” he muttered flopping onto the ground and almost literally burying his face in the sand.

* * * *

Five days from the day Daniel had touched the as-yet-unknown device on PX-997, Cam was called from the isolation hospital room to the conference room outside General Landry’s office. Hopeful that Sam and Lee had found a way to deactivate the device, he waited impatiently for the elevator and jogged through the halls.

Sam, Teal’c, Vala, Dr. Lam, General Landry, and General O’Neill were all present when he got there and all of a sudden, Cam had a very bad feeling. He kept his face neutral as he took his seat, nodding to the Generals as he said, “Sorry I’m late.”

General Landry waved it off and then prompted, “Colonel Carter? You have an update?”

“Yes, Sir,” Sam began. “Like the Ancients’ communication device, this device appears to have connected directly with Daniel’s brain.”

Cam kept his mouth shut on the snide comment that wanted to get out, the one that would have said, “Well hell, Sam, I could’ve told you that five days ago.”

She continued, “The device emits a wireless signal that activated when Daniel touched it and we can reasonably assume that it conformed to his DNA alone, since it didn’t do anything when I touched it yesterday.”

Not at all surprised that she’d finally gone against orders with Daniel’s well-being at stake, Cam was just glad nothing had happened to her, too.

“We’ve found the power connection and how to turn it off, but like when we first interacted with the Ancients’ device, don’t know what that might do to Daniel,” she finished.

Everyone looked to Dr. Lam, who said steadily, “Unlike with the Ancients’ communications device, Daniel is failing, physically. Aside from the random bouts of frenzied seizures which put an incredible stress on his brain, his organs are just starting to shut down. We’ve already got him on oxygen and we’re going to have to put him on dialysis soon, if something doesn’t change.”

O’Neill asked, “Do we think the doohickey is maybe draining energy from Daniel?”

Sam shrugged and said, “It’s certainly possible, Sir, but there’s no way to tell. We don’t know what the true function of the apparatus is, so theorizing about side-effects is pointless. It could be anything from a particularly nasty execution method to a communications device gone awry.”

“I really wish the word ‘execution’ hadn’t just come out of your mouth,” O’Neill commented.

Sam’s mouth quirked into a brief, humorless grin. “Sorry, Sir. Without knowing its origins or function, we can only speculate. I can shut it down, but that’s all I can say for certain.”

“Teal’c, Vala, any word from your people?” Landry questioned.

Teal’c shook his head and replied gravely, “No one has seen this device.”

Vala made a face and said, “I’m still waiting to hear back from a few other sources, but so far nothing. I’ve never even seen anything like it.”

Landry and O’Neill exchanged a look and then Landry said, “Thank you, everyone. Colonel Carter, keep trying to find a way to disconnect Dr. Jackson. Dismissed.”

Cam wanted to demand to know what they were going to do, but he suspected he knew. They would leave it until the last possible moment, until Daniel started to die, and then turn it off. There wasn’t really any other option.

Catching Sam’s arm, he asked in a low voice, “What’re the odds you’re going to figure this thing out before Daniel gets worse?”

“Honestly? Slim to none,” Sam sighed. “The irony is that if Daniel were awake, he could probably translate the writing and tell me how to disconnect it.”

Cam nodded. It wasn’t the first time she’d mentioned that.

“Mitchell.”

Turning at O’Neill’s call of his name, Cam walked over to Landry’s office and stepped inside. Landry motioned for him to sit, so he did.

“We’re going to have Colonel Carter shut down the device, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed,” Landry started. “We’ve got people going through medical portion of the new database on the Odyssey, but without the Asgaard to assist, there’s no way of knowing if there’s anything in there to help.”

Cam nodded and agreed, “Yes, Sir.”

Testy, O’Neill said, “We didn’t bring you in here to ‘sir,’ us to death. What do you think? You’ve been damn quiet since this whole thing started.”

Cam thought about what to say for a long moment and then said, “I want to bring Jackson back to where it happened. Him and the device.”

Landry’s eyebrows lifted in apparent surprise as he pointed out, “He’s on life support.”

“And he’s going to die, Sir,” Cam said bluntly. The words cost him dearly, but he’d acknowledged them two days ago. “If nothing changes, then he’s dead. We have no way of knowing what will happen when Sam shuts it down. It could help him or kill him.”

“And bringing him back will do what?” O’Neill questioned.

Cam shrugged. “I don’t know, Sir, but it’s better than just sitting around waiting. I know SG3 didn’t find anything else in the temple, but maybe just being there will do something.”

Landry and O’Neill exchanged another look and O’Neill nodded, as inscrutable as ever. Glancing back at him, Landry said, “All right, Colonel. Have Dr. Lam get Dr. Jackson ready for travel and be ready to go through the gate asap.”

Standing, Cam nodded and left the office, breathing a short, explosive sigh outside. Having one General to deal with was bad enough; two was a headache he didn’t need. He carefully didn’t think about the fact that it was more O’Neill’s relationship with Daniel that bugged him than the man’s rank.

* * * *

Daniel hadn’t been on many ships or boats in his life, discounting those in space, and this experience made him never want to be on one again; in open water, cramped into a lifeboat with Cam unconscious and possibly dying. They didn’t have any water or food and he’d only just barely stopped the bleeding that had been oozing from Cam’s chest.

Shaky from the certainty that they were going to die, Daniel kept a tight grip on Cam’s hand as he carefully moved to sit on the bottom of the boat with him. The sun was bright overhead in the clear blue sky, too strong, and the wind whipped waves up and over the sides, bobbing them along like a cork that could tip over at any time. Daniel tugged Cam’s head onto his lap for some cushioning and rested his other hand on the uninjured portion of his chest.

“Not what I had in mind when I said I needed to get away from it all,” Daniel rasped and then cleared his throat. He hadn’t had anything to drink in over a day, saving the lone canteen to dribble into Cam’s mouth. Now even that was gone. “I would say you need to wake up, but really, there’s no reason you should experience any of this. I’m sorry I got you into this, Cam.”

If he’d been more insistent, the other man wouldn’t have gone with him on the ill-fated trip. Not that anyone had probably been able to tell Cam anything in his life, the man was stubborn personified, but he should have tried.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, trying in vain to stem the massive migraine that wouldn’t go away, Daniel continued, “I guess now is as good a time as any to admit that I like you. No, that’s not right. That sounds like it’s a high school crush or something. I know you, I see who you are inside, and I wish I were enough for you. I wish I’d had the guts to say something before now, but life and death situations seem to be the only things that get me to open up.

