Daniel and Adrienne #17: Subordinate

“That was two hours of our lives that we we’ll never get back,” Daniel said as he threw the empty popcorn container into the trashcan tucked into the wall right outside the theatre.  Adrienne was already shaking her head, knowing the harassment that was to follow.

“Come on,” Adrienne teased, “that wasn’t so bad.  I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed Jason Momoa shirtless for 120 minutes.”  

“Uh huh, I bet you did,” he shook his head and walked out into the mall area, eager to get out of the way of swooning women and violence charged teens that were exiting the theatre behind them. There were footsteps, loud footsteps of not feminine big feet and he felt his arm being grabbed, slowing his pace.  

“Come on Indy, a girl can dream can’t I?” Adrienne argued, tossing the soda cup into the trash, not relinquishing his arm for fear he might dart away and leave her behind, “You’re just mad there was no skin for you.” 

“Oh there was, I’m just mature enough to watch a film for the story, not naked bodies,” he lifted his eyebrows, grinning half way. 

“You are also a good liar,” she smiled.  He was always like this when it was her turn to pick a film, but he had admitted that they were better than Teal’c or Cameron’s choices.  Lately, it seemed that the rest of the team always had something else to do and movie night had fizzled for a while.  Adrienne was worried it was her fault, seeing as that was the only difference, her presence at movie night, but Daniel disagreed.  

“For starters,” he had told her one day in the lab, “I think that Cameron is hot after Carolyn Lam....” 

“Her? Really? She seems so... grumpy all of the time?” Adrienne was shocked, Cam seemed too fun loving to be interested in her.  Carolyn seemed more, well, Daniel’s type.  Adrienne wouldn’t dare say that though, their friendship still had boundaries, even if Daniel insisted on crossing those boundaries daily by trying to get Adrienne to date Ronon Dex. She had determined that he really had no interest in her person life, he just wanted something else to make fun of her about. This was what their partnership had become, a series of one ups in which Dr. Daniel Jackson and Dr. Adrienne Rowan were in constant friendly competition, a competition of who could cause the other the most grief.  Besides, Daniel like to tell Adrienne on a daily basis that Cameron was hot after her and if he had redirected his attention, well, that would be a huge relief to Adrienne.  She didn’t believe work was a dating service.

“So, I think movie night ending is just a way for him to have another free night, just in case he can get her to say yes,” Daniel shrugged.  It was then that Adrienne suggested the two of them keep it going, and indulge themselves with the nerd flicks that the others never agreed to, or movies that the group would have watched and kicked them out for making fun of.  Daniel had quickly agreed. 

As they crossed the mall, Daniel insisting on parking in Siberia for some unknown reason, Adrienne saw a large sale sign plastered over top of the entrance her favorite clothing store and began to run ahead, glancing back over her shoulder at her companion. 

“What time is it?” she shouted back.  

“8:50, why?” he answered, regretting doing so instantly; he knew where she was going. Adrienne didn’t like too many girly things; she wore some make-up, occasionally had her nails, what little nails she had, done, but the one thing she did like was clothes.  Crazy clothes. Lots of crazy why would someone ever wear these in a million years clothes. Sighing, he cursed himself, knowing that he should have suggested the theatre that was not in a shopping center.  Smiling at his response, Adrienne darted into the store, making a beeline for the back and he rolled his eyes following, hoping the employees were not so dedicated as to keep the store open the final ten minutes they were supposed to.  However, as he crossed the threshold and saw Adrienne holding up some strange top full of holes, he could tell that he was not that lucky.  

“I have been dying to buy this sweater and it is only $50, I have to get it!” she held it up to show him before tossing it over her should and making her way over to a table of bra-like shirts.  Reluctantly and walking slow, a small part of him still hoping that the employees would shoo them away, Daniel approached his friend, looking down at the item in her hand.  

“That’s a sweater?” he asked, hoping she was mistaken. Adrienne continued digging through a pile of black shirts.   

“Yeah, isn’t it cute?” she responded but did not look back to him for an answer; it must have been a rhetorical question.  

“But it is short sleeved and full of holes, how on earth is that a sweater?” he tried to reason with her, completely confused by the neon orange garment in her hands that looked more like a fishing net than an article of clothing.  His brain finally registering the price she was so excited about, $50, he reached over to look at the tag to see the before sale price. It read $99. 

“Adrienne, this, thing was $100 and it can’t even keep you warm,”  Daniel exclaimed. The thought of paying that much for anything so stupid was beyond him, this was more like a Vala purchase, illogical and impulsive. 

“Well, it’s $50 now, and I think I have a coupon. And don’t get too excited, you wear this under it,” she said as she held up a little bra-tank-top-like thing, sensing his thoughts.  She knew he was going to make a comment, a comment of the Ronon will love it persuasion, but he decided to show her that she didn’t know him as well as she thought. 

“Why?”  he asked instead, trying not to convey a tone in his question.  

“Because it’s in style.”  she answered simply, but he knew that wasn’t her reason, in fact he knew what her reason was, he just wanted her to say it. 

“So is reality TV, but you don’t seem to care about that.”  he replied. He knew she just wanted it because it was crazy and to Adrienne, crazy meant fun.  Say it Ad, he thought, say because it’s fun so I can continue to have more fun with this....say it.....

“This is why I shop with Vala,” she replied instead, selecting a black shirt, a cami she called it, and heading for the register.  

“Thank God for small miracles,” he whispered, relieved this little venture was over, but disappointed that she hadn’t opened up a new door to teasing.  Oh well, he thought, following behind, but she must have heard his praise to a deity in which she did not believe, because as soon as he got to the register he felt a bag slam into his stomach.  

“I assume I am your pack mule as well,”  he said.  

“Yep, now where is this coffee shop of which you speak?” she inquired smiling. Adjusting the bag, Daniel just chuckled, pointing the way with his free hand. He really couldn’t pick on her too much, other than outrageous music and clothing, Adrienne was pretty mild mannered and got the job done, and, he had to admit, he liked hanging out with her.  Daniel was starting to answer her question, explaining this new find of his from the other week, when a soft ring echoed from her purse.  

