Daniel & Adrienne #69 - A Crossover with Light God - Three Archaeologists and Little Lady

Three Archaeologists and a Little Lady

"Okay, that has got to be the wackiest plan you have ever come up with!" General Jack O’Neill exclaimed, leaning back in the briefing room chair, near dumbfounded at Daniel’s suggestion.

"You’ve said that before," Daniel countered, not bothering to mention just how many times.

"I also said that I didn’t want you mentioning that damn time machine ever again."

The surrounding members of SG-1 looked on in awkward silence while the General and the Archaeologist, both known for their legendary stubbornness, glared at each other hotly.

Until Daniel reluctantly dropped his gaze to the tabletop, "Look, I know it’s a long shot-"

"You do?" Jack interrupted sarcastically, "Good, ‘cause you’re acting like you don’t."

"-But my point is, right now isn’t it worth the risk?" Daniel continued, stubbornly ignoring Jack’s interruptions. "The Ancients aren’t going to help us, the Asgard and Tok’ra are all but gone. There isn’t going to be a friendly neighborhood alien ally to bails us out of this one. We’re in this alone."

"Have you forgotten the problems that thing caused us last time we screwed around with it?" Jack argued.

"Of course, I haven’t." Daniel snapped. There was no way he could.

"For arguments sake, lets say we do this," Mitchell said, leaning forward in his chair, "Last time we did this we were swapped with our counterparts. What about the others that come here in exchange?"

"That’s the easy part," Sam weighed in. "The substitution component is a safety feature added to the device to protect against entropic cascade failure. It’s not essential to the operation of the device and can be easily bypassed."

"Et tu Beauty?" Jack glared at his lover, already guessing that he was gonna lose this battle. If Daniel had Sam’s backing there would be no logic he could impart to sway their argument.

Sam aimed a shrug in his direction. He should be used to SG-1 not following orders, after all, he started the teams trait. "Of course this means that anyone that goes does so at their own risk. Because of this I would suggest as small a team as possible and a limited time frame to minimize the risk. The hard part will be adjusting the calculations to make the jump to an alternate future rather than an alternate present even possible."

"I know I’m probably gonna regret asking this, but: What’s the point?"

Daniel stared over the top of his glasses at Jack. "To find out if there is a way to defeat the Ori," he stated slowly, as if talking to a child, and not a very bright one at that.

"In an alternate reality? How do we even know that whatever those guys do, did, whatever, would even be possible here?"

Daniel didn’t reply. In truth, there was no way they could know. It was a long shot, a stab in the dark, but at this point they had nothing to lose. The Ori were the greatest threat the Galaxy had ever come across, probably would ever come across and something needed to be done. If only to affirm hope that it was possible to survive.

"Obviously Leesia needs to go." Daniel stated calmly, powering on despite Jack’s reservations.

"Obviously," Jack said questionably, his tone dryly sardonic.

"If anything should go wrong, she’s the one with the most experience in alternate realities. Plus, with her abilities and the fact that the device is Ancient it gives her our best chance should anything go wrong on the other end. It makes sense."

"Daniel, none of this ‘makes sense’" Jack added, making sarcastic quote marks with his first two fingers. "I take it that means battery-boy is going too."

"Yes." Daniel stated firmly, with a nod, choosing to ignore Jack’s new nickname for him. It was a step up from Plant-boy at any rate. “Look, I know it’s a risk, a big one. But what other choice is there?”

******

With the ‘Switching’ crystal safely removed, Sam stood and dusted the muck from her knees.

"Once you jump we'll give you 24 hours before activating the recall," Sam told them seriously.

"That doesn't give us much time," Daniel grumbled, setting an alarm on his watch.

"Any longer than that and the risk of ECF increase dramatically," Sam stated.

Reluctantly, Daniel nodded in agreement. With the Galaxy potentially hanging in the balance he was willing to risk his own safety for more time... Leesia’s on the other hand, was another matter entirely.

“At our best guess this should take you around a decade into the future,” Sam continued.

“It feels somewhat alike our own,” Leesia told him, her hand gliding across the edge of the stone-like device, ”Hopefully that will mean that they have already encountered the Ori.”

“But you need to know whether or not they even know about the Stargate program before revealing classified information.”

“That will be obvious if both Leesia and I are there,” Daniel told them, folding his arms around his waist, “Without it we wouldn’t have met.”

“True,” Sam admitted. “But there’s no telling what changes you’ll find. If not you have to be sure.”

“Okay,” Daniel said, taking a breath and wrapping his arms firmly around Leesia, hoping they were right that the physical contact would keep them together for the jump.  “See you tomorrow.”

“Good luck,” Cam nodded as he, Sam and Teal’c took a step back.

“Thanks,” Daniel replied nervously, they would need it.

“Ready?” Leesia asked, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around him, the other feeling over the device.

“As I’ll ever be,” he replied and with a nod, Leesia activated the device and the couple disappeared.

*****

“He’s down,” Adrienne whispered from the doorway to the bedroom, relief washing over her face. Jaw dropping, Daniel set the bottle of Advil back on the nightstand, forgetting the small collection of medication in his palm.

“Thank God, for good? Please say for good or at least four hours...” Daniel, begged, pleading with his wife even though he knew the effort was in vain.

Nicky was never going to let either of them sleep ever again.

“I hope so, I fed him, burped him, he’s clean, I even sang “The Wheels on the Bus,” although I’m most certainly not the expert on ‘swish swishing’ that you are sha. There’s absolutely nothing else and I’ve gone through every trick in the book,” she replied, referring to the only other source of contention in their household other than the baby himself, the books, which she had reverted right back to the moment Aunt Barbara had headed back home.

“I told you to stop reading that book. Those idiot authors never had a baby. If they had it would come with a gigantic warning on the cover reading: Welcome to parenthood; your life is now over,” Daniel replied, feeling the pills in his hands and remember his aching head, downing them dry.

“You don’t mean that ya cooyon,” she teased, moving to sit beside him on the bed, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Of course I don’t, I just think I’m too old for this. But then again, my wife is practically a teenager and she’s completely falling to pieces so maybe it’s just babies in general,” he joked back, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“Ok, well, your teenaged wife thinks he’s out, for now,” she replied sighing.

“We can only hope,” he whispered, kissing her head, feeling her pull away to stand, looking down at him.

“So....I think I’m gonna shower...” she explained, not moving, but standing at the foot of the bed, smiling.

“Have fun. I’m gonna sit here and enjoy silence,” Daniel answered, letting his weary body flop against the bed, hoping the noise of the plop didn’t stir his pint sized tormentor, but Adrienne was shaking her head at him already, giggling playfully.

“Indy, love, let’s try this again. I think I’m gonna shower and Nicky’s asleep...” she led, biting her lower lip lightly, teasingly.

Come on Daniel, she thought, Carolyn just gave us the ok, it’s been forever, please clue in....

“Oh that? Oh, hell yeah,” he replied, his expression changing as he leapt from the bed, pulling his shirt over his head racing behind her to the bathroom.

*****

It had been too long, god how long had it been, but regardless Adrienne didn’t even bother with foreplay, their usual slow careful washing of one another, letting him slam her against the shower stall and drive himself into her feverishly. She felt him lift her, hoping that he wouldn’t drop her, although he had been good about that lately, well, before Nicky lately, wrapping her leg around his waist, begging him to push harder with her body. Biting her neck, oh my lord is he biting me she thought, Daniel thrust into her forcefully, panting in between his nibbles, Adrienne moaning in pleasure as he continued his hungry drive. She was about to cry out, ask him to slow down before her screaming orgasm made her wake the baby, a climax which seemed to be coming quickly from the lack of activity, when there was a shimmer in front of her and a quick flash of light blinding her only for a moment.

She screwed her eyes closed, another wave of pleasure coursing through her body, before opening her eyes again, staring ahead, her heart stopping.

She couldn’t be seeing what she was seeing, could she?

Of course she was, why would she think for a moment that anything in her life with Daniel Jackson would be normal, sexy post baby showers included.

They were no longer alone.

Not taking her eyes off the interloper, she whispered gently in his ear, “Sha, I know we said we might need to spice things up after the baby, but this is NOT what I was thinking,” the words spilling out of her mouth as her eyes widened.

Frozen mid-thrust, much to Adrienne’s dismay, Daniel stared at her, completely confused, ironically with the same expression as the man behind him. It was another Daniel, a younger Daniel, frozen in shock, water beating down his uniform covered back.

"Spice up how?" he asked, taken aback, starting to pull away, but Adrienne stopped him, holding him firmly in place.

"Oh no Indy, trust me, you don't wanna do that..." she quickly added, thinking that if she wasn’t seeing things her husband needed to stay right where he was, his more private side facing her.

"What Ja-wer?" Daniel whispered, reaching underneath her thigh to thrust in deeper, “did you hear Nicky?” he asked, but she shook her head, holding him gently in place.

There was movement at the man’s rear, great, even better, what da ‘ell there’s three of them, and a petite brunette woman stepped out the best she could in the stall from behind him.

Okay, a second Daniel, that she could attribute to her sleep deprived brain cooking a fantasy she wouldn’t normally consider...maybe...no two Daniels could be a lot of fun, then she’s not really doing anything wrong, but another woman?

Yeah, no, that would never cross her mind, joking with Vala or not.

"Stop what you're doing right now. Don't uh, well, eh, detach, just, Daniel, oh dear god, you have to stop sha, just, dear god why do you have to stop, Daniel just STOP, just stop, turn your head only and look behind you," she stammered out, trying to ignore the waves of pleasure that he was sending through her, closing her eyes, thinking she was losing her mind, damn Nicky, that damn never sleeping baby. She didn’t open her eyes, she didn’t need to; she knew when the thrusting stopped and he dropped her leg that she wasn’t seeing things.

"Good I'm not crazy," she stated, unable to move or say anything more.

Shaking his head in an attempt to recover from the shock of the sight before him, Daniel lifted his hand and covered Leesia's eyes. Of all of the possible situations they could jump into, materializing in his counterpart’s shower, while he was having sex was not one he had thought to consider.

Leesia’s shoulders slumped in a silent huff of disbelief, "Really Daniel? This is nothing I have not seen before," she said, batting his hand away from her face.

"Pretty sure it is," Daniel retorted. While the sight of his naked body would be no shock for her, seeing him so intimate with another woman was definitely high on the ‘things-he-never-wanted-her-to-see’ list.

“Hi I’m Adrienne Jackson. Welcome to our shower,” the crimson faced Cajun was finally able to spit out, noting the blatant discomfort of their surprise guests, well, one of them, really not knowing what else to do.

“You did NOT just say that Ad...” Daniel whispered, looking at his wife in shock as she shrugged, not letting go of his back for a moment.

Unfazed, Leesia smiled in greeting, extending her hand over the naked Daniel’s shoulder towards the new woman. “Thank you. I am Leesia.  I assume my husband needs no introduction,” she giggled lightly.

"Can we save the meet and greet for when some of us are less naked please?" Daniel moaned, his reddening face buried in his wife's shoulder, feeling her hand come quickly to the back of his neck squeezing it gently.

Like that makes it any better, Ad, he thought, but didn’t shrug her away.

"I was just about to say the same," the second Daniel agreed, already pulling Leeisa out of the shower cubical.

"I believe that answers the question as to whether or not I exist in this reality," Leesia stated, matter-of-factly, as her husband yanked the curtain back around the naked couple and shooed her from the bathroom, into a bedroom that looked like it had been pulled straight out of a cheap greek romance novel.

“Ya think?” he replied, closing the door behind them. The couple had shown no sign of recognition towards Leesia; clearly this version of himself had never met her. “Maybe he never ascended,” Daniel mused in a hushed whisper.

Leesia cocked her head in thought, “There is a simple way to find out.”

*****

“It’s safe now Indy,” Adrienne whispered, giggling in his ear, this latest episode in her life too unbelievable to warrant any other reaction.

Pulling back from her embrace, and what little bit of himself had been left inside of her, his arousal all but gone by this point, Daniel frowned, rolling his eyes. “That’s a relative term Ad,” he replied, leaning to shut off the water before turning back to face her.

“Well, they weren’t screaming, so let’s go with they meant to be here just not in the middle of, well, that,” Adrienne tried to joke, opening the curtain and reaching for two towels.

“Let’s pretend THAT didn’t happen and see why they’re here,” he answered, wrapping the fabric quickly around his waist and stepping over the edge, “You need to not be trusting of something just because it looks like me.” Feeling a little sheepish for just a moment for falling into that trap, Adrienne followed, opening the door to their bathroom to find their guest, a feeling of worry in her stomach.

Even though she knew what to expect when she opened the door, it was still a bit of a shock when she saw the somewhat younger version, noting that both of the people were soaked from head to toe staring, waiting, odd expressions on their, or at least his face. The woman seemed calm, very calm and that in and itself made Adrienne feel a little less vulnerable, what with her being naked and all.

Without a word, Leesia boldly stepped up to the man identical to her husband. Gently, she ran her hand up his naked, dripping chest, coming to rest over his heart, immediately a startled gasp caught in his throat.

Stunned and wide eyed, he stared down at where she was touching him. The sensation was unlike anything he had felt before, an intense surge of energy, more powerful than any caffeine binge or adrenaline pumping activity Adrienne had ever dragged him to. It spread through him, from where her hand sat on his skin, making his heart race and his palms sweat.

