“I’m so sad the loincloth is at home,” she whispered in his ear, kissing there softly before sucking at his earlobe. She’d missed this, being so close and intimate with him, just the two of them, their third party in Jack’s temporary custody.
“Would you have left that on longer?” he asked as he turned his head to capture her lips with his own, kissing her long and slow, reaching under the covers to grab underneath her thigh, pulling her back to his body.
“Maybe longer than you left my yoga pants on...” she teased, slipping away, not to leave but to bury herself into his neck, taking in his scent. He smelled like sweat and other lovely aromas that she had caused, ones that she’d missed.
“You’re so awful to me,” he replied, kissing her head, holding her as close as he could.
“Was Jack helpful?” Adrienne asked from his neck, kissing it lightly, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
“Surprisingly yes,” he answered, his fingers lingering down her back to her waist, smaller than he had felt it in a while, “I don’t know how you do it,” Daniel added, letting his hand squeeze her middle and his fingertips linger at her skin.
“I love little Anthony,” she responded wondering if he’d catch on when she felt him shove her back, his handsome face frowning at her in the dim light of their alarm clock.
“Oh no, not even on the table,” he said through laughter watching her full lips turn into a smile, knowing she was kidding.
“It’s not that much longer, as much as I wish Jack could finish this for us. You took a week, only fifteen more to go,” she said as she reached once more for his embrace, Daniel eagerly letting her slide into his arms.
“I would for you if they would let me, if Medan thought it was possible,” he whispered as she rolled over, turning her back to him so that he could curl his body around hers.
“Indy, you’re such a liar,” she giggled, wriggling onto the pillow, her body telling her that it needed sleep. He had no response other than a laugh. She had a point, he would if he had to because he loved her, but that was something he never wanted to experience again. Closing his eyes, the comfort of lying there, the love of his life in his arms, having every intention of waking in the morning to make love to her again, Daniel let himself drift off to sleep.
“Addy!” a voice echoed from the other side of the door, waking Daniel, Adrienne sleeping through life as usual, “Look I know that you guys are trying to sleep, but I really need to talk to you.” Peering at the clock, Daniel noted it was at the most fifteen minutes since he had closed his eyes.
“Daniel!” it continued, Adrienne finally stirring in his arms. Sighing, Daniel sat up from the bed as his wife rolled over onto her back, gazing up at him and rubbing her face.
“Is dat Jonas?” she inquired, yawning, still not fully awake herself.
“Yea,” Daniel answered, frowning as she leapt from the bed, grabbing a blanket to cover her nudity.
“Where are you going?” he asked, confused by her actions, expecting her to shout to Jonas to go away and let them sleep, friend or not.
“Ta answer da door,” she replied, no longer as groggy, as she dashed to the entrance, their comforter the only thing covering her body.
“Wrapped in a blanket?”
“Sha he watched us dash out of da lab like some ‘orny teens; he knows what’s going on down ‘ere. If he’s banging at our door dere’s got to be sumtin’ wrong,” she explained, reaching for the door knob, opening it without another word.
“Addy, Daniel, guys, I’m sorry to come down here but Langara, it’s, it’s...” he was rambling as the door opened, the color absent from his face. Sure, Adrienne had seen him panicked, but Jonas was nearly shaking, scaring Adrienne more than she wanted to admit.
“Jonas, shug, what’s going on, come in,” Adrienne invited immediately, turning on the light and sending her husband into a panic as he grabbed for another blanket to cover himself.
“Ad we’re naked,” he hissed as he sat forward, wrapping the blanket around his waist.
“Hush, no bahbin,” she spat back quietly, indicating Jonas walk ahead of her and take a seat at their desk. He wasn’t even looking at them, either of them, and he walked in a zombie-like trance to desk, pulling out the chair and taking a seat, staring out into nothing. Resting one hand on his shoulder, Adrienne leaned over in an attempt to make eye contact, the other carefully holding up the blanket.
“Take a breath shug, here, let me get you a water,” she requested, tiptoeing over to the mini-fridge she had in the corner, grabbing a bottle of vitamin water and hurrying back over to him.
“Ok, what happened Jonas, slowly,” she said softly. With a slight nod of his head, Jonas took the bottle and opened the cap, taking a drink before setting it back on the table, glancing back up at his friends.
“Sam called the lab, she said she had to meet with Woolsey but she needed me to come to her office afterwards. I waited around, kept going through the information from the Ktaenam until Walter called,” he started off so clearly only to fall into a stammer, Adrienne reaching out her hand in concern. Unable to recall seeing Jonas act this way before, Daniel slid forward on the bed, his legs hanging over the side and his face furrowed in a frown, slipping on his glasses from the nightstand.
“It’s ok,” Adrienne assured, “take ya time mon ami.” Sucking in another deep breath Jonas nodded, glancing over at Daniel before continuing.
“Anubis, he, the entire planet, he,” Jonas tried again, stuttering, trying to keep himself together.
“Look at me,” Adrienne ordered this time, sounding very mothering to Daniel, something that made him feel a surge of warmth deep inside.
“What did Anubis do?” she pushed, gently but forcefully, reaching her hand to his knee to give him some sort of comfort. It was just so perfect, she was breathtakingly beautiful, her hair still slightly mussed from their lovemaking, her pale, bare shoulders poised as she tended to her task. She was so stunning at that very moment that were Jonas not there stammering and explaining the next catastrophe that awaited them, he would have scooped her up and taken her back to their bed to be intimate with her again.
“What he did to us. The comas, the sleep. Every last one of them,” the Langaran explained, upset and shaking, locking his eyes on Adrienne for the strength to continue, “Addy, Sam says that unless we can get in there, with enough of the injection for the population that we have no way of knowing...” he trailed, his lips trembling as if they feared finishing the sentence would make the nightmare that was racing through his head come to fruition.
Knowing there wasn’t going to be any more private time with his wife, or sleep for that matter, Daniel slipped out of bed, adjusting the blanket at his waist, heading for the dresser rather than to the intense conversation going on at his desk. He opened the drawer, grabbing himself some clothes, moving on to get Adrienne some as well.
“What did Sam say that she planned to do?” he heard Adrienne ask behind him as he closed the drawers, turning to walk over to join them.
“Nothing, she said that Woolsey rejected the idea of taking a small team to Langara, even to let Vala slip in and try to smuggle a few people out. No, nothing, they just don’t care,” Jonas admitted slowly, tearing up somewhat Daniel could tell. Reaching out for Adrienne, Daniel rested his hand on her shoulder, bringing his lips softly to her ear.
