Part Five-
The shrill ring of the phone woke him with a start. Fumbling for the receiver only resulted in it being knocked from the base and falling to the floor.
"Crap." Jack cursed as he leaned over the side of the bed. In the dim moonlight from the bedroom window he saw the phone nestled in the middle of his earlier discarded, crumpled T-shirt. "Yeah," he barked into the retrieved phone.
"Colonel," Sam Carter's voice quickly replied. "Are you awake?"
"No, Carter." O'Neill grumbled. "I sleep talk. What is it?"
"You need to bring Danny down now."
Glancing at the digital clock he sighed. "It's 3AM, Carter. What's going on?"
"We were able to convince the monk to come back with us." The major explained. "Sir, he's here and he's lucid. It's been hard for him to hang on to dual personalities, but he's found a way. He's ready to try the transfer back."
Like an ice cold splash of water in his face Jack bolted up to a sitting position. He was surprised at the wave of disappointment that came over him. After all, this was Daniel they were talking about. It was all about getting Daniel back.
Jack rubbed his face with his free hand and then ran it through is silver hair. Okay, so getting Daniel back meant losing Danny. Now that was something he should have been more than prepared to face.
"Okay." O'Neill's legs flopped over and planted his bare feet onto the floor. "I'll wake the Tasmanian devil up and we'll be there pronto."
"He's a handful isn't he, sir?" Carter voice had an endearing tone.
"Carter," Jack replied. "You know what a bundle of energy Daniel was in the beginning? Put that into a ten year old child."
"I get it, sir. Just hurry."
The colonel replaced the phone then rose and headed toward the door. He stopped and then decided he had better get ready first then go and wake up Danny. If the kid were anything like the adult it would take time they didn't really have to let Danny get moving and dressed on his own.
"Damn." Jack cursed out loud. To hell with shaving Daniel's face. The first time he had done that, Danny thought it was just a fun game Jack was playing with him. The guy actually did not see his adult self in the mirror. So, he wouldn't think twice about going out without shaving. Low maintenance at least in one area. With a weary sigh Jack proceeded to the bathroom.
"Ja-ack!"
Instinctively Jack switched direction and bolted out the bedroom door and into the hall. He charged into Danny's room and stopped short at the site. Shielding his eyes from the bright light he forced himself to focus his eyes. Where the hell was he?
In the corner huddled on the floor and hugging his knees was Danny. Clad only in pajama bottoms the terrified form shivered and squinted up at the light.
"Get away from him!" Jack ordered as he crouched down and enveloped his friend in a protective hug. "It's okay, Danny. I'm here."
"She talks funny, Ja-ack." Danny managed to say before his body jerked upward as he gasped loudly.
"Now look what you've done." Jack snapped as the light began to dim and Oma Desala's human form emerged. "You gave him the hiccups."
Jack began to rub Danny's back gently as the "child" scooted closer into the embrace. Oma backed away slowly but kept her eyes on Jack.
"What?" Jack barked when he noticed the attention. "Why don't you just leave him alone? We don't need you. Danny's safe."
"Physical safety cannot take the place of comfort to the soul." Oma replied.
"Aw, come on." Jack shook his head. "As usual we don't have time for riddles. We're getting out of here and I'll do whatever I have to in order to protect Danny."
"Protecting him now will not erase the past." Oma insisted.
"What?" Jack asked in annoyance.
"Two separate souls with similar losses." Oma explained.
"See," Danny looked up at Jack. "Told you she talks funny," he reaffirmed with a hiccup punctuating his statement.
Jack O'Neill was no idiot. He did play up the fact that he was totally in the dark about science and technology. But he had learned a lot in the seven years since he had first stepped through the Stargate. Some of it being more than he cared to know about dealing with aliens and diplomacy. With that knowledge came the unnerving ability to catch on to beings like Oma Desala.
"What does any of this have to do with Char---" Jack stopped himself. He really did not want to go into this now. Oma was obviously comparing his loss of his child and Danny's loss of his parents.
"Paths crossed and the journey toward inner peace became one. Yet the two dismiss the truth." Desala continued.
"Look, Oma," Jack began. "I'm still pretty beat. It's the middle of the night and I have to be somewhere. A pretty important somewhere. Could you please just cut to the chase?"
"Danny's childhood is sealed." Oma answered. "It cannot be changed. The child of long ago became the man you know today because of the events experienced."
Jack looked down at Danny and saw two totally trusting blue eyes looking back at him. He brushed his hand through the short-cropped blond hair and received a contented smile from his friend.
