Archive of Our Own ^beta

Title: U is for Us and Them
Author: Marzipan77

" – in the SGC we have these helpful colored lines –"

"The organic nature of the tunnels preclude any designs that are hand-made."

" - all you have to do is follow one color - "

"We find the continuity of the natural crystals to be very calming to both the mind and the spirit."

" – and phones, we have phones here and there, just in case. If you're lost you can grab one and get directions, order pizza -"

"It is rare for visitors to be unescorted. If you would refrain from wandering away from your Tok'ra guide, this would not be an issue."

" – or a map. A map would be really helpful."

"There are no maps for our tunnels beneath Vorash. The changing nature of our system would make it quickly obsolete. And dangerous if it were to fall into enemy hands."

"Even if I promise to burn before reading?"

The Tok'ra blinked. Twice. Three times. His mouth opened and closed. He took a step back.

Daniel couldn't watch any longer.

"Okay!" He clapped his hands together, ignoring the look of satisfaction in Jack's eyes. "It has been a very interesting morning, Thallas. Thank you for opening up your home to us –"

" – and such a cozy home it is – " Jack's comment was barely audible, thank goodness, and Daniel was standing shoulder to shoulder with him, trying to nudge him towards the entrance to the team's assigned meeting room. Hopefully Thallas was diplomat enough to pretend he didn't hear it.

" - for allowing us a glimpse inside your community here on Vorash –"

" – a very rapid and 'and we're walking' king of a glimpse –"

" - and for all the history you've shared." Daniel smiled what he hoped was his best slightly-stupid-earthling smile. "You've been very patient with all of my questions." He didn't mention Jack's questions. The ones meant to annoy and irritate rather than actually get information. Thallas' gaze flickered from Daniel's to Jack's for just an instant, letting Daniel know the Tok'ra understood the distinction.

At the sudden silence on his left, Daniel sent a sharp elbow into Jack's ribs.

"Right! Thanks! Great tour." Jack made his most sarcastic 'okay' gesture. "You should sell tickets."

Thallas gave him the stink-eye. The arrogant up-and-down glance. Daniel could feel Jack's hackles rise through the thick cloth of their BDU jackets.

"So, thanks again." This time, Daniel actually shoved Jack in through the doorway while he remained smiling in Thallas' direction. "I have a lot to think about – to process – before we meet with the rest of the High Council and Persus, your High Councilor. I want to make sure the entire team is briefed, so, if you'll excuse me."

Thallas' eyes flashed gold. "You are always welcome here, Daniel Jackson. My host has enjoyed your interest in the Tok'ra's rich and tragic history."

Daniel stiffened. That, right there, when the symbiote inside switched off the person they were riding in and came out to face you. That was never going to stop being weird. And he was going to have to do a much better job disguising his reaction if this was going to work.

"I don't believe we've met." He held out his hand ignoring the squawk from his left. "Daniel Jackson."

The Tok'ra's smile seemed warmer than before. He took Daniel's hand and grasped it firmly. "It is my pleasure. I am Sabazius."

Daniel's mind spun. "On my planet, Sabazius is the name of a Roman sky and horse god. One of the few named as 'Invictus' or 'Unconquerable.'"

Sabazius allowed Daniel to draw his hand away. "That was a very long time ago."

Eyebrows bouncing, Daniel couldn't help digging for more. "You were there, on Earth?"

"The First World. Yes. I lived there for a short time. I was considered Egeria's War Lord." He leaned in, conspiratorially. "I believe in today's military parlance you'd consider me a Defense Minister."

Amazing. Daniel was already close to being overwhelmed by all the information Thallas had let drop during their tour as well as the cultural clues he'd witnessed. He really needed to get to your journals before it all slipped away.

"I – I'd love to speak with you further, but –"

And suddenly Jack was at his elbow again. Literally. Long, strong fingers clamped around Daniel's arm with enough force to stop circulation.

"But we're going to need to brief the team before our meeting, aren't we, Daniel?"

"Yes, of course." Sabazius bowed his head. "I look forward to our next meeting, Daniel Jackson. Colonel O'Neill." A sardonic smile lingered around the Tok'ra's lips. "You have your own detailed observations to share with your 'team,' don't you, Colonel?"

