Title: Choices
Author: Danielle
Rating: G
Disclaimer: All characters from the television series ‘Stargate SG-1’ belong to Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions.I’m only borrowing them for my personal entertainment, and I promise I’ll put them back all nice and proper. I didn’t profit from writing this piece, though if someone wants to pay me huge wads of cash for the copyright, I won’t argue. All original characters and situations belong to me, but you can use them if you really want to - just mail me first. Also mail me first if you want to archive this somewhere. Thank you kindly.
Summary: Here’s my go at a frequently used plot device...

Special Information: Takes place after Rhya's death, which I am in the middle of writing... Sort of. Maybe. Not quite. Look, I know what I'm going to do!

Choices

Daniel moaned in pain slightly as he opened his eyes.

"Careful, you're head isn't going to like you much," a voice said, coinciding with the application of something wet and cool to his temple. "You've been in the wars again, I'm afraid."

"What else is new?" he groaned.

"That's true. You were always a bit accident-prone."

Daniel tried his best to focus on the face that hovered above him, but no amount of blinking or rubbing of his eyes made their features any clearer. The only constant in the blur was a pair of eyes, although the colour seemed to be indistinguishable.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Um… Abydos I think," the stranger replied.

"Abydos? But I-" Daniel tried to sit up, but the person - who he now knew to be female - pushed him back onto the thin mattress he was lying on.

"Stay still dummy, you're not going to achieve anything by getting up," the woman replied in an annoyed voice.

"Hey!" the archaeologist exclaimed in an injured tone.

"Oh, come off it Daniel. I've called you worse and you know it." A smiling mouth became distinguishable, slowly followed by the rest of the face.

"Rhya?" he asked, reaching out to run a finger down her cheek.

"Give the boy a prize," she murmured. "Which would you prefer, a Mickey Mouse badge or a chest to pin it on?" She raised an eyebrow and looked down at him curiously. "Why are you here Daniel? I mean, it's nowhere near your time."

"Huh? What do you mean 'it's not my time'?" He threw her a confused look and struggled to sit up. She didn't hold him down this time.

"Just that. You're not meant to be here for a long time yet," she replied cryptically.

"Where's here? You said it was Abydos before." He scanned the room they were occupying, noting the cartouches on the wall. They were on Abydos, in the chamber where he'd found all the co-ordinates for StarGates on different planets. "How? Why? Where's everyone else?"

"Okay!" she cried, holding her hands up to stave the flow of questions. "One at a time! 'How?' We're not in the real world. 'Why?' I haven't a clue, you're the one who put us here. And 'Where's everyone else?' They're no doubt watching over you in the infirmary. Any more questions?"

"Yes," he said slowly. "Why are you here? You're meant to be…" A lump lodged in his throat, preventing him from finishing the sentence.

"Dead. I know Daniel. But the powers that be decided you might need a hand." She smiled at him sadly and reached out to brush a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"To do what… I'm dead, aren't I?" Although he'd never experienced it for himself, he'd had friends that had claimed that they'd had 'Out of Body' experiences when it had appeared that death was imminent.

She shook her head. "No, not yet. That's why we're here. You have to decide whether or not you want to go back. Kinda a tough choice to lump on a person. But then, I'm not the boss." She shrugged "Although, that's probably for a good reason."

Daniel swallowed and stared at a wall without seeing the hieroglyphics it contained. "Of course I want to live," he murmured to himself, but loudly enough so that Rhya could here. "I've got too much to do! What if something happens to Oma Thasalla and the child? I promised Sha're!" He turned his head to look into her eyes. "Right?"

She took a deep breath and bit on her lip. "I can't make the decision for you tarrishagh¹. I'm here to be nothing more than a, a…" She clicked her fingers the way she always had when she couldn't think of a word. "Oh, what's that blasted word!"

"Sounding board?" he supplied.

"Yeah, that's the one. Basically, I'm just here to act as Devil's advocate." She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "I coulda come up with something a bit more original, given time, but there you go." She shrugged again and smiled wryly. "How are you feeling?"

"To be honest, a bit strange. If you hadn't said anything, I would've sworn upon a stack of bibles that this is all real."

She snorted indelicately and threw him a crooked smile. "Join the club."

Daniel fell silent for a moment as he thought about the situation. "I want…" His voice trailed off and he bit his lip. "I mean, I have to go back. There's the boy and-"

"The Harsesis?"

Daniel nodded. "Mmm-hmm. I know that Oma Thassala is more than capable of caring for him, but what if something should happen to her? She might have something akin to super powers, but I'm sure that she can be killed like the rest of us."

"Daniel, you can't make this decision if all you worry about is making everyone else happy. That's just not the way it's done." She looked at him helplessly and chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I know it'll be hard to discount what everyone's feelings if you... pass on, but this is a choice you have to make for yourself. Not me, not Jack and not anyone. Just you."

"I don't know if I can," he replied.

"You have to, I'm afraid. In this place, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. You have to be one-hundred percent certain either way."

"What if..."

"You're not absotively sure? You know about those people who stay in comas for the rest of their lives?"