“Fun’s over,” she stated, frowning slightly.  

“How do you figure?” he asked. Adrienne pulled the phone out of her purse and flashed the screen at him. It read, Sam @ Work.  Daniel nodded his head.  

“Hey Sam,” Adrienne answered, “What’s up?” 

“We’ve got a bit of a situation here; I need you to come in,” Sam replied, her voice concerned and professional.  It worried Adrienne, it wasn’t like Sam to call on a Friday night off unless something was really wrong.

“Sure thing, it’ll take about an hour or so to get back though. I’m not close,” Adrienne explained.  

“That’s fine,” Sam continued, “You and Daniel are the last two I needed to get a hold of.  Speaking of which, do you know where he is? There is no answer at his apartment and his phone is off.”  

Adrienne giggled slightly. Sam didn’t know that they were spending so much time together, other than the occasional Smithsonian lecture or other academic pursuit and  Adrienne was a little nervous of what she would think if she knew, what any of them would think if they knew how much she and Daniel really were together now, outside of the lab.  Riding with him to movie night was one thing, but they now spent at least one free night a week doing something together, if not more, and lately it had been more.  On the other hand, however, she couldn’t lie, cutting her eyes over at him before answering.

“Standing right here,” Adrienne replied quickly.    

“Oh, you guys are together?” Sam inquired, changing her tone for a moment.  Adrienne suppressed a groan.

“Yeah, went to see a movie, we were just leaving,” Adrienne added, hoping Sam’s concern about whatever was going on with supersede Adrienne and Daniel being together. Again.  The woman had impeccable timing. 

“Alright, well, see you two in an hour or so.” Sam hung up.  Adrienne gave her phone a squeeze and tossed it back into her purse, peeking over at her companion.  

“Back to work?” he asked, looking a tad disappointed.  It almost made Adrienne smile; it was good to finally see Daniel wanting to do things for fun that were not work related, it seemed to make him happier in general. She couldn’t imagine what his blood pressure used to be.  

“Yeah, and your phone is off,” she told him.  Puzzled, he handed her back the shopping bag and pulled it from his back pocket, staring at it, swearing he had turned the thing on as soon as the credits rolled, but the screen was black.  

“I hate this thing,” he said as he tried to turn it back on, for a second time. Shaking her head, Adrienne grabbed his arm so they would keep walking, but pulled the phone from his hand, flicking around on the screen, bringing it back to life. It made the standard electronic beeps indicating that it was ready to be used and she passed it back, sticking her tongue out at him.  

“How could you manage without me?’ she teased.  

“You just keep thinking that Dr. Rowan; you apparently need those boosts to your self-esteem,” he smiled back at her as they exited the mall into the parking lot.  

Since they were in his jeep, Daniel drove back to the SGC, fussing his way through the traffic and nonsense of the surrounding area. They parked and dashed inside, more than an hour having passed and of course the elevator seemed to move as slow as possible, so when they got to the bottom floor they raced down the hallway, opening the door and, once again, were the late ones.  Daniel had long decided that friendship with Adrienne meant never being on time ever again.

“You two are now quite literally together all of the time.” Vala started right into them, but  neither responded as Adrienne sat down beside Vala and Daniel over by Teal’c.  

“Sorry to end your weekend so abruptly, but we have a bit of a situation,” Sam began to explain as she was pulling up images on the Smart Board.  Her face was full of concern as she cued up images of a desert terrain, images that Adrienne knew she had seen before but just couldn’t quite place. 

“If you will recall, last month we made contact with the inhabitants of PSF-2937,” Sam started and the pictures on the screen were images of what appeared to be a nomadic desert civilization, tents set up in a circular formation, camels surrounding the encampment.  “They contacted us back after receiving Daniel’s video message on the MALP.” 

“Right,” Daniel interjected, “They appear to be kin to the people of Abydos.” 

“Exactly,” Sam continued, “In fact, they even seemed to speak the same language,” Sam rolled some footage and a man in a desert robe was speaking a foreign tongue. Confused, Adrienne made a face and raising her pencil, the memories of the planet code flashing back into her head. 

“Excuse me, Sam, I wasn’t shown this footage,” she stated. The images she couldn’t forget, after she and Daniel’s excursion to chase down Shar’e’s possible kin, he had been looking for answers, for some indication that they had found something and that the stone wasn’t planted. She had gone through the images with him carefully, agreeing a team should be sent through, but wasn’t aware there had been anything to translate, in fact, if there were, she was fairly certain that Daniel would have been first in line to go.

“No,” Sam replied, “Daniel came by and listened to it one night, it wasn’t pressing.” 

“It was just a simple greeting and an invitation to visit, I didn’t think I needed to bug you in the middle of the night for something I can handle Ad,” he said. He needed her and she had been a help, but he had done this a long time without her, and once he had determined that this dialect was not the same as Kasuf’s people spoke, it hadn’t really been that high on his list of priorities. 

“I know,” Adrienne said, “it’s just that you don’t get to hear spoken Aramaic that often.” She seemed disappointed to be left out, not angry.  Daniel was completely lost by both her statement and her reaction. 

“It’s Abydonian, not Aramaic,” Daniel made a face at her as he peered above his glasses, not understanding why she had made such an assumption. He had her listened to tens if not hundreds of recordings at this point, she should know better. 

“No, it’s not, it’s close but....” Adrienne said quietly, trying to be as respectful as possible to her friend and stood from her chair, politely requesting the remote from Sam, rewinding the video.  She played it again and paused after the man made a strange noise with his mouth, looking back at Daniel. 

“Hear the guttural.  More Hebrew in origin than Egyptian. That’s Aramaic. He is inviting our best warriors, and using the masculine plural,” Adrienne explained, handing the remote back to Sam as she took her seat, but Daniel was shaking his head, staring at her like she was crazy. 

