A/N: Day 7 of Social Distancing, and here's Chapter 1. In this one we're getting to know Caleb Lorne. I'm getting to know the boy myself, and boy, does he surprise me. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

2033

He didn't much like the air inside the library. Of course he knew the air in here was perfect to keep the books in a good condition, but the smell of this place was making his head ache. It smelled like it must have been when Daniel had still been a student here. And that must have been? What? Fifty years ago?

Caleb huffed and slammed the book shut. His eyes were starting to burn. How long had he been in here? Four hours? Six? He'd left the old-fashioned watch his uncle had given him at home, and the holo screen in front of him had frozen. With a sigh, he folded the slim keyboard and waved his hand over the flat sensor array in front of him. No use trying to find any more books. He had to remind himself that he didn't have to adhere to deadlines as much anymore. That he was done. That he'd gotten his PHD four weeks ago and that all that was left for him to do now was to do research. Finally, all he needed to focus on was work and all he had to fear was the scorn of his colleagues. The fate of Daniel Jackson, who had been a close family friend all his life, had haunted him for all his professional career. He never wanted to reach a point where his ideas were laughed at. But when would he cross that line? And how?

Daniel's theories had never been proven and he'd lost every professional credibility he'd ever had because of it. But still he'd never seemed unhappy with his life. Working for the Air Force as a scientific consultant had been fulfilling enough for him, as it had been for Caleb's mother, but Caleb didn't even want to think about what it might mean to give up real, solid work for an full-time desk job. He tried to take every opportunity to work in the field. Sitting in a library like this wasn't his favourite past time. Luckily that wasn't necessary all that often anymore. Over the past twenty years, especially after that insane flu pandemic about ten years ago, when every public building, every school, every place where people could meet, had been closed off, people had stopped relying on paper less and less. His mother regretted it to this day, he knew. She still preferred paper over digital media, that would never change, but she'd adapted. Of course, going to a library and looking up certain facts every now and again, was still necessary. Not every library had all the books available to mankind digitally. But it was just a question of time, before these places would be nothing but archives.

Caleb touched the book cover, wondering why his mother was still so fond of the roughness of the binding, of how dust seemed to cling to the skin, even when you knew there was no dust on the cover. It was Daniel's dissertation. Since Daniel Jackson had abandoned his life in academia and had resorted to working for the Air Force and his entire research had fallen into disrepute, nobody had bothered digitizing his work. But it wasn't all bad. Really, it wasn't! During the first couple of years after handing in his thesis, Daniel had done some incredible work translating and interpreting hieroglyphs. His work near Lake Nasser, the digs he'd led there, should have brought him on the fast track to leading his own department. But things hadn't panned out for him. Not that Caleb could blame the archaeological community for laughing at him in the 90's. He himself might have done the same. But Daniel was a close family friend, heck, every year on his birthday, his dad would tell the story of Daniel delivering him in an elevator. Apparently, the archaeologist and linguist also had a knack for delivering babies, something which Daniel's wife Vala still teased him about.

Caleb leaned back in the uncomfortable chair and looked up. He was very nearly the only one left on this floor. Not a big surprise there. The semester was as good as over and most students used the library for work these days, not for research. Most people had already gone home. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, stifling a yawn with the inside of his elbow. The sun hadn't set yet, but it was about to. The red light hit the large windows and almost shone directly at him through a particularly narrow line of bookshelves. He really should go home. Tomorrow he'd be leaving to his parents' house in Colorado Springs. He wasn't looking forward to it too much.

He hadn't been home since Christmas. Since he'd left home for university, his mother and father had never told him they would have preferred him to stay in the area, but the way they always subtly fed him more than they ever had when he was still living with them, told him as much. They missed him. And it wasn't as though he didn't miss them, but God, did he wish they weren't so clingy. How Grace, his sister, managed it, he couldn't say. She hadn't moved away exactly, though, had she?

He blinked when a shadow entered the row of bookshelves, finding it hard to adjust to the quick change of lighting conditions. The narrow frame of a tall woman was walking towards him. She was wearing a white, knee-length dress with short sleeves. He only saw her face as she was standing right in front of him. A warm smile, her dark hair tied back in a pony tail and her eyes trained directly on him.

