Voyages Of Discovery (Part 3/3)

by Euphrosyne

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ase/euphrosyne/voyages013.php
Summary: Sometimes you have to travel to find yourself. A solo mission may lead to change or perhaps just a bigger, more comfortable closet. Love comes in spurts

Chapter 23: There is nothing as unbecoming on the beach as a wet kilt

The afternoon moved lazily. Most of the passengers had gone ashore, leaving only a very few on the ship. But those that stayed on the ship, for whatever reasons were treated extra special by the staff and crew.

Jack and Daniel walked the deck hand in hand, Jack continued to stop and kiss Daniel just because he could and no one would gasp or point. They strolled to the pool area and watched the activity.

Near the bow was a steel drum band, playing reggae tunes. Close by, there was a large white refrigerated cart where a girl with grade three hair stood dipping cones for everyone, while moving her own hips to the music.

Jack chuckled watching her dive head first into the tall freezer with a dipper and come back out again and again.

"It's like she's pearl diving." Daniel chuckled.

"I feel like we should tie a rope to her ankle or something, so we can fish her back out when she doesn't resurface." Jack said as they ambled over to the curious sight.

"Hi, what can I get you gentleman?"

"Um..." Jack bent slightly to read the name tag on the pocket of her shirt. "...what flavors do you have, Camilla?"

"Well I have all the usual. Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, Mocha, Cherry, Rocky Road, Mint. Then I also have a few exotics, maple-walnut, coffee, coconut, raspberry, pistachio..."

"STOP!" Jack put up a hand. Camilla looked shocked.

"I want a double dip, maple-walnut and pistachio." Jack smiled, the girl looked relieved.

"I want..." Daniel started.

"He wants one dip coffee and one dip chocolate..." Jack turned towards Daniel, "...am I right?"

"Uh, well, no, I really wanted two dips of coffee." Daniel snarked, he did want one of each but didn't want to be THAT predictable just yet, so he changed it.

Camilla nodded and with her trusty scoop in hand dove for the bottom of the cart, Jack flinched as if to grab her to keep her from going all the way in and Daniel laughed. In a moment she was back with a scoop of coffee ice cream.

"You know... you could fall in there and get hurt." Jack pointed out.

"Well, I usually get the old cart which they fill with dry ice and that brings the ice cream up so it's easier to reach. But this time they gave me the new cart, which is electric..." She pointed to the cord trailing away from the cart. "...and they didn't put any dry ice in, so...down I go!" She smiled and went down for another scoop. She came out and completed Daniel's cone and with a smile handed it over. Then she shifted to the other end of the cart and began to dive again. Two dives later, Jack had his cone and they sat in the shade of an umbrella and ate their ice cream.

By two o'clock, local time the heat and sun had taken its toll on the recovering O'Neill; he became quiet and began to move a little more stiffly. Daniel steered them back to the suite and bribed Jack to stretch out on the bed with promises of strawberries and balsamic vinegar.

"You know, Daniel, there's still time if you want to go ashore for a while. I'll be alright here."

"No, I'd really rather stay here with you. Besides, how much of Rome can you actually see in six hours? And when I bring you back to see Florence we can come to Rome too." Daniel leaned in and kissed Jack softly.

"Now get the pants off, O'Neill, let's get some ice on you."

"Ooo, I love it when you're forceful."

Jack selected a pair of loose fitting cotton shorts and started to strip while Daniel opened the balcony doors and put on some music. Daniel watched the guarded way he moved and lifted his legs and knew he had to be hurting.

He grabbed the small bottle of pills that Howard had left and moved to the bed with the ice, a bottle of water and the pills.

He opened the bottle and took out a single pill, then put it in Jack's palm, then he handed the water bottle over. Daniel knew he needed to strike preemptively here.

"That's for the swelling and it will also help reduce the inflammation and irritation."

It WAS a partial truth. The pain medication would relieve Jack's pain and Daniel's irritation, the swelling would go down as Jack slept, and the inflammatory nature of the entire pain pill refusal situation would be circumvented. Daniel felt his lie was justified when Jack swallowed the pill without comment.

"There's a costume party tonight, if you're REALLY good and this swelling goes down, I might consider taking you." The tone of voice Daniel used was almost parental.

"I didn't bring a costume, Daniel. Besides, you know how I feel about parties."

"Yes I do. Tell me why you hate parties, Jack?" Daniel was prepared for this argument and meant to stop it too, before it started.

"I dunno, never liked em."

"Well, I'll tell you, shall I?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "As if it would stop you if I said no."

"True..." Daniel stopped briefly then went into lecture mode.

"...The reason you hate parties is that you feel out of place at them. To approach any guys would be suicide and you aren't attracted to any of the women. You're not enough of a social butterfly to schmooze so you end up just hanging out and drinking and feeling like the world has noticed that you're a wallflower... Am I right?" Speech completed, Daniel looked smugly to Jack for confirmation.

"Uh, no, actually." Jack was wearing one of those self satisfied grins. "That's why YOU don't like parties. I don't like parties because usually the music is too loud and sucks..."

"By sucks you mean it isn't classical, right?"

"Hell, most of the time it isn't even good non classical. You started this, are you going to let me finish?"

"Uh, ah, sorry. Please continue, I'm all ears."

"No, you're not, but that's okay I like the other bits too..." Jack tugged him down for a kiss. "...As I was saying, the music is too loud and sucks, the food is terrible and I get pawed all night by every archeologist in attendance."

"OH, DREAM ON!" Daniel laughed.

"It's TRUE!" Jack grinned.

"We'll see." Daniel leaned down and kissed him again then stood. "I'm going to see what they have left in costumes while you rest."

As Jack raised a finger to point and give an order, he was halted by Daniel's raised hand.

"I know, you have the final say. Let's just see what they have, shall we?"

Daniel grabbed the key card and headed for the door. He turned out the light and turned back to speak.

"Just rest, I'll be back in a little bit."

Jack sighed and closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Daniel arrived at the service area where they loaned the costumes, he discovered that a costume had already been reserved for Jack. Mike or Howard had thought of everything, Daniel's money was on Mike.

The garment bag, hatbox, shoes, and accessory bag were already waiting and labeled. It appeared that Jack was going to be one of the Three Musketeers, with Howard and Mike as the other two of the trio.

Daniel's selections were limited, as most of the choice costumes were already reserved. He settled for a very green Peter Pan costume, including tights, cap, pointy shoes and detachable shadow. He considered himself lucky, the only other costume left that fit him was Tinkerbelle, and Jack would be all over him for that. Pink had never been his color.

He headed back to the suite carrying their costumes and ran headlong into Howard, Mike and Gary returning from shore, loaded down with bags and packages.

"Geez, did you guys buy the Coliseum too?"

"Damn near..." Howard rolled his eyes. "...Mister Coupon Clipper here blew next year's grocery money on clothes, I think." Howard tilted his head towards Mike.

The quartet strolled towards the suites on the Bridge Deck, juggling packages.

"Hey! That's not fair! I told you it's cheaper to buy them here than it is to buy them back home, so I SAVED money!"

"Yeah that's true, but did you have to buy four different pairs of loafers?"

"Well, DUH! I bought four pairs of pants, so...YEAH!"

"I was going to mention them next." Howard snarked, looking at Daniel. Mike kissed Howard on the cheek.

"But you love the cut of these pants on me, now just admit it, Guns."

"Baby, your butt is so cute you could wear a sack and be gorgeous." Howard's face softened in a smile and Daniel laughed.

Mike got smug. "And don't you forget it either!..." He looked at Daniel's burdens. "...Is that Jack's costume?"

"Yeah, I needed to get one for the party, thanks for reserving this for him. All that was left was Tinkerbelle and he'd never go for that!"

"BOY, I'll say! I'll see you guys later I have an appointment with a HOT blond!" Gary grinned and headed off to his stateroom, giving two more boxes and a bag to Howard to carry.

"See you at the party, Gary." Daniel smiled and Gary left with his bundles.

"Yeah well, I reserved them before I knew there would be four of us. Howard and I are the other two Musketeers. Jack will look really hot in that! Where is he?"

"I have him iced and laying down, he was a little worn out and swollen and even if he wouldn't admit it, he was in pain. I gave him a pill."

Howard's eyes practically bulged.

"How the hell did you manage THAT? I couldn't get him to take a thing even immediately post op."

"It was easy... I, uh...I lied."

"What?!" Howard

"Well, I told him it was to reduce the swelling and inflammation, which is true...sort of, and he swallowed the line and the pill." Daniel beamed.

"Way to go, Daniel." Mike patted Daniel on the shoulder and nearly clubbed him with a shoe bag.

"I better get back; I don't want to be gone too long, he's still having nightmares." Daniel looked at his watch.

"You guys want to meet us for dinner?" Howard asked.

"Let me see how he feels when he wakes up. We might just do the room service thing again, if it keeps him off his feet. Although if I know Jack, he'll prefer to go to the dining room. Maybe if I get more strawberries..."

Daniel was just thinking out loud now.

"Oh, hey! I got the balsamic vinegar he asked for." Howard still looked shocked. "I thought he was kidding about how expensive that stuff is." Howard shook his head in disbelief.

Mike started to chuckle, trying hard NOT to laugh out loud.

"I wish you could have seen his face...I thought I was gonna need to do CPR."

Mike was laughing now.

"Yeah well, I didn't think we'd need to mortgage the house to buy vinegar. Call me when he wakes up, I just wanna check the surgical site." Howard slipped back into doctor mode.

"Okay, can I open your door for you?" Daniel took the card key from Howard who was fumbling to get his hand up far enough to reach the card swipe.

Daniel unlocked the door and placed the card in Howard's teeth, then turned back to the door to Jack's suite.

He opened the door and stepped into semi darkness. He could hear Jack muttering low in Arabic. He turned and hung the garment bags and dropped the accessories as he headed for the bed. Jack was trying to push away some unseen demon, long legs kicking against the bedspread, hands slapping at air. Daniel stopped to grab a bottle of water from the fridge and got closer.

"Jack?... come on Jack, wake up. It's just a dream, you're safe...wake up."

Daniel stood at the head of the bed and laid a hand on the bare shoulder.

Jack sat up like a rocket, gasping for air, eyes wide with some unseen terror.

"Jack?" Daniel could see the pulse in Jack's neck racing, the fear coming from the man was practically palpable.

"Danny... wha?" Jack shook his head and tried to gather his wits.

Daniel sat down on the edge of the bed facing Jack and pulled his head forward to rest on his shoulder as he hugged him close.

"You okay?"

"Uh...god, will this shit ever end?"

"Wanna tell me about it?"

"I'd rather not."

"Oh, now THERE'S a surprise." Daniel kissed the side of Jack's head.

Jack looked up and collected another kiss, this one on the lips.

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck, again."

"Well, I wasn't going to say anything..." Daniel watched as Jack pulled plastic bags filled with water from between his legs, all the ice gone.

"Hmm, what else do you have down there?"

Jack laughed at the evil grin on Daniel's face.

"I might just have something for you, let's see."

"Ah, no, not just now..." Daniel grabbed Jack's hands and held them.

"Howard wants to check on the laser guy's work. So, I told him I'd call him when you woke up."

"Are they back already?"

"Already?...According to Howard, Mike spent the equivalent of the gross national product on clothes and shoes in Rome. Then Howard had to take out a second mortgage to buy balsamic vinegar for you. I'm sure you'll hear all about it."

"Maybe next time I see Mike I'll suggest he buy some new clothes and see if Howard faints." Jack sniggered.

"That would be very mean, better make sure you won't need him again first." Daniel's fingers combed through the short silver locks.

"So, Daniel...what costumes did you get us?"

"Well, Mike had already reserved yours which was good because they didn't have much left."

"Ohh lord, what did Mike reserve?"

"Three Musketeers."

"A candy bar?"

"No, the 17th century soldiers. You know, the whole Dumas thing? Athos, Porthos, Aramis..."

"D'Artangian?"

"Exactly."

"And you got what?"

"Peter Pan."

Jack sat very still and stared at Daniel.

"Say what?"

Daniel sighed and prepared himself mentally. He could HEAR Jack's rapier wit being unsheathed and was bracing for the resulting swordplay.

"I said...Peter Pan."

"You mean with tights and everything?"

"Yep, and even a DETACHABLE shadow."

"Can I watch you put them on?"

"What?"

"The tights, Daniel. Can I watch you put them on?"

Daniel was hesitant to answer, but just HAD to know.

"WHYYY?"

"Cause tights are HOT, that's why?"

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, Jack?"

"As a matter of fact... why don't you try them on now, just to make sure that they fit?"

"Ohh, I don't think so." There was something Jack was NOT telling him and he wasn't real sure he wanted to know what it was.

"Please?" Jack was whining now.

"Later, after dinner, which, by the way, we need to discuss. Where do you want to eat dinner, here or the dining room?"

"Well, I'll tell you what. You go ahead and put those tights on, and then I'll eat you?"

Daniel was stunned, this was way more blunt than he ever thought that Jack would be. He was so used to having to guess Jack's meanings behind things, something as blatant as this left him blathering.

"You're kidding, right?" Daniel laughed.

Jack took Daniel's hand and laid it on his burgeoning erection.

"Does this FEEL like I'm kidding?"

"Jesus, Jack! You're a lot kinkier than I ever thought you were..." Daniel leaned in and stole a quick kiss while giving a gentle squeeze of the package in his hand.

"Too much for you, Doctor Jackson?" Jack grinned.

"No, just...different. A good different. What OTHER kinds of things turn you on Mon Colonel?"

"Well, I think I'll leave that for you to discover on your own...Now, about those tights..."

"Ah...No. Not now. Dinner?"

"I'd PREFER to discuss desert, particularly with YOU playing that role." Jack smiled evilly.

Daniel started to look around the room.

"Okay, what have you done with Jack O'Neill?..." Daniel laughed as he stood. "...I'm going to hit the shower, while YOU decide where we will be eating dinner. Call Howard, he wants to check your surgery site."

Daniel headed for the bathroom and Jack picked up the phone.

Howard and Mike let themselves in about ten minutes after Jack's call. Jack was treated to a recap of Mike's day providing financial aid to the Italian economy, while Howard just shook his head and checked Jack's incision.

"Everything looks great here, Jack. Any problems?"

"Nope! I think I'm cured. As a matter of fact I've had several erections without ANY problems; one even went away when Peter Pan turned me down earlier."

"Turned you down? Is he NUTS?" Mike commented sitting down on the bed next to Jack; he leaned in and kissed him softly.

"It isn't ME he's interested in...it's the tights from the costume. He evidently has a thing for tights." Daniel said from the bathroom doorway while drying his hair with a towel.

"Is THAT right?" Mike nodded knowingly, and turned towards the vividly blushing O'Neill. "And you wanted us to think you were SO straight. What else makes you purr, pussycat?" Mike crawled behind Jack and wrapped his arms around him leaning down to kiss him on the side of the neck.

"Mmm, that's all." Jack closed his eyes as Mike worked over one area of his neck.

"Oh, come on. You can tell me." Mike purred.

"Well, if you must know...Italian Loafers." Jack smiled.

"Hmmm, well then you and Mike DO have something in common..." Howard commented as he stood up from the other side of the bed. "...He has the same kink. It's a match made in heaven, or at least Milan." Howard laughed as he headed for the bathroom to wash his hands.

Mike leaned further around and Jack opened to him. The kisses were soft, warm and exploratory.

"Perhaps Mike will put the tights on for you, Jack?" Daniel chuckled as he hit the two kissing men squarely in the head with his wet towel.

"Hey! Watch it Peter Pan!" Jack laughed breaking the kiss. Daniel moved to the bed and sat down to pull his pants on, sans underwear. Jack and Mike looked at each other then moved in on Daniel, pulling him down to lie on the bed. Jack tossed the pants to the side and Mike moved in and began to kiss Daniel while Jack latched onto a nipple and began to tease it with his tongue and teeth. Daniel sighed and surrendered as the two talented mouths worked him over, tasting and kissing.

Howard came back from the bathroom and sat down in a chair to watch as his beloved and his patient lit a fire under the archeologist. Mike and Jack were playing Daniel like a musical instrument, manipulating his position until he laid between them on the bed, his cock lying hard against his belly.

Jack ate Daniel's mouth and neck as Mike slid downward, his mouth engulfing the head of Daniel's cock. Then he pulled Jack's hips closer and grabbed both cocks, getting both Jack and Daniel's attention simultaneously. Jack and Daniel went back to exploring each others mouth and neck as Mike went for the gold medal by getting BOTH hard cocks into his mouth.

Howard began to stroke himself at the sight and quickly divested himself of pants and shirt. Mike held Jack and Daniel's cocks in one hand and licked and sucked at them as if they were one, managing to get both in his mouth at the same time. Howard moved up behind Mike and relieved him of his shorts, then leaned in and ran his tongue in the cleft between his buttocks. Mike paused in his attentions to the two cocks in his face, and Jack's hand went to the back of Mike's head, guiding him back on task.

Howard wet Mike's opening thoroughly then stood and pushed his cock into him in one move. Mike gasped at being taken in one thrust and stood up, allowing Howard to guide him into a kneeling position. Howard was too excited by the sight of Mike sucking both Jack and Daniel to be satisfied with a slow steady fuck, he wanted hard and heavy and Mike smiled at his loss of control.

The sight of Howard hammering into Mike had Jack staring and groaning, his own hand moved quickly to wrap both his and Daniel's cocks as they watched. Howard pounded Mike the bed shaking with every thrust and Jack watched fixated, until Daniel pushed him to his back and straddled him.

Mike's hand moved to his own cock and he pulled twice as Howard glided across his prostate and came, hard. As Daniel moved to straddle Jack, Mike smeared come covered fingers across Daniel's tight hole then grabbed and smeared Jack's cock as well, helping to guide it into Daniel's body.

That was too much for Howard who stilled and twitched deep inside Mike, with a groan, as Daniel slid down onto Jack's cock with a gasp. Daniel held very still, panting, until Jack's knees came up behind him, then he lifted and sank again, with Jack's cock moving impossibly deeper inside his body. One of Jack's hands went to Daniel's cock and he began to stroke in counterpoint to Daniel's ride.

Mike's come covered hand slid between Jack's raised legs and prodded at the hidden pucker. Jack gasped and pushed up into Daniel and then down on Mike's invading fingers. Howard pulled out of Mike and leaning forward, kissed him deeply. Then Howard moved up the bed to lie next to Jack, kissing and stroking Jack while Daniel rode. Mike changed his position and with one hand still inside Jack, pistoning, he pushed Howard's legs apart and began to rim Howard.

Howard lay on his stomach draped half across Jack's chest, kissing him. Mike pistoned the fingers of one hand in and out of Jack as he rimmed Howard, and when Daniel became aware of what was going on around him. Daniel reached over and began to stroke Mike's thick and now damp with sweat hair. Howard's big hand wrapped Jack's around Daniel's cock and together they stroked Daniel as they made out. There was too much going on and with multiple hands on him Daniel came quickly, spurting hotly into the assorted hands. Mike sat up when Daniel came and salvaged enough come to slick his own cock and slide into Howard his hand remaining inside Jack, still stroking. He thrust into Howard and Jack both, one with his fingers one with his cock finally prodding Jack's prostate with a crooked finger. Jack cried out against Howard's lips and came hard into Daniel, with Mike's finger rubbing that spot deep inside him. Then Mike pulled out his hand as Jack's legs dropped flat onto the bed and Daniel slumped as Jack continued to pump inside of him.

Mike grabbed Howard's hips and angled in, pumping fast and hard for a moment before he lost control and came inside Howard, then collapsed onto his back. When Jack's cock finished twitching inside him Daniel, leaned forward onto Jack's chest and was gathered into a comforting hug.

They all lay very still for a moment as they struggled to find a brain cell each, then began to withdraw. Howard kissed Jack as Mike pulled out and got up and pulled his shorts back on, handing Howard's to him.

"I guess its back to the shower." Mike commented.

"Yeah, for you...I want to soak in the tub." Howard retorted.

"How come you get the tub?" Mike questioned.

"Because you started this, that's why." Howard pulled on his pants and stood, he grabbed his shirt, then leaned down giving Jack and Daniel each a kiss on the mouth, and then moved to the door, waiting for Mike.

Mike stood and kissed Daniel deeply, all tongue and lips, finishing with Daniel's bottom lip slipping from between his. Then he leaned in to Jack, and repeated the performance, before he stood and slipped his hand into Howard's outstretched one.

"It's late, now we'll have to go to dinner in costume you know?" Howard commented to everyone.

"Yeah, I'm gonna hit the shower and then help Peter Pan slip into his tights. Call before you leave for dinner, we'll go with you."

"Right." Howard nodded and he and Mike were gone.

Daniel draped himself across Jack's chest and sighed.

"Are they always like that?"

"Yeah, Mike's a mink, practically insatiable. He has to be the horniest guy on the planet... Howard used to have hair you know, Mike wore it off." Jack chuckled.

"Well, I guess it's a miracle that he still has ears then." Daniel countered.

They shook with laughter in each other's arms.

"No..." The game was on now. "...those are prosthetic. The originals are long gone." Jack leaned in for a kiss still laughing.

"I'll go run the bath for us, okay?" Daniel got up and headed for the bathroom.

"Sounds good to me. Then...I'll help you with those tights, huh?" Jack smiled.

Daniel turned and shook his head.

"NOW, who's insatiable?"

"Yeah, but if you're good, I'll let you keep your ears." Jack laughed as he stretched and sat up.

Chapter 24: Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, the roof caves in

It wasn't easy.

He hadn't had to do this in a long time, not since his undergrad days when he got conned into playing a small part in a student production of one of Shakespeare's more abused works.

Of course, being stared at didn't help either.

"Dammit Jack! Don't you have ANYTHING better to do than stare at me?"

"AS IF!" Was the sarcastic reply.

Daniel continued his struggle with the green tights as Jack practically leered at him from across the room, his fingers clenching and relaxing.

"I can help." Jack said softly.

"Oh PLEASE! Give it a rest will you?" Daniel snarked and threw the balled up tights at Jack.

"No, I mean it, I CAN help."

"HOW?"

Jack un-balled and straightened the legs of the tights. Then holding them by the top he pulled and stretched them out between his arms. He moved to the bed and sat behind Daniel pulling the frustrated man back between his legs. He shook out the tights and gathered one leg up in his hands to the toe.

"Bring up your right foot." Jack said flatly.

Daniel brought up his right foot and Jack's arms moved around him, placing the toe of the tights over the toes of Daniel's right foot. Jack drew the leg of the tights up over Daniel's leg to the knee and then stopped.

Daniel's face turned to look in Jack's eyes as he carefully smoothed the thin material, and then began to gather up the other leg of the tights.

"Bring up your other foot."

So, Daniel did and the performance was repeated on the other leg of the tights, to the knee.

Daniel simply could not believe that this man, who couldn't sit still for anything would have such patience and this kind of delicate touch. Jack ran his hands soft and flat smoothing the fabric first on one leg and then on the other from the ankle drawing the tights up Daniel's legs. Daniel leaned back and closed his eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of Jack's hands stroking the length of his legs, his arms wrapping around Daniel, his breath hot on his neck as he was careful not to twist the fabric or pull too hard. Daniel lifted his butt when told to and Jack pulled the top of the tights up over Daniel's package and bottom.

"There. See, I told you I could help." Jack kissed the side of his face.

As Daniel moved to get up, Jack held him in place, unwilling to release him just yet. Daniel turned in his arms and instantly knew why.

"God! That really turns you on huh?" Daniel rubbed at the erection that tented the front of Jack's boxers.

"Oh god! You have NO idea." Jack sighed at the touch.

"It's kind of a strange kink, Jack. I mean how often do guys wear tights these days?"

"Not just tights, Daniel. Panty hose...stockings...thigh highs." Jack sighed.

"And not just guys either. Sara used to throw me out of the bedroom so she could get dressed."

"OH...you have it bad, don't you?" Daniel wiggled his butt against Jack a little and Jack gasped. "What is the attraction, Jack?"

"I dunno, honest. I just can't help it."

Daniel stood up and planted one foot on the bed between Jack's legs where he had just been sitting and he took Jack's hands in his and began to run them from the ankle up his green clad leg.

Jack shivered and sighed.

Daniel pushed him flat and pulled the boxers down in front and Jack lifted so he could remove them and drop them on the floor. He lay to the side where Jack could run his hand along one of the tights covered thighs and went down sucking and kissing the hard organ. Daniel pulled the leg up that Jack was stroking and Jack's hand ran the length of the long covered leg. Then he shuddered again and came, hard...panting and hissing as Daniel swallowed and then licked him clean.

Daniel got up and went to the bathroom returning with a wet washcloth and bathed Jack's limp cock and groin as Jack lay spent, then pulled on the rest of his costume while Jack rested.

"Come on, Jack, time to get dressed." Daniel grabbed one hand and hauled the man to a sitting position. He handed him the ubiquitous athletic supporter along with the white socks and breeches from the costume, and Jack pulled them on mechanically, then stood to fasten the breeches.

"Uh, no, Jack you need this first." Daniel handed him the white shirt with the puffy sleeves and long lacy cuffs.

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding?" Jack examined the shirt.

"It was VERY macho in the seventeenth century, Jack."

"I'll bet it was." Jack pulled the shirt over his head and tucked it into his britches. Daniel moved in and straightened the wide collar and began to pull the laces in the front of the britches.

"I don't think these would have fit this well with the boxers on." Daniel tugged at the laces carefully so as to not catch any of Jack in them, then repeated the same motions with the front of the shirt.

"Mmm, this shirt is nice on you, too." Daniel leaned in and collected a kiss for his trouble then reached for the long suede boots with the big cuffs.

Jack pulled them on, unsurprised that they were the correct size, after all, Mike had some kind of sartorial sixth sense. He stood to complete the fit and Daniel went for the doublet and cape. He held the maroon doublet

so Jack could slip in while holding his cuffs then pulled it up and placed the big shirt collar over it.

Daniel helped Jack into the remaining pieces of costume, the cape and scabbard with sword completed the look.

Then he stood back and looked Jack over.

"You look great." Daniel smiled.

Jack looked down and then back up at Daniel.

"I feel really stupid." Jack sighed. Daniel moved in and tugged the cuffs out from the sleeves and adjusted the cape.

"I hope you don't expect me to wear THAT?" Jack pointed to the wide brimmed hat with the large feather.

"I don't, but I'll bet Mike will." Daniel commented as he picked up the small dagger and shoved it in his belt.

"Help me with my shadow will you?" He handed the black, fabric cutout to Jack and turned around. It fixed to the back of Daniel's tunic in about six places with Velcro and dangled tickling at Daniel's legs.

"Oh, THIS will be annoying!"

"Yep!" Jack agreed.

There was a knock at the door and Daniel moved to open it as Jack went to the bar for a bottle of water.

Howard and Mike were dressed identically to Jack and looked almost as good, Daniel thought. A huge grin split Mike's face when he got his first look at Jack.

"See, Guns, what did I say? He does look HOT!"

"Yeah, yeah, you were right, so what else is new?"

"Jack!..." Mike called, "...come on, I'm starved."

Jack nodded and finished the bottle of water and then picked up the key card and headed for the door, flipping the overhead lights off as they exited the room.

The walked through the passageway, Jack's arm draped Daniel's shoulder possessively and Mike and Howard held hands.

"Sooo, Jack, did you get to watch Daniel put the tights on?" Mike smiled.

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Actually, I couldn't get them on at all. Jack put them on for me." Daniel leaned closer and whispered into Mike's ear as they waited for the elevator.

"Really?..." Mike's eyebrows rose. "...And?"

Peter Pan and one musketeer whispered into each other's ears and laughed like schoolgirls, while Jack and Howard just stood patiently and sighed rolling their eyes.

"Daniel?"

The whispering continued.

"DANIEL!" The whispering stopped and Daniel turned towards Jack.

"What?"

"Grow up, will you?" Now Jack and Howard were laughing too.

Dinner was fairly uneventful, although Jack refused to allow Daniel to go to the men's room without a musketeer escort, saying that the tights would be way too inviting on a boat full of fags. Daniel quickly tired of his shadow and had Jack detach it, after that he carried it draped over his shoulder.

After dinner, they walked to the big ballroom where the masquerade was already underway. Gary was easily spotted in his Indian Brave Costume. The fringed buckskin pants, head dress and body paint comprised the majority of the costume, the quiver and bow left in his stateroom. The 'hot blonde', Jeff, was conveniently dressed as a Cavalry officer and there appeared to be some kind of Indian Affairs going on, as he traced some of the war paint on Gary's bare chest with a teasing finger. Jack got the required comments about Custer and the Little Big Horn quickly out of the way.

