| Part 6 | Disclaimers |
Spoilers in this part: Watergate/ The First Ones ~ S4
Daniel Jackson sat at his computer, rubbing his eyes. It had been a long flight back from Siberia and Janet Frasier had ordered all the team to rest for a few days, not only to overcome any jet lag, but to give their bodies an opportunity to adjust first from extreme temperature changes from the U.S to Russia to Syberia, but also from the Alien life-form that they had all encountered.
Tests showed that none of them retained the microscopic organisms, however Teal’c was being observed in the Infirmary for the next two days – as he’d had actual physical interaction with them. Daniel felt for the scientist, Dr. Sveltlana Markov, whom they befriended on the trip. If it wasn’t for her the Russians might have exposed the whole SGC program to the rest of the world. He felt they owed her something whilst Jack, of course, felt that they owed her nothing.
He had work to do, he knew that, but his mind wandered to Teal’c who was recovering in the Infirmary, with Jack by his side. Daniel couldn’t remember the last time Jack had sat by his bed, keeping him entertained .. keeping him company. With Sam it was a few months ago – after the death of Martouf, but he couldn’t remember….
Searching his mind Daniel recalled a solemn figure, hunched by his bed, face grey with worry, snarly with the nurses and refusing to move out of the infirmary, even at the direct order of Doctor Janet Frasier –
Bingo! Daniel did recall the last time – it was after his appendix had burst on the mission to Px3 887 last year…. Jack hadn’t left his side for days…
A huge wave of nausea filled Daniel as he kicked himself for his insensitivity and self-pity! Suddenly he wondered when was the last time he’d sat by Jack’s bed? The wave of self-reproach reached his throat.
He shook himself to remove that thought and adjusted his glasses so that he could concentrate on the database before him. A familiar beep from his computer alerted him to an incoming message from Paul Davis. A smile crept over Daniel’s lips as he opened the message.
/Hi, you’re at work late tonight/
Daniel rolled his eyes and typed back a response. ‘Pot, I’m kettle.” It was later in Washington.
/Ha ha! I heard about the mission. All okay?/
‘T’s in the Infirmary. J’s riding shotgun.’
/Of course! But how are you?/
Daniel felt heat rise in his cheeks. It wasn’t fair that he’d tainted Paul’s thoughts against Jack by pressing his own feelings on his friend. Jack had sat by his bed, by Sam’s bed.. it was right that he should be by Teal’c’s side now.
‘Thanks. I’m okay. Keeping occupied, I guess.’
/As you do!/
‘So what are you doing awake at this hour?’
/ You know me, always working hard!/
Again Daniel rolled his eyes, this time as he laughed softly to himself while he tapped out, ‘Hardly working, more like. How goes life in the Pentagon?’
/Sometimes I feel like I’m walking around in circles in this place! Ha Ha./
‘Droll! I’ll be home soon – want me to call you?’
/Sure. I’ll be here./
‘Here where? Home or work?’
/You know better than to call me at work!/
‘What was I thinking? Of course – you don’t answer your phone!’
/ Ha ha! Exactly. I’ll await your call./
‘C U.’
Daniel settled back in his chair and stared at his screen. Fooling no one, especially himself that he could continue to work feeling the way he did right now, he got up and packed his gear together, put it into his leather satchel and switched off the lamp on his desk. He was pulling the door closed behind him when Sam stopped him.
“Daniel-” She looked at the case in his hand. “Oh, you’re on your way home.” Her voice told him that she’d come to him for a reason, and had expectations that he’d help her despite her observations.
Daniel looked at his case too, thought about Paul waiting for his call then sighed softly as he said, “It’s okay. What’s up?”
Unconvincingly, she shook her head as she said, “No, you’re on your way home. This can wait.”
“Really, Sam, if you need me to do something-”
The pretty blonde grimaced then said, “I’ve got a result on that sample we took from Px3 271 last week that I would really appreciate your help with…. If you’ve got the time.”
Daniel sighed again, quietly so that she wouldn’t hear it, and then nodded. “Sure.” He held his hand out to indicate that she should lead the way then he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand as he followed her to her lab.
“So what happened then?”
