PART NINE

The all-night roadside cafeteria was almost empty when Sam and Daniel entered it, jangling the little bell attached to the back of the door.  A woman behind the counter, red-checked apron tied around her ample waist, her hair bundled into buns on top of her head, seemed to be only other living soul in the joint.  Daniel couldn’t help but notice the two pencils that stuck out from the hair.  She took a stubby pencil from behind her ear to take down their order then she hooked it back there.  Daniel wondered if she would ever realize about the pencils in her hair. Sam tried not to smile too much as she watched her friend watch the stout woman serving them. 

After they’d been handed their order they made their way to a corner booth, with their selection of coffee and Danish. The light outside proclaiming all night service shone red on Daniel’s face at regular intervals.

“Listen,” he said, his eyes darting around the empty place as he wiped the icing off his fingers with a cheap paper napkin.  “Before we start, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry things got so out of hand.”

Sam rolled her eyes. She was as much to blame.  “It came as a shock to me. I’m the one that should apologize, for reacting like I did.”

With his lips pursed, Daniel shook his head.  “So we’re both sorry and… it’s done.  It’s… it’s out there. You know now. I’m kinda glad it is, to be honest, but I guess I need to ask how you feel?”

“About how you feel about..?”

Daniel nodded.

She took a moment, honestly assessing her thoughts then she huddled closer to Daniel as she said, “What you said about how we can accept aliens but not two men, it’s really making me think, Daniel.  I never really thought of it quite like that before.  It does seem like a stupid rule considering everything we do …” She looked out of the window and up to the night sky.  She met Daniel’s gaze and held it intently as she said, “Personally I don’t think you stand a chance, sorry to say, but if I’m wrong, then you’d get no animosity from me.”

Daniel studied her a moment. It wasn’t the all-embracing support he might have hoped for from her, but it was a start.  “Okay. Thanks.” He coughed nervously then added, “Sam, will you do me one favor?”

She nodded. 

“Will you never tell Jack? No matter what?  If he ever finds out, I want it to be from me. No one else.”

Sam wondered if that meant ‘clone’ as well, but all she did was move her lips slightly in agreement before she picked up her coffee and brought it to her lips, allowing them both time to think about things.

*

Jack’s long fingers pressed to the edge of Daniel’s mouth and pried their faces apart.  The clone licked his lips as he opened his eyes slowly. 

“Daniel..”

The young man smiled gradually as he whispered, “Don’t tell me you didn’t like that.”

Knowledge gave him an edge; he knew Jack liked the way he kissed so he tried to recapture Jack’s mouth again.

The organic gently pushed him away again. “Very much,” he admitted, his voice sounding brittle against the dewiness of Daniel’s.  He dragged his thumb over the pliable bottom lip, earning himself a lick and a lazy smile. 

“It’s just the start,” the clone assured him as he ran his hands up inside the black t-shirt, moaning when he touched the hairs on Jack’s chest.

Jack swallowed hard and reached inside his top to remove Daniel’s hands. He didn’t say anything as he stepped away. The clone let him go, watching as he walked from the cozy room.

*

Daniel put his mug onto the pock-marked table top and folded his arms before him. “Now, what was it you’d come to tell me?”

Sam blushed with a smile. “I bet you can guess.”  She blew out a long breath then said, “And remember, this had no bearing on what you’ve just revealed.  That blew me away all on its own without having effect on how I feel about you.”

“Which is?”

Keeping her eyes averted, Sam played with her Danish a moment, licked her fingers and started to say, “This is hard..” She gave a soft laugh.

Daniel leaned towards her, bowed his head low to catch her eyes and said, “So, you had a crush on me, it’s not the end of the world.  I’m flattered that you did but I understand that-”

“It was a bit more than a crush, Daniel.” Carter looked at him.

“Oh?”

*

Perched up high, Jack looked down on Harlan’s computer on the level below where they were, easily viewable through the rails and mesh. He craved a cigarette at that moment, something he hadn’t craved in a long, long time.  Stress always got him that way.

