Daniel
Jackson stumbled from the gate, falling heavily onto the metal ramp. Gasping, he
looked up into the barrel of a primed weapon.
“Dr
Jackson! Sorry Sir,” the young soldier placed the weapon on the floor and
reached to help Daniel to his feet. “We thought we’d lost you.”
“Not
quite.” Climbing to his feet, Daniel swayed dangerously.
“Are
you all right, Sir?”
“I
just feel a little dizzy.”
“Daniel!”
Samantha Carter’s excited voice echoed from the speaker around the chamber.
“Oh God we thought you’d gone.”
“No,
not this time.” he smiled weakly.
“Get
him to the infirmary, soldier. I’ll inform Colonel O’Neill.”
“Would
you lie still please, Dr Jackson?” the impatient nurse struggled to push the
squirming figure back while she finished taking his pulse.
“Look,
I’m fine.”
“Is
he being difficult?” a familiar voice said suddenly from behind.
“Yes,
Colonel.”
“Jack!”
Daniel smiled warmly as his friend, and comrade entered the room.
O’Neill
walked to his side, his face beaming. “Thought we’d lost you, buddy,” he
said softly, “I’ve been going ape for the last two days trying to track you
down.”
“Two
days! I came through the gate two minutes after you?” Daniel exclaimed.
“Well
we arrived okay, but you were nowhere to be seen.”
“Where
the hell have I been?”
“You
mean you don’t remember?”
“No.”
“The
doctor says you can go as long as you get some rest, Dr Jackson.” the nurse
smiled at her reluctant patient.
“Thank
you.”
“C’mon,
I’ll take you back to your room.” O’Neill gently helped Daniel off the
table and to his feet. Slipping his arm around the young man’s waist, he
guided him from the room.
“Here
we are.” O’Neill unlocked the door, motioning for Daniel to enter. Once
inside, the young scientist stumbled slightly as he felt his knees weakening.
Closing the door behind him, O’Neill moved forward, gathering Daniel into his
arms.
“I’ve
been so scared,” he whispered, suddenly meeting Daniel’s mouth with an
urgency that sent the younger man reeling.
The kiss grew deep and passionate. Daniel, head still spinning, stood
rooted to the spot, unable to think or speak.
At
last, O’Neill broke away. “Oh
God, I’m sorry. I’m being so selfish, you look like hell, you really need
some sleep.” He pulled Daniel into a hug, burying his face in the younger
man’s neck. “If you need me during the night, you know where I am. Okay?” Still bereft of speech, Daniel nodded mutely. O’Neill
kissed him gently on the forehead. “ Goodnight. I love you.”
“G…G…night,”
Daniel watched as O’Neill walked from the room, closing the door behind him
once more. He sat heavily down on the bed. Maybe this was a dream? Maybe he was
hallucinating? No, the gate had scrambled his brain cells and he was officially
crazy. That guy was Jack O’Neill.
*Jack O’Neill* just kissed him.
Slowly
he lowered himself onto the bed. His head swam and he felt seriously woozy.
Sleep.
He needed sleep.
Daniel
could hear banging, ‘my God, the Goa’ulds are at the gate’ he panicked as
he fought with a myriad of bewildering images in his mind.
Struggling to consciousness, he realized that it was just someone at the
door of his room.
“Come
in,” he called drowsily.
“Hey,
sport! How ya feeling?” Jack O’Neill grinned. In his hand he held a tray.
“Breakfast in bed. How’s that for service.”
“Thanks,
Jack,” Daniel sat up slowly. His entire body ached with a ferocity unequalled
by anything outside of Stargate travel.
“Anything
for you, darlin’“ O’Neill whispered and shot Daniel a sly grin, placing a
kiss on the younger man’s cheek as he lowered the tray on to his lap.
<My God. It wasn’t a dream!>
Daniel thought with a growing feeling of terror.
“When
you’ve finished your breakfast, the brass want to see you in the board
room,” O’Neill instructed, “And Sam wants to say hello too.” Winking, he
left the room.
“What
the hell is going on here?” Daniel muttered to himself, “I gotta talk to
Sam.”
“Hey,
soldier,” Daniel smiled at the sight of a young blonde woman standing by the
computer.
Samantha
Carter wheeled around, rushing into his arms. “Oh, Daniel, I thought you’d
surely died,” she said breathless with excitement, “I thought Jack was going
to tear the place apart.”
“Yeah,
it’s Jack I wanted to talk to you about.” Daniel drew back to look into
Sam’s face.
“Why?
You two haven’t had an argument already?”
“What
do you mean?”