“What the hell is that?” he gasped out.

“Residual energies, left over from when you were ascended,” Leesia answered him, “More than once, I would guess, judging by the strength. Although they may be stronger at present due to your -”

“-Leesia. Vetoed topic in company,” Daniel interrupted through gritted teeth, seeing where her sentence was heading and cutting her off before she got there. They needed this couple’s help and they were probably embarrassed enough without Leesia reminding them what they had witnessed mere moments before, “Remember? We’ve talked about this.”

‘Repeatedly’ he added inside his head.

She looked over her shoulder and addressed her husband, “I believe you applied those rules for anyone other than you, in anywhere other than the bedroom. Well, he is you and unless I’m mistaken this is the bedroom.”

“Woah, woah, woah, wait,” Adrienne spoke up, screwing up her face in confusion, “you mean he’s got more leftover merde from being ascended?” she asked, worried as to what in the hell is going on, his eyes gazing at her bewildered as if he wanted to explain something, but merely lacked the words. He was calm, eerily calm and collected, his face showing an outward expression of what Adrienne had felt when she saw the woman.

Slowly, dropping her hand, Leesia turned to face Adrienne. Seeing the troubled look the woman was wearing, she quickly backed away and tried to reassured her, “There is no need for concern. It is not harmful.”

Adrienne, however, didn’t seemed convinced, rushing to her spouse’s side, running her fingers where the woman’s had been, searching for a mark or a wound but finding nothing. It was her lot in life it seemed to pick up after Daniel was hurt and she really didn’t want to be adding to the list today.

“Are you ok?” she asked, trying to look him over, her own heart pounding in her chest.

“I’m fine ja-wer, really, it’s wasn’t bad or malicious at all, ” Daniel whispered quietly in her ear, “it was just, well-”

“- Different.” Both Daniels said in unison, the younger nodding in understanding, remembering his similar reaction the first time he had felt the tingles himself.

“I’m sorry if we scared you,” he continued, speaking softly to his other self’s wife, while wrapping a supportive arm around his own, who was looking equally as troubled for causing a panic. “We just had to make sure before we shared classified information. With Leesia not being in this reality we had no way of knowing how much would be the same here,” he rambled on awkwardly, rolling his hand as he spoke. “It was the only way we could be certain.”

“Sha, are you ok, look at me,” Addy asked, still concerned, he was still slightly breathless and it worried her, more than she could put into words.

“Ad, go get that bag from Rodney, the one he had you bring home this afternoon. I think there’s something in there,” Daniel took a breath and requested, Adrienne shaking her head. “I’m fine, go, he wanted me to look at that cloning tool, I think it will, just please, get it,” he sputtered out, Adrienne trusting his eyes and his eyes only dashing to do as he requested.

“I hope you don’t mind but,” he started, his double nodding.

“No, no, of course, we would do the same.”

Adrienne returned in a flash, struggling with her towel, the large black military duffle thrown over her shoulder. Her husband didn’t say a word, kneeling and removing what appeared to be a long stick, standing and walking over to his twin.

“Finger?” he requested, the younger complying, Daniel tapping the end of the device and pulling it quickly away, reading something on the tiny screen, not paying any attention as the other Daniel wiped the excess blood droplet onto his pants leg. There was a light glow and buzz, the elder nodding his head with relief.

“Clear,” he said to no one else but Adrienne, who suddenly looked much better.

“Alright, so you guys are who you appear to be,” she said with a sigh.

“Again, we are sorry to have scared you both,” Daniel said sheepishly, “Believe me, we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

“No, I understand, I do. I just tend to flip shit first and ask questions later when it comes to him; the man seems to be a magnet for injury. I kinda like having him around, on occasion,” she tried to joke, sensing that this couple meant no harm, her heart still racing nonetheless.

Stupid hormones, she thought, makes me worry about stupid Daniel stupidly dying again.

UGH!

“I can relate to the feeling,” Leesia said, giving her Daniel a pointed ‘I told you so’ look and wondering how many times this woman had had to watch her Daniel put himself in the middle of a life threatening situation, leaving her powerless to do anything but watch while his life hung in the balance.

“Ah mon ami, ya too??” Adrienne laughed finally, catching the glance and shaking her head at the younger copy, “must be a Daniel thing.”

Leesia nodded in agreement. “One I am getting most tired with,” she added with a playful grin, the look returning.

“Is this pick on Daniel day?” he asked, frowning and bringing his fist up to rest on his hip.

“Shug, in this house, EVERY day is pick on Daniel day,” Adrienne replied laughing out loud.

"SHHHHH, keep your voice down Ad. For the love of all things holy, please don’t wake the baby!" Daniel hissed, eyeing his wife in warning, however, even as the sentence fell from his lips came the unmistakable sound of a baby crying started from another room.

"I really don't get a break do I?" he huffed, already heading in the direction of the wailing, the steady ‘waaa’ vibrating through his skull.

.

“Let’s get you something to wear, you’re drenched,” the woman offered, reaching for Leesia, “And Indy can hook you up with something I’m sure, after he’s got le P’tit boug calmed down. It’s his turn,” the Cajun told him, at least that is what he thought the accent was, Cajun or Creole.

Thankful that he had an excuse to leave the women to mock and whine about their husbands without having to listen, he quickly left the room looking for his other self.

“Indy?” Leesia asked, curious about the name bestowed on Daniel’s counterpart by his spouse.

“Like Indiana Jones, from the movies, Temple of Doom, Raiders?” Adrienne clarified.

“The fictional Archaeologist?” Leesia questioned, remembering Jack had mentioned the character to her as a suggested baby name for them and Daniel had been less than impressed with the idea.

“Yeah, that one. I used to like to mess with him, a joke between us, but now? Who am I foolin’? I still like to mess with him and the name stuck,” Adrienne grinned, dashing to the side wall and opening a door, revealing a very large closet and an array of clothes inside, taking a careful step over the now absent Egyptian ‘poof’ she had become so used to taking, chuckling quietly to herself at the memory.

Leesia peered round the taller woman into the overly bright and meticulously organised closet. Even by glance she could tell that there was nothing in there that would fit her slight frame. Not really surprising as Adrienne stood at nearly half a foot above her, closer to Daniel’s height than her own.

“Cah, donna worry, I got cha covered,” Adrienne added, noting the look of concern on the woman’s face, reaching for a flowery bit of fabric tucked away on the corner. “I know I’m not a small woman, especially these damn Cajun hips,” the taller woman chuckled, shaking her waist from side to side, a bright grin across her face, “but I’ve got a few sarongs; you can tie it however you want.”

She accepted the multi coloured garment, so different from her usual style of blues and creams, grateful to not have to spend a moment longer in her soaked BDU’s. "I spent the first few days of my human life in Daniel's clothes,” she explained with a smile. “By comparison this is highly agreeable." she added as she removed the zat from her harness, passing it to Adrienne, starting to tug off her wet clothes, the Cajun glancing down in disbelief at the weapon, now in her hands.

And here’s Indy being all paranoid; the damn woman just handed me her gun...

“I bet. So, Leesia, did I say that right?” Adrienne inquired as her guest began to change, wanting to make sure she didn’t offend their visitor.

“Yes, that is right. Although, most seem to call me Lees,” she offered, thinking the acronym may be simpler with the woman’s strong accent.

“Got it, just like to ask. We’ve got a lotta strange names in the Bayou so I’ve been trained to ask how to say just about everything. You can call me Addy,” she explained, shrugging her shoulders before walking over to the dresser, pulling out some yoga pants and a tank, tossing aside her towel to get dressed as she continued, “So...I’m just wondering, to what do we owe this ‘lil visit?  It’s not everyday younger copies of my husband and alter wives pop up in our shower...”

I’m just as damn nosey as he is, she thought, her previous notion of letting Daniel ask why they were here completely out the window.

“Daniel believes he will find answers here,” she said, sounding doubtful. Free of her vest and boots, she unfastened her thigh harness and added it to the growing pile of wet items. “He would not be told otherwise.”

“Yet another trait in common. Let me guess, crazy out of left field idea that stands about a snowball’s chance in hell of working that could possibly kill or injure him and leave you a widow?” Adrienne asked, sensing the woman’s apprehension. It was clear that she cared very much for her husband and was here most likely to keep him out of trouble.

We’re gonna get along great, Adrienne thought.

Leesia giggled; Addy knew him well. “Actually it was I that had to come, Daniel refused to allow me to come alone,” she said, tossing her jacket to the floor and starting to peel off her t-shirt. Adrienne smiled, pulling the yoga pants to her hips.

“Glad to hear his alternate is just as caring,” she added, popping the tank over her head.

“The compassionate nature does seems to be something he was born with. That and the tendency to get into trouble. Stubborn as he is.”

Adrienne decided to refrain from erupting into total laughter and from adding that he was a complete pain in her ass and had been for years, going back instead to her original line of questioning.

“So how’d you guys get here? All of the crazier things we’ve got stored in area 51, but I was pretty sure the quantum mirror was destroyed,” the Cajun asked, kneeling to collect her towel and guest’s wet clothes.

“While that would have been preferable, unfortunately the mirror would not have been useful in this instance,” Leesia replied, pleased that so much of this reality was proving to be similar to their own. The closer they were the more likely it was for Daniel’s plan to weld results. “We needed to come to a future timeline. So Sam made alterations to the device on PX7-169.” She tugged off her BDU pants and handed them over.

“PX7-169? Never heard of it,” Adrienne answered, her brain going a mile a minute. It didn’t fit current codes, nor did it fit any of the new ones in their system, “Ancient?” she asked, the promise of a possible useful tool for themselves dashing through her head.

Eyeing up the strange garment, Leesia nodded. “Yes. Considering the laws of my people, I am amazed they leave potentially dangerous technology all over the galaxy for any race to find,” she said in clear disapproval.

Seeing Leesia standing unashamed, in her panties, which thankfully had avoided getting soaked, turning the sarong over in her hands like she had never seen one before in her life, Adrienne took it from her and shook it open, folding it carefully in half like a blanket, holding it up to the woman.

“Of all the damn times dat Vala’s skinny ass donna leave anything ova ‘ere ya po’ ding gotta be stuck in my merde, ‘ere let me,” Adrienne muttered, directing the woman’s arms up to wrap the garment behind her back, her brain kicking back and forth between thoughts, “Apparently. We’ve been finding all sorts of leftover goodies as time passes, things that shouldn’t have really been sittin’ around.”

“I’m pleased that someone else, finally, understands that,” Leesia smiled broadly. “The others seem to be on the impression that anything they find is theirs for the taking.... except Jack who I think is merely trying to avoid more trouble... Unless it comes in the form of a weapon that is.”

“And apparently some things never change, regardless of timeline or alterverse,” Adrienne responded, signalling with her hand that she follow her out of the closet back into the bedroom to where she hoped her husband was calming the neverending cry fest in the room next door.

Leesia followed, stepping over the clothing that seemed to be literally strewn all over the place.

“Sorry, we, uh, well, with the baby, it’s hard to get time, alone, like that,” Adrienne stammered, blushing, tiptoeing around what this stranger, this other wife of another version of her husband who was standing in front of her in her beachwear for some unknown reason, had just witnessed.

“I can imagine,”  she replied, forcing herself to mask the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat, immediately regretting her choice of words. This version of Daniel had the family that he longed for, the striking, if somewhat quirky, wife and child. They were happy and she was not about to let her own pain cloud their happiness.

Keeping further comments to herself, she followed the tall woman as she led her out of the bedroom door and into the hallway, presumably in the direction of the nursery.

“Can you take him Ad, please, I’d like to actually have a chance to put some clothes on considering we have company,” Daniel pleaded as he entered the hall, a small whimpering bundle in his arms, gesturing to his significant other to free him. Finally noticing that her poor husband was still in a towel, water droplets cascading down his neck, driving her wild, Adrienne reached out to take the child, trying not to let her eyes wander too much down his body.

Damn baby, damn visitors, I’m never gonna have sex again, she thought, grimacing.

Without another word, the older Daniel headed to the bedroom to change, signaling his double to follow.

Now that he could actually hear what the man was saying, or hear anything at all other than wailing, Daniel started right in with his questions.  “As my wife so tactfully put it, you weren’t screaming back there, so I assume you planned on popping in?” he asked cautiously, a part of him still holding up his guard. Adrienne hadn’t been around long enough to know better, despite everything.

The trailing Daniel rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeah,” he said, drawing the word out, “Timing  kinda sucked, but this is a planned trip. Uh, I really don’t know where to start um. Okay, back in our reality we’ve encountered the Ori.” He paused seeing if his counterpart responded to the name, which he did, the frown on his face telling him this was a familiar term.

“Oh fun,” he replied, indicating that he carry on as he dug through the dresser, passing back a black t-shirt.

“Yeah, not really,” he replied with a sarcastic purse of his lips. Taking the offered T he rambled on as he tugged his soaked clothes off his body, “Anyway, as we had a, for lack of a better word, time machine at our disposal we decided to jump ahead to find some answers. Between you and me, we’re in over our heads with this one.”

“This is the Ori we’re talking about, we’re all in over our heads,” the man at the dresser replied, starting to peel the towel away but pausing, taking a quick glance at this intruder. The man was just undressing like he was supposed to be here, tossing his weapons aside like it was nothing, another sign to Daniel that this may be alright; that while they were not clones they could have been anything else.

