Thinking Things Through (Fic!)
Title: Thinking Things Through
Author: Jai
Summary: Jack thinks through a quiet mission.
Word Count: 1748
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Written For: karitawyr
Prompt: First Time, Banter. Op: Action/Adventure.
Notes: I thought I wasn't going to get this done today! I ended up being away all weekend and I was three quarters through. Ugh. So I wrote like a mad thing, and here it is! I hope hope hope this is good enough! It's not very Action/Adventure-y, but this didn't want to go that way. I apologise for my love of weird stylistic things. Also, introspective Jack is introspective.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"Why are all these people so happy with us, Daniel?"
"Because, Jack, we're interesting."
"Usually they're trying to kill us, Daniel."
"I think they like that I like the temple."
"Yes, but why?"
"Maybe they just like us."
"Yeah, sure, uh-huh."
Daniel rolls his eyes and goes back to work, chatting carefully with the natives in what he'd explained as being a sort of cross between Latin and Ancient Greek. It was a little rough, he'd said, but he'd picked it up pretty quickly. The whole temple is pretty amazing, and these people seem genuinely interested in showing him everything and explaining it, giving him ample opportunity to learn.
Jack rolls his eyes and turns to go back to his surveillance of the area, watching for any sign of anything the least bit Goa'uld-y. Teal'c and Sam are off doing the dirt-and-rocks thing, and Daniels all caught up in his temple, and so Jack is left standing around waiting for something to happen.
A few hours pass and Daniel's still recording and translating and talking with the natives about who the hell knows what. Sam's gone off to report to Hammond via MALP, and Teal'c is doing the Kel-no-Reem thing. Jack wishes he could just sit and relax like that, but he's too set in his ways to bother.
"Daniel."
"Jack?"
"Are you done yet, Daniel?"
"Well, uh, no, no, not really, there's, ah, apparently there's a whole system of caverns deep into the mountain-side... It'll take a few days..."
"Daniel."
"They've invited us to stay, Jack. They're saying they'll throw a big banquet and everything, and I don't think they believe in alcohol..."
"Which means...?"
"Which means we're probably safe to eat and drink everything here. And Jack, please, there's so much here, and it's so interesting! They have history going back hundreds, thousands of years, and it's all so well maintained...!"
"How likely are we to get Goa'uld-ed?"
"Not likely at all. Looks to me like they got forgotten about after a few generations. They're pretty peaceful, haven't had a major fight in years..."
Daniel pouts at him, and Jack cannot take that look. Those wide blue eyes are impossible to resist, even when you aren't in love with the guy. Jack sighs and waves his hand for Daniel to continue. Once the Linguist is happily back at work, Jack radios Carter to let her know about the change in plans.
Later, as night falls and the natives usher them along a path lit with torches, Jack can't help but smile at the look of obvious joy on Daniel's face. This is the sort of mission that he's built for. Sure, by now he can look after himself in a firefight, and he's not the weak little Geek he once was, but he'll always be a pacifist at heart, and that's part of why Jack loves him so much, he thinks. Jack's always been a military man, Air Force right from the get go, and then with the Black Ops stuff... He's never had a chance to even consider pacifism. And by now it's too late to change his ways, but he can definitely appreciate a world where Daniel is always smiling like that.
"Jack?"
"Daniel?"
"You're staring."
"You look like you just got a new puppy."
"Jaaack."
"What!? You do. You look like a kid with a new toy. It's hilarious."
"Oh, come on, just because I don't think guns are the best gifts..."
"You know you're glad you have the side-arm."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I'm a gun fanatic. I appreciate finer things than that."
"What, boring, dusty old dead guys?"
"What, you mean like you?"
Jack grins and laughs, and throws Daniel a mock-salute - he won that one, fair and square. He notices Teal'c and Sam giving each other looks and he pulls a face at them. He's pretty sure Teal'c knows about his infatuation with Daniel, but, really, he doesn't need to be reminded about it. He's just lucky that Daniel's as oblivious as he is.
Another five minutes of walking, and they're suddenly in a warm little village, far more technologically advanced that Jack had supposed; they've got carts and water wheels, despite the incredibly rough pants and kilt-skirt-things that they wear. A huge group of them swarm forward to welcome them, and a few women smile and drag Carter off, giggling. At least they're wearing pants, this time. Sam gives him a look, and he just waves. Daniel's already deep in conversation with a few older men, and a couple children are daring each other to run up and touch Teal'c.
