A Fic By Any Other Name
by
Major Clanger
"It's SG-1 trying to dial in, sir," Sergeant Davis turned to General Hammond.
"Close the iris, and then dial P3X-731, I want to talk to Colonel O'Neill"
"Sir," Davis activated the Iris and looked to the General for further instruction.
A moment later Sergeant Davis turned to Hammond, "it's ready for you, sir."
"Thank you, Sergeant," Hammond took up the microphone. "Colonel O'Neill, this is General Hammond." Hammond grimaced as he saw O'Neill Making faces into the camera. "We are experiencing a few... ah... difficulties with unstable incoming wormholes. You are to remain where you are for twenty-four hours. We will contact you then. Hammond out." He handed the microphone back to Sergeant Davis and, having issued his next set of instructions went back to his office.
On P3X-731 Jack was pulling faces at the MALP. "Technical difficulties? What sort of technical difficulties. How come they don't get," he made quotation marks with his fingers and pulled a face, " 'technical difficulties' when the diplomatic teams want to get back to watch the hockey?"
"Never mind, Sir," Carter smiled, "it's only twenty-four hours. I'm sure we can amuse ourselves."
~*~
"A Wrinkle in Time," Sam leaned back against the sun-baked rock and closed her eyes. "I must have read that one about 20 times. What about you, sir?"
There was a pause during which Daniel piped up, "Biggles!"
"Shut up, Daniel. I've never read Biggles... all that 'chocs away, Ginger, tally ho!' is too much for me."
"And yet, you know how they talk?" Daniel made circles in the air with his hand.
Sam smirked to herself, Daniel had his Colonel Jack O'Neill impression off pat.
"Daniel!" Jack narrowed his eyes and glared at his three companions.
"Sorry, but you do seem familiar with the books," Daniel's face was a study in innocence.
"Sure, I've heard all about them. I was based at Fairford for a while. Those British fly-boys have all read them."
"So, sir, what was your favourite book as a kid?" Sam kept her eyes closed and enjoyed the feel of sunshine on her face.
"There were two if I remember correctly. Ivanhoe was one of them," Jack gave Daniel a sly look, "yours was that Budge thing, wasn't it?"
Daniel groaned and clutched at his side. "Just popping my rib back in." He grinned, "you'd be surprised at what I read as a kid."
"I don't think so."
"Really."
"Bring it on then."
"You can guess."
"For crying out loud, Daniel, just spit it out."
"Three guesses."
"I'm not playing your games."
"Then I'm not telling."
"You don't need to," Jack took a drink from his canteen. "I know already."
Sam raised her head and opened her eyes, "Daniel, won't you ever learn?"
"What, Sam? He's just bluffing," Daniel paused, and looked speculatively at Jack. "I think."
"Call it then," Jack stowed his water bottle back in his pack. "You think I'm some under educated jock. But I'm prepared to bet you a first edition of the book in question that I know what it is."
"He's got you there, Daniel." Sam said. "Game's up."
"Wait!" Jack held up his hand. "He might cheat. I might say what it is, and he might just deny it. He's sneaky that way."
"Sneaky?" Daniel looked indignant. "Okay then, we'll write it down and give it to Sam. She can be the adjudicator."
Daniel tore a page from the back of the notebook he had been doodling in during their conversation. He tore the page in half and handed one piece to Jack. They both scribbled, folded the notes and passed them to Sam.
All the while Jack fixed Daniel with a smug stare. Daniel looked impassively back.
Sam unfolded the notes and looked from one to the other. Her expression remained inscrutable. "Daniel, do you want the bad news?"
Jack smirked, "that's a first edition to me, I think, Daniel."
"Sam! You're not serious?" Daniel turned to Jack and shook his head. "I don't have a first edition of that, you know."
"Yes I know," Jack looked proud of himself. "I'll have to extract the value of a first edition out of you some other way... a pound of flesh, or whatever."
"So, you've cribbed some Shakespeare."
"Essential reading, don't you think?"
"That would depend, Jack, on the situation. I mean, when we're going up against the Goa'uld there isn't time for the St. Crispin's day speech, but I'm sure there are times you could compare someone to a summer's day." Daniel gave Jack a lewd, theatrical wink.
"You, Daniel, are a rose by any other name." Jack blew Daniel a kiss, making him blush. Jack smirked, pointing. "For crying out loud, Daniel, you blush like a girl!"
"O'Neill!" Teal'c's voice came from behind the rock against which Sam reclined.
Jack was instantly alert. He jumped to his feet, his P90 at the ready and ran to Teal'c's position. "What's up?"
"Nothing, O'Neill. I wanted merely to know the title of DanielJackson's favourite childhood book.
"Don't do that, Teal'c! I thought we were Goa'uld bait!" Jack resumed his seat and scowled. "And you two can shut up," he snapped at the others as he noticed the grins on Sam and Daniel's faces.
"We never said a word." Sam pinched her lips together in an attempt to stop smiling.
"You were going to, Carter. It was just a matter of time."
"Are you going to tell him then?"
"No," Jack made himself comfortable, and surveyed the scenery. He made a great show of leaning back against the rock and stretching out. Crossing his legs at the ankle he clasped his hands behind his head and plastered a smirk on his face. "Ah, trees. A man who is tired of trees is tired of life."
Teal'c joined the others and sat on a fallen log. He rested his staff weapon against his shoulder and looked at his companions. "Perhaps you, MajorCarter, could tell which book is DanielJacskon's favorite?"
"Sorry, Teal'c, it's called The Hobbit. It's a fantasy story. Why did you want to know?"
"Don't bother reading it," drawled Jack from behind his sunglasses, "I can tell you how it goes in a few sentences."
"This should be interesting…" Daniel looked expectantly at the recumbent figure.
"Tall wizard and a whole load of short guys wander through the woods meeting trolls, wolves and giant spiders. Shortest guy finds a magic ring which makes him invisible, and they all fight orcs. They kill a dragon and take its gold. Then they all go home again. Oh yeah, there are elves. We mustn't forget the elves.."
"On the contrary, DanielJackson, that does not sound at all interesting."
"More interesting than Ivanhoe," taunted Daniel.
"Is not." Jack protested.
"Is too."
Jack looked up at the sky and shook his head. "Is..."
They were interrupted by Sam's stern tone. "I can't believe you're sitting here arguing about books you read thirty years ago!" She shook her head at them in disbelief.
