Stargate: Solaumbra - Shadows of the Mind (Episode 3) - Chapter 1 - DaiNoShoujoNoYami (2025)

Chapter Text

Cheyenne Mountain, a Few Weeks Later

The SGC was bustling - techs moved from one corridor to another with blinding speed, SG teams marched their way to the locker room to gear up or made their way to the Gate itself to embark on another exploration mission, cooks worked away in the Commissary in preparation for the next meal of the day, computers hummed, and machines h’awwed.

All in all, just another typical Tuesday.

Ellie’s lab, tucked away in the large expanse of Level 19, was no different. The space was smaller than the others, and the lab was outfitted with an observation room above the main area of the lab, but the windows were dark as the room itself was unoccupied. Walls were lined with spartan metal shelving filled with labeled boxes of texts, artifacts, and various pieces of equipment; the only break in the shelving was the door and a large meeting table pushed against the wall.

A few desktop monitors hummed as they sat on the back of the desk’s sturdy surface, and the keyboard was in danger of being buried in the clutter of books, legal pads, sticky notes, and scans of the more fragile texts and artifacts help elsewhere. The table came with four chairs, but only one was in use while the other three were tucked underneath the table.

Ellie sat hunched over the chaotic workspace lit up by the desk lamp sandwiched between the two computer monitors, the organized cacophony around her representing the tangled web of her mind as her pen raced across yet another legal pad, only to stop as she taped down a cutout of a photocopied picture. She couldn’t take the artifact back to her office… quarters… whatever it’s designation was, so pictures would be the next best thing.

Ellie herself had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and allowed flyaways to gather into bangs, which fluttered and scattered around her face. She was dressed in a set of the blue BDUs, a black shirt, and field boots like always with her jacket tossed over the back of her chair. She was lost in her work, her mind shutting out the dull murmurs of the larger base operations outside her open door -

Knock, knock.

She jolted a bit in her seat, the soft knock sounding like a crash cymbal roaring in her ears.

The woman glanced up to see a young tech standing hesitantly in the threshold, cradling a stack of paperwork and a small crate.

“Got some new arrivals for you, ma’am.” The airmen said, tone polite but tinged with the exhaustion of a long day as she walked in at Ellie’s beckoning, and sat the crate down carefully on the only clear spot left on the table.

Ellie gave the woman a small smile, still shaking off the small scare. “Thanks, Hastings. I’ll get to it in a bit.”

Hastings nodded, but hesitated, her eyes lingering on the objects within the crate. “Apparently this stuff came in from a site linked to… well, you know, the ops related to Reid, so the General wants this to be looked at as soon as possible.”

Ellie’s pen paused mid-sentence at the mention of Reid, and she turned her gaze to the crate, her curiosity piqued.

“Really? They catch him this time?”

Hastings shook her head, “Not from what I heard. Colonel Makepeace was supposedly raving mad about the whole thing, since this is the third time Reid’s slipped through his fingers… and…” Hastings shifted on her feet, “… and one of his men got hit. He’s in critical condition.”

Ellie sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping as she felt a wave of frustration land on them. “Damn it… why can’t that jackass just go down already?”

Hastings’ jaw clenched and unclenched for a minute, “I’m sure they’ll catch him soon, ma’am. The things he’s pulled is going to bring down the whole Air Force and the Marines on his head if he keeps it up.”

Ellie laid her pen down to rub her temples, “I hope so… he’s always been able to weasel his way out in the past.” She let her hand fall as she regarded the tech, “Thanks for giving me an update. You can go on, I’m pretty sure that one fella is needing you somewhere…”

Hastings tilted her head, “Who?”

“Uh…” Ellie crossed her arms in thought, “Damn, I can’t remember his name… the guy who tripped over the coffee machine last week while he was trying to fix it.”

“Siler.” Hastings replied as a faint smile touched her lips, “That’d be Siler, ma’am. He’s… not that bad.”

Ellie chuckled softly, shaking her head. “Yeah, I guess not. I just hope he learned not to mess with caffeine machines around here. Half the base was about ready to mutiny.” She clapped her hands together, “Well, off with ya. I’ve got work to do.”

Hastings gave her a grin, then swiveled on her heel and left.

Ellie turned back to the crate, and stood up from her seat. “Alright, what was so special about you guys that Reid got his hands on you, hmm?”

She reached over, pushing aside a few scattered notes and shifting the stack of legal pads to make more room. With a deep breath, she carefully lifted the top of the crate, revealing its contents.

Inside the wooden box were several artifacts wrapped in protective cloths ans scrolls in plastic bags, each one labeled with tags scribbled in hastily written notes by the team that recovered them at the site. Ellie’s eyes roved over the artifacts, mentally cataloging each piece: a small bronze statue, fragments of pottery with faint etchings, and at the bottom, an unassuming stone tablet with some of the wrapping having came off. The tablet was roughly the size of a large book, covered in worn symbols that were a blend of styles she couldn’t immediately place.

At the top of the tablet’s face, one symbol was larger than the rest - a minimalist, monochromatic symbol with an infinity shape sitting within a circular border. The left loop contained swirling, flowing patterns while the right was marked by bold, sharp and jagged lines. The border itself was filled with delicate dots and lines, subtly intersecting each other.

As she stared at the tablet, she noticed the body of the text was more of that strange script that Reid and his followers were so enamored with - they were intricate and layered, blending familiar elements of ancient languages she had seen before. Sumerian, Goa’uld, and something else entirely alien, like if they had taken bits and pieces of the various ancient scripts and combined them into something new, something that felt both ancient and advanced. The symbols were almost hypnotic, drawing her in with an inexplicable pull.

She picked it up gently out of the crate, and unraveled the rest of the wrapping to take a closer look. Her eyes ran over the surface, trying to decipher its meaning, but the more she looked, the more elusive it became. It was as if the symbols were shifting right before her eyes, rearranging themselves into something she could almost understand—almost, but not quite. She leaned in closer, squinting as if that would somehow help her decipher the unfamiliar script.

Her finger brushed over the cool, slightly rough surface of the stone tablet, feeling the subtle grooves and raised carvings of the symbols. There was something mesmerizing about them, like they were whispering secrets just beyond her grasp -

ZAP!

The tablet clattered against the table as Ellie yanked her hand away and shook it through the air, willing the digit to move past the sensation or pins and needles. “Mother…!”

Ellie stared at the tablet, now lying innocuously on the table, and furrowed her brow.

Stone didn’t conduct electricity - at least, not like that. As far as she could tell, the material itself wasn’t even that special, some sort of fired clay or smoothed stone.

“What the hell…?”

Knock, knock.

Ellie jumped out of her skin, and whirled -

To see Mark standing there, clad in clean blue BDUs, field boots, and a black shirt with eyes watching her with a mix of curiosity and amusement. He leaned against the door frame, arms crossed casually as his eyes danced around her frazzled appearance.

“Didn’t mean to startle you that bad,” Mark’s eyes bounced between her and the tablet on her desk, “What’s got you all jumpy?”

“Well… uh…”

She blinked - what did have her so jumpy, now that she thought about it?

“Uh… nothing I guess.” She said, shaking off the feeling as she turned away from the tablet and regarded Mark. She would have Carter run a few tests on it to make sure there wasn’t some sort of metal mixed in with the stone. “What brings you here?”

He shrugged, projecting a casual demeanor as he looked over her once more. “Well, you’ve been holed up in here since before I went off-world about…” he twisted his wrist up to glance at his watch, “Thirteen hours ago?”

Ellie’s face scrunched up in thought as she looked up at the clock over her desk - thirteen hours? Had it really been that long?

Mark sighed, “Yeah, figured you did it again. Come on,” He pulled himself from the door frame, “Let’s get some food in you before you past out. Again.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, “That was one time.”