“Ad, with all due respect, I think I know Abydonian when I hear it. Sam, play that again please,” Daniel stood this time, walking over to the monitor, standing as close as he could to the speaker. The footage was played again, Daniel straining to hear before his face grew pale, his eyes widened and he leaned his head back, swearing Adrienne could have sworn, as he plopped down in the chair by the screen, his head sinking into his hands.   

“Dammit, she’s right,” he sighed, “How did I miss that?” 

“Yes, she’s right. Which is why you all are here. I sent SG-14 to meet with these people,” Sam said, addressing the group this time. 

“So what? SG-14 can handle themselves. Trust me, I’ve seen them fight,” Cameron interjected, looking to his teammates for supported. Vala nodded in agreement, as did Teal’c but Adrienne was shaking her head, her face now as pale as he bosses. Rubbing his chin once more, Daniel turned his glance to Cameron, a look of real worry in his ocean blue eyes.  

“Cameron what we missed, what I missed, was the male part of the request and SG-14 is....” Daniel began. 

“All women,” Cameron finished for him, finally catching on “Now, I take it these folks aren't very girl friendly?” 

“Not unfriendly, per se, more like patriarchal. But we’ve most likely insulted them by sending women as our emissaries,” Adrienne clarified, a sinking feeling beginning in her stomach. How insulted were these people? Was SG-14 okay?

“Insulted them?” Vala asked, “I’ll show them an insult.  What have they done with SG-14?” As if she anticipated that question, Sam turned to the board in sullen silence, clicking the remote, a grainy MALP video appearing on the screen.  It was the same man as before, speaking the same foreign tongue, albeit his tone was decidedly different, clearly angry. Everyone looked at Daniel for translation, but he just shook his head and pointed to Adrienne, deferring to her.  Adrienne made a face at him, not liking where this was going, but began to translate nonetheless. 

“You greeted us as friends but it appears that you choose to insult us by sending women as your representatives.  This is unacceptable, we requested your finest warriors, again he’s using the masculine plural. We have taken them into custody until you meet us with proper representation,” Adrienne stopped as the recording ended, peeking over to check on Daniel before the questions came.   

“Proper representation? What’s wrong with these people?” Vala asked, getting heated. She didn’t take kindly to women being treated like lesser citizens, in fact, it was one of the reasons that Adrienne liked her so much, it kind of made up for that hyper sexuality code she lived by.  

“It’s complicated,” Adrienne started, “but it’s a religious belief and many religious beliefs like this, such as the subjugation of women, grew out of a need to differentiate themselves from other religious groups that were worshipping women, like those of Egypt and by consequence the Go’ould,  right Daniel?” Adrienne explained, adding the last part in an attempt to include him in the conversation, to no avail, since he didn’t look up, just kept starting at the Smart Board. 

“Yeah,” he answered noncommittally. He was going to beat himself up about this, Adrienne knew it, suddenly wishing she was sitting beside him instead of across the table.  

“Therefore,” Sam quickly changed her tone, “I think it’s best to send you all, well most of you, to try to negotiate their release or coordinate their escape.” 

“Most of us?” Vala inquired, but Adrienne knew where this was going. 

“Yes,” Sam replied, “ I think it is best that Cameron, Daniel and Teal’c go, considering the circumstances...” her voice trailed a bit.  Adrienne didn’t argue, she completely understood Sam’s reservations.  Vala on the other hand....

“Since when are we going to let some little villagers intimidate us? They don’t like women? Well f-” Adrienne grabbed her arm before Vala could let profanity fly in the briefing room. Vala scowled at her friend, but didn’t argue, instead she glanced over at her friend for support.  

“Come on Addy, you can’t agree with her?” Vala pleaded but Adrienne sighed, shaking her head as she pointed a pencil at the board, emphasizing the angry glare on the man’s paused face.    

“Sorry Vala, but I do. I mean, they took out the entire team and Sgt. Mardsen is a black belt in Judo; she’s crazy tough, you’ve seen her fight.  I’m more than happy to sit this one out,” Adrienne replied as Sam was nodding in agreement. The general walked over to the monitor, switching off the screen sullenly when Daniel looked back at the group, finally coming back to the conversation. 

“Adrienne needs to come,” Daniel said from where he was seated.  Everyone turned to look at him, their faces in varying degrees of shock. 

“I need her to come,” he clarified, hoping that would ease the harshness of the glares being shot in his direction.   

“What the hell man, do you want us to join SG-14?” Cameron looked at him in shock, ready to defend Adrienne. She appreciated the sentiment, she did, but Daniel wasn’t going to budge; he was doing exactly what she knew he would do, attack himself. 

“Look, I already screwed this up once.  Aramaic, in fact all of the ancient biblical languages are Adrienne’s speciality, not mine.  If what they are speaking is Aramaic, then I would prefer to defer to Adrienne’s interpretation,” Daniel explained.  

“Daniel,” Sam started, “I’m not comfortable sending another woman into this situation.” 

Pausing his argument for a moment, Daniel peered over at Adrienne, trying to read her face for an objection, but it didn’t seem she had one. She didn’t want to go, but he was right and she hoped he could read her eyes without having to add to the tension in the room. This was her area of expertise, not his, sending him would have been akin to getting Adrienne to try to read cartouches, close but not perfect and right now, they needed perfect if they wanted to get the missing team home.   

“If this is an early Islamic type society, which is what it appears to be, if Adrienne goes as my sister, there shouldn’t be a problem,” he added. He was right, and Adrienne almost laughed at the suggestion, considering that at this point in their friendship she might as well have been his sister even though they looked nothing alike. However, still concerned, Adrienne looked at Sam and then back at Daniel, talking to directly to him as if no one else was in the room.  

“Indy, what if they demand a betrothal offering for the release of the others.  Not that I wouldn’t put myself on the line for SG-14, I would, but I would prefer not to be sold if we can avoid it,” Adrienne kept her voice calm, trying to reason with him, not desiring to upset her further. This time, his face brightening, Daniel looked at Teal’c, a smile spreading across his face. 

“Well, they’d have to look elsewhere because Teal’c is soon to be my brother in law,” he answered, looking at her hopefully.  Adrienne’s eyes widened, understanding instantly Daniel’s plan. 

