[for daniel] 23rd

[more_flexible]

He'd been perfectly calm when he asked if he could talk to Daniel alone. No need to make a scene...Jackson and Harper had plenty of tension in the room without Jack adding to it. He walked out of the clinic and down the hall, exiting the front doors. Alone was a hard thing to find, really. There were always people around, and Jack didn't think anyone else needed to hear whathe had to say to Daniel.

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[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel hadn't had this particular feeling for a good thirty-five years. Not since he'd been seven years old and he'd had his father staring him down for breaking some artifact or other. Daniel could never remember what he'd supposedly broken, but he could remember the look on his father's face.

Now, Daniel wasn't sure what Jack was going to say, only that he'd expected some kind of retort to his comment and he hadn't gotten one, and he had that foreboding feeling he'd had when he was seven.

"If we're going to do this, can we go back home? My wrist is sore."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack stopped walking for a moment. He turned and leveled hard eyes at Daniel, all the glimmer of amusement from the clinic completely vanished.

Just a look, silent and cold, and he kept walking, heading for Daniel's hut.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

More Vala than the soldier, lately, but the soldier was still there, and it was a confusing mess that Daniel just didn't get anymore, if he ever had. He thought he'd understood Jack. Once upon a time.

Instead, he walked silently until they reached his hut. Daniel led the way inside and almost immediately went for the water next to the bed, popping a couple of pills lying on the table next to the bed and chasing them with the water.

"Okay. Shoot. And that is a rhetorical statement."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

He stepped in just enough to close the door, then stood against it. Arms folded, he cocked his head and looked at him, eyes unwavering. He stood there silently, tall and broad and the picture of who he could be when he needed to be. Usually the look was completed by black leather trousers and a rifle, but he pulled it off without the ensemble.

"What exactly is going on with you, Jackson?" he asked evenly after he'd let the seconds tick past. "If it was just me, I wouldn't give a shit. But it's Owen. Ianto at the party. Who knows who else. And now I'm an asshole." Jack paused long enough to take a breath and a step forward. "You know what that means? I've got nothing to lose, so I'm calling you on it. If anyone can see exactly what you're doing, it's me...so don't bullshit me."

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"Tosh won't even speak to me," he began listing, leaning back against the bed and closing his eyes. "The Doctor doesn't seem to like me. I haven't talked to Gwen in a while, so I'm not sure her take on the whole thing. I'm surprised Ace hasn't blown up small chunks of my body, yet. Everyone else seems to be fine with me. And yes. There is still an everyone else."

He opened his eyes long enough to glance at Jack. "Yes, you're being an asshole. I love you, but you're an asshole."

He closed his eyes again. "And Owen's...complicated."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"So you know it's going on," Jack nodded, no hint of surprise in his voice. "If you thought I was an asshole before, buckle up. I've been watching you self-destruct for months, Daniel. I figured you'd work it out. I figured you'd see it and stop, but no. You keep pushing people, and you're pushing them away. Mimi died and you weren't there. That's a strike. Afterwards...the spine you showed? I get it. The temples were a once in a liftime opportunity here, but you fucked up. I know you know that, you've admitted it. You were sorry about the wrong things to the wrong people at the wrong time."

He uncrossed his arms, barely pausing to take a breath. He remained calm, cool, collected. If someone hadn't known any better, Jack could have rehearsed this...except that really wasn't his style. He was much more comfortable flying blind and trusting luck.

"But that's not it. If it was just the temples and Mimi and the break with Ianto, I wouldn't be too worried about you, but this shit has been going on for months. Before the temples ever appeared? You figured out just how much you miss home. You started clinging. Pushing. How many times did I tell you that you were irritating the shit out of me? Nearly every time you talked to me," he said, taking a step forward. "You miss Jack. You miss Teal'c and Mitchell and Sam and Vala. You want to go home? You want to leave? It's not going to happen, Jackson. You're here and you're ruining what you've got."

He took another step forward, and another until he was standing over the man, looking down at him.

