Daughter

Chapter 9 - Stay

Gracie couldn't remember being in a cramped elevator car like they were in now. She didn't like the feeling of nausea that the ride was inducing in her, however temporary it would be. She kept her thoughts to herself, though, realizing that everyone else probably thought this was some innocuous experience. That was the one thing that made her completely opposite from her mother. Vala would have been chatting away and unable to hold her tongue. But Gracie was sometimes too afraid to let sound out, lest she say or do the wrong thing that could get them caught by their hunters.

She still had questions about those villains, but was waiting to hear what her father planned to do about it. Or at least what the old Daniel had asked him to do about it. He seemed pretty certain of his plan. She wondered if they survived. She wanted to imagine that her mother was thriving. She hoped that the woman who raised her still existed, somehow. But Gracie had no way to confirm that. It bothered her immensely.

A different Vala was next to her now, gossiping with Carolyn, whose surname was obviously not the same as her husband's. Well, she wasn't married here, according to Daniel, so that could have been why. As Gracie watched Carolyn and Mitchell throughout the meeting, in between bouts of intense, distracting emotion, she did observe a connection between them. The father didn't seem to mind it. Gracie surmised that was a good thing.

Her internal wonderings were interrupted by the elevator car doors opening to admit a new entrant. It was a man in the same uniform as most everyone else here. He nodded respectfully toward the doctor and quirked a smile toward her mother. Gracie watched as Vala flirtatiously waved back, but then continued her conversation. The man's eyes wandered toward her breasts briefly, still on display as they were by her low-cut travel suit. Gracie pretended not to notice when his eyes wandered to her chest as well. She rolled her eyes internally. No doubt her father would be unhappy if she bothered to report such a thing to him.

The elevator dinged. The women looked up to confirm that it had arrived at the floor number they wanted. Vala looked at Gracie to gesture for her to follow them. She ignored the man they left behind in the elevator car. She instead made eye contact with some other uniformed man waiting on the side.

"Hey, hey, Vala," he called out cordially.

"Hey, Tom," she responded with a wink. Gracie observed him grin at her retreating form.

"Do you flirt with everyone on Earth?" she asked aloud quietly.

Carolyn guffawed ahead of them, having heard her.

Vala looked at Gracie shamelessly. "What makes you say that?" She was amused by the question.

Gracie almost confessed to having witnessed this same behavior with Mitchell, but then thought better of it, knowing his future wife was right there.

"It's the outfit," Carolyn said instead.

Vala looked down. "What… this?" She looked back up with a sly grin.

Carolyn rolled her eyes as she pushed open the swinging double doors to their destination. They paused just inside the entrance, where Carolyn's look changed from amusement to seriousness. Her eyes swept over the infirmary, noting who was busy, what beds were occupied and with who. Some of the staff who noticed her entrance stiffened and re-doubled their efforts to look like they were doing important things.

Carolyn saw just as easily as Gracie that some of the male staff members were distracted by their leather suits. "Vala, you wanna change before we get started?"

"No, I'm comfortable," she responded nonchalantly. The smirk on her face was undeniable. The doctor shrugged, unsurprised. The eyes of a few male patients followed them, too. Gracie wasn't really bothered by such attention. She'd learned how to deal with the male gaze. She even knew how to twist it to her advantage during a job. What she didn't appreciate was just how much attention her mother was inviting around here. She had no need of it. This was the time of her life when she was supposed to be safe and secure. So why? Gracie found herself somewhat determined to figure that out.

They walked a bit further in until they came upon a section where all the curtains were closed. Gracie was overwhelmed by the constant beeping sounds emanating from every single one. Neither her mother nor the doctor seemed to be distracted by them. Carolyn chose one curtain and slid it open to check who was behind. Satisfied, she nodded to Vala and Gracie to join her within.

Gracie gasped. It was Teal'c, but battered, bruised, and apparently unconscious.

"Oh my dear Jaffa," Vala tsked at him.

Carolyn hovered over him. "He was shot here into his pouch," she said, gesturing at his abdomen under the hospital sheets. "We stemmed the bleeding, but Jaffa physiology is a bit tricky for us. Imaging just isn't the same as it is with humans. From what I could tell, the bullet nicked an artery for the pouch. I'm a bit worried he'll suddenly bleed out."

Vala carefully pulled back the sheets and the dressings to take a look at his wound. It was nasty, indeed. Gracie felt distraught to see him this way.

Carolyn pointed at his left shoulder. "Teal'c was also shot here, but we're less worried about this wound."

