Original Addiction
Original Addiction
by jackwabbit
Summary: Landry's Garden Pays Off For Daniel. Team, Gen, Fluff, Friendship. LAST EPISODE SPOILERS!!!
Category: Humor, Missing Scene/Epilogue
Season: any Season
Pairing: Team, none
Rating: GEN
Author's Notes: SPOILERS FOR LAST EPISODE OF SEASON TEN! SPOILERS FOR 'UNENDING'! LAST EPISODE SPOILERS!!!!
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 04/07/07
Like everyone else on the ship, General Landry was bored.
He tended his garden because it was something to do. Gardening was something he'd always wanted to learn but somehow had never found the time for. Since time had become a non-issue for him long ago in this place, he'd read every article in the ship's computer on the subject and by now he had tried so many different ways to grow living things in his artificial world that he could rival the greatest horticulturists on Earth in skill.
While some of the newness and interest of his hobby had certainly worn off through the years, Landry's garden had paid off in ways he'd never imagined. Not only did it keep him from slowly going insane by providing a much needed distraction that could always be counted on to do something unexpected, it also provided occasional fresh fruits and vegetables, and even gifts.
Landry grew some things just for fun. Vala enjoyed simple flowers, and even though she didn't like to admit it, so did Colonel Carter. Splashes of color from Landry's efforts brought cheer to their otherwise desolate quarters on birthdays, holidays, or just because, and it always made the old General smile to be able to do something nice for his friends.
Small shrubs and trees served a purpose, too. Teal'c had shown Colonel Mitchell how to carve ceremonial staffs and other weapons in order to occupy his time, and while Carter could replicate anything they needed, one of Landry's fondest memories of his time on the Odyssey so far was when he presented Teal'c with an unfinished branch of real, actual, grown wood in the correct dimensions for carving into a short staff used for Jaffa mock battles. Teal'c had bowed his head in gratitude and closed his eyes briefly while a rare natural smile graced his face as he accepted the gift. Months later, an intricately beautiful carved model weapon suddenly appeared on Landry's desk. A small note was attached. The simple message brought tears to the General's eyes. He could almost hear Teal'c's strong voice as he read the heartfelt words.
------
There is something about real things that makes the job that much more rewarding. Thank you.
------
It was moments like that that made Landry realize how much his little garden meant to him. Colonel Mitchell had made the chess set that he and the General used for play by hand out of wood grown on the ship, too. So many wonderful things had come out of his plants, and Landry loved them like surrogate children in his stifled little world.
Nothing, though, could compare to what he had just accomplished.
It had taken him just over seven years to manage this feat. He'd been working toward it in secret for so long it seemed it would never come to fruition. Temperature, humidity, light, oxygen...so many things had to be taken into consideration. It had been rough going at first, but finally, somehow, it had worked. He'd done it. Even better, he'd managed to keep it quiet.
It would be a total surprise. As Landry made the final preparations to his package, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious. He couldn't wait to see how this went over.
He suspected it was going to be good. Very good.
XXX
At first, he'd tried to live without it.
Even if he'd been strong enough to do so, the others wouldn't have let him. He was too good at taking out his wrath on anyone who stood in his way without it.
He simply had to have it, for his mood and everyone else's sanity.
So he replicated what he needed.
The computers did a pretty good job at it, and he'd certainly had worse, but it just wasn't the same as the real thing. The imitation irritated him to no end at first, but over time he'd learned to accept it. It was the best he was going to get, so he had to live with it, and it was a rare thing these days that he pined for the original. Sometimes, though, his mind wandered, tantalizing him with thoughts of a reality that seemed so long ago. Tonight was one of those times. Daniel Jackson sighed, and stood up from his desk with a disgruntled look. He headed toward the mess hall for dinner. Perhaps that would take his mind off it.
XXX
Now, sitting down to eat and looking at the small package in front of him, Daniel was puzzled. It wasn't his birthday, or a holiday. And yet, there it was. A small, neatly wrapped package, sitting in front of his usual place at the table. The six souls on board the Odyssey had made it a habit to eat dinner together, and as they all took their seats, questioning glances started up all around.
Mitchell was the first to ask what everyone was thinking.
"What'cha got, there, Jackson?"
Daniel picked up the package and looked up at the military man. "I don't know. It's got a tag. Let me see. It says it's for me."
