Rumours

"GO!" Daniel screamed at Sam and Teal'c. The gate was open and they were ready to go through, but reluctant to leave their friends. "For God's sake go!" he pleaded over the radio. "Call us back up in an hour but don't come through unless I call you. Please Sam, just do as I ask. Teal'c, take her through, please." He begged his Jaffa friend to honour his request. Looking at them, he saw Teal'c nodding to him as he guided the distraught Major through the shining blue event horizon. A few moments later and the gate shut down. Daniel sighed, running the emergency procedure through his head. What do I need? Shelter, medical equipment, food, safe ground and Jack to wake up. What do I have? Two tents, four sleeping bags, four kits, lousy ground and an unconscious Jack. He looked at his friend, out cold with a small cut to his head. He broke open one of the med. kits and cleaned the wound and stuck a dressing on it. Didn't look too bad.

He looked around him and surveyed the landscape. There was some more secure looking ground about 500 yards further away from the gate. For once, it hadn't been angry natives or marauding Goa'uld stopping their return, it had been the planet itself, a volcanic eruption and resulting lava flow cutting them off from the gate. Daniel had stopped running for it as soon as he had seen Jack go down, for once the Colonel being the one to fall and hit his head. Sam and Teal'c had been ahead of them and made it to the gate before the ground shook apart and the river of molten rock separated the team members.

Daniel sighed again and made the decision to move. He studied the lava flow for a few moments, prayed that it wouldn't get any bigger, picked Jack up and slung him over his shoulder and carried him to the higher ground. Then, making sure that Jack was okay and comfortable, he returned to pick up the kit. Thank God the others had dropped their kits when they realised that they would have to get to the gate as quickly as they could. It took him two trips to pick up the packs, he was exhausted from the running and carrying of his heavy set friend and couldn't carry more than two at a time. He sent another prayer of thanks for being stranded with Jack and not Teal'c, though, as he doubted that he could have picked the big man up and carried him 5 yards, let alone 500.

By the time the gate reopened and the concerned voice of General Hammond appeared on the radio he had set up a tent, lit a fire and inventoried their belongings.

"Dr Jackson," came the smooth Texan tones, "are you all right son?"

"Yes sir," he replied, his voice giving away the exhaustion he felt, "tired, but okay."

"Good. How is Colonel O'Neill?"

"Still unconscious, I think he took a nasty blow to his head. He had a small cut which I have treated, hopefully there wasn't any more serious damage. I felt his skull all over and couldn't feel any movement in the bone, so I'm hopeful that he'll just wake up like the proverbial bear, Sir."

Hammond chuckled at that. "Good job, doctor. When do you think you will be able to come home?"

Daniel's voice dropped at this. The lava flow was now about 100 yards wide at its narrowest point.

"I don't know, Sir, to be honest. The flow is slow but still building progressively. It appears to go down hill for many miles already, I think that the earth opened up at one point, there was a small earthquake, or P50254H-quake, or whatever you want to call it, after Sam and Teal'c went through and a chasm appeared between our position and the gate. It could be months, Sir. Don't send anyone through though, the gate toppled during the quake. It's horizontal."

Hammond's heart sank at that, this meant they were on their own. He had more bad news for them.

"We have already been in touch with the Tok'ra and they told us that it would take nearly two years to get the nearest ship to you."

With that statement, Daniel's hope of an early rescue went down the drain. He made an executive decision, hoping that Jack would agree to it - well if he didn't he could complain next time the General called.

"Tell them not to bother, Sir, we'll find our own way back. There's got to be some way that we can get to the other side. It might take a while though. Sir, could you please tell Sam and Teal'c that we will see them as soon as possible, and if I find that Sam has been working herself to death trying to figure something out I will personally skin her alive when I get hold of her."

Hammond laughed out loud at this. "Tell her yourself, son, she's right here."

"Sam?" he called, his voice lighter.

"Hi Daniel, I heard that. I'll figure something out."

"Uh, uh, Angel, get some sleep. When Jack wakes up he'll have an idea. We'll be home before you know it. And I don't want to see a single bag under your eyes when we do. Teal'c, are you there?"

"I am here, Daniel," Teal'c replied, dropping his customary use of his full name, "what can I do for you?"

"Watch over Sam for us, please? Make sure she eats properly and gets some sleep on a regular basis. You have my permission to sit on her if she so much as tries to work on some wonder gadget to get us out of our predicament."

Sam complained, "hey! Since when do you go giving out the orders about what I can do and can't do!"

"Since Jack's out cold. I know you Sam, I want you to promise me, okay?"

Sam crossed her fingers and promised.

"Now I want you to uncross your fingers and promise," added Daniel.

"Damn you Daniel, you know me too well. Okay, I promise, but you've got to promise me that you are coming home soon."

"You betcha!" came the bullish reply, but Daniel's heart wasn't in it, he had seen another wave of lava coming down the mountain.

"Look guys, I've got to go. I want to keep the radio batteries functioning. Call us up again tomorrow morning and we'll arrange a schedule after that, okay?"

"Of course, good luck, son," Hammond was back on. "SGC out."

The wormhole shut down, Hammond put his hand on Sam's shoulder and nodded to Teal'c. He guided her out of the control room and away from the gate and the connection to two of the men that meant more to her than she could ever express. Teal'c had made a promise to take care of her, and she knew that he would. He ranked up there in importance in her life with Jacob, Jack, Daniel and Hammond. Even her brother wasn't that close. But of the five men in her life, only one had completely captured her heart, and he wasn't there now.

Daniel wanted to cry, he wasn't really the crying type, no matter what the more hardened Marines thought of him, but he was going to miss his friends, and one in particular. He looked again at the meagre coffee supply and put it away, thinking that he would prefer to drink it in the morning. In his mind he was going over the terrain that they had covered over the last couple of days. It had been a routine survey mission. The planet was, as far as they could tell, uninhabited, but there was plenty of naquada in the hills a couple of miles away, along with some caves. There was a stream running down one of the hills, near a cave, which ran into a river at the bottom. The one thing they had discovered was that no matter how hot it got during the day, and it got really hot, it froze at night, so Daniel knew that they would have to find some sort of shelter and fast. Trouble was, he knew that he couldn't carry Jack back to the caves and then return for the equipment that day. He would have to make do with what he had for tonight. And soon, the sun was starting to set. He had a moment of inspiration and got out the second tent, putting it up over the first one, creating an insulating pocket of air between the two. Then he got out one of the sleeping bags and opened it out, putting it flat on the ground inside. Then he opened up the other three, zipping up two together (Jack was going to love sharing a sleeping bag, he thought, even his imagination was loaded with sarcasm) and leaving the other to act as a blanket.

He prepared a couple of MRE's and moved over to Jack, who was still unconscious on the ground outside the tents.

"Come on Jack, it's time to wake up," he called as he shook him. He had to do it for a little while, but soon he was rewarded by an unfocused pair of brown eyes trying to stare at him.

"About time too," he said, relief flooding through his voice. He had not wanted to lose his friend, and Jack had been starting to scare him a bit. "Dinner's ready," he insisted and helped Jack sit up slowly, propping him up with his own body. He used his free hand to pass a canteen of water and a couple of painkillers to Jack, who took them woozily.

"Danny? Wassup?"

"You took a knock to your head, Jack, you've been out for hours."

Jack grunted and swallowed some more water. "Teal'c? Carter?" he asked.

"They got home safely Jack, 'fraid you're stuck with me." Jack grunted again at that, his power of speech not quite returned. He pushed himself away from Daniel, trying to sit up under his own steam. Daniel waited until he was steady and handed him some food.

"Eat Jack, you haven't had any food all day, you need it or the painkillers will make you sick."

Jack muttered under his breath and took the food, making a show of trying to eat it. As Daniel ate his own he gave Jack a rundown of what had happened, knowing his friend well enough to know that he liked to be in full charge of the facts. He explained his decisions, reported the conversation with the SGC, making Jack smile at his insistence that they sort this one out themselves. Jack was secretly proud of his friend. The geek had come a long way since they had first met. He had seen his innate brilliance at the beginning, and his incredible bravery and compassion on the first mission, but his tactical decision making was something that Jack had had a hand in. When Daniel told him what he had done with the tents and sleeping bags, Jack forced a smile. "You did good, Dr J," he said, using the Marines nickname for him - at least the one they called him to his face. Then a sense of realisation struck Jack.

"Does this mean that we are sharing a sleeping bag?"

"Oh yeah, Jack. Sam said that this planet looked like it was heading for winter. According to her that means that the nights are going to get even colder than they are now. But then again, it might always be like this."

"Does it mean that the day time temperature will decrease?" asked Jack hopefully. It had been in the 30s Centigrade every day they had been there.

"I can only hope Jack, though Sam said that she thought this planet's orbit was a bit weird."

"What did she really say?" the astronomer's interest in Jack was piqued.

"Exactly that, Jack, she never uses technical astronomical terms on me, I don't understand them."

"How come she uses them on me?" Jack seemed annoyed, but at least he was more himself now than he had been earlier.

"Because she knows you, Jack. Most of the terms you understand, even if you pretend not to. Besides, it would spoil the game if she didn't."

Jack grunted again, laughing inside at Daniel's confession. He knew that the scientists played a game with him, and also that they knew that he wasn't the dumb ass soldier he made himself out to be. It was their game to educate him, not that he really minded at all, and they were always thrilled when he used, at a later date, some of the information that they had imparted to him.

They finished off their meal and washed it down with some more water. Jack agreed with Daniel's assessment that they should head for "them thar hills" the next day. The sun had gone down now and the temperature was already hovering around zero.

"Bed!" ordered Daniel.

"Is that a proposition?" teased Jack. Daniel took off one of his boots and threw it at him.

"The Marines are going to be having a field day," he murmured.

"Why's that?" asked Jack.

"Haven't you heard the rumours Jack?" Jack shook his head, there were so many rumours going around the SGC at any one time that he shut them out. If they were all true, half of the SGC was sleeping with the others, and some of the combinations were disgusting, let alone frankly impossible.

"Oh, the latest, juicy bit of gossip is that you and I are having a full blown affair, Jack, even getting ready to move in together." Daniel rushed to his friend's side as he collapsed on the floor, partially out of shock but mainly because he was falling about laughing.

"You and me? How on Earth did they come up with that one?"

"Heaven only knows, Jack, it's not as if we spend any more time alone than we do with the other two." Daniel's voice became quiet and sad as he thought of Sam. He and she would spend ages together, talking, laughing, sharing their thoughts, their pain. Funny how there were no rumours about her and him.

"You're missing her already aren't you?" Jack's question was direct and it surprised Daniel. They had never discussed her like that. Oh, they had talked about her brilliance, her achievements, how she had said something funny that day, even how beautiful she looked in a particular dress, but they had never discussed their feelings for her.

"Yeah. You?" Daniel looked up at Jack, trying to gauge in the firelight the depth of emotion running through his best friend.

"Course, I miss Teal'c too. And Janet." Now there was a revelation.

"Janet?" Of course, Daniel missed her too, but there was something in the way Jack said it.

Jack just shrugged and grinned his lopsided grin, causing Daniel to nod in understanding and not a little relief. If Jack wanted Janet then......

"Come on, Jack," he cajoled, "it's getting cold and I for one don't want to turn into an icicle."

He stood up and put his hand out to his friend, helping him up. Jack wobbled a bit as he got up, and Daniel caught him in his arms.

"Now that really would get the Marines talking," laughed Jack as he extricated himself from Daniel's grasp. They said nothing more as they removed their jackets, folding them into pillows, Jack kicked off his boots, Daniel's were already off. They got into the bag and faced away from each other. Daniel turned towards him and said, "what? No goodnight kiss?" and turned back laughing, before Jack could thump him. He just heard the Colonel chuckling to himself.

"Night Dan."

"Night Jack."

They both fell asleep fairly quickly and slept well for a while, but the raw emotion of the day hit Daniel hard and one of his terrible nightmares visited his turbulent sleep. He cried out and Jack woke with a start. He grabbed his younger friend and pulled him into his arms, just as he had done on countless occasions when Daniel had stayed at his home after bad missions. It was just Daniel's way of dealing with the stress, it all came out at night. Jack understood, it was how he coped too. On many worlds they had shared a tent, the other two staying away from them when they heard one crying out, knowing that the other would be there for him, imparting a sense of understanding that Sam and Teal'c could never hope to emulate. Jack stroked his hair, talked him down from the fear, calmed his anxiety, all without waking him. Just the sound of Jack's voice and the touch of his hand could remove the terrors that controlled Daniel's dream time.

Jack relaxed as he felt Daniel's body slacken in his grip. He held on to him, though, knowing that if he let go the nightmare may return.

Daniel woke up the next morning, his head on Jack's chest and Jack's arm around him. He blinked as he tried to figure out a way to extricate himself.

"Danny?" Damn, he had woken Jack up. "Nightmare," Jack said by way of explanation, letting go of him.

"Ah, thanks. Just as well there aren't any Marines here, they really would be getting the wrong idea."

Daniel sat up and wormed his way out of the bag. He dived into his pack and pulled out some clean underwear. Jack looked confused.

"Jack, how many times do I get dunked, covered in mud, stripped? I've got a spare set of clothes in here."

"Ah. Hell, I haven't, well, apart from the dirty ones from the last couple of days. We'll have to get to that river so we can wash the stuff."

"We can't go till we hear from the SGC, Jack."

"Fair enough, let's hope they call early."

Daniel re-lit the fire and prepared some food and coffee. "We'll have to ration the coffee, Jack, one cup each in the morning. It won't last long, but at least we'll have it for a few more days. In two days we'll have to find our food though, the rations won't last any longer."

"Since when did you become the survival expert, Dan?"

"Since I met you, Jack, it became a necessity," he teased back. Both of them knew that Daniel had always been competent when it came to camping out, his job as a field archaeologist in remote places had seen to that part of his education a long time ago.

They finished their breakfast and packed up their kit and sat down to wait for the call. It wasn't long in coming.

"Good morning campers," Sam's voice came over the radio, mimicking Jack's favourite wake up call.

"Morning Sam," replied Daniel.

"How's the Colonel? Any concussion" she asked.

"I'm fine, Major, and no concussion, thank you for asking." Jack called out as he took the radio off Daniel.

"Glad to hear it, Sir, Daniel was a bit worried about you yesterday."

"Only because I didn't fancy being stuck here with no one to talk to," butted in the other man.

"That's right, but if I know Danny he'd have preferred it if you were here with him Carter."

"Course I would," Daniel grabbed the radio off him, "I'd get some intelligent conversation and a much prettier face to look at over my breakfast."

He made Sam blush and he knew it, even without seeing her. That thought made him grin, but he wanted to get his own back on Jack.

"Jack wishes that someone else, who's not a million miles from where you are Sam, was here instead of me. And I don't mean Teal'c." Daniel's voice was teasing and Jack was going bright red.

Realisation dawned on Sam, "do you mean...?" She knew that Janet had been wanting to be together with Jack for ages, and she had tried so hard to get her to tell him.

"Ah, ah, ah!" interjected Jack, who was now sitting on Daniel and wrestling the radio off him. "Major, I don't think we need to go there, do we?"

"Of course not Sir, I'll pass on your regards though, shall I?"

"You do that Major."

"What's your plan, Sir?"

"We're heading back to those hills with the caves and the river. We're going to need to find food and shelter pretty quickly. Call us back at this time in fourteen days, Sam. We'll head back towards the gate around then, we'll want to check on the lava flow pretty regularly. In the meantime, I want you to do a little job for me."

"Yes, Sir?" her voice was filled with anticipation.

"Well, actually, it's two jobs. The first one is find one of the geologists and discover all you can about lava flows, how long they tend to go on for, how long they stay too hot to cross, that sort of thing. Daniel reckons that this is a regular occurrence because of the lines he found in the ground. Here Daniel, talk to her," he got off the now blue archaeologist and Daniel fought to regain his breath.

"Gee, thanks Jack," he spluttered. "Yeah, hi again. I was looking at the lines of stone in the ground, Sam, there appear to be distinct breaks in the bedrock about half the width of the lava flow. I haven't had much of a chance to study this, and I'm no vulcanologist, but my guess is that this happens from time to time, because the bedrock is definitely volcanic - I've seen enough to recognise it. If the ground splits in two and it fills with molten lava which then cools and turns into rock, perhaps the continent we're on is growing in width? It also seems to be flowing a bit from a hill we saw in the distance. The ground was hard and cool when we got here, so I'm hoping that before long we'll find a section that we can cross at. Does this make any sense?"

"Sure, Daniel, I think I can picture what you're describing. A continuous cycle of split down the middle, push apart, fill up and harden to rock. Sounds feasible. I'll let you know all the information that I can gather when we next talk. What was the other thing the Colonel wanted?"

Daniel handed the radio back to him. "Just a personal favour, actually, Carter. Could you stop my newspaper until further notice, oh, and Daniel is asking if you or Teal'c could pop in and take care of his fish, please?"

"Of course, we'll call you up this time in 14 days then. Good luck guys and try not to hurt each other."

Jack's voice was a bit petulant, "we wouldn't do that - much. Thanks Carter, speak to you in fourteen days."

"Bye Daniel," she called, her voice a bit depressed.

"Bye Sam," his was no better.

The wormhole disengaged and the men picked up their packs. They had removed anything that they couldn't use from them all, mainly being Sam's spare clothes and personal items, putting them in a spare kit bag and leaving them behind, and packed everything they needed tightly into two of them. Then they picked up the tents and sleeping bags and carried them between them. Daniel insisted that they take it easy, he didn't want a repeat of the previous day's accident. Jack found himself watching carefully over Daniel, and Daniel was doing the same to Jack, neither of them wanted anything to happen to the other one. Neither of them wanted to be alone.

It was afternoon when they arrived at the river. Jack insisted on seeing if there were any fish. They should keep their remaining rations just in case they needed them. There were no apparent large animals on the planet, but there were plenty of small ones, giving Jack the hope that some fish-like creature would be in the fast flowing river. Daniel refilled their canteens with water - fortunately Sam had already tested it for purity when they had arrived and found it to be excellent quality. When he had done that he headed to the woodland to check out the local trees, hoping to find something edible. He found copious nuts and berries and some fruit trees and took samples of them all back to the river. They could test them soon for safety. When he returned he saw Jack stripped to the waist, his pants on the river bank and just stood in his standard issue boxers, and he was stood in the water, looking for fish. He wasn't moving and Daniel couldn't take his eyes off the scene that was unfolding in front of him, drawn to the sight like a magnet to a pin. He was bending over, creating a shadow over the water so that he could see deeper into it. Like a flash he shot his hand into the river and pulled out a large fish, which looked uncannily like a trout. Daniel clapped and called out, "well done, Jack, I'm impressed. Perhaps I will come fishing with you when we get home, it'll be worth it to see you do that there."

Jack grinned and waded back to dry land. He killed and gutted the fish and Daniel lay and lit a fire. As the fish cooked he and Jack tested some of the fruits of the forest and pronounced most of them good. At least there were no obvious signs of poison. They took a bit of each fruit and rubbed it over the inside of their lip, waiting for a while to see if there were any adverse reaction. If there was none, they would eat a small piece and wait a while. The fish itself was delicious and they lay back, sunning themselves and waiting to see if either of them would get sick. After a few hours, they were pretty much convinced that the fruits were okay, and they started on the nuts. They'd leave the berries until they needed a change in diet. Jack caught another fish for their evening meal and Daniel collected some more fruit. At least their diet wouldn't be too bad. Before the sun set, they headed up the nearest hill and into a cave. The floor was sandy, and Jack pitched the tents, doubling them as Daniel had done the night before, but arranging them so that the opening was facing away from the cave mouth so they wouldn't get too draughty.

Daniel collected a pile of wood for a fire, just in case there were large predatory animals that they hadn't yet discovered. They had decided that taking night watches probably wasn't a good idea, because they'd end up being permanently tired. Before they retired they sat by the fire and chatted, taking stock of their situation.

"I think we'll be here for a couple of months, Jack. It all depends on how long the lava keeps flowing. We'll check with the info that Sam gets us, but I think that once the flow has stopped it will be reasonably safe to cross it a few days later, so long as we're careful where we step."

"Just think of it as an extended camping trip, Daniel. The way I see it, we have two options. Number one. We can spend ages worrying about going back and getting ourselves depressed in the meantime. Number two. We can treat it as an adventure, a holiday if you will. Think of it, Danny, no Goa'uld, no Tok'ra dropping us in it, no NID breathing down our necks. Don't know about you, but option number two sounds good to me."

"Sounds good to me too, Jack. How did you cope when we left you behind before?" They had never really talked about that, his hundred days away from them, not knowing when or if he would ever see his friends again.

"Option number one, Danny. I got really depressed. I so wanted to go home. Laira eventually persuaded me that living there wouldn't be so bad. I had just got used to the idea when you came through for me."

"You didn't look too pleased to see us, Jack. Sam was really upset with you, you know. She worked day and night building that particle accelerator. I used to have to drag her from her lab to get her to eat. One night I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder to take her home. She was so dedicated to getting you back. We all were, but Teal'c and I couldn't do anything to help. We felt so useless, I felt so useless. The best friend that I have ever had was stuck on the other side of the galaxy, I didn't know if you were alive or dead, Jack, I just didn't know, but there was nothing I could do to find out. So, I spent my time keeping Sam going, encouraging her, feeding her, making her sleep. Some nights I'd take her home and have to spend the night watching over her, just to make sure she didn't return to the lab too early. She was killing herself."

Daniel let out a huge sigh. He had never meant to tell Jack that, hell, he never meant to tell anyone anything about himself, but somehow it all just came out. A tear welled up in one eye, but he was too tired to blink it back. Instead he hugged himself as he always did when he needed contact, never believing that someone else would want to hold him. Jack saw the tear as it fell down his face and he recognised Daniel's body language at once. He was saying "I wish someone could love me" and "keep away" at the same time. He empathised with Daniel's feeling of helplessness and he felt for his friend, feeling guilty about his own actions at the time. He moved over and put his arm around Daniel's shoulder, pulling him close.

"You did good, Danny. You did real good. Taking care of Sam was as important as the work she did. I'm sorry I was such a pig when you arrived. I had given up hope of ever seeing you again. I didn't know if you had made it back, I could only pray that you had. I haven't told anyone this, so keep it to yourself please, but Laira asked me to give her something."

"What?" Daniel looked up, his blue eyes twinkling in the firelight. Jack looked into them and smiled. His friend wasn't that much younger than he was, only a few years, but his eyes were those of a child, always eager to learn something new.

"A baby."

"Oh! Did you?"

"Yeah, well, at least I did my bit. Whether it happened or not, I don't know. Going by what she said, I think so."

"Oh," said Daniel again, for once lost for words. He thought for a minute, staring into Jack's deep brown eyes, thinking of how Jack would be feeling about this.

"How do you feel about it, Jack? She must have had it quite some time ago, and you haven't heard anything."

"I try not to think about it. I'd love to have a kid again, I miss Charlie so much, but I really want to have another kid."

"Ask Janet when we get back," Daniel's face was covered with a wicked grin, "I know that she'd love to have kids."

"She does? How do you know?" Jack was surprised.

"We talked after Shifu left. I went over to her house one night, we sat, got drunk and complained about not having anyone in our lives to have a kid with."

"There have been plenty of rumours about you and Janet, you know," joked Jack.

"Yeah, I know," he replied, his face straight. "There's nothing between us. Nothing has been said, Jack, but I know she really likes you. I think she knows how I feel about Sam too. Jan's my friend, nothing more, a good friend mind, part of the family, more like a big sister. I suppose that's why I treat Cassie as a little sister or niece. I miss her too, you know, she always knows how to make me laugh. What I want to know is how come there have never been any rumours about me and Sam. There have been plenty about you and her. Sam and I spend so much time together that you'd think the rumour mill would be working overtime on us."

"Dunno, Danny, I guess it's because you two look so much alike and act so much alike. You're known as the Einstein Twins. Everybody thinks that you are so much like brother and sister that they can't see beyond your friendship. Has anything happened between you?"

"Nah, and it's not going to, it's only wishful thinking on my part. There's no way that Sam wants to be with me, not like that. I think she needs me as a friend. You mustn't tell her. Besides, I thought that you two had feelings for each other."

"No, Dan, I care for her, I love her, but it's not like that. You'll never know if you don't ask her, Daniel. And I wouldn't be so sure, you know, whenever you've been hurt she gets really upset."

"Sam gets upset if any of us get hurt, Jack."

"Sure, but she always does the night shift by your bed. I've heard her talking to you when she's there and thinks no one can hear her. She loves you, Daniel, yes as a friend, but I think there's more to it than that. She's just as scared to lose you as you are to lose her. Tell her when you get home, Daniel, tell her how you feel. She won't get upset with you, she values your friendship far too much."

"I hope you are right Jack. I'll think about it."

"Come on Daniel, let's get some sleep. We'll check out the surroundings tomorrow, see if we can find some vantage point to monitor the lava."

"Good idea," Daniel said, yawning as soon as Jack mentioned sleep. He realised that he was shattered and needed to go to bed. They pulled off their boots, leaving them close to the fire and headed for the tent.

"It was cold last night, Jack. The best way of creating heat is to wear less to bed so our body heat gets trapped inside the sleeping bags."

"I know, Daniel, but I'm not sure I feel comfortable about sleeping next to a guy with nothing on."

"Jack, I didn't mean that, just take your top off, leave your pants on if it makes you feel better, and keep your hat on too. We'll look silly but there's no one here to see us. Besides, it's me you're sharing with. You know I'm straight, Jack. Much as I'm fond of you, I'm not that fond of you."

Jack laughed and accepted the reality of the situation. No one back home had to find out how they stayed warm, anyway, and the rumours wouldn't get any worse than they already were. He slipped his top clothes off and shivered as he got into the bag. He found that he couldn't take his eyes off Daniel's back as he too removed his shirts. Daniel was more muscular than most people realised, and he looked really good. Jack shut his eyes and swallowed, mentally kicking himself. Daniel slid into the bag and as the night before, the two men turned to face away from each other. They were both shivering, so Daniel took command of the situation.

"This is silly, Jack, come closer." Jack wriggled backwards and was surprised to find Daniel now facing him, his bare chest touching Jack's back. At least the body heat was now being exchanged and both of them started to warm up.

"That's better," the younger man mumbled as he started to fall asleep, his top arm rigidly stuck to his side, "night Jack."

"Yeah, night Daniel." Jack lay stiffly facing the wall of the tent. His mind was racing with emotion. Damn it, he was as straight as any man, as was Daniel, so why did the touch of Danny's breath on his neck feel so good? He tried to put it out of his mind and went to sleep.

Jack woke up to discover Daniel's arm firmly wrapped around his waist and his face nuzzled into Jack's neck. Okay, he could deal with that, but what was worse, what really embarrassed Jack was his own reaction to the touch. He was hard and uncomfortable and he didn't like that one bit. He removed Daniel's arm gently and got himself out of the bag as quickly as he could without waking him.

Not long later, Daniel woke up alone, wondering where Jack had got to. He wasn't in the cave so Daniel stumbled out, still half asleep. He found Jack stood in the middle of the river, shivering.

"Jack? What in hell are you doing?" He ran into the river and grabbed him, pulling him out and on to the bank. Jack was turning blue, the river had not yet received any warmth from the sun and it was freezing cold. Daniel hauled him back up the hill and pulled his friend into the cave. The embers of the fire were still glowing from the night before and Daniel quickly added some wood and stoked it up. He put some water on to boil to make a coffee for him, hoping to warm him up from the inside. Then he grabbed the top sleeping bag from the tent and wrapped Jack in it, getting inside it with him to add to the heat. The irony of the situation was not lost on Jack and he let out a giggle.

"Jack. Are you going to tell me what possessed you to go and do something stupid like that? You could have got hypothermia." Daniel scolded Jack and Jack looked a bit sheepish.

"Sorry Daniel, I needed to have a shower and the river was the closest thing we have to one."

Daniel shook his head and suddenly the light dawned as Jack started to shift about uncomfortably.

"Jack? Did you need a cold shower? In your pants?" he teased him, but gave Jack a way out of this,  "were you dreaming of Janet?".

"Yeah, sorry Dan but like I said, you're not my type."

"'Sokay, Jack, same here. Come on, don't get silly about this, we're going to have loads of mornings when we are both going to wake up wishing we were with someone else."

He slipped out of the sleeping bag and made the coffee, handing a mug to the no longer shivering but still cold Colonel.

"Thanks Danny, you always seem to be looking after me on this trip."

"Pay back time Jack, for all the times you've got me out of trouble. Warm yet?" Jack nodded, agreeing that he was getting a bit warmer, but his skin was still cold to the touch. Daniel put his coffee down and took Jack's off him. He slid back under the bag and pulled Jack into his arms. "You need to warm up a bit more Jack." Again, Jack nodded, his shivers had come back. He jumped when he felt Daniel's hands on his flies.

"Jack, your pants are soaking wet, you need to take them off and I'll bet your fingers are too numb to do this. Grow up Jack, I'm only trying to help. Just think, if you were back in the infirmary, you wouldn't be complaining if one of the nurses was doing this."

"Yeah, but they're way better looking than you."

"Now I'm hurt, Jack. Nurse "Freddie" Wilson is better looking than me?"

"Okay, you win that one," giggled Jack, Wilson could only be described as plain, and that was by someone who really wanted to be polite. And if Jack was honest with himself, even he thought that Daniel was far better looking than most of the nurses, mind there was that one who had joined recently, with the small waist and big.....he shut off his line of thought abruptly.

The diversionary tactic worked, Jack's pants and boxers were off before he knew it and Daniel retreated back outside. He needed to get his own wet stuff off too so he quickly changed. Fortunately, the outside temperature was warming up rapidly and after he finished his precious coffee, he took Jack's clothes down to the river and washed them properly and hung them over a nearby tree to dry. Then he returned to check on him and found a spare set of Teal'c's clothes for him.

"Daniel, you are turning into a proper little wife, you know," Jack's voice came out from the sleeping bag. Daniel just shook his head at his friend's remark, gathered up all the dirty clothes and took it down to the river. As he was hanging the last item out to dry he saw Jack standing nearby, watching him.

"What's up, Jack?"

"Just keeping an eye on you, Daniel. You're right, neither of us can afford to get hurt. I'll make a fishing rod soon and see if I can catch fish from the bank, without getting wet."

"Good idea, Jack, I don't want to have to keep rescuing you. You okay now?"

"Fine," replied Jack, "shall we head up the hill today and look for that vantage point?"

"All right, I'll gather some more fruit and we can take it up for lunch. Hey, it just dawned on me, we haven't eaten yet. Hang on." He took off and ran into the trees, emerging a few minutes later with some fruit that they had discovered tasted like banana. He threw one to Jack who was looking a bit annoyed.

"Jack? What's wrong?"

"Dammit Daniel, how am I supposed to keep an eye on you if you disappear like that? Next time we go together, okay?"

"Yes, Colonel!" He snapped to attention and threw him a disciplined salute.

"When did you learn that?" Jack was amazed by how military Daniel looked, even without his regulation T-shirt and jacket on.

"Jack, I have spent the last five years amongst the military, where do you think I learned it?"

They ate the fruit and went back into the woodland to pick up some more. A small squirrel-like animal passed in front of them, stopping to look at the strange creatures that stared at him and then scampering up a tree.

"Look Jack," Daniel's voice reverted to its tone of amazement and wonder. Jack let out a quiet laugh. He'd never let on, but one of the things he loved most about Daniel was the sheer pleasure his friend could get from the simplest thing, the most insignificant discovery. He reached out and ruffled Daniel's hair - something Danny hated when anyone else did it, but something he actually liked Jack to do. It reinforced their friendship, a friendship that many people who knew them were astounded was there at all, let alone could be as strong as it was.

What was lost on the pair was the reason behind the rumours about them. They were like chalk and cheese. Jack was the strong, career military man, a history of black ops, trails of death left in his wake - and a well known dislike for scientists. Then there was Daniel, a pacifist, prepared to fight only if it was the last thing he could do. He had a complete dislike and utter distaste for the military and all things connected with it - and he had a real problem with those military types who had no time for scientists. Yet these two were inseparable. Their lives were bound inextricably, their love for each other was apparent even to those who had just met them for the first time. They had fought, and died, at each other's sides. Jack spent hours listening to Daniel's theories when he would just get up and walk away from the other scientists on the base. Even Sam didn't get as much of a hearing as Daniel. And, despite Daniel's tendency to ignore orders, if Jack asked him to do something he would, even if Jack asked him to lay down his life, he would, without question. So, surmised the theory put about by the Marines, there had to be something more in it. Jack was a strong, Alpha male character, Daniel was younger, good looking. No question, as far as they were concerned, definitely a sexual thing. They couldn't see that Daniel could see Jack's real personality, the softer side, the side that cared about people. And they couldn't see what Jack could see in Daniel, the bravery, goodness, and complete loyalty that he had for his friends.

They collected enough food for the day and headed back to the cave. They dressed appropriately and then wandered off up the hill. Jack had taken a rope (just in case) and his binoculars, hoping that this hill would allow them to see the lava flow a few miles away. It took them a couple of hours to reach the top, there were no paths and they had to find every natural trail available. Eventually they got there. Daniel got the food out and shared it with Jack, who took it without thought as he looked toward the gate with his binoculars. He could see the flow, thank goodness, and he followed the trail it made for miles in each direction. He handed the glasses to Daniel who in turn looked at what Jack had seen. No words had been spoken, none needed to be said. The flow near the gate was the narrowest for miles on end. They couldn't see where it stopped, as far as they knew it went right around the planet. It certainly stretched from one end of the horizon to the other. They sat down and finished their meal. Jack could see the disappointment in Daniel's eyes and his heart broke for his friend. The lava flow was as bright red as it had been the day before, way too hot for them to get close to it, let alone cross it.

All of a sudden, their location hit Daniel. He had a real fear of heights, though he had never explained why to anyone. He knew that he was safe, but phobias are rarely logical. He started to shake and went absolutely white. Jack was at his side in a flash, holding tightly to him.

"Danny? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Jack. Guess I'm not the military man you should have been stuck with. God, you must think I'm really pathetic." Jack realised what was wrong now. Daniel was fine so long as he didn't know he was so high up.

"Okay," the word was long and drawn out, he knew he would have to distract him and get him down hill. "You're wrong, you know, Dan," he said as he stood him up and started to guide him down the hill, never taking his hand away from him, "I don't think you are pathetic and I'm really very glad that it's you with me. One of those "yes, Sir, no, Sir, three bags full, Sir," guys would have driven me mad. And there's no way some snotty nosed lieutenant would have jumped into the river for me this morning. They'd have thought that I was being stupid on purpose. Oh, no, Doctor Jackson, I'd much rather have your company. I wouldn't get much in the way of an argument out of Teal'c, and Sam would feel so awkward about being alone with me we would hardly speak. Could you imagine her wanting to strip me off this morning?" Daniel giggled at that and he was starting to relax a bit now, but he still clung to Jack as they wound their way down the trail.

"Really Jack? You're really glad it's me? I'd have thought you'd rather someone who did as he was told and wasn't afraid of stupid things."

"God, Daniel, there's nothing to be ashamed of, for crying out loud. Look, loads of people are scared of something. With me, it's snakes."

Daniel snorted at that, "Jack, no one at the SGC likes snakes."

"Right," laughed Jack, "bad example, what I meant was Earth snakes, your common or garden variety. Can't stand them, give me the willies even if I see a picture of them."

"You're serious?" asked an incredulous Daniel.

"Sure," replied Jack, "why?"

"You never seem to be afraid of anything. You're always soooo cool, Jack. You always know what to do and how to do it. It's why I can go on when things are dire, because I know you'll be there for me. You're my strength, Jack." His last sentence was said quietly, respectfully. Jack stopped walking him down the hill and turned Daniel to face him.

"You think that?" he asked, absolutely astounded by the revelation. Daniel nodded, unable to say any more.

Jack shook his head in wonder. "Daniel, do you know how I stay so calm?" Daniel shook his head too.

