Chapter 12: Season of Waiting

~*~

Reason to rule but mercy to forgive:

The first is the law, the last prerogative.

 ~ John Dryden, The Hind and the Panther

~*~

 The deadline had come and gone with no contact from the Nox. The palpable disappointment of SG1 seemed to have an effect on the entire complex, even those who had no clue what was really going on.

George knew the efficiency of the SGC grapevine; no doubt even NORAD knew all was not well with their premiere team. They might not know the details, but everyone was aware that something was wrong. Hell, anyone looking at the members of SG1 could see that…

George had offered SG1 more downtime, but almost as one they had declined. Sitting around with nothing to do would only make things worse, they said. He supposed they were right. Still he did not like the idea of letting them go offworld; Daniel was just barely hanging in there, even George could recognize the truth of that one singular fact.

Distracted, way too damn quiet…

George remembered a friend in Nam. The man had spent months in an isolation bunker, barely fed, never spoken to. Just left to rot on his own. When he had finally been freed, the man would sit for hours alone, caught up in the nightmare his life had gradually become.

Daniel was working hard to stay with them, but little by little his entire existence was becoming a nearly impossible balance between the nightmare and the reality of life. SG1 was doing their damnedest to keep him grounded, but they needed the one thing the continued absence of the Nox denied them.

A break.

The incoming wormhole claxon interrupted George’s thoughts. With no teams due back and SG1 being SG1, he immediately thought the worst. Sure enough, Davis announced their iris code. George held his breath as they waited….

Uniformed figures came through the gate, obviously under fire.

One, two, three….

And the gate shut down.

Teal’c was missing.

 

~*~

 

Stirring in his seat beside Daniel, Jack started to stretch his legs before realizing there was no way he could move without waking the other man. Davis was snoring like a buzz saw three seats back across the aisle, but Jack decided it was not nearly far enough away for his liking. The man had serious adenoid problems; it was a wonder any of them could sleep

Of course, Jack knew exactly why Daniel was having no problems sleeping for once; Janet had doped him up good and proper with a cocktail of antihistamines plus a little meclizine for his usual travel sicknesses. It was for Daniel’s own good in more ways than one.

‘From Russia, with love…or rather from Fraiser with a really sneaky attitude…’

With Davis along for the close quarters duration, they could not begin to afford a reappearance of the dream. Jack was there not only as bodyguard, but also to - hopefully - cover for any slips. Hammond had said Daniel was the right man for this job, and Jack was sure of it too. There was nothing he could have done to help Carter if he had stayed behind; she and Simmons’ so-called expert, McKay, would no doubt figure things out - if Carter didn’t end up killing the dork first.

Harry Maybourne and Lou Feretti were following up Harry’s contention that Conrad was still alive. Jack hated the thought of another Goa’uld loose on earth, especially one with a grudge against Daniel, but if there was, it might be persuaded to give up some knowledge of a way to help Teal’c. Harry was a first class bastard, but Jack trusted Lou to keep on his toes.

And to keep an eye on his six with Harry around.

Looking over, Jack noticed strands of grey sprinkled among the short hair at Daniel’s temples and the deeper lines taking hold in his features.

When the hell had that happened?

Daniel was too damn young for this...

Daniel was only thirty-seven; at least that’s what all the paperwork said. Jack knew - now - that it was not quite accurate. An inventive and sympathetic paper pusher somewhere in Daniel’s past had doctored things up, smoothing the way for a too-bright kid to break out of the system and go his own way - something Daniel excelled at.

The stress of life in general had aged Daniel a lot since Abydos. The softness of youth had given way, inch by painful inch, to a lean hardness Jack found both impressive and sad at the same time. It seemed so unfair that Daniel, whatever his physical age, had always been too old for his years. After his parents’ deaths he had been forced to bypass childhood entirely, to stand on his own just to survive in a world that did not begin to understand him. Only Abydos and SG1 had changed things for him. When he finally lost Sha’re, Daniel had lost his Camelot on Abydos in a very substantial way - there was no going back to that feeling of belonging again. The year prior, for so many regrettable reasons, he had come close to losing SG1. They owed their second chance to a mentally disturbed Goa’uld and the Nox, but Jack would take that chance any way he could get it.

They would get through this - they would get Teal’c back, get to the Nox and let them help figure things out. They had to.

They had earned this new opportunity the hard way, by going to the edge of losing it and almost falling over. They had managed to get it back and in the process renewed the knowledge of just how precious it was. They would not forget again.

 

~*~

 

‘I don’t believe it...’

Not only had Colonel O’Neill managed not to kill General Chekhov, but Daniel had charmed the irascible man into giving - lending - them the Russian DHD. Paul had been present the whole time but he still had no idea how either had occurred.

The colonel had loomed at Daniel’s side throughout the whole mission like a special ops shadow, looking all dark and dangerous but just short of fatal to know. Paul had even less clue how the man did that little trick, but he definitely wanted lessons.

Daniel was ... not quite well.

As hard as the two of them had been trying to hide it, Paul had still noticed. They were good at it, no question, but the little things gave it away. The looks of apprehension, the silent reassurances, the fact Colonel O’Neill was never more than ten steps away from the other man’s side.

Then there was the incident with the bellboy at the hotel; Paul had spent a good chunk of Pentagon funds smoothing that one over and paying for the damages…

But, by God, they had done it.

The return flight was much more crowded, Chekhov and that pretty Lieutenant Tolinev were coming along to watch over the DHD. It turned out Tolinev was Chekhov’s niece; the man had hopes of getting her assigned to the SGC. Paul had made no promises but Daniel and, surprisingly, even the colonel had given her a high recommendation.

The two of them were sitting forward now, talking quietly in Russian with Daniel, all of them laughing quietly at some story Chekhov was telling. The man was the complete opposite of everything he had been at the bargaining table, acting all doting and grandfatherly. He seemed to have mellowed out considerably under the Jackson influence, or maybe he simply realized what the trip and the negotiations had taken out of their intergalactic diplomat by default. As General Hammond had said, Daniel was the best man for the job.

The colonel was watching from a not so discreet distance, worry lines etched into his already rugged features. Paul edged up beside him, clearing his throat softly.

“He’s something else.”

O’Neill smiled tightly. “Yeah, he is...Eventually everyone but the Goa’uld winds up eating out of his hands.”

“And he has no clue,” Paul observed, half in question, half in certainty.

