Title: Aversion Therapy [aka Snowbunnies]
Date: 1999
Author: Circe
Author Page: Circe
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Category: Slash, first-time, small amount of H/C and angst but mostly soppy stuff and snuggling.
Spoilers: S3 spoilers (set after Past & Present)
Warnings: Sex and bad language, but no drugs or rock'n'roll.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions and a lot of other people who I wouldn't personally leave in charge of a gerbil, never mind Daniel Jackson. 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 author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.
Summary: When Jack and Daniel they are stranded in a snowbound cabin, Jack's accidentally betrays his true feelings for his teammate. Is this the end of their friendship or the beginning of something more? (Well, it's a slash story, so what do you think…?)
[An earlier version of this story was printed in the slash zine Event Horizon which is available from Doghouse Press]

The door of the log cabin opened with a crash to reveal the white maelstrom outside and a man muffled with snow carrying another in his arms.

Jack was propelled across the threshold of the log cabin by the wind, the force of a gust driving him ten steps into the room with its impetus, bearing him and his burden along on a wave of bride-white flakes. He tottered over to the bed and laid the unconscious Daniel down upon it with a grunt of relief, his knees yelling indignant protests as he straightened back up.

The swirl of snow and cutting wind the outside world was throwing at him clawed at his lungs, and he gasped as he stumbled back over to the door. He had to put his shoulder against it to force the door closed against the fury of the blizzard. As he jammed it back into its frame he turned the key and shot the bolts, locking them inside the chill dark of the cabin and the snow whirlpool outside. A scattering of flakes lay on the floor, resolutely refusing to melt and his breath was a visible white vapor. His first thought was that it was too cold in here for a man with concussion. He could hear the snow banking again, a drift throwing itself against the door like a hungry polar bear. If the blizzard continued like this the snow would be so damned high he'd have to lever off the roof to get them out of there. But first things first. He had to get Daniel warm, had to get a fire going and keep it going somehow.

Crossing back over to the bed, he pulled off his gloves and stroked Daniel's snow-sprinkled hair back from his face, the better to examine that cut on his forehead. It wasn't as deep as he'd feared but it had been enough to knock his friend unconscious and leave a jagged gash, the pale skin already bruising around the edges of the wound. Snow had caked on Daniel's long eyelashes and Jack automatically brushed his thumb across his eyelids to smooth away the chill moisture.

The mattress on which Daniel was lying was old but had been wrapped in polythene and provided a reasonable barrier between Daniel's bruised body and the creaking springs. It was a rather magnificent old bed in its way, an iron bedstead that must have been hell to get up the mountain path but which seemed completely in keeping with the frontier feel of the cabin. Jack put the back of his hand to Daniel's cheek; the chill of his skin reminded him that making a fire was the first priority and tending to his injured teammate something he had to do second. It was difficult to concentrate on anything else when he knew Daniel was soaked to the skin and in need of first aid.

Jack turned around and surveyed their sanctuary. The cabin seemed to have been well built but certainly not recently. It appeared to be one long room, currently a long dark cold room, but when he switched on his flashlight he saw not only a hearth with a bearskin rug in front of it, but also a pot-bellied stove backed defensively into the far corner, and more importantly, a stack of firewood ready chopped. Further exploration produced a deep sink, and a few doors which when opened revealed a tiny bathroom, a pump handle, and a number of odd little cupboards in which the cabin's owner had put any number of useful things.

By dint of some hard work Jack soon got the cabin comfortable. After lighting the stove, he discovered the pump was not only not frozen but obviously tapped into some subterranean mountain stream, because even at the first crank of the handle the water came up nerve-numbingly cold, but also fresh and untainted. He found a saucepan in which to put the water onto heat then lit two hurricane lanterns, by which time the cabin was starting to look and feel a lot more inviting. A quick search through the cupboards produced paydirt: linen and blankets, carefully wrapped in polythene as well as two quilts, much mended but very clean, and several towels. He hung them all in front of the fire to air and dry. There was also a first aid kit. Grabbing the latter item gratefully, Jack picked up one of the lanterns and crossed back over to the bed.

He started with Daniel's boots, unlacing and removing them. Then stripped off socks that were sodden from when he and Daniel had struggled back up to the road through those deep drifts. Daniel had been hanging onto him, Jack's arm wrapped around the younger man's waist as he hauled him up towards the road; Daniel getting paler and sicker with every pace but still determinedly struggling on. He'd known Daniel shouldn't be walking with that head injury but freezing to death in the snow hadn't been much of an option either.

Fetching one of the towels Jack rubbed Daniel's feet briskly, trying to keep the circulation going and not stopping until they were pink and warm to the touch. It was more difficult to get him out of his jacket; the snow had seeped into it making the material heavy and unmanageable and Jack's own fingers were still cold, but at last he managed to ease Daniel out of it. The two pullovers followed, then the t-shirt. All were soaked through and Daniel's torso was red from the cold. The pants were easier; being a pair Jack had lent him they were a little too large, so even sopping wet they weren't difficult to remove. The boxers were easiest of all.

Fetching the largest towel, Jack began to rub Daniel's body in brisk circling motions, trying to keep the circulation going but not wanting to do any more damage to that battered rib cage. It was odd to feel the rough toweling sliding over that smooth skin – the broad shoulders, well-muscled upper arms, the surprisingly wide although hairless chest, and the long legs. He even gave Daniel's groin a tentative rub with the towel, firmly treading down a whole load of unworthy thoughts as he did so about how he could justify taking that limp cock in his hands to warm it and there be nothing sexual about such an action. Of course there wouldn't. He just hoped Daniel wouldn't get frostbite anywhere vital just because of Jack's reluctance to handle his teammate's equipment. Only when Daniel was dry did he examine his ribs. He probed carefully but felt nothing move under his fingers so there didn't seem to be a break, just a lot of bruises. Daniel was going to be stiff and would probably have a hell of a headache when he woke up, but apart from that he should be okay.

