A Weekend in Washington
Oct. 11th, 2010 05:05 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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jd_ficathonTitle: A Weekend in Washington
Author: Antares
Summary: Daniel flies to Washington to spend the weekend with Jack
Word Count: 10270
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Rating: R
Disclaimer: not mine
Written For:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
batagur
Prompt:Two (2) Requirements: 1. Jack must have depth (no cliche riddled, catch-phrase spouting, shallow as a mud puddle!Jack) 2. After last season (season 10?)
Optional Request: a side of Teal'c/Sam would be nice
Restriction #1:No Character bashing
Restriction #2:No Underage sex
Notes: Many, many thanks to Catspaw for all her help!
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When the phone rang, Jack was wolfing down his breakfast. Damn! He was already late. There was no time for the crossword puzzle, only for the latest sports results if he read very, very fast. So he didn’t take time to check the caller-ID but barked rather brusquely, “O’Neill” into the phone.
“Hi, Jack.”
Daniel! Jack’s mood improved at once. “Hi, Daniel.” With concern in his voice he continued, “What happened? Aren’t you supposed to be on P3K-546?” A short glance to his watch confirmed that it was five minutes to seven, so that meant that it was five minutes to five in Colorado Springs. Why the hell was Daniel still or already awake? Jack felt an uneasy feeling forming in his stomach. Since the day he had stopped going on missions he often feared the worst. He was annoyed with himself; sometimes he was really acting like a good wife staying at home and waiting for the catastrophes to happen. And Daniel seemed to know that.
“Don’t worry, everything’s fine, Jack. Yes, we were supposed to gate there. The two previous times prior we sent the MALP through we didn’t encounter any problem, but yesterday the last chevron didn’t lock. Sam has no explanation and she’ll be working on it the next couple of days. So I have some free time on my hands. I was planning to come to D.C. for the weekend, okay? Taking the first flight from Denver this morning, I should be there in the afternoon. But don’t change your whole timetable on my behalf; you know I’m able to survive on my own for a few hours.”
Daniel had delivered his little speech without interruption, and Jack had only been able to throw in an affirmative “mmhmm” two times. When he was sure that Daniel had ended for good, he said with warmth in his voice, “Okay. That’s good news. Really good news,” he emphasized.
“I have the key for your apartment, so no problem, I can let myself in,” Daniel added.
As if Jack could forget that. Since the beginning of their working together each had always had the key for the apartment or house of the other. That hadn’t changed when Jack moved to Washington and 1500 miles were separating them. The first time when Jack had seen that Daniel had still his key on his key chain instead of keeping it in a drawer of his desk, he had frowned. But then it had clicked and he understood what Daniel saw in it: a very subtle way to express some sort of togetherness when they couldn’t wear rings to express it.
“Yeah. But I’ll hurry up, I promise.”
“Fine. I have to go now; the flight is scheduled for seven thirty. See you this evening.”
“See ya.” Jack heard the free line signal and put his cell phone down. Involuntarily, his gaze travelled round his living-room – and he groaned.
His place looked worse like a pigsty, as his grandma would have said. There were clothes and newspapers scattered on the floor, and food cartons on the table that documented neatly which takeaway meals he had ordered last week. Jack didn’t have to check, he already knew that his bathroom and bedroom didn’t look much better. Shit. Yes, yes, he was a military man and trained to be orderly but somehow he hadn’t felt like cleaning up. Of course, McKenzie the shrink would have drivelled something about passive-aggressive behaviour because he was rebelling against a job he wasn’t entirely happy with. Janet – and my God, he missed her still so much even after all these years – would have only told him in her unique way that he was behaving like a five-year-old. Jack grinned. Probably she was right.
Jack checked his watch. Seven o’clock. Okay, here was the plan… he could afford to spend ten minutes on cleaning up, any more than that and he would be horribly late for his first meeting of the day. But ten minutes he could gain by driving a bit ballsier than usual. That meant three minutes for the bathroom, three for the bedroom, three for the living-room-kitchen-area and one minute to cover any eventualities. Jack smirked, swallowed the rest of his toast down in one bite and rushed to the bedroom.
He opened the window and threw the clothes in the hamper whether they were dirty or not. He made the bed and picked up a comic book and his reading-glasses from the floor. Done. The rest was tidy enough – so he had gained one minute which he could spend later on the kitchen.
In the bathroom Jack collected all the towels, sprayed something that promised to be “fresher-than-last-spring” on each available surface and mopped it up with a washcloth. For good measure he poured half a litre of the stuff down the john – and the three minutes for the bathroom were already up, too.
In the living room he had to pick up three remote controls and various empty cookie boxes, to put the scissors in the drawer, to pile up the mail neatly and … wait, what was the black sock doing behind the sofa cushions? He collected the empty bottles and put the mugs, glasses and the silverware in the dish-washer. Since when was this yogurt cup sticking there? Didn’t matter. There was sugar, jam, margarine and toast to be taken care of. Jack put everything in the fridge. When he wanted to wipe the kitchen cabinet he sniffed on the damp cloth and found it disgusting. He threw it in the dustbin and took a new one. For a man who took such delight in playing in the dirt, Daniel could be very fussy where cleanliness in the kitchen was concerned.
In the last second Jack remembered to close the window in the bedroom and placed Daniel’s favourite chocolate on the living room table. Hopefully, that would distract Daniel from the rest of the mess. He grabbed his jacket and with only two minutes’ delay on his plan he bolted from his apartment.
On the short way to the Pentagon, Jack finally found time to breathe deeply and recall his conversation with Daniel. The most important thing was that Daniel was okay. The mission had been aborted due to technical difficulties and not because somebody had been hurt. Good. Daniel was on his way to Washington. Very good.
Most of the time it was him flying to Colorado Springs. Major Davis was great in organizing flights – even at the shortest notice, be it on a “normal” flight or be it on a military plane going to Peterson Airbase. And Jack always came up with reasons to fly to the Springs: birthdays, anniversaries, promotions – in his eyes they all benefited from an assisting General. He knew that people were already joking, but it didn’t bother him because after the official part was done, he was able to spend one or even two days with Daniel.
And suddenly Jack realized why he had been a bit astonished when Daniel had called. Until now he had never arrived uninvited. Usually, he had combined conferences or visits to the Pentagon with visiting Jack. But he had never called to say, “I’ll come over tomorrow” – no, wait, today! In a few hours! Jack felt a rush of happiness and grinned.
Waiting in front of the next red light he drummed his fingers on the steering-wheel. Mmmhh. But why was Daniel coming to Washington? Not boredom. Dr. Jackson always had enough work for the next century on his desk. And they had returned only a few days ago from the very successful mission against the Ori and Adria. So, if Daniel was looking for something to do, there was a long mission report waiting for him.
If not boredom, then what did bring him to D.C.? Jack decided to be the optimist and assume that Daniel was looking forward to his entertaining company. He grinned broadly. Oh yes, he would entertain Daniel – or excite, arouse, stimulate Daniel – whatever was necessary. He would have to rearrange his time schedule a bit but with Major Davis’ help it should be possible. He started making plans and arrived at the Pentagon in a brilliant mood.
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Daniel leaned back into the comfy seat, looking out of the small window. He watched Denver getting smaller and smaller, saw the high mountains give place to the vast plains. How tiny and insignificant Earth was on a galactic scale! But nevertheless the Tau’ri had influenced – for the good and for the bad – the destiny of so many peoples in this Galaxy. Who would have thought that when he had activated the Gate for the first time?
When the stewardess asked him if he wanted something to drink, he was startled out of his reverie. One minute later he was sipping on his coffee. He asked himself if he hadn’t acted out of impulse by hopping on this plane. Sure, last night, the third night in a row he hadn’t slept properly, visiting Jack had seemed to be the only viable solution. Now, during daylight, in the middle of so many people, it seemed a bit premature. After all, in three weeks Jack would be in Colorado Springs for the annual summer party of the SGC. So, why had it seemed like a good idea last night to book this flight? To throw some clothes haphazardly in a duffle bag and drive to the Denver airport?
For crying out loud – and if he was channelling Jack here that was just fine – they had defeated the Ori! They had found the ark in time, Morgan Le Fay had intervened on their behalf and they had saved – once again – Earth. Thanks to the ‘Ark of Truth’ they had been able to eliminate once and for all these horrible false gods who had brought so much grief and death over the galaxy in the last two years. That really was an impressive achievement, wasn’t it? That should give him a sense of delight, of exaltation. Instead he felt empty, exhausted and very, very tired.
When he had been younger he had never understood why people complained that they felt too tired to read and watched TV instead. But for a few years now he’d known what they meant. There were times when he couldn’t bring himself to do anything, not even things he usually liked to do, like reading. He had enough time, but he couldn’t find the energy to start anything. And the worst was he couldn’t even sleep to get rid of this bone-deep tiredness.
Daniel yawned and realized that until now he hadn’t read a single line in the interesting book he had packed for this flight. He sighed deeply. He should try to pull himself together or he would spoil their weekend, and they were always much too short. He straightened. Enough was enough. He was on his way to Washington, he would make the best of it and not burden Jack with his problems. It wasn’t Jack’s fault that he wasn’t feeling on cloud nine. But two and a half days and three nights with Jack were waiting for him – what better plans could he have? And perhaps, after a night of sleeping soundly, he would be as fit as a fiddle and would happily do whatever Jack had planned. He forced a half-sincere smile on his face.
After their landing in Baltimore, Daniel didn’t rent a car but took a taxi to Jack’s apartment. He didn’t feel like concentrating for an hour on the dense traffic. The taxi-driver talked the whole time, giving him the weather forecast and updating him on the latest sports results.
The taxi made good progress, there were no major traffic jams, and one hour later, a few minutes after three o’clock, Daniel opened the door to Jack’s apartment. Well, it looked like Jack hadn’t had time to clean up but that didn’t matter. Daniel let his bag drop to the ground, went to the bathroom and stripped, keeping only his shorts on. For a second he thought about changing the blankets but then he convinced himself that smelling Jack on the pillow was the best way to make him sleep. He was right and two minutes later he was snoring.
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When Jack returned at half past six there was no sound in his apartment. No radio, no TV, nothing. But Daniel’s duffle bag in the middle of the living room announced that his friend had arrived in the meantime. Carefully, Jack opened the door to the bedroom and grinned.
Daniel was lying on his stomach, spread-eagled, taking up the whole bed. He must have been very tired, because he was still wearing his glasses that were askew by now. He surely had had a fight with the covers, because they were wrapped around him in a strange way, leaving his left leg, half of his back and the left arm naked. Out of habit Jack checked the visible skin for injuries. Not seeing any new traces of staff-wounds or similar weapons, he sighed in relief.
He closed the door again and returned to the living to continue his cleaning-up operation from this morning. After finishing, he ordered a table in his favourite Italian restaurant and at half past seven he undertook the difficult task of convincing Daniel that he had to eat before he was allowed to sleep for real. Jack sat down on the side of the bed and let his fingers travel over Daniel’s arm and hair. Bending forward he kissed Daniel’s lips. The sleep-warm body felt amazing and Jack was really grateful that Daniel was going to spend this weekend with him.
Daniel’s eye-lids fluttered and he smiled. But only when Jack called him “Sleepyhead” did he open his eyes. “Hi.” Daniel lifted his hand to the curve of Jack’s neck and caressed the soft skin there. “What time is it?”
“A quarter to eight.” Jack breathed a kiss to Daniel’s fingers.
“Any chance I can continue to sleep till tomorrow morning?”
“Nope. I reserved a table for us at ‘Giovanni’. And besides, if you sleep now, you’ll be wide-awake in the middle of the night.”
“And if I promise not to be awake before eight o’clock?” Daniel tried his luck.
Jack looked unsure. “That’s what you want?”
Daniel would have loved to say ‘yes’. But Jack wanted to spend the evening with him. He tried to persuade himself that he could always sleep on Monday, back in the SGC. “No. I’ll get up now,” he said instead and stretched languorously to loosen his muscles.
“If you continue to do that, you won’t have to get up because I’ll come to bed,” Jack told him, letting his gaze travel admiringly over Daniel’s body.
“Don’t tempt me,” Daniel laughed, swinging his legs out of the bed. “Do I have still time for a short, quick shower?”
“’Short’ and ‘quick’ being the most important words in that sentence,” Jack chuckled.
Daniel gave Jack a nippy peck on the lips, before disappearing into the bathroom. Ten minutes later he was back indeed. He had showered, changed into a tight black jeans and a grey pullover and said, “All dressed up.”
Jack had to kiss him.
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It was a nice evening. They talked about everything, leaving the work related themes alone. Daniel suddenly remembered something the taxi driver had told him, but when he asked if the Red Sox were a good football team, Jack laughed until he hiccupped.
