Adventures In Paradise 3

The Next Best Thing

by Euphrosyne

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ase/euphrosyne/paradise03.php
Summary: What if Jack and Harry weren't found at the end of Paradise Lost? The final installment, complete in two parts

Part One

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself. I thought you were still asleep."

"That's what I wanted you to think."

"Uh huh... you wanna get up now so I can go take a leak?"

"I suppose... if you must."

"Oh... I must. Trust me on this. Now get off me, you big lump."

"Okay... alright already... I'm off."

Jack rolled from the bed and made quickly for the door, escaping around the side of the cabin and leaving the door open wide. The sky was white gray, the clouds thick and heavy with moisture. Harry shivered and pulled the furry blanket up around his shoulder trying to retain the warmth that was quickly diminishing with Jack's departure and the open door.

"Hurry up, Jack... I'm cold!"

Jack sauntered in with a bundle of firewood in his arms and closed the door, then moved to the fireplace to rekindle the dying embers into a blaze and swung the big iron cauldron filled with water back over the fire. He paused at the basin and poured some water, then rinsed his hands and face, using a small chamois to dry before moving back to the bed.

"Okay... let me back in." Jack motioned for Harry to lift the fur so he could slip back into his spot. Harry groaned and lifted the fur.

"I don't know how you can stand to run around like that out there. I'm freezing my balls off here. What are you, an Eskimo?"

"It's that hearty Minnesota stock."

"You're Irish, from Chicago... you aren't fooling anyone, you know?"

"Yeah... but I was raised in Minnesota... so I'm Scandinavian by upbringing."

"I'm not sure that counts... JESUS! YOUR FEET ARE FREEZING!"

"Well, it's cold out there."

"I wish you'd put on the boots and coat before you go out like that."

"Hey... I didn't have TIME to put them on... I was desperate."

"Well, don't wait so long the next time. You'll get sick running around like that...and last I heard, Marcus Welby, MD wasn't making any house calls here."

"Yes, mom."

"Cut the crap, Jack, and come' ere, I have something for you." Harry pulled the lean body closer now, allowing Jack to fully appreciate his morning tumescence.

Jack slid down until he was bearded face to beaded face with Harry and latched onto soft, slightly chapped lips. They kissed and petted slowly, knowing each other's likes and dislikes after more than two years together. Harry's fingers wove through the long silver hair as Jack worked his way down and across his belly towards his target. Jack's beard tickled along Harry's thighs, teasing, until Harry lifted his hips insistently. When Jack opened his mouth and engulfed the head of Harry's cock, Harry's body arched then sank into the soft mattress, his hands clutching alternately at Jack's shoulders and the furs that functioned as their cold weather linens. Harry was loud, his gasps and groans echoed slightly in the rafters of the big cabin. Jack chuckled around a mouthful of Harry; it was no wonder they had never seen any predators, Harry in the throes of passion would have scared them off.

Harry arched and called out again... "OH! YEESS!, JA-ACK!" ... as he jetted into Jack's hot mouth. Jack took it all, mouthing and sucking as Harry softened in his mouth, only stopping when Harry grasped at his shoulders to pull him up. Harry dove in for a kiss, grabbing Jack's beard on either side of his face to hold his mouth still.

He pulled back with a glint in his eye. "Fuck me, Jack."

"You sure, Harry? I know it's not one of your favorite things."

"Right now it's my very favorite thing... fuck me, Jack. I don't want to have to tell you again."

Jack smiled and pulled away from Harry to reach up to the shelf above the end of the bed. He grabbed the small pot of purple goop that was Harry's herbal gel concoction and sat it on Harry's belly. Coating two fingers, he sat back as Harry opened his legs and lifted his knees. Jack's hand disappeared and Harry's face transformed as Jack's long fingers worked their magic, preparing him.

"Christ, Jack... that's enough... fuck me already."

"That's quite a mouth you got, Harry... and to think I kiss that mouth."

"I'm ready...will you just get on with it!?"

"I'll get on with it when I think you're ready. After everything we went through to get this far, there's no way I want to hurt you."

"You aren't going to hurt me... but I might just hurt you, if you don't get on with it!"

"Ewww, pushy!" Jack withdrew his fingers and Harry scooped another portion of gel onto them allowing Jack to coat his own cock. Harry put the small pot on the floor next to the bed and pulled his own knees back as Jack guided himself to the ringed muscle and paused.

"NOW WHAT?!"

"Ready?"

Harry was angry, he started to shout as Jack smirked at him...

"GOD DAMMIT, O'NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!!!"

...and pushed, sheathing himself nearly to the balls in hot silk. Then Jack looked down at him.

"You were saying?"

"You do that deliberately, don't you?"

"Well, duh! Of course! It always helps when you're relaxed...and you are at your MOST relaxed when you're screaming at me! I just took advantage of your natural talents."

"You're such an ass, Jack..." Harry was possibly going to say more but was quieted instantly when Jack pulled back and then thrust, burying himself to the balls.

"And so are you, Harry... and a fine ass it is too!" Jack smiled and started the long slow strokes that reduced Harry to babbling. He took his time, enjoying the heat surrounding his cock and the sensation coiling in his belly. Finally, the urge took over and the pattern changed into short hard thrusts that had them both grunting. Harry's cock started to take an interest again as Jack struck his sweet spot over and over. Jack's powerful hips propelled him impossibly deeper until Harry thought sure that he could feel Jack's cock in the back of his throat. One final masterstroke, Jack stilled and came and Harry could feel the twitching deep inside him. Jack dropped lower over Harry's body holding himself up on his hands, until Harry pulled him down.

"Stay, please." Harry's green eyes softened as he pulled Jack's face to his and started to kiss him.

"I'm heavy."

"Not that heavy... you feel good." Harry brushed Jack's long hair back, tucking the strands behind his ears as he continued to lay soft kisses all over Jack's face.

"As much as I'd like to stay like this, it's killing my back." Jack groaned as he tried to move to the side, his cock slipping wetly from its sheath.

"Better lemme' get up and wash or we'll both be stinky." Jack rolled away from Harry and slipped out of bed, moving towards the fireplace and its now roaring fire. He went to the basin and started to bathe using the water from the pitcher and a square of cloth that used to be the sleeve of a tee shirt. Harry watched the efficiency of motion as Jack performed his ablutions, admiring the glide of hands over skin so deeply tanned it was nearly bronzed. Jack took the large ladle and pitcher and moved to the cauldron and added some of the heating water to the pitcher, then resumed his bath.

When he was done, he dried the wet parts with the chamois and came back towards the bed. He sat on the edge and pulled on the leather britches and the soft, fur-lined boots, and then shrugged into the skin shirt. He adjusted the britches and laced them up, then did the same to the boots. He turned, kissed Harry on the forehead and pulled the fur up under his neck.

"I'm going to go dump the water, then check and stoke the smokehouse. Unfortunately, I'll have to open the door to do that."

"You should put the heavy skin pants on before you go out. Did it snow last night?"

"No, but from the way my knees feel and the sky looks, we'll get it today. So I need to get stuff done before it does."

"I'll clean up and go for water. Bring some labbit in and I'll make a stew."

"Works for me... I'll be back soon."

Jack pulled on the long, hide coat and planted the fur cap on his head and smiled as he picked up the basin of wash water and moved to the door.

He looked out and turned back towards the man in the bed, then tossed the water to the side of the path and put the basin back inside the door.

"It's started snowing."

"Great." Harry groaned from the bed. He waited a couple of minutes and, with much hesitation, finally threw off the fur and got up. He walked quickly to the door and picked up the big basin, then moved to the fireplace and warmed himself. He dipped some of the heated water into the basin and added enough cold water from the jug to temper it and began bathing. He added a little extra warm water to the basin as he finished his bath and carefully cleaned his tender anus. It wasn't pain really, more like an ache, but he never regretted the day his eyes opened and he let Jack into the big, empty area in his heart.

Harry finished his bath and dressed quickly in the heavy skin shirt and pants. He put on his own boots and luxuriated at the feel of the fur against his cold toes. He grabbed the big water jug and poured the remaining cold water into the cauldron, then grabbed both water jars and headed for the door.

Jack took off the fur-lined hat and shook the snow from it as he came back to the cabin door. It had taken some time, but he had stoked the fires in the smokehouse well enough that they would be good for a few days in case he didn't want to venture out. He stamped his feet to remove the snow and opened the door.

"Harry?"

"You were expecting Martha Stewart?"

"Listen, I'm going to go up and check the traps before this stuff gets too heavy. I don't want to lose anything that might be in there." Jack placed the chunk of smoked meat he was carrying in a bowl on the table.

Harry looked down from the rafters where he was sitting. With storage space so limited in the cabin, he had taken to hanging extra furs and skins in the rafters to keep them from the sometimes damp split log floor.

"Here catch these would you?" He dropped a few smaller furs from a corner.

"Please be careful up there. My bone setting skills are rusty and the x-ray machine is out of order."

"Yeah, I will. I wanted to make another couple pairs of boots for us. If this snow gets bad one pair won't be enough, they'll get too wet." Harry looked down. "Don't you want something to eat before you go up there?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Well, at least take a chunk of bread and a water skin with you. I already got the water and there's a filled skin hanging next to the door."

"God! You are such a nag!" Jack broke of a piece of the coarse dark bread and grabbed the water skin from next to the door.

"I've got my lunch, can I go now, Mom?"

Harry chuckled and looked down. "You're dismissed, Colonel... Be careful."

"You too." Jack grabbed his bow and quiver and slung them over his shoulder, then he put his cap back on, pulling the long furry ends down over his ears and went out the door.

Jack had a long walk ahead of him. He never set traps in their valley. He tried never to hunt there either; they hadn't been desperate enough for that. He always set his traps and hunted on the other side of the mountains from the protected valley; it was quite a distance, but the trail was easy.

This time he would collect anything in the traps and not reset them until the snow was finished. It would be too hard to find them otherwise. They had plenty of meat, birds, and fish smoked, dried and now salted too, since he had found a salt deposit, and he could get away with not hunting or trapping for a couple of months if need be. Jack walked quickly, trying to cut some time from the close to four hours it would normally take him to make the circuit of all his traps. He'd always given Harry some doubletalk when Harry griped about how far Jack had set the traps and how long it took for him to make the circuit.

The truth was, he needed the time away from Harry and their version of domestic bliss to think about the things that had gone before. Sara, Charlie, the SGC, Carter, Teal'c... and Daniel. He'd have given anything to just have that picture from beside his bed, the one with him, Sara and Charlie at the cabin. In his mind, his ex-wife's face had already faded into a sort of a soft blur, and that was okay, it was how it should be. But Charlie's face, his bright beautiful child's face should be clearer and that he did regret. He was almost glad in a way that he had outlived Charlie, at least he didn't have to worry about him and what he was doing right now. No worries about drugs or running with bad crowds or drinking and driving, no, he'd had taken care of all of that with just one careless deed.

He wondered what was going on right now at the SGC, how the war with the Goa'uld was faring... what Daniel was doing, if he missed him. He had some months ago faced up to the reality that they weren't ever going back to Earth, but facing up to it didn't make it hurt any less. He wondered if Daniel had moved on, had given up on him. His pride wanted Daniel to be still mourning his loss, but his heart hoped that Daniel had found some kind of happiness with someone else. Nearly threeyears was a long time to be alone, but he knew his archeologist and just knew that Daniel hadn't given up on him. This was the same man that didn't give up on his own wife even after her death; Jack doubted that a mere three years would even cause Daniel to blink.

His world was this place now, this place and Harry, and as much as it took to get used to the idea, his former adversary, then sometimes barely tolerated partner in misadventure, was now the only thing that kept him going, his reason for living. If it hadn't been for Harry, Jack knew he'd have given up long before now. He'd done the stranded thing before and really didn't have it in him to do it again. He'd been so hopeful of rescue in those first few months and rebounded into a funk so deep that it rivaled that suicidal depression that made him accept the first Stargate mission. Harry had saved him, from himself, true, but the salvage was as tangible as if Harry had taken a bullet for him. So, for Harry's sake, he stayed alive.

Harry had been so optimistic when they first arrived and so disappointed when the Utopians turned out to be dead. He had wanted solace, sanctuary, an end of life on the run. He didn't even care if the life was a hard one, so long as he was free. Harry worked hard, used every item in his very considerable bag of tricks to make them comfortable and Jack had felt compelled to respond in kind. Harry's mother had been a seamstress of some skill and Harry had obviously absorbed some of her talent while in utero. He'd mastered one fiber after another, making ropes and clothing and bedding; they'd gone from minimalist existence to veritable comfort in a short span.

So, Jack hunted, fished and trapped. He cut wood and built things because that was what he knew. Now he made use of all those little skills that his grandfather and father had drilled into him. Levers, winches, hunting, fishing, helping to build a new cabin for Old Mister Mallory after the fire destroyed his first one; he had a largesse of knowledge to draw on for survival, not all of it compliments of Uncle Sam. Could he help it if Harry had managed to worm his way into his heart?

His reverie was interrupted by a noise from somewhere off in front of him. He wasn't really out to hunt, but his grandfather's first rule was never look gift game in the mouth. He drew an arrow and positioned it in the bow. Crouching low, he quietly moved forward. The noise became closer, clearer, and then as he drew the bow, his heart nearly stopped.

It was a man and a ship.

He dropped silently into the brush to observe, his mind racing light years ahead. He was worried that he was breathing so loud and his heart hammering so noisily that he would be discovered, but the man went about whatever he was doing to the ship with no apparent notice. It was a small vessel and a design that Jack hadn't seen before and so far he'd seen only the one man, but that didn't guarantee there weren't more of them scouting around. The man moved about the ship like he knew what he was doing, as if he was nearly finished his task.

Jack's internal debate began. Should he just watch and see what happens or challenge the man? There was a chance that he was Goa'uld or Jaffa and just the beginning of big trouble. There was also the chance that he was Tok'ra or something else, completely harmless and could help them return to Earth. He had to think about more than himself now, he had Harry to worry about and he knew that Harry had no desire to return to a life on the run. Did he even have the right to make a decision for Harry?

Too late, he heard the snap of a twig to his side and turned just as he heard the report of a staff weapon and white heat slammed into his side.

"Hashak! What are you playing at? You nearly cost me a finger!" The man near the ship sucked at his wounded hand as the other man dragged an unconscious Jack from the scrub and dropped him at the feet of the first.

"I told you there were others here. You said they were far enough away, I told you to land on the planet, but you insisted on the moon."

"I did not believe they were close enough to be a problem, besides there were only two from what I could tell."

"Well, now there's only one. When will we be able to leave?"

"As soon as I finish the repairs. Are you certain of the location?"

"As I said, I was not given more than cursory coordinates. We must go to the system and scan for them."

"I do not care for this plan, what if Lord Yu or Anubis, or Apophis find us?"

"Apophis is dead. The Tauri killed him. Lord Yu and Anubis are too concerned with each other to worry with two runaway Jaffa."

"You mean shol'va. That is what we are."

"No... we are NOT shol'va. Not to our people, we are freedom fighters, we are only shol'va to the slave masters."

The groan from the ground got their attention.

"I thought he was dead?"

"He should be. He is a tough beast." He nudged Jack's hip with his boot and got another groan.

"He is not Goa'uld or Jaffa?"

"I have not sensed a symbiote. Leave him, finish the repairs."

"If he is not Goa'uld, then there is no reason for him to die. Let me tend his wound."

"A waste of time, I tell you... he will be dead soon."

"Put him in the ship."

"Why?"

"We can return him to his settlement as we depart. He will certainly die if we leave him laying in the snow."

"He is as good as dead, why bother?"

"Because, I told you there were only two life signs, maybe the other can care for him. Tere'ma, when did you become as callus as the Goa'uld masters? Does life mean so little to you?"

"Joset, do you know so little of me that you compare me to those monsters?"

"No, I know you so well that I remind you that we are no longer forced to wear that veil of cruelty. Put him in the ship Tere'ma. I am finished here."

"As you wish, Joset."

Harry was putting the finishing touches on the stew. Jack was taking a long time and he was trying not to worry, but it was hard. When you depended as much on each other as he and Jack, it became second nature to worry about the other. Besides, there was that OTHER little issue now as well, emotions always got in the way. It had been snowing all day and Jack had been out in it; he knew that knee was probably slowing him down, but it still shouldn't be taking this long.

The strange sound outside drew his attention from the stew and he pulled the pot from the fire and placed it on the table before heading out.

He threw the door open in time to see the hatch of a small vessel opening and a single man stepping out.

"Shit!" He whispered scanning quickly around for any evidence of Jack.

The man held both his hands up and palms opened out so Harry could see that he was weaponless.

"What do you want!?" Harry shouted from the open door.

"We accidentally injured your companion and seek to deliver him into your care. We mean you no harm, it was an accident."

"Where is he?"

Joset turned back towards the ship. "Tere'ma, bring him out."

The Jaffa carried the slim unconscious body like a child in his arms and laid him in the accumulating snow.

"Step away from him"

The two Jaffa took several steps back.

With one eye on the two men, Harry rushed from the cabin and dropped to Jack's side in the snow. Panic and terror welled up inside him so far he thought he would choke, and he kept swallowing to keep the bile from making its way out. He started to look Jack over but the smell of charred leather and flesh told him he need look no further.

"This is a staff wound... you're Goa'uld!"

The two men were quick to respond to the accusation, one with anger, one with poise. "We are Jaffa, not Goua'ld. I told you, we meant no harm. It WAS an accident. We stopped here to make repairs to our hyperdrive. We had no intention of disturbing your sanctuary...we thought we had kept an adequate distance; we were incorrect in that assumption."

Harry pulled the knife from Jack's boot and split what was left of the hide shirt to get a better look. The motion disturbed Jack slightly and he started to writhe and gasp with pain.

"Jesus! This is a mess... I can't handle this kind of wound... you have to help him... you can't let him die!"

"We have no ability to help him, we are not Goa'uld, we are Jaffa."

"Then take us to your master, surely two new slaves will be welcome?"

The two Jaffa looked nervously at each other and when they looked back at Harry, Joset spoke. "I am sorry we cannot help you... we are..."

"We are not returning to Lord Yu's ship. We have other orders." Tere'ma finished.

Harry looked hopeful. "Lord Yu would reward you handsomely if you took us to him."

The two Jaffa stared at Harry again trying to size up the possible worth of the two men.

"Of what possible interest could Lord Yu find in two hermits?"

"Not just any hermits... this is Colonel Jack O'Neill of the Tauri..."

Tere'ma laughed and turned. "The legend that was O'Neill is dead... Lord Yu knows that, as do all Jaffa. When we last held Tauri prisoners the female that had hosted the Tok'ra told us of his demise.

"Her name was Samantha Carter... look here if you don't believe me..."

Harry lifted the dog tags gently away from the charred and bloody chest wound. Tere'ma motioned for Joset to look. "You can read the Tauri writing, I cannot."

Joset moved closer and dropped down, his eyes widened at the small slip of metal in his palm, then he looked up at Harry.

"Do you have a blanket to wrap him and some medicines for this wound?.. Tere'ma prepare a place in the ship, they are going with us."

"WHAT! Joset, do you know what you are doing?"

"The time for deception is past, Tere'ma... this IS O'Neill... we must attempt to get assistance for him."

"You jest?"

"I do not understand. We were all told that O'Neill was dead. We will take you with us, although there will be no sarcophagus where we are going."

Harry looked panicked again. "Surely Lord Yu..."

"We... we flee Lord Yu... to join the Jaffa rebels."

"Yeah, well... I don't believe it for a second, but Jack needs the kind of help I can't give him... so I'll have to chance it. Take him back into your ship, I'll get some furs and water from the cabin."

"Tere'ma, take him back into the ship... I will assist..."

"Harry."

"I will assist Harry."

Tere'ma nodded once and stooped picking Jack up from the snow. "Speed would be advisable."

Harry raced into the cabin. He grabbed all the big furs from the bed and tossed them to Joset. Then he started to grab the few things they had that could be used for first aid supplies, namely the small pot of purple unguent and the large jar of fruit wine. When Joset came back, he directed him to take the large jar of water and he grabbed several water skins from behind the door and the loaf of bread on the table.

When Joset turned for the door, he spotted the cauldron of stew on the table and motioned for Harry to take that as well. "Neither of us has eaten for some time."

When they got to the ship, Tere'ma lifted Jack while Harry attempted to make the flat on which he was laying a little softer with the furs. As they took off, Harry started to try to treat Jack's chest wound.

"Ha- Harry?" Jack struggled to get the words out; each breath was accompanied by rasping sounds that Harry didn't like at all.

"It's me, Jack... lay still. You're hurt bad."

" Goa'uld ... there were Goa'uld." Jack gasped and fought to try to sit up.

"They aren't Goa'uld, Jack... they are Jaffa... rebel Jaffa."

"Rebels?... where are they?"

"They're flying the ship... they're taking us with them; we need to get help for you."

Jack relaxed under Harry's touches, his face pale and sweaty. "Too late..."

"Don't you EVEN try it, Jack...you will NOT die on me. You can't... I NEED you, Jack."

"Mm' cc-old, Ha-harry." Jack began to shake uncontrollably.

Harry covered as much of Jack's body as possible with the furs and still continued to bathe and apply the plant gel to the chest wound.

"I know, Jack... just hang on... here..."

Harry lifted Jack slightly and pulled a pile of furs behind him. It seemed to ease the wounded man's breathing some and he nodded.

"Need... a drink, Harry."

"I've got some wine with your name on it, Jack..." Harry looked toward the hatchway. "... Joset! Where's that wine?"

"I have it." Joset came through with the large jug of fruit wine and a goblet.

"Here Jack, this is all we have to take the edge off." Harry held the golden goblet to Jack's lips as he sipped, tilting it further as Jack drank.

When Jack sputtered and began to cough, Harry withdrew the goblet.

"Sorry, Jack."

"You're no Florence Nightingale, Harry." Jack coughed, trying to splint his wounded chest.

"Well, that's okay, because I was trying for Clara Barton." Harry smiled and again tilted the goblet to allow Jack to drink.

Jack looked serious, swallowed and then commented, "I don't remember Clara's beard being that color."

Harry smiled and put the goblet down. "Hey, we match, remember? Mine's brown with silver and yours is silver with brown... what a team! I need to try to clean this up now, okay?"

Jack nodded solemnly.

Early in the proceedings, Jack lost consciousness and Harry got his first good look at the damage. He was comforted that he had made the correct choice, this injury was beyond his meager first aid skills and only hoped that Jack would survive until they got to help. He bathed the chest wound and applied the purple herbal to it, then dressed the area with the remnants of a well-worn tee shirt and covered that with a skin. He piled on the furs to keep Jack as warm as he could and sat back and took one of Jack's calloused hands in his.

"You can do this, Jack. Don't you DARE leave me; I need you too much now. We're a team, remember?"

"How is he?" Joset came and sat on the other side of O'Neill, eating stew from one of the wooden bowls that Jack had crafted. Harry wrung out the small cloth he had been using to wipe Jack's face, then folded and placed the cool cloth across Jack's forehead. He picked up a water skin and drank deeply, then looked at Joset and frowned.

"I wish I knew... not good I think. He needs more than I can do for him. How long will this trip take?"

"This ship is not built for speed. We have also been having trouble keeping the hyperdrive functioning. It will be another two or three cycles before we get close enough to set the beacon..."

"Beacon?"

"A signal. We will set the beacon and wait for our brothers to find us."

"So what you're saying is that you don't actually KNOW where the rebels are."