You used to trust people so much more; let’s give it a chance now, “When are you guys from?”

Averting his eyes to avoid a second up close and personal view of the other man’s butt, my butt, his butt, whichever, Daniel pulled the shirt over his head, “2005,” he told him, “We aimed for a jump approximately a decade into the future, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly.”

“Close, welcome to 2013, mid year, my, well, our birthday is next week,” he answered, turning hand over a pair of jeans, pivoting back himself to pull his own pair to his hips.

“Well, we won’t be here that long, we’re on a 24 hour time limit, well-” he checked his watch, “23, 30. So Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks but I try not to think about it, I haven’t had much luck with birthdays in recent years,” future Daniel tried to joked as he turned back around, noting the curiosity in his guest’s face.

“Forget I mentioned it. Ok, the Ori is it? Then this is probably a conversation we should have with the ladies,” he added quickly, wanting his comfort zone close if he was going to have to relive this again.  

The man’s sudden change of tone, going from almost playful to anxious at the mention of the Ascended beings, worried Daniel. Whatever had happened in this reality concerning the Ori couldn’t be good.

*****

“Sorry, he just cries. A lot. For no reason. I’m sorry, I only know ya name and here Imma vay yay wit ya like I’ve known ya,” the Cajun apologized, adjusting the child in her arms, her mind so fuddled with exhaustion that she could have just kept her mouth shut but, among other things she had picked up from Daniel over the years, yammering on and on was the worst of the habits.

“True blessings must come at a price. There is no greater blessing,” she smiled, hoping that it came across as sincerely as she meant it to be.

“He is, for more reasons than you know. I just wish that I knew what was wrong with him,” she added, her dark eyes closing in frustration as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Leesia paused, closely studying the tiny bundle squirming in his mothers arms, his little face reddened as he cried insistently. His tiny brow was puckered in a very Daniel-like frown, one that she had seen too many times before to not recognize immediately.

“He is frustrated,” she said, sympathetically.

“Trust me, so are mom and dad,” Adrienne replied, glancing over at where the Daniels had left, in more ways than one, she thought, damn Indy skipping out on his turn. “We’ve tried everything we can think of. He just doesn't stop crying. Ever!” Adrienne sputtered out, exasperated; she just couldn’t take it anymore, Nicky wailing in her arms.

“It must be something that you have not thought of then,” Leesia stated simply.

“Trust me, we’ve done everything, read every book, but I’m open to suggestions,” the Cajun continued, looking for any answers this stranger might have.

“Sometimes the best knowledge comes from the heart not from ink.”

“Well, mon ami, I’m out of ideas, out of everything, here, have at it, PLEASE,” the Cajun sighed, taking a step forward. For the tiny person’s entire four week existance they’d been trying to get him to calm down and stop the insistent screaming, if Leesia thought she could do any better she was gonna have a shock coming.

“Oh no, I did not mean that-” Leesia began holding her hands up in protest, but suddenly there was a baby in her arms, a wildly screaming baby, the close proximity making his cries all the louder to her unaccustomed ears.

It was odd holding a baby of Daniel’s that was not also hers, odd, yet surprisingly warm and comforting. Daniel deserved his dreams to come true no matter which version. This woman had made that possible for this one, sweetly nicknamed “Indy” and had also given him the family he so richly craved. Their baby was a blessing and blessed.

Their family was whole.

“I know, I know,” Leesia cooed sympathetically, smiling down at him,  “It is all right. We can hear you, you do not need to cry.”

And in that instant, Nicholas stopped crying, his mother almost hitting the floor.

“Oh my gawd, he stopped. He really stopped.”

“You know, your Father is the most intelligent person I have ever met.  He is just sleep deprived, as is your Mother. They will be able to understand what has you so upset if you just let them sleep,” Leesia continued, speaking directly to the child.

“How’d you do that?” the taller woman inquired, watching this stranger do exactly what she herself had done before, but this time it was working, it was really working. Hope in her eyes as she stepped forward cautiously to peer down at her now quiet child.

“He must have inherited his father’s compassion,” Leesia surmised, Adrienne frowning, much like Daniel as well, Leesia noted.

“And my stubbornness, what a great combination,” Adrienne added, hearing shuffling behind her.

“I think I’ve gone deaf?” Indy checked as he entered the unexpectedly free of wailing and now tranquil room, trailed by his other self, staring over at his wife in confusion, who was already making a face at him.

“Yep, add that to the list of old man supplies I need to buy you, a hearing aide,” she spat back, looking back her son.

“Cute Ad, what did you do to him?”

“Nothing, it was Leesia, she just took him and he stopped...” she answered, not knowing what else to say and having no other explanation for what just happened.

“So you didn’t drug him?”

His wife glared at him, a chilling stare, before racing up and hugging the smaller woman, child still in her arms. The baby remained silent, cooing even, was he cooing, Adrienne whipping around and turning to Daniel, shoving her husband out of the way.

“Can we keep her? Like forever?” she asked the other man, her own husband’s eyes rolling.

“Oh I am certain it was not my doing,” Leesia stated quickly, gently handing Nicky back to the flabbergasted mother before any further misunderstanding could occur. Adrienne was nervous, reaching out for him before pulling back her hands, afraid that if she touched him it would set off the wailing again.

Stop being stupid, she told herself, extending her arms a second time to take her son, who remained blissfully calm as she made herself comfortable holding him.

He was still calm, his dark brown eyes gazing up at her own.

“Beb, listen. We love you, we do, and if I knew what to do I would do it, ok? Just give us a break,” Adrienne tried now, realizing that other than the days right after his birth she had never had the chance to say anything to him, to talk to him other than begging him to please stop crying.

“Nicky, shug, let’s go to sleep. Sweetie you need a lot more sleep than you get, just lay down for a while, okay? Don’tcha wanna be big and strong?” she urged, holding him tighter, like she felt she should, like she felt that she hadn’t been able to. As if on cue, the baby yawned and closed his eyes, Adrienne scanning the room.

“I’m gonna go put him back down, if ya’ll’ll excuse me,” she whispered in apology, slipping down the hallway.

“So beb, here’s what happening. Another Daddy and yet another alien have appeared in Mommy’s shower. Alien lady weird zaps Daddy which is supposedly ok, but makes me now worry about other weird merde that your Daddy doesn’t know about but she’s apparently a baby whisperer. Yep, that about sums up your life at this moment little one, welcome to the Jackson family,” Adrienne muttered, more to herself than the sleeping child in her arms, bumping the nursery door open with her hip to make a beeline to the crib. Leaning over carefully, she placed the child into his bed, pulling the mossy looking blanket over him.

Amazingly, Nicky remaining peacefully undisturbed and Adrienne paused at the door looking back at the sleeping angel.

Two Daniels, another alien woman with freaky ascended abilities and now a silent Nicky.

It was too weird.

Harshly, she pinched her own forearm. “Ok, so not dreaming.” she mumbled, pulling the door closed and heading back to rejoin the madness.

*****

“If everything’s alright now, we actually have something serious to discuss,” the elder Daniel announced as his wife returned. Taking a deep breath, knowing where her thoughts were going to take her and knowing that she was about to freak out considering he had only just told her about Galar, “They’ve met the Ori.”

Her eyes widened at the name, as he knew they would and he gave her a long pointed look, a look that said, stall, do something, I need a moment and then I need you.

“Coffee, then, a whole pot,” she declared, herding the guests the rest of the way down the hall to the center of the room.  It was her first thought, coffee; in Lousiana everything could be fixed with coffee.

God, I’m turnin’ into Aunt Barbara, she thought, darting her eyes over to the second Daniel, “One cream, two sugars right? How about you?” she added to Leesia, wondering if this other woman was as much of a fan as her husband.

“No, please allow me,” she said softly, not moving from her spot. They were stalling, that much was clear, although why they would do that didn’t make any sense to her, but she clutched Daniel’s hand as an uneasy feeling washed over her.

Raising her eyebrows, Adrienne stared at her husband, trying to determine what exactly she meant by allow me. However, before she could voice the question the sound of what was unmistakably their most beloved household appliance, their newly replaced beloved household appliance, sputtering to life came from the kitchen behind her.

Seeing the pair’s confused expression, Daniel spoke up. “I should probably explain that Leesia is a technopath.”

“A what?!” his counterpart asked, wondering if he heard him right.

“A technopath, sha, someone with the ability to control technology with their mind. Like Micah from Heroes,” Adrienne explained smiling as Daniel rolled his eyes. Adrienne’s knowledge of pop culture never ceased to amaze him, “you need to read more comics Indy.”

“Right,” the younger agreed, although he’d never heard of this Micah character... or Heroes for that matter, but he was certain that his other would find out sooner than he.

“Is that something left over from when you were ascended?” Adrienne asked, her mind wandering, her computer-like brain kicking into overdrive, “Sha, remember, ya, well ‘contribution’, wha if da descension changes each person en a diffrent way, wha if da same ting da make ya ahn me act like da damn X-men is whas makin’ our friend ‘ere ‘ave all sorts ah sparkly powas,” Adrienne explained, tried to explain, glancing to the small woman to see if she could answer. Catching that she had slipped in the excitement of the idea, her words getting the best of her, Adrienne took a breath, forcing herself into professor mode.

“Sorry Leesia, I was just thinking about the descension. You see, Daniel has sexually transmitted to me some sort of gifts that he had derived from his descension back to earth that has made some fundamental changes to his as well as my personal genetic makeup,” Adrienne clarified, her spouse’s jaw dropping.

“She went there,” he said to no one but himself, shaking his head wondering what other highly personal information Adrienne was going to offer up.

“Could that be it?” she added, wondering if she was right, “Have either of you experienced any other significant changes?

“Uh, no it is, em-”

“A long story,” younger Daniel quickly interrupted, knowing Leesia wouldn’t want to explain herself. Having the memories was painful enough without voicing them. He gently ran his thumb across the back of Leesia’s knuckles, hoping that his touch alone would ease the tension he could feel from her. “Basically, the sharing energy is left over from being ascended, but the technopathy was, uh, pre-ancient. Something that was unwillingly done to her,” he told them, hoping it would be explanation enough and catching Leesia’s grateful half-smile to him out of the corner of his eye.

“Oh,” Adrienne uttered, sensing the other woman’s discomfort, “I’m sorry. I’ve had some awful stuff happen to me too and I understand if you don’t want to talk about it. I couldn’t for a very long time,” a pale hand reached out in her direction, a kind smile to match, “it’s just that being with Daniel’s just filled my life with all sorts of surprises.”

Much to both Daniels’ and Adrienne’s surprise, Leesia started giggling. “I imagine that any Daniel would not be the most relaxing of husbands.”

“Hey!” Both Daniel’s protested in unison.

“What?” Leesia frowned in confusion at both of them. “It is the truth. You cannot deny that you have a knack for getting into bizarre and dangerous situations.”

Speaking of which, Daniel thought glancing over at his wife who read his eyes as she did.

“Coffee, and I’ll get the fixin’s,” Adrienne interjected, for the second time in as many minutes seeing what he needed without having to say, quickly scooting out of the room.

“We should probably sit down,” he redirected his attention to his unexpected guests, ushering them over to the sofa where he took a seat himself on the smaller of the two pieces of furniture out of courtesy.

He turned his face slightly, not wanting this other version of himself nor his significant other to see the worry on his face, pretending to look back for Adrienne to come prancing out of the kitchen with coffee, mugs and creamer. He had no doubt that his other self would see through this gesture in a heartbeat, but maybe Leesia could be spared, but it was too late, he realized as he took a swift glance out of the corner of his eye. By the look on her face she had clearly spotted the apprehension that he was trying to hide. All he could do now was avoid their eyes and pretend neither of them had noticed.

He sat there in silence trying to formulate his words when yoga panted hips were in front of his face mere seconds before a large blue mug followed.

“Food too?” she asked, her eyes saying it all, she could read and she was going to play it cool for his sake.

“Not yet, thank you ja-wer,” he responded quietly, setting the mug on the table in front of him.

“I live to serve,” she teased, racing back to the kitchen to get something more. Taking the chance to use the coffee as an excuse, he reached forward, bringing the cup into his grasp and sipping slowly allowing her time to return to his side, which she did, her own silly character mug in hand.

With a deep breath Daniel took Adrienne’s hand nervously as she crossed her legs yoga style onto the loveseat. Glancing over at his younger self he wondered how best to start, exactly how horrible he was going to let this conversation get. Then again, maybe it didn’t have to be as bad for this version as it had for him, clearly, these two were very much in love, he could tell as his alternate mirrored his actions, clasping the other woman’s hand lightly. He knew that things would have been easier for him, had he had Adrienne at his side.

“I don’t mean to pry, but...”

“Pry, all you wish. I have no secrets from Daniel. Whichever version may be asking.” Leesia reassured, with a cheeky child-like grin.

“Good...” he continued, squeezing Adrienne’s hand, “...how strong a relationship do you two have? I’m not questioning anything, it’s just that - “ he cut himself off, at a loss for the correct words to express exactly what he knew the two of them were going to experience.

“No, no that’s okay. We’re uh, we’ve had our problems,” Daniel began, “But we’ve overcome them, for the most part. I mean...”

“No, I don’t mean it like that, Adrienne and I, just, well, let’s just say that we’re no strangers to...” the other began, Adrienne swiftly elbowing him in the side, thinking they had aired enough of their personal life, Daniel didn’t need to add to it.