The red wine chased away Daniel’s fatigue and he told Jack about Teal’c’s efforts to introduce Sam to the secrets of Tai-Chi. “And a few weeks ago she suddenly jumped up in the middle of an exercise, yelled ‘I got it! That’s the solution!’ and ran from the gym. Teal’c had been convinced she was in a deep meditation trance, instead she was pondering scientific problems.”
Jack laughed. “Did they continue with their lessons?”
“No. But they found something like the Chulak-version of Tai-Chi which is used by the Jaffa to prepare for combat. Much more action and less meditation. Now they’re doing it three times a week, missions permitting.”
Jack nodded. “That sounds more like Carter.”
“By the way...” Daniel hoped he wasn’t spilling secrets that were still meant to be kept secret. “Since we have been in that time bubble on board the ‘Odyssey’, Sam and Teal’c spend a lot of time together. When I asked him, he told me that he didn’t want her to be alone.”
“Well, he never explained what really had happened on board the ‘Odyssey’. If he and Carter ... he with Carter... I mean… if they ...?” While searching for words Jack kneaded his napkin.
Daniel took it from his hands. “I wouldn’t exclude it, but it doesn’t matter. More important for Sam is what he is doing now.”
“You’re right. Although...” Jack tilted his head pensively from one side to the other.
“Jack! Stop speculating!” Daniel nudged him in the ribs. “If they want us to know, they’ll tell us. And until then...”
“Okay. Fine. Let’s wait and see.” Jack divided the rest of the red wine between their glasses. “Shall I tell you what we’re going to do tomorrow?”
“Uhm... the same thing you’re suspecting Sam and Teal’c are doing?”
“Smartass!” Jack laughed. “Of course we’ll also do that. But what do you think about visiting the Gorge Heritage museum? Or the Fort Lewis Museum? Someone recommended them to me. But we can also rent one of those Segways. There’s a rental station in Washington and they also offer introductory courses. Should be fun! All you have to do is stand on these big rollers, and you can do nearly 13mph.”
Jack was grinning like a loon therefore Daniel didn’t want to be a spoilsport and said, “We can try it once.”
“Okay. Done.”
“I’m sure we have to have a reservation, don’t we?”
Jack looked a bit sheepishly. “Uhm ... I already made reservations this afternoon.”
Daniel arched his eyebrows. “Before you asked me?”
Jack rubbed his hand through his hair. “Listen, you said ‘yes’, didn’t you?”
“Jack, you’re impossible.” But Daniel laughed and although they were in a restaurant he put his fingers over Jack’s hand.
Fighting against his ingrained impulse to snatch his hand away, Jack squeezed Daniel’s fingers, before drinking the rest of his wine.
Daniel yawned three times. “Sorry, that has to be the red wine.”
“Bedtime for archaeologists.” Jack nodded, paid, and they returned to his apartment.
Shortly afterwards they were in bed, but before Jack could have his wicked way with Daniel, he’d wrapped himself around him, one hand on Jack’s stomach and his right leg over Jack’s legs. He was breathing into Jack’s ear and fell asleep within a few minutes.
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The next morning Jack was awake at six o’clock, just like every morning. Jack glanced at his sleeping ‘significant other’. Unfortunately, he was convinced that Daniel wouldn’t be too happy if he woke him now for a round of morning sex. He kissed him on the forehead and got up. Jack started his computer and while waiting for the coffee to be ready, he prepared toast with cheese and peanut butter.
For the next two hours he read emails and answered the most important ones. He signed three memos, approved the acquisition of a new printer and – with a bleeding heart – rejected the purchase of a popcorn machine for his office. He read another five documents and confirmed that he would take part in two more meetings the next week. Jack sighed. Since when did his whole work consist of office work? How far had he left behind what he really loved to do, when the highlight of next week was going to be a visit to an enterprise producing ceramic tiles for the next generation of starships?
In the SGC the administration stuff hadn’t been that hard – and that boring – after a short, difficult phase of transition. In the SGC it had still been “his” team, his friends. Washington had been far a way and sort of an “enemy” concept. As leader of the SGC Jack had had to show that he was cleverer than “those” at the East Coast. But now he was one of “them”.
Of course he still got the files from Cheyenne Mountain, but he had only time to read the mission reports from SG-1, his timetable didn’t permit more. And Jack knew that he was going to “pay” for this free weekend, working overtime next week.
Jack printed out another set of minutes, hoping that he could snatch a quarter hour to read it in the afternoon. While the printer was spitting out the pages, Jack promised himself to find time during the next weeks to really think about his situation. To think about how long he was still ready to do the job and to consider alternatives.
Jack looked at his watch. Already half past nine. If they planned to be in time for their first item on the program, he’d better waken the archaeologist. His main object for today was to divert Daniel from the problems at the SGC – whatever they were – and to make him forget his worries for at least a weekend.
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Taking the metro, they arrived in time at the rental station. A young woman explained how to use the Segways. It looked easy and it was easy – push to the front for driving and lean back for stopping. In the first moment it took a bit of willpower to step on the moving mini-platform, but thanks to a stabilization device in the ground-platform, not even a good sense of balance was needed. After ten minutes Jack and Daniel knew what to do with their vehicles, but as they were given a lot of safety notes and various tour proposals it took them another twenty minutes until they had a go. Starting cautiously, they got more daring by the minute. They sped around sidewalks and park lanes, passed famous sightseeing attractions and found bicycle paths where they were nearly alone.
Jack was fascinated with the moving mini-platform. “For old men like me, who aren’t so mobile anymore, these are fantastic!”
But instead of stroking Jack’s ego and assuring him he wasn’t an old man, Daniel told him mercilessly, “Perhaps old men like you would be more mobile, if they would rely more often on muscle power than on electronic devices.”
“Boah, we’re very mean today, aren’t we?” Jack complained laughingly and drove recklessly around Daniel, nearly tripping him.
“Well, it is a bit… abnormal, isn’t it? We could be biking or hiking now and improve our health.”
“But this is more fun.”
“That’s the only point in favour of these mini-gliders,” Daniel admitted.
Shortly before they had to give back the Segways, Daniel let himself be persuaded to have a race with Jack. But as no Segway was more powerful than the other, it was very tedious. In the end Jack only won because he left the regular path and regardless of the consequences cut across country.
“I won!” Jack beamed.
“You cheated.” Daniel shook his head regretfully but couldn’t totally ban the grin from his features.
Jack always felt his heart melting when Daniel regarded him with this fond look full of indulgence. He really would have loved to drag Daniel behind a tree and kiss him. But his common sense won. There would be time enough once they were back in the apartment.
They returned the Segways and Jack steered Daniel around a corner into a small bistro where they ordered coffee and sandwiches.
“Ready for the next item on the program?” Jack asked half an hour later, because he hadn’t finished yet with his ‘how to cheer up an archaeologist’ program.
“And that is ...?”
“A book flea market. It’s only three blocks from here.”
“Okay.” Daniel tried not to look too astonished. At the same time he was touched that Jack had been asking around until he had found something that was totally in Daniel’s line of interest. And instead of disappearing into the first café and telling Daniel that they would meet in two hours, Jack accompanied Daniel from one seller to the other. Jack also rummaged around in the boxes and cartons and from time to time he showed Daniel books with the most hilarious titles. “Living With Crazy Buttocks”, “What To Say When You Talk To Yourself” and “The Inheritance of Hairy Ear Rims”.
Two hours later, hefting three books, they were on the metro again.
“Where are we going now?” Daniel asked when he noticed that they weren’t returning to Jack’s apartment.
“Wait and see.”
“Jack, I’m not a six year old you have to keep interested with well placed secrets. I’ll accompany you wherever you go.” Daniel was happy to spend time with Jack, to follow him wherever he went, and for once not to have to decide what to do next.
“Patience, grasshopper.” Very obviously, Jack loved to tease his friend.
This time it took them nearly half an hour to reach their destination. And after leaving the metro they still had to walk for ten minutes before Jack finally put away the city map. They were in one of the older quarters of Washington where all the houses had a very individual charm. Jack opened a rusty garden gate; they crossed a very small garden full of blooming flowers before climbing up five steps to a house painted in blue and white.
“Mrs. DaPlata opens her private rooms for interested customers on appointment," Jack explained while ringing the bell.
“’Interested customers’? You know in the same sentence with ‘private rooms’ and ‘Mrs. DaPlata’ my mind ... is in the gutter.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Jack shook his head. “Later, you have to tell what you’re thinking right now,” Jack whispered into Daniel’s ear just before the door was opened.
An elderly lady, in her seventies, asked with a friendly smile, “Mr. O’Neill?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Jack answered charmingly.
“Please, come in. And you must be Dr. Jackson, then?” She shook Daniel’s hand.
“Uhm... yes, that’s right,” he replied, taken by surprise. He gave Jack a quick glance but Jack only put one hand in the small of his back and pushed him gently into the house.
They entered a long hallway where on the left side a dark wooden staircase led to the first floor. The walls were decorated with faded wallpaper with red roses which had been modern fifty years ago, if ever. The well-used floor consisted of green and white tiles in a checkerboard design which contrasted heavily with the red roses. Daniel had no clue at all why Jack had brought him to this strange house.
“Thank you very much for accommodating us on such a short notice," Jack said while they were following Mrs. DaPlata through the long corridor until the reached another door.
“Well, you told me, that Dr. Jackson is only here for the weekend, and I had no other plans, so it’s my pleasure to have you here.”
Daniel couldn’t fathom what they were talking about. His first thought had been something to do with... sex. But of course he knew that Jack would never do something compromising in Washington. And grey-haired Mrs. DaPlata wasn’t really a vamp, so it looked like he had to think of something else. Did Jack know about his sleeping problems and Mrs. DaPlata was some sort of... therapist? Perhaps she gave relaxing massages? Or something more esoteric? Aroma therapy or whatever?
“Here we are.” They had reached the end of the hallway and Mrs. DaPlata put her hand on the brass handle of a dark oak door. She nodded into Daniel’s direction and seemed to be silently amused about his questioning look. She opened the door and made Daniel enter before her. “Please.”
“Wow.” Daniel stopped directly on the threshold and looked around with big eyes and an open mouth. Jack was tempted to close it with a finger, but that would have hinted at an intimacy he didn’t want to display in front of a stranger.
The room had a high ceiling, as was common in elder houses, and was full of aquariums. There were giant fish tanks and small 120 litre aquariums. The artificial light in the more than two dozen glass basins was the only source of light in the room.
“In this room are my freshwater aquariums,” Mrs. DaPlata explained.
“Oh, my God.” Daniel hurried to have a closer look at the basins. But it wasn’t the fish that captured his whole interest - no, he was much more interested in the decorations. Mrs. DaPlata had decorated her glass tanks with a theme. A historical theme. There were small catfish, angelfish, malawis and marble stingrays swimming through miniature underwater worlds that represented an ancient Greek theatre, Egyptian pyramids inclusive of a Sphinx and a mini-replica of the temple of Karnak. In other aquariums Daniel saw guppies living in stilt houses of the Bronze Age. In yet another one, twenty tiny terracotta warriors offered a perfect hiding-place for swordtails.
“Do you like it?” Mrs DaPlata asked delightedly when she saw Daniel’s rapt expression. “Mr. O’Neill told me you also have an aquarium?”
“I have a very boring fish tank with a bog wood, some platys and some neon tetras. But nothing like this. These are... artworks.” Daniel turned to Mrs. DaPlata, “What gave you the idea?”
“I’m old and I have a lot of time. The aquarium furniture you can buy – kitschy plastic chests, mermaids and ship wrecks – I thought it looked horrible. Archaeology being my second hobby, one day I had the idea to make a Greek temple for my fish. I learned everything about the materials you can use in aquariums which don’t harm the fish – and then I started modelling historic worlds.”
“This is fantastic!” Going from tank to tank, Daniel stopped every half meter and admired the details. “Jack, have you seen these cliff dwellings? There are even mini ladders for the upper floors and a kiva that probably was used for gatherings.”
“Yes, Daniel. And each tank has a different pH-value, different temperature for the fishes living there and they all have individual water conditions,” Jack repeated what Mrs DaPlata had explained to him in the meantime.
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Daniel gave Mrs. DaPlata a small, nearly shy smile that was always very effective. “Is it very bad that I’m more interested in the decoration than in the fishes?”
“Oh, no.” She winked at him. “You can see fishes every day, but my aquarium furniture is unique.”
“You see?” Daniel grinned triumphantly at his friend.
“Yes, Daniel.” Jack nodded obediently, but he couldn’t keep the smile from his lips.
