Stargate SG1: What Dreams May Come (9/21)
All disclaimers, notes, warnings and summary are in the Master post: What Dreams May Come
Chapter Nine
Janet removed the electrodes from Jack's head and stepped back. She'd had some reservations about running the EEG that the colonel had insisted on, and she felt the need to express her concerns to him.
"Colonel, I don't think ..."
"Please, Doc," Jack said. He smiled at her and softened his voice. "Janet, please. If there are two people in my head, the squiggly things will tell you, right?"
"They might," Janet admitted. "But if there aren't two ..."
"If there aren't two then I'm really as crazy as MacKenzie says I am. And if that's true, then it's probably better to find out now, right?"
Janet smiled. "All right, Colonel. I'll go see what this says."
"Thank you," Jack answered.
Janet turned to the psychiatrist. "Dr. MacKenzie, I'll need your help with reading the EEG results."
MacKenzie huffed. "Doctor, I am astounded that you would give in so easily to the demands of a man who is so clearly psychotic."
Janet glanced across her shoulder at Jack. He had gotten up from his bed and gone to sit on the floor against Daniel's. He was already deep in conversation with someone that no one but him could see. Janet took MacKenzie by the arm and led him across the room before she turned to him again.
"I am not giving in to anything. I am exploring every possible explanation for the situation."
"But to agree to an electroencephalogram just to prove that there aren't two people in his head?"
Janet's eyes narrowed. "Didn't General Hammond make it abundantly clear to you that the colonel's wishes were to be honored?"
MacKenzie nodded. "Provided there was any chance that he wasn't insane, yes. But, Doctor ..."
"We have no proof of that."
"We have a grown man sitting on the floor chatting with a dead archeologist!" Janet sighed and MacKenzie continued. "Playing into his delusions and entertaining the notion that Dr. Jackson has somehow been magically implanted in his brain isn't going to make this situation any easier for the colonel to deal with, Doctor." MacKenzie softened his tone. "And meanwhile, we've got a young man, whose wishes were very clearly laid out in advance, being forced to continue to exist against his will."
Janet closed her eyes and massaged her forehead with one hand. "I know." She opened her eyes and looked up again. "But if we're wrong, Dr. MacKenzie, if we do the wrong thing here ... If he's dead, then we're keeping his body alive against his wishes. But if he's alive and we disconnect those machines, then we'd be killing him. The general said he needs more information, and I'm beginning to agree with him."
MacKenzie nodded in understanding. "Do whatever you feel is necessary, Doctor, of course. But I intend to begin the procedures to relieve Colonel O'Neill of his medical custody of Dr. Jackson's body."
"So soon?"
"There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the colonel is losing control of his mental faculties, Dr. Fraiser. The longer we delay, the longer Dr. Jackson's wishes are being ignored."
"But what about the ... ?"
"I will wait until after the EEG readings have been examined. But when those tests come back normal, and I have no doubt that they will, then I will act."
Teal'c entered the isolation room silently and assessed the scene in front of him. Jack was seated on the floor with his back against Daniel Jackson's bed. He was talking animatedly with the empty air on his right. Dr. Fraiser and Dr. MacKenzie stood off to the side, near the wall. They were talking quietly but just as spiritedly as Jack.
Teal'c glanced once between the physician, the psychiatrist, and the colonel.
"What has transpired here?" he demanded.
Dr. Fraiser and Dr. MacKenzie spun around in surprise. Jack simply looked over at him and smiled.
"Hey, Teal'c."
"O'Neill."
Teal'c walked toward Daniel's bed, glancing across his shoulder to glare at MacKenzie as he did so.
"For what reason are you seated on the floor?" Teal'c asked. "Are you in need of assistance?"
"No, Teal'c," Jack answered with a shake of his head. "I'm fine. We're just sitting here while Daniel catches his breath. That's all."
Teal'c looked back at the doctors again. They immediately looked away and resumed their conversation. Teal'c turned back to Jack and lowered his voice. "What is the reason for Dr. MacKenzie's presence?"
Jack glanced across at the psychiatrist and sighed. "They think I'm crazy, Teal'c. He's here to confirm their suspicions."
Teal'c tilted his head slightly. "You are certain that they believe this?"
Jack chuckled. "After the performance I just put on? Oh yeah." Seeing Teal'c's confusion, Jack continued. "Daniel had a bit of a run-in with one of Nem's little memory implants."
"I was not aware that Daniel Jackson had received any false memories."
