Author's Note:

So this is my first story I've ever written - be warned! I've had this idea floating around in my head for years and I finally decided to try and write it down. I am not very good at putting my thoughts on paper and I know this isn't as amazing as it could have been, so please bear with me.

It is set in Season 4, but I did make Daniel a year older for the story's purpose. It was needed to make something work.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 or any of its characters, nor do I make any profit from this story.

5/02/21:

So, I was rereading this not long ago and was horrified on all the grammatical errors I had! Here I thought I did pretty good but apparently not…

So I fixed those and I also added two new chapters somewhere in the middle – Chapters 6 and 8. I always meant to add 6 but never ended up writing it until now and I got the idea for 8 not long ago, so enjoy!

o0o

Chapter One

Dr. Daniel Jackson unlocked his apartment door and let out a big sigh as he shut before he locked it behind him. It had been one of those days. Ancient dead civilization, ruins with alien writings, Jaffa suddenly appearing out of nowhere and trying to kill you. You know, same old, same old.

SG-1 had had a string of bad luck (though when did they ever really not have bad luck?). The last nine missions had been one firefight after another with some Jaffa shooting at them (though there was that one mission with the weird yellowish humanoids firing weird weapons at them that resembled arrows, but more high tech. Couldn't blame the Goa'uld for that mission). This last mission, in particular, Teal'c was hurt, though it was only a minor staff burn to the leg. Teal'c seemed to be more bothered about the fact that a Jaffa had an opportunity to shoot him than actually getting shot. While Junior would fix Teal'c right up within a day, this last mission prompted General Hammond to give his flagship team a much needed break from off world missions and took them off the roaster.

Major Samantha Carter had jumped on the chance to work with a piece of technology that SG-4 had brought back with them before Colonel Jack O'Neill could invite her to come fishing with him for the weekend. Teal'c decided to go visit his wife and son. Both Sam and Teal'c had stated both of their plans before O'Neill could invite them.

Daniel, on the other hand, was too slow. He tried to say he had work in his lab to do but Jack would hear none of it. They argued briefly about it until Jack gave him an ultimatum: go fishing with him or go home for some much needed rest – and no taking work home!

Daniel had chosen the latter, which brought him to where he is now. Home. In his small, cluttered, borderline hoarder-ish apartment.

He grabbed his mail, sorted the bills from the junk, and went to the kitchen to make himself some coffee. It had been an hour since his last cup. Coffee in hand, mail all sorted through, Daniel went to his answering machine, checking for messages.

Normally, he never actually had any, but for some reason, his answering machine was blinking the number eight. He frowned at the machine in confusion, wondering why he would possibly have so many messages, but hit the Play button to listen:

"Hi, this is a message for Dr. Daniel Jackson. My name is Avonlea James. We've never met but I really need to talk with you: it's urgent. Please call or email me back as soon as you get this."

She rattled off her phone number before hanging up. Daniel frowned again. Avonlea James? He thought. He didn't recognize the name at all. She said they had never met, but that didn't mean she wasn't from his old academic circle. The message was from just over three weeks ago.

He really needed to come home more often.

The next six messages were essentially the same as the first and spread out from the last three weeks, but the last one was different and was left six days ago:

"Hi, this is a message for Dr. Daniel Jackson. If this isn't his phone number, please call to let me know. If this is, please call me back anyways. This is the eighth message I've left and since it's my favorite number, it will be my last. Weird, I know.

"Anyway, please call me, Dr. Jackson. As I've said in my last seven messages, it is extremely urgent. It's actually a matter of life and death. Please call me. Literally begging here. Again, I won't call again after this message but please, please call or email me."

She left the same number which Daniel quickly wrote down, before the message ended.

Daniel could hear the strain, and dare he say, desperation in her voice. Matter of life and death? He thought to himself. Daniel looked down at his wristwatch for the time: 18:23 (6:23pm). It wasn't too late to call someone. He grabbed his cell from his pocket and dialed the number she had left.

As it rang, Daniel took a drink from his coffee, and went to the kitchen to see what he had to eat. On the fourth ring, she finally picked up:

"Hello?" tired, out of breath voice asked

Daniel shut the fridge and took a seat at his breakfast bar, "Hi, this is Daniel Jackson, I'm returning a few messages I've gotten from this number. Is this Avonlea James?"

There was a pause.

"Oh my God, you actually got them," she said in disbelief, "and you returned my call! Yes, this is Avonlea. Oh my goodness. Wow. Okay. Umm...this is going to be too hard to explain on the phone, would you mind if we met up? I know you're probably confused but I promise I will explain if we meet up."

