In Between the Lines Chapter 1

Casey sat on the garage floor, carefully sorting through the boxes. Every one of them was marked 'Journals'. She was missing one of her own notebooks of poetry, and suspected that somehow it been placed among Daniel's journals, probably during the move from the little house. She sat back on her heels, one in each hand. No, she would not read them. No matter how tempting it was. No matter how she longed to know what he had written. To know if she was anywhere in the pages, as she knew Sha're was in that very thick, first journal from Abydos. Probably in every journal entry until that mission where her life ended, killed by Teal'c as he protected Daniel from Amaunet. She put them down, continued to sort through the red-bound books.

She jumped slightly. "Um…not…not what it looks like, really," she stammered slightly.

"I'm not reading them, Daniel, honest! I haven't opened a single one! I just can't find one of my first notebooks of poetry, and I thought it might have gotten in with your journals by mistake." She had made it to her feet, was slowly backing away from the open boxes.

He reached out and caught her arm. "Angel, if you want to read them, it's fine with me. I don't care."

She crossed her arms, hugging herself tightly. "Even…even the one from Abydos?"

He smiled, ran his hand over her back. "Even the one from Abydos. I haven't looked at some of these in years." He settled down beside one of the boxes. Grabbed the top journal. Looked at the date, and smiled. "Now this is probably one of my favorite missions," he said softly.

"Because during this mission a beautiful angel with amazing green eyes and a smile brighter than any sun fell into my arms." He held it toward her.

She blushed slightly. Hesitated for a few seconds before taking it from his hand. Smiled when he scooted to sit behind her, so that he could read over her shoulder, and hold her all at the same time. She felt his breath against the side of her face as she slowly opened it. "You're sure?"

She opened the red cover, ran her hand over the handwritten pages, smiling at the familiar scrawl that filled them.

-It's official, as far as I'm concerned. The NID is nothing but a group of self-serving, bumbling, dangerous idiots. The Goa'uld who followed us back through the Stargate three weeks ago, whom the NID 'abducted' almost immediately, is now missing. Jack took great pleasure in telling the President that the entire mess was his own fault for authorizing the bastards to take Wepwawet in the first place. I have no idea if the President will order his court martial or not. Probably not, the man seems to have a soft spot for Jack, in spite of his rough edges. That's a good thing for those of us who happen to like having Jack running things here at the SGC.

Jack is so angry that he has convinced the President to allow Gen. Hammond to step in and resume command of the SGC until the Goa'uld is captured or killed, whichever happens first. Personally, I think killed sounds the best. I don't believe there is anything that he could tell us that would be worth keeping him alive.

We're leaving for Seattle in two hours, commercial flight. It seems that everyone wants to keep this hush-hush. No one in charge wants to admit that the NID screwed up, and that an entire city - or cities, might be in danger. The NID has surprisingly been very forthcoming with what little information they have about Wepwawet's escape. From what we have learned so far, that snake-bastard simply walked out of the 'safe-house' in Seacouver where he was being held. He was supposedly under guard. The good news is, he doesn't have his ribbon device. They 'don’t believe' he has any weapons. That's reassuring! Like I believe them!

-Just before landing Sam and I picked up a local news program. Seems that Wepwawet managed to take a hostage, something that the NID conveniently forgot to tell us! Jack is livid! I have seen him angry many times in the past. But never like this! I think we're all angry at this point. A woman, a young woman, was taken hostage by a Goa'uld two days before Christmas. Because of the NID. Damned bastards! Jack pulled rank and then some at the local PD, and we were given access to every piece of evidence they have. Sam and I located the witnesses and spoke to them, and all three of them have completely and accurately described Wepwawet. One of the men even saw his eyes glowing, something that seems to haunt him. I know exactly how he feels. Those eyes can fill your darkest nightmares, make you wake up screaming!

There were two photographs of the abducted woman. God, she's gorgeous! She looks - sweet. Kind. Delicate. A woman who should be protected from the likes of the Goa'uld. We drove to Mt. Baker, to the place where her car was found. Her - Casey Webster. Twenty-nine years old. Green eyes. Beautiful green eyes. Long blonde hair. She looks like a china doll. Anyway, Sam used one of her doohickeys (god, now I sound like Jack!) and determined that there has been some activity in this area. She says the readings are faint, which means that it happened over twelve days ago. I have no idea how she can determine that! So it seems that Wepwawet managed to ring up to a ship within hours of his 'escape', which was two weeks ago. And he took an innocent civilian with him!

