Naive
Nights like this, when a flash of lightning could light up the entire town and a clap of thunder had the building nearly shaking off its foundation, rarely brought any customers in. The only souls brave enough to weather the nasty outside were the few regulars that just couldn't go one night without a drink.
Even then, she didn't understand why he kept the tavern open. Because, just as they could get the drink from here, they had stock piles of it at home. What was the harm in closing the place down for one night? It wasn't like they'd be losing any money.
Caught up in her own confusions, she practically jumped when the quiet of the tavern was disturbed by the front door bursting open and slamming hard against the wall. It made a few choice pictures and shelves rattle on the impact. Recovering from her initial surprise, her eyes fell on the hooded figure that had stepped just past the doorway.
"Lovely evening for a stroll, isn't it?" He asked amiably, glancing around at the sparse number of occupants in the room. When the few regulars just grunted or stared into their drinks, lost to the stupors of the alcohol, the man just shrugged.
Tossing back the hood of his rain-soaked long coat, she was finally able to see the face of the unexpected guest. "Friendly bunch." His smile matched the shine of his wild blue eyes, only adding to his enigmatic, rugged appearance. She swallowed instinctively as he moved towards her and the bar.
"Don't think I have much in common with these sort." The smile never fell from his handsome face. "Save for the fact that..." He stopped on the other end of the bar, and leaned his elbows down on the worn wooden surface. "It really is such a nice night for a drink."
All she could do was blink in response. He, in turn, laughed after only a minute of silence.
"Hello...miss." His hand waved in front of her face. "A drink?"
From his actions, she was wondering if he'd already had enough for the evening. Her thoughts were scattered to the wind the next moment, however. The stranger, with amazing grace, hopped over the bar. It finally made her able to find her voice.
"Sir, you can't be behind here."
His head came up as he searched through the stock of alcohol underneath the bar's surface. The smirk he gave was almost childlike. "Well, since you were so unwilling to provide me with a proper beverage, I figured I'd help myself."
She wasn't usually a very courageous person, but where her job was concerned she was tough as nails. "I will get you your drink, sir, but I must insist that you move around to the other end."
"Hunny, that's one word that I don't like to hear directed towards me." His voice had gone hard, and it sent a shiver of fear up her spine. The tensing of his muscles subsided almost as quickly as it had come as he pulled out a distinct bottle from the collection. He smiled at her again. "But I'll let it slide because I know you didn't know any better."
The moment he pulled the cork out of the bottle, she found her strength once more. "That is not for sale, sir." He shrugged, not caring, and took a giant sip. To her surprise, he showed no signs of discomfort. Never before had she seen anyone able to drink so much of the substance at once. Even her boss, on the rare occasion that she saw him drink, didn't drink it like that. "And I'm still insi-" She swallowed at the look of half amusement, half annoyance he shot her. "Please, move around the bar."
Much to her frustration, the man plopped down on the one stool that was behind the bar instead. He brought his muddy boots to rest on the bar top, legs crossed at the ankles. This flustered her to no end. Who did this man think he was, drinking her boss' drink and sitting in the seat saved only for her boss? Her agitation skyrocketed as he pulled out a brown cigarette.
"Smoking is-"
He cut her off, no longer amused by her naivety. "Illegal in this town. Believe me, I've known this fact for a long, long time, doll." He struck a match against the side of the bar, and tilted his head down to the cupped flame to light the cigarette. He puffed on it a few times, then took it from his mouth. "Now you must be new here...what's your name?"
She didn't like the way he pointed at her with the cigarette clasped between his fingers. "Shawna."
"Right, Shawna." He nodded, committing the name to memory. Pausing a moment before he continued, he took another giant sip from the bottle. "Well, Shawna, I don't know how much you know about me, if you do at all."
Shawna shook her head. "Nothing, sir."
His blue eyes widened in genuine surprise. "Nothing? Wow..." He laughed, pulling from his cigarette. "You must live a REALLY sheltered life. How the fuck," She flinched at his vulgar language. "Did you end up working HERE? Nevermind, we can worry about that later. Now, what I want you to do is go get your boss for me."
"No."
He was obviously once again surprised by her statement. "No?"
Shawna straightened her shoulders. "I know you're planning on robbing us, so no."
"Shawna..." He laughed again. "You really don't need to be playin the hero type, believe me. That kind of stuff gets you killed, or worse turns you into someone like me." He pulled back a side of his long coat to reveal the pistol at his hip. Shawna paled. "Now, I'll say again - get your boss for me. Are you going to tell me no again?" His understanding tone belied the heavy words.
