SG1 stepped out of
the wormhole onto the metal ramp in the gateroom. General Hammond was waiting
for them due to their early arrival. Not noticing anything amiss, he asked,
“Why are you back early, Colonel?”
Jack still held the
paddle in his hand and noticed the General eyeing it. “There was a slight
misunderstanding, Sir. Nothing serious. I just decided it would be better to
leave. Daniel managed to secure an interesting artifact though,” he stated,
pointing out the paddle in his hand.
“Very well, SG1,”
Hammond said, knowing he’d find out everything at the debriefing. “Report to
the infirmary. The debriefing will be held in two hours.”
Jack gave a quick
salute and headed off, followed by his team.
The walk to the
gate had relaxed some of the stiffness Daniel’d had after his paddling. He
managed to not show any outward sign of the discomfort he was in as they walked
to the infirmary.
Jack entered the
infirmary and immediately secured Dr. Janet Fraiser’s attention. Giving her a
heads up as to what had occurred on the planet, he made sure she was the one to
give Daniel his post mission physical. No need to encourage rumors on base.
Janet called
Daniel over to a bed and closed the curtain around it. “Okay, Dr. Jackson, hop
on the table and remove your shirt.”
Having observed
Jack talking to Janet as soon as they came in, Daniel knew Janet had been told
about the incident on the planet. The post mission physical was something he
disliked in general, it was even worse when something embarrassing had
happened. He removed his shirt and gingerly sat on the exam table.
Janet preformed
the typical exam. Then she told him, “Everything checks out.” Daniel eased off
the table, hoping he could get away. No such luck. “Now I want you to drop your
pants and let me check out the damage done.”
Daniel blushed.
“I’m fine, Janet. There isn’t any damage done that I can’t deal with.” The
embarrassment of the paddling was bad enough. Having Janet examine his backside
would be worse.
“I’ll decide what
you can deal with, Daniel,” Janet replied. “Don’t make me have to bring the
Colonel in here to enforce my order.” Embarrassed or not, she had the duty to
see to the health of the people in her care.
Daniel sighed,
knowing he’d lost. He turned around and dropped his pants. Then Janet indicated
he should bend over the table. He leaned on the table thinking this was the
same position he’d been in when the damage had been done.
Janet donned latex
gloves and pressed Daniel’s reddened skin. Daniel flinched. “Still hurt,
Daniel?” she asked with concern.
“A little,” Daniel
admitted reluctantly. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“It doesn’t look
too bad,” Janet told him. “The skin’s red with some slight bruising. Both
should go away quickly. Would you like some antiseptic cream to help with the
pain?”
“No thank you,”
Daniel answered tersely. “I’ll be fine.” Daniel was tiring of the exam. “May I
get dressed now?”
Janet removed her
gloves and answered, “Yes. I’m done. I’m going to want to see you in two days
though. Make sure everything’s fine.”
Daniel adjusting
his clothes and turned around. “Why are you making such a big deal about this?
It was just a paddling.”
“Any trauma that
leaves bruising needs to be taken seriously, Daniel. I expect to see you back
here in two days.” She gave Daniel a look that told him if he didn’t show,
she’d be coming after him.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he
replied. “May I leave now?”
“Yes, you may,”
she answered, giving him a grin to show she wasn’t upset. “Go get your shower.”
Daniel took off as
quickly as he could and went to the locker room to take his shower. He quickly
undressed, wrapped a towel around his waist and entered a private stall rather
than deal with the gang showers. After his shower, he dressed just as quickly,
managing to avoid talking to anybody. Then he went to his office to do some
work before the debriefing. He was there for about ten minutes when Jack walked
in, paddle in hand. “Hi, Jack,” he commented as he continued to catalog some
artifacts.
“Hi, Daniel,” Jack
said. “I thought you might want this.” He held the paddle out to Daniel.
“No thanks, Jack,”
Daniel answered, not even looking at it. “Hasma gave it to you. You keep it.
Hang it in your office if you want.”
Jack sat the
paddle on the table in front of him. “Daniel,” he said, trying to get Daniel’s
attention with no luck. Finally he just said what he’d come to say. “I’m
sorry.”
Daniel stopped
with his hand in mid air while putting away a book. He hadn’t been expecting
Jack to apologize to him. If anything, he expected Jack to tease him about it.
