Author's notes: Once again, you're more than welcome to expand the chapter into your own fic. And I'm not an avid Stargate fan, so there're probably mistakes... I currently watch two to three Stargate episodes whenever I go home on Saturdays, and those are all from different seasons. I usually get one geek-Daniel episode followed immediately by one Jonas-trying-to-fit-in episode, so my sense of SG timeline is practically non-existent. Not to mention this chapter was somewhat rushed.
Hush the Silent has claimed the first plot bunny... I don't if anyone else wanted it. I'll keep you posted if I know about any fics going up.
Warning: Language and some possibly unpleasant situations. If the last chapter was G, this one's PG at least.
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS
By Lizeth Hallington
Chapter 2 - The Archaeologist
Chapter pic: w ww.devian tart.c om/deviation/9095265/
"You don't have to go."
Dr. Daniel Jackson sighed, again, for what seemed the millionth time. Dropping a shirt into his suitcase, he turned to face the speaker fully.
The man looming in the corner of the room was tall, radiating casual strength despite his salt-and-pepper hair and the lines around his eyes. Daniel was willing to trust Colonel Jack O'Neill with life, limb, and maybe even his recently acquired goldfish... but not his sanity.
The whole McKenzie thing aside, the Air Force Colonel was currently driving him up the wall.
"Jack, I'll only be gone for a week at most. It's just a conference... To catch up on what I've missed in terms of 'rocks' here on Earth. Contrary to popular belief, I don't like being the outcast of the archeological society. I don't like being laughed at behind my back-"
An arched eyebrow. "So you're going to a place where you can be laughed at to your face-"
"Jack!" The thirty-something-year-old pulled a face. "I'm trying, alright? And... I just need to get away for a bit..."
Silence stretched and Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose. This isn't supposed to be that big a deal...
...But apparently it was. Over the years SG-1 had developed into an odd sort of family. Jack went so far as to jokingly call them his "kids". They were the first team. The best team... And then something had gone and shaken the foundation of their trust...
He almost jumped when Jack took his wrist and placed something cold in his hand.
"Wha-"
"Cell phone. First sign of trouble and you call us, got it?" Jack frowned.
Daniel stared. He had... almost expected a gun. My god, have I really... He closed his eyes briefly. "...Alright."
"I mean it, Danny."
"I said, alright," Daniel stressed shortly, slipping the phone into his pocket and meeting the colonel's eyes.
Jack stared at him for a long while, face set in an expression that made Daniel want to squirm like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. The archeologist squashed the feeling ruthlessly. He wasn't about to give Jack the satisfaction.
"Alright," Jack finally agreed, almost carelessly, eyes sliding away.
Daniel released the breath he'd been holding unconsciously, and turned back to his luggage, packing with warring feelings of guilt and anger. It wasn't as if he was as hopelessly helpless as Jack made it seem. He'd learned a lot the past few years. Done more. Grown more. Lost more...
Swallowing, Daniel tried to loosen the knot in his stomach...
"...So, if the goldfish die, I just flush 'em down the toilet, right?"
"Jack!"
Ryou smiled politely as he passed the glaring security guard and tried his best to look like he belonged. It was a bit difficult, considering most of the people the large conference room were professors or recognised archeologists, while he himself was barely old enough to pass for a freshman, let alone a grad student.
The white-haired Item holder was just about to hide in the crowd when he felt someone approaching.
It was a man in his early 70s, decked in a modest brown suit, his expression awash with curiosity. "Bakura?" he asked cautiously, then reading the nametag, he smiled and held out his hand. "I thought it was you! I was looking for your father."
Ryou took the hand and shook it briefly, smiling back a little tentatively. "I'm sorry. My father couldn't attend. I came in his stead-"
"Quite alright. Quite alright. I'm sure he's been keeping busy. How is he, by the way?"
"Fine, the last time I saw him Mr... Marsh," Ryou concluded, reading the other's nametag.
The elder man noticed the lapse and chuckled self-depreciatingly. "I apologize. Where are my manners? Joseph Marsh, at your service," he introduced with a sort of salute. "I had the pleasure of teaching your father at Cambridge," the man went on, gesturing that they should walk a ways. "Last time a saw you, you were a babe in your mother's arms."
"You..." Ryou said breathily. "You knew my mother?"
"She was an art student. I didn't know her very well, but your parents met at Cambridge, did you know?"
"Aa..." Marsh arched an eyebrow inquiringly and Ryou blushed. "I mean 'yes'."
