Reversal of Fortune: Part 9
By
Gemsong

The walk to the park was without incident, although Jack thought Daniel was walking far too slowly. Nor would Daniel allow him to walk freely, rather keeping hold of his hand until they reached their destination. Once there Daniel had let Jack go, then watched as the child sped off toward the assorted playground equipment around the park. Daniel's longer legs allowed him to keep Jack in sight, before he finally settled down on a bench set near the playground equipment.

He smiled as he watched Jack go first to the slide, climbing up the ladder, then sliding down to the bottom. He landed expertly on his feet, then ran around to repeat the process. As he did so another boy dashed in front of him, scampering up the ladder before him. Jack waited for him to get to the top, then climbed up himself, waiting politely for the boy to get off the end of the slide before beginning the descent himself.

Daniel pulled his journal and pen from his pocket and began making notes. Since his discussion with Skar'ra the night before, and his talk with Jack earlier, he wanted to get his thoughts together in a concise manner. The ascended Ancients had an interest in Jack. Why, he didn't know yet, but it was important enough for Skar'ra to come and talk to him. Jack's dreams of Shau're were an unexpected surprise. It also brought to mind the type of power the Ancients controlled, which was a very sobering thought.

Shau're had died well before he or the rest of the Abydonians had ascended. That meant that the Ancients had been watching for a long time. But again, the why of it was still a mystery. Part of him was grateful that she was no longer completely lost to him. Even though she was manifesting to Jack, rather than him, it still made him feel as if he had gotten a little piece of her back into his life.

Daniel glanced up, noticing that Jack had moved from the slide to the swings. He started by pushing a little girl on her swing, getting her swinging good, then hopped onto the swing beside her and began pumping his small legs back and forth as hard as he could, getting his own swinging started..

Daniel smiled. It appeared as if Jack was not having any problems making friends with the other children. As a child, Daniel had a difficult time making friends after his parents died. With the constant shuffling between foster homes it had been difficult to keep friends. That situation hadn't changed until he reached college.

Daniel went back to his journal. How much of the Ancients' knowledge did Jack have access to? It was more than just raw knowledge. Jack had 'dreamed' Skar'ra talking to him. Just as he 'dreamed' and spoke to Shau're. What else would he be able to do as he matured? It was enough to worry him. If Jack had to grow up all over again, he deserved as happy childhood as any child. But he would have to be watched carefully.

The sound of laughter caught his attention and he glanced up toward Jack. The child had now gravitated to the sandpit with several little girls. Daniel's grin widened. The O'Neill charm was in full force.

Daniel made several more notes in his journal while he thought some more about the situation. Putting Jack into a regular school could potentially cause a problem. The other options were to place him in a school for the gifted, or home school him. But Jack would still need to interact with children around his age.

A child's scream snapped Daniel's head up from his journal, and he was moving toward the sound when the shouting started. The sandpit had a crowd of children around it, and it looked as if there was a scuffle going on. He headed toward the center of the fuss.

A few minutes prior, Jack was happily playing in the sand with his new friends. Two of the little girls, Amber and Rachel, had decided that Jack could be allowed into their special circle. While he didn't speak well, his accent intrigued them, and he didn't mind talking about himself. He had no trouble remembering his cover story, which was that his mother had just died and now he was living with his father.

However, the way he spoke and the attention he was getting was not sitting well with some of the older boys. After a few moments one of them decided that Jack would be the perfect target for impressing the girls.

"What's wrong with you?" the nine-year old demanded, coming over to the side of the sandpit.

"Leave him alone, Teddy," Rachel said as Jack and Amber looked up.

"He talks funny," Teddy replied. "What is he? Stupid?"

Jack slowly got to his feet, facing the older boy. "I not stupid," he said. "English is new to me."

Teddy sneered. "New, huh? Where you from?" he asked.

"Egypt," Jack said. "My mother Egyptian."

The sneer became more pronounced. "One of those Moslems that blow people up?" Teddy said, stepping closer to Jack, trying to intimidate him with his height.

Jack, of course, didn't back down. He simply lifted his head. "No, she was killed," he said.

"What was she? A suicide bomber?" Teddy demanded.

"Teddy, stop it!" Rachel demanded in return, in her own childish way was shocked at what Teddy had said. She knew that suicide bombers were not good people. There was no way Jack's mom had been one. "I'm gonna tell Dad!"

"Probably just like her," the older boy continued. "You planning to blow up something?"

Jack's face was flushed with anger, though his expression remained surprisingly controlled. "Vestri matris materia per venit," he said coldly in Latin. Roughly translated it meant 'your mother mates with camels'.

Teddy had no idea what the boy had said, but the tone was enough to tell him it was an insult. Without thinking his arm swung to hit Jack in the face, knocking the smaller boy down. He was sadly mistaken if he thought that would be the end of it.

The usual result would be the younger child crying. That was not what happened. Jack reached up to touch his bleeding lip. Before Rachel or Amber could leap to Jack's defense, the boy acted on his own.

A scissor kick knocked Teddy's legs out from under him, sending him face first into the sand. Before the startled boy could react Jack jumped on him, grabbing his right arm and twisting it behind his back. With his other hand he forced Teddy's face back into the sand, his weight on the older child's back.