Jack felt the relief wash over him. If one of Daniel's ribs had been broken and had punctured his lung...It hadn't happened, no point in thinking about what the hell would he have done with a gravely wounded man in the middle of a blizzard in the middle of nowhere. He'd been lucky - they'd both been lucky and Daniel was only a little battered rather than seriously damaged. Well Daniel had been a little battered more than once before and he'd got over it so he'd probably be fine this time.

It made him feel a little strange - no, make that very strange - seeing Daniel like this – injured, unconscious, naked, beautiful. Shit! Where had that come from? In the box you keep shoving it, O'Neill, every time it pops up.

He told his inner voice to fuck off and leave him alone as he continued to towel Daniel's cold limbs dry. As he reached for the last towel he was pleased to find this one felt not just aired but warm and he used it to dry Daniel's face, carefully pressing the rough cloth against his bruised forehead with great care. He slipped his left hand under the back of Daniel's neck and raising his head so that he could squeeze the excess water from his short and now snowmelt-darkened hair. He quickly realized it would be easier to sit sideways on the bed next to his patient, propping Daniel up against his chest so he could dry the back of his head. Daniel's body resting against his chest felt natural, right. He thought of all the times he'd been aware of that bony hip close to his, that body heat a breath away from his own. He didn't even think about it some days, just knew Daniel was next to him, where Daniel should be. Where Daniel was meant to be. He always felt incomplete now when Daniel was anywhere else. He wondered if Daniel felt the same way.

With his short hair spiking onto his forehead and damp, dark eyelashes long as any child's, Daniel looked defenseless without his glasses on – and so damned trusting. Which was absurd, because Daniel had no choice but to loll there, limp and apparently acquiescent, while Jack dried him. Just for a second Jack thought about planting a kiss behind his ear, nuzzling in so he could savor the scent of him...

He recoiled from his own yearnings in disgust. Daniel was concussed and unconscious, for crying out loud! What the hell was he thinking of? Not to mention the fact the guy had only lost his wife a few months before, so even if Daniel hadn't been concussed and unconscious putting the moves on him wouldn't exactly be ethical. And anyway, they knew each other too well. You couldn't suddenly start flirting with a guy who could practically read your mind.

Life without Daniel was unthinkable. No way was he doing anything to jeopardize the most important relationship he had ever had or probably would ever have.

And he was Daniel's commanding officer. And his best friend. And Daniel trusted him. Given how insecure Daniel was about his own worth how much damage would the knowledge Jack wanted to fuck him do?

Except, damnit, he didn't want to 'fuck' him. He might want to make love to him. But he definitely didn't want to just fuck him.

Jack groaned. Except what difference did terminology make? It would destroy Daniel if he found out and Jack knew it. Daniel would think he'd never really cared about him or had any respect for him or belief in him; that all Jack had ever cared about was getting into his...

Which was why he hadn't said anything, Jack reminded himself quickly.

Oh, that was why he hadn’t said anything was it? He'd just been thinking of Daniel's well being? But a minute ago he'd kept silent because of Jack being his Commanding Officer and Daniel having just lost his wife...

Why didn't that voice in his head just fuck off and die?

So, it was nothing to do with him being a coward, then? That wasn't the reason why he hadn't told Daniel he loved him?

Daniel knew he 'loved' him. He might not know in exactly what way Jack loved him, but he did know he was loved and that was all that mattered. He was Jack's best friend and Jack would never intentionally hurt him or make him miserable. Quite apart from the fact Daniel might question his motive for valuing his friendship as much as he did, it would make Daniel unhappy to make him unhappy. The last thing Jack wanted was for Daniel to be beating himself up because Jack couldn't have him, when he was already beating himself up about so many other things. This was his problem and that was the way it was going to stay. He was not going to make it Daniel's.

Having, he hoped, silenced that annoying voice in his head, Jack wiped off the plastic-covered mattress and then lowered Daniel carefully back down onto it. The eiderdowns should be warmed up by now. Hanging the damp towels and Daniel's clothes in front of the stove to dry, he picked the least tatty of the quilts and carried it over to the bed. He wrapped Daniel up in it, then decided the bed was too far from the fire. He wanted Daniel kept warm and snug.

His knees offered another protest as he picked the man up again. Teal'c always made picking Daniel up look so damned easy – but then Teal'c was a hell of a lot stronger than he was. In fact Teal'c would have been a huge asset on this trip; he could have helped Daniel struggle up the side of that mountain with a lot less trouble, and would, of course, be here with them now. Which would make life a lot easier for Jack, who wouldn't then be alone with a naked Daniel who looked so beautiful it was taking every bit of self-control he had not to touch his lips to that pale forehead, or kiss those eyelids or - oh boy - that perfect mouth.

Jack's aching back and protesting knees reminded him that putting Daniel down sometime soon might be a good idea. He stumbled over to the bearskin rug and sank to his knees, lowering Daniel gently onto the fur and hoping it didn't have too much wildlife living in it. If Daniel woke up bitten by fleas he was not going to be a happy camper. Jack stroked Daniel's hair back from his forehead to take another look at that gash, the wound looked clean enough but maybe he should just make sure? All he needed to do was just flick his tongue across that but – No, he wasn't going there. He definitely wasn't going there.