She shook her head frantically. He smiled sweetly.
"Good..." He sipped from the bottle, then pulled another drag from the cigarette. Shawna took that as her cue and turned to head to find her boss. The man shouted after her. "Oh, and if he asks, tell him an upstanding gentleman has a business proposition for him."
------
Daniel was just rubbing the end of his cigarette into the bar top when a voice filtered down the hallway that led to the back.
"And he said he was an upstanding gentleman?" A deep voice reached his ears, and he smiled.
"With a business proposition..." From the way that Shawna talked to her boss, there was an obvious casual nature to the relationship. Daniel smiled wider. Now he knew how Shawna came to work here.
The two stepped into the room and the familiar scowl on the man's face melted into a rare smile, one only reserved for a handful of people. "A business proposition, indeed!" He laughed and moved towards the 'gentleman' reclining at a dangerous angle on the stool. He gathered him in a hug and kept him from toppling backwards all at the same time.
"Daniel Jackson..." He sighed, almost in relief. Pulling back, he lowered Daniel to a proper sitting position. "It has been too long, my friend."
Daniel smiled warmly. "It definitely has, T."
Resting his hip against the bar, Teal'c glanced down at his friend with an assessing eye. "I see the world hasn't been as good to you as I had hoped."
"Yeah, well..." Daniel shrugged and once more reclined back on the stool, despite the chastising look Teal'c gave him. "I give as much fucking hell as I get in return." He sipped from the bottle, and once more recieved a disapproving look in return.
"Have you not yet grasped the philosophy that reckless living is not always the best of options?" Teal'c questioned, raising his eyebrow in a manner that Daniel knew all too well.
He shrugged. "Reckless is what I know, and you know that." Daniel grinned cheekily. "Not all of us are as old and wise as you, nor are we as capable of letting past injustices melt away in meditations and such. We live to fight, live to die free."
Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps if I was brought up in such a manner, I wouldn't be as..." He resisted the urge to place Daniel's stool back down on the floor correctly as the man rocked back and forth on the unsteady seat. "Reserved."
"Perhaps..." Daniel said impishly, his gaze flicking to Shawna. "But I see not all those 'well-mannered' traits of that nice high-end life you use to live have stuck about."
T's eyebrow rose once again. "Are you implying something about my bar maid." Daniel's gaze met his, both sharing a significant look. Then the younger man laughed.
"Just an observation, nothing implied." He dropped the stool back down and placed the bottle on the bar top. Standing, he shook off the hand Teal'c reached out to steady his slightly unbalanced form. "Because implications of any sort would have me fearing for my life, and not from the likes of you."
A smile spread across Teal'c's face. "Speaking of, where is that better half of yours? It is rare to see one of you without the other far behind."
Having adjusted to the buzz in his head, Daniel laughed again. "Oh, she opted to stay behind in the town over to do some..." He looked at Shawna once more, than gave his older friend another significant look. "Business of her own. From the half-assed plan she'd managed to tell me before going off to have her fun, I have a feeling she's gonna need a nice place to 'relax'," Daniel quoted with his fingers. "When she's finished."
"I use to know, but now I wonder who has more influence on who these days." Teal'c smirked.
"It's good to know that at least one person knew at one point." Daniel replied. He moved a little closer to Teal'c. "Now, back to talk of business propositions..."
Teal'c nodded and allowed his friend to fall in step with him as they head towards the hall to the back. "You are in need of some more products." Daniel nodded. "Anything in particular?"
"Whatever's off the foreign market..." Daniel said with the knowledge of an expert. "Or even those items too hot for anyone of sane mind..."
"Your fascination with such goods still astounds me at times." Teal'c laughed as he turned back to Shawna. "Keep watch of the front. Me and Daniel Jackson have dealings to care to in the back."
"But, there is no stock in the back." Shawna was feeling more confused than before. She looked at Daniel with uncertainty as he turned to smirk at her.
"You just keep thinkin that, and you'll never have to worry about ending up all hero like me."
A/N: Now all the inquiries about when I was gonna put Teal'c in the story have been answered! It's not that I didn't want him in this AU world (I'd already had Daniel mention him in a previous chapter), it's just I don't really have a grasp on his character like I do say...Daniel or Jack. And i refrain from trying to write him b/c I'd hate to do such a wonderful character an injustice by doing a terrible job writing him in the first place. That said, I was a little unsure about this chapter. (There was much debate on how I should have T talk between me and my beta). I really hope I did Teal'c justice, and helped establsh him in this storyline.
And Vala will be back next chapter ;D
Reviews are LVOE!