Stargate SG1: Heir to the Ennead (Epilogue)
All disclaimers, notes, warnings and summary are in the Master post: Heir to the Ennead
Epilogue
"How're you feeling this morning, Daniel?"
Jack didn't think he'd ever grow tired of rejoicing at being able to ask the question. Two days before, Daniel had all but bled to death on the floor of Nephthys' stupid temple, but barely forty-eight hours later, he was moving around on his own, albeit slowly.
God bless Jacob Carter and his refusal to accept the word "no" when his daughter and her friends were in danger.
Jacob had healed the wound completely, but apparently the bone damage had gone deeper than he'd thought, and the muscles were having a hard time dealing with what had happened to them. Daniel was moving slow, but he was moving.
"Bit sore," Daniel answered. "But I'll be fine."
They'd moved into Niuserre's house after the incident at the temple, and none of them seemed to feel the least bit guilty about having done it. Dashu had invited them back to her home without so much as a moment of hesitation, but Jack knew that Saq'ar still felt a deep sense of guilt for his part in what had happened, and they had all agreed that it would be better for everyone if they weren't constantly getting under each other's feet.
So Daniel was sitting on the top terrace of the garden again, watching the sun rise over the pyramid. Jack sat down beside him.
"Water should have receded fully overnight," Jack said. "We might be able to go home today."
"Mmhm."
Jack was fairly certain that Daniel wasn't really listening to him, so he tried an experiment.
"Think I'll give Hammond a big old hug the second we set foot inside the SGC."
"You do that."
"Fraiser'll take one look at you and bundle you off to the infirmary so fast it'll make your head spin."
"Yep, sounds great."
Jack shook his head and tapped Daniel on the leg.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nephthys," Daniel answered.
Jack shook his head in disgust. "Don't," he commanded. "She doesn't deserve it."
"But it's like Ma'at said. She wasn't evil. She was just... desperate. I can't really hate her for that."
Jack snorted. "Don't worry. I'm sure I hate her enough for the both of us."
"Her son was everything to her," Daniel continued. "She'd spent so much of her life taking care of him, protecting him, giving him so much... then she made one mistake, and the person she cared for most in the world threw her away."
Jack opened his mouth for another smart-mouthed response, but he snapped it closed almost as fast.
Oh.
"It's understandable, isn't it? I mean, if someone you've kind of taken care of for a while, looked out for, risked your life for, can't forgive you for making a mistake? Even though you had the best of intentions when you did it?" Daniel raised his head slightly and glanced up at Jack through his eyelashes. "She just wanted him back."
Jack nodded then, in both understanding and acknowledgment of what Daniel was giving him, what he was accepting freely and without mentioning it by name.
"It can be kinda painful," he admitted. "But that really didn't give her the right to try to cut your heart out."
Daniel snorted a laugh, but doubled over and wrapped his arm around his side instead.
Jack leaned forward and grabbed his arm. "You okay?"
Daniel nodded while he took deep breaths. "Sore," he said again. "Laughing hurts."
"Sierra Golf Niner, this is Sierra Golf Too . Do you read?"
That crackling staticky voice was music to Jack's ears. He tripped the switch on his radio almost immediately.
"Hey, Lou!" he called out. "Welcome to Iunu!"
"Jack!" Lou Ferretti called back. "It is fantastic to hear your voice. You and your team all okay?"
Jack glanced across at Daniel, saw the way he was shaking his head at him frantically, and smiled. "For the most part," he said into the radio. "Alert Sierra Golf Charlie that we're coming in with one mostly recovered casualty that Napoleon might want a look at."
"Roger that, Jack. You need us to come get you?"
"Negative," Jack answered back. "We're two clicks out. We're moving a bit slow, but we can do it on our own. We'll meet you at the gate in sixty."
"Got it, Jack. See you soon."
Jack didn't have to turn around to know that both Sam and Teal'c had walked out on to the terrace behind him, each wearing their own pack and holding one extra.
"We heard the call on the radio," Sam said. "And we're ready to go whenever you are, sir."
Jack nodded and stood, then reached back down and helped Daniel to his feet, too. They started down the stairs and toward the street, with Daniel leading the way and Jack at his elbow the entire time.
"I think we can come back, Daniel," Sam said as they headed for the dune.
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "The deaths of Nephthys and Niuserre have made Iunu a much more pleasant place to be."
Daniel looked over at Jack, and his expression was hard to read. He wasn't really smiling, Jack knew, but he wasn't really not.
"When you're ready, Daniel," Jack said. "Not until you're ready."
Daniel nodded slowly, took a deep breath and started up the dune.
"Once this is healed, I think I'm good to go," he said. He didn't even shrug off Jack and Teal'c's hands when they took his arms to help him climb up the sand.
"Just, no more of these easy missions for a while, okay?"
