Disclaimer: sadly Stargate is not mine …so please don't sue cause I've got nothing but dirty dishes and ridiculously overpriced textbooks.

Harbinger of Headaches

"Welcome back SG1" General Hammond greeted, as the SGC's premier team walked down the ramp to the stargate. "I suspect all trade negotiations went as expected?" he continued. Jack O'Neill grinned at his superior officer.

"You bet sir"

"Excellent, we will debrief in two hours" Hammond said and he stepped aside to let the team go by.

"Oh, Doctor Jackson" he spoke up.

"Yes General?" Daniel asked stopping and turning around to face the older man. The rest of SG1 also stopped waiting for their teammate.

"There has been a woman calling the base, wishing to speak to you. She has made it clear that it is urgent" he said eyeing the archaeologist.

"Uhh, okay" Daniel said uncertainly, wondering who needed to talk to him. "Did she give her name or why she was calling?"

Hammond reached into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. "Her name was Liz Merrick and all she said was you must call her back immediately" SG1 and Hammond saw Daniel visibly pale at the name given.

"Uh, thank you for the message" Daniel said quickly and he turned and walked out of the room, leaving his team utterly confused. Hammond frowned at the doctor's behavior, wondering who this woman actually was.

"Colonel, do you know who this Liz Merrick woman is? Has Doctor Jackson ever mentioned anyone by that name before?" the General asked, tilting his head to the side. Jack shook his head,

"No sir," Hammond sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Well, go get your post mission physicals done and eat something before we debrief" SG1 left the gate room, each wondering about their friend who seemed pretty disturbed by the mention of a single name.

"Well Sir, you're in perfect health," Doctor Fraiser stated as Colonel O'Neill finished buttoning up his shirt.

"I coulda told you that Doc, you didn't need to go sticking huge needles in my ass to tell me that."
"I have to earn my paycheck sir" she retorted with a smile.

"Hey did Daniel happen to come down here?" Jack asked, hopping off the gurney.

"Yes sir, I took his blood and looked him over, but he left very quickly saying he had an important call to make, and then you all came in a minute later.

"Oh, okay, thanks Doc" Jack nodded and he left the infirmary in search of his friend.

"Sir wait up" Sam called after him just as he reached the infirmary entrance. "We'll go with you," she said as she and Teal'c caught up to him. They didn't need to be told he was going to check on Daniel.

"Hey Daniel you in here?" Jack said as he, Sam and Teal'c entered Daniels office. What they saw was Daniel sitting at his desk holding a piece of paper in his hands staring off into space.

"Daniel are you alright?" Sam asked stepping forward and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Wha- oh hey guys, yeah I'm fine Sam, why wouldn't I be?" he asked putting down the paper and turning in his chair to look at his team who were all looking at him with concern.

"Well," Jack began walking over to Daniels desk and picking up the paper and noticing it had a phone number on it. "For starters, you kinda went all pale and freaked out when Hammond mentioned that lady's name, and second we come down here and find you staring at some phone number like you're afraid of it" Jack said blatantly looking at his friend.

"I'm fine guys, you don't need to worry" he reassured them, but they could all see in his eyes he wasn't all right.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Yes Teal'c" Daniel answered looking up at the Jaffa from his seat.

"Who is the woman Liz Merrick?" Jack inwardly smiled at Teal'cs forwardness, asking the one question that neither Sam nor himself could bring them selves to do.

"She uh... um..." Daniel looked at his hands trying to find the right words to answer the question. He didn't want to lie to his friends, but the truth was hard to talk about for him. Not a day went by that he didn't think of what that woman had done to him and he could never forgive her for it.

"She was my wife" he said watching his friends expressions go from incredibly surprised to equally confused, well each except Teal'c who simply inclined his head slightly in question.

"Was?" Jack asked breaking the awkward silence. Daniel sighed and took his glasses off, pinching the bridge of his nose. He really didn't want to get into this at the moment. Not until he called her back first, but then again things didn't always go the way he wanted, as he learned the hard way time after time.

"I had our marriage annulled," he said simply, only giving them the barest of information.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"I decided it just wasn't working out anymore" he replied cryptically.

"And why was that?" Jack pried, knowing they would have to ask the right questions to get a full answer out of him since he obviously didn't want to talk about it. Daniel was silent; he looked at the phone number sadly. Exhaling loudly, he ran a hand over his tired face.

"She just up and left one day while I was out trying to get grants for dig"

"And?" Jack pushed, knowing there was something else.

" And she took our daughter with her and I never saw them again" he said putting his glasses back on and sitting straighter in his seat, feeling somewhat better having told them that.

"Daughter?!" Jack and Sam said simultaneously.

"I did not know you had fathered a child Daniel Jackson" Teal'c commented. Daniel let out a sad laugh,

"No body does Teal'c," he said.

"When did she leave? It would have been before you went to Abydos right?" Sam asked, not having to say that it must have been before Sha're.

"We got married young, I was twenty and she was nineteen" Daniel started, deciding he would explain the whole situation. "She found out she was pregnant not long after we married and nine months later Rachel was born," he said with a far away look in his eyes, remembering the innocence that he had wanted to protect forever in the big blue eyes that would watch him from the crib in their bedroom.

Daniel was quiet for a few moments, and SG1 just watched him, waiting for him finish his explanation.

"I took a teaching job at the local university so I could be close to home. It was just after Rachel's third birthday that I came home from trying to get grants for a dig in Brazil that Liz, Rachel and I would go to, but found most of their clothes and Rachel's toys and stuff gone." Daniel looked down at his lap once again to hide the tears forming in his eyes. Breathing deeply he looked up at his friends before finishing his story. "No note, no phone call, or anything. I haven't heard from Liz at all in the last thirteen years."

"Oh Daniel I'm so sorry" Sam said, having fought the urge to cry after hearing the pain and the love in his voice when he spoke of his child. Jack was silent. He was thinking back to all the times Daniel had tried to get him to talk about Charlie and he had shut him out, telling him that he wouldn't understand what it felt like to lose a child. Though their circumstances were different, it was still the same thing and Jack felt bad.

"It's okay Sam" Daniel said standing up.

"You know, we should probably be going to the briefing about now," he said glancing down at his watch.

"I could tell Hammond your really busy down here if you like, and you could call uh... your.. uh ex, to see what she wanted, if you like, rather than going to the briefing" Jack offered. Daniel appreciated the thought but felt he should be at home when he called her, for privacy reasons.

"That's alright Jack I'll call her when I get home later" he stated and with that he left the room, heading for the elevators.

To be continued… if you guys like it that is…