Jack was right, the music was loud, but the band was decent and they played a wide mix of music, a good portion of it slow. Jack took Daniel to the dance floor the first slow dance played after they entered and pulled him close. Daniel wasn't much of a dancer but quickly lost himself in Jack's embrace and was easily manipulated. Jack's hands moved like magnets to Daniel's tights-clad butt and held on. Daniel sighed and allowed him his kink, although the buckle on the scabbard was stabbing him in the gut. When the song ended Jack led Daniel by the hand back to the table they shared with Howard, Mike, Gary and Jeff.

Howard and Mike came back from the bar with their drinks and Jack quickly knocked back a double shot of bourbon, following it with beer. Gary and Jeff continued to dance, moving from fast to slow with ease. Mike liked dancing much more than Howard did so he joined Gary and Jeff when Howard declined, and even managed to drag Daniel out for a couple of slow dances. Howard and Jack sat close and leaned in so they could hear each other over the music, talking, laughing and drinking.

Judges circulated through the crowd looking for original costumes and perfect couples, tagging Gary and Jeff as a matched set for one of the contests.

When the music stopped everyone moved to the floor and stood while contestants were exhibited for voting. Jack stood behind Daniel, his arms wrapping him as they watched the contest, Howard or Mike occasionally leaning over to provide a comment or laugh at one of Jack or Daniel's.

All eyes were on the people in the circle. No one noticed when Jack's eyes fixed on the two contestants that were wearing black leather pants with wide studded belts and heavily studded leather vests.

He couldn't move, his eyes were drawn to them, staring.

When the first shudder rolled through Jack, Daniel thought he was laughing at something, and paid no attention. Then he felt Jack muttering into his hair but was unable to hear what he was saying, he was trying to turn in the strong arms that held him when the second shudder, much more pronounced than the first, ran through Jack.

Now, he knew there was something wrong and reached out to his side grabbing Mike's arm to get his attention, as he stood next to Howard watching the contest. As Daniel turned to face Jack, the muttering became clearer and was definitely in Arabic. Howard and Mike were at their side in a flash and when Howard saw the unfocused look on Jack's face, he knew exactly what was going on and sent Mike back to their suite for his bag.

"We need to get him out of here, Daniel, away from whatever stimulation is causing this."

"How?"

"Well, let's just see if we can lead him away." Howard took one arm and Daniel took the other and they managed to turn the distressed man away from the crowd. Jack wasn't struggling, yet, but Howard knew that could change at any moment. They got him as far as the wall near the door and Jack started to struggle in earnest and the muttering was now understandable, and was, as expected, in Arabic.

Mike returned at a run, with Howard's bag and there were two stewards hot on his heels to see what the problem was. Mike put the bag on the floor and opening it began to draw medication up into a syringe, while Howard and Daniel tried to get Jack away from the crowd. Daniel stood in Jack's space with his hands on either side of his face as Howard had suggested trying to talk him back from the brink. Mike gave some instructions to the two stewards and they left quickly to follow them, as Mike handed the syringe to Howard.

"Jack, please... you're safe, its okay...come on Jack...look at me." Daniel unfastened the scabbard and allowed it to drop as he began to open the doublet. As he pushed the maroon doublet over Jack's shoulders, Jack fell to his knees and the muttering got louder yet.

"Nek ni, Nek ni, men fadlak entabeh, men fadlak entabeh..."

"What's he saying?" Mike leaned closer to Howard.

"He's asking to be fucked and then telling someone to please be careful." Howard shook his head.

"Telling who?"

"I have no idea."

"Men fadlak ariyad mayia." Jack muttered, begging for water and Daniel turned to Mike.

"Get him some water."

Howard laid a hand on Mike's arm. "Wait, not yet. Let's get this into him first." Howard nodded down at the syringe in his hand.

"Daniel...you need to hold him still and keep his attention while I give him the shot, can you do that?"

"I'll try."

"You better succeed, cause he's on the edge, and if he goes off people are going to get hurt."

Daniel swallowed and nodded.

"Mike, you need to try to hold his arm so I can give this IV. I don't think we have time to wait for an IM injection to take effect."

Mike watched as Jack's eyes darted from one unseen demon to the next, more frantic with every second.

"Let's do it." He agreed. "Ready, Daniel?" Daniel nodded and he and Mike pressed Jack against the wall as Howard grabbed Jack's arm and pushed up the long sleeve. Jack began struggling as Mike and Daniel pressed in on him, Mike doing his best to keep Jack's arm immobile for Howard.

The screaming began as Jack felt the prick of the needle, and ended just as quickly as the medication did its work. Jack slumped between his restrainers and the wall, they held him steady until Howard finished the injection and removed the needle, and then carefully lowered him to the floor. The stewards came back with the fold up gurney that Mike had requested and Mike and Daniel lifted Jack onto it and pulled the safety straps snug, then they and the stewards rushed from the ballroom.

Once Jack was safely in bed, Mike dismissed the stewards with a hefty tip, while Howard and Daniel worked to remove the costume from the sleeping Jack. Then Daniel held Jack's arm steady as Howard inserted another Med-loc to allow further access if required.

When Howard was finished he started to take Jack's pulse and Daniel crossed the room for a bottle of water from the fridge. Mike watched the distraught archeologist carefully and was across the room in a shot, hugging him close when he finally began to shake.

"Shh, Daniel, it's okay. Jack will be fine, you'll see." Mike's hands stroked up and down the back of the Peter Pan costume as Daniel shook.

"He was doing okay, what happened? OH GOD! What did I do?"

Howard got up and crossed the room.

"He'll sleep for a while now. YOU didn't DO anything, Daniel. The trigger could have been anything, a smell, a noise, something he saw...anything. It's a combination of things, all it needs is a lot of sensory input, some adrenalin and a trigger and just like that you've got a full blown episode. Don't do the guilt thing; it WASN'T you." Howard patted Daniel on the back as he nodded into Mike's shoulder. Mike squeezed him a little tighter and then relaxed as Daniel looked up.

"You okay, now?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, I think so...I was scared." Daniel stopped shaking, as Mike kissed him on the mouth, and opened as Mike's tongue licked at his lips. The kiss was soft and reassuring and Daniel sighed as they parted.

"You are almost as good at that as Jack." Daniel smiled.

"Well, I guess I'll need more practice then." And as Mike leaned in again, Daniel opened readily.

"I'm going to go next door and change out of this getup. I'll be right back." Howard left the room and Daniel sighed.

"Look Daniel, why don't you relax for a bit? You should probably change too, then you can lie down and try to catch some sleep, Guns and I will stay."

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses.

"Yeah, you're right..." Daniel's next thought was interrupted by an outburst from the bed as Jack began another battle in his sleep. "...He'll never get any rest that way. I thought Howard said he would sleep for a while?" Daniel and Mike moved towards the bed, where Jack thrashed and tried to push the demons away.

"Is he waking already?" Howard said as he came back thru the door, pulling a white tee shirt over his head.

"You said he would be down for the count." Daniel said as he sat down on the bed and tried to quiet Jack.

"Yeah, well, you have to understand, Daniel, the kinds of training Jack has had makes him resistant to a lot of drugs. So what would put you or I out for eight or ten hours is only good for a nap for Jack. Howard moved back to the bag and took out a vial and syringe and began to draw up medication into another syringe.

Daniel held Jack's hand as Howard swabbed the port and injected the medication directly into the vein. For a second just before they closed, Daniel thought that Jack's eyes looked more focused and he recognized him. Then the lids slid shut and Jack's breathing evened out again.

Mike left the room to change and Howard sat on the bed, brushing the gray hair back from Jack's face as he slept.

"Daniel, go change. You're going to need some rest too, and I'm not averse to sedating you if need be."

Daniel got up and slipped off the green tunic, replacing it with a soft cotton shirt, and then he sat down and started to pull the tights off.

"I was kinda looking forward to Jack doing this; actually, I know he was too."

"I'm gonna start him on some medication that should help reduce his susceptibility to the stimuli that precipitate the breaks. But if we can get him to talk about what happened it will help a lot too."

Daniel laughed at Howard's statement.

"Oh yeah, sure...is THAT all we need to do? Get him to TALK about it?"

"I know that's a tall order with Jack, Daniel. I've read his file. I probably know more about his past than you do. But it doesn't change the fact that he needs to talk this out. We might have a chance now that we don't have to walk on eggs around him anymore like we did with the erectile dysfunction."

Howard got up and walked into the sitting room, stretching out along the sofa. Daniel finished removing the costume and placed it back into its bag, then did the same with Jack's Musketeer costume. He moved to the bed and lay down next to the sleeping O'Neill as Mike came back into the room.

Mike switched off the overhead light and walked through to the sitting room, pausing on his way to stoop and kiss Daniel on the forehead.

"Go to sleep, Daniel."

"Not going to happen, Mike, but I'll try." Daniel sighed.

Howard got up and they opened the sofa out and both laid down, using cushions for pillows.

Daniel turned to his side and curled his hands under his head, watching Jack sleep. His face was relaxed but the occasional flicker of distress rippled across it, usually accompanied by arm or leg twitches and movement. Daniel fell asleep hypnotized by the observation.

Howard and Mike spoke softly for a while and then slept, curled around each other. Howard got up once to go to the bathroom, and paused by the bed on his way back to the sofa, throwing a light thermal blanket over Jack and Daniel as they slept, then returning to Mike's warmth with a sigh.

It was still dark when Jack woke. He was laying on his back with Daniel curled up against his right side, one arm draping Jack's chest, one leg thrown across Jack's thighs. His soft huffing breaths tickled across Jack's chest, teasing the hair. Jack's left hand covered Daniel's, and there was a familiar pinching of adhesive tape as he flexed his fingers. He lifted his hand and in silhouette saw the med-loc taped in place...again.

He groaned.

"Jack?" Daniel whispered.

"Here." He croaked with his mouth as dry as Abydos.

"You're awake." Still whispered,

"Yeah... gotta pee. What happened?"

"Come on, I'll help you; you've had a big selection of some of Howard's best drugs, and you might still be a little unsteady."

"Great."

Daniel got up and moved to the opposite side of the bed and held a hand out allowing Jack to pull himself to a sitting position, and looking past Daniel, saw two bodies lying close on the opened sofa bed. Daniel was right, Jack was unsteady, very unstead, and they wove their way to the bathroom, Daniel's arm around Jack's waist. Jack managed to relieve himself without missing, years of drunken practice making for good aim while impaired, then he leaned into the sink and washed his hands and his face and Daniel handed him a towel. Jack headed for the bench next to the bathtub.

"You really should go back to bed, Jack, come on?"

"No, Daniel. Tell me what happened."

Daniel took a deep breath and sighed.

"You kinda lost it at the masquerade party Jack. Don't you remember?"

"Daniel, if I remembered, I would NOT be asking you what happened." Jack closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration.

"I'm tired, Daniel..."

"Come on, I'll help you back to bed."

"That's NOT what I meant and you know it." Jack looked Daniel in the eye.

"I don't honestly know, Jack. One minute we were watching the costume contest and the next minute you were elsewhere."

"I'm tired of wading through shit." Jack sighed and scrubbed his hand across his face. "I guess I should have let them put me away years ago..."

"Please don't say that, Jack"

"Why, Daniel? It's true. There's getting to be too much baggage in here to carry around." Jack tapped his forehead with his fingers.

"We'll get through this, you'll see."

"You're so sure?"

"Yep...I know YOU."

"Well, I'm glad one of us does, Daniel, cause I'm not so sure I know me anymore... Jesus! What if I had hurt somebody? What if I had hurt...you?"

"You didn't hurt anyone, Jack?"

"But I COULD have, Daniel...Christ! Look what I did to Howard for crying out loud, I broke his fucking nose...just because he tried to wake me up."

"That's not the same thing..."

"YES, Daniel it IS the same thing. It's called post traumatic stress disorder and that's a part of it...the sleep disturbance, the avoidance, the startle threshold, the hyper-vigilance...all of it."

Daniel looked surprised.

"Don't look so surprised, Daniel. I DO have two brain cells to rub together, and I CAN read, contrary to popular belief." Jack sighed and Daniel moved closer wrapping his arm around Jack's shoulder.

"I DO know that, I also know that you're a lot smarter than you'd like people to believe. So, I know you know that this isn't hopeless, that there is help out there."

"Yeah, yeah...been there, done that...wore the tee shirt thin..."

"Howard says..."

"Howard's a urologist, Daniel, a glorified plumber, he know cocks. He doesn't know squat about this kinda stuff."

"You're wrong, Jack. He specializes in post traumatic stress disorder, he knows all about it."

Jack looked puzzled. "He does?"

"Yeah, and he doesn't think its time to give up yet. He thinks you need to talk about it."

"Everybody with a high school diploma thinks I NEED to talk about it, Daniel. This is NOT news."

"So, then..."

"So then what?"

"So, let's talk about it."

"That's what I thought we were doing, Daniel."

"NO, we're talking about post traumatic stress disorder...not the problem that's causing it. What happened on Desarta, Jack?"

"Oh here we go...I told you before, I don't know what happened I was unconscious most of the time."

"Well, what happened while you were conscious?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Daniel threw his hands into the air, "SEE! THAT'S EXACTLY what I said... WHY won't you talk about it, other than the fact that you'd rather forget the whole thing? I won't think any less of you, Jack, if that's what you are worried about...it won't change how I feel about you."

"Fine, Daniel...you want to carry the baggage too? Well , here you go...

I was humiliated, Daniel. I was forced to kneel in public and ask to be fucked..." Jack's eyes narrowed and burned into Daniel with a ferocity brought on by long repressed anger and pain.

"...Then I was forced to kneel and suck their cocks. I was raped and beaten, by multiple assholes...used anyway they wanted and for as long as they wanted."

Daniel's eyes closed against the anger and Jack grabbed his face and forced him back.

"Don't you look away, Daniel and don't you dare close your eyes. YOU started this, you want to SEE my soul...well, you got it. Now, YOU have to deal with it too."

Daniel took one of Jack's hands and held it in both of his.

"...They tied me up and took turns, Daniel. Then they beat me and tried to castrate me. I had to do everything they said...for the sake of the mission. They called me a bitch, a whore and a queer as they shoved their dicks in my face and my ass. But I did it for the mission...just like the other time..." Jack's voice was going softer and softer, his anger blunting on his own words.

"...Always for the mission...everything for the mission... the mission...just like, just like...um, before."

"Jack?" Daniel tried to regain Jack's attention from wherever the horror had pushed him. He picked up one hand and kissed the palm while watching Jack's face. The sable eyes pulled away from whichever phantom was holding them and looked down at his hand, still prisoner in Daniel's hands, and then followed as that hand was again drawn back up for another kiss. The narrowed stare softened when it reached Daniel's eyes.

"This isn't just about Desarta is it, Jack? Before we left home you said that your new demons had befriended your old demons and they were having a party in your head. Maybe if we got rid of the old demons the new ones would follow?"

Jack sat shaking his head slowly; his eyes now examining the tile floor of the bathroom.

"That's the curious thing about demons, Jack. They tend to return to being just shadows when you turn on the lights."

"Sometimes even the shadows are horrible, Daniel, even with the lights on."

"Please, Jack? Tell me."

"No, I can't...please, Daniel, don't ask me to."

Daniel closed his eyes and sighed. "Then, at least promise me you'll talk to Howard? Please?"

Daniel looked into Jack's face.

"Blue...so very, very blue..." Jack's hand cupped Daniel's cheek, his thumb brushing the skin just under Daniel's eye. Daniel welled with tears; he gave up trying to prevent their fall as he trapped Jack's hand against his face and leaned into the caress.

"I'm sorry, Jack...I promised myself I wouldn't cry... I'm just so worried..."

"Shh, it's alright... I love you, Daniel. I have for a long time."

Jack leaned over and brushed his lips gently against Daniel's forehead.

"The things that happened on Desarta... they just brought it all back, you know...I spent so long burying it, I thought it was gone for good. I guess I should have seen this coming...."

"Iraq?" Daniel asked his mouth almost too dry to say the word.

Jack nodded.

"Tell me." Daniel dug deep for the nerve to ask, swallowing hard.

Jack inhaled, closed his eyes and sighed.

"Frank Cromwell was the Team Leader; there were six of us in all..."

Howard woke to muffled voices, and extracted himself from beneath the myriad of arms and legs with which Mike had wrapped him. He moved quietly to the door and listened to Jack finally allowing his burden to be shared and smiled. Then he moved back to the bed and crawled into Mike's embrace and closed his eyes, as his partner once again draped him.

"Mmm...Guns." Mike sighed and snuggled closer without waking.

"Shh, its okay, baby... sleep." Howard ran his hand through the dark strands and listened in case his help was needed in the bathroom. He offered a silent prayer and then mumbled. "I hope you know where you're stepping, Daniel. Cause I'll bet it's the deepest shit you've ever been in...and if you slip, you take him with you."

Chapter 25: Do not adjust your mind; it is reality that is malfunctioning

Daniel listened to the hell that was Jack's captivity in Iraq, it was difficult to maintain his composure knowing the horrors that his friend had been subjected to, but he found if he tried to detach himself from it... treat it as history, it was a little easier to deal with. Jack related the story mechanically, giving details without emotion and Daniel realized that this was the only way the soldier could deal with the havoc wrought on his own body and mind. He fought back tears frequently and noticed that Jack's embrace would tighten considerably when a particularly difficult detail was about to be imparted. He started to watch the little clues Jack's body delivered, and responded accordingly, providing a momentary distraction with a kiss or a touch whenever Jack's voice faltered. His mind raced trying to consider what kind of being could treat another with such cruelty and he now saw the reasoning behind Jack's actions during some of their missions.

But it was the shear scale of suffering that Jack had endured and survived that had Daniel in awe of the man in his arms, it made him feel insignificant and his losses petty. The triumph of Jack's recovery, however difficult and lengthy, was a miracle in itself. For him to have endured so much and survived only to be tested again within the context of his personal life explained why the Jack he had met on that first Abydos mission had chosen to end it; that he hadn't was a credit to the mettle that made him. Daniel was certain he would have given up and could think of no other person, save Teal'c, that could have possibly endured and won. True the scars were there, but for the size of the wounds the scars were nearly invisible to the outside observer. Daniel could now look beyond at the scarred body and see the buried traumas that made this man, the soul frequently bruised and battered, but shining none the less. He kept his composure until the very end and lost control only when Jack finally broke down. They fell asleep sobbing in each other's arms, each stronger for the effort put into the sharing.

The sun streamed in the balcony doors and right into Mike's face. He awoke, as usual, curled up around Howard and achingly hard. It was a novelty for him to be awake first these days, a habit it had taken almost a year for him to break after so long in the Air Force. He slid down the hard body and began to nuzzle at the sleeping man's cock.

Howard hadn't been asleep long he had been dozing fitfully, trying to keep an ear on the bathroom in case Daniel needed help. So, when the warm soft mouth engulfed the head of his cock, he groaned and tried to turn away. Mike was not so easily deterred; he slid one hand behind the fuzzy balls and began to stroke gently with his fingers. Howard's legs opened automatically and Mike slid between them licking and grazing as Howard's cock responded.

Now Mike was incredibly pleased with himself to be on the giving end of this kind of wake up call and wanted more. He grabbed the lube from under the cushion they were using as a pillow and coated the end of his cock, then he pushed one of Howard's knees up and started to slide home as the bleary eyes opened and tried to focus.

"Jesus, Mike! Don't let my sleeping stop you...just go right ahead and start without me!" Howard spread the other leg wide as Mike turned slightly and grinned.

"Good morning!..." Mike's hand wrapped Howard's erection and began to stroke. "...Time to get UP!"

"I see that... now. A little horny this morning, Dribbles?" Howard's eyes closed as Mike began to angle his strokes and played hit and run with Howard's happy button. Howard reached up and pinched Mike's left nipple, and Mike shifted Howard's left knee high over his arm.

"You know...I think I'd like to pierce this nipple... we can get some pretty gold rings in Majorca...yeah, I think I'd like that." Howard rolled the hard nub in his fingers and Mike lost his concentration completely.

"YOU ARE A BRAT!" Mike stilled and came hard, his body twitching with each spasm of his cock.

"I'm sorry. Is there a problem?" Howard smiled as Mike collapsed onto him. "A little problem with premature ejaculation, Dribble boy?"

"That was just plain mean, Guns and you know it. I hardly ever get to wake you up that way anymore. You spoiled my fun."

"Uh, excuse me...you had your fun...and I have a butt full of proof too." Howard's eyes were opened now.

"I should punish you and let you deal with this yourself." Mike's hand wrapped Howard's still hard cock.

"No, you should get your mouth right on down there and finish what you started." Howard grinned. Mike just shook his head and smiled as he slid down the long body to his appointed task.

"What was that?" Daniel looked up from Jack's chest.

They had been dozing, fairly talked out, on the bathroom floor with the warmth from the overhead heat lamp keeping the chill off.

"It sounded like Mike called Howard a brat." Jack's voice was soft.

"What the hell are they doing out there?"

"Well, knowing Mike, probably fucking like bunnies and wondering what we're doing in here. As a matter of fact he'll probably be in here any moment, looking for us. Mike thinks that more is merrier where sex is concerned."

Jack chuckled and Daniel lifted his head and stared into the tired looking eyes.

"That's the first time you've laughed in a while...I missed it."

"I'm sorry, Daniel..."

"Don't be, Jack, I asked...remember?"

"Yeah, and now we can BOTH have the same nightmares."

"We'll get through it, Jack, you'll see."

Jack leaned down and rubbed his cheek on the top of Daniel's head.

"I hope so, Daniel. I truly hope so."

"Soo, do you think that they're done out there?"

"I don't know. I DO know that I'm gonna need help to get up though."

Daniel sat up and pulled himself to his feet, stiff from the uncomfortable tile. He stretched and extended a hand down to Jack, pulling him into a sitting position. Jack groaned and rubbed at his lower back, then with another helping hand, got to his feet, moving immediately into Daniel's embrace. Daniel's hands went to the sides of Jack's face, as he leaned forward Jack's eyes slid shut and Daniel kissed both lids.

"Come on; let's go see what the boys are up to in there." Jack motioned to the door. They opened the door as quietly as they could; just enough to peek into the sitting area where Howard and Mike occupied the opened sofa bed. From the angle they had the only one they could see was Howard and he didn't appear to be moving.

"Do you think they went back to sleep?" Daniel whispered, allowing Jack to peek in his place.

"That's real unlikely...do you want to take the chance?" Jack whispered back.

"Yeah, we have to come out eventually." Daniel shrugged.

As they opened the door wider and started to step into the bedroom, they were frozen in their tracks.

"OOOHH, GOD! YESSS!" Howard's gasped exclamation had them retreating back into the sanctuary of the bathroom in one smooth move. They closed the door and leaned against it, giggling like schoolgirls, with their hands covering their mouths.

"Wait..." Jack whispered. "...Just how old ARE we here? I feel like I'm fifteen and just saw my parents doing IT."

Daniel's face was beet red, and he sniggered now.

"I mean, not that my parents actually EVER had SEX...you know?" Jack shrugged.

"Oh, another virgin birth eh?"

"Well, I mean...you know!"

The sudden rap on the door of their sanctuary had them both jumping, and Jack grabbed playfully at his chest. He opened the door so fast that Mike almost fell in on them.

"You boys can come out now...you aren't fooling anyone you know... Special ops colonel, my ass!" Mike strolled naked into the bathroom and moved to relieve himself.

"Hey! We didn't want to disturb you!" Daniel grinned.

"Trust me, Daniel..." Jack said quietly steering Daniel into the bedroom. "...THAT one is ALREADY disturbed!"

Mike reached behind Jack as he pushed Daniel into the bedroom, and squeezed his butt through the boxers he was wearing.

"HEY!!" Jack jumped away from the hand and almost fell on Daniel who just looked puzzled.

"He groped me!" Jack snorted.

"Yeah, well, be grateful that's all he did too...a man can't get any sleep, even on vacation." Howard mumbled as he walked past Jack and Daniel on his way to the bathroom, scrubbing his hands through what was left of his hair.

Daniel grinned at Jack and whispered, "He's gonna need new prosthetic ears soon."

Jack laughed "Yeah, I think you're right." They moved to the bed and Daniel sat down, Jack lay down and pillowed his head on Daniel's nearest thigh, closing his eyes and sighing as Daniel ran his fingers through the short strands. Mike came back into the room, as always oblivious to his own nudity, and crawled up onto the bed behind Daniel wrapping him in an embrace and kissing the side of his neck.

"So, Jack? You gonna go back to sleep?"

"Back?..." Daniel asked. "...That implies that we've have any sleep at all, but I'm too hungry to sleep now. I want food."

Jack lifted his head in surprise, and looked at Daniel.

"Wow! It's not very often YOU claim to be hungry. Maybe we should eat."

"Sounds good to me. What about you, Guns?" Mike came up from feasting on Daniel's neck and looked towards Howard who slumped into a chair.

"I'm too beat to eat. I think I'll just go back to our room and sleep for a while if it's okay?"

"Does that mean I can get rid of this?" Jack held up his hand with the taped IV port.

"Sure, Jack." Howard tossed a plastic bag containing a roll of tape and some gauze to Mike who shifted around to remove the Med Lock. Mike got up and disposed of the device and placed a Band-Aid over the site then returned the plastic bag to Howard's satchel. He tossed Howard's pants to him and pulled on his own then picked up the rest of their clothing and headed for the door, a very sleepy looking Howard right behind him.

"I'll catch a quick shower and meet you in thirty minutes okay?" Mike smiled as he left, and Jack headed back to the bathroom.

Fifty minutes later, the three were seated in the dining room. Daniel was the one eating with both hands this time. Jack smiled over at Mike sitting across from them.

"Daniel's an anxiety eater."

"Ahh!" Mike nodded. "That explains it."

Daniel looked up, his mouth stuffed with waffles, his eyes shifting between Mike and Jack. He knew they were talking about him, but he didn't have a clue what they had said. He swallowed and smiled.

"Sorry? What did you say?"

"Nothing, Daniel. Would you like some more coffee?" Jack picked up the carafe and poured more into Daniel's cup.

"Umm, yeah, thanks. Hey there's Gary." Daniel waved and Gary came over to the table and sat down with his plates.

"Morning Gary. Would you like some coffee?" Jack offered.

"Sure, thanks. Where have you guys been?"

"Well you know, us repressed military types, Gary?" Jack said.

"Ahh, so you've been holed up in your suite fucking like monkeys then?"

Jack sputtered and Daniel almost choked. Jack wound up pounding his back while Mike poured water for him.

"Something like that, anyway." Jack countered.

"Well I was gonna look for you, Daniel. I got you a present when we were in Rome and I wanted to give it to you last night but you guys all disappeared." Gary fumbled in the leather backpack he was carrying and brought out a small tissue wrapped package. Daniel wiped his hands and mouth and took the parcel with a smile, then fumbled the ribbon off and tore the tissue. Folded into a small square was a long Mediterranean blue silk scarf. Daniel's eyes lit up as he unfolded the sensuous material and draped it around his neck, throwing one end over his shoulder.

"God, Gary! I love it! Thank you!"

"When I saw it, well...it just screamed for you. It goes with your eyes. You had to have it!" Gary was slightly embarrassed by the sentiment but pleased that Daniel liked it.

"That's what we thought too, when he showed it to us." Mike said, smiling.

Daniel was thrilled.

Jack couldn't take his eyes off the scarf. He stared at it for long moments until Mike noticed his lack of comment.

"What do you think, Jack?...Jack?" Mike's eyes shifted urgently to Daniel who looked up into Jack's face.

"Jack?" Daniel's hand shot up towards Jack's face and Jack screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" batting the hand away.

Then the Arabic muttering started.

"Mike?" Daniel's eyes pleaded as several waiters came running and all eyes in the dining room turned to their table.

"We need to get him out of here, Daniel. Quietly... walking... if possible. Just don't make any sudden moves." Mike got up and came around the table.

"What's wrong? Jack?" Gary was really confused.

"We have to get him out of here, Gary, as quickly as possible. He's...he's ill."

Daniel got up and he and Mike stood Jack up and started to try to guide him from the room.

"Okay? Can I help?"

"Get the maitre de; tell him we need to get him back to his suite ASAP." Mike said. Gary nodded and moved quickly to the maitre de who showed him where the service elevator to the bridge deck was located.

Mike and Daniel walked Jack gently along, they kept speaking in soft soothing tones and just prayed that he would continue to be pliable while they were in public. The four men got into the elevator, headed for the bridge deck and Jack remained cooperative...until the elevator doors closed.

