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icarusThe Walls of Jericho - 5 (from part 1 here)
by Icarus
They camped on a ridgeline under the cover of some alien bluish scrub, the 'sun' still high in the sky. There was a waft of warm air from somewhere nearby, and a sound like a big witch's cauldron. But Carter reassured them the natives had insisted the trail would be safe. Though she hedged that volcanoes were unpredictable in the extreme, and rattled on about that bad news, while Daniel and Teal'c glanced around at the mountains nervously.
Jack didn't feel any better about walking on the geophysical equivalent of a time bomb, but there wasn't much they could do about it. So he set 'volcano watches' and shut Carter up when she casually started in with that "unlikelihood of surviving a volcanic eruption" stuff. Sheesh.
Jack opted to team up in Daniel's tent, just to stamp out any lingering weirdness between them, get things back to normal. That turned out to be a tactical error.
On his return from second watch (Carter got third watch as reward for their upcoming lack of sleep), he found Daniel half-awake. He startled, sitting up a bit as Jack closed the tent flap.
"Feel any tremors?" Jack joked. He pulled off his boots then stretched out in his bag with a satisfied sigh. No dangers except for a possible explosion, and that was out of his hands.
"No, not yet," Daniel chuckled. "Though it's only a matter of time with a planet this seismically active," he imitated Carter, and Jack coughed miserably.
Daniel leaned up on an elbow and looked at Jack. Intently. With that long pause he always had before he argued, or said something he knew Jack wouldn't like, or defied orders or.... "So. What do you do?"
"What?" But Jack suddenly knew. Daniel couldn't leave well enough alone.
"I mean... what do you do?"
Oh man… Jack had dealt with this before - the bi-curious type. He glanced over at Daniel and hoped he didn't have fantasies of the big, bad colonel popping his cherry for him. No thanks, a smart man doesn't shit where he eats. He'd transferred one soldier out of his command who'd gotten that idea. He decided to embarrass Daniel. "I'll tell you what. When we get back, I'll settle you in for some nice gay porn, so you can figure out the mechanics for yourself."
"Um. Nooo. That won't be necessary."
Daniel was staring up at the roof the tent, lost in thought. Jack hoped this was the end of it.
"I meant... I mean, do you take people home?"
"Wha- are you nuts? The NID wackos have bugged my house before, do you think I'd give them that kind of ammo?"
"So hotels and that sort of thing." Daniel nodded, as if that was what he'd expected.
Yeah. Sometimes. "This is getting a little personal, Daniel. No, wait - it's getting a lot personal," Jack said in a warning tone of voice.
Daniel stirred, rustling the taffeta of the down sleeping bag. "No wonder you're so paranoid."
"Whoa there! I'm no more paranoid than the military makes anyone. You threat assess, you learn that." Daniel was silent. "And I'm still in the military because I'm careful. I'm good at it."
Jack sat up, glaring at Daniel's silence, knowing exactly what was on his mind. He'd been through this spiel before. He decided to cut it off at the pass; Daniel would say it eventually.
"You're supposed to be asking about my ex-wife Sarah now, what really happened. That's the cliche, right?" He couldn't keep the bitter sarcasm out of his voice, and didn't even try.
Daniel rolled and looked over at him finally, bright blue eyes blinking and genuinely surprised. "Why? You obviously loved her."
Jack's chin lifted and he didn't have anything to say to that. Yeah.
Daniel was back to staring at the canopy, a frown carving his forehead. "Hotels. It sounds so... lonely."
"What is this? What'd'you want some?" Jack snapped. "What do you want from me, Daniel?"
"I just want to understand."
"Well, unless you're sucking cock on the weekends you're not going to." Which was, okay, a little more graphic than Jack intended, but Daniel was pissing him off. He was being so -- Daniel about it, and not following any of the scripts.
Jack harshly turned his back and settled in to sleep.
Daniel cleared his throat behind him, and said in a hesitant voice, "Um. Good night?"