"Twenty," mumbled Daniel to a glare from Jack.
"Well, it's obvious that Ivanhoe is the better book."
"Oh really? How do you work that one out? Lemme see... Ivanhoe... oh yes. I can summarise that one in a few sentences."
"Bring it on, Hobbitboy!" Jack rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"Good guys with big swords on horses charging around the countryside. Bad guys with big swords on horses charging around the countryside kidnapping beautiful women." Daniel ticked off each point on his fingers. "Good guys rescue beautiful women with the help – rather bizarrely – of Robin Hood. There's also a mysterious good guy who turns out to be the king. Bad guys all done in. Everyone lives happily ever after."
"There's way more to it than that."
"Such as?"
"The language for starters. The nineteenth century romanticised view of the middle ages. The prevailing attitude towards the Jewish population. Should I mention treating women like goods and chattels? Need I go on? Your hobbits aren't a patch on that." Jack smirked at Daniel.
"Tolkien's use of language is much better, and, did you actually say, 'prevailing' just then?'" Daniel looked incredulous. "And don't forget the elvish language – he invented that."
"One of your twenty-three is it? Or is it number twenty-four and you just don't talk about it?" Jack took off his sunglasses. "Don't tell me, Klingon is number twenty-five?"
Daniel muttered something under his breath.
Sam laughed but Jack, who was slightly further away from Daniel than she, cupped his hand around his ear. "Eh?" he said.
Sam and Teal'c exchanged a smile and left the two adversaries to their argument. "So, Teal'c, I can lend you some books if you like. Including The Hobbit and Ivanhoe if you really want to read them."
"Thank you, MajorCarter, I will look forward to reading them. A new experience for me."
"You didn't have books as a child?" Sam looked horrified.
"My lessons mostly concerned the tasks of a warrior. But we did learn about the Goa'uld – as false gods of course – and some of the history of the Jaffa," Teal'c managed to look almost wistful. "The children of the Tau'ri are very lucky."
Jack and Daniel had ceased their verbal sparring and had been reduced to looking daggers at each other.
Sam shrugged at Teal'c, stood up and stretched. She looked at her watch and then over at the Stargate. They should be here in three, two… With an impeccable sense of timing it started up and, after a minute or two, SG-1 were standing by the event horizon. The Stargate whooshed into life.
Two figures came through, one of whom was holding an enormous spanner – Siler. He shook himself and looked around with interest while his companion doubled up and lost his lunch on the stone platform on which the Stargate sat. SG-1 and Sergeant Siler gave him a sympathetic look, which lasted at least a second.
"So, Siler. Got everything fixed I see," Jack gave his best bored-technophobe impression.
Siler waved his spanner, "as usual, sir." Behind him the wormhole disengaged.
"Daniel, dial us mar*." The others looked at Jack but he just shrugged. "He knows what I mean."
"Ah, sir?" Sergeant Siler approached the Colonel. "We have to wait twenty-four hours. General Hammond's orders."
"Another twenty-four hours? Why? No! It can't be done."
"Sir, it's..." Carter tried to break in.
Jack held up his hand as if to ward off the flow of tech-speak that he was sure was about to ensue from his second-in-command. "Carter, I really don't want to know."
"We brought some supplies," Siler indicated his pack.
Jack clapped his hands together, "oh good. What is it, more macaroni and cheese?"
"I don't know, sir, didn't look." Siler looked around, "I'll pitch our tent and..."
"And what, Siler?"
"Hurry up and wait, sir. It's the military way," he went over to his silent companion. "You okay, Marshall?"
"Sure," the other man stood up looking pale and shakey. "I'll give you a hand."
The two Sergeants busied themselves with their tent and SG-1 resumed their seats. Daniel started a brew of coffee, Sam and Teal'c continued their conversation in low voices. Jack surveyed the scene and sighed. He accepted a cup of coffee from Daniel and watched as the two sergeants – displaying the unerring instinct of professional military men everywhere to detect a hot drink at 100 paces – came up and sat down.
"How do you want yours?" Daniel poured coffee in their mugs.
"NATO standard."
"Me too," Siler nodded.
"That's milk, two sugars," Jack smiled at Daniel's incomprehension. "Better make that a priority: learn language 26... military-speak."
"Funny, Jack. Hilarious."
"Aw, you're still ticked about the 'MIA near the VCP on the MSR'** thing, aren't you?"
"No."
"Yes you are. You could have asked, you know."
"You wouldn't have told me."
"Sure I would."
"Yeah, right. After the film finished and it lost all meaning."
Sam smiled at the two sergeants who had followed the exchange with a combination of confusion and interest. "You get used to it." She finished her drink and stood up. "So, what was the problem?"
"Oh, no problem, Major Carter," Siler walked over to join her. "We thought you'd enjoy an extended camping trip." He followed her over to the DHD where he and Sergeant Marshall explained what had been going on. It boiled down to the fact that a routine inspection had turned up some instabilities in incoming wormholes. "We can send the MALP back for a test, but I think everything should be okay now."
Jack stopped listening. Now that the meal break was over he was back in military mode.
"Carter, you and your cohorts do what it is you need to do. Teal'c and I will do a perimeter check. Daniel you... do your thing."
"What thing is that, Jack?" Daniel looked pointedly around, "nothing to translate as far as I can see."
"Er... well, whatever," Jack cringed inwardly as he saw the expression of impatience on Daniel's face, but there was nothing he could do about that. "Help Carter." He headed off into the woods with Teal'c.
Night fell quickly and by the time Jack and Teal'c returned after an absence of only an hour, Carter and her small crew had set up some lighting using the DHD as a power source. They were examining the MALP carefully and judging from their satisfied expressions and comments everything was working how it should.
"Sir, we've tested the gate three times, there don't seem to be any more problems. We can return at first light."
"Why not now?"
"Recruit training, sir," Siler grimaced. "They're doing the 'unidentifiable gas in the gateroom' scenario. We can't go back until it's finished."
"Ah recruits. Gotta love 'em! But why are they doing that now on top of everything?" Jack sighed and shook his head. "Okay kids, stand down for the night. We'll draw straws for watch duties." He looked over at the two sergeants. "I know that 'Mean' is my middle name, but you two looked as bushed as it's possible to be, so I'm not expecting you to join in this little Camp O'Neill game."