Mark raised an eyebrow as he walked in, “Yeah, and I wasn’t the one picking grass out of my teeth because I face-planted in my best friend’s backyard.”

Ellie groaned, and crossed her arms. “Come on, are you ever going to let me live that down?”

Mark grinned maniacally as he came to stand in front of her, and leaned forward a bit. “Not. A. Frigging. Chance.”

She went to flip him off, but he beat her to the punch by hooking his arm into hers. “You’re a terrible best friend - no, you’re just a terrible person.”

Mark chuckled, shaking his head as he moved her closer to his side. “It’s my duty as your best friend - and your unofficial babysitter - to remind you to take care of yourself. Now, come on. Commissary’s still serving fresh food, and you need more than just caffeine to keep you going so you don’t end up drooling in your sleep over the artifacts.”

He pulled her forward by their hooked arms -

A flash of purple light caught his eye.

Mark’s head snapped to the table, senses on high alert.

To see nothing but Ellie’s cluttered desk and the innocuous tablet, lying innocently among the other artifacts while a lingering feeling of… something tickled at the back of Mark’s mind.

“What’s that?” He nodded to the tablet.

Ellie glanced back at the tablet, momentarily mesmerized again by its odd allure. She hesitated, unsure how to explain the strange jolt she had felt moments before.

“It’s… something that Makepeace’s team recovered after… Reid got away. Again.” She didn’t mention the static shock, deciding it was probably nothing. “Just another weird tablet with some carvings. Honestly, it’s just more of that weird language again - like someone played linguistic mix-and-match with Goa’uld and some other stuff. It’s strange, but I’ll figure it out.”

Mark’s gaze lingered on the tablet, then back to Ellie, and he gave her a reassuring smile - he brushed off the weird moment from before, blaming fatigue from the long mission. “You always do. But first, food. No spooky-ancient-history talk, and let’s pretend the world isn’t ending for the next half hour.”

Ellie snorted, amused by his insistence. “Fine, fine. But if the world does end in the next half hour, I’m blaming you.”

With that, Mark gently ushered Ellie out of the lab, leaving the lab behind with a subtle click of the door shutting behind them.

The lab, bathed in the soft glow of Ellie’s desk lamp, her computer monitors, and the subtle hum of the base’s life support systems - all seemed calm.

Then the air grew still.

The tablet, lying amidst Ellie’s notes and half-finished translations, seemed to pulse faintly, as if alive; the symbols and lines on it’s surface flickering with an ethereal purple light that played across the surface of the woman’s desk and flitted around her pen and papers. It moved like if it was studying her handwriting, studying the information on her computer screens that flickered and buzzed under it’s energy, studying her environment - studying her.

The symbols, once ancient and static, began to morph slowly, rearranging themselves in ways that defied logic, as if the stone was rewriting its own history. Whispers, barely audible and seeming to come from nowhere, filled the room - a chorus of distant voices speaking in forgotten tongues.

Then, as quickly as it began, the glow subsided, and the symbols returned to their original, inscrutable pattern. The whispers faded, leaving only the faint buzz of the monitors and the rhythmic drone of the air conditioning.

As they walked down the mildly busy corridor of the SGC, Mark and Ellie walked arm-in-arm out of the way of the main thoroughfare at a leisurely pace. The air hummed with the typical mix of military precision, controlled chaos, and that unique mix of anticipation and dread that greeted one before embarking in an off-world mission.

Mark kept a casual, but measured grip on Ellie’s arm - while she wouldn’t admit it, he could feel the slight tremble she was trying to hide from her plummeting blood sugar levels. He dictated their pace, and kept a watchful eye on her because while the memory of her as a preteen going face-first into the lawn was funny, the idea of her doing the same to a concrete floor on a military base was not as funny.

He gave her another glance as they turned a corner, watching to see the telltale signs - and finding none. “So,” he started, adding a teasing lilt to his voice as he covered up his concern, “How’s the glamorous lifestyle of the SGC been treating you? Everything you hoped it would be?”

Ellie chuckled - her smile was a touch more dry than it was amused. She wasn’t going to pass out, but it was clear to Mark that the words she uttered next would bee a sanitized version of what was really going on in her head.

“Oh, you know, the usual. Dust bunnies, dust mites, mountains of artifacts flooding in every time Reid shows his ugly face on top of everything you guys come across out there - fairly normal. You’d think I was preparing to open a museum or something.” Her brow twitched as a thought came to her, “Reid must have been on a shopping spree or something while I was rotting away in jail.”

Mark nodded to himself, refocusing on the path in front of them. “I’m not surprised, considering the rap sheet he and his gaggle of idiots sacked you with.”

Ellie gave him a narrowed eye, “Hey, manipulation or not, I made a choice to be the morally ambiguous Indiana Jones, okay? Not all those charges I took the fall for were his.”

He waved the hand not weaved into Ellie’s in submission, “I’m not excusing anything, alright? You owned up to your past, and I’m proud of you for it...” Mark stuck the hand in his pocket as he looked at her again, assessing for more than just her physical health this time. “I’m just saying the guy clearly made a career of taking stuff that didn’t belong to him - yourself included.”

She rolled her eyes, “You act like I was forced into slavery or something.”

“Close enough - he made you quit music, Ellie. You know, that thing you lived for, for a while?”

She sighed as they came to stand in front of the elevator. “Yeah, yeah, I know... Ms. Wainright always thought I had a chance at going professional, didn’t she?”

Mark gave her a wry smile as he pressed the button to call for the elevator with his free hand. “Oh, yeah, she did. Thought we’d do better as a duet, if I remember. Every time she got my mom alone she’d complain, ‘You tell Ellie she’s wasting her talents away with her shenanigans!’ I think she saw you as a prodigy or something.”

Ellie chuckled, but the sound was distant - like the sound of someone trapped under the ice of a frozen lake. “I think she just wanted to live vicariously through me, since she settled for being a conductor for thirty years.

He gave Ellie a light jostle as the elevator approached their floor, “Nah, you were really good back then, even for a kid.” His eyes crinkled at the corners as his lips formed a thin line, “Probably still are, if you started back up again.”

The younger woman didn’t respond immediately, her eyes fixated on the surface of the elevator doors as the soft ding of the elevator's arrival echoed in the corridor. She shifted slightly, moving to unhook her arm from Mark's to step inside. "It... feels like a lifetime ago. Like another person lived it."

Mark tightened his hold minutely, not letting her go, and they both stepped into the empty elevator. She gave him an inquisitive look as the doors slid close with a soft whoosh, and Mark pressed the button for the Commissary level.

“You’re not wrong,” He said quietly, the conversation when he woke up in the Infirmary to see Ellie sleeping by his bedside tugging at his thoughts. “But, y’know, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Once you get some more freedom of movement...”

Ellie stiffened, looking away as her arm tightening around his.

“Yeah... no... I think that time has passed now.”

Mark didn’t push the subject, allowing the hum of the elevator to fill the silence. He sensed what she wasn’t saying - something had happened since she left that town that made her hesitate, that made her shoulders go into that slump he wished he wasn’t so familiar with; he’d noticed whenever she thought someone was close by, she’d stop what she was doing and act like nothing had happened.

She wasn’t ready to talk about it - that was fine with him. They all had skeletons rattling around, and she had already shoo’ed out quite a few recently. She needed a break.

The elevator dinged faster than he anticipated, and Mark kept a hold on Ellie’s arm as they walked out onto Level 22 - The Commissary. The walk towards the open mess hall was silent, save for the slowly rising sound of trays clattering against tables, low murmuring of private conversations, and clinking of utensils. The scent of spices and searing meat filled their nostrils, a welcoming change from the sterile smell of industrial cleaners or the clingy odor of dust from Ellie’s lab.