"Look at yourself. You're alone, injured, falling apart. You're fighting with Owen which can only end in tears. You're not happy. Your life is falling apart, Jackson, and you're the only one who can fix it. You're so good at pushing, push yourself back into shape. You're not the man I taught to carve the cartouche. I liked that guy. Now? I might love you, but I don't like you...and I swear to all the gods people worship, I'm on the edge of writing you off if you can't see you need help," he said, lowering himself slowly until he had squatted next to the bed and was at eye level with Daniel.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"Owen and I have been fighting since we met, Jack," Daniel said carefully, opening his eyes and inhaling a little sharply when he saw just how close Jack was. "That's not going to change. We beat the crap out of each other last month long before you got to me."

He took a breath. Then another.

"It's not missing. It's so much deeper than missing. It's like a piece of my heart's gone missing. I'd never had a home. I'd always had places I'd lived. Jobs I'd worked at. Schools I'd attended. But I'd never had a real home after my parents died. Not until I joined the Stargate program. Not until the first time I walked through that Stargate and met my wife. Not until she was taken from me and I came back and searched for her for three years."

Daniel shifted a little, just enough so that he was looking at Jack properly.

"I thought about leaving, then. There wasn't a reason for me to stay, after all. I'd joined the program to find her and she was found. And dead. But I had a family and a cause. A purpose. That purpose gave me another seven years. Another seven years that I saw them almost constantly. The longest I'd be gone was a week or two on some dig or a month or two in Antarctica. They were always there for me to count on. And then came Adria. And the Priors. You know what happens next. I'm sure I've told you. She ends up capturing me. They get away. I think. I hope. I still don't know. I don't know if they defeated the Ori. I don't know that they're safe."

He watched Jack for a minute. Jack, the man who sometimes reminded him of a cranky General and other times reminded him of a sexy raven-haired temptress with a penchant for stealing his credit card. Jack, the man that usually reminded him of nothing but Jack Harkness.

"I was fine for a while. I met a few people. Sheppard gave me the run down on the island. And then I met Crichton. John Crichton who, except for a fluke of leather pants and alien wormholes, could be Cameron Mitchell. That was the first. Of course, there's the problem with living in New Atlantis. Seeing Sheppard have at least a portion of his team. I'm sure he was thrilled to get Rodney back. Anyway, then I met Ianto. Ianto, the man I finally let go of my wife for. And it was hard, because the two of us didn't see things the same way. But we got past it."

He touched Jack's forehead. "Cue Inara. And my first lapse of judgment. I go...well, crazy is probably accurate. Thinking she's Adria. A week later, it really is Adria I'm seeing. Tosh never really forgave me for what I did to Ianto. And then there was you. And you...you remind me of home in all of the good ways and the bad. Not just because you remind me of people, but just because of how you are. And on Halloween, you're right there, in the thick of it, and you get burned because of me." He brushed a lock of hair off of Jack's face and let go.

"After that, I finally began realizing what I'd been trying to keep hidden, even from myself. I missed home. I missed the people. I missed the work. I think I missed the purpose most of all. Feeling like I was doing something. It was like a floodgate. Once I opened it, I couldn't close it again. Not completely. It's why Ianto thought I might have had feelings for you. Because you reminded me of him. And then. And then the island gave me at least one of the things I'd been fervently trying to deny that I still needed. And Mimi followed in the footsteps of my wife. I left to go explore and, when I came back, someone I cared about was gone."

Daniel turned back, looking up at the ceiling. "You know what comes next. Ianto doesn't understand. I push you right away. Tosh hates me because I wasn't there. The Doctor gets pissed because of...well, I'm still not sure. Ace gets defensive because she loves Ianto. Owen and I trade blows, kiss, and end up being friends. I finally try to explain to Ianto what I feel and I do a lousy job at it and he kicks him out. I still love him. But I never seemed to be able to talk to him. So when the party came around..."

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

He shook his head. "I never should have agreed to go with Alcuin. I was trying to move on, to let go, to...something. And I asked him to dinner. He suggested the ball. I didn't think until afterward how bad of an idea that was. And then. The basketball court. And my year not-anymore anniversary with Ianto. I asked him out the first time on the basketball court. I saw him. Asked him whether there was any chance that we could somehow work this out. And, like usual, I back him into a corner because I get scared. I told him to take the cartouche back if there wasn't any hope. You saw that I didn't have it."

