After trying Jack's office, the armory, and the commissary, Daniel had found Jack in the gym, beating the shit out of a defenseless punching bag.

"Jack…"

"I'm kinda busy right now, Daniel," Jack said, punching away at the bag, not even sparing a glance towards Daniel. "And shouldn't you be busy saving a world and all."

"Jack, I know your mad at me. But could you at least look at me when you're being an ass." Daniel hoped he would get something back from the older man, other than the punches to the bag being directed toward him instead.

"Mad at you!" Jack stopped the bag from swinging. "You think I'm mad at you!"

"You're sure acting like it."

"I'm not mad at you Daniel. I'm mad at the fact that you're not mad at them!"

"What?" Daniel tried to make sense of Jack's last statement. "Who? The Langarians?"

"No. The Simpsons."

"Jack, if this is about me not being angry with what happened on Kelowna a little over a year ago…" Daniel said, unnerved a bit when Jack approached him rather fiercely.

"This is about was happened on Kelowna, Daniel. This is about your death. This is about how almost a year and a half ago we tried to stop a planet from blowing themselves to hell!" Jack yelled, arms flailing about in the air. Daniel just stood by, arms folded across his chest.

"We told 'em not to build that damn bomb. You told those sons of bitches what would happen if they did. And not only did they refuse to comply, you had to sacrifice yourself for those assholes!"

"What would you have had me do Jack?" Daniel yelled back, his patience with his friend leaving. "Huh? What did you want me to do? Stand there while the bomb blew up in their faces!"

"It wouldn't have made a difference, Daniel! All it did was buy them time!" Jack was furious. "And now, they're about to kill themselves again and all they can do is argue about useless shit!"

"It was a mistake Jack. It's not like they planned to doom their whole planet by building a bomb that failed to work!"

"They wouldn't be in this mess if they pulled their heads out of their alien asses and listened to us in the first place!"

"Jack…"

"YOU DIED DANIEL! YOU FUCKING DIED!" Jack fell silent then, breathing heavy. Daniel silenced as well, allowing his friend to vent his anger. Jack lowered his voice to a quieter tone, regaining his composure.

"You died to save their sorry asses. And what were they going to do to thank you, Daniel? Blame it all on you, tarnish your name. And now you're trying to help them again, and they don't care."

"Jack, I don't regret what I did," Daniel said, lowering his voice as well.

"Damn it, Daniel" Jack was exasperated.

"I did it because it had to be done," Daniel continued.

"You died for nothing. You sacrificed your life for them. You left us when you didn't have to."

"That's what this is about, isn't it? Me leaving? You're angry with me because I chose to ascend rather than have Jacob heal me."

"No, Daniel. I'm not angry with you. I know that you needed to leave for a while to find the value of your life, so on and so forth. Although I could have very well told you myself how much you matter," Jack said, sitting down on a nearby weight bench.

"You do? Uh…how uh..." Daniel said, surprised at how Jack knew how Daniel felt pre-ascension.

"Yea. You told me. After you ascended, you kinda came and stopped by on the cargo ship and we had a little chat. Similar to this one, actually."

"I did? I, uh, don't remember."

"Good. I got a little sappy. I don't need you remembering your ol' colonel going soft," Jack joked.

"Jack, I meant what I said. I don't regret what I did," Daniel said, staring at his friend. "I don't regret helping the Kelownans then. I don't regret ascending, albeit not one of my finest decisions, and I don't regret helping the Langarians now."

"I know Daniel. It's just… complicated. It's like major déjà vu. I don't think they deserve a second chance, more or less one from you."

"Everyone does, Jack. You had yours on the Abydos mission and I got mine when I descended."

"For what it's worth…it wasn't the same without you. I'm glad you came back," Jack admitted hesitantly.

"Yea, me too," Daniel replied, uncomfortably. Neither man was one for expressing their emotions verbally.

"If you weren't there to break up the meeting earlier, I think I would have knocked the red head out."

"I'm this close myself. I don't know how much more I can take."

"Need some help?"

"Thanks, Jack," Daniel expressed, not specifying what he was thanking him for. Jack knew what he meant and smiled in response as they left the gym.

"I'll meet you up at level 27 in 10 minutes, ok? Then you can tell me all about how the diplomacy is going." Jack patted Daniel's back, followed by a ruffling of his friend's hair. Daniel smiled at him and made his way to the elevator.

Jack went back into the gym and picked up the phone on the wall. Dialing, he patiently waited for the familiar voice to answer.

"General?... How's it going up there?...Yea, well, I got an idea…" Jack fed the General his plan, smiling at what he was about to do and the reactions he'd get, especially the one from Daniel.

Jack walked out of the elevator and spotted his friend.

"Daniel, how's the diplomacy thing working out for you?" Jack said, continuing their previous conversation as they walked together.

"It's not. The latest arguments are about the selection process. The Kelownans want a lottery, the Terranians want to assign positions, and the Andarries wanna set up a committee to discuss the problem."

"What?"

"I'm trying to remind them that they're facing total annihilation, but they can't seem to face their own mistrust."

Jack grabbed Daniel by the shoulders and turned him around so that they were facing each other.

"I think I can help you out on this," Jack said before walking off, leaving a perplexed Daniel behind.

"What do you mean?" Daniel yelled after him. A mix of emotions went through him. Suspicion of Jack's words, fear for what they implied. And then there was contentment in the fact that he and his friend were working together again. Well, kind of.