“Ja-wer, we should get dressed,” he suggested softly, reaching for her arm to pull her away. She nodded, a part of her brain finally registering that this was going to be a long night, standing, holding the blanket in place.
“Hang tight shug, we’ll be right back,” she whispered, following her husband to their bathroom to get decent.
“Daniel you don’t think that Woolsey?” Adrienne began to ask, stopping herself. There was no way that Woolsey, finances or not had just decided to write off one of their greatest allies and the two billion or so inhabitants of the planet.
“Yeah, I do,” he answered honestly as he slipped into his boxers, shaking his head. He’d been through this before and with everything that had happened since his return he’d been somewhat expecting it.
“But Sam didn’t call,” Adrienne argued, pulling her shirt over her head, making a face at him as the collar slipped under her nose, “you’d think if the IOA was just gonna screw over Langara she would let us know.”
“She’s just being Sam, probably trying to come up with a solution before calling us in, or at least start. I don’t know, maybe she was trying to give us time but either way we need to get down there,” he replied adjusting his own shirt now, tucking the hem into pants.
“Time I’m glad we got,” she said with a smile. Two quick steps forward and she was in his arms, kissing him slowly, passionately, his mind wandering again to lifting her to the counter and forget the world but the ringing of their phone broke his trance. Sighing as he left her lips, he reached for the bathroom door, slipping out to the main room. He noted that Jonas was extending his hand to answer the phone himself, but Daniel shook his hand in front of his face, clasping the receiver and bringing it to his ear.
“Alright Daniel, I think I gave you and the misses plenty of time but we’ve got shit hitting the fan up here,” Jack’s voice boomed from the earpiece loud and clear, supporting his theory that his friends were buying him some time, which considering that time was spent having sex with his wife, was very considerate.
“We know, Jonas is here,” he answered, spotting Adrienne out of the corner of his eye grabbing her bag and packing it for a briefing.
“Jonas? In there with you and Dr. Perky? Daniel I had no idea,” the general joked, Daniel rolling his eyes.
“No,” was the only response he gave. There was grumbling on the other end, grumbling about kicking as Daniel peeked up at Adrienne and Jonas, both of which were up and ready to go.
“Well get decent and get up to the briefing room,” Jack finally ordered.
“Already heading there,” Daniel replied, reaching to hang up the phone when he heard shouting from the other line.
“Bring those leftover cheese pies!! Junior’s demanding nourishment.”
*****
“Then I’m going myself,” Jonas shouted, standing only to feel a tug at his arm, Vala grabbing him and shoving him forcefully into his seat.
“Were you listening to anything that Sam or I said?? They are OUT, completely OUT, and we have NO SHIP,” she repeated in her words the just of the meeting so far, called in the middle of the night, half of their covert team present. Sam had asked Adrienne to text John every so often so he could alert the others, but kept the bulk of meeting to SG-1, except for Walter, who was seated at the far corner of the table monitoring the security cameras and taking notes feverishly.
“ONeill, do you not have the power to overrule RobertWoolsey?” Teal’c asked still after all this time mystified by the way the government of this world functioned, leaders with little real power, underlings who had access to secrets, completely different from any sort of leadership he had known or participated in now. Granted, his experience in his friend’s country had given the Jaffa a basis for their own council, but the more levels of bureaucracy he was exposed to as the years past simply confounded him.
“You’d think, but my generaling days are gone. Taking this post just made me another talking head. Woolsey yes, Sam yes, the senate oversight committee, no,” Jack admitted, frustrated. The very people that were riding them were the ones pulling him into meetings, secret meetings, meetings at this point he had only told Sam about.
They were meetings he was going to tell his friends about right now at the high risk of losing his job.
“The program is a wash, in their eyes anyway. There’ve been meetings, shit I haven’t told you about. They’ve gotten some walking talking calculators to come in, analyze everything like we’re just facts and figures and are pulling me in to drill me about cost benefit analysis,” Jack began, Daniel shaking his hands in front of him, halting his explanation.
“Cost benefit of what?” Daniel asked puzzled. They’d been through this, at least in his department, Addy’s find, among quite a few of his own, holding them at bay.
“Well for one you and Dr. Perky here. Her good luck hasn’t run out only because you two got hitched, they think she’s useless, but throw Jonas here into the mix and the United States government is tired of footing the bill for three nerds to find pretty rocks to go out and save other planets,” he put it, bluntly, his brown eyes cutting over at his wife before continuing.
“It’s not just Cheyenne. In the past few weeks we’ve lost the Gamma sight and they’ve shut down plans to open up any other bases with cute greek letter names,” he added, a pause after the forced joke to look back over at Sam a second time.
“What’s gonna happen to us?” Adrienne asked meekly unable to control the fear in her voice.
“Nothing, nothing’s going to happen. They’re just trimming at this point, a lot,” Sam began when there was a clearing of a throat, all eyes in the room turning to look at Walter.
“Ma’am, Senator Bennet has just arrived.”
Nodding, her face not giving Daniel the confidence it normally did Sam walked back to the head of the table, crossing her arms, looking out at her friends.
“Daniel I need everyone to go back to your house and that includes you Jack until the switch occurs. I’ll make your excuses,” she ordered stoically.
“Honey,” Jack said carefully, his voice fearful, unwilling to leave the love of his life to the wolves, “I don’t think you should face him alone.”
“I’ll stay,” Daniel volunteered instantly no thought or consideration needed, “I’m the head of research, a leader of SG-1, I should stay with you.” He felt a hand at his arm and a squeeze not needing to glance over to know that it was Adrienne, his rock, trying to give him what little support she could.
“Thank you, but the rest of you should go,” Sam agreed, “split up like last time, but Jack, I want you and Addy to beam over.”
“Sam, listen, you don’t have to - “ he started as Sam stepped forward, shaking her head.
“I do. Right now, in this condition, you’re proof of exactly why they want to shut this down, you and Jonas and...” she paused, taking a breath, putting on her general’s face, “This is my base and it’s my responsibility to demonstrate its necessary place in the DOD.”
No one moved or spoke at her words. This wasn’t a threat anymore; this was real. In silent compliance the team filed out, knowing their individual paths that would lead them back together to the Jackson household, all but Adrienne and Jack, their faces ones Daniel could easily read. Speaking with their brown eyes Daniel could see the concern, the deep concern in leaving their spouses behind.
