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nightspear) wrote2009-03-06 10:21 am
Brotherhood (22/27)
Title: Brotherhood (Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen.
XXXXX
Caged
XXXXX
4 June 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 0900 hrs
"Everyone ready for this?" Jack said.
"The Stargate's about to start dialing," Daniel pointed out, readjusting his grip on his end of the naquadah reactor case. "It's a little late to start asking."
"Well, I asked you before."
"Well, I answered you before."
"Yeah, but I...wasn't listening then."
Daniel turned to give him a look, which actually didn't look too intimidating, because with his hands occupied with holding onto Carter's reactor, he didn't have enough hands to stop his glasses from sliding down his nose. Jack helpfully pushed them higher for him. The subsequent scowl made Carter duck to hide a grin, tightening her grip on the other end of her reactor.
That truce between Jack and Daniel had lasted all of four days before they'd argued over...well, something he didn't remember. But it had been a normal argument, one that didn't make the SFs in the halls try very hard not to hear them yelling, and they'd gone home together afterward. So Jack thought they were back to normal, or good enough to pass, and if they skirted around some topics more carefully than before...well, Daniel held grudges, he knew that, and could think about things for months before he finished processing them. It wasn't going to be forgive and forget, but Jack was pretty sure they would both settle for the forgive part.
He had his team back, anyway. For now, even if there was still tension between him and Daniel, he would take that. Jack still found himself looking at Daniel out of the corner of his eye, doing double-takes at the sight of him and Teal'c at the range with an MP5 and trying to remember if he'd always gotten along with Captain Griff or if that was something new from the last few months, too.
"Hey," Daniel said brightly as the first chevron locked, "I've never seen manual dialing before."
"It is a most strenuous task," Teal'c informed him.
"Not fun," Jack added.
"I'll bet Nyan would help us, if only to see it work," Daniel said. "Did you see his expression? It's just like Giza for them, you know, digging and hitting something that turns out to be the Stargate. And they looked like they're probably about as advanced as we are, and Sam, didn't you say that you can always find new technology because technology doesn't develop the same everywhere?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Carter agreed. "And that also means they've probably developed free from the Goa'uld for quite some time--also not surprising, given that their 'gate was buried."
Jack bit down on the observation that some of the people here at the SGC would probably love to meet friendly aliens walking through their Stargate, but that there were a lot of people who'd be more likely to shoot on sight. Still, Daniel had had his first successful stint making first contact through the MALP, and 'friendly' was a lot better than most of their missions started.
"SG-1," Hammond said as the vortex whooshed outward, "prepare the reactor for manual dial immediately. If you do not check back in eight hours, we'll dial to you and attempt to provide assistance from here."
XXXXX
4 June 2000; Bedrosia, P2X-416; 0905 hrs
By the time Jack and Teal'c stepped out onto P2X-416, the reactor was being set down next to the Stargate. Daniel was already turning to the young man who'd introduced himself as Nyan.
Daniel said the dialect was close to the Abydonian he'd grown up speaking, which meant Teal'c was more or less fluent as well, and Jack and Carter could both understand a decent amount of it, even if they couldn't speak with fluency yet. At the moment, Jack was missing every few words that Nyan and Daniel were babbling. Apparently, Nyan spoke a few other languages, including a few that Daniel said sounded Germanic and Semitic. This was not helpful to Jack.
'War,' though. He recognized that word, even in Ancient Egyptian.
"Optricans," Jack repeated carefully, nodding to Teal'c to take a look around while Carter prepared the naquadah reactor so they could dial home ASAP if needed. "You are at war?"
Daniel glanced at him and clarified to Nyan, "If the Optricans are the enemy of the Bedrosians, are we in danger from the Optricans?"
"Oh, no," Nyan assured them. "They would not come here. This is very far from the fighting."
This seemed to be good enough for Daniel, who continued talking and occasionally remembered to translate in between asking Nyan about how they'd found the Stargate (by accident), what they knew about the Stargate (that it was just a legend--except that it clearly wasn't), and why Nyan was so excited about it (it proved that the Bedrosians were completely wrong about this holy turf war they'd been fighting with the Optricans for decades...)
"Whoa," Jack said, alarmed.
"Uh," Daniel said nervously.
"Yes," Nyan said, looking over his shoulder. "But we are far from the fighting."
"Uh-huh," Jack said, then gave Daniel and Nyan a smile to tell Nyan things were just fine and tell Daniel that things might not be quite so fine. "Talk," he said, gesturing toward them to continue as he made his way to Carter.
"Sir?" she said, looking up from her mass of wires as he approached.
"The Bedrosians have been at war to prove that they were created by their one true god," Jack told her quietly. "Their enemy thinks people were brought here by aliens through the Stargate. So...our being here proves that their enemy is right. As in, the enemy they're at war with."
Carter glanced at Daniel and Nyan, who seemed to be becoming fast friends. "I'm working on it, sir," she said, turning back to her naquadah reactor.
"Work fast," he advised, because an ongoing war was not somewhere he was going to let Daniel sit around and talk archaeology.
Just then, Teal'c called, "O'Neill!"
Jack turned and followed Teal'c's staff weapon to where it was pointing into the sky. It took another second for his eyes to adjust, but soon enough, he could see three dark spots against the sun zooming toward them.
"Oh no," Nyan said, shrinking back. "No...we have to hide."
"You said...we are far from the war," Jack said angrily, looking around for anywhere to hide on an open stretch of land. He raised his gun, not sure what kind of capabilities these aircraft had but not willing to stand and be shot down where he stood, either.
Nyan's expression had become what Jack could only describe as fearful, speaking so frantically now that Daniel had to translate, "Those are not Optrican. They are Nyan's people--the Bedrosian, uh...their military. They are not... Jack, we should really leave now!"
"Carter?" Jack said.
"No time, sir," she answered. "I need five more minutes."
"This way," Nyan said, pointing, pulling at Daniel's sleeve and gesturing to the others before he took off toward the woods himself. Daniel looked back uncertainly toward the reactor still lying in a pile of wires by the Stargate.
"Screw it; let's go," Jack said.
Carter stood and the three of them moved together to follow Nyan, only to stumble back when a shimmering wall appeared before them. Jack looked up and saw a beam that was descending from the closest of the aircraft--a force-field of some sort. Carter darted to one side, looking to go around; Daniel followed her lead in the other direction, and they were both stopped again.