Paul’s voice was the tonic Daniel needed. After spending the fastest hour he could with Sam’s problem, Daniel had hurried home to keep his promise to his long-distance friend. He’d actually woken the major up with the call, but Paul kept telling him that he didn’t mind.
Rubbing his eye under his glass lens, Daniel yawned as he said, “I suggested she run a few more tests, which was just about the time Jack called by – he said it was because he saw her lab light on and he was about to order her to get a life, again.”
Paul’s voice came down the line in a deep grumble, filling out to be, “And, of course, you believed that, Doctor Jackson.”
“Of course!” Daniel quipped sarcastically. All regret about his recent behavior towards Jack had gone out of the window the minute the older man had walked into Carter’s lab and started making snide innuendo about the two of them ‘working late’. Daniel wanted to retort that he’d never encroach on Jack’s territory (aka Sam) but he thought that such a harsh response might widen the gap rather than do any of them any good. So he pretended to wear the teasing well and got out of there as soon as he could – to leave the two of them alone. “But it gave me the opportunity to get out of her office. Let’s face it, the minute he came in she only had eyes for him..”
“It must be difficult.. under those circumstances.”
“Alone with each of them it’s fine, or on missions.. but when they are together at the base..… all my own feelings churn up..”
“Surely you can’t mean you’re fine when alone with O’Neill?” There was a playful leer in Paul’s voice now…. He knew Daniel well!
“No-” Daniel dissolved into a tired, lecherous chortle and the words rumbled deeply from his throat as he rubbed his heavy-hooded eyes, “-Alone with Jack I’m lustful, hungry and, usually, hard...”
Paul knew a tired Daniel was always more open and mouthy than a drunk Daniel ever could be. The candor, therefore, told him that his friend was extremely exhausted and sleepy. He laughed good-naturedly and said, “I’d say you’re about ready for bed now, Daniel.. with a comment like that!”
“God, I’ll say so,” Daniel said before another yawn cracked his jaw open.
“I’ll let you get to sleep then…”
“Thanks, Paul. For listening.”
Paul’s voice was soft and smooth down the line. “What are friends for?”
It made Daniel feel warm inside. “Thanks.” He hung up his phone and rolled over in his bed, drawing the bedding over his shoulder. Outside on the street, people were driving home in the very early hours of the cold late autumn morning.
Outside on the street, a dark green Ford truck drove pass the apartment building, eight floors below Daniel’s bedroom balcony. As the car idled at the red traffic light the driver lifted his gaze to the darkened bedroom windows, and wondered if Daniel was home or if he was still on the base. Jack thought Daniel seemed in a hurry to get out of Carter’s lab earlier – blushing even when he’d teased them about their late night catch up…
Even Sam herself seemed flustered by the playful accusation, now that he thought back on it... Was there something between them, therefore? Daniel’s reaction had indicated a definite unease when he’d discover them…
Oh, no way! Jack sighed heavily. Daniel was allowed to be in love with his wife – or with some nameless bimbo from another world that didn’t stand a snowflake’s chance in hell of sticking around and commandeering his affection and attention for too long – but *Carter*? That was so not gonna happen!
“The lights have changed,” came the deep voice beside the driver. On his way home the colonel had stopped briefly – for *one* beer, he’d swear.. but..….. Jack turned and looked at the young man sitting with him. In the dimness of the street lighting the man could pass for Daniel, but only just. His face was a little too broad around the jaw line, and the bottom lip wasn’t quite as perfect as Daniel’s was. “The lights..” the man said, glancing purposefully at the traffic lights.
Jack put the truck into gear and took off, driving solemnly back towards his home.
Less than one month later….
Daniel sat in the room he’d taken on base. He didn’t have the energy to go home – not tonight. Hammond had given all of SG-1 a few days leave but Daniel needed some time to ground himself.
He’d hoped that the four weeks he had scheduled with SG-11 on P3X-888 would cure him of his ever-growing fixation with Jack. Unfortunately, it hadn’t. Even Robert Rothman’s kind offer of a ‘buddy fuck’, much like they’d shared back in College days, hadn’t enticed Daniel from his solitary release with the backdrop of a Jack-O’Neill-a-rama most nights. Now, there would never be an offer from Rothman again.
