Daughter
Chapter 18 – Rebirth
"Anything look familiar?" Jack asked as he glanced at his elder daughter in the rear view mirror. They were now driving into the neighborhood where his house was, just outside of Washington, D.C.
"No, not yet."
The little one screeched as she pointed out the window. "Daddy, I wan' go park!"
Her older self craned her neck to see what she was referring to. She saw colorful structures. A few children seemed to be climbing all over them.
"Later, Baby."
"Daddy, the park! The park!"
"Gracie, let's show Elda your room first!" Sam suggested enthusiastically from the front passenger seat of the SUV.
The reminder of this prospect was enough to distract the three-year-old away from her brief obsession. She nodded her head repeatedly. "Okay!" She turned to address her sister and held up Doctor Teddy. "I show you his friends," she declared her intent.
The older one grinned at her in agreement.
Jack pulled the vehicle into a two-lane driveway. He reached up to hit a button on the visor, which commanded the two-car garage to open. The older Gracie stared as the door retracted vertically and disappeared. She leaned down to look for the mechanism responsible for its movement, noting the motor installed on the garage's ceiling. She wondered if the hangar doors in Antarctica were designed this way, remembering the time when General Mitchell had flown her back to Earth as an adult. She stifled a frown as she was reminded again that she no longer had access to her own timeline. Cameron wasn't a General here. The SGC was not in Antarctica.
Jack opened her car door for her. Quietly, so that no neighbors outside might overhear, he said, "Welcome home." His tone only served to add significance to his words. Jack waited to see a glimmer of recognition in her eyes.
Gracie got out of the car. She raised her head to take in the sight of the two-story house. She peered about at the lawn and the garden in front. Her eyes then lingered on a red door set into the center of the house, flanked by stained glass windows.
Jack looked back at the front door, then back at her. He quirked a smile.
Before Gracie could wonder why the red door was drawing her attention, she felt a small hand tugging on her own. She looked down.
"Elda, Elda!"
"Yes?"
"I show you my room! Come on!"
"Give her a second, will ya?" Jack complained. He looked over to Sam with exasperation, who shrugged behind the girls.
"One track mind," his wife pointed out.
Jack shook his head. He then nodded to the older Gracie. "Go on ahead, before she explodes." His eyes widened as he said it.
Gracie chuckled as she let the little girl pull her along. They ventured toward the house through the open garage. She tried to catch a glimpse of some colorful strings hanging off the handlebar of a tricycle, but wasn't given enough time to so much as glance at it. The child's hand was pulling on hers with excitement. The little hand was just barely able to turn the knob of the door and push it open.
The pair walked into the house. The little one jumped up and down repeatedly on a black floor mat. "You gots ta wipe yo feet!" she instructed. "See? Like this." She stomped a little more to demonstrate.
Gracie smiled at her, sliding her shoes along the mat briefly. "This okay?"
"Yeah, thas okay." She pointed at a set of shelves. "Shoes hewe!" She sat down on the same dirty mat to pull off her bright pink sneakers. Then she threw them onto the shelf, not minding that one was hanging precariously off the edge.
Gracie reached down to pull off her own shoes and placed them a bit more carefully on the shelf than her little self had done. She straightened out the small sneaker that was ready to fall off. When she looked, the little girl was eagerly waiting for her at the doorway leading to the rest of the house.
"Come on!" she said, waving a hand.
Gracie's eyes flitted toward a large open kitchen set off to one side. It was flanked by more rooms that she couldn't see very well. The little one pulled on her hand animatedly, leading her to a set of carpeted stairs. She ran up the stairs with boundless energy and waited for her at the top. The child was grinning ear to ear.
When Gracie joined her, the child grabbed her hand again and pulled as hard as she could toward a closed door. "This my room!" The door opened.
Gracie pulled in a breath as recognition hit her like an Alkesh bomber.
The first thing she saw was a music box on the dresser. It had a prim ballerina figurine on top waiting to spin with music. A small plastic desk, littered with paper and thick crayons inhabited one corner. The child pulled her in further, climbing up onto a small bed and hopping up and down with delight. Her motions were crumpling the bright purple bedding and making a pillow fall to the floor.
"You like my room!?" she asked, breathless.
Moisture began to fill Gracie's eyes as she stared about. There was a hammock hung up in the corner next to the bed, overstuffed with soft plushies. The horn of a bright, colorful unicorn doll stuck out. Her eyes lingered on it briefly, before her attention was pulled to the little lamp on the bedside table. The base of the lamp was artfully made up of monkeys climbing a tree. Beside it was a pile of books with glittery covers sparkling in the soft light from the window. A closet was set into one wall. Short dresses hung from a rack. Beneath them was an extra dresser in the closet, whose drawers were painted white and decorated haphazardly with stickers of rainbows and clouds.
Gracie sat down on the plush carpet, just taking it all in.
