sid | 'Lost and Found', Jack angst, J/D pre-slash, rated PG (Reply)

About 5,150 words of pure angst. Well, no, it gets better at the end. :-)

J/D pre-slash, rated PG for excessive angst

LOST AND FOUND

Jack finally found Daniel sitting cross-legged under a tree, about five hundred feet from the clearing where the temple stood. Daniel appeared to be studying his hands where they lay in his lap. "Hey," Jack said quietly, holding his weapon at the ready and sweeping the area with alert eyes. Daniel looked up slowly. Jack continued to approach, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He thumbed his radio. "Carter, Teal'c. I've got him."

"On our way, sir."

"Daniel?" Jack squatted in front of him. "You okay?" Daniel didn't answer. "Didn't you hear us calling you?" Jack asked, looking him over for obvious signs of injury.

"Hey."

The eyes didn't look right. But at least he was responding now. "Hey," Jack repeated. "We thought we'd lost you for a while there."

"Lost." Daniel frowned slightly, as though in concentration. "Lost. Lost."

"No, hey!" Jack felt ice in the pit of his stomach. "You're right here. Not lost."

"Lost, lost, lost."

Jack could see the tension mounting in Daniel. "Not lost," he repeated firmly. "I found you. We found you. You're not lost." Daniel stared at him intently, his eyes flickering only slightly at the sounds of Carter's and Teal'c's approach.

"Sir?"

"We've got a situation here, Carter," Jack said with outward calm. "Daniel seems to be a bit confused."

Sam knelt beside the two men. "Daniel?" she asked anxiously.

His head turned towards her. "Not lost," he said blankly.

She swallowed. "No, you're not lost. The colonel found you. Are you hurt, Daniel?"

Daniel looked up at Teal'c, who was standing guard over them. "Found."

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "You have been found, and as soon as you are able to travel we must take you home."

Sam had hold of Daniel's hand and was taking his pulse. He spoke to her. "Okay."

"You're not hurt?" she asked. Daniel just smiled, and it was as wrong as a smile could get.

Jack cringed inwardly, but managed to maintain a professional demeanor. "Give him a quick once-over before we try moving him," he ordered, rising to stand beside Teal'c and surveying the area again. Nothing. Quiet and peaceful, like Daniel, who watched Carter silently as she examined him.

Sam sat back on her heels and looked up at Jack. "I'm not finding anything wrong with him, sir. I think it's safe to move him." She turned her attention back to Daniel. "Think you can walk?" she asked him with false cheerfulness.

"Home," Daniel said.

"Right," Jack said, and he and Teal'c reached down to lift Daniel to his feet. He seemed to be a bit wobbly, but in no apparent pain. "Ready to start walking?" Jack asked him.

Daniel stared at him for a long moment. "Walk," he finally said. "Home."

Jack's lips twitched into the semblance of a smile. "If you'd quit yapping so much, we could be half-way there already."

Daniel smiled sweetly.

~~~~

They walked to the Stargate with Jack's hand firmly gripping Daniel's elbow. Although he could walk without any trouble, traveling in a straight line had proven a little more difficult. Part of the problem had been the way he kept looking around him. At Carter, at Teal'c, at trees, at the sky. At Jack, in a way that made Jack feel a little sick. There was nobody home behind Daniel's eyes. No one that resembled Daniel Jackson, at least.

They stood together as Carter dialed the DHD. When the Stargate roared open, Daniel's head never even turned. He was tracking a bird across the sky. "Come on, Daniel," Jack said through a tight throat. "Let's get you home."

Daniel gazed at him with what Jack could only interpret as complete faith, and slid his hand into Jack's. Momentarily surprised, Jack frowned for a second. Then he gave Daniel's hand a squeeze and led him through the event horizon. When they reached the SGC ramp on the other side, Daniel looked around him. He tilted his head back and stared up towards the high ceiling of the cavernous room.

"Lost!" he cried. "Lost, lost!"

"No." Jack moved quickly to put an arm around his shoulders. "It's okay. Everything's okay. Nobody's lost. We're home. We're home, Daniel."

Daniel looked at him with wide, blank eyes. "Lost. Lost." He was quieter, though.

"Not lost," Jack said firmly. "Home."

Daniel swayed on his feet. "Not."

"Not," Jack repeated. "We're home, we're safe. You're safe." Medical personnel were coming up the ramp to meet them. Daniel gripped Jack's jacket tightly and frowned at them. "I've got him," Jack said. "Come on, Daniel." He urged him towards the gurney that waited at the foot of the ramp.

"Colonel? What happened?"

Jack looked up at the control room. "We don't know, sir. I need to get Daniel to the infirmary. Carter can fill you in."

"Go."

"Thank you, sir." Jack maneuvered Daniel towards the gurney. "Climb up here."

Daniel was looking up towards Hammond. "Home," he said, and smiled.

Jack's eyes met the general's for a second, then he tightened his lips and resumed the task of getting Daniel onto the gurney.

