The rebellion continues!

[icarus]

Since I'm rebelling, this has angst.

Yes. Me. Angst.

Go figure.

A whole story. Yep. I don't feel even remotely guilty. Nope, not a bit.


Straight Across The Desert
By Icarus




He left a stripe of burning rubber all the way from the SGC to the Daniel's apartment. Jack yanked the steering wheel left as he almost missed the turn-off, cut through two lanes of traffic, and flipped off someone who got in his way. They leaned on their horn. Morons, clear out. You can all fuck off. Now.

No prizes for guessing what they lip-synched behind windshield number two.

The tires squealed as he pulled into Daniel's drive. He hoped the road was in flames, burning a beacon to right here. Yeah, that's right. Here. Start your stopwatches, Joint Chiefs.

The fanbelt still hummed as he slammed the door and jogged, almost-ran, to the irritatingly slow elevator. He smacked the button for Daniel's floor and paced. He was still in his dress blues, hat left wherever he'd flung it, ready to do damage.

Upstairs he had to knock twice, pounding with his fist, pissed that it didn't open right away.

God help him, if Daniel wasn't there….

But the door opened to a blinking nonplused Daniel wearing -- what the hell was he wearing? Never mind.

"Jack?" Daniel said, his mouth working with unspoken words. He tied the blue-patterned whatever-it-was around his waist, fumbling a bit. "What? It's ten o'clock… after, actually…."

Jack slammed the door open and pressed Daniel's shoulders to the wall, locked him in a soul-devouring, career-ending, fuck-it-all kiss. He'd anticipated a struggle, maybe being thrown off -- Daniel was pretty strong -- possibly they'd even break some of these expensive doo-dads Daniel had around the place. Would've been fun.

But he didn't expect this total, dead-fish, cold-mouthed... non-response. Daniel's shoulders slumped. Jack backed up an inch or two to face a steady, blue-eyed glare. Maybe he'd misread… things?

"Don't -- You're not going to do this."

Jack backed up a step, his plan blown to bits.

"Maybe we should shut the door?" Daniel suggested after a breath, calmly folding his arms about himself, though his voice shook a bit.

"Yeah."

Jack stepped away a few feet, enough to let Daniel swing the door shut, and rubbed his face with his forearm. The little Turkish throw-rug on the tile slid a bit underfoot. Someone was gonna kill themselves on that thing.

He jammed his hands in his pockets -- in dress blues they were in the wrong place to be exactly comfortable -- and stared around at the alien place Daniel had made of a perfectly normal apartment. Weird masks stuck onto walls and old, dusty things that probably went bump in the night once you shut off the lights. And just who kept a scull in their living room? Hamlet?

"I've got leftovers in the fridge. I think," Daniel offered, as if this were a perfectly normal thing to say right now. After… well, after that. Jack let out a breath.

"Will they serve themselves?" Jack took his cue. He could play 'normal.' Normal was good.

"Probably."

"Then let's order Chinese."

"Oh I dunno, Jack…."

"Mmmm… MSG… it's good for you," Jack said. "Go ahead. I'm buying. I obviously forgot to pick up a bottle of wine on the way here."

Daniel spluttered a laugh and rewarded him with a grin over the shoulder as he dug around in the junk drawer for the take-out menu. At least he was normal enough to have a junk drawer. Jack relaxed under the glare of the overhead light in Daniel's kitchen. There were some weird Abydonian pots and pans about, but for the most part, Daniel's kitchen looked like anywhere.

An hour later, they sat at Daniel's counter and poked around their Chinese dinners -- with chopsticks in Daniel's case, and a nice easy fork in Jack's. They ate straight from the containers which, Jack insisted, was the traditional way to eat Chinese food. Daniel gave a slight smile but didn't argue. Jack swiveled in the stool and stared out the black window as he took a pull at his beer. No stars tonight. Just wet streets shining under the streetlights below.

Daniel sat back in his stool with a satisfied sigh, tipping back against the wall. He leaned against part of an art calendar, which was open to the wrong month, a testament as to just how busy they were at the SGC.

"So."

Jack's eyebrows raised at him, glancing up over the beer. It looked like they were going to have 'a conversation.' That couldn't be good. He continued to stare out the window, but the impatient tilt of Daniel's head was reflected too clearly in it, now that he was looking.

"Hmm," Jack said, hoping to deflect the inevitable conversation. What would it be? 'It's not you, it's me'? Or 'I'm sorry, Jack, I'm straight, and I thought you were, too'? Oh great.

"So. What did the Air Force do?"

Jack turned towards him. "What makes you think it was the Air Force?"

Daniel spun a little in his barstool. The clock on the stove ticked, and Jack noticed that it was an hour off. "I dunno. Possibly because they're the only people who could piss me off enough to want a court martial."

