Janet felt scared when Dr. Daniel rushed out of the room. Had she done something bad? Was he mad at her? She'd thought they were having fun together. What was going on?
"Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go," Sam whispered to her. She smiled, and Janet could tell that she was trying to cheer her up. "So, you want your hair braided, huh?"
Janet nodded shyly.
"One or two?"
"Two, please."
"Okay," Sam said. "I'll have to find something to fasten them with first, though. Hang on a sec."
Janet hugged her knees to her chest as Sam walked away. She hated being left on her own. Dr. Daniel had promised she wouldn't be, but he was gone. She started to feel like she was going to cry again.
"Hey, Kiddo!" Janet fought the urge to hide her face in her arms as Mr. Jack came into the room. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
Janet thought about this for a moment, and then answered, "Better than I could be, worse than I should be under the present circum's dances."
Mr. Jack stared at her in surprise, and then he grinned. "Where did you get that?" he asked with a laugh.
Janet suddenly felt shy again. "My daddy says that," she said quietly.
He looked sort of impressed. "I'll have to remember that one," he said. "Here, I thought you might be missing this guy." He pulled his hand out from behind his back, and handed Mush to her.
Janet smiled as she took the teddy bear, and she hugged him happily. "Thank you, Jack," she said.
"No problem," Mr. Jack said. "Hang onto him this time, huh? He gets lonely."
"I will," she promised.
"Okay, I found some elastics," Sam said, coming back over to her at last. "Let's get that hair braided so you can get back into bed."
Janet sat patiently as Sam did her hair, but she could tell that the lady wasn't used to braiding hair at all. Her hands felt clumsy as she worked, and she kept muttering to herself like she was trying to remember what to do next. Janet wasn't really surprised. Sam's hair was really short, so she probably hadn't made braids in a long, long time.
"Alright, I think we're done," Sam finally announced. "They're not the best braids in the world, but they're not half bad if I do say so myself."
"Finally found something you can't do perfectly, eh Carter?" Mr. Jack teased.
"You'd be surprised, Sir." Sam rolled her eyes and made a funny face at Janet without turning around for Mr. Jack to see.
Janet giggled, but she didn't tattle. She knew they were just joking around.
"Okay, back into bed," Sam said, helping Janet get between the covers. "I think you need a nap after all that." She laid her hand on Janet's forehead as she settled in against the pillow. Her hand felt nice and cool, and made Janet feel more relaxed. "You feel a little cooler now," Sam said. "That's good." She kissed her forehead and smoothed her bangs back. "Get some sleep."
"Is Dr. Daniel coming back soon?" Janet asked.
Sam nodded. "Soon. Sleep."
Janet squeezed her eyes shut, but she didn't feel like sleeping. She heard Sam and Mr. Jack walk away and then start talking to the lady doctor, but she couldn't hear their words and didn't hear Dr. Daniel's voice along with theirs. That made her scared. Shouldn't he be back by now? Maybe he hadn't really gone to the bathroom. Maybe he'd gone away just like Mommy and Daddy did.
But no, he wouldn't have done that. He'd promised her he wouldn't leave, and she believed him. He'd come back. She knew he would.
She tried to be a good girl and go to sleep like she'd been told, but it wasn't easy. Her head felt funny, her tummy hurt, and she wanted Dr. Daniel. Even so, she didn't want to cry. She knew she'd upset Dr. Daniel when she'd cried all through her bath, and she didn't want to do that again. She'd acted like a baby enough for one day.
As the minutes passed, the voices in the room all started to mix in together, and her head got feeling kind of floaty. She could feel herself beginning to fall asleep, but part of her didn't want to. She wanted to know when Dr. Daniel came back.
She dozed on and off for what seemed like a long time, until she felt something touch her hand. She wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or not, and couldn't seem to open her eyes to find out, so she just lay there as someone gently took hold of her hand, slipping their thumb underneath her fingers and covering the back of her hand with their palm. It felt nice.
