Daniel woke with a quiet mind and a familiar
weight on his shoulder. When he stirred, Sam stirred too, straightening
up with a jerk, sleepily rubbing her eyes to grin at him.
"Daniel," Sam sighed, relieved. "Welcome back. You scared the shit out
of me," she accused him, still grinning.
"I could tell, the way you were using me for a pillow," Daniel retorted.
Sam's grin widened.
Janet swept in with a look on her face that said 'tests' and it was
only then Daniel realised this wasn't right. He was alone in his head,
in silence.
"Jack?" Daniel demanded anxiously, sitting up quickly to peer around.
"Here. What the hell is going on?" Jack snarled, surging up.
"You are not strong enough to sit, O'Neill," Teal'c said coldly,
efficiently shoving Jack flat. "It is good to see you well again,
DanielJackson," he said more gently, nodding gravely to Daniel. "We
have kept watch over you for three days now."
"Three days?" Jack and Daniel said as one.
Daniel glanced at Jack for about a nanosecond, felt his face flame and
slumped pathetically, realising an ugly truth. Horrifying as it was to
be having frighteningly erotic dreams about Jack with Sam hovering
solicitously at his side for three days, he couldn't begin to imagine
the humiliation if Jack found out.
Jack could never find out.
"Your brain activity has been off the scale," Janet announced as she
checked various arcane readings on her instrumentation, made notes on
her clipboard, then went over to Jack's bedside. "It returned to
established norms twelve hours ago. Apart from that, you're both in
perfect health."
"And being unconscious for three days is what?" Jack asked witheringly.
"A bonus," Janet riposted tartly.
"Best guess? It was some kind of communication device you inadvertently
triggered on the planet." Sam shrugged helplessly, hitching her chair
back so she could look at both of her friends. "It wasn't designed for
our physiology."
"I disagree," Teal'c corrected her gravely. "The device stimulated the
parietal lobes - the sensory centre of the human brain - in both
DanielJackson and Colonel O'Neill."
Janet shot him a look of surprised admiration. Teal'c bowed slightly,
looking gratified.
"We have seen that the effects were temporary," Teal'c went on.
"O'Neill's unusual brain activity…"
"Thank you," Jack interjected with heavy sarcasm.
"Mirrored that of DanielJackson's."
"You're suggesting the device boosted reception, for want of a better
description," Sam pulled a face, "in the parietal lobes of their brains
to facilitate some kind of ESP or telepathic communication?"
"God, I hope not," Jack muttered.
"Indeed."
"Telepathy?" Daniel bleated, blushing again, so off-balance he felt as
if he were falling.
"What the aliens could not share with other species in their language,
they could share in images or feelings," Teal'c persisted.
"I don't think that's possible, Teal'c," Sam frowned.
"Me either!" Jack agreed so emphatically Daniel shot a surprised look
at him. "I've got nothing on my mind anyone wants to hear," Jack
stated, scowling unequivocally. "Nothing."
"It's easy to test the theory," Sam added brightly, ignoring this.
"What did you dream while you were unconscious? Daniel? Sir?"
"Nothing," Daniel denied hastily, miserably self-conscious. Knowing he
was a pathetically bad liar, he refused to look at anyone.
"What he said," Jack snapped. "Nada. Zip. Zilch."
"How's our boy?" George hailed them from the door as he walked in,
beaming at Daniel.
Jack figured the shock would kill him if Hammond breezed into the
Infirmary asking after his safety and welfare. Could the man dote less
obviously? It was right there in the damn regulations. Senior officers
will not dote on civilian consultants no matter how sweet and how –
goddammit! - how gorgeous they are. There was probably an entire book
on how a senior officer couldn't lie on his ass for three days having
wet dreams about going down on said civilian consultant.
"Perfect health?" he prompted Fraiser, who was reading something on one
of her infernal machines.
"Every test confirms it," Janet frowned from her instruments to her
patients. "I'll take another PET scan of each of you. If your brain
activity continues at its current level, I see no reason why I can't
discharge you. I'd advise rest today. Report back here at 0700 for
another PET scan." She looked up at Hammond. "Sir? I'd recommend light
duties for at least forty-eight hours. I want to monitor Dr. Jackson
and Colonel O'Neill with PET scans every twelve hours."
"Agreed. It's wise to be cautious," Hammond nodded. "Major? I believe
SG-5 are in need of your assistance."
Sam pulled a face at Daniel and stifled a sigh. "Yes, Sir. On my way."
She didn't move, though. "Do you think we'll ever know what the alien
technology was for?"
Jack huffed impatiently. "You think we'll ever care?" he countered
sarcastically.
Recognising the futility of argument, Sam gave up, walking slowly over
to the door, where she smiled back at Daniel. "Call me if you need
anything," she crisply ordered.
"Promise," Daniel called after her, feeling guilty that he was lying to
her and to all of them, and fully intended to go on doing so. He was
not willing to expose himself and he would under no circumstances
expose Jack to damaging sexual innuendo. He had his limits and well he
knew it.
"Colonel? Doctor? I look forward to hearing your report about your -
experience - at 0800 tomorrow," Hammond ordered them cheerfully.
Daniel acknowledged this with a palpable lack of enthusiasm, Jack
assenting with an ill-tempered grunt. It seemed neither of them had
anything they were willing to say about their experience.
"Doctor Fraiser? A word?" Hammond graciously allowed Janet to precede
him, then followed her out.
"My presence is required by SG-3," Teal'c informed them as he joined
the stampede out the door.
"That's it?" Jack incredulously. "Three days in a sinister
alien-induced coma and that's all the fanfare we get?"
Daniel had had all the fanfare he could stand. He couldn't even look
Jack in the mouth.
Eye.
God.
"Something like this happens just about every week, Jack," he said
pacifically. Jack's scorching glare made him wonder why he'd bothered.
