Subtle Torture

Subtle Torture
KLMatt

"Where's Daniel?" asked Colonel Jack O'Neill, his irritation level rising as he looked around for the curious archaeologist.

"He was stood over there just a moment ago, sir" said Sam Carter pointing off to the right of the small dig site.

"Oh for crying out loud. Can’t we go anyplace without him disappearing?" I swear that boy needs a leash!" Jack sounded exasperated. Daniel Jackson was known for wandering off if he found something interesting and that was the one thing that still really irked Jack, even after all the time they had known each other. "Teal'c, stay here with Major Datum. I don't want anyone else going missing. Carter, let's go find Daniel".

Teal'c nodded his agreement and Sam shifted her gun so that it was more comfortable and then the two members of SG-1 headed off in search of their errant Dr. Jackson.

"Where the hell has he gotten to? There's nothing for miles but sand and I can't see even Daniel being able to get lost out here" Jack huffed in good humour but with an underlying current of concern.

A loud explosion caught their attention and the pair instinctively headed towards it. Daniel was out there somewhere and chances were that would be where they would find him.

"What's that?" Sam cried out pointing ahead of them.

"Where?" the Colonel squinted and then saw a hazy shape curled up on the hot sand.

They both ran forward and to their immense relief it was Daniel, sat with his legs pressed against his chest and back to them.

"DANIEL! What have I told you about wandering off? You know better. And what the hell was that explosion? You touched something, didn't you?" Jack started to shout, simultaneously checking that Daniel was not injured.

"Colonel?" Major Carter's voice was soft. She nodded toward Daniel and Jack's voice trailed off.

The young archaeologist was motionless, the hot breeze whipping his blond hair about, blowing sand into his face to stick and then get washed away by the tears running down his face. His eyes were wide and unblinking and he looked to the entire world as if he were in some kind of trance.

"Daniel? Danny!" Jack shook the young man gently then took hold of Daniel's chin and tilted the face upwards so that they were eye to eye.

Daniel was desperately trying to focus, Jack could tell.

"Jack??" Daniel whispered, his face etched with fear.

"Yeah, it's me buddy. You're safe here" Jack pushed back a stray strand of blond hair and tucked it behind Daniel's ear.

"Jack? Jack!! NO! Don't touch me. Get away. Go! You have to leave me here. He's coming, he's coming, the destroyer is coming. He's coming, the destroyer is coming!...." he chanted and he seemingly passed out.

"Aww crap Danny, what have you gone and done this time? Odds are you touched something" Jack exclaimed, desperately trying to get some response, any response. There was none.

"Shit!" he thought.

"Sir?" He heard Carter's voice behind him.

"We gotta get Daniel back to the in infirmary" Jack said.

Standing, he pulled Daniel to his feet and then braced himself as he lifted the young man into his is arms.

"God Danny, you putting on weight? Not sure my knees can cope with it" Jack joked with a sideways look at Carter.

There wasn't so much as a sound from Daniel. This was not good! Sam arranged Daniel's arms so that the Colonel wouldn't drop him. Then they made their way back to Teal'c, SG-7 and the Stargate.

On their way there, Jack thought he felt a tightening of Daniel's hold, a slight, subtle shift in the firm solid body that he held that pressed the two of them even closer and a gentle feather light brush of lips on his ear.

When he reached the camp, he tried to let Teal'c take Daniel but those arms around his neck just wouldn't let go.

So Jack carried Daniel through the Stargate and into the SGC. But still Daniel wouldn't let go of Jack. There were no perceivable changes in him yet the medics just couldn't pry him off, not until Jack spoke to him.

Then Daniel's eyes sprang open and he couldn't get away from Jack and off with the medics fast enough.

Jack figured Daniel was probably embarrassed. He had, after all, just spent the last hour almost choking the life out of his team leader and Jack knew that Daniel could be a bit funny about those kind of things.


The debriefing was over quite quickly as no one could offer any reason for Daniel's condition. They all trooped to the Infirmary to see how he was and Janet met them at the door.

"How is he Doc?" asked Jack predictably.

"Physically he's fine, just a small bump on the head from the explosion but I'm slightly worried about his mental state, Colonel. Half the time he's been here, he's been pleasant, calm and almost as if he's happy to be in here and the other half, he's cussing and swearing and telling us, not very subtly, to leave him alone. It's almost like he's two different people" said Doctor Fraiser.