What the hell, Jack thinks to himself, they could use a break. This place is quiet and innocent and Daniel's got a language to play with and Sam's probably going to love staring that the sky, trying to figure out where they are, and he can already tell that Teal'c's amused by all this.
The banquet passes quickly, and is pretty damn good - nothing like that first meal on Abydos, all guarded and wary and weird animals. Teal'c is smiling and nodding his head at each child who runs up to stare at him, Sam is talking - through Daniel as a translator - with one of the village elders about the stars and moons around here, and Jack can't help but be pretty pleased with this.
They're eventually shown to a large room, set with blankets on the floor, and pillows strewn about. Sam decides to stay out later and try to find out if these people know anything about Naquadah, conversing through scratchings on the ground. He wishes her luck as she heads off. Teal'c's already settling down for Kel-no-Reem in the corner, which leaves him and Daniel sitting, essentially alone in the big room.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"How'd it go today? We make some new friends?"
"Oh, definitely. They're amazed that we've never heard of them - I don't think they realise that the Gate leads off world. It's been so long since anyone's come through it, and it's so far away from the rest of their society. I think they use it as a landmark. When I told them we came through it, I think they thought we walked around --"
"Daniel."
"Yes, Jack?"
"Are we safe, here?"
"Yes, I just said that. We could--"
"Daniel. Yes or no."
"Yes."
"Okay, good. Will they be willing to trade with us, if they do have Naquadah?"
"Yeah, for sure. I think Sam found traces which means there should be a vein somewhere around here..."
"Okay, okay, okay, I get it."
Daniel smiles at him, and something in the way he looks at him, it's as if he knows that Jack isn't as stupid as he plays. Jack smiles back and it's an effort not to let Daniel see every part of him. When they're running for their lives, when they're trying to protect themselves, it makes sense for him to worry, to protect Daniel, because Daniel's a part of the team. But when they're safe, he really can't show any of that, or even Daniel will suspect that there's something more to everything.
And somehow, while he was thinking, Daniel's stood up and moved to sit next to him, and is pulling out the video camera he uses to record everything.
"Here, you need to see this. It's amazing - you still remember some of that Latin that you learned, right? While we were in a loop?"
"Duh."
"Really~? Is that an admission that you remember something I taught you?"
"Not in the least. Show me the tape, Daniel."
Daniel grins at him, knows he's won again, and presses play, pausing every few minutes to explain some aspect of the wall carvings and the colours they're painted in, and what it could possibly mean.
They sit like that, two colleagues, two friends, for a while, comfortably discussing the culture they've landed themselves in. Eventually, though, it's getting to be too much - they're too close, too comfortable, and if one of them doesn't move soon, Jack is going to do something very inadvisable, and he really doesn't want to ruin everything between the two of them.
It's at that point, just as Jack is getting distracted, that Teal'c announces that he is going to go check on Sam. He leaves the room with a significant glance for the both of them, and Jack turns to Daniel, wanting to say something, anything to keep himself from kissing the younger man. But when he opens his mouth to speak, it's Daniel who kisses him.
Deeply.
Jack nearly squawks with surprise, but manages to keep enough control of himself to carefully return the kiss - he knows Daniel well enough to know that he wouldn't do anything like this without thinking it through for days, months, years. And if he's been thinking that long, and Jack knows he must have been, then he's been thinking since shortly after that mess with Shau're, and Jack is honoured that he's the one that Daniel thought of, first.
So he kisses Daniel back, softly, carefully, wanting to be sure of himself, not of Daniel. He feels like he's been in love with him since they first met, since Sarah left him, but that can't really be true, can it?
But he does love him now.
He puts great effort into showing Daniel that, not sure how to say it, how to tell him. Daniel shows the same thing, pressing himself against the Colonel, tangling them around each other, kissing, holding needing.
They're lucky. Teal'c and Sam don't come back until after they've sorted themselves out, and are sitting, shoulder to shoulder, going over Daniel's findings, and Jack can't help but think that maybe there was more to that than simple coincidence, and when he looks up and raises an eyebrow at the pair of them, Teal'c raises one back, confirming Jack's suspicions. At least they don't seem to mind.
Daniel beckons Carter over, and she and Teal'c join them, going over the results and the information that the pair of scientists have gained, and making plans for the future. Jack grins and leans back and thinks that there's really no way that this could get any better.
When they get back to Earth, a week or two later, and Daniel asks if Jack wouldn't mind coming by his place later, to watch the hockey game, Jack knows that things can get better, and that they just did.