Daniel hadn't talked for quite that long in...well, ever since on the island, and his voice had gone hoarse, but he continued on. "It feels like I'm going through the motions. Like I should be doing something else and that I'm just waiting for that something else to appear. I've been here over a year, Jack. How are you supposed to help that?" His eyes snapped open and he looked at Jack, desperation written all over his face."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack listened patiently. He'd heard it all before. He'd heard it as narrative and as commisseration. He'd heard it when Daniel tried to explain or make a point. He'd heard it, and he heard it now, but it didn't change the fact that Daniel, right now, he wasn't whole and it had everything to do with the island and the challenges this place set before a person. So, he listened, and when Daniel finished speaking he rocked back on his heels and stood up.

"Bullshit," he answered in the same maddeningly calm tone. "I know your life, Daniel. I know before here and I know since here. You think I don't pay attention? I might be an asshole, but I'm not that self centered. I know what goes on. I remember. You've been here one year, I've been here two. It's hard. It's really fucking hard. But you get on with it. You stop justifying what you do by how much you've suffered and face it. You can't depend on anyone but yourself. Accept that. Make all the family you want, but be ready for when they disappear. Be ready for when bad things happen. You can't leave and you can't deny things for long. I know you know this...because it's what you tell me all the fucking time. Stop giving me what you think are reasons. Stop justifying things like those bruises on your neck. I know more about sex than you'd believe, and human beings don't need that when they fuck. The biology's incredibly simple. Pain like that, Daniel?" Jack stopped and shook his head. "That's control. It's not sex, and it's not love. You're falling apart. You can't control yourself and you're driving everyone away, and no one's going to be here to pick up the pieces if you don't take a deep breath and stop. What else have you got to lose before you see what's going on? Better question...what would your team...your family...what would Jack think if he walked in here right now?"

He returned to the door as he spoke and leaned against it. He didn't have to say anything about that particular action. Daniel wan't going anywhere unless it was through him, and he wasn't done. Calling him an asshole had been the last straw and Jack wasn't going to watch Daniel self destruct and do nothing.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"I probably wouldn't be without someone at my side for the next month," he admitted. "But they'd have understood. It's why people not understanding why I had to go out to those temples hurt so much. Because my team? Would have understood."

There was no doubt in him about that.

"We betrayed each other and screwed up and hurt each other in so many different ways, Jack. Teal'c? Was not only the one that selected my wife to become a host to a Goa'uld, he was eventually the one that killed her. And I forgave him."

He laughed when Jack mentioned the bruises. "You think I'm naive, Jack? You think I didn't know exactly what I was looking for from you? Who was the one that told Ianto exactly what you needed in that imaginary bed? Exactly what you were looking for? I didn't tell him sex." He stood up, walking over to Jack. Not to leave, just to get in Jack's space. "I told him you were looking for because I'd been there before. Maybe you don't remember that. Or maybe you don't know me like you did."

He folded his arms across his chest. "You seem so good at giving advice. When are you going to take your own? Does Greg even know that you're fucking other people? You may have said he knows and you might even believe it, but I've talked to him. I've been on the wrong end of his jealous streak and let me tell you that I have every reason to believe that half the island would know you're fucking other people if he knew. If he really knew."

He took a step closer. "Two years is a long time, isn't it? How long ago did that happen? A week? Two? Three? I'll bet you anything it's happened within the last few weeks. You talk to me about controlling myself and pushing people away when you're doing the exact same thing. Me? I push people, demand answers, try to dig the truth out of them so they won't leave, but push them away in the process. You? You go back to old habits better left forgotten. You pretend that you don't care as much as you do because when people do disappear? You can pretend it doesn't hurt as much as it does. You ignore that anything's wrong, so when it all ends up blowing up in your face, you'll never see it coming. And I bet even then, you'll pretend you don't give a damn. Maybe you'll even believe it, too."

Daniel regarded Jack evenly. "I'm flawed. I've never pretended to be otherwise. I'm clingy because I've lost the only family I had and I push and I have a blinding need to make sure the I really love aren't going to kill themselves by doing something stupid. I'm well aware of that. But I'm also aware that I finally lost all hope of keeping Ianto the night before we came here, so I think I'm allowed a little leeway in how I finally come to terms with it.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

The cold slowly gave way to something darker and far more dangerous. Jack's smiles were a language unto themselves and this one was a fraction away from predatory and tainted with the knowledge of a thousand kinds of pain.

