Rachel awoke the next morning to the smell of bacon, and the sound of dishes clinking together in the kitchen. She got out of bed and got dressed, not bothering to do her hair just yet. But she did pull on her favourite old sneakers, since they were more comfortable than the cold floors of the apartment.
She entered the kitchen to find Daniel hard at work making bacon, eggs, sausage and toast. Raising her eyebrows she sat down on one of the stools at the counter and cleared her throat alerting him to her presence.
"Since when was Martha Stewart my dad?" she said, as he spun around surprised, noticing that she had actually acknowledged him as her father.
"Who's Martha Stewart?" he asked, really not knowing. Rachel looked at him like he was insane. How could he not know who the woman was? Her face was only plastered all over TV, magazines; hell she even had her own brand of paint!
"Don't you watch TV?" she asked Daniel.
"No not really. Before, the only time I was ever here was to sleep, and even that was kind of rare, seeing how I have a room at the base too." He replied, placing a plate full of food in front of her. Picking at it with her fork she stared at the scrambled eggs deep in thought.
"What's on your mind?" Daniel asked sitting down at the counter across form her.
"What exactly does an archaeologist do at an air force base – in Colorado?"
"That's-"
"Classified?" she finished for him.
"Yeah" Rachel nodded, not pushing it any further knowing he wouldn't tell her anything. They ate in silence for a few minutes, she hoping he wouldn't bring up the previous night and him wondering if he should.
"So what are you going to do today?" Daniel asked, knowing there wasn't much since he prohibited her from going anywhere and school was not an option for another two days. She shrugged in response.
"Read, I guess"
"Well there are a lot of books in my office and out in the living room… you can read any of those if you want," he offered, and she nodded, not looking at him.
"Okay, well I've got to get to work, please don't go out again" he said, doubting she would anyway. "Bye" he called as the door shut and was locked.
"Bye" she answered to the empty kitchen. Deciding to take him up on his offer of reading his books, Rachel left her food and wandered into his office, idly looking at the artifacts on the shelves and walls. She walked up to a huge oak bookcase and scanned the titles of the books. Many of them were in languages she couldn't identify at all, so her gaze slid right over them. After pulling out various books for a few minutes she decided on a book about Greek gods and went to sit in a worn leather chair by the office door.
She was only a few pages into the book when she heard what sounded almost like a key in the front doors lock. Frowning she closed the book, placed it on the chair and stood in the office doorway. She heard the front door open and two voices, neither she recognized, began conversing in hushed voices. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she knew they definitely were not supposed to be there.
Quietly slipping from the office and into Daniels bedroom across the hall, she gently shut the door making no sound at all. Pushing a chair up under the metal handle, she grabbed for the phone. Hitting the 'ON' button on the cordless, she put the phone to her ear to hear the dial tone. Instead of the dull mechanical beep she'd expected, she heard one of the voices say,
"She's picked up". Frantically she turned off the phone wishing she had a cell phone. Turning on the spot she tried to figure out what to do. Seeing the doors to the balcony just off of the room, she stealthily opened them and went onto the miniature patio, closing the doors behind her. Off to the right there was a small gate that led to a metal fire escape. Rachel remembered Daniel talking about it being put in the year before. She climbed over the gate, knowing if she opened it, it would probably squeak, and began the short descent of three stories.
She made it to the ground and hid around the corner of the building before she heard the doors to the balcony being thrown open, banging against the bedroom walls. Breathing heavily, not from the trip down, but from fear and the adrenalin coursing through her, she waited until she heard the two voices, cursing very colorfully, get farther away. She carefully ran down the street and did so for six blocks until she was sure she was safe for the time being. She ducked into a quiet alley and kept her back against the brick wall of the small diner there.
As she tried to slow down her breathing, a million thoughts ran through Rachel's head as to why people were in Daniels apartment and how they knew about her seeing how she'd only been living there for a few days. Deciding to try and phone Daniel, since maybe he'd know what was going on, she moved to go into the diner where there hopefully was a payphone, but then stopped and leaned against the wall again, remembering she had no money to make a call with. She knew the Air Force likely didn't answer collect calls, so she prayed that if she went in there, that someone would have left a tip on a table and that she could get to it before a waitress did.
Taking a deep breath, Rachel looked cautiously around the corner and seeing very few people in the street, casually walked into the small establishment and as she passed an empty table, swiftly grabbed the tip money left behind, leaving the few patrons and employees none the wiser.
