Seeing is Believing - a Jack/Daniel fic
Fic: Seeing is Believing
Title: Seeing is Believing
Author:
elder_bonnie
Summary: Daniel surprises Jack with a visit to DC. But something is wrong.
Word Count: Just over 5,500
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: No profit is being made from this - except maybe some nice comments :)
Written For:
quietbang
Prompt:
Requirement 1: Post-series, Daniel goes to DC after an injury
Requirement 2: Established relationship
Optional request: Hurt/Comfort
Restriction 1: No unhappy ending
Restriction 2: No wussy!Daniel
Notes:
This was written for the J/D Ficathon. I meant to have it done early enough for silver_autumn to beta, but that didn't go as planned xD So this isn't beta-ed, and any and all mistakes are mine! I thought there was a lot that could be done with this amazing prompt, but I never do as well with relationship-centered fic as I do with action-based stories. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic exercise, and I tried my best to make it enjoyable and what the prompter asked for! :) Please forgive the random turns it takes from time to time, specifically near the end…(Any constructive criticism on how to write a stronger relationship-centered fic in the comments would be very much appreciated!!! And thanks for reading.)
The phone began to ring for the third time.
Jack ignored it. He was in the middle of dribbling beer over the ribs he was grilling. There was enough meat to feed at least four people. Enough to last him the rest of the week. He was stationed on the back patio of a house that was backed up against a small wooded area, the most secluded place one could find in the D.C. region. There was movement out of the corner of his eye and Jacked glanced up in time to see a deer dart back into the trees the back of his house faced.
The phone quieted.
Jack brought the bottle of beer to his lips and took a long swig, scanning the trees contentedly. But the phone began to ring again.
"It's my week off, dammit." Jack set the bottle down and turned to shove the glass sliding door out of the way so he could reach for the phone that sat on the end table just inside.
"What?"
"Jack O'Neill?"
He was almost thrown off by the civilian address. "Speaking."
"This is Amy Simmons. I'm a friend of Daniel Jackson's."
There was a slight pause and uplift in her voice, as if she wasn't sure how to proceed.
"Okay..." Jack offered, ribs entirely forgotten.
"I live here in the DC area and, uh. Well, I've got Daniel with me and he was wondering if you could come by and see him. He's visiting and wanted to see you before he-"
"Daniel didn't tell me he was coming to DC," Jack accused. "He would have told me if he was coming to DC."
"I know. I know. But. Well. An issue came up and this entire trip of his has been pretty low-key."
"What kind of issue?"
"You really should come and talk with him, he needs to see you."
"Look, Amy? Was it? Why don't you just put him on the phone? I'd love to talk to the guy, but I'm a little confused-"
"I live at 277 Connecticut Court in Arlinton Suburbs!" And then there was a loud, clumsy clatter that made Jack pull the phone away from his ear before it was accosted by a dial tone. He lowered the receiver slightly and stared at it, brows furrowed. His eyes unfocused for a few seconds, and then he was searching for pad and paper.
--&--&--&--
Jack didn't find himself really thinking about what he was doing until he was standing on Amy Simmons’ stoop, hand posed to ring the doorbell. His finger pressed the door-side button and immediately burrowed itself back into his jacket pocket. He took a moment to turn and survey the neighborhood a bit more thoroughly than the drive up had allowed him; ever since entering the truck, Jack had been riddled with an anxiety he hadn't felt since his last day at the SGC, a subtle anxiety he hardly knew how to acknowledge.
He'd gotten little farther than deciding the suburb was "quaint" when the door opened behind him and he was turning round to face a woman. A relatively older woman than what her voice had suggested to him, but no surprise given the sorts of friends Daniel still kept in touch with. Her hair was mousey brown and gathered at the nape of her neck in a haphazard bun, and her young eyes looked haggard.
"Jack?"
Jack's brows shot upward. He leaned forward slightly, hands still in their respective pockets. "That's me," he acknowledged with little snark and heavy caution.
