Daniel & Adrienne #52 - Things Unexpected

“Go back to bed!” Daniel ordered from the dining as he watched Adrienne fumble with the coffee maker at the kitchen counter. 

“I’m fine sha, really, if I just make this strong enough I’ll be able to make it through the day,” she argued, putting the pieces of the machine together as if she had never seen a coffee maker before.  If he tried to stop her she would just fly off the handle, so he just walked into the kitchen and stood, leaning on the counters, letting her struggle until she gave up and asked for help.  It was easier to just handle her that way.  

“How much sleep DID you get last night?” he asked, needing to get her to admit for herself that she was in no condition to be going to work, must less to be making herself breakfast. 

“What do you mean how much sleep? You were right there! You know how much sleep I got!” she hissed, now struggling to unfold the filter, her face furrowed in deep concentration. 

“Exactly,” he answered, not moving from the counters, “which is why I’m asking you.  Whether or not you’re fine is determinant on how much of an effort you make in lying to me right now.”  

Reaching for her head, appearing dizzy, she stopped fumbling with the filter, clasping the counter tightly, tossing the paper cone aside before turning to face him, a slight smile spreading across her lips. 

“It was much easier to lie to you before we were together 24/7,” she grimaced, giving him the silent signal that he had won. Shaking his head, he walked over to the machine. fixed the filter and went to the freezer to get the coffee.  

“You’re a grown woman, so I’ll only say this once more before we switch from home mode to work mode.  Would you please go back to bed?” he requested, sweetly, closing the freezer door and walking back over to where she was standing, no longer grasping the counter for support. Instead of heading to bed, though, she took a step forward, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. He sighed and put down the coffee beans he had pulled from the freezer, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and laying his cheek on her head.  

“I’m taking this as a ‘Yes Daniel, I’m going back to bed RIGHT NOW,” he said.  She didn’t lift her head but he heard her mumble into him.

“Yes Daniel, I’m going back to bed right now,”  she repeated, but didn’t move, kissing him softly and holding on tighter. 

“Then why are you still here?” he pushed, frowning down at her.  

“Because you’re comfortable,” she replied laughing. Smiling at her playfulness, a clear sign that she couldn’t be so badly ill, he kissed her head and she pulled back, gazing up at him, those dark of hers so weak and tired. She really needed to go back to bed. 

“Are you going to be alright if I go to work?” he asked, still unsure if he should leave her. She was fine yesterday when they got home but had complained of stomach cramping since, even getting up a few times to throw up last night. She insisted it was the food, that she had cheated on her healthy diet during their little escape to Richmond and it was just catching up to her. 

“Yeah, I’ll be bored and lonely, but I have Netflix so I’ll live,” she answered, taking his hands in her own and squeezing them. Dammit, he thought, she is not going to let me stay, she’s going to make me go and worry about her all damn day long but he didn’t argue, not wanting to cause a fight. She didn’t have a fever, in fact she wasn’t showing any signs of being really truly ill, it probably was the French pastries she had purchased yesterday in the little boutique shop before they left. 

“Is there a Zombie book I can go pick up to entertain you?” Daniel checked, hoping to stall, maybe a trip to the bookstores and back would be long enough away where she would decide that she needed him to stay here after all. 

“No, I’m all up to date, but thank you.  I love you Daniel,” she answering, smiling, although it did appear to be a bit forced. Letting go of his hands, she stood on her toes, leaning up to kiss him.  

“No germs,” he said quickly, putting his hand over her face and she giggled, knowing he was kidding “and I love you too ja-wer. Which is precisely the reason I want you BACK in the bed.”  This time he wasn’t taking no for an answer, if she had stopped throwing up she needed to go back to sleep just in case this was a virus and not just a junk food overload. Leaning over, he picked her up from the ground, heading back for their bedroom.  He carried her through the doorway and over to the bed while she laughed and struggled to be put down, but he wasn’t going to let her go.  Lifting her into his arms was one of the things he relished doing, it made him feel like he would never lose her, made him feel that for as strong as she was she needed him in her life, needing him to do the saving once in a while.  Laughing now himself, he put her down onto the bed and she crawled under the covers, glaring back over her shoulder at him. 

“I can call Sam,” he offered, yet again, knowing her response but feeling like he had to ask, he had to try. 

“No Indy, go to work.  I did have a life before you, you know, one where I had to deal with my own poor choices,” she teased.  Frowning at her again, he crawled into the bed with her for a moment, tempted to kiss her despite knowing where her mouth had been all night, positioned over the toilet. 

“Yes, but it was far less exciting,” he replied, kissing her cheek instead.

“I hate being sick,” she whined, “for a myriad of reasons.” Crawling underneath of the covers she winked, reaching her hand to run it slowly up his thigh. 

“Just go to sleep,” he chuckled, pushing her way, “ I’ll call and check in with you later.” 

“No you won’t,” she said, “You’ll get to working and forget, like you always do.”  

“Hey hey, I have done a pretty good job so far, you’ve even said so yourself!” he defended, tucking her in, knowing he wouldn’t forget Adrienne, he could never forget Adrienne. He shook his head and kissed her forehead once more, heading back to the kitchen to straighten up.  As it was now he was late for work, so he decided to grab some coffee and a danish at the commissary. 

*****

He was, indeed late for work, by his standards at least, it being a few minutes after nine when he stepped out of the elevators, bag strapped across his chest as he hurried down the hall, Sam waiting for him when he arrived.  

“Adrienne’s a bad influence on you,” she joked, noticing that he was practically sprinting down the hall. 

“Oh, sorry, she’s sick and I wanted to make sure she was alright before I came,” he apologized, slowing his step as he was caught, guilty as charged. 

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked, looking concerned as she stood behind him, watching  as he coded himself into his lab. 

“Just a stomach thing, I think she went a little too crazy on the funnel cakes this weekend,” he answered, thinking back to her tears last night as she cursed junk food for eternity, “but if she wants to go off world on Thursday, she needs to rest. I can’t take her like she is now.” The light flashed and Daniel opened the door, walking over to his desk and tossing his bag to the chair, leaning over to cue up his computer. Sam smiled as he watched him, visibly distracted, preparing for his work day. It was nice not to be the only person on base now with an awkward personal relationship, one where you worked so close with your significant other. 

“Well, this was for her, but I guess you’ll need to do the prep work. Let me know if you need anything else,” Sam said, setting a file on his desk and turning to leave.  

