The Mind Doesn't Decide 3

None So Brave

by WordGeek

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asw/wordgeek/mind03.php
Summary: FINALLY - Jack's first time
Info: """

Date: August 2004

Warnings: Language. Maybe a little sappy in places.

Summary: There Are None So Brave As Those Who Dare To Love. FINALLY - Jack's first time. I never thought it would take more than 200 pages for Jack to yield to Daniel's desire; but then, Daniel's as patient as Jack is stubborn. Needless to say, their relationship moves to a different level, for this simple act of love and trust changes Jack fundamentally.
Notes: Many, many thanks to Medieval Babe for the beta; all remaining mistakes are mine alone. Feedback welcomed. Encouraged. Shamelessly begged for. None So Brave

"Daniel... is there something you want to tell me?"

Daniel smiled, not hiding his amusement. He sat shirtless on the edge of the exam table, and submitted willingly to Dr. Frazier's scrutiny. He'd known that would be her response. It had been almost a week since Jack had so spectacularly marked him, and the bruises on the lower left side of his throat and neck were now a bright purple in the center, fading out to a charming yellowish-green at the edges. And there were a lot of them. The marks higher on his neck had been made with less intensity and so had mostly faded at this point; those nearest his collarbone and the juncture of his shoulder were deeper and were now all that remained. He had deliberately decided not to show her the bruises on his hips or lower back, for those were far too indicative of precisely the type of sexual encounter that had caused them; there would be no gender ambiguity once she saw those.

There had been occasions for sexual intimacy since the purging incident, but Jack had made no attempt to mark him again since the event that began on Jack's couch and moved to encompass most of the living room surfaces, horizontal and otherwise. They'd almost lost each other that day, and finding their way back together had required an act of sheer desperation, an act that had left Daniel both thoroughly possessed and utterly free; an odd condition considering the catalyst.

Daniel had fallen hard for Jack's clone Jon, a kind of emotional betrayal that nearly sent him into a psychotic break with its many levels of complexity and complications. Jack, on the other hand, battled self-doubt bordering on self-loathing and was nearly frantic for reassurance. He'd taken Daniel that day, not knowing whether or not it would be the end of them; not knowing if Daniel could forgive him his all-consuming need.

Daniel had seen the desperation in Jack's eyes and had felt it in his own soul. He'd been more than a little surprised at the depth of Jack's insecurities, but not at the lengths he'd go to in order to re-connect. He'd seen the truth of Jack, both in his younger self and in the older man later seeking blessed solace within his body. He was not surprised, however, that this proof of his lover's basic, human fallibility would only strengthen his love for him.

Dr. Frazier was still waiting for an answer. "No, I don't think so..." Daniel replied casually.

She tilted Daniel's head to the right to expose more of his collarbone and shoulder to the stark light of the overheads. The teeth marks were still plainly visible amongst the Technicolor display. She captured his gaze, not missing his somewhat self-satisfied smile, and frowned. "Was this consensual?"

"Oh, yes."

The doctor shook her head. "Well, she's got nice, straight, teeth, that's for sure..."

Daniel's cock twitched. There was something very arousing about having Janet examine the visible signs of their fucking. That she was imagining some woman marking him in this way was really immaterial. Daniel had never been one to boast about his sex life, but he was not above enjoying the effects of the incontrovertible evidence speaking for him in this case. Jack would want all the details.

He felt himself blush a little, but was unconcerned. "I wanted you to know that these were here before we head off-world for our next mission. Don't want you thinking I've been getting overly friendly with the natives."

"Now why would I think that?" She smiled, snapping off her exam gloves.

Daniel pulled on his black shirt, which covered the majority of the darkest bruises along his collarbone. Those that still protruded faintly above the shirt... well, that was what marking was for, right? He retrieved his glasses from the tray and then shrugged into his jacket. "Well you might, and I don't want to take the chance on you quarantining me for a month for no reason--"

"And risk having Vampira come after me for sequestering her dinner?" she added sarcastically, handing him a small tube of cream.

Daniel laughed. "Yeah, I see your point. What's this for?"

"Well, they look a little tender to me, but if you can stand to massage them, it will help dissipate the pooled blood and they'll fade more quickly." He blushed deeply this time, and she grinned. "Assuming you want them to..."

Daniel hopped off the exam table and waved the tube at her before pocketing it. "Thanks for this," he said as he strode out of the infirmary.

****

Something in Jack had broken and he was glad. The awful, all consuming pressure to prove himself, to feel worthy, to feel normal, was gone. They had weathered their greatest battle, their most dangerous foe, and were stronger than ever.

He no longer felt that he needed to try to hide his true self, his real nature, for Daniel had seen into the blackness that was his soul and he had stayed the course. Jack's struggle to be better than he knew he was had ended with the certainty that if Daniel wouldn't leave him under those circumstances, that their relationship could withstand truly anything. Now, he felt more free than he'd ever felt in his life.

He couldn't change his past, the things he'd seen and done, and he had always known that this heavy burden would probably mean he'd live out the rest of his life in isolation and loneliness. That no one could bear to share themselves with someone like him; someone who could justify doing the things his career had forced him to do. Sara had tried; tried hard. But unfortunately, without Charlie to hold them together, what they had wasn't strong enough to overcome the darkness that held him and that still surfaced from time to time.

A soldier's greatest weakness is the fear of being afraid. Jack had fought fear for a long time. Piling on layer upon layer of dispassion, snark, and flippancy as protection against feeling too much. Against feeling, period. This protection mechanism had always served him well; had kept most well-meaning acquaintances from trying to become more; from getting in. It hadn't worked with the geek from Egypt, though.

Daniel had gotten in long ago, and had stubbornly refused to understand that Jack wasn't worth investing in. Eight years later, invested they were. So totally committed and dedicated to each other that now they were lovers. Even thinking the word warmed him, and he smiled in spite of himself, struggling to hold the 'Colonel' façade in place. He often mentally re-enacted their first time together and it never failed to jumpstart his heart and enflame his cock. And the fact that Daniel was still sporting hickey's from last week's encounter, filled him with some kind of strange, foolish pride. It would've been cooler if he could've taken public credit for them, but just knowing that others would see where he'd marked Daniel was enough to satisfy his Alpha cravings. For now.

They sat in the commissary at a table in the corner. Jack was finishing his second piece of pie and indulging in his favorite on-base pastime-mentally disrobing Daniel Jackson. He was having more luck in this activity than usual, since Daniel was sitting very still across from him with his eyes closed. Most of the time, Jack was hard-pressed to keep up with a wildly gesturing archeologist who often paced when he talked. It made the mental disrobing very challenging, never mind also trying to keep up with whatever the hell he was talking about at the same time.

His gaze lingered on the marks on Daniel's neck, and he grinned again. It made him hard to think of people looking at the marks on Daniel's neck and knowing that he was taken. He didn't have the insane urge any more to broadcast to everyone who'd listen that they were a couple. He'd been on the verge of losing control and the power of his own emotions had terrified him. His Alpha displays had come to a spectacular head in one breathlessly rough lovemaking session a week ago and the desperation that had led up to it had broken like a fever and settled over them both with a quiet certainty that filled him with sheer contentment.

"If I'm very still and don't breathe... sometimes... I can almost... latch onto it..."

Jack squinted at his lover. "Are ya sure it's not oxygen deprivation?"

Daniel sighed. "I'm sure, Jack."

"Relax, Daniel; don't try and force it."

"But there may be important stuff in there--"

"You're important. Let it go. You're gonna give yourself an aneurysm or something. If it's meant to come back, it will."

Daniel sighed again and sipped his coffee. He'd poked around at a salad for a while, but couldn't really get interested in it. "I'm gonna ask Sam to help me look through the control room logs; maybe there'll be something there..."

****

"Any technical anomalies during an incoming wormhole are noted in this box and then cross-referenced and detailed here. It's pretty dry. The corresponding mission files cover any general points of interest," Sam explained. She glanced at Daniel and smiled to herself. She'd noticed the marks on his neck just above his shirt collar when they were working out earlier, but then, as now, there were too many other people around for her to say anything. She would kid him about it mercilessly-what were big sisters for, after all?-but she wouldn't embarrass him in front of others.

"Yeah, I've been over those."

"Well, if I knew what you were looking for..."

"You wouldn't be doing this," Daniel answered distractedly, peering at the monitor.

"What makes you think the answer's here?"

"I just have this feeling it has something to do with an incoming wormhole. I was

hoping that looking at some of this stuff might jog my memory somehow."

She looked at him and was struck once again with what they all tended to take for granted. Only a month ago, he'd been dead. Gone. Out of their lives and out of their reach. It was nothing short of mind-boggling if you stopped to think about it, which they probably didn't do often enough, and which Daniel-being Daniel--probably couldn't stop doing... "It must be tough," she said finally.

He glanced at her, acknowledging that it was just as weird for him. "I think the hardest part is not knowing whether or not I... chose to be here like this. You know, whether I could... be doing more good if I was still..."

"Ascended?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this should be everything you need. Good luck."

"Thanks."

****

"So? You and Carter figure anything out?"

Daniel fell heavily into the closest kitchen chair. "No. I still think it's got something to do with an incoming wormhole, but that's all I'm really sure of."

Jack turned off the oven and kicked the door closed with his foot. " 'Kay. Leave it at the mountain, and let's eat. Look - I cooked!" he said, holding out a casserole dish.

Daniel peered at the offered delicacy with no small amount of trepidation. "You... cooked... Macaroni and cheese," he observed neutrally.

Jack frowned, hurt at his partner's lack of enthusiasm. "Not just... with little smokies," he said proudly.

"Ah," Daniel exclaimed with contrived joy. "The gourmet version."

"See? I knew you'd be impressed. Didn't know I could cook, didja?"

"Seeing as how you never offer to handle mess-duty off-world, I must admit that I erroneously concluded that you had little to no skill in this area." He took a tentative mouthful of the bright orange and brown food, ready to wash it down quickly with the beer Jack handed him. "It's actually not bad," he said, setting the beer down, unused. He scarfed down more of the concoction as Jack watched and then held his plate out. "More, please."

"Looks like I shoulda made a double batch," Jack muttered under his breath as he sloshed seconds onto Daniel's plate.

"I went to see Frazier today," Daniel said innocently, digging into the second helping.

Jack frowned. "You sick?"

The younger man smiled wickedly. "No, I wanted to show her the marks on my neck.""On purpose?" Jack asked incredulously. His cock twitched its approval, but he tried to hide his perverse pleasure in a frown of concern.

Daniel smiled. "Of course on purpose. I don't think it would be a good idea to have her discover them during our next post-mission physical, do you?"

"Good thinking," Jack replied, clearing his throat. Then he lost the battle with decorum and grinned. "What'd she say?"

Daniel pulled the small tube of cream out of his pocket and tossed it to the older man. "She told me to massage this into the bruises to help the pooled blood dissipate more quickly."

"Aw..." Jack's disappointment was obvious.

Daniel chuckled and took a long swig from his beer. "Yeah, I didn't think you'd want me to do that." He glanced up at Jack over his glasses. "She called you 'Vampira'; said you had perfect teeth."

Jack was beaming, now. "Sweet! Anybody else notice?"

Daniel shook his head, drained the last of his beer and burped. "I saw Sam looking in the gym, but she hasn't worked up to asking about them yet."

Later, they took their usual places on the couch, Daniel leaning against Jack and reading, as Jack channel surfed for something interesting. This night, however, Daniel was doing more fidgeting than reading, unconsciously digging his bare toes into the corners of the couch and then flexing them. Flexing and digging, flexing and digging. It was driving Jack nuts. He snapped off the TV. "You are so not here, Danny. Wanna tell me what's wrong?"

Daniel snapped the book closed and let his head fall backward onto Jack's shoulder. "Oh god, Jack, are you actually suggesting that we do 'the talking thing'?"

"Aht, Aht! You'll notice that I didn't suggest that I do any of the talking," he clarified.

"Oh, right..."

"Would it help you to talk about it, or do ya just wanna have some hot, sweaty sex and get your mind off it?"

Daniel smiled. "Interesting choice. How about we start with some warm, casual kissing and see where it goes?"

With a grunt that could only mean 'knees', Jack heaved himself off the couch. This caused the younger man to fall backward into the expanse the older man had just left. Jack turned and offered a hand to help Daniel up. "I can tell you right now where it'll go, Daniel..." He towed the un-protesting younger man behind him, turning out lights on their way to the bedroom.

"You're awfully sure of yourself," Daniel noted wryly.

"Yasureyabetcha," Jack replied, pulling Daniel to him. He didn't resist, but neither did he offer to progress the subject at hand. He settled into Jack's embrace and waited to see what would happen.

What happened was licking.

He was sure he'd suggested warm casual kissing, but that wasn't what Jack was currently doing. At this specific moment, it seemed that Jack was licking the hickeys on his neck. And moaning. Daniel tossed his glasses onto the dresser, closed his eyes, and went with it. Maybe kissing would be next. He held Jack loosely with one hand around his waist and used the other as reassurance and encouragement on the back of Jack's neck.

"I love that Frazier saw these..." Jack murmured.

Daniel smiled. "She wanted to know if it was consensual..."

Jack paused and met Daniel's gaze. "And...?"

"It was," Daniel breathed, taking Jack's face in his hands and kissing him deeply. He so needed this... With huge, gaping holes in his memory, this, at least was groundingly real.

Jack smiled in the kiss. He was glad that Daniel remembered it that way. In truth, he hadn't been all that sure at the time. Even now, when he thought of taking Daniel in the living room, he wasn't entirely certain of the consensuality aspect. He'd made a concerted effort to be extra-gentle every time since then, eager to show Daniel that he wasn't all about being Alpha all the time.

And the kissing... Oh god, the kissing would be the death of him. Daniel could perform whole entire sex acts in his mouth and he'd had to pull away more than once just to maintain some kind of perspective, some control. "God you are..." he gasped, pulling back. "Let me fucking breathe, will you?" he panted, grinning.

"I need you..." Daniel whispered, homing in on his mouth again. He was biting Jack's lips and sucking on his tongue and holding him prisoner with his hands sliding through the closely-cropped silver hair, gripping handfuls of it. The feel of Daniel's nails on his scalp caused his cock to jerk in time to his pounding heart, and it fueled Jack's own need.

"I don't know how I ever lived without this..." Jack whispered, fumbling with Daniel's belt. Daniel continued to devour his lips, undeterred by Jack's efforts at disrobing him. The intensive concentration required to work the buttons on Daniel's fly was all that kept Jack from blowing from the sheer intensity of the younger man's oral ministrations.

Success - finally! Jack pushed the jeans off Daniel's hips and filled both hands with luscious bare ass cheeks, kneading and then pulling them apart. The little wafts of cool air hitting Daniel's crease raised gooseflesh from the small of his back across his ass and down a significant portion of the backs of his thighs. He gasped, and wiggled the rest of the way out of his jeans easily. With his cock bounding free of the confining denim, he was sufficiently distracted from his assault on Jack's mouth long enough to help the older man out of his clothes.

"Shirt--" Jack gasped, pulling at Daniel's only remaining clothing.

Daniel grinned, pushing Jack back onto the bed. "What about it?"

"Take it off--"

"You."

Jack fumbled with the bottom couple of buttons, but his coordination had gone out the window with the tongue-fucking. He grunted in frustration. He really wanted Daniel naked. "Can't... figure out... how to get it off..."

Daniel was still grinning, and moved to straddle Jack's waist, pinning his arms at his sides. This left Jack's erection bumping the small of his back helplessly. It also left his own erection in Jack's face without allowing him to actually get to it with either his mouth or his hands.

"Maybe if you stop thinkin' about it, it'll come to you," Daniel purred, stroking his own cock salaciously. His shirt, held together by only the top two buttons now, framed the engorged organ beautifully.

Jack wiggled, but not very hard. "MMMmmm... come.... Let me touch you--""Make me..."

Jack grinned, understanding the game. He wiggled his shoulders a little harder, enough to jostle Daniel's perch, but not enough to become free. Daniel let his head fall back as he continued to stroke himself, his left hand reaching behind him to grasp Jack's cock as well. He continued to stroke them both with the same rhythm, all the while moaning and biting his bottom lip. Watching Daniel touch himself was always an incredible turn-on. Being forced into a passive front-row seat, was almost more than Jack could stand.

"I'm close, Jack... I can feel my balls tightening... ummmm..." he moaned, eyes closed. He released Jack's cock and began to pull on his own organ with first his right and then his left hand, as if he were stretching taffy. As one fist cleared the head, the other would start at the base and repeat the journey. Jack's eyes moved from Daniel's flushed face to the near-purple cock now aimed fully at his face.

"Are you gonna come on me?" he breathed, horrifically turned on at the prospect.

"Is that what you want?"

"Oh yeah..." he licked his lips unconsciously as he watched a single drop of pre-cum fall from the swollen head and drop onto his chest.

"Uhh... uhh... uhh... uhh... uhh..." Daniel moaned, switching to his right hand exclusively. He supported his weight with his left arm, bracing his hand on Jack's chest and leaning forward. "Ja-ack-" he gasped. "Oh god... Jack!" he bit his lip, teetering on the brink, but not letting himself go over the top. His grip on his cock was feather-light now, teasing, barely keeping contact, maintaining the terrible pleasure for as long as possible.

"Come for me..." Jack urged.

"Uhh... uhh... uhh..." Daniel worked hard to pry his eyes open. It was a mistake. The look on Jack's face was needy and slutty and more than he could cope with.

"You gonna eat it?" Daniel gasped.

"God yes!"

"Uhh... want you to eat it, Jack... Uhh... uhh... wanna watch you eat it... oh god!" Streaks of semen spewed forth, and Daniel did his best to aim it at Jack's waiting mouth. Wave after wave of long-denied sensation rippled through him, and still the stuff kept coming. Jack caught as much as he could, but some landed on his cheek and chin and the last dribbles matted his chest hair. Above him, Daniel panted, eyes closed, recovering.

"God, Danny," Jack gasped, licking his lips of the cooling fluid. "That was... aw, fuck!"

Daniel opened his eyes, and took in the sight before him. Jack's face was covered in his cum; his nostrils were flaring and his eyes burned with furiously stoked and unexpressed passion. He was in such a state that Daniel was a little surprised that his coming hadn't pushed Jack over the edge as well.

He smiled sleepily and leaned down to give Jack a deep kiss. Tasting his own seed on his lover's tongue made his cock twitch. On a whim, he licked Jack's cheek clean, grinding his still mostly-hard cock onto Jack's belly, and bumping Jack's erection teasingly with his ass.

All at once, Jack freed his trapped arms and with a single motion, heaved upward, pushing Daniel onto his back between his legs and then mounting him. Their positions completely reversed, he grinned down at his surprised partner, his expression dangerous. Without taking his eyes from Daniel's, he grasped the front of the younger man's shirt and ripped it open. Daniel grinned.

"It suddenly came to me," Jack whispered.

"About time," Daniel said, grinning. "Take me--"

Jack's cock flared. New game. "How?"

"On my knees-"

"God-" Jack growled. "Turn over," he commanded, "Ass in the air." Daniel complied, resting on his forearms and leaving his ass vulnerable and exposed. Jack took in the sight before him and squeezed the base of his cock through his ball sac as hard as he could, pushing down the imminent orgasm.

When the danger had passed, he grabbed the luscious mounds and pulled them apart, burying his face in the warm crease. He lapped at the opening and worked his way down to Daniel's balls by way of the perineum, nipping and stroking with his tongue and his teeth and his lips to Daniel's accompanying vocal praises. When he came up for air, he grabbed the lube from the nightstand and slathered himself liberally. With his sticky fingers, he opened Daniel hurriedly, and then lined himself up, pushing slowly but steadily until he was sheathed completely within Daniel's ass.

Groaning, Daniel immediately pushed back, settling him even deeper.

Jack caught sight of their image in his dresser mirror, and he nearly lost it again. "Danny-" he gasped.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder, and then followed Jack's gaze to their reflection. "Oh god..." he muttered. Classic. Finding the image overwhelmingly erotic, he grunted, "Fuck me--"

Jack complied, beginning to thrust steadily and gently.

"Harder!" Daniel demanded.

"I don't want to hurt you--" Jack hissed through gritted teeth.

"HARDER!" he repeated.

"Daniel--"

The younger man pulled away, disconnecting them physically and glared over his shoulder. "I need you to FUCK me, Jack! This isn't the time for gentle!"

