"The future enters into us, in order to transform us, long before it happens."
Into The PastThe halls of the SGC were empty as Colonel Jack O'Neill quietly made his way to the embarkation room. General George Hammond had called him to the base, in the middle of the night to "supervise" some repairs being done on the stargate. This is probably punishment for *accidentally* bringing that alien virus back from P3C 256. Jack thought grimly. It's not only my fault that those weird jars Daniel insisted on bringing back, contained some ancient virus and was the cause of half the personnel on base throwing up for days. That last thought brought a small smile to Jack's face as he replayed their last briefing over in his head, where General Hammond's face had slowly turned a lovely shade of green and all of a sudden he had jumped out of his chair running to his office to throw up in the garbage can. Suppressing a chuckle, Colonel O'Neill entered the gate room where Major Samantha Carter and Sgt. Siler, along with a half dozen technicians were trying to re-route some power cables to and from the stargate.
"Mornin' Major" he said to his 21C.
" Hi Sir…is it really morning already?" She asked putting down a wrench to look at her watch, then running a hand over her tired face.
"Ya, it is and as soon as you're done here, you're going to go get some sleep"
"Yes Sir after I get some work done in my lab" she said quickly, hoping that this be that 'once in a blue moon' that he didn't argue about her sleeping habits.
He gave her a look that said, "Do what I say 'cause I said so and that's an order" and she gave a little smile back wishing he would leave her to her work.
The Colonel sat on a crate out of everyone's way and just watched them work, he saw Daniel come in and waved him over.
"Hey Jack, whatcha doing here at this hour" he asked cheerily. His eyes dancing around the room so fast that the Colonel thought they would pop out of his head. Have another coffee why don't you, Danny-boy he thought sarcastically.
"Have another coffee why don't you, Danny-boy," he said, and in return Daniel simply rolled his eyes, but was thinking that another coffee sounded really good at the moment. With that he turned to leave just as the stargate activated and began to engage the chevrons, sending all the tech's, Sgt. Siler and Major Carter scrambling as far away from it as possible. "Unauthorised gate activation" the computer blared over the loud speakers as General Hammond entered the control room completely confused.
"Colonel?" General Hammond asked over the intercom as the fourth chevron engaged. Jack shrugged,
"Carter?" he asked.
"Um, I – uh, I don't know sir, we just hooked up the power converter to the gate but there wasn't even close to enough power to activate the gate". Her brow furrowed and she bit her lip thoughtfully as she tried to figure out what was going on. The sixth chevron engaged as the marines came in guns drawn pointed at the gate, and Sgt. Siler followed by the tech's left the room. Colonel O'Neill, Carter, and Daniel ducked behind the crate Jack had been sitting on and readied themselves for what ever was going to come through the gate. The Iris began to close but then stopped and fully opened as the seventh chevron locked and the wormhole was engaged.
The marines collectively tightened their grips on their weapons as they waited. A few moments later a single person came flying through the stargate landing with a loud thud in a heap, at the base of the ramp. Energy blast's followed hitting the wall above the marine's heads and the wormhole disengaged.
What the hell was that? O'Neill thought as he, Daniel and Carter slowly emerged from their hiding place and walked over to the person lying in the ramp. Jack cautiously made his way around the female to kneel in front of her. He reached out to feel for a pulse, but retracted his hand when the girl, who he guessed was in her mid-teens, groaned bringing a hand to her head and tried to sit up.
"Hey, hey, easy there kiddo" Jack said grasping her elbow to steady her. She looked up wearily, her eyes darting between Carter, Jack, Daniel and General Hammond, who had just entered pushing his way through the marines who still had their guns pointed at the girl. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
"Stand down" Hammond ordered the marines, not taking his eyes of the girl. "Who's this?" he asked, his eyebrows rose in question.
"Good question sir" Jack replied, his eyes shifting to Daniel. "Do your thing Daniel."
"What?" was the response. Jack sighed loudly, loosening his grip on the girl's arm.
"You know – the 'hi I'm Daniel and we won't hurt you, where the hell are you from', speech"
"Oh". Daniel moved closer to the girl and knelt down beside Jack. " Hi" he started off with.
"That was original" Jack quirked. General Hammond and Major Carter both glared at him "I'm Daniel, what's your name?" the girl looked at him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Her gaze shifted from his face and panned those of the people standing over her. She frowned,
"W-w-what year is it?" she asked in whisper. SG-1 and General Hammond exchanged glances as Daniel answered,
"It's 2002, why do you ask?" Her eyes widened and she looked around her surroundings obviously thinking of something. "What is your name?" he tried again.
"Leigh" She looked around once more, leaned onto her knees and stood up shakily. Jack and Daniel rose with her, ready to catch her if need be.
"Let's get you to Doc Fraiser" Jack said, and at a nod from General Hammond, gently guided the girl to the door, followed closely by the rest of SG-1, including Teal'c who had entered silently as introductions were being made.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"So, what is your name?" Dr. Janet Fraiser asked the SGC's latest visitor, as she began the standard medical examination. Bright blue eyes looked up at the doctor, strands of golden blond hair falling across them. The girl studied her face intently, then looking down at her hands which were clasped tightly together in her lap, simply answered,
"Leigh" Janet gave her a friendly smile receiving a forced one in return.
"Alright now I'm going to take a blood sample so your going to feel a little pinch from the needle okay?" Leigh nodded staring at the wall behind the doctor's head, so lost in thought that she didn't even feel the needle go in. "So, where are you from?" Janet queried trying to solve the five and a half foot mystery sitting on the bed in front of her.
"Here" was the dull response. Janet raised her eyebrows and then frowned, puzzled with what the girl said.
"What do you mean? – 'here' as in earth?" Leigh nodded trying to figure out how to explain the situation, which she didn't particularly understand herself. Seeing the confusion in Dr. Fraiser's eyes Leigh offered more by way of an explanation.
"I am from here in Colorado, but from the future I think" Janet stared at the girl in disbelief. She opened her mouth to say something but Leigh continued before she got any words out. "It's 2002 right?" Janet nodded. "Well I'm from 2021". Leigh watched as Janet eyed her carefully. She probably thinks I'm nuts, Leigh thought.
"We should go see the General, he's waiting for us, well actually you, in the briefing room with SG-1" Janet said quickly, not quite sure what to make of the girl. Leigh hopped off the bed and began walking out of the infirmary with the doctor. She stopped in the doorway.
"Um…Dr. Fraiser?"
"Yes?" Janet replied, turning around to face the girl.
"Um – I – uh well you see – you know how you took a sample of my blood? Well – um.. I bet you're going to find that it matches someone who works here," Leigh stammered trying to get to the point.
"Huh? Who's? I don't understand, are you saying that some one at the SGC is…your parent… in the future?" Janet narrowed her eyes as Leigh's head bobbed up and down in affirmation. "Can I ask who?" Leigh hesitated.