Mark’s nose twitched slightly, picking up on the faint aroma of something distinctly non-standard for military food - something that smelled… good, for a change.

Ellie’s stomach rumbled.

Mark glanced at her with a smirk, “Sounds like your stomach knows what’s up. I know it smells like someone went nuts in the kitchen today.” He remarked, releasing Ellie’s arm but staying close as the doors to the mess hall was within sight. “I think they had made some kind of steak dish today instead of the usual mystery meat... might actually taste like something you’d get outside the SGC.”

Ellie quirked on eyebrow at Mark in a decidedly Teal’c-like-fashion, “Steak, here? At a place where the food stuff is about as close to fine dining as McDonald’s is to being edible?”

Mark snorted, wondering at how many years she held this grudge against the fast food franchise now. “Hey, don’t knock it until you try it. I mean, sure, military food’s usually just a calorie delivery system with the flavor profile of cardboard - and if you’re in the field it all basically tastes like chicken and goes absolutely nowhere...” He gave her a quick glance, “By the way, when you eat MREs don’t chew the gum it comes with while you’re on a mission. Wait until you get back to base for down time.”

Ellie blinked as he held the door open, “Uh... why?”

“Because the gum is a laxative.”

Ellie sputtered, “Wh - the hell? Why?”

Mark rubbed the back of his head as he followed her through the door, “Eh, that’s because the MREs are so packed with bland nutrients and calories that they turn you into a human cork. The gum’s there to, uh, help things along.” He explained with a wry grin, “Unfortunately the gum works so well that it’s like pulling the pin on a grenade, so you’ll want to time it right.”

Ellie’s eyes widened in a mix of amusement and horror. “That’s… incredibly disgusting and also explains so much. How did I not know about this?”

He chuckled as they navigated their way toward the serving line. “Welcome to the glamorous world of military dining. You miss a lot of the finer points when you’re not on the front lines choking down those delightful rations.”

Ellie wrinkled her nose as they stepped into line. “Great, just what I need - food that’s plotting against me. And here I thought Reid was the only one with a grudge.”

He shook his head at that, grabbing a tray and sliding down the rails of the chow line. “Well, today’s different. We’ve got actual steak, a vegetable melody with potatoes, broccoli, and - oh look, green beans that aren’t drowning in mystery sauce.”

Ellie’s eyes brightened at the sight. “You’re not kidding. This actually looks... edible. Almost like a grandma would make, minus the love and care.“

“See?” Mark said triumphantly, loading his tray up with a generous portion. “Once in while, Lady Luck favors us and bestows a great blessing that doesn’t make us question our life choices... Also, you might want to grab some before the rest of the base comes storming in here - especially the Marines and Teal’c.”

Ellie quickly snagged a tray and followed after Mark, filling her tray with a decent serving of the steak and vegetables - then thought better of it and added some more along with a small side salad, remembering how Dr. Fraiser mentioned her metabolism had accelerated recently during her check up. The appointment really was to make sure she didn’t suffer any lasting effects from her captivity at the hands of Reid.

As they moved towards a quiet corner of the mess hall, Mark nudged her with his elbow.

“So,” he said, keeping the tone in his voice light. “Before I ran into you earlier, I got zapped pretty good by something in the hallway, but didn’t see anything. You wouldn’t happen to know if anyone was messing around down in the labs...?”

She shook her head as they sat their trays down, “No, not that I’m aware of. And, now that you mention it, I got zapped pretty hard in my lab today - right before you came and got me, I was handling that tablet, an then it shocked me.”

Mark looked at her quizzically, “Seriously?”

“Yeah... I mean, Stone shouldn’t do that, right? At least, I think the tablet was just stone. I didn’t see any obvious conductive metals or anything...”

Mark chewed thoughtfully around a bite of his steak before swallowing, “Did you need me to see if Carter can look at it sooner rather than later?”

Ellie’s fork paused in mid air as she considered his offer, “I mean, yeah, maybe... but didn’t you guys just come off a mission this morning?”

Mark nodded, his eyes looking far away for a moment.

Uh, oh.

“Mark...” Ellie put her fork down, and gently reach forward to touch his hand. “Everything... okay?”

Mark blinked as he came back to reality, and his eyes softened at Ellie as he patted her hand assuringly. “Yeah... it’s... it was just a rough day.”

Ellie’s eyes narrowed as she studied him. “How rough? Like, minimal foreplay with no lube or cactus-sandpaper dildo kind of rough?”

Mark almost choked on his water, sputtering out a surprised laugh at Ellie’s unfiltered bluntness.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, shaking his head. “You have such a way with words, Ellie.” He chuckled, but the mirth quickly faded as his eyes grew distant again, recalling the events of the morning. “But yeah… something like that.”

Ellie’s playful smirk faded a bit, “You... wanna talk about it?”

Mark sighed, setting his fork down and leaning back slightly in his chair. He stared at his tray for a moment, as if searching for the right words in the scattered remnants of his meal. “Yeah, maybe I do. Just... brace yourself. It’s a little heavier than the usual Goa’uld crap.”

She nodded, and gestured for him to continue as she pushed her tray aside.

Mark sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, “Alright, so, We went to this planet - P3X-562. Seemed quiet enough at first; yellow sand everywhere, some old ruins with more of that obscure language Reid got all wrong, and a pit filled shattered blue crystal formations.”

Ellie listened intently, picking up on the tension in his voice. She knew Mark well enough to recognize when something was weighing on him, and this mission had clearly struck a nerve. “Okay...?”

“We split up - Sam and I went off one way to collect samples of the shattered crystals, Teal’c and Daniel went off to the ruins and... well... Jack does what Jack does best.”

“He wandered off?”

“Yep.” Mark nodded, running a hand over his lips before he snorted out a laugh that had no mirth to it. “I turn my back for two seconds...” He shook his head, “Anyway, so Jack wanders off on his own. As he’s walking around he finds a whole bunch of these crystals that hadn’t been shattered.”

Mark paused, his gaze distant as if replaying the events in his mind. “And then… one of the crystals lit up. Jack, being Jack, decided to get closer to investigate. Turns out the crystal wasn’t just a rock. It was alive. It reacted to him, shot out this beam of light, and… hit him.”

Ellie’s eyes widened, her fork frozen mid-air. “Hit him? Like, it attacked him?”

“Sort of...? It didn’t hurt him physically other than knocking him flat on the ground, out cold. Apparently the thing incapacitated him thinking he was a Goa’uld, and when it realized Jack wasn’t it recognized it screwed up. Then it copied him.”

Ellie shook her head slightly in confusion, “I’m sorry - what?”

Mark shook his own head in disbelief, “Yeah, you heard me - copied - right down to his clothes, voice, everything. But it didn’t just copy his appearance; it copied his memories, too.” He took a sip of water, feeling a dry lump start in his throat with the thought of his next set of words. “And I’m not talking missions or intel, it... it went deep Ellie. It thought it hurt Jack, so it tried to find where he was hurt and...”

Mark paused, his gaze dropping to his hands, which were clasped tightly together on the table. Ellie could see the tension in the smoothed scarred knuckles, the way his fingers pressed into his palms like he was holding something back.

“It found Charlie.” Mark said softly, “Jack’s son.”

Ellie blinked, taken aback - Jack has a son?

She froze for a second, this time really taking in Mark’s body language -

No. Jack had a son. Past tense.

“He... had a son?”

The man nodded, swallowing. “Yeah, he did. Charlie was... well, everything to Jack. I worked alongside him for years, then one day he just vanished, and I was assigned to a different unit - no explanation. I never knew about Charlie until we got called into Cheyenne Mountain for the first time, and I saw Jack again...”

