Friends and Foes Part 3
By Laura
See header from part 1
Daniel had worked steadily for almost two hours when he suddenly found himself at a dead end. There was no way he could go on without some reference books, which all happened to be far out of his reach. "Damn!" he cursed loudly then quickly held a hand up to his mouth, the irrational fear that Jack would come through the door at any moment to nag him over his manners still uppermost in his mind. Suddenly he realized how foolish he was being. He wasn't a child, for Christ's sake! He could swear if he damn well wanted to! "Damn, damn, damn, and double damn!" There! He fleetingly stole a glance at the door to make sure that indeed, no one was coming. He heaved a huge sigh of relief when he heard nothing and slumped down on his seat.
Frustrated at his own inability to swear more creatively without fear of punishment, he tossed his pen hard onto his desk, sending it bouncing off and flying down onto the floor. He rested his smooth chin on his ridiculously diminutive hands and absentmindedly rubbed at his baby-soft skin. He frowned deeply. It would be a long time before he started shaving again, and for some reason that just seemed to unnerve him even more.
He really should go get some help for those reference books he needed or else he would fall way behind schedule. He didn't want to give the General the impression he no longer was capable of fulfilling his duties. But he so didn't want to ask for help for something as trivial as getting his own books down from a stupid shelf. It was humiliating.
He sighed and resignedly picked up the phone and dialed Sam's lab number. After a few rings, a thought occurred to him. Why should he ask for help? Last time he checked, he wasn't an invalid, just shorter. He could get his own stuff and besides, it wasn't like Sam and Teal'c had nothing else to do but to play gofer for the helpless little kid. Infuriated, he hung up the receiver with a loud clank. How hard could it be? Even when he was an adult he'd sometimes had to use the ladder to reach the highest shelves, so it wasn't like he wasn't acquainted with the procedure already. He'd just need the ladder more often now, that was all.
He looked cautiously around the room and finally his gaze came to rest on the open doorway. Danny grinned mischievously and fleetly jumped off the chair, landing on the floor in a heap then quickly scrambled to his feet. He made it to the door clumsily and closed it quietly so as not to attract any unwanted attention. He thought about it for a few seconds, then making up his mind, nodded to himself and promptly locked it, just in case Jack suddenly decided to pay him a little visit. He'd rather take a lecture on why he shouldn't lock himself in his office than have him find out he'd actually broken rule number 1. He shivered. Nope, he certainly didn't want Jack finding out about that. Nor Sam or Teal'c for that matter, they would only tattle on him. So it was better to take some small precautions.
That taken care of, Danny went for his ladder and positioned it in front of the stacks. He carefully stepped up and went over the many thick books arranged neatly by subject on the shelves. Finally he found the one he was looking for and it happened to be the thickest book situated on the highest shelf.
He swallowed. "O-okay. I can do this; I just need to stretch a little..." He stood on his tip-toes and stretched out his hand as far as he could, holding onto the bookcase for support, but only managed to graze the lowest side of the huge heavy cover.
Panting at the effort, he slumped forward. "Okay. It's just going to be harder than I thought, that's all." He looked around the room for something he could use to reach out for it but couldn't see anything other than papers, notebooks, artifacts and more books.
Frowning in concentration, he looked down at the shelf directly in front of him, carefully stepped onto the wooden board and decided it was solid enough to hold his weight. He climbed onto it with the slightest bit of trepidation. Never having been very fond of heights he tried to keep his eyes fixed on the top shelf and not on the floor below. This time when he reached out his hand again, to his relief, he was able to grasp the book, his hand barely big enough to close around it.
He pulled it out slowly and almost lost his footing at the unexpected weight that hit his chest. He was sweating profusely now. He didn't remember the book being so heavy. He turned his head around awkwardly as far as he could, searching for the top of the ladder, but he couldn't see much with the heavy volume on top of him and his other hand holding onto the bookcase. It was definitely a very precarious position.
Stepping down ever so slowly, he searched blindly for the ladder with his right foot. He sighed when he felt the solid rung hit his sneaker-clad toes, and calmer now, he let his weight fall onto his right leg. To his horror, the world around him started to slip sideways as the solid ground beneath him proved to be not so solid after all and the ladder tumbled onto the floor with a loud crashing sound that reverberated throughout the room and then he was falling as well. He hit the floor with a sickening thud, and a sharp wave of pain slammed through his head then bright colors clouded his vision before he was engulfed in total darkness.