The professor chuckled. "Anyway, are you interested in archeology yourself? Or did you father make you come?"
"I'm... I find myself involved with Ancient Egypt now and then," Ryou shrugged, and found himself saying before he could stop: "Tomb raiding, mostly."
/Wha- Yami!/ Ryou cried, mortified. His yami had the irritating habit of running his mouth at... inopportune times.
A darkly amused chuckle filtered down the link between their souls.
"That's a rather harsh way to put it," Marsh said wryly.
Ryou shrugged sheepishly, unwilling to speak quite yet.
"Well, it's something your father has a knack for, this 'tomb raiding'," Marsh winked, deaf to the sardonic snort that resounded in Ryou's head. "I've met a lot of people with potential. Your father was one of those that didn't disappoint- Ah!"
"Sir?" Ryou prompted, brows furrowed, and followed the professor's line of sight, to a young looking man with ginger-brown hair and glasses... A young man with ginger-brown hair and glasses that didn't look happy with the company he was currently keeping.
Beside him, Professor Marsh let out a small sigh.
"A moment, if you would, Mr. Bakura. It seems Dr. Jackson might be in need of a little help."
"Jackson?" Ryou repeated, trying to recall an archeologist by that name.
"Yes... He had a lot of potential..."
The use of the past tense did not escape Ryou's notice.
Daniel was somewhat used to the feeling of being watched. During missions, Jack that a tendency to eye him like a hawk, convinced that SG-1's resident space-monkey would trip into some disaster or another. Teal'c had a tendency to look out for him too, although the Jaffa's approach was directed more at keeping things away from him as opposed to keeping him away from things. Sam wasn't so protective, but he knew she'd back him up in an instant if needed.
Here, the stares were less familiar and more disconcerting.
"Military, Daniel? I never would have imagined," Wallinger was saying with a superior smile. "But then, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."
Daniel didn't even bother to answer.
"What's the matter Jackson, tongue abducted by aliens?"
There were chuckles all around.
Laughed at to my face, huh, Jack?
"Dr. Jackson!" a cheerful, friendly voice interrupted. "Fancy that, I was just thinking about you!"
Wallinger turned with a small frown. "Professor Marsh..."
"Hello, hello, Will. Ah yes, you were one of Daniel's colleagues, weren't you?"
"Yes, professor, pray pardon but-"
"Sumimasen!" a younger voice interrupted, accompanied by a head and a body and a foot-
"OW!" Wallinger howled in protest, hopping back on the foot that hadn't been stomped on.
Hazel eyes widened in apparent panic. "Gomen nasai! Gomen kudasai!"
Odd... Daniel thought, intrigued. The face behind the eyes was young... too young to be a student at the university... but the teen's hair was a stark, snowy white. He bore himself with a quiet control that seemed almost eerily ghostly, although, if Wallinger's reaction was anything to go by, the teen was quite solid.
Daniel suppressed a snicker.
It wasn't a malevolent feeling but...
Watch him, the little Jack-voice in the back of his mind warned. There's something about him that isn't right.
"Watch where you're going kid! What are you doing here anyway?" Wallinger growled, straightening in a vain attempt to regain his dignity. "Aren't you even going to apologize?!"
"He did," Daniel cleared his throat to cover a laugh. "Three times, actually."
The boy, seeming to realize that they were talking about him, immediately burst into stuttering Japanese. Something about not being able to find his father, if Daniel caught it right.
"Oh my, William, are you alright?" Professor Marsh said with mild concern, carefully ignoring the babbling teenager.
"Quite," Wallinger spat, glaring at the white-haired kid and causing him to shimmy unobtrusively closer to Daniel. With a scowl, the man turned and attempted to stalk away.
Watching the man limp into the crowd, Daniel finally indulged in a grin and bowed slightly to the boy. "Arigato." Thanks.
Instead of looking shocked or surprised, as he might have expected, the teen merely smiled back. "Douitashimashite." You're welcome.
Surveying the situation with a rather exasperated look, Marsh turned to the boy, attempting to frown but not quite succeeding. "Now, Mr. Bakura..."
"Yes, professor?" Ryou answered clearly, causing Daniel to do a double-take at the prim English accent.
The little sneak...!
"Dr. Jackson?"
"Hm?" Daniel started, and turned back to a frowning Professor Marsh. "Yeah, sorry. Mind wandered a bit."
Marsh shook his head forlornly. "Eyes in front, my boy. Ryou Bakura, I'd like you to meet Dr. Daniel Jackson. Daniel, this James' son..."
"You don't look pleased, if you don't mind my saying so."