However, he didn’t want an apology. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Jack,”
he replied as he finished putting away the book and picking up another one.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Maybe not,” Jack
agreed, “but I’m still sorry.” He wanted to make sure Daniel was okay, but
Daniel wasn’t cooperating. “Daniel,” he said in frustration. “Daniel, stop what
you’re doing for a minute and look at me.”
Daniel stopped
what he was doing and turned around. His arms were across his chest and his
head down. “What do you need, Jack?”
“I want to make
sure you’re okay,” Jack answered. “This mission didn’t turn out to be a typical
one.”
“When have we ever
had a typical mission?” Daniel leaned against the table and quickly stood up straight
again when his backside contacted the edge. “I’m fine,” he answered, looking
anything but.
Jack was concerned
with Daniel’s reaction to impacting the table. “You don’t seem fine to me. Does
it still hurt that much?”
“I’m fine, Jack,”
Daniel insisted. “It’s just tender is all. Janet says I’ll be fine.” Janet
hadn’t actually told him he’d be fine, but Jack didn’t need to know that. He
looked at his watch. “Shouldn’t we be heading to the briefing room now?”
Jack checked his
own watch, answering, “Sure, let’s go.” When Daniel didn’t want to talk, it was
hard to make him. However, he wasn’t about to let this matter go completely.
There’d be time later to talk.
When they entered
the briefing room, Jack sat down in his normal seat and Daniel stopped at the
coffee maker to pour himself a mug. He took as long as possible while waiting
for the General to enter. He didn’t want to have to sit down until the last
possible moment. When Hammond arrived Daniel headed for his seat and gingerly
lowered himself. As cushioned as it was, it still made Daniel’s backside ache
to sit.
Daniel let Jack
take the lead in the mission debriefing, surprised at the way Jack managed to
make it seem like it hadn’t been his fault he’d been paddled. About twenty
minutes into the discussion Daniel couldn’t stand sitting any longer. He stood
up and went to refill his coffee mug, taking as long as he could without being
rude.
Jack didn’t miss
Daniel’s inability to sit for very long and became concerned. He tried to cut
the meeting short. “And that’s about it, General. We’re welcome to return, but
we need to make sure whoever is on the next mission, understands the social
structure.”
The General looked
to Carter. “Were you able to get the samples you needed, Captain Carter?”
“Mostly, Sir,” Sam
answered. “Enough to do some testing and see if it’s worthwhile to return for
more.” Sam would have liked to have gotten more, but she understood the reason
for leaving early and didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.
“Very well then,
SG1. You’re on stand down for the next two days. Go home and get some rest.”
Then Hammond dismissed the team.
Daniel left the
room as quickly as possible. If they were on stand down, he wanted to get home
and away from Jack and the discussion he was sure would come. Reaching the
locker room without having to talk to anyone, he changed into civvies and
headed for the elevator. There his luck ran out. Jack was waiting for him.
“Going home
already, Daniel?” Jack asked, leaning against the wall.
“Yeah, Jack,”
Daniel answered as he pressed the up button. “I have some things to take care
of at home.” He shuffled his feet and stared at the top of the elevator,
wishing it would come soon.
Jack placed his
hand on Daniel’s shoulder to get his attention. Daniel finally looked at him.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Daniel?” he asked seriously.
“I’m fine, Jack,”
Daniel said, trying to convince him. “I just have to feed my fish and take care
of some things.” The elevator finally arrived and Daniel stepped on. “I’ll see
you in two days.”
The elevator doors
closed and Jack was left standing in the hallway. Something was up, and he was
determined to figure it out, but he also knew Daniel needed some space.
Deciding he’d check up on Daniel tomorrow, he walked back to his office to take
care of some hated paperwork.
The drive home was
not pleasant for Daniel. The pain in his backside would not go away. He’d had
to stop twice and walk around for a while before he even made it home. When he
finally made it home, he made something to eat and ate it standing at the
counter, unwilling to try sitting, even on the couch. Giving up on getting any
work done, he fed the fish and then took some ibuprofen. Stripping down to his
boxers, he laid on his stomach on the bed and tried to sleep. When he wasn’t
putting any pressure on his backside, it wasn’t too bad. However he couldn’t
ever remember a paddling hurting for this long before. Finally he fell into a
restless sleep.
Jack didn’t have
much more luck sleeping than Daniel did. Something was wrong with his friend
and he wanted to know what it was. Waking up early, he puttered around the
house doing things that had piled up while he’d been gone. When thought enough
time had passed that Daniel should be up by now, he hopped in his truck and
drove off to check on him.