Daniel's fringe needed cutting again; Daniel would be complaining it was tickling in a week or so. He'd gone from being someone who had long hair to someone with short hair so seamlessly that Jack sometimes had to remind himself it hadn't actually been Daniel's idea to go get that short back and sides. Ironic the way Daniel started fidgeting if his hair came half an inch over the top of his ears these days, given the years he'd had it long and never even thought about it. That was just another of those maddening little eccentricities about the guy that made him so damned lovable. And annoying, of course. And...

And God how he wished it could go back to how it had used to be, before he'd seen Daniel flirting with Ke'ra; his friend doing it so innocently he probably hadn't even known that was what he was doing. Jack had felt something flare inside agonizingly. He'd tried to tell himself it was concern because Daniel was so emotionally vulnerable right now as he tried to get over Sha're's death. Going through grief and denial and shutting the rest of them out while he was doing it. So brittle and hurting that he wouldn't let them help him, but he'd let Ke'ra help him.

The bitch. Jack had hated Ke'ra, really hated her, and it hadn't been because of Linnea. He'd hated her before Carter had told him what she used to be. He'd hated her because he'd realized Daniel and Ke'ra were attracted to one another and there wasn't anything stopping them getting it together if they wanted to. It was Ke'ra he'd wanted to put the bullet into, not Linnea. Daniel had saved him from that – had saved him from killing a defenseless girl because he was jealous as hell.

He'd never been jealous of Sha're. He'd liked Sha're, the little he'd seen of her. She'd been a sweet, gentle girl who obviously loved Daniel, and who, if he was honest, had known Daniel for almost as long as he had. He'd felt Sha're was entitled to Daniel. And, of course, he'd had very different feelings for Daniel back then - at least he presumed he had, he'd never been much good at this subconscious mind crap. But as he remembered it, Daniel had just been this guy he'd got progressively more fond of until he was not only the best friend he had but the best friend he'd ever had, and he hadn't been anything else until Jack had looked up and seen Daniel smiling and flirting with Ke'ra and felt something stab him straight in the heart. So, perhaps he'd been in love with Daniel for months, even years, but had kept it repressed while Sha're was alive or something; he had no idea. He just knew everything had changed in the instant he'd seen Daniel smiling at Ke'ra – and that it was too late for him to stop being in love with Daniel now.

Time to stop mooning over the guy like an idiot. Right. Right. Check the cut. Okay, it wasn't bleeding any more but had bled enough to push any dirt out of the wound, which looked pretty clean. It didn't need of stitching, although there was some nasty bruising spreading out from it, but nothing some lint and sticking plaster wouldn't hide. God, but Daniel had to have the longest eyelashes in the...

First-Aid kit. Now!

After Jack had dabbed half a bottle of arnica onto Daniel's bruised side and splashed some iodine onto the cut before making a makeshift pad for it, he became aware of something steaming. Not just his hormones at being in such close proximity to a naked Daniel but the clothes he was wearing.

"Shit!"

Jack leapt to his feet, realizing he'd been wandering around in soaking wet clothes for at least an hour. Great. Rheumatism. Just what he needed. Daniel would be pushing him through the damned Stargate in a wheelchair if he didn't start taking better care of himself. He quickly stripped off, putting his own clothes to dry next to Daniel's before wrapping himself in a blanket and sitting down on the rug beside his unconscious teammate.

The first time he became sleepy, he piled extra logs onto the fire and threw a few more into the belly of the stove. When he became drowsy the second time he decided that he might as well lie down next to Daniel and grab a few hours sleep.

***

Daniel woke up feeling like a caterpillar. He was definitely cocooned in something. What, they'd been grabbed by aliens who had wrapped them in weird pods before performing horrible experiments on them? He blinked and opened his eyes to see a red gold blur sharpen into licks of flame. An old-fashioned log fire, hypnotic and comforting. Maybe not aliens then. He peered down at his cocoon and saw it had been cunningly disguised to resemble a patchwork quilt. No, it was a patchwork quilt. Definitely not aliens then, unless they were a particularly homespun species who had learned about Earth and its inhabitants from watching John Ford movies.

He could feel someone's breath on the back of his neck and hear someone's rhythmic breathing. Not Hathor. Please God, don't make it a Goa'uld.

Daniel twisted over quickly and found himself lying on his side facing a sleeping Jack. That was when it came back to him: the white blur of the blizzard; Jack wrestling with the jeep around one treacherous bend after another; them both trying not to state the obvious, that if they stopped in this freak snow storm they were going to die of hypothermia, and if they kept driving there was a very good chance they were going to go off the road. Daniel still thought they would have been okay (because much as he hated to admit it, Jack was a damned good driver) if that stag hadn't blundered straight out in front of the jeep. They'd missed it by a needle's width, but in wrenching the wheel round to avoid the animal, Jack had taken them over the side of the mountain.

Daniel didn't remember much about struggling back up through the snow, he just remembered Jack's anxious face, the voice saying, "Are you okay, Daniel?" what seemed like twenty times, and Jack's hand on his arm. Then the arm around his shoulders, helping him, holding him up, not letting him fall. Jack never let him fall.

He wondered if Jack had any idea how damned comforting he was? How much reassurance Daniel took every day from turning around and knowing before he turned that Jack would be by his shoulder. The worst thing Hathor had ever done to him was turning Jack into a Goa'uld right in front of him. She'd always intended to do it to Jack and Daniel had known it, read it in her eyes and known she was waiting for him to start begging, wanting to see him fall to his knees and say 'No, not that, anything but that!' But he'd known nothing he said would make any difference; she wanted him back and she was going to have him back, but first, to punish him for not being in love with her, she was going to take everything he had. Turn Jack into a Goa'uld and then have Jack kill Sam and make him watch it. And then she would have taken what was left of him and found a way to rape him again. He wouldn't even have cared by then because she would already have done her worst. Even now, so many months later it still made him shudder how close he'd come to losing Jack.

