Avila thanked him, and he and his partner continued to the shuttle as Jack and Daniel got into Jack’s truck. “Daniel, I want you to write up a release,” Jack said. “Make it honest and simple, something the common person would understand. Send it to me and I will forward it. I’ll have Paul translate them for a public press release.”
“I can do that.”
Since he was still rubbing at his head and shifting around, Jack left him alone; he probably had a headache. Let him sleep it off when he gets home, he told himself. But they were going to discuss Daniel going off-world whether he wanted to or not.
The children were relieved that Daniel was alright. They insisted on seeing his chest for themselves, so he pulled his shirt up to show them. All that was left was a small line that would soon disappear. They weren’t told the entire story of his healing; Katie had guessed, and she was proving to be very good about keeping quiet. It was Davy they were concerned about; it didn’t seem to occur to him that some things were better left unsaid. Davy was still concerned, though, and occupied Daniel’s lap during their evening TV watching. He kept touching Daniel’s chest, running a finger along the center line. Stacy occupied Daniel’s side, huddled up under his arm.
“I’m fine, guys,” he insisted. He kissed heads.
“I don’t like you going off-world,” Stacy informed him.
“I know you don’t,” Daniel acknowledged. “But sometimes I need to go. This was an important cultural find. We will watch them, and if there is a time in the future when they seem a little more receptive to visitors, we will try and introduce ourselves again. We scared them, so I don’t blame them for trying to hurt me.”
When Jack went into the bedroom, he was careful not to slam the door. It would wake up the baby. He showered, taking his time under the hot water, not doing much more than leaning against the wall. Not even an attempted sacrificing was going to keep him from going back through that gate. One day, Daniel won't come back, or if he does, he won't be alive. Again.
“Are you going to prune yourself or are you going to come out here and yell at me?”
Jack shut the water off and got out, pushing past Daniel as he dried off and found his pj’s.
“Jack, I don’t do it on purpose,” Daniel told him. Jack got under the covers and pulled them up, turning his back to the center of the bed, and turned the light off. He could feel himself being watched in the dark.
“I have a vested interest in you,” he said quietly.
“I know.”
“Every time you go out, you get hurt.”
“Not on purpose.”
Jack turned his head. “I know that, but you attract attention like a magnet,” he said. “Since you won’t stay on-world for us, I’m pulling the kid-card.”
Daniel fell forward and put his face in a pillow.
“That isn’t fair,” he said, lifting his face. “You just spent three months fighting Goa’uld, you could have been killed. Would you have stayed home, if I had asked you? Would you have stayed if the kids had asked you?”
“I’m replaceable, you’re not.”
Daniel sat up quickly and pushed at Jack’s shoulder. “Bullshit!” he yelled. “Don’t you pull that fucking crap with me, O’Neill! I need you, goddammit, you are irreplaceable to ME and yet you don’t even ask our opinion, you just find the nearest spaceship and high-ho silver, you’re off!” He punched Jack on the chest. “I had the decency to ask your blessing before I went off-world, you DIDN’T! This is supposed to be a partnership, you ASSHOLE, I put a fucking RING on your finger! You promised we would discuss things and you LEFT! You left your FAMILY!”
Daniel stormed off the bed and out the room. Stunned, Jack laid there for a moment. What the hell was that? He heard another door slam and he got up, scrubbing at his face before rubbing his chest and wincing. He leaned his head between his knees, running his fingers through his hair. Two rings stroked his damp scalp and he brought his hands down and looked at them. Two rings gleamed in the darkness of the room.
He checked in on the baby who was fussing and found Jerrie tending to her. “I have her,” she said quietly. Jack nodded and shut the door.
The door to the den was unlocked, which he was grateful for; he wouldn’t have to bust down the door. Daniel was sitting on the floor in front of the small couch, his knees drawn up. Jack locked the door and quietly came down into the room. He undressed and knelt next to Daniel, reaching for the pajama tops. Daniel knocked him away.
