When Jack didn't answer his front door, Daniel decided to let himself in. It was easy enough as Jack hardly ever locked the front door when he was home. Plus, this wasn't the first time Daniel had to do such a thing. Jack often overslept, ignored his alarm, and turned off his cell phone on his days off. A few of those days when he was supposed to get together with Daniel and Teal'c for breakfast Jack had overslept, hence the reason why Daniel simply let himself in.

In this instance, there was a potentially urgent mission that would most likely need SG-1 so it was Daniel's job to wake up Jack. As a precaution, Daniel made his way to the kitchen with the intention of making a pot of very strong coffee on the chance that Jack was hung over.

After the blowout yesterday with Selmak it was a strong probability.

Or…maybe not.

"Jack?" he called to the open refrigerator door.

Jack's head bolted up with this surprised look on his face. The swelling in his nose had gone but was replaced with two dark circles eyes. It was bound to happen one of these days where Jack's mouth went to far and pushed someone over the edge. Daniel himself had been close a few times.

He was just most surprised that that someone ended up being Selmak. The ex-Tok'ra symbiote was normally calm and reserved. When in action during battle he was calculative and never impulsive. And Jacob was the exact same way! In fact, Daniel honestly didn't think anything could get Jacob or Selmak riled up enough to throw a punch like that at a friend.

"Dr. Jackson!"

'Dr. Jackson? Jack hasn't called me that since…' Daniel thought to himself. He was about to question why Jack called him that but thought better of it. Jack might be in one of his 'moods' and it'd be best for Daniel if he found out which mood the man was in first. Instead Daniel decided to play along and smiled, "Last time I checked."

"Right…sorry…Daniel," Jack mumbled.

It was at that moment that Daniel noticed the distinct odor of Pinesol in the air. Ok, so the scent of a cleaning agent wasn't that uncommon. But around Jack…it was…rare! To be sure, Daniel moved around to get a better look inside the refrigerator. It was…spotless and…empty.

"Are you…cleaning?"

"This refrigerator was a pigsty!" Jack uncharacteristically exclaimed. "Someone had to clean it! That lazy nimrod…I mean I've been lazy lately and decided to clean up on my day off."

Wait a second! That did not sound like Jack. He usually had some mad reason for keeping food in his refrigerator well past the edible stage. The sight of Jack actually throwing away Chinese food containers from the fridge was a something Daniel had never seen before. Teal'c often questioned if Jack was doing scientific experiments in there. And Daniel made the mistake of opening one out of curiosity...he couldn't get the smell out of his nose for hours.

"Jack, you sure you're alright?" Daniel asked, as Jack was tossing the last take out container into the trash bin.

"Doct…Daniel, I'm fine. Never been better!" he grinned nervously.

It was a nervous grin. Not one of Jack's normal smirks. It was almost as if he were hiding something.

"I'm fine. What's up?" Jack asked, suddenly sounding very normal.

Maybe Daniel was imagining things. He was a little weary. He'd been putting in too many long hours at the SGC lately and really needed a vacation. But with the war against the Goa'uld going on there wasn't really time for such things.

"General Hammond needs us at the base for an emergency mission. I stopped by to wake you up."

"Mission?" Jack questioned, looking…well he looked a little…odd…if Daniel had never seen Jack in action, he'd say that his friend looked…afraid.

"Jack, did you hit your head? You're not acting like yourself."

"No, I'm fine. Just….just have a headache…hangover, you know," he answered than quickly changed the subject. "So, what's this mission about?"

"Not sure exactly. Hammond needs me to do a little research based on the information a probe relayed back to Earth before the briefing. Then he'll decide if we're a go for the mission or not."

Jack grimaced as he rubbed the back of his neck. It wasn't really a grimace of pain. He looked less than enthusiastic, presumably about having to go on a mission. Odd, the man was always ready for a mission unless it involved the Tok'ra. And it was kind of ironic…Jack was rubbing the back of his neck the exact same way Jacob often did. And Jacob was a man that Jack wasn't getting along with lately!

"Jack…"

"I know," he sighed. "You're driving though."

"What?"

"Are you deaf? You're driving,"

"What happened to your truck?"

Jack stared at him for a moment.

"Gas…that's right. It's out of gas," he simply said, stone faced with no emotions.

"Ok," Daniel replied slowly, pondering if perhaps this is just all a big joke by Jack. Wouldn't be the first time. "Fine, let's go."

Daniel hurried outside and head towards his car. While he called the base to say they were on route, Jack came out the door in a hurry. Then he rushed back to close the door. Halfway to the car, he turned around again, this time searching for something in his pockets. Daniel watched as Jack frantically searched until he pulled out his keys then locked the front door.

Finally, after Jack climbed into the car Daniel started the engine. His nose caught a whiff of something. It was coming from Jack.

"What?" Jack asked, glancing at his jeans and T-shirt. He even lifted the flaps of his jacket and looked. "Is this not appropriate apparel?"

"Is that…cologne you're wearing?"

"Is it a crime to want to smell nice? For Egeria's sake!" he shouted defensively. "I'm not some mindless oaf that doesn't know the difference between the stink of a dog's ass and the perfumes at Victoria Secret!"

"Sorry!" Daniel blinked, wondering just what the hell was going on with Jack!

And why on Earth would Jack be using the name Egeria. He usually had more...colorful terms when expressing himself or when speaking of someone.

"I really need a vacation," Daniel whispered to himself.

"What?" Jack asked as he buckled his seat belt.

"Oh, I was just mentioning that…that I could use a vacation."

"Me too," Jack spoke softly. Then as Daniel pulled out onto the street Jack suddenly asked, "Does this side have an airbag? They say most accidents occur within a mile of one's home. Of course, you're doing the driving but we still within a mile of my house."

"Jack, are you sure you're ok?"

"Other than my splitting headache…I'm just peachy. But you didn't answer my question."

"Yes, the passenger side has an airbag."

"Excellent. Don't drive above the recommended speed limit. In fact, you can drive a little slower if you want. I won't mind."

Daniel didn't know what to say. The man sitting beside him had the most sincere smile on his face and sounded as if he meant every word. Only the man Daniel knew as Jack O'Neill didn't smile like that, at least not to him. The man Daniel knew always had a smirk or a smart-alecky grin. The man sitting beside him was Jack O'Neill only he didn't sound anything like Jack O'Neill that Daniel knew. Plus, Jack had a lead foot!

"Perhaps, I should drive. You don't look so well, Dr. Jackson."

"I'm fine," Daniel said shaking his head. Maybe he was simply too tired. "I just need…"

"A vacation…right. I understand completely. It's been a few decades since I've taken a real vacation myself."

"Decades?" Daniel mouthed to himself as he kept his eyes on the road.

Jack didn't notice. He was being uncharacteristically chatty. Although, he wasn't talking about anything particular, he was just…rambling on. Perhaps this would be a good time to…

"Jack, I was wondering if you'd now want to talk about what happened between you and Selmak yesterday."

Dead silence filled the inside compartment of the car.

"There's nothing to talk about. Words were exchanged, blows were exchanged…what's done is done. There's no changing it," Jack spoke softly staring out the passenger window.

"I still think you owe Selmak an apology."

"I'm afraid no apology can undo what happened," Jack sighed.

Daniel was going to pressure Jack but decided against it. He could sense that Jack was no longer in a talkative mood. He was back to being more like the Jack that Daniel knew. Still, it might be best to have Teal'c keep an eye on Jack. If anyone could determine if something was truly wrong with Jack it would be Teal'c. At least Teal'c would be able to get Jack to talk.