He looked at the man's face again and it was odd to see Jack relaxed and defenseless. Jack always seemed so confident, so in charge, that even Daniel sometimes forgot he was just a guy whose hair was going grey and whose knees hurt in the mornings. He'd never been as close to anyone as he was to Jack. The man was everything he'd lost and everything he'd never had all wrapped up in one flawed, cranky, unreasonable, and sometimes totally maddening package. But for all the flaws: the bad temper; the moments of rank injustice; the way Jack hung onto his ignorance like it was a lucky talisman; and the way he yawned pointedly every time Daniel tried to tell him something that contained any word with more than two syllables in it, Jack was still the best thing in his life. Being with Jack was like coming home. Daniel had never realized how wonderful a thing friendship could be until he'd met this unlikely comrade and savior. He'd thought losing Sha're was the worst thing that had ever happened to him but he'd since realized that dreadful as that had been, awful as was the empty hole inside him she had left, even her loss would not be quite as bad as losing Jack's friendship.

Even though there was a blazing fire two feet from him and he was wrapped up warm and snug as a bug in his quilt, Daniel shivered at the thought.

He inched a little closer to Jack, thinking how much younger he looked like this. Jack had a surprisingly gentle face when you took away the expressions which were always chasing themselves over that speaking countenance. Daniel suddenly realized that Jack was handsome and didn't like the thought at all. He'd just always thought of him as...Jack. But Jack was very good-looking which meant women would notice and Jack would meet someone, Jack wouldn't go on living by himself, being there for all the rest of them whenever they needed him, Jack would have a life of his own and someone else he was wrapped up in and would probably get a little impatient with having a thirty-four year old archaeologist crashing out on his couch on Friday nights.

What if Jack met someone who didn't like him? Who thought Jack should cut the cord and make Daniel stand on his own two feet and...

Daniel shivered again. He wanted Jack to be happy, of course, but he didn't want Jack to care more about someone else than he did about SG-1. He never wanted to be shut out of Jack's life; never wanted to be without that home to go to.

Jack stirred then, drowsily opening his eyes. He smiled dreamily, said, "Hey, Daniel..." reached across, put a hand behind Daniel's head and then kissed him on the mouth. Then he murmured, "Just ten more minutes, okay?" let Daniel go and rolled over.

Within seconds, Daniel heard the sound of gentle snoring as Jack was asleep once more.

Daniel stayed absolutely still while his heartbeat hammered in his ears and he felt the moisture from Jack's mouth drying on his lips. Jack had kissed him. Okay he'd been three-quarters asleep at the time and obviously thought they were somewhere else but...

Jack had said his name! He'd said his name and looked right at him just before he kissed him! It was Daniel he'd meant to kiss.

That was the point, of course. Obviously Jack wouldn't have done that when he was fully awake – never had done it when he was awake anyway. But that still meant one part of Jack must want to kiss Daniel when he was awake, and...And he had no idea how he felt about that.

His first emotion was dismay because this was going to screw up everything. He knew Jack so well. Jack was his best friend. He needed Jack like he needed oxygen, but he knew the man and no way was Jack going to just forget about this. Their friendship was fucked now because Jack was always going to keep ten feet between them. He'd never touch him, never sit next to him; he was going to be formal and brisk and...

Daniel had a sudden memory of the Jack O'Neill he'd met when he'd gone through the mirror. A decent man who'd died trying to save his planet, but not 'his' Jack; just someone who'd looked at him without affection and who treated him like a stranger. He couldn't bear that. Could not bear it if Jack withdrew from him, shut him out...

It occurred to Daniel that perhaps he ought to mind that Jack had just reached across and kissed him. Shouldn't there be some sort of annoyance there? Well, he was definitely shocked and very surprised and taken aback and -

Those were synonyms, not separate reactions.

Okay, the truth was he didn't seem to mind that Jack had kissed him. He was shocked and surprised but he wasn't angry or indignant, which was a bit odd, perhaps, but, what the hell, he'd always wondered what Jack would have to do to really piss him off, and kissing him obviously wasn't it.

The look in Jack's brown eyes had been so soft and happy, as if Daniel was exactly what he wanted to wake up to. There had been such tenderness in the way he'd reached out and kissed him like that, as if he'd done it a hundred times before but that every time he did it, it felt so right. Thinking about the way Jack had looked at him, Daniel felt a little tingling start inside him, an odd feeling, a kind of excitement and happiness mixed up with trepidation and breathlessness. He knew he'd felt like that before but he couldn't remember the context. How could he be angry with Jack for something that had been done so gently and with such affection? It wasn't like the guy had thrown him to the floor and ravished him.

Daniel suddenly felt cold inside. If Jack did have feelings for him then Jack must have been so miserable. He hated to think Jack had been wrestling with a problem he hadn't been able to share with anyone. He and Jack always talked things through. Not straight away, of course, but every time there was contact with Sara or Jack had something intrude from his past life - letters from the widows of soldiers who'd died under his command or whatever - Daniel knew. He knew something was wrong and he knew when to leave Jack alone because he didn't want to talk about it and he knew when enough time had passed, so that if he turned up on the doorstep of Jack's house or knocked on the door of his office, Jack would offer him a beer and talk it through with him. But he hadn't known about Jack's feelings for him, which meant Jack had been carrying this one alone. And it was because of him. He'd been making Jack miserable.

Daniel swallowed quickly. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was make Jack O'Neill unhappy. He would do anything not to be the person making Jack unhappy.

Anything?

