Title: "The Long Way Home"

Author: Azar

E-mail: azarsuerte@hotmail.com

Spoilers: up to the current season finales of SG1 and WaT...with the presumption that the S7 Stargate cliffhanger was resolved, but no specifics as to how

Rating: PG

Keywords: AU crossover with Without a Trace, genderbender, OC

Disclaimers: They're not mine...well, one of them is, sort of...but the rest are borrowed. *g*

Summary: "So I took the long way home--does it matter so long as I made it?"

"The Long Way Home"
by Azar

"So," Viv stated with a sigh as she watched the door swing shut behind half of the remaining team, now that Jack was officially gone. She fiddled with the edge of her cocktail napkin for a minute before looking at Danny. "What's on your mind?"

He dragged his eyes away from the door and looked at her over the rim of his glass of orange juice. "What makes you think something's on my mind?"

"Danny..." Vivian gave him the same patient, don't-try-to-hide-from-me look that could worm the ugly truth out of Jack nine out of ten times. "I know that look. It's the same look Jack gets every time we're working a case that hits a little too close to home. So tell me--what's wrong?"

Danny laughed wryly. Jack had made a good choice when he decided to recommend Viv be promoted to fill his job--she had a way of getting to the heart of things that even their boss couldn't quite master. But still...it wasn't fair of him to be contemplating what he was contemplating. Not fair to her--hell, not to any of them--this soon after one shake-up.

But at the same time...maybe it wasn't fair to him not to contemplate it.

"Well?" Viv's voice shook him back into reality.

He sighed. "Nothing's wrong. I've just been...thinking, s'all."

She cocked her head and looked at him sideways, with a curious frown. "Thinking about what?"

A grimace crossed Danny's face. "It's just...picking up everything, leaving all this behind, just to be with Marie...that took guts. Guess Jack really does want to work it out."

Viv nodded. She knew what he was talking about--they all did. Even if the affair hadn't already been pretty much public knowledge around the office, Sam's reaction to the news of Jack's departure would've been a dead giveaway. "Yeah, I think he really does. For the girls' sake if nothing else."

The other agent sighed. "I just...giving up everything for the woman you love...I've been in love with the same girl since I was eleven years old, and I never did that for her."

Both of Vivian's eyebrows shot up that time. "Now this is a story I haven't heard before."

Danny's mouth twisted into a sheepish smile. "Nah. I don't talk about her much."

"So who is this mystery woman?" Viv asked, leaning forward with a conspiratorial smile on her face.

"Ironically, her name's Danielle," Danny grinned. "Dr. Danielle Jackson. We were in foster care together for a few months here in New York before Ralphie came to get me and take me back to Florida. For some crazy reason, we kept in touch..." He tipped his orange juice in a half-hearted salute in Vivian's direction. "...and when I hit the bottom of the bottle, she dragged me out."

"Sounds like a good friend," she suggested carefully.

"The best. There were a couple of times we almost made it more, too. Thing is..." He took a long swig of orange juice, then frowned into the glass as if it had turned sour on him. "...Danielle wanted to see the world, y'know? Egypt, Israel, that whole cradle of civilization deal--she had three PhDs by the time she was thirty: in archaeology, anthropology, and linguistics. I just wanted to get through Quantico. And I didn't want to get stuck working support for some anti-terrorist task force under the CIA's jurisdiction or something."

"So you didn't go with her."

Danny shook his head. "It never got as far as me being asked to go with her. It was just kinda an unspoken thing between us--she had her dreams, and I had mine, and they didn't mix. So we went our separate ways again, and suddenly fifteen years had gone by, I was here, and she was married to some foreign guy, then a widow six years later."

Viv's eyes widened. "That's terrible!"

"It wasn't easy on her," he agreed quietly, nodding. "She don't talk about him much, but you can't know somebody that long without getting to know how to tell when they're hurting, y'know? 'Specially the way we met--whole reason we ever became friends in the first place was 'cause we had similar names and similar tragedies."

"So where is she now?" she asked, beginning to get an idea where Danny's train of thought was running.

That made him laugh unexpectedly. "Working for the Air Force, based out of Colorado, believe it or not."

"The Air Force?" Vivian echoed, surprised. "What would the Air Force want with an archaeologist?"