“That’s what happened with me and Jack. It was so intense for so long that it was natural for us to get together. And even though things seem the same with you, they aren’t. You’re not anything like Jack…well, other than an unnatural fondness for pie you both have. Sorry. That’s off point. What I’m saying here is that…God, you’d think with certain death looming I could say it, but I can’t.”

Daniel stopped talking and closed his eyes, lifting his face to the sun. Cam convulsed suddenly under his hands and Daniel immediately shifted to hold him down, trying frantically to get hold of his tongue so he didn’t choke on it. Silent tears of impotent rage and frustration fell as Cam thrashed underneath him. When he went unnaturally still, Daniel’s own breathing stopped in pure panic. He shook his head violently in denial and began CPR, refusing to believe that this was how things would end. It seemed as if he breathed for Cam forever, pumping against his chest, the unbeating heart directly beneath his hands.

Sagging to the floor, Daniel felt numb as he whispered, “I love you.”

There was nothing else to live for, so he stood, raised his arms and fell backwards out of the boat, letting the ocean take him.

* * * *

Cam held Daniel down as the other man thrashed violently on the floor of the temple. Vala, Sam, Dr. Lam, and Teal’c all held down a limb as Cam kept Daniel from banging his head on the stone floor. He also kept hold of Daniel’s tongue, trying to keep him from choking on it, and snarled, “Wake up, God damn it! Wake up, Jackson! Daniel! Daniel, stop it!”

Unbelievably, Daniel stopped convulsing. Heart pounding in his chest from fear and exertion, Cam let go of Daniel’s tongue, but kept a hand on his head.

Dr. Lam immediately listened to Daniel’s chest with her stethoscope and let out a shaky sigh. “He’s alive.”

Cam stretched his jaw, which had clenched shut during the seizure, and asked, “How long does he have?”

She shook her head and answered, “There’s no way to know.”

And then Daniel’s eyes closed, his head lolling to the side. Alarmed, Cam put his hand around Daniel’s throat, but the pulse was still there, strong and slow under his touch. Sagging in relief, he told the others, “Still in there.”

The tension on their faces didn’t abate, though relief tempered their expressions some.

“Cam?” Daniel whispered.

Cam looked back down to find Daniel squinting up at him. Joy surged through him and he exclaimed, “Yes! It’s about time you woke up, Sunshine!”

Coughing, Daniel looked down to find everyone holding onto him and frowned, blinking rapidly. His voice was barely audible as he asked, “What’s going on?”

Vala launched herself at Daniel. “You’re alive!”

Daniel oofed at the impact and Cam instantly hauled her off him with more force than necessary. He covered by saying, “Dr. Lam needs to look at him.”

Dr. Lam shook her head and ordered, “Back through the Gate. I want to get him back on life support.”

Daniel had fallen unconscious again, so he didn’t protest being manhandled onto the gurney by Cam and Teal’c. Cam was tense all the way back to the SGC and the infirmary, though he kept out of the way as Dr. Lam and her people worked Daniel over. So did the others. No one made a move to leave as Daniel was put back on oxygen and monitoring equipment, though in the regular infirmary, not isolation.

It was another hour before Daniel woke up again. Cam had his glasses ready, pulling them out of his vest pocket as he stepped to the bedside. Daniel gave him an oddly shy smile as he took the glasses and then settled them into place asking, “What happened?”

“You touched something,” O’Neill announced, striding into the room. “How many times have I told you to stop that?”

Undeniable pleasure flashed over Daniel’s face as he greeted, “Jack! What are you doing here?”

Smiling back as if no one else were in the room, O’Neill answered, “Oh you know. Just in the neighborhood. Dr. Lam? How’s our boy?”

Cam forcibly unclenched his fists.

Dr. Lam smiled warmly as she replied, “He’s still weak and will need time to recover from the stress on his body, but the degradation of his organs has stopped. He should be fine.”

Sam and Vala moved in for hugs, which Daniel returned, though he still looked bewildered as he did so. When Teal’c grasped Daniel’s arm, he explained, “We were on PX-997 when you picked up a small device. You have been in a coma ever since.”

“At first we thought it was a communications device,” Sam continued, “but you didn’t have the same physiological responses, though the brain activity was similar.”

Vala finished, “You’ve been out of it for six days, Daniel. We were divvying up the loot in your office.”

Daniel snorted and said, “I’m sure you were,” glancing at Cam with another of those shy smiles. “I hope you kept her away from the important artifacts?”

Cam winked. “You bet, Jackson.”

O’Neill spoke up then with, “I’m pulling rank. Everyone out so Danny can rest.”

Cam’s jaw tightened, but he forced his voice to remain easy as he said, “Get some Z’s, Jackson. We’ll check on you later.”

“Bye,” Daniel replied, sounding a little wistful.

Cam trailed the others out of the infirmary, glancing back to find that O’Neill had appropriated his spot and moved to sit on the bed. He and Daniel were talking quietly with an intimate rapport that was easy to see. The medical staff took no notice of them which, Cam supposed, was exactly how things went with two such important people. The rules didn’t apply to General Jack O’Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson. They could be in love and not worry about their careers.

Abruptly depressed, Cam left the infirmary.

* * * *

Daniel smiled when Jack took his hand, their fingers lacing together automatically. “So. Alien artifact induced coma, huh? Haven’t had one of those in a while.”

Jack snorted and countered, “You’re a riot, Daniel. How do you feel?”

“Tired,” Daniel admitted. “Oddly sore, as if I’ve been on some kind of major hike, you know? An all-over kind of soreness.”

Nodding to show he understood, Jack told him, “Dr. Lam said most of your organs were shutting down, so that’s not a big surprise. Mitchell got you back there just in time, looks like.”

“To the temple?”

“Yeah.”

Daniel squeezed his hand and asked, “And how long have you been AWOL looking after me?”

Jack shrugged. “Not too long. And hey. It’s not AWOL if you’re the boss.”

Chuckling, Daniel agreed, “Probably not, but you should head back.”

“I will, now that I know you’re okay,” Jack said. He hesitated and then observed, “Mitchell seemed pretty…stressed…with you down. Thought it was his fault.”

Daniel sighed. He’d noticed that Cam had seemed a little withdrawn. “He’s like you that way.”

A flash of something ran through Daniel as he said those words…déjà vu? Frowning, he tried to remember, but ultimately gave up.

Jack rested a hand on Daniel’s thigh as he said quietly, “I was thinking maybe you could transfer to DC, work on some of those international committees that could use someone who knows what they’re talking about.”

