Self-Excavation
By Ael L. Bolt
Rating: G
Genre: Scifi/General
Summary: A missing scene for Fallen. With the help of the rest of SG-1, Daniel begins to rediscover himself. Set during Daniel's second day back on the base.
Jack had to resist the constant urge to turn around and engulf Daniel in a huge spacemonkey hug as they walked down the long grey corridors of the SGC. It had been a long time since he'd been able to touch Daniel, but he was afraid he would spook the poor guy if he suddenly hugged him out of nowhere, and he'd feel stupid asking if he could. He contented himself with glancing over to stare at his newly-found friend, who was busy rubbernecking like he'd never seen the base before.
Which, Jack conceded, he effectively hadn't.
"I'm never going to get used to this place," Daniel confided in him, following Jack's lead through the twisting pathways of the base.
Jack shrugged. "You did before. Don't worry; we don't expect you to be able to find your way around by yourself right away. Speaking of which," he added with a glance at his watch, "are you hungry? It's almost 1850."
Jack mentally kicked himself as Daniel looked completely befuddled, but nodded. "I haven't eaten since the morning meal."
"Great! We'll get Teal'c, then stop by Carter's lab and drag her along."
----------------
Daniel eyed the food on his tray warily. These strangers had directed him towards items they said were his favorites, but he didn't recognize any of them. There was a bowl of reddish meat and beans that…Jim? Ja'k? J-something O'Neill…had called "chilly" even though it was warm, and a dish of some yellow transparent semi-solid of some sort that Samantha – Sam – told him was named "Gell-oh." Finally, the tall dark man – Teal'c? – had brought him a steaming mug of something brown in color called "caw-fee."
"Are you sure this is food?" he asked skeptically, prodding the "chilly" with the spoon utensil.
J-somebody snorted in amusement. "God forbid the commissary serve something that can deemed 'food.'" He must've seen the look on Daniel's face, because he quickly backtracked. "It's edible. Well, you've always been able to stomach it."
Daniel scooped up a bite of the soupy meat and eyed it. It certainly didn't look lethally toxic, so he sniffed at it.
"Geez, Daniel, how the hell can you eat that stuff?" Jack exclaimed as he walked into the commissary.
Daniel grinned and swallowed another throat-searing mouthful of chili. "It's good, Jack."
"Yeah, if by 'good' you mean 'able to cauterize your tastebuds in half a second'," Jack countered, plopping down next to him and sniffing the other man's meal suspiciously. "You haven't been cheating and making it less hot, have you?"
Before Daniel could say anything, Jack grabbed a spoon and shoveled in a mouthful of the specially-spiced chili. Daniel bit his lip to stop from laughing outright as Jack's eyes became huge, and he nearly shrieked like a little girl and ran over to put out the vengeful fire with apple juice.
Daniel couldn't help it. He started sniggering as Jack downed glass after glass of juice, casting wounded glares in the archaeologist's direction. "Oww! 'aniel, that HURT you bathtard," he swore. "You 'id that on purpoth."
"Daniel?"
He blinked and shook his head, looking up to meet three concerned gazes. "I'm fine," he blurted, then looked at O'Neill. "You tried stealing my food once."
O'Neill appeared thrown off by the seeming non sequitor, then something appeared in his eyes, a look that Daniel was becoming familiar with. "You remembered something?"
Daniel bravely stuck the spoon in his mouth and tasted the chili. He frowned. "This stuff isn't usually this mild, is it?"
There was a distinctly unmanly squeak of "Mild!" that he ignored as he reached for the steaming cup at the edge of the tray. Lifting it to his mouth, the rich dark scent provoked a montage of images, most of them in small cramped rooms with bookshelves, cluttered tables, and low lighting. He scrunched up his nose, unsure of whether this scent was truly of something he liked. Screwing up his courage, he sipped at the black liquid.
"Don't you ever go home?"
Daniel ignored the incredulous voice and refilled his mug from the freshly-brewed pot. "Some people actually work at work," he retorted, taking a hefty swig of coffee as he turned to face Jack. "Coffee keeps me awake and functioning, therefore it is beneficial to my paycheck."
Jack snorted. "Right. Well it's 0740, and I'm willing to bet you haven't slept since yesterday."
Daniel glanced at his watch in surprise. "It's that early already?" Then another thought hit, this one full of dread. "Oh God. We have a mission today."
"Not after seeing this," Jack scolded him, confiscating the half-full cup. "You are going to go get at least eight hours of sleep. SG-8 can handle the survey without us today."
Daniel's eyes widened and he was barely aware that all noise in the immediate vicinity had hushed. "You okay?" O'Neill asked, nudging him in the side.
"I said I'm fine," Daniel said defensively, still staring at the coffee. Closing his eyes, he lifted it to his lips and drained it. With a sigh of satisfaction, he dropped it back to the table with a clunk. "Where has that been my whole life?" he asked teasingly.
Sam let out a short burst of startled laughter. "Some things just never change."
Daniel turned his attention to the last item on his tray and prodded it with the tip of his spoon. It obediently wobbled in the bowl, almost making it look alive. Daniel grimaced a little. "What is this stuff?"
"It is Jello," Teal'c said bluntly.
"Yeah, but what is it?" Daniel repeated, watching the yellow cubes warily.
The other three exchanged a look he couldn't identify. "I actually have no idea," O'Neill admitted.
"Fruit-flavored animal protein," Sam offered, digging her spoon into her own dish of green gelatin. "Trust me, you don't want to know too much about food."
"Don't you usually get blue Jello?" Daniel suddenly blurted, gesturing at Sam's dessert.
Once again, he found himself the subject of three scrutinizing stares. "Yeah," Sam affirmed, a strange note in her voice. "They were out today."
"Are you remembering any events, DanielJackson?" Teal'c inquired.
"Ah, sort of," he admitted, scooping up a lump of dessert. "It's just one image, really…"
"What image?" Jack asked curiously.
Daniel frowned as he attempted to recall the memory. "We were all sitting at this table…and it was covered in Jello and cake and stuff." He looked up at them. "Who the heck is Urgo?"