“Of course, exploit the family unit! Cam can be our brother and he is betrothed to Mardsen!” she shouted. It was brilliant, nothing was more important in a society such as this than family.  Go through as a family unit, come back as a family unit.  It just might work. 

“Exactly, and that only leaves us 3 women to speak for.  We can say that Cameron, as our leader, sent Mardsen, her being his subordinate,” Daniel began to explain to the group as a whole.  Adrienne did a mental count in her head, noting that Daniel did not offer to marry himself to one of the other three women, and while she found it odd, she kept her mouth shut figuring he must have his reasons.  Taking a seat finally, Sam looked over at Daniel, gravity in her face no where near as excited as Adrienne was about this plan.

“I’m still not in favor of this,” she spoke again.  

“Me neither,” Vala interjected, nodding emphatically at Sam’s disagreement, ”If Addy goes, I go.” 

“Vala, trust me, if they don’t buy I’m Daniel’s sister, I’m dead.  You would have to be overly cautious with this, ridiculously so.  If you were to bat an eyelash at the wrong man, they would stone you,” Adrienne explained. 

“Stoned? Like with rocks or - “ Vala started but Adrienne put up her hand.  

“With rocks Vala.  The ouch kind of stoned,” Adrienne answered, shaking her head.  Ignore the exchange, Sam redirected her attention to Daniel and Teal’c, who were both looking to her, awaiting her final approval. 

“You guys really think you can pull this off?” she questioned.  Already worried about the fate of SG-14, the last thing she wanted to do was send SG-1, Adrienne as a woman in particular, into a trap.  

“GeneralO’Neill, I will protect AdrienneRowan with my life, you have my word,” Teal’c assured her. Daniel simply nodded, agreeing to the same without a word. She might not know it, but he would; he’d never let anything happen to her. 

“Fine, then I leave it up to your judgement.  You all need to get some sleep, you’ll be leaving at 1100 hours.”  Sam said, taking one last minute glance at Daniel, before excusing the group.  

As the others filed out, Adrienne lagged back to make sure that Sam could secure for her the appropriate female attire, not wanting to insult their hosts further and saw Daniel leave the room alone out of the corner of her eye, quietly. Assured Sam could acquire what she needed, she made her way for the lab to check on Daniel, worry knotting her stomach as she made the short trek from Sam’s office to their workspace.  Thankfully he was there when she arrived, sitting in his desk chair, feet propped up on the surface, tapping a pen on his leg and staring off into space.  

“You do realize you’re forcing me to wear a burka?” she asked him, the sarcasm dripping from her voice. She hoped to elicit a smile but she got nothing even close in return.  

“Oh, yeah, glad you thought of that,” he responded, not bothering to look at her.  Adrienne set down her messenger bag at her desk, turning to close the lab door behind her.   

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said as he walked over to him, wondering if he was in the mood to talk or if this was one of his leave me alone moods. He had been a lot more talkative with her lately, so she hoped it was the former. 

“I shouldn’t make mistakes like that.  I wasn’t paying attention. It was late that night and I wanted to get back to what I was working on.  God knows what they have gone through because of my selfishness and haste,” he said, still staring ahead at nothing. 

“We all make mistakes.  Think about how boring life would be if we were all perfect.”  Adrienne pointed out and walked behind where he was sitting, wrapping her arms around him, bringing her face beside his.  

“I do recall a very similar conversation not too long ago when you were telling me something about it being part of the job. Let’s just do this, and get them back, ” she said, squeezing him tightly and kissed his cheek, something she had never done before and froze, fearing his reaction, but he didn’t do anything but lean back against her, reaching up with his right hand to squeeze her forearm.  That action alone made her stomach flutter, so she stood quickly, patting him lightly on his shoulder.  

“Come on,” she continued, “we should probably get some sleep.  Desert heat plus lack of sleep really don’t mix.” Daniel didn’t say a word, just stood, shutting off the lights and locking the lab.  Without a further word, they walked to the elevators that would take them to their respective quarters. 

*** 

“Addy, are you in there?” Cameron teased as she entered the gate room.  

“I just want you to imagine the obscene gesture I’m making at you underneath this thing,” she replied. The only part of Adrienne visible was her eyes, the rest of her was covered from head to toe in an off white robe made of heavy linen material, that included a hood over her head and then continued it’s shapeless form down the rest of her body. Daniel saw her roll her gorgeous brown eyes at the group, making his heart stop for just a moment, reconsidering his plan in that very instant. What if she got hurt? 

“Yes, go ahead. Let’s all get it out of our systems now.  I threw my tantrum in my quarters before I came down,” she told them, her voiced muffled by the layers and layers of fabric.  It wasn’t that Adrienne would mind being covered, it was the fact that she was literally wearing a symbol of women’s repression.  Daniel was reminded again of how proud he was of her restraint and how he did need her expertise in this, that it was a risk he’d have to take. 

“No comment,” he said, smiling at her.  

“Good,” she told him, turning in his direction, “because if you did I was gonna have my fiancee kick your asses.  Right honey?” she cocked her head over at Teal’c and he laughed loudly at her joke.  Mentally coaching himself for the challenge set before them,  Daniel looked back to Walter, gave him a thumbs up sign and the gate began to move.  

It was an awful three hour walk to the village. She might have made fun of it originally, but Adrienne was thankful for the burka once they were on the other side of the gate as the wind was whipping around them, the boys coughing loudly as they fought to keep the sand out of their mouths.  Even though Adrienne was able to keep the granules out of her face, she was baking underneath the layers of fabric, so by the time they reached the village all she wanted was a shower and to be freed from the confining material. She must have made a noise or some other indicator of disgust because Daniel slowed down to walk with her, reaching his arm around her drawing her in close.

“I appreciate this,” he said, that same look of concern on his face from the night before.  