Jack's eyes went wild. He pulled his arms away from Mike and Daniel and slid down the back wall of the elevator and pulled his legs up, his arms wrapping his knees, then he began to rock and shake his head.

"How are we gonna get him out of here?" Gary looked worried. Daniel took his card key out and handed it to Gary.

"You just open the door."

"He's gonna fight anything we do now, Daniel, you know that?" Mike pointed out.

"Yeah, I figured."

"So we have to get him to the room with as little damage and as few injuries as possible...for us and him."

"It's us I'm worried about. He's very capable of killing both of us without breaking a sweat you know."

The elevator stopped and the doors opened.

"Thanks, Daniel, I needed that little bit of information." Mike snarked.

Mike and Daniel began the task of coaxing the terrified O'Neill out of the corner while Gary held the elevator door open. It was only a couple of minutes before they gave up.

"Gary, you go get Howard and tell him to bring his bag." Mike ordered and he moved to hold the door open while they waited.

Gary headed around the corner and Daniel slumped down the elevator wall next to Jack.

"What happened, Jack? What do you see?" Daniel asked softly and Jack's eyes fixed on the scarf again.

Long minutes later a disheveled Howard appeared in his shorts, bag in hand.

"What the hell happened?" He knelt and opened the bag.

"I don't know. One minute he was fine, then...boom, he was gone." Daniel said softly.

"Don't forget the scream." Gary prompted from the door.

"Gods, how could I. No one in the dining room ever will either." Daniel shook his head.

Howard moved in slowly, the syringe hidden behind his back.

"I'll need his arm." Howard moved behind Mike and Daniel moved in front of Jack. Jack reached out for the scarf and Mike trapped the arm and held it as Howard quickly injected the contents of the syringe into one of many big ropey veins on Jack's forearm, making a mental note of all the recent needle marks that marred the tanned limb.

As Jack's eyes unfocused, he reached out again for the scarf, pulling it free from Daniel's neck he clutched it to his face and held it as he slid sideways into Mike's arms.

"Okay, I didn't give him much so it won't last long. Let's get him into the room." Howard stood and dropped the syringe into the sharps box and shut his bag, pushing it to Gary. Then he and Mike each pulled one of Jack's arms over their shoulders and headed for the room, Jack's legs dragging between them. Daniel picked up the scarf and put it back around his neck and he moved in front and picked up Jack's legs as Gary ran ahead to open the door.

"Well, it looks like the maid has been here." Gary held the door open as they carried Jack in and deposited him gently on the bed. Daniel pulled off his shirt and shoes and Jack turned to his side, and into a tight fetal curve.

"What the hell happened?" Howard leaned carefully forward and lifted each of Jack's closed eyelids in turn then laid two fingers on the strong pulse on the long neck.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I think it was that scarf." Mike pointed towards Daniel who sat on the end of the bed waiting for Howard to finish checking Jack over.

Daniel fingered the sensuous material, staring at it. "You're right. As soon as I put it on he started to stare and then grabbed it in the elevator and wouldn't let go."

"Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on here?" Gary was getting frustrated.

"Jack's having a...a few... PROBLEMS... right now, Gary." Howard was going for diplomatic.

"Boy! I'll say! Everybody in the dining room would agree with THAT assessment too!... Now, will SOMEBODY PLEASE tell me what is going on?" Gary pleaded again.

"Jack is having some trouble with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Gary. We're trying to figure out how to help him." Daniel finally offered a satisfactory explanation.

Gary closed his eyes and sighed. "Oh, I thought it might be something like that. Can you help him?" All eyes turned towards Howard, who took a deep breath and sighed.

"I sure hope so, Gary. We are trying." Howard looked up at Daniel. "Do you have ANY idea why the scarf would have set him off?"

Daniel frowned and looked up. "Not a clue, Howard. I wish I did."

"Why would a scarf send him into a post traumatic stress episode?" Gary sat down on a stool by the bar.

"It's not necessarily the scarf itself. It could be something it reminds him of, an incident, a person..." Mike moved towards the chair that Howard was sitting in and sat on the floor between his legs.

"When was he in the Gulf?" Gary asked.

Mike looked up at Gary.

"Well, he was speaking in Arabic. I don't know a lot of it, but I was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf and picked up a little, enough to recognize it... and understand what he was saying."

Daniel took a deep breath and pushed up his glasses.

"Uh, Jack was a POW for four months in Iraq."

Gary gasped and ran both hands back through his hair. "Well...that would explain that. Jesus! That's some serious shit! And you think that's what he's flashing back on?"

"Yeah well, that...um, training accident... kinda opened up a lot of old wounds." Daniel countered before Howard could respond.

"CHRIST! I'll say!" Gary shook his head. "So what happens now?"

All eyes looked to Howard.

"Well...what we have to try to do is decipher the triggers. Find out what set off this episode and diffuse it. We need to know if it IS the scarf, WHY? If it isn't the scarf, then what does the scarf remind him of that DOES set him off?"

"Is there anything I can do?" Gary shook his head in frustration.

"No, Gary...but we appreciate the offer. Jack's past military history is...well, most of it is still classified. We shouldn't even have told you as much as we have already." Howard answered before Daniel.

"Then you both are..."

"They're both Air Force? ...Yes." Daniel answered.

"I thought you said you guys were urologists?" Gary looked confused.

"Well, that was supposed to be our cover. We're actually from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, the psychological intervention unit. We work with returning prisoners and such." Mike spoke like he knew what he was talking about.

"So...I should?" Gary asked.

Mike got up and came over to Gary placing his arm around the man's shoulder walked him to the door. Daniel got up and kissed Gary, thanking him for the scarf and apologizing for the embarrassment, and promising that they would try to get back together before the cruise ended.

After Gary left, both Howard and Daniel's eyes shifted automatically towards Mike who just sat and smiled like the Cheshire Cat.

"Where the HELL did all that come from?" Howard's hands moved to his hips.

"Dover Air Force Base? What is THAT all about?" Daniel demanded.

"Hey!..." Mike moved next to Howard and draped his arm around him. "We needed a story, so...I borrowed one."

"Uh, borrowed?" Daniel asked before Howard could open his mouth.

"SURE! In the movie, M*A*S*H, Hawkeye and Trapper claim to be the Pros from Dover... I just, updated it a little, that's all." The grin was back.

Howard covered his face with his hands and shook his head.

"I should have figured it would be ..." Howard closed his mouth the thought unfinished.

"What, Howard?... A GREAT save? Really fast thinking? Something you wish YOU would have thought of? What?" Mike was prodding Howard to finish the sentence. He threw himself into one of the armchairs and draped a long leg over the side, in a minor huff.

Howard dropped his hands from his face and looked up; the smile broke across his face like a sunrise as the laugh took hold. He moved to the side of the chair and sat on the other arm, leaning down to kiss Mike on the head.

"You ARE amazing."

"Of course I am, that's why you love me." Mike said brightly.

"But...why?" Daniel was still a little confused. "Why did you bother?"

"Daniel..." Mike used his most patient voice. "...Do we REALLY want to have to explain to an outsider why Jack needs a UROLOGIST to help him deal with his PTSD issues? Do YOU?"

"Ahh, uh, NO!" Daniel finally got it.

"Well then! I just insured that Gary won't be asking any further questions, especially of Jack." Mike spread his hands.

Howard leaned down and kissed the top of Mike's head again. "See, beauty AND brains...that's why I love you."

"Christ don't you guys EVER shut up?" The voice from the bed was soft and gravelly.

"Jack!" Daniel was nearly around the bed when Howard grabbed the end of the scarf and pulled it off his neck. Daniel looked down as he came into Jack's view, suddenly grateful for the urologist's quick thinking and fast action.

Jack lifted his hands and ground the heels of his palms against his eyelids.

"Now what happened?" He looked at Daniel as he sat down.

"Well, uh..."

"It happened again, didn't it?"

"Ahh, well..."

"Dan-yel?" Jack used his colonel voice, to get an answer.

"Yes, yes it did, Jack."

"What set it off this time?" Jack's eyes narrowed as he tried to remember what had happened.

"You don't remember?"

"If I remembered, Daniel, I wouldn't be asking you, now would I?"

"We think it might have been the gift Gary gave me."

"What gift? Gary gave you a gift?"

"Yes, and you took one look at it and were gone."

"What is it?"

"It's a scarf."

"I want to see it."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I can't go through life freaking out over accessories, Daniel...Now let me see it." The emotional fatigue was evident in Jack's voice.

Mike came over and handed Daniel the scarf, now neatly re-folded into a small square. Daniel held the square where Jack could see it, reluctantly relinquishing his grip on it when Jack sat up and took it in his hands.

"Jesus! It's the exact same color..." Jack's voice was soft and dangerous.

His eyes riveted to the material in his hands, he unfolded the square and pulled it through and over his fingers.

"The same color as what, Jack?" Daniel was still unsure exactly how much questioning Jack would allow, but was sure that the 'what' was important here.

Howard was perched on the arm of Mike's chair and they had to strain to hear when Jack began to speak.

"I saw a stall in the marketplace on Desarta, they had scarves like these...so blue...I couldn't take my eyes off them... they were... the color... I got two, I gave one, umm to... to... ahh, Mahdis... Mahdis... I wanted ... the other... so blue..." Jack's voice seemed to drift away; his eyes got distant and unfocused looking.

"Daniel, you need to keep him talking. Don't let him get lost in the memory." Howard coached from the chair. Daniel looked over at Howard and nodded, trying to keep his own panic at bay.

"Who is Mahdis, Jack?"

"No, Daniel. USE your voice; you can use anything short of pain to grab his attention. This isn't twenty questions; it's a fight...for sanity. The farther away he gets the harder it will be to bring him back." Howard was determined to let Daniel ground Jack this time; he wasn't going to intervene in any manner unless things got real ugly. Mike smiled gently at Daniel and offered an encouraging nod.

"...so pretty..." Jack seemed to be fading into some other place. Daniel swallowed hard; he wasn't going to give the man up to the demons without a fight.

"Jack!"

"Not enough, Daniel, search deeper, throw him a rope. You have to go all the way to him; he can't meet you halfway now. Remember, anything except pain, he's a physical guy. Get his attention." Howard encouraged from the other side of the room.

Daniel could feel the bed move, and when he looked back at Jack, his heart sank. Jack had clutched the scarf to his face and brought his knees up to his chest, he was rocking back and forth, his eyes wide and wild. His head nodded back and forth and seemed to provide the impetus for his body to follow. Daniel said a quick silent prayer and reached out capturing Jack's face in his hands and brought it around so he could look deep into the unfocused sable; he held it there with both hands.

"JACK!" The rocking stopped, and the eyes focused up, briefly. Then, the shoulders sagged and the eyes left again, the rocking restarted and slowly built back into a nauseating pace.

Howard shook his head and scrubbed his hand through the short fringes of hair that were left to him.

"Christ, Daniel! You're a LINGUIST for god's sake; say something when you DO get his attention.

"What do I say?"

"ANYTHING! Bring him back from the past...the longer he's there the further he'll fall, until no one will have enough rope to pull him out. Read him a fucking cereal box, anything..."

"Easy, Guns, he's trying." Mike rubbed the long leg on the arm of the chair trying to keep Howard from losing his cool.

"YEAH, and your POINT?!..." Meade looked down at Mike impatiently. "Look at him now, Daniel." Howard pointed and as Daniel turned around he could hear Jack muttering softly in Arabic. "It won't be long now, he'll be screaming soon. Better get him back while you can, or say goodbye now while there's still a chance he'll understand what you're saying." Mead shook his head and folded his arms across his chest, refusing to be consoled by Mike's tender touches. Daniel's eyes brimmed with tears that he refused to acknowledge or shed, he turned back towards Jack.

"JACK!!" This time when the rocking stopped, Daniel took charge.

"LISTEN to me, you're safe...you're home. Nothing will happen to you here... I love you, Jack...come back to me, please?..."

Howard offered encouragement from across the room.

"Keep talking, Daniel...that's it, bring him back, remind him where he IS, not where he ISN'T. Talk about work, tell him how you feel about him...you can never say THAT enough...he needs to know he is loved here...that there's no pain here."

Daniel leaned in now and planted a whisper of a kiss on stiffly closed lips, his arms moving to encircle Jack's shoulders.

"Careful, Daniel, he needs to see your face, don't restrain him." Howard coached. Daniel nodded and backed off a little still talking.

"Come on, Jack. You're here with me now...come back...I love you...this was your vacation, remember? It's costing you a small fortune...you don't want to waste it... I wanted you to show me Milan...I want to see La Scala...you were going to drag me to an opera...you need to come back to me...we only just found each other...don't lose yourself, they aren't worth it, that's what they want...I want you...I need you, Jack...please?"

The rocking stopped, and the face was turned towards him, but those eyes were still a million miles away.

"Don't give up, Daniel." Mike said softly.

Daniel swallowed and took a breath and then began to speak in Italian.

"Ti amo. Il mio amore per te e' piu' profundo dell'oceano. Vorrei trascorrere tutta la mia vita con te." (I love you. My love for you is deeper than the ocean. I would like to spend all my life with you)

Mike grinned up at Howard who finally sighed and eased a little.

As Daniel spoke, Jack froze, and then slowly almost imperceptibly began to relax. Daniel spoke, in Italian, of his love for Jack and the passion they had shared in his dreams, his confidence that they could share a life together and love each other, how they would grow old in each other's embrace. He went on and on, he heard the soft snuffling behind him as Mike, who hadn't a clue about what he was saying watched Jack's response.

The tired face tilted to the side, the sable eyes blinked and finally after being lost for an eternity, saw home.

"...the same color... as your eyes...the same blue." Jack's voice was too soft for Mike and Howard to hear, even at that short distance. But Daniel heard it, and lost control of the tears he had held at bay for so long. He relaxed his grip on Jack's face and leaned back in for another kiss this one softer and taken as eagerly as he offered.

Jack broke the kiss and leaned back slightly to look at Daniel's tear streaked face, and leaned in wiping the tears from both eyes, with the softest of kisses.

"Ti amo, Daniel. I tuoi occhi sono come due stele nella notte. Tu sei mia vita." (I love you, Daniel. Your eyes are like two stars in the night. You are my life.)

Daniel's eyes closed and he shook with pent up emotion then collapsed against Jack, sobbing. Jack wrapped his arms around him and rubbed circles on his back to comfort him.

"Shh, it'll be okay, Danny. WE'RE gonna be okay, you'll see. We're gonna be fine. Ve lo prometto." (I promise you)

Chapter 26: The best way to hold a man is in your arms

The next twenty four hours were some of the happiest of Daniel's life. While Howard, Mike and Gary went ashore at Majorca and Ibiza, Jack and he were again treated to the kinds of hospitality rivaling royalty aboard the ship.

While resting in deck chairs by the pool, they were approached by a man in the uniform of the cruise line who introduced himself as the ship's physician. He asked Jack how he was feeling and told him that the cruise line was only too happy to cooperate with the government of the United States and hoped that they would all return soon for another cruise. They both smiled and nodded complimenting the cruise line on its services and amenities and said that they had planned to return in the future.

When the doctor left, they stared at each other, with wide eyes.

"Uh, Daniel? What was THAT all about?"

"Sounds like they've enjoyed having us here."

"That's NOT what he said."

"Sure, it was."

"No, Daniel, it wasn't, I'm NOT deaf or senile. He said that they were happy to cooperate with the US government. HOW are they cooperating with the government?"

"I have NO idea, Jack... maybe the business with the ambulance and airlift when we took you to Landstuhl. Howard and Mike called in a few debts I think, to cut through some of the red tape. I don't know what they told the cruise line."

"Ahh, that's right. I forgot about that. That must be it."

"I know Mike can really come up with a fast story when he wants to."

"What do you mean?"

Daniel launched into the explanation of what had happened when they got back from the masquerade party and what Mike had told Gary after the incident in the dining room.

Just before they headed back on board from Majorca. Howard stopped to make a phone call and check in with the interested parties back home. It took a while because he, Hammond and Fraiser had to wait for a couple of OTHER interested parties to become available. One was easily contacted; Hammond held out the communication device and spoke and Thor was instantly transported into Hammond's SGC office. The other party was finishing up a meeting with the Joint Chiefs and took a little longer to join the conference.

They were all, however, thrilled with Jack's progress, both physical and psychological. Howard would call again only if there was a problem, otherwise he would arrange for his report and debriefing when they returned from the cruise. Mike sat outside the Ambassador's office with the Ambassador and his secretary and waited until a smiling Howard came out and shook hands with the Ambassador, thanking him for his cooperation. As they left the Embassy, Mike began his interrogation.

"So, how come the powers that be, don't care that Jack's gay?"

"OH, they CARE all right, it's just that the work he does is way too important to let a little thing like sexual preference get in its way. So, in his case, they'll turn a blind eye." Howard shifted some of the bundles he was carrying so he could hold Mike's hand.

Mike knew Howard better than to ask too many questions, in spite of signing a non-disclosure agreement there was still a little matter of security clearances. Somehow, after seeing the look in Howard's eyes when he came home from the Cheyenne Mountain Complex that first time...he didn't WANT to know what exactly Jack did. He would just take Howard at his word that it was important and dangerous and be contented with that.

"So, Guns? Where are we gonna get my nipple pierced?..." Mike smiled and asked casually, halting Howard in his tracks. "...Or did you think I forgot that little promise?"

"Oh, are you sure, baby? Cause I'd love it, but it's gonna hurt like a bitch."

"Please, Guns...I am aware that it will be uncomfortable...but you can make it up to me...come on, there was a place back on the road to the ship." Mike led the way back and into the small shop. He checked out the instrumentation and cleanliness of the shop and satisfied himself that the woman who was working in the shop knew what she was doing while Howard examined some of the nipple ornaments, selecting several.

Then declining a seat in the dental chair for the procedure, they moved to the sofa in another small curtained room. Howard lay down with Mike cradled on his chest. Howard asked the woman to leave them for a moment and begged a sterile paper drape from her.

"So, what's THAT for?" Mike asked as Howard opened Mike's pants and bundled his package into a fold of the paper then closed the pants loosely.

"There!" Howard laid back and stroked Mike's now paper and pants clothed package. "That's so when you come in your pants from this you'll still be able to walk around in public."

Mike raised an eyebrow and laying back sighed as Howard continued to stroke him. The woman came back in and suggested that Howard attempt to relax a very tense Mike while she prepared the area. Howard kissed the side of Mike's neck and rubbed a little more briskly now feeling Mike hardening under his hands. The woman scrubbed the nipple with alcohol and then the ever present iodine solution. The stimulation peaked the nub hard under her gloved hands. Mike turned his face into Howard's neck as the woman clamped the nipple and tugged, pulling it away from Mike's chest.

"Hang on; it will hurt for a second." She said as she sprayed the numbing solution directly on the nipple and then shoved the large needle through. She sprayed it again before she removed the needle and shoved the gold hoop through closing the clasp with a snap. When she released the clamp and let the nipple go, Mike shivered and gasped. She patted Mike's cheek and stood smiling down at Howard.

"I'll leave you two to relax for a couple of minutes, so he can recover...take your time." She grinned and gathering her equipment pulled the curtain as she left the room. Mike's face stayed buried in Howard's neck as Howard continued to rub him through the pants and paper. Finally, Howard couldn't stand it and reached down and lifted the gold hoop, Mike shivered and came with a groan. Howard chuckled.

"Aren't you glad I thought of the paper drape?"

Mike panted and looked down at his new jewelry. "Yeah, now I gotta get it off without making a mess." He reached down and unzipped, removing the paper wrap and cleaning himself off as best he could.

"Uh, you wouldn't consider licking me clean, would you?"

"Nope, not here. But as soon as we get back to the ship I'll have a taste." Howard laughed. He left the room while Mike tidied himself, paying the woman, purchasing some more jewelry and getting the care instructions for the new piercing. She offered him a matching ring for the one she had inserted in Mike and offered to throw in the piercing for free. Howard thanked her and purchased the ring, but declined the piercing. He would keep the ring until after he got out of the Air Force and maybe surprise Mike with his own piercing for Christmas.

Howard collected the still somewhat shaky Mike and their packages and slowly walked back towards the ship. Mike kept pulling his shirt out and away from his sensitive nipple during the walk.

"How about when we get back, you lose the shirt and take some aspirin and lay down?" Howard squeezed the back of Mike's neck gently.

"Yeah, I think I will... You KNOW I'm no baby, Guns?"

"I know that. I also know how sensitive YOUR nipples are...more sensitive than anyone I've ever known...so I KNOW you're hurting, come on we're almost there."

Jack and Daniel had been sitting on the deck and were walking back from another visit with Camilla and her ice cream freezer when they saw Howard and Mike walking up the gangway and went to greet them.

"Hey, did you guys have a good time? Whoa, Dribbles, you don't look so good." Jack reached out and wrapped his arm around Mike's waist pulling him close.

"Mike just got pierced and it's a little painful right now, Jack." Howard patted Mike's shoulder as Jack drew back to look Mike in the face.

"Ouch! That must hurt." Daniel frowned.

"Come on, I think YOU'LL need some TLC now." Jack kissed Mike on the forehead and steered them all back towards the bridge deck and their suites. Howard opened the door to the suite and Jack guided Mike in and immediately towards the bed.

"I need to get this shirt off." Mike started with the buttons as Jack removed his shoes, then Jack took over as Daniel helped Howard stow their packages.

"I see Mike is still buying his way through Europe." Daniel joked.

"Yep, but I shouldn't complain, he earns twice what I do even AFTER overhead, taxes, staff payroll, malpractice insurance and everything else. Getting out of the Air Force was the best career move for him and it will be for me too."

"What's this?" Daniel found a bag full of small jewelry boxes.

"Ah, jewelry for my new toy!" Howard smiled and opened one box showing Daniel the ornate nipple ring it contained. "Of course, we can't remove the one he has in for a while but he'll love these, especially if I use them as presents. Michael loves presents."

"Wow! Some of these are...uh..."

"Gaudy is the word you are looking for." Howard joked.

"Uh, yes, yes they are!" Daniel nodded his head as he examined the contents of one box after another. "Oh, now this one is NICE!"

"That's the one he has in..." Howard commented. "...I got another. I may surprise him and get myself pierced for our anniversary. So, please don't say anything."

"My lips are sealed. That's nice, he'll like that a lot. But why not now?"

"No, not while I'm still Air Force, too many questions to answer. Physicals, PT tests and the like, I don't want to have to explain."

"Surely it can't matter, you're retiring anyway?"

"Believe me, Daniel, they'd like nothing more than to avoid paying a pension, and even if it isn't much....I'll still need it until I get established in Mike's practice. And until I ETS, a dishonorable discharge is always a possibility, I've never cared for the location of Fort Leavenworth."

"I suppose you're right. That's gonna be the tough part for Jack. He's kinda enjoying the whole out of closet experience here. He won't like going back in."

"Just between you me and this suitcase, Daniel, Jack doesn't have to go entirely back into the closet. All he has to do is avoid flaunting it, no one will bother him. They need him WAY too much for that, trust me."

"How can you be so sure? You sound awfully certain for a man that is putting off a mere piercing because of possible repercussions."

"I'm not THE Colonel Jack O'Neill, chosen of the Asgaard and defender of earth."

Daniel's jaw dropped open.

"What?"

"Trust me he has friends so well placed that they will cough up money for and then turn a blind eye to a gay cruise, arrange an emergency medical airlift and fly in experts from around the world. Even give clearance to an aging, ready to retire Air Force urologist of questionable sexual orientation. They wouldn't care if he showed up in a pink tutu." Howard laughed again. "And Thor sounds like he might enjoy that!"

"How much do you know?" Daniel asked still hesitant.

"Look Daniel, they had to explain how an Air Force Colonel could wind up with those kinds of injuries twenty-eight floors under a mountain, while doing Deep Space Radar Telemetry. He was barely alive, he could NOT have possibly be brought in from anywhere in that condition...they had NO choice. I'm not stupid. So Hammond had to explain...all of it."

"ALL of it?" Daniel was still feeling for the edges of Howard's knowledge.

"YES, Daniel...the Stargate, the Goua'ld, the off world missions, the Asgaard, everything."

The voices from the bed area got louder now.

"YEP, I definitely think they're talking about us, Mike! What do YOU think?"

Mike agreed as Howard and Daniel turned back towards the bed with smiles on their faces.

Jack had relieved Mike and himself of their clothes and they lay on the bed spooned.

"How about a little bag of ice for my friend here, huh?" Jack asked quietly petting in long strokes down from Mike's hair down his side to his hip.

Mike was very quiet. Howard knew him well enough to know that it must really hurt to shut the otherwise sparkling personality down like this. Mike sighed and leaned back further into Jack, and Jack leaned down and kissed his shoulder.

Howard put ice into a small bag and wrapped it in a washcloth and moved to the bed. He stripped off his clothes and lay down gently applying the ice to Mike's tender nipple.

"Does he need something for pain?" Daniel asked

"No, I'm good, for now, Daniel. The ice will help, and so will Guns... thanks, Jack." Mike turned and gave his mouth to O'Neill who kissed him sweetly then got up.

"Okay, can we get anything for you before we go?" Jack was pulling his own clothes back on.

"A bottle of water would be good."

Daniel got a bottle from the fridge and put it on the table next to Mike.

"Call us about an hour or so before dinner will you?" Howard asked softly as Jack covered the pair with a light weight blanket. Then he bent down and kissed Mike on the head and they left switching the light out just before closing the door.

They went back to their suite and Jack pulled a subdued Daniel into his arms.

"What's wrong? You're not mad about me and Mike in there are you?"

"No, Jack...it's not like that... he knows, Howard knows."

"Howard knows what, Daniel?"

"He knows about the stargate, the Goua'ld, the Asgaard, the missions, all of it."

Jack thought for a moment.

"Well, it makes sense if you think about it. They called him in for an emergency twenty-eight floors underground...I guess they were forced to explain it."

"He called you defender of earth and chosen of the Asgaard."

"He did?"

"Yes, he did."

"Wow! Chosen of the Asgaard... I kinda like that!" Jack grinned.

"I KNEW you would. SO, oh my chosen one, what would you like to do now?"

"I'd like to do any number of things, but I'll settle for a nap with my favorite archeologist." Jack leaned down and sucked Daniel's lower lip between his, then released it and began to kiss along the side of his jaw.

"I think that might just be possible. You have to be tired we've been walking since we got up. I know Howard won't be happy if he finds out just how much walking you did today."

"And the ONLY way Howard will find out is if YOU tell him. Are you gonna rat me out to the fuzz, Spacemonkey?"

"Well, what's it worth to you, mio amore?"

"Ohh, let's see..." Jack began to unbutton Daniel's shirt and pushed it back off his shoulders then moved carefully to his knees and opened the belt, button and zipper of the green linen shorts and pushed then down over Daniel's hips allowing his fingers as much skin as they could caress. He buried his face in the crease of Daniel's groin and swabbed the entire area with his tongue, then moved to the other side as Daniel moaned and hardened.

"Tu sei bellissima; la tua pelle e' come seta." (You are very beautiful; your skin is like silk.) Jack looked up at Daniel's face, then leaned back down and licked up the side of Daniel's burgeoning erection.

Daniel grabbed Jack's shoulder, "That's enough! BED NOW, O'NEILL!"

"As you wish, mio angelo." (my angel) Jack climbed back to his feet with Daniel's help and they moved towards the bed with Jack shedding clothes on the way.

They stretched out on the bed, wrapped in each other until hands were no longer adequate and then shifted positions and sucked each other' s cocks until they fell asleep, their energy depleted and thirsts quenched.

Jack blinked awake, alternately squeezing his eyes tight and opening them wide, he was having some difficulty trying to see what was lying next to him. He was mostly lying on his back, his shoulders were a little chilly but his torso was warm and his right thigh was cramping. He tried to focus to see Daniel's face but couldn't. He pulled his head back a little and narrowed his stare and focused on...ankles and feet, no more than an inch from the end of his nose. He tilted his chin and stuck out his tongue, swiping the nearest portion of extremity he could...Daniel's left instep. The tickling of the fine hairs there had Daniel swiping over the same area with the bottom of his right foot.

Jack smiled, satisfied at the resulting annoyance to the sleeping man and repeated the performance with the same result. He moved his head closer and sought out fresh targets, swiping an ankle and licking up the shin dragging the hair backwards. Daniel was a frenzy of unconscious movement, one foot rubbed the other leg and the resulting flying limbs nearly cold-cocked Jack twice. He was having a very hard time suppressing his laughter and continued to give Daniel a long overdue tongue lashing, in the purest sense. He almost lost an eye placing a hickey on one of the ankles within reach of his mouth and gasped when the movement had Daniel grinding his face on his soft, but quickly responding package. When he finally upped the ante and began to suck Daniel's right great toe, the game was up, and so was he.