In the next room Mrs. DaPlata showed them her saltwater aquariums. But although the fish were much more colourful Daniel liked the first room better. In the saltwater aquariums the decorations represented wonders of nature like the Grand Canyon, a stalactite cave or a landscape with mini volcanoes. In the middle of the room was a giant fish tank imitating the Great Barrier Reef.
Daniel was very impressed and said so, but before leaving he took one last look at the “historic” aquariums in the first room. Then they thanked Mrs DaPlata profusely and promised to come back another time.
“Where did you get her address?” Daniel asked when they were sitting in the metro again.
“Somebody in the mess hall talked about her. Told me, his daughter always buys her fishes there. So I asked him. Last time when you were in Washington she was on vacation – and well, this time we made it.”
“That was so amazing! All those details.” Daniel’s eyes sparkled.
“Glad you liked it.” For the first time this weekend Jack had the impression that Daniel was again his old, enthusiastic self – and he was very pleased with himself. Yes, it was great when a plan succeeded. He leaned a bit closer to Daniel on the bench than was strictly necessary, and pressed his shoulder against Daniel’s. He loved to feel this close to him. And when also Daniel leaned into him, Jack was not only content but happy.
But during their dinner in a steak-house he accidentally mentioned the last mission to the Ori, the shutters came down again and so that Jack was no longer able to read him.
Back in the apartment, they collapsed on the sofa. Putting their stockinged feet on the table they watched TV for a few minutes. When during the weather forecast Daniel’s head sank down heavily on the backrest of the sofa and his eyes closed, they went to bed
“That was a very nice day, Jack,” Daniel said and shuffled closer until he was able to put his head on Jack’s shoulder.
“That’s good to hear. For tomorrow I organized Colonel Frederickson’s motor-boat. It’s anchored in Rose Heaven, about an hour drive from here. We can speed up or down the coast, it’s up to you.” Jack’s hands glided over Daniel’s back, kneading the cramped muscles there. Well, tomorrow they would be on a small boat the whole day, nothing to do, and Jack hoped that he could bring Daniel to talk about what bothered him.
Daniel pressed his nose into the crook of Jack’s neck and breathed deeply. To spend a whole day on a boat promised to be less hectic than today. That didn’t mean that today hadn’t been great. On the contrary, Jack had taken great pains to find things to do that Daniel liked. But to have a whole day for ‘dolce far niente’ sounded also like a great plan. “Okay, fine.”
Okay, fine. What? No discussion? No counter proposal? No complaints that human beings weren’t made for living on a nutshell, or similar silly arguments Daniel usually used when he didn’t like to do something? Jack had often wished the archaeologist wouldn’t be so mule headed – but in this moment he wasn’t happy with Daniel’s docile agreement.
He didn’t need endless discussion, no thank you very much, there were enough of those in the Pentagon, but he liked to compete with Daniel, to prove his quick-wittedness. He wanted to quarrel about something as dumb and unimportant as the remote control and lose it in the end to Daniel. But when Daniel was so accommodating that he was watching the sports channel or even the home-shopping channel with him as he had done this evening – then something was wrong.
“Jack, stop thinking so loudly,” Daniel complained and tugged at Jack’s chest hair.
Jack relaxed. The fine tuning between them still was working. Perhaps Daniel wasn’t able to read his thoughts but he was still able to read his mood.
“Yes, honey.” Jack’s voice betrayed his amusement.
Daniel pulled Jack’s hair again.
“Ouch!” But it was more laughing than complaining. Jack’s lips searched for Daniel’s and he kissed him, nipping from time to time at Daniel’s lower lip with his teeth before dipping his tongue between Daniel’s parted lips, invading Daniel’s mouth. All the while Jack’s hands groped Daniel’s ass and pulled him closer. Jack wanted Daniel, desired him so much, that it was nearly like a feeling of hunger in his stomach. All those touches he hadn’t permitted himself throughout the day, and missing Daniel for weeks, added up to this heavy feeling of yearning. He pressed his hard dick against Daniel’s thigh, searching the pressure and savouring the feeling that it was Daniel in his bed, in his life, at least for now.
Daniel sighed. Yes, that felt good; much too good to go without for weeks, and then have it only for two or three days during a weekend. In the same moment Daniel berated himself. He wasn’t the only person coping with a long distance relationship. And a very privileged long distance relationship because they both had enough money to hop on board a plane if they couldn’t stand any more to be alone. He was slowly getting too old for being alone. And how was Jack able to stand this, living alone and without his friends in a different town?
Jack’s fingers were gliding over Daniel’s stomach, sliding into his boxer shorts and enfolding Daniel’s dick, which was still limp. Oh. Somehow, Jack had thought that Daniel was as hungry as he was to be touched and to be made love to. He couldn’t pull back his hand now, so he rubbed and pressed and tried everything to get a reaction. What was the saying? The appetite comes while eating? Perhaps he was able to stimulate Daniel’s appetite.
Daniel wanted Jack. Wanted Jack with his whole being. He had missed him so much during these last days that he had booked this flight. But his brain was thwarting him. His thoughts were meandering in every direction; he wasn’t able to switch to “sex” and nothing else. And the more he thought about it, the more he fell into a loop of “it has to work” and the stress reaction, when he noticed that he didn’t get hard. He tried to persuade himself that Jack had also suffered from it – but then he remembered that it had been one night after six hours of meeting with the defence committee.
Daniel tried again to concentrate on the present situation. Even if his body didn’t cooperate at least he could do something for Jack. He laid a hand on Jack’s dick and the first touch made Jack moan loudly. Grinning, Daniel gripped him a bit tighter, glided up and down and gave Jack the little twist he loved so much. This felt good and Jack’s reaction was very rewarding.
“Daniel!” A few minutes later Jack wrapped an arm around Daniel’s neck, breathing heavily.
It was a rush, Daniel thought, that after all those years they had been together he still had the power to make Jack breathless within such a short time.
“I …”
“I’m here, Jack,” Daniel whispered into Jack’s ear. He kissed him and nibbled on his neck. He let Jack feel his entire weight, offered his whole body for Jack to rub against. Jack’s breathing sped up and it felt amazing to see Jack let go, trusting him. Slipping his right hand between their bodies, he took Jack’s balls into his hand, kneading them cautiously, and letting his thumb gliding further back still, to massage the sensitive skin of the perineum.
“Oh, god… yes! Damn … yes!”
Jack spread his legs wider and when Daniel continued with his soft caresses, he felt that Jack was tumbling over the edge. Daniel held him close, revelling in the proximity and warmth and rightness of the moment. And suddenly Daniel understood that he had wanted his erection more as a sign, a confirmation for Jack than for himself. In this moment he had everything he wanted and needed – to be near the one he loved, to be in the arms of a heavily breathing and very exhausted Jack. Of course this shouldn’t be a steady state, but for the moment it was enough for him. Perhaps he could explain it to Jack, tomorrow, in a quiet moment. Right now it would sound too much like an apology for something that wasn’t in his power to change.
After Jack was able to think clearly again, he realized that Daniel hadn’t come, that he hadn’t been really hard and aroused the whole time. He would have liked to assure Daniel that it didn’t matter for him, but Daniel had brought him to orgasm and under these circumstances it would have sounded a bit too selfish. And when he told Daniel now “I love you”, it was very possible that Daniel would get it wrong and regard it as a meagre consolation. Crap! It was so difficult to find the right words if you usually didn’t talk about this stuff.
Kissing Daniel, Jack breathed a “thank you” into his lips, hoping that Daniel would understand all he couldn’t say out loud. Then he rolled from under Daniel, got rid off his shorts that were somewhere around his knees and mopped himself up with them. He let them drop unceremoniously to the floor at the side of the bed. He was relieved that Daniel returned to his arms as soon as he had finished.
“Night, Daniel.”
“Night, Jack.”
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The next morning they didn’t need to leave the bed to know that the weather was too bad for a boat tour. A heavy storm was tossing rain against the windows, gusts of wind were howling around the houses and due to the thick, grey storm-clouds the room was still rather dark. Jack and Daniel preferred to stay in bed, half-asleep in their warm cocoon of covers and pillows until Jack mumbled apologetically, “I have to take a leak.”
A quick glance to his watch told him that it was already ten o’clock, so he didn’t return to the bed but went to the kitchen, started the coffee machine, returned to the bathroom and took a hot shower. While he was washing his hair, Daniel shuffled into the bathroom and mumbled, “Morning.” He took a piss, washed his hands and disappeared again. Daniel had never been a morning person. Jack chuckled and wondered if Daniel would return to their bed.
But when Jack came to the kitchen a few minutes later, he found Daniel, clad in his old robe, whipping up some pancake mix. Jack encircled him in his arms from behind, kissed him on the neck and asked superfluously, “What are you doing?”
“A mixed salad,” Daniel answered without blinking an eye.
“Hey, doofus!” Jack complained and slapped him on his buttocks.
Grinning, Daniel turned around in Jack’s arms and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I found this box in your cupboard. And as it’s only one month expired, I think it’s still edible.” He turned back and dropped a spoon of the batter into the pan.
“Well, I’ll try to find the maple syrup then,” Jack announced.
Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting in the living room and eating a breakfast made of leftovers.
“Even if we don’t do anything else today, we should make a short trip to the supermarket,” Daniel said, scraping the last bit of peanut butter from the jar.
“You’ve got a point,” Jack agreed and poured the last orange juice in his glass.
But they took their time and only by noon had they summoned up enough energy to drive to the mall. They filled their cart with necessary and not so necessary things, added a salad and a pre-made apple pie for lunch and two ready-to-serve meals for dinner so that nothing would get in the way of a nice couch potato afternoon.
They sat side by side on the sofa, a thermos of hot coffee within their grasp. Daniel was reading and Jack was answering emails and doing crossword puzzles. From time to time he asked Daniel about a word and they discussed possible solutions. During the whole afternoon the heavy rain continued and it got so clammy and cold in the apartment that Jack decided to start the electric fire. He also brought a fleece blanket back to the sofa, spreading it over Daniel and himself.
“Puh, it’s summer and I’m freezing my ass off,” Jack ranted.
Daniel didn’t answer but looked into the false flames of the electric heater which seemed to blaze from the false log. Suddenly he said, “The open fire place in your house was better. More… genuine. More like you.”
“Uh...” What was he supposed to answer to a statement like that? Praise and criticism nicely put in one sentence. Jack cleared his throat and answered, “Yes, real wood gives better heat than this electrical knick-knack.”
“I miss the house,” Daniel confessed, leaning his head against Jack’s shoulder.
“You miss my house?”
“Yes.” Daniel pulled the blanket a few inches up. “It has always been like an ... anchor in my life. I moved so often in Colorado Springs that sometimes, when I was deep in thought, I had to pay attention not to drive to the wrong, old address. But your house had been a fixed-point. Always in the same place.”
As Jack wasn’t able to decipher the look that accompanied Daniel’s words, he answered, “I never thought about it that way. Why didn’t you say a word? I could have kept it. I earn enough money to rent an apartment in Washington and keep a house in Springs.”
“At that time I thought you wanted to burn all your bridges behind you. Show very clearly that your new centre of life is now in Washington. You know, show that your loyalty is with your new job.”
Of course Daniel was right, that had been one reason. But there was more. Jack hadn’t been able to imagine coming home to a house every other month where every room brought back memories of Daniel, reminded him that perhaps it hadn’t been his best decision to accept the job in Washington. They never had really discussed this. Daniel had accepted his decision to go to the Pentagon as he had accepted his decision to take Hammond’s job at the SGC. But Jack had never been able to burn all his bridges, as Daniel called it, not even with selling the house. “I’m still reading all your mission reports.”
“All of them?”
“Well, in Carter’s I often skip the technical descriptions. And I don’t mind if Vala writes from time to time in her report, ‘Boring. For the rest see Colonel Mitchell’s report’, because sometimes she’s interested in the strangest things and then describes them meticulously in ten pages.”
“Oh yes, I know what you mean.”
“In her last report she had been very fascinated with Adria’s showy dress of flames,” Jack broached the theme that had made Daniel monosyllabic until now whenever he had tried to talk about it. But this time he wouldn’t allow getting distracted. He would find out why Daniel didn’t talk more enthusiastically about a victory that had saved the galaxy from a lot of further bloodshed, intolerance, burning stakes and false gods. “Was she hotter than our heater here?” he asked flippantly.
“What?”
“I’m talking about Adria.”
“Uhm, no, the robe didn’t give off heat. It was, like so many things, an illusion.” Daniel stared into the flames as if he could see the Orici there.
Gently, Jack asked, “What else was an illusion?”