Daniel hadn’t
slept late either. Although the fire in his backside had ebbed through the
night, he’d rolled over in his sleep and woken up a short time later as the
pain returned. After he got up and took a shower, he ate breakfast and tried to
get some work done. As long as he didn’t sit down, he was okay. He knew he
should go and see Janet about the pain, but he just didn’t want to deal with it
at the moment. While standing at the counter paying bills, he heard his
doorbell ring. He peered through the peephole and found, not unexpectedly, Jack
standing on his doorstep. “Morning, Jack,” he said as he opened the door and
stepped aside.
Jack strode into
the apartment, answering, “Morning, Daniel,” as he plopped down on the couch.
“How are you doing today?”
Daniel closed the
door and followed Jack into the living room. However he leaned against the
wall. “I’m fine, Jack. How are you?”
“Good, good.”
Noticing Daniel wasn’t sitting down like he normally would, he decided to be
blunt. “You’re not sitting down. What’s up?”
Great, Daniel
thought. He wasn’t going to get any reprieve today. Avoiding a lie, but not
answering directly, he replied, “Is it a problem if I don’t sit down?”
“Normally, no,”
Jack told him. “However, after what happened on the last mission, it concerns
me. I know I paddled you hard, but I didn’t think it’d still be hurting so bad
that you couldn’t sit down yet. Is that the problem?”
Hanging his head,
Daniel finally answered, “Yes. It still hurts. But even though you paddled me
hard, I don’t think that’s what’s still hurting.” He took a deep breath. He
didn’t want to admit what he was about to. “I’ve been paddled before. It’s
never hurt like this.”
“It’s hard to
remember how something felt from when you were a kid, Daniel.” Jack watched as
Daniel turned bright red. “Daniel? What aren’t you telling me?”
“It’s not
something I really like to talk about, Jack.” Daniel saw the stare Jack was
giving him, and knew he didn’t have much of a choice. “Fine, I’ll tell you. It
wasn’t that long ago.” He started pacing. “There were family and community
rules on Abydos. I learned the consequence of breaking those rules.”
“Oh,” said Jack in
surprise. He hadn’t expected this revelation, but then where Daniel was
concerned, he’d learned to expect the unexpected. He chose not to pry though,
at least for now. “So do you think we should go and see Janet?”
“I don’t want to,”
Daniel answered, “but yeah, I guess we should.”
Jack stood up.
“Let’s go then. I’ll drive.” He headed for the door not giving Daniel a chance
to back out.
Grabbing his
wallet and keys, Daniel gave in and followed Jack out, locking the door behind
him.
On the drive to
the mountain, Daniel tried his hardest to not squirm, without any luck. It was
either that or make Jack stop and let him out to walk around. The looks Jack
was giving him didn’t help his mood. Fortunately, Jack didn’t question what was
going on. He just drove on, finally arriving at the gate of the mountain.
Daniel settled the best he could to not draw any attention to himself.
Jack and Daniel
signed in at the checkpoints and then went straight to the infirmary, even
though Daniel protested he wanted to change first. Jack figured Daniel would be
out of his street clothes soon enough.
Once they entered
the infirmary, Jack snagged Janet and drew her to the side explaining Daniel’s
problem. She wasn’t happy to hear Daniel hadn’t come back to see her earlier.
She escorted
Daniel to the exam area on the far side and pulled the curtain. “Dr. Jackson,”
she said in her ‘I’m not happy you ignored my instructions’ voice, “you
apparently are still having problems.”
“Um, yes,” Daniel
admitted reluctantly. “The pain in my backside hasn’t really gone away.”
“Drop ‘em,” she
said as she pulled on the latex gloves.
Daniel cringed.
This was why he hadn’t wanted to return. He turned his back to the doc,
unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants.
Janet placed her
hand on his back bending him over. “So what’s the pain like?” she asked as she
inspected the damage.
“It’s a constant
ache,” Daniel explained, “unless I sit. Then it gets really bad.”
“The bruising
doesn’t look any worse,” she explained as she pressed and heard Daniel hiss.
“That sensitive?”
“Yeah,” he
answered.
Standing up
straight, she grabbed a gown and handed it to Daniel. “Here. Put this on.
You’re not going anywhere for awhile.”