"I should just leave this like this all hard and drippy, as your punishment for being mean and waking me." Daniel mumbled, with his head pillowed on Jack's thigh he spoke directly to Jack's hard cock standing only inches from his mouth. Jack sniggered and kept right on sucking and lovingly stroking his tongue all over the toe he held prisoner in his mouth.

"What are you doing down there?...Leave my feet alone, dammit. That's disgusting, am I supposed to KISS you after that?" Daniel laughed, trying to tug his foot away as Jack moved from one toe to the other sucking, tickling and chuckling.

"Nope, I'm gonna put a hickey on each toe... of course you'll kiss me...right after you get done down there." Jack went back to his task and shifted his hips enough to smack Daniel on the chin with his bobbing erection.

"HEY!" Jack sounded disappointed as Daniel finally managed to wrestle his foot free of Jack's mouth and grip. Daniel straightened out and his own hard cock bobbed against Jack's nose.

"Okay, okay. I take the hint." Jack laughed just before putting his mouth to a much better use, as far as Daniel was concerned.

They ended their nap the same way they had begun it, swallowing each other's essence, and then moved to the bathroom for a little more petting while they bathed. Jack finished first and went back into the bedroom to call Howard and Mike for dinner and Daniel came up behind him and nuzzled his neck while he spoke on the phone.

"I don't know if I want to go back, Daniel. Can't we just stay here like this?" Jack held Daniel's hands clasped against his chest and leaned his head back exposing his neck to Daniel's warm lips.

"I wish... but you know if we don't they'll come looking for us...or at least Thor will come looking for YOU... oh, Chosen of the Asgaard!"

"Yeah, but I don't think I'd enjoy sucking on his toes like I did yours!" Jack chuckled.

"Ewww, what a disgusting thought; I'm just glad he doesn't have the hots for ME!"

"Oh stop! You are SO jealous!"

"Am not!"

"Oh YES, you are too. And it's just too damn bad...because I think Thor might just be willing to try a threesome... and you'll be missing all the fun."

"Oh, ICK! Please, Jack, that's a little too rich for my blood. Nope, if you're gonna have Thor in a threesome it'll have to be with Maybourne because you won't get MY TOES in on that one!"

They were standing on the balcony looking out over the ocean with their arms around each other when the knock came at the door, then Mike opened the door wide and strolled in.

"You guys ready? I'm starved." Mike stood and tugged the shirt he was wearing away from his still tender nipple.

"Yeah, we're good. Are you gonna be doing that all night?" Jack pointed towards Mike's chest.

"Yeah well, the shirt brushes against it."

"Want me to kiss it better?" Jack grinned.

"JACK!..." Daniel punched him in the upper arm, "...down, boy!"

"Don't start anything I can't finish, O'Neill." Howard snarked wearily from the doorway. "Neither of us has the stamina for it right now, I'm famished, let's go."

Dinner was quiet and fortunately had enough selections to satisfy everyone. They even indulged in champagne to toast their last night of freedom aboard ship. After desert, they all moved to the deck and found a quiet dimly lit corner where they could talk, cuddle and have a few drinks.

"Well, the good news is it looks like the worst is over physically for you, Jack."

"Yeah, physically... but what about all the other stuff?" Jack leaned back against Daniel's chest with a sigh.

"Daniel's made good progress there, I think..." You could hear Mike's smile even though his face was heavily shadowed. "... I mean he handled that last episode really well."

"Yes he did, the Italian was a good move." Howard agreed.

"Well, you said to get his attention and keep it; that was the only thing I could think of on short notice. But will it continue to work?" Daniel's head dipped sideways and placed a kiss under Jack's ear.

Jack sighed.

"You just can't let him go too far away, that's all..." Mike shifted against Howard's chest.

"Can we PLEASE talk about something else?" Jack whined as he put his mug down. "I mean I AM sitting right here."

"Would you prefer we talk about you behind your back?" Mike asked.

"Well, I guess not."

"Then suck it up, flyboy."

"I'm gonna miss this, all this freedom. Being able to just grab and plant one on Daniel whenever I want...it's like a dream somehow." Jack said softly, then cried out and started to rub his arm where Daniel had pinched him.

"HEY! THAT HURT!"

"Well, I just wanted you to know that you are awake, that this isn't a dream." Daniel chuckled, and leaned down to kiss the side of Jack's head.

"Gee, thanks, Daniel. I knew I could count on you."

"Besides Jack, you don't have to go all the way back. Just use common sense, that's all. Don't have sex in Hammond's office or in the elevator and you'll probably be safe..."

"DAMN!..." Jack thumped the arm of the chaise. "There goes the orgy I was planning for the briefing room!"

"I'm serious, Jack." Howard continued.

"So AM I, Howard! Besides, if it's so fucking easy, why are YOU getting out?"

"Hey, I'm greedy...I can make more money in private practice, and after all, I have my little Michael to think about! Someone has to keep him in Italian designer pants."

"I think Mike would prefer that you keep him out of pants entirely and in bed mostly." Daniel laughed.

"Ah, how very true!" Mike said softly and tilted his head back for his reward kiss.

"We're gonna be okay, Jack. We'll figure it out." Daniel kissed the side of Jack's head again.

"Well, if it gets too bad, I'll just retire again."

"And leave me to go...er, go it alone?" Daniel recovered quickly, remembering in the nick of time that although Howard knew all about the SGC and what they did, Mike did not.

"Well, you could always retire too..." Jack suggested. "...I mean, would you REALLY want to go without me? And I remind you that your answer will directly impact WHERE you will be sleeping tonight." Jack sat up more and turned slightly to face Daniel now.

"Hmm, retire, huh? What a wonderful idea!" Daniel bent forward for HIS reward kiss.

"Smart choice, Doctor Jackson." Jack quipped as the kiss broke.

"Come on, let's go for a walk, my butt is going numb." Daniel shifted behind Jack.

"Yeah, he's just saying that cause he wants to get me alone...he has this moonlight fixation, ya know?" Jack smiled and struggled to stand from the awkward position.

"Yeah, I think we're gonna head back. I know Mike wants out of that shirt." Howard shifted and pushed at Mike's shoulders.

"You aren't kidding there! It wouldn't hurt at all if it weren't for the shirt rubbing." Mike stood and pulled the shirt away from his chest again.

"I guess tomorrow its back to the real world." Jack sighed.

"Come on, let's enjoy what's left of today shall we?" Daniel's hand went to Jack's cheek and he just brushed his lips over the side of his face. "Tomorrow I'll have to see if I can change my flights to fly home with you."

"Or...we could just bag it all and find an apartment in Barcelona?" Jack said almost hopefully as they waved to Howard and Mike and walked off towards the bow.

"No, if we're going to run away from it all, wouldn't you PREFER Italy to Spain, Jack?"

"Yeah, you got a point there. Come on; let's enjoy the rest of the evening." They draped their arms around each other and walked towards a sparsely occupied area of the deck.

They stood wrapped in each other looking out over the water. When Jack sighed Daniel knew they needed to talk.

"Jack, what's on your mind?"

"I'm serious, Daniel, I don't know if I WANT to go back. I'm not sure that I'm ready for that yet."

"Jack, I'm sure they won't force you to do anything you aren't ready for..."

"It's the military, Daniel, of course they will. That's how all of this started. Do you think I VOLUNTEERED for that mission?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, well, I did...but only after they pointed out that there were no other options...I could volunteer or they would order me...volunteering just looks better on my record."

"Hammond did that?" Daniel sounded shocked.

"Yeah, but he was under orders from the Pentagon...he didn't have a choice either, really..." Jack turned and leaned into Daniel's embrace, his face rubbing the side of Daniel's neck under his ear. "...I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's go to bed, I want you to fuck me." He sucked at the rim of Daniel's ear, and then flicked his tongue in the canal in a motion that left no doubt of what he wanted.

"Oh, god... let's go, while I can still walk." Daniel turned and started to walk quickly back towards the elevators towing Jack by the hand.

Chapter 27: Nothing cures insomnia like the realization that it's time to get up

By the time they got back to their suite, all the groping in the elevator and whispered words became a fire that demanded fulfillment. Jack shifted feet in the passageway like a small child in need of the lavatory as Daniel found and then swiped the key card.

"Ya know, Daniel, if you take much longer, I'll be stripping out here." Jack fumbled with the buttons of his shirt opening them, then motioned to the button on his pants, his erection tenting the front and already leaving a damp trace on the navy colored cotton.

"Jesus, Jack!" Daniel looked down, "Just hang on another moment." Daniel swiped the card again getting a green light this time and pushed the door open, Jack hot on his heels.

"Come'ere you." Jack was instantly in Daniel's personal space, framing his face delicately with his hands and Daniel stepped into the kiss.

"Uh, why don't we take this over there?" Daniel shrugged in the direction of the bed. Jack unbuttoned Daniel's shirt and pushed it back over the broad shoulders, moving in instantly to bury his face in the soft curve of neck previously occupied by the shirt collar. Daniel stumbled backwards trusting Jack to guide him and stopped when the bed struck the backs of his knees.

His hands fumbled on the zipper at Jack's waistband, the button undone by Jack himself as they came through the door. His fingers brushing the, now large, wet spot on the front. Jack thrust into Daniel's hand as it dragged the zipper down over the covered hardness.

"Shh, relax..."

"Relax? I'm gonna explode here."

"...and if you do, you'll spoil all our fun... Now, relax!"

Jack took a deep breath as Daniel pushed the pants and supporter down over the lean hips. Then in a strategic move that betrayed his hidden speed, he grabbed Jack at the base of the cock and squeezed, to take the edge off.

Jack growled and pushed Daniel back onto the bed and then stepped out of his pants. He took hold of the bottom of Daniel's pants legs and tugged as the frantic archeologist fumbled with his own zipper. Jack tugged again and Daniel glared at him.

"If you could just give me a moment here..."

"Pants, off, now!" Jack tugged again, hard, and Daniel's button went flying across the room, two pairs of eyes following the flight.

"Great! Thanks, Jack...YOU are sewing that sucker back on, when we find it."

"Hmm, had the trajectory figured wrong on that. I was aiming for the balcony doors." He tugged at the pants again.

"Go get the button."

"Nope."

"Go get the button or get friendly with your right hand, again." Daniel used his best alpha voice and Jack rolled his eyes and dropped the pants cuffs and stomped off in search of the button.

"So, Daniel?... Wanna play a game?"

Daniel's brows knitted in a frown as he tried to puzzle out what Jack was planning now.

"...GOOD! Me too!" Jack said before Daniel could answer.

"What game, Jack?" Daniel asked worried about the possibilities.

"Find the but... AH HA! Here it is!" Jack reached down and picked up the button, then stood leaning against the bar and examining it in his hand.

"OKAY! Your turn!... Close your eyes."

"What?" Daniel was pushing his pants off and dropped them to the side of the bed.

"I said close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Because it's your turn."

"For?"

"Just close your eyes, will ya?" Jack said impatiently.

Daniel hesitantly closed his eyes.

"Okay you can open them now."

When Daniel opened his eyes Jack was standing next to the bed, with a smile.

"Jesus, you're fast!" He hissed.

"Stealth is my middle name." Jack grinned.

"Hmm I thought it was Horney? Where's my button?"

"You have to find it."

"What!?"

"With your tongue."

"You didn't...you wouldn't...did you?" Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose behind his glasses. "Jack, what did you do with my button?"

Jack just stood, naked save for a grin in front of him.

"I have it."

"Yes, but where is it?"

"You'll have to find it...with your tongue."

Daniel pushed up on his elbow. "Come here."

Jack was on the bed instantly. Daniel rolled to the side, pushing him flat on his back and then began to kiss the side of his neck. He nuzzled under the closest ear, then inserted his tongue and swiped noisily. When he pulled back he had a broad smile.

"Well, it's not there." He scrambled to straddle Jack and rolled to the other side, repeating the performance.

"It's not there either." Another grin.

He pushed down the long body, erections clashing on the way, and Jack's eyes closing in response to their momentary brush. His mouth latched onto the right nipple and his tongue tortured it until it was pointed and hard then pulled away with a tiny nip.

"Doesn't seem to be there either, better check the other one."

Jack's eyes closed again as Daniel's mouth settled on the second nipple, his fingers trailed around the side of Jack's chest and delicately caressed one rib then trailed around and down to the very sensitive small of his back. By the time Daniel was rimming his navel, Jack was squirming and gasping.

Daniel looked up at Jack's face, grinning evilly.

"Where's my button, huh?"

"Mmmm, waa, huh?... button?" Jack looked up. "Keep searching."

"All right, just remember this was YOUR idea." Daniel slid further down, dragging his hands down the long back and stroking softly on both sides.

"You'll have to turn over for the search to continue." Daniel moved to the side and pushed at Jack's hip. Jack rolled to his belly and pulled a pillow under his head. Daniel began his search at Jack's shoulders, fingers blazing a trail for lips to follow. The hickeys he had placed earlier in the cruise were fading and Daniel took the opportunity to place new marks next to them, rubbing his face in that very sensitive curve of lower back. Jack practically purred at the dance of warm lips across one of his stranger erogenous zones.

"Now, where's that darn button!"

Daniel's mouth moved lower, his tongue teased at the top of the cleft between the hard buttocks and dragged downwards.

Jack gasped and then suddenly began to cough...and kept coughing, his hands grabbing desperately at his back and Daniel.

"Jack?..."

The coughing and grasping continued.

"JACK!"

Jack lifted his head, his face red and frightened looking, he grabbed at his throat.

"OH JESUS, JACK!" Daniel stiffened his hand and sliced downwards landing a sharp blow between Jack's shoulder blades.

Jack coughed again and relaxed, his features less strained now. His hand came away from his mouth and opened flat, revealing Daniel's button.

Daniel launched himself from the bed, fists clenched, and he threw his hands over his head and down again and again, in frustration and anger.

"JESUS! HOW OLD ARE YOU? YOU COULD HAVE DIED, YOU IDIOT!"

Jack cleared his throat.

"I'm okay, Daniel, thanks for asking." He smiled gently and watched as Daniel's face softened into an embarrassed frown.

"You scared me, Jack."

"I'm sorry."

"That was pretty stupid."

"Yes it was, and I've learned my lesson...now will you kiss me?"

The tension left Daniel's body in a rush; he smiled gently and then slid back into the bed and Jack's arms. Their arousals doused, they held each other closely and kissed, a single soft kiss and then pulled back to look into each others eyes. Daniel lunged back in for another kiss this one more deliberate and bruising, nipping at a soft lower lip as their mouths parted. He lunged in for another and Jack obliged, hands framing his face.

"Don't... you... ever... pull... a stunt... like... that... again..." Daniel emphasized each word with a kiss. "You... belong... to... me... now... and I... won't... allow it!"

"Yes, sir." Jack strained upwards for another kiss.

With their bodies curled around each other, the kisses slowed and eventually stopped as they both fell asleep.

It was very dark when Daniel awoke, cold and reaching for the hard body that had draped him earlier. The bed next to him was empty and the bathroom was open and unoccupied. He pulled his glasses from the nightstand and sat up, trying to focus through the velvet dark on the sitting area. A shaft of moonlight cut through it and revealed it to be empty as well. Daniel shifted his legs, pulled the folded blanket from the bottom of the bed and stood. Then he wrapped the blanket around himself and padded into the sitting area. The balcony doors were open wide and Daniel stopped in his tracks when he saw Jack sitting there, knees drawn up, arms across his knees and forehead resting on his arms.

Daniel wasn't sure if he was asleep or not and leaned into the doorway to debate disturbing him.

"Go back to bed, Danny. I'm okay."

Daniel jumped.

"Jesus, Jack...you scared me. How did you know I was there?"

"Unlike me, stealth is not YOUR middle name. Go back to bed." Jack said quietly without raising his head.

"I was cold."

"You have a blanket now."

"I'm lonely."

"You're going to have to get used to sleeping alone, Daniel. I doubt Hammond will approve a conjugal tent on missions."

"Look at me."

"Go back to bed, Daniel."

Daniel slid down the wall next to Jack, still wrapped in the blanket.

"What's wrong, Jack? Please talk to me."

"Nothing new...absolutely nothing new."

Daniel pulled at the upper arm closest to him and Jack raised his head and looked out into the dark. The moonlight made jewels of the drops clinging to his eyelashes and its pale light reflected the tear tracks on his face that would have normally been hidden by the dark of the night, betraying them and their owner.

"Jack?" Daniel leaned around to look into his face.

"I don't know if I can do it anymore, Daniel. What if I freeze up and one of you gets hurt? What if I freak out and zone when we're on a mission? I never know what's gonna set it off... I'm a disaster waiting to happen."

In his heart Daniel wondered himself but would never let Jack become aware of the tiny doubt he hid. He also had figured this would be coming as Mike and Howard had warned him, he just hated for it to tarnish their last night on the cruise. Jack needed to decide for himself, Howard had stressed that. Anything else would be coercion and could drive a wedge between them maybe not right away, but it would happen. Daniel was determined not to allow their budding relationship to be damaged and vowed not to try to convince Jack of anything, allowing the man to make his own choice about his future. He wouldn't necessarily like the choice, but it was not his to make, and Jack's fragile emotions only served as an example of just how deeply the decision was affecting O'Neill.

"You need to know that I will support whatever decision you make, Jack. I don't want you to worry about that...whatever you decide will not affect how I feel about you."

"Thanks, Danny." The tiniest of smiles crept across Jack's face as he turned to look at Daniel.

Daniel stood, draped the blanket around Jack's shoulders and went back into the cabin. He took another blanket from the closet and climbed back into bed curling on his side to watch the balcony door.

Jack pulled the blanket around himself and sighed as the warm smell of Daniel filtered up, caressing his nostrils. The moon refracted through his tear filled eyes created bright liquid images in his mind... an event horizon, the wash of the star field in hyperspace, the bright jagged light of a zat, the flood of light inside transport rings, Daniel's eyes.

His soul was torn. He didn't want to have to go back...but he couldn't NOT go back either. The mere thought of someone else looking after Daniel on missions turned his stomach, how could he possibly trust Daniel to someone else... not now, there was too much at stake. Carter was good, she was smart and observant and he was sure she had taken full advantage of her position as his second to learn the ropes about command. But she still had moments when she could be just as scattered as Daniel... fixated on some doohickey or other... and was just as vulnerable as Daniel too. How could he trust what was possibly his last chance at happiness in this life to someone who became orgasmic about... magnets? He sighed and closed his eyes allowing the new wealth of tears they had accumulated to roll down the trails blazed by earlier travelers. Finally, he gave in and asked the one he always asked about these things, having given up on God a long time ago.

"Charlie? Tell me what to do." The whispered words inaudible to all but the one for which they were intended. He pulled the blanket tighter around himself and closed his eyes again to hear the answer, freeing more tears.

The knock on the cabin door woke Daniel. He climbed stiffly out of bed and looked through the peephole, then opened the door for Mike.

"Mornin, Daniel. We thought you guys would like to go to breakfast with us." Mike looked towards the bathroom and bed. "Where's Jack?"

Daniel pulled on last nights discarded and damaged pants. "He's probably still on the balcony... he was trying to come to a decision last night... I let him have his space as Howard suggested. I just hope he makes the right one."

"We all do, Daniel." Mike walked towards the balcony, stopping to kiss Daniel as he walked by him. At the balcony door he paused and bent to touch the head that stuck out of the blanket wrapped figure asleep on his side.

"Jack, sweetie, you need to wake up now."

Jack's eyes opened instantly and blinked.

"Come on, I'll help you up... you have to be stiff." Mike extended his hand and Jack reached up for it pulling himself to a standing position. Mike pulled him close and kissed him on the forehead.

"You'll feel better after a shower and breakfast, come on." Mike led the way back into the room. Daniel walked up to Jack and kissed him, and Jack wrapped his arms around him as if to never let him go.

"Did you find your answer, out there Jack?"

"My answer was never 'out there' Daniel. It was in here." He poked his own chest. "And... yes, I did find the answer."

"Look, I'm gonna go see if Guns fell asleep in the bathtub. He tends to do that after a particularly, uh... BUSY night. So, you guys gonna get ready for breakfast?"

"I'm running the tub for Jack now... give us forty- five minutes."

Mike nodded and kissed Jack full on the mouth then left the room with a smile.

Daniel moved into Jack's arms, "Come on, tub's running. It'll warm you up."

Jack nodded and followed him into the bathroom.

Breakfast was quiet. Everyone was slightly down about the end of the cruise and the freedom it allowed. That sentiment seemed to be reflected throughout the dining room the patrons much more quiet than they had been. The four took the long way around to go back to their suite after breakfast, preferring not to look as the Port of Barcelona loomed larger and larger.

They were repacking when the ship docked and watched the exodus of passengers from the balcony of their suite, in no hurry to leave. As requested, the steward saved them for last and appeared with his luggage cart just before three pm. They all piled their bags together and walked behind with Howard and Jack debating in whispers how much of a tip to give.

The steward helped the driver load the taxi and was genuinely thrilled with the generous tip given to him.

The flights home were uneventful, and at one point Jack and Howard sat together to talk.

"I wasn't going to go back, Howard."

"I know, Jack. I could see it in your face. You still don't want to, do you?"

"No... but I have to. I can't let him go without me... if something happened, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I can't lose him now."

"Jack you can't always even protect yourself. Your being there may not make a difference."

"No... no, you're right. But if I'm NOT there and something happens to him... Well, I don't want to think about what would happen and then there's always a chance that we'll go together. I need to be there for him ."

"What about for you?"

"I'm not important."

"I'll bet he would answer differently."

"He's just so... he gets distracted, and then touches... stuff he shouldn't. Someone needs to watch over him... that's my job. I'm just a bodyguard for the brains, Daniel and Carter they're the important ones."

"We need to work on your self esteem, my friend."

"I'm serious, Howard. I was expendable that's how I wound up being your patient."

"Yeah I know. But I think you are listening to the wrong people. You're listening to the ones that talk the loudest... when you need to listen to the whisperers, the quieter voices behind the scenes. They are the ones that reveal your REAL worth to the command, the Air Force, the country, hell, the whole fucking planet and probably more than that."

"Are you hearing voices, Howard?"

"Smartass, I mean it... go back, talk to Hammond. I think if you discuss it with him honestly you'll be surprised what you'll hear."

"So, you want me to go back and discuss that I want to retire, but I can't because I'm in love with one of my team and afraid to let HIM go through the gate without me... with HAMMOND?"

"That is what I am suggesting, yes."

"And will you be bringing me the hockey scores while I'm in Leavenworth?" Jack snarled.

Howard rolled his eyes. "THAT will NOT happen, Jack, too much is riding on your shoulders to allow anything like that to happen."

"Yeah well, if that were true...I would never have been placed in the predicament that I was."

"Believe me... that will NEVER happen again."

"How the hell do YOU know?"

"Your true and ultimate value to the struggle has been blatantly pointed out to them by this snafu. It will never happen again... just talk to Hammond, please."

"Okay, I'll talk to Hammond. But Howard... when I get to Leavenworth remember I may not smoke, but cigarettes are currency. So send Camels or Kools."

"Very funny, Jack... just trust me. Okay?"

"Fine."

The limo driver helped them unload and Daniel carried the heavier bags into the house after Howard warned Jack against too much lifting as yet. They had been in transit for more than twenty-four hours and still arrived home the same day they left Barcelona. Jack opened the windows to the Colorado air, the late summer breeze cooler than what they had enjoyed on the cruise.

"It's going to be chilly tonight Jack. Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Just till the stuffiness is gone, then I'll close them."

Daniel took the bags to the laundry room to unpack, and started the first load of wash.

"Daniel... we need to discuss dinner." Jack took a bottle of water from the fridge and handed one to Daniel as he unloaded another suitcase into the laundry basket.

"Whatever you want is fine, Jack. But personally, I'd kill for pizza." Daniel smiled and was rewarded with a kiss.

"My sentiments exactly." Jack took the two bottles of balsamic vinegar from Daniel and sat them on the counter.

"That customs inspector thought we were weird I think." Jack commented looking at the label on one bottle. "Do we have to keep this in a dark place or should I build it a room of its own or something?"

"No, just protect it from extremes of temperature that's all I think."

"You think?... Daniel, this bottle cost me one month's salary and you THINK that's all?"

"Oh it did not!" Daniel took the bottles and put them in the pantry. "I'll have to get some strawberries when we go shopping." He turned to see a gray faced Jack holding on to the sink.

"Jack!"

"I'm okay."

"Funny, you don't look it. You're tired. We both are. I'm going to make some tea; you call for the pizza and go lay down on the couch." He handed Jack the telephone and pointed towards the living room. He watched until Jack was safely on the couch and turned to make tea.

When he came into the living room Jack had fallen asleep sorting through his mail. He closed up the windows that Jack had opened and went upstairs to turn down the bed. He went to the chest to get out some fresh clothes for them both and found the vibrator again. He felt that he owed it an explanation and took it out and began to speak.

"Sorry, he's mine now... no more fresh batteries for you my friend. Nope, you'll have to be content with the occasional little romp... but only when I say so."

"Jealous, Daniel?" Jack said from the doorway.

Daniel jumped straight up.

"JEEZUS, JACK! DON'T DO THAT!"

"Sorry."

"Yeah, I bet you are." Daniel turned now and saw a very cocky O'Neill leaning on the doorframe. "I was just explaining to your former beau here that its services will be required less frequently than before, that's all.

Jack moved to the chair and leaned down to untie his shoes, then leaned back in the chair.

"Bring it here." His voice was low and deliberate.

Daniel moved to the chair and was pulled into Jack's lap. Jack smiled and took the vibrator from Daniel's hand, then placed the hand on his awakening package. Daniel's own cock hardened as he moved and he watched Jack thumb the vibrator to life and caress the back of his hand with it, then travel up the arm and across the hard nipples. Daniel sighed and unzipped Jack's jeans as Jack came back down the other arm and stroked across Daniel's hand that now held his cock. Then he slid it back out and moved it teasingly across Daniel's erection, Daniel squeezing him in response.

He ran it up and down Daniel's jeans clad length watching the tremor run through Daniel with each pass.

"Bed. Now." Jack growled, and Daniel was up in an instant, stripping on the way. Jack turned off the vibrator and followed turning off the overhead light on his way.

"I thought you were tired?"

"I had a nap."

"What do you plan to do with that?"

"I'll think of something."

"I'm sure you will."

"Where the hell did I put the lube?"

"In the night table drawer behind the crossword puzzle book... We should probably get another tube tomorrow."

"Oh, uh... Daniel, just tell me you didn't mess with my crossword puzzle, too?"

Chapter 28: It is better to be looked over than overlooked

In the morning, Jack drove to the Mountain while Daniel went back to check on his apartment and shop for groceries. Jack was greeted with smiles by everyone, happy to see him recovering.

His first stop was Hammond's office.

"Jack! It's good to see you. How are you feeling?"

"Much better, sir, thank you."

"Sit down, I KNOW you aren't here to try to get me to approve active duty status for you yet."

"Uh, no sir. I'd like to talk about that though, sir."

"What's on your mind, Jack?"

"I'm having a few doubts sir."

"What kind of doubts, son?"

"I don't know if I WANT to come back, general... I was thinking of retiring."

"Well, Jack... that's YOUR prerogative, of course, but I'd like to know why?"

"So I can stop hiding who I am."

"And who is that, Jack?"

O'Neill swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and then jumped into the deep end head first.

"I'm gay... sir."

Hammond looked only mildly surprised.

"And you suddenly feel that you can no longer keep this fact to yourself?"

"I'm tired of hiding, general... Just because I've lived in the closet this long doesn't mean I like it."

"No, of course not, but why now, Jack?"

"Because now it's no longer just about me, now there's someone else I have to consider."

"That would be..."

"Unimportant, sir."

"The hell it is! I think it's very important..." Hammond took a deep breath of his own. "... Let me just say something here, Jack. A member of this command does NOT go missing, and exit this country without it being noticed. Let me read you the list. Spain, France, Italy... sound familiar, Colonel?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I figured since I was on medical leave no one would miss me."

"I'm not talking about you, Jack. We KNEW where you were. I'm talking about Doctor Jackson."

Hammond regretted not having a camera; the look on Jack's face would have stopped traffic.

"Daniel?... Wait... what do you mean you KNEW where I was?"

"We knew that you were going a on a cruise with Colonel Meade."

"You DID?"

"What we didn't know is that Doctor Jackson would be accompanying you."

"Well, to be fair, sir, I didn't know that myself until he showed up in the dining room at dinner."

"Quite a surprise to you too, then, eh?"