Daniel looked back at Jack. He could only see the back of his head now; the rest of him was wrapped in the green-patterned blanket. He'd watched that hair turn from light brown to grizzled gray. He'd felt it against his face when Jack wrapped him in his arms and held him so tightly. He could remember sobbing onto Jack's shoulder and feeling Jack's hand in his hair, Jack's stubble rasping against his cheek, Jack's hair brushing his skin. And he'd woken up in Jack's body and seen Jack anxiously watching over him from the safe haven of Daniel's body.

So Jack had kissed him. So what? They'd been through more together than people who'd been married for fifty years. It didn't alter the fact Jack was still his homing beacon, his place of safety; that there was a knot of terror inside him if he even thought about a life for himself that didn't include Jack.

Tentatively, Daniel reached out and touched Jack's hair. It was surprisingly soft, thick too. He felt the odd little tingling feeling inside him he couldn't identify get stronger as he touched Jack's hair. Damnit, that feeling was so familiar, what was it? Something scary and pleasurable at the same time. No. He couldn't remember.

Jack might not remember kissing him either, but then again, he might. How could he make it clear it didn't matter, that the only thing which mattered was that Jack might have been unhappy and he hadn't realized something was wrong? That he hadn't been a good friend to someone who'd always been the best possible friend to him? Daniel lay back down, but inched closer, spooning up against Jack. Hesitantly, he reached out from underneath his quilt and put his arm around the man's abdomen, then he curled his face into the back of Jack's neck so their skin was touching before closing his eyes. He couldn't stop Jack's first waking thought being the fact he had kissed his best friend and betrayed a hitherto undeclared desire for him, but he could make the second thing Jack realized was that Daniel still trusted him and cared for him with every fiber of his being.

With his body pressed close against Jack's, Daniel closed his eyes and slept.

***

Jack was making broth in a daze. He'd been doing everything in a daze since he woke up and remembered what he'd done. As the horror had reared up inside him, he'd become aware of that weight leaning against him, and looking down had seen Daniel's left arm draped around his chest. He'd turned around carefully and Daniel had stirred before going back to sleep again. Daniel was pressed up tight against his back, and it was obvious he had moved either consciously or unconsciously to be as close to his commanding officer as he could. Jack had no idea what that meant. He'd moved away and Daniel had seemed to reach for him blindly in his sleep. Frowning, Jack had pushed Daniel's left arm back under the quilt before moving to the far end of the cabin, away from all the temptations Daniel offered. The glass eyes of the grizzly bear rug had watched him contemptuously.

At least he was now confused instead of just horrified. He had kissed Daniel, hadn't he? He'd kissed him, fallen back to sleep, then woken up thinking 'What did I just do?' Shouldn't Daniel be feeling betrayed and disgusted and appalled? He knew Daniel didn't reciprocate his feelings. He'd been looking pretty hard over the last couple of months – just in case Sha're dying had opened up the floodgates in and he'd seen precisely zip. He and Daniel were getting on better than they probably had done ever before - and they'd always got on pretty well – but Daniel certainly wasn't in love with him. Damnit to hell.

The annoying thing was he'd sometimes wondered if it would only take a declaration on his part and maybe Daniel would fall in love with him. After all, Daniel seemed to be someone who pretty much waited to be asked. Sha're had been given to him and been gratefully accepted. Shyla had thrown herself at him and Daniel had sort of reciprocated, although how much of that had been Daniel and how much the sarcophagus screwing with his befuddled brain was anyone's guess. Ke'ra had made the first move as he understood it. And of course Hathor –

Bitch! Fucking bitch!

Hhmm. There still seemed to be a lot of residual anger there, didn't there? Carter had told him how Daniel had appeared after that Goa'uld bloodsucker had done with him – catatonic. Kind of what you'd expect given that the bitch had raped him for his DNA. Raped his Daniel.

His ? Daniel was never going to be 'his'. Daniel was going to belong to the next pretty girl who came along and was nice to him, whereupon Daniel would do his 'What me?' look and she'd crook her finger and off he'd go.

Unless he grabbed Daniel first.

He'd thought about it. Thought about putting his cards on the table, saying, "Daniel, I hate to tell you this but for the last month or so I've been having different feelings for you. How do you feel about that?" But he hadn't been able to bear the thought of the inevitable conversation. Daniel would so not get what he was telling him. Looking adorable but dumb he'd sit there with his mouth open and his big blue eyes seeming even bigger and bluer than usual, going "What?" and "When?" and "I don't understand, Jack, what are you trying to tell me?" So, his subconscious could throw 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' at him until the cows came home, he wasn't risking his entire life and everything he held dearest just to put a look of horror and no doubt disgust – perhaps even fear on his best friend's face.

He put the broth on to heat and turned their clothes over to make sure they were thoroughly dry on both sides like a robot going through the motions. His thoughts were still going around like a rat on a wheel when Daniel woke up.

"Jack?"

The panic in Daniel's voice tore at him, and he wheeled around at once.

Daniel didn't have his glasses on, of course, and was reaching all over the bearskin for him. "Jack? Jack!"

"I'm here, Daniel, I'm here." Jack skidded over there and sank to his knees on to edge of the rug, "What's wrong? Bad dream?"

Daniel was gasping for breath as if he'd been running. "Thought you'd gone. Dreamt you'd gone."

Jack reached across and touched his forehead, then realized that was a singularly pointless thing to do with a man you'd been toasting in front of a blazing fire for the last three hours. "Sounds like you might have a touch of fever, Daniel. Getting so wet and cold and having a shock like that could do it."

"I'm perfectly okay. I just thought you might leave."