~~~~

"What happened, Colonel?" Janet asked as she began her examination.

"We went inside this temple," Jack said. "Teal'c stayed outside guarding the entrance. There was a doorway at either end of the first room. Carter went one way and Daniel and I went the other. The next room had two doorways, too, and I went into the first one while Daniel stayed put. There was no other exit there, so I went back through the room where Daniel was, checked in with Carter on the radio, and went through the other door. The next room was big, but it had just one doorway at the far end. I went through that, and there was Carter.

"So, I radioed Daniel that we were coming back his way, and he didn't respond. But, you know, I didn't think too much of it. When he gets wrapped up in temples, and inscriptions and old stuff..." Jack fell silent, watching Janet work for a minute. Daniel looked up at him with a vacant stare. Jack swallowed, tasting bile. "When we got back to the room I'd left him in, he was gone."

Janet looked up. "Gone? Into another room?"

"Just gone. Not in any of the rooms, and Teal'c never saw him leave the temple."

Janet stared. "Where was he when you found him?"

"Sitting under a tree." Jack shrugged uneasily. "I suppose he might have slipped out while we were searching the temple again with Teal'c, but that wouldn't explain where he was when Carter and I searched for him the first time."

"Secret room, or passageway?" Janet suggested. "Would a temple have something like that?" She looked at her patient. "Daniel would be the one to ask about that kind of thing, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah," Jack agreed somberly. "He'd be the one."

~~~~

Daniel sat in an infirmary bed, propped up with pillows. Jack sat in a chair beside him, feeling helpless. Janet's examination had revealed nothing out of the ordinary, and now there was little she could do except wait for lab results. Carter and Teal'c had come and gone, sent away by Jack, who hadn't enjoyed seeing the looks on their faces at all. It was the same look of dumb misery that he had seen on his own face when he was washing his hands at the bathroom sink earlier.

"I wish you could tell us what happened to you," he said softly. "I wish I knew what to do." He didn't look at Daniel while he spoke, because the empty look of incomprehension that he would see, or the eerie smile that seemed worse somehow, were beyond what he thought he could bear at the moment. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. When he looked up, General Hammond was walking towards them.

"Sit," Hammond said when Jack began to rise. "I've just left Doctor Fraiser's office."

“Anything?” Jack asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid not,” Hammond said, shaking his head. “They’re still looking, but the MRI appears normal, and the early results on the blood work are coming back clean.”

Both men looked at Daniel, who was smiling faintly at the general. “Safe,” he said, startling them.

“That’s right, son,” Hammond said. “You’re safe. And if there’s anything you need, I will personally make sure that you get it. All your friends want you feeling better very soon.”

“Normal,” Daniel said.

“That’d be nice,” Jack said wistfully. “Back to normal would work for me.”

Hammond squeezed his shoulder. “Try not to wear yourself out worrying, Jack. It won’t help.” Jack gave a slight nod. Hammond looked at Daniel. “I’ll be back to visit you again soon. You take care of yourself, son.” But Daniel was gazing at Jack.

Jack watched the general leave the room and turned back to Daniel, swallowing. “He’s a good guy. And he means what he says.” He leaned closer to Daniel’s bed. “Whatever you need, whatever it takes.”

Daniel smiled vaguely. “Jack.”

The world stopped. Jack’s heart broke.

~~~~~~~~

Jack sat across the table from Daniel in one of the VIP suites. While Jack attended to paperwork, Daniel was focused on crayons and a coloring book. When he finished with a crayon, he would lay it down carefully and stare at the box with a frown. Then he would pull out another crayon and return to his picture. Jack watched him assessingly for a minute as he bent over the book and colored in a green sun.

Daniel had lost weight in the last three weeks. He didn’t seem to have much of an appetite. Jack knew just how he felt. But Daniel, at least, was getting plenty of sleep, while Jack spent hours staring at his bedroom ceiling. He felt weary and depressed; guilt wracked him when he was away from Daniel and his heart ached when he was with him.

