Title: The Barista, Complete First Season
Author: dietcokechic
Email: dietcokechic@hotmail.com
Season: 1
Summary: Life as seen through the eyes of Daniel's barista.
Notes: By popular demand, I am reposting all of Season 1 together in one
document. I have cleaned up a lot of the tenses and added a few additional lines as
well.
For those unfamiliar with this series, these are a series of vignettes about Daniel and
SG-1 as observed from the local Barista's point of view. For those unfamiliar with
the term, a Barista is the person who works in those specialty coffee shops. To be
more exact, a Barista is the person who actually "pulls" (makes) the shots of
espresso and concocts all those fancy drinks.
Hard to believe, but these stories will be ship-free. For the most part. ~*Evil Grin*~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
01- First Impression
Episode: 101- Takes place after Children of the Gods
The first time he came in I scarcely noticed the guy.
"Why are we here Jack?" The man asked in a resigned voice. He sure didn't seem
to be very happy. He was about average height and was in desperate need of a
haircut. His clothes didn't seem to fit him properly and the guy looked like he hadn't
had a decent night's sleep (or meal) in quite some time. His companion was much
more poised. Tall, clean cut and sexy as hell. He sorta reminded me of Harrison
Ford circa Airforce One. I so know what I am going to ask Santa for this Christmas.
Yum.
"Coffee Daniel." Well duh. This IS a coffee house after all.
"I can see that Jack, but I'm sure they have coffee back on the base." Base? Ah,
these guys must belong to that military complex up the hill. Who knows what the
hell they're doing up there, but we do get our fair share of soldiers down here in the
lowlands. They're all right. Better than average tippers.
"Whatever Jack." Scruffy guy sure didn't seem to be happy. Actually, as soon as
the pair stepped close enough for me to take their order I could see Scruffy's eyes.
Lovely looking blue eyes he had behind those dorky looking glasses. But the
sadness behind them was unmistakable. Poor guy.
"Hi there." I say politely. "What can I get you two?"
"I'll have a 12 oz. cup of regular coffee and my friend will have…"
"Whatever." Ouch. Scruffy sure didn't seem to want to be here.
"Ah, c'mon Daniel!" Cute guy cajoled. "I know for a fact you lived on this stuff
before you.." Cute guy paused and shifted from one foot to another as if
embarrassed. "You like coffee Daniel." He said finally.
"Double short Americano with a splash of steamed milk please." There we go! Nice
clean order. Points for Scruffy.
"Americano? What the hell is that?" Cute guy was asking his friend, but I took the
opportunity to chirp in.
"It's two shots of espresso with 6 ounces of hot water."
"Sounds like a cup of coffee to me."
"Espresso isn't drip coffee Jack."
"Fine, fine- order what you want." Cute guy was reaching into his pocket for money.
"That will be $3.59." I say ringing up their order. "Tall Drip and double short
Americano!" I shout at the barista behind the machine. Idly I look at my watch. I
still had another 20 more minutes before my turn to pull. Not that I don't like taking
the orders, but.. Ah who am I kidding? Customer service sucks. Get to see cute
guys though. Tall guy is yummy.
"Here's $5.00." He handed me the five-dollar bill and turned to his friend. "Danny,
you happen to have a dime?" Scruffy shot his friend a deer in the headlights sort of
look and paled considerably.
"I don't have any money Jack." He says softly. Yeah, well that happens, no big deal
Scruff. So why did cute guy look ashamed and Scruffy seem like he was about to
cry? These guys were weird.
"Ah man! I'm sorry Daniel, I totally forgot." Tall guy gave his friend a friendly
squeeze on the shoulder. "We'll get that straightened out first thing this morning.
"Sure Jack." I clear my throat. As odd as this conversation was, I had a line of
customers after all.
"Sorry about that. Here ya go." He hands over the five.
"Keep the change." I beam at him. Have I mentioned how much I love big tippers?
Sure, we pool our tips here, but there are only three of us working at the moment.
The pair walks off to the end of the counter and pick up their drinks. Out of the
corner of my eye I watch as tall cute guy heads over to the condiments counter and
pours some milk into his coffee while Scruffy cups his hands around the paper cup
and carefully takes a sip.
His head comes up as his eyes close in obvious bliss. Guess he likes it, eh?
"Aha! See, I told you this was a good idea!" His friend says triumphantly as he
catches sight of Scruffy's obvious enjoyment.
"I've missed this Jack." Scruffy says releasing a small smile. Lovely smile actually.
"There's lots of good things here Daniel." Tall cute guy says almost tenderly. Ok.
That was an odd comment.
"I know." Scruffy took another sip of his drink as the pair started walking out the
front entrance. The last I heard before they disappeared was tall cute guy saying,
"And I'm talking about stuff besides Kleenex here!" They both laugh.
Like I said, weird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
02- Scruffy no more.
It was nearly a month later when I saw him again. Scruffy I mean. He came in
alone without tall cute guy, but that was all right. Scruffy wasn't nearly so scruffy in
clothes that actually fit. Plus he had lost that vulnerable, just-been-mugged look to
him.
It was barely 6 am and I had the shop to myself for another hour. I actually like
working the morning shift. Ok, maybe like is too strong a word, but it really wasn't
so bad. Lots of regulars who tip nicely. Best of all, I didn't have to share it with
anyone. What can I say? College textbooks don't grow on trees.
"Good morning." I pride myself on not being one of those saccharine happy people
at the crack of dawn. Sure, some folks might find that refreshing, but it's my shop
(at least for the next 65 minutes) and I'll be damned if I'm Miss Cheerful.
"Good morning." He says pushing up his glasses. I get the feeling he does that
quite a bit. He was dressed in non-descript khaki pants and a button-down
chambray shirt. I think I'll change his nickname to professor. He has that
professory look to him.
"Double short Americano?" I ask.
"How'd you guess?!" He answers utterly surprised. I love it when I catch them off
guard. I give him a big smile.
"You were in once before."
"I was?" Uh oh. Head case?
"Uh huh. Last month. You came in with a tall, cu.." (oops, nearly gave tall cute
guy's alias away) I closed my mouth, smiled and tried again. "You came in with
another tall customer." Ha! That sounded quite convincing.
"Jack!"
"Yeah, that was his name." Phew- the guy wasn't mental. I hate it when the cute
ones are freaks. And he WAS cute. Actually, if ever got around to getting a haircut,
I am pretty certain he would usurp tall cute guy on his nickname. Besides, tall cute
guy (Jack) was old enough to be my father (albeit barely). Professor here was not.
"So this is where we came huh?" He asks almost to himself looking around the shop.
He notices me looking at him strangely and pushing up his glasses again as he offers
an explanation.
"I was extremely jet-lagged when I was in here last." Hey! That actually explains
quite a few things. Rumpled clothes, no money—doesn't help fill in the blanks on the
sad look though.
"Where'd you fly in from?" I ask conversationally. Bigger tip if they think you're
interested in them. And hell, I WAS curious.
The guy swallowed once and licked his lips. Was it just me or did he look slightly
pale?
"Egypt."
"Really?" I counter way too energetically. "God, I LOVED Egypt!" This was true
actually, but did I have to be so cheerleaderish about it? Geeze.
"You're been to Egypt?" He asks with a big smile. Ooo. Like that smile professor.
"Yep. After graduating high school I lived in Israel for a year and spent nearly a
month in Egypt. I'm a big ancient history buff I'm afraid."
"Me too actually." Professor answers rather shyly. Suddenly I hit my forehead with
my hand- his coffee you dufus!
"Let me get your coffee for you."
"Thanks." Professor walks around the small shop as I pull two perfect 22 second
shots of espresso and add some hot water.
"Can I ask what you did in Egypt?" This could backfire on me, but I really was
curious. Some folks don't mind being friendly but they don't want you to be too
friendly if you know what I mean.
"I'm an archaeologist." He says coming back to the drink counter.
"No shit?" Ah man! I can't believe I just said that. God, Kira- have you no sense of
decorum?
"I'm so sorry!" I gush apologetically. Swearing on the job is definitely frowned
upon.
"No shit." Professor says giving me another smile. I laugh and hand him his coffee.
"I worked on a dig in Israel actually." Now it was my turn to sound shy.
"Really? Where?" He actually sounds interested!
"Up in the Golan heights area. It was a late Hellenistic tel." I couldn't help it. I was
trying to impress him. Only real nerdy folks and archaeologists know that 'tel'
means mound.
"Find anything good?" He asks taking a sip of coffee. He lets out a small sigh as he
swallows the warm liquid. I smile smugly; I make a damn good cup of coffee.
"The usual pottery shards and unexploded bomb shells." I answer. He laughs. AND
doesn't ask for an explanation. I guess if he worked at all in the Middle East he'd
know that finding bombs in the middle of digs were somewhat normal.
"Been there, done that." He chuckles. Suddenly the faint beeping sound of a pager
could be heard.
"Darn it guys!" Professor mutters as he pulls the offensive object out of his pants.
He checks the message and rolls his eyes.
"Gotta go?" I ask.
"Yep." He answers attaching a plastic lid to his drink. He gives me a coy look.
"Although they can't really start the meeting without me."
"Ah power." I smile leaning down onto the counter with my elbows. He flashes me a
smile as he starts walking out the door.
"See you later." He calls giving me a small wave. It was only a few minutes later
that I realized he hadn't paid for his drink. Ah well, he'd be back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
03- Encore
He was back all right- the very next day in fact.
He came rushing into the shop shortly after 6 am. Once again there wasn't anyone
there yet; most of my regulars don't start showing up until 6:30.
"Miss, I am so sorry!" He says apoplectically slapping down a five-dollar bill in front
of me.
"No worries!" I say with a smile. See? Told ya he'd be back. "And the name is
Kira." Ooo- feeling frisky this morning are we?
"Kira." He says trying out my name. "I didn't forget to pay on purpose, honest. I
just sometimes get wrapped up in things and forget…" I quickly hold up a hand to
stop his apology.
"No worries.." I leave it open-ended. Name please.
"Daniel." Excellent.
"Daniel." I finish. "I figured you'd be back eventually. Can I get you an
Americano?"
"Big hurry I'm afraid. Just a cup of coffee please."
"French or Italian roast?"
"Ooo- choices! Half of each please." I laugh. Daniel, you're all right.
I quickly give him his coffee and ring up yesterday's drink as well as today's. Before
I can give him his change, Daniel shakes his head.
"Keep it." I smile.
"Thanks."
"Have a good day Kira." He says as he turns on his heel and quickly walks out the
front door.
"You too Daniel!" I call after him. Yep, I like my 6 am coffee guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
04- It's all Greek to me
Daniel didn't show up for several days (8 days to be precise) and I must admit to
missing him. There was just something about him, ya know?
"'Morning Kira." Daniel says yawning as he slowly made his way up to the counter.
"Hey Daniel." I say casually. Don't want him to know how much I missed his
presence, right? Judging by his appearance, the guy didn't sleep much the night
before. My suspicions were confirmed once he ordered.
"Triple tall latte."
"Whoa." I say raising my eyebrows. I quickly close my textbook and make my way
towards the espresso machine.
"You're telling me." He answers letting loose another large yawn. He rolls his neck
from side to side and glances down at my book while I pull his shots.
"Greek?" He asks sounding completely surprised. Now I must admit that the first
thought through my head was "Yes Greek you arrogant jerk!" Which would have
been entirely uncalled for but something that naturally popped in. See, the day
before I had the most arrogant of lawyers walk in and he too saw my Greek
textbook. That guy started laughing and asked me if my store was going to be
opening up a chain of coffee houses in Greece. Seems it never occurred to the guy
that Baristas could be smart.
"Uh-huh." I answer cautiously. Please don't be an asshole like the lawyer Daniel.
"µ??? ta e??????? ."* I nearly drop the small containers of espresso in my hands. I
want to say "No shit?!" in Greek, but obviously that isn't something that is covered
in my ancient languages course. He speaks Greek?
"?a?a??? ?a d?aß??? ta e??????? ."* I answer in a really, really bad accent. Better
he should know that I'm going for Greek comprehension, not conversation. God I
hope he could understand me.