The colonel gave Paul a long considering look before nodding solemn agreement. “I guess that’s why it works.”

 

~*~

 

Lou was pissed.

With himself, with Maybourne, with just about every damn thing in the world….

Simmons’ pet Goa’uld was dead.

It was no great loss in itself…They had the tapes, and they would be more than enough to get Simmons’ put away for a long, long time. They had all the information they should need on how to get Teal’c back as well, but if it was wrong...

If it was wrong, Teal’c would die.

The only good thing was there was no longer a Goa’uld on the loose with too much money and a stated vendetta against Daniel. They sure didn’t need another one of those. It seemed Daniel was racking them up by the dozens lately. And the kid didn’t even half try.

It was too fucking late to worry about maybes.

Maybe if it had not threatened Daniel, maybe if Maybourne had not reacted with a surprising level of venom that nearly matched Lou’s own, maybe....

It was dead.

That was all that mattered. Dead and there was one less threat to SG1 in the world.

Lou still wanted an answer to the question Maybourne had dodged when he had shot Conrad. Why?

Why the hell did Maybourne do anything? Why was he always popping up when they were in trouble? Just what was in it for him?

Where the hell was he?

 

~*~

 

Teal’c was home at last, and Rodney McKay was lucky not to be a painfully and horribly dead man.

He had condescendingly gotten on Sam’s nerves once too often with his ‘I’m so right I’m spotless’ approach to science, not to mention his blatantly demeaning sexist remarks…and that was just on the first day. Well now he was just Simmons’ pet scientist, and Simmons was cooling his heels in a holding cell. McKay was so far gone out of the SGC he would have to buy return tickets just to catch a clue.

Sam took great pleasure in watching McKay’s face as he got the word from the general that his next stop was Russia. She took an even greater pleasure in the news that Katya Tolinev was part of the exchange. Not exactly a fully Russian team, but close enough to at least partially mollify Chekhov over the loss of the DHD.

SG1 and General Hammond had taken the two Russians out for dinner, a surprisingly relaxing affair. Chekhov had moaned a little about the DHD blowing up, but had big plans concerning McKay and building a super-computer of their own. Sam wished him well; she wished McKay eternal frostbite on very sensitive bits of his anatomy…

The Russian officer seemed to have adopted Daniel, making side comments to him in Russian throughout dinner. On one of their joint trips to the ladies room, Katya complained of her uncle’s matchmaking tendencies, but assured Sam she was happily involved with a capitalist businessman in Moscow. She also said Chekhov had been very impressed by Daniel’s heart and courage, a seemingly gentle and mild linguist with a backbone of iron who also understood what it meant for them to be a part of their country.

Sam had agreed, knowing all too well that backbone was as tough as anyone’s she had ever known. The trip to Russia had obviously been tiring for Daniel but it also seemed to have helped his overall outlook. It was clear to Sam that the older man’s paternal concern and Daniel’s own thirst to make use of his skills had clicked in a way Sam found utterly charming.

Once the Russians - and McKay - were gone from SGC they had been given permission to again attempt to contact the Nox. Surely this time they would succeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13: Season of Confrontation

~*~

"A will finds a way.

 

"-Orison Swett Marden

~*~

 

 

They were in so much trouble…

After a lot of prodding, Jack had spilled the whole story to Jacob who totally agreed that Daniel had no business even being out here, much less being all alone on a space station surrounded by Goa’uld who would love nothing better than to kill him.

It had become more and more obvious to Jacob on the trip to the station that something was very wrong with Daniel. The fact Jack had bullied his way onto the mission in the first place, not that Jacob had really expected anything else, but the vehemence with which he had done it had started all of his alarms ringing.

The kid looked bad, there was no question about it. He had lost a lot of weight in the few months since Jacob had last seen him, and stress lines now carved years into his face that had not been there before. Jack was not much better off, concern etching its own marks on the face of a man who had rarely let Daniel out of his sight the entire trip.

To say the least Jack was driving himself - and Jacob - crazy with worry now.

Daniel was alone on the station and Osiris - or Sarah or whoever the hell she was - had somehow figured out Daniel was not all he appeared to be - even with the help of the Reol drug. There was no way Jacob could blame Daniel for not releasing the virus, the kid was right about not letting one Goa’uld claim all the power, but he - almost as much as Jack - wanted Daniel out of there now.

The last communication they had received from Daniel told them he was on his way to a ha’tak, hoping to get himself and Sarah off the station undiscovered. But then they had heard Osiris’ voice and the communicator had gone dead.

This was so not good…

All they could do was wait. And waiting helplessly sucked way too much for words.

Suddenly Jacob saw the trail of an escape pod breaching the force field surrounding the station. Had to be Daniel…

Looking over at Jack’s tense face, Jacob amended his thought - it damn well better be Daniel.

 

~*~

 

Holy fuck…

Daniel was bleeding all over the escape pod, so much blood Jack could not even determine where the wound was…or was it wounds? An ornate dagger lay in the pod beside Daniel’s still body, mute evidence of what had hurt him.

Jack had no doubt as to who.

What the hell was it about Daniel and the women he loved trying to kill him?

Like it or not, they had no choice but to move Daniel in order to help him. Jacob moved to one side of the pod and gently reached under Daniel’s legs and arms while Jack got his side. In a cautious fireman’s carry, they moved the injured man to the hard shelf that served as a bed on the cargo ships. Sleeping bags from SGC padded things a little but Jack knew just how inadequate the things really were.

Carefully removing the gauzy silk thing Jacob had sworn was the latest in System Lord slave wear, Jack had to back up and swallow hard. Osiris had sliced Daniel deeply across the chest, from right collarbone across his chest to end under his left ribs. Unpleasant experience told Jack the Goa’uld had been aiming for Daniel’s heart - but somehow Daniel managed to evade the blade enough to keep from being stabbed clean through. Grabbing the towels Jacob had produced from somewhere, Jack started putting pressure on the deep wound, spreading three of the cloths across Daniel’s chest and pressing down with his arms in an attempt to apply even pressure.

“You got one of those healing devices?” he asked over his shoulder as the towels grew red much too quickly.

“Sorry, Jack…”

Sorry?

“Why the hell not? Never mind…How far are we from a gate?”

“Too far…” Jacob apologetically offered.

“The Nox?”

Jacob sat back on his heels, Selmak coming to the fore. “Also very far, but we could make it in about a day if we taxed the engines to capacity.”