He hovered anxiously by his bed while Jack sprawled and feigned sleep.
When the nurse appeared with their street clothes, Jack moved so
quickly he made her jump.
After laying his clothes neatly on the bed, the strained silence was
too much for him. Daniel took a deep breath and darted a glance behind
him just in time to catch Jack turning pointedly around. Any desire to
talk, apologise, he didn't know quite what he wanted, or even had, to
offer, died. He was reeling emotionally and he kept his mouth shut.
They dressed in uneasy silence, backs turned.
"Will I see you later?" Daniel asked quietly.
"I doubt it," Jack tossed off his reply carelessly, not even looking
around. "You don't have a TV."
They walked out of the Infirmary, not exactly together, but not exactly
apart. It was awkward. Daniel didn't know which was worse, fantasising
about his closest friend and de facto commanding officer going down on
him, or the fact he was so patently desperate to get some, he thought
with mordant humour, he'd managed to fantasise lasting nanoseconds
before he came.
There was nothing funny about this. Daniel was conscious only of the
need to get home and to try to process this bizarre, bolt from the blue
homoerotic fantasy. His desire for solitude was desperate. He'd learned
too much about himself in the dream and he remembered it too clearly.
The memories came so thick and so fast, he was drowning in them, so
real he wasn't sure he would ever be the same again.
He found himself watching Jack as they headed towards the elevator,
wondering why, if he had to have homoerotic fantasies at this stage in
his life, they absolutely had to feature Colonel O'Neill. Of all the
admirable qualities he admired Jack for, he could honestly say being
good in bed had never featured anywhere on the list. Ever.
Very good. It was about two and half years since he'd even been kissed,
so maybe his standards weren't particularly high to start with, but in
his experience, Jack was the best - if briefest - time he'd ever had in
bed. It really didn't say much about his love life when one of his two
lovers was imaginary.
A guy, absolutely.
His boss, technically.
His friend, his closest friend, allegedly.
He was so fucked.
Not even a stiff shot of bourbon had helped
Jack to come up with any kind of spin on his coma extravaganza. There
was no possible way to pass off giving his linguist head as anything
but what it was. A pathetic, middle-aged porno fantasy.
The worst thing was, after all the ways he'd imagined making love with
Daniel, the best he could come up with for the Technicolor-wide
screen-Dolby stereo version was the aftermath of his fifteenth birthday
when the president of the goddamn Chess Club mated him then blew him
and he lasted all of about ten seconds. He'd had a year of chess
tuition and still couldn't play chess. Go figure.
Jack was determinedly sticking with the amnesia line, and if he got
cornered, he was going for 'the aliens made me do it'.
He was so depressed he didn't even have the energy to drink himself
into oblivion. Maybe a shower would help, hot water, suds, jerking off
over another warm, wet and willing Daniel fantasy.
He heard a car pulling into his drive, looked at the clock - it was
almost midnight - and hated himself for having to make himself sit and
wait for Daniel - it had to be Daniel, no one else would turn up at
midnight - to actually knock at his door. It was his own damn fault. He
was the one who fell in love with the man.
Jack loped up the steps keeping time with the soft taps at his door. He
pulled it open to find Daniel nervous in tight jeans and a really
cool-looking navy sweater that clung every place he shouldn't look, the
soft collar falling open to bare the hollow of his throat.
Daniel sidled edgily into the house, Jack closed the door behind him
and they stood looking at one another. Jack couldn't think of a thing
to say. He was ridiculously happy to have Daniel with him and was
feeling about as cool as a schoolgirl with a crush.
"I wanted to talk to you about the dream I had," Daniel said quietly,
watching him gravely. "The one where I heard your thoughts."
Jack shrugged and waited, refusing to show anything. So he'd had a
similar dream. So what? Wasn't a man entitled to the privacy of the
inside of his own head.
"I was thinking about what you said."
Jack didn't think he'd said anything, so why was Daniel looking at him
like that? Like he had his heart in his mouth?
"I do have a TV, Jack," Daniel announced bravely, his head coming up.
"It's right there in my bedroom."
"A portable," Jack retorted, sneering. "A portable isn't a real…"
Daniel nodded jerkily, almost smiling, and then the penny dropped.
The only good thing was that Daniel went as red as he did, about as
fast as he did, and paled just as suddenly.
"You couldn't tell me you were in love with me?" Daniel asked
breathily, with difficulty, not needing any more confirmation.
Nor did Jack. He didn't know how, or why, or who, but it seemed Teal'c
was right. He and Daniel, they'd had the same dream. They'd shared the
dream.
The dream.
"Jesus Christ," Jack whispered, all the care he'd taken for himself,
for them both, crumbling down around him.
"You couldn't tell me?" Daniel said again.
It was so close to what he'd said in the dream, so close. They both
remembered. They knew it all.
At Daniel's dignified refusal to back down, Jack shuddered
convulsively, his mouth gaping open, looking at Daniel without really
seeing, moving because he couldn't find the words, had only this one
answer to give. He cupped Daniel's jaw in a fierce clasp and pulled him
close, met him more than halfway and kissed him, swallowing whatever
Daniel had been about to say and driving into him in a fury of passion.
Daniel rocked back, stumbling as Jack's tongue plunged into his mouth,
hands coming up instinctively to curl around his wrists as he pinned
Daniel against the wall.
Jack heard and tasted Daniel's soft gasp as his blood slammed down and
he was hard against him, hips pushing into him as his tongue stroked
and squeezed Daniel's. He was angry and scared, aggressive with long
denial, roughly parting Daniel's legs to rub his thigh against his
crotch, insufferably smug when long fingers clenched suddenly over his
wrists in reaction as Daniel swelled against him.
