Wounded Hearts #1 - All's Well
Wounded Hearts #1 - All's Well
by Lady Anne
Summary: Daniel misplaces a journal. Can he get it back before it falls into the wrong hands?
Category: Action/Adventure, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Season: Season 3
Pairing: Daniel/other
Rating: 13+
Warnings: violence
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 2005-04-02
Librarian Rose Conner looked with satisfaction over her domain - shelf after shelf filled with books that spread over several floors of the university building. There were books on every subject you could think of and some that you couldn't - fiction and non-fiction, technical manuals and magazines, anything you could ever need for research or just for reading for fun, which far too few people did these days.
It was Rose's pleasure and joy to provide for the literary needs of the people of Colorado Springs. She worked hard to make sure that whatever they might need on whatever subject would be available to them.
Rose loved her library and all the books it housed. In many ways it was more her home than the small apartment where her cat lived and she slept. She tried to make the library a welcoming place where people would want to come, not like the staid and stuffy places she remembered visiting as a child.
There were still the long tables and chairs for those who simply came in to study and do research, but there were also computer stations for the electronically minded among her patrons. She had even arranged several areas with comfortable chairs and rugs for people to bring their study groups or for friends to come and visit.
She was very strict that people respect the privacy and need for others to have some quiet place to do their work, but she didn't believe in the absolute quiet rule that most other librarians seemed to think belonged in the dark recesses of the building. It seemed to be working, the library had become increasingly popular during the years she had been in charge, and she took great pride in that fact.
But there was no one in the library at the moment to enjoy all those books - there hadn't been all night. It was raining outside in Colorado Springs, raining as if it wasn't ever going to stop. The rain pounded on the skylight overhead, lightning flashed, and occasionally the thunder rattled the entire building. Rose was just as glad to be safe inside with her beloved books.
Rain always meant a slow night, especially during the summer months when most of the students were gone and classes were running on a summer schedule. She had used the time to her advantage though, staying busy. She still had a few hours before closing time, but everything was taken care of and ready for the next day. She would be ready to leave the moment the clock said it was time.
She looked at the shelves one last time to make sure everything had been put away in its proper place. It was then that she spied the thick heavy volume that had been sitting there for days now. It was old, from the rare volumes collection - `The Languages of Ancient Mesopotamia.' She'd left it out deliberately, hoping that the handsome doctor who had been using it would return.
She sighed, it seemed that he was off on one of his mysterious `trips' and she wouldn't see him again for a while. Sometimes weeks and months would go by between his visits to the library. But her hope of seeing him was one of the many reasons Rose chose the evening shift. He would come strolling in, smiling that charming smile of his and talk to her of ancient cultures and long-dead peoples as if he'd been off visiting them for a vacation.
She smiled just thinking of him. The Doctor was a mystery and she loved a good mystery. He had a sad, vulnerable air about him that most women found extremely appealing. Rose Conner was no exception to his charm. He was unfailingly polite; he always had a warm smile and a word of thanks when she would procure the books that he needed.
She kept a list of them, trying to solve the mystery of Him. Mostly it was volumes regarding Ancient Egypt, but it contained a scattering of most ancient cultures and languages. She had read some of the books trying to decide what type of work he was doing that would require the diverse works that he seemed to need. She had even looked up some of his old papers and read them. While there were plenty from the older archives, there hadn't been any new ones in years, although he seemed to do enough research for any number of new papers.
She lifted the book thoughtfully; it was time to put it away for its own safety. It was when she picked up the heavy volume that another book fell out onto the counter - a slim leather-bound volume. Picking it up, she flipped through it curiously.
The pages were covered with hand written notes, with symbols and pictures drawn all over its pages. Normally Rose would rather have her fingernails pulled out than to read another's personal diary but she found herself drawn into the narrative against her own will.
The time on the clock ticked by unnoticed as she read of Dr. Daniel Jackson's adventures through the Stargate.
*****
Daniel arrived home late, dripping wet from the rain outside. It was always a little disconcerting to return through the Stargate to find home just a little different than he had left it. When they'd departed through the gate a week ago, the world had been bright and the sun was shining. Now, tonight, it was a miserable evening.
The rain was pouring down with lightning and thunder crashing overhead, he even thought the temperature was dropping a little. Still, he was glad to be home at last. The last mission had been difficult, both emotionally and physically and he just wanted to sleep in his own bed for eight hours without interruption and not think of anything else.
As the elevator deposited him on his floor, he reached into his pocket to fish for his keys. Somewhere in the distance he could hear a phone stridently ringing. Realizing that it was coming from his apartment, he hurried down the hallway.
Fumbling with the key he fit it into the lock, it was probably just one of those annoying telemarketers. Anyone from the SGC would use the secure line on his cell phone and he had precious few friends outside of the base who would be calling him.
He wasn't really surprised when he didn't make it in time; the answering machine had picked up the call. He was a little surprised, however, that he knew the soft, feminine voice he heard as he pushed through the door, "Dr. Jackson? Daniel, this is Rose Conner from the University Library." She hesitated an embarrassed tone in her voice.
Rose was the sweetly efficient librarian at the University. He loved visiting there, mostly because of this warm friendly woman. She had sparkling gray eyes and the brightest smile he had ever seen. He did research there occasionally just to see her and talk to her. She was the one person he knew, besides Sha're, who would listen to his stories with complete enthusiasm. He never felt that she was humoring him, but that she was completely interested.
He had even been thinking of asking her out for coffee, but in the end he had decided that she probably didn't need the complications he would bring to her life. There was so much he couldn't tell her. Just so much...
He remembered with a smile the Egyptian night the library had sponsored. She'd persuaded him to come and tell some of his stories to the children. Somehow she had even convinced him to wear a ridiculous Egyptian costume that she had made. The evening had been a resounding success and she had been planning on doing it again. Maybe that was what she was calling about. His mind snapped back to the present when he heard...