“Start taxing then, Jacob. In more ways than just this, he needs them now.”

Selmak nodded grim agreement and Jacob returned, one hand lightly touching Daniel’s hair.

“We’ll get him there, Jack. Just keep him alive until then…”

Jack had to take a deep calming breath before answering, reaching for more towels as he did so. “That’s the plan, Jacob. We haven’t held on this long just to let go now.”

Jacob smiled tightly, clasping Jack’s shoulder before turning to head forward and lay in their course.

Switching out the soaking, bloody towels for fresh ones, Jack leaned over to whisper in Daniel’s ear. “Just hang in there, buddy, you hear me? Just hang in there…”

 

~*~

 

Martouf was dead, yet again.

Major Carter had been extraordinarily strong throughout their ordeal, but Teal’c was aware how much a strain leaving Jolinar’s lover behind had been on her. There had been a time when Teal’c had believed the Tok’ra and Major Carter would find their way to one another. But Martouf had sacrificed himself to destroy the Goa’uld with the last of the same poison Daniel Jackson was to have released at the Goa’uld summit, thereby covering their escape and dooming any surviving Tok’ra to a similar death.

It had been a shock to both of them to see Martouf in the stasis chamber. Healed of the bullet wounds which had, as they had believed until that moment, killed him. Tok’ra technology had revived him but was not capable of healing the continuing infirmities his ‘death’ had imposed. As soon as the chamber had cracked as a result of the collapse of the Tok’ra chamber, Martouf had soon been dying again.

At least they had been permitted time enough to properly say goodbye this time. Teal’c knew how important it was to have that time. Time Teal’c had not been allowed with Shan’auc, nor Daniel Jackson with Sha’re, nor O’Neill with his son. So often it seemed SG1’s lot in life was to lose the ones they loved. It was a trend Teal’c fervently hoped would end for them all some day. His friends deserved happiness.

Major Carter and Joe Faxon seemed quite well matched, Teal’c could only hope nothing would encumber that happiness. It would be a great comfort to her in the days ahead if she would allow it to be. The ambassador was one of the few Tau’ri not directly connected to the SGC who nonetheless had the necessary knowledge and security clearance for Major Carter to be able to speak in detail about the many things her chosen career exposed her to. Joe Faxon was an extremely understanding and supportive individual, Teal’c heartily approved of him.

Gazing once again at the clock on the wall of the control room, Teal’c noted time seemed to be passing far too slowly. O’Neill and Daniel Jackson were significantly overdue. The longer they were forced to wait, the more convinced they all were that something had gone exceedingly wrong with the mission to kill the system lords.

 

~*~

 

Moving swiftly through the trees, Opher was aware of the troubled thoughts of his kin as they ran beside him. Jacob of the Tok’ra had sent a very troubling message, not only was Daniel Jackson wounded, but there was another problem he did not specify, also concerning Daniel. The same problem the humans had been trying so long to contact the Nox about.

Their Stargate had been damaged in an earthquake months ago. Righting it had not been the difficulty, but the crystals of the dialing device had been damaged and they still lacked one replacement.

The Tok’ra ship was to land in the clearing near the Stargate. They would take Daniel into the forest, where healing could begin.

 

~*~

 

After many long hours, the physical healing was completed. Daniel rested now in the hut with an exhausted O’Neill stretched out on a pallet beside him. Jacob Carter had gone to the city with Opher to send a message to Earth and hoping to get word on what was happening on Ravenna.

As Lya stirred the evening meal, she reflected on the story O’Neill had told them of what Daniel had been undergoing since he had left them and returned to Earth. She shivered slightly thinking of the mind touch she had extended; she had been immediately caught up in the nightmare that plagued Daniel’s every moment. She had seen - as well as felt - the actual future horror awaiting the gentle young man if they could not somehow alter the projected course of events.

Lya had recognized the form of the being known as Oma, their people had interacted occasionally. Oma’s race was only a few generations ahead of the Nox, the state of energy they had ascended to was much coveted and admired, but not a state Lya ever desired to achieve. It was difficult enough for the Nox, being corporeal and connected to their world. The choices they had made, and continued to make, were best made on a physical and moral level, and not just consistent with the universal constants. As Daniel would say, it removed the ‘human’ factor. Humane behavior was not solely a human trait, or so Lya had come to understand. Once the heart and soul were removed from the equation, there was only theory and objectivity. While both those things were quite important, in some cases vital, they did not always prove to direct one to the right thing to do.

Lya believed Daniel to be a worthy soul, certainly evolved to a level to ascend to Oma’s state, but she also agreed with his opinion that such an existence would prove every bit a prison to someone such as Daniel as any actual barred cage could be. To become as Oma was, Daniel would be forced to stand by and watch many bad things happen while he would be frustrated and powerless to help - or prevent - them. It was the antithesis to what Lya knew Daniel had always been and what he believed.

Nor could they stand idly by and let Daniel die.

The dilemma was a complicated one. Interfering with providence was not an easy thing to consider, and never something to be taken lightly. Time flowed like a river; any change in a single stream of events could change what was to be. As Daniel had been suffering the dream right up to the time he had been injured, Lya knew the stream leading to that fate was still intact. Somehow when they had helped Daniel before, all had not been replaced as it should have been. Now, a single inadequately repaired pathway could provide the key to saving Daniel’s life. If he had not been warned…

Lya shuddered again.

They would help Daniel, they would. Such a spirit was needed among the humans. The Nox would help.

 

~*~

 

A dozen different smells pulled at his memory…

Fresh grass, spices, flowers…

Before he even opened his eyes, Daniel knew where he was….

The Nox.

The same familiar woven roof stretched above his head, the same scented air brought peace, the same ragged snoring let him know Jack was asleep somewhere in the immediate vicinity…

Daniel lay there a moment, trying to remember precisely how he had gotten from the point of Osiris’ knife to here. His last clear memory was of Sarah’s face, twisted by the evil of the thing inside her into a mask of blind fury, and the pain…

God, so much pain.

Reaching a hand to his chest, Daniel was not sure why he was surprised to find nothing but vaguely tender smooth skin. If they were with the Nox, things must have gotten very dire indeed. Rooting around in his subconscious, Daniel found indistinct memories of Jack urgently telling him to hang on. Remembered Jacob helping to hold him down when he woke up not knowing where he was, crooning soft, comforting words such as a father might offer a son; Sam was a lucky woman.