“You better,” she joked, smiling but realized that he would not be able to see. Instead, she reaching across her chest and squeezed his arm, hoping he would understand. Pulling away Daniel adjusted his pack onto his shoulders and the four of them walked right into the village.  Oddly there was no one to greet them, something very much out of the ordinary, so Cam ordered weapons up, Daniel pushing Adrienne to his side protectively, and they marched straight to a large tent that was in a position toward the back, a tent that seemed large enough to house some sort of leader and his entourage. It was a type of Bedouin village, however it seemed as if these tents had been there for awhile, a long while, adding to the peculiarity of their situation.

“Coooh, that’s strange” Adrienne began, “They’re using these tents as permanent structures.  That's not normal, at all.”  Daniel was about to agree with her, and chide her for slipping into bayou slang, when suddenly the group was surrounded by men holding large curved swords, two of them with Jaffa staff weapons.  Cam held his gun aloft and then put it on the ground to show he was no threat, signaling that Teal’c and Daniel do the same, which they did while Adrienne didn’t move, standing still beside Daniel, her head slightly bowed. 

“Friends!” Daniel shouted to the group on Aramaic.  One of the men holding the staff weapon walked in Adrienne’s direction, examining her from head to toe, stabbing her sharply in the back with the stick.  His trained mind immediately on the defensive, Teal’c stepped forward, placing his arm protectively in front of his female teammate. 

“You have insulted my friend,” Daniel said quickly, “she is his.”  Adrienne held her breath, hoping it would work since after the last team, they might recognize the outfits and not buy into what Adrienne was wearing. Thankfully, the men bowed their heads in apology at Teal’c and turned to speak to Daniel, who had, to Adrienne was very surprised to see had stepped up as if he was their leader. Daniel cocked his head as he listening to the man, as if he didn’t understand something and Adrienne knew wha:  the last word, property, was strictly ancient Aramaic.  In an effort to help, Adrienne took a step forward to Daniel, feigning a cough. 

“He says I’m property,” Adrienne tried to whisper softly, but was slammed in the back by a staff weapon, thrown to the ground face first.  Daniel started to move, but Teal’c grabbed his arm and then turned to the attacker, punching him in the face.  Taken completely off guard, Adrienne kept herself on the ground, her lip throbbing in pain right where her scar was, but fearing to move, not that she could not defend herself, but for fear of the message it would send to their already offended hosts.  She heard Daniel exchange some words with the men, peeking up at a slight movement to see that Teal’c had knelt beside her.  

“Are you alright AdrienneRowan?” he asked.  

“Yeah, just a little sore, and I didn’t bust my lip open again. Help me up?” she answered and he pulled her carefully up to her feet.  Daniel gave her one of their silent looks, his own azure eyes full of worry, and she tried to convey to him that she was alright and that he needed to focus on the task at hand.  The man who slammed Adrienne scowled at her,  telling her with his expression that she had committed a grave offense that she needed not to commit again, which she didn't plan on anytime soon; she had no intention of pushing her luck. Without further incident, the group of guards led them to the door of the large tent, trimmed in gold threading, clearly the tent of a person of importance, a person like a king.  Again, Adrienne felt the entire situation was wrong, Islamic nomad’s didn’t behave in this fashion, but refrained from comment, wishing she could reach Daniel to spell into his hand.   

When they arrived at the entrance, the man motioned for Daniel only to enter, taking him as their leader, Cam not arguing for a moment. Worried, he shot Adrienne a glance and then looked back at the man, straightening his stance as he spoke. 

“You have insulted my sister.  I demand she remain at my side so I can insure her protection.”  he told the man, again in Aramaic. 

“What about her betrothed?” the man asked, indicating Teal’c protective position in front of his bride to be.  Refusing to allow Adrienne to be hurt again, Daniel shook his head, stepping backward toward his assistant, guarding with his own body from a threat that wasn’t there. 

“As her brother, I have first rights,” Daniel countered, remembering familial policy in early Islamic societies.  Knowing he was correct, the man relented, stepping aside to allow both man and woman to enter. Daniel moved behind Adrienne, placing his hand on her back, drawing his face close to her head.  

“I’m sorry about that Ad,”  he whispered as they were led into the tent, Daniel not leaving her side.  

“You guys act like I’m made of glass, I’m fine,”  she assured him faintly, not wanting to be struck again for speaking out of turn. He gave her a look and pushed her forward along with him, his soft touch gently drifting away as their way through the opening.  

The sun created a blazing glare in the tent, so bright that Adrienne was unable to see until the tent flap closed behind them.  It clicked out the sunlight like a switch and in front of she and Daniel was a large fat man in a turban seated proudly on a large hand carved throne, painted as red as blood. His skin was a deep brown, wrinkled by the sun, and he was surrounded by half-naked women massaging oil into his body, making the oversized heaving chest shine in the candlelight. Other than the turban, the only other article of clothing he was wearing was a pair of blue balloon pants, gathering at his thick waist by a bright green scarf and accented on the bottom by bright green shoes that came to a curled point, looking for like something out of the north pole rather and Saudi Arabia. It was like a scene out of some bad TV movie, so many misinterpretations of a culture Adrienne knew to be less severe, less troubling. Reaching for Daniel’s fingertips,  Adrienne couldn’t hold back any longer, grabbing them and drawing him closer.  

“This is not an early Islamic society; this is some sick bastardization,” Adrienne tried to whisper to Daniel but was struck again in the back forcefully sending her tumbling toward the ground. This time, however, she managed to catch herself on her knees, avoiding further damage to her lip. 

“How dare you strike her!?” Daniel shouted at the guard as he raised the staff and returned it to his side, yet the man seemed unconcerned and did not reply, walking back over to his station behind the two of them, staff held at his side, staring forward.  

“You would do better to keep your woman in line,” the turbaned man said as he grabbed a large slab of bread from a plate brought over by a half-naked blond woman who was ducking into a side entrance of the tent,  She was limping and in obvious pain, large purple bruises covering her exposed legs. Having taken what was needed, the man shoved her away like some kept animal and proceeded to dip the bread into a large cup. The woman peeked at Adrienne quickly, still pressed against the floor, and as she scurried away the young archaeologist recognized her immediately as Sgt. Mardsen of SG-14.  Adrienne swallowed nervously, peering up at Daniel.

