Work Text:
Routine
By Jinx
You'd think that being together for over fifteen years would dull the relationship down a bit. Well, I suppose in most cases that might be true. But, then again, your 'better half' probably isn't a certain Air Force Colonel who hasn't changed much in the nineteen years that I've known him and has kept things pretty much the same in all that time: extremely unpredictable. That's definitely one thing I can say about him. And it's just the way I like him. No changes needed for me.
Okay, so we don't roam around the galaxy any more, saving Earth from the 'snakehead', as Jack likes to call them. We leave that to the young and stupid. Okay, so that's a Jack term, too. See? After fifteen years together you tend to start to sound like each other; talk like them, think like them, that type of thing. Not that that's bad, mind you, but I can't count the number of times that I've caught myself saying, 'for crying out loud'. Now that is a Jack term and everyone who's anyone around here knows it. And me? Well, I used to get laughed at when I was caught using a Jack colloquialism. Now it's normal.
I don't really have any terms or phrases that I've used consistently over the years. At least nothing that would catch on and Jack would use. But then again, Jack's pretty much been an independent kind of guy. He's the one that coins the new phrases; I just go along for the ride.
And what a ride it's been!
Even though it was Catherine that brought me to the Stargate project, it was Jack that agreed to allow me to go with him to Abydos. And from then on, it's been one ride after another. Okay, so it hasn't been all hearts and flowers. We've had our difficult times. Oh boy, have we ever! We still fight like cats and dogs. That would probably be the best analogy for the two of us. We are as different as night and day, but just like night and day, you can't have one without the other and that suits us just fine.
I know I couldn't make it without Jack and the surprising thing in all of this is that I know that Jack couldn't make it without me, either. Now that's the scary thing. Yeah, I said 'scary'. See, from the second I found out that Jack was out to kill himself on our first mission it was like he was an entity on his own. Autonomous Jack. He didn't need anyone. Gee, did I have that wrong. When he told me it was me that changed his mind and kept him going the eighteen months I was gone... What an eye-opener that was. I mean here is this strong, hard-assed, self-reliant guy who based his entire reason for living on me, archaeologist geek. It was a refreshing change in my life; let me tell you.
'Oh, but what about Sha're?' you might say. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret... yes we were married (by Abydonian law), yes I loved her (as a really good friend), yes she loved me (probably more than just a really good friend), but I wasn't in love with her. Oh, I know... I'm a horrible person; you didn't think I was that type of guy. Well, I've got news for you... I am that kind of guy. She was pretty and sweet and if I didn't take her as my wife, she would have been ostracized from her people. They have their ways, we have ours and thankfully I understood their ways enough to know that if I didn't accept their "gift", she would have been thrown to the desert sands. So you thought I was all naïve and innocent, huh? Sorry, you've got the wrong guy.
'Why did you stay behind?' you ask. Well, wouldn't you? I mean, come on! It was the opportunity of a lifetime! I, Dr. Daniel Jackson, archaeologist and laughingstock of the academic world was now living his life's work. I was studying living proof of my theories. My god! Who wouldn't want to stay behind and learn everything they could?
And out of that experience, I got a wife and family and was practically adopted by the entire planet. I taught them what they wanted to know about earth 'the home world' and they taught me everything I wanted to know about them; proving my thesis' over and over. They were living examples of my work.
And, I grew to love them like my family. Something I hadn't had in my life for a very long time. Not until Jack.
Sending him back to earth was probably the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. Not at the time I let him go, mind you. When I sent him back, it was all manly pats on the backs and 'I'll be fine, will you?' That sort of thing. But, it was like the minute the gate shut down and the ring was buried, I came to realize that Jack meant a little bit more to me than I ever thought possible. Hell, more than I wanted.
So, it was an extremely anxious, newly-adopted Abydonian who unburied the gate in ten seconds flat and raised the phoenix from the ashes eighteen months later, praying that a certain Air Force Colonel would somehow keep his promise and return for me.
And wasn't I shocked when he did.
It wasn't without its troubles, that's for sure. Jack seems to bring trouble with him wherever he goes. I know he'd tell you that it was me who always invited trouble, but I got to tell you... Jack is a trouble magnet, whether he wants to admit it or not. And, I'm happy to say: I'm his biggest 'Trouble'.
Anyway, when he came back, Apophis and his universe came with him, taking my wife and brother-in-law, Skaara. That was so hard. Hard on both of us. I had grown so close to both of them. Hell, all of them. And when Sha're was taken, I was devastated. But, when Skaara was taken, too, I couldn't tell who was destroyed more, Jack or me. Losing Skaara was like losing Charlie all over again for him and, of course, Jack was blaming himself from day one.
