SLASH FIC: Through the Looking-Glass 2/? [BtVS/Stargate]
Title: Through the Looking-Glass 2/?
Author: Feygan
Fandom: Buffy/Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Xander/Daniel
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate: SG-1.
LiveJournal: http://feygan.livejournal.com
Home: http://www.darkgesture.com/fanfiction.htm
Summary: Xander jumps realities and ends up at Stargate Command.
.
Building a new life was both harder and easier than he'd ever expected it to be. The SGC were giving him as much help as he wanted to settle in, so it wasn't like he was forced to do everything for himself. The only problem was that there were orders that he stay on base, living beneath the mountain in the room assigned to him, with a guard on his door. At least he was allowed to go to the mess, the library, and the gym, so it wasn't like he only had the same four walls closing in on him all the time--instead, there were other walls, lots and lots of other walls, all enclosing him in with their complete wallnessness.
General Hammond had told him that he could make any reasonable requisitions that he wanted--books, clothes, CDs, DVDs, that kind of thing. And though it didn't really make up for the fact that he couldn't leave and go wander the world, at least it was something.
He was in the gym jogging on a treadmill, grumbling softly under his breath.
"Oh, hello Xander," Daniel's voice said.
Xander turned his head to see the archaeologist standing just inside the door. "Hey, Danny. Just working off some energy."
Daniel walked over to stand in front of the treadmill, looking at him. "I guess it must be pretty boring to be stuck inside all the time, huh?"
"Oh yeah. Boring is the mildest word to describe how much of a joy this whole hanging out thing is," Xander snarled, then gave Daniel an apologetic look. "Sorry, I don't want to take it out on you. It's just really frustrating."
Daniel gave him a comforting smile. "It's all right, I understand. There have been times when I've been stuck on base before. After awhile all you want is to get away."
Xander stepped off the treadmill and grabbed the towel he'd hung across the handle to wipe his face. "I wish they would let me go out for even just a little while. It would be nice to see some actual sky and breathe some fresh air."
"Well, you're not allowed to leave the base, but I'm pretty sure there's some ice cream in the mess," Daniel tempted. "I think there might even be some all natural ice cream somewhere in there if that's what you like."
Xander grimaced, but his eyes sparkled in sudden amusement. He was feeling more cheerful already. "Ew yuck, all natural. I like my foods artificially flavored and prepackaged. Yuck, real milk and cream, gross. I like artificial ice cream though, and if you're offering..." He stood up and walked over to stand next to Daniel. "Let's go."
Daniel grinned. "Come on, I'm paying."
"But we get to eat free."
"That's why I'm paying."
They went to the mess where Daniel sweet talked the stewards out of two heaping bowls of chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks. They settled at one of the tables, enjoying the lonely splendor of being the only ones eating.
"This is so good," Xander moaned, closing his eyes in pleasure. "I've been desperately missing junk food and didn't even know it."
Daniel smiled at the younger man and didn't even think to question why he was so happy to have pleased Xander. It was just one of those things. "I haven't had ice cream in a long time either," he said. "I'm usually too busy working, and when I've got free time, it's never one of the things I think about."
"Like botulism."
"What?" Daniel asked, half-laughing.
"I said, it's like botulism. You don't think about botulism until it happens to you either," Xander said.
"You are so incredibly strange," Daniel said.
"I know. Do you hate it?"
"No. Do you hate the fact that I'm a 'geek,' like Jack says?"
"No. I'm used to geeks and nerds; they comfort me." You comfort me, went unsaid.
Daniel smiled at him and Xander felt a jolt go through him. He decided not to examine it too closely right now. He was in enough of a weird situation without making it worse by getting involved with anyone. He'd made that mistake one too many times before and really didn't want to go through the headache and heartache of a botched romance. He'd just take things as they came here.
* * *
Xander was just looking at him, and Daniel didn't know how to read that almost-lack of expression on that usually expressive face. He felt strangely warm though, and honestly didn't know why.
For some reason, ever since Xander had appeared, Daniel had found himself searching out the younger man. He really enjoyed his company and liked being around him, even if it was just to hear his voice.
