Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadness...
Title: "Unrelated"
Spoilers: Children of the Gods and a smidgen more.
Story:
Part 1 "Looking for Somethings"
'Here,' she thought, pinching the bridge of her nose. 'This is where the stupid sinus pressure is this time.'
Irritably, she kicked the chair leg with the heel of her tennis shoe. 'I always get like this when I don't sleep right.' She sighed with dramatic exasperation then rose from her seat to find some aspirin.
In the kitchen, she struggled to get the bottle open, only to realize there was nothing left inside. She threw the empty container at the wall and winced at the slightly satisfying smack.
Sighing again, she grabbed her keys from her bedroom's dresser and left the apartment, heading downstairs and out into the parking lot to her little, beat up car.
She was surprised she hadn't had a car wreck driving to the pharmacy. Her concentration wasn't all that great with the headache, and all. But she was safe... And she would swallow the medicine dry, out in the parking lot, if she had to... Once she actually bought it, that is.
Trudging to the most promising looking aisle, she began eyeing the shelves with almost suspicious appraisal. From her right, two men approached; one older and gray-haired, the other younger and with glasses. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the light shining off ofhis lenses in a rather painfully blinding way.
Rubbing her temple, as if it would really help, she tried spotting something on the shelf that even resembled a pill bottle, but something was unnervingly wrong with her concentration.
Her mind wandered to the two male voices on her right. "I'm fine, Jack. I told you already, I don't need anything. Janet already gave me something."
"Right, Daniel, but if you'll remember, 'somethings' wear off eventually, and I don't think I have any at home," the response came from the older gentleman in the jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket.
"Fine, Jack, have it your way," the younger man with the light hair returned with irritation.
"I do, with fries on the side too, sometimes," came the quick reply.
She would have laughed if she hadn't've been in so much agony. Unthinkingly, she reached for the shelf at the same time as the older guy. Their hands bumped, and she could have sworn the vibration caused her head to ache even more.
"Sorry," she mumbled, dropping her hand.
"Hey," the younger guy said, "Are you okay? You don't look so good..."
"Daniel, what have I told you about being rude in public," asked Jack, patiently.
"I'm fine," Kyleigh said, trying for a polite smile. It must have come out a grimace, though, because Daniel winced in sympathy.
"Headache?" he wondered, and she nodded, quickly regretting it.
For a moment, she saw little black stars and wondered if she was about to pass out. Someone's hand caught her as she swayed, and surprised, she looked up into their deep brown eyes.
"Looks like a little more than a headache," the "rude" one observed. "Probably a migraine."
"I'm in the way," she answered apologetically, "You have a busted rib, or something, 'n I'm hindering you from getting your medicine." 'Hunh? Since when did you hear them say anything about a broken rib?' she wondered in confusion.
The two men glanced at each other, and Kyleigh placed a hand over her stomach in order to keep it from going anywhere near her throat. "You should get Extra Strength, then," she heard herself rambling on. "If I could see straight, right now, that's what I would get."
"How did you know about my rib?" Daniel questioned, highly cautious-sounding.
"I don'know. A guess, I guess... I'm going to faint now so that you can step over me and get the bottle."
She swayed again, this time her whole field of vision going completely black. Someone encircled her in strong arms, and she sighed and let herself lean on whoever it was.
"Jack... She doesn't look well at all," Daniel spoke with concern.
"Yeah, I think we should do her a favor and buy her the pain killer and get her home..." Jack agreed.
"I didn't say all that," Daniel protested.
"Hey," Jack nudged her arm, "Is there someone we can call for you?"
Kyleigh tried to bring herself back from the encroaching darkness. "Mmm... no." She dug in her pocket, finding her keys, and handed them out blindly.
"No, no, no, no," she heard Daniel warn. "You can't just take her keys, Jack."
She felt Jack's fingers gently take the keys from hers, and gratefully dropped her hand. "Why not? We're just helping a damsel in distress, after all."
"Yeah, and then later that damsel will sue us both for sexual harassment." Oh, the sarcasm.