"It's not about me," he oozed, leaning closer. "It's about you. It's always all about you." His voice was quieter and icy, each word coming slowly but wholly formed. "All of that? Yeah. It's me. It's you too, though. Why do think I see it, Daniel? Why do you think I'm not going to let you get away with it? Because I know you, Doctor Jackson. I know you and how you cling and how you push and how you cope. I see it in you because I see it in me. The big difference is I was trained to hide it. I was trained to lie until I believed it. I was trained to con and manipulate, right along side the lessons on torture and murder and stealing. You think, you really think, I wouldn't take my own advice? You really think I'm so weak I couldn't figure out how to live here without playing to my strengths? Tell me, Daniel, how did I get along without you in the dark when I couldn't breathe after I got raped? How did I cope when the Doctor wasn't remotely my Doctor anymore? It hasn't been weeks, Daniel. It's been more than a year. You met me in one lie, this one's not much different...it's just a lot more comfortable," he said, his voice dropping, going quiet until it was just above a whisper.

"I'm not asking you to change who you are. I'm telling you to recognize who you've become. I asked you once to believe in me over anything else. That believing in me was better, more solid, and more honest than Adria. Your nightmare fucked me up, Daniel. She broke me, and I dealt with it and I fixed it, and I moved on. I can't believe I've got to do it this way."

Daniel was so close. Such a mistake on his part. He really should have known Jack better than that. He took a step forward and his fist came up hard, carving into Daniel's stomach and up until it was stopped by his diaphragm. He reached up to catch Daniel under the arm, fingers spread just right to hit the nerve cluster under there. Jack was ready for when he doubled over or his knees buckled, whichever went first. He'd wondered a few times in the past couple weeks if he and Daniel just needed to go back to the beginning and start over. Go back to a man with a knife and nothing but time to convince Daniel that he was wrong and Jack was right.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel went paler with every word that Jack spoke. He was not Jack. He would never be Jack. He absolutely refused. Still. He couldn't help but remember Jack's words.

You'd have made a fantastic Time Agent, you know?

He wanted to ask what the truth of Jack was. Wanted to ask if any of it had been real. Wanted to tell Jack it wasn't just about Daniel. But then Jack's fist hit his stomach and when Jack grabbed his arm, Daniel dropped to his knees, managing to choke out a single word between coughs.

"No."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Yes," he hissed. "Yes...until you see how much you've become like me, and how much it doesn't work for you. Until you can look me in the eyes and I don't see you justifying the things you do to yourself. Until you don't sound like a hypocrite when you tell me what I should and shouldn't do. Until I can tell that you get that you need to stop pushing before you break everything. Until you know that I'm right and you are so much better as yourself. Until you belive in something--yourself, me, anything--believe enough to hope. Until then? Yes. I don't care if you hate me, Daniel. You're Mine."

Daniel wasn't small, but Jack wasn't weak. He hoisted Daniel up and got him to the bed. Careful of his wrist, he laid the man down on the bed, then went straight for his groin while he still hadn't caught his breath. Pressure points, ateries and veins, nerve clusters...so easy to take a man's legs from him when you knew what you were doing.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"You're right. It's not about you. But it's also not about me," Daniel growled, once he'd managed to catch his breath. This was a familiar position. Almost too familiar, and he half-expected to see the knife and the nanobots somewhere lying around. "Not since the last time we did this. There are enough people that defy your sense of what I'm breaking. Lionel. Crichton. Even Owen."

He lowered his voice.

"This is about us, Jack. You and me. Special case, remember? Anyone else who prodded like I do would be dead." He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but it meant something. This entire thing was just too personal to be just about Daniel or just about Jack. Or ever about them both separately.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"You've passed the point of me caring what you say, Daniel," Jack said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You talk and you talk, saying the same things over and over. You use so many words to say 'I'm fine' and it's as much of a lie as when I say it. This is only about us because I'm obviously the only one who's not going to walk away." He paused and looked down at him.