“Sha,” Adrienne whispered as she marched up to his side, a look of determination on her face, “don’t let them take advantage of you. You’re better than that.” Pursing his lips as he looked down at her, Daniel took her into his arms, holding her tightly and kissing her head.
“I won’t. You go home, watch out for Jack and the little one and I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he answered, kissing her lips this time before pulling away. He stood back, watching as she placed her hand gently onto Jack’s back to have him do the same in return, waddling ahead of her out of the briefing room.
*****
Adrienne wanted to sleep, the last time she had done so being on a wooden block, but she needed to listen out for Jack, who still nearly had twenty four hours left as her son’s carrier since the Ktaenam were nowhere to be seen. He seemed to be doing well, much better than her husband she had to admit, and other than being very tired and extremely hungry, he had kept his griping to a minimum.
There had been a small chance that she’d get a nap in once she had gotten Jack settled on the air mattress in the nursery, but there was a knock at her door, Vala and Ronon waiting on the other side.
“I brought you coffee,” Vala said as she passed over a paper cup, still piping hot. Adrienne didn’t bother to thank her verbally, the aroma making her snatch the cup from her friend’s hand, sipping it gratefully.
“Who else is here,” Vala asked as she slipped past, pulling her fleece off of her shoulders and taking Ronon’s coat as well, hanging them in the hall closet. Adrienne swallowed quickly to answer, savoring the caramel and caffeine that she had missed these many months.
“Just Jack, he’s still got the baby for a while longer. You guys are the first to arrive,” she said, closing and locking the door behind her friends.
“Any word from Daniel?” she continued, comfortable enough in her friend’s house to make her way to the living room, plopping down on the sofa.
“Not even a text,” Adrienne answered before taking another swig. There wasn’t much more to say, or to do than continue to wait, Vala cuing up something on the TV.
****
By sunrise Cam and Teal’c had arrived, John informing them via text that he was on the way. Torrin was sick on base, not serious, but Teyla had taken him into the infirmary so she could join Carolyn who was communicating with the group via iPod, courtesy of Adrienne. There was still no word from Daniel, keeping Adrienne awake and worried, her body wishing she could just have their son return to her if not for nothing more than the comfort of his kicks inside.
After waking up herself, she and Ronon having napped together on the sofa for a few hours, Vala insisted that Adrienne get some sleep, leading her drowsy friend to her bed. The cajun was hesitant, worried about her husband, about her son, about Sam, but she was rambling, making no sense and Vala wasn’t going to hear it.
“Go to bed...” she ordered, Adrienne yammering on about Daniel and Woolsey, but she let Vala lead her to the bed, pull back the covers and get her to sleep. No sooner had she left Adrienne asleep, than did John arrive, Rodney surprisingly in tow and Jack up and moving about, his belly still full of mini-Jackson.
“Not one damn word, I don’t even think she has her phone on,” Jack was explaining to John, an explanation she was tired of hearing.
“I think we should go over there,” Vala interjected, stepping between them. She was finished with waiting, wondering, it wasn’t her style and two of her closest friends were having to deal with the gods knew what while she laid on the sofa watching bad programming with her boyfriend.
At least he was hot.
“Sam said stay here Vala so we’re gonna stay here,” Jack replied, his face cross, his toner serious.
“So you tote around the Jackson love child for a day and suddenly you’re the little submissive bitch,” she spat trying to get a reaction from Jack but getting none.
“Sit down Vala and shut up,” he answered calmly, walking to the kitchen to presumably get more food. Frowning and resisting the urge to start a fight with him in her friends’ living room, Vala returned to Ronon’s side, about to mutter something crass to him when the light beams in front of her answered her question.
As the beams dissipated, much to Rodney’s confusion, Sam and Daniel stood before them, the latter with his arm around the former.
“What happened?” Cam asked immediately, sensing that something was very wrong, Daniel already biting his lip and shaking his head.
“They shut us down,” Daniel answered quietly, “it’s over.”
From behind where they stood a coffee mug hit the floor, liquid spraying everywhere, including all over Jack’s BDU’s.
*****
“There’s no way in hell!” Jack raged, Daniel assuming it was probably being enhanced by the hormones of carrying his son but not wanting to interrupt him to speculate.
“There is Jack, at least the research aspect of it. The oversight committee voted as soon as they heard about Langara. All non-defense missions are to cease immediately and the entire base is being turned over to all military operations,” she explained again, painfully, not knowing what else to say.
“But that still means we look for ZPM’s. We need Atlantis base to defeat Anubis,” John argued, ignoring the beer that Ronon has fished out of the fridge for the group, some crap that he was certain Jack had left over here.
“I tried that. No go,” Daniel answered instantly, “The committee doesn’t consider it defense if we’re going after him.”
“What if he comes after us?” Cam shot right back, the attitude in his voice not meant for Daniel or Sam but sounding that way nonetheless.
“They’ve decided that between the Odyssey, the Daedalus and keeping the Iris closed at all times we should be fine. The consensus is that he’s too weak to do anything, hence the reason he has taken Langara. Bennett argues that with fewer people and inferior technology, they were an easy target,” Sam replied calmly, not taking offense at Cameron’s attack.
“Close the iris? That’s their big solution?” John re-entered the conversation, unconvinced as he could tell most of his friends were.
“They think that it is, close the iris, inoculate personnel against the sleeping virus, but that’s it,” Daniel answered for her, his eyes again gazing at his friends, wondering where his wife had gone, hoping it was to sleep.
“What about Jack?” Rodney finally spoke, unable to sit quietly, “why can’t he just overrule all of this. He’s head of Homeworld Security, or did I miss something??” Teal’c started to speak, inform the scientist that he had asked that very same question, but he refrained, allowing SamanthaONeill to answer.
Sighing Sam finally let her own eyes meet Jack’s, lingering there for a moment before scanning her collection of friends, gathered here in Daniel & Adrienne’s home.
“Jack will have to answer to Joint Chiefs now for every major decision. The committee has decided that he’s too close to the program and he’ll be a - “
“Paper pusher. I’ll be a goddam paper pusher,” Jack finished for her, anger in his eyes, “as if it wasn’t heading that way anyhow.”
“I don’t understand, what happens to us?” Vala asked, scared, not even feigning strength.
“As of today, Stargate Command is a full defensive military operation. Military personnel can stay, civilian personnel, doctors excluded, will be assisted in finding jobs outside of the base. All others, our visitors here, will be given new identities and assistance in finding suitable employment here on earth if they are unable to return to their home worlds,” Sam said, whispered really, the pain of delivering this news to her friends seeming to be more than she could bear.
