Fic: Vampires, and Werewolves, and Wormholes, Oh My! (2/3)
Previously: Vampires, and Werewolves, and Wormholes, Oh My! (1/3)
Jack wandered the halls aimlessly, surprised at how at loose ends he felt on the base without his team around. It wasn't that he regularly hung out with them or anything, but he'd grown accustomed to Teal'c at his side and occasionally joining Sam and Daniel in the mess hall for a meal. The rest of his time was usually filled with work, and boy was there a lot of paperwork involved in traveling to other planets.
On this particular day Sam had informed him in passing that she, Daniel, and Jonas were going out to check on a science observatory station they'd set up on another planet and would be gone for most of the day. Jack had told her to have fun and had been taken back by the enthusiasm in her response that they would. Apparently some people just loved rainwater samples and astrological observations that much.
Losing half his team to a day of scientific revelry, the half that still wouldn't have much to do with him, shouldn't have made much of a difference in Jack's day. Usually he'd just nab Teal'c, spend a few hours doing things they could pass off as work, and then go settle down with a stack of dvds under the guise of giving Teal'c more information about Earth. Instead Teal'c was down one of the bimonthly "Welcome to Earth" support meetings that were held for all the off-worlders and aliens that currently lived among them. Teal'c had informed him that today they were going over Earth customs concerning food and restaurants and he could join them if he so wished. Jack had quickly made up a report that he should have got to the General days ago and hurried away. He already had received enough lectures about table manners to last one lifetime, he didn't need a class on the subject too.
After a spell of roaming aimlessly through the halls Jack found himself at the open room next to the gym that the base used for sparring practice. Jack had spent more than a few hours in there getting his butt schooled by Teal'c, but then again no one was able to beat Teal'c when it came to hand-to-hand combat, so Jack didn't feel too bad. Besides, sparring against someone who was virtually unbeatable gave Jack an edge for the rare occasions he did go up against mere humans. Jack had yet to get either Sam or Daniel to go for a team sparring practice, but he'd seen both of them in action off-world and had a feeling they were both quite formidable despite their more harmless appearances.
There was noise coming from inside the sparring room and Jack indulged his curiosity, as there wasn't much else he could do at the moment, and peered inside. He recognized the two men on the floor as being members of the special flight squadron that had arrived in the mountain about the same time as his first day. Around the edges of the marked sparring area stood the rest of the squadron, all intent on watching the fierce battle that was being waged. Intrigued and interested in what the special squadron could do, Jack moved up onto the small set of bleachers that was at the side of the room and leaned in to watch.
The squadron leader, a man in his late thirties with dark hair, was occasionally shouting instructions but was mostly facilitating the group of a dozen men and woman through the practice. It quickly became obvious that whoever won the match stayed in the ring and the leader directed another in to take the place of the one who had lost. Some of the matches took several minutes and it was near the end when a beautiful woman with long dark hair gracefully took out the man who had only stepped in after the previous match in under a minute.
The leader stepped in the ring, all of his squadron shouting encouragements to both him and the woman, and Jack was surprised at how well the pair complimented each other. Their movements were quick and graceful and they were very evenly matched. The woman stumbled at one point, and then neatly knocked the man to the floor when he moved to take advantage of the situation, her laugh ringing out over the room. At the fifteen minute mark they both dropped to the ground where they stood, apparently willing to take a draw when it was clear there would be no victor any time soon between the pair of them. In all his time in the Air Force Jack couldn't remember ever seeing anything quite like that. For the first time he really thought he understood the idea of two people moving with one mind and one being, something his combat instructors had expounded upon many times.
After being helped to his feet, the leader pulled up the woman and they stood close against each other as the leader dismissed his squadron. "What do you think, Colonel O'Neill?" he asked, still leaning against the woman as he turned to look up at Jack.
Jack got to his feet and walked down the seats of the bleachers. "Very impressive. I can see why your squadron was called in for this particular assignment."
"Well, when they want the best, they call us," the woman said, her smile more mischievous than Jack had ever seen on an air force officer. "I'm Vala, by the way, and this is Cam."
"Colonel Cameron Mitchell," the man corrected immediately, though the good natured smile hadn't left his face. "I've heard a lot about you of course."
"Of course," Jack said, wondering how much he'd heard about him and how much he'd heard about the O'Neil with one "L" without realizing they were different people. It had been something Jack had encountered a few times now and he hadn't found it any more pleasant as time had passed.
"Are you interested?" Vala asked, still grinning, but now twirling a long strand of her hair between her fingers.
Jack's eyebrows shot up.
"She means are you interested in sparring with us. Apart from the Jaffa on your team, you're supposed to be one of the best on the base. What do you say?" Cam asked. "Vala, and then me?"
Jack experimentally flexed his muscles and rolled his shoulders and then nodded. He felt well enough after the fall he'd taken off-world a few days previously and he couldn't let a challenge like that go unanswered. "I'll go change and be back in a few minutes. Don't go running off now, I know where to find you."
Vala and Cam smirked identical smirks. "We wouldn't leave you hanging," Vala called after him, her bright laughter following her out of the room.
By dinner Jack was sore and nursing several new bruises, but he felt he had adequately shown off his particular skill set. Sure, he might set Teal'c on the odd pair from the flight squadron as revenge, but Jack wasn't ashamed of his performance at all.
"What happened to you?" Daniel asked suddenly, halfway through their meal.
"Sparred with Cam and Vala from the flight squadron. That girl has a mean left hook," Jack said, rolling one of his shoulders experimentally. "Daniel, I didn't know you cared."
Daniel just glowered, though Sam was now looking up with an expression of concern that might have been comical if she didn't seem so worried. "Maybe you shouldn't spar with them, Jack."
"They were actually okay, not at all what you'd think a special flight squadron would be like. I think you'd like them," Jack said, digging into his pork chop and mashed potatoes with gusto. "They're fun."
Daniel and Sam exchanged a long look. "Yeah, just do us a favor and stay away from them. Hopefully they won't be in the mountain too long anyway," Daniel said, glaring at the tables around them like the flight squadron could be nearby.
Jack swallowed his mouthful of potatoes as he tried to figure out why Daniel and Sam seemed so against the flight squadron but nothing came to mind. Maybe they'd had a day of bad science and were grumpy, he thought before deciding that was probably it. Scientists were weird like that.
*****
Jack scowled as he finished his loop of level seventeen, the keys that he'd borrowed from the General's Staff Sergeant clinking together in his grip. He'd give the keys back, eventually, as soon as he found where on the base Daniel Jackson holed himself up. It was ridiculous that he didn't know where the office of one of his own teammates was, and even more ridiculous that Jack actually had to go track his difficult and irascible archeologist down.
The fight they'd had during the morning briefing had been pretty spectacular, Jack was actually surprised that Daniel hadn't leapt over the table at him, but he had to acknowledge that it had been a long time coming. Now, if only Jack could figure out exactly what they were fighting about, then he could find a solution and all of the storming out of meetings and the barely looking at each other during off-world missions could stop. Jack actually knew what was wrong; Daniel didn't like him. He still didn't know why, and Jack had gone through everything from the misconceived notion that he would be a bully to the scientists to the idea that he was eating the wrong flavor of jello and that was deeply offensive to archeologists.
At his point it didn't matter the reason for Daniel's intense dislike so much as that it stopped. George had been obviously disappointed that Jack's team was fraught with tension, enough that he'd commented that maybe they had better work some things out before they went off-world again and had postponed their mission. Jack had gone to his own office for a few hours to cool off, bouncing a rubber ball against the cement walls and catching it until his hand stung and his head was clear. However, as he searched the base level by level, his frustration and irritation were building up once again. If he thought that Daniel would actually show up he would convince Walter, one of the 'gate technicians, to do a page of the base over the emergency system. Jack figured that would just give Daniel the edge to know that he was being hunted.
Jack cracked his knuckles as he rounded a corner: he would show Daniel Jackson exactly what it meant to be hunted. He'd give the man a real reason to dislike him. He'd-
His thought process stopped abruptly before he could figure out exactly what he was going to do with the cup of jello he was picturing in his mind as he slammed into someone while rounding another corner. Jack found himself on the floor, feeling a little dazed, and staring up at a man he vaguely recognized.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry. I forgot to look, I was reading. I'm sorry," the man was saying over and over. A stack of books was tucked under one arm and an open book was held in the hand he was gesticulating with.