After two tries Daniel made it up onto one elbow and, sure enough, Jack was stretched out on a mat beside the cot Daniel was lying on. Daniel remembered a day, months ago now, when he had risen before Jack and spied just such a scene. Then, in the cusp of such a wonderful renewal of life and friendship, Daniel had plucked a straw from the wall and spent long minutes tickling Jack’s nose until the older man had finally caught on and chased Daniel out of the hut and into the forest, swearing vengeance every step. Vengeance that had never materialized.

Realizing how weak he really was, Daniel put any notions of a repeat performance out of his mind. What he needed to do was go to the bathroom, but to accomplish that he would have to get up and step over Jack, a very daunting prospect at the moment. Pushing up a little further, Daniel cautiously sat up. The wound itself might be gone but he still felt incredibly weak and shaky.

Blood loss maybe?

He remembered blood - a lot of it actually - remembered it flowing, sticky and warm, all around him in the escape pod before finally passing out. Daniel shivered, realizing he was pretty much naked under the rough-woven blanket…of course that slave get up hadn’t been a far stretch from being naked in the first place - even before Osiris had ventilated it. The chill air and the rush of memory combined to make Daniel even colder as he realized how close he had come to not needing to worry about the dream or anything else anymore.

If they were here with the Nox now, maybe that, too, would be over soon…

“Please let it be over soon…” he whispered to himself.

 

~*~

 

The noise of the wooden cot’s framework shifting woke Jack. He peeked out of one eye to see Daniel sitting up, trying to draw the thin blanket around his shivering body. The younger man looked too freaking white, the always overly large pupils of his eyes stood out hugely in contrast… but he looked a damn sight better than he had with half his chest sliced in two - and nearly every inch of his skin smeared in patterns of blood it had almost resembled one of those grotesque painted artifacts he kept in his office.

As Daniel made his first attempt to stand, Jack jumped up quickly. Just in time to offset the drifting archaeologist as he finally figured out the hard way he was not quite prepared for solo maneuvers.

“Whoa, there, big fella…”

Daniel snorted as he tried to help hold himself upright. “’m not a horse, Jack…”

Jack snorted, indelicately. “But you are pretty bare - ahh - backed right now… Where are we headed?”

“Bathroom…er, tree…”

Laughing again, Jack pulled the blanket around Daniel to help cover his...assets…

By the time they got outside and around the hut, Daniel was already sweating and leaning heavily into Jack. Nonetheless he gathered himself up and pulled away to answer the call of nature on his own while Jack studied the opposite side of the tree. By the time Daniel turned around, Jack was fairly sure he was not going to make it back to the hut.

“’m okay, Jack…” Daniel slurred, listing to port a bit as they headed away from the newly christened tree.

“Uh huh…” Jack tightened his grip on Daniel’s arm and waist.

“Honest, ‘m okay…” Off to starboard he went.

“Right…”

Jack could feel the trembling commence from Daniel’s legs up through his torso and beyond. Gathered his strength for what he knew was coming.

“You’ll see...oooookaa…”

As Daniel nearly collapsed in a tangle of too thin limbs, Jack caught and held him, shifting things around so he could hoist the other man over his shoulder and bundle him back to bed.

“A-okay, Daniel. Gotcha…”

 

~*~

 

Antaeus was lost in thought. Daniel had finally awakened again after his ill-advised journey to relieve himself, but Lya had forbidden any further outdoor excursions until he had eaten well and rested again. They had provided water and the necessary items for cleanliness, then left it to O’Neill to help his friend remove the last traces of his near fatal injury.

The two men had been made aware of the process they would undergo as soon as Daniel was strong enough, a process not unlike that which Antaeus had performed before in the cave when their connection had first become apparent.

There was no hurry. Daniel was most safe with them and would remain so, and they would insure in their own way that the dream did not plague him until he was better able to endure it.

Lya had shared not only the dream but also her feelings should such a fate befall Daniel. Having touched Daniel’s very soul on their last meeting, Antaeus fully agreed with her high esteem when it came to the young human.

Daniel’s time was not yet.

All circles led back to a single point and Antaeus did not believe in the frivolity of fate. Daniel had been given warning, through an error on their part true, but Antaeus was sure it was a warning meant to be heeded.

So they would.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 14: Season of Clarity

~*~

I hear the little children of the wind

Crying solitary in lonely places.

 

~ William (Fiona McLeod) Sharp

~*~

 

George was not a happy man.

Most, if not all, of the Tok’ra on Ravenna were dead..such an unthinkable tragedy. Major Carter offered the possibility that some might have survived in the underground tunnels, but there was no way as yet to confirm it. Until the poison dissipated, even sending search and rescue teams would put any surviving Tok’ra at risk. A message had been left to automatically broadcast a warning, but there was little else they could do until they spoke to a Tok’ra who had knowledge of the poison. The one Tok’ra they could have spoken to was missing, along with Colonel O’Neill and Daniel Jackson.

There had been no contact at all from their missing friends since they had left Ravenna to go to the summit. Daniel would necessarily have been alone on the space station, but if - heaven forbid something - had happened to him, Jacob and Jack should have returned or at least made contact by now. Of course if something had happened to all three men, they would likely never know for sure. The longer they went on not knowing, the lower morale seemed to grow in the base.

Stepping to the observation window, George sighed deeply and tried to keep his mind from playing and replaying the many awful scenarios that kept trying to overtake him. What ifs and maybes served no purpose, but were so very hard to ignore. He just hoped word would come soon; it was getting more and more difficult to keep them at bay.

 

~*~

 

Daniel looked pretty good for a man who only two days before had been close enough to death’s door to reach out and knock. He was still fairly pale, and very weak, but a lot more at peace than Jacob would have believed possible those same two days before.

Actually both Jack and Daniel seemed to have mellowed considerably under the Nox influence. The Tok’ra never had been called upon to interact much with the Nox, but Selmak had many memories of their gifts and accomplishments. For a bunch of woodland elves, the Nox did damn superior work. He and Selmak had both been witness to some of the finest just a few months ago.

 

Sam slept against his knee, having finally given in to the weariness of her body and letting her exhaustion overtake her as her father stroked her hair.

‘Nice to know the old man still has some uses…’ Jacob thought, a wave of concern washing over him as he remembered Sam’s horrified expression when they had entered the room to see the chains, the blood, and both her teammates lying there so still.

‘She will be fine. They will be fine.’ Selmak reassured softly.

