Daughter
Chapter 13 – Anchor
When Daniel answered the knock on the door of his quarters, he found Vala smiling behind the back of a chair. A chair that looked suspiciously familiar. She was busy drumming her fingers along the top of it as she waited.
"You little thief."
"Oh please. As if you're surprised."
"You're right. I'm not." He stepped aside to let Vala roll the chair back into his room. He watched as she returned the furniture to its usual spot next to his standard-issue desk. Meanwhile, the door's weight had it shutting itself closed automatically.
She spun the chair around and plopped right into it. She let her feet rest on the edge of his bed as she leaned back comfortably.
"So what did you need the chair for?" Daniel asked, wondering what mischief she'd been up to this time. He stood there with eyebrow raised suspiciously.
"I invited Gracie and Sam over. Needed an extra seat."
Daniel relaxed, believing her. At least there were no fires to put out or messes to clean up. This time. "How'd that go?"
"It was… informative." She grinned.
"Apparently Jack heard a few things. Said something about you getting cozy with arms dealers." Daniel didn't seem to be as amused about it as Jack when he told him.
If her grin could get any brighter, it would have. "That hasn't happened in quite a long time, Darling. But apparently, the other me had other ideas." She put two hands up in self-defense. "Wasn't me!" she said playfully.
Daniel shook his head at her with an exasperated smile. "Explain to me how exactly the other you would have thought an arms dealer's ship would be the safest place for a child."
Vala tilted her head in genuine thought. She tried to imagine what life could have been like, on the run but with a little girl in tow. She tried to think of who would have been hunting them. How would she have responded? "They would have been constantly moving on a ship…" she said quietly as she considered it aloud. "That would save them a considerable amount of energy. And being cooped up there meant they wouldn't be spotted as easily. No one would think to search for a child in a place like that." Vala nodded her head in conclusion. "The only downside is the decidedly short lifespans of arms dealers in general. Perfect place to hide, but it would never last long."
Daniel squinted his face in disbelief as she reasoned it out. She was actually being serious. He sat down next to her feet on his bed. "Really?"
Her feet automatically dropped down to the floor as she sat forward. "Mmm hmm. I do think I would have thought that."
"Oh my God," Daniel marveled quietly. He simply could not imagine what Gracie must have gone through. He counted her lucky that she had Vala of all people looking out for her in the wider galaxy. No one from Earth would have been able to pull off what Vala had.
He looked at her now with a renewed sense of amazement. She simply shrugged. "I think I'm glad I don't actually have to do any of that," she said, blowing a raspberry. Then she rapidly revised, "In fact, no, I really am glad."
"Me too. You're both safe here. That's much, much better."
She adopted a playful smile, eyes full of mischief. "You would have missed me," Vala teased.
Daniel grabbed her hand and smirked at her. "No, I wouldn't," he lied.
She took it as a challenge, raising her eyebrow and locking eyes with him. He didn't retreat from her stare. This only encouraged her more. Eventually, she theatrically said, "Let me live with you."
He grinned. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"That's not an answer."
"I don't care."
She huffed dramatically. "The laudable Dr. Daniel Jackson. And here you are suddenly with absolutely no argument. Hmpf. I'm disappointed," she pretended to complain. Vala raised her chin haughtily as she looked away. He laughed at her. She pretended to become concerned. "This isn't normal for you. You should be lecturing me to death with multi-syllabic words." Vala stood up in front of him and brought a palm to his forehead. "Are you sick?"
He looked up at her with hilarity. He pulled at her neck to make her lean down face-to-face with him. "No." He kissed her chastely, enjoying this game.
"Then let me be your roommate." She pecked him on the lips. His hands went to her hips.
"No," he said again.
She tried kissing him fully. He didn't seem to mind. "How 'bout now?" she mumbled through it.
He deepened the kiss. "Maybe." Daniel pulled her down to the bed with him.
"Colonel, you're awake," Dr. Lam commented as she entered the curtained-off space currently occupied by Mitchell.
He was sitting up in the infirmary bed. He moved the laptop he was using to the bedside table upon seeing her. "Doc," he acknowledged.
She slid the table aside so she could approach him. It moved away easily on its casters. Carolyn reached toward his chest and asked, "Okay for me to check?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
She peeled back the dressing on his torso slightly to look underneath. Leaning down to get a better view, she asked, "Any pain?"
"It stings a little. But other than that, not too much."
"Seems like the wound is doing fine. I'll have a nurse come by to cleanse the wound and change out the dressing."
"Okay. Any idea when I can get out of here?"
"Soon."
"How soon is soon?"
Carolyn smiled at him. "Why, got a hot date?" she teased. Internally, she chided herself. That was borderline unprofessional. She hated that she just couldn't help herself around him.