Jack fired on the aircraft and saw a staff blast shooting from Teal'c's position, but before they could do any good, the walls of the field began to collapse inward. Carter and Daniel backed away until all three of them were crammed into the center, watching the walls close in...and then a wave of dizziness washed through Jack's head, and he felt himself crumple.
...x...
Jack woke to the sensation of being dragged upward. He tried to roll aside, and hands clamped around his arms. Something sharp glittered in front of his eyes. A glance to the side showed Carter kneeling on the ground, the same sharp stick weapon--whatever it was--aimed at the back of her head as another pair of men pushed Daniel to his knees next to her. Jack stopped struggling and let himself be dumped next to them, on Carter's other side.
"We come in peace," Jack said in English, just to make sure they didn't understand--there was nothing wrong with having a means of communication among SG-1 without alerting their captors. A few confused frowns met his words but no comprehension. Good.
"We come in peace," Daniel translated to Abydonian, then grimaced when one of the weapons moved closer to his face. Jack really wished he'd kept quiet and remembered that Jack could have said it himself if he'd wanted to; 'we come in peace' was one of the phrases all SG personnel could say in several languages, along with phrases like--
"May I speak to your leader?" Jack said carefully.
No one answered.
"Tough crowd," he muttered to himself. Then, since no one seemed very interested in talking to them now, he added quickly to the others, "Teal'c's our best chance. No matter what, don't tell them he's out there--"
A tip pressed into his back, and a sharp jolt of fire burned through his body. Jack gasped for breath and realized what those weapons were.
"Jack!" Daniel said, horrified and not noticing Carter's sharp look.
"Understood?" he gritted out. "Now quiet!"
Jack couldn't hold back a shout as pain jabbed into him again. This time, however, both of them stayed silent. A glance to the side showed that Carter was looking straight forward, her lips pressed together. Carter would hold her silence, he was sure. Daniel was staring fixedly at the ground, not looking at the approaching men or Jack or Carter. Good boy, Jack thought, hoping that orders and loyalty to Teal'c would be enough to hold him quiet, and that Teal'c would be able to mount a rescue. Soon, preferably.
From one of the aircraft, a man stepped out, followed by a gaggle of other men and women in uniform. Jack was starting to get the impression that the Bedrosians were a little past Earth's technological level, if the energy force-fields and the stunners were anything to judge by. The man who looked like the Bedrosian commander stepped forward and demanded, "Which one of you is Daniel?"
Daniel twitched a little and looked like he was starting to regret being their mouthpiece through the MALP, but Jack quickly said, "I am the leader."
The commander answered with something of which Jack didn't catch anything but the word 'Optrican.' "We are not Optrican," Carter said, and then repeated the stock, "We are peaceful travelers from planet Earth."
"Stargate," Jack tried, and then the other words they'd memorized for this purpose, "Chaapa'ai. Stone circle. Gateway."
This earned them both a displeased glare and a stream of words in which Jack was pretty sure knowing Optrican wasn't enough, until Daniel said quietly, "He thinks it's a trick by the...their enemies to undermine their beliefs. He thinks we're spies."
"Tell them we'll show them how the Stargate works and if they still don't believe us, we'll go," Jack said, not looking away from the commander.
Daniel raised his head and complied. The commander listened, seemed to consider, then started to walk away.
"Let us show you," Daniel said again, actually daring to sound annoyed this time. "What harm is there in--ahh!"
"Oh, come on!" Jack snapped, watching Daniel curl away from his first brief shock of pain.
"Do not talk," the commander said, raising his weapon again. Daniel flinched in anticipation before it could make contact, and the man stepped away, barking orders to his men.
...x...
It took some time for the Bedrosians to erect tents and stuff the three of them into electrified cages. Actually, they didn't find out that the cages were electrified until they were already inside them. There were no locks to pick, which meant that the first thing they did was to test the strength of the cage, and the best way to do that was to give the door a little kick--
"Ow!" Jack said, pulling his smarting foot back. "All right, that hurts."
"They're all so misguided," Daniel said in a low voice, huddling in the center of his cage. "They're just--"
Oh, no, not now. "Daniel..." Jack said, his view of Daniel blocked by Carter.
"They are, Jack, you heard. If we can just make them see--"
"No, Daniel, you listen to me now," Jack hissed, stopping just short of grabbing hold of the wire of his cage to lean around. "You do not sympathize with them. You do not try to see things their way. They're about to walk in here and interrogate us. They'll hurt us to get information, do you understand that?"
Carter turned to look at Jack. He forced himself to look steadily at Daniel's wide eyes, which had appeared over the top of Carter's head. This was not the time to mince words over this. The door was going to open at any time, and then they might not get another window to talk again.
"I understand," Daniel whispered.
"Your only goal is escape. And to do that, you need to stay alive and be ready to grab a chance to run as soon as it comes, and if we want that chance, we're gonna need outside help. Whatever happens to you or me or Carter, we cannot give that up. Understood?"
"Naturu," Daniel said, and then, "Yeah. Yes."
"You tell them the three of us--the three of us--came through the Stargate. We are not Optrican spies," Jack said. "Say that over and over and over in your head if that helps you. If anything comes out of your mouth, let it be that."
"What if..." Daniel started, then looked nervously at the door. "What if I can't...what if I say something?" Carter closed her eyes briefly.
"You can. You won't say anything," Jack said, making his tone confident. "Will you, Mr. Jackson?"
"No," Daniel promised. "No, sir. I won't."
Jack finally met Carter's eyes and nodded. She visibly steeled herself and turned back to face forward. "What do you think they're doing out there?" she asked softly.
"Looking at the Stargate, probably," Jack guessed. "Maybe your naquadah reactor." They probably thought it was a bomb. Jack supposed that wasn't going to be a point in SG-1's favor.
"I'll bet they used to serve Ra," Daniel said.
"You what?" Jack said. "Where the hell did that come from?"
"The language is so close. I'm guessing Ra or someone closely associated with him or those mythologies. In fact, if we can convince them by using our knowledge of Ra and other--"
"I doubt it'll work," Carter said. "They don't believe the Stargate's real, and they saw it with their own eyes. Anything else we claim, they'll think it's an Optrican trick."
"Well, maybe some of them will listen!" Daniel whispered.
"And maybe it'll make them more angry," Carter said.
"Look," Daniel said impatiently, "I'm the only one who can hold a real conversation with these people. I need something to say to them, unless you think silence won't make them more angry?"