"That was actually pretty good Kira." Daniel said sincerely. Yeah right. "Try putting
the emphasis more on the second syllable next time." He SO could be one of my
professors. Hmmm. I really wouldn't mind that at all.
"I'll try and remember that." I said giving him his coffee.
"Why are you learning Greek?" He asks pouring a large quantity of sugar into his
coffee. Another sign that he had had a late night.
"I'm thinking of majoring in Ancient Civilizations and both Greek and Latin are pre-
requisites."
"Wow- that's a pretty ambitious degree." I shrug. As if I hadn't heard that one
before.
"Yeah, well that dig in Israel kinda inspired me and I have become super interested
in ancient cultures. Seeing as we're in the middle of Colorado, a degree in
Archaeology didn't seem to be very practical." Daniel grinned and shook his head.
Oops. Open mouth, insert foot. I'm certain I blushed tomato-red.
"God, I'm sorry Daniel, I didn't mean to imply…."
"It's all right Kira." Daniel said giving me a small smile. "You don't need to explain."
Doesn't matter, I was going to anyhow.
"No- it's just that I'm not interested in dinosaurs and such so I figured a degree in
Ancient Civilizations might just get me a little further in life." Daniel nodded and
took another gulp of his coffee.
"I think you're right." I am? Whoa. I take several seconds to mull this over. Hey,
wait a minute. He's an Egyptian archaeologist- how come he knows Greek?
"Why you speak Greek?" I ask in my poor Greek 101.
Daniel opens his mouth and I can just guess he is about to answer in Greek when he
switches to English. Thank You!
"I actually know a couple of languages." He answers sounding slightly self-
conscious. It was the way he said it that gave him away. I knew. He wasn't just an
archaeologist that spoke Greek. He was one of those super smart guys.
"How many languages Daniel?" I volley back at him.
"Can I take the First on that?"
"It's the Fifth, and while I'm sure you can, I wish you wouldn't." Before he can
answer his front pocket begins to vibrate. He reaches in and pulls out his pager.
"You did that on purpose!" I know he couldn't possibly of, but I can't help but
accuse him anyway.
Daniel laughs. "I owe you one Jack." He mutters.
"Gotta go Kira."
"Next time Daniel. I am going to find out next time." I smile at him and shake my
head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ten-dollar bill.
"For the coffee and a little to help with the textbooks."
"Thanks Daniel." I say sincerely. Still not going to prevent me from finding out how
many languages you speak though! He gives me another one of his smiles.
"Efharisto." Daniel says holding up his coffee cup in thanks.
"Perikalo." I answer. Very welcome Daniel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N- fanfic won't pick up on the Greek symbols with plain text documents. Sorry!
* Why are you studying Greek?
*I'm studying Greek in order to read books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
05- Hospital Scrubs
Episode: Fire and Water
I hadn't even opened the store yet when I spied Daniel sitting on a bench across the
street. He was just sitting there staring into space. Was he waiting for me to open?
Something just didn't seem right. I walked up to him and put my hand gently on his
shoulder; he was freezing cold.
"Daniel?" He looks up at me with bloodshot eyes.
"Kira?" He asks as if doubting my identity.
"Yep, that's me." I say taking in his appearance. The guy didn't look so good. He
is dressed in baggy blue cotton trousers and a large overcoat. His hair is lying
limply around his face and he looks like he hasn't shaved in several days. Hadn't
slept either by the looks of things. He was noticeably shivering.
"Want to come inside?" I ask in a soft voice. I don't know what it is, but Daniel just
doesn't look like he can deal with loud enthusiastic voices at the moment.
"Ok" He blinks several times as if unsure of where he is. I help him up and lead him
inside the shop. I take a moment and close the door behind us, flipping the welcome
sign to 'closed'. We can open a little late this morning.
"You ok?"
He clears his throat. "Yeah." Doesn't look ok.
"Coffee?" I ask.
"Not supposed to have any actually." Daniel says somewhat sheepishly.
"Any coffee, or just caffeine?" My guess is caffeine. Although it sure looks like he
could use a cup of joe to wake up- he also looks like he isn't running on all four
cylinders and I know you're not supposed to give caffeine to ill people.
"Caffeine." He clarifies. Yep- he's sick.
"Then why don't I get you a cup of decaf, hmm?"
"Ok." Oh yeah- something is seriously wrong here. I pour him a cup of coffee and
walk around the counter to where Daniel is standing. Judging from his slightly
swaying form, I don't think he's going to be able to maintain that position for too
much longer.
"Want to sit down for a minute?" I ask leading him to a small table.
"Sure." Docily he allows me to help him sit down. I sit next to him and think for a
moment. Although I am comfortable around Daniel and know he's not a threat or
anything, I don't really actually know the guy. At the moment he looks like a mental
ward escapee and this isn't a good thing.
"Did you drive here Daniel?" I ask him. Please say no please say no.
"Walked." Walking is good. That must mean he lives around here. And that he
didn't drive. God- I don't even want to think about him driving in his condition.
Although I haven't the foggiest what his condition is.
"Daniel, you don't seem very well at the moment. Can I call someone to come and
walk you home?"
"I have no home." Daniel says in a flat monotone voice. Ok- now things are
sounding creepy. Obviously the guy needs help. Police? 911? I snap my fingers.
Tall cute guy!
"Daniel, would you like me to call Jack for you?"
"Jack?" Daniel looks at me with watery blue eyes. "Jack is going to be pissed." He
leans forward and cups his head between his hands. "Janet'll be pissed too." Janet?
Who the heck is Janet? Girlfriend maybe?
I gently rub his back. "I bet they're worried about you Daniel." Daniel just
continues to sit there holding his head and slightly shaking it. "Pissed." He mutters.
Damn. I had a feeling Daniel was going to pass out at any moment and this really
would not be a good thing. It looked like his head was really hurting him.
"Daniel!" I say loudly giving his shoulder a firm shake.
"Hmmm?"
"Do you have Jack's number on you?" Daniel just blinks at me. Shit! Not good at
all. I really don't want to call 911 and spook the guy. Think Kira, think. Knowing
Daniel isn't quite in a position to protest I take the liberty of looking through his
pockets. There's a set of keys in there but no wallet. My hands shake slightly when
I realize he's wearing blue hospital scrubs underneath the coat. Oh this is SO not
good.
Leaving Daniel where he is I quickly go behind the counter and grab the phone. I
call information and get the number for the Cheyenne Military Complex. Lord knows
how big the place is- I just hope I can find Jack quickly.
"Cheyenne Military Base." A disembodied voice answers.
"Um, hi. My name is Kira Meyers and I work here at the Victor's Coffee House in
Colorado Springs. I know this is going to sound weird, but I am sitting here with a
man whose name I only know as Daniel and I am pretty certain he works there."
"Miss, this is a military installation and we have a lot of people working here." The
guy sounds vaguely amused that I am even attempting to find someone this way.
"Do you have his last name or id number?" Cursing myself for my stupidity I jog
back over to Daniel and gently feel around his neck. Bingo! Dog tags. Holding the
phone awkwardly between my shoulder and ear I pull them out and read the number
aloud.
"Jackson, D. 312 7795 66." Jackson huh? Daniel Jackson. Where have I heard
that name before? Doesn't matter Kir- focus on the problem at hand here.
"He's an archaeologist and speaks Greek. I think he knows several other languages
as well. I know he works with a guy named Jack and he has also mentioned a
woman named Janet." I'm rambling a bit now, but the guy on the other end is being
way too quiet. I can hear him typing something on a keyboard.
"Hold please." Ok. I can do that. I glance over at Daniel. Still staring straight
ahead into lala land.
"O'Neill." A gruff voice answers.
"Um, hello?" This isn't the time to play the forwarding game! Stupid military…
"This is Colonel O'Neill, who the heck is this?" The guy doesn't sound happy. I decide
to take a leap of faith and mentally cross my fingers.
"Jack?" I know I sound about 10 years old at this point. A Colonel?! Isn't that like
almost the highest you can go in the military?
"Who is this?" Colonel O'Neill says deceptively quietly. The man sounds downright
scary.
"My name is Kira Meyers and I am sitting here with Daniel Jackson and I am looking
for.." I never got to finish.
"Daniel's with you?!" Colonel O'Neill sounds like he is about to blow a gasket.
"Uh huh." Great. I'm back to sounding like a little kid again.
"Is he ok?" Now the Colonel sounds worried and his voice is quieter. I recognize it
now; this is tall cute guy. Jack.
"He's been better." I say honestly. "He's sitting with me here in Victor's Coffee House
on Madison Street." I pause and take another look at Daniel. "He's kinda out of it."
"Listen Kira," He remembers my name? "I know this is going to sound strange, but
could you keep Daniel with you and away from other people until I get there?"
Colonel Jack sounds worried.
"Sure Colonel O'Neill." I look at the clock on the wall- 6:15. My regulars were going
to be showing up soon. "I've actually got him here with me inside the store and I
was going to wait to open it up until he got some help."
"That'd be great Kira." Jack says sounding relieved. "I'll be there with one or two
others within 20 minutes." He hung up before I could say anything more.
The next 15 minutes pass by painfully slow as I try (without success) to get Daniel
to talk to me. His headache was obviously becoming worse. I offered him some
Tylenol, but he just shook his head no.
The Colonel, a tall woman with blonde hair, and a short auburn haired woman
carrying what had to be medical bag all arrived together 15 minutes later. I
breath a sigh of relief. My regulars were showing up as well and had begun to
shoot me dirty looks through the glass. I had put up a sign that said, "Closed until
further notice" but seeing as the entire front entrance was made of glass, they could
see me sitting there with another guy plain as day.
Ignoring the customers I open the door for the military trio and step aside.
"Daniel?" The auburn haired woman says softly kneeling in front of him. Daniel
seems to snap out of wherever he was and lifts his head painfully off of his hands.
"Janet?" The woman nods. "My head hurts."
"I know it does Daniel. I'm going to give you something to help that ok?" Daniel
nods and with the blonde woman's help they removed the jacket baring both of
Daniel's arms. Short sleeve scrubs. Yup- a definite hospital escapee. Dr. Janet gives
Daniel a shot of something and eyes the half drunk coffee cup with disdain.
"Did he drink this?" She asks turning around and shooting me a dirty look. Geesh
Doc, don't kill the Barista. This IS a coffee shop after all.
"Its just decaf." I say nervously. "I didn't think he should have caffeine."
"Damn straight." I hear her mumble turning back around towards Daniel.
"Janet, is he going to be alright?" The blonde woman asks.
"He'll be fine Sam, just a little tired and disorientated.
"But we don't know what that.." Sam is VERY brusquely interrupted by Colonel
Jack.
"Civilian Captain." Whoa. Guess that means me. And have I mentioned how scary he
sounds?
"Sorry Sir." Captain Sam sounds quite contrite. Colonel Jack takes the opportunity to
walk over to me.
"How're you doing Kira?" Colonel Jack asks gently as he leads me over to the very
far edge of the store. Darn. Now I can't hear a thing. Can't blame a girl for being
curious.
"I'm fine." I say honestly. Scary Colonel seems to have left and colonel tall cute guy
has taken his place. Phew. Much easier to deal with.
"Can you tell me what happened this morning?" He asks so nicely and politely that
within five minutes I have told him the entire tale. Colonel Jack seems to find the
story acceptable and gives me his thanks.
"He ready to move Doc?" Colonel Jack yells across the room.
"Just about Colonel." Doc Janet replies.
"Is Daniel going to be ok?" I ask nervously. I really liked the guy and didn't want
anything bad to happen to him.
"He'll be fine Kira." Colonel tall cute guy replies. He gives me a very open look. "I
can't thank you enough for bringing him inside this morning Kira. Danny recently
received a head injury and wasn't really aware of what he was doing. Or saying for
that matter. It might have ended badly, had he not stumbled upon your coffee
shop. Thank you."
"We're ready Sir." Captain Sam says standing up and helping Daniel to his feet. He
seems a little more aware of what's going on now.
"Can I go home now Sam?" I hear Daniel ask hopefully.