“Come on, Janet,”
Daniel whined. “You don’t really need to keep me here, do you?”
Janet was
beginning to feel sorry for him now. “I’m sorry, Daniel, but I do need you to
stay. The redness has not gone away at all. If anything it’s gotten worse. It’s
almost like an allergic reaction. I need to find out what’s causing it, and to
do that I need you here.”
“Fine,” he said
unhappily. Pulling his shirt off, he donned the gown and finished taking off
his pants. “Where do you want me?”
“This bed’s fine.
Just make yourself comfortable.”
“Right,” Daniel
replied sarcastically. Even so, he laid down on the bed face down. “Do I at
least get a blanket?”
Janet pulled a
blanket up over him, practically tucking him in. “I’ll send someone in to take
samples.”
“SAMPLES!” Daniel
said in shock. “Samples of what?”
“Skin samples,”
Janet explained. “We need to analyze what’s causing the irritation.”
“Great,” Daniel
grumbled. “Just great.” He laid his head on his arms and closed his eyes. Now
everyone would know what happened.
Janet wasn’t that
angry with him though. In his medical chart she only indicated that he had an
unexplained rash on his backside. Nothing mentioned how it got there.
A nurse came in
and took samples after Daniel was given some pain medication. It helped, but
didn’t stop it completely. He stayed on the bed and tried to rest.
A short time later
Jack entered the infirmary and was immediately drawn into Janet’s office.
“How’s Daniel doing?” he asked with concern.
“He’s fairly
comfortable at the moment,” Janet told him. “However we’re having trouble
figuring out what the rash is and why it’s not going away. Is there anything
else that happened on the planet to explain it?”
“I can’t think of
anything, Doc,” Jack answered. He wished he could.
“Tell me a little
more about the paddling then,” Janet requested. “Maybe there’s something that
will shed some light on the problem.”
Jack sighed. He
felt bad enough paddling Daniel in the first place. It felt worse now that
Daniel was still in pain. “I don’t know what else to tell you. Daniel dropped
his pants and bent over the table. Then the elder pulled down Daniel’s boxers
and handed me the paddle.”
“Wait a minute,
Colonel,” Janet stopped him. “He was paddled bare?”
“Yes,” Jack
agreed, wondering what difference that made.
“What was the
paddle made of?” She thought she had an idea of what the problem was, if Jack
would only confirm it.
“Wood,” Jack
stated, still not figuring it out. “What difference does it make?”
“It might make a
lot of difference,” Janet insisted. “I wish I could examine the paddle!” she
exclaimed in frustration.
“I still have it,”
Jack told her. “It’s in my office. Do you want me to get it?”
Janet looked right
at him. “Yes, Colonel. Go get it now and then you can visit Daniel.” Janet
wanted to check her idea right away.
“Sure,” he
replied. He left her office, retrieved the paddle, returned with it, and then
went to visit Daniel.
Daniel was curled
up on his side when Jack walked over to him. He sat down on the chair beside
the bed; worry lines etched on his face.
“Hi, Jack,” Daniel
said, startling his friend.
“Hi, Daniel,” Jack
replied. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Not anymore,”
Daniel told him. “I’m just waiting for Janet to get the test results back and
let me go.”
“How are you
feeling?”
“I’m fine,” Daniel
answered, leaning his head on his hand.
“Yeahsureyebetcha,”
Jack quipped, not believing him for a minute. “I’m sorry,” he said again.
“Dammit, Jack,” Daniel
fired back, punching the pillow. “Stop apologizing. Please.”
“Why, Daniel?”
Jack questioned. “Why does my apologizing bother you so much?”
“Because.” Daniel
paused but knew he had to explain more. “It was my fault. Not yours. I was the
one who screwed up. Not you. I’m the one who should be sorry.” He laid back on
his stomach and hid his head in his arms.
Jack reached out
to lay his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, and then pulled it back. Before he could
offer Daniel comfort, he had to find out more about what was going on inside
Daniel’s head. “What was your fault?”
“Everything,”
Daniel answered, turning his head towards Jack, but not looking at him. “I
should have kept you apprised of what was going on. I should have let you know
what I was going to do. I didn’t and I paid the price. So stop making it seem
like it wasn’t my fault. It was.”
“Yes you should
have kept me apprised and yes you should have let me know what you were going
to do, but the price you paid was not one I would have chosen.”