“I will never leave him,” Leesia stated steadily, interrupting the Daniels’ awkwardness. At the rate those two were going it was going to take longer than they had to get to the answer.

“Alright, good, I just needed to ask,” the elder replied, taking a breath again and continuing, “I take it you haven’t meet Merlin yet?”

“We found Avalon, in Glastonbury, if that’s what you mean? That’s kinda how we got into this mess in the first place,” his guest answered quickly.

Wanting to discuss this as little as possible Daniel nodded. “Right, so I can assume you found the communication device?”

Leesia nodded. “Yes. We went to the Ori galaxy -”

“- Didn’t like it much,” Daniel interjected with a shrug.

“So, it was you that went?” the elder now asked, pointing at Leesia. In their timeline Daniel must have avoided being bound to Vala by Nut’s damn marriage cuffs...lucky bastard...

Leesia nodded and carried on, “I could tell from the technology that they were like the Ancients, but their ways went against everything the Ancients stood for.”

“The burning people alive was a dead giveaway,” Daniel clarified.

“Never a sign of peaceful beings is it?” Adrienne added quickly, trying to joke.

“I take it the Ori know about the Milky Way then?” the Cajun’s husband asked now, continuing to judge without giving too much away, he hoped. Seeing the others guilty look, he continued, “You clued them in too, huh?”

Daniel nodded, “Am I ever gonna live down?”

The still damp haired man wrinkled his nose and quickly shook his head, causing Daniel to huff, “Great. Anyway, things have been going from bad to worse ever since. We’re losing whole planets of potential or previous allies. Prior plagues are ripe throughout the Galaxy. We’re alone and have no idea where to turn from here… hence the jump.”

Daniel nodded thoughtfully, Adrienne taking the mug from his grasp with him barely noticing. There were differences, many, many differences and it was startling thinking how much one person's presence could change things. Without knowing precisely what was different and how, he couldn’t give them a ‘How to defeat the Ori’ step by step guide, but he could at least point them in the right direction, a direction that hopefully wouldn’t disrupt the timelines too much, this strange alternate past that he had never lived. Scanning the coffee table for paper that he knew was always there, he pulled a legal pad towards him.

“The first thing you need to do is find Merlin,” he told them noting down the gate address and instructions on how to get to Merlin and the Sangreal, “He’ll know what to do... you just have to trust him...but I’m not gonna lie, it won’t be easy,” he continued, his own blue eyes focused on Daniel’s, pushing the pad towards him and sitting back on the sofa into Adrienne’s waiting arm, thankful for it to be there.

She rubbed his back, she knew, she always knew, hugging him close and resting her head on his shoulder.

Turning fearful eyes to Daniel’s older self, Leesia pleaded, “Does it have to be Daniel?” The pain that this Daniel was trying to hide was clear in his mannerisms and the way he had clung to his wife, like a lifeline, that whatever was coming was going to be hard...very hard.

“I can’t tell you what’s gonna happen in your future, only what happened in my past,” he replied, wishing he could tell her otherwise and give her the comfort and reassurance that she clearly was desperate to hear, thinking how Adrienne would take the news of having to do this, on purpose and watch while he suffered. There was simply no way to tell if things would pan out the same way in their reality, but maybe with this person there, this wife, his own love, that things would be different.

I know it would have been different for me, Daniel thought, it would have been different had Adrienne been by my side, she would have kept me from falling over the brink; I’m just lucky that I found her.

She brought me back from what I became.

Adrienne slipped her hand from his and reached around his waist, hugging him the best she could from the side. Without one another we would have been completely lost, she added to no one but herself, hoping in her heart that whatever fate lay in front of their two new friends that it would be less painful with their being together.

“That’s about all I can tell you for that, but as for the Prior plague there is a cure,” he admitted the one thing he could think of that he could do to help.

“There is?” Daniel quickly piped up excitedly.

Smiling, the elder nodded. “I don’t know how much, if any, we’ll still have some after all this time, or in what condition it might be in and it’ll have to wait until the morning to get at it, protocol and everything, but yes, there’s a cure. Samples or instructions at least.”

“Ja-wer?” he now said, quickly changing the subject as he glanced over at Adrienne, “I think they should stay here tonight. Can you give Sam a call?” his thoughts immediately on their reaction to the new reality of Stargate Command and how that knowledge could affect their timeline. There were so many things to take into consideration, so very many things, and it was best if the only changes they knew of were the marriage they were witnessing right now.

“On it,” she replied quickly, jumping up from the sofa, dashing to the kitchen to secure her cell phone.

“Hey Walter, it’s Addy. Can you patch me through to General O’Neill? Yeah, that one,” she spoke as she walked back into the room, her phone to her ear and her mood lighter.

“Didn’t she say she was calling Sam?” Daniel asked, leaning over to whisper the question to Leesia.

"Heya Sam, mon ami, we've got a bit of a situation here," Adrienne came back to the sofa, sitting down beside Daniel once more, crossing her legs again in front of her.

“Never mind,” Daniel continued, thinking he couldn’t wait to tell the couple that difference when he got back.

The Cajun made a face of confusion, like she was trying to figure out what to say, dancing her head back and forth waiting her turn to speak.

“Yeah, we’ve got a bit of an interesting situation here. See, there are three descended in my house and I’m only sleeping with one of them...” she said into the phone, her husband reaching to rub his temples, while Leesia covered her mouth so her giggles wouldn’t interrupt the call.  

“Yep. No one of them is another Daniel. Version 1.0... Pretty much... I know, right? ... Ok we’ll be there in the morning... No, really, Sam, I’m so used to it now it’s just sad... No problem, thanks,” she hung up the phone, smiling at her company.

“And?” Daniel asked from the loveseat, her jovial expression being hard to read.

“And we’re good to go, and she thinks hiding more pop-in guests would be a wise move at this point,” she explained cryptically, quickly readdressing her guests. “Alright that’s settled, one storage raid in the a.m. scheduled. Now, in the meantime, I think we need to relax a bit, have something to drink.”

“Ad, grab the Godiva,” her husband requested, appreciating her offer, thinking a drink was exactly what he needed right now and probably what his guests needed as well.

“What is that?” Leesia asked.

“Gourmet Chocolate Liquor,” Adrienne answered with a smile, “it’s what I’ve got lightweight here hooked on. That and European wine.”

Seeing the face Leesia was making at the suggestion, Adrienne continued, “or not..., shug if you haven’t had it, it’s just chocolate paradise sliding down your throat.“

The younger man laughed, shaking his head, “Uh, actually, it’s the chocolate that she has a problem with. I think that Leesia is probably the only woman on the planet that doesn’t like it and she’s never tried alcohol.”

“You’ve never drank before?!” Adrienne inquired, puzzled, a part of her wanting to know exactly how long this woman had been on Earth.

Damn shame we’ve only got twenty four hours, she thought, I could have so much fun introducing her to the wide world of wine and cheese.

“Ah mon ami, I’ve got something then you’ve got to try!” she said excitedly, already heading to the kitchen.

“Don’t get the moonshine, don’t get the moonshine, please God, not the moonshine,” the overly excited Cajun’s spouse muttered under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head, already knowing what was coming.

“She ‘as gotta try da Moonshine,” she called back, almost on cue, and he could hear the distinct sound of her rooting through the cabinet in search of the jar in question.

Her husband let out a resound sign, before turning to his younger self hopefully, ”You have any control over yours?”

Daniel laughed loudly, “Oh I’m not making any comments on that one.”

“Wanna see if you can stop mine?”

“I could try...” his counterpart mused with a thoughtful pout, “but I’m not going to.” Truth be told, he was more than mildly curious to see how Leesia would take to this new experience.

“Thanks for your help,” the other Daniel sighed, reaching behind himself on the couch for Adrienne’s satchel, removing her iPad and sitting it in his lap. A few quick flicks on the screen and he passed it to his alternate, a smirk on his face. “If we’re gonna have social hour, especially with Ad, you’re gonna need this.”

“What’s this?” Daniel asked, taking the unfamiliar item, frowning at it.

“The Adrienne dictionary, Cajun slang 101, available in touchscreen. I used to speak twenty eight or so languages. Marrying her has made that twenty nine, if you can even call that a language, WHICH I DON”T,” he shouted at the end, smiling playfully.

“I heard dat sha. Don’t forget, I know where ya sleep,” she responded, laughing lightly as she came back in with a fist full of shot glasses and a large jar of clear liquid nearly crammed to the lid with pieces of fruit.  “It’s cherry peach,” she explained, depositing her load onto their small mahogany coffee table and taking a seat on the floor between her husband’s legs, “but I don’t recommend that any of you three eat the fruit. It sends my Daniel crawling in the floor - “

“Does not,” he protested.

“Fine, makes him fall unconscious on the floor, and I’m assuming that yours is the same and you hun, you just wait,” she interrupted herself, pouring a small glass and passing it over to her new friend as she had begun to think of her.

“Here mon ami, try this but go SLOW. Little sips,” she instructed, sitting back on her heels to await her reaction.  

“Seriously, Leesia, go very very slow. My wife is an insane swamp monster that doesn’t realize the rest of us have livers. Please be careful,” Indy cautioned, an evil Cajun glare being shot in his direction.

“I am NOT a swamp monster,” she laughed, kneeling in front of the woman.

Leesia eyed up the innocent looking liquid in her glass. It really couldn’t be as bad as they were making it sound... Could it?

It certainly didn’t smell unpleasant, rather sweet and fruity, most likely too sweet for her tastes. Carefully, she took a small sip, rolling it around her mouth, her face screwing up more and more the stronger the taste of the liquor grow... until she spat it back into the glass.

“I believe we should have had the chocolate,” she choked, her eyes watering.

“Ok, so you’re not a junior swamp rat, noted...” she turned to younger Daniel who was rubbing Leesia’s back trying to not laugh at her. Adrienne didn’t say a word for a moment, that cheshire grin of hers stretching from ear to ear, a sparkle in her dark Cajun eyes when she finally spoke, “Now you my friend, seeing as how ya gots so much in common wit my man here, ya gotta have some swamp-rattedness in ya...” she taunted, daring him to drink.

Hesitantly, he took the offered drink. The shot glass paused at his lips, Daniel looked over at his other self, “Homemade?”

“Yep, but not by me,” his older self told him. “Her uncle makes it...they like it strong!” he said emphasising the last word as a warning, an idea popping into his head, “Actually, I’ll get you a beer to wash it down... Ad’s been on some microbrew kick after Cam left some stuff here and with the baby it’s just sitting in the fridge going to waste.”  

“Woah, woah, sha whatcha be vay yay ‘bout nah by me!?!” Adrienne asked, coughing on her own glass of shine, a juice glass full of corn liquor, ignoring Daniel’s quick subject change to beer.

“I can make moonshine, well, homemade alcohol, not this rot-gut,” he answered, calmly, over his shoulder trying not to smile, quickly ducking into the kitchen to grab the beer.  

“Ya been ‘oldin’ out on me!?!” she was shouting, laughing, her eyes, those dark eyes that he knew were the front for the crazy thoughts going on in her brain, “What kinda supplies we be needin’ ta make this a reality?!?”

Still smiling as he came back into the living room, Daniel passed over the beer, set another in front of himself just in case and took a seat, his playful eyes teasing Adrienne.

“You two are just here to cause all kinds of trouble today, aren’t you?” he joked, downing his glass, bringing it down just as he felt his wife take a seat beside him.

“We’re gonna hafta discuss dis lata Indy,” she teased, scolding, looking at the younger copy of her husband, “You’re up.”

Seeing he was not going to get out of it, under the Cajun’s watchful eye, Daniel took back up the glass and knocked it back without comment, immediately swigging the beer straight after.

“Impressive,” Adrienne joked, her husband rolling his eyes at yet another Star Wars reference; it seemed she just wasn’t going to hold back tonight in the least.  

She peeked back over at Leesia to see if she had recovered from her earlier shot. “Ok, mon ami, it’s seems we are looking drier...let’s see..” Adrienne’s face furrowed, deep in thought as she leapt up, making her way to a very large piece of furniture in the corner of the room, an oversized cabinet of sorts with gigantic cherry doors.

Daniel was about to make a comment that would explain to their guests exactly what was going on as his wife yammered on excitedly in Cajun french when she appeared in front of them again, grabbing Leesia by the wrists and pulling her to her feet. “I need to ask you some questions,” was all the explanation she offered, dragging Leeisa to the collection of bottles.

“The shrine,” Indy said, taking a sip of the moonshine.

“Do I want to know?” Daniel replied.

“Nope.”

“Alright, so what do you know about wine?” Adrienne asked, her eyes darting between the bottles and her new friend.

Leesia eyed up the intimidating piece of furniture, at least as tall as Daniel himself, filled to the brim with dozens upon dozens of glass bottles, “Obviously a lot less than you do.”

“That’s ok, that’s what most people say. Good, then I can fix you in advance,” she smiled devilishly before continuing, “what’s your favorite food?”

“Most things are pleasing to me. Well, other than the ludicrously sweet things that Daniel consumes.”

“No one should eat what Daniel consumes, no one. Ok, let’s try another approach. If you HAD to choose between a really juicy piece of steak or chicken which would you prefer. Don’t think about it; go with your gut?”

“No thinking.” Addy quickly added when Leesia immediately paused in thought.

