Another Road Taken 1

by Belladonna

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asb/belladonna/anothe01.php
Summary: This story explores an alternate universe where a young Daniel is taken in by Jack's parents, and how their lives intertwined and still end up at the Stargate
Info: Formerly an WIP called That Fateful Halloween, now complete and will be posted in two parts.
Thank you to Jude for being the greatest Beta ever and for all of her hard work to make this thing readable.

Social Worker Denise Reilly stepped out of the car, her pretty face frowning as she watched the police step out of theirs. She was about to ask what they were doing there, when a high pitched scream, the hopeless wail of a child, pierced the quiet of the wealthy cul de sac.

"Oh my god!" she gasped and dropped her briefcase onto the grass. Another scream rent the air, yet when Denise found herself on the front porch with its absurdly cheerful fall decorations, she glanced over her shoulder and saw that the police were staying back. "What?" she demanded incredulously. "You can't hear that?"

The older cop shifted uncomfortably. "Do you know whose house that is?"

Denise knew; she been assigned the couple after the previous social worker had resigned. His name was Dick Dickerson, and he was a city alderman, his wife was Shirley, and she was a colorless, silent woman with no opinions about anything. Denise had been told that something was wrong in this house, but had refused to believe it. Now her heart was suddenly beating in terror, and her voice trembled as another shriek sounded. "There's a child getting beaten in there, and I don't care who lives here."

The trainee cop's face hardened when it looked like his training officer was just going to stand there. He stepped up to the door, and when no one answered his brisk knock, stepped back and with a well-placed kick, made it bang open.

"Police!" he yelled, his hand on his gun. Denise and the young cop moved towards the heart breaking sobbing and watched as the big man, almost 6'3" and 250 pounds, kicked the shuddering, bleeding child on the ground. "You little bastard! I told you to quit making noise!"
His wife was in the background, staring into the distance.

"Sir, I'll have to ask you to step back," the young cop said firmly but loudly. When it didn't seem like the other man heard him, the cop shouted. "Back away now!"

The other man looked up, startled to see them. "What in the hell are you doing in my house?" Dickerson snarled, swiping blood from his knuckles onto his dark slacks.

Denise darted around the policemen and knelt beside the child, crying as she wiped the blood from his face. "I'm sorry. Oh, Daniel, are you okay?"

"Ma'am, you need to go back outside," Crittenden said, feeling like the whole situation was really out of his control.

"Not without Daniel," she snapped, placing her folded up jacket underneath his head. "Call an ambulance."

Daniel opened one eye, since the other one was swelled shut, and blinked at her confusedly. "Ms. Reilly?"

"Sh, sh," the social worker crooned, even as the young cop pulled his radio off his belt.

"No!" Dickerson said sharply. "The brat is fine. He's just being punished for getting into trouble at school. Again!" he drew back as if he was going to kick Daniel again.

The cop pulled his weapon, cocked it and pointed it at the man. "Do not make me tell you again. Stay back!" snapped the brand spanking new policeman, Todd Crittenden. As he stared the alderman down, he reflected on what his father had told him when he graduated from the police academy barely a month before-- 'Son, there's a moment in every man's life that forms the way the rest of your life will go, the moment when you're given a choice to do the right thing, where you stand on the precipice of the taking the easy way out, or the right way...'

Todd never expected it to come this soon, but he was making his stand over the body of this little boy, who was bleeding at their feet.

Dickerson narrowed his eyes at the young cop. "Don't fuck with me. I'll have your badge for this, Officer..." his ugly eyes scanned the officer's uniform, "Crittenden."

"Don't you threaten him!" Denise shrieked as she leapt to her feet. "You miserable bastard! Look what you've done to that boy! He's bleeding, you monster! Your name is going to be all over the papers, and you're going to prison; I will personally guarantee it!" she promised vengefully.

Astounded at being spoken to in that fashion, and by a woman, no less, Dickerson menacingly stepped forward but was stopped when the older cop spoke, his own weapon free. "Freeze! Now turn around and put your hands on your head."

"You're all going to pay. I'll have your badges. You won't be able to be get jobs at the dog pound," the large man raged as he put his hands on his head.

"Shut the hell up," the older cop said as he efficiently patted the man down, the sounds of sirens getting closer to the house. "Dick Dickerson, you are under arrest for assault and battery on a minor child..."

Crittenden helped his partner manhandle the suspect out the door while Denise went back to kneel beside Daniel. She gently wiped the tears, blood, and snot off of his face, her own face dripping with unheeded tears. "I'm sorry, Daniel."

"I told you," Daniel whispered, not knowing or caring that the social worker flinched. "I told you about him, and you wouldn't believe me..."

The resulting firestorm of media coverage made it necessary for the unnamed minor child mentioned in the case to be moved somewhere else, for his own physical safety.

Dick Dickerson was found guilty of child abuse and attempted murder, no matter how his lawyer tried to pretty it up by calling it 'merely disciplining a bad child', and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

~~*~~

It was Halloween and Daniel Jackson, aged 12, was comfortably ensconced in a ratty recliner in his bedroom. He'd been with the O'Neill's for nine days, and already unhesitantly trusted them.

When he'd first met Jeanette and Jonathan O'Neill, Daniel refused to get out of the car. He was bruised and battered, soul and body, as he sat in the social worker's car in the driveway, not wanting to go to yet another foster home, where his life would be worth literally nothing. He watched listlessly as the social worker spoke quietly to the O'Neill's.

Mrs. O'Neill had walked over to the car and opened the door, kneeling onto the concrete beside of it to look into his eyes. "Daniel Jackson, I promise that neither Johnny or I will ever hurt you," she swore, deliberately not touching the skittish boy.

Daniel's head had come up, both blue eyes wide as he looked at the woman, from her short gray hair, to her soft brown eyes, to her long, lanky body dressed in jeans and a Colorado Rockies t-shirt with a pale blue sweater over it.

"Do you swear?" his eyes darted to his new social worker, who nodded encouragingly, then to the tall man beside her, whose arms looked strong, but his face gentle, and kind.

She nodded soberly. "I swear on the head of my son, Jack," Jeanette said, her voice quiet.

This made Daniel think wistfully of his own parents, and the oaths he'd heard used in Egypt when he lived there. He nodded. "I can leave at any time?"

Jeanette nodded again, "Anytime. You have Mrs. Stacy's numbers, right?"

Daniel thought long and hard, because he was tired of being bounced around, and Mrs. Stacy had assured him that this would be a long-term placement, if everything worked out. Gods, he hoped it did. "Okay," he said, and hadn't regretted it yet.

~~*~~

"Dad and mom! I'm hooo-ome!" a robust male voice called out, and the front door slammed. Daniel froze in the recliner like a frightened rabbit. He knew who it was, his foster parent's real son.

There was the sound of a duffel bag thumping the walls, and then a tall man with dark golden brown hair and sharp brown eyes burst boisterously into the room, stopping short.

"Hey! You must be the new kid," Jack didn't make any sudden moves toward the frightened boy. He remembered his mother crying as she described the boy, and what had happened to him in his short life, and he remembered her determination that this was the last home the kid would ever need.

He smiled, using every ounce of his charm. "I'm Jack."

"D-daniel."

Jack eyed the boy thoughtfully, could see the healing black eye and the bruises. His mom had said that Daniel was 12; if so, he was a wimpy 12, and the owlish glasses didn't help that any. But Jack could see the beginnings of the coltish grace that his teenage years would bring, if they could get rid of the defeated look in those big blue eyes.

Boy, if there was ever a kid who needed a champion, this one was it.

"Nice to meet you Daniel." He tossed his duffel bag onto the other twin bed. "Dad and mom did tell you about me, right?"

Daniel nodded. Jack was Jeanette's and Johnny's only son, and their pride and joy. He was a First Lieutenant in the Air Force, and a pilot, and he came home as often as possible to visit his parent's. "Uh huh," he said quietly.

This short answer made Jack smile. "Okay, just makin' sure. I'm starved. You want to raid the cookie jar with me?"

Carefully putting down his book, he didn't notice Jack's interested glance at its cover. "Will Mrs. O'Neill mind?" Daniel asked timidly.

Jack shook his head. "Nah, if we eat dinner, she'll be fine."

~~*~~

Johnny smiled at the scene in his kitchen when he and his wife got home. Jack was sitting there, making flying motions with his hands, his eyes rolling at something, while Daniel laughed himself silly, the remnants of cookies and empty glasses of milk in front of them. "Hey, boys, I hope you left room for supper."

Jack jumped up and grabbed his dad for a hug, narrowly missing crushing the grocery bag between them. "Hiya, Pop."

Johnny patted his son's back, then shoved the bag forward. "Take this before you make me drop it," he said gruffly. He looked at Daniel, who was staring quietly. "Hey, Daniel. Everything okay?"

Daniel nodded soberly. "Can I help?" he asked.

Amazed afresh at Daniel's polite ways, Johnny nodded. "Go ahead. Jeanette's probably cursing up a storm, since I'm not back out there."

A hollered, "Johnny!" made him snort. "See?"

Daniel slid off the bar stool and followed Jack out to the garage, where Jeanette squealed in delight at seeing her son and Daniel together.

Jack watched Daniel interact with his folks over dinner, and his heart went out to the quiet boy. He could already feel a tie, a connection, to this kid, and knew that Daniel was going to change his life. How? Well, they'd just have to wait and see.

"You going to hand out candy tonight, Jack?" Johnny asked his son.

Jack shrugged. "I thought I'd hang with Daniel while he trick–or-treats."

Daniel sat up excitedly, then dejectedly slumped. "I'm too old, and I don't have a costume."

"Too old? Heck, I was trick or treating until I was 16. And costumes? Kid, have we got costumes," Jack promised gleefully.

The young man and the boy spent the next hour rummaging through an old footlocker that had everything from an old sailor uniform, to lederhosen, to tattered old sheets inside of it. Jack held up the sailor uniform, but Daniel shook his head. The boy fingered the sheets for a moment, before he looked at Jack.

"I have an idea."

~~*~~

Jack twirled Daniel around, twitching the fabric into place. "Damn, kid. You make a great sheik." They had taken the sheets, along with some braided cord Jeanette had, and with Daniel's smarts, they'd made a very serviceable robe and kaffiyah.

Johnny took a picture, and Jeanette smiled. "Okay, here's a bag for the candy. You and Jack be careful, hear me?" Jack's dad ordered gruffly.

Smiling shyly, Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Don't call me sir," Johnny said kindly, and Daniel laughed when Jeanette and Jack chorused with the older man, "I worked for a living."

"Yadda, Dad. We've heard it all before. C'mon, kid, or Dad will talk us to death."

Daniel had a horrified look on his cute face, but that melted into a smile when he saw how hard Jeanette was laughing.

~~*~~

Peeking into the bedroom, Jack smiled indulgently at Daniel's loose-limbed sprawl on the single bed. The kid was out like a light.

The young officer trotted down the stairs and sat down at the kitchen table with his parents, taking the beer his father pushed to him. "Well?" he asked softly.

Jeanette looked at Jack steadily. "Oh, he's ours. He can't be adopted; his grandfather won't allow it. But in every other way, he's ours, and we'll fight for him, Jack."

Daniel had awoken when Jack closed the door and was on his way to get a drink, standing on the middle stair, when he heard that, and his eyes swam with tears. They wanted him, oh god, how good that felt.

Unknowingly, Jack added to Daniel's happiness. "Good thing, 'cause I was gonna steal him, if you didn't want him. Just how smart is he, anyway? The book he's reading right now is in Arabic."

Johnny stood up and got himself another beer before sitting back down, snagging a piece of Daniel's candy first. "We've been letting him heal and settle in with us before we get him tested for school. I think we're going to try Vrieland Academy; Jeff Samuels says they're the best for gifted students. Daniel's social worker told us he has a record for getting into trouble at school, but I think no one ever tested him."

"He's so smart, he was probably bored to tears. God, Dad, if you heard the conversation we had during our trick or treating. He's smarter than some of my Academy classmates, and I'm so not kidding," Jack said, shaking his head with amazement.

Jack's dad smiled. "I don't think we're going to have any problems with Daniel. Except for the normal ones, of course."

Daniel froze on his way back up, his mind scurrying around trying to figure out what 'normal' problems were.

"You mean like skiing down the street and crashing into Mrs. McGillicuddy's car, then bleeding like a stuck pig? Or seeing how many kids we could pack into your VW? Or maybe smuggling that stray dog into my room?" Jack teased.

Jeanette snorted. "I'm not sure if we're ready for another dog like Lucky."

Jack smiled into his beer. "I'm just sayin'..."

Daniel relaxed. Oh. ~Those~ kind of problems. Daniel grinned as he padded his way back up to his room. He already could tell that this Halloween was the start of the best time of his life.

~*~*~

Thanksgiving was a turkey- filled blur to Daniel, and Christmas was a revelation. His parents hadn't celebrated it much, preferring to celebrate the local religions of their neighbors, usually Ramadan or Hanukkah, depending on where their dig was at any given time.

This Christmas, Daniel was indoctrinated into the full O'Neill tradition. It started with dragging boxes out of the attic, placing old Christmas decorations around, and listening to their family stories, including ones he could blackmail Jack with, Daniel remembered with a snicker. They also made new memories when he went shopping with Jeannette, and they bought new decorations, including a ridiculous statue of Rudolph, red nose and all, for the front yard.