Jack grimaced out of Daniel's line of sight. With Daniel clearly the least experienced and the only one fluent, he could imagine who would be the focus of the interrogation. He hoped the Bedrosians had the same qualms about underage soldiers that the SGC did. He wished the SGC's qualms had been a little stronger. "Stick as close to the facts as you can," Jack said. "Anything but our friend and our codes. And so help me, if someone makes me try to explain the Stargate and wormholes in Ancient Egyptian..."
The door opened, and the Bedrosian commander walked in, wielding another one of those stun weapons. "You," he said, pointing at Jack. Another pair of men opened the lock on Jack's cage and dragged him out for his individual interview session. And so it began.
...x...
Once they were finally all back in the prison tent and looked relatively unharmed, Jack took the first opportunity while the guards stepped outside to say, "Everyone okay?"
"Yes, sir," Carter said, though she was curled a little tighter than before.
"The commander's name is Rigar," Daniel said instead of answering. "I think Parey is his second. I saw a few others, but those were the only two in the interrogation room with me."
"Parey's the woman with the braid, right. Rigar's got a slight limp; he'll be weaker on that side," Carter added. "But we're still vastly outnumbered by the rest of the soldiers, even if we get out."
"Yeah, I noticed that," Jack said.
"Parey's uncomfortable," Daniel said. "At least, it sounds like she has doubts, and she feels bad for me, I'm pretty sure--they didn't do much to me." Jack tried to see him over Carter's hunched form. "If she's uncomfortable, others must be, too. I can try to get her sympathy--emphasize my age and...and things like that."
"I don't know--I think she's too loyal, and you're not small enough anymore for that act to have full effect," Carter said. "They might just make an example out it. Out of you."
Jack chewed his lip. She was right, but Daniel did have a lot of experience--some by accident, but some through intentional practice, too--acting and looking as innocent and harmless as possible to make an enemy lower his guard. "Daniel, don't do anything that might get you hurt," he said, because if they were being separated, he'd have to rely at least a little on his team's judgment to take the right action. "If you're not sure, just stay quiet."
"Okay," Daniel said with surprisingly little resistance. Electrified cages had that effect on a person.
"That goes for everyone: no stupid moves--wait until we've got a real chance so we can all get out together, you understand? I'm not leaving any of us behind." Escape right now meant that Teal'c would be stuck, even if there were some way for them to manage it on their own.
There was an exclamation from outside. Jack tensed, waiting for shots to be fired, thinking that even Teal'c would have a hard time getting inside this tent all by himself without getting killed, not to mention the force field...but nothing like that happened. Instead, there was a silence for several long minutes before the door was pushed open and two Bedrosian soldiers and Rigar's second-in-command walked in.
"Problem?" Jack said, because it was his way to talk at people who locked him up.
"Is there a problem?" Daniel translated immediately, because it was his way to do his duty as interpreter when he was shaken.
Later, Jack would never know whether they'd picked out Daniel beforehand or if they'd picked because he'd opened his mouth. Daniel's cage was opened, the soldiers dragged him to his feet and out the door, and it was all Jack could do not to try prying his cage apart with his fingers.
The tent flap closed behind them. Jack glanced at Carter and could practically see her thinking 'what do you think they're doing to him?' Neither of them voiced it.
A few minutes later, Daniel's cry came from outside, and it became all too clear what was happening.
"Colonel," Carter said.
"Not now," Jack said.
"He's just a kid," she said, her voice strained.
Jack wished he didn't feel like he was doing nothing now but sitting and waiting to hear Daniel's voice again. "He's your teammate, Major." Her expression said she wasn't thinking of it that way any more than he was right now. "We'll handle it at home, but we need to get there first. And there is nothing we can say to them that'll help us stay alive and bring him home."
She looked down, then nodded. "Yes, sir."
The tent flap opened again to let four more people in. "Oh, here we go," Jack said as he and Carter were dragged out, but they only caught a brief view of Daniel on his hands and knees in front of what looked like a big hole in the ground, surrounded by soldiers, before they were yanked around in the other direction.
On the other side of the tent, they were pushed to their knees again.
"Now, see," Jack told the soldier pointing the stunner at him, "that's just rude."
The soldier stared.
Jack turned to Carter. "You know what I hate the most about being captured on alien planets where they don't speak English?"
"No, sir," she said calmly, used to this game. "What do you hate the most?"
"I can't really bait 'em properly," Jack complained. "It's like--"
Daniel screamed in the distance, louder and sounding strangled this time before it choked off. The commander, Rigar, sauntered from around the tent and gave them a look, glancing back once in Daniel's direction. "Where is your other friend?" Rigar said.
So this was how they were going to play it. Jack forcibly kept his hands from curling into fists and calmly asked the Bedrosian soldier before him, "How long are we're supposed to stay here?"
"I do not know!" Daniel's voice shouted in Abydonian. "We are not--" He stopped abruptly. Jack refused to imagine why.
"So, it's nice to meet you," Jack said steadily, not looking away. "What's your name? I think I'll call you Moe. You can be Larry," he told the next soldier. "Anyone want to be Curly?"
Carter got jabbed in the back for his efforts. "We are peaceful travelers," she managed with barely a quiver in her voice as she straightened again. Rigar stood impassively, clearly unimpressed and glancing back toward where they'd taken Daniel. Jack didn't look at Carter either, but he did shut up. He hated not being able to bait his captors.
...x...
Daniel was already back in his cage when Jack and Carter were tossed back into their own cells. Jack tried to sneak a look at him but only caught a glimpse of messy hair and a hunched back before being shoved into his box.
"Daniel, are you all right?" Carter asked as she folded herself back in as well.
There was no answer. Jack wished his cage were in the middle, where he could see both of them at once. He hated not knowing if Daniel had said anything, verbally or otherwise.
Rigar came in a moment later, handling a zat gun. Jack hoped for a moment that Bedrosians didn't know how zat guns worked, until he primed it and aimed it directly at Carter.
Carter stiffened but sat straight in her place. Now Jack could see Daniel twitch on her other side.
Still directing his questions to Daniel, Rigar said, "I will ask one more time."
Like a mantra, like Jack had instructed him, Daniel recited, "We are not Optrican spies. I do not know who killed--"
The zat fired. Carter gasped once, then collapsed in her seat. Daniel started to say something, and actually lurched forward to grab his cage, then jerked back and stared at her limp form instead. Jack decided to be grateful she hadn't fallen against the cage walls. Small favors.
Then the zat turned to Jack, and Rigar turned back to Daniel. "Where is your other friend?" Rigar said. "What is the enemy's plan?"
