FIC: Answers (Jack, Daniel) PG-13
Sep. 17th, 2006 08:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luvxanderTitle: Answers
Author: luvxander
Disclaimer: Jack, Daniel, and the Ori belong to whomever owns the rights to the characters of Stargate SG-1. I own nothing.
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of violence and allusion to torture.
Feedback: Is always completely welcome. Concrit even more so.
Notes: Totally spur of the moment writing. Not beta'd, not even spell checked. If you'd like to beta it, I'd be happy to edit my post with the beta'd result.
Daniel lay on the infirmary bed, a mass of bruises and abrasions covering his face and chest. His hands, once beautiful and talented, were broken and cut it so many places that it was nearly impossible to see the baby soft, tanned skin that had once covered them. His right leg was raised, his foot hanging from a traction. He'd been beaten before, for various reasons, but he'd never been hurt this badly.
General Jack O'Neill sat on one of those rolling stools that doctors seem so fond of, arms resting on the side of Daniel's bed, watching Daniel's face. He was watching so intently that it was surprising to glance up and see Daniel's eyes looking back at him. "Hey," he whispered, afraid that if he spoke too loudly, it'd alert the doctors and, although he knew they should be called, he was oddly reluctant to share this quiet moment.
Daniel cleared his throat and croaked back, "Hey. What are you doing here?"
Jack sat up, stretching out his arms and back, making it apparent that he'd been there for quite some time. "Officially, I'm here to find out what they wanted. Off the record, I was worried."
Daniel laughed. Or, rather, he tried to laugh. What came out sounded more like the last words of a dying toad. "Worried about what? I'm fine. Nothing a little vacation and a lot of painkillers won't fix right up."
Smiling, pretending to keep the moment as light as Daniel seemed to want it, Jack stood and walked slowly to the foot of the bed. "Yeah, I should have known they weren't tough enough to keep you down. The higher ups still want me to find out why they took you, though." At this, he gave Daniel a sharp look with a raised eyebrow.
The humor, as faked as it was, melted out of Daniel's face immediately. Nervously, he cleared his throat again and thought about asking for water, but he knew Jack wasn't one to be put off with attempts to stall. "They wanted me to answer a question for them." He paused and gave an ironic snort-like laugh. "Turns out, they didn't like my answer."
Jack's interest peaked immediately and he drew himself up, standing at attention as he narrowed his eyes at Daniel. "What question did they want answered? And what answer did you give them?"
Daniel reached up to fluff his own pillow, but stopped when the pain in his shoulder pulsed out across his entire upper body. He paused, his face a frozen portrait of agony, for a few moments, letting the wave pass by. When he opened his eyes, Jack was standing next to him, his hands reaching toward Daniel but left hanging in the air, uselessly. "Don't worry, Jack. It was strictly a personal question. There were no national secrets being asked or revealed."
Jack frowned, making a noise in the back of his throat that could mean anything from 'yeah right' to 'fuck off'. "You know that's not going to cut it with them. They're going to want to know what they asked and what you told them. No evasions, just straight answers."
Daniel looked into Jack's eyes, studying him for a moment. "They wanted to know how I could have died, ascended, twice and, both times, refused ascension in favor of a mortal life."
Jack closed his eyes for just a second before meeting Daniel's eyes again. "And what answer did you give them? Must have been a doozy to get this kind of response."
For his part, Daniel found he couldn't hold the eye contact anymore. Not if he was expected to give Jack his answer. He turned his head to look at the wall, or, more accurately, look through the wall. The images in his head weren't of the many beatings he'd received or of the repeated times he'd been chained up in that bright room and asked, over and over again, the same question. No, what he saw were smiles and winks, laughter, hugs, tears, all the things that had come from his friendship with Jack over the years. He saw things he had wanted; soft kisses, tender touches. When he opened his eyes, the shimmer of tears nearly blocked the stark whiteness of the wall from his sight. "Let's just say, the Ori know nothing of the concept of love and leave it at that, okay? Can you send the nurse in on your way out?"
Jack nodded, though he knew Daniel couldn't see, and whispered, "Okay, Danny." With one final parting look, Jack turned and walked away.
Please feel free to let me know what you think in comments. This is the first thing I've written in quite some time and I'd be really interested in know what you think.
Author: luvxander
Disclaimer: Jack, Daniel, and the Ori belong to whomever owns the rights to the characters of Stargate SG-1. I own nothing.
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of violence and allusion to torture.
Feedback: Is always completely welcome. Concrit even more so.
Notes: Totally spur of the moment writing. Not beta'd, not even spell checked. If you'd like to beta it, I'd be happy to edit my post with the beta'd result.
Daniel lay on the infirmary bed, a mass of bruises and abrasions covering his face and chest. His hands, once beautiful and talented, were broken and cut it so many places that it was nearly impossible to see the baby soft, tanned skin that had once covered them. His right leg was raised, his foot hanging from a traction. He'd been beaten before, for various reasons, but he'd never been hurt this badly.