It was after Christmas Eve Mass, a first for Daniel, and now he was staring out at the new snow because he couldn't sleep, smiling to himself; there was a ton of presents under the tree for him. The grin faded as he contemplated the Christmas story and the reason presents were given. He liked the symbolism that God had given his Son, Jesus, to the world, and so humankind celebrated by giving gifts to each other.

He liked the way the O'Neill's celebrated, by giving freely of their love and time to him, and by donating to and volunteering with their favorite charities. They'd even helped him give part of his allowance to a charity Daniel himself had picked, The Red Crescent Society. By doing so, they'd helped him see an entirely new side to Christmas giving.

Daniel pulled the curtains shut, sighing happily, and went to bed.

~~*~~

"Hey, Danny. Time to wake up!" Daniel's bed bounced violently, making him grab onto it. He blearily opened his eyes to see Jack peering down at him in the dark.

"It's still nighttime!" he whined.

Jack looked totally surprised. "It's six in the morning! Dad and Mom expect us to get up at the crack of dawn, dork. C'mon, let's open our stockings."

Daniel patted the nightstand, searching for his glasses, and gave Jack a grumpy thanks when Jack put them on his face. They trooped into the living room, where Jack had turned on the Christmas tree lights, and Daniel stopped and gasped at the riot of presents under the tree. Somehow they'd multiplied during the night.

Jack watched as the kid stared in disbelief, and his heart hurt. Daniel obviously still couldn't believe his good luck. Jack wanted to pull him in for a hug and squeeze all of his brand new big brother love and affection into him.

"Hey, kid," he said instead, his voice rough with emotion. "Here's your stocking."

Daniel reverently took the full to bursting stocking that he'd decorated himself. It was bright red and had his name on it, as well as hieroglyphs that symbolized eternal life, giving and receiving. Jeanette had said it was exotic and didn't try to belittle him for being different.

The man and the boy sat in front of the fireplace, the tree lights glowing as they dug through their stockings. There was the obligatory candy, an orange and an apple, different kinds of nuts, (though heavy on almonds for Daniel and brazil nuts for Jack), and for Daniel there were miniature Hot Wheels cars, a set of good drawing pencils, a comb, (he grinned as he waved it at Jack; he knew his hair tended to be messy), hand-knitted socks, and lastly a framed photograph of Daniel's parents. When he saw the picture, he began to cry.

"Danny?" Jack asked in concern, and he snuggled up against the boy and looked at the photo over his shoulder. It showed two happy people, both smiling into the camera, with the Giza pyramid behind them. "Ah, your grandfather sent that for you. Mom thought it would be cool to stick into your stocking."

Wiping tears from his cheeks, Daniel grinned up at Jack. "I thought Santa filled the stockings?" he teased.

Jack looked indignant. "Of course he does, but parents help a little, too, ya know." Daniel's snicker made him grin.

"If I don't get anything else? I'd still be happier than I've been in a very long time." Daniel said softly, leaning against Jack.

Jack swallowed against the lump in his throat as he slipped one arm around Daniel's thin shoulders and gave him a squeeze. "It only gets better, kiddo."

Later, one of the gifts Daniel received from Jack that day was hockey skates. Puzzled, he looked them over in their big box, then held them up. "What are these?"

Jack smiled. "Well, I thought I might teach a desert rat how to ice skate."

Daniel eyed the skates dubiously. "I don't know..."

~~*~~

"Aargh!" Daniel yelled as his legs flew out from under him, and he flopped back onto the ice on his butt. Again. He stuck his tongue out at Jack, who'd effortlessly glided over to peer down at him.

"I feel like Bambi, and you're Thumper," Daniel said petulantly, making Jack chuckle.

"You're doing fine, Danny. You were up for a whole five minutes, more or less."

"Well, taking a wild guess, I'd have to say less," Daniel retorted sarcastically.

"C'mon kid, let's try again. Remember the two big rules-- bend your legs, and keep your weight over your feet!" Daniel heaved a put-upon sigh and let Jack pull him up.

With resolve, he began to skate again, shooting Jack a smile that had Jack's heart thumping alarmingly in his chest. As the boy skated shakily away, all Jack could do was stare at him, marveling at how happy Daniel was, and how surprised he still seemed by it. His blue eyes were shining, his cheeks pink with cold, and a ridiculous crocheted ski cap with black and white penguins dancing on it covered his messy hair.

"God, Danny, I swear, if it's the last thing we do, we'll make sure you know that you're safe, and we'll make sure you're happy," he promised softly, clapping his hands when Daniel made a complete, if wobbly, circuit around the rink.

~~*~~

July 8th was a red-letter day for Daniel. He was turning 13, and his foster parents were throwing him a surprise party. He snickered. They hadn't tried to hide it terribly well, and he'd played along, pretending to be buried in his books.

Staring out of the window, Daniel remembered the last time he'd had a real party. He'd been seven, and the workers on the dig had thrown him a party, complete with a cake which his mom had somehow had delivered. The music and dancing had gone far into the night. It was a good memory. Something else to tell his therapist about.

He'd been seeing the therapist for a while, ever since he'd begun having whopping nightmares, some about his parents dying, some about his previous foster parents, and some about bad things happening to the O'Neill's. He didn't need the therapist to tell him that he was afraid of losing them; as Jack would say, 'Ya think?'. But he guessed it helped to talk to someone who wasn't close to the situation.

The rumble of a Jeep, its stereo cranked up playing REO Speedwagon at full blast, made him smile and scramble down the stairs. Daniel whipped open the front door, and when Jack got out, he threw himself into his arms. "Jack, you're here!"

Jack grinned and squeezed Daniel tightly. "Hey, Danny. Where else would I be?" Without releasing him, Jack reached in and pulled out a big shopping bag with handles.

"Can I see?" Daniel tried to peek in, but Jack held it out at arms length while pinning Daniel to his side.

"Nuh uh. You have to wait, kid."

"No fair," Daniel pouted, but he caught Jack's quick grin and knew it wouldn't work on his older brother.

"Let me take this into the house, then we'll go to the park and play a little street hockey," Jack commented.

Daniel grinned. "Why, Jack? We've got a perfectly good street out here." He gave Jack his most innocent face, blue eyes blinking behind his glasses.

Jack raised his eyebrows and laughed softly. You couldn't get anything past this kid. "Just humor me, oh smartassed one."

"Ohhh, I'm gonna tell!" Daniel snickered as Jack playfully cuffed him.

Jack had wangled getting assigned to Petersen Air Force Base in Colorado Springs in order to be closer to his family, and had patiently taught Daniel the rules of ice hockey over the winter. He included street hockey into Daniel's repertoire when the snow melted. As outstanding as Daniel had been at schoolwork, he worked doubly hard at hockey, so Jack would be proud of him, and it showed. All of the work had strengthened him, and he was rapidly becoming a very handsome, self-assured teenager.

At the park, they played a fast game of street hockey before heading over to a picnic table and sitting down.

Daniel let out a happy sigh and flopped onto the bench. "I'm glad you came today," he said.

Jack snorted. "As if I'd be anywhere else. How's everything going?"

In the blink of an eye, Daniel's expression turned serious, and Jack stiffened. "Danny?"

"It's going so great, I keep wondering when it'll all fall apart," Daniel said quietly.

Oh. This was something that was going to take years of love and uncompromising support, Jack knew. He went and wrapped an arm around Daniel and pulled him in tight, marveling at how much taller the kid had grown in the past few months. "It's no dream, and even if something happened to Dad and Mom, I'd take you in. Alright?"

Daniel looked up into Jack's twinkling eyes, and seeing the love and honesty there, he felt his heart warm in his chest. "I know, Jack. I love you."

Jack grinned. "Right back at ya, kid." The alarm on his watch made him tilt his wrist to check the time, and he smiled. "Are we okay now? 'Cause we need to get back home, like five minutes ago."

The party was a resounding success, and Daniel got a boatload of presents. Surrounded by his new family's love, Daniel went to bed with a happy heart, not to mention a stomach full of pizza, cake and ice cream.

Down in the kitchen, Jack puttered around, putting the last few things away while his mother made coffee. Johnny came in after locking up for the night, and the three of them settled around the kitchen table with satisfied sighs.

"Did he get anything from his grandfather?" Jack asked suddenly.

Jeanette nodded, a small smile on her face. "He sent a rambling letter about a dig he's on, something about a crystal or glass skull or something. Daniel was tickled pink. I think he's aiming to be an archeologist like his parents were."

"I think he'd be great at anything he does," Jack said staunchly. "Oh, remind me to ask him to start teaching me Arabic; I can't believe I forgot. Another language will really put me ahead."

Johnny smiled at his family as he sipped his coffee. He'd been happy before, Jeanette was his soulmate and Jack his pride and joy, but Daniel had wormed his way into his heart, and now Johnny felt like his life was satisfyingly complete; it was a great feeling. "I'll remember."

~~*~~

Spring

Jack rolled his eyes as Daniel corrected his pronunciation yet again. Fed up, Daniel tossed the Arabic book down on the coffee table and got to his feet. "It's all well and good to know the cuss words, Jack. But what happens if you're stuck behind enemy lines, and your life depends on this?" With an impatient huff, he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Shit," Jack said quietly, in English, cupping his head into his hands. Daniel was right, and he knew it. It was just such a fucking hard language to learn. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Say it in Arabic," his mother teased quietly.

Jack snorted a laugh. "I can do that. It's just Daniel is an expert, for all practical purposes a native speaker, and it's a little intimidating," the Air Force pilot said wearily.

"You're whining, son."

"I know," he sighed. He got up, went into the kitchen, and sat beside Daniel at the bar. "You're right."

Daniel gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I know."

Jack ruthlessly suppressed a chuckle. Couldn't have the kid getting a bigger head than he already has. "So, what can I do to make this easier on you?"

The teenager flopped back in his chair, flicking his hair out of his eyes with a sigh. "I think maybe I'm going about it all wrong. Irregular verbs and tenses and stuff are okay, but I think we're gonna try something new."

The something new was what Daniel called 'conversational Arabic', and it was so much better. It made more sense logically to Jack, and his understanding was vastly improved. So much so that, by the end of the summer, Jack was reasonably conversant in basic Arabic, and he could read well enough to decipher simple things, like road signs and stuff on menus, things like that, that were used in everyday Egypt or whatever Middle Eastern country he found himself in. It was a good start, and Jack knew that the military would send him to Monterrey to become more fluent later on.

~~*~~

The next couple of years flew by in a comfortable blur for Daniel. He was happy, his mom said he was growing like a weed, he was challenged at his private school, he had his family, and couldn't wish for anything more. And he'd almost gotten out of the habit of looking over his shoulder for the next bad thing to happen.

In Illinois, a cop was digging through information trying to locate Daniel Jackson. He was getting the information for a friend of a friend of Dick Dickerson, only because his reputation had been threatened, because he'd been found using prostitutes for sex and a punching bag. He'd been looking for months, coming up empty every time, when he lucked out and managed to overhear a conversation between the head of arson and Detective Larry Sanders. And now he knew where the kid was.

No one knew what the cop had been doing when his body was found the next morning, riddled with bullets in the alley outside of a whorehouse. It was quickly found that he'd been a dirty cop, and the department, caught with its pants down, was tracing everything he'd been doing the past several months, but it was slow work and time consuming.

~~*~~

A nagging cough made Daniel wake up and roll over to his side. He needed a drink. He coughed again, fuzzily wondering what that smell was, as he sat upright in bed. He smelled smoke, and it was strong.

Immediately remembering what he'd been taught in school by one of the local firefighters when he was younger, Daniel dropped to the floor and grabbed his t-shit, tying it around his nose and mouth. He carefully felt the door and opened it, flinching back from a wave of heat and smoke that momentarily overwhelmed him.

He tried to see into the darkened hallway, then went back for his glasses. Not much better. Daniel poked his head outside his bedroom again, and rapidly crawled down the hallway towards his parents' room, and the closest phone.

"Dad! Mom!" he called, and his hand bumped into Jeanette who'd collapsed on the floor. "Mom!" he rolled her gently, scared out of his wits, relieved when she moaned.

The phone. "Think!" Daniel said aloud, his mind in a whirl. "Dad! Wake up, the house is on fire!" He heard his father moan and crawled to that side of the bed, gently pulling him to the floor. Then he remembered the phone was on that side as well. He grabbed and dialed...

"911. What's your emergency?"

"I live at 12 Townsend Street and my home is on fire," Daniel said as calmly as he could, muffling a cough.

"Can you get out?" the woman's bored voice had shot way up to alert status.

Daniel looked at his parents and wondered where the fire was exactly. "I don't know, the fire is downstairs, and we're upstairs."

"We? Who else is there?"

"My mom and dad are unconscious."

The dispatcher winced reflexively and snapped her fingers for her supervisor. "What's your name, honey?"

"Daniel."

"How old are you Daniel?"

Daniel coughed again. "15."

The supervisor flipped the book open and the dispatcher nodded her head. "Okay, Daniel, we've got a rescue squad and fire department en route to your house. I need you to listen to me, alright?

"Hurry," Daniel whispered. It was getting hot all of the sudden. His glanced at the bedroom door and could see the hellish red glow down the hallway. "I've got to shut the door." He placed the phone down, grabbed the bedspread, and dragged it over to the door to keep the smoke from coming in after he shut it. That helped some. He went over to the window and opened it cautiously. He had a pretty good understanding of science, and he didn't want to encourage the fire, but he needed to get his family out. He'd forgotten the phone.

A groan made him crawl over to his dad. "Dad?" he tapped Johnny on the cheek, none too gently.

