Chapter 21
Jack had awoken very early in the morning from his cramped position in Daniel's lab to find Carter and Daniel still asleep on the couch. Teal'c was sitting as still as a statue on the floor in his continuing state of Kel-no-reem. With caution, as not to awaken Daniel and Sam, Jack uncovered his feet and readjusted the blanket around their sleeping bodies. Stiffly, he bent over to retrieve his shoes, not even bothering to put them on. Tiptoeing out of the lab, he halted as he heard a muffled, "Morning, Jack."
Jack turned with his fingers on his lips. "Ssshh, Daniel." Daniel maneuvered his head to take in Sam's position on the couch and Teal'c's on the floor.
"Ssshhh," Daniel replied sleepily, followed by a yawn. Daniel pulled the blanket up around his shoulders, adjusted his pillow and closed his eyes. Jack shook his head, scrubbing his face to hide the prickling behind his eyes. Jack's heart swelled with the joy that SG1 was back home, together in the truest sense of the word, pride that his team had withstood the past twelve months, and fear of the uphill battle they now faced.
Jack did the military 'shit, shower and shave' routine and soon found himself in his office. Placing his coffee cup on the desk, taking a seat on his old reliable chair, he took a moment to look around the small room. It was the same office he'd always had, but now it was full of open boxes and file folders. Various knickknacks and old mission reports littered the floor. His office had been packed away after a couple months, and airmen had been bringing in armfuls of stuff up from storage since last night.
Jack was not looking forward to cleaning up, and couldn't help but wonder why Daniel's office and Carter's lab were left pristine. Probably had stuff in there that was actually useful to other people. The entire Anthropology and Linguistics department had probably circulated a petition to turn Daniel's office into a lending library.
He slowly got up out of his chair and walked over to one of the boxes on the other side of the room. He opened it, trying to remember if he had the right one. Jack smiled as he saw what he was looking for lying right on top. A framed, old-looking sepia photograph that Cassie had taken a long time ago.
Jack picked it up and brushed some dust off the glass, before hanging it back up. He'd just finished when he heard a voice in the doorway behind him.
"I always thought it'd look better behind the desk."
Jack turned to see Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c standing in the doorway. He waved them in. "Excuse the mess, guys. Unlike some peoples' personal property," he threw a look at Carter and Daniel, "my stuff was all packed up and carted off to gather dust somewhere." Sam and Daniel rolled their eyes and sat down on the edge of Jack's desk. Daniel took a sip from the mug he was holding and Sam set her cup down on the edge of the desk.
"So… anybody know how Leske's doing?" Jack asked, as he eased back into his chair.
Daniel put up a finger as he swallowed a particularly large gulp of coffee. "Actually, yes. We saw her in the commissary this morning. She's, uh, she says she's doing fine. She knew Markhen… uh, very well, and she honestly believes that he died a hero. She's so proud of him. She wants to honor his memory instead of grieve it."
"And she's taking the job General Hammond offered her," Sam added. "She's amazing everyone with how much she already knows. She's been working with recreations of the SGC's computers for so long, they're almost like second nature to her."
"And how are we?" Jack asked, dead serious, for once. His teammates stared silently at him for a moment, before glancing at each other. Jack eyed each of his friends in turn, mentally taking bets with himself as to who would be the first one to open his or her mouth. It turned out to be Teal'c.
"I believe we have been given a rare opportunity, O'Neill," he said. Jack, Sam, and Daniel looked over at him, standing beside the desk.
"How so, Teal'c," asked Daniel sincerely, crossing his arms around his chest and leaning back. Teal'c raised an eyebrow.
"We have been given the opportunity to see what might have been, Daniel Jackson. We have made mistakes and seen the outcomes of our decisions. I believe the phrase, 'you do not know what you have until you have lost it' is appropriate to apply."
"It's like somebody hit the reset button," added Sam, drawing the other's attention. "And we'll never make the same mistakes again," she finished softly and deliberately, her gaze dropping to the floor.
"No, we won't," Jack added, looking directly at Daniel. He nodded back, getting the message and returning a small smile. The group remained silent for a moment, each reflecting on the whole 'new start' concept, before Daniel opened his mouth again. The kid had definitely not changed.
Jack smiled and zoned out the conversation Daniel had initiated with Carter concerning the condition of her lab, and his eyes began to roam, drifting to rest on a large, rolled-up piece of paper. Uh-oh. He'd forgotten about that when his team walked in. Very slowly, Jack reached an arm out to grab the paper and nonchalantly hide it under his desk while Carter and Daniel continued to jabber on about nothing, but apparently, Teal'c was as bored with their conversation as he was. In a calculated move, Teal'c eyed him, and grabbed the object just before Jack could.
"What is this, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, the picture of innocence.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. No need to look at that, Teal'c, really," he replied, trying to muster an iota of smoothness. Teal'c seemed to buy it, and was about to place it back down on the desk, when Daniel sneaked his arm in and snatched it away, standing up and out of Jack's reach.
"Dammit, Daniel! Give that back!" Jack shouted, standing up. Daniel was grinning from ear to ear and Carter was no better. Even Teal'c was sporting the slightest of smirks.
"No, Jack. Teal'c asked you a question, and I think it's valid… what is it, Jack?" Daniel taunted as Jack moved around the desk to tackle the soon-to-be-dead archeologist. Carter gracefully stepped between them and put a halting hand on Jack's chest.
"Well, Colonel. You've got to admit… Daniel has a point. You never answered Teal'c's question," she said, playfully. Moving to counter his attempts to step around her.
"It's… it's just… a, uh… a souvenir. That's all. A souvenir. Daniel! Don't you dare open that! Don't you-" Jack clamped his mouth shut as Daniel's jaw dropped and eyes widened. He'd opened it. Unrolled it to behold its full majesty. Carter, tired of playing monkey in the middle, joined Daniel and Teal'c in staring at it. Her smile grew to monolithic proportions. Jack groaned and ran a hand through his hair.
"A souvenir, huh? Jack… I, uh… I don't really know what to say… This is what you went back for?" Daniel stuttered, trying valiantly to suppress a laugh and failing.
"Well, it's you sir. It's definitely… you," added Carter. Teal'c raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. You know, Carter, I could have grabbed one of those Barbie Dolls in BDU's, but I do have a shred of decency, unlike some people," said Jack, but that just made her and Daniel start laughing really hard.
The poster that was providing such rousing entertainment for his teammates really *was* just a souvenir. After all, who was he to question it if that 'drooling public' had deemed him worthy of the title, 'Sexiest Man Alive?'
The End
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