Jack pushed himself back to his feet and grimaced. Apparently he didn't need to go off-world to get himself knocked over. "Jonas?" he asked, the name of the man who sometimes sat with Sam and Daniel finally coming to mind.
Jonas smiled, his eyes widening in pleasure. "You remembered my name. You're Jack O'Neill. I've read all your mission reports. Daniel Jackson speaks of you often."
"Don't believe a word of it," Jack muttered as he dusted his pants off.
Jonas stared in confusion before shaking his head. "I just finished speaking with Daniel. He gave me these books to read. Do you want to borrow one?"
"No," Jack said firmly and turned to walk away before he realized what Jonas had just said. "Jonas, wait. Were you just at Daniel's office? And he was inside?"
"Yes, I was," Jonas said, his bright smile back. "I'm sure if you wanted to borrow a different book he would let you. He has many books in his office."
Jack nodded and tried to feel bad about the act of subterfuge he was about to perform. Tried and failed; some things were just too easy to feel bad about. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. But I've forgotten where Daniel's office is, maybe you could point me in the right direction. So I could find a book."
"What is it that Sam says?" Jonas asked himself, closing his eyes as he thought. "Oh yes. I am happy to be of service."
"I'm sure you are," Jack said dryly, thinking that the lack of rain seemed to have improved Jonas's spirits quite a bit.
Jonas proceeded to give Jack a rather complicated set of instructions and ten minutes later Jack was outside an office door listening to the sound of Daniel singing in a language he didn't recognize. Daniel's office was deep in one of the lower levels, well past the storage rooms filled with boxes of things that Jack didn't have names for. Jack leaned against an exposed pipe and listened to Daniel's voice, a little bit entranced by the music that was filling the surrounding areas. When it stopped, Jack blinked and took a minute to come back to himself, reminding himself that he was frustrated and here to tell Daniel to be at least civil before their entire team got suspended from 'gate travel. Jack didn't feel frustrated at all.
"What are you doing here?" Daniel asked before Jack even stepped inside the office.
"Looking for you, which I think would be pretty obvious since you're the only one down here," Jack said. Ah, there was the frustration he was missing just a moment ago.
Daniel scowled and refocused on the sheets of translations he had spread out in front of him. "You need to leave. Now."
"No, we need to talk, now," Jack said, unable to keep a sarcastic lilt from his voice. "I don't know what your problem is with me, but it has to stop."
Daniel's gaze landed on Jack the instant he moved to step inside the room. "Stay out. You shouldn't have come down here."
Jack stared and then deliberately stepped inside the office, running one of his hands along a shelf filled with various artifacts. "Well, I'm here now. So unless you'd rather have our next knock out argument in front of the General, I think we should take care of this here."
"You want to fight me?" Daniel asked.
"No," Jack said. He bit back his impulse to say I want you to like me, because where did that come from? "I want you to show a little bit of respect."
"Respect?" Daniel repeated.
Jack nodded, warming up to the topic. "Even if you hate me, you could at least pretend that you don't in front of General Hammond."
Daniel blinked, surprise flashing across his features before he resumed his typical blank expression. "I don't hate you. Quite the contrary," he said quietly, taking a step towards Jack.
"Doesn't seem that way," Jack said. "You barely even talk to me, and when you do it's to point out that I'm wrong or flawed or ugly."
"I've never called you ugly," Daniel said, though his lips twitched in an almost smile. He took another step closer.
Jack shrugged, trying not to admit to himself how relieved he was that Daniel didn't hate him. "Anyway, if we could just save it for when we're not in front of an audience, that would be good."
Daniel stared, one of his hands coming out to hover for a moment near Jack's face before letting it fall back to his side. "That's not going to happen. I shouldn't be alone with you; you shouldn't be here with me. But I will try to tone things down around the General."
"That's all I ask," Jack said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "It doesn't have to be like this you know, I'm a nice guy, once you get to know me."
"I'm not," Daniel took a hasty step back and returned to his translations. "It's not safe, you need to leave."
Jack stared for a long moment, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with Daniel. He'd thought they screened for mental instability before they let someone join a 'gate team, but maybe this guy had slipped through the cracks in the system.
"Go!" Daniel shouted, startling Jack.
"Going," Jack said, quickly leaving Daniel's office. Maybe Daniel was right about one thing - Daniel was not a nice guy, even though he was somehow very intriguing and puzzling.
Jack shook those thoughts from his head and went in search of Teal'c to see if he was up for a Die Hard marathon. That was one good way to clear any thoughts of Daniel Jackson from his mind.
*****
Three days later they were off-world, once again dragging themselves through what seemed like an endless forest with droplets of freezing water from a recent rainfall occasionally dripping down on them.
"How different," Jack muttered to himself as he untangled his boots from a particularly insistent vine. "Can someone please tell me what we are doing here?"
"We are looking for allies in the war against the Goa'uld, O'Neill," Teal'c said firmly, nearly causing Jack to jump out of his skin. "It is of the utmost importance that we start the seeds of rebellion and seek out those who can help us technologically. If we do not it is likely that your planet and my people will all die in the coming months of battle."
"Right," Jack said. "Good to know I can count on you to brighten the mood."
"He's right, sir," Sam put in. "Our sources say that there should be a settlement just on the edge of this forest, near the river."
"Uh huh," Jack said. Mostly he was thinking that he was going to have to sell his fishing cabin and find a new one somewhere where there wasn't any trees. No trees at all. Not a single- "Down!"
Jack hit the dirt along with the rest of his team, all of whom had finally learned to follow his instructions when they were under attack. An energy pulse hit a tree across from where Jack had just been standing and he grimaced as he started moving to a place where he would be better concealed in the underbrush. "Every time. Every freaking time we go to a planet someone wants to kill us. We didn't even get to say hello."
"Actually, it's only about 42 percent of our missions that we come under attack," Sam said from where she was crawling towards the same shelter that Jack had seen. "And about half of those times we'd already made contact."
"Whatever," Jack said as he rolled over to make sure the rest of his team was getting out of the range of fire. "This way," he called a little louder when he saw that Daniel was moving in the opposite direction, directly towards where the shots were being fired from.
"Daniel!" Jack said, the name feeling like a curse against his tongue. Jack turned himself around and started moving after Daniel. The man was actually rather quick and before long Jack had nearly lost sight of him. Finally Daniel stopped halfway through a thick curtain of foliage and Jack caught up enough to reach forward and grab Daniel's tac-vest with more force than was strictly necessary.
He would have said got you or some variation on that, but suddenly they were both plunging forward and sliding down a muddy ravine towards a damp river bed. They rolled to a stop near the bottom, Jack panting as the world came still again and he stared up at the gray sky.
"What did you do that for?" Daniel asked, a slurp of mud indicating that he was only a foot or two away from Jack.
"You're the one who went traipsing off in the middle of a fire-fight," Jack snapped, pushing himself to his knees and futilely wiping his muddy hands on his muddy jacket.
"I was getting enough distance so I could see who was firing at us, maybe see if we could get them to stop," Daniel said as he pushed his muddy hair away from his eyes, leaving streaks of mud on his cheeks and temples.
Jack sputtered and stared. "Did you ever think of getting to somewhere that you wouldn't be shot? Not to mention, I think we have enough distance now and we can't see anything!"
"Well if you hadn't pushed me over a cliff we wouldn't be in the middle of his giant mud pit," Daniel pointed out, his glare saying more than his words.
"It wasn't a cliff!" Jack shouted. "It's barely a rolling hill."
Daniel gestured to the messy trail that they had made as they fell. It was actually a pretty considerable distance, even if it absolutely wasn't a cliff.
Jack gave up, too irritated and muddy and miserable to bother making a rational argument. Instead he reached forward and shoved Daniel back into the slightly deeper and gooier puddle of mud directly behind them.
Daniel made a wild grab, latching onto Jack's tac-vest and pulling him into the mud with him. They landed with a loud splat and within seconds they were both scrambling in what was more like a school yard scuffle than an actual fight between an Air Force colonel and a military trained archeologist.
Jack was surprised by how strong Daniel actually was, even though they were both hampered by the slippery mud. Several times Jack found himself pinned down, only to knock Daniel's feet out and wiggle free again. The fight lasted for what felt like hours even if it was only minutes, and ended when Jack was pinned firmly into the mud with all of Daniel's weight pressing down on him.
Staring up into Daniel's mud covered face, his blue eyes the only distinguishing feature Jack could latch onto as he panted for air. Suddenly Jack started laughing at the ridiculousness of what had just happened and was surprised when Daniel started laughing a moment later.
