Title: As First Days Go...
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I don't own or have any rights to Stargate or its characters.
Summary: Mitchell's thoughts on his first day. I wrote it awhile ago, but just decided I liked enough to put up. Let me know what you think.
The military issued mattress creaked loudly as he sank down onto it. He didn't even try to summon the energy to take his boots off, let alone undress. He was way beyond exhausted, but still to keyed up to sleep. Every square inch of his body ached horribly, but it was a good ache; because, man, what a first day!
Granted his first day had lasted nearly forty-eight hours, but he hadn't slept in that time so it all counted as a first day.
Seeing and touching the ring for the first time had been a total rush. He'd been hearing stories about the gate and SG-1 since he'd been assigned the 302 program, but nothing could have prepared him for actually seeing it, feeling the cold of the naquadah beneath his finger tips.
The high of touching the gate was nothing compared to the low he'd hit when General Landry told him that Jackson, Carter and Teal'c had been reassigned and he was now in charge. Frankly he was surprised he'd managed to stay on his feet at that point, sure as hell felt like the breath had been sucked from his lungs. Everything he'd worked so hard to get for the last eleven months had just been snatched from his grasp. Thankfully, he'd always been quick to recover, because it only took him two minutes to decide that come hell or high water, he was going to get the band back together. He didn't expect it to get it done in one day and he didn't expect it was going to be easy, but he did love a challenge.
Going through the gate and off-world for the first time had been nearly as much of an adrenaline rush as flying the 302 in space; even if Teal'c had been just slightly preoccupied and totally unreceptive to his offer.
Then came Vala. Just meeting her would have made his day interesting enough. He'd done more double takes in the first hour she was here than he'd done in the last two years. He still couldn't believe she thought he and Jackson looked alike, 'limited gene pool' his ass.
He'd been scared half to death when he'd been told that Jackson had collapsed. No one else seemed too concerned; apparently that sort of thing was fairly common place around here. Reading all the reports, it hadn't really occurred to him how much working here would affect his sympathetic nervous system and probably shorten his life-span.
Working on the tablet and the briefing had been a blur, which surprisingly enough, he'd managed to comprehend about 90 of. Everything Jackson had said was fascinating, even if he was the only one that thought so. He knew that Jackson and Teal'c saw him as nothing more than an over-excited fan-boy that followed them home. That hurt more than he was willing to admit, even to himself.
The cavern at Glastonbury was the stuff of legends, literally. It'd been insanely hard for him to keep his excitement hidden as much as he had; still, he knew Jackson, Teal'c and Vala had been rolling their eyes behind his back. He had imagined that he could feel the irritation coming off Teal'c in waves as they headed toward the side chamber. His rapport comment had come out as pure sarcasm, but in his head it had been more like wishful thinking. The puzzle would have been insanely cool if it hadn't been for the ceiling coming down on top of them; aw hell, who was he kidding, it'd still been awesome. And that completely dumbfounded look on Jackson's face when he and Teal'c had walked out of there unscathed, priceless. Maybe now Jackson would realize that he wasn't just another pretty face.
The climax of his first day was also the reason he was so freaking sore right now. Those hits he'd taken from the holographic knight had hurt like hell at the time, but his current pain stemmed from the physical exertion of the fight. He hadn't asked that much of his body since the crash; his former Physical Therapist would shoot him on sight if she ever found out. Beating the knight had been an amazing feeling, but it was nothing compared to finding out what his victory had gained them in knowledge and technology.
In a small way, he'd proven that he belonged on SG-1, and that meant more to him than any other part of his day had.
He was just on the verge of dropping off to sleep when the klaxons sounds, signaling an unscheduled off-world activation; so much for sleep. Yup, his life rocked!