Title: Veracity
Series: General xover universe, but may be useful to have read 'Doctor
Watcher,' 'Hubris,' 'Fortuity' and especially 'Fidelity' first
Author: akire
Email: akire@mailcity.com
Status: C/U
Category: Crossover: Highlander/SG:SG1 and other
Spoilers: umm, got a basic grasp of the Highlander universe?  Fine.  Oh
yeah, we're a Clan Denial fanfic.  Stargate – general understanding of
the series at least up The Curse is assumed
Disclaimers:  D/P and Gekko really DO own them.  If you don't recognize
it, its probably mine.  If it's silly or crazy, definitely is mine.
But if anyone sends the lawyers after me, I'm sending out the boys with
swords ;)  Oh yeah, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
If you recognize a specific fanfic creation, it belongs to its author
(when this series is finished, I may tally them up). 
Rating: PG, prob.  Hey, I'm not offended by much, if it should be rated
higher, tell me! 
Content Warning: purists beware.  Language may offend some readers.  
Summary: Danya looses it on a mission.  Will SG-1 recover their friend,
or will some truths about their friend split them apart? 
Dedication:   To the guys at Alpha Gate for the amusement
Notes:  The morning after the morning after the night before as
described in 'Fidelity.' 
On with the show!

~~##~~

The surface lift doors hissed open to reveal a studiously casual Jack
O'Neill leaning against the wall.

"Hi," he said with a small smile, testing the waters.

Daniel's smile was warmer.  "Hi yourself."  

There was an awkward pause as both men studied their boots, the wall,
anything rather than the other's face.

"Is she..?"

"Flew out to wherever she goes last night."  Realising that he was
stopping the automatic doors from shutting, he stepped out of the lift,
smiling to himself as Jack fell into step beside him.  "I just wanted
to say...about yesterday..."

His apology was cut off as Jack waved his hand.  "Nah, forget about it,
far too early to be making a house call anyway."

Daniel was not to be deterred.  "Even so, I should have..."

"Daniel!  Forget about it,"  Jack shrugged easily as he quoted.  "No
harm, no foul."

Daniel cocked his head so Jack could see his grin.  "Speaking of cult
movies, isn't it Teal'c turn to choose this week?"

Jack nodded, and as one they groaned "Star Wars."  

Their laughter rang down the concrete corridors.

 ~##~

With its distinct sucking sound, the wormhole disengaged.

"Well," Jack drawled.  "This is different."

Fanning away from the Stargate was a veritable forest of what looked
like pine trees. Daniel's attention wasn't on the forest, but rather on
the tall stone obelisk which stood before the now-dormant Stargate like
a sentry.  Moving slightly ahead of the rest of his team, Daniel was
drawn to its smooth surface like a magnet.  

"Daniel!"

"What?"  Daniel swiveled at the waist to look back at his team leader.

"What have I told you about touching?" 

"Don't?" He asked with schoolboy innocence.

"Bingo!"  Jack smirked beneath his flyboy shades.  Turning his head to
take in the landscape, he continued speaking to the group at large.
"Let's just take a quick look around first.  Sam, Teal'c, check the
MALP and then secure the area, and you," he gestured vaguely at Daniel.
"Look at that thing, but don't touch.  Last thing we want is for you to
take a quick trip to an alternate universe or something.  Really make
my day."  The last was grumbled in an undertone, but they heard anyway.

Suppressing a grin of her own, Sam just ducked her head and headed off
with Teal'c towards where the sturdy little field vehicle was standing
patiently, filming the scene for the mission report whilst it waited
for new commands.

Daniel had already turned back to his prize, and was within ten paces
when he heard it.  "Umm, Sam?" He called.  "Should anything be humming
around here?"

"Humming?"

"Yeah, humming."  **Good one, how many languages do you speak and the
best you can come up with is 'humming'?**  Backpedalling with
increasing rapidity, he elaborated.  "Mechanical, like a staff weapon
powering up..."  The analogy was out of his mouth before he had thought
about, and he didn't like where the similarities between the two was
heading.

"Carter..." he heard Jack yell behind him.  He turned to face the Gate,
but a blinding white light overtook him and he saw no more...

 ~##~

The light was back, but smaller, less intense – and it was moving.

"Major, can you hear me?  Sam?"  A female voice penetrated through the
fog that had enveloped her senses.  

Blinking with force of concentration, Sam swallowed several times
before she managed to croak out her question.  "What happened?"  She
felt like shit.  Her eyes were burning balls rolling in gravel, her
throat felt like she had swallowed a desert – complete with camels –
and every limb felt heavy and raw.

"I was hoping you could tell us."  Something moved against her lips,
and a second later she felt blessed wet cool she identified as ice
chips.  "You didn't check in, so we opened the Gate.  You were all
unconscious on the steps between the Gate and the obelisk..."  Sam
jerked at the mention of the stone pillar, hazy memories beginning to
return.  "Yes, we ran the MALP footage. Whatever shot out of it
scrambled its sensors, but the we were able to recover files from the
onboard computer."

"The others?" She rasped.

Janet fed her more chips. "Whatever hit you knocked you out for over
eight hours.  You were still unconscious when we brought you back.  But
when you first woke up..."

Sam frowned.  She couldn't remember waking between when the beam hit
and now, and said so.  

"Yes, I didn't think you'd remember."  Janet's voice was tense beneath
the professionalism.  "You were all behaving... extremely out of
character."

Sam furrowed her brow, hoping the non-verbal gesture would sufficiently
convey her confusion.

