Chapter Two - Grace
Twenty-eight-year-old Grace O'Neill stepped out of her seafoam green Prius and raised a hand to protect her eyes as she squinted up at the bright sun. Then, as if she realized from the scene just how hot it was going to get, she stripped off the heavy, woolen cloak she'd worn over her sleek, formal gown and set it in the front seat. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she stood upright again, staring baffled, at the ocean of yellow sand in front of her.
Ten minutes ago, they'd been driving through the streets of Washington, D.C. Banks of snow had been piled up on either side of the roads as they headed to the White House for the ceremony which would celebrate Generals Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter, the Jaffa Teal'c, and Dr. Daniel Jackson for their roles in clearing a path for the country—no, the entire planet—to interact with the galaxy at large.
Grace gritted her teeth as she turned over her shoulder to yell at her twenty-one-year-old brother. "Jacob, what the hell did you do to my car?"
"Nothing!"
Grace bent down so she could see into the backseat and glared at him, her arms firmly crossed. "Try again."
Her brother tugged at his bowtie as he stepped out of the car. "Hey, I didn't hear you complaining when you didn't have to charge your battery or pay for a single gallon of gas on our road trip to DC. All I'm saying is don't bite the hand that feeds you. Capiche?"
Grace lunged at him, about to trip over her floor-length gown and three-inch heels, if not for the strong hand that grabbed her elbow and steadied her.
"Easy."
Careful to grab her emerald green dress in one hand before she yanked her arm out of his grasp, she stepped out of Trevor's reach. "Make yourself useful, Captain. Tell us what just the hell just happened."
"Grace." That deep, steady voice was so familiar, and yet it had matured so much since she'd first heard it. The most attractive, popular boy in school was now a captain in the Air Force. Her first boyfriend. Now reporting to her mother at Stargate Command.
Humiliation welled up in Grace's chest. She didn't know what possessed Major General Samantha Carter to arrange some upside down and backward bodyguard, second chance romance between Grace and her first boyfriend, but Grace wanted it known by both parties that she was not going to play by the rules. Especially not if that involved some elaborate plot to get them stranded on a desert island so her parents could have another string of grandbabies to spoil.
"My guess? We teleported." Nicole Jackson stepped out of the car and leaned her arms against the metal frame. She grimaced and pulled back, apparently checking her arms for signs of burns given that the sun was gleaming in the middle of a desert which could easily have been mistaken for the Sahara.
Unlike the O'Neill offspring, who had gone for more traditional evening wear, Nicole had opted for an extravagant sari for the festivities. The hand embroidered fabric now littered the back seat of Grace's car, leaving Nicole only the crop top and leggings she'd worn under the heavy fabric.
Even now, she was all business, wrapping her long black-brown hair into a workable ponytail.
Grace wished her outfit could have been so easily manipulated. Unfortunately, she had no interest in damaging the velvet gown with a scandalous open back that had nearly given her father another heart attack. The moment she'd put it on, her mother had enthused it hugged her curves in all the right places, and Grace agreed. Besides, the fabric had felt luxurious and perfect for a winter affair at the White House.
If only they hadn't already arrived in DC when Jacob's engine decided to pulse and engulf them in a bright light. At least then, she would have had a suitcase with some options of what to wear.
She glanced over at Trevor. That, and no ex-boyfriend taking charge.
She sighed as she looked down at her gown, already gathering granules of sand between the velvet strands. She might have no choice but to destroy the one thing in her wardrobe that made her feel like a movie star. That would be a shame.
Jacob rolled his eyes as he stripped off his suit jacket and folded up the sleeves of his tux shirt. The action highlighted his biceps, strong after a decade and a half of sparring with Teal'c every now and again, in a way that was a little too coincidental for Grace's tastes. She wondered for a second who he was showing off for. He'd grown up with everyone here. "Yeah, Nic, I'm pretty sure none of us thought we were in DC. I think what Grace wanted to know was why."
Nicole didn't bat an eye. "Well, it was your idea to re-engineer your sister's hybrid car so you could save the planet or some nonsense, so I think we can all look to you for the answer on that."
Jacob just shrugged the broad shoulders he'd inherited from his father. "Don't look at me. I just built the thing. I have no idea how it works."
Grace lifted her skirts, almost face-planting again in the sand if not for Trevor's strong hand grabbing her, this time around the waist. As he righted her, his fingers brushed the hollow of her back, and she had to suck in a breath. Somehow, all at once, her skin tingled and came to life with his finger light touch.