“Will do,” Daniel shouted behind him, pulling up his schedule on the computer, seeing he had a ten o’clock meeting with Rodney and the IOA official to discuss their progress in cloning and among other things his girlfriend’s, correction in less than two weeks fiancee’s, spine. 

“The fun continues,” he said aloud, taking a seat to prep himself for the meeting. 

*****

He was scanning his phone quickly as he hid it on the top of his leg, trying to see if Adrienne had called or texted but there was nothing, no indication that she had tried to get in touch with him at all. It was marching on to noon, the meeting offering him at least no new information and no real excitement other than his very stern refusal to Rodney and the present officials to allow a very intrusive experimental spinal tap be performed on Adrienne. 

“Dr. Jackson are we boring you?” Rodney spat, Daniel peeking up to see that all eyes were on him. Clicking the phone’s home button, Daniel shoved it quickly into his pocket, bringing his hands onto the desk and clasping them in front of him. 

“No, I was just checking the time Dr. McKay. I have other meetings to attend today so I was wondering how much longer you will be?” Daniel replied, trying to remain as professional as possible. 

“I’m terribly sorry that we are keeping you from your lineage but I feel as does the IOA understanding what Anubis is doing and what he might be able to do given the latest developments is very important to aide in the protection of our planet,” he declared, his tone nastier than normal. Daniel was half tempted to get up and storm out of the meeting then and there considering how much help Adrienne had given him, voluntarily, these past few weeks for him to sit here and want to treat her like a lab rat, but he didn’t he just slunk back in his seat and listened. 

“As I was saying, you will find the changes in Dr. Rowan’s blood work when combined with what we know about the clone we secured from Anubis....” 

Rolling his eyes, Daniel slipped his phone from his pocket, wondering how Adrienne was doing. 

*****

By the time he was finished with the meeting with Rodney, dragged down to Jack’s office three times to look over some material from Area 51 and sent down to the gate room to try to help reconfigure the manual dialing on the gate, it was 2 p.m, with not a word from Adrienne and not a chance yet to call her himself.

“Dammit,” he swore, jogging ahead and calling for some personnel to hold the elevator doors.  Racing down the hall as soon as the doors opened, he held on to the door jam as he swung himself into the lab, making a mad dash to his desk. He picked up the receiver and dialed home, listening as it began to ring, and ring and ring, but there was no answer.  It rang once more and their voicemail picked up, Adrienne’s cheery greeting for their absence. Sighing, he decided to leave a message just in case she remembered to check them. 

“Ad, I’m sorry, I’ve been trapped in one thing after another all day.  I guess you’re taking a nap, I’m so sorry I missed you. When you get this call me before six if you need anything.  I hope to be home by 7,” he paused, “I love you,”  he added, hanging up, hoping that she really was asleep and not in the bathroom again. His stomach informing him that he needed to put something in it, and soon, he closed the lid to his laptop and went to the commissary.  

*****

When he returned from lunch, he checked his computer first, having not received a single phone call while he ate.  It was so unlike her to not call him back, not that she was the needy type but primarily because she would probably get bored or find something insane of TV and want to call him to make fun of it, but there were no messages.  Very concerned, Daniel logged into his email to see if she was online, maybe working on her novel, but she wasn’t listed in his contact list.  He almost logged out but decided to keep it open, just in case, knowing that Adrienne really couldn’t make it through the day without checking her email at least seven times.  By 4, however, he had still heard nothing, and his nerves were to the point where he was completely unable to concentrate. Reaching for the receiver, he almost dialed home again, but stopped, fearing her wrath. If she thought he was not working, not doing his job when she really wasn’t sick, she would be very upset, being that this was the exact type of distraction that the IOA was watching them for. Frowning, he grabbing the receiver again, dialing another extension.  

“Sam,” he said, skipping the pleasantries.  

“Hey Daniel, what’s going on?” she asked, curious by his tone.

“I’m going to go home.  I haven’t heard from Adrienne all day and that’s worrying me. It’s not like her,” he replied sheepishly, knowing he was sounding like the overprotective boyfriend, especially after telling Sam that it was just a junk food hangover. 

“Sure, Daniel, if she was that sick you should have just taken the day off,” Sam scolded.  

“I really didn’t think she was, but regardless, I’m going to get going. Just call my cell if something important comes up,” he answered, not thanking her, although he should, hanging up the receiver and packing up his things. 

*****

He unlocked the front door and came inside quietly.  If she was that sick, she needed sleep, but he at least needed to check to see if she was running a fever or was worse off than she had led him to believe because after all, this might not be junk food. Slipping off his shoes, Daniel walked quietly to the bedroom, pitch black, not a light on and it looked like she had drawn the curtains, tiptoeing to the bed through the darkness, planning to crawl in and feel her head.  He got in onto his side and reached for her, planning to roll her onto her back gently and hope she didn’t awaken. 

She wasn’t there; she was gone. Sitting up quickly, Daniel clicked on the lamp on his nightstand, turning back to her side.

Nothing.  

“Adrienne!!” he shouted out and dashed from the bedroom, heading straight for the bathroom, fearing finding her unconscious on the floor, but she wasn’t there, the bathroom light on and the entire area appearing to be untouched. His heart racing, he ran to her office, thinking she might be plugged into something, reading, but nothing; it looked like her computer hadn’t been touched all day.  He ran to his office, thinking maybe she was feeling better and had her headphones on, tuning out the world, attempting to get him organized like she was always threatening to do but again she was not there. He searched every room in their townhouse, the kitchen, living room, the bathroom in his office, the hall bathroom, the attic but she wasn’t in any of them.  

His chest tight, his mind racing, he ran back to the bedroom, hoping to find a note or something any indication as to where she might be but there was nothing on her nightstand, nothing anywhere. 

It was then he saw a black bag sitting in the corner of the room, her satchel, the one he had bought her, the home to her computer, her iPad, her composition books, her entire life.  She would never leave without that stupid messenger bag, ever, it was like a purse was to a normal woman.  Shaking now, he rushed over, falling to his knees, opening the bag and digging around, trying to see if there was anything that would give him any idea as to where she had gone finding her cell phone tucked in right beside her computer. 

“Fuck,” he said out loud, now panicking, his heart racing, his breathing labored, sweat pouring down his back. Trying to hold it together, he kept digging through her bag, looking for one final thing and found them, his heart sinking as he sat back on his heels. In his hands he held the keys to her beetle. If she had gone herself to the drugstore or somewhere, she would have taken the beetle, the metro didn’t stop anywhere near the drugstore she preferred and if she was going to get something, a supplement, there was only one specific kind she would get. 