"I'll focus on this, then," Vala decided as she pulled out a Goa'uld healing device from her pocket. She looked up to Carolyn. "Okay to start?"

"Hang on," the doctor said, fiddling with equipment. "Okay, now."

"If you want, come on over to the other side and hold his hand," Vala said encouragingly to Gracie.

Gracie eagerly complied. Vala got started, applying the device to her hand, then holding it over Teal'c's abdominal wound. The whole area began to glow. Carolyn glanced at Gracie, who seemed to regard this as completely ordinary. She surreptitiously shook her head. She was supposed to be three, but she carried herself like someone who'd seen some horrible things and knew how to handle herself.

"Well, you're not wrong about the artery. Definitely got hit," Vala stated calmly. She continued to operate the device.

"Knock, knock," a voice intoned from the entrance. The curtain pulled back a bit and Sam joined them.

Gracie looked up at the sound of her voice and instantly smiled at her other mother, whose eyes focused on Vala's attempts to heal their beloved Jaffa friend.

"How's he doing?" Sam asked.

"We're about to find out," Carolyn replied.

The Jaffa let out a grunt. His hand twitched from within Gracie's grasp. "Keep going," Gracie said.

Sam glanced at her curiously. She stepped closer to hold on to Teal'c's feet affectionately through the sheets.

Vala continued as suggested. Teal'c's body jerked. Gracie leaned down and whispered something in the Jaffa language to his ear. Vala's eye twitched at this, but she kept going. Gracie observed the healing process closely. As if she knew that Vala had reached another stage within the process, Gracie leaned down again to whisper in Teal'c's ear.

Suddenly, Teal'c took in a deep breath. Vala stopped. They all waited.

His eyes slowly fluttered opened. With a dry rasp, he spoke as Carolyn leaned within his view. "DoctorLam."

"Hi, Teal'c. You're in the infirmary at the SGC," she said softly.

His eyes wandered to see who else was present. "Vala Mal Doran. You have returned safely." She grinned at him. "Colonel Carter." He turned his head slightly. "Gracie O'Neill." Everyone was stunned that he recognized her. The women exchanged looks. "What has transpired?"

"You were shot," Carolyn explained.

"How much time has passed?"

"Four days."

He turned again toward Gracie in confusion, then looked at Sam.

"You know what, Teal'c, it's a really long story. I only half-understand it myself. We're going to wait until you're better to explain, okay?"

"As you wish, Colonel Carter." He then muttered something almost unintelligible to Gracie, who bowed her head happily toward him, Jaffa-style.

"What did he say?" Carolyn asked.

"He said thank you to her in the traditional Jaffa manner," Vala translated with a bit of surprise. "How did you know to do that?" she asked of Gracie, referring to what she whispered into his ear while he was being healed.

Gracie shrugged. "Life experience?" It was puzzling to her that they all found this surprising.

"I'm sorry, explain?" Sam requested.

Vala answered, "When a valued Jaffa was wounded in battle, it used to be customary for minor Goa'uld to heal them. The less powerful ones couldn't afford to lose too many Jaffa at once, so they temporarily set aside their pride. Jaffa brothers were expected to speak certain encouraging phrases to the injured during the healing process." She stared straight at Gracie.

Sam looked at her daughter. "Done that before?"

Gracie glanced around at everyone staring at her, even Teal'c. "When you care about Jaffa, you learn their ways," she said matter-of-factly. This earned her a satisfied smile from the Jaffa in the bed. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Vala said immediately. "You did everything right." She hazarded a smile of pride. "What happened to you out there?"

Sam furrowed her brow.

Gracie straightened up as she answered, "We survived."

"What the Hell, Jack!" Sam whisper-yelled as she pushed him. Jack glanced behind him at the sleeping form of their three-year-old in the bed. They were in their shared base quarters. She didn't stir. "Do you even realize what kind of crazy implications this could have to the timeline!?"

"Hey!" he whispered back. "This was all Daniel's crazy, hare-brained scheme, alright?"

" Who was the ranking officer on that mission, though, dammit? You! After everything we've gone through and learned, you should know better. I know you're smarter than this."

Jack's jaw twitched. " Actually… Daniel was ranking on this one. Since I was technically dead."

"What!?"

"Old Man Daniel was Commander of the SGC."

"What the fuck are you talking about," she whispered forcefully.

"I'm not kidding here, Sam! He had a full head of white hair and everything, just like presidents do after eight years in office!"

She shook her head, not believing him.

"He told us he did the research. You shoulda seen him; he was driven mad by this obsession to fix everything. But we couldn't even blame him. Everything really was fucked up in that future. You wanna lecture someone? Lecture him."

