--October 20, 2003
====
“No, Jack, absolutely not.”
“But it'll be fun, Danny.”
“No.”
“But ...”
“Jack, what part of 'no' don't you understand?”
“Daniel, it's for a good cause.”
“Oh? And what would be the cause? Giving Jack O'Neill the laugh of a lifetime?”
Jack laughed and shrugged lightly before answering, trying to act nonchalant.
“Okay, so part of me thinks you'd be adorable, but the big factor is definitely the cause. Do it for me, Love.”
Daniel groaned, but didn't back down.
“And what is this ... cause? I know you, Jack. You just want me dressed in some ridiculous outfit to go trick or treating. You'll probably have Sam or Teal'c hidden somewhere to take a photo that you'll want to frame in your office. Go ahead, O'Neill -- deny it!”
“Actually, that's a good idea. Thanks, Danny.”
“JACK!”
Jack cozied up to his lover, scooping him into his arms. Daniel liked being held, but he was skeptical of his partner's motivation at the moment.
“I am NOT going trick or treating with you, Jack, no matter how ...” Daniel's words were interrupted when his lover began to nibble on his right earlobe, an act that usually turned the archaeologist into a quivering mound of Jell-O, especially when Jack threw in some tongue action. “Um ... no mat...ter how ... good ... you ... are at ...”
In self-defense, Daniel pulled away from his nibbling Silver Fox. Jack had continued to lick and nibble on the younger man's ears, and both knew Daniel was on the verge of losing all sense of reality, not to mention the small argument currently occurring.
“Danny, Angel, hear me out.”
“You want me to dress up like a ... a ...”
“You'll be so adorable.”
“I don't want to be adorable.”
“And cute, too.”
“I don't want to be cute.”
“But you are cute and adorable, even in your BDUs.”
“Jack,” Daniel sighed.
“... And sexy; very, very, very sexy,” Jack said seductively as he once again took Daniel into his arms and began to nibble at Daniel's most sensitive areas along his neck.
“Jack, I can't concentrate when you ... oh, Jack ... stop, I ... can't ... think ...”
“I know, Love. That's the idea.”
Jack felt Daniel's willpower draining from his body. Victory was at hand!
“Okay, I'll ... listen, but that was ... was so not fair, Jack, that's all I'm ... ah, saying.”
Jack smiled, pleased with his effect on his lover. Knowing he could turn the genius linguist of forty-plus languages into a quivering mass of unthinking flesh struggling to speak warmed his soul.
“Here's the deal. The kids at the shelter never get to go out trick or treating. They have this party in the rec hall every year, but Danny, kids should get to go outside on Halloween, experience the sounds of the night, see the ghosts and goblins walking the streets.”
Daniel stood silently, listening to his lover's words. He wondered what it was like to go trick or treating. He'd never done it. When he was young, he was in Egypt with his parents on digs.
~Hard to trick or treat among the pyramids. Knock, knock. Is your mummy home to pass out some candy?~
After the Jacksons died, Daniel's Halloweens were spent staying home babysitting or, in households without other children, with foster parents who just didn't care. Thus, his All Hallow's Eve experience was limited to whatever celebrations were done in school.
Although Daniel couldn't help but smile at some of the things he and Jack had done over the years. Jack had always made sure no holiday went uncelebrated. It had begun Daniel's first year back from Abydos with a pumpkin festival and learning how to carve pumpkins.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Daniel-lanterns,” he answered.
“Oh, yeah,” Jack said, moving in for a kiss. “That was fun, and this is the same the thing, Danny. Kids,” Jack continued with Daniel glued to every word he spoke, “should be able to ring the doorbells and wonder who will answer the door, friend or foe. Will they land the big one -- some generous old lady who gives them ten times more candy than anyone else, or old Stingy Toes who may give them a piece of gum if they're lucky?”
Daniel smiled at Jack's descriptions.
~My Jack, the man with no words who can outtalk me any day of the week when he wants to.~
“You can't experience the real Halloween in a stale rec hall, no matter how many pumpkins and scarecrows they try to decorate it with. So, I figured, we'd make a party of it: you, me, Carter, Teal'c, maybe even Lou, and whoever else we can scrounge up, and take the kids out into the real world.”
Jack grinned as he went in for the kill. Using every bit of the Irish charm that made his soulmate soften like ... sponge cake, he asked, “What do you say, Angel? It's for the kids.”