Mark’s voice trailed off as he got lost in the memories of that first mission to Abydos, remembering the haunted look in the Colonel’s eyes that was there one moment as he looked at the picture of his son when he thought he was alone, then gone the next when Jack had stuffed the photo into a pocket.

Mark rubbed the back of his neck again, “Jack never talked about it, not really. I knew something happened, though. There were things I noticed that gave it away - the way he interacted with Skaara, how protective he was over the kids...” Mark hunched over his tray, his voice dropping into a low whisper. “How eager Jack was to blow himself up, at first.”

One of Ellie’s hands reached out to Mark’s again, this time fully feathering over the rough skin of the back of the soldier’s hand. “What... what happened to Charlie?”

Mark grimaced. “He found Jack’s personal sidearm. He didn’t make it.”

Ellie hissed in a breath.

“Jesus... I… that’s horrible.” Ellie shook her head, “I never would’ve guessed. Jack’s always seemed so… I don’t know, solid. Unbreakable.”

Mark’s eyes went to her hand on his for a moment, then fitted his own over hers to give it a gentle squeeze as he looked her in the eye again with a small, wry smile. “That’s Jack, on the outside. Sarcasm and stubbornness as far as the eye can see. But this entity... it didn’t just see him. It saw right through him, straight at where he was hurting the most. And... well.. Since it wanted to help...”

A bucket of ice cold flooded through Ellie.

“Oh no...”

Mark grimaced, a bitter feeling settling over his mouth. “Yeah. It thought it could fix Jack by brining Charlie back to him... so it took his form, came back through the Gate with us, and left the base to start looking for Charlie so it could make things right. The damn thing didn’t understand that Charlie was gone gone, and... it showed up at Jack’s old house, went to his ex-wife.”

Ellie’s other hand came up to cup the side of her face as she leaned on her elbow, “Oh that’s... that’s fucked - how the hell did it get past - !

Mark grunted angrily, “Believe me, we’re all kicking ourselves over this. He was acting funny, but we all thought he was just tired - because we didn’t know to look any deeper, he passed all of the usual medical checkups with flying colors. This thing even replicated his fingerprints. Security didn’t stand a chance against something that could mimic a person that perfectly. By the time we realized what was happening, it was already too late.”

“God...” Ellie gently pulled her hand back from Mark’s to rub both hands over her face, “So... this thing went out and caused havoc?”

Mark picked up his fork again, and speared a potato. “Basically... kind of. From we can understand, it was just trying to figure out why it couldn’t get Charlie back. Then...” Mark paused, swallowing the lump in his throat as he continued, "Then it started dying, and Jack's ex-wife, Sara, took it to the hospital thinking it was Jack. It was weak - losing energy because it wasn’t on its home planet. That’s when we caught up with it. Jack went in to confront it himself. The crystal entity... it turned into Charlie, right there in front of him.”

Ellie’s breath hitched, her eyes wide as she tried to process the gravity of what Mark was saying. "It turned into his dead son, right in front of him?"

“Yeah, and it did the same thing when it took Jack’s form - replicated everything about Charlie from Jack’s memories down to the last thing Jack remembered him wearing. The entity wasn’t trying - it didn’t mean any harm, Ellie.”

Ellie blinked incredulously as she picked up her water, “I’d fucking hope so, because holy shit this situation is already pretty fucked.”

Mark felt a chuckle bubble up in his chest - Ellie dropped a lot of her expanded vocabulary when she was truly affected by something, and in this particular case it was kind of funny to watch... when the military brass couldn’t overhear and get them in trouble. Made it a bit easier to talk.

She took a big gulp of her water, and sat her cup down with a poignant thump, her brow furrowing as she tried to wrap her head around it all. “How’s... how did the Colonel handle it?”

Mark exhaled, his gaze distant as he recalled the surreal moment in the hospital. “It was… intense. The Crystal - he didn’t just look like Charlie; from the way Jack reacted, he was moving and talking just like him, Ellie. Like… if you didn’t know, you’d think he was actually there, that he never - ”

Mark cut himself off, the words too raw to speak. He pushed his food around his plate, the sight of the uneaten meal suddenly unappetizing.

“Mark?”

“He handled it better than I would have.”

Silence.

“He didn’t run away,” Mark continued, “Didn’t break down - he faced it head-on. It explained itself, saying it didn’t understand human death. But the Crystal told him that Charlie was still there. Right there.” He tapped his own chest, mimicking the motion.

“And Jack…” his voice was barely a whisper now, “He walked the Crystal - Charlie - back to the Stargate. Watched him go back through to his home planet, knowing it was the last time he’d ever see that face again. He said goodbye.”

Ellie stared at him for a moment before turning away, pushing her cooled food around on her plate. The mess hall around them felt distant right then, like white noise, and everyone else seemed to be sticking to the middle of the room - it was just like in school; Mark and Ellie would go off into the corner of the cafeteria or outside and everyone would leave them alone.

She looked back from the room, folding her arms under her chest and leaning forward as she turned to look at Mark again; hard eyes saying everything and nothing all at once, slumped shoulders, his eyes watching from where he propped up his head in his hand while the other idly pushed food around on his plate...

His voice cracked a bit as he continued. “This last mission hit me harder than I thought it would. I mean, I’ve seen...” his face twitched, “... a lot of messed-up things, but this just... it was so raw, you know? Being forced to face your biggest regret in the middle of a major crisis - no one should have to do that, and he did it without flinching.”

Mark swallowed hard, his jaw tensing as he looked back at her. “It made me think about all the stuff I’ve buried, you know? All the things I’ve done, all the people I’ve lost or left behind... It’s like, no matter how far you run or how much you try to put it out of your mind, it’s still there. Always.”

She felt her shoulders tense.

“Like ghosts haunting your every move, and waking you up in the middle of the night to drive you insane?” She asked.

Mark gave a faint, hollow laugh. “Yeah. Like that.”

She stared down at her food again. “I know how that goes...” She snorted, “And one of my biggest ghosts walked into a visitation booth wearing an Air Force uniform.”

Mark's breath hitched slightly as he looked away, as Ellie's words lingered between them, the memories of that first, awkward reunion after all those years apart rattling to life in his brain like an abused movie reel. The raw, unfiltered emotions, the unspoken accusations - it still haunted him, even after the talking they did. And now, sitting here in the mess hall, with Ellie's eyes on him, the weight of their shared past pressed down heavier than ever.

“I was a shitty friend, back then.”

A piece of meat bounced off Mark’s face.

He jumped, and looked back at Ellie.

She fixed him in his seat with a glare. “Don’t.”

He blinked, “What?”

“Don’t do that - we’ve been over this.”

Mark wiped the spot on his cheek with his napkin where the meat had landed, his expression shifting from surprise to something softer. “Yeah, I know we have. But still… it’s hard not to go back to that place, you know?”

Ellie’s gaze softened as she sucked the meat juice off her fingers, “I get it, believe me. But, Mark, you are not the same kid who got booted out of his house, and I’m... I’m trying not to be the girl who got you booted out.”

Ellie’s words hung between them, the mess hall noise fading into the background. Mark glanced at her, catching the flicker of something in her eyes - remorse, guilt, but also a stubborn strength that mirrored his own. It was the same look she had given him during that first visit when their past had caught up with them, tangled and messy, and neither was sure how to unravel it without tearing the other apart.

“You didn’t get me booted,” Mark said, his voice firm but soft. “Reid did that, remember? And yeah, I was pissed, but not at you. Never at you.”

She blinked.

“Yes you were.”

“No,” He said slowly, “I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.” She repeated.

He narrowed his eyes, “No... I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were.”

Mark, growing more animated, leaned forward. “No, I wasn’t.”