"That is correct."

Harry's eyes closed and his chin dropped to his chest. Suddenly he wondered if it would not have been better for Jack to die in their bed, where they could be together in some semblance of comfort. It would have been easier there. The Beretta was on the shelf by the door and still in working order. Harry could have finished things properly there. If it became too difficult for Jack, Harry could end his pain... and then himself. He had no plans to even TRY to continue without Jack at his side. Instead, Jack was likely to die laying on the floor of a less-than-comfortable cargo ship and there was no ready-made out for Harry.

Harry shook his head sadly and rearranged the furs covering Jack. "I thought that this would save him."

"He is not dead... He is O'Neill of the Tauri... he is strong. You should eat and rest. I will sit with him." Joset put the empty bowl down and motioned for Harry to hand the cloth to him.

Harry nodded and passed the damp cloth to the Jaffa, then wearily got to his feet. He stretched carefully and bent to retrieve the wooden bowl and spoon.

"I'll be right back, I just need to use the facilities and get some stew." Joset nodded and wiped Jack's brow as Harry moved out of the cargo hold.

Two days.

They had been traveling in hyperspace for two days, when they weren't stopped for repairs to the hyperdrive. Joset had said there was little else he could do for the over-taxed drive, that it was only a matter of time before he would be unable to coax it into functioning further.

Jack hadn't been conscious for an entire day and Harry had stripped the furs off as Jack's fever climbed. At this point, Harry worried that nothing short of a sarcophagus would be able to save Jack; that is, if he lived to get to their destination. Now they would stop one more time, landing on what appeared to be a sparsely populated world for water and hopefully food enough to last while they waited for the rebels to answer the beacon.

"Do we really need to stop now?" Harry paced the hold, darting looks to where Tere'ma stood at the door.

"All of our rations are gone and the water is nearly gone, you waste what little we have and yet you ask if we need to stop."

"I'm not wasting it... I'm trying to keep his wound clean."

"He smells of death..."

"He's NOT going to DIE!" Harry shouted a lot louder than he had meant to and spun on his heel at the sound from behind him.

"Har-ry?" Jack groaned as much as spoke the name and instantly Harry was at his side.

"Jack... how are you feeling?"

"He's... right...you know."

"NO, he is not. You're doing just fine. The wound is clean..."

"Harry?" Jack laid a very hot hand on Harry's forearm. Harry was forced to look into the dark eyes, sinking into the reddened cheeks.

"You promised me you wouldn't leave me, Jack."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't want to."

"And now, out here, there's nothing I can do but watch you leave."

"Too bad they didn't have a healing device, huh?"

Tere'ma interrupted. "We have a healing device. But are unable to use it."

"Guess it just... isn't our lucky day, then, eh?" Jack tried to shift and wound up gasping for breath as the small movement shot waves of pain through him.

The groaning of the engines got everyone's attention, then the tell tale lurch that told them they were dropping from hyperspace had Tere'ma shifting his weight to keep his footing.

"It sounds as though we have little choice at this point." Tere'ma turned and left the hold.

They landed on a small planet near a primitive settlement. Joset started yet another repair job on the drives as Tere'ma came back into the hold.

"It would take less time if we both went for water, two of us could carry more than one. We may also be able to obtain some food."

Jack's head turned towards Harry. "Go... I'll be okay."

Harry shook his head. "No. I'm not leaving you."

"I'll be okay, Harry... go. I promise not to die while you're gone."

Harry smiled and looked down. "You promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die... ooops." Jack forced a weak smile.

"All right, let's go..." Harry leaned down and kissed Jack on the forehead, not failing to notice the burning heat of fever against his lips. "... I'll be right back. You'd better be here."

"I will."

True to his word. Jack was still there when Harry returned with Tere'ma from collecting water and food from the nearby villagers. The people had been both friendly and generous and had no history of Goa'uld abduction or slavery to tell. Their ancestors had come there via ship long ago, crashing as they tried to land and the survivors had become an agrarian society. They were a thriving community, the rich soils and moderate climate had them living an almost luxurious communal lifestyle. It reminded Harry of the Utopia he had originally sought.

One of the older women, a healer of some repute, had returned with them to see if she could do anything for Jack. Harry had been encouraged by the villagers to seek her out when he mentioned that there was one of their party who lay near death. Ushell had slung a large cloth bag over her shoulder and picked up another bundle as she left her house for the walk to the ship.

She sniffed the air in the hold as she entered and looked sadly at Harry. "The wound is infected."

"Yes, it is..." Harry spoke in a whisper; he didn't want Jack to hear the discussion. "... I've been trying to keep it clean, but it's so big and deep, it just oozes."

Ushell put a hand on Harry's arm to comfort him. "Let me see if I can help... "

She turned to Tere'ma. "Go back to the village. Bring the large pot that hangs over my fire, fill it with water and set it to boil." She settled next to Jack and laid a small hand on his forehead.

"We must reduce his fever. Bring a container of fresh cool water and a cup." Harry nodded and left quickly as Ushell began to remove items from her bag.

Over the next several hours Harry watched as Ushell first debrided, then cleaned and dressed Jack's wound. He held Jack up as the healer wrapped a poultice-laden bandage across his chest and then, using a small hollow tube, dripped a thin acrid smelling liquid far back in Jack's mouth. He was happy that Jack was out for that part; he was sure he'd have something to say about the smell if not the taste of the stuff.

Finally, Ushell wiped her hands on a clean cloth and stood stretching her legs. "Now I will send your friend back to the village for some of Neema's broth. We must get much fluid into him and Neema makes the best broths for medicines. Then I will make a tea that will help to reduce his fever further." She headed for the doorway.

"Ushell?..." Harry looked up as she paused at the door and turned. "... thank you for doing this, for trying to save him."

She smiled at him knowingly and then said softly. "I do this to save TWO lives... Now you should also rest while he sleeps. I will need you again in a little while."

Harry nodded and pulled a couple of the discarded furs out and lay down next to Jack. Sleep was waiting for him with open arms.

The hospitality of the village and Jack's condition kept them grounded longer than either Joset or Tere'ma had wished. But after Harry laid the guilt trip from hell on them, they agreed not to abandon O'Neill of the Tauri to a death among strangers who had no knowledge of who he was or what he had done. Harry was pleased that after so many years away from Washington, he could still get his way with a little fast talk and some well-placed guilt.

The villagers had provided a few much need luxuries: clean clothing for the three men as well as fresh bedding for Jack. Ushell returned from the village with four strong young men carrying a bed and another one carrying two chairs. They placed the bed by the fire and then went inside and carried Jack out and placed him in it.

"It does my poor old back no kindness to have to tend him on the floor. Besides, the air is mild and sunlight is good for healing."

Harry set about making the tea that he had been charged with feeding Jack four times a day, crushing the small green leaves with a spoon until they were mush and then added the boiling water. He sweetened it with honey that had been delivered by a small blond girl with long braids. She had handed the pot up to Harry with a shy smile, curtsied, and left. Now he left it to cool, so he could trickle it into Jack's mouth.

Between the tea and the acrid liquor that Ushell forced into Jack twice a day, the fever had come down some, Unfortunately, that meant that Jack was lucid now when he woke, and the pain was severe. Ushell had said that pain was something that was easily managed and had returned to the village earlier.

Jack began to toss and groan on the bed. His face contorted in pain as he awoke.

"Shh, Jack... it's okay. You're going to be okay."

Jack didn't speak; he just grabbed at the blanket covering him, his knuckles white as he tried to gain control over the pain that tried to smother him. His eyes narrowed and then closed as if afraid that someone would see him succumb to tears if he tried to keep them open. His breathing became shallow trying to prevent the pain that happened each time he took a breath.

Harry looked up at the woman. "You said you could take away his pain. Now would be a very good time."

Ushell sat on one of the chairs and took a small shiny wood box from her bag. She took a small stone pestle and placed a couple of pinches of powder in it. Then, using the spoon from the honey pot, she drizzled a small amount of honey into the powder and mixed it together using a tiny carved spoon. When it became homogeneous, she took a small amount of it and spread it inside Jack's lip. Then put her little box away and sat back.

"What was that?" Harry looked from Jack to Ushell.

"It will take the pain away."

"That little bit of snuff will be enough for his pain?"

"It is very potent. The honey will prevent it from burning the inside of his lip."

Gradually, over the next few minutes, Jack's stilted movements on the bed slowed and his breathing eased. The contortions of his face relaxed into sleep and his hands released their grip on the blanket that covered him. When he saw Jack sigh, Harry knew that he was asleep.

"He is asleep. We must change the dressing and treat his wound now, while the drug holds him in its arms."

With Jack so deeply asleep from the drug that Ushell had given him, Harry was free to watch as she changed the dressing and cleaned the wound this time. Usually he was needed to keep Jack still and as quiet as possible and couldn't get a good look at the injury. The wound was still big and open, but the char and pus was gone and there appeared to be areas of pink around the edges and scattered in the crater of the wound. The smell that usually stole his breath and turned his stomach when Ushell removed the dressing was gone now, too.

"It looks much better." Harry looked into Ushell's face.

"Yes, it does. But he is not yet saved Harry, there is a long way to go and much can go wrong. We may yet lose him."

"I can't lose him Ushell... you know that."

Ushell smiled at him and returned to applying the poultice to the dressing. "I hear from Joset that the ship is repaired. You will all be leaving soon. You must learn how to do this, so pay attention. I will make sure that you have plenty of medicines and bandages, but you will have to learn when to use the poultice, when to scrape the wound, which teas to use for fever and which are for healing, so pay attention."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry watched her work and listened, wishing he had a pencil and paper to take notes.

As the sun started to set, the four youths returned and carried the bed containing Jack into the cargo hold. Ushell walked back to the village with them and promised to bring supplies for their journey back with her in the morning.

Joset and Tere'ma prepared the ship for what was, hopefully, the final portion of their journey. They accepted the massive amounts of supplies given by the villagers and stowed them in baskets in the smaller hold. A large procession followed Ushell when she returned in the morning carrying every conceivable thing that they would need, from clothing and food to pillows, blankets and bedding. The stacks of supplies seemed never-ending. The four youths that had carried the bed into camp yesterday today carried bundles and baskets that Ushell directed into the larger hold where Jack was again sleeping thanks to the pain potion.

She spent the day showing Harry the contents of each basket and instructing him in the use of each herb and powder. Harry had always been a quick study; he'd had to be in his former business, but the sheer volume of information and its life and death nature made him nervous.

When Ushell produced a leather-bound book with blank pages and what appeared to be a lead pencil, Harry's relief was obvious. "Why didn't you give me this earlier? It would have saved you some breath having to explain it all for a third time."

"I did not want you to be so busy recording the instructions that you did not listen to them. This way what you record will make more sense when you read it." Ushell smiled and began the explanations for a third time. This time Harry recorded her instructions, nodding as he wrote.

Finally, after she finished redressing Jack's wound, Ushell took the now nearly empty small box with the pain powder and gave Harry a much larger box of the same. She explained that after Jack was healed that Harry would need to make a tea with the powder on a daily basis, decreasing the amount of powder he used until Jack was free of the drug.

"So he'll develop a dependency on the drug?"

"Yes, but it cannot be helped."

"I know Jack and he won't be very happy about that."

"You would rather he be in pain?"

"No... I wouldn't... I just know he won't much like the idea."

"Without the drug, the bandage changes would become intolerable. He would struggle against them. If they are not changed and the wound scraped and cleaned he WILL die. There is no other choice here but pain and death."

"I understand. He'll take the drug."

Ushell nodded and smiled. "See that you make HIM understand; it will make it easier."

Near the end of the day, more villagers came by animal drawn carts and the evening meal turned into something like a feast. Ushell sent Harry to eat with the villagers as she sat and fed the again conscious Jack some of Neema's broth thickened with bread. Jack had managed the entire bowl of broth for once and that contributed to her optimism that he would recover. She fed him tiny bits of a sweet soft fruit as a reward for his efforts and watched his eyelids droop as the effort of eating took its toll.

She picked up the bowls and utensils and moved quietly from the hold, carefully reducing the light level in the room with the control panel by the door. Harry was sitting by the fire enjoying the evening, the meal, and the companionship of the villagers. When Ushell exited the ship, he stood and walked to her.

"He is asleep. He finished all the broth and bread and I even shared some of my Loyo fruit with him."

"Really? That's great."

"Yes. You must all rest if you are leaving..." Ushell turned to the villagers and spoke. "They must prepare for their journey, friends. Let us wish them good rest and see them on the new day." The villagers began to collect their possessions and place them on the cart saying their good nights to the two Jaffa and Harry and started to make their way back to the village.

"We will return on the morrow to wish you farewell. Good rest, Tere'ma, Joset..." The two Jaffa stood to bid the healer good night, then moved back to the fire. "Good rest, Harry... I will see you and Jack with the new day."

"Thank you, Ushell." Harry kissed her cheek and stood back. She blushed and motioned to her entourage of villagers as she walked away.

Harry went into the ship and slipped quietly into the hold so he wouldn't wake Jack. He pulled a huge cushion, more a mattress really, from the corner and placed another cushion on it, then grabbed a blanket from one of the baskets and was asleep in moments after he lay down.

The morning came only seconds after Harry had fallen asleep, or that's what it felt like anyway. The entire village turned out, again bearing foodstuffs and the two Jaffa ate while Ushell and Harry tended Jack. For only the second time since they had landed there, Jack took the entire amount of broth and bread that Ushell fed him and might have even taken more had he not fallen asleep from the effort. The celebratory atmosphere soon changed as the ship prepared for takeoff on what would hopefully be the final leg of their voyage. Goodbyes completed, Harry moved back to the bed in the cargo hold for takeoff. Jack's soft groan was his only response to the bumpy liftoff.

Back in hyperspace, Harry resumed Jack's complete care shared for so many days with the healer Ushell and found that he had little enough time to complete everything and sleep before the cycle began again. The extensive repairs undertaken by Joset during their stay with Ushell's people had paid off, however, and they managed to maintain hyperspace long enough to arrive at their destination system with one jump. Harry and Jack both felt the ship drop from hyperspace. Harry had just finished changing Jack's dressing and was smoothing the bandages when the lurch into real space occurred.

"Oowww... what the hell are you doing Harry? What just happened?"

"We dropped out of hyperspace, I think."

"Well, go find out."

"Let me finish this first."

Jack slapped at Harry's hands the best he could given the awkward position. "Stop! Just stop... it's fine!..."

"Ohh, now I KNOW you're feeling better. I'd recognize that whining anywhere." Harry sat back and gathered his remaining supplies to put away as Jack's eyes shifted to the doorway of the hold.

"Aren't you going to go look?"

"Why?"

"To see where we are."

"I know where we are. We're sitting in the middle of a solar system orbiting binary suns. There are twenty-seven planets in the system all but the outermost four are inhabitable. Those four each have only one moon; the remainders have a minimum of five moons apiece. On one of the minimum one hundred fifteen celestial bodies is where the Jaffa rebels have a base. We're going to park in the middle of the system and set a beacon and hope the Jaffa come and find us before we die of starvation or old age."

"For this we left Paradise?" Jack snarked.

"Yeah... kinda like the old days, eh? You don't know what you got till it's gone. I'm sorry, Jack. But the good news is, if we had stayed on Paradise, we'd probably BOTH be dead right now, instead... you're getting a little better each day. Ushell was divine intervention and in the nick of time, too."

"I suppose... but if I hadn't been so damn curious... if I'd have just checked the traps and come home..." Jack gasped as he tried to turn more towards Harry, the pain deepening the lines on his face. "... None of that would even have been necessary." Jack groaned and shifted in the bed.

Harry moved to the potent powder and mixed a small amount, then turned back to Jack. "Here this will help with the pain."

"No." Jack turned his head. "I don't want it."

"Tough. You're going to take it anyway. Ushell taught me lots of ways to give it to you, so if you don't take it this way, I'll use another method...one way or another, Jack, it makes no difference to me."

Jack tried to take a deep breath to sigh and wound up grimacing again with the pain that the extra expansion of his chest caused. He relaxed into submission. "Fine... it's not as if I have a choice anyway."

Harry smiled and smeared the sticky drug inside Jack's lip, then leaned in and kissed him on the nose. "Nope, no choice at all."

Time moved at different paces for the occupants of the cargo ship. For Joset and Tere'ma, who listened to their internal biological clocks, it was only a matter of four cycles. For Harry, the wait seemed like weeks; and for Jack, whose usually competent internal clock was currently blunted by Ushell's powder, it was only a matter of hours. But eventually a scouting party made contact with the cargo ship and guided it to a landing on the surface of one of the moons.

Harry decided that now was the time to shave Jack, he wanted to be sure that the Jaffa rebels, some of whom had met the Tauri hero before, recognized him. He moved to Jack's bedside with the razor and water and Jack pulled back and stared at him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm going to shave you."

"Uh, okay... whyyy?"

"Well, we want the nice rebels to recognize you now don't we?"

"You think losing the beard will help?"

"It can't hurt."

"It can when you wield the razor."

"Very funny. Now hold still before I give you another wound."

By the time they were invaded by the rebels searching the ship for hidden devices or beacons, Harry was admiring his handiwork and Jack's smooth, pale face. He leaned in and was kissed within an inch of his life by a curiously aroused Jack.

"Jack?"

"It reminds me of the old days when you'd sit on the pier and I'd stand in the water and you'd shave me with that purple goo..."

"And you'd go down on me when I was done. Yes, Jack, I remember. And now, thanks to THAT little movie moment, I'll be packing wood in my pants for hours."

"So when the Jaffa go to frisk you...?" Jack's smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'll probably come in my pants if they touch me."

"I don't know, they might think you're concealing a weapon."

"Which I am. But I have no desire to turn it on anyone but you."

"You're a sentimental sap, Harry."

"I learned from the master, Jack."

Harry leaned in for another kiss just as the rebels burst in staff weapons at the ready. Harry stood slowly and held his hands aloft as the rebels opened every container and basket. When they turned to search the bed where Jack lay, Harry spoke.

"Wait! Please, be gentle. He is recovering from a staff blast to the chest; it isn't easy for him to move. When the covers were yanked from his body, Jack grumbled and tried to sit up.

"Godammit, what words didn't you understand? Do you have any idea who he is?" Harry was getting angrier by the moment.

The party of Jaffa continued to search, now including the bed, none even acknowledging that he'd been heard.

Harry started to lunge as one of the Jaffa prodded the very bulky dressing that covered Jack's wound. Jack gasped and tried to move away from the pain. "What the fuck are you doing? Leave him alone! Can't you see he's injured? Didn't they tell you who this is? This is Colonel Jack O'Neill of the SGC. You remember, the hero of the Tauri? "

The familiar voice came from just outside the door to the cargo hold. Its owner then came swiftly into the cargo bay and stood like a statue, staring down at the figure in the bed. Jack's face was in a grimace, his eyes squeezed shut against the pain surging in his chest, but there was no doubt. He looked older, thinner and paler, but he WAS alive.

"I see we meet again, hasshak. When they said you were dead I had thought myself rid of you for good. I see now that my misfortune has followed me even into my old age."

Jack didn't even open his eyes. "Bratac, you old goat. Aren't you dead yet?"

The other Jaffa continued to rummage around. When one bumped into the bed and caused Jack to gasp, Bratac scolded him and then shouted for them all to leave and bent and pulled the blanket back over Jack.

"Forgive them, my friend. They are zealous in their searches; we have had to be very careful of spies." Bratac reached down and Jack grasped his forearm in the familiar warrior greeting.

Harry, still standing with his hands up, cleared his throat.

Jack looked over, then back to Bratac. "Bratac, this is Harry. Harry, you can put your hands down now, Bratac is an old friend, emphasis on the old."

"I see your wit has also been dulled by your advancing years, hasshak. They told us that you were dead?"

"No... stranded, yes, but not dead. Harry and I have been living like a couple of old hermits somewhere that was supposed to be Utopia."

"Utopia? This is not a name that I have heard. Where is this world?"

Jack smiled and shook his head. "It's a long story, Bratac. We had no idea where we were, we were stranded there."

"Who would do this?"

"Well..." Harry began.

Jack interrupted. "It was an accident, Bratac. We were just lucky that we were able to survive there and build an almost comfortable life."

"Then how is it you came to be here, like this?"

"I discovered Joset repairing the ship while I was out checking my traps. Tere'ma shot first and asked questions later. Harry somehow sweet-talked them into bringing us along for the ride and here we are."

"Somehow I doubt it was that simple, O'Neill."

"It never is, Bratac. That's just the condensed version. Where are we?"

"A forward outpost of the rebellion. There are only a few of us here. I came here to deliver supplies and mission assignments. It was fortunate that we found you when we did. I was heading for another outpost when we discovered the beacon."

"Jack needs medical attention. We need to get him back to the SGC."

"That may present some difficulty. First we must return to our base, from there we can contact the Tauri. Rest my friend, I will arrange everything." Bratac laid his hand on Jack's shoulder and headed for the peltac.

Harry helped Jack to a sitting position and then prepared another herbal tea. Maybe they were headed back to earth and modern medicine, but for now all he had was Ushell's herbals and Jack was still his responsibility. By the time Bratac returned, Harry was finished helping Jack drink the last of the broth and bread mix that had become his basic diet and was settling him down to rest. Bratac sat in the second chair given to them by Ushell as they took off from the outpost and headed for the rebel base.

Harry sighed and looked at Bratac.

"How long?"

"Not long. We need only be in hyperspace for a short time."

"So, Bratac, how goes the war?"

"The struggle continues my friend. Although we feared that your loss would severely diminish them, your comrades have risen to the challenge. Anubis and Baal continue to elude us, but Bastet and Morgaine have been eliminated. Lord Yu is no longer a threat to anyone but himself, his empire reduced to his home world and its system. His status as a system lord is now seriously in question. Osirus, it now appears, is a renegade after a disagreement with Anubis. Nirrti is also still at large."

"So, no great difference then?" Jack grunted out as he squirmed in the bed.

Bratac laughed and watched the pain contort O'Neill's face for the time it took to change position.

"Did you think us unable to manage without you, hasshak?"

"Well...everyone would like to THINK that they're irreplaceable... What about the Tok'ra?"

"They continue the struggle as well, although there are fewer and fewer of them..."

"Hammond?"

"Hammond of Texas continues to lead the Tauri struggle. However, he has become less bold since your loss; I believe he wearies of the cost of the fight."

"Jacob?"

"Our friend Jacob Carter was well, when last I saw him."

"My team?" Jack asked softly, almost afraid of the answer.

"They are well, to my knowledge. Teal'c divides his time between the rebellion and his promise to you. He will be relieved that you have returned. He has never wavered from his belief that you were alive..."

"Carter?"

"Still a competent warrior. I understand that she..."

"Daniel?" Jack tried to act nonchalant about the question, but Harry could hear the anxiety in his voice.

"Daniel Jackson is well, my friend." Bratac smiled and patted Jack's hand where his fingers clenched the blanket in a nervous grip. "You must rest now. There will be enough time to speak later when you are well."

Without a word, Harry helped Jack into a more comfortable position, then started to move away. Jack took his hand and held it until Harry looked at him.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I had to know."

"Its alright, Jack. I understand, really. It isn't what you think."

"Then what is it?"

"You have people to ask about. I... I..."

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry. Our location has changed, how I feel about you hasn't."

"But what about Daniel?"

"He's a smart guy, he's probably moved on... I've been gone a long time."

