Tarnished Heroes Chapter Nine In a New York Minute “Dad,” he grumbled as the tailor measured his considerable chest. “Dad, I don’t even know how to dance.” “I see.” Daniel said. “That could be a problem.” He smiled at his son. “You think mom would show me?” “I’m sure she will. Why didn’t you ask her before? You know your mother loves to dance.” “Yeah, I know.” He looked down at his feet the way he used to do when he was very small. “I just thought, ya know, I’m so damn big I’m so klutzy and she’s so freakin’ small….” “Worried about breaking her toes?” “Something like that.” “Hold your arms straight out at the sides, please.” The tailor asked and Nicholas complied. The old man’s eyes widened as he took the measurement. “Out to the front please.” Another moment of eyes widened and scratching on the small note pad. “You are a big one, aren’t you?” He commented. “Inseam please.” The man bent on creaky knees. “Hey!” Nicholas shouted as the old man’s hand slid up his inner thigh. “It’s all right,” Daniel blushed and smiled, “just let him do it.” “What?!” Daniel wanted to burst into laughter but held it back and waved his hand in the air instead. Nicholas let the man take the measurement he was looking for. “Wasn’t so bad, was it?” He asked when the man rose. “I don’t think we have anything here. I’m either going to have to order something or you need to go over to Silver Spring to the Sir Tux shop, they specialize in, ah, larger apparel.” The tailor informed them. If Nicholas was done growing then Daniel wouldn’t have a problem with buying him his first tuxedo but he had the sneaking suspicion that eventually Nick was going to put Ares to shame. “Up for the trip?” He asked. “Sure.” Nicholas grabbed up his jeans and went behind the curtain to jump into them. “No one ever has anything in my size.” He complained as the rustle of jeans was heard. “I have to order crap online.” Nick was still complaining and doing up his zipper as he walked out from behind the curtain. “I know Umpa’s big but Mom’s not and you, well,” “I’m not that big and neither were your grandparents on my side.” Daniel sympathized. “It could be worse.” “How’s that?” Nick asked with a grumpy smile. “You could be the 98 pound weakling getting sand kicked in his face.” “Fat chance!” Now Nick did laugh and struck a hard pose exposing those massive biceps and pecs. “You’re mother’s right, you are full of yourself. Let’s go.” “Everybody says stuff like that. I am not full of myself, Dad.” Nicholas grumbled. “Sure you are, you’re the Super-Stud, right? The one with all the ladies.” Daniel teased. Nicholas who was sitting down to put on his shoes stood up abruptly. “No I ain’t.” He said loudly and slammed his right foot into his huge Reebok. He stormed off toward the door with his long wavy hair flowing behind him. Nicholas had to duck to get out the front door. Daniel slid into the driver’s seat. “So what is it you’re trying to tell me, Nick?” He asked and started the car. “Everybody thinks I got this harem of women. I don’t, ya know. The girls all wanna hang out with me and be near me but they want me for a big brother not a lover.” He rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh. “ Truth is they like to hang out with ‘cause I’m big and I make ‘em feel safe when they’re around me but in the end, when it comes down to getting’ it on, they’re afraid of me because I’m so fuckin’ big.” He shook his dark wavy head sadly. “Dad, I’m just as much a virgin as Coley is. I dunno, maybe I’ve gotten closer than she has but still, I haven’t done IT.” Nicholas confessed. “The boys all want her but when it comes down to it they’re just as afraid of her as the girls are of me.” Daniel could see where young girls and maybe even older women might initially be a feared of his son but his daughter? “Why are they are afraid of Colleen?” “’Cause she’s tall, leggy, beautiful, smart, strong and they know she can kick their sorry butts if they get fresh with her and she don’t want ‘em to.” Nick looked very sad as he shook his head again and looked down his own bulk. “Grandma must have been one special lady to even think about having sex with Umpa.” He grumbled. “Well, they were both Olympians,” Daniel stammered. “Yeah, and I’m only half.” Nick agreed grudgingly. “Still there ain’t too many of those left hanging around here now are there?” “You’re young, you’re handsome, smart, funny, and strong, you don’t have to find a Goddess to find a woman who will love you just the way you are, Nick.” Daniel reassured. “Hump, you did.” Nicholas snorted. Hum, yes, well. Daniel cleared his throat. “Look, Nick, teenage girls are skittish anyway. They want to, they don’t want to. You and your sister have thousands of years ahead of you there’s no reason to rush through this.” He turned to look over at Nick. “And it will probably happen when you least expect it to.” Nicks’ eyes rolled in his head at the tone in Daniel’s voice. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he grumbled. “I got it covered, don’t worry. They pass out condoms at school like they were candy.” It took half the day and three stores but Nicholas finally found a tuxedo that he liked and that fit. On the way home Daniel started that conversation he’d been meaning to get to. The one about drinking and driving and how lenient his mother had been on him. As Calla said, Nick was very apologetic. He explained that there had been a keg at a party and he’d had a little too much, however, out of the group of them he was still the soberest one and so had taken the chance on driving them all home. Everyone including him had gotten home safe and sound. No, he hadn’t done any drugs no matter what mom had to say about it. Nick couldn’t believe his mother ratted him out to his father! She’d really ridden him about that as though she had any room to talk. He wasn’t stupid and he wasn’t unaware he knew what pot smelled like. Even if it was decriminalized these days, she’d started way back before then. Daniel didn’t have much of an explanation to offer. Calla went through about a quarter ounce of weed a week all by her onesies. He never did understand that. It didn’t seem to hurt her any and so he’d looked the other way for years and even indulged it with her from time to time—well, yeah, more often than not. “She takes pills too, Dad.” If she was gonna turn tail on him then he had a few things he could spill too. “Excuse me?” Daniel asked as he drove. “What kind of pills?” “I don’t know but she’s get ‘em online sometimes.” Nick turned his gaze to meet Daniel’s face and knew immediately that he should probably shut up. Dad wasn’t looking so good. Nick tried to back peddle and like most teenagers, he ended up tripping over his own tongue. “It’s not all the time so, ya know, like, don’t misunderstand me here, ok?” He waited for his father to nod before he continued. “But when you’d go away,” he made the same quote marks his sister had yesterday around the words ‘go away’. “She’d take some pills. I guess she thought we didn’t see it something, maybe she thinks her magick works as good on us as it does on you….” Feeling as if he’d been blindsided and then had the rug pulled out from under his entire life, Daniel pulled the car to the side of the road and slammed the breaks. “As good as it does on me? I want you to explain that.” Nick looked like he wasn’t going to comply. “Right now.” Daniel stressed. Oh, yes, over the years he’d become very lax when it came to things like checking the credit card statements and her cookie trail. That was about to end. Daniel huffed a sigh Calla had her own credit card and she was probably using that, the bill was sent to the gallery that much he already knew. That’s probably where the pills were shipped to as well. And her cookie trail? Well by now, she’d probably installed some cleaner program on her computer, heck these days privacy keepers and cookie cleaners were standard with every new computer. He bet Calla liked that it must make things much easier on her. “They’re just to take the edge off or help her sleep or…whatever….man, I dunno.” He tossed his hands in the air and wished he hadn’t said anything. Nick turned his head and stared out the passenger window feeling the biggest rat on the face of the earth. He shouldn’t do this to his Mother but now that it was out in the open and Dad knew...well, Nick had been a little worried about his Mother so this was as good a time as any to bring it up. “Yeah about the magick part….” Daniel encouraged through thin lips. “You don’t see it, you never did, ‘cause she prevents you from seein’ her when she’s like that. I dunno, man, she like blinds you or somethin’.” “She does this when I’m home?” “Yeah…no, not so much...,” he rolled his dark eyes, “aw shit, man. It’s usually when you’ve been gone for a while. She almost never does it when you’re here, not since you stepped down. Not since her blow out with Umpa anyway. Like I said, Dad, it ain’t all the time and it’s not like she’s, ya know, incapacitated or something when she does it. In fact, she’s kinda cute. She talks about you endlessly when she’s tipsy like you were the only guy she’d ever even met.” Nick tried to smile at his father and lighten the mood but he wasn’t doing a good job. Daniel was not one of his fellow teenagers, a fact that Nick was still working out in his head. Instead of trying to lighten the mood further, he came down to his father’s level of seriousness but kept the same line of conversation, hanging his toes over that Invisible Line. “We both know that ain’t