Johnny opened his eyes. "Dan'l?"

"Dad, you've got to get up! The house is on fire!" Daniel knew his voice was shaking, but he figured he had a logical reason to be shit scared.

Johnny finally roused enough to comprehend the gravity of the situation and said, "Oh, fuck."

This made Daniel snort a laugh. He couldn't help it; his dad never cussed. "We need to get out of the window."

Shaking his head, Johnny fought to his hands and knees and shook his head, trying to think. The sounds of sirens pierced the night, and they could hear people shouting in the street. "Danny, see who's out there. See if they can get close enough for us to drop mom down to them."

Danny shot to his feet, stuck his head out of the window, and waved when people saw him. "I need someone to catch my mom!" he shouted hoarsely.

A burly football player who went to the local public school and his father dashed up, and Daniel and Johnny manhandled Jeanette feet first out of the window, where their neighbors caught her limp body.

"Danny, you go next."

"No, I didn't pass out. You go," Daniel said stubbornly. A red pickup truck with its lights on pulled up out front. "Daniel, go!" Johnny tried to shout, but started coughing.

Daniel ignored his father, shoved him to the window, and bodily lifted him up and over the sill, the bang of the door behind him and the roar of flames making him jump. He looked into Johnny's eyes. "I love you, Dad," and he dropped Johnny into the waiting arms below.

Johnny was set onto his feet, sputtering and cursing as he batted helping hands away. "Daniel!"

Daniel had grimly swung his legs over the window sill, casting an anxious glance over his shoulder, when there was an explosion, and he felt himself propelled through the air. His last thought was that this was so gonna hurt, and then nothing.

~~*~~

Jack sat beside Daniel's hospital bed, watching over him. It was amazing how things could go to shit in a minute. "Damn it, Danny," he whispered. His dad and mom were being treated for smoke inhalation, while Daniel had bruised ribs, sprained wrists, and a concussion.

Jack had been in the air when the emergency communication, advising him to land immediately, was relayed to him. Jack hadn't been worried; they couldn't have found out about the prank on the flight Commander yet. But when he'd reported to his Colonel, the news about his family had been much worse than some juvenile prank.

Daniel moved slightly and moaned.

"Daniel, c'mon buddy. Open those baby blues for me."

"J'ck?"

Jack almost passed out from relief. "Yeah, buddy, how're ya feeling?" he asked and winced at the answer.

"Hurts. Everywhere. Ow."

"Let me get the nurse." Jack jumped to his feet.

"No!" Daniel forced his eyes open. "Wait! Mom and Dad? They okay?"

"Yeah." Jack sat down and patted Daniel's hand. "I heard what you did, kiddo. I'm so damn proud of you." He was more than proud. He was amazed, humbled, in awe.

Daniel shook his head, wincing. "I didn't want to lose them. I'd have to move in with you."

"Oh, har dee har har. Such a comedian. Not!"

A giggle slipped out of Daniel, then his face paled, and Jack grabbed the call button. He kept his vigil as the nurses scuttled in and give his little brother enough painkiller to keep an elephant happy.

~~*~~

Over a month and a half after the fire, and plans for renovating their fire-damaged home were going forward. They were just about healed from their injuries, though Daniel's left wrist had been discovered to be broken, and he was now wearing a cast. It would come off in a few more days, and the teenager was more than ready for it to be gone. He'd had to put his driving lessons on hold and wanted to restart as soon as possible.

"What about this one?"

Johnny made a face as his wife showed him another sample of tile. "Honey, you know what you want. All I need is somewhere nice to watch TV, a comfortable place to sleep, and a dining room table big enough I can spread my elbows at it. I'm leaving all the details to you." He shared an eyeroll with Daniel, who also snickered.

"Just wait, kid," Johnny promised darkly. "Someday you'll have a significant other, and she'll drive you batty with questions about what color carpet you want, or if you want a harvest gold or olive green refrigerator."

Daniel just laughed louder, then leaned over Jeanette's shoulder and pointed at the tile. "White is okay in the bathrooms; just toss bleach on it, and it's clean. Everything else you should pick; I agree with Dad."

Jeanette grinned. "You're pretty smart, Daniel," she said, pecking him on the cheek with a kiss. She marveled about how much he'd grown. "Hey, I forgot. You have mail from your grandfather."

Daniel scrambled over to the tiny kitchenette of their temporary apartment and ripped open the fat letter with its exotic stamps. "Oh," he breathed. In his hand was a replacement picture of his parents, plus one of him as a baby, being held by his mother, and one of his father on a dig. "Wow, look!" He showed the pictures to them, explaining in detail where they'd been taken.

Later that night he laid in bed, gazing at the pictures and remembering, while in the kitchen, the conversation took a decidedly serious turn.

"Jeanette, I ran into Larry Sanders today."

Jeanette looked at her husband. "The detective at the police department?"

"I didn't want to tell you before, but the fire chief thought the fire was suspicious. They turned some of their findings over to the police, and it's been confirmed." He looked up at her. "It was deliberately set."

His wife fell bonelessly into a chair. "What? Who would hurt us?"

He shook his head slowly. "Not us, babe," he said softly.

"Not us, but..." her eyes rounded. "Daniel?"

Johnny nodded. "Larry said that Daniel's life is in danger. I want to send you and him to Aunt Sarah's in Charleston."

"But, what about his school?"

"I'm sure that there's somewhere in Charleston for him to finish out the year, or we'll just let him start vacation early." Johnny got up and hugged his wife. "Please, I need to keep you and Danny safe. I'll stay here and keep the house going and whatever else needs to be done."

Jeanette nodded against her husband's shoulder. "Okay. And Jack?"

"I'll let him know."

They hadn't had time to buy a lot of things after the fire, so while Daniel was sleeping, they packed everything up. In the morning, they kept to their normal routine, but instead of turning off to Daniel's school, Jeanette kept driving.

"Mom?" Daniel looked back to their turn, then over at his mother. "We missed our turn."

"I know, honey. We're heading to South Carolina."

Non-plussed, Daniel stared at her. "Um, okay. What about school?"

"We might put you back, in or just keep you out until the September."

Daniel sat back, his mind going a mile a minute. "What happened?"

Jeanette shook her head. "I can't tell you right now; I just want you to enjoy the trip." She reached over and took his hand, glancing at him quickly before putting her eyes back on the road. "Will you trust us, Danny?"

Daniel nodded slowly. Something was wrong, and he was frightened, but he did trust the O'Neill's. "Yeah, it'll be fun. I've never been to South Carolina before."

"That's the spirit," Jeanette said. You'll like Johnny's Aunt Mattie, she's a character."

~~*~~

Jack was surprised when he saw his dad come into the squadron headquarters. His dad never came on base unless it was to the commissary or to see a doctor. Retiree benefits were one of the reasons that his folks had ended up in the 'Springs.

"Hey, Pop! What are you doin' here?"

Johnny smiled at his son. "Hey, I wanted to see if you could catch a bite to eat. Somewhere more private than the officer's mess, if that's okay?"

About to ask why, Jack caught the tightness around his dad's mouth, and the stressed out look in his eyes. Shit. Something was wrong. "Sure, Dad. I'll take you to the O club."

Johnny saw Jack's squadron leader enter, and he jerked his head over. "Invite Colonel Mays. I'll pay."

Double shit.

"Okay, Dad."

At their table at lunch, Colonel Mays sat across from O'Neill's father and wondered what the hell was going on. As far as he knew, Jack got along with his father better than a lot of the young men in the squadron, but his Lieutenant was pale, and his father was stiff.

After they ordered, Mays decided to dive into the uncomfortable silence. "So, Mr. O'Neill. Can you tell me what's going on?" he asked gently.

Johnny looked at his son, then at the Colonel. "The fire at our house was arson. Someone tried to kill us."

"What? Goddamnit, who? Who would try to kill you guys?" Jack burst out.

Startled looks from other tables made Mays grab Jack's arm. "Settle down, Lieutenant." He looked at Jack's dad. "I assume the police have spoken to you?"

"Yesterday," Johnny confirmed bleakly. "I've sent Jeanette and Danny to Charleston." Now he looked at his son. "I'm staying here, one because of my job, and two to work with the police," he said, then looked at Mays. "I need you to send Jack TDY to Charleston Air Force Base. Just until we catch whoever is behind this."

Mays nodded. "That's not a problem. I can get the paperwork through and have him fly out tomorrow."

Jack slumped in his chair, the men going silent as their various lunches were brought out. His mind was in what he called 'op mode'. He wanted to protect his family, and having them separated ate at him, though he knew his dad was doing the right thing. His dad was a retired Marine and could take care of himself, so that meant it was up to Jack to take care of his mom, Danny, and his Aunt Mattie in Charleston.

"We'll co-ordinate with the local police and keep an eye out for your father, Jack. And we'll catch the bastard who did this," Colonel Mays said seriously.

Jack looked at his Colonel and nodded. "Yes, sir."

He had faith in his Colonel, and he knew that his father would do everything in his power to catch the son of a bitch. And then it dawned on him, and he stared at his father. "It wasn't you and mom. It was Danny they were after."

Johnny nodded. "That's what we think."

"What about Social Services?" Jack asked quietly. Technically, they weren't supposed to take Daniel out of Colorado.

"I'll take care of it," Johnny promised.

It was all Jack could do to choke down his lunch.

~~*~~

My Journal, by Daniel Jackson

May 24th

Well, we left Colorado Springs and made it to Kansas City before nightfall. I've never driven across the United States before, and I have found that I don't think I missed anything in Kansas. I've never seen a state so flat. I think if I stood on the roof of the car, I could've seen from one side of the state to the other. Or maybe if I was above, up where Jack flies, I'd see big green squares of corn and wheat.

Mom stopped at a bank and got money, then we wandered around and found a bookstore. She bought me books for the trip, this journal, and a brand new pen to write with. She says that everything is going to be alright.

We're staying at the Sunnyside Motel. It's painted white with red trim, and has big barrels of red flowers on each side of the door. It's pretty old; Mom says it was probably built after World War II, probably at the same time the highways were being built. That's the first time regular people in the United States could afford to travel, or even wanted to, and little motels like this popped up all over.

We ate at McDonald's, and then went to the motel, and Mom watched me swim laps in the pool.

I wish I knew what was going on.

May 25th

We're in Memphis, and wow, is everything Elvis here! We're just inside of Tennessee, on the banks of the Mississippi. It's so cool; it reminds me of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Missouri was a very pretty state. The towns are clean, houses white with picket fences and flowers and more farms. I've even seen Amish. Mom explained that the Amish live apart in their own communities, and don't use technology but use horses for their power. They originally came from Switzerland to seek religious freedom, and I could understand them when they spoke High German. They were surprised when I spoke to them, I guess not many 'English', which is what they call everyone else not Amish, know High German. I was lucky, I learned low and high German from Grandfather when I was little.

I saw big Belgian draft horses and even some Percherons. They were the warhorses used by knights back in the Middle Ages, and were amazing. Mom pulled the car over, we walked to a fence, and I got to feed a couple of apples to one. They're very gentle, and smart too.

We drove through Arkansas, over the Arkansas River and into Little Rock. Arkansas, the name, was attributed to the French missionary and explorer, Father Jacque Marquette. He was a Jesuit priest in the 1600's, and he traveled over quite a bit of the American south and Midwest, especially along the Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Illinois Rivers.

We drove through the capital of Little Rock, and we could see the white dome of the Capitol when we drove by. It's been fun taking detours off of the highway when either Mom or I see something interesting. It's taking longer that way, but apparently we're not in a hurry.

I tried to get more out of Mom, but she's like a clam.

May 26th

This was a sobering day. We drove through Alabama and stopped in a small town just outside of Birmingham, and they still had separate bathrooms marked for White people and Colored. As Jack would say, "Ohforcryinoutloud!'. I would've thought that those days were long gone. And boy, did Mom have something to say about that...I think I learned one or two new curse words!

We're in Atlanta now, and it's a busy town. And the accents! They're amazing!

Mom finally told me what was going on today. I see all of the secrecy was to protect me. This sucks. Who would want to kill me? It's not like I'm a criminal mastermind or a spy or something.

I went swimming in the motel pool, and we ate at Carl's Junior. I'm about tired of hamburgers; I miss Mom's cooking. A lot!

~~*~~

Mattie peered out of the curtain, her brown eyes twinkling. "Jack, they're here! Get your skinny ass up here, boy!"

Jack chuckled as he hustled up the stairs. "Yes, Aunt Mattie," he replied obediently.

Daniel got out of the car and stared in amazement. Aunt Mattie lived on Charleston's Battery Row, in one of the beautiful mansions that could be seen from the Ashley River. Her house was a buttery yellow with bright white trim and black plantation shutters. It was three stories, and the bottom and middle stories had columned porticos, and the top had a balcony. The gardens were lush and a little overgrown, but you could see where someone had started work on them.

"Wow!" Daniel breathed in delight.

"Jeanette!"

Daniel's attention was taken by a tall, thin woman dressed in velour jogging clothes. She was beautiful in that timeless Southern way, her steel gray hair coiled on her head and held haphazardly in place. As she moved up to Jeanette and wrapped her in a hug, Daniel spied his brother. "Jack!"

Jack laughed as Daniel raced up the steps and gave him a hug. "Hey, kid, how ya doin'?"

Daniel sighed as he felt the warmth of Jack's hug undo knots he didn't even realize he had. "Better, since you're here."

Jeanette watched Jack and Daniel with affection. Jack had been the ideal big brother, and he was doing a lot to keep Daniel calm.

