DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
Daniel stopped by his apartment to pick up a jacket. Although the days had been warm and sunny, night times here could get very cold and he didn't know when he'd be home. He thought he might stop by Janet Frasier's house on the way home and take Cassandra to the park. Janet had said that Cassandra was still having some problems fitting in at school and Daniel certainly knew how that felt. Cassandra had confided in him regarding how it felt to be left out and bullied and she seemed to know instinctively that Daniel would understand.
After picking up Jack's car from the lot, Daniel drove through the security check into the warmth of an autumn afternoon. He drove down the mountain carefully, heeding Jack's warning. It felt good to be out of the complex at last. And strangely, it felt good to be alone for a while. Daniel was all too aware of the stares of the personnel at the base, looks that mixed pity and embarrassment. Everyone there knew that Sha'uri had died, but they all too obviously remembered his breakdown, courtesy of Machello's little Goa'uld destroyers as well, and he felt as though everyone was treating him with kid gloves. Except perhaps his own team, his closest friends.
Teal'c still carried an enormous guilt for his part in Sha'uri's capture and death. Daniel had forgiven him long ago, but he did not think that the Jaffa would ever forgive himself. He had appointed himself Daniel's official bodyguard and Daniel knew that he had to allow him that.
Sam grieved deeply for Daniel's loss, but she had hovered over him like a big sister since they had met and she supported him in everything. She was the only female that he had allowed into his heart since Sha'uri was taken.
Jack O'Neill was probably the only one who truly understood Daniel's pain. He too had lost everything dear to him. First, his son, Charlie had died in a shooting mishap with Jack's own gun. Then his wife, Sarah, unable to bear her own grief and also deal with Jack's guilt and pain, had left while Jack was still on Abydos, when Sha'uri and Skaara were taken. Jack had lost something then, too. During the first mission through the Stargate, Skaara had become another son to the still grieving father, and now he, too was gone. Daniel wondered how Jack kept going under the weight of it all and then realized with startling clarity, why Jack kept him so close. They still had each other, but it was all both still had. Daniel had clung to Jack over the past few months as a drowning man does to a life preserver, but Jack, through his comforting of Daniel was receiving what he needed to assuage the pain and rage he felt at Daniel's losses and his own.