The green crayon was laid down and Jack waited to see what Daniel would pick up next. Would he make the sky orange? Maybe fuchsia. At least he colored between the lines now. Janet, everybody, leaped on each sign of ‘progress’. Meanwhile, Daniel wore a diaper and colored with crayons. He looked up at Jack now, smiled, and selected a beige crayon. The tree was going to have beige leaves. Great.

Jack gave himself a mental shake and tried to concentrate on the report he was reading. He was being too negative today. Daniel did show progress; changes - visible, measurable changes - took place every day. He was still in a diaper to be on the safe side, but he knew the word “bathroom” and when to say it. “Food”, on the rare occasions he was hungry, “bed” when he wanted to rest. “Yes” and “no”, on occasion, but they could never be quite sure if he had understood the question. Okay, being negative again.

On the other hand, what was there to be positive about? None of Janet’s tests had shown anything abnormal. Three SG teams, plus Carter and Teal’c, had gone back to the planet and searched the temple and the surrounding area thoroughly. Nada. Zip. There was some talk of taking Daniel back there, but it was considered to be too soon. Like in a week, or a month he’d be in dandy shape for a little road trip back to the place that had destroyed him?

Jack laid down the report and covered his eyes. It was unbearable to see Daniel like this, and impossible not to regret missed opportunities that might never come again. God, he was so lonely. His life was destroyed, too, but he had to find a way, each day, to go on. It was getting harder and harder.

After a few seconds he heard Daniel lay down his crayon. He pictured the faint, abstracted frown Daniel would be wearing, and the blank expression his eyes would hold, and he shivered and tried to stem the tears that threatened to break through. Why was he bothering, though? Daniel wouldn’t even notice, would he? Jack could sob like a child, and Daniel...Daniel would just keep coloring, right?

He heard a sound and looked up, blinking hard. Daniel had reached across the table and was pulling the report Jack had been reading towards him. As Jack stared, Daniel picked up a crayon and began to draw on the blank side of the paper. Jack gave a hysterical whoop of laughter and felt tears start to roll down his cheeks. Daniel looked up and blinked at him, raised a hand and touched his own face.

Jack sobered quickly. With a sniff, he wiped the dampness away, saying to Daniel, “It’s nothing. I was just feeling sad for a minute.” Daniel smiled and looked down at the drawing he had begun. “That’s it. Keep drawing.” Daniel put crayon to paper and hunched over, frowning. “It’ll be interesting to see what you come up with,” Jack said truthfully.

Jack applied himself to his paperwork again and managed to keep his focus for some time. Eventually, though, he became aware of the sounds that Daniel was making as he colored. Not slow, careful, keeping-inside-the-lines sounds. Daniel’s hand was moving quickly. Jack looked up, frowning. As he watched, Daniel tossed down one crayon and picked up another. No hesitation. “Daniel?” No response.

Daniel sat back and surveyed his picture for a moment before picking up another crayon and making some swift marks. Then he stopped, setting down the crayon. He stared down at the drawing, running his fingertips over it lightly. His lips parted.

“What did you draw, Daniel?” Jack asked. “Can I see?” He reached over, but Daniel put his palm down on the paper and raised his face to Jack’s. His eyes were even blanker than usual, as though he was focused inward, not seeing Jack at all. “I won’t take it,” Jack said carefully. “May I come over and look?” He rose slowly and walked around the table. He put a gentle hand on Daniel’s shoulder and Daniel uncovered his work.

It was the temple. And while it was certainly no polished work of art, it was astonishing coming from the hands of a man who had scrawled brightly colored lines like a toddler only a week earlier. There was obvious intelligence at work here, and Jack's breath caught in his throat. He felt Daniel’s body tensing beneath his hand. Daniel’s hand covered the drawing again. And uncovered it.

“Daniel, does it upset you?” Jack bent closer and Daniel looked up. Tears sparkled in the empty eyes. “Jesus,” Jack whispered.

~~~~

Jack laid Daniel’s drawing on the briefing room table. “He let me take it to show it to you,” he said flatly. “I asked him if there was supposed to be some kind of a message in it. I don’t see anything. No ‘X‘ marks the spot, or anything like that.”

Sam and Teal’c leaned over General Hammond’s shoulders as they all examined the drawing. “Did he say anything at all?” Hammond asked.

Jack cleared his throat. “‘Sad’. He said ‘sad’.”

