Time frame: pre-canon

All Work and No Play

x - x - x

"So.. how was the first day, kids?" Maddie cooed as Jack hung a sharp right onto their street. Jack saw Jazzypants perk up in the rearview mirror. He knew Maddie's question was directed at her, since it was her first day in middle school. Scary stuff! On his own first day, he saw someone accidentally staple their finger to their homework and someone get sent out for carving a swastika into a desk in the first class of the day. Middle school was a warzone.

"A girl in homeroom said Jazz wasn't a real name," Jazz huffed as she glared at the houses passing by her open window.

Righteous anger made Jack speed up by a couple miles per hour. "Did you tell her Sarah was a nosepicker's name?"

"Ja-ack," Maddie warned, at the same time Jazz squeaked, "Ew, no!"

Right right, Mads. This was Jazz, not Danny. Tactical switch. "Did you give her the ole' one-two?" Jack tried, catching Jazz's glare in the mirror and winking at her. It worked, and she grinned despite herself.

"Yeah, dad," she sighed, in the same tone she got whenever he told her she'd have to finish her chores if she wanted to play outside. "One, I told her Jazz is a nickname derived from Jasmine, which is a name stemming from the French Jasmin and can also be traced back to the Persian Yasmin and the Arabic Yasamin. My mother named me after her grandmother, who was born in Chambery, France."

Jack exchanged a sideways glance with his wife, who had a smug look plastered on her face.

"And?"

Jazz bit her lip, keeping a hold over the proud smile creeping its way forward. "And two, I told her there are around thirty thousand Sarah's in the U.S. and less than fifty Jazz's. One in a million? Try ten thousand out of a million. A slightly less flattering fraction."

"That's my girl!"

"Jack!"

"What, Mads? The girl's allowed to stick up for herself."

"No Jack, you missed our house."

Whoops.

"Whoops." At the end of the street there were no cars so he u-turned, despite Maddie's disapproving sigh. Illegal u-turn? Jack says nay. It's not illegal unless there's a traffic cop around.

"Um, Dad? Mom?"

"Yeah sweetie?" Mads answered, twisting around in her seat to look back at their youngest, who'd been fairly quiet so far on the ride home, hugging his new backpack to his chest.

"Where'd my name come from? Am I named after somebody in the family too?"

Maddie glanced at Jack immediately, whether subconsciously or deliberately, and Jack opened his mouth to reply to his son but was cut off by his wife. "Daniel is uh.. Hebrew, I think, Danny." She smiled warmly at him but Danny's eyebrows furrowed.

"We're not Hebrew," Jazz chastised. "..Are we?"

Maddie gave Jack another quick look. Her 'warning' look. What was she warning him about? Did he pass the house again? Nope, still another few buildings to pass.

"No," Maddie answered, "but you don't have to stick to names that come from your own ethnic background. Sometimes you pick names for other reasons."

Danny pressed forward in curiosity, causing his seatbelt to tighten. "Wait, so why'd you pick Danny then?"

Jack opened his mouth, but again Maddie cut him off. "No reason!" she assured him. "We just really liked it, is all!"

Now why would Maddie say a thing like that? His son's obvious disappointment as he slunk back down in his seat was an absolute heartbreak.

"That's not true Mads – "

"Jack, house!"

"Fudge!" He'd missed it again in his distraction over Danny. Ah well, the third time gets the eggs in one basket! Or.. whatever it is they say.

As he pulled into the median lane to try and about-face again, Maddie tried to diffuse the situation. "Right, well actually, your father and I had made a deal. I told him if he let me name your sister Jasmine, then he could choose the next name."

Danny cocked his head to the side, grinning slyly into the mirror at his dad. "Oh so you named me, Dad?"

"You're darn right I did!" Jack beamed, barely noticing as two cars blared their horns at him as he pulled into the parking lot to turn around for the last time (hopefully).

"So why'd you – "

"He picked it because of what a handsome name it is, right Jack?" She squeezed his arm as she said this, a bit too hard. "Subtle warning" hard. Stop warning me woman, I know where the house is! We'll get there!

"Right," he agreed.

"So there wasn't any real reason?" Danny pestered on, leaning forward so far that his head poked between Jack and Maddie's seats. "No cool great-uncle I'm named after, or war hero, or superhero, or something.. anything.." he tacked on last minute.

"Well maybe not a war hero, but ouch." Maddie had pinched him again. "We're almost there, Mad's. I won't miss the turn this time I promise, so you can hold the pinches."

"It's not that," she muttered under her breath, her gaze shifting furtively to their son, who was still leaning between them.

"What about Danny?" he wondered at her. "Just tryin' to have a nice conversation about the inspiration for his name. It's something every kid should know."

"Jack, don't go there," she said, and her tone took on an authoritative quality to it and Jack finally registered why she was acting like this.

"Ah Mads, don't be like that. It's a great movie! I didn't realize you were still sore about this!"