Mitchell grinned saucily. "No. But I should be working on it."
She chuckled as she locked eyes with him. Perhaps they both lingered a little too long. Eventually, Carolyn cleared her throat. "We might be able to discharge you tomorrow," she finally answered his question.
"Great." Cameron watched her as she slid the table back over to him. He seemed to be considering her carefully.
Carolyn felt herself flush. "Easy with that laptop. Watch your posture. Might hurt around your wound."
"Okay," he agreed with a nod.
"Nurse will be by later. Get some rest, too, will ya?"
"Not like I have much else to do," he complained. "I'm running out of reports to write."
"Never thought I'd hear someone complain about that."
"Well… I could be on a date instead," he quipped. Cameron flashed a charming smile at her, hinting, but not saying anything more.
She bit the inside of her cheek. Carolyn smirked. "See you later, Colonel." She turned to leave.
"Oh hey, hang on. Almost forgot. Heard Dr. Keller came by from Atlantis."
She turned back around. "She did. It was a welcome surprise."
"Yeah? So you came up with something?"
"We brainstormed a way to make the process of screening our personnel more efficient. She knows better than I do what Atlantis is capable of. She said she's going to run some things by Dr. McKay's team and get back to me. Meanwhile, she volunteered to start the scans of her people until I can make it over there."
Mitchell looked disappointed. "You're still going?"
"I should. Especially if General O'Neill made it an order."
"Right, but I thought we wouldn't need you to go over there anymore. The op and all…"
Carolyn opened her mouth, but he went on.
"Hold on. Why haven't you gone yet?" He seemed confused, knowing she had been scheduled to depart hours ago.
"When you and your team came back injured, I couldn't just leave." She didn't bother to mention that her departure was delayed because she was on babysitting duty until they were done with their operation in Washington. Or that Dr. Keller's sudden presence had distracted her from leaving immediately. Technically, her patient schedule was already cleared out because of her impending work trip to the Pegasus Galaxy, leaving her with plenty of time to attend to him anyway. But none of that was the reason she stood before him now.
Mitchell stared at her. She had about a hundred other staff who could have taken her place. It almost sounded as if… he stopped himself, not wanting to fool himself and get his hopes up. "That's mighty generous of ya, Doc."
"You guys are the top team. Getting you back onto your feet is a priority," she reasoned aloud, wondering how convincing she sounded.
He allowed her that. "And as Chief you wanna see to it personally that it happens. Okay, okay, I get it."
Carolyn wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that he didn't call her out on it. She would much rather just tell him that she was worried about him personally. Cut through the workplace bullshit already. But they both had appearances to keep up. She was his doctor. He was her patient. At least for the moment. She swore the minute he was discharged, she was going to refrain from taking on his case again. Assign him to someone else whenever he came in.
Because if she didn't, she'd be in a whole world of trouble.
He smiled at her. Maybe she already was.
Sam stepped into Gracie's quarters and looked all around. "Vala's not in here?" she asked her daughter.
"No, I haven't seen her since we had a meeting."
Her mother scrunched her face suspiciously. "We were supposed to meet up." Eventually, she shrugged. "Her loss."
"What do you mean?"
Sam made eye contact with her and grinned. "We're going shopping. You need clothes."
Gracie looked down at her basic green uniform. When she looked back up, her face was suddenly filled with anticipation. "When do we leave?"
Her mother chuckled. "I like the way you think. Right now, if you like."
"I get to leave the base?"
"You sure do."
Gracie bounced on her heels. "Okay!"
Sam smiled with her own version of excitement. Short of going out with Vala from time to time, she never really had the chance to enjoy actual girl time with anyone. She didn't think taking a toddler to the mall really counted. Before they knew it, the pair was off to the elevators.
Jack caught them on the way, with their little girl in his arms. "Going somewhere?" he said, raising an eyebrow at the pair's obvious enthusiasm.
"Shopping," his wife reported.
Jack smirked at her, amused. "You ladies have fun."
"We play ba-ket-ball wid T!" the small child announced. Jack shifted her from one arm to the other. She leaned over to hug Sam. "Bye, Mommy. Have fun."
"Thanks, honey. You too. Say hi to Teal'c for me!"
"Okay!" The little girl's reply was not unlike the adult version's response just a little earlier. Sam's mouth twitched. She glanced at her elder daughter, who was busy waving a hand at the child. The younger one had no problem waving back.
Jack and Sam made eye contact, silently agreeing, that yes, life was weird. They both laughed together through their expressions. They exchanged pleasant goodbyes and separated.
During the long elevator ride, Sam patiently explained to Gracie what to expect as they prepared to leave the base. Since Sam was a well-established member of the SGC, she was serving as Gracie's escort. She compared it to the days when Teal'c or Vala were new to Earth. One of the members of SG-1 always had to sign them out. This was before either of them earned their off-base privileges. Sam reassured Gracie that she'd get that privilege eventually. But for now everyone agreed that she needed to know how to be independent first, at least independent on Earth. No one was questioning her ability to take care of herself offworld.