The child hopped down off the bed and stood before her. She stared at her, then pointed. "Why you crying?" she wondered innocently.
Gracie locked eyes with the child. "I'm… just…" She blinked and let out a breath. "I like your room, Gracie."
The child grinned and hopped in place elatedly. "Mommy, Elda likes my room!" she proclaimed to Sam in the doorway. Jack stood just behind her, also watching. Gracie hadn't even realized her parents were there.
Sam knelt down to her level on the floor. She wrapped an arm around the young adult's shoulders. "Does this look familiar?" she asked curiously and cautiously.
Gracie's lip quivered as she took another look around. "I remember… everything." A single tear escaped and ran down her cheek. This was why she had been disappointed visiting the condo back in Colorado. All of her memories as a small child had been formed here. In this house. Emotions were brought forth as she stared at the familiar objects in the room. Happiness. Safety. Security. All the things that she knew she used to possess before she was forced to flee her home planet. They were here.
Sam looked back up at Jack and pursed her lips. His eyes shone with emotion as he stared back. She wasn't sure what to say, so she just squeezed her daughter tighter.
"Gracie," Jack said to the small child. "You forgot Doctor Teddy in the car." He handed the stuffed animal to her.
"Oh! I sowee Doctor Teddy! Come on, time to go to hop-si-tal. Your patient is waiting." The child turned around with it to dig through a toy bin, pulling out various items that resembled real medical equipment. She proceeded to forget everyone else in the room as she started to play on her own.
"Elda," Jack said, catching her attention. "Come on, now that she's busy, we'll show you the rest of the house."
Sam helped Gracie up and they followed Jack out. The little girl continued to have a conversation on behalf of her bear as she held up a toy to it. Their parents seemed comfortable leaving her there on her own. The room had been thoroughly baby-proofed long ago.
They showed the older Gracie the rest of the house as promised, then settled in the kitchen. Jack opened up the fridge to start pulling out ingredients for their dinner. Sam reached around him to grab a couple of beers. She set one in front of Gracie, who was sitting on a barstool at the kitchen island, then took the seat next to her. Jack raised an eyebrow at this and made eye contact with Sam. She looked back at him unapologetically. Clearly, Gracie was no stranger to alcohol, given the way she'd already influenced her own mother into getting drunk a few weeks ago.
He found that comical, despite his initial reservations on the day it happened. Doubtless, the rest of the SGC agreed. Their drunken arrival was the talk of the base for days. That sort of mischief only reinforced Gracie's cover as Vala's sister. Hopefully it discouraged the base from wondering if she was really someone else. There were already whispers about how she seemed to resemble Sam more than Vala. Jack couldn't do much about that. And he wouldn't want to change how either of them looked. He loved them as they were.
"We need to figure out when your birthday should be… on paper. Ya know, so that can be legal," he said, pointing at the beer Gracie was now sipping.
"When is my birthday?" she wondered aloud.
"You don't know?" Sam asked.
"Well, we don't mark time the same way out in the galaxy the way Earth does. I just went with whatever age Vala would tell me. She did the conversions."
Jack leaned both elbows on the kitchen island now to consider her. "She said you were 20."
"That's what she told me, too, by Earth measure."
"I know the date from when we were in the future." He grabbed a notepad hanging on the fridge via a magnet and pulled a pen from a pencil cup on the counter. He wrote on the pad and pushed it toward Sam.
His wife leaned over to look at the date. She blinked rapidly as she crunched numbers in her head. "Based on this… you should be turning 21 in a couple of days," she calculated with surprise. Although they were certain of her birth date on Earth, the fact that she had left her timeline meant they would need to base her age on the actual amount of time she had been alive. Essentially, her birthday was being revised. This would be yet another way to differentiate her from the little girl playing upstairs in her room.
"I will?"
"Yeah," her mother confirmed with a smile. "We have a 21-year-old," she marveled, turning to Jack.
He suddenly seemed subdued. "Charlie would have been about your age now," he said quietly.
Sam and Gracie shared a glance. Hesitantly, the young blonde asked, "He would have been my brother, right?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Old Man Daniel told me."
"He did, did he?" Jack straightened up and turned around to start organizing the ingredients he had already pulled from the fridge.
Sam frowned. She had never been privy to much information about Jack's dead child, even though she had been married to him for years now and had known him much longer than that. It was a subject he refused to ever talk about in depth. Over the years, he'd briefly mention something out of the blue. And then he would immediately move on to something else. Just as he'd done right now. Sam understood. And she never pushed him.
But it pained her to watch him remember with such regret. It was something she wished she could fix. Out of all the things she could fix, though, this was hardly mechanical nor mathematical. She believed that it wasn't her place to try. Not for this. So she worked hard instead on trying to help Jack make new memories. Good ones.
Sam looked at their daughter now, and decided something. "Let's call Vala. We're having a party."