"I'll only sue you if you do somethin' bad," Kyleigh managed to mumble into Jack's shirt.
"See," he told Daniel a bit too pleasantly. "Told ya."
"Ja-ack," was the last thing she heard before consciousness fled her completely.
"Oh, gosh," Daniel said, "She's fainted."
"No kidding, Daniel," Jack replied with high sarcasm. "I'm surprised you didn't see this coming after that fancy diagnosis of migraine."
"We should call an ambulance," Daniel suggested.
"Or," Jack began, and Daniel knew he wasn't going to like what he said, "we can buy our pills and take her with us."
"Don't you think someone is going to notice that we're carrying an unconscious woman?" Daniel retorted.
"Yeah, but what are they going to do about it?" Jack wondered.
'This is not going well...' "For starters," Daniel said with over exaggerated patience, "they might call the police."
"Oh, posh," Jack returned flippantly, hefting the girl into his arms. "Grab the booty, and let's ditch this joint."
"I'm beginning to understand what happened to all your headache medicine," Daniel gritted out between his teeth.
"I'm going to ignore that you just accused me of being a drug-addict, and ask you sweetly to get the medicine off of the shelf there, kindly, won't you," Jack said, threatening and wheedling as if he was really relying on thathalf-cocked methodto work...
"Fine." Daniel snapped, grabbing the first extra strength Tylenol he laid eyes on.
As they made their way through the aisles and then down one of the check out lanes, not a few strange glances were cast in their direction.
"People are staring, Jack."
"I can see that, Daniel... Just smile and wave."
"Reckless."
"Uptight."
Daniel paid for the medicine, and the cashier gave them a look and asked with an awkward smile. "What's wrong with your friend?"
"Too much to drink," Jack answered in deadpan mode, "We expect her to have a major hangover when she wakes up. That's what the painkiller is for."
Daniel turned bright red and tried not to choke as the cashier handed him his change, the receipt, and the plastic bag with the bottle in it.
Once out in the parking lot, he punched Jack in the arm. "I'm so never letting you live this one down."
"Oh, Daniel, grow up. Look at her; she's helpless. Would you want to wake up in the hospital with no one there to visit you?"
"No, but maybe she has some ID on her..." Daniel said, sounding exasperated and contrite at the same time.
Jack checked the girl's pockets circumspectly. "No ID... and no money, come to think of it. She must have been already half gone when she left home."
Daniel said, "Here, let me take her. You drive."
"Daniel," Jack said, sounding overly surprised, and adding suggestive eyebrows.
"Oh, shut up, Jack," Daniel retorted, taking the young woman from Jack's arms carefully.
Jack opened the passenger door for him and helped him up, seeing as he was holding something a little heavy. Then Jack went around to the other side of the truck, got in, and started it up.
"Wait till she wakes up, Jack. I think you're seriously going to regret this impulsive decision."
"Whatever."
Part 2 "Not in Kansas Anymore"
Kyleigh heard voices and decided to not open her eyes until she'd distinguished who they belonged to. For a moment, she couldn't place them at all, but then she remembered the men at the store, and everything started to make sense again.
'Jack and Daniel... heh. Jack Daniel... murrr...' she thought with fuzzy humor. Her head was still aching slightly, so she decided just lying there...Where was there?...would be best for the moment. She moved the hand at her side, so that the palm faced down, and rubbed it along the surface beneath her... Felt like a couch. 'Yeah, definitely a couch,' she decided.
"She's been asleep for about two hours now, Jack. Don't you think we should wake her up to make sure she's alright?"
"Sure, Daniel, why don't you do that. And she can sue you for sexual harassment," Jack responded with wry, scathing humor.
"Ja-ack..." As Daniel whined, Kaleigh got the feeling that she was listening to one of those conversations that wasn't exactly for the common public's ears. It wasn't that what they were chatting about was exactly private...
'What am I trying to say?' She wondered, searching for an explanation. 'Ah...' They were in sync; that's what it was. It was as if they both knew how the other would respond even before they did, like they'd known each other, been friends, for a very long time, or something.
