Daughter
A/N: Thanks for sticking with this if you have been. I am so encouraged by the visitors and the reviews. If you are finding that the action has slowed a bit, my apologies, but things will pick up soon. I honestly didn't have the heart to cut these scenes I wrote in Ch. 9-11. Hope you'll see their worth. This little universe has become a sort of endless fountain of ideas. The writing brain is commanded to continue.
Please continue to enjoy the often-humorous aftermath of their time travel fiasco below:
Chapter 10 - Spill
Carolyn flipped the page of a report and placed it back down on the table. While she read, she brought another spoonful of oatmeal to her mouth. Motion caught her eye. Vala plopped down across from her at the small table in the commissary. "Morning," she mumbled around her breakfast.
"Morning," Vala said, scanning the room to see who was present.
Carolyn could feel eyes on her. She looked up. Vala's expression was mischievous. The doctor quirked an expectant smile. "What?"
"I've made a decision," Vala declared.
Carolyn waved a spoon at her to go on.
"I'm not going to flirt with Cameron anymore." She flapped a hand in the doctor's direction. "He's all yours."
Her friend's mouth twitched. Carolyn dropped her spoon. She leaned forward to steal a piece of fruit off of Vala's plate while maintaining eye contact. She popped it into her mouth, then leaned back to mirror her mischievous expression. "Spill."
Vala leaned forward. "I won."
Carolyn now leaned forward again. "How?"
"Years of wearing him down."
Carolyn laughed aloud. A few other members of the SGC turned to look. Carolyn remembered herself and lowered her voice. "Last night?"
Vala nodded slowly with a quirked eyebrow and a sly smile.
"Congratulations. Your prize happens to be my number one patient."
Vala chuckled, knowing all too well how easily Daniel got injured working here.
A shadow fell over the pair. "What are you two gossiping about now?" Mitchell asked skeptically. He looked between each of them with obvious suspicion.
Vala opened her mouth to retort, but caught Carolyn's raised eyebrow. She was going to hold her to her word. Vala refrained from engaging in her usual flirtation with him. "We're talking about how you need fuel for your day. I took the liberty of preparing breakfast for you, Cameron. I was waiting for you. Here it is." Vala stood up. The chair screeched as it scraped backward across the floor.
Carolyn smirked.
Vala winked at her then returned to the line for food.
Cameron sat down in her seat. "Well, that is a bold-faced lie." He looked down at the plate. "Oooh, mango." He picked up a chunk and ate it.
Carolyn brought a hand to her head and just started laughing.
"What?" Cameron asked as he chewed.
Her laughter faltered a bit when she observed Daniel entering the commissary. Eyes glued to the archaeologist, she watched as he went straight to Vala.
Cameron noticed her distraction and turned to look. He made sure to grab another piece of fruit. "Oh look, it's an early edition of the Daniel and Vala Show," he said with some derision.
"What? Not your kind of show?"
"Doc, I like action. Not… whatever-the-Hell-they-are." He waved a dismissive hand in their direction and turned back to the plate Vala left. He chose another chunk of mango to eat.
"I heard they got renewed for a new season," Carolyn said, continuing the banter.
Cameron glanced up at her then back down at the food. Then he paused. He looked up at Carolyn again, only to see that her eyes were still on the pair in question. He turned his head briefly to look at them, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He turned back to Carolyn and squinted his eyes at her.
She met his look with laughter in her eyes.
Realization dawned on his face. "About. Damn. Time."
Carolyn grinned.
"Morning, kid." Jack stood just outside Gracie's door, hands in pockets.
She took in a quiet breath. "I'm not a kid, anymore, remember?" She motioned for her father to enter her newly assigned quarters. As promised by Daniel, someone had come to greet her on her first morning at the SGC.
Jack took a look around, not seeing anything special about the room she'd been given. He turned back to her. "How was your sleep?"
Gracie let the door's weight shut itself closed. She also took a glance around, still in disbelief that she was here. Still in doubt that her father was right here speaking to her. "Is it still called sleep if I wake up exhausted?"
A look of pity crossed Jack's face. "Can't say I'm surprised. You've been through a lot."
Gracie crossed her arms over her chest unconsciously. "Understatement," she deadpanned.
"Well, look, some breakfast will do you some good. Your mom's going to meet us there." He motioned for her to come with him. "Your birth mom," he clarified.
She nodded eagerly, but had to ask, "What about Vala?"
Jack shrugged. "She might be around. But we can find her later if she isn't."
