| Part 8 | Disclaimers |
Spoilers in this part: Tangent ~ S4
Over one month later…
Paul couldn’t help but grin as Daniel crouched and covered his ears while the X-301 Interceptor, the hybrid Goa’uld Death Glider, soared over their heads. It was always weird coming over to the SGC on some mission, and seeing Daniel in full ‘work mode’. His thoughts drifted to the morning they’d spent together in Daniel’s apartment, falling over each other in haste to get ready for work because they’d slept through the alarm and were both running late. Paul’s cab arrived, they playfully kissed at the door inside the apartment then Paul headed into the Base, only to have to ‘greet’ Daniel later as he entered the Briefing room.
All day, Daniel had done his best not to pay Paul much attention for fear of drawing attention to their intimacy, and Paul had returned the discretion. It was a fun game at times and both men seemed to get a buzz out of their secret glances and clandestine smiles.
Now Paul smiled to himself as Lt General Vidrine, the Pentagon Representative, turned to him and mumbled, “Does she actually know what she’s saying?” regarding Sam’s explanation of the way that the X-301 worked.
Paul nodded sharply. “Yes, Sir. She generally does.”
Vidrine had rolled his eyes but made no further comment as he searched the skies once more for the tiny black blur.
The ship had been built from the Death Gliders rescued by the space shuttle after SG-1 and Bratek had blown Apophis’ Mothership apart. The hybrid was equipped with stealth capability, and armed with two AIM-120A air-to-air missiles, each loaded with a naquaada-enhanced warhead and a shield modulator. The X-301 was designed to platform the Goa’uld defence and the weapons loaded were designed to break through a Goa'uld force shield. Following this testing the ship would be assigned to Orbital Defence, protecting Earth from above, and would be under the command of the SGC.
The group journeyed back to the Base to track the Interceptor on the monitors from ‘Mission Control’, which was set up in the Control room of the SGC.
“That’s them?” Daniel asked the room at large as he stepped up, with coffee in hand, and watched the blimp move across the screen before him.
Probably because he was used to answering Daniel’s questions, it was Paul whom responded with an explanation that they’d installed a special tracking device as the X-301 is equipped with stealth technology, therefore, yes, the blimp on screen was the Colonel and Teal’c.
As they watched the bleep move into place on the screen before them, Sam said, “Digger One, you’re going to overshoot….”
There was no response. Only static down the line.
Sam tried again. “Digger One, Digger One, This is Flight..” Still the only response was static. “They’re not responding..”
Paul scanned the data on his screen. “We’re experiencing atmospheric interference.”
Vidrine asked, “Major Carter?” Sam explained how the glider overshot its mark when it went into a steep incline and off their radars.
Daniel swallowed the lump in his throat. “Are you saying they’re going into orbit?”
“I’m saying they’re heading straight out into space!”
Vidrine queried Carter about her earlier statement that the X-301 could travel in space. Sam’s response was polite, but curt. “It *wasn’t* part of the test.”
Daniel stared at the screen, willing Jack to get his ass back into the Earth’s atmosphere where he belonged. “Teal’c wouldn’t do this intentionally. There must be something wrong.” For a brief second he glanced at Paul, who was already looking his way. The look he returned told Daniel they’d do everything they could. He immediately jumped on the phone to DSP at Norad and NASA’s Deep Space Tracking to get their help in establishing communication with the Glider.
The team worked solidly for the next ten minutes trying to establish contact with the glider. Despite trying to push herself, Sam had to admit the headache brewing within her and was ordered to take a break, by Hammond. The minute she got up to get some aspirin Daniel slipped into the vacated chair. Paul gave him a brief reassuring glance but Daniel wasn’t buying it.
“What do I do?” he asked quietly, aware that Hammond and Vidrine remained behind them.
Paul inhaled deeply then said, “Just .. keep trying to reach them.”
Daniel nodded and pressed the communication button to make his first call.
After several more minutes, precious minutes in which everyone felt inept and out-of-control, Daniel made one last call. “Digger One come in…” His voice betrayed his weariness and concern. “Jack or Teal’c, please respond.” He rubbed his thigh, a habit he had when he was upset or nervous about something. Paul was aware of it out of the corner of his eye as he remained on the phone with NASA. “Nothing,” Daniel declared tiredly.
Paul offered, “NASA Deep Space Tracking is trying to boost the signal..”
