Chapter Twenty-Nine: Fighting for Freedom

Jack looked around, realizing that Daniel wasn't around. He'd spent much of the last hour or so playing with all the kids and keeping himself away from Sam's prying hands. He was so confused about her strange need to glom onto him even with trouble she was having with her relationship with Teal'c. She knew that Jack loved Daniel, everyone who'd ever been in their presence knew that but Sam seems to have conveniently forgotten than Jack had given up everything he knew about himself for the sake of the love he felt for the sarcastic, smarty pants archeologist. Her forgetfulness was incredibly frustrating.

He walked over to Teal'c since the last place he'd seen Daniel was with the Jaffa, "Hey T, have you seen my handsome hubby? Wasn't he just here a minute ago?"

Teal'c looked around, "He went to the arena building O'Neill."

"Will you watch the little ones for me?" Jack asked.

"I would be pleased to do so," Teal'c responded and Jack nodded with a smile. He turned towards the building and started walking only to be jerked back quickly and looked down to see Johnny holding him back, fingers digging into his skin.

"JJ, what's wrong?"

'You could die Papa, don't go.'

Jack was more surprised by Johnny speaking then the words he spoke, the young boy had a vision that morning and most of the time it was horrible things that he was forced to see with his gift. "Is your Daddy in trouble?" he asked as Jack leaned down and pressed his hand into Johnny's waist.

Johnny shrugged but Jack could see the truth in Johnny's chocolate colored gaze, he knew that look since he'd seen it in the mirror on more than one occasion when he didn't want others to know the truth about something, when he was forced to hide something for the good of others. He hugged his son for a second then caught Sam's gaze and motioned down towards Johnny before the walked back to the table and grabbing Daniel's sword which his husband had started carrying it around but he'd put it on the table earlier. Johnny was fighting against Sam's hold, making those grunting screams that he made when he was very unhappy with what was happening. Jack started running, towards the arena building and he could see some sort of fight going on. He panted with the struggle to run, he wasn't a young man anymore sadly and Daniel was fighting alone right now. He came up close enough to see Daniel fighting a warrior, not someone that Jack knew but he stumbled to a stop and just watched what was happening in front of him. Daniel was holding his own, the warrior seemed to be following the honorable rules of combat and wasn't using magic but who knew how long it was going to last. Daniel had his dagger and he was keeping the man at bay. Jack wanted to call out and warn Daniel, get the sword to his lover but he couldn't distract him without causing possible injury in the process.

He kept watching wishing he could step in and punch the warrior but then someone was spinning Jack around and he was taking a punch to the face. The pain rocketed through his cheekbone and into the corner of his eye, sparking behind his vision. He recovered quickly, using the handle of the sword and striking the warrior across the temple and forcing him away. Jack only had a moment to realize it was Trygg, the guy that has been bothering Daniel for far too long.

"Here you are again Jack, protecting him from all takers. Maybe when I take you, kill you then he will realize that I can do so much more for him."

The other fight had stalled for a moment when Trygg started talking and Daniel panted a little, "Jack no, you need to get out of here!"

Jack frowned but said nothing, he didn't understand why Daniel was trying to get rid of him but that wasn't going to happen. He kept his eye on Trygg who was moving closer to Daniel and shifting the other warrior away from his target. Jack shifted his stance and tried to get between the two men but Trygg just leered at him. "I challenge Daniel to a fight, if I win then I get to put my hands all over him any way I want in the name of the Fighter's Code."

Jack wanted to growl at the thought of this upstart sonofabitch putting his hands on Daniel but didn't say anything else. This is what Daniel had been training for all this time, it was up to him even though Jack was desperate to protect his beautiful Danny.

"If I win, if I don't kill you then you leave here and never come back," Daniel hissed back and there was such rage in his words that Jack knew that it was more than Trygg's behavior, this was about Henry too.

Trygg didn't seem to be bothered by Daniel's declaration and Jack slammed his fist into the other warrior's chest and sneered, "Stay out of it, this is an official challenge and you don't get to interfere."

"Neither do you," Trygg said.

Jack glared at the younger man then reached out to grip Daniel's hand and pulled him away from the other two men. He wrapped the belt around Daniel's waist and latched it securely and then Daniel was grabbing Jack's hands, "You need to get away from these guys Jack, I can't have something happen to you."