Author: Jai
Summary: Jack thinks through a quiet mission.
Word Count: 1748
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Written For: karitawyr
Prompt: First Time, Banter. Op: Action/Adventure.
Notes: I thought I wasn't going to get this done today! I ended up being away all weekend and I was three quarters through. Ugh. So I wrote like a mad thing, and here it is! I hope hope hope this is good enough! It's not very Action/Adventure-y, but this didn't want to go that way. I apologise for my love of weird stylistic things. Also, introspective Jack is introspective.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"Why are all these people so happy with us, Daniel?"
"Because, Jack, we're interesting."
"Usually they're trying to kill us, Daniel."
"I think they like that I like the temple."
"Yes, but why?"
"Maybe they just like us."
"Yeah, sure, uh-huh."
Daniel rolls his eyes and goes back to work, chatting carefully with the natives in what he'd explained as being a sort of cross between Latin and Ancient Greek. It was a little rough, he'd said, but he'd picked it up pretty quickly. The whole temple is pretty amazing, and these people seem genuinely interested in showing him everything and explaining it, giving him ample opportunity to learn.
Jack rolls his eyes and turns to go back to his surveillance of the area, watching for any sign of anything the least bit Goa'uld-y. Teal'c and Sam are off doing the dirt-and-rocks thing, and Daniels all caught up in his temple, and so Jack is left standing around waiting for something to happen.
A few hours pass and Daniel's still recording and translating and talking with the natives about who the hell knows what. Sam's gone off to report to Hammond via MALP, and Teal'c is doing the Kel-no-Reem thing. Jack wishes he could just sit and relax like that, but he's too set in his ways to bother.
"Daniel."
"Jack?"
"Are you done yet, Daniel?"
"Well, uh, no, no, not really, there's, ah, apparently there's a whole system of caverns deep into the mountain-side... It'll take a few days..."
"Daniel."
"They've invited us to stay, Jack. They're saying they'll throw a big banquet and everything, and I don't think they believe in alcohol..."
"Which means...?"
"Which means we're probably safe to eat and drink everything here. And Jack, please, there's so much here, and it's so interesting! They have history going back hundreds, thousands of years, and it's all so well maintained...!"
"How likely are we to get Goa'uld-ed?"
"Not likely at all. Looks to me like they got forgotten about after a few generations. They're pretty peaceful, haven't had a major fight in years..."
Daniel pouts at him, and Jack cannot take that look. Those wide blue eyes are impossible to resist, even when you aren't in love with the guy. Jack sighs and waves his hand for Daniel to continue. Once the Linguist is happily back at work, Jack radios Carter to let her know about the change in plans.
Later, as night falls and the natives usher them along a path lit with torches, Jack can't help but smile at the look of obvious joy on Daniel's face. This is the sort of mission that he's built for. Sure, by now he can look after himself in a firefight, and he's not the weak little Geek he once was, but he'll always be a pacifist at heart, and that's part of why Jack loves him so much, he thinks. Jack's always been a military man, Air Force right from the get go, and then with the Black Ops stuff... He's never had a chance to even consider pacifism. And by now it's too late to change his ways, but he can definitely appreciate a world where Daniel is always smiling like that.
"Jack?"
"Daniel?"
"You're staring."
"You look like you just got a new puppy."
"Jaaack."
"What!? You do. You look like a kid with a new toy. It's hilarious."
"Oh, come on, just because I don't think guns are the best gifts..."
"You know you're glad you have the side-arm."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that I'm a gun fanatic. I appreciate finer things than that."
"What, boring, dusty old dead guys?"
"What, you mean like you?"
Jack grins and laughs, and throws Daniel a mock-salute - he won that one, fair and square. He notices Teal'c and Sam giving each other looks and he pulls a face at them. He's pretty sure Teal'c knows about his infatuation with Daniel, but, really, he doesn't need to be reminded about it. He's just lucky that Daniel's as oblivious as he is.
Another five minutes of walking, and they're suddenly in a warm little village, far more technologically advanced that Jack had supposed; they've got carts and water wheels, despite the incredibly rough pants and kilt-skirt-things that they wear. A huge group of them swarm forward to welcome them, and a few women smile and drag Carter off, giggling. At least they're wearing pants, this time. Sam gives him a look, and he just waves. Daniel's already deep in conversation with a few older men, and a couple children are daring each other to run up and touch Teal'c.