There was something incredibly likeable about Xander--likeable and brave. The younger man made him feel almost the same way that Jack had, before he realized that all he and Jack could ever share was friendship. He had once believed that there could be something more between him and Jack, but that was a long time ago and far away. With Xander though...
He didn't know what he was thinking. It was all crazy inside his mind, these impossible wants and needs urging him to grab hold of Xander and never let go.
Daniel watched as Xander licked chocolate ice cream from his spoon and smiled at him. It felt like a thousand knives through Daniel's chest, making him want to do things and say things that he knew he shouldn't do. He hurriedly shoved a large mouthful of ice cream into his mouth.
"So, when are you guys going on your next mission?" Xander asked. "I know you can't tell me where you're going, but when?"
Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. We’re supposed to have the week off, but that could change at any time. I half expect Jack to come running in to tell me that we have to go right now because something's happened and we have to go save the day."
"Yeah, I'm here on this other Earth living under a mountain in a military base, yet I can't help waiting for Buffy or Willow or even Giles to come barging in to say there's an apocalypse and we have to do some research. I think of things I want to tell them, but then I have to swallow them back down because my friends aren't here. It's the strangest thing."
Xander sounded so sad that Daniel couldn't help putting down his spoon and standing up, coming around the table to put his arm around Xander's shoulders, pulling his head against his chest. He liked the thought of Xander being able to hear his heartbeat, of him being that close.
"I know how hard it is to be in a world not your own, and if I could send you back to your world, I would. I'm sorry," Daniel said, stroking Xander's head.
Xander turned his face toward Daniel, nuzzling against him for a moment. Then he pulled away. "It's all right," he said. "I'll get used to everything being weird. I have before."
Daniel fought hard not to show how much he missed the feel of Xander against him. He didn't really know what was going on with him, but he knew that he liked it. He hadn't felt this way in a long time, and he didn't want to lose it too fast.
"It's going to be all right, you'll see," Daniel said. "General Hammond and Jack will find something for you to do and maybe you can even have a job here at the SGC. Or once you're cleared the General will probably help you set yourself up with a life off base."
"If I decide to stay here... since I've really got nowhere else to go... what would I do? I don't think I have any applicable skills, since I'm used to school and demon research."
A little smile quirked Daniel's lips. "You know... I think your skill dealing with demons might actually be something we can use around here. I can't tell you anything now without discussing things with the General and Jack first, but... there might really be a job for you."
Xander looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm serious," Daniel said. "Let me talk it over with the others, and if the General says you have the clearance, well... you might be able to join the project."
"I'm not going to ask you what the 'project' is, since I know you can't tell me, but... do you really think there's something I can do here that's gonna be useful?"
"I’m sure of it." Daniel beamed at Xander, inordinately pleased at the prospect of Xander being around full time.
There was just something about Xander that Daniel liked. They had quickly become friends, and now that he was starting to feel something more, Daniel didn't want to lose the chance to be close to him.
* * *
"Oh sir, this thing is so fascinating," Sam gushed girlishly.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Carter, just tell me how it works and what we can do with it."
Sam shrugged. "Sorry, sir, but to us it's pretty useless. Maybe if we had the other mirror... but we don't. Still, just knowing that something like this is theoretically possible, we can learn a lot."
"So, Xander's stuck here forever?" Jack asked before she could catch a breath and go on for another hour or two about the wonders of her science stuff.
"Sorry, but Xander's stuck, sir." Sam looked sad for a moment, but it didn't last. She was just so excited about her work that nothing could keep her down, not even the fate of a young man she had only seen once or twice with Daniel. She'd been too busy to really introduce herself, which meant that she didn't have very much invested in the new guy emotion wise.
"I feel bad for Xander," Jack said. "He's a nice kid, and he didn't exactly ask to be sent into our world."
Sam looked guilty for a moment, but it didn't last in comparison to her excitement about a new toy to play with. "I wish we could send him home, but it's impossible. Even if we had a Quantum Mirror to work with, we wouldn't be able to recognize his reality if we found it. There's nothing we can do, sir. He's stuck here."
"Dammit." Jack rubbed his face. "I guess we're just going to have to find something for him to do. Daniel was hinting that we might try to find him a place on the team."