Jack bent down and pulled up a four stalks of grass, which he broke into different lengths. Seeing the curious glances of Siler and Marshall he explained, "Longest is first watch, next longest is second and so on." He curled his fingers into a fist around the grass, ensuring that only an inch of the tips extended. SG-1 took it in turns to pull out one of the stalks: Teal'c drew first watch, Carter the next. Daniel got the graveyard slot – to much sniggering from Jack, and Jack drew the dawn post as usual.
"It's a fix," grumbled Daniel, crawling into his sleeping bag. As always he was sharing a tent with Jack.
"Shut up, and go to sleep already. See you in six hours." Jack hunched over and fell immediately asleep.
Daniel lay propped on one elbow for a few minutes watching with envy as the Colonel sank into what appeared to be a restful sleep. He knew from experience that Jack's slumber was anything but deep, and that as soon as Daniel lay down to get comfortable himself he would receive a subconscious stream of invective that Jack wouldn't dare repeat in front of his grandmother. True to form, as he wriggled around in his sleeping bag Jack's words turned the air blue muttering profanity in his sleep as he dreamed of god knows what. "G'night, Jack." The mutttering stopped for an all-too brief moment, before Jack resumed his nocturnal diatribe. Daniel pulled his sleeping bag over his head.
It seemed as though he'd only just closed his eyes when Daniel felt Sam shaking his shoulder, and smelt the coffee that she'd brought to tempt him out of his green cocoon.
The glow from their small, half-covered fire cast a few flickering shadows and he quietly sipped his coffee allowing his eyes to adjust to the dimness. A small white moon was partially obscured by cloud but a larger, pale yellow one, hung just above the trees giving everything a slightly golden hue over their campsite.
Campsite! Jack would have a fit if he heard me call it that. Daniel smiled to himself in the darkness and stood up to make a quick patrol of the area. He didn't find anything out of the ordinary, and didn't expect to, but he never knew when Jack would sneak out and lurk in the undergrowth expecting to be found. Resuming his seat after ten or so minutes, Daniel refilled his mug from the flask of coffee Sam had left. He shook it. If he drank another cup there would still be enough for Jack to have some. Tough if there isn't! he thought, tempted to pour himself more. Daniel was still mad at Jack. He knew it was childish, but he'd never pretended to be a 'real' grown up.
The conversation that afternoon had been amusing in a way with the silly bickering about nothing at all. Almost like old times, although Daniel was beginning to think there was a serious undercurrent to Jack's teasing which made him a little uncomfortable. Ever since that thing with Jack going all 'Black-ops' on them and rooting out Maybourne's illegal teams, Daniel had wondered if Jack wouldn't have preferred to go to back to his sneaky ways. There had been a definite cooling of their friendship since then and Daniel was missing it. He was a little confused by Jack's attitude towards him – one day it would be as though nothing had ever happened, and the next it was almost as though Jack thought him a liability.
There was still an hour of his watch to go. Daniel sighed, stood and stretched then did another quick check of their surroundings. As far as they had been able to ascertain, the planet was no longer inhabited, and any population there had been was small and probably transitory – nothing much for an archaelogist to get excited about. Daniel stirred the fire up a little, then poured the last of the coffee. Jack would just have to do without.
Sipping the weak instant drink, Daniel mulled over the discussion about childhood reading habits. Something struck him and he wrinkled his brow, deep in thought. He jumped when suddenly a hand clamped itself on the back of his neck and squeezed. Hard enough to be uncomfortable, but not painful.
"You – and the rest of you – are dead. Or Goa'ulded."
"There's nobody here, Jack. As you well know."
"That's not the point, I could have killed you before you even knew what hit you," Jack took the coffee from him. "I don't suppose you left any for me?"
Daniel shrugged. "Why don't you check?"
"I'd rather drink yours."
"It's not your watch yet."
"I know, but I couldn't sleep with all the noise of you crashing through the undergrowth," Jack drained the last of the coffee and gave the mug back to Daniel.
"I was not... I'm not getting into one of those with you now Jack. Go back to sleep. I'll call you."
"I thought we could chat. You know, hockey statistics, or something."
More than anything, he thought, but he actually said, "Not really," Daniel stood up. "I'm going back to bed."
Jack rubbed his face. Way to go, O'Neill. Good one. You scared him off. Again.
~*~
Never his best in the morning, Daniel crawled out of his tent only after Jack had threatened to collapse it on top of him. He was deep in thought, although to the rest of the team he looked as though he were sulking. Jack ignored it as usual and kept up some cheerful banter. Carter and Teal'c seemed to have reached a tacit agreement to do the same. Sergeants Siler and Marshall took it all in their stride, they were old hands and knew that everyone had their own morning routine.
After breakfast, camp was struck in quick order and now it had reached the time agreed with General Hammond to return to the SGC.
"Do your thing, Daniel."
Daniel stood by the DHD glowering, his thoughts still elsewhere, and dialled the earth address. When the event horizon had stabilised, he pointedly walked past Jack, muttering under his breath, with his eyes averted.
As he and Sam stepped up towards the shimmering pool of energy, Jack said, "Did you hear what he said? I'm no Trekkie, but..." His words were abruptly cut off when they were swallowed up by the wormhole. Stepping onto the ramp at the SGC, he continued without missing a beat, "...that was Klingon."
"Actually, sir, I believe it was Orc," Sam grinned at Daniel waiting at the bottom of the ramp and turned to face General Hammond who was looking down from his usual position in the control room. "Everything is okay now, sir, no problems getting through and no glitches. I'll run a full diagnostic after the debrief."
Hammond nodded his agreement, "Debriefing in one hour, folks, get cleaned up first."
On the way to the locker rooms Jack prodded Sam in the ribs, "That would be a 'level three' diagnostic then, Carter?"
Sam gave him a blank look. "A full diagnostic, sir. I can give you the details..."
Jack held his hands up. "No. Spare me the details. Just make sure that I don't get stranded on a planet full of trees with the Book Club again."
~*~
"Jack, 'a rose by any other name' what's that supposed to mean?"
"That even if you called a rose..."
Daniel cut him off with a wave of his hand, "Yes, Jack, I know that. What I mean is, why did you say that in front of Sam and Teal'c?"
"To embarrass you, Daniel. Why else?" Jack smirked.
"Thanks." That single word dripped sarcasm as Daniel stood up and walked to the front door. He turned from the half opened door. "Call me when you're over it." He slammed the door behind him and scrunched over the gravel to his car.