This didn't bother Gracie one bit. In fact, she would rather have the guidance. The thought of roaming the Earth by herself actually terrified her. It was hard enough trying to figure out how to behave on the base, where everybody understood she was from offworld. But Daniel had made it clear that everyone else on this planet would assume she was raised as a native, even though that couldn't be further from the truth. Gracie wasn't in the habit of trying to draw attention to herself. Her entire life had been built on ducking and hiding instead. She was nervous that she'd somehow screw up.
If she could have chosen anyone to bring her topside, it would have been one of her mothers. So she was thrilled to have her birth mother holding her hand through this new experience. It seemed like the perfect way to be re-introduced to her home planet.
Gracie tried not to look like a complete fool as she watched her mother go through the motions of greeting an attendant, showing ID, and signing paperwork in a book. As they were stopped, she observed other military personnel exiting the same elevator and bypassing them altogether. She quietly wondered if they did that because they had "privileges," as her mother called them. She observed as they slid special cards into readers to allow them admittance to the next set of elevators.
Eventually they headed to the same area, one that Sam had warned her was no place to discuss SGC matters. It was public-facing, filled with people working in the mountain for other departments. They had no idea of the operations or the chaos happening below their very feet. Sam explained that the only reason they were using those elevators today was so Gracie could see this for herself and start practicing. The SGC technically did have its own dedicated exit, but some people preferred to park their cars over here because it was easier to get out of the mountain. Sam happened to be one of them.
When they finally reached an exit, a gale of wind swept past. Gracie's hair flew about. She reached up to clear hair from her face. When she did so, her eyes were surprised by a sea of vehicles. She remembered what a car was. But she couldn't remember ever seeing so many of them sitting together like this. Gracie looked about wide-eyed, wondering how in the world they would ever find the right one to use.
Sam seemed to know where her own vehicle was parked and led them with purpose down one of the endlessly long aisles. She pulled a key out of her pocket and clicked a button. A horn sounded dutifully a few cars away. Gracie saw the flash of lights that came with it. Sam took the time to open the passenger side door and help her get in. She even buckled her into the truck, patiently showing her how it worked. Gracie was beyond thankful that her mother thought to show her these very mundane things. It was a wonder how she'd learn to live on Earth at all.
Her mother realized that this shopping trip shouldn't be a very long one. She sensed that even the process of leaving the base was overwhelming for Gracie. Maybe it was better that Vala wasn't here this time. She always wanted to stay out as long as possible, before some sort of emergency or even just Daniel was calling her to return.
Sam smirked internally. She had a feeling Daniel was the reason Vala had gone missing at all today. The woman usually never passed on a chance to get out of the mountain with her. She'd have to twist her arm later for details. Hopefully with wine.
"So what now?" Gracie asked curiously.
Her mother put the car into gear and began to maneuver it over to the parking lot's exit. "I'll take you to a store that has some basics for you to start your wardrobe with. Then, as time goes on, you'll figure out what you really like to wear."
Gracie fingered her green uniform beneath the seatbelt. "Do they trade for these?" she wondered aloud. "Can't imagine what these would be worth."
Sam glanced at her in slight confusion. She tried to recall what Vala had explained to her once about clothing offworld. How some people literally only had the clothes on their back. If they wanted to change, they traded what they were wearing for new ones. "Uhh, no, I'll pay for them with money. Everything will be yours to keep. You won't need to trade anything."
"Oh." Gracie felt foolish.
Sam tried to offer her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I know this is all really new to you. We did the same things for Teal'c and Vala."
Her daughter shook her head anxiously. "Okay. Thank you… I really mean it." Her eyes flitted toward a car that sped past them in the next lane. Its engine was loud and startling.
"Of course," Sam responded, eyes on the road.
"I would imagine you're teaching some of these same things to the other me."
"We are. Some of it she's absorbing simply by experiencing it over and over. Others we are showing her. But she's little. She won't pick up things as fast as you will."
"I always wondered what it would have been like to have grown up with you," Gracie admitted somberly. She smiled sadly. "I guess this is my chance to find out. By watching her."
Her daughter's words broke Sam's heart. She swallowed a lump in her throat and blinked rapidly, eyes still on the road. She kept one hand on the wheel and let the other reach toward Gracie. Her daughter automatically grabbed it with her own. Sam squeezed. "We're gonna make the absolute best of this."
When Gracie looked, she saw her mother's eyes shining. She took in a shaky breath. This was like a dream come true.
