Part 15 Daniel was hovering, he knew there were plenty of other places he could be, but he really couldn't help himself. He'd seen someone come back from the dead without the help of man or machine, and it had been quite an incredible sight. Of course he'd been a witness to the powers of a sarcophagus before, but this was entirely different. A marine had ripped the front of Ryan's shirt and tried to put some life back into him, and it had given Daniel a view of the healing process. Watching flesh and bone actually knit back together without leaving so much as a trace of an injury was incredible. After Richie had decked Mayburne, knocking him cold, both men had been taken to the sick bay. The Colonel had woken up en-route, and Dr Frasier had sent him away as soon as possible with two aspirin. Janet had then turned her attention to Richie who was doing a good impression of someone surprised to be alive. SG-1 all knew that he was Immortal, but as far as the others were concerned he'd just been a fast healer. Daniel was actually quite surprised that the Immortal had the presence of mind to pretend, it had, after all, been quite a morning. Somehow, watching Richie hit Mayburne had changed Daniel's attitude towards him. Goa'uld's were capable of incredible violence, but they tended to express it slightly differently. The Immortal's reaction had seemed so human, even if his eyes had been bright white at the time. Daniel wasn't sure why he was hovering in the sick bay as Dr Frasier finished the examination of her patient, but he couldn't quite bring himself to leave. The more he looked at Richie the more he was beginning to see more of the man and less of the monster. "Not even a trace," the doctor said as she examined the x-ray that she had taken of Richie's chest. The Immortal himself was sitting on one of the beds, bare torso available for inspection. "So even if we have the technology it's irrelevant, he can rebuild himself," Richie quipped. "Did you watch too much TV as a kid?" Janet shot back with a grin. "I'm a product of my generation," he replied. Daniel found himself smiling. To begin with there had been other people hanging around as well, but Jack and Sam had been dragged away to talk to General Hammond, Teal'c had gone to see Sef't and that left just Daniel and a nurse. No one seemed to object to his presence so the anthropologist had decided to stay. He wasn't sure exactly why; he thought he probably wanted to talk to Richie at some point, being the only one of SG-1 who hadn't really done so yet, but he wasn't certain he wanted it to be now. "Are you going to hover in my doorway all day, Dr Jackson, or are you actually coming in?" Dr Frasier suddenly took an interest in him. Daniel coloured slightly and tried not to look too embarrassed. He took a few steps into the room. "Um, I ... ah ..." he tried to think of something to say. Janet just smiled at him. "Well I want to get these results into the computer as soon as possible," the doctor announced to the room. "Daniel would you mind making sure no one steals my patient while I'm gone? He keeps disappearing these days and I'm almost afraid to leave him alone." "You could always handcuff me to the bed," Richie offered with a wicked grin. "Don't give me any ideas, kid," the doctor returned with a twitch of her eyebrows. Daniel was laughing as the woman walked passed him towards her office. The nurse who had also been in the room a couple of seconds earlier had vanished, it seemed that people were conspiring against Daniel. In this case he came to the conclusion that it might be a good thing. An awkward silence fell as the anthropologist tried to find something to say, and he took to staring at his hands. "Jack told me about Shauri," it was Richie who spoke first and his tone was quiet and serious, "I'm sorry." Daniel's head came up sharply and he gazed directly at his companion. The Immortal's face had lost its playful expression, and had gained a youthful sincerity. "I'll understand if you never want to lay eyes on me," Richie told him. They looked at each other for a while, the Immortal had obviously said what he wanted to say and was waiting to see what the reply would be. "No," Daniel finally said, "I'm not quite fine with you here yet, but I'm getting there." A relieved expression emerged on Richie's face, and he relaxed a little. When he didn't have a serious frown the Immortal actually looked very young, and Daniel found himself wondering about the person behind the revelations for the first time. "How old are you?" he heard himself ask. "26," was the somewhat surprised reply, "27 in the summer." "You don't look it," Daniel commented. "19," Richie replied with a resigned sigh and a grin, "I will always look 19. You have no idea how irritating that can be." Actually, Daniel thought he had and he smiled. "I looked about 18 until I was 24," he told his companion, "I can sympathise. I lost count how many times I was carded." The anthropologist wandered over to one of the other beds and sat down. "So you'll never age at all?" he asked, trying to understand the other man's condition. "Never," Richie confirmed, "I'll be like this at 500 if I make it that far." That caught Daniel off guard a little. "Why wouldn't you make it?" he asked. Richie looked a little awkward for a moment, as if he wasn't sure what quite to say, but after a moment his features cleared. "I can die," he said honestly, "but I hope you understand if I don't go broadcasting how." Daniel actually smiled; he could see the reasoning behind that one. The anthropologist walked further into the room and perched on one of the empty beds. He did not want to miss this conversation. ===================================================================== The entirety of SG-1, General Hammond, Methos and Richie sat round the large table in the briefing room. The meeting had been called once Mayburne and his people and Promethius' team had all left. The base once again belonged to the SGC staff and they alone and it was time to deal with the leftovers. Richie knew it was crunch time, but he felt a great deal more comfortable knowing that his fate was in the hands of the people around the table rather than those he had met that day. "Mr Ryan," the General greeted after everyone had sat down, "I believe you realise we have a problem