Jack took Daniel on a tour of the house, their last stop in the bedroom that Mattie had assigned Daniel. It was opulent and masculine, done in dark blues and dove gray with mahogany furniture. There were elaborate draperies and leather covered chairs that looked old and soft, and were ruined, in Daniel's opinion, by the needlepoint pillows on every available surface.

Dropping Daniel's suitcase on the bed, Jack observed, "It's a little frou frou, but Mattie said that a pirate once lived here, and this was his room."

Daniel's eyes went big. "A pirate? Which one?"

Jack chuckled. "You'll have to ask her, kid. C'mon, let's take a walk down the Battery. Martha said dinner would be ready at 5 sharp."

Daniel had already met Martha, Mattie's colored cook, who ruled the kitchen with an iron fist. She was short as Mattie was tall, and beautiful. Her face looked more Egyptian than African to him, and he almost felt more at home because of her. Mattie had said that Martha was descended from slaves, and white slave owners in Charleston. "Okay, I'm starved."

Outside the two walked from one end of the Battery to the other, talking about sports and what the prospects were for the hockey season. After a bit, Daniel stopped to lean on a stone wall, staring out at the Ashley River. "Mom told me what was going on," he said quietly.

Jack nodded, leaning on his elbows beside Daniel. "I figured. I've been assigned out here at the Air Force Base, so I can keep an eye on you and mom." He caught Daniel's startled look. "It's only temporary, until you guys can go home."

"When is that gonna be?" Daniel asked in frustration.

Jack took Daniel by the shoulders and shook him gently. "They'll catch the bastard, don't you worry, Daniel. I promise."

Daniel knew that when Jack promised, his word was gold. "Okay, let head back. I'm staaarved!" Daniel whined pitifully.

Jack cuffed him, racing ahead. "Last one there is a rotten egg!" he called back to Daniel, who laughed and ran after him.

~~*~

May 27th

We're at Aunt Mattie's house in Charleston! It's huge. It's got 8 bedrooms and there are secret passages, and a ~Pirate~ called Red Charlie married a local girl, and they lived in this very house in the 1800's!

Jack and I explored after dinner until bedtime, and then he went to his room, which is next door. It's in green and peach, and Jack keeps saying it's making him airsick, but he doesn't say it to Aunt Mattie's face.

Charleston is amazing, and I can't wait to see more. I want to go to Ft. Sumter, where the first shot of the Civil War was fired, and to the cemeteries that have famous people buried in them, including Daniel Webster. And I want to see Rainbow Row, which we kinda saw a bit today. And I want to visit Middleton Plantation; Jack says he heard there are alligators there!

I miss Dad, even though I talked to him tonight.

I've made myself promise that I'm going to keep up these journals. They're great for getting me to think out stuff and maybe Dad will want to read them when we get home.

And with that entry Daniel closed his journal with a satisfied sigh.

~~*~~

On the second day there, Daniel was lazily swinging underneath an ancient oak tree in the lush side garden, when he heard something that sent a wave of homesickness, not for Colorado, but for Egypt, through him. A lilting voice next door was singing an old Egyptian lullaby, the same one his nanny used to sing to him when he was very little.

He got up off of his swing, went to the wrought iron fence, and stared through. In the garden was an obviously Middle Eastern woman, and she would alternately hum or sing to herself as she planted what looked like lilies into the rich soil.

When she started to sing again, Daniel began to sing along, his tenor a counterpoint to her sweet soprano, and she looked up, startled to see him standing there.

"I'm sorry," he said in Arabic. "My nanny used to sing that song to me when I was little."

The woman stared at him and slowly got to her feet, absently brushing her hands off, her eyes going wide and shiny as she stepped towards him. "Dan'yel?" she whispered as if to a ghost.

Memories slammed into him, and his own eyes widened. "Nailah?" he said, his voice cracking.

She rushed to the fence and reached through to cup his face, happy tears streaming down her own. "Dan'yel, how did this happen? How do you come to be here?"

"I'm here for the summer with my mother," Daniel babbled. "Not Mama, but my mother now," he explained brokenly. "I can't believe that it's you!"

"Nailah?" a man came into the courtyard, his proper English voice making Nailah turn her head and smile.

"Michael, come! I would have you meet someone."

Michael smiled at his wife. "Perhaps he could come to this side of the fence?" His voice, with its strong Scottish accent, was dust dry.

Daniel snickered, wiping tears from his face. "I'll be a minute. I need to tell Aunt Mattie where I'm going." And he charged away in that quickness that teenage boys have.

Seeing the utter happiness on his wife face, and the tears, Michael all but melted. "My darling, who is he?"

Nailah accepted a handkerchief from him and wiped her face while she laughed. "Remember I told you I had lost my first husband and my babe? An American archeologist had just given birth and needed a wet nurse and a nanny for their newborn. Dan'yel was the baby I cared for. Oh, Allah is great, for I never thought I would see him again."

A minute later there were running footsteps up the brick driveway, and Nailah met Daniel, where they hugged each other fiercely. Mattie had followed with Jeanette, who was wiping tears from her eyes at the total happiness on her son's face.

Michael smiled. "Hello, Matilda. I understand that this young man lives with you?"

"And don't it beat all. From what I could gather from the fastest explanation I ever did hear, your wife was Daniel's nanny when he was a youngster in Egypt," Mattie told her neighbor. "What are the chances of that?"

Daniel had finally pulled back, still chattering away in Arabic before he saw his mother and Mattie. "Mom, Mattie, this is Nailah," he said proudly.

"She's my neighbor, twit," Mattie commented irascibly but with a smile.

Jeanette rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "It is so nice to meet you, Nailah. I'm Jeanette O'Neill."

Nailah clasped their hands. "It is my honor, Mrs. O'Neill." She looked at her husband. "This is Michael Sutherland, Lord Buchan, my husband. Michael, this is Dan'yel Jackson, and his mother, Mrs. O'Neill," she introduced formally.

Daniel's eyes had widened as he shook the man's hand. "You're a Lord, with a seat on the House of Lords and everything?"

Michael chuckled, charmed by this gangly teen-aged boy. "With a seat on the House of Lords and everything. It's nice to meet you both. Come, let us go in for some tea, shall we?"

Their home was decorated in a very English fashion, with dark oak pieces, but the walls and fabrics were vibrant reds, blues, and gold, accented with a definite Middle Eastern influence. Daniel wandered the room and touched items that were familiar to his childhood.

Nailah served tea, watching him indulgently and marveling at how handsome and tall he had grown.

"How did you recognize him after all of these years?" Jeanette asked as she sipped her tea.

"I was his wet nurse," Nailah began, but Daniel turned, and his horrified, "Nailah!" made the adults laugh at his chagrin. He came over and sat at her feet on the Oriental carpet, leaning against her knee.

"He was a very good eater," she teased, and he blushed and rolled his eyes. "I had care of him until he was seven summers of age. I knew him better than anyone except his mother." She leaned forward and touched Daniel's face gently. "I was filled with sorrow to hear of your parent's deaths. They were as a brother and sister to me."

Daniel smiled tremulously at her. "Thanks, Nailah. I miss them, but I have a great Mom and Dad now, and an older brother. I think my parents would be happy for me."

"Of that I have no doubt, my Dan'yel." She patted his face and took a drink of her tea.

Mattie caught Michael's eye and jerked her head towards another room. "Michael, I need to discuss something with you about the neighborhood association," she lied blithely.

He caught the hint and stood, patting his wife's hand. "Stay here and speak to your Daniel and his mother. This won't take a moment, my love." He followed Mattie as she moved into the other room, then into the large entryway, gesturing for him to follow her outside.

Mattie turned to him. "I didn't want to worry Nailah, but I think I'm going to need your expertise, Michael."

He raised an eyebrow. His background with MI6 was secret, but Mattie had known him for years. She'd been in England during World War II, working for the OSS, where he'd met her as a young boy. "What is it, old girl?"

She smacked him on the arm. "Watch who you're calling old," she said, then she stopped teasing.

"Daniel's life is in danger. He was nearly beaten to death a few years ago by his foster father." She saw Michael's face darken with anger, and she nodded. "They caught the bastard, and Danny came to live with my nephew, Johnny, and his wife, Jeanette. Then earlier this year someone tried to kill him again, this time by setting their house on fire. The brave boy saved his parents and almost lost his own life in the process," she said, her voice hard. She sighed. "I have no illusions that whoever is after him will not trace him here, and that's where you come in."

Michael took her hand in his. "I will take care of this, my dear Mattie. Not only for you, but for Nailah as well. It would kill her if something happened to her Daniel."

Mattie squeezed his hand. "Thank you, now let's go inside before someone sends the hounds after us."

~~*~~

The summer went by fast, including Daniel's 16th birthday, which had been celebrated at Ft. Sumter and with a wild ride with Jack in an F-14 Tomcat, and it was almost time for school again. After much discussion between Colorado and Charleston, the decision was made that Mattie would home school Daniel. She'd been a professor of English and Economics and said she figured she could keep up with the uppity 16-year-old genius.

At the same time Jack had started bringing dates home, some just to tease his mother, and others because he liked them. Daniel just about hated them all; they were morons- morons with boobs, but still...

'Oooh, Danny, aren't you the cutest thing?' This was one of them trying to get into his mom's good graces...

Or, 'Jack, you told me that you fly airplanes. Do you fly for TWA?' and this was ~after~ Jack had met them in his military uniform...See? Morons.

Daniel had finally taken it upon himself to find someone decent for Jack. He'd been going to the library just about every day, and one of the women there had always been nice to him. Her name was Sara, and she was just about perfect for Jack. So, 'Operation Save Jack from Himself' was hatched.

Sara Malloy smiled as she watched Daniel come into the library. He was rapidly becoming one of her favorite patrons. If he needed something, he'd wait for her to help him, he was unfailingly polite, which was rare in a teenager, and he was obviously smart as a whip.

"Hey, Daniel." She smiled as he came up to the old oak counter.

Daniel smiled shyly. "Hi, Ms. Malloy. I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

Sara grinned. "You've been asking me something almost every day for the past two months. I think I can handle it," she teased gently.

He smiled back. "My aunt wants to meet you. She's home-schooling me, and she suggested you come to dinner."

At the doubtful look on her face, Daniel hurriedly added, "We live on the Battery! It's number 14, the big yellow one with the black shutters. It would mean a lot and go a long way to making Aunt Mattie comfortable with me coming here every day." Charmed by Daniel's plea, Sara agreed.

Daniel left with a gleeful smile on his face. Now was time to make his next move!

~~*~~

"O'Neill," a voice said.

"What?" Jack grunted, involved in the newest literature from McDonnell-Douglas.

"Hey, Jack! Phone for ya!"

Jack looked up and scowled. "Who is it?"

"...says he's your brother."

Jack jumped to his feet and got the phone in the ops office. "Daniel?"

"Hey, Jack. Mom said you're not busy tonight, so are you coming over? Martha's making fried chicken and her Alfredo noodles," Daniel wheedled. He knew how much Jack loved Martha's cooking.

Jack snorted. "Whaddya want, kid?"

"Nothing!" Daniel said a little too quickly, and his voice cracked, making him wince.

"Sure." Jack's tone was unbelieving. "But since Martha's making her fried chicken, ask her to make extra. I need a bribe for the senior flight officer."

"You got it! See you at 7, Jack!" and the phone went dead in Jack's ear. He stared at it suspiciously before hanging up.

"That kid is so up to something," he said before he went back to his desk to read.

~~*~~

Sara stood on the sidewalk, a little intimidated by the large house. She knew the people living on the Battery were among the wealthiest residents of Charleston; she'd just never connected Daniel to that august group. Now reality was slapping her in the face, making her wonder why she'd agreed to this. A beep from behind her made her jump, and she moved out of the way of the red Jeep, smiling automatically at the handsome young man inside.

"Jack! You're here!" Daniel came racing down the steps to give the man a boisterous hug. There was serious love between the two, and it was heart warming to see.

Daniel glanced over and grinned. "Sara, come on in!"

Jack looked over and eyed the pretty woman with interest. She was tall, slim, and blonde, with beautiful blue eyes. "Daniel?" he asked softly

Daniel smothered a smile. "Jack, this is Sara Malloy. She works at the library. Sara, this is my brother, Lieutenant Jack O'Neill. He's a pilot in the Air Force, and he's stationed here in Charleston."

Flustered somewhat by the tall, handsome man looking at her so admiringly, Sara held out her hand. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. O'Neill."

"Oh, please, the pleasure is all mine. And call me Jack."

~~*~~

Sara and Jack began to date, and at first Daniel was happy as a clam, but before he knew it, he was starting to feel left out of Jack's life and didn't know how to deal with it. He stopped going to the library as much, holing up in his room reading from Aunt Mattie's huge collection instead, unaware that his mom and Aunt Mattie were getting worried.

~~*~~

Jack pulled into the driveway with a flourish and a bit of gravel spinning, which made Mattie shake her fist at him from the front porch. He grinned and hopped out of the Jeep. "Sorry, Mattie!" he called unrepentantly.

Mattie scowled. "I'm going to send you out there with a teaspoon to put all of that gravel back, Jonathan Patrick O'Neill."

He laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "Won't happen again, I promise." She grunted and pinched him soundly, smiling at the yelp before they went into the house.

"Where's Mom or Daniel?" Jack asked curiously. Usually Daniel was all over him by now.

Mattie's face went grim. "Your mother is shopping, and he's outside somewhere. I tossed him out to get some sunshine. I told him not to go next door, either."

