When Worlds Collide

by Sid

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ass/sid/whenworl.php
Summary: An alternate SG-1 comes through a Quantum Mirror to our universe, and none of the Jacks and Daniels will ever be the same.
Info: This is the meeting between the two universes of my Striking Image drabble.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

SG-1 was in the briefing room with General Hammond when the alarms began to sound. They all rose, and Jack and Sam followed the General down to the control room, while Teal'c and Daniel went over to the window to see what was happening down below.

"We're receiving an audio transmission, sir," Sergeant Harriman reported.

"Put it on speaker," Hammond ordered.

"...ing. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill. Do you copy? Repeating. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill. SGC, do you copy?"

"Aw, crap!" Jack groaned.

Hammond motioned with his forefinger, and the sergeant opened a channel for him. "This is General George Hammond of the SGC. We are receiving your signal loud and clear."

"General! Good to hear your voice! Sir, as stated, I am Colonel Jack O'Neill, but not *your* O'Neill, obviously, assuming that you have one."

"What do you want?"

"Sir. We are on a diplomatic mission. We are offering to share intel and technology with you. The better to fight the Goa'uld with, sir."

"Where do you come from?"

"Are you familiar with a device known as a Quantum Mirror?"

"We are," Hammond replied. "And you had better know right now that we destroyed our mirror some time ago."

"Understood, sir. We get that a lot, actually. But that wasn't the only Mirror in your universe, sir. Sorry. Again, diplomatic mission, share information, peaceful travelers."

"Jack. You forgot the part about..."

"Oh, yeah. You are under no obligation to share anything with us, sir. And we're not looking for an alliance. You're probably never going to hear from us again. We're just looking for whatever help you're willing to give that will help us defend ourselves, and we're offering the same to you. Absolutely free of charge, sir."

Upstairs, Daniel smiled excitedly at Teal'c. "There's a me!" he said.

"So I heard," Teal'c concurred.

"There's never been a me before. They're going to let them through, right?"

In the control room, Hammond asked, "How many of you are there?"

"Four, sir. Major Carter, Dr. Jackson, Teal'c and myself. Armed only with holstered sidearms. Which we will gladly surrender to you. We'd offer to come through with our hands in the air, but we're carrying a lot of stuff, sir. Documentation. Planets we've been to, snakes we've killed, allies we haven't pissed off too badly yet."

Hammond exchanged glances with Jack, who grimaced, and shrugged. "I'm going to allow you to come through. When you reach this side, you are to put down the items that you are carrying, and raise your hands above your heads."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. O'Neill out."

"Open the iris," Hammond instructed.

The alternate reality SG-1 stepped through the gate and halted at the top of the ramp. They laid down their burdens and put up their hands. Every gun in the Gateroom was pointed at them. SFs approached them slowly and confiscated their sidearms.

Jack watched all this with narrowed eyes. Only belatedly did he recognize what that clatter of feet on the metal staircase behind him had meant. Only when Daniel shot into view beneath him. "Daniel," he growled.

"Go," Hammond authorized. Jack ran for the staircase.

~~

Daniel skidded to a halt at the foot of the ramp. Alternate SG-1 was moving towards him, hands at their sides. He met the other Daniel's eyes, and felt a thrill run through him. "Hey," he said, inadequately.

"Hi!" the other man replied, grinning. He approached slowly, with his hand held out. Daniel reached for it. Shook it, disbelievingly. Grinned inanely back. Turned towards Jack.

"Daniel," Jack said. Twice. In stereo, and in two very different tones of voice. The man who was reaching out for Daniel looked up over his shoulder, and dropped his hand back to his side.

"Colonel, Daniel," the Carter-clone said, smiling.

"Hi, Sam," Daniel answered, feeling Jack's hand descend heavily on to his shoulder. "Just greeting our guests, Jack."

"So I see," Jack said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. The other O'Neill was smirking at him, and Jack glared, which only served to heighten the other man's amusement. A glance at their Teal'c gave Jack the impression that he, too, was highly amused. Great.

"Colonel," Hammond's voice came from the control room. "Please escort our visitors to the briefing room."

"You heard the man," Jack said gruffly. He gestured in a mockery of invitation, and the alternate Daniel gave him a blinding smile as he walked past, side by side with Daniel, already deep in conversation. Jack rocked back on his heels a bit, recovered, and beckoned two of the SFs to bring up the rear.

Just to make an already bad day even worse, he had to watch his own butt as it walked up the stairs in front of him. That was just wrong. And the other O'Neill undoubtedly had a lovely view of two Daniel-asses as they climbed. Alternate realities could drop dead as far as he was concerned.

~~

They assembled around the briefing room table, one team facing the other. Hammond said, with some bewilderment, "This is without a doubt the strangest briefing I have ever been a part of, bar none."

"Just to increase the level of bizarreness, sir," O'Neill said, "I have a letter here for you. From you." Jack groaned, and O'Neill looked over at him. "Trust me, you never get used to it."

While Hammond read his letter, the room was silent, the two teams eyeing each other with varying degrees of curiosity, friendliness, wariness. Hammond passed the letter to Jack. "This General Hammond asks me to provide our visitors with sleeping quarters and meals, since they should be safe to stay here for at least 48 hours."

Sam nodded her head. "Before entropic cascade failure begins."

"He also suggests that I let you people lead the way, Colonel, since you're all experienced with this type of thing." Hammond gazed assessingly at the other O'Neill.

"Yes, sir. We know how to best accomplish the objectives of the mission. Sir, if I might make my first suggestion? If you would all just call us by our last names, that would avoid a lot of confusion."

All eyes turned to the other Teal'c. He inclined his head. "You may address me as Murray."

"Ah!" Jack said with satisfaction. O'Neill's lips twitched.

"Agreed," Hammond said. "Last names only for the rest of your team. And your next suggestion?"

O'Neill grinned. "Well, if your men are through searching our belongings, sir, our private gear could be delivered to whatever quarters you assign us. And then we can go over some of the paperwork, just to sort through it. You can assign it to your staff as you see fit then, sir."

"I'm going to want you all to get checked over by our doctors before we go any further," Hammond said.

"Understood, sir. We're healthy enough, or our own medical staff wouldn't have cleared us for this trip, but better safe than sorry. After that, what we've found to work best is dividing up into teams. Each of us with our counterpart. Just to start off, sir. The Carters can talk about alien doohickeys, the Teal'cs can cover the Jaffa situation, the Daniels can spout at each other in dead languages."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "And you and I? Will be talking about what?"

O'Neill grinned. "Fishing?"

Jack's eyebrows stayed up. "I admire your sense of priorities."

A palpable sense of relief swept through the room. It looked as though the two alpha dogs might be able to get along with each other after all. The Daniels smiled at each other. And Jack reminded himself that O'Neill, unlike Harlan's robot, had a life of his own, and no desire to claim any part of Jack's. So, maybe he wasn't a complete asshole.