"What about…" Gracie hesitated. "The other me?"
He'd been expecting her query. "She'll be there, too. Running amok as usual."
"Running a-wha?"
"Nevermind. Come on."
Jack escorted her to the commissary on another level of the SGC. It was full and bustling with personnel when they arrived. Gracie looked nervously around, unsure of how to behave in a place like this. She couldn't ever remember being here before. She followed her father's lead, falling into line before serving trays of food. He handed her a plate to load with whatever she chose.
Gracie didn't know where to start, so she helped herself to a little bit of everything. She surreptitiously glanced around to see if anyone was regarding her plate strangely. But no one seemed to be paying her any mind. If anything, they stiffened the moment they saw Jack. She found that behavior a bit odd, but had gotten the gist of what his title meant around here.
Soon they were winding through crowded tables filled with chattering personnel to a spot against the wall. Sam and the younger her were already there. Gracie sucked in a breath at the sight of her mother. Her golden hair was just like her own. Their eyes lit up at the sight of each other.
"Morning," Sam greeted her warmly.
Her little self was busy spilling milk as she attempted to spoon cereal into her mouth. The girl glanced at Gracie curiously. Then she smiled at Jack. "Hi, Daddy," she said with a lilting tone.
"Hey, Baby," Jack responded automatically. He gestured to a chair for Gracie to occupy, directly across from Sam.
"I eating cereal," the little one announced proudly.
Sam leaned over to absorb the mess on her shirt with a napkin.
"Oh yeah?" Jack asked with a similarly light tone. "Is it good?"
Gracie picked the plainest-looking piece of fruit on her plate to try as she observed them. She quirked a smile as the sweet flavor surprised her. There was something familiar about it.
The younger version of her was nodding vigorously. She made a show of scooping up more cereal and milk onto her teaspoon to show off to her father.
Seeing that Jack had fully engaged their three-year-old, Sam could now pay attention to their elder daughter. "How was your night?" she began.
Gracie tried to smile but it came off as a nervous mess. "I still can't believe I'm here," she admitted.
"Wanna know something?"
Gracie nodded.
"Me too." Sam smiled at her reassuringly. "We'll take it one day at a time. I'm sure there are a lot of adventures you could tell me about."
"Venture?" the child echoed. "I went on a venture!" The table smiled at her. "With Auntie Bawa."
Gracie let out a breath of amusement. She knew exactly what this girl was talking about. She caught Jack's look of laughter aimed at her. Maybe she could do this. Maybe she could integrate into this family that was both old and new at the same time.
As everyone filed into the briefing room, Daniel glanced around in confusion. "Where is she?"
"We have her set up in a room viewing the Intro to the SGC training videos," General Landry explained as he settled into a chair. He kept the head of the table open for Jack to occupy.
Carolyn soon sat next to him, setting a stack of reports onto the table before her.
Mitchell walked in and grinned at Daniel. "She's watching you," he taunted. He took the spot next to Sam.
Daniel squinted at him, then understood what he must be getting at. In reply, he merely rolled his eyes at Cam. The training videos featured himself explaining the origins of the SGC and how the stargate worked. He'd forgotten all about them. He'd been ordered to record those years ago.
Teal'c walked in, leaning on Vala for support. Daniel jumped up to help him settle into a seat next to Cam. "I didn't think you'd be up and around so soon," Daniel marveled.
"ValaMalDoran has healed me enough," the Jaffa stated.
Vala patted his shoulders. "He was curious," she reported.
"Indeed."
Once Jack arrived, the murmur of the group ceased. The military personnel stood briefly in deference. He waved the others off and they re-took their seats. "General," he greeted toward Landry.
"General."
"Dr. Lam, let's start with you."
Carolyn sat forward. "Who would you like me to report on first?"
"Me," Jack said.
She pulled a specific report from her stack and opened it. She pointed at a print-out of an x-ray image. "This is what we found." She slid the paper toward Jack, who took a look at it. "It's a small transmitter. And it's embedded in your cervical disc. C2 to be exact."
Sam leaned closer to stare at the x-ray of her husband's neck. "How did it get there?"
"I'm not sure if any of you recall an incident that involved Dr. McKay and his sister. A handful of years back. They were kidnapped by one of the SGC's contractors in order to save his daughter using nanites."
Everyone exchanged glances of worry.
"Looks like General O'Neill was somehow exposed to similar… objects… which coalesced in his spine and turned into that."
"How do you know?"