"Violent," Janet clarified.  "No self-restraint.  You wanted something,
you took it.  Anyone tried to stop you, anyone interrupted you, you
attacked.  It was as if the parts of your mind which related to self-
restraint and social conditioning were...disrupted, and the instinctual
parts were heightened.  Especially aggression."  There was a short
pause.  "Think of the behaviour traits of the Broca virus combined with
all the self-control of the Tokra gauntlets at full power."

Sam grimaced.  That didn't sound pleasant.  But at least she had
identified the feeling in her arms and legs.

Padded restraints.

She tugged at one, testing.

"I'm sorry Sam, we can't release the restraints until I'm confident you
have fully recovered.  We can't have three combat-trained, battle-
ready, hand to hand experts running around base if they're not in full
control of their faculties, can we?"  Her tone was calm and oh so
reasonable.  Sam had an impulse to plant her fist in the little
doctor's face and smash and smash until...

Oh, right.  No self restraint.  Heightened aggression.  Got it.

"I'll be back in a little while to check on you.  Try to relax."  A
noise, a gentle tug on the IV that was inserted in her forearm, and the
doctor was gone.  Sam rode the waves of the sedative into oblivion.

 ~##~

Sam rubbed her wrists self-consciously, but subsided off a look from
her Colonel.  Biting her lip nervously, she tuned her full focus back
onto the conversation in front of her.

"Are you confident they have fully recovered from the effects of the
beam?  That there will be no relapses into the behaviour we saw
earlier."  The General's tone was full of tact.

"You mean when we lost it, sir?"  Jack announced cheerfully with all
the delicacy of a bull in a china store.  "Went whacko, berserk, nutzo,
headcase..."

"Thankyou, Colonel."

Janet was clasping her clipboard like a lifeline.  "As confident as I
can be sir.  As you know, the MRI's that I took before they,
uhhh...woke the first time showed unusual sites and levels of neural
activity.  The MRI's we took an hour ago indicate that that activity
has all but subsided.  Their scans are almost identical to the one's on
file."  She flipped through her notes.  "Blood work and physical
examinations all check out fine as well sir.  I say they're as back to
normal as they ever get."

Jack's voice was in full Bulldozer Colonel mode.  "Except we seem to be
missing someone."  He was barely managing to hold himself back from
leaping off the bed and making a mad dash for the Stargate and
P3X...whatever.  Perhaps he could blame it on residual 'lack of self-
restraint.'

"SG-2 and a number of volunteers have already begun the search,
Colonel."

Sam's curiosity bypassed her brain and went straight to her mouth.
"How come they haven't been affected by the beam?"

The General's face adopted a curious expression.  "Because when Teal'c
awoke the first time, he made it through the Gate – over several
members of the search party, I might add – and shot it with a staff
weapon."  He turned his gaze to the Jaffa at the end of the bed.  "How
did you get your hands on a staff weapon anyway, son?"

Teal'c remained impassive.  "I have no recollect of any of the events
you have just described."

Jack shook his head and craned his neck to look up at his friend.  "You
shot it?  Way to go, Teal'c!"  The General cleared his throat
meaningfully. "I mean, bad Teal'c.  Naughty." 
 
Hammond tried not to smile.  "At least whatever it was didn't affect
your team loyalty.  Doctor Fraiser, do you have any objection to SG-1
joining the search?"

"Only if they don't take me with them," she replied fiercely.  "Doctor
Warner starts shift in ten minutes, and I'd like to volunteer for the
search teams."

The General nodded.  "I expected as much.  SG-1, Dr Fraiser is with
you.  You have a go.  Bring our boy home."

 ~##~

"So, Janet," Jack asked as the doctor joined SG-1 in the gear-up room. 
"Anything extra you want to tell us that you couldn't say in front of
the General?"

"Nothing concrete," she told him as she pulled her cammo jacket tighter
over her shoulders.  "Just some theories.  If we had more time, I'd do
some research in the medical archives of the Watcher DB, but..." she
shrugged.

"We don't have the time.  Okay, let's hear theories."  Jack perched
himself on the bench in the middle of the room and bent down to lace up
his boots.

"A few.  Firstly, if the beam affected him the same way it affected
you, he's probably out there coming down from the same symptoms –
aggression, etc."

"Why wasn't he there when you came through the Gate to rescue us?" Sam
asked from beside her locker.

"I think he just recovered from being knocked unconscious quicker.
Remember, any time there is a physical cause for symptoms, he's going
to upright and fine before you even realise something is wrong." She
told them in a matter-of-fact tone.  "He probably recovered before we
dialed up P3X 454, and wandered off..."

"As nutty as a fruit cake," Jack finished.

Janet nodded, her mouth twisting slightly at the crudely flippant tone
of the Colonel.  "Yeah.  Also..."

Jack picked up his pack and swung it onto his shoulders.  "What?"

"Your MRI's..." Janet began, not sure whether to share this tidbit of
information.

"What about them?"  Teal'c lifted up Janet's pack effortlessly and
helped her strap it on.

"Its very similar to some MRI's the Watcher's have on file.  Scans of
Immortal brains just after they've taken a Quickening."

Sam's brow furrowed again as she thought of a thousand questions.
"What...how'd you get a scan of that?"

Janet slipped a blue vial into her pocket as she looked into Sam's
troubled face.  "Don't ask."

 ~##~  

Janet looked at the landscape from horizon to horizon as Jack checked
in with the sentry left at the Gate.  Moving past her, Jack whistled as
he took in the shattered stump that was the obelisk.  Hammond had
understated it.  It looked like Teal'c had taken it out with a cannon. 
Movement from the tree line drew her attention, and a moment later the
figures came into view.