“You can call me every name in the book, but we are doing this,” Jack quietly informed him.
“My body,” Daniel spat out hoarsely.
“You wanted to talk, we’re going to talk,” Jack said. “Get your clothes off, or I’ll tear them off.”
Daniel tore his clothes off, angrily throwing them across the room. He pulled a pillow to his chest and buried his face in it as he rocked. Jack slid down beside him.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. He put an arm across Daniel’s shoulders and pulled him over. Daniel released the pillow and put his face in Jack’s chest. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Daniel continued to cry, his hot tears sliding down Jack’s chest and stomach as Jack held him. He opened up enough to get a hard smack in the face of the pain Daniel had been hiding. He had no idea the amount of fear Daniel had been trying to deal with, and it wasn't about the entire 'sacrifice' thing.
“I want you safe,” Jack whispered when Daniel had begun to quiet. “It would kill me if you died.”
Daniel lifted his head and glared angrily, his face wet, eyes red. “And you think I feel any less for you? You’re a self-centered asshole!”
“Danny, you are a blessing on this world,” Jack told him. “I wish I could have met your parents, because they created a miracle. If my running out onto a battle field will make you safe, I’m going to do it.”
Daniel leaned back and stared in disbelief at him. “You don’t get it, do you?” he asked. “I don’t have a language for this, so you are just going to have to try and comprehend –I love you. As much as you love me, I love you. It doesn’t seem to occur to you that when your life is in danger, we can only stand by and watch. If Sam is out with you, I’m here alone, Jack. I have no one to understand my fear of seeing one or even two caskets. You have no right to get angry with me about going off-world. I need you here, not scattered across the galaxy, so don’t you fucking read me the riot act about off-world. You said we were a team and you haven’t once consulted with me, except to TELL me what you were going to do. You are no longer my commanding officer, GENERAL, so quit giving me fucking orders and start communicating! I LOVE you, you fucking son of a bitch, so keep your castle towers and let me IN! You fucking trained me as a soldier, I’m not delicate! I don’t need a white knight, you don’t go onto a battlefield without me! Asshole!” He punched Jack in the stomach and jumped to his feet. He angrily wrapped a blanket around himself and stormed across the room. Jack took a breath and rubbed his stomach. okay, maybe it was about a sacrifice thing...
Daniel continued to rage, stomping back and forth, arms waving through the air. “I am your partner, goddammit, not some screeching female on the railroad tracks! I don’t need my head patted, or my ass, for that matter! I’m tired of feeling as though I’m a blond with not much more than two brain cells! I have three PhD’s, Mister Master’s degree, and you haven’t once asked me my opinion on an Earth matter! I’m your resident anthropology expert! Today’s issue of the children is the first time something has come up that you actually asked me to help with and all you wanted from me is a letter! I have to go off-world just to get an anthro fix! You are stifling me!” He threw something across the room and it shattered against a wall. Daniel slid to the floor against a bookcase, sobbing incoherently.
Shocked, Jack sat for a moment. He stood, wincing slightly, and walked to Daniel.
“Danny, I’m sorry,” he said. He squatted down. “I didn’t know you were feeling so hemmed in. It’s a poor excuse, bu
t I didn’t know I had to ask before you would offer an opinion on anything. Danny, you have always been welcome to join in on council meetings, I’m sorry if I didn’t say it. I thought you wanted to be at the SGC and teaching; if I had known otherwise, I would have asked you right away to come to HomeSec. My God, Daniel, anything you have to say will always be the primary opinion, it always has, don’t you know that? I always look to you first; when you don’t offer anything, I look elsewhere. Just tell me what you want. Do you want to be at HomeSec? You can start tomorrow. Just tell me.”
