Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Daniel, Jack, Sam, Teal'c, Hammond, Ferretti, and Skaara appeared in a room.

"Where are we?" Daniel asked.

"How am I supposed to know, Daniel?" Jack responded.

Sam noticed a note on the floor and picked it up.

Hi,
You guys will be watching some of your past and a lot of your future
- S.Frost

Everyone sat down.

The screen lit up.

OPENING CREDITS

EXT—NORTH AFRICAN DESERT, 8,000 B.C., NIGHT

[People are sleeping in their huts in a simple village. Suddenly a light appears from above, shining down from spot to spot over the homes. A wind picks up, rattling the hanging pots. A boy inside one of the huts watches, unsettled. A large space ship begins descending.]

"What the fuck is this!?" Sam exclaimed.

[More of the villagers awaken as the ship continues to descend. As many of the villagers run, afraid, one boy moves forward, curious at the lightning and strange lights and wind. He moves closer, only becoming concerned as he realizes the ship is descending almost on top of him. A bright light starts to descend on him from above.]

"How Ra got his host." Daniel whispered to Jack.

EXT—GIZA, EGYPT, 1928, DAY

[A car drives quickly through the desert towards a busy and crowded archaeological site. In the car, a man drives an adult man and a girl, approximately twelve years of age. The car stops, and the driver honks his horn.]

[From inside a tent, a man who has been writing at a desk hurries out to greet the car.]

ARABIC INTERPRETER
Professor! Professor.

[He barely helps them out of the car before rushing ahead, trying to lead them to the center of the site. The girl and man, Catherine Langford and her father, hurry to catch up.]

ARABIC INTERPRETER
We found something beautiful! Very big surprise! Big big big surprise!

Daniel laughed at the excited man on screen.

[He leads them over to a large round coverstone. One complete disk sits in the center, surrounded by a larger disk split into thirteen sections. Another man greets the professor and shakes his hand.]

FOREMAN TAYLOR
Dr. Langford, hello.

LANGFORD
What have we here?

FOREMAN TAYLOR
Cover stones.

LANGFORD
It's fantastic.

[Meanwhile, Catherine has started looking at some smaller artifacts being catalogued on one of the side tables. She's fascinated by a gold necklace, on its chain is a gold pendant with an intricate design, including the symbol for the eye of Ra.]

"Catherine..." Daniel muttered.

LANGFORD
Caterine, come.

[Catherine follows her father and the other men to another section of the site. Dozens of workers are using ropes to pull a large stone ring upright—the Stargate.]

LANGFORD
What in God's name is that?

FOREMAN TAYLOR
I wish I knew.

WORKMAN
Look at that. There is something buried underneath!

[The foreman and Taylor rush forward, yelling to the workers. Catherine moves to follow.]

LANGFORD
Catherine, stay back.

[He follows the others as more workers crowd forward. Catherine slips through the crowd to see as well. They left a smaller stone and carefully remove some other rocks.]

LANGFORD
Looks like some kind of fossil.

[Their eyes widen as the study this stone jackel-headed figure buried underneath.]

Jack wrapped his arms around Daniel who had started shaking.

INT—HOTEL, PRESENT DAY

[An old woman, carrying a padded folder under her arm walks up the stairs of the lobby looking for something. She is wearing the eye of Ra pendant—she is Catherine in the present day.]

[Catherine spots a sign that reads: "Symposium Ancient Egypt—THE OLD KINGS and THE IVth DYNASTY, Alameda Room, 2-4 pm." Someone can be heard speaking in the room. She heads in that direction.]

Daniel's eyes go wide, "Shit! This," he exclaimed.

Jack smiled at him sympathicly.

Daniel leaned into Jack's arms.

"What are you speaking of?" Teal'c questioned.

"Just the worst yet best day in my life." Daniel answered.

"How could the worst day of your life also be the best, Daniel Jackson?" Teal’c asked.

DANIEL
(offscreen)
...then there are symbols painted everywhere: names, titles of owners, lists of offerings.

"Bo-oring," Jack said.

INT—ALAMEDA ROOM, HOTEL

[Catherine enters the crowded room. She stands by the doorway, watching the proceedings. Daniel Jackson is giving the lecture.]

DANIEL
Every other architectural structure at the time was covered with detailed hieroglyphics. When is the academic community going to accept the fact the pharoahs of the Fourth Dynasty did not build the great pyramids?

[Many of the audience begin to mutter amongst themselves.]

