Post Scorched Earth and Beneath the Surface. Pre-slash.

J L Blackstone

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Daniel didn’t even glance up as the other man strolled into his office. He had wondered how long it would take Jack to track him down. Twenty six minutes and 15 seconds, a little slow for the Colonel. General Hammond must have wanted to have a private chat about Administrator Calder’s actions on P3R-118.

“So,” Jack drawled, intently watching the man behind the desk intensely scribbling on a piece of paper, presumably translating something. Again.

“So,” Daniel mimicked absently his attention still ostensibly focused on the tablet before him.

“How’s your head? Memories all back?”

“Yeah, you.” Daniel turned around briefly to grab the book on Ancient Sumeria that he thought had a couple of symbols similar to the ones on the cuneiform tablet that they brought back from P30-255.

“One hundred percent Jack O’Neill, back and ready for action.”

Daniel snorted. It certainly didn’t take long. “Something on your mind?” The linguist lazily inquired after a few minutes of silence, broken only by the annoying sounds of someone nervously picking up and putting down various artifacts scattered about.

“No.” Jack threw up his cap in the air, easily catching it on it’s way down. “So how’s your new friend? Kagie something or other?”

“Kegan, Jack. Her name is Kegan and I assume she’s doing fine, especially if the workers decide to take us up on your tropical planet offer.” He wondered what Jack was getting at here.

“You guys seemed to be getting pretty close…Hell! You even took on me for her.”

“I don’t know, Jack. It seemed to me that I was just responding to Jonah’s hostility.”

“Hostility?! You’re crazy! I treated you like…”

“You couldn’t stand me. Face it Jack. Jonah’s actions on planet were at least honest, as much as they could be, that is.”

Jack’s mouth twisted in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about now?”

“You’re mad at me Jack. You’ve been mad at me for weeks but haven’t shown it. Your behavior on planet proved it.”

Jack shook his head denying the anger that even now was simmering under his jovial tone.

“I wished you’d just yell at me and get it over with. Subtlety is not one of your talents, Jack.”

“And what, pray tell, am I suppose to be stirred up about? What has the renown Doctor Jackson done this time? Oh let me guess, has he deliberately disobeyed a direct order? No, that isn‘t so unusual in fact that’s normal Daniel procedure. I know, he put himself in a position where he would be killed. And not just by anyone, by me!”

Daniel kept his face neutral, as the anger that Jack had been keeping bottled up since the terraforming mix-up on the Enkaren planet, broke free.

“I swear Daniel, if you ever do such a suicidal, stupid thing again…I’ll kill you myself!”

“Sounds logical,” Daniel stated with a laughing undertone.

“This is no joke, Daniel.”

The agonized expression on Jack’s face made the amusement flee. Daniel sighed. “I’m sorry, Jack. I just couldn’t do it. Play god, deciding who had the right to live or die.”

“And I couldn’t live with just standing by while the Enkarens were slaughtered as a result of our mistake.”

“I understand. I think this is one where we will have to recognize that we will never agree on, even though it worked out in the end.”

“Could have easily gone the other way.” Jack looked down. The nightmare haunting more of his nights than he wanted the other man to ever know. He knew that he would never be able to live with Daniel’s blood on his hands.

“I’ll tell you what. Let’s say I try to start to make it up to you by treating you to a steak dinner?” Daniel cheerfully offered while he put on his jacket and walked around the desk.

“At a sports bar?” Jack asked in a little boy’s voice.

Daniel sighed, well he was the one who had started it. “If you insist.” What the hell had he been thinking?

The End