Inhaling a deep, slow breath, he tried to clear his jumbled thoughts.  Right now he felt it was a pity that the clone machine wasn’t functioning or he’d let Daniel clone him again, thus giving this Daniel another Jack and himself the opportunity to go home again, knowing that Daniel wasn’t alone. It would end all their problems…  or all of Daniel’s problems.  Jack knew his would still exist.  The Daniel on Earth didn’t love him so why the hell was he holding back on this Daniel?

He considered his options.  Make up some damn lie to Hammond and the others to get the hell off Earth then Gate back to this world to spend his life with this clone.  The more he considered it the more reasonable it began to sound in his mind until he’d worked out a whole plan of regular visits to the Land of Light for food and supplies whenever needed, and taking Daniel with him, in moderate travel, to expand his mind from this metal trap.

That only left one unanswered question.  Would Daniel be content with a ‘poor second’ version of Jack - even if he was the original – for anything more than a one night stand? 

So lost in his thoughts was he that he was unaware of being watched. A set of blue eyes, blue eyes that he’d loved for years now, watched him unblinkingly for a few moments from the doorway behind him. 

“Are you ready to do it yet?”

Jack spun on the spot. “Do what?

Daniel only partly smiled as he stepped towards him.  “Finally put me out of my misery.”

Jack heard Daniel’s words in his mind, recalled what he’d friend had said about the arrangement here.  “It’s pretty one sided, isn’t it?”

Calmly, the clone said, “It can end here and now, and you can go back and tell him.”

“Not gonna happen,” Jack droned then scratched his cheek, his whiskers making a low rasping noise. 

Passion filled the once dull eyes, making them sparkle in the lights overhead. “Then what’s holding you back here?  So, you want Daniel.  You can’t have him.  I’m Daniel, and you can definitely have me.” 

The older man stared into the intense blue eyes.  All he saw was… Daniel.

“Jack, for crying out loud, stop analyzing this!”

“I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

“Says who?”

“Says me! I know that look!” Daniel wagged his finger at Jack’s frown.  Both men laughed out loud then Jack studied the young, fresh face.  After a moment of scrutiny, Daniel smiled shyly and ducked his face. “I know that look, too,” he murmured then looked at Jack from beneath his lashes. 

Wordlessly, Jack cupped the handsome face in his hands and brought Daniel’s lips to his own.  Tenderly he kissed the clone’s mouth, reveling in the suppleness of the lips, the fullness of the pout, and the texture of the softest skin.  Daniel allowed him to lead.  Jack opened the kiss and gingerly touched his tongue to Daniel’s.  It took a second for him to forget and then Jack was suddenly entrenched in the passion so far that all thoughts that this was not ‘Daniel’ fled his mind. 

After a while Jack pulled back, breathless. The clone surrendered the mouth with a soft protesting moan.

“I need to breathe-” Jack laughed as he touched the ever-smooth jowl. 

“I forget that I don’t.”

Jack brushed his thumb over Daniel’s skin. “You don’t have to shave either. Maybe I’ll clone myself, do away with this organic body and live the rest…”

Daniel groaned and laughed. “If only that were possible.” He wrapped strong arms around Jack and squeezed him, careful not to do it too tightly.  “But it’s not, so stop teasing me.”  Daniel’s finger zigzagged over Jack’s bristled chin.

“Am I teasing you?” Jack cajoled with a winning smirk.

With a wanton grin, the clone whispered, “Big time…” before he captured Jack’s lips between his teeth gently.  “Tell me what you want me to do…”

“Anything,” Jack hissed softly, giving in to the hands stripping him of his BDU pants and black tee-shirt. 

“Then I’ll do everything,” Daniel promised before sinking to his knees before Jack. 

“Oh, gad, Danny!” Jack squeaked, startled.  His hand gripped the rail so hard his knuckles turned white. 