~~~~

“Daniel, do we need to take you back there? Is that what this is about, this picture?” Jack searched Daniel’s expressionless face. “Are you trying to tell us something?” It was hopeless. Daniel didn’t understand, or couldn’t communicate. Hopeless. He closed his eyes for a moment.

“Sad.”

“I know,” Jack said dully. “It makes you sad.”

“Not.”

“What?” Jack said, confused.

Daniel tapped his chest with a loosely fisted hand. “Not.” The hand lowered to the table and was thrust towards Jack. He stared at the hand and then frowned at Daniel. “Sad.”

“Oh. Oh! I’m sad?” Jack was stunned. This was the closest they had come to a conversation in three weeks. Daniel’s hand pushed a few more inches across the table. “Yes. I’m sad. I’m very sad.” Daniel pulled back his hand and smiled at Jack gently. “Why, you ask?” Jack choked out. “I’m sad because my best friend is lost, and I don’t know how to find him.” His voice broke on the last words.

There was silence in the room for a minute, as Jack fought for composure. Then Daniel spoke. “Not.” Daniel tapped his chest. “Not.”

“No, of course. You’re right here.” Jack swallowed. “Not lost. Silly of me.”

“Not, not, not.”

“It’s okay, Daniel. Not lost, see, I’m agreeing with you.”

“Jack.”

“Daniel?”

“Not. Not. Not.”

“Not what?” And then Jack knew. “Oh, my god. Not Daniel.”

And Daniel’s face smiled at him, while Daniel’s hands pushed the drawing towards him, and the eyes that Daniel wasn’t hiding behind remained perfectly blank.

~~~~

"We need to take him back to the temple. I don't know what it's all about; I don't know what happened. But I think Daniel's there. At the temple."

"You're certain that this is not Doctor Jackson we're dealing with?"

"It all makes sense," Jack insisted. "Okay, in a bizarre way, but it makes sense. Look, we haven't been dealing with a Daniel who's mysteriously been damaged in some way. We've been dealing with...I don't know, an alien, some form of intelligence. It doesn't speak our language, but it's picked up a few words, and it's been trying to communicate. A little. I don't know."

"Sirs, I think we have to be careful not to assign motives to this...being. If this really is an alien intelligence that we're dealing with, it may have its own agenda."

"Carter, I understand where you're coming from, and I'm all in favor of caution. Hey, you know me. But I have no doubts whatsoever about sincerity or motives here. I think it wants to go home, and I think it wants us to have Daniel back."

"We have seen no signs of hostility," Teal'c noted.

"Yes!" Jack said, "Quite the opposite, in point of fact. He's...it's been positively docile."

"Sweet," Sam said. She flushed faintly as they all looked at her. "I've thought that several times. He...he seems sweet."

"I know I'm right, sir," Jack said to Hammond. "I don't have a clue what's going on, but I know we need to take him back to that planet."

"All right, Colonel," Hammond said. "I'm going to send SG-3 with you as back-up just in case you're wrong."

"Thank you, sir!" Jack had to restrain himself from leaping out of his chair.

"Bring our boy home."

"Yes, sir."

~~~~

Jack couldn't remember ever being this on edge before a mission. What if he was wrong about everything? What if there was no Daniel waiting for them at the temple? Chevron seven locked. The being at his side reached for Jack's hand. Daniel's skin felt warm against his. It had to be all right. Two of the marines led the way, Carter and Teal'c followed. Jack and his companion came next, with the rest of SG-3 bringing up the rear.

They emerged on the other side into a peaceful, beautiful day. Daniel's face turned towards the sun. Jack felt a brief pang of guilt. In three weeks, none of them had ever thought to get Daniel outside into some fresh air and sunshine. They hadn't known then that they were dealing with an alien. Somebody should have thought of it; he should have thought of it.

"Colonel O'Neill?"

He snapped back to the present. "Right. Teal'c, take point."

They set out towards the woods that concealed the temple. There was a radiant smile on Daniel's face as he walked beside Jack, who couldn't help hoping that he'd have reason to smile, just like that, before too much longer. "We'll be there before you know it," he said, and Daniel's face turned towards him with the vague look that had caused him so much anguish. But now he knew that his words were being heard, and even understood in some way. Telepathy of some kind? It was the sort of intriguing linguistic question that would be right up Daniel's alley. He gave Daniel's hand a squeeze.