Jack made a face. His mother had been giving him chapter and verse on how worried she was about Daniel, and even Sara had mentioned that she missed Daniel coming to the library. Unfortunately, between the base and Sara, he hadn't been able to visit for a while. "I'll find him."

"Good, and maybe you can talk some sense into him."

"Yeah, like that'll happen," Jack snorted as he headed outside. He checked Daniel's favorite haunts-- the swing, the large oak that you could climb and look out at the river, the top of the old carriage house. Not finding him in any of those places, Jack headed for the park.

~~*~~

Daniel laughed at the very bawdy interpretation. "No, I'm pretty sure that's not what Shakespeare meant," he told the young man he'd met while reading under one of the huge live oaks on the Battery. An arm around his shoulder startled him, and suddenly he realized that Ryan was trying to flirt, and Daniel blushed.

"I just think that if you looked at it that way, then the whole play would be different." Ryan nudged Daniel with his shoulder, making the him laugh.

"Daniel," a sharp voice said, and Daniel looked up to see Jack glowering at him as the arm that had been around his shoulders was abruptly withdrawn.

"Hey, Jack, I didn't know you were coming over today," Daniel said quietly while his heart leapt for joy.

"I got some time off, and Sara is having a girls' night out," Jack explained shortly. "Who's your friend?"

Ryan stood and held out his hand. "I'm Ryan. Daniel and I have just met." He winced when the obviously protective military man reached out to shake his hand and squeeze his fingers warningly.

"I'm Jack, Daniel's big brother," Jack introduced himself, at the same time ignoring the way the other man was subtly checking his fingers for damage.

Daniel shook his head, embarrassed. "I was reading Much Ado About Nothing, when Ryan jogged by and noticed," he explained.

"Huh. Let's go, kid," Jack ordered. "Mattie sent me to find you."

A little irritated, Daniel gathered up his books, even as he sent an apologetic look to his new friend. "I have to go, Ryan. It was nice meeting you."

"You too, Daniel," Ryan waved, then continued on his jog.

Daniel walked quietly for a bit, then glared at Jack. "Don't you think you were being a little heavy handed?"

"Jesus, Daniel. He was all over you!" Jack retorted sharply.

Startled, Daniel stopped and stared at him. "Oh, he was not! We were simply discussing Shakespeare."

"Any closer, and he would've been drooling on you," Jack retorted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Maybe I wanted him to drool on me; did you ever think of that?" Daniel spat back. He was pissed, at himself, at Jack, and at the world in general.

Jack grabbed Daniel by the arm. "You're sixteen, Daniel. There are guys out there who prey on pretty boys like you."

Daniel stared into Jack's hard eyes and jerked his arm free. "I'm not stupid, Jack. Now back the fuck off." He jogged up the driveway and into the house, giving Mattie a short hello before disappearing upstairs.

Mattie stared up the stairs before turning to glare at Jack. "I see that went really well."

"I'm outta here," Jack snarled. "Tell Mom I said hi and that I'll call her." He got into his Jeep and sped off.

With a weary sigh, Mattie went towards the kitchen. She needed a belt of hard cider or something.

From his upstairs window, Daniel watched Jack go, tears running down his face, as he tried to process why he was feeling all torn up inside.

~~*~~

Halloween came and went with little fuss, and Thanksgiving was on the horizon. Daniel was up in his room studying, as usual, when a familiar voice called, "Daniel!"

"Dad!" Daniel flew from his room and down the stairs to be welcomed warmly in a very badly missed hug. "I missed you so much!"

Johnny looked at his wife and mouthed, 'What's wrong?' but she shook her head and mouthed back, 'Later'. She hadn't told him about Jack and Daniel's fight, or Daniel's unhappiness.

"I missed you too, Danny. Wow, you've gotten so tall!" Johnny ruffled his son's hair and couldn't help but smile. Daniel was taller, broader, and seemed to be adjusting, though there was a lurking sadness in his eyes that even as a father he couldn't decipher.

"C'mon, let me show you around!" Daniel said excitedly, completely forgetting that Mattie was Johnny's aunt, and he'd been there many times himself.

That evening Jack brought Sara over to meet his dad, and while the family was sitting and talking, Daniel crept over to Nailah and Michael's.

He'd been spending a lot of time there, and they'd let him, knowing that something was bothering him. They'd tried to get him to talk about it, but he couldn't even verbalize it himself, so they let it lie and allowed him to come over as much as he wanted.

Daniel knocked quietly and was let in by Nailah and Michael's butler. "Greetings, Master Daniel. Lady Sutherland is in the drawing room," the very proper old man said, and didn't even blink as Daniel smiled shyly and headed off to find his friend.

Nailah looked up as she saw Daniel hover uncertainly in the doorway. "Dan-yel. Come in." Seeing the distress in his eyes, she patted the divan beside her, watching as he sat down like his whole body was weary. "Are you not well, my Dan'yel?"

"I think Jack is going to ask Sara to marry him!" he blurted.

"But that is good news!" Nailah said with a smile. "Is this not what you wanted?" She read conflicting emotions on Daniel's face and realized that this was where the problem of the past couple of months lay.

"Yes! I did," he murmured, "but now..." He shot to his feet, pacing back and forth, as he waved his hands. "I never see him anymore, and it's always Sara this, and Sara that. It's not fair!"

Nailah watched silently for a moment, then patted the seat beside her again. "Come back here," she ordered softly. Obediently, Daniel sat again, leaning against the woman who'd become a rock for him.

She gathered her words carefully as she rubbed his back, as she used to do for him when he was little. "Your Jack will always be yours, Dan'yel. But even he has to grow up. He must put away childish things and become a man. And yes, part of that is falling in love. Sara is a wonderful woman; she's smart, beautiful, and loves him very much. It is good, yes?"

Daniel nodded miserably. "But I'm going to miss him." Tears began to slip down his face.

"Oh Dan'yel, you are not losing him. Yes, you will not see him as often, but you have a special bond with him that is never going to lessen. And you will have Sara, and pretty soon they will have babes that you can spoil and teach things. All will be well, Dan'yel. You will see." She rocked him as he sobbed, and Nailah realized that he'd interpreted this as Jack leaving him, as his beloved parents had done, even though it had been unwillingly on their part.

In the hallway, Michael stroked his chin thoughtfully and wondered if it was more than what Nailah thought, but let it go. That line of questioning would only lead to heartbreaking complications that no one was ready to deal with.

Daniel and Nailah's talk seemed to have helped for at Christmas, when Jack announced that he and Sara were getting married, Daniel looked like he was happy for them.

~~*~~

Todd Crittenden stared at the bulletin in disbelief. Dick Dickerson, with the help of an unknown accomplice, had escaped from prison. "Oh shit," he said aloud.

"Critt? What's the matter?" Todd's new partner asked curiously.

"A guy I put away years ago has escaped. I wonder if I should let the detective in charge of the case know?" he wondered aloud.

Frank Collins shook his head. "If you read this, then he probably has, too, and knows already."

Todd stood indecisively for a moment, then took the sheet and put it in his folder. "You're probably right."

His decision came back to haunt him a week later when he read the bolo about Mrs. Dickerson being murdered. He immediately went to the detective and told him what he knew about the man and when he learned of the escape.

Johnson sat back in his chair and sighed. "I hadn't seen the bulletin. But don't beat yourself up; next time you'll know better." He sent the young cop on his way, picked up the phone, and called his counterpart in Colorado Springs to let him know the bad news. What he heard was worse than he supposed, and he went to his filing cabinet and began to dig through his old cases, pulling out the one labeled, Jackson, Daniel, Minor Child.

He perused it quickly and then began to check out the people in the case.

Dickerson, Shirley age 41, white female, raped and then murdered with a blunt force object. Next was the social worker, Reilly, Denise, age 26, Social Worker, white female, dead from a hit and run. Shit. He checked the arresting officers and found Crittenden, who was fine, he'd just seen him that day, but his training partner, Bill Sailer, had died just the day before from yet another hit and run.

"God damn it!" he said, loudly.

His Captain came out of his office. "What's blown up your skirt, Johnson?"

He looked at his boss. "We've got a problem, Cap." And he showed him what he'd found.

Captain Jim Fetter hadn't gotten to his position by not listening to his people. He got on the phone and had Crittenden put into protective custody, then got the squad to drop everything and concentrate on one Richard Dickerson, former alderman of Carbondale, Illinois, now being sought for the murders of three heretofore unrelated people, including one of their own.

~~*~~

Daniel was jogging along the Battery, not minding the gentle rain that was getting him progressively damper. It was cold, but not too bad, and he was enjoying the flocks of sea birds that swirled in the air. He didn't realize that there was a car behind him, and as he took the final curve to the house, the car zoomed up and clipped him, throwing him to the ground with a startled cry.

Michael had just pulled around the corner in his Range Rover when he saw the nondescript blue sedan hit the jogger. It took him a fraction of a second to see that it was Daniel, and his heart started racing when he realized Daniel's life was in immediate danger. He stopped in the middle of the road and jumped out, racing towards the man who was dragging the stunned teenager to his car.

"Stop! Let him go!" Michael yelled in his best commanding voice.

Dickerson turned, his face twisted with anger and hate, and grabbed his pistol and fired, smiling when the other man jerked and rolled behind a parked vehicle. He grabbed the brat, tossed him into the back seat, and sped off.

Michael cursed and limped to his car, grabbing his cell phone and dialing. "This is Rob Roy. I've got a hostage situation. Report immediately," he ordered sharply. Then as he drove the short distance to his home, he made a second call and notified the police. Nailah had heard the gunshot and ran out, her hands going to her mouth when he got out of his car, her face pale as she saw the blood on the leg of his pants.

"Darling, you need to call Mattie and Jeanette. Tell Mattie we need her first aid experience," he said before cupped her quivering chin with one hand and forced her to meet his eyes. "I'm fine, but Daniel's in danger. Go now."

~~*~~

Daniel groaned and woke slowly, aware that he was aching all over. He knew he was in a car when he slid over the vinyl back seat. Guttural cussing from the driver made his blood freeze in his veins. Dickerson. Daniel would never forget that voice.

Daniel panicked for a minute, but remembered Jack telling him that as long as he stayed calm in an emergency, he had more of a chance of surviving. He cautiously poked his head up and saw they were close to the docks, so he hadn't been out long. He made a decision, one that he hoped wouldn't get him killed, and opened the door, diving out of the moving car, rolling in a bone rattling rush to the edge of the road. The screech of tires made him push himself to his feet, drag in a sobbing breath, and run for his life.

~~*~~

Michael winced as Mattie poked knowledgeable fingers over his wound. "You'll live," she pronounced.

"Thank you, Matilda, but I believe I knew that," he said wryly. His eyes went to Daniel's mother, who had just gotten off of the phone. She was white as a sheet.

"Jeanette?" Mattie asked sharply, going over to help the shocked woman sit down.

"I talked to Johnny. He said that the man who initially tried to kill Daniel recently escaped from prison, and he's already killed his wife, Daniel's social worker, and one of the policemen who rescued him. His name is Richard Dickerson and is considered armed and dangerous." Her voice broke, and she began to cry helplessly.

Michael exchanged a look with Mattie, and he went to his phone and called his contacts. He hung up and the phone rang immediately. "Sutherland."

"It's Jack. I'm about to get onto a base special ops Blackhawk to do a search. Describe the vehicle for me."

Michael did, including the license plate. "Be careful, Jack. Dickerson has nothing to lose."

"And we have everything to lose," Jack choked out. The line went dead.

Hanging up the phone, Michael looked over at his butler. "Lyle, can you get the ladies some tea, please? And my coat?"

The butler bowed and disappeared while Nailah stood and went to her husband. "You are going to search for Dan'yel?"

He covered her hands with his. "Ian Brodie's going to meet me outside. He's been monitoring the police frequencies, and we're going to try our very best, my love."

Nailah nodded her head, her big brown eyes serious. "Be safe and bring Dan'yel home."

Lyle stepped back in with Michael's coat, and he carefully put it on, nodded to the women, and limped out to meet his friend, also a former agent with the British Secret services.

Brodie was listening to the police scanner as his friend carefully got into his Aston Martin. "Hello, old man. There's been a sighting of the vehicle down by the shipyards." And the car moved quickly in the direction from where the call had come.

~~*~~

Daniel hid behind a shipping container, barely breathing. It was after five, and there were no workers around that he could find, which was contributing to his panic. He wouldn't let Dickerson catch him; he'd jump into the river before that happened. A black helicopter flashed overhead, startling him, the roar of its rotors deafening.

Unfortunately the noise masked everything, and when Daniel turned to run and find someone, ~anyone~ he faced Dickerson, who was pointing his weapon at him. "Found ya now, ya little bastard!" Dickerson grated out, his eyes wide with furious insanity.

"No!" Daniel protested and spun around and ran, darting around the corner of the metal container and hearing the thud of bullets striking it. "Help!" he screamed as he ran full out, hyper aware of the hoarse shouting and bullets behind him and knowing he couldn't stop or he'd die.

"Daniel!" a voice shouted, and Daniel recognized it.

"Here!" he shouted back hysterically.

"Where?" Michael shouted back, his own weapon in his hand as he and Brodie separately began to search the container yard. Peripherally he was aware of sirens coming closer, but they weren't close enough to help him or Daniel now.

Daniel glanced wildly around and spotted the huge blue crane that lifted containers onto ships. About to holler back, the helicopter startled him again by zipping up and hovering. Cowering in the downdraft, Daniel managed to look up, and he thought he could see Jack through the dust and trash that was being thrown up.