“You so sure about
that, Jack?” Daniel questioned, finally looking at him. “You’ve never once
thought about paddling me when I’ve done something you didn’t like?”
Jack thought about
his answer. Truth was Daniel did drive him nuts at times. He’d thought about what
to do to him, and once in a while he wanted to smack him upside the head, but
paddling him, no he actually hadn’t thought of that. “There are times I’ve
wanted to make you pay more attention to procedures, but no, what I had to do
on the mission was not something I had thought of before. Apparently you’d
experienced it before though.”
Daniel groaned. He
didn’t think Jack would leave that little revelation he’d made at the apartment
alone for long. “It wasn’t that big a deal. It was just part of the culture on
Abydos.” Jack continued to give him the ‘I really want to know the story look’
and he capitulated. “Okay, I’ll tell you the story, but you’d better listen
carefully because I’m only telling you once.” Daniel rolled back to his side
and got as comfortable as he could. “Abydonian discipline was very specific. In
order for the community to function there had to be rules, and if there are
rules, someone is bound to break those rules. When people break rules there
have to be consequences or there’s no reason to follow the rules. The
consequence for breaking community rules was public punishment, very similar to
what happened on P3X-749.”
“Is that what
happened to you, Daniel?” Jack asked when Daniel stopped talking.
“No,” Daniel
replied. “I managed to not break any of the community rules.” Daniel paused
remembering what had happened. “I broke a family rule. Age really wasn’t a
factor. If you broke a rule, whoever was the head of the family delivered the
punishment. The benefit of breaking a family rule was the punishment was
private. Didn’t hurt any less, but the whole village didn’t have to witness
it.”
“So what rule did
you break?” Jack questioned. “It must have been pretty serious.”
“On Abydos, it
was,” Daniel explained. “When I found the map room I got pretty involved in it.
I spent all my time there. Kasuf noticed, and called me to his dwelling. I
realized something was up, but I didn’t clue in until Kasuf pointed out I’d
been ignoring my responsibilities to my family. I didn’t have any defense. I knew
he was right and I agreed with him.” Daniel stopped. He’d felt so guilty about
what he’d done, the punishment he’d received was welcomed.
“Daniel, are you
okay?” Jack asked in concern.
“I’m fine,” Daniel
answered. Then he continued the recollection. “When Kasuf told me to bare my
backside, I understood what was about to happen. I did as he said. Then he had
me bend over and place my hands on the wall.” He shuddered. “They use a
reed-like implement. It stings, badly. Kasuf was skilled and thorough in his
administration of the punishment.”
When Daniel didn’t
continue, Jack asked, “What happened next?”
“That was it,”
Daniel told him. “I fixed my clothes. Kasuf hugged me and told me I was
forgiven. Then I was expected to go back to my responsibilities. It’s not
brought up again. You have a clean slate. If you screw up again, it’s a whole
new punishment. That part was nice.”
“Nice?” Jack
questioned, not understanding how a punishment could be nice.
“Nice,” Daniel
reiterated. “No one held any grudges on Abydos. Partly because just about
everybody had experienced the same punishment you’d just received. Most of my
life before that, every time I did something someone didn’t approve of,
everything I’d ever done wrong in my life that they knew about was brought up.
It was handled much better on Abydos.”
“That I can
understand,” Jack responded, remembering fights he and Sara had had and the
history they’d both brought up.
Any more
discussion was thwarted by the arrival of Janet Fraiser. Daniel looked at her expectantly.
She didn’t look too happy. Not what he was hoping for. “What’s the bad news,
Janet?” he asked getting right to the point.
“You are having an
allergic reaction, Daniel,” she told him. “We believe it to be to the wood of
the paddle. However, none of the medications we have available seem to be
stopping the reaction.”
Daniel sighed.
That was not what he wanted to hear. “So what do we do?”
“I’m not sure.
General Hammond has called a briefing in thirty minutes.” Janet handed him his
clothes. “There’s no reason for you to stay here any longer unless you want
to.”
Daniel accepted
the clothes. “No thank you, Janet. I’ll just get out of here if you don’t
mind.” He looked at Jack and Janet, indicating he wanted some privacy. They got
the point and left.
“I’ll see you at
the briefing, Daniel,” Jack said on his way out.
“Sure, Jack,”
Daniel called back. Once they’d both left, Daniel dressed and went to his
office. He was very disappointed Janet couldn’t fix his problem. Nothing he
could do until the briefing though.
