Title: Repercussions
Author: Moonshayde
Season: Eight
Spoilers: Moebius
Category: Jack/Daniel slash
Summary: Daniel reflects on
the implications of time travel.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Mild slash themes
Author's Notes: Thanks to Sue,
Padawan Alli, and Steph for their help.
Disclaimer:
Stargate, Stargate SG-1 and all of its characters, titles, names, and
back-story are the property of MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions,
SciFi Channel, and Showtime/Viacom. All other characters, the story idea and
the story itself are the sole property of the author. This story cannot be
printed anywhere without the sole permission of the author. Realize this is for entertainment purposes
only; no financial gain or profit has been gained from this fiction. This story
is not meant to be an infringement on the rights of the above-mentioned
establishments
Daniel
grunted as he pulled the cooler to his chest, using his shoulder to push open the
door to Jack's cabin. As he made his way over to the refrigerator, he heaved
the cooler onto the counter and started to place the left over beer and soda
into the fridge.
From
where he stood, he could still hear Sam laughing, Jack goofing off, and the
patented silence that was reserved for Teal'c. He smiled softly, listening to
their happiness, before he slid another beer onto the top shelf.
After
a few minutes, Daniel heard the ruckus by the deck begin to die down. He'd
thought that his absence would have remained unnoticed, at least for a little
while. But once he heard the telltale cursing and irritation that encapsulated
Jack O'Neill, Daniel knew that he'd been discovered. Sighing quietly to
himself, Daniel turned his head, his gaze falling to his right. Jack stood in
the doorway to the kitchen, lazily taking a swig of beer as he watched Daniel.
Daniel
returned his attention to the cooler.
"That
can wait, you know," Jack told him.
Daniel
knew. But he felt better in here, where it was quiet, where he could reflect
without too many distractions interrupting his thought process. Sometimes he enjoyed
getting lost in the various ideas that zipped through his head, and today was
one of those days where he needed it. He needed to just drift elsewhere.
"I
know you don't like warm beer," Daniel said rather dumbly, wondering why
he'd even bothered to say it.
Out
of the corner of his eye, Daniel saw Jack take another long swig, before
placing the bottle on the counter. After a long pause, Jack brought his gaze
downward, tracing the opening of the bottle absently as he shifted his weight.
"There's
something you're not telling me," Jack said at last.
Leave
it to Jack to get to the point and remain ambiguous at the same time. Sighing,
Daniel slipped his hand into the melting ice at the bottom of the cooler, and swished
the cold water in vague circles, not caring that his fingers were becoming
numb. "I was just wondering," Daniel admitted.
"Enough
with the wondering," Jack said. "Didn't I tell you stop
wondering?"
Daniel
felt a small smile creep across his face. Jack always had this way of bringing
levity to a situation, whether the circumstance was serious or crazy, or even times
like now when Daniel felt mired in his own thoughts. Thinking about Jack,
Daniel felt his smile begin to fade.
Daniel
couldn't help the way he felt. He always wondered about things, about
possibilities. Constantly, he seemed to be stuck in this dilemma, this battle
between logic and rationality on the one hand, and curiosity and enlightenment
on the other.
He
needed to know. He spent his life searching for truth.
Daniel
withdrew his hand, sprinkling droplets of the ice water onto his shoes. He
watched them fall, his mind once again drifting to ponder the variations.
"This
is about that tape, isn't it?" Jack asked.
His
voice was terse, even annoyed. Daniel didn't blame him. Jack could care less
about the details—he'd never cared about the details, in fact—as long as the
meat and potatoes were there, so to speak. That was Jack's way.
But
the details were immensely important to Daniel. He just couldn't let go.
"Forget
the damn tape, Daniel. Everything's fine," he said, his tone definitive.
"Nothing happened and it worked out for the best."
"But
do we really know that?" Daniel said at last, finally turning to face
Jack. "How do we know what was changed and what remained the same? We
could never account for Earth's entire history on a few hours of a recording.
There could be infinite alterations and we'll never know."
"Who
cares?" Jack shrugged, tapping the side of the beer bottle. "The
important stuff is the same. Why mess with things? Whether or not I like the
color peridot is not going to bring about the end of the world."