"Oh... somehow I doubt that time has changed anything as far as he's concerned... He's going to want you back."

"Things have changed Harry, let's cross that bridge when we come to it, okay?" Jack patted the bed next to him for Harry to sit and then grimaced when the bed shifted as he did.

Jack fell asleep with Harry still holding his hand. Harry fell asleep shortly after that, in a position that would later make him regret that he did.

Bratac kept an eye on the hold, not permitting anyone to enter it while Jack and Harry slept. The lurching return to normal space dropped Harry from his tenuous position on the edge of the bed directly onto the floor with enough noise to also wake Jack.

"SHIT!"

"You okay, Harry?"

"Yeah, only bruised my pride. But boy, is the rest of me stiff."

"Stop bragging and go see what happened."

"Keep your pants on, Jack."

"I'm not wearing any pants, Harry."

Harry climbed to his feet and gave Jack a half smile. "I know."

Bratac met Harry at the door of the cargo hold. "We will be landing soon. It may not be as smooth as you'd like, hasshak, so I suggest you prepare yourself."

"We'll be ready, Bratac." Jack groaned and tried to pull himself into a more comfortable position in the bed.

The landing was as Bratac predicted, very bumpy, but only moments after they landed, a large contingent of Jaffa appeared and began off-loading the contents of both cargo bays and moving it all underground into the Tok'ra built tunnels. Jack and Harry watched as the Jaffa entered, bowed to them and then picked up the crates and baskets of supplies until there was nothing left. Then Bratac reappeared leading a group of Jaffa who, with one motion of the Master's arm, carefully picked up the bed still containing Jack and carried him from the ship. Bratac draped an arm over Harry's shoulder and escorted him to the rings that took them into the tunnels.

When they arrived in the tunnels, they were taken immediately to the small, sparsely equipped infirmary where the minimal fixtures had been pushed aside to make room for the bed. The squad of Jaffa gently deposited their passenger, then bowed and left.

Jack looked around for a moment and then spoke. "So, Bratac? What now?"

"Now we wait."

"FOR...???"

"We sent a message when we came into this system. A messenger has already been dispatched..."

The metallic sounds of Jaffa armor becoming louder as it approached, halted Bratac's sentence and made Jack's pulse quicken. Harry looked around as if for an escape route, his mouth too dry to comment.

The cape, armor and staff weapon captured everyone's attention before their eyes rose to the face above the armor.

"O'NEILL!! I did not believe the message. I thought Master Bratac was suffering some fever."

Harry's eyes closed and he released what he had thought was going to be his last breath.

Jack's face split into a wide grin. "TEAL'C!! Long time no see!

Two young Jaffa relieved Teal'c of his staff weapon and took the pieces as he stripped off his armor. "I have greatly missed you, my friend."

"And I you, my friend."

Teal'c turned to Bratac. "Did you send word to the Tauri, of O'Neill's return?"

"I have not as yet. I assumed that O'Neill would wish to do this himself from the Alpha Site."

Teal'c turned back towards Jack. "You are unwell, O'Neill?"

"He took a staff blast to the chest." Harry chimed in.

"Teal'c, you remember Harry Maybourne, don't ya?" Jack waved his arm and tried to turn in the bed only to gasp with the sharp pain the movement brought.

"I do indeed." Teal'c watched as Harry was immediately at Jack's side trying to assist him into a more comfortable position. Then Teal'c looked into Harry's face and Jack could tell that in that one look, Teal'c knew precisely what Harry and he now meant to each other.

"I will assemble an honor guard to carry..."

"I wanna walk, T. I wanna go home under my own power."

"We are going to the Alpha Site, O'Neill, that is not your home."

"I know, but it's close enough." Jack's eyes continued to ask even after his verbal request was finished.

"As you wish, O'Neill."

Harry looked back to Jack and spoke.

"Pants, Jack."

"Oh, yeah... by the way, T... got any pants I could borrow for the trip?"

Teal'c nodded.

"Master Bratac?"

Bratac laughed and nodded. "I will see what we have available."

"Harry, you better go make sure I won't look too ridiculous. Bratac seems to take pride in ego alterations, especially mine, if you know what I mean?"

Harry laughed and nodded, then followed Bratac out the door. Jack waited until the footsteps in the hall faded before speaking again.

"So... T, how's Daniel been doing?"

"He is well, O'Neill, although he misses you greatly."

"A few things have changed, Teal'c. I know you noticed."

"I did indeed. Do you no longer have feelings for DanielJackson, O'Neill?"

"That's not it, T. I still love Daniel... at least I THINK I still love Daniel. A lot of time has gone by. Time has a way of changing people, changing their feelings, their desires; I don't know if he will feel the same."

"What of Harry Maybourne?"

"We've had a lot of time together, Teal'c. I love Harry and I know that he loves me, but we haven't had the opportunity to think about what's going on... too much has happened, too quickly. Harry and I need to talk and then Daniel and I need to talk."

"You have much to consider, O'Neill." Teal'c said softly.

"Indeed." Was Jack's only reply.

It took Harry and Teal'c both to get Jack into the clothing; he was too weak to stand by himself, let alone dress. The pants were especially difficult because there was no pain free-way to support Jack while he stood. It took a while before an exhausted O'Neill was laid back on the bed, now wearing his new clean BDU's.

"Where did you guys get these?" Jack smoothed his hands down the familiar green pants.

"We were in need of clothing for our troops, most walked away with nothing. Hammond of Texas sends us supplies when he can. Clothing, medicine and Tauri rations..."

"Humanitarian aid." Harry said quietly. Jack laughed and looked at him.

"MRE's? Don't you remember what they TASTE like, Harry? I wouldn't call MRE's humanitarian."

"Well, true, it's not Labbit..."

"Not even close."

"Labbit?" Teal'c asked.

"A rabbit like creature about the size of your average Labrador Retriever that we hunted for food. Not very smart, but tasty as all hell." Harry answered.

"Good smoked or even dried. Fast though, hard to shoot with a bow, you have to lead and even then, the front legs are so big it's hard to get a chest kill shot..."

"Made you quite an archer, Jack."

"That it did, Harry. Made you a damn fine cook, too."

"Once I finally mastered those berries..."

"And once I found the salt deposit."

Bratac stood and listened in awe, shaking his head. "When you have finished your women's talk, we are ready to depart, hasshak."

Harry glared at the Jaffa master. Jack placed a hand on his arm to bring his attention back to him. "Don't, Harry... he just says stuff like that to mess with me... trying to tick me off."

"And it doesn't?"

"Nah, not anymore. I just chalk it up to his advancing senility." The last was said louder for Bratac's benefit.

The old Jaffa started to laugh. "Come my friends! These warriors will take you to the Chappa'ai, O'Neill." Four large Jaffa entered the room carrying what looked like a sedan chair.

"I'm not gonna ride in that thing." Jack waved at the well-appointed chair with disgust.

"Only as far as the gate, Jack, then we'll walk through. You're too weak to walk all that way; it's quite a hike. They use this all the time here as a stretcher, it's all they have. Surely you don't want them to have to carry that big bed all the way?" Harry's argument quieted Jack immediately and he nodded.

"Okay, whatever... I just wanna go home."

"Come, O'Neill." Teal'c held a hand out to help Jack to get into the chair.

About a half hour later, the small party approached the Stargate. The ride had been bumpy and Jack grimaced with pain as he was assisted from the sedan chair. He grudgingly accepted assistance, leaning on a tall, broad Jaffa while Teal'c dialed the address then watched as the wormhole formed

When Teal'c moved back to his left side, Jack draped his right arm over Harry's shoulder for balance as a taller Teal'c supported the bulk of his weight. They carefully negotiated the two steps to the dais then paused.

"Are you ready, O'Neill?"

"Been ready for a while, T... Harry?"

"I'm ready, Jack."

"Alrighty then, shall we?"

Teal'c nodded and they stepped into the shimmering portal.

The trip through the gate was everything that Jack had remembered and more. The threesome emerged through the gate at the Alpha Site to weapons trained on them.

Jack doubled over, nearly collapsing from the searing cold of the wormhole, Teal'c's sure grip on him the only thing that prevented him making a less than desirable entrance.

"Teal'c!"

"Major Callahan please have your men stand down and send for a litter. Colonel O'Neill is wounded."

"WHAT?... Colonel O'Neill is dead, Teal'c, you know tha..."

O'Neill lifted his head and looked Callahan in the face.

"... JESUS H. CHRIST!! It IS Colonel O'Neill!..." He spun and barked an order at his men. "...STAND DOWN! And for God's sake, someone get the medic and a stretcher!"

Two of his troops took off at a dead run as Callahan moved closer and snapped into a textbook salute. "Colonel O'Neill, sir, welcome to the Alpha Site!" He held it and waited for O'Neill's return salute that would release him.

Jack was still hunched over and mostly supported by Teal'c and Harry, but he managed to free his right arm enough to bring his hand almost into a salute. "Thanks, Sean... at ease."

Callahan turned and waved the stretcher party into position. Teal'c and Harry hefted Jack onto the stretcher and Jack clutched at his chest as if to protect the injury from further damage, then all parties moved quickly off into the medical hut to talk while the medics examined Jack. Harry dropped exhausted into a chair as Teal'c stood guard over O'Neill. An increase in the chatter coming from O'Neill's bedside got all their attention.

"Sirs, I'm afraid there isn't much I can do for the Colonel here. It's a bad staff blast wound. He's going to need some surgical debridement and probably skin grafts. That's way out of my league here; I don't have the kinds of skills or the supplies to take care of him here. I'm going to start some IV's, then begin some antibiotics and fluid replacement, but he needs to be evac-ed back to the SGC Infirmary as soon as possible."

The corpsman was calm and certain and Callahan listened carefully before turning to Teal'c. "Where the hell did you find him?"

"I did not. It was, in fact, he who found us. He was discovered by Jaffa escaping to the rebel outpost, it was they who wounded him before they were aware of his identity. He and Harry Maybourne had been living on a remote moon all the while."

"Harry?" Jack's voiced sounded even more tired than before and Harry moved instantly to his bedside.

"What is it, Jack."

"Startin' to hurt like a sonovabitch here." Jack gritted out through clenched teeth.

Harry reached for the bag over his shoulder and took out a small metal container and dipped in with his finger. "Okay, Jack...hang on, this will only take a second. I mixed some up with honey before we left the Jaffa base. I wanted to have some at the ready if you needed it."

Jack opened his mouth and Harry smeared the small dollop of drug inside his lip and then stood back, as Jack searched out the sweetened drug with his tongue.

"What is that?" The corpsman moved up next to Harry and pointed at the small tin still in his hand.

"I don't know. It's an herbal drug given to us by a healer. Our ship had trouble and we were forced down for repairs. This is a narcotic of some kind... all I know is that it takes away his pain."

"But you don't know what it is?"

"No...sorry." Harry continued to watch Jack, waiting for the drug to work.

"But it could be doing more harm than good."

"Unlikely, since we were very sure he was going to die until Ushell, that was the healer's name, helped us. You think that wound looks bad NOW? You should have seen it then... Ushell was surprised that he even made it through the first night..." Harry turned to look at the corpsman now. "Hell, I'm surprised he even lived to make it THAT far!"

"Looking at it now, I'm still surprised he's made it this far. You did a good job taking care of him. But I'm sending for litter bearers now, the sooner we get him back the better..."

The corpsman began to turn and speak when Harry stopped him. "Just give him a couple of minutes, let the drug work. He'll go to sleep and then we can put a couple of blankets over him and take him back through and he'll never know what hit him. That cold damn near killed him the last time." The corpsman nodded in agreement and they stood and observed Jack's slide into the arms of the drug's oblivion.

The smallish voice came from the bed. "Teal'c?"

The Jaffa was at the bedside in a blink.

"What is it, O'Neill?"

"Promise me that you won't let them take Harry. You have to keep an eye on him for me."

"I will endeavor to protect Harry Maybourne in your absence, O'Neill."

"Thanks, T." Jack sighed and his eyes slid shut only a moment later.

The corpsman observing turned to Harry. "Boy! That stuff sure works quick."

"Yeah, thank God. But it won't last long, so we'd better go." Harry replaced the container in his bag and turned to the Jaffa and the SGC major. "Time to saddle up now, Major. He'll only be out for a little bit."

Callahan turned and motioned to the stretcher team. Jack didn't even open his eyes when he was picked up and carried through the event horizon yet again. He would have given anything for the looks on the faces in the gate and control rooms when they got a look at who was on the stretcher.

By the time that Doctor Fraiser had the curtains pulled around his bed in the trauma bay, word of O'Neill's return was spreading like wildfire throughout the SGC. Hammond stood like a stone at the Infirmary doorway, eyes fixed on the curtained cubicle, almost afraid to look away, that O'Neill would somehow disappear again if he took his eyes off him. Harry had been escorted to the locker room to shower and to clean up a little before beginning the debriefing. Teal'c had gone with him. Jackson and Carter were both off world with separate SG teams. Hammond looked at his watch.

An hour had gone by. By now, everyone on base knew about O'Neill's return. In another half-hour, that would even spread to off world as SG-6 was due to ship out to the research station on Argos. O'Neill was still a favorite there; he had shown them the true face of their god Pelops and with that one small act had won a giant place in their history. The Argosians had held a month of mourning when they were told that O'Neill was missing and presumed dead. Hammond suspected the celebration of his return would last even longer.

After Harry had showered and dressed, he sat down on the bench to put on the brand new combat boots he had been issued and realized just how tired he was. Boot in hand, he stared off at something unseen across the room, too wrung out mentally and physically by the entire ordeal to even manage footwear. Teal'c moved closer and stood looking down on the former NID officer, his still wet hair was pulled neatly back and tied with a strand of leather, his beard now carefully trimmed as only possible with a pair of scissors. Teal'c stood and waited for Harry to breach the silence.

He turned the boot over in his hands examining the smooth hard leather, then turned and stared at the unblemished sole. "You know, the first pair of boots I made were for Jack. His boots were well-broken in when we were stranded and they were the first ones to go. It wasn't easy; I had plenty of leather but nothing else. He had to lash them onto his feet, they were just labbit leather bags with more labbit leather folded into a rectangle inside for a sole.

They didn't get much better until Jack made me a couple of needles so I could sew the leather together. He used some P-90 ammo and made them from the brass shell casings. It took him a couple of months... I'm still not sure exactly HOW he did it. I know he used stone to smooth it with..." Harry laughed. "... God knows how the man had any skin left on his hands; his knuckles were a mess from where he kept bashing them on the rocks.

Once he found the clay we had it made. He made a couple of different clay molds and then melted the brass. Those he only had to polish it, it got a lot easier to sew after that. Especially when Jack decided to use Labbit gut for thread." Harry looked up into Teal'c face as he stood and listened silently. "He washed out the intestines and then strung them to dry out in the sun, every day they'd shrivel a little and Jack would split them lengthwise, then wet them and let them dry again."

"How long did this process take?"

"A couple of weeks, I guess. You're sense of time is the first thing to go under those circumstances."

"And this worked well?"

"No... but it wasn't a complete failure either. The thread was functional but had the tendency to swell when it got wet. Until we figured out how to tan it."

"How did you do that?"

"Urine."

"Indeed."

"Yeah, Jack remembered something from a story; we tried it and it worked wonders. We used it on all the skins; it made them softer, suppler. That made it easier to make things from them... and since Labbits are large, the skins were big enough to make clothing." Harry bent and pulled the boot on, pulling the laces without tying them, he pulled the second boot on and repeated the motion and then sat up.

"Should you not tie the laces, Harry Maybourne?"

"Honestly, Teal'c... it's been so long since I've worn real shoes that I don't think I could stand to have them tied." Harry leaned forward and tucked the laces inside the boots. "I'll wait and see how they feel before I tie them up."

"As you wish. We should return to the infirmary. Doctor Fraiser will be looking for you when she finishes with O'Neill."

Harry slapped his hands on his knees and nodded, then took a deep breath and stood. "Shall we?" He started for the locker room door.

"We shall." Teal'c followed.

George Hammond was an exceedingly patient man. It was almost part of the job description. But his patience was about gone waiting for a medical report on the SGC's prodigal colonel. His hand wringing had turned into pacing and now, with one hand on his hip, head rubbing... it was no damned wonder that he was bald, his hair couldn't take the abuse. Finally, after nearly two hours in the hallway, he entered the infirmary.

"Doctor Fraiser?" He spoke to the curtains surrounding the trauma bay watching several pairs of feet move in an almost choreographed dance in the enclosed area.

"Hang a second bag and start a gram of ceftriaxone, then I want that chest x-ray so we can get a central line started..." Fraiser came from behind the curtains still issuing orders to her team. "... Sir?"

"How's he doing, doctor?"

"Surprisingly well, considering that he shouldn't even be alive. Looks like he took a staff blast to the chest nearly two weeks ago or so. It looks bad and I can't believe that it isn't grossly infected, but Bratac said that a native healer on some planet had been treating him, scraping the wound and applying poultices and had given Colonel Maybourne the instructions and supplies to continue his care once they left. Bratac says that the Colonel was very conscientious about Colonel O'Neill's care. He's dehydrated and has an infection and I don't like the sound of his lungs, I think he's got a pneumonia on top of everything else, but I think he'll make it, sir."

"Is he conscious?"

"No, sir. Colonel Maybourne was also given a very powerful narcotic by the healer to use on the Colonel and he gave him a dose just before they came through the gate. That's why I'm trying to get all the invasive stuff done now, first to get it over with while he's still out and second to stimulate him into waking up. I won't know his level of consciousness until he wakes, sir."

"He's hurting but lucid when he's awake." Harry said as he approached the two from the infirmary door, Teal'c still on his six.

"Do you have any idea what the drug is, Colonel?"

Harry shook his head. "No, only that it is powerful and he'll need to be tapered off of it. That's what Ushell, the healer, told me."

"I'd like a sample of it for analysis."

"Certainly, I can provide you with a small amount. Ushell told me that I would need to wean him from the drug once his chest heals, so she gave me plenty."

"How do you administer it?" Janet watched him fumble with the sack slung over his shoulder, removing a small box.

"I mixed this already. It's mixed with honey and then I put a small amount just inside his lip. She said the honey keeps it from burning the mouth."

Janet leaned and looked into the box at the small glob of brown goo. "Do you have any that isn't mixed with honey?"

Harry covered the small container and dropped it back into his bag then pulled out the box of powder that Ushell had given him. Fraiser grabbed a capped tube from the emergency cart and Harry filled it halfway with some of the dark brown powder.

"I'll send this for analysis. Let's see if he can manage without for a while or at least until we have some idea of what we're dealing with here. I don't want to compound his problems with an unknown narcotic. I'd rather use the pain meds that I'm familiar with."

"No problem. Jack doesn't want to take it anyway."

"That's NOT a surprise." Fraiser rolled her eyes.

"People, please..." Hammond interrupted, but before he could say anything else a small gravely voice came from behind the curtains.

"Harry?"

The trio looked back at the curtains as a nurse moved out and spoke to Fraiser. "He's awake, Doctor."

"Can I see him?" Was spoken almost simultaneously by both Hammond and Harry.

"Just for a few minutes..." she turned to Harry "... then it's your turn, Colonel, you can come back after your exam."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry moved immediately behind the curtains. Fraiser stopped Hammond with a hand on his arm.

"Doctor?"

"He's been gone a long time, General, and it will be longer still before he'll be well enough to come back... if ever. It's a bad wound."

"Career ending?" Hammond asked.

"Could still be life ending, sir. But, yes, I think it might well be the final straw."

Hammond nodded and moved behind the curtain. "Colonel, I don't recall your mission window being quite so lengthy."

"Gen'rl, sorry I'm late, sir." The voice was quiet but the smile was sincere.

"It's good to have you back, Jack."

"It's good to be back, sir. I see you kept my old bed."

"Just like old times, eh?"

"Yes, sir. My team, sir?"

"Off world right now. Major Carter is supervising some repairs to Prometheus and Doctor Jackson is with SG Three and one of the other archeologists running a site survey of some ruins that SG Nine found a few weeks ago. I'll inform Major Carter. She won't be able to come back until her project is complete, but I thought that I would send for Doctor Jackson and surprise him."

"Oh... it will do that, sir." Jack half whispered. He gasped as what had been muted pain returned with a vengeance, reaching out and grabbing for Harry's hand. Then, unconsciously, Harry reached out with his other hand and brushed the long silver-white hair away from Jack's face. Neither man's actions were lost on the general.

"I'll let you get some rest and I believe that Colonel Maybourne has an imminent appointment with Doctor Fraiser. I'll come back to see you a little later."

"Yes, sir."

Hammond stopped to speak with Teal'c for a moment and then he headed for the control room.

As soon as Hammond had left the area, Doctor Fraiser moved back towards the bed. "Colonel Maybourne, I'm ready for you now. Colonel O'Neill is going to have his chest x-ray and then his MRI. By the time he gets back, you'll be done."

"You better go, Harry, she really hates to be kept waiting. I'll be okay."

Harry smiled and nodded. He followed Fraiser as the orderlies started to rearrange the equipment to move Jack's bed.

Hammond came into the control room and spoke to Master Sergeant Davis.

"When is SG Three's next check in?"

"Not for another twelve hours, sir."

"That's too long. Dial it up; let's surprise Doctor Jackson shall we?"

Davis smiled and typed in the command that would dial the world where SG Three guarded the members of the archeological survey team.

Hammond stood and tried to compose his thoughts while the gate dialed and the wormhole established.

"SG Three Niner, this is Hammond, come in, over."

The radio-only contact was relayed through the MALP at the gate to the site's camp about five miles away.

"This is Colonel Wayne. Go ahead, general, over."

"Colonel, we're going to need Doctor Jackson back here ASAP. Can you give me an ETA, over."

There was no response from the Marine Colonel for some seconds. "General, he wants to know why. He says he's at a very crucial part of the excavation, sir, over."

Hammond frowned and shook his head. He had no doubt that Jackson was single-handedly responsible for every one of the silver hairs on Jack O'Neill's head.

"Colonel Wayne, I don't care if you have to roll him up in a sleeping bag and throw him through, but I want Doctor Jackson back here five minutes ago. Is that clear, Colonel? Over."

"Yes sir! That may be how you get him sir. He is not at all happy. Over."

"He'll understand when he gets here, Colonel. Hammond out."

"Shut it down, sergeant."

"Yes, sir. Doctor Jackson is going to be really angry when he gets here, sir." Davis smiled and turned to face Hammond.

"He'll get over it pretty quick I think, sergeant." Hammond had a twinkle in his eyes that Davis hadn't seen for a long time. He was due off-duty in an hour, but he thought he'd hang out and watch the action. He loved fireworks.

Harry was dozing on the bed next to Jack's when the klaxons started. After so long without ambient noise except wildlife, the everyday sounds of the SGC were unnerving enough; the klaxon nearly had him jumping out of his skin. Jack, although lightly sedated, was the same way, practically coming out of the bed in a cartoon character response.

It took Harry a moment to get his bearings and then he moved to Jack's side. "It's okay, Jack. It's just a gate activation, take it easy."

Jack's eyes were wide and terrified, his face was sweaty and pale. Harry's hand moved to again brush back the long hair that kept encroaching on Jack's face and his fingers slipped to Jack's neck. The pulse there was bounding and very fast. Harry wasn't sure, but he didn't think that being startled was the whole reason. He turned towards the nurse's station and asked for someone to call Doctor Fraiser.

