Mending Fences
By Mickey

Status: Completed 7/15/2008

Sequel to: "Breaking Fences"

Season: 4

Spoilers: Scorched Earth, minor ones for Fire and Water, Cor-ai, Need, Demons, and The First Ones

Categories: Angst, Drama, Episode Tag

Archive Permission: Ask first. I'll probably say yes.

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for fun and I sure as hell didn't get paid for writin' it. No copyright infringement intended.

Word Count: 1969

Author's Notes: This picks up right where "Breaking Fences" left off. While it isn't absolutely necessary to read that one first, it might help you understand this one a little better. I really did mean to get this done and posted much sooner, but my muse had other ideas. It only took a year to get her to cooperate. Better late than never! Many thanks to my beta reader, Cyn.

It was all Daniel could do to keep himself from running down the hall. He had to find Jack and apologize, and to explain himself. He had to make Jack understand. Finally, he saw his friend moving swiftly down the corridor and turning a corner. Daniel followed and called out to him.

"Jack, wait up!" Jack gave no indication he heard Daniel, so he tried again. "Jack, we need to talk." Daniel called out as he tried to catch up with his long legged friend. "Damn it, Jack, slow down . . . Please."

Daniel sighed in relief when Jack finally slowed his pace allowing Daniel to catch up to him. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder and flinched when his friend stopped, turned, and pinned him with a cold, hard glare.

"I have nothing to say to you, Daniel." That said, Jack turned and started to walk away again.

"Well, I have a few things to say to you," Daniel said, staying a step behind Jack. "Will you please stop and talk to me?" he pleaded.

Jack continued to walk, shoulders squared.

"Okay, how about I talk and you listen?" Daniel asked then sighed. Jack gave no indication he that he was paying any attention to his friend. God, he is so pissed at me right now. I really screwed up this time.

"Look, Jack, I didn't think . . . I wasn't trying to . . ." Daniel sputtered, his arms flailing as they always did when he was frustrated and trying to make a point. Which seemed to happen a lot when he was with Jack. He was about to continue when Jack suddenly stopped, causing him to stumble, and whirled around.

"Exactly! You DIDN'T," Jack's voice rose to a frightening level as he spoke.

Daniel flinched. He couldn't recall ever seeing Jack so angry. Not at him, anyway. An Airmen Daniel didn't recognize, who had been walking towards them, nearly jumped out of his skin. The young man promptly turned and walked back the way he'd came. It would have been comical if it weren't for the look on Jack's face.

"You're always acting before you think and disobeying orders."

"No I don't . . ." Daniel started to protest.

Jack cut him off. "Don't even try to say you don't, Daniel." Jack held up his hand and started counting off on his fingers. "Let's start with you letting an alien fish man scramble your brains. Shortly after that was the Cor-ai thing on planet "Backwards Justice". There was that time on that mine planet when I specifically told you to stay still, but you just had to go running after that girl. While she was whining and dining you, Sam, T, and I were slowly dying in that damn mine." A sharp glare cut off Daniel's protest before it could start. "You let her keep putting you into that damned sarcophagus. There was also the time you just had to help that sick girl on planet "Stuck in Medieval Times" and Teal'c damn near died. There was also that Crystal Skull deal." Jack paused then added, "Oh, and let's not forget one of my personal favorites, that mess with the Unas. Do I really need to say more?"

Daniel didn't respond. He just stood staring and Jack in disbelief, mouth gaping.

Jack shook his head in frustration and anger then started walking down the hall again.

Daniel stood in shock as he watched Jack storm off. I am not like that! as he thought about what Jack had said, he realized his friend was right.

"Jack I didn't mean to . . ." Jeez, he didn't want to do this in the hallway. He really didn't want to talk to Jack's retreating back.

After almost a minute with no response other than Jack picking up his pace, Daniel finally blurted out, "Damn it, Jack, I'm trying to say I'm sorry! Will you just stop for a minute and talk to me?"

Jack continued walking. After a few steps, he reached his destination and opened his office door.

When Jack entered and didn't immediately slam the door in his face, Daniel took that as an okay to follow Jack in. Other than that slight gesture, Jack made no attempt to acknowledge that Daniel was there. He simply sat at his desk and pulled open a drawer. Apparently not finding what he was looking for, Jack slammed the drawer shut so hard Daniel flinched; sure the wood may have actually splintered from the force.

"I have work to do, Daniel, so just spit it out and get the hell out of my office."

Daniel took a deep breath. None of the anger had left his friend's voice or expression. Jack was sitting at attention, his body stiff with barely controlled anger. It frightened and saddened Daniel to know it was directed at him. As often as he and Jack fought, he couldn't remember Jack ever being so angry with him. For a fleeting second in the briefing room, he'd been sure his friend was going to deck him. Now, it felt as if Jack's glare was boring straight through him. Deciding it would be best to just "spit it out" as Jack had put it, Daniel said, "I'm sorry, Jack."

