Should auld acquaintance be forgot... (FIRST MIRROR)

[dumbassbastards]

If you had been upstairs in the Compound or in the Hub at six in the evening of December 31, you might have thought your eyes were playing tricks on you, or that you'd once again been whisked off to some strange, new place. Within the blink of an eye, the rooms had changed, sparkling instantly with festive decorations, and it was all so

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[theunascended]

Shocked was the least of the words Daniel could come up with to describe his feelings when he wandered into the Hub. It was New Years, of course, and he expected a party, but he hadn't expected quite this much of a party. He wandered through the gathering crowd, wondering if Ianto had found his way to the party, yet. He didn't expect Jack, though Tosh or Mimi or any of the other people he knew might be around.

[doctorcuddymd]

For her part, Cuddy wasn't much in the mood for a party either. The only reason she'd chosen to come was..well, truth be told she didn't know. Maybe because there was a chance she'd be seeing Jack, even a small one, and she wasn't about to pass that by. Or maybe even still that she wouldn't be able to get anything taken care of in the clinic with all the festivities going on.

Nevertheless, she was there and she was dressed for the occasion, and she decided to make the most of the evening. Reaching across the table, she took a drink for herself.

[theunascended]

Daniel knew that face. He knew the face and he knew that there should be a reason that he should talk to that face, but for the life of him, he couldn't put a name with the face. He tried to work through it, focusing first on where she was familiar from. After a moment, it came to him. The clinic. And just like that, all of the rest of the pieces came together.

Dr. Cuddy, of course. One of the two heads of the clinic.

"Dr. Cuddy," Daniel said softly, holding out a hand. "Daniel Jackson."

[doctorcuddymd]

Daniel. Of course. Immediately, Cuddy's attention was taken away from the drink and she lifted her eyes, putting her hand into the extended one. "Of course," she said. "You're Daniel. Jack told me about you."

[theunascended]

That didn't surprise him, much. "You've seen him recently, then? I should probably stop by tonight with some of the food. I've heard it vanishes in the morning, so he'd probably like some before it goes." And it would have the added benefit of checking up on him to see how he was doing.

[doctorcuddymd]

"I saw him the other night. When he left Trance with Greg." Cuddy still hadn't slept since that night, other than a few hours of dozing here and there, but it was just part of it. And she didn't mind. "I didn't want to leave him until he was at your place." Stopping by to see Jack wasn't a bad idea. Maybe, if it wasn't a wretched imposition and things went well, she'd come to say hello, too. But that was further on in the future.

"Did he actually get some sleep?"

[theunascended]

Daniel nodded. "He passed out almost before Ianto and I got him on the bed. I'm glad that he let Trance in. I was a bit worried that he wouldn't take a break, no matter how much he needed one." Even though he knew he needed one.

[doctorcuddymd]

That was a relief. More than a little bit of one, at that. "I don't think he's slept in days, until then," she said. "And you're right, I wasn't sure he was going to let her in either. I was going to drag him out if I had to." She laughed a little bit, because it was only half possible it would have worked.

[theunascended]

Daniel's mouth twitched. "If you hadn't, I probably would have gone back over, bringing her with me." His smile grew larger. "He hasn't been able to say no to me, yet, and I don't see it starting now."

[doctorcuddymd]

"It looks like you and I have a lot in common then," Cuddy said, and she smiled one of her first real smiles of the day. "He's never been able to say no to me, either. We've known each other awhile, and..well, he's Jack. He's a lot of things, but he's always, at the heart of them, Jack."

[theunascended]

"Exactly," Daniel said, smiling softly. "I've only known him a few months, but he was friends with my boyfriend long before that, so we got to know each other." Daniel didn't mention how. Or how they'd gone from being friends to definitely not friends, to...well, Daniel wasn't terribly sure what to categorize them as now. Just Daniel and Jack, he supposed.

[doctorcuddymd]

Cuddy's face moved into a smile, and she nodded. "His boyfriend worked for me back home," she said. "So I thought, a bit over a year ago, that I should probably introduce myself to Jack. Ever since..." She trailed off, shaking her head mariginally. Without knowing, her thoughts were similar to Daniel's. Because she and Jack were just..Jack and Lisa. Whatever it meant.

[theunascended]

"Greg?" Daniel chuckled. "I've only met him once." And that had been memorable, to say the least. "Jack tends to draw people to him, doesn't he? I swear that he probably knows half of the island by now." Or all of it. He wasn't entirely sure. "You're a doctor, then? What field?"

[doctorcuddymd]

"Greg's like that to everyone, so don't take too much offense," she said, shaking her head with a laugh. "But you're right, about Jack. He knows a lot of people, but he's selective about the ones he knows more about." She thought Daniel would understand. Jack had 'his' and that didn't include all of the island.

"I specialized in endocrinology," she answered. "Back in Princeton, I was the chief administrator and dean of medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. In New Jersey?"

[theunascended]

Daniel nodded. "All right. I think I've heard about that." He smiled. "Before I moved to Colorado, I used to predominantly be on that side of the country. The tri-state area, mostly." Although Nick had tended to travel, as had Daniel's parents, when they'd been alive, when they were in the States, they were usually on that side of the country.

[doctorcuddymd]

He was instantly likeable. It was one of the first things Cuddy noticed, and it made her more at ease. Not just here, but in regards to other things about Jack, and Daniel. "What did you do there, and in Colorado before you came here?" she asked. The answer could literally be anything.