The "Waiting for the Day" Series
Chapter 5-"So Blessed an Existence"
"Daniel?" Dani called.
"What is it, honey?" Daniel said, walking back to his desk from the shelves of artifacts in the back of the room.
"What are we going to name this little tyke when it arrives?" Dani asked. They had opted not to know the sex of their unborn child, and the months had flown by for them. Dani was eight months and counting, and it looked like she was carrying more of a basketball beneath her loose-fitting fatigues than an unborn baby.
"We still haven't talked about it yet, have we?" Daniel said, sitting back down at his desk.
"You have been awfully busy," Dani reminded him. SG-1 had been going on short survey missions without her, as she was relegated to desk-duty. No one knew what the repercussions of Stargate travel during pregnancy were, and Daniel wasn't willing to let his wife be the first one to find out.
"Do you think that she'll be telepathic like her momma?" Daniel asked.
"She? Are you that sure that we're having a girl?" Dani teased, sitting back and resting a hand on her belly.
"Well, I hope we're having a girl. I kind of like girls names that start with M," said Daniel.
"Like what?" Dani asked.
"Well, Madison, Marissa, Michaela, and Madeline came to mind," Said Daniel.
"I like Madeline and Madison, but what if it's a boy?" Dani asked.
"Joseph, Nicholas, and Michael."
"When I thought of names, I thought of naming a girl Renée, Claire, after your mother, or Shari.for Shau'ri," Dani said. Daniel smiled lightly. He was glad that he had married this woman. She was not just his soul mate; she was his link to a world he would probably never see again unless there was a dire emergency. He was glad she was being so kind with Shau'ri's memory. Dani had even done a small drawing of Shau'ri that they had framed and placed on the wall with other pictures of their families.
"A boy I would name Mathew, Paul, Ethan, or Collin," Said Dani.
"Hmm, I like Collin, it's derived from Nicholas. I also like Renée. How does this sound: Collin Michael for a boy, and Renée Claire for a girl?" Daniel suggested.
"Those are beautiful. I'm going to write that down. I have two of my own to add: Madison Kay for a girl and Mathew Joseph for a boy. There, now we have plenty of names for our little one," Dani said as she patted her middle lightly and the baby kicked. Daniel smiled and lightly kissed his wife.
"I can't wait to be a mom," she murmured.
Meanwhile, far away, a top-secret discussion was taking place at the White House.
"The United States hasn't needed telepathic spies since the Cold War. What makes you think that this is necessary?"
"Think about it, Mr. President. If we can figure out how the brains of these telepathic people work, then we can, forgive the term, manufacture telepathic soldiers who can read the thoughts of their teammates and commanders and anticipate the reactions of their enemies. We know that we will never be given permission to study Dr. Jackson, but if we can utilize their child."
"You're asking me for permission to perform risky medical experimentation on an infant and I won't give it to you, not for the sake of science, not for the military, not for anyone. End of Discussion, Harry, do you understand?"
".Yes, Mr. President."
From there, Colonel Harry Maybourne went to his 'friends' in Black Ops. He was convinced that this was for the good of all and that certain sacrifices were tolerable in this situation. There was a lot of work to do before the plan could be executed.
It wasn't until a month later that Daniel insisted that Dani stay at home.
"I won't get any work done here!" Dani pouted.
"You shouldn't be working," said Daniel, "You're bearing my child." Dani smiled. She loved it when Daniel said things like that.
"Okay, you win," She said. Daniel stroked her cheek and she leaned into the warmth of his touch.
"I love you, Mrs. Jackson," he whispered.
"That's Dr. Jackson to you, mister," Dani teased back. Daniel grinned. He kissed her forehead and was rewarded as their baby kicked lightly at its mother's belly. He was beginning to relax. He was getting used to the fact that he was going to be a daddy, and that everything was going to be okay. He had been worried at first that Dani might be in danger because of her telepathy. Who knows what might happen if someone was to find out and word got to the military. It was entirely possible that she could be kidnapped and subjected to the same experiments that Sam was when the government found out that she had been a Tok'ra host. This was a little different, though. Dani was a telepath. Who knew what they could do if they were able to somehow harvest her brain cells and use them to try and make other people telepathic.
Somehow, Daniel was sure that she would be all right. He kissed her one more time, and was gone. An hour later, Dani decided it was time for a nap. She had vacuumed their living room and made their bed and for some reason, that felt like a lot of work. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed into the softness of her pillow and dozed off. She didn't even here the sound of the apartment door being slowly opened.
"Are you sure you're okay, Daniel?" Sam asked later that day. He and the rest of SG-1 had been back from their short mission for hours and the Space Monkey was still staring off into the wild blue yonder.
"Yeah, Sam, I'm fine. It's just that, well, I'm not used to not having Dani around," Daniel answered.
"Yeah, it's hard to believe we ever got along without her, huh?" Sam replied. Lightly, she kissed Daniel's head and left the office he shared with Dani and Teal'c. Sam couldn't wait until Dani and Daniel's baby was born. They wouldn't tell anyone the names they had picked out, so the whole base was wondering what clever name they had picked out to match their own names. There wasn't much that they could match when both of their names were along the same idea. As Sam was leaving the office to retreat to her own, Jack was walking slowly in front of the large storefront window of a pet store. Hmmm. This new little tyke in his life was going to need a dog.
Back at Daniel and Dani's apartment, a group of men, about five of them, crept on silent feet through the house until they found Dani. Slowly, they placed a cloth over her mouth and nose and held it there. Dani woke up and began to panic on the next breath. She reached for the hand that held the cloth down but another pair of hands was just finishing binding her hands together. The rest of the men helped the first two in hoisting Dani from her bed to the floor, where one of them produced a small med-kit and prepared a syringe. Dani fought with renewed vehemence. Any foreign chemical in her body could potentially harm her baby, and she was beginning to get very dizzy and weak. The man kneeling near her feet was pulling her jeans and panties off. She didn't know what was happening and was terrified beyond anything she had feared before. She wanted to fight harder, but she feared also that she herself might hurt her baby. There wasn't a sound in the room, save Dani's struggling whimpers and grunts. The man near her feet held her legs with help from another man, and now the count of people in the room was up to five. The injection was placed not into her womb, but closer to the uterine muscle that causes.
