Ageless
By Nessessitee
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I was surprised the first time I looked at my sister�s face and saw the lines of age etched into her once-smooth skin. I hadn�t noticed when she�d grown old. For that matter, as her elder, I hadn�t noticed when I had either�
********
Daniel
laid the book in his lap and thought about that for a moment.
He had no sibling for such a comparison. For that matter, he had no one
in his life long enough to watch them grow old.
He leaned his head back to rest it against the wall behind him and looked
across the room at Jack, who was bent over the comic book he was reading, lost
in silent mirth.
�Jack,�
he called twice to get the man�s attention.
�You�ve got a sister, haven�t you?�
Puzzled
by the very unexpected question, Jack frowned and lowered the comic.
�Yeah.�
Daniel
straightened up, returning the chair he was on to all four legs, and he leaned
forward, elbows on his thighs and his hands clasped between his knees.
�And she�s.. older than you, right?�
Jack�s
brow furrowed hard and the crease between his eyes grew deeper.
�Again.. yeah.� It was obvious he was extremely curious about the
conversation.
Scratching
his thumbnail along his jaw, Daniel said, �Did you ever notice she�d gotten
older - you know, just suddenly noticed it one day?�
Jack
cocked his head slightly and narrowed his eyes.
�I haven�t seen her in twelve years..�
�Ah-�
Daniel nodded sharply and lowered his head, shifting his gaze to the book in his
lap again. Jack waited,
impatiently, for the rest of the bewildering conversation, but it was clear that
Daniel had already lost interest in it.
�Hello?�
he said, waving his hand before the younger man�s face.
Daniel�s
head snapped up - his blue eyes wide behind the round lenses.
�What?�
�What!?�
Jack scoffed. �You asked me about my sister and then .. zip?�
�Oh,
I�m sorry,� Daniel said, still sounding distracted as he returned his
attention to his book. He swept his hand over the page and he muttered, �I was
just reading..� The last word faded off when he got lost in the text again.
Jack sighed impatiently and shifted forwards in his chair. He was about
to call Daniel again when the archaeologist raised his face, jutted out his chin
and looked Jack right in the eye. �I
just wondered.. have you ever looked at someone and suddenly noticed that they
were a lot older than you remember them being?"
�I
had a mirror on Pelops world, Danny��
Daniel laughed softly, his nose crinkling slightly at that dry retort, then he grew serious again and went on, �No, I mean it. Why do you think it happens?"
Jack could see he was serious so gave the question a little thought before he tilted his head to look at his friend to say "We take those nearest to us for granted, I guess."
Daniel stared right back at him, blinked quickly a few times then dropped his chin to his chest and fumbled with the book on his lap. "I've never watched anyone grow old," he confessed quietly and Jack couldn't help but feel a sudden pang of sadness for him.
"The up side to that is that it also means you've got no one in your life reminding you how old you're looking either.." he tried to lighten the tone of conversation. The younger man didn't seem in the mood for joviality though, but huffed softly as he continued to thumb the worn pages of the book in his lap. Jack watched him closely.
After a short while
Daniel looked back up at him, again directly into his eyes as he said, "Have
you ever looked at me and seen how old I am.. really am?�
Jack a raised brow. �You?�
/ You? No. I know every inch of your face, every pore, every speck. Each tiny faint line beneath your eye, the ones near your mouth that buckle to give way to your dimples. I know the worry lines across your tall forehead and the slight creases that are starting to form across your throat�/
�No.�
He shrugged casually.
Daniel gave a soft, somewhat disappointed grunt and lowered his face to the book once more. Jack couldn�t help but smile at the little reaction. He took in a deep breath when he knew Daniel wasn�t looking.
/There�s
nothing sudden about any of it, Danny. I�ve
been watching you for years�/
�What about you?� Daniel turned to include Sam in their conversation now.
The
Astrophysicist looked up with a very blank look on her face.
�What?� She asked as her gaze shifted from Daniel to Jack then back
to Daniel again. With a shrug she said, �Sorry, I was reading something. I
wasn�t listening. What did you
say?�
Jack
rolled his eyes but Daniel repeated the conversation to her patiently.