Jazz's head poked in next to Danny's as Jack finally pulled into their own driveway. "Wait. Movie?"

"Yeah, the – "

"Jack!"

"Wait, I'm named after someone from a movie? Sweet! What movie?"

"It's the – "

"Jack you better not, I swear I won't bake anything for a month."

Jazz had unbuckled now and was hanging over the back of Jack's chair, poking at her dad's pudgy neck. "Why doesn't Mom want you to say which movie?"

"She never liked that movie," Jack admitted with a shrug.

"That is not why," Maddie huffed, gathering up her purse as crossly as humanly possible.

Danny was already there on the outside, pulling her door open for her. "So why?"

"Yeah, how come?"

"Just tell us!"

Maddie crossed her arms, sending a seething glare across at her husband, who was struggling to remove his own seatbelt with Jazz still hanging all over him, her orange hair getting all up in his eyes.

"What possible reason could you have to not…" Jazz's eyes suddenly widened, and her grip on Jack's shoulder's tightened. "Dad! You did not."

Jack frowned at his daughter. "Didn't what?"

"Tell me you didn't name Danny after someone from some ghost movie."

"The Shining isn't just some ghost movie – "

"Oh my god, Dad!"

"See Jack, I told you."

"Is it a good movie at least?" Danny asked, resigned as he finally let his mother pass him.

"Only the best!" Jack assured him. "It's about a man named Jack with a – " Jazz slammed her car door, leaving Jack alone in the vehicle. Jack looked after her in mild surprise. That wasn't really like her at all. He forgot to finish his sentence when he saw her heated glare as she grabbed Danny by the hand on the other side of the car, and pulled him away toward the house.

He followed his family inside, but by the time he got in nobody was in the front room anymore. He sighed and stretched, and rubbed the warm back of his neck. The older his kids got, the harder it was to understand them. Why was Jazz so upset? It was such a silly thing.

The basement door hadn't quite closed all the way behind her, so he could tell Maddie had already gone back to the lab. No doubt when he joined her she would launch into a full explanation of exactly what Jack had done wrong. She always seemed to know. If only Jack knew, he could stop whatever it was before it left his big dumb mouth.

Jazz and Danny were both in the kitchen, going through their backpacks on the dining table. When Jack came in Jazz's smile was replaced by a scowl. She looked pointedly at Danny and told him, "When you're done eating you can come do your homework in my room, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, and shrugged her off with a slight giggle when she tried to ruffle his hair. "Stoppit!"

Jazz brushed past Jack on her way out without even looking at him. Boy oh boy, he really messed up this time.

"Uh.. Dad?"

Jack snapped to attention, looking away from the corner his daughter had disappeared behind back to his son sitting in the kitchen.

"It's okay, Jazz is just mad about the movie thing. She doesn't like that you named me after someone from a ghost movie. She'll get over it though."

Why would she be so mad over a thing like that? Jazz never did really like ghost stories.. But it's not like he named her after a character in a ghost story. The thoughts dissipated as Danny shook the box of Cheez-its at him, like he was some kind of dog. That didn't stop him from accepting the offer and digging his hand into the box as he joined Danny at the table.

"So.. why did you name me after some movie?" Danny said after a few minutes silence while he sorted through first-day permission slips and notifications.

Jack paused mid-chew. "Well, it is my favorite movie. And not only that, but it's about a man named Jack and his son Danny."

"Do they fight ghosts, like you and mom?"

"Well no, but they see lots of ghosts."

"Ohh, spooky."

"And Danny's got a special talent."

"Like superpowers?"

"Ehh no, not really."

Danny sighed, puffing out his cheeks as he leaned on one hand. "Then what's the point even?"

A light bulb went off in Jack's head. "Hey.. you want to watch it?"

Danny looked up from his papers. "Right now?"

Jack looked through the doorway where he could see the lab door still nearly closed. "Well not right now… it would have to be after your mother went to sleep."

It was hilarious how quickly Danny jumped on board with that, his eyes lighting up like he'd been offered a sack of candy. "Why, is it really scary?"

"Pretty scary," Jack assured him.

"Like, with blood and guts and everything?"

"The whole shebang."

"Wait, does everyone die? I hate movies where everyone dies, Dad."

"No no, Danny wins out in the end."

"Danny beats the bad guy?" Danny asked, as if not daring to believe it was true.

It was funny, because in the movie Jack Torrence actually becomes the bad guy which Danny must overcome. The movie didn't stretch that far into reality – Jack Fenton wouldn't ever be a Jack Torrence. But he didn't want to give the whole movie away before Danny saw it.

"Yeah. Danny beats the bad guy. After everyone goes to bed I'll come get you. The code is three quick knocks, followed by two slow knocks got it?" He demonstrated on the table. Knockknockknock, knock, knock. "Don't open for anyone else. This is top secret! You can't even tell your sister!"

Danny cracked up laughing as his dad insisted on showing him the code again, and then made him practice it himself.