Initially on the dig site, Daniel had physically separated himself from his old College friend, opting to excavate the third of the five sites they’d discovered whilst leaving Rothman with a Sergeant to excavate the fourth site. But the fifth site was so rich in artefacts that the two Head Archaeologists had come together to dig and had discovered multiple fosslized Goa’ulds there. This camaraderie reignited the fun they’d shared back in College and reminded Daniel of the Robert Rothman that he’d come to know, and love in a very skewed sort of way. Together, spurred by their old friendship, they’d resorted to their old sense of humor, and named the fossils Cleo, Julius and Brutus. Recalling his friend now brought a lump to Daniel’s throat. Robert was due to turn thirty-five next week, now Daniel would be attending his Memorial service instead.
He hadn’t heard about his friend’s death immediately. It didn’t occur to him to even ask – how was he to know? On the way back from Chaka’s cave to the camp base on P3x 888, which was a five hour walk in itself, Jack had kept him off-kilter with constant sidelong glances, small smiles that Daniel took to mean he was happy to see him again.
He didn’t even notice Sam’s or Teal’c’s solemn faces soon after they’d watched Chaka slink off down the shadowy arm of the cave, or on the walk back to the base camp. He was too thrown by Jack’s happy expression to care about anything else in that or any other world.
It wasn’t until he was in the Infirmary with Janet that he asked if anyone else had been hurt by the Unas. The doctor had given him a sympathetic look, patted his knee and told him to give her a moment. When she returned, she told him that General Hammond wanted to talk to him in his office. Still none-the-wiser, Daniel entered the General’s office and stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on Jack’s face. Jack was the only other person in the office, apart from Hammond himself, and the look in his eyes told Daniel the news wasn’t good.
Daniel sat in shocked silence as Hammond relived the mission for him. Jack was solemn in the corner of the room, arms crossed over his waist, his gray head bowed. Daniel’s stomach lurched as he heard how Captain Griff was killed by Rothman, who’d been possessed by a Goa’uld, before Colonel O’Neill could shoot Rothman down.
Now Daniel was alone in his quarters, lying on his bunk with an arm draped over his eyes to keep out the glare of the single bare light bulb. He couldn’t grieve anymore. He was lucky – luckier than Hawkins, Griff or Rothman – he was home safe, he was unharmed and he had had a first encounter with a juvenile Unas. Furthermore, he still had Jack in his life. The mission may have only lasted three weeks, instead of the intended four, but Daniel knew he was only fooling himself if he thought it could cure him of how he felt.
He accepted that he loved Jack, as pure as that was, it was how he felt. To try to deny himself that would only add to his inner turmoil. To accept it gave him the opportunity to act upon it – if only in his fantasies. So, he concentrated on Jack. On Jack’s face. On Jack’s smile. On Jack’s words to him after they’d left the cave side-by-side: “Daniel, you make friends wherever you go, don’t you?”
Daniel still couldn’t believe Jack had thought that, let alone said it out loud with such admiration in his voice. In return he knew he’d had a goofy smile on his face, especially when the older man’s dreamy chocolate-brown eyes twinkled with glee each time he slotted a glance his way on their trek back to the gate.
A soft moan escaped Daniel’s lips when he recalled the moment Jack unexpectedly threw an arm around his shoulders and squeezed him close as they walked side by side. A distinct gurgle of laughter bubbled within the Jack as he said, “It’s good to have you back, Danny!”
Now Daniel felt himself grow hard within the confines of his BDU pants He breathed out loudly through his nose as he snaked an arm along his body and slipped his hand under the waist of his pants. He’d just started teasing his fingers along the length of his cock when there was a rap at his door. Sitting up as fast as he did caused him to moan in discomfort, but it also helped him settle, faster than a knock with a cold teaspoon would have. He opened the door and leaned against it, using it to shield any partial erection he may still have.
“Jack!” he squeaked when he saw who his caller was. Jack had changed into his civvy’s – loose fitting jeans and a cream cable knit sweater. His hair was tousled just perfectly – in Daniel’s opinion.
Jack glanced past him into the room then met his eyes. There was still a dullness in the dark gaze that told Daniel Jack had demons he was still working through in regard to Rothman’s death. Killing aliens was one thing but killing another human, especially an innocent like Rothman, still upset Jack.
“I was just about to go home, heard you’d taken a bunk for the night. Everything okay?” He gave the room behind Daniel another glance.
