Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed the drop in with Vala and Cam. I have no intention of doing much with them right now as this is always a Jack/Daniel story but they were hugely fun to play with. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter Three: Night Terrors

Daniel couldn't stop grinning as his watched Jack leave with Vala and Cam. He got ready for bed, slipping his glasses off and placing them on his bedside table before pressing himself under the blanket and sighing happily. It had been a long day of work and after spending the afternoon and evening with friends and fighting off the unwanted advances of Vala, he was glad to be alone. He knew Jack would be about another half an hour so he settled in to get some sleep.

Until he heard Johnny scream.

After five years since learning that Johnny couldn't speak and only hearing grunts and sounds of overwhelming fear it was still difficult to deal with that sound. Daniel hated that it was still one of the few noises he could make. He jumped out of his bed and stumbled out into the hall and dove into the other bedroom upstairs where Zale and Greer were both holding Johnny's hands, talking to him gently though Daniel was sure the little boy heard none of it over his screaming. Daniel ran to the bed and pressed a palm against Johnny's face, bringing those sad and scared brown eyes to focus on him as the scream quieted into scared little whimpers. This has been their system since the beginning, Jack and Daniel did not play favorites with the kids and so the kids did not have favorite parents but for some reason Daniel could always calm Johnny in these moments. Jack could do it as well but as soon as Daniel was remotely near Johnny he would immediately reach for his younger Daddy.

"Come on baby, let it go and come back to me." He whispered the words, continued to stroke his son's face as Zale rubbed his back on one side and Greer pressed his forehead to Johnny's temple opposite Daniel's hand. Daniel turned to look at Zale, "Can you go and let the girls know he's okay otherwise no one is getting any sleep tonight."

Zale nodded and ran from the room in his superhero pajamas.

Daniel returned his gaze to Johnny's eyes, which shimmered with unshed tears, "Talk to me baby, show me what's going on inside your head."

Johnny reached out with his free hand and gripped Daniel's hand. Johnny sent out a lash of fear, which didn't surprise Daniel, but the pictures in his head did. Johnny had only started to figure out how to share images with others, Zale had been the only one for a long time. He saw through his son's ability a long empty hallway and a door open to show someone on a table, with straps around their hands and feet. The body on the table struggled and released silent screams. Daniel gasped as he watched another person enter the room, grabbing tools and devices, digging them into the captured person in tests that appeared more like torture than science. He watched the unknown person shift and twitch in unwelcome pain and wanted to curse at the inability to see the person on the table.

Daniel heaved a deep breath and paid attention to what Johnny was trying to tell him. The frustrating part was that there were no faces but Johnny never saw things that didn't have something to do with his family. Akina had always assumed his power of premonition would branch out from family after he grew into his ability for a while. Daniel understood Johnny's need to scream as the vision went dark and he shook off the pain that always seemed to transfer with the visions if Johnny was able to share them at all. Then he tugged Johnny into his lap, dislodging Greer who climbed up close to continue rubbing a gentle hand across Johnny's back while the little boy cried, pressing his face into Daniel's neck.

"Is he going to feel better?" Greer whispered.

"Of course Greer, he saw something scary. We'll try to make sure it doesn't come true," Daniel responded quietly as he pressed his hand gently into Greer's neck in comfort before he shifted his focus back to Johnny and whispered. "You want to come sleep with me for a while?"

Johnny nodded and Daniel sent Greer back to bed with a hug and a kiss on the head before he lifted Johnny and they walked back to his bedroom, passing Zale on the way. Daniel fumbled to put Johnny on one hip so he could rub his fingers through Zale's hair before he found himself back in bed, wrapping arms around Johnny's small form. He was so little and frail, sometimes Daniel didn't know how his youngest got out of bed and survived the day with strangers assuming he was dumb and having terrifying visions he couldn't control, then there was his new and trying ability to communicate with them through telepathy even though it cost him so much to do so.

He heard the front door open and close and sighed, rubbing gentle fingers through Johnny's hair. He listened as Johnny's breathing evened out and a minute later Jack walked into the bedroom and Daniel motioned to Johnny. Jack sighed before he pulled off his shoes and socks and without changing or doing anything else to get ready for bed, Jack climbed into bed and wrapped his arm around Johnny and Daniel. He watched as the tough-as-nails Colonel walked out and Papa Jack moved in and kissed Johnny gently on the head. He locked eyes on Daniel and the younger man gave a tremulous smile.

