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Suggested
Rating:
PG
Category: Daniel/Janet
Setting: random scene, year 2010, in an AU
version of the SGC where Janet isn’t dead
Synopsis: Cameron Mitchell gets to hear the
story of how Daniel and Janet got together.
Author’s
Comments:
This one did not get the usual time to run amuck in my head before it
made it into written form. Nor
did it get reviewed by my usual faithful and helpful editor. Thus, I don’t feel like
it’s as good as it could be.
However, I wanted to write something
in honor of the January 12, 2010 Daniel/Janet Ultimate Party, so this is
it. Oh yeah, and for some reason
it ended up being told from the POV of Cam. We’ll have to blame that on the
fact that I’ve been watching too much Farscape lately. (I just hope this actually sounds like
Cam and not too much like Crichton.)
DISCLAIMER:
All publicly recognizable characters and places (the Stargate SG-1
stuff) are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp
and Double Secret Productions.
This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment only and no
infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and
places, and this story, are creations of the author. Any similarity to real persons, living
or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the
author.
THE ANNIVERSARY
-
by Michelle Lunsford (January 2010)
They’d
just sat down to lunch when Teal’c strode
toward the table, placed his fist across his heart, and reverently spoke in
his native tongue. Cameron watched
as the couple seated across from him smiled – no, amend that, Fraiser
was actually beaming – and
Jackson rattled off some reply in the same language. The Jaffa inclined his head slightly
before turning to exit the room and his companions shared a momentary private
glance before returning to their lunch.
“Okay,”
Cameron began when no one volunteered any explanation. “What am I missing here?”
“What?”
Daniel replied.
“That—”
he waved at the space where Teal’c had been
standing, “whatever it was you guys just said. Did. Whatever.”
The
archaeologist continued to blink at him for a few seconds before
understanding seemed to register, but Fraiser was quicker.
“Teal’c was wishing us a happy anniversary,” she
said, smiling again.
“I
didn’t realize it was your anniversary,” Vala
exclaimed. She leaned across the
table and grinned at the doctor, her tone dripping with innuendo. “So, what are you doing to
celebrate?”
“None
of your business,” Jackson quipped, even as Fraiser gave the other woman
a conspiratorial wink.
“But
it’s not your anniversary.”
As three pairs of eyes fixed on him, Cameron asserted, “Listen, I
may not be the best at remembering dates, but I clearly recall attending your
wedding – a very outdoor
wedding – and last time I checked, no sane person gets married outdoors
in Colorado in January. Ergo,
it’s not your anniversary.”
“That’s
because we were married in July,” Jackson declared matter-of fact.
“My
point exactly. So how does that
make today an anniversary? Or is Teal’c just mixed up on his calendar?”
Jackson
said something, in the Jaffa language again, as if that solved everything, before
raising his fork slightly – a sure sign he was about to digress into
some animated and lengthy commentary.
“It’s
when Daniel and I first got together,” Janet interjected.
Jackson,
apparently not willing to allow his wife’s straightforward reply to substitute for his intended discourse, added, “On
Chulak, when people marry, it’s customary to commemorate
the beginning of their courtship as well as the date of their marriage. Teal’c
has always told us that, due to our friendship, he wishes to acknowledge this
date in our honor.”
“All
right then, it’s the anniversary of your courtship.” Vala, still
grinning impishly, propped her chin in her palm as she glanced back and forth
between the couple. “And
anniversaries are time for sharing stories. So, who’s going to give us all
the hot and juicy details about how you two hooked up?”
Predictably,
Jackson rolled his eyes in exasperation and Fraiser merely shook her head in
mild amusement. But Vala did have a point.
“Actually,
that’s a story I wouldn’t mind hearing,” Cameron admitted.
“Oh,
don’t you start too,” Jackson complained.
“I
didn’t mean it that way,
mister jump-to-the-wrong-conclusion.” Setting what remained of his sandwich back
on his plate, he rested his forearms on the table
edge and leaned forward.