Jack looked into Daniel's blue eyes. Daniel was scared of him leaving. Funny that. He'd been thinking Daniel would be scared of being alone with him. Daniel always managed to surprise him at least once a week. He collected his thoughts. "What? You thought I'd go off and leave you alone here? Where the hell did you think I'd be going? There's a blizzard out there in case you've forgotten."

Daniel faced him and Jack recognized the expression as Daniel's hurt little boy look – the way he got when Teal'c couldn't come with them, or one of them was injured. He could never resist that look. He couldn't be tough to Daniel when Daniel had that look on his face. "I'm not leaving you, okay? We're going to be fine here until the snow stops falling and then we'll see about getting back down the mountain."

Daniel moistened his lips. He looked like a child on top of the high dive, preparing to make his first jump. "Jack, are you...in love with me?"

As his heart stopped and the world paused for a second to keep it company, with the one part of his mind that wasn't frozen solid with shock, Jack noticed Daniel looked scared to death and miserable as hell. It was Daniel's unutterable wretchedness which made him tell the truth. This situation was crowded and complicated enough as it was, they didn't need lies making everything worse. He said quietly, "Yes. I'm sorry. I didn't plan it. It just happened. Not very long ago, so I don't want you to think I've been keeping stuff from you for months or something. I was just going along minding my own business and it jumped up and hit me. I never saw it coming so I didn't have time to duck."

"Don'tleave." One word, gabbled so breathlessly, he couldn't make it out at once.

Jack frowned. "What? Daniel, did you hear what I just – ?"

Daniel wrapped his arms around himself, self-hugging as he rocked. "Don't leave. Promisemeyouwon'tleave."

"Hey, hey..." Jack went to take him in his arms and then realized this really wasn't a good time to be invading Daniel's personal space because they were both naked except for their blankets. He tried to soothe him with his voice alone. "I told you, I'm not leaving."

"Not just here. Don't leave me. It's not my fault. Don't punish me, Jack. You're my best friend. Don't leave SG-1. Don't leave me."

"I won't! I swear I won't." Jack tentatively stretched out a hand and touched his face. Daniel immediately leant into his palm, rubbing his face against it like a cat needing to be stroked. "We're going to sort this out, okay? I'll go see a shrink, find out why I've started doing this. Get hypnotherapy or something. But I promise you I won't take it out on you."

"And you won't leave SG-1?"

"Not unless you're uncomfortable working with me?"

"No!"

"Okay, okay, calm down."

The look of absolute panic in Daniel's blue eyes had cut straight through him and yet warmed him at the same time.

Daniel moistened his lips. "Jack, I miss Sha're so much."

"I know you do."

"But she was lost for three years before she died. I've seen you almost every day in that time. I don't have a life without you now. Don't ever think that leaving me is something you have to do for my sake because it would be the worst thing you could do to me. You have to believe me."

"I believe you." It shocked Jack to see the truth of that statement in Daniel's eyes. Daniel had been so calm and had been coping so well Jack had thought he was starting to get over Sha're's death. Now it seemed Daniel was only able to deal with Sha're's death if he knew everything else in his life was stable, reliable; Christ, he was trembling now and he looked so frail and scared.

Without thinking, Jack let his left hand slide around behind Daniel's head and pulled him forward until Daniel was held tight against his bare chest, Jack's other arm going around him to hold him as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Daniel's arms snaked out from that quilt and wrapped themselves around him, tightening until they almost cracked his ribs. Daniel turned his head and pressed his face against his neck. Jack felt Daniel's breath against his skin and rocked him automatically, realizing he'd scared Daniel shitless all right but not in the way he'd thought.

"Daniel, we're going to get through this," he told him gently. "This is obviously some kind of mid-life crisis I'm having. I'll get a shrink to sort me out and we'll be back on track in no time."

"You hate shrinks." It was muffled into his neck but he managed to make it out.

"I'll get over it."

"I hate them too. I don't want you to see a shrink. They'll make you see Dr Mackenzie."

"I wouldn't see Mackenzie if I had pink elephants talking to me twenty four hours a day and he was the last psychiatrist on the planet."

That got Daniel's attention, and he lifted his head. "Why not?"

"He told me you were schizophrenic when you weren't, the incompetent son-of-a-bitch! I wouldn't let Mackenzie psycho-analyze a water melon."

The panic had gone from Daniel's eyes and his voice was conversational, "Well, a water-melon probably wouldn't need psycho-analysis. I think they tend to live fairly uncomplicated lives."

"Whatever. I'll see a shrink, get him to sort me out."

Daniel pulled a face. "I feel like a packet of Malborough now."

"What?" He never could follow those weird ellipses Daniel's mind made.

"Some vice you're going to get someone to help you give up."

Jack grinned despite himself and looking down was relieved to see the humor in Daniel's blue eyes. "Never thought of you as a vice before, Dr Jackson. But actually I think you're more likely to be a...fixation, wouldn't you say? Or a projection?"

"You've been reading up on it?"

Wondering why Daniel looked so surprised, Jack shrugged. "I can read, you know."

"You wanted to get rid of me that badly?"

"Rid of you?" Maybe Daniel was feverish.

Daniel averted his eyes. "You know. Get me out of your head. Out of your heart."

"You'll still be in my head and my heart, Daniel. I just won't be screwing up the most important friendship I have ever had by thinking I want to have sex with someone who doesn't want to have sex with me."

Daniel bowed his head and muttered, "Might do."

"What?" Jack frowned. "Might do what?"

Daniel looked up at him with a hint of defiance. "Might want to have sex with you. Don't know, do I? You haven't given me much time to think about it. You kiss me then you go back to sleep for however many hours, then you run off and leave me - "

"I was at the other end of a twenty foot cabin, that hardly counts as abandonment!"

