Indivisible

 

by Travelling One

 

Email: travelling-one@yahoo.ca

Website: http://www.travellingone.com/

Season: 8

Summary: This is a tiny missing scene and tag to Prometheus Unbound.

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended. Any original characters, situations, and storylines are the property of the author. Archive only with permission please.

 

March 2005

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Framed medals and Air Force certificates attested to his right to inhabit this office, but Jack wondered at the masquerade. From his vantage point in this comfortable leather chair, he could only stare at the testimonials hanging on the otherwise bare wall, in all their innocence and naiveté. He didn't know whether to be angry, annoyed, frustrated, or just plain worried, but as choice had no real place in the field of emotions he decided he'd go with all of the above.

 

And it made it no easier that half of that anger and frustration could be directed towards his superior, Major General George Hammond.

 

The man had swept Daniel right out from under him. Overruled him completely, as though he were a mere colonel in charge of a field unit.

 

So his reaction had been that of a former colonel in charge of his team, but Daniel still was a vital part of the SGC, one whose input and advice he needed, if only to disagree with. Daniel's opinions always made for further thought and inspiration, if nothing else. Although usually there was a whole lot of something else. Daniel was his support and anchor.

 

So why had the linguist seemed so eager to get away? And so pleased to see Hammond?

 

And how the hell long would they be gone? Even if the mission was intended to be only a few days, just watch Daniel try to finagle a way to stay in Atlantis. That would be just like him.

 

At least Jack could trust Hammond to take care of the scientist; having been former commander of this base Hammond knew what Daniel meant to all of them. That was the good thing about Hammond leading the mission.

 

At least he hadn't taken Carter too.

 

Speaking of whom, the colonel now in charge of SG1 wouldn't be so pleased when she found out Daniel was gone, either.

 

Damn. Anything could happen out there, heading into a galaxy that wouldn't even connect to their stargate. They had heard nothing from the team that had gone to Atlantis; the place could have been consumed by a black hole and the Prometheus could be heading straight into it, for all they knew. Who knew what aliens and enemies waited in the wings, waiting to devour and consume curious, unsuspecting but tasty archeologists and bald generals.

 

Jack rubbed his eyes. This day sucked. Hammond had not only taken Daniel, he'd even come for his chair.

 

_____

 

Carter had been watching him from the briefing room, unobtrusively sneaking glances through the glass star chart. O'Neill had been staring at a single paper for several minutes, tapping his pen on the desk. His head leaning on one hand indicated a precise lack of involvement.

 

She'd already hesitated twice, but now took a breath and knocked.

 

"What?"

 

"Sir?"

 

Jack snapped awake from his musings. Looking up, his voice softened. "What is it, Carter?"

 

"Sir, it's only been twenty-four hours. I think you should stop worrying."

 

"If you need a list of the troubles a team can get into in twenty-four hours, Carter, go read our mission reports from the past seven years."

 

"I know, Sir. But General Hammond is out there too."

 

"And he's led missions to other galaxies exactly… oh, never."

 

"Are you trying to convince me, Sir?"

 

"Of?"

 

"Of the likelihood that Daniel is dead somewhere?"

 

"Again? No. In trouble? Maybe. Begging to stay on Atlantis? Decide for yourself."

 

"Oh." She hadn't thought of that. General O'Neill was afraid that Daniel would be enticed to never return? Her mood darkened. "I hope he wouldn't do that."

 

"Yeah. So. Anything else, Colonel?"

 

Carter shook her head. "No, Sir."

 

"Okay, then. I was quite busy here trying to comprehend this requision for three hundred boxes of paper clips. Do you have any idea how many paper clips this base goes through in a month?"

 

"Uh, no… I'll… I'll leave you to it, Sir. Sorry if I bothered you."

 

"No bother, Carter. Any time you want to talk about paper clips, I'm the guy to see." Just don't come in here telling me Daniel's only been gone twenty-four hours.

 

_____

 

The waiting hadn't actually lasted all that much longer. The call from Prometheus had been surprising, considering he hadn't expected it for at least several more days.

 

It had felt odd conducting a post mission briefing with General Hammond giving his own personal recount. Jack's questioning had taken the form of a distorted and mutilated déjà vu, and he'd greatly desired to switch chairs with the other general.

 

Until he'd remembered that Hammond wanted his chair, his comfortable leather chair, and Jack's questioning had gotten tougher. Ha. Serves you right for not wanting your job back, General.

 

But the base was fairly quiet now, all was calm, the details were before him in all their unbelievable dignity of black and white, and he was reading them for the seventh time.

 

Daniel was back safely, and now the anger part of the frustration and worry could break to the surface.

 

"Jack." The knock on the door was accompanied by the voice Jack didn't want to hear at that moment.

 

He continued to examine the documents.

 

"If you're busy I'll come back."

 

"I'm always busy."

 

"No, I didn't mean it that way… I know you have a lot of responsibility here."

 

"Yes." Jack tried to read that paragraph again. It still wasn't making any sense.

 

"You're mad at me."

 

"Yes." Try the next page, maybe that would be easier than igoring Daniel.

 

"Hammond asked for me."

 

Jack swept the onerous report to the side. "Look, Daniel. You went, you saw, you came home. End of story. Next time you'll ask to go again, I'll say no way in hell, and someone else will undermine me. That's life around here."