"We pinged the transmitter and it sent back an ID. Matched the signature of the nanites."
Jack unconsciously rubbed at his neck. He slid the report away from himself. Sam stared at it in disbelief.
Mitchell leaned over to peer at the image with a disgusted look on his face. "So, it's transmitting right now?"
"No, apparently it's inactive. The only thing it could do was respond to our ping. The rest of its capabilities seem to have been rendered inert. By… me?" Carolyn looked at Jack curiously.
"That's what you told me."
"In the future," Carolyn responded with disbelief.
"Yep."
Daniel quickly glanced at Mitchell then back to her. He remained silent.
Sam slid the report down the table for others to see. "Can we get it out?"
"No. It's inoperable based on how well it got itself in there," Carolyn explained. "If we try to cut it out, it will result in a catastrophic cervical disc compression. That means a piece of his spine would collapse. It could result in a loss of mobility, bodily function, possibly more."
"More?"
"The attempt to remove it might kill him."
Sam's mouth formed a grim line of disappointment. "Is it harming him in any way?"
"For the moment, no. It's actually filling in the loss of space that was already occurring in his cervical vertebra. That's an unsurprising consequence of age and wear and tear."
Vala spoke up. "What if we try to beam it out?"
"I considered that, too. But it would risk the same complication as the surgery would. Sudden removal will destabilize the structures in his spine. It's just too dangerous to take out."
"That's what the other Daniel tried to tell us," Jack supplied. "What have you heard back from your counterparts in Washington?"
Carolyn pursed her lips. "I asked around, quietly, if anyone had seen patients with unusual findings on spinal imaging. I haven't seen it personally, but from what I was told, there is at least one other high-level official that may have this, too."
"Old Man Daniel said just about everybody with high-level security clearance for the SGC got tagged. Eventually," Jack said without humor.
"At some point, our future selves figured out how to deactivate the bugs, though," the contemporary Daniel added.
"Any idea how? Or when?" Landry asked.
Jack and Daniel shared a look. "Uhh, no."
Vala slapped at her neck. She looked left and right, now anxious. "I don't want one of those things," she muttered. She swatted her hand in the air as if a fly was buzzing around her annoyingly.
"Clearly," Teal'c said, "the Goa'uld do not have enough symbiotes."
"So they find a way to infest us through our necks some other way," Vala said as she shuddered. Daniel shot her a look of pity.
Mitchell tried to steer her away from the reminder of her experiences as a host. "So, if we've got high-level officials being tagged, what are the operational consequences of this?"
"Surveillance seems to be the primary purpose," Jack answered. "They can track anyone with one of these things active in their bodies. Watch where they go. See who they meet." He locked eyes with Sam. "Find family members in hiding so they can arrange a kidnapping."
She suddenly better understood the gravity of the situation. She blinked quietly, absorbing the ramifications of this for her daughter's safety. It dawned on her that they might not be able to take her home. "Maybe…" Sam hesitated. All eyes fell on her. "Maybe I should take Gracie to Atlantis." She locked eyes with Carolyn. "Can we check if anyone there is afflicted?"
The doctor looked thoughtful. "If I request that information through regular communications, wouldn't that be recorded?" she asked, turning to her father.
"It would be," he confirmed.
"You're thinking that if you make a direct inquiry, it'll tip off the enemy," Cameron concluded.
"Like I said, I asked around quietly. I made no reference to bugs, tags, or transmitters. But for me to pose the same question to Atlantis would seem unusual." She looked back at Sam with apprehension.
"It would raise a red flag," Landry agreed.
Jack's jaw clenched as he thought. "Then we make up some reason for you to go there and check everyone yourself."
Carolyn blinked in surprise. "Actually, I was just thinking that same thing."
Cameron leaned forward. "Say what?"
"I could go there, scan the medical personnel first. Then once I confirm they're clean, clue them in. We could arrange for the entire base to be scanned to identify anyone with these… tags… in them."
"How long would that take?" the Colonel asked.
She shook her head. "Not sure." She calculated numbers in her head. "A week? If I have help from the staff there. By myself? God only knows."
"That settles it," Jack declared. "Dr. Lam, you will personally oversee the inoculation of Atlantis base against some new pathogen, with a routine scan thrown in to check for… something."
Vala scrunched her face at this.
Landry cut in. "Unless you have a different way to spin it, medically."
"I'll…" Carolyn paused in thought. "…come up with something."
"And when she's done?" Cameron asked.