"He deserves better." O'Neill softly proclaimed. "His life was taken away from him and he was just a little boy. It wasn't his fault."
"It was an accident." Oma reminded O'Neill. "A chain of events with many involved."
"Yeah," O'Neill agreed.
"Similar losses." Oma repeated.
"What are you getting at?" O'Neill asked.
"Replace Danny with Charlie and the words hold true still." Oma Desala replied.
"Oh, I know where the fault lay there." Jack answered as he rose and pulled Danny along with him.
"The young one made a decision." Oma said. "The result of his actions was not the intent, but a consequence."
"I never should've left it loaded!" O'Neill now raised his voice causing Danny to jump.
"A chain of events." Desala replied. "No one single fault results in an end."
"Look, I'm really not in the mood for this." The colonel was tired and no matter how much this ancient tried to convince him he was not at fault in Charlie's death he would never believe it. "We've got to go. Just finish up with the two dismissing the truth part."
"Loss, comfort, friendship, love." Oma Desala replied. "The shame is not in the want or need, but in the denial."
"Jack." Danny sighed as he tugged on the colonel's arm. "I'm sleepy."
"Not now, Danny." Jack hushed as he patted the hand on his arm. "We have to get dressed and go see Major Carter, Teal'c and lots of other people."
"Why?" Danny asked as he let out a big yawn.
"Look, Oma I don't know what you want." Jack rubbed his hand through his hair. "What's being denied here is getting Danny to the SGC. Can't you just spell out what fount of wisdom's you possess and let us get the hell out of here?"
"One lost his parents." Oma began. "One lost his son. The comfort in each other's presence is the foundation on which a relationship was built. Friendship flourishes in the walls of that relationship. Love that has no acknowledgment cannot scale the walls."
Jack looked at Danny and back at Oma Desala. So that's what this was about. It was the fact that he and Daniel never talk about their feelings for one another.
"We don't need to acknowledge, as you put it." Jack defended. "We know."
"Words can be a warm blanket to a soul that knows only the cold." Oma countered. "Even on his deathbed all you could manage to say was that you admired him."
Go for the jugular. A low blow. "He understood." Jack's jaw set and tightened vying for control. "It's who I am. I can't change that."
"It's who you want to be." Oma disagreed. "Protection for the heart in case of loss."
"I don't have to justify myself to you." Jack decided. "Danny go get dressed."
"Whose deathbed, Jack?" Danny asked.
"I said, go get dressed." The colonel ordered.
"But, Jack I want to know who she is and why she's here." Danny whined.
"I won't tell you again." Jack firmly said.
Danny glared back at Jack. So what was he going to do if Danny didn't go get dressed? Was he going to haul off and pop him? That would be consistent with some of the foster homes he had been in. But, not Jack.
"No!" Danny yelled. "Lady, you talk like I'm not here. Why?"
"You are not where you should be." Oma told him.
"Leave him alone." Jack warned.
"I don't belong anywhere, do I?" Danny asked her. "You're saying I only belonged with my parents. That now I'm just nothing to nobody! I know that, lady! You don't have to tell me! Jack just feels sorry for me. Or maybe it's just that he feels sorry for himself! Okay, so what? I'll take that! I don't need anyone to care about me! As long as he doesn't yell at me and hit me all the time…"
The seasoned Special Ops officer stared helplessly as the child inside the body of his best friend crumpled to the floor sobbing. Danny hadn't bought his concern and caring one bit. All he did was accept the fact that Jack wasn't Mr. Scott or who knows who else in his past that hurt him because he was an unusual child. No, not unusual, special.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jack directed at Desala. "This is helping how?" Kneeling down and placing and arm around Danny's shoulder, Jack leaned in and placed his lips against the other's forehead. "I care about you, Danny. No matter how much I say it, I know it's hard for you to believe. But it's true. I care what happens to you."
"Why?" Danny choked out.
"Because." Jack looked up at Oma, who now was returning to just a face amidst light tendrils. "Because I love you."
Danny turned and wrapped his arms around Jack's neck tightly. As his tearing eyes bulged from the enormous pressure Jack saw Oma Desala smile. She was definitely pleased with herself on this one.
"So, what?" Jack whispered to the ascended being. "Was this for me or for him?"
Oma Desala just gazed back at the two men.
"Yeah, okay." Jack nodded. "But he's a child."
As the light swirled around the room and exited up through the ceiling Jack knew this was not over. It was easier to say that to a little boy, but to a grown man?
"Come on, buddy." Jack patted Danny's back. "We have to get a move on."
End Part Five