Terrified
Terrified
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters; too bad, so sad.
Pairings/Characters: Jack, Daniel
Spoilers: Through 7.12, “Evolution: Part 2”
Word Count: ~750
Summary: Jack won’t soon forget Daniel’s terrified expression.
A/N: Written for the
hc_bingo prompt “torture”
Jack had spent time in South America before, but he doesn’t have the kind of familiarity with the people and the territory that Burke does. He hates relying on anyone who isn’t a teammate, and although he’d counted Burke as a friend at one point, that time has long since passed.
This is Daniel, though; Jack knows he’d do a hell of a lot for Daniel, even if it means relying on someone he’d come to think of as untrustworthy.
Jack feels the deadline hanging over him as they trek through the jungle, and even as Burke blows what Jack thought he knew about his old friend out of the water. He doesn’t like being wrong, even at the best of times, and that revelation coming on the heels of the looming deadline unsettles him.
Jack tries not to think about what they might be doing to Daniel and Dr. Lee; he tries not to think about the fact that he might already be too late.
The sound of gunfire leads him to Daniel’s position. He and Burke split up to flank the position of the shooters. Jack sees the guerillas lined up, circling Daniel. One of them, the leader, has a machete in hand, and Jack hears him threaten to skin Daniel alive.
Jack doesn’t even hesitate. He opens fire, mowing them down without a second thought.
Daniel is pressed against the trunk of a tree, a rock in his hands, and his eyes closed. Jack won’t soon forget Daniel’s terrified expression, or the way Daniel fails to immediately recognize him. Jack flashes back to Vis Uban, and a Daniel who showed no recognition when he’d seen his teammates.
When he’d seen Jack.
But Jack is no stranger to the effects of torture, and so he asks again how many more guerillas there are.
“Six,” Daniel finally gasps out. “You got them all. What are you doing here?”
Jack’s fairly certain that’s the adrenaline talking, because if Daniel would stop and think about it for a moment, he’d remember that Jack had traveled a lot farther to save his ass in the past.
He sets to work on Daniel’s leg. The wound doesn’t look too bad, but Jack knows they need to get him to a doctor soon, and he’ll probably be on crutches for a while. But then there’s the zombie to deal with, and the Goa’uld device that apparently reanimates corpses, and they have to collect Dr. Lee from where he’s hiding.
They aren’t on the chopper for more than a minute before Daniel passes out. Jack looks him over carefully, cataloging visible injuries and wishing he could get a glimpse under the surface.
It’s only because he’s watching Daniel so carefully that Jack sees the change in Daniel’s breathing, and the rapid eye movement behind his eyelids. Daniel won’t be able to hear him over the sound of the chopper blades, so he shakes Daniel awake, pulling back just in time to avoid getting smacked in the face by a flailing arm.
There’s terror in Daniel’s eyes again, but it’s quickly replaced by relief when he sees Jack.
Jack hands him a bottle of water. “We’re heading to the embassy first,” he shouts. “We’ll catch a flight back to Colorado from there.” Daniel nods and swallows half the bottle of water in one go. Jack hands him a power bar. “You did good, Danny.”
Daniel grimaces. “Yeah.”
Jack doesn’t think Daniel believes him, but this isn’t the time or the place for that conversation. Jack’s fairly certain that there isn’t going to be a conversation, because by the time Daniel gets fixed up, cleaned up, and debriefed, the moment will have passed.
“Just so you know,” Jack shouts. “In the future, I’m not sending you anywhere without a full platoon of marines at your disposal.”
Daniel rolls his eyes. “I think that’s overkill, Jack.”
“I don’t. Only you would manage to get kidnapped by guerillas in the middle of the jungle.”
Jack’s kidding, mostly, and Daniel seems to recognize that, because he says, “You can’t send marines into another country when you’re looking for ancient artifacts.”
Jack shrugs. “Fine. Then next time, you can take me or T with you.”
Daniel glances over at Lee, who seems to be deeply asleep. “That I could probably do.”
Jack pats him on the shoulder one last time and says, “We’ve still got some time. You should sleep.”
Daniel tips his head back. “Jack,” he says, his eyes closed. “Thanks for coming.”
“Always,” Jack promises, and he means it.