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"Daniel? What are you doing?"

Blue eyes peered over crooked glasses, fair brown hair mused from concentration.

"Oh Jack, I didn't see you there." Daniel absently pushed his glasses back up to meet his line of vision. "I was just finishing these translations." The archeologists smile was met with Jack's arched eyebrow.

Daniel slouched in his chair and cocked his head slightly to one side.

Jack didn't miss the look and thought to himself, 'Yup, he's forgotten… again.'

"Dinner?" The eyebrow arched further.

"Jack?"

"Time, Daniel." Jack shrugged his shoulder towards the clock as he crossed his arms purposely over his chest, continuing an unwavering stare.

Daniel glanced at the clock, and then he remembered. 'Oh, crap.'

"Are… oh… ummm…Sorry, Jack." The archeologist spluttered as he lowered his gaze and fumbled with the papers before him.

Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head. His annoyance bubbling to the surface, he eyed Daniels shaggy head of hair bobbing about as the linguist tidied things away, muttering something about losing track of time. This was the second time in a week he'd had to fetch the young man.

Jack knew that if he didn't insist that Daniel came and ate with him at least twice a week, the archeologist would be here all the time, snacking from what ever was stashed in his top draw, usually candy, but fetch him? 'Nope, that ain't happening anymore.' Jack sighed.

Jack had known exactly were he'd find said linguist, engrossed, as always, with some ancient dialect. Jack rubbed the back of his neck, thinking, 'Maybe I should get him an alarm clock or something?'

Mobile phones didn't work inside the mountain and Daniel always took his office phone off the hook when he was translating something and didn't want to be disturbed. Next time, he considered, he'd just ring the gatehouse and get some burly SF to come drag him out by the collar.

Jack contemplated that now, but knowing it wouldn't make for a pleasant evening, he turned on his heel, tapping his watch at Daniel as he went, and barked over his shoulder: "Ten minutes, Daniel… up top, else I'll come and drag you out. Got me?" Jack's gruff tone emanated all the annoyance required; another dinner ruined, and another cold evening running around after one, errant archeologist.

The day before had seen another mission where his linguist had decided that he knew better than the battle honed Colonel that led SG1. Daniel always had a reason for not doing as he was told and Jack could usually see the reasoning behind it, but this time he felt sure there could have been a better way to work thing's out. Daniel risking his life for complete strangers just didn't sit well with Jack, especially when those people where dead set against the Tauri, as Teal'c would put it.

Daniel had nearly managed to get them talked into a corner with his insistence to help move people to another world that they definitely didn't want to go. Fortuneately, Teal'c had stepped in as the resident Jaffa and threatened retribution from false gods to get them the hell outta there. They were definitely looking like they wanted to keep Daniel. Jack sighed out loud; he was still more than annoyed about having to drag the kid out by the shirt collar, even after the incident. Daniel just didn't know when to give up sometimes.

#

Daniels head snapped up, as he blinked owlishly in the wake of Jack's reprimand.

As Jack disappeared around the corner his words sunk in and Daniel realized what he'd just said.

Okay, so now Jack was pissed with him. He could handle that. Daniel rolled his eyes and leaned forward for a moment. Glancing briefly at the door again while he sat and pondered a question for a moment. 'Why the hell was Jack that bothered anyway?'

Jack obviously cared about him, but ordering him to go home for dinner! Daniel sat back up in the chair, looking down at himself. "How old am I?" he muttered sarcastically and sighed.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he removed his glasses and threw them onto the desk to more thoroughly rub his eyes. He then snagged a stack of papers relating to his current project, and pushed them into his leather bag. Daniel jabbed at the power button on his laptop, making the machine hum more slowly as it closed down.

As he made his way around the office, flicking off light switches and dropping more things into his bag, he continued to wonder when this, 'Jack being dictatorial thing' had happened. 'When did Jack start telling him when he could, and couldn't work?' Sure, he was grateful for the dinners, but he didn't realize it was an order for him to be there. What right had the man to be annoyed with him for forgetting menial stuff like dinner? His work here was important. Everything he did was one step closer to finding his estranged wife. This is what he did! If he wanted to sleep at his desk, drink gallons of coffee and eat loads of candy bars, that was his choice, he was an adult after all!