The woman instantly collapsed upon the door frame like a willow branch and sang a note of relief. "Oh. Thank heaven." She laughed nervously. "I wasn't sure if you were going to come. I'm Amy," she extended a thin arm covered with the sleeve of a self-crocheted shawl. Jack took her hand out of habit. It was cold but strong, and he offered her a standard half-smile. It was more than enough, apparently, for Amy immediately beckoned him inside and offered him a chair, and she hovered over him with a nervous flutter. Jack perched himself on the edge of a striped arm chair and loosely braided his fingers together.
And then with a startled "oh!" she disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Jack to occupy the living room alone. He took the brief opportunity to scan the decor and found everything to be disconcertingly similar to the feel Daniel's own house always had. Tribal masks framed the far window. Weird statues decorated bookshelves and the fireplace mantle. Pictures that might have been stolen from National Geographic were spread around the room, some framed a little more ornately than others.
Before Jack could get up to peruse the titles on the bookshelf, Amy returned with a bottle of beer in her hand. She placed it on the side table next to Jack and upon inspecting it, Jack quickly stood up from the chair.
"I want to talk to Daniel. Right now." He'd doubted before whether or not the archaeologist was really here; he'd been prepared in a small corner of his mind to defend himself against a mad woman, but the nature of her decor solidified her as the rare type of person Daniel would still be friends with after his years at the SGC. And the fact that Amy, who had never before met Jack, had brought out his favorite brand of beer had solidified for him that Daniel was actually here. "Where is he?"
"Okay." Amy had frozen under the sharpness in Jack's eyes, suddenly aware of his presence and stature, so much taller than she. "Okay, uh..." She held up her hands, placating. "Let me... I'll go get him. Just hold on." And then she was gone around the back of the staircase.
Jack glanced around the living room again, struggling not to fiddle with the odds and ends around him out of anxiety. The memory seeped up from his subconscious, unbidden and vivid, of his last night in Colorado.
"Now was that as bad as you thought it was going to be?"
Daniel made a face. He and Jack were sitting on the couch in Daniel's living room, the coffee table before them strewn with empty pizza boxes and beer bottles. "Not as bad, per se. But it wasn't exactly what I would have picked."
"You can't tell me you didn't enjoy it even the tiniest bit."
Daniel looked at Jack and had to pull his head back slightly to focus on the older man's extremely close face. "Maybe."
"Not even when the car flipped off the highway?"
"Was that your favorite part?"
"Or when he shot him?"
Daniel sighed like a martyr. "It was okay. I thought the resolution could have been a little stronger."
"What? It was fine."
"No, we got very little. I was left wanting, to be honest."
"Daniel. One can never go wrong with Zach Galifernakis."
"Galifianakis."
"Whatever."
"As... entertaining as Due Date was, I was kinda hoping... I don't know, I guess when you said 'dinner and a movie' I was picturing something else."
"What? What was wrong with tonight?"
"Well, you lose points for ordering pizza."
"I didn't want the damn pizza points anyway."
Daniel grinned. "You do, however, get points for staying an extra night."
Jack smiled that rare smile that revealed all of his teeth and creased his cheeks. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Daniel's, and the next twenty seconds were lost in a fond haze.
"So do these points count for anything?" Jack inquired after pulling back. "Do I win a prize?" Jack's teeth revealed themselves again as the skin around his eyes creased with hardly controlled mirth.
Daniel tilted his head back slightly and regarded Jack with frowny eyebrows, as though seriously contemplating an answer. "Perhaps. I have a few things in mind, but..." He leveled his gaze seriously. "I don't think you have enough points."
"Damn." Jack looked out over the carnage of their dinner for a moment, thinking. "What would one have to do to acquire more of these points?"
Then the hesitation came. There was a breath before Daniel carefully said, "Stay."
"Of course I'm staying. Why do you think I postponed my flight til the morning?"
"No, not... Not here, tonight. I mean stay."
Jack's eyes danced back and forth between Daniel's. Then slowly, "You know I can't do that."
"Why?" Daniel replied with an impassioned tone Jack was all-too familiar with. "Why do you have to go to Washington? You can do the same job from here."
