In The Cover of Night

Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did because it would be a blast, I don't nor have I ever in my existence owned Stargate SG-1 and related characters. They are owned by the creative geniuses at MGM. Sigh. So please vacate any
thoughts of trying to sue me. I am receiving no compensation.

Chapter 1: Downtime

Night had fallen over P3X-638 and the four weary members of SG-1 were sitting around their campfire, relaxing after completing their most recent mission. The planet was deserted aside from the crypt that the team had been sent to retrieve an artifact from and all involved had agreed that it was quiet here compared to the hectic craziness that normally occurred around the SGC, so they had received permission to take a few days of their downtime on the planet.

Colonel Jack O'Neill sat on a fold chair surrounded by his team. He chewed on his ration bar as he took in a good look at the people around him, his family of sorts. Major Samantha Carter was sitting off to one side giving the artifact a once over with Dr. Daniel Jackson to translate the markings on the smooth surface. Carter and Daniel. Now there were two workaholics if he ever saw them. This was the first occasion in over a year that Sam had spent some downtime out of her lab without her scientific doohickeys that she was so often engrossed in. He had known that this would be good for her to get off the base for a while and relax. Then there was Daniel. His best friend and someone he viewed as a brother. Jack had lost count of the number of times that he had found Daniel sleeping in his office after returning from a long mission, having nodded off at his computer trying to keep working when he was well past the point of exhaustion. Then he stole a glance at Teal'c, the Jaffa member of their team who had pledged his life to their fight against the Goa'uld after being rescued from Apophis. Teal'c sat quietly across from Jack, cleaning his Staff weapon. When he sensed his friend's gaze, the Jaffa looked up from what he was doing and smiled.
"Am I that interesting, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, amused.
"Huh?"
"You were watching me as I engaged in cleaning my weapon. I was not aware I was so fascinating.
"Oh. Sorry, Teal'c. I was just thinking about how good this will be for the four of us." Jack mused.
"I agree, Jack. We haven't had much of a chance for relaxing lately. Besides, I can't remember the last time we got to kick up our heels and just spend some leisure time together, you know, as a team." Daniel agreed, setting up his own fold chair and coming to sit next to his friend.
"Honestly, I'm a little surprised that General Hammond let us take this little break. I thought for sure we were going to be ordered back to base." Sam pointed out.
"What can I say, I know how to pull some strings. Besides, Hammond owed me a favor and I picked now to call it in."
"Shall we set up the tents, O'Neill?"
"Why? It's a nice, warm night and there isn't a cloud in the sky so why don't we sleep outside under the stars tonight. It's really peaceful here and after the missions we've been on lately, some peace and quiet is a luxury we can use right about now." Daniel said.
"Daniel does make a good point there, Teal'c. It is really peaceful here and why not take advantage of being on a planet where we aren't assaulted by the elements."
"Well, why don't we try to get some sleep now. It's getting late, in fact it's almost 2200 hours. I think we could all use with a good night's sleep."
After finding good places to set up their bedrolls for the night, the team spent a few minutes talking before they went to bed. That is, except for Teal'c who had made himself comfortable and began his Kelnoreem.
"Hey, Jack. What exactly was this favor that the General owed you? I'm a little bit curious." Daniel whispered over the fire.
"Well, Daniel, it's as simple as this. The General had an emergency one day a couple of months ago and I took care of some things for him and as thanks he told me that whenever I needed a favor to just ask and I called in that favor today for the benefit of my team."
"That was really good of you, Jack. You could have just used that for your own benefit, but instead you decided to include the rest of us so we could all have a break." Daniel yawned as he stretched out on his bedroll, eyes drooping with fatigue.
"I agree. That was very thoughtful of you, sir." Sam agreed. She looked in Daniel's direction and chuckled lightly. "In fact, I'd say it's so restful here that Daniel's already trying to leave. Leave for dreamland, that is."
"Well, I am beat. I think I'm going to turn in. As Sam just pointed out, I'm practically there already. Night, guys. See you in the morning." After a few minutes, Jack and Sam heard Daniel's breathing slow and deepen as he started his downtime by drifting off to sleep.
"Thank you, sir." Sam whispered.
"For what?"
"This. I have to agree with what Daniel said earlier. It's really nice here. We haven't had a chance to relax like this in a while and I for one think we should reap the benefits."
"Yeah, I agree. Let's get some sleep. Goodnight, Carter." Jack said, settling into his bedroll and watched Sam rest on her own and fall into a comfortable sleep. Then, taking a final glance at his team, all three sleeping peacefully, Jack closed his eyes and dropped off into a fitful slumber of his own.