Chapter 54 - Worklife

Daniel wasn't surprised when a package arrived at the SGC containing Jean and Kaleb Miller's application for full security clearance. Following was a short email, saying that Jean was willing to try out work there, for a year at least. Then she'd see.

Mckay didn't take it as well as Daniel. He looked uncomfortable at the thought of actually working with his sister as an equal. Jack snorted when he heard about it, and told him to get over it. And Clara Dixon, who had stopped by the base that day, declared that this called for another team night out. Another barbecue at their house, in honor of the Millers' arrival, and Sha're's and Shifu's as well.

"I'm the only one who's still single," muttered Mckay. "Why did I ever join this team?"

"We can try to match you up if you like," said Clara brightly.

"No, I don't think that's necessary," Mckay countered quickly.

Knowing that Mckay had meant Jack's former family life, the conversation reminded Daniel of Jack's talk with Sara O'Neill. He wondered if, like Mckay, Jack was feeling some kind of pull towards family. He also wondered if it would be possible for Teal'c's family to come to the SGC, and would Teal'c even want that? But Teal'c didn't speak of it, and appeared content, so Daniel let it lie.

There was too much else going on in his life anyways. Just as he thought he was getting into a good routine with his wife and son, Shifu had turned into the terror Sha're insisted he had always been. He stopped sleeping at night, seemingly, and Daniel found himself pacing in the hallways late at night, his nightshirt getting soaked with infant tears, worn beyond belief. Sha're had no sympathy, which Daniel supposed was reasonable given what she'd endured without him, but slightly irking all the same.

An interesting bit of news rolled around the SGC, about how there had possibly been a rogue group who were using the second Stargate for their own purposes. During the crack-down on security, the gate had been transfered away and discovered to be a plastic replica—the real gate was swiftly found, but there was no evidence on what might have been going on. Daniel thought about how he had almost planned to use the gate to leave Earth, if the SGC was shut down. Now that was impossible, and it was good that he had no reason any more.

A couple days later, Jean and Kaleb came back for a longer visit. Clare Tobias came to thank Daniel personally, eyes alight with excitement, for bringing Dr. Miller into the fold. "She's brilliant!" Clare said, hands providing emphasis. "And she bugs Mckay, so that's a plus."

"Are they going to be okay?" Daniel asked.

Clare shrugged. "Well, Mckay's not going to give in and be driven away, and she's just stubborn enough not to let him do the same to her. I think her curiosity's definitely peaked; you should have seen her look when she went over Carter's old gate schematics."

Daniel nodded. "Good."

"That being said," Clare added, leaning against the doorframe. "You might want to figure out a way to get her offworld today. I think Mckay needs a little time to adjust."

"I was going to take Sha're and Shifu to New Abydos," said Daniel. "I'm sure I could get the General's permission for the Millers to come."

"Just Jean, actually," said Clare. "Kaleb's looking into applications at nearby schools. Did you know he's an English teacher?"

"It's a shame we don't have a place for him here," Daniel commented.

Jean was no anthropologist, and heat made her flush bright red, but New Abydos turned out to be a perfect first start. She'd been surprised when he offered for her to come along, and only really agreed when Sha're added her approval. Daniel didn't tell her it was partly to separate her from her brother, who looked thoroughly relieved when he heard the plan.

"So are you and Dr. Jackson going to live on base forever?" Jean asked as they returned from the gate. The Abydonians had been ecstatic over the return of Sha're, who promptly established that yes, she would be their leader, but Adros would carry her role in her absence. And only until the day when Kasuf returned. Daniel wasn't sure if she believed that, or just used it for the Abydonians' benefit.

"I hope not," Sha're answered, shifting Shifu in her arms. "This place would be too dangerous for us. But until your government grants me approval, it is not my choice."

Jean nodded. "I hope to have a family someday, but the hours are killers here, from all I've heard. And especially if my family was off-base."

"Yes, that is a benefit now," said Sha're, turning to grin at Daniel. "I may steal my husband whenever I need him."

