CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Daniel and Sam had just enjoyed lunch together at a cafe they both liked. Because of the lack of privacy, they kept their talk to things not related to work. They were now slowly walking to Daniel's car, neither of them in any hurry to get back to the base.
"How have you been doing lately?" Sam asked, figuring that, out here in the parking lot, they could talk more freely.
"Okay, all things considered. Things seem to finally be settling down to what I can probably expect to be normal in my life now. The holidays were great . . . well, except for the hangover, that is."
Sam smiled fleetingly.
As they got to Daniel's car, he didn't unlock the door. Instead, he leaned against the vehicle, hands shoved into his pockets, eyes on the ground. "Sam, there's something I need to ask you, and I really need an honest answer."
Sam searched his face. "I'm always honest with you. You know that."
Daniel let out a soft sigh. He met her eyes. "Have I changed?"
Sam frowned. "Changed?"
"Yeah, as a person. I look at myself in the mirror each morning, and, though, physically, I appear the same, what I see is different."
"What do you mean?"
"All the things that have happened, gaining these abilities, the things I've done, I look back on it all, and I find myself thinking, 'My God, that can't be me.' Sometimes, it seems so surreal, like I'm looking through a quantum mirror at an alternate me in an alternate universe. And. . . ."
"What, Daniel?" Sam asked gently.
"And I'm not so sure I like the me that I'm looking at."
Surprised by the declaration, Sam didn't know what to say.
Daniel continued. "I've tried not to change, not to let these abilities change who I am, but, since getting them, I have done things that I'd never have thought I would do, made decisions that I know I'd never have made before all of this happened. I didn't want to see it at first. I kept insisting that I hadn't changed at all, that I was still the same person. Both Jack and Teal'c told me that I was different, and I still didn't want to believe it. But I can't deny it anymore. I'm not the same person I was before all this began. I know that some of the changes are good. I have more self-confidence than I did before. I have confidence in my ability to handle things that go down on missions. But then I think about stuff like what happened with Ba'al, and I know that, before I gained these abilities, I would never have seriously considered seeking retribution for what he did to Jack, even if I could have managed to do it."
Sam was silent for several seconds before speaking. "You're right, Daniel. You have changed. Yes, I've seen it, too. The thing is, though, that something like this, the abilities you've gained and all the things that have happened because of them, who wouldn't be changed by it? You have been thrust into a situation and given a responsibility that is so big, so life-altering that you've had no choice but to change. And the more your life has changed, the more you have had to learn to adapt, to . . . evolve. If you had gained these abilities and could have kept them a secret, never had to use them, I really think that a lot of the changes you see in yourself wouldn't have happened. It isn't so much the power itself that's changed you, Daniel, it's all the stuff that has happened because of that power and the huge responsibility that has been placed upon your shoulders as a result of it."
Sam studied her friend's face, which was once again turned away from her. "Daniel, do you still wish that you'd never gained these abilities?"
"Sometimes," he admitted. "My life was a whole hell of a lot less complicated without them. But then I think about the ways that I've been able to help with them, the lives that I've saved. Janet would be dead if it weren't for them. I'm certain of it. And I don't know how many people at the Alpha Site would now be dead if I hadn't been able to do what I did. Then there's SG-3, the people that I helped rescue from the volcano, you and Teal'c. For all I know, all of SG-1 might be dead. I don't know how history would have played out if I hadn't gained these abilities, what would and would not have happened, but I do know that I have saved some lives, and that is more important than the problems and complications that have been added to my life." Daniel finally looked at her. "I once talked to you about predicting solar flares so that we could go back in time and change things so that none of this happened."
"I remember."
"I wouldn't wish for that now."
Sam gave him a warm smile. "You want to know something, Daniel? What you just said, it proves that you are still the same person inside. The Daniel I know, the one I have always known, puts the welfare and concerns of other people ahead of his own. No matter what life has thrown at you, no matter how badly it's kicked you in the teeth, that has never changed, and it never will. Do you want me to tell you what changes I have seen in you?"
Daniel gave her a nod.
"Both good and bad?"
The archeologist's eyes stayed on hers. "Yes."
"Okay. You have always been a strong person, one of the strongest I have ever known, but in these months, you have become even stronger in some ways. Your defiance against things you don't agree with or things that you don't want to do is even stronger, though I'd never have thought that could be possible."
"Ah, so I'm an even bigger pain in the ass than I was before," Daniel remarked with a little smile playing around his lips.
Sam smiled. "Yep, I'd say so. I know that the colonel would wholeheartedly agree."
"Oh, you can say that again."
"Of course, this ties directly into the Daniel Jackson Stubbornness Scale."