He hesitated before touching the brown head. Daniel sobbed louder. Jack leaned down and put his head against Daniel’s back.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I’m sorry if I’ve been going overboard on the protection. You’re mine and I want the entire universe to know it, even if that means putting my stamp of protection on you. Yes, I can get a little white knight about things. You’re not a wuss, Danny, I know that, and I’d have you at my side in a battle any day. If it wasn’t for the children, I would have considered bringing you and Sam with me. I trust you so much, I place the lives of my children in your hands. Yes, I didn’t want you to die in battle, but if something had happened to the children…. I can’t go through that again, Danny; once was once too many times and losing Megan was almost as hard as losing Charlie. I thought you understood that. I should have said it. I may be on the front line, but you are my defense line. If it gets through me, I know you’ll stop it. You carried my ass off the field, I know you’ll save my children. I will do my best to stop with the over-protection, if you will try and understand why I need you here. Please, Danny.”
Daniel finally turned over and knocked Jack back. Jack held him hard, a fist in his hair, continuing to whisper apologies into Daniel’s ear. Daniel finally began to quiet as he stayed plastered to Jack.
“I didn’t know you had been so scared,” Jack whispered, looking at the ceiling. “You never let on.”
“I… didn’t want you to… lose confidence,” Daniel whispered hoarsely. “I hated… you being out there. I buried myself in work and the kids so I didn’t have to think of you probably dead. I have firsthand knowledge of being the spouse of a soldier and I don’t like it. I had Sam, but we didn’t have you.”
Jack stroked his hair and pressed his mouth to Daniel’s neck. “I’m here, Danny.”
Eventually, Daniel used his torn pajama top to wipe his face and blow his nose. Jack pulled on a nearby blanket and covered them.
“Things have been happening here, too, but you haven’t asked about them,” Daniel said. “I’ve had a few studios contact me, asking for information that they can adapt for their shows. Use facts in a fictional environment. I had someone contact me with the idea of public service announcements. They were talking about aliens in general, but the announcements could easily be educational for other things. Col. Chekhov has asked me to come to Russia, the Queen of England wants tea, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, basically all the European nations, Australia, New Zealand… I’ve heard from almost every nation in the world, Jack. They all want education. The countries that have tribes are very concerned. Chekhov says he’s had reports of exorcisms and sacrifices coming from the outback, and the Chinese border is horrific.”
Jack frowned as he looked at Daniel. “What the hell has been happening while I was gone?”
“Exactly,” Daniel nodded, swiping his arm over his face and sniffling. “Hell. It’s been breaking loose. Jack, haven’t you read the reports sitting on your desk? Everyone is screaming for information. I started training my students for service here, not off-world.”
Jack stroked Daniel’s hair and pressed his mouth to his forehead. He did have a stack of reports on his desk, as well as an inbox with a thousand messages. And those were the urgent ones. He turned them over and leaned over Daniel.
“I will read them tomorrow, I promise,” he said. “I’m sorry if I do things that make you feel… less-than. I’m a grunt, Danny; I don’t think you realize how much power you and Sam have over me. I do what I need to do, and I just assume that if you guys want something else, you’d tell me.”
Daniel looked up and touched Jack’s ribs. “Sometimes that’s hard,” he said. “We want you to be happy, too.”
Jack leaned down and gently kissed him. “Tell me something recent that I fucked up,” he said, looking into the red-rimmed blue eyes. “I must have done something that brought on this blow-up, the pressure has obviously been building, so tell me what it is.”
Daniel was silent for a moment. “You countermanded me after I issued a punishment to Katie,” Daniel finally said. Jack thought about it and then nodded.
“Yes, I did, and I’m sorry,” he said. “You’re right, I’m wrong. WE are her parents, not just me. Punishment is on, we will tell her at breakfast.”
Daniel nodded and slowly slid his arms around Jack’s waist. “I know this is wimpy, but just hold me,” he quietly asked.
“It isn’t wimpy,” Jack assured him. He settled down, pulled the blanket tight around them, and held Daniel close.
Early in the morning, they woke up and quietly made love, nothing more than gently touching each other. Jack did his best to pour his entire self into Daniel as he touched and kissed the man. There was something extremely intimate about looking into each other’s eyes as they touched, something more intimate than one being inside the other.