Jack smiled. He was right about that. He made his face as neutral as possible and took a breath, the one they told you to take before you passed a lie-detector test.

"General Hammond will tell you about it in the morning." He drummed his fingertips on the countertop. Loud. "Sorry. It's his announcement to make."

Daniel frowned, chin lowered as he thought.

Then he looked up, eyes wide with shock. "They canceled the Stargate program."

Jack whistled inwardly. Let it never be said the kid didn't earn those Ph.D's: that took all of ten seconds. He saw no reason -- or way -- to deny it. He waited for the big blow-up, a full-blown Dr. Jackson hissy-fit, but Daniel just sat there staring at the counter, obviously not seeing it.

"They can't do that," he finally said, toneless.

"Ooooh but they can. New president, new rules." Jack made a fist to keep himself from punching something. "Obviously we have more important, more immediate threats than all that's out there." He waved vaguely at the window. "Terrorists! That sort of thing." Jack spread his hands, unable to say more.

"Um. No. Unless they're being supplied by Heru'ur, I don't think so."

But Jack wasn't finished. "You're going to be packed off to some college…" he could barely say it, "daycare, teaching the kiddies how to read hieroglyphs with no clue it's really Goa'uld. Sam's gonna be stuck pretending NASA's state of the art -- and God knows what they're gonna do with Teal'c. And me? Me, I'm gonna be off defending the country from its least important threats. Maybe knock off a third world dictator or two. That'll be satisfying."

"Can't General Hammond…?"

"He's pulled out all the stops. You have no idea -- he's done a lot. A lot." He gave Daniel a level gaze and put all the weight he could into those two words.

Daniel's chest expanded and he chewed his upper lip. He let that breath out slowly. Those bright eyes, angry now, locked on his. "We'll have to make this good then."

Oh. So Jack hadn't misread the signs.

"I didn't bring the wine."

"I might have something." Daniel smiled grimly as he stood. "Where'd you park?"

"Right out front."

Daniel nodded, obviously not surprised by the stupidity. "Move your car first; no one can know you're here. Pretend you're having an affair."

He was having an affair. As of now. But he didn't say it. That would make it too real.

"Sort of defeats the purpose." Jack shrugged, buttoning his jacket. The dress blues had never felt so tight. "Court-martial, you know? Sayonara? The big fuck off?" But he no longer thought it was a good idea, and Daniel shook his head, on the same page as usual.

"We need at least one person who's not an idiot in the Air Force. In case something knocks some sense into them."

"Like a Goa'uld mothership 'beaming them up'? We should be so lucky." Jack snorted. "So I take it I'm not the idiot in your book."

"Well. These things are all relative," Daniel explained in a patient voice, the smile teasing at his lips.

They chuckled and Jack stood in Daniel's kitchen, ready to put on a good show of going home. Daniel touched his shoulder, making him shiver unexpectedly. Yeah. That's what they'd been feeling.

"Jack," Daniel said, very serious, hand still on his arm. "We'll think of something. Even if we all have to defect to Russia. It's not over."

Atta boy. Jack broke into a smile. He knew he could count on Daniel to never say die.



Finis.





ETA: More edits. Whoops again.
ETA2: Even more edits. Whoopsie.

ETA3: Added cyanei's beta changes, tweaked it here and there.

Comments

[lillian78.livejournal.com]

Steamy Ron/Draco? *looks excited* Just what I need to pull me out of my private angst fest. ;-D

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*puts Ron and Draco dolls into camp tent* *tells Harry to bugger off*

I think this'll work. I just want more sex in the story, that's all. Beg Me For It still feels... lopsided, to me.

Icarus

[mousapelli.livejournal.com]

mmm, stargate.

you know, i've never watched the show, but i loved that movie, so I've been reading all your little ficlets.

Mmmm.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Always glad to start someone else on the happy road to SG-1 addiction.

Mmmmm... Jaaaack. Mmmm... Daniel.


Icarus

[melpemone.livejournal.com]

That was wonderfully done. Beautifully understated; angsty but not overdone. This is very... quiet, even the humour is a little bit solemn. I love it. Thank you. :)

Oh hey, where are you guys up to in episodes? Icon is on Thursday night over here and I hear rumour it's a good Daniel one. Is that true? ::looks hopeful::

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm only up to Season 3, and Icon is in Season 8. I won't be able to see it until next year (I don't have cable), but it sounds like a good one to me.

And thank you, thank you, thank you. The SG-1 fandom is, well, a Lot smaller than HP. By a ratio of 30:1. So SG-1 reviews are especially appreciated because they're so few and far between.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*reads the synopsis of the episode*

Daniel gets stuck on an alien world as SG-1's arrival sparks a violent civil war.