Daniel’s lips had parted to draw in breath when he suddenly remembered to answer his friend. “Yes, fine. I just wasn’t in the mood to drive.. it’s been a hard few days.”
Jack was nodding then he put his hands on his hips, looking to Daniel to have broadened inches across the chest in the process. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he said, “I could always give you a ride.”
The younger man swallowed. He couldn’t get too close to Jack right now – especially not alone! “You know, as kind as that offer is…”
Jack smiled dully, knowing a rejection when he heard one. With another nod, he said, “If you’re sure..”
Daniel nodded too. He didn’t want Jack thinking it was because of Robert though so he quickly added, “But thank you… I appreciate the offer, really!”
Jack stared at him a moment before he bowed his head and started to move off. Suddenly he stopped, half twisted to look back at Daniel, who’d just started to close the door behind him, and said, “I meant what I said earlier, Daniel. I’m glad you’re okay.”
Daniel’s face lit with a smile. “Thanks. And I appreciate everything you went through to come rescue me..”
Jack nodded; his expression grave. “I’m really sorry about Rothman..” What else could he say – but the words still didn’t seem enough.
Daniel swallowed again. “Yeah.. I know, Jack.”
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds.
“Well, if you’re sure about that ride home?”
“I’ll be fine here the night..”
Jack stared at him a moment then shrugged. “Night, Danny..”
Daniel inhaled deeply, savoring and storing the sweet sound of Jack’s voice for later. “Night.”
Jack wouldn’t have even made it past the guards at the front gate before Daniel had ejaculated all over his own stomach, with Jack’s name whispered off his lips….
Jack shut his front door, sighed and scrubbed his fingers through his gray hair as he followed his visitor into the living room. It was late – maybe it was *too* late for this kind of thing. But it had been a hell of a day, and he needed company.
Jack tried not to think about Daniel back at the base or the hollow look in his grief-ridden blue eyes during their brief, stilted conversation. Jack didn’t know what to say to him, what could he say? Sorry for blowing away your good friend? It wasn’t just that though, Jack was getting worse around Daniel, and he knew it. He could face Snakeheads and Zat guns, but he‘d be damned if he could string his words together around Daniel lately and he didn’t know what his problem was…
Or maybe he did.
It was that very reason why he needed this visit right now.
On the way home he couldn’t shake the image of Daniel peering around the door at him. He kept imagining that Daniel was naked below the belt, or at least clad only in underwear… and that thought only manifested itself into an aching need by the time Jack had reached his house. He had gone there to offer the guy some condolences, to check he was okay, and walked away with such a hard on that he knew he’d never sleep tonight, unless..
“I didn’t expect to hear from you again.” The caller said as he turned and shone a beautiful smile in Jack’s direction.
Maybe Jack was foolish to find that business card, to make that call, to invite his guest to his place when he was feeling so vulnerable himself. With a sigh of resignation though, he accepted that it was too late to back out now. The call had been placed, the invitation given and the visitor had turned up within fifteen minutes, his hair still damp at the base of his head.
To think that the younger man might have been waiting by the phone for his call was incomprehensible, as far as Jack was concerned. The kid was – well, gorgeous – in his own rights but it was his similarity to a certain archaeologist that was his biggest draw card for Jack. Why didn’t he have somewhere else to be on a Saturday night, not waiting by the phone, for crying out loud?
“Had an hour to kill,” Jack spoke finally as he made his way to his bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a whiskey before offering one, by holding up the bottle, to his caller.
“And you thought you’d kill it, with me?” Brad smiled as he stepped over to where Jack was and took the proffered glass as he knelt onto the sofa chair in front of the bar. “I like that idea,” he said before downing a mouthful of the fine malt whiskey.
The light in that corner made him look less like Daniel so Jack instantly ruled out the possibility of sex there tonight. “Don’t settle,” he told Brad then held out his hand and jerked his head to tell him to get up off the chair.
“Sure, whatever.” Brad grinned as Jack tugged him along to the bedroom.