Jack deliberately wasn't looking at anyone this time, but he heard Daniel's voice shake as he repeated, "We are not Optrican spies--"
Jack felt his body jerk as the shock of zat energy enveloped him, and then another burst of fire exploded through his bones. He blacked out to the sound of Daniel's screams. He really hated that sound.
..x...
Ow, ow, ow...
Jack struggled awake, and his arm brushed against something cold and metallic. Remembering where he was, he jerked away and forced his eyes open, only to realize the cage wasn't electrified anymore. A soft moan from beside him said that Carter was waking up, too. Jack stretched his muscles as much as he could to make them stop trembling from whatever had hit him. Oh, right--zat gun. That must be it. God, it felt like he'd been zatted a few times over.
General Hammond's voice was coming from somewhere. Radios. Jack looked around for the source...and found the radio in Rigar's hand as the MALP panned slowly, clearly looking for them and not realizing Rigar was already in the tent, watching it.
"...return my people immediately," Hammond demanded, followed by what sounded like Rothman translating his words to Ancient Egyptian. "Do we understand each other?"
A glance past Carter's body showed Daniel looking dejectedly from Jack to the MALP. Rigar turned to look directly into the camera of the MALP and said, "If you attempt any sort of rescue, we will kill your people." He raised the zat and fired at the MALP.
Rigar gave all of them a glare and threw the zat gun back on the table with all of their equipment, then strode out of the tent, barking orders.
"We're being moved," Daniel said. Carter shook her head dazedly and looked around herself to either side. "To a more secure place."
A guard approached and tapped Daniel's cage sharply, eliciting a flinch.
"DHD," Daniel continued urgently, staring at Jack and his voice tense to the point of shaking. "They unburied the DHD. I saw it--I know where it is--"
The stunner jabbed as far as it would go inside the cage. Daniel cringed away and covered his head with his arms.
"Hey! Enough," Jack snapped, thinking fast. If they were being moved, they had to do something fast. Well, actually, they'd have to hope Teal'c acted fast. Transport would be the best time to get out, and with a little help and a DHD, that would make things less complicated.
A commotion outside caught their attention. The guard removed his weapon, gave Daniel's cage one last warning thump, did the same to Carter's for good measure, and hurried outside.
Someone was yelling, but it sounded more scared than angry. Shadows marched toward their tent--two people escorting a third, it seemed, who was too short to be Teal'c--and suddenly, a shot was fired, followed by another and another...
"Can you run?" Jack said, deciding they were going to take whatever chance they got at this point. He touched his cage once more to make sure it really wasn't electrified, then started kicking at the door. Dammit, it wasn't budging...
"Yes," Daniel said, overlapping Carter's "Yes, sir."
"Can you get...to the DHD?" Jack said between kicks.
"I know where it is," Daniel said, which was all anyone could ask for now, and the other two twisted around in their cages to begin battering down their own doors, too.
A zat gun could be heard priming just outside their tent. Two of the shadows dropped to the ground as someone burst into the tent, bending to pick up two of the Bedrosian stun weapons and rush toward them, looking utterly terrified...familiar.
"Nyan?" Carter said incredulously. Jack stopped his futile kicking.
Not wasting any time, Nyan pressed the side of the weapon against their cages, unlocking the doors. He handed one weapon to Carter and kept the other for himself while handing the zat over to Jack. He pointed to a button on the side of the weapon, jabbering at Daniel, who said, "Sam, the long-range...trigger is on the side of the weapon. Nyan, where is Teal'c?"
"Outside," Nyan said, pointing. Weapons fired outside, so Jack didn't doubt it.
"Daniel, get to the DHD and go through the 'gate as soon as you get the 'okay'," Jack said. "We'll lay down cover fire. Run fast." The four of them looked through the tent flap to see a shuttle inside the quarantine field, where Teal'c dodged quickly inside, using the shuttle itself as cover. Carter fired off her first shot and darted out to take cover beside the tent. "Daniel, go!"
Jack stepped out and fired as well until Daniel sprinted past him, his gaze fixed ahead of him instead of trying to keep track of the soldiers surrounding him, clearly banking on speed and luck alone. Nyan ran and dodged behind Carter, his weapon still firing, and Jack followed them both. The DHD must be in that hole in the ground they'd seen before--Jack watched long enough to see Daniel roll into it, out of sight.
A moment later, the first chevron lit. "Yes," Jack hissed, redoubling his fire as one chevron became two, four, six, seven--
The vortex splashed outward. "Teal'c, IDC!" Jack called, looking toward the shuttle.
Teal'c appeared around the edge, took in the active wormhole, and ducked back. He reappeared to yell, "Go!"
Daniel surfaced from the hole. He turned to look back at them but had to duck back down when someone fired at his exposed head. A few seconds later, Daniel emerged again, scrambled out of the hole, and dove through the wormhole. "Carter, go!" Jack called. She fired twice more, then ran forward, still firing, and threw herself through the ring.
"Nyan..." Jack started.
"Go," Nyan said, raising his weapon.
Jack decided he kind of liked the guy.
He ducked one blast and rushed into Teal'c's shuttle, only to be confronted with the business end of a weapon.
"Ah-aht--Teal'c!" he yelled, turning his zat aside and raising his hands. "Teal'c, it's me!"
Teal'c was...in pretty bad shape. There was some kind of burn on his face, uncomfortably close to his eyes, and speaking of his eyes, he didn't seem to be focusing very well, either. He was standing, though, and fighting, which was good enough for Jack.
"Look a little rough there," Jack said. "We gotta go. Ready?" Teal'c nodded wordlessly and turned back toward the clearing, weapon at the ready. Jack grabbed his arm to guide him and primed his zat with his free hand. "Go!"
They sprinted out together, until an energy blast blew past them from behind. At the sound of a cry, Teal'c pulled away from Jack, who turned, looking for the source. Rigar stood at the door to the command tent. As he started to raise his weapon again, Jack squeezed his zat, watching the electricity crackle over him as he fell.
"Come on!" Jack said as Teal'c staggered forward, supporting a dazed Nyan.
"He is coming with us, O'Neill!" Teal'c insisted, so Jack grabbed Nyan's other arm and pulled them all through the wormhole--
XXXXX
4 June 2000; Embarkation Room, SGC; 1800 hrs
"General Hammond, he is a friend!" Teal'c yelled, still holding onto Nyan and looking like he was barely keeping himself on his own feet.
