Title: Large Victories
Authors: Brenda and ELG
Rating: NC-17
Summary: After Small Victories (S4), Jack and Daniel are reunited.
Category: smarm; ER, h/c; angst; J/D
Spoilers: S3 Nemesis and S4 Small Victories
Series: Slash Consequences AKA 12 Days of Bunnyfic: #09
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the authors. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the authors.

Okay, Thor has beamed us back, I've had my shower, I've eaten a hot meal, and I can't think of another thing to do as I wait for Daniel to return. While Thor sent us back here to the SGC, Daniel still has to fly back from the coastal command center, along with the other SGC personnel Hammond sent there. I haven't been able to talk to Daniel at all. Hammond put the call through to the center to let them know we were safe and to order them back, so I haven't been able to hear his voice to find out how he's doing. I can tell a lot from the sound of Danny's voice; sometimes far more than from the words he uses.

The last thing I said to him was when I ripped off the camera and looked right into it -- right at him -- and told him to blow up the sub. I knew what that decision would cost him, so at the last second I tried to take the burden off him and put it on Major Davis. I knew that wouldn't make any difference to Daniel, though. He would have found a way to blame himself simply because he couldn't find a way to save us while destroying the replicators. I close my eyes and prop my elbows on my desk, rubbing my forehead. *Oh, Danny, Danny. What's going through that head of yours right now?*

The sudden jangling of the phone by my elbow actually makes me jump. I snatch it up, hear the words I've been waiting to hear, and take off for the briefing room. They're back. Daniel's back.

The first thing I see when I step into the briefing room is Daniel. It's like radar. If he's anywhere in the vicinity, I always know where he is. The second thing I see is Major Davis hovering at his elbow like a hummingbird at a flower. *Get your nectar somewhere else, pal.* Suddenly I notice Daniel's eyes are on me and probably have been since the moment I stepped into the room. Mindful of our audience, I start to give him a bright smile but it freezes on my face when I see the anxiety and pain that almost overshadows the relief in his eyes. I'm at his side in an instant, so fast that Davis has to quickly step out of the way before I tramp on his feet. I gently squeeze his arm. "Hey, Daniel." Jesus, he's twanging like a guitar string strung too tight.

"Jack."

His voice is like a sigh of relief, and for the first time I notice how pale he is. Fraiser is standing nearby and I shoot her a sharp look. She's apparently been watching for it, because she mouths, "Just tired."

Before I have a chance to say anything else Hammond enters the room, and everyone moves to a chair. I deliberately take a seat across from Daniel so I can see him, and he shoots me a little grateful smile as he takes his own seat. Davis, I notice, drops down right beside him and immediately leans closer to murmur something to him. Daniel nods, but he never takes his eyes off me. *Give it up, Major.* I can't help grinning to myself. In the first place, Daniel wouldn't recognize a come-on if you wrote it out in hieroglyphics; and in the second... his heart is taken. It's in my care just as mine is in his. It may be impossible for anyone to understand what he sees in this old colonel with bad knees and too much grey in his hair, but one of the things I am most proud of in my life is that I make him happy. More than happy. I fill a part of him that has been empty for a long time, and Daniel... there are no words for what he means to me. He's my life.

To give him credit, Hammond doesn't drag out the de-briefing. And to give Davis credit, he handles the report from the command center. Technically that is Daniel's job, but I see immediately why Davis jumps in. I don't think Daniel could sit here and dispassionately report how he gave the order to blow up the sub Teal'c and I were on. I decide I like Major Davis, and considering the fact it could have been some NID asshole who was at that command center with Daniel, I'm damned glad it was him and that Daniel had some support there.

The de-brief is over in record time, but it's late and everyone is anxious to get some serious rest and forget we ever saw those Lego bugs from hell. The room clears in a hurry, but I hang back, waiting for Daniel. I’m not the only one hanging around. Davis is talking to Daniel in an undertone while the two get to their feet. Daniel listens, then shakes his head. I don't hear what he says, but I know Daniel well enough to know Davis has just been turned down, very politely and very kindly, I'm sure, but turned down just the same.

Davis looks disappointed, but he offers his hand and Daniel shakes it, then the major walks over to me on his way out the door. "It was an honor serving with you, Colonel," he tells me, snapping off a perfect salute.

I return it, a bit more casually, "Good work, Major."

"Thank you, sir."

That's his cue to move on, but he hesitates, and I ask, a little impatiently, "Was there something else?"

He glances over his shoulder at Daniel, who is gathering up his papers. "Well, it's just that Daniel - I mean, Doctor Jackson, is still a little shook up, sir. I think someone should --"

"I'll see to *Daniel*, Major." I don't know if it's the tone of my voice or the steely glint I know is in my eyes, but his eyes widen and, if anything, his spine stiffens even more. Message received and understood. Good. Come back for a visit anytime, Major, but don't harbor any hopes about Daniel. He's mine.

"Yes, sir. Goodbye, sir."