When she finally managed to crack one eye open, she saw that it was Dr. Daniel. He seemed sad as he looked down at her hand, and he rubbed his face like he was tired. She wished she could cheer him up, but all she could do was squeeze his thumb and hope it would help him see that everything was going to be okay.
He blinked and looked up at her. "Hey," he said. "Did I wake you?"
Janet shook her head. "I knew you'd come back."
Dr. Daniel's face twitched and he looked down again. "Of course I did," he said. "I just went to the bathroom. I wasn't far away."
She looked closely at his puffy eyes, suddenly feeling very sorry for him. "Did you cry?" she asked.
He looked up at her again in surprise, and for a moment she thought she'd said something wrong. Then his eyes softened again, and he nodded. "Yes, I did, a little."
"Why?"
He looked even sadder then. "Because... someone I care about has gone missing... and I miss her very much."
Janet nodded wisely. "Like I miss Mommy and Daddy?"
His mouth smiled, though his eyes still looked sad. "Something like that, yes."
"You'll find her," Janet told him confidently. She really believed he could do anything if he tried.
"I hope so." He squeezed her hand for just a second. "Why don't you go back to sleep, okay? I'll stay right here."
"Okay." She really was feeling sleepy, so now that Dr. Daniel was back, she didn't try to fight it anymore. With Mush tucked under one arm and Dr. Daniel holding her hand, she gently drifted off into a deep sleep.
Daniel leaned the elbow of his free arm on the bed and rested his head in his hand. As real as he knew this to be, he still wished he could wake up and find it had all been a dream. A very weird, disturbing dream. He was holding the hand of a five-year-old Janet Fraiser. How could that possibly be real?
She looked even more childlike than ever with her hair in braids and her teddy bear tucked under her arm, and it made Daniel's thoughts turn to children in general. He wondered whether he'd ever have one of his own, and if he did, whether his daughter might look something like her.
He shook himself before that thought was allowed to fester. God, what was he doing? Pretending that the child before him belonged to him and Janet? She was Janet. Why was he having such a hard time accepting that now?
Just as he leaned back in his chair and sighed in frustration, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay, Daniel?"
"I'm fine, Sam," he answered. "It's Janet who's not okay."
She squeezed his shoulder and just stood there in silence for a long moment. He didn't turn to look at her, but he could tell she was looking down at Janet just as he was. Finally, she said softly, "Could you come with me for a second? General Hammond wants to talk to you."
Daniel sighed heavily. He didn't want to leave Janet, but he knew better than to argue. With one last wistful look at the sleeping child, he stood up and followed Sam out into the hall.
He stopped and scowled when he saw that Hammond, Jack, and Teal'c were standing there with another man. He'd never seen the man before, but he knew immediately from his clothes, his stance, and the look on his face who he was - NID.
"What's going on?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest and studying the stranger closely.
"Dr. Jackson, this is Agent Montgomery of the NID," General Hammond said. Daniel could tell from the tone of his voice that he wasn't happy about the man's presence on his base, either.
Before the general could continue, Daniel broke in. "I know exactly why you're here, and you can forget it," he said in a low voice.
"Dr. Jackson," General Hammond warned. "Agent Montgomery has made a very good argument for his cause..."
"I'm sure he has."
"This drug is probably the most important discovery we have made in the last few years, and in order to study its effects on the human body, they need to examine Dr. Fraiser more thoroughly than our equipment here can do."
"You mean they want her to be their lab rat," Daniel spat out, glaring at Montgomery in a way that dared him to challenge his comment.
"She will be well taken care of, I can assure you," Montgomery said.
Daniel wanted nothing more than to rip the man's throat out, but he somehow managed to restrain himself. He blocked the doorway to the infirmary and said in a menacing tone, "You're not getting within ten feet of her."
"Dr. Jackson, please," Hammond said firmly. "This is not your decision to make."