“My woman, my sister, was speaking to me,” Daniel continued, “and that woman belongs to my brother.” Apparently, he had seen Sgt. Mardsen too.  A slimly smile across his face, the fat man sucked red liquid from his treat, slowly, making Daniel await his response, licking the excess fluid from his fat fingers before popping the bread into his mouth.  

“If she is so important, why did he send her unescorted?” the man asked, his mouth full, pieces of bread falling from the corners.  Adrienne was disgusted and reminded herself to never give Daniel a hard time about chewing with his mouth open ever again, at least he had allergies or ADD as an excuse, this man was just disgusting.   

“Because she does what she is told.  She was told to bring her handmaidens with her to see if you were a worthy man to deal with. However, instead of sending greetings to us, you steal our women.  We demand their return.” Daniel spoke, although the grammar was rotten enough to make Adrienne wince.  Now she knew how he felt when she tried so poorly to read Hieroglyphs.  

“We do not talk to women, unless we are telling them what to do, or how to do it,” he laughed loudly and Adrienne looked out of the corner of her eye to see a young woman, maybe 19 years old or so, being brought into the room.  In that same foreign tongue, he ordered her to do something so shocking that Adrienne made a noise from under the burka, debating inside whether or not to blow the entire cover and pound the fat man into the ground. She heard a staff weapon whip through the air but thankfully it didn’t make contact, so Adrienne remained close to the dirt waiting for Daniel’s next move.  

“Enough!” Daniel shouted, “And I will not bear witness to any of this.” Adrienne hoped he was talking about that poor woman and not just her, “The next man that strikes my sister shall find out exactly how I repay such attacks,” Adrienne smiled, even though she knew it was part of the act, but it was nice to hear her friend talking about breaking bad on someone on her behalf. 

“We have our ways and they are not to be questioned. You have disrespected our family and therefor we demand you release our women, now!” he shouted.  Adrienne lay pressed to the sand floor quiet.

“This is who I had hoped to meet! A man!! Come my friend, bring your brothers and be our guests. We shall talk of a union between our people,” their host declared, his tone changing abruptly at Daniel’s threat. She didn’t look up, but felt Daniel grab her arm forcefully, and slightly painfully, pulling her to her feet.  She let him, knowing his strenuous grip was also part of the act, but stumbled into him a bit as she stood, realizing that the blow to her back a second time might have caused some injury that she did not feel from her huddled position on the ground.  Sensing her stumble, he caught her in his arms, pulling her close to him, a feeling of safety coming over her at his embrace. Not wanted to let go, for fear of suffering at their hands as Mardsen had, combat training or not, she scanned the fat man out of the corner of her eye as he stood, giving orders to the rest of the room. 

“You!” he pointed to Mardsen, “take her to your other women.”  The man reached forward and grabbed Adrienne from Daniel before he could react, throwing her at Sgt. Mardsen.  The women caught one another but Mardsen didn’t say a word, didn’t even make eye contact with Adrienne,  just stood her upright and took her gaze to the floor. Glancing up and forcing herself not to be scared, Adrienne looked Daniel dead in the eye and blinked “OK,” in Morse Code, hoping he would catch on.  Frowning, looking like he was just as worried as she was, he winked at her once and followed the man out, leaving his assistant, his friend, behind. Urged on by two large men with very sharp blades, Sgt. Mardsen escorted Adrienne through a flap and into a tent attached to the back of the one they were in, to where the rest of the women were being kept. 

The women of SG-14 were not huddled together like one would expect women to do; these were tough, strong women, and they had paid for it; almost everyone of them was stripped down to some belly dancing slave outfit that rather than be sexually revealing was more revealing of the awful injuries they had sustained.  Lt. Tuiy had a black eyes and deep rope burns onto her arms.  Major Smith’s entire stomach was black and blue, but she was still holding her head high; high enough for Adrienne to see the deep gash on the bottom of her cheek.  The last member of the team, Adrienne didn’t remember her name, no longer had legs that resembled any skin tone, instead they were a deep purple and it looked like her ankles were bleeding underneath the ropes tied to them.  Adrienne was about to speak to start to question the women to gather the severity of the situation, when a man entered the room behind she and Mardsen and shoved her to the floor.  She didn’t fight him, just caught herself on her elbows, trying to keep her face up and mouth protected. Using his feet to move her, he kicked her, very nearly full force in the thigh, motioning for her to roll onto her butt and leaned over to tie her feet together tightly, but not so tight that she couldn't shuffle forward, with canvas rope.  Pushing Adrienne out of the way forcefully by the shoulder, dismissing her she assumed, and walked over doing the same to Mardsen, slapped her in the face once he was finished and left, spitting on the ground at the doorway in disgust. Once Adrienne was satisfied that he was gone, she looked over at Mardsen, coming to her knees painfully to cralw over to her. 

“Are you alright?” she asked. 

“We’re alive. Glad to see you guys,” she answered curtly. 

“Sarge?” the red headed woman spoke, “Isn’t that Jackson’s assistant?” Adrienne leaned over a bit more so they could see.  She wanted to say, yes, and I am a full fledged member of SG-1, but now was not the time to be offended.  

“Yeah, I’m Adrienne, Dr. Adrienne Rowan, and I’m Daniel’s assistant. Sam sent SG-1 to help,” Adrienne answered instead. 

“Help?! Then how did you end up here with us?”  Major Smith spat at her, not the reaction she was expecting. 

“It just kind of happened that way.  Don’t worry, they’ve got it under control,” Adrienne assured them.  The women of SG-14 all dropped to silence, sitting in the darkness of the tent alone. No one said anything more, either out of worry or despair, and Adrienne wanted to give Daniel a chance to set this right without causing any problems on her end. Time passed, but Adrienne had none of her usual gadgets to tell her how much and she tried to judge the best she could by the little bit of light peering through cracks in the tent, but to no avail.  She was growing anxious, it wasn’t like Daniel to leave people like this, but she kept silent, running her finger lightly in the sand. 

