Jack tossed another piece of wood onto the fire, picked up his mug, and leaned back against the log he was using as a back rest. "At the risk of bringing down a battalion of Jaffa on our heads, I'd have to say, that so far, P98 77G doesn't suck."
Beside him, Teal'c's head came up, head cocked as he sifted the sounds of the night for threat. Across the fire, Carter and Daniel broke-off their low voiced discussion and stared in separate directions into the darkness. The three held their poses for a long moment then relaxed in unison.
His gaze sweeping incredulously over his team, Jack shook his head. "Oh fer crying out loud, I was kidding!"
Carter cracked first. A snicker. And then another. Which set Daniel off. Even Teal'c cracked a smile.
"What? You guys are rehearsing this shit now?"
"We merely took advantage of the moment, O'Neill."
"Yeah, well it's the sort of thing I expect from our two juvenile delinquents, but I never expected you to take a crack at the old man."
"Hey!" Daniel raised his head, glasses in one hand as he wiped streaming eyes. "Who are you calling juvenile?"
"And who are you calling delinquent?" Carter sputtered.
Jack shook his head. "Why don't you each pick one and get back to me."
"Then who," Teal'c asked, firelight winking on the gold in his forehead as one eyebrow rose to imperious heights, "are you calling old?"
And that set Carter and Daniel off again.
Taking a swallow of strong, sweet tea -- only Daniel was willing to drink the coffee that poured sludge thick out of their scorched and battered pot -- Jack watched his team, his kids, his friends, his family and felt as close to contentment as he ever had. Because P98 77G hadn't sucked.
The ruins they'd seen from the gate had offered Daniel an inner room protected from time and the elements where the wall panels told a story of the defeat of false gods in a language he almost knew -- the challenge of that almost had made him so happy, Jack had asked for and received a 48 hour mission extension from General Hammond. The news of the extension had resulted in one of Daniel's rare smiles, one of the ones that lit up not only his eyes but his entire body and that promised Jack would be properly thanked the moment they were home. Jack could wait. Hell, if anyone knew Daniel was worth waiting for, it was him.
The double suns were belting out harmless broad band radiation on a variety of less than usual wavelengths that had sent Carter into scientific ecstasy. Jack had no idea what half her requested equipment actually did but he'd watched, impressed, as she'd charmed the general into approving the lot.
Threat assessments had turned up no threats. Zero. Zilch. None. Nada. He and Teal'c had spent the day doing scutt work for their teammate of choice as well as a fair bit of sitting in the shade and lying to each other about past campaigns. Old soldier stuff.
There'd been smooth and sheltered ground to pitch the tents on, lots of dry wood for the fire, and the middle-aged and very married cook Jack had been flirting outrageously with for the past two years had sent through thermal bags of real food: chicken that actually tasted like chicken.
Life was good. In fact, if not for the pressure in his bladder, he'd have to say that right at this moment, life was damned near perfect.
Draining his mug, he set it down and, ignoring a twinge in his right knee, rolled up onto his feet. One of Daniel's eyebrows appeared above the upper edge of his glasses. "Just off to drain the lizard," he said in answer to the unasked question.
"We found no lizards on this planet, O'Neill."
"It's a euphemism, Teal'c. It means he's going to…uh…"
"Urinate." Daniel smoothly filled Carter's pause. Jack grinned at Carter's grateful expression and headed for the latrine pit as Daniel added: "He's also making me regret that I insisted we watch the last episode of the X-Files."
The truth is out here, all right. Jack stared up at unfamiliar star patterns, a handful of blazing diamonds thrown against black velvet. More truth than most people could handle. Good thing they've got us, the lucky s.o.b.'s.
Back at the fire, Daniel and Teal'c had traded places. Jack settled back against the log and felt Daniel's thigh press warm against his, the heat between them banked but still felt through two sets of cammos. On the other side of the fire, Carter and Teal'c were discussing the placement of one of Carter's instruments – which meant Carter was arguing that they move it to the top of a different hill and Teal'c was goading her with one word answers. Jack caught Daniel's eye and snorted; the whole damned team argued like they'd been married for years.
When Carter finally paused for breath after a particularly dry "Indeed?" Jack cleared his throat.
"You may be wondering why I called you all together here."
Teal'c turned to face him, looking surprised – although it required a good working knowledge of the Jaffa's expressions to see it. "You did not call us together here, O'Neill. It was General Hammond who assigned P98 77G to SG-1."
"It just means he's got something to say, Teal'c."
"When does he not have something to say, DanielJackson?"
"That's an excellent point, Teal'c."
