CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Daniel was right about the teasing. Jack couldn't resist making a comment at lunch that Nesa certainly did seem to like him. Of course, the true meaning of the comment went right over Danny's head.
"Nesa said that she thought you were very nice," the boy said.
Jack snickered slightly.
Suppressing a smile, Sam said, "Danny, you and Nesa seemed to have gotten along very well."
Danny nodded. "She's fun to play with, though she didn't know how to play a lot of the games, and I had to teach her. She's really pretty, too."
The adults exchanged a glance, wondering if there was more than one crush going on.
A while later, back in Daniel's office, the archeologist called Danny over to his chair.
"Danny, there's something I think you should see. If you decide that you don't want to, it's all right."
"What's that?"
"I told you that Nesa was put on Tretonin so that she wouldn't need a Goa'uld symbiote. Well, she wasn't the only one. Janet removed the symbiotes from several of the other Hak'tyl women and put them on Tretonin. I'm afraid that one of them died because she had a bad reaction, but the others are all fine. Anyway, their symbiotes are still here, stored in tanks that keep them alive."
"Could they accidentally get out?"
"No, everyone is really careful about that. What I wanted to know is if you would like to see one. We've talked to you about the Goa'uld, and you know that they look a little like snakes, but you haven't had the opportunity to see one. Would you like to?"
Danny nodded.
Daniel took the boy to the infirmary. He was hoping that this wasn't a mistake, that it wouldn't add more fodder to Danny's nightmares. It had actually been Teal'c's suggestion that Danny be shown one of the symbiotes. The Jaffa believed that the boy should have a clear picture of what their enemy looked like. Daniel had called Janet to find out what she thought about it. The doctor had some reservations, but believed that Danny could handle it.
"Hello, Danny," Janet greeted when he and Daniel arrived. "So, are you ready to see a Goa'uld?"
"Yeah."
She took the two of them to one of the isolation rooms. The tanks were there. Danny cautiously approached them, staring at the creatures within.
"Their heads are weird," he commented, "not like a snake's."
"No, they're not," Daniel agreed.
"I don't see any wings."
"Well, even in an adult symbiote, the wings are almost impossible to detect until they spread them," Janet explained. "All of these larvae are quite young and haven't developed their wings yet."
"Could they take control of somebody if they got out?"
Daniel and Janet exchanged a glance. That was one fact about the Goa'uld that Daniel would have preferred Danny not know, but it had come out anyway in the discussions about the Goa'uld. So far, it hadn't caused any problems in regards to nightmares.
"No, I believe that they're too young," the doctor replied. "They'd probably die if they tried."
"Teal'c said that the Goa'uld are born with all the memories of their parents, kind of like I have all Daniel's memories of when he was my age."
"That's right. It's called genetic memory and is passed down from generation to generation."
"So, they remember what their parents, and grandparents and great grandparents did?"
"We don't know exactly how many personal memories are passed down to each generation," Daniel replied.
Danny stepped closer to one of the tanks. The symbiote stopped swimming around and appeared to stare at him.
"It doesn't look very scary," Danny declared. "It looks like a really ugly snake with no scales and a deformed head."
The two adults smiled at the description.
"Oh, I definitely agree that they're ugly," Daniel said.
"What are you going to do with them?"
"They're going to be sent to Area 51 to be studied," Janet replied. She didn't add that, eventually, the larvae would be killed.
"Are you ready to go?" Daniel asked the boy.
Danny studied the symbiotes for a moment longer, then nodded. They returned to Daniel's office. They hadn't been there for long when Captain Hardwick came in.
"Hey, Doctor Jackson, Danny. Tommy's been bugging me ever since the fourth about letting Danny spend the night. We've had a lot of stuff going on, so it wouldn't have worked out before now, but, if Danny still wants to spend the night, tomorrow would work out for us. I've got Friday off, so there wouldn't be a problem with all of us staying up late."
Danny's eyes lit up, and he turned to Daniel. "Can I?"
"I don't see why not. It sounds like fun."
"Great," the captain said. "How about if I take Danny home with me when I get off duty tomorrow? Then you won't have to drop him off. And it'll give the kids more time to play."
"That'll be fine," Daniel replied.
"All right. I'll see you then."
After Captain Hardwick had left, a thought came to Daniel. "Danny, I need to go talk to Sam about something. I'll be back in a while."
"Okay."
Daniel headed to Sam's lab.