Daniel thought for a moment and briefly considered if this was some sort of trap. Jeez, he's been working for the Air Force for way too long. He was getting too jaded. Jack was rubbing off on him too much...

"Yeah, I can do that. When and where did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Do you know Grounded Coffee Shop & Bakery?" she asked.

"Is that the one by the children's hospital?"

"Yep, that's the one. Can you meet me there tomorrow, say around 10am?" she asked, "I know it's a Saturday so if that doesn't work for you, I completely understand."

Daniel shook his head, even though she couldn't see him. "No, that works. I'll be there," he answered, "How will I know you?"

She chuckled, though it didn't seem like a humorous one. "Not to sound creepy, but I know what you look like, Dr. Jackson. I'll find you."

It did sound a little creepy to him. "Okay…"

There was a sound from her end of her line, almost like a beeping before she said, "I gotta go. I'll talk to you tomorrow." she said, hurriedly

"Okay, uhh, see you then." he replied, awkwardly

"Thank you," were her last words before she hung up.

Her last words rang with such sincerity and passion, Daniel wondered what the hell was going on and what in the world was he getting himself into.

o0o

The divine smell of coffee and baked goods greeted Daniel's senses as he entered Grounded Coffee Shop & Bakery. The atmosphere was what you'd expect from a coffee shop: beans grinding, espresso being brewed, the sound of milk being steamed, and keyboard typing.

Daniel arrived a few minutes before 10:00am, hoping to scout out this Avonlea James. It was Saturday, so most tables were taken, many with what seemed to be students studying, but in the back, there was a young woman sitting at a table in front of a window. She looked nervous and was drumming her fingers on a manila folder that sat on the table. Her legs were crossed and the top one moved rapidly back and forth, as though she was nervous.

That must be her, Daniel thought as he walked further into the coffee shop. His movement must have caught her eye because she looked up from the table and straight at him. She quickly stood and gave a slight wave.

Yep, that's her. Daniel made his way towards her.

"Avonlea James?" he asked once he was in front of her. She had copper red hair, which looked natural from where he was standing. She stood about 5'7 feet and had blue eyes. She looked oddly familiar to him, though he couldn't place how or if he knew her.

Maybe she is from my old academic circle… he thought.

She nodded. "Yes. It's nice to finally meet you, Dr. Jackson," Avonlea said as she held out her hand for him to shake.

Finally? Daniel shook her hand. "Call me Daniel, please."

She gave him a slight nod and started to sit down. "Please call me Avonlea."

Daniel sat down as well. "Avonlea? That's an interesting name. Are you..."

"Name after the town from Anne of Green Gables?" she finished for him, "Yes. I get that a lot. My mom was obsessed with the books when she was younger and decided I must be named after someone in the book when she found out I was a girl. I was almost Marilla, but then I was born with this red hair so I was almost Anne, but she didn't like how short it was so Avonlea it became," she babbled.

Daniel raised his eyebrows and just smiled at her.

Avonlea gave him a small smile back. "Sorry. I'm nervous and when I'm nervous I tend to talk a lot and babble incoherently," she explained.

"It's fine. I have a friend who does something similar. Mainly, when she's excited about or explaining something," he replied, thinking of Sam and her technobabble. Daniel put on a more serious face. "Avonlea, why am I here?"

Her smile dropped and she looked down at the table. Her fingers started tapping on the manila folder. She looked up and around the coffee shop before focusing her attention on him. "This is gonna be hard to say. Or even hear and I'm not sure how to go about it."

"Okay…" Daniel dragged out the word, trying to coax her gently.

She opened her mouth to say something but then a barista set down a cup in front of Avonlea, temporarily blocking their view from each other.

"Here ya go, Avonlea. Vanilla Latte with whip!" exclaimed the barista

Avonlea snatched up the hot cup and held it to her, as if it was a shield. She gave a soft smile to the barista. "Thanks, Kailee. You're the best."

Kailee smiled at her and turned her attention to Daniel. "Can I get you something?"

"Just a coffee, 2 creams and one sugar," Daniel replied

The barista smiled and nodded. "Coming right up!" and walked away.

Daniel turned his attention back to Avonlea. She seemed reluctant to tell him whatever was so important that she left eight messages on his answering machine over the course of three weeks. She was doing her nervous habits again; the tapping of her fingers and shaking her leg as she sat. Finally, after a minute of silence, she turned her full attention to him, straightened her back, and opened the folder in front of her.

Just rip the band-aid off, she thought. "Okay, here it goes: Melburn Jackson was my biological father," she stated, as she grabbed out a piece of paper from the manila folder and handed it in his direction, "This is my original birth certificate, stating him as my father."

