Summary: One-shot from Jack's POV in "Rising: Part 1".
"Jack it's not too late for me-"
"No."
"There's still time to grab my-"
"No!"
You're gonna make this hard on yourself aren't you, Danny?
The gate was open and I watched the Atlantis expedition team walk through. That's one brave bunch of people out there. Good leadership too.Dr. Weir has a good head on her shoulders. Major Sheppard's a pretty sharp kid as well. Yeah, I think they'll do all right.
What I wouldn't give to be going with them...
Stop it O'Neill.
I snuck a glance at Danny. He was staring at the event horizon with that intent, yet faraway, look that only he could pull off.
This was worse then I thought.
The last of the Atlantis expedition had left. Now we wait.
I hate waiting. Waiting should be outlawed.
"Ja-"
I shook my head. "Forget it Daniel. You're not going."
Here it comes...
"Jack, you don't seem to understand. Atlantis could be the single most important discovery in ancient history. Ever. How can I just stay here? There's a million archeologists here who would kill for my job. You can easily replace me."
Ok, now he'd gone too far.
"None of those million other archeologists is you! We need you here on Earth. The stargate would be just another archeological curiosity in a warehouse somewhere if you hadn't figured out how to make it work. They wouldn't be leaving for Atlantis if you didn't find out where it was from here on this planet. Now maybe some other archeologist could do all that, but I don't think so!"
Whoa, that came out harsher then I'd intended. Way to go, Mr. General.
But he can be so dense sometimes.
Daniel didn't say anything. He just continued staring down at the rippling blue of the event horizon.
I shook my head and reached for the champagne bottle I had set aside earlier, when I felt a hand on my arm.
"Jack, let me do it."
Wordlessly, I handed him the bottle. I'm not sure I should have trusted him anywhere near that gate, but I knew it was something he needed to do.
Moments later he was in the gate room standing at the bottom of the ramp. Waiting.
The call came.
I got on the com. "Atlantis base has been established." Daniel started up the ramp as soon as I spoke. "Send her through."
Daniel reached at the end of the ramp and stopped. Cautiously, he reached up and touched the event horizon with one hand. Pulling back abruptly, he knelt down, rolled the bottle through, and ran down the ramp.
I gave the order to shut down the wormhole.
Atlantis was now cut off from Earth. Possibly forever.
Daniel returned to the control room.
I clapped him on the back. "You gonna be ok?"
He shrugged. "Yeah."
Y'know what Danny? I think you will be.
A/N: So what did you think? Really looking for constructive criticism on this one. Was it OOC? Review and let me know!