"I'll say."

"So would it be fair for me to assume that the reason that Doctor Jackson suddenly felt like he needed to go on a cruise might have something to do with YOUR current decision to retire?" Hammond folded his hands on his desk and waited.

Jack swallowed hard.

"Yes, sir... that would be a... a fair assumption." Jack tensed visibly and Hammond started to feel guilty for putting this pressure on him.

He relaxed and sat back.

"Take it easy, Jack..." Hammond sighed. "... I know you well enough to know that you would NOT be happy knowing that Doctor Jackson was going through the stargate on missions without you. You'd be crazy with worry... No, retirement is NOT going to be the answer you think it will be."

"Then what do I do?"

Hammond took a deep breath and sighed again. "You suck it up, and keep on going. You keep your private life and your command separate just like always..."

"But I don't want to go back to that."

"Then don't. No one is asking you to. We need you, Jack. Whatever your sexual preference is... whatever your living arrangements with Doctor Jackson end up being... you are too valuable to this command... HELL! to this planet to allow you to just walk away."

"But the Air Force..."

"Will do as they are told by the bosses."

"And next time the bosses change?"

"It won't matter."

"How can you be so sure? Political winds change, George, we both KNOW that."

Hammond smiled now, and leaned back in his chair folding his hands across his belly.

"Yes they do, Jack...normally, but this particular situation is wind-proof and that's all I can say about it."

"So... what you are saying is nobody cares that I am gay?"

"Oh they care, alright. They would, I'm sure, prefer you weren't but they care enough that it doesn't matter."

"What about Daniel?"

"What about him?"

"Is he in trouble?"

"Well, I'm not happy that he chose to leave the country without anyone in this command knowing where he was going. But, technically, he IS on leave. So, to answer your question, NO Doctor Jackson is not in trouble."

"Thank you."

"Jack... one thing more."

"Sir?"

"You're blazing new ground here. A lot of what happens next will be observed by powerful people who can make new rules and toss old ones. The functionality of openly homosexual persons within the framework of the military will be demonstrated by your relationship. I'm going to be a bit presumptuous here and speak for gay people everywhere... there's a great deal riding on this, don't blow it."

The sudden laugh that escaped Jack had Hammond staring in surprise at his second until he figured out what he had said, about fifteen seconds later, then he grinned and started to laugh too

"Should I have said, don't fuck it up instead?"

Jack slid down in the chair and laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes.

Wiping the tears away, Jack's response was forced out through laughter.

"Oh NO, sir...what you said...was JUST FINE!" Jack waved one hand in Hammond's direction while holding his middle with the other.

"ANYWAY...what I meant was..."

"NO, sir... please!... I KNOW what you meant. Please, don't..."

Hammond took out his handkerchief and wiped at his own eyes, in an effort to regain his composure. Jack wiped his eyes with his hand again and shook his head, then sniffed and sat up, the laugh still crinkling the corners of his eyes and threatening to re-erupt at any second.

"Now... about that retirement, Colonel..."

"Uh...what retirement sir?"

Hammond smiled.

O'Neill stood and turned towards the door.

"Thank you sir... I enjoyed this little... uh, chat..." Then he grinned and turned back towards Hammond. "...Windproof, huh?"

"Completely." Hammond nodded and smiled as Jack left the room.

Jack's next stop was the infirmary where he was greeted with a handshake by a grinning Captain Asher and then directed to Doctor Fraiser's office where she was doing her monthly manpower reports. Jack paused by the windowed door and looked in; Fraiser was typing rapidly with two fingers on a laptop and making notes on a legal pad with a pencil she repeatedly stuck back into her seriously compromised coif. She looked for all the world like a caricature of a rabid secretary. Jack turned the knob and quietly entered the room.

"You know you DO have a clerk who is supposed to do that stuff for you?"

Fraiser jumped with a yelp, and broke her pencil in the process.

"DON'T DO THAT! Jesus, Colonel! You nearly scared me to death!"

Jack grinned and slid into one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"How are you feeling?" She turned to face him across the desk.

"Better, thanks."

"You look a little tired, you know?"

"Yeah, well, jet lag... got in late yesterday."

"How was the cruise?" She asked smiling.

"Exactly how many people know where I went?"

"At the SGC...just Hammond and I, why?"

"And elsewhere?"

"Only a couple of others."

"Oh.""So, tell me, have there been any problems since the laser surgery?

Now Jack sat up straight and smiled.

"Nope, not a one... it seems to have worked like a charm. No more vaso-vagal reactions, no more priapistic episodes, completely normal function. I don't mind telling you, Doc, I was ready to give up."

"I know you were, Colonel. I can't tell you how relieved I was when Colonel Meade called me from the ship and suggested that little side trip to Landstuhl. And when you feel up to it, I'm sure Doctor Bernd, the surgeon who performed the procedure, would like to hear from you. I have his email address."

"That's great, Doc. I'll do that. I'd like to thank you for all you did for me."

"I did my job, Colonel."

"No, Doc you went well beyond and I won't forget it either. I just wanted you to know I appreciate it."

"Thank you, Colonel. I appreciate you saying that. Now let's have a look at you, shall we?" She got up and led the way back into the infirmary where Captain Asher had a gown, robe and slippers already waiting for him in his now empty, former room. Jack moved into the room and undressed and made himself comfortable on his old bed, while Janet wrote orders for the labs and tests she wanted on a clipboard.

When Captain Asher approached him with the syringe to draw blood... Jack felt as if things were getting back to normal.

Between tests Jack got to visit with Teal'c and Carter, just back from another mission with SG Six while they underwent their post mission exams.

Carter of course was inquisitive and wanted to know all about where he and Daniel had gone. She told him how livid Hammond had been when they discovered that Daniel had left the country without telling anyone. Jack said that he had been as surprised as anyone when Daniel showed up during his vacation and had no idea that he hadn't said anything to Hammond.

Teal'c sat stoically and nodded on occasion.

Fortunately, the ladies first rule still applied and Carter was soon summoned into the infirmary proper for her exam. Teal'c stayed and looked Jack in the eye.

"Did you and DanielJackson reach an understanding of your feelings for each other, O'Neill?"

Jack's eyes bugged.

"Was it THAT obvious?"

"Only to someone who knows you both well, such as I."

"How long have you known?"

"Several years, in fact."

"And you never figured to say anything?"

"I did not feel that it was my place, until this last mission, when I did so to DanielJackson while we were awaiting your return."

"Oh, well...yes... yes, we did... reach an understanding."

"I am glad. There has been much time wasted while you both attempted to deny your feelings for each other."

"Yes, there was. But that's over now... I love Daniel, T, and I won't lose him now... no matter what it takes."

"That is as it should be, O'Neill, and now DanielJackson will be content as well. I believe he sought you out during your travels to advise you of his feelings for you, did he not?"

"How did you know?"

"It made sense, you were away and DanielJackson disappeared. It was I who suggested to General Hammond that his travel papers be checked for egress from this country."

Jack shook his head with a smile.

"I should have figured you would notice, big guy."

"It was easy for me, O'Neill. I have many more years of experience in these matters than you and DanielJackson."

"So, did I miss anything around here?"

"There has been nothing of interest to report."

"Good, so it's been quiet then?"

"No, the noise levels change constantly and the klaxon for the gate activation is particularly piercing."

Jack rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Ahh, another Jaffa joke, eh?"

Teal'c's eyebrow ascended to a magnificent height.

"DUH! Never mind."

Captain Asher's head poked around the corner.

"Excuse me, sir. Teal'c they're ready for you now. Sir, your labs are coming back now. Doctor Fraiser will be with you shortly."

"Thanks, Captain." O'Neill waited until the nurse returned to the infirmary proper, before he spoke again.

"One thing, T... how much does Carter know about the whole vacation thing and Daniel."

"She in fact only knows what she has already disclosed to you; however I believe she suspects much more. I would advise that you and DanielJackson inform her personally as soon as possible of your relationship before she ascertains it from the vegetation."

"Through the grapevine, Teal'c."

"That is what I said, O'Neill." Teal'c nodded once.

"Think she'll come to my place for pizza, tonight?"

"I do not believe that to be a problem. We had planned to go out for pizza tonight, it would be a small matter to change the location. I will speak with her."

"Colonel, I have your labs... Oh, hello, Teal'c."

"Doctor Fraiser..." Teal'c bowed in her direction. "...I was just leaving. We will see you this evening, O'Neill."

"Yeah, Teal'c, about eight then."

Fraiser closed the door as Teal'c exited.

"Having a party, Colonel?"

"Doc, do you think that you and Cassie could come by tonight for pizza?"

"Well, sure... I'm sure Cassie will jump at the chance, she hasn't seen you for a while."

"Good. Eight o'clock then."

"Fine... and now down to business."

When Daniel returned from his errands, he found Jack asleep on the couch; he turned the stereo down and knelt next to it.

"Jack?"

O'Neill's eyes opened and he stared ahead then his gaze shifted to Daniel's face and he smiled.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself." Daniel leaned in and kissed Jack tenderly.

"Been here long?" Jack pulled himself to a sitting position and then pulled Daniel up into his lap.

"No, just got home... Wow, that feels so good to say... home."

Jack smiled.

"So how did your meeting with Hammond go?"

"Well... it went well. He wouldn't accept my resignation."

"You were going to resign?"

"It seems that you and I are going to be trailblazers."

"Really? How is that?"

"To quote Hammond... Whatever your sexual preference is... whatever your living arrangements with Doctor Jackson end up being... you are too valuable to this command and to this planet to allow you to just walk away." Jack hugged Daniel closer.

"That's wonderful, Jack... are you sure?"

"Well Hammond says its wind-proof."

"Uh, wind-proof?"

Jack waved a hand in the air. "You know political winds and all that stuff."

"Ah, of course."

"I've invited Teal'c, Carter, Fraiser and Cassie over for pizza tonight so we can tell them."

"Teal'c already knows."

"Yeah, I know we talked while I was waiting for Fraiser. But Carter doesn't and neither do Fraiser and Cassie, and I don't want them hearing it through the grapevine."

"No, you're right. Pizza, huh?... I guess I'd better go for beer and soda then. Did you see Janet, other than to invite her tonight?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Aannnd?" Daniel shook his head waiting for elaboration."

"I've lost a few pounds that's all. All that vomiting will do it... not to mention the sex..."

"I wasn't going to mention the sex."

"...see, I knew you wouldn't, speaking of which... Did you get lube while you were out?"

"Of course."

"Good!" Jack started to unzip Daniel's jeans.

"I don't want you to feel any pressure to use it all up right now, though." Daniel slapped at the hand entering his open pants. "I have to go back out, Jack. I won't be long, I promise." Daniel jumped out of Jack's lap and away from his hands.

"HEY! I was playing with that!"

"When I get back you can play again. Now, do you want to go with me, or are you going back to sleep?" Daniel re-zipped his pants.

Jack pulled his legs back onto the couch and shifted a pillow under his head.

"That's what I thought. I'll wake you when I get back, ok?"

"Uh huh." Jack closed his eyes and Daniel took an afghan from the back of the couch and covered him, then kissed him on the forehead and set back out for beer and soda.

Daniel moved among the ruins, looking for any clue who had originally built the temple. He found a small alcove with pictographs and began to brush dust away from the coarsely textured wall in order to see them more clearly. Jack walked around the temple interior checking for any hidden threat and then when he was satisfied there was none moved back towards where Daniel was working.

"Got something there, Daniel?"

"Pictographs, Jack... hopefully they'll give us a clue who built this place."

"I don't see where it's that important... this place has obviously been dead for centuries."

"Not dead... destroyed."

"Destroyed... dead... what difference does it make?"

"It makes a big difference Jack... one is from neglect and abandonment the other is a purposeful act."

"Thank you, Daniel... In either case I don't think there is anything here that's gonna help us any, so let's go."

"I'm not done here yet, Jack."

"Well take out you camera and get some shots now cause we're leaving."

Daniel sighed and finished clearing away the dust. He stooped to get his camera from his pack and Jack grabbed his butt, giving a little pinch. Daniel gave him a semi irritated look and started to lift the camera to his face. Jack looked around and satisfied there was no one to observe them, leaned in for a kiss. The small token of affection was returned by Daniel who only reluctantly released Jack's lower lip as they parted and then boldly gave a small squeeze to Jack's crotch as he started to move away. Jack backed him up into the alcove and the kissing and groping became more urgent. Finally, camera and weapons aside they opened each other's pants and while ardently exploring each other's mouth they stroked and pulled each other gasping and oblivious. They came with their faces buried in each other's neck to silence the grunts and gasps and parted moments later to clean themselves. Jack turned to reach into his dropped pack and was instantly knocked to the ground by the strategically placed blow to the side of his head, the staff weapon landing with a sickening crack. He looked up to see Daniel, his pants down around his thighs and still slightly erect, lunging for the Jaffa who landed the blow.

The staff weapon blast that tore through Daniel's chest at close range, made a horrible sound as it burned through Daniel and hit the ancient wall he had been examining in the alcove. It was a sound very like Jack screaming.

He managed to throw himself completely off the couch in response to the dream, striking his head on the end of the coffee table, opening up a sizable gash above his right temple. Blinded by the blood flowing into one eye, he tried to get his bearings and disentangle himself from the afghan before standing. He was crossing the living room when Daniel came in the front door.

Daniel put the bag he was carrying down on the floor and was across the room in a second.

"JACK! What happened?"

"I fell off the sofa, Daniel... hit my head on the damn coffee table... I really hate that table."

Daniel guided him to the bathroom and he sat as Daniel examined and applied pressure to the ugly gash on his head.

"This is gonna need stitches, Jack."

"Oh, please, don't say that... just slap a butterfly on it."

"I'm serious, Jack... this is too big for that. Here press this against it." Daniel applied the compress and pushed.

"OW!"

"Oh, please..." Daniel took the compress and applied the pressure himself.

"OWW, OWW!"

"Jack? Please... how OLD are you?"

"It hurts."

"Yes, I guess it does... hold PRESSURE here.." He placed Jack's hand back on the fresh compress. "... Why did you fall off the couch?" Daniel asked as he opened another two sterile packages for more gauze.

"I dunno."

"Oh please... don't try THAT with me, I KNOW you, remember? You had a nightmare, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Was the soft, reluctant answer.

"What was it about?"

"I don't want to discuss it, Daniel."

"But I do, Jack. I think it's important."

"I don't...it was just a nightmare, nothing else. It holds no deep psychological meaning or anything."

"What a crock! You know that isn't true... we agreed that we would talk about these things, Jack."

"FINE! Well, see that YOU remember that when YOU start screaming at night, huh?"

"I will."

"Yeah, right."

Daniel changed compresses applying new ones to replace the blood soaked ones that Jack now held. Then he turned and headed into the bedroom.

"Hey where are you going?"

"To call Janet... the bleeding's not stopping. You NEED stitches... NO ARGUMENT!"

Jack sighed and followed.

Daniel informed Janet of the situation and the extent of Jack's injury. She was not pleased but agreed that it wasn't necessary for Jack to come back to the Mountain as SG Eleven had just come back from a mission fairly banged up and she would be busy, she told Daniel to take him to the Academy Hospital Emergency Room.

Jack balked until Daniel called Howard who agreed to meet them at the hospital and to do the laceration repair himself.

Howard was smiling and shaking his head when they met him at his office.

"So, Jack... he cracked you over the head with a bottle?"

"Fell off the sofa; hit my head on the coffee table."

"He had a nightmare." Daniel explained.

"Ah, now it makes sense..." Howard spoke as he infiltrated local anesthetic into the wound in preparation for the sutures. "Was it bad?"

"Bad enough."

"Wanna share?"

"I already asked that."

"NO, I don't want to share, thanks. Now could you just stitch this sucker together and save the third degree for someone else?"

"JACK!" Daniel's eyes narrowed as he admonished. "BE NICE!"

"That's okay, Daniel. It's been so long since I sutured something like this...it will probably come out looking like a penis when I'm done, after all I am a urologist and Mike's the one with the sewing talents in the family."

"Well, it would be appropriate since he IS BEHAVING like a DICK HEAD!"

Jack sneered "Oh HA HA!"

"See, he figures if he gets nasty I won't press him to discuss the nightmare..." Daniel glared. "...he would, of course, be WRONG!"

Howard put the syringe he had been using down on the small stand next to where Jack was sitting.

Jack looked up.

"Are we done here?" He started to get up.

Howard put a hand on his shoulder.

"NO! We are NOT done. That was just the local anesthetic. I haven't started stitching yet."

"OH for crying... "

"JACK!"

"WHAT?"

"Stop it. You're acting like a bad kid."

The exam room door opened and in strolled a surprised looking Mike.

"Hey! I heard you had some kind of special patient in here?" When the door closed Mike walked up and gave Howard a kiss.

Howard looked surprised. "Hey what are you doing here?"

"Well, thankfully, Arnise only scheduled a few patients for me today. She said she figured I would be too tired and sunburned to deal with much." Mike laughed.

"You need to give THAT woman a pay raise!" Howard chuckled.

Mike leaned down and kissed Jack on the mouth and lifted his chin to look into the scowling face.

"And what happened to you?"

"Daniel hit me." Jack said flatly.

Daniel stood with his mouth hanging open and eyebrows raised.

"What a liar! I haven't hit you... YET!"

"Poor baby, you could always run away with me... So you're letting GUNS sew you up? The injury must have affected your judgment... he failed suturing you know?"

"Oh, for god's sake...I DID NOT!" Howard was insulted.

"Well, that's what I had heard anyway..." Mike said by way of apology.

Howard stood back and took his gloves off.

"Well, smart ass... you just earned yourself a suturing job. Put your gloves on!" Howard headed for the door.

"Come on Daniel, let's go have some coffee... leave these two alone... they deserve each other today." Howard put his hand on Daniel's shoulder and they left the small room.

Mike was pulling on gloves and picking up the suture that was ready on the table.

"Sooo?"

"Yeah?"

"What really happened?"

Jack sighed. "I was asleep on the couch. I had a nightmare, it scared me. I fell off the couch and hit my head on the god damn coffee table. That's all... and before you ask, I don't want to talk about it either."

"I wasn't going to ask."

Jack started to turn before Mike stopped his head from moving.

"Sit still and let me stitch this, unless you want THUMBS back in here?"

Jack chuckled and held very still.

"Why weren't you?"

"What?"

"Going to ask... it seems like the world wants to discuss my subconscious these days, why not you?"

"Because my dear I KNOW what kind of dream it was."

"Oh you DO, do you?"

"Yep. You were back in the field doing whatever it is you do and you were watching Daniel and NOT what was going on around you and Daniel got hurt. Am I right?"

Now Jack DID turn and Mike stopped sewing.

"How did you know?"

"Because I've had dreams like that too. When Guns and I first got together, I used to dream that I was so busy staring at him that I missed a bleeder during a surgery and the patient died. I used to wake up in a cold sweat and shaking... never could tell him what the dreams were about. It just wasn't keeping with my macho, devil may care attitude. To this day I've never told him."

"Why?"

"Cause I was afraid he'd think me silly, I guess... You know it's a good thing you hair is silver cause these black sutures would be tough to find to remove otherwise."

"I wasn't watching... I was supposed to be keeping an eye on the perimeter... I was watching him instead. We started to make out... got into each other's pants... they snuck up on us, hit me on the head. Daniel lunged for them, he was still hard...pants around his thighs..." Jack swallowed hard, trying hard to keep the words in but they continued to flow. "They shot him at close range, in the heart, he fell dead looking at me... wondering why I hadn't protected him."

Mike stopped sewing as Jack turned his face away, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Mike tied and cut the last suture, then came around and sat in front of Jack. He stripped off the latex gloves and took Jack's hands in his.

"You gotta have some faith in yourself, Jack. You would never let that happen." He leaned forward and kissed Jack, first on the lips and then on the forehead.

"He wants to know what the dream was about... I can't tell him..."

"I know. But it won't go away, Jack... that feeling of inadequacy, not until you prove to yourself that it won't happen. That you CAN still do your job AND have a relationship with Daniel... What has changed, huh? I'll tell you... Nothing has changed... you loved Daniel before. Now the only changes are sleeping arrangements... you feel the same way. So why think that anything else would change. You two have obviously loved each other for a long time... and you've always taken care of him, haven't you?"

"Not always as good as I wanted to."

"Well, when you didn't I'm sure it wasn't from lack of trying, was it?"

"No, no it wasn't."

"So... nothing has changed. You're the same person, just... happier that's all. Just think of your happiness as another hurdle to overcome, a burden, if you like. Maybe that will make it easier. The world will not come to an end because you're no longer alone, so get over it."

"How come you're so good at this stuff?" Jack asked the small smile starting to reach his eyes.

"Years of having hair like mine and living with a balding man will have you examining guilt from all angles, Jack." Mike grinned.

"You are SO full of shit." Now Jack's smile was broad and he laughed Mike stood and moved back beside Jack.

"Let me put some stuff on that to keep it from drying out and getting itchy." He opened several drawers until he found the small packs of antibiotic ointment applying one to the repaired laceration and handing the rest to Jack. "Here, you'll need to reapply it for the next few days."

"SO, are we all done in here?" Howard came back in with Daniel in tow. He closed the door and walked up to Mike and collected a quick kiss, then checked the repair of Jack's laceration.

"OH PLEASE! Did you HAVE to stitch your initials next to it?" Howard quipped.

"Funny, Howard; really funny." Jack replied.

"Okay if this little sewing circle is done, will you guys get out of here? I still have work to do before I can go home."

"And we're having guests tonight." Daniel commented. Jack stood and stretched.

"Jack... it IS a head injury. So go easy on the alcohol and get your butt to the ER if there's any nausea, dizziness or visual blurring, understand?"

"Yes, Howard."

Jack thumped Meade on the shoulder and turned to Mike.

"Thanks... for everything." He leaned in and collected a small kiss.

Jack opened the door and walked out, Daniel turned back towards Howard and Mike as he headed out and got a wink from a bright green eye as Mike watched him leave.

They made it back to the house with plenty of time to spare. Jack went for a nap in bed this time and Daniel prepared for the party and cleaned the blood off the wood floor and the corner of the coffee table in the living room. At six Daniel went and lay down next to Jack on the bed and was immediately draped by arms and legs as if he was magnetic. He smiled and touched the short silver strands that teased his neck and chin when Jack's head moved to his shoulder.

"Hey you?"

"Hmmm?"

"Time to wake up."

"Why?"

"Cause if you don't get up now, you won't have time for a shower before our guests get here."

Two bleary brown eyes looked up at him.

"So tired... I may need help in the shower." Now the puppy look started.

"Oh what a crock. Alright, but only because you've received a disabling head injury and you might get dizzy-ER. But don't think you're going to get this kind of service all the time, O'Neill."

They slid out of bed and clothes easier now, the cruise purging any shyness about their bodies that might have been left after six years of communal showers. The shower was playful and passionate and Jack was glad of the safety bars that he had installed after his first off world injury. They gave him something other than Daniel's ears to hold onto as Daniel knelt in front of him and then they prevented his collapse onto the shower floor when Daniel bent him over and filled him completely. They dried each other tenderly and moved to the bedroom and dressed, Daniel checked that Jack was wearing a supporter before handing him his pants.

"What do you think Carter will say?"

"Are you worried?"

"Yeah a little I guess, this might be a mistake."

Daniel sat down next to where Jack was hunched over putting on socks and a pair of athletic shoes. He laid his arm across the sweatshirt clad shoulders next to him.

"Jack, it'll be fine. Sam's no homophobe, neither is Janet... and Cassie... well, Cassie thinks you can walk on water. I don't think any of them will have a problem with our relationship. They certainly won't think any less of you, I think you're worries are unfounded."

"I hope so, Danny."

"Besides, what's the worst that could happen? You said that Hammond already knows, this goes farther up than him too from the sounds of it. If it IS a problem for her... then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If you feel that retirement is the only option left to you... we'll BOTH retire."

Jack looked up surprised by Daniel's statement.

"Really?"

"Yes, Jack. You don't think I'm nuts enough to leave you unattended on the same planet as Mike and Gary do you? They BOTH have the hots for you in a big way, especially Mike... I think he thinks of you as Howard... with hair."

"And my own ears."

"Yeah, now come on I ordered the half-bakeds from Napoli's and they'll be here any minute. I have to go start the oven." He kissed Jack and stood, then pulled the soldier to his feet and Jack headed in to police the bathroom as Daniel headed for the kitchen.

Chapter 29: You're either part of the solution or part of the precipitate

Janet and Cassie arrived first at about seven forty-five, Janet using the excuse that she wanted to check Jack's head laceration. They went into the bedroom and closed the door, while Daniel and Cassie prepared the half-baked pizzas for the oven and awaited the arrival of Sam and Teal'c.

"That looks like it was a nasty gash, Colonel. There is no way you could have gotten off without suturing. How did you come to fall off the couch?"

"Look, Doc, I had a nightmare, I got tangled up in the cover and thrashed my way off the couch and hit the corner of the coffee table, that's it."

"I don't suppose..."

"NO, I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, well... any nausea, dizziness, or visual changes?"

"Nope."

"Okay well, take it easy for a day or so, especially on the alcohol."

"Janet?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Lose the sir; I need to talk to you for a minute." He motioned for her to take a seat in the chair and took a deep breath.

"I invited everyone here tonight because I want to discuss something with you all. I just feel that I need to forewarn you because well, I want Cassie to know too and the subject matter is kind of... delicate... I'm... I'm gay... and at this point in my life... well, it's time for me to open the closet door and let a little light inside."

Janet's eyebrows raised and she took another deep breath.

"Uh, Janet... you're supposed to look shocked here."

"Oh sorry."

"This obviously isn't the surprise to you that I thought it would be."

"Uh, no. I've known for a while, Jack. Hammond and I discussed it, actually."

"Okay, I can understand that. But what you MAY not know is that I love Daniel... and he loves me."

"I knew that too."

"Geeze, is there anything you DON'T know?"

"The lottery numbers for tomorrow."

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Look if you brought me in here to tell me so that I can get fainting out of the way when you tell Cassie, then don't worry. I have no problem with Cassie knowing about you and Daniel. She's not a little girl anymore; she's a young woman and the things that come out of her mouth could probably turn..." She started to laugh.

"You were going to say turn my hair grey weren't you?' He started to laugh too.

"I sure was!... Trust me, It's not a problem Jack."

"Do you think she'll have a problem with it?"

"Why?... Do you feel you need our approval?"

"No, not need... but it would be nice, to have some... support."

"You and Daniel have been through enough together, it was almost inevitable. I'm thrilled for you and I know Cassie will be too, and she's much more savvy than you think. Although she MIGHT be a little disappointed."

"Why?" Jack looked worried.

"Because, like all little girls Cassie harbored a fantasy about marrying you herself so she might be a little disappointed when her childhood dream is finally dashed. But she loves you both, especially you, so she'll be very happy for you, you needn't worry."

Jack relaxed slightly and looked relieved briefly, then tensed back up.

"Now, for the OTHER problem."

"Teal'c?"

Jack laughed. "No, not Teal'c. It seems the big guy has known longer than we have even... no, I'm talking about Carter."

"I don't think you need to worry about Sam either."

The sound of voices downstairs filtered up to the bedroom. Teal'c's baritone easily picked out.

"Sounds like they're here."

Janet stood and headed for the door then looked back at Jack, he nodded and slapped his hands on his thighs.

"Right! I guess we best get to it then."

The house was heady with the smell of heavily laden pizzas finishing in the oven, the warm, rich fragrance inciting Jack's stomach to rumble, loudly.

Janet turned back to look at the embarrassed man.

"Have you eaten at all today, colonel?"

"Ye-ah" Was the suspicious reply.

"When?"

"I... ate, don't worry."

"WHEN?"

"I had a very big breakfast, okay?"

"Not good enough..." Janet reached out and took his upper arm to get his attention. "... Look, why are you making my life difficult? You're a good twenty pounds under your normal weight and anemic to boot. This is NOT the way to get better, you were severely injured, your body requires nutrients to properly heal. If you can't manage to give it what it needs here then I will order you admitted to either the Academy Hospital or the Infirmary so you can be given a transfusion and properly fed... understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I have brought some supplements with me that I want you to start, a couple of prescription vitamins and an extra iron supplement. You will NOT be allowed back on active duty until both your hematocrit and your weight return to normal, so you WILL take them."

Jack's eyes rolled and from across the room Daniel saw the tension between the two escalate, he couldn't hear what they were discussing, but he moved towards them to intercede.

