@sleeplesswanderlust continued from [x]
Words might often fail him, but actions don’t.
He’d seen her there shaking and he’d needed to stop it. He’d wanted to say something, anything that might help but his tongue had turned traitor and left him high and dry. Instead, he’d done what had felt natural, folding her into his arms and against his body before she could say a word. He didn’t mean anything by the action, wasn’t looking for an excuse to feel her up like some might think. He just wanted to show her that he cared, that he wasn’t prepared for her to stand their, embarrassed and alone.
Now he wants to drag Riley’s ass out into the yard and kick his ass. He’s got a lot of respect for the lieutenant, but it’s his capacity for deconstructing people right in front of his eyes that makes Jack’s anger flare. He knows Danny doesn’t need protect, doesn’t need some white knight to wade in and defend the honour that she’s more than capable of defending herself. But damn, he wants to throw some punches at the man who hurt her this way, if only to make himself feel better right now.
She’s a firecracker, fiesty and unpredictable and that’s what he likes about her. Danny is her own woman, plays by her own rules and that is something Jack relates to, something he fuckin’ understands. She can be aggressive sure, but hell, so can the LT.
So can Jack if you catch him in the right mood. They’re soldiers, aggression is just another part of their day to day. To think otherwise is just fuckin’ jaded.
“I only see what you’re prepared to show me, doll.” He smiles, relieved as she finally relaxes into him. He can’t get her words out of his head though, her first statement rolling through his mind in waves. He doesn’t pull back, doesn’t want to startle her and force eye contact in a way that might scare her off, so instead he presses the gentlest of kisses into the crown of hair on top of her head, his arms squeezing her gently as he does so.
“You know what I do see? You working your ass off trying to prove somethin’ this whole damn task force knows, just because one LT has drawn his own special set of crosshairs on your back.” He laughs, the sound a little dark. “If I were Riley, I’d worry about what was going on in his own back yard before trying to tear down others.” Another pause as he worried his lip, half wondering if he should talking here and now. “Hell, Danny... you’re really somethin’, y’know? Don’t go letting anyone make you feel as though your nothin’.”