Adrienne was gone.  Grabbing her cell phone from the floor, Daniel called the only place he could think of. 

*****

“Why didn’t you call the police?” Sam asked as personnel milled around the townhouse, searching each and every door and window as Daniel already had while awaiting their arrival. 

“I panicked, I didn’t know what else to do,” Daniel was trying hard to maintain his composure, “Sam where in the hell is she?” 

“I don’t know, I don’t -” Sam was beginning to answer when a man, some guy in BDU’s, Daniel didn’t know who he was, came over to her, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. 

“Excuse me General,” he spoke, “we found this.” Nodding professionally, he handed Sam a strip of leather, a piece of fabric that both Sam and Daniel recognized immediately. 

It was a leather strip from an Ori Jaffa weapon gauntlet, used to strap those bastardized guns to their legs, the clones’ legs, Anubis’ clones.  

His heart stopped, and unable to breath, Daniel sunk to the floor.  

*****

Vala was the last to arrive and Sam shut the door behind her, following her quickly to where everyone else was assembled in her living room. 

“Why are we meeting at your house?” Vala asked as she went to sit on the sofa beside Cameron, who had a look of concern on his face. 

“I’m trying not to start a panic, so I want to thank you all for coming,” Sam startet, not bothering to answer Vala as Jack came out of the kitchen, a six pack of beer in hand.  Not saying a word, no joke, nothing, he handed them out among the group, even Sam, who normally drank nothing but wine. Opening his own can, Jack sat down in the recliner behind Sam, reaching to run his hand lightly down her leg, a sign of affection between the two that none of the team was used to seeing. 

“All?” Vala questioned, “Where’s Daniel? And what about Addy?”  

Jack raised his eyebrows and turned his head, but he remained silent deferring to Sam. 

“He’s in the guest room, sedated,” Sam told the group. 

“Why? And that still doesn’t explain where Adrienne is?” Cameron said as he was opening the beer, bringing it to his lips. Sam stood in silence for a moment, gazing at the group, trying to figure out how to form the words she needed to speak.

“She’s been kidnapped,” Sam finally answered, sitting on the arm of the recliner.  Sighing, Jack put his arm around her waist and she took his hand, taking a deep breath. 

“Dear god,” Cam whispered, setting the beer on the coffee table in front of him, looking over at Vala who was sitting beside him in complete shock, her eyes wide and her head shaking.

“And DanielJackson?” Teal’c questioned, his eyes looking down the hall, remembering what Sam had said earlier. 

“Like I said, we had to sedate him; he completely fell apart.  Blames himself for leaving her alone,”” Sam explained remembering what happened earlier this evening. When he hit the floor, Sam was certain that he fainted, but when she leaned over she saw that he was on his knees, convulsing, sobbing, going on and on about Anubis and how he knew, he knew about he and Addy, something that Sam herself had not been aware of.  

“Poor Daniel” Vala said quietly, taking a swig of the beer, worried for both of her friends, the one that was missing and the one that would never forgive himself if anything happened to her, “Do we know who took her?” 

Sam tried to answer but couldn’t, choking on the words, choking up completely, the desperation of the situation finally sinking in for her now that she was admitting it out loud.

“Anubis,” Jack said what his wife could not, Sam’s head falling into her hands. The group looked at each other in silence not knowing what to say. They had been waiting so long, waiting and knowing that an attack was imminent, but this was totally unexpected, although it should have been. More than universal domination, more than anything, Anubis wanted to destroy Daniel Jackson and this was how to destroy him. Finally, unable to sit and silence, Vala spoke, determination in her eyes. 

“How do we get her back?” she asked, sitting forward on the sofa as she scanned her friends, “I’m ready to blast some cloned fuckers into space.” Cam and Teal’c sat forward as well, awaiting instructions but Sam was shaking her head, no longer trying to hide her tears. 

“We don’t.  Vala, she’s gone without a trace.  I’ve contacted every ally we have and no one has heard a thing, no one. There is evidence that he was in Earth’s orbit for a few days, but he’s gone now, as if he were never here. I think we’re going to have to wait to see if he contacts us, he’s bound to contact us, try to use her as leverage for whatever he wants, but until then..” Sam was trying to speak, to offer some condolence to the group, explain to them that she was going to form a team to start gating to every allied planet to broaden the search when there was a loud crash from down the hall as Daniel came tearing, in a rage, towards them.  His face red, from both tears and anger, he was screaming at Sam before he even got close to her.  

“What the hell do you mean we don’t!! We load up that goddam spaceship and start looking.  I sat around waiting before goddammit, waiting, and I will NOT wait for Adrienne to be made somebody’s mate, or somebody’s pawn to get to us. I will quit this program first!!!” he was screaming hysterically, as had made his way over to Sam, standing and screaming into her face, when Jack leapt up, shoving his wife aside standing to face his old friend.  

“Daniel, chill out, do NOT talk to Samantha like that, she’s doing the best she can,” Jack warned, calmly, holding out his hands in front of him. 

“Or what? You’ll fire me? Hit me? You’re fine, right? You got what you wanted in the end? And you two have your highly respected jobs, you can just go on living happily ever after, can’t you? Well, what about MY life? What about MY happily ever after? I don’t care about anything but her!! Why the FUCK aren’t you looking for her?” Daniel screamed in Jack’s face and shoved him backwards, clearly looking for a fight. He was surprised and stumbled for a moment, pulling his fist back and moving to punch the archaeologist in the face when Teal’c stepped between the two men, grabbing them by their shirts and separating them.  

“DanielJackson, O’Neill, stop this now! We will find AdrienneRowan and SamanthaO’Neill will do everything in her power to find her. This will not bring her back to us,” the Jaffa declared.  Sam, Cameron and Vala stood in awe, watching the entire scene unfold in front of them.  Both men calmed, somewhat, at least enough where it appeared it was not going to come to blows, so Teal’c let Jack go first, holding Daniel back until Jack was seated.  Daniel was still red in the face, shaking, clearly unstable so Teal’c continued to hold on to him when suddenly he crumbled to the floor.  Relieved, Teal’c pulled him onto the sofa beside Cam and Vala, looking up to see Dr. Cassandra Frasier standing behind where Daniel had been, needle in hand.  

“Sorry Sam, he got away from me,” she apologized, walking over to the now unconscious Daniel, running her fingers down his neck to check his pulse, worried about the dosage of medication.  

“No Cassie, it’s alright, I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do that again,” Sam replied as she stood and walked over to Daniel, glancing back at Cam and Teal’c who were still standing there speechless.