“Well, it would depend on whether you mean actual chicken or those MRI’s we have to endued that are meant to taste like chicken.”

“Oh shug, lord, what is he feedin’ ya? I’m ‘bout ready to call Jonas,” Adrienne said.

Leesia frowned in confusion. Things were certainly different here if these people called the Langarans for take-out.

“In a nice restaurant, with real honest to god food, do you usually order steak or chicken?” Adrienne tried rephrasing the question, Leesia shrugging.

“We have only been able to go twice.”

“And what didya order?”

“Daniel ordered for me.”

“I need more than a day, ok, I like red so we’re gonna start with red. And how bad is this hatred of chocolate?” Adrienne shook her head, trying to push away crazy ideas of sampler platters and cheese tasting and focus on what she had to work with.

“I would say on par with Jack’s hatred of the infirmary,” Leesia answered.

“Mild red it is,” Adrienne declared, grabbing two glasses from where they were so carefully hung at the top of the shelf by their stems, lines and lines of glasses.

“You two really drink all this?” the former Ancient asked, unable to take her eyes of the monstrous amount of wine before her. Using the Stargate for take-out was one thing, but Daniel, any Daniel, being able to cope with THIS large an amount, was too much for her to believe, even if it was half as strong as the Cajun woman’s previous offering, “Because I doubt my Daniel would be able to consume even a miniscule fraction of this and remain alive, let alone coherent.”

Judging by the way Leesia’s Daniel had thrown back his shot without complaint, Adrienne was starting to think that the former Ancient had actually got the better deal, in terms of alcohol tolerance anyway. Her Daniel had passed out on the floor more than once long before they were together.

“Yes and no. If I find a flavor I like at a tasting I buy a few bottles and then I just like to keep around a variety for guests, but honestly there are only a few we really drink,” she began to explain, smiling and giggling, unable to resist a quick jab, “and I don’t get Daniel too drunk; I like for him to be able to actually, uh, well, be able to, uh perform...”

“You do know we can hear you, right?... And you’ve never complained.”

“Because I control the consumption. No margin of error sha!” the Cajun shouted back at her husband, reaching for Leesia’s arm to continue her quest, “now mon ami, to cheese. Do you like cheese?”

“Ja-wer, I was thinking drinks, not a formal tasting,” Indy butted in for a second time, Adrienne rolling her eyes.

“Ignore him, I do,” she replied to the small woman, leading her into the kitchen.

“You do realize this is only gonna get worse once they start drinking?”

Daniel grinned. “I don’t think I need to worry about that. Leesia doesn’t exactly conform to, um, conservative ways.” He shrugged. “She wasn’t brought up with the normal impressed boundaries. I’m kinda used to her speaking the brutal truth.”

“Adrienne has no excuse other than just being Cajun,” Indy replied, taking a sip of the shine again and giving the other a knowing grin, “How’s your drink?”

“Perfect, thanks for the bail. Think that would have floored me,” he said nodding at his empty shot glass.

“Who’d have thought that trick would ever have come in handy again,” the elder added, memories of the few college events that he had attended washing into his head. Spit it back into the bottle, he thought, just so easy. “Just glad you remembered it too.”

“Hard to forget. You seem to be doing okay. No rouse needed,” the younger quizzed, noticing his counterpart was actually drinking the stuff, without a gun to his head. He had only had the liquor in his mouth for a second, but he could tell it was strong enough to strip paint.

“Don’t let it fool you. It’s taken me a couple of years to get used to Ad’s drinking style. She’s not joking about the floor.”

“I’m not jokin’ about what?” that accented voice spoke over them, the Daniels looking up to see the woman returning.

“Nothing ja-wer, just lamenting your continual mistreatment of me,” her husband said with a smile as she rolled her eyes.

“You are SO lucky I love you,” she said as she placed a cheese and cracker platter onto the table, how she was able to whip that up so fast he would never know...

*****

Four empty bottles of wine later, and some moonshine as well, Leesia clutched her side where a stitch was developing and wiped away the tears of laughter from her eye, “And I thought my Daniel was over protective,” she chuckled.

“Oh yeah, I mean the glass case was bad enough, but the bubble wrap. He will NEVER live that down ever,” Adrienne choked on her last sip, her husband rolling his eyes.  

“At least I care, you, well, you...” he tried but failed to come up with an example Adrienne knew, smiling smugly.

“I throw myself into all kinds of crazy shit ta save ya ass, including back when ya ‘ated me. Yeah, keep tryin’ love, keep tryin’,” she said with a smile, pecking the side of his mouth lightly before cuddling close beside him.

Smiling, Leesia crawled unsteadily onto her husbands lap, wrapping her thigh around his hips, “Don’t get any ideas,” she told him, giving him a playful tap on the nose, pulling so close that were they not clothed, they would be in a far more intimate position.

Adrienne wasn’t going to say a word, starting to look away when out of the corner of her eye she could clearly see her new friend grinding down into her husband’s lap, her mouth slightly open as she pulled him into a deep kiss, her fingers rubbing the back of his neck. He tried to speak around her lips, gently pushing her off by her shoulders.

“I think it’s the wine,” he explained, blushing, thinking he was never gonna let Leesia drink again, at least not with company. There was public displays of affection and then there was, well, putting on a near sex show, “She’s not normally THIS bad,”

“When and if I pass out half dressed then and only then can you criticize,” she breathed into his neck, the only skin she could get to, her fingers eagerly tugging at the corners of his shirt.

“Gah damn hypocrites dey bouf are,” Adrienne spat, remembering past enjoyable encounters of her own, encounters that her dear sweet son had now made damn near impossible, “Ugh NICKY,” she moaned, falling into Daniel’s lap, her husband’s head perking up.

“What, no, did you hear him? NOBODY SAY A WORD,” he ordered, his hand clapping over her mouth, Adrienne’s head already shaking, shoving him away.

“Nah, I just be dinkin’ dat, ahn no offense ta ya guys, but we get a moment alone ahn, well, yeah, no go,” she whined, blushing, her slight inebriation slurring her barely comprehensible words.

"Well, ja-wer, you wanted some post-baby excitement. Does the shower count as a foursome?" her Daniel teased, clearly intoxicated, Adrienne’s jaw dropping.

“Ya be drunk Indy, shut ya dirty mouf,” she scolded sharply.

"I do not understand." Leesia asked, briefly pausing to look to her husband for an explanation. “What is a ‘Foursome’?”

"You don't wanna know,” was his short reply, shooting his counterpart with a look, “Does it look like she needs further encouragement.”

“He’s just trying to embarrass me, tchew, Leesia’s gonna dink ya a pig.  Fine smart mouf, two can play at dis game. So I guess all Daniels be cradle robbas?” Adrienne turned it right back on him, sitting up and shoving him playfully.

“Shut up Ad,” was his rapid response.

“Actually,” the younger seemed less flushed now, directing Leesia to his side rather than his crotch, “she’s around 4000 years old. Though now you’d never know it,” he added, as Leesia started kissing that sweet spot behind his ear and batting her hand away before it could get any further inside his shirt.

“Really?” Adrienne seemed surprised, momentarily distracted from the scene in front of her, now frowning at her other, “Indy, I swear fo gah if ya EVA bring up da age difference ding again, I’ll pass a slap, I not be kiddin’.”

*****

Thankful for the combination of her runner’s metabolism and her intentional skipping of her nightly medication, Adrienne staggered into the kitchen in search of her husband, eager for their guests to go to bed. He had left the living room a few moments ago, shortly after his other, and while she had enjoyed talking to the very interesting and kind woman in her living room, her guests were tired and headed to bed soon.

And the baby was asleep.

And they never finished their shower from earlier...

She was a woman on a mission.

Slipping in through the kitchen door, her Cajun hips swaying playfully, she saw him standing there at the sink getting a glass of water, his magnificent body leaning over the counter, in those torn jeans that drove her wild.

Damn distracting Daniel.

On her toes she inched her way over to him carefully, hoping to catch him by surprise. Biting her lip, she took a breath, slipping her right hand into the front of his pants, gently cupping him as she brought her lips to his ear.

“Dink ya can pick up from where we left off?” she asked seductively, tickling his fuzzy sacks teasingly.

“Uh, A-Adrienne?” Daniel stammered, quickly trying to still that playful hand, trying, but not quite succeeding through the confines of the tight denim. He’d only come to get a glass of water to avoid a hangover in the morning; how’d he end up in this situation? With his other self’s wife’s hand inside his pants, fondling his... ‘Oh dear lord!’

“Sha donna worry. I dink da odda Daniel be asleep already- “

“Wouldn’t count on it,” Daniel breathed, trying to will his body not to react to the unfamiliar caress.

“Ahn Leesia be una bonne femme, she’d understand,” she added, reaching again for that place that she knew he liked, that place that would send him over the edge.

“Oh I think you’d be wrong about that,” he tried again, attempting to move his hips out of reach of that pleasurable touch, but pinned in place against the kitchen counter he didn’t have a lot of wiggle room.

“Dinna ya see da way she crawled inta his lap? I need ta be bedda like dat, be mah adventurous,” she purred, her fingers venturing upward, her clasp around his gradually thickening organ, running her hand up and down slowly.

“May I recommend a map then, because you seem to have got adventurous in the wrong, uh, territory,” a voice behind her stated simply, Adrienne freezing, her hand stuck firmly in place. There was motion, pulling away from her, him pulling away from her and glancing at her over his shoulder right in the face.

Wrong Indy.

Shit.

Why in the hell had her idiot husband given his damn twin the same damn clothes?!?!

“I’m gonna need that back,” Daniel said blushing, eyes gesturing down to his crotch, where her hand was still gripping, not having moved a muscle.

“I swear fo gah I had no idea,” the Cajun woman spat out quickly, letting go, pulling her hand back, her words stuttered, her dark eyes darting between both of her guests. Her heart was racing, she had no idea what to do and dying really wasn’t an option right now.

“How could you?” Leesia giggled, a little surprised by Adrienne’s mortified expression. She couldn’t be blamed for the mistake. “They are near impossible to differentiate... Maybe we should make them wear identification collars.”

Daniel glared at her, “It’s not funny, Lees.”

"No but plea, jus kno, I really neva would 'ave, 'onest, ah dear Gawd," she continued to stammer, words not enough to describe how bad she felt.

“You probably should have spoken up, Daniel.”

“I tried, but she had me by the balls, Lees. I didn’t think upsetting her would be a very wise move at that precise moment, do you?”

“He is rather attached to them,” Leesia quipped playfully to the other woman, doing her best to pinch her cheeks in to try and contain the threatening grin. She really didn’t want to laugh, not while Adrienne looked so deeply, deeply embarrassed. Not that she had any reason to be; it was a mistake she herself could have made just as easily.

“Everything alright in here?” Indy asked, searching out his wife and finding her, red-faced, muttering in Cajun about being a ‘bonne rienne’ much to his bewilderment. She looked up at him in sheer horror, as if she might fall into the floor at that very moment.

“Just a misunderstanding,” Leesia informed him, casually waving her hand, as if the gesture alone dismissed any importance, “Addy simply mistook Daniel for yourself and was trying to initiate intercourse.”

Daniel looked over at his other self and wife, trying to work out who was blushing the hardest as both were clear finalists in the ‘who could turn the reddest’ competition. Though his other self’s color may be partly due to anger, he debated, judging by the look he was giving Leesia.

Adrienne, on the other hand, looked nothing short of mortified.

It was hilarious.

“Oh this. This is a million times better than you kissing Jonas,” he choked out, convulsing already, knowing he probably should be going to console her but unable to.

“But dat be ya ya tchew!! Dat’s not fair,” the Cajun spat, storming up to him, her dark eyes warning that ‘passing a slap’ was about to be headed right in his direction, but Daniel was bent over on his knees, laughing uncontrollably.  

“Correction, infinitely,” he answered, “It is INFINITELY better than you kissing Jonas.”

“But Daniel looks nothing like Jonas,” Leesia puzzled, her head tilting questionably.

“Ahn I dink I be causing enough damage tanigh. Indy be showin’ ya where ta stay,” Adrienne’s cheeks so fiery red that were her skin not so normally pale she would be glowing.

“Cam I would understand,” Leesia mused, only half listening, lost in thought, “possibly.”

“See, I’m glad that someone else finally agrees with me,” the Cajun’s Daniel added, reaching out for his wife, finally, still laughing.

“Cameron? Really?” Daniel threw at his own spouse, “We look nothing alike!”

“-Really sha, da ya wanna start listing people we dated. Ya wahn me ta start wit aliens or ‘umans?!”

“-You are the same height, have the same hair color and length, eye color...”

“-Adrienne, it’s funny. I’m MESSIN’ with you! Do you think I’m mad!?!”

“-Seriously? Cameron Lees? I don’t see it -  And being from another planet doesn’t make them any less human!”

“-It’s nah funny ya cooyon; I look like an idiot, donna even know my own husband’s bibitte!!”

“-From the back you are practically indistinguishable.”

Pursing her lips Adrienne breathed in deeply through her nose, nice long yoga breaths, willing herself to not faint dead away from sheer embarrassment. “Daniel, I’m sorry that I fondled you. Leesia, I’m sorry that I didn’t check first. Indy, you can sleep on the couch. Goodnight everyone,” she said, slipping out of the kitchen, her face in her hands.

“Come on ja-wer, you have to admit it’s hysterical!!” the elder Daniel chased after her, leaving his guests behind.