"Did you take Danny to see the symbiotes?" she asked. Daniel had told her and Jack that he was planning on showing Danny the symbiotes after the Hak'tyl left. They'd had concerns about it but hadn't tried to discourage the archeologist from doing it.
"Yes, I did, and everything went really well," Daniel replied. He repeated Danny's description of the symbiote to her, which made her smile. "These days, a lot of kids Danny's age have already been exposed to quite a bit of frightening and gruesome stuff on TV, but it wasn't that way back when I was that age, so I was concerned that a symbiote would be a bit scary."
"Well, he has seen mummies and other mummified creatures, right?"
Daniel nodded. "Which is something most eight-year-olds have not seen in real life, unless they've gone to a museum that had one on display." He smiled. "I think I was around five years old when I saw my first mummy. There was a woman we'd met that was constantly dieting, and she was really quite thin. I looked at that mummy and said that it looked like it had been dieting too much, like Miss Reed. Mom and Dad thought that was hilarious."
Sam laughed, thinking it was funny, too. "So, do you think Danny's going to have any problems?"
"No, I don't think so. Other than a brief concern about one getting out and taking control of someone, he seemed very calm. He also was curious, of course. I think he'll be fine."
"That's good. I heard that his first session with the psychologist is on Saturday."
"Yeah. She's coming to our house. I figured that would be the best way to do it. I just hope things go well and that she's not like the one who came to see me. The woman was a bit on the distant side, a little too professional, which may be one of the reasons why she couldn't get through to me." Daniel looked at Sam. "There's a particular reason why I came here. Captain Hardwick just stopped by to find out if Danny could spend the night with his son tomorrow. I was thinking that this would be the perfect opportunity for us to go on another date."
"Sure. I'd love to. You know, to be fair, I should take you out this time."
"Actually, I've got something else in mind."
That sparked Sam's curiosity. "Oh?"
Daniel stepped forward and gathered her into his arms. "How would you like me to cook for you, Samantha Carter?"
"Mmm. That sounds wonderful. Can you cook?"
"I wouldn't win any awards, but I can manage. I've gotten out of practice these past few years. Being single and spending so much time working, it was a lot easier fixing those ready-made entrees you get in the store, the ones you dump into the microwave or in a skillet. Now that I have Danny, though, I'm getting back into actually fixing meals." Daniel grinned. "I haven't poisoned him yet."
"Then I would love to have you cook dinner for us. I think that's very romantic."
Daniel kissed her. "Well, that's good. Romantic is what I'm aiming for."
On the way home, Daniel decided to stop at the grocery store to find something special to fix for the date. Danny was quite pleased about the date and offered all kinds of suggestions for what Daniel should fix, macaroni and cheese being his first choice. As gently as possible, the archeologist explained that something fancier would probably be better. In the end, he decided to go with Chicken Parmesan for the main course, having a recipe for a sweet marinara sauce that he really liked.
The next afternoon, Daniel left work right after Captain Hardwick got Danny. He wanted to make sure he had enough time to prepare dinner.
As the time for Sam's arrival grew close, Daniel began getting nervous. He hoped that everything was going to turn out okay. This was the first time he'd ever cooked dinner for a woman. On Abydos, cooking was considered to be something husbands simply did not do, so Sha're had never allowed him to do the cooking . . . although she did allow him to grind the flour. Some of it actually managed to get put in food rather than all over Daniel.
Everything was almost done when the doorbell rang. Wiping his hands on a towel and removing the apron he'd had on to protect his clothes, Daniel went to answer it. Sam was wearing a pretty peach-colored blouse and a full skirt that was several shades darker. He had told her that she didn't need to dress up for this date, but there was no way she was going to show up in jeans.
"Hi," Daniel greeted. He kissed her as she came in. "You look beautiful. I like the blouse."
"Thank you."
Daniel helped her off with her sweater and hung it up in the coat closet. Heading for the kitchen, Sam saw that the dining room table was set with pretty china. In the center of the table, there was a single red rose with some greenery and baby's breath in a bud vase and two small candles in cut crystal holders. It was lovely, romantic but not overdone.
"Dinner's almost ready," Daniel told her, joining her.
Sam drew in a deep breath as she entered the kitchen. "It smells delicious. What did you fix?"
"Chicken Parmesan, angel hair pasta and baby carrots."
Sam smiled. "Ah, Italian again, huh?" She wrapped her arms around Daniel's waist. "Sounds wonderful."
