There’s a squeak hinge down on the back gate
It lets us know if he comes in
I don’t sleep that good anyway, no
If you’ve never heard that silence,
It’s a God-Awful Sound.
Kody
Matchbox Twenty

"What the hell is going on?" General Hammond demanded to know as Daniel crashed through the worm hole and onto the cold steel ramp. "You barely waited for us to respond to the signal, Dr. Jackson."

"Leave it open," Daniel panted, "they're coming. Phone! Someone give me a phone!" He pushed past the General just as the rest of SG1 appeared through the Gate.

"I don't know sir," Colonel O'Neill spoke before the General could ask, "he just ran past us and dove through the Gate."

"Whatever it is, it must be of great importance to him." Teal'c remarked.

"Where did he go?" Major Carter asked as she shifted the weight of the P90 to a more comfortable position on her shoulder.

"He tore out of here looking for a phone."

Daniel picked up the nearest land line which happened to be the briefing room and punched the buttons which dialed his home number. Answer, Calla, c'mon, answer, he thought as the line rang and rang in his hand. Soon his own voice was coming through the receiver and informing him that no one was home at the moment but to please leave a message and someone would call back soon. "Calla? It's Daniel, pick up the phone!" He waited. "Come on, if you're there pick up the phone. Please Calla, pick up the phone." There was no response.

"What is going on?" Jack asked as he stood in the doorway.

"Come on, we have to get to my house! I'll explain on the way." Daniel brushed past him, leaving the receiver on the desk behind him.

The four of them piled into Jack's Lexus and sped down the winding country roads towards Silver Springs. On the ride, the rational side of his mind kept telling him that Calla had just gone out for one of those walks that he was always trying to encourage her to go on. They would get to his house, open the door, and she would be sitting by her fire just like she always was. That voice, so calm and easy, Daniel knew that voice, he had used it many times. It was trying to lull him into a false sense of security.

Jack drove at lightning speeds toward Daniel's house with Teal'c and Sam belted in behind him in the back seat. There was something fishy about that girl all right, at least now they knew what it was. It wasn't that he didn't like Calla, of course he did, *everyone* liked Calla, you just couldn't help it. Maybe it was something in her eyes or in the way she always seemed to make you feel like you were the only person in the room, even there were fifty others around you.

"You should have told us about this!" Jack snapped as he slammed his fist against the steering wheel. "I thought we were friends!"

"We are," Daniel couldn't get Jack's eye because he was keeping it on the road and instead turned to issue his plea to his friends in the back seat. "It's not like I really tried to hide it, if anyone ever looked at my birth certificate it does say 'twin' on it." He grumbled.

"Which one of us was supposed to go peeking into your background, Daniel?" Major Carter accused.

"You too, huh? That's great." Daniel tossed his hands in the air. "Look, I just wanted to forget about him, is that so horrible? Jesus Christ! I haven't seen David in 20 years!"

"That doesn't matter." Jack did turn his head to look at Daniel as the road straightened out for a bit. "You should have told us and you damn sure should have told her!"

"Is it not more important that we find Calla rather than continue this pointless bickering?" Teal'c asked.

"Yes, it is." For the second time on the drive, Daniel fished in his pocket for his cell phone and dialed his home number; all he received was the cold ring and then his voice coming through the message machine. He slammed the cover shut and tossed the phone onto the dashboard. "Can we just get there? You guys can tar and feather me later, ok?" Gentle warmth descended onto his shoulder and Daniel turned to see Sam staring at him.

"OK." She agreed.

“Fine,” Jack chimed in, “but let me tell you one thing, when this over, boy Lucy you got some ‘splaining ta do!”

The white Lexus screeched to a halt in front of 1313 Mockingbird Lane, before he even opened the door to the car, Daniel knew the house was empty. Shoving his fist into his front pocket and fumbling for the house key, Daniel charged up the front walk with his friends close behind. He grabbed the brass knob and the door swung open without the aid of his key.

The silence inside was maddening. It rung out all around him as he stood in the living room and gazed down at the cold embers in the fireplace. Calla almost never let that go out, only at night when they went up to bed, the first thing she did in the morning was to stoke it up again. Now there wasn't enough heat coming from it to warm an ant by.

"Calla?" Jack called out as he made his way past Daniel toward the kitchen. "Hey! Calla?"

There was no reply.

The light on the answering machine blinked three times, no one had to punch the button to know that they were all Daniel's calls.

"Do these belong to you, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked as he held out his hand to reveal three Marlboro butts.

Daniel gnashed his jaw tight and shook his head.

"All right, room to room, let's go." Colonel O'Neill ordered. SG1 split up and began a room by room search of Daniel's house. Jack and Sam took the first floor while Daniel and Teal'c sprinted for the second floor.

