Title: Mistakes
Rating: PG
Author: Mac
Disclaimers: All characters are property of MGM Studios and others who aren't me.
"Unscheduled off-world activation!"
Samantha Carter looked up at her dinner companions. Jack O'Neill and Teal'c had the same thought since only one team was off-world and their friend was with them. They got up and rushed to the control room.
General Hammond was ordering the iris open when they arrived. "SG-6 is coming in with injuries," he replied to their unspoken question.
"Daniel?" Jack asked.
He shook his head. "I don't know, Colonel."
Jack nodded and the three ran down to the gateroom as SG-6 returned. Colonel Bryant was carrying one of his men and Daniel followed slowly, limping. No one else came through the gate.
Bryant laid his soldier carefully on a gurney. He glared at Jack and watched as Doctor Frasier helped the injured airman. Before anyone could stop him, he lost control and ran to Daniel, wrapping his hands around his throat.
"Damn you! It's your fault, Jackson!"
Jack and Teal'c grabbed Bryant's arms and pulled him off Daniel, who sank to the ramp. As they dealt with him, Sam knelt next to the exhausted archaeologist. "Daniel?"
He coughed and looked up at her through pain-filled eyes. "It's my fault," he whispered as he lost consciousness.
The medics whisked him away before she could respond. "Carter?"
Sam shook her head. She didn't know what Bryant was accusing Daneil of, but she was determined to find out.
Sam stopped in the infirmary to check on Daniel. She noticed Colonel Bryant with his 2IC. She nodded to him. "Sir, how is he doing?"
"Not well, Major," he replied coldly. "Your doctor friend over there is going to pay for what happened on that planet." He stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to report to General Hammond."
Sam watched as he all but ran out the door. "Making friends, I see," Janet said.
She smiled warily. "Hey Janet."
"Daniel's going to be all right," the doctor said, taking in Sam's expression. "He has a bruised kneecap that should heal within two weeks. The bruising on his neck is much worse than it seems. He lost consciousness only because--"
"Lack of air, maybe?" Jack said, joining them in the infirmary.
Janet nodded. "His laranyx is fine. A little soar, but that's to be expected. He'll be speaking raspily for the next few days."
Sam glanced over at Daniel, who was stirring. "What do you say we find out his side of the story, sir?" she asked.
"Sounds like a good idea to me, Carter."
"Colonel Bryant, report," General Hammond said.
Bryant started off by explaining that everything was running smoothly from the moment they stepped out of the gate until 3 hours into the mission. That's when the inhabitants of the planet began to appear.
"Dr. Jackson immediately walked over to them, trying to establish communication. He said he understood the language, I can't remember what it is at the moment because it all went to hell, sir. I don't know what he said, but the people rushed us. They used clubs as a sort of weapon. I was able to help Captain Garing, but Majors Dorsey and Tye were dead. There was nothing I could do for them. I ordered Dr. Jackson to run for the gate and begin the dialing sequence. That's pretty much it. I do have to say, for the record, that whatever Dr.Jackson told the men, it caused the anger in those people which, in turn, caused the death of two fine officers, sir." Bryant took a breath. "Dr. Jackson should be reprimanded for his actions!"
General Hammond had listened patiently to the man's report. Whatever was said between Dr. Jackson and the planet's inhabitants wouldn't be learned until the young man was awake and ready to talk. "Colonel, I can understand your feelings on the matter, however, attacking Dr.
Jackson the way you did was uncalled for. I will deal with him when and if I deem necessary. I am asking that you stay on the base for the time being and that you be put on suspension until further notice."
"Yes, sir," Bryant replied stiffly. He wasn't at all happy about this.
Deep inside he knew the one man responsible for his dead officers was not dead, but, in fact, alive and resting comfortably in the infirmary. He had to plan accordingly if he was going to deal with this situation and he knew exactly who to call on. "If there's nothing else, sir."
"Nothing, Colonel," the General replied. "Dismissed."
A few minutes later, the phone rang. "Hammond. Yes, Dr. Frasier. He is? Very well, I'll be right down."
"Dr. Jackson, it's good to see you awake," General Hammond said as he entered the infirmary.
"Thank you, General," he replied.
He glanced at everyone else present. Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and Dr. Frasier. He suddenly hit him that these five were the most important people in his life. The only people in his life on Earth.
"So, Danny Boy, we're all here. What happened?"
Daniel took a deep breath. They were going to hate him. It was his fault and he was pretty certain Colonel Bryant already told them what occurred on P3X 012.