Daniel took possession of her mouth, intending it to be a soft kiss. It didn't turn out that way. It wasn't long before they were kissing with hungry passion. Daniel had Sam up against the counter, his hands stroking her body, one leg pressed between hers, when the timer on the oven went off. The couple stared at each other with passion-filled eyes, both tempted to forego dinner and do what they'd been longing to do for so many weeks. Silently, they agreed against it.
They separated, and Daniel sent Sam to the dining room. As she waited for Daniel, she studied the china. It looked quite old, a delicate blue floral pattern imprinted on it.
Daniel came out of the kitchen with a bottle of wine and poured each of them a glass.
"This is pretty," Sam said, pointing at the china.
"It belonged to my maternal grandmother. Mom had it. After she and Dad were killed, Nick arranged for some of their things to be put in storage. I had no idea that he still had the china until I went through his stuff after he decided to stay on P7X-377. I went and got it a while ago. I, um, thought that we might use it someday, and I didn't think he'd mind."
Daniel went back into the kitchen and returned with the salad, which he served.
The meal was wonderful, and Sam praised Daniel for it more than once. She especially liked the marinara sauce, which was sweeter than others she'd tasted, but not too sweet. It turned out that the recipe came from an elderly Italian woman Daniel had befriended many years ago.
Dessert was a Dutch apple pie that Daniel explained he did not make himself.
"I've never baked a pie in my life, so I shudder to think what it would have tasted like if I'd made it."
"Making apple pie from scratch takes hours. By the time you've finished peeling and coring all the apples, you don't ever want to see another one for the rest of your life. Mom and I did it once for four pies. The next time, we used canned apples."
Though Daniel didn't want her to, Sam insisted on helping him wash the dishes.
"You should get a dishwasher," she said as she rinsed a plate.
"I've been thinking about it. When it was just me, washing them by hand was no big deal. Now, there are twice as many to do, and I swear it seems like more sometimes."
Sam turned back to the dishes to be rinsed. She was startled when the pan Daniel was scrubbing crashed loudly back into the sink. She looked at Daniel's face to see that he'd turned pale.
"Oh, God," he whispered. "Something's wrong."
"What? What's wrong? What are you talking about?"
Not answering her, Daniel ran into the living room and grabbed the phone with hands slippery with soap. He dialed the number Captain Hardwick had given him. The call was answered by a woman.
"Hello? Is this Mrs. Hardwick?" Daniel asked, trying to remain calm despite the fact that he was certain something terrible had happened.
"Yes, it is," the woman replied.
"This is Daniel Jackson. Is Danny there?"
"No, Lucas took the kids to the movies. They should be back soon."
"Does your husband have a cell phone?"
"Yes. What's this about?"
"I just . . . I need to get hold of Danny."
The woman gave the number to Daniel, who called it. He got the captain's voice mail immediately, which indicated that either the phone was off or not working.
"Daniel, what's going on?" Sam asked as he hung up.
"Something's happened, Sam, I'm sure of it. I saw flashes of images and. . . ." Daniel's eyes met hers. "I felt Danny's fear, Sam, almost like it was my own."
"Oh my God."
"We have to find them. I think they might have been in a car accident."
Daniel and Sam hurried out of the house and to Daniel's car. Thinking that they might need the help, Sam called Jack, who was alarmed by what she told him. He said that he'd call the police and find out if there had been any accidents reported between the movie theater and where the Hardwick's lived, which was in a rural area a few miles out of town. He then intended to go out and start searching as well.
Sick with fear, Daniel drove, Sam sitting beside him. He began heading toward the theater, intending to start there, but something guided him in another direction. He soon realized that he was heading toward Captain Hardwick's house.
Sam's cell rang. It was Jack.
"There haven't been any accidents reported on any streets they'd have taken to get back to Hardwick's house," he said. "I'm getting in my car now to start looking."
Sam passed the information on to Daniel.
"Tell him to head for Captain Hardwick's," he said.
Sam stared at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Don't ask me how, but I'm sure."
She relayed to Jack what Daniel had said, then hung up. She looked again at the archeologist. Even in the darkness, she could see the fear on his face. His hands were clutching the steering wheel, white-knuckled. She wasn't going to tell him that she was sure Danny was all right. The truth was that she was terrified, too.
They were now on the quiet rural road upon which the Hardwicks lived. Daniel had slowed way down, knowing without any doubt that they were getting close. He abruptly slammed on the brakes, coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road. He jumped out of the car, looking around. Seeing nothing, he called out.