Over by the DHD, Jack raised a hand.  "Hey, Ferreti.  Find any sign of
him."

Ferreti waited until he was within normal speaking range before
answering.  "Sorry, O'Neill, no sign of the dweeb."  Janet bridled for
a second before remembering that Ferreti was part of the initial Abydos
mission.  "We found nothing. Not so much as a footprint."  Crouching
into the dust at the base of the Stargate, he picked up a twig and
began sketching a basic map.  "We're here.  Down there," he pointed at
the map, then down the slope of trees. "Is a stream, flowing south
west.  I think that might be your best bet.  We've searched upriver for
about forty clicks, and out from it into the forest every five
kilometers.  Myers and Barney have headed up there," he pointed up the
slope that rose from behind the Gate as he spoke.  "They're due back in
the next half hour or so, they were going to try to get us an overall
picture." Pushing his peaked hat off his head to scrub at his hair, he
sighed.  "We tried launching aerial surveillance, but there are some
wicked thermals around here, couldn't get anything of use out of it."
He rose wearily to his feet.

"Go back to base, Ferreti," Jack told him.  "Get some rest, you've done
good."  He reached out to pat the younger officer on the shoulder.
"We'll take it from here."

Ferreti nodded.  "Good luck to you then."  SG-1 watched the Gate burst
into life and swallow Ferrati's exhausted team.

O'Neill turned to face his own.  "Well guys, I guess we're heading down
river." Waiting to see they were all in agreement, Jack turned and
headed towards the tree line.  Janet swore she heard the Colonel
muttering something about Minnesota and 'the elusive crappy.'

Then the darkness beneath the trees engulfed them.

They hiked for nearly an hour in silence, Teal'c leading them, eyes
searching for any clue of Daniel's passing.  Janet was no tracker in
such an environment, and followed Jack's bootsteps, eyes glued to the
ground in front of her so she didn't stumble over an exposed root or
branch.  She almost collided into Jack's back when the line came to a
sudden stop.  Behind her, she felt Sam touch her pack as she came to a
more dignified halt.

"I believe DanielJackson may have passed this way."

"Daniel, or one of Ferreti's guys?"

"I do not believe it to be a member of SG-2. There is only one track,
and it is well concealed."

"Concealed?"  Sam's low voice still conveyed her confusion.  "Why would
he be hiding himself?"

Jack's pack swung away from her face as he turned to face the Watcher. 
"Could that beam have scrambled his brain a different way?  Paranoia
instead of aggression."

She shrugged in her straps.  "Its possible, sir.  The truth is, there
is no benchmark for how Immortal physiology reacts to strange alien
beams."  She cursed herself as she heard more bitterness and
frustration in her voice than she intended to let on.  Behind her, she
felt Sam pat her back slightly in reassurance.

"We will locate him, Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c rumbled calmly.  "We will
then assess his condition and take the appropriate action."

"Yes, Teal'c," she replied drily.  "But first we've got to find him."

 ~##~

The second time Jack stopped suddenly, Janet actually bounced off his
pack.  "Ow!  What is it?"

Jack was scanning the branches above his head.  "I..." He shook his
head.  "I'm getting paranoid.  I feel like we're being watched."

Swallowing convulsively, Janet also began to look up.  "What I wouldn't
give to be able to detect the Buzz now."

Jack turned to regard her.  "And if he is flipping out and paranoid,
how would he react to the sensation of another Immortal in the area?"

She sighed heavily.  "I don't know.  I just can't predict anything
without knowing more."

The column resumed its trek.

 ~##~

Janet was quietly pleased that she wasn't the only one to pause by the
stream to dip her hands in the cool water, rubbing it over her sweaty
face and neck.  As she rose, she caught Jack scanning the looming trees
with a worried expression.  She left Teal'c and Sam standing by the
small cascade of stones and moved to stand at Jack's shoulder.

"You still think he's shadowing us?"

Jack nodded.  "I can almost feel it."  He took a step forward and
cupped his hands to his mouth.  "Daniel!"  With a frustrated snort, he
listened as his voice echoed among the trunks.

There was a slight noise of pebbles falling from above their heads, and
it nearly had Janet leaping out of her skin.  "Yes, Jack?"  She span
towards the soft and toneless sound.

There he was, in uniform pants and a black t-shirt, hair gleaming wet
from where he too must have dunked it into the stream.  He was
crouching at the top of the small waterfall, perhaps five metres above
their heads, no more.  Jack was right, he had been with them all the
time.

Janet stepped forward, her neck craned back.  "Daniel, are you alright?
We've been worried sick."

His blue eyes were impassive as he stared down at her.  She took in his
blank, watchful expression, the way he was settled on his haunches, one
hand resting on his knee, one hand barely touching the ground for
balance.  The posture screamed fight or flight.

He was still running on instinct.  They would have to coax him down.

The others seemed to have drawn the same conclusion.  Sam moved to
stand behind Janet.  "Please Daniel, that beam, it did something to all
of us."

A flicker of something crossed his face, confusion and a touch of fear.
Then a mask slammed into place, a sneer, a predator's glare.  Spinning,
he ran lightly across the chaos of boulders and out of sight.

"DANIEL!" Jack bellowed after him.  As one, they began to run upstream,
clambering awkwardly over the broken landscape.

