They kept moving through the shelves of book and Daniel really hoped Rose knew where she was going because they were headed deeper into the library with the bad guys between them and the door.
"Where in the world did you learn to do that?" Daniel whispered in astonishment as Rose pulled him along behind her.
"It's amazing what you learn in spy novels." She tugged him into a shadowed corner where they could see the three men still illuminated near the main desk. They were occupied at the moment, looking for the book she had thrown in the other direction as she'd hoped they would. "That wasn't your journal by the way."
"I knew that." Daniel wasn't going to tell her that he'd had a bad moment where he'd believed she was just going to hand the book over to the other men, but then he'd seen the book she pulled out.
She grinned at him and nodded at the men, "but they didn't."
Daniel seized her arms turning her to face him. They only had moments, he had to make her understand the gravity of the situation they were in, "Rose, this isn't a spy novel," he hissed in as low a tone as he could manage.
"I know that, Daniel," for a moment he could hear the fear in her voice, see it in her eyes. "I read your journal. I know what's at stake here. These aren't good guys, I got that." He spared a brief look at the men who were still searching fruitlessly.
"No, they definitely are not." He looked at her curiously, "where did you throw that book anyway? How long do you think it will take them to find it?"
"Never." At his puzzled look, she smiled shyly and pulled the book out of the pocket she'd slipped it into. "Misdirection. Do you know you can learn the most amazing things in a library?"
"Daniel?" They started up at the sound of his name being shouted.
Burly was standing in the middle of the lighted area looking around. He had pulled out a gun and had a definite air of business about him.
"Daniel? Librarian lady? I have to tell you that you've really pissed me off now. Things aren't going to be so simple, at least for the two of you." He gestured for the other two men to spread out and start searching for them.
Daniel looked at Rose in despair. She didn't speak, just pulled his hand. They moved deeper into the shadows, away from the men searching methodically for them through the shelves.
"Is there another door out of here?" He whispered.
They stopped at the end of the row of shelves and she pointed at a door opposite them. It was in the shadows but the only way to reach it was across a large open space. Daniel glanced over at where Burly was standing; the door was completely visible from where the man stood. The only reason he hadn't seen it before was because this part of the room was dark and in shadows.
Rose leaned in so that her mouth almost touched his ear, their bodies close together. Daniel noticed that she smelled faintly of vanilla.
"If we can get across, the door will lock behind us. There's a storeroom down there and a door to the outside. I think there's also a phone in one of the old offices that still works."
A phone? Something tickled Daniel's brain. Then he remembered – his cell phone! He was such an idiot. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone for her to see before shoving it back in.
She nodded, "Good. At least we can call for help, can't we?" She looked at him hopefully.
Daniel nodded. "We will definitely be calling for help. I have my own private cavalry. We just need to get through that door without being seen." They both glanced again over at Burly and his two associates.
They saw Burley motion for his men to rejoin him. They couldn't hear the words, but he appeared to be very upset. For just a moment their backs were turned to the corner of the room where Daniel and Rose hid. They took advantage of the moment, slipping from behind the relative safety of the shelves and moved quietly toward the door.
Just a few more seconds, Daniel prayed silently, just five more steps and we'll be there. Keep their backs turned just a second more. God, please just three more steps, they were almost there...
Rose was putting her hand to the knob to open the door when it happened – the cell phone in Daniel's pocket rang out. In the quiet of the library, it sounded to Daniel like a death knell. Rose wrenched open the door and stumbled through as Daniel pulled the treacherous phone from his pocket.
Daniel didn't see the men turn at the ringing of the phone. He didn't see the gun come up, but he heard the sound of the shot. He felt the bullet as it slammed into his shoulder. But Rose was there to grab his arm. She pulled him through the door and down the stairs.
He heard her lock the door behind him, precious lot of good that would do now. He followed her stumbling down the stairs, trying to juggle the phone. He felt her take it from his numb fingers and he let her – all he wanted to do was get down the stairs without falling flat on his face.