Jack didn't reply immediately and Daniel knew his friend was waiting to see if he would elaborate further. Finally, Jack replied, "Sorry for what? Sorry for disobeying orders, again. Sorry for putting me and the rest of the team in a shitty position again? What, Daniel, what are you sorry about? Are you sorry that I damn near had to come back and tell the General that I ordered my second-in-command to blow up and alien space ship that not only contained the an entire race of beings and, oh, by the way, the brightest Archeologist and linguist we have as well as one of the best friend damn friends I've ever had was also on said ship?"

Daniel took a step back, surprised not only at the vehemence in his friend's voice, but also at what Jack had said about him. He opened his mouth to respond, closed it, considering what he'd say then answered, "Yes."

Jack opened his mouth then clamped it shut and sat back. Some of the anger and tension seemed to drain from him in that moment and his body relaxed a bit. After a few minutes, Jack leaned forward. "And that's supposed to make everything all better? You're always sorry after the fact, Daniel, and then you turn around and pull the same shit again and again." Jack put up a finger to silence Daniel. "I know why you felt you had to do what you did and I know, giving the chance to do it over, you'd pull the same fricking stunt again, I'm just asking you to think with your head a little more and your heart a little less in situations like this. You didn't just put me in a difficult position; you put Carter in one too. Do you think it, if things had been different and Carter's bomb had succeeded, that she would not blame herself at all? Shame on you if you do. I may have given the order and pushed the button, but she built the bomb."

Daniel stood in stunned silence. He hadn't thought of any of that. He'd been so focused on saving the Gadmeer that he hadn't considered anything else.

"Sure, everything worked out well in the end this time, but only because you damn well got lucky. You should have told me what you were planning."

Daniel sighed, "You would have said no."

Jack slammed his fist on his desk. "You don't know that, Daniel. You didn't even give me a chance!"

Daniel flinched, not because of the noise of Jack's fist hitting the desk, but from the tone of his friend's voice and the recrimination and hurt he heard in it and saw, briefly, on his face.

"But then you never do. You always assume that I will accept only a military approach to any situation. I am an Air Force officer, Daniel, but there's more to me than that."

Daniel was quiet as he processed what Jack was saying. He knew his friend had made some very good, valid points. He did tend to assume that Jack cared only for the military aspect of any mission. In his own defense, that was the appearance Jack usually presented. He'd known Jack for a long time now, though, he should have known better. Should have seen the anguish and uncertainty Jack obviously had about his decision.

"For someone so smart, you rarely ever really think these things through. You get so stuck on what you think is right and wrong, you don't even stop to consider any one else's thoughts or feelings on the issue. You criticized me for choosing one civilization over another, but you did the same thing. What if your ploy hadn't worked? You admitted that, when you told Lotan about the bomb and had him destroy it, you knew he had every intention on continuing with the terraforming. What if Lotan hadn't said anything else about the other planets? If you hadn't had that information available you wouldn't have figured out that one of them was the Enkarans home world." Jack didn't give Daniel a chance to interrupt. "Or what if you just never put two and two together? Sure, the Gadmeer would all be living their happy little lives soon, but the Enkarans would be dead. We made a promise, a commitment, to them. There was no way in hell I was going to let them be wiped out by a civilization that had died off a long time ago."

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest as he thought about everything Jack had said. While he wasn't sorry for what he'd done, or the outcome, he realized the way he'd gone about it was wrong. He'd put his own life in danger and, by doing so, had put two of his closest friends into a very difficult situation. He'd forced Jack to make a choice between saving his best friend, or trying to save the people he'd sworn to protect. It was a decision no one should ever have to make. "I'm sorry, Jack. I don't know what else to say. I can't just stop caring, stop trying to do what I think is right." This time he held up his hand to stall Jack's interruption. "But you're right, the way I went about it was wrong. I let my emotions override everything else and I put you and Sam into a horrible situation. I truly am sorry about that and I promise that I will try not to do it again."

Finally, all the anger and tension seemed to flow from Jack and he gave his friend a small smile. "That's all I'm asking. I don't want you to stop caring, Daniel, I don't want you to stop finding alternate ways of doing things in situations like this. I just want you to think before you act."

Daniel returned Jack's smile. "I'll try." Angry as he had been at Sam in the briefing room at first, he was glad she had confronted him instead of simply walking out like Jack and Teal'c had. While the talk with Jack had been tense and uncomfortably, it was necessary and had forced him to confront some harsh truths about himself. Sam, Jack, and Teal'c were the best friends he'd ever had and he didn't want to ever put them in a situation like that again.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Jack suddenly said. "So . . . how about dinner at O'Malley's tonight? Your treat."

Daniel smiled widely. Typical Jack. "You bet. Let's go get Sam and Teal'c."

THE END