Daniel's eyebrows lifted. "The Daniel Jackson Stubbornness Scale?"
"Yes, a calculation I've worked out over the years that takes into account all of the variables of 'who', 'why', 'what', 'where' and 'when'." Sam counted off the "variables" with her fingers. "In regards to the 'who' variable, people like General Hammond resulted in a relatively low reading on the scale. You might have disagreed with their decision and expressed your disagreement, even argued about it, but, if they insisted on a course of action, you ultimately accepted it, regardless of how much you may have hated it. On the opposite end of the scale were people like Colonel O'Neill, whom I think you argue with just to stay in practice." She smiled to let him know she was kidding. "With the colonel, if you were positive that you were right and he was wrong, you'd ignore what he said and go do things your way, regardless of how much trouble you'd get in later. And then there were the bad guys, where the stubbornness would go right off the scale. It didn't matter how much they threatened or tortured you, you wouldn't give into them. Only when the lives of innocents were threatened would that ever change. But this is the way it used to be, not the way it is now. I've found it necessary to rework the math and come up with a new calculation."
Daniel's lips quirked in amusement. "So sorry."
Sam shrugged. "Hey, I'm an astrophysicist. I'm used to having to figure in new data."
"So, what's the new calculation?"
"Well, while the 'why', 'what', 'where' and 'when' variables still affect the outcome, the 'who' variable doesn't anymore. If you strongly believe that a certain course of action is the right one to take, you'll do it regardless of who opposes you. Now, who it is that's telling you to do or not do something does still affect the way the stubbornness manifests itself, but, regardless of how polite or respectful you are, it all amounts to the same in the end."
"I do what I think should be done and to hell with what everyone else tells me to do?"
"Well, I wouldn't put it quite that way, but, yeah, basically."
Daniel chuckled, which made Sam laugh as well.
"This should make Jack happy," the archeologist remarked.
"Why do you say that?"
"He no longer has a reason to feel that I specifically target him with my insubordination."
Sam grinned. "Yes, that is a plus."
After a moment, Daniel became serious. "What else?"
"What else?"
Daniel looked at Sam. "I know there's more."
Sam gave a small nod, also growing serious. "I'd say that one of the biggest things, one of the ways you've changed the most, is your willingness and ability to step in and take charge, to take command of a situation, including military operations. I read everyone's report on the mission to rescue me and Teal'c, Daniel, and I was totally amazed. But, more than that, I was really, really proud of what you did, how you handled that mission. I don't think that the Daniel of seven, eight months ago could have done it. It's another way in which you've become stronger."
There was a long pause. "But you are right about something else you said. Along with your ability to take command of a situation, you've found the capacity to do other things that you wouldn't have done before, things that you wouldn't have even considered doing." Sam paused again. "I think that . . . that all the things that have happened, all the things you've had to do, have . . . hardened you a little more. But I believe that it was necessary. You needed to be a bit harder, a little more forceful, someone who could make all the tough decisions without flinching. With the kind of power you now have and the added responsibility it's placed upon you, you can't be someone who backs away from doing the unpleasant things that people in our line of work sometimes have to do. You don't have that luxury."
Daniel was no longer looking at her, his gaze cast downward yet again.
Sam reached out and touched his arm. "The thing is, though, that I believe these changes I've seen in you are a natural progression. Right from the start, from the day I first met you, you have been changing, Daniel, growing and maturing." Sam smiled fondly. "I remember how you were those first few months on the team."
Daniel smiled a little as well, though he didn't look at her. "A naive geek who didn't know when to duck?"
Sam's smile grew. "Well, maybe a little naive about some things, and you did have a tendency to pop up and try to make friends when you really should have stayed hidden instead, like that first time we went to Chulak."
Daniel made a face. "I remember. I was an idiot. I'm lucky that those Jaffa priests weren't the shoot first and torture you later type and that they mistook me for a god when I told them we came through the Stargate." He glanced at her. "So, what about the geek part?"
Sam shook her head. "I never thought of you as a geek, not in the bad way that the word is used, like what that jerk at O'Malley's meant when he called you that."
Daniel remembered the incident. He still winced when he thought about how the Atanik armband he was wearing at the time made him react to the insult. He always wondered if that guy still thought he was a geek after he'd finished tossing the jerk around.
"You've changed a lot in these years, Daniel," Sam continued. "You've learned how to handle yourself in battle, how to temper your enthusiasm with restraint, how to control your impulsiveness," Sam smiled fleetingly, "well, mostly, that is. Like I said before, you've matured a lot. I think that what's happening now is just the next step in the changes that have already been going on all these years that you've been with the program."
