"It doesn't look much like an apple."
"I never said they did, Jack. They taste like apples, though."
The group had made another stop. This time they'd stopped right under one of the trees that grew the fruit that Anderson and Mitchell had been telling SG-1 about, and the newcomers to the planet couldn't help but be curious about them. Curious enough that Carter had climbed up into the tree and dropped a few of them down for the others to try. Anderson had just shuddered and walked off, mumbling about never eating another apple in his life. He was now sitting propped up against a tree truck about twenty feet away, munching happily on a candy bar from an MRE. (A/N: MRE = Meal Ready to Eat – it usually comes with a complete meal, including a dessert, instant coffee, Tabasco sauce, all sorts of stuff like that – I should have explained that earlier, sorry)
"Really?"
"More than anything else." She shrugged. "It definitely isn't an orange."
Daniel had already shined his up against his shirt and had taken a bite, always eager to try new things.
"It does taste like an apple."
Sam took a tentative bite of the one she was holding, and chewed it thoughtfully.
"He's right, Sir. Try it." She handed Jack hers, but O'Neill scowled. He didn't like apples all that much anyways, and wasn't all that keen on new things. Besides, Mitchell was giving the thing a look that plainly spoke volumes for her own opinion of the thing and it would be hard to enjoy something with someone else looking at it like it was poisoned.
"Go ahead, Sir," Anderson called, cheerfully, waving the Snickers bar he was eating. "It won't kill you." No one heard the silent mutter that followed, mainly because the young Major had taken another bite of his candy bar.
Teal'c was looking at Daniel oddly, and the Archeologist looked back at him as he took another huge bite. He found the fruit pretty good. "What?"
"I am waiting to see if you begin looking like shit, Daniel Jackson."
Anderson choked on his candy bar. Jack choked on the bite of fruit he'd just taken and Sam, Daniel and Mitchell all just stared.
"What?"
"O'Neill said that Colonel Mitchell looked like shit because all she had to eat for a month was this fruit, so I am waiting to-"
"It was a figure of speech, Teal'c," Jack said, grinning.
~*~
The rest of the day was nothing but walking. True, walking in the trees was more interesting than walking on the flat plains, but only a little. It was nice to not trip over everything, and that made the walk a little better, but trees were pretty boring, too. Especially since there weren't any birds or anything all that big to watch in this forest. Daniel had been munching on the fruit as he walked beside Colonel Mitchell, and was asking her all sorts of questions.
Now, though, they weren't about the pyramid, since he had already figured out that she wasn't that much of an expert. He was, instead, asking her about herself. Nothing too personal, since although Daniel was, by nature, curious about everything that was around him, he wasn't nosy. However, she was the most interesting thing in the forest right now. She was about his age, after all, and was obviously intelligent, or she wouldn't be a CO on an SG team. Besides, walking was boring and she was the closest person to him, and the only one he could talk to without needing to raise his voice to be heard.
Mitchell took the inquisition in good stead. She understood the desire to make time go by faster by chatting, although she was also careful to make sure that she kept her eyes open to what was going on around her as well. Not that she was expecting trouble, but it was better to be watching for it than to have it come up and bite you on the ass because you weren't paying attention.
So far, all Daniel knew about her was that she was in her mid thirties, had no pets, no significant other, no family – except her team – and had graduated from the Air Force Academy a few years before joining the SGC. Her favorite color was blue, her favorite food was anything but apples, she hated catching fish but loved to go fishing, and she spoke four languages. That was more than most people knew about her – except for her team, and especially Brad Anderson, who knew her better than anyone. Including – probably – Jack O'Neill. But that was his own secret, and the young Major doubted his CO even knew how much he knew about her.
Mitchell had, in return, heard far more about Daniel than she'd planned to. Part of that was because she was a good listener. She asked questions in the right places, and the questions she asked were, for the most part, intelligent ones. He didn't tell her about his wife – although she knew about her anyways and wouldn't have dreamed of asking anything that personal or painful – and he didn't tell her about his parents. Aside from that, they discussed various missions that SG-1 had been on, various missions SG-2 had been on, and the occasional oddball assignment that might have sprung up for either team.