here." Richie simply nodded; it was mostly a rhetorical question. "We cannot in good conscience simply let you go back to your life," Hammond continued in a sympathetic tone. "Although you have continued to prove that you are not under the influence of the Goa'uld larva which took residence in your body you are in possession of knowledge which could be damaging to the security of this planet. If our enemies were to find out about you, you could become a powerful weapon against us." This was not news to Richie; he had been expecting a speech like this. Part of him had dreaded it and part of him was coldly analytical about the whole situation: after all it could have been worse. He did not think that Hammond was going to have him dissected. "To allow you to run loose on this planet is not an option," Hammond concluded firmly and paused. "However," he continued shortly, "we have two possible suggestions to resolve this issue." Richie was impressed; he couldn't even find one. "We are allies with the To'kra," the General told him calmly, "and although they know nothing about you yet, we are willing to contact them for you. They are probably the closest people to your own situation and I have no doubt that the information you possess would be of use to them." The name To'kra caused Richie a moment of distaste as Shu's prejudice against them made itself known, but he put it aside. It was after all an option and one that did not have him locked up for the rest of his life. It would mean leaving everything Richie Ryan knew and all the people he cared about, but it wouldn't be the first time his world changed. He nodded for Hammond to go on. "Our second option is that you join the SGC," Hammond said and actually surprised Richie. "Your knowledge of the system lords and the rest of the Goa'uld would be invaluable to us." This sounded so much more appealing than the To'kra that Richie couldn't keep the interest off his face, however, there were a couple of questions. "What would I be doing other than acting as a fount of knowledge?" he asked, trying to sound calm about the whole subject. "We'd like you to join SG-1," O'Neill said before Hammond could answer and grinned brightly at the younger man. Now if the offer to join the SGC had surprised Richie, this simply stunned him. Jack looked as if he was enjoying the effect as he simply beamed at what Richie knew was a slack jawed expression on his own face. "You're serious," he said, not quite sure what to say. "Kid, you saved our necks once already," O'Neill said after letting him suffer for a few seconds. "I for one would feel very safe with you at my back." "Your knowledge would be invaluable every time we go through the gate," Sam added with a warm smile. "It would be an honour to serve with you," Teal'c put in stoically. That left Daniel who simply looked at him for a while "No objections here," the anthropologist said calmly. Richie couldn't believe it: what they were offering was better than his wildest dreams. He looked at Methos who simply appeared smug. "You knew," he accused and that drew an even smugger grin from the ancient man. "Then I take it you accept our second solution," Hammond said cheerfully. Richie grinned and then set his face in a very serious expression. "Just one suggestion," he said earnestly. "And what would that be," the General asked, sobering his own expression. "Could we tell Dr Frasier the truth, please," Richie said lightly. "If she x-rays me every time I heal I'm going to glow in the dark." Jack was the first to crack and he seemed to find the comment extremely funny. ===================================================================== It seemed that when General Hammond wanted things done he could make the wheels of officialdom move very fast. Before Richie really knew where he was it was a week later and he was on the payroll. He had official quarters on the base, security clearance and everything he needed to be part of SG-1. That left one loose end when it came to the SGC and as soon as Hammond gave him permission he wandered into sickbay. "Hi, Janet" he greeted as he found the person he was looking for checking her supply cabinet. "Hi, yourself," the doctor said cheerfully, "and what brings you to my domain?" "Well actually I really want to get you in your office alone," Richie said with a suggestive twitch of his eyebrows. "Down boy," Janet laughed. "Seriously," Richie said with a grin, "I would like to talk to you somewhere private. Since I'm going to be a permanent resident there are a couple of things you need to know." "Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly," Janet said cheerfully and indicated her office. They both walked into the smaller room, Janet shut the door and they sat down. "Now what was it you wanted to tell me?" she asked with a smile. Richie took a deep breath. "Don't be mad," he opened his gambit, "but you know all that surprise about being alive after I was shot." Janet nodded, obviously not sure where this was going. "I was acting," Richie admitted honestly, "I wasn't surprised at all. The story about the experimental technique Shu was trying out on me is a cover. The Goa'uld didn't make me Immortal, I already was." The doctor didn't look as if she knew how to take that one. "There are people on Earth who don't die and don't age," Richie hurried on. "We're normal until we're killed for the first time and then nature just stops for us. I'm who my records say I am, but I died for the first time seven years ago. I'm for all intents and purposes, immortal." "That's why they had to rescue you," Janet said slowly as if this finally explained something that had been bothering her. "If Shu had managed to take you over he would have been unstoppable." Richie nodded. "The only people who know are you, SG-1 and General Hammond," the Immortal said calmly, "if this got out ..." "There'd be a witch hunt," Frasier finished for him, then she smiled. "Thank you for the truth," she told him, "I'll keep your secret happily." Richie sighed with relief, he had had faith in Janet, but he had still been just a little worried. Some people did not take the news of Immortals very well. "So tell me more," she said with a huge grin. "How many times have you died before?" Richie grinned back: he knew there was a reason he liked Janet. End of Part 15