"Which probably means Adria fucked me up worse than I thought, because I've walked away from smaller shit. Or maybe it's because it's not about me at all. I could walk out the door, just say the word, Daniel. About 20 minutes and you'll be able to walk. Say it. Say you're happy coming to terms with things just the way you're doing it. Tell me it's okay if I go because you're just fine. You just need a joint or some moonshine or a little time away. If you can lie to me so good I believe it, I won't bother you ever again. Done. I'll even say goodbye instead of just leaving."

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"What if I said I wasn't yours, Jack? What if I said...what if I said that if the right Jack came along, I'd leave you? After all, he is my best friend." And Jack knew that Daniel had been calling him his best friend. "And he's willing to forgive anything I do. Without resorting to torture."

He hesitated. "And I am in love with him."

He took a breath and then turned a steady look on Jack. "After all, I'm good at ignoring what I don't want to think about. With the right sort of Jack, I could forget about you."

He lifted his chin. "If you could walk out the door after that, not caring a damn, then come here. I'll tell you just how fine I'll be. And you'll believe it. We both will."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack looked down at him and he remained just as impassive as ever. There wasn't a glimmer of giving even an inch in his eyes and the only thing that had changed was the dirty-cruel smile was gone. Of all the things he could have said...of all the challenges he could have come back with...

Maybe there really wasn't any hope for him.

"I could, and you know it," he replied, leaning closer. "I'm not going to get into what if's. He's not here and I am. I'm the only one right here with you, Daniel. I'm the only one telling you, again, that you're destroying your life. You've got to see it, or I'll say goodbye and be done. I can't watch you do this anymore."

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"You could walk out of here, sure." He lifted a hand to Jack's cheek, stroking it softly. "But would you really not care? I really would rather you be gone if you didn't care. Everyone I've ever loved leaves me. From my parents right on down to Ianto. If your heart's already left.... If you're just here out of some sort of sense of duty because you should be here...."

He sighed, keeping his hand on Jack's cheek, not willing to let go.

"Of course I see it. I've been living it."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

If he'd been willing to let it go at that, Jack would have nodded, might have smiled. Getting Daniel to admit it was only part of it, though. He knew the man wouldn't let him go with just an admission, so Jack kept on. Kept pushing. Not much longer and Daniel would have his legs back and Jack really ddn't want to have to cripple him again. This was working without pain. Mostly. Things he'd said were things he'd never be able to take back.

"Then snap out of it," he barked, his words all the louder since he was so close. "If you see it, fix it. Do what you need to do, Jackson, before it's too late. Stop wishing for what's not here and figure out what you've got and what you need. For crying out loud, Daniel, you should know how to do this." He pulled away and stood up, returning to his post by the door and folded his arms again. There were a few things he knew that he'd kept back solely to push Daniel's buttons. He'd watched those films and it wasn't hard to pick up O'Neill's speech...Jack had just never figured he'd need to press that particular button.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel flinched a little when Jack pulled back and he flinched again when Jack started talking like the other Jack.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Jack," Daniel said, deliberately mocking. "Be yourself. You want to know the score? I have no Ianto, I have no Tosh. I have an Owen and I've been desperately trying to straddle the line between him being a close friend and him just plain wanting me. I have Lionel and Crichton. And I have other friends that you don't even know. I have two maybe possibles if my heart stops getting bruised enough to ever get over Ianto."

He narrowed his eyes and his voice got softer. "And then there's you. I have no idea where I stand with you anymore. I thought we were friends. I thought knew you. And then you fucked me and I have no idea why."

He shook his head. "Don't play Jack. You're no good at it and god knows why, but I actually prefer you as you. Always have."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"What. You've. Got. And. What. You. Need," Jack repeated slowly. He leaned heavily against the door and pressed his tongue to his teeth, watching Daniel. Silent, steady, just...standing. Daniel kept trying to make this about him and for the first time in more than half the month, it wasn't about him at all. Which was kind of surprising...he hadn't gone out of his way for anyone except House, and even that was just part of daily life.

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

And that's when it hit Daniel. He wasn't sure why he'd noticed then. Wasn't sure when he'd started. Just knew that he was in love with Jack Harkness and had been for a while.

"I gave you the score on what I had. Given enough time and now that I realize just how much I need what I can't have, maybe I can work on that, too."