“Oh,
come on, Daniel,” she grinned, “You two only argue so you can ‘make up’
later.”
“What
do you know about ‘us’?” he asked.
“Are
you okay, Daniel?”
“Yeah,
just humor me.”
“I
‘know’ the truth,” she said searching his face.
“Which
is?”
“Daniel?”
“Please,
Sam. This is important.”
“Which
is that you two have been having a pretty intense relationship for nine months
now.”
“Relationship?
As in ‘sexual’ relationship?” he stared wide-eyed at the blonde woman.
“Well,
I haven’t exactly ‘been there’ but, yeah, you told me it was a
‘physical’ relationship. Why?”
“Oh
my God!” Daniel’s mind began to spin, “No, no, no. We don’t. Not…
nooooo.”
“Daniel,
I think you should see the doctor.”
“No
you don’t understand,” Daniel stressed, his mind whirling, trying to make
sense of the last few hours events, “It can’t have happened again,
surely.”
“What?”
“Do
you remember a while back, when I was transported to an alternate reality?”
“A
what?” Sam Carter looked puzzled.
“You
mean it didn’t happen here?”
“What
didn’t happen? Daniel, are you sure you’re okay? You’re really scaring
me.”
“We
went through the gate to a planet with a great deal of surface radiation. Jack
ordered us back, as usual I didn’t listen and began to mess with some of the
artifacts lying around…” he looked at her blank face, “…anyway, to cut a
long story short, I was transported to an alternate universe where the
Goa’ulds were coming through the gate… attacking Earth.”
“Daniel,
that never happened,” she said softly
“It
did to me,” he stressed, “This is definitely not my reality.”
“How
do you know for certain?”
“Because
Jack O’Neill and I are not lovers,” he pushed his hand across his hair and
corrected the placement of his glasses, “Jack and I are friends, yes, just as
you and I are. But not even in my wildest dreams can I ever believe we could be
lovers.”
“I
think I’d better give Jack a call, you really need to speak to him…”
“What
I really need to do is get back to *my* world.”
Jack
O’Neill sat stony faced as Daniel relayed the story he’d told Carter. After
another medical, which turned up clean, O’Neill had agreed to listen. His
‘military’ face showed nothing except concentration, but inside his stomach
churned and his throat was dry.
“…So
somewhere in the passage through the gate, I must have been ‘deflected’
here,” Daniel finished
“Many
of the events you mentioned never happened here,” Carter said quietly, “And
your wife was killed by Teal’c on Abydos, that’s why you’ve been so intent
on finding him and killing him.”
“That’s
what I mean, on my world Teal’c is a friend, he helped us escape. Do you
believe me now?” The desperation in his voice made O’Neill look squarely at
him for the first time.
“Yes,”
O’Neill replied coldly, “What choice do we have?”
“I’m
sorry, Jack,” Daniel caught the look of complete hurt and anger in the
soldier’s eyes.
Jack
O’Neill stared for a moment, “What for?” he asked.
“For
not being ‘him’,” Daniel saw the pain flash across the previously blank
face.
“We
have to work out a way to get you back. Use whatever personnel you need to help
with the calculations,” O’Neill pushed back the chair, climbing to his feet
he nodded brusquely to Carter and left the room.
“He’s
hurting,” she said quietly touching Daniel’s arm.
“And
probably embarrassed,” Daniel sighed, “It must be a shock to find you kissed
a ‘stranger’ last night.”
“Don’t
let it worry you. C’mon we need to start work, if you’re ever going to get
home.”
For
twelve solid hours, the scientists worked. Endless calculations, checks and
rechecks, but nothing seemed to bring them any closer to a solution.
“I
think you should take a break, Daniel, you’re still weak,” Carter smiled.
“Yeah,
I think I will. Jack hasn’t been around all day, d’you think he’s avoiding
me?”
“I
think he’s confused and upset, so, yeah he’s probably avoiding you,” she
grinned.
Daniel
nodded, “I think I’ll go find him, I need to talk to him.”
“Colonel
O’Neill is in his quarters Dr Jackson,” the pretty young clerk smiled.
“Thank
you.”
Jack
O’Neill sat on his bunk, his third glass of ‘Wild Turkey’ in his hand. He
couldn’t remember when he’d felt such misery, except when he thought Daniel
was lost a few days ago. Then it all seemed to end happily, Daniel fell back
through the gate, a little disheveled but none the worse for wear, and Jack felt
he could start living and breathing again. But it wasn’t Daniel. Oh it was a
Daniel, just not his. His world
toppled around him once more, life without ‘him’ seemed unbearable, but life
with this ‘new’ Daniel, who looked, smiled, smelled right, but felt nothing
for him; this was purgatory.