“Lots of things, Jack.” Daniel took off his glasses and put them on the living room table. He grabbed his coffee mug and wrapped his hands around it to soak up the last warmth from the mug. “The first Ark was false and contained only scrolls which Tomin had destroyed carelessly. Merlin was an illusion because I knew that he was dead. But even in the face of the immense danger, Morgan Le Fay tried to hide behind his image.”
“Morgan Le Fay?” Jack asked. His voice invited Daniel to keep on talking, even if he already knew the facts from Daniel’s report. He was totally relieved when Daniel continued.
“Yes, Morgan Le Fay visited me in the dungeon. I’m sure you read that the Orici had taken us prisoners the moment we had found the right ark.” Daniel gave a detailed description of the first ark and how they had found out that it wasn’t the wonder weapon they had been hoping for. Then he described the second ark and Jack listened patiently. He was convinced now that Daniel needed this long prologue to prepare for the decisive point that hopefully would shed a bit of light on Daniel’s subdued mood.
“After the warriors of the Ori had overpowered us, they brought us to Celestis and threw us in the dungeons. Alone. The Doci knew that I had been a Prior once and he tried to infiltrate my thoughts. I assume he tried to find ... residues from that time he intended to re-activate. For hours he preached his sermons, trying to re-indoctrinate me, trying to break me.”
“But you resisted him,” Jack said and put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “He underestimated you – again.”
“But barely. It was a very thin line. But, yes, he wasn’t able to convince me of the merits of Origin, although ... That hadn’t been the most difficult part. With the Doci I had someone I could fight, there was a challenge I had to master. But then they left me alone... and everything started collapsing onto me. I started to question everything instead of trying to find a way out and plan my escape. And afterwards, resignation began to take over. There was a point when I didn’t want to continue. I felt tired and disappointed. Nothing mattered any more when I was lying there on the cold stone floor. I felt alone, abandoned. Everything seemed futile. I felt without hope ... and that’s what I also told Morgan Le Fay.” Daniel whispered the last sentence as if it was shameful to admit something like that.
Jack knew that he had to choose his next words very carefully. This had been quite an admission for Daniel. But before finding an appropriate answer, Daniel took a deep breath and continued sarcastically, “You see, even the legendary Jackson optimism sometimes reaches its boundaries.”
“But that’s okay.” Jack’s hand glided over Daniel’s shoulder and his neck reaching to cup Daniel’s cheek in his palm, and Daniel leaned into the touch. “Nobody expects you to always have an answer, to always find a solution. You have the same right as everybody else to hate the ascended beings for their stubbornness, for their snobbish policy of not inferring. And yes, this pigheaded attitude can drive everybody to despair.” Jack knew from own experiences how that felt, remembered his own feeling of helplessness. And to make matters worse, “his” stubborn Ascended had been his boyfriend!
“Believe me, you had had every right to feel hopeless. And perhaps… perhaps it was your very noticeable despair that cracked the armour of Morgan Le Fay. If you had continued with rational arguments she would have countered with logic. Even if you never intended to, with your helplessness you have appealed to her… emotions and probably that’s why she helped you in the end.”
Daniel was dumbfounded. Not because Jack had found an explanation and solution – he knew very well that the General was much more sensitive than he wanted everybody to believe with his sometimes very gruff answers – but because suddenly it seemed so… easy. “You think what I considered my weakness at that moment was in reality my forte? As paradoxical as it sounds? And as little as I like it,” he added with a deep sigh.
Jack nodded. “Yes, sometimes it’s that simple.”
“Fortune favors fools,” Daniel bitched disparagingly.
“Call it ‘intuition’ and it sounds much better,” Jack teased. He really hoped to make Daniel see his point.
For a moment everything hung in the balance then Daniel sent Jack a grateful look. Yes, intuition was a much nicer word – and perhaps calling it that way could make the memory of the abysmal desperation fade over time. Intuition, yes, he could live with that. Intuition had often helped him also in his line of work, deciphering new languages, giving life to otherwise meaningless symbols. And suddenly he realized that Jack himself had shown a lot of intuition in the course of this weekend. As if he had guessed that Daniel had needed yesterday with all its hustle and bustle, and tourist activities, no spare minute, and lots of new impressions to gain a certain distance from the SGC and all its problems. And today not the randomly chugging boat but the calm and quietness of Jack’s living room had made him talk about his experiences.
“Thank you,” he simply said and Jack didn’t pretend not to know what Daniel was talking about.
“You’re welcome.” He pulled Daniel tighter into his arms and said, “Tell me how it ends and how Teal’c made the ark keel over.”
“You already know the ending. You really want to hear the unabridged version?”
Jack put his left hand on Daniel’s thigh and beamed at him. “Hey, sexy, you could read the Little Rock phone book to me and I would still listen to you,” he told him with a seductive voice.
Daniel snorted, gave Jack a doubtful look over the rim of his glasses and a very indulgent smile but he continued. “Fine. When Teal’c came to my cell…”
Jack didn’t listen the whole time with his whole attention – he already planned on putting the meals in the microwave to have them ready for the news at eight – but he nodded and ‘hmmed’ at the right places. Daniel wouldn’t make him write a final exam, he only needed somebody to listen, so that should be okay.
Half an hour later, Daniel was talking animatedly about a dig in South America he had taken part in during his studies – and Jack knew that the worst was now behind them. And another problem seemed to be solved. When Jack’s fingers glided over Daniel’s crotch, first carefully, then more explicitly, he felt the archaeologist hardening under his hand.
“And then… oh, yes, Jack… we went home.” Daniel ended his story about the Maya relief very abruptly and a bit breathlessly. He asked himself how much Jack had heard in the last minutes. Daniel doubted that Jack’s very interested facial expression was due to the Mayan culture. Jack’s fingers were now fumbling with his zipper and Daniel pressed the lower part of his body against Jack’s hands. When the zipper was open, Jack’s knuckles slid along the boxer shorts directly over his dick. Suddenly it was much too slow for Daniel’s liking, he felt like they had had foreplay for the last forty-five minutes already. He jumped up, placed the empty mug on the living room table, shucked the blanket and got rid of his pants and his underwear.
“Come on, Jack,” he said impatiently while straddling Jack’s legs. He felt his naked behind touch Jack’s jeans and pressed his erection against Jack’s stomach. “Wow. That’s so wonderful and decadent. You still dressed and me naked.” But the second he wanted to pull his pullover and t-shirt over his head, he remembered the less than summery temperatures and grinning impishly he corrected, “Half-naked.”
“I’m absolutely fine with half-naked,” Jack replied and his hands pushed up the hem of Daniel’s t-shirt before he put his hands on Daniel’s naked back.
The day before Daniel had felt safe and secure in Jack’s arms – and that had felt good. But in this moment he also felt a sparkle and a warm tingle in his groin area which made him rub more forcefully against Jack – and that felt much better. For a few seconds Daniel closed his eyes and let himself float on the sensations that were surrounding him. When he wanted to pull down also Jack’s zipper, Jack caught his wrists. “I’m no longer twenty. And if I want to pound you through the mattress and make you fly later, I shouldn’t shoot my wad now.”
“But…”
“Not buts,” Jack laughed, being thrilled that the objections were back. “You wanted… decadent, then you get decadent. Brace yourself against the backrest of the sofa with your hands. One hand on each side of my head.”
“But then I can’t…”
“Exactly,” Jack interrupted him.
“All right,” Daniel said after taking a short time to think it over. He put his hands against the backrest. Wriggling on Jack’s lap, he tried to get friction against his dick.
“Ass up,” Jack commanded and putting his hands on Daniel’s hips he pushed him into a kneeling position.
Daniel swallowed hard. He wanted decadent? Well, this should measure up to his expectations. He was kneeling with a bare ass and his legs spread over Jacks thighs – and felt more alive than he had felt in a long time. “Touch me,” he whispered impatiently, but Jack didn’t do that immediately. Instead he leaned to the left, groping under the sofa cushion. When Jack’s finger touched him a few moments later, they were wet and cold and a shiver ran through Daniel’s body. Finally.
“It will be warm shortly,” Jack misinterpreted his shaking.
“It’s perfect like this,” Daniel assured him, closing his eyes. The single sensations started to blur together. Jack’s hand massaging his dick, Jack’s other hand cupping his balls, making Daniel groan enthusiastically. The moment Jack leaned his head against the backrest of the couch, Daniel bent forward and pressed his lips onto Jack’s, licking into his mouth. Warm, demanding hands on his dick and balls, the chilly air of the room on his nakedness, Jack’s lips under his – Daniel started to loose himself in a rush of arousal.
When he moved, to accelerate the rhythm, Jack made clear without words but with an iron grip to his balls that that wasn’t part of the plan. Daniel whimpered into Jack’s lips, but he couldn’t do anything else than to surrender to Jack’s hands. He was close, so close. And Jack seemed to feel it too, because he slowed his movements down, holding Daniel in suspension, playing his body expertly. And the warm, thick arousal wasn’t confined any more to the places where Jack touched him, but spread from there throughout his whole body. Lava streams of heat and desperate yearning were racing through Daniel’s limbs, bringing with them so much fever that he wished he had got rid of the damn pullover earlier.
“Jack!” He feared he would shatter if this overwhelming, unbelievable feeling didn’t dissolve soon.
“Come on me. Come on my shirt!” Jack ordered in a husky voice.
Jack’s voice, his words and the hot picture that they painted in Daniel’s head were enough to make him abide to Jack’s wishes. With a deep sigh of relief Daniel let himself fall into his climax. A quick glance showed him that his friend indeed steered the stream of the white droplets deliberately onto his body. Groaning Daniel pressed his forehead against Jack’s and surrendered to the next wave of shudders travelling through his body.
Only when the pressure of Jack’s hands softened, when they held him without force, he let himself shift forward. Sitting down on Jack’s lap he leaned his whole weight against his friend. For a while they savoured the aftermath then Daniel started to shiver in earnest. He hesitated to let go of Jack, but if he didn’t want to catch a cold, he should dress again. He gave Jack another kiss then he got up reluctantly and put on his clothes.
Jack went to the bedroom to change his shirt and they met again in the kitchen. Together they prepared dinner, but as it consisted only of putting the meals in the microwave there wasn’t much to do. After that they switched on the TV as a background noise. They spent the next minutes eating and talking about such inane things as the astonishingly good taste of the microwave food
“Our taste buds are atrophied, thanks to all those MREs we’ve eaten on our missions,” Daniel laughed.
“I’ve never had gourmet-buds,” Jack grinned.
They continued like that until Daniel said with a seductive voice, “General, you promised me a thing or two for tonight, remember?”
“Yes,” Jack answered and looked as if Daniel had interrupted a very important thought. He blurted out, “I’ll buy the house back.”
“Oh.” It took Daniel a moment to sort through the abrupt change of theme.
But Jack added immediately, “Only if you want. We also can buy something new together.”
Daniel gulped and his breathing accelerated. They weren’t talking only about living arrangements! Somehow Jack had also reached a decision of a much heavier impact during the last hours or last days. At least! Totally overwhelmed, Daniel closed his eyes.
“Daniel?” There was a hint of insecurity in Jack’s voice.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Relief flooded through Daniel’s body. He felt tears of happiness threatening to fill his eyes and he blinked rapidly. Instead he kissed Jack. “Oh my God, yes. When? What can I do to help?”
“Be patient?” Jack’s fingers trailed over Daniel’s features. “It can’t happen overnight. I have to line up everything necessary and to settle who will be my successor – we want it to be someone who is good for the SGC, right? It will take at least half a year to arrange everything.”
“Pfft. What are six months?” Daniel grinned happily.
“Time flies,” Jack nodded.
“A propos flying. Didn’t you promise to make me fly tonight?” Daniel sprang up, reached out and pulled Jack from the couch.
“I’ll attend to it at once,” Jack promised, following Daniel to the bedroom.
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The next morning Daniel sat on the plane feeling as tired as he had been on the outgoing flight. They had fooled around, cooked up plans for the future and made love until two o’clock in the morning. Daniel had sore muscles and some minor difficulties in sitting down and he bet Jack was feeling likewise. But not for love or money would he have missed last night.
He yawned. Yes, he was tired again, but the good sort of tired this time. And there was enough time to sleep when he was back in Colorado Springs. He closed his eyes very contentedly.
----------The End----
©Antares, September 2010
Author: Antares
Summary: Daniel flies to Washington to spend the weekend with Jack
Word Count: 10270
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Rating: R
Disclaimer: not mine
Written For:
batagurPrompt:Two (2) Requirements: 1. Jack must have depth (no cliche riddled, catch-phrase spouting, shallow as a mud puddle!Jack) 2. After last season (season 10?)
Optional Request: a side of Teal'c/Sam would be nice
Restriction #1:No Character bashing
Restriction #2:No Underage sex
Notes: Many, many thanks to Catspaw for all her help!
