Author's Note: Hey guys. I know I haven't posted for a while; busy, busy.
Hathor
"You sure you don't want me to stay?"
Daniel looked up, frowning; it took a minute for him to track the question. "No, Jack, go home. I'm fine. Really." He dragged up a smile. "Dr Frasier says so, after all."
"I could stay." Jack suggested, again. "Watch…some game that I'm sure is on…crash here…"
"Jack, go home." Daniel said firmly. "Go…fishing, or something…can you get that?" he added when someone knocked at his door.
"Sure." Jack opened the door. "Hello." The girl in the hall looked surprised to see him.
"Hi."
Daniel glanced up. Some months had passed since his noisy introduction to Kesia's family. Since then he'd seen most of them at one time or another, including a boy he hadn't been introduced to; Kesia had several times invited him over, but the majority of times he'd refused.
"Daniel, I have some post for you. You weren't back, so I…"
"Thanks." Daniel interrupted her. "I'll look at it later."
She shrugged, tossing the post onto a counter and looking at Jack. "Who're you?"
"Who am…who are you?"
"Kesia. I live across the hall." She gestured over her shoulder. "Who're you?"
"That's Jack." Daniel said pointedly, and she grinned.
"Ah…say no more. See you later, Daniel. 'bye, Jack."
"What? Hey! Wait a minute!" Jack chased her into the hall. "Wait a minute…Kestra?"
"Kesia." she corrected him patiently.
"Kesia. Listen…" he glanced over his shoulder at Daniel's apartment. "I don't know how well you know Daniel, but…he's had a rough couple of days."
Kesia frowned, leaning against the wall beside her door. "What happened?"
"He's…classified. It just…was a rough few days, so if you…"
"I have relatives coming." she said after a minute. "Daniel's met them, so maybe he'd like to come over." She moved around Jack back to Daniel's door. "Daniel?"
"What?" Daniel said absently.
"Coleen and the Princess are coming tonight. Help me entertain them?"
"Why?" Daniel sounded suspicious.
"Because Stephen's not back yet, and the Princess is about to have a nervous breakdown because there's so many people in her house."
"Really." Now he sounded really suspicious.
"Yup. I'll come get you when they get here, OK? You can entertain Coleen. He's very easy to amuse." She grinned at Jack and fled back to her apartment before Daniel could protest.
"Weird girl." Jack commented, closing Daniel's door behind him.
"You should meet her friends." Daniel said absently.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. The kid's five and talks like Sam, Merrick nearly attacked me, I've never met anyone as into the Air Force as Taylor…"
"Sounds like a fun group." Jack said.
"Yeah." Daniel put down the book he'd been staring through. "Yeah, they are."
A few hours later Daniel tapped on Kesia's door. Jack had left, finally, after much urging. Kesia hadn't come near him, though, and he hadn't heard anyone pass in the corridor; eventually he came to see what was going on.
"Come in!" Kesia was ironing when he pushed open the door.
"Hey." He waved a little awkwardly. "You didn't…"
"Daniel! Oh, I'm sorry!" She put down the iron carefully and gestured him in. "They aren't coming. Cole threw a hissy fit and he's grounded, so the Princess decided not to come either."
"Why?"
"Why what? Cole?" She shrugged. "Who knows. He's a good kid, usually, but sometimes he acts up."
"What did he do?"
"Refused to leave Sara. Apparently," she handed Daniel a cup, "if he leaves she's going to get hurt."
"Hurt." Daniel repeated. "Hurt how?"
Kesia shrugged, going back to her ironing. "He doesn't know. But when Merrick tried to get him dressed, he started screaming and hitting, and that's…Cole knows he's not allowed hit anyone. So now he's in disgrace, Merrick's mad, and everyone's upset."
"And…" Daniel hesitated. "Is he right?"
Kesia smiled, not looking up. "You think we're all crazy. Putting so much stock in a five year old."
"No." Daniel said.
"Oh? You a believer, then?"
"Heaven and Earth, Horatio." Daniel said wryly.
"I guess." Kesia agreed. "It…maybe. Cole's sensitive; sometimes he catches things others miss. Both Coles are like that, actually…it's different for Coleen, though." She glanced abruptly at her hands and unplugged the iron, setting it upright away from the clothes. "It makes him…older than it should. And the others listen to him. But this…" she shrugged. "You can't tell the future, Daniel."
"It'd be nice." Daniel mused.
"Maybe. I think it'd be very hard…" she trailed off and then laughed suddenly. "Listen to me. You didn't come to hear me go on about Coleen."
"No, I came to babysit him, but since he apparently isn't here…"
"Never mind. You can talk to me instead."
"Oh?"
"Sure. Tell me about your favourite dig."
