Many Happy Returns

by Sheryl

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ass/sheryl/returns.php
Summary: Weird birthday fic

"We better get going. Mission today, remember? PX4-992."

Daniel blinked. "PX4-992?"

"Yep, the sooner we get there, the sooner we get back. I have plans for you later, birthday boy," he said with a meaningful wink.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot."

"You get first dibs on the shower. I'll go make coffee. And just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can use all the hot water."

"Thanks, Jack." Daniel stood up, stretched and glanced at the clock. 6:08, plenty of time, he thought. But, as he headed for the shower, he couldn't seem to shake the unnerving, inexplicable feeling of anxiety that was suddenly creeping over him.

~~ ** ~~

Daniel would have given anything for a hot shower, or even better, he'd give anything for it to be morning again, for him to be home in bed with Jack. Carefully, he shifted his weight, trying not to disturb Jack in the process. His ass was killing him, his legs were numb and his back would never be the same. In his mind, he knew it was due to a multitude of circumstances, foremost being that he'd just fallen twenty or so feet and landed on a hard surface and that he'd been sitting on that hard surface, the cold, damp floor of a cave, for the past few hours. Still, that little voice saying: welcome to 36, would not shut up.

This time last year, his leg had started to bother him for seemingly no reason. Later he found out it was due to a fall he'd taken days before. The year before that, his appendix had burst.

With the exception of the appendix birthday, though, this was definitely the worst to date. Being stuck in a cold dark cave was even worse than being stuck in that sorry excuse of a cabin, two years ago. He thought back to the 'charming little rustic cabin' Jack had rented for a week of rest and recuperation. It had been a shortly after his appendix ordeal and the situation with the submarine and the bugs that Daniel wouldn't even allow himself to think about now.

The cabin had come furnished, complete with several different species of vermin, no indoor plumbing -- unless you counted the leaky roof. There'd been a quaint pond for fishing, if you dared brave the mosquitoes and use of the rickety old boat was included in the rental fee. Of course, no sane person would have ventured out in that boat and Daniel doubted any fish could have lived in that pond.

All of that became completely insignificant however, the day after they had their little brush with the Poison Ivy. Daniel had never been an advocate of mercy killing, but after listening to Jack whine for two days straight, he'd been very close to taking some sort of drastic measures. Daniel had witnessed Jack being shot, zatted, beaten and tortured without ever hearing a word of complaint, so he had been a little disconcerted to find that one mildly uncomfortable rash had the ability to reduce the man to a helpless, whining, *annoying* child.

Daniel smiled at the image. Actually, if he was honest with himself, that hadn't been such a bad birthday, after all. In fact, he had to admit that *maybe* he might even consider it to be one of his better birthdays. In light of his not-so-great history birthday-wise, the last five birthdays had been rather...well, nice. If you didn't dwell too much on the injuries and illnesses, that is.

"Daniel?" Jack's raspy voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yeah, Jack," he answered, patting him on the shoulder. "Right here."

"Are we...." Jack cleared his throat. "Are we home?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh, didn't think so."

"How are you feeling?" asked Daniel. It was too dark to see, but when they'd fallen, Jack had hit his head and been in and out of it ever since. Daniel had landed feet first and was pretty sure his ankle was broken. It hurt like hell, anyway.

"Like shit," Jack replied. "Head hurts."

More than likely, Jack had a concussion, but there wasn't much Daniel could do about it under the circumstances. "Just take it easy," he said, realizing after he'd said it that he was merely repeating a line that he'd heard from Jack on numerous occasions.

Naturally, Jack tried to sit up then.

"Whoa."

"I told you to take it easy." What he should have said was: Drop and give me fifty, soldier, then Jack would have complained about his head and stayed down.

There was no response for a few moments, then Jack cleared his throat again. "Can't lie around all...what time is it, anyway?"

Daniel pushed the button on his watch to make the face glow. "It's 1:52 pm."

"Well, so we've been here for how long?"

"Um, a couple...two hours, or so."

"Why the hell hasn't anyone found us?"