As Jack looked down on Daniel, all of the fear and desperate love he felt for him almost made him choke. "Can you set us down here?" he asked the pilot into the microphone.

The pilot professionally eyed the area with its double-stacked containers and shook his head negatively when one of the crew yelled, "There's a guy with a gun!"

Heart in his throat, Jack watched as Dickerson came closer to Daniel. All they could do was lower the helicopter a little and use the backwash from their blades to slow the man down more. He shot at them several times, and the pilot grimaced as he jerked the bird back and forth, but they could hear the staccato echo of the bullets hitting fuselage. "Shit! Jack, I'm losing fuel."

"Oh, god, Daniel," Jack cried out as the man on the ground got even closer.

The crew chief grabbed Jack by the shoulder and held up a rope. "Have you rappelled before?"

Hope lit Jack's eyes. "Not since OCS, but let me do it!"

The crew chief nodded and tossed him an emergency rappel belt and gloves, quickly yelling out the basic instructions, while Jack nodded his understanding. The Staff Sergeant tightened the rope then called to the pilot to bring the 'hawk around, handed Jack his personal sidearm, and the crew watched as Jack stepped out and performed the maneuver perfectly, even as they were still being shot at.

Jack landed lightly on his feet and spun around, snapping his pistol up and firing, first shot hitting Dickerson in the chest, and the second shot, almost on automatic, hitting the man between the eyes. He never noticed the weapons fire that had whizzed by his own head, all of his attention on his target.

Michael came around the corner and saw Dickerson's back as he shot towards the man under the hovering helicopter. He grinned fiercely, raised his own weapon, and fired at the same time as he heard more shots. He watched with satisfaction as Dickerson jerked like a broken puppet and fell facedown on the ground. He moved forward, bending to check on the body, but his knowledgeable eye could tell the man was dead.

The helo zipped away, and the sudden lack of loud noise accentuated the sound of harsh panting and quick sobs. Michael looked up in time to see Jack standing frozen not more than 50 meters from the fallen teen.

"Daniel!"

Michael watched as Jack ran towards his brother, naked emotion that said everything on his face. Bloody hell.

Daniel threw himself into Jack's arms, sobbing in relief, pressing his body as tightly to Jack as he could. Jack was holding him close, as though he never wanted to let him go.

Brodie came around the corner, holstering his weapon when he saw that Daniel was safe and the bloke they'd been after was deceased.

"Ian, can you lead the local police and the paramedics here?" Michael asked his friend, and Ian trotted off.

Michael came up to the brothers, gently laying his hand on Daniel's head where it was buried in Jack's shoulder. Ashen faced, Jack looked up, and the anguished love in his eyes made Michael hurt for him. When the paramedics and police arrived, and Jack reluctantly let Daniel go to be checked over.

Michael flashed his ID and spoke to the police for a few minutes, then grabbed Jack by the arm and dragged him away from the chaotic scene. "Jack," he said quietly, but Jack's eyes didn't even register that he was being spoken to; his whole being was concentrated on Daniel. Michael shook him sharply until the shell-shocked Air Force pilot met his eyes. "Jack, you cannot do this to Daniel. He's still a lad, and you're still serving," he said bluntly.

"I...I almost lost him," Jack gasped in shock.

Michael nodded. "Aye, I know. But now you have to let him go. You've got Sara, and a career to think about, and Daniel needs to grow up without these emotions hanging over him."

Grief filled Jack's face as he nodded. "What am I going to do without him?" he asked softly, the bitter truth showing in his eyes.

Michael glanced over at Daniel, who was lying on the gurney. "I'll ride with him to hospital, and you go home and tell your family that he's okay and bring them. All right, lad?"

Jack nodded numbly, trying to gather himself. This tragedy had made his heart realize it was twined with Daniel. Now it suddenly had to learn to let go, and it was hurting like hell. But he knew he had to do this, for Daniel's sake, for his sake, god, even for Sara's sake. He trembled one last time, took a deep breath, and squared his shoulders, locking that part of himself away. "I'm ready."

"Ah lad, I can see that you're not, but I give ya points for trying," Michael said gruffly but with sympathy. "I'll meet you at hospital."

~~*~~

Held on a sunny Saturday in October, in the park on the Battery, Jack and Sara's wedding was beautiful. The ceremony took place in the gazebo underneath the ancient multicolored oak trees and beside the Civil War cannons that lined the boulevard.

Sara was dressed in a long white dress with antique lace overlay and in her short blonde hair she wore a crown of red roses, the perfect foil for Jack's blue Class A's. Sara's friend Anne, from college, served as her maid of honor, and Daniel was Jack's best man, dressed in a brand new navy suit, purchased just for the occasion.

After the ceremony, Jack's fellow pilots held up their officer's swords in the traditional arch, while the new husband and wife laughed and ducked underneath.

If Daniel was pale and quiet during the whole thing, people attributed it to teenaged moodiness and politely left him alone.

~~*~~

The family moved back to Colorado Springs, and Daniel spent the winter and following spring studying hard and passed his finals, graduating high school with honors early. He received his letter of acceptance from Oxford University in London and was there in mid-August, almost before he realized it. He threw himself into his studies that fall, made friends carefully, and voraciously read the letters from home whenever they arrived.

He was saved from overwhelming homesickness by the fact that Nailah and Michael moved back to London, ostensibly for Michael's job, but Daniel had figured out that Nailah wanted to be there for him, and he loved her for it.

Daniel flew home to Colorado on the 23rd of December, in time to surprise his parents for Christmas, and when he got out of the taxi in front of the house he was overwhelmed at the emotion he felt. Then the door opened and his mom came out, his dad on her heels, and he was hugged within an inch of his life.

"Daniel, my god, why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Johnny asked.

"I wanted to surprise you," Daniel said with a laugh as his mother hugged him again.

"Well, you sure did! Come into the house," Jeanette ordered briskly even as she wiped the tears of joy off of her face.

Daniel had to smile at the small tree with its familiar ornaments in the corner, and his and Jack's stockings at the fireplace. "Oh, I can't believe it. You don't think we're too old?"

"No. Well, maybe Jack is," Jeanette laughed. She hung up his coat and fussed over him, getting him hot chocolate while Johnny asked him about classes.

"Not that we're not glad to see you, but I thought you were saving up for a car?" Johnny asked as they moved into the living room.

"Grandfather sent me money for the plane ticket. He knew I was feeling homesick." Daniel grinned. "It was his Christmas present to me."

"Don't forget to send him a thank you note," Jeanette admonished.

"Yes, Mom," Daniel said, rolling his eyes at his dad. "You'd be proud of me; I already did."

"Good. It's never too late to use manners," his mother said, not realizing both Daniel and her husband were mouthing the words with her until Daniel began to laugh.

Johnny joined in the laughter despite getting swatted with a potholder by his wife, just happy to see Daniel acting like a normal kid.

That night Daniel sat in the window seat of his old room in the dark and gazed out at the stars twinkling in the utter cold of the snowy Colorado night. He could remember a dozen times when he and Jack laid on their backs in the grass and looked up at the stars, Jack teaching him the constellations. It was a bittersweet memory, but one he held close to his heart.

He heard a soft knock and the squeak of his door, and he turned to see his mother poke her head in, backlit by the light out in the hallway. "Daniel? Is everything okay, dear?"

Daniel smiled. "Just looking at the snow and stars, Mom. I'd forgotten how cold it gets here."

Jeanette came in, her pink fuzzy robe securely wrapped around her as she sat on the cushion beside her son. "Is Oxford treating you well?"

Facing his mom, Daniel nodded seriously. "I love it. And I'm not the only younger student there, so it's not like I'm a freak or anything."

"You're not a freak, just very smart, Daniel," his mom said severely.

He grinned at her. "I'm doing good, Mom. Really. You know I've been working on linguistics and archeology, right? My advisor is suggesting anthropology too, since a lot of the classes overlap."

Jeanette blinked. "Wow, three degrees. Well, if your advisor thinks its best, and you know that you can handle the course load..."

Daniel waved a hand. "It's easy stuff; I'm getting top grades in all my courses."

"Easy stuff, he says..." Jeanette rolled her eyes, and Daniel snickered.

He yawned widely and Jeanette shepherded him to his bed, covering him up like when he lived at home. "Sleep, Daniel."

" 'kay, mom," Daniel murmured and dropped off.

Smiling fondly, Jeanette brushed back his overlong bangs and left the room, silently closing the door.

Daniel woke up the next morning, expecting to hear his roommate snoring, butthe smell of coffee and the bright sunshine bouncing off of the snow and streaming in through his windows reminded him of where he was. "Oh yeah, I'm home!"

"Danny? Mom's making bacon and eggs. Are you awake?" Johnny called cheerfully.

"Yeah! Can you pour me some coffee?" he called back as he rolled stiffly out of bed, jet lag making him feel groggy.

"Coffee?" Johnny asked, but Jeanette shrugged. "He's probably drinking it while he studies. I can't imagine what his professors think; caffeine makes him bounce off of the walls."

"They're probably used to it," Johnny pointed out dryly. He smiled as Daniel trudged into the kitchen, eyes half open as he made a beeline for the coffee machine. "I've got some here," he said, and Daniel sat down at the table and buried his nose into the cup.

"Mmmm, thank you, coffee gods," Daniel murmured.

Johnny exchanged a laughing glance with his wife and clucked knowingly. "You're awfully young to be an addict, Daniel."

"Coffee's good," Daniel replied with a shrug.

As they ate, they chatted about Daniel's upcoming summer project in North Carolina. He was joining an archeological team that was recovering the pirate Blackbeard's ship, 'Queen Anne's Revenge' off Cape Lookout, and he was excited about the opportunity. Daniel got up, poured himself another cup, and smiled at his parents. "That was great as always, Mom."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, I..." and the doorbell rang.

Johnny got to his feet, opened the kitchen door, grinning at who was there. "Jack and Sara! What a great surprise!"

Daniel was surprised, too. Jack was stationed at MacDill AFB in Florida since he'd started training for Special Ops. From their last letter, he knew Jack had been scheduled to learn more languages for his training, including polishing his Arabic. He stood when Jack and Sara came into the kitchen, and Jack stared at him in surprise and then strode over to him.

"I thought you were in England!" Jack said with a puzzled laugh and a bear hug.

"I thought you were in Florida!" Daniel threw back with a smile. He still felt that pull to Jack, and it confused the hell out of him. He gave a brief welcoming hug to Sara and went out to help Jack with the luggage.

After the bags and the coats were put away, Sara pulled out a flat box and handed it to Jeanette. "Merry Christmas, Mom," Jack said softly as he draped an arm around Sara.

Jeanette opened it with Johnny looking over her shoulder, and inside was a brand new stocking for the fireplace, inscribed with the name 'Baby O'Neill'.

"A grandbaby!" Jeanette gasped with joy.

A baby. Daniel watched as Sara and Jack accepted the congratulations, adding his own before going up to his room to shower and get dressed. After he pulled on his socks, Daniel sat on his bed and wondered why he suddenly felt so damned depressed. He was home for Christmas, forcryingoutloud, and Jack was there!

He rubbed his face with a sigh, because he knew why. The baby was just another sign of how he and Jack were growing apart. Without stopping to think, he picked up the phone and scheduled his return flight for the day after Christmas, blessing his grandfather for getting an open-ended ticket that he could change without penalty. He wanted to get away from Jack, to stop needing him so damn much.

Christmas day was a quiet family time. Jack's stocking was exchanged for the one that Jack and Sara had brought. It was filled with baby lotions, Q-tips, newborn baby clothing and the like, while Daniel's had been filled with his favorite candy, almonds, another picture he'd never seen of his parents, a new picture of the O'Neill family that had been taken on their last vacation together, and to his surprise, left over pound notes, pence and such. Johnny explained had they'd been lying around since the last time he'd been to England, and he'd figured Daniel could use it, since he lived there now.

All day, Jack hovered over Sara like she was made of fragile glass, but when he had a moment to himself, he let himself indulge in a bit of Daniel watching, checking on him to make sure he was doing okay, to see if he was happy. He had taken Michael's advice to heart and committed himself to the Air Force, to Sara and their unborn child; it was as complicated and as simple at that. And it tore his heart apart.

It was late, around 2 AM, when Daniel, sleepless, wandered down to the kitchen for some pumpkin pie. He hadn't told his parents he was leaving the next day, because he hadn't wanted to see their disappointment.

He sat at the bar and plowed through his first slice, then contemplated the pie, wondering if he should have another, when Jack came in. He eyed him for a moment, then pushed the pie plate towards him. Jack smiled wryly and got himself a paper plate, serving himself up a slice. Daniel held up the whipped cream, questioning, and Jack nodded. Daniel helped himself to another slice, slathering both his serving and Jack's with whipped cream, and they ate in companionable silence.

Daniel finished up with a sigh. "Mom's pies are the best."

Jack nodded, gathered up their forks and put them in the dishwasher, and tossed their plates in the trash. "So, how's school?"

"It's good. I should be graduating by the end of next year," he said in a self-deprecating tone.

"Sweet," Jack said admiringly. "You've been busy. I know Mom told me you were blowing through your classes, but I didn't quite get it before." His pride in Daniel was unmistakable.

Suddenly feeling more comfortable, Daniel leaned forward and grinned. "But you haven't heard the best part; this summer I'm to be part of the team that's recovering Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, on the outer banks of North Carolina!"

