Take a Chance on Me - Chapter 9

***Author's notes - Sorry for the delay. Lack of electricity and time is certainly taking it's toll on this story. I hope the length makes up for it and I hope that I'll be able to update again soon. In the mean time, I recommend that you take a look at the stories up for nomination in the SG-1 Fanfiction Awards. They're worth reading!

Jonas stood waiting at the coffee shop where he had met Rayne the day before. The manager had assumed a position behind the counter and kept shooting Jonas warning glances, expecting trouble. It made Jonas rather uncomfortable and he bought an extra cup of coffee to try to make amends. He had gotten there early in anticipation of Rayne's arrival.

Rayne walked into the shop slowly. She had a small smile on her lips but her eyes contradicted it. She approached the spot where Jonas was standing. He handed her a cup of coffee. She smiled a bit more in thanks, but said nothing.

Jonas wasn't quite sure of what he should do. He stood looking at her for what seemed an eternity. She looked like she wanted to sit down and cry, but didn't want to do anything in front of strangers. Finally, he made up his mind. He took her hand in his and led her to the door.

He found a quiet bench under a tree in the park that they had visited a day earlier and made her sit. She sat staring at the paper cup full of coffee that Jonas had handed to her as if she was unsure of what it was and how it had got there. Jonas sat down next to her, staring out into the park, hoping that she would say something to him. After a few minutes, Rayne turned her body and fell stiffly against him, her forehead resting against his arm, looking like a mannequin that had toppled over.

Jonas very gently shifted his body and pulled her into an embrace. Her stiffened pose slowly shifted to a relaxed one and he pulled her closer to him, stroking her hair gently.

She did not sob, Jonas noticed. Her breathing stayed as steady as it had ever been. In fact he didn't notice that she was even crying at first. It wasn't until he felt moisture on his neck, where her head rested that he realized that whatever had caused her mood had created the tears in her eyes.

Holding her in his arms, Jonas realized two things. The first was that whatever it was that had upset her, he wanted to fix it - no matter what it was or how difficult it would be to do so. The second thing that he realized was how wonderful it felt to hold this woman in his arms and that the longer he held her, the longer he wanted to do so.

Rayne eventually pulled herself away from Jonas. Her eyes were a bit red, but otherwise, he could hardly tell that she had been crying. She looked into his eyes, searching for something that only she could see. Jonas watched her, hoping that she would find him worthy of her confidences. She bit her lip trying to decide whether she wanted to talk to him or not. She let out a heavy sigh before saying quietly, "I had a fight with Jack this morning."

Jonas raised his eyebrows questioningly. Jack and Rayne seemed to be getting along last night - she'd been the last to leave his house he noted as he and Teal'c walked out the door. She had also obviously talked to him this morning. He wondered if she had stayed at Jack's house the night before.

Rayne leaned back on the bench and hugged her knees to her chest. She looked out at the park thinking of how the morning had gone. Sitting with Jonas was helping her to sort through her thoughts.

"So, do you want to tell me about it?" Jonas asked cautiously. He didn't want to scare her away.

Rayne paused before answering. "We were discussing my father. He didn't want to talk about it. I did. We're both stubborn." She leaned in a little closer to him. "I'll talk to him when he gets back." She looked at Jonas and gave him a small but genuine smile. "We'll figure things out." She stood up and took Jonas' hand. "Let's go find a sweater."

Jonas' head swam at her change of demeanor but was game for anything she wanted. "Where should we go?"

"I've no idea. I just moved here a few weeks ago. The mall would be fine, but I really do prefer to try to buy from privately owned shops whenever possible. You can usually find some great things in them."

"Hmm. A shop that sells sweaters that is privately owned - I really wouldn't know where to look."

"Well, fortunately, we're near the university, so there are a number of eclectic Mom & Pop shops. Unfortunately, Sam seems to have a rather more sophisticated sense of style than the average college student. Are you dead set on a sweater, or are you open to something else?"

"Well, Jack suggested that I buy a sweater, but I'll take any suggestions that you have."

"Ah, typical man suggestion. Okay, let's start with what Sam likes. I know that she's a scientist, but judging from her affinity for "The Princess Bride" that we watched last night, I assume that she has other interests."

"Well, she rides a motorcycle."