Yeah. That sounds good. (Is jealous. I'm going to have to wait a year to see this one. :D )

Icarus

[nataliadarimini.livejournal.com]

Yay! I love this! I have kind of slipped from the SG fandom because... well, because after reading about twenty fics they all sounded the same. But this is so *cool.* And it's everything I like, compacted.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

There are three main plots to Jack/Daniel that make the slash fandom repetitive. 1 - one or both have Don't Ask, Don't Tell issues; 2 - one or another has issues with their sexuality; 3 - someone else has a problem with 1 or 2.

This can get a little dull.

A really good SG-1 story has, I think:
- action & adventure
- empathy
- intellectual challenge

... and in the ideal case...
- a quality of wonder

The last is the most important.

It's not an easy fandom to write. Not at all.

Icarus

[kres.livejournal.com]

Lovely story, as usual. Compact, and in character, and generally yay!.

... and in the ideal case...
- a quality of wonder

My poor, non-native English says Huh?. Enlighten me?

:)=

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, even in English that just barely made sense.

Ideally a really good Stargate story touches on something that stretches your mind, that makes you go "wow."

A perfect example is The Torment of Tantalus. When those holographic molecules hover in midair, and Daniel realizes that this is a language, your mind embraces the idea, and at the same time, you can't quite grasp it. And you go "wow." It's something wonderful though, this idea of a universal language that can be read by any who've studied the atom.

Another example is The Fifth Race, when Jack has the language of the Ancients downloaded into his brain. When that 8th chevron is dialed you go, "holy cow, where is he going?" Then that first contact with the Asgard goes so well. Jack can be so coarse, yet he is so filled with child-like gentleness and honesty that it could not have gone better, and your heart's in your throat watching it. When the Asgard say we've taken the first steps to becoming the fifth race, you go, "wow."

Not all the information is there. You don't know what exactly those steps are -- Using the stargate? Being honest with them? Trying to do good in the universe? Being genetically capable of utilizing the Ancients' database? There are a lot of clues, but whatever it was, it's a good thing and leaves you with the sense that there's more out there than what you learned.

That's what I mean by a sense of wonder.

They can't all be like that. Really, only the best Stargate episodes are. But that's what I'm looking for.

Icarus

[cordelia_v]

Actually, I was under the impression that you were allowed to write in whatever fandom you felt the urge to write in, this week. No need to apologize! We'll love the Ron/Draco chapter whenever we get it.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*wipes forehead*

Made it just under that deadline, didn't I?

Icarus

[cyanei.livejournal.com]

LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE this. Love the tention, love the instant understanding, love that it takes Jack's job being gone for him to risk losing that job. Love Daniel. (ALWAYS love Daniel, but especially love your Daniel.)

One thing? Spelled "Goa'uld". (And in case you ever want to put a passing mention of her in one of your stories, it's "Sha'uri, not Sha're", no matter what the show-writers would have you think.)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you. I've been working on Daniel in this and the previous piece. It's nice to be able to spit out complete (if rather brief) stories again. He's quite... elusive. Difficult to grasp.

Partially because he's changed so dramatically from the movie to the TV show, partially because Shanks' portrayal has slowly shifted over the years. Jack has always been Jack, but Daniel's changed a lot. Jack's very real to me because wildernessguru talks a lot like him, has a similar blunt, cynical attitude.

It's an almost-seamless transition between the Spader and Shanks -- Michael Shanks is good. He picks up Spader's delivery and timing beautifully, but changes the role just enough to give himself some room.

James Spader played Daniel with an almost child-like wonder and... innocence isn't quite the right word... clarity. Gentleness.

Michael Shanks delivers the same lines with an underlying dry sarcasm.

The Spader!Daniel wasn't arrogant, he was oblivious to the toes he might step on, tripping his way to understanding. Shanks!Daniel has that slight academic haughtiness from the get-go.

Spader!Daniel made a fool of himself on a regular basis. In fact, he was almost a living representation of the tarot card, the Fool: confident in the universe and possessed of tremendous luck.

Shanks!Daniel is more self-aware. As he grows increasingly observant of his impact on those around him, first in his time on Abydos, and then in his trips through the stargate, he matures and becomes aware of what an idiot he makes of himself at times.

Then there are the Daniel phases, like the phases of the moon.

First there is the pre-Abydos phase: the down-and-out Daniel, struggling, but a believer in the pure science of what he's learned. So much a believer that he can't imagine that others wouldn't accept simple facts. He's completely apolitical and naive. Unjaded.

Then there's the Abydos Daniel: the one whose confidence has been built by his relationship with Sha'uri (ha! Thank you, I've seen the other spelling on the back of the CD boxes) and his role as a leader. And, quite frankly, by his boldness in facing Ra almost without blinking. He learned a lot about himself and what he could handle then.