" - And then you tell me you're going to get me evicted out of your emotions without even asking how I feel about it."

"Well how do you feel about it?" Jack demanded with a hint of impatience.

"I have no idea. I just woke up."

Jack rolled his eyes in exasperation. "God, you're annoying sometimes. Daniel, you do not want to have sex with me, okay? Take it from the guy who has been lusting after you for the past however many weeks, you have never once looked at me that way. The only reason you would be sleeping with me if you did decide you wanted to now, would be to stop me from leaving the SGC - something, by the way, which I have no intention of doing. Now, why don't we just drop the subject until I can get my head read."

Daniel unwrapped his arms from the older man and sat back a little. He pulled the quilt around himself. "How do you know you want to have sex with me?"

"What?"

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

It was Daniel's turn to roll his eyes.

"Daniel, believe me, you don't want to know. You want us to go on working together, don't you?"

"I need to know."

Jack moistened his lips. "Okay. I keep thinking about what your skin must taste like, what your mouth must taste like, and I get an erection when I think about you naked. Now, call me Mister Leaping To Conclusions here, but I think that constitutes sexual attraction."

Daniel put the palm of his hand across Jack's mouth, held it there for a few seconds, then took it away, before leaning forward and brushing his lips against Jack's. As he straightened back up, he pulled off the quilt and let it slide down. "That's what my skin tastes like, that's what my mouth tastes like, this is what I look like naked."

Jack reached forward and pulled the quilt up quickly. "Daniel, I know what you look like naked, that's kind of the problem."

Daniel had a sudden vision of himself doing the same thing to Sha're, pulling her dress back up and telling her she didn't have to do this. He'd never known how she felt because they'd decided to avoid the subject by mutual consent. When they both knew that they loved the other one absolutely and completely but were less sure about the other one's feelings for them, neither one of them wanted to be the one to remind this person they loved that their marriage had been arranged for them by others. Now he knew how Sha're had felt when he'd pulled her dress back up. One part was a rush of affection for the person doing it, because they were trying to protect you, but the other part was rejection – and it hurt.

Jack saw the look on Daniel's face. "Are you okay?"

Daniel sank back down and wrapped the quilt around himself tightly. "I'm not sure," he said dully.

"You really don't have to make such a big deal out of this, you know. I'm okay about you not fancying me and I'm sorry for screwing things up by suddenly deciding I want to sleep with you. I'll get over it and everything will be the way it used to be."

"No, it won't."

Jack shook his head in exasperation. Daniel was always a pain in the butt when he got into one of his despondent moods. "Danny, you are such a little ray of sunshine some days. It's really no wonder I love you so much, is it?"

Daniel had his arms wrapped protectively around himself again. He said in a small voice, "Jack, how did you know you were in love with me?"

"I don't think we should talk about this any more, okay? It's not healthy and it's probably reinforcing my projections like nobody's business."

"Was it an odd kind of tingling feeling, a kind of excitement and happiness mixed up with trepidation and breathlessness?"

Jack looked inside himself to the place where he kept that locked box with his new feelings for Daniel. He lifted the lid and peeked inside, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Yeah. Pretty much." Daniel started rocking as well as self-hugging and Jack sighed in exasperation. "Enough with the mad woman in the attic act."

"ThinkI'minlovewithyoutoo."

"What?" Damnit, why hadn't anyone ever taught Daniel to sit up straight and speak clearly? "Stop muttering at me. What did you just say?"

"I think I'm in love with you, too."

Daniel was gazing at him with a mixture of defiance and misery and Jack decided he had to nip this nonsense in the bud pretty damned fast. "Don't be silly."

"It's your fault! You kissed me! I never thought of you like that until you kissed me!"

"And now?" Jack demanded.

Daniel ran a hand through his hair, averted his gaze but said quite clearly, "I'm thinking of you like that."

"Christ, Daniel, how susceptible are you? What, one kiss and you're anyone's?"

"Well it must have been lying dormant or something. I didn't know."

Jack raised his eyes to the ceiling, idly noticing the cobwebs clinging to the rafters as he did so. "One lousy kiss? For crying out loud, Daniel!"

"It wasn't a lousy kiss," Daniel muttered defensively. "It was a good kiss. You looked at me like you always wanted to wake up with me next to you, Jack. Like you...loved me."

"I do love you," Jack told him in exasperation. "Even when you're being incredibly annoying, I still love you. But you have to see that this is not a good idea."

"I didn't say it was." Daniel looked around the interior for the first time. It was snug and comfortable in here and it smelt spicy and appetizing. He realized Jack must have something cooking something on the stove. The blizzard was still hurling snow at the windows but the fire was the best he'd ever seen, there were stacks of logs ready cut for kindling, and there was a bed and blankets and two people who had - admittedly rather belatedly and inconveniently - just admitted to being sexually attracted to each other. Well, he wasn't sure if he was sexually attracted to Jack, he'd been concentrating on his emotional responses rather than his physical ones, but one definite and a maybe anyway.

"At least we could have the same therapist," Daniel pointed out. "Or we could just try and work through it by ourselves."

"What do you suggest?" Jack demanded. "Because I think it's going to be a little tricky getting onto the Sigmund Freud hotline from here."

"We could try and get it out of our systems."

"How?"

"By taking things to their logical conclusion."

Jack was still frowning in perplexity. "Daniel if you don't stop talking in clichés, I am going to get seriously tetchy."

Daniel looked at him sideways. "I mean we could just, you know - "

"No, damnit, I don't know, that's why I'm asking you!"

" - do it."

Daniel wondered if Jack knew how dumb he looked when he sat there with his mouth open like that. Cute, of course, really endearingly cute, but not very clever all the same.