The sound of his team laughing, and in Daniel's case groaning, together was the sweetest sound that Jack had ever heard.
~ fin ~
Epilogue
"How're you feeling this morning, Daniel?"
Jack didn't think he'd ever grow tired of rejoicing at being able to ask the question. Two days before, Daniel had all but bled to death on the floor of Nephthys' stupid temple, but barely forty-eight hours later, he was moving around on his own, albeit slowly.
God bless Jacob Carter and his refusal to accept the word "no" when his daughter and her friends were in danger.
Jacob had healed the wound completely, but apparently the bone damage had gone deeper than he'd thought, and the muscles were having a hard time dealing with what had happened to them. Daniel was moving slow, but he was moving.
"Bit sore," Daniel answered. "But I'll be fine."
They'd moved into Niuserre's house after the incident at the temple, and none of them seemed to feel the least bit guilty about having done it. Dashu had invited them back to her home without so much as a moment of hesitation, but Jack knew that Saq'ar still felt a deep sense of guilt for his part in what had happened, and they had all agreed that it would be better for everyone if they weren't constantly getting under each other's feet.
So Daniel was sitting on the top terrace of the garden again, watching the sun rise over the pyramid. Jack sat down beside him.
"Water should have receded fully overnight," Jack said. "We might be able to go home today."
"Mmhm."
Jack was fairly certain that Daniel wasn't really listening to him, so he tried an experiment.
"Think I'll give Hammond a big old hug the second we set foot inside the SGC."
"You do that."
"Fraiser'll take one look at you and bundle you off to the infirmary so fast it'll make your head spin."
"Yep, sounds great."
Jack shook his head and tapped Daniel on the leg.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nephthys," Daniel answered.
Jack shook his head in disgust. "Don't," he commanded. "She doesn't deserve it."
"But it's like Ma'at said. She wasn't evil. She was just... desperate. I can't really hate her for that."
Jack snorted. "Don't worry. I'm sure I hate her enough for the both of us."
"Her son was everything to her," Daniel continued. "She'd spent so much of her life taking care of him, protecting him, giving him so much... then she made one mistake, and the person she cared for most in the world threw her away."
Jack opened his mouth for another smart-mouthed response, but he snapped it closed almost as fast.
Oh.
"It's understandable, isn't it? I mean, if someone you've kind of taken care of for a while, looked out for, risked your life for, can't forgive you for making a mistake? Even though you had the best of intentions when you did it?" Daniel raised his head slightly and glanced up at Jack through his eyelashes. "She just wanted him back."
Jack nodded then, in both understanding and acknowledgment of what Daniel was giving him, what he was accepting freely and without mentioning it by name.
"It can be kinda painful," he admitted. "But that really didn't give her the right to try to cut your heart out."
Daniel snorted a laugh, but doubled over and wrapped his arm around his side instead.
Jack leaned forward and grabbed his arm. "You okay?"
Daniel nodded while he took deep breaths. "Sore," he said again. "Laughing hurts."
"Sierra Golf Niner, this is Sierra Golf Too . Do you read?"
That crackling staticky voice was music to Jack's ears. He tripped the switch on his radio almost immediately.
"Hey, Lou!" he called out. "Welcome to Iunu!"
"Jack!" Lou Ferretti called back. "It is fantastic to hear your voice. You and your team all okay?"
Jack glanced across at Daniel, saw the way he was shaking his head at him frantically, and smiled. "For the most part," he said into the radio. "Alert Sierra Golf Charlie that we're coming in with one mostly recovered casualty that Napoleon might want a look at."
"Roger that, Jack. You need us to come get you?"
"Negative," Jack answered back. "We're two clicks out. We're moving a bit slow, but we can do it on our own. We'll meet you at the gate in sixty."
"Got it, Jack. See you soon."
Jack didn't have to turn around to know that both Sam and Teal'c had walked out on to the terrace behind him, each wearing their own pack and holding one extra.
"We heard the call on the radio," Sam said. "And we're ready to go whenever you are, sir."
Jack nodded and stood, then reached back down and helped Daniel to his feet, too. They started down the stairs and toward the street, with Daniel leading the way and Jack at his elbow the entire time.
"I think we can come back, Daniel," Sam said as they headed for the dune.
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "The deaths of Nephthys and Niuserre have made Iunu a much more pleasant place to be."
Daniel looked over at Jack, and his expression was hard to read. He wasn't really smiling, Jack knew, but he wasn't really not.
"When you're ready, Daniel," Jack said. "Not until you're ready."
Daniel nodded slowly, took a deep breath and started up the dune.
"Once this is healed, I think I'm good to go," he said. He didn't even shrug off Jack and Teal'c's hands when they took his arms to help him climb up the sand.
"Just, no more of these easy missions for a while, okay?"
The sound of his team laughing, and in Daniel's case groaning, together was the sweetest sound that Jack had ever heard.
~ fin ~