Sam said to the general, "Sir, if I may?" He nodded, and she continued, "I'd like to hear more about this other Mirror."

"Ah," O'Neill said, and looked at his team a bit uncomfortably. "We're not actually authorized to give out any information about its location. Carter?"

"Suffice it to say, that there is another Mirror, which we discovered in our reality. And we're able to use it to access the SGC in realities such as your own, where they've destroyed the Mirror that Daniel found. Now, we kept that Mirror, and were already using it for missions like this one, but the discovery of the second Mirror really has opened up the universe for us tremendously." Her eyes conveyed her conviction that this was a good thing.

"How do you...? Sorry," Daniel said, "I'm not sure how to phrase this. How do you not pick the same reality twice? I'm assuming you use the remote control device, and I know how hard it can be to pinpoint the right universe."

"We managed to alter the control device slightly," Carter said, eyes bright with scientific joy. "To put it in layman's terms, we managed to find a way to 'dog-ear the pages' of the realities we visited. That enables us to avoid going to any universe twice, and also makes it a lot easier to find our way home."

"So if you turn the Mirror off behind you, when you reactivate it, it goes directly to your world?" Daniel asked, brow furrowed in concentration.

"No, not exactly," Carter explained. "When you dog-ear the page of a book, if you let the book fall open," she demonstrated with her hands, "it may not fall open to the exact page you want, but it will be very close. You only have to turn over one or two pages."

"So," Sam said, "you only have to search a few realities, in either direction of where the Mirror is focused."

"Exactly," Carter said, nodding eagerly. "And we know it when we hit it, because of the dog-ear." She looked around the table. "There's more to it of course. Each dog-ear is unique, and the remote device can be programmed to look for a specific location, which usually means the home universe. I mean, we tend not to return to any alternate reality."

"'Tend'?" Jack asked sharply.

"There have been one or two exceptions. We've rendered humanitarian aid on occasion," O'Neill said bluntly. There was a brief silence as Hammond and SG-1 considered the implications of that.

"Not going to tell us where it is, huh?" Jack was the first to speak.

"Well, for one thing," Jackson said, "do you really want to know? I mean, you destroyed the other Mirror, for reasons that I would assume still apply." Jack made a face at Hammond.

"When we leave here," Murray said, "we will 'gate first to an unoccupied world, and proceed from there to the planet which holds the Quantum Mirror."

"So we won't have the right address recorded in our dialing computer," Sam said, nodding.

"Right," Carter said. "Sorry to be sneaky about it, but it's policy."

"That's why you were wearing sidearms," Daniel said with an air of discovery. Jack frowned at him. "Well, I wondered. I mean, they had to surrender them, so I wondered why..."

"To protect ourselves between the Mirror and the Stargate. Because an unoccupied or friendly planet in our universe might not be quite as safe in the next one." O'Neill nodded at Daniel approvingly.

"What if we want to destroy this one, too?" Jack said with an edge to his voice.

"Well, we found it," Jackson said. "Maybe you will, too?" Jack gave him a disgruntled look. "Sorry."

"Let's move on, people," Hammond said. He nodded towards O'Neill.

"Let me repeat, sir," O'Neill said. "You are under no obligation to provide us with any information whatsoever. Truth is, sir, what we're giving you mostly has to be taken with a huge chunk of salt. Our realities are close, or we wouldn't bother coming here, but we have no way of knowing what the differences are. Basically, sir, if we recommend a planet with friendly natives and a huge vein of naquaadah, we may be only half right."

"The planets in your reality may have been ruled by a different System Lord, or none at all," Jackson added. "We can only tell you what we experienced."

"The technology we have to share is a lot more reliable, though," Carter added. "Assuming the same laws of physics apply here, which they should, everything we offer should be useable by you. Of course, some of it may not be new to you, but we may have found a different use, or refined it to some degree. And we also have medical information. Addresses of planets where we've found new drugs, information from our allies."

"Bottom line, if we can give you a heads up, sir, that will save you some grief, we're all for that. At least we can prepare you for what you might be up against, and that goes a long way in my book, sir."

"O'Neill," Hammond said, smiling.

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you think you could try not to call me 'sir' with every other breath? I'm finding it a little difficult to cope with that."

Daniel shot a glance at Jack, who looked flummoxed. Then he turned his attention across the table to O'Neill, who was flushing. "Yes, of course," he said. His eyes lowered to the table. Daniel waited for it. Sure enough, the man's lips moved in a silent 'sir'. Daniel grinned with delight. O'Neill raised his head and looked right at him. Gave a shrug. Smiled. And turned his attention back to the general.

"I have some phone calls to make," Hammond said, "so I'm going to ask you to report to the infirmary now. Then we'll let you get settled into your assigned quarters, and we'll meet back here to go over the documents you've brought with you." He rose from his chair, and Jack and Sam stood up as well, along with the entire alternate SG-1. "Dismissed, people." Hammond nodded and walked away towards his office.

Daniel, still seated next to Teal'c, said, "I suddenly feel horribly disrespectful."

"Indeed," Teal'c replied, looking at his counterpart. "Is this your customary behavior in your own universe?"

"It is a mark of respect to our host. A diplomatic gesture," Murray replied.

Jackson grinned. "No, we don't do it at home. And we didn't do it to make you look bad. Sorry."

"I do it at home," O'Neill interjected.

"Me, too," Carter said, grinning.

Sam laughed. "Guess military protocol is pretty constant."

"And that includes obeying orders," Jack said, "so let's get these people to the infirmary." He crossed over to the window, and looked down into the Gateroom. "Teal'c, wanna tell the Marines guarding those boxes to move them upstairs here? The bags are your personal belongings?"

"Yes, sir," Carter answered.

"Daniel, will you organize VIP rooms?'

"Sure."

"Coordinate with Teal'c on getting the bags moved in." Daniel nodded. "Ready?"

Jack, Sam, the alternate SG-1 and the two trailing SFs headed off for the infirmary.

~~

The medical staff gave the visitors a clean bill of health, and by the time they were finished in the infirmary, their rooms were ready. Jack and Sam gave them 15 minutes to settle in, and, leaving the two SFs on guard in the hallway, took the opportunity, in turns, to take a bathroom break.

When the six of them, eight including the SFs, arrived back at the briefing room, Daniel and Teal'c were unpacking boxes. Carter and Murray immediately went to help them.

"Now the real fun begins," Jack said gloomily.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad, sir," Sam said cheerfully.

"Maybe you'll even enjoy it," Jackson said, with an accompanying flutter of his eyelashes.

Jack stared at him, leaning his upper body backwards. Then he thrust his head forward again. "Have we met?"

Daniel and Carter, crouched next to a stack of boxes, looked up when they heard themselves laughing on the other side of the table. "Well, I'm glad some of me are having a good time," Daniel groused. Carter gave an unladylike snort and began to giggle. Daniel grinned at her and chuckled. She poked him in the arm and giggled harder.