"A party?" the young blonde repeated.
Sam pulled out her cell phone and dialed. She placed the phone on the counter and hit the button to make it play Vala's voice on speaker when she answered.
"Hello?"
"Vala. Party. Washington. Three days," Sam said succinctly.
They heard her gasp. "Whose birthday is it?"
Gracie laughed aloud. She saw that her father chuckled, too, by the way his body shuddered while his back was turned.
"Elda." She used her daughter's cover name so that there could be no doubt about which Gracie she was referring to.
Vala squealed over the phone. "Daniel! Daniel!"
They could hear the man in question groan in the background. "What." His voice was heavy with sleep.
"We need to arrange transport. We're throwing Gracie a party!"
"Wha.. huh?"
"Oh get up, you big lump," Vala complained.
Sam squeezed her eyes together as she laughed hysterically. Jack turned around now, eyes filled with mirth. "Ay… Lover Boy! Get your ass down here!"
When the bell rang, Gracie took it upon herself to answer the front door. She peeked through the side windows and recognized the person on the other side. She opened the door wide. "General Landry!" she said with pleasure.
He grinned at her, holding a wrapped box in hand. "Please, Gracie. We're miles away from the SGC. Call me Uncle Hank."
Gracie matched his smile and gestured for him to enter. "Uncle Hank," she said, testing the name on her tongue. "I like it."
As he entered the house, he leaned in. "Happy Birthday." He handed her the present.
She looked up from the brightly-colored wrapping paper, touched. "Thank you," she said meaningfully.
Landry took a good look around at Jack's house. Streamers and balloons were already everywhere. "I take it Ms. Mal Doran is already here."
Gracie glanced up at all the decorations. "Could you tell?"
He chuckled as he took off his hat and hung it on a hook nearby the door. "If I hadn't already approved her leave of absence, this would have been a dead giveaway," he mused, pointing at the décor. Gracie laughed as she led him toward the back patio, where her father was firing up the grill.
"Hank!" he greeted his friend happily.
"Jack," the other man said, reaching over to shake his hand vigorously.
As the pair began to converse, Daniel handed Hank a beer and joined them in conversation.
Gracie left the men behind and went back into the house.
"Gracie!" Vala called from upstairs.
She blinked repeatedly, savoring the sound of her adoptive mother's voice using her original name to address her. Her voice wasn't strained or harried because they were in some sort of danger. This pleased her. It was the best way to help maintain her memories of her. Gracie worried constantly that she'd break her promise and forget. She was happy to be here, in the past, surrounded by family that loved her. But she couldn't shake off the concern that all these new memories risked overwriting the old ones she still wanted to keep.
"Gracie?" Sam also called from the top of the stairs.
"Coming."
She found her mothers in a guest bedroom, the one that had been given to her to use while she was here.
"Wardrobe change time!" Vala announced, clapping her hands eagerly.
Gracie looked down at her T-shirt and jeans. She glanced up at Sam questioningly.
Her birth mother gave her an encouraging nod. "Just go with it. Vala's surprisingly fashionable for an alien."
Gracie watched as Vala pulled an item from the closet. From a plastic hanger, a dress was dangling that looked like it just might fit. The fabric was gold and flowy. The cut was fitted and flattering. Her mouth dropped open. Her eyes flitted up to meet Vala's. The woman was bouncing with excitement.
"She brought it with her from Colorado," Sam supplied.
Gracie stepped forward to finger the fabric, noting its soft texture. She smiled. "Finally. Something sensible."
Vala laughed aloud while Sam seemed confused. Offworld definitions of style and comfort always seemed so backward compared to what she was used to. Sam shook her head and transferred the dress into Gracie's hands. "Try it on. Then we'll do your hair."
They gave her the space to change then got right into the next part of getting ready. The women had fun testing out different hair styles on Gracie by holding her hair up. Sam brought out all of her hairstyling tools and let Vala take the lead while Gracie sat patiently at a desk with a large mirror. When the doorbell rang, Sam left to go answer it.
"We almost never got to do this when I was growing up," Gracie commented, watching as Vala finished sectioning off her hair with a comb and some hair clips.
"Well, Darling, no time like the present," Vala said, eyes now focused on grabbing a chunk of her golden locks to heat-style.
"There were just a handful of jobs where we had to dress up."
Vala's eyes flitted to meet hers in the mirror while her hands held the curling iron to her hair. "What was the angle?"
"Seduction, distraction, then acquisition."
The curling iron released the artful curl of blonde it had just made. Vala stilled. "Who was doing the seduction part?"
"It depended on the preference of the mark."
Vala frowned uncertainly. She selected another chunk of hair and twisted it around the hot curling iron. "How far did things ever go?"
Gracie knew what she meant. "You never let it get that far," she sought to reassure her. "Not for me."