"Mostly," Daniel said.

ooooooo

Martouf had made brief contact a day after leaving the planet, just long enough to tell Jolinar that his mission looked to be successful. Taking the opportunity, Jolinar told him about the plan that she and Sam had contrived, about possibly using the Jaffa in the future. There was no time to discuss, but Martouf did not look completely opposed when the conversation ended.

As if knowing what was crossing her mind, that night, they encountered a lone slave far from any other Jaffa on the planet. Jolinar was immediately surprised and suspicious.

"Why are you not in your quarters?" she demanded.

~It's an Abydonian,~ Sam commented, equally surprised.

"Kasuf let us know what you said," the slave said boldly, almost as an attack.

That in itself was astounding, both that Kasuf had managed to trick his ever-present guards and that this slave would dare be so froward. "What do you speak of?" Jolinar asked with well-played disgust.

"He says you claim to be on our side," the slave whispered. "He does not believe it, but some of us do."

Sam and Jolinar were stopped in their tracks, unsure what had just happened or what should happen next. "Your mind has fractured, slave," Jolinar said. "Return to your place before I have you dealt with!"

The slave only paused a second before darting off into the night.

~Well, that was a bit conspicuous,~ said Sam. ~Now he knows for sure that something's up.~

*If they believe we're on their side, they will not report us willingly. It was the only option.*

~Yeah, that happens a lot, unfortunately.~

*We will be fine.*

ooooooo

Daniel never expected that team night would ever be like this. Last time it had been just a visit to the Dixons; now, it was like a family picnic, except it was work. And that was something Daniel would never have considered when first arriving at the SGC.

Clara and Dave's kids were at a friend's house that night, but the atmosphere was still communal. Daniel and Sha're had brought Shifu with them, for they were guests of honor according to Clara with a broad grin, and he was relatively quiet for them that evening. Jean and Kaleb were the other guests, and they arrived shortly before Mckay, who came from the SGC in Teal'c's vehicle looking a bit stunned. Daniel didn't know Teal'c knew how to drive, but apparently, despite Mckay's declarations to the contrary, he did.

"Where is Colonel O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, as Mckay immediately found the food table. Sha're, more comfortable lower than higher, sat on a blanket on the grass with Shifu in her lap, and Teal'c joined her in a cross-legged pose. Daniel sat in a higher seat next to Sha're, and across from him were Jean and Kaleb sharing a double-seat.

"Oh, he said he was bringing a guest, someone who wanted to meet the team," said Clara, bringing over a couple more chairs to the arrangement in their back lawn. "Knowing him, I didn't think it was necessary to confirm that they had clearance."

"Jack has friends?" Mckay asked through a mouthful of potato salad. He only ever called him that when he wasn't around.

Dixon snorted, in disagreement but appreciating Mckay's jab all the same. He lounged in a low seat, hands behind head and shades over his eyes.

"Ah, look, he's almost on time," said Clara, glancing over their shoulders.

Daniel turned his head, and was only slightly surprised to recognized the cropped dark-gold hair of Sara Henderson O'Neill.

"Welcome, welcome," said Clara, wiping her hands on the seat of her jeans as she walked over to greet Sara. "You must be Sara."

"Sara Henderson, yes," she answered. She glanced briefly to Jack, and he had already found a seat and was gesturing for her to take it. "I don't know any of you," she said, looking around the group, "but Jack and I—we go back."

"Completely understood, ma'am," said Dixon genially, sitting up and pulling up his shades to give her a friendly nod.

Sara grinned, nodding to everyone as she took a seat. "Well, Jack, you didn't say your team was this large."

"Oh, this is a bit more than the team," said Jack.

"Here, I'll do the honors," said Dixon. "I'm Dixon, probably known to you as 'snarky jackass' if Jack's been talking. This is Clara, my wife, who does not work at the SGC." He gestured with his hand around the circle. "That's Jackson, our historical go-to guy and general negotiator. Teal'c is the big guy on the ground, and that's Sha're, who's married to Jackson, and that's their son Shi-shi."

"Shifu," said Sha're pointedly. Dixon just grinned.

"So you're the Sha're he talks about," said Sara brightly, looking to Sha're.

"I do not know if I am the Sha're," Sha're said with a friendly smile, pausing to remove the bit of grass from Shifu's hand. "But I am the only one I know."

