"Objects at Rest" by splash_the_cat
Title: Object at Rest
Author: splash_the_cat
Challenge: Off-Duty
Ratings/Warnings: 13; fluff
Pairing: Team
Spoilers: Moebius 2 (Moebius 2 missing scene)
Disclaimer: Not mine. No profit.
A/N. Thanks to mrv3000 and poohmusings for betaing.
"Whose bright idea was it to make this a road trip?"
"That would be your bright idea, Jack." Daniel lay sprawled in the backseat of the Expedition, one knee jammed up against the back of the driver's side seat. He'd stolen Teal'c's hat, and was using it to shade his eyes from the early evening sun glaring through the windows.
"Yeah, well... crap." Gravel crunched under his soles as Jack stalked away. He wanted to take his truck for their trip to his cabin, but Carter and Daniel had bitched about being stuck in the small back seat for such a long drive. So Carter had rented this behemoth and suddenly Jack was forking out seventy bucks for a tank of gas and Daniel was following him into the gas station, trying to convince him that Teal'c wanted HoHos at six thirty in the morning.
Twenty-seven hours and eight stops for gas, fast food, bathroom breaks and driver changes later, they were stuck in the middle of nowhere on Highway 1 instead of the relative civilization of 53. All because Teal'c had stated a desire to take the scenic route and "see the great lake, O'Neill."
Teal'c now stood sentinel next to Carter, half of a toolbox spread at his feet as Carter frowned into the engine block, grease streaking her forearms and fingers.
"Anything?" Jack asked, eyeing just how low the sun was hanging.
"There appears to be no obvious problem, O'Neill."
"Yeah," Carter said. "Hoses and gaskets are all fine, wiring looks good, battery is charged, fluids are fine." Teal'c caught her hand before she ran it through her hair, and she flashed him a quick smile. "I can't really do much more."
"You've stripped down that old Volvo of yours a dozen times." Jack dug a worn handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Hell, you've stripped down the X-302 a dozen times."
As she scrubbed at her fingers, she nodded to Teal'c, who dropped the hood. "Past a certain point, you can't diagnose newer cars without a computer."
"You have one of those." Jack jerked his thumb toward the back of the SUV.
"If this thing ran on naquadah, then sure, that'd work. But I don't have the diagnostic equipment for this."
"What? Weren't you a Girl Scout or something?"
"'Always be prepared' is the Boy Scouts, Jack." Daniel crawled out of the back seat, Teal'c's hat hanging low over his eyes. "And Sam told us the Girl Scouts threw her out."
Jack caught Carter's cat-and-canary smile before she started gathering up the tools. "'Us'?" He asked, archly.
"It was last month. You declined the invitation to dinner and drinks that night, O'Neill, in favor of a game of cards."
In which he'd lost a hundred and fifty bucks. Life just wasn't fair. "Okay, thoughts, ideas, wild and crazy schemes that do not involve us hiking ten miles in either direction?"
"Sam can use her feminine wiles and hitch us a ride."
Carter snorted, poking Daniel's stomach where his shirt had ridden up, and leaving a greasy smudge next to his navel. "Pull that up some more, and you can use your feminine wiles."
While Carter and Daniel bickered, Teal'c stepped out into the road. Staring back the hundred feet to where it curved out of the dense tree line of Superior National Forest, he began waving his arms.
"T.?"
"A vehicle approaches."
Jack heard it a second later, just before the big pickup rounded the curve and its brakes started to squeal. "One of these days that tactic is not going to end so well."
****
Tinny voices arguing new DNR legislation crackled out of the right speaker of their savior Monty's radio, the left speaker occasionally cutting in and driving the volume to painful levels. Jack and Teal'c sat squashed up front, while Sam and Daniel had been stuck with the tiny rumble seats in the back of the cab.
Jack liked that sort of poetic justice.
"Where you folks headed?"
"Just outside of Ely," Jack said.
"I can take you up to Isabella, and drop you at Mike's garage. You can sort out a tow and repairs with him."
"Thanks, we appreciate it."
Monty's gaze flicked up to the rear-view mirror, then back to Jack and Teal'c.
"Family vacation?"
Even over the radio Jack heard the low, affectionate tones of one of Carter and Daniel's debates from the back, and Teal'c's bulk was warm comfort against his side.