The first time Ianto had told him that he'd loved Daniel, their fight had come to an abrupt halt, because there was no way that Daniel could be angry in the face of something like that. Now, with the realization about Jack, there was no way he could not give in.

"And I already told you what I need." His voice had slipped into a whisper and he slipped his glasses of, so he couldn't see Jack's face in response to the words. "But it's up to you whether you give it to me or not."

Maybe he'd finally realized because he'd realized just how much he needed Jack. Or how Jack was the only one he ever seemed to push to the extremes that Jack was pushing him now.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"No maybes. Work on it, Daniel," he said sharply. "And I've given you everything I'm going to. If you didn't hear me the first time...or the second time...saying it again doesn't matter. And if you can't figure out why I'm here now? Why I didn't dress you down in front of Owen? Why I haven't walked away when other people have?"

He stopped long enough to let the questions sink in or bounce off. He wasn't even sure if Daniel listened to what he said, except when he spewed things back, word for word. He still had no idea if Daniel saw what his problem was, or if he could see what he had left to work with. Whatever. Jack had pushed him to the point that he said he'd try.

"If you can't figure it out, you're an idiot."

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"Of course I'm an idiot," Daniel replied promptly. "I am the very picture of idiocy because I, of all people, should know better than to fall in love with you. I know. I know I'm yours. I'll try, all right? That's all you can ask from me and that's all I've ever asked from you."

He put his glasses back on and glanced up at Jack.

"Could you fix my legs, now, please?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack blinked at him, then shook his head and walked closer. Of all the people to fall in love with, even Jack wouldn't fall in love with himself. He cared, he loved, he was possessive as hell, but being in love with him was just misery waiting to happen. He didn't have any control over if someone did, but once upon a time he had been able to go to a new time, a new planet. Simply being gone had to make losing Jack Harkness a little easier.

Not that anyone who'd ever fallen in love with him had him to begin with.

Without a word, he felt for the nerves and pressed slowly, giving it a little time, then he let go and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"About five more minutes and you'll be fine," he said evenly. Fine. Best word in the English language. "And by the time you can walk, I'll be someplace else."

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"You're even more of an idiot than I am if you think this changes anything. This isn't one of those spur of the moment, I'm going to fall in love with Jack, now, type of things. This is a spur of the moment, I've been in love with him for a while."

Daniel smiled a little.

"And clearly it doesn't change my opinion of you." He twisted a little, grabbing for Jack's wrist and pulling him closer. "I don't want you to protect me from my own feelings. You don't have to go anywhere. You're not the only person I've fallen for that I can't have and I've never let it effect my friendships before and I won't let it now. It never bothered you before, so it shouldn't now."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't bother me, Daniel, and I'm not protecting you. I'm not going to make things easy, and I'm not going to ignore how you're acting. Not anymore. You should have never gotten this far, but I thought you'd figure it out yourself. I always do."

Eventually. With or without someone driving him crazy with questions, Jack put the pieces together on his own.

"Look, I left in the middle of something and I didn't plan to be gone this long," he said, holding up the finger with the bandaid on it. "I do have to go, but it's got nothing to do with any of this. You'll be fine...and I'll be around."

[theunascended.livejournal.com]

"Maybe I'm just more pigheaded than you are." A part of him hoped that Jack didn't stop pushing. Because he'd known he'd needed someone to push since that first day back in the laundry room when they'd gotten angry and Jack had left rather than push. Daniel had really wished he'd pushed.

"I'll survive," Daniel retorted, "and you're still welcome over here anytime you want."

He nodded his head at the door. "Go. And no. I don't hate you. I actually kind of appreciate it in a twisted way. So...thanks."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Keep it up. Third time's your last, Daniel. I'm not going to keep doing this to you so you'll come to your senses," Jack replied. Not that he'd quit. He'd just have to think up something new and more interesting. And then Daniel had to go and thank him. God, he did it last time, too.

For the first time since they'd left the compound, a tiny fracture broke and let just a hint of what Jack actually felt slip through. He turned his head so Daniel couldn't see, but it was there in his posture. Gratitude made him uncomfortable and he still, never, he had never known what to say.

"Yeah. Anytime," he said, then walked out the door without another word.