"It's good to get a face to the name," said Sara warmly.

Daniel was a bit surprised that Jack had talked about these things at all with Sara, though he supposed they were kind of important in the team's shared past.

"The guy hogging the food table is Rodney Mckay," said Dixon. Mckay barely glanced up, absently waving a hand in welcome.

"Oh yes, I remember him," said Sara.

Daniel smiled at her tone.

"And we're not on the team," Jean offered, Kaleb's arm across her shoulders, one leg crossed over the other. "But I'm the unfortunate sister of the food hog, and a bit new to the whole Stargate thing in the first place. This is my husband Kaleb, who has pretty much nothing to do with it, except putting up with my exultation." She glanced up at Kaleb, who smiled and tactfully said nothing, which made her playfully nudge his side with one elbow.

"Quite a group," said Sara. "Jack made it sound a bit sparser."

"That's because he can't remember half our names anyway," commented Mckay, his back turned to them as he finished serving up a plate of the barbecue food.

"As if you can," Dixon retorted.

"Suck-up," Jack commented to his 2IC, a wry twist to his mouth.

"I wasn't supporting you, I was correcting him," Dixon answered.

"Sure you weren't," Jack answered.

"Sha're, you've barely said a word," Clara offered, taking a seat next to her husband and inconspicuously taking his sunglasses and storing them in her shirt pocket. "Don't you know that this party is half for you?"

"I am doing just fine," Sha're said, looking up. "Shifu is plenty of entertainment."

"How old is he?" asked Sara curiously, leaning over in her chair.

"Almost two months," Sha're answered. "But it almost feels like a lifetime."

"He's very cute," said Sara appreciatively. "May I hold him?"

"Please do," Sha're answered.

Sara came over, sitting down on the blanket and scooping up Shifu. He was in a diaper and a loose tan t-shirt, with drool all down the front.

"Aw, ain't you just the sweetest little thing," Sara crooned, her tone changing.

Daniel glanced to Jack, wondering if this was bringing back painful memories. But he didn't look more than vaguely interested at all, instead watching as Dixon started wadding up pieces of the napkin Clara had given him with his plate, and prepared to toss them at the obliviously munching Mckay.

"How old are your kids, Clara?" Sara asked.

"8, 5, and 2," Clara said. "Terrors all."

Sara managed to smile with only a hint of pain in it. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"Daniel?" Jean asked, a bemused look on her face. "I'm not going to say I was wrong, but this is not what I was expecting from a bunch of people involved in a conspiracy."

"It is kind of odd, isn't it?" commented Sara, the thought dawning on her.

"What, that we've got families?" Dixon asked, feeling around for his sunglasses with a slight frown, while Clara pretended not to notice.

"I didn't think that would be possible," said Jean.

"It's not easy," said Dixon emphatically. "I mean, you go to the wilds of other worlds in the day, and then come home to the wilds of kids."

"But it works," said Jean, looking thoughtful. "That's something to be said."

Daniel nudged Sha're's arm with the edge of his bare foot, and she looked up, seeing his smile and answering it. Daniel was starting to like the idea of melding job and family. It was changing the feel of SG-1, but for the better.

The evening wore on, and Kaleb proved to Dixon that even English professors could know how to barbecue hamburgers, and then had an awkward moment of not knowing whether to chuckle or be in awe that Teal'c could barbecue better than Jack. Daniel just watched the antics, while Mckay surreptitiously watched everything his sister was saying. And Shifu hardly felt the arms of his mother the whole night, what with Jean and Sara and even Clara all over him.

By the time evening was turning into summer night, Sha're was tired and nearly falling asleep leaned against Daniel's chair. Daniel, caught up in a heated but amiable argument over dictionaries with Kaleb and Mckay (due to a Scrabble dispute), only noticed when Shifu started to fuss. It was late, and so he said his goodbyes, and took his family home. It was only as Sha're joined him in bed, settled into his arms and breathed out in a happy but weary sigh, that he realized that home meant the SGC. Work and family were perhaps too closely entwined, but he didn't mind now.

ooooooo

"Hold yourselves!" Jolinar ordered, descending upon the furious Jaffa with no heat in her voice. "Your conduct is unworthy of our god Quetesh."

