4.
Jack O'Neill stared out the viewing window of his office, coffee cups and paperwork strewn around him in disarray, and then leaned back in his chair, running his hands over his eyes and through his hair. It had been a long night, and promised to be an even longer day. The intel SG12 had brought back wasn't good, but there was nothing he could do about it except strategize and wait for the proverbial shoe to drop. And it was going to drop. Soon.
He picked up the paperwork, piling it up carefully and then threw the coffee cups in the garbage. Walter would be coming in half an hour. Jack didn't want him to know exactly how distracted he was. And he was distracted. Damn Daniel anyway. Why now of all times had Daniel decided to stick in nose in someone else's, and specifically his, business? He shook his head, and closed his eyes for a minute, remembering. Daniel had always had a talent for being damned annoying when he felt like it. And sometimes, just sometimes, Daniel had had a point.
Damn it all anyway.
So he, Jack O'Neill, was seeing someone. What was the big deal in that? Carter and he had locked up whatever had been there years ago, and she'd moved on. She was engaged for gods sake. You'd think Daniel would get that. And Jack was happy for her. One of his biggest hopes for her was for her to be happy and now she clearly was. And as for him, caring about someone for eight years when it was never going to go anywhere was, even for him, beating himself up long enough. It was time to move on.
Kerry Johnson was an intelligent and charming woman and for some unfathomable reason seemed to be interested in him, which was pretty weird. And OK, if he had to engage in Daniel type discussion, he might be willing to acknowledge that he might never have noticed her if Carter hadn't decided to get engaged the week before. But it wasn't like he was on a rebound. There was nothing to rebound from.
He hadn't asked Kerry out; she'd asked him to dinner, which had stunned him at the time. He grimaced, remembering. He was so out of practice that he hadn't even understood the question.
He sighed. Daniel was an absolute ass. Just because Teal'c and he had walked in on Kerry and him while having dinner at his house, Daniel had jumped to impossible conclusions. He was hardly leading Kerry on. They'd had the appropriate discussions about taking things slowly, about keeping the relationship quiet, about not promising anything. The fact of the matter was that he enjoyed her company.
Damn Daniel anyway. The real fact of the matter was that he was a Brigadier General in charge of over 3000 men and women, on the brink of war with Anubis, and he didn't have time for this kind of distraction. He had every right to have a personal life and enjoy a woman's company in what few downtime moments that he did have without having someone second-guessing his motives.
The worst part was he was going to have to let Daniel back on the base. They needed his translation skills to figure out the tablet SG12 had brought back with them, and they needed that tablet yesterday. On top of that, Bratac and Teal'c were nearing completion on the plans for the Jaffa rebellion. Bottom line, Daniel's presence was necessary right now, regardless of his general inclination towards insubordination, flat out immaturity at times and inability to understand when to keep his mouth shut.
Yeah, Daniel was a pain. But Jack had to admit that this was the first time Daniel had annoyed him enough that Jack had resorted to action rather than just threats. And that said something. Actually said a lot. The fact was, when Daniel got this willing to be out of line, he usually had a point. Uncomfortable with the thought, he let it go and turned back to the pile of work in front of him. He'd leave Daniel to simmer for the morning at least. To be perfectly honest, Jack needed the break.
TBC…