A soft
rapping at the door stirred him from the depths of his self-pity. “Go away!”
he bellowed.
Inside
the room, O’Neill had taken on the look of a man in pain. “What do you want,
Daniel?” he asked a little more softly, hoping that this man would just go
away. The thought of having him in here, in his quarters, sitting on his bed,
the same bed they’d shared so often the past nine months, was way beyond what
Jack O’Neill felt he could handle.
“I
need to talk to you,” Daniel’s voice came back.
<*Need!* Hell I could show you what real need
is>, O’Neill thought, “It’s late, Daniel,” he tried lamely.
“Please,
Jack!” the voice pleaded.
O’Neill
closed his eyes, a feeling of such intensity overwhelmed him for a moment, that
was the voice of the man he loved more than life itself pleading with him.
Breathing deeply to regain his composure, he rose and unlocked the door.
The
vision that confronted him made his breath catch. There he stood, framed in the
doorway, bathed in the dim light, smiling so gently.
“I’m
sorry to bother you, I know it’s late, we only just finished for the night,”
Daniel stammered, suddenly unable to remember the rehearsed speech he’d been
practicing all the way along the corridor.
“That’s
okay, come in,” O’Neill smiled weakly.
“Thank
you,” Daniel moved into the room, which was lit only by a dull reading lamp.
“So,
any luck?” O’Neill asked, hoping to stick to ‘safe’ topics.
“No,
not yet. We have been collecting data from the gate, but it will probably take
several days just to go through it,” he explained.
“No.
The only common factor between this time and the last is radiation on the
surface of the planet we were leaving. I just don’t know how that could make a
difference?” Daniel shrugged. An uneasy silence descended. “What I really
came here for was to apologize… for last night.”
“You?
Why should you apologize?” O’Neill gasped almost angrily, “I was the one
who made a complete fool of myself. “
“Well
how were you to know?” O’Neill insisted.
“Yeah,
well. I just felt I needed to say something. I don’t know what I thought I
could say that would make you feel any better.”
“Yes,
you were obviously deeply hurt when you found out I wasn’t ‘your’ Daniel.
Jack and I may not be as… ’close’… as you two are, but we’re still
friends, and I still don’t like to see him hurting.”
O’Neill
regarded the man in front of him. Oh, so like ‘his’ Daniel. Sensitive, kind,
thoughtful, and incredibly sexy, especially when he was being
‘understanding’. His mind began to wander back to the first time they had
kissed, here in this room….
“Goddamn
you Jack, I won’t be treated like some infant,” Daniel stormed. He swung the
door open with a force that O’Neill didn’t think possible from someone who
always seemed so gentle.
“Then
don’t act like one,“ O’Neill shouted back.
“I
will not be manhandled through the gate like a piece of luggage by you or anyone
else.”
“Then
try taking orders when they’re given.”
“I
am not in the Military, *you*
do not give *me* orders.”
“When
we’re on a Military mission, and I’m commanding, *yes, I goddamned do*!”
“Who
do you think you are?” Daniel pushed at O’Neill’s shoulder angrily.
“The Commander around here,
buddy,” O’Neill spat back, shoving Daniel even harder, “You got a problem
with that?”
“Yeah,”
Daniel raged grabbing O’Neill’s T-shirt, “I’ve got a problem with your
attitude towards me.”
“It
stinks,” Daniel pulled O’Neill close, his eyes blazing with a passion that
made the soldier gasp for breath. Without thought or reason, O’Neill met
Daniel’s mouth angrily, the other man’s arms flew around his neck forcing
his face closer.
The
world stopped turning. The universe imploded. All life ceased to be.
Daniel
drew back slowly. The anger had finally melted away into something potentially
more frightening and unnerving. With immense trepidation, he looked up into
O’Neill’s eyes.
“Jack?”
he couldn’t find the words to fit.
“Shut
the door,” O’Neill whispered.
“What?”
“SHUT.THE.
DOOR,” he said quietly and clearly. Daniel turned around pushing the door to
with a click. “That’s better. We now stand less chance of getting
arrested,” he smiled. Daniel’s puzzled look making his smile widen. In one
small movement, he removed Daniel’s glasses, placing them on the cupboard.
With a gentle, easy action he had the younger man back in his arms, running the
tip of his finger across those delicious lips.
“Jack?”
Daniel began. As they pressed closer together, he could feel the interest
beginning to grow in his groin.