Teal'c and Murray, in the midst of opening a box, looked over at them and then back at each other. When the eyebrows went up, it was like looking into a mirror. They almost smiled.

~~

The paperwork was introduced, explained, questioned, and inventoried. "Why boxes full of paper documents?" Sam wanted to know. "Wouldn't it make more sense to put it all on disks? Why carry all this around if you don't have to?"

"Actually," Carter answered, "there are a few reasons. One being that the military loves paperwork, and it would probably all wind up getting printed out anyway."

"Yes, all right, but you could bring both! This is all going to have to be scanned or transcribed and added to our database eventually," Sam protested.

"Another reason is that you just plain don't know us," O'Neill said. "We could be handing you disks full of funky viruses and stuff." Sam looked stricken that she hadn't thought of that.

"And there's also the possibility that, no matter how close our universes are, the technology could be just different enough that our disks would be incompatible with your computers," Carter added.

Daniel started to grin. "A universe with Stargates, but no Bill Gates?" Jack and O'Neill both groaned dramatically.

"Exactly!" Carter said with a giggle.

Once the papers had been sorted through, Hammond, with input from his team, determined the assignments that were necessary to get the right subjects into the hands of the proper individuals. Sam and Daniel could barely restrain their eagerness to start working on their respective stacks. Jack winced every time he looked at his pile, and O'Neill seemed to feel his pain. Teal'c's stack was relatively small, and, as usual, his opinion was not readily apparent.

Airmen arrived to begin carting the documents to their various destinations. Sam looked after them wistfully. "Lunch?" Jack suggested brightly.

"Good idea, Colonel," Hammond agreed. "I'll have my aide phone ahead to warn the commissary staff what to expect." He smiled at the eight pairs of eyes that stared at him. "You're going to cause quite a stir." Alternate SG-1's heads nodded in agreement. Daniel looked faintly alarmed. O'Neill grinned.

"You'll each pair up with your counterpart after lunch and begin to go over your assigned documents. I think we can safely say that that will take up the rest of the day?" Hammond looked around the table inquiringly. Nodding heads, and a pained look from Jack. "All right, I'll check in with you all later. Keep me advised if anything comes up that you feel requires immediate attention." He pushed back his chair. "Dismissed."

Jack rose. "A moment in your office, sir?" Hammond nodded, and the two men left the room.

~~

"Are we sharing?" Jack asked pointedly.

"I think tomorrow will be soon enough to determine if we want to do that, Colonel."

"Oh, I agree," Jack said. "What do I tell my people?"

"Tell them to be circumspect." The two men smiled at each other.

"Well, if Jaffa had middle names..." Jack joked. The general snorted. "Carter's well trained, and you know me, sir."

"And Dr. Jackson?"

"Well, he's a linguist, so I'm sure he understands the meaning of the word."

"He's not likely to give away any military secrets, at any rate," Hammond said placidly.

"True," Jack said with a doubtful expression. "I'll speak to him privately."

"You do that, son."

"Thank you, sir." Jack hesitated. "Just as a matter of curiosity, General?"

"You call me 'sir' with the exact frequency that I require," George said, eyes twinkling.

Jack beamed. "That's good to know, sir!"

"Dismissed, Colonel. Oh, and I think you can safely dismiss the SFs at this point."

"Yes, sir."

"Wait. Have the security cameras in their rooms been turned off?"

"I didn't instruct Daniel one way or the other, sir."

"Well, since we did it for the Goa'uld..."

"I'll make sure of it," Jack promised.

~~

Lunch went well. Both colonels got the meatloaf, which O'Neill declared to be much better than the stuff served in their own commissary. Jack, who frequently took home extra slices for sandwiches, felt an absurd pride, and a little more of the ice between him and his counterpart thawed. Carter shocked Sam by choosing the strawberry jello, and the combined weight of Teal'c's and Murray's trays was very nearly enough to make the table groan.

The Doctors Jackson had the chicken. Daniel's inquiring lift of his brows when Jackson took a first cautious bite was rewarded by a smile, and a nod. It tasted like chicken.

Conversation flowed smoothly, and laughter occurred with regularity. Heads turned with even more regularity, as the other occupants of the room gaped.

Even for the SGC, this was something out of the ordinary.

~~

After lunch, before they divided up into pairs and retired to their own offices to start in on the documents that they had been assigned, Jack had a quiet word with Daniel about how sharing was not always a good thing. Daniel gazed at him coolly and promised not to commit treason, or anything like that, and Jack wisely retreated while all his body parts were still intact.

When Daniel checked his PC, he found that his inbox was quickly filling up with emails from members of his staff who had already begun working on their individual pieces of the big picture. The comments he read excited him and made him feel ready to tackle anything. He and Jackson dove in head-first.

When they surfaced again, more than three hours had gone by. "Break?" Daniel suggested. "I need to make a fresh pot of coffee."

Jackson stretched. "Sounds good. My brain feels like it's on speed."

"Mine, too," Daniel agreed. "So, no more business until the coffee's ready, right?"

Jackson watched Daniel making preparations. "If I were to open the top left-hand drawer of your desk..."

"Would you find chocolate?" Daniel grinned over his shoulder. "What do you think?" He started the coffee machine, and came back to sit down. He pulled his drawer open, and slid a candy bar across the desk, taking one for himself as well. Paper rattled. Hums of approval were heard.

"So," Jackson said, "read any good books lately?"

"We can do better than that!" Daniel protested. "We've hardly talked about anything personal at all."

"We're just so dedicated," Jackson smirked.

"So where should we start?"

"How about with something very personal?" Jackson invited.

"Such as?" Daniel asked, half-knowing the answer already.

"Oh, I don't know. Relationships?" Jackson said, with a casualness that didn't fool Daniel for a minute. He knew that face too well to be fooled.

"Just between us," Daniel clarified.

"Even if they ask, I won't tell," Jackson replied.

Well, that was plain enough. "So," Daniel asked, with a sidelong look, "you and Jack?"

"Yeah," Jackson said. "You too, I hope?"

"Uh huh." They grinned at each other happily. "How long have the two of you been together?"

"Well, since Abydos, more or less. I mean it took us a little while, but, basically..."

"You didn't marry Sha're?" Daniel asked, stunned.

Jackson shook his head. "Well, Kasuf thought I did, but I managed to make it clear to him that she just really wasn't my type. And, how embarrassing was that, having to try to get my point across using mostly sign language!"

"You're gay," Daniel realized. "Huh."

"And you married the girl? Huh."

They were quiet for a moment, both thinking of how different their life might have been. Daniel finally asked, "What about Jack's wife?"

"Wife? Jack?" Jackson shook his head. "No wife."

"Wow. Gay, too? Wow."

"So how long have the two of you been together, then?"

"Just over a year."

"Would I be intruding..."

"Jack's divorced. My wife died."

"I'm so sorry, Daniel. She was a lovely girl." Jackson put his hand on Daniel's arm.

"Thank you," Daniel mumbled.