A gravel cart blocked the road, three slaves standing by. One cowered, as a Jaffa stood over him, but the two others looked almost defiant. The Jaffa looked Jolinar in the eye, simmering frustration all over his face.

"These slaves who were not transfered are useless," he almost spat out. "And it is to the point where they should be executed for sabotage."

"That is not your call," said Jolinar coolly. "Neither is it your call to lose your temper; it is poor sign of worth if you cannot control slaves without resorting to such tactics."

"My lord," the other Jaffa broke in. "It is only with these slaves, the ones who have not been here a while."

Jolinar glanced back to the slaves before eyeing the Jaffa. Of course, they were Abydonians. Kasuf might have done his work, sparking this—both the woman and the man barely lowered their eyes from meeting Jolinar's.

"And you are so inferior to them that they are beyond your leadership?" Jolinar demanded.

The Jaffa said nothing and clenched his jaw.

"If I find that you mistreat them because of your own shortcomings, I swear, it is you who will deal with punishment," Jolinar said in a low tone, looking them both in the eye. Then she turned and glared at the slaves. "Move this cart," she said in a low tone. Then, with another turn, she walked past them and down the road.

~So, they're starting to revolt now,~ Sam summed it up with a sigh.

*And there is yet another reason to add posthumously to our list of reasons not to tell Kasuf.*

~Yeah, well, best laid plans and all. It could be a start, though. If Martouf and Lantash agree to our plan of slowly recruiting the Jaffa, then we need them to be open to newer ideas. Getting them to treat the Abydonians, and everyone else for that matter, like people and not lower beings—well, it may not be a big influence, but it at least lets us know who we're dealing with. We'll need a place to start, and it's not with the ruthless bullies.~

*As long as we are careful not to lose even a morsel of respect.*

~Yes, yes, it's delicate. Everything is. What you said—we'll be fine.~

ooooooo

"Well?" Daniel asked, hands typing on his lab's computer as the phone was tucked between chin and shoulder.

"I told you, I can't get anything out of that tape," Mckay's voice came, the tinniness diluting his annoyance more than Daniel would have expected. "It's just that silly language."

"It's like what we found on that planet, though," said Daniel. "You know, the genetic experimentation."

"No, actually, I'd forgotten about the near-death experience that still plagues my existence. Thanks for the reminder, Jackson."

"Just think of all the technology that could be there," Daniel insisted. "You have to help me get Hammond to let SG-1 check it out personally—I don't trust anyone else to know what to look for. I've been poring over Ernest's records, not to mention the ones from the Alteran planet."

"Do I hear heavy breathing?"

Daniel frowned, pausing. "What?" Then he heard it. He glanced down, having forgotten that Shifu was sleeping in the sling across his chest. "Oh, that's just Shifu."

"You have him in your lab?" Mckay's tone was incredulous. "Jackson, do you want him to catch some ancient virus from one of the artifacts?"

"There wouldn't be anything airborne, we make sure of that," Daniel said, slightly rolling his eyes. "And he's not touching anything." In the moment when Mckay didn't have an answer, Daniel did realize that it probably appeared a little odd considering his previous overprotectiveness.

"I just don't see the point."

"Okay, consider this," Daniel grasped for a final point. "The room's entirely closed, from what the MALP can see. No vents, no doors, nothing but the gate. But perfect oxygen levels. Aren't you the least bit curious about that?"

A sigh hissed across the phone line.

"Thank you, Rodney," Daniel said, hanging up before the man could change his mind.

ooooooo

"I promise, sir, this circle of symbols that the MALP sent back is in the same language as the people who modified that whole planet," said Daniel at the briefing the next day. Hammond had been just as skeptical as Mckay, even with Jack's support of finding more of that 'meaning of life stuff' like on Ernest's planet. "It may not look like much, but advanced technology has a way of being surprising."

It was the last argument needed. The mission was quickly approved due to the extreme lack of danger in the small room that housed the Stargate and this strange circle, and by the time Daniel realized just how excited he was about the prospect of learning more Alteran, it was the next day and the team was getting ready for a mission.