"Over what?" Jack shouted after him. Only realising that Daniel was serious when he heard the sound of the car roaring out of the drive, Jack groaned. He'd meant it as a bit of gentle teasing and, at first, had been going to address the rose comment to Carter. At the last moment he'd switched to Daniel, hoping that he would have understood that Jack was being serious under the flippancy. Inviting Daniel over for the evening was supposed to be the first step on their way back to friendship. Obviously he'd miscalculated and now had some serious explaining and making up to do.
Reaching a quick decision, Jack grabbed his jacket and keys and headed for the door. He thought he'd catch Daniel at home, maybe even give him a head start so he could cool off a little bit before Jack got there. Before leaving the house, he left a hurried message on Daniel's answering machine apologising for being a jerk and asking if he could come over. Not taking the time to worry that Daniel might not welcome his presence, he locked the door and jumped into his car.
On the way over to Daniel's apartment Jack stopped at a supermarket and bought a few things. He was feeling like a complete idiot for what had happened the previous day, and was kicking himself for baiting Daniel like that. After the special effort he they had been making recently to get their friendship back on track after the whole rogue teams op, he had thought they had made some progress. Only you couldn't keep it up, could you? he berated himself.
Jack dumped his purchases in his car and drove a few blocks, tapping his fingers nervously on the steering wheel. Seeing a diner, he pulled into an empty parking space and went in. The waitress slouched over and stood cracking her gum as he gave his order for coffee.
"Can I get you anything else with that?" she drawled automatically, then shrugged as he shook his head. After she had brought his drink, setting it on the table before him with bad grace, she slouched back to her position at the counter and Jack watched as she viciously stuffed paper serviettes into chrome holders. From her expression it wasn't exactly her favourite job.
Jack looked around. There were few other patrons at this time of day, he guessed that they got most of their trade during normal working hours. At 9pm most people were at home enjoying their evening. He looked at the waitress, she seemed tired and anxious, her eyes wandering frequently over to the end of the counter where a yellow legal pad and several large, thick textbooks lay open. He waved the her over for more coffee, and nodded at the books. "What are you studying?"
"Business Administration," she grimaced and shrugged. "It's boring but around here, it's more useful than something like archaeology."
"Archaeologists have their uses." Jack said, pointing at the cabinet behind her.
"Really?" the waitress managed a wry grin and glanced over her shoulder at the glass cabinet containing ancient looking pastries. "I see your point." She summoned a smile which Jack returned.
A customer at the opposite end of the diner waved his empty coffee mug and she left Jack wondering where the instinct to cheer her up had come from. Guilt, he guessed.
He sat for a few more minutes, putting off for a little longer the moment when he would have to confront Daniel. Finally, with a sigh, he heaved himself up and got back into his car but it was a few minutes before he turned his key in the ignition and started on his way again. Jack drove on automatic pilot, thinking how to repair the damage to his relationship with Daniel. This lead to further thinking about their relationship, which was something that Jack usually tried to avoid. Waiting at a stop light, however, he began to wonder why he was so concerned about repairing things with Daniel. The realisation hit him then that he didn't merely want to fix it – he wanted to improve it.
Behind him a car honked and Jack waved his hand out of the window in apology as he pulled away. It began to rain, a persistent drizzle that required intermittent use of wipers. The combination of the swishing wiper blades and the flicker of the passing street lights was soporific and it was only when Jack realised that he had missed the turning for Daniel's apartment and was now headed out of town that he began to fully concentrate on his driving.
He parked a block away from his destination and retrieved the grocery bag from the passenger seat. His next move had occurred to him in a flash of inspiration, and it would require careful co-ordination. Jack lurked in the shadows of the building next to where Daniel lived until he saw what he wanted. One of the other inhabitants of the block was leaving Daniel's building and, with a stroke of luck, he saw it was a frail old lady who was pushing an elderly man in a wheelchair. Jack walked boldly up to the door, and helped her negotiate the step down to the sidewalk, then stepped smartly inside the lobby while she busied herself with her charge.
Quickly he ran up the staircase instead of using the elevator, not wanting anyone to see him. Jack arrived on Daniel's floor and put the bag down just inside the door to the stairwell. He rummaged around until he found the package he was looking for. Checking that there was nobody around, Jack put the packet in front of Daniel's door, rang the bell and ran back to the stairwell. He grabbed the grocery bag and ran up one floor.
Daniel opened his door, fully expecting to see Jack standing there and was somewhat surprised to see a package of coffee. He picked it up and looked around. Seeing nobody, he went over to the door to the stairs and opened it carefully. Nobody there. Daniel went slowly back into his apartment, and stood for a while with his back against the door. There was only one person who could have left the coffee, and if Jack was playing one of his silly games he would play along and see where it went.
He knew he'd didn't have a choice anyway, Jack would never give up, until Daniel went along with him. His anger towards Jack started to dissipate as he detected the signs of an apology. If he was wrong, what did he have to lose?
The coffee was stowed in the kitchen and Daniel went back to the living room. He sat on the sofa and picked up the book he had just taken from the shelf when the doorbell had rung.
It was an old paperback, battered and torn from multiple readings. The spine consisted only of a thick layer of Scotch tape, and some of the back cover was missing – the the result of a snatch-and-grab attempt at school – but the book itself was still intact.
He turned it over and over in his hands, recalling the occasions when he had hidden from the rest of the world, lost in its pages. Daniel felt like hiding for a little while, so he settled back on the sofa, put his feet on the coffee table and opened it.
Inside the first page alongside the imprint details was a list of dates, recording each time he had read the book, a habit he had copied from his parents. Starting with round, childish figures the seven-year-old Daniel had written July 12, 1972. Always a precocious reader, he had consumed the birthday present with fervour, reading by flashlight under his bedcovers and taking it with him whenever he had gone outside. The games the other children were playing had held no interest for him whatsoever. He had been gripped from the first page, and begrudged time when he hadn't been submerged in Tolkien's tale.
Daniel ran his finger along the list; he had read the book three times by the time his eighth birthday came around. He stopped at one date and a lump rose in his throat. The date was exactly one week after Daniel's parents' deaths. He remembered how it had been too much for him to take in. The shock, the upheaval of his entire life, the constant looks of sympathy had overwhelmed him and Daniel had retreated to the safe, familiar world of Orcs and Hobbits. To the lonely young boy he had been, the treasured book became his only real source of comfort and escape.
