Chapter Text
He knew that ceiling. He'd only stared at it more times than he could remember, lying flat on his back, the medical equipment filling the room with all of its whirring, chirping, beeping and printing. Infirmary, sure was, Daniel noticed when he turned his head to the side. Ouch. His very sore head.
There was Jack, halfway across the room, talking to Janet. Oooh, his head hurt. And the room was full of people. There was Chris Larabee, head bowed as he listened while Janet spoke. And JD Dunne, too. Teal'C stood against the wall... okay, he was starting to remember. He shifted his head a fraction. And there was Sam, lying next to him on another gurney. Yes, Sam was with him on this mission. So was Buck and so was Vin. The rest of SG1 and Security Team One were outside the ruins, setting up a perimeter while his small group was inside.
Sam and Buck were investigating some glyphs along the opposite wall from where he and Vin were. Good, good, he could remember that much. But then nothing.
He tried to get Jack's attention, but he couldn't move... his hand wasn't listening to his brain. Whoa, something big must have hit him for him to not be able to move. He cleared his throat. At least a little sound came out.
He watched Chris, Jack, and Dr. Fraiser while he tried to get sound to come out of him. It was no use. A nice sip of water, or even some ice chips would be good about now. He could read Jack's lips and wasn't that strange, since he was all the way over there and Daniel couldn't feel his glasses on his face. He tried moving his hand again, and this time, it cooperated, if only a little.
"He's awake," Larabee said loud enough for Daniel to hear him across the room. Larabee hurried over and leaned over him. "You all right?" Chris asked as he took Daniel's hands between his own hands.
Daniel managed a little nod, searching for Jack. While Daniel and Larabee had become friendly over time, they weren't friendly enough for Chris to be holding his hand.
He tried to push words out; he wanted to know just what in the world happened to land him in the infirmary this time, but they wouldn't come. It seemed like his brain forgot how to use his body.
"What hurts?" Chris asked him, still holding his hand. "The doc says there's nothing wrong with any of you, but you've all been out for two days."
Daniel wasn't used to having Larabee's full intensity directed at him and it was a little unnerving. He kept looking to Jack for answers, but Jack held back behind Fraiser.
"That's not what I said," Janet said as she came up next to him and shined a light in his eyes. "I said they were all comatose and showing unusual brain activity, but that I can't find anything physically wrong with them."
Chris stroked the back of Daniel's hand softly before releasing it and resting it back on his belly. "Just glad to see those eyes open again," Chris said softly.
"Jack?" Daniel managed to ask. His voice sounded strange to his own ears, soft and raspy and just... off.
Chris gave him a strange look then, one Daniel couldn't read even if he hadn't just woken up from a coma.
"Jack?" Daniel asked again.
"Yeah?" Jack said as he stepped next to Daniel's bed.
"Sam? Buck? Vin?" Was everyone else there? Were they all right? He knew Jack would understand what he was asking.
But Jack didn't answer him... he got a funny look on his face. One Daniel saw whenever something big was happening. Uh-Oh.
"Daniel?" Jack asked, nearly whispering.
Now Chris was looking at Jack too. And he didn't look very happy.
"Oh no," Jack breathed out.
"What? What?" Daniel asked, panicking a little.
"Do you want the good news or the bad news, Daniel?"
"Why are you calling him Daniel?" Chris asked.
Jack held up his hand in Chris' direction and stared at Daniel. Daniel swallowed over the lump in his throat. He knew something was very, very wrong.
"The good news is that at least this time you have a body that isn't about to check out." Jack stared at him for a minute and Daniel's eyes went to his own hand, then to the rest of his body. He was starting to understand...
"I think you can figure out the bad news on your own," Jack said softly.
"What the hell is going on?" Larabee asked, his voice soft, quiet and menacing.
"That's not Vin," Jack said. "That's Daniel."
"That would explain the EEG abnormalities," Fraiser said as she went to look at the readouts. Daniel watched her go, still not entirely sure what was going on.
"How?" Daniel managed to ask. "It was an empty room." He recognized why his voice sounded so strange, then. It wasn't his voice. It was Vin Tanner's. Oh no, not again...
Daniel turned his head to the side, studying Sam as she started to wake. It looked like she was having trouble controlling her body's movements, just like he was. Uh-Oh.
"Shit, I feel like I got run over by the noon stage," Sam said. Her eyes went wide as she heard her voice. "What the hell?" she yelled.
"Buck?" Larabee asked.
"Uh-oh," was all Daniel could manage to say.
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