When he was finished Sam�s eyes went wide and she nodded and waved her
hand in his direction, �Yes! All
the time! Gads, I thought it was only me�� Her voice was raised in excited
passion and when she saw the look Jack was giving her she did a double-take.
�What?�
�You�re
both displaying a great lack of attention to detail here.
Should I be concerned?� the colonel droned. Sam rolled her eyes at him
and shifted her attention to Daniel again but before she could speak the lock in
the door clicked open and the door swung on worn, rusted hinges.
�Hey,
Big Guy!� Jack gave his friend a welcoming smile as Teal�c
stepped into the room.
�Your
results have returned. You are all clear and free to go.�
Jack
clenched his hand into a fist and hissed a quiet, �Yes,� under his breath.
Sam closed the out-of-date magazine she�d been reading and pushed it towards the
middle of the old table. Daniel returned the dog-eared novel he�d been
whittling away his time with back onto the otherwise empty shelf it had come
from then he clapped the dust from his hands and adjusted his glasses back into
place upon his nose. Jack stepped up to him, a grin smeared across his face.
�Free to go, Danny boy!�
�Knew we didn�t catch that disease on Px4308.�
"Thank
god!" Sam muttered as she came over to the men.
�Hey,
you could tell the Doc that till you were blue in the face.. well,
actually, being blue in the face was a symptom of it, wasn�t it?�
�That,
and certain members falling off..� Daniel grimaced.
�Can�t
have that now, can we?� Jack chortled, careful not to leer.
�Daniel has a date this evening-" Sam teased as she stepped between the men at the door and patted her friend on his shoulder while she passed by him. "Maybe this is the one, Daniel. Maybe she'll hang around long enough to watch you grow.." She frowned, looked closely at his face then said, biting back a cheeky grin, "OLDER!" She skipped from the room quickly.
He returned a sheepish smile to her back as he said, "Thanks, Sam."
�A date, is it?� Jack asked, hiding the sting he felt upon hearing that news with well-practiced ease. Unfortunately, Daniel was not saving himself up for him, and he knew it. He had learnt to live with it over the years. Pink flamed into the archaeologist�s cheeks but he didn�t say anything else. "Don't worry about it, Danny. If she doesn't work out, I can watch you grow old instead.." Jack offered.
Daniel laughed and nodded. "Sounds good to me, Jack."
Inhaling a deep breath, Jack's smile waned just a little as he clapped his hand over his good friend's shoulder and muttered, "Yuh.." knowing that Daniel would never know how true his words were. They walked down the corridor together. "I'll even comment on it from time to time, if you want me to..."
"Ahhh.." Daniel pursed his lips and frowned. "No. Maybe not."
"Okay.." Jack agreed with a nod then they walked on in silence a moment longer before he asked, "Sure? Cos, you know.. I will..."
"You know Jack.." Daniel said as he stopped and waited for Jack to stop then looked him right in the eye for a heartbeat.
Jack frowned slightly then asked, "What?" For a moment Daniel didn't answer then he walked off, leaving a frowning Jack staring at his back.
"What?" He called to the diminishing figure. Daniel stopped, twisted and gave Jack a 'come on' smiled.
The
older man jogged to catch up with him, clapped his arm across the broad
shoulders of his good friend and said, "They really ought to refurbish that Quarantine Room..�
Daniel
raised his arm and gave Jack two solid, brotherly pats on the back as they
headed back to �civilization� within the Cheyenne Mountain.
�At
least..� He sighed. �Get some
new books��
THE END
Stories on this page are the property of Nessessitee and Slida. Please do not copy these without the written permission of the Author. All Rights are acknowledged for MGM, Gekko and Stargate Productions as to the Copyrights of the characters within this story and no infringement on the copyrights are intended.
While the performances given by RDA and MS help to fuel the author's desire to write for their characters in a niche that she feels is present on the actual show, the portrayal of their characters in loving relationships in no way reflects the Author's opinion of the men's private life, nor should it be construed in that manner.