He was too angry to be still, mouth moving over Daniel's, restless,
demanding, constantly angling to deepen the kiss, determined to provoke
a response. He knew the passion Daniel was capable of and he wanted it,
he wanted everything.
The sudden warmth of Daniel's hand cupping the nape of his neck gentled
him like nothing else could, his own arms sliding down to lock around
the small of Daniel's back. A quick, snatched breath and he caught
Daniel as he was carefully moving his head from the wall, sank into
him, sensuous now, subtle and lingering as the warm, mobile lips moved
against his at last, Daniel's tongue sliding silkily beneath him.
They kissed slowly, endlessly, eating one another's mouths, Daniel's
hand coming to rest at Jack's waist, one foot hooked around his as he
rubbed himself against Jack's thigh, his breath catching.
When Jack had no choice but to break off and gulp down some air, he got
the distinct impression he was the only thing holding Daniel up. He
almost came in his jeans when Daniel dreamily licked his lips, tasting
Jack on him.
"Prick."
The quiet condemnation came off as a compliment. Jack summoned up a
smile Daniel couldn't see with his eyes screwed shut.
As scared as Jack was, Daniel didn't want to face reality. A few more
minutes quality time with Jack's leg and…"Hey!" He opened his eyes,
scowling as two large, warm hands cupped his ass possessively and
squeezed.
"This is the part where I try to get you to go to bed with me," Jack
pointed out helpfully.
"Does it look like I'm saying no?" Daniel asked sarcastically. He was
wrapped round Jack, still wheezing from the most thorough kissing he'd
ever had in his life and shamelessly humping his best friend's leg.
"Thank Christ!" Jack groaned. He swung Daniel round suddenly, his arms
tightening as he backed him down the hallway one step at a time. And
with lots of incidental rubbing.
"You're in love with me?" Daniel insisted stubbornly, focusing on the
only thing he felt capable of dealing with.
Jack's response was to nibble his ear, which felt good, and lick a warm
trail down his throat, which felt better, then start kissing, which
felt absolutely…"Oh, God," Daniel sighed, arching his neck
encouragingly.
"Yes," Jack murmured into the hollow of Daniel's throat as he backed
him into the bedroom. He surged up to kiss Daniel again, biting at his
lips. "Yes." Daniel's knees hit the edge of the bed. "I'm in love with
you." He plucked off Daniel's glasses. "What about you? Why did you
come here tonight?" He squeezed Daniel's ass as he rocked into him, let
him feel exactly how turned on he was. It took Jack a moment to hook
Daniel's ankle, get him off balance and sprawling, his weight taking
him down to the bed. "Good sex? Is that what you want?"
Daniel arched helplessly as Jack rolled easily between his thighs and
rocked into him, grinding their hips together. "Mmmm," Daniel sighed
dazedly, teeth clenched tight against the ache of heavy pleasure
panging low in his belly and the insistent throb of his dick. "But I
came here because I meant what I said. I love you."
Jack reared up to stare at him, his mouth working soundlessly.
"I won't let you leave me again, Jack."
"Wasn't planning to," Jack retorted, smiling cockily in what he
suspected was a vain attempt to disguise his sickening rush of relief.
"If we said everything we needed to in the dream, does that mean we
don't have to talk now?" he asked hopefully.
"No."
Crap.
"Not if you want us to go on," Daniel said carefully, not quite asking.
"If you want us to be together."
"I'm in love with you," Jack said at once. "Of course I goddamned do!"
Daniel's sudden smile was all the answer he needed.
"Do you want to make love?" Daniel asked shyly, slipping his hand into
Jack's.
"Do you?" Jack winced at his own banality. He was much better at this
stuff when Daniel was reading his mind. "You know how much I want you,"
he added meaningfully. Daniel blushed delightfully. "I'm aware of how
royally I've fucked up things between us. I mean, I'll understand if
you don't want to." Why was it so goddamned hard to spit this stuff
out? "We don't have to rush the physical side of things," he offered
with real heroism, dragging his eyes away from Daniel, sprawling on his
bed. "I know you're inexperienced."
"It doesn't help my confidence for you to keep reminding me," Daniel
snapped, his flush deepening.
Jack decided Daniel was pretty okay about having sex with him when he
sat up, kicked his sneakers half way across the bedroom, then started
unbuttoning his jeans. Jack's dick had been painfully with the
programme since Daniel got here, so it was something of a relief to
roll off his bed and undress, which they both did with as much finesse
and sex appeal as the average pre-mission gearing-up.
"Embarrassed?" Jack asked sympathetically. Daniel's shoulders jerked -
his back was resolutely turned to Jack as he undressed, which was also
pretty usual. "Me too," Jack sighed.
"Really?" Daniel asked, turning to face Jack, looking a tad more
relaxed. "I thought it…I…oh. Um." Daniel's gaze was riveted at hip
height. His mouth dropped open. Jack was less embarrassed than Daniel
in the sense he'd taken off more clothes.
Jack noticed him - noticing - and noticed right back.
"You're really very attracted to me, aren't you?" Daniel asked weakly.
"Very."
Jack stood with his hands on his hips, dropped his chin to rest on his
chest, joining Daniel in gazing at his dick in silent contemplation.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" he asked as Daniel slid into bed,
still in his sweater and underwear.
"I've never really looked at another guy naked," Daniel muttered
vaguely, making up for it as Jack slid gracefully into bed. He rolled
onto his side and nudged the duvet down so he could keep looking. Jack
was long. Lean. Rangy. Plenty of muscle in what he had to agree were
the right places, his eye drawn naturally down the strong, clean lines
to Jack's hips.
Jack was philosophically awaiting the inevitable. Daniel wasn't so much
the nervous virgin - more or less a technicality after their in-dream
action - as the insatiably curious explorer. One swift glance was
enough to tell him Daniel was absolutely fascinated.