Daniel Jackson turned with a blink, taking in spiky white hair and clear hazel eyes. "I got what I expected."
"And are you satisfied?" Ryou asked with a benign smile.
"I... no." Daniel shook his head. I doubt I'll get any recognition or respect in the field any time soon but... "But that's alright."
His fingers brushed cold plastic. I have something more.
Daniel blinked. "Not that I don't appreciate the company, Mr. Bakura, but is there any particular reason you're hanging around me?"
Ryou smiled softly. "You're interesting, Dr. Jackson."
A sigh. "Want to take a look at the funny farm, huh?" Daniel joked.
"Not at all," Ryou objected quietly, fingering something under his shirt.
Daniel arched an eyebrow.
"You're an intelligent man, Dr. Jackson, and your credentials prove it. I find it hard to believe that an intelligent man would willing play the fool and ostracize himself from the very community he so obviously desires to win approval from."
/Hypocrite.../ the dark voice whispered from the Ring.
/Hush,/ Ryou sighed, /Papa and I... that's different./
/It's the same./
"Someday... someday I..." Ryou looked up with a smile that set his features aglow and almost made Daniel step back in absolute wonder. "I hope to see more of your work in the future, Dr. Jackson."
Daniel stood outside as evening began to fall, keeping an eye out for any sign of long, white hair. He'd caught himself fingering the cell phone and jerked his hand away. What would he say, anyway?
Hi, Jack! No, I'm not in trouble. No, I'm not at the hospital... No, I'm not getting married! There was this kid, and he...
"He what?" Daniel said out loud, exasperated with his own inexplicable behaviour. "Looked weird? Set off my spidey senses-"
Ryou was... older. That was it. He felt older than he looked. He was so young and unassuming, but every so often Daniel could catch a glimpse of something so sharp it reminded him of a knife's edge.
A flash of white flitted past the edges of his peripheral vision.
...Followed by three, older students that all but radiated malevolent intent.
Ah, damn.
/We're being followed, yadonoushi./
/Aa,/ Ryou sighed, /I know./
/Fools,/ his yami sneered.
...Ryou didn't disagree.
"Onegai-shimas, please, I don't want to cause a commotion," the boy was pleading.
"No commotion if you don't make one. We just want to know how you got your hair that way," one smirked.
Ryou looked from one face to another. "I-it's natural."
"Natural? Yeah right," the stocky one laughed. "You're not serious."
"I'm n-not lying."
"Well, it's easy enough to check, don't you think?" another leered, stepping closer to the trembling teen. Ryou made an unsuccessful attempt to sink into the wall, gritting his teeth when he felt a coarse hand stroke his side. "People only ever dye the hair on their heads, right?" the hungry voice whispered thickly, close enough to tickle his ear. The other two chuckled, watching with perverse interest.
The hand slipped lower.
Ryou closed his eyes, heart pounding. /Why do they always-/
/Yadonoushi!/ Bakura barked, voice thick with blood-lust as the Shadows curled possessively around his soul. /If you don't do something, by Ra, I will./
/I don't want you killing anyone!/
/Kill?!/ The thief lips pulled back into a feral display of gleaming fangs. /Oh no, yadonoushi, pray, let them live. Death is too quick and easy an end, and punishment in the maws of Ammut too painless a penalty.../
Oblivious to the mental debate, the senior student reached... "How 'bout a little peek-"
A pale, slim hand grabbed his wrist too fast for him to follow, and then he was staring into animalistic, amber-shaded eyes.
A smirk.
"...And boo."
Daniel found Ryou backed up against a building, the three students practically towering over his slim, delicate frame, but the boy's shoulders were straight, and he could see that the teen had pushed one of his assailants back.
"I said stop," Ryou's voice, still soft and whispy, but with an undercurrent of ice that chilled the bone. "Please," the voice added, almost as an afterthought.
"You little fuck!"
"That's mean," the teen replied, leaning his head against the wall. "That's really mean."
Is Bakura pouting?! Daniel thought incredulously.
"Is something wrong?" the archeologist cleared his throat, making his presence known. All four turned to him, and immediately Ryou's demeanour changed. The chill was gone from his posture and he slumped bonelessly against the wall, eyes wide and innocent as a new-born babe's.
"Dr. Jackson!" he cried in relief.
"Bakura," Daniel nodded, "Gentlemen?"
"Nothing doing, man," one said quickly, arms raised. "Just having a little chat."