Daniel helped him out of the mud pit and a few minutes later they were scaling the sloping hill back up into the forest where Sam and Teal'c were waiting for them.
The General had only raised an eyebrow at their appearance when they returned through the 'gate, but he had apparently seen that both Jack and Daniel were smiling because he hadn't commented or even gave Jack the look that meant he was annoyed. Jack slapped his hand on Daniel's shoulder as they walked towards the locker rooms. Apparently there were things that could be solved through a good old-fashioned mud fight - Jack had always suspected this was so, but now he had proof.
*****
A few weeks passed and Jack slowly became accustomed to the reality of Daniel Jackson not ignoring him, at least not completely. Daniel still seemed to prefer to spend his time with Sam and occasionally Teal'c. Jonas and Janet made frequent appearances at their table in the mess hall, but Jack felt more welcomed there than he had in the past. Daniel would even acknowledge his presence and pass him the salt when he asked, though not without a lecture about the uses of salt throughout history. It felt weird even thinking it, but Jack felt he might prefer the lecture to the irritated silence he would have received earlier.
So his team wasn't buddy-buddy and doing the soul bonding thing that he saw the rest of the 'gate teams doing, but at least now they could all be in the same room with each other without it being under direct orders.
On the days they weren't slated for missions or busy with other activities on the base Jack took to wandering down to Sam's lab halfway through the day to see what she was up to and relieve his own boredom for a few minutes. Even after Sam told him what she was doing, nine times out of ten Jack still had no idea. Jack had always thought he was pretty smart and pretty tough, though he wouldn't tell the military that, but hanging around his team made him realize that he was leagues behind when it came to space travel. He was better off sticking to tactical military stuff and leaving the alien gadgets to those who knew better and weren't adverse to potentially having their hands blown off or mutated or something.
The other reason Jack was visiting Sam's lab regularly was because about half of the time Daniel was there too. It was there that Jack started to realize that maybe Daniel wasn't exactly who, or what, he said he was.
Daniel, who Jack had always thought was a little bit odd, was knowledgeable about a lot of odd things. Not just old Earth cultures and pottery and all of that university stuff, but music and architecture and alien things. Things that a man who looked all of thirty-something with floppy hair had no business knowing. Jack knew that Daniel had two doctorates and that Sam had three, which was frankly just ridiculous, but that didn't explain how they both moved in tandem when the team came under attack. One mission Jack had seen Daniel pick up a discarded weapon, a complicated looking blade of some sort, and use it to defend himself against two attackers. Jack had actually done research, real books and paper and computers research, and discovered that while most archeologists could handle a side-arm, there wasn't anything in there about mandatory weird sword training.
It wasn't just about knowing things, or the way that Daniel's movements sometimes seemed too fluid and quick, but also there was the way Daniel seemed to live off of coffee and little else. To be fair that was about half of the people on the base, but when Jack thought about it, he could only rarely ever recall seeing Daniel eat part of an MRE while they were stranded overnight in a cave-in. Daniel, with all of his strange grace, his impressive and versatile mind, and his carefully guarded expressions, was occupying a fair amount of Jack's free thinking space.
Jack had seen the impossible before, he saw the improbable on a day-to-day basis, but two missions ago Daniel had fallen from an impressive height from a tree. Jack had gone racing through the forest in half-panic, that sure he would find the archeologist broken and mangled at the bottom of the tree trunk. Instead when he came to the place Daniel had landed there was no sign of his fall other than a set of deep shoe prints. Daniel was standing a few feet away and peering up to examine the markings on another tree, absently pointing out that they were directional signs to the nearby civilization.
His first thought had been that maybe Daniel had been bit by a mutant flying squirrel, but that didn't seem too likely. And besides, Jack had placed a bowl of assorted nuts on the lunch table the next day and Daniel hadn't seemed remotely interested. Ruling out the mutant flying squirrel theory, Jack was left with a few other options that seemed likely to varying degrees. His personal favorite was that Daniel had gone sunbathing in a particularly bad type of solar radiation on some alien beach and had gained superpowers as a result. Mostly Jack wanted a nice alien beach, but he'd yet to encounter one yet. The only beach they'd found so far had been inhabited by giant mutant crabs that made very peculiar noises and clicked their claws menacingly.
Jack's other theories ranged from psychic possession to Daniel turning green and very large when he was angry, angrier than he'd ever been with Jack, but Jack mostly blamed those theories on Teal'c's slowly growing superhero movie collection and Lou Ferrigno. Then again, Jack tended to blame a lot of things on Lou Ferrigno just as a matter of course. Regardless of the source of Daniel's abilities, Jack was certain of one thing. Daniel wasn't entirely human.
*****
"Teal'c, buddy, where are you going?" Jack shouted down the corridor. He'd just been on his way to gear up for their next mission when he'd seen Teal'c hurrying in the opposite direction.
Teal'c turned where he stood and moved swiftly back to Jack. "I have been summoned to assist with a dire situation on the world of one of our allies. Samantha Carter will also be joining me. You have my word I will place myself between her and any harm."
Jack's eyebrows shot up as he calculated how quickly he could be ready to go through the 'gate. He was packed up for a two day stroll around a planet that was supposed to have some potential for ancient weapons and devices, but he figured he could be ready for some action in four minutes or less. "Give me a moment to gear up and I'll come with you," he said, already moving to the locker room door.
"You are not able to accompany us. General Hammond is sending minimal personal through the 'gate as our mission will be best accomplished by stealth. There is only one other technician joining us. We will return as soon as we are able," Teal'c said, bowing his head toward Jack. "I understand that you are a warrior, but the time is not right for your battlefield."
Jack stared after Teal'c's quickly retreating form. "See ya soon?" he called, feeling a little bit grim about being left behind. He felt torn as he entered the locker room and sat down on one of the benches. He was the team leader, he should be out their protecting his team and whatever allies needed their assistance. On the other hand, Teal'c was the best warrior on the base and would be better able to guide Sam through whatever they might encounter off-world. Jack knew the drill about using the best assets to accomplish a mission, but it didn't stop him from aching to be in the field instead of waiting helplessly.
The door opened and Daniel walked in, already shrugging out of his jacket as he absentmindedly went to his storage space.
"Take it easy on the stripper routine there," Jack said, wishing he could take back the words when Daniel turned to stare at him with his mouth open in shock. "I just meant that our mission is shelved. Teal'c and Sam are going off to fix something for an ally, and we weren't invited along. You don't have to get undressed."
Daniel's eyebrow arched but he finished slipping out of his jacket before he sat down several feet away from Jack. "I'm not sure whether to be intrigued or disturbed right now, but I think I'll skip both for the time being. So we're not going to P3X-328?"
Jack started to shake his head but recalled how enthusiastic Daniel had been about this particular planet. "Maybe we could still go. Would a day trip be worth your time?"
"You're talking about going off-world, just you and me?" Daniel asked.
Jack shrugged. "Sure, why not? We go, look around, pick up whatever looks useful, and come back before Sam even fixes whatever she's fixing. It will be like an archeologist's daydream."
"More like an archeologist's nightmare. Don't touch anything," Daniel said firmly, using one hand to rub his forehead above his left eye. "I'm not really sure this is a good idea. Anything could happen out there."
"Well, let's see what General Hammond says. If he says we don't go, we don't go. But there hasn't been any reported signs of life there for centuries, right?" Jack asked.
"Right," Daniel agreed.
"Then I don't see what the problem is," Jack said. He pulled off his own jacket and reached for his off-world clothing. Twenty minutes later they were on P3X-whatever in the middle of a shimmering meadow that was scattered with all sorts of ruins and odd passages. It was an archeologist's daydream after all and the expression on Daniel's face as he looked around only confirmed it was so.
Jack was content to stand guard and walk around, watching Daniel examine various artifacts. Daniel stopped every so often to sketch something in his notebook and very rarely he carefully placed something in a containment case to be brought back to the base. After nearly two hours with no signs of threat or impending attack Jack started to look at some of the things he was walking around. None of the inscriptions meant anything to him, all in languages he didn't understand in the slightest, but there were some interesting looking devices and pictures.
A particular drawing caught Jack's attention, a stone tablet that looked familiar somehow, and he leaned down to brush the overlong grass away from the inscription. Another hand was suddnely on his wrist, pulling him well away from the tablet, and Jack looked up to find Daniel like some kind of vengeful god looming down on him.
"Don't touch anything," Daniel repeated, his eyes fierce.