Sam sat down fitfully in the desk chair. "How?" she demanded via whisper. "How did he do this?"

Jack stepped back and put his hands in his pockets. "I'm not too sure, how, exactly, Sam. He had a lot of fancy gadgets available to him in the future." He kept in mind the other Daniel's emphatic demand that he not tell anyone about Ba'al's time machine.

Jack drew closer to kneel in front of her. He rested his hands on her knees.

Sam brought a hand up to massage the space between her eyes. "I swear to God, you two are more trouble than you're worth," she complained.

"You still love us, though."

Her chest shuddered a bit as she tried not to laugh.

"Sam, I couldn't just leave her there." She dropped her hand to look at him. Jack's eyes cast down. "She was suffering. They'd go days without eating. She had to learn how to do all these things just to get by. It wasn't a normal life. Not even close."

"I thought you said Vala did amazing."

"She did. The girl's insanely good at a lot of things. She can pilot space ships, defend herself, hang with Jaffa, handle weapons." He rubbed at her knees while he stared back up at his wife. "I couldn't not bring her home… to offer her the life we would have wanted for her. This way, she gets a second chance, with all of us. Vala did a Hell of a job, and she didn't deserve for all her hard work to go to waste."

Tears formed in Sam's frustrated eyes. She reached her hands out to grasp either side of his face. "I watched her perform a Jaffa ritual to help Vala heal Teal'c." She glanced at the sleeping child next to them, sprawled on the bed. "Our little girl. Did that." She returned her eyes to Jack.

"Then you see she's absolutely worth it."

" More than worth it."

"You did say you wanted two kids."

"Fuck you, Jack," she said with a laugh while pushing him away. He quietly laughed along with her.

"Hell, you would have been good with twins, you said."

Sam slapped him lightly on the cheek. Gracie stirred next to them and both pairs of eyes shot to her, worried they had woken her. The child soon settled after turning over. Her parents let out breaths they didn't even realize they were holding. And with that, the last of Sam's anger left. She sighed heavily.

"Sam, that future was horrible. She was desperate to have us back. I had to give this to her."

"What about Vala?"

Jack looked down. He swallowed. "That's the only part that sucks about this whole thing. I took her away from her." Sam could read the intense guilt in his expression. She leaned down to touch her forehead to his. "I'm gonna make it up to her by giving this girl the best life I can," he continued with all seriousness. After a moment of quiet contemplation, he added, "That reminds me, I need to give our Vala a raise."

Sam raised an eyebrow as she leaned back.

"I'm not kidding. The woman deserves it."

"Did she manipulate you into promising that just for babysitting our kid?"

"Current Vala? No. Future Vala? She didn't even have to ask."

Sam squinted her eyes at him as she smiled and shook her head. "She has you and Daniel wrapped around her little fingers."

Jack scoffed as his arthritic knees protested from being used. He groaned while he leaned on Sam to get back up. He settled on the bed nearby, reaching over to shift Gracie back to the middle where she wouldn't fall off. He turned back to Sam. "Don't forget about Mitchell."

"Oh he's wound up so tight he doesn't know left from right with her."

Jack laughed as quietly as he could muster.

Sam got up to stand in front of him. She leaned down to kiss him as his hands fell to their usual place on her hips. "I tell you who else has you wrapped around their finger…" Jack smiled into the kiss she laid on him next. She knew they wouldn't take it too far tonight, but at least, she could do this. Jack quietly thanked the future Daniel for helping him make sure his wife was here to kiss and make-up at all.

"Here we go," Daniel said as he slid a card into a reader and watched the indicator turn green. He opened the door and used his arm to hold it wide open for Gracie to enter a set of base quarters. He remained on the outside of it though, not actually going in.

She looked at him strangely as she passed the threshold.

"What?"

"Uh. You've done this before." Gracie shook her head and closed her eyes briefly. "I mean, the other you."

"I did? I mean, he did?"

"Opening the door just like that for me to pass."

Daniel grimaced, still weirded out to have seen a future version of himself, let alone realize that he was still just like him. "I don't even know what to say to that."

"Nevermind, it's a small thing." She invited him into the room so he could explain what was in here.

Daniel grunted briefly. "Time travel's weird."

She nodded her head to agree with him emphatically. "I hope I never do it again."

Daniel sighed as he laughed. "You say that once…" He shook his head.

Gracie grit her teeth and widened her eyes, in awe at his implication that he'd seen and done all this before.