"You. I watch you and I see someone who has no training, no desire to fight, no vicious streak at all, and I take comfort from the fact that you deal with all the crap that life throws at you. I've seen you face death calmly, loss with dignity, fight like a demon when your friends are threatened, and I've even seen you laugh at your torturers - something, I might add, that is not always a good idea. Daniel," he continued, "you are my strength."

Daniel's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. He was Jack's strength? Never, Jack was just trying to distract him. No way. Jack thought he was a geek. He wasn't strong.

"Jack?" his voice was still quiet.

"Yes Daniel, it's true, but don't tell anyone. It'll only fuel the rumours. Come on, we have to get back down before night fall."

The weeks passed, and they spent their time talking, getting to know each other even better than they had before. Sometimes it was like getting blood out of a stone with Daniel, he'd much rather talk about anyone else but himself and Jack had to insist that he answered him. Jack wasn't much more forthcoming, but Daniel had a knack of winkling information out of him. Soon, they only had a few secrets from each other, and they both knew that the ones they did have they never wanted anyone to hear.

Every few days Daniel waited while Jack made his way up the hill to check on the flow. He hated it, not wanting to be separated from the man who meant so much to him. He couldn't figure his feelings out for the guy. Sure, he loved him dearly, he made no secret of it. And there could be absolutely no doubt, Daniel and Jack were most definitely straight. Daniel was in love with Sam, Jack was in love with Janet, so why did Daniel hate it when Jack woke up before him in the mornings and wasn't there to greet him when he opened his eyes? Why did he take so much comfort from a look, a word, and most of all a touch from his friend. He was getting confused and he didn't like it. They had spoken to Sam again, and while she was confirming his theory about the wait they would have, Daniel became really quiet. Jack tried to prompt him to talk to her, but he wouldn't, he couldn't. He was so afraid that he would blurt out that he loved her, he had been in love with her for so long, and he was afraid that she would hate him for it.

One day, Jack was late down from the hill and Daniel was getting worried. Jack was only about an hour longer than he would normally take. Daniel was frantic, he should have been there with him, he'd had an accident, worse, he'd been killed, and it was all Daniel's fault. His stupid fear of heights stopped him being there when his friend needed him most. It was getting dark now, the sun was just setting. Daniel grabbed a torch from one of the kits and set off up the hill to find him. He had only gone about 100 yards when he saw the figure of Jack sauntering down the hill. Daniel was furious and turned his back on him and stomped back into the cave.

"What's wrong Daniel?" asked a carefree Jack.

Daniel's face was like thunder but he said nothing.

"Daniel?" Jack closed the gap on him and reached out to touch his shoulder. Daniel shrugged his hand away.

"Dammit Daniel, what's wrong?" Jack grabbed him and slammed him against the cave wall, knowing now that he was going to have to get Daniel mad if he was going to get an answer.

"Where the hell have you been, Jack? It's getting really dark out there, you could have had an accident, you could have been killed. It would have been my fault, I should have been with you. I was worried sick about you. Why were you so late?"

Daniel was screaming at him, his fear at losing his friend coming out in a frenzy of complaints. Jack understood his feelings but he got a bit cross with him.

"Since when are you my keeper, Daniel? If I want to look at the stars why shouldn't I? Dammit, Daniel, I'm a grown man, it was my decision to stay out, it was my decision to go on my own, who in hell put you in charge of the Universe? You've got such a high opinion of yourself, Doctor Jackson, if you think that anything happening to me is your fault. What makes you think that you could stop anything happening to me anyway?" Jack's heart sank as he said that last sentence, knowing that it had been the wrong thing to say.

Before Jack could say another word, Daniel escaped from his grip and with a hurt look on his face went to the tent. Jack was right, he thought, who was he to think that he could protect his friend? He hadn't been able to protect Shau're, he hadn't been able to protect his parents (his mind played tricks on him from time to time, he forgot just how young he had been when he lost them). There was no way he would ever be able to protect Jack or Sam or Teal'c, he was useless, spineless, couldn't even climb a hill without getting scared. All the voices of hate from his past came back to taunt him as he got ready for bed. He stripped down to his boxers, by now their favoured nightwear because of the bitter cold and the need to generate more body heat, and got into bed. He lay there, shivering because Jack wasn't there, too confused and upset to put any more clothes back on. He heard the dying cries of his parents and wife and unbidden tears streaked down his face.

Jack heard him stifling a sob. Damn, he had really put his foot in it now. Damage control, O'Neill, he told himself, time to go and control the damage. He took a leak outside the cave and headed inside. Once in the tent he, too, got ready for bed. He slid in the bag and took Daniel into his arms, forcibly holding him as the younger man struggled.

"Sh, Danny, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I was wrong. You have got me out of more trouble than I can remember, you have protected me from so much. I'm really sorry, Daniel. Please forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive," sniffed Daniel, "you were right. He was right. It's all my fault."

"Who was right, Daniel? What's your fault?" Jack's voice was fatherly in his concern. He knew that he had to help Daniel bury whatever ghost had come to haunt him. Daniel didn't want to talk but Jack insisted, he couldn't let this go on. "Please Daniel, trust me please," he begged. He was rewarded for his persistence.

"My first foster father. He said it was all my fault they were dead. He was right, I should have stopped it. I couldn't stop it. I wasn't paying attention, I was thinking about something else and I didn't see the link go. It's all my fault," he cried, "I killed my parents."

"Daniel, listen to me," Jack's voice was calm, but inside he was seething. "You could no more have prevented your parents death than you could have stopped the Earth turning around the Sun. You have to believe me. Surely the Gamekeeper showed you that."

"I didn't play his game, Jack, I stopped doing it after a three or four goes. I could have tried harder, Jack."

"Would it have brought them back?"

Daniel didn't say anything, but Jack felt his head shaking against his chest.

"Daniel, tell me more about this foster father of yours. What did he do to you?"

"He hated me." The words were small, as was his voice. Daniel felt afraid even remembering the large man who had enjoyed torturing the small boy that he was. "He beat me." Daniel stopped talking, afraid that if he started he wouldn't stop.

"Daniel, tell me, no one else will hear," Jack encouraged him, pulling him closer to him to increase his feeling of security. Daniel was shaking in his arms, not from the cold now, but from the fear of his memories.

"Every day he would come home from work and look for something to hit me for. He would remind me how useless I was. I was so pathetic that sometimes I would get so scared I would forget to speak English, he really hated it when I would answer back in Arabic and he used it as an excuse. He tried to beat my other languages out of me, but I didn't want to forget them." Jack felt sick, wanting to find this bastard and beat him up, see how he liked it. Daniel continued. "He told me my parents died because of me, it was my fault. If I had been any good they would have wanted to live. I was such a worthless kid, they didn't want to survive, they were glad to be away from me."

"You didn't believe that crap, did you?" Jack was livid now. He wanted to kill this fucking excuse for a human with his bare hands.

"I was eight years old, Jack." Jack understood. No matter how smart the kid, he had been vulnerable to this sort of mental abuse.

"How bad were the beatings?" He asked gently, afraid of the answer.

"They stopped when the social services found me in hospital again."

"Again?"

"I think it was the fourth time."

"Oh God Daniel, you poor thing. What did they do to him?"

"He was sent to jail for a while, but he got out when I was eleven. He found me and would hang around outside the school gates and watch me." Jack felt Daniel tense up at the memory. "I told my new foster parents, they were nice, and they told the police but there was nothing they could do. He didn't talk to me or come anywhere near me. In the end the social services took me to live outside the area with another couple. They were okay, but they were only looking after kids for the money, I think. They didn't really care what happened. I missed the second couple, Mr and Mrs Sanchez, I had been so happy there, they were really kind." Jack's heart cried out for his friend, his life sucked.

"Daniel, why are you afraid of heights?" The question suddenly struck Jack as relevant to this whole situation.

"Him." Jack didn't need to ask who.

"We lived in an apartment on the 6th floor. He would lock me out on the balcony. Sometimes I had to sleep out there. One day he picked me up and threatened to drop me over the edge."

"Jeez, Daniel, that sort of treatment would make anyone scared. How did you go on?"

"What else was there to do, Jack? I was too much of a coward to kill myself." He was looking at Jack now, and the Colonel could just about make out his face in the dark. There was a small glow coming from the fire and the light was diffused by the tent walls, making Daniel's face appear slightly orange. The one thing that Jack did notice was the expression on his face. It was one of complete bewilderment, he was wondering why Jack hadn't realised how completely yellow he really was.

Jack surprised him by laughing out loud. "You? Coward? Are we talking about the same super-genius? Come on Daniel, you are the bravest person it has ever been my honour to know, let alone call my friend. It takes more guts to go through what you have gone through and still retain your humanity than it does to take the easy way out and end it. I've been trained to face danger, I know how to handle fear. You had to teach yourself and you face it as calmly as I do. Daniel, you are even braver than Teal'c, and if I ever hear you say otherwise, I will personally kick your backside round the Galaxy. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Sir," the small voice came from Daniel.

"I said Do You Hear Me?" Jack's voice got louder.

"Yes, Sir," Daniel's voice snapped back.

"Good. Now I want you to listen to me Daniel, we have to get you over this. You are a grown man. If you heard a kid tell you what you just told me, what would you say to him?"

"I'd tell him it wasn't his fault, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Okay, I would."

"Good, now, will you listen to yourself? I know you won't listen to me. Daniel, that so-called foster father was a fucking bully, nothing more. All he wanted to do was torment some poor kid who wasn't big enough - and I mean physically, not in character - to stand up to him. He was scared of you and how smart you were. The reason he beat you when you didn't speak English was because he was too stupid to learn anything himself, am I right?"

Daniel's eyes were a bit brighter now. Jack was being his big brother again, sticking up for him. He answered in the affirmative.

"Good. Now the day after tomorrow, we're heading back to the gate to talk to Sam. She's going to get a surprise. The new, more self-confident Daniel is going to talk to her and arrange a date for as soon as we get back."

"Jack, I can't do that!" Daniel was horrified. "There'll be other people there, they'll hear me. She'll be embarrassed into accepting."

"Then you tell her to clear the room because you want to talk about something private. She'll do anything you ask, Dan, trust me. You do trust me, don't you?"

"Of course Jack, on most things, but this? I don't know."

"Well, I do know, and you'll just have to trust me on this one too. Now, get some sleep my lad."

"Yes Dad," came the reply. Jack tickled him for that, knowing that Daniel was very ticklish around the waist. Mind, he gave as good as he got, fighting back in the limited confines of the doubled sleeping bag. Soon they were both laughing uncontrollably and collapsed onto their backs exhausted, feeling like a pair of kids.

"You didn't play much as a kid, did you?"

"How did you guess?"

"You enjoy it so much now. I'm glad. I still like to play too." Jack lay on his side, facing Daniel. He pulled him close, "it's going to get cold tonight," he whispered, manoeuvring him so that Daniel's back lay against his chest. Jack rested his head in the small of Daniel's neck and put his arm around his waist, holding him tightly to ward off nightmares.

The next morning, Jack's dilemma had returned. He had the man that he loved more than any other in his arms. Not only that, he was seriously hard and in the night, Jack's hand had drifted further south and was resting on Daniel's groin. Daniel was also suffering from man's early morning curse. Daniel stirred as Jack was about to move his hand, but Daniel's own hand grasped it and held him tight.

"I think we are right back here, Jack," Daniel swallowed, unable to believe what he was going to say next, "and it's far too cold to go take a dip in the river."

"You're right, Danny," Jack said, making a decision that was about to change both of their lives forever.

His mouth gently brushed against Daniel's neck and he felt the younger man stiffen briefly. He pressed a little harder and felt Daniel pushing back against his body, causing his erection to become even stiffer. He pushed his hips into Daniel's buttocks, resting his prick in the crack. They both still had their boxers on so Jack grabbed Daniel's and pushed them down over his hips. He felt the same thing happening to his and his penis throbbed as he felt Daniel's bare skin against it. He reached around and grabbed his friend's cock, gently but firmly grasping the shaft, rubbing his thumb over the head. Daniel's buttocks tightened, capturing Jack's prick in his cheeks, pulling him in even tighter. Jack kissed his neck again, getting seriously turned on by the fact that he could make his friend moan just by touching him. He pulled his head back to survey the situation that they were now in, but Daniel raised his arm and put it behind his head, pulling him back. Jack felt Daniel's body moistening and he gently licked the salty skin on his shoulders.

"Jack," Daniel moaned, his head rolling backwards and forwards in time to the slow rhythm of Jack's right handed movements. Jack's hips started to move, synchronised with the other motions. He felt the pressure building up, heard Daniel's breathing getting faster, his heart started pounding. Faster and faster he moved, his hips slamming against Daniel, his hand jerks increasing in intensity.

"God, Jack!" Daniel cried out as he could hold out no more. Jack felt the explosion come over his hand, the hot fluid signalling his permission to come too. He covered Daniel's back and his own abdomen in semen as he finally let himself go. Not another word was spoken, they just lay there for a while, Jack holding Daniel tightly around his waist, Daniel holding on to his arm, not wanting him to let go. A few tears fell from both men's eyes, neither of them had ever wanted that to happen. They fell asleep again, finally sated, but would the events of that morning bring them closer or tear them apart?

When Jack woke up again, the sun was already high and Daniel was gone. In a panic Jack shot out of the bag, nearly tripping over his boxers which had fallen around his ankles. He pulled them up and ran out of the cave. He saw Daniel in the river, washing himself. The air temperature was high now and the water was above freezing. Jack still found himself angry with Daniel though. There he was, naked as the day he was born, sensually washing away the morning's activities. Jack felt himself watching him, unable to take his eyes off the beautiful body of his best friend. Damn him, he thought, I'm not gay, I'm a straight man, and he's trying to turn me. He's doing this on purpose. The soldier in Jack got mad and he stormed down to the river bank.

"Daniel! What the hell do you think you are doing?" he demanded.

"Morning, Jack, and I think it's obvious, I'm having a bath." He bent over to scoop some more water in his hands, and Jack saw his tight backside as he did. He was starting to hate him for what he was doing. He marched into the water.

"Joining me?" asked Daniel, turning around to face him, "well, you need a wash as much as I do, I suppose." Daniel shrugged, as if what had happened was normal. If Jack only knew the turmoil inside him, but he so wanted to appear as level headed as Jack normally did in weird circumstances.

Jack was fuming now, the anger from the night before mixing with his anger at himself for doing what he had done that morning. As soon as he got within reach he hit him, hard, sending Daniel into the water. As he saw Daniel go under Jack realised what he had done and he screamed his name, diving down to pull him back up. Unfortunately for Jack, Daniel was no longer the eight year old boy forced to take the bullying. As soon as he regained his footing he hit back, sending Jack towards the bank. This released all of the pent up emotion in the two men, and they fought, exchanging blows, neither of them getting the upper hand. The fight had worked its way to the bank now and they were getting muddy as they slipped and fell in the dirt.

Daniel pinned Jack down. "What the hell is all this for, Jack?" he yelled, dodging the next blow aimed at his face. He pushed him back down, slapped Jack's face to try to bring him out of his rage. "For fuck's sake, answer me Jack! What have I done?"

Jack was astounded. Couldn't this genius see what he had done? "I thought you were brilliant," he sneered, "has it escaped your amazing brain what you have done to me?"

Jack pushed him back in an almighty effort, and he landed on him, his anger still high, but his love for this man was taking over his thought processes. He pushed him against the ground, pinning his arms to his side. He stared into Daniel's eyes, he saw hurt, confusion, anger, love, all at once. Jack couldn't deal with this gamut of emotions. He started crying, something he rarely did and never in public. He got madder now, this geek had reduced him to tears, for Christ's sake. Jack let his heart rule his head and before he knew it he was pulling Daniel into an embrace. He captured his mouth with his own, pressing hard, forcing an entry with his tongue. Daniel fought back, insisting that this was going to be a partnership, neither one dominating. Their tongues duelled, Jack's grip on Daniel's arms slackened and Daniel grabbed him, pulling him closer. Their bodies locked as their mouths. Jack broke away from the kiss, moving his mouth over the other man's face. He felt Daniel kissing away his tears and was moved by the intimacy of the moment. His passion grew and he bit Daniel's neck causing him to cry out in exquisite pain. He received a similar bite for his trouble, matching marks denoting their equal possession of each other's body and soul.

Soon, they lay back, exhausted from their fight, holding on to each other, gently stroking each other's body, planting loving kisses over the bruises they had inflicted.

"Danny, I'm so sorry," whispered Jack, "I don't know why I did that."

"'Sokay, Jack, I do." Daniel replied just as quietly. "You got mad because you are afraid of what you are feeling. Don't you think that I am feeling the same? Hell, Jack, I'm just as straight as you are, but you can't deny what has happened, what is happening. What I am feeling for you is very real, Jack, whether I want this or not."

"What are you feeling Danny?" Jack was afraid to ask, but he had to know.

"Love Jack, I'm confused as hell, but I know in my heart that I love you."

He stood up and took Jack by the hand, pulling him back into the river. He gently washed away the dirt that now encased the older man's body, removing his shorts, washing them, going back on to the land and putting them out to dry as he had done that first morning that they had been back at the river. Then he returned to the river and let Jack wash him again. He hadn't let Jack reply, not really wanting to know what Jack thought.

"Danny?" Jack's eyes were begging Daniel to explain to him just what he, Jack, was feeling.

"Sh Jack, we'll figure something out, I promise." He reached out to Jack and pulled him close, the water was no longer freezing, but it was still chilly. He held him tightly as the river rushed past their waists. Then Daniel kissed him for the first time. Up till now, Jack had started it, his powerful emotions dominating the proceedings. This time it was different, Daniel's mouth gently brushed over Jack's, his lips like feathers. He parted them and ran his tongue over Jack's lips. Jack's mouth opened and he moaned as Daniel's tongue softly moved in a circle, caressing every millimetre of skin, then carefully finding its way inside, touching Jack's own tongue and the sensitive parts of his mouth. Jack felt bereft when Daniel stopped, but the younger man took his hand and they walked, fingers locked together, back to their cave. Daniel still hadn't said anything. He got a T-shirt from the clean washing pile and used it as a towel, standing Jack in front of the glowing embers of their continually alight fire and rubbing the man's body sensually. He saw Jack becoming aroused by the touch, he himself feeling an overwhelming desire to possess him. He knelt down to dry Jack's legs, rubbing the cloth softly against Jack's thighs. Jack looked down and saw Daniel on his knees in front of him and he wanted him to take him so badly. Daniel knew this, but he was afraid. He had been on the receiving end loads of times, but with a woman giving him his pleasure. He never done this for a man.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes he moved his mouth to Jack's prick and took the top of it inside. He heard Jack groan as his tongue ran down the shaft and he wanted to make him even happier, so he took all of him inside. He sucked and caressed, tasting the weeping cock for the first time. He ran his tongue over Jack's head and Jack grabbed Daniel's hair, pushing him down harder, not letting him stop. He only slackened his grip when he knew that he would no longer be able to stop the inevitable and he called Daniel's name, "Danny, I can't hold out," warning him that he should now stop if he didn't want to go all the way. Daniel ran the options through his mind in a microsecond and decided to carry on, he sucked harder, wanting to own Jack, make him a part of himself. Jack was pushed over the edge by this, he couldn't believe that this beautiful man would love him so much that he was prepared to do this for him. Another growled "Daniel!" was his final warning. Daniel hands were grasping Jack's buttocks now and he pulled him in tighter. Jack nearly doubled over as he came, screaming his lover's name as he did. Daniel took him and everything that he had, finally letting go as he felt Jack's prick soften.

Jack pulled him to stand up. Daniel was shaking as much as Jack was, ashamed of himself for doing this, but glad that he had done it. He couldn't look Jack in the eye though, he was afraid that Jack would be disgusted with him. He was so confused that tears ran down his face. Jack held him close, turning his face to look up. The Colonel's heart went out to him, he understood the emotions flowing through his friend, the same ones were going through him now. He kissed away the tears, running his fingers through Daniel's hair. He smiled at him, a small smile but one full of love and admiration. Daniel's lips were ruby red, filled with blood, tempting Jack to kiss them. He did, not as hard as he had done before, but as gently as Daniel had kissed him, telling the younger man that he loved him too.

They sat by the newly stoked fire, still naked but no longer uncomfortable with the sight presented to them. Daniel still hadn't spoken, he couldn't find the words. Jack moved closer to him and took him in his arms, stroking his hair. He would have to break this impasse. It was ridiculous, they could touch, kiss, and if one of them wanted it, they both knew that they would make love, allowing anything now, but they couldn't speak. Finally Jack said,

"We have to talk, Daniel, we need to get this sorted out."

Daniel's blue eyes looked expectantly at him. He had faith in Jack, his big strong buddy would know what to do. Jack hadn't got a clue though, so he asked Daniel a question.

"Dan. Have you ever done anything like this before?"

"Not with a man, Jack," Daniel snorted. "You know, me, Jack, girl on every planet, right? Dammit Jack I'm straight. I have never ever had any desire to even kiss a guy, let alone go so far. What's wrong with me? Are the Marines right? Am I gay but I didn't know it?"

"No Danny, I don't think you are. Look, the way I see it is, you and I are both missing the girls, right?"

Daniel nodded. "I know neither of us has ever said anything to them, but they were always around and you and I could go home alone and have nice, safe, fantasies at night, knowing that they wouldn't find out. Right?"

Again, the nod.

"Now, you and I are stuck here. We're close anyway, God knows how we ever got this close, but we are. We also know that there's a possibility that this lava thing is going to go on for months, even years. There's even a chance that we may never get home, right?"

Daniel's head drooped, but his body language told Jack that he agreed.

"So, you and I need someone, and we are all we have, so our emotions, missing home, the girls, hell even missing Teal'c and Hammond, are coming to the fore. We are expressing how we feel, but instead of using words, or getting home and actually showing the girls how we feel, we are showing each other. This is the hardest thing that I have ever said to anyone Danny, but I love you, really and truly, and I feel a need to show you that I do. Like you, I have never had any inclination to be with a guy, but with you it is different. I see you and I want you, Danny, I need you. Am I making any sense?"

"Funnily enough Jack, you are making perfect sense." Daniel sat up and stared into Jack's eyes, he had never realised before just how deep and sexy they really were.

"We've always loved each other, but as friends, brothers if you want, but now we don't have anyone else to share our feelings with, to diffuse them, so we are just letting them out. Normally you would have your uniform to hide behind, but I don't see much of that now," he teased as he stroked Jack's stomach, carrying on, "and I have my books. And when at home things get too much for us, we can fight, go off and spend time with the others, do loads of things to get away from each other. Here we can't and we have to face up to our feelings for each other."

Jack grinned, Danny got it and now so did he. They could figure this out.

"There's one problem remaining though Daniel, and it's a big one."

"What's that, Jack?"

He pulled Daniel real close, so that their lips nearly touched.

"How come I get really turned on when I see you? All I have to do is look into your eyes and I want you, Danny. You are one incredibly sexy man, you know, and I can't hide it any more. Many times in the past I have watched you and had to fight the urge to hold you. I don't want to fight now, I just want to hold you."

"Then do it, Jack. I've felt the same way, berated myself for it too. When I saw you catching a fish on that first day I wanted to get in the water with you and just touch you. I don't get it, but there you are. Oh, and by the way, don't think that you aren't attractive to me, Jack, you are you know, I want you so bad it hurts."

Jack gently turned Daniel away from him and pushed him down on his hands and knees, spreading his legs far enough apart to kneel in between them. He didn't want anything for himself, Daniel had satisfied him earlier, but he wanted to grant some relief. Jack ran his hands over Daniel's back and slipped one of them around to his stomach, stroking his abdomen as he planted gentle kisses on his back. He grabbed Daniel's prick and gently massaged it, feeling it growing hard in the palm of his hand. He pumped slowly, still touching and kissing his back. Daniel reacted to the erotic feelings, quickly becoming rigid in Jack's firm grip. He moaned as he felt himself being taken to the edge, a picture of Sam appearing in his mind as the pressure built. He could see her, lying naked underneath him, he could almost feel her heat as in his mind he entered her. His hips moved in time to Jack's motion and it was all he could do to hold on, to prolong this moment. He saw her head tip back, her mouth opening, he could feel the touch of her throat as in his imagination his lips captured the tightened skin. As her back arched to take him all the way he could hold out no more and he let go, an overwhelming feeling of disappointment hitting him as his hot seed hit the ground and didn't penetrate the woman he loved.

Jack caught him and pulled him back into his arms before Daniel collapsed on the floor. He held him, kissing his neck, capturing his ear lobe between his teeth. Daniel let out a primeval growl as he did that, reminding Jack that his new lover was all male. He turned him around to face him, staring into Daniel's beautiful blue eyes. He watched them as they shut, his long eyelashes accentuating his inherent attractiveness. Jack realised that Daniel was trusting him completely, not just with his body, but with his heart. He kissed him, gently at first, then deepening the kiss. Their tongues met, but instead of the battle for possession that had happened by the river bank, they softly caressed each other. Jack broke the kiss and Daniel's eyes burst open, afraid that something was wrong. He saw Jack smiling at him.

"Come on Danny, we have to pack and get ready. You know we camp out by the gate the night before a call." He felt Daniel relax as he said it, the explanation comforting him. They got up, put on some clothes and collapsed the tent. They took their med. kits, the remaining MRE's and water supply and headed off back towards the gate. As they walked side by side Daniel stumbled over a branch that was lying on the ground. He had stopped wearing his glasses pretty much as soon as they were stranded on the grounds that there was nothing for him to read and he didn't want to break them, so he didn't really see as much as he should. Jack caught him and pulled him up before he hit the ground. Daniel dropped his head, "thanks Jack," came the embarrassed voice.

Jack stopped him and turned Daniel to face him.

"Danny. It's okay. I know you can't see so good. To tell you the truth I probably should get some glasses. Don't be ashamed if you trip up. Hell, it was my fall that got us stranded. By the way, did I ever thank you for staying with me?"

"Why, Jack? You would have done the same for me. I'm glad I was here. There's no need, honest."

"Come here," was all that Jack said, planting a kiss on his lips by way of gratitude. "I'm really glad it was you Danny, honest. I wouldn't trade these last few weeks for anything." Daniel smiled coyly. He was getting used to the idea of having a relationship with this man, and if the truth was told he was beginning to really enjoy the feelings that Jack could engender. Jack was pleased to see the smile, and even happier when Daniel replied with as big a kiss in return.

"I'm glad too Jack, this would never have happened otherwise." They started walking again, but this time Jack slipped his hand in Daniel's and they walked together, their fingers entwined.

They reached their gate camp site and pitched the tents and laid out the sleeping bags. Daniel gathered the wood for the fire and they lit it and prepared the evening meal.

"Do they do it on purpose Jack?"

"What Daniel?"

"Make all of these taste like chicken except this one that I'm eating."

"What are you eating, Dan?"

"Chicken."

"Probably then. What does it taste like?"

"Not sure, but the nearest thing is macaroni cheese."

Jack snorted at that, even after all these years Daniel's non-military status would make itself known by the little things he said. He finished his meal and moved closer to him and put an arm around him, looking out amongst the trees as if he felt he was being watched.

"What's up, Jack? Is anyone there?" Daniel's hand shot to his sidearm, a reaction that made Jack fill with pride. The boy was nearly a soldier!

"No, Dan, just making sure there are no Marines watching."

Daniel sighed, dropped the remainder of his meal, which he really didn't like anyway, and launched himself at Jack, slipping his hands underneath his T-shirt and tickling him for all he was worth. It was like the other night, but this time there was no limit as to how far they could go, no sleeping bags, no boundaries, real or emotional. They play-fought for ages, sometimes Jack winning, sometimes Daniel. Hysteria threatened to overcome them as they rolled around the ground. Jack found himself laying on top of Daniel and staring into his eyes. As before at the river bank he gave into his desires and kissed him. Daniel wrapped his arms around him, pulling him even closer. Jack had never known any one who could make him feel so damn good just by kissing him and he lost himself to the embrace. He stopped the kiss and stood up, taking the lead this time and guiding Daniel into the tent. He motioned for him to sit and knelt down in front of him. He undid Daniel's boots, sliding them off slowly, pulling his socks off at the same time. Then he reached up to Daniel's shirt and pulled it over his head, hushing Daniel as he started to object.

"Sh Danny, let me, please," he whispered. Daniel just nodded, accepting that Jack needed to do this. As his top clothes were removed, Jack pushed Daniel gently down onto the sleeping bag and reached for his belt. Daniel was shaking now with nervousness and anticipation. Up till now they had fallen into these situations, but now this was a deliberate act and it was as if it was sealing their relationship above and beyond any level that it had previously reached. The atmosphere was electric between the two men, both afraid, both excited, both willing to go on. Jack pulled Daniel's trousers off and licked his lips as he saw Daniel's obvious erection in his boxers. Jack knew that Danny was only as excited as he was. He pulled the remaining item off his friend and studied his magnificent body. The weeks here had been kind to him, he was fitter now than before and he had acquired an all over tan. The only marks on this perfect man was where Jack had branded his neck with his bite, and the faint bruises from the exchanged punches. Jack grinned at the memory of how good that felt as he had sunk his teeth into Daniel's sweet skin and when he had been bitten back. Daniel called to him, releasing him from his daydream.

"Jack." His voice was soft and loving. "Come to bed, Jack. Get undressed for me, please."

Damn, had Daniel no idea just how seductive he sounded? Jack looked into his eyes and realised that his innocent friend wasn't and probably hadn't been innocent for a hell of a long time. He went to rush to get his own clothes off but he was stopped by one word, "slowly." That nearly sent Jack wild. He had wanted to spend the night making love to him, but Daniel was turning the tables, asking him to strip slowly for him. He found that he could not deny him, and without once taking his eyes off Daniel's face, he slowly removed his clothes. When they were off Daniel reached up to him and pulled him down onto the sleeping bag. The temperature was starting to drop and they slid inside it, holding tightly onto each other to warm themselves up a bit. No matter how much their brains wanted to have sex, their bodies would never perform in below freezing conditions. They kissed for a while, exploring each other's bodies.

"Well," said Jack, "I can think of one really good reason for having you as a lover."

"What's that?"

"You know exactly what to do to turn a guy on, because you like it yourself."

"Mmmm, makes sense. I can think of another one though," said Daniel seductively.

"Oh yeah? What's that Danny?"

"I love you."

Jack pulled him really close now, his kisses growing in passion and intensity. How he loved him too and tonight he was going to show him just how much. He pushed Daniel onto his back and moved down his body, licking his nipples and stroking his stomach as he went. He couldn't go as far down as he wanted, the sleeping bag was way too small for that. He wanted to give back to Daniel the incredible feeling that he had received in the cave, but there was plenty of warm daylight time for that. Instead, he contented himself with kissing him, touching him, making him cry out. One of Jack's fingers was finding Daniel's anus, and he stroked the sensitive area around it. He felt Daniel's buttock's clench as he did it so he stopped and moved back up to meet him at eye level.

"Danny, Love, I want to go on. Do you?"

"Yes Jack," Daniel's voice was hoarse, as if he had been shouting.

"Are you sure? I don't want to do anything that you don't want, I don't want to hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable."

Daniel snorted, "Jack! Just how are we not going to feel uncomfortable? There's going to be a time when we either face up to this and have to tell other people about us or we are going to have to split up. In the meantime I want you, and I want you now, and if you don't fuck me now Jack I'm going to do it to you."

Jack howled at that. Daniel could always make him laugh at the most inappropriate moments. Daniel surprised him again and reached out of the sleeping bag and into his pack. In the med. kit there was a tub of petroleum jelly, used to protect lips against chapping in the cold, dry air. There was also a box of condoms. He handed one to Jack.

"Use it, Jack."

"How many do you have in there?" asked Jack curiously, as he slipped it on.

"12 I think, why? You should have some." Janet always packed some in all her charges' med. kits.

"Janet only ever gives me a packet of three. Come to think of it, she only ever packs three in anyone's kits."

Daniel sniggered at that. "Perhaps she thinks I'm more likely to get into trouble."

"Oh yeah," said Jack, "and you are in so much trouble now, Danny Boy. Face the wall soldier, I'm going to get my own back." Daniel faced away from him, shaking even more now. He sort of knew what to expect, he had done this with an old girlfriend, but he had never had it happen to him. He wanted it though, he knew that much.

"It would seem that it is my back that will be getting its own, Jack," he teased as Jack's hands ran over his body and across his chest, planting kisses on his neck.

Jack reached for the Vaseline and lubricated his fingers, starting gently he probed Daniel's anus.

"Bend your legs up for me Danny and relax, I'll hurt you if you don't." He continued to kiss him, and Daniel complied, doing his best to relax every muscle he had. Daniel moaned as he felt Jack's finger enter him, soon followed by another. He was amazed by the sensations hitting him, with Jack's gentle lips dancing on the pulse point of his neck and his fingers massaging, opening him up, making him more receptive to what was to come. He felt a sense of loss when Jack pulled back from him, and cried out, "don't stop."

"I won't stop Danny," whispered Jack, and Daniel felt an intense but brief pain as Jack entered him. He was so tight that it was all Jack could do not to come immediately.

"Danny, relax please, or this'll be over before we start," Jack warned.

Daniel made a conscious effort to relax and he was rewarded by Jack pushing in even further. Jack smiled as he saw Daniel's head move back, his eyes screwed shut. He watched his lover as he fought to control his breathing. Daniel grabbed Jack's hand and put it on his own throbbing prick. "Now Jack, please," he begged. Jack moved against him, holding tightly to Daniel's cock as he did. A wicked grin on his face he let go and said, "do it yourself Danny, I want to feel you doing it to yourself."

He was still thrusting inside him and Daniel's hand replaced Jack's, but Jack clasped Daniel's hand in his own, they would do this together. Their rhythm built, harder, faster, their hearts pounded together, their breathing became erratic.

"God, Daniel!" screamed Jack as he could no longer hold out and Daniel let himself go at the same time. They lay together panting hard, trying to regain some hold on reality. Daniel cried out as Jack withdrew from him, but his cry was silenced as Jack turned him onto his back and started to kiss him frantically, tasting every part of his face and throat. Daniel grabbed Jack's head between his hands and pulled him back to meet with his lips. He manoeuvred Jack onto his back and repaid his kisses ten times over. Eventually they were able to come down off their high and collapsed into each others arms, and whispering words of love and friendship to each other they fell asleep.

"Morning lover boy," teased Daniel as they woke up the next morning.

"Morning girlfriend," Jack's joking reply hit Daniel hard. What the hell should they call each other?

Stopping himself laughing at the incongruity of both statements, Daniel asked, "Jack? What are we going to call each other? I mean, last night, you called me Love, and I liked it, I liked it a lot. But if we get used to calling each other things like this we may slip up when we get back home, even if we decide not to carry on being together. I don't want you to get into trouble Jack. I don't care if they think I'm gay, it's irrelevant. Hell, I happen to know some of the people working there that are gay, non-military and military alike. But if people think that you are, you could get court-martialled and kicked out, and I don't want that to happen to you. They can sack me if they want to, I don't care, but I don't want you to be hurt because of me." An air of panic grasped him, was he going to hurt Jack?

"Sh, Danny, don't worry. They won't hurt me, I promise. I can see what you are saying though, perhaps we should think of something really innocuous, something that only we know the meaning to, at least then if I call you it in the middle of a briefing, the General will just think that it's another nickname. Anyway, who's gay, Danny?"

Daniel laughed, Jack could be like a kid sometimes, and even though he pretended to be above the gossip, he loved it as much as the next man.

"Don't ask, don't tell, that's the rule, isn't it? Look Jack, I'd love to tell you, but if I did I'd be betraying a confidence, well quite a few confidences. Also, if you know who it is you may feel awkward, torn between your duty and knowing that you should keep the secret. Personally, I think the rule stinks. I mean, if someone is prepared to die for their country then they should be accorded every right and dignity afforded to all."

