Satisfaction
Oldies night at the karaoke bar. And team night to boot which meant that Daniel was there with Sam, Teal'c, Vala and Mitchell—and the guest of honor: General Jack O'Neill.
Ah, Daniel thought, the joy of it all.
It was going to be a long night.
They ordered some drinks; they ate some food; they chose their songs. Daniel considered singing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," but he didn't know what Jack would think of that. Too obvious, maybe. Personally, Daniel thought it was a great idea—the hand holding not the singing.
Sam sang "She Loves You, yeah, yeah, yeah," which proved to everyone in the room that she was most definitely above the legal limit after the first drink, but since she wasn't looking at Jack when she sang it, Daniel wasn't too worried.
He thought about singing "In the Middle of the Night," but that seemed worse than "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." Not that he didn't have plans for the middle of the night because he did; he just hadn't clued Jack in to the fact that he was part of those plans.
Teal'c sang "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" which Daniel found amazingly appropriate, but Teal'c wasn't looking at Jack either. He did, however, bring down the house as Sam and Vala wolf-whistled him off the stage. Which made Daniel think there might be more than one hound dog in the room.
There was always "My Baby Does the Hanky Panky." He could sing that, especially since he knew all the words. Hanky panky was good, in the middle of the night, with a hound dog by the name of Jack O'Neill. He looked at his drink and wondered if someone had spiked it while he wasn't looking. He ordered a fresh one, just in case.
Vala sang, "Born to be Wild" like it was her anthem. From the way Teal'c was singing along with her, Daniel had a pretty good idea of where she'd learned the words.
"What do you think, Daniel?" Jack asked, throwing his arm around Daniel's shoulders. "You born to be wild?"
Daniel had a brief moment of lunacy where he thought about saying, "I'd love to be wild, Jack. Would you like to show me how?" Instead, he took his Coke from the waiter.
You just had to love oldies night and karaoke. Sam and Vala had formed a life-long friendship singing together even when the music wasn't playing. Mitchell had his arm around Teal'c, no doubt because Jack had his arm around Daniel, and because he was drunk. Teal'c looked like he was having more fun than any sober person should be having. Certainly Daniel as the other sober person wasn't having nearly as much fun because Jack's arm around him didn't mean anything except that Jack was drunk like everyone else.
Mitchell was barely old enough for oldies so he sang "Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys," but he changed "cowboys" to "pilots" and that made Jack laugh out loud and applaud. Sam agreed whole-heartedly: babies should never grow up to be cowboys or pilots at which point Mitchell was insulted. Teal'c thought the song sounded awful (he was right), and Vala didn't get the joke. Daniel wondered if Mitchell knew the words to "Space Cowboy."
Maybe he could sing "As Time Goes By"—otherwise known as "a kiss is just a kiss." Jack was a Bogie fan from way back when. Or was that just too cliché? How about "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'"? No, too negative. "You Can't Always Get What You Want"? Nope, same problem. Maybe "Wanted: Dead or Alive"? Too gruesome—and alive, he wanted Jack alive. Maybe he should just screw the whole thing and sing "It's the End of the World as We Know It—-and I feel fine," but he really didn't feel fine and he wouldn't while he was sitting next to an inebriated and oblivious Jack O'Neill. The end of the world part was still up for grabs. He ordered another Coke.
Jack in the meantime had staggered to the microphone. He tapped it:"This thing on?" ignoring the chorus of "I hope not" that greeted his question. The slur in his voice meant that Daniel was definitely the designated driver for the evening. Jack picked a Stones hit but only because this particular bar didn't do opera karaoke. He put his heart and soul into "I Can't Get No... Satisfaction."
Sam and Mitchell joined in on the chorus. At the spot where Jack dipped the microphone and waggled his eyebrows, Daniel choked on his drink. At the end of the song Teal'c very politely inquired of DanielJackson just what kind of satisfaction O'Neill desired, and Jack very politely responded that only he was getting an answer to that question from Daniel this evening. Sam and Vala both laughed so hard they ended up under the table. Teal'c kept his arm around Mitchell, and Daniel led Jack to his car.
On his way out the door, Daniel smiled and wondered if Jack knew all the words to "Amazing Grace."
The End