"How should I know?"

"Have you checked this place out or anything?"

"No. I think it's an underground cave. The walls are solid, not like a mine." He looked up and saw a dim patch of sunlight coming from the small opening where they'd fallen through. The area they'd been walking in had been pretty heavily wooded. The path had been overgrown with brush and barely discernable, obviously not used regularly - or lately.

"Okay, so we've been here over two hours and you haven't even bothered to check the place out? You could have at least tried to get some idea of the layout here...wherever here is. There could be a way out somewhere."

"Well, I didn't want to leave you alone." Daniel answered. "Incase you haven't noticed, it's extremely dark down here; I can't see a thing and I wasn't taking any chances of getting lost."

"Well, getting lost didn't seem to bother you when you disobeyed me and wandered off and ended up falling into this pit, now did it?"

"You know, you're much better company when you're unconscious."

"Yeah, well...." Jack replied, resigned.

They both sighed heavily at the same time. Jack rested his head against the unyielding cavern wall. "Do we have a flashlight or anything?"

"Um, no. Remember, they kept our packs. We don't have anything except..."

"Except...?"

Daniel reached into his pocket. "I have a nutrition bar."

"Ah."

"Ah?"

"Just...never mind. We better save it. Who knows how long we'll be down here." Jack said. "What about the canteen?"

"I must have dropped it."

Jack remembered seeing the canteen lying on the ground right before he fell.

"Peachy."

They sat for a few moments in silence; the only audible sound was their breathing and a sort of distant muffled noise that sounded like rushing water.

"So," Jack spoke up first. "Have you figured out yet what the hell we did to piss off those Cartusian bastards?"

Daniel shifted his weight again. There was no way of getting comfortable. "I've been thinking about that."

"And?"

"And, well, I'm not sure. I mean, I think I can understand why they singled me out."

"The glasses?" Jack asked.

"Yes, they said something about imperfections, or defects, or something like that."

"Huh. So, you didn't quite meet their Aryan standards?"

"It would seem that way," Daniel answered, thoughtfully. "But, I'm not sure what it was about you that they found undesirable."

"Gray hair?"

"No, because there were a lot of...um, old-older men and women. That didn't seem to be a factor."

"Maybe they weren't impressed with my sparkling personality?"

Daniel laughed. "They said we were vile and our seed was of no worth."

"Yeah," Jack said quietly, then shifted closer to Daniel. "Well, if it means anything, I'm very fond of your seed."

With a quiet chuckle, Daniel leaned into Jack.

"If they don't want your seed, well, then that just means there's all the more for me."

Daniel couldn't help laughing, in spite of their circumstances. A few moments later, he quieted. "Do you think they knew -"

"There's no way they could have known that."

"Right. I just can't figure out why -"

"It doesn't really matter, Daniel," Jack said patiently. "Whatever reason they had, I don't think they're going to change their minds and it isn't going to do us any good to waste our energy trying to understand their reasoning."

Daniel nodded. "Sam and Teal'c...?"

Jack sighed. "I'm sure they're fine. I just hope they can figure out a way to get home. The Cartusians were being pretty -"

"Solicitous."

"Yeah, they seemed to approve of their genes just fine."

"Yeah." Daniel tried to resituate himself, accidentally jarring his ankle. "Ouch. Shit."

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Daniel?"

"I just...uh, my ankle. I think I twisted it when I landed."

"Twisted it, Daniel?"

"It's probably just a sprain."

"Sure it is," Jack responded, not sounding the least bit convinced. "And you failed to tell me this, why?"

"Well, it's not like there's anything we can do about it under the circumstances."

Jack couldn't argue with that. "You hurt anywhere else?"

"No."

"You'd tell me if you were, right?"

"Of course, Jack."

Jack snorted.

"I'm fine, Jack."

They were silent again for a long moment and then Daniel noticed what sounded like debris raining down. He looked up, then nudged Jack's arm. "Um, Jack?"

"Huh?"

"Up...look up there." Daniel pointed upward, belatedly remembering it was too dark for Jack to see him. Two unfamiliar faces were peering down at them, pulling the brush away from the opening above.