As their raised voices faded away, Daniel turned back to his wife, “Is he the only one in the doghouse?”

“They have a dog?”

“It’s an expression.”

“I’ve never heard of that breed.”

“Okay, now you’re just messing with me.”

“Why should you two be the only ones to have any fun?” Leesia mused, closing the gap between them and running her fingers up his tight, firm side. “Do I need to reclaim you as my own now?”

The seductive look in her eyes as she looked up at him through her long full lashes and the feeling of those charged tingles, strong enough to be felt through the thin material of the shirt he was wearing, made his mouth water. “We can’t. Not now. Not here.” he told her reluctantly.

“I was proposing the bedroom.”

“That’s not what I mean. This isn’t our house.”

“Considering how we arrived I do not believe it would trouble them. Besides,” she purred seductively in his ear, her fingers working inside his shirt, stroking up his chest, “I can feel you need a release every bit as much as I do.”

Daniel swallowed hard, his eyes closing with the feel of her touch on his skin. She was right; he couldn't deny it.

“Maybe it is the alcohol, or maybe the timing but I do not believe waiting until we get home would be wise.”

Daniel paused, her words still playing in his head, “Just try and keep your voice down,” he pleaded, guiding her quickly towards the spare room.

*****

“Did she just SAY..?”

“I can feel you pulsing inside me? ... Yep.”

“Oh my gah Indy, I had no idea that you... I mean I could..If you’re really into... talking dirty... in Ancient...” Adrienne was rambling, Daniel already shaking his head.

“No, no, not me, him. Wow, just wow,” was really all he could say as Adrienne curled into a ball.

“I can’t listen to this...”

“Well I’m not going in there to stop it,” the words escaped his lips before he could think them through, his wife sitting straight up in the bed.

“Zombies, put on zombies! Loud zombies! The fast kind!” she suggested, starting to leave the bed to make her way to the movie shelf.

“Seriously Ad, zombies? You might as well shout out ‘WE HEAR YOU SCREWING IN HERE!’”

“Keep your voice down, dammit, sha, this is so awkward...” she trailed, flopping back onto the bed.

“Are you jealous?” he teased, pulling her into his arms and kissing her lightly.

“I’m mortified; I’m such an ‘ole Southern prude,” she whispered, falling into his chest, burying her face in the safety of his embrace.

“It makes me feel better,” he muttered as he held her close, laying back down onto the bed, ”It makes me feel like he won’t have to deal with it alone like I did.”

“Me too,” she replied, kissing his neck softly. Puzzled, Daniel pulled away, smirking at her, wondering what she was thinking, if she was starting to let outside influences take over her thoughts.

“Really?” he wanted to check before taking matters into his own hands.

“Keep dreaming. I’m gonna get my iPod. Listen to music that you hate while you enjoy the audio programming,” and there she was, escaping again, slipping from his arms.  

“Hey,” he whispered, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him, “come back here. Listen, they’re quiet now.” Adrienne paused, listening intently and hearing nothing from the room down the hall.

“Ok,” she grimaced, crawling back into his arms. “Should I check on Nicky?” she changed the subject quickly, her husband already shaking his head.

“I did that after you kicked me out of the bathroom. He’s fine.”

Adrienne grumbled a bit, rolling over and wrapping her arm around his waist, resting her head on his chest.

“You still mad at me?” he whispered, kissing her head.

“Where are you sleeping sha?”

“Shutting up...”

“You know, you’re supposed to comfort me when I do something stupid...”

“My love, ja-wer, are you alright? I’m so sorry that you -” he began so sweetly, holding her tightly before erupting into riotous laughter, “nope, can’t do it,” he choked out.

“You’re lucky I’m da kinda person dat sticks ta my vows ya coo yon.”

*****

Daniel was gently pulled from dreamland to waking reality by the delicious and unmistakable aroma of Sumantra Mandelin.

He couldn’t remember the last time that happened, the last time he had woken peacefully.

Yes he could.

Adrienne had still been pregnant. Since Nicky had been born waking to stretch, yawn and get up on his own terms was a luxury that had fallen by the wayside, in favor of the shrill alarm of demanding baby squeals at all hours of the day and night. In fact, to not be woken by Nicky’s caterwauling was a little... disconcerting. He took a squinted glance at his watch and found it was even later than he had expected.

Rising as speedily as he could without disturbing his slumbering bedmate, he pushed away the covers and made his way to the nursery.

The crib was empty.

Nicky was gone.

Panic stricken, Daniel was about to raise the alarm, when to his immense relief he heard the soft tones of giggling coming from the other room.

“We get him quiet and then I panic because he’s quiet, great,” he muttered, popping his head around the corner, seeing immediately the source of the cooing. There was his guest, his female guest, seated in the floor of the living room floor with his son in her lap, surrounded by every single parenting book that Adrienne owned, a disgustingly extensive and expensive collection. She didn’t notice him at first so he just stood there watching as she talked to the boy softly. It was nice to see the little booger not screaming his head off for once and letting his wife get some much needed rest was sure to make her smile.

He missed seeing her smile.

Waiting for some clue as to precisely which Daniel it was that had just walked in, Leesia explained,  “He was getting fussy,” thumbing over his chubby knuckle as he clung to her index finger.

“Fussy is what he does, trust me,” was the reply from the doorway.

Other one then.

“I see you have found the library of child-rearing,” he continued, a chuckle in his voice, “she’s color-coded and tagged the important parts, or so she thinks.”

“They were very ... informative. I had no idea there were so many varied views on something as simple as changing a diaper.”

“Yeah, I remember her reading those sections, aloud. She was pretty mad that I could do it without an instruction manual. Just wait until you read about co-sleeping, that’s been fun to discuss too,” he quipped, thinking back to yet another deliciously fun argument.

Adrienne was so fun to torment, one of the great perks of being married to her.

“It confuses me how any parents would gain any useful help from these books when there are so varied ways of “correct parenting styles” I mean with, Dr. Sears favouring attachment parenting while experts at the United States Product Safety Commission claiming that under no circumstances should a child be placed in an adult bed and then The American Council of Pediatrics being divided,” she shook her head, eyes turning back to the adorable bundle drooling on her hand, “On the other hand they are each unique individuals so there should be more options than these simple few.”

“Woah, woah. You read that too? How long have you been up? What have you read?” he stammered, scanning the room again.

“Around fifteen minutes. These were all I could find.”

“Torre mas chiens...” Daniel now sputtered, realizing that in his amazement he had slipped in Cajun, “Sorry, never mind, bad habit. You read all of these? All of them?”  

“I have never changed a diaper before, I needed to learn,” Leesia stated simply, as if that was explanation enough. “I made coffee also,” she added, puzzled by his confusion.

Then again, my Daniel cannot function without at least half a cup inside him either.

“Right...well I....”

“There’s coffee?” Daniel asked, wandering in sleepily behind his double, his glasses pushed up onto his forehead as he knuckled his tired eyes.

Leesia smiled at her predictable husband, his glasses falling back into place as he scrubbed at his bed messed hair. Seemed that ‘coffee aroma wake up calls’ worked just as well in any reality and in this one it worked in stereo. She was about to say as much when the baby moved a bit, squirming in her arms, and letting out a small cry.

“It is all right, little one, it is okay. You have my attention now.”

“Actually, he’s probably hungry. He’s always hungry. I’ll go get Adrienne up,” her host said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder then heading in the direction of his bedroom, while his counterpart helped himself to the fresh pot of coffee.

****

“Hey wake up,” Daniel muttered pulling the blanket slowly off of the burrito that was his wife. Shivering she grabbed her knees, pulling them to her chest, her yoga pants and tank top not providing the warmth the covering had offered.

“Is the world ending?” she grumbled as she ripped his pillow from his empty place, covering her face with it.

“No,” he answered flatly. Baby sleeping like a baby was supposed to sleep and it was back to Daniel and Adrienne normal; there was no getting her out of bed willingly.

“It’s your turn with the baby.” It was always his turn, at least when she was tired, but not right now.  

Now Nicholas needed food, something Daniel was unable to provide.

“Leesia has him,” Daniel replied, Adrienne peering from around the pillow.  

“Is he crying?” she inquired, worried and curious.

“Yep,” he answered, “he’s hungry. You’re on.”

“You need to grow boobs; this is inequitable,” she replied, stuffing her head back under the pillow.

“No, what we need is to buy a cow, but whatever. By the way, Leesia read all of your books. All of them. She agrees with me; they’re crap,” he added with a smile.

“Cookie for Indy,” she grunted, reaching for the blanket blindly.

“I said ALL of them. In about fifteen minutes.”

“I’m married to a man that has died more times than I have fingers and yet he stands here, disturbing the only sleep I’ve had in weeks to tell me that our alien guest has more magic powers. Sha, nothing surprises me anymore,” and there went the blanket, back over her shoulders.  

“Touche,” he agreed, climbing into bed with her, enveloping her body with his own, holding the wrapped enchilada that was his significant other, “but regardless, he’s hungry and the screaming is only gonna get worse.”

“I know. I’m just relishing this for a few more minutes. Less talk, more cuddle.”

Laughing, Daniel stood from the bed, playfully tugging at the blanket.

“Cup of ice water in two minutes ja-wer, and I’m sure you don’t want to have to explain that to our guests,” he joked as he left, heading in the direction of coffee, coffee that he hadn’t had to make.

*****

Half his mug consumed, Daniel took a second to take in the scene before him. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Leesia’s eyes had barely left the newborn, nor that she had taken to fondling the star-drop pendant at her throat ever since she had held him yesterday. This couldn’t be easy for her, it was hard enough for him; his own heart torn between the joy of seeing her there holding that child so close and the heartbreak of imagining what was going on in her head.

“You okay?” he whispered, his tone full of concern, taking a step forward, carefully, wading through the array of books.

Without looking up from Nicky, who was currently whimpering in warning, Leesia nodding, her smile widening, “He is beautiful.”

“Yeah, he sure is,” Daniel agreed as he sat behind her, leaning forward to stroke his finger down the baby’s forearm, backing up almost immediately when Nicky started fussing a little louder, “And he seems to have taken to you.”

“We understand each other,” she said, readjusting the baby in her arms, getting him in a more comfortable position, leaning back against her husband once she was happy with the comfort of the child, “It is okay, your Uncle is just worrying unnecessarily, again. He will stop in a moment.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. ‘Okay, message received loud and clear, Lees. No fretting in front of the baby, got it.’ “Uncle?” he asked aloud, shaking his head.

“You share the same parents and DNA as his father, Uncle is an accurate description.” Eyeing him over her shoulder, Leesia added, “Would you rather I refer you as his would-be father had things worked out differently from another time and reality?”

“Uncle’s fine.”

“So how long have you been up my little Ewok?” a Southerly accented voice said from behind him, clearly not as awake as its speaker was trying to convey.

“Ewok?” Daniel asked, what was it with this woman and nicknames? She was worse than Jack.

“Yeah, Indy said Jawa was too creepy, reminded him of a Goa’uld or something. But he makes a better Jawa, always fussing over nothing,” the Cajun woman made a face at her child, reaching down to take him into her arms, “thanks for getting him, I don’t get much sleep anymore. I appreciate it.”

“It was my pleasure,” Leesia answered, folding her now empty and hands laying her head on Daniel’s thigh.

“You sir, need to eat, Indy can you - “ she started to ask, her husband reading her mind.

“Did you take your shot?”

“Not yet, so coffee’s fine,” she responded, crawling up onto the sofa, lifting her shirt to feed the child, ignoring the glare from Daniel. She’d just take it later.

There were mutterings coming from the sofa, not the normal coos and babbles you would say to a child but French, clear French, thanking the child too for letting her sleep.

Poor woman, Daniel thought as he watched his counterpart’s wife tend their child, she really does look exhausted. He hope this calm of crying wasn’t just temporary, for their sake. Holding Leesia tightly in one arm still worried about her reaction as she snuggled up to him, he watched this Jackson family complete their routine, Daniel bringing out a plate of what looked like cheese and crackers to Adrienne who was multitasking like a pro.

Different, he thought, but still nice.

The very decorated Cajun woman was just removing the child from her breast to burp him when there was a knock at the door, making him glance at the clock to note it was only eight in the morning.

Who came over that early?

He was about to whisper to Leesia that very question when she stood, quietly excusing herself to the restroom.

“Answer the damn door!!” the voice screamed from the other side, echoing down the hall, a voice that seemed strangely familiar, although he couldn’t place it.

“Merde,” Adrienne swore, passing the baby to her husband, a frown on her face.

“Why is she here?” her Daniel asked, pulling the child to his shoulder to burp him in her stead.

“Why is she ever anywhere?” she responded, adjusting her tank as she marched down the hall to the door, opening it up with a smile.

“Vala, hey, why are you here?” Adrienne didn’t bother with pleasantries, asking the question her husband had, her friend on the other side of the door, tapping her foot furiously a look of distaste plastered on her face when she remembered, not even getting a chance to apologize before...

“Where in the hell did you drop off to?? Call me all damn day long yesterday, begging for me to save you from that angel that you obviously are not equipped to take care of, bring you ice cream, but no call, nothing and here I am at damn breakfast, WITH the requested ice cream I might add, and that’s the greeting I get, oh, Vala, why are you here?”  she ranted, pushing past Adrienne, down the hall and  right into the living room coming to an abrupt halt staring at the books and their visitor, the last person Adrienne wanted her friend to see.