“Can you guys help me get him back to the guest room?” she asked and without question Cameron stood and walked over to where Teal’c was still standing, gazing down at Daniel. They reached up, Teal’c taking his head and Cameron holding his feet, lifting him from the love seat and carrying him back down the hallway, the young doctor following close behind.  Shaking her head, Sam slunk to the sofa beside Vala finally opening her beer.  

“I have no idea what else to do,” Sam told Vala, “I think this is literally his breaking point.   If we don’t find her, I think we’re going to lose him too. He can’t live without her.” 

“What can I do to help?” Vala asked, concerned.  Despite the history there was between her and Daniel, the two archaeologists were just perfect for one another, like those fairy tale movies she liked to watch when the rest of the team wasn’t around. She teased Adrienne about it, often, but that silly tattoo, the soulmate one, Adrienne had found him. Daniel was her soulmate, in a way that even Vala herself never thought was possible. Not only that, but she wanted her friend back badly, a woman that she considered to be a sister.

“Can you stay here? I can’t tie up a quarter of my medical staff babysitting Daniel.  There’s a recliner in the guest room, just keep watch and if he flips out or starts to yell, Jack and I can hold him down while you sedate him, or I sedate him.  We can each take three or four hour shifts so no one has to stay up all night with him,” Sam asked, explaining the best plan she could come up with to Vala. Nodding, Vala set her hand on Sam’s leg, squeezing it lightly.

“Of course I’ll stay. I’ll stay up all night if you need me to,” Vala told her sincerely, glad to have a task, something to take her mind off of where Adrienne could be. 

“Thanks,” Sam said in quiet reply, standing and cleaning up, heading for the kitchen.  Vala looked over at Jack, who just gave her a half smile, and stood himself, following his wife in silence. 

***** 

Daniel was laying in a cold dark room on a hard floor, so pitch black that he couldn’t see what was in front of his face.  He tried to sit up quickly but every inch of his body was in agony, pain ripping through his head, his spine and his stomach. Rolling to his side, he forced himself to fight through, to figure out where he was, what was going on, and sat up slowly.  He looked around him in the darkness for any source of light but could find none, crawling painfully to his knees, reaching his palms out, rubbing the floor, beginning to feel around. The surface was damp,  as if it was wet, and cold, just not cold enough to form ice.  Hoping to find some sort of break in the chilled smoothness, he ran his hands along the floor slowly when there was a scream in the distance.  

“ADRIENNE!!!” he shouted out, recognizing the voice, his heart stopping, remembering that she was gone, that she had been taken. The scream repeated, chilling and painful, a scream he hadn’t heard since he had watched her on the edge of that broken ravine, watched her scream and reach for him as he fell away into the deep. Her shriek sounded again, echoing as if it were very close but very far away.  She was in pain, excruciating pain, someone was hurting her. 

“Now, Dr. Jackson, I think I have your attention,” he heard a familiar voice boom around him.  

Daniel sat up in the bed, screaming, terrifying Vala who leapt from the recliner and rushed over to him. 

“Calm down, calm down,” she tried to talk him down keeping the needle in her sights the entire time, just in case this was just the beginning of something much worse. 

“Ja-wer, what’s going on?” he asked, turning to face her as she realized he was still partially asleep.  

“Daniel, it’s not Addy, it’s me, it’s Vala.  Just take a deep breath,”  she whispered gently, taking a seat beside him, slowly moving closer.  

“Vala!?!” he exclaimed, clearly still confused, “What are you doing in my bed? Where’s Adrienne?” 

Taking a breath, Vala reached out to him, pretending to comfort him when in reality she was trying to find the easiest way to put him into a choke hold should he flip out and attack her.  Confident she could pin him quickly she nodded, answering him calmly.

“Anubis has her Daniel.  We’re doing everything we can but you can’t seem to calm down long enough to help us.  Right now though, it’s the middle of the night, we can’t do anything until morning, so I just need you to go back to sleep,”  Vala reasoned with him, hoping he wouldn’t leap up and demand to be taken to the gate to beam himself to wherever in the galaxy.  

Daniel sat there, staring at her, realizing that he was in Sam and Jack’s guest room, still in his work clothes, the events of the day rushing through his head. Adrienne was gone, taken, and they had been unable to find her, the Tok’ra knew nothing and Sam said that she was going to assemble an intelligence team lead by Vala to search, but Daniel had lost control after the Tok’ra message, after they provided evidence that Anubis had been here, in Earth’s orbit, waiting to take her, to take her from him. He wanted to cry again, but it just wasn’t possible to shed anymore tears, she was gone, he had her. 

He had her. He had her in that place, screaming, and he wanted to talk. 

“Drug me,” he said plainly, calmly, seeing the needle on the dresser and knowing it was meant to be used on him, were he to lose control. 

“What?” Vala asked, tensing, unsure of how to handle this eerie calmness, a drastic change from earlier. 

“I don’t think that what I was having was a nightmare.  Drug me.  They have been drugging me, right?” he asked.  

“Yeah, Cassie stuck you earlier before you attacked Jack. But, if you’re calm now should you really be asking for drugs?” Vala sounded concerned and she was.  She didn’t know a lot about medicine but she did know that too much of one thing was dangerous, especially something that could knock down a man as big as Daniel that quickly. Not only that, but Sam had instructed her to only use the sedative if he got out of control but the Daniel sitting before her seemed quite rational. 

“Look, I need deep sleep, fast. ” Daniel standing from the bed, headed for the dresser. Determined, he grabbed the needle from the table and turned, handing it to Vala. 

“You do it or I do it.  Just tell Sam I attacked you,” Daniel pushed his shirt sleeve up his arm, exposing his bicep to her. She stood there for a moment, unable to say anything, just gazing into his eyes, so full of hurt and worry. He really was losing it, Sam wasn’t kidding and Vala had been right all along; Adrienne was his breaking point. 

“I’m not sure about this, what are you doing?” Vala questioned, but was beginning to pull the protective cover off of the needle point, something about his words making her trust him, making her ready to believe whatever he was about to say. 

“I’m going to save Adrienne,” he replied sincerely. 

Vala nodded, walking him over to the bed and leaned over him, sticking the medicine into his arm.  She withdrew the needle as he collapsed backwards, his eyes rolling back into his head. 

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” she whispered into the darkness, laying down beside him instead of returning to the chair.  

*****

“You’re back, so nice of you to join me,” the voice boomed out as Daniel opened his eyes seeing that he was in a familiar cafe, albeit empty except for himself and the source of the voice.  

