A Returned Favor
By Play It Grand
Season: 1
Related Episode(s): The Pilot, the Movie, Solitudes.
Begun: 2/10/05
Completed: 5/6/05
Time span: 2-3 months
Summary: Daniel cares for a Jack in need the way Jack has and will do in the future.
Author's Note: This is my very first attempt at writing fan fiction for anything, though it is my second of three working ideas. I wrote this story because I am absolutely sick and tired of all the stories about Jack taking in a wounded Daniel, particularly when authors create a whole new situation beyond the episodes, like having the DHD blow up in Daniel's face and blind him until the Asgard come and fix him, or having his leg get chewed on by an animal trap and be put off duty for nine months. Don't get me wrong, the stories are good, and Jack and Daniel's friendship is well played upon in all of these cases, but come on! Leave the Danny Whumping to the producers and writers of the show!!!
I'm not mean enough to create a new situation, so I worked from one of the known times that Jack is badly hurt.
Comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.
Special thanks to: Those who wrote the above mentioned stories for triggering this idea (you know who you are), and my friend Jenny for reading and helping me with this, my first story!
Enjoy!
Chapter 1Daniel wandered his way through the halls of the SGC on his way to the infirmary. He suddenly heard an unmistakable voice complain loudly for the thousandth time in two weeks.
"Doc! Fer cryin' out loud! I'm doin' fine!"
Yep, thought Daniel, shaking his head. It's time.
For two weeks, Colonel Jack O'Neill had been trapped in the SGC's capable infirmary with several broken ribs, a broken leg, and a punctured lung. Add to that mix a touch of frostbite and a very determined pint sized doctor, and you had the makings for a very cranky colonel. Normally, Jack would have been sent to the local general hospital by now, but the frostbite might seem a little suspicious considering the warm weather outside.
Daniel remembered what Sam had told him about their little vacation in the Arctic. Days later she could still hardly get over how obstinate the man had been.
"He cracked a rib and refused to tell me! When I caught him coughing blood he told me he was afraid I would splint his chest!" Sam complained to him when he had gone to visit her a couple days after Janet had released her. Daniel sympathized with her, but had a hard time keeping a smile off of his face. He knew how hard-headed Jack could be from their very first mission together, and it had frustrated him too. Sam was still learning. Boy of only she knew what he had tried to do, Daniel mused, bittersweet memories playing through his mind.
Daniel had not yet failed to drop in on Jack at least once each day, and each time he heard complaints on both sides.
"You know, Daniel, maybe if she'd quite poking my rib cage to check on me, I'd actually heal!" Jack exclaimed one day, not for the first time.
"Daniel, would you be so kind as to tell the Colonel that if he doesn't quit his griping, he won't get any jell-o for the rest of his stay here?" Doctor Janet Fraiser said, pointedly not looking in Jack's direction.
So it has come to this already? Not only is Janet taking away Jack's jello, but she's not going to tell him herself? Oh boy…it's definitely time…
During the two weeks of Jack's so called 'torture', Daniel was busy working with the artifacts, videos, and pictures brought back by the other eight SG teams while SG-1 was off the rotation. But no matter how hard he tried to focus, Daniel kept having the same thought interrupt his work, over and over again.
Jack took you in when you first came back from Abydos. If he hadn't, you would have slept in one of those rotten bunk beds in the barracks for who knows how long! He even helped you find and get settled in your apartment! Beyond that, he let you talk out your shock over Sha're being gone…It's time to return the favor, and you know it!
Yet Daniel had waited…Why? He wasn't sure himself, really. At first he told himself that there was no way in hell that Janet was going to let Jack out of her sightbefore she was positive beyond all doubt that everything was healing correctly, and there were not any infections.
O.K. That's going to take a while…
Next, the idea popped into his mind that Jack wouldn't be able to get there. But that argument fell apart in two seconds flat. Yes, he did live on the third floor of the apartment building. However, the elevator was just inside the wheelchair accessible door.
Subconsciously, the barricade was very easy to recognize.
I'm a geek. I get in the way. I make every mission take forever since I'm allowed to actually stay somewhere long enough to learn something about the culture that lives or lived there and what happened to them. Sure, we get along while on Earth – for the most part – and we have gotten to know each other pretty well, but why would he want to move in with me until he's ready for duty again?
This little blockade didn't stop the nagging voice in the back of his head, however.
As the first two weeks came to a close, Daniel saw one huge pro for the 'At least ask him' side. Maybe if he could get Jack out of the infirmary, he might just manage to keep two of his colleagues from killing each other! At very least, if Jack said yes, but Janet said he can't leave her watchful guard yet, both of them will be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel that much sooner…
Daniel ambled into the infirmary with this and a couple of other arguments in hand, and was greeted by the now very familiar groan.
"Daniel! Will you please get this woman away from me? She wants to run another test on me, and I've had it!"
A very exasperated Dr. Janet Frasier stood by Jack's infirmary bed, hands on her hips and looking every bit the accomplished though irked physician that she was.