"If I tell you and the person finds out it could change the future, then my dad may not have me or my brothers and –" Leigh clamped her hands over her mouth, closing her eyes momentarily in frustration.
"I won't tell anyone if that's what you want, doctor-patient confidentiality after all" Janet said with a small comforting smile. Leigh scanned the area around them for anyone listening. She took a step forward and leaned in to the petit doctor who was about three inches shorter than her.
"Dr. Jackson" was all she said. Janet's jaw dropped.
"Daniel?! – Daniel Jackson? Daniel's your father?" Leigh nodded somewhat amused at the doctor's reaction. "Well, I…uh…" she paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out loudly " your secret is safe with me". With that they turned and made their way to the briefing room in silence.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"So where do we think this girl is from?" asked General Hammond, from his seat at the head of the briefing room table. To his right sat Colonel O'Neill who responded with a shrug of his shoulders. Major Carter, who sat to the General's left with Teal'c and Daniel, presented an explanation.
"Sir, the chevrons that the stargate engaged were Earth's coordinates, but that's impossible since there is only one gate on the planet, the secondary stargate was destroyed when the Goa'uld infiltrated the NID last year."
"Maybe she came from an alternate reality" Daniel offered. Jack rolled his eyes and General Hammond raised an eyebrow in doubt.
"Actually Daniel your not that far off" Janet stated, as she and Leigh entered the room, Janet sitting beside Jack and Leigh beside her, across from Daniel.
"Please explain Doctor" Hammond said leaning further into the table.
"It seems that this young lady is from the future" All eyes, minus Janet's, were on Leigh. She shifted uncomfortably under the sudden attention.
"The future?" Jack asked incredulously. Leigh nodded slightly giving a small smile.
"What year?" asked Carter, who was already mesmerized with the thought of breaking the laws of physics once again.
"2021"
"Wow" Daniel thought aloud.
"How did you get here?" asked Hammond. The stargate, duh. Leigh made a face showing her confusion. He rephrased the question, "what made you come through the gate into the past? I assume that you weren't intentionally trying to time travel."
"Uh – I have no idea sir, I only found out about the stargate two days ago"
"Why were you going through?" Jack asked cautiously. Leigh looked Janet for help. But Teal'c came to her aide first.
"Would it not perhaps change the future by telling what happened in her time O'Neill?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in question.
"Carter?" O'Neill asked looking slightly perplexed.
"It's true sir, it's like when we traveled back to 1969 we couldn't tell anyone anything about … well, anything because it could have changed the course of history."
"Ahhh the Grandfather Paradox" Jack mused, getting a surprised look from Carter. "What? I do listen to what you say sometimes ya know," he said feigning hurt.
"Grandfather Paradox?" Leigh asked tiredly, rubbing her temple in response to her growing headache.
Carter answered, "It basically means if you kill your grandfather, then your father wouldn't be born and therefore neither would you and so on".
"So you're from the future, but how do you explain the energy blasts that followed you through the stargate?" Hammond wondered interrupting the Major's lecture.
"They were shots from a Goa'uld staff weapon General Hammond" Teal'c put in.
"The Goa'uld were on Earth…attacking the base?" Jack exclaimed.
"Goa'uld?" Leigh said slowly.
"Glowing eyes, weird voice, snake in the head…." Jack explained
"Sounds about right" Leigh said quietly focusing her attention on her hands clasped in front of her.
"In your bag that you brought with you, there was a computer disk, do you have any idea what's on it?" Major Carter asked gently. Leigh shook her head, regretting it immediately as she was reminded of her headache with a sharp pounding. Note to self: don't move head. "Well, who gave you the disk?"
"You did."
"Why did you have it?"
"You – uh – told me to give it to whoever was in charge at the Alpha Site"
"I did?"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
"Major, have a look at it and see what's on it-"
"Yes Sir"
"Colonel, Dr. Jackson, Teal'c, could one of you please show our guest to a VIP room? …Dismissed," Hammond stood and left the room.
Carter left the room in a rush to see what was on the disk, while the men of SG-1 got up and waited for Leigh at the door. Dr. Fraiser squeezed past Teal'c and Daniel and went back to the infirmary.
Leigh walked silently beside Daniel, staring at her shoes as they got off the elevator at sub-level 26. They walked for a couple minutes before coming to VIP Room 4.
"This is it" Jack said like an over-caffinated tour guide, opening the door so she could step in.
"Thanks" Leigh said quietly looking each man in the eye. She hoped they would leave her to rest, but no such luck, as Jack walked in the room and sat down at a table, Daniel and Teal'c following suit. Leigh sat awkwardly on the end of the bed facing SG-1.
"So… what's the future like?" Jack asked trying to make conversation. He leaned back in the chair clasping his hands behind his head. Daniel fiddled with his coffee mug, and Teal'c sat as stoic as ever. Leigh just shrugged in response to his question, staring at the floor distractedly. Please leave me alone. She thought as the events of the last couple days, replayed in her mind over and over again.
"Oookay… do any of us still work at the SCG?" Jack asked wincing inwardly at what he had just said. There probably isn't an SGC left you idiot! Jack reprimanded himself.
"Jack she can't say, remember? The whole 'changing the future thing'." Daniel lightly scolded his CO, glancing at Leigh who shot him a look of relief. "We should probably go now, let you get some rest" Daniel hinted to his teammates who got up and left he room saying goodbye. "Get some rest, we'll come by and get you for lunch in a few hours, okay?" Daniel watched the girl sigh deeply and look at him with sad sapphire eyes.
"Okay" she said sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Daniel wanted to grab her into a hug and tell her it was alright, but instead shot her a smile and left he room shutting the door softly behind him.
Poor kid, he thought as he headed to his office to catch up on some translations.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"Hey Carter, whatcha up to?" Jack said curiously as he entered the Major's lab bouncing a rubber ball in front of him. She was busy typing furiously at her computer.
"You're not going to believe this sir" She glanced up from the monitor with wide, excited eyes, not noticing the Colonels ball knocking over one of her devices.
"Believe what?"
"This disk that Leigh had with her has all the blueprints on it for an earth-size defence shield against the Goa'uld, or any other hostiles for that matter!" She shifted her chair over a few inches so Jack could see the screen. Jack leaned in to see the screen he scrolled down the page his eyes widening almost as much as Carter's, at what he saw. Taking a couple steps back he leaned against a table.
"So this disk has the plans for some huge honkin' shields, to protect earth from the snakeheads?" he asked raising his eyebrows.
"Yes sir" Carter said enthusiastically
"Sweet"
"Yes sir… um I was thinking that we should go talk to Leigh see if the shield was activated in her time, you know – to see if it possibly works."
"I was thinking the same thing Major"
"You were?" Carter said, doubt and disbelief dripping off each word.
