Daniel Jackson was awakened by loud music.
He sat up in his bed, the sheet falling off his bare chest and tried to figure out where the music was coming from. Reaching over to his bedside stand, he found his glasses. He picked up a pair of jeans and pulled them on along with a T-shirt. Then he moved to the balcony of his condo and opened the curtains, and was immediately blinded by the sun. Squinting, he opened the door and stepped out. The music was louder.
He looked around the half wall of the balcony to find the source of "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" and found, on the balcony next door, a woman folding very small clothes while she moved her hips to the music.
She was probably five and a half feet tall and curvy, with red hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a tank top that revealed firm arms, a pair of shorts that revealed strong legs, and no shoes.
"Excuse me!" Daniel called.
She jumped and turned. When she saw him, her eyes widened, then she smiled and waved.
"It's loud!"
She frowned, pointing to her ear and shaking her head. Then she raised her index finger for him to wait, stepped back inside her condo, turned down the music down but not off and came back out.
"Hi!" she smiled, brightly.
"I was sleeping."
Her eyebrows rose, she looked into the condo and then back at him. "Are you aware that it's one in the afternoon?"
Daniel looked at his wrist. No watch. "I'll take your word for it."
She smiled. "Jet-lag?"
"You could say that," he nodded, squinting still.
"Well, I'm sorry I disturbed you. Been there."
He liked her smile. "It's okay." he sighed, with a stretch. "I should be getting up anyway." He looked at the shirt she was folding. "That seems small."
She smiled at it, wistfully, looking at the shirt. "Yeah. My four year old informed me that he isn't a baby anymore, so I cleaned out his closet. I'm packing this stuff for Goodwill." She looked over at him, her blue eyes moist. "Do you have any kids? Expecting? Need baby boy clothes?" She sniffled.
"No, on all counts," he grinned. "Are you okay?"
She gave a self-deprecating smile. "Don't mind me. I cry at Folger's commercials."
Daniel chuckled. "Oh-kay…"
Suddenly, a blond streak emerged from the sliding glass door. "Mom! Mom! You have to see my room!"
She knelt down to be eye-level with a cute little boy with sandy blond hair. "I will in a bit, Chase, but Mommy's talking to someone right now."
The boy turned and looked at Daniel. His eyebrows came together over eyes that were the exact color of his mother's. His full lips frowned. "Who are you? What are you doing there?"
Daniel smiled. "I'm Daniel Jackson. Who are you?"
Chase looked at his mother, who nodded. "I'm Chase Robert McReynolds. I live here. Do you live there?"
Daniel nodded. "Yes, Chase. I live here."
He nodded. "Do you have a little boy?"
Daniel shook his head. "No."
Chase nodded, frowning. "Hmph. Mommy, can you see my room now?"
She smiled. "I will in a minute, Chase. Go play."
Chase ran back into the condo.
"I'm Liz, by the way," she moved closer to her side of the wall. "I'm sorry that the music was so loud. I didn't know you were home."
Daniel nodded. "Daniel. I know I'm gone a lot."
Chase suddenly reappeared. "Hey, Daniel! You wanna go on picnic with us? We are still going to picnic, right, Mom?"
Liz nodded. "Yes, Chase, we are. Go get your shoes on." Then she turned to look at him. "You are welcome to come, if you want. I don't imagine you probably have a lot of groceries in there and if you don't mind leftover fried chicken, we have plenty."
Daniel nodded, without really thinking. "Sure. I'll meet you downstairs?"
She smiled. "The lobby in, oh, thirty minutes?"
"I'll be there."
Liz and Chase were waiting in the lobby with a picnic basket when Daniel arrived. Chase was holding a large, red, toy car against his chest.
"Hi, Daniel!" Chase waved, as though he hadn't seen Daniel in a long while.
Daniel waved back as he approached them. He'd changed into a button-down, short-sleeved blue, cotton shirt that would be lightweight enough for the warm weather, stonewashed blue jeans and driving mocs. He noticed that Liz had changed as well.
She wore capris pants with sandals and a short-sleeved, light blue, V-neck t-shirt. It was an outfit that accented her figure nicely and brought out the blue in her eyes, even more.