In his bedroom, Daniel found the bed a mess and her side of the closet almost completely empty. Other than that the house seemed to be in perfect order. David had just walked right in and taken her right out, no fuss no muss no problem. He was standing in the walk-in closet looking at the empty hangars when Samantha rushed into the room with his metal lock-box, the top of which had been pried open.

"What was in here?" She asked him as she held it out and watched as Daniel flipped through the contents.

"All of her identification is missing, her passport, MY passport, credit cards, it's all gone." Daniel dropped it to the floor and bent to retrieve it as it hit. He flipped through it again and then dumped the rest of the contents onto the floor in front of him. "The wedding rings are gone." He rose quickly and kicked the box, it twirled its way across the hardwood floor and slid under his bed.

"Son of a bitch!" He railed. "I'm gonna kill him, Sam, I swear, I am." Daniel spun around with rage in his fist and punched the rear wall of the walk-in closet, his fist went through the dry wall as cut into his skin. Daniel pulled his hand out of the wall and reached out to touch the empty clothes hangars, she was gone and it was all his fault. Jack was right; he should have told her about David. Slowly Daniel turned around and ran his shaking bruised hand through his hair, his eyes turned upward to plea to whatever Gods there were for help. There was a small black object secured to the wall above the trim. "Sam?"

"Yeah, Daniel." Sam followed the lock box across Daniel’s bedroom floor and was peeking under the bed to see what had made that noise. She stood up with three empty wine bottles and one empty Kahlua bottle in her hand. Major Carter turned to look at her friend with the empty bottles in her hand, she couldn't remember ever seeing Daniel this angry, he had a right to blow off some steam right now. She followed his hand as it pointed upward and beheld the object which had caught his attention.

"What's that?"

"I dunno but it looks like a wi-fi web cam." Major Carter walked into the closet for a closer look. “You always keep your empties under the bed?”

“No.”

"You two find anything?" Jack asked as he walked through the door.

"I think so, sir. Better call the General and get a team in here. I think this house is bugged." Major Carter said as she craned her neck to get a better view of the device secured to Daniel's wall.

Twenty minutes later a team of the USAF's finest descended upon and then took over Daniel Jackson's house. They de-bugged his phones and his computers and ran bug sensing devices over every inch of the house. Daniel sat on the sofa with his head in hands feeling powerless, some Avatar he had turned out to be.

Colonel O'Neill took Major Carter aside as they stood in the living room watching over their friend. "Listen to me, when they get that web address, you come and tell me. Got that? He doesn't need to..."

"I understand, sir. General Hammond put a trace on Calla's credit cards, we'll know if she uses them and where."

"Good. Go help them, I'll stay with Daniel." Major Carter left him to make her way into the den where the de-bugging team had set up most of their equipment while Jack settled in on the couch next to Daniel. "Hey," he said in a soft voice as he laid a hand on Daniel's back, "it's gonna be all right. We're gonna find her. You know that, right?"

"No," Daniel wiped the wetness away from his face and looked down at his open palms. "Actually, I don't think I ever knew anything where Calla's concerned."

"Sure you do," the hand on Daniel's back lightly began to rub back and forth, "you know you love her, don't you?" Major Carter came out of the den and whispered into Colonel O'Neill's ear. "Stay here, I'll be right back." Jack got up and followed her into the den leaving Daniel alone on the sofa. Muffled voices from the other room came to him but he couldn't make out what they were saying and couldn't concentrate enough to even try and make it out.

A few minutes later one of the de-buggers walked out of the den with an electric screw driver in his hand. He walked up to the mirror over the fireplace without saying anything and began to take it down, another man came over and helped him set it on the floor. Daniel looked up and saw the second web-cam that his brother had hidden. He bolted from the sofa and into the den. Before he could get through the door he heard her voice; "Daniel," it was soft and quiet. "Daniel, please."

"Get him out of here!" Jack shouted to Teal'c as he reached out and turned off the monitor.

Teal'c grabbed Daniel by the arm before he could get through the door.

"You found it." Daniel tried to push past the man who was holding him back. "C'mon, you have to let me see it." He demanded.

"You don't want to see this. Just go back out there." Sam said in a stern but concerned voice. "Just go."

There was no picture on the monitor but the speakers were still on; "Daniel." Calla whispered.

"You have to let me see it." Daniel repeated in a demanding whisper.

"Why would you wish to put yourself through this?" Teal'c asked as he held on to Daniel's forearm.

"I have to know so I can fix it later. When we find her." Daniel turned to Jack with wide pleading eyes. "You did say we would find her, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Colonel O'Neill shot a look at Teal'c. "You sure?"

"I can do this. I have to do this, Jack."