"Not yet Daniel." Sam says softly. I could see Daniel slumping his shoulders in
defeat. "We'll get it back for you Daniel- I promise." I was confused with that last
statement but decided not to dwell on it.
"I'll say something official and scary sounding as we leave." Colonel Jack says with a
twinkle in his eye nodding in the direction of the small sea of customers. Nothing
like a closed shop to get folks interested.
"That'd be appreciated Colonel."
"Thanks again Kira." And with a small nod they were gone.
HECK of a way to start a Monday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
06- Colonel Jack
Episode: Post Hathor
Barista life isn't all that glamorous in case you were wondering. As I might have
mentioned earlier, customer service jobs kinda suck. Don't get me wrong- I do like
people.. it's just tough to listen to the same inane comments day in and day out.
"Gorgeous day isn't it?" "Think this snow will ever stop?" Maybe that's why I like
Daniel so much; he talks about original stuff.
Daniel had actually come to say hi (wasn't allowed to drink coffee yet) a few days
after Colonel Jack and company picked him up. He looked MUCH better. I found
myself blushing six ways to Sunday as he thanked me again and again for keeping
my head and calling Jack rather than a loony bin.
"Is there anything I can do to repay you Kira?" He asked earnestly giving me a look
that left me fumbling around for a stool to sit on. Whoa. What I wouldn't give to be
on the receiving end of that look in other *ahem* circumstances. He can't be more
than 8-10 years older than me after all.
I'm awfully glad Daniel didn't offer to give me money as a means of saying thanks. I
mean- hell, of COURSE I need money, but money should come from services of
some kind. Helping out a friend is not a service. And yep- Dr. Daniel Jackson is
most definitely a friend.
"How about if you proof read my next major Antiquities paper?" I say finally. Daniel
beamed and said he'd be happy too.
The next few weeks passed by rather quickly, what with my working on a 25-page
critique of The Roman Period under Herod and all. Daniel came in at least once a
week and we chatted when we could. I had gotten much better at being able to
anticipate his order at a glance. Rushing in the door? Grande drip coffee. 6 am
arrival with lots of yawning? Triple tall Americano. 9 am arrival wearing freshly
laundered clothes? Double tall latte or mocha depending on sweet tooth level.
Breves were reserved for those occasions when he felt he needed calories as much
as caffeine.
Last week he had come in with a distinct TAN of all things. I had seen him less than
a week before and he hadn't mentioned going anyplace sunny. The tan was quite
out of place and I kidded him about using sunlamps.
Which brings us to today. I had opened the store like usual at 6 am and was a little
disappointed not to be greeted by my favorite archaeologist. Two more hours go by
and just as I am about to take a break, who should walk through the door? Tall cute
guy himself- Colonel Jack. He is dressed in faded blue jeans that REALLY hug his a..
form quite nicely. A long-sleeve pullover on top and a leather jacket finished the
ensemble. I stand by my original assessment- the Colonel is yummy.
"I'll take this guy." I tell my coworker Stephan as I retie my apron and head back to
the counter.
"Ah man! How come you always get the cute ones?" Stephan says pouting. The
fact that Colonel Jack screamed "I am a heterosexual" doesn't bother Stephan in the
slightest.
"Hey Colonel Jack!" Geesh. There I go sounding like an enthusiastic 10 year old
again.
"Kira." He says giving me a warm smile. "How about if you call me Jack?" I'm
certain he isn't embarrassed about being called Colonel, but maybe you're only
allowed to call him that if you are in the military. After all, I had never heard Daniel
call him anything but Jack.
"Fair enough." I say with another smile. "What brings you to this part of town
Jack?"
"Heading over to see Daniel actually." He is still giving me a slight smile but his eyes
aren't happy at all. Eyes. Man he has gorgeous eyes. Deep chestnut brown… Kira!
Snap out of it.
"Daniel ok?" I ask worried. Jack fidgets slightly and shrugs. "He had a rough
couple of days earlier this week and I thought one of your espresso concoctions
might cheer him up."
"In need of comfort drink?" I ask.
"Definitely." Jack says with a nod. I think for a moment.
"Has he been eating well?" I ask. Jack gives me a very perplexed look.
"When Daniel is upset or working too hard, he tends to not eat very well. On those
days I usually whip him up a breve." Seeing the confused look on Jack's face I
continue. "A breve is like a latte but made with half and half."
"Daniel likes these?" Jack asks incredulously.
"Oh yeah." I nod. "They're rich and thick and quite tasty. We can put some nutmeg
and cinnamon on top as well. A little girly perhaps, but he'll love it."
"I don't think Daniel would be too keen on a "girly" drink at the moment." Jack says
grimly. Ah. He must have had a bad break up with a woman. Strange. He never
mentioned a woman to me. But then again, it's not like we're best of friends or
anything.
"She dump him or he dump her?" I ask. Jack just shakes his head.
"Observant young woman aren't you?" He says running a hand through his cropped
hair. I beam. Yep.
"It was pretty mutual actually." Jack says unconsciously tensing his body and
brushing a hand against his stomach. If I didn't know better, I'd say both he AND
Daniel had a thing with this woman. "It ended abruptly."
"A real man-eater was she?" I say conversationally. Jack snorts as he tries to stop
a burst of laughter. "Kira, you have no idea!" He continues to shake his head as he
gives me a funny look. I sure get strange looks from these Cheyenne folks.
"How about two large cups of regular drip coffee?" Jack says finally.
"We just made a fresh pot." I say turning around to pour the coffee.
I put both coffees in a four-cup carrier and set a small bag of chocolate covered
espresso beans in the third slot.
"What's this?" Jack asks as I ring up the coffees.
"Chocolate covered espresso beans. Daniel occasionally buys them." I let out a
small chuckle. "He says it helps keep a friend of his from chocolate withdrawal when
traveling." Jack smiles and I'm pretty certain I heard the word 'Carter' under his
breath.
"This is great; thanks." I ring up both coffees and Jack frowns as he pulls out a $10
bill.
"You sure you got everything there." He asks looking at the register amount.
"I just charged you for the coffees." I say counting back change. "Tell Daniel the
beans are from me, and that he shouldn't dwell on that Siren* of a woman"
"Siren huh?" Jack says again shaking his head.
"Yup. There are lots of women out there who just want to capture a man's heart,
use him and then toss him aside. Daniel is definitely a guy who deserves better."
"That he is." Jack says with a nod. "Thanks Kira." He drops several dollars in the
tip jar just and turns to leave.
"You're welcome Colonel Jack." He isn't so far that I can't hear him muttering under
his breath.
"For crying out loud, can't anyone just call me Jack?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Siren , in Greek mythology, one of three sea nymphs, usually represented with the
head of a woman and the body of a bird. The Sirens inhabited an island surrounded
by dangerous rocks. They sang so enchantingly that all who heard were drawn near
and shipwrecked.
07 Small World
Episode: Solitudes
I have been contemplating for almost a week now as to what to say to Daniel
Jackson the next time I see him. See, I had received a very strange (and long!)
email from a friend of mine down at McMurdo and I hadn't a clue what to make of it.
I mean the odds that Daniel of all people… I shake my head and go back to wiping
down the tables. I figure I'll suss it out by the time I see the guy.
Naturally that was the exact moment the good Dr. Jackson chose to walk through
the front door. The guy didn't look so good and I couldn't help but wonder if he goes
looking for trouble or if he's just one of those fortunate few who get lucky. Once
again he had that lack of sleep thing going for him, and I could see what appeared to
be a nasty gash on his forehead. Ouch! Betcha that hurt. I'll say this for the guy
though, he might have looked a bit roughed up, but he sure seemed happy.
"Good morning Kira!" Daniel says with way more enthusiasm than I thought was
warranted. After all, it WAS barely 6 am. After observing Daniel Jackson for the last
six months, I had come to realize that he only got up before the sun because he was
forced too.
"Hey Daniel." I say giving him a small smile. "Double tall latté?"
"Better make it a triple." Daniel says flashing me a smile. "And let's make it a
breve."
"Caffeine and artery-clogging calories, eh Dr. Jackson?"
"I've been told that I need to eat more." Daniel says sheepishly. I pretend to eye
him critically. Well, all right. I DID eye him critically, but I wasn't just checking out
his ass ok? Daniel always seemed to have that 'Feed Me' look about him.
"Somehow, I don't think 12 oz of half and half is exactly what Janet wants." I reply
placing the crème under the steamer.
"You remember Janet, huh?" Uh oh. Sheepish look again. Hadn't we already been
through this?
"She might be small, but that lady had presence!" Daniel laughs.
"I'll say so!" He says with a knowing nod. "Actually speaking of whom, can I get her
a double tall latte to go? Better make it with 1% milk."
"Sure." I quickly go to work on the drinks and wondered if I would be brave enough
to ask him. I mean what's the worst thing that can happen? Worst thing? He thinks
me a total freak and never comes in again. Yeah. That.
"How's school coming Kira?" Daniel asks conversationally.
"Good!" I reply with real enthusiasm. "I've just started a quarter long course
centered on the great libraries of Antiquity and am really looking forward to reading
everything I can on Alexandria."
"I can loan you a few books on the topic if you'd like?"
"Really?" Whoa. That would be fantastic. So fantastic that I really shouldn't blow it
by opening my mouth and asking him that question. Hear that Kira? Don't ask.
"Daniel?" I ask handing over both drinks.
"Hmm?" He answers handing me a $20.
"Have you been to Antarctica lately?" Naturally the moment that left my mouth
there was complete silence in the store. I'm not talking about the silence that comes
when two people aren't speaking, but the total silence of, well, utter and complete
silence. Apparently the Natalie Cole CD I had been listening to chose that exact
moment to end. Lucky me.
The look on Daniel's face told me everything I needed to know but I couldn't blame
the guy for attempting to put a little spin on things.
"Why do you ask?" His voice sounds odd and his face is a kaleidoscope of conflicting
emotions. Daniel knew instantly that he had blown it though. He shook his head
and made his way over to a table. He motioned for me to follow him. As if I could
deny this guy any request…
"Kira?" He says utterly dejected. "What do you know?"
"It's a bloody small planet Daniel." I say plopping myself into a hard plastic chair. To
my surprise Daniel burst out laughing. It took him several seconds to compose
himself.
"So spill it." He says.
"Right." I take a sip of the hot chocolate I'm drinking and take a deep breath. "My
friend is currently stationed as a GA down at McMurdo."
"GA?"
"General Assistant. It's the lowest paying job on the continent, but it IS still a job.
The GA's tend to be the ones to shovel snow, set up field camps- stuff like that.
She's been down there for nearly three months now."
"Uh huh."
"Well life at McMurdo is pretty mundane until the supply vessel comes in January.
The folks there work 6 days a week, 10 hours a day and tend to watch a lot of videos
and drink once off duty. Well, last Monday everything went ballistic. All the
Raytheon…" Daniel gives me a weird look.
"Raytheon is the sub-contractor working with the National Science Foundation folks."
I explain. "Well, that day at breakfast the dining hall was filled with rumors. Seems
the SAR team; the Search and Rescue guys, had been called out on a job at 2 o'clock
in the morning. No one knew where they were going or what they were doing, but
two helicopters and virtually all the McMurdo medical personal had gone with them.
Needless to say folks were curious."
"I can imagine." Came the non-committal reply.
"After breakfast my friend went to work helping a team move furniture into one of
the newly built dormitories. She had done quite a bit of furniture moving and had
told me it wasn't a big deal. Her words were, 'Beats standing in a gym pumping
iron.'" Daniel gave me a small smile.
"Unfortunately on the way out of the building she slipped on a patch of ice and the
bureau she had been helping to carry came crashing down on her leg."
"Ouch." Daniel says grimacing. I nodded. "Yeah." I take another sip of my drink
and glance at my watch. 6:15.
"Marcie was pretty certain her scream was loud enough to wake the dead and very
quickly folks had come out of the adjacent buildings to lend a hand. The bureau was
lifted up and Marcie was quickly picked up and carried over to medical." I grin.
"Daniel, my friend is about 5'0- maybe 110 pounds. She HATES being reminded how
little she is." I could SO relate. I am only 5'2 myself.