They wiped themselves off with Daniel’s torn shirt and put on their pj bottoms before heading upstairs. The children were quietly eating breakfast, not sure what was happening, having heard the yelling in the night.
“It’s alright, kids,” Jack said, their quiet extremely loud in the morning air. “We had an argument, that’s all. We’re okay now.” He went around and touched heads and cheeks before getting his robe. He brought out Daniel’s robe and found coffee waiting for him.
“Katherine, I believe Daniel gave you a punishment,” Jack said. “I was wrong to take it away. You were an hour late for curfew and Daniel caught you. His punishment stands.”
Shocked, Katie stared at him for a moment.
“But…. that isn’t fair,” she said in disbelief, looking from one to the other. “It was only an hour.”
Jack nodded. “It was an hour in which you could have been dead in a ditch somewhere,” he said. “You didn’t even call to let us know you would be late; we might have extended the deadline, if we had known. No driving for two weeks and you stay home Friday after school until school Monday morning. Without guests.”
Katie slammed her spoon down and ran from the room. A second later, her bedroom door slammed.
“And Matthew, yes, you may have a sleep-over Saturday night,” Jack continued. “Five guests only and you may pick three movies from the video store.”
While the kids got ready for school, Jack held Olivia and got in some Daddy time before he needed to go to the office.
“Thank you,” Daniel said softly. He leaned over and pecked at Jack’s mouth before heading to a shower.
“Were there discipline problems while I was gone?” Jack quietly asked Jerrie who was clearing the table.
“A little, at first,” she said with a shrug. “Daniel may appear a little soft-serve, but the kids quickly discovered that he stands his ground. They settled. Sam was a little unsure of her place but she found her rhythm. I think she had a few parental talks with General Hammond. She’s known him a while, I take it?”
“Yes, she has. He served with Sam’s father, Jacob, for years. He knew Sam and her brother Mark when they were toddlers.”
Jerrie nodded.
“He’s moving back here,” Jack said. “He’s taking the commandant position at the Academy. Sam misses her father, and she really didn’t have time to get to know mine, so I’m glad George will be here for her.”
Jerrie started the dishwasher and Jack handed her the baby.
“Thank you,” he said.
He stopped by his mother’s house on his way to work.
>
“How did you discipline us without feeling like crap for doing it?” he asked her.
“I didn’t,” she said. “Made me feel like crap every time.”
He kissed her cheek and continued to work. He knew he wouldn’t like it, and he didn’t when Davis handed him a quick over-view of world events.
“Oh, my fucking Christ,” Jack moaned, tossing the paper down. Paul nodded gravely.
“It’s bad enough some of those countries are still killing female babies, but this? Entire generations are gone,” Paul said.
Jack scrubbed at his face and tuned out for a moment. World statistics were horrifying. He knew the stats for murder and suicides were up, but he had no idea the death numbers for infanticide were also through the roof. There were entire populations in Asia that were in their death knells from the lack of children.
“Send that report to Dr. Wagner,” he said. “And get me… who’s the worst?... Get me… no, I’m going to pay them a personal visit.”
“Sir…,” Paul hesitated.
“Well?”
“Jurisdiction, sir,” he said. He knew the general wasn’t going to like it. “Our job is to protect Earth from invasion and, through the SGC, explore the galaxy. Anything else is outside our jurisdiction. We should inform the World Health Organization and let them deal with it. That would be proper procedure. Sir.”
“Out.”
Davis inclined his head and left the room.
Almost one million children worldwide had been killed in the past three months. Jack felt sick to his stomach. He went into his private bathroom and got rid of his breakfast. He brushed and rinsed his face before going back into his office. He sat at his desk and leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed. His phone rang. He pressed the intercom.
The Anunnaki Unification, Book 2: A Staraget SG-1 Fan Fiction Story Page 23