Blood Brothers Part 4/6

A/N:

Thank you for those who sent me feedback. I'm sorry to tell you that the secrets between Danny and Benji, why they look so much a like, won't be explained in this story, but first in the sequel. I have started on the sequel, but I don't know when it's ready to be published, but I promise you, I will write it and post it here. It will be called Blood Twins.

Jack and Daniel had just arrived at the infirmary for Daniel's first shot. Daniel had mixed feelings about the whole thing. He was very happy that he finally was going to save Benji, but he wasn't happy about the shots at all. He'd always hated needles, even when he was an adult.

"Daniel, are you ready? I'm going to give you the first shot now," Dr. Fraiser said.

Daniel was sitting on his Dad's lap and clinging to his hand very tightly. He looked the other way when Dr. Fraiser gave him the shot. He didn't cry out, but there was a few tears running down his cheeks.

"Danny you were very brave" Jack said "I think you deserve some ice cream."

"Your Dad is right Daniel. You were very brave – you earned it." Dr. Fraiser said.

Daniel's eyes lit up, "With chocolate chips?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha Danny." Said Jack "Let's get to the commissary and take it back to our VIP room. Teal'c, Sam and Jonas will visit us in a few hours."

"Sure thing Dad." Daniel was smiling now. "Race you there!"

Later in the VIP room, the ice-cream was finished and Jack thought that Daniel was starting to look a little drowsy. "Danny, I think maybe you should take a little nap before our friends arrive."

"I'm not tired Dad." Daniel said huffily "I want to watch a movie, can I Daddy, please!"

"No, sorry. I really think you should take a nap, before the side effects start to kick in. You may get disturbed sleep over the next couple of days." Jack said and he pointed to the bed. "Of to bed you go kiddo,"

Daniel knew when he wasn't going to win and reluctantly mumbled "Okay." Jack helped him to take off his pants and he climbed into the bed. "Dad read me a story...please."

Jack laughed and ruffled Daniel's hair "Yeahsureyoubetcha."

Daniel fell asleep, sucking his thumb, before Jack had finished reading even half the story. Jack smiled when he noticed that; Daniel hadn't sucked his thumb since he was three. The greying man quietly shut the book and gently removed the tiny thumb from his son's mouth. Within just a few seconds though the thumb found it's way back in again. Jack tilted his head slightly, watching the young boy. He wondered if the thumb sucking was one of Danny's way of coping and seeking comfort during this stressful time. Jack leaned down and kissed Daniel on his forehead praying that the side affects wouldn't be too hard on this young, innocent child.

Daniel woke up again an hour later. As he opened his eyes he noticed that his 'Granddad Hammond' was there. "Granddad you're here!" he said.

He jumped out of bed and ran to his 'grandfather' who picked him up and enveloped him in a big bear hug. "Yes, son I'm here. I wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm fine. I just had a nap." Daniel told him "I didn't want to take one, but my Dad made me."

"He's a wise man your father. You need the rest, the transplant will take a lot out of you." The general said gently.

"Did you hear that Danny? I'm wise so you should listen to me more often." Jack said jokingly. "So I want you to visit the bathroom and get your pants back on."

"Only in your dreams Dad, but you're right, I do have to go to the bathroom. Granddad will you still be here when I get back?" Daniel asked.

"I'll be here," the general said, and he let go of Daniel so the boy could go and use the bathroom.

Once Daniel was safely out of earshot General Hammond turned to Jack and asked "So Colonel how is Daniel holding up?"

"He's being brave, but he's scared of the shots." Jack told him "He doesn't want to admit it though - I think he's afraid that if he does I'll stop the whole donor thing. I hope he won't suffer too much from the side effects."

The general looked towards the bathroom but the door was still closed. "Me too Jack, me too. If you need my help with anything just let me know."

"Thank you sir." Replied Jack "I'll will."

"No thanks needed, I'm his 'grandfather' after all and I want to help." Hammond smiled affectionately.

A few minutes later Daniel came out of the bathroom and clambered into his 'grandfather's' lap.

"Granddad, do you want to play chess with me?" Daniel asked, with the puppy dog's eyes that his 'grandfather' (and indeed most of the female officers on the base) couldn't resist.

The older man agreed almost instantly. "Sure I will, go and get the board ready."

Daniel won the game and soon the board was packed away again. Daniel's 'grandfather' gave his very happy young 'grandson' a hug and said that he had to go to a meeting. He promised the boy that he would come back before he left the base for the evening and kissed the top of Daniel's head before he left the room.

Just as Hammond left the VIP room Jack's team-mates came along with some presents for the young boy.

"Sam! T! Jonas!" Daniel shouted while he ran to them and hugged them all, one after another.

"Why do you have presents with you? It's still a looong time until Christmas."