"Goodbye, Major," I tell him dryly as he leaves the room with all dispatch. Then I turn to Daniel. Alone. Finally. He looks up as I join him at the table where he's still shuffling papers without paying much attention to what he's doing. I wince inwardly at the shadows I still see in his eyes and think once again he looks way too pale. Reaching out, I run a hand reassuringly up and down his arm. "Hey," I say softly, "let's go home."

He nods immediately. "Yeah. Home."

I slip my arm around his shoulders and lead him out the door, keeping my arm in place as we make for the series of elevators that will take us topside. He doesn't say anything but I feel him leaning into the touch, soaking it up like a sponge soaks up water. I briefly consider dragging him off to my office and doing what we both need right then and there, but something stops me. I don't want to have to worry about interruptions or stay here any longer than we have to. I want him home where we can do whatever we want without worry of being overheard or discovered. And where we can do it all night long if that's what it takes to banish those shadows from his eyes.

***

We're barely inside the house and I just have enough time to switch on the lights when I find myself with an armful of Daniel as he crushes my lips with his. His hands are everywhere, trying to burrow under my shirt to touch bare skin, and he's rubbing desperately against me as if he's trying to climb into my skin. No problem. Come on in. I give myself to him, let him do whatever he wants, whatever he needs. What he needs right now is *me*. He's got me.

I feel his lips, his tongue, his teeth over my face and neck, his hands sliding under my shirt, across my chest and behind my back. He's frantic for the reassurance of touch. I know of a wonderful way to do that and quickly undo his fly, reaching in for his already hardened shaft. He gasps into my mouth as I wrap fingers firmly around his cock and begin pumping, setting up a demanding rhythm. He buries his face into my neck and clings to me, too far gone and far too desperate for it to last long. I'm whispering hotly into his ear as I pump his slick cock. He's close, close, close... I give one long, hard pull and he shudders against me, his teeth clamping into my shoulder as he comes. I hear the cry of my name muffled against my skin as he shudders against me, then goes limp. I tighten the arm I have around him to brace him, and gently tuck his limp cock back into his trousers. With him secure in both arms, I hold him tight and press kisses into his hair as his body vibrates with the aftershock of orgasm.  

I feel wetness on my neck and very gently put a hand under his chin and bring his face up. He tries to look away, but I hold him firmly, deliberately and slowly running my tongue over the tear tracks on his face, catching the stray drops with my tongue, until I reach his eyes. Then I tenderly kiss each one. He sniffs loudly, then rests his forehead against mine.

"Thanks," he whispers huskily. "I needed that."

"No more than me," I assure him. I run my hands up and down his back and draw in a deep breath, taking in the smell of him. "Upstairs?" I suggest.

He pulls away and gives me a long look, then brings his hand up and cups the side of my face, caressing my cheek with his thumb. "Upstairs," he agrees, still a little breathless, then slips his hand behind my head and brings me in for a long, leisurely kiss.

It doesn't take us long to get to the bedroom. My libido would love for me to just jump into bed with Daniel, tear his clothes off, and make love to him until he doesn't have enough brain cells left to think about what happened on that sub. But I learned a long time ago to trust my instincts when it came to staying alive, and I've learned to trust my instincts with Daniel. There's no question he needs a marathon session of loving tonight, but he needs more, too. I'm not so far gone I don't remember he's walking around with a just-healed appendectomy scar, either. That means no strenuous athletics, but I have enough in my repertoire to handle that.

I live for that look in his eyes, the one that lights me up inside like a Christmas tree, the one that tells me I'm his whole world. But right now there are other emotions there, too, and those are the ones I need to take care of. I didn't need to hear Major Davis' report to know Daniel was the one who gave the order to blow the sub; it was his responsibility and he wouldn't have passed that off to anyone else even though it would have killed him. So I need to drive that guilt out, make him stop dwelling on what could have been, and show him how much better it is to celebrate what *is*. We'll still reach that point where he has no brain cells left to think about it, but we'll take the long way, not the shortcut.

Standing in the middle of the bedroom, he starts to unbutton his shirt, but I catch his hand, murmuring, "Let me." He looks surprised, but nods, standing as obediently as a child as I reach out. I take my time, turning it into a form of foreplay, teasing, caressing, promising with my touch, as I slowly undress him. Touching Daniel is one of the major delights in my life. I know every inch of his body by touch and taste, and yet each time there is something new to discover. And there's a lot to be said for taking the long way...

I unbutton his shirt slowly, holding his gaze as I do so, then bend down and kiss each bit of skin I'm uncovering: middle of his chest, left nipple, right nipple. That's it, Danny, breathe in, respond, let it go, let all the tension go. I keep kissing him gently as I unbutton his belt, unzip his fly, then kneel down and unlace his boots, tugging them off and throwing them under the bed. He is not going to be leaving this house for a *long* time so he doesn't need to know where they are. He's down to t-shirt and boxers now, oh yes, and one sock, that needs to go. I hold his gaze as I toss his last sock onto the floor, give him a little smile and say in my best annoying-elder-brother voice - the one that makes him *really* mad - "Can I see your scar?"