"Danny! Danny, can you hear me?" There was no answer. He yelled Danny's name louder. And then he heard something, a faint sound up ahead and to the right. He ran forward with Sam right behind him, angling toward the side of the road.
"Oh, God," Sam gasped as they came to a halt. Around seventy feet down the side of a steep embankment was a car. It was leaning against a couple of trees, which were the only things keeping it from falling the rest of the way down the slope.
Not even stopping to consider that he should wait for a rescue team, Daniel told Sam to call for help and started down.
In the daylight, the descent would have been treacherous enough, but, in the dark, Daniel could barely see what he was doing. He cursed himself for not having brought a flashlight from home, knowing that the one in his glove compartment had virtually dead batteries.
After tripping over a fallen limb and nearly tumbling down the hillside, Daniel forced himself to go more slowly, though his fear was urging him to get to Danny as fast as possible.
It seemed to take forever to get to the car, but, at last, he was almost there. Sick with the thought of what he might see, Daniel slowly covered the last few feet. The driver's side of the car was up against the trees. Captain Hardwick was slumped, unmoving, behind the wheel. As Daniel got still closer, he saw Tommy in the back seat behind his father, also unconscious. Where was Danny? God, please don't let him have been thrown from the car.
Just then, Daniel heard a scared little voice. "Daniel?"
"Danny?" Daniel reached the car and looked down in the back seat. Danny was lying there, clinging to the door handle to keep himself from sliding across the seat, which was tilted at a steep angle. The window was open partway, and Daniel stuck a shaking hand through it, touching the boy's head.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice shaking as badly as his hands.
"Only a little," Danny replied, "but I think Tommy's hurt bad, and I'm afraid Captain Hardwick might be dead. Tommy was bleeding a lot from a cut on his arm. I tried to make a bandage with my jacket, but it didn't work very well."
Daniel looked at the other boy and saw that the sleeve of Danny's jacket was tied around the boy's forearm.
"I tried to open the door and get out so I could get help, but it's too heavy," Danny said.
"It's okay, Danny. I'm here now, and more help is on the way. You're doing great."
"I'm afraid the car will fall more."
Daniel checked out the situation. The two trees that the car had come to a rest against were both pretty sturdy and appeared to be doing a good job of holding the car. Even so, he didn't trust that they would hold it forever.
"Um, Danny, I'm going to open the door and get you out. Is there something else you can hold onto to keep yourself from sliding?"
"I don't know, maybe the side of the seat."
"Okay, you do that. Let me know when you've got a good grip."
One hand at a time, Danny released his grip on the door handle and took hold of the edge of the seat, telling Daniel when he had a firm hold.
Daniel tried to open the door, but gravity was working against him, and he couldn't get a good footing on the ground. Every time he managed to get the door open an inch or two, his feet would slip. But he refused to give up. Then, suddenly, someone else was there. Daniel looked at Jack. A thousand words passed between them in a single glance.
"Danny?" Jack said. "It's Jack."
"Jack? I'm scared," the boy responded.
"I know you are, buddy, but we're going to get you out of there. I promise. Come on, Daniel. Let's get that door open."
Between the two men, they managed to open the door. As Jack braced it open, Daniel reached in and grabbed hold of Danny. Moments later, he and the child were sitting on the ground, clinging to each other. Daniel kissed Danny's face and buried his own face in the golden hair, trying very hard not to cry. He didn't quite succeed. He pulled back and stroked Danny's head, pushing the boy's hair from his face.
"Are you sure you're not hurt badly?" he asked, scanning for injuries. He noticed a bruise high on Danny's right cheekbone.
"My arm hurts. I hit it on the door. A deer ran in front of us. Captain Hardwick tried to miss it, and we went off the road."
They all heard the sound of approaching sirens, heralding the arrival of the fire department. Jack had been considering checking on the other two occupants of the car, but decided to wait for the rescue team since there was nothing much he'd be able to do for them anyway.
It took several minutes for the rescuers to get down to the car.
"Were any of you in the car?" one of them asked.
"Danny was," Daniel replied. "He seems to be all right except for some bruises and a sore arm."
"Come on. Let's get you three out of the way."
Two men took hold of the door so that Jack could move, then he, Daniel and Danny were led off to the side to enable the other rescuers to attend to Captain Hardwick and Tommy. Danny received a cursory examination. There was a large bruise on his right shoulder and upper arm where he'd struck the door, but there was no indications that it was fractured or dislocated.