Jack looked her in the eye guiltily, "Actually I was thinking of the hockey game that's on tomorrow… yeah…so… we should go talk to the kid." They got up and left the lab heading to the VIP rooms.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
~ 'Ring, ring, ring' "Hello?"
"Leigh, sweetheart? Are your brothers there with you?"
"…Yeah, Dad what's up?" She asked curiously
"I want you to call a cab and get yourself, Matt and Will here to the base okay?" Daniel asked anxiously.
"Why? – Dad what's going on?"
"Just get here!" he ordered. Leigh heard a car come up the driveway.
"Okay dad- oh wait, mom just got home I'll go get h-"
"No! Get your brothers out of the house now! That's not mom do you hear me? Take your cell and get out. Get to the base okay?
"Okay" Leigh said hanging up the phone, beginning to panic. 'What did he mean that's not mom?' She peered out behind the curtains watching as a woman, who sure looked like her mom, start her way up the walk along the garage. "Matt! Will!" She shouted as quietly as possible as she scrambled to get her coat on and grab her phone. Remembering that they were playing in the backyard she quickly locked the front door and ran to the back. She found them playing with their action figures at the side of the house. "Guys come on we gotta get out of here now!"
"Leigh? Matt? Will?" a voice identical to their mothers called from inside the house.
"We-" Will's response was cut short as Leigh covered his mouth with her hand.
"Guys that's not mom, dad called and said to get to the base immediately, so-" the back door opened and they heard footsteps on the patio. Without thinking Leigh handed Matt her cell phone "take this, get to town and call a cab okay? Tell the driver to go to Cheyenne Mountain Complex, alright," she whispered
"But-" Matt started.
"No buts now go, I'll meet you at dad's work okay" she said trying not to scare the eleven year old further. She gave them both a quick hug, and watched as they ran across the front lawn, disappearing around the next block. A hand grabbed her by the back of her jacket and flung her against the side of the house headfirst. "Mom?" she managed to say before receiving a kick in the stomach. Leigh struggled to catch her breath as she was once again picked up by her jacket. A hand went to her neck and tightened its grasp. Leigh was lifted off the ground, and thrown into the house. Sputtering and coughing she got up and tried to run, but was stopped when a wave of energy hit her straight on sending her crashing into the lawn chairs. Her head hurt so much and she couldn't catch her breath. Slowly raising her head she saw her mother advance toward her. "Mom" she gasped, "stop!" she begged trying to catch her breath. A chilling, heartless laughter was the only response her 'mother' gave. Leigh struggled to sit up, but stopped when her mom held out her hand that was encrusted with a metal device that held a red jewel in the middle of her palm. An evil smile crossed her mom's face and her eyes glowed for a moment. The hand device was slowly raised to Leigh's head.
"I will take much pleasure in killing my host's firstborn," a hollow mechanical sounding voice said, coming from her mother.
"Oh god no!" Leigh pleaded.
"Stop or we'll shoot!!" a familiar voice shouted from behind them. 'Jack!' Leigh thought.
"Let her go!" another voice yelled. 'Dad?' The red jewel in the hand device, still pointed at Leigh began to glow and a beam of light connected with Leigh's forehead. Excruciating pain seared through her head as tears poured down her cheeks. Her head felt like it was being cracked in half. Three gunshots rang out and the pain came to stop. Leigh collapsed to the ground breathing heavily. She opened her eyes slightly to see her mother lying further away on the ground with three bullet holes in her chest. She slowly sat up, as her dad reached her putting his hands on either side of her face and looking her in the eyes. He pulled her into a tight embrace and rubbed her back, trying and failing to reassure her everything was okay. Her body shook with sobs, as she saw, over her dads shoulder, a couple of soldiers pick up her mother's motionless body. Leigh watched as her mother's head roughly lolled to the side and lifeless blue eyes burned into her own which were drowning in tears.~
Leigh sat up quickly drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably. Only a dream, only a dream she told herself as she looked around remembering she was in the SGC. She threw off the covers and got out of bed, when did I fall asleep? She wondered as she rubbed a hand over her sweaty face. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her dream replayed vividly in her mind. Oh god why did she have to die? I miss her so much! She stood up and grabbed a tissue to wipe her tears with; crumpling it up she made a perfect shot into the metal garbage can in the corner.
A loud knock sounded at the door as it opened and Colonel O'Neill's head popped in with his eyes squeezed shut.
"You decent?" he asked.
With a small forced laugh she said yes and he stepped in followed by Major Carter. Seeing that the bed was unmade Carter asked, "Did we wake you up?"
"No" Leigh shook her head. They all sat down at the table, Carter and Jack on one side, facing Leigh on the other. Maybe if I get rid of the table people will stop coming here. Leigh wondered thoughtfully looking at the piece of furniture in question.
"The reason we're here, Leigh, is that on the disk there was plans for an Earth-size defence shield, and we just want to know if it was activated in your time or not".
"I – uh – I wouldn't know, like I said before I only found out what you guys do in this mountain a couple days ago, then I was sent here today, and that's about it."
"Was anyone else sent through the gate with you?" Jack asked lightly. Sadness flickered across Leigh's eyes before she answered,
"Um yeah, I was sent through with two others. The...uh… Goa'uld shot these weapon things at us as we went through and next thing I know I'm here and my- uh – the others weren't." She finished quickly.
Jack looked at his second in command, who was lost in thought. He opened his mouth to speak and –"sir, that's how she got here!"
"Huh?" Jack and Leigh said in unison.
"The energy blast from the staff weapons must have somehow overloaded the power supply to the stargate altering the wormholes connection as she stepped through. If we can somehow recreate the electrical overload then maybe we could send her back to her time." Sam said, her mind working a mile a minute, if not faster.
"I'll go and work on it now" She said looking at O'Neill for approval, who nodded as she left the room in a hurry.
"..Ladies and gentleman what you have just witnessed can only be described as the eye of Hurricane Carter." Jack joked in a radio announcer's voice, drawing out a small giggle from Leigh. Jack studied the girl in front of him for a moment, looking into her eyes which, hiding nothing, were filled with pain and sorrow.
"What?" She asked under his curious stare.
"You're Daniel's kid aren't you?" She was taken back in surprise. How did he know that!?
"You can't tell anyone!" she blurted out frantically. He grinned,
"Don't worry 'bout it, I won't say a word… does anyone else know?"
"Dr. Fraiser" He nodded. "How did you know?"
"Know that you're his? Well, you both sorta talk the same and besides, you've got his eyes" Jack said thoughtfully, still grinning.
"So you're not gonna tell anyone are you, right?" Leigh asked again hopefully, just making sure that she wouldn't be at fault if the future were changed. He shook his head. They fell into an awkward silence, both looking at various objects around the room.