Ellie crossed hers defiantly, her lips curled. Yes, you were.

No , I wasn ’t.”

“Yeah-huh.”

His face twisted, “Nu-uh.”

“Yeah-huh.”

“Nu-uh.”

“Yeah-huh.”

“Nu-uh.”

“Nu-uh.”

“Yeah-huh - Motherfucker.” Mark straightened and raked a hand over his face.

A beaming, shit eating grin crashed over Ellie’s face as she watched Mark fume in his seat for a moment, feeling the old camaraderie wash over her like the warm waves in the tropics on a perfect day. She didn’t realize just how much she missed this, how much she needed this - these tiny, insignificant battles. Everything with Reid always went form zero to ten so fast, and jail hadn’t been much better.

Mark dropped his hand, exasperated but grinning nonetheless. “You’re such an asshole.”

Her grin widened as she speared a piece of meat and brought it to her mouth, “I know. And you keep coming back for more.”

He shook his head, “Yeah, yeah, I’m a glutton for punishment. Sue me.”

They sat in companionable silence for a while, slowly chipping away at the food on their plates that had long since went cold and lost in their own thoughts, the sounds of the mess hall rising and falling as the personnel shifts changed.

Mark look up after a few bites were left on his plate, his face softening as something crossed his mind. “You know, we’ve been doing a lot of talking about me, but we really haven’t talked about how you’re doing. I mean, really doing.” He watched her carefully, gaging her reaction. “I know the SGC isn’t exactly paradise to begin with, and when you add your parole restrictions on top...”

Ellie looked at him with an unreadable expression, before looking down to poke lambently at a small piece of broccoli. “Oh, you know, living the dream just with military personnel breathing down my neck and less cafeteria fights... well, more like no cafeteria fights.”

She breathed out a dry laugh as she looked up -

To see Mark not in the least bit amused.

She sighed, his gaze poking right through her as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat; with most people she could either make them laugh until they left her alone, or make them feel disturbed until they left her alone - Mark, not so much. He met her freak with his own brand of freak, usually.

“Ellie,” He placed his fork down next to his mostly empty plate, “Come on, I know you. Your deflection techniques won’t work on me.”

“The cactus-sandpaper dildo did.”

He blinked slowly, pointedly. “Ellie.”

Or he did that.

“What?” She fought back the urge to slump under the weight of his knowing eyes and running the conversation back in her head, trying to rules-lawyer something to her advantage. “You wanted an honest answer, and I gave you one.”

“Ariel.”

She twitched. Flinched, even, at the sound of her real name. It was rare for anyone to use it, and Mark only did so now because he was being serious and she was being stubborn.

He folded his arms in front of him and leaned on them against the table. “You know I promised I wasn’t going anywhere, and I’m here, right? You don’t have to keep pretending everything’s okay.”

She swallowed - she wanted to deflect so bad, wanted to draw his attention elsewhere so he wouldn’t worry, because she could take care of herself. She was okay -

“If handling your own problems means taking the fall for that group of deadbeats, then no, you can’t.” Mark retorted, his voice cutting through the air sharply - like she was a recruit doing something really stupid in boot camp that would have gotten her killed in the real world.

She... was not okay.

She met his gaze, finally giving into the slump as she let her mask go and leaned against the table to wrapped her arms around her stomach, and stared down at the dirty plate in front of her, “It... I mean, it’s better than jail time but... it’s harder than I thought it was gonna be.”

He reached out to push her plate a bit, “Anyone giving you any trouble...?”

“No, no, no, not like what you’re thinking.” She said quickly, “Just... it feels like I’m constantly being scrutinized, you know? And while they won’t say it to my face, I can tell there’s more than a few people who are waiting for the other shoe to drop, for me to do something tremendously stupid or act like a criminal or something.”

Mark’s expression darkened slightly, having seen what she meant; the way he had spied some of the personnel whispering gossip in what they thought was a secluded corner somewhere about him, and about Ellie. Saying she was a ticking time bomb, how she compromised -

Ellie looked up at Mark as she noticed the way his finger seemed to shove her plate around, like a step short of slamming your finger down on a stubborn computer key that didn’t want to work.

“Hey, no one’s being outright hostile, alright? And they have a right to their opinion... and thanks to my own dumb decisions, I gave someone like Danny and Reid enough ammo to cause a lot of chaos - unneeded chaos... doesn’t help that Reid keeps putting Makepeace’s people in critical condition. And maybe they’re kind of right - I’m not cleared for a lot of the projects and whatever clearance I do have sucks, so I end up half-dragging down the pace around here.”

Mark clenched his jaw, visibly frustrated by Ellie’s self-deprecation. “You’re not dragging anyone down, Ellie. You’re one of the smartest people here, and I’ve seen the kind of work you’re doing. Hell, most of them wouldn’t have a clue about half the stuff you’ve already cracked wide open. You don’t need their approval.”

Ellie gave him a faint, sad smile. “Thanks Mark, but you and I both know it’s not that simple. They might not say it, but I can see it in their eyes. I’m not like them. I never have been.”

Mark’s gaze softened, and he leaned in closer, his voice low but filled with conviction. “You’re more than some mistakes, Ellie. You’ve owned up to your past, and you’re here trying to make a difference. Just like Teal’c. They don’t see it now, but they will. And I’m here to make sure they do for the both of you.”

She thumped her head against the table, “Doesn’t help with the feeling of being stuck in a time loop - I just want Groundhog day to end already, you know? And then there’s the Stargate...” She turned her head to the side as she closed her eyes, “The whole damn galaxy is right there, and I’m stuck here. On the bench. This is not how I thought space travel was gonna go when we watched Star Trek as kids.”

Mark watched her for a moment, seeing the genuine disappointment and yearning on her face - he knew how it felt, having come to the thought as an adult that space exploration in their lifetime was just a pipe dream... then some bookworm wearing glasses, who was laughed out of academia, shows you that it can happen.

Then you almost die, repeatedly, and set off a nuclear bomb. And when you get back, you get a slap on the shoulder, a few ‘Atta-boy’s tossed your way, and then they shut the whole thing down. Until another alien comes in and causes chaos.

Fun times.

It was a rare sight, Ellie showing vulnerability so openly, and it struck a chord deep within him. He leaned back, letting his own frustrations simmer down as he took in her words.

“Yeah, I remember those days,” he said softly, his voice carrying a wistful edge. “We'd stay up late at my house, sneaking snacks and watching Star Trek reruns, dreaming about flying through the stars, exploring new worlds. No rules, no boundaries - just us against the universe.”

She sputtered, her cheek pulsing against the table. “Well... I mean, Starfleet had rules.”

“That Kirk gave zero fucks about.” Mark retorted. “How many bastard children do you think that guy had?”

Ellie groaned, but a smile was dancing on her lips anyway. “I don’t wanna know - knowing my luck, I’d end up being one of them if he’d been real. Would account for my real parents being MIA.”

Mark chuckled, but there was something else mixed into the mirth at the reminder of Ellie’s less-than-stellar family tree and the harsh reality that came with it. “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about Klingons... just... alien parasites that invade your head and can take over your body who think they’re gods, and crystals that mimic dead family members. Much easier to manage.”

Ellie snorted, “Yeah, sure, way easier to manage.” She tilted her head to look at him, nudging the tray a bit further away on the table with the back of her head by accident. “I still wish I could see it, Mark. Just... walk right through it - see another world, another people... I’m so close I can almost taste it.”

He leaned down further to be on her level, resting on his forearms to meet her gaze. “And you’ll get there, one day. Hammond wouldn’t have given you a chance if he didn’t think you could make it out here.”

She sat there for a moment, before she picked herself up off the table as a thought came to mind. “You know they came out with another series?”

Mark knitted his eyebrows together, “They did? Of what?”