"No. I can't."
"You could take a different post, stay at the SGC."
"Daniel-"
"Retire! You've done it before and they can't deny you that, not after all you've done-"
"Daniel!" The archaeologist fell silent. "Stop it. We've been through this already. I'm going to DC."
Daniel's entire posture had hardened in Jack's arms, and the older man was not about to be responsible for single-handedly ruining their last night together. So, more softly, he said, "Why don't you come to DC?"
But Daniel was shaking his head. "You're the one who told me I couldn't even go to Atlantis, Jack. You of all people know how important my work is there. How important your work is there."
"You can still work from DC."
"It won't be the same."
"Sure it will. It'll just take longer for artifacts to make it to you and back. The gate teams can send you all the data they need you to look at,
you'd be fine."
"Jack, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. You of all people know that I can't just leave the SGC like that."
Jack pursed his lips. "You're right. Your guilt would drive me insane."
“And I’m still not convinced you’re making the right choice.”
A quiet descended upon the two, laced with tension. Jack exhaled through his nose and his eyes fell to Daniel’s lips, then settled on his own
right hand. It was resting on Daniel’s thigh and Daniel’s left hand was over Jack’s wrist, thumb tracing up and down. Neither of them wanted
this night to end badly.
Their eyes met. We deserve to be together.
But it was there. The truth that neither was willing to give up his job to be with the other. And it did ruin the evening, despite their efforts.
Footsteps behind. Jack dropped the paperweight he’d been examining with a heavy clunk and snapped around, rigid.
Amy entered the living room slowly, Daniel shuffling in beside her with one arm locked in hers and the other hand feeling along the door frame.
“Jack?”
His hands were out of his pockets and half-raised toward Daniel. But he paused, suddenly hesitant. Something was wrong.
“Daniel?”
A rueful smile sheared Daniel’s face, and it made Jack’s stomach drop. Daniel’s eyes were downcast. “You weren’t supposed to know I was here yet,” he said.
Jack looked at Amy, who was wearing a sufficiently abashed expression. “I thought it would do you some good,” she said to Daniel as they came forward. Daniel pushed her arm away and took a step toward Jack, but then he stopped, almost as if he were suddenly standing
on the edge of a terrifying precipice. And then he reached out with one hand.
“Daniel,” Jack’s voice grated, “What’s goin’ on?”
Daniel sighed a quiet sigh and lifted his head slightly. He lifted his eyes as well, but they weren’t focused. He wasn’t even looking at Jack. And that was when Jack understood.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel’s useless eyes scrunched up in a wince. “It’s not that bad,” he said. And then when Jack was uncharacteristically silent, Daniel’s wince shifted into a frown of concern. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jack closed the space between them and grasped the younger man’s arms.
“The hell happened?” he demanded.
His sudden advance visibly startled Daniel, who jerked and moved his head in a wide arc, still searching for Jack’s face out of habit. “It was an accident. While I was off-world.”
“Is it permanent?”
Daniel licked his lips and lowered his head, his hands finding Jack’s arms and holding on. “Amy,” he said, “Could you let us talk alone for a little bit?”
Amy, who was hiding her mouth behind a closed fist, whispered, “Sure thing.” And then she left even more quietly.
Jack’s hands immediately went to Daniel’s face, but Daniel pulled his head back. Jack’s hands fell to Daniel’s shoulders. “What?” he asked.
But Daniel was feeling for Jack’s face instead. His hand moved up Jack’s arm, over his shoulder, under his collar to cup the older man’s neck. He thumbed the stubble there, over Jack’s throat. His other hand trailed up to find Jack’s jaw and his fingers settled over Jack’s ear and hair. The first hand splayed over Jack’s throat, palm over Jack’s chest bone and fingers pointed up toward his chin. Jack could only stand there, as still as he could, afraid to shift his weight or move his arms. He swallowed against Daniel’s hand and it registered on Daniel’s face.
“Daniel,” he said, unable to look anywhere but the still vividly blue eyes that could not find his. “What happened?”