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When the phone rang, Jack was wolfing down his breakfast. Damn! He was already late. There was no time for the crossword puzzle, only for the latest sports results if he read very, very fast. So he didn’t take time to check the caller-ID but barked rather brusquely, “O’Neill” into the phone.
“Hi, Jack.”
Daniel! Jack’s mood improved at once. “Hi, Daniel.” With concern in his voice he continued, “What happened? Aren’t you supposed to be on P3K-546?” A short glance to his watch confirmed that it was five minutes to seven, so that meant that it was five minutes to five in Colorado Springs. Why the hell was Daniel still or already awake? Jack felt an uneasy feeling forming in his stomach. Since the day he had stopped going on missions he often feared the worst. He was annoyed with himself; sometimes he was really acting like a good wife staying at home and waiting for the catastrophes to happen. And Daniel seemed to know that.
“Don’t worry, everything’s fine, Jack. Yes, we were supposed to gate there. The two previous times prior we sent the MALP through we didn’t encounter any problem, but yesterday the last chevron didn’t lock. Sam has no explanation and she’ll be working on it the next couple of days. So I have some free time on my hands. I was planning to come to D.C. for the weekend, okay? Taking the first flight from Denver this morning, I should be there in the afternoon. But don’t change your whole timetable on my behalf; you know I’m able to survive on my own for a few hours.”
Daniel had delivered his little speech without interruption, and Jack had only been able to throw in an affirmative “mmhmm” two times. When he was sure that Daniel had ended for good, he said with warmth in his voice, “Okay. That’s good news. Really good news,” he emphasized.
“I have the key for your apartment, so no problem, I can let myself in,” Daniel added.
As if Jack could forget that. Since the beginning of their working together each had always had the key for the apartment or house of the other. That hadn’t changed when Jack moved to Washington and 1500 miles were separating them. The first time when Jack had seen that Daniel had still his key on his key chain instead of keeping it in a drawer of his desk, he had frowned. But then it had clicked and he understood what Daniel saw in it: a very subtle way to express some sort of togetherness when they couldn’t wear rings to express it.
“Yeah. But I’ll hurry up, I promise.”
“Fine. I have to go now; the flight is scheduled for seven thirty. See you this evening.”
“See ya.” Jack heard the free line signal and put his cell phone down. Involuntarily, his gaze travelled round his living-room – and he groaned.
His place looked worse like a pigsty, as his grandma would have said. There were clothes and newspapers scattered on the floor, and food cartons on the table that documented neatly which takeaway meals he had ordered last week. Jack didn’t have to check, he already knew that his bathroom and bedroom didn’t look much better. Shit. Yes, yes, he was a military man and trained to be orderly but somehow he hadn’t felt like cleaning up. Of course, McKenzie the shrink would have drivelled something about passive-aggressive behaviour because he was rebelling against a job he wasn’t entirely happy with. Janet – and my God, he missed her still so much even after all these years – would have only told him in her unique way that he was behaving like a five-year-old. Jack grinned. Probably she was right.
Jack checked his watch. Seven o’clock. Okay, here was the plan… he could afford to spend ten minutes on cleaning up, any more than that and he would be horribly late for his first meeting of the day. But ten minutes he could gain by driving a bit ballsier than usual. That meant three minutes for the bathroom, three for the bedroom, three for the living-room-kitchen-area and one minute to cover any eventualities. Jack smirked, swallowed the rest of his toast down in one bite and rushed to the bedroom.
He opened the window and threw the clothes in the hamper whether they were dirty or not. He made the bed and picked up a comic book and his reading-glasses from the floor. Done. The rest was tidy enough – so he had gained one minute which he could spend later on the kitchen.
In the bathroom Jack collected all the towels, sprayed something that promised to be “fresher-than-last-spring” on each available surface and mopped it up with a washcloth. For good measure he poured half a litre of the stuff down the john – and the three minutes for the bathroom were already up, too.
In the living room he had to pick up three remote controls and various empty cookie boxes, to put the scissors in the drawer, to pile up the mail neatly and … wait, what was the black sock doing behind the sofa cushions? He collected the empty bottles and put the mugs, glasses and the silverware in the dish-washer. Since when was this yogurt cup sticking there? Didn’t matter. There was sugar, jam, margarine and toast to be taken care of. Jack put everything in the fridge. When he wanted to wipe the kitchen cabinet he sniffed on the damp cloth and found it disgusting. He threw it in the dustbin and took a new one. For a man who took such delight in playing in the dirt, Daniel could be very fussy where cleanliness in the kitchen was concerned.
In the last second Jack remembered to close the window in the bedroom and placed Daniel’s favourite chocolate on the living room table. Hopefully, that would distract Daniel from the rest of the mess. He grabbed his jacket and with only two minutes’ delay on his plan he bolted from his apartment.
On the short way to the Pentagon, Jack finally found time to breathe deeply and recall his conversation with Daniel. The most important thing was that Daniel was okay. The mission had been aborted due to technical difficulties and not because somebody had been hurt. Good. Daniel was on his way to Washington. Very good.
Most of the time it was him flying to Colorado Springs. Major Davis was great in organizing flights – even at the shortest notice, be it on a “normal” flight or be it on a military plane going to Peterson Airbase. And Jack always came up with reasons to fly to the Springs: birthdays, anniversaries, promotions – in his eyes they all benefited from an assisting General. He knew that people were already joking, but it didn’t bother him because after the official part was done, he was able to spend one or even two days with Daniel.
And suddenly Jack realized why he had been a bit astonished when Daniel had called. Until now he had never arrived uninvited. Usually, he had combined conferences or visits to the Pentagon with visiting Jack. But he had never called to say, “I’ll come over tomorrow” – no, wait, today! In a few hours! Jack felt a rush of happiness and grinned.
Waiting in front of the next red light he drummed his fingers on the steering-wheel. Mmmhh. But why was Daniel coming to Washington? Not boredom. Dr. Jackson always had enough work for the next century on his desk. And they had returned only a few days ago from the very successful mission against the Ori and Adria. So, if Daniel was looking for something to do, there was a long mission report waiting for him.
If not boredom, then what did bring him to D.C.? Jack decided to be the optimist and assume that Daniel was looking forward to his entertaining company. He grinned broadly. Oh yes, he would entertain Daniel – or excite, arouse, stimulate Daniel – whatever was necessary. He would have to rearrange his time schedule a bit but with Major Davis’ help it should be possible. He started making plans and arrived at the Pentagon in a brilliant mood.
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Daniel leaned back into the comfy seat, looking out of the small window. He watched Denver getting smaller and smaller, saw the high mountains give place to the vast plains. How tiny and insignificant Earth was on a galactic scale! But nevertheless the Tau’ri had influenced – for the good and for the bad – the destiny of so many peoples in this Galaxy. Who would have thought that when he had activated the Gate for the first time?
When the stewardess asked him if he wanted something to drink, he was startled out of his reverie. One minute later he was sipping on his coffee. He asked himself if he hadn’t acted out of impulse by hopping on this plane. Sure, last night, the third night in a row he hadn’t slept properly, visiting Jack had seemed to be the only viable solution. Now, during daylight, in the middle of so many people, it seemed a bit premature. After all, in three weeks Jack would be in Colorado Springs for the annual summer party of the SGC. So, why had it seemed like a good idea last night to book this flight? To throw some clothes haphazardly in a duffle bag and drive to the Denver airport?
For crying out loud – and if he was channelling Jack here that was just fine – they had defeated the Ori! They had found the ark in time, Morgan Le Fay had intervened on their behalf and they had saved – once again – Earth. Thanks to the ‘Ark of Truth’ they had been able to eliminate once and for all these horrible false gods who had brought so much grief and death over the galaxy in the last two years. That really was an impressive achievement, wasn’t it? That should give him a sense of delight, of exaltation. Instead he felt empty, exhausted and very, very tired.
When he had been younger he had never understood why people complained that they felt too tired to read and watched TV instead. But for a few years now he’d known what they meant. There were times when he couldn’t bring himself to do anything, not even things he usually liked to do, like reading. He had enough time, but he couldn’t find the energy to start anything. And the worst was he couldn’t even sleep to get rid of this bone-deep tiredness.
Daniel yawned and realized that until now he hadn’t read a single line in the interesting book he had packed for this flight. He sighed deeply. He should try to pull himself together or he would spoil their weekend, and they were always much too short. He straightened. Enough was enough. He was on his way to Washington, he would make the best of it and not burden Jack with his problems. It wasn’t Jack’s fault that he wasn’t feeling on cloud nine. But two and a half days and three nights with Jack were waiting for him – what better plans could he have? And perhaps, after a night of sleeping soundly, he would be as fit as a fiddle and would happily do whatever Jack had planned. He forced a half-sincere smile on his face.
After their landing in Baltimore, Daniel didn’t rent a car but took a taxi to Jack’s apartment. He didn’t feel like concentrating for an hour on the dense traffic. The taxi-driver talked the whole time, giving him the weather forecast and updating him on the latest sports results.
The taxi made good progress, there were no major traffic jams, and one hour later, a few minutes after three o’clock, Daniel opened the door to Jack’s apartment. Well, it looked like Jack hadn’t had time to clean up but that didn’t matter. Daniel let his bag drop to the ground, went to the bathroom and stripped, keeping only his shorts on. For a second he thought about changing the blankets but then he convinced himself that smelling Jack on the pillow was the best way to make him sleep. He was right and two minutes later he was snoring.
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When Jack returned at half past six there was no sound in his apartment. No radio, no TV, nothing. But Daniel’s duffle bag in the middle of the living room announced that his friend had arrived in the meantime. Carefully, Jack opened the door to the bedroom and grinned.
Daniel was lying on his stomach, spread-eagled, taking up the whole bed. He must have been very tired, because he was still wearing his glasses that were askew by now. He surely had had a fight with the covers, because they were wrapped around him in a strange way, leaving his left leg, half of his back and the left arm naked. Out of habit Jack checked the visible skin for injuries. Not seeing any new traces of staff-wounds or similar weapons, he sighed in relief.
He closed the door again and returned to the living to continue his cleaning-up operation from this morning. After finishing, he ordered a table in his favourite Italian restaurant and at half past seven he undertook the difficult task of convincing Daniel that he had to eat before he was allowed to sleep for real. Jack sat down on the side of the bed and let his fingers travel over Daniel’s arm and hair. Bending forward he kissed Daniel’s lips. The sleep-warm body felt amazing and Jack was really grateful that Daniel was going to spend this weekend with him.
Daniel’s eye-lids fluttered and he smiled. But only when Jack called him “Sleepyhead” did he open his eyes. “Hi.” Daniel lifted his hand to the curve of Jack’s neck and caressed the soft skin there. “What time is it?”
“A quarter to eight.” Jack breathed a kiss to Daniel’s fingers.
“Any chance I can continue to sleep till tomorrow morning?”
“Nope. I reserved a table for us at ‘Giovanni’. And besides, if you sleep now, you’ll be wide-awake in the middle of the night.”
“And if I promise not to be awake before eight o’clock?” Daniel tried his luck.
Jack looked unsure. “That’s what you want?”
Daniel would have loved to say ‘yes’. But Jack wanted to spend the evening with him. He tried to persuade himself that he could always sleep on Monday, back in the SGC. “No. I’ll get up now,” he said instead and stretched languorously to loosen his muscles.
“If you continue to do that, you won’t have to get up because I’ll come to bed,” Jack told him, letting his gaze travel admiringly over Daniel’s body.
“Don’t tempt me,” Daniel laughed, swinging his legs out of the bed. “Do I have still time for a short, quick shower?”
“’Short’ and ‘quick’ being the most important words in that sentence,” Jack chuckled.
Daniel gave Jack a nippy peck on the lips, before disappearing into the bathroom. Ten minutes later he was back indeed. He had showered, changed into a tight black jeans and a grey pullover and said, “All dressed up.”
Jack had to kiss him.
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It was a nice evening. They talked about everything, leaving the work related themes alone. Daniel suddenly remembered something the taxi driver had told him, but when he asked if the Red Sox were a good football team, Jack laughed until he hiccupped.
The red wine chased away Daniel’s fatigue and he told Jack about Teal’c’s efforts to introduce Sam to the secrets of Tai-Chi. “And a few weeks ago she suddenly jumped up in the middle of an exercise, yelled ‘I got it! That’s the solution!’ and ran from the gym. Teal’c had been convinced she was in a deep meditation trance, instead she was pondering scientific problems.”
Jack laughed. “Did they continue with their lessons?”
“No. But they found something like the Chulak-version of Tai-Chi which is used by the Jaffa to prepare for combat. Much more action and less meditation. Now they’re doing it three times a week, missions permitting.”