Sam took her friend's hand. "But there is something that you need to understand, Daniel. In all the best ways, the things that make you such a good person, you have not changed. All the compassion, and integrity, and selflessness is still right there. Your moral principles are as rock solid as ever." Sam paused. "And I am still proud to call you my friend."
Daniel turned eyes upon her that were filled with emotion. She pulled him into a hug, and he held onto her tightly for a long moment. She gave him a smile as they drew apart.
"So, the next time you look in a mirror, see yourself the way I do, because I like the man that I see when I look at you. Okay?"
Daniel gave her a smile that was full of gratitude. "Okay," he responded softly.
"Good. Now, come on. We'd better get back to the SGC before they send the Marines out to find us."
They got in the car and pulled out of the parking lot. They'd been on the road for about five minutes when Daniel spoke.
"Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"Any time, Daniel."
By the end of the day, what had been left of Daniel's hangover was pretty well gone, and a final quick checkup from Janet confirmed this.
The next day, the archeologist felt like his old self again and dove into work. It was about one o'clock and he was getting ready to break off for lunch when he felt Sam's presence approaching. He smiled at her when she came in.
"Let me guess. You're here to drag me off to lunch."
"Lunch?" The major looked at her watch distractedly. "Oh. I, uh, guess it is that time, isn't it."
Daniel frowned, seeing the nervousness in Sam's manner and hearing it in her voice. "Is something wrong?" he asked in concern.
"Wrong? No, there's nothing wrong. Actually, I, um, wanted to ask you something."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Well, you see, I was kind of wondering if. . . . Actually, I was kind of hoping that you'd, uh—"
Sam was interrupted by the klaxons and the announcement of an unscheduled off-world activation.
'No! Not now!' she screamed inwardly in frustration.
"I guess we'd better check that out," Daniel said, standing.
Sam heaved a huge internal sigh. "I suppose we should."
The two of them headed to the control room. When they got there, it was to discover that there had been an accident with SG-13. A section of the floor gave way in the ruins they were investigating, and Doctor Balinsky had fallen about fifteen feet. He was unconscious with a head wound and a broken leg. His teammates had not moved him for fear of other injuries. A medical team was quickly sent through to examine the archeologist and bring him back.
Daniel stayed in the control room, anxiously awaiting their return. As a fellow archeologist, Cameron Balinsky wasn't just a member of Daniel's staff, he was also a friend. Sam had chosen to stay as well, though Daniel told her it wasn't necessary. She had just smiled and said it was for moral support. The linguist got still more moral support when Jack arrived and stayed as well.
Finally, SG-13 and the medical team returned, an unconscious Balinsky on a stretcher being carried by two of his teammates. Daniel immediately went down to the gate room, followed by Sam, Jack and Hammond.
"How is he?" Daniel asked.
"He's got a closed fracture of the right tibia, for one thing," one of the medics answered. "As for the head injury, we won't know much until we get some x-rays and a CT scan, although his pupillary reaction is good, and he's not showing any physical signs of brain damage."
Just then, Balinsky began to rouse. He cried out from the pain in his leg.
"It's okay, Cameron," Daniel said soothingly, gently grasping his friend's shoulder. "You're back at the SGC."
The man's eyes focused on him. "Daniel? Daniel, the ruins. They were built by the Ancients. We need to go back there. . . ."
Daniel tightened his grip on Balinsky's shoulder a little. "Take it easy, Cameron. You're not going anywhere right now, except to the infirmary, so just relax."
The injured archeologist was loaded onto the waiting gurney.
"I'm going to go with them," Daniel told Hammond and the others.
"Of course, Doctor Jackson," the general said, understanding his desire to stay at the side of his fellow archeologist and staff member.
All the way up to the infirmary, Balinsky kept insisting that they needed to go back to the ruins. It was obvious that he had a concussion, and he wasn't making a whole lot of sense part of the time, but Daniel got the impression that Balinsky believed the ruins might hold the key to the location of the Lost City, perhaps might even be the Lost City.
Daniel stayed in the infirmary as Janet and her people treated Balinsky. He was joined after a while by Jack, Sam and Teal'c.
"How's he doing?" Jack asked him.
"I don't know yet. Janet's still with him. Where's the rest of SG-13?"
"Getting their post-mission checkups." Jack pointed over at another area of the infirmary. Daniel glanced over there and saw the three men, who all had concerned expressions on their faces, even the normally sour-faced Dixon.
"Dixon said that Balinsky was really excited about the ruins, saying he found references to a hidden chamber that held something of great importance to the Ancients," Jack told him.
After their physicals, the three members of SG-13 joined SG-1 to await news on Balinsky. A short while later, Janet came over.