" `The Languages of Ancient Mesopotamia.' Well, I just discovered that you left another book inside. I... um... It looks like it might be important and I thought you might want to come get it." She seemed to be searching for words. "I'm going to take it home with me, if I don't hear from you by closing time. I don't think it should be left here. We'll be open for a little while longer if you get this message any time soon." The phone clicked and Daniel realized with a start that he should have picked up the phone, let her know that he was there. He looked at his watch. If he left right away, he could make it to the library before it closed.
G-d, how could he leave that book behind? Jack, would have an absolute conniption fit if he ever found out that Dr. Daniel Jackson had left one of his highly confidential and top-secret journals regarding their journeys through the Stargate in a public library. And that particular journal... he felt a shiver pass through him as it came to him what he had been writing about in that particular journal. He thrust his keys and his cell phone into his pocket and prepared to brave the dark and stormy night one more time.
*****
Across town, in a deserted-looking building, a man pulled a pair of headphones from his ears with a satisfied smile. He'd wondered why he was supposed to be tapping the phone of a geeky archeologist with no friends, but it was work and it had paid well, so he hadn't asked any question. Now it seemed he'd finally hit pay dirt. His employer would be very pleased. He called the rest of his team and instructed them to meet him at the University Library, not that he'd really need them to take a journal from a librarian, but you didn't take any chances with this sort of thing.
He called his employer to tell him the news, then he checked his weapon, shoving it into place in the holster he wore around his body. He pulled on his jacket and shook out his umbrella and set off into the night.
He really hated the rain, but there were some thing you dealt with because you had to.
*****
Daniel tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in rhythm with the windshield wipers. Struggling valiantly to keep his windows clear, they weren't really keeping up with the job. The rain was coming down hard and visibility was poor. He had to drive slower than he'd wanted to keep control of the car on the rain-slicked streets. The flashes of lightning overhead did nothing to soothe his nerves as he drove into the night. He thought nervously of the lecture he would get from Jack if the other man ever learned that he had absent-mindedly left one of his journals at a public library. What was he thinking, taking them to a public place like that?
Actually, he knew what he'd been thinking. He was thinking that he needed to get off the base sometime. He'd been thinking that he needed to see some faces besides Jack and Sam and Teal'c. They were his family and he cared for them, but sometimes he just needed to see the rest of humanity to remember what they were fighting for.
Since he'd lost Sha're, he had begun to wonder why he continued with the team, why he continued going through the gate. It all seemed so pointless at times. Sometimes it seemed that no matter how hard they tried, they could never completely win - the enemy was just too big.
Rose helped to remind him with her sweet smile and merry laughter. It was at the library that he remembered they were fighting for all of humanity. When he was telling stories to the children, he remembered that it was their future that he was working so hard to save. That's why he'd taken the journals to the library to work on.
But to leave one of them there... Of course, he could try to lay the blame for that one at Jack's door. After all, it had been Jack's urgent page that had caused him to pack everything up and exit the library in such a rush that he didn't notice the journal stuck in amongst the pages of the book he had been using as a reference. Then they'd been off-world for a week and he hadn't thought of the book again until he'd heard the librarians' voice on his answering machine. He had heard fear in her voice. Had she read it? What would he do if she had? What a mess!
A flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder that sounded overhead brought his mind back to his driving. He was relieved to see the library at the end of the block. The lights were still on; he'd made it before she'd closed. He would just get the journal and Jack need never know about the disaster that had been so narrowly avoided.
*****
Rose sat at the desk and watched the clock tick inexorably to closing time. She clutched the little book tightly, listening to the rain pound on the skylight. Her world had changed in the matter of an hour. It had been safe and secure; her only worries were paying her bills and taking her cat to the vet. Now, suddenly, the world was a strange and frightening place populated by Gou'ald and government conspiracies.
She kept hoping that Doctor Jackson would appear and take the book from her. That somehow when he did, he would also take from her the weight of the knowledge that she now possessed. It was a heavy knowledge of alien invasion and a fight for the safety of her very planet. She didn't think she was strong enough to bear it.
It never occurred to her that what she had read might have been fiction, the fancies of an over-imaginative mind that had nothing better to do than spin tales of alien invasion. No, the words had been imbued with an air of authority and weight, and she knew Daniel Jackson. She had been listening to his stories for years now. Suddenly they took on a new light. She had thought he told them as if he had been there. Now she knew, that somehow he had.
`Where was he now?' She wondered. On some far-distant planet fighting an alien menace, keeping the earth safe? He could be dead for all she knew. As part of a top-secret government organization, she would probably never even find out about it if he were.
She jumped as the thunder rumbled outside. The lights in the library flickered. G-d, why in the world had she read the journal? It was so far out of the ordinary for her. But when it had fallen open in her hands, the allure of reading the innermost thoughts of the personable archeologist proved to be more than she could resist. She hadn't even thought twice. Now she knew things that she was certain that she shouldn't.
She looked nervously around the library. What had once seemed a safe refuge was now a dark and shadowy place. She knew it was illogical to fear that somehow the alien menace was in her library, but there you were - she imagined she could see eyes glowing in the shadows now.
She had told Daniel in her message that she would take the journal home with her, but she didn't think that was particularly safe either. She looked around trying to search out a place where she could safely put the book until she decided what to do with it.
Finally, time came, closing time and no Daniel Jackson. She'd kept hoping somehow that he would appear and take the cursed book from her, relieve her of any responsibility for it, vain hope that it was. She had hidden it away. It was all she could do until morning. If she didn't hear from him by tomorrow, she would just have to go to the Cheyenne Mountain base where she now knew he worked and hand it over to the General mentioned in his writings, whatever the consequences for the either of them.
Reaching under the counter, she flicked the switches that would turn out the majority of lights in the building. All that was left on where the main lights around the circulation desk. She pulled out the keys and went to the door to turn the lock so she could finally go home. She paused at the door before turning the key, looking through the glass out at the rain-soaked world.
Through the sheets of rain that spattered against the door, she saw headlights pull into the lot and park in front of the door. It was a no-parking zone, but who was going to care on a night like tonight? She watched as someone got out and dashed up the steps. Was it...? Her heart jumped with fear as she thought of all she'd read.
Then she saw, yes, it was in fact Daniel Jackson. The handsome man stepped into the library, dripping wet and looking tired. It was all she could do to not throw her arms around him in relief. But she didn't, she restrained herself and just smiled at him.
