Part 86
Deep inside the cave, out of the cold wind and temporarily safe from the hostiles outside, Daniel squatted beside a tentative fire he'd built to keep them warm and to provide some light to the cozy space they were in. He did his best to block the entrance of the cave, by stacking rocks haphazardly on top of each other. The barrier helped to keep some of the whipping winds out but it wouldn't prove to be much protection from a hostile should they decide to come through it. Still, Daniel argued to himself as he built the barrier, it would give him plenty of warning as the noise of the rocks falling would be amplified in the tight cave. He'd also settled them as far back into the guts of the cave as he could, and hoped that the light couldn't travel around all the bends to reach the opening.
Now he squatted beside the fire, one arm rested across his knees while he idly poked at the flames with a stick. He'd made them both as comfortable as possible, worried about the lack of food, ammunition and water until he'd made himself ill then he started to let his mind wander towards Graham, and the argument that they'd had just before the attack. His heart flurried as he thought about his partner. How was he coping? What did he think had happened to him when he was stolen through the Gate? Was he hurt in the attack?"
Daniel sighed and wondered if there would ever be a time that he wasn't the target of some crazed alien. What was the purpose of the abduction in the first place? As soon as they came through the gate he must have been dropped, left to die on the dais.
The young man looked over at his companion and thought about the sacrifice Jack had made in following him. What was he doing on the base anyway? Dressed in his denim jeans, shirt and leather jacket, Jack was obviously there on a social visit, but to whom? A tendril of cold air whipped around the squatting man's bare stomach and made him shiver. He curled up tightly against the breeze.
Jack's knee had obviously needed bandaging and Daniel had seen enough movies to know that the heroine ripped her skirt to provide the bandage. Oddly, he didn't have a heroine *or* a skirt, however he did have a tee shirt. Regulation military black tee, freshly laundered except he'd been wearing it a few hours now. It was all he had though, and so he ripped it completely around, creating a midriff top for himself and a wide enough strip of material to provide a good bandage for the swollen knee.
He shivered and settled a little closer to the flames as the cold seeped through his skin. He looked over at Jack now. The colonel was as close to the fire as Daniel thought would be safe, and he had carefully removed Jack's leather jacket and laid it over him like a blanket. Another shiver of cold whipped across Daniel's bare back and he almost considered going over and sharing some of the warmth of the jacket with his unconscious friend.
He lowered his eyes to the flames again as he thought about that idea.
"Daniel-" a soft croak escaped the awakening man. The young man spun on his toes and a relieved smile split his face as he crept closer to Jack.
"You're awake," he kept his voice low.
"How long?"
"A few hours."
Jack frowned. That wasn't possible. "No way!"
"Yes. We crawled in here and you muttered something about beauty needing her sleep and passed out."
Jack struggled to sit up and Daniel reached forward to help him.
"Don't suppose we have any water?"
"No."
"Whiskey?"
A smile flickered over Daniel's lips. "No."
Jack growled. "Okay, I'll settle for a beer then!"
Daniel's smile grew more then he said, seriously, "Now that you're awake I can go and look for some. Water, that is. And food. We need food as well."
Jack looked at him. "You can't. They're still out there and you have no protection."
Daniel rolled his eyes under the swelling then his gaze shifted towards Jack's knees. "I've done the best I can with it," he said solemnly.
The colonel looked at the effort around his knee then at his friend. "Good job! Now, aren't you glad I made you take all that First Aid Training?"
Daniel scoffed. "Aren't you glad I pestered you to send me to the courses in the first place, you mean!"
"And I thought you wanted to do it for the CPR section.." Jack teased but there was no spark in his voice. He tried to moisten a chronically dry mouth to no avail then he winced as he moved. Daniel felt his pain as he watched his friend fidget on the hard ground.
He inched closer. "Jack, I don't want to alarm you but I think your leg is going to need a bit more than that." He indicated to the bandage with a flick of his eyes.
Jack looked at the bare midriff. "I couldn't possibly take more of your top, Daniel! You've got such a good look happening there at the moment! Really detracts from your nose!"
The younger man rolled his eyes again. "Not what I meant!" He pointed to Jack's knee.
Jack looked at the obviously swollen leg then eased the black material back. His face screwed up as he looked at the mess of flesh and blood.
"How did it happen?" Daniel asked as he replaced the sodden material over the swelling then wiped his pink-tinged fingertips against his fatigues.
