Friendly Fire, by Sid

[sid]

Title: Friendly Fire
Author: Sid/sid/sidlj
Word count: 1,515
Rating/Warning: PG
Spoilers: Season 9 Prototype (transcript here)
Prompt: Cam and Daniel. Episode tag to Prototype, on the shooting range.



"He told me one of us would feel the pleasure of taking the life of the other." Daniel directed his quiet statement at the briefing room table's surface.

General Landry, Sam and Teal'c had already left the room. It was just the two of them, and this was about as close as Daniel had gotten to opening up to anyone since he and Cam had taken Khalek down. "I know you didn't take any pleasure in that," Cam said.

"How do you know? Shouldn't I? Didn't I do something pretty terrific?" Daniel traced a jagged pattern on the table with his fingertip.

"No denying that, Jackson. If you take some satisfaction from it, you're entitled. If I thought you'd enjoyed it, I'd be writing you up for a psych eval."

Daniel looked up at that.

Cam smiled in what he trusted was a reassuring way. "Not even close."

Daniel didn't smile in return. "I don't particularly like the man I was in all this. The man who assessed the situation and said, 'Let's shoot him.'"

"That assessment was on the money," Cam said cautiously.

"When did I start making those kind of decisions?"

Cam was a little taken aback. "You've been making assessments in the field for a lot of years now."

Daniel frowned and returned his attention to the tabletop. "You don't know who I used to be."

Ah! "Well, yeah, I know I wasn't there, but I've read…"

"And you can't go by my mission reports," Daniel said in a rush, "especially the early ones. I fudged those six ways to Sunday. I was constantly terrified I'd be told I wasn't good enough, wasn't 'military' enough, to be travelling offworld." He broke off and paused for a long few seconds. "I was actually just going to say I was desperately searching for my wife, but of course you already know that, because you've read all the 'cool files'."

Whoa! "Ouch! You mad at me, Jackson?"

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed. "No. I'm sorry."

"Hey, I wasn't fishin' for an apology. Anyway, who says I was talking about your reports?"

"What?"

"How do you think O'Neill got to be General?"

Daniel blinked, mouth slightly agape. "I hope you're not going to try to tell me it was because of his reports."

"For one thing, he's pretty much of a genius at assessing men."

Daniel's face scrunched up. "He is?"

Cam shrugged. "You have to maybe read between the lines sometimes…" Daniel's face scrunched up even more. "Okay, it's just my opinion. But his reports told me everything I ever needed to know about where you started and your acquisition of military readiness. You think you were terrified of being told you couldn't go offworld?"

Daniel looked thoughtful. "Well, he had just got me trained and probably didn't want to have to…no, huh?"

"Not even as a joke, Jackson. You – trained?"

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "You haven't been talking to Jack, have you?"

Cam just shook his head.

Daniel rose and picked up his notebook. "I may have to accept the reality, and even the necessity, of who I've become, but I don't have to like it."

Cam stood, too. "Your actions saved a lot of people today, including me, and including yourself. Could you maybe try to like that? Just a little?"

Daniel tightened his lips and walked away.

