Prompt 31.05

[starglyph.livejournal.com]

Five times Daniel remembered he's a civilian.



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Comments

[vain-glorious.livejournal.com]

4. Whenever he remembered the military was the military.

Most often this manifested in the field. And it usually pissed Jack off, because it involved Daniel doing a lot of arguing and direct-order-disobeying. Which he could do with impunity, because he was a civilian. As angry as it made Jack, Daniel also considered it to be one of his most valuable contributions to the team. He never verbalized this, though, since it would only make Jack and then probably Hammond mad.

But, it was true. As comfortable as Daniel had become in the BDU’s, as skilled he was with weapons and combat now, and as proud as he was of the SGC and all its undertakings, he tried very hard to maintain enough self-awareness to speak up with he was ordered to do something the military thought was right and he knew was wrong.

Less frequently, this happened at home. Daniel basically lived at the SGC, particularly at the height of the war with the Goa’uld – the height somehow lasting essentially his entire time at the SGC before the Ori showed up. And it was a lot harder to be the voice of reason and ethics at home, when military procedures and their enforcers were everywhere.

And it was a lot more frustrating, because Daniel really, genuinely couldn’t do anything about it.

He found out that an airman who’d once carried him through the gate on a gurney had been dishonorably discharged for homosexuality. And it made him furious. Sam and Jack were both blank slates to his anger. Teal’c might have understood, but it required a really long conversation that explained human sexuality, American culture, military law, and politics. Feeling mean, Daniel told Teal’c to ask Jack.

After that, Daniel hopped in his car and drove to the airman’s house. He parked in front and was walking to the door before his brain had fully formulated what he was going to say.

Former airman Rodriquez answered the door on the first knock, looking unfamiliar in jeans and a sweatshirt. Daniel had never seen him out of uniform.

“Dr. Jackson?” Rodriquez said. He looked confused.

“Hi,” Daniel said. “I’m sorry.”

Rodriquez blinked at him.

“The SGC is going to miss you,” Daniel said. It sounded totally inadequate.

“Thanks,” Rodriquez said, slowly. The confusion stayed, and Daniel realized that showing up on the doorstep with righteous anger for a colleague who really was barely an acquaintance might seem at best weird and at worse a highly inappropriate pass.

He stayed long enough to meet Rodriquez’s partner and make small talk about the men’s future plans. Daniel never did something like that again, figuring out his reaction was one that really made no sense in a military world. Instead, whenever militarily-sanctioned homophobia appeared at the SGC, he made bitingly sarcastic comments and he didn’t care how many officers were in the room. Because he was a civilian and he could do that.