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The Price of Knowledge
Story Notes: See Chapter One Chapter Fifteen Awakening Knowledge
Something had switched overnight. Jack wasn’t sure what it was. He remembered one nightmare, a strangled scream that he’d half-woken to comfort. After that, nothing. Seven hours of uninterrupted sleep. A new record. Even now, Daniel looked relaxed. Happy. He was sitting at the other end of the kitchen table, occasionally nibbling at his pencil eraser while he answered the math facts on the worksheet Carter had given him for homework. Jack could feel the vibration of Daniel’s feet kicking gently at the table legs. As if sensing Jack’s scrutiny, Daniel glanced up, smiled sunnily, then returned his attention to the worksheet. No sign of the behavior that had made him as skittish as a mouse for the past three days. He still didn’t like Jack out of his sight, but he had tolerated it twice now without latching onto Jack with immovable limbs. Something had changed. “Daniel?” “Jack?” Daniel wrote industriously, not looking up. Jack shrugged. Why rock the boat? “Pass me one of your pens, would you?” “Sure.” Jack sorted through the stack of papers in front of him. A couple reports, a few bills, bank statement, a document Hammond needed him to sign about Daniel’s home-schooling. Shouldn’t take too long. Maybe he’d take Daniel to the park afterwards. See how far he could stretch Daniel’s newfound contentment. He lifted his head just in time to see the pen sail in mid-air from Daniel’s side of the table to his. It hovered a moment above his stack and dropped. It landed without a sound. Daniel was still writing. From all appearances, oblivious to what he had done. The glow Jack had come to expect when Daniel accidentally acted on his ascended knowledge wasn’t present. Well, Shifu had told him Daniel might not have conscious control over his knowledge. Considering how upset Daniel had gotten when Elaine asked him to show what he could do, Jack decided not to make a big deal out of the pen. He read through the reports and the document, signed off on them, and started looking for his checkbook. Daniel finished his math paper and grabbed the history textbook Ally had loaned him. Instead of opening the book, he watched Jack pat down his pockets. “Whatcha looking for?” “Checkbook.” Jack reached for the jacket that was slung over the back of the chair and dug through those pockets. “It’s on your dresser. I’ll get it for you.” Daniel opened his book. Jack started to ask how Daniel expected to get the checkbook with his nose buried in a book when the checkbook appeared out of nowhere and plopped to the table. Daniel didn’t even look up. This is so not good, Jack thought with a sigh. Shifu had warned that Daniel ran the risk of discovery whenever he used his ascended knowledge, and Jack was pretty sure even small actions like the pen and the checkbook were enough to draw the Others’ attention. Yet, if Daniel didn’t realize what he was doing, how could Jack make a fuss about it? Jack paid the bills and worried. After a half-hour of reading, Daniel closed the textbook. He didn’t say anything for several minutes, but Jack could feel the kid’s stare boring into the top of his head. He looked up, and sure enough, Daniel was sitting there, elbows on the table, chin cupped in his hands, staring intently at Jack. “Daniel?” One corner of Daniel’s mouth lifted. “Jack?” They had caught themselves playing the Jack-Daniel game frequently the week before Elaine’s visit, falling into the old pattern of saying nothing but each other’s names and knowing exactly what the other one was thinking by the inflection and tone of voice. Daniel had thought it was hilarious, and they usually had to give up after the first exchange of names because Daniel was laughing too hard to continue. Jack was glad to hear Daniel renewing the game. Jack tried again. “Daniel?” Daniel giggled, but instead of repeating Jack’s name, he said, “When Teal’c and Jonas get here, can they go to the park with us?” Jack set his pen on the table and tried to remember if he’d said something about the park out loud. “Teal’c and Jonas are at the Mountain, Daniel.” “No, they’re not. Teal’c wanted to practice his driving.” Daniel cocked his head, and a moment later, Jack heard a car pulling into the driveway. Daniel jumped from his chair. “They’re here!” By the time Jack put away his papers and reached the door, Daniel was already outside, talking to Teal’c and Jonas. One hand was tucked inside Teal’c’s larger hand; the other was waving wildly in an attempt to describe a jungle gym to the mystified Jonas. Daniel caught sight of Jack and broke off his explanation. “Let’s go to the park, Jack! Teal’c says he wants to, and we gotta show Jonas the jungle gym cuz he’s never seen one before.” Jack felt as if he’d been steam-rolled. He was almost positive he hadn’t mentioned the park to Daniel. So Daniel was…what? Reading his mind? And how had he known about Teal’c and Jonas? Suddenly the incidents with the pen and the checkbook were not the one-time anomalies Jack had thought they might be. As they walked to the park, Jack fell behind automatically, watching their six since Teal’c was in the lead. Ahead of him, Teal’c hoisted Daniel, and Daniel