"How is he?" Daniel asked.
"Well, besides the fractured tibia, he's got a pretty nasty concussion and a whole lot of scrapes and bruises, but he's going to be all right," the doctor replied.
Daniel relaxed, as did all of Balinsky's teammates.
"Should have known that Balinsky's head would be too hard to do much damage to," Dixon said, the tiniest note of fondness in his voice, though nobody except someone who really knew him would have heard it.
Janet gave them all a stern look. "He's asleep now, and I want him to stay that way, so no visitors for a while."
"Yes, ma'am," said Bosworth.
When SG-13 went to their mission debriefing, SG-1 was there as well. Hammond had only requested Daniel's presence, but the rest of SG-1 decided to sit in as well. The archeologist asked several pertinent questions of SG-13, his excitement growing at the answers he received.
Once they were finished giving their report, Hammond dismissed SG-13. He turned to Daniel. "So, what do you think, Doctor Jackson?"
"Well, there's no way for me to say one way or the other if the ruins are the Lost City, not without going there, but I really do think that we need to check them out more thoroughly. Even if it isn't the Lost City, we might gain some valuable information."
Hammond nodded sharply. "All right, you have my permision to return to the planet tomorrow at 0800." He glanced around at all of them. "I hope that none of you had important plans for your day off."
Trying very hard not to let her frustration carry into her voice, Sam replied, "No, sir, nothing that can't wait." 'Again,' she added silently and in a much more forceful tone.
Sam was definitely not a happy camper for the rest of the day and stayed in her lab during most of it. As she drowned her frustrations in a pint of Ben & Jerry's at home that night, she began to wonder if the fates were conspiring against her in a campaign to keep her from ever asking Daniel out on a date.
The next morning, SG-1 went to M3H-827 to check out the ruins. In reading the text about the hidden chamber, Daniel discovered that it was actually some kind of treasure room, not the hoped for cache of Ancient weapons that supposedly existed in the Lost City. He also learned that the Ancients hadn't been the only race living on that planet. They shared it with another race that, as it turned out, had an odd view on thievery, it being considered a form of competition rather than a crime, the best thief being the winner, as Jack put it. At the time that the chamber was built, this other race was living with the Ancients because some kind of natural disaster had wiped out their own city. When things started coming up missing, the Ancients knew who was to blame, but, no matter how much they tried to explain that thievery was not acceptable to them, it didn't do any good. Therefore, they built a hidden chamber in which to keep their most valuable possessions, things of great cultural and historic significance. Eventually, the other race rebuilt their city and moved out of the Ancients' city, but the Ancients decided to keep the chamber as a sort of museum or showplace.
Though it was pretty unlikely that any weapons or other technology would be found there, SG-1 went to where Daniel had determined the chamber to be. What they found there transported the archeologist into seventh heaven. The place was full of exquisite artifacts and all manner of artwork, including statuary, vases, carvings in stone, and what, at one time, must have been paintings on cloth, but had long since deteriorated into dust. Having been protected from the elements, most of the items were in perfect condition, and Daniel was acting like a kid in a candy store, much to the amusement of his three teammates. Watching him, Sam had to admit that it almost made up for the fact that they didn't go on a date last night – almost, but not quite.
It took two days for Daniel to get video footage of the entire chamber, then for all of the objects to be carefully removed and taken back to the SGC. The archeologist insisted on overseeing the entire process personally. Once all of the stuff was at the base, he and his staff got busy on the huge job of cataloging everything.
And so it was that the days passed with Sam not getting an opportunity to ask Daniel out since he was staying at the SGC late into the evening every day. Only Janet's threats to slip a sedative into his food kept him from staying there all night on half the days.
Though Sam was extremely frustrated by the long delay, just seeing Daniel so excited and full of passion made the frustration bearable. It wasn't often that he had something to get this excited about anymore, so Sam couldn't really be unhappy.
But she still couldn't wait for the moment that the job was finished.
The one thing Daniel was sure to do all during the time that he was busy with the cataloging was to keep the fear alive in Ferretti. He made a point of visiting the man almost every day, making vague comments about having unfinished business, smiling in such a way that Ferretti nearly broke out in a sweat every time he saw it.
After several days of this, however, the lieutenant-colonel began to wonder if Daniel really was going to do anything to him or was just toying with him.
It was now twelve days since the New Year's Eve party, ten days since Daniel's first 'confrontation' with Ferretti, and the airman had come to the conclusion that he was safe, that the archeologist had chosen not to get back at him for what he did. He hadn't seen Daniel at all yesterday or the day before. Of course, he knew that the linguist was very busy with all the stuff they'd found in that hidden chamber, but he also hoped it meant that the younger man had decided to let bygones be bygones.