The adults smiled - it was only little over two weeks until Christmas, but for the young child it felt like ages.

"They're for you Daniel. They're not Christmas presents, so you can open them now," Sam said.

"Really?" he asked.

They all nodded and passed the presents to him.

"Thank you." Daniel said with a look of wonder on his small face. "…all of you."

Jack spoke quietly to his team-mates "You are spoiling him rotten, you do know that don't you."

"Well Colonel, he's not our son so we can spoil him without fearing the consequences." Sam said, smirking slightly.

"Don't be so sure about that." Jack countered. "You're all gonna be babysitting him from time to time."

"I'm not afraid of that, sir." said Sam, bravely "We just wanted to give him something to help keep him occupied while he's cooped up in here."

Jack nodded. He was sure that Danny would need a lot to keep him occupied and to help take his mind off the side effects of the shots. Jack was really not looking forward for them when they kicked in.

Daniel studied the gifts and wondered what was in them.

"Are you going to open them, DanielJackson?" queried Teal'c "…or do you wish to wait until Christmas?"

"No!" Daniel said and started to opened the present from Teal'c first. "Cars – the movie! Cool! Thanks T!" he said and gave Teal'c a hug. From Jonas he got a book of ancient Egypt and from Sam he received a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle with Egyptian pyramids on it.

Daniel gave them all a hug. "Thanks, you're the best." he said, then he had to backtrack when he heard Jack clear his throat. "Next to Granddad…and Dad, of course!" Daniel smiled when he saw his Dad's eyes lit up.

"Can I watch my Cars DVD? Please Dad."

"No Danny, its too early at the moment." Jack told him "You can start with the jigsaw puzzle, then later we can all watch the movie."

"Okay Dad." Daniel agreed.

They all helped Daniel with the puzzle and later they watched the Cars DVD. By the time the movie was nearly finished, Daniel was beginning to get restless.

"Danny does it hurt anywhere?" Jack said in concern.

Daniel didn't convince any of the adults when he said "Noooo, I'm fine…"

"Daniel! I want you to be honest with me." Jack said softly, automatically placing his hand on Daniel's head to check for a temperature. "If you feel pain I want you to tell me."

"Okayyyyy. My legs hurt and so does my head." Daniel wimpered, and he started to cry.

Jack picked the boy up gently and placed him on gently in his lap. He carefully wrapped his arms around his son and Daniel snuggled into his embrace. "I'll call Janet and ask her if we can give you some baby Tylenol. I hope that'll help you feel a bit better."

Janet came as soon as Jack called her. She checked Daniel over and gave him some baby Tylenol. It didn't help much but at least it was something.

Jack and his team did their best to distract him from his pain and that actually helped more than the Tylenol had done.

The next day, a few hours after his second shot Daniel was crying - a lot - he was in a great deal of pain due of the side effects. Jack was tempted to call the whole donor thing off, but he knew that Benji would die if he did and he also knew that Daniel would probably never forgive him.

"Dad, I want Sara here. Please call her and ask her to come." Daniel asked plaintively.

"Daniel I'm sorry, but I don't think that you're 'grandfather', the General will allow her to come here to the SGC." Jack said "You know as well as I do that this place is top secret."

Daniel was sobbing now "Dad, please I want her here,"

"Well okay I'll ask but I wouldn't hold out too much hope." Jack said honestly "I'll ask Teal'c to come and sit with you while I'm talking to your 'grandfather'."

It didn't take much convincing to get Hammond to allow Sara to visit the SGC. She would only be permitted inside the infirmary, Daniel's VIP room and the commissary. She would be kept well away from any restricted areas and also the lower levels where the gate room resided.

Jack then went to see Sara while Teal'c stayed with Daniel.

Sara could see that something was obviously very wrong as soon as she opened the door and caught sight of the look on Jack's face.

"Jack, come in. What's wrong? Is something wrong with Danny?" Sara said worriedly. "Please don't tell me that…"

"No…No! He's…umm. He's…suffering from side effects…" Jack stumbled over the words as he entered Sara's living room.

"Side effects? From what Jack?" Sara asked.

"There is a boy named Benji who has leukaemia and Daniel is his bone marrow donor." Jack explained. "Daniel has to get a shot every day, for four to five days, and today is the second day. The medication they're giving him is causing the side effects and they're very painful. The poor boy is really uncomfortable at the moment."

"I'm sorry, he's such a sweet kid. Why on Earth did you give the consent for this? He's only five…I'm sorry, I shouldn't…" Sara stopped talking and looked down at the floor, distressing the pile of the carpet with her right foot.

"It's okay, I've asked myself the same question." Jack told her "Danny can be very stubborn, especially when he sets his mind on something that can help other people. He'd never forgive me if Benji were to die and I don't think I could forgive myself either. I'm also thinking about Benji's parents - I know how it is to lose a child…" Now it was Jack's turn to study the carpet, his mind flooding with memories that he'd rather not think about at the moment.