"Yeah, Danny, I know. And I agree. There was a time when I was as homophobic as the next grunt, but a guy called David changed my mind a hell of a long time ago. I worked in a very small black ops team and one of our guys, David, was gay. We all knew, he hid it from us at first, but we found out and we didn't care. Okay, at first we did, but he was a good soldier, a loyal team member and he became the best of friends, so it didn't take us long before it became irrelevant. Some new guys joined us and though we all kept David's sexuality a secret between us, somehow they found out. He committed suicide before his court-martial." Jack watched as Daniel's eyes flashed with sadness and rage. " The bastards never gave him a chance. He had fought for his country, Danny, he had been awarded the highest medals. Hell, he got the Purple Heart on more than one occasion, but just because he preferred guys they tormented him. I never forgave those bastards for that, and neither did the rest of my team. We tried to refuse to work with them, but they sent us out together. We came back, they didn't. We wouldn't watch their backs because we knew we couldn't trust them to watch ours. Funny thing was, if David had been alive, he'd have insisted we look out for them. You are a lot like him, you know. Guess I recognised something of him when I first saw you."

"What, you though I was gay?"

"Course I did, there you were, all geeky, long haired and really beautiful. Didn't bother me, the geeky bit bothered me, but not the rest of it."

"Bet you were surprised when you saw me with Shau're."

"Oh yeah, happy for you too. Like I said Danny, I didn't care about that bit. How come you know these guys are gay then?"

"Well, I've been asked out on more than one occasion."

"You've been hit on?"

"Don't look so surprised Jack, it does happen occasionally. Why, don't you think I'm worth asking?" Daniel pouted a bit at that so Jack carried on, trying to cover up his faux pas.

"Of course I do, Danny. How did you feel about that?" Jack was intrigued. "Were you tempted?"

"I was flattered, Jack, but not tempted. Each time I said thanks, but no thanks, I'm straight, and every time the poor guy was mortified. I told them that I wasn't offended at all and their secret was safe with me. It had taken them a hell of a lot of courage to ask me, Jack, real bravery. As far as they knew I could run screaming down the hall and their careers would be over. I've kept their secret, Jack, and I won't tell anyone."

"You're a good man, my friend. That's why they asked you, they knew instinctively that you wouldn't do anything to hurt them. Anyway, what about the civilians? They shouldn't get sacked over it, there's laws to stop that."

"Sure Jack, but if you were a gay civilian in a place full of Marines and Seals and SF's, would you let on?"

"Point taken. Come on, let's get up or we'll be talking to Sam from in here."

They got up and got dressed and headed outside for breakfast. No more coffee was to be had, but Daniel had found some nuts that when roasted and ground made a passable alternative. He had devised a grindstone and bashed one of the mugs out to make a pan for roasting. His adaptability to his surroundings was one of Daniel's great strengths. He'd had to change to fit in as a kid when being passed from pillar to post, and then as his archaeological interests expanded beyond his precious Egypt, he had learned how to survive in jungles and on mountain sides. Jack appreciated his ability to make himself a home wherever he went, it had helped out on many occasions.

They drank and ate and chatted while they waited for Sam's call. Teal'c had been loaned out to various SG teams while they were away, but Sam's heart wasn't in off-world exploration without her team mates and so she retreated to her lab. Hammond kindly allowed her the opportunity to work at the base, but he did notice that she rarely left, unless Teal'c was back and insisting, and when she did it was only to get changed and to take care of the men's houses. She paced up and down in the control room until the appointed time, anxious to speak to her friends again, to make sure that they were safe and well.

The gate opened with its customary whoosh and Jack dived for the radio before Daniel could get hold of it.

"Hello Carter," he returned her greeting, "and how are you this fine day?"

"Great, Sir, you are sounding really cheerful. Everything all right? You haven't hurt Daniel have you?"

"Everything is fine Major, and no, I haven't hurt Daniel, much," that was followed by an evil laugh. What Sam wasn't seeing was Daniel's eyes wide open and his finger pointing to his backside. It was all Jack could do not to collapse as he tried to hold his real laugh in. He got his own back on him though.

"Major, could you do me a favour please and get everyone out of the room except your good self."

"Colonel?" she was confused.

"Come along Major, just for a few moments. Something needs to be said and it would be better if you were the only one to hear it."

"Yes Sir, of course Sir," she shooed everyone out, including a shrugging Hammond, who accepted that Jack probably had a good reason for this. He'd find out from the Major later, no doubt.

"They're all gone, Sir. What's that noise?"

The noise was Daniel struggling to get away from Jack, but being held in a bear hug. Just as well the MALP was flat on its back and pointing at the sky.

"Daniel would like to talk to you, he has something to ask you," Jack grinned. He handed the radio to a furiously blushing Daniel who mouthed, "you are so dead, Jack," as he took it.

"Er, yeah, hi Sam. You okay?"

"Fine Daniel. What's up?"

"Look, I was wondering, when we get back, if you would like to, well, you don't have to, but would you,"

"Ah, for crying out loud Daniel," Jack shouted. He snatched the radio back off him, "Carter, Daniel's trying to pluck up the courage to fix a date with you for when we get back, but he's gone chicken on you."

"Oh!" She was surprised by this, she hadn't thought that Daniel would ever want to go out with her.

Daniel heard the "oh" and his heart sank. She didn't want to go out with him and now everything had been ruined. She wouldn't speak to him again, she wouldn't want to see him or spend their nights together chatting, watching films, eating popcorn curled up together on the sofa. He fled before she could say anything else, he didn't know where to go or what to do, so he ran and kept on running. He didn't hear Jack calling him back or the rest of the conversation between them. He didn't see Jack, shoulder's drooping as he packed up the tents and picked up the kit and make his way slowly back to the cave.

Daniel didn't stop running until he got back "home" to the river. He found his safe haven, a little place on the bank of the river, under the shade of a large leafed tree. He collapsed, hugging himself, exhausted from his run and broke down. He hated Jack now, hated him for making him what he was, for ending any friendship with Sam. He would never go back to Earth now, he had no one to go home for. He had no relations, and now no friends. Only Teal'c would be there for him, and no matter how good their friendship was, the Jaffa's actions in separating him from Shau're for ever would always stand as a barrier between them. No, this was his home now. Daniel sobbed his heart out and eventually cried himself to sleep.

Quite a while later, Jack returned to the cave, but Daniel wasn't there. He was starting to worry now. He had followed the trail back to their camp, but he had lost it amongst their many footprints on the muddy river bank. Jack dropped their kit, forced himself to put the tents up, before allowing himself to head wearily back down to the river, hoping to find him there. After about 10 minutes of searching he came across the prone figure of Daniel. His heart stopped, he wouldn't do anything stupid, would he? Jack quickly knelt down and felt his neck for a pulse. It was there, strong and regular, thank God. Then Jack noticed the dirty streaks down his lover's cheeks.

"Aw, Danny, why do you do this to yourself?" Jack sat down next to him and hauled the younger man up into his arms, waking him as he did it.

Daniel took a moment to focus then he jumped back.

"Damn you Jack, you just had to interfere didn't you? Now she thinks that I'm some stupid geek and she probably hates me. I didn't want to ask her. I wanted us to stay friends but now she won't want that anymore. You've ruined everything, Jack. I fucking hate you!" He spat his last phrase out, the venom surprising Jack. What surprised Daniel even more was Jack's reaction, or rather lack of it. He stood up and walked away, denying Daniel the fight that he felt he needed. Jack was just too damn tired.

"Danny, coming home?" he asked. Daniel stood stock still, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

"I don't have a home," came the mournful reply. Jack stopped walking for a moment. "Sure you do, come on," his gentle voice encouraged, but Daniel was still so unsure now. He shook his head, even though Jack couldn't see him, "No Jack, I don't," he whispered and walked away in the opposite direction for a while.

Jack moved further away before turning around to watch him. Dammit, he thought that he had broken Daniel's self doubt, he thought that he had helped him put it behind him. Obviously he was wrong. There was a lot more work to do. Jack chided himself for thinking that years of neglect and mental abuse could be washed away over night. Sure, over the last five years they had made great progress, but the last couple of days had taken them both further than they had ever wanted to go. One thing was for sure, Jack was not giving up on him. Hell, he thought, it's taken me long enough to realise just what he means to me, I'm not letting him go now, only Sam gets to take him away from me, no one and nothing else will do that. Sure as hell no memory is going to take him away from me, no sirree Bob. He shrugged and followed him, watching his friend for a while before forcing the issue. He saw Daniel collecting some wood and lighting a fire without matches. Jack was always impressed at the speed at which he could do that. It was why he always got Daniel to do the fires when SG-1 were off-world. He saw Daniel sitting by the fire and just staring into it. Now was the time to interfere.

Jack silently walked to him and sat down next to him, taking Daniel's hand in his own, fingers locking firmly so Daniel couldn't pull away from him.

"Danny, she said "yes". She was just surprised that you would want to go out with her, that's all." Daniel was about to interrupt but Jack gently raised a finger and placed it on Daniel's lips.

"She worries about you, you know, she loves you. After you ran off she was frantic. I told her you'd be okay, that I knew where you were going, but I could hear it in her voice. She doesn't hate you, she couldn't hate you, she's just waiting for you to come home. I told her that when we get home we'd have to talk, that some major issues had come up. She said that no matter what was happening she wanted you to come home to her and we'd deal with everything as it happened. No, before you ask, I didn't tell her we're involved, but knowing Sam she'll guess anyway. I think she'll be great about it too. Come on Danny, let's go back to the cave. It won't be too many weeks before we can go home again and she'll be waiting for you."

Silent tears fell down Daniel's face, "I'm sorry Jack, I've been such an ass. I don't hate you, I love you. Forgive me?"

"Nothing to forgive, Danny, never anything to forgive between us, okay? Come here," he pulled him into a hug before kicking over the fire and guiding him back on his feet and towards the cave.

They walked arm-in-arm, not wanting to let each other go, both still trying to make sense of their feelings for each other.

As they ate their evening meal together, drinking Daniel's nut coffee, they chatted about what they would do when they got home.

"We really should stop this when we get home." Daniel's statement was blunt and it cut Jack to the quick. He continued, "if I am going to be seeing Sam it would be unfair on both of you. Not to mention if you want to see Janet, I don't think that it would be fair on her or me. No, it has to end when we walk through the gate Jack, whether we want it to or not."

Jack saw the logic in it, but he didn't like it. He agreed, for now, that it would be for the best. Daniel stood up and got ready for bed, the sun had set and it was getting cold, even by the fire. At least it didn't get as cold inside the tents in the cave, and they didn't really need as much in the way of covering there. They had found that by keeping the fire going at the cave mouth it helped prevent too much cold air coming in. Jack watched him as he washed his face with their water supply and called out to him,

"Shave, Danny, you need to shave. Kissing you is like rubbing my face with a wire brush."

Daniel laughed and he shouted in his best camp voice, "Hark at her! Seen yourself in the mirror lately."

Daniel fell about as Jack minced his way across the cave and dived into his pack to find the razor. It was almost blunt now and getting dangerous to use. His heart nearly stopped as he saw Daniel pull out his knife and raise it to his throat.

"Danny?"

"I'm shaving, Jack," came the choked reply. They had a small mirror that they had rescued from Sam's kit and Jack held it so Daniel could see what he was doing. He also insisted that Daniel put his glasses on to do it. Jack studied his face as Daniel trimmed away the two week's worth of beard that had grown. He had once heard him described as an Adonis by some of the giggling nurses in the infirmary. They have no idea, he thought to himself. Daniel was sat in his pants and nothing else. Jack fell back to admiring his body as Daniel carefully stroked the blade down his face. Finally, he was done and he looked at Jack in bewilderment before he realised that Jack was licking his lips. Daniel blushed and caught his bottom lip in his teeth, lowering his eyelids as he did it. Jack took the knife off him carefully and pulled him into a warm embrace, so turned on by Daniel's exquisite beauty.

"Beautiful," he whispered, "so beautiful," as he kissed his throat and face, rubbing his own rough skin against Daniel's silky smooth features.

"Shave, Jack," Daniel whispered, "or you'll sandpaper my face."

Jack giggled, for some reason that was all he could do. Daniel held the mirror for him as Jack removed his own top, washed and then settled to shave his own beard off. It was Daniel's turn to admire the man. He had to refrain from running his fingers down Jack's chest, tracing the scars that told of a violent past. Daniel knew where some of the scars had come from, but most were a mystery. Maybe one day Jack would tell him about them, but then again, maybe not. When Jack finished, Daniel pulled him close, running his finger along Jack's cheek, following the bone to his chin. Then he held Jack's chin in his hand and turned his face to kiss him. A stray thought entered Jack's mind. No matter how intense or bizarre his past sexual experiences had been, and he'd had a few unprintable ones, nothing in his life had ever been as erotic as this moment. Just the touch of this man's lips was enough to send him into Heaven.

They stood up and helped each other remove the rest of their clothes. Then Daniel led Jack to the tent, picking up the med. kit on the way. Daniel guided Jack onto his knees and he kissed the back of his neck, rubbing his hands gently over Jack's chest and abdomen as he did it. Jack was kneeling upright and Daniel was doing the same thing right behind him. He opened up the Vaseline and smeared some over his hands, using it to massage Jack's back. Jack groaned at his touch, but nothing was said yet. Then Daniel took Jack's arms and lowered him down so that he was nearly laying face down, but he was still on his knees, virtually sitting on Daniel's lap. Daniel's massage became more sensual as it moved down to Jack's lower back and then to his buttocks, grasping them firmly and pushing them apart. He put some more lubrication on his fingers and slowly slipped one inside him. Jack cried out Daniel's name as he did it, but Daniel wouldn't stop now, he couldn't. Another finger joined the first, adding to the pleasure that he was giving his friend. Jack chanted Daniel's name like a mantra in time to the rhythm set by his fingers. After a few minutes, Daniel realised that the time had come. He pulled out and quickly slipped on a condom.

"Jack, say now if you want me to stop because when I do start I won't stop until it's over. Tell me, Jack, tell me now," he begged.

"Go on Danny, I want you, I need you," came the strangled reply.

So slowly he pushed in, so gentle his movement, that Jack nearly cried from the tenderness. He'd been on the receiving end before, but not like this and he wasn't about to tell Daniel that right now.

"More, Danny, please," Jack needed him all, wanted them to feel whole.

Daniel obliged, going in as far as he could. Then he pulled Jack to sit up on his lap so he could kiss his neck and shoulders and lick his earlobe as he knew Jack really liked. He didn't touch Jack though, and wouldn't let him touch himself.

"Later, Jack, your turn is later," he whispered, his soft breath creating goose bumps down Jack's entire body.

"Move Danny," Jack pleaded. Daniel pushed him back down onto his hands and knees and thrust inside, nearly pulling all the way back out before slamming back into his body. Time and again he made Jack cry out until he could go no more. With a final crash against Jack's waiting body he yelled, "oh my God JACK!" as he came. Wow, no sex with any woman had ever felt that good. Shit. Perhaps he was gay after all. Ah well, he'd deal with that later. Now it was Jack's turn.

He withdrew from Jack and pushed him over onto his back. He could see Jack's prick twitching as he lay underneath him. He stole a kiss before moving down on him, taking him in his mouth as he had done before. This time Daniel wasn't so nervous, and he gave himself completely to his task, taking Jack's whole length straight away, but this time he used his hands, touching Jack's balls, playing with him, teasing his anus, and as Jack came he stuck his finger inside him making Jack jump at the same time. He took everything Jack gave him, licking him clean as he finished and licking his lips as he made his way back up Jack's exhausted body. He kissed him letting Jack taste himself. Jack grabbed him and pulled him so tightly that Daniel stopped breathing.

"God dammit, Daniel, are you trying to stop me from ever wanting a woman again?"

"Yeah, Jack, I think I am," he replied seductively. Then he grinned, "nah, you can have Jan, she'd never forgive me otherwise. But if you and she get together and it doesn't work out, you're mine, you hear? Mine. I won't let anyone else have you."

"Mmm," Jack relaxed his grip a little, "same goes between you and Sam. I dare say I can persuade Jan to share me." They laughed a shared, wicked laugh at a shared wicked thought. Could they really have their cake and eat it? Now, it just depended on how broad minded the girls were.

They cleaned up then got into bed and snuggled together. "I'd never have pegged you for a cuddler before Jack," teased Daniel.

"There's lots about me that you don't know," replied an equally teasing Jack.

"Okay, as I'm tired, but no way am I going to sleep yet, let's play a game," suggested Daniel.

"Go on then, which one," asked Jack.

"How about a truth or consequences type game?"

"Sure," replied Jack, curious to see where this would go.

"Okay, but there's a little change to the norm. You see you can only ask a question if you give the answer about yourself as well."

Jack was too tired to argue so he agreed on the condition that he started.

"How old were you when you lost your virginity, where, and to whom?" Jack smirked, Danny was probably going to be so embarrassed by his advanced age when it was his turn to talk.

Daniel laughed at the question, boy was Jack going to have a surprise.

"Go on then Jack, you first."

"Okay, then, I was 16, her name was Julia Williams. She was 18 and horny as hell and it was in the back of her Dad's Chevvy after a trip to the movies." Jack grinned at the memory. Julia had a reputation for breaking in virgins, and she was real good at it. "Your turn."

"I was 15 and her name was Dr Alice Smith, my history professor at college. Oh, and it was on her desk in her office, with her secretary in the next room."

"Daniel!" Jack was astounded. He had thought that it would be much tamer and he would be much older. Now he wanted to know more, "do tell, I want more details," he urged.

"Well, she had a soft spot for me, and she was really gorgeous, sexy as hell, and I was a horny fifteen year old desperate to find out what it was all about. She invited me into her office for a chat, as she had done on loads of occasions, but this time, she was wearing a short, tight skirt and I could see that she didn't have a bra on. You don't need to guess what that did to me. I was really embarrassed and I kept holding my books down, hoping she wouldn't notice how hard I was."

"Did she notice?"

"Shut up Jack, or I won't tell you. She noticed all right and she was flirting with me. Sooo," he took a deep breath, swallowing hard as he remembered that afternoon, "I walked around the desk and put my hand out to her. She took it, stood up and I pulled her into a kiss. I was pretty tall even then, only an inch or so shorter than I am now, and her head came up to my shoulder. I couldn't stop kissing her, and she didn't seem to want to stop me at first. Then she pulled away and I thought that I was done for. She walked to the door and locked it and then slowly walked back to me, opening her blouse as she came. I nearly came, Jack, she turned me on so much I nearly shot there and then." Jack giggled, imagining his own reaction if he had been in that situation.

"Do go on, Daniel," he urged, slipping his hand to Daniel's cock as he did, noticing that it was starting to harden in his hand.

"Well, what could I do? I kissed her again, though part of me wanted to run screaming from the room, and I pushed her onto the desk. Her blouse was opened so I buried my head in her tits, Jeez, Jack, they were big and round and, well, you get the picture. So there I am, in teen Heaven. Next thing I know my pants have hit the deck, she'd undone my belt and flies and I hadn't even noticed. It took every ounce of self control I had not to soak her when she grabbed me. I pushed her skirt up, pulled her panties down and went for it. I didn't touch her or anything, I just fucked her as she was. We were both trying to keep quiet, because of her secretary, and I nearly screamed when I came. I actually bit through my lip to keep quiet." Jack was laughing now at the image in his mind.

"Did you get caught?"

"Nah, it didn't take very long, Jack. Not that time."

"What? You had her again?"

"Oh yeah, for the rest of the semester. Once a week I'd go to her office and we'd screw there, sometimes on the desk, sometimes on the floor. She gave me my first blow job for my 16th birthday. Then she left at the end of the school year though, and I didn't see her again for years."

"What happened when you saw her?"

"Nothing, we greeted each other as a pupil and teacher, but neither of us wanted anyone to know about that. You are the only person I have ever told, Jack."

"Well then, that deserves a little treat," said Jack, licking his lips. "Out!" he ordered, and they climbed out of the bags. It was getting cold, but the heat that was between the two men kept them warm enough for long enough. Jack lay Daniel on his back and did for him as he had done earlier, taking his cock in his mouth, sucking hard, licking his head and playing with his balls. Jack gave a little shudder, remembering being forced to do this in prison. He covered it up pretending that Daniel was making him shiver. One day he'd find out, not yet. Second time that night was a charm for Daniel and he wasn't so quick. He enjoyed the feeling of Jack's mouth over him, loved it when he felt Jack's finger playing inside his ass. He started to thrust his hips as Jack sucked harder and harder. Daniel grabbed his longer uncut hair pushing Jack's head further on to him, but he gave him the warning when he could no longer hold out, just in case Jack didn't want to be there for the end. Jack did though, he so wanted to give back the same pleasure that he had received. "JACK!" Daniel screamed out as he shot into Jack's waiting mouth. He swallowed as quickly as he could, waiting for more, ready to take anything that Daniel gave to him.

The final spurts dissipated and Daniel pulled him up, eager to taste himself as he had allowed Jack the same earlier. They kissed passionately, their tongues duelling, needing to possess every inch of each other's body, inside and out. Finally they could go on no more and they climbed back into bed and fell quickly into dreamless sleep.

The week after week was spent like that, talking, kissing, foraging for food, making love at every opportunity. Every few days Jack would head up the hill and Daniel would wait for him to come back. Each time the news improved slightly till one day Jack came running down the hill and charging into the cave.

"DANIEL!" he yelled, but he wasn't there. Jack ran to the river and he saw him there, naked, washing their clothes and himself. Jack kicked himself, this was no time to get turned on.

"Daniel, come here, Muppet," Jack had decided that calling him that was a good idea. It would be unreadable by others, but Daniel knew that when he called him that he was really calling him his love.

"What's up, Bart?" Daniel grinned as he strolled out of the water. Damn, thought Jack, he looks positively edible.

Daniel walked up to him, never taking his eyes of him as he hung the wet clothes over the branch they used as a washing line.

"Black earth Danny, I saw black earth by the gate. We can go home."

Jack didn't really know what to expect from Daniel. He thought he'd be happy, or there may be tears of relief, but there was nothing, no emotion, Daniel's brick wall was back up again. Hell, he hadn't expected that.

"That's good," Daniel's voice was even, automatic. "These clothes'll be dry in a few hours so we can pack up soon. When do you want to leave?"

Jack thought he saw a flash of hurt in his eyes and he knew just what Daniel was feeling. They had been there for 5 months in total and they had unconsciously been making a home for themselves. Now it was all over. They would have to go back to the SGC, to their duty, to killing and fighting and trying to find friends where friends didn't want to be found and Daniel wasn't sure he wanted that any more. Only the thought of going back to Sam allowed him any comfort at all.

"Aw, Muppet, come here, we'll figure something out, wait and see, I'm not leaving you, I promise." Jack's voice was full of compassion and he held his arms open to his lover. Daniel fell into them, sobbing but there were no tears, not this time.

"Sh, Danny, let's go back to the cave, we can talk there."

"No Jack, I don't want to talk, I want you here, now, I need to know you won't leave me."

"I won't leave you, Danny, I won't," Jack moaned repeatedly as they kissed.

"You will, Jack, you will, just like everyone does," he cried out, visions of his parents, Shau're, Sarah all leaving. But what hurt worst were the visions of Jack leaving. Through the gate on Abydos, on Klorel's ship, knowing he was alone on Oannes, watching Jack leaving the padded cell. Time and again Jack had left him and he was going to do it again. Jack realised what was going through Daniel's head, he could almost see the pictures flashing across his blue eyes, highlighted by the red of absolute distress. Jack promised him time and again that he would never leave him again.

They collapsed onto the floor, their hands touching every part of the other, Daniel pulling Jack's clothes off him, tearing at them if they didn't come off fast enough. He achieved his goal and soon his friend was as naked as he was.

"Inside me Jack, I want you inside me now," Daniel insisted.

"Danny, we haven't got anything, I'll hurt you."

"Do it Jack, now, I need you. Please."

Jack put his fingers inside Daniel's mouth, hoping to gain some form of moisture, and then he turned to face Daniel's backside, and slipped them inside. Daniel yelled as he entered him, but he wouldn't let Jack stop.

"Daniel, please, let's go to the cave, I can't do this otherwise." Daniel insisted, shaking his head, he turned around and took Jack's very stiff cock in his mouth, licking it, getting it wet, hoping that Jack would do this. He didn't understand that Daniel wanted to hurt, he needed to hurt so that he would know that Jack was with him. Jack relented and as gently as he could he entered him.

"Harder!" Daniel barked. "Harder Jack, for Pete's sake, fuck me please, NOW!" Jack complied, a testosterone surge hitting him. If he wanted harder, he was going to get harder. He slammed into the archaeologist's body time and again until he could do it no more. He shot into him, this was the only time they had done this without protection, they had agreed not to do it again once they ran out, but their minds no longer had control of their bodies. Now Jack wanted the same and he demanded it of Daniel, now he understood. Daniel gave into his wishes readily, he had wanted to screw Jack too. They played the same game, a token lubrication followed by a primal scream as Daniel penetrated Jack's desperate body. He didn't hold off, he thrust as hard and as fast as he could, taking every scrap of pleasure that he could wring out of Jack's willing and tight body. It didn't take him long, he had already been pushed to the edge before he had even got inside Jack. They finished, collapsed on the floor, holding each other, both of them crying, afraid that this was the end. The fell asleep for a few hours, but hungry stomachs and a drop in temperature soon had them up, grabbing the now dry clothes, and running for the cave, holding hands as they ran naked up the hill. They flopped into the cave, laughing as they got there.

"I have never streaked before," admitted Jack.

"I have," said Daniel, his face straight.

Jack nearly choked. "You? When?"

"On a dig, in the desert, I did it for a bet."

"Danny, my little Muppet, you never cease to amaze me."

"Good, hope I never stop."

Jack moved closer to him and they kissed, gently this time. "Did I hurt you, Danny? Cos I sure as hell have a sore arse."

Daniel fell about laughing, that was one phrase that he never thought he would hear from Jack. Jack the fearless, Jack the Brave, the Bold, the Eternally Straight. Jack, his Jack, his lover, the man he would willingly die to protect. He stopped laughing. Tomorrow it would all be over. He still wanted to be with Sam, his precious Sam, but he couldn't bear to be parted from Jack.

Jack could read his face by now. "Danny, we'll tell her as soon as we can. Before you two get involved, okay? If she doesn't want you then, I still do, and I won't ask Janet out. Oh, I think that Janet is going to find out about us before anyone else is by the way. I think that we should ask her to do a private consultation."

"Why?" Daniel was bemused.

"Because, Muppet, your neck and shoulders have bite marks on them, hell you can see the teeth in them. And I dare say that I'm looking pretty much the same, aren't I?" Daniel had got so used to seeing the marks from their often frantic and sometimes quite violent lovemaking that he had stopped noticing them. He felt himself colour.

"Jack, do you think we should stay for a few more days, till the bruises go down?"

"Nah, you don't think that you would be able to keep your hands off me for that long, do you?" Jack teased.

"That, Bart," he said, moving seductively towards him, "is because you are so, damn, sexy, you make me so, fucking, horny, and I have to have you." He came to an abrupt halt and grabbed Jack, slamming him against the cave wall. He felt Jack grow really quickly in response to Daniel's actions, he was hard again now. He squashed Jack against the wall, resting his prick next to Jack's he started to pump his hips. Jack wrapped his legs around Daniel's waist, letting him hold him up. Daniel made a conscious effort not to bite him as he thrust against him. He watched Jack's face with amusement as he saw his friend fighting to hold on as long as possible.

"Jack, come for me now, let go," he murmured, and a few jerks later he felt the evidence as the hot, sticky fluid erupted over their joined stomachs. Daniel joined him moments later allowing himself to linger a little over his pleasure. A second wave of semen joined the first. Jack's legs were wobbly as they hit the ground and he collapsed onto his bad knee. He yelled as he did and Daniel joined him quickly.

"Jack? What's wrong? Tell me, please," Daniel fought to keep from calling him "love" or "darling" or any of the other things he so wanted to call him.

"Ahh shit, Danny, my fucking knee has given in." Daniel laughed at that and Jack looked annoyed. "I'm sorry, Bart, but we've gone this long with nothing worse than a love bite and the night before we start off home your knee packs in. Perhaps we are meant to stay," he added quietly.

"Perhaps, Muppet, but we have to go home. We are needed there, remember, and much as I love being here with you, we have to go. We will only take what we need tomorrow, we'll leave the rest."

"Okay, but if it gets bad, you must let me carry you, lover, or else we stay, deal?"

"Deal. Now lets eat and get cleaned up and go to bed, to sleep, I'm knackered."

The next morning they packed up their tents and took only two sleeping bags, the other two were covered in white stains which neither of them wanted to explain, and Daniel hadn't had time to wash out. They got dressed and packed only the med. kits and food and canteens, enough to see them for a few days if the rock was still too hot to cross. Everything went into one pack which Daniel carried so as not to put too much strain on Jack's knee. Jack fashioned a walking stick and they set off back to the gate, holding hands for the last time - in public at least.

By the time they reached their camp site at the gate, Jack was shattered. His knee was more painful than he would admit to, but Daniel could read his face. He gave him the maximum dose of the strongest painkillers and something to eat and drink and then he took Jack's stick and walked over to the flow. It had obviously stopped a little while back, a few days at a guess, and Daniel prayed that there would be a path cool enough for them to cross. He prodded the ground with the stick, watching it, hoping that it wouldn't catch fire. He tentatively stepped on to the black rock and it held his weight. So far, so good. Daniel could feel Jack's eyes boring into the back of his neck as he walked carefully across the flow. Jack was rewarded when Daniel turned around as he reached the other side and waved. He could see Jack waving back and he felt good, sad but good, at least Jack would get the medical treatment he needed now.

Part two of the plan consisted of Daniel dialling up the SGC. He carefully hit the chevrons and the gate whooshed into life, a jet of wormhole matter, or whatever it was called, exploding vertically from the flat gate.

Daniel sent the signal and switched on his radio. He was greeted by an ebullient General Hammond who had been called down the moment the gate started to activate.

"Dr Jackson, it's good to hear from you. I take it you are able to cross the lava flow."

"Hello General. Yeah, we can get through now, it's a bit tricky in parts but we can do it. I'll disengage the gate in a minute, I have to go back and get Jack and the stuff. Don't worry, his knee went on him last night. He's fine though apart from that. Look, we're going to be coming through a horizontal gate. Is there any chance we can have a soft landing? I don't think Jack's knee can take another knock."

"Give us 5 minutes, Doctor, we'll arrange something."

"It'll take us a little while longer sir. Look, just in case I have my hands full of bad tempered Colonel, do me a favour and keep the iris open, I might not get to send the signal."

"Will do Dr Jackson. See you soon, SGC out."

Daniel ran back along the path he had mapped out and back to Jack.

"Ready Jack? They're waiting for us."

"Sure Daniel, where's my stick?"

"Ah, I had a little accident with that and some lava. Don't worry, I've got it sussed." Daniel picked up the kit and ran over the lava flow like a scalded whippet and then dropped it, turned on his heal and ran back.

"It's still hot under foot, I need you to trust me more than you ever have before. Do you trust me, Bart?"

"Course I do, Muppet, what do you want me to do?"

"First, kiss me."

Jack complied, the kiss long and drawn out. "What's that got to do with it?"

"Absolutely nothing, but it's the last chance we'll get for ages." Daniel's grin took over his face and Jack laughed in response, muttering, "Muppet" as he ran his fingers through Daniel's now long hair. Jack mused that he rather liked it like that.

"Come on Jack, hold on to me," Daniel said as he tucked Jack's arm over his shoulder. Daniel got his breath back completely by the time they reached the edge of the flow.

"Now comes the trust bit, Jack. Climb on my back, Jack, I'll carry you across."

"No way, Danny, you can't."

"Yes I can, Jack, I've got my glasses back on, I can see where I'm going. You know I can carry you and you can't get across quickly enough without me. So, hop on board for the Muppet Express, next stop, Earth."

Jack caved in and climbed onto Daniel's back. What he wasn't expecting was for Daniel to run. Daniel hadn't told him just how hot under foot it still was and that he had no intention of standing on any one piece of lava any longer than he had to. It was just for a hundred yards or so, but by the time he got to the other side, Daniel felt like he had run a marathon. He gently lowered Jack so that he could dial home. Jack saw the soles of Daniel's boots were smoking.

"Dammit, Daniel, I thought you were running because you were excited to go home."

Daniel just smirked. The gate opened again and Daniel remembered to send the code. He threw their pack through first and turned to kiss Jack, briefly, but passionately, before picking him up in a fireman's lift and stepping through the gate.

"Gerroff" he yelled as he landed on a mattress with Jack on top of him. He rolled the Colonel off him with a wink and it was all Jack could do not to kiss him. Daniel bounced up.

"Danny, I was wrong, not Muppet, Tigger," shouted Jack, making Daniel laugh and everyone else scratch their heads. Daniel reached out and helped Jack up, reluctantly letting a medic take him off to the infirmary. As he was following them Sam ran into the gate room. Daniel swept her into his arms and planted a huge kiss on her lips. She melted into his arms, forgetting where she was, forgetting who she was for a moment, and she didn't care. Dear God, she had dreamed about kissing Daniel, and since her talk with Jack, those dreams had become more intense, but never, not once, had she dreamed that he would kiss like that. Then he let her go and she saw a sadness in his eyes.

"Daniel? What's wrong?" she asked, concerned now and confused.

"Come with me," he said and taking her by the hand he led her to the infirmary. The Marines on duty in the gate room were really surprised now. The geek and the Major? Who'd have thought it?

Daniel was met by the General as they walked to the infirmary. Sam went to remove her hand from his, it wasn't proper, but Daniel held on tightly and the General pretended not to notice.

"Welcome home, Son. I think you are needed in the infirmary, the Colonel seems to be complaining a bit. Come and see me when you have been cleared by the doctor."

"Thank you, Sir, it's good to be back. I'll go see what's wrong with him. See you soon, Sir." He marched into the infirmary where he heard Jack's voice yelling that he didn't want any fuss.

"Jack!" Daniel barked, sounding as much like Jack as Jack ever did, "they are only doing their job. Damn you man, why don't you let them? No, don't answer that. Where's Doctor Frasier?"

"Right here, Daniel." Janet was walking in having just come on duty. She wasn't due there for a couple of hours but Hammond had phoned her to warn her the moment Daniel's message came through. He knew that she was the only one who could handle an injured O'Neill.

Daniel smiled and hugged her. "It's really good to see you again Jan, why don't we take Colonel Badmouth over there somewhere quiet? Get him out of your nurses way, eh?" His smile melted her. There was something different about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Whatever it was it made him even sexier than normal and she would do anything to comply.

"Good idea," she replied, catching her breath and hugging him back, "good to see you too. Cassie's missed you."

"Me too. Come on, we've got lots to catch up on."

Sam called out that she'd see them later, but Daniel said she should come too. "Keep me company Sam, while Janet's sedating him."

"Hey, I don't need sedating!" complained Jack.

"You will by the time I'm through with you, Colonel. I won't have anyone shouting at my nurses." Her voice was stern and the nurses tried not to laugh. Daniel marched over to him and picked him up and slung him back over his shoulder. The nurses held their collective breaths. Not only was he tanned, his hair sun-bleached and longer, he looked leaner, stronger and fitter than before. Adonis didn't even come close.

"Where do you want him, Jan?" Daniel's voice was masterful, and Sam found herself emulating the nurses. My God, what had happened to him while he was away? Daniel followed Jan into her office and a collective sigh could be heard by anyone passing the infirmary as the door shut. Daniel dumped Jack on a chair and turned to lock the door.

"Don't want anyone walking in on our check up," he said by way of explanation. He looked nervously at Jack and something unspoken passed between them.

"Do you want to look at Jack's knee first?" he asked Janet.

"Sure, but you'll have to get your trousers down Colonel." Sam turned her back as Jack tried to stand up to remove them. He yelled as he put some weight on his leg.

"Sit down, Jack, before you fall down." Daniel's voice was weary now, all the excitement of the last few months seemed to have caught up with him.