Stunned by the suggestion, Daniel gaped at Jack for a few seconds before saying, “That’s ah, that’s flattering, Jack, that you think I could get anyone to listen to me, but you know I’m doing what needs to be done here.”

Jack shook his head and inched closer as he said urgently, “You almost died, Daniel. Again. One of these days, we’re not going to get you back. I’m not going to get you back. And…I miss you. I would…I want you with me.”

Daniel’s thoughts whirled at the unusual admission. Even at the height of their relationship, Jack had rarely spoken like that.

“Just think about it,” Jack said hurriedly. “I know we shelved the whole relationship thing to just being friends, but…I think maybe that was a mistake.”

Daniel thought his head might explode from being blindsided like that so he just closed his eyes. They sat quietly together for a while, comfortable with the silence, and Daniel’s eyes drifted shut as that tiredness grew to exhaustion without warning. He vaguely felt Jack kiss his forehead and thought he heard, “Love you, space-monkey,” but was sliding into a genuine sleep and couldn’t be sure.

…rocking motion…a boat…panic…no heartbeat…despair…water dragging him down, down, down…

Daniel jerked awake with a shout of Cam’s name, his heart pounding and his breathing harsh in his ears. Strong hands gripped his shoulders and he looked around wildly to find Cam the one holding him in place. Throwing his arms around Cam’s waist, he gasped, “Oh, thank God! I thought you were dead.”

“No, no you’ve just been shouting my name for the last ten minutes,” Cam replied, sounding a little strangled. “Helluva nightmare, Jackson.”

Realizing abruptly that he was clinging to the other man and how that might look to anyone in view, Daniel yanked his arms away and sagged back onto the pillows. Embarrassment flushed through him and he apologized, “Sorry, sorry. I don’t even know what the nightmare was about. Something with a boat and you didn’t have a heartbeat and then…I was drowning.”

Cam sat on the edge of the bed and said, “That would rattle anyone. You okay, now?”

Daniel nodded, drawing in a shaky breath and then saying, “Yes, thank you.” He caught sight of the clock on the wall and winced when he saw that it said 0512. “Did I wake you?”

“Nah. Dr. Lam called me a few minutes after I got up,” Cam assured him. “Now that you’ve got our adrenaline going, I’m definitely up for the day. Want some coffee? I can sneak some in from the mess.”

Daniel grinned a little, but shook his head. “Now, if you were going to sneak some from Vala’s private stash, that would be a different story.”

“Are you kidding?” Cam teased, chuckling. “Vala’s got more security on her beans than Area 51.”

Closing his eyes, Daniel let himself relax a little and asked, “Where’s Jack?”

“General O’Neill headed back to DC after talking with you.”

Something in the other man’s voice caused Daniel to open his eyes. Cam didn’t seem upset, even though he could’ve sworn he’d heard…Shaking off the obviously wrong thought, Daniel said, “You don’t have to stick around.”

Cam flashed him a crooked grin and replied, “Not due anywhere for a couple of hours. Teal’c’s going to whup my ass in the sparring ring at 0730, but I’m free the rest of the morning. We’re grounded until you get your legs back.”

Daniel winced. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Would you stop…” Cam bit back whatever he’d been going to say and finished with an irritated, “apologizing. You almost just died, you’re allowed.”

Daniel opened his mouth and then closed it again, stopping the apology before it could escape. He offered a wry grin and said, “Can’t help it.”

That crooked grin reappeared briefly and Cam said, “I know. Look, you want any of your books? I could get something to occupy you, if you want?”

Shaking his head, Daniel closed his eyes again, that all-over exhaustion pulling at him again. It would be very annoying, if he could summon the energy to be annoyed. He yawned and asked, “Do you mind just staying with me a while?”

“No, Jackson. No, I don’t mind that at all. Get some shuteye,” Cam said softly.

As he drifted again, Daniel mumbled, “My name’s Daniel.”

* * * *

Cam barely slept all night, tossing and turning as images of Daniel and O’Neill assaulted his mind. The easy way they fell in together had been glaring. He finally gave up the ghost around 0430 and climbed out of bed to take a shower. The whole team was still on base, even Sam, so he didn’t feel too conspicuous sticking around. That probably wouldn’t be the case the coming night, though, so he mentally began a list of things he needed to do at his apartment.

His phone rang just as he was getting dressed. Cam picked it up with, “Mitchell.”

“Colonel Mitchell, I need you in the infirmary, asap,” Dr. Lam said. “Daniel’s stuck in some kind of nightmare and, well, listen…”

Cam stiffened when he heard Daniel shouting his name over and over. He didn’t bother to respond, just hung up and ran for the elevator. It took way too long to get there and he bolted as soon as they opened on the medical level. He heard Daniel’s shouts from a distance and put on a burst of speed, reaching Daniel’s bedside to find him thrashing around, physically restrained by Dr. Lam and the medical staff.

Pushing aside the nurse at Daniel’s head, Cam grabbed the stricken man’s shoulders and shouted over the panicked cries, right into his ear, “Daniel! Daniel, wake up! Snap out of it, damn it!”

Daniel shuddered violently and then went still for a second before grabbing Cam around the waist and gasping, “Oh, thank God! I thought you were dead.”

Meeting Dr. Lam’s gaze, Cam shrugged, mystified by the whole situation. She motioned the others away and Cam relaxed a little, though his hands remained in the air, hovering over Daniel’s back. He immediately missed the other’s warmth when Daniel jerked away. The subsequent conversation only took a few minutes and then he got to just watch the other man sleep. It was soothing, the steady rise and fall of Daniel’s chest.

Dr. Lam approached several minutes after Daniel fell asleep and said quietly, “He had a restless night, but it wasn’t until REM that the nightmare struck. Although I do want to say it was more than just a nightmare.”

Cam stood and walked a short distance away, not wanting to accidentally wake Daniel. “What do you mean?”

“Dr. Jackson is still being monitored by all our equipment,” she explained. “His brain wave patterns indicated a waking state, even though he appeared to be dreaming.”

Frowning, he asked, “Do you think he’s still tied to that device?”

She shrugged and said, “Anything is possible, although Colonel Carter did disable it.”

“So what now?” Cam prompted.

Dr. Lam gazed at Daniel and replied, “I’m not entirely sure. We’ll continue to monitor him, of course. Hopefully it’s just residual trauma from his connection to the device. I’ll let General Landry know what happened. Well, that Dr. Jackson had an, uh, incident and that you assisted.”

Reassured by her discretion and hoping it applied to the rest of her staff, Cam nodded his thanks and returned to his spot in the chair beside the bed.