"Although her leg hurt like a son of a bitch, to hear her tell it, the humiliation of
being carried into the infirmary was the worst part of the whole thing. It was a little
after 11 am when Marcie, her studly savior Thomas and her GA partner Sydney
reached the infirmary." I pause and take another big gulp of my drink before setting
it down and looking at Daniel as if I'm about to tell him the biggest secret in the
world.
"They were stopped 5 feet before the infirmary doors." Daniel seemed to go a little
pale.
"They weren't!" I nod. He looks upset at that little snippet of news.
"Yep. And by a pair of military goons none of whom they had seen before! Daniel,
it's a mighty small base. Even if you don't know everyone's name, you usually know
his or her face. Marcie had never seen these guys before."
"Obviously she was allowed in." Daniel said this very matter of factly. My eyebrows
did a funny little arch as I processed the comment. Obviously?
"Of course they had to let her in, I mean her leg was definitely broken and
apparently Marcie was contemplating passing out at this stage. I've never broken a
bone myself, but I guess they hurt like a mother f.."
My mouth was SO going to be my downfall one day. "They hurt a lot." I say trying
not to dwell on my burning cheeks. Daniel hid a smile behind his coffee cup.
"Both Thomas and Sydney argued vehemently on Marcie's behalf. Loads of swearing
and threatening to sue if Marcie wasn't allowed in for treatment. Eventually the
military guys caved. They refused to allow Tom or Syd in, but they did finally come
to the conclusion that an injured young woman really shouldn't be hanging out in sub
0 temperature. Without much ado, Marcie was lifted out of Thomas' arms and into
one of the military guys'."
"Marcie probably wasn't too keen on that." Daniel says grimacing.
"Definitely." I nod. "She chose to show her appreciation by once again screaming
and then passing out." Daniel nods. Nods? A nod as in, yeah- I bet that hurt and
was enough to make a person pass out, or nodded as in- yeah I remember hearing
that. Curiouser and curiouser.
"She wasn't out very long though because when she came to, someone was taking
her blood pressure and asking her to rate her pain on a scale of 1 to 10. She was
lying on a bed in a far corner of the infirmary and could hear what sounded to be like
a dozen different voices through the curtain surrounding her bed. Someone had just
given her a shot and as the pain faded, so did the distinct words associated with the
voices. Marcie could tell they were shocking someone, you know like they do on
ER?" Daniel nods again grimly; it's pretty obvious to me that he is actually
remembering the event. Or maybe not. ER episodes can be pretty realistic after all.
"She kept hearing various beeping noises alongside a lot of really worried, really loud
voices." Daniel begins to lose what little color there is in his face even paler and
unconsciously hug his ribs. Damn. I really shouldn't be talking about this should I?
I take a deep breath and continue. In for a penny, in for a pound.
"Marcie awoke the second time just as they were finishing up plastering her leg.
Apparently someone was very keen to move her out of the infirmary as quickly as
possible but the doctor working on her leg refused to do so for at least another hour.
Apparently he had some pretty vicious-sounding words with some muckity-muck.
Marce was told to keep her leg elevated as the plaster was drying and try and get
some sleep. The doc would return in 45 minutes or so.
So there she was lying in a slightly darkened room trying to make sense of
everything that had happened and all the strange voices around her, when suddenly
someone not medical walks inside. She instantly knew he wasn't a doc and at first
thought he was another army goon- but his mannerisms seemed all wrong to be
military." Daniel seemed to be shrinking into his chair before my very eyes. I really
should stop. Really. Ah Daniel…
I lower my voice to something just above a whisper and finish the story.
"The guy looked like a car-wreck victim she said. Nasty head gash and huge dark
circles under his eyes. He didn't notice her in the beginning and stumbled into the
room gulping large quantities of air and throwing himself into one of the chairs in the
far corner before covering his face with his hands." I bit my lip. Daniel looked crest-
fallen. I needed to stop.
"I know what happened next Kira." Daniel says in a voice that nearly tore my heart
in two. I reach out a give Daniel's hand a brief squeeze. Forward? Nahh- I was just
trying to be a friend.
"All she told me was that the man's name was Daniel and that he was very, very
worried about his two friends." Daniel nodded but didn't offer me any explanations.
That's ok.
"I still wouldn't have even thought of you except for one thing."
"What?" Daniel croaked looking into my eyes.
"As you and Marcie were talking another woman came into the room. She looked
over at Marcie with surprise but still came up to Daniel and gave him a brief hug.
She then said 'Sam and the Colonel are going to be all right.' Those were the exact
words Marcie told me."
We sat in silence for several long seconds.
"That was Dr. Janet wasn't it?" I ask.
Daniel nods and clears his throat. "Marcie doing ok?" I smile- god, this guy is SO
nice. "Yep. She's scheduled to fly out on the next plane and will be spending most
of her recuperation time in Christchurch, New Zealand. Much nicer than Colorado in
the middle of February don't ya think?" Daniel gives a dry chuckle.
The sound of someone clearing his voice gets my attention. Shit! I glance at my
watch; it was after 6:30. I quickly pull myself to my feet and head to the counter to
ring up Daniel's order. I apologize to the man waiting and quickly count out Daniel's
change and hand it over. Daniel drops a $5 bill into the tip jar.
I am already at the espresso machine whipping up a Grande no foam nonfat latté
when I realized I hadn't asked Daniel what I really wanted to know.
"Daniel!" I yell over the noise of the machine.
"Yeah?" He answers turning around.
"Are Sam and Colonel Jack really ok?" He gives me a HUGE smile.
"They're going to be just fine." He says. I give him a huge grin in return and get
back to work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
08- Dress Blues
Episode: This takes place at the beginning of Politics. Everyone remember that
one? Daniel returns from the Alternate reality, but no one really believes that he
was there. (So how'd he get a staff burn, hmmm?!) Later all four meet the always
deceitful Senator Kinsey. It doesn't end well.
I was definitely having one of those days. You know the kind- the oversleep; stub
your toe on the bathtub, bad hair sorta day. I had gotten to work just in time to
open and had a whole string of bad customers- all before my first break. Then my
relief person calls around 9 telling me she was going to be an hour late. An hour!
Dammit, I so didn't need another hour of this crap. At least Stefan was keeping me
entertained; he had shown up (on time for once, thank god) at 7 am and must
definitely be getting some, because he was as cheerful as I have ever seen him.
It was now five minutes to 11 and I was doing my darndest to not continually glance
at my watch. Freedom in just 300 brief seconds…
"Kira, I can't thank you enough for staying on." Jess gushes as she dashed through
the front door. "Let me just grab my apron and you'll be free." With that she
disappeared into the backroom.
"You heard the woman, girl- Get." Stefan shooed me away from the register. "I'm
pretty certain I can handle a couple of customers by myself."
"Thanks Stefan." I say gratefully untying my apron. "I'm just going to grab my half
pound and skedaddle." Ah free coffee, one of the perks of working in a coffee shop.
Stefan was busy making a very dry cappuccino when I spied something colorful
walking through the door. My jaw nearly dropped to the ground as I recognized
what I was seeing. Who I was seeing.
Colonel Jack.
In uniform.
He blithely walked through the door oblivious to the awed expressions of those
around him. Sure, we all know there's a military base not 10 miles from here, but
we seldom see the guys walking around looking like frickin' GQ models. Jesus. If
Colonel Jack O'Neill had shown up like that at my high school, half the class would
have enlisted. And I'm talking men AND women. My mouth has suddenly gone
completely dry and I have an errant desire to ask Colonel Jack to father my children.
Ok so maybe I'm too young- father my mom's children then.
"Be with you in a sec!" Stefan yells over the espresso machine. All he knows is that
someone walked in; he hasn't a clue who it is or what he looks like.
"I got it Stefan." I say somewhat hoarsely as I step back up to the counter.
"Hi Kira," Jack says warmly taking off his sunglasses and placing them in his jacket
pocket. Uniform AND sunglasses. I've suddenly been transported to the set of an
Officer and a Gentleman.
"Colonel Jack." I say without sounding too flustered. "Who'd have thought you
cleaned up so nice?" Idiot!
Jack laughs. "Yeah, the uniform is a bit over-the-top, isn't it?" He says self-
depreciatively. "Not something I enjoy wearing, I assure you." I can't help myself as
I stare at all the pretty medals on his chest. God, he has a lot of them.
"Kira, you're staring." Jack says in a sing-song voice. I am certain I must be beet-
red as I look up into his laughing eyes. Utterly gorgeous warm brown eyes…
"Sorry." I say taking a deep breath to compose myself. "What can I get you?"
Before Jack can answer I hear Stefan's strangled gasp from the machine. Colonel
Jack has been spotted. I suppress my smile.
"Just a regular coffee for me and.." Jack waves his hand absently in the air.
"Something drinkable for Daniel." I smile.
"If you don't mind me asking Jack, why are you here dressed to the nines, ordering
coffee for Daniel? Don't you have servants or something?" I quickly amend myself.
"I mean junior officers." Jack chuckles.
"I gave the servants the day off." He must have noticed the rapid suffusion of color
in my face and decided to come clean.
"Daniel is stuck on base and seeing as I had to head home to pick up the uniform, he
asked that I grab him something from his apartment. And I did. And now, being the
very nice guy that I am, I'm getting him a coffee from his favorite barista!" Favorite
barista? Does he mean me? Ahhhhh. Once again I feel myself getting warm. Man,
I have NEVER blushed so much in my life.
"What's Daniel's mood Colonel?" I ask contemplating the perfect Daniel Jackson
drink.
"Jack." He admonishes.
"What's Daniel's mood Jack?" The Colonel lets out a heavy sigh. "Daniel actually is
a little pissed at me right now. Kinda feels likes everyone is ganging up on him and
it's Daniel against the world."
"Is it?" I ask still considering coffee options.
Jack lets out a heavy sigh. "I guess it just might be."
"Do you think he wants to be comforted, or would he rather stay angry?"
"Definitely angry." The Colonel pauses. "What he really wants is someone to believe
him."
"Think that'll happen?" I ask while pouring the Colonel some freshly brewed Italian
roast.
Jack scoffs again. "When pigs fly." He mutters.
"Well in that case, why don't we stick with the old standby- Double tall Americano. I
know if it were me against the world, I'd want a little bitter aftertaste."
"Americano it is." Jack says giving me a go ahead. I open my mouth to send Stefan
my request when he hands me a hot cup.
"Double Tall Americano." He says staring straight at Colonel Jack. I briefly close my
eyes. Please don't embarrass me Stefan! And no drooling either.
"Can you put these in that cardboard holder thingy of yours?" Jack asks. "I SO
don't want to spill anything and have the Pentagon mad at me for messing up my
uniform."
"You're meeting with the Pentagon?!" I ask absolutely shocked. I mean, I knew
Colonel Jack must be someone important, (have you LOOKED at the guy lately?) but
the folks at the base are just doing some space research stuff, so why should the
Pentagon be involved? Although… come to think of it, why would they need an
Archaeologist who speaks Greek? Damn! I never did find out how many languages
Daniel speaks. And I know for a fact I've heard his name someplace before.
"Just a little meeting." Jack says indicating how small by holding up his thumb and
forefinger. I just shake my head and ring up the coffee. Right. A *little* meeting
with Pentagon officials. Is there even such a thing?
Colonel Jack pays, stuffs $2 into the tip jar and turns to leave.
"Tell Daniel I wish him the best of luck." I call after him.
"Best at what?" Jack asks as he puts some milk into his coffee.
"At making pigs fly of course." I call. Jack shakes his head slowly as he gathers up
his coffees.
As he walks out the door, I am pretty sure I hear him say-
"Maybe pigs SHOULD fly."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Season 1 Barista vignettes. More on their way! I plan on continuing this series
at least through Season 4.
And to answer some of your questions- Yes I HAVE worked as a barista and yep, i
DID work on an archaeological dig over in Israel. And, believe it or not, I also
worked a couple seasons down in Antarctica as well. What can I say? It's loads
easier to write from experience. I DON'T have a degree in Ancient Civilizations
though. However, I DID think about it.
