Title: Barista 48 -- Dinner at Daniel's
Season: 5
Spoilers: Maybe
Category: Either Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Humor or Romance
Rating: Somewhere between G and R. Why am I being so enigmatic? See here

Two weeks is an exceedingly long time when you are facing a decision that will affect you for the rest of your life. And yes, deciding whether or not I should work for the CIA most certain does fall into that category. However, there really are both pros and cons to consider:

Pro: I will be working with some of the brightest people in the entire United States .

Con: I am obligated to work the first few years in Virginia .

Pro: There is a very good chance that after those years, I can relocate abroad.

Con: I won't have much say on where they will send me.

Pro: I will be PAID to study languages and cultures.

Con: The languages studied will (probably) be Arabic and her assorted dialects.

Pro: I'll be making more money than I ever thought I would. I'll be able to pay off my student loans in less than five years. Maybe even less than three!

Con: If I accept the position, I have to attend "CIA Camp"; an orientation period that lasts nine months - it's pretty much akin to returning to school.

Pro: Living on the East coast has definite advantages to land-locked Colorado . I'll be closer to New York , Washington DC and Europe .

Con: My friends live here! Odds are if I take this job, I will probably lose contact with most of them.

I'm going nowhere with all of this and really wish Daniel would just hurry up and return from wherever the heck he went this time.

"Hey Stefan," I call out from my perch near the register. It's a slow today, so all of us are pretty much doing the Gen X slacker thing - just hanging around and half-heartedly doing our jobs. I look around the shop and frown. Besides Stefan and me, all the other Baristas are under 21. Technically a completely different Generation.

I'm feeling old.

"You called oh frocked-one?" I throw a bar rag in his direction. Stefan was with me when I went to pick up my graduation robe and finds our bloated gowns, frilly sashes and cardboard caps ever so amusing.

Damn. I forgot what I was going to ask him. Ah well, I'm nothing if not adaptable. "What year do kids stop being X'ers and become Y'ers?"

"1980," he answers instantly.

"I heard it was '77," Kathy yells from the back room. See? Everyone is a little bored today.

"Really?" I ask.

"Oh yeah," Kathy confirms, walking into the main store. "My older brother is adamant on that one. Anyone born after Star Wars has to be a Gen Y'er. He's positive the world changed completely after the 1977 release of Star Wars and anyone who wasn't around to witness it, has to be from a different generation." I burst out laughing.

"Kath, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he only a few years older than you?" Kathy nods - she sees where I'm going with this. "Which means he couldn't have been older than two or three when it was released," I say aloud.

"Hey, I never said Neil was right or anything."

Stefan chimes in from the espresso machine. "No, I'm fairly certain it's 1980," he insists, sounding as if he knows of which he speaks. "In '80, Regan was elected president of the U.S. and his crafty counterpart, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister in the U.K. "

"But she became Prime Minister in '79," Rachel corrects. Wow. I'm impressed with my workmates - we so kick ass in the history department!

"Close enough," Stefan says dismissively, waving a hand in the air. "The world shifted in 1980, and that's when ‘X' gave way to ‘Y'." Before someone can make the inevitable jump from Y to Z, my phone (thankfully) rings. Instantly, I'm on edge and I'm fairly certain my heart rate just doubled. This time I know it isn't dad . Stefan slyly walks over to where I am standing and shoos me back towards the break room.

Have I mentioned how much I love my friends?

"Hello?"

"Hi Kira," Daniel greets warmly. "How have you been?"

"Good," I reply nervously. "Nice trip?" Ah. We're back to Monosyllabic Meyers again. Great. Daniel chuckles.

"Actually, it was," Daniel says in a voice that I can tell is smiling. "Maybe some day I will tell you about it," he adds cryptically. Well, that would be a first!

"So Kira," Daniel continues, "what are you doing for dinner tonight?" You know, of all the things I thought Daniel might say to me, dinner really wasn't on the list.

"Nothing?" I'm so confused here. I might have served Daniel coffee a million and one times, and even had a few drinks near him on occasion, but we've never actually had dinner together. Sharing an order of French fries over a Greek translation does not qualify as dinner.