Sam showed up around 0630, freshly showered and looking better than she had in a week. She frowned at him and asked, “Didn’t you get any sleep?”

“Couldn’t turn off my brain,” Cam answered truthfully. “Been a crazy week.”

She smiled. “It has, yeah. How’s he doing?”

Cam shrugged and said, “Seems to be okay.”

“That’s our Daniel. He always springs back,” she commented fondly, brushing her fingers over his hair.

It woke him and Daniel yawned, then smiled at Sam. “Sam, hey. Mitchell. When did you two get here?”

A little worried that Daniel didn’t remember the nightmare or his arrival, Cam nonetheless replied, “A little while ago. Nice of you to join us, Sunshine.”

Daniel made a face at him and said to Sam, “I don’t suppose you’ve got copies of the writing on that device? I’d love to take a crack at it.”

Sam laughed softly and then told him, “I knew you’d want it, but I was given explicit instructions not to hand it over. You’re supposed to rest.”

Dr. Lam came over to shoo them off. “Rest means rest. Dr. Jackson needs his sleep and the two of you have things to do, I’m sure. Colonel Mitchell? Get some real rack time or I’ll sedate you. No sparring.”

Cam saluted and they said goodbye to Daniel, heading for the mess hall. Vala and Teal’c waited for them there, eating breakfast comfortably together. He and Sam grabbed food first, though he wasn’t really hungry, and then joined them at the table.

“Have either of you seen Daniel yet this morning? Muscles and I are heading down after breakfast,” Vala greeted.

Cam grinned at the nickname and looked at Teal’c. “Is that so, Muscles?” Teal’c’s eyebrow lowered threateningly and Cam hastily continued, “Just came from there and we were sent packing, so I doubt you’ll be allowed to do more than say hi, if he’s awake. Daniel had some kind of flashback earlier, so the Doc’s monitoring him pretty closely.”

Sam frowned at him. “Why didn’t you say so? I should’ve talked to her about it while I was there.”

Cam shrugged and said, “I just did. Oh, and Teal’c, I’ve been ordered not to spar until I’ve gotten some sleep. Doc threatened to sedate me.”

Teal’c inclined his head and observed, “You do appear fatigued. Did you not rest well, Cam Mitchell?”

Cam ignored the question and said, “I need to go catch up on paperwork. I will see you all later.”

He knew they were watching him go, probably worried, but Cam needed to get away from the people who knew him best. He’d been walking a tightrope with his feelings for Daniel for well over a year, since Merlin had downloaded into the other man’s brain and then the Orai had taken him. All he needed was for the others to figure out that he was in love with Daniel and his time as head of SG1 would come to a screeching halt. He didn’t know the exact status of the relationship between Daniel and O’Neill, but it was more than likely that Sam and Teal’c wouldn’t appreciate him stepping between them.

Sighing, Cam scrubbed a hand through his hair and sank into his office chair before flopping forward to rest his head on his arms. It was a distinct possibility that he should take Dr. Lam up on her offer of sedation; as tired as he was, Cam knew he’d never sleep. His phone rang and he groaned, but sat upright and answered, “Mitchell.”

“Colonel, we have another problem with Dr. Jackson,” Dr. Lam stated. “He won’t wake up.”

Instantly alert, adrenaline sizzling into his system again, he demanded, “Another nightmare? Did someone turn on that damn device again?”

“No, Sir, he just…won’t wake up. I was hoping you could try, since he responded to you before.”

“On my way.”

Cam hung up and forced himself to walk, not run, to the elevator. It wasn’t an emergency or she would have said. Daniel wasn’t in immediate danger. He fought to keep himself to a fast stride down the last corridor into medical and found Dr. Lam, Vala, and Teal’c at Daniel’s bedside. He offered them all a tight smile and greeted, “Wake up call, as requested. What should I do, Doc?”

Dr. Lam shrugged. “Just try and wake him up.”

Standing at the head of the bed, Cam hesitated briefly and then reached out to shake Daniel’s shoulder. “Hey. Jackson. Wake up, buddy.”

There was no response and he looked over at Dr. Lam, who suggested, “Try again. Be more insistent.”

Cam took a breath and then bent in close and shouted, right against Daniel’s ear, at a volume worthy of a Drill Instructor, “Wake up, Jackson!”

Daniel flailed awake and nearly fell off the bed, would have if Teal’c hadn’t caught him. Clutching at the Jaffa, Daniel exclaimed, “What the hell?” as Teal’c righted him back onto the bed.

Cam shrugged apologetically and told him, “You wouldn’t wake up. She said to be louder.”

Daniel gaped up at Teal’c who confirmed, “Indeed, Daniel Jackson,” and tucked the blankets around him.

Shifting his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, Daniel said, “Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Are you saying that that was the only way to wake me up? By scaring me half to death?”

“I tried kissing you awake, but that didn’t work,” Vala offered, grinning.

Daniel looked horrified and demanded, “You what?”

Cam coughed a little and observed, “Guess that puts to rest any notion you’re a Sleeping Beauty.”

“Oh very funny,” Daniel snapped. To Dr. Lam, he asked, “Really? I wouldn’t wake up?”

She nodded, saying, “I’m sorry, Dr. Jackson, but you only seem to respond to Colonel Mitchell.”

There was an awkward silence at the double entendre and Cam very carefully didn’t look at Daniel as he suggested, “Why don’t you send the data you must have collected by now to Colonel Carter.”

Dr. Lam nodded and quickly left the area.

“Well. I don’t know about anyone else,” Vala began, sounding practically lascivious, “but I for one wouldn’t mind seeing Daniel resumph!”

Teal’c’s timing was impeccable, his hand fully covering Vala’s mouth before she could finish. Blue eyes bright with mischief, Vala shrugged unrepentantly and simply slipped an arm around Teal’c’s waist and leaned on him. Teal’c informed them, “Vala Mal Doran and I shall confer with Samantha Carter on this matter,” before grasping Vala’s shoulders and ushering her out of the infirmary.

Left alone with Daniel, Cam cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck as he asked, “You hungry?”

Daniel nodded and said, “I am, actually.”

“Great. I’ll be right back,” Cam replied, ducking over to Dr. Lam.

Dr. Lam gave him a sympathetic look and said, “I’m sorry, Colonel, but I need to request that you stay here in case there’s another problem. I’ll inform General Landry.”

Cam nodded. “I figured. Can you have something sent from the mess? We’re both hungry.”

“Of course. You know, you might try to get him to remember what happened during his coma. Maybe there was some kind of mental trauma that he’s repressing and once it’s been expressed, he’ll return to normal.”