"Jerks," muttered Sam.

DANIEL
Look, look—inside the pyramid, the most incredible structure ever erected, there are no writings whatsover. And—

THOMAS
Doctor Jackson, you've left out the fact that Colonel Vyse discovered inscriptions with Khufu's name—

DANIEL
Right...

[Daniel nods, raising a finger and starting to write on his blackboard.]

THOMAS
(continuing)
...within the pyramid.

DANIEL
Well, his discovery was a fraud.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

[Outraged mutterings come from amongst the audience. Some start to laugh.]

THOMAS
I don't think you'll prove it.

HECKLER
Well, who do you think built the pyramids?

[Everyone stays silent, awaiting Daniel's answer.]

DANIEL
I don't have any idea who built them... I mean,

HECKLER
Men from Atlantis? Or Martians perhaps?

"How can they be do mean to you Dan'iel?" Skaara asked.

"That's just what people are like if you disagree with the majority of them," Daniel said.

[People begin walking out of the room, laughing and scoffing with comments that can be overheard like "what a joke" or "which is the bigger myth?"]

DANIEL
The point is not who built them; the point is when they were built. I mean—we all know new geological evidence dates the Sphinx back to a much earlier period. And knowing this, I think, we have to begin to reevaluate everything we've come to accept about...

[Only one man in the front row remains. He awkwardly stands. Daniel steps off the podium to address him directly.]

DANIEL
I-I mean, I've been able to show a fully developed writing systems appeared in the first two dynasties, you know, which you know, almost as if it was based on an even earlier prototype.

[Catherine backs away. Daniel and the lone remaining man look around the now empty room.]

DANIEL
Is there a lunch or something that everybody...?

Skaara looked angry.

EXT—HOTEL ENTRANCE, DAY

[Rain pours down as Daniel, carrying two large suitcases, exits the hotel. He pulls his jacket's hood over his head to provide some protection and tries to cover his one suitcase with his coat. An uniformed man with an umbrella approaches from a car parked just outside the hotel.]

KAWALSKY
Doctor Jackson?

DANIEL
What? Yes?

KAWALSKY
Someone wants to speak with you.

INT—CAR

[Catherine flips through a file, which includes a diploma from UCLA, as the officer continues to talk to Daniel.]

DANIEL
The Air Force? What's this? What is this?

KAWALSKY
Could you step over to the car, please.

'Kawalsky,' Jack thought sadly.

[Catherine glances over just as Daniel bends down and squints to look inside, while still several feet away.]

KAWALSKY
Sir?

DANIEL
Am I going somewhere?

[The car driver, also standing with an umbrella just outside the door, opens it for Daniel as he approaches.]

KAWALSKY
You're going to be fine. We'll take care of these.

[He takes Daniel's shoulder bag as Daniel cautiously drops his other suitcase and sits in the car. He warily looks at Catherine. She passes over a photograph of a smiling couple playing with a baby.]

CATHERINE
Jackson, are those your parents?

[Daniel glances from her to the photograph, his motion to lower his hood arrested for a moment.]

DANIEL
Foster parents.

"What does that mean?" Skaara questioned.

"It means that they got custody of MD after my parents died but didn't adopt me so if I were still a kid I could easily be taken frilom their home," explained the archeologist.

[Catherine replaces the photograph and continues to look at the file.]

DANIEL
Wha-what is this all about?

CATHERINE
A job.

DANIEL
(with a nervous chuckle)
What kind of a job?

CATHERINE
Translation. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Interested?

[Catherine smiles at him. Daniel continues to look at her.]

DANIEL
I-I'm gonna go now.

CATHERINE
Go where?
(chuckles)
I mean, you've just been evicted from your apartment. Your grants have run out. Everything you own are in those two bags. Want to prove that your theories are right? This is your chance.

"She didn't have to remind me that my life was a mess at that point," Daniel said quietly.

[She holds out an envelope, gesturing for him to take it. Daniel glances from her to the envelope before taking it.]

DANIEL
What's this?

CATHERINE
Travel plans.

[Daniel struggles to come up with a response, when the door opens. Daniel's still opening the envelope.]

KAWALSKY
Sir?

[Daniel looks back at Catherine, who gives him a small smile. He raises his hood again steps out of the car.]

EXT—HOTEL ENTRANCE, DAY

[The driver starts up the car while Daniel is still opening the envelope. Kawalsky steps around him and gets in next to Catherine. The car drives off as Daniel looks at a plane ticket before looking back at the departing car.]