Her adoptive mother blew out a small breath of relief. "Good." She worried momentarily that her standards might have dropped too low out of desperation in that other timeline. Seventeen years on the run would have been draining. So draining. Vala often found herself wondering just what exactly her other self and Gracie had gotten up to. Then she had another thought. "What about me?" Maybe Vala didn't really want to know. She clenched her teeth.
"You weren't prostituting yourself. You made it pretty clear you wouldn't allow either of us to do that. But sometimes… it got close. Nature of the jobs." Gracie pursed her lips. She looked down.
Vala drew in a slow breath, but continued her ministrations with Gracie's hair. "How profitable were those jobs?"
"Profitable. We would eat well after those."
Her mother grunted. Because of course those nastier jobs would yield larger payments.
Gracie gasped quietly to herself, obviously realizing something. Her eyes seemed to be flitting back and forth, lost in memories.
"What?"
"I think…"
Vala raised her eyebrows at her in question through the mirror. She released another section of hair, letting it drop from the clip of the curling iron. It bounced vibrantly, as if happy to have been styled. Vala combed her fingers through the next section of Gracie's hair.
"You made it so I got used to giving you alone time when you needed it. A lot of times when you said you were working a mark, you sent me on some side mission. Or told me to just go be with other people my age for a while…" she rambled. Her eyes wandered as she seemed to be making connections in her mind.
"Gracie?"
Gracie met her eyes in the mirror. "You were always with Daniel."
Vala's mouth gaped. She set the curling iron down and turned it off. She squat down to be eye level with her. "Are you sure?"
"Knowing what I know now… and thinking back?" Gracie locked eyes with Vala. "Yes. It had to have always been him. I think it happened more than I ever realized." Gracie seemed surprised with herself that she hadn't made the connection sooner. There must have been times when she didn't see him sneaking away, especially when she was younger and less observant.
Her mother stared at her.
"I used to catch a glimpse of him leaving," she explained. "I started to recognize him after a while, and assumed you owed him something." Gracie left out the part where her mother would always be in tears after he departed. She could do without those memories. "I didn't know who he was until your Daniel traveled to my time and met me. Then I learned that it wasn't about a debt at all." She blinked rapidly and took in a breath as she drew a conclusion. "Now I'm thinking he was part of the reason why you wouldn't prostitute yourself."
"I was being faithful to Daniel?"
"I think so." Gracie huffed. "I guess we have yet another thing to thank the old man for."
Vala stood up, mulling this over. She turned the curling iron back on, giving it time to heat up to the proper temperature before picking it back up again. She smiled to herself.
"What is it?" Gracie asked.
She seemed rueful as she said quietly, "Maybe there's hope for us."
"What do you mean? You two aren't happy?"
"We are, Darling. We are." Vala looked pensive for a brief moment. "I just didn't dare to assume that he'd ever want me for that long," she admitted, quietly acknowledging that seventeen years was a long time indeed. Vala couldn't imagine herself with any man longer than a few months, and if that long, then only for a con job. She had no idea what to expect from a committed relationship with an honorable person. It still didn't even seem real that he was really hers to claim.
"Mom," Gracie said with significance. "He loves you. The Old Man dedicated his life to the other you. That was plain and obvious by the time I left. If my assumptions are correct, then none of this," she said, gesturing in the air to refer to their current timeline, "would have happened. Not without him loving you as much as he did. Does."
Vala bit her lip as she contemplated Gracie's words. He'd never told her how he felt. They'd been too distracted by passionate lovemaking. And then work. Vala had no expectations from him, afraid she'd only end up disappointed if she had. She was simply enjoying whatever this was while it lasted. But something about what Gracie said made her realize that Daniel was too special to let go. She wanted him. Permanently.
"Okay… I'm back." Sam walked in and noticed their serious expressions. She adopted a look of caution. "What I miss?"
Vala set the curling iron down and let go of the lock of Gracie's hair she'd been holding. She turned to Sam. "You take over." She exited the room quickly.
Sam watched her go with surprise. "Something the matter?"
Gracie smiled quietly. "No. I think everything is just right."
Cameron cackled after Hank made some sort of joke. Vala could hear his laughter from inside the house. She ventured through the patio door to find everyone else outside. She didn't notice that three-year-old Gracie was sitting on Teal'c's lap, happily chatting away with Carolyn. Or that Jack was busy pouring beer all over the steaks on the grill and causing a huge fireball to rise up. All she focused on was Daniel, who was busy stepping back from the disaster Jack was causing.
Vala went straight to him and pushed him back another step. She felt the heat of the fire behind her, but paid it no mind. Around them, Mitchell and Hank were yelling at Jack, asking him what the hell he was doing. Little Gracie started screeching excitedly about fireworks.
No, Vala didn't notice any of that.
She grabbed at Daniel's soft linen shirt and bunched it up in her fist. He was already putting a protective hand on the bare skin of her back, exposed by her sundress, to keep her away from the fire. His eyes shot to hers.