“Anubis, what do you want with Adrienne?” Daniel demanded, standing from his chair to face the portly man that was sitting in front of him casually at the other side of the diner table.

“Her, bah, nothing.  She’s worthless, damaged goods. You, on the other hand, you have something I need,” he spoke, smiling, staring Daniel right in the eyes, but he didn’t flinch, determined not to let the evil ancient see him weak. 

“Then let her go, and we can talk,” Daniel offered not sitting but remaining standing strong in front of the man, spirit, whatever you could call Anubis, at this point even Daniel wasn’t sure. 

“Now Dr. Jackson, do you think I believe you would ever honor such an agreement? What kind of fool do you take me for?”  the fat man replied, laughing, sipping a cup of coffee that was sitting in front of him and turning away from Daniel to read a newspaper, the cover of which had a woman, bound in chains, scared, staring straight at Daniel, seeming to move on the page. 

At that very moment a screamed echoed through the cafe, the face on the cover of the paper clear, Adrienne, terrified, looking right at him through the black and white image, trying to tell him something, mouth him something he couldn’t understand before slamming her head back, frustrated, screaming again. Unfazed, Anubis sipped the coffee, returning the cup to it’s saucer, peering around the page at his guest. 

“She’s rather loud though, and annoying, in fact, I am not sure what you see in her, especially now,” he declared, smirking.

“What do you want?” Daniel asked through his teeth.

“Information, simply information, not too high a price for your little woman and, well, never mind. I don’t need weapons Dr. Jackson, or ships, I have everything I need, just a wee bit of information,” Anubis explained, vaguely, reaching to sip the coffee, slowly turning the page of the paper, Adrienne still chained in the picture on the cover, speaking to him, trying to tell him something he couldn’t understand. A flash of an idea in his head, Daniel smacked the paper out of his hand, grabbing it, holding it to the side, trying to get a better look at Adrienne while still focusing on Anubis. 

“I don’t have time for your games!!” Daniel shouted out, slamming the paper to the table, glancing down quickly at Adrienne, who was mouthing something, her mouth in an O shape, then shaking her head, reforming her words, F, FR it looked like.....

Daniel awoke to a white ceiling, the sun was gleaming through the window and he saw Vala laying asleep beside him. Adjusting to this reality, the world of awake, he reached over, shaking her forcefully.  

“WAKE UP!!!” he hissed, shoving her into the bed, impatient as she swatted him away. Rubbing her eyes, she rolled over slowly, facing him, a sly smile moving across her lips.

“Um, Daniel, nice to be waking up to you this morning, I hope you enjoyed last night,” she tried to kid, seeing that manic in his face again, but he was having none of that right now.  

“More,” was all he said, standing to look for a needle, knowing that Cassie must have left more than one, it would make no sense to just leave one dose and hope for the best.  

“Daniel, I don’t think you should take anymore.  You look awful,” Vala said as she sat up, her tone changing quickly. 

Stopping, Daniel looked at himself in the mirror over the dresser.  He did look horrible, his eyes had dark circles underneath of them as if he hadn’t been sleeping for as long as he had and his face was reddish as though he had a fever. His eyes were bloodshot, weak, his mouth dry and lips cracked. He was falling apart, rapidly wasting away, but he didn’t care, just shook his head, turning to face Vala.  

“Please, Vala, please.  I’m talking to Anubis, he wants something, some information.  I need to see what he wants, please Vala, let me try, help me try,” Daniel pleaded, walking over to the table in search of another needle since there wasn’t a second on the dresser.

“Daniel, I’m not sure if there is anymore, Cassie only left me the one, and what do you mean you’re talking to Anubis?” Vala asked puzzled, standing to approach him as he looked so ragged that he might just fall into the floor, medicated or not. 

“Look, there’s no time to explain, just find me something, fast, Vala, I can’t lose her, please, she’s my, Vala...  I just need to get back!!” he started to shout when heard Jack’s voice down the hallway and footsteps approaching, noting that of course it was morning, of course they would be awake. Heart pounding, he looked back at Vala, frantic.  

“Knock me out,” he requested, calmly. 

“What!?! Daniel you’e crazy, what do you mean knock you out? I’m going to get Sam let her talk some sense into you,” Vala replied and started to leave. No, Daniel thought, she   can’t leave, Jack and Sam won’t believe me, they won’t let me, they’ll think it is too dangerous. Feeling there was no other choice, Daniel grabbed her wrist, holding it forcefully, looking her straight in the eye.  

“If you ever loved me, you will knock me out, right now,” he begging, hating to do this, hating to say that to her, even more as he saw the crushed look on her face. Glancing behind her to see if Jack had reached then, Vala spun quickly to face Daniel, punching him directly in the throat.  

*****

“This is just going to take forever at this rate,” Anubis remarked, looking down the sand dune at Daniel as his body came to a rolling stop, granules spraying around his face. Squinting, Daniel sat, running his face, trying to adjust himself to his surroundings.  It took a moment, the sun bright and beaming, but he quickly ascertained where he was but the laugh that was echoing behind him only confirmed his first thought. He was on Abydoys.  

“Where is Adrienne?” he demanded, turning to gaze upward, into the sun, only the outline of his host visible in the glare.  

“She’s alive, for now, waiting for you to give me what I want so you can whisk her back to that little hovel you call a home,” he answered, the head of the hooded figure cocking his head as if he were waiting for something. Puzzled Daniel tried to follow his gaze, however there was nothing to see, only hear, two screams this time reverberating through the sky, Adrienne’s and ...

“Impossible,” Daniel spoke, “she’s dead and not ascended.  No one can hurt Shar’e any longer.” 

“Just thought I’d give you a friendly reminder of things that have passed, others things over which you had no control, like you have no control now. I am much more powerful than Apophis, I can assure you of that,” Anubis warned, walking down the hill, approaching him, wearing black robes this time, black robes that made Daniel think of movies, cuddled on the sofa with her, the memory giving him strength.  Drawing on that strength, Daniel looked up at is captor as he advanced, laughing.  

“You dare to mock me!?!” Anubis roared.  

“Adrienne would ask you when you planned on shooting lightening out of your fingertips.  What exactly are you trying to prove?” Daniel asked, trying to be brave, trying to act like Adrienne, to think like Adrienne. He knew that where ever she was she was only screaming for him to hear her, she was too strong to give Anubis the satisfaction of anything else and he knew that she was trying to tell him something before, something that started with FR. The shriek echoed again, this time louder and not just a scream, but a word, ick, or eek, what was she screaming?? 