"Janet?" Daniel walked up and when Fraiser's head turned to acknowledge him, Jack used the opening to escape, crossing the room to sit next to Cassie, pulling her into a hug."Daniel?... Dammit, Colonel, I wasn't done with you..." "What's going on?" Daniel looked from Jack to Janet. "Damn, him... he thinks I'm kidding. I'll have SF's here to drag him back..." She mumbled just loud enough that Daniel could hear her. "... Your butt will be in a bed in the infirmary before noon tomorrow, Colonel, and you KNOW I can do it too!" THAT was loud enough that all heads turned to her, and then back for Jack's reaction. His shoulders slumped and he sighed, then his chin dropped to his chest, he took a deep breath and lifted his face to address her.

"FINE! Hand 'em over. I won't argue."

"What's going on?" Sam looked puzzled.

"He's seriously underweight and anemic and he doesn't seem to be listening to me. Now if you'd care to spend the next several weeks in the infirmary being transfused and eating commissary food...?"

"I said hand 'em over... I'm not arguing."

"Yeah well, you have to TAKE them too."

"I will."

"OH, HE DEFINATELY WILL!" Daniel looked like the argument was over.

"Oh, crap."

"Yeah, crap... Uh, Jack? Can I speak to you in the kitchen for a moment? NOW!" Daniel headed for the kitchen and Jack rose to follow, casting an evil glance in Janet's direction, she smiled and stood taller.

"Whatever happened to patient confidentiality?" Jack mumbled as he walked past her.

"The end justifies the means." She said smugly.

"Daniel?"

"What's going on Jack? And don't tell me nothing. I thought you said that your visit with her was okay?"

"I'm a little underweight and slightly anemic, that's all. She's making a big fuss over nothing."

"Jack, Janet Fraiser NEVER makes a big fuss over nothing... I'm NOT stupid."

"As I told him this afternoon, he's more than twenty pounds underweight and his hematocrit is VERY low, if he were in the infirmary, I'd be giving him a transfusion of at least two units of blood right now." Janet said softly from the doorway. "He needs to eat better and take the prescription supplements I've brought him. Then I need to see him again in two weeks for a follow up, if he hasn't improved by then we'll need to do further testing and probably give him some blood too."

"That's why you've been so tired lately... I should have figured there was something wrong; you usually bounce back so much quicker."

Jack frowned, "Yeah, well, I'm older now... I don't bounce like I used to."

"It's about time you admitted that. You AREN'T Peter Pan you know?" Janet said softly.

At that, Daniel and Jack looked at each other and cracked up. Then Daniel commented.

"But he LIKES tights!"

Jack's eyes crossed trying to get Daniel to shut up and Janet just looked confused.

"Do I want to know?" She asked patiently.

"Trust me Janet; you do NOT want to know." Jack said.

She removed the bottles of supplements from her pocket and handed them to Daniel one at a time.

"This one he gets once a day; this one is also once a day; and this one is twice a day."

"No problem, I'll see to it that he takes them."

Janet smiled. "I know you will."

The rest of the evening was thankfully happier. The pizza was consumed quickly and with a lot of laughing and giggling and afterwards Jack spoke to everyone.

Cassie was thrilled with Jack and Daniel's announcement of their relationship and immediately began to make plans.

"So, are you going to get married? I mean I know you can't here in Colorado but there are states where it's legal."

When all eyes turned to her Cassie explained that they had discussed it in school.

"Ahh, Uh, I think we'll wait for a while, Cassie. You do understand that we can't allow this to become common knowledge and why, don't you?" Daniel asked the teenager.

"Yes, Daniel, I do. I just think that it's very sad for you both." She replied shaking her head.

"We thought it was important for the people closest to us to know, and you guys ARE our family after all." Jack said hugging her closer. Then he looked over at Carter who hadn't said anything since their initial announcement.

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

"Are YOU okay with all this?"

She suddenly discovered the pattern of knots in the hardwood floor and couldn't take her eyes from them.

Daniel got up and moved to the chair where Sam sat, crouching in front of it he took her hands.

"Sam?"

She looked into his eyes and a soft smile began to form in her eyes.

"Daniel?"

"Are you okay with this?"

"I'm fine with it, really."

"You don't LOOK fine, Carter." Jack said from the couch.

"Sam, what's wrong?" Daniel still held her hands.

"I'm worried, that's what's wrong. What will happen if the Air Force finds out? We all know don't ask, don't tell is bullshit. I don't want either of you hurt..." She looked from Daniel to Jack. "...And you could get kicked out of the Air Force and wind up in Leavenworth."

"That isn't going to happen, Carter. Worse comes to worse, I'll retire... I've done it before and THEN I didn't have a good reason, now I do..."

"But..." She started to speak but was stopped when Jack held up a hand.

"I already did as a matter of fact... today. I talked to Hammond and tried to retire... he wouldn't let me. So, I KNOW if it became an issue, he'd allow me to retire before things got any farther."

Sam sat back a little more comfortably now, and Daniel moved to sit on the arm of her chair, his hand unconsciously petting her hair.

"And if he goes, so do I." Daniel said quietly.

"I can't believe this is real." Carter shook her head, "When did this all start?"

"A very long time ago." Teal'c had been very quiet just observing the reactions of the three women and how Jack and Daniel handled them.

"You knew, Teal'c?" Carter turned to the Jaffa.

He nodded. "It has been apparent to me for some time."

"Yeah, longer than it has been to us even it seems." Jack smiled.

"Look Major, I want you to know... I understand if you have a problem with any of this and if you so desire I'll even approve your request for transfer to another team." Jack tried to offer her a graceful exit for her obvious discomfort.

"NO! You don't understand, sir. It's not like that; I'm fine with it, really... I'm very happy for both of you... it's just... well, a bit of a shock."

"Okay, I was concerned." Jack said, then stood and kissed Cassie on the head and stood.

"BOY! I need another beer, anybody want another drink? Cassie, you want another soda?" Jack started towards the kitchen.

"I will have another ginger ale, O'Neill" Teal'c said and O'Neill nodded and moved quickly up the steps and towards the kitchen. Daniel saw the slight waver in his step as he moved through the dining room and decided to follow.

"Uh, excuse me for a minute." He smiled and followed Jack into the kitchen.

"Jack?"

O'Neill spun towards the kitchen doorway and lost his balance, he grabbed at the counter.

"Jesus, Jack are you okay?" Daniel was next to him instantly.

Jack turned as Daniel moved in front of him and into his arms.

"I'm okay, Daniel."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"I dunno."

"Because you look like shit, Jack."

"I'm tired."

"I can see that."

Jack took Daniel's face in both hands and leaning in kissed him softly.

"I was worried about Carter. Do you think she's angry?"

"No, I believe her. I think it just caught her completely by surprise that's all." Daniel's arms circled Jack's waist and he kissed back.

"Now THAT'S hot!" Was the comment from the doorway behind them.

They both jumped and turned to face Cassie and Sam standing in the doorway. Cassie looked excited and Sam blushed with embarrassment at the sight of the two men holding each other and kissing.

"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt." Sam said quietly.

"No, Sam it's alright." Daniel jumped towards her to reassure her and Jack nearly fell over.

"Okay, that's enough... you go to bed, NOW!" Daniel had him around the waist on one side and Sam moved to the other and they walked back towards the steps through the living room. Janet was immediately at their side and up the steps in the master bedroom, turning down the spread.

"I won't say I told you so; but I did."

"Okay, everybody out... I'll be down in a minute, as soon as I put him to bed." Daniel stood and waved Janet and Sam off, along with Teal'c and Cassie who had followed in case their help had been required. After the door was closed Jack stood carefully and made a break for the bathroom as Daniel moved towards the chest of drawers. He turned back and shook his head when he saw the door closing, then finished closing the drawer and sat on the bed and waited listening for any signs of distress as O'Neill went through his nighttime ablutions. When the bathroom door opened he wrapped his arm around a ragged looking, but freshly scrubbed Jack and walked him to the bed.

Jack didn't struggle as Daniel helped him undress and put on the sweat pants and tee shirt he had gotten out for him. Daniel tucked him in and leaned down to kiss him on the head.

"What, no story?" Jack snarked.

"Maybe later, I have to get back to our guests. YOU go to sleep; I'll be up as soon as they're gone."

"Hmm, okay." Jack's eyes slid shut and Daniel turned off the lamp at the bedside and left the room, closing the door.

"Is he okay, Daniel?" Sam asked as he came down the steps.

"Yeah, he's asleep already. He's really exhausted... I don't think his body has adjusted from the jet lag yet."

"And his anemia isn't helping." Janet added.

"Well he'll be starting the supplements first thing in the morning so don't worry about that. And if he even THINKS about moving from the couch tomorrow I'll tie him to it."

"We will be available if you need someone to monitor his activity level when you are not at home DanielJackson."

"Thanks, Teal'c if I need a sitter for him I'll call you."

Teal'c stood regally and scanned the living room. Cassie jumped to her feet and began to collect plates and glasses and head for the kitchen. Teal'c moved to secure the patio doors as Janet and Cassie loaded the dishwasher. Sam turned to face Daniel.

"I just want you to know that I really don't have a problem with this, you know. It just took me by surprise... I'm a scientist I'm SUPPOSED to notice things and I didn't."

Daniel smiled.

"I just can't believe I didn't notice anything."

"Honestly, Sam, there was nothing to notice until that Desarta mission of his. I figured I was doomed to love him without him ever knowing. Neither of us had any idea how the other felt."

"How did you find out?"

"Junk mail."

"Junk mail?"

"Yep, he had some junk mail that I investigated and wound up meeting someone who... was aware of Jack's preferences, shall we say. So, when he went away, I followed him."

"You didn't! That's why you left the country?"

"Yep, he went on a cruise and I booked myself on the same cruise."

"Oh my... what did he say... was he surprised?"

"Oh I'll say! At first though I think he wasn't sure why I was there. I think he thought he had been found out."

"Why?"

"It was an all gay cruise."

"Oh, well... I'll bet he WAS nervous."

"Right up until when I kissed him."

"That's so romantic, Daniel..." Sam blushed again. "...You know, I agree with Cassie's observation, don't you?"

Daniel looked puzzled.

"When you two were kissing in the kitchen... that really was hot, it didn't sink in for me until that moment. You really DO love each other, don't you? This isn't just a physical thing that much is obvious. I guess it's always been there... I just never equated how close you two were with THAT kind of love."

"I don't think we did either, Sam. I think it grew out of our friendship. It was the same for Jack... we accidentally discovered that we could have something more. That was kismet; neither of us would have taken a chance on losing the other's friendship otherwise."

The shouts from the bedroom brought Cassie and Janet running and sent Daniel in a mad dash to the second floor taking the steps three at a time.

"I'll take care of it. You all wait here."

They heard another shout and the bedroom door open and close and all stared at the steps waiting.

About ten minutes later Daniel reappeared.

"He's okay. It was just a bad dream."

"Are you sure Daniel?" Cassie was white faced.

Daniel hugged her "He'll be fine Cassie, you want to go up and say goodnight?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"Come on then." Daniel walked the girl up the steps and opened the bedroom door peeking in, before he pushed it wide.

"Jack? Are you still awake, Cassie wants to say goodnight?"

Jack turned towards the sound of Daniel's voice and opened his eyes slowly.

"Cass?"

She moved to the bed and sat on the edge, then reached up and brushed back errant gray strands from his forehead.

"Are you okay, Jack?"

"Yeah, just a bad dream... You leaving?"

"Yeah, I've got to go."

"Sorry I pooped out on you."

"That's okay... but you better take your medicine so it doesn't happen again."

"I will."

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you and I'm really happy for you and Daniel." She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"Thanks Cassie... I'm glad; it means a lot to Daniel and I."

"Go to sleep now, Jack."

Jack nodded and closed his eyes.

Cassie got up with a smile and walked to Daniel who was waiting at the bedroom door. She stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm letting you have him Daniel; but you had better take good care of him." She smiled sweetly but Daniel got the distinct impression that the implied 'or else' would be very serious indeed.

"Yes, Ma'am, I will, I promise."

Daniel showed their guests out and locked up. Then he glanced around the living room, Sam, Janet and Teal'c had been very thorough, no trace of the party remained. He turned the lights out and quietly climbed the steps.

Daniel stripped and then slid into bed and sunk into the pillows; he stared at the ceiling in the dark and wondered if he would be able to live up to his promise to Cassie. When his body detected the warmth next to it, Jack began to gravitate closer until he draped arms and legs across Daniel trapping him. Daniel sighed and gave himself up to sleep wrapped with Jack.

Two weeks later a relaxed, rested O'Neill sauntered into the infirmary with a spring in his step and color in his cheeks.

"HEY DOC!"

Janet had been standing with her back to the door and jumped at O'Neill's call. She turned and saw him playing with another bag of IV solution, and tried to figure out exactly what was his continuing fascination with the liter plastic bags of solution.

"If you rupture that bag, it will make a very big mess, Colonel, so I suggest you put it down now."

He looked at her as if he had been scolded and gently returned the bag to the small stand where it had been laying. Captain Bryant handed him the hated hospital gown, robe and slippers and he moved with a shrug into his former room to change.

This time the news was better. His hematocrit was improved and he had begun to gain back some of his lost weight. She took out the stitches that Mike had used to close his head laceration previously and checked his now well healed abdominal wound.

"So, Colonel... you are doing MUCH better."

"Well, Daniel has been force feeding me."

"I can tell. You also look pretty well rested."

"Well, I've become an ace sofa jockey."

"Ahh. So, we need to start working on your stamina now then I guess. Some treadmill work only... no more than a half hour a day. I don't want you to lose any weight."

"Are you sure Doc? You don't think my butt looks big?"

"Ahh, no, your butt is just fine. How's the knee?"

"Its fine, no problems there; my back gets twingey from time to time though."

"Well, let's have a look." She moved to the other side of the bed and untied the gown exposing the scar peppered, but tanned back and gasped softly at the line of small suck marks that ran from one hip across the small of his back to the other hip.

"What's wrong, Doc?"

"Uh, Colonel, maybe you and Daniel need to remember that you'll be coming back to work soon and all the communal showering and physical exams that active duty entails."

"Dammit! Did he leave more suck marks?"

"I'll say... from one hip to the other clear across your back."

"Ya know, he told me last night that we'd wind up talking about him today. I just couldn't figure out why."

"Well, he was right. Tell him to go easy on the marks. I can't guarantee that I'll always be available for your physicals, you know."

"You guys all think he's so sweet and innocent, that guy's evil I tell you." Jack said shaking his head.

"And speaking of which, where IS your evil twin today? I sort of expected he'd be coming with you."

"I dunno, something about packing up some stuff and moving some stuff."

"Oh?" Janet said hopefully.

"Well he can't completely give up his apartment. But he's moving some stuff to the house. It seems that I am going to inherit a tank full of fish."

"Ah well... but you LIKE fish." Janet laughed as she felt the muscle groups along Jack's back.

"YEOW! That's the spot!" Jack jumped as she reached the groups on his lower back.

"It feels like a muscle spasm to me, Colonel. Have you done anything strenuous to... uh, well... oh uh, never mind."

Jack started to chuckle at her discomfort. She looked around and saw him laughing.

"Oh,... never mind. Just take it easy will you? Try some heat that should loosen up the spasm." She shook her head as she came back around to face him.

"So, Doc?"

She knew what was coming but played along anyway.

"Yes, Colonel?"

"When can I come back to work?"

"Well, you need to gain the rest of your weight back and start building your stamina, PLUS... you have to see Colonel Meade for his approval. Providing he agrees, I'll allow you back on restricted duty only in, oh... say, three weeks."

"THREE WEEKS?!!"

"That's provided of course that Colonel Meade releases you from his care... yes."

"AHH, come on Doc!"

"I could, of course, always increase it if I felt that you weren't progressing as nicely as I'd like... Or if I get too much grief... if you catch my meaning?"

"Yeah, I get it... subtle, very subtle... YOU my dear, are a..."

"It could always be much, much longer too!"

"...A wonderful woman, and a fantastic doctor!"

"Thank you, Colonel..." She smiled brilliantly and batted her eyes, enjoying her small victory against vastly taller forces. "...you're dismissed." She turned on her heel and exited the room pulling the door closed behind her.

Jack muttered under his breath amazed that someone so small could harbor such evil.

"No Goua'ld in its right mind would EVER take her for a host."

"I HEARD THAT, COLONEL!" Came from the other side of the closed door.

Jack returned from his visit to the mountain grumbling and ill-tempered only to be thwarted from parking in his own driveway by the BMW sitting in his parking space next to Daniel's Range Rover. He walked in the front door after examining the car closely and finally nodding reluctant approval.

"Daniel, whose car is that..."

"Hello, Jack!" Howard was sitting on the sofa and stood to greet him. They shook hands and Jack's foul mood was lightened by the familiar, friendly face.

"You got new wheels, I like it!"

"Actually that's mine..." Came the velvet voice from behind him. "...hello, gorgeous!" Mike said carrying a couple of beers; he was followed by Daniel who was grinning like a fool at Jack's surprise.

Mike put one beer down and handed the other to Howard then turned and put his arms around Jack's neck. Jack smiled and returned the embrace, his mouth opening instantly when Mike started to kiss him. Daniel chuckled and sat down while waiting for Mike's rather enthusiastic greeting to end.

"Should we be jealous?" Daniel asked Howard.

Howard just shook his head. "Nah, Mike's always been melodramatic."

"Then what is it?"

"I think it's the hair." Howard said rubbing his hand back along his scalp.

"Ahh." Daniel nodded in agreement.

Jack finally broke the long kiss and moved to the couch. He sat down next to Daniel and collected a short sweet kiss in greeting.

"Ya know Fraiser was just talking about you today?"

"She was?" Meade was puzzled.

"Yeah she told me that if you agreed, I could return to restricted duty in three weeks."

"That sounds about right to me. How are you feeling? She told me you were seriously anemic, she was thinking about transfusing you."

"Real good, actually, I'm still taking the supplements and Daniel's force feeding me, so I've gained back part of my weight. And Fraiser said today that I could start to exercise to build up some stamina."

"Ooo, I LOVE stamina!" Mike cooed from the other chair.

"Down boy!" Howard warned. "So, how's it going otherwise?"

Jack looked to Daniel and then back at Howard.

"I'm good, other than a couple of nightmares. No more zone outs or hallucinations that medicine really seems to be doing the trick."

"Well, you need to know, it might NOT be over yet. When you start back to work, when the tension increases, that will be the REAL test of your progress."

"I sort of figured that." Jack said quietly. "So, I thought your house call days were over, Howard?"

"Well they are, but Mike insisted we come to deliver this." Howard picked up a thick square envelope from the table next to him and Mike instantly jumped up and took it from him and handed it to Jack, sitting next to him on the couch now as Jack and Daniel opened the thick bundle.

"What is this?" Jack looked up for a clue as he pulled open a wax sealed envelope and slid out the envelope inside.

When they opened the second envelope Jack's jaw dropped open.

"It's a wedding invitation." Jack looked at Daniel and then over at Howard.

"Actually if you want to be politically correct, it's a commitment invitation." Howard commented.

"That's wonderful!" Daniel laughed then took the card from Jack to read it while Jack gave Mike a congratulatory kiss, and in turn got kissed back with plenty of tongue.

"December seventh... that's Pearl Harbor Day isn't it?" Daniel asked with a funny look on his face.

"Yeah, well. I get out on December first and Mike didn't want to wait until Christmas so we compromised." Howard laughed.

"Oh-kay, whatever." Daniel shrugged.

The both looked over at Mike and Jack making out like kissing was about to be banned.

"Uh, boys... excuse me..." Daniel tried.

"MIKE! DOWN!" Howard shouted.

Jack and Mike parted instantly; Jack looked a little worse for the effort.

"Jeez, you're GOOD at THAT!" Jack fanned his face trying to cool his blush.

"Ask them Mike."

"We would really like it if you both would be our witnesses... I'd say best men but Guns get nervous when I use that term." Mike laughed and moved to sit on the floor between Howard's legs, picking up his beer on the way.

Jack and Daniel looked at each other and then at Mike and Howard. Daniel spoke first.

"We'd be honored, thank you."

"So you get what, six days of true freedom after your ETS before you tie the knot?"

"Yeah, something like that." Howard chuckled.

Daniel stood and smiled then walked to Mike and Howard and kissed them each.

"I'm really very happy for you both, but I have to go make salad..." Daniel turned to Jack. "Howard and Mike brought dinner, Jack. So you'll need to go start the grill."

"Cool! What are we having?"

"Well, knowing you and Guns, I figured steak would be best."

"Oh, good choice!" Jack smiled. "Soo, Mike, how's your nipple?"

Mike grinned and pulled his shirt up, exposing the ringed nipple for Jack's inspection. Jack crossed the room and leaned down to look.

Howard just sat and shook his head. "Of all the dumb things... you DO know that you're doomed now don't you, Jack?"

O'Neill lifted the ring, throwing an evil grin in Howard's direction and Mike hissed, his eyes flashing at the stimulation. Mike got up and allowed Jack a closer look, slipping his hand down to gently cup Jack's soft package, he stroked his thumb up and down the length as it hardened under his touch. Jack sighed and leaned down, lifting the ring with his tongue now. Mike held his head in place and Jack opened his mouth to receive nipple and gold ring, tugging lightly with his tongue. Mike took a wide stance automatically spreading his legs slightly to allow Jack's hand access to his already bulging crotch, as Jack palmed the bulge, Daniel came through from the kitchen looking for Jack.

"Are you going to start the grill, Ja..." He stopped dead in his tracks. "I can see you are ALREADY cooking in here." Daniel's voice got husky and his eyes narrowed following every move the two men in front of him made. His eyes darted quickly to Howard whose gaze was fixed on the action now moving to the thick rug in front of the fireplace. Daniel moved up behind Jack and reached around him unbuttoning Jack's shirt and removing it then moving to his belt and pants. When Jack stepped out of the supporter he was hard and dripping already. Daniel pealed off his own shirt and shorts and kicked them out of the way then moved behind Mike and relieved him of his clothes.

"Need lube." Jack panted as Mike's hand caressed his balls.

"Where?" Howard asked, standing already, his own pants open.

Bedroom, nightstand." Daniel replied as he spooned up behind Jack, rubbing his hard cock in the fuzzy cleft between Jack's buttocks. Mike stepped closer in front and his arms wrapped Jack and clasped at Daniel, his hard cock clashing with Jack's between them.

Howard almost came on the spot as he walked back into the living room. Jack was sandwiched tightly between Daniel and Mike. Jack was still and Mike and Daniel were sliding up and down against him, it looked like something out of one of Mike's fetish magazines. He quickly dropped his pants and shirt and spooned up behind Mike, who turned his head back towards his shoulder so he could be kissed.

The four men lowered themselves to the floor almost as one. Jack reached back to pull Daniel closer, pushing back on Daniel's questing fingers.

"Need... lube." Daniel managed between nips at the side of Jack's neck and his shoulder. Howard handed the flip top tube over after squeezing some into his own hand. Jack groaned and shifted on painful knees and Daniel guided him to the floor on his side, Mike following.

Mike and Jack faced each other kissing and stroking as first Daniel lifted Jack's upper leg and then Howard lifted Mike's and they both slid inside after a little maneuvering. Mike watched Daniel thrusting in to Jack and started stroking Jack with the same rhythm. Jack responded almost unconsciously in the same rhythm and before long all four were moving as one. The sight of Jack being fucked by Daniel started Mike on the road to his oblivion, the muscle spasms he produced brought Howard along for the ride. The domino effect had Jack covering stroking hand in heat and Daniel was literally and figuratively right behind him.

They dropped exhausted, to the rug and spooned against each other. It took a while but eventually Jack regained the power of speech.

"WOW! That was... intense!"

His comment was met with multiple mumbled responses and at least one nod.

"And all because I did this..." He lifted Mike's nipple ring and the groan he received was from every angle.

"Jesus, Jack, are you trying to kill me?" Howard mumbled pushing Jack's hand away from Mike's nipple.

Daniel started to laugh and before long the contagion had them all rolling on the rug.

"Well, now that we've had the appetizer... I guess we'll need to work on actually having dinner, eh?" Howard laughed as Mike reached down to help him up.

"Can you spare a shower, mister?" Mike smiled as Howard helped Jack up.

"Howard, you know where my bedroom is, use the shower in there it's bigger. I'm gonna go start the grill." Jack pulled on his supporter and then his pants and started to follow Daniel into the kitchen.

"I think we'll be having strawberries for dessert Daniel." Jack smiled as he draped an arm around Daniel's waist on the way.

"I'll get out the Balsamic vinegar." Daniel grinned.

Chapter 30: Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence

Jack's return to duty was cause for celebration inside the SGC. While it was only to restricted duty within the base, it was duty nonetheless. Hammond was ecstatic at O'Neill's return and although he reported to Hammond's office empty handed he didn't leave that way. Hammond handed him an armload of paperwork that would probably keep him busy well into the next century. Jack briefly considered fainting to get out of it, but when George also informed him that he was taking a week's leave now that Jack was back, he didn't have the heart. They had a long meeting together in which Hammond brought him up to speed on current team status, comings and goings, important projects and other items of interest.

With the details out of the way, Hammond got up and poured himself another cup of coffee and sat down.

"So, Jack I understand that you had a little pizza party a few weeks ago?"

"Yes. Sir, Daniel and I wanted to tell, Carter, Teal'c and Cassie ourselves."

"And how did they take it?"

"Well, it seems that Teal'c had already figured it out, and Cassie threatened Daniel but was thrilled..."

"Cassie threatened Doctor Jackson?"

"Yeah well, he said something about an implied 'OR ELSE' when she advised Daniel to take care of me."

"Ahh! You DO seem to be especially favored by her..."

"Bribes, sir... works every time."

Hammond smiled and nodded. "Just like with Kayla and Tessa huh?"

Jack grinned. "Exactly!"

"And how did Major Carter take the news?"

"She was, uh... surprised, sir."

"Surprised?"

"Well, frankly sir, I'm still not sure. She SAYS she's happy for us and has no problem with it... she even told Daniel that in private and he believes her. I'm just not sure."

"Have YOU spoken to her privately?"

"No, sir."

"Then I suggest that you do, if personnel changes are needed I want to know ASAP, is that clear?"

"I don't think that will be necessary sir."

"Jack, SG One is my premier team, I won't have it fractured by internal... differences. If she can work within the new paradigm, that's wonderful, if she can't... well, we need to make adjustments as quickly as possible."

"It may just be a matter of me being paranoid, general. Carter may not be a problem at all. I'm not sure we will know for sure until we go back into the field together as a unit."

"That's true, Jack, and I hope to God you are correct. Because you know how I feel about messing with success." Hammond smiled.

"Yes, sir, and general..."

"Jack?"

"Thanks for putting up with all of this; I know how disappointed you must be."

"Disappointed? In what?"

"In me, sir." O'Neill said quietly.

"Why would I be disappointed in you, Jack? Because of your sexual preference?"

O'Neill nodded.

"Jack, I thought you were a better observer than that. I'm in NO WAY disappointed in you... I'm actually thrilled for you. With everything that's happened to you over the years, all that you've gone through, both in the military and in your private life... after all that, you've finally found some happiness. Most people aren't that lucky, God knows you've paid a heavy personal price, both of you have... I know how you hate clichés, Jack so I won't bore you with them... I'll just say, maybe somebody up there figures it's time you had a little happiness. Who am I to argue with divine intervention?"

O'Neill gave a little half smile and shook his head. "I dunno, I've never been a big fan of all that deus ex machina stuff, sir. I'm just grateful that Daniel has suffered enough brain damage through the years that he thinks he wants me."

"Oh, I think you're selling yourself short again, Jack."

"We'll see, sir. Personally, I think he's gone round the bend." Jack laughed.

"Well, you know what they say about great minds, Jack?"

"ACK! No clichés, general, you said no clichés." O'Neill picked up the large armload of files and folders with a grunt. "I see you've sacrificed a tree in honor of my return, sir."

"Fine, no more clichés ... now take your dead tree and get out of here. You don't get to move in to this office until tomorrow and I have lots of things to finish before I can take leave."

"Going anywhere special, sir?"

"No, just going to get up to take the girls to school, go back to bed and get back up in time to pick them up from school. Oh, and maybe have ice cream for dinner." Hammond smiled; his eyes sparkled at the decadent idea.

"Sounds like a blast, sir. Tell them I said hi."

"I will, Jack. Now... get out." Hammond waved him off with a smile.

Jack thought about going to the commissary for fortification, but realized he didn't have a prayer of successfully carrying anything else so headed right for his office. He had an emergency Mountain Dew stashed in his desk and the caffeine it supplied would have to suffice for a while, at least until he had done enough work to justify taking a break.