“You two were already together by the time I joined the
SGC. You’ve both become my
good friends, yet I realize I don’t really know your story. Seeing as how today is your anniversary…” he
smiled, leaving the implication unspoken.
“Well…” Fraiser looked at her husband and they
shared one of those silent moments that always left Cameron wondering how
these two managed to communicate so much without uttering a word.
“Obviously,
it was January twelfth,” Daniel began the story. “The year was—”
“Two
thousand and one,” Fraiser supplied into his pause.
“Right. It had actually been an uneventful day
at the SGC. We were in the
conference room, finishing up a briefing, when an unscheduled gate
activation, complete with an SG-1 IDC recognition, came through.”
“Another
version of SG-1?” he asked, curiosity spiking.
Jackson
exchanged another glance with his wife.
“Um, something like that. But the only thing that came through
was a message. A message for us
never to go to P4C-970.”
Cameron
nodded. He vaguely recalled
reading something about that in one of the many mission reports he’d
consumed.
“Why?”
Vala asked, sounding genuinely intrigued. “What was the danger?”
Jackson
shrugged. “Details
weren’t part of the message, and we never learned for certain.”
“But
the note was in O’Neill’s handwriting and had been splattered by
his blood,” Fraiser commented.
“It was enough for us to take the message seriously.”
“Makes
sense,” Vala agreed. “But what does all that have to
do with you two ending up together?”
Cameron
patted her on the arm. “Be
patient, this isn’t a Harlequin romance. Let them tell it how they want to.”
Jackson
slid his lunch tray to one side even as he inched closer toward his
wife. Those sharp, inquisitive
eyes were bright behind his glasses, and Cameron could tell his friend was settling
into storytelling mode.
“One
of the things we did come to agree about regarding the message was that it
had likely been sent to us from the future.”
“Which
made for some very interesting conversations the rest of that day, as you
might imagine,” Fraiser added.
“All
I remember is that I kept having this running dialog with myself, speculating
how the future me
had turned out. Sha’re had been dead a little over a year by that
time, but I’d also recently lost my former archaeology professor. Which meant
revisiting my academic stomping grounds as well as some old wounds. Then there was the whole Osiris
debacle…” his voice trailed off, as of its own volition.
During
the silence, Fraiser slipped her hand over Jackson’s where it rested on
the table. It wasn’t the
first time Cameron had seen this petite woman give the man a boost of
strength through a simple touch, but it still managed to amaze him, to
witness the depth of connection they sometimes shared.
Jackson
went on, “I guess the truth is I had already been reflecting on my life
and my relationships. The perspective
of contemplating a future version of myself merely
provided the excuse to kick it into overdrive.”
Fraiser
picked up the tale then. “We
all went out to dinner that night, and I noticed that Daniel seemed preoccupied. I figured he was just trying to work
through things – the team had
been through some rough experiences during those months – but as we
were such good friends I wanted to offer what help I could. So as everyone headed home for the
night, I stopped him in the parking lot and asked if he wanted to
talk.”
Looking
affectionately at his wife, Jackson confessed, “Janet always was good
about knowing when I needed a listening ear. However, I’m afraid she
didn’t have a clue what
she’d opened herself up for that night.”
“Definitely
not!” Fraiser’s
gaze was now locked with the archaeologist’s and only the tiny smile
gave away that her verbal astonishment was all for show. Pointing at Jackson’s chest for
emphasis she continued, “If I’d known that part of what had you
so preoccupied were thoughts about me—”
“So
there’d already been a bit of chemistry sparking between you before
then?” Vala interrupted with a knowing look. For once, Cameron was grateful for her
more straightforward approach.
He’d been drawing a similar conclusion, but hadn’t wanted
to press for confirmation.
“Depends
on who’s telling the story,” Janet teased, still staring at her
husband. “Daniel insists
that it began when he found out I’d volunteered to be part of the search
and rescue team when SG-1 had their memories wiped to work as slave labor
underground that ice planet. He
likes to think I was showing a bit of favoritism on his behalf in that
regard, but I was merely doing my job as CMO.”