“Off world-“
“Accident, I got that. But what happened?”
“Oh, just your typical chicken-scratch translation. You know how it goes.”
“And?”
“And the device I was translating got activated somehow. It must have been something I did. I still don’t know, but… they say it released some kind of unknown radiation. It was pretty gradual. I didn’t even realize it was doing anything, but the longer I was in that room, the longer it was able to affect me. It was only a few minutes after I got back to the base that everything started to fade.”
“It was gradual?”
“Yeah.” Daniel’s hands had moved to Jack’s brow and were threading through the hair at the back of his head. His face looked pained.
“God.” Jack moved his hands from Daniel’s shoulders to his face, and this time the archaeologist let him pull their faces together for a kiss.
--&--&--&--
Jack insisted that Daniel should stay with him, and so Amy and Daniel said their goodbyes and the next day Daniel was packing what few items he’d brought into a small bag and slapped Jack’s hand away when he tried to help guide him to the door.
“I’m not an invalid.”
Jack didn’t reply, as Daniel had almost instantaneously slammed his hip into the corner of a short bookshelf.
Their time together on the ride to Jack’s was fairly quiet. Daniel’s head was turned toward the passenger window, a habit that cost him a handful of head bumps and nose plants on the glass when Jack would make sudden stops or turns - not that he wasn’t trying to drive carefully.
Unpacking took all of two minutes. Though finding the guest room was a chore in and of itself. Despite Daniel’s request for independence, he had never been to Jack’s new house and reluctantly allowed Jack to lead him along the hallways. Jack put Daniel’s hand on his shoulder and made sure to point out the various obstacles along the way. Don’t knock that picture off. The bathroom’s next to my room. That’s my room. Don’t confuse the two. Watch out for the hutch. My office. I use it to practice my golf swing.
And then Daniel’s room. It was fairly sparse, as Jack described it. Just a nightstand with a lamp and a small dresser. And the
bed, of course.
"Of course,” Daniel mocked, tossing his bag toward where Jack had indicated the bed to be. It landed near the foot, but didn’t fall to the floor.
Jack braced his hands on his hips and looked around the room as Daniel started familiarizing himself with where everything was placed. “Need anything? Advil? Beer? Walking cane?”
“Shut up.”
“Just,” Jack lifted his arms, “trying to be of some use.”
Daniel stood and faced Jack. Or rather, the wall to Jack’s left. “I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I know, I’m sorry. This is all hard to get used to and I didn’t mean to-“
Jack raised his eyebrows, waiting. But Daniel didn’t continue. Instead, his hand fell to his side and he started feeling for the bed. “Um…”
Jack recognized what was happening despite Daniel’s confusion and surged forward. He caught the younger man just as his legs gave out. Daniel’s head landed on Jack’s shoulder and his entire body went limp in his arms.
“Daniel.” Jack shifted him, but no response. “Daniel.” He moved to the left, pulling Daniel along and carefully placing him on the bed, turning him so he faced upwards. He patted Daniel’s cheek. “Come on, wake up. Daniel.”
But Daniel was entirely still, save for the steady rise and fall of his chest. His face was lax and his eyes were, startlingly, still open. Unnerved, Jack reached forward to close them when suddenly Daniel jerked and his eyes snapped shut of their own accord.
“Dammit,” Jack started. “What happened? You all right?”
Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Killer, killer headache.” Then he seemed to realize he was lying down. “What happened?”
“I think you passed out. Were you feeling ok?”
Daniel started to shake his head, then stopped. “No. Migraine. Came outta nowhere.” He paused, hand inches from his face, and then, “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
--&--&--&--
Much to Jack’s irritation, Daniel had been suffering from the rolling migraines since the incident and had passed out from them before, but
just hadn’t thought to mention them. Apparently they’d already begun to die down in frequency since he had come to DC.
“Maybe this means your sight will come back,” Jack offered as they were feasting on grilled cheese and macaroni. Jack’s forgotten ribs from the other night lay in a burnt pile in the trash can.
Daniel grimaced. “Don’t get my hopes up.”