One gentle finger traced the outline of his bicep. A whole hand slid
over his ribs, fingers splayed, resting, just feeling him breathe.
Shyness momentarily forgotten, Daniel hitched closer.
Jack rolled to meet him, slid an arm round his shoulders and hugged him
in close. He was completely disarmed when Daniel tentatively rested his
head on his shoulder, as if he weren't sure of his welcome. Jack got a
nose full of silky hair, and Daniel got to explore the contours of his
hip.
Daniel took this to heart and started rubbing Jack's stomach, smoothing
his fingers over the still respectable ridges of muscle. "Daaan-iel,"
Jack drawled a warning, peeling Daniel's hand away. He was treated to
one of Daniel's sullen pouts and then they were kissing, Daniel
endearingly enthusiastic about it all, eagerly slipping his arms around
Jack's shoulders as they got comfortable.
Jack was doomed. He knew this. He was rolling around in a big,
comfortable bed with the gorgeous guy he was in love with plastered to
him, wholeheartedly getting it on with him. There was no possible way
they could avoid having sex at this point, especially with those tiny
moans that kept getting away from Daniel as he nuzzled his throat. Jack
let his fingers do the walking, stroking Daniel's thigh.
Daniel frowned at Jack's hand, then let it go when Jack licked his lips
for him, sucked his tongue into his mouth and started nibbling it.
Daniel in fact rubbed up against him like a cat begging to be petted
and Jack happily obliged, gliding over the long, taut muscle of his
thigh to his hip. Jack decided they were in no rush to dispose of
Daniel's sweater. It was warm and soft and kind of fun to sneak his
hands under it and onto warmer, softer skin.
"I love you," Daniel groaned when Jack let him breathe.
Jack answered this by slipping his hand between them to rub against
Daniel's crotch. Daniel moaned out again, pushing his hips restlessly
up into him. "Me too, Daniel, more than you know," Jack whispered
tenderly, nosing the collar of the shirt aside to kiss Daniel's
shoulder as he massaged his straining erection. When Jack snuck his
hand around to squeeze Daniel's ass, they got a lot closer, hip to hip
closer.
As much as he was capable of thinking anything with all this weight and
strength rubbing rhythmically over his body, Daniel did wonder what he
was doing, if he was rushing things a little. He had been conscious
even in the dream they needed to talk. That was his intention when he
came here, to talk, to tell Jack how he felt, how much he needed him.
He wondered even more when Jack decided his briefs were in the way and
instead of stopping the extraction and getting ready to talk sense, he
obligingly hitched up his butt and assisted in the disposal operation.
It all got a lot more interesting when Jack rolled on top of him, his
pounding erection slick and hot stroking over Daniel's own.
Whatever hazy protests his mind was stuttering over about doing the
mature, rational relationship thing, his body was emphatically in
favour of being touched, moving against Jack's roving hands and mouth.
He didn't make the decision this was a good time to hook his leg around
Jack's waist and see just how close they could get, his leg was simply
there.
He did choose to pull Jack up to him for another long, deep passionate
kiss, but the quivering in his thighs, the shake deep inside, that was
Jack, that was all Jack, Jack on him. Jack moving. Slowly into him and
over him, the sleek, sensuous sliding of skin on skin as they touched
and held and kissed.
When he was slick with sweat and fighting for breath, Daniel wrapped
both legs around Jack's back and clung, his fingers slipping on Jack's
broad shoulders, waves of dizzying, prickling pleasure rippling through
him.
It was odd how with all Jack was feeling, the look on Daniel's face,
his innocent, trusting pleasure, held him absolutely. Daniel was shaken
and still beneath him, giving himself over to Jack, totally out of his
depth and unafraid to show it. Jack would still and just hold him, they
would kiss, Daniel would calm enough to go on, his hand cupping Jack's
cheek as he rocked their bodies slowly together.
It wasn't quick and it wasn't easy, no heated rush, just that gentle,
wondering look on Daniel's face and the innate, giving sweetness of the
man as they made love.
As much as he wanted it to last, Jack pushed too far, too often and
Daniel convulsed beneath him, shoulders arching from the bed, his dick
jerking hard against Jack as he came in slow, satisfying pulses. The
soft splash of semen against his groin drove Jack over the edge into
blinding orgasm.
They lay close, Daniel trembling, both of them quiet, suddenly sobered
by the enormity of what they'd done, and with no fucking idea what they
were going to do.
Jack was certain of only thing. Now he had him, he wasn't about to let
Daniel go.
Jack made it to the contents page of Carter's
latest report on the assumption that anything written about magnetic
wind had to be funny. The 'executive summary' - known to all the
non-scientists as the Mickey Mouse bit - alone was enough to prove him
wrong. He made an executive decision to go hang out in Daniel's office
in order to facilitate the checking out of Daniel's six and to see how
often he could make him blush. He'd got the first blush of the day at
0530, when he kissed Daniel awake.
To say Daniel was confused to wake up naked – except for his sweater -
in Jack's bed with Jack - also naked - was an understatement. Jack
wasn't taking the little distressed bleat of 'ohmygodmyreportisdue!'
personally. He let Daniel make like the Road Runner, secure in the
knowledge he'd be back by his side at 0700 for the PET scan, and 0800
for the de-briefing. Daniel had avoided his eyes and blushed
throughout. Fraiser took Daniel's temperature three times, and Hammond
kept having to remind him what he was saying.
Jack found the whole thing cute as hell. A few hours had elapsed,
Daniel was no doubt hiding in some translation of something or other,
thinking he was safe from molestation, so it was time to go stalking,
take his linguist out to lunch and talk plans for tonight. Like where
he was taking Daniel out to dinner and whether it was more convenient
to take Daniel home or just make love at his place in town.