It was a good idea and he agreed, “Sure thing, Doc,” before heading back to Daniel.

“Stuck here, huh?” Daniel guessed.

Cam quirked a grin at him and said, “That’s cool. I’m supposed to take a nap anyhow or the Doc’s going to sedate me. We’ll eat and I’ll sack out for a while. Say. You remember anything about what happened in the coma? Any funky visions?”

Daniel took off his glasses, wiping them in a nervous gesture Cam had come to recognize well over the last few years, though his face only looked thoughtful as he replied, “Nothing. I remember being in the temple and finding the device, but the next thing was waking up here. There was nothing in between.”

Cam frowned. “You don’t remember waking up in the temple first?”

“I did? No,” Daniel answered. “No, just…there’s something hovering, like at the edges of my memory. You know how when something’s right on the tip of your tongue?”

“Yeah, I hate that.”

“Me, too.”

Two nurses brought over trays of faded eggs and extra crispy bacon with dry toast. Cam accepted one and sat on the chair by the bed, grinning at Daniel with, “Breakfast of champions.”

They ate in comfortable silence and, by the time Cam collected the trays and set them aside, he saw Daniel’s eyes had gone half-mast again. Feeling tired himself, he stretched out on the bed next to Daniel’s and rested his head in a palm as he watched the other man fall asleep. Yawning, Cam decided that maybe a nap wasn’t such a bad idea after all and rolled onto his back, closing his eyes.

* * * *

“I’m so tired,” Cam whispered. “It’s been a week.”

Daniel held him close and whispered back, “I know.”

Pressing his lips to Cam’s, Daniel let go of the explosive that would finally let them both rest.

Together.

Daniel shouted in pain as he jerked awake, thrashing away from the explosion that didn’t come. Someone held him down, pinning him to the floor with what felt like deadweight. Daniel flipped the body over and straddled Cam to find him staring up at him, bewildered expression shifting into blatant worry. Daniel patted him down, making sure he was in one piece, and then slid off to the side, relief making him physically weak.

“Okay. That’s the second time in a day you’ve thought I was dead,” Cam stated flatly. “What’s goin’ on in that noggin of yours, Jackson?”

Voice tight with control, Daniel told him sharply, “My name is Daniel. Or Dahnyel. Or even Danny, on rare occasions. Do you think after almost four years together you could use some version of it?”

Cam looked at him in surprise, and then his expression softened. “Yeah, of course. Talk to me, Daniel. Tell me what’s going on.”

Daniel pulled off his glasses and pressed a palm to his eye until a burst of color warned he might crush the eyeball. Eye closed, he admitted, “I keep seeing you dead. First, something about drowning. Just now…I killed you with a grenade. Killed us both.”

Cam demanded, “Wait, on purpose killed?”

“Yes,” Daniel confirmed. “It was…there was something wrong, something terribly wrong and dying was the only way to find peace, the only way out.”

A strong hand gripped his neck, prompted Daniel to open his eyes and find Cam kneeling directly in front of him. Staring into his eyes, Cam told him, “I will never be on board with suicide. Not ever. You got me, Daniel? There is always a way out.”

Daniel nodded and reached up to grasp the hand on his neck, covering it as he said, “I know that, but in the, the dreams, the visions, it’s always death.”

“How many are we talking about?” Cam questioned.

Daniel frowned in concentration, struggling to remember the details. He finally gave a helpless shrug and answered, “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

Cam continued to stare at him intensely and then gave him a reassuring squeeze before letting him go. “All right. C’mon. Let’s get you reattached before Dr. Lam has a cow.”

Daniel flushed, abruptly aware of the crowd they’d drawn. He let Cam help him up, leaning a little unnecessarily on the other man before reluctantly getting back on the bed.

Dr. Lam smiled, though it didn’t reach her worried brown eyes. “Glad to have you back, Dr. Jackson.”

“How long was I out this time?” Daniel asked, resigned.

She patted his hand and said, “Five hours. Colonel Mitchell was asleep for four of them, though, so we didn’t think anything of it. When he woke up and you wouldn’t, we thought maybe it was another nightmare, but you weren’t in distress according to the monitors. Well, not until the final five minutes or so.”

Pointing a finger at Daniel, Cam told him, “I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes. Do not fall asleep. Understood, Daniel?”

Daniel smiled tiredly. “I’ll do my best.”

“Can I get you anything?” Dr. Lam offered.

Shaking his head, Daniel replied, “No, I do need to make a call, though.”

She finished attaching the last of the leads and said, “I’ll give you some privacy.”

Daniel pulled the phone off the bedside table and dialed Jack’s cell phone. He picked up with a flat, “O’Neill here,” that made Daniel smile. He greeted, “That’s some way to answer your phone, General.”

Pleasure slid through Jack’s voice as he replied, “Yeah, well, you don’t have to be polite at my rank. What’s going on, Daniel?”

“Jack, I had a couple more incidents,” Daniel relayed quietly. “I don’t know what’s going on or how long I might be here, conscious I mean. They’re having trouble waking me up again.”

There was a long pause before Jack said, “I’ll come back. I’ll be there in two hours.”

Taking a breath, Daniel looked around to make sure no one was nearby as he refused, “No, don’t. I just called to say…I love you, too. I do, but I think we made the right decision.”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t want me around if, you know,” Jack countered, voice rough.

Daniel smiled tiredly. “There is that, but I mean it. I will always love you. You…saved me, so many times. And I don’t mean my life, but my heart and my soul. I’m not enough for you, Jack, and we both know it. I’m comfortable and I know you love me, but…I’m not it for you. It isn’t fair to either of us to pretend we can make another go of it.”

The silence was even longer and Jack had to clear his voice before he finally admitted, “You’re…not wrong, Daniel. I’m sorry.”

“Be safe,” Daniel whispered against a tight throat and then hung up before Jack could answer.

He let out a shuddering breath, almost losing control. Daniel knew it had needed to be said, but it still hurt to hear that it was well and truly over. They never had before. There’d been goodbyes, but no actual goodbye to their relationship. Covering his face with his hands, Daniel took several long, slow breaths to try and work through the emotions that demanded release.

“Daniel Jackson. Do you require medical assistance?”

Daniel looked up at Teal’c and shook his head, tears gathering, though he refused to let them fall. Swallowing rapidly, he said simply, “Jack and I just broke up.”

There was sadness in Teal’c’s dark gaze and he put a hand on Daniel’s head, leaning down to press their foreheads together in a moment of shared sorrow. It was almost Daniel’s undoing and he let out a soft sob before tamping it down.