"Let him go." Jack raised a hand in the air as he signaled for everyone to clear the room. "Go on, it's all yours." He moved away from the desk and Samantha rose from the chair to allow Daniel to sit down. "You want us to stay?"

He didn't know and he didn't care, rather than answer them Daniel drew in a deep breath and flicked the monitor back on. The image of his bedroom displayed on the screen, his eyes closed and then opened again as he summoned an inner strength. The tape playing in front of him was from four nights ago, Daniel was making love to her. Calla's arms were wrapped around him and she was covering him with those soft kisses of hers.

So, OK. He thought as he sat there. That's OK. So, David had been watching and getting his kicks, at least it was him, it was Daniel. He moved the mouse and rode the elevator down the screen. HOME. He clicked the link.

"Shit." Jack muttered. " OK, before you go any further." He shut the monitor off again. "There's about ten days worth of this stuff. Your bedroom and by the fireplace." Jack stopped not knowing how to say what needed to be said.

Major Carter took over as she reached out for Daniel's hand and took it in her own. "He's been broadcasting it live over the web 24/7." Her words were hard to say and they stuck in her throat. She watched Daniel's eyes fall. "He's been charging people, making money off it, Daniel. A lot of it."

Sure, why not? Daniel thought as he sat there feeling the warmth of Sam's hand against his own and wishing with all his heart that he could take everything back. This was Davy to the proverbial T, if there was a buck to be made in anything then Davy was all over it. How many times had Davy been to his house? Obviously, he had been the Cable Man (rather than the Cable Woman) how else would he have set this up? "He used my computers to relay this, didn't he?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

How many of those ten days had Davy come to call on Calla? How long had he waited and watched before he made his move? Daniel turned the monitor on for the last time and was greeted by a full color picture of Calla, she was wrapped in that white robe that he loved so much. The one that he liked to bury his head when he pulled her close to him at night. The one he reveled in removing from her, slowly untying the sash and peeling back the material until she lay willing and waiting for him to touch her. Here on the Internet the soft robe that his palms had grasped so many times over the last month was open halfway to revealed the place where he loved to lay his head at night. Her green eyes sparkled with life and desire as she stared back at him from the screen.

She was not supposed to be there, she was supposed to be here, with him.

Daniel rode the elevator down.

David was a good web master, Daniel had to give him that much. The site was nicely peppered with pictures of him and Calla in various stages of dress and undress. It was categorized well. One could get live feed for $9.95 an hour. Or one could search through the archives which had been broken down first by day and then by activity. The more mundane activities were available for $1.95 an hour. The steamy stuff was priced right at $5.95 for the first hour. There had been many nights that Daniel had lasted more than that first hour, if you wanted to see it, well at $2.95 every hour after the first it was cheap at twice the price. Or if one were just in the mood for smash and grab one could get the Highlights of Events for a flat rate of $7.95 per Event. Daniel hit the ARCHIVES button looking for his brother.

Jack's cell phone began to ring. "Keep an eye on him, don't let him watch too much of that."

"I won't." Sam agreed as Jack left the room to answer the incoming call from General Hammond. "Don't you think that's enough?"

Daniel didn't turn around to look at her. "No, I don't. He's in here somewhere." His eyes scanned the dates listed on the site. December 15th met his gaze and Daniel clicked on it. The next page showed more images of Calla and Daniel tried to ignore them as he kept his eyes on the text. December 15th had been broken down into increments; MORNING, EVENING and AFTERNOON DELIGHT. That was Davy. Before he knew it he clicked on the link and was being asked for his credit card number. "Give it to me." Daniel held out his hand without looking at Sam.

"Daniel, don't do this." She begged. "C'mon, let's just go."

"Goddamn it! Give it to me."

From her breast pocket she pulled the credit card they had used to access the site initially and handed it over to him. Major Carter stood by while she watched him punch the numbers on the card into the computer and the next screen appeared.

LOADING.......LOADING.......LOADING......

The image slowly opened onto his bedroom, Davy was walking through the door with Calla in his arms. She was kissing him, looking at him with those big green eyes so trusting and sweet. Oh God, he loved it when she looked at him like that! But that wasn't him; Daniel felt his stomach twist and knot. What followed next while clear as the crystal of Maeve's throne on the screen, seemed to come through in waves. It was nothing more than a jumbled bunch of sight and sound as Daniel stared at it. For a moment he wondered why he couldn't see it, why it was so hazy, and then he realized his own tears were blocking his view. With a shaking hand he brushed them away to see David had her wrists bound and was pushing her into the cold dry wall.

December 15th 12:15pm, read the time stamp in the lower left corner. David had been raping her while Daniel lay in the infirmary with that horrible pain in his stomach and bitter taste in his mouth. A hard-on that just wouldn't quit. Janet thought it was food poisoning. Yeah. Right.