On the other hand, Jack's smile was a lot more feral. Toothy, even.

"Oh, I'm just the gun-toting grunt around here."

"Not unlike the role of a symbiote within his much more diplomatic and congenial host."

Daniel felt Jack's full-body shudder through his grip. Being compared to 'one of those slimy snakes' was not going to endear Jack to anyone, especially not a Tok'ra.

"That's – quite a comparison," Daniel managed to answer before Jack's head exploded. "It's an insight I had never considered."

Sabazius nodded. "It's clear that you are wise, Daniel, in the ways different cultures approach the basic issues of life."

"Yeah, he's a peach," Jack began, trying to hustle Daniel away.

"I hope your wisdom can guide those of your planet to a clearer understanding of what I believe in your scientific parlance is called 'The Other.'" Sabazius bowed again. "I look forward to hearing that the First World and the Tok'ra can come to an understanding."

Speechless, Daniel watched the Tok'ra walk away. Yeah. He needed his journals, now.

Fifteen minutes was, apparently, the hard end of Jack's patience with Daniel's attempt to get his thoughts together while Sam droned on and on about Martouf's guided tour of the science labs.

"Come on, Daniel," Jack whined. "You've got to have something more useful than crystal fluidity and power management systems. Not that those aren't fascinating, Carter," he quickly added with a false smile. "Fascinating, but not much help with these negotiations."

Daniel looked up from his notes and gazed around the table. Graham was staring off at the open doorway. Jack, sitting next to him, seemed almost as uncomfortable without a thick paneled door to close between them and the hundreds – thousands? – of Tok'ra wandering through the tunnels.

That was the point, wasn't it?

"Sabazius – Thalla's symbiote," he explained when Teal'c turned an inquisitive eyebrow in his direction, "has lived on Earth. Within Egeria's court. And he has a deep understanding of anthropology."

"What does that mean?" Captain Blasdale crossed his arms. "And how does it impact these negotiations?"

"It means," Daniel adjusted his glasses, his standard way of trying to disguise how much another person irritated him, "that the Tok'ra have been studying us in ways that we can't hope to match in our study of them."

"That makes sense." Sam's bright eyes speared Daniel. "They have age and technology on their side. But any knowledge of Earth has got to be centuries out of date, doesn't it? I mean, they may understand humans of the early centuries, during Egypt and then Rome's dominance, but any Goa'uld – or Tok'ra – presence on Earth was removed before double digits CE."

"We've come a long way, baby," Jack agreed.

"Actually, we haven't."

Daniel drew the disbelieving stares of each individual. That was okay. He was used to it. "What I mean is, Western Civilization was largely built on the ashes of Mediterranean cultures that came before us. With a bit of influence from Scandinavia and the Franks, we are the descendants of the people the Goa'uld on Earth lived among." He opened his hands. "Down deep, in our cultural norms and morals, we are the same people."

"Even if that's true, Doctor Jackson," Major Graham cocked his head, frowning, as he reached across the table with one hand as if to make a connection, "how does that impact these negotiations?"

Graham was a good man. A good negotiator. He'd been insistent on joining the team to work out a treaty with the Tok'ra. Daniel had been happy to add his approval to get the major on the mission. "It helps us understand – it helps us put the Tok'ra alongside any of the other races and cultures that Western civilization has approached throughout the ages."

"They're aliens." Jack drew out the word. "Snakes inside of people. And, correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think we have a wealth of history to help us out with that concept."

Daniel shrugged. "And that's where you're wrong. That isn't the problem."

"THAT isn't the problem?"

"Nope."

"Daniel, so help me – "

"Jack, listen." He faced his best friend and pain in the ass. "Sabazius said it. 'The Other.' If they were simply aliens, the Tok'ra would be just one more 'Other' that we have to open our minds far enough to study, to understand their culture."

"I do not understand this concept, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel turned to smile at his most unlikely teammate. "Teal'c. When you came through the Stargate with us, our world was completely alien to you. You were the alien to us, but we were just as hard to figure out for you."

The eyebrow took a ride up Teal'c's brow again. "Indeed."