Daniel had been nuzzling his nose into the sparse pelt of abdomen hair as he removed Jack’s boots then pants completely when he raised his face, grinned lasciviously, and said “Relax, Jack-” His smile spread wider on the rhyme. “We are alone..”

Jack looked around, as if needed to confirm that statement, and then he bowed his head and stared down on the clone.  His hand shook slightly as he extended it to touch the mid-length golden brown hair. 

“Totally alone-” Daniel purred as he nudged the hand that touched him.  “I just want to.. investigate.”  A lean finger trailed down the arrow of hair from Jack’s navel to top of his non-standard issued black Jockey briefs.

“Ya want to see if my birth mark is still there?” Jack quipped, his mouth dry.

A guttural giggle emanated from the man on his knees.  “Ooh yes!” Daniel’s finger danced over the stretched black material before he reached forward, paused with mouth open to check that Jack was watching, then tilted his head and bit the hard shaft through the underwear.  He chortled when Jack groaned loudly.

After enjoying the attention for a few erratic heartbeats, Jack gripped the clone by its shoulders and guided him to his feet once more. “Remember, Danny….” Jack’s gaze flitted across the seemingly flushed face.  “I’m not a clone.”

Daniel smiled gently when he saw the worry in Jack’s brown eyes.  “I know you’re not. I’ll be gentle,” he promised, so softly Jack’s knee buckled. 

Swallowing to moisten his chronically dry throat, the organic tried to explain again.  “And I’m… older than I was-”

The clone blinked once then his face lit when the realization hit him. Glancing at the gray hair, Daniel said, “Jack, if you’re worried because you’re slightly… softer… than your clone was, don’t be, please.”

The scarred brow arched high. “Softer?”

Daniel laughed as he shook his head lovingly at the indignant man.  He ran his hands over the chest and abdomen as he said, “Do you honestly think I care about things like that?” His eyes searched Jack’s gaze.  “I love you.”

“Whoa!”  Immediately Jack stepped back, held his hand up between them and watched the clone a moment. 

It was clear Daniel knew his mistake; his expression was one of regret. He looked to try to erase the mistake with a glib comment but Jack spoke over the top of anything he might have said. “You love my clone.  A man I was nearly two years ago.  I’m different now, Daniel.  I’m so different now!”

The clone licked his lips.  “I shouldn’t have said that.  I know who you are, but you’re still the man I love, well, rather, you were the man I love.” 

Jack shook his head and seemed to be having second thoughts again. 

Daniel spoke hastily. “And I’m the man you love, you still love, if any of this is anything to go by-” Daniel’s eyes flashed around the complex then back to Jack. 

“I do, but even you’re not the same man.  I’ll admit.  I could love you just as you are, God knows the Daniel you became doesn’t love me,” Jack muttered.

Suddenly Daniel gripped Jack by the upper arms and shook him lightly.  “Stay here!  Stay here with me.  I’ll be the Daniel you need.”

Jack winced at the pinch from the strong grips.  “I need to be in one piece..” He hinted. The clone let him go and saw the deep red marks on Jack’s white flesh. 

“Dammit! I’m sorry. I forget my own strength sometimes..”

Jack rubbed his arms. “That might be a problem..” he commented. 

Daniel ran his fingers through the gray hair and said, tenderly, “I’ll be gentle and loving.. and if I ever hurt you…” He held Jack’s stare. “You can slap my ass.. like I know you like to.”

Jack’s heart thudded hard in his throat.  “He.. he slapped you?”

A wanton smile filled the clone’s face.

He stammered slightly when he asked, “And you let him? You.. you enjoyed it?”

The smile grew wider.  “I do now.  Let’s just say … ‘Don’t try this at home, kids’.”

Jack realized what the clone was saying, nodded then mutely stepped up to him.  With a smile burgeoning on his lips, he asked, “Are you going to be the death of me?”