So, between the two of us, we were laying the problems of the universe at our feet, convinced that everything that happened in our world was our fault.
Talk about a pair of pathetic creatures. What's even more pathetic is that we still get that way when things tend to go wrong. And boy, do things tend to go wrong a lot. Well, what do you expect? We are at the nerve center of protecting the earth from various evil empires that seem to threaten us on a daily basis. Especially now that Jack is heading up the SGC, he is even more guilt-prone than before. (I tried to contact Webster's and have a picture of him put in by the word 'guilt', but they refused. Go figure. Maybe because Jack tried the same for me.)
Okay, so the words 'guilt-prone' may not be the correct term. You would never know it by looking at Jack. He keeps things inside and rarely lets people see when he is upset or hurt. Okay, so that was a bald faced lie. The man wouldn't know how to keep anything inside if his life depends on it. But, you see, it's the things that really mean stuff to him that he internalizes. Yeah, he can yell about the inhumanity of the universe and the unfairness of it all, but when it really hits close to home, he's a stealth bomber: quiet and deadly. Me? I internalize to a point then explode like a neutron bomb. Well, hell! Between the two of us, you've got a complete set! Jack's the plane and I'm the weapon.
Sorry, off track again...
Anyway, Jack and I had/have our problems. Especially when we were a part of the number one earth defense team the SGC had: SG-1. It was always hard to keep quiet about our feelings for each other. Something always seemed to go wrong and one of the two of us would get hurt. But, if you thought it was hard before we got together, you should have seen us after. Having to make decisions to allow the other to die was mind numbing.
I remember not long after we got together: Jack and Teal'c were on this Russian sub trying to kill off these 'techno' bugs (Jack-ism) that made their way across the galaxy courtesy of an Asgaard ship. Jack begged me to blow up the sub... with them on it! When I hedged, he ordered Major Davis to blow them up. God love Major Davis... he knew I had to be the one to make the decision.
And I did.
It was the hardest thing I ever could have done: giving the go ahead to kill my lover. I could barely talk with relief when I saw Jack and Teal'c disappear on the screen. I would have kissed Thor if I had seen him. Though, in reality, if it weren't for him, there wouldn't have been the replicators in the first place. But that's a moot point.
And Jack had to do the same to me.
There was another time that this ship came to a world we had just populated with a people who really couldn't go anywhere else. The ship was kind of remaking the planet to suit their needs. Jack had come up with a horrible idea for saving the people we had just put there. And, I have to give Jack credit... he really didn't have any other choice. He told me to come up with something better and I did. Unfortunately at the time, while I was trying to come up with a different solution, Jack was implementing his plan which involved blowing up the ship I was on. Teal'c told me later that pushing the detonation button was killing Jack. He could see it in Jack's face.
Teal'c's a good man. So is Sam for that matter. Well, she's not a guy, but you know what I mean. The other two members of SG-1 had been there for us since day one and protected the two of us like lions do their cubs. If there was even the smallest hint of talk from anyone about me and Jack, Sam and Teal'c would quash those rumors before they started. They're good people.
Speaking of Sam... she's not roaming around the universe any more. She got married. To Major Davis of all people. We all kind of laughed about it at the time, but...they seem happy together. They have two kids even! A boy and a girl. Jack and I are 'Uncle Jack' and 'Uncle Daniel' now. I love that. I know Jack does, too.
As for Teal'c... well, he is still roaming around the universe. The man is a hundred and seventeen years old and still going strong. He heads up SG-1 now. Still kicking Goa'uld butt. Well, what's left of them. We managed to knock most of them off while we were still a part of SG-1. But, there are several more out there and not just the Goa'uld. There seems to be other bad guys out there that want a piece of 'the Tau'ri' as much as the Goa'uld did. If not more so. Oh well, not routine, that's for sure.
Anyway, Jack now heads the SGC and I head the 'Nerd Department'. No, Jack doesn't call it that, I do. I can't help it. Was I ever that dweebish? Jack says 'yes', but I couldn't have been that bad, could I? Some of these young kids... what are they thinking? I know... I really have no room to talk, but sometimes...
Oh for crying out loud! So I've totally lost track of where I was going with all this... oh yes... me and Jack, Jack and me. Complete opposites that completely complete each other. Did you follow that one? Black and white, day and night, ying and yang, yadda yadda. But through it all, nothing is ever routine. Jack keeps me on my toes and I know I keep Jack on his. Even after fifteen years together, we still act like we did in the beginning: a couple of guys in love that mean the world to each other. But as for routine...? Routine is a word definitely not in our vocabulary.
That's nice.
Finis