"Daniel, I'm so glad to see you."
"Yes, well, I'm sorry to be dripping all over your floor, it's ugly out there." He replied.
"Yes, yes, it is. It's been raining all day. I've nearly lost power three times tonight. It'll be a relief to go home." God, she was babbling, "I see you got my message."
"I just missed your call, I'd just gotten in." Had she read the journal? He couldn't tell. She ducked her head and wouldn't meet his eyes, and he knew, yes...
"I'm sorry to make you come out on a night like this. I just thought you would want to know where it was." She moved to get it from it's hiding place, "I mean it's been here for a week now and I just thought you would be looking for it everywhere..." Yes, she was definitely babbling and she didn't know how to stop. She'd ruined her friendship with him, such as you could have with someone you only saw for an hour or two, once or twice a month, and she didn't know how to fix it.
"Rose," Daniel's voice stopped her mid-babble and she turned to him. He was looking at her with compassion and, was that amusement? "You read it didn't you?"
Before she could answer, the door that she'd neglected to lock when Daniel had come in opened again, this time to admit three very large men. It was hard to really see what they looked like bundled as they were in raincoats, but she could see they were tall and muscular, not your normal library types at all. The man in front had hard, cold eyes and a mouth set in a perpetual frown, he carried an umbrella and wore black gloves. A shiver went through Rose. No, these didn't look like her usual patrons. Daniel moved to stand at her side and, she thought, regarded them with as much suspicion as she did. Still, she tried to maintain appearances.
"The library is closed for the evening. Is there anything I can help you gentlemen with?"
The first man, the one with the umbrella, shook it out and folded it up, neatly and meticulously. Leaning it casually against the door, he nodded at his companions. They took off their raincoats to reveal black suits that did nothing to conceal the bulging muscles underneath. One of the men turned to lock the door behind them with the key that Rose had left in the lock. Daniel shifted slightly so that he was now standing between her and the intruders. The first man, obviously the leader smiled slightly before he spoke.
"Doctor Jackson, I presume?" Daniel felt a small thrill of fear go through him that the man knew his name. This was not good. He cursed himself silently, why hadn't he called Jack and told him where he was going? Well because Jack would have yelled at him.
In the larger scheme of things there were worse things than being lectured. Like being locked in a library with three dangerous looking men. He suspected they were all here on the same errand. Stay calm, he told himself, remember the things that Jack had told him about `situations.'
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours." He said it as calmly as he could manage. The man just smiled a little wider.
"Why would you, Daniel? I can call you Daniel, can't I? I feel like I you know you after I've been listening to your phone conversations for so long now."
"My phone conversations? You've been listening...?" Instantly he was angry at this intrusion into his privacy, but he was also aware of Rose's fear at his back. As much as he might want to strike out at this smug stranger, he had to keep her safety in mind. "How long have you been tapping my phone?" Keep the man talking; try to figure out the next step, that was always Jack's strategy.
"Long enough to know that your life is so much more boring than mine, at least when you're on Earth. Outside of that, I don't know, why don't you tell us about your adventures through the Stargate, Daniel." The other two men were now moving to surround them, one to either side of them. Daniel felt Rose touch him lightly on the arm, steadying him, letting him know that she was there and all right. Good girl.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." His mind clicked onto the cover story for his involvement with military. He didn't think they'd buy it, but it might gain them some time to figure something out. "I'm a civilian archeologist working with the military..."
"Yadda, yadda, yadda, Daniel, yes, I know all that. Cool story, doesn't fool anyone, you know. Even you're landlord wonders where you are all the time. Now, shall we get down to business?" He looked them over, "This is a library, and we've come to get a book. Give us the book we want and we'll leave you and your librarian friend alone and alive. Sounds simple, don't you think?"
"Funny, you don't look like the bookish type to me," the words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Unless of course, there were lots of pictures."
"Very funny, Daniel. I see that hanging out with Jack O'Neill has been good for your humor."
It frightened Daniel even more that this stranger knew about his friends and his life. The smug man patted Daniel's cheek once, a nice friendly pat, but then he slapped it again. Hard. Daniel's head jerked back and his teeth clicked together painfully. Rocked back from the force of the blow, he felt Rose steady him with her hand on his back. This wasn't going to be pretty.
"Now, let's try this again," the other man continued in a reasonable tone. "Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?"
Daniel felt Rose moving. Before he could stop her, she stepped around him, saying in a bright tone, "This is a library, sir. And while it is past closing, we've always prided ourselves on our commitment to customer service. If you'll just tell me what book it is you're looking for, I'm sure I can find it and get you on your way."
She was so much the officious librarian, Daniel almost laughed, but then he saw the look on the burly man's face and the laugh died.
"Okay," Burly said, his tone acquiring a dangerous tone. They were playing with him and he didn't like it. "The time for games is over."
"Games?" Rose turned as if to move away, "I'm sure we have a complete..." One of Burly's cohorts stepped in her way to block her path. He turned her back to the man in charge. She was caught between the two with Burly standing in front of her and backed up into the other man.
Burly's voice was rising to a dangerous level, "You'll find I don't have much patience ever, especially tonight. Now, I said the time for games is over. I want the journal and I want it now. If I get it now with a minimum amount of fuss, I might not be inclined to hurt you too badly. But for every minute that passes, starting now," he looked down at his watch, "I'm going to let my friends break one of your bones. Oh, and look, I have two friends; and there are two of you. How convenient."
Daniel looked over at Rose, trying silently to plead for understanding and forgiveness. His journal couldn't be given to these men. She just returned his gaze with an inscrutable smile.
"Journal? Why didn't you say so, of course I have the journal." Before Daniel could stop her, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cloth-bound book. She looked over at him. He read something in her eyes, but what? She held it out and Burly reached for it. Before his could take she said, "Fetch," and threw the book into the shadowy area where the lights were already out over the shelved books. In the split second when the three men's attention was diverted she grabbed Daniel's hand, pulling him after her in the opposite direction.