Jacob laughed bitterly within his mind. ‘I wish I could be as sure as you seem to be, Selmak.’

Selmak touched his host’s mind in a fond caress. ‘She is your daughter, Jacob.’

Jacob had to agree with that. ‘And them?’

‘They are human, the most stubborn I have ever known in a race overrun with stubbornness. They will not give up.’

‘Can’t argue with that,’ Jacob answered ruefully, having observed the two poster boys for obstinance in support of their cause in full three-D action on more than one occasion.

It had grown dark not long before and the mood in the room had seemed to grow as still as the darkness outside the open wall. Even the usual sort of night noises seemed unwilling to intrude on the solitude of their shared moment, reluctant to disturb the focused energy of so many as they willed their stubborn friends to pull one more rabbit out of their overused hat and survive.

Selmak had been very quietly concerned since Opher had finally admitted to George, Omoc and Jacob that Klorel was pure Goa’uld spirit within the walls. The evil that was the Goa’uld was now distilled into its purest form and unfettered - the prospect of facing such a creature frightened even the elder Tok’ra.

There was very little in Selmak’s mind that would or could redeem the Goa’uld, and only the limits of their human hosts made possible the hope they could be defeated. The limits of the host were one of their few weaknesses - that and their massive egos. Without those limits, the evil would have no reason to contain itself. Having been treated to a vacation on Naetu, both Jacob and Selmak knew exactly how far a Goa’uld single-mindedly dedicated to exploring its dark side would go. One without even the restrictions of physical form could invade minds and spirits without mercy, destroying a man - or two men - on the most basic of levels.

Jacob barely controlled the shudder running through him at the thought. Jack and Daniel would get through this. They had to and for that reason alone, they would.

A feeling of being watched caused Jacob to look up, into the eyes of his oldest friend. George was smiling slightly, paternally, at the sight of the second in command of his premiere team sleeping soundly on her father’s knee. Jacob just shrugged. If he were breaking a dozen regulations he was not concerned, he would not trade the moment for a dozen tel’taks even with a fleet of death gliders thrown into the bargain. George just smiled wider, his nod expressing complete agreement. His smile faded as his gaze moved to the two unconscious men on the makeshift bed.

Jacob was not at all surprised to see the paternal look deepen; he had figured out a long time ago that George was the sort of commander who would learn to love and be loved by his command. Every loss, every gain, was experienced by all and none so greatly as George himself, who felt personally responsible for every single one of them. Jacob had also been around the SGC enough to realize that Jack and Daniel between them were enough to raise the paternal instinct to distinct new levels. O’Neill was the problem child, always tearing off and getting himself into hot water with the best of intentions; good at what he did, but occasionally needing a good dressing down to keep his head on straight.

And Daniel?

God knew Jacob himself had fallen victim to the young man’s lost puppy eyes and open sincerity more than once. Jacob had even gone so far as to ask Sam once to confirm his suspicions that Daniel had a troupe of personnel subconsciously willing and able to fit the role without even realizing they were doing it. Sam had grinned and admitted she was ‘big sister number one’ and dared anyone to try to take her place. It was not that Daniel was in any way child-like or seemingly in need of familial protection, he was just himself; too bright, too dedicated, too outspoken, and too damn loyal for his own good sometimes. Daniel was the gifted child who had no idea how much his gifts differentiated him from the rest of the family. The one who could not imagine why the family was always so worried about him as he blithely moved along in his world of heavy concepts and more knowledge than one person should be expected to hold in one head.

‘They have to make it, Selmak. Much as I love giving Jack grief over stomping around out here, we need them.’

 

That sentiment was just as true today as it had been at the time. Now more than ever, they needed Daniel and Jack, and all the seemingly disparate diplomacy and effectiveness that came with them. Jack was the wildcard and driving force; Daniel the communicator and bridge between might and right. Together they were the best and strongest voice for the Tau’ri going. Jacob believed these two men had a long way still to go in the universe, there was just no way it could be allowed to end this soon.

‘Damn right, Jacob….’

 

~*~

 

It was time.

Opher could feel the nervousness resonating from both of the humans before them. They had brought O’Neill and Daniel into the forest, back to the cave where it had all begun.

Jacob Carter had been asked to remain behind, as much not to disturb the proceedings as to insure Daniel’s privacy. O’Neill was necessary, although they were not entirely sure how as yet. The fact he too had been having the dream implied something of their connection remained, however Opher believed disconnecting them entirely - especially now - was not prudent.

They would know soon.

Their intention was to reestablish contact with both men, holding O’Neill on the periphery of the procedure and allowing him to observe. They hoped his felt presence would comfort Daniel as he faced what was to come. They would open the doorway to the dream, and allow all obtainable information to come to the forefront of Daniel’s consciousness. In order to save Daniel’s life, the young human would be required to confront his own death. As much as was possible they would disengage him from the feelings and pain contained there, but there was simply no way to guarantee the procedure would not be a hurtful one…mentally or physically.

One final time, Lya asked, “Daniel, are you prepared for what is to come?”

Without hesitation, Daniel nodded.

Opher admired such courage; Daniel would need it.

 

~*~

 

It was like watching television, only in his head.

It was not as if Jack had never actually been in Daniel’s head before, but this time the process felt more intrusive. This time, while he was invited - sort of invited - Jack knew without a doubt that he was a guest at the party and Daniel was the main attraction.

Or was that the victim?

Unlike their previous connection, this time Daniel was fundamentally on his own and Jack was frankly afraid for him.

Just remembering his own private version of the dream was bad enough, seeing it through Daniel’s eyes and feeling his pain transferred - yet dulled like sound waves through water - was horrific. Lya’s soothing presence kept pulling Daniel away from the worst of it, reminding him it was not real and could not really hurt him.

“Could have fooled me…” Jack muttered to himself, earning a brief, silent rebuke from Antaeus.

As they traveled through Daniel’s dream, the Nox seemed to turn things around, giving them a look at vague, dark, and unfamiliar corridors, a room with lots of glass, a round...thing…even Jack could sense was dangerous.

And there was the brief shadow of a face - too young, too open, too fresh, too happily disconnected given the turmoil all around him. It was a face Jack immediately distrusted, if only for its disingenuous placidity and lack of experience.

Then there was a flash of light and a loud blast, the sound of glass breaking and then pain…

So much pain…

Pain that never ended…stripping away Daniel’s soul and skin and heart until all he could want or need was to let go…

Amidst the pain there was Oma, not precisely how Jack remembered her from Kheb, but present and trying to convince Daniel he was worthy to become one of what she was.