Jack grinned at Monty. "Yeah."
Author: splash_the_cat
Challenge: Off-Duty
Ratings/Warnings: 13; fluff
Pairing: Team
Spoilers: Moebius 2 (Moebius 2 missing scene)
Disclaimer: Not mine. No profit.
A/N. Thanks to mrv3000 and poohmusings for betaing.
"Whose bright idea was it to make this a road trip?"
"That would be your bright idea, Jack." Daniel lay sprawled in the backseat of the Expedition, one knee jammed up against the back of the driver's side seat. He'd stolen Teal'c's hat, and was using it to shade his eyes from the early evening sun glaring through the windows.
"Yeah, well... crap." Gravel crunched under his soles as Jack stalked away. He wanted to take his truck for their trip to his cabin, but Carter and Daniel had bitched about being stuck in the small back seat for such a long drive. So Carter had rented this behemoth and suddenly Jack was forking out seventy bucks for a tank of gas and Daniel was following him into the gas station, trying to convince him that Teal'c wanted HoHos at six thirty in the morning.
Twenty-seven hours and eight stops for gas, fast food, bathroom breaks and driver changes later, they were stuck in the middle of nowhere on Highway 1 instead of the relative civilization of 53. All because Teal'c had stated a desire to take the scenic route and "see the great lake, O'Neill."
Teal'c now stood sentinel next to Carter, half of a toolbox spread at his feet as Carter frowned into the engine block, grease streaking her forearms and fingers.
"Anything?" Jack asked, eyeing just how low the sun was hanging.
"There appears to be no obvious problem, O'Neill."
"Yeah," Carter said. "Hoses and gaskets are all fine, wiring looks good, battery is charged, fluids are fine." Teal'c caught her hand before she ran it through her hair, and she flashed him a quick smile. "I can't really do much more."
"You've stripped down that old Volvo of yours a dozen times." Jack dug a worn handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Hell, you've stripped down the X-302 a dozen times."
As she scrubbed at her fingers, she nodded to Teal'c, who dropped the hood. "Past a certain point, you can't diagnose newer cars without a computer."
"You have one of those." Jack jerked his thumb toward the back of the SUV.
"If this thing ran on naquadah, then sure, that'd work. But I don't have the diagnostic equipment for this."
"What? Weren't you a Girl Scout or something?"
"'Always be prepared' is the Boy Scouts, Jack." Daniel crawled out of the back seat, Teal'c's hat hanging low over his eyes. "And Sam told us the Girl Scouts threw her out."
Jack caught Carter's cat-and-canary smile before she started gathering up the tools. "'Us'?" He asked, archly.
"It was last month. You declined the invitation to dinner and drinks that night, O'Neill, in favor of a game of cards."
In which he'd lost a hundred and fifty bucks. Life just wasn't fair. "Okay, thoughts, ideas, wild and crazy schemes that do not involve us hiking ten miles in either direction?"
"Sam can use her feminine wiles and hitch us a ride."
Carter snorted, poking Daniel's stomach where his shirt had ridden up, and leaving a greasy smudge next to his navel. "Pull that up some more, and you can use your feminine wiles."
While Carter and Daniel bickered, Teal'c stepped out into the road. Staring back the hundred feet to where it curved out of the dense tree line of Superior National Forest, he began waving his arms.
"T.?"
"A vehicle approaches."
Jack heard it a second later, just before the big pickup rounded the curve and its brakes started to squeal. "One of these days that tactic is not going to end so well."
****
Tinny voices arguing new DNR legislation crackled out of the right speaker of their savior Monty's radio, the left speaker occasionally cutting in and driving the volume to painful levels. Jack and Teal'c sat squashed up front, while Sam and Daniel had been stuck with the tiny rumble seats in the back of the cab.
Jack liked that sort of poetic justice.
"Where you folks headed?"
"Just outside of Ely," Jack said.
"I can take you up to Isabella, and drop you at Mike's garage. You can sort out a tow and repairs with him."
"Thanks, we appreciate it."
Monty's gaze flicked up to the rear-view mirror, then back to Jack and Teal'c.
"Family vacation?"
Even over the radio Jack heard the low, affectionate tones of one of Carter and Daniel's debates from the back, and Teal'c's bulk was warm comfort against his side.
Jack grinned at Monty. "Yeah."