The sirens woke Adrienne violently, so much so that she knocked her stack of books onto the floor, the crash jolting her into reality for the second time. She'd heard base wide sirens before, however, these were sirens she had yet experience, but she knew the sound, Daniel had explained the difference.
They were intruder sirens.
Someone must have infiltrated the base.
Leaping from her bed as the recognition set in, Adrienne grabbed her staff weapon, racing out into the hallway to see what was happening.
There was a time in her life that she would have run from something like this, but not anymore.
"AdrienneRowan," Teal'c shouted for her as she exited her room, the voice loud and booming behind her. Halting, Adrienne glanced behind herself to see that he was running from his quarters as well, a few doors down, and was shirtless, wearing loose yoga type pants and barefoot. He must have been deep into a mediation, since although he told her he slept post-symbiote, it was only meditation that continued to fuel him, physically required or not.
"Are you alright?" he inquired, his expression appearing as confused as Adrienne felt, scanning the hall as doors began to open all around them, personnel stepping out, looking around while the sirens raged on.
"Yea shug, ca va bien, wha in da 'ell is goin' on?" Adrienne asked, her accent thick and uncovered at this hour.
"I am uncertain... " but he didn't get a chance to speak further, as they heard screams coming from the furthest end of the hall. Vala stumbled from her room, rubbing her eyes in confusion, feathered face mask pushed up her head, the shrieks intensifying, making even her arise from her slumber, concerned.
"NO!"
Personnel looked back and forth, trying to ascertain where the threat was coming from as sirens continued to blare.
"What in the hell is going on?" Vala asked, tossing her mask to the floor and stepping out into the hallway, barely wearing anything herself, just a purple satin nightlet and matching panties.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
With a sharp pang of fear, Adrienne realized in that moment where the noise was coming from, sheer horror racing through her body.
She would recognize that voice anywhere.
She wasn't a sprinter, but Adrienne Rowan ran faster than she ever had before in her life in the direction of her best friend's room, in the direction of the love of her life, moving personnel out of her way with Eric as she powered her way through the forming crowd.
"Addy!" she heard Vala shouting behind her, "You don't know who's in there! STOP!"
But she didn't care, letting her weapon drop casually behind her stride as she pushed the button to activate the head, intent on blasting away whoever this could be. Stopping short at the door, she discovered it was locked, no forced entry, and coded herself in frantically, DAJ1965, slamming the portal open and rushing into the darkness as the screams grew even louder.
"No, leave me alone, NOOOOO!" and she could make out his outline, and his alone on the bed in the corner, as he was pushing himself backwards against the wall. Her eyes into overdrive, she searched the room for the intruder, ready to make them Jaffa BBQ, but there was no one there, just Daniel, screaming, lashing out into the air, his face panicked and terrified. She raced over to him, as Teal'c and Vala burst into the room behind her, guns pointing around them in search of the intruder, the others who had been awakened by the alarm staying at the door.
"Clear," she heard Vala declare behind her, a fact she already ascertained herself but remained silent, concentrating only on Daniel. Reaching out her free hand, she approached him, slowly, unsure whether or not he had a weapon on or near him, or what he would do if he did.
"Indy," she stepped closer, clearing her throat to speak clearly, "it's me. There's no one here."
"Leave me alone, go away!" he shouted, taking a swing at her, his right fist flying toward her face. There was a crash of metal on tile, as Eric bounced on the floor, seconds before Adrienne's left arm flew through the air, catching his advancing attack, pinning him against the wall, her right elbow to his throat, gently but forcefully before she brought her face close to his.
"Daniel, it's me, it's Addy. NO ONE is trying to hurt ya," she pleaded a second time, but he kept thrashing wildly, trying to scream, his eyes tightly shut. Pushing her arm more intensely to his throat to subdue him, the howling subsided, leaving him desperately gasping for breath, the lack of oxygen slowing his movements. She was afraid to hurt him as she watched the life escape from his body but held on, equally as afraid of him hurting himself or someone else.
"DANIEL GAWD DAMMIT STOP FIGHTIN' ME!" she shouted directly in his face and suddenly he relaxed, no longer struggling, his arms falling to his side. Assured that he was calming down, she let herself back up a bit but Daniel didn't say a word, didn't lash out at her; he just melted forward into her shaking violently, his head buried deep into his hands as he burrowed himself into her body. There was a flash of brightness as Teal'c clicked on the light, the world of the nightmare dissipating around them.
Her heart still pounding violently inside her chest, Adrienne scanned the room as Teal'c and Vala continued to investigate, the Cajun holding tightly to a trembling Daniel. His gray t-shirt was soaked with sweat and he had kicked all of the blankets and his pillow onto the floor but she couldn't see his face, his hands having moved from his cheeks to her thighs, grasping tensely at her yoga pants, his face buried between her knees.
"DanielJackson, there is no intruder in your quarters," Teal'c said as he approached the bed.
"Daniel," Vala continued, "it's all clear. What in the hell is wrong with you?"
"Leave," he ordered them from Adrienne's lap, his voice shaking as he continued to tremble. Running her hand down his back softly, Adrienne tried to calm him as she could hear him mumbling and swearing, demanding that they leave, leave him alone, and go the hell away.
There was commotion at the door, orders being shouted, so she glanced up but didn't remove her hand, instead leaning forward, holding onto him like she was afraid to let go. The gawkers stepped aside at the strong feminine voice as Dr. Lam that entered the room, cautiously approaching the bed.
"Daniel, it's Carolyn. It looks like one of your episodes, remember, don't be afraid, we can get through this, ok, like last time. Please don't hurt anyone. Let me give you a sedative, help you rest..." she started in, reasoning with him, talking about some kind of episodes much to Adrienne's confusion.
What episodes, Adrienne thought, Daniel had never mentioned episodes, nightmares yes, but he never mentioned anything like this, violent episodes, and he told her everything.
Or so she thought.
There was motion in her lap and she was finally able to see his face, bloodshot eyes hovering above deep dark circles, sweat glistening down his brow accenting the anger in his face.
"LEAVE ME ALONE AND GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" he raged, so loud it hurt Adrienne to be that close to the noise but she couldn't escape him; she was too afraid to move. His face now as red as his eyes, the large blood vessel in his neck bulging, Daniel was practically convulsing in her arms as he glared viciously at the doctor. Noting the entrance of two large orderlies, Adrienne began to stand and back away, hoping the they would come hold him so the doctor could sedate him, but he held onto her tightly, his hands crawling up her leg to grab hers, squeezing her fingers with painful intensity.
"Daniel, it's going to be alright, just let go of Addy and relax," Dr. Lam requested, remaining calm and professional, like always. She wasn't afraid for herself, but appeared to be quite worried about what he might do to Adrienne, shooting looks of concern at the Cajun woman that normally would have made Adrienne feel as if maybe she didn't hate her so much were it not for the fact that Daniel was completely falling to pieces right in front of her.
"NO! You can't fix this with GODDAM DRUGS! JUST LEAVE!" he screamed back, his voice cracking slightly at the end before collapsing back into his assistant's arms, grasping her hips, holding onto her for dear life. Taking a breath as she scanned the room, at least a dozen people bearing witness to this disaster in the middle of the night, Adrienne reached down this time and began to smooth his hair, not caring what anyone thought of that particular gesture, bringing her lips to his ear.
"Shug, listen, ya scaring everyone, can ya least calm down for me?" she whispered quietly, leaving her lips there as she awaited his reply, "I promise, I won't let them do anything to you."
"Make them leave Ad, please," he told her through gritted teeth, his head shaking on her legs.
