Human Nature

Psalm 136

Stargate: SG-1

Drama/General

Paul Davis, Martouf, Team

We all must make sacrifices to do good, and some include delivering a lamb into the arms of the wolf. Martouf must make this sacrifice, but that lamb might have the heart of a warrior and might survive, depending on the strength of human nature and on the heart of freedom bred on Earth.

Author's Notes: I have, for the longest time, wanted to write a story about Paul Davis, as he is my favorite secondary character in SG-1, and I've also wanted to write a story about Martouf. Hence, this story. This story will actually revolve around my character, Danielle Davis, Paul's eldest daughter. I know, I know, just wait a minute before you turn back. Danielle will not be a Mary Sue. That, I can promise you. Just give this story a chance - you might be pleasantly surprised. Thematically, I want to focus on human nature and the strength of people from Earth. If put under pressure, will a human bend or break? Can a human remain strong in the face of great opposition and survive? Can a human continue to hope, even when surrounded on all sides by enemies? This is what I want to explore.

...

"Don't even think about it."

Paul Davis eyed the strawberry smoothie enviously. He could see beads of condensation dribbling down the sides of the plastic cup. He could almost taste its deliciousness from where he was standing. He coveted it. He wanted it. It should have been his.

And yet this woman, this witch, was denying him. He reached for the cup again, watching her face and her closed eyes. Maybe if he was really quiet...

"I warned you," Lacey Davis opened her eyes and slapped her husband's hand away. "It's my strawberry smoothie," she asserted as she reached over to save her smoothie from her husband's questing hands. Putting her lips around her straw, she took a long drink and sighed happily. "Mmm. Delicious."

"Shrew," he accused her playfully, but leaned down to kiss her lips, savoring the strawberry taste. "I missed you," he told her with a fond smile, drawing away to see her eyes twinkling.

"I missed you, too, Lieutenant Colonel," she responded, sexily placing emphasis on his new rank, causing a smile to flash across his face. "How was work?"

"Oh, it was fine," he shrugged, sitting on the porch chair next to Lacey, threading his fingers through hers, letting out a groan of pleasure as he sat on the wonderfully comfortable cushion. "Ah, my day is looking up already," he told her with a smile.

Lacey raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really?" she asked, moving from her chair to sit on his lap, surveying her husband's ruggedly handsome face.

"Even better," he grinned and kissed her cheek. He really was glad to see her.

He had been deployed to Iraq in the early nineties, and he hadn't seen her, then, for almost two years. Their youngest daughter, Alice, had been born during that time, and he had missed it. With his other posts around the country, it had been a rare thing for him to return home at a regular time every night. But now he was working at the Pentagon, and except for the occasional late meeting or trip to Colorado, he was home on time every night. He loved it - he got to see his family - and she loved it, too, because she got to see him. Their daughters, Danielle and Alice, who had spent most of their childhood's missing their father and worrying for his safety, couldn't help but be content with the arrangement as well.

And the fact he had some shiny birds on his lapels was just a bonus. A really, really lovely bonus.

"Uh, Colonel Davis? Mrs. Davis?" came a teenager's voice from the lawn.

Lacey stood up and turned around, Paul remaining in his seat. Lacey greeted the boy, Alan Gregory, with a smile. "Hello, Alan," she said to her eldest daughter's boyfriend with genuine friendliness. For as awkward as the young man could be, he was a good person, and Lacey wanted that for her daughter. He made her daughter happy, and both Paul and Lacey couldn't help but love him for it. "I thought Danielle was supposed to meet you," she stated questioningly.

Alan shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, she was," he affirmed. "Three hours ago."

"What?" Paul asked. It wasn't like Danielle to be late, ever, to anything. Much less to meet her boyfriend.

"Yeah," Alan shrugged. "So I came looking for her, here. I already tried the library and the park, because she runs there a lot, and the grocery store. I don't know where she is, she isn't answering her phone - I called and texted - and I'm really worried."

The warm glow of the day, of returning home to his beautiful wife at a reasonable hour, was shattered. Paul got up out of his chair and walked down the front steps to Alan's side, followed by Lacey. "When was she supposed to meet you?" he asked casually, trying to rein in his growing panic as to not scare the younger man.

"Two o'clock, at Starbucks, just as we usually do," Alan responded, fidgeting.

Paul's voice was calm and assuring, the product of years of experience in leading men into battle and leading men through the messy quagmire the political arena could be. "And when was the last time you and Danielle called or texted?"

Alan thought for a moment, but he ended up fishing for his cell phone in his pocket. He fiddled with it for a few moments, and then looked up at his girlfriend's father. "It was at noon. I had wanted to make sure we were meeting at two, and that she'd be driving, and I wouldn't be picking her up."

Lacey slipped her hand into Paul's worriedly. "I haven't seen her since one P.M.," she said. "She picked Alice up from a friend's house and had told me she was going to go running."

"Well, that's four hours since anyone's heard from her," Alan's voice was quickly becoming higher-pitched and steeped with worry. He and Danielle were very close.