And there it is. That's what I've been waiting for. A smile, at last. I thought this boy was never going to smile again. He gives me a sideways look, doing *his* best imitation of a small boy with a pet beetle in his hand he doesn't want anyone else to see. "No."

"Too late." I stand up and gently pull up his t-shirt so I can see this scar for myself. I grimace. "Youch!"

"It doesn't hurt."

He says that way too fast and I can't help a grin breaking out. Daniel wants his Colonel rations, that's obvious, and he really doesn't want me going all noble on him now. "Well that's your nude modeling career ruined." I sink down to look at it better, carefully not touching it, holding his t-shirt up so I can put my face very close to it. I can smell the warmth from his skin, the musky odor from his groin from his last climax. I kiss his navel gently, then look up at him. He's got that look on his face I know only too well, I have seen that look way too often, the bad might-have-been expression where he goes over and over something terrible that almost happened, making sure it's all his fault. "I never thanked you," I say it gently.

He blinks and I know what he's seeing. Me on that sub, the bugs coming closer, him giving the order that will kill me. "For what?"

"For being brave enough to save me from a horrible death. I owe you one, Daniel. Actually - " I get to my feet and kiss him on the forehead. "I owe you about a million." I jerk my head at the bed. "Want to collect?"

The ghost of a smile from my poor Dannyboy. "Okay."

I make 'up' motions with my fingers. "Come on, remember the no-clothes-in-the-bedroom rule."

He put his hands up like I'm threatening to shoot him. "You're still wearing clothes."

I ease his t-shirt off over his head. "Oh, didn't I make that clear? That rule only applies to you. I'm thinking of making it a no-clothes-on-Daniel-Jackson-anywhere-in-the-house rule but I can see that might be a problem when you were eating soup." You have to get close to a guy to pull his t-shirt off so as I pull the black cloth over his head I'm in just the right position to kiss that mouth as soon as it reappears. My lips take him by surprise but going by the way he responds, it's clearly a nice surprise. He sighs into my mouth in that 'I'm yours' way which always makes my aching old knees turn to water. I pull the t-shirt off higher, revealing those beautiful blue eyes which are gazing straight at me full of love and relief and a little bit of fear because he almost lost me. I lean across and kiss each eyelid in turn. "I'm okay, Daniel. Every part in perfect working order. Gonna prove it to you, I swear."

"Promises, promises," he murmurs.

Normally after a crack like that I'd flip him straight onto the bed on his back then jump on top of him but mindful of that big healing hole inside him where his appendix used to be, not to mention that big healing hole inside him where the newest bad memories live, I put my hand on his shoulder and began to walk him backwards towards the bed. When he feels the end of the bed against the back of his knees, he sits down automatically, then wriggles up the bed, also automatically, giving me room to work. Anyone watching would think we'd done this a few times before. Anyone watching would be right. Incidentally, they'd also be dead. There are some things I *really* don't feel the urge to share with the rest of the world and a naked Daniel is definitely one of them.

Which reminds me…As I gently tug his boxers from his hips, I say, "Davis was coming onto you."

He purses up his mouth in his best stubborn archaeologist expression. "Major Davis was very supportive. I was glad he was there." There's a silent 'so there' in that sentence I have a sneaking feeling I deserve.

"Hhmm." I'm not sure how to play this. I'm on safe ground with the Danny-comfort thing, not to mention the totally-blowing-Danny's-mind-with-red-hot-tender-lovin' thing. The talking-about-stuff thing is a little beyond me at times though.

"You were going to go *fishing*."

Oh right, yes. Was rather hoping I'd got away with that one but elephants have nothing on Daniel when it comes to remembering. "Come on, Daniel, everyone in the SGC would have known you and I were doin' it if I'd stayed by your bed for a week feeding you grapes when I had leave coming up. I'd been talking about that fishing trip for months. It would have looked really suspicious."

He gives me a very straight look and kicks his boxers off onto the floor. "You used to sit by my bedside when I was hurt before we started…" he jerks his head, "…you know."

I love it when Daniel calls 'it' 'you know'. It's so sweet it always makes me want to kiss him. I decide now is not a good time to resist that impulse and kiss the end of his cute little nose.

"Well we weren't doin' it then so I wasn't worried what people might think."

"You asked Sam to go fishing with you."

Oh boy. Who the hell told him that? Carter is going to be *so* dead if it was her. I give him my best pleading look. "You know I hate going on vacation by myself."

"You got your hair cut and you didn't ask *me*. I liked it how it was."

I reach up to my hair and then try and get a look in a mirror. "You don't like it like this?"

"That's not the point."