The clone returned the smile as he gently cupped the back of Jack’s neck with his hand.   “Definitely not you, Jack,” he said before guiding their faces closer.

*

Sam laughed at Daniel’s stunned expression.  “I’m not saying it was love, either, I just had some very strong feelings for you. So, I went to see the clone to find out if my clone had ever managed to find the courage to let you know.”

“And he said?”

Sam stared at him before turning crimson and looking away.

“Oh?!”

“It’s silly really,” she said dismissively now.  “It all happened when we found Cassie, remember? You were so supportive of me, and I suddenly had this child, and we did a bit of that family thing which was nice-” She met his gaze then looked away as she went on to say, “-but then everything went wrong with her, and you were - just - there for me Daniel.” Her tone verbalized her feelings of gratitude for his support at such a turbulent time in her life. 

He smiled warmly. “Well, actually, I thought I didn’t do enough for you. I could see you tearing yourself apart over this stranger-” He bit his lips together then lowered his face when she shot him a quick look.  Sighing softly, he looked back at her.  “And Jack was with Teal'c so I have to admit that I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep at that time myself.”

She sat silently for a moment then hissed with disbelief as she shook her head. 

“What?” he asked.

“I just never knew.  I never even had a suspicion,” she said incredulously. 

Daniel gave her a look of relief. Stammering slightly, he said, “That’s good then, right?” 

“You’re a cagey one, I have to give you that, Daniel,” she said.  He wasn’t sure it was a compliment.

As gently as he could he retaliated with, “Obviously, I’m not the only one.”

 “I don’t feel like that any more though.  You must believe me,” she said, suddenly reaching across the table to cover his hand with her own. Kindly, she said, “You really are just like my brother.”

He smiled and patted her hand on his.  “I know, and that’s great because you feel pretty much to me what a sister would feel like, if I ever had one.”

She stared at him a moment then a smile slowly crept over her face.  She seemed comfortable now and settled back in her chair, pulled off a piece of her Danish and popped it into her mouth as he brought her cup to her lips.

Daniel was showing no interest in eating his cake as he toyed with it instead.  In a voice that implied nothing more than mild interest, he asked her, “So what changed your opinion… about me. I mean?” 

Sam swallowed and blinked wide, blue eyes at him. “Sha’re.”  She dipped her face and he wasn’t sure if it was on pretense, or because she really wanted to concentrate on ripping off some more Danish.  She sucked on her fingers as she met his gaze once more.

His expression clearly invited her to elaborate on her comment.

“No matter what you went through for her, you never gave up.  You had such love for her..”

/Have/ he said to himself but didn’t correct his friend.  He averted his eyes from her gaze instead.

Sensing his tenderness where his recently deceased wife was concerned Sam treaded carefully.  Keeping her tone respectful, she said, “What I felt was over a long time ago, but even lately, watching you grieve for her…… I realize that no other woman could ever take her place in your affections.”

Taking a moment to consider this, he finally looked up.  Love shone in his eyes as he spoke about his dead wife.  “You’re right. Sha’re was.. unique. No woman ever will replace her,” he said with a mixture of sadness and pride. He thought about the myriad of women who had tricked or seduced him.   “Not really.”

Sam kept her voice down.  “But Jack has, huh?”

Daniel’s eyes fluttered as he dramatically rolled them then sat back into his chair.  Running the tip of his finger around the lip of his cup he said, with his eyes averted, “Somehow I wouldn’t call Jack a woman, Sam, or at least make sure he wasn’t in the vicinity when I did.”

He smiled lopsidedly, joining in when Sam laughed at that comment. “Ah, god,” he groaned as he shook his head and rubbed his brow. Sam watched him, knowing his frustration at wanting something he would probably never have.  She tried to give him an encouraging smile when he glanced in her direction, but his gaze was too fleeting. Sam knew to let their conversation end there.

*

Jack tugged the bedding up to his bare chest.  He inhaled a deep breath, yawned and stretched.  He collapsed in a soft laughter when Daniel’s hands gripped his naked sides. 

