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 A Face I've Seen Before

Chapter 10

"Lucy, I’m home!" Jack declared, in his best Desi Arnez impersonation.

"Well, Ricky, how did the negotiations go?" General Hammond asked, his cheek twitching slightly. Stifled snickers could be heard, moving among the men who stood, weapons lowered, but watching carefully.

It seemed that only SG-1 had the courage…or perhaps it was just as simple as not caring how others perceived them, even if they did appear to be insubordinate at times…to joke and poke fun when they were coming back from a mission. There had been times they’d left the Marines who guarded the ‘gate room in hysterics as they left, as well. Given that Jack O’Neill had the most irreverent, profoundly deep sense of humor, and enjoyed ‘giving it to the man’, their attitude was totally unique among SG teams. They were SG-1, and if…at any time, under any circumstances…the team failed to joke and banter, those assigned to the SGC became wary or nervous. Even frightened. The banter of the team assured those around them that all was well, and that the SGC would be victorious, always.

"Went pretty well, sir," Jack replied. "We were there for less than an hour. Can’t beat that."

"The preliminary work had already been done," Daniel interjected, smiling at the airman who took his pack and weapons. "It was basically a discussion of who wanted what. The Minoans seemed almost shocked that the Tegerians weren’t asking for more naquadah. In return, the Tegerians, who obviously studied the write up I gave them on the Land of Light, offered numerous plants for the Minoan gardens. Everyone seemed pleased, and the agreement was reached with no arguments or debate. Like I said, the preliminary work had already been done."

"Perhaps the delay worked in our favor," Hammond suggested.

"That very well may be. There was quite a bit of history exchanged between the two civilizations, while we waited-"

"Yeah, waited for Jack to lose his purple skin-tone and his Chanel Number 5 aroma," Casey muttered.

"It was not my fault!" Jack insisted.

"So you say," Casey said, turning on her heel. The airman waiting for her pack and weapons grinned from ear to ear when she winked at him.

"You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Jack demanded, striding towards the seer.

"Maybe someday. Of course, it almost made me forget your passion for Care Bears."

The entire room burst in to laughter. Jack’s cheeks turned ruddy. "I will get you," he hissed.

Casey turned around to face her friend and superior. Her green eyes were twinkling with humor. "You’ve said that before," she said in a stage whisper. "Still waiting."

If it took him fifty years…no…no, if it took him a hundred years, he would in some way pay back that annoying little seer for making him the laughing stock of the SGC. Jack paused. No, Radar would never intentionally do anything that would tarnish his reputation. In fact, he’d overheard her taking down a couple of nurses for laughing at him during his time in the infirmary, dealing with poison ivy. He unconsciously scratched his shoulder. Radar would only tease him in a setting where only those who knew and respected him would hear…"Radar?"

"Yes, boss?"

"Did I ever tell you about the time that I…uh…decorated…my commanding officer’s latrine?"

"Can’t say that you have," Casey replied. "Let me guess. Lots of flowers and pink?"

"And about twenty bottles of perfume and scented lotions. Of which half went on the walls and toilet," Jack grinned. He put his arm around her shoulders, leading her toward the elevator. "I swear you could smell it all the way across the hangar!"

She laughed. "Something tells me that your CO wasn’t as appreciative as your friends."

Jack chuckled. "Oh, he surprised the hell outa me!"

"What’d he do?"

Sam, Teal’c, and Daniel fell into step with the two, listening as attentively as Casey.

"Well, he walked in to the latrine, walked back out, looked around, and then left the building. Didn’t say a word."

"Now that would be disappointing!" Sam chuckled.

"Oh, it was," Jack laughed. "I didn’t know whether to start writing out my resignation, clean the mess up and pretend it never happened, or just leave it. So, a couple of my buddies and I are were debating the issue, when the CO came back, a couple of brown bags in his hands."

"Brown bags? He went shopping?" Daniel asked, incredulously.

"Yep, he went shopping all right. I didn’t think he’d been gone long, not quite an hour. But lordy, he managed to find everything he needed!" Jack chortled.

"So, what did he bring?" Casey asked.

The elevator doors opened, and the team stepped into the car. "Well, Colonel Peterson, my CO, walked into his latrine, with both bags, and closed the door," Jack replied. "Have you ever seen the movie, ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show?"