Daniel had been thinking of another way – they needed another kind of help to get Jack and Teal’c home. He turned to the General. He suggested contacting allies capable of Space Travel. Hammond didn’t need to consider Daniel’s suggestion – he knew the scientist would have thought it through. “Proceed, Doctor. SG-2 will stand by to assist.”
Vidrine took the opportunity to inform the General that he would return to the Pentagon, to see what assistance they could provide from that end, and told Hammond to ‘bring them home.” Hammond responded appropriately, “Yes, Sir.”
Sam returned to the Control Room, fired up with an idea she’d been working through during her break. Showing consummate trust in her ability, Hammond informed her, by a simple nod of his head, that he’d back her 100 percent. As Sam sat at the console Jack’s voice came down the line.
“Cheyenne, we have a problem.”
She immediately responded, and waited. Hammond waited too, but he wasn’t sure why.
“Why haven’t they responded?” He asked.
“We have to wait for it, Sir,” Sam informed him.
Paul supplemented, “It’s a time lag, Sir. It’s the length of time it takes our radio signal to travel from earth to the X- 301 and back.”
Sam felt devastated. The news down the line from the crippled space craft was not good. She closed her eyes and sighed as she listened to Jack list the glider as Ballistic. She’d been hoping to use some of the ship’s flight capability to slingshot the craft around Jupiter and send it on home that way. With Jack’s information though, she declared, “I don’t know how to swing them around Jupiter without reaction control systems.”
Paul clenched his jaw as he listened to her. He dreaded having to tell Daniel this news. Still, he knew it had to be done, and he didn’t want Daniel hearing it any other way. Pushing back his chair, he removed his earpiece as he got to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me..”
“Of course, Major,” Hammond agreed, assuming the man just needed a break.
Paul took a deep breath as he neared the door to Daniel’s office then he gripped his hands together as he entered the lab. Daniel was at his desk, his head down on folded arms. Paul deduced that to mean that Daniel’s trek to Tollana didn’t go so well.
The older man made it all the way to the desk before Daniel sensed he was even in the room. The minute he lifted his face and saw the grave look in Paul’s eyes he blinked quickly. “Ah, what’s wrong?” He asked warily.
Paul eased himself onto the corner of Daniel’s desk. “We have a problem..” He said, solemnly.
Daniel looked around nervously then back at his friend. “Another one?”
“Carter thought she could slingshot the glider around Jupiter with the aid of some thrusters..”
“And?”
“And we’ve just heard back from the Glider. They’ve lost total control of the vehicle. They’re adrift..” Paul hastened to add, when the blood drained from Daniel’s face, “But the good thing is we do have communication with them. We’ve established a Time Tag system.. at the moment we’re at three minutes lag.”
“That’s the good news?” Daniel squeaked then coughed and stared at the edge of his desk, trying to comprehend what he’d just heard. Suddenly he covered his face with both hands and inhaled deeply. Paul slipped off the desk and squatted beside his friend, instinctually rubbing his hand over the small of Daniel’s back.
“Daniel, we’ll get them home..”
The blue eyes were weary as they looked down on him. “Can you give me a guarantee on that?”
Paul blinked up at Daniel. “No,” he admitted, “You know I can’t.” They remained in a locked stare for a moment then Paul said, “I’m sorry. I wanted you to hear this somewhere where you could react honestly, not in the corridors or something..”
Daniel reached his hand out and cupped his friend’s shoulder, squeezing him firmly. “Thanks,” he croaked softly then swallowed down the lump in his throat. Paul nodded.
“I need to get back there.”
“I know. I’m just waiting to hear if any of the allies I contacted can help us.”
As Paul rose to his feet again he asked, “No word yet?”
Daniel shook his head then, through a bitter smile, he said, “Much like between us and the Glider – there’s a lag..”
The older man gave a slight smile of acknowledgement as he nodded. “If I hear anything else, should I come in person or call you?”
“Come, please,” Daniel said softly as he raised his chin to look up at Paul. “I hate hearing bad news over the phone. Always makes it seem worse, somehow.”
Paul wasn’t sure the news could get any worse but he agreed to abide by Daniel’s wish. With a parting touch to his casual-lover’s face, the Major returned to the Control Room.
As Paul re-entered the Control room Sam immediately called him over to the Sergeant’s desk, where they were working through some of the Glider’s plans, trying to find something that might help them with their situation.