General Jack O'Neill sat on one of those rolling stools that doctors seem so fond of, arms resting on the side of Daniel's bed, watching Daniel's face. He was watching so intently that it was surprising to glance up and see Daniel's eyes looking back at him. "Hey," he whispered, afraid that if he spoke too loudly, it'd alert the doctors and, although he knew they should be called, he was oddly reluctant to share this quiet moment.
Daniel cleared his throat and croaked back, "Hey. What are you doing here?"
Jack sat up, stretching out his arms and back, making it apparent that he'd been there for quite some time. "Officially, I'm here to find out what they wanted. Off the record, I was worried."
Daniel laughed. Or, rather, he tried to laugh. What came out sounded more like the last words of a dying toad. "Worried about what? I'm fine. Nothing a little vacation and a lot of painkillers won't fix right up."
Smiling, pretending to keep the moment as light as Daniel seemed to want it, Jack stood and walked slowly to the foot of the bed. "Yeah, I should have known they weren't tough enough to keep you down. The higher ups still want me to find out why they took you, though." At this, he gave Daniel a sharp look with a raised eyebrow.
The humor, as faked as it was, melted out of Daniel's face immediately. Nervously, he cleared his throat again and thought about asking for water, but he knew Jack wasn't one to be put off with attempts to stall. "They wanted me to answer a question for them." He paused and gave an ironic snort-like laugh. "Turns out, they didn't like my answer."
Jack's interest peaked immediately and he drew himself up, standing at attention as he narrowed his eyes at Daniel. "What question did they want answered? And what answer did you give them?"
Daniel reached up to fluff his own pillow, but stopped when the pain in his shoulder pulsed out across his entire upper body. He paused, his face a frozen portrait of agony, for a few moments, letting the wave pass by. When he opened his eyes, Jack was standing next to him, his hands reaching toward Daniel but left hanging in the air, uselessly. "Don't worry, Jack. It was strictly a personal question. There were no national secrets being asked or revealed."
Jack frowned, making a noise in the back of his throat that could mean anything from 'yeah right' to 'fuck off'. "You know that's not going to cut it with them. They're going to want to know what they asked and what you told them. No evasions, just straight answers."
Daniel looked into Jack's eyes, studying him for a moment. "They wanted to know how I could have died, ascended, twice and, both times, refused ascension in favor of a mortal life."
Jack closed his eyes for just a second before meeting Daniel's eyes again. "And what answer did you give them? Must have been a doozy to get this kind of response."
For his part, Daniel found he couldn't hold the eye contact anymore. Not if he was expected to give Jack his answer. He turned his head to look at the wall, or, more accurately, look through the wall. The images in his head weren't of the many beatings he'd received or of the repeated times he'd been chained up in that bright room and asked, over and over again, the same question. No, what he saw were smiles and winks, laughter, hugs, tears, all the things that had come from his friendship with Jack over the years. He saw things he had wanted; soft kisses, tender touches. When he opened his eyes, the shimmer of tears nearly blocked the stark whiteness of the wall from his sight. "Let's just say, the Ori know nothing of the concept of love and leave it at that, okay? Can you send the nurse in on your way out?"
Jack nodded, though he knew Daniel couldn't see, and whispered, "Okay, Danny." With one final parting look, Jack turned and walked away.
Please feel free to let me know what you think in comments. This is the first thing I've written in quite some time and I'd be really interested in know what you think.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-09-17 05:21 pm (UTC)*bouncebounce* MORE!
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 01:11 am (UTC)I think Daniel's right about the Ori; his actions would be incomprehensible to them. Just hope they aren't to Jack, but I think he gets it :-)
Okay, you asked, so...
Really wasn't much to tweak except maybe this sentence:
Jack's interest peaked immediatly and he drew himself up, standing at attention as he narrowed his eyes at Daniel.
It's 'immediately' and although you've used 'peaked' correctly in the sense that it reached a peak, I'm so gunshy of people writing 'his interest was peaked' when they mean 'piqued' that I gave it a suspicious stare ::g::
You also flip back and forth with the POVs; might want to keep it in one as it's pretty short.
I'm also not sure about the final sentence; it's a little too on the fence somehow; if he said something I want to know what it was, or what he did. I'm nosy like that ::g::
But, really, that's all pretty minor stuff; good fic!
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 01:23 am (UTC)I fixed the spelling error and left peaked as is. I'm working on the POVs thing, I'm horrible with those, and I'm right there with ya on what Jack said. I can see it in my mind and I watch him say it, turn, and walk out the door. But the only thing I can hear him saying, each and every time, is "Okay, Danny." And I'm not sure if that fits, with the use of the nickname, or not.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 01:29 am (UTC)'Danny' I'm not sure about; he doesn't say that often at all. Maybe three times ever in the whole show. (See http://www.lyricalmagic.com/fanoncanon.html)
But, yes, I can see Jack saying something very brief like that, definitely. It's funny how sometimes you can hear them in your head, clear as a bell.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 11:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-18 01:07 pm (UTC)