He opened the door to his office and was flabbergasted. There was a banner hanging on the front of his desk that said 'WELCOME HOME', a bunch of helium balloons tied to the back of his chair, and a small cart next to his desk had a coffee service and a covered dish of pastries. On the desk beside the card signed by nearly everyone, was a full box of sharpened pencils with a note directing him to look above his chair. He looked up and saw a new ceiling tile with a bull's-eye target painted on it. All of his paper clips were already in a chain and he had a fine assortment of varying sizes of rubber bands already looped together. There was a small basket on the floor next to his desk that contained a variety of Nerf balls and the back of the door held a Velcro dart target. Someone obviously planned for him to be spending a lot of time in here. The note on the top of the pastry dish was from Hammond advising him that he didn't want him to faint away from too much work and no nourishment.

He deposited his armload of work on one corner of his desk and went to sit, pulling out his chair, on the seat was a small stuffed teddy bear with an embroidered heart, tiny black stitches inside the heart read 'Ti amo'. Jack smiled, he opened the top right hand drawer and sat the bear in the corner so he could see it while he worked and finally, after helping himself to coffee and one each of the cheese and cherry Danishes settled down to business.

At lunchtime, Daniel joined Sam and Teal'c in the commissary and watched the clock while they waited for O'Neill to surface.

"I sort of half expected the Colonel to drag you in here, Daniel... it's not like him to miss lunch."

"Indeed, it is not. Usually it is he that ensures that DanielJackson ceases work for nourishment. Perhaps we should give O'Neill an injection of his own curative agent?"

Carter and Jackson both looked at Teal'c, Daniel finally gave in."You do that on purpose, don't you? It's a taste of his own medicine... but you KNEW that... you wanted to yank my chain is all, right?"

"Well it worked, Daniel." Carter chuckled.

Teal'c smiled. "We should go coerce O'Neill into lunch."

"That's true, if Fraiser finds out he's skipping meals she'll kill him. His anemia is better, but not gone and it's only better because he's been eating regularly. I don't want all my hard work ruined just because he's back to work... let's go."

The three headed out of the commissary to retrieve their wayward commander. When they got to O'Neill's office they stood quietly for a moment and listened at the door.

"What do you hear, DanielJackson?"

"La Traviata."

"Oooh, becoming quite the opera buff are we?" Carter laughed.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, the stuff grows on you. Some of it isn't so bad."

"What else do you hear?"

"Typing."

"Really?"

Daniel rapped on the door softly.

There was no answer.

"We know he's in there."

Carter rapped hard.

"COME IN!"

Jack looked up as his team came in with smiles on their faces.

"Hi kids! Thanks for the welcome party by the way."

There was a neat stack of folders on one side of his desk and another on the other side; they were almost even in size.

"It's lunchtime, Jack. Come on we were waiting for you."

"I'm not hungry Daniel and I've still got lots of work to do."

"O'Neill, as you have on many occasions advised DanielJackson and MajorCarter, a brain requires nourishment to function adequately."

"Yeah, T that's normally true... but this is MILITARY paperwork and as we ALL know THAT doesn't require a functioning brain to do, just a signature." O'Neill smiled. Daniel was becoming impatient.

"Well, that IS true... but the fact remains that Doctor Fraiser has the commissary staff monitoring your diet now that you've returned and if they report to her that you MISSED a meal she'll not only have the SF's escorting you to meals but she'll also start the injectable variety of vitamin supplements... sooo..." Daniel stood back and motioned towards the door.

"Wow, Colonel... is that a CHERRY Danish?" Carter eyed the last cherry Danish on the plate.

"Yes it is, help yourself Carter, I don't think I could eat another one."

She grinned and picked up the pastry and started to munch.

"ANOTHER one?... Just how many of those have you had, Jack?" Daniel looked at the plate that now only contained a single cheese Danish. "And exactly where did they come from?"

"Mmm, Dan-mel, mmm look." Carter took another large bite of pastry and waved the card from Hammond at Daniel whose eyes widened as he read it.

"He is in SO much trouble..." She looked at Teal'c.

"Uh, Daniel..."

"What?" Daniel spun to look at Jack.

"Can I see you for a minute? In my PRIVATE office." Jack headed for the small bathroom; that and the sofa were among the few perks of being second in command of the SGC. He grabbed Daniel by the upper arm and guided him in the door.

Carter swallowed and smiled at Teal'c. "Uh oh, NOW he's done it."

"Daniel, what the hell are you doing?" Jack whispered leaning on the sink the small bathroom barely big enough to accommodate both men.

"What?"

"You are NOT my mother."

"I know THAT."

"Yeah, but we're supposed to be LOW key. You're being a drama queen out there."

Daniel was livid. "I AM NOT!"

"All I'm saying is... just go easy, okay?"

"Jack, this is your first day back... I know you want to be the very model of decorum but Sam and Teal'c are our friends, they KNOW about us. They know how we act with each other...I have enough sense NOT to behave the same way in public... but they are FAMILY."

O'Neill looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you are right... as usual. I just worry about Carter that's all." Daniel stepped closer and wove his arms around the still a little too narrow waist.

"You don't have to worry about Sam; she's fine with it, really. Trust me."

"I just hate putting her on the spot. I'm not used to so many people knowing so much about... me. It's weird." His arms went around Daniel.

Daniel leaned in and kissed him softly, he opened immediately and returned the soft kiss with a measure of exploring tongue.

Daniel pulled back. "This is nice, I could get used to this." He leaned back in and slipped one hand down to Jack's butt and squeezed playfully.

Jack groaned and leaned back in.

There was a hard knock at the door and they both jumped.

"WHAT?!" Jack shouted at the intrusion.

"O'Neill, lunch is served for a limited time only!"

Daniel started to chuckle burying his face in Jack's shoulder.

"Be right out!" Daniel shouted and then leaned back in for another kiss.

The bathroom door jerked open and Jack and Daniel came out to see Teal'c and Carter sitting side by side in the chairs in front of Jack's desk throwing Velcro darts at the back of the office door. Carter looked up smiling.

"Ready for lunch now, sir?"

"Yeah, Carter... lead on." He waved towards the door. Sam got up and collected the darts and put them back in the basket on Jack's desk. O'Neill and Teal'c walked out the door and she looked carefully at Daniel's face.

"Your lips are puffy." She said not looking.

Daniel's fingers went to his mouth. "They are not."

"Are too!"

"Are not... is it bad?"

"No not really." She smiled and sped up to Teal'c and O'Neill as they approached the elevator.

"Come on Daniel, you're holding up the works." Jack held the elevator door and Jackson trotted in behind Sam.

Jack had a late meeting with Hammond to finish his day, and begin the general's leave and it was nearly nineteen hundred when Hammond looked up from the last item to see Daniel sitting in the briefing room working on his laptop while he waited for O'Neill.

"Looks like your ride's here, Jack."

"Sir?"

Hammond motioned towards the window and Jack got up to look.

"I told him not to wait. I was going to get a driver."

"And you expected him to listen?"

"Yeah, well..."

"He just wants to make sure you're okay, Jack. He WANTS to take care of you... let him."

"LET HIM? General do you have ANY idea how overbearing Daniel can be?"

"Just enjoy it for a while, Jack. It will get better once the novelty wears off."

"I hope so, sir." Jack scrubbed his hand across his face.

"We're done here, Jack. Go home, get some rest, you're still recovering. If I work you too late I'll have Doctor Fraiser breathing down my neck. The rest of this stuff is unimportant. I'll finish it and sign out to the CQ."

"Who is CQ tonight, sir?"

"Major Kovacek. He'll bring you up to speed on anything else in the morning. SG Five goes out first tomorrow at ten hundred hours, your briefing with them is at zero eight hundred."

"Anybody due back tonight, sir?"

"No, although SG Three has a check in at twenty one hundred; I don't anticipate they'll have any problems they're at the Alpha Site. I have something for you, Jack."

O'Neill turned with a smile. "You do?"

Hammond pushed the small black pager across the desk.

"A new pager, to replace the one you lost. Try to keep track of this one, will you? At least until I get back."

"Yes, sir." Jack picked up the pager and tested it. "Same number, sir?"

"Same number, now get out of here. Get some rest, I'm not going anywhere so if you need me or have any questions you know you can call."

"Yes, sir. Good night general, and have a great vacation."

"I plan to... OUT! NOW!"

Jack smiled and was out of the office in a flash.

Hammond watched the two men through his office window. O'Neill walked up to the table and said something to Jackson who looked up with a brilliant smile on his face, then powered down the laptop and stood up and stretched for a moment and the two men walked out of the room side by side.

George shook his head, and watched them walk away.

When Jack scolded him for waiting Daniel told him that he didn't want some driver to see him sleeping on the ride home and he stayed to save him that embarrassment. Jack scoffed, but was sound asleep before they even got through the second gate. While waiting at the traffic signal to get onto the highway Daniel used the power seat control to recline Jack into a more comfortable position and the man didn't even stir. Daniel stole glances at the sleeping man whenever traffic permitted and always smiled at the sight.

He pulled into Jack's driveway and turned off the engine.

"Jack?" He placed his hand on Jack's left thigh.

"Jack!"

O'Neill startled and jumped.

"Easy, Jack... we're home."

"Whaa, uh...oh, sorry, I must have dozed off there for a second."

"Or forty-five minutes." Daniel laughed.

Jack glared at him.

"What?"

"You were asleep before we got off post."

"I was not."

"No, then what's that in your lap?' Daniel motioned to a small piece of paper.

He had placed it there when the SF at the security gate saw that O'Neill was asleep, he had written the note at Daniel's insistence.

Jack lifted the note as Daniel turned on the interior light.

Scrawled on a sheet of notebook paper was:

'Welcome back, Colonel O'Neill. We missed you, sir. Good night!'

It was signed by the two security gate guards.

Jack scowled at first and then softened and smiled.

"That was nice."

"Yeah it was, let's go inside now shall we?"

Jack went immediately to the fridge and pulled a cold beer out.

"Want one, Daniel?"

"Yeah, I'll take one." He was opening the pantry door.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna make dinner, Jack"

"I'm really not hungry, Daniel. I'm tired; I'd rather go to bed."

"You have to eat, Jack, how about something simple?"

"Okay, a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup."

"I was thinking more like a salad and..."

"PLEASE, Daniel, I just want soup and a sandwich. I won't die if I don't have a three course meal."

"Fine why don't you go shower and I'll get it ready."

Jack's arms wrapped around him from behind and he placed a warm kiss just under Daniel's right ear.

"Okay... you aren't mad are you?"

Daniel turned in the embrace and laid a hand on the side of Jack's face.

"I'm not mad, Jack. I guess we're both tired. It's been a long day... Now go, shower."

They kissed for a long moment until Daniel pushed Jack away; he took his beer and headed off to the shower.

Dinner was quickly made and just as quickly eaten and cleaned up. They completely avoided the temptation of the couch and sat in the kitchen and ate then locked up and moved off to the bedroom.

Jack was asleep by the time Daniel got out of the shower. He sat in the chair and toweled his hair while admiring the sleeping form, He wondered briefly what he should wear to sleep, and then noticed the sweatpants that Jack had on after his shower draped across the foot of the bed. That answered his question; he dropped the towel in the bathroom hamper then slid into bed naked next to Jack and turned off the light.

The snuggler in Jack immediately sidled up to Daniel's warm body and sighed. Daniel looked at the clock; he couldn't remember the last time he had been content to go to bed at nine thirty at night. He took off his glasses and sat them next to the clock then turned to face Jack, closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.

When the screaming started, it ripped Daniel from his dream of walking the decks of the cruise ship with Jack in the moonlight. It took him a moment to understand what was going on, why he was suddenly awake; when the second scream came he knew what was happening. He rolled over and turned on the light then reached for Jack.

Jack was thrashing and flailing in his sleep. The long legs kicked out at tormentors only Jack could see, and as he touched him Daniel was slapped away.

"JACK! It's a dream. Wake up. Come on Jack, wake up... JACK!"

The second time his name was called O'Neill's eyes opened and frantically scanned the room, trying to figure out where he was.

"Its okay, Jack. It was a nightmare, you're home, and you're okay." Daniel watched as the bounding pulse in Jack's neck slowed and he took several deep breaths to get himself under control. Then he looked over at Daniel.

"Danny?"

"I'm okay, Jack. You didn't hurt me."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm very sure. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Where were you?"

"I dunno, it was all mixed up..."

Daniel took his glasses off and turned off the light, then slid back down and opened his arms, Jack moved into his embrace and almost miraculously, kept talking.

"... I was in the marketplace on Desarta, and back in Iraq." Daniel kissed the top of his head and Jack kissed the warm chest next to his face.

Then he kissed the closest nipple.

Then he licked the same nipple as his hand drifted lower and wove into the wiry curls at Daniel's crotch. Daniel sighed at the sensation, and then sighed again in frustration as Jack's head followed his hand down Daniel's body and awoke the sleeping dragon.

There would be no more talking tonight.

Jack was back into his zero five thirty habit again. He had showered and made coffee then returned to the bedroom were Daniel was still asleep.

"Hey sleepy head." Jack sat on the side of the bed and rubbed the sleeping man's arm.

"Hmmm?"

"Come on Danny, time to get up. Look I brought you some coffee." Jack pulled him up and Daniel finally opened his eyes, first accepting his glasses and then the mug of coffee from Jack. He sipped carefully and then leaned across the mug for a kiss, rewarding Jack with a broad smile.

"Come on you get up and shower while I make the bed." Jack took the half empty mug away and pulled on Daniel's arm.

Daniel mumbled something, then got out of bed and grabbing his mug, headed for the bathroom. Jack wondered if he would take the mug in the shower with him and then shook his head and went about his task. By the time Daniel was done his shower and dressed, Jack was reading the paper.

"Ready?" Jack looked up.

"Uh, well, I guess so, I kinda wanted another cup of coffee first."

"Yep, gotcha covered." Jack placed an already filled stainless steel travel mug on the table.

"Well then, I guess I'm ready."

Jack drove Daniel's Range Rover while Daniel sipped at his coffee and watched the early morning sun paint the first touches of autumn on the Colorado landscape.

"Daniel?"

Daniel turned towards Jack.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about... moving in with you."

Jack's face lit up.

"Really? That's great! When?"

"Well, my lease is up at the end of the year. I'll have to put a lot into storage."

"We could always look for a house."

"Don't you already OWN that one?"

"Yeah, but if we got another we could decorate it together."

"I LIKE your house, Jack. It's always been more my home than even my own apartment. I think we can manage just fine."

"You sure, cause it wouldn't bother me."

"I'm sure. But thanks for asking."

Back inside the SGC they moved to the commissary for breakfast then Daniel moved to his office and Jack headed for Hammond's office to get the CQ report from Stan Kovacek. It had been an uneventful night. SG Three kept their check in and reported that all was quiet at the Alpha Site the only thing of interest that had happened since he had left was that Lieutenant Haesler from the armory had taken a tumble off a ladder and broken his arm. The arm had been set and the Lieutenant was resting comfortably in the infirmary and would probably be discharged today.

Jack started to go to his office, but was stopped by Kovacek who reported that Hammond had all of Jack's remaining paperwork moved into his office so he could be closer to the control room in case he was needed.

Jack went into Hammond's office and sat down and began to look over the mission briefing for SG Five. When Airman Gilardi delivered the coffee service for the briefing she knocked on the office door and Jack waved her in. She carried a plate containing a huge, warm muffin and a large glass of cold milk and sat them on the desk next to Jack.

"Airman?" O'Neill looked up at her from his work.

"With the compliments of Master Sergeant Franco, sir. He wanted you to have a little snack to keep you going until lunch. He said to tell you that if you can't make it down to lunch he'll have a tray sent up to you here, just call him."

Jack shook his head and smiled. "Thank you Airman, and thank Master Sergeant Franco for me. Tell him if things get ugly I might just do that, otherwise I WILL see him at lunch... dismissed."

"Yes sir I will. Thank you sir and sir?"

"Yes, Airman?"

"Welcome back sir."

"Thank you Airman, now if you'll excuse me... my milk's getting warm."

Jack reached for the glass as the smiling airman left the office.

The briefing with SG Five went quickly and although Jack was more used to being on the receiving end of these than the giving end he fell into the role easily. He stood in the control room as Sergeant Davis dialed up P8R-150 and he and Major Knoble watched as the MALP confirmed that the mission was still a go and no hostiles were evident. Then he watched SG Five depart through the event horizon, the tiniest of worries niggling in the back of his mind.

He went back to Hammond's office and finished off the accumulated paperwork and got up and stretched. It was noon and he was hungry so he'd better put in an appearance at the commissary before Sergeant Franco decided to make good on his threat to deliver his meals. He nearly ran headlong into Daniel in the hallway.

"Jack!"

"Daniel."

"I was coming to get you for lunch."

"Well, I was coming to get you for the same reason." Jack waved his arm in the appropriate direction and Daniel turned and they walked towards the commissary.

When they entered the commissary, O'Neill made sure that everyone knew he was there.

"Yes, ladies and gentleman... he's here! You can all make your reports to Doctor Fraiser now...I'm having lunch!"

At the uproar of laughter among the commissary patrons Master Sergeant Franco came out of the kitchen to see what the noise was all about. O'Neill looked around and then up at the benign countenance that was Franco's face and grinned.

"SO, Sergeant... what have you and Doctor Fraiser planned for me?" He draped an arm around the Mess Sergeant and strolled towards the steam tables, snagging a tray on his way. He turned briefly, "Come along Doctor Jackson... you wouldn't want to miss the show, would you!"

Daniel picked up a tray and followed shaking his head and laughing.

When the klaxon for gate activation sounded, Jack was out the door before his empty tray hit the floor.

Chapter 31: You know you've landed gear up when it takes full power to taxi

Jack was in the control room in short order, looking only slightly winded.

"Do we have an IDC code sergeant?"

"Yes, sir it's the Tok'ra."

"Oh swell, just in time for lunch too! Get out the good plates and silver, sergeant and open the iris."

"Yes, sir." Walter Davis smiled and opened the iris. Jack bounded down the steps as Carter, Jackson and Teal'c entered the control room.

"DAMN! He's fast!" Jackson muttered and followed him down the steps.

Jack greeted the two Tok'ra at the bottom of the ramp and Jacob and Aldwin both shook his hand and told them how glad they were to see him.

"You mean alive, don't you?" His meal interrupted Jack was feeling just a little snarky.

Jacob sighed, "Yes, Jack... alive. Where's Hammond?"

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, Jacob. But Hammond's on leave."

"You're in charge." It was a statement and NOT a question.

Jack smiled. "I'm in charge... funny, huh?... SOO, what brings the Tok'ra to our backwards little planet?"

Jacob sighed and shook his head; he knew the next part was NOT going to be easy. "I don't suppose you could call him back?"

"Not without a note from God, why?"

Jacob waved his hand towards the gateroom door. "Your office please, Colonel?"

"Sure, why not?" O'Neill led the way shrugging at the questioning look that Daniel gave him.

Jack held the door as Jacob and Aldwin entered Hammond's office and rolled his eyes at Daniel and Carter as they looked on curiously. The two Tok'ra took up seats in front of the desk as Jack slid somewhat uncomfortably into Hammond's chair.

"So, Jacob?"

"Okay Jack, you're going to have to recall George."

"Like I said, Jacob, not without a note from God. Now what's going on?"

Jacob looked at Aldwin and then back to Jack.

"We need you to go back to Desarta." Jacob held his breath and waited for the explosion.

Jack leaned forward slightly in the chair.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Jacob took a deep breath and sighed.

"We need you to go back to Desarta to extract Boch. And before you ask... it's for the same reasons that we needed you to go in the first place only this time you won't be alone."

"No."

"Jack, we found an antidote to Roshna. Boch's work on Desarta is done. We promised him going in that if we found the antidote we would pull him out and allow him to be the one to take it to his people."

"How nice... so go in and get him."

"We never got another operative in there, the only contact he has had since Ithak was killed has been you. Yours is the only face he'll recognize, you KNOW that."

"What IS IT with you people... how much time do you spend in researching ways to torture me?" Jack was livid and rapidly losing his cool.

"Jack, if we can liberate Boch's planet from Roshna addiction they will join in the fight against the Goua'ld... it will help everyone in the long run."

"Everyone except ME of course. Maybe they'll be able to finish me off this time... that would be nice!" O'Neill was up and pacing now.

"Like I said... this time you would not be going alone."

"Oh really and who gets to come along for this ride? Aldwin?"

"Yes." Aldwin said quietly.

"Ahh, yes, Aldwin... I understand that you were on Desarta the last time too, went looking for me, did ya? See anything... INTERESTING... while you were there?"

Aldwin looked down at his hands. "I don't know what you are referring to, Colonel."

Jack sat down.

"Yeah, right.... Well Jacob, I guess we better call Hammond in because I'm NOT volunteering for this one... as a matter of fact, I was about to retire... this afternoon in fact." O'Neill sat back and folded his hands across his chest still staring at Jacob with wild eyes.

"Jack will you just listen?"

"NO!"

"We've adjusted the stargate on Wella so we can gate directly there from here."

"Wella?" Jack asked.

"The planet we went to before... where we waited for you."

"Ahh, lovely planet, what little I saw of it. I wanted to stay and see the sights, but I was NEARLY DEAD when I got back from Desarta and couldn't spare the time."

"Ja-ack" Jacob's patience was wearing thin as well. "You know this mission is no where near as dangerous as the other. Basically all you have to do is go in, find Boch, and come back."

"That's what you said about the last one too."

"I think we need to call George now."

O'Neill reached for the phone. "Oh yes, by all means let's CALL dear old George." Jack started to dial.

"I don't like this, something's not right. Jack's angry, very angry."

"O'Neill does indeed not look happy." Teal'c commiserated.

The other three members of SG One sat in the briefing room watching what they could of the meeting in Hammond's office. After a while, not much was said and the three men just seemed to glare at each other as if waiting for something. An hour and a half after the talking stopped that something came storming down the corridor, through the briefing room and nearly yanked the door to his office off its hinges.

Hammond was NOT a happy camper.

"This is NOT good... This is not good." Daniel shook his head and muttered the phrase over and over.

"We don't know that, Daniel." Sam tried to reassure him.

He glared at her. "Hammond's SUPPOSED to be on leave, Sam. Do you think he just came back to say hi and thanks for dropping by?"

Sam sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "No, I suppose not."

"General Hammond is using the red telephone." Teal'c reported drawing all their attention back to the office window.

Fifteen minutes after Hammond hung up the red phone, a very angry Jack O'Neill stormed out of the office with Aldwin in tow, carrying the same large bag he had brought through the stargate with him. The rest of SG One scrambled to catch them and did, just outside the door of SG One's locker room. Jack froze when he heard Daniel's voice.

"Jack? What's going on?"

O'Neill turned to Aldwin and the rest of SG One.

"I need a few minutes alone with Daniel, please?"

Aldwin froze in his tracks next to Carter and Teal'c as Jack led Daniel inside and closed the door, throwing the latch.

"Daniel..." Jack gathered him into his arms. "... Please don't be upset. I have to go back to Desarta."

"NO!" Daniel jumped back out of Jack's arms and stared at the expressionless face. "WHY?" Now he was shouting.

"The Tok'ra found a cure for Roshna addiction. I have to get Boch out of there, it seem the other system lords are going to attack Ahriman."

"Why can't they send someone else... after what happened the last time... you can't go back there, Jack, please?"

"I have to. They never managed to get another operative in there; I'm still the only face he knows. They promised him."

"And what about the promises you made to me? Jesus, Jack, we've only just found each other, I don't want to risk losing you."

"I won't be going alone this time, Daniel. Aldwin is going too."

Daniel made wild gestures with his hands. "Oh well, that makes me feel SO MUCH better about the whole thing... ALDWIN is going! Woo Hoo!"

"Danny, please?" Now Jack just looked sad and Daniel dove back into his arms and started to kiss his face, his hands on either cheek, his thumbs stroking wildly at Jack's eyebrows and cheekbones.

"I love you, this just isn't fair."

Jack's head dipped and his face nuzzled the side of Daniel's neck.

"I know, Danny, I know."

Daniel pulled Jack's head up and they started to kiss.

These kisses were different than any they had ever shared. They were hard kisses, bruising the lips, searching deep as if to extract ever ounce from the other that was possible. They were desperate kisses that tried to convey all the love and passion in one moment, kisses meant to last, to leave swollen souvenirs of the other's lips. In moments they were salty kisses as searching lips dragged quiet tears into the fray, spurring them on. Finally, Jack had the presence of mind to pull back, his own lips swollen and face streaked with tears to look into the other half of his soul with his own swollen and bruised mouth and tear streaked face.

"Aren't we both just a couple of drama queens?" He tried to joke forcing a smile.

"Yeah, I guess we are."

"I gotta let Aldwin in now he's got our clothes. I have to change."

"More black leather?"

"No doubt."

"Maybe you should go wash your face first. You're all... streaky." Daniel motioned to his own face in demonstration.

"Uh, yeah. You too." They went into the bathroom and splashed cold water into their faces in hope of disguising suppressed emotion. Then Jack went to the door.

"I'll look for you in the gateroom?"

"No, I won't be there, Jack. Look up to the briefing room window. I won't cry in front of all these people." Daniel started out the door. "Ti amo, Jack. Please be careful."

"I will... Ti amo, Danny."

As Aldwin entered Daniel grabbed his arm. "You BETTER take care of him, or I'll be all over you and you will WISH you were dead."

Sam wrapped one arm around Daniel's shoulder and led him away.

"Come on we'll go to the gateroom."

"No, Sam. I want to go to the briefing room; he knows where I'll be."

Forty five minutes later Jacob, Aldwin, Jack, and Teal'c stood at the base of the ramp waiting for the wormhole to open. Teal'c had talked Jacob into allowing him to accompany them to Wella although he would not be allowed to go to Desarta with Jack and Aldwin.

Hammond shook Jack's hand, and held it, and Jack looked up into ice blue ices that brimmed with tears.

"I'm sorry, Jack. They wouldn't listen."

"It's alright, general. I know you did everything you could..." Jack sighed and bit a puffy lip to keep from breaking down. "... But you have to know... I think this will be the last time."

"We'll talk when you come home, son."

"Yes sir, I hope so sir."

With a final glance up at the briefing room window, Jack mouthed the words 'Ti amo' and plunged into the shimmering cold.

Daniel and Sam fled to Sam's lab; it was closer and contained fewer breakables. She knew he would not leave the mountain as long as Jack was out there. She called Janet and explained and the doctor knocked at the door a little later with coffee and food and just in case, a few of her special pills. They did manage to get Daniel to eat and drink and Janet made sure that he was the one that got the dosed coffee. The caffeine in the coffee never had a chance and Sam draped a small blanket over the sleeping man, and turned the lights down.

O'Neill and Aldwin stepped from the wormhole into brilliant sunshine, and crisp air that reminded Jack of late October in Colorado. There were no Jaffa at the stargate this time as there had been when each of them had come through before. Jack crossed his fingers and they headed towards the village.

At the edge of the town, Jack stopped and pulled Aldwin to face him.

"We need to stay as far this side of the marketplace as we can. I really don't want to chance running into those two scumbags again."

"I understand."

They moved cautiously onward. They found a stall that sold tea, on the perimeter of the marketplace and settled at a table to watch for any sign of Boch.

It was afternoon on the planet and Jack assumed if they kept with the pattern he had seen when he was there last, some of the soldiers would be coming into the marketplace soon. He prayed to whoever was listening that Boch's would be the only face he recognized... or that recognized him.

The afternoon wore on and Jack started to become increasingly nervous as it became apparent that they would have to spend the night on Desarta. He was also very hungry and finally after finishing their second pitcher of tea they decided to go back to the Inn where Jack had stayed on his prior ill-fated visit. Jack stopped at the stall where he had purchased the earrings and made another purchase using nearly everything in his purse. The action had Aldwin wondering if he was alright.

Jack shoved the cloth containing his prize into his coat pocket and they headed for the Inn. Aldwin followed Jack inside and they sat down at a table. The innkeeper eyed Jack suspiciously and came over carrying a pitcher and two cups, studying Jack carefully.

"Shukran, Halas, where is Mahdis?"

"It IS you! We thought you dead. By Ahriman! We thought they had killed you!"

"Halas, I would prefer they NOT know I have returned."

Halas agreed and when Jack mentioned that they were hungry, Halas was off with a smile and moved into what they assumed was the kitchen of the inn. A few minutes later a smiling Halas walked behind Mahdis as she solemnly approached the table with a tray of food. Mahdis became so excited when she saw who was sitting there that she nearly dropped the tray and Halas moved in for the rescue. The innkeeper placed the large tray of food on the table as Mahdis leapt into Jack's open arms.