Jack nodded. “That sounds more like Carter.”
“By the way...” Daniel hoped he wasn’t spilling secrets that were still meant to be kept secret. “Since we have been in that time bubble on board the ‘Odyssey’, Sam and Teal’c spend a lot of time together. When I asked him, he told me that he didn’t want her to be alone.”
“Well, he never explained what really had happened on board the ‘Odyssey’. If he and Carter ... he with Carter... I mean… if they ...?” While searching for words Jack kneaded his napkin.
Daniel took it from his hands. “I wouldn’t exclude it, but it doesn’t matter. More important for Sam is what he is doing now.”
“You’re right. Although...” Jack tilted his head pensively from one side to the other.
“Jack! Stop speculating!” Daniel nudged him in the ribs. “If they want us to know, they’ll tell us. And until then...”
“Okay. Fine. Let’s wait and see.” Jack divided the rest of the red wine between their glasses. “Shall I tell you what we’re going to do tomorrow?”
“Uhm... the same thing you’re suspecting Sam and Teal’c are doing?”
“Smartass!” Jack laughed. “Of course we’ll also do that. But what do you think about visiting the Gorge Heritage museum? Or the Fort Lewis Museum? Someone recommended them to me. But we can also rent one of those Segways. There’s a rental station in Washington and they also offer introductory courses. Should be fun! All you have to do is stand on these big rollers, and you can do nearly 13mph.”
Jack was grinning like a loon therefore Daniel didn’t want to be a spoilsport and said, “We can try it once.”
“Okay. Done.”
“I’m sure we have to have a reservation, don’t we?”
Jack looked a bit sheepishly. “Uhm ... I already made reservations this afternoon.”
Daniel arched his eyebrows. “Before you asked me?”
Jack rubbed his hand through his hair. “Listen, you said ‘yes’, didn’t you?”
“Jack, you’re impossible.” But Daniel laughed and although they were in a restaurant he put his fingers over Jack’s hand.
Fighting against his ingrained impulse to snatch his hand away, Jack squeezed Daniel’s fingers, before drinking the rest of his wine.
Daniel yawned three times. “Sorry, that has to be the red wine.”
“Bedtime for archaeologists.” Jack nodded, paid, and they returned to his apartment.
Shortly afterwards they were in bed, but before Jack could have his wicked way with Daniel, he’d wrapped himself around him, one hand on Jack’s stomach and his right leg over Jack’s legs. He was breathing into Jack’s ear and fell asleep within a few minutes.
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The next morning Jack was awake at six o’clock, just like every morning. Jack glanced at his sleeping ‘significant other’. Unfortunately, he was convinced that Daniel wouldn’t be too happy if he woke him now for a round of morning sex. He kissed him on the forehead and got up. Jack started his computer and while waiting for the coffee to be ready, he prepared toast with cheese and peanut butter.
For the next two hours he read emails and answered the most important ones. He signed three memos, approved the acquisition of a new printer and – with a bleeding heart – rejected the purchase of a popcorn machine for his office. He read another five documents and confirmed that he would take part in two more meetings the next week. Jack sighed. Since when did his whole work consist of office work? How far had he left behind what he really loved to do, when the highlight of next week was going to be a visit to an enterprise producing ceramic tiles for the next generation of starships?
In the SGC the administration stuff hadn’t been that hard – and that boring – after a short, difficult phase of transition. In the SGC it had still been “his” team, his friends. Washington had been far a way and sort of an “enemy” concept. As leader of the SGC Jack had had to show that he was cleverer than “those” at the East Coast. But now he was one of “them”.
Of course he still got the files from Cheyenne Mountain, but he had only time to read the mission reports from SG-1, his timetable didn’t permit more. And Jack knew that he was going to “pay” for this free weekend, working overtime next week.
Jack printed out another set of minutes, hoping that he could snatch a quarter hour to read it in the afternoon. While the printer was spitting out the pages, Jack promised himself to find time during the next weeks to really think about his situation. To think about how long he was still ready to do the job and to consider alternatives.
Jack looked at his watch. Already half past nine. If they planned to be in time for their first item on the program, he’d better waken the archaeologist. His main object for today was to divert Daniel from the problems at the SGC – whatever they were – and to make him forget his worries for at least a weekend.
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Taking the metro, they arrived in time at the rental station. A young woman explained how to use the Segways. It looked easy and it was easy – push to the front for driving and lean back for stopping. In the first moment it took a bit of willpower to step on the moving mini-platform, but thanks to a stabilization device in the ground-platform, not even a good sense of balance was needed. After ten minutes Jack and Daniel knew what to do with their vehicles, but as they were given a lot of safety notes and various tour proposals it took them another twenty minutes until they had a go. Starting cautiously, they got more daring by the minute. They sped around sidewalks and park lanes, passed famous sightseeing attractions and found bicycle paths where they were nearly alone.
Jack was fascinated with the moving mini-platform. “For old men like me, who aren’t so mobile anymore, these are fantastic!”
But instead of stroking Jack’s ego and assuring him he wasn’t an old man, Daniel told him mercilessly, “Perhaps old men like you would be more mobile, if they would rely more often on muscle power than on electronic devices.”
“Boah, we’re very mean today, aren’t we?” Jack complained laughingly and drove recklessly around Daniel, nearly tripping him.
“Well, it is a bit… abnormal, isn’t it? We could be biking or hiking now and improve our health.”
“But this is more fun.”
“That’s the only point in favour of these mini-gliders,” Daniel admitted.
Shortly before they had to give back the Segways, Daniel let himself be persuaded to have a race with Jack. But as no Segway was more powerful than the other, it was very tedious. In the end Jack only won because he left the regular path and regardless of the consequences cut across country.
“I won!” Jack beamed.
“You cheated.” Daniel shook his head regretfully but couldn’t totally ban the grin from his features.
Jack always felt his heart melting when Daniel regarded him with this fond look full of indulgence. He really would have loved to drag Daniel behind a tree and kiss him. But his common sense won. There would be time enough once they were back in the apartment.
They returned the Segways and Jack steered Daniel around a corner into a small bistro where they ordered coffee and sandwiches.
“Ready for the next item on the program?” Jack asked half an hour later, because he hadn’t finished yet with his ‘how to cheer up an archaeologist’ program.
“And that is ...?”
“A book flea market. It’s only three blocks from here.”
“Okay.” Daniel tried not to look too astonished. At the same time he was touched that Jack had been asking around until he had found something that was totally in Daniel’s line of interest. And instead of disappearing into the first café and telling Daniel that they would meet in two hours, Jack accompanied Daniel from one seller to the other. Jack also rummaged around in the boxes and cartons and from time to time he showed Daniel books with the most hilarious titles. “Living With Crazy Buttocks”, “What To Say When You Talk To Yourself” and “The Inheritance of Hairy Ear Rims”.
Two hours later, hefting three books, they were on the metro again.
“Where are we going now?” Daniel asked when he noticed that they weren’t returning to Jack’s apartment.
“Wait and see.”
“Jack, I’m not a six year old you have to keep interested with well placed secrets. I’ll accompany you wherever you go.” Daniel was happy to spend time with Jack, to follow him wherever he went, and for once not to have to decide what to do next.
“Patience, grasshopper.” Very obviously, Jack loved to tease his friend.
This time it took them nearly half an hour to reach their destination. And after leaving the metro they still had to walk for ten minutes before Jack finally put away the city map. They were in one of the older quarters of Washington where all the houses had a very individual charm. Jack opened a rusty garden gate; they crossed a very small garden full of blooming flowers before climbing up five steps to a house painted in blue and white.
“Mrs. DaPlata opens her private rooms for interested customers on appointment," Jack explained while ringing the bell.
“’Interested customers’? You know in the same sentence with ‘private rooms’ and ‘Mrs. DaPlata’ my mind ... is in the gutter.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Jack shook his head. “Later, you have to tell what you’re thinking right now,” Jack whispered into Daniel’s ear just before the door was opened.
An elderly lady, in her seventies, asked with a friendly smile, “Mr. O’Neill?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” Jack answered charmingly.
“Please, come in. And you must be Dr. Jackson, then?” She shook Daniel’s hand.
“Uhm... yes, that’s right,” he replied, taken by surprise. He gave Jack a quick glance but Jack only put one hand in the small of his back and pushed him gently into the house.
They entered a long hallway where on the left side a dark wooden staircase led to the first floor. The walls were decorated with faded wallpaper with red roses which had been modern fifty years ago, if ever. The well-used floor consisted of green and white tiles in a checkerboard design which contrasted heavily with the red roses. Daniel had no clue at all why Jack had brought him to this strange house.
“Thank you very much for accommodating us on such a short notice," Jack said while they were following Mrs. DaPlata through the long corridor until the reached another door.
“Well, you told me, that Dr. Jackson is only here for the weekend, and I had no other plans, so it’s my pleasure to have you here.”
Daniel couldn’t fathom what they were talking about. His first thought had been something to do with... sex. But of course he knew that Jack would never do something compromising in Washington. And grey-haired Mrs. DaPlata wasn’t really a vamp, so it looked like he had to think of something else. Did Jack know about his sleeping problems and Mrs. DaPlata was some sort of... therapist? Perhaps she gave relaxing massages? Or something more esoteric? Aroma therapy or whatever?
“Here we are.” They had reached the end of the hallway and Mrs. DaPlata put her hand on the brass handle of a dark oak door. She nodded into Daniel’s direction and seemed to be silently amused about his questioning look. She opened the door and made Daniel enter before her. “Please.”
“Wow.” Daniel stopped directly on the threshold and looked around with big eyes and an open mouth. Jack was tempted to close it with a finger, but that would have hinted at an intimacy he didn’t want to display in front of a stranger.
The room had a high ceiling, as was common in elder houses, and was full of aquariums. There were giant fish tanks and small 120 litre aquariums. The artificial light in the more than two dozen glass basins was the only source of light in the room.
“In this room are my freshwater aquariums,” Mrs. DaPlata explained.
“Oh, my God.” Daniel hurried to have a closer look at the basins. But it wasn’t the fish that captured his whole interest - no, he was much more interested in the decorations. Mrs. DaPlata had decorated her glass tanks with a theme. A historical theme. There were small catfish, angelfish, malawis and marble stingrays swimming through miniature underwater worlds that represented an ancient Greek theatre, Egyptian pyramids inclusive of a Sphinx and a mini-replica of the temple of Karnak. In other aquariums Daniel saw guppies living in stilt houses of the Bronze Age. In yet another one, twenty tiny terracotta warriors offered a perfect hiding-place for swordtails.
“Do you like it?” Mrs DaPlata asked delightedly when she saw Daniel’s rapt expression. “Mr. O’Neill told me you also have an aquarium?”
“I have a very boring fish tank with a bog wood, some platys and some neon tetras. But nothing like this. These are... artworks.” Daniel turned to Mrs. DaPlata, “What gave you the idea?”
“I’m old and I have a lot of time. The aquarium furniture you can buy – kitschy plastic chests, mermaids and ship wrecks – I thought it looked horrible. Archaeology being my second hobby, one day I had the idea to make a Greek temple for my fish. I learned everything about the materials you can use in aquariums which don’t harm the fish – and then I started modelling historic worlds.”
“This is fantastic!” Going from tank to tank, Daniel stopped every half meter and admired the details. “Jack, have you seen these cliff dwellings? There are even mini ladders for the upper floors and a kiva that probably was used for gatherings.”
“Yes, Daniel. And each tank has a different pH-value, different temperature for the fishes living there and they all have individual water conditions,” Jack repeated what Mrs DaPlata had explained to him in the meantime.
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Daniel gave Mrs. DaPlata a small, nearly shy smile that was always very effective. “Is it very bad that I’m more interested in the decoration than in the fishes?”
“Oh, no.” She winked at him. “You can see fishes every day, but my aquarium furniture is unique.”
“You see?” Daniel grinned triumphantly at his friend.
“Yes, Daniel.” Jack nodded obediently, but he couldn’t keep the smile from his lips.
In the next room Mrs. DaPlata showed them her saltwater aquariums. But although the fish were much more colourful Daniel liked the first room better. In the saltwater aquariums the decorations represented wonders of nature like the Grand Canyon, a stalactite cave or a landscape with mini volcanoes. In the middle of the room was a giant fish tank imitating the Great Barrier Reef.
Daniel was very impressed and said so, but before leaving he took one last look at the “historic” aquariums in the first room. Then they thanked Mrs DaPlata profusely and promised to come back another time.
“Where did you get her address?” Daniel asked when they were sitting in the metro again.
“Somebody in the mess hall talked about her. Told me, his daughter always buys her fishes there. So I asked him. Last time when you were in Washington she was on vacation – and well, this time we made it.”