Hammond smiled, "so that's how you got recruited to open the Stargate."

Daniel nodded.

Chapter Text

EXT—SUBURBAN STREET, DAY

[An Air Force sedan drives down a tree lined street in autumn before stopping at one of the houses. Two air force officers step out.]

"My turn to be embarrassed," Jack groaned.

Daniel laughed.

INT—O'NEILL HOME

[Mrs. O'Neill opens the door to the two officers.]

JOHNSON
Mrs. O'Neill?

[Mrs. O'Neill steps away from the door, leaving it open as she goes to the kitchen.]

MRS. O'NEILL
Come on in.

[The two officers enter.]

JOHNSON
Mrs. O'Neill, is your husband at home?

[She works on the dishes and reaches for a cigarette.]

MRS. O'NEILL
Yes.

JOHNSON
Do you think we might be able to speak with him?

[She shrugs as she finishes lighting her cigarette and takes a drag from it.]

MRS. O'NEILL
You can try.

INT—CHARLIE O'NEILL'S ROOM

[Toys and photographs, and a certificate for Charlie O'Neill in Widget League in 1988 litter a bookshelf. O'Neill sits on Charlie's bed, holding a pistol as he stares at the photographs. There's a knock at the slightly-open door. O'Neill puts the gun under the pillow as the door opens wider.]

Jack smiled at the screen sadly.

Daniel placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, gaining the older man's attention.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, just miss him."

The others in the room were smiling at the two.

JOHNSON
Excuse me, Colonel O'Neill. We're from General West's office.

[O'Neill blinks, but does not turn around to face the men.]

JOHNSON
Sir? We're here to inform you... that you've been... reactivated.

Hammond laughed, "You really don't get to retire."

"Yes sir. Though you did the same thing," Jack said.

EXT—SUBURBAN STREET, DAY

[The two officers get back in their sedan.]

OFFICER TWO
The guy's a mess. How'd he get like that?

JOHNSON
His kid died. Accidentally shot himself.

OFFICER TWO
Jesus.

EXT—MILITARY INSTALLATION, CREEK MOUNTAIN, COLORADO, DAY

[A government sedan approaches the guarded mountain entrance, the gates opening before it.]

INT—ELEVATOR

[Kawalsky runs his ID card through a scanner in the elevator.]

FEMALE COMPUTER VOICE
Clear.

[Kawalsky presses the elevator button for level 28 and smiles at Daniel, who smiles back before violently sneezing.]

MALE COMPUTER VOICE
Going to Level 28... 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10—

KAWALSKY
Cold?

MALE COMPUTER VOICE
15, 16, 17, 18, 19...

[Daniel pulls out a handkerchief and blows his nose. ]

DANIEL
Allergies. Always happens when I travel.

INT—LEVEL 28

[The elevator doors open and they both exit, Kawalsky holding the door open.]

KAWALSKY
There you go.

[They pass other personnel entering the elevator.]

DANIEL
(nervously)
Hey, hi.

"You look so awkward," Sam laughed.

"Well unlike you I'm not military so I can afford to look awkward," Daniel teased. 'Xylia wouldn't have been awkward, she lives for these type of situations,' he thought sadly.

[Myers and Shore are in the corridor, carrying papers, they join Kawalsky and Daniel.]

MYERS
Doctor Jackson?

DANIEL
Hello.

MYERS
Doctor Gary Myers, how are you.

DANIEL
What is this place?

SHORE
Nuclear missile silo. Now don't worry, it's been completely converted. Barbara Shore.

DANIEL
Hello.

SHORE
Hi.

[Kawalsky has reached the end of the corridor, where he opens double doors labeled "RESEARCH LABORATORY" and "Authorized Personnel Only". Inside are the cover stones found in 1928. Daniel stops and stares in wonder. Catherine approaches without Daniel noticing.]

CATHERINE
Okay, Jackson.

DANIEL
Oh, hello!

CATHERINE
Welcome to the well.

[They shake hands.]

CATHERINE
Glad you decided to join us.

DANIEL
This is.. uh... where did you find this?

CATHERINE
(chuckling, pleased)
Giza plateau, 1928.

DANIEL
I've never seen anything like this.

Skaara laughed at his brother-in-law's obvious geeking out.

[Catherine laughs.]

CATHERINE
Of course you haven't. No one has.

[Daniel moves closer and touches the stone.]