"Oh."

"Um, hello?" Daniel called out. "Is there any way that you can help us get out of here?"

The faces disappeared and a moment later, a rope was lowered into the cavern.

"Sweet."

~~ ** ~~

~ One year later ~

"Class is over," Daniel said, gesturing fluidly with his hands as he signed the words to his pupils. "See you tomorrow."

"Wait, Daniel!" one of the children called out. "We have a surprise for you!"

Daniel paused and smiled at the boy. "Toby," he gently reprimanded with hands and voice, "what's the rule?"

"Sorry, Daniel," Toby replied, this time using his hands as well.

Toby's mother smiled, stood up and turned to the rest of the classroom. She held her hands up and the entire class stood. "Everyone ready?" she signed, making the effort to speak the words as well, even though she had been deaf since she was a child.

The entire class, a mixture of hearing impaired children and adults, their families and other colonists wanting to learn the language Daniel was teaching, stood and began a truly inspiring rendition of Happy Birthday To You.

Daniel stood in awe, overwhelmed by the gift. A year ago, none of these people had ever heard of sign language and now they were using it skillfully -- communicating.

In the back of the room stood Jack, arms folded across his chest, leaning against the wall, smiling that damn cat that ate the canary smile of his, warm and tender gaze resting on Daniel.

When the song was through, the group rushed up to the front of the classroom, crowding around, each taking a turn hugging their much-adored teacher. Daniel hugged back, feeling so happy and fulfilled at that moment that he didn't even bother to wipe the wetness from his cheeks.

"So, Teach," Jack said as he escorted Daniel from the schoolhouse. "I hope you don't expect me to top that one. I don't do serenades."

Daniel grinned, putting his arm around Jack's waist. "Don't think I don't know who taught them that song, Jack."

Jack shrugged, pulling Daniel closer as they walked down the road toward their modest home at the edge of the town. "By the way, we need some more wood on the pile. I chopped it, you haul it."

"It's my birthday!" Daniel objected indignantly.

Jack shrugged again, the corners of his mouth twitched as he squinted in the late afternoon sunlight.

"Only you would make a person stack logs on their birthday, Jack." Daniel muttered.

"What can I say?"

"Um, how about: forget it Daniel, I'll stack the wood today?"

Jack laughed. "Fat chance, Danny boy."

"Here, you take this inside then," Daniel said, hefting a large bag into Jack's arms.

"Ooof."

With a smirk, Daniel headed toward the shed, grumbling audibly the entire way. Grinning and shaking his head, Jack lugged the heavy sack into the house.

Four round trips later, Daniel bent over, carefully stacking his last armload of logs in a nice, neat pile next to the door. Just the way Jack insisted. Not that he cared how the stupid logs were arranged, but if he didn't do it to Jack's specifications, he'd have to listen to another militaristic type lecture on the proper techniques of log stacking.

He still felt slightly piqued about having to do chores on his birthday, but he'd figured it was some sort of ruse to get him out of the house. Jack was probably inside whipping up something special, like Daniel had done on Jack's birthday. Why couldn't Jack have suggested Daniel head out to the ruins for a few hours if he wanted to get rid of him?

That was an easy one to answer, though. Jack hated it when Daniel went to the ancient ruins. Jack hated the existence of the ancient ruins. He hated any reminder that the Goa'uld had once set up camp here, no matter how many thousands of years ago it had been.

Daniel tried reassuring Jack that it was highly unlikely they'd ever return. The lack of a DHD reinforced his speculation. Jack would agree resignedly and then say he just didn't like the place because it gave him the creeps.

Setting the last of the logs neatly in place, Daniel moved to stand up and half way there felt the muscles in his lower back strain, then spasm. He gasped as his legs suddenly felt weak and nearly gave out. "Shit," he hissed through clenched teeth. This was not good, not good at all. He reached out to steady himself, leaning a shaky hand on the woodpile, hoping he didn't cause a log avalanche on the front porch. For several minutes, he held still, eyes squeezed shut, using all of his energy just to make sure he wouldn't fall. Then he slowly attempted to straighten his spine, let out a sigh of relief that he was able to do so and took a cautious step toward the door. "Shit!"