"Will he be allowed to leave?" asked Sam.

"Yes, but someone will need to stay with him at all times" the doctor replied.

"Okay then, I'll take him back to his apartment and keep him there for a couple of days, then you can have a turn Carter and you too Teal'c until we sort him out" Jack decided.

"That sounds good, sir" said Janet. "Now go and see the patient".

They walked in to find Daniel awake and alert.

"Hey Dannyboy! Glad to see you're okay" said Jack.

"It's good to have you back with us, us, Daniel" Carter's face shone.

"I too take pleasure in this fact DanielJackson" Teal'c almost smiled.

"Isn't this place great guys? I've never thought about it before but we've spent so much time here it's kinda like a second home" Daniel smiled brightly.

They all smiled back at him. It was nice to see Daniel so happy even if it was a little strange that he was happy about being in the infirmary.

"Hey Danny. The doc says I can take you back to your apartment for a few days. It'll be fun. Hockey, pizza, beer and NO work!" Jack said, winding him up.

"Sounds great Jack" Daniel beamed.

"Really?!" Jack asked with a frown but not about to give up the chance to watch hockey with a willing companion.

"I do not believe that you enjoy this sporting activity, DanielJackson” said Teal'c.

"Yeah, you usually can't stand hockey!" said Sam.

"I've never really given it a fair chance, it'll be fun" Daniel said eagerly. "I'm looking forward to it".

"Okay well, I'll be back to pick you up at 16.00hrs. Wouldn't wanna miss the game". Jack put his hand on Daniel's. "Get some rest and I'll see you later".

Daniel put his head back, closed his eyes and was asleep immediately.

Sam and Teal'c left the infirmary and Jack went in search of Janet Fraiser.

"He seems....... strange, Doc. Too happy for my liking" said Jack. "He actually agreed to watch hockey with me! No protests, nothing. Did you check.....?

"He's not a gould sir. It's probably just the effects of the medication" the Doctor reassured him.

"Sweet" Jack nodded.


At 15,45hrs, Jack made his way to the infirmary to pick up Daniel. He had been surprised that Danny wanted to watch sports with him but had finally put it down to guilt at wandering away on their mission to P3X-549.

When Jack got to the infirmary, Daniel was still asleep. Jack touched his shoulder and Daniel's eyes snapped open. He looked at Jack with fear.

"No! Don't touch me. Stay away, stay back. You should have killed me when you had the chance but now it's too late, the destroyer is coming. Get away from me, don't listen, all lies" Daniel gasped out, then his eyes closed and he relaxed. He looked up at Jack with an apologetic half smile. "Sorry Jack. You woke me from a bad dream. I'll be okay!" he reassured his friend who had to admit that Daniel was now looking better.

"Okay Danny. It's time to go home now" Jack said softly, wishing the other man would talk about it but knowing it had to be in his own time.

"Get dressed Danny and let's go already"" Jack added in a lighter tone.

He waited for Daniel to tell him to wait outside and draw the curtain as usual but he didn't.

Jack saw a nurse walking by, her brown eyes impossibly large, looking behind him and swinging round he saw Daniel stood there stark naked, trying to decide what to wear.

If Jack could have formed a cognitive thought in that moment it would have been Daniel's only got one set of clothes here so what the hell was he doing but he couldn't.

For a second he thought he was going to have a heart attack faced with this expanse of smooth, Daniel skin but pulled himself together, drew the curtain round and said "Jesus Daniel, put some clothes on would ya?"

Jack turned back quickly so as not to look at Daniel's surprisingly toned body and make it even more obvious that he wanted him.

But in doing so he missed the small smile that was playing on Dr. Jackson's lips and the calculating look he gave him.

Daniel dressed quickly and they both hurried along the corridor of the SGC. Daniel knocked against Jack a couple of times ands and then tripped and fell onto Jack forcing

the older man to wrap his arms around Daniel to stop him from hitting the floor. In getting himself back to a standing position, Daniel's thigh rubbed against Jack's groin.

Jack almost jumped through the roof and immediately got a raging hard-on. Daniel didn't seem to notice.

Jack was uncomfortable all the way back to his truck. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with Daniel and whether he actually knew what he was doing, but decided against saying anything in case he upset the boy.