This made Jack laugh softly. "You were always soft on pirates, ever since Aunt Mattie's." They fell into an easy silence, something they'd both realized they'd missed.

"So," Daniel began, "Mom wrote and said they were sending you to Monterrey to learn languages."

"Dobry den!" Jack said in badly accented Russian, snickering when Daniel winced.

"Um," Daniel made an 'ew' face, "I understood that, but your accent is atrocious," he complained. He had Jack repeat it the right way until he was satisfied. "Better. Find a solid Russian speaker and practice, practice, practice."

Johnny came in and blinked owlishly at his sons. "Is there any pie left?"

Jack and Daniel exchanged big smiles.

~~*~~

The next day Daniel packed his duffel bag and came into the kitchen with it, meeting his parent's eyes squarely. "I need to leave in a couple of hours to get back."

"Already?" Jeanette asked in dismay. Johnny didn't say anything, just poured Daniel a cup of coffee.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, I've got a couple of big papers due in January, and with everyone on holiday, I should be able to get them finished without distraction."

Jeanette pursed her lips but didn't argue, just started breakfast. Sara came out, noticed the tension, and looked at Jack, who shook his head. He picked up Daniel's bag and raised his eyebrow. "Alright, I know this isn't everything, Dannyboy. Where are your books?"

"I didn't bring any," Daniel lied, giving Jack his 'Bambi eyes'. This made Jack snort, which made Daniel laugh. "Okay, they're still in the room, in my carryon, and I didn't bring that many."

"Right, and if they weighed your bag, you'd win the record for world's heaviest carryon," Jack teased.

"All right, you boys sit down and eat your breakfast," Jeanette scolded mildly. She looked at Sara who was staring at Daniel with an indecipherable look. "Sara? Are you hungry, dear?" she asked sharply.

Sara jumped. "Um, no, Jeanette. I'll just have some orange juice," she said, stammering slightly at Jeanette's tone. Jeanette nodded, and Jack fussed over his wife, settling her in beside him.

Daniel ate quietly, and after meeting Jack's electric gaze, kept his eyes on his pancakes, feeling uncomfortable again. He finished his breakfast, excusing himself from the table to get ready to go. He was putting his toothbrush in his toiletry bag when he saw Jack in the mirror behind him

"Hey, Jack," he smiled at the older man.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, then sighed and shook his head. "Be safe, Daniel." He swallowed hard as Daniel turned to face him. Those beautiful blue eyes, that stubborn chin, and lush mouth haunted his dreams, but he pushed it down, deep inside.

"You too, Jack." Daniel said seriously as he moved around Jack to finish putting his things away, aware that something was bothering Jack, but not knowing how to help him.

~~*~~

The next six months passed quickly for Daniel. At the end of June, he flew to North Carolina to join Professor Crowe and his handpicked crew of students. As usual, Daniel was the youngest, and he had to prove himself, but by the second week, when he'd not complained about the scut work he was assigned, and stayed genuinely enthusiastic about the work, he began to make friends among the other students.

"Yo, Jackson!" Drew Michaels called.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Michaels?" he asked patiently.

Drew exchanged a smirk with one of his fellow students. "I need my tanks exchanged, so I can go on the dive in the morning." He loved ragging on the whiz kid, always making sure to do it out of the Professor's view.

"Fuck off, Drew," one of the third year students said, scowling at Drew. Her name was Amy Bintz, and she was tall, beautiful, blonde, and a genuinely nice person, who didn't take crap off of anyone. She also cursed like a sailor. "Take care of your own fucking tanks."

Daniel grinned at the frustrated man as he kept on carefully washing sand out of the objects in the square buckets filled with pure, filtered water. At the moment, he was carefully cleaning pewter plates and had discovered both hallmarks and monograms on his pieces.

"Don't let Drew, the ass-wipe, boss you around, Daniel." Amy said staunchly as she supervised the cleaning. "You're ten times the archeologist he'll ever be."

This condemnation made Drew scowl, but Amy stared him down. "How are you doing with that concretion?" she asked as she walked over to peer into Drew's plastic bin.

He looked at what he'd been working on. "I think its old material and maybe straight pins."

"Excellent," Amy praised him, and Drew smiled back at her, distracted for the moment.

That evening after the meal, Daniel went out to the dunes to stare at the sea. Footsteps behind him made him glance over his shoulder, and he smiled as Amy came up to sit beside him. A soda was passed over, and they sipped silently as the moon shone brightly on the sea.

~~*~~

Daniel was uncomfortably aware that a couple of the girls were flirting with him. He, unfortunately as an almost 17-year-old teenage boy and his hormones were in overdrive, enough so that when one of the girls brushed up against him, he would get an instant woody. He'd taken to wearing very baggy shorts to disguise his predicament.

At the moment he was alone in the research tent, digging through files to find the manifests of ships that the Queen Anne's Revenge had taken.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked up and swallowed his drool. It was Becca De Angelo, semi-brainless and overly endowed first year archeology student, and she'd been hunting him like a Georgia hound. "Um, hi Becca. Did you need something?" He winced as his voice cracked.

"Just wanted to see if you were okay in here," she cooed, sashaying over to him.

Daniel pressed back against the table, panting as Becca pressed her breasts against him. "Um, okay. Um, yeah, I'm okay," he squeaked as she leaned forward and planted a kiss on him that almost made him hyperventilate.

"Daniel, where in the hell are those records?" came Steve Carver's annoyed voice. His question made Daniel and Becca spring apart like two opposite poled magnets.

"Just a second, Steve!" Daniel called, annoyed at the way his voice cracked again. "Someone misfiled the darn things!"

Becca gave him a naughty wink, and she moseyed back out, a wriggle in her hips that made Daniel sigh with some regret.

He grabbed the files and almost mowed Steve down. The grad student, who was almost ten years Daniel's senior, eyed him speculatively, grinning at Daniel's flush. "Probably best not to go around alone, or Becca will eat you alive," Steve advised kindly. "She's slept through half of the students already. I don't guarantee you won't catch something from her."

Daniel made a face. His dad had told him about sexually transmitted diseases, in graphic detail, and he was in no hurry to find out about them first hand. "Yuck, I'll be more careful."

Steve cheerfully clapped him on the back. "Good. Let's go find Professor Crowe; he's got some exciting hypothesis."

Brightening, Daniel totally forgot his first kiss, in the greater light of scientific discovery.

~~*~~

Daniel turned 17 in North Carolina, and his fellow archeology students held a huge crab and clam roast on the beach for him. It was past midnight when someone slipped Daniel a beer. He quickly discovered that he didn't like the way it made him feel, out of control and horny as hell. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, he wandered, slightly tipsy, back to his tent. Inside, his tent mate, second year student Grant Connor, smiled up at Daniel from his book.

"Too much party?"

Daniel nodded, going to his bag and pulling out a bottle of water and draining it. "It was fun, but beer and clams," he rubbed his stomach, "aren't mixing very well."

Grant grinned and shook his head. "Crowe better not catch them giving you beer."

This made Daniel snicker. The Professor was notoriously grouchy if his students got out of control. "Well I'm not telling him."

"Me neither," Grant replied.

Daniel sloppily undressed and lay down on his bunk, rubbing at his erection, but too drunk to do anything constructive about it. He rolled to his side and watched Grant read for awhile, then his bladder decided it needed to get rid of some of the beer. "Damn it," he grumbled as he sat back up. "Whoa, spinning tent. Not cool."

Grant snickered and put down his book. "Let me help you." He put an arm around his younger tent mate and walked him over to the latrine, smiling to himself as he heard Daniel's heartfelt groan as he started to piss into the metal drum. A minute later Daniel staggered back out, and Grant found himself with an armful of the cutest, horniest teenager he'd ever hoped to manhandle. "Let's get you to bed, buddy."

"By myself?" Daniel pouted.

Unable to resist, Grant bent his head and pressed a kiss to those fuckable lips, moaning when they opened for him, and the kiss deepened. Goddamn, but Daniel could kiss.

"Harrrumph," came from behind them, and they broke apart to stare at Professor Crowe, who was scowling mightily.

Daniel blinked sorrowfully, a little frustrated at having his wonderful kiss broken off. "I'm not a little drunk, Professor. Really."

Grant groaned and had to stifle a laugh. Daniel shouldn't have opened his mouth. "I was just putting him back to bed, sir."

Crowe moved up to cup Daniel's face, wincing as the younger man breathed on him. "Oh, he's going to feel poorly in the morning. Make sure he drinks a lot of water and put him to bed," he ordered as he stared down Grant. "Alone. Understood? I don't care what orientation you are, or what Daniel is. He is, however, underage, I'm responsible for him, and this is neither the time nor the place. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor," Grant replied, suitably cowed. Back in their tent, he got Daniel to drink some water and watched as he fell asleep in the blink of an eye. Damn, it would've been fun to get a hold of that virgin ass and teach him more, but the Professor had made a point.

The next morning Crowe gathered all of the student archeologists together for a stern lecture, smiling at Daniel's miserable expression. He hoped the youngster would learn something from this.

"I know Daniel is a nice lad, he's also 17, and even in the state of North Carolina, he's underage. While Daniel, ~who is a nice lad~," the Professor emphasized again, much to Daniel's hung over embarrassment, "might not rat you out, I most certainly will." And that stopped all of the flirting, both male and female, for the rest of that summer, much to Daniel's halfhearted chagrin.

The upside of the entire situation was that he realized he really wasn't ready for beer, or a steady relationship, or even meaningless sex. Not yet.

~~*~~

Jack watched, awestruck, as his son Charles Jonathan O'Neill was born in August that year, a month to the day after Daniel's birthday. His son was a miracle, a wriggling, red-faced, howling bundle of tiny arms and legs. As soon as the nurse handed him over, Jack held Charlie close and stared down at him, promising that nothing would ever hurt him.

In the beginning, everything was wonderful; Jack had a loving wife, and a brand new son. But then Sara began to suffer from a deep depression, and for a while, everything was tough as she shouted at Jack and ignored Charlie. This family upheaval was extremely difficult, combined with Jack's training schedule, and after a few months, he found himself close to cracking.

Late one evening in November, after a particularly hard day, he was sitting in the recliner, rocking a fretful Charlie, when the phone rang. Shit, he hoped it hadn't woken up Sara.

"O'Neill."

"Hey, Jack."

Abrupt peace flowed into Jack. "Danny, how are you?" He found himself peering down into his infant son's face with a tired grin, which the baby answered in kind.

In England, Daniel leaned against the wall in the hallway, the phone crooked between his cheek and shoulder. "I'm great. I wanted to see how Charlie's doing. I got your pictures yesterday. He's so cute, for a bald baby," he teased.

Jack laughed bitterly, not realizing how clearly the emotion transferred over the phone lines. "Charlie's doing great. Sara, not so much."

"What's going on, Jack?" Daniel asked, the depression in Jack's voice shaking him badly.

With a heavy sigh, Jack leaned his head back and closed his eyes as Charlie began to settle. "Sara's going through a rough patch, and I don't know what to do for her."

Daniel read between the lines. He knew Jack was working hard at his training, and if Sara wasn't doing well, and with a newborn baby... "I wish I could help," he whispered.

Jack fought the sudden prickle of tears behind his eyes. "Just talking to you helps, Danny."

They chatted then about inconsequential things until Jack begged off, citing a sleeping Charlie. Daniel said his good byes and hung up. He stared sightlessly at the phone for a long moment, then called his mom. She'd know what to do.

A couple of days later their mom appeared on his doorstep and immediately took charge, showing an unexpected compassion for Sara and letting him go back to the relative sanity of work. Jack never questioned how his mother knew to fly out; he was just profoundly grateful to have her help until Sara got back on her feet.

~~*~~

That fall, University classes started again, and Daniel got a new roommate. A former sailor with her Majesty's Navy, Pierce Frasier was a Scot with a wicked sense of humor and an almost mystical gift for advanced mathematics. He and Daniel hit it off right away, and their dorm room became the home base of the defacto 'Brainiac's Club', where all of the exceptionally gifted students would come to write papers or study or listen to music, play chess or backgammon, or just bounce ideas off each other.

"Oy, Danny!" A pencil flew and hit Daniel square in the forehead.

Daniel looked up in annoyance. "What?"

"Let's go for a pub crawl. I need to fix my blood-to-alcohol ratio," Pierce stated.

"I'm only 17," Daniel pointed out.

"Ah, yes, our wee babe. Have an orangeade or something, you git! I'll need you to carry me to get back here anyway," his roomie said cheerfully as he yanked on his coat.

A half hour later, Daniel was nursing his cola drink, grinning as Pierce whirled yet another girl around the small wooden dance floor to the cranked-up strains of vintage Beatles music. Daniel was having fun, but he'd never tell Pierce that, or the Scot would lord it over him forever. After the song ended, Pierce did an impromptu drunken cha-cha back to the table, where he collapsed into his chair and gulped his beer down with a happy sigh, his freckled face red with exertion and alcohol.

"Now that's beer!" He grinned at Daniel, who snickered back. "I am now ready," he declared loudly, "to head back to our humble hovel and slumber peacefully."

"Oh, good," Daniel said as he got up. "Then I can listen to you snore all night."

Pierce shoved him with his shoulder. "I don't snore!"

"Oh, please. You snore like a drunken sailor."

"That's because," Pierce started with a flourish, "I ~am~ a drunken sailor!" he announced to the pub, bowing when people clapped.

An eye roll was sent with a laugh, and they bumped shoulders again as they headed outside. There were a lot of people outside, men and women from the local colleges, all enjoying the cool evening.