It took a few extra seconds for him to come to the realization, however irrational it might seem, that there was a perfectly logical reason for the excruciating pain he was presently experiencing. Today was July eighth, of course. How could it not be? Welcome to 37, he told himself with a sense of de'ja-vu. He should have been prepared for this. He distinctly remembered making the resolution last year to be prepared this year, to lock himself in a closet or something. In fact, he remembered it quite clearly, because he'd made the resolution the previous couple of years also. Next year, he promised himself even more firmly than he had in all the years before. For sure, he wouldn't forget next year.

The door opened suddenly, startling him and he almost fell backwards, but Jack reflexively grabbed his arm -- "Ow!" -- wrenching his lower spine. "Jack!" he cried out in agony, reaching around to support his back.

"What the hell? Daniel? What happened?"

Then Jack had his arm around Daniel's lower back and was slowly, carefully assisting him into the house, over to the chair. "No!" he whispered sharply, as Jack tried to ease him down. "Not there! I can't!"

"Okay, okay." Jack said calmly. "Bed?"

Nodding, Daniel allowed himself to be led to the bedroom where Jack slowly lowered him to a horizontal position. God, he felt old.

"What happened?" Jack asked after giving Daniel a couple minutes to collect himself.

Nasty horse accident? Falling tree? Meteorite? How could he admit that all he'd done was bend over and stand up? Why did this kind of thing never happen to Jack? This was all Jack's fault. "Nothing, I'm fine."

"Yeah, I see that."

He felt Jack's hand on his forehead, smoothing his hair back and his anger seemed to evaporate. Finally Daniel managed to open his eyes. Jack was smiling at him. Not the usual irritating, 'You're not foolin' me bucko' smile, but the more intimate 'Aw, Daniel' smile, that always made Daniel want to smile back or cry or maybe, under less painful circumstances, jump his bones.

"Happy birthday." Jack said and bent down and kissed him gently on the mouth.

Daniel sighed.

"I'll go get Chloe," Jack said, still brushing his hand over Daniel's forehead.

"Okay." He really didn't want to admit to weakness, but drugs were sounding pretty good right then. He almost added Hurry! But he knew Jack wouldn't waste any time.

As long as he didn't move, he felt okay. In fact, he wasn't in much pain at all. He doubted that he had suddenly, miraculously healed. There was still a dull throbbing sensation in his back, but nothing like the jolting pain he'd felt before. Maybe....

Daniel tried to move, just to see if he could. Big mistake.

Maybe he'd just lie there and wait for Jack and Chloe.

Chloe wasn't a real doctor, but her father had been. He had taught her about herbs and remedies, medicinal plants. She seemed to have a natural ability to figure out exactly what a patient needed, with only the use of a few of her father's old medical textbooks for reference.

Her parents had been sent here before she was born, via the same one-way stargate that Jack and Daniel had come through, for much the same reasons. They were considered less than ideal for the purpose of reproduction, being that her mother was deaf. It was to Atria's gain, however, because it turned out Josiah and Clara's genes weren't so defective after all. The proof of that should be arriving at any moment, or so he hoped.

Then, he heard the alarm.

The Atrians had concocted a warning signal, a sort of alarm that sounded whenever the stargate activated. Daniel thought it was pretty amazing they had managed to devise primitive electric capabilities all on their own. The water they used was pumped from the aqueduct underground, through a fairly impressive system that they'd structured with no outside materials or help. The colonists were mostly farmers and blacksmiths, a society that was comparable to Earth in the nineteenth century. They were also all outcasts of the planet known as Cartus, or to the SGC as PX4-992.