Jack stood up straight, his heart beating rapidly as his brain caught up with the situation. Daniel had been all the way across the meadow, well over a hundred yards away, right before Jack had leaned down to touch the tablet. "Daniel?" Jack asked, his confusion and the slightest hint of fear making his head swim.
"That was booby-trapped. If you had touched it without a Goa'uld symbiote your hand would have been burned off," Daniel said, his hand still tight around Jack's wrist. His skin was freezing to touch and Jack realized that in the few times he'd felt Daniel's hands they'd always been ice cold.
"You were over by that pillar ten seconds ago," Jack said, not looking away from Daniel's intense eyes.
Daniel sighed and dropped Jack's wrist. "We were lucky."
Jack reached forward and grabbed Daniel's hand, feeling the chilled skin beneath his own sweating palm. "You're freezing. And there was no way you could have seen me reach for that tablet from across the meadow."
"What are you saying, Jack?" Daniel asked, wrenching his hand from Jack's grasp.
"I know what you are," Jack said. It probably would have been wiser to accuse Daniel when they were both on base, but Jack felt reasonably sure that Daniel wouldn't murder him even when given ample opportunity. "You're an alien."
Daniel stared, his eyes widening in shock.
"It all fits. Your cold skin, your uncanny knowledge, your speed and how you can leap through the trees," Jack said, not letting Daniel interrupt with any denials. "I figure that your species is probably distantly related to a flying squirrel, but there are other possibilities. Lemurs perhaps."
"Lemurs," Daniel repeated.
Jack nodded. "I know you have some concerns about this, obviously you've been on Earth for longer than the Stargate has been active, but I'm sure if you come clean to General Hammond he'll see reason. On the bright side, you won't even need those 'Welcome to Earth' classes they're making Teal'c and Jonas attend."
Daniel pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead. "I'm not an alien."
"Your skin is cold," Jack said, prepared to go through his list again.
"I'm a vampire, you idiot," Daniel said, dropping his hand and watching Jack with caution.
Jack thought about it for a moment. "Well, that makes sense. I guess."
"It does?" Daniel asked.
Jack used his hands to make a weighing motion. "Well, as much as wormholes and aliens and flying squirrels."
Jack didn't have any longer to contemplate vampires, aliens, or flying squirrels because Daniel lunged forward and pressed his lips to Jack's. At first Jack thought this might be how Daniel fed as a vampire, but then he realized that it was just a kiss and he relaxed into the all consuming sensation of being pressed against Daniel. Daniel released him a moment - an eternity - later. "What was that?" Jack asked, not sure what he was most surprised about; the kiss or the whole vampire business.
"Don't ask," Daniel said, looking away tersely.
"Wait, I know this one," Jack said as he thought. "...don't tell?"
Daniel sighed heavily. "I've been trying not to do that for months."
Jack looked around the meadow and then back at Daniel. "I wouldn't mind if you did it again. Just, watch the fangs, would ya?"
*****
It took Jack a few days to come to terms with the fact that one of his teammates was a vampire. Actually, it took Jack a few days and as many vampire movies as he could find on dvd to come to terms with the fact that one of his teammates was a vampire. Buffy the Vampire Slayer seemed promising but Dracula and Interview with a Vampire were both quite concerning and left Jack wondering if he needed to invest in neck protection of some kind, but for the most part he just felt confused about how practically everything he knew about vampire mythology contradicted what he'd seen Daniel do. On a particularly dull Wednesday, five days after Daniel's revelation and the kiss that Jack still wasn't sure what to do about, Jack set out to find Daniel and wound up in Sam's lab with the rest of his team.
"I thought we might talk," Jack said when he could get close enough to Daniel without attracting the attention of anyone else. "About what we talked about last week," Jack added when Daniel just looked confused.
"Oh, that," Daniel said, looking over at the artifact Sam was taking readings from.
"Yeah, that," Jack said, then immediately wondering if Daniel meant the vampire thing or the kissing thing. "Wait. That that or the other that?"
Daniel frowned and his eyes flickered. "The first that?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, that one."
"I've already told Sam and Teal'c that I told you. Sam was a little concerned that you'd tell, but I told her that you weren't inclined to do so," Daniel said. He leaned across the table to correct something on the paper Sam was making marks on to indicate what the artifact was doing.
Jack looked at Sam and Teal'c in confusion. Had he really been the last person to know about Daniel? "You told them about the first that or the second that?"
Daniel sighed. "I told them that I told you about our little fangs and blood drinking problem. Teal'c already knows, and well, Sam has the same problem as myself."
Jack turned and stared at Sam, his eyes widening when she just smiled and shrugged. "Don't you think as your team leader that I need to know stuff like this?"
"Not really," Daniel said, not looking up from the translation he was finishing.
"I was sworn to secrecy," Teal'c intoned.
Jack shook his head as he tried to wrap his mind around all of it. "So you're a vampire and an archeologist?" he asked Daniel.
"That's right," Daniel agreed.
"And you're a vampire and an Air Force Captain? Jack asked, turning to Sam.
"And an astrophysicist, but yes, I am," Sam said, looking up from the device she was prodding with electrical probes.
"And you're an alien and..." Jack trailed off and looked expectantly at Teal'c.
Teal'c stood even straighter. "I am a Jaffa warrior."
"We're not really sure what would happen if we tried to turn a Jaffa or a Goa'uld into a vampire. We think that the symbiote would repel the effects of a vampire bite, but we haven't actually tried yet," Daniel said absently.
"But Jonas is an alien and a vampire. And Janet is a vampire and a doctor," Sam said cheerfully, like she was delivering particularly good news. "Jonas seems to have some of the same special powers as me and Daniel, but Janet doesn't seem to have been afflicted by whatever it is that gives us our particular talents."
"You guys have super powers now?" Jack asked, sitting down on the stool that Daniel had shoved in his direction.
"I can tell the future, though it's rather hit and miss. Daniel can read the thoughts of others, but again, it's not really perfect and not nearly as useful as it should be," Sam said.
Daniel shrugged. "Sam and I are pretty close. We're like vampire brain twins. She got all the math."
"I did," Sam agreed with a smile.
Jack just stared, his mind blank because there just wasn't anything he could think to think about all of this.
"Jonas can emotionally manipulate the moods of those around him, though he's still giving off mood swings more than he is intentionally controlling the mood of anyone," Sam finished.
Jack stared. "Anything else I should know?"
Sam and Daniel looked at each other as they considered the question. "Well, all vampires have enhanced speed and strength, beyond what you've seen in the field. We're rather invulnerable as well, under most circumstances. But, I think that's just about everything."
"And none of this strikes you as being at all ridiculous? Anyone?" Jack asked, hearing his voice rising in pitch as he relied on the stool to support his weight.
Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all shook their heads. "Not really," Sam said. "It's just who we are, and have been for years and years."
"What about turning to ash in the sunlight? Recoiling from garlic and the sign of the cross? Not having a reflection? Allergies to silver? Turning into a bat? Drinking blood?" Jack asked, reeling off everything he could think of from his Vampire-Or-Not list.
Daniel shrugged. "Just the blood drinking thing, though none of us are particularly fond of the sunlight here on Earth."
"There's something about the sun's rays in this particular solar system that make our skin refract rather vividly. We haven't had the same reaction to the light on other planets though, which makes me suspect that it's perhaps the angle that the light enters the atmosphere on Earth," Sam said, her attention already back on her artifact project.
"Your skin refracts light?" Jack repeated uncertainly.
"We sparkle," Daniel said, the corners of his mouth so far downturned that Jack couldn't even bring himself to laugh.
Jack decided he would believe that when he saw it. "Uh huh. What about drinking blood? Is that why all of the enlisted marines have been disappearing?" he asked, mostly joking.
"We don't feed on humans, particularly not in a mostly closed society. Our scientific research base provides us ample opportunity to feed on the wildlife there. Alien deer mostly, though sometimes alien bears or alien wolves when we can catch them," Sam said.
"Right," Jack said faintly. In his mind he was picturing Sam, her short blonde hair wild as she leapt onto a full grown bear and bit its neck. It was a very peculiar mental image and he couldn't draw himself away from it.
Daniel was watching Jack carefully. "You're still alright with this whole 'your team is full of vampires and aliens' thing?"
Jack nodded, going from his mental picture of Sam hanging off a bear to Sam and Daniel taking out a Goa'uld in a single motion. "Yeah, I think I can work with that."