“I can hurt you worse than you ever imagined. EVER imagined.” Anubis threatened, coming to a halt just feet away, raising his hands, her screaming now changing from that odd word to a scream of pain, intense pain. 

“What do you want?!?!” Daniel demanded, “You know I’ll wake up soon and yet you stretch this out. Tell me what you want! Stop hurting her!!” The screaming stopped as quickly as it started, the hood staring down toward him, red eyes piercing through the black.

“Information is all, like I said before, I want to know how to get to the Pegasus Galaxy.” 

*****

Daniel sat up and grabbed his throat.  He tried to speak but couldn’t, the pain too intense for him to do anything even swallow. 

“Christ Vala, you coulda killed him,” Jack shouted, leaning over Daniel as Sam gently applied an ice pack to his neck.  

“Well, I was out of meds and he came at me with that crazy look in his eyes, what was I supposed to do!?!” she replied quickly to Jack, winking at Daniel, letting him know his secret was safe and he closed his eyes once, quickly, to thank her.  There was a knock at the door and Sam pointed at Vala to take over holding the ice pack to Daniel's throat as she stood, hurrying to open it and let in their visitor.  Jack sat back in the recliner, clearing a path and Daniel could see Dr. Carson Beckett enter the room, needle in hand.  Good, he thought to himself, let’s get this show rolling, but was quickly disappointed as Carson was only showing the needle to Sam in case something were to happen, the look on his face indicating that he no intention to use it. Realizing that he would have to do this himself,  he cut his eyes at Vala, blinking once slowly, running his eyes over in the doctor’s direction. She didn’t miss a beat, understanding his request and nodded, only enough so he knew that she understood.  Pulling back from him she shrieked as he reached for her throat, starting to squeeze. As he had hoped, Jack was on him in an instant, his arms pinned to his side, and he felt Carson stick the needle into his skin, the world slowly fading to black. 

“ANUBIS!!!!” Daniel shouted out across an ocean, as he sat floating in a small yellow boat, alone in a blue mass, under blue sky, not any land in sight.  There was complete silence, the water around him not even making the expected sound of lapping up on the side when a bubble appeared in the sky above him, floating slowly in his direction. 

“This is growing old and I am annoyed by your female,” the bubble spoke and Daniel heard more screaming more words, pirogue and no, words Daniel tried to listen to, to understand, but it made no sense.

“I will tell you, but you have to let her go,” Daniel replied, not wanting Anubis to know that he was understanding any of her screams.  

“Then speak, I’m listening,” the bubble bobbing up and down as the voice came from it.  The boat began to rock a little more forcefully and Daniel saw a storm in the distance across the water, the silence breaking as a low rumble beat across the sky, the sound penetrating his ear drums. A bad feeling washing over him, apparent dream or not, Daniel reached to grab the ropes on either side of the vessel to hold on.  

“How will I know if you let her go?” Daniel asked.

“You don’t, but I can assure you my old friend, she doesn’t have much time,” the bubble spoke, floating away slightly as if it were threatening escape.

The storm in the distance was causing a disturbance in the water, the raft shaking violently and Daniel held on for dear life debating what to do.  All of those innocent people in the Pegasus Galaxy, now Wraith controlled or not would be at the mercy of Anubis, or would the Wraith be too much for him?  They were too much for Earth, at least for now, but, if Anubis could recruit the Wraith, what would he be able to do then? The Wraith knew secrets, they knew things about how Atlantis operated, about the ZPM’s, about Stargate command, things Anubis could exploit in order to come back to the Milky Way. That is what this was all about, Daniel thought, the weapons, the ships, Pegasus. Anubis wants to broker with our enemies, bring them down, and his cloning, if he is able to perfect it, not only gives him an army but gives him a bargaining chip, a technology he might be able to use to gain their trust. All of this their worst enemy could gain with just one dialing sequence. 

There was another scream, no message this time, but a blood curdling cry, of pain, of misery, the love of his life trapped somewhere, alone, dying if Anubis was correct while he sat here, floating in the abyss with the solution to her freedom. The choice was his. 

Daniel couldn’t see life as worth living without Adrienne.  

“Bring me a DHD, I’ll show you the sequence,” he shouted at the bubble as the storm began to tip the boat. Suddenly everything dropped to silence and the water stopped.  

*****

Daniel looked up to see Teal’c leaning over him.  

“No,” he sat up and shouted, “no, no, no, I’ve got to go back!!!” 

“DanielJackson, you have been asleep for two days, Dr. Lam will be happy that you have awakened,” Teal’c answered as Daniel saw Carolyn Lam rushing over to him, shouting over her shoulder for Carson to come as well.  

“Carolyn, please, one more time, please knock me out!!” he pleaded, reaching out for her white jacket, pawing her sides looking for a needle, something, anything to send him back. 

She doesn’t have much time....

The words echoed in his head, that tightness in his chest setting in, knowing he had to get back, get back to her, she couldn’t die, she was alone, so alone and it was his fault, he left her, his let her down, he promised he would always take care of her...

“Daniel, you need to calm down, you’re overmedicated and you need to relax for just a moment,” she said as she started to lean behind her to summon orderlies over to assist her.  Daniel sat up frantic and looked at Teal’c, who was standing back a little ways, his face showing clear concern.  An idea popping into his head, he scanned the Jaffa up and down, motioning for him to come to his bedside.   

“Teal’c,” Daniel whispered as if he was very ill, “come here please.” 

Turning his head, wondering what was wrong, Teal’c did as requested, walking to his friend’s side, leaning over him so he could hear what he had to say.  

“DanielJackson, is there something you wish to tell me?” he asked, Daniel pulling himself upright to the best of his ability, nearer to him.  He wrapped his one arm around Teal’c ‘s back bringing him closer and reached the other down his leg, pulling his Zat gun.  Laying back quickly, he pointed the weapon at his own chest and fired. 

He was in a white room, full of bright, florescent type light, light so bright that it should have hurt his eyes but it didn’t.  The room was completely empty save for one object, in front of him, a DHD, as he had requested.  Approaching it cautiously, Daniel looked around, scanning the room, surprised there was no one there.

“Where are you Anubis? I’m ready!”  Daniel shouted out receiving no answer, nothing at all. 

“Show yourself! Show Adrienne, or you don’t get anything!!!” he demanded. 

“I am here,” a familiar voice answered, Daniel turning around, chills down his spine. Standing in front of him was Skaara, looking just as he did the day he died and Daniel’s stomach churned at the sight of his bother in law and the knowledge of what was really standing there. 