"Ah, biker chic. Now we're getting somewhere. What else?"

"Well, her best friend is probably Janet, out chief medical officer, who has a daughter that Sam is close too. She has a brother and a niece and a nephew that she doesn't see very often. She also has a father whom we occasionally work with on various projects. Mostly though, she spends a lot of time in her lab."

"Sounds like she needs a hobby."

"Just don't suggest knitting. Jack forbade me from ever mentioning it. I'm not sure why."

"It's probably best that we avoid that then."

"Indeed."

Rayne squinted at him. "You picked that up from Murray, didn't you?"

Jonas' ears turned pink and he shrugged. "I guess that I've been spending a lot of time with him."

"If you don't mind my making an observation, you don't quite mesh as well with Jack as the others do."

Jonas frowned. "I'm the new guy - the replacement."

Rayne was thoughtful for a moment. "For Daniel."

Jonas looked surprised. "How did you know about him?"

"Sam mentioned that he was Jack's best friend. I just put it together from that." Rayne squeezed his hand reassuringly. "He'll get used to you soon."

"You can't be sure of that."

Rayne smiled at him reassuringly. "He will. Don't worry. I know what I'm talking about. Now let's go."

Rayne and Jonas sat facing each other in a booth at Milano's Pizza, a large pie on the table between them. The shopping trip had been an odd success. Jonas never made it past the bookshop on the corner and there were two large Barnes and Nobles bags sitting under the table. Sam was about to become the proud owner of a leather-bound copy of "The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide" and "2001: A Space Odyssey." Rayne had also discreetly picked up a copy of "The Bad Girl's Guide to the Open Road" for Sam as well. "At least we have a running theme here." Rayne had commented as they left the store.

Jonas couldn't wait to find out more about Rayne. He had observed that she spent much of the two hours at the bookstore in the "Foreign Affairs" and "History" sections of the shop and had, when she had ducked into the restroom purchased he the book that she had kept going back to longingly all morning. He looked forward to giving it to her.

He picked up a slice of pizza as he asked, "What are your students doing in class right now?"

"Most of my classes are just basic political science classes. They have a pre-set curriculum that I have to follow. We're discussing the advantages and disadvantages of a parliamentary system right now. My other class is based on the history of diplomacy. We're focusing on Russia right now. I was going to start what-iffing soon."

"What-iffing?"

"Well, it seems that there is a theory in physics that says that for every possible outcome of a situation, that outcome does, in fact, occur in a different plane of existence. As such, I like teaching based on that theory." Rayne became more animated. "How would the world be different if, for example, William Penn hadn't been a Quaker? William Penn was the founder of Pennsylvania, the first state to abolish slavery in the U.S. This law was based on Quaker principles. Had William Penn not been a member of this faith, would slavery still exist? Would Lincoln have been elected? Would the Civil War have occurred? If not, how would that have affected other countries? Would the U.S. have had such an isolationist attitude in the early part of the twentieth century? What if it hadn't? All of this requires a lot of research, which is important, but what is really important is that they actually start to think for themselves. It's incredible to see a student finally start to *think* about things. There are so many options to consider. I love it."

Jonas thought fleetingly of the quantum mirror that he had read about in SG- 1's mission reports and quickly changed the subject. "So do you think you'll try to find a permanent teaching position then?"

"Well, I'm thinking about it, but I can scare the bejeebers out of my students. I think that I'm a little better suited to field work - at least for now."

"You know, the colonel could help you out with that."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"No. He won't help. I won't let him. I don't need military connections to get where I need to go." Rayne glared at him.

"Why not?"

"I don't like the military. It changes people too much and we need a new topic of conversation."

Jonas was a bit taken aback by the bitterness behind her words but maintained his composure and asked her quietly, "What would you prefer to discuss?"

Rayne reigned herself back and attempted to lighten the black mood she had created. "We'll talk about you. Where ya from? Whaddya do?"

"Kansas. Scientist. Next question; but be aware that a lot of what I do is classified."

"Fine. But don't lie. Don't make up some cover story that I probably won't believe. Just tell me it's classified and tell me what you can."

Jonas thought about this for a moment, weighing what she was saying and what he was trained to do. "I suppose I can do that." He paused a moment. "I'm not from Kansas. Where I'm from is classified."