-It's been a week since we returned to the SGC and contacted the Tok'ra. They were the ones who wanted us to take on Wepwawet, their intelligence - or lack thereof - caused the mission to go wrong from the beginning. Sam, Teal'c, and I barely made it back alive. Jack is reminding them of that in every message, as well as the fact that one of our citizens is now a Goa'uld slave because of them. If she's still alive. No, I won't think that. She's alive. She has to be. I took one of the pictures of her from the police file in Seattle. I know that Jack has seen it in my desk drawer. But he's said nothing about it. I look at it often. Is it crazy to feel a connection with a woman I don't even know? It's as if her eyes are calling to me from the photograph, begging me to find her, free her. Maybe I just need a couple of hours of sleep.

-Finally! Jacob/Selmak finally sent word that they've located Wepwawet! It seems that he has totally taken over what Seth left behind centuries ago. He has a training camp, and Casey is one of the slaves there. We'll find her and bring her home. And hopefully she hasn't been so abused, so - frightened, that her mind is - gone. No, she looks delicate, but there is something in those green eyes - strength - determination. I have got to get a life if I can 'see' that much in one small photograph! A life, more coffee, and then maybe some sleep.

-Teal'c was nervous, even though the concussion grenades knocked out the few Jaffa near the 'gate, he said that there was the chance that the sound of the explosion was heard, and that others might be on their way. Jack sent Sam and I along a smaller, less traveled path. We hadn't gone far into the woods when we heard the sound of someone running. No clank of Jaffa armor, but still, we were both thinking that it could be someone who wouldn't be happy to see strangers on the path. It's amazing that we can just look at each other and know what the other is thinking. We've worked together a long time, I guess that's why. We knew that we didn't dare get caught - god, Jack would have had a shit fit if that happened! So we hid, Sam ducking behind one of the large trees, which wouldn't completely hide me. I dove under a nearby bush.

My heart stopped beating in the moment that she fell into my arms. Wet, muddy, covered with blood and bruises, her long hair dripping, leaves caught among the strands. Her eyes went so wide, the terror that flashed through them when she first saw me cut me to the quick. I smiled, trying to let her know that I meant no harm. Introduced myself. She seemed shocked to hear me speak English, said something about me being an American, gave me a smile that could light the entire city of Denver and then some, and passed out in my arms. A quick check confirmed what my hands felt - she had been beaten. Jack was surprised, to say the least, when I radioed that we had found her. We barely made it to the 'gate before the Jaffa were on us. A few followed us through, but Walter was able to get the iris closed as soon as we were clear, so they never made it into the 'gate room.

- Dr. Williams and two nurses have been working on her back for over an hour now. My god, it looks like raw meat! That son-of-a-bitch beat her! She has a fresh slave tattoo on her arm. Her face, her sweet, beautiful face is covered with bruises, some older, some fresh, and it looks as if she's bitten through her lip. She's suffered horribly, I can - feel it. I've already talked to Sam. She can control the Healing Device. And she agreed with me that Casey - I should learn to call her Ms. Webster, I suppose - anyway, that she shouldn't have to deal with scars on her body just because of the NID. She'll have enough to deal with on her psyche, her mind.

-She's sleeping, the doctor sedated her while they worked on her back. I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful woman in my life. Cleaned up, she smells - sweet. I can't help myself, I brush her hair back from her face. It's like silk. Long, soft - the images that fill my mind make me hard for her. Once she wakes up, I'll probably not be able to get near her. Word is out about the gorgeous woman in the infirmary. Already men from the other SG teams have found excuses to come down here to catch a glimpse of her. Part of me wants to scream that I found her, she's mine! The other part realizes that a woman like her will never see a geek like me.

Casey stopped reading, turned to look over her shoulder. "You were the only man my eyes saw, from the moment you looked up at me, held your arms out and caught me as I fell," she said softly.

Daniel smiled, kissed her cheek. "Yeah, well I didn't know that. Not at the time."

"Smartass." He tickled her side, making her giggle again. She settled back into his arms, began reading again.

-Jack just left my office, where we've been talking about Casey. It seems that there are Immortals among us. I remember seeing a book once, written hundreds of years ago, about beings - creatures, the book called them - that lived forever. And Casey is one of them. Or at least will be. As soon as she's killed. Jack has made arrangements for her to stay here at the SGC; what she's seen, suffered, and her - Immortality - make her a security risk. Or so says the brass. Anyway, he thinks that with training she can be a contributing member on an SG team. So, we're going to train her. Put her through 'boot camp'. And when we return, Dr. Pierson - Methos - is going to kill her. I swear to god if he's wrong, if he really does kill her, I won't be responsible for what I do. I'll break his neck, I swear I will. For the first time since returning from Ascension, I feel as if there's hope, that I won't spend the rest of my life alone, empty - I have mourned for Sha're from the minute I remembered her, and realized she was gone. She died several years ago. I have had six months to remember, accept her loss again. But I need to move on - I'm ready to move on. I know that she wouldn't expect me to stay alone - wouldn't want me to be alone - lonely. I can't close my eyes without seeing that soft smile, those beautiful green eyes - so full of trust.

