Summary: Jack decides to liven things up during yet another time loop.
Jack noticed the subtle changes. Perhaps it was because he had been through this at least a dozen times, maybe more. Or maybe it was because he subconsciously needed to see the changes in the daily routines he had found himself in. He wasn't sure, but reliving the same day over and over again had already got on his nerves to the point that he welcomed every last one of the little differences he found.
Sometimes Daniel would ask him something about looping, then the next time around he'd ask something else. Sometimes Carter met with him in the commissary to talk about his trials looping through time, almost always saying, "I bet you knew I was going to say that," other days she didn't even show up. It was hard to keep track of all the comings and goings, but Jack still relished the differences whenever they cropped up.
He looked forward to the little nuances that caused the differences, and sometimes even encouraged them. This is one of those times, Jack thought, as he watched Daniel take a sip of his coffee, something he hadn't noticed his friend doing during the pre-mission briefing on previous loops.
"There," Jack said, his finger pointing directly at the culprit. Carter stopped in mid-sentence and turned to stare at Jack, while Hammond frowned. "You've not done that before," he added with pride.
"Done what?" Daniel wanted to know.
"This is the first time you had some coffee with you during this meeting."
The confusion in Daniel's expression seemed to deepen, and he looked over to see if Hammond and Carter were with him on this.
"You are wrong, O'Neill," Teal'c piped up. Jack turned to look at him, ready to argue him down, but Teal'c finished his say before Jack could open his mouth. "I have observed Daniel Jackson drinking coffee during this briefing several times."
"But not during every one, right?"
Teal'c bowed his head in agreement, which prompted a triumphant smile from Jack as he turned to the rest of the people in the room. "See?"
They apparently didn't see, as they were now giving him a strange look, as if he had finally lost his mind.
Unfortunately, this was something that rarely changed during the umpteen loops he and Teal'c have gone through. Still, he was on a mission to find every single change he could. And besides, he knew from experience that they would begin to believe him anyway, just as soon as he and Teal'c went through their own routines of telling them all of the events that transpired to create the time loop and why this is happening again. It wouldn't take long.
In the meantime, he was going to try to make this loop a little more interesting.
"I tell you Teal'c, this is just one of the many things that change every single day," he said, with a confidence born of a man who has been through one too many repeats of the same day. "If it's not Daniel and that cup of coffee, it's Carter tripping over the General's chair over there." Teal'c's eyebrow raised sky high at that remark, but to his credit he didn't correct Jack on that one. Daniel was eyeing Jack warily, while Carter scanned the floor by the General's chair. Jack grinned, but not for long. Hammond was glaring at him, a fact that worried Jack, if only for a moment or two. He never knew if this was going to be the day they fixed the loop or not. His motto recently had been to do the crimes only when he was sure the day would repeat itself. It's best to stay on Hammond's good side until he was absolutely sure he wouldn't find himself in the brig when tomorrow finally came.
"I know we are in a meeting, General Hammond sir," he said in a placating way. "But, as you will soon find out, this has all been covered before and I seriously wanted to point out the differences this time around. You know, to give Teal'c and I something different to liven things up a little bit. Reliving the same day over and over again gets a little boring."
"Boring," Hammond said with a wary nod. Jack nodded back vigorously, glad that the General understood, but apparently Hammond wasn't going to be too cooperative this time around after all. "Major Carter," he said with a stern look at Jack, "Would you please continue?"
Carter immediately started up on where she left off, but Jack decided that this was one of the days that would not end. He'd make sure of it. "Now see?" he said to Teal'c, the only person who would understand. "That's exactly what I'm talking about." He turned to Hammond and said, "You never believe me at first, but this is the first time you chose to ignore me." Daniel cleared his throat, while Jack went on. "You know, Teal'c. I think that this time around we should just keep it to ourselves and not let them know that this is the bajillionth time they've relived this day."
"Another day off?" Teal'c asked.
"Yep," Jack said, as he took in the astonished looks on the faces of the others in the room. "And this time we go out and visit some local landmarks. What do you say?"
Teal'c seemed to think about it, but the small telltale smile and the slight nod of his head gave Jack his answer. They were going to really make a difference this time.
"You will introduce me to the bar scene," Teal'c said, apparently making his own plans. "I wish to see for myself the "wild side" of your world."
"Colonel O'Neill," Hammond said as he stood up to face Jack. "Do you realize what you are about to do?"
"Oh yeah!" Jack said with a wicked smile. He knew exactly what he was going to do. "We're definitely going to make our own changes this time around."