Have I Mentioned I Hate You Lately?
Chapter 2
A/N: Okay, so I messed up my fanfic lingo last chapter. My mistake. It's fixed now. Anywho, thanks for the reviews of chater 1. On to chapter 2
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Erika rested her head between her out stretched arms. The pages of her notebook felt cool against her forehead, a welcome relief to the building headache. She closed eyes, breathed in deeply, and released it in a soft moan. Blindly, she groped around the desktop searching for a mug of coffee she knew rested somewhere close. A lukewarm paper cup was placed in one of her questing hands. Erika drew it to her lips, spilling a few drops on her notes. She sighed contently as the bittersweet liquid filled her mouth and trickled down her throat."Thought you could use another cup," a mildly amused voice commented. Erika lifted her head just enough to spy O'Neill standing before her one hand holding a second paper cup while the other rested in his pocket. She grumbled something before she returned her forehead to the page. She knew she should at least move her notebook. Her forehead would be smeared in ink if she fell asleep at the desk, a feat that was becoming more commonplace than Erika liked.
"How's the research going?" O'Neill asked. Erika could hear the smile in his tone. She groaned and lifted her head again.
"Glad to see you're back to yourself, Colonel," she commented dryly. O'Neill's smile seemed to grow if that was at all possible. Erika groaned. She at least had the presence of mind to move her notebook this time as she laid her head down. She really wanted to sleep.
"Me too." He patted Erika on the shoulder. "Why don't you get some sleep, Captain?" he suggested as he stepped back and left the office.
"Thanks for the coffee, Sir," she managed to say. Coffee. She pushed herself up with a grunt and took another sip of the life sustaining liquid. She picked up her pen and went back to studying the photos of some Ancient artifact Jackson wanted her translate. She was three symbols in when her eyes crossed and the words on her notebook blurred. She rubbed at her eyes until they watered before she shook her head to clear it. She stretched, stifled a yawn, and decided to call it quits for the night. She gathered her notebooks and photos in a neat pile and stood.
"Captain, good you're still here," Jackson commented as he sauntered into the office with an armful of papers and files. "These need to be translated by tomorrow." Erika started at him with disbelief as she hovered next the chair. Jackson paid no attention to her as he grabbed her notebook and studied the scribbled writings as Erika picked up the top file.
"Have I mentioned I hate you today?" she asked sarcastically.
"Not since this morning," Jackson responded deadpan as he continued to look over her notes.
"Well, let me reiterate: I hate you."
"Yes, well, the feeling is mutual," he responded in the same deadpan voice as he circled a few words on the page and scribbled under them. He made a little noise in his throat as he put the notebook back down. "Not too bad after only a week. Let's get started on these files."
"Are you kidding?" Erika exclaimed as she took a step toward him. "I've been working since 0700 this morning with briefings, off world sites and digs, and then translating in this cramped space for the last four hours. I have another round of briefings tomorrow. I'm tired, Doctor Jackson. I just want to-is that Chinese?" she asked as she glanced over the pages.
"I don't know. I had Watson look it over, and he doesn't think so. I thought you were tired?" he asked with a hint of mockery. Erika chose to ignore him as she picked up the photo to look more closely. She smiled slowly as realization dawned. Jackson frowned.
"What?"
"Watson wouldn't know what it was. He couldn't because he would have never learned it." She brought he gaze from the page to lock with Jackson's eyes. She could see his mounting confusion and took a brief joy in it before cluing him in.
"It's a secret woman's language that they use in parts of China. Woman weren't allowed to write, so they invited this language and wove it into their blankets. A few of the woman I stayed with taught it to me," she quickly explained. Jackson started to grin as well.
"Think you can translate it?" he asked. Her tiredness forgotten, Erika nodded. She handed her photo to Jackson and picked up the next one in the stack. Jackson raised an eyebrow.
"What? You think I'm doing this by myself?" She caught a view of her coffee cup and downed the rest of the liquid in one gulp. When it was finished, she stared down at the empty bottom. "We're gonna need more coffee."
"I thought you were tired," Jackson reminded her as he took the seat next to her. Erika turned her glare to him.
"Yes. And I also hate you. Don't forget that."
"Of course. How could I forget that? You only remind me every moment you possibly can," he retorted. Erika smirked as she thought about the first time she used that phrase. Jackson's response had been a delightful mixture of confusion, apprehension, and that deer-in-the-headlights. Erika was not sure what gave her away, perhaps the half smile that crept to her lips, but Jackson shook the shock from his face and replied with the same hint of joke Erika used. Since then it had become a joke between the two, and it confused the hell out of all their colleagues. Of course, that only made it more amusing for Erika..
She chuckled to herself as she snatched her notebook. She sank into the seat next to Jackson and opened to a clean page. She glanced around the desk for a pen, but to her annoyance found none. With a glare at Daniel she found her bag and rummaged through it for a second pen. She removed a fresh pen with a triumphant smile to find Jackson staring at her.
"What?" she asked as she pulled a photo toward her. Jackson just shook his head as he rolled his chair closer to her.
"What are we looking at?" he asked as he looked at the photo over her shoulder. She glanced at him before she launched into a detailed explanation of what the photo showed. She went through the photos with him showing what each symbol meant, although there were a few even she did not recognize. They went to the massive collection of books for those. They quickly settled into a comfortable rhythm that betrayed the close relationship the two were developing.
Time was lost as they worked side by side, and Erika was shocked when she looked at her watch to find it was 0600. It suddenly hit her how tired she was. She stretched her neck back then forward and rubbed at it with hands to loosen the muscles. She looked over the tabletop, which was littered with paper coffee cups, scraps of paper, and piles of books. With a heavy sigh, she started picking up the trash. Jackson looked up from his page and eyed her.
"Yes, I'm calling it quits," she read his mind. "I have a briefing in two hours and need to get a little shut eye."
Jackson looked at his watch, surprised. "Actually, you have a briefing in one hour. Hammond wants us to go over these at 0700," he replied sheepishly. Erika glowered and clenched her fists until it hurt. She counted to ten as she slowly unclenched her fists. It was useless trying to argue with Jackson.
"I hate you," she mumbled.
"Ah ha. I'm gonna go get some coffee. Want some coffee?" he inquired as he closed his book and stood.
"I'm gonna need it. But I'm gonna go for a run first. 0700, uh?" He nodded. "Great. It's going to be a looong day."