Daniel seems to pause for a second before continuing. "I'm going to be finishing up here in the next hour or so, I'd be happy to come pick you up."

Daniel Jackson has asked me to dinner.
Daniel Jackson is picking me up for dinner.
Daniel Jackson is hot.

I try to scratch that last thought, but it isn't exactly working. It's been two years since I've gotten over my Daniel crush, but right now, I'm kinda forgetting why. Might have something to do with being single again, or maybe it's just the fact that Daniel is hot.

"Ok." Realizing I need to give him a little more here, I continue. "I'm going to be getting off work in a half hour or so," I add. "I need 20 minutes to walk home, ten to shower, another…" my voice trails off as I realize Daniel does not need to know how long it takes me to shower and dry my hair! "I can be ready by 5:30," I thankfully summarize before embarrassing myself any further. Ninety minutes is more than enough time.

"Perfect!" Daniel replies, sounding rather eager. Down Kira! "Do you still live in that apartment complex I dropped you off at a couple years ago?" Whoa. Daniel remembers that? We're talking freakishly good memory here.

"Yeah," I reply. I'm starting to get that surreal ‘this can't be happening' feeling again.

"Great! Pick you up in front of your apartment at 5:30?"

"5:30," I repeat. "I'll be ready."

"See you then, Kira." Daniel pauses and I can almost make out the voice of someone in the background. "Damn," Daniel mutters. "You're right." I don't think that part was for me. "Kira, how do you feel about Thai food?" Daniel asks rather sheepishly. I laugh and feel a little of the weirdness of the whole situation fade.

"I love Thai," I answer truthfully. Phad Thai is my favorite!

"Good," Daniel says with relief. "I've just been reminded that I haven't had a chance to go shopping yet." I smile. Gee, and I wonder who reminded him?

"We can meet at a restaurant if you want," I offer. I'm about to add that he can invite Jack along as well, when Daniel quickly objects.

"No!" he replies abruptly. Well, okay then. No restaurant. "I want to show you a couple books," Daniel explains. "And I have some rather interesting artifacts I think you might enjoy seeing."

"Um, okay." Just what does a gal say when she is offered to be shown artifacts?

"See you at 5:30," Daniel repeats again. I can tell he's just as embarrassed at his outburst as I am. I nod, but before I can say anything more (not that there was a whole heck of a lot more to say), the phone goes dead. I stare at it for several moments before raising my head and meeting Stefan's eyes.

"Showtime," Stefan says softly.

"I want to show you a couple books?" Jack repeats shaking his head in disbelief. "I have some artifacts you would enjoy seeing?" He rolls his eyes and sighs dramatically. "Daniel, do you have any idea how that sounded?"

"Don't you have reports or something to write?" Daniel asks irritably, as he exits his office. He knew it had been a bad idea to make the phone call with Jack in the room. Well technically, Jack hadn't been in the room when he began the call. The joy of his presence had come later.

"Daniel, we've been through this," Jack begins, following his friend down the corridor. "It was either the SGC or a secure location, and because of your penchant for inadvertently bringing home translations, your apartment is nearly as secure as Carter's."

"Sam takes work home as well?" Daniel asks with interest. He thought he was the only one who got (regularly) busted for that.

"It's a post-Orlin thing," Jack replies awkwardly. Daniel gives him a pointed looks and hopes Sam knows about this.

"You also agreed," Daniel states, trying his best to convince Jack to stop following him, "that I get to do this alone."

"Yes," Jack says amiably. "Your team, your disclosure." Daniel stops in his tracks and turns to face Jack. He holds up a finger and opens his mouth to speak, but decides against it.

"I'll let you know how it goes Jack," Daniel promises. He turns back around and gives Jack a slight behind the back wave. It was time to change and do a little dinner shopping.

Wow. I'm really not sure if this can be any more awkward.