Sam twisted her mouth into an impatient knot as she waited for the door to open. It took time for him to answer. The heavy doors here were thick enough that she couldn't hear much noise coming from the other side. But she suspected, no, she knew, there was a flurry of activity going on in there. Simply because she knocked.
When the door finally opened, it was only a crack. Daniel peeked, eyes barely visible. "Sam!" he said with surprise.
She looked back at him dubiously.
He blinked at her, waiting. His hair was a rumpled mess. Her eyes wandered down. His shirt was unbuttoned and his fly was unzipped.
Sam smirked. "Please tell Vala that she missed out on the shopping trip. And that if she wants any wine… I will be in my personal quarters. No toddlers. Jack's watching Gracie." She even held up a few wine stem glasses and allowed them to clink together to make her point.
Daniel's mouth opened and closed like a fish. What was it with the academic men in her life when they were flabbergasted? McKay would do the same damn thing. "Uhh," he pretended to be confused. "Why would I tell her all that? Isn't she in her quarters?" He then thought to add, "Or keeping Mitchell company in the infirmary?"
Sam's mouth formed a grim, unamused line. "Don't insult my intelligence, Daniel," she warned.
His eyes went wide. "Whaa, uhh, no. I would never. What are you talking about?"
"Vala," Sam called out louder. "You know where I'll be." She stared at Daniel with a look of exasperation for a moment, then simply walked away.
He shut the door and turned around. Vala's head popped up from behind the bed. "Is she gone?" she whispered.
The sight of her popping up like a mole in an arcade game had Daniel laughing aloud as he answered, "Yes." He returned to the bed and climbed back onto it. "And I think we just got caught." He glanced down at his pants and realized his fly had never been zipped as he hastily pulled them on to answer the door.
Vala stood straight up, still completely naked, and climbed onto the bed with him. "Oh well." She began to scrounge around on all fours, looking for her clothes mixed up among his sheets. She patted his leg to make him lift it so she could look underneath.
"Just, oh well?"
Vala stopped to look at him. "Darling, she would have found out. Eventually." She resumed the grand search for her underwear.
"Well, yeah, I'm sure, but…"
"I was already planning to tell her. Just got a little sidetracked," she confessed distractedly as she pulled at a piece of fabric from behind his back.
Daniel could understand that. Sam was her good friend. And so was Carolyn. Who was also very chummy with Mitchell. Who he hadn't bothered to mention this to. But he had been giving him a strange look during the entire briefing. Dammit.
"Who else knows?" he asked suspiciously.
Vala looked up at him. "Hmm? I only told Carolyn so far. Never had time to talk to Sam." She pulled on her undergarments. "Why?"
Daniel huffed into his unbuttoned shirt. "Cam probably knows."
"Well that's unsurprising, Darling."
"Why?"
"I stopped flirting with him. He had to have noticed."
"Wha…" But Vala ignored his astonishment and got up to pull her pants on. She reached over him to grab her black shirt, which had found its way onto the top of the bed post. Her body was basically in his face, so he took advantage of it. Vala squealed when he grabbed her and pulled her back down onto the bed. He kissed her hungrily.
She giggled into his mouth. "Daniel," she complained through the kisses.
"What."
"Wine."
He huffed and released her. She got up and started to look for her boots. As she found one of them and began hopping around to pull it on, he had a thought. "Are you going to tell Gracie?"
Vala suddenly paused, mid-hop. Her mouth dropped open. "Should I not?"
"Errr…" Gracie didn't exactly seem to approve of a relationship between his other self and her adoptive mother before. At least that was the impression he got. "I'm not sure how she'll react. She's very protective of you."
His lover resumed her boot-hopping maneuver. He found her comparable to an Easter bunny for a split second. His eyes laughed at her.
"You know the minute Jack finds out, the entire base will know, including and especially her," Vala pointed out. "Better to get ahead of it, don't you think?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Jack already knows. Sam's probably telling him right now."
"Well he is her husband."
"I know, I know," he acknowledged with resignation. Daniel let himself fall back onto the bed in defeat. Any hopes of him having a private affair with Vala had just been dashed. And he wasn't sure he could have done anything to delay the revelation. He covered his eyes with an arm. He wasn't going to hear the end of this for weeks.
Vala climbed on top of him, now fully clothed and presentable. Her hair fell into his face. "Don't worry, Darling. Once the money exchanges hands, we won't be the talk of the base for long. They'll move on to the next betting pool soon."
He looked at her in obvious surprise. "What!?"
"I've got serious money riding on a Shanks and Doig match. You know those two from Bill's team?" Vala pecked him on the lips. Then she flipped herself over and slid down off the bed. She was at his door in seconds.
Vala paused to look back at him, clearly entertained by his shock over everything she had just said. She waved flirtatiously, blew a kiss at him, and then she was gone.