"Ok, ok, I gotcha," Adrienne replied, glancing back at their growing audience, a good twenty or so people now, all staring at them with wide eyes and gaping mouths, as Daniel lay in her arms, and more importantly, in her lap.
She didn't even care anymore what any of them thought.
"Shoo, all ya, it's ok, I got him," she assured, not a one of her friends moving.
"Adrienne, I know you two are close, but you weren't here when these, incidents, began. I need to examine him or at least give him a sedative until the morning," Dr. Lam stated plainly, now looking more like herself, giving Adrienne the grumpy look, the concern from earlier vanished.
"Put it over there," Adrienne indicated to the desk across the room, "I can give it to him when I get him calm."
"It's best if I give it, just to make sure," Dr. Lam was beginning to argue, but Adrienne could sense that she had already won, the handsome stoic woman faltering in her words and her approach. Clearing her throat, trying to control her words and accent a bit better so that her position was clear, Adrienne smiled softly, caressing his back gently as she peered back up at the physician.
"Where do I stick it? In his arm, like a vitamin shot? If so, I think I can handle that," Adrienne assured her, knowing since Carolyn signed off on her prescriptions for the B-vitamin shots anyway, she couldn't argue that Adrienne didn't know what to do.
"Yes, like a vitamin shot," the doctor answered slowly. I've won, Adrienne thought, as Carolyn walked over to her handing her a radio and letting out a sigh, "Here, I'll be on call for the rest of the night, then Carson takes over at eight. But Adrienne, if he gets violent again..."
"I'll call, I promise. Just go. Everyone go," the cajun ordered, using her head to point the way out since she still didn't have use of her right hand, Daniel clasping that one tightly, while her left was still rubbing his back, "And please, Teal'c, don't let anyone alert Woolsey or whoever the hell he stuck on night duty."
The warrior nodded in agreement, but did not move.
"AdrienneRowan?" Teal'c asked, worried about leaving her alone with Daniel in this state. She might get hurt, not because she couldn't handle herself, but because she wouldn't want to hurt him in order to defend herself.
"I promise Teal'c, I'll be alright. Go back to bed," she answered. Accepting her assurance, he nodded, turning to leave.
With the tall warrior leading the way, everyone filed out slowly, whispering and peeking back over their shoulders. Adrienne could just imagine the nonsense and gossip that would be around the base come morning: Dr. Jackson's gone crazy, Dr. Jackson killed his assistant, Dr. Jackson's assistant was rubbing all over him to calm him down, but at the moment she pushed the thought aside. Let them think what they would; she wasn't going to leave him like this and it sure as hell seemed that he wasn't going to let her.
Not surprisingly, Vala was the last to leave, looking back at Adrienne with concern before she closed the door, unsure if she was leaving her friend in a safe situation.
"Addy, he's not…"
"I'll call you shug, first if there's a problem," Adrienne interrupted, her friend still reluctant to leave.
"Do you have your phone?"
Adrienne nodded yes, cocking her head to Daniel's gadget sitting in the floor.
Shaking her head because that wasn't what she asked, but seeing that Adrienne wasn't going to let go of him, no matter what, Vala shut the door behind her, hoping that she was making the right decision.
"They're gone shug. What happened?" Adrienne leaned over again to his ear, still speaking in a whisper.
"I'm sorry, but they won't listen, you'll listen," he began to ramble as he sat up, not letting go of her, "There was someone in here. "
"No, Daniel, there wasn't. Vala and Teal'c gave it the all clear, I looked around myself. Dr. Lam says this is one of your episodes," Adrienne said, her last statement more of a question than anything.
"No, this isn't an episode..." he whispered, looking tired and defeated, but scotting away to lean against the concrete wall at the side of his bed.
"What episodes?" she asked quietly, somewhat hurt that he did not tell her about these before, but he shook his hand in front of his head before bringing his index fingers to his temple.
"I had, not nightmares, but some issues with hallucinations after I was a…" he trailed, but Adrienne understood that he was speaking of, when yet again in his life, his poor body was used as a vessel for something else.
"Who was here Indy?" she asked now, giving him the benefit of the doubt, because while this might be a hallucination, this definitely did not seem like a violent episode that Carolyn had been referring to.
Daniel sat up again, rubbing his face, worn and exhausted.
"I don't know who they are, but they keep coming back whenever I'm alone," he admitted and his statement scared Adrienne; it sounded as if he was having schizophrenic visions. The worry trickling back in, she glanced over to the desk where Dr. Lam had left the sedative, trying to judge how long it would take her to get there should he flip out a third time.
"I'm not insane," he said to her, apparently catching her peek and he sat up the rest of the way in the bed, inching himself back against the wall, "I don't know who they are. But they wait until I'm alone."
Shaking her head and trying not to think about the injection only a few feet away, Adrienne moved over to beside him, joining him in leaning against the cool concrete wall to let him explain.
"Do they wanna hurt you?" she asked.
"I have no idea, but I get the feeling that they want something," he answered, turning his head to look deep into her comforting eyes, "Ad, I haven't slept in three days, but I couldn't go any longer, so I tried to tonight."
"Three days?!" she exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief. She had noticed this week that he seemed very tired, so much so that she had brought her newest personal coffee maker to the lab, the one she had purchased after her last one had disappeared. Her first thought had been that he was coming down with a virus or something, she kept waiting for a sniffle or a cough, not that he was choosing not to sleep.
Why hadn't he told her? About any of this...
"Yeah, about, but I decided tonight that I'd give it a try, that maybe I'd been imagining things. And then they came," Daniel replied, his voice dropping as he looked back down to his hands resting on his knees. He had also considered going to Adrienne's room to sleep, since she was staying on base this week as well, but he just couldn't. Besides that fact that he was walking that fine line between being her best friend and being madly in love with her, if this threat was real, he wanted her to have no part of it; he didn't want her to be in any danger.
Now however, he was just too terrified and sleep deprived for her to go.
"What do they say?" Adrienne inquired, curious.
"They don't say anything. But I feel them, they want me to come with them, but I don't know where. When they communicate with me, it's like they're inside of me," he explained, continuing to stare downward.
That sounded terrifying, but Adrienne was still skeptical; it seemed such a strange dream to have, and out of nowhere. They hadn't been on any kind of mission with any real excitement in weeks and she was certain that nothing they had encountered in the lab would have caused this.
Rising from the bed, Adrienne stood, bending down to pick up her staff weapon.
"Ad…" was all he said as he looked at her in terror that she was going to leave, but she held up her hand and silently pointed at the light.
"It's late, real late, you need to get some rest," she explained as she switched it off, setting "Eric" against the wall, counting her steps back over to the bed, crawling in with him carefully.
"I take it they won't come if someone is here? If I'm here? Hence our crazy late nights we've been working this week?" she asked, not wanting assume anything since at this moment, she felt like a fish out of water. She'd joked a few times in the past few weeks trying to feel him out, about him being the closest thing she had to a boyfriend, and he hadn't balked, not even once, and yet when something of this magnitude had happened, Daniel hadn't said a word. None of that mattered though, he needed her right now, and he needed her to not be thinking about him in a romantic fashion; he needed the friend he had come to count on. She was scared for him, but her stomach fluttering with nerves and worry as she slipped herself in beside him.
"No, they won't," he answered, "I've been napping in the library on and off and they don't come around even if the librarian is the only other person in the room. Whatever they are, they don't want their presence known."
