SG-1: Rain Check

[cat_77]

 

But wait, there’s more!  That’s right, even more of my crap writing is now available right here on my live journal.  This one is inspired by Babs’ challenge over on the AG list:  Most accidents happen in the home...

 

Title:  Rain Check

Genre:  SG-1, Challenge, Slash (non-explicit)

Rating:  PG-13ish to R for language and sexual innuendo

Synopsis:  Most accidents happen in the home.

Disclaimer:  I don’t own them, people with a lot of money do.  I am just taking them out to play and have made no money from this.

 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Daniel blinked blurrily at the red light, trying to figure out why it appeared smeared across his windshield even with his wipers on their highest setting.  It took him a moment more to realize the remaining drops were not on the window, but on his glasses themselves, a result of darting out into the deluge to grab his take-out order before finishing the drive home.  He did not bother cleaning them, figuring he only had another three blocks to go before he had to get back out in it anyway. 

 

It had been a long day, starting with a trek to a tiny village filled with huge people known as the Voran, and ending with drive home through a rather impressive storm.  He was looking forward to some good food, a hot shower, and a warm bed.

 

He reached his street, turning carefully to avoid some idiot wearing dark clothing and riding a bicycle without a safety light in the middle of a rainstorm.  Parking on the street because he never did get that garage door fixed, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for the downpour.  An umbrella would have taken too much finagling what with the take-out and the car door, so he tossed his satchel over his shoulder, grabbed the bag of food, and ran towards the house, pausing under the safety of the overhang to hit the remote to make sure his doors were locked.

 

A little bit of shifting later, and the deadbolt was undone and the door to his nice warm house was opened.  He toed off his shoes as he closed it behind him, shaking the worst of the water off his belongings and himself.  The satchel went on the bench that lined the wall, and the food went on the kitchen counter as he sloshed his way through the house.  He grabbed a clean towel from the linen closet and headed for the bathroom in hopes of both getting out of his soaked clothing and limiting the mess in doing so.

 

He shivered as he entered the small room, wondering why it was noticeably cooler than the rest of the house until he noticed the window was cracked open.  The safety bars were still in place, so the gap was no more than an inch or two, but it was enough to let in the cold and wind and, unfortunately, rain.  The water had pooled on the windowsill and was cascading over the side, dribbles blending in with the paintwork on the walls as the floor shone with fresh wetness.

 

He sighed, stepping over to close the window and stop the flow of water before cleaning it up.  Only one more step to go when his feet slid out from underneath him, soggy socks finding no purchase on soaked linoleum.  He threw up his arms up to try to either balance himself or catch himself on something, anything, and then he felt that interesting sensation of the world twirling around him as he fell backwards.  It was only for a moment though, before his world exploded into blackness and pain.