"In SG-1, sir?" Sam asked in surprise.
"Yeah. He really likes Xander and he wants the kid to have something to do and someplace to be. He keeps coming up with more and more ideas of what Xander could do for the SGC." Jack shook his head with a heavy sigh. He really didn't know if keeping Xander close was a good idea, but something had to be done.
"He hasn't really gotten that close to anyone in a long time," Sam said in an even tone of voice. She kept her eyes focused on whatever she was doing with her pen and pad of paper. Jack thought she might be doodling, though he couldn't be a hundred percent sure because some of that science stuff looked like crap to him and he couldn't tell the difference.
"I guess we'll have to find the kid a job somewhere in the SGC. It's not like we can just send him out into the world, especially since he's got no money and no proof of any kind of skills. Besides, if we don't look after him, Daniel's gonna be giving us accusing looks for the next forever." He sighed heavily. "I guess we have another team member to look forward to."
Sam smiled at him like she was proud that he was able to get past the whole Jack&Daniel thing, and allow a possible Daniel&Xander thing. Never mind that the thought of Daniel happy with someone else made him feel like he'd been hit hard in the gut. He just wasn't the kind of guy that was going to let his best friend turned ex-lover and now best friend again be miserably alone when there was someone out there that wanted to be with him and that he wanted to be with.
Jack had vowed to himself the minute he and Daniel broke up that he wouldn't get in the way if Daniel ever found someone else. He knew that Daniel would never get in the way if he found someone. He had to be that big of a guy himself, never mind how lonely he felt.
Daniel was his friend now, and nothing else. He would not sabotage Daniel's relationships with other people. He would be a better man than his gut was telling him to be.
* * *
Xander was in his room watching TV, waiting for Daniel and the others to come back. They'd gone on a mission somewhere, and of course he wasn't supposed to know anything about it or where they'd gone. He had his suspicions, backed up by a whole hell of a lot of evidence, but he wasn't going to say anything about it all and get himself locked up in a top secret military prison because he'd cracked the Top Secret mission plan of the SGC.
He flipped through the channels with a lazy press of his thumb on the remote control. He was barely even watching the TV, but was kind of enjoying the noise and the laughter of other people. It made him feel a little bit as though he wasn't completely alone.
He was burning with curiosity about this new world he'd come to, but he'd somehow managed to keep himself in check, though it was getting harder and harder to keep from breaking out and exploring the world for himself. He knew better, though, so he stayed in his room and just watched TV.
The flicker of the TV screen was hypnotic in its weary intensity. It made him think of lazy summer days when he hadn't even bothered to get out of bed and had instead wasted his time in front of the TV vegetating. Only those times had been because he had made a choice to waste his time; now he was forced into inactivity and it was slowly killing him.
He was jolted out of his semi-retarded state by the sudden blare of alarms and the lights switching to half-power.
"Uh oh, this doesn't look good," he said to himself, throwing his legs over the bed and standing up. "This might very well be a job for the Xand-man... or at least it'll give me a chance to see stuff and not be mind-numbingly bored."
He grinned to himself and walked over to his closet, grabbing a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved white shirt, a short-sleeved blue shirt, socks, and a pair of sneakers. It was time to put something on over his boxers and actually get ready to face the day. Lazy time was over and it was actually kind of a relief, which would have shocked his younger self to no end. Buffy had been a definite bad influence on him.
"Here we go to save the day," he whispered, smirking a little as he dressed. It felt good to actually be doing something.
* * *
"All right, this really isn't supposed to be happening, is it?" Jack asked.
Daniel rolled his eyes, not even bothering to formulate a sarcastic reply. Sometimes the Colonel really showed his mastery of the annoyance gene. "No, Jack, vampires always come through the Stargate intent on sucking our blood and destroying the Earth."
"Geez, Daniel, I don't think I'm going to let you hang around with Xander anymore."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel demanded.
"Come on, am I the only one that noticed how his sarcastic level has gone up since he began hanging out with Xander?" Jack asked Sam and Teal'c.
Sam took one look at the expression on Daniel's face and wisely kept from saying anything. Teal'c was just his usual stoic self.
"What do you have against Xander?" Daniel asked.