Daniel was not convinced.

Tied to his past, caught up in some dream-state version of packing his life away, counting regrets and perceived failures like coins tossed away in a fountain of death, the odds were against Daniel from the start. The failures weighed him down, the regrets were far too entrenched and, ultimately, he just let go…

As Daniel fell into death, Jack rushed forward to grab him back…. not remembering or caring this was all just a dream of a dream.

And then he was with Daniel, the way they had been before, one fleeting moment of absolute comfort and understanding before they were both out...back in their own minds and bodies, huddled together on the floor with no clue of how they got there.

Daniel’s entire body shook within his arms, hard racking shudders of remembered pain and fierce denial. Jack tightened his grip, clutching the other man to him tightly - as if by doing so he could protect him, both of them really, from what was to come.

The Nox gradually came out of their trance, looking down on them with such sadness in their eyes it scared him. Jack just held his friend even closer. If the Nox were afraid for Daniel….

They had clues now, as indistinct as they were, things to watch out for. It would not happen.

No way, no how….

 

~*~

 

It was unimaginable.

Lya was aware of the dangers of radiation, but such things were not something the Nox had experienced in countless generations. Not even the Place had ever stored the sense memory of such a death. But she had seen a great deal in her many years and knew such exposure to be one of the worst possible fates conceivable.

She was reminded of the battle the two men before her had fought against the darkness that had been Klorel. The dissolution of spirit Daniel experienced at that time, while to some extent quite analogous, was nothing at all when compared to what he would face if the fate he had now been warned against were not averted.

Over and over again Lya replayed the scenes in her mind, sifting through details and fixing each one systematically into her memory. Once Daniel had recovered they would refine those jumbled future memories as much as possible and add them to Daniel’s own. The details were disappointingly vague, she could only hope it would be sufficient in the end.

Gradually, Daniel stopped shaking yet his friend did not let go. The two seemed locked into their mutual and private bond, giving and receiving the gift of their extraordinary friendship.

All had to be well. She had no alternative but to believe - somehow - it would be.

 

~*~

 

Daniel woke to darkness and cast his weary mind about for long moments trying to remember where he was and just what had happened earlier…

An involuntary shudder coursed through his body as he found the memories, but the expected physical reactions were blessedly absent. There was warmth beside him, a comforting presence, and Daniel needed no light to know exactly who it was.

Jack.

The one constant through everything he had been through that morning - for months actually - was Jack. His friend’s steady presence had securely anchored him to the here and now, had not let him drift away on the pulsing waves of what could be.

What would be if they could not avoid it.

It seemed like it had always been Jack holding him in place, keeping him from becoming lost on the mire of his doubts and his passions. Daniel had no illusions that his heart did not often outrace his head when it came to doing what he felt to be the right thing. He knew himself very well in that respect and worked hard to temper the inclination with a little more pragmatism - at least as far as he could without compromising his principles. He knew Jack got it - got him -always had in a way, and if they managed to get along better these days it was largely a result of the understanding on both their parts of just who the other truly was.

Daniel stretched a little, careful not to jostle the man beside him, he knew Jack had been pushing a lot of limits of his own lately. Daniel remembered very little of anything that had happened after the dream therapy session in the cave. He had no clue at all of how he had gotten back to the hut. Maybe it had been shock, maybe the Nox had done something - whatever it had been he was extremely grateful for it. This reliving of his dream death had, in many ways, been more draining than anything he had experienced in the past.

He had died before, sure, but with the exception of the last time, all of those times had been relatively immediate. There had been little or no time to be aware of much more than abrupt pain before there had simply been nothing at all.

This though…

Daniel hoped he would never get truly ill, a lingering death was not something he cared to face. Again. Sort of…

After so many months of living the dream during nearly every waking and sleeping moment, he felt in a way as if he already had died.

Repeatedly.

Horribly.

Over and over again …

Realizing he was shivering once more, Daniel pulled the blankets around him and tried to huddle deeper into the warmth of the grass-filled mattress. Now was not the time to dwell on this thing.

‘Not now, not now, not now….’

Something shifted behind him and Jack’s arm moved over him to draw Daniel closer against him. A whispered ‘shhh’ and a tightening of the sheltering grip around him seemed to break the dark spell that had nearly carried him away.

With a long sigh, Daniel relaxed - letting the safety of the moment bear his weary spirit beyond the dream to sleep…

 

~*~

 

Word had finally come…

Jacob, the colonel, and Daniel were all alive.

The brief message sent by her father had only reported Daniel had been hurt, and they had hightailed it to the Nox. Not only had they been the best prospect to tend to Daniel’s immediate problem, but they had also helped with the ‘other thing’.

Sam smiled remembering the words; appreciative that General Carter’s discretion was still well intact.

It had been nearly a week since they had evacuated Ravenna and Sam loathed being the one to break the terrible news to her father. Sure it could have waited but he had asked, and she had not reached the point in her life where she would willingly lie to him for a second time. The one big lie that had come between them - the Stargate - had nearly separated them forever. She had determined afterward, duty or not, it would never happen again.

The Nox were repairing their gate, a replacement crystal on its way from Tollana, and the three of them would return home by gate rather than by ship. The Nox had offered to hide the tel’tak until Jacob could regroup with the remaining Tok’ra and decide what to do next.

The message had been necessarily brief, jury rigged off the tel’tak communication system, but it left Sam’s mind full of questions.

How had Daniel been hurt and how badly? The situation must have been pretty dire indeed for them to have sought the Nox brand of help rather than return to Earth. And what about that other problem? Had they helped Daniel with that too? Had they found more clues to help them all circumvent it? What if the Nox had not agreed it should be avoided at all?

What if…

Sam sighed, clamping down hard on the rampant stream of negative thoughts threatening to overwhelm her. Surely the Nox had helped; they adored Daniel. They would never stand by and just allow….

Would they?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 15: Season of Menace

~*~

But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, and mine own familiar friend.

 

The Psalter. Psalm l v. 14.

~*~

 

 

Their boys were home…

General Hammond had not said it in so many words, but Janet could read the man’s face as clearly as the chart on the table in front of her. The same chart that said Daniel was in remarkably satisfactory health for someone who reportedly nearly had his chest split in two. The Nox had done their usual nearly miracle-level best, even Daniel’s ulcer seemed to have healed considerably. Better still, he looked more at peace.