"We're crashing together on base again; Vala will be so jealous," Adrienne joked, remembering when Vala had first discovered they did, occasionally, falling asleep watching movies in one or the other's bed. She heard him laugh lightly and felt him begin to scoot toward her much to her surprise, curling into her in such a way as he never had before, more close and intimate than she was used to being with him. Her heart raced, he was so close, this man that she loved, his body pressed against hers. Hoping he didn't hear her deep breath in, Adrienne reached down, grabbing the pillow from the floor and arranging the rest of the bed as best she could in the dark.
She pulled up a blanket over the two of them and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly and protectively, all the while dying inside.
I want this, with him, she couldn't help but think, her body snuggling closer to his before her good sense could stop her.
"Better?" she asked, hearing the shaking in her own voice, her lips so very close to his ear.
"I hope so," he answered quietly, his right hand wandering downward, reaching to take hers into his own. He held so tight, fearful, and she didn't let go, holding him until he stopped fidgeting.
She laid there awake until she was sure he was asleep, Daniel finally still in her arms. Hoping he didn't notice her tears as they streaked down her face, a lone droplet falling down his neck, Adrienne Rowan closed her eyes, finally letting herself follow.
When she awoke the next morning it took a moment to remember the events of the nights before. Daniel hadn't moved and was still sound asleep lying close to her, his right arm holding hers tightly around his waist. Slowly, and carefully as he did not sleep nearly as soundly as she, Adrienne pulled her arms from around him, inching away, when she realized that she had slept by the door, Daniel huddled to the safety of the inside.
I felt safe; I didn't even pay attention to the door...
Forcing herself to focus, to stop thinking about her confusing relationship with the brilliant and handsome man that had been lying asleep beside her, she decided that she needed to go find Dr. Lam, Sam or someone to see what in the hell was really going on. She managed to escape and cover him back up gently, pausing for a moment to gently kiss his head, stopping herself before she whispered "I love you," into his ear. Remembering the radio on the nightstand Adrienne tiptoed over to his desk, feeling around for a piece of paper, scribbling onto a scrap by the dim light of his alarm clock.
Don't freak. I can be back in moments. Just do an all call.
- Ad
She tucked the note under the clip of the radio, hoping it would be enough of a comfort to him should he awaken alone, leaning over and sliding it into his hand. Squeezing his shoulder one more time, she scurried out of the room in search of answers.
The first place she went was the infirmary, armed and ready to investigate. Lucky for her, Dr. Lam was still there, a quick glance at the clock indicating that it was only a few moments after eight.
"Mornin' Carolyn, here," Adrienne greeted, handing her the needle from just a few hours before. The doctor took the instrument and looked it over, peering back at Adrienne with scolding in her eyes.
"I thought you were gonna give it to him?" she asked, as Adrienne began frowning immediately.
"I was, but once I let him talk he seemed to calm down," Adrienne crossed her arms in front of her, planning to get down to business, "Now would you like to tell me what's going on since apparently he hasn't slept, intentionally, for three days and seems to think someone is after him."
She tried to be as polite as possible while expressing her extreme frustration. One of the bravest and most wonderful men she had ever known had slept in her arms last night like a frightened animal for no visible reason with the SGC medical staff claiming something like this had happened before, something Adrienne have never been informed of, by them or by him. Considering everything, having to sleep with Daniel, that close, that intimately, feeling about him the way she did, it was a level of helplessness that she should have gotten used to given the nature of her job now, but with him, refused to accept.
She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
"Shhh," Dr. Lam put a finger to her lips, motioning to the office, where Adrienne could see Carson making himself a cup of coffee. Confused, maybe the entire base had already heard the latest in the saga of Daniel and Adrienne, the Cajun followed behind.
"Good morning ladies!" Dr. Carson Beckett greeted merrily as they entered the room, Carolyn excusing herself behind Adrienne to shut the door, "Coffee?"
"No thanks," Dr. Lam answered as the knob clicked into place, "Carson, I hate to greet you on your shift with this, but Daniel flipped out last night, again."
Understanding what Adrienne apparently was not, Dr. Beckett made a sad face, shaking his head.
"I thought we had it licked, damned Ori. It's been almost a year..." he replied, the happiness from his earlier greeting now gone as he set his own mug down slowly.
"Over," Dr. Lam countered, "In fact, once the Ori were gone for good the spells seemed to stop, I was for sure that any residual connection to the other Priors was gone, but you should have seen him last night, raging, violent..."
"How bad?" Carson asked as he walked over to the file cabinet, presumably to pull out Daniel's rather extensive medical record.
"Bad enough where Addy had him in a choke hold to calm him down. Bad enough where somehow he set off the intruder alarm," Dr. Lam explained.
"You alright lass?" Carson paused at the drawers, directing his attention to Adrienne.
"I'm fine; I can lick him when he's not spazzing out. But what are these episodes? He's told me about nightmares, but episodes? What happened last night was more like a psychotic night terror," Adrienne said, instantly regretting her word choice. Psychotic as he may have seemed or not, he was calm enough later, and she didn't want the doctor to think otherwise.
"That's essentially what they are. To be perfectly honest, we have no idea what really triggered it or what shut it off the last time," Dr. Lam answered honestly, "The best we can guess was that it was residual from his time as a Prior."
"Well, he seems to think someone is after him or that someone is trying to take him away," Adrienne added, Carson nodding immediately in understanding.
'I know, the Ori or the other Priors, or that scary Adria woman," he responded, but Adrienne was already shaking her head.
"No, he didn't say anything about the Ori, not a word, he's told me about that. He says he doesn't know who or what these things are and they have yet to identify themselves," Adrienne corrected.
The doubt apparent in her face, Dr. Lam shook her head, disregarding Adrienne's presence in the room completely as she looked at Carson.
"We have to call Sam. This is beyond the night terrors now; he wasn't just screaming, he was fighting, he was physical, he attacked Adrienne. He could have hurt someone. Carson, this was far worse than last time, far worse and it's just started. Where is it going to go from here? I'm afraid he's having a total psychological break," Carolyn stated, Carson nodding in agreement.
Granted, Adrienne had only been here a little over a year, but this was crazy.
Who in the world would just assume that someone was having a nervous breakdown from one incident in the middle of the night?
What had happened to Daniel before?
Why weren't they telling her?
"What are you talking about!?" Adrienne exclaimed, no longer as concerned about being polite, "He seemed fine to me until just a few days ago. Sleeping, joking, eating, and certainly NOT violent."
"I'm sorry Adrienne, I am, but it's a good thing you were hired. He can't continue like this; he needs to be pulled from active duty before this gets any worse," Dr. Lam stated plainly.
There was something she wasn't telling Adrienne, something she refused to just accept at their word.
"No, no way. No way are you going to suspend him! And where exactly would he go? He has no one, he has nothing but this job! Why is this even being considered?"Adrienne panicked, fearful of not only losing her partner in the lab but at the idea of him alone in that small, impersonal apartment.
He didn't even keep Jonas' fish there.
This place, this job, was his entire life and honestly she couldn't continue on in this without him. Before Dr. Lam could answer, open her mouth to maybe explain because nothing that was being said was making any damn sense, the phone in the office began to ring.
"Infirmary."
The doctor didn't say another word, but Adrienne could tell by the look on her face as she listened to her caller that this situation was just beginning to get bad. Sighing, Carolyn hung up the phone, peering back over at the still puzzled archaeologist and Dr. Beckett.
"Sam's on the way. Addy, you might as well stay; she's gonna want to know everything that happened after we left," the doctor stated. Accepting that she wasn't going to get any answers for now, Adrienne nodded in agreement and turned to take Carson upon his earlier offer for coffee.