"He most certainly will not! I only want to pull up another x-ray, Colonel. That's not exactly a clean break you have there, as I have been trying to tell you for the past two weeks! We have to make sure it's healing correctly or you'll never be fit for going off-world again. Since Daniel is here now, I'll wait another hour or so, but then I don't want to hear one word about it when I come back, got it? Or no jell-o!"
Jack looked back at her as she stared him down, and gave a very audible sigh.
"O.K. O.K already!"
As Janet left to check on a patient three beds over, Jack turned away from her and muttered, "Witch."
"I heard that Colonel!"
"HOW DOES SHE DO THAT?" Jack roared.
Two weeks, Jack fumed inwardly. Two weeks stuck in this dungeon with that doctor for a jailer…and she says it will take almost three months to get over this! Damn stupid gate! Why did it have to spit me and Carter out in Antarctica like that? I can't even get my hands on a decent magazine down here! Everything is a month old and looks like it must have come from Janet's house after she finished with it! Rolling his eyes, Jack groaned softly. Eight more weeks and I should be able to go home to my nice quiet cabin…just eight more weeks…I'm gonna crack!
After watching all this unfold, Daniel knew that he couldn't put it off any longer. If he waited, it would be only a matter of hours before Janet put the bed-ridden air-force officer on sleeping pills, permanently.
Jack watched Janet closely as she disappeared into her office, and then turned his attention back to Daniel with only one thought on his mind.
"Quick! While she's gone! Grab me some clothes and a driver and get me outta here!" Jack ordered in a harsh whisper. He threw off the white sheet to reveal the heavy cast that bound his right leg from the knee cap down, and a clearly thickly bandaged and sore torso under his long hospital gown. Try as he might, Jack couldn't swing his bad leg off the bed without moving his damaged ribs.
"Oh, fer cryin' out loud, Daniel, will ya gimme a hand here?"
"Jack, I'm not going to help you escape."
"Oh come on, Daniel! I forgot to let the dog out!"
Daniel rolled his crystal blue eyes behind his glasses. "Jack, you don't have a dog. And besides, you'll never manage in your house alone."
Jack's eyebrows snapped up. "Why not? I've had broken bones before."
"Yeah, but were you living alone, or in a house with no neighbors nearby that you could call for help?"
"Not exactly, but…"
Trying a different tactic, Daniel pressed on. "Well let me put it this way: What do you think Janet will do when she comes back out here for your x-ray and finds an empty bed?"
Daniel watched as Jack's wheels turned. After a few seconds, Daniel saw that Jack had reached the same conclusion as he had.
"Ouch," Jack groaned with a cringe on his face.
"To put it mildly, yes."
Jack rubbed his hands over his face in frustration, muffling his voice some as he said, "This can't be happening…I gotta get outta here…!"
Daniel fidgeted a little where he stood by Jack's bed, and plunged onward. "Well, I can only think of one way for you to get out of here before you're completely healed…"
Jack's full attention was on Daniel now. "How?"
Is it too late to turn back?
Yes.
Damn…
Daniel glanced down at his feet for a split second and then looked back at Jack.
"I bet Janet wouldn't have a problem if you stayed at my apartment until you are ready for duty."
"Your place? Ha! You don't want me in your place with a chair or crutches! I'd break all that worthless…valuable…stuff…of yours."
Daniel glared at Jack for the near slight against his priceless collection of artifacts, but decided to let it go otherwise. This was far more important.
"Jack, your place has steps inside and out, and you can't get around in there with a wheel chair. It's out of the question."
"That's why there are thick plywood planks in the back yard! To make ramps!" Jack knew what was coming next though. Daniel had this all planned out for who knows how long, and he could tell. Here we go again…just say it, Danny…
"That doesn't matter. You're never going to get Janet to let you go back there yet, not even if someone was living there with you. My apartment is easy to get around in, and it's no farther from here than your cabin. Besides, there's an old woman downstairs who works as a part time nurse at the county hospital. I've helped her with her groceries sometimes, and I know she'd be happy to help if we needed it. That's sure to make Janet happy."
Ok, point made, Daniel. Now finish it.
"Please, Jack?" Daniel looked Jack straight in the eyes, not sure what to hope for.
Jack saw the determination and the need for acceptance in the eyes that starred back at him, and knew that Daniel was not just a pain in the butt, but also a really good friend to have. It would hurt if he said no. He'd just have to risk Daniel's wrath if he broke something, and it wouldn't be as bad as if he made Janet any more peeved at him…at least, probably not. Besides, Daniel liked jell-o too, so chances were he'd get some of it!
"If I say O.K., will you go pay my bail to the jailer right now?"
Daniel was positive he'd heard wrong, but then recognized a smile creeping onto Jack's face, and saw that the argument was over…He had actually won!
Jack watched with pleasure as the usual light in Daniel's eyes brightened. That's what I like to see…I'm getting out of here!