She kissed him. Hard. And without any regard for who else might be there or what chaos was brewing around them.
This shocked him. He wasn't expecting this.
She grabbed at his neck and pushed her body closer to his as she deepened the kiss with more passion than she ever thought imaginable. He responded by resting his hands on her hips and letting her do whatever she wanted.
Time seemed to melt away.
Eventually, Vala pulled back with eyes half-closed. Her lips remained nearby his. "I love you, Daniel Jackson," she whispered.
She watched as his lips curved into a satisfied smile. Her own lips followed.
"Ewww," a little voice groaned from beneath them. They both looked down and found little Gracie looking up. She pointed a finger up at them. "Why you do dat?"
Jack cracked up in the background. He leaned down to pick his daughter up. He looked at her with proud amusement. "Way to call it like ya see it, Kid." Then he turned to Daniel with annoyance. "Really? In the middle of my pyrotechnics just now?" he complained, waving a hand back at the grill.
Daniel finally looked around and saw that everyone was staring at them. His eyes widened.
"Jack?" Sam came through the patio door. "What the Hell!" Her eyes were trained on the now very overcooked steaks on the grill.
The group began to laugh.
"Happy birthday to you!" the group sang.
Gracie's eyes were filled with delight. She couldn't contain the smile on her face as she looked up at the family surrounding her at the kitchen island. In front of her was a cake covered with 21 lit candles. They weren't arranged in any sort of neat order. Her little three-year-old self had been given the honor of sticking the candles into the cake, with minimal supervision from their father. When Sam complained to him about the result, Jack reminded her that he isn't the sort to micromanage. He then had the audacity to suggest that the inconsistent spacing of all the candles could be considered art.
Sam just gave him a look.
Gracie looked at the little girl now and invited her to come help her with the next part. Jack picked her up so she could reach. Together, they blew out all the candles. Everyone cheered.
Little Gracie clapped her hands excitedly. "Again! Again!" she cried.
Sam showed up behind her with a cake server. "We'll give you your own piece, Honey." Carolyn reached over to pull the snuffed candles out of the way. Sam then began to serve the cake to everyone, with the first piece going to the celebrant of the party.
"Thank you, Mom," Gracie said with meaning as she accepted her slice.
Sam leaned over to kiss her on her cheek while she held the serving utensil in one hand and another paper plate in the other. "Happy Birthday, Gracie."
Gracie scrunched her shoulders with glee. She watched as Sam gave the next piece to her other self. Cameron made sure to grab a few candles and stick them back in the slice for her. He and Teal'c set the little girl up on a chair at the dining room table to enjoy blowing out the candles again, over and over. Cameron stood ready with the lighter while Teal'c kept her from falling out of the seat unceremoniously.
Jack wrapped an arm around the older Gracie and led her to the table to sit near her sister. "Happy Birthday, Kid," he said as he sat down with his own slice. Sam made sure to give him the biggest piece.
"Dad," Gracie groaned. "Not a kid anymore, remember?" She gestured around at the party to emphasize her point.
"Tough. You're always gonna be my kid." He waved his plastic fork at her. "And don't you forget it."
Gracie smiled around her bite of cake, shaking her head with feigned exasperation. She drew in a deep breath, looking all around at the merry group that had gathered here just for her. She watched as Carolyn approached Cam to feed him a bite of cake from her fork. Her little self looked up at Teal'c happily after successfully blowing out three candles. Uncle Hank and her birth mother were busy conversing near the cake. Daniel and her adoptive mother were… well, she had lost sight of them. But she didn't mind it. Gracie looked back at her father, who was smiling at her gently. Once again, she just could not believe that she was here. Her heart swelled with love for her entire family.
The visit to Washington was healing. Gracie felt renewed and more secure. She talked it over with her parents, and it was agreed that she'd go spend time with the Hak'tyl next. Teal'c helpfully described to them what her daily life in the settlement would look like, emphasizing that she'd gain the most benefit by staying at least several weeks at a time. After some hesitation, Jack gave his blessing.
"Weekly check-ins," Sam reminded as she waited with Gracie at the bottom of the ramp. The stargate was already dialing. Sam's heart was pounding. She could have been sending Gracie back to college, given her age. But instead, her education was about to resume on a completely different planet. She never would have imagined doing this.
"I will call," the younger blonde promised, clad in her black leather travel suit. Definitely not the typical sweats and loungewear of an American college student.
"And if you get hurt, call me sooner," Vala instructed.
Gracie took in a small breath. "That would be cheating to call for the healing device every single time."
"Who said there will be more than one time?" Vala asked with a warning tone.
Sam laid a hand on her friend's shoulder, glancing around at the defense team. But she was glad Vala was saying something. Sam felt exactly the same anxiety over Gracie's departure. Better to have the big sister act protective and not her, someone who shouldn't have much of a connection to this younger blonde.