Jack moved down the ramp to where Daniel and Sam were standing side-by-side, and if their faces were too pale, they were both standing, which was the important thing. To his surprise, as soon as he reached them, Daniel reached a hand halfway toward him, stopped, and said urgently, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just Teal'c and Nyan," Jack said, glancing back. "Nothing looks fatal."
"Colonel, let's debrief quickly," the general said, looking over the three of them before moving up to check on Teal'c. "I need to know what happened back there."
"Thank you, sir," Jack said, pulling Daniel away. Carter followed after handing the weapon she'd brought back to an airman with admonitions to be careful. "No one else needs immediate medical attention?" he asked as they moved away from the commotion in the 'gate room and toward the briefing room.
"I'm all right, sir," Carter said. "Daniel?"
"I'm okay. Jack, maybe you should go and get checked out," Daniel said, looking worried again.
Jack raised his eyebrows and glanced at Carter, who seemed rather confused as well. "I told you, Daniel, I'm fine."
"You're not fine; you got electrocuted!" Daniel said, starting to shiver as they crossed the threshold into the briefing room.
"All right," Jack said, holding out a hand. "Sit. Calm down. I feel fine." Mostly. "We all got shocked more than a few times. We'll head over to the infirmary together as soon as we're done here. This won't take long."
"Okay," Daniel said, nodding and blinking myopically. His glasses were missing. "Yeah."
"Sit down," Jack reminded him. Carter smiled at him and pushed him into a chair, but she remained standing herself.
General Hammond hurried in soon after. "Let's make this quick," he said. "As you were."
"Basically, there are two nations at war on the planet, sir," Jack said. "We were on Bedrosia, where they believed all human life was created on their continent by their one true god--"
"Nefertum, the Blue Lotus Blossom," Daniel added. "The son of Sakhmet, servant to Ra. I couldn't find out whether Sakhmet is related to Hathor at all, as Earth's mythologies would suggest, but since Hathor was a System Lord and Sakhmet seemed to have been almost certainly a minor Goa'uld, I doubt it."
Jack turned to stare at him. "When'd they say that?"
"When they were interrogating me," Daniel said. "Rigar said they followed the teachings of Nefertum. We've seen the symbol of the Blossom on Abydos--I just never realized he was a Goa'uld rather than a human slave or Jaffa. But we can ask Nyan when he wakes up."
"Uh...right," Carter said. "Well, the Optricans, the opposing nation, believe they were brought to the planet by aliens through the Stargate, and they've been at war because the Stargate--"
"Which is sacred to them," Jack said.
"--is on Bedrosian soil. The Bedrosians refused to believe our story and thought we were Optrican spies, fabricating a story to prove the Optricans were right about the 'gate."
"Yes, their man--Rigar?--accused me of the same," General Hammond said.
And that was after they'd seen the Stargate work. "Anyway," Jack said, "Teal'c escaped capture, so we just sat tight until he and Nyan rescued us. Someone dug up the DHD at some point, and we came back home."
"Is there any reason not to block that address out of our system?" Hammond asked.
"They had very interesting, very advanced technology," Carter said, "but it would be extremely dangerous for anyone who tried to get it. They don't seem to be the forgiving type or the type to change their belief system so easily."
"I say we never go back again," Jack said fervently. "In fact, I'd bet they're trying to destroy their 'gate right now--get rid of the evidence."
"What about Nyan?" Daniel said.
"Nyan will be probably be shot on sight if he goes back," Jack said, then turned to the general, "He saved our lives, probably Teal'c's, too. We should let him stay, sir."
"Well, we should give him a choice, first," Daniel added, "but I agree that staying here should be one of those choices."
Hammond nodded. "We can get Nyan refugee status on Earth. When he wakes up, we'll make sure he understands the danger of returning to P2X-416, but we will give him a choice if we're able to establish a wormhole. Is there a position you'd be comfortable offering him here at the SGC if he's to stay?"
Jack shrugged. "Didn't he say he found the Stargate because he was digging to try to find a lost civilization in the first place?"
Daniel nodded. "That's right--someone in our department can always use an extra pair of eyes and hands. He seems to be the Bedrosian equivalent of a well-trained archaeologist who is also familiar with advanced technology, at least the kind found on their planet."
"Talk to Dr. Rothman and keep me informed," Hammond said. "Is anyone else here injured?"
"Not seriously, I don't--" Jack started, only to be interrupted by Daniel.
"Jack and Sam were zatted. Jack was...shocked continuously for a long time."
Hammond and Carter both turned to stare at him. "No, I wasn't," Jack said, confused about why this kept coming up.
"Yes, you were!" Daniel snapped, rubbing his arms as if cold. "You were just...unconscious by then. From the zat."
Ah. That explained a lot, including why he felt worse than a regular zatting could account for.
"Daniel needs to get checked out, too," Carter said. "Whatever they used on us, it was like some kind of electrical stun weapon, and they spent a long time...interrogating him."
"I heard them using it on you, too," Daniel muttered.
"All of you, go to the infirmary and submit to an examination," Hammond said, looking concerned at all of them. "I'll get the ball rolling on Nyan."
...x...
4 June 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 1845 hrs
Daniel was being prodded by a nurse and talking to Rothman by the time Jack was finally allowed to hop off his own gurney. Fraiser was still poking around Teal'c but gave Jack a reassuring smile.
"Hey," Jack said. He decided not to poke his head around the curtain into Carter's area, since Daniel's shirt was off and he didn't need to see Carter if she was missing clothing, too. "Doc says I'm fine, so you can stop worrying."
"Good," Daniel said, leaning forward as a nurse dressed something near his shoulder. His fingers clenched on the edge of the bed, and his face twitched as if suppressing a grimace.
Before Jack could say anything, Rothman scowled and sniped, "Well, as long as you're fine, Colonel."
"Robert," Daniel said tightly, glancing at Jack.
"Do I have authority to pull him off your team?" Rothman said, nervous and angry at once.
"No!" Daniel said, squirming away from the nurse to reach for his shirt, only to be manhandled back into place. "Ow! No, it's fine," he added quickly as Jack peeked around him, noting bruises and scrapes and trying to see what was under the gauze. "Robert, he was telling me because I've been worried, all right?"
Finally, the nurse gave Jack a nod, made a checkmark and a couple of notes on Daniel's chart, and moved away from the bed. "Stay here until the doctor can speak with you, sir." Daniel reclaimed his shirt and pulled it on so he could fold his arms properly. He moved easily enough that Jack figured his injuries were probably minor.
