Day Five: Daniel___
(This part written by Layton Colt)
So Jack wanted to play now, did he? I toss my lucky deck from one hand to the other. I see right through you, O'Neill. You aren't going to tell Teal'c and Sam about my 'skill.' Because you think you're going to profit off it.
I turn to look at him, he's sitting in the pilot's chair staring, literally, into space. I just bet he's daydreaming about season hockey tickets. Well, sorry, Jack--but I don't use my talents for evil. I grinned. I considered humbling Jack a matter of civil service.
And I'm just good at Go Fish.
I sneak another look at Jack. He's plotting. I can tell. I look in the opposite direction and smile sweetly at Teal'c. Plot away, Jack. I've got the Jaffa on MY side.
Jack notices and glares at me. I smile back. He puts a bit more effort into the glare. Okay, so maybe I been pushing a few too many of his buttons on this trip--but he started it.
I wince. Flashback to third grade. Okay. Maybe we're both being immature. I look again at Jack. He's leaning back in the chair--squirting some of the canned whip cream Teal'c insisted we bring into his mouth. One of us is being more immature than the other.
I get up from the wall I'm leaning against, and head to the back. Sam is near the far wall, sat down in front of another set of crystals. She's glaring at them. I sit down beside her.
"Need any help?" I ask.
She turns to me and smiles. "No, Daniel. Thank you, but-- There's just not much more I can do. I'm able to keep it flying, but just barely."
"You're doing great," I tell her. "There's no one I'd rather have doing this."
Her smile widens. "Thanks. So how are you holding up with all of this?"
I shrug. "Fine. We're just going to save the world. Nothing new."
Sam laughs and presses one of the buttons on the wall. A sliding partition comes out and moves swiftly over the crystals. "Okay then. How are you handling being stuck on the ship then? With the Colonel?"
"I can handle Jack," I tell her.
She shakes her head. "I wish you wouldn't get like this."
"Me?" I ask.
"The both of you," she tells me. "Teal'c and I don't know what to do with you."
She looks at me sadly and then heads back towards the others. I don't know what to do with us either.
I get up again and follow Sam. All three of them look bored out of their minds. I certainly am. I pull the cards from my pocket. "You guys want to play Go Fish again?"
Jack freezes. I look at him strangely. The vein in his neck has just grown abnormally large. "What did you just say? Tell me you did not just ask if we wanted to play Go Fish."
"Um . . ." How do I answer that one?
He's out of his chair before I can think of something suitably caustic to respond with, and he's walking--stalking--right to me. "GO FISH?" he roars. "GO FISH?"
The deck of cards is ripped from my hand--and seconds later they're all flying through the air--like Hoyle confetti.
"GO FISH?" he repeats dangerously.
"Or we could just play Crazy Eights," I tell him.
"Crazy Eights," he repeats like he can't believe I've just said that.
Sam is beside us now, looking from me to Jack anxiously. Teal'c is standing a few feet away--glaring at us both.
"You will stop this," he says.
Jack ignores him. "NO more card games. Understand?"
I grin. "Sure, Jack." Probably best to humor him. I can play solitaire later tonight.
"You're lying," he snaps, and steps a bit closer.
Teal'c looks like he's getting angry.
"What is your problem, Jack? Are you really this sore of a loser?"
"When the other person is cheating, YES!"
Sam gasps and Teal'c raises an eyebrow. "Daniel Jackson would not cheat, O'Neill."
Okay. Feel a little bit guilty here. I, ah, would, actually. But it was for a good cause.
"Well, you don't know him very well then, do you, Teal'c?" Jack says. "Because he isn't the sweet and nice INNOCENT he pretends to be."
I roll my eyes. Please. I do not pretend to be an innocent. That's just what Jack has always seen.
"And when have I pretended to be anything?" I demand.
"Every time you do that thing you do--that little boy lost bit you do with your eyes."
I shake my head sadly at his delusions. He's lost his mind. That's what this is.
Teal'c is frowning at the both of us now. "O'Neill, Daniel Jackson," he begins, but Jack cuts him off.
"And don't think I don't KNOW that you were the one that helped Ferretti fill my locker with shaving cream."
Okay--so I did that. I can't even convince myself that one was for a good cause.
"It was April's Fools," I say defensively. "And you'd already put blue paint in my shampoo bottle."
Jack grins. "That was a good one," he says reminiscently.
Sam snorts. It isn't that she's above pranks herself--it's just that she can't believe we let ourselves get caught. Teal'c, however, is looking quite . . . annoyed. More so than usual.
"Jack--why don't you just face facts here? You're not exactly firing from moral ground yourself."
"You little--"
Jack is cut off as Teal'c grabs him roughly by the back of his shirt. I don't even have time to look smug, a second later he's dragging me too. He pushes us into the small room at the back, and glares in at both of us.
"You will resolve this," he says, before hitting the button for the door on the wall.
Jack and I watch in morbid fascination as it slowly shuts.
There's no mechanism on this side of the door.
I turn to look at Jack. We glare at each other a second, and then both turn back to face the door.
I sigh and lean up against one of the walls. "And I don't even have my cards," I say to him accusingly. "You just HAD to throw them everywhere like a three year old."
"Go fish," he snarls.
"Right." I close my eyes and slide down the wall. If I am going to be stuck in here, maybe I could at least get some sleep . . .
"A hundred bottles of beer on the wall, a hundred bottles of beer . . ."
My eyes snap open. Jack is singing. Loudly, HORRIBLY, singing. Oh god. I'm not going to make it out of here. Either that or Jack won't.
"Take one down . . . pass it around . . ."
TBC--next part by FCOL.
