Cursed

Spoilers- The Curse
Disclaimer- None of the following characters or settings belong to me, they belong all those other people who are too numerous to mention.
Note- Thanks as always to GrayMatter.
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Mini 2- The Back Story

Daniel Jackson frowned fiercely as he sifted through his notes. This was just a nightmare. Janet had promised him she was joking about Steven joining the SGC and yet here Steven was, standing in his office and going through his files.

"I thought you hated the military, Daniel."

"Things change, Steven. I never thought I'd see you in a military base either." Daniel turned to face Steven. "Put that down!"

Steven looked down at the ceramic bowl in his hands. "What this? It's just an ancient Egyptian joining cup. They would drink from it at wedding ceremonies." Steven smirked and tossed the small bowl from one hand to the other. "They're a dime a dozen."

Daniel stepped forward and yanked it out of Steven's hands. "This one isn't. It's Abydoian. Sha're and I drank from it at our wedding."

Steven gaped at him.

Daniel huffed irritably. "Didn't you read the mission report?"

"It was censored."

Daniel shook his head. "You didn't even know I was involved in the SGC, did you?"

"No."

"All right. What about Catherine?"

Steven shook his head dumbly.

Daniel rolled his eyes. How the hell could Steven get involved with the program at this level without knowing at least the basics?

"It was right after I gave that lecture to the empty room. I lost my grant-"

Steven smirked.

"-as well as my apartment. Catherine Langford approached me about a translation. I arrived here and they showed me a cover stone Catherine's father uncovered at Giza in 1928. Two weeks later I realized that the symbols on the cover stone weren't hieroglyphs, they were constellations…"

xxxxx

Steven sat back. That was one hell of a story. Living on another planet for a year. Daniel actually got to live like an ancient Egyptian. Lucky bastard!

To be fair his wife and brother-in-law had been kidnapped and infested with a Goa'uld. And he lost his wife for three years. And she was killed by one of his best friends.

But the things he had seen and done. Any archeologist worth his salt would give his right arm to have seen and done half the things Daniel had experienced.

"So," he said stiffly. "You've got proof about your theory then. They pyramids really were built by aliens."

Daniel adjusted his glasses. "I never actually said that. I simply said that the pyramids were older than we first thought."

Steven shrugged. "Still, you were right and you can prove it. All those people who doubted you."

"It doesn't matter," Daniel said. He stopped and looked at Steven for a minute. "Why are you here, Steven? You had everything you ever wanted. A book on the bestseller list. With Doctor Jordan gone and Sarah- You would have been first in line to take over the department. You were even planning on buying a fancy new car. Why join the SGC?"

"You're right. I was in line to take over. I was also in line to be their scapegoat when the Egyptian government threatened to sue. The testing of the key destroyed all of my theories. The university threw me out, Daniel. I was left with nothing. And Major Davis thought I would make a good contribution to the program."

Daniel nodded. "You could. But there's one thing I need to know first. I know there's a lot of bad blood between us, Steven, but in a few months you'll be going off world with SG-1. I'm going to need to know that you can follow orders if something goes wrong."

Steven laughed scornfully. "Oh, come on, Daniel."

Daniel stared at him gravely. "I'm serious, Steven. If you can't follow orders then I can't let you off-world."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Oh, here Daniel went again. Getting on his high horse.

Daniel stared at him, unmoving.

"Fine," Steven spat out. Self important SOB. "I'll follow orders."

"Good." Daniel turned and picked up a pile of manila folders. "But before you go through the gate you've got some reading to do."

Steven took the files from him with a grumble.

"And you'll have to take a crash course in Goa'uld and Ancient." Daniel turned back to gather some of his diaries.

Steven idly flipped through the files. He stopped as a particular report caught his eye. "You blew up a Goa'uld mothership?"

Daniel looked up absently. "Uh huh. Couple of times."

"What!"

xxx

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