"Either way, it looks like we're all more or less fine now," Jack said.
"I almost got you killed," Daniel muttered.
"Hey," Jack said sharply. "You did everything you were supposed to."
"He was going to kill you, Jack! He asked about the zat'nik'tel, and I told him how they worked, but I didn't know they were going to shoot you, I swear--"
Jack grabbed the edge of the nearest curtain and pulled it around the bed, deliberately leaving Rothman outside it. "We're safe, and that's all that matters," Jack said. "It's a good thing they didn't think the zats were some sort of nonlethal stun weapon they could shoot more than once."
"I could've stopped him."
"No, you couldn't," Jack said firmly. "We know exactly how you feel, Daniel. Carter and I could hear what they were doing to you out by the DHD--"
"I didn't say anything about the DHD," Daniel insisted. "I tried to talk about Nefertum instead, I didn't say--"
"I know," Jack said. "You did everything you were supposed to. But if either of us had told them about Teal'c, they might've stopped, and we didn't. You get it?"
"It wasn't that bad."
Jack thought that was a lie but couldn't actually tell, so he said, "Honestly, it was bad for us listening to it. I know how you feel."
Daniel bit his lip, thinking that over, and said, "They wouldn't have killed me. It's different with you. They knew you weren't going to break, and they needed me alive to talk to them."
"Well, from where I'm standing, it looks like you didn't break, either," Jack said quietly. "Under torture, Daniel--and that includes making you watch them shoot us. You kept your head, kept your eyes open and picked up a lot of information without giving up any of your own. I'm sorry it happened, but I tell you, you did everything right."
"Why are you sorry?" Daniel said, and then ripped the curtain aside to where Rothman was still standing. Daniel looked between him and Jack, then said, "You're not going to try to take me off the team every time something bad happens, are you?"
"You want off?" Jack asked, because sometimes it seemed like the bad things got worse and worse each time.
"No," Daniel said slowly, frowning in the way that meant he was afraid someone would overrule him anyway.
"Anyone who has a problem with Daniel on my team can talk to me and Hammond somewhere that's not the infirmary," Jack said, looking at Rothman. "Daniel, I need to talk to you later, too, after you get some rest."
Daniel gave Rothman a long look full of glares and significantly waggling eyebrows. "He's my responsibility, too, Colonel," Rothman said.
"I get that," Jack said, somehow feeling glad about that and defensive of it at the same time. Rothman opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, then closed it and turned away.
"Actually," Daniel said, sliding off the bed with a wince and hunting around for his shoes. Jack watched him, cataloguing the way he rolled his shoulders stiffly (muscles protesting from the Bedrosian stun weapons, no doubt), fumbled a bit with his left hand (he'd probably scraped the right while running, maybe fallen on it), and straightened more slowly than usual (careful, like he was tired but not off-mission yet). All in all, acceptable. "Robert, I need to talk to you about Nyan."
As Jack watched, Daniel pulled a reluctant Rothman aside, placing himself between the archaeologist and Jack to cut off their line of sight.
Carter appeared from around the curtain just as Fraiser approached. "Colonel," the doctor said, "Teal'c will be just fine with a day or so of rest. Nyan, too--we'll keep an eye on his concussion, but barring complications, he'll be out around the same time as Teal'c. For the rest of you, the weapons you described don't seem to have done too much external damage. Some irritation..."
"We didn't come into direct skin contact with the weapons, for the most part," Carter offered.
"I thought that might be the case. Daniel does have a mild burn on his back, and Colonel O'Neill, as well." Jack resisted the urge to pick at the bandage sticking out of the back of his shirt, where he'd apparently been lying on electrified wire. "That seems to be the only external injury aside from a few bruises. I expect all of you will be pretty sore and tired over the next few days, and I don't want any of you leaving the base for the next twenty-four hours."
"What?" Jack said, dismayed.
"I'm just thankful everyone came back with his or her heart still beating, Colonel," she said firmly. "I'd rather wait until I'm sure there are no complications."
...x...
5 June 2000; Infirmary, SGC; 0900 hrs
Jack walked into the infirmary the next morning with the intention of checking on Teal'c, only to find Rothman sitting in a chair next to Nyan's bed. Daniel was sitting on the next mattress over at Teal'c's feet, both of them turned at an angle to see Nyan, who was saying very carefully, "Thank you. What is...this?" He held up a pen.
"That is a pen," Daniel said clearly, then noticed Jack. "That," he told Nyan, "is Colonel Jack O'Neill. You can call him Jack or Colonel O'Neill."
"Hello, Colonel O'Neill," Nyan said as Daniel turned around and grinned. "My name is Nyan. I am pleased to meet you." Then he gave a shy smile and said, "Thank you."
"No, no, thank you, Nyan," Jack said amiably. To Daniel, he said, "Can I talk to you a minute?"
Daniel's expression became wary, but he gave Nyan a final smile as he hopped to the floor and said, "Yeah, sure. Excuse me," he added to Nyan and Teal'c.
As they stepped outside, Nyan could be heard asking Teal'c, "What is 'excuse me?'"
"Teaching him English?" Jack said once they were in the hall outside the infirmary.
"I volunteered to start with him. So did Teal'c, and Robert when he has time. Obviously, language isn't the only cultural barrier, but it's an important one. He learns fast."
"Like you, then."
"But with several more years of learning in his background," Daniel corrected, then lowered his voice. "I don't think it's really hit him yet. Once he gets out of bed, he'll realize he can't go home. So Teal'c and I want to...make sure he settles in, I guess. And..."
"And what?" Jack said.
"He felt bad about shooting people yesterday. I talked to him--Teal'c and I both talked to him," he amended when Jack raised his eyebrows.
"You realize he's older than you?" Jack pointed out. "We'll take care of him, don't worry--"
"You realize he's never used a weapon before? He felt bad. We talked. It's fine."
Jack sighed but had to acknowledge, "Yeah, I guess you would understand. Well, that's nice of you guys."
Daniel still looked wary. "Is something wrong?"
"With Nyan? No. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Jack said. "We didn't get to talk much last night before Teal'c and Nyan woke up, and then you were out like a light yourself."
"You mean about what happened on Bedrosia?"
"Yes, I mean about what happened on Bedrosia."
"I...wish it hadn't happened?" Daniel said, looking confused.