"Nothing, huh? Well, c'mon Bakura, I think your father's expecting you-"
"Hey, wait a minute, I've heard about you," the one with the sunglasses said. "Jackson, right? The one with the wacky theories?"
"The 'alien archeologist'?" another put in, snickering.
"Yeah. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"Lookin' pretty healthy for a dead guy..."
Daniel set his jaw, tuning out the hearty guffaws of students years younger than him. "Bakura, let's go."
"Hai!"
"Now hold up!" the ringleader, objected, arm shooting out to block Ryou's escape. "How about we chat a little more?" he drawled, the other hand threading through the hair behind Ryou's neck. "Feel free to join," he added suggestively.
Daniel's fist curled, eyes darkening at Ryou's wince. "I don't think so," he objected, walking forward and pulling Ryou away.
The ringleader growled. "Hey, now..."
His first mistake was grabbing Daniel while his back was turned.
Maybe it was just a fluke, but strung thin enough to break, Daniel had reflexively remembered the moves Jack had been trying to drill into his muscle memory. He'd executed an affective, if somewhat stiff shoulder throw.
Sunglasses and Stocky, though surprised, had sprung into action quickly enough. Charging in to avenge their comrade was their second mistake.
Ryou had backed up against the wall once more and shouted warning: "Jackson-san!"
Daniel side-stepped a lunge and stuck out his elbow, allowing the other's momentum to burry the offending limb in Stocky's gut, then delivered an open palm strike to the chin that had his head snapping back. As Stocky doubled over, Sunglasses stood waiting.
Exhaling, Daniel ducked a punch and hooked Sunglasses' ankle to bring him down, but Sunglasses reached out and dragged him down too.
Not good! Daniel's mind screamed.
No kidding? the Jack-voice whispered sarcastically.
Once you were on the ground, you were at a definite disadvantage.
Almost by luck, Daniel managed to hit the other guy soundly on the nose, which set the man swearing and curling away, eyes watering as he cupped his face.
Daniel scrambled back, trying to regain his footing.
THUD.
And stiffened at the sound of a body hitting concrete behind him.
For a moment, he'd been afraid that Bakura had fainted, but what he found surprised him more.
Yes, on some level he'd heard the ringleader's falsely-light steps as the other attempted to sneak up behind him; Jack had trained him for such things. But what he hadn't heard was Bakura's move from his deer-in-the-headlights position against the wall to his current position over the unconscious body of his would-be assailant. Daniel frowned and scrutinized the boy carefully.
Ryou was white as a ghost.
"Are you alright?"
"H-hai! Arigato, Jackson-san," Ryou said quickly, sounding somewhat strained, "Thank you, I don't know where I'd be without your help." Looking up with those wide, impeccably innocent hazel eyes...
"I- You're welcome," Daniel said, eventually. Something about Ryou compelled you to trust, to play along...
He stared at the unmoving, unmarked body on the ground.
But then why do I have this feeling that you could've taken the three of them down quite easily without my help?
"How did you..." Daniel trailed of uncertainly, waving a hand to the body at Ryou's feet. He was almost surprised by the boy's answering blush. Almost.
"Ano... Um... A friend taught me a bit of self-defence..."
"Ah-hah..." Daniel fumbled through his pockets. That sounded plausible enough... "Good thing too, I guess. Look, why don't you help me straighten them out while I call campus police, Mr. Bakura. I'll stay... with... you..."
Lips parting in surprise, Daniel slowly lowered his cell and spun 360 degrees, taking in the last filters of sunlight and the chilling breeze.
"Hello, Cambridge University Police Office... Hello? ...Hello? ...Sir?"
He...
Ryou Bakura was gone as if he had never been.
End.
End note: Yay! Stargate crossover! Everyone, we need more stargate and YGO crossovers! :D Currently, I've only read Skyla Doragono's and Shi-koi's and Firesenshi2's and Roguemoon's.
Heheheh... No, Ryou isn't helpless. It's just the way he acts... And as for Bakura... well, have you seen how possessive he is when he's first introduced in the Monster World arc?
...Can Daniel fight at this point in the series? shrug
Don't bug me about the -san, -sensei, -hakase thing either. Yes, my Japanese is terrible.
Thanks to:
Hoshi-tachi, QueenOfHearts3, Bluediamond, ani05tersrvip, Paladin Dragoon, Glue Project, Nightengale13, Riyo-Hikaru, Hush, OoshatiElf, Azremodehar, Russle, and everyone who reviewed on DA.
I'll work on HoM when my head's clearer. I can't of anything with a plot right now. slaps face Okay, now I have to work...