Trying desperately – and failing dismally – to evade the reality of his life, he had read the book over and over, back to back for a month. Then was a gap of two years before he had returned to the tale. By then, he was with his permanent foster family. From that time until he had gone to university he had been happy, and the gaps between the dates showed that he had averaged one reading a year. Of course, by then, he had been hooked by the subsequent trilogy and Tolkein's other works and the Hobbit had begun to seem a little childish. A voracious reader, he had consumed anything and everything in between that crossed his path, but he had always made time for his favourite works.
Daniel was grinning, thinking that Jack would have had a fit if he knew that Daniel had read all the Biggles books, one or two of them more than once, as well as Ivanhoe and several other works that he suspected Jack had also liked.
The doorbell rang again.
Knowing that it was likely to be Jack again, Daniel took his time answering and was only slightly surprised to find not a USAF Colonel but a pile of candy bars. "Jack?" His voice echoed along the empty hallway, but this time he didn't bother to scout around, figuring that Jack would show up in his own good time.
He scooped up the candy, smiling slightly and put them on the kitchen counter next to the package of coffee and returned to the living room and his perusal of the book. Daniel considered the effort to which Jack was going in order to apologise – there was absolutely no shadow of a doubt in his mind that was what the coffee and chocolate was about. He put the book back on the shelf, running his finger lightly along the taped spine. Not this time.
Jack waited on the stairway and took a deep breath. He wondered, not for the first time that evening, if he was about to make a huge mistake.
In the apartment, Daniel decided to give Jack a taste of his own medicine. Very quietly, because he had no idea where Jack was at the moment, he crept to his front door and crouched, below the level of the security peep-hole, holding onto the door handle. His legs were beginning to cramp up when the bell rang again.
Flinging the door open violently, Daniel was surprised to see a massive bouquet of yellow roses, which entirely obscured the head and upper body of whoever was holding them. He looked down: chinos and desert boots.
"Hi, Jack," Daniel turned and walked into the kitchen trusting that his visitor would follow. He filled a water jug and set it on the breakfast bar. Then he calmly started making coffee using the package that Jack had left.
"Hi," Jack stood at the other side of the breakfast bar, and peered around the flowers. "Um... I brought you these."
"So I see," Daniel had adopted his best inscrutable expression.
"I wanted to apologise."
"What for?"
"Uh... you know. Yesterday afternoon."
"Did something happen that requires apologising for?" Daniel wasn't going to make it easy.
With a sigh Jack removed the paper wrapping from the flowers and tried unsuccessfully to stuff them into the jug which was too small. "Daniel, haven't you got a bigger vase or something?"
"There's a bucket in the hall closet."
Jack juggled the flowers, damp paper and a jug full of water. "You gonna help me out here?"
"No," Daniel took two mugs out of the cupboard and leaned against the counter with his arms folded over his chest.
Water dripped across the parquet as Jack took the roses over to the utility closet and rummaged around for the bucket. He took it into the bathroom and filled it in the bath then dumped the flowers into the bucket. In silence, he brought them back to the kitchen and put them in the middle of the floor before retreating to his position behind the breakfast bar. Seeing his host's pointed look at the trail of water along the hallway, Jack rolled his eyes, grabbed a handful of paper towel and mopped it up.
Daniel set two steaming mugs on the counter and, avoiding the roses, walked round to perch on a stool beside him. "You can take your jacket off and sit down, you know."
"I wasn't sure if I'd be staying." The jacket stayed on but Jack sat on the stool and took a sip of coffee. "Not bad."
"Roses, Jack? Are you trying to tell me something?"
"Yellow roses symbolise friendship." Jack shrugged. "I thought it was fitting. And they were on special. And I just want to... you know... say... sorry. I guess."
"For calling me a flower?"
"Among other things," Jack shrugged and studiously avoided eye contact.
They drank in silence and Jack felt oppressed by this enough to attempt fill it. Unfortunately his mind was blank.
Usually he could count on Daniel to speak, leading the conversation wherever he wanted it to go. But Daniel wasn't saying a word. Jack sensed a quiet determination from the younger man on this occasion, and knew that whatever direction the ensuing conversation would take, Jack would be struggling. He made a pre-emptive strike.
"It's the most battered of them. I notice it every time I'm here." Jack's eyes wandered over to the bookshelf.
"You don't come here that often."
Jack didn't know if he should be glad that Daniel had immediately picked up what he meant, or scared about the level of understanding Daniel had of the way Jack's mind worked. "No, but when I do, I notice it. All your other books are carefully looked after, even the ancient ones, but that one... it's... oh I don't know..." Jack finally raised his eyes and spoke quietly, "it looks like Charlie's teddy bear used to." Gotcha, he thought as Daniel's eyes widened, a trace of hurt filling them.
Daniel said nothing and lowered his eyes.
"Daniel... sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"That was below the belt," Daniel shifted uncomfortably and stared at his hands which were gripping his mug tightly. "And stop apologising. I'm not mad at you... not anymore."
"We're good, then?" Jack touched Daniel lightly on the forearm.
"Yes, we're good. I guess."
"I couldn't have said it – you know, the rose thing to Carter, you know. She'd kill me."
"Dead as a dodo," Daniel gave a weak smile, "what about Teal'c?"
Jack didn't reply, merely directed a withering look in Daniel's general direction. "You try it."
"Er... no. I'll pass on that one."
"So you see, I was left with no choice."
"You could have not said anything..." Daniel's voice faded to nothing. "Okay, this is you we're talking about. You couldn't not say anything."
"Are you casting... nasturtiums on my character?"
"No," Daniel's face was all innocence, "just roses."
Jack stood up and finished his coffee. "Good, so we're cool then. See you on Monday."
"That's it?"
"Sure, what else? Don't tell me you expected me to wine and dine you as well as bring you flowers?" Jack was halfway to the door.
Daniel thought quickly back to his vigil by the campfire, "what was the other one?"
"You don't miss a beat, do you?"
"Sometimes." Daniel watched as Jack withdrew his hand from the door handle, slowly removed his jacket and walk over to the sofa.
"Might as well get comfortable."
"So?" Daniel looked at Jack expectantly.
"The same as your second favourite I guess."
"Jack!"
"I'll give you three goes, Daniel, to guess my second favourite novel as a kid."