With the realization, came a feeling of gloomy loneliness. 'I'll probably never have a friendship like that...' Not even Ethan, her friend for about three years, could compare. Oh, she knew what he was thinking, sure enough, and probably what he'd do or say in a certain situation. But she was pretty certain that they would never have a conversation that was finished before it even started... and yet that they wanted to go through all over again just for the fun of it.
"Dan-iel," Jack responded. "I think she's awake already, anyhow. I saw her hand move." 'Oops.'
Kyleigh, with extreme embarrassment, opened her eyes and sat up, carefully and slowly. "Oh," Daniel said, looking toward her with slightly parted lips and surprised, light-blue eyes.
"Hi," she said, lifting her right hand in an "I'm present" sort of wave. She smiled nervously for good measure.
"Hi," Daniel responded, looking as if he wasn't sure what to say. Jack rolled his eyes.
"Hey, nice to meet you, whoever you are. I'm Jack O'Neill and this is Daniel Jackson." Jack pointed with his thumb, and Daniel gave her a tight, polite smile. "How're you feeling?"he wondered.
Kyleigh bit her lip and rose from the couch, approaching them reticently. "Fine..." She self-consciously tucked her hands into her jean pockets up to the knuckles.
"So," Jack said, drawing out the word, "Do you have a name?"
"Jack," Daniel scolded half-heartedly.
Kyleigh spoke, "Oh, uhm... it's okay. My name is Kyleigh Ramirez... I'm really sorry about this. I should have given you my friend, Ethan's, number." She stared at her feet in embarrassment. "But I guess I was kind of out of it." She hoped that didn't sound too much like an excuse.
"Er..." Daniel replied, "That's fine. It's no problem..."
Jack blinked at his friend, raising an eyebrow, but Daniel either didn't notice or was ignoring him.
She sighed. "I should call him now if it's alright if I use your phone?" She phrased it as a question, hoping they wouldn't be too ticked off with her to help out a bit.
"Go ahead," O'Neill offered, heading toward what was probably the kitchen. He took the phone off the hook and handed it to her. But as she dialed, she heard Daniel argue, "Jack, she knew about my rib... Are you just going to let her go. And what if she needs medical attention? You know it's not normal to faint from a migraine."
"Daniel," Jack returned in a "don't push it" tone while Kyleigh listened to Ethan's cell ringing. "It was probably just a wild guess... a coincidence. You have heard of those, right?"
"Hey," Ethan said over the phone line.
"Hi, it's me," she said, trying not to rush into her need for a ride right away.
"You sound funny, Ky. You okay?" He wondered, his voice filled with concern.
"Yeah, 'm alright. But I had another...episode, and I need you to come pick me up." 'Good going with the not rushing into it plan.'
"God! Are you sure you're alright? You passed out? Where did you pass out? Did you hit your head?"
She interrupted his anxious ranting, "Just shut up, okay? I'm fine. I told you, already. No, I didn't hit my head. I fainted at the store while trying to get some aspirin. An airforce colonel and an archeologist saved me from hitting my head, so I'm fine. I repeat: I. Am. Fine. So chill, Ethan, 'kay?"
Behind her, she heard Daniel exclaim, "How did she know?"
"I'll ask her," Jack replied in asuddenly serious tone. 'Yikes.' Did this mean she was in trouble? What had she said, now?
"Okay, where do I come get you?" Ethan questioned, still sounding deeply unsettled.
She turned to the two men, placed her hand over the mouthpiece, loosely. "What's the address?"
Jack questioned carefully, "Why don't you tell us?"
Ethan exclaimed, "Who was that? Did he just yell at you? Tell him he needs to back off!"
"Ethan! Shut the heck up, okay? He wasn't yelling at me, and how the heck could you still hear him when I had the mouthpiece covered?" Kyleigh grouched into the phone.
"Hello, that means he was yelling," Ethan retorted, triumphantly. "Tell him I said I'm going to kick his butt once I come to get you."
