Chapter 31. Prometheus Unbound
"Come on, Jack!" Daniel pleaded, his voice raising in tandem with his rising level of ire.
"Still no, Daniel." Jack almost sang at him, and Daniel grit his teeth in frustration.
"But it doesn't have to be on a permanent basis!" Daniel tried to reason with the obstinate General as he followed him down the halls of the SGC.
"I didn't let you go in the first place, what makes you think I'm gonna change my mind now?"
"Because..." Daniel's words failed him as he struggled to come up with a plausible excuse.
"Can you try to do better than that?" Jack mocked as Walter shoved a clipboard under his nose. The Chief Sergent quickly scurried away as soon as the General scribbled his signature, lest he attract the attention of the two bickering men.
"Because they're going to need somebody who can translate Ancient and I'm the most qualified person left on the planet for the mission!" Daniel spat in a rush, finally coming up with his answer.
"Which is exactly why you're gonna stay right here." Jack pointed to the base's concrete floor, his tone annoyingly calm.
"Because... I'll quit!" Daniel finally yelled, his frustration boiling over like an unwatched pot.
"Why don't you just hold your breath? You haven't done that in a while." Jack snapped sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Jack!" Daniel whined, fully aware that he was starting to sound like a petulant child, but dammit, he didn't have any other choice! He had to be on the next mission to Atlantis – staying here was no longer an option.
Jack rounded on him, his finger raised threateningly and his expression thunderous. "Look! I said no, okay! Just because she's engaged now-" Daniel visibly flinched and Jack paused, lowering his voice and taking a gentler tone when he spoke again. "Just because she's engaged now doesn't mean you get to run away. If you're not gonna do anything about that, then you're just gonna have to buck up and deal with your feelings, Danny."
Jack examined the forlorn-looking archaeologist; his head was bowed, his shoulders slumped, his eyes glued to his feet – there had never been a sadder sight. Jack sighed and spun on his heel to hurry to his meeting with General Hammond, leaving the desolate scientist alone in the hallway. Jack shook his head, hoping to god or the Ancients or whoever was listening that someone would knock some sense into Carter and get her to open her eyes to what was right in front of her, or else he may be replacing his whole SG-1 team before long.