When they finally got to Daniel's apartment, Jack turned on the game and ordered the pizza whilst Daniel changed and got the beers from the fridge where he kept them for when Jack visited.

Jack made himself comfortable on the couch and tried to relax his body. He enjoyed spending time with Daniel, winding ding the young man up, laughing with him, talking about stuff even though it was obvious that in intellectual terms Daniel was a certified genius and Jack.... wasn’t. He knew he loved Danny, always had done, as a brother, a friend and something more. But he would never tell him.

Daniel brought in the beers and flopped down onto the couch, so close the Jack that he was almost sat in his lap. The tops of their legs were pressed against each other and Daniel laid his head back onto Jack's arm which was stretched across the back of the couch.

Daniel's hair tickled Jack's bare arm and Jack was caught in indecision. Should he move his arm and leg away and risk Daniel no noticing something was wrong or stay where he was, pretending to be fine whilst enduring this subtle torture.

'Best stay where I am' he thought and reached for his beer. It was looking to be a very long night.

15 minutes later Jack felt sleep pulling him down and frowned. It wasn't like him to fall asleep during hockey. He fought to keep his eyes open and focus on the game.

Another 5 minutes passed and the doorbell rang. Daniel got up to answer it. It was the pizza. Paying for it, Daniel closed the door and padded back to the couch on which Jack was now sprawled in a deep sleep having lost the fight.

Daniel looked down at the older man, completely vulnerable, and smiled. It was a tight, thin smile, not at all a good smile and had Jack been awake to see it, he wouldn't have liked it a bit but he didn't and so slept on.

Daniel sat back down next to Jack, ate the pizza, drank his beer and watched the game.

Finally Daniel got up off the couch and grabbing Jack by the legs pulled him onto the floor. Jack's head bounced as it hit the wooden floor and Daniel gave a fleeting thought as to how his neighbours might react to strange noises in his apartment. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with his plans. He dragged Jack by his arms into the main bedroom and manoeuvred him onto the bed.
"I'll be back, Jack" he whispered to the prone man and then he left the apartment.

Daniel was back in a couple of hours, having been to his neighbours and then to some local stores.

If anyone had been around that night, near to the apartment of Daniel Jackson, archaeologist and all round good guy, they would have heard drilling and hammering and they might have noticed that all the windows had been blacked out, but since there wasn't, it all went unchecked.


It was early morning when Jack awoke. His head was throbbing and his arms were stiff. 'Why am I upright?' he thought. He opened his eyes and looked upward at his is outstretched arms chained above him. The thought 'Where am I?" crossed his mind followed closely by 'what the hell is going on?'

Jack looked down at his feet and noticed he was naked. Looking around the room, he took note of the boarded up windows with early morning light slitting through the gaps, then he she saw a bed off to one side of him, a prone figure, male, led face down and also naked. DANIEL! Of course, they were at Daniel's apartment. Something must have happened whilst they were asleep.

Jack couldn't figure out why he hadn't woken. Sure he was sleeping better these days after all his years of being out in the field but to have slept through someone breaking in and tying him up, that just screamed that he was getting old and it was time to retire for good.

"Daniel?" he half whispered across the room, hoping to wake the younger man who wasn't tied up. There was no response.

""Daniel!" Jack hissed risking raising his voice. He didn't particularly want any captors to hear but had no choice. He needed to wake his friend.

Daniel stirred, rolled onto his back and woke slowly, stretching and writhing on the crisp white sheets as he did, showing every inch of his body, that Jack hack hadn't realised was quite so tanned, off to perfection.

Jack couldn't help but stare at his friend. He closed his eyes and mentally shook himself. 'Concentrate' he thought. 'We need to escape, plenty of time for fantasies later'.

"Daniel?" he said again. "Can you hear me?"

Daniel's head lifted and a pair of intensely bright, blue eyes looked at him. A sweet, big smile lit his face up but there was something unreadable behind his eyes.

"Morning Jack" he yawned "What time is it?"

"Daniel, something happened to us last night. I don't know what but I need you to come over here and untie me so that we can get out of here" Jack told the boy firmly.


Daniel stretched out again and got up off the bed. He padded, still naked, skin glowing, over to Jack and pressed his flesh against the chained man.

"I know what happened, Jack" he whispered in the older man's ear. Then he started to nibble Jack's earlobe. Jack jerked in surprise.

"Daniel?" Jack asked.