He knelt down in front of Jack and helped the sitting man lower his trousers. Jack got a fit of the giggles, remembering the first time Daniel did that.

"At least I'm not freezing cold and soaking wet this time," he said, causing Daniel to laugh too. Sam had turned around by now, bewildered by what was going on.

"Oh my," she said as she saw Janet shaking her head and a trouserless Colonel with a helpless Daniel resting his head on Jack's thigh, holding on to him for dear life. They were laughing so much that Janet thought she really would have to sedate them.

"I hope your office doesn't have security cameras Janet, they'd get the wrong idea," said Sam.

Jack and Daniel were finished by this and Daniel was lying on the floor now and Jack was holding onto the nearest table for support.

"Will you two please tell me what's going on?" begged Janet. They tried to regain their composure and for the most part, they managed it.

"Nothing Jan, we're just glad to be home." Tears of laughter were streaming down Jack's face as he said this, but Jack felt like he could cry at any moment.

Janet injected Jack's knee with an anti-inflammatory drug and he had strict instructions to keep off it until it was better. Then she asked him to remove his jacket and T-shirt. He did, never taking his brown eyes from Daniel's blue as the fabric came off his body. Daniel held his gaze, telepathically comforting him.

"Are these bite marks?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

"Yes Janet," answered Daniel, who took his jacket and shirt off too, exposing his marks for the two women to see. Neither man said anything. Sam was heartbroken. She went to leave but Daniel caught her by the hand.

"Sam, please don't go. Let me explain. I love you. It's just well, I love Jack too. I can't, I won't chose between you. You are both equally important to me. We wanted you two to know because we want you to understand and to accept us as we are. If you don't want me Sam, I'm leaving. I'm sorry, that sounds like emotional blackmail and it's not. I won't blame you if you don't want to see me now. I've wanted to be with you for such a long time. What happened between us wasn't intended, but it happened and we've been trying to deal with the fallout ever since."

Jack spoke before Sam could answer. "Jan, love, I feel the same way about you. Daniel and I aren't gay, we don't want to be with other men, it's not like that. You and Sam are the reason we came home. I wanted to be with you, he wanted to be with Sam. If you two don't want us, we've got each other and we'll resign. We had a good home there, but we missed you so much. We kept dreaming about you - that's what got us into trouble in the first place," he said, winking at Daniel, who giggled in response.

"Jan," said Daniel, "do you need to do anything more with his knee?"

"No," Janet was astounded by the revelations.

"Good, can you do the rest of the checks quickly, I think you two need us to go so you can think. If you decide you want us to stay, we'll promise to try to stay away from each other. But, and you will have to accept this, it will be hard. We've hardly been apart for the last five months and we won't like being apart from each other now. On top of that, I'll have to stay with Jack till his knee's better or else he'll keep damaging it. That's going to make reverting to a platonic relationship really difficult for a while."

Janet quickly ran through her battery of tests, taking blood, checking them out, asking questions as she did, clinically, receiving blunt answers in reply.

"Have you two actually had intercourse?" "Yes."

"Protected?" "Mostly."

"Did you use lubrication?" "Mostly."

"Did you get hurt?" "No." - from Daniel, "not much," from Jack, causing a grin from his lover.

Sam sat shell-shocked by all of this. She wanted to be with Daniel, but could she deal with him being with Jack too?

Before the men left she looked up at Daniel and into his eyes. "Daniel, tell me the absolute honest truth."

"Always."

"You say you love me. Do you love me enough to spend the rest of your life with me? Do you love me enough to give Jack up?"

"Yes." One word, so much meaning. He added a caveat. "I will, Sam, but it will take time. I can't be more honest than that. I do love you." He bent down and kissed her again and she felt just how much love passed from him as he did.

Jack turned to Janet and said, "the same goes for me, Jan. I can't say things the way Muppet can, but I do love you. You must believe that, no matter what else you think of me."

"Jack? Why do you call him Muppet?" she asked, intrigued by the man's new nickname for him. Jack just smiled, "cos he is one."

Daniel grinned and walked over to Jack, helping him get dressed. "We gave each other nicknames because we knew if we started to call each other things like we'd call you, we may get caught out. You could just imagine General Hammond hitting the roof if I called him "darling" in a briefing, couldn't you? Sam and Janet laughed at this, using it as their release valve for their confusion.

"So, what do you call him?" Sam asked Daniel. "Bart, what else?" he sniggered. She grinned at that, yeah, a good nickname.

"One last question, are you two having us on? Teasing us? Testing us?" Janet asked. They were replied by Daniel kneeling between Jack's legs, taking him into his arms and planting a gentle but passionate kiss on his lips, Jack responding to it easily.

"Thought you said it would be a while before we got to do that again," Jack murmured, getting a shy smile in return.

"Come on Bart, let's go see Hammond," Daniel said, his heart in his boots.

"Guys," Janet was speaking for both the ladies, "what you said, what you did, neither of us will ever tell. We promise."

They smiled at them, Daniel speaking for the men, "we trusted you with the knowledge for one reason. We love you two. If you don't love us, we're out of here. Seeing you on a daily basis when we can't have you has been hard in the past, it will be impossible now. You had to know the truth from the start, we owed you that. We knew that if we had just wanted the two of you to be friends, you would always protect us, we trusted you to do that. But it doesn't matter now. If you want to tell, then we know that there is nothing between us. Jack and I will leave before it becomes necessary. Take your time ladies, we know this isn't an easy decision for either of you."

"Does it have to be an all or nothing affair?" asked Sam.

"What, you mean a case of love me love my boyfriend?" Jack asked in return, a wry grin on his face.

"No, I guess that that is the case, but I meant do the two of us have to agree to be with you two?"

"No, it's a free world, it's a free choice. But if only one of you wants to be with whichever one of us it is, then you must realise that splitting us up will be harder." Daniel answered this time.

Janet giggled. "Do you realise that Sam and I are talking for each other, and you two are doing the same. Perhaps the four of us were meant to be together," she added. Danny grinned and reached over to kiss Janet on the cheek. "Now there's a thought," he added, his voice doing the seductive thing that always worked on Jack while he winked at her.

"Hey, hands off my lady, pal," warned Jack trying to stand up, Daniel immediately moving to his side.

"Bitch," pouted Daniel, turning his bottom lip out. Sam cracked up. "Are you two always like this now?"

"Pretty much," said Jack sighing, slipping his arm around Daniel's shoulder.

"Lead on MacDuff," he said, letting Daniel take the weight.

They opened the door and left the room. Janet came rushing out, "Colonel, would you prefer a crutch?"

"Yeah, Doc, thanks, it wouldn't complain so much."

Janet headed into the store cupboard and retrieved a pair of elbow crutches. Sam ran up to the men whispering, "turn your collars up," to them. Mouthing a "thank you," they both surreptitiously moved their hands to their necks. Fortunately most of the bite marks were lower down, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

"We'll come to see you tonight," Janet said quietly, "Jack's house, I take it," she added.

They agreed and the men headed off to see Hammond.

"Gentlemen, glad to see you are well. How's the knee Colonel?"

"Not so bad now, Sir, thank you. The Doc's injected it and told me to stay off it for a few days. Daniel here has agreed to be housemaid until it's fixed."

Daniel just shrugged as if he didn't really want to do it, but he would anyway.

"That's very kind of you Doctor Jackson," said Hammond with a grin. "I'd have thought that you two would be sick of the sight of each other by now."

"You have no idea, Sir," Daniel said. They gave him a brief rundown on how they had survived for the last five months, leaving out the sleeping arrangements. Jack described Daniel's wilderness skills as nothing more than incredible. "Even his coffee wasn't undrinkable for a change," he added.

"Yeah, it was okay," allowed Daniel, "but I'd definitely have preferred some sugar in it. Talking of which, Sir, any chance we can go home now please? I need a shower, so does Jack," he said wrinkling his nose, "and I hear a kettle boiling, calling out my name."

Hammond chuckled at that and dismissed them.

"You'll be back on active duty as soon as Colonel O'Neill's knee is mended," he said, "consider yourselves on medical stand down till then."

"Yes, Sir, thank you Sir," said Daniel, sounding distinctly military as he did. "Yeah, thanks General," drawled Jack, sounding equally civilian.

Hammond shook his head as the two men left the room. There was something odd about them, but what the hell. They were one heck of a team.

Jack and Daniel stopped off at Daniel's place so that he could check on his fish and pick up some clothes, and packs of his favourite coffee, then they went to Jack's house. Jack carefully entered it, feeling quite strange to be indoors again. He had managed to blank out the feeling of claustrophobia at the base, probably because it was so big. At Daniel's, his mind had been elsewhere, but now he was here to stay and he started to shake. Jack could hardly stand, he prayed this would pass in a minute.

"Jack, are you all right?"

Jack was about to do his "fine" routine when he caught Daniel's eye. He understood then the impact that their relationship was having on him. He would never again be able to shut Daniel out, as Daniel would never be able to shut him out, and this scared him even more. His shakes became quite violent.

Daniel was across the room in a second, catching hold of him in his strong arms. "Sh, Jack, tell me what's wrong," he murmured.

"Walls," he managed to blurt out. Daniel understood in a heartbeat. Even in the tent in the cave they had always felt out in the open. Daniel led him into the garden. It was only afternoon on Earth, night time to the wormhole-lagged men, and Jack was shattered. This only helped to heighten the sense of claustrophobia, making everything seem worse. Daniel got him to sit in the garden chair and brought a cushion and blanket out for him. They hoped that this feeling would pass soon, once they had got their bearings back.

"Sit Jack, rest a while. I'll have a look and see if you've got anything to eat here. If not, want a pizza?"

"Sure Danny, how about a beer too?"

"Good idea," and Daniel returned to the house. He switched the water on first, for later showers and then headed to the kitchen. There was nothing in the fridge, Sam had obviously cleaned it out for them, *mental note, thank her for that, no matter what,* so he headed to the cellar. Jack had loads of beer stored there. He brought up a couple of six packs, taking two out he put the rest in the fridge. Then he took Jack's phone out into the garden along with the beers. He handed one to Jack and dialled for a pizza.

"What do you want on it, Jack?" he asked while ordering.

"Everything," came the reply.

"Yeah, can you make that one with everything except anchovies please, yes, extra large, garlic bread, two lots. Thanks."

"I like anchovies, I said everything," complained Jack.

"Jack, for the last 5 months we have lived of fruit, nuts and fish. I'm sick of fish. I never liked anchovies in the first place and I'm not having them tonight, so there." He poked his tongue out at Jack.

"Damn you Daniel, don't do that, you are turning me on and I'm too bloody tired."

Daniel just sniggered. "So, do you think the General guessed about us?"

"Possibly, but he won't ask and we won't tell him. That's the directive, we're just following orders. Come here Danny," he pulled him to sit on the bench next to him, putting his arm around his shoulder. Jack nuzzled his face into Daniel's neck.

"Don't bite me Jack, no matter how much I want it. At least leave it for somewhere nobody will see, okay?" He was rewarded by an evil grin so he kissed him on the mouth to stop Jack from digging his teeth into his neck.

"Jack O'Neill, you are a bloody vampire."

"Like you are any better, Daniel Jackson."

They sat for a while, chatting about being home, wondering what the girls would decide.

"It's a big decision, Jack. This morning they were both single. Then we come home, virtually propose but tell them that, oh by the way, you'll have to put up with me seeing my boyfriend at the same time. I think, if I were them, I probably would say no," Daniel was really quiet as he said it, the reality of what he was saying started to strike home to both of them and all four eyes started to moisten.

The door bell rang. "Pizza's quick," said Jack starting to stand up. Daniel pushed him back down.

"I'll get it," Daniel ran to the door, grabbing his jacket with his wallet as he went. He opened the door and it wasn't the pizza man but Sam.

"Hi Daniel, am I early?"

"Never, you are never too early for me," he said, his voice so husky that she went weak at the knees.

He stared into her eyes, trying to gauge what she would say to him. She said nothing, just reaching up to his head and pulling it down to hers, kissing him deeply.

"Yeah, I was right," she said as she broke the kiss.

"What? What were you right about Sammy?"

"I want to do that a hell of a lot more," she replied.

He broke out into a huge smile, which turned lecherous quickly. Jack limped into the room, less bothered by the walls now, to find out what was happening to the pizza in time to see Daniel's T-shirt hitting the ground and Sam's heading in the same direction.

He coughed, saying, "as much as I hate to interrupt, the pizza guy will be here soon, and I don't think that he wants to see you two making out, no matter how much I don't mind. Shit, Danny, you've turned me into some sort of pervert."

"Jack, you always were one, I just bring out the best in you. My wallet's there, hang around for a bit, he'll be here soon. Call us, will you?" Daniel said all this without taking his eyes off Sam's. He picked her up and carried her upstairs to Jack's bedroom.

"Guess I'm going to be sleeping in here anyway," he said to himself.

He lay her down on the bed, removing the rest of her clothes and finishing removing his as quickly as he could. Sam was very impressed by the shape he was in.

"I see that's an all over tan, Daniel," she said, licking her lips at the sight before her.

"It saved on washing and kept the clothes in one piece," he shrugged. "Sam, when was the last time you were told that you are the single most stunningly, fantastically, sexy woman in the entire Universe?"

"Never," she replied, liking his seduction technique already. What was she thinking? That guy had already seduced her the minute she saw him for the first time on Abydos. And when he kissed her after coming home today, her doom had been signed, sealed and delivered.

"Well, speaking as someone who has been around the Galaxy and met some very stunningly, fantastically, sexy women, and if I am completely honest here, slept with some of them, I think I am in a unique position. You are the number one, up there where no other woman can even begin to compete. God Sam, what you do to me."

His mouth captured hers, he was hungry for her, he needed her, no matter how tired he was, he had to own her like he owned Jack, body and soul. She gave herself to him readily, his masculinity overwhelming her. She couldn't believe it, she had spent her life around the most macho of males and here she was being screwed by a pacifist, who was probably bisexual, who certainly had a boyfriend, and his aura of maleness was so strong that she, Major Samantha Carter, Brain box, Warrior, defeater of Chieftains in hand to hand combat, did not stand a chance. She was his until eternity.

She cried out as his mouth descended to her breast, whimpered as his tongue played with her hardened nipple. Her moan grew loud as he slid down between her legs, his tongue tasting her for the first time. She felt his tongue harden as he pushed it inside her, she yelled as he pulled it out, licking her clit, sending her over the edge. He carried on, ignoring her orgasm, making her come again, then he rose up her body, licking a trail as he went, capturing her throat as she tipped her head back. His tongue found her ear, she was frantic, "Now Daniel, please," she begged. He pushed into her, staying at the edge at first, teasing her, his tongue back at her open mouth mimicking his prick's movements.

"More?" he asked. She growled back at him, warning him that if he didn't give her everything she would do him harm. He slipped a little further in, tempering his thrusts, rubbing his tongue against hers in equal measure. "More?" he teased again. She lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his back arching her back, pulling him inside her as far as he could go. She lost it completely now, she had no control over her volume as he pumped back and fore, pulling out as far as he dare before she tugged him back in. He watched her face as she orgasmed again, screaming his name, and he finally let himself go, filling her with his overwhelming desire. They collapsed on the bed together, panting, kissing each other's face.

"Daniel, I have fantasised about you for so long," she admitted and he grinned, if only she knew how much she had been in his dreams, "and that was better than I could ever have imagined. Do you always make love like that?"

"Only with you, Angel." He smiled at her and she found herself being lost in his gaze. There was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Come in Jack," said Daniel, Sam was blushing, she was lying naked on her CO's bed, in his lover's arms, oh God he heard them, he already knew what they had been doing, OhmyGod what to do? She tried to dive under the covers but Daniel stopped her. "Shh love, it's okay, it's only Jack," he tried to reassure her as he limped in, pizza box in one hand, the rest of the 6 pack in the other.

"I didn't think you two would want to come downstairs for a while, and the pizza's getting cold. Should have seen the pizza guy's face when he heard you two," he tormented them.

"Thanks Jack," smiled Daniel. Jack put the pizza on the bed and sitting next to Daniel, handed Sam a shirt. She grabbed it and put it on before she blushed herself to death.

"Sam, if you are accepting the two of us, then don't be embarrassed. Hell, chances are you are going to walk in on me naked once in a while. Now, I know that that isn't such a bad thing," he joked, "but as your CO, I appreciate things may be a bit awkward, at least for a while. Listen to me Sam, you have to know this and I'm not very good with words. I do love you, but, I'm in love with Jan, I have been for ages, and as much as I love you and I'll admit it, I find you extremely attractive, I don't want there to be anything between us. I've got my hands full with Dan as it is, and if Jan says yes then I am going to be permanently knackered. I guess, what I am trying to say is, you are safe with me. No matter what position I find you in, I'm not going to take advantage of you, okay?" She smiled at him and found the courage to respond.

"Thanks Jack, I appreciate it, and you are much better with words than you think." She got on her knees and kissed his cheek.

"Not to mention the fact that being with you is against the regs," Jack added causing hilarity. "What?" he asked, then it dawned on him. He was screwing Daniel and he was worried about the regulations?

"Oh, and by the way," she said, licking her lips as she did, "I think I understand why you want to hold on to Daniel now." Her eyes lit up, twinkling the way they always did when she was joking around with the lads. Daniel blushed a bit, that was something he wished he wouldn't do. Jack just bent down and kissed his cheek.

"Mmmm, I'm glad, now you know why I am so possessive of him," replied Jack.

Daniel reached up and kissed him back. "Liar," he said, "I was the only creature on the planet big enough to screw."

"Okay, you got me," grinned Jack, "beer?"

Sam was amazed at her reaction to all this. To be honest, even though she had always thought of herself as open minded, she had never felt comfortable when she saw two guys holding hands or worse, kissing. She didn't mind what people did behind closed doors, but in the open, well, it just felt weird. But with Jack and Dan, it seemed natural, an extension of their very close friendship, an obvious progression if you will, and she felt glad to be a part of it.

Danny got up and put his boxers back on before heading back onto the bed to eat and drink. They were having a good laugh, telling Sam some of the stories of the things they got up to on "S'n'G" as Daniel called it.

"Why did you call it that?"

"Sodom and Gomorra," he explained. "At first it was because the hills looked like pillars of salt in the sun and the lava flow reminded me of the rains of fire. Lets just say after a while it became a bit more appropriate."

Sam groaned, trust Daniel to come up with such an explanation. After they had eaten Sam said she wanted a shower. The water was finally warm enough to go in. The men said she could go first, as long as she was quick, because they needed one far more than she did. She agreed that they did.

Sam soon emerged from the shower and found Jack and Daniel sat on the bed, gently caressing each other, stroking each other's skin, not kissing, but brushing each other with their lips. She thought that it was the most tender and loving thing that she had ever seen in her life. These men were devoted to each other, that was plain. She didn't even feel jealous, as much as she thought she would.

"Sorry to interrupt guys, but the shower's free."

Daniel stood up and walked over to her, "want some help getting dressed?" he asked, biting his lip as he did.

"Oh Daniel, I know that if I said yes I'd never get dressed again. Go, have your shower, I think Jack will need some help any way." He kissed her as gently as she had seen him kiss Jack and it was plain that he loved her as much as he loved him, she was amazed. He could read her face. "Of course I love you as much, Sam, why do you think I was prepared to come back to you? To take a chance on losing you forever? I needed you, Angel, I need you to be as much a part of my life as Jack. Don't think that you are second to him, you aren't. You are both equals in my life. I told you, I never intended to be with Jack, but it happened and I fell in love with him and there is nothing I can do about it, just as there is nothing I can do about how much I love you." He smiled at her and left her standing open mouthed as he went to help Jack.

She giggled as she heard, "for cryin' out loud Daniel, I can get undressed."

"Sure Jack, but you'll fall over and Janet will have my hide. And it's not mine she wants, Bart. Besides, you don't normally complain."

"Yeah, but then things are going to go a bit further than just a shower. Oh God Muppet, what are you doing?"

"Getting you undressed, Jack, what did you think?"

"With your mouth?"

"Jack! I didn't. Well, not much. Anyway, you're not getting anything off me tonight, Sam's already worn me out."

"You are one lucky bastard Danny boy."

"Oh yeah, 'bout time too. God Jack, she's the most incredible woman I have ever met anywhere, bar none."

Jack's voice dropped, but by now Sam was outside the bathroom door listening in.

"Better than Shau're?"

There was silence for a moment. "Jack, you know how much Shau're meant to me, don't you?"

"Course I do, Love."

"I love Sam more, I know I do. I feel guilty for admitting it, but it's true. I love her more than I loved my wife."

"Love, Daniel, not loved. You'll never stop loving Shau're, and you never should. I'm happy for you, happier that she's okay about me, and I'll be bloody ecstatic if Jan wants me too, but if she doesn't, I hope that Sam will be okay about me sticking around, because I can't imagine ever wanting anyone other than you or Jan."

The water went on, Sam laughed out loud when she heard both men scream that it was too cold and she ran back to the bedroom to finish dressing. The impact of their conversation suddenly hit her and when the men came out from the shower they found her sat on the bed, crying.

"Sam, Angel, what's wrong?" called Daniel as he ran across the room to her.

"Nothing," she said.

"Come on Carter, something's up, you never cry." Jack was just as concerned as he limped over.

"I do, just you don't usually see it."

"I see it, Angel, you know you let me see you cry. Tell me, please." Jack was shocked, she let Daniel see her cry? He never said.

"I'm just overwhelmed, that's all Daniel. Nobody has ever loved me as much as you do. I've had one hell of a day, I was already in love with you Daniel, I thought I'd lost you forever, then today you come home, tell me you love me more than anything, except for your boyfriend. I think I'm entitled to cry."

"You are, sweetheart, you are."

"Sam, am I making you feel uncomfortable?" asked Jack.

"No, that's the crazy thing. You aren't, I'm okay with this really, I'm just surprised by my reactions that's all. Are you laughing at me Daniel?"

"Not really," he said, trying to stifle a giggle, "but earlier you were upset because Jack saw you naked, and now here you are sat on a bed, next to your naked CO, who happens to be cuddling you, not to mention he's your boyfriend's boyfriend. Sorry, but I think the whole thing is funny."

Jack saw the funny side too and started to giggle, setting Sam off, the world's worst giggler. The doorbell rang again and as Sam was the only one dressed she went down to answer it. She came back upstairs with Janet and they walked in on the two men who were lying on the bed, laughing their heads off, holding on to each other with only a small towel between them to cover their embarrassment.

"Er guys, Jack's got a visitor," said Sam, smirking.

Janet looked down at the two men and licked her lips, my God they were both gorgeous. Concentrate Janet, one of them only.

They sat bolt upright and both of them blushed. "We'll leave you alone, Jack," said Daniel, trying to take the towel. Jack grabbed it back, giving Janet an innocent smile.

"Daniel, it's not the first time I've seen you naked," she said, eyeing him up and down appreciatively, "though I must say, you look a damn site better than you usually do when I see you. You worked out on the planet?"

Daniel went bright red, making the others laugh. Here was a guy who could not only turn a perfectly straight guy into a gibbering wreck every time they were together, but also get a new girlfriend who was okay with the situation, all without once breaking out into a sweat. Now here he was, in front of his doctor and all she said was he was looking good and he looked like a warning beacon. He grabbed some clothes and fled.

"I think you embarrassed him Jan," said Jack, who was himself feeling a little shy at her intense gaze.

"What's up Jack?" she asked, moving seductively towards him.

"Nothing Jan," he whimpered. "You okay?" he asked, trying to regain control of the situation and failing miserably.

"I think that I should try before I buy, if you catch my drift." She had more or less made up her mind to be with him earlier in her office. She'd had real feelings for him for years, admiring his character, his strength, his compassion, but when she saw him with Daniel she saw how much he could love and she wanted even more to be a part of his life.

Jack's eyes lit up, another part of his anatomy did the same, oh boy, he was in big trouble if she moved the towel. She did, snatching it from him quicker than he could react.

"Not bad," she said relishing his good looks, "I see you two have a matching all over tan. Pity we'll never get back to that planet, it would have been nice to have got one to compliment you."

"Jan, you do realise that if you had been there, Danny and I would never have got together."

"That would be a shame then. I saw you two laughing together just now, you were meant for each other."

"Jan, come here, and I'll show you just how much you are meant for me," Jack turned on his sexiest voice, the one that made Daniel come running. Oh goody, it worked on her too.

She dissolved in his arms, and he had her clothes off before she knew what had hit her. Unfortunately for him, the combination of beer and pain killers didn't do much for his staying power and he knew that he would have to have her quickly if he was going to have her at all. He pushed her onto the bed, his hands doing most of the work, followed up by his mouth. He heard her breathing become erratic as he ran his hands down her sexy curves. He moaned her name, whispering it in her ear. Oh God, she was going nuts. "Jack, now, and don't make me wait!" she ordered. He lay on his back and let her straddle him. She grabbed his prick and guided it to her hot and very wet entrance. Just seeing him naked on the bed with Daniel in his arms had done that to her. She pounced, pulling him inside her, and without waiting she lay on his body, moving up and down in a rhythm as old as man. Her pelvis rubbed against his, the pressure built in her clit, Jack was desperate but he held off as long as he could, waiting for her. He warned her, "Janet, please," and she let herself surrender to her climax quickly followed by Jack. He pulled her to him, enjoying the feeling of a hot and sweaty body next to his, and one with curves in all the right places.

"That's the only problem with Danny," he complained.

"What's that?" she asked intrigued.

"Not enough beautiful curves," he said as his fingers traces the contours of her breasts and down into her waist and out along her hips. She moaned as he touched her, exquisite pleasure running through her body.

"Jan? Are you okay about all this? Danny and I are trying to keep our hands off each other but it is so hard."

"Jack, you can stay with him as long as you like on one condition."

"Name it," he said.

"That you are mine when I want you. After that you can be with him, on world, off world, but when I'm off duty, you're mine. Oh, and Cassie can't find out about you two, at least not for a long time. You have to promise me that. I'm bringing her up to be open minded, but in my opinion she is too young to be exposed to it. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if it were just the two of you, but as you are with me too, it will confuse her."

"That's two conditions, and I agree to them both." He crossed his heart, hoping that she would believe him.

"It's just as well it's summer and she's at camp for the next few weeks," sighed Janet.

"Why?" asked Jack, adding, "we missed her too, you know."

Janet gave him a beautiful smile for that. "It's just that I'm glad I'm going to get a chance to get to know you before I have to explain anything to her, that's all."

"I understand, baby," he whispered, "I want you to myself too. Though, I suppose I can't be selfish."

"What do you mean, Jack?"

"Well, as I have someone else for when you're not around, it would only be fair if you had someone when I'm not around." His bottom lip curled as he said this, and she realised that he was teasing her.

"Well, seeing as you put it like that," she stood up, slowly getting dressed in front of him, not taking her eyes off him. She walked to the door, "coming?" she asked. "Very nearly," Jack thought to himself. He got up as quickly as his knee would allow and pulled on some pants, then he hobbled after her. He went down the stairs on his backside and hobbled into the living room to see Sam on the sofa, with Daniel on the floor, resting his head on her lap, and Janet on the sofa next to her, on her knees, arms wrapped around Sam, her head resting on Sam's shoulder.

"Janet?" he spluttered as he walked through the door.

"Yes, Jack?" she asked innocently.

"You and Sam?"

"Well, you didn't think we were just talking about you two on girls nights did you? Who do you think has been comforting me while you were away? Come on Sammy, lets go home." She took Sam by the hand, the ladies stopping to kiss the men softly on the lips as they went. It was Jack's turn to do the goldfish impression. He couldn't even react when Janet's soft lips brushed his, or when Daniel took him by the hand.

"Jack, it's getting late, come to bed," said Daniel, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Danny? You can't keep anything from me, what was that all about?"

Daniel cracked. "You should have seen your face Jack. You don't really think the girls are together, do you?"

Jack looked really mad now, he had been well and truly had.

"Pity, though," said Daniel, "things could have got very interesting if they were."

"Daniel, I thought that you called me the pervert. You are worse than I am, any day of the week."

"Probably," came the yawned reply, "but not now. Now I want sleep and lots of it." They got ready and fell into bed, wrapped in each other's arms.

Life could have returned to normal the next day, well as normal as their new circumstances would allow, but life was about to deal them another blow.

Sam had turned up really early, well, it was before nine and to the two men who had slept in a proper bed for the first time in months, it was far too early. She insisted that they get up though, so they did while she made them some breakfast. She had gone to the trouble of shopping so the least they could do was get up and eat. Daniel had to help Jack get dressed. His bad knee had returned with a vengeance and he couldn't bend down to put his trousers on.

"Jack, let me help, please. You can't do it, and I'm not having you hopping around half naked in front of Sam. Not today. Come on, Bart, trust me?"

"Course I do Muppet, I'm just getting frustrated, that's all."

Daniel kissed him gently and then gave him the look that said, let me, or else. Jack gave in. By the time Sam called up that breakfast was ready, Jack was dressed. His crutches had been left downstairs the night before and he grabbed the bannister as he tried to hobble down them. Daniel shook his head, grabbed him and carried him in a fireman's lift all the way down - much to Jack's chagrin - ignoring the vocal abuse which Jack aimed at his rescuer.

"Jack, shut up." Daniel spoke quietly but firmly and for once, Jack complied.

"Sam? Where do you want him?" he called.

"That's a loaded question if ever I heard one," laughed Sam, "bring him in here," she called from the kitchen.

Daniel carried the now very grumpy Jack into the kitchen and deposited him on a chair. He knelt in front of him and grinned, "cheer up Jack, it may never happen."

"It has happened," grouched Jack. "I just got carried downstairs by my boyfriend, believe me, it's happened."

Sam howled at that, she thought that they made a wonderful couple, and she could only hope that she and Daniel looked as good. She smiled as Daniel kissed Jack on the nose before standing up and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into a long embrace.

"Morning Angel," he murmured.

"Mmm, will I always get a "good morning" like that?"

"At the very least," he promised.

"Get a room," complained Jack, "you're putting me off my breakfast."

"Jealous?" Sam teased.

"Nah," said Jack with a wry grin, "you didn't see how he got me up."

"Don't listen to him Sam, he's just grouchy because I didn't do anything this morning. Thanks for all this, we really appreciate all the trouble you've gone to."

"You're welcome Daniel," she said with a smile.

"Yes Sam, thank you, I do appreciate it. Sorry I'm such a pain in the ass," Jack was trying to be gracious now, his bad temper was wearing off pretty quickly. Sam couldn't resist though,

"I don't think you are anything like as much a pain in the ass to me as you are to Daniel."

Daniel's coffee nearly went all over the table as he choked. "Sam!" he called out. It was no good, he was still finding this adjusting to his new life difficult. Jack just fell about, he had always had a real soft spot for Sam, and now she was proving to be every bit as much a good friend as he had believed she could be. They settled down to eat, chatting about what they would do for the next few days as Jack's knee got better.

"I think that we should move in together," Daniel said to Sam. "It's pointless keeping two houses when we don't spend time in them."

"Next door is for sale," said Jack. "You two could easily afford it and we'd all be close. All I'd have to do is persuade Janet to move in here and we really could be a big family."

"What about Teal'c?" asked Daniel. He was still off world with SG-3, but he should be back in a couple of days.

"Build him a Granny Annex," said Jack. "We could build him somewhere between the two houses, then he could be close too."

"We'll see about that, he may not want to. Talking of Teal'c we should tell him everything, it's only fair." Daniel's face was very serious now, he was afraid that Teal'c would think less of him.

"Yeah, Danny, we should," agreed Jack, also nervous that their friend wouldn't understand.

Breakfast over, Jack sat and watched the other two clearing up together. He smiled at how good they looked and how natural a couple they made. Funny, he had often seen them like this, but he had never before appreciated just how much they should be together. A pang of jealousy hit him. He suddenly wanted Daniel all to himself. He scolded himself, thinking how selfish he was. There was a knock on the front door.

"That could be Janet," said Sam, "she said she'd try to pop in before her shift started," running off to open it. Jack forced himself to stand up, Daniel saw him out of the corner of his eye and spun around to catch him before he fell.

"Jack, you should be sitting," he chided, slipping his hands underneath Jack's backside and sliding him to sit up on the table so that Janet could check out his knee more easily. He was stood in between Jack's legs now, their hips touching. Daniel slipped his hands around Jack's waist and pulled his T-shirt out of his jeans, running his fingers over the Colonel's bare skin. Jack gasped as he did it and he grabbed Daniel's face and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He was just about to rip Daniel's clothes off when he heard Sam's voice warning him quickly followed by General Hammond.

"Jack!" George Hammond had seen many things in his life, but Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson? Sure, he had heard the rumours, but he hadn't believed them. Jack and Daniel looked mortified at being caught and they snapped quickly apart.

"Gentlemen," tried Hammond again, "would you care to explain?"

"Coffee Sir?" asked Sam, hoping to diffuse the situation.

"Yes please Samantha," he replied. "Look Jack, Daniel, I'm not officially here, so I didn't officially see anything, and anything you tell me now I didn't hear, officially. Okay?"

They nodded, looking a little happier.

"George," Jack took his lead from the General, "let's go in the living room and sit, it's more comfortable in there."

Daniel helped Jack into the living room and onto the sofa. As before an unspoken agreement passed between them in a flash. He would have to know everything. Daniel looked at Sam and she understood, her eyes granting permission. Hammond noticed the looks. Most people would have missed them, but he knew that these people were closer than most ever got, and he was used to their almost telepathic communication. Daniel spoke, they usually waited for him to start so he did.

"General," he started, but he was interrupted by a "we're not on duty Daniel," from the older man.

"George, I suppose you heard the rumours about Jack and me and now you are thinking they are true."

"The thought had crossed my mind, son."

"They were wrong. Until a few months ago you knew the two straightest guys in the Galaxy."

"What happened?" pressed the General, wondering what could have changed them.

"We fought, we talked," his voice went quiet and he looked to Jack for backup and reassurance. In his deep brown eyes he found it and said, "we fell in love."

You could have knocked George down with a feather. He had seen men change under pressure, even kissing in the heat of battle, searching for comfort, but he didn't think that this was what had happened. He nodded, his eyes urging Daniel to continue. He saw tears pricking the blue eyes, but he couldn't say anything, not yet. Sam sat next to him, holding his hand, stroking his back.

"We didn't mean it to happen, but it did. We had really only just come to terms with it when we were able to come home. There was only one fly in the ointment, so to speak, well two, and very beautiful ones at that. I was already in love with Sam, and Jack was with Janet. We've talked, and they have agreed to accept us as we are. We are going to try to cool our relationship, because we want to give our futures with the girls every chance, but it's not easy, Sir. I can't help it, I love Jack. Please don't court martial him Sir, don't hurt him because of me."

Daniel pleaded with the General, he was trying to shoulder all the blame and the tears were threatening to break, but he blinked them back. Hammond said nothing for the moment, then he turned to Jack.

"Jack, Daniel, you really should know I couldn't care less about your personal lives, but as your friend, I am warning you both. Under no circumstances let on at the SGC what's going on between you. I suppose I should split your team up, but I think I'd be shooting myself in the foot if I did. We owe you a great deal, and if the worst comes to the worst, I'll do my best for you. SG-1 is the strangest but best team we have and I'd be a fool to break it up. I must say I am confused though."

"You are confused?" laughed Jack. "How the hell do you think we feel? George, when I stepped through that gate starting that mission, I was a happy man, or at least I thought I was. I led the best team in the best posting on the planet. I had the best friends anyone could ever hope for, and I was working up the courage to ask out the sexiest doctor it has ever been my good fortune to get treated by. A couple of days later I was stranded on the other side of the Galaxy, not knowing when or even if I would get home. Then a few weeks down the line and I realised that I had fallen head over heals in love with my best friend. Wouldn't have been so bad if it had been Carter," he mumbled.

"Just as well it wasn't Teal'c," sniggered George, making the others laugh.

Daniel had to know. "Before or after?" meaning had he realised how he felt before or after their first encounter. Jack knew. "Before." Daniel grinned, "yeah," meaning "me too." George and Sam were intrigued, but they knew that secret was going to stay secret.