Rayne looked at him non-plussed. "You've never even been to Kansas, have you?"

"Well, no."

"Don't bother. I suggest you choose a more interesting place to be from in the future. Maybe some place with hills. Where you don't start directions with 'go two miles to the first tree'. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Actually the people in Kansas seem to be quite lovely."

"Apparently I'm not quite lovely."

"I didn't say that."

"Then how did you know that I'm not from Kansas?"

"I am a student of speech patterns. It helps me to relate to people if I can tell where they are from without having to ask them. Actually I'm better at pinpointing people's origins in the States than I am at home in England. Every region here was settled by different groups of people who colored the language differently."

"Interesting hobby. Just out of curiosity, how many languages do you speak?"

"I don't think I've ever counted."

"Try."

"Well, English of course. I also had to learn French, German, and Italian when I went to school in Switzerland. I had teachers who taught in each. We also studied Latin and Greek. But I can really only read and write those - my spoken accent leaves much to be desired. I spent a summer in Egypt on a study abroad and I picked up conversational Arabic, but I never quite got the hang of reading or writing it. I had Spanish and Portuguese nannies when I was a kid and I picked up those languages pretty well. Oh, and I studied Hebrew and Japanese in school, but I'm far from fluent although I think I could get my way out of an airport and keep from starving to death if I had to."

"Are you sure that you're related to Jack?"

Rayne smiled at this. "You give him far too little credit. I had far more opportunity to learn these things than he did. I lived at school for twelve years before I started college. I lived and breathed learning. We had classes from eight in the morning until six in the evening. Besides, I know for certain that Jack can speak at least three languages. He learned Arabic in Iraq and he used to help Charlie with his French homework. Granted, Charlie only made it to his second year of French before he died."

Jonas was surprised that Rayne had mentioned Charlie. Jack never talked about him. It had only been through his conversations with others that he knew anything about what had happened.

Rayne was smiling sadly to herself. She wasn't sure why she had brought up her cousin, but it was nice to be able to talk about him openly. She and Jonas sat in silence for a while, not wanting to spoil the moment of peace. Finally, Rayne smiled lazily at Jonas. "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to get going. I have a lot of work to get done before school starts and if I'm not mistaken, you're going out of town with Jack tomorrow."

Rayne and Jonas had gotten a cab to take them home. They were taking the long route through the suburban neighborhoods when Rayne's eyes grew wide.

"Wait!" She called. "Driver, please stop here." The cab pulled to a stuttering halt half a block from where she had called out. She turned to Jonas. "I'm sorry, Jonas. I have to go. There's something that I need to do here." She looked both terrified and determined as she added gently, "I've been meaning to get it done for quite a while and I just haven't been able to do it."

"Whoa, whoa. You aren't making sense. What do you have to do now that you can't do later?" He paused before adding. "I can come with you."

"No! No, I mean, I'd rather you didn't." Rayne bit her lip and looked worriedly at Jonas, not quite sure how to explain what she wanted to do. She said to him gently, "It's a bit personal and I'm not sure how it will go."

Jonas looked crestfallen. He thought that he had developed a good rapport with her - one in which she could tell him whatever she needed.

"I had a good time today, Jonas." Rayne began. She looked at him furrowed her brow a bit. Jonas stared dismally at the seat.

Rayne gently turned Jonas' face towards hers. "I'll tell you about it when you get back." She paused once more before quickly brushing his lips with hers and clambering out of the car.

Jonas leaned back in his seat, his shocked face melting into a smile. "Cheyenne Mountain, please, driver."

Rayne walked back to where she had asked the cab to stop and stood facing the large house, holding her breath. Letting it out slowly she opened the gate, braced herself, and walked through.

Steadying herself she rapped on the door. Rayne heard footsteps from inside, and tried to keep herself from running away.

The door opened and a blond woman answered.

Rayne tried to get her mouth to function, but her lips seemed made of wax and her voice came out as a squeak.

"Can I help you with something?" The woman's brow furrowed and she frowned at Rayne. "Do you need help? Are you hurt?"

Rayne managed to shake her head slightly.

The woman stared hard at Rayne, a puzzled look on her face. "Do I know you?"

Rayne clenched her fists and drew in a shaky breath, finding her voice at last. "May I come in, Aunt Sara?"