It became a strange tradition between Jack and his son. When his own first day of middle school came around and it was a spectacular failure, Jack showed up to his room around midnight, knock knock knocking. Danny was confused for a moment until he saw the DVD in Jack's hand, and then he smiled for the first time since getting home from school.

Maddie had always been closer to Danny than Jack was. Mads was always the one Danny turned to for advice. So it felt really nice to have something he could share with his son, even if it was small.

When Danny flunked a math test for the first time in freshman year they ordered midnight pepperoni pizza and ate through two whole larges while they watched it again, glued to the glowing screen in the empty living room.

They watched it so many times together Jack lost count.

One night towards the end of Danny's freshman year, he sent his distraught and exhausted wife to bed alone, opting to wait up by himself for his son. He'd missed his curfew for the fifth time this month, and it was only the twelfth of March.

He was all ready with his monologue on responsibility and family duty and so help me god if you worry your mother like that again I'll… But when his son finally walked in the door all his hot air evaporated like steam. He was limping very noticeably, and cradling one arm against his side. Was it bullies again? How many times did a father have to yell at the administration before something was done?

"I'm sorry, Dad." Danny didn't even look up as he spoke. "I really am, it's just that I lost track of time, and I – I – Look just ground me or whatever, I really don't care anymore."

Dismayed by his son's tone and dimeanor, Jack took him firmly by the shoulders. "I'll let you off the hook this time Danny."

That made him look up finally, with a little spark of hope in his eyes. The glowing screen behind Jack's back lit his son's face eerily. There were deep circles under his eyes, and a fresh cut on his chin. What crazy shenanigans was he getting up to anyway? Where did he go all the time? His son slipped farther and farther from him every day and he didn't have the slightest clue why, though Jazz sure had a lot to say on the subject.

He could actually hear Jazz's voice resonating in his head, with something she'd said only last week. Maybe if you and mom didn't spend so much time absorbed in your work, Danny wouldn't feel so alienated from you.

Jack had sort of thought it was more just Danny going through his rebellious teenager phase. Maybe.. maybe it was more than that. There was a haunted look in Danny's eyes that had never been there when he was younger. What happened to Jack's bubbly little dork, coming home from kindergarten with grasshoppers shoved in his pockets?

He finally released Danny's shoulders and crossed his arms. "Danny I know your mother and I have been really busy this year, since the ghostly activity has picked up in pace. I know we spend a lot of time on the job but it's only to keep you kids safe. I hope you know that."

A strange expression crossed Danny's face that Jack didn't understand. Did he hit the nail on the head? Was Jazz right about that being the root of the problem?

"And this is a one-time get out of jail free card, okay? And you have to tell your mother I ripped you a new one if she asks."

Danny rolled his eyes, finally smiling. "Yeah, yeah."

But as he made for the stairs, Jack called, "Hold up, you're not going to bed yet are you?"

Danny paused and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"I thought maybe we could watch a movie.. or something."

They'd watched it so many times together that they knew the scenes by heart. They knew the dialogue, and sometimes they would narrate it, or joke about the scenes, the characters, the plot, or wonder aloud about how many hours it took to clean that hallway after the elevator full of blood opened up, or how much bank the hotel they filmed at must be making in real life.

But this time, Danny was silent. Jack, thinking he'd succeeded in getting his son to feel better with this time-tried remedy, tried to joke about it like he was accustomed to. But Danny was unresponsive. He fidgeted in the puffy armchair, his hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly like he was in a rollercoaster car. And when Jack Torrence swung his axe through the bathroom door, Danny's breaths came short and quick. It emerged into full-blown hyperventilation as Danny Torrence ran into the hedge maze, pursued by his homicidal father.

"Danny?" Jack asked, pausing the movie as his son bolted upright from his chair. He repeated the question when Danny didn't answer, resting one hand tentatively on his shoulder. But Danny shoved it off violently, backing away so suddenly he tripped over his own backpack on the floor and had to catch himself against the wall.

He'd pressed his hands to Danny's shoulders for comfort so often since he was born, and never once had Danny done that. He frowned at his son in shock.

"I – I'm okay, I'm just tired is all. I should go to bed."

"Danny – "

"Night, Dad."

"Uh.. G'night, I guess." But his son was already so far up the stairs he doubted his answer was heard.

Jack watched the rest of The Shining alone, and for the first time since his very first viewing of the movie, it unsettled him. He couldn't sleep at all that night, or the next. He was plagued by the little Danny Torrence's determined face as he retraced his footprints in the snow, misleading his father in order to hide and save himself. He kept seeing his own son's face, the circles under his eyes. Kept hearing the way his breathing turned frantic. Kept feeling the way he instinctually shoved Jack's hand off.

That second night he watched his wife's chest rise and fall rhythmically in her sleep, and wished he could wake her so she could help him understand. Jack was a man of answers, but when he was lost it was always Maddie who shined the light. But Jack knew even Maddie couldn't shine the light on this one.