"So," asked George, "how are you going to arrange things between you? You are going to have to hide this well."

"We were just talking about that, George," replied Sam, "and Daniel and I will look into buying next door. At least then we'll have a good excuse to be here a lot. And coming to think of it, we can share the car journeys into work. It would make a lot more sense, guys," she added, her mind already making the practical arrangements.

"Come on," said Daniel, knowing that the older men needed to talk in private, "let's go see them," and he pulled Sam up to take her to the neighbour's house. After they left, the men talked.

"Damn, Jack, you have managed to surprise me today," muttered George.

"George, you have no idea. You know me, I never wear my heart on my sleeve, but while we were stuck there Daniel got it out, washed it and pegged it out to dry. I found out stuff about his childhood too, you know," his voice was really quiet. He studied his cold coffee, as if it would tell him what to say next. "I've respected Daniel's strength for years. Every so often he would let me into another secret and my admiration and love for him would grow, as a friend, a big brother if you like. He's had more crap thrown at him in his short life than an entire platoon would see in a century. This is between you and me George, you mustn't say anything to him," he warned.

Hammond agreed readily, knowing that Jack had to get this out.

"He saw his parents crushed to death when he was a kid, then, rejected by his only relative he was abused, not sexually but in every other way, by his first foster father, he was taken away from his second set of foster parents, the only ones he was happy with, because the first one got out of jail and found him. Then he was neglected. Then he was laughed out of his lifetime's work for figuring out something that others were too narrow minded to contemplate - and he was right and he can't tell anyone. Then he loses his wife to the snakes, forgives the guy that takes her and turns him into his most devoted protector. I left him to die, his best friend and I left him to die on Klorel's ship. Hell I left him for dead in loads of places and he forgave me, time and again. Then he finds Shau're only for Teal'c to kill her and he forgave him again. Not to mention the thing with Shau're's kid. Then when we got stuck on that planet and he became my rock. He still trusted me after all I had done to him. I would have gone stir crazy without him. I realised that I loved him, and it was more than as a brother. I decided that I would be there for him, not just while we were there but for the rest of my life. If you want me out of the SGC, George, it will be a small price to pay to keep him happy. That's all I want from life now, I want Danny to be happy."

George said nothing for a moment, he was stunned by Jack's words. Sure, he knew some of what Jack had told him, but not all. He found he understood why Jack wanted to be with him too.

"Jack? Is Daniel okay now?"

"He's fine, George, he's happy. Sam is as crazy about him as I am. For the first time since his parents died he realises that some people love him unconditionally. He doesn't have to give anything back. He will, because he's made that way. Part of him tries to make people happy because then he believes that he will be left alone and not hurt. But now, I hope, he realises that in being happy himself he is making us happy. I will kill anyone that hurts him George, that's a promise."

"You would have done that before," the older man corrected. Jack gave a small laugh, more of a grunt.

"Yeah, but now I would take greater satisfaction in it." His words were cold and George didn't doubt for one moment that he would.

The door crashed open and Sam and Daniel came back in, laughing, holding hands.

"Jack, George, it's perfect. Miss Human Calculator here has figured that we can afford it easily, so long as I'm not losing my job, that is." Damn, thought Jack, there it is again, his doubt was resurfacing.

"Of course you still have a job, Daniel, for as long as I'm in charge anyway. Hell, even the President himself would have a hard time overruling me on that one," George smiled, chuckling at the happy couple. His brain had accepted Jack and Daniel, but this thing with the women was really confusing. "Come on Sam," he said in his fatherly tone, "Jack needs the little boy's room and Daniel will have to help him up the stairs. I'm too old to carry him. Why don't you and I make some coffee while we're waiting for them?"

"Of course," her eyes were bright, and she looked for all the world like she had just cracked some deep physical mystery.

Jack took the hint. "Would you mind, Muppet?"

"Sure Jack, come on, I'll carry you, it'll be quicker. Don't want any accidents, do we," he teased. He picked up the muttering Colonel and slung him over his shoulder. "Damn Jack, I swear you've put on weight since yesterday," he moaned.

In the kitchen, George and Sam were chuckling at the obscenities Jack was throwing at Daniel.

"What's up, General?" she asked suddenly.

"You know me too well, Sam," he laughed in reply. "This is personal, so you don't have to answer." Before he could go any further she interrupted, "why did I agree all of a sudden to move in with Daniel, and why is Janet so happy to accept Jack, even knowing that the guys will never be able to split up?"

"You do know me too well."

"Easy Sir," she said, still having difficulty with the off-duty allowances that he made with their names. "I fell in love with Daniel the minute I set eyes on him. I said nothing because of Shau're. Over the years we have grown very, very close. Even after her death I couldn't make a move on him, I didn't think he saw me that way. Then when the guys got left behind I made up my mind that when Daniel came back I would tell him. I had lost him so many times already and regretted never telling him. Remember when Jack asked to talk to me alone?" George nodded, "Daniel tried to tell me how he felt but he got tongue-tied. Jack took over and Daniel fled. He was so upset. Jack explained everything, telling me how he felt about Janet too, and I blurted it all out to him. I told him that I wanted to be with Daniel when they got back and he promised to tell him. I told Janet what Jack had said. Then they came home and told us both straight away about themselves. They were so open, so trusting. I knew then that Daniel loved me as much as he loves Jack. I didn't want to lose him again, and I figured that if the only way I was going to keep him was to accept Jack being around too, then that was a very small price to pay. Janet feels the same way about Jack. We both know that in those two men we will have devoted and loyal partners. You only have to see them together to know that."

George nodded, it made sense, sort of. "Well, Sam, if I can be of any help in your house buying, let me know. I'll do everything I can to help out." She thanked him and gave him a big hug.

Meanwhile Daniel was helping Jack in the bathroom. He had left him to take a leak in private, but he was now inspecting his knee again. Pulling Jack's trousers back up he was saying, "it looks just as swollen today Bart, I'll call Janet when we go back downstairs. Perhaps you'll get lucky and she'll do a house call for you." His hands pushed against Jack's groin as he carefully did up the zipper, causing Jack to moan.

"Sh, Jack, not while the General is here," he teased, capturing Jack's lips with his own, gently biting them.

"Dammit, Muppet, you'd better stop or we'll need to change my pants," Jack warned, feeling himself stiffen to Daniel's touch.

Daniel got the devil in him and quickly unzipped Jack's jeans again, yanking them down along with Jack's underwear. That action itself was enough to make Jack really hard.

"Daniel," he hissed, "what the fuck do you think you are doing? Oh Christ, stop it," he moaned as Daniel went down on him, taking him completely in his mouth. He wouldn't let up though, sucking and licking until he felt Jack releasing. He waited until Jack had finished, licked him clean, stood up, replacing Jack's clothes. He grinned at a breathless Jack. "Didn't want you feeling uncomfortable, Bart, and George did say I should help you, so I'm only following orders." His eyes were twinkling and Jack felt the urge to tell him off, but he just pulled him into a deep embrace instead. "Come on, they'll be wondering what's happened to us," said Daniel, picking Jack back up and carrying the astounded Colonel all the way to the kitchen.

Sam looked at them as they settled down to drink the coffee. Daniel had his innocent look on his face, his "butter-wouldn't-melt" look, and she knew that they had been up to something. "Sorry we took so long, I had to check out Jack's knee. It doesn't look good so if it's okay with you, George, I'll ring Janet in a minute to make sure she stops by on the way to work and gives him another anti-inflammatory injection."

"Since when did you become a medical expert, Daniel?" Jack's voice was its usual scathing self.

"Since meeting you, Bart. It became essential."

"What's with the nicknames, Gentlemen?" teased George.

They both blushed, unable to answer him. Sam told him. "They were afraid they'd slip up and call each other, well, pet names. It's one thing Danny calling me Angel in public...."

"But if you'd called Jack "baby" in a briefing I'd have gone ballistic," finished the General, laughing out loud. He liked their style.

"Yeah," admitted a chuckling Jack. "We needed something neutral, and because Daniel is a Muppet," he said ruffling his lover's hair, "and I like the Simpsons a lot, they made sense."

"Good thinking, but now I know your secret, try not to use the names in a briefing, it'll only make me laugh. And if anyone else is there, Heaven only knows what would happen."

The men relaxed at that. They had always been devoted to their CO, knowing that he was a good man, someone worthy of their loyalty, but today he was proving it ten times over. George gave them some news.

"Teal'c will be back today. I'll send him down here with an airman. I take it you are going to tell him your, er, news?"

"Of course, straight away. He may not want to be on our team any more though," answered Jack, hoping that Teal'c would be as understanding as George and the girls.

"Knowing Teal'c you will get a raised eyebrow, nothing more," put in Sam. "Look guys, if I'm okay with this, the unmovable mountain won't be bothered. For all we know your sort of relationship is normal on Chulak."

Daniel shifted uncomfortably at this, snorting as he did. "Sam, for all we know, "our sort of relationship" as you so delicately put it could be punishable by death. It still is in some parts of Earth. We have to say the words you know, whether we like them or not." His voice was quiet now, almost inaudible, but he had their attention all right. "Jack and I are having a homosexual relationship. There, I think that's the first time I've said that. It's weird for me, but there you go. I'm not having a go at you, Angel," quickly taking her hand in his, "we are all having difficulty admitting that that is what it is, Heaven only knows how hard it is for you. Jack probably wants to kill me now for even admitting it, don't you?"

He looked at Jack, his love, his lover, and found him staring at his boots. Daniel was right. Before he had put the correct name to their friendship he had found it easier to accept. But now? He was homosexual? No, he couldn't deal with that, not yet. Jack tried to stand up, he needed some fresh air. Daniel got up to prop him up, but Jack pushed him away. He grabbed his crutches which were leaning near the table and headed out into the garden.

"Shit," said Daniel, "I've screwed everything up again. I just can't keep my big mouth shut, can I?" He wanted to cry, but he retreated to his first line of defence, his arms folded against his chest and his barriers went straight up. Sam reached out to Daniel to touch him and reassure him, but she could read his face nearly as well as Jack could. He was screaming "leave me alone" with his body language. Sam also wanted to cry, but she acted the good soldier and fought off the tears. Instead she went into the living room and found the telephone. Hammond got up, patted Daniel on the shoulder and followed Jack out. Damn him, he was going to hear some home truths if it killed him.

"Colonel O'Neill!" he barked as he walked out of the house. Jack was sat on the garden bench, staring out into space. There, that got his attention. He started again, much quieter now as he sat next to him.

"Jack, listen to me. It doesn't matter what words are used to describe your relationship with Daniel. Can you honestly tell me that you feel any differently about him to how you felt earlier?"

Jack shook his head. "I'm really mad at him," he murmured, ashamed by his reaction.

"I know," soothed the General, "but he's really upset now and if you don't sort it out now your relationship is over, and so is SG-1. You have to face it and face it now, Jack. Whether you are gay, straight, bisexual or just plain confused, you are in love with Daniel. If you don't want to break his heart again, you have got to go in there now and sort this out with him. I'll go now, I know that having me here is making it a bit awkward. Do you want Sam to go too?"

"No, you don't have to go, George. You've been amazing about this, and I really appreciate it. I'm just an old fool. Here, help me up, I'll sort it out with him now. Stay if you want to, though it may be handbags at fifty paces, I'm warning you." Jack's brown eyes twinkled and George let out a howl of laughter. If life at the SGC was interesting before, it was going to be mind blowing now.

He helped him up and Jack limped on his crutches back into the house. Daniel saw him and wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. Sam had returned and she had given him a similar speech, but Daniel wasn't convinced. He was so sure that Jack would never want to see him again. Why the hell had he come back? He should never have left the planet.

Jack started to get closer and Daniel eyes darted around filled with panic, looking for an escape route. Jack recognised that look straight away. He went to speak to reassure him but Daniel did his shutter routine again. He couldn't escape so he would block out the pain instead.

"I'm sorry Jack, I didn't mean to upset you, honestly," he said, his voice calm and even. "I should have realised what I was saying was stupid. General, my resignation from the SGC will be on your desk in the morning. Jack, I'm sure Janet will be able to help you out here." He tried to get past Jack before he cried but his way was blocked. Jack still said nothing.

"Please Jack, don't make this any harder than it already is," he begged, his pain obvious in his eyes, but his voice giving nothing away.

"Danny, Love, I'm sorry, don't be an ass, please. It's my fault, not yours." Hammond and Sam had retreated to the other room and Jack knew that he was going to have to be very demonstrative, something he wasn't very good at. "Muppet, please, you are right. We should face it, but I'm an idiot, you know that. Okay, if it makes you feel any better, I'm queer. Well, as queer as you," he nudged Daniel with his shoulder as he said it. Daniel looked up at him, his eyes pleading with Jack to drop the subject. Jack wouldn't though, he dropped his crutches on the floor and wrapped his arms around him. Daniel fell into them and finally started to cry.

"I thought you hated me Jack," he said eventually.

"Never, Muppet, I couldn't hate you. You've just made me face reality and I was surprised that's all. Don't think I want to split up with you, I don't. Dammit Daniel, I love you."

Jack never said it like that before. He had often said it in so many words, said loving things, but never "I love you".

"Really?"

"Of course I do Muppet. If I didn't you don't think I'd be in here with you now, while my boss is in there, do you?" he grinned.

He stroked Daniel's hair, continuing to move the back of his hand gently over Daniel's cheek. Then he kissed him softly on the forehead, moving down his nose and finally resting his lips against Daniel's. Danny moaned into his mouth, both of the men getting extremely turned on. The kiss grew in intensity, neither of them wanting to break it. They didn't know that this scene had been watched by the others.

"I think I'm beginning to understand their depth of feeling for each other," said Hammond.

"Yes, Sir, they are pretty intense. Now you see why Janet and I couldn't ask them to give each other up. They would have if we'd insisted, but we couldn't."

"Yes, I think I see that now. But unless they break it up now, I think that we should leave the house."

"Leave it to me, Sir. Oh, I think that's Janet now," she had called her a few minutes ago and was relieved when she heard her friend's car pull up.

"I'll get it," said George. "Say goodbye to them for me, please." She nodded and went into the kitchen.

The men were back where they had been found that morning, except Daniel's shirt was already off and Jack's was heading that way. He was back to sitting on the table because his knee wouldn't hold him up and one leg was just too wobbly. Sam surveyed the scene and decided that direct intervention might be necessary. She squeezed in between them, forcing Jack's face away from Daniel's, taking his place. Jack started to complain as Sam moved Daniel away from him, but he felt another pair of lips replacing Daniel's. Janet. Hammond took one last look back in, decided that this was one weird household and walked off to his car, chuckling to himself.

That afternoon, Janet was in work when Teal'c turned up and the four of them sat around the kitchen table. Again, the explanations were left initially to Daniel. It was always like that off-world, and they seemed to fall into the routine on it too. Teal'c's reactions were as normal, absolutely unmoved. He couldn't care less about it. So long as it didn't interfere with the workings of SG-1 it meant nothing to him. Sam hugged him for that and he grinned. He had done as Daniel had asked of him while they were away, at least when he was on Earth. Sam had been watched over and mollycoddled by the big man all the time and they had become quite close. The others thanked him for that. He responded in a typical way.

"It is I who should thank you, Daniel Jackson, for entrusting Major Carter's welfare to me."

What Daniel hadn't realised when he asked Teal'c to take care of her was that Teal'c saw it as a statement of trust. He had been the one to twice take Daniel's wife from him. Teal'c may not say much but he was well aware of Daniel's feelings for Sam before they had even left for the mission. When he had heard Daniel's voice pleading with him to take her through the gate any remaining doubt had been removed. Then Daniel asked him to watch over her and protect her, and Teal'c was greatly honoured. He now felt that he could forgive himself for causing Daniel so much pain in the past. Of course Daniel hadn't seen it quite like that. He already trusted the Jaffa to look after her, without so much as a second thought.

A few months later and SG-1 were due out in the field again. They had had a number of successful and not so successful missions since returning, the relationships never getting in the way of their jobs, but this mission was faced with a certain amount of humour and trepidation. The MALP had sent back pictures of what looked like an Ancient Greek based civilisation. SG-2 had been scheduled for this until one set of frames of pictures had come up on the screen. Two male warriors were stood in front of the camera, one had his arm around the other as they were studying the probe. Daniel had been called in on the fly to interpret the pictures in front of SG-2, something that he had done before. Ferretti was goading him, in his friendly way and Daniel was trying to shout back at him, teasing him and his team. "The Grecian warriors of that time often had male lovers, you know. It was quite normal for them to be married but travel with their lovers. You should be prepared for that."

SG-2's faces were a picture. Daniel took great pleasure in winding them up, giving lurid and graphic details of how the fiercest of warriors would recite love poetry to their young boyfriends. Hammond received a number of complaints from the team, saying that they wouldn't go into such a situation. Ferretti couldn't have cared less, but he didn't want an unhappy team.

Hammond looked up at Daniel. "Well Doctor Jackson, as you know so much about this civilisation perhaps SG-1 should do the mission." Daniel could have sworn that Hammond winked at him.

"Sure Sir, but if we get into trouble, which team is going to come in and take care of our backsides?"

Ferretti howled at that - only Dr J could be quite so candid. He didn't know about him and Jack, like everyone else he was stunned that he was living with Sam and Jack was living with Janet. Oh, they had no idea. As he got his breath back Lou called out,

"Don't you worry, Daniel, if you get into trouble, there's plenty of nurses in the infirmary that would come and haul your butt out of there."

"Why thanks, Lou, but I'm disappointed in you. Wouldn't you come and watch out for my ass?" Daniel pouted at Lou, winking at the same time.

Lou's second had to pull him back up off the floor. Daniel just grinned. "I'll tell Jack, oh boy, is he going to be pleased," he said sarcastically, returning the General's wink.

Daniel walked out of the room, laughing inside. He was really looking forward to telling Jack about this one. He found him in his office and shut the door before sitting on Jack's desk and repeating what had happened. Jack was laughing so much that he nearly missed Daniel telling him that SG-1 were doing the mission the next day instead.

"Oh, Muppet, we'll only start up the rumours again," he sighed.

"Don't worry, Jack, we're big boys now, we can take it. Besides, who's going to believe them now?"

Daniel let out a groan as Jack ran his hand up Daniel's thigh.

"Jack, don't do that, not here. Come over to our house tonight. Sam and Janet are wanting to have a girl's night anyway. You said that Cassie is staying over her friend's house for the night, didn't you? It's a good excuse for you to stay the night. We haven't spent the entire night together in ages. What do you say?"

He stood up, Jack stood next to him, his desire for his friend nearly getting to be too much for him. He pushed Daniel back against the door and kissed him.

"God, Muppet, what do you do to me? I'll be there, but you better be ready for me. Tonight you are mine, not Sam's, got it? If I find that you have had her before I have you, you're in big trouble."

Daniel promised him and kissed him gently on the lips before leaving a love sick Colonel in his office. He headed straight for Sam's lab. Good, she was on her own. He shut her door too, just in case.

"Angel, you still going to Janet's tonight?" he asked.

"Why?" she was curious.

"We're going to have a guys night, if that's okay with you. You know, all night." He pulled her up into his arms, staring deeply into her eyes. She could never deny him when he did that.

"Okay, I'll talk to Jan. I'm gonna miss you tonight," she whispered as he captured her mouth with his. The lab door swung open and a tech walked in.

"Doctor! Major! Oh God, I'm sorry." He was blushing from head to foot.

"That's okay, sorry about that," said Daniel, still looking into her eyes. "See you later, Angel," he murmured. If that didn't quash any rumours before they started nothing would.

That night all went according to plan. Sam went next door to Janet (she and Cassie had agreed to move in with Jack readily, but Teal'c turned down the chance to move in too), with a huge box of chocolates. Janet had the wine and the videos. They were going to have one of their famed nights in, which the men like to speculate about.

For Daniel and Jack things were just as good. There was a hockey match on the TV, meaning Jack was in Heaven. Daniel was on the sofa with him, lying down with his head on Jack's lap, writing in his journal, which was on his drawn up knees.

"Muppet, you can't be comfortable there. Come up here, will you?"

"Mmm, in a minute, I've nearly finished. You know I have to lock these journals away now, don't you?"

"Why's that, Dan?"

"They are X-rated now. At least the ones with you in them. If anyone found them we'd be in serious trouble," he teased.

"God, Danny, what's in them?"

Daniel grinned. "Don't worry Bart, I use code names and I do lock them away, somewhere very safe, I promise. Sam's read some bits, you know. I let her read the journal I kept on S'n'G."

"Oh? What did she think?"

"Not sure, but I had one hell of a night with her afterwards."

Jack snorted, he'd bet Daniel did. A few minutes later and Daniel was done, he headed to the under stairs cupboard. In there was a safe, a combination one with a couple of locks on it. It was also hidden behind loads of stuff.

"See, I told you, I want to keep you safe, Jack."

Jack took him by the hand a pulled him back on the sofa. The commercial break was on - again - and Jack used the time slowly driving Daniel nuts. He pulled Daniel's shirt off, having undone every button slowly, placing a kiss on his skin as every bit became exposed. His tongue found Daniel's nipples and he played with them, rolling his tongue around and nibbling the surrounding skin. Daniel was hit by a hormone surge and he grabbed at Jack's shirt, ripping it off him. He dived for his belt, but Jack slapped him away.

"Not yet Muppet, you have to wait."

Jack resumed his torture, the television ignored now. His mouth found its way up to Daniel's neck, his teeth gently nipping at his throat. Daniel growled, wanting more now.

"Patience, Danny. Good things only come to those that wait."

Daniel had been working out since their return and he was really strong now, he flexed his chest muscles as he grabbed Jack's arms. He pushed him down onto the sofa, pinning Jack's arms above his head. Then he greedily kissed him, wanting to take possession of his lover as he had done on the planet, completely, noisily, angrily. He felt Jack's arousal underneath him, it was competing with his own.

"Bed! Now!" he ordered, his tone brooking no argument.

"Make me," said Jack, knowing what that would do to him.

Daniel got mad, he turned the TV off then he picked Jack up and carried him upstairs, flinging him on the bed. Jack lay on his back, watching Daniel as he undid his belt, quickly followed by his pants and boxers. Jack didn't move, sometimes he liked to make Daniel mad by remaining completely passive, knowing that Daniel preferred him to be as strong if not stronger. Tonight, though, he wanted to see Daniel like this. He knew that his gentle friend could be quite brutal when he wanted to be. He would never hurt Jack on purpose, but his forcefulness was one hell of a turn on for someone who had spent his adult life being the dominant one. Jack briefly wondered if Daniel got like this with Sam, he'd have to ask later.

Jack's pants were off now, and Daniel picked him up and turned him face down. Then he surprised Jack. Using their belts, he tied him to the headboard.

"Okay, Jack?" he whispered, just in case he was not okay with this. Jack swallowed, he was excited and scared at the same time. He just about managed to get out a hissed "yes". Daniel pushed his legs apart and got out the lube. There was no tenderness now, just raw animal sex. Jack was assaulted by Daniel's fingers first, and he found it hard not to come straight away. Just the feeling of helplessness was pushing him over the edge. Then he felt the fingers go and braced himself for the onslaught, but it didn't come. Daniel untied him and pulled him up.

"Had you going there for a bit didn't I, Bart?" he said, his blue eyes burning into Jack's heart. Jack got mad with him for that, earning Daniel some serious bites. They played like this for ages, kissing and biting, rolling around the bed.

"Now Muppet," Jack begged, he couldn't go on much longer. Daniel looked at him and licked his lips and Jack now knew what he had had in mind all along. He shut his eyes as he felt Daniel's mouth capturing his cock. He was already weeping and Daniel's tongue slid up and down his shaft, playing with his head.

"Danny!" the warning came and Daniel prepared himself. Jack shot into his partner's mouth, Daniel greedily taking it all, sucking hard to try to wring the last drop out. He looked almost disappointed when he finished and he licked him clean, trailing his tongue up Jack's stomach and chest, over his throat and to Jack's mouth. Daniel pushed Jack's lips open with his tongue, forcing entry, playing with him, teasing him.

"Danny, inside me now," he murmured.

"Not yet, Jack, I'm not ready," he replied. How in hell was he not ready? Jack had been ready for him ages ago.

"Please, Danny, I want you now," he pleaded.

"Beg."

Jack got up on his knees, "please, Daniel, I love you, I want you, I need you now, inside me, this minute, pleeeeeease," he begged.

"Kiss me." Daniel liked to give the orders sometimes, and it really turned him on to see his CO following them.

Jack kissed him.

"Not there."

Jack bent over and kissed his prick.

"Harder," he insisted. Jack sucked hard, squashing his prick between his tongue and the roof of his mouth.

"Stop." Daniel fought to control this, he wanted this to last as long as possible. It wasn't working, he was going to have to give into Jack's request. He reached over to the bedside table, grabbed a condom.

"Put it on me." He sent his mind elsewhere to stop himself shooting all over Jack's hands. Jack got it on and Daniel handed him the lubricant.

"That too." Now Daniel was fighting with every ounce of self control he had. He had been working on this since he joined up with Sam, he so loved to satisfy her, and once for her was never enough. He was now ready.

"Which way, Jack, you get to choose," he murmured, surprising Jack now. He had thought that Daniel was being the dominant one tonight. Ah well, with Danny you never could tell.

"I want to watch you, Danny," he whispered. Daniel grinned, he liked to watch Jack's face as he entered him. He positioned Jack, propping his back on some pillows, his legs around Daniel's waist, then he found his goal and pushed in hard. Jack bit his lip, trying not to scream. It had been okay to yell on the planet, but not when you have neighbours. Daniel got in and stopped, hoping to make it last even longer. Jack's eyes opened wide.

"Daniel, if you don't move now I am going to seriously hurt you later."

Daniel laughed and thrust deeper into Jack, pulling almost all the way out in return. He got into a rhythm, deep long slow thrusts, followed by a quicker withdrawal. He saw Jack responding, becoming aroused again. Daniel freed one of his hands from underneath Jack and grabbed his cock as he thrust back in. Jack nearly passed out with the sensation. He was going crazy now and he didn't care. Daniel picked up the pace, pushing faster and faster, stroking Jack's prick in time to his beat. He watched Jack's breathing become erratic and finally allowed himself to come as he saw Jack spilling over his own chest.

"Dammit Daniel, what got into you tonight?" Jack asked breathlessly. He grinned, "you are an animal," he added, wincing when Daniel pulled out of him.

"Do you realise that it has been two weeks since we have been able to do this, Jack?" he said in reply.

They lay together, Daniel wiping Jack's chest with a towel he had brought in earlier. They both realised the implications of what he had said. The girls were weaning them off each other, and they weren't sure that they were happy about this. They talked for a while, wondering what they should do about it.

"I don't know what to do, Jack," conceded Daniel. "You know I'm happy with Sam, I couldn't be happier. But I feel like I'm being made to give you up and I don't want to do that at all. I know that if we confronted the girls with it, they would say that we could be together whenever we wanted, I don't think they're doing it on purpose. I suppose that if the situation was reversed, I'd be subconsciously keeping Sam from Janet."

Jack giggled, "you don't think they are......?"

"Nah," laughed Daniel, "but, oh my God, what an image. Do you think they would? If we asked them to?"

Jack shot up. "You really are a pervert, aren't you? Not content with corrupting me, you want to corrupt them."

"Excuse me? Who corrupted who? I seem to remember a certain Colonel's hand on a certain archaeologist's dick, not to mention and very stiff prick sticking in my back that morning."

"It's far too cold to take a dip in the river," Jack reminded Daniel of his words.

"Well, it was. You could have gone and got hypothermia if you really wanted. Anyway, talking about water, join me in a shower?"

"Now you are talking, Danny Boy. Lead on."

The next morning and Daniel woke up to find a pair of strong, hairy arms wrapped around him and he grinned. Much as he loved Sam it was good to be back with Jack.

"Morning Muppet," said Jack.

"Morning Bart, how long have you been awake?"

"A while, half an hour I suppose."

"Why didn't you get up?" Daniel asked, snuggling even closer to him, resting his head on Jack's chest and listening to his soothing heartbeat.

"Because, Danny, it struck me that you and I never get to do this now, and I was making the most of it. Got a problem with that?"

"Only one."

"What's that?"

"You should have woken me up earlier so I could enjoy it too."

Jack smiled and gently squeezed him. "Daniel, do you want to continue our relationship?"

"Yeah, Jack," said Daniel after a slight pause and looking him in the eye, "yeah, I really do. Do you?"

"Oh yeah, Danny. I've been thinking."

"You have?"

"Shut up. I've been thinking about our situation, about us, about me and Jan. I don't want to lose you Danny. I know they aren't trying to split us up, but it's so hard to find time to be with you. Jan doesn't want Cassie knowing about us, and I can understand that, but it's making just being myself with you so hard."

"Then we will just have to find the time, Jack. If we ask the girls I'm sure they will accommodate us. They probably don't even realise what's going on. Anyway, no more talking."

"Daniel? Are you feeling all right? No talking?"

"Mmm, I've got other things on my mind," said Daniel, using his most seductive voice and staring Jack in the eye. He felt Jack's reaction to him immediately.

"Eager aren't you?" he teased his older lover.

"Ya think?"

They spent ages, kissing and caressing each other, making up for lost time, it was if they were trying to commit to memory every last square inch of each other's body. Sam had come home and she crept upstairs, not knowing if they were still asleep. There was no noise coming from the bedroom so she opened the door a little to see if they were awake. What she saw surprised her. Jack was in Daniel's arms, his head buried in his chest, weeping. Daniel was whispering soothing words to him. What the hell was that all about? She didn't think that either of them would be pleased if they knew that she had seen, so equally silently she left and went downstairs.

What she hadn't seen was the cause of Jack's breakdown. They had had such a confusing few months that Jack had lost track of the date. As he and Daniel were embracing, his eye caught the date on the alarm clock. It would have been Charlie's birthday. Daniel felt Jack start in his arms and he followed Jack's line of sight and saw the date. Daniel was one of the few people who knew Charlie's birthday and it clicked straight away.

Jack was upset and angry. Here he was in bed, making out with his male lover and it was his son's birthday. He should be at the cemetery. He started to get mad with Daniel, but Daniel looked so loving, so understanding, that he couldn't. Then Daniel spoke and Jack let it all out. "Jack, look at me, it's okay, I know, I understand. Jack, I love you remember, you don't have to hold it in, you can't hide anything from me anymore. Remember, we own each other body and soul. If your heart breaks then so does mine. Let it out, Jack, and I'll be there to hold you, I'll catch you when you fall, I promise." Jack cried and cried, he felt like his heart would stop. Part of him wished it would. Eventually he fell asleep, exhausted by his efforts. Daniel held him for a while longer, then a desperate urge to take a leak forced him into the bathroom. Before he left though, he wrote a note and left it on the pillow next to Jack.

Jack, I haven't gone anywhere.

Shout for me and I'll be with you

as soon as I can. Love you

Muppet

He grabbed some clothes and tiptoed out of the room and headed for the bathroom. The smell of toast and coffee wafted up the stairs. Sam was home. Daniel hurriedly did what he had to do and went downstairs. He had noticed that the bedroom door had been a little ajar, whereas he knew that he had shut it the night before. Had she seen anything?

"Morning Angel," he said, kissing her gently on the lips.

"Is that all I get today?" she teased.

"For now," he said, his face serious.

"Danny, what's wrong?"

"I take it you came upstairs earlier."

"Yeah, I wanted to see if you were still asleep or if you'd want breakfast. Dan, why was Jack crying?" she whispered.

"Charlie's birthday today." Enough said, no more was needed. She squeezed his shoulder and went next door.

"Jan, don't even think of trying to get between Jack and Daniel today, love, it won't be worth the hassle."

"I thought you lot were going out on a mission this afternoon."

"We are, but I'm going to call in and see if we can put it off. It's Charlie's birthday. I think we should leave the guys alone, don't you?"

Janet nodded, she knew that no matter what she could do for Jack, only Daniel could help him today. Sam borrowed the phone, spoke to the General and the two words were enough for him to postpone the mission by 24 hours. Cassie had come home already. She knew that the two men were close friends, but nothing more. She offered to go and tell Daniel about the delay, and Janet agreed. They all thought the Jack was still asleep. It was a hell of a shock all around when Cassie burst into the kitchen to see Daniel and Jack, holding on to each other, Daniel kissing Jack's face. All he was doing was comforting him, but Cassie didn't realise this.

"Jack! Daniel!" she cried and they broke apart.

"Cassie!" the reply came in stereo. She ran back to her house in shock, the two men following her, afraid that she might run out into the road or something and get hurt.

She ran up into her bedroom, sobbing her heart out. She was hurt and confused, did Jack really love her Mum or was that just a cover? Was he going to leave them for Daniel?

"What happened?" demanded Janet as the men piled through the door.

Jack was too upset to speak, he was shaking. Daniel tried to explain. "Cassie burst in and saw us holding each other. I think she may have seen me kiss Jack. God, I am so sorry, Jan, we didn't know she was home. We've done as you asked."

"It's my fault," said Sam and Janet at the same time, and they explained the reason behind Cassie's entrance.

Daniel thought for a moment and said, "let me talk to her. Of all of you, I'm the one who is the furthest away. You're her Mum, you may as well be," pointed to Janet then Sam, "and she thinks of you as a Dad, Jack, whether you are ready for that or not. As for me, she thinks I'm a friend, or at least she did. I don't think she's going to be too friendly. Let me try."

"Daniel, you're wrong, she thinks of you as her brother," murmured Janet. "She loves you as much as the rest of us, don't sell yourself short. But, yes, I think it would be best if you talked first."

He went upstairs and knocked on the door. "Cassie, love, let me in please. I need to talk to you to explain some things to you. I know you are confused, maybe a bit scared. I promise to answer all your questions honestly. Let me in sweetheart, please."

The door opened and he saw a very red-eyed teenager standing in front of him. He wanted nothing more than to sweep her into his arms and tell her that it was all a bad dream and that she had woken up, everything was back to normal. They had a special bond, mainly because they had both lost their families as children. Daniel understood her like the others couldn't, so she was prepared to give him a chance.

"I won't explain the whole thing in one go, Cass, I think it's best you ask me your questions. Then you get what you need to know, not what I think you need to know."

Cassie was impressed, most adults treated kids differently, but Daniel always treated them with the same respect that he gave to other adults. They sat side by side on her bed, she looked at him, her eyes probing his, looking for lies and finding none.

"Are you gay?" "Not really."

"What's that supposed to mean." "It means that apart from Jack, there never has been and never will be another man in my life."

"What about Jack?" "Same for him."

"Why?" "Why what, honey?"

"Why are you in love with him?" "If I knew the answer to why I was in love with him, or Sam, or why anyone fell in love with someone else I'd never have to work another day in my life. I don't know. I can tell you why I love him, but it would come out as a list of things that I loved him for when we were friends and no more. Same with me and Sam, and with Jack and your Mum. You do know that he's nuts about her, don't you?"

"Is he really? It's not just for show?"

"Is that what you think? Oh poppet, much as I hate to tell anyone they are wrong, I'm telling you it now with pleasure. Jan is everything to him, as are you. Have you any idea how much Jack hurt when Charlie died? He thought it was his own fault. You and I know what it's like, we understand. It was no light decision for him to ask your Mum to move in, you know. He did it because he loves her and he loves you. He just happens to love me too. Don't be afraid, he won't leave you, I won't leave you either, I promise."

"Mum and Sam know then. They okay with it?"

"They knew from the start and they are fine with it. They'd rather have us as we are than not at all, apparently. I could no more give up Sam than I can give Jack up. I'm sorry if we upset you. I hope that we haven't offended you."

She flung her arms around his neck. "You haven't, it was just a shock, that's all."

"Cassie, you know you can't tell anyone about this don't you? If anyone finds out at the SGC, Jack could go to jail. I'd only get the sack, but I don't want Jack to get court-martialled."

"I understand, and I promise. I can keep secrets you know."

"Yeah, baby, I know."