Compared to him, they were clumsy and lumbering as they struggled to
keep up with a pace Daniel maintained seemingly without effort.  Jack,
somehow, drew ahead of the others, his eyes flicking between the ground
before him, and the barely visible form high on the far bank of the
stream.  Looking ahead, Jack spotted the narrowest of opportunities.
Almost instinctively, he accelerated and pushed off the bank, flying
awkwardly through the air to land heavily on a small flat rock which
hung out over the widening stream.  Now on the same side as Daniel, he
redoubled his efforts to chase the fleeing form.

Breathing with difficulty, Jack struggled up an incline, trying to get
onto the level where Daniel moved with sure-footed speed.

"I'm too old for this shit," Jack muttered fiercely as forced his
burning muscles into another punishing sprint across uneven terrain.
"Daniel!  Damn it!  Stop!"

To his surprise, Daniel did.  Spinning with a graceful leap, Daniel
began walking backwards, a mocking smile twisting his features.
"What's the matter, Jack?" He almost purred.  "Can't keep up the pace?"
The purr turned into mocking scorn.  "Getting old are we Jack?  Body
slowing down?" He was almost sauntering despite the fact he was walking
backwards.  "Muscles weakening, stamina fading.  It sucks to age,
doesn't it Jack?  Of course," the playful lilt in his voice was a
precisely calculated mockery of Daniel Jackson's mannerisms.  "I
wouldn't know about that.  I never age, I never weaken.  I never slow
down.  When you are dust in a grave somewhere, I'll still be strong."

Jack tried to ignore the words, ignore who was saying them.  He
focussed almost purely on trying to close the distance between the two
of them.  The sooner they got this guy back through the Gate, the
sooner he'd have his best friend back.  "Damn it, Daniel!  We're trying
to help you here."

The laugh was high-pitched and false.  "Help me?  How could you ever
help me?"  Spitting out a word in a language Jack didn't recognise, he
turned again and sprinted away, effortlessly reclaiming the metres
which Jack had painstakingly seized while Daniel was pontificating.

Noise behind him heralded the arrival of the rest of his team.  Janet
drew up beside him as Sam and Teal'c maintained Daniel's punishing
pace.

"Don't listen," she told him kindly as she touched his arm.  "He's
trying to get you off balance.  Psychological warfare. He's very good
at it when he chooses to be."

Jack exhaled heavily as he picked up his pace again.  "Well, he's
choosing now.  And his timing sucks."

The gloating laughter which echoed back at them as they were lead on a
merry chase for the next quarter of an hour finally wore down Jack's
patience.  "Right!  That's it! Carter, Teal'c, Fraiser, get over here."

Sam trotted back to her CO, confused.  "Sir, we'll loose him..."

He shook his head.  "We won't loose him.  He won't let us loose him,
he's having too much fun playing with us."  Jack looked up, trying to
gauge what the path ahead was like.  "No, I've had enough.  It's time
we played smart."

"What are you suggesting, O'Neill."

Jack smirked.  "Gather round, kid's.  Here's our game plan."

 ~##~

The high, blank walls, carved out by flooding long ago, were right
where Carter remembered them from the UV survey.  Ahead of them, their
quarry had realised the trap and had leapt to the top of the largest
boulder he could find at the base of the cliffs, using his perch to
watch his pursuers come towards him from three directions.

"Game over, Daniel," Jack called as he headed towards his friend.  He
maintained eye contact as he closed the distance between them, finally
stopping mere feet before the base of the boulder.  "Time to go home." 
He tried to smile in what he hoped was a friendly manner.  "Come on.
If you buy the pizza, I'll even forget those age cracks."  

Silence.

The two men faced each other, motionless, for what seemed like an
eternity.  Then in a blur of motion, Daniel leapt from the rocks to
land barely a foot in front of Jack.  They looked at each other,
speaking volumes without saying a word.

A slight tensing of Jack's muscles was their only warning before Daniel
leapt away, fleet-footed and fleeing.

Teal'c moved just as face, colliding into Danya like a linebacker,
pushing him to the ground.  Screaming and hissing like a dervish, he
struggled in Teal'c grasp.  Janet, Sam and Jack were only paces behind
him, and the four of them pinned Daniel to the ground.  Elbows and
knees connected painfully but still they managed to keep Daniel pinned.
Sitting on his ribcage, Janet tried to keep herself from yelling
instructions.  "Hold his head still!  HIS HEAD!"

Jack planted one knee on Danya's shoulder, another on his elbow, and
grabbing Daniel by the cheek and forehead, pressed the back of the
Immortal's skull into the pebbly soil.

With practiced ease, Janet flicked the cap of the special blue vial and
rested the heel of her hand on Danya's chin.

Ignoring Sam's query, she directed the nozzle of the vial into Danya's
nostril and injected the entire contents of the vial.  Pocketing the
spent cartridge, she gripped his shoulders, babbling soothing nonsense
to him all the while.

The feelings of betrayal settled heavily in her stomach, ignoring the
pleas from her logical mind that told her this was the only recourse
that had to recovering their friend.

The minutes stretched into eons before his struggling finally subsided
and he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"What the hell was that," Jack almost snarled.

"Something the Watcher's cooked up last year," she replied tiredly as
she got to her feet.  "Injected like that, it enters the fluid
surrounding the brain, acts as a sedative.  If I used anything else, he
would have shaken it off in minutes.  This at least buys us a few
hours.  Enough time to get him back to through the Gate."

"Then what," Jack replied as he slid his knees off his friend and ran a
hand tenderly across Danya's forehead.  "Hey General, we found Daniel,
but because he's not human he's gone off the deep end in an entirely
new and exciting way."

"We haven't got much time," she said, ignoring the question for the
moment.  "We've got to carry him back to the Gate."  She locked eyes
with the Colonel.  "Let me see if I **can** cure him first."