Daniel graciously explained what a telephone was and how to use it to reach one of them. He couldn't really be sure of her knowledge of Earth-based numerals. So he settled on pointing at the zero on the landline and explaining how that would get her to an operator. The operator could then transfer her call to whomever she was looking for. "You can ask for me, your dad, your mom… err, moms… anyone, really."

"The man?" she quipped.

"The man. Ahh, well, technically, that's your Dad while he's here."

"I only sort of understand that."

Daniel grinned. "There's plenty of people here who feel the same way, Gracie. Trust me. Including your Dad."

She smiled back at him. Daniel was relieved to see it come from her so naturally. Not just because she'd been crying so much lately, but because the smile she directed at him now was genuine. He had successfully worn down that poor impression of him she used to harbor. At least, he hoped he had.

He proceeded to point out the wardrobe, the private washroom, and the TV remote for her use. There wasn't much else to explain in her basic quarters, other than to advise her that it was safest to keep the door locked and to try not to lose her keycard. He handed her a standard issue toiletry bag.

"I have a feeling both your mothers will take you shopping, eventually, to get some clothes. In the meantime, somebody will get you a few spare uniforms to add to the collection you've started there," he explained, pointing at the basic green outfit she was in.

She looked down at the drab uniform with little enthusiasm. "Yay," she deadpanned.

"That's how Vala feels."

"Does she really wear these things around here all the time?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"She seemed to enjoy parading around in the black suit much better."

"I'm sure she did."

"And you let her?"

"I don't let her do anything. She doesn't ask me for permission in the first place!"

Gracie grinned. "All the other men around here seemed to like her in the black suit much better, too." Daniel's face soured. Now Gracie laughed. She was beginning to understand why Vala didn't want to change her clothes right away. Jealous Daniel was funny to see.

"Okay. Ha. Ha." Daniel shook his head, suddenly weary that yet another person was available here to tease him. And what's worse, she was an O'Neill. "So, that's pretty much it," he said, gesturing around and desperate to change the subject. Gracie got the hint and dropped it, but not without a smile of amusement. "Is there anyone you want to see? Talk to? Before you turn in for the night?"

"You mean, before I go to sleep?"

"Yes."

"Uhh, thank you, but no. I'm still… overwhelmed… by everything. I think I need some time."

Daniel nodded unequivocally. "You absolutely have the right to process this on your own." He briefly reached out to touch her shoulder. "This was a huge move, Gracie. But hey, if you decide you don't want to be by yourself, remember, you can call any one of us." Daniel pointed at the phone on the bedside table to remind her of it. "I don't think anyone would mind, even if you think we're asleep. We're all here to support you."

Gracie's eyes shined. She drew in a very deep breath to control her emotions. "Thank you, Daniel."

He smiled at her. "That's what I'm here for." He went back to the door. "Have a good night. Someone will check on you in the morning."

"Okay."

The door quietly clicked closed. Gracie spun around to stare at her new surroundings. She plopped down on the bed and simply sat for a while. Eventually she just laid back and closed her eyes, still not really believing that she was here.

Her first night on Earth, in the past, was filled with restless dreams and memories of her mother.

Vala was hardly surprised when Daniel arrived at her door. She had been waiting for him, honestly. She knew he was bursting at the seams to supply her with more detail than what had been revealed in that meeting. She was sure of it.

So when she let him in, it didn't shock her that he plopped down into the chair without a word and dropped his head into his hands. She patted his head, then sat down on the bed near him to wait.

Vala was all ready for bed. She expected him to tell her whatever it was he had to say, then be on his way. They could deal with everything else in the morning. For now, she looked forward to enjoying her comfy bed after a week away. Jack caught her coming back from an offworld mission when he begged her to take Gracie somewhere safe. She'd never even had a chance to go to her quarters.

Her bare, wiggling toes caught Daniel's attention as his head faced the floor. Through splayed fingers, he watched bright blue nail polish catch the light. He sat up and turned to her with an exasperated look on his face.

She simply smiled patiently. Vala was leaning back casually on her arms, dressed in a colorful, silky bathrobe. She tilted her head at him, encouraging him to start.

He sighed, leaning an elbow on the desk.

"Well?"

"Well, obviously, I met 'future you'."

"Yes, I got that part. What was I like?"

Daniel cycled through many adjectives. Resentful. Anxious. Worn out. Resilient. Resourceful. Eventually, he settled on, "Beautiful."

Vala blinked in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that. She quirked a smile and sat up. "Tell me more," she responded playfully.