"To you, we, all of us," he gestured in circles, "were 'The Other.' You knew other humans, but not humans like us. Humans so different from you, from your culture and ways, that it was difficult to communicate, to find common ground other than mutual survival."

"And Teal'c was 'The Other' to us, right?"

Daniel nodded. Sam always caught on quick. "In many ways."

"So, we should be able to communicate with them. With the Tok'ra." Blasdale shook his head. "To find enough common ground to come to an agreement. We've negotiated with these 'Others' before."

Blasdale was struggling with the whole conversation, Daniel noted. Why General Hammond had decided to send someone who needed to be led by the nose to conclusions escaped him. He was learning, Daniel got that. But, on a mission as important as this one, Daniel could have used another seasoned negotiator – or at least another anthropologist.

"If that were the only problem, then, yes."

"That sounds more nuts than usual, Daniel."

Daniel snorted. "Jack, let me put this in simpler terms. During World War Two, we were facing powerful enemies, those who wanted to conquer us, make us bow to them, take away our freedoms and put our necks under their boots."

"I'm still not convinced Hitler wasn't a Goa'uld," Jack muttered. "But, yes, I get your very military reference, thank you." Jack made a go-on gesture.

"In order to win against this powerful foe, we made allies. Allies with people we did not get along with. People that we hated, in fact. Russia. And it was that alliance that forced Germany to fight a war on two fronts. When, under normal situations, we would never consider shaking hands with Russia, with agreeing with them, that is what turned the tide of battle."

"Well, that and the atomic bomb," Sam interjected. "But I see your point, Daniel. If we think of the Tok'ra as the Russians, we might be able to work with them."

"Oh, goody," Jack drawled. "Because that analogy makes me love them all the more."

"Jack," Daniel sighed. "It's a very martial concept, actually. Us and Them." He poked his thumb at his chest and then gestured towards the open doorway. "Us needs something from Them. Land. Weapons. Food. Oil. Intelligence. A place to put our missiles. A sea-passage to the east. We've negotiated with Them, with cultures all over the world, some almost as different from Us as the Tok'ra. And we've done it successfully." He leaned forward and pointed one finger, hitting the table in front of Jack. "As long as Them wants something from Us that we're willing to give up." He moved his finger to rest in front of him. "Money. Land. Weapons. Food. Etcetera."

"Negotiating 101," Graham noted with a grin.

"Exactly."

"Okay, I'll bite." Jack thumped backward to lounge against the unyielding metal chair. Well, lounge might be a little difficult to pull off in the Tok'ra style of furnishings. But, if anyone could pull it off – "Aliens, not a big deal. So, what is the big deal you're hinting at? Give."

"Sam already said it." Daniel caught the eye of his science-twin. "Age, technology, ships, zats, funky armbands, intelligence on Goa'uld strongholds, Goa'uld strategies, hell, the Goa'ulds themselves. The Tok'ra have all that. Them are way ahead of Us." Daniel hurried on before Blasdale or Jack could interrupt him. "The problem is that, for the first time in our history, Us are not negotiating from strength." He flattened his palm against his chest. "We – Us – are not the advanced civilization. The big fish." Daniel shook his head. "Oh, no. We are the small fish in the very big pond of the galaxy. We are the third world country, asking for help. And we hate that."

"The SGC has much to offer the Tok'ra." Teal'c's voice rumbled through the awkward silence.

"Of course, we do," Daniel answered. "There wouldn't be a negotiation if we didn't. But the United States is used to being the major power. The one who can walk away unharmed from the negotiating table and try another ally." He snorted. "What Sabazius just reminded me was that the Tok'ra have the upper hand. They know us already. He, himself, has been around for centuries. Even if they need us now, it will only help us to remember that they have survived without us this long. And are willing to go it alone again. Walk away." He speared Jack with his gaze. "Can we?"

Jack met him stare for stare. He wasn't being hostile, or sarcastic. He wasn't trying to win any battles – or even start one. This was Jack understanding. Getting it. Saying thank-you.

"We're Them." Jack pursed his lips. "To the Tok'ra, we're Them."

Daniel felt his smile grow. "We're always Them, Jack. We're always Them to someone."

Jack's lips twitched. "My head hurts."