Keys jingled as Jack fumbled to locate the right one. "Daddy, I hewp." A little hand reached up to distract him further.
"No, honey, I got it." He struggled a bit, yanking the keys back from his three-year-old. She reached up again but he swatted her away gently. "Gracie," he complained, as he tried yet another key in the lock. Still wrong.
His other daughter stood off to the side in the hallway of the condominium. Now that they were finally here, their arrival was a bit anticlimactic. She looked down to finger the plain-colored T-shirt her mother had purchased for her. The fabric was surprisingly soft. But it wouldn't last more than two seconds in combat.
Her father shot her a look of apology. "Sorry, I'm not usually here much. This has always belonged to Sam. I can never remember which key it is."
"But I thought you live here, too."
"Not full time." The door budged. "Got it!" he declared success.
"Yay!" the little girl cried. She nearly slipped in through the miniscule space between the door and the jam, but Jack caught her.
"Wait. Let me clear it first. Stay here with Elda."
Gracie instinctively reached out and held her little self in place with two hands on her shoulders. The child looked back up at her with a glum expression.
Jack carefully peeked around the side of the door, eyes darting around the space. He ventured in, leaving the door ajar. He peeked behind closet doors, underneath beds, and through the balcony door. Once he was satisfied that no one was hiding, he returned to the front entrance to open the door completely. "Clear," he announced, letting the girls in.
The child bounded in immediately. She hopped around the entire condo, overjoyed to finally be somewhere comfortable and familiar. Eventually she disappeared into a room, making noise further away.
Jack sighed as he threw his key ring onto the counter of the small kitchen.
Gracie walked in slowly, eyes wandering around to get a good look at her mother's property. She was told this had been hers for several years. Sam supposedly owned a house in the early days of the Stargate Program, but decided that was too much upkeep to be a worthwhile investment. Her assignments often whisked her away for months at a time, forcing her to pay others to maintain the property. Eventually, she exchanged her house for this smaller accommodation. It became the family's secondary residence after she'd gotten married and had a baby. Anytime their work brought them to this part of the Earth, the family stayed here.
Gracie was disappointed to find that it was completely unfamiliar. She thought she'd at least experience a twinge of recognition. But there was none. It made her wonder why.
"Feel free to look around. There's water here if you want any," her father offered. He glanced at his cell phone. "Your mom should be here with food any minute." He opened the fridge to confirm it was indeed empty.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!"
"Yes?" He shut the fridge door.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaady."
"What, Gracie?" Jack turned toward her voice.
"Daddy!" she screamed.
"What!" Jack stomped over to where the little girl was calling him from. She was looking down at the floor, pointing at a small puddle. "Oh for cryin' out loud," he grumbled.
Gracie peeked from behind him and laughed. She stood back as he muttered, searching around for a rag to absorb the mess, then digging around in drawers to look for new clothes. He herded the little girl into the nearby bathroom, where the two of them bickered about her accident.
It was then that Gracie noticed the knob of the front door wriggling. Her eyes darted to it immediately. Her body tensed.
The door opened to reveal Sam walking in, arms laden with brown bags. "Jack!" she called.
Gracie let out a constrained breath. She closed her eyes and reopened them, hoping to reset herself. Sam didn't notice, being overburdened with bags, keys dangling precariously from her fingertips. She used her foot to kick the door closed. Letting out a sigh, Sam dumped the bags onto the counter.
"Mommy!" the child sing-songed from the bathroom. "I peed!"
"Good job, honey," Sam replied distractedly as she started pulling to-go containers and groceries from the bags.
"Mommy!" Jack copied. "It was on the floor!" he reported petulantly.
Sam made eye contact with Gracie and smiled tiredly. Rubbing at her neck, she ventured toward the bathroom. "What happened?"
As the family handled the aftermath of the little girl's accident, Gracie sat down on the couch. She listened absentmindedly as they had a rather monotonous discussion about the proper way to handle one's bodily functions. It was quite funny, really. But Gracie found herself holding back tears. This was the sort of thing she missed out on whilst being hunted in the wider galaxy.
She wiped at the wetness of her eyes. As the family finished helping her other self, Gracie decided she'd had enough of tears. She was tired of feeling like this all the time. Maybe she'd actually take up her birth mother's offer to talk to one of those specialists she'd mentioned. Maybe they could give her some Earthly advice that was different than what she'd learned everywhere else.
The little girl walked out of the bathroom all smiles. She immediately ran over to a toy chest in the corner. Her parents exited after her, both looking exhausted. In spite of this, Gracie smiled at them. She was going to make the most of this time-traveling thing. She was here because she wanted her family back. And now here they were. She just wished her adoptive mother could have joined her. Gracie's heart ached greatly for missing her.
"EldaMalDoran," Teal'c greeted her at the elevator.