A staticy call came down the line from Jack, announcing that they had two AIM – 120 Alpha Rockets at their disposal. Paul slipped into his chair and listened to the message about the possibility of overriding the release mechanism on the missiles so that they remained attached to the craft to provide the ‘nudge’ needed to achieve Carter’s plan. Paul, knowing the Glider as intimately as he did, listened intently until the time stamp of 1458 Zulu was given.
Hammond looked to him for an explanation. Paul responded that Jack wanted to cook off the missiles, but didn’t get to answer the General’s next question before Sam spoke to him. “If we can get enough Delta Vee out of the missiles our plan still might work.” Then she asked him if he could actually give the Colonel an override procedure for the release mechanism. Paul assured her that it was easy, so she instructed him to talk Jack through it before she left to make the calculations.
Paul carefully listed the instructions for Jack on how to override the release mechanisms and then sent the message - with all the hope in his heart. It was now a little over two hours since the glider left Earth’s Orbit and everyone was stressed, tired and overwrought. Getting the men home was all anyone could think about. Occasionally Paul would look up from his work as the Gate burst to life, indicating that either an off-world SG team was returning from their mission, or Daniel and SG-2 were returning from their attempts to raise assistance from Earth’s Allies. Each time Daniel had come through the look of disappointment on his face crushed Paul’s heart a little more.
He wanted to get Jack back home – if only for Daniel. Despite everything he and Daniel shared, Paul knew that if Jack were to not return Daniel would die inside.. and he didn’t want to see his friend go through that.
Added to that, of course, was the respect that the Major still harboured for the Colonel - if not for the man himself. Although he couldn’t turn a blind eye to Jack’s treatment of Daniel in the past few months he still respected that Colonel Jack O’Neill was a damn fine officer, a valuable asset to the SG Program and, to other members of the SGC, a pretty decent guy. He wouldn’t wish him ill at all.
Everyone held their breath as they waited on the results of the missile burn. The silence was deafening - and achingly long.
Eventually the news came through - the missiles didn’t have enough thrust. Paul felt the contents of his stomach lurch up into his throat as he watched the projected trajectory on the screen. The Glider had missed the mark – big time!
At 1813 Zulu Sam Carter sent the news through to the stranded men, along with a message to not give up. Devastation and disappointment hummed through the Control Room, each person assessing the news for themselves, few actually verbalising their thoughts, afraid to add to the tension already at breaking point.
Paul blew out his breath loudly. His head reeled from the stress and concentration, and he was aware that Daniel was still to be told about the results.
Carter tugged the earpiece from her ear and got up, rubbing her hands over her tired face. Paul watched her closely. Her actions betrayed her intimacy with the stranded Colonel, in his opinion, and he couldn’t help but feel a stab of pain and empathy for her also. She looked around the room, looking lost, so Paul got to his feet, gently touched his hand to her shoulder and suggested softly, “Why don’t you get yourself a coffee? I can wait here if any more news comes in.”
She blinked at him, seemingly surprised by his kindness, then she shook herself awake and said, “I was just thinking.. I have to tell Daniel.”
“I can do that.”
“You hardly know him. It’s not fair,” she argued gently.
Paul closed his eyes and shook his head adamantly. “It’s okay. And like you said, we’re still working on it. All’s not lost.”
Carter looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. A weak smile came to her trembling lips. “Thanks, Major.”
He nodded then indicated with a jerk of his head for her to get out of the room. Again she nodded, this time with a down-turned smile, and left the control room. Paul turned and stared at the silent gray ring, wondering what he was going to tell Daniel when he came back. He hoped, as he slipped into his seat again, that Daniel might be bringing back some good news.
Paul was holding his head up with both fists against his temples, applying pressure to ease the throb in his brain, as he stared at the screen before him. He was just wondering what might be going through the minds of the trapped men when the gate started dialling up. Harriman beside him announced it was an incoming wormhole, and then he announced SG-2’s code. The iris slid back with the scrape of metal and moments after the wormhole had established itself in the ring, five bodies popped through the shimmering surface, one of them was Daniel. The young man took his helmet off, or rather pushed it off his head angrily and left it to roll down the metal ramp as he stormed out of the gate room. The commander of SG-2 looked up at the Control Room, shrugged then followed the pissed off archaeologist from the room. Daniel stomped up towards the General’s office via the stairs, passing Paul along the way.
“Daniel…” Paul tried to catch up to him in the round stairwell.