Jack threw his hands in the air. "Nothing! I've got nothing against the kid. I just think that ever since he appeared you've been acting like a bona fide... bitch." Even as he was saying it, it was obvious that he knew it was a mistake. There was this look of kind of shocked horror on his face that just hung there for a moment before fading away.
"Did you really just call me a bitch?" Daniel asked sharply.
"Look, you know I didn't mean it like that," Jack said, trying to smooth things over somehow.
Daniel just crossed his arms and kind of turned his face away. It should have looked childish, but it was just Daniel, part and parcel of who he was. The eternal man-boy that was just too smart for some people to handle... people like Jack that couldn't appreciate his intelligence when it was offered to them on a silver platter and enjoined with the beauty of his body. It was only after the light that was Daniel was out of his life that he'd realized how much Daniel really meant to him.
Xander was one lucky bastard and Jack was bound and determined not to be jealous of the younger man. He would back up Daniel's choice in partners and would not sabotage things no matter how much his every nerve was screaming at him to step in and push Xander back out of Daniel's life.
"Come on, Danny," Jack said softly. "You know I didn't mean anything. I'm just still kind of in shock over the fact that vampires really do exist. We're facing supernatural creatures that don't have souls or any kind of stopping impulse once they unleash the violence. It's just not the kind of thing that you expect to run across."
Daniel visibly shook himself, then turned to Sam. "Is there some way we can rig some kind of virtual sunlight machine or something down here?"
"We could try that, but I don't know if it would even work. Are vampires harmed by the light? The radiation? What frequency of ultraviolet is it that kills them?" She shrugged her shoulders and gave him an apologetic look. "We can try to make something, but I don't think that we should focus all of our attention on that. It would be a good idea to keep it as a backup plan and have something we're sure is going to work as our main effort."
"That's fine," Daniel said. "We need to know more about these vampires."
"Where are we going to find someone that knows about vam... oh no," Jack said. "You're not really thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"
"Come on, Jack," Daniel said. "You heard his story. He's been fighting these things since he was a teenager. If there's anyone on our side that knows what to do, it's Xander."
"He's a civilian," Jack said as firmly as he could manage.
"He knows what we need to do to keep the base from being overrun. All we need is for someone with the override protocols to be Turned by one of the vampires, and that's pretty much it. They'll be out and about in the world, and we--SG-1--will be the reason why there's suddenly a bunch of monsters running around loose in Colorado killing people. If we don't already have vampires on Earth, I don't think we want to import them from other places, do we?"
"I swear, ever since you started hanging out with Xander, you've changed," Jack said.
"Does that mean we're going to ask him for help?" Daniel's eyes were raptor sharp. It brought Jack a flashing image of Daniel writhing underneath him, all that intensity and genius focused entirely on taking Jack's cock up the ass. The memory came with a healthy dose of regret.
"Yes," he said resignedly.
* * *
There was definitely something funkity in Denmark, and it wasn't just the obnoxious blare of alarms. Xander's danger senses were tingling, letting him know that danger was near.
"Where's a Slayer when you need one?" he muttered, pressing his ear back against the door.
It was annoying, but he hadn't really minded being locked into his room and always being accompanied by a guard wherever he went. He still had vague memories of soldier-guy, so he understood protocols and safety measures. But right now, he was really wishing the door was unlocked and that he had a good idea of what the hell was going on outside, because it was freaking him out.
There was an air of doom hanging over the base, and it was driving him crazy.
He needed to know what was going on out there.
After years of living on the Hellmouth, fighting the things that go bump in the night, he had become a real action junkie. Whenever there was trouble, he had to be in the thick of it all, saving lives and helping out.
Just as he was about to go crazy about being trapped in his room, there was a loud knock against the door, and it swung open.
"Xander! You have to come with us!"
"Well, it's nice to see you too, Daniel," Xander said, trying to sound sarcastic, but knew that he failed by the huge grin eating up his face. He had really missed his friend, and it was good to have him back again. It was lonely when it was just him in a single room. "What's going on out there?"
A snarky grin crossed Daniel's face. "Nothing much, just a little invasion by bloodsucking fiends. We thought that maybe you might be able to help us, you know, just a little."