The sun was brighter just up ahead; they were approaching the clearing. Daniel's legs started moving faster and Jack adjusted his stride in order to keep up. They passed Carter and drew alongside one of the marines, who gave them a startled glance and broke into a trot to stay ahead. Jack almost felt like laughing. He hadn't felt this alive since this had all begun, here in these woods. Here, in this clearing.

The stone walls of the ancient temple looked worn in the bright sunlight. "Home!" Daniel's voice declared. "Home! Home!" The sound rang off the temple walls and the ground underfoot seemed to reverberate. Daniel's hand pulled Jack towards the entrance. Jack heard Carter calling out orders as he let himself be swept along, through the doorway, into the dim light of the antechamber.

The flashlights of the others came on and beams of light danced in all directions as the area was assessed. Jack's hand was suddenly empty and he grabbed quickly at Daniel's shoulder. The eyes that turned towards him glittered in reflected light, seeming to come alive for the first time in weeks. Or was it an illusion? Jack turned on his own light, and carefully shone it so that he could see Daniel's face without blinding him. The eyes that looked back at him were warm and amused. "Hey," Jack choked.

Daniel's lips curved sweetly. "Jack."

"All clear," Carter said huskily.

They followed Daniel's figure as it led them into the chamber where Jack had left him three weeks ago. Jack felt a shiver run up his spine. The room was empty. No, the room was bare. It didn't feel empty at all. The figure beside him filled every corner of the space with his presence. The marine next to Jack shifted uneasily and looked towards his team leader.

Daniel's head tilted back, and as his eyes looked upwards a soft glow began to emanate from the ceiling. Light, a cloud of light, over Daniel's head, sinking towards him. As Jack stared, Daniel's face took on a matching glow. The light seemed to surround Daniel now, to shine within him. Daniel's face lowered and Jack's gaze was caught and held. "My friend." Jack started. Daniel's voice had never been that deep. "Your heart will be healed."

Abruptly, the light was gone, and only flashlight beams illuminated the figure who stood before them, blinking in shock. "Jack?" Daniel asked warily. "What's going on?"

"Daniel," Jack breathed.

"Where did these guys come from? Jack?" Daniel's voice rose. Jack took a step forward and gripped his arm. "Did something happen?" He sounded frightened, and Jack could feel tremors running through his body.

"Everything's okay now." Jack patted Daniel's arm soothingly.

"What...?"

"Later," Jack said firmly. "We're going home now."

"What? No, wait, Jack. Come and look at this wall over here; I was just translating it..."

"No way, no how, no more arguments!" Jack pulled at him roughly. "Move!"