Jackson tapped his fingers on the desk. "Um, maybe if you and Jack haven't been together very long, your relationship might not be quite like the one we have." He pursed his lips and looked at Daniel sideways.

Glad to be changing the subject, Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Are we talking about what I think we're talking about?"

"If you think we're talking about kink, you're on the right track," Jackson said, grinning.

"D/s?"

"Bingo! It took us quite a while to work our way into it, so I'm a little surprised that you're on the same page with us."

"Jack and I, we started out that way," Daniel told him. "Right from the beginning."

"Really! Did you both have experience?"

"No, just me."

"Same here. But Jack's a fast learner."

Daniel nodded. "A natural. I don't believe my luck sometimes."

Jackson smiled softly. "Yeah. Strong, masterful, playful, tender. Everything I could ever need. We're very lucky." He saw a puzzled look on Daniel's face. "You and me, I mean. Well, all of us, really."

Daniel scrunched up his brows, perplexed. "You said 'masterful'?"

"Right."

"Jack. You were talking about Jack."

"Sorry? You're losing me."

"Jack is...your master?"

"Oh, well, no. Of course not. Not really, anyway. Just...playing." Jackson surveyed Daniel's blank face. "You guys don't take it quite that far maybe? Jack likes to hear me say it sometimes. Master." He grinned, a little embarrassed. "Likes to make me say it, to tell the truth. It's kind of hot, actually..." He broke off, staring at Daniel. "What?"

Daniel waved his hands around frantically. "We're opposites! We're...we're mirror images!" Jackson continued to stare at him. "You're a sub; I'm a dom!"

"Holy..." Jackson started to say, but was interrupted by Daniel's panicked exclamation.

"Shit! Oh shit, oh shit."

"What?" Jackson said, still stunned.

"We left them alone together!" The two men stared at each other in horror.

~~

O'Neill and Jack were taking a pie break in the commissary. They'd gotten through quite a bit of information that afternoon, although staying on topic wasn't all that easy. They'd had to trade favorite Simpsons episodes. And Minnesota had come up once or twice. And they hadn't even gotten to fishing, yet.

They took a corner table, and O'Neill snagged the chair that gave him the best view of the room, which annoyed Jack a little. But, hell, wouldn't he do the same if the circumstances were reversed?

"Umm. Pie," O'Neill drooled as he attacked his slice of blueberry. Jack grinned, and O'Neill winked.

"So," Jack asked, "anything you wanna talk about?"

O'Neill finished chewing, swallowed, and wiped at his mouth with his napkin. "You and Daniel," he said, looking Jack straight in the eye.

Jack didn't even blink, and he was just schooling his features into a look of puzzlement when O'Neill nodded. "I thought so," he said teasingly.

Jack gave up the battle. His opponent had an unfair advantage. "You, too?"

"Oh, yeah." O'Neill took another bite, watching Jack. "Daniel and I have a very interesting relationship."

Jack pursed his lips. "Involving?"

"Toys. Games."

Jack felt heat building in his groin. "Whips and chains?" he asked softly.

"Well, not whips, per se," O'Neill told him, licking blueberry off his lower lip. "But chains, now..."

Jack's eyes widened. "Seriously? Chains?"

"You two more into leather?"

Jack nodded, taking a bite of his pie to give himself a moment to recover from his surprise.

"Sometimes we play pretty rough," O'Neill said with a small, but definitely wicked smile.

Jack reminded himself that this was not a competition. "We like that sometimes, too," he said with a casual shrug.

O'Neill leaned over the table a bit. "Your Danny into canes?"

Jack's jaw dropped, but he closed it swiftly. "Yeah, he has a definite 'thing' for the cane, you could say."

O'Neill nodded, eyes gleaming. "I think my Danny wants it every night, to tell you the truth."

Jack laid down his fork, and willed his cock to subside. "So, how often do you actually...?" he waved his hand expressively.

"About once a week." O'Neill shrugged.

Jack winced and shifted in his chair. "That's an awful lot, isn't it?"

"Suits us," O'Neill answered, eyebrows raised.

"Sounds like sitting down would be pretty uncomfortable most of the time," Jack objected.

O'Neill laughed. "That's not my problem, is it?"

"What?" Jack asked blankly.

Identical expressions of shock spread across their faces.

"You're a sub?" O'Neill hissed. His face had gone pale.

Jack froze. O'Neill, stony-eyed, pushed his chair back from the table, rose and walked away rapidly. Jack hunched forward, face flaming with heat, eyes filled with shame and confusion.

~~

Jackson stood up. "Oh, this is not good. We need to find them."

"Maybe they won't talk about anything personal," Daniel hoped.

"I don't want to take that ch..."

O'Neill appeared in the doorway, looking grim. "Daniel?"

Jackson hurried to his side. "Jack?"

"My quarters."

"Jack," Daniel said anxiously. O'Neill and Jackson both looked at him. "My Jack. Where is he?"

"He's..." O'Neill swallowed, and stared at Daniel, obviously seeing him with new eyes. "I left him in the commissary."

Daniel pushed past the two men, and went in search of his lover.

~~

Jack was in the locker room when Daniel finally found him. He had changed into his civilian clothes, and was putting on his shoes. He didn't look up when Daniel came in. "I'm going home."

Daniel licked his lips nervously. "Okay."

Jack stood up and closed his locker door. "I've put in nine hours. Hammond didn't say anything about working all night."

"No. You're coming back tomorrow, I assume?"

Jack froze for a second, his back towards Daniel. He turned and looked his lover in the eye. "Of course I am."

Daniel scratched his head vigorously. "Okay. That's good."

Jack's face was smooth and blank. "You coming home?"

"Oh! Um, not yet? I'll make sure our guests have what they need for the night. Talk to Teal'c, since he'll be here on base. Who knows, Sam might decide to stay on base, too."

A flicker of Jack's eyes betrayed the fact that these were things that should have been his responsibility, not Daniel's. "There should be a couple of SFs posted outside their rooms tonight. Not to keep them locked in."

"Concierges?" Daniel asked with a quirked eyebrow.

There was a little more warmth in Jack's eyes when he answered, "Yeah, something like that. I'll see you later."

"Later." Daniel stood, biting his lip and frowning, watching Jack walk out the door.

~~

He had talked to Teal'c; he had talked to Sam. She would arrange for the airmen to be posted, and she and Teal'c would make sure the visitors were fed. She and Carter would probably work late into the night. He told them Jack had had a personal matter come up that had to be attended to. Sam's eyes got wide and curious, but she only said that she hoped everything would be okay. Teal'c's eyes betrayed a hint of curiosity, as well, but he merely inclined his head, and refrained from any comment.

Daniel lifted his hand and knocked on the door of the VIP suite that had been assigned to Jackson. When there was no answer, he knocked again. The door to the next room opened, and Jackson poked his head out. "I thought that might be you," he said, coming into the corridor and shutting the door behind him. Opening his own door, he ushered Daniel into the room.

"Jack's gone home," Daniel said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "I don't know what happened; do you?"