I love Daniel when he's all cute and sulky and unreasonable. There was a time when I used to get mad at him when he was like this. That was in the days before we had make-up sex, of course. Now, I *love* it when he gets like this. Actually, that's a point, I should remember to make him angry with me much more often…

"You didn’t say *anything* to me after you got back. I was stuck here for nine days not knowing what had happened to you. I didn't know if you were alive or dead, I - "

Time for emergency measures. I kneel over him and kiss him, thoroughly, deeply, tenderly, passionately, wrap my tongue around his and suck all the breath out of his body. When I let him grab some oxygen he's gasping and cross-eyed. Just the way I like to see him. I nuzzle his nose with mine. "Daniel, I have to play it cool when everyone is watching, you know that."

"Jack," he sighs at me in his best long-suffering fashion, "everyone knows."

I frown. "No they don't."

"Yes, they do."

"Who knows?"

"Everyone."

"How?"

Daniel gives me a little smile I'd like to bottle and take out and look at in quiet moments, it's just so damned perfect. "You - um - kind of make it obvious."

"When?" I don't. I'm the soul of discretion. I know I am.

"Well, there was that time Connor asked if he could borrow me for a mission SG-5 were going on and you told him - "

"Yeah, okay." Connor's a good-looking guy and I remember Daniel telling me he could listen to him all talk all day because he has such a great voice. Obviously, Daniel wasn't going on any trips with SG-5. "That was one time."

"And Ashcroft from SG-6 asked if he could - "

Ashcroft has a reputation for always getting what he wants and he's ten years younger than I am and looks like the goddamned Malborough Man. "You'd just come back from a mission, you needed your rest."

"What about when SG-9 asked if they could - "

"Okay! Okay!" Daniel has *way* too good a memory at times.

He looks up at me, moistening his lips in a way that makes my groin start to get very impatient. He sighs. "Why do you think Sam was acting all…girly in front of General Hammond. She was trying to cover up for me looking at you like you were the last oasis in the desert. Neither of us have been very good at hiding how we feel."

I'm thinking of Daniel sitting in the briefing room going out his mind with anxiety and Davis being there to comfort and nurture and console him. I'm torn between being glad someone was there to help him through it and wanting to kick Davis hard. I remind myself Daniel turned Davis down then and decide I definitely like the guy and am glad he was there.

"Well, we'll try to be more discreet from now on." I kiss him again, tender and slow, just brushing my lips against his. "Okay? Both of us. I won't tell good-looking airmen to fuck off and die when they ask to borrow you and you won't get upset when bad things happen to me."

"Well I always did get upset when bad things happened to you," he reminds me conversationally. "I'm a civilian, remember? No one expects me to do the stiff upper lip thing. I could cry on General Hammond's shoulder because you were missing if I wanted to and he'd only hand me a Kleenex and say 'there, there'."

Great, so I have to be discreet and he doesn't. Sometimes this 'don't ask, don't tell' thing really sucks. My turn to sulk I think. I'm just working up to it when I happen to look down and see the look in his eyes, all that love for me, all that sorrow because he nearly lost me, all that anguish because he almost had to kill me today. Just for a second he lets me see what those nine days cost him and I nearly die all over again, it hurts so damned much.

"Oh, Danny…" I scoop him up into my arms and kiss the side of his face, my hand behind his head, feeling his hair so soft against my fingers, pulling him in against me so he can feel my body heat, feel my arms around him, know I'm here, I'm alive, I'm okay and I love him so damned much nothing is ever going to separate us again. I whisper it fiercely into his ear: "I love you, Daniel Jackson. And I'm not going to die. Okay? I'm *not* going to die because I have too damned much to live for. Have you got that straight?"

I taste salt, a tear trickling down his cheek which I lick off gently, he murmurs a little shakily, "Gotcha."

I lower him onto the bed and it's the first time I've seen him laid out naked on my bed since his appendix ruptured. All the stuff he's been through and there's this jagged scar marring the silky smoothness of his skin that's going to be there forever, and irony of ironies, Janet Fraiser did it to him. Admittedly she was saving his life, but all the same I still think she was a little free with the damned scalpel. This is *my* archaeologist she was cutting up.

Daniel looks down at it and grimaces. "It's ugly, I know. Janet says it will fade a little but…"

"It's part of you," I tell him. "That makes it beautiful to me."

He looks unconvinced. "You've been asking Sam about those chat-up lines again, haven’t you? Trust me, Jack, they don't work."