“I sure hope you have some good news for me,” the younger man muttered angrily, “because I’ve had about enough…”
“The burn failed..” Paul blurted out, stopping Daniel in his stride. Slowly, Daniel turned back towards the man a step below him. His blue eyes were red from either suppressed tears or fury, Paul wasn’t sure which.
“What?” His voice was strained.
Paul sighed and stepped up until they were level. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I didn’t want to tell you this way but you couldn’t go bursting in there-” He indicated towards Hammond’s office.
Blinking, Daniel asked, “What happened?”
“The missiles failed to nudge the X-301enough. They missed Jupiter by miles,” he informed him as gently as he could. After a beat he added, so that Daniel didn’t hear it for the first time in the meeting, “They’ve damaged their life support and their power systems, too.”
Daniel looked down at his feet and remained silent for a few moments. “What’s going to happen now?”
Paul swallowed. “Hammond’s called a meeting upstairs in five minutes.” As kindly as he could, he told his friend, “The report that came back from the Colonel… isn’t good, Daniel-”
Daniel looked around them to quell the emotions churning with him. With a tilt of his head, he said, “Then our allies are our only hope.”
“If anyone can convince them that we need their assistance, it’s you.”
“I’m not doing so well-” Daniel’s scoff was full of raw emotion as he averted his eyes from Paul’s face.
Paul reached out to touch his distraught friend but he ended up giving Daniel a manly pat on the arm instead as he said, “Come on.” Together he and Daniel went into the Briefing Room, choosing to sit side by side at the table to wait for the others to arrive.
Paul glanced at Daniel. “You okay?” he whispered to him as Hammond exited his office to take his place at the head of the table. Daniel pursed his lips together and gave his friend a firm nod. It wouldn’t do for him to be a weeping mess so he steeled himself to overcome his personal feelings and attack the matter in hand in an academic manner.
As Sam eased herself into the chair opposite Daniel she watched her friend closely. A quick glance towards the Major garnered the reaction from Paul she needed. His tiny nod indicated that he’d told Daniel about the situation. Sam sighed as she sat in her chair and flipped open the report placed before her.
As the team bickered over Daniel’s suggestion to disarm the recall devise Daniel felt pressure against his knee from Paul’s leg, showing him strength and support. The two men questioned Sam’s negation of Daniel’s idea, and then listened as she suggested maximising Life Support. While Paul answered her, Daniel silently considered the purpose of extending life support, considering they still had no way of getting to the crippled vessel, now or in the near future.
It was that precise moment that Hammond asked him for his report. Daniel explained how the Tollen didn’t have a craft close enough or fast enough to reach the Glider within a year. When Hammond asked about the Tok’Ra, Daniel’s reaction further added to his response in the Gate Room upon his return earlier. It was clear that the Tok’Ra has pissed him off; Anise in particular! Daniel clearly felt they’d employed subterfuge to avoid helping Earth – yet again.
However, the information Anise had given Daniel pricked Sam’s attention, giving her an idea about where the Tok’Ra operative was, and who it was!
She turned to the General and said, “Sir, with your permission..?” Hammond didn’t need anything more, he immediately obliged the Major.
Daniel hurried down to the control room, Paul by his side. They slipped into their respective chairs at the same time then Daniel sent a message to Jack, explaining their plan to come and rescue them in a Tok’ra ship. He turned to the man beside him and asked what time it was. He was tired and muddled, and not at all used to the odd Zulu time stamp. Paul smiled at his friend as he showed him his watch and read off the time. Daniel repeated it in his message; 1947 Zulu.
He was about to close the transmission when he suddenly imagined Jack complaining about wanting to do *something* instead of just drifting, so he added the information Sam had given them about not trying to disable the recall device. As he said the last part, Daniel’s eyes met Paul’s, and for a brief second Daniel’s darkest feelings against Sam’s ‘always right’ attitude surfaced and transmitted down the line. As he dropped the ear piece to the desk he asked Paul, “That didn’t sound.. rude, did it?”
The major shook his head and screwed up his nose. “Nah!” After all, Daniel was only human, he was entitled to the occasional *darker* feeling popping through his usual diplomatic exterior.
Tiredly, Daniel rubbed his eyes and checked his watch. It was now five and a half hours since Jack disappeared. Daniel just wanted him home, not just so that he knew he was safe, but so that he could go to bed. He felt drained from the gate travel as well as all the mental anguish. Part of him wished he had the balls to face Jack upon his return and invite him to his bed as well – true, he might not get much rest, but he was willing to chance that! A sudden tap on his shoulder shocked him from that wayward thought and he blinked as he stared back into Paul’s green eyes. “What?”