Jack's expression hardened and he pulled Daniel roughly back to his knees and pushed in hard. Daniel gasped with the sudden penetration, and grabbed the headboard for support, burying his face in the mattress. Jack held the younger man's hips and started slamming into him as hard as he could. Every thrust pushed Daniel's body toward the headboard, and his biceps bulged with the strain of preventing cranial impact. Shock waves coursed through his balls as they swung in time to Jack's thrusts.

Jack couldn't keep his eyes off their reflection, and the visual was driving his body to completion; no amount of control or distraction was going to override his urgent need to come this time. This was more Alpha than he'd had the guts to be since the living room... Utterly unaware that he was growling and swearing, he continued to pound into his lover with everything he had.

Daniel turned his face to the side until he could see the mirror. He could make out their profiles; what they lacked in clarity, they made up for in sheer erotic content, and he moaned aloud, encouraging Jack further. "Fuckmefuckmefuckmefuckme," he chanted, needing the pounding, the feel of Jack's balls slapping against the backs of his thighs. With one hand, he reached between his legs and grabbed his cock, swollen again and ready to explode. That touch was all he needed and he called out Jack's name as he came on the sheets. Jack followed moments later amid a hoarse growl through a tortured throat.

They collapsed into a panting, cum-soaked tangle of sweaty limbs; Daniel started snoring almost immediately. When Jack's cock slipped out of the younger man's ass, he rolled off him and pulled the covers up over them, following his lover into sticky, sated sleep.

****

Daniel was about halfway through his shower when the glass door slid open and Jack stepped in. "Hello," Jack said, moving in behind him for a hug.

"Mmmnf," the younger man replied, wiggling his soapy butt into Jack's crotch in welcome.

"Mad at me?"

Daniel peered through rivulets of shampoo at the older man. "No... should I be?"

"Last night?"

Daniel grinned. "Was terrific; why should I be mad?"

Jack commandeered the spray, wet himself thoroughly and then stepped back to soap up. "Kinda got my signals crossed."

"That's okay, it all came out alright."

"Funny," Jack sneered. He rinsed off the shampoo and grabbed the soap. "I was trying to show you I don't have to be a cave man all the time; I can be gentle..."

Daniel finished rinsing his hair off and pulled the can of shaving cream off the top of the shower door. Squirting a blob into his hand, he said, "I know. Wasn't in the mood for gentle."

Jack moved his soapy hands down across Daniel's ass gently and came back up via the crease. "Sore?"

"Nope."

"Really?" Jack said hopefully, coming around for another pass and scooching closer to the younger man.

"Ja-ack..."

"Dan-iel..." He reached around with a soapy hand and gathered up Daniel's balls and cock, which was just starting to show signs of life, while resting his chin on the younger man's shoulder.

"I'm shaving, Jack..."

"Mmmm?"

"Shaving, here..."

"Fucking, here..." Jack answered. His voice was low, soft, and leathery. His breath on Daniel's wet neck was as arousing as the large tender hand on his soapy genitals.

"Nnnngh," he complained good-naturedly. He shook his head in peaceful resignation and spread his legs, leaning against the front wall of the shower, pushing his ass at his lover in silent agreement. Since there had been very little prep, Jack eased into him slowly, pulsing his cock a little at a time to make peaceful headway into the tight passage. When the connection was made and he was fully ensconced, he pressed his chest and belly up against Daniel's back, making as complete body contact as possible. He ran soapy hands up and down Daniel's abdomen and chest, and was rewarded with appreciative moans. He pulled out a little and then pushed back in; more of a rocking motion than a thrusting one. The buildup was slow, hardly more than non-existent, and Jack spent a lot of time nibbling on Daniel's shoulders, careful not to leave any marks.

"Ja-ack..."

"Dan--iel..."

"Did you get lost?"

"Hmmm?"

"Forget what you went in there for?"

"Maybe..." Jack muttered. "Blood loss... can't think..."

Daniel smiled. "Maybe if you stop thinkin' about it, it'll come to you," he said, smiling. When he'd said that to Jack last night, he'd ripped the shirt from his body. It was getting to be something of a code between them.

"Come..." Jack moaned, picking up the pace of his rocking into Daniel. "Come... come... come..."

The wave hit Daniel completely by surprise and before either of them knew what had happened, Jack's hand was full of Daniel's cum. "Oh god..." Daniel sighed, leaning his forehead on the cool tile.

"Fuh-uh--uhck, Danny...." Jack moaned, and pumped his own seed lazily into Daniel's soapy ass.

****

He was back in front of the terminal, this time with Sergeant Davis' help, studying the perpetually scrolling data, chin in hand. The rest of the regular control room crew more or less worked around him. This was so frustrating. It seemed that the harder he tried to pin it down, the more elusive the errant thought became.

"Still nothing?" Jack asked, coming up the steps to stand beside Davis.

"Well, I've broadened my search to any 'gate activity, including outgoing wormholes and unauthorized activations. I still have no idea what I'm looking for."

"Maybe if you stop thinkin' about it, it'll come to you," Jack offered not-so-subtly.

Daniel looked up and met his lover's gaze, hardly believing he'd be so blatant in the fucking control room of all places. Memories of their lovemaking in the shower this morning were still very vivid; he wouldn't have been surprised if Jack's cum was still leaking from his ass. He felt his face begin to flush with whatever small amount of blood hadn't been diverted immediately to his cock with the risqué-ness of it all and flared his nostrils in silent, scathing reply. Jack, caught in the act of what could only be called a transparent attempt at a public seduction, shrugged contritely.

"Take a break," He said casually, as if there hadn't been a sexual undercurrent to their conversation at all. "Frazier says Teal'c needs a little pep talk. I've been practicing in front of a mirror for an hour."

The mental image was almost more than he could stand, but Daniel resisted the urge to grin. "Not peppy enough?"

"Not really," Jack said. Daniel nodded and followed him out. "See if you can get him to do that 'talking' thing."

"Wow. Twice in a twelve hour period. I'm sensing a convert, here."

"Don't count on it," Jack muttered.

They found Teal'c in the infirmary sitting on a bed hooked up to all kinds of wires. When he saw them, he slightly raised one brow. Mere mortals would've felt challenged and probably backed off. Not O'Neill.

"Don't give me the eyebrow," Jack said snarkily.

'Good start to the pep talk, Jack,' Daniel thought caustically. "Look, Teal'c, something's bothering you. Something's been bothering you since before this injury. We're pretty sure we know what it is."

"Then there is no mystery," the Jaffa said stoically.

"Yeah, but the point is you have to talk about it." Teal'c gave him a stare. "Okay, you don't have to talk about it, but... you'll feel better if you do." Still nothing.

'So much for the kinder, gentler approach,' Jack thought impatiently. "You know, forget that crap... I'm you're commanding officer--"

"And you must be kept informed of the fitness of all those under your command," Teal'c intoned.

"Frazier says you're ready for duty now. Is that true?"

Teal'c bowed his head. "I have been dishonest with you."

"Oh?"

"It is unacceptable. All Jaffa children know this without being told. They are born with the knowledge. It will not be tolerated."

Jack frowned. Jaffa subtlety was utterly lost on him. "What?"

"Kek."

Jack looked to Daniel. "Death. Death? You mean death?" Daniel asked Teal'c.

"Weakness. We use one word for both, for if one is weak, one may as well be dead."

"You're talkin' about the Tretonin," Daniel surmised.

"In the beginning I believed it to be the answer of liberation for all Jaffa from the Go'a'uld and the reliance on symbiotes. But as soon as I began to take it, things changed. I felt my capability was being compromised, but I said nothing, hoping the effects were only temporary and my strength would return. It did not."

Jack was following this now. He knew where the big guy was going. He didn't like it, but then, that wasn't the issue. "Okay..."

"Forgive me, O'Neill, I should have--"

"No," Jack interrupted. "There's nothing to forgive. You're still... twice as strong as I'll ever be and you've got two good knees..."

"Then the answer to your question is no. I do not feel that I am fit for duty."

"Okay... I can accept that... for now." Jack nodded his head back toward the hallway, indicating that Daniel should follow him.

Once they were out of earshot, Daniel whispered, "Yeah, you're right... not exactly peppy."

"Oh, what'd you want me to say to the guy?" Jack whispered back.

"Well, he's lost his confidence. I think he was looking for you to re-instill some."

"Well, if he really has lost his mojo, there's nothing I can say that's gonna get it back for him."

"It's all in his head," Daniel insisted.

"If he doesn't think he's ready, he's not ready." More sad than pissed off, Jack left the infirmary. Daniel looked over at Teal'c and figured it couldn't hurt to try another approach.

****

"Ry'ac?"

Daniel sat with his head in his hand, trying to make sense of the disturbing images in his mind and what they might mean. He'd suggested the meditation as a means to getting Teal'c to relax and open up as to what was bothering him, never expecting the shocking brain dump that had occurred. "Yeah...Yeah, I saw him and Bra'tac. I think they're in danger."

Teal'c thought about this for a moment, then said, "Are you familiar with the ambush of Kresh'taa?"

"Uh... yeah, the meeting of the Jaffa rebel tribes. I read the report. One hundred and six warriors slaughtered. Only you and Bra'tac survived. You sustained both of your lives by... passing a symbiote between the two of you."

"There is something that is not in the report. As I lay near death, I began to dream. You used your abilities and appeared to me in that dream."

"I did?" Why hadn't Teal'c told him before now? First Jack and now Teal'c... How many other people had he 'visited' during that time? Why hadn't they told him? He had to remember...

"Indeed. When I had sufficiently recovered, you appeared to me again. And that is when I knew. You had stayed with me and watched over me for three days. And that is the reason I am eternally grateful to you, Daniel Jackson, and why I whole-heartedly believe you concerning Ry'ac."

****

Rak'nor had supplied the missing pieces of the puzzle. They had determined that the planet where Ry'ac and Bra'tac were being held was 'Erebus' - in Greek mythology, a place where condemned souls pass when they die. In reality, it was a planet whose natural underground volcanic systems fed the blast furnaces that purified Naquadah used in the construction of Go'a'uld Ha'tak vessels.

The Jaffa prisoner population that worked as the labor force there had a pretty heavy turnover rate due to the extreme working conditions. Eventually, the heat and toxicity affected even the strongest of them; an impenetrable force field around the 'gate prevented both escape and rescue. This information triggered another flashback which sent Daniel running to the control room, snagging Carter from her lab along the way.

Teal'c, Rak'nor and Daniel hung impatiently over Sam's shoulder as she hurriedly typed in the command to bring up the gate activation records for the Alpha site.

"I was there. I saw the whole thing happen. Nothing I could do... just watch. Powerless to interfere. Come on, it has to be there--" Daniel's anxiety was growing in tangible measure the more he remembered seeing of the prison planet.

"Just give me a minute..." Sam said, refusing to be pushed.

"See, I knew it had something to do with 'gate records, I just never thought of checking the Alpha Site 'gate records..."

"Here-" Sam said finally. "A coded energy signal was received and recorded through the Alpha Site 'gate three months ago. It was analyzed, but no one was able to determine its origin or its purpose."

"That is the force field deactivation code I saw Bra'tac send right before he was captured."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"I can synthesize this energy signature. If it is the deactivation code, I can get us through the 'gate," Sam said.

"And I can provide details of their defenses and the lay of the land."

****

Daniel was scrambling around his office, hurriedly stuffing things into his pack. Already geared up, Jack watched the frantic activity with some apprehension.

"Daniel--"

"Most people are only inadequate on one plane of existence," he muttered. "I seem to be batting oh for two."

"Will you stop?"

"They might be dead by now--"

"And they might not be. Quit beating yourself up about this and let's go."

Daniel looked up from the contents of his pack, nostrils flaring with self-recrimination. "What else is stuck in here that I can't get to?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Leave it."

"Jack--"

"Let it go, Daniel! There are some things better left alone!"

They stared at each other for a long, heavy minute. "I know about Abydos," Daniel said evenly.

The anger dropped away from Jack's face, replaced with something Daniel couldn't identify. "You remembered that?" he whispered.

"No," Daniel said honestly. "I made Teal'c tell me."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "When?"

"The day after I came back."

"You've known all this time?" Jack snapped. Daniel nodded. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I was waiting for you to tell me." There was definite accusation there.

Jack turned away. "Well that woulda been dumb, Daniel, seein' as how I didn't want you to remember in the first place..."

"Because you didn't think I could handle it? Thanks for the vote of confidence--"

Jack spun around and confronted Daniel. "No. Because it was my goddamn fault the Abydonians died!"Daniel frowned. "How do you figure that?"

'No point not telling him all of it; just one more black piece of my soul,' Jack thought grimly. "When you came to me for help to find that 'Eye' thing... you told me you were 'walking a fine line' and couldn't help them yourself. And when Anubis landed on the pyramid... I goaded you... provoked you-I told you to cross the line. I knew there'd be ramifications for you if you did." He shifted the P-90 absently, careful not to meet Daniel's penetrating gaze. "I didn't want them to get caught up in it," he whispered, ashamed. "But I'd've done anything..." he closed his eyes against the shame. "Sacrificed anyone... Whatever you did on Anubis' ship was enough to piss off Her Glowy Highness..."

The dawning of this notion almost pained Daniel physically. The eye of Ra was nothing... it had all been because Jack wanted him back... "You couldn't have known Oma would cast me out," Daniel said softly, not treading on the guilt that was pouring off Jack in waves; he had his own to deal with.

Jack squared his shoulders, finally freed of carrying this burden alone. "It was a calculated risk," Jack said stonily and strode out of Daniel's office toward the elevator.

****

Teal'c and Rak'nor, in full Jaffa armor, stood at the base of the ramp waiting for the rest of SG-1 to assemble.

Teal'c moved toward Jack as the Colonel entered the gateroom. "O'Neill... I must tell you that I believe I may be a liability on this mission," he said quietly.

"I don't," Jack said firmly. He'd wanted to wait for Teal'c to come around in his own time, but once again, they didn't have the luxury of time. He could only hope that however this turned out, it pushed him in the right direction.

Clearly, Teal'c didn't share O'Neill's estimation. "If I should die, it is my wish that you watch over Ry'ac."

"Well, let's see it doesn't come to that, all right?" Teal'c nodded and walked away. As he passed Daniel, the linguist glanced questioningly at Jack.

"It's his son..." Jack explained. He had a pretty tight feeling in his gut regarding this mission. It felt like the two male members of his team were off their game for one reason or another. He'd have scrubbed the mission based on that alone if there hadn't been the sense of urgency about getting there ASAP. He hoped he wasn't making a critical error in judgment. The familiar 'whoosh' brought him out of his musings. "All right, let's do this."

"Sending signal now," Carter said over the speaker. After a four-count, Rak'nor rolled the sonic bomb up the ramp and through the event horizon.

With supreme confidence in the other-worldly intel, Jack lead them through the wormhole to whatever awaited them on the other side. Doing a quick visual sweep of the immediate area, Jack counted five unconscious Jaffa, thanks to the sonic grenade.

"Clear," Carter reported.

"Okay, so, that happened," Jack said steadily. So far, so good. "SG-3, secure these guys, then establish a perimeter. Daniel..." he motioned for the younger man to take point as the rest of them fell in behind.

****

"No sign of Bra'tac," Carter said as she scanned the area for their targets. "Wait a minute, I've got Ry'ac."

O'Neill peered through the scope of Penhall's sniper rifle into the Jaffa camp below them, picking up Teal'c's son as he walked into one of the tents.

"If we can eliminate that guard position, we can create a blind spot," Teal'c suggested.

Jack moved the scope to the guard Teal'c referred to and then glanced away, weighing his options.

"Infiltration is the best option, O'Neill."

He'd rather get in and get it done; he didn't like feeling antsy, and that pretty much described his current state. But the man had a point. "All right, it will be dark in an hour. Everybody, get comfortable."

****

They lay on their bellies, shoulder to shoulder in the darkness. The smoke from the campfires wafted toward them as Sam, Teal'c and Rak'nor moved away in preparation for Jack's order to infiltrate the camp. "Let me go in--"

"No."

"Jack--"

"I said NO, Daniel," Jack hissed.

"Let me DO something!" the younger man whispered harshly. "Stop protecting me!"

Jack glared at him. "That's not what I'm doing; don't try and second-guess me on this!" Daniel's glare didn't recede, but he dropped the challenge; Jack only hoped the others didn't catch too much of their conversation.

He signaled Carter to move, and watched through his scope as she led her small party down into the camp. Moments later, the faint whine of a Zat could be heard as she took down the guard from behind. He saw her step over the body and signal Teal'c and Rak'nor that the way was clear. He lost them as they entered the same tent that Ry'ac had gone into earlier.

"All right, they're in," Jack said into the 'com. Carter settled back into the shadows to wait. Daniel aimed the parabolic mike into the camp and turned it until it was more or less aimed at the tent in question.

"Jaffa, hol! Kal vak!" Still peering into the scope, Jack tracked one of the Jaffa leaders as he strode purposefully toward the same tent. 'Shit and damn!' he thought raggedly. "Come on, come on," he whispered out loud.

"Rin nok!"

"What's this?" he snapped at Daniel.

"Oh, he's dressing the warrior down, "I do the bidding of Ba'al. Shut up."

" 'Shut up' ?"

"Yeah, I'm paraphrasing..."

"Kel mar tokeem. Tel mak kree. Meg tal."

Daniel continued to translate. "You're poisoned, you're... cursed by the wearer of horns, you're sloppy..."

"Oracca aseemu!"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud." Jack continued to look through the scope as the head Jaffa moved on to another location.

"Hol mel!"

"Dammit!" Jack hissed.

"I think they've been made," Carter whispered urgently.

"Just hold on..." O'Neill ordered. It seemed like eons passed, but he knew it had been barely two minutes. He noticed a laborer approaching the Jaffa leader, and the hackles stood straight up on the back of his neck. He thumbed his 'com. "Teal'c, you've been made. Get outta there. Get out of there! Teal'c!" Barely were the words out of his mouth when the Jaffa leader entered the tent with his guards.

"Kree chok!"

Within moments, Teal'c and Rak'nor were led through the camp, their wrists bound to bars that ran behind their necks from shoulder to shoulder.

"Hold your fire, hold your fire," O'Neill ordered grimly. The sounds of whips cutting through the air and finding their marks soon filtered up to the bluff where they waited, powerless to help their friends.

"Sir?" Carter asked.

"Just hold your position," O'Neill replied tersely. Sam slumped back and closed her eyes in frustration.

"We're just gonna sit here?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Jack said sharply. "We've just got to sit here... until we can find another way in."

****

The night passed slowly for the rescue party, laying in silence along the bluff overlooking the encampment. They took turns cat-napping and watching for signs of life from the tent where Teal'c and Rak'nor had been taken following their beatings.

As planet dawn broke, Sam made her way back up the cliff to join the others. "Search patrol went off in that direction, heading for the Stargate," she reported.

"Ah, they don't believe Teal'c and Rak'nor are working alone," O'Neill surmised.

"This is my fault," Daniel said softly.

"How's that?"

"Because I should have done something when I had the chance... when I had the power," Daniel replied, not even trying to hide the guilt he felt at having let his friends down.

"I think we've already established that wouldn't have worked out either," Jack said gently. This boy had some pretty big demons to overcome, but they'd have to wait for another time. "No, it's time for plan B."

"We have a plan B?" Carter asked dubiously.

"No...but it's time for one." His people recognized this as the cue to begin brainstorming.

"We've already determined there are too many guards for us to take out the whole camp with our current numbers," Carter summarized.

"We need a distraction," Daniel stated.

Sam went with it. "Grenades?"

"Think bigger," O'Neill said.

"Claymores?"

"Much bigger." They followed his gaze up to the mother ship hanging in dry-dock.

When the light dawned, she grinned. "If we can blow the anti-grav generator, the whole ship should come down."

"That should do it," O'Neill agreed. "You got enough?"

"Yes sir," she confirmed.

He caught Daniel's eye, his heart thudding dully in his chest. "Can you watch her six?"

"Yeah, sure," Daniel said, glad to finally be doing something. He nodded at his lover's concerned expression with as much reassurance as he could project without words or touch, and followed Sam to the transport rings.

Jack watched them leave the bluff and then picked up their progress through the rifle scope. He continued to watch them until the rings pulled them up into the mothership. He then scanned the camp for potential targets and tried not to think about the fact that he'd just placed two more of his best people in harm's way. He utterly refused to acknowledge that one of them was his lover. "Major, target TRP-1," he said evenly to the man next to him.