~d
Author: dietcokechic
Email: dietcokechic@hotmail.com
Season: 1
Summary: Life as seen through the eyes of Daniel's barista.
Notes: By popular demand, I am reposting all of Season 1 together in one
document. I have cleaned up a lot of the tenses and added a few additional lines as
well.
For those unfamiliar with this series, these are a series of vignettes about Daniel and
SG-1 as observed from the local Barista's point of view. For those unfamiliar with
the term, a Barista is the person who works in those specialty coffee shops. To be
more exact, a Barista is the person who actually "pulls" (makes) the shots of
espresso and concocts all those fancy drinks.
Hard to believe, but these stories will be ship-free. For the most part. ~*Evil Grin*~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
01- First Impression
Episode: 101- Takes place after Children of the Gods
The first time he came in I scarcely noticed the guy.
"Why are we here Jack?" The man asked in a resigned voice. He sure didn't seem
to be very happy. He was about average height and was in desperate need of a
haircut. His clothes didn't seem to fit him properly and the guy looked like he hadn't
had a decent night's sleep (or meal) in quite some time. His companion was much
more poised. Tall, clean cut and sexy as hell. He sorta reminded me of Harrison
Ford circa Airforce One. I so know what I am going to ask Santa for this Christmas.
Yum.
"Coffee Daniel." Well duh. This IS a coffee house after all.
"I can see that Jack, but I'm sure they have coffee back on the base." Base? Ah,
these guys must belong to that military complex up the hill. Who knows what the
hell they're doing up there, but we do get our fair share of soldiers down here in the
lowlands. They're all right. Better than average tippers.
"Whatever Jack." Scruffy guy sure didn't seem to be happy. Actually, as soon as
the pair stepped close enough for me to take their order I could see Scruffy's eyes.
Lovely looking blue eyes he had behind those dorky looking glasses. But the
sadness behind them was unmistakable. Poor guy.
"Hi there." I say politely. "What can I get you two?"
"I'll have a 12 oz. cup of regular coffee and my friend will have…"
"Whatever." Ouch. Scruffy sure didn't seem to want to be here.
"Ah, c'mon Daniel!" Cute guy cajoled. "I know for a fact you lived on this stuff
before you.." Cute guy paused and shifted from one foot to another as if
embarrassed. "You like coffee Daniel." He said finally.
"Double short Americano with a splash of steamed milk please." There we go! Nice
clean order. Points for Scruffy.
"Americano? What the hell is that?" Cute guy was asking his friend, but I took the
opportunity to chirp in.
"It's two shots of espresso with 6 ounces of hot water."
"Sounds like a cup of coffee to me."
"Espresso isn't drip coffee Jack."
"Fine, fine- order what you want." Cute guy was reaching into his pocket for money.
"That will be $3.59." I say ringing up their order. "Tall Drip and double short
Americano!" I shout at the barista behind the machine. Idly I look at my watch. I
still had another 20 more minutes before my turn to pull. Not that I don't like taking
the orders, but.. Ah who am I kidding? Customer service sucks. Get to see cute
guys though. Tall guy is yummy.
"Here's $5.00." He handed me the five-dollar bill and turned to his friend. "Danny,
you happen to have a dime?" Scruffy shot his friend a deer in the headlights sort of
look and paled considerably.
"I don't have any money Jack." He says softly. Yeah, well that happens, no big deal
Scruff. So why did cute guy look ashamed and Scruffy seem like he was about to
cry? These guys were weird.
"Ah man! I'm sorry Daniel, I totally forgot." Tall guy gave his friend a friendly
squeeze on the shoulder. "We'll get that straightened out first thing this morning.
"Sure Jack." I clear my throat. As odd as this conversation was, I had a line of
customers after all.
"Sorry about that. Here ya go." He hands over the five.
"Keep the change." I beam at him. Have I mentioned how much I love big tippers?
Sure, we pool our tips here, but there are only three of us working at the moment.
The pair walks off to the end of the counter and pick up their drinks. Out of the
corner of my eye I watch as tall cute guy heads over to the condiments counter and
pours some milk into his coffee while Scruffy cups his hands around the paper cup
and carefully takes a sip.
His head comes up as his eyes close in obvious bliss. Guess he likes it, eh?
"Aha! See, I told you this was a good idea!" His friend says triumphantly as he
catches sight of Scruffy's obvious enjoyment.
"I've missed this Jack." Scruffy says releasing a small smile. Lovely smile actually.
"There's lots of good things here Daniel." Tall cute guy says almost tenderly. Ok.
That was an odd comment.
"I know." Scruffy took another sip of his drink as the pair started walking out the
front entrance. The last I heard before they disappeared was tall cute guy saying,
"And I'm talking about stuff besides Kleenex here!" They both laugh.
Like I said, weird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
02- Scruffy no more.
It was nearly a month later when I saw him again. Scruffy I mean. He came in
alone without tall cute guy, but that was all right. Scruffy wasn't nearly so scruffy in
clothes that actually fit. Plus he had lost that vulnerable, just-been-mugged look to
him.
It was barely 6 am and I had the shop to myself for another hour. I actually like
working the morning shift. Ok, maybe like is too strong a word, but it really wasn't
so bad. Lots of regulars who tip nicely. Best of all, I didn't have to share it with
anyone. What can I say? College textbooks don't grow on trees.
"Good morning." I pride myself on not being one of those saccharine happy people
at the crack of dawn. Sure, some folks might find that refreshing, but it's my shop
(at least for the next 65 minutes) and I'll be damned if I'm Miss Cheerful.
"Good morning." He says pushing up his glasses. I get the feeling he does that
quite a bit. He was dressed in non-descript khaki pants and a button-down
chambray shirt. I think I'll change his nickname to professor. He has that
professory look to him.
"Double short Americano?" I ask.
"How'd you guess?!" He answers utterly surprised. I love it when I catch them off
guard. I give him a big smile.
"You were in once before."
"I was?" Uh oh. Head case?
"Uh huh. Last month. You came in with a tall, cu.." (oops, nearly gave tall cute
guy's alias away) I closed my mouth, smiled and tried again. "You came in with
another tall customer." Ha! That sounded quite convincing.
"Jack!"
"Yeah, that was his name." Phew- the guy wasn't mental. I hate it when the cute
ones are freaks. And he WAS cute. Actually, if ever got around to getting a haircut,
I am pretty certain he would usurp tall cute guy on his nickname. Besides, tall cute
guy (Jack) was old enough to be my father (albeit barely). Professor here was not.
"So this is where we came huh?" He asks almost to himself looking around the shop.
He notices me looking at him strangely and pushing up his glasses again as he offers
an explanation.
"I was extremely jet-lagged when I was in here last." Hey! That actually explains
quite a few things. Rumpled clothes, no money—doesn't help fill in the blanks on the
sad look though.
"Where'd you fly in from?" I ask conversationally. Bigger tip if they think you're
interested in them. And hell, I WAS curious.
The guy swallowed once and licked his lips. Was it just me or did he look slightly
pale?
"Egypt."
"Really?" I counter way too energetically. "God, I LOVED Egypt!" This was true
actually, but did I have to be so cheerleaderish about it? Geeze.
"You're been to Egypt?" He asks with a big smile. Ooo. Like that smile professor.
"Yep. After graduating high school I lived in Israel for a year and spent nearly a
month in Egypt. I'm a big ancient history buff I'm afraid."
"Me too actually." Professor answers rather shyly. Suddenly I hit my forehead with
my hand- his coffee you dufus!
"Let me get your coffee for you."
"Thanks." Professor walks around the small shop as I pull two perfect 22 second
shots of espresso and add some hot water.
"Can I ask what you did in Egypt?" This could backfire on me, but I really was
curious. Some folks don't mind being friendly but they don't want you to be too
friendly if you know what I mean.
"I'm an archaeologist." He says coming back to the drink counter.
"No shit?" Ah man! I can't believe I just said that. God, Kira- have you no sense of
decorum?
"I'm so sorry!" I gush apologetically. Swearing on the job is definitely frowned
upon.
"No shit." Professor says giving me another smile. I laugh and hand him his coffee.
"I worked on a dig in Israel actually." Now it was my turn to sound shy.
"Really? Where?" He actually sounds interested!
"Up in the Golan heights area. It was a late Hellenistic tel." I couldn't help it. I was
trying to impress him. Only real nerdy folks and archaeologists know that 'tel'
means mound.
"Find anything good?" He asks taking a sip of coffee. He lets out a small sigh as he
swallows the warm liquid. I smile smugly; I make a damn good cup of coffee.
"The usual pottery shards and unexploded bomb shells." I answer. He laughs. AND
doesn't ask for an explanation. I guess if he worked at all in the Middle East he'd
know that finding bombs in the middle of digs were somewhat normal.
"Been there, done that." He chuckles. Suddenly the faint beeping sound of a pager
could be heard.
"Darn it guys!" Professor mutters as he pulls the offensive object out of his pants.
He checks the message and rolls his eyes.
"Gotta go?" I ask.
"Yep." He answers attaching a plastic lid to his drink. He gives me a coy look.
"Although they can't really start the meeting without me."
"Ah power." I smile leaning down onto the counter with my elbows. He flashes me a
smile as he starts walking out the door.
"See you later." He calls giving me a small wave. It was only a few minutes later
that I realized he hadn't paid for his drink. Ah well, he'd be back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
03- Encore
He was back all right- the very next day in fact.
He came rushing into the shop shortly after 6 am. Once again there wasn't anyone
there yet; most of my regulars don't start showing up until 6:30.
"Miss, I am so sorry!" He says apoplectically slapping down a five-dollar bill in front
of me.
"No worries!" I say with a smile. See? Told ya he'd be back. "And the name is
Kira." Ooo- feeling frisky this morning are we?
"Kira." He says trying out my name. "I didn't forget to pay on purpose, honest. I
just sometimes get wrapped up in things and forget…" I quickly hold up a hand to
stop his apology.
"No worries.." I leave it open-ended. Name please.
"Daniel." Excellent.
"Daniel." I finish. "I figured you'd be back eventually. Can I get you an
Americano?"
"Big hurry I'm afraid. Just a cup of coffee please."
"French or Italian roast?"
"Ooo- choices! Half of each please." I laugh. Daniel, you're all right.
I quickly give him his coffee and ring up yesterday's drink as well as today's. Before
I can give him his change, Daniel shakes his head.
"Keep it." I smile.
"Thanks."
"Have a good day Kira." He says as he turns on his heel and quickly walks out the
front door.
"You too Daniel!" I call after him. Yep, I like my 6 am coffee guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
04- It's all Greek to me
Daniel didn't show up for several days (8 days to be precise) and I must admit to
missing him. There was just something about him, ya know?
"'Morning Kira." Daniel says yawning as he slowly made his way up to the counter.
"Hey Daniel." I say casually. Don't want him to know how much I missed his
presence, right? Judging by his appearance, the guy didn't sleep much the night
before. My suspicions were confirmed once he ordered.
"Triple tall latte."
"Whoa." I say raising my eyebrows. I quickly close my textbook and make my way
towards the espresso machine.
"You're telling me." He answers letting loose another large yawn. He rolls his neck
from side to side and glances down at my book while I pull his shots.
"Greek?" He asks sounding completely surprised. Now I must admit that the first
thought through my head was "Yes Greek you arrogant jerk!" Which would have
been entirely uncalled for but something that naturally popped in. See, the day
before I had the most arrogant of lawyers walk in and he too saw my Greek
textbook. That guy started laughing and asked me if my store was going to be
opening up a chain of coffee houses in Greece. Seems it never occurred to the guy
that Baristas could be smart.
"Uh-huh." I answer cautiously. Please don't be an asshole like the lawyer Daniel.
"µ??? ta e??????? ."* I nearly drop the small containers of espresso in my hands. I
want to say "No shit?!" in Greek, but obviously that isn't something that is covered
in my ancient languages course. He speaks Greek?
"?a?a??? ?a d?aß??? ta e??????? ."* I answer in a really, really bad accent. Better
he should know that I'm going for Greek comprehension, not conversation. God I
hope he could understand me.