Jack made his way stiffly to the General's office, still a little ticked off by his latest altercation with Daniel. The kid seemed to be always questioning his authority lately. Well, so what else was new? But this was a little excessive, even for Daniel. Jack couldn't even open his mouth around the kid without Daniel being ready to fight him over whatever it was that he was about to say. Even if he agreed with him he was sounded like he was disagreeing. It was starting to grate on his nerves. Don't get me wrong, he thought, I love the kid, but Daniel was also annoying the crap out of him. He was like a strange mixture of teenager and spoiled four-year-old.
He could understand Danny's frustration and sympathized with him but he wouldn't tolerate this behavior. He had to drill it into Danny's head that willful disobedience and outright disrespect wouldn't lead him anywhere but into trouble. It was his duty as Daniel's CO, best friend, and as his guardian to see to it that Daniel understood that. Jack took his responsibilities seriously. But it sure was wearing him down. When they got home he would send Danny to bed early and delight in a nice cold beer, sprawled on the couch with nothing but the company of the sports channel to soothe his frazzled nerves. He smiled at the prospect. That was so what he needed.
Standing outside the General's office, Jack debated whether this was such a good idea after all. When Daniel was downsized, it was obvious to all of them that he could no longer live on his own, to all except Daniel that is. It just took him a little longer to see reason. Not only would it have attracted the neighbors' attention but it would've also been dangerous. Daniel was, for all intents and purposes, a four-year-old, with the limitations of a four-year-old. It had also been later proved that Daniel's mind had also been affected by his downsizing. He was, physically and emotionally, a little kid, albeit a very smart one. So it was out of the question, the kid couldn't and wouldn't be able to live on his own.
They'd
considered the possibility of fostering him with one of the many
families among the SGC personnel, who would have both the experience
and the necessary clearance to take the shrunken archaeologist in.
The team wouldn't have any of it though, Daniel was part of SG-1, and
he should stay with one of them. No one got left behind, that was
their first unbreakable law. And Daniel was adamant in his choice; he
wanted to stay with Jack. That proclamation had moved the Colonel in
more ways than he thought possible. He was
touched by Daniel's
trust, and the depth of affection this little version of his friend
evoked in him shook him to the core.
Even though Daniel had chosen him to be his legal guardian, understanding the need for one, and accepting his new limitations were two very different things and Daniel was far from that acceptance. Hence, his rebellion. So he was pretty sure how Danny would react to the concept of adoption. It would certainly give the kid the security and stability he needed, as well as the certainty that he wasn't going to be dumped into social services when he least expected it. Which was NEVER going to happen, by the way. They would have to go over his dead body to do it, and most probably over Teal'c's and Carter's, too. But he knew Danny well enough to know the idea had crossed his mind at least once, which was one time too many as far as Jack was concerned. It would certainly make things more permanent for him, and confirm his suspicions that there was nothing any of them could do to reverse this and that he would remain a child for at least the foreseeable future.
Jack took a deep breath and knocked softly on the door.
"Come in," came the General's voice from the behind the closed door.
Jack opened the door a crack and peeked inside.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you have a minute?"
"Ah... Colonel. Come on in, please."
Jack entered the room, closed the door behind him, and made his way to the desk.
"Have a seat, please."
"Thank you, sir." Jack slowly sat down on the chair opposite General Hammond, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
"Is everything all right, Colonel?"
"Yes, sir. It's just that I... uh... I wanted to talk to you about Daniel, sir." Now it was the General's turn to look concerned.
"About Dr Jackson? Is there something wrong with him?"
"No, sir. Daniel's fine. I just meant I wanted to talk to you about
"Look, Jack. If you want to reconsider your decision to take the boy in I…"
"No, no, no, sir!" interrupted a now slightly alarmed Jack, "By no means, sir. No, what I meant is..." He took a deep breath and decided to just blurt it out. "I'd like to make this official. That is, I want to give the kid a little bit more security about his future. It's been months now and they're no closer to changing him back, so I thought..."
"You want to adopt him," the General stated matter-of-factly.
"Yes! Thank you." Jack stretched his arms out in front of him and threw his head back, letting out a gust of air through his mouth, finally able to breathe properly.