"Does this work?" I bend my head and kiss the area next to his scar. The way he flinches in anticipation tells me there's still some soreness and bruising there. I breathe on the skin to warm it and he breathes in, not in pain, in surprised pleasure. Then I touch the tip of my tongue very gently to the base of his scar. He breathes in sharply again but I can tell I haven't hurt him, just taken him by surprise. The scar feels shiny, totally smooth, none of those almost invisible little fair hairs I can usually feel on Daniel's skin, but there are the tiny ridges where the stitches were at each side of it and I let the end of my tongue bump over them slowly. This is part of Daniel now and as it's part of Daniel it's sexy and beautiful and I love it, something I'm determined to make him realize. I run my tongue all the way up his scar and he gasps, giving little spasms as I continue to lick that so-vulnerable flesh. Something brushes against my ear and I squint a sideways look at it then smile. Daniel is clearly feeling better already…

I raise my head, reluctantly leaving that patch of skin, and straighten, looking down at the beautiful naked body laid out in front of me like a banquet. And here I am still clothed. What's wrong with this picture? Still, could have a little fun with this. Giving him my best smoldering look, I grasp the bottom of my t-shirt and begin to slowly raise it upwards . From the look on his face and the way he's licking his lips, he likes what he sees. Slowly, deliberately, I draw the shirt over my head, then casually toss it onto the floor. His hands immediately go for my belt, but I bat them away gently. "Ah ah," I tell him.

"I let you," he pouts.

He sounds like a 10-year-old deprived of his favorite treat. Chuckling dirtily, I lean over, holding his hands to the bed on either side of his head as I nuzzle his lips. "All things come to those who wait, Dannyboy."

But if I was expecting a teasing contest, I find out I completely misread the situation. I feel his body tense under me and he actually snaps his head to the side, away from my nuzzling lips. "Damn it, Jack, I've had enough waiting over the last nine days to last me a lifetime!"

His voice cracks on the last word and I freeze, staring down at him. He's got his head turned to the side, face pressed into the pillow, eyes squeezed shut, and I can just see the first hint of moisture gather at the corner of his eye. At that point if I could have given myself a good hard kick, I would have done just that. Daniel's been through plenty of truly bad stuff in his life, but for the last few years I have always been there for him to turn to. This time - both times - he was completely alone and thought he had lost me, not once, but twice.

With a soft curse, I sit up and fumble with my fly, my hands clumsy as I try to strip my trousers off as fast as possible. It's only when they're tangled down around my ankles that I realize I still have my boots on.  As my cursing becomes louder and more inventive, I hear a muffled noise behind me and quickly look over my shoulder. Daniel's trying to smother his giggles in the pillow but not succeeding very well. I feel my body go limp with relief at the beautiful sound of that laughter. Thank God. "Something funny?" I growl, attacking my boot laces with steadier hands.

It takes him a few moments to get his amusement under control and when he finally looks at me his eyelashes are spiked with dampness, but at least there's laughter in his eyes. "It helps if you take your boots off first," he manages, gurgling a little.

"Really? I'll remember that next time." I make a show of dropping the boots to the floor and stripping off my trousers and boxers. The instant the boxers are gone I'm straddling him again, my weight on my elbows as I loom over him, my lips barely an inch from his as I ask silkily, "You feel like laughing at your poor old colonel *now*, Dannyboy?"

Reaching up, he runs his fingers through my hair, his eyes softening as he reaquaints himself with the feel. "I don't know what's wrong with me," he says ruefully. "Part of me wants to bawl like a baby and another part of me wants to laugh until I'm sick."

"There's nothing wrong with you," I assure him, kissing the tip of his nose. "It's reaction, Daniel. That's all." His emotions are all over the place right now, and no wonder. Christ, if that had been him out there -- I stop that train of thought before it can leave the station. If I had been the one stuck back at base while he was lost for nine days, never mind thinking I was giving the order that was going to get him killed, I'd have been a gibbering wreck. Hell, *I'd* have been crying on Hammond's shoulder. I look down into that still-too-pale face and see the remnants of all that strain, all that fear and all that guilt, and decide it's brain cell melting time.

I dip my head and take his mouth, delving my tongue deep inside for a little exploration and then suck his tongue into my mouth. He's making those delicious little moans that can make me hard as a rock at the speed of light, and he's wriggling suggestively under me. I finally break the kiss, leaving us both gasping for breath, and move to his eyes, those eyes that tell me everything Danny's thinking. And right now they're saying... I catch my breath and swallow hard. *You're a lucky old bastard, O'Neill. All that love, and it's all for you.* A gentle, lingering kiss for each of those eyes, then a trail of butterfly-light kisses down his face to his neck. Oh, I spend a lot of time here, and he obligingly throws his head back, giving me better access to that long, lovely throat. Collarbone. Shoulder. Chest. Ah, nipples. A lick or two, a hot breath, worry them a bit with my teeth. Those little moans have turned to whimpers now and his cock is poking me insistently in an attempt to gain my attention. With a grin I move to his stomach, licking my way over to his right side and that fresh, slick scar. Again I run my tongue gently along its length, acquainting myself with the feel, the taste. It's now a part of the taste and texture of Daniel.

As long as we're in the area, I continue on down, my hair brushing against his straining cock as I seek out the sensitive skin on the inside of his thigh. I'm careful to place restraining hands on his hips as I begin nuzzling him there, though, as this usually brings him right off the bed. It would have this time, too, if I hadn't had a good grip on him. I spend some time there, enjoying the sound of those inarticulate words tumbling from my brilliant linguist's mouth.