Xander flashed a bright grin at his friend. "We live to serve," he said.
TBC...
Author: Feygan
Fandom: Buffy/Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Xander/Daniel
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stargate: SG-1.
LiveJournal: http://feygan.livejournal.com
Home: http://www.darkgesture.com/fanfiction.htm
Summary: Xander jumps realities and ends up at Stargate Command.
.
Building a new life was both harder and easier than he'd ever expected it to be. The SGC were giving him as much help as he wanted to settle in, so it wasn't like he was forced to do everything for himself. The only problem was that there were orders that he stay on base, living beneath the mountain in the room assigned to him, with a guard on his door. At least he was allowed to go to the mess, the library, and the gym, so it wasn't like he only had the same four walls closing in on him all the time--instead, there were other walls, lots and lots of other walls, all enclosing him in with their complete wallnessness.
General Hammond had told him that he could make any reasonable requisitions that he wanted--books, clothes, CDs, DVDs, that kind of thing. And though it didn't really make up for the fact that he couldn't leave and go wander the world, at least it was something.
He was in the gym jogging on a treadmill, grumbling softly under his breath.
"Oh, hello Xander," Daniel's voice said.
Xander turned his head to see the archaeologist standing just inside the door. "Hey, Danny. Just working off some energy."
Daniel walked over to stand in front of the treadmill, looking at him. "I guess it must be pretty boring to be stuck inside all the time, huh?"
"Oh yeah. Boring is the mildest word to describe how much of a joy this whole hanging out thing is," Xander snarled, then gave Daniel an apologetic look. "Sorry, I don't want to take it out on you. It's just really frustrating."
Daniel gave him a comforting smile. "It's all right, I understand. There have been times when I've been stuck on base before. After awhile all you want is to get away."
Xander stepped off the treadmill and grabbed the towel he'd hung across the handle to wipe his face. "I wish they would let me go out for even just a little while. It would be nice to see some actual sky and breathe some fresh air."
"Well, you're not allowed to leave the base, but I'm pretty sure there's some ice cream in the mess," Daniel tempted. "I think there might even be some all natural ice cream somewhere in there if that's what you like."
Xander grimaced, but his eyes sparkled in sudden amusement. He was feeling more cheerful already. "Ew yuck, all natural. I like my foods artificially flavored and prepackaged. Yuck, real milk and cream, gross. I like artificial ice cream though, and if you're offering..." He stood up and walked over to stand next to Daniel. "Let's go."
Daniel grinned. "Come on, I'm paying."
"But we get to eat free."
"That's why I'm paying."
They went to the mess where Daniel sweet talked the stewards out of two heaping bowls of chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks. They settled at one of the tables, enjoying the lonely splendor of being the only ones eating.
"This is so good," Xander moaned, closing his eyes in pleasure. "I've been desperately missing junk food and didn't even know it."
Daniel smiled at the younger man and didn't even think to question why he was so happy to have pleased Xander. It was just one of those things. "I haven't had ice cream in a long time either," he said. "I'm usually too busy working, and when I've got free time, it's never one of the things I think about."
"Like botulism."
"What?" Daniel asked, half-laughing.
"I said, it's like botulism. You don't think about botulism until it happens to you either," Xander said.
"You are so incredibly strange," Daniel said.
"I know. Do you hate it?"
"No. Do you hate the fact that I'm a 'geek,' like Jack says?"
"No. I'm used to geeks and nerds; they comfort me." You comfort me, went unsaid.
Daniel smiled at him and Xander felt a jolt go through him. He decided not to examine it too closely right now. He was in enough of a weird situation without making it worse by getting involved with anyone. He'd made that mistake one too many times before and really didn't want to go through the headache and heartache of a botched romance. He'd just take things as they came here.
* * *
Xander was just looking at him, and Daniel didn't know how to read that almost-lack of expression on that usually expressive face. He felt strangely warm though, and honestly didn't know why.
For some reason, ever since Xander had appeared, Daniel had found himself searching out the younger man. He really enjoyed his company and liked being around him, even if it was just to hear his voice.
There was something incredibly likeable about Xander--likeable and brave. The younger man made him feel almost the same way that Jack had, before he realized that all he and Jack could ever share was friendship. He had once believed that there could be something more between him and Jack, but that was a long time ago and far away. With Xander though...