Daniel trailed kisses down Jack's neck. "I drugged you,” he said matter-of-factly.

Jack was trying very hard not to lose his line of thought but it was hard to do with Daniel's proximity.

"Why?!" Jack was confused.

"So I could do this" Daniel said with a leer.

"But you could have just asked, I would have said yes!" Jack said shaking hg his head.

"It's just so much more fun this way. Anyway, I don't want you enjoying it too much" Daniel lowered his head and sucked on a pert nipple.

A low groan escaped from Jack's lips. He had dreamt of feeling Daniel's body next to his, landscapes of skin on show, using hands and lips, teeth and tongue to tease and arouse the boy but this just seemed wrong.

Daniel's right hand was moving across Jack's belly towards his cock and as much as the Colonel may have wanted it, he knew this had to stop.

"Daniel, Danny......don't. Please stop!" he cried.

Daniel looked at him with contempt and disgust as if to say "You don't dictate what I do". His hand trailed closer to and around the area without actually touching it.

Jack was horrified. This was going too far. What was Daniel thinking?

Momentarily distracted Jack arched his body into the soft warmth of the hand trying to guide it toward his need, that was now straining to be touched. Big blue eyes looked up at him and then Daniel stopped what he was doing. And looked at Jack with that same small thin-lipped smile as before and now that he could see it, Jack really didn't like it.

Daniel straightened and backed away, going over to sit on the bed. Jack was left hanging, watching him.

The archaeologist, whom Jack called friend, was now filling a small syringe with a clear liquid. Then he stepped toward Jack again. Jack tried to struggle and kick but his ankles were also chained.

"This won't hurt Jack" Daniel said plunging the needle into Jack's arm so fast that there was no time to react. "Well, it won't hurt me anyway!" Daniel smirked.

Jack closed his eyes and fought against the drug's effect. Shit...it was goddam painful. Felt like ice spreading through his veins numbing everything it touched. He was trying to figure out what the hell was going on but his head wasn't clear, becoming fogged and heavy. Finally he admitted to himself that he couldn't fight anymore but he wasn't giving up, just taking a break and sleep washed over him.


By the time Jack awoke again the light coming in through the boards told him that it was late afternoon. His head was thumping even worse this time and his arms were completely numb, so much so that he quickly checked that they were still there.

"Well.... I see you're back with us, Colonel" Daniel's voice came from the doorway. Jack saw he was dressed in a pair of new, tight black jeans, which moulded him like a second skin and a snug fitting long sleeved black T-shirt. He still wasn't wearing any footwear.

Obviously Daniel had been shopping whilst Jack slept as he had never before seen Daniel in anything so tight before but he had to admit that it suited him and that he looked bloody good in all black.

Daniel smirked at Jack and then settled onto the bed, which Jack noted had been moved to face him.

Daniel began a slow and sensuous strip tease in front of the older man, who had not really recovered from the last time and was shaking with desire, dragging each anticipation of skin out until it was torturous. Then once he was naked, he laid back and started to touch himself.

Jack was in agony, he couldn't move could only watch. Didn't really want to even do that but he couldn't tear his eyes away.

His cock was so hard that he was in pain.

Daniel started to pant hard, his hand working himself with urgency, his head rolling from side to side. As he neared his climax, he panted harder and faster, shouting out his pleasure to the ceiling. He wailed finally and cum spurted all over his stomach.

Jack was on the verge of tears, desperately trying to hold himself together inside. This couldn't be Daniel, but he walked, talked and kind of acted like Daniel and he didn't have a gould so what the hell was going on?

The only explanation he could come up with in his befuddled state was that Daniel had somehow become insane, just like he had that time he'd been infected by Machello's invention.

Daniel rose from the bed and moved towards Jack, his body wet and slick. He rubbed himself on Jack, allowing the helpless man a little relief then stepped back.

"Who the hell are you?" Jack was angry.

"I'm Daniel of course,” Daniel said giving him a confused you-know-who-I-am look.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You are nothing like Danny. So where is he?" Jack was now livid.

"I'm here Jack,” said Daniel looking into the Colonel's eyes, his own filled with sincerity.

"NO!" cried Jack. "You're not Daniel, you can't be. Danny would never hurt me and he'd never do this".