"Vala, I will be fine." Gracie rolled her eyes.
Her adoptive mother's mouth twisted in worry, but she didn't say anything more. She pulled Gracie into a hug as the event horizon kawooshed. Sam moved in to do the same.
"Send my regards to Ishta," Sam said. Gracie nodded.
"Me too."
Gracie looked at both her mothers and smiled. She adjusted the duffle bag hanging off her leather trench coat. "I will. Now will you let me go?"
Sam and Vala shared a look. They each let out a breath and sent her on her way.
Weeks later, Gracie found herself face-down on the ground.
"Again."
She stifled a groan as she pushed up on her elbows to get back up. Her foot found the wooden staff she'd dropped and popped it into the air. It landed in her hands. Her knuckles were bleeding, but she ignored them. She could wrap them later. Gracie's feet spread apart diagonally, weight placed on her back foot. Her staff tilted within her hands as she stood ready.
The young Hak'tyl across from her rushed forward to attack with a staff of her own. They parried in a coordinated fashion. There was a sequence to the movements that Gracie was expected to perform. Every time she deviated, the Jaffa knocked her down. They'd already been at it for more than an hour.
"EldaMalDoran."
Gracie blinked, but continued sparring. There was no time to look to the right toward the owner of the voice. A staff weapon was about to make contact with her face. She blocked it. But now she'd come out of sequence again and it became a free-for-all. Her teen Hak'tyl opponent had the freedom to attack as she pleased, sequence be damned.
The Jaffa swung her staff horizontally toward Gracie's left side. She hopped out of the way but had no choice but to draw closer to her opponent. Her combatant grabbed at Gracie's staff to knock it out of her hands. Now weaponless, Gracie dodged a strike by bending back. Her breaths were labored as she darted out of the way of another hit and dashed behind her attacker. She kicked the girl in the back, pushing her away. Gracie dove for her staff.
Before she could lift it off the ground, a boot clamped down on the wooden stick, locking it in place. Gracie looked up. The boot belonged to Nesa. "Hol."
Gracie let go and got up with haste. Her chest heaved while she stood at attention before Nesa. Her eyes flitted to the side, seeing Ishta nearby.
Her Hak'tyl opponent moved to stand with her, seemingly less out of breath. Nesa turned to the other Jaffa. "Shal kek," she said calmly. The teen bowed in compliance. She laid a hand on Gracie's shoulder in apparent respect, then departed with her staff. She bowed briefly toward Ishta as she passed.
Gracie's eyes watched her go. Then they returned to Nesa, who stood expressionless. She waited to be addressed.
"You are making progress," Ishta declared as she stepped closer.
Gracie bowed her head respectfully. "I still have more to learn," she admitted with some shame.
"Yes. That is true."
The young blonde human grit her teeth but showed no outward emotion. Her eyes remained down.
"You will patrol the forest with the night guard. Eat and rest now prior to nightfall."
Gracie raised her eyes to Ishta in acknowledgement. Her den mother inclined her head, gently dismissing her. Gracie bowed to both Nesa and Ishta, then followed the same path her opponent had taken back to the village.
As she walked, a cool breeze eased her reddened face. She winced, looking down at her raw hands. If her mother were here, she'd be fussing over her now, insisting on using the healing device. Something about that thought embarrassed her. She could hear Vala's voice in her head, arguing that Jaffa heal better and faster than humans do. She ignored that voice. There was no way she would be calling for her mother for a healing session right now. None of the other Jaffa here were afforded such a privilege.
As she entered the town center, the smell of food wafted in the air. The hunters had come back with big game, she had heard. It was going to be enough to feed the settlement for two days. They planned to set aside extra meat and preserve it for the winter that was coming. She bypassed the tables that were already filling up with Jaffa and ventured into one of the storage huts. Once inside, Gracie found supplies to cleanse and bandage her wounds. They were left there by the SGC's medical team for anyone's use. The Hak'tyl didn't have much need for them, so Gracie had plenty to pick from.
After she finished wrapping her hands, Gracie pulled up her leather vest to peer at her side. The large bruise she had gotten a couple of weeks ago was starting to fade. Hopefully, it would disappear by the time she was scheduled to return to Earth in a few days. She understood that re-entry to the base entailed a medical examination. The last thing she needed was for one of the staff to inform Vala about any of her injuries. She'd be banned from ever going back to the Hak'tyl the moment her mother found out.
Carolyn had carefully explained how only specific people, namely blood relatives or a spouse, would be listed in a file with permission to know about someone's medical conditions. Her cover meant she was a Mal Doran only, not an O'Neill. Thus, her medical record would follow. She was a little less worried about Sam and Jack being told anything automatically. Gracie had no doubt, though, that if Carolyn deemed it necessary, she would go to them personally. She sort of hoped Carolyn would be too busy to see her when she got back.