“Fuck no,” Vala spat instantly, “I don’t want any fucking new identity. I’m me and I intend to stay that way,” she argued, refused, shaking her head as rage built up in her face.
“Vala, there’s no choice, that’s where we’re at now and I’ve been told that I can assist in finding placements that match your talents,” Sam assured her, having already considered favors that she had accumulated over the course of her career, favors that she was going to call in as soon as she got back to her office.
“No,” Vala was trembling, her eyes watering, “Fuck this, fuck this. This is all I have now! I can’t go back to...” she screamed out, sobbing, Ronon reaching over to take her into his arms. It was the first time Daniel had seen the Sateadan show affection for his friend and despite the horrible news that he was delivering, he was comforted in seeing how much the man obviously cared for her. She was crying, shaking, screaming and everyone sat in stunned silence watching Ronon calm her, not knowing what else to say. Daniel wanted to speak up and almost did when he felt a hand at the small of his back, followed by a tug on his shirt. Turning he saw Adrienne standing there, on the brink of tears herself, pulling him aside. Vala’s scream must have awoken her, she looked exhausted, deep dark circles and sleep in her eye that he reached out gently for to wipe away. He could tell by the look on her face that she had heard or at least understood what was happening.
“Don’t worry ja-wer, I think I have enough saved. I’ll take care of you, of us, of the baby,” he assured her quietly, running their finances through his head but she was already shaking hers.
“We do, but I’m not worried about that. I’m southern; we could show up with nothing but the clothes on our backs and Aunt Barb would never question. I’m worried about Vala, Dex, and Jonas, look at them, at her. She’s falling apart,” Adrienne whispered, her breathtaking dark eyes gazing mournfully at her friends, at their friends. It was a scene he never thought he’d see, Vala crying violently in Ronon’s arms, Jack, still carrying their child trying to keep calm while he talked to his wife, who also seemed to be fighting back emotion. John had moved to the corner of the room, phone pressed to his ear, talking to who Daniel assumed was Carson by his foul choice of words. Rodney was ranting aloud for anyone that could hear as Cam stared into space, Teal’c sitting silently on the sofa beside Jonas who didn’t even seem to be here.
Their entire world was collapsing.
“Is it for real?” she continued, those eyes now searching his for hope.
“They deactivated our dialing computers while I stood right there and ordered Satterfield to shut down the secondary labs immediately,” he answered quietly. Biting her lip nervously she peered over at her friend, Vala sitting up from Ronon’s chest, wiping her eyes.
“Daniel can we? They have nowhere to go...” Adrienne asked without asking.
“Of course,” he replied before he could think about it, “it would get pretty tight but yeah, we can make it work,” he agreed, knowing his wife’s request, knowing that she would never leave her friends to fend for themselves.
“So did Woolsey take over?” Cameron finally spoke his brain in overdrive Daniel could tell.
“No, I retain the post as general, but in a military capacity only. I’ll no longer be allowed space for my own research either and I’m not even sure if they will allow me to keep Walter as my assistant,” Sam replied, reaching for an unclaimed beer on the coffee table.
“Look, maybe I’m a little dense but how is shutting everything down but the bombs gonna keep Anubis away,” John spat angrily, phone in hand, Carson on speaker. He must have disconnected the video chat with Carolyn and Teyla and Daniel hoped the doctor was there with them.
“The consensus is that if we let him have Langara, he’ll forget about us,” Daniel answered regretting the words the moment they crossed his lips as Jonas Quinn stood from the sofa and left the room without a word.
“I’ve got him,” Adrienne said, rushing after him.
*****
“Anubis likes to experiment. I know that from the last time I worked here. He’s sick,” Jonas muttered as soon as the door to Daniel’s office closed and locked, not needing to look up to know that Adrienne had followed him in there.
“It’s not over. We won’t let it be over,” she tried to assure from the door, leaning back on it lightly not sure if she should take a seat beside him.
“You know, it really hurt when I was pushed out of here the first time. Daniel was back and I wasn’t needed anymore. It wasn’t just the job but I’d always wanted to do something for my people, serve a higher purpose, like Teal’c does now. But this, now, they expect me to just take some alias and head out into this world like nothing ever happened to my own. Addy I watched my president’s brains blown out before I was forced to shove children through a wormhole, hoping they didn’t get shot in the process. And what about them? Survivors are living four people to a room on base as it is, what’s the damn oversight committee plan on doing with them!?!” his voice changed from sadness to anger, he was screaming at her but she let him, not arguing, not even trying to smile, just letting him carry on.
“I don’t know Jonas. I wish I did,” she whispered when he finished, hanging by the door, “but you can stay here, with us. Daniel and I are low cost kinda people and the house is paid for..” she offered carefully. He was clearly concerned about his people and not himself, but her home was the best she could offer now.
“Thanks,” he answered quietly, resting his hands on Daniel’s desk as he stared out into space.
“Do you need anything? Some coffee?” she almost laughed at her own suggestion. For all of the years that she had denied the influence her family had on her, the older she got the more she realized that they had done just that. Coffee can fix anything in the South, coffee or iced tea, and just like her aunt it was all she could think to offer.
She had a burning urge for just a moment to call her aunt and apologize for acting like she wasn’t family for so long and to tell her that she loved her.
“No, I just, I just want to think but thanks Addy. I don’t know what I would do without you and Daniel with all of this,” he rejected her offer, his blue eyes meeting hers for a moment before cutting away, staring back into oblivion.
“Alright, well, I’m right outside if ya need anything shug, ok?” she added, reaching behind to let herself into the hallway.
****
“CameronMitchell that is good news, is that not a promotion?” Teal’c was asking as Adrienne entered the living room, headed straight for the kitchen to make coffee.
“A promotion to what Teal’c? It just sounds to me like they want me to keep an eye on Sam,” the colonel replied, Sam shaking her head.
“Or keep an eye on the both of us,” she interjected.
“Ok so Cam’s full colonel now, great, what about the rest of us? Where are they planning on keeping an eye on us?” John inquired, phone still in hand, his eyes tracing the touch screen, a clear indicator that the rest of their missing party was definitely on the other line.
“Like I said, alien personnel will all be given new identities John, all alien personnel. From what Bennett said, you’re being given command of the orbit forces, both the Daedalus and Odyssey,” she answered, John standing from the sofa.
“Then I demand Teyla as my assistant, I’m not letting her get shipped out of here with a kid! I owe Kanaan THAT much!” he shouted back, Daniel bringing his hand to his head, rubbing his temples and preparing for the next round of shouting about to start in his living room.