One of the big men tried to grab them, but Daniel was ready with a move that Jack had taught him once, flinging an elbow up into the man's face. The other man was so surprised that he fell backwards. Jack would be so proud. Rose and Daniel took advantage of the confusion, disappearing into shelves of books as sounds of yelling erupted behind them.
"Where in the world did you learn to do that?" He asked in astonishment as she pulled him along behind her.
"It's amazing what you learn in spy novels." She tugged him into a shadowed corner where they could see the three men still illuminated near the main desk. They were occupied at the moment, looking for the book she had thrown in the other direction as she'd hoped they would. "That wasn't your journal by the way."
"I knew that." She grinned at him and nodded at the men, "but they didn't."
Daniel seized her arms turning her to face him. They only had moments, he had to make her understand the gravity of the situation they were in, "Rose, this isn't a spy novel," he hissed in as low a tone as he could manage.
"I know that, Daniel," for a moment he could hear the fear in her voice, see it in her eyes. "I read your journal. I know what's at stake here. These aren't good guys, I got that." He spared a brief look at the men who were still searching fruitlessly.
"No, they definitely are not." He looked at her curiously, "where did you throw that book anyway? How long do you think it will take them to find it?"
"Never." At his puzzled look, she smiled shyly and pulled the book out of the pocket she'd slipped it into. "Misdirection. Do you know you can learn the most amazing things in a library?"
"Daniel?" They started up at the sound of his name being shouted. Burly was standing in the middle of the lighted area looking around. He had pulled out a gun and had a definite air of business about him. "Daniel? Librarian lady? I have to tell you that you've really pissed me off now. Things aren't going to be so simple, at least for the two of you." He gestured for the other two men to spread out and start searching for them.
Daniel looked at Rose in despair. She didn't speak, just pulled his hand. They moved deeper into the shadows, away from the men searching methodically for them through the shelves.
"Is there another door out of here?" He whispered.
They stopped at the end of the row of shelves and she pointed at a door opposite them. It was in the shadows but the only way to reach it was across a large open space. Daniel glanced over at where Burly was standing; the door was completely visible from where the man stood. The only reason he hadn't seen it before was because this part of the room was dark and in shadows.
Rose leaned in so that her mouth almost touched his ear, their bodies close together. Daniel noticed that she smelled faintly of vanilla.
"If we can get across, the door will lock behind us. There's a storeroom down there and a door to the outside. I think there's also a phone in one of the old offices that still works."
A phone? Something tickled Daniel's brain. Then he remembered, his cell phone! God, he was such an idiot. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone for her to see before shoving it back in.
She nodded, "Good. At least we can call for help, can't we?" She looked at him hopefully.
Daniel nodded. "We will definitely be calling for help. I have my own private cavalry. We just need to get through that door without being seen." They both glanced again over at Burly and his two associates.
They saw him motion for them to rejoin him. They couldn't hear the words, but he appeared to be very upset. For just a moment their backs were turned to the corner of the room where Daniel and Rose hid. They took advantage of the moment slipping from behind the relative safety of the shelves and moved quietly toward the door.
Just a few more seconds, Daniel prayed silently, just five more steps and we'll be there. Keep their backs turned just a second more. God, please just three more steps, they were almost there...
Rose was putting her hand to the knob to open the door when it happened - the cell phone in Daniel's pocket rang out. In the quiet of the library, it sounded to Daniel like a death knell. Rose wrenched open the door and stumbled through as Daniel pulled the treacherous phone from his pocket.
Daniel didn't see the men turn at the ringing of the phone. He didn't see the gun come up, but he heard the sound of the shot. He felt the bullet as it slammed into his shoulder. But Rose was there to grab his arm. She pulled him through the door and down the stairs.
He heard her lock the door behind him, precious lot of good that would do now. He followed her stumbling down the stairs, trying to juggle the phone. He felt her take it from his numb fingers and he let her - all he wanted to do was get down the stairs without falling flat on his face.
Rose held onto Daniel's arm, trying to think. She was a librarian, thank you very much, not a spy, no matter her flip comments about spy novels. She knew how to deal with over due fines and helping kids find books and the Dewey Decimal System. She couldn't believe she'd actually been almost enjoying herself for a moment, hiding with Daniel in the darkness, feeling his arm around her. She'd had the errant thought; maybe I'm good at this. Then it had all gone wrong. What did she think she was doing?
She kept them moving, trying to get them as far away from the door and the staircase as possible. The flimsy lock on the door wouldn't hold the thugs upstairs for long. But there was a lot of storeroom to search, maybe she could get them out of the storeroom door before the bad guys figured out what was going on.
She paused a moment to look back at the man behind her. Even in the dark she could see the blood staining his shoulder. He still seemed to be moving, maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked. What was it they always said in the movies, `just a flesh wound?'
Trying to find her way in the dark with her hands, she realized she was holding something. Looking down she discovered Daniel's cell phone in her hand. Faintly she could hear noises from it. Surely whoever it was would have hung up by now? She glanced at Daniel again; he had just stopped, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. In desperation, not really knowing what else to do, she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
The male voice at the other end of the line nearly exploded in her ear, "Hello! Who is this? Where's Daniel Jackson, what's going on?" Rose winced and held the phone from her ear. Okay, one guess as to who was on the other end of the line. Even without meeting him, she recognized Colonel Jack O'Neill from Daniel's descriptions in his journal.
"Just a moment, please." She glanced back anxiously at the door, were they coming yet? She didn't hear anything, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. "Daniel," he raised his head at the sound of his name, she held the phone out to him. "I think it's for you."
Daniel took the phone in his good hand, trying to ignore the hot pain in his shoulder. He had dealt with zat blasts and being ribboned. His brain had been scrambled by more aliens than he could remember, he could deal with a bullet in his shoulder. He would, he told himself firmly.
"Hey, Jack," he said softly.
"Daniel," he really couldn't describe the sense of relief that came over him hearing Jack's voice, everything was going to be alright, he knew it somehow. "So, you want to tell me what's going on? Big date?" The casual tone in his friend's voice belied the fact that he'd just spent the last few minutes screaming into the phone, visions of Daniel's bloody demise playing in his head. Daniel laughed despite himself.