Weighing up the pros and cons of taking Daniel straight home to bed the
minute they clocked off whiled away the trip down from his office to
Daniel's lab. On the upside, they could spend the whole evening in bed
and he could accelerate Daniel right up the guy/guy learning curve.
After mature consideration, Jack decided there was no downside.
He stood at the doorway of the lab for a while in absolute silence,
just watching Daniel work, the sweet curve of his nape as he bent over
the books in fierce concentration, writing steadily. He'd never known
anyone who came close to having Daniel's attention span, his ability to
soak up information like a sponge. When he read, Daniel was worlds
away.
Jack eased the door closed, walked noiselessly across the office,
checked that the hallway on the other side of the lab was also clear,
leaned in and gently kissed Daniel's nape. Daniel jumped violently and
his pen went flying across the room.
"Miss me?" Jack asked happily, hitching his butt up on the desk while
Daniel hyperventilated. "Breathe, Daniel, breathe," he advised kindly,
beaming as the colour surged in Daniel's cheeks. "Soooo, he drawled
hypnotically. "Where d'you want to go for dinner tonight?"
"It's not enough we…" Daniel peered around cautiously. "Slept
together," he mouthed.
Jack obligingly leaned in closer to hear him and incidentally breathe
him in ecstatically.
Daniel leaned back. "Now you want to - to…" Words failed him. He really
hadn't thought that far ahead. Not that he hadn't been trying to think
about the mature relationship things. He had. Unfortunately, the making
love part kept ambushing him.
"Date you," Jack supplied helpfully. "So? Tonight? Italian? I like
Italian. Or we could just go home." He beamed at Daniel. "And sleep
together again."
A sharp pang of desire spiked low in Daniel's belly as a vivid memory
of their lovemaking struck him. Of all things, the hair on Jack's
thighs chafing between his. He glanced up uneasily to find Jack
watching him in a manner he could only describe as doting. He didn't
dare ask if this was characteristic of Jack in, um, love. "Jack!" he
hissed, slightly alarmed as Jack eyed him thoughtfully, then jumped up
and closed the other office door.
"We need some privacy."
"Jack!" Daniel complained breathlessly. "I need to work - the general
is expecting this report by 1700."
"Quit your whining," Jack ordered briskly, neatly catching Daniel
around the waist as he jumped up to back him gently but inexorably to
the door. He then planted his hands hard against it on either side of
Daniel's face.
Daniel swallowed. All things considered, doting was not that big a
deal. He could live with doting. The whole incredulous 'you're mine,
get over it, going to eat you alive, little boy' thing, that, that was
challenging.
"Um."
Jack leaned into him and Daniel's furious blush kept pace exactly with
the swell of Jack's erection against him. Staring into his eyes, Jack
simply stood close, breathing against his mouth, gently stroking his
hair in a gesture as intimate as a kiss, rolling the strands between
his fingers.
"We're good together, Daniel," Jack said gently. He remembered telling
Daniel this in the dream but it felt right to say it now. He knew there
was a lot more he needed to say, but Daniel was generous enough to give
him the time he needed. He was a lucky, undeserving bastard. He knew
that. "We've always been good together," he whispered, like a promise.
They were lost apart. They both knew that. He leaned in to kiss the
corner of Daniel's jaw, smiled as he heard Daniel's breath catch,
kissed a little lower on his throat, the smile widening as Daniel's
hands suddenly caught at his shoulders. "God, I love you."
Daniel appeared to be speechless so Jack kissed him again, suckling on
the sensitive skin as Daniel got hard, fast. He was enchanted to
discover that when Daniel got turned on he liked to get close, the 'in
Jack's clothes with him' kind of close, one long leg wrapping around
his. He remembered this from last night and could only be glad it was
habit forming.
It seemed only fair to positively reinforce this, so he kissed Daniel
chastely on the lips. When he leaned back after a moment or two, Daniel
followed, keeping his mouth against Jack's.
"This is insane," Daniel complained. "What am I supposed to tell the
general?"
Manfully shouldering the blame for apparently being irresistible to
Daniel, Jack made encouraging noises.
"We shouldn't be doing this on base."
Daniel kissed him somewhat nervously, as if he might bite, leaned back,
processed his own response, then tried it again. He kept looking at
Jack's face, which made Jack wonder uneasily how much of what he was
feeling showed.
The third time Daniel kissed him, Jack clamped his hands on Daniel's
ass and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He signified his
wholehearted approval when Daniel responded with a little tentative
nibbling on his tongue, then grabbed his ass.
Daniel sighed and just melted into him when he deepened the kiss, which
was the perfect time for the goddamned phone to ring. They weaved
drunkenly over to the phone, Jack obligingly fumbling behind him for
the handset, which he handed to Daniel, then he nuzzled at Daniel's
throat while he gasped 'hello'. Probably Carter.
"General!" Daniel whimpered. He was completely impressed when Jack
calmly took the phone from him and achieved conversational coherence,
despite the fact Daniel was fondling his ass.
"Yes, Sir! Checking him out right now," Jack rapped out
authoritatively, pausing to lick Daniel's ear while he listened to
Hammond's response. Then he hung up. And grinned.
The grin was evil.
"Apparently I have been remiss in my duties as team leader. Your
physical evaluation is overdue."
"No, it isn't," Daniel argued. "Janet ran me into the ground last week."
"Not the physical," Jack sneered. "Hand to hand!"
Or mouth to mouth. Whaa - what the hell was he doing? "What am I
doing?"
"Getting physical," Jack said dreamily. "Sweaty. Showering."
Showering? Daniel's treacherous hormones liked the idea of Jack
slippery, wet and pliant. A lot.
This appeared to be mutual.
His ass smacked into the mat for the tenth
time, Jack's weight pinning him, his wrists held either side of his
face. "You like this!" he accused indignantly as Jack pushed subtly
into him. He could feel how much Jack liked this.
"Relax," Jack gloated. "You passed."