****

They'd been hauled back into the tent following the beatings; beatings designed to break their spirits without completely breaking their bodies. The others were at morning meal.

Rak'nor, near fully recovered now, evaluated the old Jaffa before him and was deeply satisfied with his progress. "His strength still grows."

Teal'c was gratified. "Good... Ry'ac... you and Rak'nor must spread the word. If we wish for our rescue to be successful, the other must be prepared to fight."

"How will they know when?" the boy asked.

"When the time is right, they will know," Rak'nor replied.

"Indeed."

Ry'ac studied his father's injuries; they did not look too severe, and yet, there was a pall of something... he might've called it 'fear' if the warrior before him were not his own father. "Can you fight?" he asked quietly.

Teal'c had anticipated this question. It lingered in his son's eyes, visible to all. "I am...not the Jaffa I once was," he answered truthfully.

"No."

"Ry'ac..."

"No. You are Teal'c. There is no greater warrior..."

"Ry'ac... I am... " it killed him to even say the word. "Weak--"

"Father, please..."

He was impatient now. "Ry'ac! No matter what, you must survive. You must survive...or I have come for nothing. Now go--"

Ry'ac looked at father in disbelief, then to Bra'tac as if pleading for the older Jaffa to contradict what his father had said. But he did not. Ry'ac left the tent with Rak'nor to spread word of the imminent revolt.

Bra'tac had heard the entire exchange between father and son. When the woman finished offering Teal'c water and left, and they were once again alone, he said, "It has been difficult... for both of us."

Teal'c hadn't realized that the older man was even awake. "You are feeling better."

"You will not be rid of me so easily," Bra'tac said confidently. "When the time comes, I will be ready, old friend."

Teal'c smiled. "As will I."

Bra'tac shook his head, frowning, "I am not so sure. This Tretonin seems to have had an effect on your memory."

"Why would you say such a thing?"

"Because you have forgotten that a warrior's true strength comes from his heart and his mind. You have had a physical advantage over me for a long time. And yet, I have never lost a sparring match to you." He did not bother to couch the challenge of his words.

But Teal'c was on to him. "Because for years, old man, I have let you win."

The older man grinned. "Better... much better," he said, giving Teal'c's shoulder a squeeze.

****

She'd laid enough C4 to take down the anti-grav platform without endangering the integrity of the ship itself. They'd been extraordinarily lucky that they'd been able to ring in, locate the panel they needed and get back to the ring station without running into any of the ship's personnel. And now, mere moments away from ringing back down to the planet, a six-man contingent of Jaffa had overtaken their position. They'd not been compromised, but the Jaffa stood stubbornly in the way of their escape.

"This could be a problem," Sam murmured.

'That's something of an understatement,' Daniel thought miserably. He didn't want his last moments of life to be spent cowering in the corner of a mothership less than a minute away from becoming a fireball. Once again, he was filled with anger at his own impotence; his arrogance at thinking that ascension would let him make a difference. The waste and utter futility of it all. The annoying cliché that good didn't always triumph over evil; the good guys didn't all wear white and didn't always win. Regrets of things undone, of a love so recently recognized and too soon lost. Knowing that guilt for his death would consume Jack and that the cycle of his despair would be brought 'round to the place of their dark beginning. And that once again, there was nothing he could do...

****

Jack watched the confrontation through the sniper scope.

Ry'ac was speaking with a laborer, spreading the word to be ready to fight. The Jaffa leader came up behind him. "This is not your work station," he accused. He turned to the flunky at his side. "Take him." Teal'c staggered weakly from the tent when the commotion began and watched as his son was led to the execution spot.

"If you do not work, you will die." The leader announced to the camp. "This one does not know where his work station is." He turned back to the young man, leveling his staff weapon at the youth's midsection.

"But he is young and still able to work," Teal'c called out from across the compound. Rak'nor and Bra'tac stood at his side.

"You dare to speak to me?" The Jaffa leader taunted.

"Only to ask that I take his place," Teal'c said evenly, arms spread in supplication.

The Jaffa leader considered this offer. "So be it." When his flunky moved Ry'ac out of the way, the boy shouted, "No! NO!" as Teal'c was thrown on the spot where Ry'ac just stood. Jack watched him fall to the ground, face down and then struggle to pull himself up.

'Carter... Carter...' Jack screamed soundlessly.

"You are barely able to stand," the Jaffa leader said. "You would not have lasted another day. It was a... good trade."

'Out of time,' Jack thought angrily. He thumbed his 'com. "Carter, what's the hold up?"

"We're a go in 30 seconds, Sir," she replied.

"Assume we do not have 30 seconds," he said stonily.

The Jaffa leader took a moment to take a stab at Teal'c emotionally, for the benefit of the assembled crowd. "You were once the first prime of Apophis. Now you're nothing but a weak, pathetic sholva."

Ry'ac turned his head away, unable to bear the shame as the Jaffa leader aimed his staff weapon at Teal'c.

"Do not look away," Bra'tac admonished gently. "Be strong for him. What better way for Teal'c to die that to be looking upon the face of his son?"

****

The explosion echoed through the mothership, and as the antigravity field failed, the ship shook violently before starting its inevitable dance with gravity on the way to utter destruction.

The Jaffa previously guarding the ring platform scattered in all directions, leaving Sam and Daniel to ring out of the doomed vessel with no time to spare. When the rings released them, they bolted through the trees and back up the cliff towards the bluff where SGC personnel were preparing to rain fire and brimstone upon the encampment leadership below.

As the Jaffa leader opened the staff weapon and aimed it directly at Teal'c's face, the ever-present whine of the anti-grav generator fizzled to silence, followed by a Jaffa alarm horn. As one, the Jaffa looked up the opposing cliff to watch in mute horror as the mothership began to descend to the planet's surface. "Kree! Trey long tonok!" the Jaffa leader yelled, spinning around to the opposing bluff and spying the SGC contingent there.

At this order, several dozen Jaffa guards began to run up the slope toward them. Jack nodded to his men and they began loading the grenade launchers. "Fire!" he yelled. Four of the grenades took out most of the Jaffa wave that approached them before they made it too far up the slope, and it was easy to pick off the stragglers after that. They continued to blast the pre-selected targets, taking out several large guns, along with many running Jaffa in the bargain.

"Take them now!" Bra'tac yelled over the din.

Teal'c rushed the Jaffa leader, but was quickly thrown to the ground. Bra'tac and Rak'nor were holding their own against more of the guards, disarming them and then firing the liberated staff weapons at others in their vicinity. As more and more of the prison labor force began to join the fight, the bloodbath started to turn in their favor.

As the ship finally crashed onto the bluff opposite the SGC personnel, O'Neill gave the order, "Come on, boys; have at 'em!"

Daniel ran, crouching low until he could see the prone figure of his lover, busy picking off enemy Jaffa with precision and dispassion. He slid into place at his side, careful not to bump him, and brought his P-90 up ready to bear on the targets below, as Sam slid into the empty slot on Jack's other side. "We're back," he called over the sound of automatic gunfire and ejecting brass.

"I noticed," Jack called back, picking off another Jaffa. In truth, he'd smelled Daniel's sweat as he whooshed into place beside him on the firing line. Huge billows of salty pheromones wafting his way, telling him that he and Carter had escaped the fiery demolition of the Ha'tak vessel below, now nothing more than twisted, grinding metal amid billows of gaseous pageantry. He bit back the rather urgent need to reach out and touch his lover and instead continued to blow away the bad guys one at a time.

In the pit off to one side, Teal'c and the Jaffa leader were still engaged in hand to hand combat. When it looked as if Teal'c would not be victorious, Ry'ac attempted to join the fray, only to be tossed aside easily by the Jaffa leader. Seeing Ry'ac injured was the impetuous Teal'c needed, and somehow, he found enough adrenalin to get the upper hand.

Rak'nor took aim at the Jaffa leader waiting for a clear shot to deliver the final blow, but Ry'ac stopped him. "Wait!" In the next movement, Teal'c surrounded the man's head with his huge arms and snapped his neck easily. Ry'ac was well satisfied.

Rak'nor smiled and tossed Teal'c a staff weapon. In the next moment, Ry'ac noticed a large, unobstructed group of guards approaching them from the slope at a run, and raised the alarm. "Father!" Rak'nor, Teal'c and Bra'tac took aim at the approaching hoard and fired in unison.

****

They sent the prisoners who were ambulatory directly to the Alpha site; those that needed medical attention would be run through the SGC infirmary first. They'd send SG-5 back through later to salvage anything usable weapons and technology-wise and also to take care of sanitation with respect to the corpses. Then they dialed home.

When Jack, Daniel and Carter came through, followed by Rak'nor and Ry'ac supporting Teal'c between them, Janet already had Bra'tac on a stretcher at the base of the ramp, and was examining the wounds on his neck.

General Hammond surveyed the room with affection and satisfaction. Even before the official de-briefing, he could tell this one had had a happy ending. "Welcome back, SG-1."

"The camp has been liberated, Sir, all the prisoners relocated to the Alpha Site," Jack reported happily.

"They are anxious to join the rebellion," Rak'nor added.

"Then my mission has been a success," Bra'tac announced, glancing at Teal'c, who nodded his agreement. "Hammond, of Texas, I find myself once more in your debt."

Hammond smiled. "I think it's Dr. Jackson you owe on this one."

"Indeed," Teal'c acknowledged, nodding his thanks to his friend.

Uncomfortable with the tribute, Daniel returned the nod shyly.

Jack smiled. 'Looks like everybody got their mojo back...' he thought to himself. He realized that the kind of deeply-held guilt Daniel was currently sporting would take a long time to fully work it's way out, but in the short term, it seemed that his archeologist had gotten a measure of peace from the successful outcome of this particularly hard-won memory.

****

Daniel had finished showering and was on his way to meet Teal'c in his quarters when he ran into Sam at the elevator. "Finally caught you alone," she grinned wickedly, pushing him into the elevator car.

"Sam?"

She punched her floor and nodded towards his collar. "What's with the love bites?" Daniel reached up unconsciously and touched them, very aware that his entire face was coloring. "Guess you didn't need me to set you up after all!" she said impishly.

"Ah... no," he answered quietly, pressing the button for Teal'c's floor and then moving to the back of the elevator.

"So?"

"So?"

"Give!" She poked him in the side, where she knew he was ticklish.

"Stop!" he said, intercepting her hand and smiling. "What already?"

"Details! Tell me everything! Is it serious?"

He crossed his arms to protect against any further tickling and tried to think of what to say. If he told her that it was serious, she'd probably expect to be introduced or--god forbid-suggest they double date or something. On the other hand, if he blew it off as something casual, he'd probably never hear the end of it. He shrugged and wiggled his eyebrows mysteriously. "We'll see."

As the elevator doors opened to her floor, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Keep me posted," she said as the doors closed between them.

****

He knocked and was admitted with the familiar deep baritone. "Enter." He opened the door slowly, and as he'd expected, the room was full of lit candles. He closed the door just as slowly and settled into 'his' spot on Teal'c's floor. Without preamble, he assumed the meditation pose he found most comfortable.

After several minutes, when his breathing had slowed and his eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, he spoke softly. "If I doze off, just push me into a corner away from the flames, okay?"

Teal'c smiled. "Indeed. I too feel the need to... decompress before I can sleep. Kelnoreem is unnecessary, although it does make me feel... better. Colonel O'Neill has officially informed me that... I have my... 'mojo' back." He wasn't certain that he agreed, but then he wasn't altogether certain that Jaffa even had 'mojo'.

Daniel smiled. Jack had known it would take something like this to bring Teal'c back to them. He wasn't really the dumb flyboy he portrayed; as he would say, 'he just played one on TV...' He often seemed to go about things in what appeared to be a clunky, disjointed kind of way, but most times, things worked out for the best. Jack had developed a rare kind of vision that allowed him to see alternatives that others missed.

As for his own foibles... perhaps he felt the fragility, the impermanence of life in an altogether too personal fashion due to his unfortunate tendency to die. Today's mission-successful mission, he reminded himself-had driven home the point that his life... his love, was here, on this plane of existence, and that was a grand enlightenment indeed. It was the other attempt at enlightenment that had been the absurdity; what could be more frustrating, more hopeless, than to see wrong everywhere and be unable to right it?

"I guess I should be thanking you, actually. You see, I used to... I used to feel like I didn't belong... anywhere, really. I think I thought that, uh, this whole ascension thing would change that. And now, I'm realizing that the sacrifices were far too great. And my life here is far too important to just leave behind. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, uh, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm a part of something... something important."

Teal'c was honored that the archeologist would confide in him so; their relationship had indeed come far. "As do I," he agreed, smiling.

****

Daniel flipped the cellphone open with his free hand and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."

"Behind you."

Daniel glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled. "Aren't you always?"

Jack ignored the taunt. "My place?"

"My place."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Laundry or shopping?" Daniel glanced back into the mirror and saw Jack take the phone away from his ear, look at and frown before answering.

"What?"

He tried hard to keep from laughing. "Do you want to do the laundry or the grocery shopping?"

"Not exactly what I had in mind..."

"I can imagine. Had to happen sooner or later."

"What?"

"Honeymoon's over; I'm all outta clean clothes and the fridge is empty."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud..." Jack said in exasperation. "Laundry."

Daniel smiled. "Taking it like a man. See ya in a few-" He snapped the phone closed and slipped it in his pocket. No sooner had he turned off the highway into the brightly-lit parking lot of the grocery store, than the phone rang again. "Change your mind-- oh, sorry, Sergeant. Yes, this is Daniel Jackson... but..." He sighed. "Yeah, I got it. Oh-seven-hundred."

He cut short the shopping trip to just essentials for tonight's late dinner, since their two-day leave had just been cancelled. He knew that Jack had gotten the same call he had, as would Sam and Teal'c. In a little over eleven hours, they'd be in a briefing and then on their way to another mission.

****

He heard the washer filling when he walked in the door and it made him sad. So much for their leave. He'd wanted to tell Jack that Sam had mentioned the marks on his neck, but now that would have to wait.

He went straight to the kitchen to put away the groceries and was not completely surprised when he felt Jack come up behind him. He closed the refrigerator door and felt Jack's arms come around him. He didn't try to stop him, nor did he turn around, but just let himself melt into the embrace.

"You should go," he said softly.

Jack kissed the side of his neck gently. "No."

"The plan-"

"Screw the plan."

Daniel sighed. "It works. You can't deny that it works."

"Don't talk to me about denial, Danny," Jack said roughly.

The younger man shook his head sadly. "We can't do this. If you stay tonight-"

"I'm staying."

With every ounce of effort he had, Daniel pulled away from the tender kisses and the life-giving embrace and moved the short distance across the kitchen. "No." He didn't look up, for to do so would've exposed him to the raw emotion he knew would be written all over his lover's face. The sound of it in Jack's voice was almost more than his heart could bear to hear. "I can be strong for both of us as long as you don't touch me," he whispered.

Jack weighed the implied alternative and tried to find his own resolve. They'd made up the rules of their relationship at the very beginning, and this was an important one. They needed separation before going off world. To go through the gate with all their senses still in flames from being together, from loving each other, was dangerous. It dulled Jack's instincts and directed them wholly toward his lover. This was hazardous for the entire team. He knew this. He understood it. He believed that this rule was for everyone's benefit. But he hated it.

Standing in the gate room earlier today, freshly back from rescuing Ry'ac and Bra'tac on Erebus, he'd made himself a promise. Daniel had barely made it off the Ha'tak before it went down in flames and Jack vowed he'd let no more time pass before he asked Daniel to make love to him. He'd been stupid to make the younger man wait; to let his arrogant, macho hang-ups stand in the way of their completely consummating their relationship. He'd waited too long as it was; and the fact that this was the second time he'd made this decision and also the second time that fate had stepped in to prevent it, was wholly aggravating.

"Daniel..." he whispered, his longing undeniably and painfully clear.

"See you in the morning, Jack." He didn't turn around, but he knew when Jack left the kitchen. Knew when he'd left the house; felt the rumble of his truck as he backed down his driveway. And, not for the first time, he questioned his insistence that they continue working together at the expense of their relationship. It was at times like these that he would've willingly outted them both just so as not to have to make the goddamned sacrifice anymore.

****

"We received the invitation last night. Washington's determined that it would be in the best interest of continuing diplomatic dialog with the Argosians, that SG-1 respond affirmatively to the invitation."

"Invitation to what, exactly?" Jack asked, frowning.

"They call it the 'Trial of Pelops'", Hammond answered, consulting his notes. "Got something to do with the baby Daniel delivered when you were there six years ago."

"Dan-El," Carter supplied. "Had some kind of birthmark they said would bring him luck."

"They called it a 'tri-point'. Might be a Rite of Passage of some kind," Daniel guessed. "With the nanocytes turned off, he'd probably be around seventeen or eighteen now."

"The invitation came from Alekos and Thetys," Hammond continued. "Alekos is part of their governing Council apparently. SG-10 goes back periodically to make sure their culture is continuing to develop since SG-1's intervention accidentally upset the balance of their very existence."

"They weren't the only ones whose balance got a little upset, General, if you remember," Jack said petulantly. He was annoyed enough that their downtime had been cancelled for some kind of ridiculous party, and his plans with Daniel put on hold for the second time. Now he was being told he had to face Kynthia in front of Daniel, no less, and this was just a little too much to ask. "How 'bout Carter and Daniel go and make nice with the natives and I sit this one out?"

"They specifically requested that you attend, Colonel. I'm sorry, but your presence is not optional. Be ready to depart in one hour, people; formal dress, please. Dismissed," Hammond said, retreating into his office.

****

They'd had no time to discuss this mission privately. Not that Jack would've known what to say. 'Awkward' was really the only word to describe a situation where ones' current lover was forced into a confrontation with a past lover, however the brief the affair. 'Regrettable' worked. So did 'tacky'. But 'awkward' was really the best. You could've cut the tension in the gate room with a knife.

Jack, in crisp dress blues, adjusted his tie for the millionth time. Daniel was uncharacteristically quiet in his elegant black suit and ice-blue shirt; Jack couldn't remember ever seeing the silver and black tie before. Teal'c was fidgeting and Carter was--he glanced behind him... not here yet.

"Teal'c, you look smashing," Jack said, trying to lighten the mood as they assembled at the base of the ramp. "Carter help you pick out the outfit?"

"Indeed." His charcoal sport coat over the burgundy pullover and black pants made him look dark and dangerous. "It is awkward to not have my staff weapon at my side."

Jack smiled. "Feel naked without it, T?"

The Jaffa glared at him. "I do not have much occasion to handle my staff weapon while I am unclothed, O'Neill," he said seriously.

"I'm not gonna touch that--" Jack muttered.

"Chevron seven... locked," Sergeant Davis intoned over the loudspeaker and the familiar 'whoosh' occurred. Jack looked around, mentally counting his people again. He turned back toward the control room "Where's--"

At that moment, the side doors opened and Carter ran in, pumps in hand and jacket slung over her arm. She was still buttoning her shirt sleeves.

"We rushin' you, Carter?"

"Pantyhose, Sir."

"TMI, Major," Jack replied, stifling a smile.

"SG-1, you have a 'go'," Hammond said from on-high.

"Back to paradise," Daniel muttered darkly as he strode up the ramp next to Jack.

"As long as we all stay away from the cake, we should be alright," Jack replied. "What could happen?" From the corner of his eye, he saw Daniel glare at him just as they breached the event horizon.

He was still glaring when they reached the other side. And as Jack had feared, Kynthia was there to great them.

"Jack!" She exclaimed, joyfully throwing her arms around him before he'd actually stepped off the platform. He returned the embrace stiffly, avoiding Daniel's gaze.

"Kynthia," he said uncomfortably. He did not encourage the hug to last any longer than absolutely necessary for politeness, and when she released him, he moved carefully behind Daniel.

"Daniel, you wanna do your peaceful diplomat thing?" he said under his breath as he smiled for the assembled group.

Daniel applied a rather strained smile of his own and bowed slightly to the group. "Earth sends its warmest regards to the people of Argos."

A man he recognized as Alekos, father of the baby Dan-El, stepped forward, grinning; he didn't look much older than Daniel remembered.

"We are pleased that you are able to be here for our son's Trial," he bowed. "Please, this way." It was late afternoon, local-time, Daniel noticed as they were led to a neighboring Grecian-style structure which turned out to be an open-air banquet hall. Long, low tables laden with plates of food and huge bouquets of flowers lined the perimeter of the hall, leaving the center open. To one side, a group of stringed musicians played gentle melodies in colorful robes.