"Hey," she said and Caleb was taken aback by how loudly she was talking to him. Students or no, this was still a library! And boy, did he sound like his mother, even in his own head!

"Hey," he answered, his voice hoarse from not speaking in hours. He reached for his old leather bag and started packing things. The gaze from those almond-shaped blue eyes was making him slightly nervous. And that, he realised, didn't happen too often.

"Can you help me? I'm new, and I can't seem to find the archaeology section."

"Well, you found it," he said, reaching instinctively for the book. He needed something more to hold on to than just his bag. Another realization that hit him like a hammer over the head. Her slightly deep voice, the way she was smiling at him… what the devil was wrong with him? "Are you looking for anything in particular?" he asked when he'd finally managed to slide the holo projector into its protective sleeve.

"Mesopotamia."

He looked at her with a frown. He'd never seen her before. She must be close to his age, but she seemed lost. "Are you new here?" Not that he could claim he knew everybody on campus, but the archaeology department wasn't all that big, and neither was the number of students attending classes. He got up from his chair, holding the book tight to his chest.

"In a way? I'm working for the Chicago Herald. Just doing a bit of research."

"Huh." Caleb found he didn't have much else to say. Since when had journalists started doing proper research again? Most of them didn't bother and just looked up facts on the internet. "Should be down that aisle," he said pointing two rows to the right. There was a dark stain on the carpet there. He remembered it all too well. On his first week here, he'd spilled the coffee he hadn't been supposed to bring right in that very spot when he'd seen Anna Schäfer's name there. She was a friend of her mother's and had also worked for the Air Force for a while, before returning to her field. Unlike his mother.

"Thanks," the woman said, smiling brightly at him. "Can I, maybe, buy you a coffee some time?"

"I don't drink coffee," he blurted out and feeling his ears grow hot.

"Oh…" Her face fell and Caleb felt a lump in his throat. "I-"

"I like tea!" Caleb added quickly. He could have kicked himself for that remark alone. Damn it, why was he always trying to be polite? But then again, why shouldn't he? She was obviously interested in his field of study and, apparently interested in him, so why shouldn't he give it a shot? It wasn't as though there was a whole lot going on in the dating department anyway.

She bit her lip. "I've got to work now, but can we meet up tomorrow maybe?"

"How about next Friday? I'm going home for a couple of days tomorrow."

"Sure!" she said brightly, reached for his hand and started scribbling something with a thick felt pen. Caleb did his best not to flinch away at the cool touch of her skin. "Call me when you're back, okay?"

"I'm Caleb by the way. Caleb Lorne." Like always, he forgot to mention his title. She didn't need to know. Not yet. He didn't want to seem like a show-off.

She smiled at him and turned away to head for the shelves.

Caleb stared after her, completely non-plussed by what had happened just now. He kept staring even after she'd vanished into the aisle and only when he felt the soft buzzing behind his ear, did he realize it was time to go. Shaking his head, he pressed the thin button behind his right ear love and listened to the message his sister had sent him. A familiar voice that brought him back to the present.

Shaking his head, he picked up the book again. He'd take it home and maybe even to Colorado Springs. Maybe reading an actual book would distract him somewhat. Maybe he'd find something interesting to talk about, since he'd be meeting at least three other archaeologists, always hoping that Josh Murdoch wouldn't show up to steal the show.

He stretched again and started heading towards the staircase and looked down at his hand. At the note the woman had written there. A short number and a name. He'd add the number to his list of contacts later, he thought. Just in case he actually felt like calling her when he got back. Somehow, now that she wasn't in sight anymore, he doubted he wanted to. But a slip of paper would have been easier to throw away. Wiping away this number would take forever. Seriously, who used pens anymore?

Well, okay. Apart from his parents and their friends.

Apparently Elinore Woodstock did.

A/N: So? What do you think? Some of you may have noticed there is a bit of a similarity between this beginning of this story and the beginning of the series? Yep, did that on purpose. Sorry, I'm rambling. Just let me know what you think.

Next chapter we'll get to know Grace and meet Evan and Alex and in the next couple of days we'll discover what they've been up to. Poor Caleb doesn't know a thing…