Jack almost rolled his eyes but, while Daniel wasn't as innocent as he might have been once, he didn't think they'd yet gotten to a point at which they could deal with things like this by laughing them off. "I'm not looking for a right answer. Are you gonna be okay with it?"
"I've been hurt worse before."
"Not like that."
Daniel tilted his head, thinking. "You would have been electrocuted--and I mean 'killed'--if General Hammond hadn't chosen exactly that moment to dial in."
"That's possible," Jack allowed. "But--"
"But it's a risk, I know," Daniel said, looking down. "I understand why you told us not to say anything...I agree with the order, Jack. I just...don't like it."
"So..." Jack said.
"So I'm not happy with what happened," Daniel said, blinking.
"I'm not happy either," Jack said carefully, "but I'm not going to knock the outcome."
Daniel didn't answer at first, but he was still thinking, so Jack let him, because when Daniel let things fester without thinking, they had a tendency to explode later. He still wasn't sure when Daniel had stopped jumping into everything without thinking: whether it was something that had just happened as he grew up, or if it was from a different sort of stress now that his brother and sister were safe, or if it had happened during those months when Jack hadn't been on base for him to argue with.
"I understand it was the best course of action with a chance of being rescued by Teal'c," Daniel finally said. "Actually, you know what annoys me? They wouldn't believe us." Jack raised his eyebrows. "No, I mean...obviously, it annoyed me that they kept shocking us, too."
"Yes," Jack said, bemused. "That was very annoying of them."
Daniel made a face. "Yes, wrong word. But think about it--the fact that they refused to believe the truth about the Stargate--even after they saw it work--meant they would never have let us go, no matter what, unless we lied and said we were Optricans, in which case...well..."
"Bad idea."
"Yeah. There was nothing we could say."
"You can't win 'em all," Jack said. "Sometimes we've gotta just cut our losses and run."
"I know that," Daniel said. "It's just...if we're running away from someone and we get shot, at least we knew we did our best, right? But yesterday...it's not just that. There's a choice between talking or not talking, or intervening or not intervening. And one of the choices is bad, and the other one is worse but it looks better in the short term, so..."
"Ironic," Jack said. "You have more choices, and you still feel more helpless."
Daniel looked surprised, then disturbed. "Yes," he agreed. "I think that's exactly what I meant."
Jack nodded. "We're fighters here. It's hard when they don't give us anything to fight." Not even words, for those of them who weren't fluent in the language.
"I'm not a fighter."
Which was a complete lie, of course, whether he realized it or not. Jack thought Daniel didn't know anything else anymore except to fight, and as much as he felt bad about it sometimes, it had kept him alive so far. "Bull. If you're not a fighter, I don't know who is."
Daniel glanced back into the infirmary. "Jack, the first time they used those--shock-weapons, I thought...I mean, it hurt, but it wasn't... I couldn't see why anyone thought that was an effective interrogation technique. And then..."
When he stopped, Jack filled in, "And the next time it hurt more and you wanted it to stop. The next time, you wondered if it was going to kill you, and giving in started to sound like a good idea."
Daniel nodded, folding his arms. "I was never going to turn in Teal'c. But I was...afraid it would--it would get worse, and then I'd forget that I wasn't supposed to say anything."
"I'll need to go over some things with you," Jack said, wishing he didn't have to say it at all. "You should know about different...techniques you might face in an interrogation. There are things you can do or think to help you resist. There are protocols we follow that you need to know. If we'd been a little smarter, we'd have realized you needed to be taught sooner."
"Okay," Daniel said, frowning. "Okay. Teach me, then."
"And I need you to understand that yesterday was...not good, but it could've been a lot worse, physically and psychologically. Daniel, if you get captured, you try like hell to escape, but I'll be honest--most of the time, the odds are against you. You're doing well just to stay alive."
Daniel nodded soberly. "I understand."
"Do you?" Jack said.
"Probably not entirely, without experiencing it myself," Daniel admitted. "But I understand the risk--I'm not going into this blindly. I don't know why Robert was so angry last night. It was probably--he saw the MALP telemetry of us in the cages and you and Sam unconscious, and he wasn't happy about it."
"Carter talked to me, too," Jack said. "She's concerned about how this will affect you."
A tinge of worry appeared in Daniel's expression. "Well. I was concerned, too, when she got zatted and hit her head on electrified wire before passing out, Jack. I know as well as anyone else who walks through the Stargate that we could be captured or hurt or killed."
"Some would rather you weren't given that choice," Jack said, curious about what the answer would be. "Don't pretend you don't understand why we have age limits."
"I'm almost seventeen by your years," Daniel said so promptly that Jack realized he'd already prepared an answer for just this situation. "Even disregarding my age of majority by my own nation's standards, in a month I'd be allowed to be join your military by your laws. International law would allow my voluntary enlistment as a soldier in wartime right now in many countries, and I'm not even asking to do that. I trust you and Sam and Teal'c--"
"We'll try, but we can't always protect you," Jack said, not mentioning that there were plenty of people unhappy with allowing people Daniel's age from joining any military in any country. "Obviously. You saw that yesterday."
Because their laws weren't always applicable to what the SGC faced, and because the SGC sometimes played a little fast and loose with those laws and couldn't be regulated by normal means, the NID was the one organization that should have had the ability and jurisdiction to sort out ethical issues like this. Dealing with their own ethical problems, though, had turned NID scrutiny away from the SGC, and while Jack thought SG personnel did a pretty good job on their own most times, he also knew that they would have gotten hell from anyone else for certain things, like Daniel's joining SG-1 for missions that had turned out to be very unsafe. The top secret classification protected them from that scrutiny, too, and Jack was sure he wasn't the only one who felt a little guilty about that. What was done was done, but even if it was irreversible now, that didn't mean it was irreproachable.
"Well, I'll try, too, but I can't always talk reason into people even when I speak the language," Daniel said, raising his chin. "You saw that yesterday. If you accept that, then I accept any risk we can't cover between the four of us."
"I figured you'd say that." Jack sighed, though whether it was in resignation or in relief, he couldn't have said. "No one's pulling you off the team, but I do want you to take the next couple of weeks for some less intense work on base."
Daniel opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it, frowning. Then he said, "You mean, to make sure I don't have some sort of delayed reaction and..." He waved a hand in the air. "...and do something stupid. I understand."
Jack's eyebrows rose. "You do?"