“Star Trek. They called it Star Trek: Next Generation. It came out just... a year after you disappeared.” She tossed the last bite of food in her mouth to compose herself, chewing in thought.

Mark raised his eyebrows, a flicker of surprise mixed with interest crossing his face. “No kidding? A whole new series? I remember the old one like it was yesterday - phasers, Tribbles, and Kirk being... well, Kirk. But a new series? Man, I missed a lot.”

Ellie nodded, her expression a mix of nostalgia and regret. “Yeah, you did. I started watching it, but... it wasn’t the same without you. I got so wrapped up in... well, everything with Reid and all my other bad decisions. I kind of lost track of the things...”

Mark watched her, seeing how the weight of her words pulled her down some more. That show had been more than a show to her; it was the small, everyday moments that got lost in the shuffle of someone else’s game. The silent warmth of familiarity that was stolen from them like a thief in the night - he wondered for the umpteenth time in a row how different their lives could have turned out had Reid not shadowed their door.

Didn’t matter. He couldn’t change the past, but he could be there now.

He bumped her tray into her, “Hey, it’s not too late. We can still catch up.”

Ellie looked up, her brow furrowing slightly. “Yeah, but it’s not exactly easy finding a rerun these days. And even if they’re showing it, who’s got the time? We’re busy saving the world - well, you are. I’m dusting relics and translating ancient romcoms.”

Mark grinned, “True, true... maybe we can catch some reruns on some late night channel? I know somebody in the nerd squad in the labs has got to have a few tapes, or knows where to get them.”

Ellie raised an eyebrow, the faintest hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “The ‘nerd squad,’ huh? You do realize you’re one of them, right? Major ‘I’ve got every video game console known to man’ Fischbach?”

“Hey, I don’t have an Atari, a Commodore, or a ColecoVision, so what you said was wildly inaccurate.”

“What was that? I couldn't hear what you said past all the 'NEEEERD' coming out of your mouth.”

Mark laughed, shaking his head in mock offense. “Look, just because I like to unwind with a few games doesn’t make me a nerd. It’s called ‘stress relief.’ You try going off-world, fighting aliens, and then come back to this place without losing your mind.” He took another gulp of his water as she smirked at him, “Besides, besides, what else am I supposed to spend my hazard pay on? Huh? It’s either this or buy a boat, and let’s be real - both Carter and Jack wouldn’t let me drive it.”

Ellie snorted, the sound of genuine laughter bubbling up in her throat. “‘Drive’ it... Only because you hate the ocean so much you’d try to blow it up with the boat.”

“See? My video games keep everyone safe - wait, what?”

“Because the real threat around here is Mark Fischbach turning into the ultimate troublemaker - again.”

“Nonononono - back the truck up - ”

“Also, how can you be PJ and still be afraid of the ocean?”

Mark raised his hands defensively as a playful scowl crossed his lips, “First off, it’s called respect for the ocean. Big difference. Secondly, yeah, jumping out of planes into water is part of the job, but I’d rather not do the vertical or horizontal tango with the Atlantic or the Pacific or any ocean on my day off, thank you very much. It’s got sharks, giant squids, dolphins, and god knows what else lurking down there."

Ellie laughed incredulously, “Dolphins?”

“Yes - those little bastards are sexual predators, and they torture puffer fish for fun. And that’s putting it mildly.”

She shook her head, and grinned. “Mark, I swear, you are a whole other level of paranoid.”

Mark’s face twitched into a mock-serious expression as he pointed an accusatory fork at her, “You’re laughing now, but one day when the dolphins rise up, you’ll remember this conversation. And who will be laughing? The dolphins, as they steal your shit from you, that’s who.”

Ellie snickered, her bleak mood from before fading away with Mark’s antics and healthy respect of the ocean. She leaned back in her chair, feeling lighter than she had before they started talking. “Okay, well, if videos games keep you from starting a dolphin uprising after a failed preemptive strike, I’ll make sure you have all the games you’ll ever need.”

Mark gave her a mock salute with his fork, his grin contagious. “That’s the spirit. And speaking of games, you still owe me a match in GoldenEye. I’m not letting you weasel out of it this time.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, though the challenge brought a spark to her eyes. “Only if you promise not to hog Oddjob. I swear, you do that shit again and I’ll throttle you.”

Mark laughed, raising his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. No Oddjob. I promise. I’ll even pick one of the generic soldier guys just to make it fair.”

Ellie snorted. “You know you’re still gonna lose, right?”

“Not a chance. I’ve been practicing.” Mark waggled his eyebrows mischievously. “So, what do you say? Dinner, Star Trek, and a little GoldenEye? We can call it a ‘strategic debrief’ and see who’s really the best shot.”

“You’re on, nerd. And no screen-looking.”

Mark gave her another mock salute as he picked up his tray, “Scout’s honor.”

They both stood, gathering their trays and dumping the leftover food into the waste bin as they prepared to leave the mess hall. Mark gave Ellie a gentle nudge with his shoulder as they moved toward the door. “So, how about we plan that marathon for this weekend? Gives us time to get some snacks, see if we can get our hands on those tapes...?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I’m just excited to see what the fuss is about Data.” Ellie said through a small laugh as they stepped out of the mess hall and headed back towards the elevator. As they made their way down the bustling corridor, Mark hummed.

“Data... is he a robot or something?”

Ellie half-nodded, then half-shook her head. “Yes and no; he’s an android. Sort of like how all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon... I think. Better ask Carter about that one.”

Mark nodded in understanding as they came to stand in front of the elevators, “Right, makes sense. So he’s basically the stand-in Spock?”

Ellie pressed the button as her face twisted up in thought, “I think so - we’ll have to watch the show and see. I hear he’s supposed to be super sweet if just uh... bit lacking in the social graces department.”

Mark shook his head as the doors opened to an empty elevator, and stepped inside. “Sounds like you growing up.”

Ellie smacked him on the back of the shoulder.

“Ow! Hey!” Mark winced dramatically and rubbed his shoulder, “How dare you strike a commanding officer, Spock - I’ll have you court martialed!”

Ellie rolled her eyes, stepping in after him and pressing the button for her floor. “Pfft, give it your best shot - I’m a civilian, unlike Spock.”

Mark laughed, leaning against the elevator wall as the doors slid shut. “Yeah, well, I’m still Captain Kirk - reckless, daring, and always getting into trouble.”

Ellie snorted. “And always chasing things you shouldn’t. Man-whore.”

Mark waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. “Hey, it’s called ‘exploring strange new worlds’ for a reason.”

“Oh my god,” Ellie shoved him as she pressed the button for Level 18 before he reached over and pressed the button for the level his office was on, “You are - Just - Gah.”

Mark chuckled as the elevator began its slow ascent, the gentle hum filling the brief silence between them. Ellie glanced at Mark from the corner of her eye, the nostalgia and renewed sense of hope filling the small space between them. It felt good - comfortable, familiar, like old times when they were just two kids dreaming of the stars.

The elevator came to a soft stop as it reached Ellie’s floor, and gave a soft ding as it opened the metal doors.

She turned back to look at him as she walked over the threshold, “Thanks, Mark,” she said softly, meeting his eyes. “For... everything. For being here, even when it’s not easy.”

He smiled, the kind that reached his eyes and made him look younger, more like the boy she remembered. “I told you when we were kids, and I’m telling you again - you’re stuck with me.”

Ellie hummed, “Yes, stuck with the one who forever irritates me.”

“And sees through your bullshit.”

“And sees through my bullshit.”

Morning came too early for the SGC, as per usual. Groggy minds waking up from dreams that were too good to leave behind but faded before they could remember why, forcing the stiff bodies those minds occupied to slowly shift into action, into purpose.