-Jack has got to be the biggest asshole I have ever met in my life! He yelled at Casey for thirty minutes straight for not being able to disassemble and reassemble a P90 in less than two minutes! Jesus H. Christ! I can't do that! And I've been on an SG team for - almost eight years now! She just learned about the goddamned weapon yesterday! It's not right for him to expect her to be able to do so much in such a short amount of time! Not after all that she's gone through! I had to leave camp - the last time I tried to argue with him, in front of her, he threatened to send me back through the 'gate. She never said a word, just stood there and took the abuse. I swear to god if he does it again I'm going to deck him!

-Well, Casey certainly showed Jack today! She must have sat up half the night taking apart and putting back together that damned gun! She did it in one minute forty seconds today. As her 'reward', she gets to come to the temple with me, where I am supposed to teach her what she will be expected to do on missions when examining ruins.

It was the longest, most incredible, too short afternoon of my life! Every time I'm near her I feel like a teenager, all thumbs and suffering from a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease. She smells so damned good! She's a quick study; show her something once and she's got it! Sam was there for awhile, and teased her, said she asked as many questions as I do. I love to hear her talk - her voice is soft - it's like - like a gentle breeze - or maybe soft waves lapping against a sandy beach. I want her so badly I can taste it. But I don't dare let her life become tangled with mine. Sha're was taken over by the Goa'uld because of me - because I wasn't there to protect her. Sarah was taken over by a Goa'uld because of me, because I didn't put the pieces together soon enough to know what was in that canopic jar. I can't let the same thing happen to Casey - I just can't! So I'll walk away from her - pray that she meets a nice guy who won't be a threat to her very existence. But, god, I love her so!

It was the end of that particular journal, except for several pages of drawings of the temple, the altar, and the peculiar form of Ancient text that had covered the walls. The next day Casey had sprung her trap, leaving Jack suspended upside down from a tree. She had managed to 'kill' the rest of the team, and that day had been declared a true soldier. They had returned to the SGC that afternoon.

She wiped a tear from her eye. "I was so…intimidated by you, all of you. You were so sweet, so gentle, so kind. I could see in your eyes how angry you were at Jack, and Sam and Teal'c, for what they put me through. You were my - refuge - while we were there. I was already in love with you, but convinced that a man as brilliant, as handsome as you would never notice a woman like me, not like that," she said softly.

"Sam explained to me what she and Jack and Teal'c were doing, what the idea behind the…treatment…you received was about. I understood, but I still didn't like it," Daniel said. "I loved you, and I was so afraid that because I loved you, I was putting you at risk. I was just sure I was cursed or something."

He reached into the box beside them, grabbed another journal. Grinned broadly. "Remember this mission?"

She glanced at the date, frowned slightly. "Is this the one where we got on Osiris' ship to plant that computer virus?"

"Yeah, and almost got caught." His grin turned to chuckles as he recalled how Casey had taunted the Goa'uld as they escaped, just before shooting her. He opened it, handed it to her, rested his chin on her shoulder.

- Leaving on a mission in about an hour. Objective is to plant a computer virus on Osiris' ship. Which should then pass it on to every other Goa'uld ship when they communicate with each other. The virus, if it works properly, will infect every program in the computer, rewrite code and pretty much screw up every system on each ship. If we're lucky, it will leave them defenseless, and the Tok'ra ships will be able to take out the Goa'uld without so much as a whimper. Sam says that it will only work if Osiris' ship isn't destroyed before any communication takes place. We've heard that she's totally pissed off Lord Yu and Lord Bastet, so there is the chance that those two would shoot first and talk later. Hope is that egos, and that Goa'uld love for taunting, will keep that from happening.

We've chosen Osiris' ship because we know where it is. Jacob Carter/Selmak will take us there in one of the Tok'ra transport ships, ring us over, then pick us up. Why the Tok'ra don’t do it themselves is a question we've been asking ourselves all day. Sam seems to think it's because they don’t have enough operatives, most of the Tok'ra are serving various Goa'uld, working undercover. Whatever the reason, Jack has agreed, although grudgingly. If it were anyone other than Jacob asking, I don't think he'd do it.

The plan is simple, Sam and Teal'c are going to plant the viruses, already written onto data crystals. Sam will try to get onto the bridge - pel'tak - Teal'c will go to the engine room. It's not supposed to take more than ten minutes, fifteen at the most. The biggest concern is keeping the rings under our control. That job will be left to Casey and I. Trying to stay out of sight and keep the corridor open for our teammates to return won't be easy. So far Casey hasn't 'felt' anything bad. So it looks as if we'll be able to pull this off.

