For Those That See - Chapter Six

As Gandalf passed on up the great steps, he held his staff aloft, and from its tip there came a faint radiance. Only a step behind him walked Teal'c and he too bore a device that emitted light, a light both greater and lesser than that of the wizard. It was brighter, but it shone in one direction only, casting a yellow tinted circle of brightness on the cold stone. Initially all of SG-1 had borne them, but on their commander's word all but one had been put away to "save the batteries". Frodo didn't exactly know what Jack meant by that, but he had reluctantly prised Daniel's torch from his curious cousins and handed it back to the tall man, who had smiled at him before deactivating it and tuckeing it into one of the many pockets on his waistcoat. Frodo had never seen so many pockets on a single waistcoat, but that must be the fashion where Daniel came from, for all of his team bore the same.

Frodo glanced up at the man walking by his side, his observation going unnoticed in the dim light. True, he had met few enough Men in his life, but most of them were the same; gruff and brusque, although plesant enough when you got to know them, at least for the most part. Daniel was different; curious, more open, and easier for the hobbit's minds to fathom, although Frodo suspected there was much more beneath the surface than they saw. Certainly he was brave, or stubborn, or both, for he had walked many hours now on an injured leg without complaint, doggedly continuing and hoping that no-one noticed how much it was hurting. Frodo wondered if anyone did, apart from him, and decided to call for a halt as soon as he could.

The most intriguing thing about Daniel, though, was the sense of him; the clear light that filled him completely. It was an air like that of the Eldar, and Gandalf. Aragorn had it, but in him it was less noticable, and Frodo saw it as a hue that tinted him, rather than a colour that painted him in clear terms. Daniel was somewhere between the two, closer to the light of the Eldar than any Man Frodo had encountered. He had noticed that both Legolas and Gandalf had been slipping Daniel interested glances from time to time, and wondered if he had the nerve to ask him about that, too.

For the moment Pippin had Daniel's attention and was chattering away about the Shire, their customs and traditions. Frodo knew full well that most hobbits could bore one of the Big People within a few minutes of Shire talk, and even he and Merry had been known to glaze over after a while listening to Pippin, but Daniel's expression was still bright, and he was eagerly drinking in all the information Pippin was giving him. From his other side, Merry caught Frodo's eye and grinned.

Finally finishing the abridged history of the Tooks, Pippin drew breath and looked up at Daniel. "You let me talk a lot," he stated bluntly. "You must be very interested in other people, or else very polite."

"I am interested," replied Daniel with a smile. "That's my job, I learn about other peoples and cultures, and form alliances, friendships, with them."

"Your job?" Pippin looked taken aback. "That's a funny kind of job."

"I suppose so," said Daniel, "but we're explorers, so it makes sense."

"So if you learn about people, what do Jack and Sam and Teal'c do?" asked Pippin. "Are you all family, is that why you travel together?"

"No, we're not family," Daniel chuckled. "We're just colleagues. Jack is our commander, and he and Sam are soldiers from the country we come from. Teal'c is a soldier too, but he's from, well, somewhere far away, but he lives with us now."

"Are you a soldier?" pressed Pippin.

"Not really," said Daniel. "I can fight, but I try not to. We try not to fight at all, actually, but sometimes we can't help it. But the others have all been trained to fight: I just kind of picked it up as I went along."

"Like us!" said Pippin. "We don't fight at all, Shire folk that is. But someone had to come along and help Frodo with…" he cut off suddenly at a nudge from Merry and a sharp look from Frodo, but Daniel caught their censoring gestures and gave them all an intrigued look. Merry cast about quickly for a new subject in the hope of distracting him.

"What's your world like?" he asked. Daniel frowned at the abrupt change of subject, but he seemed happy to let Frodo's secrets drop.

"Well, it's very different," he said. "What would you like to know about?"

"Tell us about your families," said Pippin on a sudden inspiration. "I told you all about ours, after all. Do you have big families in your country, like we do? You said you're not related to Jack and Sam and Teal'c."

Daniel's face clouded over. "Well, there are a lot of people where I come from," he said, "and everyone does things differently, so… I don't… Maybe you'd be better asking Jack or Sam about families."

"Why?" asked Pippin brazenly. Frodo and Merry shushed him at the same moment, but Daniel smiled at both of them openly.

"It's alright, I don't mind," he said. "Pippin, my parents died when I was very young, and I don't have any brothers or sisters, so I don't really have family the way most people do. I lived in a lot of different places when I was young, and with a lot of different people."

Pippin's jaw hung slightly open. "Different people?" he repeated. "Your aunts and uncles, or…"

"I don't have aunts and uncles," replied Daniel quietly. "My grandfather… couldn't take me, so I went to live with other children like me, and eventually they found a family who were happy to take me in. They never adopted me, though."

"How awful," breathed Frodo, years-old heat stinging suddenly in the corners of his eyes. What could possibly have been so important, so terrible, that Daniel's grandfather could not take him in? Surely nothing was a barrier to family? He thought suddenly of Bilbo, desperately grateful that his uncle had been so caring and loving to him, and his heart went out to Daniel. Frodo toyed with the idea of speaking again, but the set of the man's jaw told him that he had said what he would say, and anything more would be too much.

