By Mickey
STORY STATUS: Completed 6/18/07
SEASON: 4
SPOILERS: Scorched Earth
WORD COUNT: 614
AUTHORS NOTE: It always bugged me that Daniel seemed so unconcerned about what he'd nearly made Jack do. I figured someone needed to call him on it.
"Well then, SG-1, if that's all, you are all on stand down for the next four days. Good job people." That said, General Hammond left the briefing room.
"Hey, Jack, want to go to O'Malley's to celebrate tonight?"
Daniel took a reflexive step back as his friend turned and pinned him with a penetrating glare. The anger he saw there made him reconsider saying anything further. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Jack turned and swiftly left the briefing room.
"What the hell crawled up his butt and died," Daniel muttered.
Teal'c merely looked at Daniel with that same almost unreadable stare then turned and left. Daniel was sure he could see a hint of disappointment in his Jaffa friend's eyes. There was no recrimination there, just a sort of resigned acceptance.
Which was the opposite of what he saw when he turned to look at Sam. Her expression was almost hard as Jack's.
"What do you think?"
"What?" Daniel stared blankly at Sam for a moment. "Oh, I get it. "He's pissed because I actually obeyed orders this time, everything worked out fine, and he didn't get to blow anything up. Because, once again, the non-militaristic approach was the better solution in the end. Well that's just too damn bad." Daniel finished angrily.
"You really don't get it do you?" Sam accused as her agitation increased.
"Get what?" Daniel exclaimed. "He told me to find another way. I found it. Now both the Enkarans and the Gadmeer will live. I don't see what the problem is."
"How can someone so smart be some freaking thickheaded?" Sam muttered as she shook her head in disbelief. Then she looked back at him. "Of course you don't, Daniel.
"I don't think..."
"That's just it," Sam interrupted, "you never think with your head. You let your heart guide you, and I'm not saying that's entirely a bad thing, regardless of the consequences for anyone else. As long as you get what you want in the end, it's all good to you.
"You knew, Daniel. You knew what the colonel was planning and you went up on the ship anyway. You made him chose. You put him in a position no one should ever have to be in."
Sam glared at Daniel with an intensity that reminded him of Jack. "What are you talking about Sam? I didn't make Jack do anything. He was the one that was so gung ho on destroying the Gadmeer's without any consideration to the fact that he'd be wiping out an entire species!"
"And still it hasn't sunk in. God, Daniel! You can be so incredibly dense sometimes. You made him chose between you and the Enkarans. Going on what we knew at the time, you made him chose between saving his best friend and saving the lives of the hundreds of people he'd sworn to protect. For a minute, one brief, heart wrenching minute, he thought he'd killed you."
Daniel blanched. "Oh, God, Sam. I ... I didn't realize ... I thought ... I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to put Jack in a position like that. I just couldn't stand by and watch an entire race be exterminated." He paused.
Finally, Sam's expression softened. "I know that Daniel, and so does the colonel. It's not what you did that upsets him so much as how you went about it."
"I have to talk to Jack."
With a determined look, Daniel walked out of the briefing room. He had find Jack and make sure he hadn't done irreparable harm to the friendship they had both worked so hard to forge.
THE END