To be on the safe side, the EMT insisted on putting a cervical collar on the boy's neck just in case there was a neck injury that wasn't presenting itself yet. He was then put on a litter, which was hauled up the embankment with ropes. Daniel and Jack went up with it.
Sam's face went white when she saw Danny on the litter.
"He's okay, Carter," Jack assured her. "The collar's just a precaution. He was on the side of the car that wasn't damaged much. He's just banged up a bit."
In one of the two ambulances, Danny was checked out more thoroughly. He had a tight grip on Daniel's hand.
"Are Tommy and his dad going to die?" he asked, starting to cry.
"I don't know, Danny," Daniel replied, wishing that he had a more positive answer. He looked at the woman examining Danny. "Is he all right?"
"Yes, I believe so, though that shoulder is going to be pretty sore for a while. We'll want to take him to the hospital for x-rays, of course."
A third ambulance arrived just then, which meant that the one with Danny could go ahead and leave for the hospital. Jack and Sam told Daniel that they'd meet him there. Sam would drive Daniel's car.
Daniel kept hold of Danny's hand on the trip, stroking the boy's hair. He was trembling from reaction. He couldn't ever remember being more scared in his life than when he saw that car lying smashed on the hillside. God, if Danny had been killed. . . .
Daniel clamped his eyes shut, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself.
When they got to the hospital, Daniel insisted on staying with Danny. The unrelenting grip the boy had on his hand made it clear that Danny wasn't going to let him go anywhere anyway. They had to let go of each other, though, so that the doctor and nurses could examine Danny. Daniel accompanied them when the boy was taken to get x-rays. Afterwards, they were taken back to the E.R. to await the results.
Danny and Daniel were alone in the room when Sam peeked her head in.
"Hey," she said, smiling. She came into the room.
"Are Tommy and Captain Hardwick okay?" Danny asked her.
"I'm not sure. They were both brought in just a little bit ago. Colonel O'Neill asked to be kept updated on them, and Janet's on her way."
"She's Captain Hardwick's doctor, too, isn't she?"
"Yes, she is, so she'll be able to find out how he is, and I'm sure she'll find out about Tommy, too."
Danny's eyes welled with tears. "I don't want them to die. Tommy's my friend, and Captain Hardwick is really nice. He took us to the movies and bought us popcorn and sodas, and, afterwards, he quoted some of the words from the movie, sounding just like the actors."
Daniel pulled the boy into his arms. "I know, Danny. I don't want them to die either, but I am so glad that you're all right. I was really scared."
Danny felt something wet on his head and looked up to see that Daniel was crying. "Don't cry, Daniel. I'm okay."
Daniel kissed his forehead. "I know," he said shakily. "I just love you so much that, if anything happened to you, I don't think I could take it."
Sam came over and put her arm around Daniel's shoulders, tears in her own eyes. He reached up and grabbed her hand.
The doctor returned around fifteen minutes later.
"The x-rays came out fine," he said. "We'd like to keep Danny here overnight just to be sure there are no hidden problems."
"No, I don't want to stay here. I want to go home," Danny said.
"I can keep an eye on him," Daniel told the doctor. "I've had more than one internal injury myself, not to mention head injuries, so I know what to look for."
The doctor nodded. "All right. Give him Children's Tylenol for the pain in his shoulder. I'd advise that you take him to see his primary care physician tomorrow."
"Doctor, do you know if Tommy and his dad are okay?" Danny asked.
"Those are the other two people who were in the car," Daniel explained. "Captain and Tommy Hardwick."
"I'm not the one treating them, but I know that the captain was taken to surgery. He suffered some internal injuries, likely a ruptured spleen. The child has a severe concussion and a fractured arm. There was also some blood loss from a deep cut in his forearm."
"I tried to use my jacket as a bandage to stop the bleeding," Danny told the doctor.
The man smiled. "That's very good. He might have lost even more blood if you hadn't done that."
"Is he going to be okay?"
"I believe so, though, with the head injury, we'll have to watch him closely. His doctor is still checking for other injuries."
Danny was discharged from the hospital. He, Daniel and Sam went out into the waiting room, where they found Jack. The man stood, walked over to Danny, knelt before him, and gave him a big hug.
"How are you doin', kiddo?" he asked.
"Okay. My arm and my cheek hurt."
Jack ran a fingertip very gently over the bruise on the boy's cheek. "Yeah, a few inches further over to the left, and you'd have quite a shiner there. Every man should have at least one black eye in his life."
"Have you?"
