10-19-2004, 00:00 MDT
10-19-2004, 06:00 Zulu
SGC, LEVEL 18

It was midnight, not that it mattered. Day and night were lost entities within Stargate Command. For some, time was measured by the solar cycles of a thousand planets; for others, by how much coffee was left in their maker.

Buried in his office, Doctor Daniel Jackson thumbed through Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia. His eyes burned from lack of sleep, but he refused to stop. In quick succession the pages rushed by, black and white text blurring to gray. He couldn't read the words at this pace, but that really wasn't the point. Staying in motion was his goal, not reading.

Flip, flip, flip.

The appendix with all of its well ordered columns sprinted away under his fingers until he reached the back cover. Six hundred twenty six pages of Egyptian wonders and he hadn't paid attention to any of them.

Daniel closed the book. Dully, he stared at the ruins of his private sanctuary. Most of the reference library, two months worth of reports, as well as a flock of disposable cups littered the desk. In the middle of it all, sat his carafe—it was empty.

With a sigh, Daniel worked a thumb and index finger behind his glasses and pressed hard.

Outside the office, muted heel clicks sounded on the floor. Their report echoed oddly in halls accustomed to the thud of booted feet, but the rhythm was familiar. Jack.

Relief and a fine thread of apprehension caught in Daniel's chest. Snatching up a pen, he began stacking errant books with one hand and nesting his used disposable cups with the other. By the seventh cup, he was no longer alone.

"Daniel?"

"Jack! Ah, hi." Adding another cup to his tower, Daniel forced a smile.

His friend responded with a smirk of his own and walked into the room. Instead of civvies or the usual BDUs, he was clad in dress blues. Or what was left of them. Tie spilling out of one pocket, shirt collar unbuttoned, jacket ajar, and hat no where to be seen, he looked tired and discontent. The sight set Daniel on edge.

"Here kinda late, aren't ya', Danny?"

"Ah, yeah, a little. I guess." Daniel shrugged, gesturing to the mound of books on his desk as if their presence explained everything. He got a doubtful eyebrow raise in return and hurried on to a new topic. "You just get back?"

"Yep."

"That's good. How was DC?"

"Still there."

Exasperated, Daniel tossed aside his pen. Sometimes getting information from Jack O'Neill was harder than excavating a four thousand year old mummy. And after spending the last fifteen hours flipping through books...

"Look, Daniel, about this morning— I'm sorry for running out on you and your geek friends." Rotating his shoulder joints, Jack straightened to his full height. "You know how much I love the whole rock thing, but this other thing... it couldn't wait. It was important."

Daniel offered a negligent wave, frustration softening with the surprise of receiving an apology. He hadn't expected one. When it came to lectures, Jack might interrupt him, annoy him, aggravate him—but he wouldn't leave him hanging. Not without a reason.

Fingers snapped in the air, and Daniel blinked. His brain caught up a second later and he realized he had been staring at his friend for, well, too long apparently. He fumbled for an excuse. "Oh, ah, sorry. I was just... thinking."

The doubtful eyebrow raise came back, but Jack didn't say anything. Instead he plucked an ancient Egyptian marble from the desk and rolled it along his palm. Unearthed in Giza in the year 1908, the marble was a priceless artifact from the fifth dynasty, had he bothered to ask.

Daniel winced, but couldn't bring himself to object. Not tonight. "Jack— Jack is everything okay? I mean this trip— if there's some kind of problem, anything I can do to help, I-"

"Thank you, Daniel." The response was purposeful. Sincere. Each word pronounced with care. "But it's nothing for you to worry about. Just a conflict of interest." Jack gave the purloined marble a toss. "I flew out, ruffled a few political feathers. Got lost in the Pentagon, saw Farragut's Square, bought a T-shirt. It was fun."

Daniel nodded, but couldn't bring himself to answer. His chest felt tight.

"So," Jack mustered a flat smile, "enough about that. I have come bearing some interesting news. Well, maybe not exactly interesting, but different. Definitely different. Um, so you know the Alpha site?"

Ridiculous question. Of course he knew the Alpha site.

"Right, well seems like the annual Alpha inspection tour is upon us. Or rather it's upon me. I'll be gating out there tomorrow morning, first thing."

The band of pressure inside Daniel's chest dropped, contracting into a knot deep in his stomach. "Tomorrow?"

"Something wrong with tomorrow?"

"Um, no. No, I mean it's just kind of sudden, that's all."

Jack shrugged. "Walter mentioned something about it to me last week, but I've been so busy, hadn't given it much thought. Until tonight. I got to thinking about it on my way back. Figured no time like the present, right?" Another bright, one dimensional smirk appeared on Jack's face. He placed the marble back on the desk and shoved both hands in his pockets.

"How long will you be gone?"

"One week."

Daniel gaped at Jack who promptly rebuffed him with a frown.

"What?"

"Nothing, Jack, I guess. It's just... isn't a week kind of a long time? Awful lot of inspecting."

"Yes." The intonation was solemn, but a twitch of Jack's lips and slight bounce of his heels ruined the effect. Almost.

"Jack?"

"Daniel."

"What's going on?" There was a pause and Daniel found himself on the receiving end of an intense gaze. The dark eyes of his friend, usually so well guarded, were almost raw.

Then it was gone.

Jack struck a pretentiously jovial look and bobbed in place. "The Alpha site has a lake. Thought I might do a little fishing."

