Hey, sorry this took so long! School is busy getting ready for Christmas break. Grr. But I'm going to speand the weekend writing, so hopefully you'll get another chapter as soon as tommorrow and the rest of the story this week sometime. I want to finish before leaving to go see the family and all, so anyway...I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know if you like it so I know whether I 'should' hurry and write more. :) Thanks!
Chapter 4
When Daniel got to the car Vala and Janet were already there, as he'd hoped they'd be so they could all go home. He opened the back door to strap Charlie's seat in and glanced over at Janet, but she refused to even look at him and stared out the window on her side of the car instead. When Daniel got in himself, sliding behind the wheel, he glanced over at Vala. All she could give him was a shrug and mouth the words 'I tried'.
'I know; thanks' he mouthed back quietly.
The drive home was uneventful, and uncomfortably silent. Charlie fell asleep again, Janet didn't say a word, and Daniel and Vala didn't feel comfortable talking to each other when the rest of the vehicle was so quiet. No one spoke until they turned onto their street, when Vala popped up in her seat as if a light bulb had come on in her mind.
"Oh! Daniel, we're out of milk. We don't have any for in the morning."
Daniel groaned. "Do we have to have it for in the morning?"
"Well, I know we'll need it sometime in the next couple of days, and it may not be smart to get out on the roads tomorrow."
The Jackson's home appeared in the headlights out of the darkness as Daniel pulled the vehicle into the driveway and sighed in exasperation. "Fine, I'll go back for it."
"Thank you," Vala smiled. She leaned over and kissed his cheek before getting out of the car. Janet was already out and heading for the front door. Vala un-strapped Charlie and picked him up.
"I'll be back soon," Daniel assured her before she followed Janet. Vala waved back at him, and then she, Charlie, and Janet disappeared into the house.
Daniel sighed again as he pulled out of the driveway once more, unable to ignore the fact that Janet hadn't even looked back before going inside. She hadn't said a word or even looked in his direction once since storming from the choir room at the school. But it wasn't his fault this time, darn it! How was he to have known the DHD where they were going would need attention before they could get back? He couldn't have, and he couldn't have made SG-1's return to earth any faster.
But he could have stayed home like Janet had wanted him too. Missions were scheduled weeks in advance, usually. He could have requested that one be moved to after Christmas, or that it be sooner…But no, he hadn't thought of that, had he? He hadn't been thinking about Janet, or Charlie…Daniel stopped at the light at the end of the street and leaned forward, banging his head against the steering wheel a couple of times to clear his head.
"How could I have been so stupid?" he muttered. It wasn't just today, it was the past month. Sure, things got crazy this season every year, but somehow it had gotten out of hand this time. Not to mention that Janet was old enough now to notice and be hurt more when he was gone often. She was almost nine. Another year and she'd be in double digits.
No more. The promise he'd made before leaving this time was no amount of empty words. He'd meant it, and he planned to act on it beginning immediately. Compared to many jobs, being part of Stargate Command provided for rather flexible hours and mission scheduling, and from now on he was going to pay more attention to that. He was not going to let 'gate travel and translations come between him and his family anymore if it was the last thing he did.
"Hey, Doctor Jackson, what's up?"
Daniel was jolted out of his thoughts by the friendly voice of the cashier at the local grocery store. The teen had been working there for going on two years now, and somehow was usually there whenever he or Vala had to go in to grab something. In that time they had come to know him and become something of friends.
"Oh, not much," he answered he answered vaguely. "How are you, Travis?"
"I'm good; paid the note on my apartment this month and still had enough left over to get Christmas presents for my parents, at least, so I can't complain."
Daniel smiled as he handed over the milk jug in his hands. "That's good."
"How's the family? What's the little boy's name again?"
"Charlie; he's almost four months old, and he's doing just fine. We couldn't ask for a happier baby. Vala and Janet are fine, too."
"Sweet—Christmas season going well for you?" Travis asked as he rang up the purchase and bagged it.
Daniel suppressed a wince. "It's okay."
The teen handed his customer the plastic bag with his milk. "Here you go--only okay?"
Jackson shrugged in answer and took the bag. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"Merry Christmas." Daniel found another smile to give him and displayed it tentatively. "See you later."
Travis waved as Daniel walked off, having no other customers to tend to immediately at this time of night. "Later, Doctor Jackson. Merry Christmas!"
Daniel half turned and waved once before pushing out the door back into the cold. The snow was falling faster now, and if he didn't get home soon he might not be able to get home. Already the parking lot was virtually empty. He sighed as he turned at the door made his way against the building back to the car, which was parked in one of the space right next to it; white Christmases were nice, of course, but he'd rather not be snowed it. There was still the party at Jack and Sam's the next night.
Something grabbed the back of his jacket. Daniel yelped and pulled back but it kept hold. The unmistakable online of a gun barrel pressed into his back through his coat, urging him to comply with the direction he was being pulled; he had no choice but to yield. Rough hands pulled him into the alley between the red brick buildings of suburban Colorado Springs and ripped the shopping bag from his hands before pressing him against the grocery store wall. A gruff, unshaven face shoved itself into view, brandishing a pistol.
Daniel gulped, not panicking but calm either. All the people SG-1 and the Stargate program in general had ticked off in its twenty-something years of operation sprang forth in his mind at once. He couldn't even begin to guess which one this guy had to do with. "Look, whatever we did to upset you or whoever hired you, I'm sorry, okay. We just do our jobs; can't we talk about this?"
The man looked confused for a moment, but quickly covered it and jumped to the point. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Just hand over your wallet and we won't hurt you," the man ordered.
Oh. For once, not someone after him because of who he was--only after him because he was there. Wow. It was actually kind of weird not to have that absurd special feeling one got when getting in this type of trouble for…well, the type of reasons SG-1 got into trouble for, to know that this man neither knew nor cared who he was. On one hand it was a bit disconcerting, but the other hand, it was sort of relieving.