Danny shrugged, frowning again. "According to her, that's classified. But from the hints she drops by accident sometimes...whatever it is, s'not something I like to think about. Twice in eight years since she went to work for them, she just went silent for a whole year. No contact, no info, nothing. I asked her once about a year ago not to do that again--she told me she couldn't make any promises."

Viv grimaced. She understood all too clearly what he wasn't saying; it was hard for an FBI agent who worked on missing persons' cases to have someone in his life who could disappear without warning for months at a time, and know there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it.

"She said the only way she could promise I'd know what was going on with her was if she could get me into 'the program.'"

Something clicked in the senior agent's mind: so that's what all of this had been building up to. "You're seriously considering it."

Danny shook his head a little too firmly, but there was an undercurrent of doubt in his voice. "Nah. I couldn't...I wouldn't dump that on you on top of everything else."

Viv sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose with thumb and forefinger for a moment. Then she reached out one hand to lay it over Danny's on the table. "You said you've been in love with her since you were eleven years old...does she feel the same way?"

"That's just the thing. I don't know. I kinda..." He swallowed hard, not quite able to force out the words that he suspected the answer was no. That something in Danielle's reactions when he'd teased her about them both working for men named Jack had given him a gut feeling that there was more going on there than boss and subordinate. Just like there had been with Sam and their Jack.

The woman who was going to be his boss tomorrow smiled kindly at him. "So take a couple of days, go to Colorado. Find out. Then decide what to do about the rest."

Danny looked at her. "You're not mad at me for thinking about bugging out on you?"

She shook her head, a playful smile teasing the corners of her mouth. "Call me a romantic, but no, I'm not. If it means you finally setting things right with the love of your life, I think I can manage."

He grinned broadly at that. "Y'know, for the record, I'm glad Jack put your name down for his successor. I think you're going to do a fantastic job, Viv, and I'm not just saying that because there's a chance, however remote, that I won't be here to see it."

Viv looked mildly embarrassed by the praise, but shrugged it off. "Just give me a call and let me know what happens, okay?"

"Deal." Danny clasped her hand firmly for a moment before downing the rest of his orange juice and starting for the door. He paused only a couple of feet away from the table. "Need a ride?"

She shook her head. "Nah. I'll call my husband to pick me up. Now go, before I change my mind."

With one last grin, the other agent saluted as if he'd already joined the Air Force, then slipped outside. Viv watched the door swing shut in the wake of his departure for a few moments before opening her purse and withdrawing her cell phone. She hit #1 on her speed dial.

"Hey, hon, it's me..."

~+~+~+~

He really should have called more than a day in advance, Danny admitted to himself as he navigated his way from the gate to the baggage claim. Maybe even waited for Danielle to call back before booking his ticket, rental car and hotel room. For all he knew, she might be out of the country--from what little she could tell him, he'd managed to deduce that Colorado might be home base, but her work took her overseas fairly often.

He'd retrieved his check bag and just about resigned himself to having wasted a trip and having to find some way to occupy himself for a week in Colorado Springs when a familiar voice hollered his name over the hubbub of travelers: "Danny!"

When he looked up, the archaeologist was hurrying towards him, or at least hurrying as much as the unyielding crowd would let her pass. Her long brown hair was loose, her glasses sliding charmingly down the bridge of her nose, and she was wearing a white tank top and blue jeans with one of those blue plaid shirts she seemed to be so fond of. She looked as though she'd thrown the outfit together in about five minutes, but the delighted smile on her face when Danny finally met her eyes more than made up for anything the outfit might've lacked.

Danny's gut knotted almost painfully--she was still just as beautiful, and just as oblivious to the fact, as she'd been twenty years ago.

"Danny," Danielle exclaimed again breathlessly as she finally reached his side. She tried to frown at him, but failed, instead pulling her oldest friend into a tight hug. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I checked my answering machine as soon as we got back? I know I said come anytime, but I expected a little warning."

Danny laughed sheepishly. "Hey, if you don't know I'm coming, you can't say no, right?"

He would have said more, but was silenced by the stone that settled in his stomach as a tall, silver-haired man in a black leather jacket and jeans slowed to a stop about two feet away, his hawk-like eyes fixed shrewdly on him and Danielle. He didn't come any closer, didn't try to insert himself into the conversation or exhibit any other traditionally territorial behavior, but he didn't have to. The man's bearing radiated a confident aura of possession that reached out to encompass the archaeologist without him ever touching her.