The idea that her mother might have been right to force the two of them together after all these years...
Trevor's expression was apologetic as he tried to find a less intimate hold on her waist. "Sorry."
She squirmed out of his embrace. "It's fine."
She moved to take off her heels, but Trevor stopped her. "If it's as hot as it feels right now, you're gonna want those shoes on. The sand's going to absorb the heat."
Grace groaned. "Well, I can't walk to the nearest town if I have to face-plant every ten seconds."
His flight cap did little to protect his eyes from the sun, and he brought his hand up to shield them as he surveyed their position.
No matter how conflicted she was to see Trevor after all this time, she had to admit that she was grateful for someone who had the training to get them out of this mess. Even if he'd only been at the SGC for a couple of months, and this might have been the closest he'd gotten to having a real mission so far.
After a long moment, Trevor turned to Jacob who was in the process of rolling his pants up to his knees. "Uh, you're not going to want to do that."
Grace fanned herself with one hand, the action lightly moving her long golden brown hair which had been curled just right for the occasion. Unfortunately, it did little to protect against the oppressive heat. Especially since her dark dress and velvet fabric wanted nothing more than to soak in the hot sun's rays. "Look, Trevor, I know you're used to doing this kind of thing with trained personnel, but we're not those people. Even if we were, clearly, we're not prepared for this kind of thing."
She ran her hands down the length of her body, trying not to blush when Trevor's eyes followed the line of her curves. She shouldn't have done that. Shouldn't have teased him when all she wanted to do was get back to her parents' ceremony.
Trevor cleared his throat, and Grace couldn't tell if his red ears were because of the heat, the sun, or her. "Listen, you guys, I get that you're the kids of the infamous SG-1, but I'm not telling you anything your parents wouldn't be saying. Maybe that makes me the wet blanket around here, but we need to get out of the sun sooner rather than later. The heat isn't the only thing that could kill us."
Before Grace could make a comment about her shoes, he waved back to the car. "Can you try to start her up again? Even if we don't quite know what's happening with your car, I'd rather it got us to a more hospitable climate."
She hiked her skirt up again, this time reaching out to Trevor for support as she walked back to the car. "I'm a big fan of a more hospitable climate."
She sank into the front seat and pressed the button to start. Only a few clicks. Then, nothing.
Trevor's eyes grew serious. "Again."
She shrugged and pressed the button again. Still nothing.
Trevor looked over at Jacob. "I'd take a look, but you're the one who rebuilt this thing. Think you can get it to work?"
Jacob grimaced, one hand on the back of his neck. "Honestly, from the click, I think it's the starter. I can tinker around, but my guess is we're going to need a new one."
With one side of her long hair pulled back by a rhinestone crusted comb, Grace blinked up at her little brother. "I'm sorry. You reengineered a car so it wouldn't run on consumable fuel or electricity, but you need us to buy you a starter?"
Jacob shrugged. "Hey, I don't make the rules."
Trevor cursed under his breath, winning everyone's attention again.
Nicole crossed her arms over her bare midriff. "What?"
Trevor pointed to a faint outline in the distance. "Near as I can tell, those are the pyramids."
Jacob walked over to their side of the car, and Grace noticed that his tuxedo pants had been righted. Apparently, Trevor's little pep talk had worked on her younger brother. Grace tried hard not to roll her eyes. Of course, it had. Back when they'd been dating, Jacob had been starstruck by the older boy. Apparently, that hadn't changed either.
Jacob turned to look in the same direction as Trevor. "So, that's great, right?"
Trevor shook his head. "Not great. Do you know what I don't see by the pyramids?"
Grace still wasn't sure those faint outlines in the distance were the pyramids. And even if they were, they were a lot farther away than Grace would have liked.
"What?"
His features were set in a grim line. "A city. Or at least, not the modern metropolis I saw when my mom took me to Egypt after I graduated from MIT."
Grace froze, an ironic state in this heat. "What are you saying, Trevor?"
Trevor looked at her brother, his jaw set with begrudging respect. "Seems to me, you just built a time machine out of your sister's car, Jake."
Jacob's expression was just as serious as he studied the horizon. "Either that or we're not on Earth anymore."
Dread settled in the pit of Grace's stomach. It probably wasn't good when the better of your two options meant that you were lightyears away from home. Either way, she had no idea how they were going to get back home.