"A couple of times," Casey said.

"Well, remember the character, ‘Columbia’?"

"Doctor Frank-n-Furter’s lover," she said.

"She’s the one!" Jack nodded. "Well, Peterson came out, with a red wig, a top hat, wearing a black tuxedo jacket over some bright pink sparkly thing, regulation swimming shorts…black of course. And black fishnet stockings. Apparently he couldn’t find any shoes, so he was wearing combat boots. He started singing about being a sweet little transvestite from Transylvania, sashaying from one side of the hangar to the other. There wasn’t a man standing by the time he was finished." Jack laughed at the memory. "Then, he walked over to me, and told me to never try to out-prank a prankster."

The team was nearly howling with laughter at the scene Jack had described. Casey wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, my god, I would pay money to have been able to see that!"

"It was priceless," Jack laughingly agreed. He tapped the tip of his index finger against the tip of Casey’s nose. "I know when I’ve been ‘out-pranked’."

Casey chuckled harder. "I accept your apology," she said.

"So, no more purple Care Bears or Irises?" Jack asked hopefully.

"Nope. Well, if you do something stupid again…" Casey grinned.

Sam and Daniel exchanged a look. "Better be careful, Jack, you just admitted she out pranked you," Sam warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack muttered. The twinkle in his brown eyes let his teammates know he wasn’t worried about further ‘attacks’ from the team seer. "Just remember, I can prank, too."

Casey grinned from ear-to-ear. "The restraint you showed by not filling my locker with stones and rocks after the mission to…whatever planet that was…where we got that mystical rock back to the right people-"

"And took out Nirrti," Sam added proudly.

The seer’s grin went wider. "Yep. That mission was a good one. And your restraint in not ‘pranking’ me afterwards is commendable. To be honest, I don’t know if I’d have had the strength to have passed up that opportunity."

"There’s a key to pranking, Radar," Jack said, his voice as serious as his brown eyes. "There are some things you just don’t make jokes about. What happened on that planet…what could have happened if you hadn’t been given a vision about it…no, there’s nothing funny or joke worthy in that. We managed to save those people. You’re right, that was a great mission. Made even better by taking out that demented bitch who-" Jack broke off, shook his head slightly. "On the way down the mountainside, that first day, yeah, I thought about filling your locker with rocks. Never crossed my mind after that."

Casey’s smile faded. "I understand. I wish we could have saved those people…I mean, really saved them. But what we did…can you imagine having to take care of three catatonic friends? Not ever understanding what had happened? Possibly being afraid that what had happened to them, could happen to you? Not to mention the horror of dealing with…whatever it was that those people saw or heard…they would have lived with that every moment for the rest of their lives." She shuddered. "I can’t even imagine…"

"It was most fortuitous that O’Neill and I were able to drive Nirrti to do what she did," Teal’c said quietly.

"Most fortuitous," Jack agreed softly.

"Have to admit, the dreams afterwards were great," Casey said, smiling once again.

"I will admit that," Jack smiled in return.

"Hey, did you hear that General Hammond let SG-13 go to see Hania about doing a bit of dreaming?" the seer asked.

Sam nodded. "I did hear about that. Apparently the general is hoping it will help the team deal with the loss of Cam Balinsky."

Casey nodded, although her cheeks had paled slightly. "I don’t see auras. Well, rarely," she amended, remembering the ‘white’ that had surrounded her father, Teal’c, and Janet. And Charlie, as well, it had turned out. "But I could see that Cam’s death hit the team hard. Especially Colonel Dixon. He was blaming himself for not bringing the team home sooner."

Daniel sighed. "There’s plenty of blame to go around for that mission."

"And all of it lies directly with the Goa’uld," Jack said firmly.

The five members of SG-1 walked toward into infirmary. "Let the poking and prodding begin," Casey sighed, flopping onto one of the beds. Daniel sat down beside her.

Jack and Sam dropped onto the bed across from the Jacksons. "I feel fine," Jack said. "Not that anyone here particularly cares."

"I always care about how you feel," Janet intoned, from the door of her office. She hurried to where Teal’c sat, just beside Daniel, and gave him a gentle kiss.