"General, we can't just let them take her!"
"Easy, Daniel," Jack said, coming to stand at Daniel's side. "If there's really nothing more we can do for her here, doesn't it make sense to send her where they can do something?"
Daniel turned around to direct his death glare at Jack. "Et tu, Jack?" he said. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"
"There are no sides, Daniel, for God's sake..."
"Yes, there are, Jack - right and wrong. She's just a kid! She won't understand what's happening to her. You saw how scared she was just from having a damn bath, and now you want to ship her off with strangers to have God knows what done to her? Are you all insane?"
"Dr. Jackson!"
"I'm sorry, General, but this is crazy. You can't just let them take her."
Montgomery cleared his throat and jumped into the fray. "I have my orders, Dr. Jackson. I'm to take the child to Area 51 immediately. She will be well cared for, but if I understand correctly, the results of being exposed to so much of this chemical all at once have put her life in grave danger. We can't afford to delay - we need to study these effects now."
Daniel stepped closer to the man, getting a thrill of power when Montgomery withered slightly and backed away. "Don't you ever talk about her like that," he said threateningly. "This is Dr. Janet Fraiser we're talking about here, not some... experiment gone wrong."
Montgomery sighed in exasperation and turned to Hammond. "General Hammond, could you please do something about this man's behaviour? I am only trying to do my job here."
"I apologize, Agent Montgomery. Dr. Jackson, could you please either step aside or go and prepare Dr. Fraiser for transport."
"General, please! Don't let them do this!" Daniel begged.
"I'm sorry, son," Hammond said. "This is out of my hands. Please step aside."
Daniel suddenly felt utterly hopeless and helpless. He knew they were right - if there was any chance at finding a way to help Janet, the scientists at Area 51 were their best bet. That didn't mean he had to like it, though. Without another word, he stepped to the side of the doorway and held his hand out, gesturing for Montgomery to enter.
Montgomery kept a wary eye on Daniel as he passed him and went through the door, and Daniel met his gaze with a hard look on his face. Once the man was out of sight, he turned his glare onto Jack.
Jack shrugged his shoulders and held his hands out to the side. "What else can we do, Daniel?" he asked. "I don't like it any more than you do..."
A sudden cry cut Jack off mid-sentence, and Daniel's heart leapt up into his throat as he ran back into the infirmary. He charged right over to Janet, who was curled up on her side, trying to keep Montgomery from lifting her up off of the bed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Daniel yelled, hauling Montgomery out of the way and gathering the frightened little girl into his arms. "Can't you even do that much without scaring her to death?"
Janet clung to his neck for dear life, and Daniel hugged her protectively as he crossed the room away from everyone else. "Who is that man?" she asked fearfully.
Daniel glanced over at Montgomery, who had now been joined by another sour-faced NID agent and a man who appeared to be a doctor of some kind. "He's... someone who wants to help make you better again," Daniel said, gritting his teeth at the lie.
"Then why did you yell at him?"
Daniel winced and set her down with her feet on the floor. "I yelled at him because he upset you," he said, squatting down to be at eye level with her. "I didn't know he was going to frighten you like that."
"I woke up and you weren't there," she said quietly.
"I know." Daniel glanced over his shoulder again and saw that Montgomery was starting to look extremely impatient. The man seemed to take that as an invitation to speak, and he went over to stand behind Daniel.
"We have to go now, Dr. Jackson," he said. "Please let me take the girl."
Daniel rose slowly to his feet, took Montgomery's arm, and pulled him a few steps away from Janet. "Look," he said in almost a whisper, "I doubt that she's going to go willingly unless I go with you."
"I can't allow that, Dr. Jackson."
"What? Why?" Daniel demanded.
"I'm under orders here, Dr. Jackson. Those are to bring the girl back to Area 51 as quickly as possible, not to bring along a babysitter. Dr. Shaw will accompany us to look after her during the trip."
Daniel laughed in disbelief. "You have got to be kid..."
