The Trouble With Daniel...

Chapter One: Space Pirate

"Daniel."

Damn. Jack knows he's here.

Daniel had known it wouldn't be a secret. Reports on the incident were sent back to Homeworld Security and the SGC before the Prometheus had even limped back into Earth orbit. He just wasn't ready to talk about it yet. He wasn't even officially back on duty until tomorrow morning, and had been hoping that a quick trip to his office would go unnoticed.

He should have known Jack wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Hey, Jack."

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Oh, you know, just going through some old notebooks." Notebooks he might have scribbled some mention of the Goa'uld power structure prior to the SGC's arrival on the galactic scene in. "Nothing important. You?"

"Same old, same old," Jack dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Heard you found yourself a Space Pirate."

"Jack," Daniel really doesn't want to talk about this right now.

"Daniel," pushes Jack.

"Jack," Daniel warns.

"For crying out loud, Daniel, you got beat up by a girl! It's embarrassing!"

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed, thanks," Daniel replies sarcastically. Jack just stares at him, unimpressed, until Daniel drops his gaze to the small stack of notebooks on his desk, muttering, "Anyway, I won the fight, didn't I?"

"Barely!" Jack points out. "It's not exactly something to be proud of!"

"You think I don't know that?" Daniel glares at his friend.

"Yeah, so?"

"So what, Jack?"

"So what're you gonna do about it?" Jack wants to know.

"I don't know, Jack!" yells Daniel, "I don't know! Okay?"

"Okay," Jack agrees with him, holding his hands up in surrender. He watches as Daniel pulls his glasses off and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Jeesh,"

"There's nothing I can do," Daniel admits quietly. Reluctant to look Jack in the eyes, he concentrates on polishing his glasses instead.

Jack silently observes his friend, thinking that Hammond was right… "Got under your skin, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," Daniel nods. "I'd say just a little – just a little bit, yeah."

"Hammond says she's really somethin'."

Daniel grimaces and puts his glasses back on, "Oh, she's something alright!"

"Daniel," Jack's worried.

"Jack," Like Daniel's gonna suddenly go chasing after a con artist. He knows that Vala won't be caught unless she wants to be. She's got a whole galaxy to hide in. Daniel's life is here.

"Daniel," warns Jack.

"It's not like I'm ever gonna see her again, Jack," Daniel points out.

"Yeah, sure, you betcha," Jack agrees, nodding. "Unless you jinx it like that!"

"Look, what do you want me to say here?" asks Daniel.

"I don't know!" cries Jack. "But I'll tell you what I do know Daniel. First thing tomorrow, you're starting Advanced Hand to Hand training."

"Jack," Daniel protests.

"With Carter."

"Jack!" That's not fair. Sam's lethal. She'll wipe the floor with him.

"You got beat up by a girl, Daniel!" Jack reminds him.

"I beat her!"

"You let her think she'd knocked you out and zatted her when her back was turned!"

"Well, it worked, didn't it?"

"Look, I get that you'd rather use your words than your fists, I really, really do," Jack tells him. "But you got lucky. And a concussion. If this Valla woman-"

"Vala."

"-Had actually wanted to hurt you, things could have ended very differently."

"I'm sorry, what?" Daniel distinctly remembers hurting. A lot.

"You heard me," Jack tells him. "Some day you're gonna come up against someone who doesn't have a problem using lethal force, and with your luck it'll probably sooner rather than later. So, you're gonna learn hand-to-hand and how to hit a girl. Thus, combat training with Carter."

"C'mon, Jack," appeals Daniel. "This is ridiculous. You're over-reacting."

"No," Jack tells him flatly. "I'm not."

"Fine," snaps Daniel. "Anything else?"

"Team night at my place. Tonight," Jack informs him, getting up and heading towards the door. "Bring beer."

"Jack," Daniel makes one last effort to convince him. "I'm fine."

Jack stops in the doorway, looks Daniel in the eye, and scoffs, "Yeah. Sure. You betcha."

"Jack," Daniel protests as the General walks out of the door.

"Seven o'clock, Daniel!" Jack calls as he disappears.

Daniel sighs, exasperated, running his hand through his hair. Great, now he has getting his ass kicked by Sam on a regular basis and a night of his best friends teasing him about Space Pirates to look forward to.

"Yay."

And he's talking to himself.

Daniel sighs again and side-eyes the row of old journals on his bookshelf. He knows there's little chance they contain the answer he's looking for. But on the bright side, now Jack knows he's here, there's nothing stopping him from asking Teal'c if he knows anything. Grabbing his current notebook from his desk, he heads up to Teal'c's quarters.

He's not even sure why it matters so much. Maybe because it's the only solid fact he knows about her: Vala was once a Goa'uld.

Daniel wants to know which one.