"Colonel O'Neill..." Hammond's voice pulled Jack out of his reverie, and he jerked his attention back to the briefing. Again.
"Sorry, Sir," Jack said, truly contrite. He looked at the Lieutenant – a member of SG-6. "Sorry, Lieutenant."
"Something on your mind, Colonel?" Hammond asked, with a trace of annoyance in his voice. It was the third time he'd had to call Jack's attention back to the report the lieutenant was trying to give, which was annoying, yes, but not completely unusual. Even more annoying was the fact that Daniel Jackson seemed just as distracted as O'Neill was, and Hammond had been forced to call the archeologist's attention back to the briefing a couple times as well – something that never happened.
"No, Sir." Jack said, frowning. "Sorry."
Of course, there was something on his mind. Something that was distracting him even when he knew he absolutely had to pay attention to the briefing since he and SG-1 were going to be going to this world the lieutenant was telling them about in only an hour or so. He was thinking about Sam, and the conversation he'd had with Dotty about her. He'd woken up that morning with his arms around her, and it had been the first thing he'd thought of, and the issue was still there, nagging him as he wondered if Dotty had thought of anything that would help. He wondered if he should call her, or if she'd call him.
"Colonel!"
He jerked his attention back to Hammond once more.
"Sorry."
Under ordinary circumstances, Daniel would have been incredibly amused by the fact that Jack couldn't seem to pay attention to anything that was going on around him. This morning was slightly different, though, because Daniel was having trouble of his own when it came to concentrating. His thoughts were on the crazy conversation he'd had with the Madam Xara, and the warnings she'd given him about Jack.
He'd run the conversation through his mind over and over, considering it from every angle, mostly trying to convince himself that she'd been some kind of quack. But it was impossible. He hadn't even mentioned why he was there when she'd mentioned Jack and Sam. He wasn't wearing anything military, and he hardly looked military, so there was no way she could have connected him to Jack by guessing – this Daniel was sure of. She'd seemed to know so much – although some things he thought maybe she might have been making up, since he was hardly able to consider himself as a protector like she'd said, and the more he looked at Jaffer, who was sitting on the floor between him and Jack, the less he thought the black lab looked like a guardian spirit. Daniel was under the impression that spirits – guardian or otherwise – were ghostly white swirly things. Not huge black dogs with incredible appetites and almost manic possessiveness towards their owners.
"Doctor Jackson?"
Daniel jerked his attention back to the briefing, and Hammond scowled.
"Sorry, General."
The briefing lasted far longer than it should have, and when it was over, Sam was fairly certain that she and Teal'c were the only two that could have said what had been discussed. Daniel had been distracted since it had started, and Jack had been distracted all morning. Not moody, or distant, since every time she'd drawn his attention back to her, he'd apologized, and the touches he'd given her were loving, and the smiles he'd tossed her way always reached his eyes. Something was bothering him – distracting him about as badly as she'd ever seen him distracted – but whatever it was, it wasn't something he was annoyed about. Which meant he was worried about something, and doing a bang up job hiding it from her.
"Are you all right?" She asked him again, once they'd been dismissed from the briefing and were heading for supply to get suited up to go off-world.
"I'm fine, Sam," He told her – again. She didn't look convinced, but he gave her a slight smile. "Really, I am."
"Is something bothering you?" She asked, figuring she'd give it one more try.
"Just wondering where you'd like to go for dinner tonight?"
She shook her head, certain that that wasn't what it was.
"Dotty James left me a message on my machine asking if I would have coffee with her this evening sometime," Sam said. She wondered why Jack suddenly stumbled and almost tripped over Jaffer, who'd been trotting next to Teal'c's yellow lab.
"Sorry, little man," Jack said, slapping his dog affectionately. Jaffer wagged his tail; he didn't care what Jack did! "So you're having coffee with Dotty?"
"Unless you have something else in mind?"
"No!" Jack flushed slightly, and cleared his throat. "I mean, no... I don't have anything in mind."
She started to say something, but they'd reached supply, and Sam was distracted now as she and the others drew their weapons and supplies and vests. By the time they'd reached the embarkation room, Jack was looking a bit more focused – mainly because he was always focused before taking Jaffer off-world with him anywhere, and even Daniel – who'd looked just as distracted as Jack had during the briefing – looked like he was ready to go.
They stood at the bottom of the ramp, and Sam looked over her shoulder at the command center where she saw Hammond standing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack nod, and Hammond returned the gesture.
"SG-1, you have a go."