squirmed and kicked his way into a piggy-back position. Teal’c bore it as stolidly as ever. Even before he’d settled, Daniel began talking to Jonas, excitedly telling him about the program he’d watched on the history channel last night. Occasionally he gestured with his arm, lurching a little to the side. Jack’s heart lurched right along with Daniel, but Teal’c adjusted his stance each time to accommodate Daniel’s movements. Jack forced himself to relax. No way was Daniel falling on Teal’c’s watch. They passed Mr. Wilson’s house, and the damn dog raced alongside the chain-link fence, barking furiously and snarling at their proximity to its master’s abode. Out of habit, Jack checked for weaknesses in the fence. Only once had the dog escaped. Jack and Daniel had been enjoying a morning jog together, three years ago, and Jack had ignored the dog because it always barked at them. All of a sudden, the dog was lunging through a hole in the then-wooden fence. It sprang at Jack’s leg and bit down hard, just above the ankle. Jack had lost his balance, fallen, and hit his head on the sidewalk. Jack’s memories for the rest of that day were fuzzy. What he did recall were odd things that had lodged in his mind with shocking clarity. He remembered the cloud overhead that looked like a fire truck. The profusion of recently-bloomed lilacs and the way they scented the air. The sharp rock under his hip that seemed to hurt more than the bite on his leg. Mostly, he remembered Daniel’s calm. There was no panic in Daniel’s voice as he called for an ambulance on his cell phone and no trembling in his hands as he ripped up his shirt and bandaged Jack’s leg. Jack remembered staring at his fire truck cloud and wondering if Daniel was always this cool during a crisis or if the missions through the gate had trained it into him. It had bothered Jack that he didn’t know. Afterwards, when Jack had tried to thank Daniel, Daniel waved aside the gratitude in his self-effacing manner and teased Jack for ruining SG-1’s “five missions in a row with no injuries” streak. Then Daniel laughed because he’d chosen Jack as the next SG-1 team member to be injured on or off world and won the betting pool for that month. Siler and Walter, co-administers of several unofficial SGC betting pools, had dropped by with Daniel’s winnings while Jack was sleeping off the anesthetic from having seven stitches. It had taken Jack days to get over the shock that Daniel even knew about the betting pools, much less participated in them. Up ahead, Daniel called out, “Jack! Hey, Jack, look!” Jack shook himself out of the memories and trotted forward to catch up with the others. Daniel, half-twisted on Teal’c’s back while he demanded Jack’s attention, was pointing eagerly. Daniel’s wiggling was enough to throw anyone off balance, but Teal’c merely shifted and slid Daniel into place whenever the kid twisted too far. Jack rested a hand on Daniel’s arm to settle him and looked toward the object of his excitement. At the end of the block, a group of kids had lined up beside an ice cream truck, The truck was painted bright pink and warbling the tune to “Pop Goes the Weasel” at a nauseatingly high pitch. Just when Jack breathed a sigh of relief at the song’s end, the song started again. Jack was very glad he wasn’t the one driving the truck. Daniel pushed himself up against the support of Teal’c’s arms to lean over Teal’c’s shoulder and peer at the truck. “Is it Santa? He’s early. Sam said he don’t come till winter. Is that why he’s in the truck ’stead of his sleigh? What’s that song he’s playing? Can I have a present like them kids?” After the three days of near-silence from Daniel, this sudden increase in questions was encouraging. Jack chuckled. “It’s ice cream, Danny, which we have to pay for.” “Oh.” Daniel subsided, slumping downward on Teal’c’s back. Jack decided he had grumbled a little too loudly while paying his bills earlier. He dug out his wallet and checked its contents. “Well, well, look at that. We’re in luck. Plenty of ice cream money.” Daniel whooped, which made Jack and Jonas laugh. Even Teal’c’s lips twitched. The pictures of the ice cream choices were displayed on the side of the truck. Daniel slid off Teal’c’s back and studied each picture with the same care he would have given any artifact. He then selected four different offerings, one for each of them, explaining in a loud whisper that he wanted to taste them all. His own choice was a bomb pop, a monstrous thing that looked like four popsicles stuck together. It had three stripes—red, white, and blue—and Daniel’s lips and tongue turned a brilliant red within minutes of sucking the top stripe. Jack paid for the ice cream, including a large tip for the woman’s patience while Daniel made his decision.
Back to Chapter 14 Chapter 15, cont>>
Disclaimer: The Stargate characters all belong to Gekko Film Company, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions, MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Showtime, Sci Fi Channel, and Stargate SG-1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended to infringe on any of those rights and is meant solely for the purpose of entertainment. All other characters, the story idea, and the story itself are the sole property of the author. |