“We’re screwed,” Marden said finally. Adrienne looked over at her surprised, most certainly not expected for a military type to give up so easily. 

“Why do you say that?” Adrienne asked, trying to remain hopeful and confident in her team, in her boss, but Mardsen was looking away, at the same slit of fading light that Adrienne had looked at before.  

“It’s taken too long. They are probably dead or enslaved at this point.” Mardsen replied. The thought gave her chills, imagining him, well not just him, but all of them dead. She wouldn’t accept it. 

“Sergeant Mardsen, I’m sure - “ Adrienne started but she was interrupted by Mardsen, who was looking back at her.  

“Anne.  If we’re all gonna to die here please call me Anne,” the woman insisted, but Adrienne was quick to disagree.   

“We’re not going to die.  Daniel will be back, I promise.” Adrienne answered, noticing her slip in word choice, Daniel and not the team.  She pushed the thought aside.  

“You seem to have a lot of faith in him,” Anne stated.  

“I do,” Adrienne mumbled and was silent again, a hint of embarrassment flushing her cheeks. She had a lot of faith in him, he would never let her down,so she was just going to sit here and wait a bit longer.  

The light in the cracks of the tent disappeared and Adrienne knew it was nightfall.  Like most deserts, the temperature dropped dramatically as the sun went down and Adrienne could see the other women freezing, so she began to rip at her burka, trying to make some kind of makeshift covering for her companions. Shaking her head at the attempt, Anne reached over to hold her hand. 

“Don’t bother,” she said, “If we try to cover up, they’ll just beat us some more.” Not desiring anyone to be injured any further, Adrienne tossed the pieces aside, peering back up at the exit to the exterior when she heard loud laughing. Loud familiar laughing.  The door moved and Daniel came through the flap, followed by the Fat Man, Teal’c and some of the other men from before, the ones that had pointed weapons at them when they arrived, Daniel and the Fat Man speaking in loud, bad, foul Aramaic. 

“No, I have not yet taken a wife, I have had to keep my sister in line, to train her to serve a man, but thankfully my friend here has agreed to take over for me in that regard so that I too may be able to enjoy the company of a good woman instead of dealing with her,” Daniel spat, glaring down at her.  She knew he was acting, but his words were so unlike him, it made her sick to her stomach; it made her feel like exactly what their hosts had referred to them as, property.  

“She does seem to be trouble.  Don’t worry, we shall work on her here, try to teach her to respect men.  We show our women who is boss,” the Fat Man answered and Daniel laughed, glancing at Teal’c, silently signaling that he should laugh as well.  The Jaffa did as requested, falling in line with the leering men, who were carefully looking over the half naked women, save Adrienne, splayed in front of them. 

“Hear that sister!” Daniel now said to her, “I have finally found someone to help me calm you down! They will teach you,” he knelt close to her, bringing their faces dangerously close.  His breath smelled of middle eastern food and wine and she hoped he hadn’t been drinking too much, she knew he couldn’t hold his alcohol to save his life.  

“What are you doing?” she hissed at him, wishing she could work with him on this instead of being trapped here, like an animal.   

“Play along,” he whispered and grabbed her by her burka and pulled her face closer to his, their noses almost touching. 

“Do you HEAR me sister? You think that ROPES are bad? You just wait.  Pretty soon these ropes will seem FLACA and then you will see that you should have listened to me,” he spat, making Adrienne cringe in fear at his non characteristic behavior.  He threw her back toward the floor, making her land on her bruised bottom in agony.  

“Flaca?” the Fat Man questioned, catching the strange word in Daniel’s Aramaic speech.  He didn’t look back at the man just stared intently at Adrienne while he gave his explanation. 

“Where I come from it means, tolerable, she needs to know what will come of her if she keeps us her insolent behavior, that her punishment will only be worse,” he stood, explaining as he glared at Adrienne. 

“Tomorrow then. We shall begin to teach her respect tomorrow.  But now, we must drink!” the Fat Man declared and led the group from the tent, babbling on in the ancient language about food and wine. Pausing, Daniel looked over his shoulder at Adrienne once more, blinking his eyes.  Adrienne got the message.  

“Come on,” she whispered to Anne the moment the swatch of fabric dropped, “we don’t have a lot of time.” 

“For what?” Anne looked confused and even after the visit, still lacked the glimmer of hope that now shown in Adrienne’s eyes. 

“He’s gonna get us out of here.  Help me with these ropes,” Adrienne slid them onto the ends of her feet and began to push forward.  Two of the other women followed suit but Sgt. Mardsen and Lt. Tuiy just sat there.  

“Adrienne, don’t you think we’ve tried that, they won’t budge,” Anne explained. 

“I know that.  He said flaca.  It’s Spanish; it means loose.  He just needs them loose, not off,” Adrienne said as she continued to push and pull the ropes.  Somewhat affirmed by her words, Lt. Tuiy looked at her once more and started to copy her motions.  

“What’s he planning on doing with us, still bound, in looser ropes?” she asked, still not joining the group in their stretching.  

“I have no idea,” Adrienne answered her frankly.

“Yet you’re just going to take his word for it?” Anne glared at her with a condescending look on her face.  

“Yeah, I am,” Adrienne spat back, angered by her insinuation. 

“Look Adrienne, no offense intended, but you are banking on the head geek of the SGC getting us out of here when we, a combined skill set of military and martial arts training couldn’t save ourselves. Excuse me while I hold my breath,” Anne let the rope drop to the floor but Adrienne was infuriated.  

“Well, you can stay here then, because Daniel will get us out of here,” she had to control the volume of her voice, aware that she was near shouting, “I know he will; I trust him.”  Anne rolled her eyes but started to push, sensing the certainty in Adrienne’s voice as the overdressed cajun woman continued her work.  She knew Daniel would get them out of this.  He would never leave a person behind if there was a chance to save them.  He would never leave her behind.  She tried to be strong and started to push again.  