 ~##~

"You say that he is still displaying violent symptoms, Doctor?"

Janet looked up at her CO, then back through the bars of cell where
Danya lay slumped on a cot.  "Yes sir.  Even more extreme than the
other three.  I have no idea why," she continued, preempting his next
question. "We should be getting back the test results soon, that should
shed more light on things."  She didn't elaborate where those test
results were being processed.  "In the meantime, I suggest limited
contact with others, and that we keep the guards outside.  Being around
others only seems to aggravate him."

Hammond nodded.  "Very well, Doctor, I'll leave it up to your
judgement."  The look Hammond was giving the heap on the bunk was so
paternal that Janet had to look away.  "Keep me informed."

"Yes sir."

Waiting until Hammond had left the observation area, she whispered to
still form.  "Come back to us, Daniel.  Please."

His chin twitched up, and Janet realised with a gasp that he heard
everything she had told the general.  The corner's of his mouth curved
up, a snarl as much as a sneer.  "I'm right here, Janet."

She shook her head, knowing that this was a dangerous game.  "This
isn't you, Danya.  This is a mockery of who you are.  The Dan I know
wouldn't have hit Sam, wouldn't have taunted Jack..."

He rolled his eyes.  "Oh listen to the Watcher!" He cried dramatically.
"She has studied the books, read the Chronicles, she must know
what is happening."  With a jerk, he was on his knees, leaning forward
towards her.  "Enlighten me, Janet.  What is happening?  Can your
science save me?"  The sarcasm was so thick it was suffocating.  "Do I
want to be 'saved'?  Has it crossed your logical little mind that
perhaps this is the true me, that other fool was false?" One long leg
swung over to support him as he leaned even closer to the bars.  "Can
you tell what is truth, Watcher?  Are you good enough, smart enough,
fast enough, to solve the riddle I present? You haven't been enough
before?  Can you be sure you're not stuck with me forever?"

Janet forced herself not to react.  "We're doing what we can, Danya.
Try to rest."  She turned and banged for exit, trying to close her ears
to the hysterical, cackling laughter that followed her out.

 ~##~

Janet felt a headache forming.  These MRI's...they were chaotic.  What
she couldn't understand was why his normal patterns hadn't reasserted
themselves.  The rest of his team recovered by themselves, why was
Danya, with his superior ability to recuperate, was still affected.

A knock on her door drew her attention back to her immediate surrounds.
"Come on in, Sam."

The blonde doctor smiled weakly as she entered the room, closing the
door behind her.  "Anything?"

Janet tossed her the reports.  "As I expected, blood work is absolutely
identical to any of his prior work-ups. Physical examination," she
snorted.  "As you would expect, not a scratch or variation.  But his
neural scans..."  Janet sighed again and scrubbed her face with her
hands again.  

Sam looked over the data, her quick mind rapidly assimilating what was
before her.  "This can't be right.  His entire nervous system seems to
be misfiring."  She looked at the MRI on the screen before Janet.  

"I just can't believe he was up and walking with his brain like this,"
Janet muttered to herself as much as to Sam.  "Immortal healing or not.
It's just..."

"A mess."  Sam's face was broadcasting her concern.

Janet turned to face her friend.  "To be honest, Sam, I know just
enough about Immortal physiology to know I am completely out of my
depth here."  She turned back to the screen.  "I mean, is this the
result of that beam interacting with his Quickening, or is a result
of..."

"Hang on," Sam interrupted.  "I thought that Quickening's were
something they absorbed when they won those fights."

Janet shook her head, most of her attention on the details before her. 
"Which are released from the loser's corpse at point of death.  We
don't truly understand them, but we know that each Immortal has a
Quickening, which is strengthened with every Quickening they absorb
from others.  It's a cumulative effect.  Watcher's have always assumed
that the Quickening is the source of the Buzz sensation that let's them
locate one another.  There are some theories, also, which postulate
that it is the possession of a Quickening which gives them their
supernatural healing."

Sam blinked at that torrent of information.  "O-kay."

Janet smiled for the first time that day.  "But like I said, it's all
theory."

Sam returned the grin.  "Pity there's no Immortal doctor who could do a
house call."

Janet's smile faded as a speculative light lit her eyes.

"Janet?"

She reached for the phone.  "Maybe there is..."

 ~##~

"When will he get back to you?"

Janet shrugged as the pair moved down the corridor.  "Depends how fast
Joe can find either of them."  Turning the last corner, they nodded to
the guard on duty.  

"The General and Colonel O'Neill are already inside maam."

Sam and Janet exchanged a look.  She had asked Jack to meet them here,
no mention of the General.  His presence complicated matters
unnecessarily.

Slipping inside the cellblock, the female pair looked automatically for
Daniel.  He was awake, crouched on the bunk, back to the wall, eyes
glued on those outside the bars.

"Doctor Fraiser," Hammond murmured.  "We were just about to page you."

"Nothing's changed." Jack whispered, sotto voce.  "He's not back to
normal."

Janet just watched.  There was something about the way he moved, the
way he carried himself, that was incredibly familiar.  Yet at the same
time was completely alien.  

The quartet stood for an awkward moment in silence, just watching
Daniel watch them.  Sam took an automatic step forward, her empathy for
her friend clearly visible on her features.

The second she moved into 'range,' Danya flew off the bunk so fast he
was almost a blur.  The bars of cell rattled in their footings with the
force of his impact.  What made the scene surreal was the absolute
silence with which he attacked.  Sam backpedaled away quickly, but
Daniel hung low from the bars, his eyes riveted on his colleague and
friend.  Slowly at first, but with increasing speed and ferocity, he
began to bang and shake the bars of his cage, silent except for the
rhythm of his fist hitting iron.

