EMAIL: Lyn

 NOTES: My first Little Danny fic – blame Annie. She brow-beat me into it! Well, not exactly. It’s an idea that’s been simmering for a while but I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know if I did or not.

“Danyel.”

 Warm liquid brown eyes suddenly turned to golden fire and she raised her hand.

 “Don’t!”

 She smiled mirthlessly and a fiery shaft erupted from her palm, searing the flesh of his forehead, sending tendrils of agony into his brain. A protest whispered from between his clenched teeth as he sank to his knees.

 Fire flashed from behind him.

 “Shaure, no!”

 ~o0o~

Jack was galvanized into action before he even registered he was awake. He tore down the hallway and into the spare room, pausing only to slap on the light before hurrying to the figure thrashing on the bed. “Daniel? Hey, buddy, it’s okay,” he murmured soothingly.

 Daniel stilled, the bedclothes still twisted around him, and flopped onto his back to stare up at Jack. “Jack? I had another nightmare.”

 Jack’s breath caught in his throat as familiar blue eyes framed by an almost, but not quite familiar, childish face stared up at him. A tear welled up from Daniel’s right eye and dribbled down his cheek. Jack forced a smile. “I figured that.”

 “I’m sorry,” Daniel whispered, more tears joining the first.

 “Hey, no biggie. I’ve had my share of nightmares.” Jack tried to remember what Janet had said when they’d brought the mini-version of Daniel back through the gate from PXP – wherever. Something to do with his child psyche suffering damage from the memories he still carried from adult Daniel. Seemed like crap to him. A kid was a kid. They had a nightmare, you held them, said nonsense, soothing stuff and they went back to sleep and by the next day, they’d forgotten all about it.

 “I had a dream about Shaure,” Daniel said, his voice quavering.

 Crap! Or not.

 Jack sat down on the bed and untangled the bedclothes from Daniel’s gangly legs. He patted his lap. “C’mere.”

 Daniel obeyed with alacrity, settling himself on Jack’s knees, wrapping thin arms around his neck, his face burrowing into the juncture of Jack’s shoulder. Jack tried not to squirm at the feel of damp cloth against his groin.

 “I peed my pants,” Daniel said softly, snuffling against Jack’s skin. “She scared me.”

 Jack patted his back. “No biggie,” he reassured Daniel. “Got plenty more PJs. Janet and Carter went shopping, remember?”

 He felt Daniel nod against his neck. “Just not the teddy bear ones, okay? I’ve still got my pride.”

 Jack squeezed him a little tighter. “We’ll fix it, Daniel, okay? I promise.”

 Daniel pulled away from him slightly, blue eyes huge in a solemn face. “What if you can’t? What if I can’t ever be on the team again? What if –“

 Jack shushed him, placing a finger on his lips. “I promise you we’ll figure it out… somehow.”

 Wetness dribbled once again down Daniel’s reddened cheeks. “I’m scared, Jack.”

 Jack cupped the small face between his hands. “It scares me too but I’ll do everything I can to fix it. Okay?”

 Daniel nodded but his expression was still miserable. “Sorry for being such a wuss,” he said. He raised a hand and wiped his pajama sleeve across his nose; the action so incongruous with the serious, adult discussion they’d just had that Jack almost cried himself.

 “If you’re a wuss, Danny, then so am I.” He pulled tissues from the box by the bed and dried Daniel’s eyes; helped him to blow his nose. “You think you can sleep now?”

 Daniel nodded but he dropped his gaze to his lap before looking up at Jack through shuttered eyelids. “Could I…?”

 Jack smiled and nodded, a tremulous, almost guilty relief going through him at the half-spoken request. Truth was, he didn’t want to let go of Daniel anytime soon either. “Yeahsureyoubetcha,” he quipped.

 He scooped Daniel up in his arms, collected a spare set of PJs from the dresser on the way out and headed back to his bedroom.

 “You gonna finish that story from last night?” Daniel asked sleepily as Jack deposited him on the bed.

 Jack suppressed a groan. “Sure, why not?”

 “Just no making stuff up this time, okay?” Daniel said as he scooted under the covers and deposited himself in the center of the bed. “I’ve read it before, you know.”

 END

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