| Monday morning at the SGC |
| Jack went to Daniel's office. He was a little nervous to see the man that he now knew to be his son. Jack still couldn't believe that, Daniel, who he had known for so many years, and at first, didn't like, was his son. |
| "Hey, Daniel, how are you?" Jack perched on the edge of Daniels desk and picked up some rock of his friends, absently rolling the object between his fingers as he talked. "Did you have a nice weekend? I hope you didn't work, instead of relaxing after our busy month." |
| Daniel looked up and rolled his eyes, before greeting his friend. "Hey, Jack. Yes thanks, I had a nice weekend with a good book. What about you, did you have a good weekend?" |
| "Yep! I watched the Simpson's marathon." Daniel grinned at that and shook his head. |
| "Enough with the small talk, Jack, can I help you with something? And why are you staring at me?" |
| "I'm not staring at you." |
| "Yes you are." |
| "Am not." |
| "Are too." |
| "Am not." |
| "Are too." |
| "Am not." |
| "Okay, what ever. Why are you here, Jack?" |
| "I'm just here to remind you that we have a briefing in 5 minutes with General Hammond about our off-world visit to PXT-142 in later on today." Jack grinned at Daniel, tossing the artifact back onto his desk. |
| "Oh, only 5 minutes?" |
| "Yep , and I knew you'd forget the time. Come on, Daniel. Let's get to the briefing so that you're on time for once." Daniel rolled his eyes once again, and gathered up his files as Jack patted him on the back. |
| Jack spotted the obligatory eye roll and grinned as he followed `his son' (now that sounded weird). One part of him was vibrating with joy, now knowing that he was working, and was a very good friend of his son. The other part hated the thought of what might happen when he finally dropped this little bomb shell. And more to the point, how was he meant to even broach the subject? |
| In the briefing room, Jack couldn't help staring at Daniel. There he was, his flesh and blood, all these years...Jack still couldn't comprehend it. |
| "Jack are you staring at me again? Is there something wrong?" |
| "Nope, there's nothing wrong." Jack grinned, seeing the look of annoyance forming on the younger mans face. |
| "Well, can you cut it out then, Jack?" Daniel frowned over the tops of his glasses as he continued to shuffle his papers. |
| "Sorry, just thinking." |
| Daniel looked up and smiled, pushing his glasses back on. "Wow, Jack, you thinking? Don't tell me, The Simpson's?" |
| "Nope, not the Simpson's." Jack replied with a smile, "You should try watching it though, Danny, you could learn a lot." Jack knew that little comment would induce a smartass reply from his archaeologist. |
| "Like what, Jack? Drinking beer, misbehaving and swearing. I can learn that from you!" He quipped, still smiling as he went back to re-arranging files. |
| "Watch it young man, or no ice cream and coffee for you for a week!" Jack chided as he ruffled his son's hair. |
| "Well, "Dad!" Daniel smirked, batting Jack's hand away, "I'm glad that I'm not a kid anymore, so I can get as much ice cream and coffee as I want." |
| Daniel missed the look of pride in Jack's eyes as the declaration of fatherhood had been jokingly made. |
| 'Sheesh, Danny' Jack thought, `I hope you'll start calling me, dad, when you know that I am your father. Jack knew that Daniel only called him dad to tease him, but he liked to hear his son calling him dad. Jack had never stopped missing being a father. He hoped that Daniel would allow him to be his father, when he broke the news to him. |
| Pulling himself from his revelry, Jack looked back at Daniel. "Don't count on it, SpaceMonkey! You'll always be a kid to me." |
| ~#~ |
| Off-world on PXT-142 |
| The people on the planet seemed very friendly and wanted to share their knowledge and technology. They had once been slaves to the Goa'uld, but apparently they'd lost interest in the race a long time ago, leaving in a hurry. It appeared that some of the technology left behind was actually Goa'uld. |
| Since their arrival, Daniel had been working on translations, in a pyramid. |
| "Jack, why do I have to go with you to the weapons arsenal in the other town? I'd rather stay here and continue translating the hieroglyphic writings. I'm not an expert in weapons." Daniel frowned as he continued to work. |
| "Because I don't want to leave you alone here without protection." Jack clasped his P-90 in his hands, waving it around as he made his point. |
| "Jack, I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself." The indignation in Daniel's voice bloomed in indignation. Daniel lifted his head, looking at Jack sideways, frowning as he asked the next question. "I know that you think I'm a trouble magnet, Jack, but what's the big deal with this? There's nothing here. You've seen that, why don't you just go and do your thing?" |
| Jack eyed the local man who was with Daniel. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, but actually, no, he didn't trust him. |
| "Colonel O'Neill, I will stay here with Dr. Jackson, and make sure that nothing will happen to him." Inan spoke in what Jack assumed was meant to be a reassuring tone. |
| "Inan, are you sure he'll be safe?" |
| "Jack…" |
| "Humour me, Daniel." |
| "Yes, I am sure, and this pyramid is safe," Inan answered. |
| Jack shook his head in surrender, and met Daniel's eyes, "Okay, okay, you can stay, Daniel, but for cryin' out loud, don't touch anything dangerous, and please, stay out of trouble." |
| "I'll do my best, Jack." Daniel grinned and went back to his work. |
| Jack always had this ache in his gut when he left Daniel with anyone but him. He hoped that the increased anxiety was purely because that he now knew, that Daniel was his son, and not due to the sixth sense he developed about Daniel getting in trouble." |
| ~oOo~ |
| After an hour's translation, it all went to hell in a hand basket! |
| There was a huge bang and the next thing Inan knew, Daniel was on the floor, his breathing very shallow, and quite obviously unconscious. |
| Panicking, and not knowing what to do for the best; and since Inan was big and muscular like Teal'c, he was able to scoop Daniel's limp body into his arms. Looking at the face before him, Inan managed to pluck the glasses from their owner. Holding his cheek close to Daniel's slightly open mouth, he noted how shallow the breathing was. He also realised how soft the man's features were, almost childlike in appearance. Inan considered that Colonel O'Neill's misgivings about leaving Daniel were correct, and with that in mind, and remembering the Colonel's concerns, Inan started toward the only place he knew would be able to heal the man, a sarcophagus. |
| ~oOo~ |
| Jack's radio crackled into life. "Daniel? Is that you?" |
| An unfamiliar voice hissed into Jack's ear piece. "No, Colonel O'Neill, it is Inan. You must come quickly to where I showed you the sarcophagus. Doctor Jackson is hurt." |
| Jack gamely jabbed at the send button, trying to get the attention of the man he'd trusted Daniel with. "Sarcophagus? What the hell's happened? Inan! Speak to me!" His efforts were unrewarded, as all that came back was the hiss of static. Jack's temper flared as he broke into a run and the rest of the team followed him without question. |