The clone nuzzled in closer to the naked man and pressed his lips to the gentle rise of Jack’s chest.

“Are you all right?” He reached up to touch Jack’s forehead.  Jack nodded then noted Daniel’s pale - naked -  arm.  He looked at the man beside him again, then he slowly peered under the bedding.  Daniel smiled when their eye met once more. 

“Were you made in proportion?” Jack asked.  Daniel laughed deeply.

“Yes!” He shook his hair from his eyes then kissed Jack’s shoulder, his lips skimming the surface as he spoke softly, “don’t forget Jack.  I know every inch of your body…” 

A loud, deep sigh filled the room as Jack wasn’t sure how to take that, but he soon lost all thought as Daniel started to caress his chest with small round movements, tugging ever so lightly at the chest hairs.

“I’ve missed this the most,” Daniel purred as he kissed the soft chest all over.  Jack’s eyes fluttered shut then sprang open as Daniel latched onto his nipple, biting it softly and tugging at it tenaciously.  He gave a deep appreciative groan as he brought his hands up to cradle the head at his chest. 

“My chest?”

“No,” Daniel looked up, flicking his hair from his face sharply, “being here in bed with you.  Just exploring each other, touching, tasting and….ah… ”

“What?”

“Jack and I used to wonder if we tasted just like we used to, by that I mean if we tasted like our Organics?  I mean, do I taste like earth Daniel?  Do I *have* any taste at all for that matter..?”  The questions seemed rhetorical, until he fixed his eyes onto Jack, “What do I taste like?”

“Well, I have no idea what earth Daniel tastes like, much to my dismay,” he smiled and watched as Daniel gave a slight smile too, “but you taste like, well, nothing.  You’re warm and moist and…” Jack stared at the perfectly pouting mouth then he suddenly engulfed it in his own, needing to taste him once more.  Daniel squirmed beneath him when Jack pushed him onto his back, slipping onto his firm body.  Tugging his hands up over his head, Jack held them together at the wrist then brought his free hand down to run over the smooth chest. 

“Oh, God,” Jack groaned lustfully as he bit the erect nipple hard.  Daniel ached under him and his groin, already solid, dug against Jack’s side.  Their legs entangled as they tossed around on the bedding, devouring each other with their mouths, and Jack caressing every part of the clone’s body with his free hand.

Gradually he released his hold on Daniel and the stronger younger man flipped him over onto his back, straddling his stomach, and wearing the biggest champion grin on his face.  Tossing his head, he sent his long dark hair flying around his face, creating a very seductive look, even if he wasn’t aware of it.  Jack’s erection began to weep against Daniel’s lower back and the clone smiled then reached behind himself and gripped the firm shaft.  Jack bucked slightly and Daniel laughed as he rode out the wave then they settled onto the bedding once more. 

“You know, I’m really glad you weren’t in a relationship with my Organic,” Daniel’s other hand reached down and caressed through the short graying chest hairs.

“Why’s that?”

“Well you wouldn’t be here with me now, for one,” he said, releasing the shaft and lying down on Jack’s chest, his chin pressing against the colonel’s skin.  Jack ran his hand through the long hair, pushing it back out of Daniel’s blue eyes and the younger man closed his eyes slowly, savoring the sensation of something his lover used to do repeatedly to him.  “Not to mention,” he shivered slightly then grinned before continuing, “I don’t have to worry that I wont please you,” he said. 

Jack lifted his brow slightly.  “Well I have that worry.  You used to make it with Super Jack and now I’m older and.. “

Daniel smiled sweetly when Jack hesitated. “Softer?” he suggested kindly. Jack tried to look indignant but he knew he’d filled out slightly in the past two years.  Not a lot, but he had softened, as Daniel had put it. 

“Softer,” Jack agreed wholeheartedly.  Daniel sucked on his bottom lip as his face shone with a smile. 