- Right now I don't know if I should kill her or kiss her! Everything had gone smoothly, which I suppose should have been a warning that something was about to go FUBAR on us. Just before we were ready to ring back to Jacob's ship, Osiris and a dozen Jaffa came running down the corridor toward us. Sam had to reprogram the rings, evidently someone on the pel'tak had caught the change. We needed just a few seconds. We had been hiding, but they knew we were there. Osiris demanded that we show ourselves. So Casey stepped out, cocked her head in that amazingly sexy way that she does, and told Osiris that we were just figments of her twisted imagination. At first I thought Sam was going to shoot Case for stepping out like that, until she kept taunting the bitch - bastard - whatever. Osiris is a male Goa'uld in Sarah Gardener's body. Something that is my fault. It's also very - twisted.

Osiris started to use her ribbon device, but Casey shot her in the hand, then told the Jaffa if they liked being men they'd back off. One of them didn't, and I swear to god she shot him in the Johnson! The other Jaffa hit the floor in sympathy! Hell, Teal'c and I were starting to moan too! Which struck my Wife as being funny. So Casey stood there, her P90 aimed at the Goa'uld, giggling her head off. Osiris was livid, reached for a staff weapon, and Casey opened fire, which sent the Goa'uld to the floor, looking for cover. Then Casey tells him - her - whatever - that there was no way she was going to pass up the opportunity to kill her/him.

Osiris was laying there, her/his hand dripping blood, so angry that she could barely speak, her Jaffa on the floor, one bleeding to death, the others protecting that very sensitive male part, just in case that crazy blonde decided to shoot them as well. Casey took aim, asked Osiris if she had any last words. Then said, and I quote, "Never mind. There isn't a damned thing a snake like you has to say that I want to hear. I wouldn't pass any messages on anyway. See you in hell, bitch." And then shot her. I haven't got the heart to tell her that as soon as we were gone, which was about three seconds later, those Jaffa would have put the snake into her sarcophagus.

When we gave the report during the debriefing, Sam let it be known that she hadn't been happy about Casey exposing herself, and us as well. But she told Jack that it had been worth the risk to see the look on Osiris' face when Casey shot her Jaffa in the 'nads. I thought Jack was going to burst a blood vessel trying not to laugh out loud. Then Casey made the comment that maybe she had shot Osiris' favorite Jaffa, and now she'd have to get a new boy-toy. Jack lost it completely at that point, Sam folded her arms on the table and had her face buried, laughing, and I was stuck explaining 'boy-toy' to Teal'c.

Addendum to mission: Rumor has it that Osiris has put a bounty of what is equivalent to five million dollars on Casey's head. Casey said it was proof that she had 'broken the bitch's favorite toy.' My Wife has a very warped sense of humor. God I love it!"

Casey was still giggling when she closed the book. "Well, it had to be true. Why else put a bounty that high on my head?"

Daniel wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "I still can't believe you shot him in the groin like that!"

"I warned them! I gave them every opportunity to save themselves," Casey retorted. Before she could reach for another journal, the phone began to ring. She pulled herself to her feet. "I'll put these away, I dug them all out."

He shook his head. "They aren't hurting anything where they are, for now. You still haven't found your notebook, have you?"

"No," she tossed over her shoulder as she ran toward the kitchen. "If you don't mind looking…"

"I don't mind," he replied. He put the two journals back into the box he had taken then from. He looked through the stacks of red bound books, didn’t see a notebook, so he put the lid back on. He thought about the thick journal that he had brought back from Abydos. He really didn't mind if Casey read it. Wondered if she ever really would. He had perused it a time or two. It brought back every memory of his time there, his life with the Abydonian's, with Sha're. The last time he had read it, he could feel the difference in the love he had felt for his first wife, and what he felt for Casey. Both were very special, very precious. He was a damned lucky man, to have had his life blessed by two such beautiful, incredible women. To have had the love of Sha're, to have Casey's love, made him the luckiest man alive.

"I have to go to the base. Camulus is pitching a bitch about seeing me. I…I don't want to go alone," she said softly.

He stood up. Pulled her into his arms. "As if I'd let you go alone," he said, admonishing her gently.

Casey shook her head. "I thought we'd just take the kids with us. We won't be there that long, and they can stop in and see Uncle Duncan."

Daniel frowned. He didn't want his children near Camulus. They would have to stay with him while she was in talking to the Goa'uld. And he would be just outside that room, holding onto her in that sunny meadow.

"Daniel, it will be okay. He already knows we have kids." She knew he wasn't happy, but he acquiesced.

The news that they were going to go into the mountain and would get to see Uncle Duncan had both Jackson children bouncing in their seats. Daniel couldn't help but grin as he glanced back at them in the rearview mirror.

"Not this time, Princess. Mommy has to talk to someone, and then we'll have ice cream in the cafeteria."