Jack tucked his cover under his arm and fell in beside Daniel in a receiving-line of sorts. He smiled and shook hands as he was introduced to the various townsfolk along with job titles representing their place in the fledgling government SG-10 had helped establish. They'd all been drunken and rowdy together once, but that had been a lot of years ago, and as he recalled, names weren't all that important at the time. Besides, once he'd started aging so rapidly, he'd kind of stayed off by himself for the most part.

Daniel was handling the diplomatic chores with ease. Jack had to admire how far he'd come from the wide-eyed innocent archeologist he'd been when the program started. He missed that naïve exuberance, and he flushed with regret, knowing that he'd probably been the one responsible for killing that part of Daniel by turning him into a soldier.

The introductions completed, the Earth contingent was led to one of the low tables with plush cushions and encouraged to partake of the meal. Jack felt safe, seated between Daniel and Carter, and he let himself relax a little. He hadn't even noticed that Kynthia had snuck up behind him. "Will you share a dance with me, Jack?" she asked with perfect teeth.

"I don't--"

"Diplomatically speaking, it would be an insult not to dance with her," Daniel whispered quietly.

Jack shot him a piercing glance before smiling and accepting the young woman's invitation. They moved onto the floor and he took her loosely into his arms. He didn't need to look to know that Daniel was watching them.

"I have hoped every time the stone circle lights that you would be the one to walk through," Kynthia said, smiling.

Jack smiled back. "We don't get much chance to socialize," he said, as if that explained everything.

"It has been many years since you freed us from the bonds of Pelops."

"Yeah. How ya been?" Surreal. Just surreal.

"I have missed being with you," she said, smiling suggestively and settling coyly into his arms. "Will you come to my bed after tonight's ceremony?"

"Ah, no... I don't think that would be a good idea. We've got to get back to Earth after the ceremony." His physical memory was full of Daniel Jackson now; the soft woman felt strange in his arms.

"The Trial of Pelops lasts for three days and nights," she grinned. "There will be time for many couplings before you must return to your land."

"Couplings? Ah, no. No couplings," Jack stammered.

"But by our customs, we are married," she pouted. He remembered kissing those pouty lips. He remembered her soft, limber body and her incredible hands. And his traitorous body was remembering her too. He twirled her and used the momentum to keep her at arms length after the twirl ended.

"Kynthia," he said gently, not wanting to hurt her, but desperate not to encourage her either. "I'm not in a position--"

"You do not wish to be married with me any longer?"

"It's not that simple--"

"Is it because of your wife from before?"

Jack suddenly remembered referring to Sara the last time he was here. "Yes," he said quickly seizing the opportunity.. "Yes it is. She saw me first," he said earnestly. "It wouldn't be fair to Sara." He tried for an expression of sad regret, and hoped it would be enough to keep her at bay for the length of their stay without causing a diplomatic incident.

"I understand," she said sadly as the song ended. She reached up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek, and then left the banquet hall. Jack sighed in relief and made his way back to their table.

"Everything alright?" Daniel asked tersely. He'd seen the kiss, and although grateful that Jack hadn't reciprocated, he was nonetheless annoyed that it had happened.

"More than alright. She thinks Sara and I are back together."

Daniel raised an interested eyebrow but elected not to pursue the topic at the moment, for Alekos and Thetys, Dan-El's parents, had moved to the center of the room and had begun speaking. There was the introduction of the delegation from Earth, and a telling of the 'Saga of the Fall of Pelops' al la SG-1, and then the introduction of Dan-El himself along with some personal history and anecdotes of his childhood, bringing everyone up to the moment at hand.

"Today marks the time of Trial for Dan-El. Here begins the end of childhood and the beginning of his journey to manhood," Alekos said with pride. He handed a large cloth drawstring bag to his son and then hugged him tight. The boy moved to stand in front of his mother, who placed something in the bag and then she also hugged the boy.

A line had begun to form of townsfolk who wished to hug the boy and put something into his sack. Daniel nudged the man seated next to him and asked about the ceremony.

"Dan-El must leave the safety of our village and make his way to the next village and then back. Other than the clothes on his back, he takes only what his friends and family choose to give him to get him through the dangerous journey."

"How long does this journey usually take?"

The man shrugged. "It can take as little as two days. Some do not return at all..."

Daniel looked over his shoulder at Jack and the others and then back to the villager. "What is the protocol for the giving of gifts? May I give something?"

"By all means; you were his Travailler. It is appropriate."

Daniel turned to Jack. "Stay here," and then he stood and made his way to the line. Jack watched him wait and scrutinized the individual that Daniel had delivered six years ago. He looked to be about eighteen years old, but then looks on this planet were sometimes deceiving when it came to age. He had shoulder-length, white-blonde hair, and the lightest brown-almost orange-- eyes he'd ever seen. They were about evenly matched in height, but where Daniel was sturdy and muscular, Dan-El was wiry and slender. He wore only white linen slacks with a short brocade vest and was barefoot. Certainly not outfitted for a journey of any sort or duration.

When it was Daniel's turn, he smiled at the young man, placed an object into his sack and then bowed a little. The young man grinned and grabbed Daniel in a bear hug that lasted far too long for Jack's taste. Carter's muttered "Wow!" didn't help matters. He glared at her, but she only grinned.

"Wish I'd known to bring something," she continued wistfully.

"Carter," Jack warned. "You're practically old enough to be his mother," he snarled.

"And your point would be...?" she asked, still ogling Dan-El.

Jack hmmphed and turned back to the festivities, but Dan-El was still holding his archeologist by the shoulders. There was animated discussion which Jack couldn't hear, but judging from Daniel's nervous smile, it wasn't good. He was trying to decide whether or not to charge up there when a burst of laughter emanated from the entire line of gift-givers. Whatever was so funny, seemed to break up the logjam and things started moving again. When the last gift had been given and hugged-for, Dan-El bowed to the line and then to the room in general and then slung the now-heavy bag over his shoulder and left the hall amid raucous applause.

Daniel was hugged by Dan-El's parents and then seemed relieved to head back to the table. "What was all that about?"

Smiling through clenched teeth, Daniel replied. "Tell you later." Then he leaned down to the villager he spoken to before and asked him something. To Jack he groaned and said, "This ceremony lasts for three days and nights."

"I know," Jack said stretching his cramped legs under the low table. "Reminds me of a Catholic wedding I went to once." He turned to his 2IC. "Carter, next break we have, you give a shout to Hammond that we're gonna be here a coupla days."

"Yes, sir."

****

They'd been shown a tent where they could rest during parts of the marathon ceremony; most of the Argosians, being party animals, stayed at the banquet hall for the duration. Carter had kicked off her pumps and was massaging her stockinged feet. Jack had ditched his jacket and tie, and was stretched out on a low divan. Teal'c sat stiffly on the edge of a plush ottoman. "Okay, we're dying, here. What about the hug from hell?" Jack asked.

Daniel had also removed his Jacket and tie and was rolling up his shirtsleeves. "Ah yes... the joys of first contact..." he said, assuming his best lecturer mode. He paced as he talked, more to keep from having to meet anyone's eyes than a need to stretch his legs. "The Trial of Peolps is a transitional time in a young man's life. If he survives the journey itself, the final ah... custom of maturity takes place-"

"Dan-iel... you're stalling..."

"With good reason," Daniel muttered grimly. Facing his team, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, took a deep breath and said, "Dan-El was pleased that we came all this way to his village for his ceremony. It is apparently a sign of great fortune. He bestowed upon me the great honor of participating in this custom. I am to be his 'Docent'."

"What's that?"

"A guest lecturer?" Sam guessed, confused.

Daniel tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a choked-off sob. "Yeah! That's what I thought at first... having actually held that position at several universities..."

"So, not a guest lecturer?" Jack asked, worry starting to crease his brow.

"Ah... no, no... on Argos, a Docent is apparently someone who ceremonially takes a young man's virginity," Daniel said gravely as he rubbed his aching forehead. He ignored Jack's shocked expression and continued, "It's not any kind of relationship, mind you, it's strictly a one-time thing. Like a circumcision. His parents were thrilled with the prospect that not only had I delivered him, but that I'd also be the one to make him a man--"

"Of all the luck," Carter muttered to herself. "What did you say?"

"Sam!" Daniel exploded, blushing.

"What? He's adorable," she explained.

"Do YOU want to do it?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"Hell yes!" She grinned.

"Down, Carter," Jack said, smiling at her sudden exuberance.

"I do not understand the difficulty," Teal'c said evenly.

"Something you wanna tell us about Jaffa initiations, T?" Jack asked.

"It is not something which is usually discussed in a casual fashion. But it is not unheard of." Jack looked vaguely amused but wisely decided not to pursue it further.

Daniel looked at his lover. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Jack looked him up and down very slowly and more than a little lasciviously. "That's the last time I let you wear that suit in public," he said simply.

****

"Relax, Daniel. You'll think of something." They had a few minutes alone, Jack having sent Sam and Teal'c ahead to scout out the banquet hall for signs of breakfast.

"Aren't you going to help?"

"Hey, diplomacy and cultures and not offending the natives anthropologically is your department. I'd just fuck things up."

"Well, if we..." Daniel stressed the word heavily, reinforcing it with hand gestures between the two of them. "... can't think of a polite way out of this, then I'll be doing the fucking, if you get my not so subtle drift."

Jack looked around the tent carefully, making sure that Carter and Teal'c hadn't snuck back in when he wasn't looking before he spoke. "Are you sure you don't actually want to perform this... ceremony?" he asked softly.

"Why would you even think that?"

Jack shrugged. "He's a good looking kid. Your chance to be alpha..."

Daniel pursed his lips. "The only man I want to get alpha with is you," he said firmly. "I have less than no interest in breaking Dan-El in."

Jack tried to hide his relief, but the small, smug smile snuck out anyway. "Just checking," he whispered.

Just then a masculine voice spoke at the entrance to the tent. "Is the one Jack O'Neill here?"

"Yo; I'm the one--the O'Neill," Jack stammered, standing. "That's me," he settled on.

The man entered and bowed deeply. "I am Roshna, speaker of the laws for the people of Argos."

Jack bowed a little in return. "Roshna," he said warily.

"I apologize for intruding on your enjoyment of the Celebration, but there is a matter of importance I must discuss with you." He glanced nervously at Daniel.

"You can speak freely, Roshna. Daniel is the speaker of laws for our people." Jack gestured to one of the divans, and took a seat himself on the one facing it.

Roshna sat on the edge of the divan nervously. "Very well. The entire village knows of your marriage with Kynthia-"

Jack winced. "Yeah... about that--"

"She tells that you have refused to come to the marriage bed; indeed, have not performed your husbandly duties in many cycles of the seasons.."

Jack looked as if he was going to argue the point, but Daniel cut in. "O'Neill has not been released from his husbandly duties to his first wife in our land. It would be wrong for him to indulge in this practice with Kynthia while this prior duty exists."

Jack looked from Daniel to Roshna and back and then pointed at Daniel. "What he said."

"I see." He reached into his robes and produced a scroll, which he handed to Jack.

Jack took it and unrolled it. "Why do I feel like I've just been served?" he muttered under his breath. The elegant script was utterly illegible to him.

"May I?" Daniel asked, taking the scroll from him. He studied for a long moment, while Jack watched the creases on his lover's forehead deepen.

"Alimony, right?"

"Not exactly," Daniel said quietly. To Roshna, he said. "We will have an answer by sundown."

Roshna bowed. "Very well." And with a flourish of his robes, he left.

"Well?"

Daniel was still examining the flowing script, his slender finger following each line as it moved across the curly page. Jack found himself taking note of the fine sprinkling of golden hair on the back of Daniel's hands as if he'd never noticed it before.

"She wants to divorce you."

"Halleluiah!"

"Maybe..."

"Dan-iel... what aren't you telling me?"

"Well, apparently the only cause for divorce according to the Argosians is impotence."

"Impotence?"

"Yeah... seems that your unwillingness to 'couple' with her is seen as tantamount to impotence. They make no distinction between an unwillingness to perform the act and the inability to perform same."

"No 'irreconcilable differences'?"

"Jack, these people party as a lifestyle. They can't conceive of anyone not wanting to embrace this way of life. It's seen as almost... deviant."

"Not having sex is 'deviant'?"

"Something like that."

Jack shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "So, other than offending my self-image and reputation, will my admitting to impotence in order to divorce Kynthia make any trouble for diplomatic relations between our two worlds?"

"Let's be clear, here. You aren't divorcing her, she's divorcing you."

"And this distinction is important why?"

"You lose all status and respect in their eyes."

Jack raised both eyebrows. "That's harsh."

"And that could cause trouble for diplomatic relations between our two worlds..."

****

They'd been here almost two full days. "Oh Boy, we sure stepped in it this time, didn't we?" Carter said, pacing barefoot.

"You may indeed repeat that, MajorCarter," Teal'c said solemnly.

"Teal'c, the cliché is: 'You can say that again'," Jack corrected. Only Teal'c's eyebrow replied.

Carter summed up the entire tragic situation. "So, in order to avoid an interplanetary incident, Daniel's got to fuck the guest of honor and you've got to convince Kynthia you can still get it up."

"Well that's graphically succinct," Daniel said, more than a little shocked at her language.

"You know, I really don't see the problem, here--"

Daniel stood up and began pacing, visibly disturbed. "Not that I particularly wanted to broadcast this to the entire galaxy, but I'm in a relationship at the moment, and-one-time ceremony or not-I'm not willing to... perform the function of Docent for that young man."

" 'At the moment'?" Jack said tersely.

Daniel glanced at him, but couldn't be bothered dealing with his lover's petty snit in the face of more pressing issues.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Sam said earnestly. "I'd actually forgotten you were off the market." She smiled, asking for forgiveness with her eyes. He pulled her into a brotherly hug and granted it with a kiss on the top of her head.

Jack frowned. "And you know, Carter, contrary to legend, I don't want to fuck everything that moves," Jack snapped.

She pulled away from Daniel and faced her CO. "No sir, I didn't mean to imply that, it's just... well, you seemed pretty willing to be with Kynthia the last time we were here-"

"I... was... drugged!" he said angrily. "Besides, I'm--" he caught himself before he said he was also in a relationship. "-in a different place in my life, and I wouldn't feel right taking that lovely and voluptuous young woman to bed-at the moment!" He steadfastly ignored the daggers Daniel was throwing at him with his eyes.

Suitably chastised, Carter mused, "It's a shame you can't hand Kynthia off to Dan-El and let that solve both problems..."

"That wouldn't work, Sam," Daniel explained. "I've already checked. The Docent must be male." He didn't add the part where Alekos was horrified that he'd even suggested that Sam take the job. "It's more of a--" he struggled to find the right word, "...instructional position than a recreational one." He flopped down on one of the divans and put his head in his hands. "God, this is embarrassing..." he moaned softly.

She sat beside him. "Okay, maybe we can use that. What if you... instructed him... without actually, you know," she bobbed her head around and moved her eyebrows. "Doing anything?" He just looked at her blankly. She cleared her throat. "What I mean is... you could give him the benefit of your experience without actually having to... you know."

"Fuck him?"

Now she looked embarrassed. "Yeah."

Daniel sighed, a faraway look in his eye. "I wonder if that would work..."

After a minute, Jack asked quietly. "Assuming that it does, where does that leave me?"

Daniel looked at him. This was a dangerous game they were playing. "Maybe something similar would work with Kynthia," he suggested.

"In that she's looking for recreational and not instructional..." Jack countered.

"No, I mean... If you can demonstrate that you're not impotent... but at the same time convince her that to couple with her would damage your relationship with Sara-"

"Sara?" Carter asked.

" 'Demonstrate'?" Jack queried.

"Kynthia thinks Jack went back to his ex-wife," Daniel explained, choosing to ignore Jack's comment.

"Oh," Carter said.

Just then, a gong sounded. The next round of ceremonial food-indulgence was about to commence.

"Carter, you and Teal'c go on ahead and make a presence. We'll catch up."

"Yes, sir," she said, grabbing her shoes.

After they left, Jack crossed the tent and sat next to Daniel. The younger man didn't even look up from studying his hands. Jack squeezed the back of Daniel's neck gently. "Talk to me," he whispered.

"I don't want to do this."

"I know. I don't want you to."

"I don't want you to do her, either." Daniel's expression was somewhere between an order and a pout.

Jack smiled. "I won't." He met Daniel's worried eyes. "I'm going to be honest with you. Part of me's hoping Dan-El doesn't come back."

Daniel frowned and lunged off the divan. "God this is fucked up!"

"Yeah." He got up and went to where Daniel was standing, arms wrapped tightly around himself. He placed a hand on the younger man's back and waited until he turned around. He cupped Daniel's face in his hands, stroking his cheekbones with his thumbs. Their faces were only inches apart, a flagrant violation of their 'no fooling around off-world' rule. And Daniel was glad, he so needed this moment of sanity.

He could feel Jack's breath hot on his face, and he closed his eyes and let himself ease into the comfort of his lover's sure embrace. He slid his arms around Jack's waist pulling their bodies into close contact and prayed that they wouldn't be interrupted.

Jack whispered gently, lovingly, and his voice conjured a reassurance that filled Daniel with hope. "I don't give a flying fuck about the state of diplomatic relations with Argos. Whatever Washington's interest in this den of debauchery is, it doesn't need to destroy us. You can try the 'giving him your experience' thing, but if he tries anything more... tell him I'll cut his heart out with my teeth." The threat, delivered in a whisper, sent a chill down Daniel's spine. He had no doubt that Jack was good for his word; he would have to make sure it didn't come to that.

"We have to find a way to follow their customs--" Daniel said reasonably.

"No we don't, Daniel. We'll tell them we're together and that we can't participate in their sex games."

"We can't do that--"

"Yes, we can. You're mine and I'm yours and nobody's gonna mess with that. If they don't believe us, I'll fuck you over the fountain in the square--"

"God, Jack... don't get me turned on--"

"Dan-El can take notes if he wants."

"Sam and Teal'c--"

"They can watch too, for all I care," he said roughly. He pulled Daniel's face to him and took his mouth with a hot, demanding kiss. When he pulled away, he whispered, "Say the word Danny, and the charade ends here."

Daniel searched his lover's face, intense with raw emotion and knew he was serious. "That decision is too important for us to make without thinking it through, Jack. I won't decide this while I'm hard for you--" Daniel hissed.

Jack kissed him again and whispered, "Mine." Daniel nodded, unable to speak for the effort of holding back his emotions. This would be one huge test of trust. For both of them. "Let's go."

****

They'd only been at the banquet for a short time when Jack spotted Kynthia at a table on the other side of the room. He touched Daniel on the thigh to get his attention; Daniel followed his gaze until he saw Kynthia, and he understood. Jack winked at him and left on his mission. Daniel swallowed hard as he watched Jack approach the young woman; his heart thudding wildly in his chest as he watched them leave the banquet hall together.

"We can speak privately here," Kynthia said softly, leading Jack to a small tent beyond the fountain. She motioned for Jack to sit on one of the large purple cushions arranged in the corner. It was that or the bed. She arranged herself and her flowing gown on the cushion beside his and gazed up at him with soulful green eyes. "I should not be speaking with you," she said softly.

"Why not?"

"Our marriage is to be dissolved; soon I will belong to another."

She was still a very beautiful woman, there was no denying that. He had been surprised when he'd started to get hard holding her in his arms while they danced. He was oddly proud that the feel of a soft woman in his arms still aroused him, but at the same time, guilty that the involuntary reaction was somehow a betrayal of his love for Daniel. "Is there someone waiting for you?" he asked.

She looked down, shame coloring her features. "I have not been faithful to you in the seasons since you have been gone."

Jack smiled. "I didn't expect that you would be, Kynthia. I tried to explain to you the difference between lust and love, remember?" She nodded slightly, but would not let her eyes meet his. "I learned a lot from you, did you know that?" Her expressive eyes flickered up to meet his and then darted away again. "You told me, let's see... 'The time of one heartbeat can become eternity'. Do you remember that?" She smiled and nodded again. "Thanks to you, I learned to look at life differently... I treasure each and every day now, because of you."

He took one of her soft, small hands in both of his and waited until she finally looked up at him. "You're a beautiful woman, Kynthia. You deserve to be with someone will be with you every single day, for thousands of days, and who'll perform his husbandly duties as often as you want."

She smiled shyly. "I enjoyed your ways, Jack..."

He smiled back. "Why thank you, ma'am."

"I wish to bear children, but I could not while I was still bound to you."