“I am sorry for your loss,” Teal’c murmured, straightening. “May I do anything for you?”

Daniel took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, shaking his head. “No. No, I’ll be okay. It just…hurts right now. Funny, isn’t it? I haven’t been with Jack in years, but we only just broke up.”

“I do not see the humor in the situation, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c gravely replied.

Mouth twisting briefly, Daniel agreed, “Neither do I.”

Thankfully, Cam returned with Sam just then, Vala trailing behind them. He frowned at Daniel and demanded, “What happened?”

Daniel put his glasses back on and shook his head. “Nothing. I’m fine. What do you have?”

Sam frowned at him as well, but only put a laptop on Daniel’s thighs and explained, “Pictures of the device and its controls. General Landry gave the okay for you to work on translating it. Stands to reason that if we know what it does, then we can try and stop the side-effects.”

“Not to mention that you never fall asleep when you’re working on some dusty problem,” Vala pointed out.

Desperately glad of the distraction, Daniel nodded and said, “Good. This is exactly what I need.”

* * * *

Three days and four incidents of needing to wake Daniel later, Cam was about ready to put a fist through the nearest wall. It got harder and harder to wake the other man and he suspected that the longer it went on, the more chance there was that one day very soon, he just wouldn’t be able to get through. The language on the device wasn’t one that Daniel had ever encountered before, so now he was researching for a key to the language, or whatever it was that linguists did.

Daniel might be in his heyday, but I damn sure am not, Cam thought, striding down the corridor back towards the infirmary. If he was remembering more about his time in the coma, he wasn’t sharing. Sometimes Cam thought that the other man knew exactly what had happened; Daniel became lost in thought very easily these days despite his new language puzzle. Other times he looked at Cam with such a lost expression that all he wanted to do was make Daniel believe that everything would be all right.

Cam stopped short on reaching the infirmary, drawing back out of sight when he spotted O’Neill at Daniel’s bedside. Dr. Lam had apparently vacated everyone else from medical, it was just the two men, so Cam moved silently inside, keeping out of sight as he got close enough to hear what was being said. He had no right to intrude, but the miserable expression on Daniel’s face propelled him forward.

“…told you not to come,” Daniel finished, sighing.

O’Neill replied, “I know, but I had to. This thing isn’t going away. I talked to Dr. Lam and she’s worried, Daniel. Sam’s worried, which has me worried.”

Daniel offered up a faint smile and told him, “There’s nothing you can do except upset the apple cart around here. I doubt General Landry enjoys having you around, no offense.”

Snorting, O’Neill countered, “As long as I’m not countermanding his orders, Landry could care less. Daniel, Danny, talk to me.”

Hugging himself, Daniel shook his head as he said, “I can’t, Jack. Please, just leave. Having you here is just…please go.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Daniel,” O’Neill stated flatly. “Not until we talk about this. You’re crazy if you think I’m going to leave it the way we did. I should’ve come back that day instead of letting you stew all this time.”

Daniel’s expression when O’Neill cupped his face was pure pain. Cam moved before he made a decision to do so and interrupted, “Daniel asked you to leave, O’Neill, so I suggest you do so.”

O’Neill’s hand dropped away and he glared at Cam. There was no sign of his usual, affable demeanor; the man before him now had led SG1 for seven years and done black-ops before that. “This is a private conversation, Colonel.”

“You don’t get to pull rank in this situation,” Cam snapped. “I won’t tell you again. Leave, or I will remove you.”

“Cam, don’t,” Daniel warned. “It’s fine.”

Cam shook his head. “It’s not fine. He’s bothering you, which I won’t stand for.”

O’Neill sounded incredulous as he demanded, “You won’t stand for it? You don’t get a say in the matter.”

The words struck home and Cam saw red. His fist slammed into O’Neill’s face, the impact rocking the other man back, and then they were in it. O’Neill tackled him, the two of them knocking into the bed beside Daniel’s, who shouted for them to stop. O’Neill got in a couple of solid punches, one to Cam’s nose which caused blood to spurt over them both, but Cam kneed him in the gut, the force of it lifting him off the floor and sending him sprawling.

Not for long though. Just as Cam followed up, O’Neill sprang to his feet with an uppercut that made Cam see stars. He staggered backwards but pulled himself up short, spinning and using the momentum to punch O’Neill in the jaw.

As they were surrounded by MPs and dragged apart, Cam looked over at Daniel to find him in some kind of seizure. He fought with every Jaffa trick he knew, throwing off the soldiers in a frenzy to get to Daniel as Dr. Lam tried to stop whatever was happening. Electricity sliced through him and the last thing Cam saw was Teal’c standing over him with a Zat.

* * * *

Daniel knew what was going to happen a split second before Cam’s fist struck Jack’s face. He knew pretty much all of Cam’s expressions, just like he knew all of Jack’s, but he’d rarely seen such fury on the tightly-controlled man.

Because of him.

The knowledge cut into Daniel as he shouted for them to stop, knowing they wouldn’t; not until one of them was beaten to a pulp, maybe even dead. He hit the emergency call button, hoping someone would arrive before they killed each other. As the MPs waded in to separate them, pain slithered all over Daniel’s body, muscles spasming tighter and tighter until he couldn’t do anything more than jerk uncontrollably.

Dr. Lam’s face appeared into his field of vision, but the sight of her grayed out until he was just surrounded by a gray field of nothing.

“You are a most difficult patient to reach.”

The words startled Daniel and he jumped, spinning around to find an unfamiliar species standing a short distance away. Tall and slender, the being had black hair and gray skin with a reptilian cast to it and wore flowing, silky robes. Frowning, Daniel replied, “I beg your pardon?”

Folding its arms into the folds of its robes, the being said, “I have been trying to assist you with the closure that you so desperately seek, as well as show you the possibilities that await, but you refuse to see.”

Daniel blinked at it in surprise and asked slowly, “You’ve been trying to help me with my love life? Giving me all those nightmares about Cam dying?”

“It is only under the threat of death that you acknowledge to yourself how you feel,” it pointed out. “Meanwhile, your life lingers in stasis, filled with pain of the heart, pain from the past, unable to move forward.”

“It’s not up to me. Even if he has feelings for me, Cam can’t just, just, get involved with me. There are rules,” Daniel protested.

A long, thin hand waved dismissively at him. “Excuses. Life is risk. It did not stop you from being with O’Neill.”

Because he’d thought Jack would be forever, just like he’d thought Shau’ri would be forever. Daniel didn’t think he could take another broken heart and knew that if he tried with Cam, that was exactly what would happen.