"Yeah, well there's usually a reason why you give someone a chance to say that..." Danielle's caustic reply seemed to die on her lips as she watched Danny's sinking expression with confused eyes, then turned to follow the line of his gaze.

The FBI agent swallowed pride and disappointment, holding out his hand with a smile that hopefully didn't look as forced as it felt. "You must be Jack O'Neill. I'm Danny Taylor."

The older man accepted the offered hand. "She's mentioned me, huh?"

Danny snorted softly. "Are you kidding? She barely ever talks about anything else."

Danielle blushed and smacked him hard in the arm, mouthing 'you deserved it,' after he shot her a wounded look.

Jack's face blossomed into a mischievous smirk. "Hope it was good."

"Nothing but," the FBI agent promised. It was true...and it was why he'd half expected this reception. But he'd promised himself to at least try, so he was here. But--Danny grinned--even if he fully intended to bow out gracefully at the end of the week, a little mischief in the meantime couldn't hurt. "Well...except for the part about you being a stubborn smartass who never listens to her."

"Danny!" Danielle yelped.

"Hey, that's Colonel Stubborn Smartass to you," the Colonel in question shot back lightly, the smirk broadening into a full-fledged grin. "So what brings you to Colorado?"

"And on such short notice?" the archaeologist added tartly, her eyes still leveling a glare at him.

He decided to tell them part of the truth. Or most of it, only leaving out the question to which he was pretty sure he already had his answer. "My boss just gave up his job for his family. Made me reevaluate my priorities, and I realized I had an old friend I hadn't seen in almost a year. Got Viv's blessing to take a few days off, and here I am."

"Agent Johnson's in charge of the unit now?" Danielle asked, visibly intrigued in spite of herself.

Danny nodded. "Jack--Agent Jack Malone--" he elaborated when Jack O'Neill's head shot up. "--recommended her as his replacement."

"You'll have to congratulate her for me--I mean...I know I don't know her, but I almost feel like I do."

"Same here," the Colonel deadpanned.

Danny glanced at Danielle, who just rolled her eyes expressively. In spite of the sinking feeling that settled in his stomach as he watched the two interact like an old married couple, he couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, well, Viv's a good choice; she's diplomatic, smart, and has a damned level head on her shoulders--"

The archaeologist elbowed Jack. "So tell me again how you made colonel without possessing a single one of those qualities?"

"Must be my natural charm," the silver-haired man quipped back with a sunny smile, earning himself a snort in return.

Danny looked away. "Look, I already made arrangements for a hotel and a rental car," he pointed out with false cheer. "I appreciate you guys meeting me, but you don't have to stick around. I can plan to meet you somewhere after I get settled in?"

That last was directed specifically to Danielle, but he could feel Jack's perceptive eyes on him even without looking. He had a strong feeling that the Colonel knew or at least suspected a lot more than he was letting on, but was confident enough in his possession of Dr. Jackson's affections not to be threatened by it. Lucky him.

The archaeologist opened her mouth to object, but Jack saved him by jumping in first. "Sounds like a plan. Why don't you give us name of your hotel, and the room and phone number, so we can get in touch if something comes up?"

Danny nodded, but his friend frowned. "Actually I was going to suggest you could stay with me," she objected. "I have a guest room--"

This time the FBI agent shook his head. "Nah, I've already got reservations. 'Sides, from the look of things here that wouldn't exactly be appropriate."

Danielle opened her mouth, shut it again, then turned a bright shade of red. Jack chuckled softly behind her, which only made the blush deepen. "How did you--?"

"C'mon, Danielle, I've known you most of our lives. You didn't even talk as much about Rayner when the two of you were dating as you did about this guy--" He jerked a thumb in O'Neill's direction. "--when we met up in New York last year."

The Colonel seemed to be enjoying his lover's discomfiture enormously. "Nice to know it takes more than a sunny disposition to get into the FBI."

That made him chuckle. "Well, I'll tell you this much--at the real Bureau? Agent Mulder and his little green men would never have passed the psych screening."