Daniel turned, his mood rapidly deteriorating. Slapping the laptop closed, he threw it into its protective bag and shrugged it onto his shoulder. Snatching the leather bag from his desk, he stalked to the door, slamming it firmly behind him.

Walking speedily down the corridor, Daniel paused and wondered whether he should just go back and carry on with his work. However, he knew that Jack was a man of his word, and being physically dragged from the SGC wasn't an attractive prospect. No, he'd meet Jack. They could talk about this. He needed to tell Jack that he'd work, eat and sleep when it suited him, and not his CO. Daniel was confident that he could get this straightened out.

o0o

When Daniel headed for the signing out station, he could see Jack standing nearby, tapping his foot. 'Oh great…' thought Daniel as he struggled to arrange his load. Pushing back his large coat sleeve he glanced at his wrist watch and noted that he'd actually been more like twenty minutes and started striding faster towards his destination.

Daniel was all but jogging towards the station when he remembered his annoyance. He purposefully slowed back down to a steady walk. Jack had to realize that Daniel was in control, and that meant him not acting like a child who was in trouble.

Daniel dropped his bags and snatched the pen to sign out. "Evening, Jack," he offered in a calm, relaxed voice.

Jack turned as he heard the greeting. Staring at Daniels face as he scribbled his signature, Jack's eyebrows raised in unison, greeting Daniel with an unspoken 'Excuse me?'

Daniel recognized the look, as he glanced at his friend, but he wasn't going to pale and scuttle back to the truck. He smiled, and attempted to get his bags, but Jack was there all ready.

Grabbing the bags, Jack effortlessly tucked one under his left arm and tightly grasped the other in his hand. Feeling more annoyed with every extra minute that had passed and now seeing that Daniel had bought his work home with him, the smartassed 'Evening Jack' was the last straw as far as he was concerned.

Taking full advantage of the stooping archeologist, Jack grasped the young mans collar and walked purposefully towards his truck.

Daniel, caught completely unawares, stumbled as the top half of his body was propelled through the parking lot. Spluttering as his collar tightened, Daniel appeared to be completely unable to speak, and there was distinct flush coloring his cheeks.

By the time he was able to collect himself; Jack had released him and was putting his bags on the back seats. Daniel started to protest, but Jack cut him off. "Just get in Daniel, I don't wanna hear it."

Daniel stood, mouth gaping, his face full of astonishment and confusion, obviously unable to grasp what had just happened. Jack's door slammed, and then the passenger door was unlatched and swung open slightly.

"You want me to put you in the truck too?"

Jack could see Daniel still looking stunned, but he clambered into the truck. Jack considered that Daniel was probably more worried about the security personnel witnessing the outburst more than listening to Jack's orders.

Huffing dramatically, Daniel dropped his upper body heavily into the chair and fixed his gaze out of the passenger window, trying to avoid any confrontation with Jack before they got home.

Jack started the truck, registering his archeologist's actions, and shook his head.

"Daniel, put your seatbelt on," Jack chided.

Daniel jumped and turned, grappling with the belt, trying his best not to meet Jack's line of vision. As he mumbled a barely recognizable 'sorry', Jack couldn't help a small smile touching his lips.

#

The ride home was quiet, the atmosphere strained. Daniel allowed himself an occasional glance at Jack, but in the darkness he only caught the reflection of the passing street lights in his Jack's eyes.

Huffing once again, he rested his forehead on the glass of the side window while the motion of the truck gradually stole his consciousness…

o0o

Daniel felt a rough shake of his shoulder and cracking his eyes open, his blurred vision registered Jack's face.

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed internally. 'Damn it,' he'd fallen asleep. How much more ammunition could he give Jack regarding his overworking and lack of rest? Any hope of convincing the older man that he was capable of looking after himself seemed to be slipping away.

"Come on, Danny, you can't sleep there. Let's get in and eat. I grabbed some pizza on the way home."

Daniel opened his eyes, watching Jack get the bags and the pizza. He rolled his head back, yawning widely, and stretched his legs while sliding them out of the truck door.

As he made his way into the kitchen he found that Jack had put a root beer out for him on the side and, was warming the pizza through.