The young blonde bowed her head respectfully to the Jaffa after exiting the car. "Teal'c."
He mirrored the same gesture and invited her to walk with him. She didn't know where he was going, but it didn't really matter. Any chance she got to reconnect with Teal'c was a welcome one. He was a much-needed anchor for her. She didn't have to constantly explain her life to him. He was familiar enough with the societal practices of the larger galaxy that he simply understood how her life worked, up until now. Being with him and sharing the same cultural context was like a relief.
"Did you enjoy your time away from the base with O'Neill and ColonelCarter?" he asked cordially.
"I did. They brought me to Sam's property. The little girl showed me all her toys." She grinned at him. "Every. Single. One."
Teal'c quirked a smile at this. "GracieO'Neill is enthusiastic."
The blonde chuckled as she agreed. "I will admit, I don't remember most of those things. But it was still fun."
Teal'c paused to say hello to some personnel passing by. They greeted him pleasantly. Gracie sensed, though, that they still weren't sure what to make of her. They offered polite nods to her when they made eye contact. She wondered how well the ruse of being Vala's sister was really holding up. It was plain and obvious that she looked nothing like her. On the other hand, everyone swore she behaved like her. Gracie found that amusing. In her mind, she couldn't be more different.
The pair resumed their leisurely stroll. Gracie still hadn't figured out where they were going.
"And what of your night spent there? How did you fare?" He eyed her carefully.
Gracie presumed he was asking if she'd had any nightmares. It wasn't uncommon among the Jaffa who'd seen fierce battle. His line of questioning hinted that he regarded her as someone in the same camp. It didn't readily occur to her that her birth mother had described the phenomenon, too, just in the context of Earthly traumas. She'd already forgotten the strange name she used to refer to the affliction. "My night was…" she hesitated, taking in a breath. "Well, it was restless. All my nights have been since coming here."
Teal'c acknowledged her admission with a bow. He felt relief that she was willing to share such a thing with him. It only encouraged him to believe that what he was about to suggest would be just the thing she needed.
When they arrived at his intended destination, Gracie was assaulted with the consistent beeping of monitors. The sounds of the infirmary equipment were incessant. She didn't know how anyone could stand it. She followed as he passed through the maze of beds and rooms. She did her best to ignore the cacophony that invaded her ears.
They came upon Colonel Mitchell seated in one of the beds. "Hey, hey!" he greeted them enthusiastically. "Came to break me outta here or what? They won't let me out. I need an extraction, pronto." A nurse entered the space to check his vitals. Cameron turned to her sheepishly. "Not that I'm not enjoying the 5-star hospitality, o'course."
The nurse rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly. She finished her task and then left them in peace.
Gracie watched her go, then turned back to Mitchell. "Can't my sister just heal you and be done with it already?" She rubbed at one of her ears. At least over here, it was quieter. Cameron didn't seem to be hooked up to any noisy equipment.
He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I would ask her, but she's been kinda M.I.A. this time." He shot a look at Teal'c, whose face remained quite neutral. Gracie quirked an eyebrow at the Colonel, not quite understanding what he'd just said. "Anyway, if we came runnin' to the Princess every time one of us got hurt, Dr. Lam would be out of a job."
"We value DoctorLam's company, do we not?" Teal'c teased.
Cameron's lower jaw moved side to side, suddenly a bit annoyed with his teammate.
Gracie recognized Jaffa mischief in her beloved uncle's eyes. She grinned. Then she gazed around. "Is she here? Or did she go to that place…"
"Atlantis?"
"Yes."
Cameron nodded affirmatively.
"Isn't that place dangerous?" Gracie asked.
Cameron shook his head now. "Not any more dangerous than here. They sure have their own problems. But Sheppard and his troops can hold their own just fine over there." Then the Colonel seemed to realize something once he'd brought up his counterpart from Atlantis. The man was a sort of a play-boy. Or so the reputation went. And Carolyn was there… Worry bubbled up in his stomach. He tried to quash it with more talk. "So how you been doin'? You gone stir crazy yet?"
Gracie opened her mouth, but had no idea how to respond. She honestly wasn't sure what the Colonel meant. Out of all of her adoptive mother's dear friends here, she understood his talk the least.
"O'Neill and ColonelCarter invited her to their home this past evening."
"Oh well ain't that nice," he commented pleasantly. "And I bet the kid was over the moon getting outta here, too."
Gracie blinked rapidly, trying very hard to figure out his phrasing. "Little Gracie was happy to go," she tried.
"Yup, I imagine she was," Cameron agreed.
She felt a small sense of accomplishment over having successfully translated the Colonel's words. With his genuine enthusiasm for, well, everything, Gracie thought that this could become a sort of game. She could challenge herself to figure out his words and learn a lot of Earth sayings simultaneously. The blonde quirked a smile. Finally, something to do.