“Shut
up, Daniel,” O’Neill growled, his voice sending a shiver reverberating
through Daniel’s entire body. Pulling him even closer, O’Neill began to kiss
him once more, but this time the anger was gone, replaced by an intense passion.
“…So
are you okay, Jack?” Daniel asked.
O’Neill
shook himself, “What? Oh, yeah,
yeah,” he smiled. “Want a drink?”
Daniel
watched him for a moment, “Sure, thanks,” he took the glass from
O’Neill’s fingers carefully, as their hands touched Daniel felt O’Neill
shiver. He looked away unable to meet his gaze.
“Yes.
We started off a little rocky, but we’ve become good friends. We found that we
were very different people, once we accepted that it was easier to get along,”
he smiled, “Samantha too and Teal’c.”
“It’s
real weird to hear you talk about that Jaffa that way. My Daniel despises
him,” O’Neill shook his head. “We really are from different worlds,” he
glanced up and met Daniel’s eyes.
<I could lose myself in those
eyes> he thought, <Even though I know it isn’t you, the feelings are
still so strong, It scares the hell outta me. There’s a part of me that
doesn’t want you to go, just in case he doesn’t make it back. God how can I
think that? I love Daniel, my Daniel, not you.>
“I’m
sure he’s okay you know,” the younger man broke into O’Neill’s musing,
“There’s always the possibility that he ended up on my world.”
“Hell
is your O’Neill in for a shock!” Both men began to laugh, weakly at first
then it developed into helpless giggles.
“Ah,
serves him right, I always told him he should lighten up a little,” Daniel
gasped in between giggles.
“He
a bit of a tight ass?” O’Neill asked, “If you’ll excuse the poor turn of
phrase!” The men fell about again, their mood lightened by the alcohol and the
diminishing tension in the air. When they finally came down they smiled at each
other fondly.
“He *will* be okay, Jack,”
Daniel sighed.
“Yeah,
I know.”
“So
what’s my counterpart like?”
“Daniel?
He’s, bright, committed, driven. Too driven. He’s found it impossible to let
go of the anger he feels towards that Jaffa who killed his wife, it makes him
reckless sometimes, that’s when we fight, I told him ‘reckless can get you
dead’…” O’Neill stopped suddenly, his mouth tightened as if biting back
tears. Daniel reached out, placing his hand on O’Neill’s arm.
“He’s
not dead, Jack. Of course if he’s with ‘my’ Jack O’Neill, he’s
probably not entirely happy.”
“ARREST
THIS SON-OF-A-BITCH!” Jack O’Neill bellowed. The alternate Daniel Jackson
still sat against the wall where he’d landed after Jack had punched him.
“What’s
going on, Jack?” Sam Carter rushed into the room. Grabbing the Colonel by both
arms, she pushed him back.
“As
if it wasn’t bad enough that he attacked Teal’c when he arrived, he just
*kissed* me!” O’Neill moved up a gear once more. His face was scarlet, and
Carter was sure that his blood pressure was through the roof.
“What?”
she exclaimed turning to look at the fallen man. Daniel merely looked
bewildered.
“Get
him out of my sight, toss him back through the gate, *anything*, just get him
out of here.”
“Jack?”
Daniel pleaded through swelling lips.
“One
more word from you, mister, an’ I’ll shoot you,” O’Neill stormed.
“Jack.
Calm down,” Carter pleaded, glancing from one man to the other, seeing only
genuine confusion in both.
“Carry
out my orders,” O’Neill growled. The furious soldier stormed from the room,
leaving Carter to sort out this whole sorry mess.
Daniel
was giggling at something Jack had said when he stopped for a moment to view the
scene.
Here
he was reminiscing with O’Neill about times that neither had shared, yet he
felt so comfortable with this man. As if they’d been friends forever.
This
O’Neill was as different to his as he was to the other Daniel Jackson. This
Jack O’Neill was funny, charming, warm and so very ‘at ease’ with himself.
Maybe that was the main difference? If there were in fact any *real*
differences?
Maybe
he and the other Jack had just never taken the time to find out? Though they
were friends, they’d never really taken the time out to discover what made
each other tick. He wasn’t suggesting for a moment that they take the same
route this Jack and Daniel had taken, but, he decided, it may be interesting to
get under that tough layer Jack O’Neill always showed to the world.
“What?
Oh, I was just thinking how Jack and I have never just sat and laughed together
like this,” Daniel smiled.
“His
loss,” O’Neill said quietly. A familiar feeling was stirring in his alcohol
buffered system. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing,” O’Neill slipped
his hand onto Daniel’s, gently stroking his fingers.