It was a long day, though, and SG-2 was beginning to flag before the sun was starting to go down. Melony was visibly limping now, and since she was walking on front of O'Neill and Anderson – who were in the center of the group once more – they both had noticed.
"Time to camp for the night, kids." Jack said, finally. "Start looking for a good place, Colonel."
Mitchell nodded, and gestured towards a stand of trees. Really, anyplace was as good as the other as far as she knew.
"Over there, Jack?"
"That's fine."
The group made for the stand of trees, and Mitchell dropped her pack gratefully on the ground. Anderson's followed, and then was joined by Daniel's and the rest as they arrived.
"You two take it easy while we get camp set up."
They didn't argue. Melony sank to the ground willingly, and Anderson looked at her, his tired blue eyes filled with concern. She really looked tired this time. She caught the look and scowled.
"Don't look like that. I'm fine."
"You look awful."
"Just tired."
"What did you do to your leg?"
She scowled again and he knelt by her right side, running his hand along her leg before she could move it.
"Nothing, Brad. I sprained my ankle. Stop that." God, there was nothing worse than a concerned Major clucking over his commanding officer, was there? Then she was proven wrong when Jack came over as well and looked down at her.
"How bad?" He asked. He asked Anderson, though, and not Mitchell. Which made the young Colonel scowl again.
"It's just a sprain. I'm fine."
"No watch tonight, Melony." Jack told her, firmly. "Anderson, get an ice pack out of the medical kit and make sure she ices that ankle."
"Yes, Sir."
He dug through his pack for an instant icepack – they had a lot of them – and broke the seal and shook it up, waiting for it to get cold before handing it over to his commanding officer. Mitchell took it with a sigh of resignation, which only made Anderson smile.
"Want me to bring you something to eat?"
"No." She put the ice pack on her slightly swollen ankle, and leaned against the tree she was sitting next to. "I'm going to sit here and sulk for a while, don't mind me." She was asleep almost immediately, and Anderson wasn't far behind her. It had, after all, been a long day.
"I never said they did, Jack. They taste like apples, though."
The group had made another stop. This time they'd stopped right under one of the trees that grew the fruit that Anderson and Mitchell had been telling SG-1 about, and the newcomers to the planet couldn't help but be curious about them. Curious enough that Carter had climbed up into the tree and dropped a few of them down for the others to try. Anderson had just shuddered and walked off, mumbling about never eating another apple in his life. He was now sitting propped up against a tree truck about twenty feet away, munching happily on a candy bar from an MRE. (A/N: MRE = Meal Ready to Eat – it usually comes with a complete meal, including a dessert, instant coffee, Tabasco sauce, all sorts of stuff like that – I should have explained that earlier, sorry)
"Really?"
"More than anything else." She shrugged. "It definitely isn't an orange."
Daniel had already shined his up against his shirt and had taken a bite, always eager to try new things.
"It does taste like an apple."
Sam took a tentative bite of the one she was holding, and chewed it thoughtfully.
"He's right, Sir. Try it." She handed Jack hers, but O'Neill scowled. He didn't like apples all that much anyways, and wasn't all that keen on new things. Besides, Mitchell was giving the thing a look that plainly spoke volumes for her own opinion of the thing and it would be hard to enjoy something with someone else looking at it like it was poisoned.
"Go ahead, Sir," Anderson called, cheerfully, waving the Snickers bar he was eating. "It won't kill you." No one heard the silent mutter that followed, mainly because the young Major had taken another bite of his candy bar.
Teal'c was looking at Daniel oddly, and the Archeologist looked back at him as he took another huge bite. He found the fruit pretty good. "What?"
"I am waiting to see if you begin looking like shit, Daniel Jackson."
Anderson choked on his candy bar. Jack choked on the bite of fruit he'd just taken and Sam, Daniel and Mitchell all just stared.
"What?"
"O'Neill said that Colonel Mitchell looked like shit because all she had to eat for a month was this fruit, so I am waiting to-"
"It was a figure of speech, Teal'c," Jack said, grinning.