When Sam arrived she didn't seem angry at all, but listened carefully and quietly to Dr. Lam, asking Adrienne what happened after the room was cleared out. Sam's face was pensive as the archaeologist explained, including every detail of what had happened, embarrassing cuddling or not, right down to leaving him the note this morning, trying to stress that Daniel had calmed down easily in her presence. Peering up as she finished, she tried to read Sam's face, and it was obvious that this situation was bad, the expression one of concern and sadness.
"So, what you're telling me Carolyn is that the incident last night is far worse of an initial reaction than the last time this happened. We know from experience that they grow progressively worse, but what signs are there that this will happen. What kind of outcome are we looking at?" Sam asked for clarification.
Worse? Adrienne thought, how could he get worse? Last time she checked, trying to punch your best friend was pretty damn bad.
"We still need to get him in here and run some tests, but General, I'm just not sure what we can do. We really didn't do anything last time; they just went away on their own," Dr. Lam responded, Sam's body language showing her agreement.
"No, I remember, I just wish we had more answers."
"Carson can run some more tests, take samples, see if there is anything in the Atlantis medical database, but much like his ascension and descension, Daniel is the only human we know to come back from, well, most of what he has come back from. Nearly everything that happens to him is a very unique situation. Regardless, he can't work; I won't authorize him to go off world in this condition and I don't feel safe with him walking around base as if nothing is wrong, in case this spreads from a nightmare or night terrors to something when he's awake, so to speak," the doctor added.
"No, you're right, but I can't send him home like this; he has no one and he can't stay in his quarters setting off the sirens every night. Do you know how many calls I got this morning alone? There's even a rumor in the mess that he broke Adrienne's neck and has escaped the base like some mad man," Sam said as she crossed her arms across her chest, bringing her hand to her chin. Adrienne felt sorry for Sam; being the head of the SGC was a job she would never want, and here she had to decide the fate of one of her dearest friends, a decision that seemed to have no plausible solution.
"General, I can't keep him here either. We have restraints, but if this is going to progress we're talking restraints, sedation, and to be honest I think it might exacerbate the problem to keep him here. Plus, after what I saw last night, he's a threat to the other patients in that state; we don't have the manpower to have someone watching him in case he attacks someone here and I just don't have the amount of space we had at Cheyenne to sequester him," Dr. Lam looked to Dr. Beckett for support and he nodded.
For a moment everyone stood in silence, making little eye contact, no one sure what they should do.
"What happened last time?" Adrienne asked quietly, fearing the answer.
"At the height of the, well, incident, he put a cadet in a coma thinking it was an Ori soldier," Sam replied, quickly, her eyes stressing to Adrienne the direness of the situation, "It took three men to put him down and he was sedated for over two days."
"But he calmed right down, once he knew it was me. I didn't have to sedate him or anything," the archaeological assistant countered just as fast, but her heart was in her throat; no wonder Teal'c and Vala had been so concerned about leaving her alone with him.
"Honesty General, it's the hysterics that I'm afraid of. Like I said, we don't have the room here we had at Cheyenne and I don't have the luxury of keeping him in isolation. Maybe Atlantis would be a better option, just until we can ensure that this was just an isolated incident and not a repeat of before," Carolyn added, scanning his file, reminding herself of the progression of the last incident.
"I'll take him," Adrienne spoke up without hesitation, "Don't lock him up on Atlantis. He can come home with me or I can go home with him and if you're scared of him going crazy, put some guys on watch outside or something. Leave me sedatives, a zat, anything I would need in case I need to knock him out."
Surprised, Sam looked over at Adrienne, her face not one of approval.
"Addy, he was violent. We went through this before, after he recovered from, well, being a Prior, and it was bad then. It started just like this; I was able to calm him down before, and he didn't even try to attack me, he was just, well frightened, but it didn't take long for him to lose all sense of where he was and who we were."
Adrienne stood for a moment, taking in her words, remembering his fear last night, wishing she could get her hands on that folder detailing the last of these episodes. She knew things were bad before she was hired, Vala had told her things that she was certain even Sam and Jack didn't know about, but she could never imagine him ever hurting her.
DanielJackson is in love with you, as you are with him.
Maybe he did love her, maybe Teal'c was right, and if so, she couldn't imagine him ever bringing her any harm.
And she loved him too much to give in and let him be shipped off to a cell on Atlantis.
"Sam," she started, back to pleasantries, trying to use her caring nature to her advantage, "He was scared, so very scared last, but not violent, at least offensively. Once he recognized that it was me, and he knew it was me, he was calm, and lucid, calling me by name, not like anything you're telling me here. Give me the file, let me see what happened last time so I know what to do and Dr. Lam I promise I will give him whatever medication you say that he needs. We can go to his place, I'll report back to ya'll while you run tests and see what else we can do. Please, let me so this."
"Addy, I know you care about him, but I can't expect you to be his babysitter. And we need you here; we can't just shut down the entire archaeology department indefinitely," Sam added the last part, not really wanting to send Adrienne home with Daniel if he were to do anything like he had in the past, hoping her friend would buy the work excuse since if anything the young woman was as dedicated to her job as Daniel was. That is, if she would buy the excuse, because as the Cajun stood here, not scared in the least, Sam nearly certain now that her and Jack's concerns were true...
It didn't seem to have the intended effect, and Sam was not surprised, as Adrienne crossed her arms staring back at the general with confidence.
"I'm not asking to be his sitter. There's something going on, and I would like the opportunity to help figure it out, be that extra hand that Carolyn and Carson need while they look for a solution. You have an entire linguistic staff to fill in for us as needed. I'm HIS assistant not the SGC's, and I'm a team member. A member of my team needs me." Adrienne laid out her argument trying to be as respectful as possible.
And I love him, she added to herself, more than I have ever loved anyone else in my life and I am willing to risk anything to insure his safety.
Before Sam could answer, the sirens went off again, Sam pulling out her iPhone to see that the alarm was sounded from Daniel's room just like the night before.
The general didn't need to speak, Adrienne was already gone, tearing off in that direction.
This time, once Adrienne got through the SF's trying to subdue him, it didn't take her long to get him calmer, falling to her knees as he smashed himself into the corner screaming, but she didn't have to fight him.
Like a switch, he stopped screaming the moment she wrapped her arms around him.
Trembling, his face buried into her neck as he held onto her, terrified to let go, insisting everyone leave again because they wouldn't listen, that only she would listen, but Sam refused, instead turning to order everyone out as she remained herself.
"Daniel," Sam started the moment the crowd was gone, but he cut her off.
"I know, I know. There's a danger, something's going on and I can't be setting off alarms, I know. This isn't like last time though, trust me."
"Shug…"
"Daniel, I don't think you realize how quickly this spun out of control last time…"
"You think I don't think about LAST TIME every DAY like everything and everyone else I FUCKED UP!" he picked his head up to scream, still holding on to Adrienne, but he wasn't going to hurt her, she felt that; she was his lifevest for some reason through this storm.
The general had a look on her face as though she was preparing to shout back, but she didn't, peering over at Adrienne who seemed to be a human shield between them.
"Daniel, let go of Adrienne…"
"I would NEVER hurt Adrienne!"
"Indy, we know, but listen to Sam, what if…"
He loosened his grip, as if her words were the trigger, peering back up at her.
"Listen to her Indy," the Cajun whispered, reaching and squeezing hands.
"This isn't the same thing as before Ad, I know it's not…" he was pleading with her, Adrienne nodding.
"I believe you Daniel, but there's rules and protocol that Sam is responsible for upholding."
Daniel's blue eyes cut fiercely at those words, Adrienne shaking her head.