"Very funny. Okay," Daniel sat on the easy chair and leaned forward, fist to forehead with his elbow resting on his knee. "Er... what could it be?" Suddenly he stood up, forefinger extended and an idiotic look of enlightenment on his face. "Lord of the Rings. I bet you liked the middle one best, with all that fighting and butch stuff going on."
"Brilliant, Sherlock."
"Elementary."
"I preferred the third part, when they all get their girls."
"Not all of them." Daniel shook his head.
"The main ones."
"One of the main ones. The others all got a whole load of nothing."
"Nothing? Sure they didn't." Jack relaxed, it was definitely going to be a long discussion, Daniel had a spark of passion in his eyes that had been absent for a while.
"They got nothing. Okay, start with... um..."
"Aragorn. He got his girl. And so did Faramir – I was half in love with Éowyn myself you know," Jack leered.
"Only half?" Daniel smiled.
"A bit too butch for me."
"Right, butch. Flouncing around in white dresses as far as I remember, with the gleam of unrequited love in her eye."
You and me both, Éowyn. "And armour. With a honking big sword." Jack shuddered. "She's even scarier than Carter."
"Frodo, what about him? He lost his ring and a finger," Daniel ticked off the characters on his own fingers, "Boromir got killed, Théoden likewise. Ditto Dénethor," a thought struck him. "The Ents didn't get any girls. Bilbo got old quickly..."
"Okay wiseass. Bilbo and Frodo got what they wanted, they went off with the elves. And I'm pretty sure that there was a vague reference to lady Ents..."
"Entwives..."
Jack ignored the interruption. "...lady ents in the first book."
"There was not." Daniel looked indignant.
"Yes there is. There's mention of a tree – a willow I think – walking around the northern border of the Shire."
"I'm impressed, Jack. All this and you speak Elvish."
"No I do not!"
"Do too... I distinctly heard you say a word in Elvish."
"Okay, one word!" Jack held up his index finger. "That's hardly fluent."
"Still, it's more than most," Daniel wagged a finger and looked smug.
"At least I can't speak Orc and Klingon."
"Gimli didn't get a girl." Daniel changed the subject abruptly.
"Ah, but Gimli got the elf, what more could anyone want?"
"Legolas and Gimli? Ew!" Daniel scrunched up his face in disgust.
"What? That's very judgmental of you. I'd have thought you liked Legolas best," a slight reddening of Daniel's face sent Jack in for the kill. "You did like him best!" Yes! he silently cheered.
"So?" Daniel looked slightly, embarrassed and defiant.
"So nothing. Don't tell me you're jealous of the dwarf!"
"I'm not jealous of the dwarf. I just liked Legolas. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. You know, if you know where to look there are a whole load..."
"You've been at the internet again, haven't you?" Daniel shook his head. "Anyway, I don't want to go there! What do you like about Lord of the Rings? Although I guess if you liked Ivanhoe so much it's not surprising really. I mean, they're fairly similar."
"I don't recall vanishing knee-high people in Ivanhoe, unless there's a alternative version I don't know about?"
"Ho ho ho. There's no serious conversation with you, Jack, is there?"
"Sure. I can do serious. I just don't want to do it right now." Daniel looked annoyed so Jack tried a different tack. "Okay then. I'll do serious. Just for you. Let's get back to Legolas and Gimli."
Daniel looked dubious. "Okay then, what about them."
"You are jealous of the dwarf."
"Jack..."
"I know, 'what's to be jealous of'? Actually... I mean they could be you and I, couldn't they?"
"Huh?" Daniel blinked with confusion.
"Think about it. The dwarf – that is the ugly one – dragged the elf – the tall, good-looking one – around to look at a load of rocks. They are us!"
"Okay, Jack, and then the elf – and you are not the tall good-looking one in this relationship, by the way..." Daniel coloured again and bit his lip.
"Relationship, Daniel?" Jack grinned "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Re-la-tion-ship. It means... oh, look it up!"
"I am, too, the good-looking one. Anyway, go on," Jack waved his hand in a circular motion to speed up Daniel's train of thought.
Daniel was still blushing, but with a half-smile now, as he carried on speaking. "Legolas dragged Gimli off to look at trees... okay, you're right. They are us. But I'm the tall good looking one."
"No way! You're the rock lover."
"And you love trees! I don't love rocks and I'm not that keen on caves either, before you ask."
"All right. I won't ask.Time for a change of subject, I think." Jack looked at Daniel. He was relieved to see that his friend looked more animated than he had for a long time. Thank you, Carter, the book thing was a great idea!
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Sheesh, Daniel! Conversation killer."
"Tell me about this Gimli and Legolas stuff then."
"No."
"Why?" Daniel tried his best wheedling voice.
"You're too young. And I thought you wanted to change the subject."
"No, that was you. About Gimli and Legolas – try me."
"Chance would be a fine thing," Jack muttered under his breath, he saw Daniel blush again. "Aw crap, don't tell me..."
"There's nothing wrong with my ears."
"Nope. Nothing at all, although... now you come to mention it... they are slightly pointed!" This made Daniel blush even more. "Quit that."
"What?"
"The maidenly blushes. And while you're at it you can stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" Daniel blushed even more scarlet. Even the tips of his supposedly slightly pointed ears were red.
"Like that."
"I'm not looking at you like anything, Jack."
"Yes you are. Stop it already!"
Daniel reached over to the table lamp and switched it off. Now the only light in the room came from the strip lighting under the kitchen cabinets and the orange glow of the street lighting outside coming through the uncurtained window. "Is that better?"
"For what?"
"Talking."
"About what?"
"Jack, stop being obtuse," Daniel decided to take the bull by the horns. "Why did you come over tonight?"
"I wanted to see you. Make sure you're okay," Jack leaned forwards resting his forearms across his knees, "to apologise."
"Oh."
To tell you I think I love you. "Maybe get a cup of coffee?"
"Oh, sorry! I'll get some more," Daniel went into the kitchen and returned a minute later with their mugs. "I'm a bad host."
"Bad choice of word." Jack set his mug on the side table and grabbed Daniel's wrist before he could move away. He pulled until Daniel gave in and sat beside him on the sofa, sitting stiffly next to Jack with both hands cupped around his mug, his back straight as a rod. The leg nearest to Jack bobbed up and down, a nervous gesture that threatened to have them both covered with hot coffee so Jack leaned over and took Daniel's cup away, setting it next to his own. "Calm down, Daniel."
"I am perfectly calm."