Suddenly his hands find my head and I feel fingers tighten almost painfully as they find purchase in my short hair. "Jack!"

When I look up and see the raw need on his face I know I've brought him far enough now. I know what he wants.

But as I make to close my mouth over the rosy head of his cock, his fingers tighten again. I look up in surprise. He's desperate for release but there's something else there, something else he needs. He moistens his lips, "Jack, I need…I need to know you're really okay…"

I wince. I know what he's asking for here. I look at that scar again and grimace. "Danny, I really don't think so."

"Please, Jack. *Please*."

Oh I can so relate to where Daniel is coming from here. I have woken up from nightmares where I thought he was dead and the only thing that will make me feel better is making love to him until I know he really is alive. Nothing wipes out the memory of a Daniel lying there bleeding to death on a ship that's about to blow up like a Daniel arching his back and gasping your name as you bury yourself to the root inside him. Those are the occasions when only my cock inside Daniel can make me feel better, when every other kind of love-making just seems too damned arm's-length. So, I can definitely relate. But there are some things I can't do to Daniel. I thought asking him to kill me was one of them, but I was wrong. Letting him watch me die was another and I damned near let him do that today as well. I was just reaching for the off-switch on that camera when the Asgard sucked me up to safety in their light vacuum doohickey. Causing Daniel avoidable physical pain is something else I would have said I couldn't do to him. But I've just realized I was wrong about that too because there isn't any other way…

I grit my teeth then reach across and jab my fingers into the place where his appendix used to be.

"Jee-sus!" He practically leaps a foot into the air but I make sure I'm there to wrap my arms around him as he crash lands on the mattress.

I press kisses into his hair. "Sorry, Daniel. Sorry. But I figured we could argue for ten minutes or I could just show you why I was going to have to say 'no'."

He's got his right hand clasped across his scar and he's giving me a look of astonished reproach. Like he can't *believe* I just did that to him. "You son-of-a-bitch, Jack," he says plaintively. "That *hurt*."

"My point exactly." I kiss him gently on the mouth. "Hurting you really isn't my idea of a good time. Now how long did Fraiser say until you were okay?"

Daniel gives me another reproachful look from under his eyelashes. "She said she wanted me to take it easy for…" He frowns. "Actually, I'm not sure. That was when the alarm sounded and I thought it might be you coming back so I…" he waves a hand expressively, "ran."

"You ran out on Doc Fraiser when she hadn't finished examining you?"

"She'd sort of finished."

"Okay. Let's assume she was going to say a month…"

"A week," he says quickly. "I remember now, it was a week."

"And then you were allowed to have swinging-from-the-chandelier sex, were you?"

He moistens his lips. "Well she didn't exactly specify but she did say I only had to take it easy for another week."

"Time to start taking it easy." And not to start taking it like a man, Dr Jackson. Not yet.

Another reproachful look. "I still don't see why we can't have sex. In case it's been so long you've forgotten the procedure, Slot B *isn't* where my appendix was."

Well so much for show don't tell. Daniel is one stubborn little SOB when he wants to be. I sigh and kiss him again, apology and promise combined as I slip my tongue into his mouth and do a little excavating, and bless him, Daniel responds at once, his arms going around my neck, that soft sigh of contentment and relief as our tongues intertwine. *Let it go, Danny, I know you went through hell but I'm back now and everything is going to be okay.* I slowly ease out so we can grab some oxygen and brush my lips across his, then I meet his gaze. "Could I interest you in a blow-job at all?"

"Well if that's all that's going I suppose so…" He mutters it resentfully, giving me his best sulky-pouty face, the one that makes me want to bite his bottom lip. I remind myself that repression is bad for the soul and bite his bottom lip, very gently, nibbling it all the way along. Then I kiss him again. And again. When I've done with him he's got that dazed look on his face and is pretty near breathless. He lies down on his back and throws out his arms. Then he sighs in mock-resignation, like I'm a pirate chief and he's a really unlucky stowaway. "Take me, I'm yours."

I plant an apologetic kiss on his scar, kissing back down the length of it until I reach the soft light brown fuzz of his loins. There are some golden hairs nestling there, a reminder my Dannyboy is a blond if he lets his hair grow and the sun gets into it. But I have to say I prefer him as a brunet. It’s bad enough I'm dating someone ten years younger than I am, would be *too* stereotypical if it was a blond as well. And besides, I heard SG-3 make a couple of jokes about the dumb blond on O'Neill's team way back when and I *don't* think they were talking about Carter. I nuzzle the inside of his thighs and he gives a little sigh and relaxes. Getting jabbed in the side made his erection wilt a little but it's firming up nicely again now and when I blow gently on that rosy head it perks up considerably. I lick it gently and he sighs again, those enticing little tremors beginning to run through his body. Then I take it into my mouth and suck, not too hard, not too soft, just the right amount of suction to make him gasp a little, arch his back and then groan with contentment as I take him in deeper.