“You were day-dreaming!” Paul told him, with a warm smile. “But you haven’t got time. You’re due to present to Hammond in oooh less than two minutes… You’d better suit up!”
“Damn!” Daniel leapt from his chair. Paul grinned as he followed him from the room.
Paul watched Daniel throughout the presentation. Sam led the discussion, pointing out where in the system she felt the Goa’uld occupied world might be within a day’s travel of Earth.
When Daniel said, “We know what the risks are, Sir, and we’re ready,” Paul felt sure Daniel had given away his true feelings.
Hammond, however, being oblivious to the young man’s true feelings for Jack, answered him proudly with “I can see that.” Paul looked to Daniel in time to see him purse his lips and study the General with a concerned expression.
Sam and Daniel were dismissed and they hurried from the room, the archaeologist glancing towards Paul as he passed him. Paul responded with a wink but nothing more as he moved back to his chair by the Mission Control station.
Any lifting of spirits he’d felt earlier had vanished by the time Paul received the transmission from the Tok’Ra vessel. He did the math and even at top speed there seemed no hope that Colonel O’Neill or Teal’c would be alive by the time the others reached them. He sent a messenger to find Hammond so that he could deliver the news to the General in person without leaving his post.
Paul was at his chair, arms folded over his chest, his head flung back over the back of the chair awkwardly. He’d slept for less than fifteen minutes and woke stiffly when he felt someone tap his shoulder.
“Huh? Oh, Sir,” he said groggily as he straightened up in the chair and tried to regain some semblance of demeanour. Hammond, rested from his two hour nap, had stepped in behind the sleeping man, unaware that in doing so he’d inadvertently brushed the Major and woken him.
Hammond was about to tell him to go back to sleep when a weak transmission crackled over the comm. Jack’s voice cracked as he announced that it was 1011 Zulu then asked for aspirin before informing whoever was listening that he estimated he had three hours left to live. Paul pressed his thumb and fingers into his tired eyes as he listened to the transmission and when it was over he asked if he should respond. Numbly, Hammond asked if he had any new information for the Colonel. Paul shook his head so Hammond advised him to let the Colonel sleep.
Paul didn’t turn around but he followed the sounds of the General’s feet shuffling across the floor as he left the room. With a heavy sigh Paul went back to pressing his fingers into his tired eyes then he settled into his chair once more to await any further communications, and to think of the way to console Daniel when he finally got back.
Paul was still awake when Hammond re-entered the room three hours later. He couldn’t get back to sleep as he couldn’t get the thought of Daniel having to travel back with the bodies of Teal’c and Jack out of his mind He wished he could be more optimistic but the situation was truly grave. When Hammond entered the room and asked to send a final message to the stranded men, Paul knew he wasn’t the only one comprehending the seriousness of the situation. SG-1 had managed to pull their asses out of many fires, but it seemed that this was going to be the one that ended that long history.
Paul pulled himself up and poured on his military mantel as he said, “Yes Sir,” whilst preparing to send the message.
A cackle alerted them to an incoming message. Carter’s voice was clear as she announced that they were within 4 minutes of the stranded Glider. The glimmer of hope tarnished slightly as she announced that all attempts to communicate with Digger One so far had been unsuccessful.
The wait was tense within the SGC. Paul’s hands were against his face, he tried not to think about Daniel right now but to focus all his energy on the mission as a whole. With hope the Colonel and Teal’c would be retrieved safely.
Words were not spoken as everyone waited for the next communication. Even as Sam’s elated voice announced that Jack and Teal’c were on the Tok’Ra ship no one celebrated, until she announced that they were both alive.
Paul fisted his hands and triumphantly punched the air before turning to shake the General’s hand. Jubilantly, other’s congratulated each other in the back ground whilst Paul congratulate Digger 2 on a job well done and ordered them home.
With the sounds of celebration still ringing in his ears, Paul slumped back in his chair and closed his eyes. He was acutely aware that Hammond had quietly returned to his office, and was sure that the older man had been as overcome by the fantastic results as the rest of them, if not more so! Paul inhaled a happy breath as he thought about Daniel, reunited with Jack once more. Finally getting up from his seat, his coccyx protesting the movements after such a long stint in the chair, Paul decided that he had enough time to rest before the team returned to Earth.