Daniel picks me up at 5:30 on the nose and everything feels so strained. Is Daniel that upset at me for applying to the CIA? It doesn't feel like he's mad at me, but something is different; Daniel is different. Something is going on, and I don't have a damned idea what it is! All of this is very frustrating. We talk about the weather and stupid local stuff as he drives back towards the city. I live in one of the many student housing projects scattered around the university; Daniel however, lives in a swanky high-end condo downtown. Guess his job doesn't pay too poorly either. We take the elevator up to the eighth floor and my mouth drops a little as Daniel opens the door and ushers me in.

This apartment rocks. Forget the analogy of a kid in a candy store - try being an ancient history and language buff in Dr. Daniel Jackson's apartment. I've died and gone to bibliophilic heaven!

Daniel chuckles and leaves me to wander through his stacks of books and papers and strange-looking artifacts from countries whose languages I can't even read! I mean don't get me wrong, it isn't like I can recognize every language in the world or anything, but I am about to get my Masters in Linguistics and there are artifacts here written in scripts I can't decipher at all! I yearn to take some of these books home to study.

"They're just books, Kira," Daniel says smiling, as he brings the food into the dining room. "But don't tell Jack that I said that, okay?"

"Daniel, I wouldn't be surprised if many of these books are museum quality!" I say, pointing towards one particularly gorgeous manuscript. I have only taken a few courses in archival science, but from what little I know, this one appears to be mid 15th century with a pigskin binding (rare!). I yearned to open it up to see if the signatures pages are folded in quarto or in octavo.

"Come eat before it gets cold," Daniel advises after letting me linger for a few minutes more. My fingers are crossed that I'll be allowed to examine some of his artifacts more closely after dinner. I close my eyes and internally groan; I so didn't mean it that way. We make idle chitchat over spicy peanut noodles, garlic stir-fry and a damn fine bottle of wine. Apparently, there is a difference between a $4 bottle of wine and a $20 bottle.

"I'm fairly certain you're over 21 now," Daniel jokes, eyes twinkling, as he pours me a second glass. So much for hoping he had forgotten about that.

"Oh, and you never lied about your age before?" I counter, accepting (gratefully) the offered wine. I feel like such an adult sharing a glass of wine with Daniel!

"Oh, all the time!" Daniel replies, artfully using his chopsticks on the slippery noodles. Unlike most westerners (and this includes me) Daniel doesn't try to ‘skewer' the hard to pick up bits. He skillfully collects just the right amount of broccoli, garlic and rice all in one manageable bite. "But usually it was to save myself from getting my ass kicked by older kids."

"Your ass kicked?" I repeat. It just sounds funny coming from him.

"I have really been hanging around Jack too long," Daniel mumbles, taking a large drink of his wine. "The good news is that although I was fairly small for my age when I was younger, I had a good-size growth spurt at 16, so I didn't stand out too much when I started college."

"You started college at 16?" For some strange reason, hearing Daniel talk about college is giving me goosebumps; I feel like I already know this. Has he told this to me before?

Daniel nods as he continues with his reminiscing. "College at 16, and then I started graduate school just shy of my 19th birthday." He shrugs self-consciously. "I've never really been much of a socialite, but I did try and "fit in" every now and then - sometimes that meant lying about my age." He smiles and points his chop sticks at me. "Not really the same thing however as lying to get a beer, Kira."

"It was a White Russian," I mumble examining the pretty wine glass. French? "So Daniel," I begin trying to change the subject. "Not that I don't appreciate the invitation to your home, and I really want to spend more time examining your books, but I am a little curious as to why I'm here."

"Why do you think?" Daniel asks, turning the question back to me. Arrggh! Being a multi-lingual archaeologist isn't enough? He now has to play psychologist?

"You heard that I applied to work at the CIA." When in doubt, state the obvious.

"Yeah, about that, Kira…" Daniel begins. "I really would have liked to hear about it from you, rather than through a reference check from the Central Intelligence Agency." He doesn't sound angry so much as a little disappointed. The Thai food sits uncomfortably in my stomach and I feel horrible. I really did mean to tell him...

"I'm so sorry about that Daniel," I reply sincerely, unconsciously going into babble mode. "You were the one who told me to think outside the box, and so I did. And even though I didn't really think I'd even get past the first door - I did, and then they contacted ME, and the next thing I know I'm interviewing with them and then..." I pause just long enough to take another breath. "And then..."