"Anything interesting happen while we were gone?" Casey asked conversationally, watching as one of the orderlies wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm.

"Nope." Janet replied. "You weren’t gone long, is that good or bad?"

"Good this time," Daniel said, trying to remain still while the nurse ran the ‘Goa’uld detector’ over his neck. "Very nice treaty signed happily by both parties."

"Well, that’s good news," Janet declared.

Sam rolled her sleeve back down, the nurse tucking the sample she’d just drawn into a special vial holder. The same nurse was preparing to draw Jack’s blood. "It really was a very pleasant meeting. I think the Minoans were totally shocked at how little the Tegerians were asking for."

Daniel nodded. "I was surprised when Pallin asked if I thought the amount of naquadah was too much. He said they only used small amounts in some of their devices, but they wanted to build several of the same device."

"What kind of device?" Jack asked.

"No clue," Daniel replied honestly. "However, I got the feeling that if they were successful it’s something they’d be willing to share."

"Gotta love having allies that actually act like allies," Jack sighed.

Within a matter of minutes the exams were over. Daniel checked his watch. "So, everyone ready for O’Malleys?"

"I am…I’m starving," Casey announced.

"I’m ready for a nice, thick, juicy steak," Jack agreed.

"Me, too." Sam said. She looked at Teal’c. "Well, Rocco? You and Napoleon going with us?"

Teal’c looked down at his lover. "Do you wish to go?"

"You bet," Janet grinned.

"Okay, we meet topside in twenty minutes," Jack said.

Casey slid her arm around Daniel’s waist as they left the infirmary. "It’s been a really good day. Pedram is going to help the Tok’ra…and us…fight the Goa’uld. And we just made two good allies even happier."

"Yep," Jack gave a nod. "Good days like this are to be enjoyed. Celebrated, even."

"I agree," Casey said. "So you can buy a bottle of champagne."

Jack glanced at the seer. Then grinned. "You got it, Radar."

Green eyes went wide. "What…no argument? No complaining about how you always get stuck with the bill?"

"Not today. It’s been a good day. We don’t have enough of those. Need to make the most out of the ones we do have."

"You’re a wise man, Jack O’Neill," Casey said softly.

"You should remember that more often," Jack teased.

"It’s not like you remind us of your wisdom often," Casey retorted.

Sam, Daniel, Teal’c, and Janet began to chuckle.

"You’re a laugh a minute, Jackson."

"I know," Casey grinned. "I’ll say this now, but I swear I’ll deny ever uttering the words. You’re a pretty damned good CO."

Jack grinned. "I knew you appreciated me."

"I wouldn’t go that far," Casey replied.

"Ha. You love me," Jack crowed.

"No, I don’t."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don’t."

"Yes, you do."

"I don’t."

"You do."

"We’ll leave the two of you behind if you don’t stop it," Daniel threatened.

Jack and Casey exchanged glances, both grinning broadly. "A really, really good day," Casey smiled.

O’Malleys was relatively quiet, it being a weeknight. The team was given a booth in the corner. Drink orders were given, and menus were being studied. Jack glanced at Casey, then cleared his throat. The slender seer glanced up. She took note of the question in Jack’s eyes and nodded. Jack took a deep breath. "We need to talk," he said quietly, looking from Daniel to Sam and then back.

"About?" Daniel asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Me and Casey, and what did and didn’t happen when you were declared dead," Jack replied bluntly.

The waitress appeared again, placed five steaming mugs of coffee and one of tea on the table. Dinner orders were placed, and with a smile, the waitress left the team alone.

"So, as I was saying," Jack said, "we need to talk."

Daniel was fighting a bout of jealousy. There had been…something…different about the relationship between Jack and Casey since his return from the dead. He glanced at his wife; she seemed to avoid his gaze. For one moment, the fear that Casey was about confess to an affair gripped his heart. He pushed it away, his own internal battle causing him to miss the look deep sadness in the sapphire blue eyes of his teammate.

Sam was rushing through her own memories of what had occurred when Daniel had been declared dead, when Casey had nearly succumbed completely to her grief. I should have been there, for both of them! she chastised herself sternly.

"I think the two of you might have some ideas in your heads that aren’t true," Jack replied.