"He didn't. I did." Jack looked again to his right. "Let's just say that his reaction to watching himself burst into flames was worse than ours were."
Teal'c shook his head slowly. "Daniel Jackson is dead, O'Neill. He cannot react to anything."
Jack tapped himself in the forehead. "He's in my brain, Teal'c. Everything I think, everything I remember, he sees it. And apparently, if it's about him, he feels it, too."
Teal'c opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by Dr. Fraiser as she walked up behind him.
"Teal'c, I'm glad you're here." She turned her attention to Jack momentarily. "How are you doing, Colonel?"
Jack smiled. "We're both fine, Doc."
Janet nodded quickly and turned to Teal'c again. "Teal'c, Dr. MacKenzie and I need to go examine Colonel O'Neill's brain scan ..."
Teal'c turned to Jack in alarm.
"Don't worry, Teal'c. I asked her to do it. I want to prove to them that I've got Daniel floating around in my brain, and it seems to me that this might be the only way to do that."
Teal'c nodded once and Janet continued.
"Would you mind staying with the colonel, Teal'c? He's been ... rather, he says that Daniel has been having some difficulty. I'd really rather not leave him alone right now."
"I shall remain with O'Neill, Dr. Fraiser."
"Good. Thank you, Teal'c." Janet smiled down at Jack again. "Colonel, I'm going to leave you with Teal'c now ..."
Jack laughed. "Ya know, Doc, I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid."
Janet closed her eyes and lowered her head in shame. "Of course you're not, Colonel. I'm sorry." She opened her eyes again and looked Jack directly in the eye. "I'll be back as soon as we've briefed the general, sir."
Jack nodded and smiled as Janet stood and walked away. As soon as she and MacKenzie had disappeared into the corridor, Jack sighed and leaned back against the bed with his eyes closed.
"Are you unwell, O'Neill?"
Jack shook his head. "No. I'm just a little tired is all. And Daniel's having a field day with this being in my brain thing. He's jabbering a million miles a minute and he ... oh, you are too!"
Teal'c tilted his head again.
"Daniel, just hold it a minute, okay? You're scaring Teal'c."
Teal'c simply raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, okay. You're not scaring Teal'c. But you're annoying the hell outta me. And I can't even pawn you off on someone else for a while, so just do me a favor, okay? Can you stop with the theories for now? Give my brain a couple of minutes to catch up?"
Jack was obviously satisfied with the answer, because he smiled, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back.
"Thank you."
Teal'c stood in silence and observed Jack for a few moments. Once he decided that Jack's other conversation was over, he spoke again.
"O'Neill, I am most concerned about your current behavior."
Jack opened his eyes and lifted his head. "Hm?"
"You now believe that Daniel Jackson is living inside your body?"
Jack shook his head. "No, not my body. He's got his own body ... sort of. He's sitting beside me, not on top of me. No, he's just in my head."
Jack lifted an arm. Teal'c grasped it firmly and pulled him to his feet. Jack turned back to the floor, but quickly shifted his gaze up and shrugged. "Oh, okay."
"How did Daniel Jackson come to reside in your head?"
Jack shook his head as he turned back to face Teal'c. "I have no idea. I think it's probably got something to do with that beam, but Daniel's got this crazy idea that it's that bullet that went through his shoulder."
"In what way?" Teal'c asked.
"Um ... something to do with our blood getting mixed together and part of his consciousness getting stuck to the bullet or something. I don't understand a word he said, to be honest. Carter would understand it, though."
"If this is true, then how do we go about ...?"
"Damn it, Daniel, what?" Jack suddenly demanded.
Teal'c leaned forward slightly and watched the scene with intense interest, his question forgotten.
"How would I know that? I'm here, and you're there. I don't know why, but ... Oh, no you don't! Daniel, don't you dare! Daniel!"
Jack threw his arms up in front of himself as if to ward off a blow from an invisible enemy. He started to shout, but his voice was stolen by a gasp before he could. His whole body stiffened and his eyes closed.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted in alarm as he jumped forward. "O'Neill, what is the matter?"
Jack's body relaxed and he drew a deep breath. His arms fell to his sides limply.
"O'Neill?"
Jack opened his eyes slowly, and a smile spread across his face. "I did it," he said in a voice filled with awe. "Wow. This is ... this is weird."
Teal'c stared back at the face in front of him. He found himself unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Hey, Teal'c," Jack said. "What's wrong?"