*****
Next: Vampires, and Werewolves, and Wormholes, Oh My! (3/3)
Jack wandered the halls aimlessly, surprised at how at loose ends he felt on the base without his team around. It wasn't that he regularly hung out with them or anything, but he'd grown accustomed to Teal'c at his side and occasionally joining Sam and Daniel in the mess hall for a meal. The rest of his time was usually filled with work, and boy was there a lot of paperwork involved in traveling to other planets.
On this particular day Sam had informed him in passing that she, Daniel, and Jonas were going out to check on a science observatory station they'd set up on another planet and would be gone for most of the day. Jack had told her to have fun and had been taken back by the enthusiasm in her response that they would. Apparently some people just loved rainwater samples and astrological observations that much.
Losing half his team to a day of scientific revelry, the half that still wouldn't have much to do with him, shouldn't have made much of a difference in Jack's day. Usually he'd just nab Teal'c, spend a few hours doing things they could pass off as work, and then go settle down with a stack of dvds under the guise of giving Teal'c more information about Earth. Instead Teal'c was down one of the bimonthly "Welcome to Earth" support meetings that were held for all the off-worlders and aliens that currently lived among them. Teal'c had informed him that today they were going over Earth customs concerning food and restaurants and he could join them if he so wished. Jack had quickly made up a report that he should have got to the General days ago and hurried away. He already had received enough lectures about table manners to last one lifetime, he didn't need a class on the subject too.
After a spell of roaming aimlessly through the halls Jack found himself at the open room next to the gym that the base used for sparring practice. Jack had spent more than a few hours in there getting his butt schooled by Teal'c, but then again no one was able to beat Teal'c when it came to hand-to-hand combat, so Jack didn't feel too bad. Besides, sparring against someone who was virtually unbeatable gave Jack an edge for the rare occasions he did go up against mere humans. Jack had yet to get either Sam or Daniel to go for a team sparring practice, but he'd seen both of them in action off-world and had a feeling they were both quite formidable despite their more harmless appearances.
There was noise coming from inside the sparring room and Jack indulged his curiosity, as there wasn't much else he could do at the moment, and peered inside. He recognized the two men on the floor as being members of the special flight squadron that had arrived in the mountain about the same time as his first day. Around the edges of the marked sparring area stood the rest of the squadron, all intent on watching the fierce battle that was being waged. Intrigued and interested in what the special squadron could do, Jack moved up onto the small set of bleachers that was at the side of the room and leaned in to watch.
The squadron leader, a man in his late thirties with dark hair, was occasionally shouting instructions but was mostly facilitating the group of a dozen men and woman through the practice. It quickly became obvious that whoever won the match stayed in the ring and the leader directed another in to take the place of the one who had lost. Some of the matches took several minutes and it was near the end when a beautiful woman with long dark hair gracefully took out the man who had only stepped in after the previous match in under a minute.
The leader stepped in the ring, all of his squadron shouting encouragements to both him and the woman, and Jack was surprised at how well the pair complimented each other. Their movements were quick and graceful and they were very evenly matched. The woman stumbled at one point, and then neatly knocked the man to the floor when he moved to take advantage of the situation, her laugh ringing out over the room. At the fifteen minute mark they both dropped to the ground where they stood, apparently willing to take a draw when it was clear there would be no victor any time soon between the pair of them. In all his time in the Air Force Jack couldn't remember ever seeing anything quite like that. For the first time he really thought he understood the idea of two people moving with one mind and one being, something his combat instructors had expounded upon many times.
After being helped to his feet, the leader pulled up the woman and they stood close against each other as the leader dismissed his squadron. "What do you think, Colonel O'Neill?" he asked, still leaning against the woman as he turned to look up at Jack.
Jack got to his feet and walked down the seats of the bleachers. "Very impressive. I can see why your squadron was called in for this particular assignment."
"Well, when they want the best, they call us," the woman said, her smile more mischievous than Jack had ever seen on an air force officer. "I'm Vala, by the way, and this is Cam."
"Colonel Cameron Mitchell," the man corrected immediately, though the good natured smile hadn't left his face. "I've heard a lot about you of course."
"Of course," Jack said, wondering how much he'd heard about him and how much he'd heard about the O'Neil with one "L" without realizing they were different people. It had been something Jack had encountered a few times now and he hadn't found it any more pleasant as time had passed.
"Are you interested?" Vala asked, still grinning, but now twirling a long strand of her hair between her fingers.
Jack's eyebrows shot up.
"She means are you interested in sparring with us. Apart from the Jaffa on your team, you're supposed to be one of the best on the base. What do you say?" Cam asked. "Vala, and then me?"
Jack experimentally flexed his muscles and rolled his shoulders and then nodded. He felt well enough after the fall he'd taken off-world a few days previously and he couldn't let a challenge like that go unanswered. "I'll go change and be back in a few minutes. Don't go running off now, I know where to find you."
Vala and Cam smirked identical smirks. "We wouldn't leave you hanging," Vala called after him, her bright laughter following her out of the room.
By dinner Jack was sore and nursing several new bruises, but he felt he had adequately shown off his particular skill set. Sure, he might set Teal'c on the odd pair from the flight squadron as revenge, but Jack wasn't ashamed of his performance at all.
"What happened to you?" Daniel asked suddenly, halfway through their meal.
"Sparred with Cam and Vala from the flight squadron. That girl has a mean left hook," Jack said, rolling one of his shoulders experimentally. "Daniel, I didn't know you cared."
Daniel just glowered, though Sam was now looking up with an expression of concern that might have been comical if she didn't seem so worried. "Maybe you shouldn't spar with them, Jack."
"They were actually okay, not at all what you'd think a special flight squadron would be like. I think you'd like them," Jack said, digging into his pork chop and mashed potatoes with gusto. "They're fun."
Daniel and Sam exchanged a long look. "Yeah, just do us a favor and stay away from them. Hopefully they won't be in the mountain too long anyway," Daniel said, glaring at the tables around them like the flight squadron could be nearby.
Jack swallowed his mouthful of potatoes as he tried to figure out why Daniel and Sam seemed so against the flight squadron but nothing came to mind. Maybe they'd had a day of bad science and were grumpy, he thought before deciding that was probably it. Scientists were weird like that.
*****
Jack scowled as he finished his loop of level seventeen, the keys that he'd borrowed from the General's Staff Sergeant clinking together in his grip. He'd give the keys back, eventually, as soon as he found where on the base Daniel Jackson holed himself up. It was ridiculous that he didn't know where the office of one of his own teammates was, and even more ridiculous that Jack actually had to go track his difficult and irascible archeologist down.
The fight they'd had during the morning briefing had been pretty spectacular, Jack was actually surprised that Daniel hadn't leapt over the table at him, but he had to acknowledge that it had been a long time coming. Now, if only Jack could figure out exactly what they were fighting about, then he could find a solution and all of the storming out of meetings and the barely looking at each other during off-world missions could stop. Jack actually knew what was wrong; Daniel didn't like him. He still didn't know why, and Jack had gone through everything from the misconceived notion that he would be a bully to the scientists to the idea that he was eating the wrong flavor of jello and that was deeply offensive to archeologists.
At his point it didn't matter the reason for Daniel's intense dislike so much as that it stopped. George had been obviously disappointed that Jack's team was fraught with tension, enough that he'd commented that maybe they had better work some things out before they went off-world again and had postponed their mission. Jack had gone to his own office for a few hours to cool off, bouncing a rubber ball against the cement walls and catching it until his hand stung and his head was clear. However, as he searched the base level by level, his frustration and irritation were building up once again. If he thought that Daniel would actually show up he would convince Walter, one of the 'gate technicians, to do a page of the base over the emergency system. Jack figured that would just give Daniel the edge to know that he was being hunted.
Jack cracked his knuckles as he rounded a corner: he would show Daniel Jackson exactly what it meant to be hunted. He'd give the man a real reason to dislike him. He'd-
His thought process stopped abruptly before he could figure out exactly what he was going to do with the cup of jello he was picturing in his mind as he slammed into someone while rounding another corner. Jack found himself on the floor, feeling a little dazed, and staring up at a man he vaguely recognized.
"Sorry! I'm so sorry. I forgot to look, I was reading. I'm sorry," the man was saying over and over. A stack of books was tucked under one arm and an open book was held in the hand he was gesticulating with.
Jack pushed himself back to his feet and grimaced. Apparently he didn't need to go off-world to get himself knocked over. "Jonas?" he asked, the name of the man who sometimes sat with Sam and Daniel finally coming to mind.
