Title: Suffer The Little Children (who come unto Jack)

Author: Magicsunbeam

Email: magicsunbeam@ntlworld.com

Category: Angst/POV/Daniel

Pairing: Rating: PG

Season/sequel: I Don't Have To Tell (By Elizabeth)

Summary: Daniel's POV on Jack after Show and Tell

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions; all the powers that be, not me; This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement intended. The story is the property of the author and may not be posted without the author's consent.

Author's Notes: I read Elizabeth's story, loved it, thought about it and added a bit.

Suffer The Little Children (who come unto Jack)

by Magicsunbeam

Have you ever been in a position where you can

see trouble coming? I mean you can actually *see* it unfolding in front of you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

Anyone who even remotely knows Jack O'Neill knows he's a kid magnet.

Incredible, isn't it? The idea that such a hard assed, sarcastic, irritating hothead could be such a fascination to small people is frankly, hard to believe. And yet, he only has to be in the same room as a kid and you can see it. It's like he has this - I don't know - magic or something. Pretty much like the Pied Piper, only without the pipe.

I'm the first to admit it's quite endearing to watch him. Cute almost. (Although I'd never tell him that to his face - I like my nose where it is, thank you.) I see how he is with Cassie. Every time they meet up, they end up getting up to all sorts of tricks. Stupid, childish tricks.

Like the time they had a Jell-O throwing contest - in Janet's house. She told me she was picking tiny pieces of the stuff out of the carpets weeks after. Another time, Jack came up with the idea of booby-trapping Sam's office with a bucket of water, only to have it backfire on them when General Hammond walked in instead. When she first arrived on earth, Jack gave Cassie a dog, telling her it was a rule that every kid *had* to have one. He's a braver man than me, to pull a stunt like that on Janet!

They drive her nuts at times but you have to see the funny side - Jack's like a big kid around kids, maybe that's part of the appeal.

Who knows?

What I *do* know is he can't ignore a kid in need.

One of my foster-mothers used to take delight in trying to baffle me with odd sayings. I remember I impressed her with something once and she told me, "Well Dan - it would seem you're not as stupid as you are cabbage looking." I *think* it was meant as a compliment.

I'm *not*stupid. Which is why I knew, when `Charlie` walked through the gate and into the SGC, trouble was right beside him. (And I *don't* mean Mother.) I don't know where it was along the line that the boy became `Charlie`, but that won't have helped Jack any. Then when Janet revealed how sick he was, that sealed it.

Jack's Dad-o-meter was whacked up to full power.

You could almost *feel* Jack's pain and frustration. Then the uncertainty and anguish when Jacob offered to save Charlie by having him go live with the Tok`ra.

In the end, there wasn't really a choice. It was either, have Charlie go or watch him die and God knows no one wanted that.

I would say Jack's beginning to trust Selmak little by little but still has a way to go. I was watching him as Charlie left the SGC, the regret on Jack' s face was plain to see. He wasn't convinced that it was the best thing for the boy, he wanted so much to have been able to keep him. Instead, he had to settle with promised visits and with a lot of will power, Jack watched him go.

#####

Jack was gone from the room even before the gate was shut down. Knowing he needed time to himself, I left him to it. It wasn't until the General called a briefing that they noticed Jack had disappeared. When, after phone calls and tannoy announcements, Jack failed to materialise, the General sent us all off to look for him.

Splitting up, we covered all the places we thought he might be, then all the places that were not so obvious. Janet rang the gatehouse, threatening to murder Jack herself if he had gone home without getting his arm fixed up properly.

Finally, I tracked him down to a VIP room where he was curled up in the middle of the bed, sound asleep. I toyed with the idea of waking him but as I got closer I was surprised to notice his eyes were a little swollen - it looked as if he had been crying.

God, I knew this was an emotional call for Jack, but I don't think I've actually seen him cry. He's probably one of the toughest men I know and to see him this shaken was a bit disconcerting.

I think I know him enough to know that at that point, the last thing he needed, was people looking at him. Asking him if he was okay, giving him the sympathy he needed but couldn't be seen to accept.

Don't you just *love* the military?

I let Janet know I'd found him. She agreed to leave him alone, to let him sleep, but insisted he went to see her when he woke up. So, I laid blanket over him, switched the glare of overhead lighting for the softer illumination of the bedside lamp and folded myself into a chair in the corner to wait.

He slept peacefully (mostly) for nearly four hours. He became restless occasionally, muttering the odd incoherent word, but settled down again without waking.

I don't remember dozing off but I obviously did `cause the next thing I knew, there was a pair of brown eyes studying me.

I told him Janet wanted to see him before he could go home, I knew he didn't want to see her, but he also knew that unless he wanted to stay on the mountain, he was going to have to face her sooner or later. A quick visit to the infirmary, then I'd give him a lift home. It was a simple, yet ingenious plan. He gave it some thought and knew I was right.

Something told me he didn't want any fuss, so I cut him some slack by deliberately playing it cool. I allowed him to get his balance by himself and joined him at the door.

Jack didn't have to say anything to let me know, he didn't want to talk about it - at least for now. I could see it in those eyes. As I said, I'm not stupid.

He gave his head the slightest of nods and I knew he was telling me it'd be okay. *He* would be okay.

And you know what? I believe him.