He touched her cheek. "I understand, Kynthia, I really do. I just wish your rules for divorce were a little more tolerant."

"I do not understand."

"In my land, when two people don't want to be married anymore, for whatever reason, they simply decide not to be, fill out some paperwork and walk away. It's not so simple here on Argos." He knew he was over-simplifying things, but the intricacies of the American family court system were really beside the point here.

She bowed her head in sadness. "No. Once we are divorced, my village will no longer recognize you as a leader of your people, and you will no longer be welcome here. To do so would be a disgrace to me."

He nodded. "I guess I can understand that," he said grimly. "Will you allow others from my land to continue to visit Argos and help your village?"

"Yes of course. Your people would not be spurned because of your shame."

Jack smiled ruefully. "Okay; fair enough. Can I ask one last favor?"

"Yes, my husband?"

"Can I stay until the ceremony's over? I don't want to leave without my friends."

"Of course. I will instruct Roshna not to carry out the divorce until the Trial is declared over."

" 'Declared over'?"

"If Dan-El has not returned within the time of four suns, the Trial is declared over; he will not be spoken of again."

"And if he comes back before the time is up?"

"Then the Docent will complete the Trial and then present Dan-El to the village as a enlightened adult. He will be free to take a wife and take his place in our circle."

"Just out of curiosity, Kynthia, if Daniel hadn't been here-""Dan-El would have chosen someone else from the giving line to be Docent."

"And what happens if Daniel chooses not to participate?"

She looked shocked. "It is not permitted! If the Acolyte completes the Trial of Pelops, then the Docent must perform the final rite, or the acolyte cannot be considered an adult and will be banished from the village." She looked at Jack's pained expression. "It is an honor to be chosen to Docent an Acolyte; why would he not wish to participate?"

"Because Daniel's heart belongs to another," he answered quietly.

"But this is not a matter of the heart; it is simply the Trial of Pelops." She looked astonished that he could confuse the two.

"Right. But people from my land don't see things the same way you do here on Argos. Where I come from, when two people love and care for each other, they don't become intimate with anyone else, for any reason." She looked confused. "It's a trust thing," he muttered, knowing she wouldn't understand.

****

When she saw Daniel look at his watch for the tenth time in as many minutes, she placed her hand over it and squeezed his arm. "What--?" he asked

"Stop already, you're driving me nuts."

"He's been gone a long time, Sam."

"It's been less than twenty minutes. Relax."

'Relax,' he thought bitterly. 'Probably the worst fucking day of my whole fucking life, and she wants me to relax.' Out loud, he said, "Twenty minutes is a long time."

"Look, what's the worst that can happen? He gives in and gets it over with. Been there, done her. We're talking sex, here Daniel, not torture. He'll be fine. I'm more worried about you."

"Yeah..." he grimaced. "There's that..."

"You, ah... got a plan yet?"

He pulled his arm away from her and used it to steady the other hand, which was shaking pretty badly. "I've gotten some information about the ceremony, but as for a plan... no."

Teal'c moved around Carter so that he could speak quietly to the archeologist. "Do you find the thought of a sexual encounter with another male to be objectionable?" he asked softly.

Daniel smiled. "I find the thought of a sexual encounter with someone not of my choosing to be objectionable." He saw the Jaffa digest this and he continued. "And I would be betraying a commitment I made to someone else."

Teal'c nodded. "I have made no such commitment to another; I will take your place as Dan-El's Docent," he offered.

Daniel smiled. "Thank you, Teal'c. That's very... noble of you. But according to their customs, once a Docent has been chosen, he cannot refuse."

At that moment, one of the spotters ran in, breathless, and the orchestra produced a strangled, discordant sound which was probably meant to approximate a fanfare. The assembled partygoers all stood and began to chant and clap. The clapping picked up speed, and all eyes turned to the west entrance of the pavilion. Dan-El ran into the room breathless, amid laughing and cheers and whistling.

The remaining members of SG-1 stood and clapped as well, but none of them were laughing. Dan-El surveyed the room, bowed to his parents and then continued his sweep of the guests till he located Daniel. His deeply-tanned face exploded into a smile and he closed the distance between them and fell to his knees at Daniel's feet, panting, head bowed.

Daniel tried to remember what Marnoc had told him of the ceremony protocol. He placed his right hand on Dan-El's head and repeated the benediction he'd tried to memorize. It roughly translated to, "You have survived the Trial of Pelops; leave now the ways of childhood. Come, I will show you what it is to be a man."

The young man looked up at Daniel and smiled. Daniel offered him his hand and he rose and followed Daniel out of the hall, to the applause of all present. Jack walked in just in time to see them leave together.

****

"What's the plan?" he asked Carter breathlessly over the din.

She glanced over her shoulder at her CO, "I don't think he's got one, sir," she said, almost shouting.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud..."

She read his lips for that, since the music and laughter had risen to an almost painful level. He looked as if he were going to bolt after Daniel, so she put her hand on his arm and leaned close. "He'll be fine, sir.

O'Neill didn't look like he believed that for a minute. "Do you wish me to retrieve DanielJackson, O'Neill?" Teal'c offered.

'Hell yes! And break that sonofabitch Dan-El in half while you're in there, why doncha?' Jack thought miserably. "No, Teal'c", he shouted over the music. "I'm sure he knows what he's doing."

****

Daniel preceded the young man across the square to the tent that Marnoc had indicated would be his to use for the purpose of fulfilling the Docent requirement of the festivities. He held the flap open for the young man to enter, and then set about tying it closed. The walls were fabric and certainly not soundproof in any way, but at least there would be a modicum of privacy as long as the breeze didn't disturb the flaps that covered the doorway.

When he turned around moments later, the Acolyte was already nude and lighting the candles that were scattered around the tent. "Dan-El-" he stammered. "What--"

The young man grinned. "A friend of mine, Mikel, graduated the Trial last month; he told me what is to happen. I am ready."

Daniel tried to avert his eyes, but it was clear that the young man was less concerned with his state of undress that Daniel was. He cleared his throat nervously and took a survey of the tent's sparse contents as a stalling tactic. A low, wide sleeping pallet sat in the center of the space, making the intent of the encounter abundantly clear. Several colorful bottles were clustered on the adjoining table; Daniel surmised that they were probably scented or flavored oils to be used as lubrication. On another table was a large bowl of various colored fruits and a pitcher with some kind of beverage and two glasses. An assortment of pillows of different sizes were piled in one of the corners completing the inventory.

He was still trying to get his head around the purpose of the ceremony and how it may have evolved; he wished he'd had more time to research this bit of cultural behavior before having to face this nude and apparently very willing young man.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder where Dan-El waited expectantly. His torso, arms and legs were deeply tanned, in dramatic contrast to the utterly pale triangle of his groin; he had no pubic hair at all. This gave the effect of making his cock look exceptionally long and slender as it hung flaccidly between his legs. Daniel felt his own cock twitch at the unexpectedly erotic vision, and he mentally berated himself this weakness, his mind flashing back mere weeks ago when he'd been alone with Jon. At least this time, he wasn't feeling the desperate longing that he'd felt then. A fleeting physical weakness, yes, but not emotional temptation.

"Dan-El, what is your understanding of what is to happen here tonight?"

"You are to show me the ways of loving so that I may take a wife and please her," he answered easily. "I am eager to learn of love-making; I have been told it is very pleasurable."

Daniel smiled. "Yes... yes it is." He piled up two of the larger cushions and sat on them, motioning for Dan-El to do the same. They sat cross-legged and facing each other in the candlelight, and Daniel wished for the thousandth time that he'd stayed in his seat and not insisted on giving the boy the damned Swiss army knife.

Based on Dan-El's description, this was to be the kind of talk fathers had been giving their sons for hundreds of years on Earth, except with an actual demonstration included. He'd never pictured himself giving the talk to someone, much less the demonstration. "It is very similar to pleasuring yourself," Daniel said uneasily. The young man looked confused. "When you... ah... touch yourself, doesn't it feel good?"

"I do not understand."

Daniel took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "What do you call... that?" he asked, pointing to Dan-El's cock.

"That is my staff, of course."

Daniel smiled. "Of course. Different cultures give it different names," he explained. "When you stroke and squeeze your staff and it gets hard, does it not feel pleasurable to you?"

The Acolyte frowned, clearly shocked. "It is forbidden to do so!"

"Forbidden?" Daniel frowned. "As a child, it is forbidden to touch your staff, is that correct?" he hypothesized. The boy nodded. "But now that you are a man, this will no longer be forbidden," he announced. "Before you can please another, you must become familiar with what pleases you.""Will you show me?"

"Show... you..." Daniel muttered, grimacing. "Yeah... about that..."

****

They'd been waiting for a very long time, and the colonel was about as edgy as Carter had ever seen him in a combat situation. She leaned over and said, "Can I get you another glass of wine, sir?"

O'Neill shook his head, but his eyes never left the tent across the square where Daniel had taken the Acolyte. "How much longer does this damn festival go on?"

"Daniel said that that the party continues until the Docent presents the Acolyte to the village," Carter responded.

O'Neill consulted his watch. "It's been more than two hours, Carter."

"Maybe he's stalling, you know, to make it look good," she offered helpfully.

"DanielJackson feels quite strongly that the customs of Argos be respected. He is also greatly disturbed about the prospect of violating a personal commitment he has made to another," Teal'c intoned. "He is experiencing a great emotional struggle concerning this conflict."

Jack sighed. "I know." 'You don't know the half of it,' he thought miserably.

Just then, the orchestra produced another discordant fanfare, and Jack saw Daniel emerge from the Docent tent. His heart flopped heavily a couple of times before settling into a too-rapid pace in his chest. Daniel was striding purposefully across the center square barefoot, and sans jacket or tie. "God no, Danny," he muttered under his breath, a heavy foreboding settling into his gut.

Daniel's gaze met his briefly before seeking out Dan-El's parents, but Jack could read neither reassurance nor apology in his expression. Daniel stopped at the archway to the banquet hall and turned his body halfway back toward the square and held out his hand. At this cue, Dan-El exited the other tent and came to join Daniel, taking his outstretched hand. With some discomfort, Jack noted that he was wearing a different outfit than before, gold lame' 'genie' pants, no less. Daniel brought the grinning young man into the center of the hall and held up his hand like a boxer who has just won a round. "I hereby present Dan-EL, who has this night, completed the Trial of Pelops; and who has also properly been escorted into manhood. Let him henceforth be regarded as an adult in all matters of life and law as he seeks now to choose a wife and take his place in our community."

Thunderous applause and cheers filled the hall as well-wishers mobbed the young man with hugs of goodwill and joy. SG-1 stood grimly off to the side and waited while Daniel extricated himself from the throng of happy Argosians and made his way to their table. "That was quite a speech," Jack said tightly, eyeing Daniel's lack of footwear pointedly.

"Canned speech; not my words," he said to Jack, trying hard to convey reassurance with his eyes. To the group, he said, "Got anything to drink?" Sam handed him her glass of wine, which he downed all at once. He handed the empty back to her. "Thanks; more?" She took the glass and went off in search of another pitcher of the sangria-like concoction. To Teal'c, he said. "Do you think they have any more of those cracker-things left?"

"I will attempt to procure some DanielJackson," and he left on his quest.

"You got the munchies, Daniel?" Jack asked acidly.

Daniel met Jack's worried gaze with one of his own. "Thirsty, mostly. How's Kynthia?"

"Nothing happened. What about..." Jack nodded toward the commotion in the center of the hall.

Daniel smiled. "I kept my hands to myself, Jack. So did he. We just... talked. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Jack looked pointedly at Daniel's bare feet again and raised an eyebrow.

"Let's not get into that here, okay?" Sam approached with the glass full of wine and another pitcher of the stuff. He took the glass gratefully. "Thanks, Sam" he took several large swallows. "Really thirsty," he gasped, out of breath. "Always get that way when I lecture." He downed the rest of the glass and motioned for Sam to fill the glass again.

"You'd better settle down with that, or we're gonna hafta carry you outta here," Jack said.

"'s'okay, I'm good now."

"Can we blow this joint already?" Jack asked.

"Well, technically, the search for Dan-El's bride begins at dawn--"

"Dan--iel..."

"I'm not needed for that; my job here is done."

"Thank god; I thought maybe you'd be needed for the honeymoon--" Jack said sarcastically as he scanned the crown looking for their hosts so that they could say their goodbyes and take their leave.

"Actually, the Docent often accompanies the couple on the wedding night, just in case the Acolyte has any questions." Jack was glaring at him now. "But he took good notes," Daniel said hurriedly. "I'm sure he'll do fine." He continued to sip at the wine in his glass and peer innocently at Jack over the top of his glasses at the same time.

****

The debriefing seemed longer than usual, but that was probably just Jack's impatience speaking. Hammond gave them three days downtime to recuperate from the festivities and the members of SG-1 lost no time getting out of the mountain.

Daniel smiled when his cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Your place; I'll shop."

"Okay," he agreed, snapping the phone closed. It was after 2 am. He hoped that Jack wasn't in a mood to interrogate him about Dan-El; he was exhausted, both physically and emotionally and just wanted to relax.

****

Jack pulled the bags of groceries out of the back seat and locked the truck. He hated parking so far away. That was the only real drawback to staying at Daniel's house; having to park three streets over and walk.

He let himself in and toed the door closed behind him. "I haven't had to be this sneaky about sex since I was fifteen," he groused, heading for the kitchen.

"Fifteen?" Daniel called from the couch, lazily flipping channels from one infomercial to another. There wasn't much on at three am.

Jack was putting the cold stuff away; the rest he left on the counter still in the bags. "Yeah. You?"

Daniel cleared his throat and frowned. "Not fifteen."

Jack smiled, but didn't pursue it and pulled a bottle of wine from one of the bags.

"What are you doing in there?" Daniel called out. He heard the clinking of glasses, which he thought odd; Jack usually just drank beer from the bottle. On the other hand, he mused, it was practically morning, might be orange juice. He was very surprised when Jack came in moments later with an open bottle of red wine and two glasses.

"Wow... this is a surprise," he said, taking the offered glass. "Thank you."

Jack sat down on the couch beside him and kicked off his shoes. He then leaned over and pushed the 'off' button on the remote before working his bare toes under Daniel's warm thigh. "First off, let me say two things; I trust you implicitly, and I know you love me." Daniel smiled and sipped his wine. "Although I still can't see why--"

"Oh for god's sake..." Daniel murmured under his breath, letting his head fall back onto the couch.

"Okay, we won't go there," Jack agreed. He took a long sip of his wine and sighed deeply. "It was really hard waiting for you to come out of that tent." He held up a hand, forestalling Daniel's comment. "It wasn't because I didn't trust you and it wasn't because of my mostly non-existent and all-in-your-head-insecurity." Daniel grinned at this. "And it wasn't because I didn't have confidence in your abilities. I knew you'd find a way to honor their customs without compromising your principles." He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the image of Dan-El in the gold lame' genie pants. "It was because I knew what a god awful position you were in and I felt guilty for not being able to protect you from that; I should've seen that set-up coming and not let you donate to the kid's backpack of goodies--"

Daniel saw the pain in his lover's face. It had been a trying couple of days following a tense mission to rescue Bra'tac and Ry'ac with no real downtime in between. No time for them to just be. "I'm supposed to be the cultural expert here-I should've seen it coming. And that's not the kind of protection you usually supply. And at least I'm doing better at the not-dying thing."

"Not funny," Jack said quietly, eyes never leaving the wine in his glass.

Daniel looked contrite. It was obvious that Jack's pain went too deep for humor to pull him out. He squeezed the older man's knee. "I'm a big boy and you trained me well; you can't protect me from everything, Jack," he said softly.

"I know that. I do. But it's hard to accept that, Daniel; taking care of people's who I am. If I can't do that..." He shook his head again. He didn't want to think about what that might mean.

"I know," Daniel whispered. He put his glass on the coffee table and moved closer to Jack. "Are you alright?" he asked, trying to decipher the strange mood his lover was in. He squeezed his neck and shoulder with strong hands, rubbing his thumbs in tiny, firm circles; there was a lot of tension there.

Jack smiled. "Yeah. Fine." He pulled Daniel toward him and sighed deeply when he felt the familiar weight settle against his chest, his free arm falling across the younger man's back. This felt right. "Can we be gentle tonight?" he whispered to the top of Daniel's head.

Daniel didn't move, content to lay against the warmth of Jack's body. "Sure, baby; whatever you want." When Jack made no motions in that direction, he lazily worked his fingers through the older man's shirt buttons, easing them apart, baring his chest. He glanced up and saw that Jack's eyes were closed, his head resting against the wall; the wine glass perched on the arm of the couch. He ran his cheek across the light furriness of Jack's chest before latching delicately onto a nipple. He licked it slowly and then encircled the tip with his lips and suckled gently. He heard Jack's breath catch and felt him begin to grow hard under his shoulder. He started to sit up. "C'mon; let's go get comfortable."

Without a word, Jack grabbed the bottle of wine and followed the younger man into the bedroom. He set the bottle and his glass down on the nightstand and watched Daniel pull his shirt off over his head, admiring the subtle musculature of his back. He was suddenly aware of the sheer folly of his urge to protect a man who not only out-weighed him, but could probably bench-press him without breaking a sweat. Daniel was now in superb physical condition, such that even if his often over-zealously good intentions got him into a sticky situation, he was more than capable of fighting his way back out of it. Hell, at this point, all he really had over Daniel was his experience.

Jack reached out to touch the un-marred skin of his lover's back, the lateral muscles under Daniel's shoulder blades bunching when the younger man turned his head in surprise.

Daniel smiled, amused to find that Jack had followed him so closely, and stood still to let him explore his back with the tips of his fingers. Jack looked at Daniel's naked back as if he'd never seen it before, never felt the heat of it or smelled the rich scent of his skin that reminded him of some kind of spice he couldn't quite name. He rested his cheek on Daniel's warm shoulder, and then slid his arms around the slender waist. "I love you so much," he whispered.

Daniel was starting to get nervous. There was something bothering Jack, something behind the apparently calm exterior; something he couldn't seem to express verbally. Given their history, the older man should've had him naked and panting on the bed by now, gentle or not. He turned inside Jack's embrace until they were bare-chested together, and tried to read him.

Jack felt himself hardening in the intimate embrace, nerve-endings lighting up in anticipation. But not to take him; there were no alpha instincts at work here. Rather, he was hard to be taken by him. He was ready for this, ready to belong to Daniel completely. He just didn't know how to say it...

Jack stroked Daniel's face with his forefinger. "Dan-iel..." he whispered the word as a benediction, a plea. And let his eyes speak the rest of what his heart had to say.

"Ja-ack...?" Daniel responded automatically. The exchange, familiar and comforting in it's sameness, its universality, had suddenly taken on new significance, new weight. The younger man frowned, trying to grasp the deeper meaning he saw written on Jack's face. The eyes, huge and pleading, the mouth open and vulnerable, the expression... profoundly trusting. My god... this was it.

"Oh baby..." Daniel breathed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Danny... I'm very sure..."

Daniel smiled and pulled Jack in for a kiss; the long, slow, deep kind. He let the kiss overflow onto the older man's face, bestowing wet kisses along his jaw line and down to his neck. Jack tipped his head back, allowing Daniel the fullest access, and he closed his eyes, letting the worship roll over him. Daniel's lips traveled up to the older man's right ear, and he felt the resultant goose bumps rise along the back of his lover's right arm. He repeated the maneuver to the left ear with a similar response and was pleased at the slight moan of pleasure Jack uttered under his breath.

Daniel kissed Jack gently on the mouth and whispered, "Everybody gets one first time, Jack. I'm honored you're sharing yours with me; I want to make it good for you."

Jack smiled, but his nervousness was plain to see. He swallowed hard, but that didn't seem to slow down his pounding heart much. "The suspense is killing me..."

Daniel grinned, opening Jack's belt. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Only if I lose my nerve."

Daniel finished undoing Jack's belt, but went no further, resting his hands gently on the older man's hips. "If there's nerve to lose, then you're not ready--" he whispered gently.

"I am," Jack insisted. "I've been ready since that idiot Loki hijacked me. I was ready after Erebus, but you kicked me out of the house... Damn it, I don't want to wait anymore, Daniel..."

Daniel shook his head and pulled away. He unbuttoned his fly and pushed his jeans down, sitting down heavily on the edge of the bed to remove them. "Jack, if you're nervous about this, then we'll wait a while longer," he said, tossing them onto the nearby chair.

"I'm tired of waiting--"

"Why the hurry all of a sudden? Because of Dan-El?"

