The gate shut down behind them and Ian looked around, shaking his head.
"I can't believe I'm back here…"
Jack took a look around as well, no more impressed than Ian was.
"We need to get some of those rocks."
"I know."
It didn't mean he wanted to be there, though. Sure as shit some villager was going to happen by with a splinter and want him to take it out.
"We'll just go to the cave, grab some of the stones and get out," Daniel said, looking around as well, and trying to get his bearings. They hadn't brought the dogs – both Jaffer and Jack had had vet appointments, and the planet had already been deemed safe enough that they wouldn't need the extra offensive capabilities of the dogs – but they could have used them to help find their way around. "We might not even see any of the villagers…"
Although it was obvious from the tone of voice that he really was sort of hoping that they would see someone – Daniel wanted a chance to get to know the villagers better, even though Hammond and the others (including Daniel) had decided that there wasn't really anything that they could do for each other.
Jack looked at Teal'c, who had walked up to stand beside him.
"Think you can find the cave without us having to go talk to any village people?"
The Jaffa nodded, pointing.
"It is that direction, O'Neill."
"Let's go, then." He looked at Daniel. "Stay close, okay?"
OOOOOOOOO
It had been Sam's idea to go back. Well, Sam and Daniel to be exact. They had grilled Ian about the writing on the wall – the Ancient writing, not the English – but he hadn't been able to tell them all that much. Only that the Ancients had written out experiments that they'd tried on the wall – and he couldn't even figure out why they would bother, really. Unless it was to save the information for any of their fellow Ancients that might be coming at a later date.
When he'd mentioned that the Ancients had considered using the rocks as a fuel source, Sam had become even more curious about them and had studied the one little rock they had, questioning Ian about it to see if he could think of anything in the downloaded information rattling around in his head that might be of use. Unfortunately, since the Ancients hadn't figured it out, they hadn't been able to pass any of that sort of information on to him.
"It might not have been efficient enough for them," Ian had told her, picking up the little rock they had once more. "Or they might have decided there was something too dangerous about it to use…"
Sam nodded; it was possible, but she was still willing to take a look.
"You think you can think of something the Ancients didn't?" Daniel had asked her, and Sam had shrugged.
"Why not? They're the most advanced race of beings we've ever heard of, true, but that doesn't mean they knew absolutely everything – besides, what might have not been efficient enough for them might still work for us…"
Ian knew she was right about that – which meant that they needed at least a couple more of the rocks to study, because that little one just wasn't going to be enough.
And that had pretty much decided it.
OOOOOOOO
They found the cave with only a little difficulty, and even better (as far as Ian was concerned – although Daniel was somewhat disappointed) they didn't see any people. When they reached the opening, though, Jack reached out and caught Daniel before he could go in.
"Not you, Daniel."
"What? Why? I-"
"Teal'c can go in and grab a couple of rocks," Jack said. The Jaffa didn't hesitate, and he was in and out quickly – far more promptly than Jack figured Daniel would have done it. With writing all over the walls to distract him, Daniel's archeology instincts and natural curiosity would have gotten the better of him Jack was sure, and he wasn't willing to risk his friend in another cave in. Not when they didn't have to. He didn't say that, though.
Ian handed Teal'c the bag they'd brought to put the rocks in. There weren't many, and as near as anyone had been able to figure it wasn't going to be dangerous to have them rubbing against each other in a bag. After all, they'd been falling from the ceiling onto each other – and the floor – for who knew how many years? If they were going to blow up from the impact, they would have done it by now, certainly.
"Do you believe this to be a sufficient amount of these rocks for study?"
Ian shrugged, "Should be more than enough." It wasn't like they had any idea what to do with them anyways. Besides, if all else failed and Sam did figure them out, they could always come back and get more.
"Good." Jack took his hat off and wiped the sweat off his forehead, then put it back on, looking at his team and making sure they were ready to go. "Let's get-"
"You returned."
All four of them whirled when they heard the voice behind them, and Ian groaned even before he saw who it was. He'd recognized the voice.
"Taylor…" Daniel's frown was nothing compared to Jack's. "What are you doing here…?"
"I was watching you."
Jack stepped up, and the boy took a step back, well able to read the annoyance in the colonel's expression.
"Why…?"
"I wanted to see you…"
"Do your parents know you're here? Do they know we're here?"
"I didn't know you were here until I saw you."
"How's your leg?" Daniel asked, drawing a scowl from Jack, who was more interested in whether or not he was going to have to field an invitation from villagers. He had no intention of spending any more time on the planet than he had to – Sam was waiting at home, and he'd told her he'd be back soon.