“John, right now that’s just not possible,” Daniel started, the colonel slamming the sofa pillow back onto the love seat where he had been sitting.
“Then I quit. Teyla, pack up Torrin and Carson if they’re considering you alien you might as well pack up too. I don’t need this,” he declared, marching back down the hall.
“Sheppard, come on,” Ronon now directed his calm to another source, standing and following his old friend out of the front door.
“SamanthaONeill, I shall prepare to return to Chulac where I will await your next command,” Teal’c stated simply, hoping to stop the tears of frustration building in her eyes.
“I still don’t understand why my research is no longer a priority, my cloning advances alone can be sold to agriculture companies for more than enough to justify the expense of my materials,” Rodney stood now, ranting, focused on himself as usual but Daniel couldn’t help but wonder if it was a front, if he wasn’t already messaging Jennifer about what they should do. He could hear Ronon down the hall, trying to reason with John, who was accusing his friend of giving up, shouting about everything they had left behind in Atlantis. Rodney raged on as Cam and Jack argued themselves over what exactly the Colonel’s full role would be in the SGC, Vala standing to face Sam, demanding to know where the general planned to ship her off too as well. It was total chaos, Daniel just waiting to hear sirens outside as the result of the neighbors reporting a domestic dispute going on next door and he just couldn’t take it anymore.
“STOP!! EVERYONE JUST STOP!!” he screamed out, surprising himself and the room as well, each and every person in his sight pausing to stare at him.
“Look, Sam did the best she could, but it was an ambush. They knew about Langara, they know the Furlings can pop in and out whenever they please, they know Anubis has infiltrated the base on numerous occasions and they know that we are no closer to getting Atlantis operational than we were months ago. They knew and they had everything planned before either of us could speak. Right now we just need to do what they say, bide our time and give Sam time to think.”
Rolling her eyes despite his very true words, Daniel was correct, there was nothing else that could be done right now, Vala shoved her way past him, heading down the hall and out the front door.
*****
“Here’s some more sha,” Adrienne said as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing his cheek lightly before she backed away, refilling his coffee mug. Standing upright she placed her hand on the small of her back for balance, their son having been transferred back to her body moments before she had finished brewing their third pot. Jack had left shortly after, at Sam’s insistence, and knowing his wife he did as she asked, kissing her forehead before heading out the front door himself, hours after the last of their group had as well.
“Thank you ja-wer,” he replied, removing his glasses from his face to pinch the bridge of his nose, Sam thanking Adrienne as the cajun filled her cup as well.
“Walter says they’re still there, allowing people to clean out their offices, monitored of course, but they seem to have no intention of slowing down the closure,” Sam said as she scanned her phone, wondering how long her excuse would hold out. Robert Woolsey might be an idiot, but eventually someone was going to figure out that the head of the SGC wasn’t at home taking care of her sick husband all day while her workplace was being decimated.
“Well, I think the first thing we need to do is determine what to do about Langara. Not only for Jonas sake, which speaking of...” Daniel started, trailing as he glanced over at his wife who joined them, a mug of hot cocoa in place of coffee.
“Asleep. I got him to rest about an hour ago. He’s in pieces, frustration, guilt, he can’t take much more,” she answered, sipping carefully.
“No, I agree. I’m gonna need to head back, start calling in a few favors to try to get most of the civilian personnel placed. I wish Vala would answer her phone. I wanted to send her and SG-3 to Langara, quietly, under the guise of checking our satellites and flight paths of ships but I can’t do that if she won’t answer her phone,” Sam spat frustrated, taking out that very frustration on her phone.
“She’ll come around. Adrienne and I have decided to try to make room here for her, Dex and Jonas so maybe we can stall their new career paths for last?” Daniel mentioned, remembering he and Adrienne’s early conversation.
“Possibly,” Sam said as she stood, reaching to finish the cup of coffee in front of her, “I’ll need to see what I can do but if you guys hear from her, please let me know. In the meantime...”
“I know. Carolyn needs to see Adrienne after the transfer and we need to be seen on base because the pregnancy itself is a security issue. I’ve got it, we’ve got it, I just hope she can buy us the time we need,” Daniel said standing himself, taking his coffee along. There was tension in the air between the old friends, thick enough where Adrienne remained seated, resting her hands on her once again large belly as a silent excuse to stay right there.
“Daniel, I’m not giving up on this, the research, everything. You and Addy need to get in there, get every piece of information you can get your hands on in case...” she started but Daniel was already shaking his head.
“You forget that I’m married to techno geek extraordinaire,” he answered, cocking his head back at Adrienne, “but we’ve got this covered. You just find Vala.” Nodding she started to step away when she reached out for his arm, gazing into his eyes.
“Thank you. Not only for back there but for everything. You deserve better than this,” she whispered, her words, Adrienne’s exact words from earlier, breaking Adrienne’s heart.
He did deserve better than years of research and hard work being flushed down the toilet, Daniel cast out into the world, a mockery of his profession, with nowhere to go.
“Don’t talk like that. This is just another bump in the road; we’ve been through worse,” he assured her with a squeeze of her arm, a smile in return and pulled back as he watched her head down the hall to the closet. There was no goodbye, simply the close of a door behind him as he returned to the table.
“Sleep Indy,” Adrienne caught him halfway there, grabbing his shoulders to turn him in the direction of the bedroom.
“Adrienne, there’s no time for that, you heard what Sam said. They are going to monitor us when we clean out the lab, we need to get to Carolyn and -” his words halted by her lips on his own, kissing him softly, reaching behind his neck to pull him in deeper, to distract him, to shut him up and it was working as he pulled her into his arms allowing himself the pleasure of her mouth.
“Damn distracting Adrienne,” he said as he pulled away, right to her face, that devilish grin his reply.
“If you’re expecting me to perform movie-like miracles, I need to nap and I need to do so without worrying about whether or not you are having a panic attack in here. I’ll call Carolyn, make an appointment, and then we can rest for a while, if not for any other reason than to make sure our brains are at full power,” she argued, pulling him down the hall. Smiling, he pulled her back into his arm, kissing her again slowly, running his fingers down her soft cheek.
“What would I do without you?” he asked, bringing her into his tight embrace.
“Be out of lives by now, no more stallin’. Ya a gah damn tete dure,” she teased, hoping her hard headed husband would listen. Rolling his eyes, he marched down the hall, following orders without complaint.