"It's got nothing to do with him," Jack snapped. "Well, almost nothing..." he muttered under his breath.

"Ja--ack..."

The older man shrugged out of his shirt and balled it up angrily. He tossed it at the chair and swore when it slipped off the side and onto the floor. He yanked off his dog tags and watch and tossed them onto Daniel's dresser, disappointed that this hadn't gone as romantically as he'd planned. "Fuck it," he muttered.

"Come get into bed and let's talk about it," Daniel said reasonably.

"I don't want to talk, Daniel..." Jack said gruffly, deliberately not facing him.

Daniel smiled to himself. "Talking hasn't killed you yet," he said. "In fact, I think talking's brought us closer together." Daniel sipped at his wine and watched the tension in his lover's posture. He set the glass back down on the nightstand and reached for the older man, pulling him reluctantly to stand in between his knees. "It's okay, Jack," Daniel whispered. "It's enough that you're ready to be ready... That means a lot to me. I'm not in any hurry-" Jack ran his fingers through the short brown hair, letting Daniel unzip his fly and push his jeans past the curve of his ass. "I want to make this good for you, baby. Rushing through it would be a mistake."

"I thought you'd be anxious... y'know, for your turn..."

Daniel smiled. "I wanna make love to you so bad, my teeth hurt," he said, stroking the fine hair on Jack's ass with the gentlest of touches.

"What's stoppin' ya?"

"It's going to hurt, Jack, no matter how careful I try to be-"

"I thought you said-"

Daniel met the older man's gaze steadily, and said as gently as he could, "There is very real discomfort; especially the first time. It's all how your brain interprets it and how your heart remembers it." He pushed his face into Jack's groin, inhaling the warm, musky scent of his lover's lengthening cock. He grasped Jack's ass cheeks and kneaded them tenderly. "I love you. I want to wait until you're so hot for me you can't stand it-- " He ended the argument by taking Jack's cock in his mouth and suckling gently.

Jack gasped at the moist contact and held Daniel's head reverently in his hands as the younger man's tongue bathed his cock with warmth and love and reassurance. He moaned, letting his lover hear his pleasure. His instinct was to close his eyes, but he fought to keep them open, watching his cock disappear repeatedly into his lover's encouraging mouth.

Several agonizingly blissful minutes later, Jack found the strength of will to pull out of the tempting heat. Their eyes met. "I want you to make love to me Danny," he said softly. "Tonight, in your bed. I don't want to wait anymore." He stepped out of his jeans and pushed Daniel back onto the bed, rolling them over until Daniel had the superior position. "I've been thinkin' about this since the hotel outside of Denver. I don't want to go off-world again until we've done this."

Daniel frowned. "You make it sound like an action item--"

"No. But there's too much crap out there for us to waste any more time." The truth of that statement was irrefutable; any mission could be their last, and this was too important to leave to chance. "Even I'm not arrogant enough to think we've got forever. I want to know you this way; I want to give myself to you." He arched up to meet Daniel's lips in an offering kiss.

Daniel was impossibly touched. He still wasn't sure that Jack was really ready, but there was no way he could turn him down. He was determined to take it slow; as anxious as he was to make love to Jack, he would not let the older man rush the foreplay and risk injuring him and turning him off the experience forever. He returned the kiss, pulling Jack into a near-crushing embrace.

Jack let Daniel lead the proceedings, content to be guided and worshipped and loved. Every so often, the younger man would pause in the full-body kiss he was so good at to murmur 'I love you so much' or 'Baby you're so beautiful', and the sheer tenderness of it made Jack want to weep. He knew that before the sun next came up, Daniel would join their bodies and merge their souls; he'd belong to Daniel as he'd never before belonged to anyone. And he was no longer afraid of this.

Daniel was bathing his chest with his tongue, setting every nerve on fire. He could feel the younger man's erection bumping along his right calf as he re-positioned himself to excavate his navel. When he hit the inside of it in just a certain way, lightening shot through his abdomen straight to his cock. "Oh god, Danny..." he moaned, instinctively pulling his knees up and apart. He needed to be as open and available and exposed as possible. No barriers, no holding back. He held his lover's head gently, as an anchor, reassurance that this was finally real. "Please... oh, please... take everything..." He would gladly have surrendered his entire being to Daniel at that moment.

Daniel was almost beside himself with need. In the month and a half that they'd been together, he'd never seen Jack allow himself to be so vulnerable, so emotionally destitute, so willing to be powerless. And he craved this. To be this needed, this wanted, this trusted was a high unlike anything he'd ever experienced.

He moved between Jack's legs and rubbed his stubbly cheek against his balls. "I'm gonna make you feel so good, baby..."

Jack smiled. Every time Daniel called him 'Baby', it made him feel loved and cared for... adored, even. He'd always been the strong one, the protector in every relationship he'd ever had, romantic or otherwise, even in his job. 'Baby' was permission to let go of the responsibility, to be selfish, to let himself be taken care of. And Daniel had proven he could protect him; had done the ultimate job of protection in laying down his life for him time and again. Jack had no greater wish than to let himself belong to Daniel as completely as possible. He'd known for some time that Daniel was worthy of his love. In the depths of his very soul, he now knew that he was also worthy of this ultimate trust.

Jack felt Daniel's tongue probe the sensitive skin behind his balls, and then move further down toward the opening of his body. They'd done this once before, in the beginning, and Jack remembered well the incredible feel of Daniel's tongue in his ass. He gasped at first contact. "Gonna make me come--" he warned.

Daniel circled the puckered opening twice before he pulled away. "I am so gonna make you come," he said wickedly as he reached for the lube in the nightstand. "But not until I'm balls-deep inside of you and you're screaming my name." He rolled to Jack's right side and pulled the older man's right leg over his hip, allowing him complete access to Jack's bottom with minimal strain on his legs. He bent to kiss him at the same time as his slippery middle finger slowly breached Jack's opening. His sharp intake of breath at the welcome invasion coincided with Daniel's sucking his tongue into his mouth, and the resulting barrage of multi-location sensations sent Jack's senses reeling.

"God, Danny..." he gasped, clenching his teeth, his hands compressed into fists.

Daniel had only the first joint of his finger inside Jack; deliberately nowhere near his prostate. He wanted him to get used to the feeling of being penetrated gradually, gently, before he tried it with his cock, which he knew to be more threatening to Jack personally, if not physically. There was more at work here than simple virginity; Daniel understood very well what it was costing Jack to allow this intimacy.

Daniel whispered reassurances softy in his lover's right ear. "It's alright, baby... taking it slow... your beautiful ass is so hot, so sexy... can you feel my finger inside you? Can you feel it?"

"I feel it..." Jack gasped. "Danny--"

"Shhh... it's alright... I'm not going any further until you're ready..." he continued to nuzzle the older man's neck and ear, maintaining a constant stream of reassuring words and warm breath to take the edge off any perceived violation Jack might be on the verge of. "Relax... imagine your body opening like a rose... unfolding... releasing all the tension... accepting my love..." Daniel felt Jack's sphincter muscle begin to relax completely then, and almost swallow his finger another inch.

"Ahhhh..." Jack breathed. "Oh god, Danny..." he sounded almost surprised. "It feels... full but... doesn't hurt as much..."

Daniel smiled and kissed Jack's open mouth gently while at the same time rotating his finger slowly, allowing the middle knuckle to massage Jack inside. "My finger is inside of you, Jack..." he whispered. "Very intimate... very personal... very loving... do you like the way that feels?"

"Yesohgod-"

Daniel kissed him again, pushing his own tongue into Jack's mouth, a prelude of what was to come. "I'm going to pull it out now-"

"No!"

"Yes," he insisted. "And then I'm going to push it back inside you."

"Yes!" Jack agreed.

Daniel pulled his finger almost all the way out of Jack's ass, and then slowly, steadily, pushed it back inside; further inside than it had been before. Jack arched his back, pushing his bottom down against Daniel's hand as he groaned, and Daniel was hard-pressed to avoid the older man's gland. He was being very careful not to allow Jack to come as a result of any of the foreplay. He wanted the full force of Jack's arousal to mitigate any discomfort there might be for this first time. Watching his lover writhe in ecstasy beneath him was putting an enormous strain on his own self-control, but he was determined that this would be perfect for Jack.

"Again..." Jack said.

Daniel grinned and complied. "Fucking you with my finger, Jack..."

"Yes..." Jack groaned. "More..." Daniel repeated the finger thrusts several more times, gratified that the passageway was beginning to feel slack as Jack became accustomed to being filled. When he removed his finger completely, Jack was devastated at the abandonment. "No!"

"Shhh..." Daniel whispered, reaching for the lube again. "Two fingers..."

"God yes..." Jack agreed. His eyes were still closed, and Daniel thought he'd never seen his lover look more handsome.

Daniel pushed his first two fingers into Jack's ass slowly, and waited until he adjusted to the increased girth before urging them further inside. Jack let out a guttural sound as his hole stretched to accommodate the fingers and Daniel felt him squeeze them by clenching his ass muscles. "I felt that," he said smiling. "Do it again..."

Jack complied, and peered up at Daniel. "I'm catchin' on..."

"Yes you are," Daniel said happily. "You okay?"

"Better than okay; I think I'm ready."

"Not yet."

"You're a tease, you know that?"

Daniel removed his fingers and applied even more lube. "Three," he whispered, sliding his first three fingers past Jack's sphincter and holding at the middle knuckles. "Alright so far?"

Jack was holding his breath, and just nodded. "Breathe," Daniel commanded. "Relax, baby... just relax and let me inside you..." Jack took several deep breaths and Daniel could feel the tension in his ass release as he became accustomed to the feeling of fullness inside him. When he felt the last resistance fade, he pushed in all the way to the final knuckle.

"Oh... my... god..." Jack murmured. Although Daniel hadn't even touched his cock yet, Jack felt as if his it would burst apart from the sheer force of the sensations in his ass. His balls had begun to feel heavy, and he knew that he wasn't far from climax. "Danny... I'm close..."

Daniel stopped the motion of his fingers in his lover's ass, gratified to know that the sensations were pleasurable enough to him that Jack thought he could come from that manipulation alone. He smiled and bent down to kiss him while he removed his fingers completely. "Oh, no you don't..." He sat back on his heels and applied lube directly onto his cock. He'd already used much more than during any other single encounter they'd had so far, but he wanted as much insurance as possible that Jack's first time would be gentle and as pain-free as it could be.

He saw Jack watching him and he smiled at the expression of pure trust in his eyes. He lowered himself between Jack's legs to barely touch their lips together and whispered, "The most comfortable position for you would be for me to take you from behind, with a pillow under your hips--"

"No; I want to see you," Jack insisted.

"You're a stubborn man...," he whispered, his eyes smiling.

"You're just discovering this?" Jack said, arching a sexy eyebrow.

Daniel moved Jack's knees back toward his chest and aligned his cock with Jack's well-prepared entrance. It occurred to him that there should be some kind of glorious drum roll to mark this auspicious occasion; that he should say something pithy; something romantic and meaningful. All he could think of was a kind of confession. "I will love you always, Jack..." he murmured as he eased into his lover's body for the first time. He stopped short of the intended target to let the older man become acclimated to this fuller, more personal, penetration.

"My god, Danny..." he gasped.

"Do you feel it, Jack? We're one..."

"God this is amazing... I love you so much... uhhh... more... move..."

Daniel pulled most of the way out and then performed a complete thrust, angling for the spot where he expected Jack's gland would be; he found it on the first try. Jack gasped. "Shityeah!!" he hollered, "Again!"

Daniel set his knees firmly against Jack's ass cheeks and began a steady thrusting rhythm that would bring them both off without any further delay. "Ohhhhhh," he shuddered, throwing his head back and arching his back at the incredible sensation of plunging his cock deeply into Jack O'Neill's virgin ass.

"Danny!" Jack cried.

Daniel found the last shreds of his conscious awareness and focused on his lover's beautiful and coming face. And he growled as he emptied himself deep within his lover's body. "U bent voor altijd mijn," he mumbled as he made the final thrust.

****

The sun had just started to peek into the side window. They lay intertwined and sticky and astonishingly in love. "What are you thinking?" Jack asked, stroking Daniel's hair as the younger man's head lay pillowed on his belly.

"I'm actually making a list," Daniel replied evenly.

Jack frowned, a little disappointed. So not what he'd been expecting. A romantic declaration of some kind. A love poem, maybe. Praise for his own incredible fuckability if nothing else. "A list? Of what?"

"People to call. Sam first. Then Teal'c--"

Jack grinned; this was even better than he'd hoped. "No billboard?"

"No, first resignations, then the billboard..."

"Dan-iel..." Part of him hoped that the younger man was serious.

"Okay, no billboard. How about we go back to that Denny's--"

"You workin' up to an Alpha display, Daniel?"

The younger man grinned. "Yeahsureyabetcha..." and moved up Jack's chest for another kiss. "You okay?"

Jack grinned back. "Better than okay," he said, kissing his lover firmly. "Wish I hadn't waited so goddamn long. He tilted his head to one side and squinted. "What did you say at the end? "Yuban for Alderman?"

Daniel blushed, trying and failing to suppress a grin. "U bent voor altijd mijn," he corrected.

"Yeah, whatever. What's it mean?"

"It's Dutch," he said softly. "It means, 'You are mine forever'."

Jack's grin started slowly and then spread over his entire face. "You marked me with words..." he whispered, touched by the significance of the utterance. Daniel just smiled. "God, I love you..." Jack said, filled with wonder and awe at the sheer improbability of having fallen so desperately in love with his civilian consultant.

****

"Y'know, I think I'm okay with this gay thing now."

"Yeah?" Daniel smiled, pulling the clean bottom sheet tight at his corner. "How's that?"

Jack shrugged. "I dunno exactly... I'm crazy in love with you... you're a guy, I'm a guy... we make love together, the earth moves..." He finished straightening his side of the bed and stood up, hands on his hips. "It just all seems... okay now." He squinted. "I should have a better reason, right?"

Daniel tried not to look astonished that Jack was actually initiating 'the talking thing'. "Not necessarily. Do you think you've worked out all the issues you had with being in a homosexual relationship?"

Jack winced. "Now see, it's that label thing," he answered, fluffing up the pillow absently as he considered the term. "Yeah, I guess I'm pretty gay, I mean, seein' as how I had either your fingers or your dick stuffed up my ass most of last night..."

"And loving it?"

Color spread across Jack's features. "Hell yes!" he agreed. He tossed the pillow down and moved to Daniel's side of the bed and held him loosely around the waist. "You're amazing in bed, have I ever told you that?"

Daniel consulted his watch and frowned. "Not in the last twenty minutes or so..."

"Kiss me."

"With pleasure." They necked unhurriedly for several minutes, then parted when Jack's stomach growled insistently. "Hungry?"

"Y'think?"

"Grab the sheets and let's go see what there is to eat," Daniel suggested.

"I got deli stuff last night," he called after Daniel's retreating form.

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like half a pound of everything they had."

"Indecision, much?"

"Not," he countered indignantly, starting the washer for last night's sheets. "I'm just very cosmopolitan."

Daniel opened the fridge and several of the meat packages fell out onto the floor. "God, Jack, how are we gonna eat all this stuff before Wednesday morning?"

Jack came up behind him and slithered both hands into Daniel's crotch, snuzzeling the left side of his neck as he groped the younger man shamelessly. "You lay on the bed naked, I'll layer the meats and cheeses all over your body and then eat them off you..."

"I don't know Jack... lunchmeat as a sexual aid... sounds kinky," Daniel said, putting some of the packages back into the fridge. "We'll save the Swiss cheese for that then. How 'bout you toast up some bread?"

Jack grabbed the package of ham from the top of Daniel's armload and tossed it back into the fridge next to the Swiss cheese. "Save the ham too," he muttered.

They ate in companionable silence for a time before Daniel said quietly, "So... you're gay and you're alright with that."

"I'm sure it's not as simple as that, Daniel, but I'm definitely feeling better about the whole thing. Not so threatened, I guess. A lot of things going around in my head, y'know? Like Sara and stuff..."

"What do you mean?"

"At first I was worried that my feelings for you invalidated my time with her; made all of that a lie."

Daniel smiled. "It doesn't."

"No, I realized that, finally. My loving you doesn't take anything away from my memories of her. It doesn't change the fact that at that point in my life, what she and I had was real. It was right."

Daniel nodded, understanding the delicate truth of Jack's statement. It would've been easy to be black or white about the issue. It was the subtle shades of gray in one's life that were often the most difficult to define. "I have room in my heart for you and my memories of Sha're," he said quietly. "Different, but no less real."

"Well said."

"Did all of this come to you since last night?"

"No... last night was mostly just incredible sex; not a lot of deep thinking. Been working on this for a while."

"Do you think you can let Al rest in peace now?"

Jack sighed and pushed his empty plate away, leaning forward on his elbows. He sipped his ginger ale thoughtfully before answering. "I dunno, Danny... any way you look at it, I was responsible; I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forget that."

"You weren't responsible for his death, Jack. He made that choice."

The older man shook his head sadly, regret shadowing the handsome features. "If I'd just gone back to the dorm that night..."

They'd been over this. "Even if you had gone back... if you had told him you weren't interested, he might've killed himself anyway. We don't know what his reason was; we can never know that. Was it because he feared exposure... or because realized he couldn't have you?"

"Yeah," he scoffed. "How likely is that?"

Daniel reached across the table and took his lover's hand. "Very," he whispered.

Jack saw the stark emotion in Daniel's eyes and he squeezed the hand he held. "You still having issues?" he asked gently.

"With?"

They hadn't talked about this since Denver. "Al... wanting to kill him..."

Daniel smiled, his thumb absently stroking the back of Jack's hand. "No. Making love to you removed a barrier between us; the barrier Al Jenner put there. It's just us now... I feel very content."

Jack smiled. "Cool. Wanna go back to bed?"

****

"Ja-ack..."

"Dan-iel..."

"Will you listen to me for a change?"

"Don't wanna listen, Daniel; wanna get fucked."

"I've created a monster," Daniel sighed. "It's only been a couple of hours, Jack-"

"I'm not sore, I told you. Now climb on."

"Jesus, do I ever get to bottom again?"

"You can bottom after dinner if you want. God, Daniel; I can't believe you're complaining about this; is it a chore for you already?"

Daniel chuckled. "I'm not complaining. I just think you should give your ass a rest, that's all. Anal tissues are delicate-"

"Are you saying I'm effeminate?"

"Damn it, Jack! Will you shut the fuck up!"

"Make me!"

Daniel clamped his mouth over Jack's, effectively stalling any further discussion for the time being. And although it was utterly obscene and beyond rational understanding, their bickering had made him hard again. He ended the kiss abruptly, and shoved Jack's legs apart roughly with his knee, finally settling his hips between his lover's warm thighs. As their cocks bumped together between their bellies, he sucked one of Jack's nipples into his mouth and alternated sucking on it and stroking it with his tongue.

Jack responded to this sudden arduous attention by arching and writhing and moaning. He grabbed Daniel's head and pulled him off the tortured nipple and down for a demanding kiss. "I want it hard this time," he insisted gruffly.

"No. You're not ready for that-"

"I want you to hit that spot, Daniel; hit it hard! I can't believe how good that felt... I need it again, but harder this time... PLEASE!"

"Let me prep you-"

"NOW!"

Daniel grunted, and palmed a glob of lube, applying it to his cock brusquely. "I think you're rushing this-"

"Objection noted, Doctor Jackson," Jack snapped, nearly consumed with need. "Now fuck me!"

Daniel placed his cock against the puckered opening and nudged lightly. Jack gasped as the head breached the tight ring of muscle in his ass. "Open up," Daniel demanded gently as he held his position.

Jack concentrated on relaxing the muscle by picturing the rose imagery Daniel had suggested last night. It worked, and as the muscle began to stretch and relax, Daniel slid home.

"Uhhhh..." Jack moaned as he was filled. Like a junkie on a fresh high, he would gladly have sold his soul if such had been required to attain this awesome feeling. He wrapped his legs around Daniel's back. "Stay... right... there..." he whispered. "Feel you inside me..." he panted, eyes closed, savoring the sensation. "Need this... forever..." He opened his eyes and saw the determined, almost angry set to his lover's jaw. "God, I love you..." He held Daniel's face tenderly. "Please..."

Daniel saw the desperate longing in Jack's eyes and pressed closer, kissing him deeply. His weight braced on his muscular arms, he could've stayed this way indefinitely except for the tortuous way that Jack was rhythmically clenching his ass muscles around his cock. "You have to stop that, or I have to move," he warned.

