Daughter of the Gods-Dark Illusions
by Lisa Beth Darling
Adult Daniel Jackson Fan Fiction

CHAPTER ELEVEN

May 14th
Cheyenne Mountain
Colorado Spring, Colorado
Office of Dr. Janet Frasier

Everything dies,
baby that's a fact.
But maybe everything that dies,
Some day comes back.
Put your make up on
Fix your hair up pretty
And meet met tonight in
Atlantic City
Atlantic City
Bruce Springsteen

Calla sat in Janet's office, having just undergone her second sixth month check up. She looked around while she waited for the test results, hopeful that her week with David was not for nothing. That was not to be. The look on Janet's face exuded worry as she walked into the office and delivered the worse news to date. According to the latest sonogram, Calla was not going to carry to term. Not the full nine months it normally takes for your average mortal human set of twins. The internal damage done to her over the years of her life was too great. The walls of her uterus were beginning to show signs of extreme fatigue and soon they would begin to tear under the weight of the twins. The best she and Dr. Frasier could do was to shoot for a term of seven and a half to eight months rather than the normal nine. Dr. Frasier figured that if Calla’s pregnancy lasted anything more than seven and a half months, they would both consider it a well-earned bonus. The original due date of September 22nd was out of the question. “But, we knew this was going to happen,” Janet said in a soothing tone as she reached and patted Calla’s hand. “So we’re prepared and we’ll do everything we can to make sure things go as smoothly as possible.”

Six short weeks until the twins arrived.

Calla sat in stunned silence for a few moments and felt the crushing weight on her shoulders. The weight that told her she was failing not only her children but Daniel as well. In the background Janet's voice droned on about the good health of the children and their being of a good size, in fact, for twins they were large. Although they would be premature for mortal children, all of that ran in Calla’s favor. The twin’s odds of survival were very good, especially with all of the strides made in modern medicine. "The other tests?" Calla asked in a hushed voice. "All the blood you took. The needles you put in my stomach?" Though she knew the odds were stacked against her from the beginning, she was really hoping to be able to go the distance and carry the twins the full nine months.

"The amnio, yes, well, there is some good news there and with your blood tests. Your sugar levels are down, so are your protein levels and your red cell count rose a bit. However, your blood pressure is still high. We'll have to keep checking that." Janet smiled reassuringly at her. "You haven't made great strides in the last two weeks but there may be some leveling off. You even managed to gain two pounds." She shuffled papers around on her desk for a moment. "Are you sleeping any better?"

"Some what, yes." Calla agreed. That was true. Having David in captivity this past week had been merciful in allowing her to sleep. Apparently he was doing some good in other ways as well. As much as she did not want to admit, she appreciated having a man in the house again, especially one with Daniel's face.

"Good, now about that knee." Janet pointed downward at it. "I want you to stop going up and down those stairs. It isn't good for your blood pressure or your knee. Your bone density is still low; if you fall, you could be seriously injured. I want you to get yourself situated on the first floor of the house, ok. I'll come over and help you if you want."

"No," Calla said in a hurried tone, "that won't be necessary." Drawing in a breath and tossing strands of graying hair over her shoulder, she asked; "How long can I continue to work?" Yes, there was another thing. She was failing those who needed her at the shelter as well. Everything was crashing down around her and Calla felt powerless to stop any of it.

"I was just getting to that." Janet reached out and patted her hand. "I'd really prefer it if you stopped working by the end of the week. Tie up whatever lose ends you have to, but after that I want you off your feet until . . .”

Incapacitated. That's all she heard.

Incapacitated. With David in the house.

"I have every confidence that you and those twins will come through this just fine." Janet was saying with a warm but a false smile. "You'll just have to take it very easy for the next six weeks or so. Calla, listen, you’ve already gone an extra two weeks, I mean, for you. You’re doing the best you can."

"I can get a visiting nurse to come in a few times a week and . . . "

Unconsciously a small ugly snort came from Calla's mouth. It took Janet by surprise and her eyebrows rose as she looked over at her. "No, that also won't be necessary." Calla said hoping she recovered well. "The babies are healthy?"

"Right as rain." This time the smile on the good doctor's face as genuine. "I can't find anything wrong with either of them. You were very brave during the amnio; I know that it hurts very much. Don't be surprised if there's bruising tomorrow or tonight."

Calla doubted that. Janet never had any children of her own, what did she know about how it felt to have a large needle plunged through your already tender stomach? Not once but twice? "Then, I can do this on my own." She rose. "I'll be sure to come back in two weeks."

Janet also rose with a worried look on her face. "Do you understand what I'm telling you? I think you do." She reached out and grabbed Calla by the forearm. "You're going to need some help. There is no shame in that. I'll need you to stay here in the infirmary in a few weeks but until then maybe Sam will stay with you for a while . . . "

"No." Calla shot through gritted teeth and once again tried to regain her composure. "I understand. I appreciate your concern. When I need you, I will let you know. Until then, I really do have everything I need." Gathering her purse, she walked out of the office without looking back.

