Set very early in Season 1.

"Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected."

-Charles Lamb

All five boxes had been unpacked and were stacked next to the door, except for the one currently employeed as a coffee table. Jack set down his paper plate on the kitchen counter and reached for another can of Coke from the nearly empty refrigerator in the nearly empty kitchen. There had only been enough food and mismatched dishes to fill one small cupboard. And it was just a good thing Carter and Dr. Frasier knew how to throw a housewarming party, pooling their efforts to buy Daniel some food and donate some spare dishes, because Daniel surely hadn't been thinking that far ahead. Jack glanced out to the livingroom and took a deep breath.

The beaten up couch, salvaged from his basement, was the only piece of furniture in the undecorated room. It looked a bit sad in the empty room. If it looked sad, the man sitting on it looked despondent. Daniel had ardently resisted the idea of getting an apartment for weeks now, and Jack certainly understood. While he enjoyed the company at his house, even if it involved a lot of long boring diatribes on dead languages and more arguing than he'd done in years, Jack recognized that Daniel needed to settle down on Earth. The man needed to start living because he wasn't likely to find Sha're any time soon. Of course, Jack didn't have the heart to tell him that, or ever crush his inextinguishable hope that he would find her on the next planet they visited. Jack could see it in his eyes everytime they went through that Gate. The hope, the expectation. And it killed him every time they walked back through the Gate and he saw the look of crushed disappointment and despair on Daniel's face. He tried to hide it, but Jack could see it in his eyes.

For Daniel, the act of settling down in an apartment meant he was accepting something he did not want to accept; that it was going to take a lot longer to find Sha're than he wanted. It hadn't been easy to convince him. Jack didn't want to push too hard and make Daniel feel like he wasn't welcome, but at the same time, he had needed to be firm enough to help him realize that Sha're wouldn't want him to be making himself more miserable than he already was. Getting an apartment wasn't giving up. It was just realistic. Besides, Jack had reasoned, albeit with a touch of guilt, wouldn't it be nice to have a place to bring his lovely wife home to when they did find her?

Jack headed out to the other room and sat down on the floor across from Daniel, back against the wall. It took a couple minutes before Daniel looked up from the empty pizza box and even acknowledged Jack's presence. He didn't look happy at all. While Carter, Dr. Fraiser and Ferretti had been helping with the moving process earlier, Daniel had been polite and pleasant, but once everyone else had left, it was obvious reality was setting in quickly.

"You need a TV, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel shrugged and muttered, "I need a lot of things apparently."

"It is a bit spartan around here." Jack admitted, watching as Daniel's eyes flitted around the barren apartment. He remembered that Daniel had mentioned he had some more stuff of his and his parents in storage that he had arranged to be sent. "When did you say the rest of your stuff would be here?"

"Next week sometime."

"We'll help you unpack."

"Thanks."

They were silent for a few moments, then Jack got to his feet. Daniel looked up at him questioningly and Jack shrugged. "It's getting late."

"Yeah, thanks for the help today." Daniel nodded, grabbing at the garbage and heading to the kitchen.

Jack smiled, knowing Daniel thought he was leaving. He followed him to the kitchen, grabbing their jackets off the counter. He threw Daniel's coat at him when he turned back around. Enjoying the frown of complete confusion on Daniel's face, Jack said, "Come on."

"What?"

"We've got time to hit the store."

"Store? For what?"

"Your TV." Jack said, heading to the door. He paused, door opened and waited for Daniel to catch up. "Are you coming or what?"

Daniel still hadn't lost the confused look on his face, but followed Jack to the door. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about a TV, Daniel. You know...box with a screen that shows moving pictures..." He took advantage of Daniel's continued confusion to push him out the door.

"I know what a TV is, Jack."

Daniel now sounded ticked, which pleased Jack. If he was ticked, he wasn't getting sucked into a pit of despair. Locking the the door behind him, he pulled Daniel toward the stairs. "Well I'm glad to hear it. Sometimes I worry about you. Head stuck in a dusty old book all the time..."

"Jack." Daniel stopped forward motion. "What are you doing?"

"Since you don't yet have a set of wheels, I'm taking you to buy a TV. How else are we going to watch the Bond marathon that starts in," He checked his watch dramatically, "exactly an hour and a half? We need to hurry."

"I don't want a TV."

"Of course you do!"

"Not really, no I don't."

"You do!"

"Don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"Jack."

"Daniel."

Daniel sighed heavily and felt something deflate within him. He let his head drop to his chest. It was obvious what Jack was trying to do. Distract him. Help him forget the fact that he had just taken one more step toward accepting the fact that he wasn't going to ever get Sha're back.