I only have to rest my left hand lightly on his hip, his body has been trained into immobility by the pain he's been in for the past ten days; he's so used to automatically favoring his aching abdomen he's keeping himself still without me needing to hold him down. I'm torn between guilt I wasn't here to take care of him and relief I didn't have to spend the last ten days going out of my skull with boredom while he lay around in the infirmary looking tragic and saying 'Ow!' Not that I don't love him, I love him more than life itself, but spending time in the infirmary *sucks*.

"Oh boy…" he puts a hand up to his face, sweat starting to break out on his beautiful smooth skin as I take him in deeper, suck a little harder. I've found the rhythm that really blows his mind now, slow and deep, my fingers teasing his balls lightly as I work my throat around that straining head.

"Oh God, Jack…Oh God…" See, when is this boy going to realize that I'm *always* right? I'm getting harder and harder just watching him; he looks so damned beautiful with his eyes squeezed shut and that rapt look on his face.

His hips jerk up higher as he bangs the back of his head on the mattress. "Oh God, yes, Jack! Yes!

That's my boy. *Not thinking about metal bugs now, are you, Daniel?* I don't think Major Davis is getting a lot of brain space either. I take him in faster and deeper, my fingers sliding underneath him to toy with his opening. He's jerking hard under my left hand, trying to lunge up, time to finish him off quickly before he strains something. I take him all the way in, slipping my finger up inside him, at the same time sucking so hard he yells my name and his body jolts violently; hot fluid hitting the back of my throat.

"Oh God…Oh God…Oh God…" He's panting it breathlessly as he slowly comes back down to earth, chest heaving and sweat pouring from him. He really needed that. I needed it pretty badly as well. Nothing like having the taste of Daniel Jackson on your tongue to know you really are alive and so is he.

I swallow him down then kiss that softening cock fondly, licking it clean. I keep my finger inside him, just stroking him gently, my thumb running across his hip at the same time as I make soothing noises. "Easy, Danny, easy."

He sighs regretfully when I slide my finger out of him and I just know he is not going to let me wait a week before we do 'it'. Having a naked archaeologist throwing himself at me for the next seven days is going to be hell, but I'm a trained soldier, I guess I can survive it. I scramble up the bed to kiss him again, his mouth opening at once so I can slip my tongue inside and let him taste himself. I stroke his hair back from his face as we grab some oxygen. "Feeling better?" I ask him tenderly.

I'm rewarded with a long, deep sigh and a pair of eyes showing the first hint of peace in their blue depths. His body is limp in my arms, and I revel in the fact that I gave him that peace, that contentment. I continue to caress him as his breathing slows to normal, enjoying the feel of his damp, silky skin under my hands. His fingers go to my hair again and I feel them sliding through the short strands as he studies me with an absorption he usually reserves for precious artifacts. I wonder if I'm going to hear about the hair cut again, but instead I get a soft, heartfelt, "I love you." I quickly bury my face in his neck and spend some time tasting his damp skin. He sure knows how to reduce his old colonel to a quivering mass of jelly with one look and three little words.

"Not as much as I love you."

I feel his chest rumble with laughter. "We'll see." Tugging my hair gently, he waits until I raise my head, then gives me a look full of intent. "Your turn."

As always, even the thought of that wonderfully talented mouth engulfing me is almost enough to set me off like a firecracker, but I won't let myself forget the new scar he's sporting. "Daniel, I don't think --"

My words are smothered by a hard kiss. "Shut up, Jack."

Shut up, Jack?

With a heave, he's on top of me and I'm trapped underneath. I catch the momentary wince on his face, but when I open my mouth to say something along the lines of 'I told you so', I promptly get a mouthful of tongue. Well. I guess he told *me*. It's pretty obvious I have no say in this, so I decide to go with the flow and when he finally releases my mouth, I lay back with a credible imitation of his earlier sigh. "Take me, I'm yours."

As I watch, the laughter in his eyes slowly gives way to something deeper. "Yes, you are," he says huskily. "And don't you forget it."

"Not likely to," I assure him and am rewarded with another deep, hard kiss. Oh yeah. It's been a long time. First the appendectomy, then nine days off-world, then the submarine. Too long. Way, way too long. No surprise I'm already hard and straining for his touch. I know he's heading there, but he's decided to take his own sweet time. And sweet it is...

My body can't keep up with the sensations; his hands and lips seem to be everywhere at once. Teeth, tongue, lips, hands; lick, pinch, nip, stroke. Jesus! He hasn't lost his touch. He's got me writhing and moaning and half out of my mind as he charts a course to my cock, which feels like it's about ready to explode. "Oh, God, oh, God. Danny...yes, yes...Oh, God!" A hot, wet vacuum engulfs my cock and I come off the bed so fast at first I'm afraid I must have choked him. But he was prepared for that, and strong hands hold my hips down as he alternately sucks, licks and teases, bringing me to the edge of destruction time and time again, then backing off. A pathetic whimper fills my ears and I throw my head back hard into the pillow. "Oh, God! Danny...*please*!"

