Jack came back from the kitchen with another beer to find Daniel had fallen asleep. His head was against the back of the couch at an awkward angle that made Jack cringe a little to see. Knowing that waking him would only make Daniel cranky, Jack let him be and sat down to watch the rest of his the game he'd taped.
He kept an eye on Daniel, noticing that the little twitches were getting more pronounced and that usually meant a nightmare was forming. Still it startled Jack when Daniel jerked upright and started scrambling away from him along the couch.
Daniel knocked his crutches over with a clatter that made him flinch even as he kept moving.
Jack's knee cracked as he lunged to catch Daniel as he started to fall of the end of the couch. "Daniel."
With a gasp, Daniel started batting at him and yelling in a mix of Spanish and English.
Keeping a firm grip on Daniel's shirt, Jack kept up a string of muttered nonsense as he soothed his other hand down Daniel's arm.
His chest heaving, Daniel stared blankly at him. Jack shoved on Daniel's leg with his foot and got them down to the floor without banging into the coffeetable.
"Okay, Daniel. Wake clear up for me." Jack kept up the petting of Daniel's arm as the man blinked and panted.
He leaned towards Jack and with a little rearranging, Jack got them settled next to each other with Daniel leaning against him. Daniel's breathing slowed down and his muscles unclenched under Jack's fingers.
"Better?"
Daniel nodded. "I'm awake."
"Good." Jack kept right on petting Daniel's arm.
They sat like that for a time until Daniel pulled away. Getting off the floor took time and Daniel was sweating by the time Jack helped him sit back down on the couch. Jack settled next to Daniel with a sigh.
"You aren't going to ask me what the nightmare was about?"
Jack started backing up the tape to where it had been before. "Don't really need to, do I?"
Daniel relaxed and that settled him more heavily against Jack's side. "No. No, not really."
Jack watched the game until Daniel's breathing evened out and slowed. He shifted enough to cause Daniel's head to loll onto his shoulder and watched over Daniel as he slept on.
The next nightmare was different. Daniel started to mutter and squirm. Jack brushed Daniel's hair from his face and Daniel jerked awake. A quickly thrown punch had Jack firmly holding Daniel's wrists to keep him from trying to attack again.
"Daniel." He spoke into Daniel's ear. "Daniel. You are safe here. You can wake up now."
Blinking, Daniel sagged into Jack's arms. "Damn it."
Jack rubbed at Daniel's back. "Just breathe for a while."
"I know where I am. I know..."
"You are okay, Daniel." Jack hugged Daniel tight. "How about you lay down on a bed, huh?"
Daniel shook his head. "I'll just wake up screaming." He sounded more tired than he had in that horrible little camp in the middle of the jungle.
Jack didn't argue. Instead he eased back against the couch and pulled Daniel to lay on his chest. "Try to go back to sleep."
"Hmmm." Daniel dropped off without an argument, which let Jack know just how tired Daniel was.
His knee was aching, but Jack ignored it to guard Daniel's sleep for a while.