"Not anything nearly so much fun. I'm at the university library, Jack." Daniel realized that Rose was gone from his side. He looked around for her anxiously but there was no sign of her anywhere.
"The library? Daniel, I'm sure I heard gunfire, don't try to tell me you're in the library. Where in the hell are you? What's going on?"
"Really, Jack, I'm in the library. It's a long story and I really don't have a lot of time, three very big men with guns are hunting us down. We need help."
"We? Who's we, Daniel?"
"The librarian..."
"Daniel..."
He so did not have time for this. "Jack, just listen. I'm at the University library. I need you here now... five minutes ago. You'd better bring an ambulance and the big guns because these guys are serious." Daniel heard a crash from the direction they'd come from, "Listen, Jack, just get here as quick as you can." He hung up before his friend could ask anything else. Awkwardly, with one hand, he changed the setting on his phone to vibrate and slipped it back into his pocket. "Rose," he called out as loudly as he dared. She appeared out of the darkness at his side.
"I heard the door give."
"Me too," she helped him stand away from the wall. Her eyes widened when she saw the amount of blood that was smeared there. "Oh, God, Daniel..."
"I can move," he told her. I've got to, don't I?" He allowed her to put an arm around his waist and take some of his weight as they moved down the corridor towards the door to outside and freedom.
*****
Jack cursed when Daniel hung up on him abruptly. Teal'c and Sam stood there in Daniel's kitchen and watched with concern. They had heard him yelling into the phone, but had no idea what was going on. Finally he slammed the phone down and glared at them.
"Daniel has a situation," he told them succinctly, "at the university library. How the hell does the man get into trouble in a library?" It was a rhetorical question really; Daniel could get into trouble anywhere. "Let's go kids, he needs us now."
They didn't waste time asking questions he couldn't answer. They abandoned the pizza and the beer they'd picked up en-route to Daniel's. They had imagined an evening relaxing and unwinding from a stressful mission. Instead, they locked the door behind them as they followed Jack back into the rainy night to go rescue their friend.
*****
"I couldn't find anything for your shoulder," Rose whispered to him as they made their way through the maze of shelves and small offices that made up the basement storage facility of the library. She'd made a desperate search while Daniel had been talking to his friend, but she had found nothing of use. "We're not exactly equipped to handle gun shot wounds, we're more used to dealing with paper cuts."
She used her arm around his waist to steer him around a corner, barely avoiding a collision with the wall. He wasn't tracking too well, she could tell, but hopefully they'd be out of the building soon. After that her mind just went blank. She had no idea what they were going to do, she'd rather hoped that Daniel would be able to help in that department.
"We can't stop for my shoulder," he hissed back at her. "First rule, get away from the bad guys, then deal with the life-threatening injuries."
She looked at him in alarm, she knew the wound was bad, but life threatening?
"Daniel, I don't know anything about this type of thing," she could see the door at the end of the corridor, they were so close, "is it life-threatening?" Was he going to die on her? The thought terrified her more than the men behind them with the guns.
He shook his head ever so slightly, "Sorry, trying to lighten the mood. I guess it didn't work, huh?"
Lighten the mood? "No." They were almost there, freedom. Thinking of the men behind them made her try to speed his steps, just a little. They hadn't heard anything more from the men since the door had given way. She wished they'd make some noise, just so she would know where they were.
"It'll be okay," he assured her. "Jack's on his way."
He had written of Jack O'Neill with a passion in his journal, Rose just hoped that the man was the demi-god that Daniel thought he was, because nothing less was going to prevail in their current situation. They reached the door to the outside and still there was no sign of pursuit behind them. She didn't know why, it just didn't feel right, but she didn't know what else to do.
She took a firmer hold around his waist and pushed the crash bar to the outside. //Great//, was her thought, //I've finally got him just where I want him and he has a gun shot wound and there are three crazed men chasing us, just great....//
The rain blew in at them the second she opened the door. The alley behind the building was so dark she didn't see the man with the umbrella until she'd ran smack into him.
"Well, well, well," he said. "It's the library lady and the geek. I thought the two of you had managed to get lost in there. I thought we were going to have to come in and find you."
*****
Jack stared out the window, not really seeing the rain that poured down over the window, obscuring his view. He cursed it for slowing them down. What in hell was Daniel doing at the university library? It had become almost a litany in the frustratingly slow nightmarish drive. Jack had imagined every possible scenario of what could be happening to his friend right now, with his background in the military and black-ops he could imagine a lot.
Daniel had said there were three men, with guns. He had said `you'd better bring an ambulance.' What had he gotten himself involved in? He turned to his 2IC, Samantha Carter, who was driving as fast as she dared on the rain-slicked streets.
"Didn't he say he was going home? Straight home, isn't that what you heard?" Sam sighed. She was worried about Daniel too, way past worried, but they'd been down this track five times already. It always ended the same way, too, but she answered because it was easier than the alternative.
"Yes, sir. He said he was tired and he was going to go straight home and to bed."
"O'Neill," Teal'c's deep voice from the back seat intruded, "Why do you not wait until we find out from Daniel Jackson himself what has happened to bring him to this place?"
"Because, Teal'c, I'm just trying to figure out how it is that the man can't just do a simple thing like go home and go to bed without getting into trouble." Teal'c had wondered this very thing himself on similar occasions, but he knew that O'Neill had no real answers; it was just his way of worrying out loud.
Perhaps if he shared with O'Neill his thoughts on the subject, it would help him in this situation, "There are some things, O'Neill," the Jaffa said gravely, "that we are not meant to understand. I believe that this is one of them." For a second there was complete silence in the car as Jack tried to come up with a suitable reply.
Sam almost thought he'd been silenced, but then.
"He said he was going home, why in the world would he go out on a night like this to the library? I mean if he'd said he was going to go out, we never would have showed up on his doorstep with pizza and beer..." Jack mumbled into the night, unable to be quiet and sit tight.