"We're going to get her back, Daniel."

Jack's soft voice broke into his thoughts and Daniel was struck yet again with the fact that this man could read his mind like no one else ever had been able to in his entire life. How exactly was that possible? It was rather disconcerting, yet slightly comforting. He sighed and looked up at Jack, hating himself for feeling so grateful for the kindness in those eyes. Being on his own was as normal to him as breathing, but it felt surprisingly nice to have someone who seemed to actually care about him.

A friend.

Nodding slowly, Daniel decided that being a little distracted might actually not be such a bad thing after all. If it cost him some of his hard earned and not much used money to buy a TV so that Jack could watch some Bond movies, it was worth it.

Jack clapped him on the shoulder suddenly. "So."

"So, we're going to buy a TV?"

"Yes, we're going to buy a TV."

"We could just go back to your place you know..."

"Nope." Jack said, leading the way down the stairs. "You need your own TV."

Daniel shook his head, "According to you. I have been perfectly fine without a TV."

"Says the man who spends hours in front of the History channel."

"Only because there isn't anything else worth watching."

"There's a lot to watch. Starting with the Bond marathon. Bottom line is that you need a TV. I need something to do when I come over."

Daniel looked at him in amusement, "What do you mean? You think you're going to be coming over again or something?"

Jack gave him an ironic look. "You've got new digs and you're not going to invite me over from time to time?"

Daniel smiled, heading down the stairs, "So. Bond? I happen to know there's a great documentary on the Ziggurat of Ur.."

"No pyramids tonight."

"A ziggurat is not a pyramid..."

"Is it an ancient structure?"

"Well, yes but..."

"Fine. No ancient structures then. No documentaries. Fun." Jack clapped him on the shoulder as they headed for his truck. "You do know what that word means, oh ye of the very thick books?"

"Something that produces enjoyment or pleasure."

"Bond."

"Ziggurats."

"It also can indicate a playful or exuberant spirit. Bond."

Daniel nodded, impressed. "So you really do know a few things more than just how to shoot the bad guys?"

"You think I got to Colonel without having cracked a few books?"

"So you're just naturally humble, then?"

"Humility has nothing to do with it."

"Apparently not. Ziggurats."

"Hey!" Jack cast him an annoyed look as they buckled up. "It has to do with keeping an ace in the hole. You've heard of poker, right?"

"Do you think I was born under a rock or something, Jack?"

"Well you probably were. Were you?"

"No." Daniel shook his head, looking away quickly.

Jack stared at him. "You were, weren't you? You were born under a rock!"

"Don't be ridiculous. There was no rock. Over me or near me."

"You were born in Egypt. On a dig." Jack said slowly, imagining between the lines. "You were born in a ruin. You'd never call it a rock, you'd call it an artifact. But you were! You were born under a rock."

"Artifact." Daniel automatically corrected.

"Ha!"

"Shut up."

Jack just grinned, starting the truck and continuing the unresolved argument. "Bond."

"Ziggurats. So back to your poker metaphor..." Daniel said before Jack could interrupt, "You deliberately act like an idiot..."

"Hey!"

"Ok, less than intelligent. How's that?"

"I take offense at your insinuation, but it proves my point."

"The point that if you don't immediately give up the fact that you aren't as dumb as a box of rocks, you can use it to your advantage later?"

"Ah. I hate cliches, by the way. You don't beat around the bush, do you?"

"I'm right, aren't I? Do people really fall for it?"

Jack cast him a glance, "If they don't, they tend not to comment on it either way. You seem to like pointing out the obvious, though."

"Only when people are too blind to see it."

"Too blind?"

"Or too dense. People often are."

"What happened to that humility thing?"

"Like you already said, humility has nothing to do with it. I'm just saying that there's no reason..."

"To deliberately mislead people?" Jack interrupted, "This from the guy who sold a pack of lies in order to get through the gate that first time?"

Daniel glared at him, "I did not lie."

"No, you misled. Like you were saying."

"I was not saying. You said that, not me. I was saying..." His voice trailed off. What had he been saying? He stared at Jack. Gone. Whatever he had been about to say. Just gone.

"Take the wind out of your sail, did I?" Jack asked brightly.

How did he do that? Daniel shook his head, "I thought you hated cliches?"

"To be honest with you, and not to toot my own horn, but I am trying to turn over a new leaf." Jack said seriously, enjoying the fact that he actually got a snicker out of the other man.

"Well, you know what they say, alls well that ends well."

"Don't tempt fate."

"You see the world through rose colored glasses."

"All work and no play make Daniel a dull boy."