"Fishing?" Daniel felt off balance, as though everything in the galaxy had just tipped sideways. Fishing? That's what this was about? Still struggling to regain some mental equilibrium, he asked the first neutral question that came to mind. "They have fish?"

"I do not believe the presence of fish is required for one to engage in the act of fishing, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel startled, swiveling toward the door. "Teal'c!"

The Jaffa inclined his head, then turned to Jack. "It is good to see you, O'Neill. Your presence has been missed."

"Well thanks, T. Back at'cha."

Sam came into view a few paces behind Teal'c. She beamed at Jack. "Sir, welcome home!"

"Et tu, Carter? Doesn't anyone around here sleep anymore?"

"We could not retire in peace, O'Neill, while your fate remained unknown to us."

And of course Teal'c would put it that way.

"My fate?"

Daniel choked on a mouthful of air. "Teal'c may have phrased it a bit dramatically, Jack, but-"

"Ya' think?"

"Well, maybe just a little."

A grin flashed across Sam's face, then she sobered. "Dramatic or not, Teal'c does have a point, sir. You left so suddenly, we were worried there must be some kind of trouble."

"No, trouble, Carter. Just the usual. I went, I saw, I disrupted, I came back."

"And no problems remain, O'Neill?"

"Nope. Got it all taken care of, T. Or I will have. Soon." Jack didn't look at them.

Daniel swallowed as he watched his friend's gaze fall from the desk, to the floor, to his shoes. Jack was holding something back—from them. His Team.

His former Team.

The thought stung harder than any slap to the face.

"Something on your mind, Daniel?"

"No, uh…" Daniel swiped at his forehead. "Th-the Alpha site. You forgot to tell them about the Alpha site."

"Ah! Yes, the Alpha site. I'm going there."

There was an empty pause and it soon became apparent Jack felt his job of explaining was done.

Excavating that four thousand year old mummy was looking easier by the minute. If it weren't for the ache gnawing at his insides, Daniel would have laughed. "Jack's going there for an inspection tour and to do a little fishing. Apparently they have a lake."

"Really?" Sam's face brightened. "Do they have any fish, sir?"

"I hear."

"Big ones?"

"Huge."

Daniel bounced his gaze from Jack to Sam and back again, panic rising with each bounce. "How big is 'huge', Jack? I mean, we are talking about an alien planet here."

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "The number and size of amphibious life forms could be significant."

This comment brought an enigmatic tilt to Jack's lips, but he dismissed their concerns. "Don't worry, kids. The Alpha personnel have been studying the planet's water-life for a few months now. No primeval Goa'ulds, no aqua-monsters, just your regular ol' run of the mill alien fish."

"Any idea what you're going to use for bait, sir?" Sam asked. "As you pointed out, these are alien fish. Who knows what they think of earthworms."

"Yes, who indeed. Actually, I hadn't planned on taking any standard bait with me."

"Good idea, sir. Utilizing indigenous bugs or some other natural planetary resource might give you an advantage."

Expression tightening, Jack seemed to process this suggestion for a beat. "Yes, well, planetary bugs sound great, Carter, but that's not exactly what I had in mind."

"Oh? What were you going to use, sir?"

Jack looked at Sam, his gaze lingering a moment too long and a shade too intensely. Then he switched on a smile. Head cocked, one hand smoothing his coat, Jack wobbled an eyebrow. "I was thinking of my magnetic personality."

"Oh, of course. What fish could resist that?" The sarcasm rolled easily off Daniel's tongue, but his heart wasn't in it. It couldn't be—not when his soul felt so heavy.

But Jack didn't seem to notice. Smile stretching a bit wider, he said, "Why thank you, Daniel."

Sam emitted a strangled sort of sound and gnawed the inside of her cheek. "Sir, due respect, but do you really think that will work?"

Jack smirked. "Magnets, Carter. Work every time."

The galaxy was tipping again, Daniel was certain of it. "Jack, we are talking about fishing, right? As in fishing for fish?" Rewarded with a snort and an off-center expression he couldn't quite decipher, Daniel again opened his mouth. Before he could get a word out, Jack spoke.

"C'mon campers, time for bed." He sauntered toward the door. "Big day tomorrow. I'm off to Alpha and you three have that mission to PR5-historic-dust-bowl-whatever, remember?"

"But Jack-"

"Ack! No buts, Danny. Sleep. You know, that thing you do when your eyes are closed?"

Daniel wanted to protest, but Jack was already out of sight, with Teal'c and Sam not far behind. Despite the clutter, his office suddenly seemed very empty.

"Daniel, don't make me sic Teal'c on you." Jack's threat echoed in the hall, slowly fading into a whisper.

It left Daniel feeling hollow.

"Daniel?"

Digging a hand into his forehead, Daniel forced himself to take a deep breath. This was insane. Jack was just going to Alpha for a week, not running off on some suicide mission. So what if he hadn't told them everything? That tended to happen when your best friend became a General in charge of the most top secret base in the nation. And Jack had said there wasn't a problem. He'd said he had everything under control.

... Or I will have. Soon.

"Daniel, if I have to come and drag you out of that office I am not going to be a happy man."

"Yeah." Daniel gave himself a shake. "Okay, Jack. I'm coming."


Author's Note: I would just like to offer a quick shout out to all of the lovely guest reviewers from chapter 1. Your support means so much. Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.