The gate began dialing.
...................
The mission was a fairly simple one – although there was a chance it could be dangerous. SG-6 had found a large village of people where the Tok'ra believed a minor system lord was hiding from a major system lord who was apparently bent on ripping his snaky ass out of the host he was in and turning him into soup – or something. Jack hadn't really been paying all that much attention at the time the story had been told. Since no one knew what the Goa'uld was supposed to look like, there was the slight problem of finding out who – if anyone – had a snake in them.
Not that the SGC was in the business of doing favors for the major system lords, but it would be a boon for the Tok'ra if they could find this Goa'uld, because it would give their operative a very high position in the major system lord's echelon. And that could possibly come in handy for the SGC as well as the Tok'ra, so they'd agreed to send in people to have a look for themselves. SG-6 had been sent, but they hadn't had any luck. The villagers had been friendly enough – although some had watched them with suspicion – and none of them had glowing eyes, which was the only way SG-6 would know if there was a Goa'uld amongst the villagers.
SG-1 didn't have that problem. They had Jack and Jaffer, and both labs could tell the difference between a person, and a person with a symbiote inside them – larval or otherwise. Even better, both were trained to point out those particular people if the command was given, and that would definitely come in handy when it came to this assignment.
"Are we ready?" Jack asked his team.
Teal'c and Sam nodded, and Jack scowled when he looked over at Daniel, who was staring at him, but not actually looking at him.
"Daniel!"
The archeologist was brought back from his musings about Xara once more, and he flinched.
"Sorry. Yes. I'm ready."
Jack wasn't so sure about that. He took a step closer to Daniel, and gestured for the others to precede him through the gate.
"Stay close to Sam, little man," Jack murmured to Jaffer as Carter disappeared through the Stargate. Jaffer wagged his tail, and bounded up the ramp, close behind Jack (the dog) and Teal'c, where he'd be close to Sam as well. Jack had decided that Daniel was going to need a bit more watching than usual, and since he couldn't give his full attention to watching Sam and Daniel, he'd turn Sam's safety over to Jaffer – who he trusted completely to make sure she stayed safe.
"Let's go, Daniel," Jack said, grabbing his friend's jacket and heading up the ramp. "Try to get your head out of your ass, and stay with the rest of the class, okay?"
Daniel nodded, flushing.
"Sorry, Jack."
"Sorry, Sir," Jack said, truly contrite. He looked at the Lieutenant – a member of SG-6. "Sorry, Lieutenant."
"Something on your mind, Colonel?" Hammond asked, with a trace of annoyance in his voice. It was the third time he'd had to call Jack's attention back to the report the lieutenant was trying to give, which was annoying, yes, but not completely unusual. Even more annoying was the fact that Daniel Jackson seemed just as distracted as O'Neill was, and Hammond had been forced to call the archeologist's attention back to the briefing a couple times as well – something that never happened.
"No, Sir." Jack said, frowning. "Sorry."
Of course, there was something on his mind. Something that was distracting him even when he knew he absolutely had to pay attention to the briefing since he and SG-1 were going to be going to this world the lieutenant was telling them about in only an hour or so. He was thinking about Sam, and the conversation he'd had with Dotty about her. He'd woken up that morning with his arms around her, and it had been the first thing he'd thought of, and the issue was still there, nagging him as he wondered if Dotty had thought of anything that would help. He wondered if he should call her, or if she'd call him.
"Colonel!"
He jerked his attention back to Hammond once more.
"Sorry."
Under ordinary circumstances, Daniel would have been incredibly amused by the fact that Jack couldn't seem to pay attention to anything that was going on around him. This morning was slightly different, though, because Daniel was having trouble of his own when it came to concentrating. His thoughts were on the crazy conversation he'd had with the Madam Xara, and the warnings she'd given him about Jack.
He'd run the conversation through his mind over and over, considering it from every angle, mostly trying to convince himself that she'd been some kind of quack. But it was impossible. He hadn't even mentioned why he was there when she'd mentioned Jack and Sam. He wasn't wearing anything military, and he hardly looked military, so there was no way she could have connected him to Jack by guessing – this Daniel was sure of. She'd seemed to know so much – although some things he thought maybe she might have been making up, since he was hardly able to consider himself as a protector like she'd said, and the more he looked at Jaffer, who was sitting on the floor between him and Jack, the less he thought the black lab looked like a guardian spirit. Daniel was under the impression that spirits – guardian or otherwise – were ghostly white swirly things. Not huge black dogs with incredible appetites and almost manic possessiveness towards their owners.