"We just thought we should talk this out," Casey added. She reached out and took Daniel’s hand, weaving her fingers between his.

"Talk what out?" Sam asked.

Jack noted that his wife’s eyes had taken on the same sadness he’d seen before. He stared into his coffee for a moment, trying to find the right words to broach the topic.

"So what is it we need to talk about?" Daniel demanded. He tightened his fingers around Casey’s, subconsciously trying to prepare himself to hear something he didn’t want to hear, didn’t want to have to deal with.

Jack looked up. Winced at the suspicion that continued to build in cerulean blue eyes. "When you were declared dead, after that mission to take out Ares, I spent a lot of time with Casey."

"Twenty-four-seven, from what I heard," Daniel replied, his voice only slightly snarky. His heart was beginning to constrict. So, was Jack going to confess that he and Casey had had an affair? I’ll kill him!

"That’s about right, at least at first. For the first couple of weeks, Radar wasn’t exactly with it."

"She was mostly catatonic. Certainly non-responsive most of the time," Sam explained. "I should have been there, too." She looked up at Jack, the guilt she felt shining in her eyes. "I let my…jealousy…get the best of me."

"Jealousy?" Daniel said, choking on the sip of coffee he’d taken. Sam was the least jealous-type person he knew. So if she was jealous…his thoughts continued to spiral, becoming darker and darker.

"Daniel, nothing happened between Casey and me. We talked, mostly about you. We…" Jack lowered his head. "We cried together. I held her while she screamed for you. Did my best to comfort her when she had nightmares. Listened to her when she talked about how much she loved you, how much she missed you."

Sam reached out, took Jack’s hand. "I was so stupid," she said softly. "I should have been there with you. Teal’c was there most of the time as well." She reached out with her other hand, and wrapped her fingers around Casey’s free hand. "I’m so sorry. I should have been there, too."

"But…you were!" Casey stammered.

"Not as often as I should have been," Sam responded. "I could have stayed the night with you, with you and Jack, and been there to help you through your nightmares."

Jack cleared his throat, looked directly at his best friend, holding those blue eyes with his gaze. "When I threw that bottle of Jack Daniel’s against the wall…it was because it reminded me of all the times…all the rumors…the lies…" Jack cleared his throat a second time, lowered his eyes to study his coffee mug. "You’re the best man I’ve ever known. Smartest man I’ve ever known. I…hell, part of those rumors about you being…well, about you being gay…were my fault."

Daniel sat, stunned by Jack’s admission. "How?"

"I didn’t stop them."

A smile crept across his face. "Jack, not even you can stop the rumor-mill at the SGC."

"I should have put the kibosh to that rumor the first time I heard it," Jack insisted.

Daniel shook his head. Jack hadn’t exactly been the most friendly person when they’d first met. He’d also been struggling with the death of his son, and the fact that his marriage was falling apart because of that death. A rumor, regardless of who it was about, certainly hadn’t been high on his list of priorities at the time. And considering how Jack had personally felt about him at the time…he shrugged mentally.

"I’m told I was completely out of it at that point," Casey said, picking up the narrative. "Jack was getting ready to change his clothes. I couldn’t tell you why I was there, what prompted me…motivated me…to go down that hallway. I honestly don’t remember leaving our house, or the drive to Jack’s cabin. Don’t remember being inside…" She took a deep breath, lacing her fingers between the long, slender fingers of her husband’s hand. She smiled when he squeezed gently. "I remember hearing the glass shatter. The smell of the bourbon. Then…then Jack was telling me not to move, because there was glass on my shirt, then something about wearing one of his tee shirts until mine had been washed and dried."

"She blinked a couple of times, looked up at me, and said ‘Okay.’ I was so damned relieved to see her there…I mean, I could look in her eyes and see that she was there, ya know?" Jack said.

Daniel nodded. "I understand."

"I had taken my shirt off before I even got to my room, then I had to work Casey’s shirt off her so she didn’t get cut, that was before she was fully…I hugged her Daniel, but it wasn’t any different than when I hug you, I swear it," Jack insisted.

"I…I saw that part," Sam sighed. "I was already suspicious, and without reason, I might add. It just…I was so hurt."

"Without reason?" Daniel asked quietly.