"How?" Daniel asked blankly. He'd never…Jack must have gone easy on him
all the other times because this time he was ten for ten for being
knocked on his behind. Not that there was much actual knocking. Jack
refused to hit him. He was having a lot more fun wrestling Daniel to
the ground and keeping him sprawled there as long as possible between
bouts.
This wasn't nearly as annoying as the gloating.
Or his own undeniable physical response. He quite liked this too. If it
wasn't for the fact there wasn't a door on this particular
storeroom-cum-dojo, he would have been clamped to Jack like a limpet,
pushing the pleasurable possibilities of mutually consenting friction
to the full.
He looked up. Jack looked down. They both stilled and looked, kept on
looking, losing it, losing themselves.
Daniel had never really looked into Jack's eyes, not stared. He hadn't
appreciated what beautiful eyes Jack had. He'd never felt this fierce
pang of want go through him at the look in Jack's eyes, tender and
hungry at the same time.
"Italian sounds good," he blurted. Jack's face twisted hard on palpable
relief, then pure pleasure surged. Daniel's heart skipped a beat.
"It's a date," Jack gloated.
Apparently so.
"We can go back to your place and make love," Jack whispered happily,
looking almost shy. "First we shower."
Desire panged again, deep and heavy. Putty in Jack's experienced hands,
Daniel swallowed painfully, able only to nod assent.
Daniel wasn't surprised to feel a hot swipe at
the nape of his neck, or the arms sliding around him. He was surprised
all Jack wanted was to hold him, urging his head back to rest on his
shoulder, his heartbeat a steady drum against Daniel's back, stronger
than the drum of the water raining down over his skin. Steamy heat
surrounded them and warmth flowed between them. Daniel leaned into the
embrace, knowing it would please Jack. He was committed now, and Jack
knew it.
"Hey."
The gentle whisper tugged a smile out of Daniel. He reached up to rest
his hands on Jack's forearms, crossed over his chest. Jack kissed his
shoulder.
They stood like that, not saying much, Daniel at least needing to get
used to being so close, intimate, touching. He loved being with Jack,
far more than he'd suspected was possible, but his comfort level was
still at the climbing out of his own skin stage. Daniel sensed he was
under Jack's skin permanently, so maybe it evened out. There was so
much he didn't know, wasn't sure he wanted or maybe needed to know, or
even if he could get Jack to tell him.
Jack slid a hand down his skin to rub his belly, low, below his navel.
Daniel was achingly hard in seconds, catching his breath as desire
surged. He moaned as Jack increased the pressure, massaging into his
groin. The same electric pleasure shook through him, his thighs
trembling. Jack's broad fingers stroked down to close confidently over
his dick. Daniel cried out with the shock of it as his whole body
spasmed, as he came hard from that single touch, jerking and spurting
into Jack's waiting hand. He slumped, Jack holding him up, murmuring
wordless, slightly complacent reassurance.
"That has to be the hottest thing I've ever seen," Jack remarked
conversationally.
Daniel pulled away from him, rubbed his hands impatiently over his
face, then turned around. Jack looked him over slowly, blatantly and
comprehensively, his appreciative smile widening.
"Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?" Jack asked
matter-of-factly.
No, and he didn't think Jack should be, well, talking about him like
this. Of course Jack also had to look like he couldn't believe his luck
too, so Daniel couldn't register a dignified protest, even when Jack
registered his opinion of Daniel's eyes. His mouth, too, something
about his mouth made Jack go to his Happy Place.
Daniel smiled slowly. He'd always been an excellent student.
"Spaghetti Bolognese," the airman behind the
counter said laconically. "Just like it says on the board."
Jack watched Daniel struggle with it, torn between a desire to correct
the man and guilt over possibly hurting his feelings. He lent an
assist. "You fooled him completely by not having any spaghetti in it."
"It's penne," Daniel supplied helpfully.
"Burger and fries," Jack ordered crisply. Daniel ordered the pasta
bake, which looked good in a creamy, tomatoey way. Jack had fries. He
could dip. Ignoring Daniel's meaningful glance at the cartons of salad,
Jack shuddered and peered around him at the desserts. Daniel frowned.
Jack picked out strawberry cheesecake for them both, optimistic about
the odds of Daniel actually eating his. Daniel retaliated by getting
them both mineral water instead of coke.
They wove their way through the tables to sit as far from the bored
airman serving as possible.
"Yours is Italian," Jack observed mildly, gesturing at Daniel's plate
with his fork. "And we are eating dinner together."
"On base," Daniel said sullenly, wondering when he'd turned into a
slut. Much of the uncertainty he'd had about sex with Jack had vanished
instantly when he found out he couldn't have him. "Quarantine drills,"
he complained bitterly.
"It could have been worse," Jack said grimly. "We're lucky we were
early fatalities. Carter is in the Infirmary right now making like a
lab rat while Teal'c is acting all noble and theatrically suffering in
an oxygen tent surrounded by hormonally charged nurses. The damn base
is almost deserted and we still can't go home."
Daniel pushed his pasta round his plate unenthusiastically. What was
the point of bulking up on carbs when he wouldn't get the chance to
work them off?
Jack heaved a sigh and took a small, distasteful bite of his burger. He
chewed stoically, getting way more enjoyment out of watching Daniel
pout.
"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" Daniel fretted. "About the
technology, I mean."
"So much to worry over, so little time," Jack said ironically, rolling
his eyes at Daniel.
"Teal'c was right about it. Somehow, I don't know how, we shared a
dream. The whole experience." Daniel's eyes were worried and regretful.
"I did hear your thoughts." Conflicted, Daniel sat back, biting his
lip. "Didn't I?"
Despite himself, Jack melted. "We did have stimulated lobes," he
conceded.