"What we were afraid might happen," Jackson said, standing in front of Daniel.

Daniel scowled up at him. "Well, obviously! But what happened exactly? Did your Jack say something to my Jack?"

"I think it's actually worse than that. He just walked away."

Daniel felt a cold anger build inside him. "Then he's a son of a bitch."

Jackson was shaking his head. "It's not like you think," he pleaded.

"He walked away, like Jack was something disgusting..." Daniel shot up off the bed. "Do you know what Jack must have felt like? How can you say it's not like I think?" He was practically shouting now.

"My Jack's upset, too!" Jackson said loudly.

"Oh, he's upset! At the very thought that any Jack O'Neill in any reality would dare to not live up to his macho, military idea of what a man should be? Excuse me for not sympathizing with his ordeal!"

"He doesn't give a rat's ass what your Jack does! Daniel, will you just...calm down, and let me tell you what happened?"

Daniel took a deep breath, and really looked at the man in front of him, finally seeing the signs of stress and worry that he had seen reflected in his own mirror countless times. He sank back down onto the bed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be shouting at you, anyway."

Jackson took a seat close beside him, and their shoulders brushed against one another in a way that was oddly comforting. "I'm glad these rooms are soundproof enough that Jack didn't hear that. He's already kicking himself; he doesn't need us fighting, too."

Daniel felt another brief flare of anger. "So, is he planning on apologizing? Not that I think it will help much."

Jackson reached into his pocket, and pulled out an envelope. He placed it on Daniel's knee. It was addressed to J. O'Neill, in Jack's familiar scrawl. "I haven't read it," he said quietly. "I think it's too personal for either of us to read."

Daniel stared down at the envelope, touching it with his fingertips. "What's going on?" he said in bewilderment.

"I think we could say that my Jack just collided with a new reality, and his airbag failed to deploy."

~~

Daniel and Jackson talked for over an hour. Daniel had so much to think about that on his drive home he suddenly found himself at a red light and didn't immediately recognize the intersection. He had missed his turn two blocks back. He tried to shut down his brain and concentrate on driving after that.

When he got home and walked into the living room, Jack was sitting on the couch watching the Discovery Channel and drinking scotch. Jack gave him a long look, picked up an object from the coffee table, said "I don't want to play tonight," and dropped the object again. It was Jack's collar, and the buckle thunked dully against the wood as it landed.

Daniel felt a chill in the pit of his stomach. "It's always been your choice," he said mildly. Jack nodded, eyes on the television screen. "Could we turn that off?"

Jack scratched at his cheek, picked up the remote, and flicked off the television. "Sure. Let's talk!" he said with mock eagerness.

"I had a long talk with Jackson before I left the Mountain."

Jack exhaled loudly. "That must have been fun."

"Well, not fun, no, but I think it was helpful. Hope so, anyway."

Jack drummed his nails against the coffee table, and picked up his drink, taking a large swallow. "So you know what happened."

"Yeah. And I know it was painful."

"Just don't say you understand," Jack said very softly. "Because you wouldn't like my reaction."

Daniel blinked. "Well, that takes care of empathy, and I already knew sympathy wouldn't go over too well. How do you feel about compassion?"

"Save it for someone who needs it," Jack advised gruffly.

"Yeah, that's kinda where I was heading," Daniel said, wincing. Jack looked at him with narrowed eyes. "O'Neill needs it."

Jack was very still, and his facial muscles went slack. "Excuse me?"

Daniel pulled out the letter from O'Neill and placed it gently in front of Jack. "We haven't read it."

Jack stared down at the envelope with his handwriting on it. His face was pale. "An apology, I suppose," he said, sounding unconvinced.

"Probably. And maybe an explanation. I just know from talking to Jackson that O'Neill was pretty much of a wreck."

Jack's face showed his confusion. "I don't get it."

"Want me to take a shot at explaining it? Or do you want to read the letter first?"

Jack took a moment to decide. "You first."

"Okay. Okay, history lesson. I've told you about my first experience with spanking."

"Right," Jack said impatiently. "College girlfriend."

"Right. All sex was new and exciting at that point; I was seventeen years old. The fact that she enjoyed being spanked just blew my mind. But I liked it. And we experimented, got into light bondage, paddles, nipple clamps."

"I've heard this all before, Daniel. What's your point?"

"She shaped who I became, sexually. Now what if she had been turned on by giving spankings?" Jack blinked at him. "Sex, new, exciting. You think I wouldn't have responded, gotten off on it?"

Jack gestured with his hands uncertainly. "Maybe. I don't know. How can you know?"

"As it is, I moved on from that experience by getting deeper into various aspects of domination. Jackson's first experience of kink, on the other hand, was with a college boy who liked tying him up and spanking him. He learned to like being on the receiving end of rough sex. He's not a submissive, not really, but he gets off on the sex."

Jack absorbed the information. "What's that got to do with me? And...him?"

"I'll get to that," Daniel said with a quick smile. "The two of them started a relationship very early on. O'Neill was never married, Jackson didn't marry Sha're. I'm not sure of the exact timeline, but evidently they were moving towards something not long after Abydos."

"That's..." Jack stared. "Wow," he said softly.

"I know," Daniel agreed. "Freaky to think about, isn't it?" Jack nodded, looking a little dazed. "Anyway, they were fairly vanilla to begin with, I gather. For quite a long time. O'Neill had no experience with BDSM, but apparently he did have a liking for the occasional bout of rough sex. Jackson let him know how much he liked that, eventually they tried new things together, adding things all the time. It just grew from there into a lifestyle."

"Jackson seduced him to the dark side of the Force?" Jack suggested with a quirk of his lips.

Daniel chuckled. "Yeah, something like that I suppose. To be honest, I think they're more dark side than we are. Jackson told me that they have a playroom." Jack looked interested. "Soundproof. In the basement."

"No shit?" Jack asked. "He mentioned chains. You think...?"

"I'm actually trying not to think about it," Daniel said with a grimace.

Jack shrugged. "Probably better that way."

"Speaking of better, you seem to be a little more relaxed about all this."

"Well, I'm still waiting for you to get to your point, but I'm detecting the direction that you're headed in," Jack admitted.

Daniel nodded happily. "Good! My point, obviously, is that there is no right or wrong here. No matter what genetic predisposition each of us might have been born with, our experiences shape us. Now, try to imagine this. That day that you found the BDSM tape in my VCR. With me?"

"So far."

"Imagine that I came home, found you watching it, excuse me, enthralled by it." Jack gave him a dirty look, which made Daniel grin hugely. "But I'm like the other Daniel. I like the submissive role. What would I do?"

"The opposite of what you did do?" Jack asked, looking as if his head was beginning to ache.

"I ordered you into the bedroom, and punished you for watching my tape. If I were more like Jackson, maybe I would have gotten down on my knees? Said, I don't know, something like, 'I'm bad for watching this stuff, but it turns me on. And I can tell you're turned on, too.'"