"So…." Jack said a grin appearing on his lips. "Who's your mom?"
"You know I can't tell you Colonel" Leigh said with a smirk as his face fell and then lit up again as he thought of another question.
"Call me Jack…. well, let's see… you got the blues eyes from Daniel, the blond hair obviously from your mother-" Jack's eyes widened, "it's not Sam is it?" To his relief Leigh shook her head. "Does she work a the SGC?" Leigh cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows as if to say 'give it up'. Jack caught the look and looked at his hands deep in thought.
"Okay… um… who went through the gate with you? Your parents?"
"No" Leigh said sadly her eyes lowered to her fingers where she was picking at her blue nail polish.
"Who then?…nothing you say has to leave this room ya know" Jack said quietly as he looked at her with concern.
"My two little brothers" she said looking up to meet his eyes.
"Three kids? Daniel had three kids… cool" Jack sat back in amazement, never pictured Daniel as much of the family man, he thought.
"He technically didn't have us" Leigh joked, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Smart-ass" Jack remarked rolling his eyes.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
After Jack left Leigh decided to try to get some more sleep, this time hopefully with no nightmares. She removed her shoes and climbed under the covers. She reached over to the nightstand and turned off the lamp, quickly glancing at the digital clock on the wall, which read 1700 hours. Military, she thought rolling her eyes as she lay down and got into a comfortable position. Leigh was asleep in a matter of minutes.
~ "Dad! Are you okay?!" Leigh knelt down beside her father, who was leaning against a wall deep within Cheyenne Mountain. Leigh's eyes traveled over his chest where blood was pouring out of a large charred wound. "Oh my –"
"Leigh listen to me sweetie, I need you to," he coughed roughly, blood dripping out of his mouth, "take your brothers and go through the stargate okay?"
"But you're-"
"Please Leigh you've got to go, your brothers are in the gate-room waiting" Daniel lifted a hand weakly to his daughter's face and gently wiped away her tears, "remember that your mom and me love all of you so much…so much" he was crying now as well. Daniel gasped in pain and his breath began to become rapid and shallow. "Dad?" Leigh looked down the halls for anyone that could help. He grunted in pain holding his chest as his head rolled to the side. Daniel lay still.
"Dad?" Leigh shook him by the shoulders, "Dad!" she shook him harder, her voice raising an octave. "Daddy, don't leave me, please," she begged grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and shook him once more before falling back to lean against the opposite wall. "Oh god!" She raised a hand to her mouth in an effort to stop the bile rising in her throat. Her body trembled, as she tried to resist the sobs that were threatening to overcome her. Her father was dead. What was she supposed to do now, she couldn't take care of her brothers alone, no sixteen year old could. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see General Sam Carter kneeling down beside her.
"Leigh come on we got to get you and your brothers out of here!" Sam pulled her into a standing position and pushed her forward, forcing her to run the rest of the way to the embarkation room. The thick metal doors opened as Sam and Leigh entered the gate-room to see the stargate activated and her brothers standing at the end of the ramp looking absolutely petrified.
"Leigh? What's going on" Matt asked in no more than a whisper clutching a duffel bag tightly in his small hands, "Where's dad?" Leigh looked away from him trying to hold her self together for a little while longer, if not for her brothers' sake then for her own. Sam placed herself in Leigh's line of vision,
"Take this disk," she ordered, shoving a blue disk into Leigh's purse, "give it to Colonel Hailey at the Alpha Site, okay?" Leigh nodded numbly as Sam pulled her into a tight hug. She pushed the distraught teenager up the ramp. Leigh turned to look at Sam one last time as her brother's went through the gate; three Jaffa entered the room weapons activated and pointed at Sam. Leigh gasped as she saw them shoot Sam in the back twice, they aimed their weapons at her but she leapt through the gate, shots flying all around her. ~
"Leigh, wake up…. Come on kiddo wake up" Leigh awoke to someone shaking her by her shoulders. She shot up quickly, frantically looking at her surroundings.
"Jack?" she asked in a whisper, her voice cracking as she burst into tears, Jack pulled her into a hug.
"Ya, it's me, shhhh, shhhh it's okay" Jack said quietly trying to calm Leigh down, as he pulled her into a hug.
Jack sat there rubbing her back, until she stopped crying, and pulled away from him. "Wanna talk about it?" Jack asked gently.
"No, I'm fine, don't worry about it" she replied, offering him a smile, that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Ya sure and I'm the queen of England" he joked. Leigh leaned back and looked at his face carefully.
"You know it think I see a resemblance-" she was cut off with a pillow being smacked over her head. "Hey! No fair there's only one pillow!" She laughed as she jumped off the bed and ducked another swing of the pillow. Leigh dove for the pillow and succeeded on getting away from Jack. She accomplished hitting him a few times with it until he yelled, "truce!"
She flopped down into a chair trying to catch her breath, as did Jack. Leigh looked over to him,
"Thanks Jack" was all she said with a genuine smile. He nodded and suggested that they go get some dinner in the commissary.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
After dinner Jack took Leigh topside of the mountain to look at the stars. Leigh was completely silent as Jack pointed out certain constellations talking about them in detail. She didn't want to interrupt or tell him that he already told her about the stars, in the future that is, so she just listened.
Jack escorted Leigh back to her room afterwards, telling her good night. He nodded to the SF posted at the door and headed toward his office to catch up on some long awaited paper work. Leigh entered her room and reached for the light switch. The room was engulfed in the yellow glow from the light fixture, revealing three men in one corner of the room. Leigh reached for the doorknob and tried to open the door but found that the door was either locked or being held shut from the other side.
"What do you want?" she demanded. Trying to hide her panic. The shortest man took a step forward, and Leigh unconsciously took one back.
"Hello Leigh" was all he said.
"Who are you?" she asked her voice shaking. The man let out a cold hard laugh.
"Don't be afraid of us, Leigh we just want to talk to you, alright?" the short man looked back the huge men behind him and nodded. Both men advanced on Leigh, who tried to back up even further but found herself trapped between them and the wall. One pulled a small black case out of his pocket. Opening it he revealed a syringe that had a yellow substance already in it.
"Hey I thought you said you just wanted to talk," she said flippantly not taking her eyes off the needle, which the man was testing, squirting a bit of the solution out of it. He approached her and simultaneously the other man grabbed her arms, holding her tightly. Leigh screamed but was cut off by a hand being forced over her mouth. She struggled watching the needle slide into her arm and could feel the liquid coursing through her veins. Her mind quickly became fuzzy and she couldn't think straight. The room became blurry and unfocused and Leigh's knees buckled. The hand over her mouth was removed and strong arms caught her as she slipped into unconsciousness. Leigh's motionless body was slipped into a wooden shipping crate and the lid nailed on. The three figures opened the door to find their forth and headed down the hall, pushing the trolley that the crate was on, to the elevators. They made it to the elevator and went up ten floors getting out to go on the next set of lifts that would take them to the surface.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
Jack O'Neill was walking down a base corridor whistling, when he ran into something coming around the corner. He looked down to see a shipping crate on a trolley, and back up to see Colonel Maybourne and three other men who Jack assumed to be Air Force officers.