*****
“I’d like thank you Mr. Woolsey for allowing Adrienne to continue under Carolyn’s care; I know it would be very difficult for her to have to find a new doctor this late in the pregnancy,” Daniel thanked their host, their babysitter, as he met them at the elevators. Sam had warned him that this was a possibility and assured him that precautions had been taken in case this very thing happened.
“Dr. Jackson the IOA feels that given the nature of Dr. Rowan’s, uh, Dr. Jackson’s pregnancy we needed to insure that, well, it was best that Dr. Lam stay on as her doctor until the baby is born, provided everything proves to be...” Woolsey stammered and trailed, Daniel holding back rage.
First she’s my wife you creep and second stop implying something is going to be wrong with my child, he thought but bit his tongue, forcing a nod.
“Well, again, it’s appreciated,” Daniel replied, keeping it short, resting his hand at his wife’s back, urging her forward.
“Adrienne,” Robert continued, calling her neither Dr. Rowan nor Dr. Jackson infuriating Daniel further, “will you be needing any assistance to the infirmary?”
“I think I can handle a short waddle,” she replied, winking at her husband as she sauntered the best she could to the infirmary.
“Right this way Dr. Jackson,” Woolsey sneered, stepping ahead toward the lab.
“Right this way Dr. Jackson,” Daniel mocked quietly, laughing to himself at his very Adrienne response, hoping that his babysitter didn’t hear.
*****
“Ok Addy, up on the table,” Carolyn Lam ordered tapping the table top much to Adrienne’s surprise, the cajun making a face of confusion.
“Wait, this is supposed to be a ruse...” she asked, Carolyn rolling her eyes as she cocked her head to the cameras.
“What’s that you say all of the time? You suck at simple things...” she lead, Adrienne rubbing her temple as she caught on.
“Oh, right, yeah, I feel fine doc, no worries,” she changed her tune, doing what was asked, hands instantly all over her face, glands and making their way down to her belly.
“Regardless, your biology was radically altered for a week, your son was carried by two separate men and then returned to your body like nothing happened. Now lay back,” the doctor fussed Adrienne grumbling, but complying, realizing that she did have a point. Feeling her shirt being pulled up, exposing her belly, she closed her eyes knowing the cold wet gel that was coming next.
“Any change since the swap occurred?” Carolyn inquired, her eyes on the screen, scanning the small person kicking wildly inside of Adrienne’s body.
“I’m a little more lucid, must have cleared out some hormones. Less Mommy brain if you can call it that,” she answered, the doctor nodding in understanding.
“Makes sense, I’m not going to explain to you the biology, but I take it that slightly weepy Daniel was only a fraction of what he actually experienced,” Dr. Lam continued, tapping the screen, Adrienne giggling from the table.
“From what I heard, yeah, it was pretty bad. I think I owe Jack a very nice dinner out once N-,” Adrienne started to answer, pausing, biting her tongue before she slipped but Carolyn Lam was already smiling, wiping the gel away from her middle.
“So, you have a name?” she guessed correctly, not needing a verbal answer as Adrienne’s reddening cheeks were confirming what she knew.
“I think so, but I haven’t told Daniel yet. It’s too much fun to make him think I’m naming our child after a Ninja Turtle or something,” she replied as the doctor pulled her shirt back down, turning around and crossing her arms, staring at the office. Completely still and silent Carolyn waited, Adrienne unsure as to what she should do when the doctor spun around reaching for the archaeologist’s arm.
“Ok, Carson’s gonna run the exam as a loop. Your little guy is fine, I’ll text Daniel, but you’ve only got about thirty, forty-five minutes maximum before I need you back here,” she instructed, phone in hand.
“Wait, what if Woolsey comes down here? I thought you were going to need to come with me to the lab for some reason,” Adrienne asked, confused as Dr. Lam was already shaking her head.
“I need to run some more tests, you’ve been experiencing that dizziness and all, so I think it is best that you lay down Dr. Jackson,” Carolyn contributed, however no longer talking to Adrienne but to Cassie Frasier, in a hospital down and pillow in hand.
“Yes Dr. Lam, I’m feeling a little dizzy right now in fact,” she smiled, raising her eyebrows at Adrienne before slipping behind the curtain in the corner of the room.
“Ya think it’ll work?” Adrienne questioned, slightly unconvinced.
“You’ve got about two minutes less now to find out. Go!”
*****
Le descendirent au stockage. Travaillez rapidement.
“Gah sha, I hope you can keep him occupied down there,” Adrienne mumbled at the note in barely legible french on the whiteboard, wondering what Robert Woolsey would allow Daniel to take from the storage closets. Breathing in, focusing on the task at hand, Adrienne dashed over to her desk, opening the bottom drawer and digging like mad, trying to find her collections of spare hard drives and cute themed flash drives. She paused for a moment, her dark eyes scanning, taking a mental inventory of the items before her, grabbing a few as she dashed over to his desk.
“Indy you’d better never make fun of Lion-o eva again,” she laughed as she pulled the cartoon character head off of the end of the device, shoving it into the side of his computer.
*****
“Dr. Jackson, we can’t just allow you to take what you want from here,” Woolsey reminded him sternly, as Daniel opened yet another box. He knew he couldn’t take anything, openly anyway, but he needed to stall to allow Adrienne to download as much information as possible. In this mess right now he had one task and one task alone.
Stall.
“With all due respect Mr. Woolsey, this might be a closet to you, but to me it represents a good portion of my life’s work. I’d like to go through and make sure that none of my personal effects have been accidentally included at the very least,” Daniel rebuffed, reaching in to dig through the contents. This was yet another box of nothing, stone slabs he had stored down here for later investigation, but the rat faced little fink didn’t need to know that. He heard grunting beside him, open frustration, Woolsey glancing at his watch before glaring back up at Daniel.
“Look, I have important matters to attend to, I can’t stand here all day,” he hissed, pivoting around to count the array of boxes Daniel had arranged for just this very task.
“Then leave. There’s an inventory, correct? I’ll report any items that I take and you can check against the inventory,” Daniel offered quickly, seizing the opportunity that was being handed him. Yes Robert, there’s an inventory alright, one my wife can alter before we even make it to the car.
The bureaucrat paused, adjusting his glasses as he glanced carefully at his overpriced watch. Daniel knew he was deciding, debating, trying to figure out whether or not Dr. Daniel Jackson would take something without permission...
“Alright, just hurry up,” he stammered, straightening his tie before heading out the door. Standing in silence Daniel waited, not only for the door to shut but for footsteps to be heard. Not taking any chances he raced for the door, stuffing a chair under the knob and back to the boxes, opening the next case, hoping it had what he was looking for.