He reached out to grab one of her hands. "You were amazing. You raised an incredible child who loved you dearly and would do anything for you."

Vala was stunned. "I don't know if I would have really been able to do all that, Daniel," she said with self-doubt. She tried not to think of Adria and failed. Her playfulness became subdued.

He scooted the chair closer. "You'll learn just how well 'future you' raised her soon enough. Gracie's talented." Vala thought back to the moment in the infirmary when Gracie supported Teal'c's healing. "And she's incredibly loyal to you."

She tilted her head doubtfully. "I was just her guardian, though, right?"

Daniel reached out to cup her face, other hand still grasping onto hers. "You were her mother, Vala."

The woman stared at him for a long time, absorbing his report. Then her eyes dropped and wandered as she contemplated the implication of what he was trying to tell her.

Daniel's hand dropped to her shoulder and stroked the skin there absentmindedly. "Seventeen years is a long time to just be someone's guardian. Eventually, Gracie regarded you as the only mother she could even remember," he told her gently. He tilted her chin up so that her eyes would meet his. "She challenged me the moment she met me."

"How?"

"She assumed I was out to get you. Didn't have any idea who I really was. She was ready to do whatever it took to get me off your back so that you could be happier."

"Really?"

"Gracie's devastated to have lost 'future you'. I think it's fair to say that she's in actual mourning, even though you're right here."

Vala didn't know what to do with the things Daniel was telling her. She was overwhelmed by it. So much so, that she barely noticed all the physical affection he was giving her. On any other day, she would have taken advantage of it by now. "What about you? Future you?"

"He was miserable. That was plain to see."

"Why?"

"Because he couldn't have you."

Vala squinted at him. "Huh?"

"His desperate mission to bring you and Gracie home drove him to do crazy things. Which is how we ended up coming back with an extra kid and knowing how to prevent Sam from dying on Atlantis." He leaned closer. "If it weren't for him, we wouldn't be having this little chat right now."

"So we have 'future you' to thank?" She regarded him dubiously.

"Apparently." He closed his eyes briefly. "But don't get me wrong, the guy was nuts."

Vala laughed now. "You're talking about yourself."

"I know."

"So what now?"

"Well, like we said earlier, this business with the Trust, or whatever the Hell they are now, isn't done. We've got to coordinate multiple ops to clean things up before they get so bad that… well, just before it all gets worse."

"Sounds like a tomorrow problem."

"Yeah, I know. It's late." He retracted his hands, not having even realized he was touching her this whole time.

"I think it's safe to say that you're exhausted. I'm exhausted. Poor Gracie's exhausted."

"All of us," Daniel agreed.

"Is she going to be okay?" Vala asked in concern.

"I don't know, to be honest. I hope so. But I think she'd like it if you check in on her. When you can."

Vala reached out to grab both of his hands now. "Of course I will." She sighed. "Thank you, Daniel. For telling me."

He quirked a smile. "It was important. You deserved to know."

"You said 'future you' was miserable without me?" Vala then asked curiously. Daniel nodded. "Did they have a chance to see each other again?"

"Oh yeah. He finally brought her back to Earth. Well, he made Mitchell do it. But yeah, he accomplished part of his life-long mission."

"How'd that go? The reunion?"

"Between me and you?" Vala nodded affirmatively. Daniel thought back to the awkward moment when he met his future self, actually looking old and gray. "They…" He smiled. "They stared at each other for a moment. I think they were both just taking it all in."

"And then what?"

"And then Cam, annoyingly, did whatever Cam does."

Vala scrunched her face, entertained by this. "So no dramatic declarations of longing, huh? Just… Cameron?"

Daniel shook his head. "Always. Mitchell," he complained.

Vala laughed. He grinned with her. Daniel figured this was a good time to take his leave and let her be. As much as he'd love to spend the rest of the night talking with her, he knew they both needed to get some sort of rest before tomorrow. He didn't even know what to expect their next day to be like. He stood up from the chair. She followed suit.

They found themselves nose to nose. Hands kept at her sides, Vala pecked him on the lips chastely. "Good night, Daniel."

He breathed her in, but fought the urge to do more. He couldn't say why. "Good night," he replied softly. Daniel stepped back and turned around. He took one step toward the door.

Idiot.

Daniel immediately turned back around and pulled her to him. He kissed her like he'd never kissed anyone before. Her hands instantly crept up the back of his neck. Fingers tangled in hair.

And then he pulled back.

Daniel couldn't explain himself.

Vala locked eyes with him. She whispered, "Stay with me."

One simple command, and all thoughts of getting a full night's rest were abandoned.