All of SG-1, Dr.
Fraiser and General Hammond were in on the briefing. Daniel stood by the window
and listened to the conversation. Not only didn’t he want to sit down, he
didn’t want to see any signs of pity on his friends’ faces.
“I’m not sure we
can do anything for Dr. Jackson here, General. Nothing we’ve tried so far has
worked.” Janet didn’t want to admit her failure.
“Any other ideas,
SG-1?” Hammond asked.
“Sir,” Carter
spoke up. “What about returning to the planet? Maybe they’ve experienced this
before and know what to do.”
“Colonel, would
they welcome you back on the planet?” The general wasn’t about to send a team
back to an unfriendly planet.
“They were very
hospitable, even with all that happened,” Jack explained. “And they did invite
us back at anytime.”
“Dr. Jackson,”
Hammond said, looking at the young man staring out the window at the Stargate
below. “What do you think about this idea?”
Out of respect,
Daniel turned around to speak to the General. “It seems like the only chance
I’ve got at the moment, Sir. I’d like to go and try.”
“Very well then,”
Hammond said. “Be ready to go in an hour. Dismissed.” With that, everyone stood
up and left the room. Everyone that is, except Daniel. He continued to stare
out the window.
Noticing, Jack
walked over and stared at the Stargate, too. He stood there in companionable
silence before he spoke. “It’ll work out, Daniel.”
“I’m sure it
will,” Daniel agreed.
“You going to be
okay?” Jack didn’t like a quiet Daniel, it wasn’t normal.
“I’ll be fine,
Jack.” He would be fine, he just didn’t know how long it would take.
“I’m going to go
get kitted out,” Jack informed Daniel.
“I’ll be there
shortly,” Daniel assured him. “Don’t worry.”
“Okay,” Jack
replied, worrying anyway. However he did leave Daniel to his thoughts.
Daniel was just
about to turn around and leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned
to look into the caring eyes of General Hammond.
“It’ll be all
right, son,” the general tried to assure him. He’d been watching Daniel stare
at the Stargate from his office, wondering what he was thinking. He knew this
predicament couldn’t be easy on the young man.
“Yes, Sir,” Daniel
replied, dropping his head and crossing his arms over his chest. He’d so hoped
to get away without talking to anyone.
“I know this must
be hard on you,” Hammond continued, “but even the Colonel said it was only a
misunderstanding. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, Sir,” Daniel
agreed. “However, Jack and I don’t always agreed on who’s at fault.” ‘Not a
smart move,’ he thought to himself. He’d essentially just told General Hammond
that Jack had lied to him.
“What are you
implying, Dr. Jackson?” Hammond had read all the reports and none of them had
indicated anyone was at fault. Then he remembered he hadn’t received Dr.
Jackson’s report yet.
“Nothing, Sir.”
Daniel couldn’t meet his eyes. “I really need to go get changed if I’m going to
make it to the gate room on time.” He was shifting from foot to foot nervously.
Knowing there
wasn’t time to deal with the matter now, Hammond conceded to Daniel’s request.
“You may go, son. But I’d like to talk about this matter when you return.”
“Yes, Sir,” Daniel
agreed. What else could he do? Flat out refuse to meet with the General. He
didn’t think that would go over to well. He headed to the door, but turned
around before exiting the room and said, “Thank you, General, for your concern.
I do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,
Doctor,” Hammond responded. “Good luck on the mission.”
With that Daniel
nodded and walked to the locker room, hoping it would be empty.
When he entered
the locker room, Jack was still there putting on his boots. It was par for the
course, he hadn’t had any luck in the past few days. He opened up his locker
and started changing.
Jack finished
putting on his boots and watched Daniel for a moment. He knew a lot of things
were going through his head, but he wished Daniel would talk about some of it.
Didn’t look like it was going to happen soon. He was going to talk to him and
then changed his mind and only said, “I’ll see you in the gate room, Daniel.”
“I’ll be there as
soon as I change, Jack,” Daniel replied, not believing Jack hadn’t wanted to
talk. Jack left the room and Daniel finished changing and then got his pack.
Finally he headed for the gate room, arriving right on time.
Everyone was ready
and waiting. Davis dialed the address for P3X-749. The Stargate kawooshed and
General Hammond gave them a go. Then they all stepped through.
No one was there
when they arrived on the planet, but within a very short amount of time, Hasma
and his entourage met them on the path to the village. Daniel stayed beside
Jack and waited for the elder to speak first.