"That was actually pretty good Kira." Daniel said sincerely. Yeah right. "Try putting
the emphasis more on the second syllable next time." He SO could be one of my
professors. Hmmm. I really wouldn't mind that at all.
"I'll try and remember that." I said giving him his coffee.
"Why are you learning Greek?" He asks pouring a large quantity of sugar into his
coffee. Another sign that he had had a late night.
"I'm thinking of majoring in Ancient Civilizations and both Greek and Latin are pre-
requisites."
"Wow- that's a pretty ambitious degree." I shrug. As if I hadn't heard that one
before.
"Yeah, well that dig in Israel kinda inspired me and I have become super interested
in ancient cultures. Seeing as we're in the middle of Colorado, a degree in
Archaeology didn't seem to be very practical." Daniel grinned and shook his head.
Oops. Open mouth, insert foot. I'm certain I blushed tomato-red.
"God, I'm sorry Daniel, I didn't mean to imply…."
"It's all right Kira." Daniel said giving me a small smile. "You don't need to explain."
Doesn't matter, I was going to anyhow.
"No- it's just that I'm not interested in dinosaurs and such so I figured a degree in
Ancient Civilizations might just get me a little further in life." Daniel nodded and
took another gulp of his coffee.
"I think you're right." I am? Whoa. I take several seconds to mull this over. Hey,
wait a minute. He's an Egyptian archaeologist- how come he knows Greek?
"Why you speak Greek?" I ask in my poor Greek 101.
Daniel opens his mouth and I can just guess he is about to answer in Greek when he
switches to English. Thank You!
"I actually know a couple of languages." He answers sounding slightly self-
conscious. It was the way he said it that gave him away. I knew. He wasn't just an
archaeologist that spoke Greek. He was one of those super smart guys.
"How many languages Daniel?" I volley back at him.
"Can I take the First on that?"
"It's the Fifth, and while I'm sure you can, I wish you wouldn't." Before he can
answer his front pocket begins to vibrate. He reaches in and pulls out his pager.
"You did that on purpose!" I know he couldn't possibly of, but I can't help but
accuse him anyway.
Daniel laughs. "I owe you one Jack." He mutters.
"Gotta go Kira."
"Next time Daniel. I am going to find out next time." I smile at him and shake my
head. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ten-dollar bill.
"For the coffee and a little to help with the textbooks."
"Thanks Daniel." I say sincerely. Still not going to prevent me from finding out how
many languages you speak though! He gives me another one of his smiles.
"Efharisto." Daniel says holding up his coffee cup in thanks.
"Perikalo." I answer. Very welcome Daniel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N- fanfic won't pick up on the Greek symbols with plain text documents. Sorry!
* Why are you studying Greek?
*I'm studying Greek in order to read books.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
05- Hospital Scrubs
Episode: Fire and Water
I hadn't even opened the store yet when I spied Daniel sitting on a bench across the
street. He was just sitting there staring into space. Was he waiting for me to open?
Something just didn't seem right. I walked up to him and put my hand gently on his
shoulder; he was freezing cold.
"Daniel?" He looks up at me with bloodshot eyes.
"Kira?" He asks as if doubting my identity.
"Yep, that's me." I say taking in his appearance. The guy didn't look so good. He
is dressed in baggy blue cotton trousers and a large overcoat. His hair is lying
limply around his face and he looks like he hasn't shaved in several days. Hadn't
slept either by the looks of things. He was noticeably shivering.
"Want to come inside?" I ask in a soft voice. I don't know what it is, but Daniel just
doesn't look like he can deal with loud enthusiastic voices at the moment.
"Ok" He blinks several times as if unsure of where he is. I help him up and lead him
inside the shop. I take a moment and close the door behind us, flipping the welcome
sign to 'closed'. We can open a little late this morning.
"You ok?"
He clears his throat. "Yeah." Doesn't look ok.
"Coffee?" I ask.
"Not supposed to have any actually." Daniel says somewhat sheepishly.
"Any coffee, or just caffeine?" My guess is caffeine. Although it sure looks like he
could use a cup of joe to wake up- he also looks like he isn't running on all four
cylinders and I know you're not supposed to give caffeine to ill people.
"Caffeine." He clarifies. Yep- he's sick.
"Then why don't I get you a cup of decaf, hmm?"
"Ok." Oh yeah- something is seriously wrong here. I pour him a cup of coffee and
walk around the counter to where Daniel is standing. Judging from his slightly
swaying form, I don't think he's going to be able to maintain that position for too
much longer.
"Want to sit down for a minute?" I ask leading him to a small table.
"Sure." Docily he allows me to help him sit down. I sit next to him and think for a
moment. Although I am comfortable around Daniel and know he's not a threat or
anything, I don't really actually know the guy. At the moment he looks like a mental
ward escapee and this isn't a good thing.
"Did you drive here Daniel?" I ask him. Please say no please say no.
"Walked." Walking is good. That must mean he lives around here. And that he
didn't drive. God- I don't even want to think about him driving in his condition.
Although I haven't the foggiest what his condition is.
"Daniel, you don't seem very well at the moment. Can I call someone to come and
walk you home?"
"I have no home." Daniel says in a flat monotone voice. Ok- now things are
sounding creepy. Obviously the guy needs help. Police? 911? I snap my fingers.
Tall cute guy!
"Daniel, would you like me to call Jack for you?"
"Jack?" Daniel looks at me with watery blue eyes. "Jack is going to be pissed." He
leans forward and cups his head between his hands. "Janet'll be pissed too." Janet?
Who the heck is Janet? Girlfriend maybe?
I gently rub his back. "I bet they're worried about you Daniel." Daniel just
continues to sit there holding his head and slightly shaking it. "Pissed." He mutters.
Damn. I had a feeling Daniel was going to pass out at any moment and this really
would not be a good thing. It looked like his head was really hurting him.
"Daniel!" I say loudly giving his shoulder a firm shake.
"Hmmm?"
"Do you have Jack's number on you?" Daniel just blinks at me. Shit! Not good at
all. I really don't want to call 911 and spook the guy. Think Kira, think. Knowing
Daniel isn't quite in a position to protest I take the liberty of looking through his
pockets. There's a set of keys in there but no wallet. My hands shake slightly when
I realize he's wearing blue hospital scrubs underneath the coat. Oh this is SO not
good.
Leaving Daniel where he is I quickly go behind the counter and grab the phone. I
call information and get the number for the Cheyenne Military Complex. Lord knows
how big the place is- I just hope I can find Jack quickly.
"Cheyenne Military Base." A disembodied voice answers.
"Um, hi. My name is Kira Meyers and I work here at the Victor's Coffee House in
Colorado Springs. I know this is going to sound weird, but I am sitting here with a
man whose name I only know as Daniel and I am pretty certain he works there."
"Miss, this is a military installation and we have a lot of people working here." The
guy sounds vaguely amused that I am even attempting to find someone this way.
"Do you have his last name or id number?" Cursing myself for my stupidity I jog
back over to Daniel and gently feel around his neck. Bingo! Dog tags. Holding the
phone awkwardly between my shoulder and ear I pull them out and read the number
aloud.
"Jackson, D. 312 7795 66." Jackson huh? Daniel Jackson. Where have I heard
that name before? Doesn't matter Kir- focus on the problem at hand here.
"He's an archaeologist and speaks Greek. I think he knows several other languages
as well. I know he works with a guy named Jack and he has also mentioned a
woman named Janet." I'm rambling a bit now, but the guy on the other end is being
way too quiet. I can hear him typing something on a keyboard.
"Hold please." Ok. I can do that. I glance over at Daniel. Still staring straight
ahead into lala land.
"O'Neill." A gruff voice answers.
"Um, hello?" This isn't the time to play the forwarding game! Stupid military…
"This is Colonel O'Neill, who the heck is this?" The guy doesn't sound happy. I decide
to take a leap of faith and mentally cross my fingers.
"Jack?" I know I sound about 10 years old at this point. A Colonel?! Isn't that like
almost the highest you can go in the military?
"Who is this?" Colonel O'Neill says deceptively quietly. The man sounds downright
scary.
"My name is Kira Meyers and I am sitting here with Daniel Jackson and I am looking
for.." I never got to finish.
"Daniel's with you?!" Colonel O'Neill sounds like he is about to blow a gasket.
"Uh huh." Great. I'm back to sounding like a little kid again.
"Is he ok?" Now the Colonel sounds worried and his voice is quieter. I recognize it
now; this is tall cute guy. Jack.
"He's been better." I say honestly. "He's sitting with me here in Victor's Coffee House
on Madison Street." I pause and take another look at Daniel. "He's kinda out of it."
"Listen Kira," He remembers my name? "I know this is going to sound strange, but
could you keep Daniel with you and away from other people until I get there?"
Colonel Jack sounds worried.
"Sure Colonel O'Neill." I look at the clock on the wall- 6:15. My regulars were going
to be showing up soon. "I've actually got him here with me inside the store and I
was going to wait to open it up until he got some help."
"That'd be great Kira." Jack says sounding relieved. "I'll be there with one or two
others within 20 minutes." He hung up before I could say anything more.
The next 15 minutes pass by painfully slow as I try (without success) to get Daniel
to talk to me. His headache was obviously becoming worse. I offered him some
Tylenol, but he just shook his head no.
The Colonel, a tall woman with blonde hair, and a short auburn haired woman
carrying what had to be medical bag all arrived together 15 minutes later. I
breath a sigh of relief. My regulars were showing up as well and had begun to
shoot me dirty looks through the glass. I had put up a sign that said, "Closed until
further notice" but seeing as the entire front entrance was made of glass, they could
see me sitting there with another guy plain as day.
Ignoring the customers I open the door for the military trio and step aside.
"Daniel?" The auburn haired woman says softly kneeling in front of him. Daniel
seems to snap out of wherever he was and lifts his head painfully off of his hands.
"Janet?" The woman nods. "My head hurts."
"I know it does Daniel. I'm going to give you something to help that ok?" Daniel
nods and with the blonde woman's help they removed the jacket baring both of
Daniel's arms. Short sleeve scrubs. Yup- a definite hospital escapee. Dr. Janet gives
Daniel a shot of something and eyes the half drunk coffee cup with disdain.
"Did he drink this?" She asks turning around and shooting me a dirty look. Geesh
Doc, don't kill the Barista. This IS a coffee shop after all.
"Its just decaf." I say nervously. "I didn't think he should have caffeine."
"Damn straight." I hear her mumble turning back around towards Daniel.
"Janet, is he going to be alright?" The blonde woman asks.
"He'll be fine Sam, just a little tired and disorientated.
"But we don't know what that.." Sam is VERY brusquely interrupted by Colonel
Jack.
"Civilian Captain." Whoa. Guess that means me. And have I mentioned how scary he
sounds?
"Sorry Sir." Captain Sam sounds quite contrite. Colonel Jack takes the opportunity to
walk over to me.
"How're you doing Kira?" Colonel Jack asks gently as he leads me over to the very
far edge of the store. Darn. Now I can't hear a thing. Can't blame a girl for being
curious.
"I'm fine." I say honestly. Scary Colonel seems to have left and colonel tall cute guy
has taken his place. Phew. Much easier to deal with.
"Can you tell me what happened this morning?" He asks so nicely and politely that
within five minutes I have told him the entire tale. Colonel Jack seems to find the
story acceptable and gives me his thanks.
"He ready to move Doc?" Colonel Jack yells across the room.
"Just about Colonel." Doc Janet replies.
"Is Daniel going to be ok?" I ask nervously. I really liked the guy and didn't want
anything bad to happen to him.
"He'll be fine Kira." Colonel tall cute guy replies. He gives me a very open look. "I
can't thank you enough for bringing him inside this morning Kira. Danny recently
received a head injury and wasn't really aware of what he was doing. Or saying for
that matter. It might have ended badly, had he not stumbled upon your coffee
shop. Thank you."
"We're ready Sir." Captain Sam says standing up and helping Daniel to his feet. He
seems a little more aware of what's going on now.
"Can I go home now Sam?" I hear Daniel ask hopefully.