With a relaxed smile, Ferretti opened the door to his office and stepped inside. A second later, there was a loud clatter, and he found himself drenched from head to toe. Letting out a cry of surprise, he wiped away the wetness from his eyes and looked down at himself. To his horror, he discovered that he was covered in pink paint. He looked up and saw that a large pail had been placed above the door and rigged to tip over when the door was opened. It hung dangling above him, paint still dripping from it and onto him.
Daniel. It had to be Daniel. There was no other explanation. The archeologist had gotten his revenge, and in a manner than Ferretti would never have foreseen. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as being hung naked from the Stargate.
Ferretti's happiness at escaping public nakedness died abruptly when it dawned on him that, in order to get this paint off, he'd have to make the trip through the base to the showers, and there was no way that he'd make it that far without a whole lot of people seeing him. He looked at himself again, realizing what he'd look like to others and how big a source of amusement he would be. He could hear the talk already.
"Hey, I think I won the pool!"
No, that hadn't been his imagination. Ferretti turned around to see two Marines looking at him, grinning like idiots.
"What time is it, Mike?" asked one of them, the same one who'd spoken before.
The other looked at his watch. "0738."
"Yes! I guessed today at 1000 hours. There is no way that anyone was closer than that."
"Yeah, but you guessed the wrong way Doctor Jackson would get his revenge."
"True, true, but I don't think anyone got that right." He looked Ferretti up and down, smirking. "I have to admit that, though it's kind of lacking in imagination, it's definitely effective."
"Have fun getting that paint off, Ferretti," the other man said. "You'd better hope he didn't use an oil-based paint."
Laughing uproariously, the two men continued on their way.
Grumbling under his breath, Ferretti slammed the door to his office shut. He turned around and scanned the corridor. He'd made the trip to the men's locker room hundreds of times in the past, yet this was the first time that it had ever seemed so far away.
Deciding that it would be less embarrassing to meet people in the stairwell than on the elevator, Ferretti headed for the stairs, bracing himself for what he knew was going to come.
Jack strolled down the corridor, heading for his office. He'd just had breakfast with Daniel, and the archeologist had been in an especially good mood for some reason, even though Jack had reason to believe that Daniel was on base all night. Upon asking him why he was so chipper, Daniel merely smiled and said that Jack would probably find out in time.
The sight of something on the floor made Jack stop in his tracks. He stepped forward and looked down at it, reaching down to touch it.
"Pink paint?" he muttered questioningly. Straightening, Jack now noticed that there was a trail of pink droplets and splatters going up the hallway – and that wasn't all. Amidst the splatters and drops was something else that was clearly identifiable: pink footprints bearing the recognizable tread of a military issue boot.
A slow smile crept across Jack's face as he realized why Daniel had been so chipper this morning. This was something he just had to see.
Like a dog on a scent, Jack tracked the evidence of his quarry's passage through the halls of the SGC. He followed them down the stairs, knowing now where they were heading.
Jack was almost to the locker room when the footprints stopped. In their place was a pair of pink boots. Jack's eyes traveled up the matching pair of pink legs to the pink body and, finally, the dripping pink face.
"Hello, Ferretti," he said, smirking.
"Colonel," Ferretti responded miserably.
"Seen Daniel this morning?" Jack's smirk grew bigger.
"This isn't funny, Jack," Ferretti whined. "Do you have any idea how many people are running around this time of morning? Dozens and dozens and dozens, and I think that every one of them was there to see me. I swear that he must have sent out a memo to everybody, telling them to go take a look."
"I don't recall seeing a memo in my inbox," Jack mused. "Oh, that's right. I haven't checked my email yet this morning."
Ferretti made a low growling sound.
"Hey, cheer up. It could have been worse," Jack told him. "For one thing, he could have painted your office pink, too."
Ferretti's eyes widened slightly, a look of dread on his face. "I didn't even look at my office. Once the paint hit me, that's all I could think about."
Jack tsk tsked, his head shaking. He leaned forward and said into Ferretti's ear, "If I were you, I'd get busy on putting in a requisition for paint right away and start praying that you don't have to wait two days like I did." He patted Ferretti on the shoulder, then, grimacing, took out his handkerchief to wipe off the paint from his hand.
"Yep. Cotton candy pink. How well I know that color. Hmm. I wonder if he did the big red hearts, too."
With a snort of laughter, Jack turned and left a miserable Ferretti standing in the hallway to the locker room.
It was an hour later when a cry was heard traveling down the corridors of the level that contained the offices of the senior military personnel.
"Oh, no! Not polka dots!"