"So you're not gay?"

"No, I told you."

"Damn!"

"Cassie? What's up?"

"It's just a friend of mine, her cousin is gay and he goes clothes shopping with her, he's got a really good eye for stuff. And he listens to her about boyfriends and he understands it from both sides. I was hoping that you'd do that for me."

Daniel howled with laughter and went to tickle her for that. It was a game that they hadn't played since she started to grow up. She screamed and took off out of the room. Daniel chased her down the stairs, they were both laughing as they went, much to Janet and the other's relief. Finally Daniel tripped her and pinned her to the floor. "This is for that smart remark" he said as he tickled her ribs till she was absolutely helpless.

"Mum! Jack! Help me!" she yelled in between gulps of air. Jack came over and lifted Daniel off her.

"What was that all about?" he asked, still smiling at the exchange.

"She wants to go clothes shopping with me. Apparently every girl should have a gay friend."

Jack howled at Daniel's face. He was pouting and he always looked so cute when he did that. The three ladies noticed that Jack still had his arms around Daniel. Jack saw the look on Sam's face and he dropped his arms away from Daniel.

"Jack," said Cassie, walking up to him and putting her hands out. "I still have some questions, but they can wait. If you want to hug Daniel, it's okay with me. I can get used to this, I suppose. But it's on one condition."

"What is it with the Frasier girls and conditions?" he complained, but his eyes said, "go on."

"You have to still hug Mom and me too, okay?"

Jack nearly started to cry again, and blinking back the tears he pulled her fiercely into his arms.

"Cassie, you listen to me good honey. Yeah, I love Danny, Heaven only knows why but I do, but I love your Mom and I love you. I'm not going anywhere, you hear? I want you to be my little girl, sweetheart. I want your Mom to marry me, don't tell her though, I haven't asked her yet." Janet was right next to them and she flung her arms around them both.

Cassie squealed with delight. She had loved Jack as a father figure for years. This also helped give her a sense of stability in this weird situation.

All five of them sat down. "So Cassie," began Janet, "are you okay with all this, I know it's a bit strange."

Cassie snorted. "Mom, I'm a teenage alien living on a strange planet. My real family was wiped out, I was turned into a human bomb, not to mention our friendly neighbourhood Goa'uld's little experiment. My best friends go around meeting aliens, weirder ones than me, I might add. I get adopted by a single woman who's not only a whiz at being a Mom, but also the best doctor at the SGC. Oh, yeah, and she gets to do house calls on the other side of the Galaxy. Now I find out that the guy who we live with, and who I love, wants to marry you, but his boyfriend, my big brother," she added winking at Daniel, "has to come too. Mom, strange is normal for me. I'll cope."

And that was it, she accepted it. Janet gave thanks to whichever God was listening for granting her custody of such a special young woman.

Jack broke the silence. "Sorry to break this up folks, but I have to be somewhere. We'll see you later, ladies" . They knew where he was going and they knew that Daniel would go with him and take good care of him too.

The next day SG-1 was on the ramp, ready to go. Daniel and Jack had taken a great deal of teasing about the bite marks on their necks and poor Sam and Janet got the blame. They took it well, exchanging meaningful glances as they did. Jack and Daniel were being labelled lucky bastards. If only the others knew. They were about to step through the gate when SG-2 turned up, getting ready for their own mission. Ferretti shouted out, "hey guys, I thought that you would have to get a little closer than that," his tone of voice full of innuendo. The four of them turned and looked, shrugged (in time with each other, leaving the SFs in the room marvel at their dynamics) and turned back. Then without a word being spoken or even a look given they all lined up side by side. Teal'c was on the left, then Sam, then Daniel with Jack on the right. Sam slipped her hands into Teal'c's and Daniel's and Daniel took Jack's hand in his. Then they took a couple of steps together and walked through the wormhole without a backward glance. That was a pity, because they would have seen an amused Hammond in the control room, who had heard Ferretti's shout, a hysterical Ferretti and a very shocked SG-2. Lou turned to his guys. "You haven't got the joke, yet, have you?" and they just shook their heads dumbly. He didn't enlighten them. Lou was one of the few people who were close to SG-1, so close that they considered telling him about Jack and Daniel. They knew he'd keep the secret when he was told.

Three days later and SG-2 strolled back through the gate. "Welcome back Major," said Hammond as he greeted them on the ramp.

"What's wrong, General? Where's SG-1?" His team did a double take. How did he do that?

"They're 24 hours overdue and there's no response. SG-6 have gone in."

"Permission to take..."

"Granted," interrupted Hammond. "Get checked out, something to eat and back here as quick as you can."

"You heard the General!" he barked at his team, but they were already running out of the door. They liked SG-1 a lot and the two teams often worked together. They didn't understand them, but they liked them.

Half an hour later and they were back on the ramp and ready to embark. Hammond was proud of his men, and never more so than at times like this. He was praying that SG-1 had just got lost, or drunk or something innocent like that, but his gut was telling him something else.

SG-2 emerged onto the alien world. "This is Sierra Golf two niner, calling Sierra Golf sixer. Do you copy?"

"Copy that Sierra Golf two niner, this is Sierra Golf six niner. We're at a settlement about 3 klicks from the gate, straight down the path in front of you. We believe SG-1 are being held inside. Rendezvous with us half a klick north and we'll go in and get them together."

"Roger that. Sierra Golf two niner out." They headed in the given direction and soon found SG-6. A plan was set. SG-6 would go in visibly, SG-2 would sneak in and look. While SG-6 took the flak, Lou's team would find and extract them. For once, all went according to plan. Little in the way of a fire fight took place in the open, SG-6's more advanced weaponry informing the occupants of the fort, for that is what it turned out to be, that resistance was futile. There were small skirmishes, but little else. Lou led his team inside and found what looked like cells. They found Teal'c first. He had been tied up against a wall, he was a bit bruised from some beatings, but Junior was taking care of him. They cut him down and he told them a little of what had happened. They had been invited into the fort, all seemed well. There was a celebration for them, but their food was drugged. Teal'c had come round and found himself tied up. When he wouldn't give them any information he was beaten. He hadn't seen the others since, though he had heard screams from all three.

Lou's stomach churned at that, he knew it would take a lot to make Jack scream. They headed off further down the cells, not stopping when confronted, just shooting anyone that got in their way. They found Sam next, also tied up. Her clothes had been ripped, but they were still on her, covering her embarrassment at least. She was conscious, but not really with it. She had been hanging by her wrists for the most part. She kept saying, "Daniel, they took Daniel," over and over again. Lou got one of his men to carry her out, sending another one to keep guard with them. He sent his last man down the corridor where he found Jack. He too was hanging against a wall, beaten, bloody but conscious.

They cut him down. "Danny, have you found him yet?" he asked. Lou shook his head. "Carter, where is she?"

"Sam's safe now, Jack," said Lou as his man quickly treated and bound the worst wounds. Jack nodded, grateful at least that she was okay and that Teal'c was with him.

"Danny, we must find him. Oh God, I hope they didn't...." his voice trailed off, unwilling to say what was on his mind. Lou made a quick decision. He turned to his last man, "Pete, go up top, get the others, take Major Carter back to the gate and send Andrews through with her. Tell him to prepare the Doc for major trauma, just in case. Then come back with Brown and help SG-6. We'll find Doctor Jackson and bring him out, okay?"

"Yes Sir," Pete snapped, and jumped up and ran off to pass out the orders.

The three men went on a Danny hunt. Jack wasn't really in a fit state to do this but he wasn't backing down. They had taken his best friend and they were going to pay, dearly. He had a feeling he wouldn't be in the dungeons. They headed upstairs and kicked open every door, killing anyone who tried to stop them. They left many bodies in their wake as they went. Eventually they found him, lying naked on a bed. He was conscious, but only just. There was hardly a patch of clear skin on his body, but his face was untouched. Jack ran over to him and pulled him into his arms. Teal'c stood guard by the door while Lou looked for his clothes.

"Danny, what did they do to you? Oh God, Muppet, tell me," Jack pleaded, rocking him in his arms.

"Ja'k? 'Syou?"

"Yes, Love, it's me, it's all over now." You could have knocked Lou down with a feather, but to give him credit he didn't so much as raise an eyebrow. He found some of the clothes and passed them to Jack.

"Jack, get these on him, I think it's best that you do it. I don't think he's going to want any other man near him somehow," whispered Lou. It was pretty obvious from the bruising and the blood that he had been raped, not just once, but many times. Jack and Lou felt sick.

"Who did this to you?" Jack asked.

"Soldiers," was all Daniel could say. Jack got some clothes on him, enough to cover him. He asked Teal'c to carry him down. Daniel flinched, but he relaxed when he heard the Jaffa's soothing voice.

"It is I, Daniel. I will not harm you, you have my word. Let me assist you." Daniel looked small, childlike. His head kept telling him that he was safe with these men, but he was still afraid.

"I can walk," he said, surprising the others. He stood up, setting his jaw in its most determined position. Jack and the others knew that look. He had looked after himself before, he was going to do it now. He had no shoes on, but he didn't care. He had been abused, but he was determined to walk away from this place with as much dignity as he could muster. The others respected that, no matter how much they all wanted to scoop him up and run. Daniel saw Lou's machine gun and picked it up. He drew himself up to his full six feet and marched out of the room, the others hot on his heals. He kicked open a door that he recognized. SG-6 were in the room, holding a bunch of enemy soldiers lined up against the wall.

"Thank you Gentlemen," said Daniel to SG-6. Jack's heart nearly stopped, but before he could shout out, Daniel picked up the gun and executed the lot. Then he walked out muttering something that only Lou heard.

He started shaking as they got away from the fort, but he wouldn't let anyone near him, not even Jack.

"Daniel, please, let me help you," he begged.

"Not now, Jack, especially not now. I can't let you," he said, his eyes steely, but Jack could read him. He was filled with self-loathing, doubt, all the negative things that Jack had helped him dispel, and they were back again.

The march back wasn't as quick as Daniel thought he was going, he kept stumbling, but before he hit the ground, one of the three men would catch him and right him then leave him alone till he fell again. The medics that had come back through the gate tried to get to him, but his honour guard closed ranks and so they gave up, trailing this odd group, watching until they were needed. They got to the gate and Daniel surprised everyone by being the first one to the DHD and dialling home.

It was only when they arrived back in the SGC did Daniel allow himself to be picked up and carried. As soon as they rematerialised Teal'c scooped him into his arms. He had understood, as had Jack and Lou, what Daniel needed. Now he needed medical attention and Daniel would allow it. He didn't put him on a gurney but ran with the young man in his arms all the way to the infirmary. Once there Janet took over. She yanked off the top that had been put on him and yelled, "get Dr Warner, prep for surgery NOW!" She could see that he was bleeding internally, she had seen it often enough.

Jack and Teal'c let themselves be checked over without saying a word. Lou only left them to check on Sam and give the men a report. Jack nodded his thanks.

"Look Jack, I didn't hear nothing, okay?" whispered Lou.

Jack put his hand on his arm. "You're a good friend. We'll talk later, explain things, but not now."

"Sure Jack, when you're ready."

Hammond asked for a report, needing to find out why he had a virtually catatonic Major, an even more unreadable Jaffa, an archaeologist in surgery and a Colonel who was between rage and despair. Jack and Teal'c went into a side room with him to give him a rundown of what happened. Lou went too. The leader of SG-6 made to go in, but Hammond gently told him to report later.

The four friends sat down Jack and Teal'c on the bed, Hammond and Lou on some chairs they found. With the door shut, Jack felt he could speak.

"They raped him." He didn't say much more.

"How did you get into this situation, Jack?" asked Hammond gently.

Jack drew himself up and "did a Daniel". He presented the facts coldly and unemotionally.

"We met these guys. Apparently they keep the fort as some sort of outpost, the nearest town is about 20 klicks further south. They made out they were glad to see us. There was a party. They obviously drugged us. Next thing we knew, Daniel, Sam and myself woke up in a cell. Teal'c wasn't there. We heard them yelling at him and beating him down the corridor. We tried to get out to get him, but we were tied up. There was nothing we could do. I'm sorry, my friend," he said looking at Teal'c.

"Do not concern yourself on my behalf, O'Neill, my injuries are as nothing. It is I who should apologise for yet again failing to protect Daniel Jackson." Jack shook his head and put his hand on Teal'c's arm.

"There was nothing you could do, I should have protected him, he's my responsibility, I'm in charge remember."

He shook himself and carried on. "Some soldiers came in to the cell. They were looking at Carter, one of them started to touch her. Daniel and I were going nuts. She was yelling at them to keep their stinking hands off her. One of the bigger guys slapped her and told her basically that they were all going to rape her. She was scared. We all were, then Daniel talked them out of it."

"How?" asked a very confused Hammond.

Lou knew, he knew as soon as he had seen Daniel. Ah shit. "He went in her place, didn't he?" he asked Jack. Jack just nodded.

Hammond felt sick. He knew that Daniel was a brave man, but this? It's one thing to die for a friend, but to put yourself in a position where you would live with such memories afterwards, how could he do it? Then it dawned on him. Daniel's guilt complex was even bigger than Jack's, and that was saying something. If he had to live with the memory of being raped so Sam didn't have to, then he could and he would. Hammond also knew that he would have done the same thing even before he had got together with Sam, his relationship with her hadn't changed that.

Hammond shook himself, Jack was talking again.

"Sam was screaming at them, so was I. I offered to go instead, but Daniel's a lot prettier than me," he added, his face full of a wry grin. " They kept coming back in and beating us up that first day, but when they seperated us, they decided to leave us. We were on our own for nearly two days, I could tell by the light in the cracks in the wall. Before we were put in separate cells, Sam told me when they went that she and Daniel are trying for a baby, so he was trying to protect her from getting pregnant by being raped."

"Jack?" asked Lou, "in the room when we found him I thought," he was interrupted.

"You thought right, Lou, long story, but they are a couple, so are Jan and me."

"It's just?" Lou was afraid to say it out loud, just in case Hammond didn't know.

"Yeah. I'll try to explain one day, I promise. Don't worry, the General knows," Jack replied, his head bowed.

Hammond was about to say something to Lou but the Major spoke. " Don't worry, General, Jack and Daniel are my friends, and friends take care of each other, right?" Hammond agreed. He knew he had always liked Ferretti.

"George, I really should go to Sam. She's going to need us now," said Jack, standing up.

"Of course son," then turning to Ferretti he said, "I'll get my report off you later, Major, a full detailed military report," he said with a wink. Lou knew. Fight details only. There was one last thing though, and he thought that Hammond should know it off the record first. "Sir, before we left, Daniel took my gun and executed the soldiers."

Hammond was surprised at that. "Did he say why?"

"Yeah, as he left he said, "nobody fucks with me and lives." I hope he didn't include you in that Jack," he added with a smirk. Jack actually grinned at that.

"Yeah, so do I, Lou." The three warriors left and their leader stood, shaking his head at what he had learned.

Sam was still out of it, in shock, and lying on a bed. Jack sat next to her, stroking her head, telling her that Daniel would be okay. It had been hours since he went into surgery. Finally an exhausted Janet came out, falling into Jack's arms.

"He'll live," was as much as she could say before bursting into tears. Jack looked around and saw the nurses coming out of surgery, equally shell shocked. Dr Warner was shaking as he came over to give his report.

"Dr Jackson was very badly injured. He had broken ribs, a punctured lung, his spleen was ruptured and countless other contusions. He died twice on the table, but we managed to revive him. He had massive internal injures and lost a lot of blood. I was told that he walked to the stargate. Why?"

"He insisted, Doc, you know how stubborn he is," said Jack, feeling like shit that he had let him do it.

"He should have been carried back as quickly as possible. We may have had an easier time with him if you did."

Jack lost it, yelling at the man. "You have no idea, have you? Daniel wanted to walk away from there. He needed to walk away from there. He's been hurt so many times and been carried home, that he thinks he's a burden to us, for Christ's sake. He needed to walk so he could regain some shred of dignity. Can't you understand that?"

"I can, but mental distress can be dealt with. He could have died."

"You just don't get it, do you? If Daniel had been carried back, he would have died on your operating table. He needed to have something to live for. If he hadn't walked back, he would have felt like it wasn't worth him living, that we wouldn't have thought him worth the effort. He came back to us because he now knows that he has the inner strength to face up to this. If we had carried him he would have felt weak. With Daniel physical damage can be dealt with, mental stuff is something else. I know Daniel like no one else ever has, I'll get him through the mental problems. It's your job to patch him up. You've done your job, let Jan do hers and then it's my turn. Don't you dare criticise how we do it either. Oh, and I'm telling you all now. No shrinks are setting foot within a mile of him. We'll deal with this as a team."

"Colonel, it's not up to you to decide his medical needs or treatment."

"Watch me," he smirked.

The next thing Jack knew he was stood by Daniel's side. Janet had put him in an isolated room, full of machines and monitors, his arm was a patchwork of drips. He was on a ventilator and he was catheterised and he looked a mess. Sam was still out of it in the infirmary, Teal'c standing guard until she came around. Janet had pumped her full of sedatives because she had become hysterical when she got home. She had been screaming for Daniel, desperate to hold him. Jack knew how she felt, he just wanted to rip all the tubes out and hold him in his arms. Lou Ferretti was being the best friend he knew how to be, deflecting questions, watching Jack's back. He brought him food and coffee, took over the watch when Jack needed to go to the bathroom. He stayed by the door as Jack talked to Daniel, not letting anyone hear the things he was saying to his lover. Lou was choked sometimes. Jack was never very demonstrative, but his words to the sick man were full of love.

"Jack, I hope you tell him that stuff when he's awake," he said one day.

Jack blinked back at him, "Lou, I tell him, most of it. I never said it to my wife, even when I meant it. I try to tell Jan, but somehow it's easier to tell him. Jeez, Lou, I'm completely fucked up. I never wanted this, never wanted any man. Neither did Danny, before you get the wrong idea. It just happened one day and we can't go back."

"You don't have to explain Jack, your friends understand." Yeah, thought Jack, and I've got the best friends.

Jack would only allow a small number of people anywhere near Daniel, the medical staff, Hammond, Lou and his team, at least when Sam woke up. She finally did the second morning and insisted on being taken to his bedside. She was battered and bruised, but otherwise okay. Teal'c took up his role of her protector, knowing that Daniel would want this. He accompanied her everywhere, never leaving her side, even standing outside the bathroom when she needed to go. He allowed the same small band to take care of her when he needed to have a break himself, but no one outside the group was allowed in. The SGC became a quiet place. Hammond still supervised the ongoing missions, emergencies happened, discoveries made, but there was no sense of relief or joy. There wouldn't be until Daniel was all right again. As soon as she was fit enough, Sam treated Daniel with the healing device, helping his physical injuries a lot, giving his battered body a chance to heal itself. The drips came down, one by one. First the blood plasma, then the antibiotics. He was left with the normal day to day life support ones in the end.

One day he started to come around, trying to cough. Jack shot up and yelled for Janet. Sam was in the room, asleep in the other chair. She ran to the infirmary and found a phone. Janet was home with Cassie, but when she got the phone call they both came to the SGC. The doctor on duty had come running in to Jack's call and helped Daniel, removing the ventilator. He was breathing on his own now but he fell back to sleep as soon as the tube had gone. Janet came in, Cassie by her side. Sam was holding one of Daniel's hands, calling to him, begging him to wake up again, Jack was holding his other hand, doing the same. He saw them come in and stood up, putting his arms out to them. They both hugged Jack, looking hard at him. He hadn't come home in two weeks, three days on the planet, eleven days at Daniel's side. They understood though, he would do that even before they got together.

"Jack?" Cassie called to him, falling into his arms and crying. "Mom says he'll be all right. He will, he has to."

"Of course, pumpkin, who else will help you pick your dresses?" he said through tears that were freely falling.

"Tol' you, hate shoppin'" a hoarse voice came from the bed.

"Daniel!" Cassie was elated.

His eyes opened slowly, but before he could be pulled about by Janet or hugged to death by Jack or Sam, Cassie pounced, planting a huge kiss on his cheek. Daniel swallowed, hoping to get some moisture into his mouth. He was so dry. He pointed to his lips, meaning give me a drink, but Cassie kissed him there instead. He giggled and shook his head.

"Water," he croaked, and Cassie blushed. She went to pull back but he caught her arm.

"Said I wouldn't leave you," he forced himself to say. Jack helped him sit up and he held the cup, gently placing the straw in his mouth.

"Hey, Danny, take it easy, you'll get sick," he chided as Daniel tried to take the whole lot in one go. Jack was trying to hide his overwhelming relief. Janet tried to shoo the others out of the room, but they wouldn't leave. Jack called to a passing airman. "Quick, go get Teal'c and see if Ferretti's on the base." The airman took off, running like his life depended on it. Within a few minutes, the two men and the General were crowding around the door.

Poor Daniel felt overwhelmed. He didn't mind the visitors, they were his family, but there were so many of them. He pulled Jack close and whispered in his ear. Jack nodded and squeezed his hand.

"Everybody out," he said, "except Jan and Sam, don't worry, we can come back later, in smaller numbers."

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief, he was afraid that Jack wouldn't want to be anywhere near him, but he seemed the same as normal.

Janet did her work, checking up on him as quickly as possible.

"Daniel, you scared the living daylights out of us," she scolded. "Why is it always you?"

"They didn't fancy Jack or Teal'c, obviously," he laughed, shocking the girls with his gallows humour.

"Daniel, they didn't want you either to start with." Sam was furious with him. She could have taken care of herself.

Daniel's heart sank and tears came to his eyes. He blinked them back, swallowing, trying to hide his heartbreak.

"Of course they wouldn't want me Sam. Why should they? I suppose that's it, then, is it?" he tried to remain calm, but he was shaking.

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

"You don't want me anymore. 'Sokay, Sam, I wouldn't want me anymore. You should find yourself someone who could put up a better fight. I'm sorry, I've offended you haven't I? I didn't mean to Angel. I needed to protect you. I should have known you'd be more successful at looking after yourself than I could. Hell, you'd probably have fought them off and rescued the three of us. I mean, what was I thinking? I'll bet that Jack is thinking the same thing." A hint of hysteria was in his voice, Janet considered sedating him, but she thought this had to be sorted now.

"How dare you say that!" Sam was livid. "How dare you make my mind up for me. Damn you Daniel, I've just spent the best part of the last two weeks sat here, worried sick about you and you think so little of me that you think I want to dump you? How dare you!" She was stomping around the room, looking for something to throw.

Daniel was trying to tell her he was sorry, but she was really mad. In the end Janet yelled at them, told them to kiss and make up and make it fast. Sam saw the tears that had escaped down Daniel's cheeks and she sat on the bed, holding him to her closely. Both of them were crying now.

"You scared me, Danny, I thought I was going to lose you. I know why you did it, I know what happened to you. I love you, Danny, I love you so much."

"You do? Really?" he was surprised. "I thought you'd hate me now. All the time they were attacking me, what hurt most was knowing that you and Jack would hate me. Oh God, Angel, Jack. He's never going to want me again, is he?"

"Daniel, why do you have such a low opinion of yourself?" It was Janet now, hoping to bring some sense to him. "I've only seen Jack here for the last fortnight. He hasn't left your side, except to go to the bathroom and have the odd shower. He's eaten here, he's slept here. You are a silly goose, Daniel Jackson, if you think that they don't love you anymore. Hell, I love you, Cassie loves you, I'll bet Teal'c loves you in his own way. Did you know that the General and Lou Ferretti have been here too? Others came to visit, but they were driven away by Lou, he didn't want anyone to find out about you and Jack."

"Lou knows?"

"Yes Daniel, he was there when Jack and Teal'c found you. It was his gun you used."

"Used for what?"

Janet swallowed, oh shit, he'd be better off not remembering that. "To fight your way out, Daniel. Don't you remember? You even walked back to the gate, and you dialled home. Jack was so proud of you. Dr Warner told him off for letting you walk, but he told him. He said "my friend wanted to walk so he walked," or words to that effect."

Daniel blinked at her. Jack was proud of him? He never said that. He scowled. "Jack's not proud of me. Look at me, Janet, I'm the eternal victim. No, he can't be."

"I can't be what?" Jack was back at the door, Lou stood behind him. He'd heard most things, but he wasn't letting on what.

Daniel just muttered something.

Janet spoke. "Proud of him, Jack. Daniel doesn't think that you could be proud of him."

"Says who?" Jack was doing his grumpy soldier routine now. Janet and Sam kissed Daniel's cheeks and they left, closing the door behind them. "Who Daniel? Who's been saying I can't be proud of you?"

"No one Jack," Daniel's newly liberated arms were now folded across his chest. "Jack, you don't have to stick around, you know. Hey, I'm soiled goods now. It'd be better if you just stuck with Janet."

"Better for who, Daniel? Better for me or better for you? Say it Daniel. You tell me, you look in my eyes and tell me that you don't love me, tell me that you don't need me anymore and I'll go. Don't you lie to me, though, you can't lie to me, I know when you are lying." Jack was right up next to him now, they were virtually nose to nose. Daniel didn't answer, he couldn't. He wanted to tell Jack to go, to leave him, but he couldn't. He needed him, it didn't matter that he loved him, he could live without love. He needed Jack. He needed him to hold him at night, to tell him that everything was going to be okay. Daniel's head dropped, he started to cry again, this was all too much. Jack took his jacket off and draped it over the camera trained on Daniel's bed. Then he called to Lou. "Stand guard for a minute, please" and the Major did guard duty willingly outside the door. He grinned to himself as he caught in the corner of his eye, his favourite Colonel holding his favourite archaeologist tightly in his arms. He sniggered when he saw Jack stroking Daniel's head and kissing his face. He wasn't laughing at them, he was just happy that they had found each other again.

A couple of days later, Daniel was still stuck in the infirmary. Normally he'd have been moved back in to the main room, but Janet felt that he would appreciate the peace and quiet. Sam was there a lot, as was Jack. Nyan was now allowed in to bring him work so he was starting to feel a lot better. He was having terrifying nightmares though, so Jack decided it was time for him to go home. As Jack was off "persuading" Janet to let him take him home, the wormhole opened and out came Jacob and Freya. They asked to see Daniel, much to everyone's surprise. Sam had tried to contact Jacob when Daniel was battling for his life, but he was nowhere that he could be contacted. And if Freya was there, then the news usually wasn't good. Sam was torn between being happy to see her father and wanting to beat the woman to a pulp. Not that she would, of course....

Sam was called to meet her father in the gate room.

"Sammy, hey, how's my little girl?" he called to her as she walked in.

"Fine now," she said, trying to sound cheerful but her whole demeanour gave her away.

"Sam, what's wrong honey? Where's Daniel?"

"Daniel is in the infirmary." Her words were clipped. Her father had been away for so long that he didn't know about her and Daniel.

"What has he done this time?" asked her father, a sigh in his voice. Anise/Freya said nothing, just listening in to the familial exchange.

"He got nearly beaten to death so I wouldn't be gang raped." Her voice was cold, steady, but the enormity of what happened to him was suddenly hitting home again. Jacob saw her start to crumble and grabbed hold of her. She guided him to Daniel before she started to cry.

Before they went in he asked if she had used the device. She told him that she had done all she could, most of his bruises had gone. He wanted to know whether he should try. She pulled him close. "Dad, his worst injuries are in his head. He wasn't just beaten."

"They raped him too?" She nodded. "How many?" She was horrified. "Does it matter? It was a gang of soldiers - we were on a mission. That's all that matters," her voice was no louder than a whisper but it cut Jacob to his heart.

She regained her composure. Jack was trying to make Daniel laugh. As she walked in he was saying, "and if you don't behave I'll tell Sammy about how you like to,....Jacob! How nice to see you!" Daniel tried not to smirk, Jack nearly dropped himself in it then. Jack greeted the Tok'ra, excused himself and left.

Sam walked over to Daniel, "what do you like Daniel?" she asked, nearly purring at him.

"Tell you later," he said with a wink, though his stomach was starting to lurch at the thought of sex with either of his lovers. "Jacob, Selmac, nice to see you. I see you've brought Freya and Anise. If I'd known I was having such illustrious company I'd have got dressed."

"Hiya Daniel. How long you in for?" Jacob pretended not to know anything, trying to make it easy on him.

"Hopefully, I'll be out today. The Doc tends to freak if I stay too long."

"That's great. Did I see you making plans with my Sammy?"

"Oh, didn't she tell you? Sam?" Daniel looked at her, begging her to be the one to tell him

Sam wormed her way to Daniel's bed and sat on it. "I haven't seen you for quite a while, have I?" she said "well, Daniel and I have moved in together, Dad."

"You mean you are living together, as in a couple, as in unmarried and living in sin," Jacob's face was stern but his eyes were twinkling. Freya was confused. Living in sin? No wonder Colonel O'Neill reacted so badly to her. These Tauri customs were strange indeed.

"Oh yeah," said Daniel, thinking "you don't know the half of it."

Jacob was surprised by the news, but he wasn't unhappy. He would have been if she had said she was moving in with Jack, that could have ruined her career, but Daniel? Hey, he was a good kid, and he put himself through a lot, a hell of a lot to save his Sammy. Yeah, he was happy with it all right.

"Yeah, well, you take care of her for me, you hear?" the words slipped out before he even thought them and he could kick himself. Daniel's happy face was replaced by a brick wall, his calm, practised mask descending in the blink of an eye.

"Of course I will," he said, his voice sounded like an automaton. Inside he was thinking, yeah sure I will, you didn't see her hanging against the wall as they ripped her clothes and beat her. Look how good I was at looking after her then. He felt Sam's hand in his, squeezing it tight.

"Daniel takes great care of me, Dad. No one has ever been so good to me. We've bought a house next door to the Colonel and Janet."

Jacob sat down with a bump. He had been away too long. Selmac took over,

Samantha, Daniel, I hope you will both be very happy together.

"Thanks Selmac," replied Daniel, then he got his quizzical look. "Selmac, if I'm not being rude, why are you and Anise here? I can't believe you are here for a hospital visit."

Freya stepped forward, Anise speaking.

Doctor Jackson, do you remember the last time we met, it was after you got back from your extended stay on that volcanic planet.

"Of course."

Well, one of the things you said was you wished there was some technology that enabled us to right gates that have fallen, to return them to their upright position. Freya and I have been working on such a device. We believe that it is a useful idea. It is ready for testing and we were wondering, as you gave us the idea, if you would like us to attempt to right the gate on that planet. I believe, however, that Selmac and Jacob are just using this as an excuse to visit Earth.

"You're not wrong Anise," chuckled Jacob.

Daniel sat wide-eyed. The suggestion had been flippant. "If the Tok'ra are so clever how come they can't right fallen gates?" he'd said, not expecting Anise to take up the challenge.

Doctor Jackson. Are you all right?

Daniel was so astounded that he had forgotten to answer. "Oh, yes, sorry. You've made a device. Wow, that's incredible. Look, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I'd like to ask Colonel O'Neill his thoughts before we try it. Stuff happened there. He may not be too happy to go back, if you get my drift."

"Daniel, good stuff happened there. Why wouldn't he be happy?" Sam was confused.

"Later," he said, he wouldn't talk in front of the others.

"Okay," replied Sam, "I'll go get him. Dad, Freya, would you like to come and get some refreshment?" Jacob understood that Daniel needed to talk to Jack about this, why, he didn't know, but something heavy had gone down on that planet. Sam picked up a phone in the infirmary and called Jack's office. He wasn't there. She tried Daniel's. Yep, knew he would be there.

"Colonel, could you go and see Daniel please. He needs to ask you something. ......Thanks."

She took the Tok'ra pair to the commissary, meeting Teal'c on the way. Jacob butted in, "Hi Teal'c. Could you do me a favour and escort Anise to the mess hall, please, I need to talk to Sam. You know, father-daughter stuff." Teal'c bowed and walked with Anise. Jacob hijacked Sam and took her to her lab, locking the door as they went in.

"Whatever wasn't being said back there obviously needs to be said." His voice was insistent. "What happened between them, Sam?"

"Dad, I can't tell you, I wish I could, but I can't. All you need to know is they are still friends, close like never before. Daniel loves me, we're trying for a baby, he keeps nagging me to marry him. I will, not yet, but I will. Still got a problem with commitment. But just don't be surprised to see Jack and Daniel."

"Jack and Daniel what, honey?"

"Just Jack and Daniel. Dad, they spent five months not seeing anyone else. They got so used to each other's company that they hate being apart from each other, okay? Since this attack, about which Jack knows a hell of a lot more than I do, he won't tell me everything, they've got closer. Daniel thought that Jack would hate him for being a willing victim, but he told them to use him instead of me. Daniel would rather die than allow me to be hurt, Dad. In the end that's all that matters."

"Are they lovers?" Oh boy, Jacob certainly knew how to throw her for a loop. She wouldn't answer, she couldn't look him in the eye. He comforted her. "You knew? Don't answer that, I know you won't admit anything here. Look Sammy, I've seen it happen. I know Jack is no more homosexual than I am, I'm guessing the same goes for Daniel, mind that long hair of his doesn't help his macho image, you know. I understand, okay, I'm not happy about it, in fact part of me wants to go and beat the crap out of them if I'm honest, but I won't judge them. I know them both to be good men and that is all that matters. You say Daniel loves you. His actions prove that a hundred fold. Most men would have just left it and tried to deal with the fallout. So, don't worry, I'm not going to say anything, I won't wreck Jack's career, I won't have a go at Daniel. Sweetheart, I've always hated your boyfriends, but not Daniel. He's a good man and I like him a lot." She flung herself into her father's arms. She had been so afraid that he would go mad.

Inside though, Jacob was feeling sick. He knew that his reaction was because of his military mind, his ingrained prejudices. Part of him, a tiny part of his mind was screaming at him, a fucking faggot was sleeping with his daughter, but the rest of him yelled at it to shut up. Sammy was upset enough, no need for her to suffer anymore because of his narrow mind, he told himself.

*Jacob, your mind is not so narrow any more. Your reaction is understandable, however, I am very proud of you and your restraint. You know that Daniel is the best man that she could be with, you really do know that. You also know that there are few men alive, anywhere, who would have volunteered to protect her like this.

'Perhaps he enjoys it.' Jacob's little spiteful side spat out.

That does not even merit a reply.*

Great, thought Jacob, I didn't really want to think that and now Selmac's pissed with me. Oh boy, I have some serious boot licking to do.

Selmac heard that last thought, not replying to him, but chuckling to herself. She would make him pay for that one, just to teach him a lesson.

Jack got to Daniel's room really quickly.

"Hi Danny," he said, bouncing across the room.

"Jack," acknowledged Daniel, shaking his head in disbelief. How could such a grown man be such a kid? "And you called me Tigger?"

He landed on Daniel's bed, put his head close enough to whisper to him.

"You wanted to see me, Muppet?" his eyes twinkled and he licked his bottom lip, then held it in his teeth.

Daniel punched him. "Oh yeah, Jack, my arse is still so sore I can't sit down, you really think I want that?" Jack just sniggered and ruffled his hair. "Listen Jack, Anise has built a device that may be able to right the gate on "S'n'G". I told her we should ask you before we try it."

"Why?"

"Well, we left loads of stuff there, if you remember, stuff that could ruin your career for one. Not to mention, you may not want to be reminded of where this all started," he added quietly.

"Danny, you don't think I'm ashamed of us, do you? I'm not, Muppet, not at all. Yeah, my career's down the pan if anyone finds the sleeping bags," he giggled, "but you still don't get it do you? I'd give it all up before I give you up. Don't you worry about a thing, Daniel. Leave it all to me." He had an idea and he was going off to implement it. He looked up at the camera, it was off, good, he shut the door, drew the curtain over the window in it, walked back and planted a kiss on Daniel's surprised face. "Mmmm, yeah, leave it all to me." Then he left.