“What the fuck? Addy I had no idea that you were into this kind of thing but as long as we are exploring new avenues of sexuality have you considered four??” Vala exclaimed, her eyes wide at she paused in the hallway. A huge grin broke out across her face, one that went from excitement to confusion as a small brunette woman entered from the opposing hall.

“Ok, or five? I’m not picky.”  

“Mon ami,” Adrienne started calmly, “this is Leesia and, well, red-verse Indy.”

“I know this Indy...” she hissed, sauntering over to him carefully, “I know him very well....”

“Nope, ya don’t and you’re not going to,” the elder Daniel intervened, placing his free hand on Vala’s head to turn it away, guiding her in the opposite direction, “You do remember Ronon right?”

“Whatever, give me my nephew,” she spat, grabbing the baby from Daniel as she lifted him into the air, pausing for the second time this morning.

“Wait, the little booger’s not crying. What did you do to him?” Vala glared at Addy, who was already rolling her eyes.

“You know her?” Leesia asked seeing the look of surprised near horror her husband was wearing.

“Uh, yeah. Remember the space pirate that hijacked the Prometheus I told you about?”

“And beat you up?” Leesia questioned, causing Daniel’s look to shift from surprised to wounded. Of his whole recap of what had happened THAT was the part she chose to remember, that a woman beat him in a one on one fist fight?

“Good times huh glasses,” the pirate smiled, bringing the baby to her chest whispering into his tiny ear, “Did I ever tell you about that you little cub - “

“Ewok,” Adrienne corrected.

“I’m not sure why he needs a nickname at all...” her husband interjected, crossing his arms across his chest, that pissy tone to his voice, the one Adrienne ignored.

“Hush, I’m trying to explain to my nephew here that he needs to be tougher than his daddy who is easily beaten up by women. No worries, we’ll have your uncle Ronon teach you,” she cooed, walking herself, the baby and the bag of groceries into the kitchen.

“Oh, so NOW we remember Ronon, when he can teach my child to beat my ass. Good to know,” Daniel lamented, following the tall woman to help.

*****

“Last night you mentioned a cure to the Prior plague,” Daniel inquired, glancing up at his older self over the rim of his second coffee of the morning. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the help they’d already given, but their time here was running out.

“Right,” the other agreed. He had planned on bringing it up and now that his wife had indulged her southern need to feed everyone it seemed as good a time as any, “we’ll need to head into base for that.”

“The Miata’s downstairs,” Vala happily volunteered, Adrienne glaring at her sharply.

“No, I like him, both of them,” she replied.

“I’ll drive, we don’t live very far from base, but we should probably get going before things get too busy there,” Daniel stood, glancing back at Adrienne, “you ok with everything ja-wer?”

“Yeah, Leesia and I can hang here if that’s alright with her,” she led, hoping that if it was this woman’s presence that was calming the child that presence wouldn’t go darting out of the door after their husband, but thankfully Leesia was already nodding her agreement.

“I’m with the boys!” Vala leapt up, grinning, the Daniel with the most Vala experience already rolling his eyes.

“I had no doubt,” he grumbled as she rushed to him and his counterpart, running her arms through theirs, pulling them to the door.

“Have fun my love!” Adrienne shouted between giggles, watching the trio walk out of the door. Smiling she turned around to look at Leesia, shaking her head.

“Give them about an hour. I can assure you that he will start texting a play by play of Vala torturing your Daniel,” she explained, walking back over to the playpen set at the side of the dining room table.

“Torture?!” Leesia gasped, eyes widening in panic.

“Figuratively, not literally, well....” she tried, frowning, peering into the playpen, “no worries, she’s just a lot of mouth nowadays I promise.”  Breathing a sigh of relief, Adrienne looked back at her guest, her finger at her lips, cocking her head away from the dining room.

*****

“So why’s my boy not screaming his damn head off!?” Vala demanded from the back seat of the Jeep the moment it’s driver closed the door.

“Because you left,” he shot back, starting the engine.

“Ha Ha,” she shot right back, “Seriously, you drug him or something?”

“He calmed down shortly after we arrived,” the other Daniel replied instead, unsure how to answer his former foe who apparently was now a friend of his in this reality, or was she?

“Did YOU drug him?” her eyes were on him now, a curious look on her face.

“Dammit, nobody drugged anybody. He just stopped. Leesia asked him to stop and he stopped, I can’t explain it,” Daniel corrected from the driver’s seat, pulling the car out onto the road.

“You mean you just had to ask him? How’s that work?”

“I...I have no idea,” he paused, turning to his counterpart for clarification. Leesia herself had told him she had no experience with newborns and he and Adrienne had been trying for weeks to get him to stop. “How does that work?”

It just didn’t add up.

Daniel casually shrugged his shoulders. “It’s just her way. Sometimes it’s like she can read my mind or something. She just knows what people need to hear. It’s hard to explain.”

“Bet none of those damn dumb books said to do that,” Vala interjected before her friend could answer.

“For once I agree with you,” he said instead, pondering the entire thing himself.

*****

“We're gonna hope he stays like that and get the dishes later,” Adrienne whispered, indicating with her head that Leesia should follow.

“He seemed happy at breakfast,” the petite woman answered.

“Fingers crossed.”

Smiling, Leesia peered over her shoulder at the playpen before looking back at her Cajun host, “Judging by last night I would say he gets his mischievous side from his mother.”

“Don’t let Indy fool you. He got mean in his old age,” she joked, pointing for her friend to join her on the couch, “But jokes aside, Leesia, I still feel really bad about last night, really bad. I'm really not that much of a coo yon but I haven't had alcohol in a long while and I was a little, well, inebriated when I went in there and..."

“And they were identical physically in every way?”

“Yeah, uh, they were...” Adrienne admitted, finally feeling a little less stupid by her mistake since what she had slipped her eager hands around was exactly what she had expected to slip her hands around.

Ok, maybe not exactly.

The manhood which she fondled did not belong to her Daniel and that was a big difference.

“I doubted there would be a difference but there was always the possibility,” Leesia noted, a sweet smile on her face.

“Oh no difference, trust me,” Adrienne replied, blushing, starting to regret not trying again later with her own version once everyone was settled down. I’m such a stupid Southern prude sometimes...

*****

“Vala can you PLEASE just stop!”

“What? You think your wives aren’t having the exact same conversation as we speak?” she spat back, leaning in between the front seats, her gaze making its way back and forth between the two men.

“I don’t care, WE are not, I repeat NOT talking dimensions with you,” Daniel spat, taking his eyes from the road to make sure that she knew by the look on her face that he was deadly serious.

“Besides we’d have no way of knowing,” the younger spoke quickly.

“Not helping,” the other muttered out of the corner of his mouth to his counterpart.

“Actually, if you really want to start comparing opinions, there is one person that everyone in this car has seen naked...” his identical guest now offered instead.

“Wait, you said you, well, you, both of you, kept your eyes closed,” now Vala was stammering, starting to sit back in her own seat.

“Or better yet, I think that as soon as I get our guest what he needs that I can swing by Ronon’s quarter’s and give him a few pointers myself...” her friend added with a smile, glancing in the rearview.

“Not fair, I was asking about you and yours, this isn’t about me,” she defended, Daniel, the Daniels still smiling.

“Ronon....” Daniel reminded again, happy to finally have something to shove in her face, taking his eyes off of her mirror image only long enough to pull into the Pentagon parking lot.

“Yeah, but he dated Addy too, so I’ll consider the conversation research. I can play this game too,” she tossed back the one thing that would send Daniel into a jealous fit, smiling now herself.

“We’re here, get out,” he answered, his counterpart looking totally confused.

“And here I thought you were forever curious. Shame being a wimp causes it all to remain a mystery,” she taunted, slipping out of the door to sashay across the lot.

“Is she always like that?” the visiting Daniel asked.

“Sometimes worse,” he answered over his shoulder, heading straight for the side door, the other Daniel racing up to catch him.

“Did you look?” he asked, wondering, thinking that might explain why in this reality the space bitch was still hanging around.

“Nope. You?”

“Nope...,” he replied, laughing, “But she doesn’t need to know that. Anyway, so, discussion of nakedness aside, we’re not in Kansas anymore...”

“No, there was, well, there were some complications, all SG operations have been moved here to the Pentagon,” he said, flashing his badge, clearly Pentagon credentials.

“There’s a base in the Pentagon?”

“I was as surprised as you but it’s rather extensive... Do you think the girls really will be comparing our um, manhoods?” Daniel asked the question that was bothering him, that Adrienne might actually be having the very conversation that Vala was suggesting.

“Oh I have no doubt.”

*****

“Hey Leesia, can I ask you something? That Daniel might not like....”

Confused, yet intrigued, Leesia frowned, ‘what possible question was there that the ever curious Daniel would not approve of’. “Okay?” she replied warily.

“Oh, not like that, not bad,  I mean, well. Last night, I, uh, heard you guys, uh...”

“Making love?” the former Ancient offered.

“Yes, making love. I heard you, well, you were very verbal. I mean we talk too, well not eroticly we have, nevermind, dammit I sound like him stammering on like a fool, but not like that, I don’t, well, say things like that. I mean I asked him when he heard but he’s, you know, well, a man and he won’t tell me the truth anyway and I just wanted to know if he well, if he....”

“Likes it?”

“Yeah. Remember that whole upbringing thing? Aside from, well, Daniel and our bizarre coitus nerd conversations, yes, it’s weird I am fully aware of it being weird, I never do that...” there she went again, just blabbering on.

Unsure exactly what was being asked, Leesia’s frown deepened. “I am afraid you are going to have to be more specific.”

Adrienne took a breath.

Come on Addy, she coached herself, who better to ask a question about something with your husband than, well, someone with your husband.

That’s just weird.

Like everything else in my life.

Let’s do this.

“You were saying some very graphic things, in Ancient, encouraging graphic sexual details as to his performance. I’m not disappointed at all in his performance, lord, no, but I wanted to know if he enjoys hearing that, does it please him?...”

Professor mode, she thought, close enough.

Leesia smiled mischievously. Daniel had always warned her about sharing ‘private’ moments with others, although she never really understood why. But she saw no harm in sharing her own experiences with another wife of his. It was technically still his love life after all. “I should explain that mostly when I do that, I am not completely sure of exactly what I am saying. But,” she added with a cheeky grin, “I have noticed a change in his arousal when I do deliberately, dependent on what I have said.”

Adrienne bit her lip, unable to believe that she was even discussing this, breathing before her next question.

“Do you think it’s what you say or the language in which you say it?” she started, swallowing, “because truth be told other than, well, general screaming, I’m not sure if anything other than swamp talk would come out.”

“I have no way of knowing. I have only done it in Ancient.”

“Ok, note ta self, learn dirty ancient, cuz I sho as shit kno if I said aborde mon pockon he will DIE laughing at me,” Adrienne joked, running what Ancient she did know that might work through her head.

“You could try; Hác nocta ego propono ut ador tua dónec tuut trancus palpitó penes désideró, it worked for me.”  Leesia offered.

Adrienne paused, rolling the words through her mind. She knew Ancient, from his journals, but Adrienne was fluent in Latin, fluent enough to understand the difference in meaning She knew Leesia meant, ‘Tonight I plan on loving you until your body is quivering with desire’ and not ‘Tonight I plan on adoring your body and decimating your penis’ as it came out in Latin. Her face broke into a grin.

“Hold dat thought mon ami, I need ta write dis down,” she spat, standing and racing down the hall to the office.

*****

Daniel swiped his way through the first set of doors, nodding at the guards that he could tell Sam at warned although they were still were still staring at the pair, stopping at the second set to tap his badge to get through security. Not saying a word, clearly in deep thought, the elder powered his way down the hall toward the elevators ahead, veering off out of habit to head for the stairs. He paused when he noticed the younger wasn’t with him, looking up to see the other frowning, pondering at the elevators.

“Something wrong with these?”

“Oh, nothing, I, well, Adrienne is a bit of a health nut, so, yeah, the elevator’s fine,” the man at the stairs stammered, shaking his head and pressing the button.

“Health nut?” Daniel questioned, after seeing the woman’s ridiculous consumption of alcohol the night before it didn’t quite fit.

“Yea, she’s into healthy eating, running, what not. You know all that crap we ate last night? I’m fairly certain that she is already calculating the exact number of miles needed to be run to burn off every stitch of it.”

“So, I’ve got to ask,” the elder Daniel continued as he stepped through the elevators doors, “what’s it like to be married to someone you don’t have to threaten to get out of bed in the morning.”

“It’s like never getting to sleep in, always being second in the shower and constantly knowing you’re the grumpiest person in the room, but there’s always coffee.”

“True, well you know EVERY stereotype about people from the bayou that you have EVER seen on TV and movies. They’re true. I’m not sure if Adrienne has ever been on time for anything in her life,” the Cajun’s husband joked, stepping out of the elevator, a quick ride, fewer floors the other noted, directing his counterpart down the narrow hallway.

“Forewarned is forearmed I guess,” Daniel quipped in reply, following.

“No telling what you get with a former Ancient right?” the lead Daniel added, stopping at yet another door with another alarm system, swiping his card here as well. The light turned green and Daniel turned the knob, walking over to a cold box in the corner on the room.

“Think in any reality we’re with some nice, normal and boring?”