Hammond turned to the others.  "Quickly, stop him, he's going to hurt
himself."

Jack stepped forward, bending low to be on eye level with his best
friend.  "Daniel! DANIEL!  Listen to me.  Stop!! Please, STOP!!"  His
voice caught in his throat, so close to outright begging.

Sam added her voice to the chorus.  Only Janet remained silent,
watching, captivated.  She felt so close to understanding what was
going on...so close...

The fleshy edge of Daniel's fist split as it impacted against the bars,
a fine splatter of blood spraying onto the brushed concrete floor at
Jack's feet.  Still he kept on banging.  The blood began pouring down
his wrists, Daniel's eyes wide, his breath coming in gasps.

Janet stepped forward, her voice low and commanding.  "Stop, Danya, or
I'll sedate you again."

His fists stopped moving.  Janet realised she had found a lever – in
hindsight it was not surprising.  Danya's fear of loosing control had
been well documented by Watchers other than herself.  As she thought,
Daniel had pushed himself to sit upright on his haunches, his right
hand wrapped itself around his left wrist.  Holding the balled fist up
to his face, he nipped the top of his knuckles once, intelligent eyes
locked on his audience, considering his options.

All saw clearly the tiny blue sparks as the flesh wound closed and
healed rapidly.

His right hand slid up the outside of his left, smudging the blood
stains over the new skin.  Danya cocked his head to one side, eyes on
Janet, testing to see if she was going to make good her threat.  Either
he was oblivious the ramifications, or he didn't care who saw. 

Jack stayed lowered on one knee, his head bowed.  Sam looked away.
Janet closed her eyes.

Hammond's voice was soft with shock.  "Was that what I think it was?"

Janet spoke without taking her eyes off Danya.  "Let's go to my
office."

The others filed past her, Sam and Jack almost herding their CO.  Janet
lingered a moment longer.  "I'm sorry, I have to tell him."

Daniel's expression did not change, but she tried to convince herself
that he understood all that meant.

Hoping it was not too late, that she wasn't wrong about Hammond on
this, she headed out to join the others.

 ~##~

Hammond stood at the window at the front of her office.  "Immortal."
He turned slightly, in profile to the other three occupants.  "You
knew?"

Jack nodded.  "For a while now.  But not originally."

Hammond turned fully.  "And you're his Watcher?"

Janet sat behind her desk.  "Yes, sir."  

"And his behaviour is a result of his different physiology being
affected by that beam."

She nodded again.  "We believe so."

Hammond resumed his seat, his entire posture screaming 'not happy'.
"Tell me about this 'expert' you're trying to get in contact with."

Janet wasn't about to let loose with any more secrets than she had to. 
"Adam Pierson is a doctor with ties to the Watchers."  Truthful,
without telling all the truth.  "He has a special insight into
Immortals.  I just want to see if he has any ideas before we bring him
in any further."  She shrugged slightly.  "If anyone has a clue, it
will be Adam."

Jack pounced.  "Is he an Immortal?"

She closed her eyes and wished she was more wily as she nodded assent.

 "How will Daniel react to the presence of another Immortal?"  Jack
rephrased his question from the forest.

 "I don't know.  Adam might.  He might not even have to come to the
mountain, anyway."  She turned back to General Hammond.  "To be
perfectly honest, sir, I'm out of ideas.  Adam is my last chance.
After that, all we can hope for is a natural recovery like with the
rest of SG-1."

Hammond pinned her with a glare.  "Is that so unlikely, Doctor
Fraiser."

"I'd be happier if he had recovered in a time period similar to
theirs," she replied bluntly as she gestured to Sam and Jack.  "The
longer he stays like that, the less likely such a recovery will be."

Hammond sat in his own thoughts for a long while.  "I can't say I am
happy with the deception," he began at last.  "But I think I understand
the logic behind it."  He pinned Janet with a long look.  "Needless to
say, we will be discussing this when it is all over.  But right now our
priority is Dr Jackson."  He nodded once, decisively.  "Use prudence
when discussing the case with this Pierson.  If he needs to know more
than a civilian should, let me know and I will decide."  He pushed
himself upright.  "Keep me informed.  About everything."  The
implication was clear.  Janet nodded again, faintly embarrassed.

"Yes sir."

Nodding again, Hammond left her office.  Janet turned to her friends.
"Now, we wait for Adam to phone me back."

 ~##~

The phone rang 44 minutes and thirty two seconds later...or so said
Jack's watch as Janet leapt for the ringing receiver.

"Fraiser," she snapped.  "Oh, Joe, have you...thanks."  Grinning
tightly, she gave Sam and Jack a thumbs up sign as she maneuvered
herself into her seat. "Adam, thanks for getting back to me.  Yes, I
know this is unusual, but I have an unusual situation here...that's why
I'm calling...he's not himself...  Uh huh, that's what I said...listen,
he and three others got hit by a 'beam' of unknown origin. The other
three exhibited similar, though not identical, symptoms, but seem to
have recovered naturally.  He's currently locked in a cell clawing at
the walls...not funny, Adam, you know his opinion on that matter...yes,
he's spoken since we got him back here, but he's not himself...yeah, he
went AWOL for a bit after the beam hit...has Joe shown you the MRI I
emailed him?...uh huh...sorry, Adam, but at this stage you don't have
clearance for that..."  Janet looked up at Jack through her lashes as
she continued listening, making small affirmative noises every so
often.  "Okay, I'll let you know how it goes...thank you, Adam."  Janet
hung up slowly.