Dani gasped as a sudden wave of pain jerked at her abdominal muscles. They were harder and came faster than she had been taught that they would be, and she was beginning to have trouble keeping her eyes open. She was beginning to cry when the next stabbing pain began and held on for longer. She tried to scream, but it was no use, she had been gagged now, and minutes later, her water broke. The baby was crowning, and now she had no choice but to push. As soon as the baby's head and shoulders were out, the man who had administered the injection, who had been serving as Dani's 'midwife', gently coaxed the baby the rest of the way from its mother's womb and forced it to cry before he cut the cord and cleaned the baby as best he could with the water and blankets they had with them. As they prepared to leave, one of the men renewed the chloroform on the cloth and removed the gag to place it on her face again. Staring into her eyes as she lost consciousness, he said, "Forgive me, Dr. Jackson." Dani's tears ran in streams down her face as her eyes dropped helplessly shut. The men slipped out the door just as quietly as they had come, taking the Jacksons' newborn baby with them. No one saw them as they piled into a van and sped away, nearly clipping a small car as it left the parking lot. Daniel's parents had left for the day to go apartment hunting, so Daniel was sure he and Dani were in for a quiet night to themselves that night: just him, Dani, and the baby.
Daniel opened the door shortly after lunch and dropped his light spring jacket and briefcase on the couch.
"Honey!" he called. No answer. Was she still asleep? That was unusual. Dani was eating enough for all three of them lately, and it was not like her to skip a meal so close to her due date. He rounded the corner to go down the hall to their room and saw the door open. Which was nothing unusual, but the next thing he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life nearly as badly as seeing his parents 'killed', nearly as badly as watching Shau'ri die.his wife Dani, lying on the floor near their bed unconscious and in a small pool of her own blood.
"Danielle!" Daniel shouted, "Danielle, talk to me!" He rested a hand over her belly to feel for the baby like the doctor had shown them. He felt nothing. Not a desperate kick for help, not an uncomfortable shifting feeling. No, this was much worse.he felt nothing at all. Dani was pale and her skin was cool to the touch, but she had a pulse. Thank the gods she was alive!!
"Daniel, what happened?" Dr. Fraiser demanded when Daniel rushed his wife back to the base.
"I don't know! I found her lying on the floor in a pool of blood!" Daniel said as Janet began working. As soon as Dani's life signs had stabilized, she did an ultrasound to check on the baby.
"Oh, my God," Janet gasped.
"What is it?" asked Sam, who was standing nearby. She, Jack and Daniel came closer.
"The baby is gone!"
"There didn't appear to be any signs of forced entry and no signs of a struggle." Said Daniel as he and the rest of SG-1 congregated in the conference room.
"Who would want to harm Dr. Jackson's child?" asked Teal'c.
"That's a good question. Let me make a few phone calls. I have a feeling that a 'friend' of ours is involved in this or knows who is." Said Jack. The group broke up and returned to their respective offices. All of them, that is, except General Hammond. He meandered slowly down to the infirmary to see Dani.
"Hi, sugar," he said softly when she opened her eyes.
"I know." Dani muttered. The general was confused.
"I know what happened to me." Dani said. Tears poured down her cheeks.
"Talk to me." Hammond said, pulling up a chair beside her. Daniel had returned to his office for something and must have been sidetracked, because he had not yet returned when his wife had awakened. Dani took a breath and began her story. She told the general about how she had laid down for a nap and woke to find five men in their apartment. She told him about the injection and her forced labor. She told him about how the last man had held the cloth over her face again and what he had said, just before Dani was out. The general fought to control his emotions. This was not just another civilian on his base. This was a member of his bravest and most powerful team. This was also his niece, his sister's daughter. His sister was dead, but George had felt the need to take on the role of a father figure for Dani, even though she had grown up with her grandparents.
"We'll find them, Dani. Don't you worry," Hammond said after a long silence. Dani shook her head.
"No, Uncle George. I don't care about them. Find my baby. I don't even know if it was a boy or a girl. Please, Uncle George, don't concentrate on those scum, find my baby!" Dani wept. Hammond promised and kissed his niece's hand as her husband hurried back into the infirmary. Janet had called him and told him that Dani was awake. When he got there, Hammond was just leaving, and Dani began to cry harder.
"I'm sorry, Daniel! I'm so sorry, honey!" she sobbed.
"No, no, honey, what can you ever be sorry about?" Daniel murmured.
"I couldn't do it.I couldn't protect our baby!" She wailed.
"Oh, God, no, honey, no. No, this could never have been your fault! Do you hear me? This was not your fault!" Daniel insisted. The two sat and cried for what felt like hours before Janet wandered over to them.
"I thought that maybe you would like to know what sex the baby was. I mean, now that it's born." She said gently. Daniel nodded and took the folder with the ultrasound pictures in it. Slowly, he looked inside. Reading for a moment, he sat back, tears streaking his face.
"We have a daughter.Honey, we have a little girl!" Daniel cried, folding his wife into his arms again and sobbing right along with her. This was ripping them apart, and there was nothing they could do.
"What's it going to be, honey, Renée or Madison?" Dani began.
"Renée," Daniel said, nodding to her. "Her name is Renée Claire," Daniel said. Dani let her tears flow unchecked, and Daniel held his wife close as Janet wrote the name down.
"Renée Claire Jackson it is. Congratulations you two. We'll find that baby. We'll find her I have to go out there and take her back myself," Janet promised.
Jack had never been so angry. Well, okay, he had been that angry before, he noted to himself. But each and every time he got this angry it was about a child. It was the kind of anger that made him decide to break the regs. The kind of anger that made him risk his fabulous career in the armed forces for one little girl. With a smile he remembered when he had met Cassie, Marin, David, and other children that SG-1 had rescued over the years.
"Why would anyone want this baby so bad that they would be willing to risk taking it right from its mother's womb?" asked Jack. He stared restlessly at Teal'c. Teal'c has a child of his own. Wouldn't it stand to reason that out of all of them, he would be the most likely to understand?
"Could it not be that someone believes that the child may be in possession of the same powers as its mother?" Teal'c replied.
"That's pretty much a given, Teal'c," Daniel said, walking into the office.