Daniel
did not pull away he merely looked into the older man’s eyes, “Jack. Your
Daniel is lucky to have someone like you,” he almost whispered, “But believe
me, I’m a poor substitute for him.”
O’Neill
looked up into those blue eyes. Withdrawing his hand, he cleared his throat
nervously, “Sorry,” he said quietly.
“Don’t
be… ever.”
“I
guess I’ve had too much to drink,” he added placing the glass on the
cupboard and turning back to face his companion, he smiled, “We’ll find a
way to get you home, Daniel. Back to a place where you don’t have some sad old
soldier trying to touch ya up all the time!” O’Neill was smiling, but the
words cut the younger man to the bone.
“That’s
not why I want to go home so badly, Jack and you know it!” the young scientist
said angrily, “I don’t belong here, your Daniel does! He’s probably
feeling just as ‘out of it’ there as I am here.”
“I
know, sorry Daniel, I think I have a terminal case of self pity, it’s pretty
pathetic really,” O’Neill joked.
Daniel
smiled. “You look exhausted, I’d better go.”
“You
don’t have to, I’m fine,” O’Neill said a little too eagerly, “Hell,
Daniel. I didn’t mean it ‘that’ way,” he squirmed, “I meant I was
enjoying your company… aw hell.”
“Jack,
It’s all right, I’m not going to take offense at every little thing you
say,” Daniel laughed.
O’Neill
smiled shyly, “Good, because my mouth is regularly home to my size twelves.”
“You
look like you could do with some rest, c’mon,” Daniel held out his hand.
O’Neill frowned. “I want to know you’re resting before I leave. I can’t
make you sleep, but I can make sure you’re lying down at least. C’mon, on
the bunk,” Daniel smiled.
O’Neill
took a deep breath and took the proffered hand. The sensation made him tremble.
He held onto the moment for as long as he felt he could, before setting himself
down on the bed. Daniel lifted his feet off the floor, tipping him back. The
soldier’s body relaxed into the mattress almost immediately.
“Anything
else you want before I go?” Daniel asked, crouching beside the bed.
“You
could join me?” O’Neill grinned, “Joke!”
“Goodnight,
Jack,” Daniel smiled back.
“‘Night
Daniel.”
“Er…Jack?”
Daniel said quietly. “About what happened yesterday. Er… that was just a
stress thing, right? You know, we fought, got angry?”
“Kissed? Oh yeah, happens
to me all the time!” O’Neill said seriously, as he went about checking the
equipment they had brought back through the gate.
“It
does?” Daniel gasped, his blue eyes wide with surprise.
O’Neill
turned around, a look of amazement on his face. “*NO*! You bonehead. God, you
scientific types. No wonder the universe has gone to hell in a hand basket!”
O’Neill muttered, busying himself.
“What
do you mean… no?” Daniel asked unsurely.
“What
do you think I mean, Daniel?” O’Neill stopped what he was doing and looked
at his companion.
“I…
er… I don’t know,” the younger man said, unable to meet his gaze.
“You
don’t, huh?” O’Neill’s voice had an angry edge to it.
Daniel
squirmed slightly, “Well, I, It just happened so fast, I… I… thought,
maybe.”
“That
it didn’t mean anything? That *I* do that *all* the time?” O’Neill
growled, “Oh, yeah, I’m slowly working my way through the Marine Corps at
this very moment. I have a soldier for breakfast, a sailor for lunch and a nice
pilot for main meal of the day. You were just the dessert!” he finished
angrily, sending the contents of the table spewing across the floor.
Daniel
winced, “Jack, I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
“Yeah,*
me too*!” O’Neill roared.
“I
don’t mean about yesterday,” Daniel hurriedly added, “I meant about being
a jerk. I guess this has all just thrown me off base a little.”
“Tell
me about it.” O’Neill looked around at the carefully catalogued items, now
rolling around the floor. “This took me three hours to do and thirty seconds
to undo.”
“I’ll
help you put everything back together,” Daniel smiled warmly.
O’Neill
felt a tingle run down his spine, “D’you think we can do the same for us?
Put everything back together?” the soldier searched his companion’s face for
signs of a lie.
“I
don’t think anything ever really fell apart, did it?” Daniel asked. He
touched the older man’s face gently, brushing his thumb across inviting lips.
Suddenly
O’Neill grabbed his wrist, “No more games, Daniel. It’s either all or
nothing from here on in. If you want to back out, do it now.”
“Why
would I want to back out? I’ve always loved ‘exploring old things’,”
Daniel smiled.