"Because
we have messed with things, Jack!" Daniel crossed his arms. Why couldn't
Jack understand him? Why couldn't he see the valid, important point he was
trying to make? "We don't know. We'll never know what is real and what is
not."
"Aren't
you always getting onto me about seeing things as black and white?" Jack
raised his eyebrows as if that would help validate his point. "Different
when the shoe is on the other foot, huh?"
Jack
had a point. Daniel didn't see things as black and white. But something still
nagged at Daniel. If he was having an issue with this, could his personality
have been altered? But then again, if there were a change, he would never know
it, so just his mere knowledge of a possible difference negated that
difference.
Daniel
stopped, attempting to wrap his mind around that one.
"You've
got that confused face again," Jack said dryly.
Daniel
blinked, slowly withdrawing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"I-I think I am confusing myself."
"That's
because you think too much!" Jack shook his head and sighed, forgetting
his bottle to stand beside Daniel. "Look. We're all good here. The Goa'uld
are pretty much defeated. The Jaffa are free. The Replicators are gone.
Everything is hunky dory. Why mess with that?"
Daniel
didn't answer. It wasn't because he didn't know what to say, or that he didn't
have a rebuttal. It was the emotion behind his insecurities that kept him from
articulating what was on his mind.
Slipping
his glasses back onto his face, Daniel allowed his mind to drift over recent
events. Of course, he was glad for Teal'c. The Jaffa had been waiting for this
moment to pass for millennia. He couldn't argue against the defeat of the
Goa'uld or the Replicators, either. Daniel was never one to have huge hang ups
about changing the past, or traveling back in time; he left the problems
concerning time distortion to Sam.
But
he couldn't help but wonder. What
happened to the others that had left the tape? Did they disappear? Had they
lived out their lives in another time? Were they the same? Were they them?
Different? Did it matter?
He
just couldn't stop his mind from rolling over all these thoughts. He couldn't
let go of the lingering doubts that they could have changed things for the
worse in other ways, and that they were not the people they should be.
Did
it matter if it was for better or for worse? What if they had lost themselves,
the people they were really supposed to be?
He
supposed there was truth in the notion that it was all relative. But was that
what was important in the end?
"Hey,"
Jack said softly, touching his back.
He
sighed, feeling Jack standing behind him, kneeding his shoudler soothingly.
"What if it's not supposed to be this way?" Daniel responded, his
voice barely above a whisper.
Daniel
closed his eyes as he felt Jack's lips press onto his neck. They were gentle
but firm, and told a story all their own. Jack, never a man of many words, knew
just the way to make his point in the only way he knew how.
Through
action.
"I
like it this way," Jack said into Daniel's ear.
Exhaling
slowly, feeling the heat of Jack's breath on his face, Daniel felt himself nodding.
Quietly, he turned, bringing his lips to Jack's, and kissed him lightly.
"I
do, too," he admitted, though still haunted by the unseen possibilities
the tape symbolized. "I don't doubt that. It's just—"
"Ah!"
Jack said, pulling back enough to wave his finger at Daniel. "That would
be wondering."
"No
wondering." Daniel reaffirmed.
"That's
right," he clapped Daniel on the shoulder, passing him a brilliant grin.
"Now let's go and say goodbye to Carter and Teal'c. They're worried about
you."
Daniel
hadn't even thought about how they must be feeling. Though he could communicate
in several languages, across cultural boundaries, and offer enough comfort to
support nations, sometimes when he got lost in his own thoughts, he neglected
the needs of others.
He
shook his head, thinking about his friends. "I wonder—"
"Ah-ah!
What did I just say?" he asked, his tone hard but his eyes dancing with
delight.
Daniel
winced anyway. "Right."
"Besides,
I need you focused."
Daniel
allowed Jack to lead him towards the door, arching his eyebrows quizzically as
he pondered Jack's words. "Oh?"
"Yeah,
for when Carter and Teal'c leave." Jack jerked his head back towards the
back of the cabin a few times, winking and gesturing for good measure.
Daniel
chuckled. Now that was logic that he couldn't argue with no matter what the
time line.
Grinning,
Daniel accompanied Jack back out onto the deck, and allowed himself to let go
of the "what if's" and ground himself, even if for just a little
while, into the reality of the moment they were in today.
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