"Move," Jack chose, releasing his leg-hold on Daniel's back.

And Daniel moved. He made no sound save for the forced exhale of breath as each thrust hit home. The feeling of power grew in him as he continued to pump into Jack's body, and watched the look of sheer rapture on his lover's beautiful face. Knowing that he was creating this joy, this passion for both of them was an enormous turn-on. He never felt so fucking Alpha in his entire life...

He felt Jack's body arch toward him, craving more complete body contact and he attempted to comply without losing the momentum that he already felt gathering at the base of his spine. He felt Jack's ass muscles spasm as his orgasm started, and he deliberately aimed for the sweet spot on each thrust to send Jack hurtling over the edge.

"God yes... god yes... god yes..." Jack chanted as Daniel's belly scraped the head of his cock, providing the last ounce of sensation that would finally, utterly, melt his brain.

"Look at me!" Daniel demanded; fury and passion and need and Alpha and-god help him-ownership, required it.

Jack obeyed; to refuse was unthinkable. They came together, falling into each other's eyes.

****

"I hope this is temporary."

"What's that?"

Daniel lay with his arm over his eyes, spent from the sex. "This Alpha shit."

"For cryin' out loud, Daniel, we haven't even left the house yet!" Jack laughed.

"You're presuming of course, that I'll actually let you leave the house..." he said softly.

"Really?" Jack sounded almost pleased.

"Really."

Jack settled back against Daniel's warm chest, and pulled his left arm around him. "Cool..." he murmured.

"Stop humoring me; you're not helping," he said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry, Danny; can't help ya there. Never been Alpha'd before. Think I'm gonna like it."

Daniel sighed and propped his head up with his free arm. He'd never felt this way with anyone... not even Sha're... He really needed to put some perspective around this new development before they went back to the mountain. Jack liked him possessive now, but he suspected that come Wednesday morning in the briefing room, Colonel O'Neill would not find it quite so charming.

****

"So, what all were you doing in that tent for more than two hours?" Jack asked in his best casual tone. They'd showered and were lounging in bed and swapping sections of the Sunday paper.

Daniel frowned. "Was it two hours?"

"Two hours, seven minutes and forty three seconds." When no response was forthcoming, Jack glanced up innocently. "You know, give or take..."

"Riiiight. Well, we talked about sex. And romance. And technique. Basically, it was a lecture about sex."

"A lecture."

"Mostly."

" 'Mostly' ?"

"Well, yeah. For a civilization founded on debauchery, they're very strict with their children."

"How so?"

Daniel shuffled through Jack's pile of finished newspaper looking for the editorial page. Finding it, he folded it into a comfortable-to-hold quarters and started to peruse the headlines. "Dating isn't permitted. Co-ed fraternization is strictly forbidden, so opportunities for any kind of petting or experimentation at any level is zero." He put the paper down and said with no small amount of incredulity, "He'd never even masturbated, Jack."

Jack raised an eyebrow, already not liking the sound of this. "Get out."

"So I sort of... y'know... talked him through it." At Jack's dubious expression, he elaborated. "Think... phone sex. In person."

"Phone sex."

"Phone sex."

Jack just looked at him. "You had phone sex with him," he said slowly.

"Nnnoo... not exactly. I wasn't, y'know... into it. I was just... offering suggestions."

"Suggestions."

Daniel sighed, his annoyance level increasing. "Oh, for cryin' out loud, Jack; would you rather I'd fucked him?"

Jack frowned. "Of course not."

"Then let it go." He went back to his paper.

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"Just so we're clear on this... should a similar opportunity present itself to me, the idea of my giving a naked individual of any gender... 'sexual suggestions'-"

"Don't even think about it," he snapped, turning the paper over. As the concept actually gelled in his brain, Daniel let the paper fall to the bed and met Jack's extremely focused gaze. "Shit," he breathed.

"Yeah."

Daniel winced. "Wow."

"Yeah."

Daniel felt powerful emotions warring within him. On the one hand, the image of Jack becoming that intimate-even innocently, as he had--with another person filled him with a dark kind of possessive rage; an anger that he could see mirrored in Jack's expression now. From an Alpha standpoint-which he now understood completely--he could no more condone that behavior in Jack than if he'd watched him fuck Kynthia in the banquet hall.

On the other hand, Daniel knew that he had tread a dangerously fine line with Dan-El, but he'd been able to justify it to himself... that there'd been no choice and that, as evils went, it was definitely the lesser of those presented to him. But he now understood that this justification didn't change the fact that his knowledge of that young man-not quite carnal, but close enough-was still inappropriate for someone in a committed relationship. It was a betrayal.

"Oh god Jack... I'm so sorry..." he whispered.

Jack, having had six weeks to work through and understand his Alpha issues where Daniel was concerned, was upset, but in no danger of acting out. He felt the anger, the disappointment, the sadness, but these were tempered by the rational part of his mind. "You did what you had to do, Daniel, and no more. I'm grateful for that," he said quietly. "As your team leader, I'm proud of you for resolving the situation so... diplomatically and resourcefully."

"And as my lover?" Daniel whispered.

Jack's lips thinned as he considered his response. To be less than truthful would spare Daniel now, but it would damage their relationship in the long run. He made sure that his voice was as steady and gentle as he could possibly make it, for he knew that the words he had to say would hurt like hell all by themselves.

"I'm disappointed, Daniel. And hurt." He kept his gaze averted so that the full force of his pain wouldn't bowl Daniel over. "I know you were just doing your job... but I... I need for that level of intimacy to stay between us. I need to know... that what we have is safe." He looked at his lover then. "I need to know..." No, that wasn't right, not really. He started again. "I need for you to know... that you are totally, and unconditionally, mine. And that nothing even remotely like this is ever to happen again."

Daniel nodded. Based on the waves of Alpha possessiveness that had come over him since making love to Jack last night and then again this morning, he doubted that he would've been as calm as Jack was being, should their positions have been reversed. "I understand."

Jack took his hand, and interlaced their fingers. "And I make you the same promise."

"Thank you," Daniel whispered. They kissed then, gently, to seal the promise, and slid down under the covers in each other's arms, and slept.

****

"You're dressed," Jack said, wearing only jeans.

Daniel looked down at himself. Black jeans, ivory pullover, dress boots. "I seem to be."

"For cryin' out loud, Daniel; I was only in the bathroom a coupla minutes--"

"Try thirty-five."

Jack looked shocked. "Well, that explains why I can't feel my feet I guess..." He stamped his feet a couple of times to try and work the pins and needles feeling out. "Where we goin'?"

"I'm thinkin' Chinese."

" 'kay. Gimmee a minute." Jack retreated into the bedroom and pulled on a navy blue sweater from his bag and slipped into his loafers. Daniel was waiting at the door with his jacket on already. Jack picked up his leather bomber and shrugged into it. "You drivin'?"

"Um hmm," Daniel nodded, locking the door behind them.

"Ooooh, I love it when you're masterful..." Jack smirked.

"That's enough out of you," Daniel said tightly.

"Aren't you gonna open my door?"

Daniel paused with his hand on the driver's door handle and squinted over the roof of the car at his lover. "Jack, don't be an ass. Get in the car."

The older man got into the car and buckled his seatbelt. "Well, my mother was right," he pouted. "Let a guy go all the way, and suddenly all the niceties fly out the window."

Daniel chuckled. "You can be infuriating, you know that?"

"But you love me," Jack said, grinning.

"Yeah, I do," Daniel admitted.

"Um... isn't the Chinese place the other way?"

"Thought we'd try a different one tonight. The Fortune Dragon. In Woodland Park."

"Any particular reason?"

"They don't know us there."

"Should I expect a dip and kiss after the Egg Drop Soup?" Jack grinned again.

"You can expect a spanking if you don't settle down," Daniel said, looking over his shoulder and then accelerating onto the highway.

"Oh, I'm thinkin' I'm gonna need a ring at the very least, before we go there..."

****

"Do you have to be quite so charming?" Daniel hissed after the waitress left.

Jack frowned. "I was charming?"

"You were... too charming.""I really didn't notice. I don't mean to be... sorry." He looked at Daniel's pained expression. "I'll try and be more of a bastard in the future," he offered helpfully.

"If you wouldn't mind; that'd be great." Daniel said tightly. He sipped his drink, swirling it absently to get the scotch good and cold. He'd picked a restaurant forty miles from home for exactly this reason. He'd known that he was going to have some issues for awhile; that's why he picked a restaurant half an hour away. In case.

The waitress brought the appetizer and two small plates. "Thank you," Jack smiled.

"Ja-ack..."

"Sorry. I'll just sit here barefoot and pregnant and-"

Daniel sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "You're killing me..."

"It's okay, Daniel," Jack said softly. "I don't mind the attention-"

"Well I do! It's wrong!" Daniel whispered harshly, sitting bolt upright in his seat. "Gender aside, all this Alpha crap just reeks of Go'a'uld!"

"What?"

"Ownership, Jack; masking either pathetic insecurity or supercilious pride. In a healthy relationship, there shouldn't be feelings of ownership. You're a human being with rights... the fact that we're in a relationship doesn't abrogate those rights! The fact that you love me shouldn't give me domain over you!"

"So don't," Jack said simply. As if the feelings could be just shut off; he knew damn well that wasn't the case. Daniel growled under his breath. "Yeah, I know," Jack replied softly.

"I don't own you," Daniel insisted. Jack didn't know which one of them he was trying to convince. "I can't regulate who you talk to or how you spend your time. My god, that's suffocating! Not to mention arrogant! I don't like feeling this way... I want you to choose to be with me for no other reason than you want to be; not because you're afraid of what I'll do if you displease me."

"Preachin' to the choir here, Danny," Jack said levelly.

"What is wrong with us?"

Jack sipped his own drink and savored the way the warmth of the liquor seemed to bathe his throat with liquid peace. "I don't think there's anything wrong with us, Daniel. It's the damn secrecy. Think back; you and Sha're were all over each other, couldn't keep your hands to yourself, moon-eyes, suckin' face-"

"I get it, Jack."

"The point is, I don't think it's anything more sinister than that. It's a new relationship; we're crazy in love with each other, but we can't let any of that show. Alpha is the price for holding it in."

Daniel heaved a heavy sigh and belted back the rest of his drink.

Jack eyed him and said, "I've got an idea; back in a minute." He rose and sauntered in the general direction of the restrooms. Daniel watched him until he was out of sight. He continued to watch for him through the waitress bringing him a second scotch. Three minutes and forty-five seconds later, Daniel watched him saunter back to the table, a sly grin on his face.

"You're smirking."

"It's the smirk of a plan."

"Do tell."

"I just did a TLA; we're all clear.""Excuse me?"

"Restaurant's clear; there's no one here who might recognize me."

"And? So? Therefore?"

"And... I know exactly what you're going through, remember? Knowing you, the irrationality factor alone's gotta be drivin' you fuckin' nuts, let alone having to fight the urge to touch me--"

"Y'think?"

"I'm just sayin'... If there's no one here who might recognize either of us..." He watched as the light finally dawned on his lover's face. "It's an option, Daniel. A way to try to get all of your Alpha shit out of the way once and for all. Believe you me, dragin' it out is agonizing. This might work, and it might not; minimal risk to find out." Daniel was staring at him now; the light of the table candle reflected in the lenses of his glasses, illuminating the blue of his eyes in a way not dissimilar to that of a Go'a'uld-flash. He shivered involuntarily. "Go. Sweep. Decide."

Daniel took a deep swallow of his scotch, wiped his mouth with the napkin and placed it on the table. Then he strolled toward the restrooms, sweeping the room as he went. Nada.

He stood in the stall trying to figure out what to do. He'd watched Jack struggle with his Alpha feelings since they'd become intimate a month and a half ago, and it hadn't been pretty. It had all seemed to come to a head during the trip to Denver. First the Denny's waitress, then Jimmy, then the man at the hotel. All relatively anonymous occasions to 'come out'; ways that Jack could admit publicly that they were a couple. He'd seemed much calmer since then, more able to handle the secrecy that surrounded their illicit affair. Perhaps Jack was right... indulge the Alpha need once, and then maybe it could be whittled down to a size that was manageable.

As Daniel approached their table, the sight of Jack in profile and bathed in candlelight made his decision for him. No turning back. He moved behind the older man, placing his hands on the broad shoulders. He bent forward and whispered "I love you," in his left ear, then kissed him on the side of the neck. He then took his seat and tucked his napkin into his lap as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to do, and not as if his heart was threatening to leap out of his chest.

"Wow," Jack said, blushing. "When you decide to go for it, you pull out all the stops." He smiled and held up his glass in a toast. "To us."

"To us." Daniel smiled and picked up the menu. "Have you decided what you want?"

Jack grinned lecherously. "Uhh... you naked and pounding me into the mattress?"

Daniel's upper lip curled and his sultry gaze flickered up over his glasses. "I think that can be arranged," he said softly. He glanced back down at his menu. "Probably not a good idea to make love on an empty stomach, though; what do you want to eat?"

"You."

Daniel grinned and folded the menu. "Okay, now that we have the after dinner activities all laid out-"

"Laid..." Jack muttered in his filthiest 'Homer' voice.

The waitress took that moment to show up. "Have you gentlemen decided yet or do you need a few more minutes?"

"No, we're ready," Daniel replied, referring to the menu. "I'll have the Sha Cha Shrimp and my companion will have the Pork with Black Bean Sauce." Jack just smiled and cocked an eyebrow.

She took the order without comment and smiled, reaching for the menus. "Very good sir; can I get either of you a refill?"

"Yes, please," Daniel said, indicating both of them.

After she left, Jack said, " 'Companion'? "

Daniel shrugged. "Sufficiently descriptive without being too graphic."

"Is there such a thing as being too graphic, Daniel?"

"Speaking of which," Daniel said, leaning forward a little. "I've been meaning to ask you something..."

"Okaaaay..."

"How do you go from being so homophobic that you can't even look me in the eye after we make love to wanting to shout from the rooftops that you're nailing me in the ass?"

A slow grin started to spread across Jack's features. "Better watch out, Danny... you're turnin' me on..."

"I'm serious."

"So am I," Jack said dangerously.

Daniel shook his head, trying to suppress a smile. "Answer the question, please," he said patiently. Jack just kept grinning. Daniel tried again. "You're all covered in smug, Jack; it's kind of a turn-on knowing I put that look on your face, but I'm still confused. It seems like a complete 180 to me."

Jack sighed, knowing that once again, they'd slid down the slippery slope of that 'talking thing' that his lover seemed to enjoy so much. He so didn't want to talk about this. He remembered being at the lake the morning after their big fight, thinking about Daniel's many admirers, and how boastful he felt that the archeologist wanted only him. He'd kept it to himself then, for he was ashamed at how it made him feel. He didn't really feel much better about it now, except for the fact that he finally had company; at least he wasn't alone in his possessively tacky behavior anymore.

"Remember the morning at the cabin?"

"After the spectacularly loud fight?"

"Yeah... that was probably the first time..."

"For...?"

Jack winced, finding it hard to vocalize the petty feelings. He took a deep breath and bravely barreled through it. "The ah... Alpha thing... it suddenly occurred to me that I'd be gaining some prestige in taking you as my lover... that despite your small army of admirers, both women and men... that you were mine now. Kind of like trading one kind of status for another."

Daniel thought about it for a minute before he responded. "Wow, Jack. That's really shallow."

"I know."

"I totally understand."

Jack looked up, relieved. "I thought you might."

Daniel nodded and pursed his lips. "Yeah... I... sorta pictured you going down on me in the gate room waiting for the gate to warm up."

Jack grinned. "In front of--"

Daniel cleared his throat and frowned a little. "Pretty much everyone..."

"On my knees?"

"Of course."

Jack picked up his scotch. "Welcome to the Alpha Club."

"Thank you. I think." Daniel clinked his glass against Jack's and they downed their drinks together.

They were quiet for a few moments, the scotch causing a huge envelope of mellowness to settle over them. Jack broke it softly. "I remember something else from the cabin..." he said, watching Daniel nibble a dumpling. "On the pier... you said you didn't want me to give up my career until I was sure I was ready." Daniel said nothing. "I think I'm ready..."

"What makes you say that?" Daniel asked quietly, meeting his intense stare.

Jack reached across the table and took Daniel's hand, intertwining their fingers. "Because I want this all the time."

Their deep, meaningful eye contact continued and was not even disturbed by the waitress setting down their drinks. "Two Scotches; one with ice, one neat."

"Thank you," Daniel said, without looking up. He stroked the side of Jack's hand with his thumb, knowing that the waitress was watching them; glad that she was watching them. When she'd left, he said softly, "Time to give up the galaxy?"

"Yes. I want people to see us as a couple... to understand that we belong to each other. Not ownership, Danny; belonging."

"We can't have that until we both decide to retire from the SGC."

"I just want you to know that I'm ready. I've been practicing how to tell folks."

"I see."

"Yeah. The team first. Then Hammond."

Daniel nodded absently. "On a related note... I never got the chance to tell you the other day; Sam cornered me about the marks on my neck."

Jack grinned. "When?"

"After Erebus, as I was leaving the base. She wanted to know if it was serious."

Jack sipped his drink with his free hand, the other still holding onto Daniel's for dear life. "And?"

"And... I thought 'mysteriously vague' was the safest route to take; I was afraid if I told her that it was serious, she'd want to double-date or something."

"Wow. That would be awkward," Jack said, putting his glass down. "Yeah... She's probably not gonna take it too well..."

"No, she's not," Daniel agreed sadly. "And I'm going to miss her; she's family."

Jack nodded his understanding and agreement. "All the more reason to come out now, Danny."

"It's going to hurt her, whenever we come out; I don't know that doing it now rather than later will spare her anything."

"Maybe not. But we can get started on our life together sooner. And they'll probably give her command of SG-1."

"Do you think she'll feel that's adequate compensation?"

Jack's eyes flashed. "Don't-"

"She's been in love with you for a long time." He watched Jack take another sip of his drink. They were both working on their third; he knew he wasn't in any shape to drive now, and at the rate Jack was going, he wouldn't be too far behind him. "She's going to hate me."

"She'll hate me more," Jack whispered roughly. They were quiet for a long minute before the waitress brought their food. Jack released Daniel's hand, then smiled and thanked her. After she'd left, he asked, "Wasn't so bad now that she knows I'm yours, right?"

Daniel looked a little surprised. "No, it wasn't bad at all..." He chuckled a little to himself. "You think if I slipped you some tongue before we leave, I'll be cured?"

Jack smiled. "If I said yes, would you do it?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Oh, yeah..."

Daniel scooped up some rice and just smiled. "So," he said, maneuvering a shrimp to his mouth with nimble chopsticks, "This life together you keep mentioning. How exactly does it work?"

Jack accepted the change of subject gracefully and scooped up a forkful of rice before he answered. "Simple. We resign, then we come out."

"Jack, we've both typed up resignation letters before; those are easy. The coming out itself might be a little problematic. What happens after?"

"After? Wha'd'ya mean?"

"When we no longer have to get up in the morning and put on the BDUs to save the galaxy, what do we do?"

Jack frowned. "Besides make love all day?"

"Yeah. Besides that."

The older man shrugged. "I dunno. We can live pretty well on my pension. I guess we could travel if you want..."

"Your pension."

"Yeah. House is paid for, so--"

"And what do I do? I'm not gonna get a pension, and I don't have an identity, not to mention any usefulness outside the program."

"Not true--"

"Very true."

Jack had no comeback for this line of reasoning. "So what's wrong with making love all day?"

"That would pretty much make me a 'kept man', wouldn't it?"

Jack smiled. "Sounds kinda sexy when you say it like that--" Daniel put his chopsticks down and fixed Jack with an icy stare as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. He placed it back in his lap deliberately, his stern gaze never leaving Jack's. Jack's smile faded under the scrutiny. "Or... not..."

"Shall we join the country club too? That way you can show me off to the wealthy and elite of Colorado Springs?"

"Daniel..."

"And then rather than being equal, loving partners, we're back to me being Colonel O'Neil's trophy wife."

Jack squinted. "Eww."

"Exactly."

"So... Not retiring just yet?"

"Not just yet."

Jack sighed. "Okay. Where's that leave us?"

Daniel picked up his chopsticks and resumed his meal. "Back to saving the galaxy day after tomorrow."

Jack frowned. "I thought we were off till Wednesday?"

"We report Wednesday morning; that means--"

"Apart Tuesday," Jack finished sadly.

