Summary: Jack has a nightmare.

Timeframe: Pre-Changes.

Characters/Pairing: Jack, Cassie, Daniel, Janet

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Fluff

Rating:PG

Started: April-2-2010 Finished: May-2-2010

Nightmares and Oz

A loud yell disrupted the peaceful, silent night, jerking Cassie out of a dreamless sleep. Now wide awake, sitting up and peering wildly about her room in the dark, she listened to the sound of someone walking down the hall and entering the room next to hers. Jack's room when he stayed with them. The person who had gone to him was either her mother or Daniel—maybe both.

The incoherent yelling had stopped, and Cassie could now hear the muffled, low voice of someone talking. The tone was too soft for it to be Daniel; it had to have been her mother.

She was disturbed by the panicked, whimpering sounds that bled through the wall, and wondered if perhaps her mother needed help calming him down.

Decision made, Cassie crawled out of bed and quietly slipped out of her room, her bare feet padding softly on the carpeted floor. She stood at the open door to the spare room, the nightlight faintly illuminating the two figures on the bed.

Her mother was perched on the edge of the bed with Jack huddled against her petite frame. Janet's arms were around him, holding his head against her chest and rocking back and forth soothingly, as though he were a child.

"Mom?" Cassie asked unsurely from the doorway.

Janet turned to her, smiling tightly with reassurance. "It's okay, Cassandra; he just had a nightmare. He'll be alright."

Her brows furrowed slightly. Someone was missing. "Where's Daniel?"

"He's still off-world, honey." Janet told her, calmly.

Jack continued breathing heavy and whimpering, and Cassie could see that he was shaking in her mother's arms. She took a step into the room. "Can I help?"

"I've got this, Cassie. You should go back to bed, you have school in the morning."

Nodding, Cassie reluctantly turned and left, slowly going back to her own room. She wished she could help Jack in some way, even though she knew her mom would take care of him.

Crawling back in bed, Cassie laid down and stared up at the ceiling, clutching a raggedy old teddy bear under her arm. She listened for a while until she heard her mother go back to her own room, and assumed that Jack was okay now and had gone back to sleep.

Cassie laid awake for another hour, still thinking about Jack. She didn't hear anything from his room, but decided to get up and check on him anyway. Maybe when she saw for herself that he was alright, she would be able to get some sleep.

Cassie quietly crept into the spare room and found him curled up tightly in a protective ball, his eyes wide open and staring at the wall. She approached cautiously, not wanting to startle him. Reaching the night table, Cassie turned off the baby monitor so they wouldn't wake her mom again.

"Jack?" She tilted her head, peering at him, and smiling when his eyes met hers. His dark brown irises were black in the lack of light. Cassie crouched down beside the bed, stretching out an arm to lightly pat Jack's shoulder. "Can't go back to sleep, huh?"

He started trembling, and clenched his eyes shut, making a low, whimpering noise.

Cassie's chest felt tight seeing him like that. She turned away for a moment, then let out a breath and stood, moving slowly toward the door and beckoning him to come with her. "I have an idea, come on," she said softly.

Jack's eyes opened again, and he cocked his head slightly. Rubbing at his head, he started to sit up and slide out of bed to follow.

Taking Jack's hand, Cassie guided him out of the room, down the stairs, and into the den. She got him to sit down on the couch, then turned the TV on, making sure the volume was low before she went to search the book shelf for a particular VHS tape.

Without turning on a light, Cassie squinted at the movie selection, using the glow from the television to see. She smiled with satisfaction when she found what she was looking for. The Wizard of Oz.

After sticking the tape in the VCR and hitting the 'play' button, Cassie grabbed a few blankets, then joined Jack on the couch and covered them up. With her legs curled up under her, she leaned against one side of the couch and got comfortable.

When the movie had started, Cassie glanced at Jack and saw that he seemed to have relaxed. He was slumped low in his seat, with his feet up on the coffee table, staring fixedly at the images on the television screen.

Barely twenty minutes into the movie, Cassie could hear Jack snoring softly. She sat up to look at him, finding his head tossed back against the cushions, obviously deeply asleep. She smiled, then went completely still when the sound of a key turning in the lock, and the front door opening broke through the soft musical number on the TV. Daniel was home.

Relieved that Jack didn't wake, Cassie twisted around on the couch when Daniel walked through the door, his attention immediately swinging toward the focus of light in the living room.

"Cassie?"

She quickly raised a finger to her lips in the universal shushing motion, and gestured toward Jack.

"Ah." Nodding with understanding, Daniel came over to stand by the couch. He cracked a half smile as he looked between her and Jack and then appeared to realize what they were watching on the TV. "The Wizard of Oz?" he whispered quizzically.

"Yeah." Cassie smiled briefly, shifting to get comfortable on the couch again and pulling her blanket up around her shoulders. "Jack had a nightmare before," she began to explain. "Mom stayed with him 'till he got back to sleep, then when I couldn't sleep I got up to check on him and he was awake again. I thought this might help."

"Yeah, but—" Daniel waved at the TV. "The Wizard of Oz?"

Shrugging, Cassie just smiled and said, "It calms him down."

Snorting softly, Daniel smiled and shook his head. "Somehow that just seems so…so—Jack."

Cassie smiled even wider. She looked at Jack. He seemed so peaceful sleeping there next to her on the couch—so much like the old Jack, before his accident. Remembering him as he was before brought tears to her eyes, and she quickly clenched them shut, willing herself not to let them fall.

When Daniel waved Cassie to her feet, she got up slowly, giving him a curious look. "You gonna wake him up?"

"No, I'll let him stay here. I'm just going to lay him down so he's more comfortable."

Cassie nodded, then got out of the way as Daniel gently swung Jack's legs from the coffee table to the couch. He then moved to take his friend's shoulders, guiding him to lie down.

Jack wiggled a little and made a snorting noise when Daniel moved him, but he didn't wake up.

"Cassie, why don't you go to bed? It's late." Daniel turned off the television, and the room was bathed in almost complete darkness, only the faint moonlight streaming in through the windows.

She adjusted Jack's blanket, then curled up on the armchair with her own and got comfortable. "Can I just stay here with Jack?"

Cassie caught Daniel's smile in the darkness. "Sure, Cass." He padded quietly toward the hall and whispered, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Daniel." She wound her arm around a pillow and snuggled deep into the overstuffed chair. Cassie felt more relaxed with Jack nearby, and liked to think that he was sleeping easier because she was with him. She would sleep easier now, and hoped that Jack would too.