"Yes, the hard-on was a dead giveaway," Jack mumbled, trying not to picture Daniel on his knees.

"Maybe I would reach out and start to open your pants. Maybe you would let me. Maybe you would enjoy what I was doing. Maybe you'd agree that I needed a spanking." Daniel's eyes were earnest as he tried to make his point.

"Isn't there just one problem with that?"

"What?"

"You being a sub wouldn't turn me into a dom. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way." Jack's mouth was set in a grim line.

"At that very moment in time, you weren't exactly anything. You'd seen videos before, heterosexual ones, and you hadn't really identified with any specific player in the scenes you saw. I doubt if you really would identify with a woman who was being spanked."

"Well, not completely." Jack darted a glance from side to side, as though wondering what he had just said. "Obviously." He cleared his throat. "Sometimes it was the guy getting it, though."

"Right, but again, you weren't completely identifying with the submissive role. You were simply more in tune with the male. It's just natural. And I'm sure you thought the dominant woman was hot."

"Oh, totally. Trust me on that one," Jack smirked.

"So, you had an awareness, and an interest. But you had never seen two men in a BDSM scenario until that day, and then I...gave you a push. The only push you needed, as it turned out."

"What, so that means that you made me a sub?" Jack's smirk had disappeared.

"No, no, it was something that was within you, that I helped bring out. But if I had been like Jackson..."

"Yeah, so how does that make me a dom?" Jack asked with an angry edge to his voice. "I go whichever way you push? Sounds submissive to me!"

"Remember what happened on Tanvar?"

"What? No."

"P3X-183."

"Oh, like that's going to help!"

"You got sick, Jack."

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"Janet never could figure out what was wrong with you..."

"You're still going to have to be more specific, Daniel!"

"Fine! You shoved me face first into a tree..."

"I remember now," Jack said in a rush.

"You were acting like a shining example of a possessive alpha male. And I had to ask you, afterwards, when you were better, if the way you had behaved was a reflection of some secret need or desire to dominate me." Jack's eyes were on the floor. "Do you remember what you said?"

"Not exactly," Jack mumbled.

"You said that if it were true, it was buried so deeply that it was a secret even to you." Jack was absolutely still, only the rise and fall of his chest indicating life. "I think we've just met a man who has never been confronted by his submissive side, and he's terrified. He doesn't know who he is anymore."

"I'm starting to know how he feels," Jack said abjectly.

"Jack, no! Neither one of you is any different than you were this morning! It's like when you and I first got together. You just know yourself a little better than you did before, and, yeah, that can be scary, but you're still you."

"I want what we've got. I want to keep it. I say that to you a lot, don't I?"

"Yeah, you've said it before. You know I feel the same way, don't you? Jack, changing doesn't always mean losing."

"I'm old. I don't want change."

"You're not old," Daniel said lovingly.

"Don't kid yourself," Jack said sourly, but there was appreciation in his eyes.

"You worry too much." Daniel laid his hand over Jack's.

"Bottom line. Are we still us?" Jack wanted to know. "What is going to change from all this?"

"Maybe nothing," Daniel said. "Maybe a few things. Nothing major. The core of who we are and what we have is unchanged." He looked at his lover anxiously.

"Okay," Jack said quietly. He reached out for the letter from O'Neill.

"I'll be in the bedroom if you need me." Daniel touched his shoulder, rose, and left the room.

Jack,

I feel like this should be a formal apology, since I was officially on duty, and on a diplomatic mission. But it's too personal for that.

I can only imagine what you must have been thinking when I walked out like that, but on the other hand who would know better than me? I hurt you, and I apologize. It wasn't intentional.

You had to think that I was judging you, but that wasn't it at all. I'm fine with who you are. But, right at that second, it was like I was looking in the mirror (bathroom, not quantum) and seeing...well, I don't know how to put it. Maybe 'recognizing' is a better word for what happened.

Yeah, I panicked. And I ran. And I should have gone back and apologized as soon as I realized what that had to look like to you, and I realized almost right away. So I'm a coward and a jerk, and I'm sincerely sorry.

I'm going to have to readjust my perception of myself, and I know you know just how much fun I'm thinking that will be. So, I'm a little depressed. Talking some with Danny has helped already. You'll understand that.

Bottom line, I still have a mission to accomplish, and I hope that we'll be able to work together. It won't be for long anyway, if you want to keep telling yourself that.

Sincerely,
Jack O'Neill

Jack folded the letter, his eyes soft and thoughtful, and tucked it back into its envelope. He started to go to Daniel, but turned back around after a few steps. Bending, he picked up his collar. He stroked the soft leather, remembering the day Daniel had given it to him, what it had meant to both of them. He flashed back further in their relationship, to the very beginning. He remembered his very real feelings of panic and doubt.

He understood, and forgave.

~~

Jack woke hours before dawn and reached out for Daniel in a deep-of-the-night panic. Daniel's lovemaking soon had him sweaty, relaxed and peaceful. "I felt ashamed," Jack admitted. "I've never felt that way about us before." He touched Daniel's face. "Then I started to resent you."

"That explains why you didn't want to wear your collar," Daniel said, sliding a leg in between Jack's.

"It was because it was me, you know? Rejecting myself. Well, I thought so at the time anyway." Jack yawned. "I can't even begin to tell you how that felt."

"I wish you hadn't had to go through that. Want me to kick O'Neill's ass in the morning?"

"I want you to stay away from his ass." Jack wrapped his arms around Daniel. They kissed sleepily.

"Okay," Daniel whispered.

They slept soundly until the alarm went off, an hour earlier than usual. Jack started the coffee while Daniel, more than half asleep, took his shower. By the time Daniel was dressed, the coffee was ready for him. Jack showered quickly, and left for the Mountain with Daniel about ten minutes behind.

Jack's office desk was still piled high with the documents he and O'Neill had been working on. He moved some of them carefully out of the way, and tackled his inboxes. Daniel knocked on his open door about half an hour later.

"Hey. I talked to Jackson, and what we thought might work best is for you to talk to him while I talk to O'Neill."

Jack frowned. "It's not that I don't want to put it off as long as I can, but why'd you guys decide to do it this way?"

"Both of us think the insight would be valuable. Well, for us anyway." Daniel grinned a little. "Maybe for you both, too."

"Insight?" Jack checked his watch. "Isn't it awfully early in the morning for that kind of thing?"

Daniel quirked a finger and Jack rose, making a face, and followed him out into the corridor.

~~

Jack knocked on Jackson's door. Daniel stood in front of O'Neill's room, waiting until Jack was out of the hallway before he knocked. Jack stuck out his tongue at him, and quickly put it back in his mouth when the door swung open. "Morning," he said, feeling like a fool.

"Hey, Jack. Come on in."

Jackson stood back, and Jack went inside. "So," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Don't be nervous, please," Jackson said with a crinkled brow.

"Well, this is a trifle awkward, don't you think?"

"I'm hoping we can get past that." Bright blue eyes drew Jack in.