"Maybourne" Jack acknowledged.
"Jack, fancy meeting you here" Maybourne sneered.
"Yeah well I do kinda work here ya know." Maybourne rolled his eyes impatiently,
"Yes, well if you'll excuse me I have to get this back to Area 51"
"Watcha got in there, must be something pretty big" Jack asked glancing at the crate.
"If you must know Jack, it is some ceremonial urns that SG-7 brought back from P6X 381" Maybourne inwardly prayed that O'Neill wouldn't sense he was lying.
"Well then I won't keep you" Jack said sweetly, stepping aside and making a sweeping motion with his arm to let them by. Maybourne and his cronies walked past and entered the elevator, Maybourne giving a small wave as the doors slid shut. O'Neill childishly made a face at the closed elevator doors and then continued on his way, all thoughts of Maybourne fleeing his mind in record time.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
It was so cold. Cold, damp, and eerily quiet. Wherever she was it wasn't the SGC anymore. Flashes of men, giving her a needle, everything getting fuzzy, came back to Leigh as she struggled to sit up on the cold cement floor. Her head was pounding and the room, which she could make out as having stone walls and a steel door, slowly stopped spinning. She could hear footsteps coming towards the door and it swung open to show the short man from her room at the SGC.
"Oh good you're awake" was all he said and two men, different from the ones before, came and pulled her to her feet by her arms. Leigh grunted in pain as they nearly pulled her arms out of their sockets. Leigh's arms were handcuffed to two long chains, which held her uncomfortably spread out in a semi-standing position.
"So, I hear you're from the future, correct?" Maybourne said more of a statement than a question.
"Go to hell" Leigh spat out. A fist flew through the air connecting with her face, whipping her head to the side. Me. and. my. big. mouth. Leigh thought trying to focus her vision.
"Now, if you co-operate you won't be hurt…much, how's that sound?" Maybourne asked with a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "See am I a nice guy or what?"
"You're an ass," Leigh gasped as another blow came her way, this time in her stomach knocking the wind out of her. She wanted to keel over to catch her breath but the chains holding her arms up withheld the tension she was putting on them and painfully ripped at the skin on her wrists. Leigh could feel blood beginning to drip down her sleeve to her elbow. She opened her eyes, and concentrated on the ground in front of her slowly regaining what was left of her composure; she saw the toe of a shiny black boot come up and connect violently with a sickening crack to her ribs. Leigh screamed in blinding pain and tears formed in her eyes threatening to spill down cheeks.
"Why are you doing this?" she wheezed.
"To tell you the truth, I want to know about 'future' technology, so maybe, just maybe I can make my millions and retire comfortably". Maybourne said honestly smiling at the thought of being famous and rich, being able to look down from his pedestal on people like Colonel O'Neill and Hammond.
"I will leave for now, let you get some rest, but I'll be back, don't you worry". With that Leigh was un-cuffed and she dropped like a rock to the floor in pain.
The thick steel door slammed loudly and made the floor vibrate momentarily, egging on Leigh's throbbing headache, not to mention sending tremors of excruciating pain through her ribs, two at least of which were broken she was sure of.
Please find me, she silently begged no one in particular, as she fell in to a pain induced unconsciousness.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"Hey Carter whatcha up to?" Colonel O'Neill asked Sam, meeting her in the corridors of the SGC.
"I am on my way to go get Leigh for lunch, I didn't see her get any breakfast, so she must be hungry by now."
"Mind if I join you?"
"Sure sir" Major Carter smiled, and she quickly dodged Daniel who was coming around the corner, in his usually absentminded state.
"Oh hey guys, you seen Leigh around today? I just went to get her to go to lunch but she's not in her room". Daniels gaze went back and forth between Jack and Sam as he spoke.
"She's not in her room? Have you seen her at all today?" Carter directed her question at her two teammates. Both men shook their heads.
"Did you ask the SF at the door?" Carter queried. Daniel shook his head again. "There wasn't one there."
"The SF!" O'Neill exclaimed, anger etched in to each line in his face. Daniel and Sam shared blank looks. "Last night after I had dinner with Leigh, I took her back to her room, about ten or fifteen minutes later I ran into Maybourne and few of his buddies, I didn't notice it then but one of the guys was the SF!"
"So Maybourne took her?" Daniel asked skeptically. "How?"
"Uh… they had a big shipping crate with them, said it was some urns or something SG7 brought back from a planet."
"SG7 didn't bring anything back from any planet…", Daniel stated. "…Leigh must have been in it!"
"We've got to find her, God knows what Maybourne's got in store for her", Major Carter said as she turned around, over her shoulder she said, "We gotta tell General Hammond". Colonel O'Neill and Daniel ran to catch up to her.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
General Hammond was finishing up signing mission reports when, his office door was thrown open, without so much as knock. To his surprise he saw three quarters of SG-1, seemingly upset about something.
"SG-1?" he cautiously asked his premier team, his gaze traveling from one face to the next. Major Carter took a small step forward,
"General, sir, we think Colonel Maybourne has Leigh".
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"Hey kid… come on kid wake up… hey…" Leigh felt a rough hand gently tapping her cheek.
"Wha-" Leigh awoke and looked up to see on of the men that had taken her from the VIP room at the SGC. She pushed herself away, quickly to the adjacent wall, trying to prevent another beating like the ones that had followed consecutively every hour on the hour since the first one. She was so close to just telling them what they wanted, but she knew the result could possibly hurt her brothers in the future or any of her friends or family for that matter.
"Please no more" she pleaded in no more than a raspy whisper.
"I'm not going to hurt you, ok? See? I'm staying right here, alright?" The man said honestly. Leigh carefully scrutinized his face, searching for any faulting in his sincerity.
"Help me get out," she said hopefully, pain ever so evident in her voice.
"I can't do that" Leigh went on to argue, but the man held up a hand silencing her, "I just brought you some water, I just want you to know that I don't agree with what they are doing to you, and I would stop it if I could, but I can't so I am truly sorry". Leigh gave the man a disgusted look the best she could with a swollen, bleeding face and took the bottle of water and downed half of it before giving it back to the man.
"You're a coward" was all she said before turning away from him, not seeing the admittance, pain and regret that flashed across the mans face as he left the cell quietly.