"ColonelMitchell, have the medical staff cleared you for active duty?"
"As far as I know, I'm not off active duty. Why?"
"We are scheduled to conduct outreach soon."
The Colonel adopted a sly grin. "Ohhh, I know what you're talking' about."
Teal'c didn't give him time to tease him. He went straight into his point. "I would like to bring EldaMalDoran with us."
Cameron now looked perplexed. "Really?" He unconsciously crossed his arms over his chest, but his face cringed when he realized he had bothered his wound. He released his arms and rested them at either side. "Why?"
"The Hak'tyl were a source of stability in her past. She would do well to see them once again."
Gracie gasped. She reached out to place both hands on one of Teal'c's forearms. "You're going to see the Hak'tyl?" Cameron could see now that she was positively giddy about the idea.
"Well, I dunno, buddy. We'd have to clear that with the General. Generals, plural. And another Colonel, on top of that." He looked at Gracie. Anticipation was written all over her expression.
"Prior to making that request, it is important to have the support of the mission commander," Teal'c pointed out.
"I appreciate that, Teal'c. Well, look, I don't really see the harm in it. We're not anticipating trouble over there. But I'm having a hard time thinking up a way to justify her tagging along with us." He tilted his head at his Jaffa teammate. "You know, on paper."
Teal'c hummed as he thought.
"Not like she's stuck herself to Jackson and neither of 'em has a choice." Cameron's face contorted over the memory of the Kor-Mak bracelets. He shook his head. Fast forward several years later and the pair of them was inseparable. By choice. My, how things changed.
"I can't just go with you?" Gracie wondered.
"There's a lot of red tape, Darlin'. We have the IOA constantly breathin' down our necks. Bunch of pencil-pushing, number-crunching…" he grumbled, letting his words trail off. "Long story short, even if we can convince your… I mean the General to let you go, we have to make it plausible to the suits, too."
"Okay, I have no idea what you just said," she admitted. Damn. Lost this round.
Cameron waved a hand at her in apology. "Sorry. You gotta give me a real good reason to justify your presence on the mission. That's what it comes down to."
Gracie thought about it. So did Teal'c.
"Well, why are you going there in the first place?"
Teal'c explained, "To maintain and strengthen the SGC's alliance with the Hak'tyl. DoctorLam also schedules regular medical missions to conduct a long-term study of their usage of tretonin." He quirked an amused brow. "She has lately been coordinating these visits to align with those of SG-1," he noted, looking pointedly at Mitchell.
"It's efficient," Cameron said defensively. "When she goes, she needs an escort. Might as well be us, if we're goin' there anyway. Then it frees up another team to go do something else important."
Both Teal'c and Gracie raised eyebrows at him. The Colonel opened his mouth in exasperation. Was he that obvious?
Gracie had an idea. "Strengthen an alliance, right?" The men nodded. "What better way to strengthen an alliance than to connect them with a new and valuable trading partner?"
Cameron eyed her, recognizing a hint of Mal Doran shrewdness in the young blonde. "What are you thinking?"
"I can remember during my youth that the Hak'tyl acquired such a partner. It ended up being a very comfortable relationship. Maybe I could pretend to serve as the intermediary. Bring up the idea to them and then get them in touch with this contact I know. Err, used to know."
The Colonel studied her. "It's a stretch. But considering you would know all kinds of things like that, it could work."
"Absolutely not." Jack was completely unamused.
"But… Dad, this could be great for them."
Gracie sat with him in Landry's office. He was currently sitting next to her. Jack had no issue with Hank retaining his own seat behind the desk. The other General watched them carefully.
"You're not going."
"But…"
"No."
Gracie wasn't quite sure what to do next. She'd never had to convince her father of anything before. She didn't even know where to begin with a challenge like this.
Jack's eye twitched. He realized he was acting like a father trying to keep his teenage daughter away from a suspicious party. It wasn't too far off the mark, though. In this case, the party was offworld and involved the potential for real, actual trouble.
Gracie opened her mouth, then closed it in defeat. So much for seeing the Hak'tyl. She wondered if Teal'c would have better luck talking to him. They were supposed to be great friends. And she was certain Jack would trust him to look out for her. If he wanted her to have a big Jaffa protector, she could deal with that.
She frowned. As if she needed anyone to do that in the first place. She had already demonstrated how well she could take care of herself the first time she met Jack as an adult.
"Any other crazy ideas you wanna run by me?" Jack asked.
Now she mirrored his expression that lacked amusement. Hank's eyes twinkled, noticing that the pair of them looked exactly the same in this moment.
"No," she answered. She waited for a beat, then stood up. "I'll just go see what Vala is doing."