Daniel wandered by, shrugged his coat off and made his way to the coat stand to hang it up. He snagged the root beer on his way back, slumped onto the sofa and fumbled around down the side of the cushion, searching for the television controls. Noticing the red light, Daniel flicked the button, ready to surf through the array of cable channels. Finding the Discovery Channel, he flipped the control onto the sofa and traced the rough pattern on the bottom of the bottle with his finger.

Feeling the effort required to argue with Jack draining from him, he took a mouthful of root beer. He wanted to complain about Jacks manhandling of him in the parking lot and the terse words in the SGC, but he simply couldn't find the energy.

A dragging chair and plates rattling behind him roused Daniel from his contemplation.

"Daniel, come and eat." Jack called.

"I'm not hungry, Jack, I might just watch TV." Daniel glanced over the back of the sofa, directing pleading blue eyes at his host.

"Daniel." The warning tone was clear.

"I'm not-" Daniel was cut off with a raised finger from Jack while the older man pointed to the chair next to him.

"Come and sit and eat. I know for a fact you haven't eaten all day."

Daniel pushed himself from the sofa, forcefully placing his drink on the coffee table as he rose.

He made his way to the chair opposite Jack and dragged it noisily from under the table. Thumping into the chair, he pulled a plate towards him and snatched a slice of pizza.

Jack pinned him with a stare, which Daniel ignored.

#

They ate in silence, with Daniel mostly staring at the table. Taking a forth slice of pizza, Jack noticed that Daniel had only eaten two slices. Tapping the box with his finger, Jack smiled at the gloomy face before him, "I'll give it to you for breakfast Danny," Jack quipped.

Daniel just glared.

Seeing that his joke had gone unappreciated, Jack got up and cleared away the leftovers and used crockery and started to load the dishwasher while appraising his guests expression.

"Daniel, what's with the attitude?" Finishing the task in hand, Jack slid back into the chair and stretched out his long legs, scrubbing his hand through his hair as he posed the question, his head cocked to one side in expectation of a reply.

With a look of defiance in his eyes, Daniel lifted his head and stared at Jack.

"Attitude? What attitude. The only problem that I've got, Jack, is you ordering me around - telling me when I should eat, sleep, and work! I'm an adult. It's up to me what and when I eat, were and when I sleep, and how long I work for. I'm not a kid, Jack!"

Daniel had stood up and was now pacing up and down, waving his arms about frantically. Jack noticed that Daniel's shirt was only half tucked in and buttoned up wrongly, obviously done in his rush to leave the SGC before Jack collected him.

So maybe Daniel wasn't as fearless as he made out?

"Daniel, sit down!" Jack decided that using his Colonels voice was a good option at this point.

Daniel stopped in his tracks and stared at Jack.

"I said, sit down, Daniel." Jack added with a little more force, indicating the chair next to him.

Daniel sat, looking a little worried.

Jack sat back up and leaned into Daniel's personal space.

"You, Daniel Jackson, don't eat properly, don't sleep properly and work far, far too much. If…" Jack twirled his finger into the air "…you want to stay on my team…" he jabbed Daniel in the chest "…we need to come to an understanding."

Daniels eyes grew wider at the accusations being posed. Sitting up straighter, outrage clearly visible on his face, Daniel replied with passion.

"I work so hard, because that's what I've always done. My sleeping, eating and working habits have never been any different, Jack. How can you sit there and say that you don't want me on the team for those reasons? This is me, Jack; I've never been any different!"

Daniels' eyebrows had climbed further into his bangs, the wide blue eyes searching Jack's face.

Jack raised an eyebrow in response and leant back into the chair again, sighing. 'Had the kid completely missed the point?'

"Daniel, you've been living with me for a little over three months, and I notice things. There is so much at stake here, not least finding your wife. If you are not healthy, fit and well rested, how can you hope to be any use on missions? If you carry on as you are, you're going to burn out, and I for one, am not willing to watch, and wait for that to happen."

Daniel had started to study his fingers as Jack's declaration continued.

"So does part of this agreement include dragging me by my shirt collar through the SGC parking lot?" Daniel ventured the question while rubbing his thumb and not meeting Jack's eyes.

Jack cringed internally. He stood and made his way to the kitchen to get himself a coffee, considering, that maybe, that wasn't such a smart move on his part, but it had got the point across.