Jack pressed his hands into Daniel's cheek, "I'm not leaving you alone, what's gotten into you and your son today?"

A tear slipped down off the edge of Daniel's lash but he quickly wiped it away, "Johnny saw something and I need it to not come true. I need you far from this danger today."

"You can forget it Daniel, I am going to stand here and watch you kick this guys ass."

Daniel groaned then turned back to Trygg and pointed at the other man, "Stay out of this, stay away from Jack and don't you dare touch me!"

The other warrior nodded and took several steps away from Jack, Daniel and Trygg. Jack kept a wary eye on him but watched as Daniel took a step towards Trygg and then as if no time had passed, the battle started. Daniel and Trygg started with hand-to-hand and it completely took Jack's attention and there was no way he could keep an eye on everything. He hoped someone realized that they needed some help here, two against two may be even but then again these guys were dangerously dishonest and capable of awful things. The hand to hand morphed into something with blades and dogged determination to bleed each other. Daniel's face showed only cold determination to beat this guy, to prove to himself that someone wasn't going to touch him if Daniel didn't agree to it. Jack kept watching and silently cheered when Daniel nicked at Trygg's skin over and over. He was incredibly good with the sword, not that Jack was surprised but then again he didn't know if Trygg was giving it his all. Since Jack had never trained him, the General didn't know truly what Daniel was working against. Then he watched Trygg's face and he could see the exhaustion seeping into his features and Jack smiled. This was close; there was no way Daniel, who'd been training with the powerhouse Teal'c and the magical wizard Adrian, to lose. He watched as Daniel came in close, switched around his blade and used it to thrust the handle into the bridge of Trygg's nose and the warrior stumbled back and he fell to the ground. There was a fountain of blood pouring from around his hand as he stumbled backwards as Daniel chased after him, Daniel didn't kick the man that just went to show that Jack's husband was the better man. He'd been watching the end to the battle so closely that he missed when the other warrior rushed him, with a blade pointed straight towards Jack's gut and the older man shifted and he felt the blade slip through the gap between his thigh and arm then strike something soft behind him. Jack reached up and punched the warrior and he dropped to the ground, unconscious then he turned and looked down to see Johnny with that blade sticking out of his lower chest. Jack shouted and grabbed Johnny as he fell and heard a shout from behind him and then Daniel was standing next to him. Jack reached around, finding the tip of the sword poking out from the back and he shouted again, "NO! No! This can't be happening right now!"

"No, JJ, baby why would you come here?" Daniel whispered as he pressed his hand over the wound and Jack looked around to see Trygg and the other warrior still on the ground. He lifted Johnny from the ground and Daniel moved with him, replacing his sword in the sheath and they moved back towards the party since Erica and her husband, Alec, was both there. Daniel started screaming for help the instant they were close enough and they got instant attention. Jack couldn't seem to take in enough air, couldn't handle all the blood seeping from the edges of the wound and how white Johnny's little face was already. He could feel the blade twist in his heart, the deathly reminder of what its like to lose a son and here they were again. He was freezing up, couldn't seem to move now that he'd stopped. Daniel had tears streaming down his face and he was struggling to breath through the pain at seeing Johnny hurt.

"Jack! Daniel! What happened?" Erica shouted as she came over and saw Johnny, "Oh dear Zara, we must see to him immediately."

The healer tried to remove the little boy from Jack's arms but he wouldn't allow it, Jack cursed at the woman who was responsible for saving Jack's life not that long ago. He couldn't seem to let go of his little boy, the tears clouding his view of Johnny in his arms. Erica reached out and touched Jack's cheek, having wedged herself next to Daniel at Johnny's lax shoulder. "Jack you trust me with him and I will get him back to you as soon as possible but you need to trust me."

"I can't let him go," Jack shuddered hoarsely.

Erica nodded and heaved a sigh, "Then I need you to hold him very still, I have to pull out the blade and heal the inside damage. I do not know how much I can heal but I need to do this now."

Jack nodded but didn't take his eyes off the subtle rise and fall of Johnny's chest but it was becoming erratic.

"Daniel, move around to Johnny's head and hold him still as you can, Alec get your ass over here!"

Erica's husband rushed over and immediately placed a hand around the hilt of the sword and pulled without any sort of warning, the slipping sound of blade through body making both parents flinch horribly as Johnny's body arched from the force of the removal. Erica started healing immediately and Jack was left praying this wouldn't be another Charlie.