/You have returned
more quickly than we expected,/ Hasma said to the group.
Daniel made sure
to translate everything that was said this time. Jack gave him the go ahead to
discuss the reason for their early return. Not wanting to discuss the matter,
but knowing he had to in order to get better, Daniel began. /Elder, there was a
problem when we returned to our community./
/A problem?/ Hasma
looked curiously at Daniel. /Did you further disobey your elder?/
/No, no,/ Daniel
insisted quickly. /Uhm, the problem is…the pain from the paddling has not gone
away. We were wondering if you knew the cause of it./
/I see,/ the elder
responded. /We need to talk, young man. You and I and your elder of course. All
may be present if you wish, or we may speak privately./
Daniel relayed
this information to Jack and let him decide. Jack chose to discuss the issue
privately, for Daniel’s sake. Carter and Teal’c would understand.
After Daniel
informed Hasma of the decision, everyone returned to the village. Carter and
Teal’c sat outside around the fire, while Jack, Daniel and Hasma went into a
small dwelling.
Hasma indicated
they should sit around the table to discuss the matter at hand. He noticed that
Daniel was reluctant to do so, and informed him, /Young man, it is necessary
that you sit. I know it will be uncomfortable. That is one of the consequences
of your behavior./
Jack looked at
Daniel quizzically, and Daniel explained the conversation. Then he sat down,
very carefully.
Hasma began the
conversation. /Tell me why you still feel guilty about your behavior./
Daniel was shocked
by the question. He translated it for Jack and then answered with a question of
his own. /How do you know I still feel guilty, Elder?/
/You are still in
pain, are you not?/ Hasma stated. Daniel nodded, all the while translating
faithfully for Jack. /That is how I know you still feel guilty. If you weren’t,
the pain would have gone away. Now tell me the reason for your continued
guilt./
/Oh,/ Daniel said
in amazement. /It’s hard to explain./ He shifted on the chair and thought about
how to tell Hasma what was going on. Also knowing Jack would be hearing
everything he said too. /When we met with Jack’s elder, we had to explain what
had happened on the planet. Jack tried to keep me from getting in more trouble
by making it seem like it wasn’t my fault./
Jack stared at him
after Daniel had translated what he’d told Hasma. “That’s not the way it was,
Daniel. You weren’t at fault. What I told General Hammond was the truth.”
Daniel was caught
having to translate what Jack was saying to Hasma also. Then he answered Jack.
“As I said before, it was my fault. When you tried to make it seem like it
wasn’t, it made me feel even guiltier than I did before. Hasma’s right about
that.”
Hasma broke into
the conversation. /That is what I thought. When the guilt has not been
released, the pain of the heart does not go away./
Daniel had to
think about that for a moment. /So the pain of the guilt is causing the pain in
my backside to remain?/ He didn’t understand how that could be possible.
/It is so,/ Hasma
agreed, noticing the look of disbelief on Daniel’s face. /I’m not sure why it
happens, all I know is that it does. All of us who live here know this./
/If this is the
case, how do we deal with it?/ Daniel could accept the guilt was the cause of
the pain. If he didn’t understand the physiology of it, oh well.
/You must relieve
your guilt./ Hasma knew it was as simple as that.
For Daniel it
wasn’t so simple. /And how do I do that?/ Hasma gave him a knowing look and
Daniel got the message. He crossed his arms and dropped his head.
Jack observed the
change in Daniel and wanted to know what was going on. “Daniel? What are you
supposed to do?”
Daniel wouldn’t
meet his eyes, but he did answer. “It’s not just me, Jack. It’s you too.” He
took a deep breath and explained what he understood. “I need to talk to the General
about what happened.” That didn’t seem too bad to Jack. “And I need you to
paddle me again.”
“What!?” Jack
exclaimed. “I am not paddling you again.” Hasma seemed disturbed by his
reaction, so he calmed down. “I didn’t want to do it the first time, Daniel. I
definitely don’t want to do it again.”
“I know, Jack,”
Daniel said. “It’s about what I need though. It’s like I was telling about how
things were on Abydos. I felt better after I’d been punished. It does work for
me.”
“I’ve already
paddled you once,” Jack argued. “Why didn’t that time take care of it?”