Jonas smiled, his eyes widening in pleasure. "You remembered my name. You're Jack O'Neill. I've read all your mission reports. Daniel Jackson speaks of you often."
"Don't believe a word of it," Jack muttered as he dusted his pants off.
Jonas stared in confusion before shaking his head. "I just finished speaking with Daniel. He gave me these books to read. Do you want to borrow one?"
"No," Jack said firmly and turned to walk away before he realized what Jonas had just said. "Jonas, wait. Were you just at Daniel's office? And he was inside?"
"Yes, I was," Jonas said, his bright smile back. "I'm sure if you wanted to borrow a different book he would let you. He has many books in his office."
Jack nodded and tried to feel bad about the act of subterfuge he was about to perform. Tried and failed; some things were just too easy to feel bad about. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. But I've forgotten where Daniel's office is, maybe you could point me in the right direction. So I could find a book."
"What is it that Sam says?" Jonas asked himself, closing his eyes as he thought. "Oh yes. I am happy to be of service."
"I'm sure you are," Jack said dryly, thinking that the lack of rain seemed to have improved Jonas's spirits quite a bit.
Jonas proceeded to give Jack a rather complicated set of instructions and ten minutes later Jack was outside an office door listening to the sound of Daniel singing in a language he didn't recognize. Daniel's office was deep in one of the lower levels, well past the storage rooms filled with boxes of things that Jack didn't have names for. Jack leaned against an exposed pipe and listened to Daniel's voice, a little bit entranced by the music that was filling the surrounding areas. When it stopped, Jack blinked and took a minute to come back to himself, reminding himself that he was frustrated and here to tell Daniel to be at least civil before their entire team got suspended from 'gate travel. Jack didn't feel frustrated at all.
"What are you doing here?" Daniel asked before Jack even stepped inside the office.
"Looking for you, which I think would be pretty obvious since you're the only one down here," Jack said. Ah, there was the frustration he was missing just a moment ago.
Daniel scowled and refocused on the sheets of translations he had spread out in front of him. "You need to leave. Now."
"No, we need to talk, now," Jack said, unable to keep a sarcastic lilt from his voice. "I don't know what your problem is with me, but it has to stop."
Daniel's gaze landed on Jack the instant he moved to step inside the room. "Stay out. You shouldn't have come down here."
Jack stared and then deliberately stepped inside the office, running one of his hands along a shelf filled with various artifacts. "Well, I'm here now. So unless you'd rather have our next knock out argument in front of the General, I think we should take care of this here."
"You want to fight me?" Daniel asked.
"No," Jack said. He bit back his impulse to say I want you to like me, because where did that come from? "I want you to show a little bit of respect."
"Respect?" Daniel repeated.
Jack nodded, warming up to the topic. "Even if you hate me, you could at least pretend that you don't in front of General Hammond."
Daniel blinked, surprise flashing across his features before he resumed his typical blank expression. "I don't hate you. Quite the contrary," he said quietly, taking a step towards Jack.
"Doesn't seem that way," Jack said. "You barely even talk to me, and when you do it's to point out that I'm wrong or flawed or ugly."
"I've never called you ugly," Daniel said, though his lips twitched in an almost smile. He took another step closer.
Jack shrugged, trying not to admit to himself how relieved he was that Daniel didn't hate him. "Anyway, if we could just save it for when we're not in front of an audience, that would be good."
Daniel stared, one of his hands coming out to hover for a moment near Jack's face before letting it fall back to his side. "That's not going to happen. I shouldn't be alone with you; you shouldn't be here with me. But I will try to tone things down around the General."
"That's all I ask," Jack said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "It doesn't have to be like this you know, I'm a nice guy, once you get to know me."
"I'm not," Daniel took a hasty step back and returned to his translations. "It's not safe, you need to leave."
Jack stared for a long moment, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with Daniel. He'd thought they screened for mental instability before they let someone join a 'gate team, but maybe this guy had slipped through the cracks in the system.
"Go!" Daniel shouted, startling Jack.
"Going," Jack said, quickly leaving Daniel's office. Maybe Daniel was right about one thing - Daniel was not a nice guy, even though he was somehow very intriguing and puzzling.
Jack shook those thoughts from his head and went in search of Teal'c to see if he was up for a Die Hard marathon. That was one good way to clear any thoughts of Daniel Jackson from his mind.
*****
Three days later they were off-world, once again dragging themselves through what seemed like an endless forest with droplets of freezing water from a recent rainfall occasionally dripping down on them.
"How different," Jack muttered to himself as he untangled his boots from a particularly insistent vine. "Can someone please tell me what we are doing here?"
"We are looking for allies in the war against the Goa'uld, O'Neill," Teal'c said firmly, nearly causing Jack to jump out of his skin. "It is of the utmost importance that we start the seeds of rebellion and seek out those who can help us technologically. If we do not it is likely that your planet and my people will all die in the coming months of battle."
"Right," Jack said. "Good to know I can count on you to brighten the mood."
"He's right, sir," Sam put in. "Our sources say that there should be a settlement just on the edge of this forest, near the river."
"Uh huh," Jack said. Mostly he was thinking that he was going to have to sell his fishing cabin and find a new one somewhere where there wasn't any trees. No trees at all. Not a single- "Down!"
Jack hit the dirt along with the rest of his team, all of whom had finally learned to follow his instructions when they were under attack. An energy pulse hit a tree across from where Jack had just been standing and he grimaced as he started moving to a place where he would be better concealed in the underbrush. "Every time. Every freaking time we go to a planet someone wants to kill us. We didn't even get to say hello."
"Actually, it's only about 42 percent of our missions that we come under attack," Sam said from where she was crawling towards the same shelter that Jack had seen. "And about half of those times we'd already made contact."
"Whatever," Jack said as he rolled over to make sure the rest of his team was getting out of the range of fire. "This way," he called a little louder when he saw that Daniel was moving in the opposite direction, directly towards where the shots were being fired from.
"Daniel!" Jack said, the name feeling like a curse against his tongue. Jack turned himself around and started moving after Daniel. The man was actually rather quick and before long Jack had nearly lost sight of him. Finally Daniel stopped halfway through a thick curtain of foliage and Jack caught up enough to reach forward and grab Daniel's tac-vest with more force than was strictly necessary.
He would have said got you or some variation on that, but suddenly they were both plunging forward and sliding down a muddy ravine towards a damp river bed. They rolled to a stop near the bottom, Jack panting as the world came still again and he stared up at the gray sky.
"What did you do that for?" Daniel asked, a slurp of mud indicating that he was only a foot or two away from Jack.
"You're the one who went traipsing off in the middle of a fire-fight," Jack snapped, pushing himself to his knees and futilely wiping his muddy hands on his muddy jacket.
"I was getting enough distance so I could see who was firing at us, maybe see if we could get them to stop," Daniel said as he pushed his muddy hair away from his eyes, leaving streaks of mud on his cheeks and temples.
Jack sputtered and stared. "Did you ever think of getting to somewhere that you wouldn't be shot? Not to mention, I think we have enough distance now and we can't see anything!"
"Well if you hadn't pushed me over a cliff we wouldn't be in the middle of his giant mud pit," Daniel pointed out, his glare saying more than his words.
"It wasn't a cliff!" Jack shouted. "It's barely a rolling hill."
Daniel gestured to the messy trail that they had made as they fell. It was actually a pretty considerable distance, even if it absolutely wasn't a cliff.
Jack gave up, too irritated and muddy and miserable to bother making a rational argument. Instead he reached forward and shoved Daniel back into the slightly deeper and gooier puddle of mud directly behind them.
Daniel made a wild grab, latching onto Jack's tac-vest and pulling him into the mud with him. They landed with a loud splat and within seconds they were both scrambling in what was more like a school yard scuffle than an actual fight between an Air Force colonel and a military trained archeologist.
Jack was surprised by how strong Daniel actually was, even though they were both hampered by the slippery mud. Several times Jack found himself pinned down, only to knock Daniel's feet out and wiggle free again. The fight lasted for what felt like hours even if it was only minutes, and ended when Jack was pinned firmly into the mud with all of Daniel's weight pressing down on him.
Staring up into Daniel's mud covered face, his blue eyes the only distinguishing feature Jack could latch onto as he panted for air. Suddenly Jack started laughing at the ridiculousness of what had just happened and was surprised when Daniel started laughing a moment later.