Sam was never so relieved as when she turned the corner and saw the lights of the big building appear before her. From the outside things looked peaceful enough, but none of them really had a clue what was going on inside. They'd tried Daniel's cell phone again several times between Jack's tirades. Either he wasn't answering or he couldn't answer. Sam pulled the car to the curb and parked, a block from the building. They were going to get wet, but that was the least of their worries.
*****
It had all been for nothing! Daniel getting shot, the run through the storeroom, their attempt to gain their freedom, it had all been for nothing! Rose wanted to scream and cry, strike out at something, but she couldn't, she had to hang on. She couldn't loose it or she and Daniel really were going to be very dead.
She struggled against the bonds that now held her tightly, disgusted with herself and whatever fates that had shaped their circumstances. How could she have been so stupid as to walk right back into the hands of the bad guys? Now, they were right back were they started, in worse circumstances than before, Daniel's shoulder oozing blood from the gunshot wound, the bloody stain on his jacket extended nearly to his waist. There was so much blood... She remembered his earlier comment about fatal injuries and struggled harder against her bonds, for all the good it did her.
They had been waiting for them outside the library. The men had taken great pleasure in marching them back around the building in the rain. By the time they had arrived back at the main entrance, Daniel and Rose were soaked through, shivering in the rain. Daniel's face was lined with pain and Rose wasn't sure if he even knew where he was anymore.
The men had tied her to a wooden chair in front of the library's main desk. Combined with her wet dress plastered to her body and her hair hanging wet and dripping around her face, she had never felt so vulnerable or exposed in her life as she did in that helpless position, her feet tied to the chair, hands tied behind her back.
They hadn't bothered to tie Daniel up; they'd just tossed him in a heap on the floor next to her. Obviously they thought him too far gone to be of any more trouble. She was afraid they were right. From where she sat she could see that he was having trouble focusing. He was conscious, but just barely, keeping his gaze fixed on her as if she were his lifeline. She had a feeling that it was up to her now, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She did, however, know what she couldn't do, and that was to give these men Daniel's journal....
Daniel squinted, even with his glasses, how had he managed to keep those on? The world around him kept blurring and wavering strangely. He was wet and cold. Shivering made his shoulder hurt that much worse, but he couldn't stop. He thought he recognized the symptoms of shock setting in. The thugs hadn't bothered tying him up. He'd tried to make them believe that he was worse off than he was, forcing them to practically carry him back in the rain.
Unfortunately he hadn't been acting nearly as much as he'd wanted them to believe. He could feel the world closing in around him. He struggled to remain conscious and alert. He couldn't leave Rose alone to face whatever happened next. She'd shown surprising bravery and ingenuity up to this point, but things were going to get bad and he needed to try to deflect as much of it as he could from her. But how, now that was the question...
Burly stood and glowered down at his captives. They shivered in fear under his glare and well they should. He hadn't been this angry in quite a while. He knew he had to control that anger, at least until he had the journal in his hands and then... Ah, yes... then, he would pay these two for all the trouble that they had been. He couldn't believe that he had had to stand in the rain and wait for them. He was wet and cold and they would pay for that affront, oh yes, they would.
Who would have thought that a librarian and a geek could be this much trouble? But he would see them bleed, yes he would, he promised himself. But, first things first, he had to get the book, that was of supreme importance to him now, and then... he smiled at the thought of what he would do to them...
He moved to the geek and knelt beside him. With a swift move, like a snake striking its victim, he reached out grabbing a fistful of Daniel's hair, jerking his head back. The geek's eyes had been half-closed, but now they widened in pain and he hissed at the sharp movement.
"So, Dr. Jackson," Burly said casually, conversationally, "now that we have that all out of our system, shall we get down to business?"
The man looked him in the eye, gathered his strength and said, "Go to hell."
"Now, Dr. Jackson, you'll find that I can be a reasonable man. You've caused me an awful lot of trouble, but I'm willing to forgive and forget. Just give me the journal and we won't have to hurt your girlfriend here." He turned Daniel's face so he could get a good look at Rose. Beyond being wet and half scared to death she wasn't hurt...yet. She was tied and bound to the chair, fear shining stark in her eyes.
But she wouldn't give into it, Daniel could see that. She was holding onto her sanity, trying to figure out their next move. Daniel swallowed painfully, trying to think. "Just take me, I'm better than the book. Leave her alone and take me."
The other man just laughed. "Oh, please, and have O'Neill hound me to hell and back? No thanks. I just came for the dammed journal. Now, give it to me, or your girlfriend is going to be the one who pays the price for your obstinacy."
He smashed Daniel's head down on the wooden arm of the chair to which Rose was tied. His glasses shattered along with his face and this new pain made him forget the heat in his shoulder for a long second. Daniel was afraid he was going to lose his battle with consciousness. He held on with grim determination, he couldn't leave her alone. He could feel the warm blood on his face, flowing down to mix with the rainwater splattered on the floor. Have to hang on, can't leave Rose alone, was his one thought now.
The burly man suddenly released him and rose, moving to stand beside Rose. Daniel watched him warily, blood dripping into his eyes, blurring the world around him even more, what was he going to do?
The other man pulled his gun in one smooth and aimed it deliberately at her, "So which is it, Dr. Jackson, the journal or your girlfriend? Choose now." He stood there, staring down at Daniel, gun held steady at Rose's head, the barrel pressed into her temple.
Daniel's eyes locked with Rose. She knew she was going to die. He could read the forgiveness in her eyes. She knew the secrets in the book were more important than her life and in that moment she was prepared to die for them - for him.
It was so ironic. If he knew where the dammed book was, he would have given it to them, just on the small chance that they would honor their word and let her go. But he couldn't give it to them; he didn't know where the book was. They had been interrupted in the moment before she'd given it to him. She was the only one who knew where it was, and they were going to kill her...
"No...." was all he could get out, before he heard the gun fire the shot that would take her away, another casualty in an insane war. He watched her eyes widen in surprise, saw her body stiffen, but then there was nothing, no shock, no horror, no bloody hole, no nothing... Daniel's eyes tracked up. He caught the surprised shock on Burly's face before he crumpled and fell boneless to the floor. Teal'c and Sam neatly disarmed his two companions before they even had a chance to react.