“No,
I thought I thought I’d just let myself ‘handle’ the artifact first, study
it’s shape and form,” Daniel ran his fingers down O’Neill’s neck,
sweeping them down onto his tee shirt clad chest. He felt the nipples harden as
his fingers brushed lightly across them, “Then, I’ll just peel away the
layers,” he pulled the shirt up, letting his hand slide underneath, finally
touching skin to skin, “See what surprises time and nature has in store for
me.” O’Neill closed his eyes, letting the emotions wash over him. “What do
you think?” Daniel whispered in his ear.
“What
do I think?” O’Neill said, his voice ragged. “I think… I love the
scientific method.”
Jack
O’Neill walked gingerly into the boardroom, sitting uneasily through the usual
run down of the day’s business. What had to be done, which tests they could
run on the gate to try to remedy Daniel’s ‘problem’, how all missions
should be suspended until the tests were complete.
He
nodded in all the right places, agreed where he felt it was necessary, and
prayed for the moment this would end so he could go die somewhere in peace.
Glancing
up, he saw Daniel watching him, the younger man gave him a gentle, understanding
smile. He nodded slowly, giving him a slight grin, knowing that this
‘stranger’ was still more attuned to him than anyone else in the room.
Once
business was over and the meeting dismissed, O’Neill relaxed slightly. His
head still throbbed of course, but at least he was excused the job of making
intelligent conversation. While drowning in his own self-pity, O’Neill felt a
hand on his shoulder.
“How
do you feel?” Daniel asked quietly.
“How
do I look?” O’Neill retorted painfully.
Daniel
smiled, “Oh.”
“I
rest my case.”
“You
wanted to see me?” Jack O’Neill said.
The
‘other’ Daniel Jackson looked up in bewilderment, “Yeah. I want to know
what the hell is going on here, Jack? And what the *hell* is that Jaffa doing
here?” he raged.
“What
are you talking about?” O’Neill asked, “I’m going to get the doc to come
see you, Daniel. Maybe you hit your head when you came through the gate.”
“I
didn’t hit my damned head, Jack.” Daniel tried to control himself, “All I
know is that one minute I was following you through the gate, the next I arrived
here only to be grabbed by that Jaffa and hurled to my feet…”
“Daniel,
what is with you?” O’Neill asked, “Teal’c is one of your closest friends
and you tried to kill him. Then…” the soldier took a deep breath, “Then..
you *kissed* me, for God’s sake. And you’re saying *we’re* acting
funny?” he stood open-mouthed staring at the young scientist.
Daniel
thought for a moment, endless possibilities whirled around in his head, “I
have a very bad feeling about this, Jack,” he said slowly, “If I ask you
something, do promise not to hit me again?”
Jack
O’Neill tightened his lips and nodded, “Okay.”
“Are
we lovers?” Daniel asked.
O’Neill’s
eyes flew wide open, “*What*?” he gasped.
“I’ll
take that as a no then,” Daniel replied.
“You’d
better goddamned believe it’s a no!” O’Neill blustered. He began to pace
the room like a caged tiger. “What’s going on here, Daniel?”
“I
don’t know for sure, but I don’t think this is where I belong.”
“No
shit!” O’Neill gasped, his voice dripping sarcasm, “And I guess we’re
not in Kansas anymore either!”
“There’s
no need to stoop to sarcasm, Jack, “Daniel sighed, “I’m just making an
observation. Question now is...where am I and how do I get home?”
“Feeling
better?” Daniel asked as he poked his head around the door to see O’Neill
lying on the couch in the crew room.
“Well,
since I felt like I’d died, been buried and then dug up again, I guess
anything above that has to be, by definition, better,” the older man retorted.
Daniel
smiled, “Glad to hear it. We’ve had some of the calculations back, there are
some anomalies that could account for the shift, but it’s all still pretty
much conjecture…”
“Could
you go easy with the big words?” O’Neill said painfully.
“Okay,
“ Daniel laughed, “It came back with some squiggly patterns instead of
straight lines.”
“Gotcha!”
Daniel
crouched beside the suffering soldier, he stroked O’Neill’s forehead gently,
“You look like hell, Jack. Why don’t you take some time and go sleep it
off?” he suggested.
“Why
don’t you just keep stroking?” O’Neill grinned.
Daniel
pulled his hand away slowly, “Sorry, It just seemed like the right thing to
do,” he smiled.
“It’s
what my Daniel would have done,” the older man replied, “I must be a bad
influence on you.”