"She'll personally report back that her medical mission was successful… or not."
"In-person," Cameron clarified. Daniel hid a smile at his extra concern for their Chief Medical Officer.
Landry stared at Cameron for a beat, a slight hint of amusement coloring his expression. "That's the idea, Colonel. We can't afford to be without our CMO for longer than that."
Cameron nodded, seemingly satisfied with that.
Sam chimed in now. "As soon as Dr. Lam confirms Atlantis is clean, I'll take Gracie there. From what I saw, Teyla's people have quite the little daycare going. It'll be perfect for her."
Vala leaned over the table to see Sam better and smile. "She'll love it."
"And what of the other GracieO'Neill?" Teal'c inquired.
"Actually… her name's Mal Doran." Everyone looked at Jack. They all adopted various looks of quiet surprise at his declaration, none more than Vala.
Daniel stole a look in her direction, watching as her face contorted into multiple emotions one by one. The woman let out a nervous laugh. "Jack… I mean, General… I would never…"
"It's alright, Princess," he reassured her calmly. "She would answer to your name more than mine anyway." Jack addressed the whole group. "Which is perfect because that means it'll be easier for her to maintain her cover."
Sam deflated a little. "She can't come with me to Atlantis, can she." It was more of a conclusion than a question.
"No." Jack breathed in deeply. "We can come up with reasons for you and Dr. Lam to hop over there that won't raise suspicion. We can sneak the little one over easy, too. But if the big one's supposed to be Vala's little sister, it won't make sense."
"Sir, what does that mean for her?" Cameron asked.
"Whatever she wants. But she stays on this side of the Pegasus gate." Jack answered in a way that made it sound like his words were final. "We'll teach her to blend in here at the SGC. When the base unlocks, she can go topside as she pleases. She'll just need an escort…" Jack looked pointedly at Daniel. "… until she gets her bearings."
Vala laughed nervously a little more now. "A real Mal Doran wouldn't ever blend in."
Cam and Daniel both snorted simultaneously. Teal'c looked at her with amusement.
Jack tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Right." He then amended his previous statement. "We'll teach her… how not to blow things up around here."
"Good luck with that," Sam muttered playfully.
"Which brings me to the next topic. Dr. Lam, tell us what you learned about Gracie. The older one."
Carolyn pulled the correct report and opened it up in front of her. She didn't slide it across the table this time, as there was nothing but text there that she could just summarize aloud. "Tests came back positive. She's definitely your daughter by DNA," she began, with a tone that showed she was unsurprised. "She has the ATA gene. And she only has immunity to the viruses one would expect for a patient who had the standard course of vaccinations up through the age of three."
"What does that mean?" Vala asked.
"Well by her account, and theirs," Carolyn answered, gesturing at Jack and Daniel, "she left Earth before she would have had any other vaccines. Her lack of immunity to common pathogens here on Earth seems to corroborate that."
"Is she immune to other things instead?" Vala wondered.
"More than likely, being exposed to whatever else is in the wider galaxy. I did note something in particular that we could test for…" Carolyn flipped a few pages in the report. "She has immunity to the Prior plague."
"But so does Gracie, the little one," Sam retorted.
"Yes, so that tells me the immunity is lifelong. It's notable for us, medically, in that we better understand the efficacy of that immunization. No one's ever been alive long enough for us to know how long the stick lasts. Or if we need to give SGC personnel boosters from time to time. This is pointing to: probably not."
"Anything else, Doc?" Jack asked, steering the conversation back.
She flipped through more reports. "Evidence of previous traumatic fractures… broken bones," she clarified. "All healed properly. Umm, she has several visible scars on her skin, which she attributed to various events from throughout her childhood. And… that's it."
"The other you checked her out in the future," Daniel pointed out.
"She mentioned that to me. Sounds like I did a full exam and even treated a few minor complaints."
Sam looked like she might be sick. Thoughts of what her daughter could have been through, just based on Carolyn's report, swirled through her mind. Broken bones? Scars? Just the very idea that both she and Vala had been on the run for nearly two decades disturbed her.
As if he could read her thoughts, Jack placed a calming hand over hers on the table. He made eye contact with his wife. Sam didn't say anything more. His touch was barely enough to keep the panic bubbling inside her from spilling out into the open.
The door creaked open to reveal not just one mother, but two. Gracie paused the video immediately and grinned at them. Sam and Vala stepped into the tiny gray room and smiled back. "How would you like to hang out?" Vala started.
