More trouble for the boys coming from multiple sides, sorry.

Chapter Eleven: Rocking and Prodding

Jack held his daughter, finding great comfort in her wailing while it lasted though it seemed that getting an Awakened Magis to back down took a lot out of her. A few minutes after her brother was calm in Daniel's arms, Zada calmed as well and slipped right into a safe and normal sleep. Jack knew from the warnings after the babies had first been born that he really needed to put her down but he was also desperate for a few more minutes first.

Daniel was still sitting on the floor next to the bed, rocking Zale in his arms gently but the motion worried Jack deeply. It stemmed from watching men dealing with PTSD back home. Daniel had been through a lot since coming here to this time and world but for the most part they were happy here together but they had just gotten a large dose of reality, that death is a part of life no matter where or when you are and that would not leave any of them alone until one day they were all gone. Jack hoped it would be old age after another fifty years with Daniel but there was no such thing as a guarantee on life. Daniel now knew for sure that their babies were not exempt either.

Jack kissed Zada again on the head as she let out a deep breath and he gently placed her in the bassinet, then he reached down and brought Daniel to his feet and led his love over to Zale's bassinet and hoped Daniel would take the request to heart and put down their son. Daniel didn't and his rocking hadn't stopped.

"Danny, he needs some real rest. Can you put him down?" Jack whispered gently into Daniel's hair.

He shook his head vigorously, "I can't Jack, not yet. I heard him take a last breath. I can't let him go."

Jack nodded, kissing Daniel's temple before tugging on him till they were settled on the bed. Daniel was still rocking against the headboard and Jack frowned. His handsome Danny was definitely in the mental throes of PTSD. Jack tugged Daniel gently closer to the center of the bed and wrapped an arm around his shoulder and did the only thing he knew he could, he started rocking right along with him. He held Daniel as he rocked, as he cried and as he finally relinquished Zale to his bassinet only to climb right back into Jack's arms and fall into a fitful exhausted sleep.

Jack didn't sleep, still wound up from watching his children draw a final breath at barely two weeks old because of some stupid magical crap and all he could do was sit and watch them and Daniel as they slept. This place had made him remember all the times Jack couldn't do anything to save anyone, when Daniel and Sam were the ones in charge of fixing whatever was going wrong. He couldn't help but wonder what the heck he was even good for.

This world, he was a jarhead that didn't even understand how the world worked here. He was nothing more than muscle, someone to help with strategy in a war that had yet to see any real battle.

Jack pulled away from Daniel gently, despite the fact that the younger man whimpered at the loss. That was hard to ignore but he needed air and space to think about what this all meant for him. Yes he was married to Daniel and they had two children together but with the sudden onset of these Awakened Magis, how much claim did they really have on the twins. The spirits within made them more Vannas than human and what could he possibly do for them that would help them as they grow up?

Jack slipped on a sweater and his boots, leaned down one more time to kiss Daniel on the temple, "Where you going?" he mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"For a walk, I will be back soon."

Daniel nodded into the pillow even as he went back to sleep. Jack smiled a little, loving that man more and more with each waking minute. He slipped out of the room only to find out that it was still mid day, the stress of the babies had screwed up his inner clock. He ignored Sam and Teal'c who were giving him looks; he didn't want to deal with it right now so he kept on walking. Out the door and down the stairs to pull open the front door and slipped outside. He headed towards the training arena, since it was an area of the Valley he knew well enough to wander aimlessly around and not get lost in the process. Zarkina had warned them more than once not to wander around all over the island because there were going to be Vannas who don't understand why humans were in the Valley. He had yet to really be victimized for said reason but he wasn't keen on the idea of pushing the issue. The walk took several minutes and he used that time to look around at the life happening all over the Valley, people playing outside, mock duels going on by little boys and arguments rising in volume just before the making up ensues. The Vannas life was not so different from the one they left behind but it was the magic crap that made him feel so out of touch with reality. Before they decided to go through with the surrogacy the only reason it didn't make a difference was because their children were not supposed to have a lot of power, they would be human with a dash of magic, but now everything was different.

He arrived at the arena only to groan and start to turn around when he saw William and Steph working out with a few of the other protectors including the Greer brothers. Jack could not stand the King, they had similar personalities and it made them not very good friends or even acquaintances.

"Jack?" William called out.

He groaned and turned back around, "Yes Your Majesty?"

"Jack, why are you not with Daniel and the babies?" William asked, worry lacing his tone. Jack was surprised that the man cared enough to be worried.

"They are sleeping and I can do nothing to help them through this, there is nothing I can do in this place!"

William frowned at Jack's angry outburst. He walked closer to Jack and motioned away from the other men. They sat down on the first bleacher type bench and William waited for Jack to speak.