"You obviously don't know me then Jack. But then when have you ever bothered to take the time to get to know me. You obviously never cared for me as any more that a pet. Just someone handy, not a real person. Every time we spend any time together, it's always to watch goddam hockey. You know I can't stand the game, yet you force me to watch it. You just don't get it, do you? But then I can hardly expect to have an intelligent conversation with a man who's shorter than two thick planks, can I?"

Jack hadn't noticed that Daniel had a syringe of that clear liquid in his hand until he felt the needle slide into his skin.

"Daniel?" Jack said, eyes tearing up and heart breaking as the painful icy feeling spread through his body again. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I can, because it's fun but mostly just because you deserve it. Now sleep quietly and we'll talk some more when you wake" Daniel said.

Jack didn't try to fight the sleep this time. He wanted peace and time where he didn't have to think about, look at or talk to the monster that Daniel had become. His heart was slowly breaking and he had never felt so alone. Was this his fault? Had he driven Daniel to this through not treating him as he deserved? Jack just couldn't understand it.

It didn't seem possible that it could only have been yesterday that everything had been normal, back at the SGC. He brightened at that thought....Sam and Teal'c would surely be checking in soon.

He drifted off to sleep, with hope filling his heart. First get out of here, then get Daniel the help he needed and everything would be fine.


Whilst Jack was asleep the phone rang. It was Sam.

"Hey Daniel. How are you feeling?"

"I'm great thanks Sam. Enjoying having time to rest and relax".

"I would have thought you would be itching to get back to those translations and your mountains of work at SGC" Sam teased.

."Well, Jack's forbidden me from doing anything remotely work like so I don't really have a choice in the matter, but I'm trying to find a way around him!"

"Speaking of, is the Colonel there?"

"He's asleep at the moment. Do you want me to wake him?" Daniel asked, knowing full well that she would say no. She had no reason to suspect Daniel of anything.

"Nah.... it’s 's okay. It was just to tell you both that Teal'c and I'll be with you at 12.00hrs tomorrow to take over. I hope you're not giving him too much trouble" Daniel could hear the smirk in her voice and shook his head. It was amazing just what clues these people could miss.

Daniel grinned evilly "Of course not!" he said with total innocence. "I'll see you tomorrow".

"Sure" laughed Sam and they both put their phones down. Again Daniel shook his head in total disbelief. These people had no idea. Not for one second had it crossed any of their minds that Daniel Jackson, the sweet, shy, clumsy Archaeologist/Linguist could possibly be a threat to anyone or a danger. Little did they know!


It was dark when Jack awoke for the third time. His head was pounding, his legs so like jelly that he couldn't even stand on them anymore and his stomach was churning.

'I can get through this' he thought to himself. He'd been in worse situations, during the war, after all, this was just a hostage situation and he'd survived them before.

Granted, this wasn't your usual type of hostage situation, seeing as he was being held by a lunatic who was also his best friend, strung up like a featherless turkey and was being tortured by way of sexual approaches.

He tried to remember the basics of what he should be doing as a hostage but just couldn’t get his head to clear enough to think. ‘It probably wouldn’t have helped much anyway’ he thought.

Moving slightly on the chains, he let out a soft groan as his head exploded. It really didn't help that the overhead light was then switched on causing further pain behind his eyes.

When his vision cleared enough to see, he saw Daniel stood in the doorway, again, naked, his body glowing and glistening as he looked at Jack. He just stood there for the longest time possible and then moved slowly oh so slowly across the room.

A moan escaped from Jack. Daniel was a vision of beauty and even though Jack knew in the back of his mind that this man was still a monster, he couldn't help but want him so desperately even though he knew he couldn't deal with all the guilt issues.

Daniel stood in front of Jack, just an arm length away from the eager body and reached out a strong, firm hand to touch Jack's chest. His fingers traced the various war wounds, a bullet hole here, a knife scar there and then stepped closer and roughly kissed him holding Jack's face still.

The he moved round behind Jack, run running his hands over the broad shoulders and down the strong back.


There was a pause, then fingers began to probe his ass cheeks, squeezing and rubbing them. Suddenly something thick pushed through them to rest against the small hole there.

'Oh, shit no!' Jack though and began twisting and turning trying to get away from his captor.

Daniel clamped two iron strong hands on Jack's waist and thrust forward hard.

He had used no lubrication of any kind and Jack couldn't stop himself from screaming out. He felt like something had broken inside. There was so much pain.