Jack and Danielle exchanged an odd look before the Colonel grinned again and clapped a hand on the agent's shoulder. "Actually, they're gray," he stated cheerfully as the three of them made their way down to the rental counter.

Danny shook his head, fighting a smile. Danielle had mentioned that her Jack had an offbeat sense of humor. And God help him, he liked the man in spite of himself.

~+~+~+~

He waited until after dinner to call Viv like he'd promised. Danielle had arranged to meet him at a local Italian restaurant after Jack had suggested they might still not be welcome at her first suggestion, O'Malley's Steak House. The reasons for that he'd never learned, but it had made the archaeologist blush again so it must have been something embarrassing. At Danny's suggestion, she'd invited the rest of the team to join them: Sam Carter--who reminded him in a couple of ways of their Samantha, not just because of the blonde hair--and a big black guy named Murray who never took off his hat.

He almost wished he hadn't suggested it--nice as it was to finally meet Danielle's co-workers, he'd felt very much like an outsider. The four of them had in-jokes coming out their ears, and most of them were probably classified. But even if he did still take the archaeologist up on her invitation to join "the program," he had a feeling he'd still never be part of that. They'd been through hell and back together, and if there was one thing he knew from personal experience, that tended to bind people together in a way that no one else could ever breach. He wondered off-handedly if Sam was dating Murray, but they didn't act like it.

Still...it was something of a relief to say goodnight, and to know that the plans he and Danielle had made for tomorrow would be just the two of them. Even if the ease with which Jack had agreed to the arrangement just reinforced how unbreakable that particular bond was.

Vivian's voice answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Viv. Checking in, as ordered."

"Danny," she sounded pleased. "How's the trip so far?"

Danny sighed, letting himself fall back on the bed with the phone still pressed to one ear. "Not so good. I had a sneaking suspicion there was someone in her life already, now I know so."

He could almost hear the grimace in her voice. "I'm so sorry."

He shrugged, then realized she couldn't see it. "Honestly? I'm not surprised. Disappointed...a little, but not surprised. I just had to know for sure, y'know?"

"Yeah, I do." Vivian sighed. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Haven't decided yet," Danny admitted. "I'll finish out the week...probably no point in moving out here, although I will admit it'd still be nice to know what's going on with her. What about you?" His tone turned teasing. "Everything going smooth?"

"Funny you should ask that..." Her voice sounded rueful. "I got a call from Jack this morning just after you left. It turns out...he's not going to Chicago after all."

The other agent sat up on the bed. "What happened?"

"Marie filed for divorce," Viv revealed sadly. "Apparently she'd been counting on him refusing to come with her, and when he didn't...it just took her a while to admit that she had wanted him to."

"Too little too late--seems to be the theme of the week," Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So is he coming back?"

"We're still discussing that; he seems to think it's not fair of him to take away my promotion. I told him why mess with a good thing? The team works as it is--might as well keep it that way as long as we can."

The team works as it is...why mess with a good thing?

"Is that your way of saying you want me to come back?" he asked quietly.

"It's up to you, Danny," Viv answered just as quietly. "But we would miss you around here if you decide to stay in Colorado."

Danny was silent for a long moment. Part of him did still want to stay, to watch over Danielle like he had in elementary school--back when she'd been a geeky girl in glasses, braids and braces and he'd been the foster brother standing between her and the worst of the school bullies.

But Danielle seemed to be a lot better at taking care of herself than in those days. She was more aware of her surroundings, even if she did still have moments when she focused on one thing--a piece of writing, an artifact, or a person--to the exclusion of everything else. But for those moments...she had her team to watch her back. Murray. Sam. Jack...especially Jack.

Much as he hated to admit it, she didn't need him. Hadn't needed him for a very long time, except as a friend.

And on top of all that, the words he'd spoken to her a year ago when she'd first offered the invitation were still true--he did love his job, and he did have someone there in New York to look after too. Like the cocky director's kid, the rookie who was a little more street-wise now than two years ago, but still a bit naive in the ways of the real world.

They made a good team: Viv was right--why mess with a good thing?

The FBI wasn't just his job, it was his vocation, his life, his calling--even if there was no Jack O'Neill, Danielle would never want him to give up who he was for her, any more than she had fifteen years ago. And if Jack Malone's situation proved anything, the only reason his wife had asked that of him was because she'd expected him to refuse.