“I like the changes.  I really do.  I was so happy to see that you’d all made it through the past two year pretty unscathed.  Except,” Daniel sighed then shrugged, “what happened to my Organic’s hair?” Daniel pushed up into a sitting position once more, feeling the tip of Jack’s erection slip back against the small of his back.

At that seemingly innocent question Jack blurted out a loud, long laugh then he wiped the tears from his eyes when he was finally finished.  The clone looked happy, but puzzled by the strange reaction.

“Sorry, it’s just, well, he turned up one day for work like that.  I’ve actually never said a thing to him about it,” Jack confessed.

“Do you like it?”

Rolling his eyes, the colonel shrugged.  “With a face like that beneath it, how could I not?”

The clone frowned.  “Jack threatened to push me from a high balcony if I ever changed my hair.”

The colonel caressed his hands through the long locks and sighed in agreement.  “I have to say, I was used to the shorter hair by now, but seeing you like this, like he was two years ago, well, it reminds me why I fell in love with him in the first place,” Jack said quietly and seriously, his eyes drinking in the features of the man sitting above him. 

Blinking slowly, Daniel reached down and kissed Jack again, their mouths opening to allow complete access.  The clone started making soft moaning noises as the kiss deepened and Jack felt himself straining painfully, his engorged shaft constantly brushing the much coveted cleft but unable to do anything about it.  As if sensing what he was thinking once more, Daniel lifted his butt off Jack’s stomach then he slowly lowered himself onto Jack, impaling himself on the man’s rigid erection, without a need for messy preparations before hand.   

Jack moaned loudly as Daniel sank right down to the root with his sac lying heavily on the soft tuft of hair that covered Jack’s groin.  Slowly and languidly, Daniel began to make love to the colonel, pulsing and stopping when he saw Jack reeling too close to the edge, speeding up and then slowing down to increase his partner’s pleasure.  Finally, when Jack knew he was on the edge, when the mere thought of opening his eyes and seeing the pools of blue staring down at him became over powering, the colonel opened his eyes, stared straight up and saw that Daniel looked to be doing his tearless crying again.

“Danny,” he breathed out softly, reaching up to touch his face with the palm of his hand.

Daniel sobbed silently as he watched Jack’s face during the throes of orgasm, remembering how his own Jack used to look, his face flushed, head back, mouth opened and drawing in ragged breaths.  Everything was *just* the same!

“Oh, god, Jack, I love you!”  he sobbed, dropping his chin to his chest as he sucked back his breath.  Jack half screamed, half grunted something as he shot his release deep inside his lover then the two men fell together and Daniel was happy to feel Jack’s strong arms engulf him while he pressed kisses to the top of his head, over and over. 

After Jack had caught his breath and his heart rate and settled a little, the clone looked up and smiled.

“What about you?’ Jack’s thumb trailed down the side of Daniel’s face, making the younger man shiver violently then laugh bashfully, ducking his face against the soft hairs once more. 

“I’m fine,” he said, kissing Jack’s chest and making little circles all over his skin with his finger tips.  Jack crooked his finger and lifted his face up to look at him.

“You sure?”

Daniel blinked as he nodded.  “Ah huh.”

“But surely you want…?”

Daniel laid his fingers over the colonel’s lips to silence him.  “I’m here, in your arms, getting to hear your heartbeat,” he flattened his palm against Jack’s skin, “it’s amazing.  I’ve never heard one before,” his face glowed as he spoke.  Jack swallowed when the realisation really hit him.  He had just made love to a ‘robot’.  One that looked, and felt like Daniel, but was still, in it’s essence, a robot.  His skin lifted in gooseflesh all over when Daniel kissed him again.  The scientist frowned then looked up at him.

“Are you cold, Jack?”

“Ah, yeah, a little,” he lied but did actually enjoy the feeling of Daniel wrapping his arms around him and snuggling against his back until he drifted off to sleep. 

<End of Part 9 >