Daniel
laughed, he slapped O’Neill’s arm with the back of his hand, “Looks that
way, soldier. Must be true what they say about men in uniform.”
“I’ll
make the necessary excuses for you today if anyone asks, you just go rest,”
Daniel smiled making his way to the door.
“You’re
so like him, you know. It’s hard not to think of you in the same way,”
O’Neill whispered.
Turning
back towards the older man, Daniel nodded slowly, “I know, Jack. I think I
understand your Daniel so much better now I’ve spent time with you. I can see
that you were an easy man to fall in love with,” he said reaching for the door
handle, “Get some rest.”
“Oh,
Jack,” Daniel moaned as O’Neill rocked gently against his body. The
sensation of flesh against flesh so overpowering that it left the young
scientist weak.
“You
don’t want me to stop, do you?” O’Neill growled in Daniel’s ear,
“‘Cause I’m sure I could find something else to occupy my time. There’s
some filing to do!”
Daniel’s
voice came out as a sob, “No, don’t stop… never stop…” he gasped,
feeling O’Neill’s erection brush his thigh, “Oh, Jack. Now… please,
now.”
“That’s
the trouble with you scientific types, always in a rush. No discipline,”
O’Neill teased, gently biting on Daniel’s throat causing the young man to
groan and claw at him in growing desperation. “You want something?” he
teased.
“Bastard,”
Daniel choked, “Yes, you… now… please,” he begged.
O’Neill
laughed out loud, the vibration coursed through Daniel like a forest fire,
consuming him as it went, “Okay, come on, turn over.”
The
young scientist scrabbled onto his stomach, he was so hyped, so completely
drowned in sensation that it was like standing outside of his body watching it
all happen. “Jack, hurry,” he hissed, then jolted as the older man slapped
his ass playfully.
“Patience,”
O’Neill snickered as he unwrapped a condom and set about preparing himself and
his lover.
“Oh,
Jack. I can’t believe this is happening, that I want this so badly,” Daniel
mumbled. His thoughts were in turmoil, it had all happened so fast. One minute
they were at each other’s throat, the next falling into bed together. If the
reality, the here and now, hadn’t been so mind shatteringly wonderful, Daniel
would have thought that it had all been a dream.
“Well,
it’s gonna be a pretty solid reality in a minute,” O’Neill laughed as he
began to gently stroke his fingers down the cleft of his lovers ass. The younger
man writhed in frustration as the soldier took his time, patiently teasing and
caressing, bringing Daniel to the edge time after time then allowing the
feelings to subside. After what felt like an eternity, O’Neill penetrated
Daniel’s body, in one slow and easy stroke. The younger man sucked in a
breath, initial pain soon subsiding into intense pleasure.
“Oh
my God, yes!” Daniel gasped as the older man slowly built up a rhythm, pushing
his lover into as yet uncharted realms of ecstasy.
O’Neill
began to pound into his partner, desperate for the satisfaction he’d only
dreamed of until this moment. All of those nights lying awake, his mind filled
with visions of Daniel’s beautiful smile and very fine ass.
Allowing
himself a fleeting smile as that last thought flitted through his mind,
O’Neill realized how close he was, but not as close as his lover, who suddenly
bucked, yelling and sobbing his name.
With
a gasp, O’Neill came, gripping Daniel’s hips so tightly that he knew there
would be bruises come morning.
The
two men lay together, bathed in the moonlight that crept through the crack in
the skylight.
It
seemed odd to Daniel to stare up at the sky again. So long spent beneath the
surface of the mountain on the Stargate project, had left him feeling like mole,
surfacing only at night and to feed.
He
glanced over at O’Neill with a smile, “You awake?” he whispered.
“Am
now,” O’Neill smiled.
“Do
you know that I love you?” Daniel asked.
O’Neill’s
smile widened, “Do now!” he teased
“Jack!”
Daniel grinned as the soldier entered the Gate room, looking slightly more
refreshed, “Great news, we think we have it pinpointed,” he enthused.
O’Neill
fought to muster a smile, “Great,” he said without much enthusiasm.
“It’s
only a guess, albeit a pretty educated one.”
“But,
of course,” O’Neill smirked.
Daniel
grinned, “But we’ve found a… ’kink’ in the wormhole effect that we
travel along. It literally must have ‘touched’ the two realities together
for an instant, causing me to be flung here and the other Daniel probably to my
universe. I’m also pretty sure we can duplicate it,” he said eyeing the
soldier.
“Safely?”
O’Neill asked.
“Jack,
Stargate travel is never ‘safe’, you know that,” Daniel replied, seeing a
worried expression flash across O’Neill’s usually stony face.