The colonel and General Carter had debriefed them while Daniel was put through medically ordered paces in the labs. The Nox had helped isolate a set of images that would serve as clues to the situation the dream foretold.

The scientific part of Janet mocked her for her faith in the very unscientific idea of precognitive dreams. But her science had never seen the sorts of things she had witnessed in her five years of service with the Stargate Program. She believed it. Just like she believed every single member of SG1 and the majority of those stationed on the base would do their damnedest to keep anything from happening to Daniel. They all would.

Earth was not finished with Doctor Daniel Jackson yet, not by a long shot, and none of them were about to let him go without a fight.

 

~*~

 

The robot SG1 had found built the replicators. That little wisp of a girl-machine had manufactured and turned loose one of the most feared enemies in the known galaxies. George could hardly fathom how such menace could be wrapped up in such an outwardly innocent package…until Rees had slammed Daniel across a room with a single blow because he tried to tell her what she really was.

Then they had all believed it.

George had watched SG1’s grim expressions as they gathered around their fallen team member. Watched as they waited with fearful, anxious faces until Doctor Fraiser had treated Daniel. Watched as they sighed in relief as she proclaimed him fit enough to return to duty with a stern warning of possible symptoms and an implied threat of dire consequences if he failed to report any of them.

As time went on it became more and more apparent Rees was unstable. The devastated planet they had found her on was suddenly and terribly understandable in its desolateness. The robot-child had built her ‘toys’, taught them to create more of themselves, then turned them loose against a once thriving world.

It was a just a dead world now, the poignant legacy of a child’s plaything gone amok.

From the few clues they had been given they were as sure as they could be that this situation was not the one they needed to worry about from Daniel’s dream. The knowledge did not lessen their apprehension. Just because there was a good likelihood Daniel would not die as he had in his dream at this point in time, there was no guarantee he would not be hurt or worse. And none of them wanted Daniel hurt - not if there was a way to keep from it.

None of them.

The whole paradox thing Major Carter described made George’s head hurt, but he understood one thing - simply by knowing what could happen they may have already changed the future…there was really no way to know.

As much as they wanted to protect their young friend, they could not fetter his spirit or the vital function he served as part of them. So when Daniel asked to try to talk to Rees in the gateroom, George allowed it. How could he not? If they or Daniel did not succeed, the dream would no longer matter. They would be forced to activate the self-destruct, destroy the base and the mountain - and they would all be dead.

Daniel was their communicator.

Through five years of unbelievable and often astounding situations they had seen Daniel Jackson succeed where others failed with his unique blend of sincerity, conviction and strength. As dangerous as it was to let him go, it would be more so not to let him at least try.

So despite SG1’s wordless but still very palpable disapproval, George sent Daniel into the gate room, let him walk alone into the very eye of the storm that threatened to take them all down.

 

~*~

 

As always, there seemed to be no end to the chattering, metallic things slowly chewing their way through the base. It had been over an hour since Carter had reported that Daniel was in trouble and Siler’s crew was still trying to cut through the door to the gateroom. The replicators just kept coming, a nightmare image he had visited way too many times, and as long as they were still coming it meant Daniel had not succeeded. Or that Daniel was dead and had no hope of succeeding.

The self-destruct was counting down the moments left in their lives, too damn few of them now. Pumping rounds into the Mossburg as quickly as he could, Jack tried to keep his mind focused solely on the task at hand… but it was damn hard.

There was an almost surreal quality to this entire situation…as if they had all been here before, and something heavy and harsh and unthinkable awaited them at the end of it all…

In another place and time, Jack knew he would be angry - lividly so - that Daniel had placed himself in such danger. In another place and time, things between them might have degraded to the point where Jack neither knew nor truly cared if Daniel lived or died, just so long as the threat to Earth was ended. But this was the here and now, and Jack determinedly pushed away those repulsive specters of other lives.

It was not them.

It would never be them.

Finally Siler yelled out they were through and, with a glance over to assure Teal’c had his back, Jack stepped to the newly created door and kicked through it.

Damn it...

Daniel was down, holding on to his arm in a way that told Jack he was hurt. The look on his face was all too identifiable, an expression Jack had seen way too many times over the past few months.

He was hurt bad.

Rees was standing over Daniel, looking sad and broken but ultimately immovable. Daniel yelled out at the same moment Rees seemed to become aware that Jack was in the room, and the replicators quickly clustered around the two of them poised to strike. With a sad look, Daniel nodded, conceding reluctant permission for Jack to do what he had to, even as he pleaded one last time with Rees.

The replicators moved then, advancing on both of them.

So Jack shot her.

She had not even hit the ground when the replicators just fell apart; disintegrating into the small blocks of inert metal they really were…dead. Daniel scooted closer to the fallen android, one-handedly pressing the hidden switch that revealed Rees’ power supply. Jack bent to remove it, then radioed the all clear as well as a call for medics. Daniel started to protest, but Jack just looked at him, not buying any excuses.

Daniel nodded acquiescence, gazing mournfully back at Rees.

With a sigh, Jack knelt down beside his friend. “I’m sorry…”

Another nod, and something that was not quite a smile. “I know. Me too.”

“I know…”

Finally Daniel looked up, eyes misted over with more than just the pain of his injuries. Jack knew they were both thinking of the wasted potential laying before them in the form of a mentally unstable child.

Rees had seemed so innocent, and loss of innocence even if it was artificial was always to be mourned. He and Daniel knew that better than most.

Bending closer Jack let his free hand rest on Daniel’s shoulder, offering a comfort words were not nearly adequate enough to communicate. After a long moment, Daniel nodded again, gathering himself and shifting onto his knees as if to get up, but swaying before he ever got close.

“Whoa, there, buddy…”

Jack transferred his gun to his left hand and got his right under Daniel’s uninjured arm to support him. He was glad to see the medics arrive even as Daniel managed to get to his feet - it looked to Jack like the younger man was barely a step away from passing out.

As the medics approached, Daniel made an effort to stand on his own…utterly failing to make a convincing go of it. “It’s okay, Jack. Go take care of…stuff.”

Jack knew “stuff” included what was left of Rees, but at this particular moment he had far more important priorities. “I will, I promise. Let’s get you taken care of first.”

With a grateful, accepting sigh, Daniel leaned into Jack’s support, admitting in the only way he ever would just how much pain he was in - to one of the only people he would ever admit it to.