"O'Neill," Teal'c said slowly as he stepped back from the man in front of him. "What has happened to your eyes?"
"My eyes?"
"They are blue."
Daniel blinked in momentary confusion. He wouldn't have thought that jumping into another person's body would have been quite so disorienting. "My eyes have always been blue."
"They have not. Your eyes have always been brown."
"What?" Daniel forgot where-or rather who-he was. "No, Teal'c, Jack's eyes are brown. Mine are blue."
Teal'c took one deliberate step forward, and Daniel found himself backing away. Teal'c leaned closer and glared at Daniel with barely masked fury. "Then I must demand that you tell me who you are."
"What?" Daniel shook his head and pressed his hands against Teal'c's chest to push him away. "Teal'c, it's me."
"You are not O'Neill."
"Of course I'm ..." Daniel's words trailed off and full comprehension finally dawned on him. "I'm in Jack's body," he said. He turned away from Teal'c and started to search the room for something he could use as a mirror. "Of course! I'm in Jack's body, so of course I look like him." Daniel glanced back at Teal'c across his shoulder as he continued searching. "You say my eyes are blue, though? You see my eyes? Not Jack's?"
"Before I can tell you if I am seeing your eyes, I would first have to be aware of who you are."
"Teal'c, I told you. It's me. I'm me. I'm just sort of ... Jack ... for the moment."
Teal'c almost roared as he reached out and grabbed Daniel's forearms. Daniel suddenly found himself staring up into Teal'c's smoldering eyes as the larger man's fingers dug painfully into his biceps.
"Who are you?" Teal'c demanded.
Daniel looked back at him in shock. Teal'c continued to stare at him, and Daniel felt very much like a small insect under a microscope. He squirmed and tried to pull free of Teal'c's grasp, but the Jaffa was much too strong.
"Teal'c, that hurts. Please. Let go."
"Tell me who you are, or I shall remove your arms from your body and assault your head with them."
Daniel laughed in spite of the seriousness of Teal'c's tone. "But Teal'c, wouldn't that cause me great harm?"
Teal'c froze. His eyes studied Daniel's face even more closely. All at once, Teal'c's eyes widened and he leaned forward.
"Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel smiled, raised his right hand as far as he could, and wiggled his fingers. "Hello."
Chapter Nine
Janet removed the electrodes from Jack's head and stepped back. She'd had some reservations about running the EEG that the colonel had insisted on, and she felt the need to express her concerns to him.
"Colonel, I don't think ..."
"Please, Doc," Jack said. He smiled at her and softened his voice. "Janet, please. If there are two people in my head, the squiggly things will tell you, right?"
"They might," Janet admitted. "But if there aren't two ..."
"If there aren't two then I'm really as crazy as MacKenzie says I am. And if that's true, then it's probably better to find out now, right?"
Janet smiled. "All right, Colonel. I'll go see what this says."
"Thank you," Jack answered.
Janet turned to the psychiatrist. "Dr. MacKenzie, I'll need your help with reading the EEG results."
MacKenzie huffed. "Doctor, I am astounded that you would give in so easily to the demands of a man who is so clearly psychotic."
Janet glanced across her shoulder at Jack. He had gotten up from his bed and gone to sit on the floor against Daniel's. He was already deep in conversation with someone that no one but him could see. Janet took MacKenzie by the arm and led him across the room before she turned to him again.
"I am not giving in to anything. I am exploring every possible explanation for the situation."
"But to agree to an electroencephalogram just to prove that there aren't two people in his head?"
Janet's eyes narrowed. "Didn't General Hammond make it abundantly clear to you that the colonel's wishes were to be honored?"
MacKenzie nodded. "Provided there was any chance that he wasn't insane, yes. But, Doctor ..."
"We have no proof of that."
"We have a grown man sitting on the floor chatting with a dead archeologist!" Janet sighed and MacKenzie continued. "Playing into his delusions and entertaining the notion that Dr. Jackson has somehow been magically implanted in his brain isn't going to make this situation any easier for the colonel to deal with, Doctor." MacKenzie softened his tone. "And meanwhile, we've got a young man, whose wishes were very clearly laid out in advance, being forced to continue to exist against his will."
Janet closed her eyes and massaged her forehead with one hand. "I know." She opened her eyes and looked up again. "But if we're wrong, Dr. MacKenzie, if we do the wrong thing here ... If he's dead, then we're keeping his body alive against his wishes. But if he's alive and we disconnect those machines, then we'd be killing him. The general said he needs more information, and I'm beginning to agree with him."