"I'll give it my best shot."

"Oh, good," Jackson sighed. "Sit down, sit down."

The two men sat down next to each other at the table. Jackson smiled a little shyly, and Jack's heart beat a little faster.

"I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what happened yesterday," Jackson said.

"Not your fault," Jack responded automatically. "Or, wait. Was it?"

"It was?" Jackson blinked.

"Nah. I'm just yanking your chain."

Jackson chuckled. "You're good at that in any universe."

Jack's eyes widened. "Oh, hell, I didn't mean that literally. Chain, I mean."

Jackson pursed his lips. "Somebody's been talking!"

"Non-specific," Jack hastened to assure him. "Vague. Well..."

"Well?" Jackson asked.

"There was some mention of canes..."

"Ah!" Jackson's eyes sparkled. "You don't get into that?"

"Oh, we do. Not very often. Daniel kind of restrains himself, I think. Okay, poor choice of words there."

Jackson smiled broadly. "It's one of my favorite things."

"Yeah, Danny's too. He freaks out a little over how much he gets into it."

"Jack can get a little carried away, too, if I don't stop him. And when I get carried away first..."

"Ow!" Jack grimaced.

"So, you do it for him?" Jackson suggested softly, intent on Jack's face.

"Not entirely. But I would." Jack flushed, knowing that he was laying himself bare for this virtual stranger with Daniel's face. No, more than just his face. His soul.

"I suppose you could say that my Jack does it for me." The two men stared at each other silently. Jack was the first to smile warmly. "It's a good thing you and I aren't from the same universe," Jackson said, shaking his head.

"What?" Jack felt taken aback. He'd thought they were getting along so well.

Jackson's smile was sweet. "Our sex life would be awfully dull, wouldn't it?"

"Oh." Jack gave a snort. "I guess it would at that."

Jackson touched Jack's arm, and leaned in hesitantly to kiss his cheek. But Jack turned his head, and their lips met softly.

When the kiss ended, they sat there for a minute, each with one arm around the other's waist, foreheads touching.

"Yeah," Jack said. "Pretty boring."

Both men were smiling fondly.

~~

Next door, things had gotten off to a creaky start. "So, you must hate my guts," O'Neill said regretfully.

"No," Daniel assured him. "I wish you'd handled things differently, but I think I understand." O'Neill's eyes were full of doubt. "I did hate you. Yesterday."

"Ah!" O'Neill said, and visibly relaxed.

Daniel's lips twitched. "But Jack's forgiven you, so why should I hold a grudge?"

"He has?" O'Neill's gaze was intent.

"He told me so last night. After he read your letter."

"Well, he's apparently a better man than I am."

"Or you're a better letter writer than you thought," Daniel teased lightly.

"There is that," O'Neill agreed. "I always did get high marks in English class."

"Well, there you go."

"Should we?" O'Neill gestured towards the table. They sat, and O'Neill said, "I'm not really sure what we're supposed to be talking about here. I'm just still trying to catch my breath after yesterday."

"You had a shock," Daniel said.

"And now I've got an identity crisis," O'Neill said, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Anything you'd like to ask me? I'm sure you have questions."

"Millions of them," O'Neill said gloomily. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"It doesn't matter where," Daniel said quietly. "Pick one. It'll get easier after that, I promise."

"Okay. Is Jack a true sub? And what does that mean anyway? To someone like me, I mean. I don't know what I mean." O'Neill waved his hands apologetically.

"Yes, he is," Daniel answered. "But there are varying degrees. Jack doesn't have the slave mentality, for example. A slave will do anything to please his master, whether there's a reward in it for him, or not. Jack feels innate pleasure from submitting to me, but I don't think that would be enough if there weren't physical and emotional payoffs. Sex and approval."

"Daniel and I," O'Neill hesitated. "We've joked about how he orders me around. Gives a whole new meaning to 'pushy bottom', and all that. But I don't think I let it happen because I need his approval."

"It made you happy to make him happy?"

"Well, sure! But there's nothing kinky about that. That's what lovers do. Or should do."

"And you don't feel that it demonstrates submission on your part."

O'Neill thought for a minute, and then stared at Daniel. "It's not exactly dominant behavior, though, is it?"

"There're degrees of dom behavior, too. Some doms would think that I'm not quite a true dom, because there are places where I draw the line. I want to sleep with the man I love; I don't want him in a cage at the foot of my bed. Jack's my partner, not somebody that I call names and smack around." Daniel shrugged.

"Would he sleep in the cage if you asked him to?"

"He probably would. But that's not the kind of thing that you ask. Not to me, anyway. It's something that requires an order. And I don't think he'd like that, at all. There are undoubtedly places where he would draw the line, too. It's just never been necessary, because my boundaries are mutually compatible with his. So far, anyway!"

"Do you think that I'm missing out on something? If I try to ignore this, am I making a huge mistake?"

Daniel winced. "Please don't ask me for advice. I can tell you what you're missing, but that doesn't mean you have to embrace it."

"What about Jack? Or you? You're affected, too, right? Do you think you want to explore your submissive side? Is Jack going to want to go there with you?"

"I knew once you asked that first question it would get easier," Daniel said with mock regret. "I don't know what we're going to do. We haven't really discussed it."

"But do you think Jack would be willing?"

"I'm not comfortable speculating about Jack with you. I'm sorry. Of course, if you want to ask him later..."

"Yeah, probably not." O'Neill looked slightly alarmed at the thought.

"What I could do," Daniel said, thoughtfully, "is tell you what I might do with someone like you, someone who expressed an interest in exploring their submissive side. Doms have been known to switch, you know. And some purposely spend time learning what a sub's life is like, because they think they'll be better doms as a result."

"I'd heard of that, but not of anybody actually switching."

"Sometimes it's just a matter of interacting with the right partner. Falling in love, wanting to please."

"Well, that part sounds like me."

"Well, if someone like that came to me, I would probably start with something simple, like blowjobs. I'm sure you've knelt in front of your lover?"

"Sure," O'Neill said, flushing.

"You'd always kneel for me. And I'd instruct you, tell you what I like, and how to please me best. And I'd praise you when you showed improvement." O'Neill's eyes flickered, but didn't leave Daniel's face. "Maybe some light bondage next? Tie your wrists with something soft, and play with your cock. Maybe make you beg before I took you in my mouth. You'd be pulling against the cloth that was holding you, desperate to come..."

O'Neill's hand shot out and grabbed Daniel's arm. "Don't," he said hoarsely. "Not another word."

Daniel's eyes gleamed wickedly. "You didn't say please."

O'Neill patted Daniel's arm. "Please."

Daniel's lashes fluttered. "See? Begging already," he said softly.

"Damn, you're good," O'Neill growled.

There was a knock at the door. "Want me to get that?" Daniel teased.

Glaring at him, O'Neill called, "Come in."

Jackson poked his head in, surveyed the two of them, and arched his eyebrows. "Need more time?"