“That was so amazing! All those details.” Daniel’s eyes sparkled.
“Glad you liked it.” For the first time this weekend Jack had the impression that Daniel was again his old, enthusiastic self – and he was very pleased with himself. Yes, it was great when a plan succeeded. He leaned a bit closer to Daniel on the bench than was strictly necessary, and pressed his shoulder against Daniel’s. He loved to feel this close to him. And when also Daniel leaned into him, Jack was not only content but happy.
But during their dinner in a steak-house he accidentally mentioned the last mission to the Ori, the shutters came down again and so that Jack was no longer able to read him.
Back in the apartment, they collapsed on the sofa. Putting their stockinged feet on the table they watched TV for a few minutes. When during the weather forecast Daniel’s head sank down heavily on the backrest of the sofa and his eyes closed, they went to bed
“That was a very nice day, Jack,” Daniel said and shuffled closer until he was able to put his head on Jack’s shoulder.
“That’s good to hear. For tomorrow I organized Colonel Frederickson’s motor-boat. It’s anchored in Rose Heaven, about an hour drive from here. We can speed up or down the coast, it’s up to you.” Jack’s hands glided over Daniel’s back, kneading the cramped muscles there. Well, tomorrow they would be on a small boat the whole day, nothing to do, and Jack hoped that he could bring Daniel to talk about what bothered him.
Daniel pressed his nose into the crook of Jack’s neck and breathed deeply. To spend a whole day on a boat promised to be less hectic than today. That didn’t mean that today hadn’t been great. On the contrary, Jack had taken great pains to find things to do that Daniel liked. But to have a whole day for ‘dolce far niente’ sounded also like a great plan. “Okay, fine.”
Okay, fine. What? No discussion? No counter proposal? No complaints that human beings weren’t made for living on a nutshell, or similar silly arguments Daniel usually used when he didn’t like to do something? Jack had often wished the archaeologist wouldn’t be so mule headed – but in this moment he wasn’t happy with Daniel’s docile agreement.
He didn’t need endless discussion, no thank you very much, there were enough of those in the Pentagon, but he liked to compete with Daniel, to prove his quick-wittedness. He wanted to quarrel about something as dumb and unimportant as the remote control and lose it in the end to Daniel. But when Daniel was so accommodating that he was watching the sports channel or even the home-shopping channel with him as he had done this evening – then something was wrong.
“Jack, stop thinking so loudly,” Daniel complained and tugged at Jack’s chest hair.
Jack relaxed. The fine tuning between them still was working. Perhaps Daniel wasn’t able to read his thoughts but he was still able to read his mood.
“Yes, honey.” Jack’s voice betrayed his amusement.
Daniel pulled Jack’s hair again.
“Ouch!” But it was more laughing than complaining. Jack’s lips searched for Daniel’s and he kissed him, nipping from time to time at Daniel’s lower lip with his teeth before dipping his tongue between Daniel’s parted lips, invading Daniel’s mouth. All the while Jack’s hands groped Daniel’s ass and pulled him closer. Jack wanted Daniel, desired him so much, that it was nearly like a feeling of hunger in his stomach. All those touches he hadn’t permitted himself throughout the day, and missing Daniel for weeks, added up to this heavy feeling of yearning. He pressed his hard dick against Daniel’s thigh, searching the pressure and savouring the feeling that it was Daniel in his bed, in his life, at least for now.
Daniel sighed. Yes, that felt good; much too good to go without for weeks, and then have it only for two or three days during a weekend. In the same moment Daniel berated himself. He wasn’t the only person coping with a long distance relationship. And a very privileged long distance relationship because they both had enough money to hop on board a plane if they couldn’t stand any more to be alone. He was slowly getting too old for being alone. And how was Jack able to stand this, living alone and without his friends in a different town?
Jack’s fingers were gliding over Daniel’s stomach, sliding into his boxer shorts and enfolding Daniel’s dick, which was still limp. Oh. Somehow, Jack had thought that Daniel was as hungry as he was to be touched and to be made love to. He couldn’t pull back his hand now, so he rubbed and pressed and tried everything to get a reaction. What was the saying? The appetite comes while eating? Perhaps he was able to stimulate Daniel’s appetite.
Daniel wanted Jack. Wanted Jack with his whole being. He had missed him so much during these last days that he had booked this flight. But his brain was thwarting him. His thoughts were meandering in every direction; he wasn’t able to switch to “sex” and nothing else. And the more he thought about it, the more he fell into a loop of “it has to work” and the stress reaction, when he noticed that he didn’t get hard. He tried to persuade himself that Jack had also suffered from it – but then he remembered that it had been one night after six hours of meeting with the defence committee.
Daniel tried again to concentrate on the present situation. Even if his body didn’t cooperate at least he could do something for Jack. He laid a hand on Jack’s dick and the first touch made Jack moan loudly. Grinning, Daniel gripped him a bit tighter, glided up and down and gave Jack the little twist he loved so much. This felt good and Jack’s reaction was very rewarding.
“Daniel!” A few minutes later Jack wrapped an arm around Daniel’s neck, breathing heavily.
It was a rush, Daniel thought, that after all those years they had been together he still had the power to make Jack breathless within such a short time.
“I …”
“I’m here, Jack,” Daniel whispered into Jack’s ear. He kissed him and nibbled on his neck. He let Jack feel his entire weight, offered his whole body for Jack to rub against. Jack’s breathing sped up and it felt amazing to see Jack let go, trusting him. Slipping his right hand between their bodies, he took Jack’s balls into his hand, kneading them cautiously, and letting his thumb gliding further back still, to massage the sensitive skin of the perineum.
“Oh, god… yes! Damn … yes!”
Jack spread his legs wider and when Daniel continued with his soft caresses, he felt that Jack was tumbling over the edge. Daniel held him close, revelling in the proximity and warmth and rightness of the moment. And suddenly Daniel understood that he had wanted his erection more as a sign, a confirmation for Jack than for himself. In this moment he had everything he wanted and needed – to be near the one he loved, to be in the arms of a heavily breathing and very exhausted Jack. Of course this shouldn’t be a steady state, but for the moment it was enough for him. Perhaps he could explain it to Jack, tomorrow, in a quiet moment. Right now it would sound too much like an apology for something that wasn’t in his power to change.
After Jack was able to think clearly again, he realized that Daniel hadn’t come, that he hadn’t been really hard and aroused the whole time. He would have liked to assure Daniel that it didn’t matter for him, but Daniel had brought him to orgasm and under these circumstances it would have sounded a bit too selfish. And when he told Daniel now “I love you”, it was very possible that Daniel would get it wrong and regard it as a meagre consolation. Crap! It was so difficult to find the right words if you usually didn’t talk about this stuff.
Kissing Daniel, Jack breathed a “thank you” into his lips, hoping that Daniel would understand all he couldn’t say out loud. Then he rolled from under Daniel, got rid off his shorts that were somewhere around his knees and mopped himself up with them. He let them drop unceremoniously to the floor at the side of the bed. He was relieved that Daniel returned to his arms as soon as he had finished.
“Night, Daniel.”
“Night, Jack.”
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The next morning they didn’t need to leave the bed to know that the weather was too bad for a boat tour. A heavy storm was tossing rain against the windows, gusts of wind were howling around the houses and due to the thick, grey storm-clouds the room was still rather dark. Jack and Daniel preferred to stay in bed, half-asleep in their warm cocoon of covers and pillows until Jack mumbled apologetically, “I have to take a leak.”
A quick glance to his watch told him that it was already ten o’clock, so he didn’t return to the bed but went to the kitchen, started the coffee machine, returned to the bathroom and took a hot shower. While he was washing his hair, Daniel shuffled into the bathroom and mumbled, “Morning.” He took a piss, washed his hands and disappeared again. Daniel had never been a morning person. Jack chuckled and wondered if Daniel would return to their bed.
But when Jack came to the kitchen a few minutes later, he found Daniel, clad in his old robe, whipping up some pancake mix. Jack encircled him in his arms from behind, kissed him on the neck and asked superfluously, “What are you doing?”
“A mixed salad,” Daniel answered without blinking an eye.
“Hey, doofus!” Jack complained and slapped him on his buttocks.
Grinning, Daniel turned around in Jack’s arms and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I found this box in your cupboard. And as it’s only one month expired, I think it’s still edible.” He turned back and dropped a spoon of the batter into the pan.
“Well, I’ll try to find the maple syrup then,” Jack announced.
Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting in the living room and eating a breakfast made of leftovers.
“Even if we don’t do anything else today, we should make a short trip to the supermarket,” Daniel said, scraping the last bit of peanut butter from the jar.
“You’ve got a point,” Jack agreed and poured the last orange juice in his glass.
But they took their time and only by noon had they summoned up enough energy to drive to the mall. They filled their cart with necessary and not so necessary things, added a salad and a pre-made apple pie for lunch and two ready-to-serve meals for dinner so that nothing would get in the way of a nice couch potato afternoon.
They sat side by side on the sofa, a thermos of hot coffee within their grasp. Daniel was reading and Jack was answering emails and doing crossword puzzles. From time to time he asked Daniel about a word and they discussed possible solutions. During the whole afternoon the heavy rain continued and it got so clammy and cold in the apartment that Jack decided to start the electric fire. He also brought a fleece blanket back to the sofa, spreading it over Daniel and himself.
“Puh, it’s summer and I’m freezing my ass off,” Jack ranted.
Daniel didn’t answer but looked into the false flames of the electric heater which seemed to blaze from the false log. Suddenly he said, “The open fire place in your house was better. More… genuine. More like you.”
“Uh...” What was he supposed to answer to a statement like that? Praise and criticism nicely put in one sentence. Jack cleared his throat and answered, “Yes, real wood gives better heat than this electrical knick-knack.”
“I miss the house,” Daniel confessed, leaning his head against Jack’s shoulder.
“You miss my house?”
“Yes.” Daniel pulled the blanket a few inches up. “It has always been like an ... anchor in my life. I moved so often in Colorado Springs that sometimes, when I was deep in thought, I had to pay attention not to drive to the wrong, old address. But your house had been a fixed-point. Always in the same place.”
As Jack wasn’t able to decipher the look that accompanied Daniel’s words, he answered, “I never thought about it that way. Why didn’t you say a word? I could have kept it. I earn enough money to rent an apartment in Washington and keep a house in Springs.”
“At that time I thought you wanted to burn all your bridges behind you. Show very clearly that your new centre of life is now in Washington. You know, show that your loyalty is with your new job.”
Of course Daniel was right, that had been one reason. But there was more. Jack hadn’t been able to imagine coming home to a house every other month where every room brought back memories of Daniel, reminded him that perhaps it hadn’t been his best decision to accept the job in Washington. They never had really discussed this. Daniel had accepted his decision to go to the Pentagon as he had accepted his decision to take Hammond’s job at the SGC. But Jack had never been able to burn all his bridges, as Daniel called it, not even with selling the house. “I’m still reading all your mission reports.”
“All of them?”
“Well, in Carter’s I often skip the technical descriptions. And I don’t mind if Vala writes from time to time in her report, ‘Boring. For the rest see Colonel Mitchell’s report’, because sometimes she’s interested in the strangest things and then describes them meticulously in ten pages.”
“Oh yes, I know what you mean.”
“In her last report she had been very fascinated with Adria’s showy dress of flames,” Jack broached the theme that had made Daniel monosyllabic until now whenever he had tried to talk about it. But this time he wouldn’t allow getting distracted. He would find out why Daniel didn’t talk more enthusiastically about a victory that had saved the galaxy from a lot of further bloodshed, intolerance, burning stakes and false gods. “Was she hotter than our heater here?” he asked flippantly.
“What?”
“I’m talking about Adria.”
“Uhm, no, the robe didn’t give off heat. It was, like so many things, an illusion.” Daniel stared into the flames as if he could see the Orici there.
Gently, Jack asked, “What else was an illusion?”
“Lots of things, Jack.” Daniel took off his glasses and put them on the living room table. He grabbed his coffee mug and wrapped his hands around it to soak up the last warmth from the mug. “The first Ark was false and contained only scrolls which Tomin had destroyed carelessly. Merlin was an illusion because I knew that he was dead. But even in the face of the immense danger, Morgan Le Fay tried to hide behind his image.”
“Morgan Le Fay?” Jack asked. His voice invited Daniel to keep on talking, even if he already knew the facts from Daniel’s report. He was totally relieved when Daniel continued.