It was almost dusk when Daniel came rushing into the tent. Adrienne and the others stood, the small red-headed woman taking the lead as they moved the train of women from back of the tent to front, leaving Adrienne lagging behind since she had been the last one to be added to the chain.  In his hands he was carrying two small buckets of water, which he placed right beside the opening on the outside.  

“Quick,” he said to them, “take these water buckets and soak your ropes.”  

“I thought you were rescuing us?” Anne Mardsen asked, looking at him doubtfully. 

“I am, this is canvas.  Poorly made canvas. I noticed when a tent fell down at the feast; it was soaked, the rainwater from the morning rain had weakened the material. If you ladies were able to stretch it out good, all we need is to add some water to it and it should pull right apart.  Teal’c and Cam are heading to the gate to wait for us and most of the guards are drunk,” he explained as he began to soak Lt. Tuiy’s bindings.  As soon as the fabric was drenched, he reached down and pulled forcefully and they came apart in his hands.  The other women, including Anne, dove toward the water buckets, repeating the process as the made their way out of the tent. Scanning the group, Daniel looked for Adrienne and didn’t see her, only the newer piece of canvas that had been tied to Anne’s leg leading back into the tent. 

“Sergeant, where’s Adrienne? Did she manage to get her bindings off?” he asked, but before she could answer, he heard a thunk come from behind her, from inside of the tent.  Dropping the bindings, he left the other women and dashed inside the tent.

Adrienne was on the ground trying to get up, reaching toward the back of her head.  It was clear that the man standing over her had caught her from behind as she was following the others out based the way she had fallen, her left tied foot almost to the opening, the rope digging into her skin; Adrienne was laying on the floor, face down, her head pointing in the opposite direction.  Completely ignoring Daniel, her assailant stood over her, prepared to swing the staff once more and she was trying to get up to fight him, but the force of the surprise blow had left her woozy and staggering to get onto her knees.  Without hesitation, Daniel ran toward the man and caught the staff as it flew through the air, the weapon hitting his hands with such force that the pain ratcheted through his arms, but he was determined not to let him hurt her.  No harm would come to Adrienne if he could help it. He held onto the staff and threw the man to the ground, bringing the weapon to his side and moving to stand over Adrienne. Staff now in his possession, Daniel brought it up into the air and down on the man’s head, knocking him out cold, stepping forward to swing again at the man if needed, but he didn’t move, lying there sprawled onto the ground, unconscious.  Disgusted, he tossed the weapon to the other side of the tent and ran over to Adrienne, falling to his knees beside her.   

“Adrienne, are you ok?’ he asked her, trying to pull her off of the ground and into his arms.

“I, uh, Daniel,” but she was hovering on the edge of consciousness and completely out of it, her lip busted open where her scar had been before, a thin stream of blood oozing from it.   Rather than try to see if she could walk, he gritted his teeth, remembering that with all of her athletics she wasn’t a small woman, but in one powerful lift, swept her up into his arms, holding her close and made his way out of the tent.  Sgt. Mardsen was waiting for him, clasping the end of the rope that had been between she and Adrienne, having freed his assistant as well.  

“We’re free and I’ve sent them ahead, is she?” she asked cautiously as Adrienne lay limply in Daniel’s arms.  

“Yeah, she’s fine, let’s go,” he ordered, adjusting Adrienne closer to him leading the second woman as they made a mad dash for the gate. 

When they crossed back onto their side, the medical staff was waiting, having received the transmission from Cam ahead of their arrival.  SG-14 went first, Dr. Lam ordering them onto stretchers while Teal’c and Cam came next as Sam was entering the gate room herself.  

“Where are?” she asked, but her question was answered as Daniel came through the gate, Adrienne in his arms. 

“Is she?” Sam asked. 

“Banged up but she’ll be alrigh. Get SG-3 and 11 ready to go.’ he stated, a look of severity in his face.

“Why?” Sam replied, puzzled.  

“Because there are some folks on the other side that like to abuse their women and I think that’s something we can’t ignore.” Daniel said and quickly walked over to where Carrie was waiting, laying Adrienne onto a stretcher.  Finally looking at her, a dark purple bruise streaked across her cheek as he moved the burka’s fabric away, nausea racketed his inside. He leaned over to whisper to her, “I’m so sorry Ad,” reaching to grasp her hand, but he wasn’t sure if she heard as Cassie wheeled her away and out of his reach.  

*****

“Not your typical selection,” he joked. 

“How do you know my typical selection? You’re the self proclaimed expert on me now?” she defended her choice for the night, teasing him of course.  He knew her pretty well, which was exactly why she had picked tonight’s feature presentation, to mess with him.  

“I mean, it was animated,” he said as he zipped up his coat.  Adrienne was thankful that this time he managed to park a reasonable distance since the it was getting so cold outside.  

“I guess I just wanted something different that’s all.  I heard you laughing....” she replied, doing the same with her own jacket, opening the exterior door and shivering at the blast of cold air that greeted her. Daniel caught the door behind her and held it open so she could walk ahead of him into the parking lot.   

“At it, not with it,” he clarified and pointed over to the car, only two spaces back from the front.  Adrienne shook her head, deciding not to dignify his smart remark with a response, shoving her hands into her pockets to warm them. They reached his jeep and he unlocked and opened the door for her, then walked to the other side, getting into the driver’s seat as Adrienne opened the passenger side door and grabbed the roll bar to pull herself up, bumping her head strongly. 

“Ow!” she exclaimed grabbing her head with her hands. Panicked, Daniel quickly leaned over the seat, reaching for her head and scanning her stitched lip, checking her for any injury. 

“Adrienne, are you alright, do you need - “ there was alarm in his voice as he started to check her over.  

“Not made of glass Daniel, I’m not made of glass,” she responded and shooed him away, leaning back and out of his probing reach.

“Ok,” he backed up without argument, slowly and started the car, casting one more glance in her direction.  She shut the door to the jeep, touching her lip to check the stitches and smiling.  It was nice to be cared about, she thought, looking up at the stars in the night sky and Daniel pulled out of the parking lot.