"Not yet Daniel." Sam says softly. I could see Daniel slumping his shoulders in
defeat. "We'll get it back for you Daniel- I promise." I was confused with that last
statement but decided not to dwell on it.
"I'll say something official and scary sounding as we leave." Colonel Jack says with a
twinkle in his eye nodding in the direction of the small sea of customers. Nothing
like a closed shop to get folks interested.
"That'd be appreciated Colonel."
"Thanks again Kira." And with a small nod they were gone.
HECK of a way to start a Monday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
06- Colonel Jack
Episode: Post Hathor
Barista life isn't all that glamorous in case you were wondering. As I might have
mentioned earlier, customer service jobs kinda suck. Don't get me wrong- I do like
people.. it's just tough to listen to the same inane comments day in and day out.
"Gorgeous day isn't it?" "Think this snow will ever stop?" Maybe that's why I like
Daniel so much; he talks about original stuff.
Daniel had actually come to say hi (wasn't allowed to drink coffee yet) a few days
after Colonel Jack and company picked him up. He looked MUCH better. I found
myself blushing six ways to Sunday as he thanked me again and again for keeping
my head and calling Jack rather than a loony bin.
"Is there anything I can do to repay you Kira?" He asked earnestly giving me a look
that left me fumbling around for a stool to sit on. Whoa. What I wouldn't give to be
on the receiving end of that look in other *ahem* circumstances. He can't be more
than 8-10 years older than me after all.
I'm awfully glad Daniel didn't offer to give me money as a means of saying thanks. I
mean- hell, of COURSE I need money, but money should come from services of
some kind. Helping out a friend is not a service. And yep- Dr. Daniel Jackson is
most definitely a friend.
"How about if you proof read my next major Antiquities paper?" I say finally. Daniel
beamed and said he'd be happy too.
The next few weeks passed by rather quickly, what with my working on a 25-page
critique of The Roman Period under Herod and all. Daniel came in at least once a
week and we chatted when we could. I had gotten much better at being able to
anticipate his order at a glance. Rushing in the door? Grande drip coffee. 6 am
arrival with lots of yawning? Triple tall Americano. 9 am arrival wearing freshly
laundered clothes? Double tall latte or mocha depending on sweet tooth level.
Breves were reserved for those occasions when he felt he needed calories as much
as caffeine.
Last week he had come in with a distinct TAN of all things. I had seen him less than
a week before and he hadn't mentioned going anyplace sunny. The tan was quite
out of place and I kidded him about using sunlamps.
Which brings us to today. I had opened the store like usual at 6 am and was a little
disappointed not to be greeted by my favorite archaeologist. Two more hours go by
and just as I am about to take a break, who should walk through the door? Tall cute
guy himself- Colonel Jack. He is dressed in faded blue jeans that REALLY hug his a..
form quite nicely. A long-sleeve pullover on top and a leather jacket finished the
ensemble. I stand by my original assessment- the Colonel is yummy.
"I'll take this guy." I tell my coworker Stephan as I retie my apron and head back to
the counter.
"Ah man! How come you always get the cute ones?" Stephan says pouting. The
fact that Colonel Jack screamed "I am a heterosexual" doesn't bother Stephan in the
slightest.
"Hey Colonel Jack!" Geesh. There I go sounding like an enthusiastic 10 year old
again.
"Kira." He says giving me a warm smile. "How about if you call me Jack?" I'm
certain he isn't embarrassed about being called Colonel, but maybe you're only
allowed to call him that if you are in the military. After all, I had never heard Daniel
call him anything but Jack.
"Fair enough." I say with another smile. "What brings you to this part of town
Jack?"
"Heading over to see Daniel actually." He is still giving me a slight smile but his eyes
aren't happy at all. Eyes. Man he has gorgeous eyes. Deep chestnut brown… Kira!
Snap out of it.
"Daniel ok?" I ask worried. Jack fidgets slightly and shrugs. "He had a rough
couple of days earlier this week and I thought one of your espresso concoctions
might cheer him up."
"In need of comfort drink?" I ask.
"Definitely." Jack says with a nod. I think for a moment.
"Has he been eating well?" I ask. Jack gives me a very perplexed look.
"When Daniel is upset or working too hard, he tends to not eat very well. On those
days I usually whip him up a breve." Seeing the confused look on Jack's face I
continue. "A breve is like a latte but made with half and half."
"Daniel likes these?" Jack asks incredulously.
"Oh yeah." I nod. "They're rich and thick and quite tasty. We can put some nutmeg
and cinnamon on top as well. A little girly perhaps, but he'll love it."
"I don't think Daniel would be too keen on a "girly" drink at the moment." Jack says
grimly. Ah. He must have had a bad break up with a woman. Strange. He never
mentioned a woman to me. But then again, it's not like we're best of friends or
anything.
"She dump him or he dump her?" I ask. Jack just shakes his head.
"Observant young woman aren't you?" He says running a hand through his cropped
hair. I beam. Yep.
"It was pretty mutual actually." Jack says unconsciously tensing his body and
brushing a hand against his stomach. If I didn't know better, I'd say both he AND
Daniel had a thing with this woman. "It ended abruptly."
"A real man-eater was she?" I say conversationally. Jack snorts as he tries to stop
a burst of laughter. "Kira, you have no idea!" He continues to shake his head as he
gives me a funny look. I sure get strange looks from these Cheyenne folks.
"How about two large cups of regular drip coffee?" Jack says finally.
"We just made a fresh pot." I say turning around to pour the coffee.
I put both coffees in a four-cup carrier and set a small bag of chocolate covered
espresso beans in the third slot.
"What's this?" Jack asks as I ring up the coffees.
"Chocolate covered espresso beans. Daniel occasionally buys them." I let out a
small chuckle. "He says it helps keep a friend of his from chocolate withdrawal when
traveling." Jack smiles and I'm pretty certain I heard the word 'Carter' under his
breath.
"This is great; thanks." I ring up both coffees and Jack frowns as he pulls out a $10
bill.
"You sure you got everything there." He asks looking at the register amount.
"I just charged you for the coffees." I say counting back change. "Tell Daniel the
beans are from me, and that he shouldn't dwell on that Siren* of a woman"
"Siren huh?" Jack says again shaking his head.
"Yup. There are lots of women out there who just want to capture a man's heart,
use him and then toss him aside. Daniel is definitely a guy who deserves better."
"That he is." Jack says with a nod. "Thanks Kira." He drops several dollars in the
tip jar just and turns to leave.
"You're welcome Colonel Jack." He isn't so far that I can't hear him muttering under
his breath.
"For crying out loud, can't anyone just call me Jack?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Siren , in Greek mythology, one of three sea nymphs, usually represented with the
head of a woman and the body of a bird. The Sirens inhabited an island surrounded
by dangerous rocks. They sang so enchantingly that all who heard were drawn near
and shipwrecked.
07 Small World
Episode: Solitudes
I have been contemplating for almost a week now as to what to say to Daniel
Jackson the next time I see him. See, I had received a very strange (and long!)
email from a friend of mine down at McMurdo and I hadn't a clue what to make of it.
I mean the odds that Daniel of all people… I shake my head and go back to wiping
down the tables. I figure I'll suss it out by the time I see the guy.
Naturally that was the exact moment the good Dr. Jackson chose to walk through
the front door. The guy didn't look so good and I couldn't help but wonder if he goes
looking for trouble or if he's just one of those fortunate few who get lucky. Once
again he had that lack of sleep thing going for him, and I could see what appeared to
be a nasty gash on his forehead. Ouch! Betcha that hurt. I'll say this for the guy
though, he might have looked a bit roughed up, but he sure seemed happy.
"Good morning Kira!" Daniel says with way more enthusiasm than I thought was
warranted. After all, it WAS barely 6 am. After observing Daniel Jackson for the last
six months, I had come to realize that he only got up before the sun because he was
forced too.
"Hey Daniel." I say giving him a small smile. "Double tall latté?"
"Better make it a triple." Daniel says flashing me a smile. "And let's make it a
breve."
"Caffeine and artery-clogging calories, eh Dr. Jackson?"
"I've been told that I need to eat more." Daniel says sheepishly. I pretend to eye
him critically. Well, all right. I DID eye him critically, but I wasn't just checking out
his ass ok? Daniel always seemed to have that 'Feed Me' look about him.
"Somehow, I don't think 12 oz of half and half is exactly what Janet wants." I reply
placing the crème under the steamer.
"You remember Janet, huh?" Uh oh. Sheepish look again. Hadn't we already been
through this?
"She might be small, but that lady had presence!" Daniel laughs.
"I'll say so!" He says with a knowing nod. "Actually speaking of whom, can I get her
a double tall latte to go? Better make it with 1% milk."
"Sure." I quickly go to work on the drinks and wondered if I would be brave enough
to ask him. I mean what's the worst thing that can happen? Worst thing? He thinks
me a total freak and never comes in again. Yeah. That.
"How's school coming Kira?" Daniel asks conversationally.
"Good!" I reply with real enthusiasm. "I've just started a quarter long course
centered on the great libraries of Antiquity and am really looking forward to reading
everything I can on Alexandria."
"I can loan you a few books on the topic if you'd like?"
"Really?" Whoa. That would be fantastic. So fantastic that I really shouldn't blow it
by opening my mouth and asking him that question. Hear that Kira? Don't ask.
"Daniel?" I ask handing over both drinks.
"Hmm?" He answers handing me a $20.
"Have you been to Antarctica lately?" Naturally the moment that left my mouth
there was complete silence in the store. I'm not talking about the silence that comes
when two people aren't speaking, but the total silence of, well, utter and complete
silence. Apparently the Natalie Cole CD I had been listening to chose that exact
moment to end. Lucky me.
The look on Daniel's face told me everything I needed to know but I couldn't blame
the guy for attempting to put a little spin on things.
"Why do you ask?" His voice sounds odd and his face is a kaleidoscope of conflicting
emotions. Daniel knew instantly that he had blown it though. He shook his head
and made his way over to a table. He motioned for me to follow him. As if I could
deny this guy any request…
"Kira?" He says utterly dejected. "What do you know?"
"It's a bloody small planet Daniel." I say plopping myself into a hard plastic chair. To
my surprise Daniel burst out laughing. It took him several seconds to compose
himself.
"So spill it." He says.
"Right." I take a sip of the hot chocolate I'm drinking and take a deep breath. "My
friend is currently stationed as a GA down at McMurdo."
"GA?"
"General Assistant. It's the lowest paying job on the continent, but it IS still a job.
The GA's tend to be the ones to shovel snow, set up field camps- stuff like that.
She's been down there for nearly three months now."
"Uh huh."
"Well life at McMurdo is pretty mundane until the supply vessel comes in January.
The folks there work 6 days a week, 10 hours a day and tend to watch a lot of videos
and drink once off duty. Well, last Monday everything went ballistic. All the
Raytheon…" Daniel gives me a weird look.
"Raytheon is the sub-contractor working with the National Science Foundation folks."
I explain. "Well, that day at breakfast the dining hall was filled with rumors. Seems
the SAR team; the Search and Rescue guys, had been called out on a job at 2 o'clock
in the morning. No one knew where they were going or what they were doing, but
two helicopters and virtually all the McMurdo medical personal had gone with them.
Needless to say folks were curious."
"I can imagine." Came the non-committal reply.
"After breakfast my friend went to work helping a team move furniture into one of
the newly built dormitories. She had done quite a bit of furniture moving and had
told me it wasn't a big deal. Her words were, 'Beats standing in a gym pumping
iron.'" Daniel gave me a small smile.
"Unfortunately on the way out of the building she slipped on a patch of ice and the
bureau she had been helping to carry came crashing down on her leg."
"Ouch." Daniel says grimacing. I nodded. "Yeah." I take another sip of my drink
and glance at my watch. 6:15.
"Marcie was pretty certain her scream was loud enough to wake the dead and very
quickly folks had come out of the adjacent buildings to lend a hand. The bureau was
lifted up and Marcie was quickly picked up and carried over to medical." I grin.
"Daniel, my friend is about 5'0- maybe 110 pounds. She HATES being reminded how
little she is." I could SO relate. I am only 5'2 myself.