"Then, as Teal'c would say, calm up then."
"Like I said I'm perfectly calm," Daniel's whole body language screamed that he was agitated, it didn't take Jack's black-ops psychology training to tell him that.
"So what's with the leg thing?"
With an effort Daniel stilled his leg. "Nothing."
"Do I scare you?"
The question came out of left field, making Daniel jump. "What?" The trouble was, Jack was right. He did scare him. A little.
"Usually the only people I see acting like that around me are sitting at the other side of a table with a light shining in their eyes."
Jack's joke fell flat, Daniel looked as though he was ready to run away. "Stop it, Jack. That's not funny."
"I'm not trying to be funny. When I'm trying to be funny I smile, like this." Jack grimaced.
"I'll try to remember that," the leg started to move again.
"Do you want me to go?"
"No. Yes. I mean, no. Stay." Please stay, thought Daniel, trying to calm his racing heart.
"Only if you relax then," hesitantly Jack reached out and put his hand on Daniel's leg and pushed firmly until it stopped shaking. "Daniel, you're stiff as a board."
"It's like… um... like… you're playing 'good-cop, bad-cop' with me," Daniel stammered.
"What? I've been Mr. Charming this evening."
"Yeah, and before this evening?"
"I have apologised for that, I believe?"
"Sorry."
"Daniel..." I love you. Jack was surprised the thought popped into his head again. If he wasn't careful, he might accidentally say it aloud next time.
"Jack?"
"You're doing it again," Jack hadn't removed his hand so he pushed at Daniel's leg once more. He could feel the warmth radiating through his pants, "you're blushing again."
"No I'm not."
Jack moved his hand and put it a few inches from Daniel's cheek. "I can feel it from here."
"Stop it, Jack."
I can't. Jack stretched his hand along the back of the sofa, leaning back and trying to look unthreatening. "That better?"
"Mm."
"If I give you your coffee, you're not going to spill it on me, or you or the sofa, are you?"
"No."
For a few minutes, they sipped in silence. Jack watched from the corner of his eye as Daniel, apparently oblivious to the scrutiny he was under, drank his coffee. Somewhere outside a church clock struck midnight.
"Oh, is that the time? Daniel, can I check the results?"
"Uh, sure." He scrabbled around under the coffee table for the remote, clicking the TV set into life before handing it to Jack.
Jack flicked around the channels until he found what he wanted and looked at the screen across the room. He smiled to himself as Daniel visibly relaxed and let his spine curve a little, instead of sitting stiffly to attention as he had been. This was familiar territory, one they had been in many times before; Jack engrossed in the sports scores, Daniel pretending to be interested. Daniel indulged him for a few minutes.
"Did you win?"
"Win what?"
"Whatever game it is you're checking," Daniel pointed at the screen.
"Oh, that. That's the table. I'm not checking on anything specific, just... you know, keeping up with the news."
Daniel leaned against the back of the sofa, and jerked upright again when the back of his neck met Jack's arm. For a split second he wavered on the brink of sitting bolt-upright again, and then he seemed to reach a decision and relaxed. Daniel turned his face towards Jack. "So, tell me, Jack. Why did you come over tonight?"
Say it. "I told you. To apologise."
"That's it?" Nothing else?
"Daniel, we've been over this already. I came here to apologise. And I've done that. Now we're just... you know, hanging."
"Hanging?"
"Guy stuff."
"You're not going to make me drink beer, are you?" Daniel made a face.
"Do you have any?"
"No."
"Okay, then. Nope. Daniel, you know I wouldn't make you do anything you didn't want to. At least, not when we're off duty."
"Want to talk about books again?"
"As long as we leave the elf out of it."
"I told you, I am not jealous of Gimli," Daniel gave Jack a surprisingly hard punch in the ribs.
"If I showed you that stuff I found..."
Daniel stood abruptly and walked into his bedroom. Noticing that Jack hadn't followed, he stuck his head through the doorway. "Come on then."
What?! Realisation dawned. "Okay. But you have to promise not to blush."
"Jack, have you ever read any classical literature?"
"Sure."
"No, I mean the real classics, Pliny, Homer, Ovid... the Greek stuff."
"Geek stuff?"
"You heard me. Trust me, you're not going to show me anything I haven't already seen."
"Ya think?" Jack sat at the small desk in Daniel's room waiting for the PC to boot up. He looked around the room with interest, having never been in there before. "Tell me, is there a wall in your place that isn't floor to ceiling books?"
"Sure, the bathroom, the hall..." Daniel watched as Jack tapped on the keyboard. "You seem to know where you're looking."
"You wouldn't forget this in a hurry..." It was Jack's turn to blush. The screen flickered. Jack clicked a few times with the mouse, then typed a few words. Finally he stood up, gesturing Daniel to sit in the chair. "Click on any of them. I'm just going to use the bathroom."
When Jack came back Daniel was so engrossed in a story that he didn't notice Jack's return. Jack sat on the end of the bed and watched Daniel's reactions to the words in front of him. He watched as Daniel's eyes flickered from side to side, leaning forwards until his face was only inches from the screen. Occasionally his hand strayed to the mouse and he impatiently scrolled down to read the next part. Finally he sat back, and only then did he notice his observer.
"Is that possible?"
"How should I know? I've never done that to a dwarf before."
"I had no idea this stuff was even out there. How did you find it?"
"If I told you I'd have to kill you."
"Jack!"
"Okay. If you must know, I heard that they were making a film of the Lord of the Rings."
"Another one?"
"Where have you been? On another planet?" Jack slapped his forehead, "doh! Stupid! Of course you have. But then again, so have I."
"I hope it's better than that... that... you know. That cartoon thing."
"Animated film."
"You liked it?"
"No! Of course not." Jack looked insulted. "When I heard that they were going to have another go, I decided not to bother. But the first part came out not long ago, and I never got round to seeing it. So I thought I'd look for some reviews or something and... oh you know how it is with the internet. You click a link, that gives you another link and before you know it..."
"Before you know it you're a bona fide consumer of elf/dwarf porn?"
"It's not all porn!" Jack protested.
"The list we got just then was all NC-17 and very... inventive. I think. Since I've never actually had a threesome with a dwarf and an elf I can't really testify to that."
"Me neither!"
"Some of the writing isn't too bad. Mostly, though, it's eye-wateringly painful."
"You can say that again." Jack nodded.