He didn't know what he was thinking. It was all crazy inside his mind, these impossible wants and needs urging him to grab hold of Xander and never let go.
Daniel watched as Xander licked chocolate ice cream from his spoon and smiled at him. It felt like a thousand knives through Daniel's chest, making him want to do things and say things that he knew he shouldn't do. He hurriedly shoved a large mouthful of ice cream into his mouth.
"So, when are you guys going on your next mission?" Xander asked. "I know you can't tell me where you're going, but when?"
Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. We’re supposed to have the week off, but that could change at any time. I half expect Jack to come running in to tell me that we have to go right now because something's happened and we have to go save the day."
"Yeah, I'm here on this other Earth living under a mountain in a military base, yet I can't help waiting for Buffy or Willow or even Giles to come barging in to say there's an apocalypse and we have to do some research. I think of things I want to tell them, but then I have to swallow them back down because my friends aren't here. It's the strangest thing."
Xander sounded so sad that Daniel couldn't help putting down his spoon and standing up, coming around the table to put his arm around Xander's shoulders, pulling his head against his chest. He liked the thought of Xander being able to hear his heartbeat, of him being that close.
"I know how hard it is to be in a world not your own, and if I could send you back to your world, I would. I'm sorry," Daniel said, stroking Xander's head.
Xander turned his face toward Daniel, nuzzling against him for a moment. Then he pulled away. "It's all right," he said. "I'll get used to everything being weird. I have before."
Daniel fought hard not to show how much he missed the feel of Xander against him. He didn't really know what was going on with him, but he knew that he liked it. He hadn't felt this way in a long time, and he didn't want to lose it too fast.
"It's going to be all right, you'll see," Daniel said. "General Hammond and Jack will find something for you to do and maybe you can even have a job here at the SGC. Or once you're cleared the General will probably help you set yourself up with a life off base."
"If I decide to stay here... since I've really got nowhere else to go... what would I do? I don't think I have any applicable skills, since I'm used to school and demon research."
A little smile quirked Daniel's lips. "You know... I think your skill dealing with demons might actually be something we can use around here. I can't tell you anything now without discussing things with the General and Jack first, but... there might really be a job for you."
Xander looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm serious," Daniel said. "Let me talk it over with the others, and if the General says you have the clearance, well... you might be able to join the project."
"I'm not going to ask you what the 'project' is, since I know you can't tell me, but... do you really think there's something I can do here that's gonna be useful?"
"I’m sure of it." Daniel beamed at Xander, inordinately pleased at the prospect of Xander being around full time.
There was just something about Xander that Daniel liked. They had quickly become friends, and now that he was starting to feel something more, Daniel didn't want to lose the chance to be close to him.
* * *
"Oh sir, this thing is so fascinating," Sam gushed girlishly.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Carter, just tell me how it works and what we can do with it."
Sam shrugged. "Sorry, sir, but to us it's pretty useless. Maybe if we had the other mirror... but we don't. Still, just knowing that something like this is theoretically possible, we can learn a lot."
"So, Xander's stuck here forever?" Jack asked before she could catch a breath and go on for another hour or two about the wonders of her science stuff.
"Sorry, but Xander's stuck, sir." Sam looked sad for a moment, but it didn't last. She was just so excited about her work that nothing could keep her down, not even the fate of a young man she had only seen once or twice with Daniel. She'd been too busy to really introduce herself, which meant that she didn't have very much invested in the new guy emotion wise.
"I feel bad for Xander," Jack said. "He's a nice kid, and he didn't exactly ask to be sent into our world."
Sam looked guilty for a moment, but it didn't last in comparison to her excitement about a new toy to play with. "I wish we could send him home, but it's impossible. Even if we had a Quantum Mirror to work with, we wouldn't be able to recognize his reality if we found it. There's nothing we can do, sir. He's stuck here."
"Dammit." Jack rubbed his face. "I guess we're just going to have to find something for him to do. Daniel was hinting that we might try to find him a place on the team."
"In SG-1, sir?" Sam asked in surprise.