"Calm down, Alan," Paul said as he set a hand on the young man's shoulder, putting on his officer's mask. He knew Lacey could see through it, could see the worry and fear in his green eyes, but Alan wouldn't, and that was what was important. "I'm sure there's a good reason why she didn't meet you. Something might have come up with one of her friends."

"Well," Alan swallowed. "That kind of thing's happened before. She always texts me or calls me to tell me. Always."

"I know," Paul said. "But there's no need to go out of our minds with worry. We'll wait until the morning, to see if she comes home, and then we'll alert the authorities. I don't want to start a search party for nothing if she just needed to go to Roanoke to see a friend. But we'll keep trying to contact her in the meantime," he decided, Lacey squeezing his hand and nodding to show her consent. "Would you like to stay over until Danielle comes home?" he asked Alan.

Alan hesitated. Lacey smiled. "I'm making spaghetti," she said.

The young man grinned weakly. "Okay. I don't want to impose..."

"Come on in," Paul invited, guiding his daughter's boyfriend up the front steps and into the house. Alice came bounding down the stairs with an exuberant cry of, "ALAN!" and Paul let out a breath. The two would be amused with each other's company for at least a moment.

"Lace," he murmured, catching her hand in his and squeezing tightly.

"Paul," she whispered back. "I'm so scared. What if she isn't okay? What if..."

"Everything will be fine," he said, trying to convince himself and his wife. "Everything will be fine. If she doesn't come home tonight, I swear to God, I'll have the entire police force and the entire Air Force out to find her. Everything will be fine."

Lacey nodded into his shoulder. "Okay," she replied. "I hope so."

…

Alice bustled around the kitchen, nearly skipping, as she fetched a glass of water for Alan, her sister's boyfriend. He was a nice enough guy, and he definitely made Danielle giggle in a way Alice hadn't heard from her in a while, and so Alice had taken to him like a duck takes to water. And he was funny and could tell a great Chuck Norris joke.

"Oh, and Alice," Alan called from the kitchen table. "If you have five dollars, and Chuck Norris has five dollars… Chuck Norris has more money than you."

Alice snorted as she brought Alan's water back. "Got anything better than that?"

"Oh!" Alan recalled as he took a sip of water, glad for the distraction of his girlfriend's little sister. "A group of people received a blood transfusion from Chuck Norris. They are now known as the X-Men."

Alice was sent into a flurry of giggles. When she recovered, she looked at Alan questioningly. "Why are you here, by the way?" she asked. "Not to sound rude or anything, but I thought you and Dannie were meeting today."

She looked up when she heard her parents' footsteps on the hardwood floors. "Hey, Dad," she greeted with a smile.

"Hey, Ally," he returned, his face grim.

Alice flinched slightly. Her father had always appeared so youthful and cheerful all of the time, except when he was talking about work. Maybe something had happened? She didn't know, and she probably wouldn't find out, ever. But she'd sort of made her peace with 'classified.' Except when it drove her father to not sleep for days as he waited anxiously by the phone for a call that only sometimes came, and he couldn't even tell his own wife.

"What's wrong?" she asked hesitantly, glancing back to Alan and to her mother, eyes wide.

"Honey," her mother said, touching Paul's hand before going to her daughter. "We don't know where Danielle is. She didn't come to meet Alan like she was supposed to, and we haven't been able to get a hold of her. But we're sure that she'd just off somewhere, taking care of something, and she hasn't had the time to tell anyone where she is. Everything's fine, deary."

Alice's eyes widened, but she took a deep breath and put on a brave face for her parents. "Okay," she agreed. Except her heart was thudding painfully in her chest. "I'm sure she's fine. Probably just freaking out because she has to leave in two weeks for the Academy," she offered, and Alan managed to smile slightly, trying to believe her. Alice smiled back.

"Yeah," Paul's voice was slightly lighter. He remembered a time when he'd disappeared for nearly three days because he'd been so scared of how his life was going to change. None of his family had ever been in the military before, and the thought of being an officer and going into battle was horrifying. He wished Danielle would have her breakdown at home, where he could talk to her, but the fear and doubt was something she needed to deal with on her own. She'd be back, sooner or later.

"Honey," he touched Lacey's shoulder. "I'm going to get out of my uniform."

"Okay," she replied sweetly. "Alice, Alan, would you like to help me with dinner?"

Alice rolled her eyes and stood up. "Translation: help me or I'll lop your head off."

Alan laughed as Lacey forced a smile for the children and said, "That's correct. Set the table, Alice."

"Yes, Mom," Alice grumbled and went to the cupboards to get the plates and glasses.

...

Author's Notes: So, what do you think? We'll get to Martouf next chapter, and we'll get to see exactly what's happened to Danielle. I really hope this story has intrigued you. If it has, or even if it has only mildly piqued your interest, I'd love to hear from you - maybe suggestions, ideas, comments, or even predictions? Just anything you have to say, I'd like to hear. Flames are accepted, because they only bump up my review count. Cheers!