Daniel leaned forward and whispered in Jack's ear "Scream all you like. No-one can hear you, they're all dead!" then he began to thrust in and out roughly making loud sounds of pleasure.

'No, no, no, no, NO!' thought Jack desperately. 'This can't be happening, it can't be!!' He could feel something warm and wet trickling down his legs and felt sure it was blood.

Daniel's cries of pleasure were becoming louder and louder and consisted of many different languages.

Jack was whimpering. God, oh god, it hurt so much. His insides were on fire and every movement, every single thrust felt as if it was tearing him apart and end even worse, he knew he would break soon. Break down and tell Daniel everything even though the boy had not asked for any information.

Daniel was now climaxing and spraying his thick, sticky, white cum all over Jack's back and ass. Jack looked down at his legs and the pool of blood on the floor confirmed his earlier thought.

Daniel let go of Jack's body and he sagged on his chains, unable to stand on his own. He should have been sore and bruised all over but all he could feel was the fire burning inside.

Daniel, perhaps seeing his distress, untied Jack from his bonds and half carried, half dragged hid him over to the bed.

Jack hissed loudly as his bruised and broken backside side touched the sheets. He was tired and miserable. What had happened to Daniel to make him act like this?

Daniel led down next to Jack and put his head on the Colonel's chest. Looking down at the mop of blond hair Jack felt a surge of protectiveness wash over him. He could almost believe that this was his Daniel.

Daniel spoke, not looking at Jack. "You were right you know. I'm not Daniel Jackson, at least not the man you know. Some would call me his alter ego but I see it more like there's 2 sides to every coin. The brighter one side shines, the darker the other is. I bet you never thought he had such a dark side eh Jack? I'm Malagon".

"How did you get into him? When?" Jack's voice was barely more than a whisper.
"I've always been here, Jack. Just been sleeping till now. Daniel did his old trick of touching something and this time the result was me. I guess he did something right for a change and now I've got control of this body. Oh don't you worry Jack" he said seeing the look on Jack's face. "He's still in here, seeing you die, hearing your pain, just not in control and that's the way it's gonna stay. This is your entire fault Colonel. He tried to warn you but did you listen? Hell no! People will just flock to see you when they find out that you were the one that brought me back from that desert planet and doomed this pathetic earth. Well, they would be if you were going to be alive but seeing as you won't".

Malagon looked up at Jack and smiled. It was a truly evil smile and a shiver ran down Jack's spine.

'What time is it?' he thought looking for a clock. His eyes were the only part of him that he had the strength to move but he could not see a clock anywhere. 'Where the hell are Carter and Teal'c?’.

Malagon was watching him and finally said, "They won't be here until noon. And it's only 8.30 so we've got plenty of time yet". His sneer was evident.

Jack tried to move his arm, tried to lash out at Malagon but he couldn't.

"Ah, ah, ah!" said Malagon tutting slightly. "There's no point, it won't work".

"What.....?" gasped Jack.

"That wasn't just sedative I've been giving you. You're dying Jack and there's no way to stop it" Malagon shook his head in mock sadness. He settled himself on top of the older man and smirked down at him.

'I'm gonna have to find a way to kill Malagon and get Daniel back' thought Jack. His brow wrinkled as he frowned.

"You're so easy to read, it's laughable!!" said Malagon. "There is no way to kill me without killing Daniel" he continued, boasting "It’s ironic really. You were the only one that have stopped us, the only one that knew Daniel well enough to know something was wrong and you just ignored him. Well, now your whole planet will become my slaves because of you". Malagon threw his head back and laughed, a very unsettling sound.

"How?" Jack managed to whisper.

"How will I enslave your world or how could you have possibly defeated me?" Malagon considered it for a moment then said "you know you have been such good entertainment that I'm going to answer both of them before you die. Once you are dead, I'll start by taking over the base. Sure I may have to kill Sam and General Hammond and a few others but then it will be mine and from there, the rest of the world".

Malagon snuggled closer into Jack's side, clearly amused by the revulsion on his face.

Jack felt sick. This bastard was going to succeed where the Gould had failed, to wipe out the rebel Tau'ri and there wasn't a goddam thing he could do.
"And then there's the defeating me. That's a loaded question, Jack. Maybe if you'd been a better friend, if you'd watched Daniel more closely, stopped him from disappearing, paid a little more attention to him instead of griping about how boring is was on PX3-549, you could have saved him. But you didn't and you can't change that!" Malagon taunted.

