Author: Debi C

Feedback: dcole6@satx.rr.com

Author Website: Gen: www.Incomingwormhole.com

Rating: G. My light saber is true blue.

Pairing: J/D friendship fic.

Category: angst

Date: April 18, 2004

Status: Complete

Season/Spoilers: Season 7 Meridian, Full Circle, Fallen, and The Lost City

Series: Nada

Archive: Alpha Gate, The Cartouche, Heliopolis, GenGate, TheBoy, and Stargate Musings. Anyone else please ask.

Synopsis: Daniel contemplates his life and loneliness.

Notes: Thanks to my helpful angels for pointing me the way.

Warnings: Discussion of Ascension of some characters

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/ Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I do not own the characters and indeed am only playing with them for a little while. Jack and Daniel belong to each other. I am not making any money from this and I'm still paying for everything I own so there's very little point in suing me. No copyright infringement whatsoever is intended. The story is for entertainment purposes only. At least I hope it's entertaining. The original characters, situations and story are mine. Please check with me first if you want to archive or link to this story.

Rooftop
by DebiC

Daniel sat on the rooftop observation deck of Jack's house with the large telescope. He was looking at a certain area of space, one that was now empty. It used to contain a small white star that had possessed one small satellite and its two daughter moons, a planet that had been known as Abydos.

It was gone now. The planet and her children had been destroyed by the battleship of the Goa'uld known as Anubis in the war of the system lords. There was nothing left at all except the white star. Just like there was nothing left at all except Daniel Jackson.

In his life of thirty odd years he'd had lots of opportunities to be more than alone. The universe seemed to have created a karmic fate for the lone man. Parents killed, abandoned by grandsire, led pillar to post through the foster care system. Then, in adulthood, his wife was stolen, her child hidden, his friends possessed, his adopted world destroyed and now Jack frozen in a stasis chamber of the Ancients. All that was left for him was to wait. He stubbornly clung to hope; he wasn't ready to quit yet. So, he remained. On particularly hard days, he came and stayed at Jack's house when he could because it was the home of Jack's memories, a part of the hope and a piece of his belief. It was a belief that he desperately needed to hang on to. He needed it or he would crumble.

Daniel had wanted to go back to Antarctica. He could have remained at McMurdo Air Base and continued his research on the language of the Ancients, but they wouldn't let him stay behind. They said he was too important, that he couldn't be spared.

He'd almost laughed in their faces. He was too important, they couldn't do without him, and he was irreplaceable. Funny, he'd been fairly easy to replace when he'd been ascended. Two, three weeks and Jack had been ordered to find a fourth for SG-1. He'd read the reports and seen the frustration between the lines in the other man's comments. Jack hadn't wanted to let him go, to admit that he might never see Daniel again. But the mission needed doing and three people weren't really enough. So, he'd taken Jonas as their fourth.

From what he'd heard, Jack had been hard on the young man, demanding a lot from the Kelownan and then ignoring him. It had taken a whole year for the team to come back together, even to the point that it had...which was a long way from cohesive. Daniel had also learned that Jack had spent a lot of time apart from his teammates. In some instances it was done forcibly, it had been voluntary in others. He knew that his friend had been withdrawing, going to his cabin more often, and spending his leaves and medical down time alone. Of course, SG-1 had continued on without him in some instances and that had left the responsibility of the missions to Sam. Teal'c had spent more time with Bra'tac and the rebel Jaffa factions. With his leaving, Daniel realized that the team had begun to disconnect and go their own directions only coming together for actual missions. This was a serious departure from the early days of the SGC and the inseparable flagship team that he remembered.

However, life is an evolution. Things must change. With his departure, Sam had tried to bond closer to Jack and failed. Teal'c was trying to return to his old life and was succeeding. Jonas was trying to fit in and had been achieving his goal only to have his life altered yet again upon Daniel's return. Just as Daniel's had changed with his de-ascension and return to his old life.

Since his return, Jack had been busy with a lot more office duties. They'd known that General Hammond had been thinking of retiring from the military and wanted to phase out of the SGC in an orderly fashion. However, with Anubis's attack on Earth, the senior officer had been reassigned to command the Prometheus and the fledgling fighter group, the Snake Skinners.