"Kira, it's all right," Daniel says kindly, laying a hand on my arm. "It just caught me by surprise."

"I'm sorry," I repeat lamely. I take another sip of wine.

"Let's move into the living room," Daniel advises. The prickly goosebumps are back. Aren't living rooms where people are given really bad news?

"I'll be right back, Kira." I nervously take another sip of wine and make a mental note to switch to water very soon. Daniel returns with an unmarked manila file folder and a really cool-looking pendant. He sets both of them on the coffee table and tops off our wine glasses before I can request water. I can tell that whatever Daniel wants to tell me is important. Really important.  I haven't a clue what he is going to say, and frankly it's freaking me out a little. I'm sure my wine consumption isn't helping matters.

"Daniel, you're freaking me out here," I say finally. Enough with the cloak and dagger stuff Daniel - tell me what's going on!

"I know. I'm sorry Kira, really, it's just..."

"You're not dying or anything, are you?"  The wine. This has to be the wine talking. Still, as long as I've asked, it can't hurt to know the answer.

"God, no!" Daniel replies vehemently.  "What makes you think that?"  I shrug.

"You're awfully serious. Mysterious folder, pretty necklace that you might be giving away as a gift.."

"No dying," Daniel insists.  "In fact, just the opposite..."

"You're having a baby?" I ask, interested.  I didn't know Daniel was seeing anyone!  Daniel laughs.

"No. No baby."

"Daniel, birth is the opposite of death..." I explain patiently. Daniel rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"Kira, has anyone ever remarked that you can be annoying sometimes?" He says this in a very humorous voice, so I know the 'annoying' bit can't be too bad.

"Occasionally," I reply smiling.

"You and Jack are really quite alike," Daniel says shaking his head.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Deja Vu! I'm positive he's said this to me before. I think Daniel realizes this as well, but before either of us can reply, the phone in his kitchen rings.

"Ignore it. I can always call whomever back later." The phone stops at three rings and I can only assume the person is leaving a message. Moments later Daniel's shirt pocket begins to vibrate. Daniel groans and I can't help but break out into a large grin. "Three guesses," he mutters.

Without even looking at his caller ID, Daniel flips the phone open. "Hi, Jack." I cover my mouth to hold back a giggle as the person on the other end (Jack) says something.

"Lucky guess," Daniel replies. "And I'll bet it was you, who called my home just a few seconds earlier."  He pauses to listen to Jack's response.

"Because, Jack," Daniel begins patiently. "I have company." Pause. "Yes, it's Kira." Pause, and a glance in my direction. "No," Daniel replies succinctly. "Not yet." Pause. "Maybe because some Colonel I know keeps calling me??" Pause and a shake of his head. "You don't need to do that, Jack." Pause. "If I ask you nicely, will you not do that?" Pause, and a pained look. "Fine." Pause. "Right." Pause. "See you." Daniel pushes the off button and stares at his phone, shaking his head slightly back and forth. He sighs and gives me a resigned look.

"Jack is on his way."

Author's Notes:I swear I had every intention of writing this scene as one story - but it's just too darn long to do so! And once again, this is just the perfect leaving-off point before Jack arrives and really makes things interesting. I don't mean to be evil or tortuous. Really! Am I not posting semi-regularly right now? Do I make you wait long? Am I not just an all around swell gal? Exactly! So enjoy the suspense, let me know if this is going down how you envisioned/wanted and I'll try and post the concluding part (I even have a title - ‘Veritas'), next week. Hey, look on the bright side: Daniel is safe and secure in his apartment right now. On Earth.

Not Kelowna.

And now that I've really bummed you out, I need to warn you that after this next chapter (which will not be a cliff hanger btw - well, nothing like the last two any how -smile-), my postings are going to decrease. Precipitously. I'm in my final quarter of graduate school and need to seriously work on my portfolio (in lieu of a thesis). It's only for the next two months or so, after that I am sitting pretty. No panicking! I'm not saying I won't post for two months...I'm just saying I'm not going to be able to post as frequently. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Completed Sept 2, 2005