Vala's eyes lit up and she clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh, a surprise! I like surprises."
Daniel rolled his eyes a little at her antics while he continued to turn the package over in his hands. "It doesn't say who it's from. Which one of you guys did this?"
Mitchell responded again, raising his hands innocently. The others looked just as clueless. "Not me, but there's no one around to give you a bomb, so I say you open that puppy up."
Sam chimed in now as she began to eat her food. "Yeah, let's see what it is, Daniel."
Teal'c raised a curious eyebrow, lending his silent support to the idea of opening the gift. The package caused such a stir that no one noticed Landry at the head of the table, barely containing a smirk behind his hand. The General didn't trust himself to speak, so he just watched the scene in front of him unfold, hoping for his desired effect.
As Daniel removed the bow from the package, a sharp hiss followed by a small pop could be heard. Five heads jerked back from the package involuntarily, but one didn't react.
General Landry sat unmoving. He'd expected the noise. After all, he'd vacuum sealed the package himself. Unlike everyone else, he didn't have his eyes on the package. They were on its recipient, waiting and watching for his reaction to the gift.
After the briefest withdrawal, Daniel Jackson's neck lunged forward while his head leaned back, and his nostrils flared outward. He looked like a hound tracking a scent on the wind.
As the aroma of the package reached him, a smile that could have powered a nuclear reactor spread across the archeologist's face, and his eyes closed briefly before lighting up like beacons on a stormy sea. His head snapped around to look at Landry, and as the two men's eyes met, Daniel's body began to tremble with an indescribable joy and he hugged the package to his chest possessively.
Daniel looked like an ecstatic six year old at Christmas.
For innumerable heartbeats, the General and the archeologist just looked at each other. Tears of joy slowly filled Daniel's eyes, and he tried to speak, but no sound came out.
The other four people at the table grew impatient and puzzled by the strange display before them, and eventually a deep voice broke the odd silence.
"What is it that you have received, Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel blinked a few times in response to Teal'c's question, as if he had forgotten there was anyone else in the room. As he slowly came back to himself, Daniel reluctantly released his package from its place tight against his chest and held it out in front of him so everyone could see it. He didn't set it down, but merely held it up like a precious offering.
As the small group saw the gift, smiles broke out all around.
There, in Daniel's careful hands, were coffee beans. Real, honest to goodness, hand grown and hand processed coffee beans, complete with minor imperfections. These were no perfect little replicated beans. Tiny bits of pulp still clung to them, and they varied slightly in size, color, and shape. For someone like Daniel Jackson, they were more precious than gold.
As his younger shipmates inspected the product of his years of labor, General Hank Landry leaned back in his chair and smiled, crossing his arms over his chest in satisfaction. Yep, his garden had paid him back innumerable times over. This moment of pure joy his plants had brought to the small, dark world that was the Odyssey was all the thanks he needed for the countless frustrations and setbacks he'd experienced along the way, and he only hoped his next idea would go over as well as this one.
After everyone had seen the beans, Daniel began to carefully package them back up. Landry had taken care to be sure the parcel was resealable. As the archeologist meticulously refolded the packaging, he looked up briefly and caught Landry staring at him. Daniel nodded one tiny nod, and Landry nodded back, understanding passing between the two men like electricity.
Daniel smiled broadly then, and spoke for the first time since opening his gift.
"Arabica, I presume?"
Landry nodded. "Well, they are a little easier to grow. Don't worry, though, I think I've got robusta on the way."
Daniel's grin suddenly vanished, and his eyes got as round as saucers. It was like he was afraid to believe his own ears. Disbelief was etched into his features while hope danced behind his eyes. After a second, an excited question bubbled out of his lips, complete with a tiny giggle.
"Really?"
"Provided I can keep my crops healthy for another growing season, yes."
Daniel was literally bouncing in his seat. He looked once around the table wildly before excitedly addressing everyone.
"So, who wants coffee? I mean, it will take me a while to prepare it properly, and..."
Landry laid a restraining hand on the younger man's arm and interrupted him. "Oh, no, son. That's all for you. There's more. We can have some later."
Vala laughed and added her two cents to Landry's speech.
"But you have to eat your dinner first."