This was the scene that met Daniel when he arrived. Instead of running to his child's defense, Jack was busy defending himself with moves the adult portion of his mind remembered. For one long stunned moment he stared at the scene, then he acted. He pushed his way through the surrounding children to snag the back of Jack's jacket,
pulling him off the other child.

Instinctively Jack's fist swung toward the new perceived threat, but Daniel was able to catch the blow before it landed. He turned Jack to face him and caught his shoulders in a tight grip before the sturdy little boy could pull away.

"Jonathan O'Neill Jackson!" he said in a sharp voice, giving the boy a little shake.

Jack blinked at him, the tension of the fight slipping away. He was surprised that Daniel had added Jackson to his name. Then Jack swallowed hard, the brown eyes tearing up and the bottom lip beginning to tremble. But he kept his chin up, expecting the worse.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Daniel asked. He was still trying to get his head around the fact that Jack just took down a kid nearly twice his size. Even downsized, his fighting knowledge seemed intact.

Before Jack could come up with any kind of response Rachel jumped in to his defense. "It's not his fault!" she told Daniel firmly. "Teddy hit him first!"

"And he was picking on him!" Amber jumped in.

Daniel looked to see a man helping the sniffling Teddy to his feet and brushing him off. "Is this true?" the man demanded staring down at the boy.

Before Teddy could respond, Rachel again jumped in. "He was making fun of the way he talked and called his mother a suicide bomber!" he said.

The man's face went red, then white, as he looked down at his son, who was not meeting his eyes. He glanced around at the other children, who were nodding in agreement. Teddy's friends had decided to make themselves scarce when his father showed up. Then he looked at Daniel and Jack.

"It appears to be self defense," he said. His hand was clamped tightly on his son's shoulder. He held out his free hand to Daniel. "Lt. Edward Lewis."

Daniel shook his hand while keeping a hand on Jack's head. "Dr. Daniel Jackson," he said. "My son… Jack."

Edward stared at Daniel for a moment, then glanced down at Jack before his eyes returned to Daniel. "Dr. Jackson," he said. "You've been in the infirmary enough for me to know who you are."

Daniel felt himself go tense. It was inevitable that they would eventually run into someone who worked in the Mountain. He just hadn't expected it to be so soon. There was also a chance he knew who Jack was. "Sometimes it seems like I spend too much time there," Daniel responded, trying to sound casual.

Edward looked down at his son. "Ted. Home." He said in a firm voice. "We'll talk when I get there." As his son hurried away from the scene his father looked again at Daniel. "I'm sorry about this, Dr. Jackson. It won't happen again."

"Thank you," Daniel said. He reached down and lifted Jack into his arms, shifting him to ride on his hip. "We appreciate your understanding."

Edward smiled. He patted Jack's shoulder. "Nothing wrong with protecting yourself, big guy," he said.

At that moment Daniel was sure Edward knew who Jack was. He appeared that he was going to play along with the charade. He would be sure to let General Hammond know about this incident so he could determine whether he could be trusted with the 'big secret'. His instinct was telling him that he could.

Daniel turned and carried Jack away amid a chorus of 'Bye Jack' and 'Come back soon, Jack" from the other children, who were already returning to the playground equipment, the incident almost forgotten.

Daniel paused to pick up his journal where he left it on the bench, then continued walking across the park. Jack had his head on Daniel's shoulder and his arms around his neck. He was silent beyond a little sniffle and a tremor that would go through his small body periodically.

It wasn't long before they reached the house and went inside. Daniel took Jack into the bathroom, stripping him out of his coat before taking a look at his split lip. It was minor and would heal on it's own in a day or so, though it wouldn't hurt to rinse it out. He proceeded to do so, noticing Jack's subdued manner during the entire process. He picked him up again and carried Jack into the living room, settling into the recliner with Jack on his lap.

"Jack, do you believe I'm mad at you?" he asked gently, looking Jack directly into his eyes.

"Fighting is wrong," Jack said in a small voice. The tears he had held back now spilled over. "Fighting is bad when what you know can hurt others."

Daniel nodded. "True. Fighting for the sake of fighting is wrong," he said. He pulled the child against his chest, his hand rubbing his back in soothing circles. "But fighting to protect yourself is not wrong," he continued. "That's what you did. You did nothing wrong."

Jack clutched at Daniel's shirt with a few hiccoughing sobs before his fingers went into his mouth. He mumbled something incomprehensible, causing Daniel to pull his fingers out of his mouth.

"I can't understand you with your fingers in your mouth," he said.

"We not get ice cream," Jack said in a low voice wiping his nose on Daniel's shirt.

"I wanted to get you home to make sure you were all right," Daniel replied. "How about we have pizza for dinner and ice cream for dessert?"

Jack lifted his head. "Verum?"

Daniel smiled, brushing the tears from his face. "Yes, truth," he said. He quickly kissed Jack's forehead. "Now go wash your face."

Jack nodded obediently and slid off Daniel's lap to head into the bathroom. Daniel watched him leave with a lighter step. The smile was still on his face.