Stargate Command
Golden Springs, Colorado

Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
I'm closer to where I started
Chasing after you
I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you
Hanging By A Moment
Lifehouse

Calla always knew this day would come and she always dreaded it. 

It had been ten years since her and Daniel and had spent so much as a single night apart and now here she stood in the Gate Room of the SGC readying herself to watch him leave.  "I love you." She whispered in his ear.  "Be careful, please, my love."
 
"I will." Daniel sighed as he held her close in his arms. "I know this is hard on you." Just an hour ago he was still snug in his bed and in her.  She rolled over this morning when the alarm went off and in that sweet voice asked him to stay with her just a little longer. Kiss her one more time. Make love to her just once more.
 
"But you wouldn't be going if it wasn't very important, I know."  She stood on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across his lips.  That was true, if this wasn’t of paramount importance the SGC would never have dragged Jack and Sam out of retirement to go to this new world.  They never would have called upon Daniel to join them.  The planet they were going to, Sengul, had established relations with Earth and since their culture was so deeply submerged in the Celtic culture who better than Daniel Jackson to lead the diplomatic team?  After all he’d spent ten years of his life living, breathing, eating and sleeping just such a thing.  If anyone could negotiate with the Sengali people then surely it was Daniel.  "It's been so long since I've seen you in this uniform I'd forgotten how handsome you look in it."
 
”I did everything I could to get out of this, you know that don’t you?” Daniel smiled knowing she was doing her best to be what Ares would want of her which was to be big and brave over the situation.

 "Yes, I know.”  That was true, Daniel had been very obstinate about not going on this trip but the SGC had been just as obstinate and insistent that he do just that.  This new world was too important to the future of Planet Earth and SG-1 had been reassembled for this occasion.

“I really don’t want to go, I’d much rather stay here with you. I love you, Kitty."
 
"I know that too," she cooed as she stepped back and adjusted the collar on his jacket.
 
"Stop it," Daniel said to her with a grin.
 
"Well if you're going to be the envoy to this new world you have to look good." She insisted and brushed a few pieces of lint from him.  "And you, hum?" Calla said trying to smile as she turned to Nicholas who stood by his father. Again she stood up on her tiptoes to brush away a few errant hairs from his shoulders.  It almost broke her heart when Nicholas decided to follow in his father's footsteps and joined the SGC nearly seven years ago.  Still, the day he graduated from the Air Force Academy had been one of the proudest in her life. As she stood there with her family applauding her Son’s efforts, her heart and tears swelled with pride until she thought one or both would burst from the sheer joy of it.  What else could she expect from him? After all he had Ares' Ichor and Daniel's blood in his veins; the perfect combination of Warrior and Scholar. As Nicholas stood here in the Gate Room today he was not only her Son but he was also Major Nicholas Jackson with more than enough medals to cover his considerably broad chest. It was rumored that the SGC was considering making Nicholas leader of his own team. Other than the title, the medals, the uniform and the new children in his life, the biggest change in Nicholas was his hair. The day he joined the academy they shaved his long locks off his head and as he stood here today his hair was as short as Daniel’s had been when came to Tiberia.  He looked so much like Ares Calla could hardly believe it.  Wouldn’t Ares be proud of his Grandson now?  Most assuredly he would be.

Thankfully he and Annie hadn't moved away from Altair Ain though they did now live in their own lovely home with two wonderful children, Colleen the oldest named after her aunt and Daniel the younger named after his grandfather.  Nicholas wanted Amy to go and live with them just as Lilly had eventually gone to live with Colleen before she married Patrick. Calla thought it was best if the triplets stayed together and so Amy remained in the manor house with her other siblings. Annie didn’t offer an opinion one way or the other and was content to leave the decision up to Mother and Son to hash out.  Other than being mother to two children under the age of four Annie was the kingdom’s doctor for all intents and purposes. She had her own little office in town where the UPs made appointments to have their medical needs tended to if and when herbal remedies and the like failed them.  Annie also took care of the animals in town which was her first love and she oversaw the health and safety of all of the livestock.

Nicholas still served on the Council of Altair Ain but now instead of being a selectman he was in charge of security for the kingdom and he did a very good job.  It had been Nicholas who insisted that the wall be built when and where it was allowing a rather large kill zone. (So much like his Grandfather he was!) Still, being of two worlds as he was, his heart was with the SGC but so as not to disappoint his mother or himself for that matter, Nicholas made his home in Scotland rather than moving to Colorado. Whenever he was needed in Colorado he simply used his unique gifts to teleport on command.  With this trip through the Stargate Daniel and Nicholas Jackson became the first father and son team in the history of the SGC just as Jack and Sam had become the first husband and wife team so many years ago. "You take good care of your, Father for me, huh?"
 