"Yeah. He really likes Xander and he wants the kid to have something to do and someplace to be. He keeps coming up with more and more ideas of what Xander could do for the SGC." Jack shook his head with a heavy sigh. He really didn't know if keeping Xander close was a good idea, but something had to be done.
"He hasn't really gotten that close to anyone in a long time," Sam said in an even tone of voice. She kept her eyes focused on whatever she was doing with her pen and pad of paper. Jack thought she might be doodling, though he couldn't be a hundred percent sure because some of that science stuff looked like crap to him and he couldn't tell the difference.
"I guess we'll have to find the kid a job somewhere in the SGC. It's not like we can just send him out into the world, especially since he's got no money and no proof of any kind of skills. Besides, if we don't look after him, Daniel's gonna be giving us accusing looks for the next forever." He sighed heavily. "I guess we have another team member to look forward to."
Sam smiled at him like she was proud that he was able to get past the whole Jack&Daniel thing, and allow a possible Daniel&Xander thing. Never mind that the thought of Daniel happy with someone else made him feel like he'd been hit hard in the gut. He just wasn't the kind of guy that was going to let his best friend turned ex-lover and now best friend again be miserably alone when there was someone out there that wanted to be with him and that he wanted to be with.
Jack had vowed to himself the minute he and Daniel broke up that he wouldn't get in the way if Daniel ever found someone else. He knew that Daniel would never get in the way if he found someone. He had to be that big of a guy himself, never mind how lonely he felt.
Daniel was his friend now, and nothing else. He would not sabotage Daniel's relationships with other people. He would be a better man than his gut was telling him to be.
* * *
Xander was in his room watching TV, waiting for Daniel and the others to come back. They'd gone on a mission somewhere, and of course he wasn't supposed to know anything about it or where they'd gone. He had his suspicions, backed up by a whole hell of a lot of evidence, but he wasn't going to say anything about it all and get himself locked up in a top secret military prison because he'd cracked the Top Secret mission plan of the SGC.
He flipped through the channels with a lazy press of his thumb on the remote control. He was barely even watching the TV, but was kind of enjoying the noise and the laughter of other people. It made him feel a little bit as though he wasn't completely alone.
He was burning with curiosity about this new world he'd come to, but he'd somehow managed to keep himself in check, though it was getting harder and harder to keep from breaking out and exploring the world for himself. He knew better, though, so he stayed in his room and just watched TV.
The flicker of the TV screen was hypnotic in its weary intensity. It made him think of lazy summer days when he hadn't even bothered to get out of bed and had instead wasted his time in front of the TV vegetating. Only those times had been because he had made a choice to waste his time; now he was forced into inactivity and it was slowly killing him.
He was jolted out of his semi-retarded state by the sudden blare of alarms and the lights switching to half-power.
"Uh oh, this doesn't look good," he said to himself, throwing his legs over the bed and standing up. "This might very well be a job for the Xand-man... or at least it'll give me a chance to see stuff and not be mind-numbingly bored."
He grinned to himself and walked over to his closet, grabbing a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved white shirt, a short-sleeved blue shirt, socks, and a pair of sneakers. It was time to put something on over his boxers and actually get ready to face the day. Lazy time was over and it was actually kind of a relief, which would have shocked his younger self to no end. Buffy had been a definite bad influence on him.
"Here we go to save the day," he whispered, smirking a little as he dressed. It felt good to actually be doing something.
* * *
"All right, this really isn't supposed to be happening, is it?" Jack asked.
Daniel rolled his eyes, not even bothering to formulate a sarcastic reply. Sometimes the Colonel really showed his mastery of the annoyance gene. "No, Jack, vampires always come through the Stargate intent on sucking our blood and destroying the Earth."
"Geez, Daniel, I don't think I'm going to let you hang around with Xander anymore."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel demanded.
"Come on, am I the only one that noticed how his sarcastic level has gone up since he began hanging out with Xander?" Jack asked Sam and Teal'c.
Sam took one look at the expression on Daniel's face and wisely kept from saying anything. Teal'c was just his usual stoic self.
"What do you have against Xander?" Daniel asked.