He knew better now, didn't he? It was Calla and her Bond to him. She had been trying to tell David to stop hurting her, unable to reach David's mind, the Bond sought him out. For the next three days David had shown up on his door and had his way with Calla while Daniel had been confined to the infirmary. It had been that Connection which made him sick, it had been trying to warn him, trying to tell him what was happening to her. He hadn't listened.

For four days she had kept her mouth shut and kept her distance from him. Yeah, of course she had. What else was she supposed to do? And why should she have said anything to him at all about it, huh? As far as she was concerned he already knew everything, didn't he? To her, Daniel must look like a real Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. In order to cope with that was happening to her, what David (Daniel) was doing to her, Calla had begun drinking while he was at work, hence the empty liquor bottles under his bed. When the booze wasn’t enough she’d gone for the percs and the valium, hence the empty perc bottle in his bathroom waste basket and the valium which was missing from the medicine cabinet.

"Daniel, please." Calla's voice cracked through the speakers. Her voice trembled and so did her body. "Master Daniel," she begged quietly as David planted his elbow in her back. David must have loved that. Sure he did, Daniel could see him smile on the monitor while he thrust away behind her.

As though he could offer her some small bit of latent comfort, Daniel’s fingertips reached to touch the cold glass. There was no comfort he could offer as he watched her slender body give way and slide down the wall when Davy was finished with her. Nothing he could do to change that broken look in her eye as she stared up at him from her place on the floor at his feet. Daniel stood up swiftly and laid his hands on the monitor. "No! No! No!" Each time Daniel spat forth the word it grew in intensity as he grabbed the monitor and heaved it to the floor. The glass shattered as it landed face down on the hardwood floor and tendrils of smoke rose from the broken machinery. "She thinks he's me." He whispered to no one in particular other than himself and then fell back into the chair with his head in his hands.

"I know." Samantha knelt beside him. "He's not you. She'll figure it out, Daniel."

Daniel laughed, a haughty little sound, as fresh tears began to roll down his cheeks. "Great, Sam. That's just great. What happens then? When he doesn't even have to remotely pretend to be me anymore? What the fuck is going to happen to her then?" Seemed to Daniel that David not only heard the siren song of that horrid Darkness, but he was only too willing to be swept away by it. So willing to give into it and twist her.

Sam did the only thing she knew, she reached out and wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged him tight. "We'll find her before that."

"Then can I kill him?"

"I'll hold him down for you."

"Hammond's got a lead." Colonel O'Neill told them as he walked into the den with Teal'c. "OK, you, Daniel, purchased two tickets to Greece early this morning. You also got a duplicate driver's license a week ago. Their plane left from Denver 35 minutes ago." Jacked looked down and up again. "We've able to confirm that they were on it. Flight goes to Chicago and then to New Haven before leaving the country. We can't catch 'em at O'Hare but we can meet 'em at Tweed." The absolute truth was they could send someone to intercept David and Calla at O'Hare but Jack didn't want some local cop playing hero and getting someone hurt in the process. Calla would be fine with David all the way to Greece, he wouldn't do anything stupid on an airplane full of people and neither would she, and Jack was pretty sure about those two facts. Their best option was to get to New Haven before them and wait.

Calla sat in her seat on the airplane with her hands clasped in her lap. The gold band on the third finger of her left hand stared back at her. Before they left the house, Master Daniel had insisted that she wear it when she refused, yet again, he'd grabbed her wrist, yanked it forward and forced the gold band onto her finger. Calla watched as he slid the matching ring onto his own hand, telling her that everything had to look right and she was going to wear the ring whether she liked it or not. So many things had changed about him over the last few days, Calla had done her best just to try and stay out of his way over the last bit of time. She had not given any further argument with regard to the wedding ring.

Here she was, sitting in this big machine soaring above the clouds. Calla had never flown before, she didn't like the way plane sometimes leapt and jerked. Master Daniel said that was called turbulence and that it was nothing to worry about. It did not mean that they were about to fall out of the sky. His words did little to stop the churning in the pit of her stomach as she sat holding onto the arm rest.

At this end of journey she would see her Father again. She'd much prefer it if he'd tell her that he wanted to see Avalon. Perhaps Master Daniel knew something that she did not; perhaps Father was ready to forgive her after all. For all of the Changes he had gone through over the last few days, Calla still felt sure that he would not knowingly walk her into harms way. Though, it was strange of him not to give her some advanced notice regarding the trip. He had just come home a little before noon saying that his business was wrapped up and it was time to go. The others, he said, would not be accompanying them even though that had been the plan all along. When the time came, Master Daniel had said that all of them would go to Greece. It seemed that they had changed their minds about her as well.

"Here, take one of these." David told her as he dropped two small green pills into her palm." It'll help with the flight."