Daniel shrugged, pulling out of Jack's hold again. In their history together, Jack had spent every Halloween night with the kids at the shelter, dressing up in various costumes, from Batman to Homer Simpson. He was even a Jaffa once, but everyone just thought he was some alien. He had actually won “Best Adult Costume” at the shelter that year.
Last year, Jack had been recovering from an injury, but the year before, he had gone as Little Red Riding Hood. Daniel wished he had seen that outfit, but having used his best Special Ops covert skills, Jack had managed to slip in and out of the house without being detected. He had lost a bet with Lou Ferretti, and Lou had made him wear the outfit to the shelter. Jack had vowed revenge.
While Jack had been spending the night with the kids, Daniel had been handing out the candied treats to those who had knocked on their door. He was content doing that, observing the various costumes the children wore, and seeing their smiles when he gave them their treats, always sure to give more than most treat-givers.
The cultural expert was fascinated by the adults, too, some of whom watched from a safe distance, and yet others, who acted like little kids themselves. The latter was the category he put his soulmate into -- a child in adult's clothing.
“Come on, Danny. It's going to be a blast. I know you don't want to deny the kids the pleasure of a real night of genuine trick or treating. Remember how much fun it was to go trick or treating as a kid?”
Daniel squirmed, turning around and walking to the other side of the room, automatically crossing his arms in front of his chest. He responded with his back to Jack.
“It just seems ... silly to me. Why do we have to dress up at all? I mean, we're the adults. We don't need to look like ... whatever. We can just supervise. I mean, what's the point?”
Daniel turned back to look at Jack.
“The point?” Jack asked incredulously, pausing before continuing, “The point, Love, is to allow these kids who have no one and only a semblance of the life that a regular family has to taste a part of normalcy that some of them have never been able to. The point is to help these children forget, if only for a few hours, the miserable reality of their situations.”
Jack didn't need to say his silent addendum. He knew that Daniel understood what that was like; and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He may have taught Daniel how to carve a pumpkin; he may have gotten him to through haunted houses; and he may have convinced his lover to decorate the house with him, but somehow, they'd never actually broached the trick or treating subject.
~Oh, Angel. I'm an idiot. You don't know, do you? Not really.~
No matter how long he'd known Daniel and the history of his Love's upbringing, it still amazed Jack how rarely Daniel had actually been able to be a small boy and enjoy childhood. It was something Jack had a difficult time imagining since his family celebrated everything with flair and style.
“You never went trick or treating, did you, Danny?” Daniel studied the carpet, a sure sign Jack was right. Jack sighed, bringing his right hand to run through his silver-gray hair before talking softly again. “No such thing as Halloween in Egypt, is there? And then ... what?”
“The families I was with, mostly, needed every penny. Costumes were frivolous luxuries, not meant for someone who wasn't really a part of them. I wasn't with them to be loved, Jack. Even if they had kids, I was ... they didn't want me to ... I mean, I ...”
Jack had one of his 'I'm going to kill someone' moments as he quickly moved to Daniel and held him, kissing his nape, and rubbing his back gently. It was beyond Jack's imagination to conceive that any parent would see the beautiful small boy that Daniel had been and not love him to pieces.
“Crap, Danny, I keep forgetting. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you; what you must have felt all those years. I just ... get so angry. You were a little boy, raising himself, being an adult at eight-years-old. It wasn't right.”
“Geez, Jack,” Daniel whispered into Jack's ear, “how can I be a good parent if I don't even get the holidays? I've spent so much time in those ... books, with my nose in some ... trench somewhere, playing with ... with rocks.”
“Doing what you love, Danny. I won't let you put yourself down for the choices you made to survive. You're my genius, and I'm so proud of all you've learned and accomplished with those ... artifacts. All you need is to remember that it's okay to be a kid, too, just now and then, like when we were boys. Never forget that week, Angel; not ever.”
The two were remembering a week when, thanks to an alien device that taught various lessons, including the value of play, they had been changed into young boys, believing they were brothers. The entire week Jack had worked hard to teach his little brother how to enjoy the art of play. In the end, it had been one of the best weeks of their lives.
“I don't want to forget that week; it was wonderful, and I learned so much. I'm just afraid that not really having experienced the holidays as a child, I'll ... I'll flunk as a parent, that's all.”
Jack pulled back to look his soulmate in the eye, but before continuing he kissed Daniel on the nose, and smiled, “You're going to be the best dad, Love, and we have plenty of time to catch you up on all the appropriate special days before we actually adopt, beginning with a night of trick or treating this year ... with the kids at the shelter.”