true, she knew lots of men before she met you.” Nicholas watched his father’s jaw set tight. “That big black guy, Naganti Kanan that was his name, right?” Daniel’s mouth dropped open, Calla never discussed this with either of them but Nicholas knew a lot anyway. “No, his name was Kanan. Naganti means…” “Master, Lord, King,” Nicholas finished and then went on. “I know, she was his goddamn slave, wasn’t she? Umpa left her with him, didn’t he? Naganti Kanan wasn’t a very nice guy.” Nick fell silent for a moment. He wanted to say more because he wanted to know more than he did but now wasn’t the time. He’d gotten his mother into enough trouble and it was up to him to get her out. “So when you’re gone a long time she’s got the little assorted stash of pills in her underwear drawer and a stash of booze and pot in her glove box. So what? It’s not like she’s an alkie or a hard-core druggie or nothin’ like that, she just needs…” he searched for the right words. Nicholas’ insight into the situation stunned Daniel who sat silent trying to let the new information settle in and find a home. Nicholas was still searching for the right words to finish his sentence when Daniel found them. When the Dark Shadows came to pay her visit well then Calla just needed….“She just needs some help sometimes?” “Yeah. Yeah.” Nick nodded his dark wavy heady vigorously. “That’s all, it ain’t a big deal.” Nick was doing his best to cover for his mother but he was just digging her a deeper grave and couldn’t shut up. “Like last night, Cole said mom was past drunk and on her way to being sober again when she came in to say good night.” Just as he was getting over the sensation of being sucker punched, Daniel felt like he’d been kicked in the gut while he was down on the ground. “Last night? She was drunk? You’re sure?” Well in that case Calla’s magick was working but it was fritzing out here and there. He’d known something had been up all day yesterday but each time he brought the subject up, she changed it either immediately or, worse, even before he could get the words out of his mouth. The quick jump into the very hot shower—because she smelled like paint thinner according to her-- and the mouthwash. If he’d asked she would have said something along the lines of she wanted fresh breath to kiss him but in reality, she was trying to get rid of the alcohol stench now wasn’t she? The night before last she had that fucking dream again. Flashing red neon signs were everywhere and he was getting angrier by the second. That little something she needed, that help she was looking for in those fucking pills, she was supposed to find in him. So what the fuck was wrong here? Calla liked to keep her private life, well, private. Problems with the children, grades, friends, schoolyard scuffs, had always been discussed openly as far as he knew. (Well, there was Nicholas DUI incident). Problems with work, her studies when she was in school, the house, and their friends, well they all seemed to be open for discussion as well. Even after everything she had shared with him, all the nasty rotten horrid things Kanan had done to her and the men he’d let into his room had done. And what Eros had done. And what David had done. Still, even now, she wanted to keep her problems just that; her problems and no one else’s. They were not up for discussion. Here he thought they had done so well over the years. Suddenly it all seemed like one gigantic lie. Like keeping him from seeing her when she’d had a little too much to drink or some of those pills, it was an illusion. His life, his marriage, eighteen goddamn years…Oh God, please, they can’t come down a lie. Please. Please. Daniel just had to know and Nick would have the answer. “How long has this been going on?” The words ‘all my life’ rose from the back of Nick’s throat to dance upon the tip of his tongue and at the last second he bit them back. Daniel looked like he was ready to choke the ever-lovin’ crap out of the next thing that crossed his path. “Not long,” he lied without looking at Daniel, “she’s been real good since you stepped down from SG-1.” Now he did turn his eyes to look at his father. “Dad you know Mom loves you more than anything, this ain’t so big,” he tried to reassure his father. “Don’t get so angry. You’re gonna bust a blood vessel or somethin’.” Daniel went to speak again but his cell phone started ringing. Fishing it out of his pocket and looking at the caller-id, he saw it was the Base. Not now! “Daniel Jackson.” He said roughly. “Hey, Daniel,” “Jack?” “I know its Saturday and all but I really need you to come in for a while.” “Um, yeah, no now really isn’t a good time.” That was the last thing he wanted to do. “Well, I hate to do this to ya but you’re gonna have to make time. I need