"No," O'Neill said loudly. Daniel snorted. "Come on over." Jackson vanished, and reappeared a few seconds later carrying a chair from next door, and followed by Jack, with another chair.

Jack wound up sitting next to O'Neill. "Thanks for the letter," he said quietly.

"We good?"

"We are." Jack offered his hand, and O'Neill shook it solemnly.

"I'm still kicking myself for behaving so unprofessionally. Guess after this I'll avoid personal subjects when I run across another Jack O'Neill."

"Nothing like this has happened before, obviously?" Daniel asked.

Jackson and O'Neill exchanged glances. "Well, no," Jackson said. "We've never had the occasion to discuss relationships before."

"Why this time?" Jack frowned.

Another exchange of glances. "Well, after that alpha display of yours in the Gateroom, we just figured we'd finally hit a universe where we, you, were a couple," O'Neill said.

"Alpha display?" Daniel's jaw dropped. "That was," he looked at Jack, "that was just the colonel in Jack. Threat assessing..."

"Oh, please!" O'Neill said. "If there was ever a clearer case of a man protecting his mate, I haven't seen it. You had 'hands off' written all over you."

Daniel stared at Jack, who began to look sheepish. "Huh."

There was a knock at the door. "Come," O'Neill called.

It was Carter, whose eyes got wide at the sight of the four men around the table. "Oh, good morning, sirs. Daniels. Sorry to interrupt."

"That's okay," O'Neill said easily. "What is it?"

"Teal'c and I were about to head for the commissary, and I came to see if you wanted to join us?"

"Go ahead," O'Neill said. "We'll be along in a few minutes." Carter nodded, smiled and backed out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. "What's left to cover here?"

"You two are comfortable? You're going to be able to work together?" Jackson asked.

Jack and O'Neill exchanged glances. "Sure," they said in unison.

"Well, that takes care of the immediate past," Daniel said, "and the immediate future."

"Anything else is just speculation," Jackson said. "Where we're going from here."

O'Neill and Jack exchanged looks, but said nothing.

"Well, I want to say this," Daniel said. "I'm willing to try new things with Jack, if he's interested." Jack looked wary. "For example, you can't tell me that there's never been a time when you wanted to take me over your knee and give me a good sound spanking, can you?"

"Only in the field. Not in the bedroom." O'Neill and Jackson snickered.

"Use your imagination, Jack. Me, naked, bent over your knee."

"I don't have to imagine it, we did that, remember?" Jack glanced at the other men. "Not for a spanking."

"Yeah, we did. I liked it pretty much as I recall. I think you did, too."

"Well, you've got a great ass. What can I say?"

"Imagine it pink, and hot," O'Neill interjected. He held up his hand. "I can tell you, it fits just right against your palm. Just right. And the way it rises and falls, begging for more..."

"Jack!" Jackson protested faintly.

"Sorry, dear," O'Neill said insincerely. He winked at Jack, who was staring at him, wide-eyed. "Breakfast?"

"Not if it means getting up from this table anytime soon," Jack winced. The others chuckled.

"So, breakfast, back to work. We don't have all that much left to do," Daniel said, looking at Jackson for confirmation. "Then what?"

"I'll talk to Hammond and recommend that we share our intel," Jack said.

"Thank you!" Jackson said. "We appreciate that."

"Helps put dollars in the budget," O'Neill added.

"Maybe some of that will trickle down to the meatloaf," Jack said.

"Remind me to get the recipe," O'Neill answered.

~~

General Hammond okayed the exchange of information, and while that was being compiled, the two teams were able to complete their original assignments, including the documents that had been outsourced to other SGC personnel. Information provided by Jackson launched Daniel in the direction of completing three translations that had been languishing for months. When the okay came down from Hammond, Jackson dug into his briefcase and brought out a folder full of problem translations of his own. The two men happily put their heads together once more.

O'Neill had a lengthy interview with the general, while Jack made elaborate plans for a send-off dinner, which were entirely unfeasible, and largely illegal on a military base. The Carters, operating on next to no sleep, managed not to endanger the entire base with their insanely clever ideas. Teal'c and Murray worked out, kel'no'reemed, tortured Marines under the guise of providing essential training, and spoke tearfully about home and family.

They held a final debriefing, where the documents they were sending through the Mirror were given a thorough going-over. It lasted a long time, and it was a roomful of very tired people who sat and watched as airmen packed everything into boxes.

The scaled-down version of the send-off party took place very late in the evening. Sparkling cider took the place of champagne, and carry out pizza took the place of steak and lobster, but even Jack didn't care. There was cake, and it was entirely satisfactory. Hammond ate two slices. Murray made a toast. Carter giggled as much as if she were drinking actual champagne.

Departure was set for 0840 the next day; forty-seven hours after the visitors had arrived. After Hammond left for the night, the two teams lingered over the stacked boxes that no longer contained pizza.

~~

The two SG-1s assembled in the Gateroom. The boxes and bags that were going back to the alternate reality waited at the foot of the ramp. Sergeant Harriman had begun the dialing procedure. General Hammond had shaken hands with the visitors, and was standing back to give them room for private goodbyes.

The Sams embraced each other, eyes a bit moist. "I'm sure I'll think of half a dozen new questions as soon as I walk through the 'gate," Carter bemoaned.

"Oh, I know! Me, too!" Sam said. "This just feels so strange, like we should be promising to keep in touch."

"We need to invent quantum email," Carter giggled. Sam giggled back.

The two Teal'c's clasped arms in their Jaffa warrior fashion. "I will remember you, brother," Teal'c said.

"And I, you," Murray answered. "We fight the same battle. Perhaps we both someday shall win, and our people will be free from their oppressors."

"May that day come quickly."

The gate activated, and airmen began to cart boxes up to the top of the ramp. The Daniels looked at each other sorrowfully, and shook hands one last time. They had said their private goodbyes earlier, neither one wanting to make a display in front of so many others.

Jack beckoned to O'Neill with a jerk of his head. The two men stepped aside, where they could speak more privately. "Your Daniel," Jack began. "He, uh, big on penetration?"

O'Neill blinked. "Depends," he said uncomfortably.

Jack shot a glance around to make sure no one was near by. "Toys?" he pursued delicately.

"Oh. No." O'Neill cleared his throat. "Unfortunately." He grimaced. "It would be kinda nice."

"I've got two words for you," Jack said. He leaned in a little closer. "Glass. Dildo."

O'Neill flushed a bit, and then started to smile. "Really?"

"Oh, yeah." Jack grinned, and O'Neill's smile grew wider.

"Interesting."

"Get one with a blue swirly thing," Jack advised, making a spiral motion with his forefinger.

"I'll have to look into that," O'Neill said. They beamed at each other with pleasure.

"Uh oh," Jackson said, from where he and Daniel stood watching their lovers warily. Daniel nodded, and both men did something complicated with their eyebrows. "Looks to me like one of us is in for a surprise."

Daniel smiled secretively, thinking of the gesture Jack had just made.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that'll be you."

THE END