Daniel had just kissed Sha're and Shifu goodbye as he left the infirmary, Janet having cleared him. As he buckled his utility belts, walking into the team locker room to grab his weapon (which protocol said he should carry no matter what), Dixon said what he was about to think.

"Whole team again, real mission," Dixon said. "This is good."

"Well, given our luck, it'll be an intergalactic waste of time," said Jack with a slight sight and gesture. "But sure, the upper ranks need reminding on how elegantly we do that."

Mckay gave a Daniel a look, but they said nothing as the team walked to the gate room.

The event horizon kawooshed, and they were through the gate before Daniel had finished thinking just how amazing it was to go through with no overarching agenda.

The other gate led them into nothing particularly exciting. Just as the MALP had revealed, the room was small and had no exits. They all glanced around, wondering if something would happen. Something didn't.

"So, what grand technology should I be looking for, Jackson?" Mckay asked, a hint of Jack in his tone.

"What's the point of this room?" Dixon asked. "I mean, is it some kind of test for people who come through the gate, that they have to pass to get through to the real planet?"

"Where's the power coming from?" Daniel murmured. Mckay lit up a bit at that, and ventured a few steps. He crossed the circle of symbols in the center of the floor, and they lit with a soft glow.

"Oh, that's something," Mckay said, leaning down.

Jack slightly rolled his eyes, walking a few steps and kicking at the edge of the circle with his foot. "You sure?"

There was a clicking sound, and they all glanced up. Out of the smooth wall, a rounded console popped for.

"Whoa!" Jack said, now just as interested as the rest of them.

"Let me see what exactly this says," Daniel said, kneeling down by the circle. Perhaps it explained what this all meant if he could read between the lines. Or just read the lines—he wasn't that comfortable with this language yet.

Mckay, no longer interested in the way the floor lit up, was much more curious about this console. Teal'c walked to it first, though, and glanced into it the face-shaped opening at its front.

"Hey, watch it!" Mckay said. Then, after barely a pause, "What do you see?"

"Blackness," Teal'c said, one eyebrow raised unimpressed. "And colored lights."

"Not a password input device, then," Mckay muttered, one theory apparently squashed.

"A light show?" Jack asked, stepping beside Teal'c. Daniel glanced back to see him frown and, like a child finding something shiny, stick his face right up next to it.

"Holy shit!" shouted Dixon a moment later, and Daniel's eyes flew back to see that the console had reached out of the wall and gripped onto Jack's head.

Suddenly Daniel remembered that they were SG-1, and intergalactic wastes of time weren't their thing. The console had just come out of nowhere, huge and black, but its design was definitely Alteran and not Goa'uld. Jack struggled in its grip as lights flashed brightly from the gaps around his face, but none of them dared to do anything, only partly because they had no idea what to do.

It was only a few moments, and then suddenly it let go, and Jack fell to the floor with a thud.

"Dial the gate, Mckay," Dixon snapped, stooping to scoop up Jack. Teal'c got the Colonel's other side, and Daniel glanced around the room for something else that might be about to attack.

They hadn't done anything, right? It had just attacked out of nowhere, like a living thing, but it was obviously tech. Whatever the case, Jack wasn't moving. Mckay had the gate dialed in a few seconds, and the gateroom beckoned.

"Med team!" Dixon called, as he and Teal'c carried the unconscious Jack down the ramp and towards the infirmary.

Their first real mission in weeks, and this was what they got. Daniel would have got the irony if he hadn't been already sick with worry. Janet's face didn't help as the team made it to the infirmary.

"Get him into the MRI," the doctor ordered, brow creased. "And all of you? There's nothing you can do, so just wait outside." They wheeled Jack off on a stretcher, as still as if he had never woken this morning, face slack and pale. And the team just stood.

"God, why Jack?" Dixon sighed, frustration in his voice and the way he took a seat.

Daniel looked to Mckay, who looked just slightly sick. Janet might need help with this one. With a silent nod, the two men left the infirmary, and prepared to gather what information they could. If the worse case scenario was true, Janet would need them.