“Okay,
how safe is it then?” the soldier enquired.
“It
has a fifty per cent chance of working,” Daniel admitted.
O’Neill
gasped, “Fifty per cent? Daniel, those are really shitty odds. Remind me to
never take you to the race track with me,” he shook his head.
“Jack,
that’s as good as it gets. You *know* we have to give it a shot, don’t
you?” the younger man searched O’Neill’s gaze.
Slumping
down on the chair, O’Neill nodded, “Yeah, I know. Doesn’t mean I have to
like it though.”
Daniel
squeezed the older man’s shoulder and smiled, “It’ll be okay,” he
smiled.
O’Neill
sighed deeply, “I hope so.”
“Jack?”
Daniel peered around the door of O’Neill’s tiny office.
“Hey,
come on in,” the soldier smiled. He watched Daniel close the door behind him
and walk over to stand at his side.
“We’re
almost ready,” Daniel said avoiding O’Neill’s eyes.
“Yeah,
I think I’ve done everything I can, I’m just hoping that they get some kind
of warning at the other end and the other Daniel enters at the same time. I’m
guessing that when we trigger the gate here, with no destination co-ordinates it
will do the same there… I hope so anyway,” Daniel still stared at the floor
nervously.
“What’s
up Daniel, why won’t you look at me?” O’Neill asked suddenly.
Nervous
blue eyes shot up to meet the soldier’s face, “What if I’m wrong? What if
I kill us both?” he asked.
“Then
you’ll have done your best, “ O’Neill said, “And I’ll have lost two
men I love.”
“What?”
Daniel gaped.
O’Neill
sighed, “I know you’re not my Daniel. I’ve come to realize that you’re
very different. But I could love you in the same way. Now, don’t get me wrong
on this, even if you get stranded here for good, I’m not gonna be trying to
jump your bones every minute of the day,” he laughed, “But, I just thought
you should know… how I feel.”
Daniel’s
face lit up in a heavenly smile, “Never thought I’d say this, particularly
to Jack O’Neill,” he sniggered, “But, I think I could probably love you
too.”
“Y’see,
I am a bad influence on you,” O’Neill beamed.
“Seems
so,” Daniel said with a smile, “Well, I’d better get back to the gate
room, they’re almost ready,” he stared at O’Neill for a moment. Suddenly
making up his mind he moved forward and brushed O’Neill’s lips lightly with
the softest of kisses.
“What
was that for?” O’Neill said with a goofy grin on his face.
“To
say thank you, goodbye, see you soon… whatever,” Daniel blushed slightly.
“I
think I like ‘see you soon’ out of those choices,” the older man grinned,
“Come on, I’ll walk back with you.”
“Be
careful,” Carter said hugging Daniel tightly.
“I’ll
try,” he replied. Turning to look at O’Neill, Daniel moved forward and
wrapped his arms around the soldier, “Don’t worry, he should be back in a
few minutes,” he whispered.
“I
know. Take care, “ O’Neill closed his eyes and took one last deep breath,
filling his lungs with the scent and, what could be the last memories of either
Daniel Jackson.
“Okay,
I’m ready,” Daniel nodded to the technician in the control room, before the
gate exploded into life. With one last glance at O’Neill’s face, he stepped
in.
Daniel
fell through the gate, landing just as heavily as the first time. He felt as
though his whole body had been ripped apart and reassembled by a cantankerous
two year old. Suddenly he felt strong arms lift him to his feet.
“Jack?”
he mumbled.
“Daniel?”
O’Neill’s worried face peered at him.
“Am
I home?” Daniel asked warily.
“You
gonna try to kiss me?” O’Neill whispered, glancing around at the concerned
faces watching their every move.
“You
want me to?” Daniel asked, holding his breath.
“You
want a bullet between the eyes?” O’Neill growled.
“Jack!”
Daniel’s face broke out into a wide smile, “It’s you!” he flung his arms
around the soldier and pulled him into a hug.
“Very,
I’m home,” Daniel grinned, “and to answer your question… no, I’m not
going to kiss you.”
O’Neill’s face broke into a
smile, “Welcome home, Daniel. C’mon, everybody wants to hear about what
you’ve been doing, Teal’c’s really excited, his eyebrow twitched,” he
smiled, leading the way.
Daniel
grinned, following the soldier down the ramp to where the other members of SG-1
were waiting to greet him. As
O’Neill threw his arm around Daniel’s neck, pulling him in to a hug, the
young scientist sighed, <No, Jack, I’m not going to kiss you… not yet,
anyway.>
The End