"Calla!" Dr. Frasier called from the office door. "Calla!" The woman did not turn around or acknowledge her in any way.

Everything was always blowing up around her. Nothing was ever still and quiet long enough for her to catch her breath. Being the daughter of Lord Ares had its drawbacks; Change and Conflict followed her everywhere. There was no possible way to allow Sam to stay with her or a visiting nurse to come in a few days a week. Not when there was David to consider in all of this. She couldn't risk him being discovered.

And taken away from her.

It had only been a week but her tests were showing signs that things were trying to get back to normal and that he had to be due to the time she spent with him. If she could obtain more of what David had to give her, if she were willing to put herself in that situation. Perhaps then, if she was lucky, his energy would give her body enough strength to endure the full term of the pregnancy. It was worth hoping for but it was a long shot at best.

Six more weeks in the house, alone, with David and eventually she would have to let him free. It would not be possible to keep going up and down the basement stairs to tend him and she really could not keep him in the den on the first floor. Someone was bound to notice him in there! What was she to do? Stay in the basement with him and run up the stairs every time Jack, Sam or Teal’c came to the door to check on her? Sooner or later, somehow, some way, thinking freedom with his grasp, David would make his presence known to them. It was not freedom they offered him. It was another prison. One colder than the one she provided for him.

A thought struck like lightning from the blue. The house in Chicago! She could take him there. Keep him there. Jack, Sam and the rest would not be able to interfere. How was she going to get him there? David, although he liked to play his little game of pretending to be Daniel, was actually behaving himself quite well, as though he had some grasp on the seriousness of her situation. He had been kind and rather subdued during his stay; Calla no longer felt it necessary to restrain him as tightly as she did at first. During the day, when she was at work, David was left alone and ungagged. He had enough slack on his chains to allow him to walk around the bed and about half the distance of the room she kept him in. Several times at night she had removed the chains completely so he could use the bathroom. She no longer brought the gun with her when she lay down with him at night, although she did keep a tight hold on the riding crop with one hand. Lately, before she lay down, she left him just enough slack to touch her hair and cross his arms over his chest.

It was not enough. She needed more than that from him and hated herself for it. Sometimes, when she was alone with him, he would drop into that voice, the one that tickled her ears and tingled the nape of her neck. Those blue eyes glistened and gleamed at her while he spoke. Sometimes, when she was alone with him, she just wanted to believe the illusion he offered without restraint. Letting loose his hands would be so easy and she could dive head first into that miraculous mirage. Calla could almost feel the touch of his hands gliding across her skin, his strong naked body wrapped around hers . . .

...Just like Daniel's once did . . .

...his breath sweet and hot against her neck . . .

...Just lose herself in there forever, never to return to reality.

That was what he wanted. What he was waiting for so patiently. It would appear that his patience was about to pay off for him.

Trust. Such a small word. So many large implications.

The threat was high but the need was paramount. In her mind, she knew that she could not, should not, and most assuredly would not, trust David Jackson. She must not turn her back on him. She must not let him lull her into believing he was Daniel, not even for one moment.

As she climbed into the Jetta, she reached into her purse her hand seizing upon the object she had stolen from Janets’ medicine cabinet. It was sharp and pointed. It would certainly do the trick. If David Jackson could not be trusted and he would not come with her quietly. If he forced her to, she would use it and take what she needed.

P3X264
Same Day

The trek across the countryside had not been dull or boring as they made their way back to the Stargate. Lord Ares related endless tales of battle and war, well, that was, when he wasn't openly hitting on Major Carter. Seemed it had been a long time since Ares had laid eyes upon an attractive woman and he was very anxious to find out if he could still rise to the occasion. The sun was beginning to set as Jack realized the Big Kahuna Village was about a mile ahead of them; they were almost halfway through their journey. Medol and his pals might not be too happy to see Lord Ares, a/k/a The Walkin' Dude, coming their way. They still had plenty of supplies; there wasn't any need to bother the nice folks who had helped them out earlier. Colonel O'Neill decided to detour around the village.

"And I wanted to see my old buddy, Medol, before I left." Ares sighed sarcastically as they veered away from the village. "Do you think they'll miss me, Major Carter?" He looked down at her with seductive eyes. "I really do love a woman in uniform." Ares teased as he drew in a deep breath to fill his lungs with her ripe scent.

"I don't think he was too interested in seeing you." DePeter spoke up for the first time on the journey back. The company was not what he would call of his caliber.

"You wound me." Ares said with a disdainful tone. "Everyone is always so ready to believe the worst of me. Why?" He asked with a haughty wave of his hand. "Because I War? I Lorded over all things wild and free before mortals came along and began perfecting the art of war. Who is it that they all turned to when their cities needed protecting? Damn me in the day and then crawl to me at night, that’s what they did."

"You live for the battle from what I hear." Jack said.

"Battle yes," Ares agreed with a jovial smile. "In all things there is battle, conflict, strife and ultimately change. I revel in all of it. I make no apologies for it. It is necessary. In a stagnant environment, nothing grows." Ares bent deeply at the waist to stare into Colonel O’Neill’s eyes. “I am a warrior, like you, surely you can see that. See how much alike we are.”