Kyleigh let out a short burst of hysterical laughter. "Ethan, he'd kick your butt, not the other way around." She glanced nervously at O'Neill. She was pretty sure he could kick just about anyone's butt."What's the address?" She didn't bother to cover the mouthpiece this time.
Jack blinked at her in a clueless, slightly sleepy eyed way then told her the address. She relayed it to Ethan and hung up before he could say anything stupid again.
'Time to face the music...' Kyleigh turned, hung up the phone, turned back and shoved her fingers in her pockets. "What did I say?" She wracked her mind for the misplaced word or phrase. "Was it the colonel and archeologist bit?"
"You honestly don't realize," Daniel questioned. He enlightened her, "We didn't tell you anything about that. How did you know?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Are you mad at me? Am I in trouble?"
"What else do you know about us that we haven't told you," Jack drilled in arather suspicious fashion.
She blinked at him. 'Does he think I'm lying?' She shifted her weight to her other foot. "Er... Your wife died... you came back to life... Hunh? You... came back to life?" She stared at Daniel in wonder then turned her gaze to her tennis shoes. "Your son died... An accident with a gun that sent you through a wormhole on a suicide mission to... Abydos, where Daniel met Sha're. You killed Ra, but it wasn't quite a happy ending because now you're fighting the Goa'uld, and sometimes it seems like it's a never-ending battle..." She winced and pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand. "Can I stop now?" She hated the way her voice sounded so small and whiney.
Someone's hand was on her shoulder, and she jumped, not expecting the sudden contact. "You're psychic," she heard a gentle, awe-filled voice say. It was Daniel.
"Haven't you stopped to think that maybe she's NID, Daniel?" Jack questioned, coming the closest to anger that she'd heard, yet.
"Would an NID agent mention the emotional aspect of fighting the Goa'uld?" Daniel retorted.
She looked up at her defender with surprise. "You believe me?"
Daniel frowned at her. "I'm not sure. But I don't think you're NID, either." He tossed Jack a scowl.
"I'm sorry I said all that personal stuff about you... I can't really help what I know, but I should've kept from saying it aloud." She winced. It had slipped out in her irritation at Jack's suspicion toward her.
"It's alright," Daniel assured her. She wasn't sure if he really meant it, so she said again, "I'm sorry."
Jack got one of those "aw, shucks" guilty expressions and told her, "Never mind what I said."
She blinked at him, feeling sorry for, yet still a bit annoyed with, him. Maybe she could make it up to him in some way for speaking rashly. Unfortunately, the first thing that came to mind was, 'Sam has feelings for him too.' And she just knew that she should keep that tidbit to herself.
So instead she settled for, "I owe you one. If there's anything I can do for you guys, call me." She waited for them to accept or decline.
Jack's mouth dropped open a bit, and Daniel's face echoed his. They glanced at each other, communicating silently. Jack nodded, and Daniel spoke to her, "Just give us your number."
She wrote her cell number down for them once Daniel had found a scrap of paper, and a little while later, Ethan arrived. He knocked on the door, and Jack let him in.
He asked with extreme bravado, "Which one of you was the jerk-off who yelled at Kyleigh?"
Jack raised his hand not looking one bit abashed. "I'm the jerk-off."
Kyleigh tried not to laugh and only succeeded in snorting instead. She decided to get the situation in hand before Ethan did anything stupid. "Come on, let's go," she said firmly, taking him by the arm and guiding him to the front door.
"But!" he protested. "Shut up, Ethan," she told him sweetly, leading him outside and to his car. When she finally let go of him, he went around to the driver's side of his own accord and she got in the passenger's side.
As she buckled her seatbelt automatically, her mind went to the two strangers and what they might possibly request of her if they ever did, that is.
"Who were those guys anyway?" Ethan wondered, pulling into the street.
"Peaceful explorers," she answered, half-absently.
"Wha'?" And she realized she had no idea what she'd meant.
End.
A/N: Okay, everyone, please tell me what you think. And BTW, Kyleigh's name is based on what a friend of mine wants to name her daughter (if she ever has one). Sothe name iskind of a dedication to her. :) Oh, and the title... no clue. :shrug:
Misao-incarnate.