Chapter 12: Chaos On Level 19
When Daniel finally emerged from his translation induced isolation for some coffee, he found that all hell had broken loose on Level 19, or 'geek central' as Jack had taken to calling it a few years earlier. Dr. Jay Felger was running around the corridor in a blind panic with his assistant, Chloe, in hot pursuit. Daniel hoped that she could keep him from hurting himself.
Daniel was easily able to side step the two, only to be brought short by the sight of Lieutenant Hailey repeatedly smashing her clipboard on a fire extinguisher. In between the loud thwacks, he could hear her cursing very creatively. Has the Broca virus gotten loose again?
Deciding that he wanted to stay in one piece, Daniel skirted the young Lieutenant and made for the break room. He slipped inside and took a deep breath. He felt like he was dodging staff blasts, instead of crazy scientists. Maybe Jack had a point about scientists after all… Nah.
Suddenly, Daniel was grabbed in a tight hug. He panicked and nearly punched Dr. Heather Jorgenson, the SGC botanist, when her tear-choked words finally registered.
"Daniel, you are a saint. I don't know how you've survived all these years… shielding the rest of us…" She released him and wiped the tears away. "God, Bless you, Daniel," and then she was gone, with only Daniel's tear-soaked shirt as evidence of her presence.
"Okay, that was weird," Daniel stated to the empty room.
"Not really," Dr Bill Lee replied calmly, as he entered the break room. Daniel watched as Bill walked over to the coffee pot and calmly poured himself a cup. "Need some?"
"Yeah," Daniel replied, absently offering his cup to the other man. "So, what's going on?"
"Colonel O'Neill took over the MSG commander position," Bill stated simply.
Daniel frowned, "And that leads to Felger's blind panic and Hailey trying to beat a fire extinguisher into submission… how?"
"Daniel," Bill started in a condescending tone, "Not everyone is as familiar with the Colonel's unique leadership style as you are. You are quite likely immune from some of his more… colorful turns of phrase."
"Such as?" Daniel asked, confused. Jack could be an ass, but not enough to cause the kind of chaos that Daniel had seen in the last few minutes. Well… not outside of a goa'uld stronghold, anyway.
"Well, let's see… At this morning's meeting, he told Jay that if his current project didn't make any noticeable progress by the end of the week he was inclined to…" Bill used air quotes, "rip off his arm and beat him over his moronic head with it."
Daniel's eyebrows rose in astonishment, "What the hell did Jay do to set him off?"
Bill winced, "He was reporting how the new vest insert had a failure rate of 80."
Daniel grimaced. Jack had taken a keen interest in the new insert. If it worked as advertised, it would protect the SG Teams from a direct staff blast to the chest or back. Well, protect in the sense that the injured member would not be dead. Injured, yes. Dead, no. A high failure rate meant that the insert was still far from ready for field use, and the SG Teams needed a working product sooner rather than later. "Yeah, that would do it. And Hailey?"
"After her detailed analysis of the new goa'uld shields, he told her that English was a beautiful language and that she should learn to speak it," Bill deadpanned.
Daniel snorted, "Bet that went over well." The young Lieutenant was known throughout the SGC has having the shortest temper. She was usually able to rein it in around the more senior officers. Without the protection of his rank, Daniel was sure that Jack would have already felt the edge of her sharp tongue. As it is, Jack should be lucky she decided to take out her frustrations on the hapless fire extinguisher.
"You have no idea," Bill replied.
"Oh, I'm sure I have a pretty good idea. Remember, I've seen him spout off at System Lords." Daniel grinned, "… and you know how well they take constructive criticism. So, how did you get off easy?"
Bill laughed, "Simple. I stood up and said that the new rail gun would be installed on the X-304 currently under construction, sometime next week and sat down."
Daniel grinned, "Ah yes, the 'big honking space gun' defense. I've 'translated' that defense several times myself… Well, I have completed my quest for a fresh cup, so back to work I go. Let me know if you need anything. Oh, yeah… and Dr. Jorgenson seems to need a friend."
"Thanks, Daniel," Bill replied.
Daniel gave Bill a friendly wave and turned back to the hallway. He carefully peered both ways before taking a cautious step out. Having made it into the hallway with no new surprises, he quickly made his way back to his office and the relative security of his translations.
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By the time Jack finally made it home that night, he was beyond frustrated. He had thought that he had made progress in 'forgetting' his experience on Cythera. But being back at the SGC meant he had to endure constant reminders of HER. And those reminders now came with memories. Bright Technicolor memories.