“No. You said it came gradually. Maybe it will leave gradually. You were only exposed to that radiation for how long?”
“I don’t know. I was only translating for twenty minutes or so before I started feeling sick.”
“And it’s been how long since you were back on earth?”
Daniel thought for a moment, still chewing. He was staring at Jack’s chest unknowingly. “Two weeks? Maybe?”
Jack nodded. “There you go.”
“What? That doesn’t mean anything.”
Jack psh’d. “It makes perfect sense. It’s probably proportional to the time you spent with the machine. You were in there for 20 minutes. Maybe after 20 days you’ll get your sight back.”
But Daniel was unconvinced. He continued to eat in silence and the rest of the evening passed likewise.
--&--&--&--
Jack awoke the next morning with the faintly familiar scent of Daniel’s body wash in his nose and a warm weight against his side. He blinked his eyes open and squinted down to see Daniel’s head resting on his chest. The archaeologist was on his stomach, clothed in a heather blue t-shirt and boxers, and was resting his cheek against Jack’s pectoral with his left arm draped around Jack’s torso. Daniel exhaled through his nose and his breath feathered along Jack’s skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
“Sleep well?” Jack inquired.
Daniel sighed and shifted himself into a more comfortable position, resettling his cheek. “Relatively. How’d you know I was up?”
Jack smiled at the ceiling and brought his hand over to ruffle Daniel’s hair. “I’ve listened to you sleep for years.”
He could feel Daniel smile against his skin. “That would almost sound creepy coming from anyone else.”
Jack started tracing an invisible line back and forth across Daniel’s shoulder blade. He was still looking at the ceiling. He was enjoying
this, enjoying having Daniel with him again. But he was soured with bitterness over the circumstances. And even though Daniel couldn’t see
the way that Jack watched him with sad, desperate eyes, he could hear it in Jack’s voice, in the pauses when he didn’t speak, the frustration
and anger at his situation.
“There’s nothing you can do,” Daniel finally said, detecting what was on Jack’s mind with solid accuracy.
“I won’t settle for that, Daniel.”
Daniel burrowed his forehead against Jack’s chest. “You have to,” he muttered.
And then, without warning, Jack was moving away from him, sliding off of the bed without a word. Daniel could feel his irritation in the minute
sharpness of his motions even as he withdrew. “Jack?” he asked, listening to the other man’s footsteps move away and then stop. Daniel
pushed himself up onto one elbow. “Jack, come on. I’m sorry. I’m just being realistic.”
Silence.
“Jack.” Daniel pushed the rest of the covers away and moved toward the edge of the bed, reaching his arm out for where he thought Jack had stopped. But his hand met nothing but air. “Jack?”
There was no sound. No breath, no movement, no indication to Daniel’s now hyper-sensitive ears as to where Jack was or
even if he was still in the room.
“Jack, cut it out.” Daniel slipped off of the bed and reached out with his arms, but there was nothing to be met but space. And there was still no answer. Daniel reached the wall and felt along its length, moving around a dresser until he reached the doorway. An arm swipe through told him it was empty. “Jack?” He moved along the rest of the wall, coming all the way back to the bed and effectively navigating the room’s circumference without coming into contact with more than furniture. “Jack, please. Stop this. Where are you?”
It quickly came to the point where Daniel was not so much concerned about suddenly being alone as he was about whatever point Jack was trying to make. Because there was always a point with Jack. “Are you trying to show me that I can’t do this on my own?” Daniel bit as he moved back toward the doorway, arms feeling in front of him. “This is childish, Jack. Why do we even have to discuss this?”
And then there were arms around him from behind, manhandling him.
“Hey!” Daniel tried to twist away and swing at Jack. “Don't-“
He was pushed against a wall and kissed. Hard. It wasn’t enticing at all, but bland and angry. And it took some of the fight out of him.
“There is no way,” Jack snapped, “that I am going to just let you resign to this. You hear me?” He punched the wall next to Daniel’s temple, making the other man startle. “No. Way. I don’t care if we have to call in the Asgard, we’re gonna fix you.”