I should have tried that before. Without further ado, he takes me into his mouth and swallows me whole. I come so fast and so hard it feels like I've turned inside out. When I finally open my eyes with the aftershock of orgasm still rippling gently through me, I feel tender kisses being pressed against my neck and a warm, heavy weight half burying me. Gathering a handful of short hair, I give a gentle tug until he raises his head and I can see his face. There it is. There's that look I've been hoping for. Peace, contentment, happiness. It's all wrapped up here in my arms. "C'mere," I whisper, and he comes, taking my mouth in a long, leisurely kiss.

When we finally part, he drops his head onto my chest with a deep sigh. Smiling, I once again take up one of my favorite pastimes of Touching Daniel as he takes up one of his and begins toying with the hair on my chest. I press a kiss onto the top of his head and ask, "You okay?"

He opens his mouth, then hesitates a moment and admits, "A little sore."

"Mmm hmm." There's a surprise.

He yawns widely, his hot gust of breath teasing my left nipple and causing goose bumps to spring up around it. "Worth it though," he murmurs. He slips a leg between mine and wraps an arm around my chest, trying to bring us closer. "Can sleep now. Know you're safe." His voice is slurred, and I feel his breath slowing as he slips easily into sleep. I doubt anyone had been able to make him rest and sleep properly during those nine days I was missing.

"Me, too," I say quietly, continuing to gently caress him, careful not to disturb him. Between not knowing how he was doing after the operation and realizing he'd be worried out of his mind because we were missing, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep either during my time off-world.

I don't know how long we lay there like that because I follow him quickly into sleep, but all at once I'm jerked awake as Daniel suddenly stiffens in my arms, his head snapping up off my chest as he calls my name in a desperate, broken voice. I immediately pull him back down to my chest, hugging him close, whispering to him over and over, trying to get through to him as he continues to struggle and call my name, his voice getting more and more frantic. His body is slick with sweat, which gives me an idea how long this dream has been going on, but I can't seem to wake him. In desperation I finally clamp a hand behind his head to still him and fit my mouth over his, first taking his fear into me, and then soothing him as I give reassurance and comfort back. I know the exact moment he wakes up fully because he starts kissing me with an intensity that literally takes my breath away. When he finally releases me, I keep my hand cupping the back of his head, holding him still so I can once again kiss away the salty evidence of his nightmare. "You back with me?" I murmur, nuzzling the side of his mouth.

He takes a deep, shaky breath. "Bad dream. Bad, *bad* dream."

"But you're okay now." It's half question, half reassurance, and he nods.

"I guess it just hasn't sunk in yet." Whether he realizes he's doing it or not, he's touching my face with light fingers, tracing my features, seeking solace in my solid reality.

I shift carefully so he's stretched out on top of me and slide my hands down his back to cup his ass. I've been on that side of the nightmare more times than I care to count, and in my experience I've found there only one sure cure of blowing the remnants of those dreams right out of the water. I give a grimace as I realize maybe that's a bad analogy right now, but the cure remains solid. I give his butt cheeks a suggestive squeeze. "You want to... you know?"

He looks at me blankly for a moment, then drops his head onto my chest with a muffled chuckle.

"What?" I demand. "What's so funny?"

When he looks up, there's open affection on his face. "Jack, as much as I'd like to 'you know', right now I'm so tired I probably couldn't keep my eyes open while I did it." Then uncertainty floods his face and he continues quickly, "But if you want to --"

"No, no, I'm fine," I assure him hurriedly. I 'm probably not far behind him in the exhaustion department, and while I'm reasonably certain I can get it up, I'm afraid my performance wouldn't be anything to write home about. I'm still jangling from that blow job he gave me earlier. I reach up and brush the hair off his damp forehead. "Just want to make sure you're okay."

He looks so relieved I have to bite back a smile. "I'm okay. Just had too many nights when I woke up alone."

The shadows are back in his eyes, and I begin running my hands up and down his back in a slow, steady motion. "You're not going to wake up alone tonight," I tell him quietly.

He manages a small smile at that. "I know."

I give it a few minutes, feeling his tense body begin to relax, then ask gently, "You want to try that sleep thing again?"

His eyelids are drooping already and he grins ruefully. "Don't think I have much choice."

Rolling us both over to our sides -- careful to roll Daniel onto his left -- we automatically arrange ourselves in the way we had quickly discovered our bodies seemed to naturally fit together. As Daniel settles his head under my chin, I continue my slow, steady caresses to ease his passage into sleep. "I'll be here when you wake up," I whisper.

His arm tightens around my back. "I know," he mumbles sleepily, "but I think I'll hold on, just in case..."

Even half asleep the boy's a genius. I tighten my own arms, reassured beyond measure by the solid warm form there, and settle down to sleep. Neither one of us is going to wake up alone.

The End