Need - Alternate Ending
by Jinx

Rating: PG

Pairing: J/D (more friendship than slash, but I see slash everywhere, so...)

Category: Angst, Friendship, Alternative Scene, Pre-slash (kinda), Established Relationship (could be)

Date: 1-5-02

Status: Complete

Season/Spoilers: 2nd Season (NEED)

Synopsis: What if the gun went off in the storage room?

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/ Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I do not own the characters and indeed am only playing with them for a little while. Jack and Daniel belong to each other. I am not making any money from this and I'm still paying for everything I own so there's very little point in suing me. No copyright infringement whatsoever is intended. The story is for entertainment purposes only. At least I hope it's entertaining. The original characters, situations and story are mine. Please check with me first if you want to archive or link to this story.

Warnings: Well, if you think Daniel can do no wrong... don't read this. Tho, if you like Daniel angst, you may want to read this. If you like gen, you can read this. Tho, if you read slash into everything (like me), don't read this. If you like Jack hurt, read this. Tho, if you don't like people being subtly mean to Daniel, don't read this. (Enough warnings?! <g>)

"All you guys have to do is hang in there."

How long did you expect them to do that, Jackson? he thought at himself as he stood before the glass, looking down at the silent unmoving man below. A dark head tilted up and black eyes stared accusingly at him, forcing him to turn away. He'd never thought to see Teal'c's hatred turned on him.

"You do know we're dying down here, don't you?"

Jack's accusing voice rang strong and loud in his memories, blistering his very soul with their fire. God, why couldn't he just forget everything that had happened on that damned planet? Why did he have to remember his friends suffering at his own hands? Okay, sure, he didn't put them in the mines, but he sure as hell could have gotten them out. But, no... he let Shyla talk him into the sarcophagus how many times? Hell, even he'd lost count when he'd gone down to the mines to talk to his friends. Do you honestly think they still consider you a friend, Jackson? Teal'c sure as hell doesn't. Not if his die Taur'i look was any indication.

Daniel ventured a look down in the infirmary again, sighing in relief to find that Teal'c was not looking up at him. From his vantage point, he could see Jack in his bed: Sam sitting on one side, Teal'c the other. Jack was still unconscious. Had been for two days. Ever since that fucking day in the supply room when he...

Sam had refused to look up at Daniel since he'd arrived at the observation room. The two of them, Teal'c and Sam, stayed close to the colonel, putting on a united front that did not include Daniel. Like they would let you near him?! You shot him, you stupid fuck! You'll be lucky they don't throw your ass in jail for this. But he knew that wouldn't happen. Jack wouldn't let it.

He didn't know Jack was hurt. He remembered Jack talking him down, asking Daniel if he really wanted to kill him. The gun must have accidentally went off when he was putting it down because the next thing he knew, he was sobbing against Jack's chest, clasping Jack hard around the waist and being grasped equally hard by Jack.

Until Jack went limp.

Jack's entire body sagged against Daniel causing the younger man to slip further down Jack's chest. When he pulled back, he saw the moisture on Jack's black shirt and gently touched it. His hand came back wet with red. He remembered staring at Jack in horror at what had happened. If he'd said anything, he couldn't remember. When they brought Jack in, he was conscious enough to demand that they not hurt Daniel.

Daniel remembered that much.

He could remember Jack grabbing Janet around the arm, demanding to see Hammond before allowing himself to go to surgery. He remembered hearing Jack's threats of retirement if Hammond allowed anything to happen to Daniel for what was clearly, in Jack's eyes, an accident.

The next time he was coherent, a day and a half had passed, Jack was still in a coma and he was ready for release.

He wanted to die.

"You do know we're dying down here, don't you?"

I didn't think it was literal, Jack, Daniel answered to himself. I swear to god, I didn't think you were being serious. Daniel rubbed a hand over his face, drilling his finger and thumb into his eyes, trying to rub out the dirty faces before him. But it was all he saw whenever he looked down at the three other members of SG-1. Dirt. Grime. Sweat. Blood. Why hadn't I seen the blood? Scraps covered their hands and fingers, wrists and ankles. Daniel hadn't known it at the time, but Jack's black tee shirt covered more than just scraps and scratches. It covered ribbons of whip marks dotting his back.

Teal'c too. Only he was already healed thanks to Junior.

He remember feeling Jack flinch when he'd thrown his arm around Jack's back after they had led the older man to the throne room. He was too high to notice or care. He just wanted to give Jack the good news that they were going to go home so that he, Daniel, could take care of business and return to Shyla and their impending wedding.

He didn't intend to come home and kill his best friend.

"Daniel. Get us out of here."

Jack's tired, weary voice echoed throughout his head, bouncing off the empty, dark places his friends' trust had left behind. He remembered seeing Jack lean against the cold rock in the mine, battered and bruised and silently begging Daniel to come to his senses and get them the hell out of there.

"Oh, Sam. Everything is so clear."

This time it was his own voice that rang in his head. He was trying so hard to persuade Sam that using the sarcophagus wasn't a bad thing. He was so focused on Sam that he didn't see or hear Jack moan and clutch the rock wall during his tirade. He remembered it now. He remembered flicking his eyes to Jack for a moment, but it was as if his mind didn't want to register Jack's pain. Clear, huh? If it was so clear, Jackson, don't you think you would have found a way to free your friends?

He could see everything clearly now.