~*~
The rest of the day was nothing but walking. True, walking in the trees was more interesting than walking on the flat plains, but only a little. It was nice to not trip over everything, and that made the walk a little better, but trees were pretty boring, too. Especially since there weren't any birds or anything all that big to watch in this forest. Daniel had been munching on the fruit as he walked beside Colonel Mitchell, and was asking her all sorts of questions.
Now, though, they weren't about the pyramid, since he had already figured out that she wasn't that much of an expert. He was, instead, asking her about herself. Nothing too personal, since although Daniel was, by nature, curious about everything that was around him, he wasn't nosy. However, she was the most interesting thing in the forest right now. She was about his age, after all, and was obviously intelligent, or she wouldn't be a CO on an SG team. Besides, walking was boring and she was the closest person to him, and the only one he could talk to without needing to raise his voice to be heard.
Mitchell took the inquisition in good stead. She understood the desire to make time go by faster by chatting, although she was also careful to make sure that she kept her eyes open to what was going on around her as well. Not that she was expecting trouble, but it was better to be watching for it than to have it come up and bite you on the ass because you weren't paying attention.
So far, all Daniel knew about her was that she was in her mid thirties, had no pets, no significant other, no family – except her team – and had graduated from the Air Force Academy a few years before joining the SGC. Her favorite color was blue, her favorite food was anything but apples, she hated catching fish but loved to go fishing, and she spoke four languages. That was more than most people knew about her – except for her team, and especially Brad Anderson, who knew her better than anyone. Including – probably – Jack O'Neill. But that was his own secret, and the young Major doubted his CO even knew how much he knew about her.
Mitchell had, in return, heard far more about Daniel than she'd planned to. Part of that was because she was a good listener. She asked questions in the right places, and the questions she asked were, for the most part, intelligent ones. He didn't tell her about his wife – although she knew about her anyways and wouldn't have dreamed of asking anything that personal or painful – and he didn't tell her about his parents. Aside from that, they discussed various missions that SG-1 had been on, various missions SG-2 had been on, and the occasional oddball assignment that might have sprung up for either team.
It was a long day, though, and SG-2 was beginning to flag before the sun was starting to go down. Melony was visibly limping now, and since she was walking on front of O'Neill and Anderson – who were in the center of the group once more – they both had noticed.
"Time to camp for the night, kids." Jack said, finally. "Start looking for a good place, Colonel."
Mitchell nodded, and gestured towards a stand of trees. Really, anyplace was as good as the other as far as she knew.
"Over there, Jack?"
"That's fine."
The group made for the stand of trees, and Mitchell dropped her pack gratefully on the ground. Anderson's followed, and then was joined by Daniel's and the rest as they arrived.
"You two take it easy while we get camp set up."
They didn't argue. Melony sank to the ground willingly, and Anderson looked at her, his tired blue eyes filled with concern. She really looked tired this time. She caught the look and scowled.
"Don't look like that. I'm fine."
"You look awful."
"Just tired."
"What did you do to your leg?"
She scowled again and he knelt by her right side, running his hand along her leg before she could move it.
"Nothing, Brad. I sprained my ankle. Stop that." God, there was nothing worse than a concerned Major clucking over his commanding officer, was there? Then she was proven wrong when Jack came over as well and looked down at her.
"How bad?" He asked. He asked Anderson, though, and not Mitchell. Which made the young Colonel scowl again.
"It's just a sprain. I'm fine."
"No watch tonight, Melony." Jack told her, firmly. "Anderson, get an ice pack out of the medical kit and make sure she ices that ankle."
"Yes, Sir."
He dug through his pack for an instant icepack – they had a lot of them – and broke the seal and shook it up, waiting for it to get cold before handing it over to his commanding officer. Mitchell took it with a sigh of resignation, which only made Anderson smile.
"Want me to bring you something to eat?"
"No." She put the ice pack on her slightly swollen ankle, and leaned against the tree she was sitting next to. "I'm going to sit here and sulk for a while, don't mind me." She was asleep almost immediately, and Anderson wasn't far behind her. It had, after all, been a long day.