By Laura
See header from part 1. You're all great, thank you all so much for your great reviews!
As
Daniel slowly came back from the deep sleep he'd fallen into,
he
realized he was being held in a strong, warm embrace. He could
smell
the faint scent of aftershave and beer, and he felt safe and
loved in
a way he hadn't felt since his parents' deaths. He
snuggled closer,
relishing in the feeling.
But the moment
was cut short as the memory of what led him to his
current
position suddenly came back to him. He felt his face heat
with
embarrassment. He'd been bawling like a baby and had only calmed
down
when Jack had taken him into his arms, and apparently, he'd
fallen
asleep in his arms, too. That only made him feel more
embarrassed.
He took a tentative look up at Jack, and
thankfully, he was still fast
asleep. He carefully untangled
himself from the Colonel's arms without
waking him, draped the
blankets around him and tiptoed out of the room.
Once he was
outside, he looked down at himself and realized he really
needed a
change of clothes as he'd obviously slept in them. He sighed
and
peeked inside the partly closed door. Careful not to disturb
the
snoring Colonel, he crept inside and took a pair of sweats and
a
T-shirt from the wardrobe. He was about to leave the room when
he
remembered to get a pair of socks and underwear as
well.
Struggling to hold onto the pile of clothes one-handed
as he opened
the door, Daniel made it successfully out into the
hall. He decided he
would take a quick shower and then make some
breakfast. Correction. He
would take a bath and then prepare some
breakfast. Jack didn't much
like the idea of him taking showers,
much less after a concussion.
Something to do with him sliding
down and cracking his head open or
something. And even though he
didn't feel dizzy anymore and his
headache was completely gone
now, he decided he would play along and
take a bath
instead.
Whatever, it wasn't such a big deal, as far as he was
concerned,
anyway. And he could even have a bubble bath. That
would be fun! He
would never admit that to Jack, though. Not in a
million years. No way!
He also didn't want to piss Jack off
anymore than he already was. He
probably would get it today as
soon as he woke up. No need to add more
fuel to the already
flickering fire.
He set his clothes down on the closed toilet
seat, got the water
running at the right temperature and started
to undress himself. He
kicked off his shoes without even bothering
to untie them, that way he
wouldn't have to fumble with the damn
laces later. He was in a real
bad need of some new laceless shoes.
That would certainly make his
life much easier. But he didn't know
how to bring up the subject
without Jack thinking he was a baby or
something. It was bad enough
he'd been cradling him like one all
night. Daniel scrunched up his
face as he stepped into the bathtub
and sank into the warm soapy water.
When Jack woke
up, he noticed there was something amiss. He jerked
awake and
looked about the room wildly. The door was slightly ajar and
a
blanket was carefully tucked around him.
The warm sunlight
seeping into the room from the window helped clear
his fogged,
sleep-clouded mind. Daniel! Where was Daniel? He swiftly
threw the
covers off and onto the floor, got quickly to his feet and
flew
out the door and into the hall.
"Daniel!" he called
loudly. But there was no response. He was about to
call his name
again when he heard quiet tinkering from the kitchen.
He
cautiously went down the stairs and peered around the door.
He
heaved a huge sigh of relief and stepped into the room. "Daniel,
what
are you doing up so early?"
Danny looked up and smiled up
at him. "Morning, Jack. I just woke up
and thought I'd make
us some breakfast. And don't worry. I didn't even
touch the stove,
it's only cereal. Here."Daniel pushed the bowl
toward Jack
and climbed onto a chair, taking a huge spoonful before
continuing.
"Besides, it's not that early."
"Well,
considering it's Saturday and we don't have to go to the
mountain
today, I thought you'd like to sleep in a little, maybe give
your
jolted brain cells some time to get back into gear," Jack took
a
seat across from Daniel.
Daniel just rolled his eyes at him,
took another mouthful of cereal
and said, in between chews, "I'm
fine, Jack. Honest. My head doesn't
even hurt anymore." A
chunk of cereal flew out of his mouth and landed
on Jack's
nose.
Daniel didn't even notice and just kept on talking and
chewing all at
the same time. Jack reached a hand up to his face,
and wiped the
offending particle off before taking a mouthful of
his own cereal, at
a much more sedate pace.
He watched,
fascinated, as Daniel blabbered away in between bites.
Quite
disgusting, by the way. Another thing that had changed with
his
downsizing. His eating habits. And if anything, they were
getting worse.
"In fact, I think we could even drive up
to the mountain and get some
of my books so I can finish those
translations I was working on
yesterday. I really don't want to
fall behind in my work just because
of a stupid bump on the head,"
Daniel said, hardly taking a breath
"You know, Daniel,"
Jack interrupted the little chatterbox. "As much
as I
appreciate the thought, there's really no need for me to know
what
your breakfast looks like before it reaches your stomach."
Daniel
finished swallowing his food and hung his head. "Oops,
sorry,"
he apologized in a quiet, remorseful tone, then
grabbed the bowl in
both hands and downed the rest of the milk in
one big gulp, some of
the liquid trailing down the sides of his
mouth.