“It might have,
Jack.” Daniel wasn’t sure Jack was going to understand this. “However, at the
briefing, it felt like I was lying. I didn’t speak up and accept responsibility
for what I had done. Because of that, the guilt returned.”
“Then just tell
General Hammond what happened.” Jack was insistent. “Can’t you get rid of your
guilt that way?”
“It’ll help,”
Daniel agreed, “but it won’t be enough. I need this, Jack. I would prefer you
do it. However, if you refuse, I will ask Hasma to do it.”
Jack considered
everything Daniel had told him. He’d seen the guilt eat away at Daniel during
the time they returned to base. There were times in his life he’d have jumped
at the chance to relieve some of the guilt he’d felt over the many atrocities
he’d had to commit. If something as simple as a paddling could help Daniel, why
should he refuse? “Okay,” Jack finally said, agreeing. “Will it be public
again?”
Daniel was unsure
of the specifics so he asked Hasma. “He says no. It can be just between the two
of us here in this house. There doesn’t need to be any witnesses.”
“Are you sure
about this, Daniel?” Jack didn’t want to do it, but he would if his friend said
yes.
“Yes,” Daniel
answered, knowing what he was agreeing to. He informed Hasma of Jack’s agreeing
to implement the punishment and the elder left, after leaving a new paddle on
the table.
Daniel stared at
the paddle for a moment. As much as he knew he needed it, it was hard to
accept. He stood up and unbuckled his belt. “Let’s get this over with, Jack.”
He pushed the paddle towards his friend, dropped his pants and boxers and bent
over the table.
Jack picked up the
paddle and turned it over in his hands. It seemed different from the other
paddle, not that it mattered. He moved himself into position. “How many,
Daniel?”
“You decide,
Jack,” Daniel answered. “At least ten though. I know I need that many.” He
tried to prepare himself for the first stroke.
Jack drew back the
paddle.
WHACK Daniel flinched.
The pain that was already in his backside made this paddling hurt worse than
the first one. WHACK He began to regret agreeing to this, but then he
remembered why it was necessary.
WHACK Jack saw the
shudders in Daniel’s body and heard the hitched breathing. If Daniel hadn’t
told him he needed at least ten, he would’ve stopped now.
WHACK Daniel cried
out for the first time. Jack wasn’t pulling any punches. WHACK He cried out
again, wishing he could be silent. WHACK The tears started flowing. It was actually
easier to take the paddling after he began crying.
WHACK Jack knew
Daniel was crying now and decided to end it quickly. WHACK WHACK WHACK Then he
gave one more, after he remembered how silent Daniel had been. WHACK He put the
paddle back down on the table.
Daniel had his
head in is arms, crying hard. He had screwed up, and now he’d paid for it.
There was one more thing he needed, but he wasn’t sure he could bring himself
to ask for it.
Jack didn’t know
what to do with himself as Daniel laid across the table crying. He stepped back
and put his hands in his pockets, waiting.
When Daniel felt
like he could handle it, pushed off the table and fixed his clothes. He noticed
how uncomfortable Jack was and tried to reassure him. “I’m fine, Jack. Thanks.”
He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and blew his nose in his handkerchief.
“You’re welcome,”
Jack answered automatically. “Is that it? Do we go home now?”
“Sure,” Daniel
replied, hesitantly. “We can go now.” He dropped his head and started walking
toward the door.
Jack stopped him
with a hand on his shoulder. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
“It’s nothing
important, Jack.”
Daniel didn’t turn
around, so Jack turned him around. “If it’s bothering you, then it is
important.” He lifted Daniel’s chin so he could look him in the eye. “Tell me
what it is.”
Daniel looked back
at his friend, arms still crossed tight over his chest. “I need to know if you
forgive me, Jack. You’ve never said.”
Jack stared at his
friend in shock. He hadn’t thought he needed to tell Daniel he forgave him.
Obviously he was wrong. He pulled Daniel into a tight hug, telling him, “Of
course I forgive you. I thought you understood that. I’m sorry I didn’t let you
know earlier.”
“I wasn’t sure.
I’d caused a lot of problems for you and I’m sorry.” Daniel finally returned
the hug. Then they both pulled away. “Let’s go home.”
Jack messed up
Daniel’s hair. “Ya think. How’s the pain, by the way?”
“Better.” Daniel
thought for a moment. His backside stung, but not like before. He still needed
to tell General Hammond the truth, but that didn’t seem like such a hard thing
to do now. “Much better.”