Inside the bedroom a low lamp burned. The bed was rumpled like Jack had been in it earlier, couldn’t sleep so decided he needed some company instead. Brad was pleased to be that company. He started to unfasten his buttons on his shirt when Jack stepped before him, fixed him in a sultry stare and took over the task. With a wanton grin, Brad lifted his drink to his mouth and downed another gulp, the rim chinked dully against the glasses on Brad’s face. All the while he was gently swaying as Jack undressed him.
Dropping the jeans to the floor Jack squatted and eased Brad’s feet from the pants, and then he slowly ran his hands up the backs of Brad’s legs as he lowered himself onto his knees instead. Eye level with the burgeoning underwear, Jack brushed his lips over the scar on the smooth skin, whispered words that he intended for Daniel, not his current partner, and then he kissed the flesh tenderly. Brad cradled the back of Jack’s head with his free hand and drank more whiskey while Jack smothered his stomach in kisses.
“I’m glad you called me,” Brad murmured as he slow danced against Jack’s face, enjoying the fingertips raking over his things, between his legs, up to his hips and across his Jockey-covered ass.
Jack wished he wouldn’t talk. He didn’t *sound* like Daniel. His voice was too rough, to uneducated, too ‘not-Daniel’. He whispered, “Shhh”, softly against the warm skin and kissed the scar again.
Brad smiled, unaware that he was being made love to because of the fact he resembled someone Jack had been in love with for years. He rolled his head back and bit his bottom lip as Jack started to peel the underwear down over his engorged shaft, revealing his dark blond curls. He thought he’d explode as Jack reverently kissed every exposed inch of his skin, and delicately traced patterns through the springy hairs with the tip of his tongue.
“Put me in your mouth,” Brad pleaded breathlessly.
Jack sat back on his heels and sighed, sounding disappointed. “I said not to talk!”
Brad saw the menace in the dark brown eyes and nodded mutely. He didn’t know what this Jack did for a living but he was sure he commanded respect; he just had that air about him. He took another sip of the whiskey as he continued to caress his fingers through Jack’s short gray hair. He didn’t mind Jack’s demands. He’d had lots of tricks that wanted things their own way, but this Jack wasn’t a paying customer – there was no way he’d charge someone for the kind of pleasure Jack had given him last time. In fact, he felt as though he should pay him for the privilege.
He’d thought about Jack a lot since their last (and first) encounter – truth be told, he couldn’t get the distinguished, good-looking older man out of his thoughts – and he decided that if Jack were to ever call him up he’d meet with him whenever, wherever and under whatever terms Jack demanded.
So shutting up now wasn’t a big issue for him. He just wanted to feel Jack’s mouth on his skin again, to smell the sweat on his body, to taste the cum that he’d feasted on in their last meeting. He moaned when Jack lifted him from the confines of his tight underwear once more.
“Did you shower?” Jack asked as he stared at the uncircumcised penis in his hand. When there was no response he looked up. Brad nodded, clearly abiding by his order not to talk.
The older man smiled, maneuvered Brad towards the bed then dropped him on his back. Brad laughed as the remnants of his whisky sprayed from his glass then the tumbler itself flew from his hand, landing on the floor with a heavy thud. Jack seemed unperturbed that a good crystal glass was almost shattered.
Brad’s own glasses shifted on his face from the sudden movement and became dislodged at an angle across his cheek. He went to readjust them when Jack beat him to it. Brad’s breath stilled in his throat as he stared up into the sultry brown eyes that bore through him as Jack gently lifted the glasses from his face. The younger man wanted to grab him and kiss him so hard, so passionately, but he remained submissive. After Jack deposited the frames onto the bedside table he turned back and looked down at the body beneath him. Brad was flat on his back, his near naked body was smooth and creamy, a scar from an appendectomy the only mark on the skin. Jack stared at the thatch of inviting curls then at the cock slumped against one of Brad’s raised legs – florid against the white skin.
Jack took his time in peeling the underwear all the way from Brad’s long legs, and then he returned to the crotch, rubbed his nose in the wiry curls before he lifted up on slightly shaky arms to view the cock once more.
With a low moan he wrapped a hand under Brad’s thigh and brought his face towards the unsheathed cock. Brad squirmed at the first lick then he returned his hands to the gray hair, enjoying the softness between his fingers. Jack squeezed the thigh as he kissed along it to the knee then down until he reached the foot. Brad had worn no socks. He imagined that Daniel wore no socks too. He kissed the top of the foot then the arch then the ankle.