Thus encouraged, Daniel spoke for a while about a dig in Egypt he'd worked on a few years ago. Kesia nodded and asked questions in all the right places, ironing and working around the room as he talked. When he'd finished she didn't speak for a minute, apparently engrossed in something.
Just as he was about to say something else she lifted her head and said quietly, "Now tell me about one you actually enjoyed."
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.
"You didn't enjoy that dig, you didn't like the people you were working with."
Daniel leaned back against his seat. "Of course I…"
"Daniel." Rising to her feet, she came and perched on the table beside him. "You didn't tell me anything about the people there, or what Egypt was like, just what you found and what it means in your theory of 'How the World Became'. I'm not as air-headed as I look."
"You don't look air-headed." Daniel protested automatically.
"Really? Damn. That was the plan." She laughed at the look on his face. "Relax, joking. Now tell me about one you enjoyed."
Daniel thought for a long minute before launching into another story.
Somewhere along the way she'd persuaded him to eat something, and they were now both draped over various pieces of furniture, Daniel's story long finished. Kesia sighed and sat upright, eyeing him curiously. "Want to tell me why Jack's so worried about you?"
"Jack…? Oh. No."
"A'right." She glanced at the empty cup beside his chair. "Want a refill?"
"No. I should go." He rose to his feet, stopping only to gather the cup and the plate from his meal and stack them neatly on the sink.
"Don't." Kesia said quietly.
"Don't what?"
"Go." She looked up at him. "Not if you're only going because I asked that."
"I'm not." he said, too quickly, and she raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not."
"You are. I'll remember that, in future."
"Remember what?" Daniel asked in spite of himself.
"No coddling. You don't take well to it." She nodded once, to herself, and then looked back up. "Stay. No coddling."
"I really have to go." Daniel made it all the way to the door before she asked thoughtfully, "Who hurt you, Daniel?"
"No one."
He was half-way into the hall before she added, "How?"
"It didn't…" Frustrated, he cut himself off and opened his own door.
Kesia was standing directly behind him when he turned to pull his door closed again. "Someone did." She studied him carefully. "Someone you thought you trusted hurt you. What happened?"
"I don't…" Daniel shook his head. "I can't tell you."
"Classified, yeah? Can I guess?"
"Can…" Daniel gave up and sat down. "Sure."
"Good." Kesia settled herself more firmly. "Will you tell me if I get it right?"
"We'll see."
"Ok." Kesia leaned back and studied him for a long minute. "You met someone. A woman. And you thought she was one thing, and it turned out she was only pretending. And you, especially, got caught in it, more'n the others."
Daniel stared. "That's…" Clearing his throat, he turned away. "Sorry. Dead wrong. Now, I have to get ready for work, so if you don't mind…"
"It's twenty past eleven, Daniel." Kesia said quietly. "You're not going to work tonight."
"I need some things for tomorrow."
"I'll help. What are you looking for?"
"Kesia, just go, please?"
Kesia stood for a minute before turning away. "Whoever she was, she's an idiot, Daniel. Don't let her hurt you this way."
Daniel turned to look at her, but she'd gone.
Two days later he knocked on her door.
"You were right." he said when she opened it.
"Of course I was right. I'm always right. You didn't know?" she answered, gesturing him in.
"Very funny."
"Thank you. Coffee?"
"No, thanks."
"All right." She sat down and gestured him into another seat. "What was I right about?"
"Like you said. I thought she…you know," he blushed and hurried on, "but really she was just using me to get something else."
"More fool her, then." Kesia said easily.
Daniel studied her for a minute. "I'm married."
"Really?" Kesia blinked in surprise. "Huh. Didn't see that one coming. Do you hide her in your closet all the time or something?"
"No, she…" Daniel studied his hands. "I met her on a mission. And we lived together for a year or so, and then she was…captured."
"Which is why you're pseudo-military now. OK." Kesia nodded slowly. "Is she…"
"Still alive?" Daniel smiled wanly. "I hope so. I really do."
"Me too." On impulse, she crossed to sit on the arm of his chair, rubbing his shoulder gently. He accepted the comfort, making no move to either back away or move closer.
"If she is, it's more than you're gonna be." someone commented from behind them. Daniel started to rise to his feet but Kesia's hand was suddenly firm, holding him down even as she rose.
"Connor. What are you doing home?"
"We're finished in LA." He dropped something…a bag, Daniel thought…and came around in front of the chair. "What's he doing here?"
"Being neighbourly." Kesia's voice was faintly warning. "This is Doctor Jackson, he lives across the hall."
"I know who he is, Deirbhile, I asked what he was doing here."
Daniel carefully brushed Kesia's hand away and stood up, filing away 'Deirbhile' to ask her about later. "We were talking. What does it have to do with you?" he asked politely.
Kesia groaned softly. Ignoring her, Connor growled, "It has everything to do with me. What she does concerns me."
"Hello, Stephen, standing right here? We've had this conversation, remember?"