Doctor Weir was settling in but was relying heavily on her experience as a political co-coordinator. Daniel felt as out of sync with the new regime as he had when he first arrived at Cheyenne Mountain with Catherine Langford to go face to face with General West. New people were always arriving, old people transferring out, new policies being implemented, old policies revised. He felt like he should be rewritten too, or maybe he had been already...by Oma Desala...and he just didn't know it yet.

So, now, to find a little bit of peace and quiet he would come here to Jack's house to sit on the familiar rooftop and feel the intimacy and belonging that it brought him. He remembered being here from before. He remembered playing chess in Jack's living room, drinking beer and eating pizza on the couch, watching old movies on the television. He remembered laughing, crying, living and dying. Most of all, he remembered not being alone...like he was alone now.

Or was he? A sudden cool breeze passed over him as he sat looking through the telescope. Daniel had a feeling of being watched, of something...or someone...waiting. He sat back in the chair and looked around the platform.

As he scanned the star ridden sky he saw what at first appeared as a wispy trail of vapor, one that floated towards him on the night breezes from the mountains. As he watched it seemed to first solidify then disperse again. It appeared to be some sprite of ether shyly coming down from the heavens, yet not quite sure of its welcome.

Daniel recognized the wraith as an Ascended One in its least corporal state, but whom it was he couldn't say yet. It appeared to be unsure and hesitant or perhaps not yet skilled in its chosen method of travel.

After a period of patient waiting on Daniel's part, the glowy tendrils began to coalesce properly. First it changed into the familiar tentacle form of the Ascendeds, and then with further transformation the being began to take on a more human shape. Daniel recognized the familiar robed form immediately. "Skaara?"

"Danyel. It is good to see you, my brother." The young man smiled warmly at his clansman. Then he looked around. "Is this a good thing?"

Daniel smiled warmly at the Abydonian. "It is a very good thing to see you again. How are you?"

Skaara nodded then smiled. "I am well, Danyel. I learn much from our new kinsmen. There is so very much to learn about."

Daniel smiled in return. "Yes, there is a lot to see." He continued. "How is our good father, Kasuf?"

Skaara laughed merrily, the sound tinkling delicately on the wind. "He is like a small child. Full of what ifs and why fores. He is happy."

Daniel sighed. "I'm glad. I don't remember exactly what happened, so I wasn't..."

The young man nodded sagely at him. "It is understood. You were not...satisfied. You could not stand and watch." His face crinkled in the old remembered way. "I have said to Oma that she did not know you well."

Daniel ducked his head and grinned self-consciously. "I suppose not."

"I have said that you would never only watch...that you always wanted to grind your own flour."

"I guess...that's as true a statement as has ever been spoken."

"Do not fear for O'Nearr, Danyel. You will find a way to release him from his prison."

"Is he conscious? Does he know where he is?"

"No, he truly sleeps. But he is awaiting you to come for him. He knows you will find the way."

"I'm trying, Skaara." He looked up at the youthful Ascended one. "I just can't...quite...get it."

"But you will my brother. Do not give up trying. Do not give up hope."

"You know I won't...I can't," Daniel shook his head. "but, it's not...."

Skaara reached out and made as if to touch the older man's face. "Sha'uri once told me that many wise scholars tried to open the Chappa'i for a very long time. They tried and they failed. One day, a stranger came amongst them. The stranger looked at the chappa'i and studied the ancient writings. Soon, he came to their chieftain and said 'I have done it.' And he had."

Daniel sighed, "That was a long time ago, Skaara. A lifetime ago."

"No, my brother, it was only a moment ago." The young man began to change, to reform into the shape of his new people. "Do not give up, Danyel. Allow yourself time to dream and to see the ancient writings. There, you will find your answers."

"Skaara, I don't know how anymore."

"As with all things, my brother, the answer lies within you. Seek it there and it will answer your calling." The metamorphosis was complete and the luminescent form with Skaara's face began to float up from the roof.

"Give my love to our honored good father, Skaara. I miss you."

"And we miss you, kinsman. Remember, you are never alone."

Daniel could only nod and as the form left the rooftop, he raised a hand in farewell.

He continued to sit pensively on the observation platform for a long while. Then, he got to his feet and secured the telescope, placing it back into its box. He needed to get back to the office. He had important work to do.

The End