Silently Leigh began to sob. Her body shook but she made no noise, afraid that her captors would hear and use it to their advantage. She cried not only for the pain she was in and how entirely terrified she was, but also for her parents who she'd never see again in her time, and for her little brothers who were now all alone in a military establishment on a whole other planet, twenty years in the future. This sucks, Leigh thought sourly.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
SG-1 and General Hammond sat around the table in the briefing room. Not one of them knew where Leigh could have gotten to, or who took her, although Colonel O'Neill was very vocal in his opinion that Colonel Harry Maybourne was behind her disappearance.
"Colonel, we cannot just jump to the conclusion that Colonel Maybourne is responsible for this, false accusations can have dire consequences", Hammond sternly told Jack.
"Sir?" a security technician stood in the doorway holding a videocassette.
"What is it Lieutenant?" Hammond asked impatiently.
"Uh- I have the security tape of VIP Room 4, there's something I think you may want to see general, sir." The lieutenant handed the tape to Daniel who was closest to the door and quickly did an about face and left the room. Daniel looked to the General who nodded and he got up and put the cassette in the VCR in the corner. The tape showed colonel O'Neill walking Leigh to the door and then leaving. Leigh opened the door and went in, immediately after the SF outside the door grabbed the doorknob and held it while watching over his shoulder for anyone who might see him. A few minutes' later three men emerged from the room pushing a large crate. The man leading the way glanced up at the security camera and gave a small smile and wave and he and his men went on their way.
"Maybourne." Jack said, the name seemingly leaving a bad taste in his mouth.
"SG1 I want you to do anything necessary to find out where Colonel Maybourne has taken Leigh, you are permitted to go and get her when you do so, understood?"
"Yes sir" was the undisputed response.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
The heavy steel door groaned as it opened and Leigh made no effort to stop the inevitable abuse to come. She was tired, sore and on the verge of giving up entirely and couldn't care less what they did to her now. Her spirit was hanging on by a thread, as was her sanity; she didn't even bother to look up from her sitting position to Maybourne when he crouched down in front of her.
"How are you doing Leigh?" He asked sardonically. He reached out and brushed a strand of her hair from her face. She no longer flinched when he did this, as she knew it only served to entice him further. He continued his disdain, making the biggest mistake of his life, "I've heard SG-1 has figured out who's taken you; too bad they won't ever find you, huh?" He patted her cheek roughly as he got up and left the cell chuckling scornfully to himself. The door shut with a loud bang, once again engulfing Leigh in lonely darkness. Only this time the flicker of hope was re-ignited. A small smile pulled at the corners of Leigh's cracked and swollen lips. An enormous mistake was made on her captor's part as that specific piece of information was carelessly thrown at her; SG-1 had always come to the rescue in some way, shape or form. Though they weren't her SG-1, not yet, they would then and for years to come be there when they were needed. It was only a matter of time.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"I've got it!" Daniel Jackson exclaimed as he turned from his computer. The rest of SG1 who were tiredly sitting around his office sat up quickly eager to hear what he had found.
"What?" Colonel O'Neill asked, for once intent on hearing what Daniel had to say.
"I found out that Maybourne has been showing some interest in an old warehouse complex, just outside of Colorado Springs, lately."
"How recently?" Major Carter asked, sitting on the edge of her chair.
"uh…," Daniel shuffled through some papers, "the last couple days, or since Leigh got here, however you want to put it".
"So let's go check it out," Jack said, and the four members of SG1 went to go change in to civilian attire.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"Guess that's it", Sam Carter commented as Jack pulled his truck up to an old rusty gate surrounding a huge warehouse, sort of resembling an airplane hanger. They all got out of Jack's truck, and pulled out their weapons, consisting of guns and zat'nik'a'tel's, and they stealthily made their way to the side of the warehouse, undetected.
"Maybourne must not be expecting us, judging by the amount of security he's got" Jack quipped sarcastically. They entered the building and the Colonel motioned for Major Carter and Teal'c to take the main level and he and Daniel take the basement, which they surprisingly found a staircase for.
"Jack… warehouse's don't usually have basements do they?" Daniel asked in a whisper.
"Most don't, probably for storage or something" jack answered back, somewhat irritated that as usual Daniel was talking in a potentially dangerous situation instead of paying attention to the issue at hand. The two men slowly made their way down thick stone stairs and found themselves facing a 'fork in the road'. They each moved closer to the three possible ways to go, weapons drawn.
"Which way?" Daniel asked, quickly glancing at the older man.
"Well," Jack began quietly, "the two on the left are lit up so its gotta be one of them…uh we'll go down the first one". Daniel nodded his understanding and they slowly walked down the corridor, Jack on point and Daniel watching their six.
They came to a hallway that was lined with heavy steel doors, all of which looked locked. Jack motioned to Daniel to check the doors on the left as he tended to the ones on the right. Both men found that some were unlocked and the ones that weren't could be examined easily with their flashlights. With only three doors left, Daniel tried the handle on a door, finding it locked he shone his flashlight in. The light slowly danced along the floor and wall until it came to figure sitting in the corner knees drawn to their chest, head down.
"Jack! She's in this one!" Daniel said and he pulled on the door handle with all his might.
"Step back" Jack ordered. He pulled a small amount of C4 and a fuse out of his pocket and moved to the door.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
For the last few minutes Leigh had heard doors opening and shutting down the hall. She inwardly groaned and an uneasy feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. She had hoped that SG1 would have come and found her before she was 'questioned' again, but once again her prayers went unanswered, and she mentally and physically braced herself for what was to come. She painfully pulled her knees up to her chest ignoring her ribs that were screaming their protest to the current position she was sitting in and laid her head on them. She listened carefully as footsteps approached her door. Leigh heard the door handle being tried and momentarily wondered why she hadn't heard the jingling of keys she had grown accustomed to. She heard a familiar voice excitedly yell "Jack! She's in here!" Dad?! Leigh's head shot up and she struggled to get up but her legs gave out from under her, and she fell to the floor coughing and wheezing as her ribs grinded against her lungs.
She heard a small explosion and the door swung open revealing Daniel and Jack. The two men ran to Leigh's side and Daniel paternally patted her back gently as she finished coughing. Leigh looked at both their faces, and threw herself into Daniels arms, not releasing her grip on his the back of his shirt, as if he would vanish into thin air if she did. Silent tears streamed down her face, and Leigh didn't even notice Major Carter and Teal'c enter the cell. Daniel looked at Jack in confusion as he rubbed slow circles on Leigh's back. Jack gave him a look that told him he would explain later, and just left it at that. Carter also gave Jack similar glances as Daniel had, but Jack ignored them for the time being.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, nearing SG1's position. Jack signalled to his team to move from sight. Daniel extracted himself from Leigh's hold, quickly whispering in her ear what they were doing; she nodded and moved to sit against the back wall of the cell. Maybourne and two of his men entered the cell, totally confused as to why the door was open.
"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded to Leigh, and he advanced on her but was stopped in mid-step by Jack who swung an arm around his neck and held a gun to his right temple.
"Harry." Jack said menacingly.
