Danny was not a happy boy. Snuffles, sniffles, and snots plagued him all day. He'd puffed his puffer, spat medicine up all over Jack's freshly laundered shirt, and his blanket had been subjected to the terror of the tumble dryer on more than four occasions.

Phew! Jack was exhausted. Sick kid duty was not in the mission briefing he'd signed up for, but like the toy soldiers at parade rest around Danny's bed, he'd ignore the projectile puke and put on a brave face. "Chin up, soldier," he whispered pulling the blanket up around Danny's shoulders and smoothing the hair away from his face. "You've felled system lords, this should be a snap."

"Da?"

Bright fever filled eyes peeked out at him from the edge of the blanket as a hand snaked out to reach for the newspaper in Jack's lap.

"Sss nite nite story?"

"I dunno, kiddo, I think you're too tired for a story tonight."

Daniel blinked rapidly and pushed the blanket down, pulling the paper closer. "Sss nite nite story!"

"Persistent, aren't we. Just a short one." Jack opened the paper to the sports section and laid it flat on Danny's bed. "Remember, a short one."

Daniel wriggled free of his blankets and twisted to look at the pictures. "Dis one?" He said pointing at a picture of the Kentucky Derby. Jack bit back a sigh and lifted the hot little hand away. Picking the form of the horses was a matter of study, and his study notes now had sticky sweaty finger prints all over them. "Okay, tiger, that one it is." Clearing his throat, Jack began. "Once upon a time, there was a golden haired Tokra called Samantha. Now, Samantha was as beautiful as a thousand suns, most of them she tried hard not to blow up, but she had been kidnapped by an evil and fluffy dust bunny ogre that snuck up on her.

Teal'c the Testosterone Titan had forgotten to watch her six, he's on report now, and the bunny had scooped up the fair Tokra and stolen her away into the night. The silver-haired legend of the Tau'ri, distraught at the loss of his maiden, was enraged, but the ogre didn't care, he feared none but the duster, and anyone clever enough to have a vacuum cleaner on them.

Our broad chested hero leapt on his lame, and very green, Mastage, and zoomed after the dust bunny at a blistering fifty feet an hour! No speed was spared in pursuit of the fair one. Now the dust bunny ogre, hearing our hero creeping up on his position, pinned Samantha to the ground and slid up her nose!"

Danny sat back on the bed with a fright and stuck a finger up each nose, pushing his nostrils high. "S'not gonna get up my noses!"

"Eww," Jack admonished furrowing his brow, "no dust bunnies here, sport, Daddy vacuumed." Plucking the errant fingers free of their nasally prison, Jack cringed when Danny wiped them on the blanket. Another trip to the wash was assured. "Now where was I? Ogre dust bunny… right! Well," Jack exaggerated, "the fair Samantha sneezed! So loud was her sneeze that all the music boxes in the kingdom sat up and started to play "The Song that Never Ends," You know that one, Danny?"

Danny nodded and broke into a nasally song, "Dis be da song dat never ends, it does go on and on-,"

"Ahht." Jack held a finger to his lips for silence. "I'll be singing that song all night now. Suffice to say you know it. So, the music boxes were all magic, as all good music boxes are, and the dust bunny ogre, no fan of Sesame Street at all, was now stuck singing "The Song that Never Ends," and disappeared in a puff of dust. Our hero, the handsome Tau'ri legend, picked up the fair Samantha and sat her atop the Mastage, riding happily off into the dawn. The End."

Letting out a long sigh, Danny scooped up the newspaper and put it carefully under his pillow. "No more dust bunnies?"

"Nope, the magic boxes all took care of the dust bunny ogre, and the fair Samantha is back in her castle with her hero."

"Tewook?"

"On report. He'll be watching sixes for a good while yet. Soooo." Jack wiggled a finger at Danny's pillow. "Any chance daddy can keep tonight's story book?"

Danny shook his head and climbed under the blanket, patting the pillow before resting his head. "Nite nite, Da."

"Night, Danny." Jack pecked his son's bright pink cheek, flicked on the night light, and stood in the door way for a moment watching him settle into sleep. "Good thing I bought two copies today."

End