Chapter 5

Daniel stood in the observation deck looking through the window, watching the girl. She was lying on a bed, hooked up to an IV. She did appear to be asleep; still being pumped with a sedative, Daniel assumed. Fortunately, she at least didn't have any restraints on her.

Daniel desperately wanted to go stand by her side, but they only allowed medical professionals into the room unless otherwise authorized.

'Well,' Daniel thought, 'I'll be getting permission soon... so I can interrogate her.' He shook his head in frustration.

Jack and Janet came into the observation deck.

"General Hammond wants me to question her," Daniel said dryly. He turned to look at Janet. "And he wants me to do it as soon as possible."

"Well, she's in no condition for that," Janet replied.

Daniel looked back through the window. "Tell that to Hammond," he said in a low, soft voice.

"Look," Jack said after a moment of silence, "this girl has been through Hell and back – I understand that - but the General is right. We do need to know what happened. And she's the only one who can tell us."

Janet sighed. "I'll go have a talk with the General. Wait here until I get back."

ooOoo

Twenty minutes later, Hammond, Sam, and Teal'c (with one of his many hats on) joined Daniel and Jack in the observation deck.

"You've got clearance to go into the isolation room, Dr. Jackson," Hammond reported.

Just then, they all watched as Janet entered the isolation room. She took the girl off the sedative. As she left the room, she gave a look to the General that said, 'This really goes against my best judgment.' When she got to the door to the room, she said something quietly to the guards.

"I have one condition, General," Daniel said.

"What's that?"

"That the bed be turned so she'll be looking away from the window. I know she won't answer any questions if she knows she's got a bunch of people staring at her. I seem to be the only one she trusts right now."

"Fair enough."

"Thank you, sir."

ooOoo

After the bed had been turned the way he had asked, Daniel entered the isolation room. He stood next to the bed, looking down at the girl. She was just barely starting to stir from her drug-induced sleep.

He grabbed the stool that had been put in the room for him, put it next to the bed, and sat down. He decided it would be better to wait for her to awake on her own rather than forcibly wake her so he just sat quietly.

After several minutes, the girl began to open her eyes. She blinked several times as her surroundings came into focus.

"Hey there," Daniel said gently, so as not to scare her. "It's Daniel."

She turned her head toward him.

"Hey," he said, "remember me?"

She slowly nodded, although she seemed confused at her surroundings.

"Don't be afraid. You're safe here. I promise."

By the look on her face, she didn't seem convinced. She glanced around the room anxiously.

"We're in a different room than before," Daniel explained.

The girl looked at him and nodded again.

"You're on a planet called Earth. It's the planet where I live," he said.

She nodded slightly.

"So, we've known each other for a few hours now and I still don't know your name," he said.

The girl swallowed hard.

Daniel put his hand on hers. "You're still pretty scared, aren't you?"

She nodded and took his hand.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

She looked deep into his eyes. Daniel looked at her with compassion.

"Ye... yes," she finally said.

He sighed with relief. "Good."

They looked into each other's eyes silently for a moment.

"Can you tell me your name, now?" he asked.

She swallowed again. "M . . . M . . ." she stuttered.

"It's OK. Take your time," he said.

"M . . . Maylin," she said.

"Maylin. That's a beautiful name," he responded.

She managed to smile a little at the compliment and he smiled back.

ooOoo

Jack, Sam, Teal'c, Hammond, and Janet were all in the observation deck watching the conversation between Daniel and Maylin.

"Well," said Hammond, "It's a start. Let me know what happens."

"Yes, sir," Janet responded as Hammond left the room.

ooOoo

"Maylin, do you remember when my friends and I found you yesterday?" Daniel asked.

The girl grimaced a bit at this question.

"I know you probably don't want to think about it."

She slowly shook her head no.

"OK. You don't have to tell me what happened. Just tell me if you remember."

She closed her eyes for a moment, grimacing again. Daniel let her be in her own thoughts. He squeezed her hand a little to remind her he was still there with her. She opened her eyes, looked at Daniel, and nodded.

"OK," he said, not wanting to push her too hard.

She closed her eyes again, with her face still towards Daniel.

"Are you tired?" he asked.

She opened her eyes and shook her head no.