Daniel helped him out of the mud pit and a few minutes later they were scaling the sloping hill back up into the forest where Sam and Teal'c were waiting for them.
The General had only raised an eyebrow at their appearance when they returned through the 'gate, but he had apparently seen that both Jack and Daniel were smiling because he hadn't commented or even gave Jack the look that meant he was annoyed. Jack slapped his hand on Daniel's shoulder as they walked towards the locker rooms. Apparently there were things that could be solved through a good old-fashioned mud fight - Jack had always suspected this was so, but now he had proof.
*****
A few weeks passed and Jack slowly became accustomed to the reality of Daniel Jackson not ignoring him, at least not completely. Daniel still seemed to prefer to spend his time with Sam and occasionally Teal'c. Jonas and Janet made frequent appearances at their table in the mess hall, but Jack felt more welcomed there than he had in the past. Daniel would even acknowledge his presence and pass him the salt when he asked, though not without a lecture about the uses of salt throughout history. It felt weird even thinking it, but Jack felt he might prefer the lecture to the irritated silence he would have received earlier.
So his team wasn't buddy-buddy and doing the soul bonding thing that he saw the rest of the 'gate teams doing, but at least now they could all be in the same room with each other without it being under direct orders.
On the days they weren't slated for missions or busy with other activities on the base Jack took to wandering down to Sam's lab halfway through the day to see what she was up to and relieve his own boredom for a few minutes. Even after Sam told him what she was doing, nine times out of ten Jack still had no idea. Jack had always thought he was pretty smart and pretty tough, though he wouldn't tell the military that, but hanging around his team made him realize that he was leagues behind when it came to space travel. He was better off sticking to tactical military stuff and leaving the alien gadgets to those who knew better and weren't adverse to potentially having their hands blown off or mutated or something.
The other reason Jack was visiting Sam's lab regularly was because about half of the time Daniel was there too. It was there that Jack started to realize that maybe Daniel wasn't exactly who, or what, he said he was.
Daniel, who Jack had always thought was a little bit odd, was knowledgeable about a lot of odd things. Not just old Earth cultures and pottery and all of that university stuff, but music and architecture and alien things. Things that a man who looked all of thirty-something with floppy hair had no business knowing. Jack knew that Daniel had two doctorates and that Sam had three, which was frankly just ridiculous, but that didn't explain how they both moved in tandem when the team came under attack. One mission Jack had seen Daniel pick up a discarded weapon, a complicated looking blade of some sort, and use it to defend himself against two attackers. Jack had actually done research, real books and paper and computers research, and discovered that while most archeologists could handle a side-arm, there wasn't anything in there about mandatory weird sword training.
It wasn't just about knowing things, or the way that Daniel's movements sometimes seemed too fluid and quick, but also there was the way Daniel seemed to live off of coffee and little else. To be fair that was about half of the people on the base, but when Jack thought about it, he could only rarely ever recall seeing Daniel eat part of an MRE while they were stranded overnight in a cave-in. Daniel, with all of his strange grace, his impressive and versatile mind, and his carefully guarded expressions, was occupying a fair amount of Jack's free thinking space.
Jack had seen the impossible before, he saw the improbable on a day-to-day basis, but two missions ago Daniel had fallen from an impressive height from a tree. Jack had gone racing through the forest in half-panic, that sure he would find the archeologist broken and mangled at the bottom of the tree trunk. Instead when he came to the place Daniel had landed there was no sign of his fall other than a set of deep shoe prints. Daniel was standing a few feet away and peering up to examine the markings on another tree, absently pointing out that they were directional signs to the nearby civilization.
His first thought had been that maybe Daniel had been bit by a mutant flying squirrel, but that didn't seem too likely. And besides, Jack had placed a bowl of assorted nuts on the lunch table the next day and Daniel hadn't seemed remotely interested. Ruling out the mutant flying squirrel theory, Jack was left with a few other options that seemed likely to varying degrees. His personal favorite was that Daniel had gone sunbathing in a particularly bad type of solar radiation on some alien beach and had gained superpowers as a result. Mostly Jack wanted a nice alien beach, but he'd yet to encounter one yet. The only beach they'd found so far had been inhabited by giant mutant crabs that made very peculiar noises and clicked their claws menacingly.
Jack's other theories ranged from psychic possession to Daniel turning green and very large when he was angry, angrier than he'd ever been with Jack, but Jack mostly blamed those theories on Teal'c's slowly growing superhero movie collection and Lou Ferrigno. Then again, Jack tended to blame a lot of things on Lou Ferrigno just as a matter of course. Regardless of the source of Daniel's abilities, Jack was certain of one thing. Daniel wasn't entirely human.
*****
"Teal'c, buddy, where are you going?" Jack shouted down the corridor. He'd just been on his way to gear up for their next mission when he'd seen Teal'c hurrying in the opposite direction.
Teal'c turned where he stood and moved swiftly back to Jack. "I have been summoned to assist with a dire situation on the world of one of our allies. Samantha Carter will also be joining me. You have my word I will place myself between her and any harm."
Jack's eyebrows shot up as he calculated how quickly he could be ready to go through the 'gate. He was packed up for a two day stroll around a planet that was supposed to have some potential for ancient weapons and devices, but he figured he could be ready for some action in four minutes or less. "Give me a moment to gear up and I'll come with you," he said, already moving to the locker room door.
"You are not able to accompany us. General Hammond is sending minimal personal through the 'gate as our mission will be best accomplished by stealth. There is only one other technician joining us. We will return as soon as we are able," Teal'c said, bowing his head toward Jack. "I understand that you are a warrior, but the time is not right for your battlefield."
Jack stared after Teal'c's quickly retreating form. "See ya soon?" he called, feeling a little bit grim about being left behind. He felt torn as he entered the locker room and sat down on one of the benches. He was the team leader, he should be out their protecting his team and whatever allies needed their assistance. On the other hand, Teal'c was the best warrior on the base and would be better able to guide Sam through whatever they might encounter off-world. Jack knew the drill about using the best assets to accomplish a mission, but it didn't stop him from aching to be in the field instead of waiting helplessly.
The door opened and Daniel walked in, already shrugging out of his jacket as he absentmindedly went to his storage space.
"Take it easy on the stripper routine there," Jack said, wishing he could take back the words when Daniel turned to stare at him with his mouth open in shock. "I just meant that our mission is shelved. Teal'c and Sam are going off to fix something for an ally, and we weren't invited along. You don't have to get undressed."
Daniel's eyebrow arched but he finished slipping out of his jacket before he sat down several feet away from Jack. "I'm not sure whether to be intrigued or disturbed right now, but I think I'll skip both for the time being. So we're not going to P3X-328?"
Jack started to shake his head but recalled how enthusiastic Daniel had been about this particular planet. "Maybe we could still go. Would a day trip be worth your time?"
"You're talking about going off-world, just you and me?" Daniel asked.
Jack shrugged. "Sure, why not? We go, look around, pick up whatever looks useful, and come back before Sam even fixes whatever she's fixing. It will be like an archeologist's daydream."
"More like an archeologist's nightmare. Don't touch anything," Daniel said firmly, using one hand to rub his forehead above his left eye. "I'm not really sure this is a good idea. Anything could happen out there."
"Well, let's see what General Hammond says. If he says we don't go, we don't go. But there hasn't been any reported signs of life there for centuries, right?" Jack asked.
"Right," Daniel agreed.
"Then I don't see what the problem is," Jack said. He pulled off his own jacket and reached for his off-world clothing. Twenty minutes later they were on P3X-whatever in the middle of a shimmering meadow that was scattered with all sorts of ruins and odd passages. It was an archeologist's daydream after all and the expression on Daniel's face as he looked around only confirmed it was so.
Jack was content to stand guard and walk around, watching Daniel examine various artifacts. Daniel stopped every so often to sketch something in his notebook and very rarely he carefully placed something in a containment case to be brought back to the base. After nearly two hours with no signs of threat or impending attack Jack started to look at some of the things he was walking around. None of the inscriptions meant anything to him, all in languages he didn't understand in the slightest, but there were some interesting looking devices and pictures.
A particular drawing caught Jack's attention, a stone tablet that looked familiar somehow, and he leaned down to brush the overlong grass away from the inscription. Another hand was suddnely on his wrist, pulling him well away from the tablet, and Jack looked up to find Daniel like some kind of vengeful god looming down on him.
"Don't touch anything," Daniel repeated, his eyes fierce.