He remembered in the mine when Jack hissed at him, telling him that he only had to do one thing, and if Daniel couldn't handle it, then the three of them would break out without Daniel. But did he acknowledge any of that? No. He just leaned in and, as if in confidence, told them that Shyla wanted to marry him. He just didn't get it. He wasn't listening. Nothing was clear at all except his next sarcophagus fix. His friends' pain and suffering didn't make a dent in his dementia.

"Okay, look..." "No, you look, Jack. I've got everything under control, okay?! God! You never show me any respect. Your way didn't work. Now I'm handling it. All you guys have to do is hang in there."

Daniel closed his eyes and leaned his head against the glass. 'Your way didn't work.' God, did he actually say that? And just what was Jack's way? There hadn't been one. He didn't get a chance to have a way. Jack along with Sam and Teal'c and himself were immediately thrown into the mines. And if not for him lagging behind when they had their chance at escape, Daniel wouldn't have been tossed in the sarcophagus for the first time let alone the nine or tenth time.

And Jack, being the trusting man he was, stayed down in the mines thinking all this time that Daniel was doing everything he could to get them out. If that's not showing respect, I don't know what is.

Who knew what the hell they did to the three of them in the mines. He heard part of what happened when Sam gave her report and couldn't believe what he was hearing. The colonel demanded to see Daniel and was ceremoniously whipped before his friends. They did this in the name of their prince... Daniel.

Daniel shook his head. He remembered seeing Jack being dragged into the throne room and hearing him say:

"The man who would be king."

Now Daniel knew why Jack had said it. It was said with so much disgust and contempt, but Daniel's fogged, drugged mind couldn't comprehend it. Nor did he care that one of the guards struck Jack in the back of his knees for his remark, sending the ailing man to the ground.

In any other circumstance, Daniel would have been all over the guards for damaging his friend. But these were not normal circumstances. Daniel was out of his mind. Literally.

Jack groaned in pain, bent over on the ground. A mock appearance of bowing to Daniel; when in reality Jack was dying before his eyes and Daniel couldn't have cared less.

"Dr. Jackson?"

Hammond's voice jerked Daniel back to this reality and he slowly turned to the compassionate voice.

"Son, there's nothing you can do."

Daniel turned back to the glass. "I know," he said sadly. "I think I've done enough already."

"It's not your fault, son."

Daniel snorted lightly, closing his eyes, self-recrimination eating a larger hole in his chest.

Even with Jack demanding the general not arrest Daniel, Hammond had no intentions. Daniel had met with Hammond's compassion, but knew it was not deserved. Though he may not have been responsible for his actions, it didn't make him feel less guilty.

His fists clamped tighter, nails digging deeper and deeper into his palms.

He was not in the mood for the general's kind words. He did not deserve them.

Without realizing it, he whirled around so hard half the items on the desk were swept away. "Not my fault? Not my fault?! General, Jack's down there dying because of me. How is that not my fault?!"

For once the general had no words and looked away.

Daniel sighed and turned back to the glass. "What if he dies?" His voice was so soft, Hammond almost missed it.

"He won't."

"What if he does?"

Hammond was about to repeat himself when Daniel continued, "I can't live without him."

The general didn't let his shock show. He knew that Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson shared a friendship that was deeper than most close friends had, but to hear the quiet words as confirmation... There was nothing he could say.

He immediately cleared Daniel of any wrong-doing considering the circumstances, but the young man's guilt-ridden conscious would plague him for the rest of his life. That was punishment enough as far as the general was concerned.

"Danny?"

A soft metallic voice floated in the room he and Hammond occupied. Daniel's head snapped up and he looked down at the room which housed Jack and the others.

"Dan-," an audible swallow, "-ny?"

Without thinking, Daniel rushed out of the room, leaving a bemused general behind.

Daniel skidded to a halt at the foot of the bed. At the first sign of Jack waking, Sam and Teal'c stood, bracketing Jack's bed. By the time Daniel arrived in the room, Janet was there, taking Sam's place, talking softly to Jack.

She looked up and grimaced at Daniel as he stood immobilized. The angry atmosphere surrounding the bed caused him to freeze, not sure if he should really be there. The stand-off was just enough to make him angry at the three people surrounding the bed. Fine! They may be angry with Daniel and with good reason, but the mood was not doing anything to help the man on the bed.

His anger motivated him and he moved to the other side of Jack's bed, practically pushing Teal'c away. He could feel Teal'c approach behind him, but immediately still when Jack turned his head towards Daniel and smile.

"Danny. You okay?"

A relief that Daniel hadn't felt since the day on Abydos when he figured out the seventh symbol overcame him and he grasped Jack's hand, leaning over to bury his face in Jack's neck. "'M sorry," he whispered against Jack's throat.

He felt Jack remove his hand from his own and spared a moment to mourn their loss before gentle fingers slid into his hair and Jack's hand cradled his head.

"'M okay," lips brushed against his forehead. Daniel leaned back to look at Jack, needing to see this most best friend and taking a weak hand in his. "You okay?" Jack questioned, eyes full of compassion and love. Daniel could only answer him with a nod. Jack lifted a corner of his mouth in a pain-filled smile and replied, "We're okay." Daniel nodded again.

Somewhere a chair managed to find its way under him and Daniel sat down still clasping onto his friend.

The others had left, but when and where, he didn't know nor care. All that mattered was the man on the bed in front of him and the friendship and love that bonded them together.

Daniel reached up and threaded his fingers through the light brown hair, sticking it up in several places while the other hand refused to let go its hold on its mate. No words were necessary between the two men. Their eyes spoke all the words that were needed.

They had made it this time.

The End!!!!!