Part VI is here
by Icarus
They camped on a ridgeline under the cover of some alien bluish scrub, the 'sun' still high in the sky. There was a waft of warm air from somewhere nearby, and a sound like a big witch's cauldron. But Carter reassured them the natives had insisted the trail would be safe. Though she hedged that volcanoes were unpredictable in the extreme, and rattled on about that bad news, while Daniel and Teal'c glanced around at the mountains nervously.
Jack didn't feel any better about walking on the geophysical equivalent of a time bomb, but there wasn't much they could do about it. So he set 'volcano watches' and shut Carter up when she casually started in with that "unlikelihood of surviving a volcanic eruption" stuff. Sheesh.
Jack opted to team up in Daniel's tent, just to stamp out any lingering weirdness between them, get things back to normal. That turned out to be a tactical error.
On his return from second watch (Carter got third watch as reward for their upcoming lack of sleep), he found Daniel half-awake. He startled, sitting up a bit as Jack closed the tent flap.
"Feel any tremors?" Jack joked. He pulled off his boots then stretched out in his bag with a satisfied sigh. No dangers except for a possible explosion, and that was out of his hands.
"No, not yet," Daniel chuckled. "Though it's only a matter of time with a planet this seismically active," he imitated Carter, and Jack coughed miserably.
Daniel leaned up on an elbow and looked at Jack. Intently. With that long pause he always had before he argued, or said something he knew Jack wouldn't like, or defied orders or.... "So. What do you do?"
"What?" But Jack suddenly knew. Daniel couldn't leave well enough alone.
"I mean... what do you do?"
Oh man… Jack had dealt with this before - the bi-curious type. He glanced over at Daniel and hoped he didn't have fantasies of the big, bad colonel popping his cherry for him. No thanks, a smart man doesn't shit where he eats. He'd transferred one soldier out of his command who'd gotten that idea. He decided to embarrass Daniel. "I'll tell you what. When we get back, I'll settle you in for some nice gay porn, so you can figure out the mechanics for yourself."
"Um. Nooo. That won't be necessary."
Daniel was staring up at the roof the tent, lost in thought. Jack hoped this was the end of it.
"I meant... I mean, do you take people home?"
"Wha- are you nuts? The NID wackos have bugged my house before, do you think I'd give them that kind of ammo?"
"So hotels and that sort of thing." Daniel nodded, as if that was what he'd expected.
Yeah. Sometimes. "This is getting a little personal, Daniel. No, wait - it's getting a lot personal," Jack said in a warning tone of voice.
Daniel stirred, rustling the taffeta of the down sleeping bag. "No wonder you're so paranoid."
"Whoa there! I'm no more paranoid than the military makes anyone. You threat assess, you learn that." Daniel was silent. "And I'm still in the military because I'm careful. I'm good at it."
Jack sat up, glaring at Daniel's silence, knowing exactly what was on his mind. He'd been through this spiel before. He decided to cut it off at the pass; Daniel would say it eventually.
"You're supposed to be asking about my ex-wife Sarah now, what really happened. That's the cliche, right?" He couldn't keep the bitter sarcasm out of his voice, and didn't even try.
Daniel rolled and looked over at him finally, bright blue eyes blinking and genuinely surprised. "Why? You obviously loved her."
Jack's chin lifted and he didn't have anything to say to that. Yeah.
Daniel was back to staring at the canopy, a frown carving his forehead. "Hotels. It sounds so... lonely."
"What is this? What'd'you want some?" Jack snapped. "What do you want from me, Daniel?"
"I just want to understand."
"Well, unless you're sucking cock on the weekends you're not going to." Which was, okay, a little more graphic than Jack intended, but Daniel was pissing him off. He was being so -- Daniel about it, and not following any of the scripts.
Jack harshly turned his back and settled in to sleep.
Daniel cleared his throat behind him, and said in a hesitant voice, "Um. Good night?"
Part VI is here