It was an extremely angry Daniel Jackson that came stomping down the ramp from the Stargate, looking back towards the event horizon as he did. He stumbled slightly and stopped at the base of the ramp directly in front of Hammond.

"That sonovabitch PUSHED ME!... He PUSHED me through, first, they practically dragged me to the gate and then he pushed me through! What the HELL is going on, General?" Jackson was dressed in BDU pants and a tee shirt with a bandanna tied around his head. He was grubby, grimy and dusty... and thoroughly pissed. He waved dirty hands as he raved and Hammond just stood and let him vent. Davis was totally enjoying the show from the safety of the control room, unable to resist the smile that the scene brought on and trying hard not to laugh.

"Why don't you get cleaned up and then come to my office, son?"

"No... sir. If it's so damned important that the Marines have to drag me to the gate and then push me through, I want to know what's going on now."

"It IS important. But there is nothing that you can do like that... Airman!" The SF stepped forward and Jackson's eyes got wide. "Sir!"

"Escort Doctor Jackson to the locker room, and then directly to my office once he has showered and changed."

"Yes sir!... Doctor?" The SF motioned towards the doorway as Daniel began to sputter.

"Go now, Doctor." Hammond stepped sideways to allow Daniel and the SF to pass. In the control room Walter Davis was about to give birth to a litter of puppies. A minute later, the general came back through the control room on his way to his office. He was chuckling and shaking his head. He looked at Davis and smiled. "Boy, were you right, sergeant."

"Don't you think it's cruel to make him go through all that, sir?"

"Doctor Fraiser would have my head if I sent him to the infirmary to see the colonel like that... it's just self-preservation, sergeant."

"Yes sir."

A half hour later, the freshly scrubbed and now more than just a little worried Doctor Jackson was escorted to the door of Hammond's office. The SF even knocked for him.

"Come in, Doctor Jackson, have a seat..." Hammond waved towards a chair. "...You're dismissed, airman." The SF nodded and exited closing the door after Daniel entered.

Daniel sat down nervously. "General, will you PLEASE tell me what the HELL is going on?" Daniel pressed his hands down on the chair arms, his knuckles were white with the crushing grip. Hammond got up and moved around his desk stopping directly in front of the chair where Daniel sat. He leaned back slightly, sitting uneasily on the edge of the big desk. This attempt to be casual did nothing to relieve Daniel's anxiety; as a matter of fact, it only made it worse. George had thought about how he would do this, running all kinds of lines through his head, before settling on just two words.

"Jack's back."

"What?... what did you say?"

"Jack's back."

Daniel's mouth dropped open slightly and he took a deep breath in and then sank back into the chair as if deflated. He sat for a moment as Hammond watched, then swallowed hard and looked up at the general. "Is he okay?"

"No... he's in the infirmary. He took a staff blast to the chest. It's pretty bad,but Doctor Fraiser seems to think that barring any surprises, he'll make it. He's pretty weak and in a lot of pain, but he's lucid when he is awake."

"Where was he?"

"They were stranded on some moon. A couple of Jaffa escaping Lord Yu landed there to make repairs to their ship; they shot him before they knew who he was. But they also managed to get them found by Bratac while looking for the Jaffa rebel base. He contacted Teal'c who got them to the Alpha Site and from there they were evac'ed here. He's only been here about four or five hours."

"Can I see him?"

"Of course, that's why I sent for you."

"Does Sam know yet?"

"No, they're scheduled for a radio contact in about two hours, I'll inform her then. She won't be able to come back until her project is complete."

Daniel took another deep breath.

"I can't believe it... I never would have guessed."

Hammond smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"I know, son. Shall we go see him now?"

Daniel jumped to his feet, the blank expression suddenly replaced by a brilliant smile.

"Wait!..." Daniel stopped suddenly and put a hand on Hammond's arm. "...you said they."

"Colonel Maybourne is with him. They were both rescued. Apparently he was the one that convinced the two Jaffa to take he and Jack with them so they could get him medical attention."

"Was he injured?"

"No, he's fine, just tired. Evidently the colonel was shot about two weeks ago and Colonel Maybourne has been caring for him ever since."

"Ahh." Was all Daniel said as they left the office.

When they arrived at the infirmary the curtains were pulled around Jack's bed and Harry Maybourne paced just inside the door.

"Colonel, what's going on?" Hammond asked as they approached.

A very worried looking Harry looked up, then back to the curtained bed. He folded his arms across his chest and then addressed the general.

"Well, he was asleep... or at least I thought he was asleep. I was dozing in the other bed. When the klaxons started, we both nearly jumped out of our skins... I guess we forgot just how loud things are in the real world... I went to check Jack and... he didn't look right..."

"What do you mean he didn't look right?" Daniel demanded.

"I don't know, he was sweating, pale...his pulse was racing..." Harry shrugged as he spoke.

"Sounds like shock. Is Fraiser with him?" Daniel eased off a bit.

"Yeah." Harry looked worried as Daniel moved up next to him.

"She'll take care of him."

"I don't understand... he was doing so well. I thought the worst was over."

"Obviously, you were wrong..." Daniel put a hand on Harry's shoulder and Harry's eyes moved to try to focus on the gesture, more than a little nervous. "... General, you don't have to wait here with us. I know you have things to do. But I really appreciate you sending for me, although I suspect you enjoyed it a little too much."

Hammond chuckled. "Yes, I admit to being a little devious in the way in which I had you recalled. But I figured you wouldn't be upset for very long. I'll leave you then. Tell Doctor Fraiser to call me with an update when she's free."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, I will." Daniel nodded and smiled, his hand still on Harry's shoulder. He didn't turn back until Hammond was safely gone.

"Sooo, Harry?"

"Daniel?"

"Where were you guys?"

"Some moon... I have no idea where, although I'm sure if it's important that the two Jaffa, Joset and Tere'ma can tell you."

"And you two were there this entire time?... Alone?"

"Yes we were... is there a point or did Hammond bring you here to interrogate me? He told me we would de-brief tomorrow, if he'd changed his mind he only had to ask."

"No, no interrogation... just a few questions that would probably be best answered outside of the de-brief."

"Ahh." Harry nodded knowingly and then turned to face Daniel.

"So... ask away. You want to know what exactly your boyfriend and I have been up to low these last... what is it now? Two years?..."

"Two years, seven months and eight days." Harry looked stunned at the archeologist's immediate math.

Daniel stared back.

"Did you think I'd forgotten?"

"No, I suppose not. I'm just a little surprised that you've kept track, that's all."

"You're surprised that I cared that much?"

"No, Jack said you two were..."

Harry's sentence ended as Fraiser moved towards them from Jack's bed. "Gentlemen."

"Janet! How is he?" Daniel got the words out first.

"Welcome back, Daniel. We can get your post exam out of the way in a couple of minutes. He went into septic shock from the infection. I've got another kind of antibiotic running now and we'll keep double teaming him until we get it under control. I'm still waiting for the culture results to come back to be sure what we're dealing with. I only hope that it's an earth-type organism, because if it's an exotic, we'll have to wait for more studies and keep our fingers crossed that what we use will work. You can go in to see him but just for a couple of minutes, then you..." she pointed at Daniel. "... need to have your post mission physical and you..." she pointed at Harry. "...need to get some rest, before you fall down. I will sedate you if necessary."

The two junkyard dogs that were circling each other and about to strike only moments before became whipped puppies and quickly tucked their tails between their legs. "Yes, ma'am," was said practically in unison.

Janet stepped aside and allowed the two men to go into the infirmary. They stepped behind the curtains and stood and looked down.

Daniel gasped at the sight of Jack. His face was darkly tanned with a few more wrinkles, but Daniel had never seen Jack's hair so long. Harry tucked a nearly shoulder-length strand of silver-white hair behind Jack's right ear. Jack's eyes popped open at the touch. "Harry?"

"I'm here, Jack."

Jack's eyes drifted to the smiling face next to Harry's his eyes narrowed as if he was having trouble focusing.

"Hey, welcome home."

"Daniel?"

"Have I changed THAT much?"

The brown eyes moved back to Harry. "Is it?"

Harry smiled and nodded. "Yes, Jack, it's him."

"Oh good, I though I was hallucinating." Jack smiled gently and held his right hand up towards Daniel.

"I've missed you, Jack."

"I... I never thought..." Jack's eyes welled with tears and his quiet voice broke with emotion. "... I never expected."

"Shhh... it's alright Jack. Everything's going to be fine."

Harry thought his heart was going to break in half. He swallowed hard, trying to keep his emotions under control. He could feel Jack slipping away from him second by second and suddenly he longed for that Beretta again, to end his own misery before it started. He took a small step back, reaching for the bedside table for support, letting Daniel move closer.

Suddenly, the emotional roller coaster he was on came to a screeching halt and it took his last bit of strength with it. He tried for another step backwards and staggered, only to be caught by the burly nurse who had walked up behind him with Janet.

"Help the Colonel into bed, would you please, Lieutenant Reynolds? It's time he got some rest. Doctor Jackson, time for your exam. Colonel O'Neill needs some sleep, too."

"Just one second, Janet."

Fraiser frowned and then nodded and moved away allowing the curtains to close around the bed, a semblance of privacy in the otherwise wide-open infirmary.

Daniel raised Jack's captive right hand to his mouth, kissed the back of it then turned it over and kissed the palm. "I've never stopped loving you, Jack. I've never stopped missing you."

"Daniel, you need to know... Harry and I, well... we've been together for a while..."

Daniel looked pole-axed. "You're telling me you don't have feelings for me anymore?"

"I didn't say that Daniel... we can't have this conversation here."

"Jack...just come right out and say it."

Jack's voice was so soft that Daniel had to lean closer just to make out what he was saying. "I love you, Daniel. I always have and probably will long after I go into the ground, but..."

"But what, Jack?"

"But... I have feelings for Harry,too."

"What kind of feelings?" Daniel was hesitant.

"I... I love Harry, Daniel... I didn't even know it was possible to love two people at the same time..."

"Until now." Daniel whispered.

"I suspected it. But I thought it was just the thought of you, the memories that I was still in love with. I don't think that's it, I don't think my feelings for you have changed. Harry and I, we have something too... I thought at first it was just the sex... and it was for a while. Then it changed and now... well, now I'm not sure I can do without him any more than I can do without you. Can you handle that, Daniel?" Jack started to turn more towards Daniel and gasped at the pain that the small movement produced.

"Janet!" Daniel called for the petite physician, partly out of concern for Jack and partly to evade the answer. He knew it would only be a temporary reprieve, but he needed to answer that question for himself before he could answer it for Jack.

O'Neill grimaced and frowned as the next wave of pain washed over him. He looked into eyes that surpassed his remembrances; they hadn't always been that shade, had they?

"Colonel?" Janet came through the curtains like a woman possessed.

Jack only had time to say one more thing before Jackson was jostled away from the bedside. "A perfect veronica, Daniel."

When Daniel came back around the curtains, Harry was sitting up in bed and looking in the direction of all the activity. "Is he alright?"

"He's in pain."

Harry nodded and lifted his voice a little. "Doctor Fraiser, do you need me to give him some of that herb?"

The petite whirlwind poked her head around the curtains and addressed Harry directly. "No, Colonel. We've got the labs back... the 'herb' you've been giving him is Opium. I'll use something more mainstream now, something I can titrate easier."

Daniel looked shocked. "You've... you've been giving him OPIUM?"

"It was given to him by a native healer on a planet where the ship landed for repairs... it was all she had. It controlled the pain... so yes, I gave him opium. But I didn't KNOW it was opium."

"Do you have ANY idea what that stuff can do to him? What it's done to him in the past? How could you?"

"I told you... it was all we had. He was in pain, I couldn't stand by and listen to him scream... do YOU have any idea how badly he was hurt? Any clue what a staff weapon blast to the chest feels like?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!"

The voices were escalating enough that when Janet came around the curtains this time, she had gone from being a petite whirlwind to a small tornado. "Gentleman! This is MY infirmary and there are sick patients here. If you two want to duke it out, I suggest you take it to the gym. I will NOT have it here, understood?"

Harry nodded and lay back down, as Daniel turned to leave.

"Doctor Jackson you were NOT dismissed. I suggest you take a seat over there and I'll be right with you." She stepped quietly towards Harry's bed.

"Do you need something to help you sleep, colonel? I know it's not as quiet around here as you are probably used to, but you're exhausted and need the rest."

"No... I'm..."

"Don't say you're fine, because I know you aren't. Doctor Jackson is just upset, colonel. He doesn't know how extensive Colonel O'Neill's injuries were. You did the right thing, no matter what he says. Colonel O'Neill wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't..."

Fraiser turned and spoke softly to another nurse who turned and left the area. "... I'm going to give you something to help you sleep. Once you get some rest you'll agree with me." She turned and took the syringe from the nurse and swiped the skin over Harry's deltoid muscle with an alcohol wipe then quickly and efficiently injected the contents of the syringe. She dropped the empty syringe into the container on the wall and smiled as she pulled the blanket up around his shoulders.

"Get some sleep." She stepped away from Harry's bedside and the smile faded as she approached Daniel sitting at the other end of the infirmary.

She fixed her stare on him as she drew the curtains around the area closed.

Daniel's stomach clenched. "How dare you!"

"Janet, I'm sorry."

"You have NO IDEA what they've been through in the past two weeks let alone the past two years. Colonel Maybourne had absolutely no choice of what to use for Colonel O'Neill's pain. He did the right thing."

She was still talking as she pulled up a stool and Daniel knew he was doomed. "Pain management is one of the most critical needs in a wound as severe as Colonel O'Neill's. If his pain hadn't been fairly well managed even HE would have succumbed to his injury by now."

"I didn't mean..."

"Yes, you did... and that man is no more able to defend himself right now than Colonel O'Neill is... he's exhausted. They both are, physically and emotionally, they are also slightly malnourished and dehydrated. Colonel Maybourne has been taking care of him round the clock since he was injured, with only a couple of days of relief. That's where they got the opium from... and frankly, I would have given him the same thing, even knowing what it was. I watched him administer some, he used it sparingly and only when necessary. Don't rush to judgment before you have the whole story, Daniel, you do yourself and them both an injustice."

"I'm sorry... I think I just was worried that..."

"No you weren't, Daniel... this is me you're talking to, remember? I saw how you were when he was lost... saw the depression you went into. How long were you lovers before he disappeared?"

The question hit Daniel like a bullet between the eyes and he recoiled automatically. "WHOA! Where did THAT come from?"

"Please, Daniel, don't try to be coy, it doesn't become you. I consider this to be a privileged conversation, protected by doctor-patient confidentiality."

Daniel's voice dropped into a hushed whisper. "A couple of months."

"Excuse me? You can maybe sell that bridge to another tourist, Daniel, but this is me. I was HERE and I have eyes." Janet's stare pinned Daniel in place like a deer in headlights.

He cleared his throat and dropped his chin to his chest. "A year... but we ..."

"Exclusive?" Janet interrupted.

This question stunned Daniel as much as the last one. He pushed his glasses back while it sunk in and came back more than a little perturbed that she would ask. "Uh, what happened to don't ask, don't tell?"

"Don't jerk me around, Daniel. You're not military, I can ask you anything I want..."

"But I DON'T have to answer." He shot back.

"No, you don't... Look, Daniel, I'm just trying to help you gain some perspective here. Let's say for the sake of argument, that you WERE NOT in an exclusive relationship before he disappeared..."

"I'm not a slut, Janet, and neither is Jack..." Daniel's voice got impossibly lower and he leaned forward so she could hear him. "... It was exclusive, mutual, and very, very serious... is that ALL you wanted to know, Janet? Or did you want me to describe what we did the last time we had sex so you can critique that, too?" Daniel's gaze narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest in a defiant pose.

Now Janet took the defensive posture. "There's no need to be lewd, Daniel. I'm only trying to help."

"You want to help? Then, make him better and let us get on with our lives. Jack and I will sort out our relationship... and YES, we had a relationship... the kind that they write about in all those stories YOU read on the internet..."

Janet blushed and broke the tension by looking away. "THAT has nothing to do with this. Sam shoots her mouth off too much, they're fiction, entertainment, nothing more."

Daniel took a deep breath and sighed, then dropped his hands into his lap. "Look, Janet... if you wanna read homoerotic stories on the internet, good for you. But don't try to run my or Jack's lives by what you read, how you think we should be... it isn't real, Starsky and Hutch AREN'T real..." Daniel pointed at the curtains in the direction of Jack's bed. "... He's NOT Jim and I'm NOT Blair."

Janet held up both hands in surrender. "Okay, okay... I was only trying to help. I KNOW the difference between fiction and reality, Daniel, and I wasn't trying to imply that I have the solution for you. All I was going to say is that... and this is purely my life observation... love will always find a way."

"Yeah, love conquers all, wouldn't THAT be nice! Except it's not true. Sometimes love gets tired of waiting and of jumping hurdles... first big military-shaped hurdles and now what may be an even bigger Harry Maybourne-shaped one."

"Please, Daniel... promise me you won't do anything until he's well. The last thing he needs is to have to worry about what's going through your head."

"That's an easy promise. Since I have no idea what's going through my head yet, myself. I mean it's obvious he cares for the man... I mean I feel fairly certain that they were intimate, just from the way Harry looks at him. The question is..."

"I know... what KIND and how deep are his feelings for Harry?"

"Exactly."

"Well, excuse me again for being presumptuous here... but trying to exclude Harry or diminish his role and whatever feelings they have for each other will only serve to push Jack away. You know how he is... it'll make their bond stronger. So, I suggest that you try to be a little kinder to Harry. For your own sake, if not for the Colonel's, because I think to do any less would be an even BIGGER hurdle for your relationship than the ones you've already mentioned."

Daniel nodded. "I think you may be right about that... So, how IS Jack, really?"

Janet frowned. "It's a bad wound, Daniel. It's healing, but it will take time. We were considering a skin graft but now... the septic shock... that means that the infection is established in his bloodstream, it isn't just a local thing anymore. Skin grafts are no longer indicated. He's going to have to heal on his own. There's going to be a lot of scarring."

"He doesn't need anymore scars, he gets so self-conscious about them."

"Well, this will be a big one. And he's got a muscular defect too now, and that will probably take him off of active duty for good... his back will be even more, er..."

"Delicate?" Daniel offered.

"...okay, delicate than ever. He's just lucky he didn't lose any ribs, although he came close. It's a bugger and going to be that way for a while... and his chest and back will never look the same."

"Not an issue for me, although I KNOW it will be for him."

"Soo, let's get your exam over with so you can see him, okay?"

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, uh sorry about... I didn't mean to berate Harry's care of him. I just know how worried he gets about the possibility of another addiction to narcotics." Daniel waved his hand in a circle in the air.

"It's okay, Daniel. I'd rather you take it out on me than him. He's getting the drugs for REAL pain, there IS a chance of addiction, but it's worth taking when you look at the alternatives."

Daniel nodded in agreement. After his post mission physical was complete, Daniel took up residence in the chair next to Jack's bed. He had some thinking to do.

Part Two:

Jack started to stir about two hours later. He began mumbling and clutching at the bedclothes; Daniel was up in an instant.

"Jack?... it's okay, Jack. You're going to be fine. You're in the infirmary..." He wasn't prepared for the response he got.

Before Jack was aware of who he was or where he was he softly called out a name. The wrong name.

"Harry?"

Daniel swallowed hard and tried to remember what Janet had told him, the quickest way to lose Jack was to harbor animosity towards Harry. It was hard; he wanted to hate him. He was NOT going to win back Jack's favors with jealousy; Janet was right about that. But he was also NOT going to give up.

"It's Daniel, Jack... Harry... is sleeping."

"Harr... ?" The voice was little louder and then the brown eyes popped open. "Oh, god. I'm sorry, Daniel."

Daniel smiled gently and carded the long silver hair back away from Jack's face. "It's okay, Jack... really."

Jack reached up and took Daniel's hand and held it captive in his. "You have to understand, Daniel. It didn't start as anything but a way to take the edge off... I went into the woods to whack off... Harry went into the forest to whack off... one day we decided not to go into the woods at all..."

Jack sighed and turned his head to look at Harry sleeping in the next bed. "... Then the hand jobs turned into real sex. Except even THAT wasn't real. I pretended he was you... and he pretended... that I was a woman."

"Ahh, well... now, THAT'S healthy." Daniel smirked.

"Yeah, I know."

"When did it change, Jack?"

"When he kissed me I guess. That was the first time he'd ever done that; we kinda lost control of the whole make-believe thing after that. That was about... I dunno... That was just after we finished the cabin. Harry has a better grasp on the time thing than I do. He made a calendar, trying to estimate the seasonal changes and all... I, I gave up, Daniel. It's only because of him that I stayed alive. He wanted a place to live, to not be hunted anymore. When there was no rescue... I didn't think I could do it again..."

The approach of a nurse to do vital signs and hang another bag of IV antibiotics cut the conversation short. She smiled sweetly as she performed and recorded all the necessary details before changing her gloves and moving on to Harry's bedside. Jack tried to stop her. "Do you have to wake him?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry. I'll be as quick as I can, then he can go back to sleep." Jack nodded, and then looked back at Daniel. "Do you know what's going to happen to him now?"

"No, Jack. I'm sorry, I haven't had the chance to talk to Hammond about it. He had me dragged literally kicking and screaming from a dig by the Marines and pushed into the wormhole."

"I'll bet you were pissed?" Jack laughed cautiously, trying to splint his chest.

"You have no idea."

"Oh I think I have a pretty good idea." The glint in Jack's eyes had Daniel changing his mind.

"Yeah, I guess you do at that."

"Daniel... I need you to talk to Hammond... Don't let them send him back to jail. Send him to the Land of the Light or Cimmeria, Argos, Madronna, anywhere... but don't let them take him back to jail... I know you must be angry and hurt and feeling betrayed. Neither of us meant for it to happen, especially him... Oh god!... Daniel, I care too much about him now to see him hurt... please?"

Daniel smiled and nodded slightly. "I'll do it, Jack, but I don't know that I'm prepared to give you up now that I have you back..." Daniel squeezed Jack's hand. "...rest, now... I'll go talk to Hammond."

Daniel left the infirmary in search of the general, hoping that he could sound even halfway sincere in his attempt to convince him not to turn Harry in to the authorities.

By the time that Daniel got to Hammond, the cagey general already had stacked the card deck and was waiting for him, his hidden ace safely up his short sleeve. Daniel put on his game face and knocked on the office door.

"Come!"

"General? Do you have a moment?"

"For you, Doctor Jackson, always. Have a seat. How is Colonel O'Neill?"

"He's awake, sir, and he seems a lot more together than I thought he would be, considering his injuries."

"Good, maybe now that he's back among us, we can shorten his road to recovery a little."

"I hope so, General, I sincerely hope so. Uh, actually, Jack's the one who asked me to come speak to you."

"About?"

"Harry Maybourne. Jack's worried you'll turn him in... he asked if it was possible to send him to one of the friendly worlds... Cimmeria, Argos, Madronna, instead of turning him over to the authorities."

George pushed back, slouching slightly in his big leather chair. "Daniel?"

Daniel was a little surprised at the general's use of his first name; he had suspected that Hammond had thought his first name was Doctor all these years. He thought for a moment, then pushed his glasses back and went with it.

"George?"

"Daniel, you know I see pretty much everything that goes on around here."

Daniel listened, frowned and nodded. "Yesss... that would make sense, you're in charge."