She stood next to him and relayed how distraught she had been at what was done to him and how sure she was that he had died and her father and the Commander had lied to her when they swore he was alive when last they saw him. He pulled the package from his coat pocket and called Halas over.

Aldwin was mystified. O'Neill obviously had some kind of connection to these people and when Jack handed the package that he pulled from his pocket to the innkeeper Aldwin saw the little girl's face light up.

Halas unfolded the cloth wrap and pulled the gold necklace from it and held it up for Mahdis to inspect. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened and a wide smile formed that brightened the entire room. The necklace was wide and was merely a succession of gold coins affixed together like a collar that draped down from the neck to lie across the chest.

Jack explained to Mahdis that while the necklace was too old for her to wear now, it would provide an ample dowry for her and an impressive headdress and necklace for her wedding. Halas permitted her to wear it at her and Jack's insistence until her bedtime and then she would return it to her father for safekeeping. An impressive piece, large even for a woman, the very bottom row of coins came nearly to the small girl's waist, resembling in an abstract way a chain mail cravat. Mahdis moved quickly to prepare a room for her guests as Halas thanked Jack for his kindness.

Jack showed Aldwin where the hamam was and after eating they retired to the room that Mahdis had prepared although Jack was sure there was no way he could sleep on this planet.

Aldwin slept restlessly, Jack as predicted, didn't sleep at all. The fear of the nightmares this place would bring was almost as frightening as the possibilities of the mission itself ending badly. Jack washed up with the water provided by Mahdis and woke Aldwin when the marketplace began to stir.

They breakfasted on the Turkish-style coffee and nut bread with goat cheese, just as Mahdis had provided for Jack every morning of his last visit.

Then, just as Jack had done his last visit took up a table to watch the marketplace. This time they stayed well out of view of the marketplace itself.

Aldwin dearly wanted to stretch his legs but was reluctant to wander too far from O'Neill's side. He knew the soldier was not comfortable no matter how he behaved towards Mahdis and her father and did not want to add to his anxiety by leaving him alone on this planet.

As early afternoon approached Mahdis returned to refill their pitcher of tea and leave a board of bread and cheese with a small bowl of fruit for them. She smiled and blushed when Jack again complemented her on her efforts and he warned her that he and his companion might disappear suddenly and she was not to worry if that happened.

When the first raucous sounds of soldiers entering the marketplace were heard, Jack tensed noticeably.

"Here we go." This time when Jack turned towards Aldwin he was a different man having slipped into a kind of zone Aldwin had never seen before. His face was nearly unrecognizable, eyes emotionless and hard, the soft gold glint to them gone. His body was stiller than Aldwin had ever seen too, the man who seemed to constantly be moving in some fashion was suddenly motionless, even his fingers stopped moving. Aldwin didn't know if this was good or bad, he just knew it scared him even more than the mission itself.

Aldwin detected a great relief run through O'Neill when Boch walked into view in the company of several others. He stood carefully and motioned for Aldwin to remain at the table then moved towards the front of the Inn where Boch would be able to see him instantly if he glanced in that direction.

Aris was surprised and relieved to see the Tau'ri Colonel. He had worried that he was only returning the soldier's body to his people for burial, thinking there was little chance that Jack had actually survived his last visit to Desarta.

They approached each other like two prizefighters assessing the opposition.

"O'Neill."

"Boch."

"It is good to see you alive; I really didn't think you'd make it."

"Yeah, well... I like to disappoint... it's time to go, Boch."

"Go?"

"Leave, your mission is a success. We're your ride home."

As Jack's words sank in you could see the excitement at the thought just seeping out a little around the edges as Boch fought to contain his feelings.

"When?"

"Now. Let's go. There are folks who have plans for your boss and we don't want to be here when they happen."

"You aren't trying to deceive me are you?"

"Boch you've been nothing but a pain in my mikta ever since the first time we met. Do you REALLY think I'd come back here... after what happened the last time... if it weren't important?"

Boch smiled and clapped O'Neill on the shoulder.

"No, you're right about that... I can't see you doing this out of any sentimentality towards me OR Desarta. How are we leaving?"

"By the stargate."

Boch shook his head, "Never one to take the easy way out, were you? Well, I suppose it's worth a try, let's go."

While Jack and Aris were talking Aldwin watched as Boch's companions moved to the various food stalls and made purchases then towards the brothel, as they reached the door a couple turned and shouted.

"Come on Aris! There won't be anything left for you, if you don't hurry!"

Boch turned, smiled and waved.

"I'll catch up, just start without me!"

His companions disappeared into the brothel.

"Aldwin, we're leaving... NOW!" Jack hissed at the Tok'ra, Aldwin nodded and stood, pushing back the chair where he'd been sitting.

When Mahdis saw the chair push back she instinctively came towards the table to see if her special guests needed anything, she came into Jack's view as he turned towards

Jack's heart ached that he could not extract his favorite hostess and her father from the dangers that would befall Desarta he only hoped that the small amounts of gold he had given them would be enough to ensure their safety. He beckoned Mahdis towards him and leaned down to speak to her.

"Boch, give me your purse."

"What?"

"I said give me your purse, you too Aldwin." The two men removed their purses and handed them to Jack who removed his as well and handed all three to a wide eyed Mahdis, then leaned in further and whispered into her ear. She looked confused and then frightened, but bit her bottom lip and nodded as Jack continued to speak to her. He pulled back and looked her in the face, then tilted her chin and kissed her on the forehead. She gathered the three purses in her apron and held it tight to her chest and stood and watched as the three set off away from the marketplace and back towards the stargate.

"What was that all about?" Boch asked as they walked towards the stargate.

"I told her to tell her father to pack up, take only the money and what they could carry and get the hell out of there... today.""O'Neill, you old softy!" Boch joked, his stride slowing.

"No more than you, Boch. Now will you please get a move on, the sooner I'm off this dirtball planet the better I'll feel."

Raza and Yaphe had missed the group when they left the barracks and as they entered the Marketplace they saw Aris and a familiar looking figure walking away with another man.

"It's him!"

"You're crazy Yaphe, it can't be, that mamhoon surely died."

"How can you know?"

"I know because I sheathed his own knife in his gut, that's how, he would not have survived the night."

"I tell you Raza, if it is NOT him then it IS his twin brother. Do you think I could forget that face... or that silver hair?"

"I think you're seeing specters again."

"That may be, but I want to see where they are going. If it IS the same mamhoon, then Aris is trying to keep him for himself and I want another taste, see how my zib calls for him already?" Yaphe motioned down at his rapidly bulging crotch.

"And if it is NOT the same mamhoon? What will you do?"

"I will watch where they go and when Boch leaves take him anyway." Yaphe grinned.

"Oh well, of course! If it IS the same mamhoon, he is most certainly not intact... I never got to trim his zib, but it was garroted enough that I'm certain he lost it or at least use of it."

Yaphe shook his head. "I don't need HIS zib to work, only mine!"

They cautiously followed the three men down the road towards the stargate.

"What is it Colonel?" Aldwin had been watching Jack closely since they left the village and he was becoming increasingly tense.

"We're being followed."

"What! Where?" Aldwin started to turn, but was grabbed by Boch and O'Neill and kept walking instead.

"Can you see how many?" Boch asked.

"More than one is all I can tell... is there anyone that might be suspicious of you?" O'Neill and Boch spoke in low tones now over the head of the shorter Aldwin walking between them.

"I don't think so, but there are so many mercenaries in Ahriman's service that it is very hard to tell. That's why we tended to travel in the same small groups... The stargate is just over that next rise, and then all we need to contend with are the soldiers guarding it."

"There were no guards on the gate when we came through." Aldwin commented.

"THERE WEREN'T?" Boch's head snapped around to face Aldwin and O'Neill.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that." Jack said quietly.

"You FORGOT? You're trying to get me killed aren't you?" Boch hissed.

"They're getting close to the stargate Yaphe, if you're going to take him it had better be now, or you'll be battling with the gate guards over who gets him first."

"Yeah, you're right let's go." Yaphe started to trot towards the road and Raza followed him out of the scrub.

"Here they come... let me handle this Jack."

"Fine, whatever just make it quick."

"BOCH! WAIT!" Yaphe called and Aris and Aldwin stopped and turned, Jack stopped but didn't turn, just stopped dead in his tracks.

He knew that voice.

Chapter 32: Respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education

Every hair on Jack's body stood on end at the sound of that voice and a secret shudder ran through his mind when the other voice piped up.

"Where are you going, Aris? Yaphe thinks you're running off with his favorite mamhoon, I told him you would never do that... you ALWAYS share with your men."

"It IS him, isn't it?... Jacque that is you!"

"O'Neill?" Aldwin said softly, looking at the statue of Jack who had still not turned around."

"I TOLD you that was him, Raza! And who is this one, Aris... another pretty one... they are so fragile."

Raza chimed in. "I am glad to see you recovered, Jacque. You were our favorite!"

O'Neill turned slowly, deliberately relaxing as he looked into the eyes of the two who nearly killed him, his expressionless face slowly changed into a smiling one and suddenly Aldwin was as terrified of this avatar as he had been puzzled by the one that welcomed the little girl with a smile and hug.

Aris could only guess at O'Neill's next move... but he knew what his would be and he questioned the two interlopers.

"So I suppose you brought the entire squad with you? We came out here so we could be alone, you know... I didn't want to share this time."

"But Aris, you have TWO this time, surely you would give your comrades a taste?" Yaphe stepped closer and Aldwin's mind summoned his symbiote to take over to keep him from fleeing in terror.

Jack sighed, shook his head and smiled then stepped closer to Raza even as Yaphe moved in on Aldwin.

"You two can't take care of your toys; you tend to... break them. THAT'S why I asked Aris to come to OUR camp..." Jack smiled gently and reached out a hand to softly stroke Raza's face.

Raza went for the bait and stepped in closer.

"I think we can accommodate two more Aris, after all, there ARE two of us." Jack said softly still smiling.

Yaphe stepped closer to Aldwin. With his symbiote now in control Aldwin smiled and lifted a hand towards Yaphe's face drawing him in even closer.

"You know, I'm glad now that you didn't die, although how you could recover from a knife that deep is beyond my knowledge. And how is my little friend then..." Raza gently stroked at Jack's leather clad package. "... Has he recovered from my attentions as well?"

At the discovery that this was the one that had tried to mutilate and then kill him, Jack relaxed even more. His mind shifted into the realm of conditioning and away from reasoning, a sort of lower mental gear, developed after years of dangerous operations where survival was not always expected, its sole purpose was to allow him to do what needed to be done to ensure his own safety.

Jack smiled and assuming the aspect and attitude of a lover leaned into Raza and framed his face in his hands. He kissed him softly on the lips and stepped back; he smiled and glanced over at Yaphe who was leering at him and reached up his right hand to stroke Yaphe's face.

Raza never saw the right handed blow that drove his nasal cartilage up into his brain and before Yaphe could open his mouth Jack's arm went around his shoulders, his body followed and he snapped the big man's neck with a single powerful twist.

Boch had been poised to move in on Yaphe but Jack's preemptive strike made his participation unnecessary. He and Aldwin stood and gawked as Jack looked at the bodies at his feet and shrugged off the dark mantle with a few deep cleansing breaths.

Aldwin's mouth slowly dropped open as he took in the split second silent carnage that had occurred in front of him.

"I'm impressed, O'Neill. But I really would have helped." Boch explained.

His conditioned brain having done its work Jack's reasoning mind now kicked back in.

"Yeah well, you can help now; we need to ditch these bodies before someone comes along." Jack waved to the corpses at his feet as he tried to wipe the splatter of Raza's blood from his face and chest. Aldwin and Boch dragged the bodies into the bushes and scuffed away the drag marks. Then Boch took his canteen and spilled some water onto Jack's hand rinsing the blood away.

"Thank you." Jack said quietly.

"No... thank YOU." Boch smiled.

O'Neill looked up. "Okay boys, follow the yellow brick road."

Aldwin and Boch just looked confused until O'Neill motioned in the direction that they had been walking.

"You are a very strange person." Aldwin shook his head.

There was only a short walk left to the stargate, but Jack couldn't quite get rid of the feeling of impending doom. They moved off the road and into the brush where they could scan the area around the gate.

"That's strange there should be a detachment of guards here..." Boch shook his head.

"I thought that was strange too. The last time there were eight or ten guards."

"Twelve, there's usually twelve. But we don't post less than ten; you never know who may come through."

"What about the point of origin reader?" Aldwin asked.

"That just tells us where the travelers are coming from, not if they are hostile or not... and all but a few addresses are locked out of this system so they can only come from certain places."

"That can be altered..." Aldwin started to explain. "...When Colonel O'Neill was returned to us on Wella the last time..."

"You have ME to thank for that by the way Jack." Boch grinned.

"Oh, yeah, thanks loads." Jack said sarcastically. "Next time if you could come back a little sooner it would help."

"Sorry." Boch shrugged.

"As I was saying... when Colonel O'Neill was returned to us on Wella, we altered the stargate control device so that we could dial any address and receive any address. It was a simple matter."

"Well as long as THIS one can take us back to Wella I'm happy... okay, we move in but keep your eyes open I don't like this. Aldwin you get to the DHD and start dialing. I'd feel a lot better about this if I had a zat, it smells like a trap."

"You humans speak so... colorfully." Aris shook his head and started down the hill towards the stargate.

They managed to just get down the hill and start dialing the gate when the troops appeared out of nowhere.

"Where the hell did they come from?"

The squad commander walked up to Boch fingering a small device on his belt.

"Where exactly are you going, Boch?"

"We were just going to our camp for a little entertainment." Jack walked towards Boch and draped his arm around the man's waist.

"And where is that?" All weapons were still trained on the group.

"On Wella." Aldwin chimed in and moved seductively towards one of the guards, who promptly stepped back.

"You know the rules, Boch. You can't leave Desarta without permission of our god, Ahriman."

"Of course I KNOW that. I have the document here." Aris started to check hi pockets.

"I think you put it in the other pocket." Jack suggested smoothly.

The guards went to their weapons immediately, as another group of armed men came over the rise, a very regal looking Jaffa with a gold tattoo leading the way.

"He will not find it, because it does not exist." The First Prime shouted as he came closer.

"Ar-is?" Jack warned and then remembered that the First Prime would be able to sense Aldwin's symbiote.

The First Prime stepped closer and his brow furrowed around his tattoo.

"One of them is Goua'ld... THEY ARE SPIES!... TAKE THEM!!"

Jack rolled his eyes and put up his hands as the soldiers closed in, and reached for the three men.

Their hands came away empty as a blinding white light first engulfed their prisoners and then departed taking them with it.

Jack thrust the hands he had been holding up into the air.

"YES!... Perfect timing!"

Aldwin and Boch looked around at their surroundings, confused.

"O'Neil?" Boch questioned.

"It's the Asgaard, bless their little grey butts!..." He started to shout and headed for the door of the compartment. "... THOR! Buddy! Another great save!... come on, I'll introduce you." He motioned for Boch and Aldwin to follow him as he walked towards the bridge of the vessel.

The door slid open and they walked onto the bridge.

"Greetings, O'Neill... I am Gondul, welcome to the Sleipnir. I am sorry that I was delayed I had little information on your whereabouts."

"That's okay... Gon.. Gondul. We just appreciate you dropping by when you did. And just why DID you drop by... by the by?" Jack parked himself on the edge of a console and waited.

"I have been assigned as your protector until Supreme Commander Thor's return."

Jack was stupefied.

"Excuse me?... my protector?"

"Yes."

"You've been assigned to ME, Jack O'Neill? Jack O'Neill with two ells... as MY protector?"

"Yes O'Neill, that is correct."

Jack looked at Aldwin and Boch with a wide smile.

"Oh boy!..." Boch turned away from Jack's grin, rolling his eyes towards Aldwin. "... Now he'll be an even bigger pain in the mikta!"

Jack settled in with a smile. "Sooo, Gandalf..."

"Gondul."

"Sorry, Gondul... where are we headed?"

"Back to your home world, O'Neill."

"Wait! We can't... I mean we have people waiting for us on Wella."

"Is that where you were going?"

"Yes."

"Do you know the symbols for the address?"

"He does." Jack pointed at Aldwin.

"Please enter them on that small panel there." Gondul pointed and Aldwin moved in and stated to enter the sequence.

"I don't have the symbol for the point of origin." Aldwin looked worried.

"It is not needed. We only need the spatial coordinates we have the seventh.

Gondul fingered a small panel on the arm of his chair and they watched the stars blur. A short time later the blurring ceased and Gondul spoke again.

"I will return your companions here, we will continue on to Earth." Before Jack could speak again, Aldwin and Boch were gone and the stars were blurring again.

"Ya know, you could have dropped me off with them."

"I could not. Supreme Commander Thor has charged me with your protection and that includes returning you to Earth. We only regret that Commander Thor learned of your plight too late to prevent your inclusion in this endeavor. We were exchanging guardians at the time, and learned too late that you were being put at risk."

"Otherwise?..." Jack was really curious now.

"It would not have been allowed." Gondul replied.

"And why is that?"

Gondul turned his large ebony eyes towards O'Neill.

"You ARE O'Neill of Earth?"

"Yes." Jack nodded.

"You are the chosen of the Asgaard; your life is to be protected at all costs."

"Now see... THAT'S the part I don't get!"

Gondul blinked slowly.

"I am not permitted to explain further. Perhaps when Commander Thor returns you will ask him?"

"You better believe it." Jack pinched the bridge of his nose, he had been running on adrenalin for some time now and as it wore off the fatigue was taking its toll.

"O'Neill, at the end of this corridor there is a chamber with a place where you may rest. It will take some time yet before we are in a position to return you to your people."

"Yeah, that sounds good to me." He stood and stretched then headed for what he was sure would a very uncomfortable bed.

Jack was surprised the bunk offered by Gondul was not only long enough but it was fairly comfortable too. He quickly fell asleep.

When the party returned from Wella, Daniel was waiting at the base of the ramp. He was still waiting when the wormhole disengaged. Then, he became frantic.

"Jacob, where the hell is Jack?"

"The Asgaard took him, Doctor Jackson." Aldwin replied before Jacob could say a word.

"Wha... the Asgaard?" Daniel looked at Carter and Teal'c.

"Was he injured?"

"He was fine doctor. They extracted us from... some difficulty at the gate on Desarta and took us to their ship. When I pointed out that there were people waiting for us on Wella, they sent Boch and I back there."

"And Jack?"

"He stayed onboard with the Asgaard."

On board the Sleipnir, Jack slept. It was a mercifully dreamless sleep, aided by Asgaard technology in the bunk on which he lay. On the bridge Gondul spoke with his supreme commander.

"O'Neill is resting now, Commander."

"Good, have you been able to find a place for the device?"

"Yes, Commander Thor, O'Neill still bears a crude metal plate splinting one of the bones in his right ankle the device will be undectable there by any technology but ours."

"Good, proceed with the implantation. I will join you in orbit of the Tau'ri home world.""Yes, commander."

Eight hours later, a still very tired Jack O'Neill and his guardian, Gondul appeared in Hammond's office, seriously startling the general.

"JESUS, JACK!"

"Uh, sorry general, I told him it would be a bad idea to just appear like that. General Hammond this is Gondul, Commander of the Asgaard vessel Sleipnir, he's my GUARDIAN sir."

"Guardian?"

Another blinding light and now there were two Asgaard.

"Thor! Buddy!"

"Greetings O'Neill, General Hammond."

"Please, sit down." Hammond stood and motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. Gondul and Thor each took a chair and O'Neill sat on the corner of Hammond's desk.

"O'Neill I am relieved to see you unharmed."

"Thanks to Gondul." Jack motioned towards the other alien. It worried him that he was becoming so good at telling the Asgaard apart, but he'd take small favors wherever possible.

"It was unfortunate that the Tok'ra mission came as we were exchanging guardians."

"I don't understand." Hammond looked intensely at Thor now.

Daniel wanted to talk to Hammond to find out if he had any clue why Jack had not returned. He came to the briefing room and peeked in the window to Hammond's office. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Jack O'Neill sitting on the corner of the desk one foot on the floor, one bouncing in the air. He was around the corner and through the door in an instant.

"JACK!" He wanted to throw himself at the man but found the tiniest bit of self control and didn't.

"DANIEL!" Jack was off the desk and across the room, standing in front of Jackson looking exhausted but delicious in black leather.

"Are you okay?" Daniel's hand headed for Jack's cheek but stopped at his forearm.

"I'm alright, Daniel."

"GENTLEMEN!" Hammond called loud enough to get their attention. "We, were having a meeting, Doctor Jackson."

"Oh god, general... I'm sorry." Then Daniel looked down to see the two Asgaard sitting there. "My apologies, I'll wait... out... just outside."

Jack motioned for Daniel to stop as he started out of the room.

"Thor, do you guys need me here?"

"No, O'Neill your presence is not required. I do however wish for you to have this communication device. In the event you require our assistance, it will summon the commander of the guardian vessel in orbit."

Jack took the small smooth device and tossed it in his palm. "Sweet. And how does it work again?"

"You hold it out and speak."

"Ah, yeah, I remember now. Cool!" Jack popped the device in his pocket. "I'm just going to go..." Jack motioned towards the door and Hammond opted to give him direction.

"You're just going to go to the infirmary for your post mission exam and then get some rest; we'll talk later, Colonel."

"Yes, sir, thank you, sir, and thank you two as well, perfect timing Gondul. Thor buddy, thanks for you help and the cell phone." Jack patted the pocket where he had put the communication device.

Daniel smiled and gave a little wave and they were out the door.

Between Hammond's office and the exit there was a door, the small closet held extra audio-visual equipment for the briefing room. Daniel was headed for the steps, but when a strong hand grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him into the closet, he didn't put up a struggle. Jack pulled the door shut and Daniel into his arms before he could utter any protest.

"Oh god, Jack... I was so scared."

"I didn't freak, Danny... I didn't lose it." Jack leaned in and tried to swallow Daniel's tongue, as Daniel's hands went for the leather clad buttocks, under the long coat.

The kissed frantically for a few minutes, then started to rub against each other.

"Oh god, Danny, I need you so bad." The rubbing was more urgent now and finally, in desperation, Daniel opened Jack's pants and slid into a kneeling position, first rubbing his cheek up and down against the silken length, and then swallowing it to the root. He had to hold Jack in place as he wobbled, weak kneed above him and Jack reached up to grab the top of the doorframe with one hand and run his fingers through Daniel's hair with the other.

He didn't last long and Daniel swallowed the last of Jack's strength with the semen that jetted against the back of his throat. Daniel licked him clean, then tucked him away and closed his pants. When he leaned back to look up into Jack's face, Jack started his slide down the wall. Daniel rose and pulled him back up.

"Hot... tired."

"I know Jack. Can you walk?"

"Don't want to, wanna curl up here... and have a cigarette."

Daniel chuckled. "Ahh, I don't think so, let's get you to the infirmary and out of all that leather."

Daniel cautiously opened and peaked out from behind the door. Then he reached back into the closet and pulled a sated and sweaty O'Neill out by the hand.

The cool air in the corridor relieved some of Jack's discomfort and once in the infirmary Captain Bryant handed Daniel the hospital scrubs and slippers and directed him to take the colonel back into his former room to get him changed for the post mission exam.

"He looks exhausted. Are you going to be able to get him out of that outfit by yourself Doctor Jackson?"

"I'll be fine, thanks. I'll call if I need help." And Daniel closed the door, and turned to see Jack sitting on the side of the bed with his eyes closed and chuckling.

"What's so funny?"

"When have YOU ever needed help getting me OUT of clothes?"

Daniel laughed and pushed Jack backwards on the bed to remove his boots.

While Jack was having his MRI, Daniel went to the commissary and got a tray for him. Master Sergeant Franco built a plate with half a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes green beans and a two fresh from the oven yeast rolls. Then he added a dish of chocolate pudding and a piece of pumpkin pie, while pointing out to Daniel that the pie was for the colonel but the pudding was for him. Daniel shoved a cold bottle of water in each of his pockets and set off for the infirmary. He arrived back just as Jack did and sat the tray in front of him and began to empty his pockets of utensils, bottled water, salt, pepper, butter for the rolls and napkins.

"Geeze, what ELSE do you have in there, Daniel?"

"Nothing you're gonna get until we get home." Daniel gave an evil grin and picked up a spoon and the bowl of pudding.

"HEY! That's mine!"

"No, Sergeant Franco specifically said the PIE was for you and the pudding was for me."

Jack looked skeptical. "Yeah, right." Then he tucked into and made short work of the entire contents of the tray, even leaning over to see if Daniel had any pudding left in his bowl.

"Didn't they feed you at all?" Was all that Daniel got out before Janet came into the room.

"Well, Colonel. You're good to go. Everything's right where it's supposed to be... except for your hematocrit, which is right where it was when you came back to work." She closed the chart she carried and looked up.

"But I MUST INSIST, that you are NOT released to active duty. You are still restricted to light duty on base. And IF YOU EVER DISOBEY MY LAWFUL ORDER AGAIN I WILL FILE A CHARGE AGAINST YOU WITH GENERAL HAMMOND!!! Are we ENTIRELY clear here, Colonel?"

"Yes ma'am." Jack said quietly.

"Good, now you're obviously exhausted, so I'm putting you OFF DUTY for the next forty-eight hours. Go HOME... and get some SLEEP!" The last comment was directed at Daniel who put up his hands in surrender and nodded in complete agreement.

When she left Jack and Daniel sat still afraid to move for a moment. Finally Jack broke the silence.

"I need a shower."

"When we get home."

"No... I want one here. Lots more water and I don't have to wash the towels."

"Fine, come on."

Jack had showered, with Daniel as an escort. He said that he was afraid that Jack was too tired to be steady on his feet.

Jack accused him of just wanting to hang out and see him naked and wet, which was closer to the truth.

Fact was, Daniel had been so afraid that he had lost him; he refused to let Jack out of his sight until he was sure he wouldn't disappear.

When Hammond showed up in the locker room, Jack thought he was in trouble. He had just put his pants on and sat down to put on his shoes, when the general came through the door.

"General!" Jack was surprised.

"Take it easy Jack; I just thought I'd save you the walk. Fraiser told me that she's put you off duty for forty-eight hours and I agree with her. This mission was too much to ask, too soon. I'm just glad that you weren't hurt. I understand from Thor that the Tok'ra council has been informed by the Asgaard High Council that they do not appreciate the callousness with which the Tok'ra treat the members of the SGC, especially their chosen. And they have asked that their permission be sought before bringing any further mission requests to the SGC where you might be involved."

"Wow!" Daniel was reduced to single syllables, while Jack was left speechless sitting with a shoe in his hand and his mouth open.

"Also, while he was in my office at Thor's request we conferenced in the President and Thor advised him that the Asgaard were not pleased at the lack of consideration with which the Pentagon and Oval Office treat their chosen.""He didn't?" Jack managed.

"Yes... yes, he DID. So on behalf of the President and the Joint Chiefs; please accept my apologies for the lack of consideration shown towards you during these recent events." Hammond finished the apology with a broad grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "So, Jack!... go home, get some rest, and we'll try this whole vacation thing in a week or so.""Sorry about that, George."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Jack. You were practically kidnapped... again. Take him home Doctor Jackson, and I don't want to see either of you for another two days, understood?"

"No problem, General... I'll probably sleep that long." Jack finally got that shoe on and started for the other.

"No, the problem will be getting him OUT of the car when I get him home. The ride seems to put him to sleep!"

Hammond laughed and stood then waved and left.

Once again Jack was asleep before the second guardhouse and as predicted Daniel did have difficulty extracting him from the car once they got home.

Daniel locked the door and pushed Jack up the steps to the bedroom. Jack was dropping clothes once he hit the second floor and by the time he sat down on the bed all he wore was his pants and shoes. Daniel pulled the bed spread down and tugging on Jack's hand got him to move to the side of the bed. Then Daniel pulled off Jack's shoes and socks, and after fumbling a bit, his pants and shorts, grabbing the now ever present supporter at the same time and pulled them off the long legs. Jack was practically asleep sitting up, his chin was on his chest and his eyes were closed. Daniel smiled and pushed him sideways into the pillows and then picked up his legs to place them under the covers. He saw the small abrasion and bruise on Jack's right ankle and was grateful that the tiny wound was apparently, Jack's only injury this time.

He stripped off his own clothes and slid into bed next to Jack. O'Neill turned to his side and snuggled against Daniel's chest. Jackson pulled him closer and kissed the top of his head, then sighed and put his glasses on the nightstand and turned out the light.

Jack twitched and mumbled in his sleep.

"Shh, it's alright. You're home and safe... home and safe."

fin