"Not now." He hadn't looked away from Daniel.
"Oh for…honestly! Stephen, Daniel is a friend of mine. All right? Now will you please back down?"
Reluctantly, Connor—Stephen?—turned away, stalking across to his bag and ostentatiously taking out several weapons. Ignoring him, Kesia turned back to Daniel.
"Ignore him. He's…like Merrick, only more so." Connor glared at her but didn't contest the statement.
"I should go, anyway." Daniel gestured towards the door.
"No, don't do that. Stay and tell me about your wife."
"I'm going out." Connor said abruptly.
"Good for you." Kesia said, looking back at him. "Try not to kill anything your first night home, all right?"
"Very funny."
"Stephen?"
He halted at the door, and she rattled off a long stream of something that sounded like Irish to Daniel. His Celtic studies were lacking, though, and he couldn't make out what she was saying.
"If you say so." Connor said finally, opening the door. "Daniel, someone's at your door."
"What?" Daniel crossed quickly to the door. "Jack. Te…Murray."
"Daniel." Jack said. "What are you doing over there?"
Daniel glanced over his shoulder without thinking. "Talking."
"Ahh. Kesia." Jack nodded to her as she came to the door.
"Jack. Hi, I don't know you."
"Murray." he introduced himself.
"Murray." she repeated. "Fair enough. Connor, are you going?"
Everyone turned to look at Connor, who was leaning against the wall a little way down the corridor.
"This is just so entertaining." he said, straight-faced.
"Connor, go…" she bit off the end of her sentence and made flapping motions instead. Connor asked something in Irish, and she nodded, glancing uncomfortably around. With a vague motion that could have been a wave, he pushed away from the wall and disappeared around the corner.
"Who's that?" Jack asked, pushing gently past Daniel into Kesia's front room. She showed no surprise, gesturing him to a chair and closing the door after Murray.
"Steph…Connor. He lives with me, sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Jack repeated. "Where does he live the rest of the time?"
"All over. His father's in LA, he spends some time there, and there's…there's others he goes to."
"Where?"
"Around."
"Jack, would you just drop it?" Daniel muttered.
Kesia laughed. "Connor's father runs Wolfram and Hart, in LA. Feel free to check him out. Sometimes Connor goes to Cleveland, to a man called Rupert Giles and a woman called Buffy Summers. And sometimes we go to Turtle Cove, to Merrick and Shayla Baliton. Check out any of those people you want; they're all there." Silently offering Daniel a drink, she nodded at his refusal and looked back at Jack. "Feel better now?"
"You don't exist."
"Do so."
"The apartment's rented to someone called Cole Evans. There's nothing in your name."
"Doesn't mean I don't exist. Look at me, here I am."
"Let me rephrase that. Officially you don't exist."
"Jack!" Daniel protested again.
"It didn't occur to you to check that before you asked me…" she cut herself off again, eyes going automatically to Daniel.
"Asked you what?" Daniel asked. She didn't answer, and he turned to Jack, eyes and voice going hard. "Asked her what, Jack?"
"I asked her…" Jack trailed off, and Kesia sighed loudly.
"He told me you were upset. That's all," she added, staring Daniel down when he went to speak. "He didn't tell me why. He obviously didn't know I could have figured it out for myself. He said you were upset and…" she hesitated for another minute.
"To keep an eye on me." Daniel said flatly.
"I'd have done it anyway, so you needn't bother getting mad at him."
"Were Shayla and Coleen really coming?"
"They were. They're not now. I invited you because I thought you might enjoy it." She glanced at Jack briefly. "Because I was worried about you."
"You…" Daniel shook his head. "You barely know me."
"I know more about you than you did about me when you came to make sure I was all right." Kesia's gaze was steady on him. "You came into a stranger's home, when you thought there was trouble, because you were worried. I invited a friend over for an evening, to babysit so I wouldn't have to."
"Because Jack asked you to." Daniel said stubbornly.
"Oh, honestly! Daniel, I was worried about you, all right? I would have come back anyway, even if he hadn't said anything."
"Yeah, so actually…" Jack started.
"Jack…" Daniel said. "Just…leave it. Kesia's on the verge of getting you off the hook."
"I am?" Kesia asked in surprise. "Great. Stephen never lets me away with that."
"Who's Stephen?" Jack asked.
"Connor." Kesia said in surprise. "Didn't I say that?"
"No. You said he was Connor."
"He's also Stephen, but no one else calls him that." Kesia tucked herself into a chair and grinned disarmingly. "Just me."
"Isn't that nice." Jack said. "Murray, it looks like we're not wanted."
"Indeed it does, O'Neill." Murray agreed.
"Don't be silly." Kesia jumped up again and pulled a video case from under his arm. "What did you…oh. Empire strikes back."
"Murray's trying to set a record." Jack said dryly.