"Jack!"

~~~~

They were gathered around the briefing room table. Daniel was still in shock at the realization that he had been 'gone' for three weeks, but otherwise he was feeling fine and Janet had given him a clean bill of health. Jack felt like he had been thrust into some blissful unreality. He watched Daniel's animated face as it expressed alarm, concern, surprise, curiosity. Whenever the bright blue gaze turned his way he felt a lump in his throat.

"I think it must have been some sort of telepathy that allowed him to grasp the meanings of words so quickly. I mean, you weren't actually making any effort to teach him, he was just picking it up on his own. Either that or he was accessing my memories, or, um, brain somehow."

"Eww," Jack said, just to get Daniel to look at him again. Daniel’s eyes crinkled as he grinned, and Jack melted. “Yeah, Rex always had this delayed reaction-type thing going on. The conversation would have moved on by the time he got around to repeating one of the words.”

“Wait, 'Rex'? You,” Daniel darted a glance around the table, “you gave him a name?”

“O’Neill named him,” Teal’c said. “I did not understand the reference.”

Daniel turned a puzzled gaze back Jack’s way. Jack shrugged elaborately. “Yeah. Rex. Short for Memorex.” Daniel’s head sagged forward and Jack smiled happily. "What? I couldn't keep calling him Daniel, could I?"

“People,” Hammond prodded. “We’re drifting off-topic.”

"His language skills were pretty minimal, Daniel," Sam said. "Whatever method he was using to learn, it wasn't doing him much good."

"Or us," Jack added, frowning at the table.

"Maybe speech was foreign to him? Or the very concept of language itself. Or he just couldn't get my body to be fully functional vocally."

"Would that not have been extremely frustrating to him?" Teal'c asked. "O'Neill, did you ever see indications of this?"

"Nope," Jack answered. "He seemed pretty laid-back most of the time."

“We’re never really going to have answers to any of our questions, are we?” Sam asked. “I mean, without going back and trying to communicate with him again.”

Daniel leaned forward eagerly and opened his mouth. “No!” Jack cut in.

“It’s already been discussed,” Hammond said. “It’s simply not a risk I’m prepared to take.”

“Who knows what we might learn,” Daniel protested. “Not just the answers to what happened to me, but about who this being is, his history, what happened to the people who built the temple.” He looked at the adamant faces around him. “Oh, all right. If it’s not worth taking a risk for knowledge...”

“Now, if it was big honkin’ space guns.” Jack rubbed salt in the wound and received a glare in response that warmed him from head to toe.

“You said that you had begun to translate the wall of the chamber before you vanished,” Teal’c said. “Had you read anything that might refer to this being?”

“Rex,” Jack muttered. Daniel shot him a long-suffering glance.

“I was skimming pretty fast, just trying to get a sense of the meaning. Skipping over the words I wasn’t sure about.” Daniel frowned in concentration. “The temple was dedicated to the ‘spirit of the forest'. I think.”

“As in, spirit of cooperation?” Jack asked. “Or...”

“Or, I think,” Daniel answered. “In fact the temple was designed to be the spirit’s home. I, uh, took that to mean something similar to calling a church or a cathedral ‘the house of God‘. I guess maybe I should have taken it more literally.”

“So, more of an invisible, ghostly spirit.” Jack cleared his throat. “Something that might appear in a cloud of light...” Daniel made a face. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

"Why did he do it?" Sam burst out. "Why exchange places with Daniel? Why did he want to leave his home if he didn't know how to get back?"

"Maybe he didn't know he didn't know." They all looked at Jack. "What? I said it right!"

"No, you might actually have something there, Jack." Daniel frowned in thought.

"It happens," Jack muttered. He caught Hammond's eye and winced apologetically.

"I imagine it's possible that he had never tried it before. Or that he used to do it, but it's been too long and he didn't know how to do it right any more. I wonder if he used to communicate that way with the people who built the temple."

"His worshippers," Teal'c stated.

"Well, yes," Daniel said. "But we know that just because someone is worshipped, that doesn't make them a deity."

"Carter? Were there any signs of technology in that temple?" Jack said pointedly.

"None, sir," she answered.

"Well, okay, he can have natural powers, like, like the Nox, and not be a god."

“Spirit,” Jack said.

“Whatever.” Daniel gave Jack a hard look. “All we can say for certain is that we’ve never encountered anything like him before, and, barring any meaningful communication with him, we can never really know how or why things happened the way they did.”

Hammond shook his head. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s more than reason enough not to go back to that planet. We are not equipped to deal with something that far outside our realm of understanding.”

“He’s all alone there,” Daniel said softly.

“He’s survived this long,” Jack said with equal softness. “And he just had a nice little break in his routine.” Daniel raised his eyebrows. “You might say.”

“Yes,” Daniel said with a strange expression. “He got to spend time with you. He‘ll probably enjoy the peace and quiet.”

Jack smiled contentedly.

~~~~

Jack showed up at Daniel’s apartment that night with a bottle of wine and a six-pack of beer. From the look on Daniel’s face when he opened the door, it was apparent that he had been expected.

“Thanks for keeping the place up for me, Jack.”

“Carter helped. We took turns.” Jack twisted the cap off one of the beer bottles and leaned a hip against the kitchen counter as Daniel got out a wineglass and his corkscrew.

“I’m sending her flowers,” Daniel said with a smiling glance.

“She’ll like that,” Jack agreed. He watched as Daniel got the wine opened and poured himself a glass. He lifted his bottle towards Daniel, and touched the neck to the rim of the wineglass. “Good to have you back.”

Daniel grinned fleetingly and ducked his head. Jack poured some of the cold beer down his suddenly dry throat. “Come on,” Daniel said, and he led the way into his living room. He sat on the couch, and Jack sank down next to him.

They drank in silence for a few minutes. “So,” Jack said.

“Yes,” Daniel replied.

“Very weird stuff. Sorry you missed it.”

“Oh, me, too.”

“Yep.” They sipped from their drinks.

“So,” Daniel began this time. “Teal’c told me that Rex seemed quite attached to you.”

“Don’t sound so surprised.” Jack took another swallow of beer.

“I’m not,” Daniel said gently.

Jack gave him a long, assessing sideways look. “And don’t read anything into the handholding.”

Daniel grinned. “You were pretty sure that Teal’c would tell me about that part, weren’t you?”

Jack snorted.

“It certainly indicated that he liked you and trusted you.”