"Oh, yes, more than one, way more than one." Jack got to his feet. "Fraiser's here. Captain Hardwick's been taken to surgery, and she's going to be in the operating room."
"I hope he's going to be okay," Danny said.
"Me too. Come on. Let's get you guys home."
Jack insisted that Sam do the driving in Daniel's car. The archeologist didn't argue, wanting to sit in back with Danny.
By the time they got to Daniel's place, Danny was asleep, his head resting under Daniel's arm, who was hold him close. He was carried inside, undressed and put to bed.
"Are you going to be okay, Daniel?" Sam asked when he came out into the living room.
"Yeah. I don't know how much sleep I'll get tonight, though. I'm concerned that he'll have a nightmare about this."
"Would you like one of us to stay?" Jack asked.
"No, that's not necessary. Thanks for the offer, though."
"Okay, but if you need something or just want to talk, you call, all right?"
"I will. Thanks."
Sam gave Daniel a hug and a kiss. "Will you be bringing Danny into the infirmary tomorrow?"
"Yes. I would have even if the doctor hadn't recommended it. I'm sure Janet would have insisted on it."
After Jack and Sam had left, Daniel got ready for bed. For a very long time, he lay in the dark, trying not to think about what could have happened tonight. It was after two a.m. before he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.
"Danny!" Daniel screamed. He sat straight up in bed, a broken sob catching in his throat. His face was wet with tears. And then a wave of nausea washed over him. He fled to the bathroom, where he threw up in the toilet. His heaving had just finished when he was startled by someone laying their hand on his back. He looked up to see Jack there, kneeling beside him.
"Jack? What . . . what are you doing here?"
"I figured you might need someone to talk to."
The colonel got Daniel a cool washcloth, which the archeologist used to wipe his face. A little shakily, he got to his feet.
"I'll be in the living room," Jack said.
Daniel rinsed his mouth out and took a drink. He found Jack sitting on the couch and settled beside him.
"Bad one?" Jack asked.
Daniel ran trembling hands over his face. "Yeah," he said roughly. "Danny was—" His voice broke off. He couldn't recount the horror of the dream, seeing Danny's lifeless, blood-covered body crushed in the twisted remains of the car.
"I know," Jack said, not needing to hear the details of the dream. He had known this was going to happen, just as it had to him after Charlie's death. The difference was that Daniel's nightmares were only that, dream visions that weren't real. The images in Jack's dreams had been all too real.
"I don't know what I'd have done if I lost him, Jack," Daniel whispered. "I know that, genetically, he's me, but I love him like he's my son."
Jack laid a hand on his friend's back, rubbing slightly. "I know, Daniel. We all love him very much. I was scared out of my mind when Carter called me after contacting 911 and told me what had happened. I broke every speed limit getting there, and, the whole time, I—" This time, it was Jack's voice that stopped abruptly.
Daniel looked at him. Jack was staring down at his clenched hands. "Jack?"
"I kept praying, 'Please, God, not him, too,'" Jack said in a low voice.
It hit Daniel what Jack's words meant. Charlie. Jack was thinking about Charlie.
"Believe me, Daniel, I had the nightmares, too, after Charlie, every time I closed my eyes. Reality was bad enough, but my imagination painted it even worse. I finally gave up trying to sleep and smoked a million cigarettes instead."
In all the years Daniel had known him, this was the first time that Jack had ever really talked about what it was like for him after Charlie died, except for that conversation they'd had after Daniel came back to Earth from Abydos. Of course, the archeologist had seen firsthand the kind of man Jack had turned into because of Charlie's death.
"I'm sorry," Daniel said, knowing it was inadequate.
Jack looked at him, the shadow of that old pain in his eyes. "It was a long time ago, and I finally learned to live with it, partly thanks to you, I might add. You may have a few more nightmares, Daniel, but it'll pass. The next time you do, just go into his room and watch him breathe. I'm betting it'll help."
Daniel felt very sad that Jack hadn't been able to do that with Charlie.
"Thank you, Jack," he said.
The colonel nodded. He got up from the couch. Daniel followed him to the door.
"So, you think you'll be okay?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, I think so."
"The phone's sitting right beside my bed, if you need to call."
"Thanks. I'll call if I need to."
Jack gave him a nod and a smile, then headed out the door. Daniel went to Danny's room. He sat on the edge of the bed and, for long minutes, watched Danny breathe. Feeling better, he then went back to bed. A short while later, he was asleep, and no more dreams haunted him.
