Characters: Jack O’Neill, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal’c
Part: 7
ESRB Rating: Teen
Themes: AU/Stranded, Teamy Goodness
Prompt: 070 Storm
Season: 2-esque
Written: January 06
Revamped: August 06
They gave Teal’c another two days to recover, but by the third no one could really argue with his health. There were other, newer, different complications to be sure, but his over all physical well being couldn’t be questioned.
“I cannot enter kel’no’reem, Daniel Jackson.” Teal’c had approached him while he was washing what dishes and cookware they had, and it didn’t exactly take a trained linguist to catch the tinge of worry in the Jaffa’s usually placid burr of a voice. “I find I have no center, no anchor. I… I ‘drift’. It makes me weary.”
Daniel’s mouth plucked into a thoughtful pout as he considered the situation. “You don’t, I mean— you don’t have a symbote anymore, Teal’c. And you’ve told me that kel’no’reem is a communion between Jaffa and symbote on the most instinctual of level. Obviously something… “else”… is working as your immune system, but it isn’t Junior anymore. You. Well, you might not be able to preform kel’no’reem.”
Teal’c’s scowl was black as night and twice as intimidating.
“Which isn’t to say you can’t meditate at all.” Daniel felt the need to supply this as quickly as possible. Potentially for his own safety. “Human’s have been meditating on Earth for thousands of years, and we don’t exactly have a significant population of Jaffa.” He tried to be like Jack; make it light, make it funny, pack the problem it into a manageable little box you could mock for worrying you so before.
Unfortunately, only Jack could be Jack and Daniel’s tentative, tight smile was rewarded with a severally arched eyebrow and the Jaffa turning to leave.
Daniel punched the air in a self deprecating cheer. “Way to go, Jackson.” This was so the best mission ever.
“Sir?” It was Carter. She was brushing a hand through her short hair as she looked about the clearing.
Jack had decided they could move on, maybe look for these people of Carter’s. He’d sent her ahead to recon the immediate area while they broke camp. Well, while Teal’c and Daniel broke camp. Jack was ‘delegating’. And, he was checking their snares. But it still looked a lot like walking around in cheery, early morning sunlight to the two men burring the remains of their brief time here.
But now Carter was back and had a report to give. Something was making her frown.
“Captain? Something wrong?”
“Well, it’s…. You might want to come and look at this yourself, sir.”
Now Jack was frowning. There were very few things in this world — worlds — that could leave Samantha Carter speechless. The woman was chewing on the inside of her mouth and that only made Jack frown harder.
“Guys?” Raising his voice, Jack turned towards the other two. They’d already pulled up expectedly, but now he had their undivided attention. “Hold the fort. Carter’s got something cool to show me.”
That got a grin from Sam and an eyeroll from Daniel. Yeah, only Jack could be Jack.
“The hell.” Carter had lead him to a shallow waterfall, really no higher then five or six feet, but a high enough vantage point to give a great, unobstructed view of where the meadow met the forest line.
And where currently the BIGGEST thunderstorm Jack had ever seen in his entire life seemed to be bearing right down on them.
“Seriously, that thing stretches…” Well, it seemed to stretch forever. Both officers had binoculars pressed up against their eyes and could each see the thick curtain of water falling, see when the lightening lanced through the sky. “Is that possible? Natural? Something that size?”
“I’m not a meteorologist, sir, but I suppose. Like the giant storms of the Sahara — or the giant red storm of Saturn. Except this one’s…”
“Heading right towards us.”
“I was going to say made of water, not sand—” She couldn’t help but grin again. “But, yes. It seems to be heading Nor’east to Nor’west. We should find somewhere to wait it out; there’s no way we could get around it in time.”
Jack was already nodding in agreement. “Yeah, and it doesn’t exactly look like the kind of weather you want to wait around for.” Snapping the binoculars closed and dropping them back around his neck, his steps were decisive as he turned back down the natural rock path. “We don’t have much gear so travel is thankfully light. Carter, you’ll take point, I’ll grab the six. We’re looking for caves or some sort of structure sturdy enough to hold us for a few days.”
“Right.”
“And keep an eye on Teal’c. Let me know if you see him get…” Narrowing his eyes, Jack bobbled a hand in the woman’s general direction. He didn’t like talking aloud about how much Teal’c had scared him. So he just bobbled his hands and hoped people would get the picture.
“Right, sir.” Sam got the picture.
The cheery early morning light soon gave way to a windy afternoon and the promise of a blustery evening was already singing in Jack’s knee. He kept them on a rough parallel to the river, but moved them further into the forest proper. The last thing Jack really wanted to think about was trying to bed down in a flooding river.
“You know,” he tossed out. “I just wanted to fill our canteens, not call in a marker with Noah.”
“I am not aware of a ‘Noah’, O’Neill.” Teal’c was third in line, just behind Daniel and in front of Jack. He spoke without turning around.
Jack sketched a frown at the man’s back. “I really am funny, Teal’c. Honest.” This only confused Teal’c further but got indulgent grins from both Sam and Daniel.
Their “lunch” was light, mostly the strange pseudo-watercress of Teal’c’s supplemented by that morning’s left overs, and eaten on the go. Jack didn’t want to stop them before they found any kind of proper shelter. It’s just that shelter was being stubbornly elusive even when all the while the approaching storm very much kept all its promises.
“Sir,” Carter began. “We’re just not—”
But Daniel interrupted. “Jack!” He was both pointing and bouncing out of formation. If Dr. Jackson wasn’t twisting or breaking an ankle in his rush to get somewhere first, he was simply breaking rank to get himself shot at first. Daniel had absolutely no concept of “reconnoissances”. It drove Colonel O’Neill nuts.
“Jack, look at that.” Thankfully he came to rest, hands loose on his hips as he jerked his chin.
It was a cow. Well, it was a cow “thing”. It really wanted to be a cow the same way the meadow deer really wanted to be deer and how the rabbits they’d been eating these last few days really wanted to be rabbits but in actuality weren’t.
The fauna here was all too furry, almost shaggy, with limbs and torsos and heads that resembled everything they were familiar with on Earth - mostly. Some too long, some too short, some with joints that were new and original in design, but that over all mostly let them resemble things they could identify and be comfortable with. It was all the “almosts” that really made the Colonel edgy. Things either should be or shouldn’t be the same. Everything did not need to taste like chicken.
“Well that’s a new one.” Jack had to admit, motioning for Sam and Teal’c to follow him in joining the archeologist.
Carter had things of her own to point out, though lucky for Jack she stayed put and just extended a finger. “Sir, a fence.”
“Indeed, it would appear to be a grazing pasture.” And Teal’c was better at recon then Jack ever would be. Not that Jack would ever let the Jaffa know, but.
Jack bobbed his eyebrows at Sam over his sunglasses. “I thought you said the closest inhabits were a good week away from the gate?”
She just had an apologetic roll of her shoulder for him, but was already pulling her binoculars out, turning herself to follow the posts of the fence work.
Tugging down on the lip of his cap, Jack shot a look over his shoulder towards the approaching storm before looking towards the cow-thing again. “Well, let’s see what Bessie has to say.”
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