"Dr. Jackson," General Hammond's strict voice cut him off.
Daniel sighed and shot another glare at the NID agent in front of him. "Fine," he growled. Then he went back over to Janet, who was still standing where he had left her, looking on with a worried look on her flushed face.
He squatted down in front of her again, and took her hands in his. "Listen," he said as gently as he could, "you have to go with these men, okay? It's not because you've been bad. It's because you're sick, and they want to make you better."
"I don't want to go."
"I know you don't, sweetheart." He felt someone come to stand beside him as he reached out to stroke her hair, and he glanced up to see Jack standing there looking just as heartbroken as Daniel felt. He turned back to Janet and tried to keep his emotions in check as he spoke again. "I need you to do this for me, though, okay?" he said. "I need you to be a good girl and do what these men say. Can you do that for me, Janet?"
She sniffled, her face screwing up in distress. "But I want to stay with you!"
"I want you to stay, too, but you can't. I'm sorry, Janet."
She looked nervously over his shoulder and leaned forward to say into his ear, "I don't like those men. They look mean."
"They're not mean, sweetie," Daniel said. "They're... they're just..."
"Conscience challenged ass-holes."
Daniel looked up at Jack in horror. "Jack!"
"Well, they are!"
Daniel looked back at Janet, unable to hold back a slight smile. "Don't you repeat that," he told her playfully.
Janet's lower lip trembled. She was clearly on the verge of panic again. "I'm scared," she whispered.
Daniel's heart broke at the look on her face. He didn't want to do this. He'd rather die than send her off to the NID, but what choice did he have? "I know," he said sympathetically. "Come here." He drew her into a hug and gently stroked her back as she sniffled into his shoulder. "You're gonna be fine, okay? I promise you that. And when you get all better, you can come back."
"And stay forever?"
Daniel felt absolutely gutted by this question. He remembered how as a child, while being passed around from foster home to foster home, he'd always hoped to find his "forever home" someday. He never had. "Yes, forever," he said, meaning it wholeheartedly. Whatever the outcome, if he got her back he was never going to let her go again.
"We don't have all day, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel tensed at the sound of the man's voice. 'Trust Montgomery to interrupt the moment,' he thought.
Thankfully, Jack jumped in so Daniel didn't have to. "Hey! Give 'em a minute, will you?" he snapped.
Daniel was even sure he heard Jack thwap the man's arm, and he silently cheered him on.
This exchange made Janet cling to Daniel even harder. "Please don't make me go!" she cried.
"Shh." Daniel rubbed her back more firmly. "I need you to be brave, Janet," he said. "This will all be over before you know it."
"No!"
"I know it's scary, but you know what to do when you get really scared and you just feel like crying or running away?"
"What?"
Daniel pulled her away a bit and cupped her face in his hands. Then, before he knew what he was doing, he said, "You just remember that Daniel loves you, and that he's thinking about you all the time. Can you do that?"
Janet sniffled and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Daniel loves me," she repeated.
Daniel smiled. "That's right. Then if you remember that, you don't have to be afraid."
She sniffed again and nodded. "I'll try."
"That's my girl." He kissed her cheek, took her hand, and stood up. He faced the "conscience challenged ass-holes" with a brave face, but inwardly he was just as frightened as the little girl clinging to his hand was. "Okay," he said, giving Montgomery one last glare of warning. "Take care of her."
Montgomery nodded and gestured to Dr. Shaw to pick the girl up. Daniel felt her stiffen as the stranger approached, but when he squeezed her hand and gave her an encouraging smile, he could see that she was trying her best to be brave.
Shaw picked Janet up without effort and turned to go. Daniel had to pry his hand out of Janet's grasp as the man just started walking away without a moment's hesitation. He waved as she looked over the doctor's shoulder at him, but she didn't wave back. The sorrowful, lonely look on her face sent pain through Daniel's very soul.
Then she was gone.