Calla’s valium bottle was in her purse, she didn’t know where Daniel had gotten these particular green pills but if he was willing to let her have them…. Calla dropped them into her mouth at his command and washed them down with a gulp of Coke. Soon she was sleeping beside him, she slept all the way to O'Hare. With any luck, he'd get her to take another one on the leg to New Haven and another after that. She would sleep the entire way to Greece and not give him any trouble.

The plane landed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport right on schedule and David and Calla departed the plane. There was a forty-five minute lay-over between this flight and the second leg of their journey, at the end of which would be a two hour lay-over in New Haven. David and Calla, looking like any other Middle American Couple, walked through the terminal on their way to the next boarding gate, without attracting much attention from the hurried travelers they passed. Upon reaching the boarding gate for the second leg, David left Calla sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting area while he went up to the desk to inquire if the plane was on time or not. David was hungry and airline food just plain sucks. If it was delayed maybe there would be the opportunity to hop up to the bar and grab a cold one and a sandwich. The ticket agent behind the counter informed him that his plane was running on time, however, there was a big snow storm rolling into the east coast and it was possible his flight might be diverted along the way. That wasn't good news. Even though he hadn't been given much time, he did have this entire thing planned out to the very last. Except this. David returned to where he had left Calla hoping to out fly the approaching storm.

They boarded the flight for the next leg of their journey right on time.

"Why don't you sit here by the window?" David told her as they made their way to their assigned seats. "You'll get a better view, it's still light out." He encouraged as she stood there looking at him with questioning eyes. David didn't give a damn about her view, keeping her in the window seat meant he would control when and if she got up during the flight, the second longest of the journey they had embarked upon. He was hoping that on the last leg, he would be able to convince her to become part of the Mile High Club before he led her off to sleep with another pill. But if not, that was OK too, he had broken off a good piece before they left Danny's house. "What's wrong?" David asked.

Calla didn't answer and instead, after thinking about it for another moment, she moved in and sat where Master Daniel had told her to, at his right hand. She gazed out at the other planes waiting on the tarmac as he settled in next to her. His hand appeared below her eyes and in it was one green pill. "Co," she told him, "I'm all right now."

David would rather she took the pill but he wasn't going to make a stink over it on a plane full of people. He looked at his watch as he put it back in the bottle, the pills he'd given her earlier still had some time on them. "Want a drink?" David asked as the flight attendant made his way down the aisle. "White wine?" David knew that Calla drank that often, more so lately since he'd begun to make his afternoon visits, especially as she sat by the fire with Danny after one of David's noontime visits.

Over the last ten days, David had become very familiar with Calla's nasty little secret...several of them as a matter of fact. If Danny knew how much she drank during the daytime he'd be really pissed off. If it wasn't a glass or two of white wine then she was sneaking into Danny's liquor cabinet to pouring a healthy dose of Kahlua into her morning coffee just after Danny's car left Mockingbird Lane. Not to mention her favorite little green pills. David didn't know what pain she was trying to kill with all that booze and valium only that there must be a lot of it.

And she was hiding it all from Danny, the man who was supposed to be her husband. She couldn't hide it from him, no way man, his eyes were open all the time! She was good, too, David had no problem handing her that credit. Danny never missed the wine because Calla had found a local liquor store online and they delivered. She would steal a few dollars out of Danny's wallet, just a dollar or two here and there, nothing he would miss. She'd stash it away and use it to purchase more wine or whatever liquor struck her fancy from the online booze shop. Calla hid the dead soldiers under their bed until the recycle man came to take them away on Thursday morning.

The flight attendant stopped. "Wine?" David asked again.

Calla looked at the wide variety of liquor available to her. "That would be nice." She said. "But, um, could have that Southern Comfort instead?" She pointed to a bottle filled with caramel colored liquid.

"Sure you can." David looked up at the attendant. "Three please." He gave two small nip bottles to Calla and kept one for himself. "Cheers." David winked at her as she swallowed the first nip down in one gulp.

The forty-five minute lay-over for David and Calla at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport was just the break SG1 needed. By the time David and Calla's flight was taking off, they had passed Chicago and were well on their way to beating them to Tweed-New Haven. The pilot's voice came over the intercom and informed them to stay in their seats with their seat belts in place, they were about to start flying into some rough weather. There was a Nor'easter heading in, the pilot was fairly certain that they would make New Haven ahead of the worst of the storm. That just left David and Calla's flight. What if they didn't out fly the storm and landed some where other than Tweed? None of the members of SG1 wanted to think about that possibility just then.

Daniel sat in his seat with his head leaned all the way back and his eyes closed, he'd said almost nothing from the time they'd left his house until now. There was just so much to take in, to consider reason through and (hopefully) understand. For once in his life, he was absolutely speechless.