"I’m nothing like you.” Jack countered. “Don't make excuses for yourself. You sent Calla to Kanan." Jack accused.

"I did." Ares agreed amiably as they walked nearer the village. "She killed her mother. What was I to do with her? Pat her on the back and say 'good girl'? Callestah had to be protected from the rest, especially after what she'd done, that's why I took her to him." Lord Ares was visibly becoming annoyed as he began to pace the members of SG1 who were standing in a sort of circle. "I fully intended to go back for her but,"

Colonel O'Neill stopped and cranked his neck upward to look the God of War in the eye. "But what?"

"But I got stuck here instead." Ares railed at the brazen tone in the Colonel's voice. "Do you think I wanted to leave her with Kanan all these years? Do you think because I War that I cannot Love?"

"I see the juxtaposition." Teal’c said. “The two are not often reckoned.”

“Hump.” Lord Ares snorted as he stroked the goatee on his chin. “Has Love not started many a War? Have others not ended by the same?”

“They are.” Teal’c agreed.

“Forever intertwined,” Ares brought his gloved hands close and laced his fingers together, “the two greatest passions the universe has ever known.” Cinching his hands together tightly to make one very large fist, he insisted, “I love my daughter. I will not be kept from her any longer.” The dessert wind kicked up again and blew back his hair as he took a step forward and leaned down to look at Colonel O’Neill. “Samantha will open the Stargate. I will return to Earth. I will put an end to this madness and have what is mine.”

DePeter who was beginning to find the conversation interesting but seemed to be the only one who understood one crucial thing; Ares was avoiding them, now spoke up. “So how did you get here, Lord Ares? If you‘re so powerful, why didn‘t you get yourself back to Earth decades ago instead of letting your daughter, who I heard you claim to love, suffer?”

There was no sound, no warning at all. One moment DePeter, (who was not exactly a slight man, coming in at somewhere around 195 pounds), was standing on the ground being his cocky self. The next he was dangling seven feet off the ground by his scrawny neck. Held in place only by Ares left hand. The leather smelled old and dusty, as if he had faded blood on it. Wind in his lungs began to fade as he kicked his legs in a futile effort to get the God of War to let go of him. “You’re nothing.” Ares hissed. “I could snap my fingers and destroy all of you!” He shouted as he surveyed the mortal around him. “Don’t fuck with me.” Before DePeter could turn a darker shade of blue, the muscular hand released its victim and he fell to the ground. “I don’t answer to you.”

Teal’c stooped to help the choking man rise to his feet.

In the background, Jackson began to laugh. “No, no, no.” He scolded and laughed some more. “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too.” Jackson started to cackle, a high-pitched sound that grated on O’Neill’s ears and made the hairs on his arms stand up.

“God, all we need are the flying monkeys.” O’Neill griped as they made their forward.

They walked through most of the night hoping to make up time in getting back to the Stargate. When they did sleep that night, like the night before, Jack, Sam and Teal’c took turns at watch. No one trusted DePeter or Ares for the job. Jackson, well, he was just off in a world of his own most of the time. Morning came and O’Neill realized there was only half a day’s walk left before they reached their goal.

Major Carter sat next to Colonel O’Neill while the others ate the last of the supplies. “You can’t seriously be considering taking him back to Earth.” She tossed her blond head in Ares direction.

“What do you want me to do, Carter? Shoot him?” Jack retorted and looked down at the empty holster. “Look like he’s along for the ride whether we like it or not. We’ll deal with him when we get back to the SGC.”

“If we get back.” She corrected.

"If, yeah, right." Colonel O'Neill agreed. "I just hope Calla can handle seeing him . . . them. Christ, what are we going to tell her about David? You know she's going to think he's Daniel when she sees him, no matter what we tell her first."

Teal'c slowly strode over to where they were sitting with the useless staff weapon in his hand. “I did not notice anything wrong with the DHD when we came through, did either of you?”

“No." Jack said looking up at the big man. "But that doesn’t mean it works. Why else would Ares be hanging around here so long?” Jack was certain of that one fact; if Lord Ares could have gotten off this planet, he would have done so years ago.

“Who do you think left him here?” Major Carter asked in a low voice.

“I dunno, the same person who dropped off David I imagine." Jack turned his gaze in the direction where Ares and David were standing in the shade of an old tree. Ares didn't seem interested in talking to or about David Jackson; the God of War had his back to the smaller man who was happily tapping his foot in the sand to a tune that only he could hear. "Someone who knew that DHD didn't work. Our buddy Ares doesn’t seem too interested in talking about it and I’d rather not push him on it right now. If you get my drift.” No sense taking any chances out there on lovely P3X624, it was best to wait until they got back EarthSide to start pushing Ares’ buttons. "If we walk most of the night, we should reach the gate by morning, you all up for that?"

"Sure." Carter agreed and rose from the rock on which she had been sitting.

End Daughter of the Gods: Dark Illusions
Chapter Eleven
Continue to
Chapter Twelve

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