“I like this body,” Anubis/Skaara answered, “it has more vitality than my others. I think I shall keep it.”  

“Oma protects my family,” Daniel countered, hoping that was still true, knowing that he hadn’t heard from Oma or his family since Kasuf had first warned him about Anubis. 

“In theory,” Anubis answered and changed forms from Skaara to Adria, the Oriaci, “I could use this body as well...” Adria/Anubis slinked over to Daniel, poking him in the stomach and running her/its finger up to his face stopping at his lips.  He smacked it away but the digit could move any further, the memories of her sickening him. 

“Adrienne for the sequence.  No more games,” Daniel said as he looked his enemy directly in the eyes, unrelenting. Hold on, Daniel willed himself, just keep it together. 

“Then dial, and I will let you have your precious Dr. Rowan,” Adria/Anubis spat, walking around him to allow him access to the panel, caressing his back sensually as it/she passed. Ignoring the touch, focusing only on Adrienne, her face, her eyes, her laugh, the touch of her skin, Daniel marched his way to the DHD and began to dial, carefully dialing the nine chevron sequence. There was a buzzing and Daniel glanced up, expecting something to happen, an unforeseen gate to open, but the symbols instead glowed in the air in front of him, each of the nine symbols in perfect order. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned, looking back at Adria/Anubis.  

“Where is Adrienne?” he asked, the room growing dark as Anubis faded away. He heard a scream in the distance, Adrienne’s screaming no and saw a flash of light.

*****

Daniel sat up screaming in the infirmary and Jack, who was sitting at the side of his bed stood quickly. 

“Daniel, Daniel, calm down, doc, he’s up!!” Jack shouted behind him, reaching for his friend’s shoulders, his wild eyes looking far worse now than they have seen in days.  

“He, Anubis, he wants,  At, Atlantis, he wants Atlantis, the Pegasus,” Daniel spoke in broken speech, throwing his legs over the side of the bed, trying to stand but he had forgotten, forgotten that he hadn’t walked for day, and he staggered to the ground, Jack rushing over to help him.  

“Daniel, you’ve been out for 15 hours just this time, please, take it easy,” Jack requested, as he helped him to his feet but once he was standing, Daniel whipped his arm around, freeing himself from Jack’s grip.  He took another unsteady step forward and another, moving slowly but moving, walking over to the table where he could see his jeans and t-shirt laying folded.  

“I know, I know, I know, where she is,” Daniel stammered, grabbing his clothes, turning to stagger toward the door of the infirmary.  

“What do you mean where she is?” Jack asked, standing back, giving Dr. Lam space to get to Daniel as she was shouting behind him, rushing after him, telling him to stop.  Daniel, however, just kept walking, clothes in hand, right out into the hallway, headed for  elevators to take him to Sam’s office.  He heard her heels clicked the ground before he saw her and finally let himself collapse to the floor, knowing Sam would help him, she had to help him. Sprinting to him, she dropped to the floor, pulling him up the best she could as he was babbling on incoherently.  

“Adrienne’s in Antarctica, she told me, she said she’s freezing, she said she was here, she said no ship, I think he took her to Antarctica, he wants her to die, slowly, to suffer, to destroy me and he wanted, Sam, he wants the Pegasus, he’s heading to the Pegasus...”  Daniel gasped out to Sam, holding onto her legs.  

Sam looked up as Jack and Dr. Lam came running out of the infirmary staring at her holding Daniel in the hallway. 

“Honey, you heard him, she’s in Antarctica.  Help Daniel get dressed, I’ll radio the Daedalus,” she ordered, not letting go of her friend but Jack looked at his wife as if she had gone mad. Marriage, however, had taught him not to question so he walked over, helping Daniel up yet again, leading him back to the infirmary.  

“I’m not going back to bed Jack,” Daniel spat, pulling away from him. 

“Fine, put your damn drawers on in the hallway for all I care,” Jack said, starting to let go, but understanding, Daniel nodded and let Jack take him back to get out of this gown. 

*****

“So, Dr. Jackson, do you have an idea where we should start looking?” Colonel Laval asked from the helm of the ship.  

“No, can you do a life sign scan?” Daniel stood, armed crossed, his hand to his mouth. 

“We can sir, we can, however there are a lot of other things down there, penguins for one,” the Colonel replied, trying to be realistic and supportive.  

“Daniel,” Cameron asked, “was there anything else you remember? Anything at all?” 

“Just ice, lots and lots of ice. There was this image, on a newspaper, and she was sitting there with a huge sheet of ice behind her, just ice and she just kept mouthing that she was freezing,” Daniel explained, trying to remember if there was anything else in that photo, anything else she was trying to tell him. 

“Sir,” a young man spoke from behind them, “if Dr. Jackson sees ice only, a lot of ice, there are two major ice shelves in Antarctica, the Ronne Ice shelf and the Ross Ice shelf.  It could be one of those.” 

“I DON’T KNOW!” Daniel snapped, “I just saw her, leaning against an wall of ice, like she was huddled along some pathway!”  

“Colonel Laval, I think we should focus our scan on the Ross ice shelf then. It is more likely that someone would be sitting against an ice wall there,”  the young man, a cadet Daniel was noticing, suggested.  

“Start your scan,” the colonel ordered and looked ahead, the images of the ice sheet beginning to pop up on his screen.

“So, you think Anubis is gonna try your sequence? Find out that nine chevron’s will just blow shit up?” Cameron asked, trying to calm Daniel.  

“That’s what I’m worried about; that he’ll try it before we get to Adrienne,” Daniel answered.  He had lied to Anubis; he have given him the dialing sequence for the Destiny, which would be impossible to dial, even for him.  In the best case scenario, it would blow up any of Anubis lackeys that were trying to dial, hopefully blowing up Anubis himself in the process, however, in the worst case, he would end up on Destiny where the crew was either hibernating or dead.  It was a sacrifice, possibly of the entire contingent of Colonel Young’s crew, but knowing Anubis would never stop until he could get what he wanted, he felt it was a risk he needed to take, not only to get Adrienne back, but to protect the people of Earth and of the Pegasus Galaxy. 

“Sir,” the cadet spoke again, addressing Daniel more so than the captain, “ I might have something.” 

Redirecting his attention to the display, he saw a heat image appear on the screen, faint, but it was a living creature, alone, not in a group like you would expect other antarctic mammals. Nodding, Daniel zipped up his parka and looked over at Laval.

“Beam me down,” he ordered. 