"You're tired shug," she muttered, hoping Sam would stand back and let her handle this, "Just let Sam do her job so no one else can stick their nose into ya business."
He sighed out, squeezing her hands and peering up at Sam.
"It's not the same, I know, but I understand. I'll pack up my things and stay at my apartment until Dr. Lam can figure out what's going on," he told her from the floor, Adrienne feeling awkward and beginning to ease herself from his grasp, but he wouldn't completely let go, Adrienne sitting there quietly as he continued to cling to her.
"I hate to do this to you Daniel, but we don't have many options. There will be twenty four hour guard on your building and I'll be sending one of the doctors to check on you periodically. I need you to stop by the infirmary before you leave so they can take some samples and start running some tests," Sam ordered, but gently.
Finally releasing his assistant, Daniel stood and walked over to his closet, pulling out the black duffle bag and began to pack some things from the dresser that he would want at home, his lips pursed in concentration as if he was trying to solve the problem himself.
Adrienne had no doubt in her mind that was exactly what he was doing.
Approaching him cautiously, Sam reached a hand to his shoulder.
"They'll figure it out, you won't be gone long…"
Freed, and feeling awkward enough as it was, Adrienne took the opportunity to slip away, allowing the two to talk, and to pack her own things. She knew that if she gave him an option or a chance to think about it, he would refuse her help, so it would just be easier if she appeared ready to leave.
Planning her argument in her head, both to him and Sam again if needed, Adrienne raced to the elevators, heading to her quarters.
As expected, she found him an hour later in the infirmary, where Carson was filling one final tube with blood, Daniel sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, frown firmly in place.
"That's that last one. I'll run these first, see if there is anything I can find before you leave and if not, we will call you with the other results as soon as we have them," the doctor explained with a forced smile, arranging the vast array of vials on the table.
"Thanks, and I'm sorry to put you all through all of this trouble, if I knew what to do to stop it I would," Daniel apologized. Smiling, Carson just patted his arm and set the tube into the sample tray, carrying it carefully over to his workstation.
As the physician stepped away, Adrienne could see that Daniel had showered and changed into jeans and a black t-shirt and was momentarily jealous, deciding a shower was her first order of business when they got to his place.
"Ya ready to go?" she asked, running her speech through her head again.
"Yeah, I was just heading... wait...why do you have a bag?" he questioned, turning his head as he looked at the duffle in her hand, obviously packed for travel.
"Because we're going to have an adult slumber party, like normal," she answered jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Are you kidding? Sam ordered you to babysit me!?" he questioned, sounding angry, so Adrienne threw up her free hand, shaking it in front of her face.
"No, she actually ordered, well, preferred I stay here, but, I informed her that I'm coming home with you," Adrienne replied, watching his frown slip right back into place.
"Ad, I -" but he didn't finish his sentence: she didn't give him the chance.
"You what? Don't need me? Think you're gonna hurt me? I beg to differ Indy; we both know better than that," she reached over and grabbed his bag from the floor, effectively ending the argument, "Come on, we can rent some bad movies and I'll cook ya Mexican."
He laughed lightly, "One day you're gonna to morph into Chori Pollo."
"See," she told him, "ya got smartass remarks, ya betta already."
He tried to smile, but just signed out, shaking his head, "Ad, seriously though, coming to my apartment? I have no idea what's going on with me. "
She shrugged, "Do ya eva?"
"Touche," he muttered, relenting, since he knew he wouldn't win an argument with her, especially when she was worried about someone else's well-being.
"Fine, let's go," he said as he got up from the bed and followed her out, trying not to think about the fact that she was coming home with him, indefinitely...
Daniel you're in love with that woman.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled under his breath, "Keep reminding me."
They left his jeep at base and took her Beetle to his apartment, Daniel regretting allowing her to drive the moment he had to stuff his long legs into that tiny cab. As promised, Adrienne stopped at the grocery store to pick up the proper ingredients and some movies, leaving him to wait, albeit nervously, but she rushed along, returning to the bug faster than he expected. It was near lunch when they arrived at his apartment and Adrienne wasted no time starting the films and popping out the ice cream, her vast Mexican spread to wait until dinner.
"Runner's Diet?" he asked, and she smacked him lightly, making a playful frown.
"Helping friends can count in the macros somewhere," she started, fast forwarding through the previews, the two of them sitting side by side with bowls of Chunky Monkey and Diet Cokes. As she had expected, Daniel was asleep thirty minutes into the film, the empty bowl of ice cream sitting on his legs, his body slouching onto the arm of the sofa. Thankful he hadn't fallen asleep on her, he wasn't light by any means, Adrienne shifted him over so he wouldn't kill his neck, stuffing a pillow under him and kept watching, straightening up as she did.
They went on and off the entire day like this, watching movies and talking, while he fought sleep and napped. Adrienne assured him that it was ok if he slept; that he was making up for a good twenty to twenty-four hours of missed sleep, but he would apologize every time he woke up, especially at dinner when he was too tired to eat her homemade empanadas, that smelled fantastic.
He made sure he had at least told her that much.
At about ten p.m. she could tell he wasn't going to last much longer, the look on his face going from needing a nap to total exhaustion, and she stood, gazing down at him.
"Come on," she insisted, offering her hand, hoping that he would understand that she was here and everything was going to be all right.
Not responding, he remained frozen on the sofa, terrified, locked in place and unwilling to try to move.
"Daniel, you have to sleep, and I mean REAL sleep. Napping here and there is not enough."
"I feel ridiculous, I'm too old to act like this, like I'm scared of the damn dark," he replied, yet stayed where he sat, his hands in his lap, picking at his fingernails.
"Want me to be honest with you?" she said as reached down and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet, "If I thought someone was trying to get me in my sleep, you'd better believe I'd have the entire team camping out in my bedroom floor. Let's give the doctors time to look at your test results and see what they say tomorrow. There's no reason for you NOT to get a good night's sleep while we wait."
Knowing she was right, he nodded, taking a breath before following her into the bedroom, no words to offer in argument. He grabbed some pajamas from his dresser and began to change there, still silent, pausing once he realized that she was still in the room as he undid his jeans.
I can't, he thought, it's not appropriate to change in front of her anymore, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to him in the least, having dashed away, a sink running in the distance.
Pushing the thought aside, it was stupid, she'd seen him practically naked, he shucked his pants to the floor.
Satisfied he was going to sleep, Adrienne went to put on her own pajamas and brush her teeth, having to escape the room the minute she realized that he was changing in front of her. It was foolish, as she had seen him in nearly every state of undress just by virtue of the insanity that was dealing with the populations of other worlds, but now she caught herself noticing things about him that she had overlooked, and she didn't need an extra layer of temptation right now. Trying to concentrate on the task at hand, figuring out what was wrong with her best friend, she was just spitting out mouthwash in the bathroom of his office when she heard footsteps behind her.
"You go on ta sleep," she ordered him, "I'm gonna grab a blanket and pillow and watch movies in the living room until I pass out. Ok?"
"I need you to sleep with me," he uttered softly, an embarrassed look on his face as he said it, "I don't think they'll come if you're here, they didn't last night, until you left..."
"Oh," Adrienne muttered, expecting that last night was an isolated incident and that just her presence in the apartment would be enough, it had been all day long, but apparently, now, it wasn't. The nerves popped up inside of her again, this time a sick combination of nerves and excitement.
Of course she wanted to crawl into bed with him, to wrap her arms around him and make it all go away. Even if she could never have him, never be with him, the times when they were close, curled together, were times she was beginning to love more than anything.
Letting out a sigh, she nodded her head, not for herself but to ease the sheer terror she could read in his perfect eyes.