“Okay, but, Jack, I refuse to go as the Pillsbury Dough Boy. I want something more ... more ... dignified and adventuresome.”
Jack laughed. He had been looking forward to having an excuse to play with his soulmate's abdomen, pressing it in and out, just like on the Pillsbury TV commercials. Still, at least he had gotten Daniel to go along, and in the process, maybe healed a tiny piece of his Love's lost childhood that Jack hadn't even realized had been damaged.
“Then, what would you like to go as?”
“I don't know, but I'll let you know ... on Halloween.”
====
--October 31, 2003
====
Jack chuckled as he leaned in for a kiss. It was his first look at his lover in his Halloween costume. After agreeing to dress up, Daniel had been secretly working on his costume, refusing to give the older man any hints about what he would be dressing up as.
“Danny, it's perfect.”
Daniel kissed his spouse-to-be tenderly and crooned, “I love your outfit, too. My hero.”
“For tonight, I guess,” Jack said, backing off and heading for the table to pick up a few things. He remembered how Charlie thought Jack was his hero, and in some crazy way, Jack had wanted to be that for Daniel, but he knew that was silly. ~Ridiculous, even.~
“Jack,” Daniel spoke softly, grabbing his lover's arm and turning him back to face him, his arms going up around Jack's neck, “you *are* my hero, you know.”
“Your hero?”
“Mmm-hmm. I love you, my Superman,” Daniel said before kissing Jack again. “You love me, protect me, drive me crazy; you're everything to me, Jack.”
“I love you, my little Ninja. I always knew you led a double life.”
“Oh, yeah, don't you know when you leave town for those secret trips, or go off on some rescue mission, I let the Ninja take over, keeping the citizens of Colorado Springs safe from harm?”
“Oh, I see. So, when I'm at those stuffy meetings or saving the planet on my own, you're out having fun.”
“Mmm-hmm, this mild-mannered geek stuff is all a ruse. This is my true persona. I say goodnight to you, and then put on my mask and protect the innocent. It's how I unwind, fighting crime!”
“My hero.”
“No, just a ... just a Halloween costume,” Daniel said, suddenly very serious as he tried to move away from Jack, but the older man didn't let go, pulling Daniel in even closer than he was before.
“Danny, I don't know about the good citizens of the Springs, but you are so my hero. You saved my life and my soul on Abydos. You make me stronger every day, and you make me happier than I ever could have imagined. Love, you always expect me to be better than I am, so I always try to be my best, because I don't want to let you down, but even if I goof up, you still love me. Ah, Danny, you are my hero, my salvation, and I adore you with all my heart.”
“I love you, Jack.”
“And I love you, forever and always, Danny.”
They kissed for a few minutes, and then just held each other, both reveling in the satisfaction of being each other's hero.
“We should go, Jack. We don't want to be late. The kids would be disappointed.”
Jack ran his hand gently along Daniel's left cheek and gazed into his Love's soulful blue eyes, seeing nothing but love there, causing him to smile.
“I love you, Ninja.”
“I love you, Superman.”
“Let's go. Can't wait to see what Carter is dressed as.”
“She said she was going as Major Matt Mason.”
“Only Carter! I'm not sure I want to see Teal'c, though.”
“Why?”
“He's going as Oprah Winfrey.”
“Eww ... but, uh, I'm just glad he finally understands Halloween. It took us years to get him to comprehend the concept of celebrating a Pagan holiday. What's Lou going as?”
Jack laughed. He had won their last bet. Proudly, he answered, “Cinderella.”
With sounds of laughter at Jack's revenge, Jack and Daniel locked their front door and headed out for a fun night of trick or treating. It would be the first of many such nights for the parents-to-be.
“Daniel's secretly a Ninja. Oh, you laugh! Why do you laugh? I'm in the writing department. No, it was very funny because … oh, I thought it was a great thing because we kind of did an episode coming up called “Space Race” where we show the other side of Sam Carter ... So, here's Daniel and I thought, 'No. No, I can't come out tonight. Things to do. Good night, Jack.' So, to unwind Daniel Jackson goes around the streets of Colorado and fights crime as a Ninja.”
Keep in mind, that as he spoke, Michael had risen from his chair, waved goodbye to the invisible Jack, and then put on an invisible mask and pantomimed being a Ninja. The audience loved it!