Daniel sagged against the wall. “Jack.” His head rolled to the side, but Jack’s hand cupped his cheek and pushed it back to face him. “Jack, it’s no use. And it’s ok. I live in a world, in an age where it’s not so much a handicap to be blind. I can still take care of myself.”
Jack snorted.
“Listen,” Daniel chided. “I’ve already had time to adjust to my other senses. I can still see you,” he added, lifting a hand to trace the features of Jack’s face. “Just not conventionally.”
“It’s not the same,” Jack said, leaning forward and pressing his forehead against Daniel’s.
Daniel didn’t say anything more. He pushed Jack’s head back and ran his thumb along Jack’s scarred eyebrow, pressing his own lips together to ward off emotion. “You can be optimistic about me getting my sight back,” he said. “But don’t talk to me about it. I can’t handle the false hope right now. I’m getting used to living this way and I can’t keep holding out for a miracle.”
Jack just shook his head. He looked up and regarded Daniel’s face. He could see the same lines, same freckles, same
flecks in Daniel’s eyes that he had always been able to see and had always taken for granted. Every feature, every facial tick, every
expression Daniel unknowingly displayed was almost painful for Jack to watch.
“Jack, I need you. Not just to help guide me, but to support me and help me adjust to this.”
Daniel felt Jack’s forehead press against his yet again, a quiet acquiescence.
--&--&--&--
[ five days later ]
“AUGH. Dammit!”
Jack looked up from his fishing line only to see Daniel behind him scooting backward on the grass.
“Problem?” he called as casually as he could.
Daniel stopped, still sitting, and brushed his hands on his pants before leaning forward to feel his ankle.
“You really need to do something about these gopher holes. One of my ankles is going to break eventually.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Jack replied, turning back to his line.
“I came out to tell you the Pentagon called. They need you to get back to them ASAP.”
Jack sighed much louder than he needed to. He’d only been fishing for half an hour. But his leave time was coming to a close and there were things that needed taken care of. “All right,” he said, pushing himself up from his lawn chair and reeling in his line. “I’ll be in in a sec.”
Daniel heaved himself up from the ground and balanced on one foot to give his ankle a couple practice twists. “I lost the house,” he said.
Jack glanced over his shoulder at Daniel’s position, then the house, then replied, “Eight o’clock.” Daniel turned to face the appropriate angle
and started back toward the building, feeling along the ground with his feet more carefully.
Daniel managed to return to the house without much trouble and made his way toward the kitchen. It was then
that he heard a knock at the door.
“Jack?” he called uselessly as he turned to move toward the front door instead, avoiding the pitfalls
of living room furniture on his way.
Daniel reached the door, unlocked the deadbolt, pulled it open, then froze at the click of a gun.
“Where’s the General?” a low, Bronx-accented voice demanded. Daniel raised his hands slowly in the universal sign for “Don’t Shoot.”
“Um. Who?”
Then he felt the cold steel against his throat. He tried to take a step back, but a hand knotted itself into his shirt. “O’Neill, smart ass. Where is he?”
Daniel swallowed against the gun. He listened intently for any sound that Jack had entered the house, but nothing came to his ears except the stranger’s heavy breathing and his own heart pounding in his ears.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know any-“
The gun cracked against the side of his head and Daniel fell to the floor, dazed. He felt warm blood begin to trickle from his temple and the man’s weight shifting across the floorboards down the hallway toward their bedrooms.
He tried to listen again for Jack, but his ears were ringing and his head was reeling. He grunted where he lay, trying to shake his head clear. He could hear the doors down the hall slamming open as the stranger tried to search Jack out.
“Listen,” Daniel called out. “I don’t know who you are or who it is you’re trying to find-“ he groaned as a wave of nausea swept over him. “But there’s no one here but me, I swear.”
The stranger’s footsteps approached again, then stopped next to him. “What’s this then?” the man demanded.
Daniel’s mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. “I don’t know,” he answered truthfully.