"How's Dani doing?" asked Jack. Daniel nodded slowly before opening his mouth to answer, "She'll be fine. She wants the baby back and frankly, if a hair on my baby girl's head is hurt, someone is going to pay."
"Congratulations, Daniel; on your little girl that is. Well, that and your already acute paternal instinct," Jack said. For the first time all day, Daniel smiled: His little girl. It made him all the more determined to find baby Renée.
"SG-1 you have a go." Said General Hammond, watching as SG-1 didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence before embarking on their mission. This time, they wouldn't even need the Stargate.
"What are we looking at here, Jack?" Asked Daniel.
"Abandoned hospital in Quebec. Hammond pulled a few strings and found out that the feds know about Dani and her powers. They think that people could be simply 'fixed' with the ability of telepathy," Jack answered.
"They think that they could use genetic manipulation to create super- soldiers that can read the thoughts of their enemies and superiors. They knew that they would never get permission to experiment on you, Dani; you could refuse. But a helpless baby." Sam couldn't even finish the sentence. She couldn't stand the thought of Dani and Daniel's innocent newborn at the hands of men who could easily sleep at night if they let that baby die.
"Wait a minute, there's no anesthetic here; no crash cart." Said Colonel Maybourne, turning his head from the baby in the bare incubator nearby to stare at the three scientists in the room in disbelief.
"It's too dangerous to place an infant that small under anesthesia. It may die before we."
"This was your idea, Colonel. Are you backing out? This could be our one chance to change the course of military history. You want to be a part of that, don't you?" asked one of the scientists.
"This isn't exactly an orphaned or abandoned child, gentlemen. If she dies."
"If it dies, then someone gets to explain to the parents that their child sacrificed their life for the sake of the furthering of medical science," said another of the scientists. Maybourne's face ran white. What had he done? When the men left the room to prepare for the procedure, Maybourne stood over the plain, plexiglass incubator and lightly fingered the cool, smooth surface. Baby Renée turned her head and looked at him. Her eyes searched the room wildly, searching for anything familiar, even a smell. She saw Maybourne and her tear-streaked little face momentarily quieted. She stared at him, mystified that there was another person paying attention to her. Maybourne's heart nearly broke. Maybourne went to a supply closet and found a white blanket. He opened the incubator and gently pulled the monitors from the baby's tiny body. He wrapped her in the blanket, careful to conceal her face. He told the scientists that the baby had died.
"Are you certain?" asked one of them.
"I watched an innocent child die from lack of attention. Kids do that, you know. If they aren't shown love, they die because they have nothing to live for," Maybourne said.
"And how do you know this?" asked the second man.
"Because I watched it happen before."
The men asked no more questions. Maybourne took the infant with him and drove. He didn't care where, he didn't care how fast, he just cared that he was, for once, doing the right thing. He stopped for a moment at a convenience store to pick up essential things, and found himself talking to the infant.
"I wonder what your name is. Have the Jacksons named you yet? What would be a good name to go with Daniel and Danielle?" he pondered this as he pressed on down the highway. During one stop, a friendly motorist gave them directions and she asked if she could hold the baby for a moment. Maybourne uneasily agreed.
"Fatherhood new to you?" she asked candidly. He nodded. The baby seemed to like this woman.
"She's beautiful. What's her name?" the woman asked.
"She doesn't have one officially yet. The adoptive parents are waiting to see her." Maybourne said. The woman nodded in understanding. She handed the baby back to him and continued on her way. Maybourne noticed that the woman was still wearing her uniform from work, and her nametag read: DANAE.
"What do you think of that one, little one? Do you like the name Danae?" The baby just sighed and struggled to snuggle down into the blanket a little more. Maybourne chuckled. "Well, until you have another name, Danae you shall be. Danae Rachel."
When SG-1 arrived at the old hospital, it was as deserted, and for good reason. It was in flames, and the team stood in confused shock at the scene. Dani wasn't sure she could stand much longer. Her legs were turning to rubber, and she could no longer feel anything from the neck down. She stared into the flames as it licked the sides of the building and shattered the windows. She fought the urge to scream her baby's name, for whatever good it would do, as pale, horrid, mother's fear ran like white lightning in her veins. Daniel did his best to hold her, shield her from the heat and flying debris. There was nothing to be done, and Jack shepherded the team back to their car. Daniel and Dani were silent for the trip back. They stared blankly into space or at one another, searching for reason in the mess of it all.
The 'official' report blamed the fire on an electrical fault, but Daniel and Dani knew better. Their baby was gone, and there was nothing that could be done.
Jack settled into his office and picked up the phone. There was only one person he knew that could shed light on this situation: Harry Maybourne.
"What do you know about this, Harry?" Jack asked.
"I made a big mistake, Jack. I need your help. Will they let me in at the base?" Maybourne asked.
"Yeah. What do you know, Maybourne?" Jack reiterated. Finally getting irritated, Maybourne fired back, " I know that I have a baby in this vehicle with me that needs her mother. Are you going to let me in or not?" Jack, stunned, stuttered his agreement and hung up the phone. He decided to tell only General Hammond, and do the honors of bring Maybourne's sorry butt in himself.
When Maybourne arrived at the base, Jack met him at the security checkpoint.
"Hand over the baby, Maybourne," Jack ordered.
"No. I want to do it myself. I'm the one who brought her back," Maybourne answered.
"Maybourne, don't make me get my nail gun. Give me the baby," Jack ordered. Maybourne got as close to Jack as he could with the baby in his arms before answering, "I lead the black ops team that pulled this baby from her mother's body a week and a half before her due day. I watched as I nearly surrendered her to men that didn't care whether she lived or died. I cared for this child on the way here. I named her. Let me make up for my mistake, Jack. Please." Maybourne asked. Jack slowly stepped out of the way, following Maybourne closely as they walked down the hall. Jack suddenly stopped him.
"You said you named her. What did you call her, just out of curiosity?" Jack asked.
"Danae Rachel." Maybourne replied. Jack lightly nodded. Maybourne returned the question, "Why, what did Daniel and Dani name her?"