"Yes, it does. But I also see a lot that goes on around here that I turn a blind eye to... this command is NOT a normal multi-service unit. We can't function within that paradigm; we have too many variables, too many wild cards. So, I permit the members of this command a certain latitude, as long and as far as I can without endangering either themselves, this command, our world, or our allies."

Hammond stopped speaking and Daniel cocked his head and pursed his lips. "Soooo?"

Evidently Daniel was just NOT getting it. He was going to have to spell it out for the genius.

"I am VERY fond of Jack O'Neill. He's a good soldier who has done and sacrificed more for me, this country, hell... for this planet, than anyone else I know. I'd do damn near anything for him. Did you think that I am so old and blind that I couldn't see the difference in him? Did you think that I wouldn't recognize a man in love when I saw one?"

Daniel's eyes got wide. "So, you... you KNEW... but you never said anything?" Daniel sat back in the chair with a sigh.

"What was I supposed to say? I couldn't ask him. Besides, I didn't see a down side... all the changes were for the good. He was happier, more content... not taking unnecessary risks. Hell, he even took leave occasionally. Other than the fact that it had to stay a secret, I saw no downside."

"When?... How?"

"Oh, I first suspected when he put a hockey stick through my car window and then again when he got back from blowing up Apophis' ships and saw you in the gateroom. But it was all confirmed for me when he got that archive download, the way he looked at you."

Daniel started to nod in agreement. "I think that's when I realized it myself. Seeing him like that tore my heart in two and when he left and I didn't know if I 'd ever see him again...."

"I don't think I'd ever seen you that miserable until he and Teal'c were trapped in that glider."

"Ahh..."

"Right after that, Jack took a decided turn for the better."

"So did I; that's when we started our relationship."

"I know."

"You know... that makes me feel very uncomfortable that you've known all this time... we thought we were being so... so..."

"Discreet?"

"Umm, yes."

"Perhaps you were. But in any case, I could see the change in Jack."

Daniel swallowed hard; his mouth had gone dry in an attempt to keep him from speaking. "Jack and Harry... they were together... in a relationship. He has, feelings... for Harry..."

"And?"

"He is worried about him."

"And what about you?"

"Me?... I'm worried about Jack. He says Harry kept him alive, when he had given up and was ready to do something drastic. I love him with all my heart, George..."

"I know, son."

"I'll take him any way I can have him at this point. But if anything happens to Harry, he'll see it as another failure and we'll all lose him. I'll do whatever it takes for him to be happy... even if it means losing him to Harry."

"Daniel, I've already made a few phone calls and arranged for Colonel Maybourne to be pardoned. The President is signing an executive order... " George glanced down at his watch. "... oh, right about now, pardoning him and reinstating his rank and benefits. But if you'd prefer I not mention that and just locate a safe haven for him off-world, then just say the word."

Daniel tilted his head briefly and thought, then sighed and looked the general in the eye. "No, I can't... I'd be lying to Jack and we've always been honest with each other, even when it hurt. I know it hurt him to tell me straight up what had happened, how he ... how THEY feel about each other, but he did. If nothing else, Jack is the most honest man I know. I won't betray that."

Hammond nodded slowly. "I understand, son. I'll allow Colonel Maybourne to stay in the VIP quarters until we can make some arrangements for him off base. Tell Doctor Fraiser to let me know when he's ready to be released."

"Uh... that won't be necessary, George... Oh, god I can't believe I'm about to do this..."

"Daniel?"

"I'll take Harry home with me. It's what Jack would want and after all, it is... er, used to be his house. I think Harry and I need to talk anyway."

"Are you sure?"

Daniel laughed nervously and pushed his glasses back although they hadn't moved. "Uhh, NO... but I have to do this... for Jack. If I want to have any hope of getting him back, anyway."

"All right. But if you change your mind..."

"I won't... I can't."

Daniel stood to leave. "Thank you, George."

"Daniel, for what it's worth, I have a gut feeling that everything will work out. I've never in all my years seen two people who were so made for each other as you and Jack."

Daniel bit his lip and nodded and then closed the door as he left the office.

George Hammond sat back and folded his hands across his chest. He didn't envy Daniel Jackson or Harry Maybourne for that matter. They were each about to fight a pretty darn tough battle.

Come to think of it, he didn't envy Jack O'Neill either.

Jack had looked worried when Daniel told him about the pardon Hammond had arranged and of his own plan to take Harry home with him.

"Daniel, are you SURE you want to do this." Jack looked around the infirmary, more than just a little nervous about the entire discussion in the very public place.

"Yes... no... I'm not entirely certain, but Harry and I have to talk a little, I think..."

"I'm not convinced that's a good idea."

"Why, Jack? We're both adults..." Daniel paused and then looked over his glasses at O'Neill. "... What, exactly are you afraid of, Jack? Are you worried that I'll off him on the way down the mountain?"

"NO, Daniel... you've been talking to Janet again... you know Carter once told me that the delightful Doctor Fraiser likes to read smut off the internet?"

"Uh, yes, actually I was aware... and it's not just ANY smut... it's slash fiction."

"Ewww, you mean like the chainsaw massacre stuff?"

"No, Jack. Slash stories are homoerotic fictions." Daniel gave a sly grin as he watched the blush spread over Jack's face.

"Homo-what...you mean... homo as in..."

"Not heterosexual, yes."

"Well, that... that's just... sick. She IS a pervert, isn't she?"

"Well you know what they say?"

"I do?"

"Those who can, do; those who can't..."

"Read about those who do?"

"Right, Jack." Daniel looked knowingly at O'Neill. "You DO know that was quite probably your lamest attempt EVER to change a subject?"

"Well... I had to try."

"I would expect no less.... Look, I'll take Harry back to the house, set him up in the spare room for a few days and let him reacclimatize himself to the modern world..."

"You know what we missed the most?" Jack asked calmly.

Daniel sighed.

"What?"

"Toilet paper."

"Hmm, well... thanks for sharing that, Jack."

"We had running water sort of... it was outside of the cabin but it was there. We had plenty of meat, root vegetables, berries, fruit... hell, we even had hooch. I hunted and fished, Harry gardened and sewed, we had a smokehouse and a root cellar. But the one thing we couldn't reproduce was toilet paper..."

"Uh, yeah... you said... are you still trying to change the subject?"

"Yes, is it working?"

"No."

"Damn."

"Look, Jack, we're going to need to talk about it."

"I think you should wait until I get out of here."

"No, that's exactly what we shouldn't do. Harry and I need to talk, now. It would be cruel to allow this anxiety to continue, for either of us..."

"I just think..."

Daniel held up a hand for Jack to stop. "You're wrong, Jack. You don't need to be there. That would make it worse, don't you see? This way he and I can both say what we feel needs to be said to each other, without worrying about losing face around you. You just concentrate on getting better. By the time you get out of here, we'll have it all worked out."

"Don't I get a say in the matter?"

Daniel sighed again. "Jack?"

"Yes."

"Do you love me?"

"Till the day I die, Daniel, and probably long beyond that."

"Do you trust me?"

"With my life."

"Good, that's good... Do you love Harry?"

Jack shifted slightly in the bed and looked around again.

"Jack?"

No response was forthcoming.

"Jack!... yes or no would be good here."

"Yes, Daniel. I love Harry."

Daniel spread his hands and smiled. "There. You had your say in the matter... feel better now?"

Jack shook his head in resignation. "Ya know, you should sell used cars... or swampland."

"Thank you, Jack. I'll take that as the compliment I know you meant it to be. Where is the body in question?" Daniel asked as he looked around the infirmary.

"DANIEL!" Jack turned too quickly in response to Daniel's attempt at humor and gasped as the pain again blossomed through his chest.

"Dammit, Daniel." He grunted out as he tried to steel himself against the sudden increase in his pain level. The bedside monitors started to alarm as the sudden changes in the colonel's vital signs exceeded their settings. Things snowballed from there.

The alarms brought the nurses, one at a dead run.

The sudden influx of nurses brought Fraiser, fresh from her office where she had been speaking to Harry about his test results.

And when Fraiser learned what had started it all, she brought the hammer down on Daniel and read him the riot act. Then she injected another dose of pain medication into Jack's IV before giving Daniel a warning glare and moving off.

The ever-cautious Harry kept his distance until she was finished and had left the area taking her entourage with her. "Jack?"

"Haa-ry?" Jack's eyelids had drifted shut as Janet injected the pain medication and now they struggled to gain some altitude.

"I'm here, Jack. Are you okay?"

"Umm, bed-der ummm, now."

Harry smiled at the facial gymnastics it was taking for Jack to keep his eyes open and then patted his hand.

"Go to sleep, Jack."

"Kay...ummm, Dan'el?"

"I'm here, Jack. I'm sorry... go to sleep we'll talk later."

"Kay... ahhh..." Jack's eyes managed one last half-mast as he whispered. "... luv yoo guyz."

Daniel almost fainted on the spot he started to scan the immediate area to see who might have heard the remark. He looked back towards the bed and noticed that Harry was doing the same thing.

"This isn't good if he's going to start talking like that around here, it's too dangerous."

"It's the drugs... they lower your inhibitions and Jack's were already low enough... I think he'll sleep now." Harry patted the free hand and looked over at Daniel.

"What happened?"

"Oh, I said something, he got upset and moved too quickly."

"Ahh."

"Look, Harry... you and I... we need to talk. When are you going to be released?"

"Doctor Fraiser said that I can leave as soon as she talks to Hammond to find out what they're going to do with me."

"You're okay?"

"Yeah, just need to take some vitamins for a while and check back with her in a couple of weeks."

"Okay then, let's get out of here."

"But..."

"It's alright, I cleared it with Hammond. You can come stay with me..."

"I..."

"I already spoke to Jack about it. I told him that you and I need to talk, without him... it's okay, Harry, really."

"I hate to leave him like this... I know you're going to think it's stupid... but we haven't been apart in more than two years." Harry looked back down at the sleeping O'Neill.

Daniel stepped up and dropped his arm around Harry's shoulder. "Come on, Harry... I'll buy you a drink. Besides, I have toilet paper."

Harry pulled back slightly so he could look at Daniel's face. "What the hell does THAT mean?"

Daniel waved his free hand in the air in front of him. "Never mind, it's a Jack thing."

As the two men walked away, Jack had all he could do not to laugh out loud at the exchange. He didn't even have to have his eyes open to see the expressions that each man wore; his mind's eye had twenty/twenty vision.

An hour later, Daniel and Harry were on the road. Hammond had supplied an ID card that gave Harry access to the SGC on the condition that he stay with Daniel while off-base. Harry agreed immediately; he had nowhere else to go and everything on this world that he cared about was currently lying in a bed in the SGC's infirmary.

Daniel navigated the big Ford pickup through the traffic glancing occasionally at his passenger who couldn't take his eyes off the surroundings.

Harry commented as they drove along. "This is Jack's truck isn't it?"

"Yes, it was."

Neither man spoke again; Harry stared pointedly out the window.

Finally, Daniel decided to try some small talk.

"So, Harry... what would you like to eat? Want pizza? Chinese food? Thai? Subs? Italian? Burgers?"

Harry looked over at him, his expression fairly blank. "Doctor Fraiser said to keep it light for a couple of days, since we're not used to much in the way of exotic."

"Oh-kay. How about we call for some Chinese food then? They have a great veggie and light menu... I'm sure you can find something that appeals."

When he turned the truck into the driveway and stopped, Harry looked over at him. "This is Jack's house."

"Uh, actually, it's MY house. Jack left it to me in his will."

"You had him declared dead?"

"Uh, no... the Air Force listed him as Missing In Action. After one year they changed that to presumed dead. I was his beneficiary."

"Ahh."

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment.

"Why don't we go inside, we can be silent in veritable comfort there."

Harry nodded and unbuckled his seat belt.

Daniel unlocked the door to the house and quickly went inside to turn off the alarm. Harry followed him in, fondling the furniture as he walked.

Daniel turned around and smiled. "Look, let me show you to your room. You can put your bag in there... I didn't realize that you had things to put into a bag."

"Hammond had the quartermaster issue me some clothing and a kit."

"Well, we'll go shopping tomorrow for some more clothes for you. I think you need to rest tonight. This way." Daniel guided Harry on a tour of the house, explaining some of the changes he'd made along the way. Some were obvious, like the massive bookshelves and fish tank in the den, and some were NOT so obvious, like the big round bathtub and the skylight in the newly enlarged master bathroom.

"I thought there were four bedrooms in this house?" Harry questioned.

"Well there were. Jack used one as an office and I had one bedroom taken out to enlarge that and the master bathroom."

"Ahh."

"So, Harry, why don't you relax? Take a nap if you'd like. I'm going to go find that Chinese take out menu so we can order. Come on back to the living room when you're ready and we'll have a drink and call for dinner. Okay?"

Harry looked nervous.

"Look, Harry... You're safe here. Hammond called in a favor and got you a presidential pardon and I'm not going to hurt you, I swear... so relax, will you?"

"Pardoned? Really?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why would he do something like that?"

Daniel sighed. "He did it for Jack. Evidently, Jack and I weren't as discreet as we thought we were, so Hammond knew about us all along. He just didn't feel compelled to intervene... I think that he has also extrapolated YOUR relationship with Jack..."

"He has?... How?"

"I have no idea. But I promised him that we'd be civilized and not kill each other."

"We might be able to manage that."

"Good! Now let's go have a drink, okay?"

Harry smiled, nodded, and then followed Daniel back to the living room.

"Have a seat, Harry. What would you like to drink? I have beer, wine and I think that's there some bourbon and tequila too."

"I'd love a beer, thanks."

"Sure, be right back."

Daniel headed for the kitchen. He came back with two beers and a folded pamphlet. "Here's the menu. Look it over, see what appeals to you."

Harry nodded and took the menu, then took a long drink of beer. He looked over at Daniel. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"We don't have to do this right now, Harry."

"Yes, we do. I won't be comfortable until we get this out of the way, and I certainly would not be able to eat."

"Ahh... of course, sorry."

"That's okay..." Harry sat back and sighed. "... I suppose you want me to give him up?"

"Things have gone a little too far for that, I think. I spoke to Jack. He has... he has very strong feelings for you now; he doesn't WANT to give you up."

Harry looked down at his hands, placing them carefully on his thighs. He spoke so softly that at first, Daniel wasn't sure he'd spoken at all.

"I never meant for it to happen... I've never had, er... feelings like this... not for a man."

"So you weren't..."

"Gay? No, I've always thought that I was completely heterosexual. It never occurred to me that I might be attracted to another man... it came as a bit of a shock, really. Jack could tell you... I ran screaming. I mean we had been having sex, but it wasn't real."

"It wasn't real?"

"Well, the sex was real enough but there were rules to it, to help keep the illusion of a normal heterosexual relationship. At first, I always topped and took him from behind; that way I could close my eyes and pretend. I think he was grateful at first for the attention, but then he wanted more... and that I couldn't give him.

Gradually, I found myself fantasizing less and looking for more and more of the maleness... I started to slide my hands around him, groping his chest just to feel the hair... then stroking him as I took him. One day the façade just slipped away and I kissed him. I had never done that before... it was wonderful. He pointed it out to me and I lost it, I snapped." Harry shook his head slowly and closed his eyes.

"Then what happened?"

"I went apeshit, started to go a little dark side. We discovered that Jack kinda likes a little kink." Harry gave a small smile and was relieved when he looked up to see that Daniel was nodding in agreement.

"Was that the turning point in your relationship? When it changed?" Daniel took another drink of his beer and sat back to listen.

"That was the beginning of the end of my strict heterosexuality. I gave him a blowjob... then somehow we got so wound up that I took him from the front and we started to kiss... and that was all she wrote."

"And that was it?"

"Yep, pretty much. Of course we had a fight, a real screaming match that shook the cabin walls... that kinda precipitated all that passion..."

"That's what happened right before we made love the first time." Daniel sighed.

"What?" Harry looked confused.

"We had a huge argument. I said things. He said things... I actually tried to punch him in the face... he grabbed my fist and wouldn't let go. I tried to pull my fist back, he pulled me closer. So, I kissed him... It was like a dam burst. At first he drew back, but he didn't look horrified, then he pulled me right to him and kissed me back. We made love right there..." Daniel turned slightly and pointed at the foyer. "... on the tile floor in front of the door... those tiles are just now starting to cool down, I think."

Harry laughed at that and they both emptied their beers. Daniel stood and headed for the kitchen. "Another?"

"Sure." Harry handed off his empty bottle.

While Daniel was in the kitchen, Harry's eyes were glued to the foyer floor, his mind imagining the scene. As Daniel came back through to the living room, he followed Harry's gaze and smiled; he could still sometimes see the clothing scattered along the floor and remember the chill of the tiles against his bare flesh. He handed off another beer to Harry and sat back down, stretching his legs out in front of the chair. Neither man said anything for a couple of minutes and then Daniel asked the question.

"Are you sorry you brought him back?"

"What?" Harry looked confused.

"I said are you sorry you came back, that you brought him back?"

"Sorry? No, I'm not sorry. But I had it all worked out you know."

"Had what worked out?"

"Before the Jaffa showed up... what I would do... if Jack died, I would dig a grave big enough for two and climb in with the Beretta and finish it. I think Jack had the same kind of plan. He always made sure that the Beretta was clean and in working order. He even made like a lid that fit over it on the shelf by the door so it wouldn't get dirty. Gun oil was precious. He gave up on the P-90, used most of the shells for other things, but always kept the Beretta functional."

"Jack told me that if it hadn't been for you, he would have been dead. That you kept him going."

"Maybe, but he was all that kept me going, of that I am sure..." Harry's voice dropped back into a whisper. "... I'm sorry he went out at all. He'd been hurt before... hell, he got a gash in his leg while we were putting up the cabin that I thought sure would kill him."

"What happened?"

"He laid it open from his ankle to his knee alongside the shin, right down to the bone, ripped it open climbing down from the roof..."

"How did you manage it?"

"I cleaned it up with boiled water and then sewed it up with Labbit gut, using a needle Jack had made for me from a P-90 shell casing. I was scared stiff that he would get gangrene and I would have to cut it off... believe me, my mind ran all the worst-case scenarios. I put him in bed and I don't think that I took my eyes off that leg for almost a month. He got a fever, and it got red and I started to get upset and sharpen his big knife. Every day I boiled that knife when I boiled the water to clean the leg, I wanted it ready in case I needed it. I had the morphine from the med kit and what field dressings were left and a tourniquet... I was prepared for the worst.

Then one day I had dozed off and woke up to see him scratching the wound. The skin was peeling like from sunburn and one of the big knots that I had tied with the gut had come undone. I was trying to tie it back up when the ends just came off in my hands. The gut had dissolved, and the wound didn't gape open... it was pretty much healed."

"I'll bet you were relieved?"

"I went outside and puked for a while. My stomach had been in knots for a month and when it unclenched, all I could do was puke."

"Uh, Harry? You said you used Labbit gut?"

"Oh, that's what Jack named them. Big rabbity things, really soft, warm fur... decent leather. They were about the size of a Labrador retriever that's why he called them that. He hunted them with a bow and was quite good at it, too. We used them for everything; meat, fur, leather, gut for sewing, bone for needles and utensils, bladders for storage. They were just as tasty smoked as fresh."

"Ahh."

Harry cringed a little. "Too much information?"

"Uh, yeah, a little."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I was bound to hear it from Jack eventually anyway."

"Yeah, that's true, I guess... Look, Daniel... He's all I have. He's been my whole world for a couple of years now, I realize that he was yours first, but you can't expect me to be happy about losing him..."

"Who said you were losing him?"

That remark took Harry by surprise. He sat frozen waiting for further information and when none was forthcoming, he finally asked. "What do you mean by that?... You're willing to give him up?"

"I didn't say that... No, I don't think I am. There hasn't been a day that's passed while he was gone that I didn't long to touch him, hold him in my arms. Every time I laid down in that bed..." Daniel pointed towards the master bedroom. "... I ached for his touch. I cried myself to sleep damn near every night for a year... No, I won't give him up now unless that's what he wants. I love him too much to have him unhappy."

"Well, if you aren't going to, then I guess it's me."

"Jack loves you."

"And I love him, too. But you have prior claim to him and I won't fight you, Daniel... I'd fight anyone else. Hell, I'd kill for him, but I'd lose him in the process. I'd rather see him happy, too."

"So... you're willing to abide by Jack's decision?"

"Yes... You?"

"It won't be easy but yeah, I am. The problem is, I think Jack doesn't want to make the decision. He's already told me as much. He said he loves you and then told me that he loves me."

"He can't have it both ways."

Daniel had been looking down at the wood floor until Harry said that. He looked up slowly, his eyes fixing on Harry's.

"Why not?" He said calmly.

"What?" Harry was confused.

"Who says he can't have it both ways? Why can't we both have him?"

"You've got to be kidding me, right?"

Daniel pinned Harry in place with his stare. "I'm serious. Why does he have to choose? I love him. You love him. He loves BOTH of us... we're all adults..."

"What, you mean like custody? I get him Monday, Wednesday and Fridays and you get him Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday?"

"If that's what you want, yes. But I was thinking a little more communal than that however."

"Communal? As in ménage?..." Harry's eyes widened. "... Daniel, I'm surprised at you. I thought you were much more conservative than that."

"Oh please, do you think I got laughed out of the archeological community for being conservative? It could work, you know?"

"That's what scares me."

"The real struggle would be with Jack. HE'S the conservative one. Underneath all that bluster, mouth, and rock-the-boat sarcasm beats the heart of a die-hard conservative. Mom, apple pie, the works."

"It won't be easy for him, I'll grant you that, but it would be a helluva lot easier than trying to make the choice." Harry nodded.

"True... so we let him make the decision? You, me or both of us?"

Harry laughed. "He'll freak out."

Now Daniel laughed too. "Probably"

"To tell the truth, I'm a little freaked out by the whole thing myself. We barely know each other."

"Yeah, well... we'll need to remedy that before we bring it to Jack for his decision." Daniel drained the last of the beer from his bottle and stood, heading back to the kitchen.

"And just how do we do that?" Harry's question stopped him in his tracks.

Daniel sat down on the couch next to Harry and dangled the bottle between his fingers, staring out the window. Then he turned towards Harry. "Like this." He placed the empty bottle on the table and then his hand went to Harry's face, holding it in place as he moved closer.

Harry's eye got wide as he realized what exactly was about to happen. He put his hand against Daniel's chest and held him off. "Are you sure about this?"

"No, but we need to try it to see if it's a valid alternative, don't we?" Daniel removed the hand from his chest and placed it on his groin and, leaning in, took Harry's mouth with his.

Harry's initial panic eased as Daniel kissed him and he started to reciprocate, giving Daniel permission to further deepen the kiss.

When the kiss broke, Harry leaned back and looked Daniel in the eye. "You're not drunk, are you?"

"No... why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want you saying tomorrow that I took advantage of you while you were drunk."

"Nope, not likely. I only had two beers, and you?"

"Uh, one and a half."

"You going to finish it?"

"Ah, no... do you want it?" Harry asked innocently enough.

"I might want to pour it on your cock so I can lick it off." The lewd look on Daniel's face had Harry getting harder by the second.

Harry groaned and set his bottle carefully on the floor next to the couch. As he turned back Daniel pressed him against the back of the couch and dove in for another kiss. They made out for a while, just getting comfortable with each other's mouth, while their hands ghosted over the other's body, afraid to linger in any one spot for too long.

Finally, they broke the kiss and relaxed. Daniel had released Harry's ponytail and his long gray streaked hair fell around his face and shoulders. Harry brushed it back.

"First order of business tomorrow, I get a haircut."