Gracie made her way to the tables, where a few seats were still open. Her sisters handed her a plate and began passing the bowls of food to her. She bowed in gratitude and hungrily got started. This wasn't a formal meal, so no ceremonial words need be said. Everyone had other tasks to get to and were simply here to refuel and be on their way.
"How did you fare with Sel'sa?" one of her sisters across from her asked.
Gracie sighed outwardly. "She beat me down like a hasshak," she replied glumly.
"You will learn, EldaMalDoran. Give it time," another sister said encouragingly.
She bowed to them again thankfully. Everyone here had been surprisingly supportive. Gracie surmised that having Ishta's approval was enough for them to accept her into the tribe. She was as much a refugee as any of them were. They bonded over this easily.
Ishta had explained Gracie's true identity to the entire settlement because the Hak'tyl strongly believed there should be no secrets among them. Gracie's cover was thus to be maintained by every sister, even in the fear of death. Endangering her would bring great dishonor to the Hak'tyl as a whole. She was the offspring of their hero, Samantha Carter, after all. No extra attention would be drawn to her if others came to visit the settlement. They would deceptively pretend Gracie was just another Jaffa.
What's more, it was widely known that Gracie had convinced Zersha to manufacture tretonin. The Hak'tyl had grown weary of dependence on Earth for it. Ishta knew better than to trade one master for another, irrespective of the Tau'ri's benevolence. With over half of the settlement already on the life-sustaining drug, the tribe took great comfort in knowing they now had an additional source.
Gracie finished her meal and washed her stone plate and utensils herself. She returned the set to the table for the next sister to use. It was quickly picked up, with Jaffa constantly rotating in and out of the eating area. Gracie looked up at the position of the sun, realizing she had just a handful of hours left before the night watch. She was due to contact Earth today, so now was as good a time as any to make the trek to the stargate. Afterwards she planned to go back to one of the huts to nap.
She greeted various sisters around the settlement with smiles as she walked to her shared hut. She obtained her GDO, SGC-issued radio, and her personal powered staff weapon. It was a magnificent armament acquired by Teal'c from a friend on Chulak. This newer model was his birthday present to her. Jack enthusiastically approved of it, much to everyone's amusement. Gracie could not have been more honored that her Jaffa uncle would go to all that trouble just for her. It only made her even more loyal to both him and the Jaffa in general.
Without further word to anyone, Gracie made her way through the forest toward the gate. There was no need to explain her every movement to anyone here. She was her own keeper. Her own master. So long as she kept up with her obligations to the tribe, her time was hers to do with as she pleased. She relished the sunshine keeping her comfortable in the cool air as she walked. Later tonight, she'd need a full cape to keep warm. She arrived at the DHD and dialed Earth. Once the wormhole activated, Gracie entered her IDC on the authenticator. She brought the radio up to her mouth and clicked. "This is EldaMalDoran, checking in."
"Hello, ma'am. Good to hear from you." The voice coming from the other side of the wormhole was familiar.
"Hello, Walter."
"Your sister is here. Standby." A moment passed.
"Elda, how are you?" Vala's voice asked calmly.
"I'm doing just fine. I'm on night guard tonight. Still planning to return in three days."
"Good! We'll all be happy to see you back. Any injuries?"
Mom, she complained inwardly. "No," she lied. "I'm fine." Then before her mother could catch her in that lie, she immediately asked about a topic that she knew would be distracting. "How's Daniel?"
"I'm right here. I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Gracie blinked. He'd never been present on one of the check-ins before. It was usually Vala or just one of the techs, if her mother was offworld on a mission. "Okay, great. Well, everything's all good here." She waited a beat for someone to reply.
"Good," Daniel responded. "Uhh, hey, just giving you a heads up. Ishta told Teal'c she's planning to come with you."
She scrunched her face at the wormhole. "Why?"
"She didn't tell you?"
"No."
Now Vala spoke. "I'm sure you'll find out on your own. We'll see you here in three days. Don't be late," she warned.
Gracie let out a breath. "I won't," she promised. "Byeeeeeeee."
"Bye Darling, muah," Vala said, sending her a kiss through the wormhole. The gate shut down.
Gracie pocketed her communication devices and turned around to begin walking back. She found herself curious about Ishta's wish to join her on Earth. She wasn't sure it was her place to ask for the reason. The Jaffa woman was mysterious at times. Her eyes always appeared to be planning and calculating while her mouth remained still. Gracie couldn't think of any good reasons for her to want to come with her. She decided that she would simply wait for the Hak'tyl leader to say something to her.
As she absentmindedly contemplated this, Gracie nearly missed the rustling sound coming from behind her and to the left. She sucked in a breath and immediately spun around, pointing her birthday present in its direction. A Jaffa male made himself known, baring his hands in a nonthreatening gesture.