“Dr., we’re not even sure if that’s her, I need to send a MALP down there first,” the colonel argued, but Daniel didn’t bother, simply walked over to the Asgard control panel and beamed himself down.  

There was snow all over the ground, not powdery and beautiful like a Colorado winter, but compact and slick. It was colder here than he remembered from years past, too cold, much too cold for a person to survive.

“Ja-wer!!!” he screamed out, “ADRIENNE!!” but to no avail.  He went to step forward, walking toward where the ice seemed to thin, when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned quickly, prepared to fight. 

“You couldn’t wait just one damn sec for me to get a coat, could you?” Cameron asked, Daniel dropping his guard and trying to smile.  

“ADDY!!! Girl you KNOW I am NOT running that damn track everyday with Ronon!! He is NO WHERE NEAR AS GOOD LOOKING!!” Cameron shouted out into the snow, motioning for Daniel to follow. Pulling their coats around their faces, they kept walking, Cam leading the way with a small gadget, a faint blip on the screen. 

They had walked for quite a while when Daniel saw something moving in the distance.  He didn’t think, he didn’t hesitate, he simply tore off into the snow, running as fast as he could when he saw her.  She was wearing a thin white robe, much too thin, thin enough that she should be dead, she had to be dead, she wasn’t moving and she had shoved her body against the wall of ice and pulled her knees to her chest.  Blueish and devoid of any other color, she sat there motionless, frozen not even looking up to acknowledge him as he raced toward her. Completely disregarding the subzero temperatures and his own safety, Daniel began to unzip his parka, pulling it from his shoulders. 

“Adrienne, dear god, please, please don’t be dead,” he fell to his knees, taking her into his arms as he could feel his own tears freezing on his cheeks.  Quickly and carefully, he wrapped the parka around her and held her to him rocking back and forth, repeating over and over for her not to die, that he loved her, that she was his soul, his life, kissing her frozen hair, sobbing into it, not even noticing that Cameron had caught up to him and was radioing back to the ship to beam them all aboard.  

*****

Dr. Lam made him stay outside, disregarding his arguments that she was practically his wife. Nervously he paced back and forth outside of the double doors, wanting some sign that she was alright, some sign that hypothermia or something worse wasn’t take her away from him.  As he walked, he saw her again, sitting there in that thin robe in the snow, floating somewhere between life and death, her lips blue, and he started to tremble and lose it again,  when felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he peered behind and there were Vala, Sam, Teal’c, Cameron and Jack, his friends, his family and he completely lost control.   

“It’s alright, let it out.  We’re going to wait right here with you, all of us,” Vala whispered softly as she reached out to hold him, Sam walking over to the other side to lead him over to the chair Carson had brought out for him when he was forced to leave.  She made him sit and he did and she knelt down, rubbing his back while the others took seats on the floor.  

“I just can’t. I can’t live without her, she’s..” and he erupted into tears again.  Not saying a word, Vala stood, walking to a nearby office and got another chair to bring it up beside him so she could hold him again and he didn’t argue or fight, just laid across her lap sobbing uncontrollably. The men just stayed back, letting Sam and Vala handle him, Jack especially not sure as to what he could say as he watched one of his best friends facing the possibility of losing the most important thing in his life. They hoped he would fall asleep, pass out of something, but he didn’t, so they sat together, all of the members of SG-1, past and present for nearly two hours, Daniel alternating between hysterics and rage, his friends taking turns calming him down.  

No one was sure as to what time it was when Dr. Lam finally came out, a solemn look on her face as she looked down at them, sitting in a collective on the floor, Daniel sitting up again, holding Sam’s hand tightly. 

“I need to talk to Daniel, alone,” she said, simply, the archaeologists eyes widening at her words.   

“NO!!” he screamed, crashing to the ground and no one moved as Daniel began to slam his fists violently to the ground, too shocked at his behavior. 

“No!! After everything no!! Why!?! Why did you take her from me?!?!” he was screaming,  falling into the ground again, Sam racing to the ground, tears in her own eyes, trying to stop him.  Evidently not expecting that reaction, Dr. Lam rushed to him as well, kneeling down onto the ground and grabbing his face, looking him in the eyes. 

“Daniel, listen to me, she’s alive, she’s going to be alright. Are you hearing me?” Carolyn frantically explained, Daniel stopping his screaming instantly, trying to calm his breathing. 

“She is?” he clarified, tears streaming down his face. 

“Yes, she is, but I still need to talk to you, alone,” Carolyn rose, reaching out for him. Wiping his face, he nodded, taking her hand and stood, adjusting himself and breathing in deeply.   Sam stood as well, starting to follow, but Carolyn put up her hand.  

“I’ll speak with you in a moment general, but I need to talk to Daniel first,” she said and Sam backed away, worried, looking back at Jack, who was now standing as well. 

Willing himself to be strong, for her especially, Daniel followed Dr. Lam into the infirmary and to the back where they had been working on Adrienne when he was removed.  She lay there, so helpless before and devoid of color, but now there was pink in her cheeks and she looked like she could wake-up any second and demand coffee.  He smiled slightly, thinking she would do just that, but she didn’t, just lay there, so still and so quiet. 

“See, she’s fine,” Carolyn indicated pointing to the machines monitoring her vitals, all readings looking normal, “she has your little gift to thank for that.” 

“When will she wake up?” Daniel asked, for the first time thankful of the trouble he had caused her biologically. 

“Probably soon, sooner than I would like considering what she’s been through,” Dr. Lam explained, reaching for the chart at the foot of the bed.

“Why is that? If she needs to sleep longer can’t you give her something?” Daniel asked, confused. He didn’t understand they had been drugging him for days, why not do the same for Adrienne? In his mind, anything was worth ensuring her recovery.  

“We can’t give her any more medications Daniel, it’s not safe in her condition,” she continued, handed him a folder she had pulled out of the chart. Taking it, Daniel made a puzzled look, running his gaze between Adrienne and the doctor. 

“I don’t understand,” he said, “what condition,” but the doctor didn’t answer, just pointed at the folder. Frowning he opened it, scanning the chart inside, a look of horror creeping across his face.  

“No,” he started to yell, “No! First Shar’e and now Adrienne! No, you have to kill the thing.  Adrienne will not carry a harsisus child!!” He shut the folder, terror in his eyes and tears creeping up once more, but Dr. Lam shook her head, reaching for the folder to open it again, glancing up at him with a smile. 

“Daniel, Adrienne’s not carrying Anubis’ child. It’s yours. She’s carrying yours.”