What the hell, Jack thinks to himself, they could use a break. This place is quiet and innocent and Daniel's got a language to play with and Sam's probably going to love staring that the sky, trying to figure out where they are, and he can already tell that Teal'c's amused by all this.
The banquet passes quickly, and is pretty damn good - nothing like that first meal on Abydos, all guarded and wary and weird animals. Teal'c is smiling and nodding his head at each child who runs up to stare at him, Sam is talking - through Daniel as a translator - with one of the village elders about the stars and moons around here, and Jack can't help but be pretty pleased with this.
They're eventually shown to a large room, set with blankets on the floor, and pillows strewn about. Sam decides to stay out later and try to find out if these people know anything about Naquadah, conversing through scratchings on the ground. He wishes her luck as she heads off. Teal'c's already settling down for Kel-no-Reem in the corner, which leaves him and Daniel sitting, essentially alone in the big room.
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"How'd it go today? We make some new friends?"
"Oh, definitely. They're amazed that we've never heard of them - I don't think they realise that the Gate leads off world. It's been so long since anyone's come through it, and it's so far away from the rest of their society. I think they use it as a landmark. When I told them we came through it, I think they thought we walked around --"
"Daniel."
"Yes, Jack?"
"Are we safe, here?"
"Yes, I just said that. We could--"
"Daniel. Yes or no."
"Yes."
"Okay, good. Will they be willing to trade with us, if they do have Naquadah?"
"Yeah, for sure. I think Sam found traces which means there should be a vein somewhere around here..."
"Okay, okay, okay, I get it."
Daniel smiles at him, and something in the way he looks at him, it's as if he knows that Jack isn't as stupid as he plays. Jack smiles back and it's an effort not to let Daniel see every part of him. When they're running for their lives, when they're trying to protect themselves, it makes sense for him to worry, to protect Daniel, because Daniel's a part of the team. But when they're safe, he really can't show any of that, or even Daniel will suspect that there's something more to everything.
And somehow, while he was thinking, Daniel's stood up and moved to sit next to him, and is pulling out the video camera he uses to record everything.
"Here, you need to see this. It's amazing - you still remember some of that Latin that you learned, right? While we were in a loop?"
"Duh."
"Really~? Is that an admission that you remember something I taught you?"
"Not in the least. Show me the tape, Daniel."
Daniel grins at him, knows he's won again, and presses play, pausing every few minutes to explain some aspect of the wall carvings and the colours they're painted in, and what it could possibly mean.
They sit like that, two colleagues, two friends, for a while, comfortably discussing the culture they've landed themselves in. Eventually, though, it's getting to be too much - they're too close, too comfortable, and if one of them doesn't move soon, Jack is going to do something very inadvisable, and he really doesn't want to ruin everything between the two of them.
It's at that point, just as Jack is getting distracted, that Teal'c announces that he is going to go check on Sam. He leaves the room with a significant glance for the both of them, and Jack turns to Daniel, wanting to say something, anything to keep himself from kissing the younger man. But when he opens his mouth to speak, it's Daniel who kisses him.
Deeply.
Jack nearly squawks with surprise, but manages to keep enough control of himself to carefully return the kiss - he knows Daniel well enough to know that he wouldn't do anything like this without thinking it through for days, months, years. And if he's been thinking that long, and Jack knows he must have been, then he's been thinking since shortly after that mess with Shau're, and Jack is honoured that he's the one that Daniel thought of, first.
So he kisses Daniel back, softly, carefully, wanting to be sure of himself, not of Daniel. He feels like he's been in love with him since they first met, since Sarah left him, but that can't really be true, can it?
But he does love him now.
He puts great effort into showing Daniel that, not sure how to say it, how to tell him. Daniel shows the same thing, pressing himself against the Colonel, tangling them around each other, kissing, holding needing.
They're lucky. Teal'c and Sam don't come back until after they've sorted themselves out, and are sitting, shoulder to shoulder, going over Daniel's findings, and Jack can't help but think that maybe there was more to that than simple coincidence, and when he looks up and raises an eyebrow at the pair of them, Teal'c raises one back, confirming Jack's suspicions. At least they don't seem to mind.
Daniel beckons Carter over, and she and Teal'c join them, going over the results and the information that the pair of scientists have gained, and making plans for the future. Jack grins and leans back and thinks that there's really no way that this could get any better.
When they get back to Earth, a week or two later, and Daniel asks if Jack wouldn't mind coming by his place later, to watch the hockey game, Jack knows that things can get better, and that they just did.