“Perfect,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, reaching in with gusto.
*****
“But what about Vala?” Colonel Reynolds asked, cautiously, not meaning to disrespect the general but wondering what was going on. Last he’d heard all off world missions were scrapped and this wasn’t sounding very scrapped at the moment.
“I’m not sure. It’s just your team, go, do what you can and return,” Sam spoke cryptically, her blue eyes darting over at the camera. The colonel nodded, reading between the lines, reaching for his communicator at his ear.
“Yes ma’am,” was his answer as he turned away heading for the door, muttering orders to his men.
It was done.
All she could do was take a deep breath and hope.
*****
She’d changed the code again, back to Skarsgard’s birthday so Daniel would be the only person to join her. The contents of his computer safely stored on two Thundercats hard drives and one Voltron, Adrienne had moved onto to her work issued machine, sending every file that she could to her iPad and her personal cloud account. She glanced at the clock, fifteen minutes had passed, and she was running out of time that she needed to start downloading from the main lab computer, the one on the backside of Daniel’s desk, with information from both the Ktaenam and the main Asgard database.
“Ad, please tell me that you’re finished,” the voice behind her startled her, she hadn’t even heard the door open, but it was just Daniel, the lock of the door behind him clear.
“No, I’ve only got mine and yours. I still need to download the databases and install spyware on the system,” she answered, her eyes intently at the screen.
“Woolsey was headed to a meeting, probably with Bennett and we need to get out of here and get you back to Carolyn, how much longer -”
He never got to finish his question as he watched wife collapse to her knees, holding her belly and screaming in pain.
“Ad,” he raced to her side as she breathed rapidly, in an out like she was in labor, “no, no the baby can’t come now,” but she was shaking her head, still keeping with the breaths.
“No, no, it’s,” she argued, standing, still pacing her breaths, “Braxton Hicks, I think, I just can’t AAAHHH,” she shouted again, painfully, trying to stand and continue.
“Adrienne, we need to get you back to Carolyn,” he urged, pulling her, but she yanked her arm away, glaring at him.
“We need this,” she hissed, crumbling to her knees a second time, her menacing gaze now directed at her belly.
“Nicholas Francis Jackson NOT NOW!!”
“Who?” Daniel asked confused from his knees, his arm protectively around her.
“Your damn son!” she spat, trying to stand again, Daniel helping her to her feet.
“Wait? No Conan? No Han Solo? Nicholas Francis?” he asked, confused; this was the first he heard a normal name come out of her mouth.
“Yes and young man if you don’t let me do this!!!” she shouted, at him first and then their son, standing to her feet again.
“I like it.”
“What?”
“I like it, the name. It’s perfect,” he answered, not believing that it was over, that his son had a name.
“Ahhhh, that’s great Daniel, glad you like it. Little help please,” she begging, on the floor again, how did he miss her sinking to the floor, falling to her side?
“Ja-wer are you SURE this is false labor?” he asked, refocusing, watching her writhe on the floor.
“Nope, but I’m sure we are SCREWED if I don’t get this downloaded so help me!!” she was screaming, they were going to be caught, and whether or not she was experiencing real contractions, she wasn’t in any sort of state to finish the task. There had to be something he could do, something to help when the idea hit him, thrusting into his pockets.
“Ad take this,” he ordered, shoving the stone into her hand, one of the few items he had stolen from the storage facility. Her eyes met his, confused for a moment, pain in her eyes when she understood, clasping the cool rock in her fist.
“I’d like to point out that this is true love considering I’m pregnant, again,” he said from her body, it taking her a moment to realize what he had done.
“I got them in the storage area, and a few other small things, AAHHHH,” his quick explanation was interrupted by a scream and more deep breathing, “work Ad.”
She breathed out herself, standing, stumbling in her new center of gravity, reaching for the keys when it hit her that she, well, rather, her body, had the drives she needed. Kneeling quickly she took them from her own small hands as her face grimaced, the body contracted again.
“Indy, are you-”
“Just do it,” he gasped out, eyes closing to try to meditate away the pain. She nodded, pushing his glasses up his face as she turned back to the screen. From the floor he watched, trying to control the pain, remember what he had read in that stupid book of her about breathing as his own blue eyes darted around the screen in the computer like way that Adrienne’s did so often. There was cajun swearing, in his voice, his feet racing past him to her desk, a few more things taken from the drawer, Adrienne back at his side, the personal computer inside her own head working her internal techno magic.
Yet another contraction ripped through his body, her body, Daniel close to screaming at his son himself. Instead he tried to focus on their latest revelation, the name, the combination of his grandfather and her father, a perfect name for their child to be. He wasn’t about to tell her he really didn’t mind some of her sci-fi and fantasy suggestions, but he was certain now they had all been a joke, that naming their child after the most important figure in Adrienne’s life had been her plan all along.
“Daniel?” his own voice broke his meditative train of thought, bringing him to the realization that he was contracting again, the baby shifting uncomfortably in his body.
“Daniel, sha, stay with me, can you hear me?” she asked again, kneeling in front of him, his hand on her face, eyes locked, “Daniel I can’t get it all, there’s too much, what’s most important?”
Through pain, intense pain and motion, Daniel forced himself to think, to prioritize, trying to determine what would be the most valuable to him if he could never step foot into his lab again. He wanted the Asgard database, the secrets it held, the lifetime of research at his fingertips...
But he needed to help Jonas, to help Langara, to restart Atlantis, to protect Earth, to get Teyla home to her husband, to fix everything that had gone so horribly wrong...
To do that, he needed to stop Anubis.
“Notes from the Ktaenam,” he squeaked out between cramps, “just the notes from the Ktaenam.”
Biting his lip Adrienne nodded again, understanding, realizing the choice he was making, hurrying back to the screen.
*****
“Dr. Jackson, is your wife feeling alright?” the senator asked as he stepped out of the elevator, staring right at the couple, Adrienne reaching protectively into Daniel’s jeans pocket. She’d untucked the t-shirt, hoping it covered the bulges on the sides, hiding the communication stones, the Goa’uld healing device as well as the Asgard shield he had stuffed into his pockets. It seemed a strange combination, but she knew he had a reason and wasn’t going to question; if there was anything she had learned about Daniel was that he did very little in haste.
“She came down to the lab to get a few personal effects and she’s having contractions,” she answered deftly, hoping it sounded enough like Daniel to be believed because it sure as hell sounded like her voice in her head, trapped in her husband’s body or not. The senator didn’t seem convinced, scanning them both with that condescending look on his face telling her that he knew something might be wrong when she felt an arm slip away, a shout from her side.
