For slodwick's Worst Case Scenario Challenge.

Suspension
by Pares

"How's your leg?"

Teal'c, who had gone limp the moment he realized what had happened, was still swaying slightly when he heard Daniel Jackson speak from somewhere in the darkened room.

"My boot seems to have prevented any serious injury."

"Well, that's good! That's a relief. See, I was a little worried that the wire would snap your ankle." There was a small flare of light, and Teal'c could see that Daniel had lit a candle. The illumination gradually increased as Daniel used the candle to light other candles around Teal'c's room, and Teal'c saw that his friend was eventually burnished with golden light. In this aspect, Teal'c was strongly reminded of how Daniel had once appeared to him as an ascended spirit: he shone. Taking advantage of the now adequate visibility, Teal'c looked up along the line of his own leg and studied the ceiling, where he noted the hook that had been welded to the steel, and the slender cable that he was currently hanging from.

"It appears that you have set a trap for me, Daniel Jackson."

"Yeah. About that. Um. Sam helped me set it up before she left to see her brother Mark, actually. We didn't want you to end up with a head injury when you triggered the snare. She assured me that you wouldn't be knocked into a wall or hit the floor on your way up."

"This is not the month of April," Teal'c said, after taking a moment to tally the current date.

"No," Daniel agreed.

"Are there other Earth holidays that involve the setting of boobytraps?"

"Ah. No. April Fool's Day is it. And that doesn't usually involve, you know, being suspended bodily from the ceiling."

"Then please explain the meaning of this… action." There was a word that the Tau'ri had for this particular situation, where ones trusted companions made you appear a fool for general amusement, but he could not think of it. O'Neill would have been able to tell him.

"This isn't a prank, Teal'c. It's more of-- an intervention, really."

"I am unfamiliar with the usage of that word in this context." He curled up, reaching toward his boot and found that the wire looped around his ankle resisted his every attempt to loosen or dislodge it. He had become foolishly complacent; he wore no sidearms in the SGC, not even a knife. When Daniel released him, he would remedy that.

"You've been stonewalling me, Teal'c. I just wanted your undivided attention."

Closing his eyes, Teal'c let himself down again, and hooked his free leg around his bound one at the ankle. He inhaled evenly, steadily, and folded his arms against his chest. It was a posture he had seen in some of the films he had watched with O'Neill, concerning beings known as 'vampires'. O'Neill had referred often to many of those films upon receiving intelligence of the Wraith.

"Cameron isn't Jack, Teal'c. You don't owe him anything. In point of fact, you don't owe Jack anything, either."

"I am unaware of the subject to which you refer, Daniel Jackson." After a moment, he reached up again and began to unlace his boot.

"Why are you here, Teal'c?" Daniel's voice was low and smooth, but Teal'c could sense true confusion in his friend's tone.

"I reside in these quarters. I returned here after consulting with General Landry concerning the Ori. I am now unable to leave this room, as I am--"

"I meant, why are you on base at all? On Earth?"

There were many answers to that question, and yet none came to his lips.

"Teal'c, your people need you. You've spent most of your life fighting for your people's freedom, and now that they have it, now that you had everything to do with helping them gain that freedom, you're living in a steel box buried a mile under the surface. There is no doubt in my mind that we as a people have treated you shabbily, Teal'c. I mean, you're not even at liberty to live off base! And you know, I've never thought to ask about it, but they probably don't even pay you very much. Not that you actually ever get much chance to spend anything, anyway."

Daniel Jackson was much mistaken about Teal'c's rate of compensation. O'Neill had taught him early on about such things as the Tau'ri pay scale, and as a military contractor, Teal'c suspected that he had a far more diverse financial portfolio than Daniel Jackson. He had become rather adept at on-line trading and had in his employ one Genevieve Yablonsky, an analyst who managed his investments with great skill.

"I assure you that I am adequately compensated for my work."

"Is that so?" Daniel looked frankly unimpressed. "Teal'c, you are a hero to your people, your free people, and your son and the man who has been like a father to you are both off-world. And yet you're here. What could we possibly have to offer you that is worth more than that?"

Again, Teal'c declined to answer, and Daniel began to pace.

"The Council is on Dakara, making its decisions without you! Cameron has asked you to stay on, to stand with us against the Ori, and I won't say that we don't need your help, but on Dakara, you are a leader of a nation of the most highly trained fighters in the galaxy. Here, you're only one man."

Teal'c's pulse was a heavy drumbeat in his ears, and his head had begun to ache. His very blood felt thick and heavy, making his thoughts thick and heavy as well.

"I have read of your eighteenth president, Ulysses S. Grant. Although he was revered as a General, he is described in your history books as poorly suited for ruling a nation. His actions led to hardship and unrest."

"It doesn’t follow that because he did a shoddy job in office that you will. Leaving aside the fact that he was rumored to be a drunk who chose his companions poorly, he also lacked a brilliant mind and one hundred and six years of experience spanning an entire galaxy. That argument is specious at best, and unworthy of you. And you know it."

Although he had managed to unlace his boot, the wire held; it was not yet affecting his circulation, but it was clear that he would be unable to dislodge the loop without assistance.

"We have discussed this long enough, Daniel Jackson. I would have you release me."

Daniel continued as if he had not spoken.

"Whatever you may think of yourself as a leader, your people already look to you as one. Waiting here out of some misplaced sense of loyalty will only cause you more problems at home. The fact is, Teal'c, Jack's gone, and he's not coming back."

"O'Neill is not dead." There was some sharpness to his words, and for the first time, he met Daniel's eyes. His friend's face was implacable, the face of a king. Daniel Jackson had changed much in the years they had known one another. Teal'c felt some pride at this, and some pity.

"He might as well be," said Daniel, with some bitterness. "Jack has made his choice. He deserves to be happy. And so do you. Teal'c," and his voice was gentle, caressing. "I know you miss him."

"I am not the only one."

Daniel made a rueful sound.

"I don't deny it. But Sam and I have been talking about this, because you won't talk to us, and we think you need to be on Dakara."

"I came to that conclusion early in this conversation. I see that your arrogance has not been tempered by your many deaths, and for that I am almost glad. But the fact remains that you do not make my decisions for me, Daniel Jackson, and I am unlikely to be swayed by such arguments while being held prisoner in my own residence."

Daniel's golden skin colored noticeably, even by candlelight, and Teal'c was mollified.

"I had to try," Daniel said apologetically. Then he dragged Teal'c's bed beneath him and hit a button on a small remote control he produced from a pocket. It released the cable, and Teal'c fell onto his bed, bouncing twice. He sat up immediately, sliding the wire loop off his leg. When he got to his feet, he set a heavy hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Perhaps I should have discussed this with you before. You are as a brother to me, and deserve my confidence. Still, your method…" He trailed off meaningfully, and Daniel shifted under his hand, looking suddenly young.

"I am sorry."

"I accept your apology. And I will also accept your dinner invitation, to a place of my choosing."

Daniel smiled a little, and Teal'c prodded him out of the room ahead of him, setting him on a path toward the elevator. His foot was tingling, making his stride stiff and unwieldy, but his headache was already receding.

"Keep in mind that this meal shall be very costly. And that you should be on your guard for some time to come when entering your own home."

Daniel pressed the button for the elevator and Teal'c took the time to re-tie his boot.

"I see. So this would be a Jaffa revenge thing?"

Teal'c nodded.

"Very much so."

"Fair enough," said Daniel, and the elevator doors slid open.

END

My worst case scenario assignment. (I modified it a bit.)