Jack could feel tears welling and he closed his eyes tightly not wanting the monster to see his pain, but a single tear escaped from the corner and traitorously ran down the side of his face.

Malagon was watching him. "Do you feel the fire inside?" he asked gleefully. Jack didn't answer. "Good!" sneered Malagon. "That means your body is shutting down".

'Oh god it hurts!' thought Jack, only by strength of willpower not showing how much agony he was in.

"Soon you will be dead and I'll be free" snarled Malagon.

Jack couldn't hold on any longer. Tears coursed down his face as he faced the fact that this was the biggest screw-up he had ever made. He'd really fucked it all up this time. No going back, no do-overs.

The fire had spread into his fingers, toes and other space it could fit in to.

Jack knew it wouldn't be long now and in a way he welcomed the relief it would bring just as he had been willing to welcome it after Charlie's death. Maybe he'd see his son on the other side. It was a bloody good thing that he still believed that there was life after death.

His body was suddenly convulsing and he slipped of the bed on to the hard floor. The jolt stopped the convulsion and Jack found himself looking up into the bright blue eyes of Malagon.... No wait, only Daniel would have such love and sorrow for Jack in those depths. Daniel murmured soft words, held his hand and stroked his hair.

Jack began to gasp, his lungs having difficulty drawing in oxygen.

Daniel bent over him and placed a kiss on his forehead. Jack stared up at him, the question evident in his deep brown eyes.

Daniel smiled gently "Yes Jack it's me. Malagon wants me to witness your death so that I will not fight him for control". His voice lowered. "I won't give up!"

Jack's eyes filled up again with tears and pain. It was all too much.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him Jack. I tried to warn you, I really did" Daniel's own eyes were filling up.

Jack knew he'd tried. He was the stupid one, not to have listened. Should have learnt that lesson after Daniel got out of the mental health section at the SGC. Had even promised that it wouldn't happen again. 'Look what the "thick as 2 short planks" colonel got us into this time' he thought.

Jack's eyes shone with love and forgiveness through the moisture and Daniel's mirrored them. He tried to convey all his feelings for his friend into that one look. He couldn't speak, only just had the strength to keep breathing.

The fire had eased up slightly and then Jack knew. With the last of his strength, he managed to lift one corner of his mouth in farewell and as he closed hid his eyes to sleep, he heard Daniel whisper "I love you, Jack".

'Right back at ya, Dannyboy' he thought, then breathed once more and was gone.


Jack awoke to the sound of a constant whining beep. He noted he was in the Infirmary attached to a monitor with an IV drip in his arm. The duty nurse saw his eyes open and ran to fetch Doctor Fraiser. She arrived quickly and proceeded to shine her penlight into Jack's eyes.

"Oh for crying out loud! Is that really necessary?" he muttered.

"Yes Colonel, it is. How are you feeling?" said Janet Fraiser.

""Like I got hit by a Gould mothership! Just Peachy. What happened? Where is everyone?" asked Jack.

"They're all waiting outside Colonel. What do you remember?" the Doctor asked.

Jack narrowed his eyes, thinking hard. "We were on P3X-549,” he said hesitantly. Then his eyes widened into a look of horror. "Daniel" he gasped "he touched something. We have to go back. I have to save him!" Jack was becoming agitated and Janet put a reassuring hand on his arm.

"It's okay Jack. Daniel's fine" she told him.

"It's not fine! What happened? Tell me!" Jack demanded.

"Colonel calm yourself or I'll have to sedate you".

Jack glared at her. She glared right back. They remained like that for a long while then Janet sighed and said "okay, Daniel wandered off on your mission, you spotted him and followed. He found some sort of artefact and was just about to touch it when you stopped him. It started to countdown, possibly due to your proximity and then exploded. You had already shoved Daniel back and so got the full force of the blast yourself, Colonel. You've been unconscious for 3 days".

"Daniel?" Jack asked.

"He's fine, just a slight concussion" Janet smiled down at Jack as he relaxed. "So are you feeling up to visitors? She asked.

Jack nodded.

"Good, because I know they want to see you. Your team were worried, Colonel. We all were. It's good to have you back, Sir" she said and made her way across the Infirmary to let the rest of SG-1 and the General in.


THE END