Suddenly right beside him, the alien’s fingers tapped lightly over his face like rain and it murmured, “Life without love, without one who knows you best, is not worth living. If you do not believe yourself to be enough, no one else will.”

Fortune cookie sayings, maybe, but clichés were true for a reason.

* * * *

Cam woke in a cell already patched up, his ribs killing him and his head throbbing. He moaned in pain and wondered if he could ask for some meds to tone things down. Then again, knowing Landry as he did, the General probably thought he deserved to suffer for going after a superior officer the way he had. Even knowing that his career was over and that he’d likely be thrown in the brig for years to come didn’t deplete the satisfaction at having acted. No one talked to Daniel like that if he was around to stop it.

Forcing himself off the cot, Cam held his side and shuffled over to the bars. It was Jensen on guard down at the desk and he called out, “Hey, Jensen! How’s Jackson doing?”

The younger man walked over and shook his head. “Dr. Jackson’s in another coma.”

He’d just about expected that and asked, “Can I talk to Dr. Lam?”

“General Landry wants you isolated, Sir, I’m sorry.”

Cam nodded, also having expected that. “That’s okay. Guess I’ll just hang out here, then.”

The phone rang and Jensen jogged back to get it. He listened for a moment and then said, “Right away, Sir.”

Cam knew from that, that he’d just been summoned to General Landry’s office and waited as Jensen came back to unlock the cell door. The journey to the General’s office was as much of a Walk of Shame as he’d ever been forced to complete. The stares and whispers as they walked went right through him, keeping his color up. Cam hoped there was enough bruising on his face to hide most of it.

O’Neill and Landry both waited in the General’s office, but he didn’t get a good look at the damage he’d inflicted on O’Neill. Cam stood very still and at attention as soon as he stopped in front of the desk, staring straight ahead.

“The only reason you’re not already on your way to the brig is because General O’Neill asked me not to send you there,” Landry snapped. “Said he’s got something to explain “mitigating circumstances.” They better be a helluva mitigation or I am throwing you so far down a hole, your grandchildren will need flashlights.”

Cam winced, but stayed silent. It had been a while since he’d heard General Landry that pissed, and never directed at him. It was just as unpleasant as it had always looked.

“Now then. General O’Neill. Speak.”

O’Neill cleared his throat and said, “Colonel Mitchell didn’t punch out a superior officer, General Landry.”

“I think your broken ribs and that shiner beg to differ,” Landry countered.

“No, Colonel Mitchell punched me out all right, but…he wasn’t doing it to me as General, he was rightfully throwing out Daniel’s ex, who was being a jackass at the time.”

There was a long silence before Landry said, “I see. In that case, Jack, I think it’s best you head back to DC.”

“Oh, I’m going, believe me,” O’Neill agreed, sounding rueful. “Can I have a moment with Colonel Mitchell?”

“That depends on if you’re going to destroy my office during the course of conversation.”

“We won’t. Scout’s honor.”

Landry snorted, but stood and left the office.

When the door closed, O’Neill said, “At ease, Mitchell. It’s just me, the jackass ex speaking, not your SO.”

Cam relaxed a little and shifted to face the other man. O’Neill’s face sported a black eye and a pretty spectacular bruise along the jaw line. The way he stood, as stiffly as Cam, spoke of those broken ribs and probably more spectacular bruising all over his midriff.

“So. You and Daniel, huh?” O’Neill said, more than asked. “Gotta say, never saw that one coming. No wonder he finally broke up with me.”

Cam shook his head and corrected, “Daniel and I aren’t involved.”

O’Neill quirked a brief grin at him and countered, “Not yet. Look. I can be…a hardass sometimes, I know that. Everyone knows that. I also have a hard time letting go of things. Sometimes it really does take a suicide mission, or a brawl, to get through to me. Officially, we were sparring when all this happened and got carried away, I’ll make sure that’s how the report goes down and Carter’s already deleted the footage. Just…take care of him. Daniel’s special. He needs…well, it’s not my place anymore say anymore, it’s yours. Goodbye, Mitchell. No hard feelings?”

Cam looked at the outstretched hand a moment and then took it in a firm grip. “No Sir, no hard feelings.”

“Good,” O’Neill said. Then he unexpectedly yanked Cam in close and continued in a hard voice, “If you hurt him, I will personally vent you into a black hole. Understood?”

Taking the threat seriously, Cam confirmed, “Understood.”

O’Neill released him and left the office. Cam watched him and Landry exchange words in the conference room and then the General returned, sitting behind his desk. Still looking pissed, the older man barked, “Get to the infirmary and help Dr. Lam bring Dr. Jackson around!”

Cam saluted sharply, said, “Yes, Sir!” and spun neatly on his heel before striding from the office. As soon as he was in the hall and out of sight, he ran for the elevator.

* * * *

Daniel’s entire body hurt. It almost took more energy than he had to open his eyes, but he managed it after a few tries. Cam and Vala sat to either side of his bed, both almost simultaneously noticing him awake and leaning forward.

“Daniel!” Vala exclaimed. “Dr. Lam! He’s awake!”

Cam just smiled at him, his nose twice its usual size and a dark shade of purple. There was also a serious bruise on his cheek and he stood stiffly, probably had a few cracked or broken ribs, knowing how Jack fought to win. Relieved that Cam was all right, Daniel cleared his throat and rasped, “Jack?”

Cam’s face fell for a second before his ‘soldier’s mask’ as Daniel called it, descended. “General O’Neill is fine. He left after the altercation. I’ll call him to let him know you want him here.”

Daniel couldn’t quite grasp Cam’s arm to stop him, numb fingers sliding off the fabric. It was enough to get the other man’s attention, though, and Daniel shook his head, whispering, “You.”

Cam hesitated, but moved back beside the bed just as Dr. Lam arrived, smiling warmly as she greeted, “It’s good to see you awake again, Dr. Jackson.”

Daniel asked roughly, “How long?”

“Just over a day this time,” she replied. “No change in your vitals, though, so we were hopeful this wouldn’t be a long one, or permanent.”

Daniel whispered, “Hurts…all over.”

She nodded and explained, “Yes, that would be the seizure you had just before the coma. I’ve given you muscle relaxants, but it’ll take a day or two before you’re back to normal. The really good news is that internally, you’re also just about back to normal.”

Daniel looked at Cam and forced the words out, “It’s over. Alien…doctor…I’m done, it said.”

Eyebrows lifting in apparent surprise, Cam questioned, “You had an alien consciousness in your head?”

Nodding, Daniel continued, “Said it’s over now,” and then drifted back into sleep.

