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The phone rang, breaking the silence that reigned in Daniel Jackson's office and bringing him back to the 20th century with a start. Casting one final longing glance back at the artifact he had been poring over for the last couple of hours, Daniel pushed back the chair and walked over to where the phone was mounted on the wall.
"Daniel?" It was Carter's voice, hurried. Although Daniel knew that everything was quiet at the moment, with all SG teams confined to base by a power outage that had effectively shut down 'Gate travel for the next few days, Carter's tone was enough to send shivers down his spine. "Sam? What's wrong?" Daniel asked, suddenly worried. "It's the colonel," Carter said. "I thought I'd better warn you..." "What is it?" Daniel asked, a hundred scenarios racing through his brain, each more fantastic than the last. "He's been here for the last hour, and he's just left..." Carter continued. "Oh, no..." Daniel said, suddenly realising why the captain had called him. "How long ago did he leave you?" "Three, maybe four minutes," Carter replied. "You need to get out of there, Daniel. You know what'll happen otherwise." "Thanks for the warning, Sam," Daniel said. "I'm leaving now, okay?" With that, Daniel hung up the handset, glancing quickly round the office. His eyes fell on the half-empty mug of coffee on his desk, and he stepped back there quickly, picking up the mug and swilling its contents swiftly. Even if he had to make a get-away, he had no intention of wasting good coffee! He placed the empty mug on the bookcase, with the others that the cleaning staff collected periodically, and looked round the office again. He could see nothing that gave his recent presence there away. The computer was still on, the screensaver working away. Only the light that shone over the desk gave a clue to his recent presence. The surface of the desk itself was generally covered with hand-written notes and reference books, so only the lamp would let someone know he had only just left. Daniel stretched out a hand to flick the lamp off, and turned the door handle. Even as he opened the door, Daniel heard footsteps coming down the corridor - a steady stride that he was sure he recognised. He was too late! Cursing quietly under his breath, Daniel stepped back into his office, looking around it again, this time in search of a hiding place. Maybe if he hid behind his desk, with the light off? He could only hope that this would be enough to escape discovery.... He had no time to decide on anything else. As his hand hit the light switch and he dived for the other side of the desk, barking his shins on the desk-leg in the process, the door handle began to turn. Daniel huddled in the corner, holding his breath. The pounding of his heart seemed abnormally loud, like a signal to the man who had entered the office, that would pinpoint the anthropologist's position unerringly. From where he was crouched, he could see the light shining through the open door as it hit the wall opposite. He could also see the silhouette of the man who was standing in the doorway, recognising it straight away. He had been right when he had thought he recognised the footsteps coming down the corridor - they had been Colonel O'Neill's. After a few moments, Daniel heard a quiet sigh, and then the door closed again, returning the office to darkness. The only light was the screensaver on the computer, endless lines of Egyptian men, moving on and on in silence.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After a couple of minutes, Daniel got up from where he had been hiding and headed over to the phone, inching his way towards it through the darkness. He dialled an extension, his fingers feeling the familiar number and, after a couple of rings, a voice answered. "Sam?" "Daniel?" Carter asked. "Where are you?" "Still in my office," Daniel replied. "I was too slow this time." "But he's not there, is he?" "No," Daniel answered. "D'you think I'd be phoning you if he was?" "So how...?" Carter began, and then she started to laugh, having figured out what Daniel must have done. "Tell me you didn't... Daniel?" "I had to, Sam," Daniel said. "You know what he's like." "But hiding..." Carter said, barely containing her laughter. "In your own office..." "You would have done the same," Daniel said resolutely. "Admit it." "You're right, I guess," Carter replied. "I just never had the opportunity." "Well," Daniel said, with a small smile, "you never know. Where do you think he'll go next?" There was silence the other end of the line, then a buzzing sound, indicating that Captain Carter had hung up on him. Daniel cradled the handset, his smile growing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Daniel returned to work on the artifact he had been studying, fortified by another coffee. After a little while, he forgot that he had ever been forced to take drastic measures to avoid Jack, he was so engrossed in the inscription he was trying to decipher. Time passed, and when Daniel next stretched his hand out to his coffee mug, he found that the little that remained in it was stone-cold. Shuddering slightly at the taste, Daniel got up from his chair, stretched, then decided it was time that he got some food. Even with his on-going caffeine intake, there was a limit to how long he could work in one sitting, and the anthropologist was rapidly heading for that time. Soon, he would have to consider getting some sleep, but first he needed something to eat.... Adding that mug to the growing collection, Daniel headed out of his office, walking down the quiet corridors in the direction of the mess hall. There were very few people about, and Daniel glanced at his watch, then tried to figure out whether it was day or night. The artificial light gave him no clue, and he couldn't work it out - then he remembered that he had checked his e-mail earlier, and it had been the afternoon then, so it must be the middle of the night by now.... On his way back from the mess hall, after one of the SGC's less memorable meals, Daniel was walking back to his office, to start work on his translation again, when he heard his name being called. Damn, he thought, when he recognised the voice, and tried to pretend that he hadn't heard anything. Daniel kept walking, and was just rounding the last corner before he would reach the safety of his office when a hand fell on his shoulder and someone spoke. "Hi Daniel," the voice said. "Oh... hi Jack," Daniel replied, managing to look pleased to see the colonel. I'm for it now, Daniel thought. No escape... "What are you doing up?" Jack asked cheerfully. "Oh... well... you know... just getting some work done on the artifacts SG-4 brought back on their last mission," Daniel stammered. "What about you? It's the middle of the night..." "Huh?" Jack said, as they continued together down the corridor to Daniel's office. "Couldn't sleep. I came by to see you earlier, but you weren't about." "You did?" Daniel