"You were being obnoxious, Daniel." Jack offered as he moved around the kitchen.

"I said good evening, Jack. That's hardly obnoxious."

Jack turned and studied Daniel, coffee mug in hand, rolling it around his palms and absorbing the heat.

"You knew damn well I was waiting for you, and you were late… again. I had to fetch you on Tuesday as well, don't you remember?" Jack hissed sarcastically.

"The point being, Jack, I don't have to be here at 8pm every night for my supper. I'm not a child! You treat me like a kid all the time and it's getting embarrassing!"

Jack sighed, "The point being, Daniel, you have a terrible habit of acting like a child, especially when you can't get your own way. Until such time as you start to act a little more responsibly, this routine will continue, got me?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and made for the kitchen.

That notched Jack's annoyance up another level.

"Daniel, sit down." Jack pointed at the chair he'd just left as he himself made his way back to the table. Jack noted that Daniel did as he was asked without argument, but was over dramatic with sitting back in the chair.

"What other people think, Daniel, is irrelevant. I won't take attitude from any of my people… even the civilian ones…" Jack added, as he saw Daniels head pop up, eyebrows raise and mouth open, ready to deliver his 'I'm not military' retort. "And, with that in mind, maybe we need some house rules. We have to live together at the moment, and we appear to be driving each other nuts. If we both know what the other expects, things will be easier, right?"

Jack considered that maybe some sort of meeting halfway would end this disagreement although at this point in time he was so tempted to land a few choice swats on that archeologists behind.

Daniel just looked back at him like a goldfish. Jack could see the cog's turning

"Okay then, Jack. That sounds fair."

"Right, well, first of all, you're always back from the mountain by 20.00 hours when we're not on duty." Daniels gaze hardened again as the words came out. "If you're catching a lift, it makes sense that we travel together, instead of you cadging lifts with other personnel, right? Also, we can take turns preparing dinner, that way, we both get to eat properly."

Daniel rolled his eyes again, but Jack chose to ignore that for now and continued.

"No work to come home at the weekends, unless it's urgent, and that's urgent by my standards and not yours, Daniel."

Daniel snorted at that, and put on his 'you are joking?' look.

Unable to ignore the look, Jack leaned forward and cuffed the back of Daniel's head.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" Daniel scowled and rubbed his head.

"Quit the looks and the language, Daniel, or your butts gonna be toast." Jack let the comment sink in for a moment before he continued through the disbelieving looks he was now receiving.

"We need to relax, Daniel, and this is the only way it's going to happen," Jack reasoned, catching the lips of his archeologist twitching.

Daniel sighed again continuing to rub his head. Jack raised his eyebrows, wondering if his comment had hit home yet.

"You hit me, Jack," Daniel grimaced through long bangs while looking innocently over the top of his glasses.

"Anymore attitude, Daniel and it'll be more than a thumped head, believe me," The older man warned.

Daniel was looking cautiously at Jack, "You would'nt?"

Jack's answer was a sharp look, "Try me, kiddo, you're this far away." Jack held his hand up and held his fingers less than an inch apart.

Daniel continued to look at Jack, disbelieving, before getting up and making his way towards the coffee pot. He was stopped in his tracks by Jack's exclamation.

"Ah, ah… ah! No coffee before bed, Daniel. You need your beauty sleep."

Daniel turned and as good as stamped his foot, "This is getting real old, I want to go to bed with my coffee!"

"And I'd like some sleep tonight, kiddo. It keeps you awake enough to have god awful nightmares. No coffee."

Daniel huffed and set his jaw, "I'm going to bed, with a book. Is that okay?"

Jack nodded and watched the younger man stalk away, they definitely needed to have words, "This whole tantrum thing you've got going doesn't suit you, Danny." He called after the retreating form.

Daniel was nearly at the top of the stairs when he turned and answered, "And this whole man of the house thing you've got going doesn't suit you either, DAD!"

With that, the bedroom door slammed and Jack swore. He knew that he loved Daniel like a son, it had taken a good while for him to realize it, but unfortunately, Daniel seemed to respond in kind by acting like a kid sometimes. Maybe it was Jack that made him like that? Who knew, but he was sure going to sort things out…

TBC