“While
Janet insists it was when she was ordered to accompany Sam and me to Egypt to
track down Doctor Rayner. She likes to wax eloquent about how it
gave her a new perspective seeing me in my, as she calls it, natural
archaeological element.”
“Wait,
what are you talking about?”
Vala asked. “When did all this
happen?”
“During
the few months right before the message came through telling them not to go
to P4—”
Cameron had to wave a hand in front of her face to draw her
attention from the escalating flirtatious behavior happening opposite
them. “Haven’t
you ever read any of the reports from their previous missions?”
“Only
the ones that had to do with treasure or sex,” Vala
smirked at him before returning her focus to their companions. “Now, please, do go on with your
story.”
“Well,”
Jackson was the first to shift his gaze back to them, “regardless of when our feelings toward one another
really began to develop, I did choose that night in the parking lot to
confess my side of things.”
“But
I panicked,” Fraiser admitted.
“Yes, I was interested, but I had severe reservations about
getting involved in a relationship with a co-worker. And since discovering my change in
feelings toward Daniel, I’d been spending most of my free waking hours
trying to convince myself that not only was a potential romance a bad idea,
but there was no way he’d ever reciprocate such emotions.”
“So
what happened?” Cameron asked.
“Was it a big fight. Did you let him down easy?”
Jackson
shook his head. “No, there
was no fighting. Janet has always
been the more level headed one, and she definitely kept her cool that
night.”
“But
it was very awkward,” Janet amended. “And tense. To think, if it hadn’t been for
that stupid battery…”
“Battery?”
Cameron and Vala queried in unison.
“I’d
been having trouble with my car battery for a couple weeks, but hadn’t
had a chance to get it checked out.
When I finally got in my car to leave, it was dead. Not so much as a sputter.”
“Luckily,
she had a set of jumper cables and we hooked her battery up to my Jeep. It took a minute, but we managed to
get her car started.”
“But
Daniel, ever the chivalrous knight, insisted on following me home.”
“Only
to make sure she arrived safely,” Jackson affirmed, slipping an arm
around her shoulder.
“Of
course.” Fraiser’s smile was warm. “And I’m very glad you did,
because I was able to use the time during the drive home to get over my shock
and think about things from a slightly more rational frame of mind.”
“When
I pulled to the curb at her house, I was only going to stay long enough to
watch her walk inside.” Jackson paused, voice
falling to little more than a whisper.
“But instead of heading up the walk to her door, she turned and came
toward me.” He shook his
head slightly, as if he still couldn’t quite believe it.
“So,
what happened next?” That was Vala. And, surprisingly, in as soft a tone
as Jackson had just used.
Fraiser
leaned into her husband’s embrace.
“I actually never made it to Daniel’s vehicle because he
was already out, walking toward me.
And so we stopped, right there on the front lawn, and just stared at
one another.”
Cameron
waited for one of them to continue, but they were staring at each other
again, clearly lost in fond memories.
“And
then?” he finally demanded.
Fraiser
gave a slight shrug. “I
kissed him.”
Jackson
raised his eyebrows at her. “Um,
excuse me?”
“All
right, all right – he kissed
me. And it was wonderful and crazy and perfect, all at
the same time.” She reached
up to caress Jackson’s cheek.
“We’ve certainly been through our share of rough patches,
but here we are, nine years later, still together.”
Cameron
leaned back in his chair. He
wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting – maybe something more
complex or dramatic. But he was
rather glad that, given the wild ride his friends often had to face in their
work here, their romance had been more or less normal. In fact,
their story was downright sweet. Not
sticky, unpleasant kind of sweet, but nice and honest, like grandma’s
homemade peach cobbler kind of sweet.
And they certainly deserved that.
“Here’s
to many more years together,” he said, raising
his glass. It was the SGC mess
hall, the tumblers were plastic and filled with water, but the circumstance
and people made it seem a grand celebration. He offered a toast. “Happy anniversary, my
friends.”
~
THE END ~
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