"I really did mean the writing," Daniel looked carefully at Jack, but his expression was giving nothing away.
"But since you brought it up," he clicked around and found what he was looking for. "Do you think that's possible?"
Jack peered at the screen. He stood up and leaned over Daniel. "There aren't any dwarves in this one."
"I can't relate to a dwarf. This is two elves. Male elves," Daniel pointed to a paragraph, "read that bit. And then tell me how it's possible they do that. With one of those."
Jack read in silence. At one point his breathing became shallow and he ran his finger along a line of text, slowly as though trying to digest the words. Finally he sat down and looked at Daniel. "Inventive use of a bridle."
"That's all you can say?! What about the bow? And that part," Daniel jabbed his finger at the monitor, "is probably illegal, not to mention dangerous."
"What do you want me to say. I've never tried it. And besides, they probably have different laws in Middle Earth."
Do you want to? Daniel wondered, surprising himself with the thought. "Who writes this stuff?"
"I don't know."
"And why on earth is it called 'slash'?" Daniel looked puzzled, "no don't tell me. I'd rather not know."
"Finally you ask me a question to which I know the answer, and you don't want to know."
"You know?"
"Sure. But now you'll have to find out for yourself," Jack smirked.
"How about this then," Daniel clicked back to the main list, "what's BDSM?"
"I think you just read one."
Daniel's eyes widened. "Ah. There seems to be a lot of that."
"I wouldn't know." Jack looked smug.
"On here!"
"Oh, on there. Yes, the ladies like that." Jack nodded knowingly.
"Ladies?"
"Here we go then. Just for you. Fan Fiction 101. Are you paying attention? There will be a quiz afterwards."
"I'll make notes."
"You won't need to, this will traumatise you for life, you're not going to forget this. Ever. Pin back your pointy ears," Jack sat back on the bed, Daniel twisted round in his seat to look at him. "Mostly this stuff is written by women. For women. In their thirties. There are some interesting essays on why this should be, you can find them... oh around," Jack waved his hand at the computer. "They like to Mary-Sue them..." He stared at Daniel when he started to snicker. "What? What's so funny?"
"You, Jack. I can't believe you read this stuff."
"I don't... not often. And besides, Carter was the one who told me about it."
"Sam would never read this stuff," Daniel shook his head.
"You'd be surprised, Dannyboy."
Daniel clicked on another of the highlighted titles, "I read this while you were hiding in the bathroom. It's short and to the point. Here, take a look," he stood up, "while I hide in the bathroom."
Something occurred to Jack, and he turned to speak to Daniel, but it was too late – he had left the room already. Hoping that he wouldn't forget his question, Jack found a block of post-it notes and scribbled himself a reminder to ask Daniel on his return. Jack turned back to the monitor. The story was indeed short and to the point. Several points within only a few pages. Jack was nearly at the end of the story when Daniel returned. He stood behind Jack's chair and put his hands on Jack's shoulders. "What did you think of that?"
"Um... you've got to admire their stamina."
"Oh yes, I mean... that Aragorn, he's got to be… what, in his sixties? He does pretty well for an old man." Daniel began to gently massage Jack's neck muscles. "What did you think about the part when the elf did this?" Now it
was Jack's turn to get a nervous twitch of the leg as Daniel smoothed his hands over the curve of Jack's shoulders, over his chest and came to rest with his palms over Jack's nipples. Neither of them moved, only the twitch in Jack's thigh muscle gave any indication that this was anything out of the ordinary.
Jack hardly dared to breathe, waiting for Daniel to decide if he was okay with what they appeared to be leading up to. Apparently he was, because after a few minutes Daniel moved again, wrapping his arms around Jack's shoulders and leaning forward so that their cheeks were resting together. Jack's power of speech returned. "Um… Daniel… how long have you, umm, wanted to... do something like this? I mean this is nice, but it's a little… er…"
"Uncomfortable?" Daniel straightened and went over to the bed, looking speculatively at Jack. "Would you rather we go back in the living room? I think we need to talk about this."
"Here is fine," Jack joined Daniel on the bed. He put his hand on Daniel's arm. "I think you know why I came here tonight," he recoiled slightly at Daniel's shocked expression. "No! Not that... I just wanted to… to say… well, to make sure you are okay. To apologise…"
"I thought we'd agreed that the apology had been accepted?"
Jack sighed. He was about to admit defeat and go back home when Daniel reached behind Jack and pulled him down, by the shoulder. They lay side by side for a few quiet moments, before Jack started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Daniel sounded offended.
"It's like being back in high school."
"Is this what you did in high school?"
"No… oh you know what I mean."
"Not really."
"Daniel… it's like… waiting for…"
Daniel raised himself on one elbow, leaned over Jack and kissed him gently on the lips. Daniel withdrew his face a few inches, looking into Jack's eyes. Jack's expression was unreadable, but he did not look displeased, so Daniel bent forward for another kiss. This time it was reciprocated, and for a while the two men lay on the bed, just kissing and holding each other. It felt surprisingly comfortable, as though it was something they should have been doing for years.
Jack broke off. "Daniel, this is nice but…"
"Yeah, where's it going?"
"Yes. I mean… I did make out at high school, but it was always with…"
"Cheerleaders?"
Jack laughed, "Yes, mostly. What I mean is…"
"Don't worry about it. I told you, I've read enough classics to know the basics. And, well, I've just read all that dwarf/elf stuff…"
Something occurred to Jack, Daniel had a distinctively mischievous gleam in his blue eyes that Jack knew only too well. "Daniel?"
"Jack?"
"You know what a 'Mary Sue' is." It wasn't a question.
"Yes, Jack."
"You are so busted! You knew about slash…"
"I can't believe you've just discovered it! I've been reading zines for years… you were right, I can speak Klingon. And elvish, and if you must know I also have a Bajoran earring." He laughed at Jack's expression. "You don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do you?"
"Nope," Jack pulled Daniel in for another kiss. "You can tell me in the morning."
There were a few minutes of silence, then Jack raised himself up on one elbow, "oh and by the way, Daniel, next time you want to say 'bite me, you lover of Tribbles' use a dialect of Klingon that I don't know – or make sure I can't hear. And stop blushing, it doesn't suit you!"
~the end~
*Elvish for Home (of course)
**for anyone who is wondering about the 'MIA near the VCP on the MSR' thing:
MIA = Missing In Action, VCP = Vehicle Check Point, MSR = Main Supply Route