"I don't think he's doin' so good. What do you think?" Jack asked Sam as they sat a few feet down from their friend and trying not to stare at him.

"I dunno, sir. Doesn't look so good to me, either."

"I'm fine." Daniel said without opening his eyes and then burst out in a small fit of laughter. That was what she always said to him, wasn't it? I'm fine. Everything's all right. Nothing to worry about. Liar! "Bitch." He muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me, didn't catch that last one?" Jack asked although he'd heard it perfectly fine.

"Nothing. I'm fine." Still Daniel didn't open to his eyes to look at anyone. "Let's just get there and we'll sort the rest of it out later."

"Right." Jack agreed. "Whatever you say, Daniel."

Their flight landed in New Haven, Connecticut right on time and just ahead of the storm which was rolling in fast. Fresh snow covered the ground and the wind whipped up into a frenzy as they departed the plane. Jack inquired if the David and Calla's flight was on time and was informed that it was but there was a heavy possibility that they were about to be diverted to another airport, they were waiting for word as to how long Tweed was going to remain open. All they needed was another half hour.

David and Calla did not fare as well as SG1 in so far as their travel plans went. The entire flight was riddled with turbulence and the SEAT BELT sign had remained at during the whole time. Calla sat nervously in the seat next to him and holding on to his hand. Through the window was only a cold steady blanket of falling white, the plane climbed higher and higher in a futile attempt to fly above the storm.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking" came the voice from the loud speaker and Calla turned to look at David with frightened eyes.

"It's ok," he muttered and held his breath to hear the coming news.

"I'm afraid our plans have been diverted just a wee bit." While the Captain's voice was calm, the situation they faced was serious. Something about the storm had caused them to fly off course and they were now headed into Rhode Island air space. Normally he would just change course and head back but the wings were icing and the plane was not responding to his commands as well as any of them in the cock pit would have liked. Some moments ago he had radioed in to tell Air Traffic Control that there was no way he was going to make it to T.F. Greene in Rhode Island or Tweed in Connecticut, they had to land now. The only available place was a small airport in southeastern Connecticut which was not truly equipped to handle the landing of a 727. After what seemed like agonizing hours the Captain had finally radioed in that they were either landing at Groton-New London Airport or on I-95 and Air Traffic Control could take their bloody pick of the two! Within moments he had clearance to land at Groton-New London. "We're going to be landing at Groton- New London Airport in beautiful Groton, Connecticut. We're very sorry for any inconvenience this causes you good folks but due to the weather we really don't have another choice. We'll be landing in just a few moments so if everyone will please remain buckled in their seats we'll get this puppy on the ground." The intercom clicked off. The passengers moaned and groaned and the question of 'Where is Groton?' was heard throughout the plane.

"Shit." David said louder than he expected.

"Daniel?" Calla stroked his hand. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, I just hate it when this happens. Everything's ok, Calla. Don't you worry." He stroked her hand in return.

The landing at Groton-New London Airport was anything but smooth or picture perfect. The runway was barely long enough to land the plane on in the first place and it was covered with ice. Groton-New London had officially closed for the storm when they radioed in, they had done their best to try and clear some of the ice and snow from the runway but there just wasn't enough time before the plane was coming in for a hard landing and skidding to a stop just inches from the Bluff Point Cove.

The airport was small, just a blip on the old radar map really. It was used mainly for private planes and puddle jumpers, corporate jets and high rollers the local casinos flew in. David inquired about his flight in New Haven and was told that Tweed was shut down, the lady behind the counter gave him a number to call to find out when his flight would be scheduled. He glanced over his shoulder at Calla who was waiting patiently in one of the blue plastic chairs with a Coke in her hand and dialed the number on his cell phone only to be told that the flight had not been re-scheduled yet but if he'd like to leave a number where he could be reached someone would get in touch with him and inform him when his flight to Greece would be departing. David gave the woman his cell phone number and went over to the Hertz Rent-A-Car kiosk. It was there that he learned more about the two local Native American run casinos. The woman behind that counter informed him that while Foxwoods Resort and Casino was probably a little closer, she personally like the Mohegan Sun Casino and would recommend it if that was what he was looking for. Other than that there didn't seem to be too much to do in this part of Connecticut and it looked like they were going to be here at least until morning. Well, at least he still had a two day jump on Danny. David only had Danny's credit card numbers and not the actual cards, he called Calla over and used her credit card to rent a 4x4 Suburban. Calla followed the steps that she had seen others do several times, she gave the woman her driver's license and then signed her first name and Daniel’s last to the receipt. He took a map to the Mohegan Sun as they exited the airport.