Rose held onto Daniel's arm, trying to think. She was a librarian, thank you very much, not a spy, no matter her flip comments about spy novels. She knew how to deal with over-due fines and helping kids find books and the Dewey Decimal System. She couldn't believe she'd actually been almost enjoying herself for a moment, hiding with Daniel in the darkness, feeling his arm around her. She'd had the errant thought; maybe I'm good at this? Then it had all gone wrong. What did she think she was doing?
She kept them moving, trying to get them as far away from the door and the staircase as possible. The flimsy lock on the door wouldn't hold the thugs upstairs for long. But there was a lot of storeroom to search; maybe she could get them out of the storeroom door before the bad guys figured out what was going on.
She paused a moment to look back at the man behind her. Even in the dark she could see the blood staining his shoulder. He still seemed to be moving; maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked. What was it they always said in the movies, 'just a flesh wound?'
Trying to find her way in the dark with her hands, she realized she was holding something. Looking down she discovered Daniel's cell phone in her hand. Faintly she could hear noises from it. Surely whoever it was would have hung up by now? She glanced at Daniel again; he had just stopped, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. In desperation, not really knowing what else to do, she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
The male voice at the other end of the line nearly exploded in her ear, "Hello! Who is this? Where's Daniel Jackson, what's going on?" Rose winced and held the phone from her ear. Okay, one guess as to who was on the other end of the line. Even without meeting him, she recognized Colonel Jack O'Neill from Daniel's descriptions in his journal.
"Just a moment, please." She glanced back anxiously at the door, were they coming yet? She didn't hear anything, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. "Daniel," he raised his head at the sound of his name, she held the phone out to him. "I think it's for you."
Daniel took the phone in his good hand, trying to ignore the hot pain in his shoulder. He had dealt with zat blasts and being ribboned. His brain had been scrambled by more aliens than he could remember. H could deal with a bullet in his shoulder. He would, he told himself firmly.
"Hey, Jack," he said softly.
"Daniel," he really couldn't describe the sense of relief that came over him hearing Jack's voice, everything was going to be alright, he knew it somehow. "So, you want to tell me what's going on? Big date?" The casual tone in his friend's voice belied the fact that he'd just spent the last few minutes screaming into the phone, visions of Daniel's bloody demise playing in his head. Daniel laughed despite himself.
"Not anything nearly so much fun. I'm at the university library, Jack." Daniel realized that Rose was gone from his side. He looked around for her anxiously but there was no sign of her anywhere.
"The library? Daniel, I'm sure I heard gunfire, don't try to tell me you're in the library. Where in the hell are you? What's going on?"
"Really, Jack, I'm in the library. It's a long story and I really don't have a lot of time, three very big men with guns are hunting us down. We need help."
"We? Who's we, Daniel?"
"The librarian..."
"Daniel..."
He so did not have time for this. "Jack, just listen. I'm at the University library. I need you here now... five minutes ago. You'd better bring an ambulance and the big guns because these guys are serious." Daniel heard a crash from the direction they'd come from, "Listen, Jack, just get here as quick as you can." He hung up before his friend could ask anything else. Awkwardly, with one hand, he changed the setting on his phone to vibrate and slipped it back into his pocket. "Rose," he called out as loudly as he dared. She appeared out of the darkness at his side.
"I heard the door give."
"Me too," she helped him stand away from the wall. Her eyes widened when she saw the amount of blood that was smeared there. "Oh, God, Daniel..."
"I can move," he told her. I've got to, don't I?" He allowed her to put an arm around his waist and take some of his weight as they moved down the corridor towards the door to outside and freedom.
Jack cursed when Daniel hung up on him abruptly. Teal'c and Sam stood there in Daniel's kitchen and watched with concern. They had heard him yelling into the phone, but had no idea what was going on. Finally he slammed the phone down and glared at them.
"Daniel has a situation," he told them succinctly, "at the university library. How the hell does the man get into trouble in a library?" It was a rhetorical question really; Daniel could get into trouble anywhere. "Let's go kids, he needs us now."
They didn't waste time asking questions he couldn't answer. They abandoned the pizza and the beer they'd picked up en-route to Daniel's. They had imagined an evening relaxing and unwinding from a stressful mission. Instead, they locked the door behind them as they followed Jack back into the rainy night to go rescue their friend.
To be continued...