"I don't think I need it," Daniel said, glancing away toward Teal'c and Nyan again. "I'm okay this time, really, but I have done stupid things before, so--"
As a nurse walked past, Jack reached out quickly to pull Daniel out of the way just as he turned back around. Daniel flinched violently from his hand, jumping back into the wall with his arms raised as if to cover his head. "Whoa--hey," Jack said, waving the nurse past. "You okay?"
Looking stunned, Daniel lowered his arms. "Huh," he said feebly. "Well. That was weird."
"Uh-huh," Jack said, watching him carefully now.
"That..." Daniel started, then cleared his throat. "That wasn't...you know."
"No," Jack agreed.
"Just a normal response to a--an object coming toward my, uh...my head."
"Yeah." Or a response drilled into his head by enemy interrogators the day before.
"But, uh...I see your point," Daniel said.
"I wasn't trying to make a point."
"Well, it worked, anyway." Daniel took a breath, then shrugged. "Maybe I should spend some time in the gym--you know, get used to you and Teal'c beating me again, huh?"
The nurse walked past them again on her way in but paused at hearing the end of that sentence. Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. It took Daniel a minute, and then he snickered. "Laugh it up," Jack told him, waving the nurse past them again. "Really--rest a couple of days. Then you'll go over a few protocols with me, go to the gym, read a book, talk to whomever about whatever...all right?"
"All right," Daniel said. "I'm really okay, though. Just twitchy right now. You know...reflex--"
"Yeah, I know."
"I know better by now than to say I'm fine and go out there with you if I'm not--"
"I know," Jack repeated. "It's been less than a day."
Daniel gave him a half-smile. "A few bad nights coming up, then, I'm sure." Jack grimaced. That was probably true, and they both knew it. "No, I know. It's...it'll--"
"We'll be fine."
"Right." Daniel was silent for a while. "This is a lot of work. This whole...handling things properly."
Jack suppressed a smile, because it wasn't really funny, and nodded. "Yeah, it is. But it's less work than letting yourself get stuck in a rut and having to pull yourself back out afterward. This isn't an easy job--you have to take care of yourself to do it."
"So...I guess I'm obeying your order, Colonel. I'll stick to deskwork until I'm sure I'm fine."
"Finally, five minutes after I gave the order. You couldn't just say, 'yes, sir' for once?"
"No, sir," Daniel deadpanned.
"You are such a pain in the ass," Jack said, earning a grin. And then, he realized how rarely he said this, if he'd said it before at all. "Daniel, look, I wish yesterday hadn't happened, but I'm proud of you. There is literally no one on this base who could've done better yesterday."
Rather than taking the praise for what it was, though, Daniel said, "About yesterday...I need to say that this is exactly what I was talking about before, after the NID undercover--"
"Daniel, let's not--"
"No, Jack, listen," Daniel said. "This is what I meant. I'll argue with you, but when it comes to something like what happened yesterday, I won't let you down."
"You tried to convert them, didn't you?" Jack said. "Parey, maybe? That's how you knew about their Goa'uld."
"But not at the risk of exposing Teal'c. I wouldn't have given that away, but I had to try," Daniel pressed, looking anxious but determined. "There was a chance I could convince one of them, which might have made escape easier, but no matter what, I would not have compromised the mission. Or any one of us."
"I just have to trust that you'll know where to draw the line each time?" Jack said.
"I trust you with my life every time I ship out with you," Daniel pointed out. "If you're not going to trust me, fine, but then I have no business being on your team. I haven't earned it yet?"
Jack remembered the sound of Daniel's screaming and then his frantic insistence on telling them about the DHD even as he cowered from the stun weapon. He was going to be remembering that for a long time. "Oh, yeah," Jack said quietly. "I'd say you've more than earned my trust." He hesitated, then reached forward again. This time, Daniel didn't twitch as Jack set a hand on his shoulder. "The NID op. It was about deceit."
Daniel looked up at him. "Uh...right?" he said.
"I can't teach you that," Jack said. He wanted to look away, but he forced himself to keep staring at Daniel's confused expression. "It's not like drilling tactics, and you don't learn those skills out of a book or a lesson plan. I can give you tips, tell you what to look for, how to think. But the rest of it is experience. That's experience that I have."
"I'll learn it," Daniel said. He understood what was being said.
"No, I don't want you stuck in that mindset," Jack said. "And that's not why I need you on my team. But...that doesn't mean you can't help another way. We'll figure out a way next time."
"I'll learn what I need to," Daniel said, "and next time, we'll be ready."
Jack nodded. "So will I," he agreed, and he gave a gentle push to steer Daniel into the infirmary.
"I still never got to see manual dialing," Daniel said, and he actually sounded disappointed.
"Some other time," Jack said, rolling his eyes behind Daniel's back.
From the next chapter ("Family Ties"):
"So," Jack said, "we're talking about...Crazy Grandpa Ballard?"
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The one thing I was afraid of, and why I didn't comment on the last chapter, was that Jack and Daniel appeared to be 'kissing and making up' too easily, for me, anyway.
But I'm glad you've gone the way you have, I think it makes a much better story. I know, for storyline sake, that the canon!Daniel and Jack made up easily and that's always been the part of that particular episode that bothered me. We know that Daniel can hold a grudge with the best of them and I think it would have taken him a long time to regain his trust in Jack.
Ah, yes, the crazy grandfather and 'Crystal Skull', looking forward to that chapter.
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My personal fanon is that part of what made "New Ground" more horrifying is that it relied on their trusting each other as a team, and it came right after months of separation and a temporary trust-break. I also think making it through that episode would go some way in bringing them together, at least in the sense that you can't give each other the cold shoulder if it's going to get you killed off-world.
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The team trust wasn't irrevocably broken, but had to be quite fragile at the beginning of the mission. The remark that Daniel made about not trusting Jack's command always seemed a bit off to me until I read a fic where the author had Daniel saying that although he questioned most of the military decisions Jack made, he trusted JACK himself. Kind of one of those fine lines, but it helped me to see where Daniel was coming from.
As for going back and changing, I think you should leave it as you see it. I don't advocate changing something you've written just because someone else sees it a bit differently. Just a different way of looking at the same situation.
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Thanks for the feedback. I'm never sure when to stop going back and rewriting stuff :)
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Personal favorite bits? Robert being so angry that Daniel is hurt. And the real wrapping up of post-SoG between Jack and Daniel, and Daniel recognizing his limits in terms of needing time to get over it all.
Fantastic take on the ep, as always. It never occurred to me how frustrated Jack must have been to be stuck in a side cage so he couldn't keep an eye on both Sam and Daniel at once!
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