Jack appeared out of the shadows, his weapon at the ready. He knelt beside the thug's now lifeless body to make sure he was truly out of the game.
"Hey kids, is this a party anyone can crash? Or would you rather we split and leave you... five alone?" He moved quickly to Daniel easing him back so he could check out the full extent of his friend's injuries.
"Oh, Jack," Daniel laughed breathlessly. "Please stay." He struggled to rise. Someone had to free Rose.
Jack knew exactly his intentions and pushed him back down. "You stay right there. The Doc should be here any minute. Carter, would you help the lady once you've secured your prisoner?"
"Already on it, sir." She pulled a small knife from the pocket of her jeans and went to work on the ropes that bound the other woman. Jack, seeing the situation was well in hand, turned back to the younger man.
"So, Daniel, you going to tell me what happened here tonight?" He waved a vague hand that included the three men on the floor, the woman tied to a chair and Daniel's own bloody body.
For a brief moment, Daniel wished for unconsciousness. He had struggled so hard against it just moments ago, but now that he wanted it, reached for it, it was nowhere in sight. He sighed as the silence between them stretched on, he tried to think of a way to tell Jack what had happened that wouldn't end in Jack shooting him in the other shoulder for his stupidity.
And then suddenly, Rose was there on the floor beside him, taking his hand. She was disheveled and a little shaky, but she was alive, blessedly alive.
"Oh, God, Daniel, I thought you were dead and I didn't know what to do."
She thought he was dead?
Jack looked at the two of them with a raised brow. "Trust me, uh..." he looked at Daniel expectantly.
"Rose," he supplied helpfully.
"Rose," Jack continued, "it takes more than a single bullet to kill our boy here."
"Rose," Daniel turned to her, "would you get it please?" She didn't even have to ask what IT was. Reluctantly releasing his hand, she stood and moved behind the counter.
"Daniel?" Jack asked.
"Jack," was the only answer he got.
She ducked behind the counter and pulled out the volume, `The Languages of Ancient Mesopotamia.' She opened it and there, just where she had discovered it, was it only a few hours ago? It seemed like it had been a lifetime was his journal. She brought it back to them. "I figured it was safe in there for a week, so..."
Jack looked from Daniel to the book and back again.
"Is that what this is about? You left one of your journals at the library? Of all the hair-brained stupid idiotic stunts you have pulled, this has got to take the cake." Daniel looked over at Sam, hoping maybe she could rescue him. She just shrugged.
"Didn't someone say that Doctor Fraiser was coming? Shouldn't I be in the infirmary or something?"
Fortunately for Daniel, the Doctor did indeed choose that moment to arrive in a flurry with her staff around her. Not even Jack O'Neill dared stand against her when she was in full doctor mode. There was no more chance for Jack to vent as she shooed away SG-1 and the unknown woman at Daniel's side so she could assess his condition. With practiced movements they hooked him up to IV's and the equipment they had brought with them and had him prepared for transport back to the SGC and its infirmary.
Rose stood back, watching it all with a growing sense of unreality. Standing in a corner she tried to stay out of the way of the people doing their jobs: the people cleaning up the mess of the library, and those who were cleaning up the mess that was Daniel. No one really noticed her; no one bothered her as they went about their jobs with professional ease.
She watched in a detached sort of way, the cold gathering around her. Now that it was all over, it was hard to imagine that it had even happened, to her and in her library. It was beginning to feel like it had been something she had read in one of the spy novels that she loved to read.
The men who had intruded so violently into her life had been taken out. Daniel was being lifted onto a stretcher. He would leave her and she would never see him again.
She found herself shaking and on the edge of tears and she didn't understand why. She was safe, the journal was back where it belonged. All was right with the world once again. All's well that ends well... someone had said that once. She must have spoken out loud, because the petite doctor that was looking after Daniel glanced up at her and shouted out.
"She's going into shock, somebody take care of her."
Rose wanted to tell them not to worry about her, just take care of Daniel, she would be all right. But she couldn't talk, suddenly the world was spinning around her and everything went black
*****
Rose didn't so much wake as she slowly slid into consciousness. She made her way through the layers of cotton that wrapped itself around her brain to find herself - where? It was nowhere she'd ever been, nowhere she'd ever expected to be, that was certain.
She found herself in an extraordinarily uncomfortable bed that had curtains around it blocking her view. The only wall she could see was gray, as was the ceiling, giving her no clues as to where she might be. But she could hear - what? Low voices talking - she couldn't quite make out conversations. There were machines quietly humming and the smell of the place was antiseptic, like a hospital. Hospital? Had she been in an accident? Why couldn't she think? Her brain just felt so.... fuzzy.
She attempted small movement to see if she could find any obvious injury. While she was sore and achy, everything seemed to work the way it was supposed to. All she found was an IV stuck in her arm connected to a bag of clear fluid suspended over her head.
All right, so something had obviously happened, but what? Now that was the question, wasn't it? She considered calling out when she realized that she heard voices close by, just outside of the curtains surrounding her bed.
"Really, Daniel, she's fine. I gave her a sedative so she would rest. She should be waking up any time now."
Rose heard a low murmur, a voice she thought she recognized, Daniel? And then, everything that had happened came rushing back - the journal, Daniel, the men who had terrorized them, the mad escape through the storeroom, the feel of the gun pressing on her temple in the moment when she thought they were going to die.
She realized she was shaking again, like she'd been before she lost it at the library. The curtain twitched aside and the petite doctor she vaguely remembered from when... last night? came into view.
"Good, you are awake," she said cheerfully, and then she saw the panic in the women's eyes. "How do you feel?" she asked in concern as she began to check Rose's vitals.
"I can't seem to stop shaking," she admitted. Anticipating just that reaction, the doctor took a hypo from her pocket and injected it into the IV.
"It's just a mild sedative," she assured the other woman. "Your system had a huge shock last night, it's still trying to recover. This will help."
"Janet," they heard Daniel call from beyond the curtain. It made Rose feel better to hear his voice, clear and strong. She could still see the nightmare vision of his face covered in blood, the gun in the other man's hand poised to take their lives. //It didn't happen,// it didn't happen, if she repeated it enough, her body might begin to believe it.