asked, trying to sound surprised - he was quite pleased with his attempt. "Yeah. Must have been three or four hours ago," Jack replied, as he closed the door behind him. "Oh," Daniel said, thinking furiously. Try as he might, the anthropologist couldn't come up with a good enough excuse for why he hadn't been in the office when Jack had come looking for him, so he decided to ignore the question and hope Jack would forget all about it. When Daniel didn't say any more, and sat down at his desk again, picking up his pen as if he were about to resume work, Jack gave up. He began to work his way round the office, fiddling with books, inspecting artifacts, and generally investigating the things that Daniel had accumulated in his space. Daniel sighed to himself - even though he tried his hardest to concentrate on what he was meant to be doing, all he could see was Jack, moving around in his peripheral vision, and it was distracting! "You should try and get some sleep, Jack," Daniel said, in what he hoped was a reasonable tone. That way I can get some work done and then we'll both be happy! he thought. "So should you," Jack replied, as he leafed through a pile of papers. It was all Daniel could do not to rush over and tear the papers away from Jack - they were drawings he had done, an attempt to extrapolate from some damaged inscriptions on a planet they had visited a while back. It had taken him quite a while to get the drawings completed to his liking, and the anthropologist had to grit his teeth as he watched Jack rifle through them so carelessly. "Could you put those down, please?" he grated out in the end. "What?" Jack asked, turning back to where Daniel was sitting. "The drawings, Jack," Daniel elaborated as patiently as he could manage. "Oh, sure," Jack said, replacing the pile of drawings in a completely different place from where he had picked them up. Daniel sighed to himself again - this was turning out just as he remembered from last time. "Shouldn't Teal'c be awake?" Daniel asked suddenly, struck by inspiration. "Nope," Jack said, settling himself on a nearby table. He sat there, his legs swinging idly for a moment, before he realised that Daniel was still watching him. Jack's legs stopped moving and he seemed to think he needed to elaborate on his previous statement. "Went by his room before I came back here - he's meditating. He seems to be doing that a lot since we've had this order to stand down." Wish I could meditate, Daniel thought. Maybe then I'd get some peace and quiet... "Do you know how long this is likely to last?" "Well," Jack replied, "the last I heard Siler and his team think it'll be another 12 hours or so before we can start testing the 'Gate again and see if we've got enough juice to dial out." 12 hours? Daniel thought, panicking slightly. If I can't get Jack to go and get some sleep or just go and do something, he's going to keep plaguing us all.... "Daniel?" Jack asked, frowning slightly. "Huh?" "I asked you a question," Jack said, with a grin. "Boy, you were light-years away..." "What?" "What do you mean 'what?'" Jack replied, looking a little bemused. Daniel sighed. This was getting really old, really quickly, and he was aware that he was starting to lose his patience with his friend. All Daniel wanted was to be left in peace to do his work, and he couldn't see any way of getting his wish without upsetting Jack and making him feel unwelcome. "I meant," Daniel began, "what was it you asked me?" "Oh. I asked you if you wanted to go shoot some hoops with me," Jack said. "Not really, Jack," Daniel replied. "I have loads of work to catch up on, so this stand down has been a real blessing in disguse for me. Thanks for the offer though. Maybe later?" "Sure," Jack said. "Later. Maybe I'll go see if Teal'c has finished meditating." With that, Jack swung himself down off the table, and headed for the door. "See you later, Daniel," he said, as he left.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Try as he might, Daniel couldn't concentrate on the artifact he had been studying - even though nothing about it had changed, he no longer found it the source of fascination it had been earlier. All Daniel could think about was the sense of guilt he was feeling, and as time went on it was growing. When he thought about his reaction to Jack's simple request, all Daniel could think of was his foster parents. He hadn't been the most athletic of children, much preferring to curl up with a book, losing himself in another culture, another world, but he had loved to swim. Somehow, though he was ungainly on land, Daniel discovered a grace that had previously been unknown to him when he was in the water. Daniel thought back to the vacation he and his foster parents had taken once - they had rented a cabin by a lake, and Daniel had spent hours in and out of the water, teaching himself to dive. There was a small jetty, off the end of which the water was deep enough to dive safely, and Daniel had spent hours perfecting his technique, practicing alone and unwatched. When he had finally mastered it, and was ready to show the world, he had run back to cabin, dripping wet, eager to share his new-found skill with an audience. Back in the cabin, he had found his foster father, an accountant, hard at work - his foster mother had gone into town for supplies. Try as he might, Daniel couldn't persuade his foster father to come and watch him dive. That memory still burned inside him more than twenty years on. He knew with an awful certainty, that if he had looked in a mirror at that moment, he would have seen the same look as he had just seen in Jack's eyes. He was only asking for a little of my time, Daniel thought suddenly. And I practically told him to get lost! Without a second thought, Daniel grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and left the office, shrugging his way into it as he ran down the corridor. All he could think about was how he had felt, how he knew Jack was feeling now, and the artifacts came a poor second to dealing with that. "Jack!" he shouted, as he turned a corner, heading towards the elevators. Ahead of him, Daniel could see the colonel through the closing doors. He put on an extra burst of speed and hurtled into the car, scraping through as the doors shut behind him. "What's up, Daniel?" Jack asked, grinning at the way Daniel was leaning against the elevator wall, red-faced and gasping for breath. "I... I..." Daniel tried to speak, but it took a few moments before he was breathing normally enough to allow this. "I changed my mind." "About?" Jack asked, looking slightly puzzled. "About 'shooting some hoops'," Daniel replied. "Oh." Jack was silent for a moment. "You looked like you were busy studying that artifact." "I was," Daniel began. "But then I thought that it'd been hanging around a few hundred years before I got hold of it, so what's another hour or two?" "Fair enough," Jack said, with a grin. "Let's go play."
~fin~
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