"Work on it!" Cam called after him.

~~~~

Two days later, Cam was standing in the doorway of Daniel's office, making his own assessment and plan of action. Decision made, he rapped on the door. "Jackson. C'mon on."

Daniel looked up from staring blankly at his computer screen and blinked unfocussed eyes. "What?"

"Get up; come with me."

Daniel frowned. "I have work to do. What's this about?"

"You may have work to do, but you haven't done any in the five minutes I've been standing here watching."

Daniel looked taken aback, but his expression quickly switched to an icy glare. "Don't you have any work to do?"

"I'm doin' it right now. Get up."

Daniel made a face, but he got up and came around the side of his desk, stopping in front of Cam. "Well?"

Cam crooked a finger and headed down the hall toward the elevator, trying to walk like a man who was confident that he would be followed. Given Jackson's current mood it was a tossup…but his footsteps echoed behind Cam a long four seconds later. Cam pushed the call button, and the elevator doors opened as Daniel reached his side. They stepped inside and Cam pushed the button for Level 20.

"Armory?" Daniel said sharply.

"And the firing range." The doors slid open and Cam stepped out. He wasn't surprised when Daniel didn't budge.

"I don't think my ability to point and fire a weapon is in any question in the light of recent events, so what the hell are you going after here, Mitchell?"

Cam said calmly, "You need to get back on the horse."

"I wasn't aware I'd fallen off." But it was there on Daniel's face: the knowledge that things weren't right, that his perception of himself had been jarred as badly as his body would have been bruised and jarred by a hard fall.

"C'mon." Cam had even less confidence that he'd be followed this time, but like leading a horse to water, sometimes what happened next wasn't really in your hands.

Daniel followed.

Cam greeted the man on duty. "How's it goin', Moe?"

Sergeant Morris Howard winced. "That wasn't funny the first time. Sir."

Cam grinned and turned to let Daniel in on the joke. "Three…"

"Stooges. Yes, I know."

Cam allowed his surprise to show. "Wouldn't have pegged you for the type," he muttered. "Will you set us up with our usual hand weapons, Sergeant?"

Howard stepped away with a nod.

Daniel said, "You can't spend going on a decade being a friend of Jack O'Neill, and not acquire an intimate knowledge of All Things Stooge."

Cam snickered at Daniel's long-suffering expression.

They signed for their weapons and ammo, and headed down the corridor and through two sets of blast doors until they reached the firing range. One of the two airmen on duty supplied them with protective earmuffs and goggles, and got them situated in adjacent booths. Cam didn't bother being surreptitious as he watched Daniel load his weapon with steady hands. When Daniel signaled that he was ready for the first target, and began to cover his ears, Cam stopped him. "Wait a sec."

Daniel put the earmuffs back around his neck and looked at Cam with a hint of frustration.

"Slow shots. Take your time. Take deep breaths. Aim nice and easy." The opposite of what had happened on the Gateroom ramp.

Daniel's brow furrowed. "Just a nice relaxing day at the firing range?"

Cam nodded and spoke at a measured pace. "That's it exactly. We're not under any pressure of any kind whatsoever here." He watched it sink in. "Not savin' the world, not late for an important meeting, not gonna miss dinner if we don't get our rears in gear." He clapped Daniel on the shoulder. "Easy as pie, Jackson."

Stepping back to his own booth, Cam slid on his earmuffs, relaxed his shoulders, took two deep breaths and brought his pistol up slowly, releasing the safety. Settling into his stance, he braced himself and squeezed the trigger. He let his hands feel the weight of the weapon as he moved his head from side to side, easing some tension in his neck. He looked at the target as he heard Daniel fire beside him. He'd been a little high and to the left. He brought his arms up slowly again, aimed, breathed, fired. Overcompensated this time.

Daniel fired again. Cam looked over at him and saw him rolling his shoulders, eyes shut. Cam began to count as he prepared for and took his next shot. He got up to twelve before he heard Daniel fire. Nice. Slow. Easy. Right on target.

Cam exhaled. It was working.

Later, as they walked away from the range, Cam brought up something that had been bothering him. "Hey, Jackson. Tell me this: Why'd I have to read in Sam's report that it was your idea to reprogram the call-forwarding device? I mean, did you ever fail to take claim for your ideas back in the day, when you were so terrified of being dismissed from SG-1?"

"No! Ah, I may even have exaggerated a couple of times."

Cam snorted. "Well, I’m not advocating that…"

"Look," Daniel said, "Sam, Jack, you, all have careers to think about. If a suggestion of mine makes one of you look good, I don't have a problem with that."

Cam threw a companionable arm over Daniel's shoulders. "That's what I'm talkin' about! You are absolutely still one of the good guys. Don't you ever go doubtin' it, Jackson."

Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed exaggeratedly.

Cam smiled. Things were back to normal, or at least as normal as things got around here.

He'd take it.

Comments

[annieb]

Love this, Sid. Prototype was one of the few eps of the later seasons that I loved and I loved that scene of Cam and Daniel shooting Khalek. I rather like Action Jackson. I like the friendship between these two and I love the way you write it.

[sid]

It's a great scene, isn't it? I watched it several times as 'research'. *g*

Glad you enjoyed!