"I don't know, it's... interesting that way."

"It's a pain. Besides, there's too much gray."

"I like the way it feels." Daniel leaned back in for another kiss and one hand automatically went to Harry's head. Harry's hands slid up and down Daniel's sides and back until, finally, one came to cup a butt cheek through the cotton twill pants he wore. Daniel groaned into his mouth and Harry thought he would lose his mind when Daniel leaned back and started to unbutton his shirt. Harry watched, unable to take his eyes off the ever-increasing view of smooth skin in front of him. Daniel tossed his shirt aside and started to work on the buttons of Harry's shirt while Harry stared at him. Daniel pulled the sides open and pushed the shirt back over Harry's shoulders and leaned back again to look.

Harry was leaner than he had remembered and much more tan; his pectorals had a fine pelt of dark hair that blazed a path straight down his belly towards his groin. Daniel wove his fingers through it, then down to the waistband of Harry's pants. As his fingers finagled the button and zipper, Daniel moved back in for another kiss, this one more passionate than the others. His mouth came away, moved right to Harry's neck and started on the downward path to his left nipple. Daniel sucked the tiny nub into his mouth as he unzipped the fly and slid his hand into the opening in the front of Harry's boxers. Harry arched into the dual sensation of hot mouth on his nipple and cool hand on his cock and gasped sharply.

Daniel released the hardened nub from between his lips and looked up. "Are you okay?"

Harry took a deep breath and sighed. "I might die, but I'll die happy... your hands are cold."

Daniel frowned a little and then smiled. "I'll just warm them up a tad, shall I?" He slid both hands inside Harry's pants and under the waistband of the boxers and when Harry gasped this time, he also lifted enough that Daniel slid the clothing down off his hips. He smiled up at Harry now and pinched one nipple just to distract him. When Harry's eyes closed at that sensation, he moved down and licked the head of Harry's cock.

"Jesus!"

Daniel looked up with a wicked smile and opened his mouth wide enough to telegraph his next action. Harry stared as Daniel descended, mouth open, and swallowed his cock nearly to the root. The hot, wet mouth gliding up and down his cock enticed Harry to thrust seeking more and Daniel pulled back slightly with just a hint of teeth to bring Harry back. At the scrape of tooth on sensitive flesh, Harry growled and reached down for Daniel's hair, trying to pull him back up his body. When Daniel resisted, Harry pushed him away.

Daniel sat back with a strange look on his face and Harry made a noise deep in throat before pushing him all the down on his back and diving in to begin a new assault on his mouth. Harry licked and nipped, mouthing first an ear and then the side of Daniel's neck. All the while, his fingers sought out and worked a nipple into a taut nub and then pinched it.

Daniel gasped in response and Harry growled. "My turn."

Harry ran his hands all over the smooth, muscled pecs and sides, his calloused hands leaving a tingling trail in their wake. Daniel's eyes closed as his skin was sensitized by the work of the broad, coarse palms tracing his every contour. Harry made no half-hearted attempts at distraction, just moved right in and unzipped Daniel's pants, then pushed them back over his hips until he lifted and allowed Harry to pull them down his thighs.

Harry paused and stared at the smooth body in front of him. The well-muscled chest segued to flat stomach and narrow hips. A fine dusting of light brown fuzz adorned the flat belly under the navel and became coarser and thicker further down, haloing the deep rose colored cock that sprang from its depths. Being the devout heterosexual that he was, Harry was uncertain exactly what to do next, so he just stared for a moment until Daniel lifted his hips, offering the plum head to him. That broke his reverie and he smiled in apology, then dove in and swallowed Daniel whole.

Daniel's eyes got wide and he gasped. "Christ, Harry... a little warning would have been nice!"

Harry released the prisoner from his mouth and looked up. "Sorry... I don't have a lot of experience at this sort of thing. I didn't know there were protocols and stuff." The smile on his face as he turned back down to his task told Daniel all that he needed to know about Harry's intent.

"Yeah, right."

Daniel had been celibate for too long. Long cold nights spent with only his own right hand for companionship had made him exquisitely sensitive to the caress of another... any other. He was hopelessly lost within the nearly forgotten feeling of the glide of hands and mouth against his cock. He came quickly and with a strangled cry. An enthusiastic Harry swallowed everything and kept worrying Daniel's limp cock long past the point of comfort until Daniel cringed and pushed him away.

"Stop!"

"What?"

"That's enough..." A shudder of relief ran through Daniel's body and he sat up and looked Harry squarely in the eye.

"Come with me." He got up and took Harry's hand and led him to the master bedroom, each man holding onto their disheveled clothing until Daniel stopped and turned. He kicked off his shoes and then released Harry's hand and began stripping, his cock thickening as its interest reawakened.

Harry stood for a moment, waiting for an invitation until Daniel cocked his head and raised his eyebrows in what was obviously commentary, then he quickly shed his clothing into a pile on the floor.

Daniel pulled the spread from the bed and climbed from the bottom to the middle, then rolled to the side and opened the drawer in the nightstand, removing the bottle of lube and rubbing it with his hands to warm it.

"Do me."

Harry was still standing there looking, his cock so hard that it felt like it would snap off if touched.

"What?" Sometimes when his cock was this hard, it impaired his hearing so he figured he better ask just to be sure.

"I said... DO ME... You DO know how that works, right? Or was that all just bluster in there?" Daniel teased.

Harry scrambled onto the bed, his hands running the length of Daniel's legs and body as he moved towards the head of the bed. His breathing was quick and shallow and Daniel thought that Harry would come before even managing to get his cock into him. Daniel took Harry's right hand and poured some of the warmed lube onto Harry's fingers, then guided the hand where he wanted it to go.

"Do me."

When Harry's lubed fingers were directed below Daniel's scrotum, they both gasped. Harry had never done this with anyone but Jack and after so long alone with nothing for entertainment other than sex and the chess set that Jack had made, the need for caution and preparation was almost forgotten. He touched Daniel's opening with lubed fingers and tried to insert two of them immediately.

Daniel jumped and gasped out. "SLOW-ly, Harry... slowly. It's been more than two years for me, you need to go slower. Start with one finger, okay?"

"Oh, sure... sorry. I'm not used to having to do that much preparation with Jack, we were..." His voice dwindled, the remainder of that sentence swallowed by his better judgment.

"Well, while you and Jack were fucking like bunnies, I've been going steady with my right hand, so that entrance has been unused for a long time. Go easy."

"Okay, sorry." Harry nudged the small opening with a single thick finger, pushing against the resistance. Daniel's eyes closed. He took a deep breath and sighed at the sensation just as the muscle relaxed with enough give to allow Harry's finger access.

"Ohh, umm." Daniel pushed down against the invader and reached for Harry's cock, dipping his finger in the precum that coated the head and bringing that finger to his mouth as Harry watched. Harry pistoned that first finger inside, crooking it and turning it before pulling it nearly all the way out only to be joined by a second finger and plunged back inside. Daniel kept swiping the head of Harry's cock with his fingers and moving them to his mouth as Harry went through the process of opening, stretching and lubricating him. By the time Harry was ready, Daniel had a death grip on his cock and was flushed and panting.

Harry moved between the fuzzy thighs and lifted them with his hands as Daniel again reached for the lube. When Harry held out his hand, Daniel squirted a generous amount of the viscous liquid onto his fingers and snapped the bottle shut, then placed his feet flat on the bed and lifted his pelvis up. Harry lubed his cock and scrambled further up until Daniel's ass was leaning on his thighs, then he lifted one of Daniel's legs onto his shoulder. His left hand pushed behind Daniel's right knee, folding it back into his groin as he took his hard and dripping cock behind the head of the glans and prodded the slick muscle with it.

"Relax, Daniel... come on."

"I'm trying... but it's been a while."

"Take a deep breath and blow it out."

As Daniel followed Harry's instruction, Harry thrust forward and the glans popped through the ringed sphincter. Daniel gasped, his eyes shot open and then widened at the unfamiliar burning pain in his ass. "OH!"

Harry stilled and Daniel waited out the burning pain before nodding for Harry to continue. Harry pushed in a little further and again stilled when Daniel's eyes closed with the burn. When Daniel opened his eyes again and nodded, Harry pulled back a little bit before thrusting nearly all the way in. Daniel gasped in something more like shock than pain, panting out against the feeling of being split wide open until it gave way to that familiar pleasant fullness.

"Oh god... if you don't start to move soon, I'm going to kill you."

Harry grabbed Daniel's hips and pulled back nearly all the way out before he plunged inside in one stroke, leaving Daniel speechless and gasping as the fat cock caressed his prostate whenever Harry moved.

Harry dove in with long strokes, grazing Daniel's gland on every pass, rolling his hips and making short jabs as he became more comfortable with the motions. Before long, Daniel was thrusting up in counterpoint, his hands scrambling for purchase against Harry's sweat-slick shoulders while the bed creaked and rocked beneath them.

Janet Fraiser sat quietly next to the bed waiting for Jack to wake up. When the klaxons sounded with a gate activation, Jack's eyes opened wide and he stared at the ceiling in momentary terror before looking around to see who might have noticed.

"It's all right, Colonel, you're in the infirmary... I suspect that gate activation is the Tok'ra. General Carter is coming to see you."

"Why? What did I do?"

Janet smiled. "You didn't do anything, sir. I requested that he come and use a healing device on you."

That got Jack's attention quickly, his gaze narrowed to a stare that burned right into the physician. "Why?"

"Because, sir. We're having some trouble gaining any ground against this infection that you have, it's starting to affect your other organs. The last chest scan we did shows it may be beginning to accumulate in your heart; it's called bacterial endocarditis. The infection got a big head start, we may not have the time for our drugs to work."

"Ahh... where's Harry?"

"Colonel Maybourne went home with Doctor Jackson last night. They're not due back until later..."

"Don't tell him."

"Don't tell who?"

"It's WHOM. Don't tell either of them."

"Why, sir?"

"I don't want to worry them. Either of them."

"You don't think they might get a little miffed if they find out?"

"If Jacob can fix it, then there's no need for them to know..."

"And if he can't?"

"Well... if he can't then there's nothing they can do anyway and they'll just be upset for nothing."

"Colonel! I wouldn't call it nothing."

"I would, doc. Look, what's done is done. I don't want them getting all bent out of shape over something that they're powerless to change. It's my decision, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well then." Jack melted into the bed, the simple conversation sapping his strength as though he'd been bled.

"I'm tired."

"I know, sir... it's the infection affecting your heart."

"Gonna sleep now."

"Right, sir... you rest." Janet reached over and patted the fevered hand then stood and headed for Hammond's office.

Jacob was just making himself comfortable in the chair in front of Hammond's desk when Fraiser knocked at the door.

"Come in!"

Fraiser opened the door and smiled at Hammond and the Tok'ra. "I was hoping it was you, sir."

"How's Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond asked.

Janet frowned then shook her head. "Not good, sir. The infection has already begun to damage his heart, he doesn't have much strength left to fight it."

"To get him back only to lose him again." Hammond mumbled as he shook his head.

"Well, let us hope it does not come to that..." Selmak answered. "... We should not delay any further, this may take some time." Selmak stood. Hammond nodded and got up from behind the big desk, then followed Fraiser and the Tok'ra through the door.

"Daniel, wake up." Harry sat bathed and fully-clothed on the side of the bed and brushed Jackson's hair back from his face. He had awakened early, showered, dressed and even figured out the coffee maker. Daniel, never the morning type to begin with, had continued to sleep unbothered by the activity around him. They had enjoyed a VERY active night, testing the limits and boundaries of their new relationship to see if it would hold, and although they would both be sore for a day or so from all the activity, they discovered that they really did have more in common than their love for the same man.

"Come on, Daniel... it's time to get up." Harry's hand was large and warm on Daniel's back and he tried to shrug it off.

"Goway, Ja'k...mmm, slepng ere"

"It's not Jack... remember?"

That got Daniel's eyes open quickly, and he blinked several times to clear his vision. "Harry?"

"Got it in two, Daniel. Come on, I made coffee and we have things to do today. But first I want to go back to the mountain to check in on Jack."

"Okay... I'm up." Daniel pushed up and rolled over to face Harry.

"I thought you said that you made coffee?"

"I did."

"Well, where is it?" Daniel scanned the nightstand for a cup.

"It's in the kitchen. Was I supposed to BRING it to you too?"

"Well... Jack always did."

"Ahh..." Harry nodded and smiled. "... How about you go get in the shower and I'll have a cup waiting for you when you get out?"

Daniel sighed and rolled his eyes. "I suppose."

"How do you take it?"

"Black, no sugar."

"You got it." Harry patted Daniel's thigh and got up heading for the bedroom door. He turned back at the last moment and looked at Daniel.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked in his direction eyes unencumbered by glasses at this point.

"That was nice."

"What was nice?"

"Last night... I could get used to that." Harry smiled and moved through the door as Daniel climbed from the bed and headed for the shower.

Daniel dried off and headed back to the bedroom, immediately spying the large cup of coffee sitting on the nightstand. He picked it up and took a tentative sip sighing as it slid down his throat.

"Is it alright?"

Daniel turned to see Harry standing in the door leaning on the frame just as he had seen Jack do a thousand times. He walked across the bedroom and stopped in front of Harry who stood upright when he approached. Daniel leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. "It's wonderful, thanks."

Harry smiled in relief, then accepted another kiss, this time with an open mouth. Daniel smelled of shampoo and shower gel and shaving cream and Harry was getting hard just breathing him in. His hands moved to Daniel's hips over the towel and he stroked over the soft, still slightly damp back before coming back for another kiss.

"We should stop or we'll never get out of here." Harry pulled back first, and Daniel came away nodding his agreement.

"True. I better get dressed."

"Good idea... I'll be in the kitchen."

"Good idea." Daniel nodded and moved over to the dresser.

Jacob had been working with the healing device for a few minutes, slowly passing the glowing hand piece up and down over Jack's chest and torso. Janet carefully watched the monitors for any sign that the device was working. Jacob stopped and took a deep breath dropping his arms to his side for a moment.

Selmak spoke. "There is much damage, a sarcophagus would have been a better choice for a wound and illness this severe."

"We don't have a sarcophagus, Selmak. That's why we asked for you to come." Janet looked worried.

Selmak nodded. "It will take some time and probably multiple uses of the healing device before we can be certain that his injuries are resolved. He will need to be kept quiet between interventions"

"Then I suggest you get back to it." Hammond said from the foot of the bed.

Selmak nodded and lifted his arms holding the device over Jack's torso again as it began to glow.

A long time later, he stopped again and spoke. "That is all for now. I must rest and so must he. We will continue later." The Tok'ra's head dropped for a moment and when it lifted Jacob Carter spoke again.

"Selmak's exhausted, George. This is going to be more involved than we thought." Jacob rubbed his forehead with his free hand, the growing headache easily read on his face.

"Come on then, Jacob. I'll show you to one of the VIP rooms to rest." George motioned for his friend to walk with him.

Jacob turned back towards Fraiser before heading off. "Keep him as quiet as possible, Doctor. Sedated would be best. There is some pain associated with the tissue regeneration stimulated by the healing device; it could be significant."

Fraiser frowned and nodded, then motioned to one of her staff who headed for the medication cabinet.

"Do you need something for your headache, General?"

"No, Selmak will take care of it... a little rest and I'll be fine. Then we can do it again."

The nurse returned with a syringe and handed it off to Fraiser. The physician nodded and smiled at the two generals, then prepared the port and injected the sedative into Jack's IV. She headed back to her office after checking Jack's vitals on the monitors, frowning at the current lack of noticeable difference in his condition. She ran practically headlong into Daniel and Harry turning the corner from the elevator.

"Janet!"

"Daniel, Colonel..." She didn't know whether to be concerned or run screaming. They looked fine, fairly well-rested and had been chatting amicably as they walked. This was a different Daniel than the one who was so agitated yesterday; this one was smiling and relaxed. Harry looked fine, too. There was no evidence of his earlier discomfort with Jackson's proximity.

"We were just going to see Jack. How's he doing?"

"Uh, gentlemen... why don't you both come with me before you go to see him?"

"Is he alright?" Harry spoke to both their fears.

"He's sleeping now, I just medicated him..." She motioned towards her office. "... please?"

Harry glanced nervously at the infirmary door before they both followed Fraiser to her office and took seats next to each other in front of her desk.

"What's going on Janet?"

"Colonel O'Neill very specifically asked me NOT to tell you..."

"Tell us what?"

"... So you both have to understand that what I am doing currently is completely illegal and a breech of my patient's privacy."

"Janet!" Daniel was agitated and about to jump out of his seat. Harry sat quietly, his breathing quickened, his knuckles white as they gripped the chair arms. Daniel looked over saw the way the color drained from Harry's face and placed a hand on Harry's arm. That small move was not wasted on Janet who was glad that Daniel had actually listened to her when they had spoken.

"The infection has spread throughout his bloodstream and is beginning to cause problems with his major organs. There are some signs that it has already begun to affect his heart..."

"But... he was getting better... wasn't he?" Harry stammered.

She frowned before answering him. "He was holding his own, Colonel. But the infection has overwhelmed his system now, and worse yet, it doesn't seem to be responding to our antibiotics."

Harry started to breathe so deeply that Janet was afraid that he was going to either vomit or burst into tears. Daniel jumped from his chair and was beside him in moments.

"Isn't there anything you can do?"

Janet nodded and Daniel rubbed small circles on Harry's back.

"We asked for the Tok'ra to come and use a healing device. General Carter has already been in there and started, but it's going to require multiple uses of the healing device and it takes a lot out of Selmak. He's currently resting in the VIP room. He asked that I keep the Colonel sedated between treatments; he said that the tissue regeneration was painful and taxing, so he needs to stay as still and quiet as possible. Right now, he's asleep and needs to stay that way until this ordeal is over."

Daniel nodded. "That's good... right?"

"I hope so, Daniel. General Carter said that the colonel's injuries were more in the sarcophagus realm than a healing device, that's why he needs to do multiple treatments. We're keeping our fingers crossed."

"Have you seen any signs of improvement?" Harry asked weakly.

"I'm sorry, Colonel... not yet... but that doesn't mean that he isn't responding, just that we have no way of measuring those changes. I'm going to do another scan in a couple of hours; hopefully we'll see something then."

Harry nodded.

"Just please... don't upset him or wake him if he's sleeping. If you let on that I told you what is going on that will really upset him... but I couldn't keep this kind of information from you two. I know what he means to the BOTH of you."

"Not a problem, is it Harry?"

Harry was subdued but shook his head. "No... not a problem."

"Good. Thank you, gentlemen."

"Thanks, Janet... come on, Harry. Let's go see him."

Harry rose stiffly, suddenly feeling very old; he allowed Daniel to lead him from Fraiser's office and into the hallway. Daniel turned to look at the suddenly quiet man. "Harry?"

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not. Come with me." Daniel led Harry back towards the elevators; they were in the car and headed up before Harry noticed where they were.

"Where are we going?"

"To my office. You need to get yourself together before we go see Jack."

Harry nodded and allowed himself to be led. The next time he became aware, he was sitting in a chair in Daniel's office while the archeologist fiddled with the coffee pot in the corner.

Daniel handed Harry a mug of coffee and sat down on the stool in front of the chair staring at the former NID officer. "Tell me what you're thinking, Harry."

Harry looked up into the concerned eyes and swallowed. "It's not over... is it?... We still might lose him... BOTH of us."

"Yes... that's the way it sounds. But Jack is the most stubborn individual that I have ever known... He won't give up, he'll fight tooth and nail... you KNOW that... and we can't give up either."

"This is all my fault." Harry shook his head.

Daniel took his glasses off and rubbed at his eyes. "I think you're wrong about that. How could this possibly be your fault?"

"He's lost years because of me and now he may lose his life as well. All because I didn't want to pay the price for what I'd done."

"Which is ultimately your parent's fault."

Harry looked up suddenly. "What?"

"Well, after all... they brought you into the world... oh, wait... it's your grandparent's fault... they brought your PARENTS into the world... oh, maybe it's your great-grandparents..."

"I get it, Daniel... you can stop now."

Daniel smiled and put his hand on Harry's arm.

"It's called life, Harry; and we have damned little control over it. We have to deal with what it gives us and move on. Jack knows that better than anyone; he taught me that. He CAN do this... we can help him, by loving him."

"And if that isn't enough?"

"Then we'll deal with THAT too. Cause that is what Jack would want."

"I don't know if I could deal with losing him. I've become too wound up in him, he's too much a part of my life..." Harry looked up his eyes shining with potential tears. "... he really IS my life at this point. I don't HAVE anything else."

"It's okay... you won't lose him... and neither will I. Now drink your coffee and let's go see Jack. I think it will help him to see us NOT killing each other."

Harry sipped at his coffee and smiled.

"What?" Daniel leaned forward trying to figure out why Harry was smiling.

"THAT might kill him."

Daniel laughed and picked up his own coffee. "I never thought of that."

A little while later, the two men sat quietly next to O'Neill's bedside, hypnotized by the readings on the monitor screens. Jack sighed and his head turned a bit before he opened his eyes. He looked around and stopped when he saw Daniel and Harry sitting side by side, Daniel was reading a rather large and old-looking book and Harry was dozing.

"Hey." He said quietly, his voice thick and raspy.

Harry's head came up immediately; he looked at Jack and then at Daniel. When he looked back at Jack, he smiled.

"We were wondering when you were going to wake up. How do you feel?"

"Oddly... still real tired."

"Why's that odd? Your body needs to rest to heal, Jack. Let it." Daniel closed the tome.

"You guys okay?" Jack looked from one to the other.

Daniel and Harry looked at each other and then Harry spoke. "I think we're going to be all right, Jack. Daniel and I had a little talk and worked things out."

"What? Like custody or something?" Jack tried to shift and gasped at the pain that the small movement again flared.

"More like a compromise." Daniel smiled.

"That worries me even more." Jack tried unsuccessfully to lift his head and dropped back into the pillow.

"And well it should, too," Harry said with a grin.

Before he could respond, Jack's attention was drawn to the figure of Jacob Carter walking back into the infirmary. The Tok'ra walked directly to the opposite side of the bed and paused.

"Hey, Jack... you ready for another shot at this." He lifted his right hand containing the healing device.

"Yeah, Jacob, go for it..." He turned to Harry and Daniel.

"... You guys don't have to hang around. Why don't you go home and get some rest?"

Daniel nodded and closed the book then stood and motioned for Harry. "Yeah, I think you're right Jack. I'm kinda wiped out. Come on, Harry, pizza's on me."

Harry looked wide-eyed at Jackson; he couldn't believe that they were leaving, just like that. Daniel made a slashing motion with his hand out of Jack's view and then Harry decided to play along.

"Okay... Good night, Jack. Is there anything you want me to bring you when we come in tomorrow?" Daniel asked so matter-of-factly that a casual observer might never have suspected the two hadn't seen each other in nearly three years.

"Pizza? You're going for pizza? And you're going to just stand there and talk about it in front of me?"

Daniel looked up as if surprised. "Oh, sorry, Jack. If you'd like I can check with Janet and see if we can bring you some when we come back in tomorrow?"

Jack's mouth opened slightly as if he was about to say something and then didn't.

"I'll go ask her." Harry volunteered. "But I suspect she's not going to allow it." Harry looked back towards Daniel, whose eyes motioned for them to leave.

"Okay... well then, we'll see you tomorrow, Jack." Harry patted the near hand.

Jacob just stood and watched the unusual exchange as much at a loss as Jack to what was going on.