(This part written by Layton Colt)
So Jack wanted to play now, did he? I toss my lucky deck from one hand to the other. I see right through you, O'Neill. You aren't going to tell Teal'c and Sam about my 'skill.' Because you think you're going to profit off it.
I turn to look at him, he's sitting in the pilot's chair staring, literally, into space. I just bet he's daydreaming about season hockey tickets. Well, sorry, Jack--but I don't use my talents for evil. I grinned. I considered humbling Jack a matter of civil service.
And I'm just good at Go Fish.
I sneak another look at Jack. He's plotting. I can tell. I look in the opposite direction and smile sweetly at Teal'c. Plot away, Jack. I've got the Jaffa on MY side.
Jack notices and glares at me. I smile back. He puts a bit more effort into the glare. Okay, so maybe I been pushing a few too many of his buttons on this trip--but he started it.
I wince. Flashback to third grade. Okay. Maybe we're both being immature. I look again at Jack. He's leaning back in the chair--squirting some of the canned whip cream Teal'c insisted we bring into his mouth. One of us is being more immature than the other.
I get up from the wall I'm leaning against, and head to the back. Sam is near the far wall, sat down in front of another set of crystals. She's glaring at them. I sit down beside her.
"Need any help?" I ask.
She turns to me and smiles. "No, Daniel. Thank you, but-- There's just not much more I can do. I'm able to keep it flying, but just barely."
"You're doing great," I tell her. "There's no one I'd rather have doing this."
Her smile widens. "Thanks. So how are you holding up with all of this?"
I shrug. "Fine. We're just going to save the world. Nothing new."
Sam laughs and presses one of the buttons on the wall. A sliding partition comes out and moves swiftly over the crystals. "Okay then. How are you handling being stuck on the ship then? With the Colonel?"
"I can handle Jack," I tell her.
She shakes her head. "I wish you wouldn't get like this."
"Me?" I ask.
"The both of you," she tells me. "Teal'c and I don't know what to do with you."
She looks at me sadly and then heads back towards the others. I don't know what to do with us either.
I get up again and follow Sam. All three of them look bored out of their minds. I certainly am. I pull the cards from my pocket. "You guys want to play Go Fish again?"
Jack freezes. I look at him strangely. The vein in his neck has just grown abnormally large. "What did you just say? Tell me you did not just ask if we wanted to play Go Fish."
"Um . . ." How do I answer that one?
He's out of his chair before I can think of something suitably caustic to respond with, and he's walking--stalking--right to me. "GO FISH?" he roars. "GO FISH?"
The deck of cards is ripped from my hand--and seconds later they're all flying through the air--like Hoyle confetti.
"GO FISH?" he repeats dangerously.
"Or we could just play Crazy Eights," I tell him.
"Crazy Eights," he repeats like he can't believe I've just said that.
Sam is beside us now, looking from me to Jack anxiously. Teal'c is standing a few feet away--glaring at us both.
"You will stop this," he says.
Jack ignores him. "NO more card games. Understand?"
I grin. "Sure, Jack." Probably best to humor him. I can play solitaire later tonight.
"You're lying," he snaps, and steps a bit closer.
Teal'c looks like he's getting angry.
"What is your problem, Jack? Are you really this sore of a loser?"
"When the other person is cheating, YES!"
Sam gasps and Teal'c raises an eyebrow. "Daniel Jackson would not cheat, O'Neill."
Okay. Feel a little bit guilty here. I, ah, would, actually. But it was for a good cause.
"Well, you don't know him very well then, do you, Teal'c?" Jack says. "Because he isn't the sweet and nice INNOCENT he pretends to be."
I roll my eyes. Please. I do not pretend to be an innocent. That's just what Jack has always seen.
"And when have I pretended to be anything?" I demand.
"Every time you do that thing you do--that little boy lost bit you do with your eyes."
I shake my head sadly at his delusions. He's lost his mind. That's what this is.
Teal'c is frowning at the both of us now. "O'Neill, Daniel Jackson," he begins, but Jack cuts him off.
"And don't think I don't KNOW that you were the one that helped Ferretti fill my locker with shaving cream."
Okay--so I did that. I can't even convince myself that one was for a good cause.
"It was April's Fools," I say defensively. "And you'd already put blue paint in my shampoo bottle."
Jack grins. "That was a good one," he says reminiscently.
Sam snorts. It isn't that she's above pranks herself--it's just that she can't believe we let ourselves get caught. Teal'c, however, is looking quite . . . annoyed. More so than usual.
"Jack--why don't you just face facts here? You're not exactly firing from moral ground yourself."
"You little--"
Jack is cut off as Teal'c grabs him roughly by the back of his shirt. I don't even have time to look smug, a second later he's dragging me too. He pushes us into the small room at the back, and glares in at both of us.
"You will resolve this," he says, before hitting the button for the door on the wall.
Jack and I watch in morbid fascination as it slowly shuts.
There's no mechanism on this side of the door.
I turn to look at Jack. We glare at each other a second, and then both turn back to face the door.
I sigh and lean up against one of the walls. "And I don't even have my cards," I say to him accusingly. "You just HAD to throw them everywhere like a three year old."
"Go fish," he snarls.
"Right." I close my eyes and slide down the wall. If I am going to be stuck in here, maybe I could at least get some sleep . . .
"A hundred bottles of beer on the wall, a hundred bottles of beer . . ."
My eyes snap open. Jack is singing. Loudly, HORRIBLY, singing. Oh god. I'm not going to make it out of here. Either that or Jack won't.
"Take one down . . . pass it around . . ."
TBC--next part by FCOL.