Chapter Two

"Don't you think you were a little hard on them, Jack?" Daniel asked as he fell into step beside his friend.

Jack rolled his eyes. "They expect stuff like that, Daniel. Besides, they were just standing there eavesdropping when they should have been with the tour. They need to learn how to follow orders now, or they won't be able to handle being a part of the SGC."

Ferretti smirked at Jack. "Come on, Jack, cut them a little slack. After all, they were probably a little star-struck."

"What?" Daniel asked, blue eyes flickering to Ferretti in confusion.

"Never mind," Jack told him. "Listen, have you eaten yet today?"

"Yes," Daniel replied, his tone a little put off at the implication of being unable to feed himself.

"Let me guess," Jack stated. "Coffee and a Snickers bar?"

Daniel ducked his head. "I had some Doritoes, too."

Ignoring Ferretti's stifled laughter, Jack shook his head. "Figures. Come on, Daniel. You probably need to take a break anyway. You're joining us for lunch."

"But-," Daniel began to protest.

"But nothing," Jack told him firmly. "Besides; we're already here."

Daniel glanced forward and saw that he had, indeed, arrived in the commissary. The room was a little more crowded than was usual, owing to the fact that all of the new recruits were just sitting down to eat their own lunches, as well as most of the regular members of the SGC.

"I don't think we're going to find a place to sit, Jack," Daniel observed.

"We'll see," Jack replied. He led the small group over to the food and began selecting the items that most appealed to him. Spying Daniel's sparse tray beside him, he tossed a couple extra side dishes onto the young man's tray and silenced any protest with a sharp look. The two bickered good-naturedly through the line, with Ferretti throwing in an incendiary comment here and there. Just as they paid for their food, Ferretti nudged Jack and indicated a table on the far side of the room that had just been vacated. Hardly believing their luck, the two soldiers immediately headed for the table with Daniel trailing behind them.

Daniel carefully maneuvered himself around the tightly packed commissary, trying not to knock anything over. He had nearly made it to Jack and Ferretti when a nearby soldier suddenly stood, his elbow knocking solidly into the side of Daniel's tray. Unable to avoid the contact, Daniel's tray was knocked sideways, tossing his food to the floor. His steaming mug of coffee was not so fortunate; the contents of his mug splashed all over his left hand, searing his skin. Daniel let out a startled cry, dropping his tray altogether and cradling his scalded hand to his chest.

"Whoops!" the soldier exclaimed. "Gee, sir, you should be more careful. You could've hurt somebody, squeezing around people like that. You okay?"

Daniel stared, bewildered, at the young soldier, but nodded. "Er, fine. S-Sorry about that."

Jack appeared at Daniel's side, stooping down to collect the scientist's tray and whatever food was salvageable. "Hey, Daniel, you all right?"

Daniel nodded at Jack, taking his tray back. Jack caught his burned hand and drew it closer for a better look.

"You might want to have the Doc take a look at that," he suggested. "Looks pretty painful."

Daniel pulled his hand away and shrugged. "I'll be fine."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like Janet would let you get away with not seeing her. You're going, buddy, right after you eat your lunch." He grasped Daniel's arm and led him over to the table he and Ferretti had just claimed, unaware of the pairs of eyes that followed after them.


"So what exactly are you planning on doing?" Preston asked Sloane as Sloane's eyes tracked Jack and Daniel back to their table on the other side of the room.

"Nothing serious," Sloane assured him. "I'm just going to make Colonel O'Neill realize just how useless it is to have a clumsy geek like Jackson there on the team. A slight mishap here, a lost item there; Jackson's a liability, and O'Neill knows it. It's just a matter of giving them both a nudge in the right direction."

"Okay, I know O'Neill's got a reputation for being a mean SOB with a temper to match, but even I know that he's pretty protective of his team," Andrews stated, shoveling food into his mouth. "Particularly that geek. Word on the grapevine is, the two are pretty tight."

Sloane snorted. "How close can they be? The two are complete opposites from each other."

Andres shrugged. "Just tellin' ya what I heard."

Sloane straightened in his seat and placed his hands on either side of his tray. "Well, if you gentlemen are through trying to poke holes in my plan, I'll be seeing you later."

"Where're you going?" Preston asked.

"Time to start the ball rolling," Sloane replied cryptically as he stood. Collecting his tray, he moved away from the table and joined a small group of Marines from their initiation group. It wasn't hard to figure out what they were talking about when, as one, they all turned to catch a brief glimpse of Daniel eating his lunch with Jack and Ferretti. After about ten minutes, with the Marine deep in discussion, Sloane stood, grabbed his tray, and moved to yet another table with new recruits.

Preston and Andrews watched as Sloane moved from table to table, careful to avoid any group that had veteran 'gate travelers seated with them. After nearly forty-five minutes, Sloane returned, a smug grin on his face.

"What did you say?" Andrews asked, curious.

Sloane shrugged. "Just planted a few seeds of doubt. Turns out a lot of the others were confused as to why a mere civilian had a prime spot on the best 'gate team. I just sort of . . . fanned the flames a little."

"What good will that do?" Preston asked.

"You'll see," Sloane replied.

End Chapter Two