Daniel and Harry headed for the infirmary door, turning at the last moment to wave. Jack just wiggled his fingers in reply, confused by the entire conversation.

Janet approached the bed with another of her special syringes in hand just as the two left. She turned back to Jack and lifted the IV port to inject the drug. "Are you ready, Colonel?"

"Yeah, I guess. I suppose I should be glad they left, but did they have to talk about pizza?"

"Just relax, Colonel." Janet injected the contents of the syringe into Jack's IV and his eyes slid shut without another comment, just as Jacob raised his hands to activate the healing device.

"What the hell was THAT all about?" Harry was confused and just a little upset.

"He didn't want us to know how sick he was, Harry. I'm certain he wouldn't want us to be there to watch Jacob use the healing device. To try to stay would mean that we would have to argue with him and he didn't have the strength for that. You saw what happened when he tried to lift his head and change position?"

"Yeah. I guess you're right... it would have made him more upset..." Harry looked around the corridor. "...so now what?"

Daniel peeked around the edge of the doorframe to see that Jack was asleep and then looked back at Harry. "Now we go back in... come on."

Janet looked away from the monitors as they approached. "I thought you two were going for pizza?"

"Ahh, we just did that for Jack's benefit. We figured he would argue if we wanted to stay." Daniel smiled.

"I thought you gave up entirely too easily."

Daniel and Harry took up places around the bed, watching as Jacob passed the healing device up and down over Jack's inert form.

They stood for a long time, just watching the sweat beading on Jacob's forehead and his arms almost shaking with the effort it required to use the Goa'uld device.

Fraiser watched the almost imperceptible changes in the EKG reading on the monitor, a small smile breaking across her face. Daniel and Harry saw the hopeful look in her eyes as she glanced at them and then back to the monitors. They looked at each other and Daniel nodded.

Finally, Jacob's hands dropped to his side with a sigh and Selmak spoke again. "It is working. However, I believe it will require at least one more and possibly two more times to heal him completely. I must rest for a time." He staggered back a step and Daniel pushed a chair behind his knees. He sat heavily.

"Thank you, Doctor Jackson."

"Uh, it's us who should be thanking you... and Jacob, Selmak. I know that this is a strain for you and we really appreciate what you're doing for Jack." Daniel glanced towards Harry who nodded in agreement.

"Do you need help back to the VIP quarters?" Janet started to motion for a corpsman.

"No... I will remain here. Keep him sedated, just give me a short time and perhaps we will be able to finish this now."

Janet looked nervous. "Are you certain?"

"Yes. I just need a moment to rest. Could I have a drink of water?"

Harry scrambled to the pitcher on the table and poured some into a paper cup then handed it to the Tok'ra.

"Thanks." Jacob spoke again. "Selmak's taking a little break. But we'll be good to go in a minute or two... there was a LOT of damage."

"His EKG is improving steadily, his blood pressure is normalizing, his temperature is dropping... it's amazing."

Jacob took a deep breath and slapping his free hand on his knee, stood. "Let's finish it."

He bowed his head and allowed Selmak to assume control, then lifted his hands back up and positioned the healing device centrally over Jack's chest. The warm yellow-gold glow and slight hum drew everyone's attention.

Fifteen minutes later, Jacob Carter's arms dropped to his side and Selmak spoke.

"I have done all I can. The rest is up to him."

Daniel quickly moved up and guided the exhausted man into the chair.

"Are you okay, sir?" Janet looked at Jacob sitting with his hands limp in his lap.

Carter lifted his head and smiled. "We'll be fine, Selmak can take care of both of us..." He nodded in the direction of Jack's bed.

"... Selmak says to keep him sedated for twenty-four hours and then you can let him wake up. He'll be weak for a while, but should improve with time and plenty of rest."

"Yes, sir. I'll see he gets it." Janet turned towards one of the nurses hovering nearby and gave her a couple of instructions. Then turned back towards Daniel and Harry.

"Gentlemen, why don't you escort General Carter to the VIP Quarters to rest? Or, I could offer you that bed behind you, sir?"

Jacob smiled and glanced over his shoulder, then back to Fraiser. "Uh, thanks but no thanks. I'd rather go to the VIP Quarters; that bed is MUCH more comfortable..." Jacob stood and stretched, then patted Daniel on the shoulder. "I can make it just fine on my own..."

He looked over at Janet again. "I'll stick around for another day, just to make sure he doesn't pull anything funny. Call me if you need me." Jacob walked slowly but under his own power heading out of the infirmary.

"I will, thank you, sir." Janet took a syringe from the nurse standing at her side and injected the contents into Jack's IV, then turned to speak to Harry and Daniel when the traffic cleared.

"You heard the man. I'm going to keep him fairly heavily sedated for the next twenty-four hours so you two might as well go home and get some rest yourselves. Because I can tell you that you're going to have your hands full trying to entertain him when he's feeling better and wants out of here."

"Uh, can you just give us a minute here, Janet?" Daniel glanced over and saw the expression on Harry's face.

Janet nodded and pulled the curtain surrounding it closed as she left Jack's bedside. Daniel moved closer to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Harry was staring at Jack; he glanced away and looked over at Daniel. "He's going to be okay?"

"He's going to be fine; he's just going to need a lot of rest for a while." Daniel looked down at his watch. "We should go. You have a debriefing with General Hammond in half an hour and you look like you could use a cup of coffee."

"Yeah. Okay." Harry stepped closer to Jack's bed and reached out to touch him on the hand.

"Come on, Harry. He'll be okay."

Harry nodded and they left the infirmary quietly.

At Harry's request, Daniel sat in on Harry's debriefing with Hammond offering moral support and filling Harry's water glass every time he emptied it. Harry described what had happened, how they couldn't find a return portal, and Jack's discovery of the dead Utopians and desiccated symbiote. He explained all about the paranoia-cress and the symptoms it had produced in them both and how Jack had determined it to be the cause of the deaths of the residents.

He talked about the first shelter that Jack and he built and how they had attempted to build separate dwellings, then how he had given up and he and Jack cooperated on a dwelling large enough for the both of them. He described the construction of the smokehouse, the outhouse, the pier and the small raft from which they fished. Daniel listened with an anthropologist's ear to the descriptions of Jack making sewing needles from ammo brass and later bone and then throwing and firing pots in a kiln he'd built himself. He had known the man was a survivor... he just didn't know he was so much a survivalist. He assumed that a lot of the skills were military in origin, but last he heard, the Air Force did not teach log cabin construction and pottery.

Hammond was as entranced by Harry's tale as much as Daniel and other than the odd question here and there, he just allowed Harry to tell the story.

Finally, three or so hours later Hammond dismissed the airman who had been recording the debriefing and turned off the equipment. "I think that's all for today, Colonel. You must still be tired and I know you want to see Colonel O'Neill again before you leave."

Harry nodded and placed his hands flat on the conference table in front of him, fingers splayed. It was a position he'd seen Jack take a thousand times; just another of those little habits of Jack's that Harry seemed to have adopted.

"Yes, sir... thank you."

"I've heard enough and unless you can think of any reason to continue, tomorrow we'll just skip to the events surrounding your rescue and subsequent return. Will that be all right?"

"Yes, sir..." Harry looked a little surprised. "...are you sure?"

Hammond smiled. "Yes, son... as far as I'm concerned, they have all the information that they need right now. After all, a man's entitled to some privacy. Whatever went on there between the both of you is nobody's business but your own."

"But?" Harry stammered.

Hammond held up a hand to stop him speaking. "Tomorrow, you will relay the events surrounding your rescue. There will be no questions asked. Jacob Carter has supplied us with the coordinates where the two Jaffa found you. I'm not certain that the information has any strategic value to us, but I'm open to any suggestions... that is, once we retrieve the portal device. I assume that it was left behind?"

"Yes, sir... we left in such a hurry... I only had time to grab a few necessities. I never even thought about the key. I'm sorry."

"It's all right, son. Doctor Jackson? Why don't you take Colonel Maybourne home and let him get some rest? We'll reconvene at thirteen hundred hours tomorrow... good night, gentlemen."

Hammond stood and left the room, both pairs of eyes following his exit. Harry looked at Daniel. "He knows."

Daniel smiled and nodded. "Yes, he knows... and what's more, he doesn't care. I believe it truly does not matter to him. He's just grateful to have Jack back... and he'll take him anyway he can have him, just like me."

Harry looked Daniel in the face. "Why Doctor Jackson, you sound like you mean that." Harry pushed away from the table and stood.

Daniel grinned and stood draping his arm across Harry's shoulders. "I do, Harry. Now let's go peek in on Jack and get out of here... we still need to do some shopping for you... and Jack."

Several hours later, Harry was falling asleep in his French fries having just barely survived the mall. Daniel had forgotten just how isolated the two men had been and dragged Harry the length of the shopping venue unaware that Harry was nearly in a panic with the activity and crowds of people in the mall.

By the time they returned home, Harry was ready to collapse and Daniel had all he could do to get the man to eat and then lead him to the bedroom. Harry kicked off his boots and fell face down on the bed. Daniel pulled off his pants and socks and then covered him with the comforter. Then he began to make room in the closet for the things they had bought for Harry. He turned off the light and headed for the kitchen to put Harry's dinner away. He re-wrapped the burger that would be nuke-able, and tossed the fries and drink. Then he went to his den and sat down to write in his journal. He fell asleep while writing his entry.

"Daniel, wake up. Come on, you don't want to sleep here all night... come to bed." Harry spoke softly as he rubbed one of Daniel's shoulders. Daniel's eyes opened and he squeezed them shut again in an attempt to clear his vision before realizing that the reason his vision was blurry was that his glasses were mostly on the desk and not his face. He closed his mouth and lifted his head, wiping the drool from the corner of his lips as he came up.

"Wha... what time is it?"

"It's late, nearly two. I got up to pee and wondered where you were." Harry watched as Daniel used a tissue to wipe the small puddle of drool off the expensive looking leather blotter. It bore many similar looking stains, betraying Daniel's penchant for spending the night in the office instead of the bed.

Harry smiled and jerked his head towards the master bedroom. "Come on, sleeping like that can't be good for you."

Daniel nodded and got up stiffly, stretching out some of the kinks that had settled into his muscles while sleeping in the awkward position. He nodded and followed Harry until they got to the bedroom, then headed for the bathroom. When he came back, Harry had pulled the covers on one side of the bed back and was waiting for him.

"Come to bed."

Daniel nodded and dropped his pants on the way across the room, his shirt followed in close order. He sat down on the bed and removed his glasses and carefully placed them on the nightstand, then ran his hands through his hair and swung his legs into the bed, laying on his back. Harry threw the covers across him and, leaning back, reached for the switch to the lamp next to his side of the big bed.

"Good night, Daniel."

"Uh, good night, Harry."

Harry turned over on his side facing away from Daniel. The king-sized bed was the biggest Harry had ever slept in, but it suddenly seemed very small. He could feel the heat coming from Daniel's body and feel the bed shift slightly as Daniel sighed and sank into a more comfortable position. He suddenly felt very lonely and missed the long arms and legs that usually wove themselves around him. He sighed in resignation that those days were probably over for good and suddenly felt a warm hand on his uppermost shoulder.

"Harry? You okay?" Daniel spooned up behind him, speaking softly.

"Yeah." Harry scrubbed a hand across his face and held his body rigid.

"Well, you don't FEEL okay. What's wrong?"

"I just... I..."

"Miss Jack?" Daniel whispered softly near his ear.

"Yeah."

"Feel a little lonely?" Daniel's body pressed closer.

"Definitely." Harry tilted his head to the side as Daniel pressed warm lips against the back of his neck, sweeping aside the long ponytail.

"Can I help?" Daniel rubbed his chin against the side of Harry's neck as his arm drifted into place around Harry's waist. His fingers and hand coming to rest just under the elastic waistband of Harry's shorts, palm flat against the furry belly.

"You already are." Harry sighed as Daniel's hand searched lower and grasped Harry's thickening cock.

"Good..." Daniel's voice was low and husky and he breathed more than spoke. "... happy I can help." Daniel's fingers tickled the area at the base of Harry's cock while thrusting his pelvis forward to settle his naked erection between Harry's cloth covered buttocks.

Harry turned slightly and took Daniel's lips with his as he felt Daniel pushing his shorts down his hips baring his buttocks. Then the firebrand that was Daniel's hard cock flopped back into the crevice between his buttocks and Daniel began stroking his cock in earnest.

"I want you." Daniel panted into Harry's ear. His hips and belly moving convulsively to lengthen the ride of his cock between Harry's buttocks. Harry groaned and thrust his butt back into Daniel's movements, then rolled flat to his belly.

Daniel reached back to the nightstand and grabbed the lube, sliding the small bottle between Harry's cock and belly. Harry gasped in alarm at the cold of it.

"You just keep that there and warm it up for a minute while I warm you up a bit, eh?" Daniel rasped out as he moved against Harry's back, nibbling and licking his way downward. He sucked at a mouthful of Harry's right buttock until it was raised and purple, then licked at the crevice between when Harry thrust back against him.

"Oh, Jesus!... that's so good... oh God!" Harry purred into the pillow as Daniel worked him over, hardly even noticing when Daniel snuck a hand around to steal the lube from under his body. When Daniel's tongue entered him, Harry became incoherent and when that tongue was followed up with a lubed finger, Harry hardly even noticed.

Daniel lubed his cock and draped himself along Harry's back, taking him flat to the bed. He licked at the side of Harry's neck and whispered. "Gonna fuck you good."

"Mmm, yeah... fuck me."

Daniel carefully guided his cock and pushed with his hips, taking Harry in a single stroke. Harry groaned and thrust back against him.

Their bodies undulated in unison, sweat accumulating between them and squishing out periodically, creating a very organic and familiar sound. Slipping and sliding against each other, Daniel finally resorted to holding Harry's sweat-slicked shoulders for purchase. Harry had to hold on to the headboard to keep from having his head rammed through it.

Daniel was a man possessed, channeling all two years and seven months of his celibacy into the act of taking Harry. The strokes were long and hard and finally, Harry came into the bunched up blankets beneath him without ever being touched. Daniel continued to pound into him for another minute or two and then shuddered and stilled as his orgasm spurted deep into Harry.

"Oh God!..." Daniel panted against the side of Harry's neck. "... I'm sorry, Harry... did I hurt you?"

Harry didn't respond immediately; he was still luxuriating in the sensation of Daniel's cock spasming deep inside.

"Harry?"

"I'm okay, Daniel... better than okay, actually."

"You sure?"

"Oh, yeah."

Daniel slipped off to the side, his cock sliding out with a little gush of lube and semen from Harry's dilated anus. He ran his hand down his front, pushing the sweat from his chest to his belly.

"Come here, Harry." Daniel snaked his hand under Harry's belly, feeling a little guilty and thinking to finish Harry off, having neglected him while he fed his own need. He was surprised when he felt the spent cock lying in a gooey mess.

"No need, Daniel... I'm finished."

"So I don't have to apologize for ignoring you then?"

Harry laughed and pushed up on his elbows to lean over Daniel and look him in the eye. "No, not THIS time, that was... incredible. But next time... you better show a little consideration." Harry leaned down for a kiss and was swept into a sweaty embrace.

"Maybe a shower would be in order, huh?" Harry sniffed.

"Oh yeah, I think so. You go first, I'll strip the bed and put on some fresh linens."

Harry nodded and got up, walking carefully towards the bathroom. Daniel got up, pulled the blanket and sheets from the bed and quickly remade it, tossing the soiled sheets and blanket into a pile on the floor to be dealt with when they finally got up. He went into the bathroom and stepped into the steaming shower behind Harry, who turned, kissed him, and then applied more gel to the bath sponge and began washing Daniel.

The shower was functional and tender. They dried off and then dropped, clean and still slightly damp around the edges, into the crisp fresh linens and then snuggled together under the blanket. Sleep came quickly to them both.

Their first stop in the morning was to a storage locker that Daniel had been renting. The two-car garage-sized locker held a large number of identical brown boxes, each carefully labeled with a letter and number. Daniel carried a notebook and would consult it periodically before instructing Harry which boxes to load into the big truck. Harry looked around and saw an assortment of things that could have only belonged to Jack. Hockey sticks and a goal were in one corner and two bicycles hung from the ceiling.

"Is all of this Jack's stuff?" Harry finally asked.

"Well, most of it. Some is mine, stuff I didn't need anymore once I moved into the house... we need that big box from over there, too. Let me help you."

Together they hefted the last box into the bed of the truck and Daniel closed and secured the storage locker. They drove back to the house and began off loading into the garage.

"What is all this stuff?"

"Clothes, shoes, uniforms, personal items, CD's, some family pictures and remembrances. Stuff I thought he'd like to see when he comes home. Let's unpack the boxes and we can drop the stuff that needs it at the cleaner's on the way to the Mountain. We can start running the laundry when we come back... which reminds me." Daniel disappeared and came back through with the pile of soiled linens from the bedroom.

Harry smiled. "Good idea... we might need them again."

Daniel did a double-take and grinned. "True."

They sorted through the boxes that Daniel pointed out as containing clothes, accumulating a pile to go out to the cleaner's and several for the laundry.

Harry looked at some of the articles and shook his head. "I don't know if any of this stuff is going to fit him anymore."

"Yeah, he's a bit thinner. But Fraiser will see to that quick enough. Jack was always so worried that he was getting fat. Hell, he barely managed to stay just enough above his minimum weight so she wouldn't pull him from the duty roster, so I know she won't tolerate him being underweight for very long. You just watch, as soon as she thinks he'll tolerate them, she'll start putting those dietary supplements in front of him. They'll be a parade of milkshakes and custards, enough to make your head spin. So they may not fit him now, but they will... mark my words."

"Our diet was kind of restricted. It was healthy enough, I suppose, since we only got sick a couple of times. We had lots of fish, vegetables, nuts, berries, poultry and game. Heck, we even had honey and a tea of sorts. But there was so much physical labor involved with everything on a daily basis that he just burned it all off."

"You both did, from the looks of it." Daniel's eyes swept up and down Harry's lean frame.

"Yeah, but I'll have to struggle to keep it off, whereas Jack will be hard pressed to put it on at all. It's just not fair." Harry shook his head.

"Speaking of which, we'd better be going if we're going to drop this stuff at the cleaner's on our way..." Daniel glanced down at his watch. "... We'll sort through the rest when we get back."

They made their stop at the cleaner's and still managed to get to the Mountain by noon. They headed to the commissary for coffee and some lunch before dropping by the infirmary on their way to Harry's final debriefing.

As Janet had promised, Jack was asleep. Janet was sitting quietly next to the bed, writing some notes in his chart when Daniel and Harry strolled in.

"Doctor Fraiser, how is he?" Harry spoke softly.

"He's doing fine, Colonel. His temperature and all his vital signs have normalized. His cardiac studies look as if nothing ever happened. I just finished medicating him to keep him under a while longer, but look at this..." She carefully moved the covers away from his chest and pushed the hospital gown aside to show them where Jack's wound had been.

If Harry had been the fainting type, he'd have dropped on the spot. The wound was not only gone, but the huge scar and muscle deficit that he had expected to see was practically non-existent.

"That's amazing. If I didn't know how bad it was... I mean, it just looks as though he had a superficial burn there." Harry turned towards Daniel.

"Selmak does good work. Is he around?" Daniel asked.

"I just came from the VIP room; I had the SF look in on him. He's still asleep. I never realized just how taxing using the healing device can be. I told the SF to call me when General Carter wakes up."

"When will you let Jack wake up?" Harry hadn't taken his eyes off the sleeping form.

"Well, unless Jacob wakes up and tells me I shouldn't, I'll give him his last sedative at fifteen thirty and then let nature take its course from there. If I know Colonel O'Neill, that means that he'll wake up at about eighteen hundred and start complaining." She smiled and closed the chart, then returned the pen to her jacket pocket.

"Why don't you stop back then and maybe you can go get him something from the commissary when he starts to whine?" She smiled and stood, then patted Harry on the shoulder and spoke again.

"How are you doing, Colonel? You still look tired; are you sleeping? I can give you something if you'd like? Are you remembering to take the vitamin supplements I gave you? Are you eating?"

"I'm... I'm fine. Yes, I'm taking the vitamins and eating."

"What about sleeping?" She demanded.

"That's a little tougher, but it's just a matter of getting used to a new environment... I'm okay, really."

Janet looked back at Daniel who nodded in agreement before patting Harry on the shoulder again. "Well, okay... but if you need anything or have any problems, you come in to see me."

"Yes, ma'am." Harry nodded and smiled.

"Come on, Harry, we have to go." Daniel placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and they left the infirmary, heading for the briefing room.

At seventeen thirty, Hammond shook Harry's hand and thanked him for his candor and cooperation, then dismissed the recorder and ended the briefing.

"Before you go, Colonel, I'd like to see you in my office for a moment."

Harry looked at Daniel and followed Hammond into the office taking the offered chair.

"I just wanted to ask you if you'd had any time to give a thought to your future?"

"Uh, no, sir... I really haven't. I've been so wrapped up with Jack and the debriefing."

"Well, I'd like you to consider coming to work for the SGC as a field consultant."

"A what?"

"Well, I have this little idea... you and Colonel O'Neill have a lot of valuable off-world survival experience. That's not the kind of thing that you can get from a book. I think it's knowledge that could be useful to our newer recruits and especially the civilian scientists. Colonel O'Neill will be too busy for the kind of detail and explanation that this sort of thing requires to be of any help.

"I can't return you to active duty with the Air Force, unfortunately, but I did manage to get your security clearances reactivated and your retirement benefits reinstated and you and Colonel O'Neill will both be getting all back pay and leave. I had to do a little fast talking to convince them that you were actually on active duty when you disappeared, but the President managed to cut through the red tape for you. See my aide before you leave today to complete the retirement paperwork; the check for your back pay and leave is being cut and will be here tomorrow. I assume that you are going to continue to stay with Doctor Jackson?"

"Uh, yes... sir, for a while anyway."

"That's fine... well if you'd like to think about it for a day or so..."

"NO... I mean, I don't have to think about it. I'll take it, sir, and thank you."

Hammond smiled and stood offering his hand across the desk. "Good, I'm glad. I'd hate to see your expertise and experience go to waste. I think you'll be a valuable asset to this command, Colonel."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'll warn you. It won't be completely painless for you. There are people here that know you from your former life, but I have every confidence that you can handle that kind of adversity."

"It's okay sir... I used to work for the NID, that kinda requires you develop Teflon skin."

"Good. I'll have the contracts finished and waiting for you tomorrow, along with your back pay and new ID. We'll sort out your office and duties in a week or two as soon as Doctor Fraiser gives the okay for you to work. Take some time to get used to being back, get your bearings... and let me know if you need anything.

"As soon as you feel comfortable, we'll get you fixed up with a driver's license and all. In the meantime, the motor pool drivers are at your disposal. Let me know if you need anything else, our quartermasters have become quite good at settling in and setting up new non-terrestrial personnel, so they should have it easy with you." Hammond walked Harry to the office door and held it open for him.

"Welcome aboard, Colonel."

"Thank you, General... I really appreciate it."

Daniel was waiting for Harry just outside of Hammond's office, pacing the floor. "Harry! You okay?"

"I'm great now, Daniel."

"What did he want?"

"He offered me a job."

Daniel's eyes got wide. "He did? Doing what?"

"As a civilian consultant; instructing new recruits and civilians in off world survival techniques."

"Oooo, that's a great idea! Just wait until Jack finds out."