Later on, Janet came to see him. "Daniel, you can go home now. I'd tell you to get lots of rest, yadda yadda, but I know you. Sam and Jack are going to take care of you whether you like it or not. You are going to take it. They need to do this. Jack has been freaking out at everyone, he feels so guilty about all this. Not just because it was you, Daniel, but because he was in charge and one of his team got hurt badly. You know Jack, he'd feel as bad if it happened to Teal'c or Sam. So you'll be looked after, it's as much for them as for you. And don't forget, I live next door now," her eyes twinkled as she threatened him, "any bad behaviour and you'll be moving back in here faster than a redneck out of a gay club."

Daniel laughed at the image conjured in his mind at that one. He pulled her into a hug, thanking her for the good care she had taken of him.

"Don't get too comfortable, Janet," Jack's voice came form the doorway.

She kissed Daniel's cheek and winked, and without a word walked passed Jack. He jumped a mile when she pinched his backside as she went.

"Come on Daniel, let's get something to eat. We've got plans to make." Jack shut the door and helped Daniel get dressed. He was still very sore, but nothing he couldn't handle. Jack was in full mother-hen mode though. He fussed around him till the warning signs in Daniel's eyes told him to back off. He raised his hands in surrender and they left the room.

When they entered the mess hall, it went silent. Teal'c and Anise had long gone, in fact there were no real "friendlies" in there to sit with. Sure, nobody in there could normally be considered an enemy, and Daniel had a soft spot for Mrs. Ramirez, who was behind the counter. She was in her fifties, a big, bustling, motherly type, who liked to fuss over her charges - they being anyone who was on the base at the time, and especially a very cute, extremely polite young archaeologist.

"Doctor Jackson!" she exclaimed, "it is so good to see you again. Look at you, you've lost a lot of weight. Here, I have some of your favourite chocolate cake and a fresh mug of coffee for you. Don't they feed you in the infirmary?"

"Thanks Mrs. Ramirez, it's good to be back. Especially when I get such a tasty welcome." He gave her his heart stopping smile and leaned over the counter and kissed her cheek. She blushed and giggled like a teenager, making Daniel chuckle to himself. Then with a wink he left to join Jack at a table. As he went passed a group of soldiers his heart nearly stopped. One of them looked a lot like one of the bastards that raped him. He heard some comment as he went passed, something like, "bet he enjoyed it," then a mumble, "sure, course he's queer." It was all Daniel could do not to either hit the guy or flee. He chose to ignore him, holding his head high he continued to where Jack was sitting.

Jack could see it in his eyes. He was upset about something.

"Danny, what's up?" he asked very quietly.

"Nothing Jack, it's okay. Just don't like being in such a crowded room." Jack bought that, for a moment.

"Do you want to go?"

"No, I'm going to eat my cake and drink my coffee. Then we can make whatever plans it was you had in mind."

"Good for you," encouraged Jack. He still had his suspicions but he let the subject drop. He would push him when they were alone.

Somehow Daniel managed to eat the cake and drink his coffee without drawing any more attention to himself. He could feel the soldier's eyes burning into the back of his neck though. Jack looked up and saw the soldier studying Daniel. He was going to ask if he had said anything, but he knew that it would upset Daniel. What to do? He'd have to keep an eye on this or it was going to get out of hand.

"So Jack, what's the plan?" asked Daniel, trying to keep things as normal as possible.

"In your office, we'll talk there," muttered Jack, now finding it really hard to think of anything except hurting someone. Daniel had denied him revenge against his attackers, not that he objected to Daniel's little bit of closure, but God, how he wanted to hurt someone bad.

"Jack? You with me? And he says I'm the flaky one," said Daniel with a grin.

Jack shook himself, "What?"

"You were miles away, Jack, and if you squeeze that mug any harder it's going to shatter." Jack looked down and saw his knuckles had turned white with rage. Damn, he wasn't dealing with this very well. Too many bad memories were resurfacing, memories he had managed to more or less suppress.

"Come on Jack, we need to go," Daniel's voice cut through to him, though it was no more than a whisper. He nodded and they stood up to leave. As they walked passed the soldiers they heard, "Colonel!" as an acknowledgement and then, "Doctor," his title given with a sneer, another voice adding "faggot" quietly. The soldier hadn't thought that Daniel had heard that. He had, he stopped, Jack turned just knowing that there was going to be trouble. Part of him wanted to grab him and run, but like on the planet, he knew that this had to happen.

Daniel did the thing that he always did when he was about to lose it and Jack felt cold. He turned to the soldier, his movement slow, silent and graceful. He pushed his glasses up his nose, some of the other soldiers felt the trouble coming and were about to say something. Daniel put his finger to his lips to hush them and fixed the mouthy one with his steely stare.

"I'm sorry," he started, his voice calm, icy, "what did you say?" The soldier stood up and tried to match Daniel's height and failed. Because Daniel hung around with Teal'c and Jack, not to mention he had a tendency to slouch, people actually forgot how tall he was. And the 5' 9" soldier dipped out in the height stakes next to the 6' archaeologist. Another thing people actually forgot was quite what Daniel was. A field archaeologist needs to have well developed arm muscles, not to mention back and thigh muscles because of the digging. Often many feet of earth have to be manually removed before the delicate stuff was arrived at. Daniel had shifted many tons of earth in his time. Daniel had also been working out, a lot, and was a hell of a lot stronger than people credited him. Okay, he reasoned quickly, he was now seriously out of shape, but he was mad as hell.

The soldier made the mistake of repeating the insult, adding, "yeah, bet you really did enjoy it didn't you?" Daniel said nothing, but he snapped. Jack was about to step in, he knew, making things worse all around. Not to mention that this sort of moron was the sort Daniel's gay friends at the base had to endure.

The soldier picked himself up off the floor, eventually. No one would do it for him. Everyone else cleared the way as Daniel walked out of the mess, his head held high, his fist hurting like hell. Jack followed him, saying nothing. He knew that the soldier hadn't got it in him to press charges, and the fierce look that Jack had shot around the room ensured everyone else's temporary amnesia.

They entered Daniel's office and Jack shut the door behind them.

"How did they find out, Jack?" he asked, his voice calm. He picked up some of his work and tried to look at it, but nothing was sticking in his mind.

"I have no idea, Daniel. Only Teal'c, me and Ferretti were in the room, and you know there is no way in hell any of us talked. There's no way the medical staff talked, either. They know all about confidentiality. I'm guessing that SG-6 figured something out. Maybe one of them said something. I'll find out."

"Leave it Jack, it's too late now. It's all around the base. You can just imagine it, can't you. SG-1's queer geek got himself raped again. This time he wasn't so lucky, it wasn't by a woman. Shit Jack, I had gotten over her, you know. I managed to hate her, despise her for what she did. It took me years, but I got over it. Now I've got to do it all over again." The tears that had threatened him earlier were now once again trying to come out. Jack picked him up and put his arms around him.

"Daniel, last time, you and I got over it, remember? She tried to turn me into a fucking Jaffa. We got through that, we'll get through this. We can get through this Muppet, I promise we will. Now listen to me, do you trust me?"

He picked up Daniel's down turned face, one finger resting against his chin and turning it up so that their eyes locked.

"What sort of question is that, Bart?"

"Answer me, Danny. Do you trust me?"

"Completely."

"Good, then just accept what I do, I won't steer you wrong. Okay? You have to trust that I know what I'm doing here. Oh, and by the way, I am so proud of you and the way you handled that prick. He soooo had that coming to him. You did good, Dr J., you did real good."

Daniel nodded, grinning slightly, he'd let Jack guide him on this one, mainly because he had no idea how he would cope otherwise. Jack bent his head and they kissed, gently, sweetly. Daniel pulled him tightly and returned his kiss passionately, feverishly, needing the contact. The kiss broke, both men were very aroused now and Jack grinned.

"Hey, Muppet, I'm going to have to stay in here for a few minutes, thinking nothing, mind. Much as I would give anything to clear your desk and fuck you senseless on it right now, I really think it would be a bad idea. You go home as soon as the gate's been lifted, get Sam to take you. Spend the night with her, Love, then tomorrow, we'll talk." Daniel sniggered at the image, yeah, it probably wasn't a good idea, no matter how tempting, though he had to hide how ill he felt. He just brushed his lips against Jack's and let go of him.

The men walked side by side to the gate room, chatting as they would do normally. No one would've guessed just how close they had come to "fraternising" on base. As they entered, the gate was open, Anise and Jacob stood on the ramp, getting ready to send her device through.

Ah, Colonel, Doctor, her vibrating voice cut through the room. I'm glad that you could join us. I believe the Tauri phrase is "keep your fingers crossed." We are about to try. Be warned, this is just a trial, it may not work.

Daniel smiled at her. "Anise, I'm honoured that you have made such an incredible effort at my suggestion. In fact, I am very grateful that you have tried. Whether or not it is successful, thank you for trying."

She returned his smile, and graciously answered, you are most welcome, Doctor Jackson. I must admit to enjoying the challenge you set me. Perhaps, if this works, you will think of some more.

He beamed at her, the Jackson charm was working overtime on her and she shyly turned back to her device. Jack was astounded. Sure, he had seen loads of people go weak at the knees when Daniel smiled, him included, but Anise? It didn't bear thinking about.

The device went through the gate and they waited until she got a response on a control that she held in her hand. A blue light shone, indicating successful delivery of the device. She swallowed, hoping that this was going to work. The initial sending of the device had just basically been shooting it through, like a UAV, but at a slight downward angle, with the intention of it landing on the ground in front of the gate. The next step was again simple in concept. The gate-righting device (which quickly became known as a GRD) would bury itself in the ground, a prong getting underneath the front edge of the gate and pushing it backwards, while two cables would be fired, one to the top left, the other to the top right in a sort of ten to two position, latch themselves on and they would pull. The tensile strength of the cables was itself enough to make a bridge builder weep, and the pushing prong was made of pure naquada, incredibly strong. It was worth the expenditure though. There was enough naqada on S'n'G to last for many years, for both the Tok'ra and the Tauri. Anise activated the GRD and waited. She paced up and down, never removing her eyes from the blue light. Jack started drumming his fingers, Daniel ran his through his hair. Jack whispered, "stop that, Muppet, you're driving me nuts". Daniel had to refrain from giggling. Only Jack could think of sex at a time like this.

"Yes!" Freya's voice rang through the room. The light had gone purple. Now all they had to do was send through a probe and see if it worked.

Tomorrow said Anise. We need to see if it settles into position after being shut down. There is no need to waste a probe if tomorrow it has fallen back down.

"Yes, good thinking Anise," replied Daniel, leaving Jack silently fuming. He had so wanted to know right now. Daniel put out a hand to Anise/Freya, smiling as he did it.

"Congratulations are in order anyway. You got as far as you had hoped on the first day. Now all we need to do is hope and pray that it works. Good work, er, ladies. You may save people's life with this device in future."

Then he walked out, the Tok'ra shocked and Jack bewildered. The Tok'ra shocked, because Anise was never their favourite to say the least, and here was Daniel being as nice as pie to her, even flirting a little. Jack was bewildered at how calm he was, because he knew that inside Daniel was virtually a broken man. He was keeping such a brave face that others around him were already beginning to forget how close they came to losing him. It was just a matter of time and Jack knew that he had to get Daniel away from everyone and everything for when the dam broke. All hell would be let loose, he knew from personal experience, and it wouldn't be pretty. The last thing Jack wanted was for Daniel to add embarrassment from when he broke down to the list of things he was already (undeservedly) ashamed about. Poor Daniel was such a private man, Jack knew that if he had the breakdown, that he could see was building, here, he would probably kill himself. Jack knew, he had been there himself, far too often. Shaking his head he wandered after Daniel, never really losing sight of him, but giving him the space he so desperately craved.

He watched as Daniel strolled down the corridor, Jack's heart nearly stopping when the same bunch of soldiers from the mess hall (minus the big mouth) turned the corner and approached him. Jack quickened his stride, but still hung back, wanting to allow Daniel to deal with this on his own. As he continued walking he heard "OK Dr J?" "Afternoon Sir" and other very polite phrases. Daniel inclined his head, gave a small smile returning with a "gentlemen," in a greeting of his own. The soldiers carried on, Jack keeping out of sight he heard, "he's all right, that Doctor Jackson, real polite like," from one of them, and murmurs of agreement from the others. It was all Jack could do not to laugh out loud. Jack popped into Sam's lab, quickly giving her a rundown of what had happened in the mess and corridor, so she would know what to expect when she got home.

She had watched the experiment from the control room, quickly going back to her lab when she saw that it had probably been a success. She knew what Jack's plan was, and she wasn't overly happy with it.

"Jack, what if the lava flow starts up again. We only got you back a couple of months ago, and Danny shouldn't be stranded again."

"Sam, don't you worry. The chances that it'll happen again so soon are small, apparently. Now, we need to set up some scientific instruments there, the Tok'ra are going to look into moving the gate somewhere safer and nearer the naquada, and Daniel needs to get away. I know that you want to come too, but I think that Daniel will more likely tell me stuff than you. He doesn't want to upset you. I've been there, Sam, I know what he's gone through. And if you tell anyone that I'll go berserk, by the way. I can help him."

"Don't you think I can?" she was shocked by Jack's admission, but she still wanted to wrap Daniel up in her arms and make things better.

"Sam, by doing what you are doing, you really are helping him. You may not think so, but trust me on this one. You know that I would never do anything that could harm him, you or your relationship, don't you? I never told Sara, no matter how much I wanted to. I was so ashamed, I wanted to die. I knew that it wasn't my fault, but it didn't make it any better. Daniel's been through too much self-inflicted guilt already. Just support him as you are doing, Sam, be his strength. Let me be his punch bag, because that could be what is going to happen. If he hit out at you he would never forgive himself, he'd probably kill himself. He's hit me loads of times, hell, I've hit him. We're okay with that. Ah, ah, ah," he said as she was about to interrupt. "I know you can handle yourself in a fight. This is nothing to do with him hitting a woman, Sam, and everything to do with him not wanting to hit you. Please try to understand. Now, best thing you can do is find him and take him home. He's been away too long."

Sam gave up, knowing that trying to argue with either Jack or Daniel was usually putting herself onto a hiding to nothing. She left her room and went in search of her errant boyfriend. She found him, surprise, surprise, in his office, chatting to her father. The conversation was formal, polite, but there was none of its usual warmth. Damn, she thought, Dad lied about being okay with this. She forced a smile on her face.

"Hi Dad. I'm just coming to pick Daniel up. Come on Dan, let's get you out of here," she said, putting her hand out to him. He smiled at her and took it.

"Okay, I could so with a soak in a bath, the base's showers aren't quite the same. Goodbye Jacob and you Selmac, it's been nice seeing you again." You could cut his voice with an axe, it was that hard. If he had been British, his accent would have been one of those polished upper class ones, trained never to give anything away.

Sam kissed her Dad on the cheek, still trying to hide the hurt, and then they left.

"God Sam, it is so good to be home," he said as they walked through their door. He pulled her close to him, kissing her fiercely. "After I have my bath, and we have something to eat, I am going to show you just how much I have missed you," he said seductively.

"Daniel, you talk to me like that and you won't get as far as your bath," she replied, her eyes twinkling. Her mind was racing, was this too soon for him? Should they even talk like this? Jack had told her to take her cues from Daniel though, so she played up to him.

"Would you like me to scrub your back?" she said, undoing his shirt buttons one at a time.

He moaned to her touch. "Oh, Sammy, Angel, if you come up with me you are right, I'll never even get in it. And I really need a bath. Later, baby, I promise, I'll make it up to you." He kissed her again, tasting her sweet lips, holding her closely, afraid for the moment that if he let her go she would slip away for good.

He went up to his bath, she did follow him, acting matter-of-factly around him. As he lay in the water she came and sat in the room, and they talked about lots of things, but Daniel didn't bring up his attack. Instead he asked what they had done to her.

"They just punched me a bit, Daniel, they didn't do anything else. I've got worse bruises in basic training," she lied about that, but as he hadn't seen the bruises at their worst he couldn't argue. "I was far more upset about you. I kept wondering why you did it. Then I realised all the different things you'd say if I asked you. About me not getting pregnant, because you didn't want me to get hurt, all those things. It was funny, it actually took me a few days to realise the real reason, the main one." She said nothing more, waiting for him to speak. He knew that she was expecting an answer.

"I love you," he said. There was nothing more that he could say. Three little words that mean so much.

"I know," she replied, the meaning implicit - I believe you, I believe in you, I trust you, I love you too.

He nodded and held out his hand to her, and she took it, silent tears flowing down her face.

"Thank you Daniel," she croaked out. Oh God, that sounded so pathetic, she thought, but he smiled at her through his own tears.

"'Sokay, I'd do it again in a heartbeat," he whispered.

"I know, and that's what scares me," her voice as quiet as his. She could no longer hold back her sobs and she ran out of the bathroom, flinging herself onto the bed, baring her soul to her pillow.

"Shit," said Daniel, he had really hoped she wouldn't bring it up. He drained the water, wrapped a towel around his waist and padded out to their room. He sat next to her, stroking her back, murmuring gentle words of comfort to her. Eventually she got herself back under control and sat up, flinging her arms around him, getting a hiss from his discomfort. He really was still quite store.

"Sorry, Daniel, I didn't mean to hurt you," she apologised.

"Sam, look at me," he ordered, she looked up, blue eyes meeting blue. "I. Love. You." he said, punctuating every word with a kiss. "You didn't hurt me, those bastards did. I'm dealing with it. If I know Jack he has a plan to get me to spill all the lurid details, and he'll probably get them, interspersed with punches aimed at his face when he gets me mad enough to talk, I don't want to hit him though so I'll try not to. Don't be surprised, Sam, I have known Jack and his tactics for a long time. It's something we do. The reason I don't want to tell you everything is because at the moment I don't want to face it myself, yet. I suppose I want to spare you the more gory details too. Tell you the truth I don't remember it all. I was so scared that I would lose you and Jack, that was what hurt me most. Then when you told me that we were okay, that you wouldn't leave me, and Jack said the same thing, then it wasn't so bad, you know." He pulled her into a deep embrace, kissing her gently, leaving butterfly traces on her jaw, moving up to her ear.

She turned the tables on him, pushing him delicately onto the bed. Her mind was made up, she would make love to him, but so tenderly, so softly, that he could not confuse it with the brutality of his rape. She removed her clothes, slowly stripping for him, her swaying movements hypnotising him. It was having the desired effect, she could see his towel twitching as he became aroused but all he could see was her. When she was finally undressed, she climbed onto the bed, straddling him, but not laying on his battered body. The healing device had helped a lot, but he was still very bruised. She planted exquisite kisses on his chest, lovingly licking the marks left on it, not leaving any point of his torso unkissed. Then she removed his towel, and carried on with her dainty torture down his stomach. He so wanted to grab her and just take her there and then, but he was aware of what she was doing, and why, and he was touched by her kindness. When she took him in her mouth it was all he could do to hold on, thinking of anything except her erotic actions.

"Sammy, come back up, please," he begged, and she complied, slowly licking a trail back up his abdomen and all the way to his throat. She captured the tight skin in her lips as his head jerked backwards, and she felt his hands touch her for the first time, stroking her breasts, feeling their way down her body. As their mouths entwined, his fingers found her other lips, pushing them apart and feeling their way inside her. He gently massaged her, inside and out, waiting until she was breathing heavily before asking her to carry on. "Now, Angel, I want you now," he pleaded. She looked him in the eye, grinned and grasped his prick, placing it at her entrance before pushing slowly down on him. It took her several thrusts before he was completely inside, she was taking her time with this, not wanting there to be any harshness, or any sudden movements. She didn't want to do the wrong thing, she didn't want any bad memories to resurface now. Not just yet.

"Oh God, Sam, you are incredible," he managed to blurt out, as she tightened her muscles, pulling him in as far as she could. Her hands ran down his chest, tickling him as she arched her back. He drew his legs up, bent at the knees to stop her from falling too far back. He watched her as she touched herself, running her hands over her breasts, her head bent right back, her mouth open. One hand slid down her neat stomach and found her clit. She rubbed her fingertips over it, and he felt the hand movements. It was an amazing feeling for him, watching her masturbate while he was inside her. He propped himself up on his elbows to get a better view as she moved her body in time to her hand. The movements got faster and faster, her breathing more erratic. He had to lay down so that he could hold her thighs to stop her falling off him. She had hardly moved on him, there were very few thrusts, but he was hard pushed to hold on, she was really turning him on. As she climaxed she let out a wail, prompting him to pull her down to his chest, and grabbing her hips he moved her up and down until he too let go. She rolled off his chest quickly, seeing a look of pain settling over his face.

"That's why I stayed off you," she laughed, "it will teach you to be so impatient."

"You are a witch," he said, kissing her face all over as he did, "you do that and expect me to be patient? I love you Sam, you are absolutely amazing." He sniggered to himself.

"Daniel? What's up?" she asked.

"Did you hear about the mess hall today?"

"Yeah, Jack told me. I'm so proud of you for standing up to that jerk, you know, but you could have got into a lot of trouble. If he complains....."

"Sam, if he complains then Hammond will make sure he goes down with me. Harassment is illegal you know. Besides, I was just thinking, if he saw us tonight he'd never think I was gay again." She agreed with him on that one.

Daniel let out a huge sigh, "Sam. I'm really confused, why am I so crazy about Jack? You know me, you know I have never chased after a guy in my life. And all you have to do is walk into a room and I feel horny. So..."

"So why does Jack make you feel so damn horny too?"

"Yeah," he groaned.

"Perhaps it's a power thing?"

"Nah, definitely not that. I love the guy, I have done for years, we're best friends for crying out loud."

"You even talk like him," she teased, making him smile.

"Much as I didn't want to admit it to myself, I thought that when we came back, it would just fade out. You know, one day, that was assuming that you wanted us."

"That was never in doubt," she said planting a kiss on his nose.

He pulled her closer, trying not to show her how much it physically hurt.

"Remember that guys night we had just before the mission?"

"Course."

"We talked about whether we wanted to carry on like this."

"Oh. And?"

"I'm sorry Sam, I'm really very sorry, but I can't keep my hands off either of you."

She hit him with a pillow over his head.

"Aaaaarrrrrrrggghhh! I thought that you were going to say it was over between us then."

"Ow! Split with you? Not a hope. You are mine, all mine."

"Just wish I could say the same about you, Dan." A look of guilt descended over his face, he was just too damn sensitive.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's okay, really it is. I know how you guys feel for each other. I think I'd be hurt if you two were just doing it for the sex thing, that would hurt a lot, but I know you two too well. You love each other so much. I don't suppose the sex side of things is so important between you now anyway, is it?"

"Not really, but I do miss him when he's not here, lying in my arms, just like you. Trouble is, when he is, I miss you. Can't win, can I? I go years not getting any, now I'm getting too much. Typical!" He pouted and sighed as he said it, making himself look irresistible.

"Daniel, you are an old queen, really."

"I am?"

"Oh yeah. You know something?"

"Lots of things, but what in particular?"

"Something I don't say often enough, I love you so much, Daniel Jackson. I should tell you every day. Remind me."

"I will, but don't worry, I know you do, and believe me that means so much to me. Just like I know he does too, he doesn't often say it. He'll tell other people that he loves me, but he rarely tells me. Doesn't matter though, cos I know he does. Anyway, I am hungry. Get up, wench and get me some food," he baited her, waiting for an annoyed reaction. Instead she got up, pulled some clothes on, wiggled her backside in front of him, which he duly patted, and said,

"What would my Lord like to eat?"

"My Lord? I think I like the sound of that. Anything, wench, just so long as it's quick and you don't cook it. I really am going to have to teach you how to cook, aren't I?" he groaned.

"Nah, just do it yourself."

0300 hours - that's the time the body is at it's lowest ebb. It was the time watched for in fever victims. If they got passed it then they usually recovered. At 0300, or 3 am to Daniel, he started to scream. The worst nightmare that he had had so far hit him like a speeding train. Sam woke with a start, not really knowing what to do. This was Jack's territory. She tried calling his name, stroking him, but he was caught in its grip and he was thrashing around the bed. She dived for the phone, calling next door.

Jack answered on the second ring.

"Jack!" her voice was filled with panic.

"I'm on my way," said Jack, just knowing what was happening. Janet woke.

"Danny's having a nightmare," he told her as he grabbed some sweat pants.

"See you at breakfast," she said to the departing figure. He grabbed his back door key for Daniel's house and was up in their bedroom in a minute. Sam watched in wonder as he touched Daniel's back, calling out to him, bringing him back from his despair quickly but calmly.

"How in hell do you do that, Jack?" she whispered, not wanting to wake the now quiet man up.

"Don't really know, Sam. I've got him through his nightmares since he came back from Abydos. He's the only one who can get through to me. Always has been. Even Sara couldn't. As soon as I started she would have to leave the room, I can get quite violent, like Danny. You did the right thing, you know. Don't try to wake him yourself, you'll end up with a black eye. I've been close to getting them from him myself. Come back to bed Sam, you lie on that side of him, I'll stay here. He won't have another one if we're both here." Jack was so calm, so cool, that she followed his direction without question. It was strange, cuddling up to Daniel, knowing that Jack was doing the same, but it felt okay too.

When Daniel woke up early the next morning, he found himself wrapped in the arms of the two people that he loved the most in the world and he felt safe, completely and utterly safe. He was facing Sam, who was facing him, her head buried in his chest. Jack's arms were around him, his head against Daniel's neck. Daniel groaned, this was a good feeling, but now he was paying for it. Jack woke, sensitive to Daniel's alertness, quickly followed by Sam.

"This is cosy," said Daniel.

"Mmmm," said Sam, not quite with it.

"Nightmare?" he asked.

"Doozy," came from behind him.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, it's okay," came from both sides.

"Guys, I think we'd better move, because you two are making me feel very, very horny. And if you don't stick that somewhere else, Jack, I might have to do something about it, and Sam probably wouldn't like that very much."

Jack just snuggled closer, so did Sam.

"Is this a conspiracy?" he asked. "Jack, much as I love you, I'm not ready for that yet, I'm really sorry."

"Daniel, don't be an ass, and don't be sorry. You never have to apologise to me, you know that. Remember, there's never anything to forgive between us. I'm not asking you to do anything, I promise. I just like holding you."

"Yeah, Daniel, and who says I'd mind? I might happen to like the idea," she was teasing him, and sounding so damn sexy that he just groaned again. He wriggled out of their arms, bent over and kissed Sam, slowly, gently and on the lips, then kissed Jack the same way, got up and headed for the bathroom.

He was feeling it though and he was as hard as nails, but there was no way he was up to having sex with either of them. Last night had been fantastic, but it was a distraction, nothing more. When Sam had gone to get some food prepared he had headed for the bathroom and thrown up, keeping that from her. Oh God, he was going to go through all that again, wasn't he? When Hathor had raped him, he had put on a brave face, bluffed his way through the psych evaluations, but he'd had terrible nightmares, some he managed to keep from Jack, and he had been sick for ages. The thought of the previous night made his stomach churn, how could she want to be with him after that. He had practically begged those guys to take him. She must have thought that he wanted them to. Next thing he knew he had his head stuck down the toilet, throwing up everything he had eaten the night before.

"Danny? Are you all right, Muppet?" Oh hell, Jack was there.

"Yeah, be out in a minute. Last time I sleep with you guys," he said, trying to make out he was doing something about his hard-on instead. Jack wasn't buying it for one moment.

"Daniel, open this door now or you'll have to buy a new one, cos I'll fucking break this one down. Now!"

Daniel crawled to the door, unlocked it and managed to drag himself away before Jack came charging in.

"Sam, get Janet," he shouted.

"No! I'm all right, honest Jack, I'm just a bit sick, that's all. I'm fine. Don't disturb her."

"Sam, do as I ask please, Daniel can't seem to tell the difference between a bit sick and throwing his guts up."

"Jack, don't interfere, please," Daniel begged, "I got through this before, I can do it again."

"Daniel, will you listen to yourself. This is not the first time this has happened to you. I remember the state you got in last time, I heard you throwing up, I heard your nightmares, hell, Daniel, I did as you asked last time, I'm not leaving you alone this time. Do you want to end up in Mental Health again?"

That was enough to send Daniel back to the toilet. "Oh God, no, please not there, not there, not that room again, please, oh God, oh please," he repeated to himself over and over and over till he became dizzy.

"Daniel? Jack, what's up? What's he saying?"

"This bit's my fault, I told him he'd end up in the nut house if he didn't accept our help this time." Jack shifted about guiltily. He really knew how to push Daniel's buttons, didn't he? Of all the people to say that to him it had to be him. Jack was the one that had made the first call that ended in his incarceration. He now lived in fear of being committed again, and hated taking any mood altering drugs as a result.

"Jack O'Neill. I thought you loved him, you are a damn fool." Janet scolded him, she was really cross. She had royally screwed up when she allowed Daniel to be taken away, and she knew how much he had a phobia about psychiatrists since. She had read every psych book she could after that, trying to become knowledgeable herself so as not to have to inflict them on Daniel. She sat on the floor next to him, stroking his back as he brought up some stomach lining. Damn, he had nothing left so he was throwing up blood. She sent Sam to bring her bag in, and Jack to go get some water. She routed through her bag and found some anti-nausea drugs, giving them to him straight away.

"You two, go next door. Make Cassandra some breakfast, feed the dog, do something, just leave us alone for a bit." Janet was in full Dr Frasier mode and they knew there was no arguing with her.

Muttering, "I don't think she wants us around," Jack and Sam retreated to the other house.

"They're gone Daniel, now, tell me what brought this on, or I will personally accompany you to the infirmary."

Daniel was as white as a sheet, but he had stopped heaving. She helped him up and escorted him to his bed, lying him down and sitting next to him, stroking his hair. All Daniel could think about was that he was glad he had worn his shorts to bed.

"I'm sorry, Jan, it's nothing really. It happened last time too. If I think about sex I throw up. It will pass."

"Did you and Jack try something this morning?"

"No. Look Jan, last night, Sam and I made love and it was fantastic, amazing and I didn't let her down. Then I threw up. She didn't know, by the way, don't tell her, okay? Then I had that nightmare and Jack slept with me, so did Sam, and I woke up feeling very safe and happy. And before you even think of asking, no, Jack and Sam didn't even hold hands."

"It's okay, Daniel, I knew that he was coming over, I know they wouldn't do anything. So, this morning, what triggered it off?"

"I told you, I was lying in between the two people I happen to be in love with."

"Ah, so you woke up horny?"

Daniel laughed, it was sometimes a really good thing that Jan was his doctor. They had often spoken about things bluntly, so dealing with this wasn't as bad as going to someone he didn't know, or didn't care about.

"Oh yeah, I'll be honest, Jan, there was a part of me that wanted to wind them both up. Hell, I started to, but I couldn't. I just got in the bathroom, thought of her" Janet didn't need to ask who, "and started to throw up again. Look, please don't put this on my records. They think I'm flaky enough as it is, if they think that I get so easily upset I'll probably get locked up."

"Daniel, you wouldn't get locked up, I promise. Besides, I'm off duty. I'll say you had a hangover."

"Why?"

"The drugs, Daniel, I have to account for the drugs. I'll say you had something to drink when you shouldn't have and you got sick. But, this is on one condition," she warned.

"The famous Frasier condition, eh?"

"Too right. You must talk, Daniel. Talk to me, to Sam, to Jack, but talk, get it off your chest or it will eat you alive. I've already told the General that I think counselling will be counterproductive in your case, and he's agreed to abide by my judgement for now. You go off the deep end though, and there will be nothing I can do to protect you. So, you gonna talk, or do I have to make you?"

"I'll talk. Jack's got something up his sleeve, he'll make me talk soon enough. Tell you the truth, there's not much to say. I got raped, and beaten, repeatedly. There, that's pretty much it you know. I blanked out what was happening to me, I learned how to do that when I was a little kid."

"Why?"

"So it didn't hurt when my foster father beat me."

"Shit, fucking bastard."

"Janet!" Daniel was shocked by her language.

"How old were you?"

"Eight, nine, and before you ask, Jack and I have talked, at length about it, and I'm over that. I am so over that prick."

"Breakfast," said Janet, trying to calm down. Hell, she always got upset when Daniel got hurt, he was her friend, but whenever he had been hurt by deliberate action, it just made her so mad. He didn't deserve it.

They headed next door, after Daniel had pulled some clothes on. Cassie was up, even though it was still fairly early, and Jack and Sam were arguing about how to cook an egg.

"Just as well those rumours about you two weren't true, you'd have been divorced or dead within a week." They looked up and saw Daniel walking through the door, Janet attached to his arm.

"Looks like the rumours about you two are true, don't you look the perfect couple?" teased Jack.

Daniel pouted, "and I thought that you and I were the perfect couple, Jack."

"Oh darling, I'm so sorry," Jack said, trying to make his voice high pitched.

Cassie groaned, "are you two okay? Cos from where I'm sitting I think there's a screw loose."

"Morning to you too, Cass," said Daniel, winking at her and planting a kiss on her head.

They sat, Janet taking over the cooking, and ate what was put in front of them, pretty much without noticing the food. Janet gave Daniel toast, figuring correctly that he wouldn't be up to anything else.

"Jack, I don't think that you should go ahead with your plan," said Janet, "at least not yet."

"Are you ever going to let me in on it? No, let me guess, a weekend fishing with you in Minnesota?"

"Nope, better."

"Only one day fishing in Minnesota?"

"Daniel! Guess again."

"Don't tell me, if the GRD works we're heading back to S'n'G."

"Got it in three Danny Boy, just you, me and a tent. Sound okay?"

"Delightful," Daniel groaned. "And just how do you think you'll persuade George to let us go?"

"All ready done, Daniel. I asked, he agreed. Being his 2IC has its perks you know."

"What grounds did you give, Jack?"

"None, other than I thought that it would be good for us to have a little quality R'n'R"

"Yeah, Jack, pull the other one."

"Oh, and that there was some stuff there that needs zatting before the science teams turn up there."

"That's more like it," Daniel was more prepared to believe that. George Hammond had done everything he could to accommodate the unusual relationship between the four people, even making sure that it would be okay for Sam and Daniel to keep working together by going directly to the President himself.

"What sort of stuff?" asked Cassie.

"Oh, er, nothing we can talk about, Cass, it's classified," said Jack with a wink aimed solely at Daniel.

"Mom?" the confused teenager pleaded with her mother.

"Don't look at me Cass, I have no idea. Anyway, as I said, I'm not sure that it's a good idea yet."

"Janet, don't worry, I'll take good care of him, I promise. Better than I did on our last trip out, that's for sure."

Daniel started to clench and unclench his fists, and the women took that to mean "get the hell out of here, now." Janet stood up and hurried Cassie out, Sam hot on her heels. They headed back to the other house, cos this looked like it going to get messy.

"What makes you think you have to take care of me, Jack? How come it's okay for you to go off and do stuff, like staying up on the hill without telling me, but it's not okay for me to worry about you, to try to protect you?"

Jack counted to twenty in his head, he knew that he had said the wrong thing, but it had just come out.

"Danny, I didn't mean it like that. You know that Janet's in her Good Doctor mood. Come on, Muppet, I just wanted to get away with you for a few days, just the two of us."

"Why? So you can take care of me? Dammit Jack, why don't you just leave me to get over this myself. I can, you know, I've done it before. I never had any help before I met you, I always got through these things, dealt with the bullies, the humiliations, the broken bones, always on my own. Why the fuck can't you give me the credit for that? I'm a grown man! Why do you treat me like some sort of child?" Daniel was getting really upset now, he wasn't thinking straight, and he was getting mad as hell at his lover. He started to stomp around the room, looking for something to break. Jack wisely stayed out of range.

"You know as well as I do why I let them rape me, Jack, I made a choice, it was my decision. You have no responsibility for that decision. None whatsoever. I thought that you said you respected me, Jack, but I don't think you do at all." As suddenly as he got wound up, Daniel calmed down, icy cold. Hell, thought Jack, the dam didn't break.

"I do respect you, Danny, I love you."

"Not the same thing Jack."

"Maybe not, but both are true. Daniel, I know what you've gone through, trust me, I do. I know that you have dealt with everything that life throws at you, and your life has sucked at times. I have immense respect for you. If you believe nothing else of me, you must believe that I respect you. As much as it would kill me if you stopped believing that I love you, it would be worse if you didn't believe that. I was raped too, a long time ago."