"Ok shug, I'm coming," she agreed and followed him to his bedroom, remembering when she had last slept here, after her date with Ronan, when she realized that she loved him. A shiver rocketed down her spine at the memory, intensifying as Daniel got into the bed and moved to the right looking back at her to see if she was coming. Drawing up every ounce of courage, Adrienne climbed in beside him and moved herself close, slipping her arm around his waist. He smelled so good, she had never noticed it before in all the times they had done this, had shared a sleeping space, as innocently as they were doing now. It was tearing her up inside as she held him so very close, fighting the urge to kiss his neck softly, to run her cheek against his stubbly face. Acting as if she had a cough, she cleared her throat and readjusted, concentrating on his comfort and his alone.
"Night Ad," he whispered softly, reaching to hold her arm on his waist as he had done last night, "thanks and I'm sorry."
"Don't be shug," she murmured back, "Just rest and relax. I'm here."
That night, like the one before, in the same throes of agony, Adrienne slept holding Daniel tightly in her arms.
The next morning, it was Dr. Cassie Frasier that came for the first scheduled check-in as Sam had promised. Her smiling face on the other side of the peephole was a relief to Adrienne, as she had always felt comfortable around Janet's adoptive daughter. The young woman had a kind and caring way about her that was soothing, much like her mother according to Daniel.
"Hey Cassie," Adrienne greeted, as she opened the door, referring to the doctor by her first name, since Cassie hated being call Dr. Frasier. She said it reminded it too much of her mom, another wonderful person that Adrienne was sad to have never met.
"Morning Addy. Any change?" she asked, stepping into the apartment, looking for Daniel.
"He's in the shower right now and no change per se, but there was no incident last night," Adrienne answered, glad now more than ever that she had sneaked in a shower herself this morning.
"That's great!" the doctor exclaimed, walking over to the small table near the kitchen to open his rather large medical file to take notes, "What did you do? Did you have to sedate him? How much did you give him? I'm also going to need a list of what he ate and drank and about how many hours you think he might have slept. About what time did you give him the sedative?"
Adrienne flushed, trying to select the right words to get her point across, as she knew Cassie was just trying to lay out a plan, figure out what was going on. Finally, she decided that the plain truth would have to do, no matter how hard it was to admit.
"I didn't give him anything, other than ice cream. I just held him. All night. While he slept," Adrienne admitted quietly, staggering her sentences as the young doctor bit her lip lightly.
"Oh," Cassie pulled the pen back, unsure as to what she should write.
"Apparently, they won't come if I'm right there. I couldn't even get away with sleeping in the next room," Adrienne continued, trying to explain without having it look like she was taking advantage of him, like they were using this as an excuse to be intimate with one another. She knew that it wasn't a secret to anyone how much time they spent together or how close they were, the archaeology lab wasn't immune to the command rumor mill. Fortunately, as she was hunting for more excuses, she heard the shower shut off, giving her a reason to leave the conversation.
"Be right back," she told Cassie without thinking of how this was going to look to the young doctor either. She'd busted into his shower dozens of times, but no one knew that.
God, no wonder everyone thinks we're together, Adrienne fussed at herself, coming to a stop outside of the door.
"Shug," she called out as she knocked on the bathroom door.
"I'm decent, not that that's stopped you before," he joked from the other side. Rolling her eyes at his smart remark, she opened the door just as he was pulling a t-shirt over his head, his perfect bare back the only thing she could concentrate on. He turned to face her, and she shook her head quickly, hoping he hadn't noticed her stare, gazing at her pitifully despite sleeping last night.
He stood there, wearing only a white t-shirt, gray sweatpants and no socks yet he was still the most gorgeous human being that she had ever laid eyes on.
"You look awful," she told him, unable to resist the urge to approach him and place her hand on his arm. She rubbed it gently, gazing up into his eyes.
"I feel sick for some reason," he answered. Adrienne took her hand away and reached up to feel his head with the back of her palm, not trusting the heat she felt there. Sighing, she rested her cheek against his, lightly brushing her lips across his face without thinking, pulling back the moment she realized what she had just done.
He was cool, so she made a face and shook her head, confused.
"Well, you need to tell Cassie that, she's right outside," Adrienne suggested, pointing to the living room.
Not appearing particularly enthused, Daniel rolled his eyes, as if he had been through all of this before, trudging from the bathroom to see the doctor.
"Ok, Daniel," she had never called him Dr. Jackson, Adrienne noticed, probably because she had known him since she was ten, "we haven't found anything unusual so far, but Carson wants to take the samples over to Atlantis base, to run a few more advanced scans. Jennifer thinks the equipment there might be a bit better," Cassie apologized and explained, wrapping up her examination.
"They aren't gonna find anything," he told her, removing the blood pressure cuff from his arm and passing it over.
"Maybe, but I do find it interesting that with Dr. Rowan, uh, well, present, over, well, night, that you didn't have an episode," she added, uncomfortably, Adrienne noting as well that Cassie referred to her as Dr. Rowan.
"I told everyone already, because they only come to visit me if they think I'm alone. These are not the residual episodes or terrors from before," he answered but Cassie gave him the same look Dr. Lam had; the one of disbelief.
Everyone thought he was going crazy.
Except Adrienne, who stood there, who stayed here with him, who seemed determined to not only believe him but to do anything he needed.
Not knowing what else to say, his vitals perfectly normal, Cassie began to pack up her things, preparing to leave.
"Ok, well, I'm headed back if you two are alright. Remember Daniel, you need to eat something other than ice cream or that sick feeling is just gonna linger, especially given that you can't make up for days worth of sleep in just one night. You NEED to eat. Someone will check in later," she said as she started for the door, motioning for Adrienne to follow. Not one to miss any details, Daniel shot his assistant a look, but she placed her hand on his arm gently, assuring him with her eyes that she believed him, that she wasn't going to let anyone convince her otherwise. He followed her with his own blue eyes as she followed the doctor to the door, the Cajun stepping outside and closing the door lightly.
"Are you sure you're ok with him? He's really not himself right now," Cassie asked as soon as the women were out of earshot, thinking back at her examination of a much different looking Daniel, a sullen quiet Daniel who was again showing the signs of nausea that he had been complaining about earlier.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish I could figure out what is going on with him," Adrienne sighed, gazing back at the door, worried more than words could express.
"And he really was fine last night?" Cassie pushed gently, the look on her face not one that said she believed the evening had been episode free.
"Yeah, he just…" Adrienne paused, fearful again, flashing back to how close he had snuggled into her last night, how she had woken up with him practically lying on top of her, "He's so strong, always," and that was a lie as well, the Cajun remembering how on more than one occasion he had cried in her arms, "but last night he just wasn't. He wouldn't have hurt anyone, he just wanted to be…"
But she didn't say the word, Cassie nodding in understanding.
"I won't tell anyone but the other doctors, it's no one's business you and Daniel's personal relationship…"
"But we…" Adrienne tried to correct, but Cassie just kept talking,
"We'll run every test we can, scan security cameras, Sam has everyone on this. Don't worry Addy, he'll be back in no time. The sooner the better, Rodney's already trying to lay claim to the space," she said as she made a face and left before Adrienne could answer.
"I'll deal with my non-relationship with Daniel later," she grumbled, heading back into the apartment and carefully closing the door behind her.
Day two Daniel managed to stay awake most of the time, though he was still noticeably subdued. Adrienne tried to ask if he had had any dreams or anything that might have upset his sleep, but he insisted that he had slept well.
She didn't push, given he had all but said he slept well because he had done so in her arms.