The medics stood off to one side gurney in hand, but maintaining a respectful distance contrary to their usual behavior. Jack knew the two corpsmen, knew they recognized that something a lot more significant than even Janet Fraiser’s wrath was taking place here.

What had just happened was bad, really bad. But at the same time Jack had the feeling something was too completely right…something that made them better than they were, and a damn sight better than what they could so easily have been.

It was good.

Not exactly great - it was way too soon for that - but it was pretty damn good just the same.

 

~*~

 

His mouth was too dry…

The room was too hot…

The pain still hovered behind a wall of drugged sleepiness, just out of reach but there and recognized for what it was…and for how it had happened. For all the things that could - and maybe should - have happened during the replicator invasion of SGC, Daniel could not help but be relieved that it had ended as it had.

They’d lost a lot; not the least of which was a resource that might have provided essential insight into a way to finally destroy the enduring menace of the replicators, but the Asgard still might be able to access Rees’ memories without reactivating her. As sad as it was, Daniel accepted the android was ‘mentally’ unstable. The power she possessed was much too great for the mind that controlled it - or failed to control it, rather.

Thankfully this tragic piece of technology was in the hands of someone far better prepared to understand and deal with it than they. A part of Daniel still hoped Rees could be saved somehow, he wanted to believe there was hope and Thor had kindly agreed - but he was also realistic enough to accept it might not happen. But he could still hope.

He was really thirsty.

Jack was asleep in the other room, and the last thing Daniel wanted to do was wake him.

Levering himself up, Daniel took a moment to orientate. The cabin layout was familiar to him, he had been there several times over the years, but he was well aware he was more than a little hampered by the drugs and the infection that had set in during his recovery.

He had spent nearly two weeks as Fraiser’s unenthusiastic guest, recuperating from the injury to his arm, the mild concussion and bruising he had suffered after being tossed against the wall, and the opportunistic infection that had crept up on him somewhere between the Nox planet and the gateroom floor. Janet had admitted to him that she was surprised it had taken so long for something like this infection to happen. She had expected it, and not even the Nox intervention had been enough to stop it. If they had not come home so soon, he might have avoided it, but…

Jack had pulled some strings to get them two weeks off, then packed Daniel’s bag and kidnapped him. For once Daniel had been a more than willing victim. They needed the time.

For reasons neither of them could explain and they had only discussed once, it felt like their time was running out.

Strangely, the dream had not made a single reappearance since they had confronted it with the help of the Nox. Perhaps having gone to the depths, he was now armed with all the warning he was going to get. Whatever the reason, Daniel was glad enough the hated thing seemed to be gone. He had lived with it far too long as it was, they all had.

If the time was coming soon, then he could only wait and hope they were as prepared as they could possibly be - and that somehow things would work out. He had to believe it, there was no other choice.

In the meantime, he was still thirsty.

Stumbling awkwardly upright, trying to compensate for both the drugs and the reduced use of his left hand, Daniel made his way carefully to the bedroom door. Fortunately, the lamp had been left on in the living room, a nightlight Jack did not normally utilize when they were there. Daniel wondered which of them it had been intended to reassure.

Cautiously threading a weaving path toward the kitchen, Daniel let himself absorb the quiet of the night. The silence was nearly complete, the night birds and frogs sang a low testament to life as it should be so far from the encroachment of man. The refrigerator hummed a low, barely intrusive interference, but otherwise there was nothing to disturb the tranquility. Not even Jack’s customary snoring broke the peaceful setting.

As quietly as he could, Daniel found one of the bottles of water Jack always kept on hand when they were at the cabin and retraced his path, stopping in the living room to sink onto the sofa.

Twisting off the cap and drinking deeply, Daniel tried to deny to himself that he was still running the low-grade fever Fraiser had warned them about. He knew Jack was not buying his story, but if Daniel wanted to continue on in denial he also knew Jack would let him. Just because. They still had a week to go, the antibiotics were supposed to take care of everything as long as Daniel took them properly, and with Jack around there was no question he would do precisely that.

For the time being though, Daniel just wanted to be where he was. Away from the pressures of what had been, what was, and what might be. He just wanted to be here, now, and to let the rest fall away to be dealt with another time. He needed this, and so did Jack. Sam and Teal’c were off visiting with their respective families and in a way, so were he and Jack. Each was all the family the other had.

Where else would they be?

 

~*~

 

Quiet noises had roused Jack from his troubled sleep. The past few days had been good. Mostly consisting of a lot of sleeping for both of them, but in their waking hours they had talked.

Past, present and future things.

Silly, nonsensical Jack and Daniel things.

Just stuff.

Just them.

Listening for Daniel to go safely back to bed, instead Jack heard his friend settle in the living room so he got up to make sure everything was okay. Quietly opening his bedroom door, Jack saw the other man on the couch, a water bottle in his hand and his head tilted back against the cushions. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling joists, but Jack was certain Daniel was looking at something far less mundane than the architecture.

They had talked about this, the feeling that their grace period was fast running out. Whatever was going to happen was close, and getting closer every moment. Though they could not begin to explain how they knew, they were as sure of it as they were - now - of their friendship. They had discussed the wisdom of telling the others, decided not to, then had taken a long walk around the lake. It was getting harder and harder to let Daniel have his way, to allow him to deny what lay over their lives so strongly, but how could Jack do anything less?

Stressing out over it was too hard on both of them, talking about it and planning for it had been done and redone until they couldn’t do it anymore and mange to stay sane. There really was nothing else they could do but to wait.

Waiting sucked.

Moving to the couch, Jack hovered just a moment to be sure Daniel was aware of his presence, then sat down beside him. There were a lot of things he could have said, stupid mundane things of no consequence, dumb questions that would have required one or both of them to lie in vain hopes of making the other feel better. They were way past that point now. Which was both good and bad. Good because it proved how far they had come, bad because a lot of pain had gone into getting them there. All the same, Jack could think of no place, and no time, he would rather be.

Slowly Jack became aware Daniel was watching him. Rather than explain where his thoughts had been running, Jack just shrugged, knowing he wasn’t hiding a damn thing, words or no words. Daniel just nodded in gentle understanding, offering a look of his own that spoke just as clearly in response. Jack held out his arm in offer, not really surprised when Daniel accepted and leaned into him.

The night was full of ghosts, shadows lingered all around them, but Jack would help hold them back for as long as he possibly could.