Daniel and Carter argued, argued about something that was actually nothing.
It was the sort of argument that two 'egg-heads' would get into over what seemed to O'Neill and Teal'c as rather trivial, and certainly not worth a blood bath over.
Daniel was adamant that the Goa'uld participated in the Trojan War, but Carter countered that mankind was belligerent enough by itself, without blaming their misgivings on aliens. Daniel pointed out that it was entirely possible what with the Olympian pantheon participating in the battle (according to the Iliad), the women and children being sold into slavery, the links with Egypt as well as the Hittites.
The PhDs ended up bickering and resorting to childish name-calling, which amused O'Neill and their tall silent friend to no end.
In the heat of the moment, Daniel shouted as he ran his hands through his hair in a frustrated gesture, "You're a total and utter idiot! After all we've seen and been through, you still think that you're right! As much as you hate to admit it, Doctor Astrophysicist, Archaeology is a science too!"
He stormed out in anger, ignoring O'Neill's protests. Carter sat there, frozen, before she hid her face in her hands and burst into tears.
Daniel hid in his office for a while, burying himself in his work.
Suddenly he heard a certain windy-city inhabitant clear his throat in the doorway. The Archaeologist ignored his colleague and continued with his translation of some inscriptions.
O'Neill fiddled with an artefact as he asked, "Wanna explain what happened back there, or am I gonna have to get Teal'c?"
Daniel's brain had partially shifted in focus to the Air Force Colonel, and he mumbled as he continued working on the translation, "Oh, um, nothing."
O'Neill quipped with a raise of an eyebrow, "Wouldn't call shouting at Carter nothing. I was surprised she didn't floor you like she did with that Mongolian guy."
Daniel's brain struggled to maintain the partial focus, so he tuned into the real world and said with a sigh, "It was nothing, Jack, nothing."
O'Neill remarked as he picked up another artefact, "Yeah, that's what Teal'c said, and I agree. What were you lovebirds really arguing about?"
Daniel dropped his pen, leaned back and closed his eyes briefly, and said, "I said that the Goa'uld could've been involved with the Trojan War but then she said that it was preposterous, and then it just went to hell."
O'Neill whistled before saying, "I'll say. So, wanna say sorry?"
Daniel replied, frustrated, "Why should I? You guys always put me down 'cos I'm the weak civilian. Hell, Jack, if it wasn't for the regs, she would've settled for you!"
O'Neill raised an eyebrow and shouted, "What?! Daniel, get your ass back in Carter's lab and say sorry to her. She, of all people, doesn't deserve the way you treated her. Go on now, scoot."
Daniel stood up and shouted back, "Jack, leave me alone!," before storming out.
Teal'c attempted to console Carter in the Commissary.
She had stopped crying and was trying to objectively analyse the situation, "Daniel had a theory and I shot him down."
Teal'c replied, "The theory was not the real problem. You and DanielJackson have deeper issues that you have not talked about."
Carter raised an eyebrow and chuckled, before asking, "Have you been watching Ricki Lake?"
"No, JerrySpringer has much more action."
She sobered up and said, "I have never seen Daniel so angry. D'you think he'll talk to me again?"
He replied, "From what O'Neill has informed me of Tau'ri culture, DanielJackson will feel sorry and will attempt to make amends with you. You in turn will play difficult to attain. There is a similar ritual on Chulak."
She chuckled again and remarked, "Well, there's certainly nothing like the Colonel's romantic advice!"
"Indeed."
Daniel sat alone in the cool darkness of the men's locker room. Tears ran down his cheeks as he held onto the bench beneath him with a tightness that made his knuckles white.
A tumult of emotions swam through his head as he sat in the clammy darkness. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to shut everything all out, something he had learnt to do from a very early age. He pounded the bench in frustration and tears ran down his cheeks.
O'Neill cautiously opened the door and peered into the moist darkness. He heard someone sniffling and figured it was Daniel.
He approached the Archaeologist, put an arm around him, and said quietly, "Hey, hey, what're the waterworks for? Are you still mad about what I said?"
Daniel continued to sniffle as he moved away from his friend, and beat the walls in frustration.
O'Neill cautiously approached him and asked, "Hey, you're not cracking up again, are you?"
He gently moved the academic away from the wall and sat him down. He continued, "Come on Daniel, talk to me. That row with Carter was just the tip of iceberg, wasn't it? There's something much more."
Eventually Daniel's sobs subsided somewhat, and he confided in the Officer, "You're right. It's a lot of things: losing Janet as well as Abydos, not forgetting re-adapting to living on Earth again. It's weird."
O'Neill said with a sigh, "We all miss Fraiser, and I'm sure she's fixing up all those gnarly Tok'ra and SGC personnel in the Pearly Gates. You shouldn't worry about Abydos though; they're safe now. I'm not buying the crap about adaptation; what's really going on?"
Daniel put his head in his hands and said through a fresh batch of freshly baked tears, "Sam and I tried for a baby, but it didn't work out."
O'Neill raised an eyebrow in surprise, and exclaimed, "You're supposed to get married first!"
He continued, as seriously as he could, "Hey, it's no biggie. That was probably my Catholic upbringing surfacing again. Did Carter stop the injections?"
Daniel replied, "Yes, that new doc took her off them months back, but we haven't had any luck."
O'Neill suggested, "It may be the Naquadah in her blood, or the fact that you were dead."
He continued further, "But that is no excuse for treating Carter like that. Tell her you're sorry."
O'Neill eventually persuaded his friend to loosely recreate a scene from Steve Martin's Sgt. Bilko, where the title character won back his long-suffering fiancé by serenading her. O'Neill roped in Teal'c, Siler, Harriman, Davis, Satterfield, Ferretti, Grogan, Hailey and Carmichael to fill the roles of the choir, and he hot-housed them into learning the chosen song. Daniel had been persuaded to bring along his guitar for accompaniment, and the entire group were sworn to absolute secrecy.
That evening, they silently assembled in front of Carter's house, under her bedroom window, but O'Neill wasn't present due to something last minute popping up. Daniel began to strum the first chords, and the choir sang:
"Only you can make this world seem right
Only you can make the darkness bright.
Only you and you alone
can thrill me like you do
and fill my heart with love for only you."
They stopped in stunned silence when Carter's window opened, and a half-naked O'Neill poked his head out, and remarked, "Hey guys, keep it down, we're trying to get some sleep."
Daniel didn't know what to do, confusion coursing through his veins, a sharp stabbing pain increasing in intensity in his chest area.
O'Neill chuckled and shouted, "Psyche!," before Carter pushed him to one side and said, "Sir, honestly! Put your shirt back on!"
She poked her head out and said with a smile, "Come on you guys, ignore the Colonel."
Realisation eventually dawned on Daniel's face, and he shook his head in disbelief at his colleague's sense of humour. The others laughed before sobering up.
He began to play again and the singing continued:
"Only you can make this change in me,
for it's true, you are my destiny.
When you hold my hand,
I understand the magic that you do.
You're my dream come true,
my one and only you.
Only you can make this change in me,
for it's true, you are my destiny.
When you hold my hand,
I understand the magic that you do.
You're my dream come true,
my one and only you.
One and only you."
Carter was visibly touched and she said, "That was beautiful. Thank you."
Daniel called up, "Sam, I'm sorry for earlier."
She smiled and said, "Wait there," before she sprinted downstairs and wrapped her Archaeologist in a huge hug, to the jeers and cheers of O'Neill and the choir.
The fracas increased when the Astrophysicist and the Archaeological Linguist kissed, with O'Neill going so far as remarking, much to the amusement of the assembled military personnel, "Get a room!"