"Wow," she smiled. "That shirt goes great with your eyes," she told him.
Daniel warmed. "I was just thinking the same thing about you."
She looked down and blushed. "Great minds, I guess. Ready?"
"Sure." He took the basket from her.
She looked like she was going to protest, but just smiled and said. "Thank you," and took Chase's hand.
They walked together, with Chase chattering away, the two blocks to a nearby park. They went to one of the picnic benches near the playground and sat as Chase immediately started pushing his car across the table.
Chase stopped. "Do you like giving shots?" he asked Daniel suddenly.
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "What?" He glanced over to Liz and then back. "I don't give shots."
"But Old Mister Lindley called you 'Dr. Jackson'." Chase looked over to his mother. "Right, Mommy, when you were checking the mail?"
"He's not the kind of doctor that gives shots," Liz said, smoothing Chase's hair in the back. "Do you remember when we went to Chicago?"
His eyes lit up. "Ooo! Daniel, we went to Chicago! On an air-o-plane! It was so cool! Can we go there again tomorrow, Mommy? Do you want to go, Daniel?"
"Chase," Liz said, firmly. "Pay attention."
Chase looked back at her, impatiently. "What?"
"Do you remember when we went to the Field Museum and we saw the mummies and the King Tut exhibit?"
Chase's eyes were wide. "You know, Daniel, I saw a mummy as big as me! A boy one and a girl one! And they keep the guts in jars! And you know what my grandpa told me? They put a stick in your nose and pull your brains out!" He smiled and touched his stomach. With a little boy chuckle, he added. "That's so funny, isn't it?"
Daniel was totally taken by this little boy with so much enthusiasm. "I guess it could be," he smiled.
"Well, Daniel is like one of the men who found King Tut's tomb," Liz continued her explanation again. "He's an archaeologist. That's the kind of doctor he is."
"Did you find any mummies?" Chase asked.
Daniel shook his head. "Not recently."
"Oh." Chase looked at his car. "You like my car?"
Daniel chuckled. "It's a very nice car."
"Mommy, when we go to Chicago again tomorrow, can Daniel come with us to see the mummies?"
Liz smiled. "We'll see, Chase. Go play, now, while I get the picnic ready."
"He's cute." Daniel commented as Chase took his car to a nearby wood tie at the edge of the playground.
Liz's smile widened. "Thank you. I think so, but I may be a little biased."
Daniel smiled. "He moves fast too. Mummies to cars and back in a single breath."
"Short attention span."
"And 'Chicago tomorrow'?"
She laughed and shook her head. "The concept of time is very difficult for him to grasp right now. If you were to ask him when we went to Chicago, he'd probably say yesterday, even though it was two months ago. And he's always asking to go to places 'tomorrow' because anything farther away is just too far for him to really grasp. I've learned to not tell him about things happening too far in advance or I hear about it everyday until it happens." She, then, added. "He also doesn't realize how far Chicago is from Colorado Springs."
She began to unpack the food from the basket and Daniel went over and knelt to play with Chase.
Chase left his car in the grass when he firmly hit Daniel in the back of the head and shouted. "TAG!" He squealed with glee when Daniel stood to try to catch him.
When Liz finally called for them, Daniel chased Chase to the table. The little boy's face was flushed pink from exertion and split wide with squeals of laughter.
Liz stood Chase on the bench and began to wipe his face and hands with a baby wipe. She offered one to Daniel, which he took and dutifully wiped his own face and hands.
They sat down to eat, making conversation, mostly with Chase.
"You can come next time we picnic if you want to, Daniel," Chase said as he finished his chicken. "Can I go swing, Mommy?"
She glanced over to the swings, which were close by. "Just stay where you can see me and I can see you. Okay?"
She watched Chase as he ran to the swings and lay across the swing and spin to get the chains crossed and wound around each other. Then he lifted his feet and laughed as he spun like the blades of a helicopter.
"So you do this on a regular basis?"
"About once or twice a month. He loves fried chicken but it's not really worth the mess for just the two of us, so whenever I make it, I make enough for leftovers and we always go for a picnic the next day."
Daniel nodded, frowning down at the table. "I don't want to intrude," he said after a minute.