MacKenzie nodded in understanding. "Do whatever you feel is necessary, Doctor, of course. But I intend to begin the procedures to relieve Colonel O'Neill of his medical custody of Dr. Jackson's body."
"So soon?"
"There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the colonel is losing control of his mental faculties, Dr. Fraiser. The longer we delay, the longer Dr. Jackson's wishes are being ignored."
"But what about the ... ?"
"I will wait until after the EEG readings have been examined. But when those tests come back normal, and I have no doubt that they will, then I will act."
Teal'c entered the isolation room silently and assessed the scene in front of him. Jack was seated on the floor with his back against Daniel Jackson's bed. He was talking animatedly with the empty air on his right. Dr. Fraiser and Dr. MacKenzie stood off to the side, near the wall. They were talking quietly but just as spiritedly as Jack.
Teal'c glanced once between the physician, the psychiatrist, and the colonel.
"What has transpired here?" he demanded.
Dr. Fraiser and Dr. MacKenzie spun around in surprise. Jack simply looked over at him and smiled.
"Hey, Teal'c."
"O'Neill."
Teal'c walked toward Daniel's bed, glancing across his shoulder to glare at MacKenzie as he did so.
"For what reason are you seated on the floor?" Teal'c asked. "Are you in need of assistance?"
"No, Teal'c," Jack answered with a shake of his head. "I'm fine. We're just sitting here while Daniel catches his breath. That's all."
Teal'c looked back at the doctors again. They immediately looked away and resumed their conversation. Teal'c turned back to Jack and lowered his voice. "What is the reason for Dr. MacKenzie's presence?"
Jack glanced across at the psychiatrist and sighed. "They think I'm crazy, Teal'c. He's here to confirm their suspicions."
Teal'c tilted his head slightly. "You are certain that they believe this?"
Jack chuckled. "After the performance I just put on? Oh yeah." Seeing Teal'c's confusion, Jack continued. "Daniel had a bit of a run-in with one of Nem's little memory implants."
"I was not aware that Daniel Jackson had received any false memories."
"He didn't. I did." Jack looked again to his right. "Let's just say that his reaction to watching himself burst into flames was worse than ours were."
Teal'c shook his head slowly. "Daniel Jackson is dead, O'Neill. He cannot react to anything."
Jack tapped himself in the forehead. "He's in my brain, Teal'c. Everything I think, everything I remember, he sees it. And apparently, if it's about him, he feels it, too."
Teal'c opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by Dr. Fraiser as she walked up behind him.
"Teal'c, I'm glad you're here." She turned her attention to Jack momentarily. "How are you doing, Colonel?"
Jack smiled. "We're both fine, Doc."
Janet nodded quickly and turned to Teal'c again. "Teal'c, Dr. MacKenzie and I need to go examine Colonel O'Neill's brain scan ..."
Teal'c turned to Jack in alarm.
"Don't worry, Teal'c. I asked her to do it. I want to prove to them that I've got Daniel floating around in my brain, and it seems to me that this might be the only way to do that."
Teal'c nodded once and Janet continued.
"Would you mind staying with the colonel, Teal'c? He's been ... rather, he says that Daniel has been having some difficulty. I'd really rather not leave him alone right now."
"I shall remain with O'Neill, Dr. Fraiser."
"Good. Thank you, Teal'c." Janet smiled down at Jack again. "Colonel, I'm going to leave you with Teal'c now ..."
Jack laughed. "Ya know, Doc, I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid."
Janet closed her eyes and lowered her head in shame. "Of course you're not, Colonel. I'm sorry." She opened her eyes again and looked Jack directly in the eye. "I'll be back as soon as we've briefed the general, sir."
Jack nodded and smiled as Janet stood and walked away. As soon as she and MacKenzie had disappeared into the corridor, Jack sighed and leaned back against the bed with his eyes closed.
"Are you unwell, O'Neill?"
Jack shook his head. "No. I'm just a little tired is all. And Daniel's having a field day with this being in my brain thing. He's jabbering a million miles a minute and he ... oh, you are too!"
Teal'c tilted his head again.
"Daniel, just hold it a minute, okay? You're scaring Teal'c."
Teal'c simply raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, okay. You're not scaring Teal'c. But you're annoying the hell outta me. And I can't even pawn you off on someone else for a while, so just do me a favor, okay? Can you stop with the theories for now? Give my brain a couple of minutes to catch up?"