After years of civil war, both factions of Cartusians were attempting to engineer the perfect society -- racing to create a perfect race, similar in a lot of ways to Nazi Germany. Anyone the government deemed imperfect, mostly those with physical impairments, or mental incapacities were sent here through the stargate. There was no return, as far as they knew. There was no energy source powerful enough to rig up a DHD and the only people that ever came through the gate, were those sent, mostly empty-handed, from Cartus. Still, Daniel hadn't given up hope that someday someone might come through the stargate looking for them -- hopefully with a portable naquedah reactor.

He and Jack never spoke of it, though. They'd accepted their situation and circumstances months ago. This was their home, their life now. And, truth be told, it wasn't so bad here. In fact, Daniel actually loved their life here and he could tell that Jack did too.

Drumming his fingers on his chest, he waited, trying to be patient as he watched as the sunlight wane. The more he tried to be patient, the more anxious he seemed to grow.

What could possibly be taking so long? he wondered. And then he heard it, felt it. A deep thundering sound above in the atmosphere, intensifying, closing the distance until it was overwhelming, resonating all around. The bed vibrated and he heard objects falling to the floor from the other room. Straining his hearing, he attempted to listen for any sounds that would allude to what was going on outside, but heard nothing -- no sounds of panic, no shouts or screams, just the deafening sound from what he knew could only be a Goa'uld mothership.

Had the Goa'uld landed on Cartus, then gated to the destination of the last address encoded? Sent the mothership because they knew there was no DHD on this planet? What if everyone else was already dead? What if Jack was...?

Just then, he heard heavy footsteps in the distance, drawing closer and he tried to force himself upright, but fell back to the bed. Oh God, he thought, trying to push the pain away. That sound was all too familiar. The heavy-footed marching could only mean one thing.

Oh, Jack! Where was Jack? He wanted to stand up but he seemed frozen in place, as if some invisible force were holding him down.

"Jaffa! Cree!" He heard the order shouted and immediately the marching halted. Daniel closed his eyes, thought of the people he'd grown so fond of, the struggling community that had taken them in, accepted them without question.

As dread and hopelessness consumed him, he was struck by the irony of the situation. He was going to lose Jack -- probably already had -- just like he'd lost Sha're. What were the chances of this happening twice to one man?

He felt the hysterical urge to laugh, and would have if he were able to draw a sufficient amount of air into his lungs. Moments later he heard the front door open.

"Jack?" He tried to call out, but was unable to make a sound.

Footsteps crossing the front room, getting closer.

"Jack!" The terror was overwhelming him, as the footsteps neared, entered the room and stopped right beside the bed. He felt hands grabbing him, shaking him roughly. Daniel struggled to breathe, to sit up, to do something, but he couldn't move, couldn't even manage to open his eyes. Oh, god. Please, Jack! Please!

"Daniel? Hey, wake up. Come on, it's just a bad dream."

"Jack?"

"Shh..." Jack kissed his forehead, his cheek, his mouth. "It's okay. Everything's okay."

"Oh, god."

"Shhh..." Jack continued kissing him, warm hands caressing his skin, soothing him with familiar touches. "Must have been some dream," Jack murmured, his lips moving to tease and taste Daniel's neck, his shoulder, his collarbone.

Daniel slid his trembling hands up Jack's arms and tilted his head back, encouraging Jack to continue, urging him on. Hopeful that Jack's touch could push away the last vestiges of the terrifying dream.

Latching on to the flesh of Daniel's collarbone, Jack rolled so his body was hovering over Daniel's, pressed one knee between Daniel's thighs as he continued to suckle the patch of skin, knowing he was leaving a mark.

Daniel moaned and spread his legs, feeling the pressure build, already needing to thrust. He was aching for contact, aching with need, the need to feel Jack's weight, to press himself against Jack and feel the wonderful friction of Jack's hardness sliding against his own.

Resting on his elbows, Jack paused to lap wetly at a smooth nipple. Daniel moaned piteously, his hips began undulating with every stroke of Jack's tongue against his nipple. Jack seemed to appreciate this reaction. With a low chuckle, he moved over to the thoroughly test the other nipple, seemingly happy to get the very same helpless response.