Liz smiled. "It wouldn't be an intrusion. You're more than welcome to come along."
Daniel looked up at her. "What? Oh, I wasn't…thank you."
Her eyes narrowed. "What's on your mind? What were you going to say?"
Daniel squinted at her, then turned his attention to Chase. "It's none of my business, really."
Liz scrutinized him and then smiled. "Ah." Liz glanced over to Daniel, then went back to watching Chase. "Chase's father was never interested in having kids and when I got pregnant, he lost interest in me. He was gone before Chase was born. As far as I know, he doesn't even know if his child was a boy or a girl."
Daniel's frown deepened and his eyebrows came together. He was staring at the table, when Liz reached over and patted his hand. He looked up to see her smiling.
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For whatever you were thinking. We're better than fine, really. Chase is my little man, my whole world, and we're better off, I think, without the father in the picture." She watched Chase adoringly.
"I was thinking that I can't understand how anyone could do something like that," Daniel's frown was still there. "How does anyone walk away from their child?"
She smiled and looked back at him. "You have a good heart, Daniel Jackson."
After finishing the food, cleaning up and playing with Chase for a while more, they headed back. Chase complained about being tired of walking and Liz told him that it was short walk. Chase moved to Daniel, who was carrying the basket, and raised his arms to him.
"Daniel's not going to carry you, Chase. He's carrying the basket."
"But I want someone to carry me. I can't walk so far, I'm still little."
Liz quickly hid a smile. "But you told me this morning you were a big boy."
He shook his head stubbornly. "I'm not. I'm little."
Daniel looked at her and said. "It's okay, really. I'd love to."
She nodded and took the basket.
Daniel picked Chase up and the boy immediately put his head on Daniel's shoulder. Before they finished the next block, Chase was asleep.
Liz groaned. "Aw, Chase," she said, softly.
Daniel looked at her. "What?"
She sighed, with a smile. "It's too early. It's only 5. He'll sleep for 3 hours and then won't want to go back to bed until midnight."
Daniel frowned. "So what do we do?"
She stroked Chase's head and sighed. "Let him sleep. I don't think we'd be able to get him to wake up at this point."
Daniel walked Liz up to her condo and she guided him into Chase's room, filled with Spiderman, trucks, airplanes and all sorts of little boy stuff. Daniel gently placed Chase down on the toddler bed and Liz removed the boy's shoes and covered him with a thin blanket.
Without words, they walked back out of the room. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked.
"Sure."
"Soda, okay, or do you want something stronger? I don't have any beer…"
"Soda's fine. I'm not a big beer drinker, myself."
She laughed. "Never developed a taste for it, either." She returned from the kitchen with two glasses of clear soda and ice. "I hope you don't mind Lemon-lime. As warm as it is today, caffeine would just dehydrate us further."
He nodded and took the glass, gratefully. "So you know about what I do, Liz. What do you do?"
"I know you're an archaeologist," she corrected. "I don't know what you do. You're gone so often and the rumor is that you work up at Cheyenne. Lots of archaeological finds at NORAD?"
He smiled. "Let's just say I do some translating work for the government. Having to do with ancient artifacts."
She smiled. "Good enough. I work at Peterson. Secretary for the base historian."
Daniel put his drink down and looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "Really? What's that like?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Lots of transcribing," she smiled. "The historian interviews people after events and missions and I transcribe his notes for the archives. Then, after five years, those archives go to St. Louis where they are stored for all eternity." After a pause, she sipped from her drink and said. "I like it."
Daniel sat back. "Two history buffs living next door to each other, both working for the government. It really is a small world, isn't it?"
She smiled. "You could say that."
They spent the evening making small talk and when Daniel finally looked at the clock it read 7:30.
"I'd better go. I think tomorrow's Monday and I have to go back to work."
She laughed. "Jet-lag will do that to you. Tomorrow is Monday, and I have to go to work, too."
She walked him to the door where he thanked her for inviting him.
"Chase did, remember?"
"He's cute," Daniel smiled. "I hope he stays in bed for you."
She laughed again. "Me too."
"Good night, Liz," he squeezed her hand.
She nodded and let it go. "Good night, Daniel."