"Yeah."

"I hate that part."

Daniel met his eyes. "Me too."

"But we still have tonight and tomorrow night," Jack said, brightening.

"We do. Do you have any objection to spending the night here in Woodland Park? I don't think either of us are in any shape to be driving."

Jack grinned. "That depends; you bring the lube?"

"Never leave home without it," Daniel leered.

****

"We'd like a room for the night, please."

"One room?"

"Yes."

"I'm afraid we rented our last double occupancy room an hour ago. All we have left are singles."

"That's fine."

"Um... with one... king size bed," the clerk enumerated. She looked from Daniel to Jack and then back to Daniel again.

"Perfect," Daniel assured the clerk, pulling out his credit card. Jack just stood behind his right shoulder and smiled.

"Yes, sir," the clerk said somewhat awkwardly. She took the plastic card and swiped it through the machine. When it spit out the receipt, she handed it and a pen to Daniel. When he handed it back, she cave him a keycard that said 'Country Inn-23'. "Do you have any luggage you need help with, sir?"

"No, thanks."

"Room 23. Second floor, take the hallway to your right."

"Thank you," Daniel said, smiling politely. He indicated for Jack to precede him to the elevator with a hand placed lightly--but possessively--on the small of his back. He felt her eyes on them the entire way across the small lobby. As they stepped into the car, Daniel let his hand slip down to cup the older man's ass.

"Marking your territory, Daniel?" Jack said as the doors closed. The younger man smiled and pulled Jack down for a kiss.

When the doors opened, they parted and took the hall to the right. Four doors down on their left was Room 23. Daniel opened the door and Jack swept the room on his way to the far wall; satisfied, he closed the drapes. Before Jack could turn around, he heard Daniel toss the keycard onto the dresser. In the darkness, there was the sound of boots unzipping and the crackle of static as the ivory sweater charged on Daniel's hair on it's way to the floor.

"Leave the jeans on."

"O... kay," Daniel said quietly. Then he emptied the contents of his pockets onto the nightstand. He moved to the middle of the bed and was surprised to find Jack already there. "Special Ops gives classes on stealth disrobing?"

"As a matter of fact they do," Jack said softly. "Come here." Daniel crawled up the bed till he was lying alongside Jack. "No. On top of me."

Daniel shifted to the requested position, taking some of his weight on his arms, he let his entire body become a presence on Jack's. He knew from experience what nude felt like against a warm, clothed body; how erotic it was to be that tactilely vulnerable to another human being. He gently brushed his denim-covered groin against Jack's naked one, and inhaled sharply when the older man's chest hair tickled his nipple teasingly.

Jack grabbed Daniel's ass in both hands and pulled him in hard, effectively collapsing the younger man on top of him, gasping as his weight pushed the air from his lungs. Since it was obvious that Jack wanted to feel his weight, Daniel used his now-free arms to fondle his lover's face while he kissed him deeply, pushing his tongue into Jack's mouth. Jack sucked at the invading tongue and kneaded the ass cheeks in his hands; both of his naked calves intertwined with Daniel's clothed ones. "God I love you..." he gasped, rolling them over.

Frantic hands scrambled with the buttons on Daniel's fly until it was finally open, and he pushed the jeans down just slightly, exposing the light brown mass of hair that framed his beautiful cock. Jack pushed Daniel's feet up the bed until they bumped the younger man's ass and then dove for his groin-Daniel's legs effectively trapping his head there. He rubbed his face against the springy curls and the hard cock and the soft balls. The position was made perfect when Daniel reached down between his legs with both hands and placed them firmly on the back of Jack's head. Jack moaned, as much from the knowledge that Daniel had known instinctively what he wanted, as the erotic position itself. He inhaled Daniel's warmth and scent, and brushed his mouth against the leaking head of his cock, letting the clear, viscous fluid paint his lips.

He'd told Daniel the truth at dinner; he was ready. He hadn't been able to articulate just how completely ready he was. But he could show him. 'I would give it all up if I could be with you like this forever...' he thought urgently. 'Why is any of us here? That's easy, this is why I'm here... I would gladly be your kept man... if only you'd have me...' "I want to lick your cock..." he whispered, head still held fast between his lover's legs.

Daniel groaned. Words. Jack was using words. Confusion filled him then... what had driven Jack-who was, mere weeks ago, so emotionally constipated that voicing his own needs had been next to impossible-to ask permission for something they'd freely given to each other up to now? "Lick me," he instructed, voice deep and rough with arousal, both physical and emotional. "Use your mouth slowly... gently... I don't want to come."

Jack moaned his gratitude for permission and direction and slowly lapped at the erect cock beneath his face. He probed the slit with his tongue, digging out all the pre-cum he could find. He shifted his face lower so that he could lap gently at Daniel's warm ball sac, bathing the entire hairy surface with broad, flat strokes. He heard Daniel's appreciative moan as the sensations traveled up his spine. "Thank you for letting me clean you... may I suck you now?"

"OhgodJack-" Daniel gasped. Whatever game they were playing was incredibly erotic, and the words were almost more potent than the tongue work. "Strip me," he instructed, releasing Jack's head. The older man complied, pulling the jeans off the long legs one at a time. Thus freed, Daniel kept his knees bent as before but angled his thighs apart. "Lick my ass, Jack. I want to feel your tongue on my hole."

"Yes, Daniel," Jack said quietly. He lay between the younger man's legs and pushed his cheeks apart, exposing the opening to his body. Fleeting thoughts flitted across his brain... his whole life had come to this... and he was glad. Giving pleasure to Daniel, receiving pleasure from the giving... the rest-the hero shit--was not what he wanted anymore... He laved the puckered opening as worshipfully as he possibly could, directing all the emotion in his heart into Daniel's ass through his tongue. Daniel moaned. He made his tongue as rigid as he possibly could and began to excavate the wrinkled orifice as completely as the odd angle of his neck would allow. Daniel writhed. Jack's amazement began in his brain and centered finally into his soul. He'd intended to service Daniel, to show him that he was more than willing to be the trophy wife, and yet in doing so, in giving up his need to be in control, he'd unintentionally achieved a position of enormous power and influence. Daniel was helpless before him.

"Would you like me to chew on your cock?" Jack asked softly, "Or would you rather I suckle you gently?"

"Uhhhghhh," Daniel grunted at the impossibly salacious words. "Chew on it... but don't make me come..." Jack complied, using his back teeth to apply even pressure all along the hard organ. Daniel moaned and pushed his head away. "Too good... have to stop..." He panted hard. "Kiss me..." he demanded. Jack crawled up Daniel's body and into his waiting arms.

He kissed Daniel then, pulling the younger man's tongue into his mouth and sucking on it strongly. Daniel thrust his hips against Jack's causing their erections to rub together, and began to lick and bite the older man's neck.

"Uhhh..." he grunted. "God Danny... are you biting me?"

Daniel growled, rolling them over and continued to trail fire along Jack's throat. "God I want to... but I don't know how you'd explain it to Frazier--"

"I almost don't care..." Jack moaned.

"Dead giveaway--" Daniel panted from under his chin.

"I know... but it would be so cool..."

Daniel paused for breath. "How 'bout we wait till the paperwork's in... let that be how we come out..."

Jack grinned. "I love it!"

"Me too..." He bent to lick the sweat from Jack's Adam's apple and murmured, "She knows," he breathed.

"What? Who knows?"

Daniel moved down Jack's chest and began to lick his left nipple. "The clerk downstairs... she knows I'm going to fuck you tonight..."

"Ohhhh ... god... "

"She watched us walk to the elevator... no luggage... my hand on your ass... she knows that the only reason we need this room is to fuck."

"Daniel..." Jack's hands found Daniel's head, and rested there, ready to put a halt to the glorious lips and tongue if the sensations became too dangerous.

"And the waitress knew... saw us holding hands at the table... told her no dessert, I didn't want to get too full... she knew I was going to go down on you... swallow your cum..." Daniel shifted down and took Jack into his mouth completely all at once. Jack arched off the bed, unwittingly thrusting into the warm haven of his lover's mouth, poised on the brink of eruption. Daniel felt the balls tighten below his chin, and swirled his tongue around the head of Jack's cock twice before exerting the exact amount of suction required to empty Jack's tortured balls in the shortest amount of time.

"Danny! Ohgodno!" Jack screamed, filling his mouth with warmth. He'd intended to push Daniel away before he blew, but he hadn't been strong enough nor fast enough. Now, he let the younger man bathe his cock gently as he urged the last drops of fluid from the softening organ. He sighed deeply, the last tremors of the orgasm flowing out his limbs. "Wanted to wait..." he complained.

Daniel grinned. "You needed to come, your balls were turning blue."

"Were not."

"Were so."

"Not."

"So."

Jack sighed again. "Now what?"

Daniel rolled him onto his belly. "Now, I'm going to tell you a story..."

Jack snorted. "Bedtime story?"

"That's up to you..." Daniel said, straddling Jack's hips. He started stroking the older man's back with his finger tips, starting at his spine and moving outward in feather-light touches. "Once upon a time, there was an Air Force Colonel. He'd spent his entire life in the military and was a hardass through and through--"

"Dan--iel..."

"Ja-ack... be quiet and let me finish," the younger man admonished. "Then one day, the hardass met a young scholar--"

"Beautiful young scholar," Jack corrected.

"Whose story is this?" Daniel smiled.

"Just want to make sure you get the facts straight."

"It's my story, Jack; be still... And the handsome hard ass Colonel and the beautiful young scholar clashed heads at almost every turn--"

"Handsome?"

"Shut up, Jack."

"Sorry."

"ANYway... they embarked upon a long, strange journey, discovering many new worlds and fascinating cultures-" Jack made a snoring sound into the mattress, and Daniel leaned back and slapped him on the ass.

"Ow!"

Daniel didn't apologize for the slap, but continued the gentle massage, tracing lazy circles across the smooth back. "... and they came to know that the differences in each other that they so often complained about and fought against were often the same exact things they found so attractive about each other. And they fell in love." He shifted down a little to extend the massage to Jack's lower back and ass.

"But they were afraid. Afraid that others would not understand their love and would condemn them for it. So they loved quietly, secretively, and reveled in whatever time they could spend together. They continued the adventures that had brought them together, for those were the stuff that their love was made of, and to forsake that was unthinkable. And they continued to love clandestinely, for to deny what they felt for each other was equally unimaginable."

Daniel shifted again, leaning on his elbow on Jack's left side, so that he could continue long, feathery strokes over the hump of Jack's ass and down the back of his thighs with his right hand, while he whispered softly in his left ear. "Then one day, the handsome hardass Colonel visited the leader of the project and presented him with a letter..." Daniel heard Jack's tiny intake of breath and he smiled to himself. "The letter said: 'I, Colonel Jack O'Neill--two ells--do hereby tender my resignation from the U.S. Air Force and the Stargate Program, effective immediately.' The leader asked the Colonel why he would give up visiting the fascinating worlds and cultures, and the hardass told him--"

"Because I've found the other half of my soul..." Jack said quietly.

Daniel's eyes filled with tears at his words, but he swallowed them back and continued. "The leader of the project smiled and said, 'I understand, son.' And they saluted one another, and the handsome hardass Colonel returned to his own office to pack his things. A short while later, the beautiful young scholar knocked at the leader's door and was granted admittance. He handed the leader a piece of paper that said: 'I Daniel Jackson, do hereby tender my resignation from my position as civilian consultant to the U.S. Air Force and the Stargate program, effective immediately.' The leader asked him why he would want to give up visiting fascinating worlds and cultures, and the scholar said, 'Because I've found the other half of my soul.' The leader looked up at him and smiled. 'I understand, son'.

"The scholar went to the Colonel's office and saw his love seated at his desk. They smiled at one another and the scholar entered the office and closed and locked the door behind him. The Colonel rose from his desk to meet the scholar, and they embraced, kissing gently. They undressed each other unhurriedly until they were both naked in the Colonel's office. They touched and kissed and caressed each other in the very place that had been forbidden for them to show their love. They were each very hard and very ready to consummate their relationship for the first and only time there in the forbidden place..."

Daniel heard Jack moan and he gently pushed the older man's thighs apart so that he could fondle his balls while he talked. "The scholar dropped to his knees and took the Colonel's cock into his mouth, teasing the entire length of it with his talented tongue--"

"Fucking right..." Jack muttered.

"The Colonel loved to fuck the scholar's mouth, for he knew it to be the one sure way to shut him up--"

Jack chuckled and repeated, "Fucking right..."

Daniel smiled and moved down Jack's body until he was even with the beautiful hairy mounds of his lover's ass. He spoke softly, and close to Jack's body, so that the warmth of his breath as he was speaking would tickle his skin. "The scholar continued to tongue the Colonel's cock until he could feel his lover's balls tightening with need. Then he turned his lover around so that he was leaning over the desk, and parted his legs--" Daniel moved in between Jack's legs and gently forced the orbs apart. "And then he began to use his talented tongue on his lover's ass, moving it up and down the warm crease, getting closer and closer and closer--"

Daniel stopped talking then, and started acting out the fantasy he'd been describing to Jack, letting his tongue bathe the aforementioned crease and move tantalizingly close to his intended destination. Jack moaned as the story Daniel had been describing came to life in his mind and in his ass. "Oh gaaaawhd..." he murmured, arching his back a little as encouragement. The feeling of Daniel's tongue all along the crease of his ass was delicious; in his mind's eye, Daniel was on his knees giving him the rim job while he bent over his desk at the mountain, and that was more erotic than he could've imagined. He'd been disappointed that Daniel had made him come earlier, but the way things were currently progressing, he thought he might just be able to come again after all...

Daniel pushed his tongue into Jack's hole as far as he was able, and then he pulled out and pushed it in again. Jack groaned louder. "God, Daniel... fucking my ass with your tongue..." Daniel hummed a little, and the vibrations sent tiny shockwaves coiling around Jack's insides. "Fuck, Danny--"

Daniel shifted back, and wiped his arm across his wet mouth and chin. "No, fuck Jack..." he whispered, pulling Jack to his knees. He grabbed the lube from the nightstand and flipped open the top and slathered some onto the fingers of his right hand. He steadied Jack with his left hand grasping his hip while he eased a finger into his already-teased opening. "Then the beautiful young scholar parted the handsome Colonel's ass cheeks and slowly breached the opening into his body with his slippery finger..."

Jack's head came back as he arched back onto Daniel's hand and groaned. "The handsome Colonel loved being touched in this intimate way in the forbidden place by the young scholar, and he moaned his pleasure."

"Yespleasemore..."

"So the scholar pushed two fingers into the Colonel's ass, noting how hot and tight it was inside his lover. He longed to plunge his cock into that tight heat, but did not want to cause him pain, so he tried to be patient," he said, rubbing his cock against the back of Jack's thigh and groaning a little.

"I'm ready."

"... the Colonel said, and he spread his feet wider apart so that the scholar could take him from behind bent over his regulation Air Force desk. The scholar slicked his desperately hard cock with more of the slippery lube and then entered him gently--" Daniel grunted just a little as he centered himself behind Jack's upturned ass and pressed home until he was all the way in. "Ahhhhgggrhh..." Daniel took two deep breaths and continued his story.

" 'Are you alright?', the scholar asked his lover..."

"Yesohgodyes..."

"...the Colonel replied, and then the scholar began to thrust slowly into his lover's sweet ass over and over and over..." Daniel was having a hard time trying to keep the story going and keep his breathing even since the sensations were building at such a fantastic rate that it was all he could do not to come. He reached around Jack's hip to find that the older man's cock had gotten a second wind and was nicely erect and leaking a little. He hoped that meant that he was close...

"The scholar told his lover to touch himself, to hold his cock loosely while he continued to pump into his ass, and the Colonel did so and was astounded at the multiple sensations beginning to gather at the base of his spine. They rocked together, moaning softly, building to climax in the forbidden place. They could hear people walking down the hallway, going about their business... oblivious to the fact that an illicit sexual act was going on behind the locked door..." Daniel panted, trying to hold on just one more minute...

"The scholar pulled his lover back to his chest and--" Daniel pulled Jack back towards him with a forearm across his chest and then sank his teeth into Jack's right shoulder, sucking hard. Jack screamed and came, shooting semen across the bedspread. Daniel thrust harder, letting all the built-up tension go at once. "And the scholar marked his lover for all to see as he came in his lover's ass, filling him with his love..."

Daniel finished, gasping, and collapsed against Jack, pushing them both back down onto the bed, sated and sweaty.

"Jesusfuckingchrist, Daniel..." Jack muttered from the bottom of the limp pile.

Daniel grunted and rolled off the older man onto his back. He closed his eyes and could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "No good?"

"For cryin' out loud," Jack gasped, leaning up on his elbows and looking down at his lover. "It was amazing," he said, kissing Daniel gently. "You should write pornography, y'know that?"

Daniel smiled sleepily. "Don't be ridiculous, Jack; who else but you and me would want to read it?"

"I dunno, Daniel. There's a market for everything; you just have to know how to pitch it."

Daniel reached down with the toes of his left foot and grabbed a corner of the sheet, pulling it up to cover them. "So that's the plan then. We'll both retire, and I'll write homoerotic fiction under an assumed name. You can be my agent." His tone was nothing if not facetious.

Jack snuggled under Daniel's right arm, his head pillowed on the younger man's chest. "Sure, Daniel, make fun; you could be sitting on a goldmine."

"No, actually I think I'm sitting on a big puddle of your cum."

Jack yawned. "Your turn to sleep in the wet spot."

"Mmmm...nite," Daniel said, kissing the top of Jack's head.

"Love you, Danny..." Jack whispered. But Daniel was already asleep.

****

"Don't laugh?"

Daniel sat in the big tub with his eyes closed. It was crowded in here with both of them, but there had been a tiny complimentary bottle of bubble bath on the counter, and it had seemed like a good idea at the time. "I wouldn't dare."

Jack shifted a little, watching the soapy wave his movement had created move across Daniel's smooth chest. "I imagined you with long hair."

Daniel opened his eyes and grinned. "What? When?"

"Last night. When you were doing the fantasy-thing." Daniel frowned, looking confused, so Jack elaborated. "I've been thinking about... y'know, how you were back at the beginning."

"Beginning?"

"Yeah. When I brought you back from Abydos. You were... different from now."

"Different? How?"

Jack sighed. "Innocent. Excitable. A little naïve..."

"And I had long hair."

"Loved that hair."

"I was skinny."

"Loved that too."

"Ja--ack?"

"Hmmm?"

"Something you're trying to tell me?"

"Like what?"

"I have no idea. That's why I'm asking."

Jack shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder... y'know..."

"No... tell me."

Jack sighed again, suddenly regretting bringing the subject up in the first place. "Sometimes I wonder what it would've been like if we'd've gotten together back then..."

Daniel was beginning to get the picture. "When I was young and innocent..."

"Yeah," Jack whispered, hardly daring to breathe.

"And skinny... with long hair..."

Jack swallowed involuntarily, trying to will his erection away. "Yeah."

"Does that excite you?" Daniel asked quietly, noting the displacement of water that was occurring in the general vicinity of Jack's groin.

Yes. Absolutely. Harder than a rock, thank you. He tried to sound casual. "Yeah... a little I guess..."

"I see..."

"You upset?"

"Not at all. Fantasies can be fun. Like last night."

"Last night was amazing!"

"You ah-want me to let my hair grow?"

"Well... only if you want to..."

"It was pretty high-maintenance... not terribly practical for off-world situations. And helmet-hair; what a pain..."

"I'm just sayin'-"

"Costs a fortune in conditioner--"

"Yeah?"

"And brushing, you know, to keep it shiny--"

"I could... y'know... do that..."

"Brush my hair?"

"If you want..."

Daniel smiled patiently, picturing long evenings of hair foreplay. "And precisely which aspect of this fantasy turns you on?"

Jack swallowed convulsively. "Wh-wha'd'ya'mean?"

Daniel shifted position slowly so that they didn't loose too much water over the side, until his feet were splayed on the tub edges, knees wide apart, thighs glistening with soapy sheets of water that spilled into the milky vagueness of his bubble-covered groin. "Do you find yourself thinking about being taken by the innocent-looking, but not really naïve young scholar, or do you fancy being the one to take his innocence?"

Jack grabbed for his dick and squeezed, trying not to picture the scene that Daniel had just uttered. "GOD you have a filthy mouth!" he said through gritted teeth.

Daniel chuckled smugly and closed his eyes again. "Mmmm... looks like I'm getting fucked after all...

Next: What Doesn't Kill Us