STARGATE SG-1: Do No Harm by Karen Miller Page B

professional to let his feelings interfere with base operations.”
    “I know he’s never really dealt with what happened to Cromwell,” said Daniel flatly. “And I know having Cromwell’s former second in command here is going to stir up some muddy waters. What I
don’t
know is what to do about it.”
    She leaned across her lab bench. “You do
nothing
, Daniel.
We
do nothing. It’s none of our business.”
    Daniel kicked the bench, gently. “Yeah. I guess.”
    “
Stay out of it
,” she said, nerves making her severe. “Please. For all our sakes, Daniel. Leave it alone.”
    With a flickering secretive smile Daniel started tidying together her scattered sheets of readout. “Yeah. Okay.”
    “
Daniel
…”
    He held up his hands as though surrendering. She wished she could believe the gesture. “I said okay, Sam,” he protested. “And now I’m going home. Don’t work too late. Have a good day off tomorrow, and I’ll see you Thursday.”
    “Yeah. Thursday,” she said, and watched him leave.
    Dammit, Daniel. Don’t you do anything stupid…
     
    Halfway through Fall the late afternoon sunshine contained a particular grandeur. All around, the leaves of the turned trees burned fiery in its golden glow. Colorado was a beautiful state full of wonders and miracles. Daniel slumped in his car, scowling at nature’s glory even as his fingers still clutched the wheel and his shoulders ached from sitting too long in one place. Maybe Sam was right. Maybe he shouldn’t have come. But on the other hand…
    It’s never too late to do more harm than good.
    He nearly jumped through the roof when his cell phone erupted into life. Fumbling, heart banging his ribs, he yanked the damn thing out of his pocket.
    “Yeah? Hello. Yeah?”
    “
Hey, Daniel
,” said Jack’s radiophonically distorted voice. “
Watcha doin?
”
    Oh crap. He scrunched down in the driver’s seat, wincing as a kneecap collided with the dash. “Hey, Jack. Nothing much. You know, just… hanging out. What about you?”
    “
You’re not busy?
” said Jack, ignoring the question. So typical.
    Heart still booming Daniel risked another look at Jack’s house, which he could comfortably see despite being parked four doors back. “Ah — no. Not so much. A whole day’s stand-down. Time to relax.”
    “
Uh-huh
,” said Jack. “
Yeah. Only you’ve been sitting out there for nearly half an hour. I was thinking you might need to pee
.”
    Daniel dragged his free hand down his face. “Oh. Yeah. About that…”
    One of Jack’s front curtains twitched aside and there was the man himself, phone pressed to his ear. He waved, smiling. It was how sharks smiled, sizing up lunch.
    “Yeah. Okay,” he sighed, defeated. “I’ll see you in a minute.”
    Jack’s front door was unlatched when he reached it. He pushed it open and went inside. Jack was in the sunken living room, sneaker-clad feet propped on the coffee table, perusing a newspaper like a titled man of leisure.
    “Oh, look,” he said, not taking his eyes from the front page. “It’s Daniel Jackson, Secret Agent. Who just scored a big fat
zero
on his surveillance assignment. Tsk tsk.”
    He folded his arms. “I wasn’t surveilling you.”
    “No? You could’ve fooled me. You know, if you were any good at it.”
    “Jack, I wasn’t spying on you! I was — I was — ”
    Now Jack looked up. His eyes were glinting. “I’m all ears, Daniel. Do tell. You were
what?
”
    Daniel dropped into the nearest armchair. “Working up the nerve to knock on the door.”
    Jack blinked. “Why? Did you think it was going to bite?”
    “No, but I thought you might.”
    Another sharky smile. “Good thinking, 99.”
    Okay. Yeah. So this was a bad idea… “Actually, I think I would like to pee. Do you mind?”
    Jack looked back at the newspaper. “
Mi casa es su casa
.”
    He returned from the bathroom to find that Jack had abandoned the newspaper and was standing by the French doors, staring into