Next the hunting-for-Sha'uri Daniel: mono-focused, angry, willing to abandon his moral stand in his quest, often caught between his new military role and his old roles. Aware of the dichotomy of his feelings towards the Goa'uld and his neutral stance towards almost everything else. He takes sometimes crazy risks in his quest, makes a fool of himself often. His innocence and wonder appears from time to time as he steps out onto a new world, but it's usually buried in his fire to free her.

Then the-post-Sha-uri Daniel: silent about it, almost grim, doing his job because the others depend on him and they have a purpose -- but looking for something to give her death meaning. He's beaten, actually. Matured perhaps. But the sarcasm has full reign, and he's, okay, somewhat cynical. He no longer believes in the fundamental goodness of others. Instead he feels he has to fight for goodness, as it's something rather rare.

Then there's the post-Ascension Daniel: he's restrained, cautious. Quiet. Not fighting for anything. Patiently doing his job, expecting little and asking nothing of anyone. He's turned completely inward, shutting everyone out of what used to be out there on his face for all to see. A tough nut to crack. Does he believe in anything anymore? Has he become completely ordinary, abandoned seeking beyond himself?

[cyanei.livejournal.com]

Dude, I don't even have anything intelligent to add to that.

Well, other than "yay". Intelligent? Perhaps not.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yay!

:D


Icarus

Daniel-ness, part II

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

The are a few common threads you can find in all these Daniels, however.

- The first is scientific (cultural anthropologist) curiosity, with a tendency to stick his neck out because of it (how skillfully depends on the Daniel).
- The next is his tendency to say the unexpected. Where a normal person would say, "may I come in?" Daniel will point to your beer and say, "feel like sharing?" It's jarring and jolts the listener out of their normal modes of thinking.
- The third is his honesty. Daniel doesn't lie. At worst, he withholds the truth.
- The last is that Daniel shuts people out. Partially it's that Daniel lives in another world where few can really communicate with him. Partially it's that he doesn't entirely trust other people to understand, or to listen.

I believe that his interest in linguistics stems from the very fact that he says such surprising, out-of-sync things to people. I think he knew he was bad at communicating and tried to figure out where the wiring was wrong, what was happening, why didn't people understand him? He eventually became good at understanding others, but never quite succeeded in making himself understood. So he learned to say nothing rather than be misunderstood (or opposed). So he relies on no one but himself, tells no one his full plans, and that was true from the original movie.

There's good reason Daniel's hard to write. He's a complex individual, and there are so many of him -- which Daniel do you write?

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

By the way, would you be interested in Beta'ing this piece? I had a beta from another website, but she missed the spelling of Goa-uld, so that worries me.

Pretty please? *puts on adorable face* *realises this doesn't work with glasses* *pulls them off and tries again*

Icarus

[cyanei.livejournal.com]

Sure! Send 'er my way! ( :

[cyanei.livejournal.com]

Hah. Just realised you meant this piece. I'm on it. ( ;

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Cool! That simplifies matters. But let me know if you'd like a word file to work on.

Icarus

[cyanei.livejournal.com]

Naw, copy-paste into WordPad works wonders. ( ;

It's basically perfect (and I noticed you even changed it to "Goa'uld"!), so since there's only two things I'll just post them here?

1. The fanbelt still hummed as he slammed the door and almost-ran to the irritatingly slow elevator. He smacked the button for Daniel's floor, and paced the cab of the elevator. This bit has some wobbly repetition with the word 'elevator' that threw me out of the story. And I'm not sure if this is just a cultural difference or if it's a typo, but up here we call them elevator cars, not cabs.

2. "I dunno. Possibly because they're the only people who could piss me off enough to want a court martial." Was that supposed to be 'you' and not 'me'? Or is Daniel saying that in an, "If it were me" sort of way?

And that's it! Not even an extra comma anywhere. ( ;

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Grr. My response didn't go through.

I've updated the above with your changes, and tweaked the story here and there.

Yeah, I didn't like that elevator part either:

The fanbelt still hummed as he slammed the door and jogged, almost-ran, to the irritatingly slow elevator. He smacked the button for Daniel's floor and paced. He was still in his dress blues, hat left wherever he'd flung it, ready to do damage.

I did mean 'If it were me,' but it's obviously a little foggy, so I changed the emphasis:

Daniel spun a little in his barstool. The clock on the stove ticked, and Jack noticed that it was an hour off. "I dunno. Possibly because they're the only people who could piss me off enough to want a court martial."

*waves* Thank you!

Icarus

[cyanei.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Right on!

Icarus *ziiiip!*

[a-linz.livejournal.com]

*Is trying not to cry*

Lol, it's alright hun. Take your time, the R/D will definitely be worth the wait ;) *is excited*