He gulped and tried his best not to look perturbed. "O-kay," he said slowly.

Rhya swore softly under her breath. "No, I didn't mean it like that! Or maybe I did... Oh, I don't know!!" she cried in exasperation. "Look, you can take as long as you like Daniel. Time seems to move... differently here. Please don't ask me to explain why, I'll only confuse the pair of us!" she added when he opened his mouth to say something.

"I actually wasn't going to ask about that," he remarked. "I was just going to say, that I've made up my mind."

Rhya looked completely flabbergasted. "Huh?" She shook herself and blinked at him. "You've made up your mind? Already?"

"Tarrishagh, unlike you, I don't take an hour just to decide what I'm going to wear in the morning," he said dryly.

"Well... There's just so much to choose from! I mean, you can wear the black shirt with the green pants, or you can wear the black tee with the blue pants. The choices are infinite!" she exclaimed in mock defensiveness.

He grinned at her. "I know. I just don't know how you manage." He patted her shoulder consolingly. "Actually, while you were talking, five hours passed."

"What?" she said in confusion, then she finally realised he was having her on. "Oooh, one of these days - right in the kisser!" She shook a fist under his nose and tried her best not to grin. "Are you sure? I mean, you don't have to choose yesterday or anything-"

"I'm sure that I'm sure. Like I said before, I've got too much I want to do." Daniel smiled and touched her cheek. "I just wish you could be there when I wake up." He looked downwards so she couldn't see the pain in his eyes.

"Maybe I will be," she replied cryptically, causing him to look at her in surprise.

"Wha-?"

She smiled and placed a hand on his arm. "I never stopped watching over you Danny," she said earnestly. "I'm a lot closer than you think."

He looked at her in confusion. "You've lost me," he answered.

Her grin widened and she patted his arm. "You'll see what I mean. Now go. They're all waiting for you I expect. I can see it now," she moved beside him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders and swept an open palm in front of them - perfectly imitating someone trying to pitch an idea, "Teal'c's been sitting on one of those awful plastic chairs for so long that it's probably perfectly conformed to his shape. Sam's wandered in and out every hour, in between attempting to do some form of work and failing miserably ," she paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. "And Jack's been pretending that he's not worried to death. By the way, have a go at him about the scratches."

"Scratches? Rhya, I don't-" he started before she cut him off.

"No more questions. You can't stay here forever, that wouldn't be fair to anyone. Me included." She spun him around and gave him a gentle push towards the tent flap. "Go."

He looked at her over his shoulder, balking just before the fabric wall. "How will I know when it's my time?" he asked.

She stepped up behind him and stood on tiptoe so she could whisper in his ear. "I'll call you," she breathed and stepped back. "Scoot Daniel."

"Rhya-" He started to turn around, but she pushed him out of the tent.

Just as the light outside overwhelmed him, he thought he saw Rhya's form change into that of his mother. "Goodbye Daniel," she said with a gentle smile.

Then she was gone.

~~~~~

Daniel moaned slightly and slowly opened his eyes. His eyelids felt like someone had suspended lead weights off them in some sort of cruel experiment.

"Daniel?" Jack's face slowly came into focus. "Are you there?"

As much as he would've liked to make a sarcastic reply, his mouth had the sensation of being filled with a set of very old, very smelly socks. "Ja-ak?" he croaked weakly, reaching out with a very shaky hand to touch the older man's face. He felt real enough - but then, so had Rhya.

The colonel gripped his hand tightly and smiled broadly. "Welcome back. You nearly gave us all heart attacks, you know." Jack's eyes just about glowed with happiness at his young friend being awake.

"That's what she said," Daniel whispered.

"What's that?" the colonel asked.

"Nothing," he replied, finally getting some control over his jaw muscles. He looked up at the older man. "What happened to your face?"

Jack smiled wryly and stood back from the cot. "That happened," he said, indicating something that was located towards the end of the bed.

Daniel slowly lifted his head to look down at his feet. His eyes just about bugged out of their sockets when he saw the tiny ginger and white kitten sitting there staring right back at him. It slowly climbed to its feet, stretched lazily and sauntered up to sit on his chest. It's luminescent green eyes bored into his.

"Uh, hello there," he greeted the animal uncertainly, reaching out to scratch it on the head. It purred and leant into the caress.

"It came into the infirmary not long after we got back. No-one's got any idea about where it came from, let alone how it got onto the base without someone noticing." Jack shook his head and glared at the cat. "All I know is that it set up camp on your bed and wasn't about to be moved by anyone or anything." He coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Not even me."

Daniel raised an eyebrow and gazed at his friend. "You certainly have a way with women."

Jack looked at him in confusion. "What are you rabbiting on about?"

"The cat - it's a girl." The creature nuzzled against the palm of his hand. "I think I'll call it Grian²." It sneezed its assent and settled down for a nap.

"Cute. What's it mean?" Jack asked.

"It means sunshine in Rhya's language." Daniel stroked his new pet's slumbering form and looked up at the colonel. "I could do with some company in my apartment."

"I'm sure you could."