Nicholas brushed the auburn hair away from her face as he stared down into her green eyes. "I will, Mom, don't worry." She was always such a fuss-budget sometimes she made him feel as though he were still nothing but a little boy. "It's not like this is the first time I'm going off world." He reminded her and hoped he sounded reassuring but the furrowed brow and slight grimace on her face told him otherwise.
 
Oh! Didn't she know that! How could she not worry?  Every time her son stepped through that confounded thing she was a nervous wreck.  There he was, her most favored son, in his tailor made SGC uniform no longer a little boy but a full grown man with a family of his own and she was very proud of him.  He was so handsome and brave like his Grandfather but he had the kindness of his mother and the intelligence of his father so surely he would be just fine on this mission. "Of course not," she lied and tried to sound convincing.  "You're a grown man now. You can take care of yourself."  That fact didn't stop her from wanting to mother him, hover over him and protect him from all the dangers of the world.  "I love you."  Calla wrapped her slender arms around him trim waist.  "Remember, no matter what happens, your strength is your own, no one and nothing can take that from you.”

“I know, Mom.”  Nicholas took her words to heart. He’d visited Sengul several times already and had been instrumental in opening relations with the inhabitants. That wasn’t what she was worried about the planet had a Xerinium core and as a result Nicholas lost his gifts when he was there.  So that Xerinium would not adversely affect him in any way Nicholas was also taking a compound which was supposed to nullify the libidinous effects of the metal. Daniel, who would also have not use of his gifts while they were visiting the planet, was taking the same compound now that he was an Olympian. This was a very good thing when one stopped to consider that the population of the planet Sengul was ¾ female and there weren’t a lot of ugly people among them. Nope, as far as Nick could see, this was definitely Hottie HomeWorld and he often referred to it that among when he was just him and his SG buddies. Nicholas told his Mother time and time again that the Senguli were peaceful people and they didn’t mean Earth or her family any harm. The fact that Nicholas wouldn’t be able to toss around a few fireballs or teleport—both of which had come in very handy on several away-missions-- wasn’t any big deal or so he kept telling his Mother. “I’ll be careful and I’ll watch out for Dad.”

 “I'll see you both soon."  She fought back the tears as she stood there at the end of the ramp looking at Daniel, Nicholas, Jack and Sam; Teal'c  decided to return home a few years ago though he came back often for visits with his new family. 

Looking at the new members of SG-1 she thought they made a wonderful team. Jack and Sam were a little long in the tooth for such things but because Calla loved them so much her magick never wore off of them and they were just as young today as they had been when she met them nearly thirty years ago.  However, they were also more than a little surprised when the SGC decided to call them back to active duty after almost ten years of absence. Like Daniel they would have been happier to stay at home than going off world at this point in their lives but the SGC had convinced them of the importance of this mission and very grudgingly they went along with it under the condition that this would be their absolute last trip through the Stargate.

“We’re close,” Samantha said to Calla. “Don’t give up yet.”

“I won’t.” Calla returned quietly. That’s what they all said every time she saw them; we’re close, don’t give up hope.  It seemed they never got any closer to finding an answer to the UPs’ fertility problem.

“We’ll work some more when I get back, ok?” Sam asked knowing how important this was to Calla and all she’d endured over the years.  If they failed after all this time and effort it would be more than a shame it would be the end of several very unique races.

“I’ll be ready.” Calla promised and kissed Sam’s cheek before turning to Jack and giving him a hug and peck on the cheek as well.  "We'll have a big dinner and celebration in Altair Ain when you return and you can tell all of us all about your adventures."  She said to all of them and then kissed Daniel one more time before she stepped off the ramp to join Annie who'd already said her good-byes to her husband last night and this morning. To Calla it seemed Annie was a lot braver than she was as Annie blew her husband a kiss and the Stargate opened behind them.

"You sure you won't come with us, Mom?" Nicholas asked as he looked behind him.  "I'm tellin' you, you'd love this place." Truer words were never spoken, each time Nicholas returned home from a visit to the planet he swore to his Mother that they must have relatives there somewhere. The place was so much like Altair Ain but much bigger and boasted a population of nearly 3 billion which was far larger than the population of most planets the SG teams encountered. 

"You take me wherever you go," she said softly and smiled a sad smile for her husband and her son.  Calla hated that damn thing and she had no intentions of every traveling through it again.
 
As they walked up the ramp the huge open eye of the Gate, Daniel turned around to wave at Calla and then they were gone.
 

End of Chapter One
Coming Out of Exile: The Strength of a Father's Love
by Moon Mistress
a/k/a Lisa Beth Darling
Go to
Chapter Two