Disclaimer: Not mine, owned by MGM yadda, yadda, yadda, no copyright infringement intended. I'm just playing with the crayons in the box.
A/N: I wanted to write a fic that countered all of those Celtic cliché fics owing to Jack's "Irish" heritage. I also incorporated a few other snippets of ideas I'd had and don't have the time to write whole new fics for. I hope you enjoy!
For Daniel's reference : See A/N at the bottom of each page for the "Doric-to-English" dictionary for that chapter ;)
…..
"Is that Teal'c's Jaffa symbol?"
Jack's voice rose above the sound of Daniel's rambling as he waved at the image on the screen. Pausing the Powerpoint presentation, Daniel pulled his glasses off and began wiping them on his t-shirt hem.
"Actually, no, it's a Pictish symbol of a serpent."
"Pictish?"
"Celtic tribes people from Europe."
Jack nodded slowly.
Teal'c tilted his head across the briefing room table towards Jack.
"Are you not a member of a Celtic tribe, O'Neill?"
Next to Jack, Sam coughed and hastily took a sip of lukewarm water from the half-full tumbler on the table in front of her, hiding her smirk behind the glass as she did so.
"Top 'o' the mornin' to ya," Jack drawled in a terrible approximation of an Irish brogue and rolled his eyes at Teal'c. "I'm 7th generation American, Teal'c, I'm about as Irish as Carter is Scandinavian!"
Sam turned to face him with a frown.
"What?" Jack responded to her look, "You're the stereotype of a Norse goddess… doesn't mean you're related to Greta Garbo!"
Sam's glass hit the table with a thump in the deafening silence. Daniel turned to regard Jack with a gleam in his eye and a smirk. Jack raised his eyebrows at his former team.
"What?!"
"I believe you just referred to Colonel Carter as a goddess," Teal'c supplied, clasping his hands together in front of his face, elbows propped on the shiny oak surface.
Jack's eyes flicked to Sam and back to Teal'c.
"No… I, uh, oh for cryin' …, you know what I meant!"
Teal'c's eyes gleamed.
"Indeed."
Sam regarded him with an amused gaze.
"Actually, Sir, my family name is English, technically speaking."
Daniel cleared his throat.
"Anyway, as I was saying, wrong Celtic nation. The Picts, or more accurately, the Taexali, were from the Grampian region of Scotland. Not much is known about the individual tribes except a few engravings in the local stone. One in particular, of a serpent and a z-rod, is similar to the one found on P4C-282 by SG-9 last month." Daniel switched to the next slide. "As you can see from this photograph of granite unearthed just outside Aberdeen-"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Daniel. Scotland, Braveheart, something to do with snakes…"
Daniel frowned and crossed his arms.
"Actually Braveheart is set on the West Coast, Aberdeen is the North-East. Completely different ancestral heritage."
"Whatever. Look, Daniel, can you just get to the point sometime soon?" Jack snapped, still smarting from his accidental admission about Carter.
"Fine, Jack," Daniel retorted with a knowing smirk, "I think we've found something potentially interesting but I can't read the inscription on the tablet SG-9 brought back." Seeing Jack's eyes starting to glaze over, Daniel pulled out his ace. "The Picts have historical links to battles with the Vikings," At Jack's blank look, Daniel explained further, "The Vikings? Norse Gods? The Asgard?"
"Ah!" Jack said, realisation dawning.
"I called a friend in Scotland and, with your permission, I'd like to bring him in as an advisor. He's one of the few people on Earth who may be able to translate the tablet."
"Who is this friend?" Jack enquired.
"Dr Graeme Buchan. He's a lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen. He's on a plane as we speak and due to arrive in Colorado Springs in a few hours. He was scheduled to speak at a conference in Honolulu next week but when I called him he decided to fly out a few days earlier and make a stop by the mountain on the way."
"Does it say 'General' anywhere on my uniform?" Jack groused, letting out an exaggerated sigh, "Would you mind at least giving me a heads up before you invite people to our top secret military base?!"
"Well, if you want to get this thing translated ASAP, then he's your guy."
Jack waved his hands dismissively.
"Fine, fine, when does he arrive?"
Just as Daniel pursed his lips to respond, Sgt Harriman entered the room.
"Sir, there's a visitor to see Dr Jackson at the front gate. A Dr Buchan?"
Jack turned to Daniel and glared.
"Very well, Sgt. Escort him to the briefing room. Usual drill."
"Yes, Sir. Full disclosure forms. I'll bring him down as soon as possible, Sir."
"Actually Sgt I think I'll go with you," Daniel added, placing the remote control for the projector on the table. "I should probably be there when you read him the Riot Act."
….
