If you haven't reread chapter 37, please go back and read it. I accidentally posted this chapter instead of the real chapter 37. No wonder several of you wondered what happened!
A/N: This chapter has a few very strong words. It's George again. I just can't keep the military language out of his mouth!
Daniel sat quietly in his chair for about fifteen minutes after Jack left, trying to figure out what had happened to Skaara on Abydos. He prayed that Ferretti had seen the symbols and they could follow whoever-the-hell it was who took Sha're's brother. It wasn't Ra. He and Jack had nuked his ship. Nothing could survive that.
Maggie lifted her head from his lap and turned to the door. Then Daniel heard the handle turn and the soft footsteps of his wife and one other person enter. He turned to see two blurry green figures moving toward him. One was taller, with a halo of light hair, while the smaller one had a dark halo floating around her. He reached out and pulled Sha're into a hug. She looked so cute in the green BDUs.
"Captain-Doctor. Have a seat in our humble abode." Daniel waved an arm around the small room that was four times as large as their room on Abydos. He felt lost in the space.
"It's Sam, Daniel. We may not have seen each other for fifteen years, but we were friends." She moved across the room, touching things on the desk in her nervousness. "I followed your career."
Daniel snorted. "That must have taken all of ten minutes of your time."
Sam turned back to see him gently rubbing circles on his wife's back with his thumb. "I was in Washington working on the gate technology when they brought you into the program. If it couldn't have been me to open the gate, I'm glad it was you."
Daniel didn't know what to say to that. There wasn't really anything he could say. He looked down into Sha're's face. "Do you want something to drink?"
Sha're nodded and looked around the room for some hint of where she could get water. She'd seen the faucets and spouts coming from the walls and marveled at the clean water that sprang from them, but she didn't see anything like that in this room.
Sam, who was standing next to the refrigerator, opened the small box and pulled out a cola. She handed it to Sha're and showed her how to open the pop-top.
Sha're stared at the cold metal cylinder in her hand and peered into the hole. She could see bubbles dancing on the surface of the dark liquid, some escaping with small bursts into the air. She looked cautiously at Daniel and then Sam, not sure about this.
Daniel grinned at her and took a drink of the now warm soda in his hand. She took a deep breath and placed the can up to her lips. She almost dropped the can as she jerked it away from her face.
"It's cold! And it spits on my lips, like a mastidge!" She was horrified that Daniel would ask her to drink such a thing.
Daniel laughed in delight while Sam politely tried to keep Sha're from seeing the amusement on her face.
"How can you make this cold? Is that a magic box?" Sha're glanced warily at the small brown refrigerator on the counter.
Sam figured that science was her area and she began, "No magic. It's science. You see there is a liquid running through some pipes in the back of the box that…"
Daniel interrupted her, remembering enough of Samantha Carter's love of detailed explanations to stop her before Sha're's head exploded. "Um, Sam. I don't think you need to go into that right now."
Sha're set the soda can down on the table and began exploring the room with her eyes.
"Sam, do you have time to stay with Sha're and show her how the bathroom works and maybe the TV? I really need to go speak to George."
Sam nodded. "Let me get an SF to take you to his office." She opened the door and called to the guard at the door, who then radioed for another airman to come as an escort.
"Daniel? Do you think this is a good time to talk to General Hammond? I don't begin to know what happened between you two, but he seemed extremely upset when he saw you earlier." She shifted a bit. "You might want to wait until he's had time to calm down."
Daniel bowed his head and folded his arms across his chest. The BDUs felt heavy and restricting after the soft robes of Abydos. "I disappeared from their lives, Sam. I stopped responding to their calls and letters and just vanished. At the time, I thought I was saving them from the pain of watching me fail in my chosen profession, but now… Well, I was afraid to face them."
Sam crossed the room and laid her hand on Daniel's arm, giving him a quick comforting squeeze. "From what I remember, they loved you every bit as much as their own girls. I don't think you have it in you to disappoint them deliberately."
Sha're watched the woman with the sun-colored hair touching her husband. Maggie sensed Sha're's distress and padded over to nudge between Daniel and Sam, pushing Sam slightly away from Daniel. Sha're grinned at the dog and could have sworn that Maggie grinned back.
Daniel turned at the knock on their door. He spoke softly to Sha're in Abydonian. "Sha're, I've got to go speak to the general. Will you be okay with Sam for a while?"
"If you return quickly, my Dan-yel." She buried her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "Find my brother. Our father must be terribly sad to lose both of us."
Daniel leaned his cheek against her soft hair briefly, soothed by her familiar smell. He wondered if her scent would change her on Earth.
"Maggie, come," Daniel commanded his dog. It was time she became familiar with the halls of this place. He figured they'd be here for a long time.
Airman Richards knocked on General Hammond's door and announced Dr. Jackson.
"Give me a minute and then let him in." George placed his pen onto the desk and dropped his head into his hands. It had been almost ten years since they'd heard from Daniel and he'd damn well better have an excellent reason for the distress he'd caused Ruby and the girls by his silence.
He sat back in his chair, took a deep breath and then stood. He planned on having the upper hand in this conversation. "Enter."
Daniel turned the knob and gave Maggie the signal to move forward. She swept her eyes around the room, looking for obstacles or dangers to her master. It seemed all right, so she moved toward the nearest chair so Daniel could sit.
"George." Daniel cleared his throat, not really sure what he was going to say. He knew George would be upset about his long silence, but he could feel waves of anger flowing off his former foster father. "How is the family?"
Daniel could feel Maggie come to attention at that innocent question and he could only surmise that George had reacted badly to his question.
George, knowing he was being spiteful, blurted, "The girls are fine. Ruby's dead."
Daniel's knees gave out and he dropped into the chair with a thud. He lowered his head and blinked back the tears. Ruby had been the one woman in his life who had accepted him as he was and loved him anyway. Amy had been his childhood love and had been great, but she was always trying to make him more outgoing. Even Sha're tried to change him. Daniel sat still, trying to process what George had just told him.
"Where the hell were you, Daniel? Where were you when she could no longer understand that her son had vanished? Where were you when she called for you through her pain on her deathbed? Where in the godforsaken, fucking hell were you?"
Daniel wrapped his arms around himself dropped his head down between his knees as he fought against the threatening panic. Maggie stood and tried to thrust her cold, wet nose into his face so she could lick him and wash away his pain. He pushed her gently away. She sat back on her haunches, confused. He'd never shoved her before. She perked up her ears and whined softly, not knowing how to make it better.
"You caused her too much pain when she was dying for me to forgive you. You really just need to get out of my sight before I ruin my career by beating the crap out of you." George clenched fists and shoved them into his pockets to keep from physically assaulting the younger man.
Daniel stood, tears streaming down his face and dampening his green jacket. "Maggie, come."
When he stepped out of the office he requested that the airman take him to the nearest bathroom. He commanded Maggie to wait outside as he entered. He found the toilet and fell on his knees in front of it, emptying the contents of his roiling stomach into it. When he was finally finished, he sat back in the cubicle, wrapped his arms around his knees and sobbed until he fell asleep on the cold, tile floor.