That cut Daniel to the core. "What happened Jack?"

"Let's go to S'n'G, Danny, I'll tell you everything there. Somehow I think that it's going to be easier for us to talk if we know we're the only ones on the planet. Just trust me for once, trust that I understand what you are going through, and please trust me to help you. We can get through this together. It won't be easy, nothing worth getting ever is. Why do you think I stuck with you all these years? I've had loads of friends, Danny, but you're the only one who I'd walk through fire for - and that was before we even got together. You are also the most difficult man, strike that, difficult being, it has ever been my good fortune to want to get to know. But, and here's the important bit, you are the best friend I have ever had, and every difficulty we have ever faced in our friendship has been worth the effort. I'll keep working at this, if you still want me around, that is."

Daniel felt humbled by this, damn, he hadn't wanted to upset Jack. He put his hands out to him, and Jack took them, quickly enfolding him in his arms. As he held Daniel close he whispered in his ear, "Danny, I am so lucky. I still can't figure out why you want to be with such a cranky old man as me."

Daniel pulled back, blinked, stared him in the eyes and replied, "Jack, you may be cranky, sometimes, and yeah, you are old," he teased, waiting for a tickle but not getting it, "but you are a good man, my best friend and not to mention a very, very sexy man, and I'd be crazy not to be in love with you." He pulled Jack even closer, and offered his lips up in sacrifice, one which was readily accepted by the "old" man.

Daniel still couldn't believe it when they were stood at the foot of the ramp a few hours later. The probe had been sent, the gate was upright and they were good to go. The Tok'ra had been thanked, a F.R.E.D. had gone through laden with science stuff, seismic detectors, food supplies (okay, lots of coffee, sugar and chocolate) and their camping equipment. Not to mention med. kits - prepared by a loving Janet.

"Colonel, Doctor, you are cleared to go," said Hammond from the control room, "try to come back in a week instead of five months this time. Any longer and we dock your pay." The men laughed at that and waved to the smiling General. Janet and Sam were right by them, not wanting them to go, but understanding that they had to do this. Just before they went the Marines in the gate room were treated to a display of synchronised goodbye kisses, the sort that made the ladies raise one leg bent at the knee, and open mouthed when they stopped.

The men stepped onto the planet and laughed. "I'd like to hear any rumours about me and you now, Muppet. If that little display in the gate room doesn't stop them, nothing will." They planted the seismic warning probes in the ground as they had been instructed. The first sign of any quake or rupture and they were out of there. Then they picked up their kits and headed off to "their" cave.

As they started to walk, Jack caught hold of Daniel's hand, getting a brilliant smile in reward. "We haven't done this for ages," he said with a shrug, Daniel twisted his fingers around Jack's in reply.

Back up at the cave Jack found their old sleeping bags and put them to one side, along with all other rubbish that they had left, unable to take it back as they had been, and zatted it. They hadn't got rid of them before, just in case they'd had to return to the cave - it would have meant that they were without the extra comfort. This time they had brought thick bed rolls as well as a couple of bags, so they should stay warm.

For a couple of days things were quiet. They gathered fruit, Jack fished, there were no trips up the hill. They spent their days doing very little, setting up the experiments that Sam and the scientists wanted, doing a bit of talking, nothing much else. Jack complained that Daniel was spending an inordinate amount of time reading, but then he had taken his fishing rod so it was only fair. Night times were the worst. Daniel was having nightmares, real shockers, usually followed by him rushing out of the tent and emptying the contents of his stomach. They were more violent than he had had at home, Jack thought that Daniel's gentle nature had forced his subconscious to go easy on Sam, but he knew he could let loose with Jack. Daniel still didn't want to talk though. He would happily play with Jack during the day, never making love but happy to kiss his lover, but as soon as the night came all he wanted was to be held. Jack was a patient man, and he was not going to push Daniel, but he knew that they were running out of time and Daniel needed to let go soon, or else it would eat him up from the inside. So he decided a little play acting wouldn't go amiss.

They had settled down for the night, Jack wrapping Daniel in his arms, kissing him goodnight as normal. He pretended to go to sleep, and waited for Daniel to start to relax. He always knew when Daniel was really asleep and when he was just pretending, his whole body was different. He let him sleep for a while, he couldn't do this too soon or Daniel would figure it out quickly and that would really piss him off. So he lay, waiting for the right moment. When he felt the time was right Jack slowly and carefully let go of him and lay on his back. Okay, he thought, Olivier eat your heart out.

"Oh God no," he started quietly, moving his head from side to side, then he got louder, "NO please don't please don't do that, Oh God NO!" His arms started to thrash about and soon his cries and body movements became very violent. Right on cue, Daniel woke up and pounced on him, holding him down, calling to him, stroking his face, then gathering him up in his arms, kissing his head and rocking him back and fore. Instead of "going back to sleep" Jack opened his eyes, shaking.

"Oh God Danny, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he cried, real tears falling down his face.

"Sh Bart, it's okay, it's all over now, I'm here, hush now."

Jack held on to him tightly, wow this was going to have to be an Oscar winner, he just knew it.

"Go back to sleep, Jack, I'll watch over you, I promise."

"Nnnno, not goin' to happen just yet," there was a distinct wobble in his voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You gonna let me get away with a no?" Please say no, Danny, we need to do this, oh God, don't let it go for once, be the little persistant devil I know you to be, Jack's mind pleaded.

"No." Good guy, knew I could rely on you.

"Coffee?"

"Come on, I've got a feeling there'll be no sleep tonight."

They left the tent, taking their sleeping bags with them, it was still bitterly cold at night, but nowhere near as bad as it had been back at the beginning. Daniel threw some more wood on the camp fire and started to brew the coffee.

"Sorry to wake you Daniel, I didn't mean to," Jack started, a little lamely.

"Jack, how many nights have I got you up recently? Don't be an ass. Talk Jack."

"Okay, but it's not pretty. There's stuff I haven't told anyone, not ever. But it was all there tonight. I thought it had all gone away. Guess what's happened to you has brought it all back. Damn, that makes it sound like I'm blaming you. I'm not Daniel, honest I'm not."

"It's all right Jack, talk. Do you want me to sit with you, or do you want to be on your own?"

"Now that's why I talk to you Danny, you understand me. I think it's best I'm on my own, for now. You'll know when I need you." Daniel said nothing, just nodded.

"You know about Iraq."

"Only the sketchiest of details Jack, what I've wheedled out of you over the years. I take it the full unexpurgated version is on the cards?"

"You sure you want to listen Daniel? It's not nice. I won't blame you."

"Talk Jack, chances are I've been through a fair bit of what's happened to you, if not all in one go then at least over the years. You won't turn me away from you."

"I know, Muppet. Okay, the full version. You know I was captured on a mission, and they thought I was dead for months and for those four long months I was in a cell." Daniel nodded, saying nothing, waiting for the gory details. For once they came, every single thing that had happened to Jack over those four very, very, very long months. The abuse, the starvation, the depravation, the enforced heroin addiction, the beatings and finally the rapes. He stuttered as he told Daniel how he was forced to give blow jobs, well his mouth was held open while he was fucked in it, they had to hold his mouth open because he had bit one of the rapists dicks when he was first forced to. Daniel did chuckle at that, trust Jack to do something like that. Then he felt disgusted with himself for not fighting back harder. Here was a man on the brink of death and he managed to do that. Daniel's admiration for Jack grew with every sentence spoken. Jack had been so badly abused, his insides were ripped. Daniel had wondered how come Jack's skin around his anus was so badly scarred, but it was not something that he had wanted to ask, knowing that Jack would tell him if he wanted to. Now he knew. By the time Jack had finished his story, which had ended up with him back at home a ghost of his former self, he was crying. Now was the time to hold him.

Daniel sat next to him, crying himself, holding Jack close to himself. Daniel was no fool, he knew that this had been a set up from the moment Jack had agreed to talk, but he was also a damn good friend, and he said nothing. No platitudes, no apologies, no "there, there, it's all right now," he just held him, stroked his hair, planted kisses on his face. His actions spoke more volumes than his words ever could and he knew it. He had been honoured by this story, he knew that some of that had never been shared, and Jack knew that none of it would leave Daniel's lips.

"There were eight of them." His statement was made matter-of-factly. Jack had stopped crying and they were now sat hugging their coffee mugs, staring into the fire.

"They beat me up before they took it in turns. A couple of them held my mouth open and poured some alcohol down it. They did that after each one had taken their turn. I guess for some of them it was like washing my mouth out so it was nice and clean for the next one. I was getting drunker by the moment and there was nothing I could do. I was so afraid Jack, I have never been more afraid in my life. I've died, for Chrissake, on numerous occasions, I've been tortured, I've been raped, but never like this. They just lined up and did what they wanted. Some would sodomise me, others seemed to prefer my face. One guy just liked to hit me hard then he jerked himself off on me. A couple of them got into a fight over who's turn it was." Daniel gave a hysterical giggle at that, the image was just too silly for words. "Eventually I passed out. I guess they got bored then and left. They came back the next morning, one of them threw some cold water over me, to clean me up I guess, then they tied me to the bed and left me until the night. It was a repeat performance. Get alcohol down my throat then spend the night fucking me stupid. They didn't even bother tying me up the next day, I was so out of it. All I could think of was you and Sam, I was so afraid Jack, I was afraid they'd get fed up with me and come for you two, so I let them do what they wanted. I didn't want them to get bored with me. I'm so ashamed of what I did Jack, I wasn't brave like you, I didn't stand up to them."

Jack got up and ran out of the cave, throwing up as soon as the cold air hit him. Daniel didn't follow him, he couldn't face Jack. Eventually he came back in and sat right next to Daniel. He watched him, Daniel was shaking from head to foot. He drank some more coffee to wash his mouth out and put his arm around Daniel's shoulder and pulled him tight.

"I'm sorry I ran out, Danny, I guess my stomach isn't as strong as it used to be, I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you, it should have been me, I'm the CO for fuck's sake, it should've been me. I'm so sorry, Danny. And you were brave, what you did was the bravest thing I have ever known anyone do. I'm so sorry can you ever forgive me?"

"Jack? Don't get all CO on me, it was my choice and you were tied up. There was nothing you could do. Besides, never anything to forgive between us is there?"

"Never Danny. Aw Jeez, Danny, how do you go on?"

"You did."

"Daniel, I was trained to cope."

"So was I Jack, I was trained at a much earlier age than you."

"Shit, open mouth insert foot O'Neill," Jack was apologetic - again.

"'Sokay, Jack, it doesn't matter."

"Dammit Danny, it does matter. You should never have to put up with this shit. Not you, not ever."

"Why not, Jack? Why not me, why should someone else pay for my mistakes?"

"What mistakes Daniel? You haven't done anything wrong. No, not you."

"I don't understand, Jack, why not?"

Jack took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "You have no idea, have you? I know you, Daniel Jackson, I know you are no saint, but you are a good man, one of the finest I have ever had the privilege of knowing. You deserve a happy life, a good life, a wife and kids and a house with a picket fence. You don't deserve the bastards of the Universe ganging up and taking advantage of the gentlest soul I know. Daniel, I love you with all my heart, I knew that on Abydos, way back, on the first mission. You didn't just save my life, you gave me something to live for. Even Sara couldn't do that. You made me find my way back, and I'm not talking literally here, you showed me that I could be a better man. Everything I have ever done since then has been because of you. I so wanted to try to be as good as you, not just because I felt I owed you, but because I respected you, I looked up to you. I still do Danny, I always look up to you. You're a better man than I will ever be and I am so proud that you love me. You are a very special man, you don't realise it, and you probably won't even believe me, but you are. I'm not the only one to recognise it, wherever we go you affect people. We'd never have made friends with a fraction of the races we have if it wasn't for you, Daniel. You have a lot of friends at the SGC, Daniel, a hell of a lot. It was a very sombre place when you were unconscious, nobody was laughing. It's always like that when you get hurt. The vast majority of people there love you. If you were appointed as head of the SGC they would be happy, and that includes most of the military too. They know how brave you are, they know you would lead by example, and they would happily follow any order you gave. I know you don't think this is true, but it is. Why do you think I defer to your expertise?"

Daniel was stunned. He couldn't have been more stunned if a Goa'uld shock grenade suddenly exploded in his face. He just shook his head. Jack cupped his face in his big hands and pulled him into a kiss. Daniel melted, Jack was one hell of a good kisser at the best of times.

"Come on Muppet, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll talk again if you want." Jack stood up and put his hand out, Daniel shyly took it, feeling very shaky. They headed back to the tent, zipped up their bags and fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, after breakfast, Daniel made an announcement.

"I'm going up the hill Jack."

"Okay, I'll pack some food. When should we leave?"

"No Jack, I'm going on my own. I need to do this."

Jack didn't like it, but he understood. He brewed some coffee and put it in a thermos that they had brought with them, packed him some fruit and rations in a bag. He put his radio in there too. Then when Daniel was ready, he gave him the bag, kissed him gently and said, "I'll be waiting for you when you get back."

"Thanks Dad," replied Daniel, feeling every bit as nervous as he looked.

Jack watched as Daniel set off, saying a prayer for his safe return. He went down to the river and started to fish. The hours passed and he gave up fishing. He spent the next few hours pacing back and fore in the cave. Hell, where was he? He was tempted to call him up on the radio or go after him, but his instincts screamed at him to stay put and leave Daniel alone. Somehow he managed it.

Daniel meanwhile had set off briskly, his mind running through the things that Jack had told him. He was still so not over the attack, but he knew that he would get better, and that it would take time, but with the love of his friends he would improve day by day. His bruises had all gone now, so he was physically healed, but the mental scars would take a long time to go. By the time he reached the top of the hill he realised just how unfit he was. Damn, that meant lots more gym time when he got back. He was a lot fitter than he had been a few days before though, and with every passing day his muscle tone improved. Trouble was, by the time he had got to the top of the hill he was shattered. He sat looking out over the scene. He berated himself for having been a wimp the last time he had been up there. There was nothing dangerous about heights, he told himself, his little voice adding, yeah, it's the fall that gets you every time. He kicked himself. No, he was there to start to heal, and he was going to start by getting up and down the hill on his own and without freaking out once. If he could conquer his fear of heights, he could conquer the ghosts. Hell, he'd even made a parachute jump over the frozen wastes of Siberia, with no training. If he could do that, he could do anything. Daniel giggled to himself, here was the man who could face up to a god but a high ladder made him shake. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he said. Dammit, you even lived in a loft, you can do that and look out of your balcony, you can do this. Piece of cake. Talking of which, food.

He opened his bag and pulled out the thermos and food which Jack had so lovingly packed. A note fell out of the cup. Curious, he read it.

Danny

I know you are going to be surprised to read this

and I know that I said a lot last night, but perhaps

if you read it, it will seem more real to you.

I love you Daniel Jackson, you mean everything to me.

I don't care anymore who knows, either. If you want I'll retire

again, so we can be together openly. You have no idea

just how much hard work it is not to hold your

hand walking down the corridor of the SGC.

Have you a clue as to how many times I wanted

to sweep you into my arms and kiss you in the mess

hall? Damn it Danny, I love you so much it hurts,

but it's a real good hurt, not one that I would trade

for all the promotions in the world. They could bust

me back down to airman if it meant I could hold

you in public. I want to tell the Universe, "I'm

in love with Daniel Jackson." I know I can't do

any of these things, our work is so important, but if

you asked me to, I'd do them in a heartbeat.

All the stuff that's happened will bring us closer, I

promise, I won't let it tear us apart. Do me a favour,

never change, don't become the cynic that I am, that

I was till I met you. You changed me for the better

and I love you for it.

I'm so proud of you Daniel,

yours ever

Jack

Daniel sat and read and reread the letter and then the dam broke. He cried and cried and feared that he would never stop. Then he realised that he wanted Jack with him now, so he gathered up his uneaten food, shoved it back in the bag and ran down the hill. All his past troubles, his phobias, were gone - at least for now. As he ran all he could think of was getting back to Jack. Nothing else mattered. He had Jack and Sam and he didn't need anything else. His job could go to hell, the bullies could screw themselves, the Goa'uld could do what they liked. He wanted his lovers and nothing more. When he arrived at the cave he was exhausted and fell into Jack's arms, dropping the bag, but still holding the letter. He tucket it into his jacket and as soon as he had any breath left he kissed Jack so hard that it took the older man's breath completely away.

"I love you Jack," he said, still gasping for air, "I love you so much." He started to pull Jack's shirt off, Jack responding in kind. Their belts came undone, their pants hit the floor. Daniel only just noticed that Jack had gone commando, and he grinned at the sight of Jack's very obvious erection. It always gave Daniel a kick to know that he could do that for Jack. It was lost on him that Jack felt the same way, that he was amazed that this beautiful man who could have virtually anyone on any planet, wanted him. Daniel grabbed a kit bag and looked for the lube and condoms.

"Danny, Muppet, are you sure you are ready for this?"

"Jack, I just went up the hill and came down on my own. I'm more than ready. I'm so ready that if you don't come here now and let me fuck you senseless I'm going to get blue balls. And," he added provocatively, "if you are a good boy, my ass is yours."

"Danny, darling, your ass is mine anyway," said Jack, licking his lips and looking his lover up and down. Well, if he said he was ready...

Daniel found the supplies, took Jack by the hand and said, "where, Jack, where do you want to do it?"

"Aw, Danny, I'd say you choose, but I'm on old man, let's hit the sack okay?"

"Sounds good to me, much more comfortable."

They went into the tent, and Daniel started to shake.

"Danny, are you okay, we don't have to do this."

"Yes, Jack, we do. I'm cold, that's all. Come to bed, let's warm each other up, please?" He opened his eyes wide, and gave Jack his puppy dog look, and Jack couldn't deny him.

"Damn you Jackson, that's the look that always gets us into trouble. I've never been able to turn you down when you ask me for more time, or whatever you want when you do that face."

"Mmm, I know," Daniel bit his bottom lip and waited for the explosion, which duly came.

Daniel was getting a severe tickling for that one, just how long had he known he had Jack around his little finger anyway? He wasn't letting on. Before Jack knew what was happening he felt a lubricated finger inside him, massaging him. He moaned. A second finger joined in the fun, he groaned. When a third finger entered the fray he started to yell.

"For Chrissake fuck me already, will ya?"

Exotic positions were damn nigh impossible inside the sleeping bag so Daniel turned Jack to face away from him. Jack bent his legs and Daniel found the spot, carefully and slowly penetrating him.

"Oh God Danny," he cried out as what he had been missing for all those weeks came back to him.

"Am I hurting you, Jack?" Daniel's caring voice cooed.

"No, Danny, no, just go nice and slow, oh yeah, just like that, aaaaahhh, yes." Jack was soooo enjoying this. So was Daniel, it had been too long, this was just heavenly.

Daniel had brought a t shirt into the bag with him and he put it underneath Jack's seriously quivering cock to avoid the white streaks that had been left on the old bags. Then as he gently thrust inside his love, he stroked it to the same rhythm. He could tell that Jack wasn't going to be going for an endurance record, so he let himself be caught up in the delicate passion. Jack felt Daniel's breath get hot against his neck, heard his breathing speed up, felt Daniel's heartbeat racing against his back. His own responded in sympathy. There was nothing left in the Universe but these two men now, all that mattered was their end, their completion, the final bonding between them.

"Dannyyyyyyy!" Jack could take no more, and Daniel felt him exploding in his hand, triggering his own climax and the shout of Jack's name.

They lay there still for a moment, so still an observer would have thought them dead. Eventually, Daniel pulled back ever so slowly and out of the man he loved.

"Jeez Danny that was.." Jack was lost for words for a moment.

Daniel prompted, "incredible, amazing, wonderful?"

"Divine," Jack settled on.

"Yeah," Daniel drawled, "it was pretty good, wasn't it?"

"Pretty good? You have my ass and it's pretty good? What a cheek!"

"There's two cheeks, you know, this one," he squeezed Jack's left buttock, "and this one," squeezing the right, "and they are both as cute as each other."

Daniel had the devil in him now, and Jack knew it. He turned around and they played at kissing, gently battling each other to see who could plant the most kisses on the other's face. They called it a draw and Jack pulled Daniel into a hug.

"I love you," he said, "I don't tell you often enough, but I love you."

"Sam said the same thing, it must be a military hang up. I'll tell you what I told her. I know, Jack, I like to be reminded, but I know. You know I love you too, I never want you to forget that. If my luck runs out and one day I don't come home," Jack went to interrupt but Daniel touched his lips to hush him, "if I die, Jack, I want you to remember this. I have no regrets, none at all. Being with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Mainly being with you as a friend, but this relationship means everything to me, as does my relationship with Sam. I'm so lucky to have you both. So, I want you to promise me something. I won't insult you by asking you to take care of Sam for me, I know you will, as will Teal'c, but I want you to promise me. If I die on your watch, don't get eaten up by guilt. It won't be your fault. I know you, it could never be your fault. If I die, I want you to go on living, I don't want you to return to how you were when we met, or all my hard work will be undone."

"Danny, you really know how to put a damper on things, don't you. You aren't going to die on my watch. I won't let you."

"Promise me Jack, that's all I'll ever ask of you. Just promise me."

Daniel's eyes were so intent and he was studying Jack's, waiting for his answer. Jack knew that he would not be able to hide anything from him.

"I promise to try, I can't do more than that."

"Do or do not, there is no try," said Daniel, but it was lost on Jack. "Hell, you still haven't seen Star Wars have you?"

Jack giggled at that, only Daniel could turn the mood so quickly. They returned to their game, but at a much slower pace. It was interrupted by a growl and Jack shot out of the bag thinking that there was a wild animal around.

"Er, Jack, that was me. I forgot to eat earlier, I came back down as soon as I read your note," he admitted. He got a hair ruffling for that.

"MRE stew then, Danny my lad, punishment for not eating your packed lunch." Daniel groaned, not MRE stew.

"Didn't you catch any fish today?"

"Couldn't concentrate, you weren't there."

"Aw, shucks, I didn't think that concentration had anything to do with it. Hey!" he sounded a bit put out as he followed Jack out, "what do you mean you couldn't concentrate without me? I thought I made you lose your concentration when I am around. Hell, I'm obviously not doing my job, am I?"

"What job?"

"Lover, partner, sex toy," he said, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Sex toy? I like the sound of that. I don't like the sound of that," Jack said when Daniel's stomach rumbled again. He hunkered down and stoked up the fire, making the stew. They both pulled on some clothes to keep the chill off, but when they started to eat the say right next to each other, just to enjoy the warmth they generated. They talked some more about the crappy things that had happened, Daniel admitted to having a good cry on the hill, Jack cuddling him, telling him it was a good thing to do. They decided to go home in two days. Tomorrow would be a holiday, lazing on the river bank, getting a tan, swimming, that sort of thing. After that they would put the past behind them and move on.

When they finally went back to bed Daniel said, "Jack I need you. I want you inside me. I can't go home until I can be myself again. I really want you to do this for me. Will you?"

"Danny, are you really ready? It's one hell of a step to take."

"Yes, Jack, I am definitely ready and as horny as hell."

"Okay, but if it even starts to hurt, I'm out of there, got it? You've been hurt by too much Daniel, and I hope to God that I never add to your pain, physical or otherwise."

"You won't Jack. I trust you."

Jack sighed, after everything that he had been through, Daniel really did still trust him. Well, he could trust him to give him a hell of a good and gentle night, that was for sure.

"Danny, lay down love, on your back." They still weren't in the sleeping bags, and Jack prayed that the cold would stay away long enough for them to have some fun. Jack started by kissing him gently, covering Daniel's entire body with soft kisses.

"Jack," the warning came, a sort of "Now, or die, Jack," and made his lover laugh. He slid back up Daniel's legs from where he had been kissing his feet, licking and nibbling all the way. Daniel was seriously hard again and Jack took him in one go, not preparing him to be engulfed, but enclosing his mouth around Daniel's prick so quickly that Daniel nearly jumped out of his skin. Jack quickly coated his fingers and pushed one slowly inside Daniel as he continued his relentless sucking. There was no bad reaction so Jack added another and another, gently and carefully preparing Daniel for what he wanted. As soon as the third finger went in, Jack deep throated Daniel and he shot straight away. Jeez, Jack knew how to press his buttons. Leaving his fingers where they were for the moment, Jack licked Daniel clean and carried on further up his stomach, still licking, kissing and nibbling as he went. When it became physically impossible for Jack to stay inside him, he slowly withdrew.

"Jack?" Don't go, don't leave me now, it was there even if the words weren't.

"Not going anywhere Danny, give me a moment." Jack was ready quicker than he had ever been before, covered and coated in no time flat.

"Which way, Danny?"

"I want to see you."

"Good, I want to see you too."

Daniel's legs wrapped themselves around Jack's chest and pulled him close. Jack had gone to town with the lubricant, there was no way in hell he'd hurt him. He pushed in slowly, so afraid of ripping apart what had only just been fixed. Thank God Carter had done the healing thing, he doubted Daniel would have been able to sit for 6 months otherwise. Concentrating hard, Jack tempered his movements, grinning as he watched Daniel start to recover already. Damn, but that boy was seriously horny. If he didn't know better, he'd say Daniel didn't get much as a teenager. Jack knew now that Daniel had got more than he ever did. Jack stifled a giggle. And to think the Marines thought that Daniel was gay and before that they thought he was celibate. Okay, so he was obviously not completely straight, not with Jack so happily nestled inside of him, buried to the hilt, but he was not gay. Funny thing was, if he had been, from the word go, so to speak, Jack was now absolutely sure that it would have made no difference to how he felt about him. He may have even got involved with him sooner.

"You are so beautiful," Jack whispered, as much for his own ears as Daniel's. He was rewarded by a face lighting smile, which was quickly followed by a scrunched up face of ecstasy. Jack came good and hard when he saw that, no body in his life had ever been able to push him over the edge like that. He could usually hold out for Janet, he loved to watch her come and call his name, so he could hold out as she cried out time and again. But one word or look from Daniel and he was completely lost.

He collapsed onto Daniel's chest, feeling his renewed erection poking him hard.

"Oh God, Jack."

"You rang?"

"No, you did. I can hear bells."

"Wedding bells? Aarrgghh!"

"Don't you start. Can't persuade Sam to marry me, if you start turning me down I'll get a complex."

"Were you going to ask?"

"I can honestly say I hadn't thought about it. By the way, now you've go me going again, what are you going to do about it?"

Jack moved off him and pulled him inside the bag, grabbing the old semen stained t shirt. This was one thing that wasn't going back with them. He strategically placed it and started to kiss Daniel. He responded desperately, lips and tongues moving so hard and fast that they lost track of who's was who's. Jack's hand dropped and started a slow massage.

"Faster, Jack, harder, please," Daniel begged. Jack reacted as desired, holding his friend's prick firmly, moving his hand harder and faster as requested. Daniel sank his teeth into Jack's shoulder as he came, leaving a huge mark that he hoped would be hidden. Jack had been so careful not to mark Daniel this time, not after the bruising he had got before. Holding on to each other tightly, they sank into a dreamless sleep, the deepest one either had had for weeks.

"Jack! Wake up!" Daniel was sure he had heard something. Just a quiet shuffle. He whispered in Jack's ear, and shook him, but only got a smug grin and a hard cock against his thigh in return. Daniel was about to give up when the zip to the tent opened.

"Aw, don't you two look so cute."

"Ferretti! What in God's name are you doing here?" demanded Daniel of the man who was now sitting at the foot of the tent, grinning his head off at the sight of the two men. Jack had his arms around Daniel, and Daniel had obviously been sleeping with his head on Jack's chest. To cap it all, the stupid grin on Jack's face as he slept just made Lou laugh even more.

"Actually, God didn't have too much to do with this, Hammond did. The Tok'ra are itching to come here, Jacob has held them off at Sam's request - he might know about you two by the way, I'm not sure - but he can't hold them off any longer. Hammond asked me to double time it to extract you to save any embarrassment."

"Thanks Lou, you're a good friend. Now will you go and stick some coffee on so we can wake up properly, only Daniel here becomes really cranky if he doesn't get his caffeine a.s.a.p." Jack had slowly come around.

"Listen to her," said Daniel with a wink to Lou, "she is awful without a coffee."

Lou beat a hasty retreat and listened to the men arguing as he got the coffee on.

"Her? She? And since when am I a grouch without coffee? I'm a morning person!"

"Oh, of course Jack, so that's why I heard Lou and you just got a..."

"Daniel! I don't think we need to go there do we?"

They had some clothes in the bag in the tent, which was fortunate as the previous day's ones were still scattered around the cave. Lou gave thanks that it was he who had been sent to retrieve them. Jack would be hung out to dry if it had been anyone else. As the water heated he wandered around the cave, picking up the clothes and putting them in a single pile near the tent. Jack's letter to Daniel fell out of the pocket that Daniel had quickly stuffed it into before dropping his clothes. Keeping one eye on the tent he read the contents, and smiled when he saw what looked like a water stain, probably a tear drop near Jack's name. He wondered which one of them had cried. Jack when he wrote it, or Daniel when he read it. Lou was a betting man, but he wouldn't like to call the odds on that one. He carefully folded it back up and put it in the jacket pocket that it had come out of. He'd say absolutely nothing. He was just really pleased that they were so comfortable with him that they could joke with him about being caught naked and in bed together.

The coffee was ready by the time the two men stumbled out of the tent. Daniel looked bright eyed and bushy tailed, which was more than could be said for Jack. Funny that, it was usually the other way around. He handed them the mugs and they accepted gratefully.

"So, you feeling better Daniel?"

"Yeah, loads, thanks. Glad we were able to come back for a couple of days." Daniel shifted about awkwardly and took a deep breath.

"I killed them, didn't I? I took your gun and murdered them, didn't I?" His voice was quiet and calm.

Jack looked at Lou and he shrugged back. Jack answered.

"Yes Danny, you did. You stopped them ever doing it again. You did the right thing."

"I'm glad," now that was the one thing that the others hadn't expected. They had expected guilt, tears maybe, but not that. He qualified his remark, "you're right, Jack, they would have done it again. If Lou and the others hadn't come Sam would have been next. I was dying, I couldn't have held them off for more than one more night. They'd have killed Sam. They deserved to die."

"You're right Daniel, they did. You shocked the hell out of SG-6 mind, there's a warning going around the SGC now. Don't fuck with Daniel Jackson, or you're a dead man." Lou looked very pleased with that state of affairs.

"Anybody fucks with Danny I'll fucking kill them. I've had enough of it. No more Daniel, you're going to be safe from now on. Teal'c has invoked some Jaffa revenge thing too. Anybody touches you they are sooo dead." Jack was still pissed. He saw Daniel's face falling so he changed the subject.

"Danny climbed the hill on his own and didn't freak once when he got to the top," he said proudly.

"You over your phobia? Wow Daniel, that's incredible. You should be really proud of yourself," said Lou who looked fit to burst with pride himself. He had once had a phobia, a real stupid one he called it, though Daniel was very sympathetic. Couldn't stand the dark. Came from a childhood incident. He and Daniel had talked a bit about it and he told him the efforts he'd had to go to, to get over it. It's never easy. Daniel smiled widely, he knew that Lou wasn't being patronising.

"Yeah, I am a bit. Doubt if it's gone, but I can handle it now."

"That's all you need to start, Daniel, the rest gets easier, I promise."

"Thanks, Lou, I think everything is going to get better now." He looked at Jack, "I'm not feeling a bit sick," he said with a grin. Jack nodded and put his arm around his shoulder, pulling him close and kissing his head.

"Get a room, you two. You'll have to cut that out, the gate will be crawling with scientists by the time we get back," Ferretti warned.

"Hell, there goes our last day. We had plans, you know, nice relaxing plans," complained Jack.

"Yeah, lie on the river bank, top up our tans, do absolutely nothing for an entire day," sighed Daniel. "Guess that's gone. We should eat and pack our stuff. You want something, Lou?"

"What you got?"

"There's MRE's or fruit. Fresh, sweet, juicy fruit," tempted Daniel.

"Got to be the fruit, Daniel, anything's better that MREs."

Daniel went to their store and picked out some of the different varieties.

"This one is a bit like banana, this one is like papaya, oh, and this one is like nothing on Earth but is heavenly."

"Let's try that one then," said Ferretti, closing his eyes and making moaning sounds as the sweet flesh melted in his mouth. There were hints of maple, honey, vanilla, cream, and even a touch of cinnamon in it.

"Can we take some cuttings of this? I wonder if it would grow in my back garden?" Lou was hooked. He let out a giggle, "I thought you two came here for some time alone, now I know it was only for the fruit."

Daniel howled, "there's a double meaning in that, Lou, I promise you. And yes, the fruit is fantastic. Don't know what to call that one. We've been calling the others by their Earth equivalents, but that one is so different."

"Paradise fruit," came Lou's suggestion.

"Eden apple," from Jack.

"Rumours," said Daniel and they looked at him. "You know, there's hints and suggestions of so many combinations. A bit like the rumours on base."

"Rumour plant it is then Daniel," said Lou. "Did you know that the rumours about you two have virtually gone away now, especially after your goodbye on the ramp. The girls practically floated out of the gate room, and the Marines had a field day with that one."

Jack snorted. "All these years there was nothing going on and everyone thought that we were at it like rabbits."

That was followed by sniggers from the others. "Yeah," said Daniel, "and now we are at it like rabbits they don't believe it."

"Daniel, that was too much information, you know." Lou didn't know where to put himself.

"Look guys, I've got to know this, the answer won't make any difference to me, by the way, I'll still keep my mouth shut, but,..."

"Are we gay and is it a front with the girls?"

"No, I know it's not a front with the girls, you wouldn't do that to them. But are you?"

"No. Just us, never anyone else, never will be. It just happened Lou, one day it just happened, but neither of us regrets it," Jack's denial was emphatic and Lou just nodded his head and accepted it. Jack grinned at that, if anybody ever left SG-1, he'd beg Hammond and Lou for that man to be the fourth. No one else would do.

They finished eating, zatted their rubbish (including the t shirt which Lou said nothing about) packed up and left. Daniel slid his fingers through Jack's, Lou pretended not to see anything, but took point so as to warn them if they had company.

"Heads up," came the call and the men dropped their hands to their sides. There was a bunch of scientists already arguing about where they should set up camp.

"Ah, Colonel, Major, Doctor, perhaps you could assist?" The shout came from one of the chief scientists in the research team.

"Doctor Bronovski, what can we do for you?" asked Daniel, trying to hide his loathing for the creep and not succeeding - at least to his two friend's eyes, they knew him too well. Bronovski didn't like Daniel one bit. He was really full of himself and believed himself to be the prime brain of the SGC. He didn't seem to realise that either Daniel or Sam could take him in their sleep. Sam's analytical prowess was second to none, and Daniel's IQ was off the scale, not to mention he knew how to use his intelligence.

Bronovski focussed on Jack. The Second in Command of the SGC was far more worthy of attention that a mere archaeologist in his view. Bronovski was a geologist with an interest in physics, and he believed that his multidisciplinary approach was far superior than anyone else's. Whenever it was pointed out that Daniel held multiple PhDs in linguistics, anthropology and archaeology, he waved them away as not important. Jack knew this and detested the boot licker.

"We were wondering if you could recommend a camp site, seeing as you stayed here for so long." Daniel shook his head and walked to the other scientists, "Don't Jack, it's not worth it," he was saying. Jack read him and acquiesced, for once.

"Well, Doctor, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that it really all depends what you want to do. And as I don't have any PhD's at all, it's probably not worth my opinion. Have fun, won't you?" and he stuck his nose in the air and walked towards the gate.

"Doctor Jackson, if you would be so kind?" he called to Daniel.

"Of course Colonel, it would be my pleasure." Daniel wandered over, leaving his colleagues with a wink. The others were okay, and he had given them a quick run down on what could be found where, and what was the best thing to eat. He took his place at the DHD and dialled them home.

Fin

Back to Slash Fiction Index

Home