"Her name is Renée. Renée Claire Jackson." Jack said. Maybourne rearranged his grip on the baby. She gurgled a bit and shifted in his arms. Jack watched how Maybourne handled the baby. He had to admit, just to himself, that he was impressed. He directed Maybourne to continue, and stopped him again, just short of Dani and Daniel's office.
"Let me go first," Jack said. Maybourne nodded. Lightly, Jack knocked on the door. He could hear Dani sobbing. He could see through the little window in the door that Daniel was holding her. Both were too stunned to speak. Maybourne looked at Jack.
"That hospital in Quebec was torched. It was still burning when we got there. We didn't know what to think," Jack said solemnly, "I know what it's like to lose a child. What you've done is crueler than if you had killed them both. I hope you know that."
When Daniel finally called for whoever had knocked to come in, Jack entered first. Daniel looked up as Jack approached, not even attempting to guard the pain in his gaze. He searched Jack for understanding and found it. Jack gently touched Dani's shoulder.
"Maybourne is here," Jack announced, "and he has something to tell you." For the first time since the attack, Dani lifted her head.
"What could that monster have to say to me that would matter at a time like this?" Dani asked. Maybourne stepped forward into the room and spoke: "I came to beg for your forgiveness, Dr. Jackson. Both of you. You see, I made the biggest mistake of my life last week. I willingly endangered an innocent child to suit my own ends." He didn't even get to start the next sentence before Dani's voice rose from her downcast face.
"Willingly endangered? Is that what you told your superiors that that was? You made sure that there wasn't a trace of that experiment left to trace. You murdered another person's child and you call that 'willingly endangered'?" Dani growled. Maybourne was speechless. Baby Renée fussed moments later before Daniel could add his own comments. Daniel's head shot up. He saw the bundle in Maybourne's arms, and suddenly, it clicked. That's why Maybourne was here. That's why he was apologizing. Daniel slowly released his grip on his wife and rose, crossing the room to where Maybourne stood. Daniel fought to hold back tears as he took the baby from the Colonel's arms, holding her and lightly kissing her head, face and hands. When Daniel didn't return to her, Dani looked up and awestruck, she took the baby from Daniel's arms. Sudden release washed over her. Dani began to sob again, holding the baby close. Intuitively, she knew that this was Renée, her Renée, and she gasped for breath in between sobs as if a lead weight had been lifted from her chest.
Daniel kissed his wife's head, gently wiping a few of her tears before walking back over to Maybourne. Daniel looked to Jack, who was making himself useful by sitting down near Dani and extending an arm around her, efficiently taking Daniel's place for a moment and indicating to Daniel that he posed no obstruction to the retaliation that he knew was coming. Daniel looked back at Maybourne, who was peeking around Daniel to look at the baby and wound up. Maybourne didn't even see what hit him. Or maybe he did, because Daniel's right hook laid Maybourne out flat on the floor. He then knelt next to the groaning Colonel and firmly grasped his uniform jacket.
"If you ever.ever come near my family again, Maybourne, I will not hesitate to take more.aggressive measures. I'm not military, Maybourne, you can't get me court-martialed, and I have my connections to people who can make your life miserable." Daniel growled. Maybourne picked himself up off the ground, fingering his jaw. He glanced at Jack and Dani. Dani had calmed her sobbing and forced her breathing back to some normalcy when Maybourne spoke.
"Be a good girl, Danae. It's been a pleasure," Maybourne said as he turned to leave. He didn't put up his usual defense. He didn't ask Daniel if this was any way to treat the man who saved his daughter, he didn't say anything. He simply left, and for the first time in his life he was satisfied with that. He had done the right thing.
Jack followed him out to the hall and said, "Maybe you want to go have Janet Fraiser take a look at that jaw. Daniel's really not the wimp we make him out to be."
"I noticed, and thank you, Jack, but no, I have to get going. I'm due back in DC soon. I'm facing a review board," Maybourne said, injury evident in his voice.
"I'll make sure that Daniel and Dani know what you did. It may not matter to them right away, but I promise, I'll make sure that they know. I may even make a well placed call to DC before I leave work today." Jack said, "Now, why don't you let me escort you to the infirmary." Maybourne conceded and Jack led him away.
Later that afternoon, after Maybourne had left, Jack returned to Daniel and Dani's office. Teal'c had joined them, and Sam was on her way in the door when Jack came into sight. He heard the sound of Teal'c's voice and listened as the Jaffa told stories of his own child. Jack wished he had a camera as he rounded the corner of the doorframe and saw Teal'c holding baby Renée. Arms that usually embodied such power were now an instrument of gentleness as the giant of a man held the tiny infant.
"Maybourne is on his way back to DC," Jack said.
"Good. I hope they transfer his ass to Siberia or something," Sam said.
"Actually, there's a lot you don't know about this. Maybourne saved Renée's life," Jack said. He watched his friends' faces change instantaneously. He told them what Maybourne had said: about how he had changed his mind and kidnapped the baby, how he had cared for her and named her, and how he mustered all his courage to face Dani and Daniel and return their baby to them.
"What did Maybourne name her?" Dani asked.
"Danae Rachel."
"So that's why he called her that before he left!" Daniel said.
"You know, honey, today is actually my due date and Janet hasn't had a chance to finish filing the birth certificate. I like the name Danae: it matches ours! We can call her Danae Claire instead of Renée. What do you think, honey?" Dani asked. She expected a little friction considering how Daniel felt about this, but Dani felt that this would be a fitting restitution for the risk that Maybourne took to save the baby's life. Daniel momentarily hesitated. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of giving his child a name that Maybourne had chosen, but it did have a ring of fairness to it. He did save her life. The name was nice, too. Daniel, Danielle, and Danae. Hmmm. Maybe it did work. Daniel agreed and the baby's name was changed to Danae Claire Jackson.
Jack's well-meaning phone call didn't work. Maybourne was already a felon no matter what he did. He could have saved a major rainforest from destruction and no one would have cared. He was ordered not to execute that mission in the first place, and he was promptly sent back to prison-no review, no trial, no parole.
Dani and Daniel took their baby home. Thrilled for their family to finally be complete, the Jacksons thanked their lucky stars that night. They felt so blessed to be in this life. It put a lot of things in perspective. Daniel felt complete. He had his parents back, he had a beautiful wife, and now, a baby girl to call his own. How perfectly blessed indeed.