Jack slipped his fingers through Daniel's hair to grip the back of his neck for a moment and Daniel nodded at the look of love in Jack's eyes and they closed ranks around their little boy and slipped into sleep, one pass of comforting fingers and palm at a time.

Before Daniel knew anything had passed, he found himself being awakened with lips and hands slipping across his face and neck. He came awake, thinking about Johnny only to hear Jack whisper the words into the skin of his cheek, "Johnny is with his siblings."

"How is he?" Daniel husked, even as Jack continued caressing Daniel's throat just above his collarbone with his tongue and mouth and Jack's hands wandered at the edge of his shirt.

"He bounced back like he always does. Can you tell me what happened?" Jack whispered and settled next to Daniel, tugging him to lay down on Jack's chest.

Daniel heaved a sigh, "He saw someone being tortured, it woke him from sleep and it took Zale, Greer and I to calm him down. He doesn't have them very often anymore but it seems that the content is getting worse; he's six years old Jack and he already saw someone sexually assaulting me only to be the one to find it came true. Now he sees faceless people suffering at the hands of some enemy, and he knows as well as we do that most of his visions have to do with family."

Jack pressed a kiss to Daniel's temple and Daniel swiped his fingers under his eyes when the tears started to trickle from the corner of his eyes. "I wish we were still with Akina and the Vannas, they knew how to help him better than we can."

Jack pulled away and they both sat up in bed. He pressed a hand against Daniel's cheek and he looked into those dark brown eyes, which he saw in their son. "Danny, you did what you have always done. Johnny knows he's safe when he's in your arms and he was able to find a way to free himself after your attack, same way you did because you both have this spirit that makes you unstoppable. He might be my biological son but he's so much like you Danny. I know we're going to take care of him as always. Do you doubt it?"

Daniel smiled, sniffling as he shook his head.

"That's right!" Jack said with a hand pump in the air.

Daniel laughed and with a deep breath he tugged Jack close for a hug before he stood from the bed and headed for the shower. He listened as Jack opened drawers as he splashed water on his face and slipped his glasses back on before looking back at Jack in his wrinkled jeans and shirt, which he slept in. It was pretty amazing that at almost sixty Jack was still slim and fit thanks to the home gym Jack had in the garage. Daniel was thankful that not only Jack stayed physically fit but also he did not completely revert to a pie and froot loops diet of old. Jack noticed Daniel watching him and walked into the bathroom and proceeded to press against Daniel's back.

"You like what you see Doctor Jackson-O'Neill?" he whispered into Daniel's skin just behind his ear, shifting his hair gently and making Daniel squirm happily under his attention.

Daniel chuckled at the hyphenated name, they never used them except with each other every once in a while and their children carried it as well, "I always like what I see when I look at you." Jack pressed his lips to Daniel's in an innocent closed-mouth caress before he kissed Daniel on the forehead.

"I'm going to make sure the kids aren't eating cereal for breakfast cus its mine," Jack said with a wink and another kiss before he returned to the bedroom to change. Daniel pulled open the shower curtain and turned on the spigot for a quick shower. A long day and scary night made the hot water splashing down on his skin even more amazing and though Daniel really wanted to savor it, he wanted to be with the kids and Jack more. So after he dried himself briskly, he dressed for work and walked downstairs to find everyone eating breakfast. He took the plate that Jack offered him and started eating at the table. Jack took plates and cups as the children finished and started cleaning and Daniel chose to watch Jack again.

It was interesting to think of his life in two distinct categories, Before Jack and After Jack. When they first met on that first trip to Abydos they were both so desperate for a challenge and a way to not think about the world they were set to live in. Jack had been desperately trying to get himself killed after the death of Charlie and Daniel just knew the only way he could be happy was to live for his work and not form any bonds but it seemed like Jack had never allowed Daniel the satisfaction of hiding.

Then when they found themselves among the Vannas people and given a chance to be together they helped each other to find a life built on love and then later the love they shared with their children. Now being back in the world of the SGC and judgmental people it was interesting to think that in the grand scheme of things, Daniel's list of important things in life no longer began with work but his family. In the old world, Before Jack, Daniel would have never been in a position where his partner needed to tell him it was time to stop staring and head to the base for his work day.

Daniel couldn't help smiling in response to the reminder, pleased with the idea that he could get lost in such a pastime as watching Jack clean the dishes and talk to their children because if he'd had children with Sha're before when he was obsessed with making discoveries and proving theories then he would have missed out on so much and now that wasn't the case.

And Daniel was grateful for such a thing.