Daniel threw the alien woman a look that left no doubts as to what he thought about that, and as the rest of the group laughed, he tucked into his food with a vengeance.
The rest of dinner passed in comfortable companionship, and if anyone noticed that Daniel didn't say a word or ate with a speed to rival a gluttony champion, they didn't say anything.
As soon as he could break away, Daniel looked to Sam imploringly.
Sam smiled radiantly, knowing just what Daniel wanted, and nodded at her old friend. "Come on, let's go. If you guys will excuse us?"
The rest of the group laughed and waved the two away. Mitchell spoke for the group.
"Go on. Get him a fix before he kills someone."
Daniel sneered at the Colonel, then sauntered out after Sam like a schoolboy. He was nearly skipping. Yes, skipping. As even Teal'c began to chuckle at the sight, the entire table burst into natural laughter that was some of the finest music ever heard on the Odyssey.
XXX
After two hours of nervous fidgeting, during which time Sam threatened to hurt Daniel or, worse yet, not help him with the replicators if he didn't shut up and let her figure out how to get the Odyssey's computer to make something it never had before, Daniel had what he needed.
Sam transported the finished product directly to Daniel's lab from her workstation, so all Daniel carried while he traveled the ship's hallways were his precious beans, in slightly changed form.
Carter was no idiot. She'd replicated a grinder first. In order to keep himself from constantly pestering Sam and at her insistence, Daniel had busied himself with grinding his treasure into a course powder while she worked. He had objected, saying that he could only grind the beans just before use, but the murderous look he got from Sam and the fact that she promised him a complete vacuum chamber to store the product in once ground made him relent.
Daniel was glad he didn't run into anyone on the way to his lab, and as he set his precious cargo down on his desk, he turned around and slid the lock home in the door. He didn't want to be disturbed.
Daniel Jackson had traveled his own world and countless others, but in all his journeys, he found one method of preparing coffee to be far superior to all others for simplicity and taste. The mess hall was equipped with standard drip coffeemakers, but never in a million years would he have insulted Landry's hand grown beans so viciously as to subject them to that. They deserved better treatment, and they would get it from his experienced hands. Daniel was glad Sam had enough coffee sense to understand why he needed a French press, and that no one else had been obtuse enough to ask questions.
As Daniel poured his course brown powder into the glass carafe that he and Sam had designed then replicated, he trembled slightly in anticipation. He assembled the plunger-like device used to separate the grounds from the liquid, and then boiled enough water for what some would call three cups (but to him was only one large indulgence) on a separate heat source. After adding the water to the grounds, he could only wait, stirring his creation occasionally by shaking the glass contraption. The four minutes of steep time tortured Daniel with enticing aromas, and he nearly filtered the coffee too soon, but he'd waited seven years for this. He could wait four more minutes. In order to make the time go by more swiftly, Daniel amused himself by thinking of all the other ways he could prepare the coffee when he had more time to replicate the items he would need. He could make Turkish brew. He could construct a vacuum system. There were so many options. He could add sugar, cream, or spices. Daniel smiled just thinking about it. There had been no question this type of cup would be his first, but Landry's gift would provide more than just one night of distraction for the caffeine loving archeologist.
When the time was up, Daniel used the plunger to carefully push the coffee grounds down to the bottom of the container, then poured the pungent liquid left in the top of the brewing device into a large mug. As the steam from the hot beverage hit his nostrils, Jackson involuntarily closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was going to have a hard time going back to the computer substitute now.
As he wrapped both hands around the mug, Daniel didn't even bother with a chair. He just turned around and slowly slid down the side of his lab desk until he was sitting on the floor, legs bent in front of him. He held the cup in front of his chest for a moment, allowing the liquid inside to cool and savoring the scent he had missed so very much.
Finally, he lifted the cup to his lips, and took the tiniest sip of his elixir. As his taste buds exploded in ecstasy, Daniel's head leaned back to rest on the side of his desk, and he closed his eyes in pleasure. When he was capable of thought a few seconds later, only one thing occupied his mind.
Thank God for Landry's garden.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to jackwabbit
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
Original Addiction
by JackwabbitStory Bemerkung:
SPOILERS FOR LAST EPISODE OF SEASON TEN! SPOILERS FOR 'UNENDING'! LAST EPISODE SPOILERS!!!!Site Navigation
Support Heliopolis