Chapter 5-"So Blessed an Existence"
"Daniel?" Dani called.
"What is it, honey?" Daniel said, walking back to his desk from the shelves of artifacts in the back of the room.
"What are we going to name this little tyke when it arrives?" Dani asked. They had opted not to know the sex of their unborn child, and the months had flown by for them. Dani was eight months and counting, and it looked like she was carrying more of a basketball beneath her loose-fitting fatigues than an unborn baby.
"We still haven't talked about it yet, have we?" Daniel said, sitting back down at his desk.
"You have been awfully busy," Dani reminded him. SG-1 had been going on short survey missions without her, as she was relegated to desk-duty. No one knew what the repercussions of Stargate travel during pregnancy were, and Daniel wasn't willing to let his wife be the first one to find out.
"Do you think that she'll be telepathic like her momma?" Daniel asked.
"She? Are you that sure that we're having a girl?" Dani teased, sitting back and resting a hand on her belly.
"Well, I hope we're having a girl. I kind of like girls names that start with M," said Daniel.
"Like what?" Dani asked.
"Well, Madison, Marissa, Michaela, and Madeline came to mind," Said Daniel.
"I like Madeline and Madison, but what if it's a boy?" Dani asked.
"Joseph, Nicholas, and Michael."
"When I thought of names, I thought of naming a girl Renée, Claire, after your mother, or Shari.for Shau'ri," Dani said. Daniel smiled lightly. He was glad that he had married this woman. She was not just his soul mate; she was his link to a world he would probably never see again unless there was a dire emergency. He was glad she was being so kind with Shau'ri's memory. Dani had even done a small drawing of Shau'ri that they had framed and placed on the wall with other pictures of their families.
"A boy I would name Mathew, Paul, Ethan, or Collin," Said Dani.
"Hmm, I like Collin, it's derived from Nicholas. I also like Renée. How does this sound: Collin Michael for a boy, and Renée Claire for a girl?" Daniel suggested.
"Those are beautiful. I'm going to write that down. I have two of my own to add: Madison Kay for a girl and Mathew Joseph for a boy. There, now we have plenty of names for our little one," Dani said as she patted her middle lightly and the baby kicked. Daniel smiled and lightly kissed his wife.
"I can't wait to be a mom," she murmured.
Meanwhile, far away, a top-secret discussion was taking place at the White House.
"The United States hasn't needed telepathic spies since the Cold War. What makes you think that this is necessary?"
"Think about it, Mr. President. If we can figure out how the brains of these telepathic people work, then we can, forgive the term, manufacture telepathic soldiers who can read the thoughts of their teammates and commanders and anticipate the reactions of their enemies. We know that we will never be given permission to study Dr. Jackson, but if we can utilize their child."
"You're asking me for permission to perform risky medical experimentation on an infant and I won't give it to you, not for the sake of science, not for the military, not for anyone. End of Discussion, Harry, do you understand?"
".Yes, Mr. President."
From there, Colonel Harry Maybourne went to his 'friends' in Black Ops. He was convinced that this was for the good of all and that certain sacrifices were tolerable in this situation. There was a lot of work to do before the plan could be executed.
It wasn't until a month later that Daniel insisted that Dani stay at home.
"I won't get any work done here!" Dani pouted.
"You shouldn't be working," said Daniel, "You're bearing my child." Dani smiled. She loved it when Daniel said things like that.
"Okay, you win," She said. Daniel stroked her cheek and she leaned into the warmth of his touch.
"I love you, Mrs. Jackson," he whispered.
"That's Dr. Jackson to you, mister," Dani teased back. Daniel grinned. He kissed her forehead and was rewarded as their baby kicked lightly at its mother's belly. He was beginning to relax. He was getting used to the fact that he was going to be a daddy, and that everything was going to be okay. He had been worried at first that Dani might be in danger because of her telepathy. Who knows what might happen if someone was to find out and word got to the military. It was entirely possible that she could be kidnapped and subjected to the same experiments that Sam was when the government found out that she had been a Tok'ra host. This was a little different, though. Dani was a telepath. Who knew what they could do if they were able to somehow harvest her brain cells and use them to try and make other people telepathic.
Somehow, Daniel was sure that she would be all right. He kissed her one more time, and was gone. An hour later, Dani decided it was time for a nap. She had vacuumed their living room and made their bed and for some reason, that felt like a lot of work. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed into the softness of her pillow and dozed off. She didn't even here the sound of the apartment door being slowly opened.
"Are you sure you're okay, Daniel?" Sam asked later that day. He and the rest of SG-1 had been back from their short mission for hours and the Space Monkey was still staring off into the wild blue yonder.
"Yeah, Sam, I'm fine. It's just that, well, I'm not used to not having Dani around," Daniel answered.
"Yeah, it's hard to believe we ever got along without her, huh?" Sam replied. Lightly, she kissed Daniel's head and left the office he shared with Dani and Teal'c. Sam couldn't wait until Dani and Daniel's baby was born. They wouldn't tell anyone the names they had picked out, so the whole base was wondering what clever name they had picked out to match their own names. There wasn't much that they could match when both of their names were along the same idea. As Sam was leaving the office to retreat to her own, Jack was walking slowly in front of the large storefront window of a pet store. Hmmm. This new little tyke in his life was going to need a dog.
Back at Daniel and Dani's apartment, a group of men, about five of them, crept on silent feet through the house until they found Dani. Slowly, they placed a cloth over her mouth and nose and held it there. Dani woke up and began to panic on the next breath. She reached for the hand that held the cloth down but another pair of hands was just finishing binding her hands together. The rest of the men helped the first two in hoisting Dani from her bed to the floor, where one of them produced a small med-kit and prepared a syringe. Dani fought with renewed vehemence. Any foreign chemical in her body could potentially harm her baby, and she was beginning to get very dizzy and weak. The man kneeling near her feet was pulling her jeans and panties off. She didn't know what was happening and was terrified beyond anything she had feared before. She wanted to fight harder, but she feared also that she herself might hurt her baby. There wasn't a sound in the room, save Dani's struggling whimpers and grunts. The man near her feet held her legs with help from another man, and now the count of people in the room was up to five. The injection was placed not into her womb, but closer to the uterine muscle that causes.
