Textbook Case

Author: Spacemonkey766

Season: pre-series to present

Episode: dialogue from Season 9's The Ties That Bind

Rating: M (content, language)

Pairing: mention of Daniel/Sha're and Daniel/Others(women and men) and a hint of Daniel/Cameron if you squint at the end lol)

Spoilers: not really

Disclaimer: SG-1 and all the characters that appeared in the show are MGM's and yadda yadda. Not mine. I'm just borrowing them and doing with them what I please. Will return relatively unscathed with minimal psychological injury.

Authors Note: I was watching Ties that Bind and the way Daniel just spoke about the defense mechanisms was odd. He seemed to be way too familiar with the symptoms, like he heard them and went through it. This tells the story of how Daniel knew all to well the what that textbook case was like.

Warning: this is a darker Daniel Jackson. Watching Daniel throughout the years really gave me the impression that his childhood wasn't a pleasant one. I always saw a dark emotional side in Daniel so that's what I portrayed. Speaking from experience, a teenage/young adult mind in certain situations can create a dark cynical outlook and view on life. So that's what I did to Daniel. If you hate it…sorry…but I stand by what I wrote.

Intro:

JACKSON: No… uh… (thinks) no! (walks over sitting on bed) No you're not… repulsive, you're just… uh…ya uuhhh… it's just that I know what you're doing with the whole sexual… thing. It's a defense Mechanism.

VALA: Really?

JACKSON: Yeah. You live a solitary existence, you…(Starts counting off on fingers) move from place to place, you never form any lasting relationships, you use sex as a weapon, prevent yourself from forming any real emotional bonds. (counts fingers nods)

VALA: Textbook case. (Daniel shrugs)

Chapter 1 : Solitary existence

Danny Jackson was alone. His parents were dead, his grandfather didn't want him, and any friends he had were in Egypt. He couldn't stop the tear that fell from his eye as he stared out the car's window. His eyes watched the buildings and stores go by from the back seat of his social worker's car. He didn't see the sad glimpse in the rearview mirror from his social worker as she looked to see if he had fallen asleep.

He hadn't fallen asleep. He just wasn't speaking. He hadn't spoken since the accident that took his parents away from him. He hadn't said a word at the funeral, to his grandfather, to anyone in five days. Danny tore his gaze away from the rain streaked window and stared at his lap where his hands lay folded on his lap. He then shifted his gaze to the new red sneakers his mother had bought for him in their first day in New York since Danny was six. Dad called them converse, Danny called them cool. He loved the color, so vibrant compared to the brown sandals he wore when he was home.

To Danny, Egypt was home. It was where most of his memories were, where he had spent most of his eight years. Mom said New York was home. Danny was born in New York but moved to Egypt when he was just one year old. It wasn't until Daniel was three that they would return to the United States. It was a brief stay, spanning just six months before they were back in Egypt, his parents working on another dig. On Danny's fourth birthday they flew back to New York and stayed there for two years. On Danny's sixth birthday they moved back to Egypt. The small family lived in Egypt until eight days ago. Mom said they wouldn't be staying long. A couple of weeks and they'd be on their way back to Egypt. She said that ten days ago when they went to buy Danny his new sneakers for his birthday.

Danny knew that wasn't the case anymore. His parents were gone. There would be no one to take him back to Egypt. New York would be his home for now on. The little boy was scared. As the car came to stop, Danny looked out the window to see a rather large building. He guessed this was the orphanage his social worker had told him about. It looked rather lonely in its massiveness. Danny knew life would be lonely from now on.

From now on he would have to speak English only, abandoning the three other languages he knew and the one he was in the process of learning. From now on there would be no one to call him Danny. All the grown ups kept calling him Daniel, not like his parents. And even at age eight, Danny knew that Daniel was going to be alone for a long time.