Jack stood up straight, his heart beating rapidly as his brain caught up with the situation. Daniel had been all the way across the meadow, well over a hundred yards away, right before Jack had leaned down to touch the tablet. "Daniel?" Jack asked, his confusion and the slightest hint of fear making his head swim.
"That was booby-trapped. If you had touched it without a Goa'uld symbiote your hand would have been burned off," Daniel said, his hand still tight around Jack's wrist. His skin was freezing to touch and Jack realized that in the few times he'd felt Daniel's hands they'd always been ice cold.
"You were over by that pillar ten seconds ago," Jack said, not looking away from Daniel's intense eyes.
Daniel sighed and dropped Jack's wrist. "We were lucky."
Jack reached forward and grabbed Daniel's hand, feeling the chilled skin beneath his own sweating palm. "You're freezing. And there was no way you could have seen me reach for that tablet from across the meadow."
"What are you saying, Jack?" Daniel asked, wrenching his hand from Jack's grasp.
"I know what you are," Jack said. It probably would have been wiser to accuse Daniel when they were both on base, but Jack felt reasonably sure that Daniel wouldn't murder him even when given ample opportunity. "You're an alien."
Daniel stared, his eyes widening in shock.
"It all fits. Your cold skin, your uncanny knowledge, your speed and how you can leap through the trees," Jack said, not letting Daniel interrupt with any denials. "I figure that your species is probably distantly related to a flying squirrel, but there are other possibilities. Lemurs perhaps."
"Lemurs," Daniel repeated.
Jack nodded. "I know you have some concerns about this, obviously you've been on Earth for longer than the Stargate has been active, but I'm sure if you come clean to General Hammond he'll see reason. On the bright side, you won't even need those 'Welcome to Earth' classes they're making Teal'c and Jonas attend."
Daniel pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead. "I'm not an alien."
"Your skin is cold," Jack said, prepared to go through his list again.
"I'm a vampire, you idiot," Daniel said, dropping his hand and watching Jack with caution.
Jack thought about it for a moment. "Well, that makes sense. I guess."
"It does?" Daniel asked.
Jack used his hands to make a weighing motion. "Well, as much as wormholes and aliens and flying squirrels."
Jack didn't have any longer to contemplate vampires, aliens, or flying squirrels because Daniel lunged forward and pressed his lips to Jack's. At first Jack thought this might be how Daniel fed as a vampire, but then he realized that it was just a kiss and he relaxed into the all consuming sensation of being pressed against Daniel. Daniel released him a moment - an eternity - later. "What was that?" Jack asked, not sure what he was most surprised about; the kiss or the whole vampire business.
"Don't ask," Daniel said, looking away tersely.
"Wait, I know this one," Jack said as he thought. "...don't tell?"
Daniel sighed heavily. "I've been trying not to do that for months."
Jack looked around the meadow and then back at Daniel. "I wouldn't mind if you did it again. Just, watch the fangs, would ya?"
*****
It took Jack a few days to come to terms with the fact that one of his teammates was a vampire. Actually, it took Jack a few days and as many vampire movies as he could find on dvd to come to terms with the fact that one of his teammates was a vampire. Buffy the Vampire Slayer seemed promising but Dracula and Interview with a Vampire were both quite concerning and left Jack wondering if he needed to invest in neck protection of some kind, but for the most part he just felt confused about how practically everything he knew about vampire mythology contradicted what he'd seen Daniel do. On a particularly dull Wednesday, five days after Daniel's revelation and the kiss that Jack still wasn't sure what to do about, Jack set out to find Daniel and wound up in Sam's lab with the rest of his team.
"I thought we might talk," Jack said when he could get close enough to Daniel without attracting the attention of anyone else. "About what we talked about last week," Jack added when Daniel just looked confused.
"Oh, that," Daniel said, looking over at the artifact Sam was taking readings from.
"Yeah, that," Jack said, then immediately wondering if Daniel meant the vampire thing or the kissing thing. "Wait. That that or the other that?"
Daniel frowned and his eyes flickered. "The first that?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, that one."
"I've already told Sam and Teal'c that I told you. Sam was a little concerned that you'd tell, but I told her that you weren't inclined to do so," Daniel said. He leaned across the table to correct something on the paper Sam was making marks on to indicate what the artifact was doing.
Jack looked at Sam and Teal'c in confusion. Had he really been the last person to know about Daniel? "You told them about the first that or the second that?"
Daniel sighed. "I told them that I told you about our little fangs and blood drinking problem. Teal'c already knows, and well, Sam has the same problem as myself."
Jack turned and stared at Sam, his eyes widening when she just smiled and shrugged. "Don't you think as your team leader that I need to know stuff like this?"
"Not really," Daniel said, not looking up from the translation he was finishing.
"I was sworn to secrecy," Teal'c intoned.
Jack shook his head as he tried to wrap his mind around all of it. "So you're a vampire and an archeologist?" he asked Daniel.
"That's right," Daniel agreed.
"And you're a vampire and an Air Force Captain? Jack asked, turning to Sam.
"And an astrophysicist, but yes, I am," Sam said, looking up from the device she was prodding with electrical probes.
"And you're an alien and..." Jack trailed off and looked expectantly at Teal'c.
Teal'c stood even straighter. "I am a Jaffa warrior."
"We're not really sure what would happen if we tried to turn a Jaffa or a Goa'uld into a vampire. We think that the symbiote would repel the effects of a vampire bite, but we haven't actually tried yet," Daniel said absently.
"But Jonas is an alien and a vampire. And Janet is a vampire and a doctor," Sam said cheerfully, like she was delivering particularly good news. "Jonas seems to have some of the same special powers as me and Daniel, but Janet doesn't seem to have been afflicted by whatever it is that gives us our particular talents."
"You guys have super powers now?" Jack asked, sitting down on the stool that Daniel had shoved in his direction.
"I can tell the future, though it's rather hit and miss. Daniel can read the thoughts of others, but again, it's not really perfect and not nearly as useful as it should be," Sam said.
Daniel shrugged. "Sam and I are pretty close. We're like vampire brain twins. She got all the math."
"I did," Sam agreed with a smile.
Jack just stared, his mind blank because there just wasn't anything he could think to think about all of this.
"Jonas can emotionally manipulate the moods of those around him, though he's still giving off mood swings more than he is intentionally controlling the mood of anyone," Sam finished.
Jack stared. "Anything else I should know?"
Sam and Daniel looked at each other as they considered the question. "Well, all vampires have enhanced speed and strength, beyond what you've seen in the field. We're rather invulnerable as well, under most circumstances. But, I think that's just about everything."
"And none of this strikes you as being at all ridiculous? Anyone?" Jack asked, hearing his voice rising in pitch as he relied on the stool to support his weight.
Sam, Daniel and Teal'c all shook their heads. "Not really," Sam said. "It's just who we are, and have been for years and years."
"What about turning to ash in the sunlight? Recoiling from garlic and the sign of the cross? Not having a reflection? Allergies to silver? Turning into a bat? Drinking blood?" Jack asked, reeling off everything he could think of from his Vampire-Or-Not list.
Daniel shrugged. "Just the blood drinking thing, though none of us are particularly fond of the sunlight here on Earth."
"There's something about the sun's rays in this particular solar system that make our skin refract rather vividly. We haven't had the same reaction to the light on other planets though, which makes me suspect that it's perhaps the angle that the light enters the atmosphere on Earth," Sam said, her attention already back on her artifact project.
"Your skin refracts light?" Jack repeated uncertainly.
"We sparkle," Daniel said, the corners of his mouth so far downturned that Jack couldn't even bring himself to laugh.
Jack decided he would believe that when he saw it. "Uh huh. What about drinking blood? Is that why all of the enlisted marines have been disappearing?" he asked, mostly joking.
"We don't feed on humans, particularly not in a mostly closed society. Our scientific research base provides us ample opportunity to feed on the wildlife there. Alien deer mostly, though sometimes alien bears or alien wolves when we can catch them," Sam said.
"Right," Jack said faintly. In his mind he was picturing Sam, her short blonde hair wild as she leapt onto a full grown bear and bit its neck. It was a very peculiar mental image and he couldn't draw himself away from it.
Daniel was watching Jack carefully. "You're still alright with this whole 'your team is full of vampires and aliens' thing?"
Jack nodded, going from his mental picture of Sam hanging off a bear to Sam and Daniel taking out a Goa'uld in a single motion. "Yeah, I think I can work with that."
*****
Next: Vampires, and Werewolves, and Wormholes, Oh My! (3/3)