"Well?  What does this guy say?"  Jack was a ball of nervous energy.
He wanted to do something, not just sit around.  His best friend
was in trouble.

"Well, he's still thinking about it and studying the MRI I sent, but he
did have one suggestion."

"What?"  Sam was with the Colonel on this – she wanted to start being
active.

Janet quirked an eyebrow.  "Kill him.  As violently as possible.  The
shock of death sets most other Immortal problems right, Adam thinks it
might be worth trying here, too."

Jack recoiled sharply.  "Kill him?  What kind of a lame idea is that!"

"Think of it as hitting a giant reset button.  Hopefully when he
recovers he'll...be recovered."

"Like a computer," Sam said with a sour expression.  "Shut it down and
hope everything is back to normal when you reboot."

Janet shrugged apologetically.  "It's the best idea I've heard so far."

"It's the only idea we've heard so far.  Let's talk to the General."

 ~##~

It was a somber quintet that dismissed the guards around Daniel's cell.
The man himself seemed not to have moved in the hour since he last had
visitors.  With hooded eyes he watched the procession led by Hammond as
they trailed into the observational area just beyond his cell.  Teal'c
was armed with a zat, Jack with a handgun and silencer.  He refused to
allow anyone else to shoot Daniel, even if he would – literally –
bounce back.

The zat was there just in case Adam was wrong.

"Daniel?"  Janet tried one last time to get through to her subject and
friend.  "Daniel, if you understand, this is for your own good."

Jack tried for gallows humour.  "Don't take it personally, okay?"
Getting a nod from the General on his left and Janet on his right, he
took a deep breath, brought his pistol to bear and fired once, a direct
hit to the heart.

Daniel's roar of pain was as louder than the thud of the silenced
weapon firing.  Collapsing onto the bunk, he rolled over the edge and
crouched in the space between the bunk and the end of the wall.  His
blue eyes were dulled for a long moment before the bullet was expelled
by his body.  As the wound finished healing, Danya jerked awake and
launched himself at the bars with a primal scream.

Involuntarily, everybody took a step back.  Danya had snaked an arm
between the bars, and was reaching blindly, trying to take revenge on
that which had attacked him, yelling in an unrecognisable language.

"Doctor Fraiser," Hammond yelled above the din the Immortal was making.
"What now?"

Janet's eye were filled with panic-tinged worry.  "We need to get him
off the bars!"

The familiar metallic chi-chink of a zat opening drew all eyes
to Teal'c.  Calmly, the big man took aim and fired once at Daniel.  He
collapsed bonelessly to the ground, one arm still entangled in the
bars.

"How long will the zat'nikal blast render DanielJackson unconscious?"
He asked seriously as Janet edged forward to check on her patient.

"About the same amount of time as anyone else.  Zats work by disrupting
electrical currents in the body, not by causing any damage to physical
cells."  Moving swiftly, she eased his arm out of the bar and into a
more comfortable position for when he awoke.

Jack's anger was bubbling forth.  "Why didn't that work?  Your guy Adam
said it would cure him, but it just pissed him off!"

"Adam suggested it might work," Janet retorted hotly.  "There
was always the possibility of failure."

"What now, Doctor?"  Hammond hadn't moved off the far wall.  "We can't
keep him in confinement indefinitely, and I think that little
demonstration proves that if he were to escape he'd be a danger to
others."

All eyes turned to Janet. "I don't know," she admitted despondently.
"I just don't know what to do."

A groan from the cell floor caused everyone to leap automatically
backwards.  "Kill me.  Please, just kill me now."  He groaned louder as
he curled into a fetal position, clutching the back of his head
protectively.  

"Daniel?" Jack asked cautiously.

"Oww," he replied plaintively, hands clutching even tighter at his
skull.  "Not so loud!"

Janet edged closer to the bars.  "How are you feeling?"

"Like there's a very aggressive dwarf trying to kick his way out of my
head whilst wearing steel capped boots."  That sentence was too much
for him and he groaned again, louder.

Janet looked back at the rest of SG-1 quickly, assessing.  Jack once
again took the lead.

"Danny, what can you remember about the past few hours?" He smiled
despite himself when Daniel groaned again.  "Come on, it's very
important."

Uncurling slightly, those observing could almost see him thinking.
"Umm, we were talking about Star Wars..." he began hesitantly.

"Yes, good," Jack coaxed.  "What else?"

"We had a briefing about P3X 454..." Another pause.  "There was a
obelisk...a bright light..."  Finally, he uncurled enough to roll onto
his back.  "What happened?"

Jack smiled more warmly now as he hunkered down next to Janet.  "Alien
doohickey happened."  He waved his index finger near his temples.
"Scrambled your brain, we all went a bit nutzo, you worst than most."

"Oh."  Daniel's voice was quite, his features drawn. Whilst the others
had an inkling, only Janet truly had an understanding of the depths of
Daniel's fear of losing control, losing his mind.  That monosyllable,
to her, conveyed a wealth of meaning.  All bad.

"But I think you're past the worst of it, Daniel," she soothed quickly.

Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  "The worst must have
been pretty bad if you've got me in a cell rather than the Infirmary,"
he murmured darkly.  Before Janet or the others could reply, Daniel had
planted his palms on the ground and was levering himself upright.  Eyes
on his footing, he couldn't miss the bloody tear on the front of his
shirt.  He fingered it pensively for a long moment before looking up,
quick eyes taking in Teal'c's zat, Jack's pistol, and the presence of
Hammond.  He ran a hand across his temple, unaware of the faint bloody
smear that left on his pale skin.  "I guess I've got some explaining to
do."  His smile to the General was mirthless.