Brad continued to squirm with each kiss, his hands now reached up over his head to the headboard which he gripped with a firm grasp. He was incredibly ticklish and the sensation of having his foot so lovingly laved filled him with a mixture of such unbearable sensations that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to pull his foot away or melt into the bed to enjoy more. His stomach flipped several times as Jack almost made him cum by sucking on his big toe. He’d never had sweet sex before. It had always been business. With Jack, it was different. To Jack he was a clean slate. The older man didn’t know about his past, didn’t care about his past, and didn’t care about his future. After their last encounter months ago, resulting from a propitious meeting in a bar, he had left Jack his calling card. Tonight, Jack had used it. Brad dropped everything he was doing to meet Jack’s instant demand. Now, as the older man suckled on his toes like no one else had ever done before, he was glad he dropped everything – it was worth it. Brad gasped and arched off the bed when Jack reached his little toe.
As the toe was jerked from his mouth Jack looked along the body to meet the blue eyes watching him. “Too much?” he asked. Brad simply nodded with a smile. Jack shrugged and moved back along the leg until he brushed past the cock that was so thick and heavy now that it almost stood straight up. The cock touched up along the side of Jack’s neck as he concentrated on rubbing his nose and lips against the curls and onto the soft stomach.
“You have to cover me,” Brad finally gasped and Jack looked at him with confusion in his eyes. “I’m gonna explode if you keep doing that,” Brad explained, almost apologetically.
Jack twisted and reached for his side table drawer where he pulled out a short stack of condoms. He broke off the first one, ripped open the casing and rolled it onto the engorged cock. That handling – unfortunately – was Brad’s undoing and as Jack was still rolling the sheath on, Brad exploded into it. “Oh God! Man!” He shuddered then finally flopped back onto the bed. “Shit, I’m sorry!” he groaned as he looked down at where Jack remained, hands away from the mess of softening cock and partially rolled on condom that was filled with Brad’s viscous liquid. He reached out and touched the still covered thigh of his bed companion. “I’m sorry..”
Jack looked at him then shrugged. “Least it was covered.”
Brad sighed. “Just, that toe-sucking.. it was so hot, man..”
Jack nodded once more, and secretly wished the guy would shut up again. As he started to turn to get off the bed Brad reached for him. Imploringly, the eyes said what the mouth tried to, “I can still get you off..”
Jack shook his head. “I’m not in the mood anymore..” He got off the bed, reached down for his shoe which he slid on then the other one, and then he straightened up. “You can stay a while, shower.. maybe..” He shrugged again as he rounded the bed.
“Jack.. Please..”
“Listen, It’s okay. I’ve got work to do anyway.”
“Will you call me again?”
As Jack shut the door behind him he realized that his stomach was hard like a rock. The thought of calling this Brad again left him cold. He’d looked more like Daniel on their first meeting, but this time he just.. well, he destroyed all of Jack’s fantasies. Maybe that was for the best Jack told himself as he did up the zipper on his jacket and stepped outside to go and sit in his observatory. Maybe he needed to get over Daniel.
//Maybe I need to get over Jack// Daniel sighed as he dropped the book he was pretending to read back into his lap. His head flopped back until it hit the wall behind him and he gave a body-shuddering sigh. He couldn’t concentrate. Well, that wasn’t totally correct. He seemed to concentrate on one thing perfectly – the image of Jack and Sam in bed together. He couldn’t get rid of that image. It plagued every page of the book he was trying to read until he finally gave up the charade. Now he felt like someone was pressing on his stomach, forcing his dinner to breech the esophagus and push its way up again. He moved positions, maybe that was the cause, but he still felt as ill. Perhaps it was misguided grief about Robert that made him wide awake at two am. He inhaled a deep calming breath then blew it out slowly. No, that wasn’t it. The image of Jack’s smiling face, mere inches from Sam’s voluptuous, hungry mouth made Daniel’s stomach lurch again. He threw himself up off the cot and went to the table where he dragged a chair noisily across the cement floor and flopped down hard into it. He cradled his head in his hands and tried to kill the image which repeated itself, ad nauseam, in his brain.
End of part six
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Rights held by Nessessitee –Dec 2002