A quiet tap on the door of his VIP quarters woke the sleeping Major. Paul rolled over, disorientated by the disturbance. Another rap stirred him further and he slipped, half fell, out of his bed, his legs weary from too little sleep. After briefly grappling with the lock he tugged the door open and saw the downcast face of Daniel Jackson out in the corridor. Confused further, Paul checked his watch; it had only been a matter of three hours since the last transmission.
As if understanding the confusion, Daniel explained, “We found a world with a gate and gated back. Jack needed immediate medical attention..”
Paul stepped aside and let his friend in. “Is he okay?”
Wearily Daniel grunted softly as he sat on the edge of the bed. “He will be.”
Paul joined him. “How about you?”
“I’m…” Daniel paused, lifted his face to the ceiling then rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m elated, scared..” He looked at Paul, searching the unshaven face. “Confused.”
The dark brows knitted together. “About?”
“Jack..” He met the hazel green eyes. “Us..”
“Which part is about Jack? Which is about us?”
Daniel shook himself then looked away again. Paul figured he was unready to explore that yet. Instead, the anthropologist said, “When we located the glider Teal’c was in Kel No Reem, to conserve oxygen, but Jack was in a pretty bad way.”
Gravely, Paul nodded. “We received his last transmission about three hours before your call came in – he sounded pretty bad by then. The General was about to send a final message to them when we got the news that you’d reached them.”
Daniel sighed loudly but spoke softly, “As I looked into that cockpit, I thought he was dead.. ”
Paul nodded and wrapped an arm across his distraught friend’s shoulders. “I’ll have to admit – I was worried about what you’d find when you got there..”
Daniel turned to stare deeply into Paul’s eyes. “You were?”
Instinctively Paul began to smooth his hand over Daniel’s shoulders and spine. “Anoxia can be brutal…”
Daniel blinked rapidly. “Jack was pretty out of it..” He admitted; his low voice shaking slightly as he spoke. “Sam was in control from the start - so that was a good thing. Actually, Jack wasn’t even aware the rest of us were there, to be honest…”
“He probably wasn’t coherent-” Paul tried to give Daniel some hope.
The blue eyes rolled as the lips came together bitterly. “Before he passed out he thanked Jacob for the rescue, reached out to shake Sam’s hand for her work, but..”
Paul sighed angrily. “But he didn’t thank you.”
“Teal’c did. We talked at length on the way back.” Then with a shrug, Daniel made excuses for Jack. “I’m guessing Jack doesn’t know my role in it yet.”
Mentally, Paul assured himself that Colonel Jack O’Neill was damn well going to know – and appreciate – Daniel’s role in the whole thing. If it hadn’t been for Daniel’s idea, the two men would still be adrift, but he just bet it was the two Carters that received the pats on the back upon the return.
Rubbing Daniel’s back, Paul said, “Listen, you need to sleep. You’re dead on your feet.”
“I tried to,” Daniel admitted quietly then looked at his friend, his red-rimmed eyes telling the truth.
Paul knew he’d have given it a good shot before seeking him out. With a jerk of his head towards his bed he said, “Get in.”
“Paul, I can’t..” Daniel protested weakly.
Paul stood and lifted Daniel to his feet by gripping his shoulders. “Did anyone see you come in?”
“Not that I noticed. The base has gone back to normal. Teams coming and going..”
However, all that activity was occurring many levels below them. Here on the floor they seemed alone – Paul was the only visitor to the base.
“Then get in..” The older man jerked his chin towards the bed then steeled his eyes on Daniel.
“No, I can’t…”
“Can and will..” Paul turned him and led him to the side of the bed that he knew Daniel occupied in a shared bed. He started unbuttoning the younger man’s belt and pants before he squatted and unfastened Daniel’s boot laces. The weary man flopped onto the bed and flung an arm over his eyes while Paul divested him of his boots, socks then BDU bottoms. With a slap to Daniel’s black Jockeyed butt Paul told him, “Crawl in.”
Obediently, Daniel did then he sighed as Paul snuggled in behind him, cradling the body against his front, tucking his bare legs against the bend in Daniel’s.
“We shouldn’t be doing …” Daniel murmured but didn’t manage to complete the sentence before he drifted off to sleep. Paul smiled to himself, tightened his hug around his friend and settled himself for long sleep as well.
End of part eight
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Rights held by Nessessitee –Dec 2002