 ~##~

"That went better than I had all right to expect," Daniel told Jack as
he rummaged through his locker, looking for his civvies.  Jack was
sprawled across the central bench, watching his best friend with an
indulgent gaze.  

 "How did you think it would go?  You think Hammond would hang you out
to dry or something?"

Daniel paused, the jacket bunched in his hands.  "No, I just...I guess
I didn't know what to expect."  He shrugged and shot off an embarrassed
grin.  "I never was very good at predicting a reaction to this kind of
news."  Twisting the fabric between his fists in an unconscious nervous
gesture, he turned back to his locker, his voice muffled.  "At least
his was the easy apology."

Jack heard him anyway.  "Daniel?"

The Immortal turned back around, taking a deep breath.  "Jack, I'm
sorry that I blew you off when I went after Reia, and I'm sorry I
kicked you out of my apartment the other day, and I'm really, really
sorry for all those things I said and..." he ran out of breath. 

Jack pounced on the opening. "Danny, seriously.  I totally understand
why you left for Seacouver – scared the crap out of me, but nothing to
apologise for.  You were totally right to boot me out of your
apartment.  Hell, I should be apologising to you, both of you, for some
of the crap I was spouting in there.  As for today," he waved his hands
dismissively.  "Ask Fraiser to show you the pretty pictures she took of
your brain.  I've seen toddler's drawings that made more sense."

Daniel shook his head.  "It was so strange, you know.  I'm starting to
remember now, but like it was something I watched on tv, not something
I actually did."

Jack stepped forward.  "You remember everything."

He nodded, eyes focussed on something unseen.  "Yes.  I remember waking
up at the base of that obelisk feeling...feeling hunted."  He shook his
head slightly, as if to clear the memories, and focussed in on Jack's
face.  "I've lived my life that way before, Jack, centuries ago.  I
never wanted to feel that way again.  When I woke up, I was
so...scared." He snorted and cast his gaze to his boots.  "Little me
against the big, bad universe.  Bring it on."

"Daniel..."  Jack's voice was hesitant. 

He looked up, blue eyes intense.  "Jack, I want you...I need you to be
clear on something.  I wasn't always the...the nicest person to know.
And sometimes, playing the Game, I have to let that version of me have
full reign.  I need that part of me in order to survive.  The Daniel in
that cell hasn't gone away for good.  He's just...in hibernation."

Jack thought of Daniel facing Apophis, his mouth running away with
insults.  Daniel killing larva Goa'uld with a frightening intensity.
Daniel's face appearing above them, intensely focussed, hunter and
hunted.  "I know."  Impulsively, he wrapped a hand around Daniel's
shoulder.

The contact once again brought Daniel back to the here and now.
"Remind me to get some chocolate for Sam, too."

Jack laughed, grateful for the change in direction.  "You did connect
good.  Glad to see that hand-to-hand stuff is finally sinking in.
She's going to be wearing a shiner for the rest of the week."  Daniel's
expression fell slightly, and Jack cursed himself out.  "You know she
doesn't blame you, Daniel.  We did what we had to to get you back.  And
we'd do it again."

Daniel forced a laugh and turned back to his locker.  Taking the hint,
Jack took a step backwards to give him a bit of space.  "Pity she
didn't figure it out sooner, though."  Something soft and black arced
through the air, and Jack caught it automatically.  It was the black t-
shirt Daniel had been wearing in the cell.  "I've been going through
shirts so fast, the laundry is getting suspicious."  His tone was
carefully neutral.

Jack's fingers automatically found the bullet hole.  He worried it with
his fingers for a moment, before noticing that a faint red had rubbed
off onto his hands.  Grimacing as the bile once again rose in his
throat, he strode across the room to dump the ruined shirt into the
bin.  As he walked, he spoke.  "Twenty- twenty hindsight, Daniel.  The
pieces were all there, we just didn't see the connection."  Pausing to
wipe his hands clean, he returned to his original position.  "Your
body's electrical system was misfiring – something to do with your
Quicken-thingy.  The zat's disrupt electrical currents in the body.
When Teal'c zatted you, it canceled out the beam's effects and you were
able to recover."

Daniel smirked as he dug deeper into his locker.  "Thankyou Doctor
O'Neill."

Jack planted his hands on the bench behind him and leaned back.  "Who
says I don't pay attention in briefings?"  Savouring the smug feeling
for a moment, he swung back to plant his elbows on his knees.  "If only
someone had told Janet that Hammond had authorised the use of zats to
bring us back when we had our little rampage, and we could have fixed
you up before we even stepped back through the Gate.  But somehow that
little tidbit had gotten lost in the heat of the moment." There was
something in Jack's tone that made it clear that he was going to find
out exactly how that had happened.

The locker door banged shut.  "You ready?"

Jack  pushed himself to his feet.  "Willing and waiting...for what?"

Daniel looked at Jack with dancing eyes.  "Pizza.  I distinctly
remember you saying you'd forgive everything if I brought you pizza..."
His expression became painfully innocent.  "But if I'm already
forgiven..."

The Colonel looped an arm around Daniel's shoulders.  "Not quite Danny-
boy."  Steering him towards the hallway, he added.  "And none of those
fancy yuppie toppings either.  Supreme, Hawaiian, Meat-eaters...proper
pizza..."

Daniel slipped out of Jack's grasp to open the door.  "And Teal'c, Sam
and Star Wars."

Jack's smile was electric.  "Works for me.

 ~##~