Jack was obviously satisfied with the answer, because he smiled, closed his eyes, and leaned his head back.
"Thank you."
Teal'c stood in silence and observed Jack for a few moments. Once he decided that Jack's other conversation was over, he spoke again.
"O'Neill, I am most concerned about your current behavior."
Jack opened his eyes and lifted his head. "Hm?"
"You now believe that Daniel Jackson is living inside your body?"
Jack shook his head. "No, not my body. He's got his own body ... sort of. He's sitting beside me, not on top of me. No, he's just in my head."
Jack lifted an arm. Teal'c grasped it firmly and pulled him to his feet. Jack turned back to the floor, but quickly shifted his gaze up and shrugged. "Oh, okay."
"How did Daniel Jackson come to reside in your head?"
Jack shook his head as he turned back to face Teal'c. "I have no idea. I think it's probably got something to do with that beam, but Daniel's got this crazy idea that it's that bullet that went through his shoulder."
"In what way?" Teal'c asked.
"Um ... something to do with our blood getting mixed together and part of his consciousness getting stuck to the bullet or something. I don't understand a word he said, to be honest. Carter would understand it, though."
"If this is true, then how do we go about ...?"
"Damn it, Daniel, what?" Jack suddenly demanded.
Teal'c leaned forward slightly and watched the scene with intense interest, his question forgotten.
"How would I know that? I'm here, and you're there. I don't know why, but ... Oh, no you don't! Daniel, don't you dare! Daniel!"
Jack threw his arms up in front of himself as if to ward off a blow from an invisible enemy. He started to shout, but his voice was stolen by a gasp before he could. His whole body stiffened and his eyes closed.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted in alarm as he jumped forward. "O'Neill, what is the matter?"
Jack's body relaxed and he drew a deep breath. His arms fell to his sides limply.
"O'Neill?"
Jack opened his eyes slowly, and a smile spread across his face. "I did it," he said in a voice filled with awe. "Wow. This is ... this is weird."
Teal'c stared back at the face in front of him. He found himself unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Hey, Teal'c," Jack said. "What's wrong?"
"O'Neill," Teal'c said slowly as he stepped back from the man in front of him. "What has happened to your eyes?"
"My eyes?"
"They are blue."
Daniel blinked in momentary confusion. He wouldn't have thought that jumping into another person's body would have been quite so disorienting. "My eyes have always been blue."
"They have not. Your eyes have always been brown."
"What?" Daniel forgot where-or rather who-he was. "No, Teal'c, Jack's eyes are brown. Mine are blue."
Teal'c took one deliberate step forward, and Daniel found himself backing away. Teal'c leaned closer and glared at Daniel with barely masked fury. "Then I must demand that you tell me who you are."
"What?" Daniel shook his head and pressed his hands against Teal'c's chest to push him away. "Teal'c, it's me."
"You are not O'Neill."
"Of course I'm ..." Daniel's words trailed off and full comprehension finally dawned on him. "I'm in Jack's body," he said. He turned away from Teal'c and started to search the room for something he could use as a mirror. "Of course! I'm in Jack's body, so of course I look like him." Daniel glanced back at Teal'c across his shoulder as he continued searching. "You say my eyes are blue, though? You see my eyes? Not Jack's?"
"Before I can tell you if I am seeing your eyes, I would first have to be aware of who you are."
"Teal'c, I told you. It's me. I'm me. I'm just sort of ... Jack ... for the moment."
Teal'c almost roared as he reached out and grabbed Daniel's forearms. Daniel suddenly found himself staring up into Teal'c's smoldering eyes as the larger man's fingers dug painfully into his biceps.
"Who are you?" Teal'c demanded.
Daniel looked back at him in shock. Teal'c continued to stare at him, and Daniel felt very much like a small insect under a microscope. He squirmed and tried to pull free of Teal'c's grasp, but the Jaffa was much too strong.
"Teal'c, that hurts. Please. Let go."
"Tell me who you are, or I shall remove your arms from your body and assault your head with them."
Daniel laughed in spite of the seriousness of Teal'c's tone. "But Teal'c, wouldn't that cause me great harm?"
Teal'c froze. His eyes studied Daniel's face even more closely. All at once, Teal'c's eyes widened and he leaned forward.
"Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel smiled, raised his right hand as far as he could, and wiggled his fingers. "Hello."