"A rolling stone gathers no moss."

"Live like there's no tomorrow."

"Actions speak louder than words."

Silence.

Jack tapped a finger on the steering wheel as they sat at the red light. He frowned, avoiding looking at the man next to him. It was odd; very odd this non-conversation they seemed to have just finished. They hadn't said anything. Hadn't said anything at all. Or had they? He glanced to the side in time to see a flash of blue before Daniel darted his eyes away to safety on his side of the truck. So the archaeologist felt it too. Jack had the strangest feeling that he'd just said more to Daniel than he had said to anyone in a very long time. And how exactly had that happened? Nonsense, cliches, arguing about what they were going to watch on the TV he was twisting Daniel's arm to buy.

"You're not very good at it."

"What?" Jack asked, pulling himself out of his reverie as the light turned green.

"Not very good at the acting dense thing."

"Nobody's called me on it before."

"First time for everything."

"Did we just say something here?"

Daniel smiled, "I'm not sure what we said, but I understood it."

"Yeah, me too." Strangely enough, he really had.

"So."

"So."

"Ziggurats, eh?"

Daniel shrugged, "You've seen one, you've seen them all. Bond?"

"About the same, but the cars! The gadgets!"

"Bond it is."

Jack looked over in mock surprise, "What, you? You watch something purely for fun?"

"Fun can also refer to an excited argument."

Jack considered him for a moment, evaluating the implication behind the words. He had a strong feeling that, again, a lot more was being heard than was actually being said. Interesting. "A taste of things to come, in other words?"

"You should never judge a book by its cover."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"Sometimes it also got the cat the cream." Daniel countered, raising an eyebrow.

Jack sighed and shrugged. It was going to be this way all the time. He could just tell. Maybe not with the cliches, but it was always going to be like this with Daniel. The man was way to smart for anybody's good. Of course, Jack argued with himself, it had already proven to be for his good. Daniel had already gotten them the cream several times over. And as long as he was around, Jack was going to have to be at least ten times smarter, quicker and more careful than he'd ever been before. Because something told him that Daniel wasn't going to make anything easy. He'd already seen it; seen how the man just wouldn't listen, wouldn't stop, always had to do things his own way. And wasn't it just a clear indication of his fierce streak of independence that never seemed to want to stay in check?

Daniel wasn't ever going to make his life easy. Wasn't going to make their missions easy. Was going to argue with him at every turn, question every motive, test out every piece of instruction until he was able to process the military agenda into something that made sense to him.

Was it going to be worth it?

He had the strangest feeling it would be. Jack looked over at Daniel, their eyes met and he knew that Daniel's mind had been processing everything too. Drawing his own conclusions, evaluating and reevaluating, weighing his options. They'd known each other for months now. Only months since Jack had brought him back from Abydos; plus those few weeks over a year ago when they'd first gone through the Gate. It wasn't a lot to go on, wasn't much to work with. Jack had known some people for years and still didn't know them as well as he knew Daniel Jackson. How exactly had that happened?

He didn't know. Probably never would. There was no logical explanation. He wasn't going to over complicate it, though. He decided right then and there just to accept it and let it go. Simple was always better.

Daniel was nodding and Jack narrowed his eyes as he parked the truck. "What?"

"What?"

"What are you nodding about?"

"Just agreeing with you, Jack."

Jack rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that Daniel couldn't be agreeing with him since he had no idea what he was thinking. Or did he? That was a scary thought. "You agreeing with me? I should make a note of this time and place. Something tells me that this is going to go down in history as a rare moment indeed."

"You know what they say. Lightning doesn't strike twice." Daniel said blandly.

Nodding slowly, Jack unbuckled his seatbelt. "No time like the present."

He had another line on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't...just couldn't say it. Wouldn't say it. Nope. Thinking it, sure, but he wasn't going to say it. That would be pushing it. He should have known Daniel would be thinking the same thing, though. Jack could tell by the knowing smile on the his face. They got out of the truck and headed into the store to buy the TV.

"So I'm thinking about a different movie." Daniel said finally.

"Oh? Decided against Bond?"

"No, something just reminded me of another movie. One of the first ones I ever saw. My mom loved it. I never quite liked it all that much."

"But it's a classic." Jack agreed.

Daniel gave him a strange look, then nodded, "It is a classic."

"Some good lines."

"There are some good lines."

"Seems like there was one about the beginning of something..." Jack trailed off, opening the door.

"Right. I think I remember that one. Something about the beginning of..."

"Something." They said at the same time.

"Exactly." Jack grinned. As long as it made sense to them, it didn't really matter if anyone else understood.

"...I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Casablanca, 1942