"He also got my retirement benefits and security clearances reinstated and I'm going to get back pay and leave for the time we were stranded." Harry looked a little less happy than Daniel would have expected at that.

"Why don't you sound happy about that?"

"Well, considering I was a fugitive when we went there..."

"Don't even go there. You did your duty or what the NID told you was your duty. You have a right to be compensated for it; you've helped us enough since then to more than make up for anything you did while working for them." Daniel patted Harry on the back and started walking.

"I need to go see Hammond's aide to sign the retirement paperwork. You go ahead on to the infirmary." Harry started towards the aide's office.

"All right, I'll see you in a few minutes."

At eighteen thirty Harry strolled into the infirmary to find Daniel sitting next to Jack's bed speaking softly with a very awake O'Neill.

"Jack!"

"Harry."

"He woke up about ten minutes ago, Janet was right on the money."

"It sure looks that way. How're you feeling, Jack?"

"Pretty good considering how I felt yesterday. The pain's gone."

"There's a good reason for that; the wound's gone."

"Yeah, I saw. There's still some scarring."

"Yeah, but nowhere near what there would have been."

"True..." Jack looked at Daniel and then back to Harry. "... So when are you guys going to bust me out of here?"

"Christ, Jack... you've only been awake for ten minutes. Give it a little time, huh?" Daniel turned as Janet came through the infirmary door.

"Colonel! I'm glad to see that there are some things that can still be counted on in this world. You're just as predictable as ever..." She turned to Harry and Daniel. "... Excuse me, gentlemen. I need to do an exam. Why don't you two go get something to eat and come back in about a half hour. Bring Colonel O'Neill some pudding; we'll see if he's ready for food by then."

"I want a cheeseburger." The grumble from the bed was barely audible.

"Why? So you can throw it up? It's too soon for that, Colonel... your stomach can't handle it yet. Let's work up to it, huh?" Janet waved for Daniel and Harry to go as she drew the curtains closed around the bed.

When they returned with a small tray containing an assortment of puddings and gelatins an hour later, Jack was sitting up in a reclining chair next to the bed wearing scrubs and looking very fit and very hungry. They put the tray down and Janet was there in an instant to double-check the contents before allowing Jack to even put a spoon in the first gelatin. Jack glared at her and mumbled under his breath as she checked the tray.

"Part doctor, part Doberman."

"I heard that, Colonel." She half-sneered at him while in her mind she was laughing and grateful that her Colonel O'Neill was back.

"Ja-ack, she just wants to be sure that you don't spend the rest of the evening hurling your guts out. Give her a break, huh?" Harry sat down on the bottom of the bed as Daniel assumed the chair.

"If you can manage to eat and keep all that down, I'll allow you to have a regular diet tomorrow, Colonel." She said as she moved off, knowing that her patient was in good hands.

Hours later, the three men were sitting very close to each other and trying to play cards to pass the time. Daniel was winning; according to Jack, because he was the only one who remembered how to keep score. Occasionally there was a burst of laughter or an expletive, followed immediately by hushed schoolboy chuckling as they waited for the chastisement that never came. At twenty-two hundred, a nurse from the evening shift came over with a couple of pills and a carton of milk and handed them off to O'Neill, then stood and waited as he swallowed them.

"Okay, gentlemen, I have orders from Doctor Fraiser that this party ends at twenty two hundred and then I am to evict you both and the Colonel is to go back to bed. It's twenty two fifteen... good night."

"Umm, I guess we'd better leave."

"Ahh come on... we're not hurting anything." Jack whined. "Besides, I'm not tired."

"Oh you will be Colonel, once that sleeping pill takes effect."

"Wha?... why that sneaky little..."

"I'd be careful what you say, Jack... she's small but she has BIG ears."

"She just wants to make sure you're well rested." Daniel wiggled his eyebrows at Jack who groaned when he got the message.

They left the infirmary as a grumbling Jack was getting into bed.

Two days later, Fraiser was trying to decide how she could smuggle his body out of the Mountain for disposal after she killed him. When in bed, he whined; when out of bed, he paced, and whether in or out of bed, he never stopped asking to go home. When Daniel and Harry walked into the infirmary just before noon and handed him a duffle bag containing clothes, he was dressed and ready in about one minute flat.

"I'm ready!" He announced before Harry had even settled into a chair.

"Slow down, Colonel... I have a few instructions for you and some medications that I want to go over."

Jack looked flustered. "Why the hell couldn't you have done that an hour ago when I was LOOKING for something to do, instead of now?"

"Because, sir, I wanted Doctor Jackson and Colonel Maybourne to know exactly what the medications are and when you are to take them in case you FORGET. Now please sit down."

Fraiser went over the bottles of medications and supplements and gave them oral and written information on their schedule and dosing while Jack fidgeted with the buttons on his jacket and drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair.

When she released them, Jack was the first through the door and had almost made it to the elevator before being intercepted by Hammond.

"Jack!"

"General."

"Good to see you up and about. You getting ready to go home?"

"Yesss, sssir?" He said very suspiciously.

"Could I have a minute with you before you go?"

"C-certainly... sssir." Hammond turned and Jack started to follow, throwing his hands in the air and looking upward as if pleading with a higher power, until Hammond turned around again. Like a twelve year old, he tried to cover the motion by pretending to smooth his hair.

"Are you alright, Colonel?"

"Oh, yes, sir... never better." Jack gave a smirking Daniel a dirty look as he disappeared around the corner on route to the general's office.

"Hammond has great timing." Daniel laughed as he and Harry followed at a distance, then took up a vigil outside of the general's office to wait for Jack.

"Yeah, but I bet he had help from a small brunette Doberman... uh doctor." Harry said with a smile.

By the time Hammond was through, Jack was strung tighter than Daniel had ever seen him and thrumming with the kind of energy that electricians feel when working near high-tension lines. They managed to get out of the Mountain without further incident.

In the parking lot, Jack was relieved to spot his truck and ran his hand along the gleaming finish when they got close. "You kept the truck," was all he said.

"I couldn't part with it."

"I'm glad. Let's get out of here, before someone else comes looking for me." He climbed into the passenger seat without a word. Daniel was grateful he hadn't asked to drive. Harry got into the back seat and patted Jack on the shoulder.

"Take it easy, Jack... you can relax now."

Jack placed his hand on Harry's and shook his head. "No, not yet, but soon, Harry. Let's get the hell out of here, Daniel."

"Yes, sir!" Daniel started the truck and pulled out of the lot.

Jack took in all the changes on the drive from the base, surprised at how much development had encroached on the area beneath the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The streets started to look very familiar, but he waited a while before he said anything. With Daniel's final turn off the main road, he finally asked. "Where are we going, Daniel?"

"To my house, Jack. Why?"

"It just looks real familiar."

"Déjà vu?" Daniel said with a smile.

"I dunno, could be." Jack drawled slowly.

When they turned onto Jack's former street and into Jack's former driveway, Jack turned and commented.

"YOUR house, Daniel?"

"MY house, Jack. You left it to me in your will, remember?"

"And if I want it back?"

"Well, I've done some improvements and upgrades, but I'm sure that with the right financing, you could meet my price."

"Meet your price... Mmmeet YOUR price?" Jack's eyes bugged and his mouth dropped open.

"Take it easy, Jack. I'm just kidding..." Daniel laughed as he stopped the truck and climbed out. "... Come on, let's go in."

Daniel walked ahead carrying Jack's small duffel with the meds and instructions. He opened the door and turned the alarm off, then stood waiting as Harry and Jack moved slowly up the walk. Jack stopped every few feet to look around and examine the flowerbeds and lawn, just as Daniel figured he would.

The house he stepped into was familiar and strange at the same time. It was his house with Daniel touches. There were books everywhere, of course, and pieces of what Jack recognized as Daniel's collections from the last apartment he lived in. Harry had to almost forcibly remove his jacket, then sat down and watched him wander. Jack moved from one place to another handling pieces of his past, sometimes picking something up, other times just running fingertips over them.

He stopped at the mantel where a picture of him in jump gear grinning from ear to ear sat next to the picture of Daniel on a camel in front of the pyramids. The medals were gone and the broad swords that had graced Daniel's wall at the apartment were now displayed there. The shelves near the door held an almost gift shop selection of artifacts and items Daniel had collected, interspersed with items that had been his.

"You okay, Jack?" Harry asked quietly, his face full of concern.

Jack walked over and caressed his bearded face, then leaned down and kissed him full on the lips. "I'm fine, Harry."

Daniel still stood in the foyer, unwilling to give up the view of Jack scoping out the house, touching everything like a lover. He was so caught up, he didn't really notice Jack's approach until a callused thumb stroked over his cheek and Jack's warm hand laid along his jaw.

"Daniel." Jack breathed his name like a prayer and all the tension drained from his body.

"Welcome home, Jack." Daniel whispered against Jack's lips as Jack pressed him against the door. The first kiss was sweet, chaste, and warm and each successive kiss got progressively more passionate and penetrating as they went on. Before very long, Jack was pinning Daniel against the door with his groin while they each urgently sought skin contact.

At first, Harry tried to pretend he didn't see anything. It was only polite, he thought. Then it occurred to him that he had a stake in this as well and he moved to the couch for a better view. He had thought about joining in, but decided that he owed Daniel this first time again.

His pulse raced as he watched Jack working his way around the archeologist's body with his hands and mouth, every bit of flesh revealed had to be examined first with fingers and then tasted. Before long, Daniel was gasping with need and Jack was still nearly fully clothed and practically on his knees. Jack stood and pressed him flat to the door and began the assault again from the top, licking and sucking everywhere he could.

Daniel was lost, his brain was so much mush that he couldn't even manage to get a coherent sentence out. Jack was on a crusade to taste his entire body and he was helpless to control the quivering tower of jello that he was becoming under Jack's touch and lips. He locked his knees to remain upright and tried to concentrate on staying conscious. When Jack got down to his groin and buried his face between Daniel's right thigh and his torso and began licking and breathing deeply in that sensitive crease, Daniel started to gray out. He tried to double over to protect the tender area and was pushed back by Jack's right arm that came up and held him back against the door.

Jack stripped Daniel's pants and shorts to his ankles and mouthed all along his now-bared legs, carefully avoiding the erect cock that jutted out, the head plum purple with a steady stream of precum dripping, sometimes on the back of his head, sometimes down his neck. His hands ran up and down the front of Daniel's body, callused palms and fingers electrifying sensitive and goose-bumped flesh.

Daniel felt like he was on fire and when Jack's tongue searched behind his right knee briefly and then trailed back up his leg to lap at his balls, he groaned and came harder than he could ever remember. Jack felt the first explosion from Daniel's orgasm across his hair and tilted his mouth up to surround the glans catching the rest as if some rare nectar was being dispensed drop by drop. Daniel shook and swayed dangerously his vision nearly gone and hearing reduced to the rush of his blood pulsing through his ears. Even though Daniel's orgasm was finished, his cock was still hard and Jack smiled as he planted one last kiss on the dark fat head before climbing back up the warm body, taking the open mouth in a deep, searching kiss and then rasping in Daniel's ear.

"I want you."

Daniel's heart pounded in his chest as Jack turned him to face the door and began his assault on his back, finally stripping the shirt from his arms.

Harry was having trouble keeping himself in check. The sight of such an aroused and needy Jack had him aching and hard inside his pants and he longed to release his straining cock. He could finally resist the urge no longer and unzipped and palmed his cock, stroking slowly as the wet dream played itself out against the door in the foyer.

Jack parted the quivering muscular buttocks and dove between them, mouth open and tongue eager and searching. Daniel's hands were clawing the door on either side of his head, his mouth open and panting at the sensation of Jack's face between his buttocks and his own still hard cock squeezed against the polished wood. Daniel gasped as first Jack's tongue and then a finger penetrated him. His feet spread into a wider stance just to keep from falling down and that allowed Jack better access to what he sought. A wet, wet mouth moved back into place adding more moisture before another invader, this time two fingers, sought entry.

Daniel gasped as the long fingers probed deeply and crooked, sending him nearly through the wood door. When the two fingers were replaced yet again by the wet mouth sharing its moisture, he turned his face into the door, shouted and came again, the products of this orgasm pulsing against the wood and sliding slowly downwards. Now the hands that had been holding his hips in place moved as their owner climbed back up and then disappeared entirely as he heard a belt drop and then a zipper being roughly pulled. He took as wide a stance as he could with his pants still around his ankles and waited for the next invader, panting.

Jack pressed his still-clothed body against Daniel's back, trapping him flat to the wood and guided his hard cock into the wet, pouting hole. He pushed slightly and felt the give as he sank inside. Daniel gasped and panted out something that was either so altered by the wood he was speaking into that it was unrecognizable or in a language that Jack didn't know. He stilled and stroked the long sides, his hands running from Daniel's armpits to his knees, coarse palms and fingers again electrifying everything that they touched. He took another step closer, crushing the breath from Daniel's lungs as he pressed further inside, then pulled back and nearly out.

"I love you, Daniel." Jack leaned in and breathed in his ear before his thrusting hips sheathed his cock completely. He bent at the knees and pulled back again before plunging deeply, almost lifting Daniel from the floor with the power of the stroke. Daniel scratched at the door and pushed back against Jack, forcing him to take a step back, and then he bent at the waist to allow Jack to not only wrap his arms round him, but to also allow better access.

Jack pulled Daniel's hips back against his groin and took a step back, letting Daniel bend at the waist.

A moment later, Daniel felt hands at his ankles, first removing his shoes and then relieving him of his pants. When the hands went away, Daniel started to sink to his knees and Jack followed. Jack's hands vanished from his body a moment later and then reappeared. The new position, although tougher on Jack, was easier on Daniel and he pushed back against each new thrust until Jack lost his rhythm and faltered. He began a quick, hard, jabbing thrust that Daniel remembered, then stilled and fell across Daniel's naked back as his cocked emptied deep inside him.

He wrapped long arms around Daniel and, still joined, they fell to their sides onto the cool tiles. Daniel spooned back against Jack, realizing now that Jack had been relieved of his shirt probably when Daniel had been relieved of his pants. Harry sat draped along the sofa, his eyes closed and pants open with one hand lying casually next to his groin. His face had that sated look to it.

Jack's face dove into the side of Daniel's neck, sucking and nibbling while his cock still twitched against Daniel's prostate. Daniel grabbed at the arms that circled him and pulled them closer around him, while he unscrambled his brain cells.

"Jack?"

"Hmm?"

"Come on we need to get up, you're going to be stiff."

"I'm stiff now." Jack playfully gave another little thrust.

"Think Harry enjoyed the show?" Daniel nodded in the direction of the living room and Jack lifted his face from Daniel's neck with a start.

"Oh God, Harry!" His head dropped back as he rolled away and onto his back. His hands went to his head and his arms crossed his face as if to hide. Daniel pushed up on his arms and then sat up. He turned to face Jack and laid a hand flat on his heaving chest as Jack's voice broke.

"What have I done?"

"It's all right, Jack."

The sound of voices drew Harry from his post-orgasmic haze and he looked up to see Daniel tending to Jack. He panicked in fear that something was wrong and rushed over to the foyer to help. "What's wrong? Is he okay?"

"He's fine, Harry... he's just a little upset."

Jack spoke from beneath the arms that covered his face. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry."

Harry looked at Daniel still puzzled and then climbed over the bodies draped along the tile floor until he was on the other side of Jack. He lifted his head and shoulders and guided him into his lap.

"Jack... tell me. What's wrong? Are you in pain, do you hurt somewhere?" Harry looked up plaintively at Daniel.

"It's alright, Jack... Harry and I came to an understanding. Everything's going to be okay." Daniel stroked his hand through the crop of gray chest hair that looked white against the bronzed torso.

"What's wrong?" Harry whispered.

"I think Jack's feeling a little guilty."

"Why?"

"For what just happened."

Harry got the message when Daniel motioned between he and Jack.

"Oh, that," were his only words before lifting Jack's arms, one at a time away from his face. The Harry leaned across the body in his lap and wrapped his hand around the back of Daniel's neck, pulling him closer. Daniel leaned eagerly and opened his mouth as Harry pulled him in for a kiss. Jack lay halfway in Harry's lap and watched Daniel reach for the sides of Harry's head as their kiss deepened and felt Harry's cock, trapped under him, thickening against the back of his head. The kisses above him seemed to increase in passion and Jack felt his own cock reawakening.

"Hh... Hey!" His voice broke as he tried to get their attention.

Harry held Daniel's face and pulling back, looked down. "What is it, Jack?"

"What's going on, Harry?"

"Daniel told you... we came to an understanding."

"What KIND of understanding... Harry?"

Daniel looked down now and spoke. "We decided to share." Daniel leaned back across and dove in for another kiss holding Harry's face to prevent its escape.

"Share?... How?"

Daniel looked at Harry and back down to Jack. "Are you sure you're up to this? I mean, you just got out of the infirmary and that last little episode must have taken a lot out of you. I'm not so sure you can handle it."

"Dan-yel" Jack growled.

"Oh he can handle it..." Harry said easily, "... but I would certainly prefer a change of venue before anything else is attempted. This damned foyer is haunted." He wiggled his eyebrows at Daniel who laughed and leaned in for another kiss.

"A succubus you think?" Daniel said with a laugh.

"At the very least," Harry laughed and leaned back, allowing Daniel to stand first.

Daniel put a hand down to Jack. "Come on Jack, let's take this to someplace a bit more comfortable."

Jack reached up for Daniel's hand as Harry pushed his torso upwards. Jack grabbed at his pants to keep from losing them and then he and Daniel offered a hand each to Harry.

Jack leaned in and kissed Harry gently. "You know I love you, don't you?"

"There's no doubt in my mind, Jack."

"And this little... arrangement... is okay with you?"

"More than okay."

Jack looked over at Daniel. "And it's okay with YOU?"

"It was my suggestion," Daniel said with a shrug, his words almost taking Jack out at the knees. Harry and Daniel both grabbed to keep him from falling.

"Come on, Harry... I think Jack needs to lay down." Daniel stepped over the pile of clothes at his feet and took one of Jack's arms.

"I think you're right. He's looking a little pale." Harry took Jack's other arm and pulled his pants back over his hips. Jack looked back and forth between the two men and allowed them to lead him into his former bedroom.

They walked him to the bed and pushed him to sit as they quickly worked to remove what little clothing he still wore. Then Daniel started to strip Harry and Jack found himself riveted to the sight, his pulse quickened and his cock hardened as he watched Daniel tasting whatever he exposed and occasionally coming back for a deep kiss between endeavors.

From the corner of his eye, Daniel could see Jack watching with interest and decided to prolong the show as much as possible. He sucked until the skin along Harry's collarbone was deeply bruised and then slid down, latching onto a small nipple, then just as Harry was lost in that pleasure, nipped it with his teeth. Harry threw his head back and spread his legs so he wouldn't fall, keeping both hands on Daniel's shoulders for support. He could see Jack leaning back on one elbow now, leisurely stroking his engorging cock as they played in front of him.

Daniel pushed Harry's pants and boxers down his legs and licked his way down to Harry's straining erection. The groan from the bed was so pitiful that it stopped them both and they looked over as Jack stroked his own cock. They looked back at each other and Harry cocked his head once in Jack's direction, Daniel nodded and got up. He held out an arm so Harry could step out of the puddle of pants and shorts he was standing in and then they moved to either side of Jack and sat down.

"So, Jack..." Daniel purred as his hand stroked up and down one side of Jack's body, carefully avoiding the hard cock. "... Are YOU going to be alright with this?"

Harry stroked the other side of Jack's body taking the same care as Daniel. "We didn't think you'd mind... after all it takes the pressure off you to make a choice, and we've discovered we kind of... ENJOY each other's company. Isn't that right, Daniel?" Harry asked as he leaned across Jack's belly to capture Daniel's mouth.

Daniel only broke the kiss long enough to get out a somewhat muffled. "Oh yes," before launching back into Harry's mouth.

Jack opened his eyes at the garbled response and groaned at the sight of the two kissing. "Well... if you two don't have a problem with it, then how could I possibly object?"

They pulled apart long enough for Daniel to speak. "Exactly!" He smiled and then pushed Jack flat with his palm.

Jack smiled and grabbed for Harry's hard cock with one hand and Daniel's with the other. "What am I ever gonna do with you two?" he mused out loud.

Harry groaned as Jack's fingers worked him and he shuddered before replying. "Well... you're going to fuck me... and then we'll negotiate."

Daniel reached back for the lube as Jack's hand moved steadily up and down Harry's cock. Daniel got up and moved behind Harry, then he lubed two fingers and slowly slid them between Harry's cheeks. Jack leaned up to see what Daniel was doing and pushed Harry over to his side on the bed. Daniel slid his fingers in and out several times and then removed his hand and got up. He poured some more lube in his palm and caressed Jack's hard cock, anointing it with the cool lube and then stepped back to watch.

Harry rolled to his side, spooning back against Jack, and Jack lifted Harry's uppermost leg for easier penetration. He slid smoothly into the familiar body and in two strokes was completely sheathed. Daniel lay down behind Jack, running his hand along the long leg and up the flank and side, then he lubed his fingers again and slid them between Jack's cheeks as Jack thrust deeply into Harry over and over.

When he was penetrated, Jack gasped and lost his concentration briefly, getting Harry's attention. When Harry realized what Daniel was doing, he reached back and grabbed Jack's thigh and pulled it up over his own hip, allowing Daniel complete access.

Daniel slid in another finger, then reached for the hidden gland that would put Jack into orbit. He stroked over the nub, pressing hard, and Jack stopped his thrusts into Harry long enough for Daniel to lube his own cock and slide into Jack with a sigh.

Jack shivered between the two men as Daniel pulled back and thrust again, completely sheathed now. Jack's own cock throbbed inside Harry as Daniel's cock nudged his prostate. Daniel pulled back just enough that when Jack pulled back from Harry he skewered himself deeply on Daniel's length. Daniel's fingers rubbed and pinched at his nipples as Jack rocked back and forth between he and Harry.

Harry came first. He shuddered and groaned, gasping out Jack's name. Jack thrust two or three more times and then stilled and spilled deeply inside of Harry. He stopped his backward motion and allowed his orgasm to wash through him. Daniel waited patiently until he felt Jack relax. Harry scooted forward and Jack's cock slipped from his body. Daniel pulled out and then pushed Jack to lie flat on his back. Daniel hauled one of the long, tanned legs over his shoulder as Harry lifted the other from behind the knee, opening Jack up for Daniel to guide his cock back inside.

Jack watched as the two men manipulated him until Daniel was completely sheathed again. Harry leaned down and took Jack's face in his hands and kissed him deeply as Daniel pulled back and plunged deep. Harry's fingers worked Jack's nipples into hard nubs and he watched Daniel lose control and begin pounding into Jack in staccato strokes.

Daniel came with a shout and, dropping Jack's leg from his shoulder, collapsed forward to lie against Jack's chest. Jack draped one arm around Daniel's back and kissed the top of his head. Harry lay down against Jack's other side and was pulled into a deep kiss.

"I don't think I've ever been so happy... or so well done..." Jack said quietly. "... I love both of you guys so much. I never even imagined it could be like this."

Daniel lifted his head. "Neither one of us could stand the thought of being without you. I love you, Jack."

"And so do I..." Harry kissed Daniel briefly. "... Compromise is a wonderful thing, isn't it Jack?"

Jack watched Daniel kiss Harry back and said the one thing that came immediately to mind.

"Sweet... very, very sweet."

fin