Dani gasped as a sudden wave of pain jerked at her abdominal muscles. They were harder and came faster than she had been taught that they would be, and she was beginning to have trouble keeping her eyes open. She was beginning to cry when the next stabbing pain began and held on for longer. She tried to scream, but it was no use, she had been gagged now, and minutes later, her water broke. The baby was crowning, and now she had no choice but to push. As soon as the baby's head and shoulders were out, the man who had administered the injection, who had been serving as Dani's 'midwife', gently coaxed the baby the rest of the way from its mother's womb and forced it to cry before he cut the cord and cleaned the baby as best he could with the water and blankets they had with them. As they prepared to leave, one of the men renewed the chloroform on the cloth and removed the gag to place it on her face again. Staring into her eyes as she lost consciousness, he said, "Forgive me, Dr. Jackson." Dani's tears ran in streams down her face as her eyes dropped helplessly shut. The men slipped out the door just as quietly as they had come, taking the Jacksons' newborn baby with them. No one saw them as they piled into a van and sped away, nearly clipping a small car as it left the parking lot. Daniel's parents had left for the day to go apartment hunting, so Daniel was sure he and Dani were in for a quiet night to themselves that night: just him, Dani, and the baby.
Daniel opened the door shortly after lunch and dropped his light spring jacket and briefcase on the couch.
"Honey!" he called. No answer. Was she still asleep? That was unusual. Dani was eating enough for all three of them lately, and it was not like her to skip a meal so close to her due date. He rounded the corner to go down the hall to their room and saw the door open. Which was nothing unusual, but the next thing he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life nearly as badly as seeing his parents 'killed', nearly as badly as watching Shau'ri die.his wife Dani, lying on the floor near their bed unconscious and in a small pool of her own blood.
"Danielle!" Daniel shouted, "Danielle, talk to me!" He rested a hand over her belly to feel for the baby like the doctor had shown them. He felt nothing. Not a desperate kick for help, not an uncomfortable shifting feeling. No, this was much worse.he felt nothing at all. Dani was pale and her skin was cool to the touch, but she had a pulse. Thank the gods she was alive!!
"Daniel, what happened?" Dr. Fraiser demanded when Daniel rushed his wife back to the base.
"I don't know! I found her lying on the floor in a pool of blood!" Daniel said as Janet began working. As soon as Dani's life signs had stabilized, she did an ultrasound to check on the baby.
"Oh, my God," Janet gasped.
"What is it?" asked Sam, who was standing nearby. She, Jack and Daniel came closer.
"The baby is gone!"
"There didn't appear to be any signs of forced entry and no signs of a struggle." Said Daniel as he and the rest of SG-1 congregated in the conference room.
"Who would want to harm Dr. Jackson's child?" asked Teal'c.
"That's a good question. Let me make a few phone calls. I have a feeling that a 'friend' of ours is involved in this or knows who is." Said Jack. The group broke up and returned to their respective offices. All of them, that is, except General Hammond. He meandered slowly down to the infirmary to see Dani.
"Hi, sugar," he said softly when she opened her eyes.
"I know." Dani muttered. The general was confused.
"I know what happened to me." Dani said. Tears poured down her cheeks.
"Talk to me." Hammond said, pulling up a chair beside her. Daniel had returned to his office for something and must have been sidetracked, because he had not yet returned when his wife had awakened. Dani took a breath and began her story. She told the general about how she had laid down for a nap and woke to find five men in their apartment. She told him about the injection and her forced labor. She told him about how the last man had held the cloth over her face again and what he had said, just before Dani was out. The general fought to control his emotions. This was not just another civilian on his base. This was a member of his bravest and most powerful team. This was also his niece, his sister's daughter. His sister was dead, but George had felt the need to take on the role of a father figure for Dani, even though she had grown up with her grandparents.
"We'll find them, Dani. Don't you worry," Hammond said after a long silence. Dani shook her head.
"No, Uncle George. I don't care about them. Find my baby. I don't even know if it was a boy or a girl. Please, Uncle George, don't concentrate on those scum, find my baby!" Dani wept. Hammond promised and kissed his niece's hand as her husband hurried back into the infirmary. Janet had called him and told him that Dani was awake. When he got there, Hammond was just leaving, and Dani began to cry harder.
"I'm sorry, Daniel! I'm so sorry, honey!" she sobbed.
"No, no, honey, what can you ever be sorry about?" Daniel murmured.
"I couldn't do it.I couldn't protect our baby!" She wailed.
"Oh, God, no, honey, no. No, this could never have been your fault! Do you hear me? This was not your fault!" Daniel insisted. The two sat and cried for what felt like hours before Janet wandered over to them.
"I thought that maybe you would like to know what sex the baby was. I mean, now that it's born." She said gently. Daniel nodded and took the folder with the ultrasound pictures in it. Slowly, he looked inside. Reading for a moment, he sat back, tears streaking his face.
"We have a daughter.Honey, we have a little girl!" Daniel cried, folding his wife into his arms again and sobbing right along with her. This was ripping them apart, and there was nothing they could do.
"What's it going to be, honey, Renée or Madison?" Dani began.
"Renée," Daniel said, nodding to her. "Her name is Renée Claire," Daniel said. Dani let her tears flow unchecked, and Daniel held his wife close as Janet wrote the name down.
"Renée Claire Jackson it is. Congratulations you two. We'll find that baby. We'll find her I have to go out there and take her back myself," Janet promised.
Jack had never been so angry. Well, okay, he had been that angry before, he noted to himself. But each and every time he got this angry it was about a child. It was the kind of anger that made him decide to break the regs. The kind of anger that made him risk his fabulous career in the armed forces for one little girl. With a smile he remembered when he had met Cassie, Marin, David, and other children that SG-1 had rescued over the years.
"Why would anyone want this baby so bad that they would be willing to risk taking it right from its mother's womb?" asked Jack. He stared restlessly at Teal'c. Teal'c has a child of his own. Wouldn't it stand to reason that out of all of them, he would be the most likely to understand?
"Could it not be that someone believes that the child may be in possession of the same powers as its mother?" Teal'c replied.
"That's pretty much a given, Teal'c," Daniel said, walking into the office.