Spying a payphone at the very end of the diner, she made her way there and dialed the number that Daniel had asked she memorize incase of emergencies. This is a big ass emergency she thought grimly. She waited as the phone rang four times before a bored sounding man said,
"Cheyenne Mountain Complex." Breathing deeply she tried to make herself not seem like a scared kid.
"Yeah hi, I would like to speak to Doctor Daniel Jackson please, tell him it's an emergency" she said fairly quickly, while surreptitiously glancing around the diner and out the large windows a few yards away.
"I'm sorry but civilians can't be put through to employees" the voice began tiredly as if having taken calls like that many times already.
"I told you, this is an emergency, I am his daughter and I need to talk to him now" she said forcefully into the receiver. Hearing a sigh on the other end, her hopes disintegrated at the thought that this guy might just hang up on her, and she didn't know if she had enough money to call again.
"One moment please" he said dutifully, and Rachel could hear the line being put on hold. She nervously tapped he fingers on the large phone book below the phone, and waited to be put through. She was glad the phone was in a small alcove in the wall, so that she could stand in it and no one could see her, unless they came right up to it.
"Hey kid you still there?" the voice made her jump slightly as it came back so suddenly.
"Yeah"
"Doctor Jackson is in a meeting at the moment, I can take a message for him, if you like" he said. Rachel's stomach dropped. No, she had to talk to him right away, she didn't know what else to do.
"No I have to talk to him now!" She spoke harshly, "It is an EMERGENCY, do you understand??" she demanded, "I need him now" she said this time her voice dropping, trembling ever so slightly, not going unnoticed by the airman on the other end.
"Ok, I will send someone to give him the message now, so stay on the line" he said, not exactly knowing if the kid was for real or if it was a prank call.
Running a hand nervously through her hair, Rachel held the phone receiver so tight her knuckles turned a ghostly white. As she waited, an automated recording in the phone told her to put more money in. Depositing the last of the change she had stolen, she hoped the line wouldn't be cut off.
SG1 sat around the briefing room table, having just gotten off the speakerphone with the pentagon about their next mission off world.
"Well that went well," Jack grimaced, "Don't ya think?" he asked, clearly unhappy like the rest of them that the pentagon was demanding more weapons be brought back through the gate immediately or else the SGC may in fact cease to exist. Hammond shook his head, and sighed. The job definitely had its perks; this however was not one of them.
All five heads turned as a young airman knocked on the open doorway and stood nervously in the threshold.
"What is it Airman?" Hammond asked authoritatively.
"There is a uh, phone call for Doctor Jackson, from uh, his uh, daughter Sir, she says it's an emergency." The young man fumbled through the message. Daniel sat up in his seat,
"Is she still on the line?"
"Yes sir"
"You may use the speaker phone here if you wish Doctor, or the phone in my office" Hammond said, knowing it must be important if the girl had phoned the base.
"Um okay thanks" He reached to turn on the speakerphone in the middle of the table, when Jack asked
"Do you want us to go?" he asked gesturing to the door.
"No that's okay", pressing a button, all he could hear was background noises on the other end of the line.
"Rachel?" he asked uncertainly.
"Daniel?"
"Why are you calling?" he questioned, "You said it was an emergency?" he said sounding a little worried. "Where are you?" he continued before she could answer his other queries.
"Um, a diner a few blocks from the apartment"
"Why?" he asked glancing at Jack across from him in confusion, Jack just shrugged in response.
"BecausetwoguysbrokeintotheapartmentandnowIamhidingfromthem" she said quickly in one breath, trying to make the call short and sweet.
"What?" Daniel and Jack both asked, everyone leaning closer to the phone.
"Two guys broke into the apartment and now I am hiding from them," she said more slowly so they could all hear. Rachel guessed there were multiple people listening. Daniel looked horrified.
"Why didn't you call the police?"
"Because the two guys, I think there were two, were on the phone already, waiting for me to pick up… I went down the fire escape and hid," she said. Daniel could hear the fear in her voice.
"Okay stay there, I'll come and get you" Daniel said having a pretty good idea of where she was.
"Okay, just hurr-" Rachel stopped mid-sentence and SG1 looked at each other.
"Rachel?" Daniel said, his heart pounding in his chest.
"Rach?" he said again receiving no answer. Jumping up he left the briefing room to go find his daughter. Jack looked at Hammond who nodded, looking quite alarmed himself, and the rest of SG1 ran to catch up with Daniel.
They were coming too.
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More will be up soon :-)