Now, Jack has taken it upon himself to babysit the once-archeologist. Daniel knows the rest of the team will be in soon. He watches what Jack takes, and takes exactly that: eggs, bacon, toast. Daniel knows, intellectually, that the food is safe, but habits ingrained by five years of living in a hostile environment are difficult to break.
He sits across from Jack at a blue-paper-covered table, so familiar and yet so foreign. This is surreal—everything since Jack and Sam and Teal'c appeared on Cenaris to rescue him seems like a dream. The only real part was his fight with the Cenarian, but even that is edged in fantasy.
"So," Jack says. Daniel snaps back to the present, muscles tense, his hands clutching silverware with white-knuckled ferocity. How could he have let himself become distracted? On Cenaris, that means death.
As soon as that thought crosses his mind, another comes into focus: he is not on Cenaris.
"So," Daniel says back, eyes fixed on his plate but aware of every movement in the room. He notices Jack has eaten some of his eggs, half of his toast, and a couple strips of bacon, and hasn't keeled over yet.
There is an uncomfortable pause between them, and Daniel realizes that they have nothing in common. Daniel realizes that Jack is waiting for him to say something, fill the silence with his archeological babble. Daniel realizes he can't do that, and he feels his heart harden a little more.
Jack reaches out, and before he can think, Daniel has Jack's wrist in a grip strong enough to bruise. The other hand has his knife flipped at act like a dagger.
He meets Jack's eyes, and in them Jack sees something dark, foreign, hard. Jack feels a shiver go through him: those are the eyes of a murderer, of a man who has done all he can to survive and not regretted a thing.
Daniel comes back to himself with a start, and releases Jack. The colonel brings his wrist to himself, and rubs it absently, still observing Daniel.
Daniel says nothing, simply eats. Jack sighs. "You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"
Daniel's eyes flicker up and down. Then he says, in a flat, emotionless voice. "Sure, Jack."