"Look, I know you don't care for me or my friends and family, why would you even talk to me? You are jealous of Daniel and your wife's relationship," Jack hissed, not understanding what this was. There was no reason for William to be kind to them, Jack and Daniel were under the care of his wife and he'd never even talked to Jack before unless he absolutely had to.

"Jack listen, you are right. I was jealous of Daniel, I didn't understand the connection she had with all of you but I do now. She loves him but she's in love with me as she always has been. I don't need to be jealous of that, now why are you here and not with your family?"

"I can't do this, here in this world I can do nothing for my family. I can do nothing to protect Danny or the twins from this magic crap, it has taken our children over and now what can we possibly give to them that some Vannas would be better for them?"

William sighed, leaning forward and clasping his hands together in contemplation. Jack waited for his response, wondering how much flak he was going to get from the King, the younger man did love to berate Jack any time he got the chance, this was not why he came down here. He mostly wanted to fight with someone, release some of the pent up tension that was tearing him apart inside.

"Jack, you and Daniel are the only ones capable of loving them and teaching them how to be good people, to be good magical people. You are the only ones capable of teaching them not to use magic when there is another way. Sometimes Vannas take their powers for granted, to take the easy way sometimes is so effortless but it doesn't have to be the only way. You and your team have brought that other way to us again. That is not nothing."

Jack wondered how the Queen and King always said the right thing, to make any of them feel better about their place here.

"Maybe it is because we care and listen to our subjects," Zarkina said as she walked up behind Jack and placed a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder. She moved to lean against William's side.

"I really wish you wouldn't sneak into my thoughts like that," Jack groused.

"I wouldn't except Zara loves your thoughts, she finds them interesting and humorous."

"Weird," Jack stated and looked around the arena so she wouldn't have to focus on either of the royal couple before him. It was like sitting naked in front of them, vulnerable to them because they could read his thoughts and they knew his insecurities. It all made him not feel like the hard-ass Colonel Jack O'Neill who was able to kill at the command of a superior officer and lead his team into and out of close calls with the best of leaders.

He was just a man, an unworthy man who couldn't be the husband and father Daniel and the twins needed him to be.

"Jack, go back to Daniel and see for yourself that those babies belong to the both of you. They have been given a destiny none of you were ready for but it does not take them away from you," Zarkina said.

Jack glared at her, "You would speak of wisdom and acceptance but you are a hypocrite! You demanded preparedness and strategy but you have no intention of ever ending this stalemate and guerilla warfare with the other side. Stop preaching until you practice some of your wisdom."

Zarkina frowned at him, "I did not know you felt this way, that what you do is so unnecessary."

Jack stood, backing away from the queen quickly who could see through all his anger and uncertainty. "Knock it off!"

"I cannot when you are so uncertain of your place here," Zarkina responded.

He moved away from the couple quickly, walking away even as they shouted for him to come back. He could not continue to allow these people to change his mind, to change who he was with their words.

Jack did not turn back towards the castle; he walked away from Daniel and the babies in anger. He didn't know how to go back to Daniel when he was so unsure of who he really was in this new place. How could he be the man Daniel fell in love with when he was much more a housewife than anything else. He seemed to be the one to raise the children while Daniel earned a living and taught others with his seemingly infinite wisdom.

As he continued to walk he found himself in unfamiliar territory and for once, he was pleased with the strangeness. There had to be a way for him to make himself useful in this world and while he is a protected child of the Queen then he will never find his place. He hoped Daniel would understand this need for a change even though they had spoken about Jack not being a part of battle soon after they were married.

He continued walking, sometimes quickly but sometimes at a more leisurely pace. All he knew was that hours later, he found himself drawn back towards the castle when he felt Daniel at the edge of his mind. Daniel was reaching through the bond they created on the day of their wedding, though they weren't magical it seemed to give them a link to which they could sense one another's surface emotions. Daniel was curious as to where Jack was and all he wanted to do was reassure his young husband.

Then he stopped again, "No! I need to find me, not become Mrs. Daniel Jackson," he growled.

He turned again and found himself surrounded by Vannas, some around the Queen's age and others who were younger, in their late teens and early twenties. "What are you looking at?"

"You must be one of the Queen's humans, what are you doing out of the protection of the castle?"

"Just walking, its free to walk correct?" Jack demanded.

"You are not a Vannas, you are an interloper whether the Queen trusts you or not. We take care of our own on this island and you are not one of them," another man hissed in response.

Jack leaned back on one leg and got ready to defend himself. He didn't have to wait long for the attack. One then the next and more and more until he was collapsing to the ground and that did not stop the attack. He could feel kicks to his back and sides, one got him across the temple and the pain became overwhelming instead of localized. His vision whited behind his lids and he heard someone scream for them to stop. Jack felt the kicks recede and he let himself fall into unconsciousness, hoping that he would be alive long enough to apologize to Daniel who didn't deserve the trouble Jack was always causing him.

"Danny," he husked under his breath, never knowing why the kicks stopped.