"Daniel, if you so much as move a toe out of your bed, I will have you strapped down and my nurses will be practicing sponge baths on you." She continued her exam, jotting occasional notes on the chart she had picked up.
"Not moving," he answered. "I just wanted to know how she is," he mumbled in a sulky whisper muttered just loud enough for them to hear. Rose could feel the doctor's medicines calming her, soothing the shakes.
"Where am I?" she ventured.
"You're in a military facility. You weren't in the best of shape last night; I wasn't going to just send you home. I'm Doctor Fraiser, by the way. We didn't get a chance to meet before."
Rose started to ask if she was at the SGC, but then some sense of caution that had been born the previous night made her ask instead, "How is Doctor Jackson?"
"Still not moving," they heard from beyond the curtain. The Doctor just smiled fondly, "Gunshot wound, blood loss, shock, nothing too serious." She looked up from her notes to find Rose staring at her aghast. She smiled reassuringly, "He's fine. Here," she put down the chart and moved the screen that separated the two beds, "see for yourself."
A lot the worse for wear, his face was bruised and bandaged, as was his shoulder. There were more lines and machines connected to him than she could count, but his eyes were bright and his face lit with a smile when he finally caught a glimpse of her. Janet looked from one bright face to the other.
"Well, I've got some... ah... tests to run." She picked up the chart and started to leave. Before she reached the door, however, she turned back and fixed them both with a stern look, "And don't even think about getting out of bed, either of you." With that she turned and was gone and they were alone.
Now, after their ordeal together, Rose found she was tongue-tied with no idea of what to say to the man whose blue eyes were watching her so expectantly. She had so many questions, but all she really wanted to do was pull the curtain back and avoid the moment when he said `thank you,' and walked away. Okay, well, not quite walk, he couldn't do that at the moment, but leave her behind nevertheless.
With a flash of insight, Rose realized that she might have had all the props of a life, but she hadn't really lived until last night. And now she didn't want to go back to the old habits of just existing, but she didn't know how to go forward.
Daniel spoke at last, breaking the silence between them. "You know, for a first date, I didn't think last night went too badly."
Rose opened her mouth, closed it, and finally smiled. "On whose scale?"
"Mine actually," he admitted with a single-shoulder shrug. "My first dates always end in disaster. At least all the right people walked away this time."
Rose giggled and Daniel looked satisfied that he'd teased it out of her.
"Strictly speaking neither of us walked away," she pointed out.
"We'll do better next time," he assured her, supremely confident. Next time? Would there be a next time after what she'd done? She shifted uncomfortably in the bed and finally sat up.
"What's going to happen to me? Does your Colonel O'Neill know?"
"Oh, yes, Jack knows, the General knows, the entire base probably knows by now. How you slept through that lecture, I don't know. Jack went on for about twenty minutes about the stupidity of leaving a top-secret document in a library book. It was one of his better rants." Daniel didn't seem to be in the least repentant, quite the opposite, he was grinning in obvious delight. Rose, however, didn't share his enthusiasm for the tale.
"No, do they know about me? That I read your journal?"
He sobered, "They know. And, while they're not happy about it, they both agree that you've proven you can be trusted with the information. You'll have to sign some sort of non-disclosure stuff and deal with security `measures' for a while.
Just until they're sure there'll be no more repercussions from this mess. It'll be okay," he assured her.
Rose had read enough spy novel to suspect that that wasn't necessarily so, but that wasn't what she wanted to talk about. "And what about you? How do you feel about me reading your journal?"
Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, he frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose; she could see that despite his bright smile, he was in a lot of pain. "I can't say that I'm happy about it, but I practically gave you permission. I mean I did leave it with you for a week."
She made a rude noise. "Daniel, it's a matter of trust we're talking about here. I failed you, that's all there is." She lifted her knees and wrapped her arms around them forlornly. She shut her eyes unable to meet his gaze.
"Oh, God," he muttered and she heard him shift. "Look at me." He paused while he waited for her, then, "Come on Rose, look at me. Don't make me get out of bed and come over there. You don't want to see what happens when you cross Janet." Reluctantly she opened her eyes, but she kept her eyes averted refusing to meet his gaze, focusing instead on the bandage on his shoulder. Evidently it was enough, because he continued, "I don't mind that you read the journal."
She did look into his eyes then to protest, and flinched at the forgiveness she saw there. "Daniel, it was your innermost thoughts and feelings in there. I had no right to that."
He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, and then replied. "You know I don't get to know people easily, I've always just kept to myself. I've sometimes thought it would be simpler to give the people I want to know my journals, let them get to know me that way. It would save a lot of time." She opened her mouth to protest again and he held up a finger, "I'm sorry you read the journal because of the burden of knowledge you now have. It's.... hard sometimes knowing everything we know, not being able to warn anyone what may be coming. You shouldn't have to live with it, too. It's not right. That's what I'm sorry about."
"Oh," the sedative was beginning to pull at her again; her brain was beginning to feel muddled and fuzzy. She lay back down, curled up on her side so she faced him. Did he just say that he wanted to know her better? "Oh!"
He closed his eyes and she thought he had slipped into sleep. She closed her eyes too, still uncertain as to the resolution of their conversation but content that they would pick it up again soon. She opened them in surprise when she heard him say. "So, when do you think we should try for a second?" He was watching her quizzically; she searched her mind.
"Second?"
"Second date. When should we try for a second date, just the two of us this time?"
Well, there you are. Just when you least expected it, life found you. "Well... maybe after the Doctor lets us out of here?"
"That's a given. You should never have a second date in the infirmary, the ambience is wrong. So it's a plan then?"
"Plan?" Her brain was definitely muddled; she could usually keep up her end of the conversation better than this.
"We wait until we're sprung and then we regroup to plot our next course of action."
"You make it sound so... romantic."
"Is that yes?" All she could do was smile and nod. Yes, oh, yes! But then, one last question before she sank back into sleep.
"Daniel," he blinked at her. "At the library last night I was wearing a dress. How did I end up in scrubs?"
He grinned at her and indicated his own similar attire. "Welcome to my world."
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