The General smiled knowingly at him and turned around to produce a heap of papers from behind his desk.
Confused, Jack stared at them and then at the General. "What's this, sir?"
"These, Jack, are the adoption papers ready for you to sign."
"What?"
Hammond smiled warmly in understanding and elaborated.
"We're not giving up on Dr Jackson, Colonel. Don't get me wrong, but as you pointed out, it's been months now and it's very likely there's nothing we can do to fix this. If this is going to be permanent, then the boy will need a father. You were the most logical choice. You two were close friends even before this happened. I knew sooner or later you would come to me to discuss this matter. I just took the liberty of having everything ready to speed things up a little when you finally made the decision."
Jack was speechless. Was he so transparent that the General knew how he felt about Daniel all along? Thank you seemed so inadequate.
"I-- I'll have to talk to Daniel first, sir." he whispered through the lump in his throat, not taking his eyes off the papers sitting right in front him. The papers that would turn Daniel, his best buddy, into his son.
"You do that, Jack. The papers will be waiting right here till you're ready."
Jack stood up dazedly and looked at the General straight in the eye. "Thank you, sir," he whispered humbly.
"It was my pleasure, son." Hammond stood up and saw him to the door.
Once outside the office with the closed door behind him, Jack just stood there, too stunned to move. Shaking his head, he walked away, deciding to check on the little trouble magnet before meeting Teal'c at the gym.
He was nearing Daniel's office when he heard a commotion coming from behind the closed door, things crashing and what sounded suspiciously like someone hitting the hard concrete floor. He stood shocked, in the middle of the hallway,
"Oh, for crying out loud! What now?" he complained under his breath as he ran for the door knob, startled to find it securely locked. "The little... DANIEL!" He banged on the door several times, but there was no response. Dread slowly seeping into his senses. "Daniel?" Fear spurred him into action and he reached for the doorknob, startled to find it securely locked. "The little... DANIEL!" He hammered on the door several times, but there was no response.
"Daniel, what's going on in there?! Open the door!" He hit the door with both fists with a mix of anger and frustration.
Only silence greeted him. Okay now he was getting seriously worried.
"DANIEL JACKSON! Answer me, NOW!" There was a low moan from the other side of the door, and Jack felt color leech from his skin as his anger turned into gnawing worry. He recovered quickly and threw himself at the door savagely. Once, twice, three times, but it just wouldn't budge. Trying to reign in his worry and growing fear, he decided he needed some back up.
He turned around just about ready to hit something or somebody. Then he saw, to his relief, Sergeant Siler making his way down the hall.
Daniel woke up with a pounding headache and a queasy stomach. He opened his eyes a fraction and quickly regretted it. The intense pain that followed that simple act was almost unbearable. Confused, searched his memory for what could've put him in this situation. He remembered he had been in his office but... Oh, now he remembered. Suddenly consciousness didn't seem like such a good idea. The pain in his head would be nothing compared to the pain in his butt when Jack found out about this, and he would find out, there was no escaping that now.
Daniel heard Jack's voice through the ringing in his head. Then the banging on the door started and it was all he could do not to scream at the white-hot, piercing pain that shot through his skull. He wanted to tell Jack to stop but he just couldn't summon up the strength to form the words. He needed to open up the door and let Jack in before his head exploded into a million tiny bits.
He barely managed to roll onto his side before he heaved his lunch across the floor. No, wait. That wasn't the floor that was... his BOOK! He moaned and flopped over onto his back, regretting the sudden, jarring movement the moment his brain threatened to seep out through his ears. The pounding and screaming at the door wasn't helping matters, either. If Jack would just stop that and shut up, maybe he could go back to blissful unconsciousness. He was starting to miss the quiet already.
Daniel brought his hands up to his ears and pressed down hard trying to block out the infernal noise, but when he felt the warm, sticky substance trickling down the side of his face he was suddenly scared stiff. He brought his left hand up in front of his eyes and was horrified to see the bright red blood staining his shaking fingers. He started breathing fast and felt his fear escalate until all he could feel was his panic. Without even realizing it, he was suddenly screaming for Jack.
He didn't even hear the door bursting open and Jack and Sergeant Siler barging in. He just kept on crying for Jack, tears streaming unchecked down his round, plump cheeks.