 

Daniel opened his mouth to speak, then paused. Was Jack upset about being overruled by his predecessor? Or at him, for getting his own way? He nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll come back at a better time." Turning, he hesitated in the open doorway before stepping out into the briefing room.

 

"Daniel, wait."

 

Daniel turned. The forlorn look on Jack's face pulled him slowly back into the office like a magnet.

 

"Look. The Pegasus Galaxy is uncharted. No MALP, no news from the Atlantis team. Nothing. How should I have felt?"

 

"I understand."

 

"Do you? You're the one who wanted to go so desperately, Daniel. You think of the possibilities except when they might be dangerous."

 

"That's not fair, Jack. I'm always wary of what we may be walking into."

 

"Doesn't sound like too much wariness was going on out there, Daniel. Nice bruise, by the way." Couple of them, actually. Administered by a woman, apparently. The report was right there on his desk, making no sense at all.

 

"Yeah, uh…"

 

"One woman, how many men on that ship?" Jack rubbed his chin in mock contemplation. "And you were going where, again? A galaxy that may have been overrun by Replicators, or black holes, or things of which we know nothing? But by all means, you were wary. You encountered none of those things… oh right, you never made it into that galaxy."

 

"We were hijacked. We ran into Goa'uld and a race of unfriendly traders."

 

"Your point?"

 

Daniel shrugged. "I don't have one. I'm sorry." Nor was he yet through being completely embarrassed.

 

"For what? Persisting? Wanting to leave when you're needed here? Jumping at a chance to work with Hammond again?"

 

"What?"

 

"You miss him around here."

 

"Don't you?"

 

"Only because I think he's the best person for this job and I'd rather be back on SG1."

 

Daniel's attention snapped to full alert. He had thought Jack had finally settled in, thought that the recurring jokes about the new position and promotion were basically just - jokes. "You do an extraordinary job around here, Jack."

 

"Requisitioning paper clips, yes, apparently that went well."

 

Finally moving over to the chair in front of Jack's desk, Daniel lowered himself into it. "You're still doubting yourself?"

 

"Aren't you?"

 

"No."

 

"You said you miss Hammond."

 

"I didn't mean it that way, Jack." Leaning forward, his forearms on the edge of the polished desk, Daniel's eyes focussed on Jack's. "I miss you on SG1, too. That doesn't mean I don't like how Sam leads the team."

 

After a moment's pause, Jack nodded. He was beginning to get the point.

 

"And my wanting to go to the Pegasus galaxy didn't mean I was trying to get away from you guys."

 

"Did you even consider how long you'd be away?"

 

"Not really."

 

"I have to ask you something, Daniel. If you'd found it to be a fascinating place, full of curiosities and Ancients, would you have come back?"

 

Daniel didn't take his gaze off Jack's. He hadn't considered that possibility, but obviously Jack had. He had also let it bother him to the extent of anger and worry. "I just wanted to see with my own eyes what was out there. I had no intention of staying."

 

"I'm sorry, but I don't trust that. You've stayed offworld before."

 

"When? Abydos? I got married."

 

"Like I said, you had no idea what you'd find out there."

 

Daniel searched introspectively for clues to diminish Jack's concern. "At the time I had nothing on Earth to come back to."

 

"And…" but Jack could think of nothing to counter that with.

 

"And now I do."

 

_____

 

They were all waiting there in his office as he walked in, all three members of his team. Former team; he still thought of SG1 as his own. But no, it was Carter's now. And Daniel's, and Teal'c's. Not his. Jack's eyebrows lifted. "What's going on?"

 

Carter was standing by his cabinet, running her finger along the edge of a dusty picture frame. Daniel was stretched out in one of the straight-backed armchairs, and Teal'c was not quite at ease by the flag, his hands clasped in front of him. They all turned, almost as one.

 

"Sir."

 

"Jack."

 

"Don't sound so stunned. This is my office."

 

"Uhm, Jack, we've been thinking - "

 

"A fact which doesn't surprise me any more, Daniel."

 

"- and we agree that you've been under a lot of strain lately. Some of which we've caused, of course, although not all."

 

"Yes, I'm aware of my strain, Daniel."

 

Carter plunged in. "We think you need to relax, Sir."

 

"You're trying to get me to retire?" Exactly what impressions had he been sending them lately?

 

"We have no desire for you to terminate your employment, O'Neill."

 

"I work here, Teal'c. How can I relax?"

 

"We want to take you fishing, sir."

 

Jack coughed. Okay, that was the one thing he hadn't been expecting. Even his favourite team asking him to retire would have been more plausible, all things considered. "What? Where?"

 

Daniel was looking smug. Happily smug. "Minnesota. Teal'c knows of this little cabin."

 

"You want to take me fishing to my own cabin? There aren't any fish in the pond, you know."

 

"That d… really?" This time it was Daniel's eyebrows that rose. "Anyway, that doesn't matter. It's a place you love."

 

"And you all want to come?"

 

"We do, Sir."

 

Jack looked around at his former teammates. They were subtly making their point, and there was no better way he could have thought to do that. "The pond is frozen. In a few more weeks, we should be good to go." A few more weeks. Even here in this office, saturated with stresses he didn't even want to know existed, his team was trying to tell him something.

 

He was still a part of SG1.

 

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