Work Text:
…you want, then you can send this letter return and I’ll know.
Sincerely,
Your cousin Sally Jackson-Blofis
Daniel stares down at the handwritten letter on his desk. Beautiful black cursive, decorating an otherwise unremarkable white piece of paper, stares back at him.
He can’t help but trace the intricate curves and steady lines of the characters with his eyes, as the words’ denotations finally sink in.
Your cousin.
Daniel takes a deep breath, closes his eyes for a moment and tries to calm his racing heart.
He picks up the letter with unsteady hands and begins dissecting it from the beginning.
Dear Daniel Jackson,
Daniel smiles a bit at that. It feels nice - to be addressed outside of his work. He wonders if Sally is omitting the title deliberately, to make the letter feel more personal, or if she simply doesn’t know he has it.
He suspects it's the former, considering she’s somehow found his address.
my name is Sally Jackson-Blofis. I’m 41 years old and I live in New York.
Daniel notes the hyphenated last name - probably married then.
The reason for this letter might have become evident by now, but I still feel the need to write it out.
We’re related - cousins more precisely.
The first time Daniel read through the letter, he had come to that conclusion, yes, but he had also internally dismissed the idea, too scared to get his hopes up, so he really does appreciate Sally for spelling it out.
Your father, Melburn Jackson, and my father, James “Jim” Jackson, were brothers. They also had another brother named Rich.
Daniel isn’t quite sure if he’s happy or not to learn this. His father had had brothers. He had had uncles. It leaves an uncertain feeling in his stomach and too many questions to be answered.
For one; why hadn’t his grandfather ever….- Daniel mentally shook his head, focusing back on the letter.
I wish I could say that I was reaching out, purely because I wanted to reconnect with a family member I never knew I had, but that wouldn’t be the entire truth.
It’s true that I want that, but there’s also something else.
That something else being the reason why I know you exist.
I’ll spare you the details, but in short; My parents died when I was five and I was taken in by our uncle Rich. He was diagnosed with cancer during my senior year of high school and a year later he passed away. Between his diagnosis and his death, he was contacted in regards to the fostering or adoption of you.
Daniel can feel his heart squeezing in his chest at that. He knew it was coming - having read through the entire letter once already - yet it still hit him like a zat blast.
There is so much to unpack in just that one paragraph and Daniel takes a few moments to really get his thoughts together.
One; His cousin’s, Sally’s , parents died when she was young. A treacherous part of Daniel’s mind wonders if she had had it easier, considering she was younger than him when he lost his parents. It’s a thought easily slapped aside, the rational part of Daniel knowing that it doesn’t matter. They both lost their parents as kids and that was horrible.
Two; Their uncle had taken her in - giving her a home with family. Daniel won’t deny the part of him that feels jealous of that, but he also reminds himself that Sally didn’t necessarily have it better than him because of that, especially given the next piece of information given - and even if she had had it better, that doesn’t invalidate her experiences.
Three; he could have been taken in by their uncle too. It’s something Daniel had always dreamed of - getting taken in by a family member who cared for him. It hurts to know that his childhood could have been different. He could have had a caring guardian. He could have lived with his uncle and his cousin.
If only the circumstances had been different.
Daniel feels the beginnings of tears prickling at the corners of his eyes and he removes his glasses momentarily to wipe them away.
Objectively, he knows there’s no use pondering past what-ifs. He can’t change the past.
What has happened has happened and wishing for something different will get him nowhere - yet there is still that idealistic part of him that won’t stop dreaming of the impossible.
He apparently never disposed of the papers and letters, as I found them yesterday while cleaning out old stuff.
Daniel feels a warmth blossoming in his chest. Even if nothing ever came of it, it is still nice to know that their uncle kept the documents.
He knows it might be naive of him, but Daniel chooses to believe that the keeping of those papers is proof that his uncle had cared about him.
I don’t know if this information is new to you or not and I’m truly sorry if I’ve brought up old memories or learning this has hurt you, but I thought you had the right to know.
Sally hadn’t needed to add that; she was, as they say, ‘just the messenger’.
Still, Daniel really appreciates it and he thinks it's probably a good indicator of Sally’s character.
On a lighter note - I do want to reach out to you in hopes of getting to know each other. I think family is important, whether that be of blood or choice, so if you want you can reach me through the email and phone number I’ll leave at the bottom (Or you can send a letter).
If contact isn’t something you want, then you can send this letter return and I’ll know.
Sincerely,
Your cousin Sally Jackson-Blofis
Daniel sets the letter down on his desk again, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
He already knows what his answer to Sally’s final proposal is and takes approximately two minutes to make up his mind about how to go about it.
Within another one, he’s sitting with a black ink pen in hand and a blank piece of white paper in front of him.
Jack isn’t worried when Daniel doesn’t show up for lunch with the rest of SG-1. It’s nothing unusual. Their archaeologist has a habit of getting lost in his research, forgetting all about time and space. He’s not even the only one on the team who does that; Carter does it too, though not quite as frequently.
So no, Jack really isn’t worried, though he won’t deny that he is slightly confused.