"Jack? What the hell are you doing here?" Maybourne was panicking. He glanced around to see why his men weren't helping him, but he found one unconscious in front of Major Carter, and the other cowering in a corner from Teal'c.
Daniel had returned to Leigh's side and was helping her get up slowly. He did a once over on her making sure no bones were poking out anywhere, or that she was bleeding seriously, his eyes finally resting on hers. Eerily familiar eyes, that he never noticed before, stared back at him, and a flicker of recognition passed over his eyes.
"Y-you're mine?" he asked in almost a whisper. She nodded, and went to say something but began coughing again, this time blood appeared on her hand that had covered her mouth. Jack noticed this and ordered his team out, and back to the base a quickly as possible. Not having enough room in his truck for Maybourne and his buddies, SG1 chained them to the wall as Leigh had been numerous times in the last couple days and quickly made their way to the main level, stopping only once for Teal'c to pick up Leigh and carry her when she passed out from the pain that her whole body was radiating.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
Leigh remained unconscious for two days in the infirmary after SG1 had saved her. Janet had assured and reassured SG1 many times, particularly Daniel that it was normal for someone with Leigh's kind of injuries to not wake up while his or her body tried to heal itself. Her words were lost on the team, as the doctor found at least one of them sitting at Leigh's beside at all times. She even had to threaten getting SF's to take them away, when she came to check up on Leigh and check her wounds. Doctor Fraiser had guessed that Daniel figured out or was told that Leigh was his future daughter, as he was at her side the most, just staring at her, seemingly willing her to wake up.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
Daniel was beginning to nod off when he heard small muffled whimpers coming from Leigh. She began thrashing her arms, setting off wild beeping from the monitors beside the bed. Dr. Fraiser came running over to see what was wrong, but then calmed slightly when she saw that Leigh was just having a nightmare. Suddenly Leigh sat bolt upright, both Daniel and Fraiser winced knowing that her two broken ribs and numerous bruised ones would be hugely in pain. Daniel was now standing and glancing nervously at Doctor Fraiser to see if Leigh was all right. She checked the girls pulse and then took out her penlight and shone it Leigh's eyes, satisfied with what she found she pulled up a tall swivel chair and clasped her hand in her lap as she sat looking pointedly at Leigh.
"How do you feel?"
"Fine."
"Are you in any pain?" Janet continued her questioning, and Daniel watched on.
"I'm fine."
"You didn't answer my question. Are you in any pain because if you are I can give you something for it, so are you?"
"I'm fine." Leigh cough once wincing, tears forming in her eyes from the pain, and her hands going straight to her midsection to cradle her ribs.
"Yeah, uh huh, I'm going to give you some morphine alright?" Janet stated more than asked. She moved from the curtained area, leaving Leigh and Daniel alone in an awkward silence.
Daniel broke the silence, "So, you're my 'future' daughter, huh." Leigh gave a slight nod and shut her eyes momentarily in pain from the sudden movement.
"Sorry to ruin your future." She said in a small voice, still not meeting his eyes.
"Hey, it's okay, at least I know I have something I have to look forward to." Leigh finally looked into his eyes and gave a tiny smile. Her gaze quickly returned to her hands in her lap and a couple tears ran down her cheeks, not going unnoticed by Daniel.
"Hey, hey what are you crying for? You're safe now." He moved to sit on the edge of the bed and pulled her gently into his arms, careful not to irritate her wounds, scattered all over her body according to Doctor Fraiser. Her few tears turned into river and her body heaved with sobs.
After a few minutes she pulled back and said in almost inaudibly "I missed you" Had he not been listening carefully, Daniel would not have heard. Seeing his confused expression, she continued somewhat hesitant. "uh… you…uh," she took a deep breath and finished the rest of the sentence quickly, "you died just before I came here."
"Oh" was all Daniel could say. He thought for a moment. "What about your mom?" he asked carefully. Leigh's face clouded over and she looked at her lap once again.
"Um, she was, uh, taken over by, uh… one of those alien things, with the glowing eyes-"
"A Goa'uld."
"Yeah. A couple of days before uh – you died"
The only thing Daniel could think of doing at the moment was hugging her, so he pulled her back into his arms and let her cry into his shoulder until she fell asleep. He gently lay her down and resumed his bedside vigil throughout the night.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
A couple of days later Leigh was fully awake and driving Doctor Fraiser and her nursing staff absolutely nuts. Leigh was adamant about leaving the infirmary, but Doctor Fraiser didn't want the teenager to leave until she talked to Doctor Mackenzie about what had happened to her.
"Pleeeease?" Leigh whined to Janet.
"No. You aren't leaving." Janet crossed her arms over her chest, leaving no room for argument. But unfortunately Leigh wasn't buying into her doctor's orders.
"But it's just to a VIP room, it's not like I'll be far away," Leigh frowned and crossed her arms in front of her similarly to Janet's own posture, challenging the tired and steadily angering doctor.
"Not until you see Dr. Mackenzie." Janet stated firmly, raising an eyebrow for effect.
"I don't need to see the 'bark like a chicken, cluck like a dog guy' alright?" Leigh protested equally as firmly. Janet sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. This girl has been hanging around SG1 too much, she thought. It was widely known that no one on SG1 liked Mackenzie all that much ever since he stuck Daniel in the mental institution when Machello's bugs had taken him over.
"I. Am. Fine." Leigh said strongly interrupting Janet's train of thought.
"No you're not," Janet sat down in a chair and looked Leigh in the eye. "Nobody whose been tortured, and yes you were tortured, can simply be alright afterwards".
"Yeah well, I am." Leigh shot back.
"No you're not."
"Am too"
"No, I don't think so."
"Well, you're wrong."
"No I'm not"
"Are to"
"Am not"
"What's going on ladies?" Colonel O'Neill asked strolled into the room, hands in his pockets, "I can hear you all the way down the hall, what's the problem?"
"Nothing." Leigh said quietly, glaring at Janet.
"It's not nothing Leigh." Janet said calmly. Jack looked utterly confused, as he watched the exchange between the CMO and an irritated teenage girl. He couldn't for the life of him decide who was scarier at the moment.
"What's nothing?" Jack asked risking being glared at, himself.
"Leigh won't see Doctor Mackenzie."
"That quack?"
"Colonel!" Dr. Fraiser scolded, giving him a look that dared him to say more.
"Sorry Doc," he shrugged his shoulders, and turned to Leigh, "Ya know kiddo, you should talk to him, or somebody for that matter, it's not good to keep everything all bottled up inside, trust me I know." Leigh turned her glare on Jack, whose facial expression remained neutral.
"I'm fine" Leigh all but growled. Jack looked up thoughtfully,
"No I don't think you are."