Daniel froze.

"What?!" he exclaimed after a moment.

No, there was no way. She had to be younger than him. She looked way too young to be older than him, even by a year. But if she was younger, that meant that his dad…. No! That's not possible. His dad would never…not to his mom. They loved each other. He may have been young when they died but he remembered how much they loved each other.

Daniel thought hard about the last few months of their lives. Sure, they seemed to have fought more but that was normal...wasn't it? They tried to hide it but not always successfully. But that didn't mean his dad cheated on his mom. Did it?

Avonlea gave him a sympathetic smile. "Dr. Melburn Jackson was my biological father," she repeated, pushing the birth certificate closer to him.

Daniel grabbed the piece of paper and studied it. It said his dad was her father, all right. It even had all the other information for the father's section. All of it was correct and identical to his own birth certificate. Then he saw the date of birth for her. She was born one month after his parents' death...

Daniel shook his head. "No, no that's not possible," he denied as he shoved the piece of paper back at her. "This can't be right. That would make you..." he couldn't finish that sentence.

"Your sister," she finished for him, "Half-sister, that is" she said with a small smile.

Daniel was still in denial and was shaking his head again. "No, you're wrong. Your birth certificate is wrong, your mother is wrong," he stated, his voice getting agitated.

"Dr. Jackson, I assure you it's true," she said firmly. She grabbed out another document from the folder and handed it to him. "This is a custody agreement that they set up before I was born. All legal. You can verify it if you want. Your dad's signature is on it."

He grabbed it from her hands and read it. Oh God, no, no, this can't be true. As he read the document, he knew what she was saying was true. The signature at the end was indeed his father's. Daniel slammed his hand on the table in anger and frustration, startling Avonlea and making her jump slightly.

He apologized and tossed the custody agreement back on the table. Daniel took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thoughts. "How?" he asked, "Do you even know?" he asked, rhetorically, putting his glasses back on.

Before she could answer, the barista delivered his coffee with a smile to both of them and hurried away.

"I do, actually," she stated after the coffee was delivered, "Would you like to hear it?"

He wasn't sure if he did. What on earth had provoked his dad to cheat on his wife? "I don't know. I mean, this can't be happening! This can't be real!"

"I assure you, Dr. Jackson, it's true." Daniel noted that she still called him Dr. Jackson and not Daniel. He took a big sip of his coffee, wishing it was something stronger. "About ten months before I was born, your parents decided to separate…" she began

"No, no," Daniel interrupted, setting his cup down, "That never happened," he insisted.

"I know this is hard for you but please let me tell the story. You can judge after I have finished, okay?" her voice had a no-nonsense edge to it. Daniel nodded in agreement and she continued.

"Anyway, they were separated. Your mom took you and herself to her dad's, not sure where, and your dad came back to the States. He came to New York, met my mom, they had a fling, nothing serious. Lasted about a month before your dad decided he missed you and your mom, that he had made a mistake, and wanted to get back together with her.

"He called her up, explained all of this, and even admitted his fling with my mom. From what I was told, your parents didn't get back together right away but they worked on it more. He went where you two were staying. They got back together officially about two months after his fling with my mom.

"My mom found out she was pregnant with me about a month later. She wasn't supposed to be able to have kids, so it took a bit to figure it out. When she did, she called your dad up and told him. To my understanding, it caused tension with your parents, but your dad refused to outright abandon me completely. Then you all came back to the States to set up the museum exhibit."

Daniel flinched at the mention of the museum exhibit. It was the last one they did. It was the one where they had lost their lives. Now he really wished he had something stronger to drink, even though he was a notorious lightweight. He tried hard not to think about it and focus on the rest of her tale.

Avonlea noticed his flinch. She knew he had been there that day. She tried to approach this more gently, "Before they started to set up, Melburn and my mom met up with their lawyers and set up the custody agreement. It was nothing fancy. My mom would have full custody and your dad would get visits when he was in the State. If he was in the State during Summer for an extended period of time, I would stay with him for one month, once I was a certain age."

She smiled gently at him and made sure he understood her next words, "You and your mom were his top priorities," she said emphatically. After taking a sip of her latte, she smiled at him when he sent her a guilty look.

"Don't feel guilty. I never knew him, so I don't know what I was missing. Besides, my mom met my dad when I was two months old. They married when I was seven months. He's the only dad I've ever known. He legally adopted me, hence why I brought my original birth certificate," she stated, tapping her finger on said paper.

Right, he thought, she did say original.

"And that's it. That's the tale," she said, downing the rest of her coffee like it was wine, "Questions?"