Finally they reached the top of the stairway, and found themselves in an arched passage with a level floor leading on into the dark.

"Let us sit and rest and have something to eat, here on the landing, since we can't find a dining-room!" said Frodo. The proposal was welcomed by all; and they sat down on the upper steps, dim figures in the gloom.

Daniel sighed in relief as he was finally able to take the weight off his injured leg. He stretched it out in front of him, wincing as a fresh ripple of pain shot through it. Hearing footsteps behind him, he schooled his features into a neutral expression just in time as Jack flopped down on the step beside him.

"How're you holding up?" he asked, his tone light but all too familiar concern evident in his eyes.

"Fine," replied Daniel, only the slightest tremor in his voice betraying his deceit. Jack raised his eyebrows, clearly not convinced, but before he could speak Carter dropped onto the step beside him, and Teal'c glided silently to Daniel's other side. Carter gave Daniel a worried look but turned to her CO and addressed him first.

"Sir," she said, "I've been able to gather more information about these people. Boromir is from a country, Gondor, quite a way south of here - he's actually a son of the ruling family - and apparently his people are at war with this Mordor country; they have been for a long time. I gather they're heading there to help the fight."

"These people?" Jack couldn't help but cast an incredulous look around their mis-matched travelling companions. "The… little people?"

"Apparently so, sir." Carter shrugged. "Boromir said that they have something that might help, although he didn't elaborate. Apparently Aragorn is someone special too, but I didn't quite follow, and he changed the subject pretty quickly."

"No idea at all?" prompted Jack.

"Boromir is a ruler of the country Gondor," said Teal'c in a quiet rumble. "Perhaps Aragorn poses a threat to him; he may not speak freely of it."

Carter shrugged. "Maybe."

"Daniel?" Jack looked back at his friend, whose attention seemed to be flagging. "Did you get anything else?"

"The hobbits told me a lot about their cultural history…" Daniel paused, "…which doesn't interest you right now…"

"If ever," agreed Jack cheerfully.

"The hobbits don't seem to know much more than us about the land south of here," said Daniel, "but they know Gandalf; apparently he's much more powerful than we've seen. And from what they haven't said, Frodo seems to have a purpose, or something, to do with this war. They're very guarded about it, though."

Jack watched as Daniel spoke, only half listening as his attention focused itself on the beads of sweat on his brow, the slightly glazed look in his eyes and the way he held his leg almost off the floor, as though even resting it on a solid surface was too painful. Realising that Daniel had stopped speaking and was looking at him with a unique combination of patience and exasperation, Jack took a deep breath and prepared himself for battle.

"Okay, Daniel, let's get that leg looked at."

"Jack, I'm fine."

"No, you're not, Daniel, and you're not fooling anyone. Carter?"

"Sam… Sam! Leave it! Jack, really, I'm fine."

"Dammit, Daniel…"

The hissed conversation broke off abruptly as a shadow fell over their group, and they looked up to see Aragorn standing with a look of polite concern on his face.

"Excuse me," he said. "I need to change the dressing on your leg."

Daniel stared up at him in dismay. "There's not much point in arguing, is there?" he asked.

"There is not," confirmed Teal'c. "You require medical attention, Daniel Jackson, and while I am not fond of the idea of restraining you, I will do so if need be."

Daniel gave him a startled look. "Um… that's fine, thank you, Teal'c." Still wearing a relucant expression, he allowed Aragorn and Sam to peel away the dressings on his leg, revealing sore red wounds beneath.

"This must have been causing you much pain," said Aragorn in a shocked voice. "Why did you not speak before?"

"It's not that bad," insisted Daniel, but he was cut off by a snort from Jack.

"He never admits it when he's hurt," he told the other man. "You have to argue it out of him, which takes a lot of effort, or wait until he falls down and yell at him when he's too tired to argue back."

"You are wounded a lot?" Aragorn asked Daniel.

"Not that much," said Daniel.

"Loads," insisted Jack. "All the time, he's a walking target. Died a few times, too."

"Died?"

"Not permanently."

"Colonel?" Carter's patience seemed to be wearing thin; there was a break in her voice and an irritated expression on her face. "Would you mind letting us treat Daniel's leg, sir?"

"Go ahead," said Jack, sitting back and grinning. It wasn't often that he liked the people they encountered through the 'gate, and even less often that he trusted them, but there was something about these people that he couldn't help but be drawn to. Not all of them; the wizard, the dwarf, and the one who seemed to have a thing for Carter left him suspicious, and the Elf was just unfathomable, but the hobbits were so open and artless that it would be a challenge not to trust them, and Aragorn… Jack was trying not to like him, but quite frankly it was more difficult the more he spoke to him. Watching him now tending Daniel, true concern in his face, made Jack realise that from somewhere the Ranger had triggered the same reaction in him that Daniel had back on the first Abydos mission. Even before he had thrown himself in front of the staff blast meant for Jack, Daniel had somehow begun the great thaw of his heart by his naive and innocent concern for everyone he encountered. Aragorn was by no means like Daniel, but there was something about him, not least the care he was showing to Jack's oldest and best friend, that meant Jack just couldn't help but like the man.