"It's perfect," Taylor said, giving Ian a look that was filled with hero worship.
The cadet scowled, but Jack stepped forward before he could say anything. Without the dogs, the boy had snuck up on them fairly easily, and that had annoyed O'Neill more than even having the boy hanging out. Of course, he wasn't the one on the receiving end of those looks, either, which might have something to do with Ian's irritability.
"You need to go home, Taylor."
"I could help you."
"We're done. We're leaving."
Taylor looked at Ian.
"You're leaving?"
"Yes."
"But you're not supposed to leave. You just returned, and everyone will be won-"
"He's not who your people think he is," Daniel said, gently. "Believe me."
"My father says that he is…"
"He's wrong," Ian said, just this side of losing his temper. "I'm not God, or the Son of God, or even a great-great nephew of God."
"But-"
"Go home, Taylor."
"But-"
"Goddamn it, Taylor! Go home!"
Ian had had enough. All weekend all he'd done was deal with shit from everyone – mostly good-natured teasing and comments, but some of it had been downright annoying – and while he didn't mind getting as good as he gave, this whole Son of God thing had taken its toll on him. Frustrated, he shouldered past Jack and the rest of them and headed off into the woods, unerringly going the direction of the gate.
Jack looked down at Taylor, who looked surprised and hurt. But he'd lost that hero worship look – which was just as well.
"Go home, Taylor. You shouldn't be wandering around alone anyways."
The boy turned and looked the direction Ian had gone, and then back up at Jack. And he nodded.
"Are you going to be back?"
Jack hesitated, and then shrugged.
"I'm not sure."
He gestured to the others, and Daniel and Teal'c both turned and started off the same direction that Ian had headed. Then he looked down at Taylor.
"Go straight home, okay? I don't want to have to worry about you."
Taylor nodded, silently, and Jack watched as he turned away and headed back towards his village at a trot.
OOOOOOO
Jack caught up to the rest of SG-1 after only a few minutes, and he fell into step beside Ian, while Teal'c and Daniel took the flanking positions, both listening for the sound of possible pursuit. Jack wasn't so worried, though. He had other things to discuss just then.
"You know…"
Ian sighed.
"Yeah, I was mean to him."
"You were a little hard on him."
"Is he following us?"
"No. I don't think so."
"Then it worked."
Ian wasn't out looking for new friends or anything, after all, and he sure as hell wasn't looking for disciples. He just came for rocks. That was all.
"It's not a question of if it worked, Ian," Jack said. "You're going to have to learn that you need to treat people a little better – especially when you're offworld. You never know; we might need to come back here…"
The cadet looked over at Jack. Ian had read mission reports from way back when – Daniel had left journals in his apartment and Ian had looked through all of them, and he knew that O'Neill wasn't really someone to be lecturing him on how to treat others. Jack had angered more than his share of people, after all – including several possible allies.
"What should I have done? Asked him nicely? You know that wouldn't have worked…"
"I'm just saying…"
"He thinks I'm Jesus, Jack. Do you have any idea how annoying that is?"
And they probably hadn't made it any better for him by teasing him all weekend, Jack was sure. But teasing Ian was fun – and Ian was such a confident person most of the time that it was too hard to pass on any chance to get under his skin. Especially once the class list from the academy had come out and he had proof on paper just how much of a genius he was.
"Yeah, I'm sure it is," Jack told him, "But we do need to work on the whole people skills thing…"
He'd said it several times, but he meant it. Ian was a year closer to graduating – and really, from what he'd been hearing from others, Ian was a lot closer to graduating than he thought he was – and Jack knew that if the cadet couldn't get a rein on his inability to deal with others, and maybe learn a little control when he lost his temper, he wasn't going to be able to take the role Jack had planned for him.
Ian sighed.
"Yeah, I know…"
He did know.
"We'll figure something out," Jack said, slapping Ian on the back. He wasn't ready to give up on the cadet yet, and maybe Sam would have an idea. "Let's get home. If you're good, I'll even let you look at some of our new rocks."
Ian rolled his eyes, his good humor slightly restored.
"Lucky me."
Ah well, it wasn't like he had a lot of other plans for the summer, after all.
The EndOkay! That's the end of this one. Remember, it was about graduations so once school was out, that portion of the story finished up – and of course, Ian will never live down the godling thing, but there's nothing else to explore on that particular planet (for now, anyways – unless they find something in the rocks. Which is another story completely if they do)
Tell me what you liked, and what you didn't, please! And visit the forum (the link is in my profile) to vote on what comes next