"Yeah it's horrible…Um, Jack - why are you here and not with your son?" asked Sara hesitantly.

"Daniel asked for you." replied Jack "He wants me to ask you to visit him. He…he needs you. I think he's missing a motherly touch. I know he sees you as a mother figure, maybe because you are one. He doesn't see Sam that way. I know he loves her, as an aunt maybe or an elder sister even, but certainly not as a mother. Would you visit him? Please Sara."

"Of course I will." said Sara at once. "Jack, how could I refuse? He's so easy to love and he's got a special place in my heart - right next to Charlie. Which hospital is he in?"

"He's not, he's in the infirmary on the base where I work." Jack informed her.

"On a military base?" she queried. "Why?"

"Well, Danny goes there often enough. He knows the people there and we also have a day-care where he goes after school. Jack explained. "You have to know that you'll only be allowed to enter a few areas, others are restricted to authorised person only."

"I can live with that as long I can be where Daniel is." Sara stated.

"Thank you so much Sara." Jack said. He released a deep, cleansing breath and continued. "It means a lot to me that you'll help him. We'd better get moving though. I hope you don't mind staying overnight at the base, for as long Daniel is getting the shots. I think that'd help him a lot."

"I don't mind if it makes him feel more comfortable and I can help out with looking after him. I'll go and pack a bag." Sara said and left the room to do just that.

Daniel was overjoyed when Jack entered his room followed by Sara.

"Sara!" he shouted as he ran to her.

She laughed as she scooped him into her arms and gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek. "Hello Daniel. Are you feeling a little better?"

"Yes, now that you and Dad are finally here!" he said, with a beaming smile on his face.

"I'm glad to hear that." Sara told him honestly.

"Are you staying here until I'm all better?" Daniel asked "I do hope you are!"

"Yes I'm staying with you and your Dad until you're all better." She assured him.

Daniel hugged her tightly and buried his head in her shoulder. Within a few minutes he was fast asleep.

"Well I'll be…Looks like you have a calming effect on him." said Jack. "One of the side effects of the shots is insomnia. I'm glad that he can get some sleep now, even if it's not at night."

"I know, I should put him to bed." said Sara "…but I'm afraid that if I do he'll wake up."

"Me too. Let's sit on the couch and you can let him sleep on your lap." Jack suggested. "I'll get a blanket for him."

Daniel was able to sleep for a whole hour on Sara's lap. When he stirred he looked up into Sara's face and smiled contentedly. She smiled back at him and kissed his hair before rolling her eyes towards the end of the couch. Daniel followed the movement of her eyes and chuckled quietly when he saw what she was gesturing at…Jack, in an extremely uncomfortable looking position, fast asleep with his feet up on the small table in front of him!

"He didn't last much longer than you did before he fell asleep!" whispered Sarah, placing a kiss on the little boy's hair. "I guess you must have both had a bad night last night?"

"Yeah, I guess so." said Daniel quietly. "Can we let him sleep for a bit longer? We can sit here and snuggle for a while."

Sara looked over at Jack again with a gentle smile on her face. "Sure we can Danny. Although I don't think we should leave him there too much longer. He doesn't look particularly comfy and he'll be stiff when he wakes up."

The next day, some hours after Daniel's third shot, he seemed to be suffering from every side effects that had been discussed. It was very hard on the young boy and he felt extremely miserable. Jack and Sara hoped that Daniel would get the last shot tomorrow and that it wouldn't be necessary for a fifth one.

Jack was glad that Sara was with them and also that his team and Hammond came along regularly and helped to distract Daniel from how he was feeling. Teal'c helped Daniel with Kel'no'reem, it calmed him down a little and he was able to sleep for a while. Sadly not long enough although it was better than not getting any sleep at all.

Daniel shed many tears while he suffered from the side effects and spent a lot of time in his Dad and Sara's arms. At night, when Daniel was very restless, Jack and Sara took shifts to walk around the room with Daniel in their arms and both of them sung lullabies to him. Daniel was sucking his thumb a lot and not only when he was finally sleeping. Jack and Sara let him as they were sure that he would stop doing it when the child was feeling better.

The fourth shot was luckily the last one, to Jack and Sara's relief. That afternoon Daniel was transferred to the Children's Memorial hospital and the transplant was planned for the next day. Jack and Sara were allowed to be with him the whole time.

The transplant was a success and Benji recovered fast. Much to the surprise of his doctors - they hadn't seen anything like it before. A little over a week later Benji was almost 100 recovered. They all agreed that it was a miracle of the season.

It took a while before Daniel was back to his old self, but with Sara and his Dad's help he was feeling better and better every day. Now they all could enjoy the holiday season together.