"I'll be back," Danny promised quietly. "At the end of the week, I'll be home."

~+~+~+~

Danny opened his eyes as the pilot's voice announced that they were coming into JFK, sliding up in his seat so he could restore it to its "full upright and locked position" as commanded. He looked around, trying not to dwell on the memory of Danielle apologizing as she saw him off--apologizing for not being able to feel what he felt for her.

He should have guessed that she had figured it out--after all, he hadn't been exaggerating all those times he'd described her as the smartest person he ever met--he'd just hoped that she wouldn't. Because he'd even wanted to protect her from having to knowingly break his heart. Protect her from regrets, about what they'd been to each other or what they hadn't that might make her doubt that she was where she was supposed to be. Especially since those were doubts that he himself didn't have anymore.

By the time the plane had landed and he was disembarking, he had to admit he almost felt at peace with the whole situation. He still had regrets, and he still missed her, but if anything the trip had only reinforced for him that he was where he belonged here in New York. Whether it was fate at work or just two people with very different natures, he and Danielle were never meant to be more than friends.

Considering the new, tighter security at airports these days, especially in New York, he was initially surprised at the sight of the familiar figure standing at the gate watching the passengers disembark. But then an almost proud smirk spread over his face. He waved and picked up the pace, reaching the rookie's side in a few quick strides.

"Let me guess; you flashed your badge at security, vaguely hinted that you were hunting a possible terrorist and got them to let you through? Daddy teach you to throw your weight around like that?" His teasing had long ago lost the edge it once had, now tinged instead with a hint of fondness.

Agent Marilyn Fitzgerald glared back, but there was affection in her eyes too. "Actually, no--you did."

Danny laughed out loud, hard. "What are you doing here? I mean, aside from abusing your position as an agent of the FBI?"

Marilyn flushed a little but lifted her chin defiantly. "Viv said you were coming back...I guess I just needed to see it with my own eyes."

If he'd needed another reminder of why he came back, seeing her there--hearing in her voice that she'd been genuinely worried he wouldn't return--would've definitely provided it. "'Course I came back--couldn't turn you loose without a keeper, could I?"

Blue eyes pinned him with a look that could have killed lesser men, but it quickly faded into a smile. Funny--even when they tried they could never stay mad at each other for long.

His face and tone sobered. "How is everyone? I mean...how's everyone dealing with...y'know?"

"Well, you know I took Sam home that night, to keep an eye on her. She cried herself to sleep, but I think she would've been fine eventually if Jack had actually left." Marilyn sighed. "As it is...I don't know. I think it's really hit her for the first time what Jack was gambling with when he got involved with her, and she blames herself that he lost it. And even though she's my best friend...I can't lie and tell her it's not partly her fault."

"What about Jack and Viv?" was Danny's next question.

"Viv finally convinced him to go ahead and come back, that she was perfectly happy as second in command. Jack...well, Jack hasn't said much to anyone, but you can see he's hurting." Her eyes were sympathetic. "He really did try to fix things, but it was too little too late."

The other agent laughed dryly at the echo of his conversation the other night with Viv. "I know how he feels."

Marilyn studied him for a long moment. "Seriously though--what happened out there?" she finally asked. "In Colorado, I mean--what was so important that you had to drop everything?"

Danny sighed, turning back to look at the now closed gate, as if he expected to see all the way through it back to Danielle. "Something I thought I wanted...something I needed to let go of before I could come home for good."

"Little out of the way, isn't it?" she pointed out with a twinkle in her eyes. "I mean...if you're starting at that bar we all went to and ending at your apartment..."

"So I took the long way home--does it matter so long as I made it?" he smiled in return.

Marilyn shook her head. "Good to have you back, Danny," she stated softly, laying a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

Impulsively, Danny pulled his friend and co-worker into a tight hug. Maybe he didn't have Danielle anymore. Maybe she had a new family and didn't need him anymore, but he had his own family too, and he didn't mean just mean Ralphie. Nope, he had a surrogate family just like hers, a surrogate family that did need him--Jack, Samantha, Viv...and Marilyn.

When he let go, he grinned broadly at her. "Good to be back. Now c'mon, Daddy's Girl, let's go put that influence to work again and get somebody to carry my bags for me."

It really was good to be home.

FIN