"Doctor Jackson?"
Daniel jerked his attention back to the briefing, and Hammond scowled.
"Sorry, General."
The briefing lasted far longer than it should have, and when it was over, Sam was fairly certain that she and Teal'c were the only two that could have said what had been discussed. Daniel had been distracted since it had started, and Jack had been distracted all morning. Not moody, or distant, since every time she'd drawn his attention back to her, he'd apologized, and the touches he'd given her were loving, and the smiles he'd tossed her way always reached his eyes. Something was bothering him – distracting him about as badly as she'd ever seen him distracted – but whatever it was, it wasn't something he was annoyed about. Which meant he was worried about something, and doing a bang up job hiding it from her.
"Are you all right?" She asked him again, once they'd been dismissed from the briefing and were heading for supply to get suited up to go off-world.
"I'm fine, Sam," He told her – again. She didn't look convinced, but he gave her a slight smile. "Really, I am."
"Is something bothering you?" She asked, figuring she'd give it one more try.
"Just wondering where you'd like to go for dinner tonight?"
She shook her head, certain that that wasn't what it was.
"Dotty James left me a message on my machine asking if I would have coffee with her this evening sometime," Sam said. She wondered why Jack suddenly stumbled and almost tripped over Jaffer, who'd been trotting next to Teal'c's yellow lab.
"Sorry, little man," Jack said, slapping his dog affectionately. Jaffer wagged his tail; he didn't care what Jack did! "So you're having coffee with Dotty?"
"Unless you have something else in mind?"
"No!" Jack flushed slightly, and cleared his throat. "I mean, no... I don't have anything in mind."
She started to say something, but they'd reached supply, and Sam was distracted now as she and the others drew their weapons and supplies and vests. By the time they'd reached the embarkation room, Jack was looking a bit more focused – mainly because he was always focused before taking Jaffer off-world with him anywhere, and even Daniel – who'd looked just as distracted as Jack had during the briefing – looked like he was ready to go.
They stood at the bottom of the ramp, and Sam looked over her shoulder at the command center where she saw Hammond standing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack nod, and Hammond returned the gesture.
"SG-1, you have a go."
The gate began dialing.
...................
The mission was a fairly simple one – although there was a chance it could be dangerous. SG-6 had found a large village of people where the Tok'ra believed a minor system lord was hiding from a major system lord who was apparently bent on ripping his snaky ass out of the host he was in and turning him into soup – or something. Jack hadn't really been paying all that much attention at the time the story had been told. Since no one knew what the Goa'uld was supposed to look like, there was the slight problem of finding out who – if anyone – had a snake in them.
Not that the SGC was in the business of doing favors for the major system lords, but it would be a boon for the Tok'ra if they could find this Goa'uld, because it would give their operative a very high position in the major system lord's echelon. And that could possibly come in handy for the SGC as well as the Tok'ra, so they'd agreed to send in people to have a look for themselves. SG-6 had been sent, but they hadn't had any luck. The villagers had been friendly enough – although some had watched them with suspicion – and none of them had glowing eyes, which was the only way SG-6 would know if there was a Goa'uld amongst the villagers.
SG-1 didn't have that problem. They had Jack and Jaffer, and both labs could tell the difference between a person, and a person with a symbiote inside them – larval or otherwise. Even better, both were trained to point out those particular people if the command was given, and that would definitely come in handy when it came to this assignment.
"Are we ready?" Jack asked his team.
Teal'c and Sam nodded, and Jack scowled when he looked over at Daniel, who was staring at him, but not actually looking at him.
"Daniel!"
The archeologist was brought back from his musings about Xara once more, and he flinched.
"Sorry. Yes. I'm ready."
Jack wasn't so sure about that. He took a step closer to Daniel, and gestured for the others to precede him through the gate.
"Stay close to Sam, little man," Jack murmured to Jaffer as Carter disappeared through the Stargate. Jaffer wagged his tail, and bounded up the ramp, close behind Jack (the dog) and Teal'c, where he'd be close to Sam as well. Jack had decided that Daniel was going to need a bit more watching than usual, and since he couldn't give his full attention to watching Sam and Daniel, he'd turn Sam's safety over to Jaffer – who he trusted completely to make sure she stayed safe.
"Let's go, Daniel," Jack said, grabbing his friend's jacket and heading up the ramp. "Try to get your head out of your ass, and stay with the rest of the class, okay?"
Daniel nodded, flushing.
"Sorry, Jack."