Jack threw his hands in the air. "Nothing! I've got nothing against the kid. I just think that ever since he appeared you've been acting like a bona fide... bitch." Even as he was saying it, it was obvious that he knew it was a mistake. There was this look of kind of shocked horror on his face that just hung there for a moment before fading away.
"Did you really just call me a bitch?" Daniel asked sharply.
"Look, you know I didn't mean it like that," Jack said, trying to smooth things over somehow.
Daniel just crossed his arms and kind of turned his face away. It should have looked childish, but it was just Daniel, part and parcel of who he was. The eternal man-boy that was just too smart for some people to handle... people like Jack that couldn't appreciate his intelligence when it was offered to them on a silver platter and enjoined with the beauty of his body. It was only after the light that was Daniel was out of his life that he'd realized how much Daniel really meant to him.
Xander was one lucky bastard and Jack was bound and determined not to be jealous of the younger man. He would back up Daniel's choice in partners and would not sabotage things no matter how much his every nerve was screaming at him to step in and push Xander back out of Daniel's life.
"Come on, Danny," Jack said softly. "You know I didn't mean anything. I'm just still kind of in shock over the fact that vampires really do exist. We're facing supernatural creatures that don't have souls or any kind of stopping impulse once they unleash the violence. It's just not the kind of thing that you expect to run across."
Daniel visibly shook himself, then turned to Sam. "Is there some way we can rig some kind of virtual sunlight machine or something down here?"
"We could try that, but I don't know if it would even work. Are vampires harmed by the light? The radiation? What frequency of ultraviolet is it that kills them?" She shrugged her shoulders and gave him an apologetic look. "We can try to make something, but I don't think that we should focus all of our attention on that. It would be a good idea to keep it as a backup plan and have something we're sure is going to work as our main effort."
"That's fine," Daniel said. "We need to know more about these vampires."
"Where are we going to find someone that knows about vam... oh no," Jack said. "You're not really thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"
"Come on, Jack," Daniel said. "You heard his story. He's been fighting these things since he was a teenager. If there's anyone on our side that knows what to do, it's Xander."
"He's a civilian," Jack said as firmly as he could manage.
"He knows what we need to do to keep the base from being overrun. All we need is for someone with the override protocols to be Turned by one of the vampires, and that's pretty much it. They'll be out and about in the world, and we--SG-1--will be the reason why there's suddenly a bunch of monsters running around loose in Colorado killing people. If we don't already have vampires on Earth, I don't think we want to import them from other places, do we?"
"I swear, ever since you started hanging out with Xander, you've changed," Jack said.
"Does that mean we're going to ask him for help?" Daniel's eyes were raptor sharp. It brought Jack a flashing image of Daniel writhing underneath him, all that intensity and genius focused entirely on taking Jack's cock up the ass. The memory came with a healthy dose of regret.
"Yes," he said resignedly.
* * *
There was definitely something funkity in Denmark, and it wasn't just the obnoxious blare of alarms. Xander's danger senses were tingling, letting him know that danger was near.
"Where's a Slayer when you need one?" he muttered, pressing his ear back against the door.
It was annoying, but he hadn't really minded being locked into his room and always being accompanied by a guard wherever he went. He still had vague memories of soldier-guy, so he understood protocols and safety measures. But right now, he was really wishing the door was unlocked and that he had a good idea of what the hell was going on outside, because it was freaking him out.
There was an air of doom hanging over the base, and it was driving him crazy.
He needed to know what was going on out there.
After years of living on the Hellmouth, fighting the things that go bump in the night, he had become a real action junkie. Whenever there was trouble, he had to be in the thick of it all, saving lives and helping out.
Just as he was about to go crazy about being trapped in his room, there was a loud knock against the door, and it swung open.
"Xander! You have to come with us!"
"Well, it's nice to see you too, Daniel," Xander said, trying to sound sarcastic, but knew that he failed by the huge grin eating up his face. He had really missed his friend, and it was good to have him back again. It was lonely when it was just him in a single room. "What's going on out there?"
A snarky grin crossed Daniel's face. "Nothing much, just a little invasion by bloodsucking fiends. We thought that maybe you might be able to help us, you know, just a little."
Xander flashed a bright grin at his friend. "We live to serve," he said.
TBC...