As the morning pushed onward, Daniel tried to get some work done on his laptop, but it seemed just to make him nervous and antsy to return to a place that for now he was not welcome so Adrienne made him shut off the computer, whisking it away to hide it in the closet.
Instead she made him watch horror movies.
Worried sick about him since he wouldn't eat anything or drink very much for that matter, she tried to entice his appetite, ordering pizza with some chocolate dessert that made her sick to her stomach to even smell, but he did little more than pick at the crust, still blaming his appetite on the nausea.
After a few hours, she got him to eat some soup.
To quell his boredom, and to get him to stop making fun of her film selection, she pulled out a deck of cards, playing a few games and making him listen to her stories, pages and pages of a Lord of the Rings type journey taken by two small children. He knew she had been working on it for a while, since well before they were friends, but had never really gotten a chance to hear it. There was a lot of detail and sometimes he had to stop her to ask for clarification, but overall he thought it was pretty good, and told her so.
Adrienne couldn't have been more pleased.
It was about eleven when Adrienne started to feel tired, mostly from the emotional exhaustion of dealing with him. She hadn't had the reaction she feared after seeing him in the bathroom, they had spent the day like they used to, having fun, like friends, not one romantic thought creeping into her brain. It was the intense worry about him however, this person she cared so very much about who really seemed to be falling to pieces, that was tearing her apart.
What was wrong with him?
Was it an isolated incident?
Had everything she ever read in files or heard from Vala, things that his teammates brushed aside as something 'Daniel can deal with' come to fruition?
That was what frustrated her the most, the general attitude on base that he was there to take care of everyone else and everything.
Who was there for him?
Me, she thought, I am. I'm here for him.
As night fell, she didn't even try to avoid what she knew was coming, she just stood, shutting down the apartment.
"Bedtime," she declared as Daniel frowned.
"Yes mother," he tried to joke, but she could tell that despite one good night last night that it was just that, one good night, and he was scared to go any further.
"I'd like to note," she teased, trying to play back as he followed, "that you are going to bed voluntarily before midnight…"
"It's not voluntary. You're forcing me. Like always."
Adrienne smiled, again feeling this was all totally normal, despite the fact that she was headed to his bed, that they weren't crashing after a late night movie or long work day, but that they were going to bed together.
Like a couple.
She really was gonna have to run damage control when they got back.
Or was she; Daniel was acting like Adrienne here, living here indefinitely was the most normal thing in the world.
She laughed as he followed, shutting off the lights behind him as she pulled back the covers, and like the past two nights, he crawled so very close to her, Adrienne slipping her arms around him, wrapping them around his broad chest, holding him, protecting him from an unknown threat. It killed her, but she consoled herself with the thought that however awkward that this may be, at least she got to be this close to him for now, even if it wasn't in the way her heart ached for.
"Night Ad," was all he said this time, no more apologies.
"Night Daniel," she whispered back, letting herself hug him tightly before closing her eyes.
Adrienne was just about asleep herself when she heard the voices. They were distant, foreign, almost ghost-like, but they were calling her name.
"Adrienne... Adrienne Rowan..."
She sat straight up and saw she was alone in the bed.
"Daniel?" she asked into the darkness, cautiously, but there was no answer. Ripping the covers back, she ran over to the light on the corner table, clicking the switch. Momentarily blinded by the brightness, she rubbed her eyes to help them adjust and saw him, sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, his head to his knees.
"No, I'm not going back, no," he was repeating, shaking. She walked over to him, but still being half asleep did not block his swinging arm in time; taking the back of his hand upside her head. That seemed to wake him from his trance, since she could see him crawling onto his knees as she fell back onto the floor.
"Oh God, Adrienne, are you alright?" he rushed over to her.
"Yeah, ow, finally get to feel how hard you can hit," she tried to joke.
Concerned, he pulled up her face into his hands to see if he had split her lip again, running his thumb gently across it, when the world went black...
"Daniel...Daniel..." he heard a familiar voice calling out him, his heart racing.
"No, Oma let me come back. I'm not going back, I can't..." Daniel began to argue, fearful, searching around himself in the darkness for Adrienne, panicked wondering where she had gone.
"Goodson, I do not wish to bring you back, I wish to warn you. Why do you fight me so?" the voice asked kindly. Daniel squeezed his eyes, no glasses covering them, squinting and focusing, and saw that he was in a dark tunnel, or some other place void of everything, the only glimmer in the darkness the image of his father-in-law facing him.
"Goodfather, it was you? Why have you come to me? I thought the ascended were forbidden to communicate with us?"
Daniel was confused, he remembered the rules himself, although he had found ways to break them.
"Oma sent me as she could not come herself. She knew you would trust me and believe what I say..." he voice was getting distant and Daniel felt like he didn't have much time, although he couldn't explain why.
"Tell me what Goodfather? What has happened?" Daniel asked, fear rising in his voice.
Oma couldn't come?
What had happened?
She was supposed to be...
"I need to tell you to beware. Anubis has escaped Oma. We know not where he goes," Kasuf answered and at the mention of the name Daniel felt sickness in the depths of his stomach.
If Oma couldn't subdue Anubis, then who could?
And where was he going?
"For now, he has fled Goodson, but he will not stay silent for long and we are not certain if we will be allowed to warn you again..." even more distant was the voice this time, the final words floating through the air.
"What does Oma suggest we do?" Daniel was frantic now, as the vision of his father-in-law began to fade into the distance and he understood that this wasn't a place; that Kasuf was in his head, trying to give him this message as quickly as he could.
He understood who his visitors were and why, his family, and they had come at the direction of one who could not to warn him.
"Trust in yourself. Not in who you think you should be, but who that you are," Kasuf answered and then was gone leaving Daniel alone in the cold darkness.
Adrienne frantically pushed down on his chest, slamming her fists into him.
"God dammit Daniel WAKE UP!" she screamed, leaning over to breathe once more in his mouth, forcing air into it. No response, Adrienne sat up onto her knees, tears streaming from her eyes, pushing onto his chest again.
"You can't leave me, please Daniel, you can't leave me," she cried out, leaning down to listen for a breath, a breath that wasn't there, her tears dripping onto his face. He'd been out for at least two minutes, maybe longer, his heart stopped and not one wisp of air entering or exiting his lungs.
He was dead and for the first time in her life, Adrienne Rowan had no strength to carry on.
"Daniel, no, you can't, please, you can't leave me too. I need you, I, Daniel, I love you," she cried, all rational thought out of the window, as she pleaded with him, with his body, her meager efforts at CPR failing. Sobbing uncontrollably, Adrienne tried again, breathing and pushing, using everything she had ever learned in those lifeguarding classes in high school, in those free classes at the clinic taking care of her father, begging him, pleading, screaming at him to wake up.
"Daniel, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I love you, I love you so much, I'm so so sorry," she choked out, leaning over him, but this time she didn't even try to push the air of life into his lungs.
She didn't care, if he was lost to her she wanted to say goodbye.
There was light contact as she pressed her lips softly to his, kissing him gently, lingering longer than she should before pulling back to sit on her heels crying heavily.
"I love you…"
And then he blinked.
"Oh my gawd," she was crying, taking deep breaths in and out, gasping for air, "Daniel, Daniel, oh my gawd, I thought I lost ya."
Rubbing his face, he sat up slowly, reaching his arms around her, pulling her close to him, still shaking a bit himself from the experience. Adrienne was hysterical, sobbing, convulsing, and obviously he had appeared dead to her, so he concentrated his energy on trying to calm her down. She didn't pull away, just lay there in his arms, rambling on about being sorry and she shouldn't have done it, shouldn't have said that, and he was confused, but held her regardless, whispering into her ear.