"Daniel, Jack wasn’t doing anything different than he’d done when you were wounded or hurt, or when I was wounded or hurt. Remember how he kept sneaking in to be with Teal’c when he’d been bitten by that huge bug?" Sam asked.

"I remember." He also remembered numerous times when he’d been wounded, and Jack remained by his bedside. And there was the time when he’d broken his leg, and Jack had insisted on moving in with him, to make certain he didn’t ‘over-do’. As he recalled, he’d about gone nuts with Jack hovering and waiting on him, and playing nursemaid. Suddenly, he understood exactly what Sam was telling him. Jack had reacted the way Jack always reacted. He was taking care of a member of his team. His guilt over the entire incident drove him to go above and beyond what was probably even necessary, at least, once Casey had moved past the worst part of her grief.

Casey squeezed Sam’s fingers. "You were hurting, too."

She nodded. "But you’d just lost your husband. As part of SG-1, as your teammate, as your friend, I should have been there. All I could see was the fact that Jack seemed to be consumed with you…with taking care of you. I didn’t see that he was doing what he always does when one of the team is down," Sam explained gently.

"Don’t carry guilt around that you don’t need," Casey said, smiling at her friend. "You were hurting, and worried, and being a wholly typical human being…and woman. We aren’t always as…selfless…as we’d like to believe of ourselves. Emotional pain, losing someone you care about, can skew the way the entire world looks."

"How’d you get so smart?" Sam asked teasingly.

The young seer shrugged. "I guess I must have heard that somewhere."

Jack took a sip of his coffee, then a deep breath, and blew it out slowly. "I didn’t realize that I…uh…well, I guess I’m a bit more comfortable around Radar now. So when I uh…touch her…it’s no big deal."

"When you tap her on the nose, it’s no different than when you push my glasses up," Daniel smiled.

"I do that?" Jack frowned. "Oh, yeah…well, it’s just because they’re on the tip of your nose, ready to fall off, and usually you have your arms loaded down with books, and I don’t want them to drop and break or something."

"I know," Daniel chuckled.

"So, what brought about this…discussion?" Sam asked. She couldn’t help but smile when Jack laced his fingers with hers.

"We were on a mission awhile back," Jack explained. "Radar tripped, I was closest to her, and she reached out to me. You two were standing together, and for just a second, I saw the pain…and betrayal. Pain in your eyes," he told Sam, applying gentle pressure to her fingers. His gaze moved to Daniel. "You looked as if I’d betrayed you. It was just a flash, barely there long enough for me to see…to recognize those emotions. Radar tripped when we were hiking out of that cavern, and it made me remember the look in your eyes. We discussed the issue, just before we stumbled on Pedram. We figured we needed to have a talk about the problem."

"But I-" Sam started, then broke off. She took a deep breath. "I should have been there with you! If you saw pain in my eyes, Jack, it was because I should have been there with you. Casey needed you, she needed all of us, and I wasn’t there! I feel so guilty about that!"

"Don’t," Casey said firmly. "You were hurting over Daniel’s death as well. And you had to have felt deserted when Jack spent so much time keeping me from going over the edge."

Sam nodded slowly. "Deserted…that’s an apt description. But," she said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, "that wasn’t what was going on. I promised Jack that I’d never doubt him, never…never desert any of my teammates again, and I mean that."

Daniel cleared his throat. "Casey told me that nothing happened between you. I guess…I guess just the fact that the two of you were closer…hell, I guess I was a bit jealous."

"There’s no need for you to be, Stud Muffin. You’re the only man my eyes will ever see. The only man my heart will ever love," Casey said softly.

Overwhelmed by the love he felt from her, the love he could see burning in her eyes, Daniel lifted their entwined hands, and pressed a kiss to her knuckle.

"We thought maybe talking about it would help," Jack continued. "I don’t want anything lurking in anybody’s heart that could eventually pull the team apart."

"Not gonna happen, Jack," Daniel replied. "I know you. I know Casey."

Jack nodded.

"I know she’s got better taste." Daniel tossed a grin at Sam. "No offence."

Sam chuckled. "I ought to take it, but considering the circumstances, I won’t."

Jack sputtered for a moment, then grinned. "You’re such a smartass."