Now Jack felt a little guilty. But he wasn't going to budge. SG-1 was a trouble-magnet. He could attest to it with personal experience. He didn't want his daughter anywhere near that.
Gracie bowed respectfully to General Landry. "General. Dad." She left the office.
As soon as the door closed, Landry couldn't help himself. "Jaaaack, Jack, Jack."
"I don't want to hear it, Hank."
"Tough. You're going to hear it anyway." Jack gave him a warning stare. "You've never raised a daughter before." Landry leaned forward and gestured to himself emphatically. "I have!"
"Are you kidding? You know just as well as I do how much trouble SG-1 gets itself into." He pointed a finger in the air. "Top team equals top trouble. No way, Jose, is she going offworld with them."
"Then let's take SG-1 out of the equation."
Jack became confused.
"There is no operational need for them to accompany Carolyn on her medical mission. She'd do just fine with a simple marine escort," he reasoned, gesturing his hand in the air. "Hell, the Hak'tyl could protect her themselves."
"Then why…"
"Because Colonel Mitchell has this way of conveniently volunteering his team to escort Carolyn offworld wherever she goes." Landry sat back in his seat, thoroughly tickled by the idea.
Jack began to laugh. He leaned his elbow on the desk as he brought a hand to his forehead in mirth.
What he didn't do was tell his friend that the man actually managed to marry his daughter in that future he visited. He'd have to let that situation play itself out on its own. Jack's own wedding ring sparkled as his left hand shook with his laughter.
Hank chuckled humorously along with him. Once the pair had gotten over that entertaining detail, he continued with his point. "Let Gracie go visit the Hak'tyl, Jack. It'll be good for her. She's been through a lot. Plus, if she tags along with the medical staff, she'd be in the best possible hands if anything were to happen."
"You're serious."
"Absolutely." Landry leaned forward again. "Trust me. When it comes to your daughter, you need to pick your battles. Resentment is the last thing you need between you two." He sighed as he thought back to how hard he had to work just to get his own daughter to stop resenting him. Or at least, resent him less.
"Pick my battles? This isn't a war."
"That's what you think."
"Why are you in the dog house?" Reynolds asked Mitchell in the men's locker room a few days later.
"What are you talkin' about?" Around them, metal lockers opened and closed with screeches and slams.
"SG-3 just got assigned to babysit Lam."
Cameron stared at him. He looked side to side, suddenly confused. "What!?"
Reynolds smirked at him. "What ya do, Mitchell? Piss off the woman? Or the dad?"
Mitchell stepped up to him, right in his face. "You're messing with me," he said with a low and dangerous tone. Reynolds didn't flinch.
"Nah, I ain't. Icing on the cake: Lam's bringing along Vala's kid sister. Got any tips for keeping a Mal Doran out of trouble?" Reynolds stepped away from him, unbothered that the other Colonel had just gotten in his face. He continued to rifle through his locker.
Cameron just stood there, dumbfounded.
His colleague noticed this and sniggered. He slapped him on the back as he left. Cameron turned around to watch him go, eyes stuck in a squint.
He immediately headed to General Landry's office.
Hank looked up at the open door when he heard the knock. "Colonel." Mitchell stood in the doorway awaiting permission to enter. Landry waved him in. "What brings you here?" he asked casually as he perused yet another report. He fought the smile that was struggling to surface on the corner of his mouth.
"Sir," he said curtly as he stood before the desk. "SG-1 is scheduled to visit the Hak'tyl in a couple of days."
"I was aware of that, yes, Colonel." Hank looked up at him with an expression that quietly asked him what his point was.
"Medical is supposed to do the same as well."
"And?"
"It was my understanding that we'd simply combine the two missions into one, sir."
"I take it you've already heard otherwise."
"I have, sir."
Hank considered pretending to lose patience with him, but instead, he took pity on him. He offered him a clear explanation in lieu of expecting him to simply follow orders without question. "Orders from General O'Neill. Your directive has changed."
"Sir?"
"SG-3 will take on escort duties for this one, Colonel. You're going to Washington."
Mitchell just stood there, clearly taken aback, but not ready to ask any questions.
"He got a call from the President asking him when the Hell he is returning to base at Homeworld Command. Apparently the place is falling apart without him."
Mitchell continued to stand there and listen, not having been asked a question.
Landry went on, "It's my understanding that you have one more name to cross off on his 'list.' The General arranged for SG-1 to have a little meet-and-greet with the President to explain the fiasco that ended up with a high-profile staffer dead in an office."
"We're getting grilled by the President, sir?" the Colonel asked with alarm.
"No, Colonel, you're going to screen the President. Actually, Teal'c and Ms. Mal Doran will do it. If he's clean, wonderful. If he's not… well, that will be a problem."
"Yes, sir."
"You leave in two days, Colonel. Pack light."