"It's alright Ad, I'm fine, really, it's ok, calm down, I'm right here," he started and stopped, thinking how arrogant that sounded, assuming that she was crying over him rather than the shock of someone just being unconscious, dead, in front of her. Pulling back, he peered into her face, changing the subject, "I know what's going on with me. We need to get back to base now. "
He put his hand on her face to make sure she was alright, wiping her tears away with his thumb and tenderly tucking her hair behind her ear.
I love you, I'm so sorry to have scared you...
...he thought, but nothing came out.
Nodding, she stood, not wanting to worry him more, trying to put out of her mind what just happened, what she had just done, reaching down to help him to his feet.
Without any conversation, they got dressed quickly and left the apartment, the beetle jetting furiously into the night.
The mood was somber as they sat in the briefing room.
Daniel had explained everything to them and for once Adrienne didn't feel alone, since Cam and Vala were also unfamiliar with Anubis, asking almost as many questions as she did throughout the briefing.
"We must call O'Neill," Teal'c said finally, once all questions had been answered and all information shared.
Sam nodded, "What a phone call...honey, remember the guy that tried to kill us back in the day...well..."
Daniel sighed, speaking up again to clarify, "Kasuf didn't give me any indication that he was coming for us, just warning us that he was free."
"And he gave you no clue as to how to defeat him or at least protect ourselves should he decide to come this way. And Adrienne heard her name too; they said nothing to her?" Sam pushed.
"No," Daniel shook his head, "he said something about trusting in myself, but I have no idea what that's supposed to mean."
Looking equally as puzzled, Sam glanced over at his assistant, looking for confirmation.
"He's right," Adrienne confirmed, "after that initial time, I heard nothing, just saw Daniel..." she continued, but started to breath heavy, Cam reaching over to grab her arm, taking her hand in his and squeezing it tightly. It was rather disconcerting to see a friend drop dead in front of you, he had first-hand experience with that, and it was even more disconcerting to see someone you love drop dead in front of you and Cameron was fairly certain that whether or not the two of them chose to admit it, that was exactly what was going on.
"Well, I think we just need to keep our eyes open," Sam concluded, having nothing else to say, here anyway. The first thing she wanted to do was get home to Jack and talk to him, but she needed to do so in a manner that would not cause panic in the already alarmed team.
Kasuf had been allowed to break rules that Daniel himself had been punished for, to warn them. Oma DeSala was a rule breaker but even this was unusual for her, to risk Kasuf's ascended soul.
"Given this new development," Sam added, glancing over at the pair of archaeologists,"Daniel, you can return to work; I think it's safe to say that this was a result of the contact, and nothing more."
Daniel looked relieved and so was Adrienne, but there was a small part of her that was sad, a part of her that had hoped maybe this would have been the point, that maybe he did feel the same way about her, and tonight as she lay there holding him, he would roll over and tell her that he loved her, that she was all he ever wanted.
That this would have been the push they needed for their hearts to agree that this was alright.
Sitting at the briefing table, the normally feisty Cajun started to debate, sitting Daniel down and talking to him, telling him everything, but as he stood from the table, smiling and happy to be back to normal, she decided against it.
"I'm gonna go see what havoc I wreaked before we left."
Adrienne nodded.
"Ok, me too, I left things a mess. Call me if you need me?"
"Trust me," he said with a smile as they filed out, "I think I need to take a break calling you, or else one time you're gonna tell me to deal with it myself."
Forcing a smile, but her heart breaking at his words, Adrienne took herself down to her quarters.
Daniel walked into the lab, clicking on the light to make sure everything was as he left it. He checked his desk and his computer, pleased to find that Sam had kept her word and locked everyone out, especially Rodney. This week had been a nightmare, in every aspect of the word and he was glad it was over.
Partially.
It had been nice to be that close to Adrienne, sleeping in her arms. He knew it was more than just her presence that kept Kasuf and the others at bay, at least for the first two nights, he knew it was his love for her that made him less vulnerable to their intrusion. He couldn't explain it with any science or anything that made sense, but it was as if she was somehow protecting him.
It was as if she loved him too.
There was a small part of him that wanted to just go down to her quarters tonight and crawl into bed with her and this time hold her in his arms, protect her from any nightmares that she may have after all of this, but he couldn't.
If anything, this incident alone was proof that being with him, if she felt the same, would make her a target, more so than just being a part of the program itself.
Pinching his nose, he continued straightening up, shoving both Jack and Adrienne out of his thoughts.
Satisfied everything was back to normal, or at least for the most part, he decided to shut off the lights once more and pick up his work in the morning.
Sleep, he had learned, was a precious commodity.
On the way to his on base quarters, he decided to swing by Adrienne's room and thank her one more time for everything, to see her one more time. She believed him when no one else did, and didn't leave his side.
And something she had said when he came to he just couldn't quite shake.
He pondered this all the way down to her door, knocking and shouting her name when he arrived.
"Ad, hey it's me, let me in!" he yelled but got no answer.
She might be in the shower, he thought, standing there for a moment longer and knocking again.
Still no answer.
Was she alright?
He started to code himself him, take the risk that she wasn't in a state he shouldn't walk in on, when he heard her shouting from down the hall and turned to see her jogging toward him, red in the face and caked in sweat. She was wearing her running clothes and he instantly felt stupid that he hadn't assumed she would immediately go for a run, after all exercise was her number one source of stress relief and dealing with him and watching him die was certainly stressful.
"Hey, everything ok? Please tell me Rodney didn't get his itchy little fingers all over our stuff," she said as she lightly moved him over, coding herself into the room, entering and motioning behind herself for him to follow.
"No, just like we left it thankfully," he answered as he entered. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took off her iPod armband and tossed it onto her dresser, sitting on the bed to remove her shoes.
"Good to hear. You ok?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, I'm fine. No more visitors," he smiled.
"Ok..." Adrienne trailed off, as if she wanted to ask, so why are you here bothering me after I have had to spend three days of my life as your nanny?, but she said nothing more and he felt bad, down here, bothering her more.
"I wanted to thank you for being there," he said, nervously running his hands through his hair.
"No need. That's what friends do," she stood and walked over to him and then paused, screwing up her face, "I'd hug you shug, but I smell like the gym."
Agreeing, although the smell wasn't nearly as bad as she probably thought it was, he laughed, nodding his head. She raised her eyebrows playfully and walked over to her dresser, to pull out clean clothes, giving him a non-verbal cue that she wanted a shower.
"That's all. I just wanted to thank you again. You're always there when I need you," he said, turning to make his way back through the door they had left open.
"Fine, you're welcome," she paused, pursing her lips, "Are you really ok Daniel? Is there anything else? You look like you need to tell me something," Adrienne added, her arms full of clothes.
Tell me, she thought, or better yet, stay.
I just want to hold you in my arms again.
"No, that's it," he answered quickly.
I'm sorry Daniel, I shouldn't have done that, said that.
Done WHAT? Said WHAT Adrienne?
Did she say it?
Does she love me too?
"Ok, then close the door behind you please. I'll see you in the morning Indy, but if you need me, please call. I'm gonna stay here tonight, just in case," she added, turning to head for the shower.
Without another word he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him as requested. Advancing forward toward his own quarters, he paused, glancing back at the keypad.
He almost coded himself back in, just to be there when she got out, to talk to her, to hold her, to tell her everything...
Instead, Daniel shook his head, took a breath and headed for his own quarters.
"Greatest woman I've ever known," he muttered as he walked away, "And I'd ruin her life if I ever said a word."