MYERS
Now there's two lines of hieroglyphs. The inner track has the classic figures, but the outer track is like the cartouche in the center. It's got writing unlike what we've ever found before.

[Daniel steps back to see better.]

DANIEL
Those aren't hieroglyphics. Might be some form of hieratic or maybe cuneiform.

SHORE
Yeah.

[Daniel moves to a blackboard, looking at where the hieroglyphs have already been partly translated into English.]

DANIEL
Well, the translation of the inner track is wrong. Must've used Budge. I don't know why they keep reprinting his books.

[He starts erasing some of the translation.]

MYERS
Ex-excuse me. Wha-what are you doing? We've used every known technique.

"I don't think he appreciates you correcting it," Sam said.

Daniel shrugged.

[Daniel finally turns around, pointing to an untranslated symbol.]

DANIEL
That's a curious word, to use, eh, "Quebeh"?

MYERS
Yeah...?

DANIEL
Then an adverbial sedjem-en-ef with a cleft subject. Then "Sealed and buried."

[Adds the words to an untranslated section of the hieroglyphs, then crosses out "coffins".]

MYERS
Ex-excuse me. Wha-what are you doing?

DANIEL
That's not coffins.

[Daniel ignores Myers, crossing out the word "forever to eternity" and replacing it with...]

DANIEL
"For all time." Who the hell translated this?

[Catherine and Shore look at Myers.]

MYERS
Uh, I-I did.

"You did not," Ferretti exclaimed.

Daniel chuckled, "I did the same thing to Xylia all the time growing up."

"Who's Xylia?" Jack asked.

"Um... my twin sister," Daniel said.

"Is she just as smart as you?" Hammond asked.

"Smarter." Daniel whispered.

"Not possible Spacemonkey," Jack said, "you two have to be equally as smart."

"She has the same degrees as me and a major in math," the archeologist said looking away from his friend so he couldn't see the tears building in his eyes.

"Danny, you don't have a degree in negotiations yet you constantly do that so she has a degree in math you do things that nobody else could," Jack said pulling the archeologist into a hug.

Daniel layer his head on Jack's chest listening to Jack's heartbeat and letting it calm him as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

DANIEL
(sighing)
Well, this should read: "A million years into the sky is Ra, sun god, sealed and buried for all time..." It's not "door to heaven".
(He crosses that word out and replaces it.)
"His Stargate."

[Catherine laughs. Daniel turns back to face the others. Kawalski watches with his arms folded.]

DANIEL
Well, so why is the military so interested in 5,000 year old Egyptian tablets?

O'NEILL
My report says 10,000.

"I'm sorry when you first met Jack corrected Daniel," Sam said in disbelief.

[O'Neill, dressed in Class A uniform, stands behind them with a folder in his arm. They all turn around. Kawalsky stands at attention.]

KAWALSKY
Afternoon, Colonel.

[O'Neill approaches and hands Kawalsky the folder.]

CATHERINE
Um, do I know you?

O'NEILL
I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill from General West's office. I'll be taking over from now on.

DANIEL
(low, to Shore)
This figure 10,000 is ludicrous. I mean, Egyptian culture didn't even exist—

SHORE
Mmm. We know. But the sonic and radio carbon tests are conclusive.

DANIEL
Well, these are cover stones. Was there a tomb underneath?

SHORE
No, no, no. But we found something a lot more interesting.

O'NEILL
Excuse me. This information has become classified.
(to Kawalsky)
From now on, no information is to be passed on to non-military personnel without my express permission.

"Rude," Daniel huffed.

Jack laughed causing Daniel to raise his head and move it to Jack's shoulder.

[Kawalsky nods, and O'Neill leaves.]

MYERS
Catherine, what's going on here?

CATHERINE
I'm not sure.

INT—CORRIDOR

[O'Neill continues to walk down a corridor. Catherine approaches from behind.]

CATHERINE
Colonel O'Neill, I think you owe me an explanation.

[O'Neill stops and turns back.]

CATHERINE
I was told I had complete autonomy.

O'NEILL
Plans change.

CATHERINE
Why are you here? Why did they bring you on this project?

[O'Neill glances around evasively before looking directly at her.]

O'NEILL
I'm here in case you succeed.

[He walks off as Catherine chuckles ruefully.]

"You're so mean," Daniel said laughing.

"I'm letting you use me as a pillow, aren't I?" Jack said.

"Just cause you're not mean to me doesn't mean you're not mean," Daniel said.