"Daniel?" Sam said, placing her hand on his.
"Sorry. It was a pretty routine mission. There were no signs of inhabitants. We were in for a surprise about 3 hours later as people started heading over to us. I realized they were speaking a dialect of Mandarin Chinese. I tried to talk with them, but they couldn't make out what I was saying. I caught the words "trespassing" and "death".
"Before I knew it, we were being attacked. I tried to reason with them, but they got angrier and killed Major Dorsey and Major Tye. I-I didn't know what to do until Colonel Bryant yelled at me to dial the gate."
General Hammond looked over at Dr. Frasier before asking the question that was on everyone's mind. "What did you say that got them angrier?"
"I was going to say, "'We mean you no harm and we'll just leave'", but it didn't come out like that. I realized what I said as I was dialing home. "'We'll destroy you before we leave.'".
Jack inwardly winced. Daniel could only have messed up if he was flustered and that never happened to him when it came to speaking a foreign language. "Daniel, it's an honest mistake. If people were coming at me with clubs, I don't know if I could think straight either."
"I'm a little tired," Daniel said suddenly.
Dr. Frasier nodded. "I think that's enough for now. Daniel, I'll be in my office if you need anything."
He mumbled a quiet 'thank you' and closed his eyes. The three friends looked at one another and Jack quickly parked himself in a chair next to Daniel's bedside.
"Colonel Bryant," the young man said with a nod. "What brings you to our neck of the woods?"
"Afternoon, Mike. I have a proposition for you."
Mike pointed to a seat across from him. He was in the business of taking care of things for close friends. Things no one really wanted to do themselves, but had to be taken care of. "What can I help you with?"
Bryant explained the mission (as little as possible without giving away anything about the Stargate) as clearly as he could. "Daniel Jackson needs to be dealt with. As it is, my hands are tied. In fact, I shouldn't even be off the base. If the General finds out, he'll have my ass."
Mike nodded in understanding. "Don't worry about a thing, Colonel. We'll deal with Jackson. I think we'll start by making him think he's going crazy. Now, tell me about this linguist."
"Well, his wife died a few years ago..."
Daniel had finally been realeased from Dr Frasier's care and was heading to his office to grab a few things before he headed home. He arrived to find Colonel Bryant sitting on a stool, flipping through a book.
Daniel glanced at the cover. Mandarin Chinese. Great, he thought to himself, this is all I need. He cleared his throat. "Can I help you, Colonel Bryant?"
Bryant looked up, setting the book down. "I wanted to apologize, Dr Jackson. I was just angry at those people, not you. It's not your fault they decided to attack us."
"I think it might have been," Daniel said quietly.
"What do you mean?" Bryant asked, jumping from the stool.
Daniel decided to take a plunge. This guy deserved to know what had been said. Besides, he knew his conscience wouldn't be cleared until he did. So, Daniel told him. He tried to gauge the emotions of the officer standing in front of him, but he couldn't.
"Colonel?"
"Thank you for telling me, Doctor," he replied, leaving.
"That went well."
"That did?"
Daniel jumped. "Dammit, Jack!"
"Sorry. Your conversation with Bryant went well?"
He just looked at Jack. "I guess it did. He apologized for attacking me," Daniel said, grabbing a few books.
"Ah." Jack wasn't convinced by the look on Bryant's face when he had passed him, he looked anything BUT forgiving. "Where you headed?"
"Home, why?"
"I spoke with Dr Frasier. She's willing to let you come fishing with me. It'll be fun, Daniel and contrary to popular belief, I don't always like going by myself. What do you say?"
Daniel wasn't so certain. He wasn't a big fan of fishing. "I think I'll just hang out at home and read."
Jack took the book from the top of the pile in Daniel's hand. It was the Mandarin Chinese book. "Daniel, Bryant forgave you, are you still trying to make up for an honest mistake? We all mess up. Hell, I've messed up so many times it's hard to count."
"Please, Jack. Don't try an talk me out of this. I need to do it."
"Fine, but you can read it while we're fishing. I normally sleep, but you can fish and read."
"Why don't you see if Sam and Teal'c want to come too?" Daniel asked.
Jack shook his head. "Teal'c is visiting his family and Sam is working on something." He shrugged. "Work is for people who don't know how to fish."
Daniel sighed. He knew wasn't going to be to get out of this. Besides, it would probably do him some good. "All right, I'll go."
"Great! I'll pick you up around 1600 hours."