"Although her leg hurt like a son of a bitch, to hear her tell it, the humiliation of
being carried into the infirmary was the worst part of the whole thing. It was a little
after 11 am when Marcie, her studly savior Thomas and her GA partner Sydney
reached the infirmary." I pause and take another big gulp of my drink before setting
it down and looking at Daniel as if I'm about to tell him the biggest secret in the
world.
"They were stopped 5 feet before the infirmary doors." Daniel seemed to go a little
pale.
"They weren't!" I nod. He looks upset at that little snippet of news.
"Yep. And by a pair of military goons none of whom they had seen before! Daniel,
it's a mighty small base. Even if you don't know everyone's name, you usually know
his or her face. Marcie had never seen these guys before."
"Obviously she was allowed in." Daniel said this very matter of factly. My eyebrows
did a funny little arch as I processed the comment. Obviously?
"Of course they had to let her in, I mean her leg was definitely broken and
apparently Marcie was contemplating passing out at this stage. I've never broken a
bone myself, but I guess they hurt like a mother f.."
My mouth was SO going to be my downfall one day. "They hurt a lot." I say trying
not to dwell on my burning cheeks. Daniel hid a smile behind his coffee cup.
"Both Thomas and Sydney argued vehemently on Marcie's behalf. Loads of swearing
and threatening to sue if Marcie wasn't allowed in for treatment. Eventually the
military guys caved. They refused to allow Tom or Syd in, but they did finally come
to the conclusion that an injured young woman really shouldn't be hanging out in sub
0 temperature. Without much ado, Marcie was lifted out of Thomas' arms and into
one of the military guys'."
"Marcie probably wasn't too keen on that." Daniel says grimacing.
"Definitely." I nod. "She chose to show her appreciation by once again screaming
and then passing out." Daniel nods. Nods? A nod as in, yeah- I bet that hurt and
was enough to make a person pass out, or nodded as in- yeah I remember hearing
that. Curiouser and curiouser.
"She wasn't out very long though because when she came to, someone was taking
her blood pressure and asking her to rate her pain on a scale of 1 to 10. She was
lying on a bed in a far corner of the infirmary and could hear what sounded to be like
a dozen different voices through the curtain surrounding her bed. Someone had just
given her a shot and as the pain faded, so did the distinct words associated with the
voices. Marcie could tell they were shocking someone, you know like they do on
ER?" Daniel nods again grimly; it's pretty obvious to me that he is actually
remembering the event. Or maybe not. ER episodes can be pretty realistic after all.
"She kept hearing various beeping noises alongside a lot of really worried, really loud
voices." Daniel begins to lose what little color there is in his face even paler and
unconsciously hug his ribs. Damn. I really shouldn't be talking about this should I?
I take a deep breath and continue. In for a penny, in for a pound.
"Marcie awoke the second time just as they were finishing up plastering her leg.
Apparently someone was very keen to move her out of the infirmary as quickly as
possible but the doctor working on her leg refused to do so for at least another hour.
Apparently he had some pretty vicious-sounding words with some muckity-muck.
Marce was told to keep her leg elevated as the plaster was drying and try and get
some sleep. The doc would return in 45 minutes or so.
So there she was lying in a slightly darkened room trying to make sense of
everything that had happened and all the strange voices around her, when suddenly
someone not medical walks inside. She instantly knew he wasn't a doc and at first
thought he was another army goon- but his mannerisms seemed all wrong to be
military." Daniel seemed to be shrinking into his chair before my very eyes. I really
should stop. Really. Ah Daniel…
I lower my voice to something just above a whisper and finish the story.
"The guy looked like a car-wreck victim she said. Nasty head gash and huge dark
circles under his eyes. He didn't notice her in the beginning and stumbled into the
room gulping large quantities of air and throwing himself into one of the chairs in the
far corner before covering his face with his hands." I bit my lip. Daniel looked crest-
fallen. I needed to stop.
"I know what happened next Kira." Daniel says in a voice that nearly tore my heart
in two. I reach out a give Daniel's hand a brief squeeze. Forward? Nahh- I was just
trying to be a friend.
"All she told me was that the man's name was Daniel and that he was very, very
worried about his two friends." Daniel nodded but didn't offer me any explanations.
That's ok.
"I still wouldn't have even thought of you except for one thing."
"What?" Daniel croaked looking into my eyes.
"As you and Marcie were talking another woman came into the room. She looked
over at Marcie with surprise but still came up to Daniel and gave him a brief hug.
She then said 'Sam and the Colonel are going to be all right.' Those were the exact
words Marcie told me."
We sat in silence for several long seconds.
"That was Dr. Janet wasn't it?" I ask.
Daniel nods and clears his throat. "Marcie doing ok?" I smile- god, this guy is SO
nice. "Yep. She's scheduled to fly out on the next plane and will be spending most
of her recuperation time in Christchurch, New Zealand. Much nicer than Colorado in
the middle of February don't ya think?" Daniel gives a dry chuckle.
The sound of someone clearing his voice gets my attention. Shit! I glance at my
watch; it was after 6:30. I quickly pull myself to my feet and head to the counter to
ring up Daniel's order. I apologize to the man waiting and quickly count out Daniel's
change and hand it over. Daniel drops a $5 bill into the tip jar.
I am already at the espresso machine whipping up a Grande no foam nonfat latté
when I realized I hadn't asked Daniel what I really wanted to know.
"Daniel!" I yell over the noise of the machine.
"Yeah?" He answers turning around.
"Are Sam and Colonel Jack really ok?" He gives me a HUGE smile.
"They're going to be just fine." He says. I give him a huge grin in return and get
back to work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
08- Dress Blues
Episode: This takes place at the beginning of Politics. Everyone remember that
one? Daniel returns from the Alternate reality, but no one really believes that he
was there. (So how'd he get a staff burn, hmmm?!) Later all four meet the always
deceitful Senator Kinsey. It doesn't end well.
I was definitely having one of those days. You know the kind- the oversleep; stub
your toe on the bathtub, bad hair sorta day. I had gotten to work just in time to
open and had a whole string of bad customers- all before my first break. Then my
relief person calls around 9 telling me she was going to be an hour late. An hour!
Dammit, I so didn't need another hour of this crap. At least Stefan was keeping me
entertained; he had shown up (on time for once, thank god) at 7 am and must
definitely be getting some, because he was as cheerful as I have ever seen him.
It was now five minutes to 11 and I was doing my darndest to not continually glance
at my watch. Freedom in just 300 brief seconds…
"Kira, I can't thank you enough for staying on." Jess gushes as she dashed through
the front door. "Let me just grab my apron and you'll be free." With that she
disappeared into the backroom.
"You heard the woman, girl- Get." Stefan shooed me away from the register. "I'm
pretty certain I can handle a couple of customers by myself."
"Thanks Stefan." I say gratefully untying my apron. "I'm just going to grab my half
pound and skedaddle." Ah free coffee, one of the perks of working in a coffee shop.
Stefan was busy making a very dry cappuccino when I spied something colorful
walking through the door. My jaw nearly dropped to the ground as I recognized
what I was seeing. Who I was seeing.
Colonel Jack.
In uniform.
He blithely walked through the door oblivious to the awed expressions of those
around him. Sure, we all know there's a military base not 10 miles from here, but
we seldom see the guys walking around looking like frickin' GQ models. Jesus. If
Colonel Jack O'Neill had shown up like that at my high school, half the class would
have enlisted. And I'm talking men AND women. My mouth has suddenly gone
completely dry and I have an errant desire to ask Colonel Jack to father my children.
Ok so maybe I'm too young- father my mom's children then.
"Be with you in a sec!" Stefan yells over the espresso machine. All he knows is that
someone walked in; he hasn't a clue who it is or what he looks like.
"I got it Stefan." I say somewhat hoarsely as I step back up to the counter.
"Hi Kira," Jack says warmly taking off his sunglasses and placing them in his jacket
pocket. Uniform AND sunglasses. I've suddenly been transported to the set of an
Officer and a Gentleman.
"Colonel Jack." I say without sounding too flustered. "Who'd have thought you
cleaned up so nice?" Idiot!
Jack laughs. "Yeah, the uniform is a bit over-the-top, isn't it?" He says self-
depreciatively. "Not something I enjoy wearing, I assure you." I can't help myself as
I stare at all the pretty medals on his chest. God, he has a lot of them.
"Kira, you're staring." Jack says in a sing-song voice. I am certain I must be beet-
red as I look up into his laughing eyes. Utterly gorgeous warm brown eyes…
"Sorry." I say taking a deep breath to compose myself. "What can I get you?"
Before Jack can answer I hear Stefan's strangled gasp from the machine. Colonel
Jack has been spotted. I suppress my smile.
"Just a regular coffee for me and.." Jack waves his hand absently in the air.
"Something drinkable for Daniel." I smile.
"If you don't mind me asking Jack, why are you here dressed to the nines, ordering
coffee for Daniel? Don't you have servants or something?" I quickly amend myself.
"I mean junior officers." Jack chuckles.
"I gave the servants the day off." He must have noticed the rapid suffusion of color
in my face and decided to come clean.
"Daniel is stuck on base and seeing as I had to head home to pick up the uniform, he
asked that I grab him something from his apartment. And I did. And now, being the
very nice guy that I am, I'm getting him a coffee from his favorite barista!" Favorite
barista? Does he mean me? Ahhhhh. Once again I feel myself getting warm. Man,
I have NEVER blushed so much in my life.
"What's Daniel's mood Colonel?" I ask contemplating the perfect Daniel Jackson
drink.
"Jack." He admonishes.
"What's Daniel's mood Jack?" The Colonel lets out a heavy sigh. "Daniel actually is
a little pissed at me right now. Kinda feels likes everyone is ganging up on him and
it's Daniel against the world."
"Is it?" I ask still considering coffee options.
Jack lets out a heavy sigh. "I guess it just might be."
"Do you think he wants to be comforted, or would he rather stay angry?"
"Definitely angry." The Colonel pauses. "What he really wants is someone to believe
him."
"Think that'll happen?" I ask while pouring the Colonel some freshly brewed Italian
roast.
Jack scoffs again. "When pigs fly." He mutters.
"Well in that case, why don't we stick with the old standby- Double tall Americano. I
know if it were me against the world, I'd want a little bitter aftertaste."
"Americano it is." Jack says giving me a go ahead. I open my mouth to send Stefan
my request when he hands me a hot cup.
"Double Tall Americano." He says staring straight at Colonel Jack. I briefly close my
eyes. Please don't embarrass me Stefan! And no drooling either.
"Can you put these in that cardboard holder thingy of yours?" Jack asks. "I SO
don't want to spill anything and have the Pentagon mad at me for messing up my
uniform."
"You're meeting with the Pentagon?!" I ask absolutely shocked. I mean, I knew
Colonel Jack must be someone important, (have you LOOKED at the guy lately?) but
the folks at the base are just doing some space research stuff, so why should the
Pentagon be involved? Although… come to think of it, why would they need an
Archaeologist who speaks Greek? Damn! I never did find out how many languages
Daniel speaks. And I know for a fact I've heard his name someplace before.
"Just a little meeting." Jack says indicating how small by holding up his thumb and
forefinger. I just shake my head and ring up the coffee. Right. A *little* meeting
with Pentagon officials. Is there even such a thing?
Colonel Jack pays, stuffs $2 into the tip jar and turns to leave.
"Tell Daniel I wish him the best of luck." I call after him.
"Best at what?" Jack asks as he puts some milk into his coffee.
"At making pigs fly of course." I call. Jack shakes his head slowly as he gathers up
his coffees.
As he walks out the door, I am pretty sure I hear him say-
"Maybe pigs SHOULD fly."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End Season 1 Barista vignettes. More on their way! I plan on continuing this series
at least through Season 4.
And to answer some of your questions- Yes I HAVE worked as a barista and yep, i
DID work on an archaeological dig over in Israel. And, believe it or not, I also
worked a couple seasons down in Antarctica as well. What can I say? It's loads
easier to write from experience. I DON'T have a degree in Ancient Civilizations
though. However, I DID think about it.
~d