“Yes, Morgan Le Fay visited me in the dungeon. I’m sure you read that the Orici had taken us prisoners the moment we had found the right ark.” Daniel gave a detailed description of the first ark and how they had found out that it wasn’t the wonder weapon they had been hoping for. Then he described the second ark and Jack listened patiently. He was convinced now that Daniel needed this long prologue to prepare for the decisive point that hopefully would shed a bit of light on Daniel’s subdued mood.
“After the warriors of the Ori had overpowered us, they brought us to Celestis and threw us in the dungeons. Alone. The Doci knew that I had been a Prior once and he tried to infiltrate my thoughts. I assume he tried to find ... residues from that time he intended to re-activate. For hours he preached his sermons, trying to re-indoctrinate me, trying to break me.”
“But you resisted him,” Jack said and put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “He underestimated you – again.”
“But barely. It was a very thin line. But, yes, he wasn’t able to convince me of the merits of Origin, although ... That hadn’t been the most difficult part. With the Doci I had someone I could fight, there was a challenge I had to master. But then they left me alone... and everything started collapsing onto me. I started to question everything instead of trying to find a way out and plan my escape. And afterwards, resignation began to take over. There was a point when I didn’t want to continue. I felt tired and disappointed. Nothing mattered any more when I was lying there on the cold stone floor. I felt alone, abandoned. Everything seemed futile. I felt without hope ... and that’s what I also told Morgan Le Fay.” Daniel whispered the last sentence as if it was shameful to admit something like that.
Jack knew that he had to choose his next words very carefully. This had been quite an admission for Daniel. But before finding an appropriate answer, Daniel took a deep breath and continued sarcastically, “You see, even the legendary Jackson optimism sometimes reaches its boundaries.”
“But that’s okay.” Jack’s hand glided over Daniel’s shoulder and his neck reaching to cup Daniel’s cheek in his palm, and Daniel leaned into the touch. “Nobody expects you to always have an answer, to always find a solution. You have the same right as everybody else to hate the ascended beings for their stubbornness, for their snobbish policy of not inferring. And yes, this pigheaded attitude can drive everybody to despair.” Jack knew from own experiences how that felt, remembered his own feeling of helplessness. And to make matters worse, “his” stubborn Ascended had been his boyfriend!
“Believe me, you had had every right to feel hopeless. And perhaps… perhaps it was your very noticeable despair that cracked the armour of Morgan Le Fay. If you had continued with rational arguments she would have countered with logic. Even if you never intended to, with your helplessness you have appealed to her… emotions and probably that’s why she helped you in the end.”
Daniel was dumbfounded. Not because Jack had found an explanation and solution – he knew very well that the General was much more sensitive than he wanted everybody to believe with his sometimes very gruff answers – but because suddenly it seemed so… easy. “You think what I considered my weakness at that moment was in reality my forte? As paradoxical as it sounds? And as little as I like it,” he added with a deep sigh.
Jack nodded. “Yes, sometimes it’s that simple.”
“Fortune favors fools,” Daniel bitched disparagingly.
“Call it ‘intuition’ and it sounds much better,” Jack teased. He really hoped to make Daniel see his point.
For a moment everything hung in the balance then Daniel sent Jack a grateful look. Yes, intuition was a much nicer word – and perhaps calling it that way could make the memory of the abysmal desperation fade over time. Intuition, yes, he could live with that. Intuition had often helped him also in his line of work, deciphering new languages, giving life to otherwise meaningless symbols. And suddenly he realized that Jack himself had shown a lot of intuition in the course of this weekend. As if he had guessed that Daniel had needed yesterday with all its hustle and bustle, and tourist activities, no spare minute, and lots of new impressions to gain a certain distance from the SGC and all its problems. And today not the randomly chugging boat but the calm and quietness of Jack’s living room had made him talk about his experiences.
“Thank you,” he simply said and Jack didn’t pretend not to know what Daniel was talking about.
“You’re welcome.” He pulled Daniel tighter into his arms and said, “Tell me how it ends and how Teal’c made the ark keel over.”
“You already know the ending. You really want to hear the unabridged version?”
Jack put his left hand on Daniel’s thigh and beamed at him. “Hey, sexy, you could read the Little Rock phone book to me and I would still listen to you,” he told him with a seductive voice.
Daniel snorted, gave Jack a doubtful look over the rim of his glasses and a very indulgent smile but he continued. “Fine. When Teal’c came to my cell…”
Jack didn’t listen the whole time with his whole attention – he already planned on putting the meals in the microwave to have them ready for the news at eight – but he nodded and ‘hmmed’ at the right places. Daniel wouldn’t make him write a final exam, he only needed somebody to listen, so that should be okay.
Half an hour later, Daniel was talking animatedly about a dig in South America he had taken part in during his studies – and Jack knew that the worst was now behind them. And another problem seemed to be solved. When Jack’s fingers glided over Daniel’s crotch, first carefully, then more explicitly, he felt the archaeologist hardening under his hand.
“And then… oh, yes, Jack… we went home.” Daniel ended his story about the Maya relief very abruptly and a bit breathlessly. He asked himself how much Jack had heard in the last minutes. Daniel doubted that Jack’s very interested facial expression was due to the Mayan culture. Jack’s fingers were now fumbling with his zipper and Daniel pressed the lower part of his body against Jack’s hands. When the zipper was open, Jack’s knuckles slid along the boxer shorts directly over his dick. Suddenly it was much too slow for Daniel’s liking, he felt like they had had foreplay for the last forty-five minutes already. He jumped up, placed the empty mug on the living room table, shucked the blanket and got rid of his pants and his underwear.
“Come on, Jack,” he said impatiently while straddling Jack’s legs. He felt his naked behind touch Jack’s jeans and pressed his erection against Jack’s stomach. “Wow. That’s so wonderful and decadent. You still dressed and me naked.” But the second he wanted to pull his pullover and t-shirt over his head, he remembered the less than summery temperatures and grinning impishly he corrected, “Half-naked.”
“I’m absolutely fine with half-naked,” Jack replied and his hands pushed up the hem of Daniel’s t-shirt before he put his hands on Daniel’s naked back.
The day before Daniel had felt safe and secure in Jack’s arms – and that had felt good. But in this moment he also felt a sparkle and a warm tingle in his groin area which made him rub more forcefully against Jack – and that felt much better. For a few seconds Daniel closed his eyes and let himself float on the sensations that were surrounding him. When he wanted to pull down also Jack’s zipper, Jack caught his wrists. “I’m no longer twenty. And if I want to pound you through the mattress and make you fly later, I shouldn’t shoot my wad now.”
“But…”
“Not buts,” Jack laughed, being thrilled that the objections were back. “You wanted… decadent, then you get decadent. Brace yourself against the backrest of the sofa with your hands. One hand on each side of my head.”
“But then I can’t…”
“Exactly,” Jack interrupted him.
“All right,” Daniel said after taking a short time to think it over. He put his hands against the backrest. Wriggling on Jack’s lap, he tried to get friction against his dick.
“Ass up,” Jack commanded and putting his hands on Daniel’s hips he pushed him into a kneeling position.
Daniel swallowed hard. He wanted decadent? Well, this should measure up to his expectations. He was kneeling with a bare ass and his legs spread over Jacks thighs – and felt more alive than he had felt in a long time. “Touch me,” he whispered impatiently, but Jack didn’t do that immediately. Instead he leaned to the left, groping under the sofa cushion. When Jack’s finger touched him a few moments later, they were wet and cold and a shiver ran through Daniel’s body. Finally.
“It will be warm shortly,” Jack misinterpreted his shaking.
“It’s perfect like this,” Daniel assured him, closing his eyes. The single sensations started to blur together. Jack’s hand massaging his dick, Jack’s other hand cupping his balls, making Daniel groan enthusiastically. The moment Jack leaned his head against the backrest of the couch, Daniel bent forward and pressed his lips onto Jack’s, licking into his mouth. Warm, demanding hands on his dick and balls, the chilly air of the room on his nakedness, Jack’s lips under his – Daniel started to loose himself in a rush of arousal.
When he moved, to accelerate the rhythm, Jack made clear without words but with an iron grip to his balls that that wasn’t part of the plan. Daniel whimpered into Jack’s lips, but he couldn’t do anything else than to surrender to Jack’s hands. He was close, so close. And Jack seemed to feel it too, because he slowed his movements down, holding Daniel in suspension, playing his body expertly. And the warm, thick arousal wasn’t confined any more to the places where Jack touched him, but spread from there throughout his whole body. Lava streams of heat and desperate yearning were racing through Daniel’s limbs, bringing with them so much fever that he wished he had got rid of the damn pullover earlier.
“Jack!” He feared he would shatter if this overwhelming, unbelievable feeling didn’t dissolve soon.
“Come on me. Come on my shirt!” Jack ordered in a husky voice.
Jack’s voice, his words and the hot picture that they painted in Daniel’s head were enough to make him abide to Jack’s wishes. With a deep sigh of relief Daniel let himself fall into his climax. A quick glance showed him that his friend indeed steered the stream of the white droplets deliberately onto his body. Groaning Daniel pressed his forehead against Jack’s and surrendered to the next wave of shudders travelling through his body.
Only when the pressure of Jack’s hands softened, when they held him without force, he let himself shift forward. Sitting down on Jack’s lap he leaned his whole weight against his friend. For a while they savoured the aftermath then Daniel started to shiver in earnest. He hesitated to let go of Jack, but if he didn’t want to catch a cold, he should dress again. He gave Jack another kiss then he got up reluctantly and put on his clothes.
Jack went to the bedroom to change his shirt and they met again in the kitchen. Together they prepared dinner, but as it consisted only of putting the meals in the microwave there wasn’t much to do. After that they switched on the TV as a background noise. They spent the next minutes eating and talking about such inane things as the astonishingly good taste of the microwave food
“Our taste buds are atrophied, thanks to all those MREs we’ve eaten on our missions,” Daniel laughed.
“I’ve never had gourmet-buds,” Jack grinned.
They continued like that until Daniel said with a seductive voice, “General, you promised me a thing or two for tonight, remember?”
“Yes,” Jack answered and looked as if Daniel had interrupted a very important thought. He blurted out, “I’ll buy the house back.”
“Oh.” It took Daniel a moment to sort through the abrupt change of theme.
But Jack added immediately, “Only if you want. We also can buy something new together.”
Daniel gulped and his breathing accelerated. They weren’t talking only about living arrangements! Somehow Jack had also reached a decision of a much heavier impact during the last hours or last days. At least! Totally overwhelmed, Daniel closed his eyes.
“Daniel?” There was a hint of insecurity in Jack’s voice.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Relief flooded through Daniel’s body. He felt tears of happiness threatening to fill his eyes and he blinked rapidly. Instead he kissed Jack. “Oh my God, yes. When? What can I do to help?”
“Be patient?” Jack’s fingers trailed over Daniel’s features. “It can’t happen overnight. I have to line up everything necessary and to settle who will be my successor – we want it to be someone who is good for the SGC, right? It will take at least half a year to arrange everything.”
“Pfft. What are six months?” Daniel grinned happily.
“Time flies,” Jack nodded.
“A propos flying. Didn’t you promise to make me fly tonight?” Daniel sprang up, reached out and pulled Jack from the couch.
“I’ll attend to it at once,” Jack promised, following Daniel to the bedroom.
------------------------------------------------------
The next morning Daniel sat on the plane feeling as tired as he had been on the outgoing flight. They had fooled around, cooked up plans for the future and made love until two o’clock in the morning. Daniel had sore muscles and some minor difficulties in sitting down and he bet Jack was feeling likewise. But not for love or money would he have missed last night.
He yawned. Yes, he was tired again, but the good sort of tired this time. And there was enough time to sleep when he was back in Colorado Springs. He closed his eyes very contentedly.
----------The End----
©Antares, September 2010
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Date: 2010-10-11 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-13 06:40 am (UTC)Thank you!
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Date: 2010-10-13 12:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-14 05:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-14 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-14 05:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-17 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-22 06:18 am (UTC)And Jack's coming home. *beams*
Is the place with the fishtanks real? I loved how Daniel perked up and became more himself while he was there.
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Date: 2010-10-22 10:24 am (UTC)And no, the place with the fishtanks comes from my imagination - and was inspired by the aquariums my daughter used to have. So I/we learned a lot about pH-value, etc. *g*
And Takashi Amano, who designs aquariums, inspired my a bit.
(Here are some of the aquariums he "created": http://www.amanotakashi.net/portfolio/nature_aquarium/index.html )
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Date: 2010-10-26 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-04 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-09 07:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-11 06:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 03:39 am (UTC)I love smart!Jack and the fact that he knew exactly what his Daniel needed. Just wonderful, Antares. And squeee for the so-happy-together-again ending. Thanks!
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Date: 2011-02-14 05:25 pm (UTC)Thank you very much for letting me know you liked it!