"Jasuf," Gracie said with derision. As much as she wanted to, she could not forget his name. Something about the way he'd insulted her last time was enough to make her want to scream.
"Human," he greeted plainly.
"What do you want?" She did not lower her weapon, daring him to do something stupid and showing off her new toy at the same time. Her gauze-wrapped hands gripped it with ease.
"I find you curious. You are human yet you yearn to be Jaffa. Why is this?" He didn't seem to mind that she was threatening him with a powered staff weapon. He, himself, appeared to be unarmed. But Gracie knew better than to assume he had no weapons on his person. There had to be a zat or some knives hidden somewhere.
"What does it matter to you?"
"I merely seek to know more about my opponent for the next Exhibition."
Gracie cocked her head to the side in confusion. What made him think she'd be around for the next Jaffa performance evaluations? And what made him think she'd be itching for a rematch after she had beaten him already? She thought back to something Teal'c had said after he met him. The younger Jaffa had assumed too much and that led to his defeat. Perhaps he had since realized his error and was seeking to correct it now.
But she didn't see the point. She wasn't going to attack his camp on the far side of the forest. Ishta never said she was expected to participate in Exhibition whenever the Hak'tyl had their turn to strike. Last time had been an accident. He had to have known that. She was human, as he liked to remind her.
"I respect the Jaffa. That's all you need to know." She raised her staff vertically to let it stand comfortably at her side. It allowed him to see just how new and shiny it was. The metal glinted in the sunlight peeking through the trees.
He eyed it with obvious admiration. "That is a fine weapon." His eyes met hers.
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, gripping the staff tighter. If he were human, such a comment would signal his intent to possibly steal it from her. But he was Jaffa. His honor would not allow him to try such a thing. Gracie saw no hint of disrespect in his expression. This confused her. She had been bracing for offensive remarks. "It is," she said simply.
"No doubt that only your friend Teal'c would have been able to acquire such a thing."
"Teal'c is my family," Gracie corrected with apparent pride. To be able to claim him made her feel just a bit more important. "This is a gift from him." She wasn't sure why exactly she felt the need to gloat to this Jaffa. She normally wouldn't do that, not unless she was working a job with a specific angle.
He quirked a smile at this. It accentuated dimples in his cheeks she'd never noticed before. Gracie surprised herself by feeling her heart flutter and her cheeks redden. She quickly tried to tamp down on that reaction. She desperately tried to ignore the way his dark hair found a way to glisten in the sunlight. Or how the muscles on his chest seemed perfectly sculpted as they peeked out of his vest.
"Perhaps you are a special human, then." His eyes never let go of her.
Gracie struggled not to bite her lip. She stared at him silently. What was wrong with her? Just before this, she couldn't stand this Jaffa. And now… she found him attractive? She tried to fill her mind instead with the boys she'd been with before. They were human. They were handsome. They were enough to satisfy curiosities she had. And then she moved on.
Yes, that's what she needed to do right now. Move on.
"I must return to my sisters," she declared, hoping her voice sounded even. Gracie chided herself, though, because her heart was skipping beats against her will.
He bowed his head to her. Last time he had refused to perform the gesture. She wondered what had changed. "What is your name, human?"
Gracie blinked and let out a small breath she didn't even know she was holding. He never cared to know her before. Why would he start now? And why did that make her feel flattered? "Elda," she responded automatically. "Mal Doran." Gracie quietly applauded herself for letting the name flow out of her mouth so instinctively. Dr. McKenzie said thinking of herself as Elda, and not Gracie, would help her maintain her cover. He used the term rebirth after she'd decided that she was giving up her name so that her younger self, the innocent little girl, could keep it.
He bowed again, seemingly pleased to now know her name. His eyes seemed to be studying her, liking what he saw. "We will meet again, EldaMalDoran."
Out of habit, Gracie leaned her head down to bow in kind. She didn't think she should. She was not supposed to like this Jaffa. But part of her Hak'tyl honor had forced her to show some respect. Technically, he hadn't insulted her today. Saying nothing more, Gracie turned around and began walking back to the settlement.
Now paranoid, she kept looking around for signs that he was following her. She very much hoped that he wasn't. She wanted to scream at herself. And then forget that she'd ever met him.
A/N: I want to express my continued thanks to everyone for following along with this story. I've been enjoying this little escapade as an author. I can safely say this is the longest thing I've ever written. And that's saying something. I've had to do 20-page papers in the past, but none ever made me enjoy writing like this does. I mean, who wants to write a 20-pg paper anyway? That makes people like me just want to vomit and never write again! But anyhoo, I see the visits and the views and the occasional review. I truly appreciate you coming back around every few days to see what happens next. As of now... I have 23 chapters written. I keep coming back to each of them and fine-tuning them prior to release. Next one is going to be a fun one with some action. Hope you'll stick around. Thank you!