"So you keep telling me," Daniel responded.

The general took a deep breath. "So, we’re all okay?"

Daniel looked at Jack. Whose gaze never wavered. Thanks.

"We’re all okay," Daniel said aloud.

Whether the waitress had been eavesdropping, waiting for an appropriate break in the conversation, or it was just simple good timing, the food arrived. The aroma reminded each of them it had been several long hours since they’d had a bit of lunch.

Jack dug into his pasta, then looked around the table. "So, what’s on the agenda for this weekend?"

Casey wiped her mouth with her napkin, then spoke up. "There’s a new exhibit at the museum."

"Really?" Jack rolled his eyes.

"What is it?" Sam asked, between bites of her own pasta.

"It’s a display of ancient Roman artifacts that’s been touring the country," Casey replied, ignoring Jack as he pretended to snore. "Statues, dishes, clothing, coins, day-to-day items, even some weapons from the Roman Empire."

"Wow," Sam said, suitably impressed.

"Yep," Casey nodded. "Daniel and I are going. Wanna come with?"

"We’d love to," Sam said.

"Carter!" Jack growled.

"Knives, swords, shields," Daniel said, grinning at his best friend.

"No kidding? Well, I suppose I wouldn’t mind seeing some of that stuff," Jack admitted.

"Cool!" Casey declared. "We could do the museum, and then have dinner somewhere."

"Sounds good to me," Sam confirmed.

Casey turned her attention to Janet. "You and Rocco want to join us? Make it a real team outing?"

Janet looked up at Teal’c. "What do think, Rocco?"

"I believe this exhibit could be most interesting," Teal’c said.

"There ya go, a team outing," Casey declared happily.

Jack looked at Daniel, his expression one of confusion. "What just happened?"

"You asked about weekend plans," Daniel chuckled. "Now we’re all going to the museum."

"That’ll teach me," Jack sighed.

"Hasn’t yet," Casey said.

"Radar, you are such a pain in the ass."

"So you keep telling me."

Dessert had just been served when Sam’s phone beeped, and she checked her email. A smile spread over her face. "Hey, there’s an email from Nyan."

"You get emails from Nyan?" Daniel asked, his surprise visible on his face and in his voice.

"Yeah, he keeps me up to date with what’s going on there in Area 51, I tell him what’s happening at the SGC," Sam replied.

"When did this start?" Jack demanded.

The blonde astrophysicist shrugged. "Shortly after he settled in there. He says he tried emailing the three of you, but none of you responded."

"Not remembering any emails from Nyan," Jack declared.

"Me, either," Daniel said.

"Nor do I recall any such emails," Teal’c said.

"You probably didn’t recognize his email name," Sam replied, "and deleted them as spam. Anyway, I told him that the three of you aren’t the greatest at communicating via email-"

"That’s not true," Daniel objected.

"So I should have told him that the three of you were ignoring him?"

"Couldn’t ignore him if I didn’t recognize the email was from him," Jack argued.

"What does Nyan have to say?" Janet asked. She’d remained quiet during the discussion regarding team feelings, understanding that what was being said, needed to be said, and that her input wasn’t necessary.

"Apparently he wants to talk to General Hammond," Sam replied. "He asked if we, meaning SG-1, would approach the general with the request."

"Easy enough to do," Jack said.

"Indeed. I…we…owe him a great deal," Teal’c added.

"Yes, we do," Daniel agreed.

"But that’s for tomorrow. Right now…time for cake!" Jack declared, eyeing the slice of chocolate heaven in front of him. He lifted the glass of champagne he had ordered, waiting until his teammates were holding theirs as well. "Here’s to good days. May we have many more of them."

"Hear, hear," Daniel said quietly. The clink of glasses tapping together filled the air, and then the team drank to the toast.

It had been a very good day. Individual thoughts were centered on the fact that ‘good’ days happened all too rarely within the walls of the SGC. War was never pleasant; a war against a foe with superior power even less so. But those who worked within the concrete walls of the SGC would never give up the fight. They would continue to battle, continue to take the fight to the enemy, to protect the people of Earth. It was their job. And they did it very well. They would endure the bad days, and celebrate the good ones. Because there were always good days…even if they were few and far between. They were, after all, the good guys.

THE END

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