Author's Notes: The warning still applies... not everything is as it seems... Meaning... don't flame me yet!
This is for Brenda... sweetie, honey... Yes, this means I got more typed tonight!
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
Part three: Jack
What the...? Now that was a weird dream....
Me and Daniel still on Abydos...Daniel a father....
Entirely too Twilight Zone.
I can see Daniel having a dream like that, but me?
Speaking of Daniel...
I get up quickly, checking the clock as I go..3 a.m...Damn. This leave is not turning out as planned..
Daniel's still on the couch, mumbling something in his sleep.
I decide to wake him up, make sure he's okay. If nothing else he needs to get into a real bed.
"Danny?"
I jump back as he shoots up like a rocket in terminal lift-off mode...
"Jack!"
As I grab hold of him to keep him from falling, he's looking around the dark room wildly, as if he isn't quite sure where he is.
"Whoa there, Danny. It's okay...I'm here..." I tighten my grip a little, trying to tune him into the here and now. I remember him having dreams like this early on, just after Chulak; dreams that would bring him awake in a cold sweat, dreams of being helpless ...hopeless...but I haven't seen him like this in a long time.
He's still shaking, but his breath is coming slower. I'm still whispering to him, talking him down. He's nodding his head now as he rubs his eyes, trying to chase the last of the ghosts away.
"I'm okay...I'm okay..."
I don't know if he's trying to convince me or himself, but it doesn't seem to be working on either front. At least he seems alert for the first time since I found him on that road. Too bad it took something like this to get him there...
I go to the kitchen a throw together some coffee and hear him stumbling to the bathroom. By the time the machine sputters out its last drop, he comes into the kitchen and plants himself at the counter. He looks a little better, but there are dark smudges around his eyes and he acts like the lights are too bright...
Daniel sits there gulping at that coffee like he can't wake up fast enough. Just from what I saw at my end of things, I can't say as I blame him. He gives me a half-nod, telling me he's okay, but I can see that he isn't. I guess it's just as obvious from my expression that I don't quite believe him there. He gives me that quirky little head shake that says 'whatever' and gets up to refill his cup. He keeps this up and he'll never sleep, but I guess that's what he's got in mind.
"Daniel." I drawl it out; he knows my tones of voice well enough by now. This one says talk to me.
He looks at me directly for the first time, the shadows of his dream still lurk there in his eyes. Whatever it was hurt him, scared him in a way that he isn't ready to talk about. I can accept that...for now. I go to the bathroom and bring back two of those little blue OTC sleep aid pills. He looks at them like they're contagious, but takes them anyway.
"C'mon," I make it an order.
I lead him into the guest room and take away his coffee.
"Jack...?" His tone is quiet, questioning.
"Yeah, Danny?"
"When's the last time you had long hair?"
What the....
Nah...I need some more sleep....
"Fire!"
Maybourne yells it out as if on a battle field....
As Daniel stands there slightly down-ramp from Lya....who is in the process of making the Tollans disappear....I can't believe my ears. Daniel looks up at Maybourne with that dismissive, what-an-asshole expression I've already become all-too familiar with and I start to laugh in agreement....when I hear the shot.
Somehow the commmanding tone of Maybourne's voice and the ill-luck that seems to follow Daniel like a constant companion have once again conspired against my well-meaning friend...
Daniel stands there for just a moment, looking up toward me in confusion...his head shaking slightly. Then he looks down at his hands which are covered in blood...his blood.
I'm down the stairs in a flash, bursting through the gateroom door just in time to see Daniel fall to his knees. Lya is gone, but I don't think she could have seen what happened; she wouldn't have left Daniel like this....
I reach Daniel in time to catch him before he falls....
"Jack?" The 'why' implied in Daniel's tone is as much a mystery to me as it is to him. Why a power-hungry jerk like Maybourne ever got placed in a position of power...a position to hurt innocent people with a single word....is beyond my comprehension.
The bullet has hit Daniel almost dead center in the upper left chest...all too close to that amazing heart....
I'm vaguely aware of several things happening at once: Teal'c takes down the unintentional shooter with one blow, Hammond calls a medical emergency...finally, and Maybourne is looking down at us with a look of such total satisfaction on his face that I just want to go up there and shove that look up his supercilious ass.
Teal'c punched out the wrong guy. That kid may have held the gun, but Maybourne pulled the trigger...
Daniel slumps in my grasp and I reach for a pulse...
Nothing.
God...
"Daniel!"