"Thank you, DanielJackson."
"You two done?" Jack asked. "Because I've got something to say."
Daniel took a long, noisy swallow of coffee then grinned across the fire at the Jaffa. "We done?"
"I believe so."
"Good." Jack sat up straighter and touched the small case he'd slipped into his jacket pocket earlier in the evening when it had seemed as though the gods – instead of attempting to kick SG-1 butt -- were actually on their side for a change.
They were watching him now. Waiting. He'd had a speech, a speech he'd practiced in the bathroom mirror, but now, with two pairs of curious blue eyes and one pair of indulgent brown eyes -- Hey! Where did Teal'c get off being indulgent of him? – locked on his face, he couldn't remember a word of it. Oh screw it. Clearing his throat self-consciously, he pulled out the case. "Five years ago, five years ago today, we went through the gate for the first time as a team. Since then, we've saved the world seven times, against pretty God-damned near improbable odds. We've been to hell and back – literally and figuratively." Daniel's leg pressed harder against his for a heartbeat. That figurative hell – created by fear and denial; his fear and denial -- had taken a better shot at destroying them than any System Lord they'd met. "Anyway, five years… I thought we should commemorate it."
As he flipped open the case, the other three leaned forward. Lying against the faded red velvet on new ribbons were four very old perfect attendance medals. One for Junior Sunday School, First Baptist Church in Kalamazoo Michigan, 1952, two for the Senior French Club, George Washington High School, Eugene Oregon, 1945 and '46, and one for Morrison's Used Cars, Atlanta Georgia, 1961. Jack didn't want to guess why perfect attendance had been important at Morrison's Used Cars.
"There aren't any medals for what we do. I thought there should be." He reached down flipped a medal over. Engraved on the back, the lines new and bright against the dull brass, were the words:
SG-1 7 times and counting
Daniel reached out and touched one of the French club medals with a fingertip. "Jack this is… amazing, but SG-1's first mission wasn't five years ago. Five years ago, we'd been through the gate a half a dozen times. More."
"Unless I’m doing the math wrong," Carter added, "five years ago we were on Nem's planet."
Jack nodded. "Yes, we were. We'd gone back because…" Fuck. Five years and he couldn't say it. Five years and the feeling that he'd just had his beating heart ripped out of his chest came back just as strong. Just as painful.
"Because we thought DanielJackson had died," Teal'c said softly.
"Yeah." When he'd thought Daniel was dead, he'd realized that he couldn't do this without him. Something he realized every God-damned time Daniel died, as it happened, but that had been the first. A light, familiar touch against his back. He didn't dare glance over at Daniel, not if he wanted to get through this. "Standing on that beach, after we got Daniel back from that walking sushi platter…"
"Jack!"
He grinned as Daniel's protest arrived right on cue. "…I realized that I didn't want to do this without any of you. Not without Carter's smarts, or Teal'c's strength, or Daniel's unique way of making friends -- because a stranger is just someone who hasn't tried to kill him yet. OW!" The light touch had become a very pointed elbow. "At that moment, on that beach, SG-1 became more than the sum of our parts."
"A gestalt."
"Gesundheit."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "It's an organized whole that's greater than the sum of its parts and… You know that, don't you?"
"Smarter than I look, Danny-boy."
"Yeah, you'd have to be." But he was smiling as he said it, the smile that said everything was right with Jack's world.
"Sir, Colonel, this is…" Carter's eyes were very bright in the firelight as she took one of the medals. "This is special."
"Thank you."
"Thank you, O'Neill." The medal looked tiny in Teal'c's hand. He closed his fingers around it and laid his fist against his heart. "I will wear this with pride."
The silence stretched, lengthened, began to grow weighted. His own vision suspiciously blurry, Jack snorted. "So, an archeologist, astrophysicist, and Jaffa walk into a bar…"
Before he could continue, the distant sound of an opening wormhole brought all four members of SG-1 up onto their feet. Over the sound of insects and the crackling of the fire, came the distinct and unmistakable sound of battle armor against stone.
"I believe it is the battalion of Jaffa you ordered," Teal'c observed dryly, staff weapon already in his hand.
Jack caught the P-90 Carter threw to him, stepped back to allow Daniel more room to bury the fire, and grinned, "At the risk of sounding excessively mushy… bring 'em on." And no matter who or what had just come through the Stargate – friends, enemies, allies, new tech for Carter, new cultures for Daniel, or something for him and Teal'c to shoot -- P98 77G still didn't suck because this was what they did and nobody did it better.
"Teal'c take point. Carter, you've got our six. Daniel, you're with me…"