Discussions flew between personnel as the two shifts rubbed against each other, sleepy mind of fatigue meeting ones still ladened with sleep and shifting responsibilities between each other - some had heavy footsteps not from their weary bones, but from loss of one of their own who succumbed to injuries far too grave for their mortal bodies to withstand. The hum of base activity continued like clockwork, like the ticking cogs and whirring pistons of military might and conviction that defined the fledging Stargate Command.

As airmen and civilian alike walked to and fro with purpose, their bodies and equipment casted shadows both long and short underneath the harsh fluorescent lighting throughout. In the heart of one corridor where a SG team passed by a group of techs prepped and bound for the day’s mission, nothing seemed out of the ordinary - everyone accounted for, every footfall measured by the shadow it was connected to.

Except one.

The officers shadow faltered once, twice, thrice; it bent in unnatural ways towards an opposite wall, pulled and stretched by something unseen and unfelt.

The officer stopped in her tracks, her heart freezing as her instincts took over, and she whirled -

To see nothing. Nothing but two scientists talking in the corner over a stack of papers in their hands, and everything in it’s place as her team walked further ahead of her. She tapped her foot lightly, her hand resting on the butt of her sidearm on her thigh - had she imagined it?

She shook her head as the rest of the six-man group started to make for a corner ahead, and she quickly jogged to catch up.

One of the two scientists pointed to something in his report, explaining himself to the other as his shadowed flickered, just for a moment, out of the corner of his eye - out of sync with him.

He stopped, and turned his head -

To see nothing but his own shadow, moving with him as usual.

The other scientists’s brow furrowed, “You alright?”

He shook his head and gave his fellow scientist a weak smile, “Yeah... I don’t think I got enough sleep last night.”

The scientist dismissed the oddity and returned to his conversation, the two of them moving away from the corridor back towards the labs to conduct yet more experiments. Despite his dismissal, the scientist’s steps were quick and hurried, almost as if in the back of his mind he knew there was something more to his shadow.

As the two hurried on, they passed by a hallway where an airmen was carrying a box of tools on his way to his next task. He approached the intersection to go towards the right, shifting his burden from one hand to another -

To see his shadow detach from him.

He stumbled a bit, hi heart freezing for a moment and blinking, convinced he was seeing things as the box of tools in his hands rattled; his fingers slipped and almost dropped it, but he regained his grip as -

As his shadow returned to normal.

He stopped and stared at the floor for a while, watching, waiting. When nothing happened, he took a few hesitant steps forward, which turned into a walk, then a jog, then a run as he left the immediate area.

As the day went on, more and more occurrences like this happened. Subtle, little things that danced in the corner of one’s vision enough to turn their heads, but not enough to warrant nothing more than a mere brushing of a thought. But, slowly and over time, that no longer was the case.

In the mess hall a few hours later, two junior officers were in the middle of a conversation about their latest off-world mission; nothing more than typical operations chatter, idle observations, and exchange of the latest rumors. Their posture relaxed, leaning into their chairs and their conversation as the world around them faded into the periphery.

Yet, in that periphery, their shadows weaved a different story.

One of the shadow’s twitched violently, hands and fingers bending backwards as arms pushed forward to create a horrific, macabre scene. The other shadow twitched backwards from it, as though startled, before bending and twisting and undulating.

Neither officer noticed.

In the hallway as one Lieutenant Davidson left to begin his day, shaking off the last remnants of sleep that clung to him. He stretched his arms out and rolled his shoulders, mentally preparing himself for the daunting tasks awaiting him after his first briefing of the day, his footsteps echoing softly against the walls of the base as he went.

Then, suddenly, his shadow darted forward on the ground, growing larger and darker in an instant as it swirled around -

It shot back to him, crowded his space, loomed over him with unnatural arms that spilt and shook and scraped and outstretched beyond him to swallow everything in darkness -

Davidson jumped back with a startled yelp, his panic sending scraping waves of energy through his skin as he backpedaled and tripped - !

He half screamed again as hands grabbed at his shoulders, jumping and jerking away from them as his heart threated to blow in his chest -

To see a startled Daniel Jackson standing behind him hands outstretched and ready to steady him against his tripping feet.

“Whoa,” The good doctor said calmly as his hands found purchase on the stumbling man’s shoulders and righted him. “Easy there... you alright?”

Davidson’s breath came out in harsh pants as his eyes darted between Daniel, the larger corridor, and the ground where his shadows had returned to normal and perfectly copied his motions. The cold mist of sweat on his forehead and the shaking of his limbs as the adrenaline started to fade was the only physical evidence to him that he had not been dreaming... but...

“I... I don’t know,” He started, swallowing around a dry throat as he tried to process what just happened - had he imagined it? “It - my shadow, it just moved and... and...”

Daniel’s brow knitted as his own eyes traced where the panicked Davidson’s had, seeing nothing too out of the ordinary... “Your... shadow, moved?”

“Yeah,” the man muttered, running a hand through his hair as he felt a hot flash of embarrassment burn across his cheeks, “Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it just... lunged at me or something. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Daniel frowned, but nodded slowly, calmly, before he patted the man on the shoulder, and gave him a reassuring smile. “Well, it’s been a long week for everyone, especially after the whole... crystal incident.”

Davidson nodded, frowning only slightly. “Yeah... maybe I’m just being jumpy...”

Daniel turned back towards the mess hall he had left behind, “Why don’t you grab some coffee before you head back up for the brief? You got some time.”

The Lieutenant nodded, “That... sounds good. Thanks, Doctor.”

As the officer scurried on towards the doors of the mess hall, Daniel was lost in a swathe of his thoughts. Considering the strange things he had seen already since the Stargate program had been reestablished and the even stranger things still that cropped up since their encounter with Reid, and he had his own fair share of seeing things others didn’t.

Of course, he never ran into multiple people on the same day who said the same thing about the same thing. Shadows detaching, swirling, bouncing; they didn't just move like that - not on their own.

Daniel glanced down once more, this time at his own shadow, as it stayed put underneath him and moved like It was supposed to and synced to his movements.

Something was off. He could feel it.

Daniel continued on his way, taking the elevator up to where he could find Carter’s lab - when he had arrived this morning, he’d been told about Makepeace’s raid on Reid’s latest hiding spot and the few artifacts they had recovered from the cult. The news had reminded him of Ellie, the newest addition to the SGC and, in particular, the small team of archaeologists, linguists, and other cultural experts staffed here.

He had wanted to talk to her about what SG-4 had recovered, but after his interaction with Davidson he thought it better to consult the Captain and see if any of her equipment had acted strange or picked up something strange in the air today.

As the archaeologist left the elevator and walked out into the labs, he passed by one in particular cluttered with various equipment, and caught a flash of blue in his peripheral vision.

He stopped, and backpedaled a bit to take a closer look. Inside, he spied Ellie talking animatedly to one of the civilian scientists, dressed in their typical white lab coats.

This one in particular was part of Dr. Lee’s team, the junior scientist getting along smoothly with the man and others partly because of their profession and for their shared love of Sci-fi. This scientist in particular had a model or two of fictional space ships on his workstation, up and out of the way but still in full view. Daniel thought he had seen the in passing a long time ago - perhaps on TV when he was a child?

Daniel walked through the threshold, interest piqued; Ellie’s back was to him so he couldn’t quite see her expression, but judging from what he could see of the scientist, there wasn’t any hostility. She gestured a few times towards the man’s desk in a low but excited tone - he didn’t see any artifact on the desk... Daniel hesitated to interrupt -

Then he saw it.

There, on the far wall... a shadow moved.

Not just any shadow - the shadow of the scientist.

