Origin
It was bizarre how something as small and stupid as a cup of coffee could make Colonel Cameron Mitchell feel like a complete and total outsider.
OK, to be fair it wasn't so much the cup of coffee as it was the way General O'Neill poured the coffee into the mug, stirred in two spoonfuls of sugar and handed the thing off to Daniel Jackson like they'd done this a hundred times. Which they probably had, come to think of it. And it wasn't even all of that so much as it was Jackson's easy smile and instant acceptance of the coffee mug and its contents as the two men took a seat in the mess hall. They took the table in the corner, and Mitchell realized suddenly that the reason everyone else avoided it was because SG-1 really did have an assigned space, even if they weren't technically SG-1 at the moment.
Mitchell's focused drifted back to the coffee in Daniel's hand as the archaeologist laughed at something O'Neill said and took a long drink. Cam was pretty sure that if he'd tried to give the man a cup of coffee, he'd have gotten the order wrong and Daniel wouldn't even have accepted it. It was a big sign of trust to drink something handed to you without checking it out first. Looking at the two men before him from his semi-hiding place in the shadows of the mess entrance, though, Mitchell could clearly see that everything they did was about trust.
It was the little things: the way O'Neill stole a fry off of Jackson's plate without missing a beat in conversation, the expressive eye roll he received in return, the rapid-fire conversation that, if Cam's lip-reading skills weren't completely rusty, ranged everywhere from Vala to what was playing on the history channel that week to Jack's new post in Washington D.C.
It was only then that Cam realized that Daniel only ever called O'Neill--Brigadier General, mighty icon of the Air Force and biggest global hero ever Jack O'Neill--by his first name. The twang in Mitchell's gut at this revelation was similar to the one that he'd experienced when he realized that every Marine and Airman on the base called Jackson "Sir" unless they knew him personally. There was more to SG-1 than the title and the glory. In the end, the earth's frontline team was made up of four people who apparently loved each other very dearly.
Cam was starting to get that he wasn't going to win any of them over just by saying he'd read their mission reports. His mamma had told him that there were gonna be days like this, but he'd kinda figured on the "new kid" feelings wearing off after high school.
Despite his melancholy thoughts, he was starting to enjoy the spectacle put on by the two men before him. They had both finished off their plates and O'Neill was eyeing his friend's blue Jell-O cup with something close to lust. Daniel clearly saw the expression and his mouth twitched into a subtle grin as he said something too fast for Cam to lip-read; though later he would swear that he saw Sam's name in there somewhere. From the highly mock-offended look on O'Neill's face, this was clearly a jibe he'd had to endure before. Looking down his nose imperiously at his laughing friend, the General reached over with his spoon, stuck it solidly into Daniel's Jell-O, and dragged the cup over to his side of the table.
The anthropologist just smiled smugly and grabbed Jack's cup of green gelatin for himself. He murmured something again that Mitchell couldn't catch, but a second later he realized that they were talking about him because O'Neill turned a little to catch his eye with a grin.
Cam cleared his throat and smiled weakly back, hoping that they hadn't noticed him standing here staring at them for their entire meal. Whether they did or not, by silent consent the two seemed to decide that lunch was over. The cleanup process was another example of telepathic teamwork brought on by years of living, fighting and working together. O'Neill threw the garbage away, Jackson took the mugs and trays back over to the cleaning guys with a thankful smile, and they met again at the table.
For the first time since Cam had walked in, the two stopped talking. For a long moment they just stood there, apparently communicating silently. It wasn't until almost a full minute later that, to Mitchell's immense surprise, O'Neill reached out and pulled Daniel into a quick, manly hug.
It was clear they'd done this before, because the action wasn't awkward or embarrassing. It didn't last long, but it was more than long enough for everyone in the room to see it. Cam wondered just how often that sort of thing happened. No one else in the room was even raising an eyebrow.
Just as quickly as the goodbye embrace started, it ended. The two traded one last wry look and then O'Neill strode purposely towards the exit—and Cameron.
"C'mon, Mitchell," he said briskly as he passed the surprised Colonel. "I've got a surprise for ya."
Cam was sorely tempted to say, "I think you've done enough of that for one day, Sir," but he wasn't sure if even O'Neill would let him get away with that much. Instead he settled on, "As long as it's not a box of chocolates, Sir."
The General gave him a look that was somewhere between confused and impressed before turning on his heel suddenly like he'd forgotten something. "Hang on a second."
The gray-haired man leaned into the mess hall doorway and pegged Jackson with one last look. "Daniel!" He shouted across the room.
Blue eyes met brown and the anthropologist's face was completely serious when he said, in perfect matching pitch, "Jack?"
The two seemed to battle silently with their eyes for a moment before Jack nodded acceptance at whatever the heck Daniel had just told him. "Watch your back."
"Don't get too bored," his friend—no, best friend, Cam corrected himself—replied with a little grin.
Apparently, that was all O'Neill needed to hear. He swung around and started down the corridor again. "Coming, Mitchell?"
"Yes Sir," he was quick to reply, jogging to catch up.
Whoo boy, did he have his work cut out for him on this one.
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Author's Note: I gotta admit, Mitchell was a lot of fun for this one. Hope you enjoyed it! Drop a line to tell me what you think. All other scheduled programming is off the table; I watched Unending this week and the tag for that one is coming out before anything else. I hope you don't mind the delay on some of your requests, but it's just something I have to do. Cheers!