Continued....
Jack bolted to his feet at the sound of approaching footsteps. Damnit this time someone was going to answer his questions. The door opened and Daniel was tossed inside, knocking Jack against the wall before landing in a crumpled heap on the stone floor.
"Danny?...Danny?" He could feel the ripped cloth of the tee shirt and instinctively knew what the warm, sticky fluid was that covered his hands as he gathered Daniel into his arms. "Oh God, what'd they do to you?"
It seemed like hours that Jack sat there gently rocking Daniel, feeling the minute convulsions that racked his body, listening to his friend's pain filled whimpers.
"Ja'k?"
"Yeah Space Monkey, I'm right here."
"It's...kay Ja'k...I'm kay."
"Yeah buddy, you're gonna be fine." O'Neill continued to rock him, gently stroking his hair as Daniel slept.
Why Daniel? Why this man who possessed the soul of a child. Who never failed to see the wonder and joy that life had to offer. This innocent, naive soul who extended a hand of friendship to everyone he met. What could this gentle person have ever done to be treated with such cruelty? This was a man who somehow changed for the better, the lives of those he touched. His friend who had saved him from himself. Who had led him out of the dark and taught him to care again. To trust again.
Each time, Daniel woke, Jack forced him to eat a bite of the food and sip the wine the guards had provided..
It had taken time but Daniel ignoring Jack's orders to rest, had eventually told him the story of this planet. The weak, deformed or infirmed were sacrificed to keep the village strong. The whipping had been punishment for interfering with the offering of the child to the Gods.
Jack's eyes jerked open as the door crashed against the wall and the guards, their weapons aimed at his chest, ripped Daniel from his arms, dragging the smaller man into the hall before rebolting the door. p>