He froze mid-step, eyes laser-focused, as the shadow... it was hard for him to comprehend. One moment, the shadow was faded and blended into the shadows of the various pieces of equipment in the dimmed light of the lab; the next it was sharp, pointed, angluar, undulating, out-of-sync with the one who casted it as it’s movements because harsher, insistent - it was like the thing was trying to escape.

The expanse darkened significantly to a deep, light-sucking black and elongated behind the scientist, stretching onto the far wall to to swallow up the corner.

Daniel heart quickened as he pushed his feet to keep moving, to get to Ellie, to get her away from the scientist - whatever this was, it was coming from the man. It wasn’t natural and it more than unnerved him as it continued to twist and jerk and stretch in a way that no human body ever could, like some nightmarish creature.

Before he could call out, before he could grab her, Ellie seemed to catch a glimpse of what he did; her head twisted to the side to look at the wall -

Her words died in her throat, and her faced paled. She saw it too.

Her eyes were locked on the... thing in the corner as it continued it’s nightmarish dance, the animated conversation she was having moments ago drained away from her mind as she began backpedaling towards the big red button on the wall. She had been seeing things, weird things that bent and broke and chewed on the laws of physics, all morning but blamed it on the lack of sleep from the night before.

The scientist blinked as he noticed her frightened expression, and he noticed Daniel’s equally unnerved presence behind her.

The man turned, following their eyes with brow furrowed...

And froze.

“The... the fuck?” The words skittered out of his mouth as his fear threatened to rip the breath from his lungs.

Ellie halfway jumped out of her skin as she bumped into Daniel’s hands, and Daniel didn’t waste a second as he pulled her behind him and towards the wall where the button was.

Daniel put himself between her and the scientist, a familiar feeling of calm washing over him in spite of the energy thumping and jumping in his skin, as he faced down what could be a threat.

“Ellie...” Daniel stepped backwards, closer to her, and pushing her towards the button - which also happened to be where the door was. “Ellie hit the button. Now.”

She didn’t need to be told twice.

In a flash, she twisted on her heel and jumped towards the door -

Her fist slammed down on the button as she dashed across the threshold.

BWWOOOOOAH-BWWOOOOOAH-BWWOOOOOAH-BWWOOOOOAH-BWWOOOOOAH!

A harsh klaxon screamed in their ears, causing Ellie to curl in on herself a bit and slam her hands against her ears as the sound pierced through her eardrum like an icepick. The noise was staggering, akin to a physical assault on the delicate structures of her inner ear that made her breath short and her skin vibrate.

Daniel made it out of the lab, and slammed the door behind. He turned, and felt a spike of anxiety as he noticed her distress.

He threw a quick look behind her, at her shadow, before he approached her and grabbed her arm - firm, but not unkind. “Come on, we need to go.

Ellie nodded, barely able to hear him over the screeching around her, but allowed the older man to lead her through the hallway with her hands pressing against the tragus of her outer ear with prejudice to block the way into her ear canal. The flashing red of the lights around her whited out her vision to a steady tempo, sending her senses into cascading overload that made the base feel like it was falling down around her and Daniel’s hand on her arm like the squeezing grip of a blood pressure cuff -

It was too fast, too fast, everything was moving too fast -

Daniel pulled her to the nearest door down the hall, and ripped it open before he pushed her through and shut the door behind them - shutting out the klaxons, reducing them to a dull roar as he flipped the switch on the wall.

Ellie sank down onto the first crate she saw, taking deep breaths as the ringing in her ears began to subside. Her hands trembled as she, carefully, pulled them away from her head. When the alarms stayed quiet, she allowed them to fall on her lap, her shoulders shaking as she closed her eyes and tried to center herself in the blissfully quiet room.

Daniel crouched down next to her, keeping both Ellie and the door in his line of sight; his face etched with concern and mind still reeling from what he witnessed in the lab as he assessed her more thoroughly, and watching her as she tried to pull herself together.

“Ellie?” He said softly, and winced slightly to himself as she jumped anyway. “You alright?”

She nodded, thought it was a reflexive motion because she wasn’t alright; far from it. She had balanced the knife’s edge of anxiety all morning from the weird things that twisted and cracked and gnawed on the laws of physics, then the blade sank into her skin when that shadow came to life, the klaxon screeched - it was too much. All of it was too much.

She squeezed her hands into fists - how the hell did she expect to be able to go off world if she couldn’t even handle the base’s fucking alarm?

“Ellie?”

She let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, the air shuddering as it left her nose. “I’m... I’m fine.” She forced her voice to be steady, still not opening her eyes to expose herself to the harsh lines of reality around her in favor of the fleshy tones of her closed eyes. “Just... give me a second.”

Daniel nodded more to himself since she couldn’t see him, and stayed quiet. He didn’t blame her - he had seen combat, seen lives snuffed out in an instant, taken lives that were threatening to take his and his team’s, faced down the overwhelming force of Ra - all of it had been terrifying. None of it compared to... that, in that lab. Whatever that was.

After a few moments, Ellie inhaled sharply and opened her eyes, the trembling in her digits becoming a distant memory as she sat up straighter. A shot of indignation shot through her - she couldn’t afford to lose control, not here, not now.

“Thanks,” she whispered to Daniel, meeting his eye only briefly as a hot slice of shame made her indignation burn brighter.

“No problem,” Daniel said as he gave her a small smile, “You did good in there.”

She nodded again as his words settled over her, urging her to let go of the tension still coiled in her chest - she could still feel the rattle buzz of the klaxon thrumming through the back of her neck and over her shoulders, like a stubborn aftershock, but she was getting better.

She hated this. She had to be stronger than this.

“Just to be clear - you saw what I saw, right?” Daniel asked, his eyes flashing to the door, to the shadows around them, for a second before focusing back on her.

Ellie swallowed as she stood and brushed off some imaginary dust of her pants, “You mean that thing that looked like it was like something from a nightmare - from those old ghost stories of demons coming for children and young girls in the middle of the night? Yeah. Yeah, I saw that.”

Daniel lightly patted her shoulder as she stood. “Good... glad to know I’ve not gone crazy yet.”

“What do you think that was?” She asked hesitantly.

Daniel shook his head as he looked around them again - was that thing anchored to the scientist, or could it happen to anyone? “No idea...”

Ellie wrenched her hands together, hesitation loud in her body language. “And... we won’t find out as long as we’re in here.”

Daniel nodded grimly as he looked back towards the door, acknowledge the harsh truth in her words. As much as he wanted to stay here, keep an eye on Ellie and let her calm down some more they were part of the SGC - where alien was just another word for Tuesday, and terror was situated next to the coffee grounds in the cupboard. Whatever they saw in that lab, they couldn’t ignore it - they had to face it head on.

He watched as Ellie ground her heel into the floor.

He cleared his throat, “You ready?”

She shook her hands into fists and rolled her shoulder before she squared them, “Yeah... now or never. Let’s go.”

She fell into step behind him as he reached for the door and wrenched it open, the alarm going from a dull rumble to a screech once more -

Ellie as prepared for it this time, her mind sharp with narrowed eyes as she forced herself into the task ahead. She had a fucking job to do, dammit, and she wasn’t going to let something like the base’s alarm stop her from doing it.

They stepped out into the hallway -

It was much more crowded now than it had been before as armed security personnel pushed through the throng and pulled scared lab techs and scientists out of the way. The civilians clutched their clipboards or tools or whatever was in their hands when the alarms had sounded, too rattled or too scared to drop what they were working on.

The armed security descended upon the lab where the other scientist was still trapped inside with that shadow creature, locking down the entire corridor and checking the door to make sure it hadn’t been forced open.

Ellie and Daniel looked down the hallway...

Stargate: Solaumbra - Shadows of the Mind (Episode 3) - Chapter 1 - DaiNoShoujoNoYami (2025)

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