"How's Dani doing?" asked Jack. Daniel nodded slowly before opening his mouth to answer, "She'll be fine. She wants the baby back and frankly, if a hair on my baby girl's head is hurt, someone is going to pay."
"Congratulations, Daniel; on your little girl that is. Well, that and your already acute paternal instinct," Jack said. For the first time all day, Daniel smiled: His little girl. It made him all the more determined to find baby Renée.
"SG-1 you have a go." Said General Hammond, watching as SG-1 didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence before embarking on their mission. This time, they wouldn't even need the Stargate.
"What are we looking at here, Jack?" Asked Daniel.
"Abandoned hospital in Quebec. Hammond pulled a few strings and found out that the feds know about Dani and her powers. They think that people could be simply 'fixed' with the ability of telepathy," Jack answered.
"They think that they could use genetic manipulation to create super- soldiers that can read the thoughts of their enemies and superiors. They knew that they would never get permission to experiment on you, Dani; you could refuse. But a helpless baby." Sam couldn't even finish the sentence. She couldn't stand the thought of Dani and Daniel's innocent newborn at the hands of men who could easily sleep at night if they let that baby die.
"Wait a minute, there's no anesthetic here; no crash cart." Said Colonel Maybourne, turning his head from the baby in the bare incubator nearby to stare at the three scientists in the room in disbelief.
"It's too dangerous to place an infant that small under anesthesia. It may die before we."
"This was your idea, Colonel. Are you backing out? This could be our one chance to change the course of military history. You want to be a part of that, don't you?" asked one of the scientists.
"This isn't exactly an orphaned or abandoned child, gentlemen. If she dies."
"If it dies, then someone gets to explain to the parents that their child sacrificed their life for the sake of the furthering of medical science," said another of the scientists. Maybourne's face ran white. What had he done? When the men left the room to prepare for the procedure, Maybourne stood over the plain, plexiglass incubator and lightly fingered the cool, smooth surface. Baby Renée turned her head and looked at him. Her eyes searched the room wildly, searching for anything familiar, even a smell. She saw Maybourne and her tear-streaked little face momentarily quieted. She stared at him, mystified that there was another person paying attention to her. Maybourne's heart nearly broke. Maybourne went to a supply closet and found a white blanket. He opened the incubator and gently pulled the monitors from the baby's tiny body. He wrapped her in the blanket, careful to conceal her face. He told the scientists that the baby had died.
"Are you certain?" asked one of them.
"I watched an innocent child die from lack of attention. Kids do that, you know. If they aren't shown love, they die because they have nothing to live for," Maybourne said.
"And how do you know this?" asked the second man.
"Because I watched it happen before."
The men asked no more questions. Maybourne took the infant with him and drove. He didn't care where, he didn't care how fast, he just cared that he was, for once, doing the right thing. He stopped for a moment at a convenience store to pick up essential things, and found himself talking to the infant.
"I wonder what your name is. Have the Jacksons named you yet? What would be a good name to go with Daniel and Danielle?" he pondered this as he pressed on down the highway. During one stop, a friendly motorist gave them directions and she asked if she could hold the baby for a moment. Maybourne uneasily agreed.
"Fatherhood new to you?" she asked candidly. He nodded. The baby seemed to like this woman.
"She's beautiful. What's her name?" the woman asked.
"She doesn't have one officially yet. The adoptive parents are waiting to see her." Maybourne said. The woman nodded in understanding. She handed the baby back to him and continued on her way. Maybourne noticed that the woman was still wearing her uniform from work, and her nametag read: DANAE.
"What do you think of that one, little one? Do you like the name Danae?" The baby just sighed and struggled to snuggle down into the blanket a little more. Maybourne chuckled. "Well, until you have another name, Danae you shall be. Danae Rachel."
When SG-1 arrived at the old hospital, it was as deserted, and for good reason. It was in flames, and the team stood in confused shock at the scene. Dani wasn't sure she could stand much longer. Her legs were turning to rubber, and she could no longer feel anything from the neck down. She stared into the flames as it licked the sides of the building and shattered the windows. She fought the urge to scream her baby's name, for whatever good it would do, as pale, horrid, mother's fear ran like white lightning in her veins. Daniel did his best to hold her, shield her from the heat and flying debris. There was nothing to be done, and Jack shepherded the team back to their car. Daniel and Dani were silent for the trip back. They stared blankly into space or at one another, searching for reason in the mess of it all.
The 'official' report blamed the fire on an electrical fault, but Daniel and Dani knew better. Their baby was gone, and there was nothing that could be done.
Jack settled into his office and picked up the phone. There was only one person he knew that could shed light on this situation: Harry Maybourne.
"What do you know about this, Harry?" Jack asked.
"I made a big mistake, Jack. I need your help. Will they let me in at the base?" Maybourne asked.
"Yeah. What do you know, Maybourne?" Jack reiterated. Finally getting irritated, Maybourne fired back, " I know that I have a baby in this vehicle with me that needs her mother. Are you going to let me in or not?" Jack, stunned, stuttered his agreement and hung up the phone. He decided to tell only General Hammond, and do the honors of bring Maybourne's sorry butt in himself.
When Maybourne arrived at the base, Jack met him at the security checkpoint.
"Hand over the baby, Maybourne," Jack ordered.
"No. I want to do it myself. I'm the one who brought her back," Maybourne answered.
"Maybourne, don't make me get my nail gun. Give me the baby," Jack ordered. Maybourne got as close to Jack as he could with the baby in his arms before answering, "I lead the black ops team that pulled this baby from her mother's body a week and a half before her due day. I watched as I nearly surrendered her to men that didn't care whether she lived or died. I cared for this child on the way here. I named her. Let me make up for my mistake, Jack. Please." Maybourne asked. Jack slowly stepped out of the way, following Maybourne closely as they walked down the hall. Jack suddenly stopped him.
"You said you named her. What did you call her, just out of curiosity?" Jack asked.
"Danae Rachel." Maybourne replied. Jack lightly nodded. Maybourne returned the question, "Why, what did Daniel and Dani name her?"
"Her name is Renée. Renée Claire Jackson." Jack said. Maybourne rearranged his grip on the baby. She gurgled a bit and shifted in his arms. Jack watched how Maybourne handled the baby. He had to admit, just to himself, that he was impressed. He directed Maybourne to continue, and stopped him again, just short of Dani and Daniel's office.
