Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate… not yet anyways muahaha…

Harbinger of Headaches

Daniel closed the door to his apartment as he entered the dark living room. The briefing had been longer than he'd expected and it was now almost midnight. Pouring a cup of coffee into a large mug, he walked into his living room and sat on the couch cradling his phone in one hand and the piece of paper with his ex-wife's phone number on it in the other hand. Sighing, knowing it was probably too late to be calling her, he dialed anyways and listened to the rings as it seemed like an eternity before someone picked up. His heart was beating a mile a minute as a female voice answered dully.

"Hello?" Daniel could feel the irritation growing on the other end of the line, as he said nothing. All he could hear was the pounding in his ears of his own heart. The voice was not Liz's, he knew that much, which led him to wonder if on the other end was his daughter, now sixteen years old.

"Hello?" the voice asked again. "I'm hanging up if you don't talk" the voice threatened. Daniel swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke up.

"Hello, is Liz there?"

"Yeah one second" the voice said and he could hear the phone being put down on a table.

"Mom! Phone!" He heard whoever answered yell from a distance. Rachel, he thought unbelievingly.

"Hello?" He heard his ex's voice say. Suddenly he was filled with rage at what she had stolen from him.

"Liz" he said coldly.

"Daniel," she realized after a moment, "I, uh, didn't think you would call" she said honestly.

"Well, if I thought I had a chance of at the very least talking to my daughter, who you stole from me I might add, I'm sure as hell going to call you back. Besides I heard you have been calling where I work quite a bit lately and I want to know why." he stated harshly, surprised by his own anger. "Was that Rachel who answered the phone?" he asked in a softer tone, needing to know.

"Yes" was the reply. Tears welled up in his eyes and he blinked furiously to get rid of them.

"And I called you Daniel because there is something very important I need to talk to you about."

"Well what is it?" he asked, not caring if he sounded rude.

"I'd rather discuss it in person, if that's alright with you" Liz said softly, sounding like the woman he had loved and adored so many years ago.

"Okay, when and where?" he questioned, hoping it would be the next day.

"My house tomorrow at noon, I'll make lunch or something" she said.

"Alright" he confirmed and he wrote down the address and directions she gave him.

"See you then" she said and hung up leaving Daniel staring at her address. They lived in the next town over, only about a half hours drive from Colorado Springs. They've been so close all along, he thought sadly.

Daniel barely slept that night. He lay in his bed staring at the ceiling, wondering what his daughter looked like, what she liked, disliked - just everything about her. He woke up early and called the base saying that he wouldn't be in that day, due to family things. Hammond had no problems with him taking a day off since it was often difficult to get Daniel to even leave the base.

The drive to Liz's house was uneventful; Daniel simply stared straight ahead, only glancing around every so often to make sure he got on the right streets.

Pulling into a driveway of a red brick bungalow, he turned the car off and walked to the front door. He didn't expect he would see Rachel since it was the middle of the day and she would most likely be in school. He knocked on the door and waited a few moments until he heard footsteps nearing the door. It opened to reveal a five foot six woman, with short-cropped blond hair and green eyes. It looked like his ex, but what Daniel saw was a frail, sickly looking woman with dark circles and bags under her eyes, dull hair and tell-tale lines of exhaustion lining her face. She looked at least ten years older than she should.

"Liz?" he asked, just to be sure. She nodded, understanding how he may not recognize her.

"Please come in" she said, moving to the side to allow him passage. She led him to the living room where he sat on the couch and she sat carefully in a large worn chair.

"Do you want anything to drink?" she asked kindly, taking in how well the man she had always loved, even after she left, looked. Daniel shook his head.

"You probably want to know why I called you after all of these years." she started out.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"And you probably also want to know why I left with Rachel, but I need to tell you a few things first. And if you can stand to stay a while after I've told you, then you can see Rachel when she comes home after school if you like." she offered. His eyes lit up, and she found her heart breaking, remembering how he'd had the same look when she had told him she was pregnant.

"Daniel, I'm sick," she stated clasping her hands together in her lap. "Although you probably noticed already.... I have breast cancer and I'm dying. The doctors say that treatment won't do anything anymore, and that the chemo therapy I've had has done nothing to stop the cancer.
"I have spent the last few months trying to track you down, and finally I found that you were hired by the military and work in Colorado Springs, so I kept phoning until you called back." She paused thinking over how to phrase what she had to say next.

"Take Rachel" she stated simply. Daniels jaw dropped.

"What?" he asked

"Take her, I don't want her to see me get any worse… I don't want her to see me die. Her life has been hard enough, she doesn't need to have me causing her more grief." Liz said self-depreciatively.

"What do you mean her life has been hard enough already?" Daniel asked, curious as to what she meant.

"When Rachel was about eight years old I got mixed up in drugs and I started drinking heavily. The police took her away from me and she was put into foster care up until a year ago. She won't talk about it but I suspect that she was abused in some foster homes." Daniel closed his eyes briefly cursing whatever god was out there that let his little girl get hurt.

"So you see I just want to do what's best for her, that's all." Liz finished.

"Not that I don't want her, because I do, but won't she feel like you are getting rid of her? Dumping her with some man she doesn't know?" he pointed out.

"Believe me I have thought this through and through, and this is what's best." she said confidently. Daniel was silent. When he finally looked at Liz again, he regarded her carefully, and looked her in the eye.

"I'd be happy to take her, but she will continue to see you as well, even if in short visits. Trust me, you don't want to lose her, and have a little faith, I bet she's tougher than you give her credit for." he compromised. She smiled, relief washing over her features.

"Daniel there's something I must warn you about her first"

"What?" he asked frowning slightly.

"She… how do I put this..." her brows furrowed. "She'll be a handful - she hates everything and wont listen to what anyone tells her to do. She skips school, hangs out with bad people and tends to stay out all night almost every night". Daniel rubbed his temple with his left hand. He knew there was a catch. But he would take his daughter any way she came.

"Drugs?" he asked figuring he should know exactly what he was getting himself into.

"No, she doesn't seem to be into that or drinking. Probably because she's seen what they can do to a person first hand…" she trailed off.

"Just one more thing," he began, wanting to set the one thing that had been bugging him for the whole time, straight, "you didn't tell her I was dead did you?" he asked, fearing the answer.

Liz shook her head, and Daniel let out the breath he had been holding. "I would never tell her that, because I knew she would see you again," she said looking down guiltily.

"Which leads me to my next question," he brought up.

"Why I left?" she said. Daniel nodded and leaned back in the couch, preparing for a lengthy explanation.

Thanks to chilipepperz61, Kate, and adora-chillwind for reviewing.