The pale man leaned back against the rocks behind him. "Just remember coming through the gate behind you and Cousin It, and the next thing I felt heat and I knew I'd been hit. I went down..." Jack paused then blinked and shook his head. "That's the last thing I remember before waking up and finding you next to me." He growled in pain as he shifted his position to sit back against a rocky outcrop of the cave wall.
"Well, I cleaned your face as best I could, given the fact that we have no water and no supplies." Daniel's face furrowed into a worried frown. "I had a good look while I was bandaging your leg. There doesn't seem to be any shrapnel in there." Jack met his eyes. Daniel shrugged and said, "You were out to it, so I had a good look."
The colonel nodded. "Much damage?"
"Ordinarily I'd say no," the anthropologist said as he looked around the barren cave then back at his friend. "Some painkillers, a few antibiotics, maybe a stitch, and you'd be fine."
Jack nodded. He didn't need a picture drawn.
"Once we get back," Daniel murmured as he looked around again then down at his friend.
Jack waved a finger at his knee as he grimaced, "You're right. It's going to have to be cauterized."
Daniel's eyes grew wide. "With what?"
Jack nodded towards the flames.
"But I need something metal," Daniel reminded him.
Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, car keys then a Swiss Army knife. He passed the knife over to his friend and Daniel frowned as he took it. Part of him wondered where this handy device was when he had to rip Jack's pant leg open. Denim wasn't that easy to rip open, especially when drenched in blood! He opened up the biggest blade then shook his head. "Jack this won't work!"
"Has to. We've got nothing else," Jack said weakly. "It's not wide, just deep. Pinch the skin together.."
"The others will be here soon," the young man said as he closed up the knife and held it out to the wounded man.
Jack shook his head and whispered hoarsely, "Danny, they don't know where we are.. There were no coordinates.."
Daniel stared at him for a few moments then remembered to blink. With a swallow he bounced the knife in the palm of his hand and then sighed. Reluctantly he opened up the biggest blade again then grimaced. "Jack," he said and watched as the weary brown eyes opened once more. "Do you want something to bite onto?"
Jack nodded. He wasn't sure he'd need it or pass out on the first touch of the searing heat, but he still thought he should get something to bite onto. Daniel rummaged around the floor of the cave but could find nothing that wasn't caked in dirt. A thought occurred to him and he knelt up high next to Jack as he unfastened the webbed belt from around his waist. Jack's eyes opened slightly to see the blurry image of his friend removing his belt then Daniel folded it three times and passed it to him. "Here," he said, carefully cupping the back of Jack's head with one hand as he eased the belt between his teeth.
*
Sam saw Graham standing in the back of the gate room. Dressed in all black like he was, he was almost invisible back there in the dark shadows. She went over to him to let him know what was happening.
After she'd explained the role of Martouf and her father, she went on to tell him that she was going stay behind and try to make the coordinates work.
He looked hopeful. "Do you think you'll be able to get the coordinates to lock in?"
She shrugged. "You're a technician, why don't you work on this with me?"
He nodded then said, "I have to call Philip though. He'll be wondering where I am." He paused for a heartbeat then added, "Where Jack is."
Sam rubbed his upper arm in a caring gesture. "If we can get this gate open, Hammond will send in some troops to get them out of there. They could be home in a few hours. Wait. We'll try this first."
Graham's dull, dark eyes watched her carefully. He didn't know about the hunters, but he could tell by her tone that things were serious and that they were grave. He wasn't stupid. He knew Daniel was in trouble the second he saw him go limp in the arms of the alien. He slammed his eyes shut tight against that image then he wrapped his arms around his waist as he groaned under his breath.
"He'll be okay," Sam whispered.
Graham nodded then said, "But I still have to call Phil and explain where I am."
*
Jack sat staring at the fire as Daniel snored softly against his good thigh. As he absently lifted the leather jacket to cover Daniel's shoulders his thoughts were miles away - with Philip. He wondered what his lover had been told about his sudden disappearance. He figured it would be the usual 'emergency mission' until it became obvious that they weren't coming home, then someone would have to go and tell him that Jack was officially Missing In Action. He sighed heavily at that thought and hoped that Philip 'never' received that kind of visit. He was grateful that Graham had been there at the abduction; he'd have some idea what to say and how to handle the situation until they could get home.