Calla hoisted her bag into the rear seat of the overly large Suburban and then climbed into the front passenger seat with snow in her hair and frost already forming on her toes. Why did it have to be so cold here? "The storm is bad, perhaps we should stay here, Daniel?" Calla suggested as she tried to see the road ahead of them, they weren’t even off the airport property yet and the wind was already assaulting the big vehicle, causing it to ebb and sway as they drove out of the parking lot. And it was cold, so cold. Calla reached out to turn up the heat.

"It's warm enough in here." David told her as he squinted to see through the falling white snow. "Leave it alone."

"All right.“ Her shaking hand moved away from the console and wrapped itself around her mid-section to try and bring herself some warmth or at least keep what she already had. "Daniel? When did you get those glasses?" Calla had noticed them earlier in the day.

"Oh, this morning. You like?"

No, she didn't like them. "They hide your eyes." She said in a low voice as she glanced over at the man driving the car so recklessly through the snow storm. "I like your eyes." Over the past four or five days he had acted so peculiar with her, she told herself that was nothing unusual, they were still getting to know each other and, after all it was only in a sexual way that he had been different and all men were prone to such things. That was up until today when he had come through the door and insisted that she begin packing her bags for their unscheduled trip to Greece and to Father. It seemed to her that the new Master she was coming to know would have given her a bit more warning regarding their trip. Still, she tried to dismiss all the little peculiarity of the last few days and just chalk it up to Life or Fate or whatever one wished to call it.

You like Danny's eyes. David took a quick glance at the woman in the seat next to him. "Well, I like them. They cut down the glare. Enough talk, let me drive, ok?" David flicked the radio on and hit the buttons until something which struck his fancy came to his ears. He watched as Calla folded her hands in her lap and tacitly nodded her agreement.

I like the way you smack my ass. I like the dirty things you do, when I have control of you. The man on the radio sang and Calla felt the weight of Daniel’s eyes on her, she tuned her head and looked out the window at the new fallen snow until she felt their weight ease. In the month and a half she had spent with him not once had he stopped upon a radio station which played such music, Daniel’s taste usually ran a bit more composed than what was currently assaulting her ears through the car speakers.

On the other side of the window, the state of Connecticut passed by in shades of white and gray as they drove down Route 12. Out the window she saw the contents of Route 12 in Groton, Connecticut which was not the world’s largest city by any means but it seemed a fair enough size to be comfortable. They passed a large complex of buildings, outside of which men were in uniform like the ones who lived on the Cheyenne Mountain Base but their uniforms were slightly different. As they drove by she read the sign; Groton-New London Naval Submarine Base. Further down the road and the pavement began to show its ice encasement, snow piled up on the road and hid most of the glistening slippery substance from view. Every now and then Daniel would hit a patch of it as he drove causing the large vehicle to skid from one side of the road to the other. Calla thought she might have liked to chances on the airplane rather than on these slippery roads. Onward they went and the man next to her didn’t speak to her, he just kept his eyes straight ahead as he tried to see the road through the falling snow and he hummed to whatever tune the station (which identified itself as 102.7 WFNX) was playing. It seemed all they played was loud and obnoxious music, she didn’t like it. Calla rubbed her icy hands together in a vain attempt to bring warmth to her stiffening fingers, but they just grew colder as did her toes. The tip of her nose began to tingle with the cold.

“Take a look at that map, will ya?” He said to her as he brushed his hand against the window to clear it of condensation which was starting to form. “We should be close to it by now.”

Calla opened the map and struggled to understand it at first, it had been a very long time since she had been asked to look at such an object never mind to decipher it. They were on Route 12, she found that on the map and then the Submarine base they had passed, Dow Chemical which they had also passed was marked on the map, and she followed the line up to where the woman at the Rent-A-Car desk had circled their destination. “There’s going to be a light,” she said to Daniel, “take a left there and go over the bridge,” still tracing the line with her icy finger, “after that take a right and we should be there.”

“Geez, Callie, what are the route numbers?” He asked with hostility. David knew he should try and control himself a bit better, what with Danny being the “Good Twin” and all but he was in the middle of a heavy nicotine fit and in no mood to coddle anyone. Just as soon as he got her upstairs in a room he was definitely going to give her some valium, a stiff drink, a stiff fuck, and then mosey his way on down to the casino to drink, smoke and gamble the night away. He was even thinking about taking a cash advance against her credit card in order to pay for his evening spree.

Calla drew a deep breath and traced the line on the map once more. “Route 12, across the bridge at the light over the Thames River, to Route 32. Is that better?”

“Yes.” David turned the radio up as another ditty he was fond of came on.

