Jack's Love

Chapter 1

"Daniel! I know you're in there, so get over here and open the door!"

Jack's voice jerked Daniel back into wakefulness. For a while he had been drifting in a state of semi-sleep, trying to remember why it was so important to stay awake. He knew he was supposed to be doing something else, but his head felt too foggy to try and figure it out at that moment. It was much easier to slip back into the grayness.

"Daniel, I swear, if you don't open it right now, I'm breaking it down!" Jack shouted, once again breaking through the fog. That's not right, Daniel thought, Jack has a key. He meant to tell Jack that, but somehow the words got lost on the way and turned into a soft sigh. He knew he should be trying harder than this; Jack would be so disappointed if he just went back to sleep, but it really was difficult. Even the effort to open his eyes evaded him, and any other movement tended to send spasms of pain pounding in his head and shooting through his chest, so it was much easier to just lie there and let himself drift away.

"Daniel!" Jack shouted again in his 'I'm getting impatient' voice, usually reserved for off-world when Daniel wanted to stay longer to look over some archeological find and Jack wanted to leave. Daniel twitched his leg in response to the tone, sending another spasm of pain up his spine. What he really wanted was for Jack to finally come in or go away but to stop yelling and let him sleep. Even better, he could come in and give Daniel a blanket. It was cold in there.

"All right, that's it!" Jack shouted, "You're about to need a new lock!" His words didn't sound so loud anymore, and Daniel wasn't sure if that was because he was drifting back towards the grayness or because Jack had gone quieter. He waited for the inevitable boom that always came when Jack got into this mood. When in doubt, blow things up, Daniel thought, but there were no sounds of wreckage and he felt himself drifting again.

"Ok, so I won't break it, I'll just use my credit card. I'm letting myself in Daniel!" Good for you, Daniel thought, trying hard to stay awake. Wasn't he supposed to go out with Jack tonight? He had a vague recollection of some new movie Jack had wanted to see, but the details evaded him and the fog returned.

"Daniel!" Jack called again, his voice sounding less muffled but still strange, as though coming from a long distance.

"Where are you? Hey, Dan…oh shit!" Jack's voice had broken through the fog once more and Daniel tried to open his eyes and acknowledge his friend. Concentrating as hard as he could, he thought he could make out a large blur towering over him. There were low frantic sounds coming from the blur's direction, but Daniel could no longer make out the words. He had let his eyes close again when he felt something warm touching his face, lending him strength.

"God, Danny!" the blur whispered, and he found he could hear clearer than before. He opened his eyes, wanting to see, but all he made out was the same indistinct shape as before.

"Jack," he tried to say, his voice so weak he was practically mouthing the word. Jack seemed to understand anyway.

"I'm here," he said, gently with only a hint of hysteria, "Everything will be all right. Help is coming."

"Jack," Daniel sighed, the name barely more than a puff of air, and Daniel's eyes slid shut once more. He could feel the warmth of Jack's hands, one on his face and one clutching his hand tightly. Jack's voice whispered words into his ear, the tone soft and loving, though Daniel could no longer make out what was said. Finally he slipped away back into the gray and heard and felt nothing more.