He lifted his arm to check his watch but the face had been smashed. Jack clenched his eyes tightly. The watch had been a Christmas gift from Philip last year. He unclasped the band and read the inscription on the back: "I'll love you until the end of time." Jack lifted the metal band to his mouth and sighed heavily against it. He turned the watch over again and tried to read the time through the shattered glass. He saw that the second hand was still moving so he decided that the watch still worked. If that was true, it was now almost ten at night. Surely Philip would know by now. He wondered what it was he knew though.
*
Graham got up from the desk and started to pace as he scrubbed his hands through his hair in frustration. Sam growled and pushed her chair back from the console and covered her face with her hands.
"There must be something I'm missing here!" She said in a tight voice.
"We're both missing it then!" He growled and looked at the other technician in the room.
"Don't look at me," Alfie, the dark skinned, bespectacled technician, said with a shrug. "I'm no astrophysicist!"
"Neither am I!" Graham sighed then broke into a yawn.
"Neither am I at the moment!" Sam growled at herself then had a quick thought and started tapping on the keyboard frantically.
Graham stepped up behind her chair. "What?"
"I just thought that I haven't accounted for the..." Her voice trailed off as he eyes lifted hopefully towards the screen but the machine still flashed Invalid at her. She gave a frustrated cry as she got to her feet. "Dammit, I'm going to get a coffee. Do you want one?" The Lieutenant shook his head and watched her go. His eyes shifted onto the other technician
"Tell me, Graham," Alfie started to ask as he pressed a few keys on his computer before him, "Why are you here?"
"I was here when the alien came through," Graham said as he dragged his chair back and sat down into it. He started tapping on the keyboard again.
"Well, I gathered that. But you're obviously not on duty!" Alfie indicated to Graham's clothes. "And you're whacked. Go home. They get paid way more than we do for this kind of shit!"
Graham tried not to let his feelings show at that comment. "There's a lot of people working on getting Dr Jackson and Colonel O'Neill back in once piece."
"You know what I heard?" The man asked in a conspiratorial tone.
"No, what?" Graham hoped it sounded partly interested, even through he wasn't.
"Before I came on duty Christchurch told me he was in the room upstairs when they were having their meeting with the Tokers." He didn't hide the nickname for their alien allies. "From what he heard, Dr Jackson was taken by that thing to be his evening meal!"
Graham's stomach flipped over. "What?" He couldn't believe that but when he looked into his friend's eyes he knew he was telling the truth, or the truth, as he knew it. "Who told you that?" He asked shakily.
"Christchurch. He was one of the Guards in the room during the meeting."
Graham swallowed the bile that burnt at the back of his throat. "And the other's know? Major Carter.. knows?"
"Sure. That's why they're doing the two-way approach. Hoping to get to him and the Colonel before they become Dinner and Breakfast!"
Graham glared at his friend but knew he couldn't say anything. He was angrier with Sam for not telling him earlier. He pushed back in his chair and said, "You know, I do think I want that coffee now."
"Sure, I'll let the Major know where you've gone when she comes back," Alfie said.
*
Daniel startled in his sleep and his eyes slowly opened. He took a moment then realized where he was. He turned over and saw that Jack was asleep again, still sitting back against the rock. Daniel pushed up from where he was lying down and then sat groggily, trying to overcome the incredible want of a drink of water.
"Hey," Jack said in a soft growl of a voice.
"Sorry," Daniel's mouth felt gluggy. "God, I need a drink!" He whispered as he whiped his hand over his face.
"Me too. A nice cold beer! It would go down a treat!" Jack said with a muffled groan as he shifted off his numb bottom and laid down carefully next to the fire. Daniel shifted to give him room for his feet then he tilted his arm towards the fire and tried to read the time.
"Four am," he sighed as he dropped his hand to his lap. He tried to relieve the tension in his neck by rolling his head around.
"Head ache?" Jack asked.
"Think I hurt my neck when I hit the ground," Daniel said as he gripped the back of his neck and squeezed. A soft moan escaped him.
"Helping?"
The swollen eyes slotted to look at Jack. "Yeah, a bit."
"Come here," Jack said as he patted the earth by his leg. Daniel moved over and sat with his back to his friend as Jack gave him a massage.
"Your swelling's going down," Jack commented. Daniel touched his fingers to his cheeks gingerly.
"Bout time."
"I can see the color of your eyes again." Jack gripped the shoulders and squeezed them before he went back to concentrating on Daniel's neck. The younger man moaned softly. "Red, aren't they?"
Daniel smiled and said, "Yeah, inherited the eyes from my father."