"Jaaaack." Daniel strained upwards, but Jack seemed to ignore his desperate plea, apparently content to leisurely, too leisurely, taste his way down Daniel's smooth torso. At last, he brushed his mouth over Daniel's hipbone, lingering briefly at the crease of his thigh before moving on to nuzzle Daniel's groin. Daniel made appreciative noises when he felt Jack nudging his balls with the tip of his nose; he spread his legs further when he felt Jack's hot breath flowing across his sensitive skin.

"Don't move," said Jack and then he was gone, leaving Daniel suddenly feeling cold and exposed. Daniel turned toward him, raising his eyebrows appreciatively at the sight of Jack's lean, muscled form, allowing his lust-filled gaze to rest on the hard, jutting cock.

Which was something that Jack loved, proving it by the way he sauntered to the bed, waving the tube of lubricant and grinning. Daniel relaxed and again spread his legs, hoping that Jack would take the hint, because Daniel did not want to waste any more time with teasing. He wanted Jack now and if Jack didn't hurry he was going to go off like a rocket the instant Jack touched him.

Jack returned to his former position, apparently not wanting to draw things out too much longer. Daniel gasped when he was immediately engulfed by Jack's hungry mouth.

"Jesus!" Daniel hissed, panting and restless, a fine sheen of sweat covering his body as he sought desperately for leverage, needing to move. But Jack had an arm draped across his abdomen, holding him in place, sucking him down. A cool slick finger teased his entrance, circling, pressing inward and that was it, Daniel was coming hard, his hands clutching at Jack's head as Jack continued to swallow him, sliding his fingers slowly against Daniel's prostate. With a ragged moan, Daniel's body went limp. For a few moments he remained still and breathless, enjoying the sensation of the wet tongue lapping at him, relaxing into the blissfulness. Then he felt the familiar warmth tingling in the pit of his belly and realized, with some amazement, that he was still hard.

With a parting kiss to the resilient cock, Jack drew back, then urged Daniel to roll over, maneuvering him to rest on his knees and elbows. The moment he was in position, Daniel felt the blunt tip of Jack's erection pressing against him, then Jack was pushing forward, pushing inside all the way until Daniel felt Jack leaning into him, his hips resting against Daniel's ass.

"So good, so good," Jack whispered, running his hands over Daniel's flanks and hips, pressing a kiss to each of Daniel's shoulder blades, as he shifted to a more accommodating position. Then he nudged Daniel's knees apart further, opening him wider for his pleasure. Jack smoothed his hands over Daniel's chest and belly, caressed his thighs and groin.

Daniel could hear Jack breathing hard, could feel the rotating motion of his hips. When he felt him pull back slightly, Daniel braced himself, anticipating what was coming next, completely prepared when Jack lunged forward, taking him hard. Daniel whimpered, resting his forehead on his arms and abandoning all thought as Jack began a steady, forceful rhythm. God, he loved this.

"Oh shit, Jack." Jack's hands were everywhere, touching him everywhere at once, driving him wild as Jack drove forward and back, his strokes become more and more insistent. Daniel felt Jack's hand on his dick, his palm sliding up and down and Daniel went with the movement, pushing himself into it, losing himself, letting himself fall all over again.

In response, Jack tensed, wrapping his arms around Daniel's body, holding on tightly and then his hips were jerking erratically and he was making helpless, strangled sounds and spilling himself into Daniel.

They lay there together, panting, allowing their bodies to cool as they came back to their senses. Daniel had almost drifted off again when he felt the bed move.

Jack dropped a kiss on his forehead and patted his hip. "We better get going. Mission today, remember? PX4-992."

Daniel blinked. "PX4-992?"

"Yep, the sooner we get there, the sooner we get back. I have plans for you later, birthday boy," he said with a meaningful wink.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot."

"You get first dibs on the shower. I'll go make coffee. And just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can use all the hot water."

"Thanks, Jack." Daniel stood up, stretched and glanced at the clock. 6:08, plenty of time he thought. But, as he headed for the shower, he couldn't seem to shake the unnerving, inexplicable feeling of anxiety that was suddenly creeping over him.