"Why won't everybody just leave me alone?! I don't need to talk to some stupid shrink or anybody else! Okay? I AM FINE!!" Leigh yelled, her voice cracking at the end and tears overflowing down her cheeks. Janet went to rub her shoulder but Leigh moved away,
"Don't touch me!" she barked, and then in a quiet pleading voice said, "just leave me alone." Leigh wrapped her arms around herself, a very 'Daniel-esque' position, and tried to keep her tears under control.
Janet and Jack both left Leigh alone, pulling the privacy curtain around the bed. Neither went back to check on her for the remainder of the day. Only the odd nurse would go in to give her a meal or medicine every couple hours. Daniel, Teal'c and Sam came to see her but she was asleep when they did and so they just left, not wanting to interrupt the 'healing process'.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
"Well where is she?" General Hammond asked Janet.
"I have no idea sir, she must have disappeared during the night, otherwise she would have been seen."
Leigh had gone missing from the infirmary, and was nowhere to be found. SG1 and all involved feared that she'd been taken again, except Daniel who had tried to voice his opinion but was interrupted by Jack who was trying organize a base wide search.
"What about security cameras?" Major Carter asked Hammond.
"Apparently the security monitor techs forgot to put tapes in the monitors, so there is nothing of the base corridors for about the last day and a half."
"Someone could have arranged for that, and then taken her when there was hardly anyone around." Jack though aloud.
"Jack", Jack ignored Daniel,
"We should organize a-"
"Jack!" Daniel said loudly, looking the older man in the eyes, startling everyone else at the briefing room table.
"For crying out loud Daniel, we're trying to find your kid ya know", Jack immediately bit his tongue after realizing what he said. Major Carter and General Hammond looked shocked, but Teal'c remained as impassive as ever.
"Colonel?" Hammond asked completely dumbfounded.
"Yes sir?"
"Leigh is Doctor Jackson's child?"
"Uh yeah…sir."
"Doctor Jackson," the General began, turning to face Daniel to his right, "did you know this?"
"Yes." Daniel could feel Sam's stare on him, she was probably furious that neither Jack nor himself had told her. Hopefully she would understand about the whole changing the future thing and not remain mad too long.
The General appeared to be thinking for a moment, and then his eyes rose from the table to meet Daniel's.
"What was it you were trying to say, do you know where she is?"
"Well, not exactly, but I know she's somewhere on the base"
"What makes you think that?" Jack asked impatiently. Daniel shot him an irritated glance, before continuing.
"From personal experience, I know that the infirmary isn't always the best place to want to be, especially when you want to be left alone, and after what Leigh's been through she probably wanted to find somewhere where there is no body asking her questions or poking or prodding her." Daniel shot a glance to Janet hoping she wouldn't take offence to what he had just confessed.
"SG1 check all the VIP rooms and wherever else you think she may have gone, and report back if you find her, dismissed." General Hammond got up and went to his office; Janet went to go back the infirmary and SG1 made their way to the elevators to start looking for Leigh.
*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~*~*~*
SG1 split up, each taking a radio and a different area of the base. Daniel, however, went back to the elevators ignoring his area to cover and headed down to his office on a hunch.
He unlocked his office door and entered into darkness. He opted to turn on his desk lamp rather than the ceiling fixture, and was pleased to see he made the right decision when a mop of blond hair could be seen from under a blanket on the couch, at the back of his office. He walked over and crouched down in front of Leigh. She was frowning in her sleep and mumbling incoherent words. Daniel looked closely at her face for the first time. She had some of his features, but he could tell that it was her mother she took after. Her mother. Daniel was growing increasingly curious as to who would mother his child. That sounded weird to Daniel: His Child. He was going to have a family, something he always wanted. SG1 was a family to him when he needed it but he yearned for a real family, kids a wife, maybe even a dog. His future now seemed somewhat brighter, and that brought a small smile to his face.
The smile quickly vanished though as Leigh bolted up and flailed her arms wildly at an invisible assailant. She was frantically pleading 'no, no, no' and tears came rolling down her cheeks, falling to her lap. Daniel grabbed her arms just above the elbow and tried to calm her down.
"Leigh, Leigh, wake up you're safe, you're at the SGC remember? No one is going to hurt you anymore, I promise." Daniel released his grip on her arms. And sat on the edge of the couch, as his daughter collected herself and stopped shaking. She brushed her hair from her face and leaned against the arm of the couch, looking at Daniel.
"Sorry" was all she said.
"For what?" Daniel was confused, was she apologizing for having a bad dream?
"For falling asleep in your office, I just didn't know where else to go, I figured 'Needle–happy Fraiser' would find me in one of the VIP rooms."
"That's okay, which reminds me…" Daniel pulled out his radio, " Jack? I found her"
"She okay?"
"Yeah, so you can stop looking now"
"Okay, O'Neill out" Daniel put down the radio and turned to face Leigh once again.
"Bad dream huh?"
"No worse than the others" was her melancholy reply. Leigh pulled her legs up so she was sitting cross-legged, allowing Daniel to fully sit on the couch. She looked so small and fragile in the huge air force issue sweatshirt that Sam had found for her instead of a hospital gown.
"So," Daniel began, "how're you feeling?" Leigh looked at him suspiciously, not sure if he was asking about her injuries or what had happened to her.
"How are your injuries healing?" he clarified, "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask about what happened, you'll talk when you want to, end of story". Leigh was surprised, he wasn't going to ask what she was feeling, or for her to describe what had happened? She met his gaze and remembered he had asked a question and was waiting for an answer.
"Uh… I'm kinda sore but otherwise fine."
They sat on the couch for a few minutes in a comfortable silence, until Leigh spoke. It was so quiet that if Daniel hadn't been listening he would have missed it.
"I was so scared" was her silent admission. Daniel said nothing, letting her continue at her own pace. She didn't look him in the eye, or even look in his general direction; she just stared vacantly at her fidgeting hands.
"They just wanted to know about future technology, but I wouldn't tell them; they chained me up to the wall and one guy hit me in the head, and the other kicked me in the stomach and the man in charge said he would let me go if I just told him something, anything. But I knew I couldn't, 'cause it would change the future, so they kept on coming back, every couple hours, just as I would start to fall asleep or relax. I was so scared that no one would find me in time… The pain kept getting worse, and they would hit old wounds just to make me scream, and what was the worst was that they would laugh as they hurt me, making me cry and scream. They'd laugh and laugh, especially the guy in charge, saying that they'd get what they want soon enough. They thought I'd break, but the guy in charge came in at some point and said you guys knew who took me, and that's when I knew I'd be fine cause you guys would find me." She looked Daniel in the eye, and he had tears in his eyes. He moved closer and pulled her into his arms. She began to cry and they just sat like that for what seemed like forever, until Leigh pulled away.
"Can we go get something to eat?" she asked quietly.
"Sure," Daniel smiled, and they left his office, heading to the commissary.
TBC…