Dr. Daniel Jackson
shook his head in disgust as he read the report he had just written. “I wrote more intelligent pieces when I was
in high school,” he muttered. He put
down his pen and rubbed his forehead wearily.
“Damn it, I can’t go on like this.”
***************************
Colonel Jack
O’Neill didn’t look up from his paperwork even though he knew Daniel had just
entered his office. However, the
tension emanating from the young archaeologist was harder to ignore.
“Stop hovering.”
“I’m not.”
“Daniel, I know
hovering when I see it,” Jack said irritably.
<Believe me; I’ve done it enough times.>
Daniel frowned
worriedly and bit his lip, his arms unconsciously wrapping around himself.
“For crying out
loud,” Jack muttered, catching the gestures from the corner of his eye. He put his pen down, pushed his chair back
and stood up.
“Daniel, I’m
fine,” he said assuredly. “I’m not
going to start spouting off in the language of the Ancients or start building
particle accelerators in my sleep. I
really don’t remember anything.”
“That’s not it,”
Daniel said, hugging himself tighter.
“Well, what is it
then?” Jack asked genuine concern at
his friend’s behaviour reflected in his dark eyes.
Daniel flashed
furtive blue eyes in Jack’s direction and then looked away.
Jack frowned. <What the hell?>
“Daniel?”
Daniel closed his
eyes, pursed his lips, and came to a decision.
“Your eyes,” he
said.
“Excuse me?” Jack remarked, completely taken aback by the
odd reply.
“Your eyes,”
Daniel repeated, finally maintaining eye contact with the older man.
“What about my
eyes?” <Crap, Daniel. You’re even flakier than usual.>
“When…you know,”
Daniel said, waving his hand in the air, “had the knowledge of the Ancients.”
“Could you be a
little more specific?” Jack requested,
trying very hard not to get annoyed.
Daniel frowned,
clearly not happy with the way things were going.
“I could see it in
your eyes,” he finally said.
“See what?” Jack asked a little too sharply.
Daniel winced and
said, “The intelligence. All
that…knowledge.”
“And?” Jack prodded.
“And…it was
unsettling”, Daniel said uncomfortably, looking away.
“Like looking in a
mirror?” Jack suggested, a faint smile
on his lips.
“What?” Daniel said, looking back quickly.
“Like looking in a
mirror,” Jack repeated patiently.
Daniel stared
slack-jawed and then shook his head.
“No. God, no.
The knowledge you carried compared to me…God, I felt like, I don’t know,
like I was still in kindergarten.”
“Now, you know how
I feel,” Jack shrugged.
“Come again?”
“Think about it,”
Jack said matter-of-factly. “I’m not
exactly Einstein material, at least not around you and Carter.”
Daniel waved his
hands around and began pacing.
“No-no-no, you’re
missing the point, Jack.”
“Well, if you
would get to the point, Daniel,” Jack said, feeling irritable again.
“The point is…”
Daniel said firmly, stopping to wrap his arms around himself again.
Jack rolled his
eyes and scratched furiously at his rapidly getting-greyer hair.
“The point is?” he
said huffily.
“The point is…I
was jealous,” Daniel confessed quietly, staring at the floor.
Jack shook his
head in frustration. “You were
jealous?”
“Yes.”
“Of what? The fact that my brain sucked up all that
knowledge against my will? Or the fact
that I was slowly losing myself to its control?”
Daniel’s worried
blue eyes widened in surprise.
“You think I liked
having all that crap jammed in here?”
Jack said, tapping his head.
“But you…I
mean…well, you were so…smart,” Daniel said awkwardly.
“What I was,
Daniel was scared shitless,” Jack confessed.
“And I think you knew that,” he added quietly. “Thank you, by the way, for staying with me.”
Daniel gave a
quick smile and shrugged. “I was scared
too,” he admitted. “When you went
through the Stargate I thought I might never see you again.”
“I know and I’m
sorry,” Jack said sincerely. “I knew
I’d be fine, but I couldn’t articulate that.”
He smiled self-consciously and said, “I was hoping you’d see it in my
eyes.”
Daniel
smiled. “I think I did, but I was still
scared.”
Jack eyed his
young friend closely and nodded in understanding.
“I trust you to
watch my back, Daniel,” he said gravely.
“You’ve never let me down.”
Daniel’s eyes
shone with a brightness that warmed the older man’s soul.
“Uh, listen, this
conversation is getting kind of…” Jack waved his hand and shivered
dramatically.
“Right,” Daniel
agreed, smiling shyly. “Well, I’ll go
back to my office now,” he said, turning to leave.
“Hey, Daniel.”
The young man
turned, his eyebrows raised questioningly.
“You’re feeling
guilty because you thought that if anyone deserved the Ancient’s knowledge it
was you, and certainly not some dumbass Air force colonel.”
Daniel’s face
blanched and Jack shook his head fondly.
“It’s okay to feel that way, Daniel.
Just proves that you’re human. I
mean, I’ve always known that on some level,” he said wryly, “but it’s kind of
nice to be reminded once in awhile.”
Daniel blushed and
ducked his head. He looked up
sheepishly and said, “You can be damn scary sometimes, you know that?”
“Ain’t it the
truth?”, Jack said, puffing his chest out proudly.
Daniel grinned and
said, “I’ll see you later, Jack.”
“Pick you up on my
way to lunch?” the older man offered.
“Yeah, I’d like
that.”
“We can talk about
that ‘meaning of life’ stuff,” Jack suggested, his brown eyes twinkling.
“You’re scaring me
again, Jack,” Daniel said warily.
Jack smiled and
returned to his desk leaving a slightly confused, but very happy archaeologist
wandering the halls deep in thought.
Hugs and thanks to Jmas!
©The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.