Daniel took a deep breath of the moist night air, turned to his roommate, and was about to say something when a laughing girl stepped into the street and was hit by a passing car.

"Shit! Pierce, get inside and call the cops!" he ordered. He dashed into the street, narrowly avoiding get hit himself.

Spinning around, Pierce hurried back inside while Daniel went to check out the unconscious woman, lying in the middle of the avenue.

~~*~~

The girl moaned as Daniel knelt down beside her. "Don't move around. Let me check you out," he said in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. The girl moaned again, and Daniel could only wince as he saw the spreading pool of blood beneath her head. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Daniel turned to see the man whose car had hit the girl as he stepped out, stared for a long moment, and then jumped back in, turning down the side street and driving away.

Pierce's voice appeared right behind him. "Danny, what can I do?"

Daniel turned to stare up at him. He pointed toward the street where the car had been. "Quick, see if you can catch the license plate of that black Bentley that hit her," he ordered.

Pierce scrambled to his feet and dodged around a taxi to jump up on a lamp post and stare at the disappearing car. "Got it, Daniel!" he said triumphantly.

Daniel was distracted by the girl, who was beginning to come to. "Shh, an ambulance is coming for you," he said quietly. They could hear sirens, and suddenly one of their study buddies, Oliver, was kneeling down with them.

"Let's see what we have," Oliver said calmly, using his first aid training to assess the injured girl. The girl's green eyes were dazed, and she held onto Daniel's hand as tight as possible. He spoke nonsense to her, trying to keep her calm, while Oliver asked for t-shirts from other students to staunch the blood. It took interminably long minutes before the ambulance crew appeared, accompanied by the police.

"Right, lads, can you tell me what happened?" one officer asked while another started moving the crowd back so the ambulance crew could work.

Pierce stood, his face pale. "We came out of the pub, and ~bang~, the car hit her, and she flew up and then hit the pavement. Daniel here went to the girl, while I ran in to call you lot. I got the registration, though, before the bastard drove off."

"Good on you, lad," the man said warmly. After the ambulance men loaded up the girl, the three of them were put into a patrol car and taken to the local station, where they gave their statements.

"So, Mr. Jackson, you're a yank, are ya?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "I was born in Egypt to American parents. They died in New York City when I was eight. I've also lived in Illinois, and then in Colorado."

"Irish descent?"

Confused, Daniel shook his head no, baffled by the turn in questioning, "My grandfather is Belgian...?"

About to open his mouth for another question, there was a commotion at the front, and after a moment Michael Sutherland sauntered in. Daniel grinned at him. "Hey, Michael!"

The police sergeant frowned at the man in the expensive suit. "I'm in the middle of taking a statement here," he complained.

Michael pulled a leather wallet out of his pocket and opened it, making the cop's eyes widen. "I'll take Daniel and his mates home. They had nothing to do with this, I assure you. You should already have their information, so you can call them in the morning, if you need them. For tonight, we're done here." He imperiously gestured to Daniel, who stood and followed him into the busy entrance. Pierce and Oliver both bounced up, following them and speaking over one another, until Michael held up his hands. "I'll answer your questions in the car."

"It's okay," Daniel hastened to reassure his friends. "He's the husband to my nanny. He's taking us home."

Pierce eyed him then nodded. "Aye, let's go then. I need my beauty sleep."

Oliver snorted. "It'll take more than sleep to make ~you~ beautiful, Frasier." Daniel was snickering as they piled into the huge car's back seat.

"Nice ride, mate," Oliver commented.

Michael turned to face the three young men. "I'm Lord Buchan, and what happened tonight was simply a hit and run, understood?"

Pierce eyed him narrowly. "You work for one of the M's, is it? That lass was a target, and you want to prevent us from becoming targets as well."

"What I'd like is for you to keep your bloody mouths shut," Michael replied firmly.

Oliver shrugged. "Dad was in the Royal Fusiliers. I know what not to chat about, sir."

"I understand, sir." Pierce replied just as firmly.

Daniel held up both hands. "I'm not doing anything! Just trying to get good grades, I swear!"

Michael chuckled as he started the car. "Daniel, lad, you are a trouble magnet."

Back at their rooms, Pierce and Daniel were quiet as they got ready for bed. "Damn it," Pierce said suddenly, appearing at Daniel's bedroom door.

"What? Daniel asked, slipping his glasses back on to stare at his friend.

"I'm not pissed anymore!" Pierce pouted.

"Shut up." Daniel chuckled as he laid back down.

Michael had dropped them off with a final warning, and then drove to headquarters, shaking his head. Daniel had gotten himself involved with something dangerous again. The young woman who'd been hit was the daughter of an anti-Irish politician, and it looked to be deliberate.

Just what Daniel needed, to become a target of the IRA.

~~*~~

Johnny shook his head as he hung up the phone. He stared across the table at his wife and smiled wryly. "That was Michael. Daniel helped a victim of a hit and run, and he may be in trouble."

"He ~helped~ someone, and he's in trouble?" Jeanette was confused.

"Seems that the young woman in question was a target of the IRA."

"Oh Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." Jeanette closed her eyes and crossed herself. "Only Daniel."

Johnny got up and poured them both some wine, then sat back down and sipped it while they pondered the mystery and wonder that was their youngest son.

~~*~~

It was a beautiful early spring day, and Jack was smiling as he got out of his car. He'd come home early to surprise his wife. He'd missed the holidays this year, training and missions getting in the way, and he'd blown by Valentine's Day while he was in Eastern Europe, so he'd picked up flowers and brought along a pair of earrings he'd bought in a country he wasn't supposed to be in.

He trotted up the stairs and let himself in. Charlie was crying somewhere in the back of the house as he called out cheerfully, "Hello!"

There was a surprised squawk. A few seconds later, to Jack's shock, a man stumbled out of his bedroom, hurriedly buckling his pants. A man he knew.

~~*~~

Jack set down his briefcase and the flowers, took off his cap, and placed it calmly on the entryway side table. "Hello Harry," he said quietly to the man who'd been his friend. Harry Maybourne. The man, ~the friend~, he'd asked to look after his wife and son while Jack was away, doing what needed to be done.

"Jack." Harry paled slightly. "It's not...I mean, it is, but..."

Jack slipped off his overcoat, his eyes carefully averted so he wouldn't be any more tempted than he already was to throttle the man on the spot. "Harry, if you're not out of this house in 10 seconds, you're gonna be dead."

Sara came to the door of their bedroom, her robe wrapped haphazardly around her. "Jack!" she said, horrified by the threat.

"You, too," he informed her sharply. "If you're not gone by the time I'm done seeing to Charlie, I won't be held responsible."

Terror was in her face, tears beginning to course down her cheeks. "Jack, it was one time. I was lonely, and you'd asked Harry to look in on Charlie and me." She held out a hand in supplication. "I'll never do it again, I swear!"

Wordlessly, Harry gingerly slid by Jack, his shirt unbuttoned and his shoes in his hand. He disappeared out the door without a backward glance for the woman he'd just been fucking.

Opening the expensive florist's box, Jack chucked the roses onto the floor, and threw the empty container at his wife. "You heard me, Sara. Leave. Now." He straightened his back and walked by her to go into Charlie's room, his heart frozen.

Charlie was 8 months old, that fun age when he was able to pull himself up to get around, and he was standing in his crib, grinning at Jack and making happy noises.

"Hey, buddy, how are you?" Jack crooned, picking up his son and holding him close, smiling as his tie was grabbed and pulled into the rosebud baby mouth. "I missed you, Charlie. Daddy was busy, and I'm sorry I missed Christmas, but I bought you some cool stuff when I was gone." He smiled at the happy baby talk. "How 'bout we fly out to see Daniel? I'll bet he'd loved to see you. How does that sound?"

"You bastard," Sara growled from the door. "You can't take Charlie away from me!"

Jack turned, holding Charlie close, and stared at her. "Never mind you getting out. It'd be better if Charlie and I went away for a while. So I think you should shut the fuck up now, and pack enough clothes for Charlie for a week. I'm giving you that long to decide if you want to stay married."

Sara disappeared then came back with a small suitcase and began to throw things into it, crying and wiping her face as she worked. Jack ignored her as he changed his son and got him dressed. When he was finished, he grabbed the suitcase and walked out, leaving his wife sobbing on the floor behind him.

The flight to England was smooth; Charlie charmed everyone from his fellow passengers to the flight attendants. Once they arrived, Jack rented a car and a baby seat for it, bought a map, and headed to Oxford. Charlie was good as gold the whole way, burbling happily at the trees and blues skies, talking up a storm, and Jack couldn't help but love him with his whole heart. He was such a damn good baby. Jack was only sorry his parents were such a fucked up mess.

~~*~~

Daniel, Pierce, and Oliver were lounging on the grass outside of the dorms, happily going through their notes. They'd spent the day at the Ashmolean Museum, the center of archeology at Oxford, and Daniel was happy as a pig in mud.

"Look, there's a bloke with an ankle biter," Oliver said as an ear-piercing squeal reverberated off the building.

Daniel looked for the source of the baby sounds, grinned, and jumped to his feet. "Jack!"

Jack grinned back as Charlie burbled happily. "Hey, Danny." He was wrapped in a hug and wanted to hold on forever, but stepped back and handed Charlie over. "This is Charlie. Charlie, this is your Uncle Danny."

Charlie patted Daniel's face as Daniel laughed. "Hey, Charlie, how are you, big guy? It's about time I met you!" He turned to Jack. "Wow, I'm so surprised you guys are here! Where's Sara?" He glanced around curiously, looking for her.

Jack shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She needed a break from motherhood. I haven't been home for months. I had the wild idea to fly over and spend some guy time with you and Charlie, and give her a well deserved break."

Daniel manfully suppressed a yelp when Charlie yanked his hair with sticky baby fingers. "Well, I'm glad you're here. C'mon, I'll introduce you to my mates."

"Your mates? Oh, Daniel, you're sounding like a Brit," Jack teased.

Moving Charlie to his hip, Daniel lightly punched Jack in the arm. "Knock it off, Jack."

Pierce stood, his bright eyes assessing Jack as good as any special ops soldier. "You prat, you never told me that your Jack and Charlie were going to make an appearance."

Daniel laughed. "I didn't know they were. Jack, this is my roommate, Pierce Frasier, and that's Oliver Jones. Guys, this is my brother, Jack, and my nephew, Charlie."

Charlie crowed when Pierce took him in his arms and pretended to hang him upside down. "What a fine lad; yes, you are!" He set Charlie down, and the baby promptly started pulling up fistfuls of grass and letting them drift back down. As Pierce straightened up, he didn't miss the look Daniel was giving Jack, as if his brother were a glass of water, and Daniel was dying in the desert.

"I've left my books over there. How about we head that way?" Daniel said, flushing at Pierce's knowing look.

Blandly, Pierce bent over and picked Charlie up, sniffed at him, and handed him over to Daniel. "Your nevvy, and he needs a clean nappie." Oliver made a face and dramatically waved his hand in front of his nose.

This made Jack belt out a laugh, and he handed over the backpack that served as a diaper bag. "Here you go, Dannyboy, time to learn the dirty diaper thing."

Daniel made a face, but he bravely took Charlie and his bag, touching noses with the adorable baby. "Come on, Stinky boy, let's see what we can do."

~~*~~

Jack, Daniel, and Charlie spent a busy five days exploring the area around Oxford, including a day trip to Stonehenge when Jack remarked wistfully that he'd always wanted to see it. Daniel talked his ear off about the history of the place, the people who'd built it, including all of his theories, and Jack really enjoyed himself.

Now it was time for him and Charlie to head home. Daniel hauled Jack in for one last long hug, and they stood silently, letting themselves absorb this last moment together. "I hope whatever is wrong can be worked out, Jack," Daniel said, his voice muffled in Jack's shoulder.

Damn. The kid was too smart for his own good. "I'm okay, Daniel."

This lie made Daniel lean back and eye him seriously. "Yeah. Okay. But if you need anything, just call me."

"I will, kid." He managed to get into the car before he fell to his knees and begged Daniel for things he couldn't give, things Jack couldn't take. The week had been both heaven and hell, being so close to Daniel, yet keeping his feelings boxed in. All of that, caring for Charlie full time, and dealing with Sara's betrayal...

"DA!" Charlie said, waving his arms at his astonished father.

"He just said Dad!" Jack said in disbelief.

Daniel just grinned as he leaned in the window. "Charlie is a smart kid, and it doesn't hurt that I'm an excellent linguist."

Jack cupped Daniel's neck and pressed their foreheads together. "I love you, Daniel."

Overwhelmed, Daniel could only close his eyes and lean into the caress. "I know. And I love you too, Jack," he whispered.

They stayed that way for a long moment, until Charlie squealed, and they both jumped. Daniel stepped back, not sure of what had just happened, but feeling more at peace with Jack than he had in a long time. Instead of feeling at a loss as he watched Jack and Charlie drive away, somehow Daniel felt filled up, hopeful. Complete.

Jack thought about nothing but Daniel on the long trip home, and he and Sara reconciled when they arrived. In the end, it was his parents who convinced him that he had to try again, for himself and for Charlie.

Daniel plunged himself in his studies, winning academic awards right and left. He'd also decided to date more, both girls and guys, which amused Pierce to no end. There was a method to Daniel's madness; he wanted the experience, to make sure that his feelings for Jack were not an aberration brought on by proximity, but by actual emotion.

Next: Another Road Taken 2