"Most fathers bequeath their sons money.." Jack said then paused in his ministrations as he said, "Sorry, Danny."
The young man looked back at him. "My father died a long time ago, Jack."
"I was just remembering the Game Keeper.."
Daniel scoffed at that then said, "Not something I want to remember, thanks very much." He started to doodle in the sand with his index finger.
"We've been through some hells together, haven't we?" Jack said.
Daniel stopped drawing and lifted his chin. As he stared at the fire he said, "And we always come out the other side, a little worse for wear, but in one piece." He turned back to look at Jack.
The colonel carefully scanned the face before him. "Always."
A smile flittered on Daniel's lips. "And at sunrise I'm going to go out there and find some water and food for us. We might not have a plan to get us home yet, but I've no doubt we'll come up with one. Until we do, we're going to need food and water."
"And while you're out there being the cave man, I'll whip up some curtains for this place, how's that!"
Daniel chuckled and bowed his head at that comment, and his cheek brushed the back of Jack's hand, still on his shoulder. "Somehow I didn't peg you for the stay-at-home type, Jack." He turned back to his friend.
Jack's eyes shifted across the bruised face again. "I'd be willing to do that, for the right man."
Daniel wet his lips slowly then nodded. "Yeah," He sighed and turned back towards the fire. "Me, too."
Jack's arms slipped around his friend's shoulders and he hugged him back against his chest. "Can you imagine it? Nothing to do but stay in the house and make love..."
"Be loved," Daniel added.
Jack squeezed his friend tightly then he said, "One day, we'll get that Daniel!"
"You've already got it," the anthropologist said. The tone of his voice clearly told Jack he coveted that more than anything.
"Now all I have to do is get back home to it..." Jack said forlornly.
"Do you think Graham's told him you're missing?"
Jack shook his head, and his stubbled-covered cheek caught up some of Daniel's long, dark golden hair. "Do you think Graham's stopped working on a way to get you home yet?"
"God, I hope not!' Daniel muttered under his breath. "I hope they're all working on it, right now!'
"Well it's only four in the morning, what else could they be doing?" Jack quipped. Daniel smiled faintly then he lowered his head to rest it against the back of Jack's hand on his shoulder. Jack let that hand stay still as he lightly stroked the side of his friend's neck with his index and middle fingertips as he thought about what might be happening at the SGC right now.
*
"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Graham yelled and threw his arms over his head when he confronted Carter in the empty commissary about what he'd been told. Sam shook her head then started to walk away. "Hey!" He snapped and grabbed her arm.
"What the hell was I meant to tell you?" She asked as she glanced down at his grip then back up at him, “Lieutenant!”
He released her immediately.
Sam continued, "That Daniel was stolen by a hunter who had probably taken him to hunt then kill? Would that have made the past ten hours any easier for you?"
The Lieutenant stared at her. With a controlled voice he said, "I have the right to know."
“You know it’s standard Op procedures. Need to Know. I couldn’t tell you!”
“I know SOP’s but I’m not some idiot who doesn’t have a vested interest in this!”
“Exactly!” She made her case.
He caught his breath then said, in a slightly deflated voice, “You should have told me!”
She arched her brow. "Oh, and what does Philip know about his partner? Doesn't he have the right to know?"
He stared back at her. "It's not the same thing! What he doesn't know.."
Sam softened a little. "What you didn't know helped you to concentrate for the past few hours. How hard is it going to be now?" She watched his expression alter slightly. "Damn Harbourson for telling you about this!" She kicked the wall quickly then said, "But you know now.."
"I think I'm going to be sick!" He muttered through clenched teeth.
She slapped him on the back and said, "No you're not. You're coming back with me and we're going to get this damn gate opened! I want to get some sleep and that's not going to happen until Daniel's back with us."
Graham nodded and started to walk with her to the control room.
*
<End of part 86>
Stories on this page are the property of Nessessitee and Slida. Please do not copy these without the written permission of the Author. All Rights are acknowledged for MGM, Gekko and Stargate Productions as to the Copyrights of the characters within this story and no infringement on the copyrights are intended. For the Bombshells Series the character of Philip Simmons is entirely the creation and intellectual property of Nessessitee and Slida.
While the performances given by RDA and MS help to fuel the author's desire to write for their characters in a niche that she feels is present on the actual show, the portrayal of their characters in loving relationships in no way reflects the Author's opinion of the men's private life, nor should it be construed in that manner.