"Just the three of us?" Sam finished.
Gracie stood up. "Where?" she asked eagerly.
The two older women shared a glance. "My quarters or yours?" Sam asked.
Vala shrugged. "Mine." She motioned for Gracie to join them.
They left behind a screen stuck on Daniel in a bomber jacket, explaining something to the camera.
When they arrived, Vala let them in. "I'll go steal a chair from Daniel's quarters down the hall. Be right back…"
She had already disappeared by the time Sam turned to look. "Daniel's quarters? I thought he deactivated the keycard she took already."
Gracie finished looking around and turned to her birth mother. "At this point, I can't say I'm surprised."
Sam rounded on her suspiciously. "Why?"
The younger blonde shrugged. "Aren't they together?"
Sam's mouth dropped. "Are they?"
Gracie took a step back, now unsure. "I mean, I thought… Well in the future it looked like…"
Vala pushed a rolling chair in through the entrance. She caught Sam's gaze. "What?"
Sam put her hands on her hips. "Something you've been meaning to tell me?"
Vala kicked the door closed behind her and positioned the stolen chair next to the other one by her desk. She patted it for Sam to take. "Like what?"
"Daniel?" Sam clarified.
Vala hummed. She pointed a finger at her. "I haven't had a chance to talk with you yet!" She motioned for Gracie to pick a seat, who chose the other chair. Vala sat cross-legged on the bed across from them. "Oh anyway, this isn't about Daniel." She flicked a hand. "Gracie, tell us about you!" Vala seemed enthusiastic.
The younger blonde took in a breath. "I don't know where to start."
"Hmm, what's the earliest memories you have from after you left Earth?" Sam prompted.
Gracie broke out into a smile. "I was just telling my Dad and Daniel about us trying to make pancakes." She made eye contact with Vala. "It was a failure."
Vala pouted. "I guess I never was that good of a cook."
Gracie laughed. "You told me you were trying to help me remember my mom better. I have this brief image of you with white stuff on your nose," she said, turning to Sam now.
The older blonde began to laugh aloud now. "We tried to make pancakes from scratch a couple of weeks ago. You grabbed the package of flour before I could stop you and squeezed. The flour flew into a cloud and landed all over the kitchen."
Vala grinned along with them.
"Jack was cracking up as he helped me clean it all up. I think he purposely put some on my nose just to make you laugh, Gracie." The woman she addressed smiled. Sam reached over to touch her shoulder. "It's a sweet memory."
"A very messy one, too," Vala quipped. "What else, Gracie? Hopefully not more memories of me failing as a potential housewife."
"We moved around a lot. Not much time to practice."
Sam furrowed her brow, now reminded of the hard life she must have led. "Where'd you learn all that stuff you know about the Jaffa?"
Gracie lit up. "The Hak'tyl." She observed them don looks of surprise. "They are my sisters." She turned to Sam. "Do you remember Nesa?"
Sam tilted her head. "The name rings a bell."
"She's known you since she was a child. She said you saved her life and brought the tribe tretonin."
Sam covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God. You met that little girl?"
Gracie shook her head. "She wasn't a little girl anymore when we stayed with her. She was the den mother."
"How long would you be with them?" Vala asked.
"Oh… I don't know. But the longest we ever stayed anywhere was with them. And we got to go back and see them a lot after that. Actually, I just saw them right before we left." Her expression became somber as she remembered she'd never see the Hak'tyl again as she'd known them. And that they'd never know her.
Both Sam and Vala noticed the change in her demeanor. They glanced at each other. "Sounds like you loved them," Sam concluded.
"I did. I do." She offered a sad smile. "Maybe when Teal'c is feeling better, I could continue my training with him?"
Vala grinned. "I think that is a fantastic idea. I'll run it by Muscles the next time I see him."
"Your dad says you know how to pilot a ship?" Sam inquired.
"Yes. We had a small shuttle we acquired. I learned how to fly it from her," Gracie explained, pointing at Vala.
"Acquired…" Vala murmured suspiciously. "How?"
"Well the arms dealer didn't need it anymore since he was dead."
Sam's eyebrows rose.
"Legitimate salvage," Gracie declared casually.
Vala looked at her with a calculating grin. She locked eyes with Sam. "She really did hang around me her entire life." Sam's surprised eyes stared back at her. "The cover story is perfect!"
A/N #2: Leading into one of my all-time favorite scenes from this story in the next chapter. Stay tuned! Thank you for joining me on this journey.