"OK. How do you feel otherwise? Does anything hurt?"

She shook her head.

"Good."

He decided to try to dig a little deeper now. "Maylin? Do you remember what happened before my friends and I found you? Again, you don't need to tell me what happened. Just tell me if you remember or not."

She closed her eyes and turned her face toward the ceiling. She grimaced and moaned a little.

"It's OK, it's OK," he said. He squeezed her hand again.

She began shaking some. She let go of Daniel's hand and grabbed hold of the bed sheets like she had done before.

Daniel looked back at the guards at the door. They looked like they were about ready to come over and tackle her at any second.

Daniel put his hand up for them to stay back. "It's OK," he told them.

He looked back at Maylin. She was still hanging on tight to the sheets, knuckles white. He stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Maylin. Maylin, you're safe here, remember?"

She opened her eyes. She looked very angry now. She let go of the sheets and sat up, pushing Daniel away. The guards started running over to them.

"NO!" he yelled back at them, putting his hand up again. They stopped dead in their tracks, not expecting this from Daniel. "She's fine. Just - just let us be."

The guards looked at each other.

"Everything's fine," Daniel assured them.

They finally backed away.

"Thank you. I'll call you if I need help, all right? How's that?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but we were ordered by Dr. Fraiser to –"

"If this is going to work..." Daniel said in a firm voice, then changing from looking at the guards to looking at the window to the observation deck, "If I'm to question her, I need to have some say in how this is done. All right?"

ooOoo

Janet watched Daniel as he made his demand.

"Make sense to me, Doc," Jack said.

Janet sighed. "If this patient were more than just a little girl . . ."

"But she isn't," Sam said. "Cut Daniel some slack, Janet. I think he can handle her."

Janet gave in. "All right." She took a hold of the microphone and spoke through it to the guards. "Airmen, stand down unless otherwise told by Dr. Jackson. Got that?"

ooOoo

"Yes, ma'am," one of the guards answered. They went back to the doorway.

"Thank you," Daniel said to Janet through the window.

Daniel now looked back at Maylin. She was banging her fists on the bed. She was also looking at the bandage that covered the marks she had made on her arm, and yet her eyes seemed as though they weren't actually seeing anything.

Daniel put his hand on her shoulder, but she pushed his arm away.

"Maylin," he softly beckoned her. "It's Daniel, Maylin. You're safe." He put his hand back on her shoulder. She turned toward him, knocking his arm away. Then she put her hands in fists and began beating against his chest.

Daniel looked back toward the guards. "I'm OK," he told them. He knew they were ready to sprint over at any second.

"Maylin?" he said. She was enraged, staring at his chest as she continued to beat her fists against it. She could hit pretty hard, but Daniel was determined to get through this. He grabbed her wrists. "Maylin," he said firmly, looking into her eyes.

She fought against him, staring into his big blue eyes for several minutes. Her face slowly began to change. It went from total rage to complete sorrow. She stopped trying to fight him. He slowly loosened his grip on her wrists as her head fell on his chest. As she leaned on him, she began to sob. Daniel put his arms around her. "It's OK," he said in a soothing voice. "You're safe now." As he hugged the girl, he briefly made eye contact with Janet.

She began to sob even harder. "Shhh," he said, resting his chin on the top of her head and closing his eyes. "You're safe now."

ooOoo

Jack, Janet, Sam, and Teal'c stared at the scene in front of them.

"Wow," Sam said, a lump in her throat.

Jack, who had been leaning forward in his seat with elbows resting on his knees, now sat back in his chair. "Yeah," he agreed.

ooOoo

Maylin sobbed for several minutes and Daniel held her the entire time. When she began to calm down, she lifted her head and looked up at him with tears running down her cheeks.

Daniel gently brushed the hair out of her face and wiped her tears away with his hand. He then cradled her chin with his finger. "Do you feel better?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Good," he said. "I'm sorry this is so hard."

She began to lie back down on the bed.

"Tired," she said, obviously emotionally drained.

"All right," he said with understanding. "You get some rest then."

"Stay?" she asked as her eyes were becoming droopy.

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep."

She reached for his hand. Daniel gave it to her as he sat back down on the stool.