Beta: Mira Sol
Chapter 2 – Danny
Jack stood in the doorway of a small bedroom on the second floor where Mr. Crane had left him. The room was not much. There were two of everything: two desks, two chairs, two beds, two bookshelves and two wardrobes. One half of the room was occupied by someone; Jack could see on the left side of the room there were books and photos all over the shelves and a plush monkey was tucked carefully under the sheets. He walked towardsthe unoccupied side and dropped his bag beside the bed as he sat down. He closed his eyes tiredly and took a deep breath. So far so good he thought, but he was not about to let his guard down just yet.
He heard a tiny creaking noise and opened his eyes, movement catching his attention. He turned toward the sound coming from the doorway where he saw the same baby blue eyes he had noticed in the lounge not so long ago.
Jack cocked his head to the right as he measured the other boy up. He was indeed a boy, about seven or eight years old, with light blond hair and wearing pants, a blue shirt and glasses. In Jack's opinion he looked kind of geekish, but he was not about to alienate the kid so soon, so to break the ice he said, "Hi, I'm Jack. Who are you?" For a moment Jack thought the boy wouldn't answer him or would even run away, but to his surprise the child stepped toward him and answered.
"Hello my name is Daniel Jackson. Nice to meet you." The kid sure was polite, a bit too polite for Jack's taste but so far Daniel was his only ally in this place. Noticing the other boy hadn't stepped inside the room yet, Jack frowned, watching him rock on his heels. His gaze moved up to meet Danny's blue eyes.
"Are ya coming in or what?" Jack asked, keeping his voice friendly. He watched as Danny sidled inside toward his territory, the younger boy ratherreminding Jack of a beaten dog. Jack waited a moment or two but when he saw that the other wouldn't break the silence, he took it upon himself to keep up their chat. "So when were you placed here Daniel?"
"About a week ago."
"Mm, I see. And how is the place?" asked Jack, quickly seeing that the other was not about to start a conversation but was willing to answer questions. For now it was enough; if Daniel was here that long he might be able to give him the heads up for the place.
"It's normal I think. I never lived in America before," Daniel answered.
"Oh then where are you from?"
" Egypt."
"Oh wow, that's cool. Hey, I don't mean to sound skeptic or anything and Geography is not my strongest subject at school, but you don't look Egyptian." Daniel gave him a shy smile before answering.
"My parents were archaeologists; we lived there all my life." He sounded melancholy when he said this, his voice cracking. Jack guessed that Daniel had just recently become an orphan. He himself could remember how alone he'd felt when it happened, and for Danny it had to be a hundred times worse; he was all alone in a different world, far from the place he once called home. For the first time in a long time, Jack felt something for another person: sympathy and sadness. He saw the other boy's lip trembling so he cracked a small smile and asked with as much enthusiasm as he could, "That sounds interesting, would you tell me stories of Egypt and the archeo-thing."
"Archeology," Daniel corrected, and Jack held back a smile as the kid started to lecture him about Egypt's history, mythology, and which gods ruled over what. As Jack lay down on his bed in a more comfortable position for listening he thought: This place might not be so bad. Maybe.