At first Jackson couldn't figure out who the we was, but then he saw the small gang behind the first man, five or six strong. All of them looked to be either poor, homeless, or simply not very nice people. If they had asked he might have just given them something if he'd had it, but not only had he not brought much with him, but they had ruined that possibility by grabbing him from the parking lot.
"I don't have it."
Two more of the men converged on either side of him and grabbed his shoulders, pressing him painfully harder into the wall and in the process inadvertently pulling the edges of his coat back from his shoulders and almost lifting him from the ground.
"Hey! What-"
"You just came out of a store, buster, and you expect me to believe that?" The first man rested the barrel of his gun against Daniel's chest. "You wanna reconsider that answer?"
"I'm serious! All I needed was milk; I didn't bring it in. I don't have anything you want." He wasn't lying, but then again he wouldn't have expected this type to believe him.
"Uh huh, and I'm Santa Claus."
A couple of the other men were drawing knives, and one other had a gun too. There wasn't any way he was getting out of this one himself.
"You don't look like him."
Uh oh--reaaally bad move. The guy looked rather angry now; how come Jack's sarcasm worked for him, but no one else?
Before Daniel could think any further, something flashed in the dim light filtering in from the parking lot, and a second later a cold metal blade was buried in his left shoulder. A surprised cry of pain erupted from his lips, but was muffled by the gloved hand that materialized over his mouth. Daniel's shout faded to a pained moan, and the man beside him, one of the two that had been holding him still, let go of his mouth.
Daniel sucked in a breath and glared at the first man in front of him. "What was that for?" he asked angrily. He managed to keep the pain in his shoulder from seeping into his voice, but it didn't impress the thug any.
The man poked him hard with a finger just under the wound, looking at him. "So that maybe you'll understand I'm serious." Daniel grimaced, but said nothing. He'd told them the truth. When he didn't answer the man snorted and shifted his gaze to one of the men on either side of him. "Hold him still." With that, he commenced to search his victim's pockets, but came up with only the couple of dollars and few cents left over from the five Daniel had used to buy the milk.
The man glared at him. "This is it? We go to all the trouble of pulling you back here, ad you've got a couple bucks and some change?"
"I told you I didn't have anything you wanted."
The man growled angrily and threw the money on the ground with the milk, then wrapped a hand around the hilt of the large pocket knife in Jackson's shoulder and tugged a bit. Daniel gasped and bit down on the insides of his cheeks. The man pushed his face close, and used his free hand to point his gun at Daniel's head.
"You know what; you didn't supply anything for us, and I'm bored. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."
Daniel felt his blood freeze and panic flutter in his stomach. "W-well, someone's bound to hear if you use that here," he swallowed, inclining his head toward the gun slightly. Vala…
The man scowled and pocketed the weapon, annoyed face showing he knew Daniel was right. Then he pulled his knife from his captive's shoulder, drawing another gasp from him. He held the knife to Daniel's throat. "I don't have to use a gun, you know."
Daniel eyes widened, and he would have backpedaled if there hadn't been a wall behind him and two men twice his size with iron grips on either side of him. All he could do was pick his head up and press back what little more he could, rising up on his toes some.
"N-No, wait, please. I-I have a family. I know that sounds lame and kinda cliché, but it's the truth, please!" he pleaded. Charlie…
The man pulled the knife away and tossed it down too, still glaring at him. "Or can amuse ourselves the hard way."
Daniel had no idea what he meant, but it became clear when the men on either side of him tightened their grip, and a fist slammed into his midsection. He cried out and tried to double over, but was held in place too tightly.
"No! Wait a minute!" he gasped, coughing.
But the man ignored him and struck again, and again, and again…The rest of the small group of thugs converged on him too, obviously intent on making sure that when they were through he wouldn't be getting up to tell anyone what had happened anytime soon--if at all.
"HELP!" he cried desperately, but was cut off and muffled by the bodies around him, pushing in to get their share of the fun. Janet…
Pain reverberated through Daniel's body from the blows. He struggled still, but as well as being helpless against six or seven armed men, they pressed in too closely to allow him to get up once they had him on the ground. He fought back, but all he managed to do was land a few careless, frightened blows to a couple of them and make all of them angrier. Jack, Sam, Teal'c, Cassie, Skaara, Cam, Carolyn, Zach, Tiffany…
Daniel panicked when he felt him self being pulled into darkness; once he lost consciousness, they might just kill him. The demeanor of the men attacking him certainly suggested that possibility to be probable. Janet…
"Noo…" he moaned weakly, choking through the pain. But he was no match for the darkness that fought to claim him until it won. I'm sorry…
Vala Jackson paced the living room floor, not caring that she might very well wear a hole in it soon. Daniel had been gone over an hour, when the short trip the few blocks to the grocery store should have only take twenty minutes. Granted, anyone would have taken longer in the present weather, but an hour…?
A noise from the hallway door drew her attention to where Janet now stood in her pajamas. The girl had been in bed since soon after they had gotten home, but now was looking at her mother with concern.
"What's wrong, mom?"
"Hmm? Oh…your dad's not home yet," Vala sighed.
The news didn't faze the eight-year-old at all. "Oh. Well, he'll be home soon. Maybe he decided to go somewhere else too.
"No, he would have told me or called me if he was going to do that. You know that."
Janet crossed her arms. "He'll be fine, mom. Aren't you going to bed?"
"No, I'm going to wait up for him. You go on back, to sleep, sweetheart. It'll be all right." Janet shrugged and went back to her room, leaving Vala alone again.
Well, she hoped it would be all right, anyway. She hoped Daniel was all right. But something was telling her he wasn't.