“Gah dammit Indy it ‘urts!” he screamed beside, correct accent and all, so much so that she was momentarily frozen, impressed by his impersonation.
“Sorry ja-wer, Senator if you’d excuse us please,” Adrienne took her cue, reaching to pull Daniel to her feet, leading him away.
“Swamp rat,” she hissed as they walked, powering ahead to the infirmary.
“Monster, I call you swamp monster,” he corrected despite the pain, forcing a smile.
“Nah Indy, ya be ah rat,” she said with a smile, “but ya be my rat.”
*****
Surprised didn’t quite describe what he felt when he opened the door to the townhouse, the smell of cheeseburgers and fries making his stomach rumble. He thought maybe Jonas had gone out, possibly having taken the bug, but he heard frying, realizing that Jonas was cooking. Best he did, Daniel thought, give him something to take his mind off of things and he could’t ignore the extreme hunger he was feeling, even back in his body. He couldn’t imagine what Adrienne was feeling, his short bout in her pregnant body enough to give him a taste of her hunger, much worse than his own.
“I guess that answers my question,” Adrienne said, her hand resting on Daniel’s back, moving him out of the way, rushing ahead to check her friend.
“Jonas,” he heard her yell down the hall, shutting and locking the door behind him, hoping everything was alright.
“In the kitchen!” the reply came quickly, sounding more like Jonas than this sad person that had been traipsing around their various living spaces for the past day. Maybe there had been news, Daniel hoped there had been news, not having time to stop by Sam’s office to find out for himself. Carolyn had insisted on not only re-examining Adrienne to make sure it was Braxton Hicks but giving her IV fluids once she determined that it was and the contractions were caused by dehydration and a lack of sleep. Feeling a bit better with this turn of events, he hung his coat in the closet, realizing that Adrienne had dashed off still in hers.
“You guys have good timing, I just finished the fries,” the Langaran said with a smile, setting out plates of food on the table. Daniel debated asking for moment but Jonas beat him to hit, yammering on as he raced back for condiments.
“Sam called, she’s says they’re sending a team to Langara,” he announced, the second shock to Daniel for the evening. Sam hadn’t mentioned a word to him but the look on Jonas’ face was clear.
“That’s great,” Daniel answered noncommittally, pulling out the chair for his wife, who had tossed her coat across the sofa, sitting down without argument.
“Yeah, she said it might take a few days, but regardless, it’s something,” he continued, setting the ketchup on the table, taking a seat himself.
“When did she call?” Adrienne asked, grabbing two burgers Daniel noted, deciding to refrain from comment.
“About three four hours ago give or take,” he answered grabbing two himself, leaving only one for his colleague. Daniel sighed, hoping there was something else to eat since after all of this one wasn’t going to tide him over when he saw a pale hand slip in front of him, Adrienne giving him one of hers.
“Thanks,” he whispered, looking back at Jonas, “so what specifically did she say?”
“No specifics, I hadn’t expected any, but she seemed to have every intention of sticking to the plan, so I guess vials of antidote,” Jonas replied, smiling, that childlike aspect of his nature shining through.
“She’ll probably check in later,” Adrienne assured, taking a bite of her burger as Jonas nodding in reply, swallowing before answering.
“Yeah, she said she’d give me a call as soon as she knew something...”
The third shock of the evening came when the phone rang on cue, Daniel watching Jonas dash from the table to the kitchen where he must have left the cordless phone.
“Walter, yeah they just got back. Uh huh. Yes, she called about two o’clock,” Daniel heard only half of the conversation as Jonas chatted with Sam’s assistant, their most trusted member of the support staff. His friend nodded as if Walter could see, slipping a few fries into his mouth, after rolling them in some of Adrienne’s hidden Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, smiling, listening to what Daniel assumed to be good news.
They needed good news after today.
He felt a squeeze at his thigh, Adrienne’s ebony eyes full of hope and light.
They were going to get through this after all, and maybe even get back to their research soon.
He was just about to ask Jonas if Sam needed them back on base when he noticed a change in Jonas’ expression, his smile gone, his eyes lost.
“Thank you. Yes, I’ll tell them. No, I understand. Thank you,” Jonas uttered, setting the phone on the table without even bothering to hang it up.
“Shug, what’s wrong?” Adrienne questioned as she reached forward to grab the phone, hanging it up, securing that line of communication.
“They recalled the ship, to Langara, they called it back,” he started, reaching for a fry, rolling it in his fingers.
“Jonas I’m sorry...” Daniel spoke, too soon, as Jonas was shaking his hand in front of his face.
“No, no, that’s not all. Sam, she’s,” he stammered for a moment, “she’s been fired.”
******
They’d finished eating in silence, what they could eat anyway, Adrienne consuming only enough to satisfy Nicky’s appetite, after Jonas insisted, pleading with her to consider the baby. Choking down half of the burger and a few fries, Adrienne excused herself to the bedroom, wanting to lay down, her head throbbing, her stomach sick. She felt bad to be leaving him, but it was best that she leave Jonas in Daniel’s capable hands.
Daniel always knew what to say.
Her back joining the list of things that were throbbing, she waddled into the bedroom, flicking on the light and making a beeline to the bed. She was tired, she was upset, she couldn’t think and it was taking everything in her power to not cry out for Daniel, begging him to take her into his arms. To be honest she just wanted to talk to someone, anyone, and was debating texting Vala, not only to check on her but to see if she was available to talk, not that she needed to hear Adrienne’s problems as well.
Reaching underneath her t-shirt, she unfastened her bra, pulling it through her sleeve, not even considering pajamas when she noticed a piece of paper folded on the center of the bed. She didn’t remember leaving anything sweet for Daniel, although it was a good idea, they needed more of that lately, but she reached for the paper anyway, thinking she might have just dropped something from her bag.
There wasn’t time to say goodbye to you two but you take care of that baby and you tell him that his Aunt Vala loves him.
P.S. - Ronon says he’ll miss whupping Addy’s ass.
She’d felt loss like this once before in her life, as her father lay in that hospice bed, slipping away, the light in his eyes extinguishing right in front of her.
Then that call had come. That amazing special call had come that she thought was offering her a nice desk job, cataloguing artifacts, writing papers, and organizing files.
That amazing call that had changed her life.
And now it was gone.
Just like her father.
It was a shame she was too dehydrated to cry.