* * * *

The next time Daniel woke, he was alone. The medical staff was present, but none of his teammates were, which told him that they’d believed him about it all being over. The pain level was down to a minor, all-over ache and he slowly sat upright, glad to have control over his body again. The monitoring leads were gone, which said that Dr. Lam also believed that he was out of danger.

“You shouldn’t get up just yet, Dr. Jackson,” Dr. Lam said, walking over to him.

Daniel slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed and told her, “I really need a shower. And I’m feeling much better, just a little weak.”

She chuckled a little and said, “Well, I won’t argue about you needing a shower, so how about I get one of the nurses to go with you, make sure you don’t fall over?”

Nodding, Daniel waited for the man to come over only a minute later and was then assisted to the shower off-side of the main infirmary. The hot water felt really good and Daniel groaned in pleasure as the heat sank into his body. He soaped up and rinsed off and then walked slowly to the sink area where a razor and shaving cream waited with his glasses. He put on the glasses and then carefully shaved himself, glad his hands were steady enough to do so.

By the time he’d redressed in a pair of his own sweats, Daniel felt better, more certain of himself. He walked back to the bed to find Sam and Teal’c waiting. Sam immediately hugged him and Teal’c grasped his forearm.

“You look so much better!” she exclaimed. “How do you feel?”

Daniel half-smiled as he sat on the bed again. “Much better. Almost myself again. Where are Cam and Vala?”

Sam grinned and answered, “Mitchell’s on the General’s shitlist big time. He’s stuck playing tour guide to a group of diplomats. As soon as General Landry heard you were out of danger for good, he put Mitchell on KP. Then I think he figured that it wasn’t really a punishment since he grew up on a farm. That was when he switched to the babysitting.”

Wincing, Daniel said, “How long do you think that’ll last?”

“Oh, I’m guessing at least until we need to save the planet again,” Sam replied, chuckling.

“And Vala?” Daniel questioned.

Teal’c responded, “Vala Mal Doran chose to accompany Cam Mitchell on his duties with the diplomats.”

Daniel winced again, this time at the thought of the diplomats being forced to endure Vala unprepared.

“They will both be joining us here at 1900, unless General Landry gives Cam Mitchell other duties,” Teal’c finished.

A quick glance at the clock showed it to be 1843 and Daniel said, “I would really love to get out of here.”

“Not before you give us an explanation,” Sam informed him sternly. “What happened? Mitchell said you had an alien consciousness in your head?”

Not wanting to go on record about his love life, Daniel just nodded and described the alien in detail for her, knowing that she would be memorizing it as he spoke. He also mentioned that the nightmares were a therapeutic course of treatment for what the alien perceived as an excess of emotional scars.

Sam nodded sympathetically and squeezed his shoulder as she said kindly, “You do have a lot of baggage.”

“I know,” Daniel agreed. “It didn’t realize that the “sessions” were killing me. When it did, that was when it disconnected for good. I don’t know if it’s stored in the device and just delves into whoever touches it or what, but it did have my well-being at heart.”

General Landry came into the infirmary just then and said, “If that’s an indication of good intentions, I would hate to see what it considers ill-intentions.”

“Indeed,” Teal’c echoed.

Daniel smiled at General Landry and said, “It’s good to see you, Sir.”

“And you, Dr. Jackson,” General Landry replied, smiling. “Colonel, Teal’c, if I could have a moment alone with Dr. Jackson?”

Sam looked surprised, but nodded. “Of course, Sir.”

After she and Teal’c left, General Landry gazed at Daniel for a long moment and then said, “I can’t have romantic entanglements disturbing the cohesiveness of SG1 or this Command.”

Flushing, Daniel opened his mouth to interrupt, but the older man held up a hand so he didn’t.

“That being said, you’re a civilian who has served your people with distinction. This planet owes you many times over for pain and suffering and sacrifice. I know about your wife, Daniel, and losing Jack to the demands of duty couldn’t have been easy, either.” General Landry sighed and then continued, “Officially, I don’t know anything about you and Mitchell. Unofficially…I hope you can be happy, son, because if anyone deserves it, you do. Just keep the brawling to a minimum, okay?”

Shocked, Daniel nodded and stammered, “Y-yes, of, of course, Sir.”

General Landry smiled as he patted Daniel on the shoulder and turned to leave. Daniel saw him meet up with Cam on the way out and held his breath as the two exchanged words. He let out a sigh of relief when the General clapped Cam lightly on the back and continued on his way.

Cam walked over to him and commented dryly, “People keep congratulating for, and advising me on, a relationship I’m not actually in.”

Daniel flushed a little and said, “Yeah, sorry about that. They assume that because you and Jack got into it. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Shrugging, Cam replied, “He should’ve respected your wishes.”

“Cam…” Daniel paused, not sure what to say. It was one thing to know he had feelings, but he still had no idea about Cam. “I guess I just wanted to say that I hope this doesn’t change our friendship.”

It was probably the lamest thing he’d ever said in his life, and that was an accomplishment.

Cam gazed at him for a long moment and then asked, sounding frustrated, “You hope what doesn’t change it? Me getting into a fight with General O’Neill? You almost dying again? People thinking we’re sleeping together when we aren’t? Jackson…Daniel, I don’t know what the hell’s going on in your head because you never say anything. People think Teal’c’s tight-lipped but he’s got nothin’ on you. Not about personal stuff.”

Daniel winced, knowing that Cam was right. It all boiled down to the fact that he had to take a chance or let go of the possibility that he might have something with Cam. Letting out an explosive sigh, Daniel finally said, “This is hard for me, I don’t want to, to ruin things, but…I just…”

When Daniel stopped speaking, Cam muttered, “Ah hell.”

Daniel squawked in surprise when Cam grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him in to kiss. It was short and not very good, the other man letting him go and standing back before Daniel could actually respond. He blinked up at Cam in shock, not having expected that.

Cam offered a crooked grin and commented, “Talking’s overrated, sometimes.”

A slow frisson of happiness bubbled through him as Daniel smiled and agreed, “It is, yes.”

“Okay. Now that that’s settled, sort of, let’s get some grub,” Cam suggested. “I’ll clear it with Dr. Lam.”

Daniel couldn’t stop smiling as he watched Cam walk over to where Dr. Lam very carefully wasn’t looking their way. He didn’t know what would happen, but maybe this time he could find forever. Maybe he and Cam had a real shot at something together. Taking in the other man’s grin when Cam turned back to give him a thumbs-up gesture, Daniel climbed off the bed and went to join him.