"Shouldn't we tell…"
"Tell who? Tell them what? We stumbled into an alien lurve machine?"
Daniel's mouth fell open.
"Because that's all that happened," Jack reminded him forcefully. "That
wasn't some mystical mumbo-jumbo jive. We didn't reveal the innermost
depths of the human experience or anything. We didn't even conveniently
reveal the iris codes or the colour of Hammond's underwear. We just…"
he lowered his voice conspiratorially, despite the Marie-Celeste
ambience of the Commissary. "Got it on."
Daniel blushed.
"Together."
Daniel's blush deepened.
Jack thought about the sex they'd had. He thought hard. And long. Then
he reconsidered his position. "Okay, so maybe it was the innermost
depths of our particular human experience," he relented, smiling at
Daniel, who gulped.
"How deserted?"
The hoarse, conspiratorial whisper took Jack by surprise. "What?" he
said blankly.
Daniel leaned in to the centre of the table. Jack leaned in too. Daniel
went even more red, if that were possible, swallowed hard and leaned
closer. "How deserted is the base?" he asked again, looking at Jack
meaningfully and somewhat nervously.
Desiring only to be supportive in this time of need, Jack leaned closer
too. "Are you making a pass?" He was delighted, if only because they
were letting the thorny issue of embarrassingly functional alien
technology to drop.
Daniel looked around. "Maybe," he hissed.
"Pretty damn deserted, I'd say," Jack promptly replied with all the
natural authority of his twenty-mumble-mumble years in the military.
Daniel's flush didn't exactly subside, but he did manage to choke down
some pasta and he kept looking at Jack in a slightly hopeful, slightly
scared, very Daniel way that said 'cheque please!'
It was ridiculous at Jack's age, but he managed to get a surreptitious
foot hooked round Daniel's ankle while he wolfed down his burger and
with his resuscitated appetite, assisted Daniel to eat his pasta. His
fries were good dipped in the creamy tomatoey stuff. Daniel retaliated
by shoving the pasta over to him and eating both pieces of cheesecake
while Jack was chasing the last bit of sauce round the plate with his
last bite of burger.
Jack's protest was stifled when Daniel announced that he was tired.
Very tired. And needed, he paused with pantomime significance, sleep.
Now. Jack gallantly escorted him out of the commissary, glad there
weren't more airmen around to put two and two together and see him make
Daniel, given it was only 1930 hours.
"This is stupid," Jack commented pleasantly as they strolled along to
the elevator. "And dangerous," he added as he punched fourteen for the
living quarters.
Daniel nodded thoughtfully, as if they were discussing a mission.
When the elevator arrived, they stood on opposite sides of the car,
staring at the walls and sneaking surreptitious peeks at each other.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Jack asked.
"No."
"But you're doing it anyway?"
"Yes."
Fair enough, Jack thought. He didn't know either. He was good on the
sex but slow on the relationship side. He'd never actually had a guy,
not in the relationship sense. It amused him to think Daniel was as
much his first as he was Daniel's.
They walked off the elevator and down the hallway of SG-1's allotted
living quarters on base in slightly surreal, definitely strained
silence. It wouldn’t be the first time Jack had bunked with Daniel
before a mission. Not at 1930, true, and looking at it optimistically,
the rumour mill had him banging everyone on his team anyway so what was
a little more grist between consenting adults?
Jack took down the roster that hung on the wall of Corridor C, marked
his and Daniel's names down with his usual scrawl to claim their
regular two-bunk concrete Hilton. He didn't believe Daniel wasn't going
to bolt until he locked the door behind them and Daniel walked right up
to him, stretched up and kissed him, arms coming up at once to wrap
tightly around his neck.
He turned them, backing Daniel towards the bunks, peeling his blue
jacket off his shoulders as they kissed with closed mouths and quiet
affection. Daniel reciprocated, delighting him by tugging at his
T-shirt until he freed it. They broke off long enough to toss their
T-shirts onto the floor and shuck their boots and socks without fuss,
coming together again to fall onto the bunk in a warm tangle of mouths,
skin and legs.
"I want you," Daniel whispered, turning his face into Jack's cupping
hand to kiss his palm.
Such a sweet man he'd landed. Didn't know how to play games or hurt
people. "I'm a lucky bastard," Jack whispered back, smiling a little as
Daniel reached out to him, his fingers gentle and curious on Jack's
skin. He didn't have a thought in his head but pleasing Daniel, holding
him close, stroking his back and sides. "Kiss me?" he invited softly.
Daniel nodded shakily and pulled him down into another lingering
embrace. They lay side by side, moving their mouths softly over one
another.
"I'm conflicted," Daniel murmured against his mouth, all wide-eyed
solemnity, then he wrapped his leg around Jack's.
"I feel your pain," Jack agreed obligingly.
Daniel slowly reached for Jack's hand, pulling it to rest against his
crotch. Jack got with the programme instantly, kissing Daniel's throat
and jaw as he rhythmically rubbed him up the right way.
"Jack," Daniel sighed, moving his hips achingly as he swelled against
Jack's hand. The kneading pressure lifted for a moment as Jack expertly
unbuckled, unbuttoned and unzipped. He pushed Daniel's BDUs down and
rubbed his belly as he closed in for another lingering kiss. Daniel
opened to him this time, touching his tongue to Jack's, smiling as Jack
stroked eagerly into his mouth, breathed into him.
He'd never imagined Jack was so romantic. He should have known there
would be affection for Jack's lover; at one time there had been too
much for Jack's friend. He wasn't the right person for Jack's exuberant
physicality. He was too self-conscious, too contained. He stirred and
Jack lifted his head enquiringly. Daniel wondered if Jack had any idea
how reassuring that was, to respond instinctively to his slightest mood
when he really didn't know what he was doing, when this could spin out
of control so quickly.