Jack had spent the better part of the morning trying to avoid fantasizing about fucking her brains out in every conceivable place and position… Sucking his dick in the conference room under the table… Against the wall in the elevator… On the boxes in the supply room… Bent over his desk. He got a hard on from looking at blue Jell-O. Just looking and imagining… the things she could do with her tongue.
Jack's complete lack of control was really pissing him off. How the hell was he going to cope when Sam finally came back to work tomorrow? If he couldn't stop himself from thinking about her? Fantasizing about her in every square inch of the SGC? How could he stop himself from acting out on those fantasies when she was standing before him? When her scent teased his nose and her voice made his dick twitch?
Jack had tried to distract himself by tormenting the geeks. Well, tormenting everyone really. Hell, he was grumpy because he couldn't jerk off every two minutes and recovery time was so not an issue at the moment. It was fucked up, but there you go. Focusing on geek-baiting took his mind off of Sam, however briefly. And it had been fun while it lasted. But all too soon the geeks were hiding from him and he had to go back to unsuccessfully entertaining himself.
Sparring with Teal'c had turned out to be a very bad idea. Very bad. Teal'c had no qualms about taking advantage of his distracted state and Teal'c proceeded to knock him on his ass over and over again and Jack was too distracted to just quit. Or maybe he was so angry at himself that he thought he deserved the pain. On the bright side, the pain did give him a temporary reprieve from the constant hard-on. Janet had been quite miffed with the number of cuts that she had to tape closed.
But the clincher had been when Jack found himself at Sam's lab. He didn't remember making a conscious choice to go there, but had ended up there all the same. The dark lab had fed his imagination and he had nearly come from the image of Sam bent over her workbench, breathlessly begging him to fuck her harder.
One icy shower later, Jack decided that he would be better off at sulking home.
Jack sank down onto the couch in the dark living room. He dropped his head into his hands and considered, for the first time, that maybe he wasn't cut out for this anymore. He was angry, frustrated, and tired.
But his anger at Aphrodite had cooled. Could Jack really be angry at what she had done? She had been protecting them. She had given them both a great gift. She had allowed Jack and Sam to finally be together without fear. To simply be.
How could Aphrodite know that her gift would break him? How could she know that the only way that Jack could keep up his mask of professionalism had been due to the distinct LACK of knowledge about Major Carter… Sam? That the vague hope of 'someday' fueled his passion to fight?
Before Cythera, Jack had often wondered how soft Sam's skin was… how she would look all flushed and satisfied… how she tasted and smelled… how she moved… how flexible she could be… All this he had wondered, but because he didn't know, he could still work side by side and wonder.
But now Jack KNEW. Sam's skin was soft silk over toned muscle. She was absolutely beautiful when she was flushed with sex and satisfied. She tasted like the rarest nectar and smelled even better. And, God, could she move. She was like a caged tiger, strong, wild, and just a bit dangerous. She could bend in ways that Jack hadn't thought possible.
Sam was his drug and with one taste, Jack was addicted. He had been willing to kill for her, die for her before. But now, he felt like he would die if he couldn't touch, taste, or smell her.
But Jack had lost Sam before he even had a chance. Lost in the shroud of a lust-filled, drug-induced haze. Lost because after Cythera, he couldn't look at her and not see her eyes clouded with need. He couldn't listen to her voice and not hear her cries of passion. How could he ask her on a date when his mind was clouded with these lusty images? How could he listen to her in a briefing without wanting to get her alone?
Hell, Sam wasn't even there and Jack couldn't function at the SGC properly. How much worse would it be with her there fueling his overactive imagination? He was so angry at himself for losing control of his thoughts. He hated that he couldn't focus for more than a few minutes before his brain changed gears… jumped tracks… decided it had better things to do.
The irony was not lost on him, the king of irony. Of all the goa'uld that SG-1 had met and defeated over the years, Aphrodite was the one to finally make the kill; the one to finally make Colonel Jack O'Neill beg for mercy. Her love for her people had heralded his defeat and, the saddest truth of all was that she hadn't even been trying.
It was cliché, but Aphrodite had killed him with kindness. And Jack couldn't hate her for it. He was so tired of fighting… Tired of killing… Tired of denying he had any feelings, let alone feelings for his subordinate. He was just so tired of everything.
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