“Wise guy,” the stranger said with an accompanying kick to Daniel’s side. Daniel coughed and turned in on himself. “You think I’m stupid? I know this is his house. I’ve got his fucking driver’s license in my hand. Now where the hell is he?!”
Daniel didn’t have a chance to answer. He heard and felt the man’s body weight suddenly hit the floor, followed by a snarl and the sound of punches being thrown. Daniel tried to scoot back closer to the wall, unsure of how close the fighting was to him.
It didn’t last long. Shortly there was only the sound of heavy breathing and a gun being disarmed.
“Jack?”
Then the gun was dropped and Jack’s hands were on Daniel’s face and shoulder. “Damn,” Jack murmured, touching the already swelling skin around Daniel’s temple. Daniel winced. “You all right?” he asked, slipping a hand under Daniel’s shoulders and helping him sit up.
Daniel was about to give an affirmative, but the moment he was upright, a wave of vertigo took him over and he felt himself lose consciousness.
--&--&--&--
Jack watched Daniel wake up. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at Daniel’s face as the younger man’s eyes fluttered open. Then there came the flurry of eye movement as Daniel’s subconscious caught up with the rest of his mind and reminded him that he couldn’t see. It never got any easier for Jack to watch.
“How’s the head?” Jack asked, placing his palm on Daniel’s stomach and rubbing in small circles for Daniel’s comfort as much as his own. One thing was obvious; their tendency for physical contact had significantly increased since their time at the SGC together.
Daniel winced and felt his bandaged temple. “It’s all right,” he said. “I’ll live. Are you ok?”
Jack nodded out of habit, then kicked himself mentally. “Yeah, I’m fine. Got some bloody knuckles, but otherwise peachy.”
“Who the hell was that guy?”
“His name is Veracelli. He’s part of an organization Homeland Security has been working to take down.”
“What organization?”
Jack smiled ruefully. “Actually, I’m not allowed to talk about it, believe it or not. For once, you’re not classified to hear about my work.”
Daniel scoffed and smiled. “Fine. Could you at least tell me what he wanted?”
“Oh, just your average, run-of-the-mill revenge-run. He wasn’t happy with how a court case turned out a couple months back and apparently followed the orders and chain of command all the way up to me.”
“He’s not still here, is he?”
“No. No, he was taken away.”
“How long was I out?”
“About four and a half hours, give or take.”
Daniel frowned.
“You’re fine, it’s only eight thirty. It only just got dark.”
“Hold on a minute.”
“I swear, I did the math-“
“Jack, shut up for a second.”
Jack fell silent, more out of curious amusement than any true annoyance. But after a second, he began to focus on Daniel’s face. On his eyes. They were moving quickly again, bouncing about the room and fluttering toward the open door, the lamp, the window, then the general vicinity of Jack’s head.
After another moment, Jack cautiously said, “Daniel?”
“Shadows.”
“What?”
“Jack. I can see shadows. There’s some kind of light over there,” he gestured toward the door with a hand.
Jack felt a shot of adrenaline flood through his stomach. “It’s coming back?” he asked, suddenly leaning forward and bending over Daniel’s
face. His hand moved from Daniel’s stomach to wrap under his torso and his other hand grasped Daniel’s upper arm. “Daniel, can you see me?”
“Hold on,” the archaeologist said, eyes finally slowing and jumping around Jack’s face, though still not focused. Then they stopped completely. Daniel was looking at him. Looking at him.
“Jack…”
Jack only allowed Daniel a few seconds to take in his features before he swooped down and covered Daniel’s lips with his own. Daniel’s arms wrapped around Jack as they kissed and Jack gripped him just as fiercely, pressing their bodies together.
Daniel eventually hummed against Jack’s mouth and Jack pulled away slightly. Daniel focused on his eyes again, a wide smile beaming across his face. Jack returned the smile, shine for shine. “No ‘I told you so’s’,” Daniel said to his lover as he reached up to brush away the tear in the corner of Jack’s eye.
Jack kissed Daniel’s eyes each in turn. “Only if you stay with me,” he whispered.
-- Fin