"Is shy sexy?" he asked, not joking. It was time to stop this
rollercoaster ride he'd climbed on, time to face the reality of having
sex with his friend. He was still fucked in lots of ways that counted,
ways that came with consequences. They both were.
Euphoria was dangerous.
"You're sexy," Jack said simply. "Don't you know?" he asked in turn,
curious and amused.
Daniel shook his head.
Jack hitched up to look at him, the heel of his hand pushing low into
Daniel's belly. He leaned in to swipe his tongue over a nipple, the
sensation shocking down to Daniel's dick, fully erect and throbbing in
moments as Jack tongued and suckled. He quivered from head to foot as
Jack's hand closed on his dick, his thumb curving confidently to
massage circles on the underside.
"Do you want…?" Daniel wasn't sure how to phrase it. Jack had thought
'fucking' at him in the mind-voice of their dream, but it was too harsh
for the gentle hands and tender mouth moving over his skin. "You know?"
he offered awkwardly, looking away.
Jack made an impatient sound into the shoulder he was kissing.
"Make love," Daniel said stoically, stroking his fingers over Jack's
shoulders in turn. Jack went very still, then dropped his head back
onto the pillow to search his face.
"I'm not that pushy," Jack said carefully. "I do - of course I do." He
pushed his hips into Daniel, let him feel how much he wanted him.
"Why-y?" he drawled.
"I'm curious," Daniel admitted, incurably honest. "I've read so much
about it but I've never…"
Jack kissed his nose, relaxing now, grinning. "Curiosity isn't a good
enough reason to have another man inside you, Dr. Jackson," he answered
easily, eyeing Daniel's mouth meaningfully.
"I can't imagine being closer to someone," Daniel said quietly. He
slipped his fingers into Jack's hair. "Closer to you."
"You want this?" Jack asked, frowning.
"I think I need this." Daniel wriggled free of Jack and rolled off the
narrow bunk. Gathering his pants up in one hand, he headed over to the
medicine cabinet above the hand basin, rifling through the detritus of
previous nights trapped on base until he found the small bottle of
almond oil. When his sinuses were really bad, his ears hurt like hell.
Warmed, the almond oil was soothing. He turned uncertainly, proffering
the bottle.
Jack nodded, still watching him intently. He hitched his butt up off
the bed and unzipped his BDUs, his dick jutting free when he slid them
down over his hips.
Daniel was sure this was deliberate. He freed his hold on his pants to
let them slither down over his hips. Jack's dick jerked as he stepped
clear of the pants and walked back over to the bunk.
"Daniel," Jack sighed.
He handed him the almond oil. "Will this do?"
"You were hyperventilating over kissing me," Jack accused him, taking
the bottle in a hand that shook.
"That was then," Daniel shrugged. Before he realised Jack couldn't push
him away again. Before he realised he wouldn't let Jack do that to him
again. He lay down on top of Jack and kissed him, pushing until Jack
opened to him, hands suddenly clenching tight around his shoulders, the
cool glass of the bottle resting against his spine. Fine tremors ran
through them both. "I want to make love," he said urgently. "I don't
know if…"
Jack had a look on his face, a look that scared Daniel. "We can take it
as slow as you need," he said tightly.
It was the first time Daniel understood that Jack couldn't refuse him,
that his weren't the only walls to come down.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but the little bottle was placed
on the floor and Jack went right on kissing him. Eating his mouth;
sucking and chewing on his tongue, stroking and rasping, pushing,
curling around him, breathing into him until he was panting and shaken.
Jack's hands were all over him, sure touch and steady, knowing
pressure. Daniel never knew how much he liked having his spine stroked
or his ass kneaded like this, while Jack arched his throat for Daniel's
kisses.
When Jack's thigh insinuated between his to rub insistently, Daniel
rubbed right back, hissing at the friction. Jack smiled lazily up at
him, then tipped him onto his back. His weight shifted then lifted, oil
dribbled onto Daniel's belly and Jack stroked it down onto his dick.
"Jack?" Daniel asked, startled, hitching up so Jack could pull the
covers out from under.
"I'm in love with you." Jack's eyes were grave as he stretched out, his
weight comfortably balanced on Daniel as he cocooned them in blankets.
"I didn't realise how much that hurt you until now. I love that you
trust me this much, Daniel, that you want to be with me." He rested his
forehead against Daniel's. "Let's wait a while," he suggested gently.
"Can you trust me that much?"
Daniel had to swallow hard, but Jack saved him from having to find
words to fit by kissing him like there was all the time in the world.
Daniel was near giddy with relief to know this was real for Jack, too.
It wasn't only about sex and the rush of feelings too long denied.
Already, Jack was planning, working on where they'd take this new
intimacy of theirs, who they'd be. Jack was content to accept Daniel
for who and what he was, with no illusions, and to build what they
wanted to share. It was a greater sign of commitment than Daniel
would've dared to hope or to ask.
"We were good together last night," Jack suggested, rolling his hips.
"Very good," Daniel agreed, parting his thighs. "Close." He smiled up
hesitantly, shy now Jack had heard so much he hadn't said, hadn't meant
him to know. He took comfort in Jack's warm certitude, allowed his easy
gentleness to steady him, expressing his gratitude in a kiss.
"We'll be closer, I promise," Jack murmured against Daniel's mouth,
rocking forward, making love slow and easy, how Daniel liked it. He
liked it so much he held Jack as close as he could, his hands curving
up around Jack's shoulders, long legs wrapped around his. Jack liked
this too, not just the obvious things, like skin, but listening to
Daniel's breath quicken and sigh, the soft moans and cries he stifled
in Jack's mouth. He felt the beat of Daniel's heart as they moved
together. "Do you love me?" he breathed into an arched throat as Daniel
shook and clung to him.
"Jack."
He smiled then. He knew. For Daniel, it was always him. Always.
FINIS
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