Jack frowned and shook his head, turning his attention
to his own
breakfast and away from the revolting display.
Daniel
dumped his bowl onto the table and took a deep breath to fill
his
starving lungs. Then he run his tongue around his still
dripping
mouth, missing the white milk mustache adorning his upper
lip. Jack
hid a smile behind his napkin. This was definitely a
Kodak moment.
"Uh… Danny?"
"Yeah?"
"You
missed a spot there." Jack pointed to his own face. And
before
Jack could say anything else, Daniel was wiping his face
with his
forearm. "Better?" Daniel asked, holding up his
head for inspection.
"Yah… you got it." Jack stood
up and carried the bowls to the sink,
rinsing them under the tap.
"About those translations," Jack could
feel Daniel's
puppy dog eyes staring at his back expectantly, so he
went on
talking while putting the bowls away, knowing those big,
pleading
blue eyes could sometimes melt his resolve. "You heard
what
Janet said. No work for at least two days. That includes
today and
tomorrow." Then he turned around to see the
dejected look on Danny's face.
"Hey, c'mon. Cheer up. There are more fun things we can do."
Danny pouted and
shot back, "I don't want to do anything else. I have
work to
do."
"Look, Danny. It's doctor's orders. Even I
can't go against them."
Jack tried to cheer him up. "C'mon,
we'll have fun. You could kick my
butt at chess, or maybe a game
of Gin. We could even watch one of
those boring documentaries that
you love so much."
Daniel sighed and hopped off the
chair. "Okay, maybe a game of chess,
I guess."
"That's the spirit!" Jack encouraged, "but…"
"But what?" Daniel looked up at Jack suspiciously.
"There's
something we still need to discuss first," Jack pointed
out
meaningfully.
Daniel swallowed hard and fixed his gaze down at the floor."I suppose."
Jack draped his arm
around the slim, little shoulders and guided him
out to the living
room. They sat down side by side on the couch.
"You
realize what you did the other day was careless and dangerous,
don't
you?" Jack asked gently.
Danny started breathing heavily
through the mouth, apparently
struggling to hold back tears. "I-I
know. I just, I'm just fed up of
having to depend on everyone else
to do stupid things like, like
buttoning up my shirt, or tying my
shoes. It's embarrassing," he
finished quietly.
Jack
sighed. "I know, Danny. And I understand it must be
very
frustrating for you, believe me, I do. But we can work this
out
together, trust me."
"How?" Danny looked up at Jack uncertainly.
"Well, for starters, we could go
shopping, get you some more
cooperative clothes. How's that?"
"I guess," Danny answered, considering the offer.
"We
could even do a little remodeling to your office, make
your
bookshelves a little more accessible to your current height."
Daniel
looked up at that, decidedly interested and visibly elated
at the
prospect. Jack felt like whooping and hollering in joy at
the one
small victory, it made him feel like a million bucks
seeing the hope
in the little round face, and it lifted some of
the burden weighing
down on his shoulders. But he still had a
point to make.
"Still, that doesn't excuse you willfully
and outright disobeying me
to get what you wanted." He saw
Danny stiffen at his words, but he
carried on. "How can I
trust you off world if you won't even listen to
me at the
SGC?"
Jack could see tiny tears sliding down Danny's
cheeks, even though
he tried to hide them, and he asked softly,
"What did I tell you
before I dropped you off at your office
the other day, Danny?"
Danny hung his head even lower.
"That… that if I disobeyed you again.
I wouldn't be going
off world next week to P3X-736."
"That's right."
Jack paused, looking at the dejected little figure.
"But this
was probably as much my fault as yours, I should have been
more
thoughtful about your current needs and should've insisted on
the
remodeling weeks ago. So, I'm gonna let you go with only a
warning
this time, and you'd better show me I can trust you over
the next few
days or you will be grounded, Daniel." He didn't
like giving Daniel an
ultimatum but he needed to get through to
the boy. He didn't want the
kid getting hurt or possibly even
killed just because he was incapable
of following orders.
Daniel
didn't seem to mind the reprimand, though. His face lit up, his
eyes
dancing with joy, a beaming smile on his face, "So that means
I'm
still going on the mission on Wednesday?"
Jack
waved a warning finger under his nose before replying, "If
you
show me I can trust you, yes, you will."
Daniel
shot up onto the couch and threw his arms around Jack's
neck,
smashing his body against Jack's and rocking him slightly
off balance
in the process. "Ohh… Thank you, Jack!! I'll
be good, I promise!"
Jack laughed and hugged him back,
then got to his feet and hoisted the
boy on his hip. "How
about that game of chess now?"
Daniel eyed him
critically, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.
"Are you
sure we can't go to my office? Pick up some of my books…"
"Daniel!" Jack warned, glaring meaningfully at him.
"A game of
chess would be fine," Daniel amended quickly, an innocent
smile
on his face.
Jack glared at him and set him down on the floor.
"Let's go, you
little scoundrel." That got a little
giggle from the kid; it was a
beautiful sound, Jack decided. One
he wanted to hear more often. "Then
later today, we can go
get those new clothes that will make both our
lives that much
happier."