"Let me go first," Jack said. Maybourne nodded. Lightly, Jack knocked on the door. He could hear Dani sobbing. He could see through the little window in the door that Daniel was holding her. Both were too stunned to speak. Maybourne looked at Jack.
"That hospital in Quebec was torched. It was still burning when we got there. We didn't know what to think," Jack said solemnly, "I know what it's like to lose a child. What you've done is crueler than if you had killed them both. I hope you know that."
When Daniel finally called for whoever had knocked to come in, Jack entered first. Daniel looked up as Jack approached, not even attempting to guard the pain in his gaze. He searched Jack for understanding and found it. Jack gently touched Dani's shoulder.
"Maybourne is here," Jack announced, "and he has something to tell you." For the first time since the attack, Dani lifted her head.
"What could that monster have to say to me that would matter at a time like this?" Dani asked. Maybourne stepped forward into the room and spoke: "I came to beg for your forgiveness, Dr. Jackson. Both of you. You see, I made the biggest mistake of my life last week. I willingly endangered an innocent child to suit my own ends." He didn't even get to start the next sentence before Dani's voice rose from her downcast face.
"Willingly endangered? Is that what you told your superiors that that was? You made sure that there wasn't a trace of that experiment left to trace. You murdered another person's child and you call that 'willingly endangered'?" Dani growled. Maybourne was speechless. Baby Renée fussed moments later before Daniel could add his own comments. Daniel's head shot up. He saw the bundle in Maybourne's arms, and suddenly, it clicked. That's why Maybourne was here. That's why he was apologizing. Daniel slowly released his grip on his wife and rose, crossing the room to where Maybourne stood. Daniel fought to hold back tears as he took the baby from the Colonel's arms, holding her and lightly kissing her head, face and hands. When Daniel didn't return to her, Dani looked up and awestruck, she took the baby from Daniel's arms. Sudden release washed over her. Dani began to sob again, holding the baby close. Intuitively, she knew that this was Renée, her Renée, and she gasped for breath in between sobs as if a lead weight had been lifted from her chest.
Daniel kissed his wife's head, gently wiping a few of her tears before walking back over to Maybourne. Daniel looked to Jack, who was making himself useful by sitting down near Dani and extending an arm around her, efficiently taking Daniel's place for a moment and indicating to Daniel that he posed no obstruction to the retaliation that he knew was coming. Daniel looked back at Maybourne, who was peeking around Daniel to look at the baby and wound up. Maybourne didn't even see what hit him. Or maybe he did, because Daniel's right hook laid Maybourne out flat on the floor. He then knelt next to the groaning Colonel and firmly grasped his uniform jacket.
"If you ever.ever come near my family again, Maybourne, I will not hesitate to take more.aggressive measures. I'm not military, Maybourne, you can't get me court-martialed, and I have my connections to people who can make your life miserable." Daniel growled. Maybourne picked himself up off the ground, fingering his jaw. He glanced at Jack and Dani. Dani had calmed her sobbing and forced her breathing back to some normalcy when Maybourne spoke.
"Be a good girl, Danae. It's been a pleasure," Maybourne said as he turned to leave. He didn't put up his usual defense. He didn't ask Daniel if this was any way to treat the man who saved his daughter, he didn't say anything. He simply left, and for the first time in his life he was satisfied with that. He had done the right thing.
Jack followed him out to the hall and said, "Maybe you want to go have Janet Fraiser take a look at that jaw. Daniel's really not the wimp we make him out to be."
"I noticed, and thank you, Jack, but no, I have to get going. I'm due back in DC soon. I'm facing a review board," Maybourne said, injury evident in his voice.
"I'll make sure that Daniel and Dani know what you did. It may not matter to them right away, but I promise, I'll make sure that they know. I may even make a well placed call to DC before I leave work today." Jack said, "Now, why don't you let me escort you to the infirmary." Maybourne conceded and Jack led him away.
Later that afternoon, after Maybourne had left, Jack returned to Daniel and Dani's office. Teal'c had joined them, and Sam was on her way in the door when Jack came into sight. He heard the sound of Teal'c's voice and listened as the Jaffa told stories of his own child. Jack wished he had a camera as he rounded the corner of the doorframe and saw Teal'c holding baby Renée. Arms that usually embodied such power were now an instrument of gentleness as the giant of a man held the tiny infant.
"Maybourne is on his way back to DC," Jack said.
"Good. I hope they transfer his ass to Siberia or something," Sam said.
"Actually, there's a lot you don't know about this. Maybourne saved Renée's life," Jack said. He watched his friends' faces change instantaneously. He told them what Maybourne had said: about how he had changed his mind and kidnapped the baby, how he had cared for her and named her, and how he mustered all his courage to face Dani and Daniel and return their baby to them.
"What did Maybourne name her?" Dani asked.
"Danae Rachel."
"So that's why he called her that before he left!" Daniel said.
"You know, honey, today is actually my due date and Janet hasn't had a chance to finish filing the birth certificate. I like the name Danae: it matches ours! We can call her Danae Claire instead of Renée. What do you think, honey?" Dani asked. She expected a little friction considering how Daniel felt about this, but Dani felt that this would be a fitting restitution for the risk that Maybourne took to save the baby's life. Daniel momentarily hesitated. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of giving his child a name that Maybourne had chosen, but it did have a ring of fairness to it. He did save her life. The name was nice, too. Daniel, Danielle, and Danae. Hmmm. Maybe it did work. Daniel agreed and the baby's name was changed to Danae Claire Jackson.
Jack's well-meaning phone call didn't work. Maybourne was already a felon no matter what he did. He could have saved a major rainforest from destruction and no one would have cared. He was ordered not to execute that mission in the first place, and he was promptly sent back to prison-no review, no trial, no parole.
Dani and Daniel took their baby home. Thrilled for their family to finally be complete, the Jacksons thanked their lucky stars that night. They felt so blessed to be in this life. It put a lot of things in perspective. Daniel felt complete. He had his parents back, he had a beautiful wife, and now, a baby girl to call his own. How perfectly blessed indeed.