"Well, watch it here then."
"No, we…" Daniel started.
"Daniel. Your living room's full of rocks."
"Artefacts." he corrected her.
"Whatever. The worst you'll find in here is one of Coleen's toys. You're not gonna be crowded."
"And what if Ste…what if Connor comes back?" Daniel asked.
"He can deal. He's used to having everyone here. You won't matter that much."
Jack shrugged, leaving the decision up to Daniel.
Connor came in, glared at them and went straight into one of the bedrooms; Kesia went after him and harried him back out to pick up his things.
"You did it when you weren't possessed before! Do it when you're not possessed now."
"You talk too much."
"You only say that when I'm asking you to do something!"
"What happened to 'I'm not going to ask you for anything'?"
"I didn't realise you were such a slob to live with. Why didn't you ever learn Fred's lessons?"
"She didn't beat them into me the way my father did. Why are those men watching us?"
"They've probably never heard anyone argue in Irish before. Pick up your stuff, please."
Connor grinned at her, and, in English, said cheerfully, "Now that's all you had to say."
"I'll remember that." she retorted.
"Do."
"I will."
"Good."
"I'm glad you're pleased."
"I certainly am."
"Dear god, it's like living with teenagers." Jack groaned.
"We are." Kesia said. "More or less. Connor's only eighteen."
"Nineteen." he corrected her.
"Already? Good lord. Stop growing."
"And how old are you?" Jack asked politely.
"Older."
"How much?"
"Some. Daniel, can you please make your friend stop asking me stuff?"
"No." Daniel said without looking up.
"Gee. Thanks." Kesia said flatly. "Saved by the bell…" she dived for the 'phone.
Connor straightened from the pile of stuff on the floor and watched her quietly. After saying hello, Kesia simply listened for several minutes before nodding and saying quietly, "We're coming."
Daniel switched off the telly. "What's wrong?"
Kesia bit her lip before saying slowly, "I don't know yet. That was Danny; everyone's going home. We're needed." She glanced at Connor, who nodded briefly and went into the bedroom.
"There something we can do?" Jack asked, on his feet.
"I don't know." Kesia repeated. "He doesn't…Taylor called the meeting but she hasn't told…no one seems to know. They're waiting for us."
Connor came back out of the bedroom, a bag slung over his shoulder and another in his hand. "I need to call LA, then we can go."
"How'll you get there?" Daniel asked.
Kesia was rooting through a tray of odds and ends as she answered. "Connor'll drive us. Here…" she scribbled a few lines on a piece of paper and tucked her apartment key into it. "That's where we'll be. I don't…" she glanced at Connor, who was arguing with someone on the other end of the 'phone. "I don't know how long we'll be."
Daniel shrugged slightly, fingering the piece of paper. "Do what you have to."
Jack plucked the paper away from him, studying it interestedly. "Turtle Cove?"
"Yes. That's where my family lives."
Connor slammed the phone down hard enough to crack the casing. "You're paying for that." Kesia said without looking up. "Who were you talking to?"
"Gunn." Connor muttered.
"Should have known. Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Good." She glanced at Daniel and his friends. "I don't want to be rude, but…"
"We're going." Daniel said, heading for the door.
"Daniel?" Kesia said suddenly, and he paused just outside his door; Jack and Murray stopped as well. "I meant what I said before. Whoever she was, she's an idiot and you shouldn't let her hurt you. She's not worth it."
Daniel nodded slowly, aware of the annoyed look Jack was giving him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"Can we go?" Connor asked.
"Coming." Kesia said, rolling her eyes. "'Bye Jack, Murray. See you, Daniel."
Daniel watched them down the hall before going into his flat; Jack started to say something, but he pre-empted him. "She doesn't know anything, Jack, so don't bother."
"She must know something or she wouldn't have said it." Jack pointed out quietly.
Daniel nodded reluctantly. "She knows that a woman pretended to…" As he had with Kesia, he skipped the next bit and went on with, "but she was pretending, that she was using me to get something else. That's all she knows."
"How does she know that?" Jack continued.
"She guessed." Daniel said flatly. "Maybe you said something, maybe I said something…maybe Cole told her, I don't know. She guessed."
Jack shook his head, baffled. "She guessed? Just like that?"
"Jack, you told her to watch me. She did. Now let it go." Jack started to say something else, but Daniel shook his head. "Let…it go, Jack."
Jack hesitated for a minute before asking, "Do you trust her?"
"Doesn't matter whether I trust her or not, because she doesn't know anything."
"Daniel…" Jack said, and Daniel nodded slowly.
"I do."
"Good." Jack grinned then. "That's all that's important. Murray, how about watching the end of that movie?"
"Very well, O'Neill, though I feel obliged to warn you it does not conclude on this tape."
"We'll live. Daniel, where's the popcorn?"