Look, he’s not the most informed guy when it comes to new technological or archaeological discoveries from beyond the Stargate, but Jack’s quite sure that they hadn’t had any runic tablets or decaying artifacts come through in quite a while, so why Daniel would skip their pre-planned lunch, which he had know about in advance, to sit in his office doing whatever, is quite a mystery to Jack.
Which is why, after fifteen minutes of waiting and a game of Go Fish with Teal’c, he decides to check on Daniel to find out what’s up.
Sam follows Colonel O’Neill down the corridors to Daniel’s office, Teal’c right beside her. They walk in comfortable silence and it doesn’t take long for them to reach their destination.
The colonel barges in, disregarding the usual implication of a closed door meaning the want for privacy.
Sam almost voices her thoughts but stops as she steps into the office as well and gets a look at Daniel.
He’s sitting at his desk - pen in hand, but instead of the usual artifact or manuscript in front of him, it’s a piece of regular paper from Earth.
Sam notes that even the rest of his normally messy desk has been mostly cleared, only a couple of white pieces of paper with what looks like unfinished writing on it lying on one side and an open envelope with what must be a letter on top, on the other.
It’s a puzzling sight, to say the least and Sam thinks that the silence that stretches between them all, as they stare at Daniel and Daniel stares back at them, really encapsulates the whole situation.
“Soooo, what are you up to?”
Unsurprisingly, it’s O’Neill who breaks the silence.
Daniel glances between the paper in front of him, the letter to his right and his three teammates.
“I’m writing a letter.”
O’Neill raises his eyebrows, before angling his head to look at his other teammates. From the look he gives her and Teal’c, Sam knows the colonel has a sarcastic ‘oh really’ on the tip of his tongue and she decides to step in, getting the feeling that something is wrong.
“Who’s the letter to?”
Daniel stills, a strange look overcoming his face.
Sam reconsiders. Maybe wrong isn’t the right descriptor. There certainly is something different about the situation, but Sam’s not sure that the something is necessarily bad.
Daniel hadn’t reacted in anger or irritation at her question. He’d just seemed uncertain. Which Sam isn’t sure whether to take as nervousness mixed with excitement or apprehension mixed with anxiety.
It takes a moment, but Daniel seems to make up his mind on how to answer the question, as he takes a deep breath, then visibly makes an effort not to look any of them in the eye - and then he replies;
“My cousin.”
Daniel’s voice is small and Sam blinks, surprise and confusion rising to the surface of her mind. She’s heard him speak foreign alien languages in the midst of conflict more confidently than that.
She’s apparently not the only one thrown for a loop, as O’Neill looks like he’s trying to piece together a particularly difficult puzzle, while Teal’c seems to be mulling over the words like they’re some foreign Earth custom.
Sam takes a moment herself to really consider what Daniel had said - and that’s when it hits her.
Cousin. My cousin.
She hadn’t even registered the words earlier, too caught up in Daniel’s unusual hesitant disposition, but now they register in full force and she almost gasps in surprise.
Before she can muster up any form of cohesive reply, Teal’c speaks up.
“I was not aware that you had other living Earth kin, Daniel Jackson.”
Sam and the colonel wince, almost in unison, while Daniel just gives a wry smile.
“Trust me. I didn’t know either until an hour or so ago.”
Daniel tilts his head towards his right, towards the letter lying on his desk.
O’Neill approaches it, eyes settling on Daniel, when he’s right in front of it.
Daniel gives the slightest of nods and O’Neill picks up the letter. He’s very meticulous, hands gently grasping the edges, being careful not to touch the ink or crease the paper. His eyes don't leave Daniel’s face. When Daniel doesn’t protest, he begins reading it.
Sam almost holds her breath. She can feel the tension in the air even though there’s no danger or threat. Not having anything better to do, she lets her eyes wander the room. First, they land on Teal’c; standing relaxed, his expression pensive, then on Daniel; still sitting at his desk, tense, fidgeting with his pen and then lastly they settle on O’Neill.
The colonel is keeping his face carefully blank, but Sam swears she sees his expression twitch once or twice while he reads.
After what feels like an eternity, he sets the letter down.
“So. Sally, huh?”
The colonel’s tone is light and his expression has shifted into a grin, curiosity dancing in his eyes.
Sam knows he’s putting on a bit of a mask, not letting all of his feelings show, but she finds she doesn’t mind.
Daniel has relaxed, his unease and anxiety giving way to excitement, though he still seems a bit nervous.
Sam smiles.
She knows that something in the letter from Daniel’s cousin has O’Neill concerned and that Daniel’s whole reaction to the situation warrants some concern, but for now; for just a moment, she pushes those worries aside and just enjoys the sound of Daniel’s excited voice.
Sally looks down at the envelope in her hand.
To Sally Jackson-Blofis
She honestly hadn’t expected a reply, especially not in letter form, but she’s happy nevertheless.
She takes a sip of her coffee, before gently prying the envelope open to reveal a folded piece of white paper.
She unfolds the paper and before she begins reading, she takes a moment to just look at the handwriting; to familiarize herself with the way the letters bend and swerve.
Another sip of coffee later, she begins reading with a smile.
Dear Sally,
thank you for….