 

~~~~~

 

 

“Oh, Danny,” a familiar voiced called him from a great distance.  But that didn’t make any sense, he was supposed to be alone in the temple.  Well, just himself, Hatshepsut, and few of the little kittens she had dressed up in robes, but he didn’t think any of them knew his name and Hatshepsut wasn’t talking.

 

He blinked to clear the smoke from the torches out of his eyes, surprised when everything seemed to shift and change and grow remarkably brighter.  A fluttering of his eyelids later, and he was no longer in the temple, but laying flat on his back in a puddle of what he hoped was water on his bathroom floor. 

 

The voice calling to him also seemed to change somewhat.  It was less cajoling and more relieved as it said, “There you are!”

 

A warm hand patted his cheek lightly as he tried to focus on the figure next to him.  “Jack?”

 

“The one and only,” the other man confirmed.  “You think you can sit up?  I want to get you out of those clothes and get a better look at the bump on your head.”

 

Daniel took the offered hand and pulled himself up into a sitting position, surprised when it took a lot more effort than it should have to complete such a simple task.  He tried to cover for it by joking, “You always want to get me out of my clothes.”

 

Jack wasn’t falling for it, seeing the way his lover’s knuckles turned as white as his face as he tried to steady himself, but he played along for now.  “True, but this time I have real reason – your clothes are soaked through from the rain.”

 

“Not as good as some of the reasons you’ve come up with in the past, but I’ll go with it,” Daniel agreed through his now chattering teeth.  He tried to leer, but the movement of his eyes awoke a pain in his skull with a vengeance.  The pain was soon exacerbated by prodding fingers poking into his brain.  He finally gave in and let out a miserable, “Ow...”

 

The fingers stilled before removing themselves from the inside of his cranium to squeeze his shoulder gently.  “Well, it doesn’t look like you split your head open, but I’d bet it feels like it.  Almost no blood, so you shouldn’t even need a stitch,” Jack declared.

 

“But that didn’t stop you from calling Janet anyway,” the injured man guessed.

 

“Hell no,” came the emphatic response.  “I called her as soon as I found your unconscious body on the floor.  It’s a thing.”  The emphaticness had turned to sarcasm, so Daniel knew his lover knew the injuries were not life-threatening and had moved on to just being concerned.   “The take-out was still warm, so I’m guessing you weren’t out for long, but what the hell happened?”

 

“Floor wet, socks soaked, Danny take a tumble,” the normally far more eloquent linguist yawned.  He squinted at his watch and discovered he had been out for no more than fifteen minutes, if even that. 

 

“Do I even want to know why the floor was wet?” Jack grimaced.

 

“Window was left open a bit and it rained in,” Daniel shrugged, using the movement to get a kink out of his back at the same time.

 

Jack sighed, obviously having a clear picture of the events at this point.  The fact the tub was near the now closed window helped explain the knock on the head as well.  “Are you okay?” he asked with the tone that implied “fine” was not going to be a suitable response.

 

“A few bruises to body and dignity,” Daniel admitted.  “But, hey, I actually kept my glasses on this time,” he added cheekily as he adjusted the frames.

 

“Go you!” Jack laughed.  “Should we get you up off this floor?” he offered.

 

“As much fun as it is sitting in freezing cold water with a probable slight concussion, it would be preferred,” the injured man agreed.  Jack slowly helped him to his feet, supporting his weight when it was discovered his ankle would not hold him up too well on its own.  “Must have twisted it in the fall?” Daniel tried, but was met with a less than amused glare for an answer. 

 

A lot of shuffling and a few mild curses later, and they both flopped on the bed in the other room.  “Well, that was fun,” Jack mocked, stretching out his newly abused muscles before propping himself back up. 

 

“It was, wasn’t it?” Daniel agreed, still slightly out of breath.  He took off his glasses and placed them in the offered hand, half watching as they were carefully laid on the bedside table while he struggled with wet fabric, stubborn buttons, and numb fingers.

 

“Let me,” Jack insisted, lightly slapping fumbling hands away and making short work of the task.

 

A ringing phone interrupted any further progress.  Daniel started looking around for his before realizing Jack had already flipped his own open and was talking.  By the time he figured out who he was talking to the conversation was over, the phone joining his glasses on the table.  “Janet?” he guessed.

 

“Yep,” Jack confirmed, moving to continue his task of undressing the soggy archeologist.  “She says it’s a damn good thing you’re up and around because there’s no way she’s getting here any time soon.  Also, to raid your freezer for ice for your head and ankle and to follow standard Daniel Concussion Procedure Number 3.”

 

“Did something happen at the base?” Daniel asked, his voice muffled as his t-shirt was pulled over his head.

 

Jack took the opportunity to enjoy the sight of the spiky, mussed up hair and surreptitiously look for bruising on a newly bared back before answering.  “One of the mountain roads is washed out and a couple of others don’t look so great.  The General’s asking people to stay off the roads and at the base until clean up crews get out there.”

 

“Cassie?”

 

“Sam’s picking her up now,” Jack assured him. 

 

“So, everyone’s safe?”

 

“Everyone is safe.”

 

“No emergencies?”

 

“None outside of yours.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Good,” Jack agreed.  He paused, waiting for another round of questioning.  With none forthcoming, he smiled devilishly and said, “Now, let’s get you out of those pants...”   

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was nearly two hours later and Daniel was laid out comfortably on the couch.  His ankle was propped up on several small pillows with a fresh ice pack on it and he was propped up on a large Colonel serving as a backrest.  He had changed into a set of well-worn sweats and had his favorite comforter wrapped around him.  He was certain Jack had to be warm by now, but there were no complaints forthcoming and he was not about to go looking for them.

 

The television was on some ridiculous program that he could not even pretend to remember the name of, but it did little to drown out the sounds of the storm still waging outside.  The remnants of their take-out meal still sat scattered on the coffee table, and he had a feeling they would stay that way until he moved to do something about it himself.

 

He thought back to what ended up being a rather eventful day.  The hike back from the village through a path literally carved from the cliff-face, the engraved images dancing through his memory as he tried to categorize their significance.  The debriefing after the pulse-throbbing ride through the wormhole.  The long ride through the blinding rain to the warmth of his home.

 

He snorted as a stray thought crossed his mind.  He tried to hold it back, but it turned into a full chuckle.

 

The hand that had been gently playing with his hair stilled as his lover asked, “Care to share with the rest of the class?”

 

“Just thinking,” Daniel replied, his voice still carrying to lighter tones of laughter.

 

Now it was Jack’s turn to chuckle as he commented, “I kind of figured that.”  His hand resumed its gentle stroking as he added, “The show’s not that funny and I don’t think you’ve been watching anything since it changed to Law & Order, Version 5.0.”

 

Daniel snuggled closer, careful not to jab an elbow into any place sensitive, letting his eyes drift shut as he explained, “I was thinking about today; the Voran carvings, the trip across the galaxy, the near biblical flooding going on outside, you know, that kind of thing.”

 

“About how you did a hundred and one dangerous things today and ended up getting a concussion in your own bathroom?” Jack guessed.  He used his free hand to lower the volume on the television before tucking it back under the blanket.

 

“Something like that,” Daniel agreed, ducking his head even though he knew his blush was visibly rising across the back of his neck.

 

“You know what they say, ‘most accidents happen in the home’,” Jack shrugged.

 

“Yeah, but most people don’t travel across the galaxy for a living,” Daniel pointed out.

 

“Also true,” Jack agreed.  He paused before suggesting, “Shit happens?”

 

Daniel seemed to mull that over for a bit before nodding and saying, “How... eloquent.”

 

“Me or the shit?”

 

“Both?” he offered, feeling the rumbling in the chest behind him.

 

“I’ll take that,” Jack laughed.

 

“I thought you might.”

 

“I’ll take you too,” he growled low in his lover’s ear, squeezing him gently closer.

 

“Not tonight, dear, I have a headache,” Daniel teased.

 

“I should have seen that coming,” the older man sighed, not releasing his grip.

 

“You really should have,” Daniel agreed.

 

“Rain check?” Jack offered.  His words were punctuated by a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder close enough to make the windows rattle in their panes.

 

Surrounded by a comfort and warmth that was from more than a pair of old sweats and blanket, Daniel smiled.  “Always.”

 

 

End.

~~~~~~~~~~

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