you here as soon as you can get here.” “Why? What’s going on? Where’s General Thurmon?” There were too many lights going off in his brain and Daniel found it hard to focus on any one thing. “Daniel I was gonna wait until ya got here but, heck, I got my old job back.” Jack said happily. “Retirement sucks.” He grumbled. “Thurmon’s out and I’m in. I’ve been lookin’ at some of your notes here and…..” “You…you’re back at the SGC? You’ve been going over my notes?” Jack O’Neill was back at the helm of the SGC? “I’ll be in an hour or so.” Daniel stuttered. “That all right?” “Fine, take your time. Sam’s coming too.” Sam? “She’s with NASA, Jack.” Maybe the General’s brain was starting to fry. “Not anymore, she’s back with us. We’re getting the team back together, Danny-boy. All of us. See ya in an hour.” The line went dead in his hand. Getting SG-1 back together? Maybe jack’s brain really was starting to fry. Daniel was in his fifties but still looked and felt like he was in his thirties and Teal’c, well Jaffa lived very long lives so no problem there. Jack was nearing sixty-five and Sam…well; let’s just say she was no Spring Chicken either. Was Jack out of his mind??? Just when life seemed so quiet and peaceful, suddenly fireworks were shooting off from every direction and they were aimed at him. This was no time for him to be going off world, which is where this looked like it was heading. “Something wrong, Dad?” Nick asked as he stared at his father. “Who knows anymore?” Daniel grumbled and looked into the rearview mirror before pulling back onto the road. As he drove silently with his jaw set tight and his head reeling another realization hit him like a ton of bricks, during all those hushed conversations they’d had regarding Kanan, Eros and David, she’d been drunk or stoned or both. Daniel was probably no better than the rest, when he wanted to know something he actually encouraged that trait so she’d relax enough to open up. How many times did he refill her wine glass or her pipe during those conversations? At the moment he couldn’t count that high. Calla and Colleen weren’t home when Nick and Daniel arrived. On the one hand that was a shame because Daniel wanted to get a look in that glove box but he’d do that when he got home. On the other hand the simple fact that she wasn’t home yet and he had to leave for the base was probably a good thing, he wasn’t sure he could handle talking to her right now. “Tell your mother I’ll be back.” Then gave him the same warning he’d given his wife. “Don’t you tell her anything, not about where I ‘m going and not about our conversation, you understand?” “Sure Dad.” Nick let himself out of the car and leaned into the window from the other side. “Dad, don’t be hard on her, ok? You’ll just push her away.” Daniel’s eyes narrowed on a son who was coming to know his mother all too well. “How much does your sister know about…Kanan?” “Not much.” Nick said in a low voice and wasn’t sure how to far to take his answer. So far the conversation had been frank and he thought he’d continue. “Other than, ya know, Uncle David, so far as Coley’s concerned you might be the only guy mom ever met.” Uncle David, yeah, couldn’t keep that one away from them. They’d only been ten months old but they remembered Uncle David. Daniel pursed his lips and nodded. “By the way, Nick, just so you know, it wasn’t your mother who ratted on you it was your sister.” Nicholas watched his father back down the driveway without another word to him. Dad was gonna have her hide over this one. Yep, no doubt about it. “Aw, man, I’m sorry mom.” He muttered as he let himself into the house. Me and my big fucking mouth, Nicholas made his way into the basement with his head hung low. He sat there for about ten minutes before realizing there was absolutely positively no fucking way he could be in the house when his mother got home and still comply with his father’s wishes. Leaving as note by the phone, Nicholas grabbed up his car keys and headed out for the rest of the day. End of Chapter Nine of
A Daniel Jackson
Stargate SG-1
Adult FanFiction Series
By
Moon Mistress
a/k/a Lisa Beth Darling
Everything can change
In a New York Minute
Things are getting’ pretty strange
In a New York minute
Everything can change
New York Minute
Don Henley
Late on Saturday morning Calla took Colleen shopping for a prom gown and Daniel took Nicholas get fitted for his very first tuxedo. Nick hadn’t attended the Junior Prom last year; instead, he and a bunch of his buddies went to a baseball game in Denver. For the last four months however, pretty little Anna had his attention and she wanted to go to the prom. What else could Nick do but take her?
Tarnished Heroes
An Adult Stargate FanFiction Novel
By
Moon Mistress
Continue to
Chapter Ten