“Oh God I hope not,” he said, opening the large door, scanning the storage fridge with his eyes before continuing, “I thought there wouldn’t be anything in here, but it was worth a try, let’s check the system.” The older man pushed his glasses up his face, motioning for his counterpart to follow him to the central computer station.

“If it’s not here, or locked up elsewhere, I know that Ad and I have it in our files, it just might take some hunting. I’m assuming paper copies would be best?”

“Yes, paper’s fine, thank you, but, well, how long have you had it in storage? Where did it go?”

“It’s been about five years now. I can assure you, we haven’t had to use it since, so it is just a matter of finding the formula and the notes on dosage,” the elder said without diverting his gaze, his fingers dancing along the keys.

“Got it, great. I didn’t think it would be that hard to find. Like I said, it was highly effective and we haven’t needed it since,” Daniel stood from the counter, the sound of a printer whirring to life behind them.

*****

“And he passed that onto you through sexual intercorse?”

“Yep,” Adrienne answered quickly, a little less shy now. She hadn’t really opened the wine at nine in the morning like she had originally considered, instead just taking a breath and letting herself talk.

Somehow she was making it through.

Talking and being honest really did make things better.

“I never got that.” Leesia mused thoughtfully.

“Maybe because you’re an Ancient. Maybe because I’ve got trinium in my spinal column, that’s another long story. Maybe something screwed up in my own DNA. I have no idea, but Vala calls it our STD, it’s embarrassing,” Adrienne admitted looking down at her water glass, her finger listlessly toying with the rim.

“Why?” Leesia questioned with her head tilted, “Because a physical display of your love has joined you in another way? Made you more alike? That is not embarrassing, that is beautiful. It bonds you. Like your tattoos, it is the same thing is it not?”

Adrienne paused for a moment. She hadn’t really thought about it like that; for the longest time it seemed like something she should be ashamed of but it did make them closer, more alike, if that was even possible.

Nodding she looked back up at the woman, a small smile creeping across her face.

“I haven’t taken my meds, wanna see it work?” she asked, excitedly, leaping from the sofa and dashing to the kitchen, Leesia following eagerly. Heading straight for the knife block, Adrienne drew a long sharp blade holding out her palm to display it.

“Don’t tell him I did this. He gets all, well, Daniel like,” Adrienne admitted with a grin.

“Cannot imagine why.” Leesia said sarcastically, eyeing up the knife warily, “Are you sure this is wise?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s stings a bit, but no more than a tattoo,” the Cajun answered slicing into her palm, not even flinching for a moment. Leesia watched as the skin separated and blood flowed, coming to an abrupt halt and then stopping. Smiling, Adrienne wiped her hand onto a dish towel, displaying her unwounded palm.

“I thought it would glow,” Leesia mused, gaping at the sight unlike any ancient healing ability she had seen before.

“We can’t totally figure it out either. Carolyn’s run a ton of tests on us and it seems that the entire thing is a combination of elevated dopamine levels and increased endorphins. It’s well, at her best guess, a,” she began to stammer again, blushing furiously, “it’s literally because we love each other she thinks, sounds so stupid to say it. And you know, you got that technopathy, and I don’t have that. Why not?”

“Oh that was, uh, well, long before Daniel. I erm...” Leesia stammered. “It’s complicated to explain. I could just show you instead.” she offered keen to move the conversation onwards.

“Bring it.”

*****

Daniel watched as Vala stopped her conversation in the hallway, squeezing Ronon’s hand quickly before jetting in their direction.

He couldn't resist.

Grinning, he glanced over at his guest, whose nose was in the folder, following him in that classic awkward fashion.

“Hey, follow my lead,” he requested, a puzzled look in return as he peered over at the tall alien woman for only a moment before glancing back at his younger counterpart.

“Exactly the same, that is pretty remarkable.”

Daniel blinked rapidly for a second, then double taking between his counterpart and the approaching space pirate, understood what his friend had in mind, “Yeah, no, you would think that life experience would alter it, even slightly, but no, size, shape, contour, completely identical.”

“Well size and shape was a given, but you really had to wonder about the rest, right to the tip.”

“You didn’t, no, way, nuh uh, Daniel’s even a prudy fancy pants while he boinks Addy in the lab. Bullshit,” Vala retorted, Daniel frowning. Because of course Vala had to blab to anyone that would listen about their on-base indiscretion.

“Ohhhhhh we did,” the younger continued, “We’re genetically completely identical.”

“You’re lying bastards, there is just no way, I mean. Did you, did you really? That’s, well, kinda, UGH!” she sputtered, throwing her hands up, turning to head back down the hall after Ronon.

Two smug grins watched her leave.

“She doesn’t need to know we were talking about our fingerprints.”

“No, no she doesn’t.”

Payback was sweet.

*****

“We’re never gonna get home; that’s the third stoplight that’s been out and, in case you hadn’t noticed, no one in D.C. or Northern Virginia can drive,” Daniel moaned, resting his head on the steering wheel as he waited for the throngs of confused drivers to get out of his way.

His visitor looked up from the file, the gold mine at the end of the jump and surveyed the traffic, “How far away are we?”

“Just a few more blocks, I went around a different way this morning, but Ad and I don’t live very far. We must have missed some severe weather while we were inside, cut the power. Happens around here from time to time,” the elder driving again, finally, his eyes darting around the sky, “but you’d think at least the ground would be wet, or maybe a cloud. Weird.”

“Oh, no, she didn’t, please tell me she didn’t,” the younger Daniel muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose from under his glasses.

“Didn’t do what?” the driver asked, flicking the signal and turning onto their road.

“Leesia’s technopathy,” was all the explanation given, or needed.

“I knew you guys were just here to cause trouble,” he replied, noticing that all his neighbours were out in their front yards, looking concerned, as he pulled into their drive.

Any doubt Daniel had to Leesia’s involvement vanished as soon as his counterpart opened the door.

“Can you PLEASE come to base and do that to Rodney’s lab? I will do ANYTHING you want in return! Oh and Woolsey’s office! Let’s take that out too...” Addy was shouting excitedly, bouncing around with the baby in her arms.

“I am so, so sorry,” Leesia was stammering.

“No, don’t apologize, dis is jus awesome, SCREW da Wolverine, ya fa real Seven ah Nine!!”

“Seven of Nine?” the Cajun’s husband seemed equally as puzzled, as he reached out to safely remove their son.

“Star Trek Voyager, we’ll add that to ya list sha, anyway, mon ami dat be amazin’. Can ya turn it back on too???” Adrienne blew off Daniel, looking back at Leesia, her mind in nerd overload.

“Wait, wait, can ya fly a Puddlejumper!?!? Like it’s a remote control, can ya be ah remote control?”

“Adrienne,” Daniel was now frowning at her, scolding like he did, “our guest is not a toy.”

“I am well aware of that ya damn tchew, I’m askin’ fa scientific reasons!”

“It’s okay, Lees, they just don’t have the protection we do.” Daniel said, rubbing his wife’s back. He turned to his counterpart. “It’s probably just fuses, ours are specially lined; can you show me where your box is?”

“It’s back here in the utility room,” he said through gritted teeth, leading his other self to the back of the house.

“Is he angry with me?” Leesia asked worriedly.

“Not you, but me for sure. He’ll live. I’ll bake, that always works,” Adrienne assured her, still laughing as she made her way to the kitchen to presumably do just that provided the boys could get the power back on.

*****

“Oh shut up Indy, how was I supposed to know that all of D.C. would be at Tony Cheng’s tonight?” Adrienne rolled her eyes at his smart remarking, catching Leesia’s giggle out of the corner of her eye.

“We can go elsewhere, I’m not sure if Leesia - “ her husband started, adjusting the baby on his hip as Adrienne swung around, ignoring him, instead staring at his younger counterpart.

“How long have you two been together?” she demanded, crossing her arms.

“Two years,” he replied confused.

“Three,” Leesia corrected.

“Enough,” Adrienne answered, staring back at Daniel, “you have taken her out to eat twice according to her, twice. That is unacceptable, do you understand me? I don’t care if God himself is raining fire down on the people of Earth and the oceans are turning ta gah damn lava, when your ass gets home you are taking this woman out like I am taking her out now. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the younger mumbled, suddenly finding the toe of his shoe fascinating.

“Good. Give me my son. We are going to eat,” Adrienne declared, her attention back at the other Daniel, grabbing Nicky with one hand and pulling Leesia by the other.

“She told you,” Indy grinned mockingly, following their wives, his suitable chastised counterpart shuffling after him.

“So, Leesia takes out your fuse box and I get the lecture?”

“Welcome to my life.”

***********

It was nearly eight in the evening, Nicholas sleeping soundly as the couples sat in the candlelit living room, having a final glass of wine, when Daniel’s watch beeped signaling that their time was coming to an end. “It’s nearly time,” he warned. Leesia nodded and following her husbands lead, sadly grabbed up her vest and harness.

“We can’t thank you enough for this,” Daniel told them, indicating the file held tightly in his grasp.

“I hope it will  help,” his identical host offered with a shrug as Adrienne rushed to her feet, racing over to Leesia and hugging her tightly.

“I’m sure it will. Anything else we need to know?” the visiting Daniel asked, taken aback as arms were thrown around his neck too, the Cajun now hugging him as well.

“If Sam tries to hire you an obnoxious assistant, be nicer to her. She’s not so bad,” her husband laughed as he watched her step back, whisking a tear from the corner of her eye.

“And make sure if you guys do have an Addy, that she dates Cam. I would love to have this version squirming for the remainder of eternity at that thought,” Adrienne joked, sniffing in, playing tough like Daniel loved to see her do. He shook hands with himself, weird he thought, the one question he hadn’t asked popping into his head yet again.

“It is curious though, if Leesia is from our past why she’s not here,” he let out, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

“There are too many reasons to count that could explain my absence here,” Leesia said. “Maybe in this reality I never ascended, or we never met, or we could have met and hated each other. Regardless,  we will never have any way of knowing. And maybe that’s for the best. It’s our own journey that defines us and each will have different stops along the way.”

“In other words, don’t split hairs, sha, in some reality, you’re fuckin’ Vala,” Adrienne teased, making him roll his eyes and grimace as he stepped forward to hug the woman as well.

“Or Jack,” Leesia added with a cheeky grin, Daniel freezing mid step.

Before anyone could reply, the couple were engulfed in a bright flash and disappeared.

“She was joking, right?” Daniel’s eyes widened, pointing to the spot where Leesia had been only the second before. “How many realities have they been too?”

“Oh thank you Leeisa. That’s too much material, just too much,” Adrienne laughed, covering her mouth as to not wake the baby.

“Ad! I’m serious, this isn’t funny! Maybe in some reality YOU are with Vala, huh? How do you like that? Or even better RODNEY!!! I think that would make a fantastic match!!” he shouted, chasing her down the hall.

“Whateva sha, she said you and Jack! We already know you are comfortable with fifteen year age gaps!”

“Thirteen,” Indy corrected automatically.

“Well, you would know.”

******

“Jack? Really?”

Leesia shrugged her shoulders innocently, “You two are freakishly close, it is possible.”

Daniel rolled his eyes as Sam stepped up, asking, “How’d it go?”

“Better than I ever hoped it would.” Daniel explained as the group started for the gate.

“What is that?” Leesia inquired, seeing Daniel was clutching something new.

“My counterpart slipped it to me when he shook my hand,” Daniel replied carefully unfolding the note. He read it aloud, “Adrienne Margaret Rowan, Red Oak Motel. April 2007. I’d like to ask one favor in return, change her stars, D.”

“She did say something awful happened,” Leesia replied.

“It’s dated two years from now. More than enough time for us to stop it.”

“And we do owe them one,”

“We certainly do,” Daniel agreed, wrapping his arm across her shoulders.

****

Nicky had eaten, Daniel tucking him into his crib while Adrienne hid in the bathroom, reading over her notes from earlier in the afternoon. She heard a door open, their bedroom door, stuffing the notebook under the sink before slipping into the bedroom.

“He’s out like a light,” Daniel said, pulling his shirt from his head and throwing it into the hamper.

“Thanks for getting him down,” she replied, pulling her yoga pants from her legs and slipping into bed, just a tank top and panties hoping he’d notice the difference in her normal attire.

He didn’t, instead pulling his jeans from his legs and throwing them into the hamper as well, joining her by flopping down beside her.

She was just gonna have to go for it.

“Hác nocta ego propono ut ador tua dónec tuut trancus palpitó penes désideró,” Adrienne whispered into his ear, crawling into his lap. He paused for a moment, confused, understanding her words when he realized what she was doing.

“Coo, I be preferin da gataspeak if ya be doin’ all dat,” he whispered in return, nuzzling her close, hoping she felt him smile at her cheek as he kissed it, awaiting her reply, which was delayed, but sharp, as she pushed him back away.

“Really?”

“Par ailleurs, le français ou le Cajun semble tellement sexy avec ton accent ja-wer …” he replied, running his fingers down her cheek, “but really, all I want in the end is to always know that you’re right there beside me.”

“Den I gotta be tankin’ sum sorta gods dat dat boy ah yahs be takin da sleep,” she joked, her accent so forced she was almost mocking herself, pushing him back down on the bed.

Yeah, he thought, just keep sleeping little guy.

Mommy and I have some catching up to do.

****

If you have not read Light God by the talented Sgsvamp click here: Light God Part 1