At the sound of the dirty lyrics she felt his stare upon her again. Calla steeled herself and tried to ignore it as she looked out the window onto the cold New England night. There was no denying the fact that here was something very wrong with him today. Just down the icy road and around the corner the light she had spoken of appeared. “Turn left here.” She informed him absently and continued her gaze. Something up ahead caught her eye and it made the mark between her breasts itch, Calla raised a hand to cover the dim glow there. In her mind there was a great pull, as though a team of horses were yanking her, body and soul, sharply to the right. There stood a great mass of buildings, the car slowed down for the red light. Calla stared out the front window of the ghost town before her. In the dark she could not make out the entire scheme of the place but she could see two very large buildings which looked to be fairly new. They didn’t interest her very much. There were other buildings there, although she could not see them, she knew them to be very old and filled with souls long since past from their torturous lives.

As the car stood at the red light and her heart began to race faster inside her chest, she had the incredible urge to lay her hand upon the latch and run toward the rundown abandoned complex. The itch grew hotter and she scratched at it with icy fingers, the glow grew brighter. Calla brought her coat tight around her chest to keep its light hidden from her driver. Whatever that place was or had been, Hades presided there and he still held sway there. Tearing her eyes away for a brief moment to look at the man at the wheel she wondered if she should tell him what she felt right now. Surely, if no other reason than his Archeology, he would be interested to know what she did. Calla held her tongue as she watched him. His eyes focused on the snow and the red light, as her head began to pound she found herself wishing very much for another of those little green pills or two. The light turned green and the car lurched forward once more, soon they were turning past the old ghostly buildings and Calla could see that she had been right. As they crossed the Thames River, even in the dark, she could make out a mass of buildings, almost an entire town unto itself, which stood sprawled out beyond the two newer ones which had first met her eye.

Hades. Uncle Hades. Was he really there? He had to be, just look at that place! Even in the darkness she could see the lonely and lost souls wandering around in the biting frost, their faces long and haggard, wearing clothes which were merely rags. In her head she could hear them, some of them wept, some of them screamed, some of them rambled on endlessly to no one other than themselves. They all spoke and they all had some story or another to tell.

The abandoned remnants of the Norwich State Hospital fell away as they neared the middle of the small bridge which spanned the upper part of the Thames River. Now a new sight met her emerald eyes. Directly across from the place where Hades presided stood a great glass tower. It was made of two separate buildings which seemed to stretch upward to the Sun itself! In direct contrast to the buildings across the river, this one glistened and gleamed in the harshly falling snow. A line of cars were waiting to pull off the bridge and into the Mohegan Sun Casino. No one was waiting in line across the river; their turn in line was never-ending over there. As they drew further and further away from the dilapidated place where all those souls were trapped the itch between her breasts and glow subsided.

David pulled the car to a haul in the parking garage and made his way around to the rear of the car. Getting his favorite things through airport security these days was no fun at all, however, sharp as a tack as he was he had managed to get everything, including the small caliber pistol from Colorado to Connecticut unnoticed. He handed Calla her bag and took the rest of them out himself. They rode the near-by elevator down to the casino floor.

Calla was at once amazed and panicked by the flashing lights and noises which surrounded her upon entering the casino, she reached blindly for his hand and could not find it. Daniel was wandering off towards a bunch of machines with flashing lights and levers on them, he turned back to look at her and then motion her forward. People were everywhere, it seemed there was not one single inch in the entire place that did not have someone standing in it and she soon lost sight of him in the crowd.

For one minute David thought he'd lost her, everyone around her seemed to just tower over her and block her out of his view and finally he caught sight of her in between people as they passed by. She was standing just where he had left her, he pushed his way through the people who were milling about, off to lose their money on some slot or hand of poker and land a hand on her shoulder. "Stay with me, understand?"

"Yes, Daniel."

David was getting annoyed with her frequent use of his brother’s name, just once he wanted to hear her say David. And he would. Just as soon as he got her within sight of her Father he would tell her who he really was. He grasped her by the left forearm and guided her through the crowd. On their way to the reception desk he stopped to drop a few quarters into the slot machines but came up a loser on each turn. That was all right, he had his goodies with him, and he’d feed them to her once they got a room and then come down and gamble for a while.

David had Calla use her credit card to rent a room in the hotel, she looked at him oddly while she signed the name Calla Jackson to the receipt and he figured that Danny usually did this part of the deal. "Sorry, Callie, I left my credit cards in the luggage." He explained weakly and watched her nod in response.

"Here you go Miss Jackson, room 217, take the elevators to the second floor, go right and it's at the end of the hall. Enjoy your stay." The man behind the counter handed over the cardboard key to room 217.

End Chapter Twenty-Three
Daughter of the Gods: Every New Beginning
By Moon Mistress
Continue to
Chapter Twenty-Four

This story and all stories in the Kingdom of the Gods & Daughter of the Gods series are copyrighted to Lisa Beth Darling these stories may not be transferred outside of this URL in any fashion.