NON REALIZED DRIVE:
CH1

I looked at my reflection in the mirror of my bathroom in my quarters, checking myself to make sure that I was presentable for the public. It had been four-years since I had to last buy any new clothes.

Seeing as I was no longer technically human anymore, it had been long since I had been in public.

When I found out that I wasn't completely human and could transform into an animal, my new home became Room 174 in the quarters unit inside the SCG. And because I was no longer fully human, I needed special permission, much like Teal'c, to go to the surface. So, what would be the point in me buying new clothes when I had the vast amount of SGC BDUs and jumpers? Then, when I was forced into my half-transformation, My body sort of... changed.

I was no longer as small as I was.

And then, of course. For the civilian clothes that I did own, I had to make.. adjustments.

And of course as tedious and dull as this all may sound, having a tail does complicate things. As well as having cat ears, fangs, and non-rounded pupils.

As I had not recently realized, the temperature grew hot in the summers and I could no longer where my earflaps. I had to find something else, something that would seem normal and not draw attention.

Daniel had given me a suggestion, one that was more helpful than Jack's. The General had suggested a forage cap, which in no way would cover anyone's ears. But Daniel's suggestion, I note as I look at my reflection, worked rather well. A bandana it was.

"Are you done yet, Nick?" Daniel complained in the other room.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, despite the fact that I knew that I was taking forever. I checked my ears one last time before I left the bathroom, flicking off the light as I went.

He was sitting on the edge of my bed, an impatient look on his face.

"What's your rush?" I asked him, as I went past and took my light jacket from next to the door.

He stood. "What's your delay?" he countered.

I frowned at him as I slipped my arms into the sleeves. "I haven't been upstairs in almost three-years, Daniel." I flipped the collar down. "Tuck me it, would you?" I asked him, showing him my back.

Daniel groaned. "Why do you have to call it that?" he asked as he tried to catch my twitching tail.

I felt a zing go up my spine from my tailbone at the touch, it still got me even after all this time. I gave my head a little shake as he lifted my jacket and tucked it under my long-sleeve shirt. I shot him a grin over my shoulder. "Because you're thinking too much into it."

Daniel made no comment. "Are you done yet?"

"Yes." I nodded, opening my door and gave a sweep of my arm, offering him the lead.

He went, but not before he muttered: "Sam doesn't even take that long..."

The trip up to ground was made in silence, but I held my breath the whole time. From what Daniel had told me, it was always at these moments of freedom that the klaxons always decided to play. But we reached the first floor without problem.

Daniel signed us out of the first check-point, and the late afternoon sun greeted us as we stepped out, and so did the rest of SG-1; Lt. Col. Mitchell, Lt. Col. Carter, and Teal'c who greeted Daniel and myself with a head bow. Mitchell had a different idea.

"Jackson! What took you so long? You've wasted away most of our team-bonding time!" Mitchell threw me a wink as Daniel's mouth fell open in his protest.

"That-that is completely Sam's fault." Daniel pointed the blame to her.

Sam gasped her shock dramatically. "Teal'c was the one that couldn't decide on which outfit to wear."

At this information, Teal'c's brow rose straight unto his forehead. "I believe that it was Colonel Mitchell who had insisted that his hair had not yet reached its perfection." he told us with great earnest.

All eyes turned to Mitchell, who narrowed his back. He crossed his arms. "Are we just going to stand here all day, folks, or what?"

Sam smiled and shook her head. "Where are we going anyway?" she asked.

She, Teal'c, Daniel and I all looked at Mitchell. This was his idea after all, and none of us knew where we were headed.

"I've thought long and hard about this," Mitchell told us. "And it's perfect. This is a game that we should all be on level with."

"Stop stalling." Daniel told him, his arms crossed.

"Bowling!" he simulated rolling the ball down a lane. And he didn't seem to get the reaction that he quite expected- except for maybe me.

"Ha!" I voiced.

Mitchell looked at me through narrowed eyes. "Ha, what, Summers?"

"Nothing," I told them, looking as innocent as I possibly could, though I was sure they didn't buy it. "Well. As someone around here once said, what are we standing around for?"

"Yeah, how exactly do you plan on getting us all there, Mitchell?" Daniel questioned.

Mitchell looked at him, then he looked at the rest of us, and then Daniel, and the us again. He didn't say anything, just kept looking at us.

"You didn't think that far ahead, did you?"

Mitchell looked offended. "Why do I have to come up with everything? I'm only co-leader of this team, maybe you should ask Carter." he threw a thumb her way.

Sam was wide eyed as she was put on the spot.

I gave an exasperated sigh at the lot of them, and shook my head. "You guys can't figure out how to get to a bowling alley, and the world depends on you to defend it from alien attack?" I stated rhetorically. I got several raised brows in turn. "Carpool!" I informed them.

"Of course!" Mitchell agreed. "Not my car though," he said. Teal'c rose a brow at that. "What? It's a muscle car,"

"Well, my BMW wouldn't even fit Teal'c, let alone five people." Daniel said.

We all looked at Sam.

She puffed out her cheeks for a moment. "Fine. But I'm driving."

"Shot gun." Teal'c intoned.

Carter smiled at Mitchell, Daniel and myself. "That means you three get the backseat."

"How did I get stuck in the middle?" I grumped as Carter pulled out of the last check-point and onto the road, my arms crossed over my chest.

"You're the smallest, Summers." Mitchell grunted as he shifted in his spot on my left. "Middle's probably the best spot right now."

"No." Daniel disagreed. "Teal'c and Sam are the most comfortable right now." much like Mitchell, he was shifting and fidgeting, trying to find a position that was comfortable enough so that his hip wasn't jammed against the hard door.

"I concur with Daniel Jackson." Teal'c seemed rather pleased of himself as he presided over the passenger seat while we three were stuck in the back. Carter smiled at that.

Daniel paused for a moment to glower at the back of the big Jaffa's head, before he resumed shifting.

"Would you guys quit it, already?" I complained to both men on either side of me. "It's like being stuck between a bunch of kids!"

"What?!" they both voiced at the same moment. "You're the kid!"

I looked between the two, both seeming to look astonished. I couldn't help the laugh; it was rather uncanny at moments like this were they looked like they could be brothers. "Heh. Is that supposed to help your case?"

Both their mouths slammed shut with an audible click, they crossed their arms, grumpily. "Hm." They turned their heads away and glared out the windows.

Huh. It was quiet after that, all the way until we arrived at the bowling alley that Mitchell had given directions to.

It was quite fun after that. Daniel, unsurprisingly, went with the two-handed, granny throw. And surprisingly, for someone who had never played before, let alone never heard of the game, Teal'c beat us all. Even me, who, despite not having played since I was twelve, was sure that I still had it.

By the time that we were finished, all grins on our faces, it was dark and we weren't even bothered by being squished in the backseat, and instead went back to base a little more bonded.

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