Jack recovered and folded his arms. When he spoke he did so very slowly and clearly. "I want you to listen to me carefully. You're concussed. You've been unconscious. You probably have a temperature. Two hours ago it had never occurred to you to look on me as anything other than a friend - "

"My best friend, Jack."

"I'm talking, you're listening, remember?"

Daniel pursed his lips in annoyance.

"Two minutes ago it hadn't occurred to you to have sex with me, and now you think you and I should just rip off our clothes and get down and dirty together?"

"Sorry to point out the obvious, but we're not actually wearing any clothes, Jack."

"Have you ever had sex with a man?"

"No, of course I haven't." Daniel's eyes widened in realization. "Have you?"

Jack cleared his throat and averted his eyes. "None of your business."

"What, you have? When? Who? Why?"

"You forgot 'where'?" As Daniel continued to look at him wide-eyed and incredulous, Jack made an impatient gesture, "Damnit, Daniel, when you're away on missions you form...attachments."

Daniel folded his arms and looked at him. "No, really? God, Jack, you amaze me."

"Look, you're stuck somewhere a thousand miles from home, you get guys in your unit who get a little...hero-worshippy, you haven't been getting any in a while, you take what's on offer, okay? Everyone does it."

"We haven't done it," Daniel pointed out.

"I never thought of you like that until about six weeks ago."

Daniel looked down at himself. "Why not? It doesn't sound like you were any too...choosy in your misspent youth, so what's wrong with me?"

Jack raised his eyes to the ceiling again. "Take it from someone who's been trying so very hard not to look at you in the showers for the past month, there is nothing wrong with you. There is so nothing wrong with you it almost defies belief." The humor went out of his face and he added flatly, "And now let's talk about something else."

Daniel swallowed, grabbed a deep breath and some courage and then leant forward, put his arms around Jack's neck and kissed him. There was barely a second in which he tasted lips that were dry and yet so inviting before he was thrown down on his back on the bearskin so hard that air was knocked right out of his lungs. He looked up into angry brown eyes as Jack pinned him to the floor.

"You do that again and I'll kill you," said Jack shortly.

Daniel gazed back up at him and said quietly, "No, you won't." He reached up and touched Jack's mouth.

The man slapped his hand away, hard.

"Jack, please?"

"Don't fuck around with me, Daniel! You have no idea what you're doing here."

"I know I'm love with you. I know you're in love with me. I know we're alone in a log cabin with a bed and a fire and a bearskin rug, and we're both naked."

"You don't even know what love is, for crying out loud! Christ, you married the first woman who would look at you twice. You've never so much as thought about having sex with a guy before but I kiss you once and you think it's love? You don't know a damned thing about love and you never will!"

Daniel looked up at him unblinkingly for a long moment, reading the anger and frustration in Jack's brown eyes. He assessed the man's mood with the skill of long practice, deliberated on his strategy, then said, "Shut up and kiss me, Jack."

Jack wasn't quite sure how it happened, because it certainly hadn't been what he was intending to do, but he somehow found his mouth brushing against Daniel's lips, feeling Daniel's breath against his mouth. Daniel gave a little sigh of contentment and Jack couldn't help responding to it, kissing him a little harder. Daniel's mouth was very soft and slightly moist from where he was always flicking his tongue across his bottom lip. Daniel opened his mouth in clear invitation and it seemed the most natural thing in the world for Jack to slip his tongue inside that warm, wet cavern and explore it properly. They were, as Daniel was always telling people, peaceful explorers, after all.

Jack felt Daniel's arms snake back around his neck and then Jack was kissing him harder, so much harder, pushing his tongue deep into Daniel's mouth, that action sending a message straight to his groin. This was insane, they couldn't do this; Daniel was concussed, Daniel didn't know what he was doing...

Except Daniel was kissing him back just as hard, eyes closed, tongue entwining with his so hungrily, jerking his hips in Jack's direction, their naked bodies touching, skin fire-and-desire warmed and slippery with sweat. Daniel, in fact, seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

Jack pulled out for oxygen, breathing hard, perspiration beading his skin and his cock already importunate. He swallowed but his voice was husky with desire. "We have to slow down."

Daniel was panting breathlessly. He opened his eyes. "Why?"

Jack looked down on his fantasy-made-real. "Daniel if you have a headache, now would be a good time to tell me because in five more minutes I'm really not going to want to hear it."

Daniel looked up at him and then let his gaze stray to Jack's erect cock. "I think it's a little late for that already. And why do we have to slow down? Who's going to be writing us a ticket?"

"I'll be writing myself one if I rush this. Some things are meant to be savored." Jack let his gaze travel slowly up Daniel's naked body to his face. "And you are definitely one of them."

Daniel licked his lips again. "Savor away."

Kneeling over him, Jack bent down very slowly and then kissed Daniel on the mouth. Daniel strained upwards wanting more, but Jack kept the kisses gentle, just brushing those lips softly with his own. Then he ran his hands up Daniel's strong chest and long neck before running his fingers through Daniel's hair. Tightening his grip, Jack held him still. Only then did he bend his head again, pausing with his lips a millimeter above Daniel's, his breath against Daniel's mouth. He couldn't help smiling as Daniel closed his eyes in pleasurable anticipation. And then they kissed, Daniel opening his mouth at once to welcome him in. Jack pushed his tongue in deep this time, enjoying the subtle flavor of Daniel, their tongues dueling, intertwining, curling around each other comfortably, as though they'd done this so many times before.

It was only as he withdrew his tongue slowly and kissed Daniel on the mouth that Jack realized he was effectively seducing a first-timer here. Daniel had never even kissed a man before and however willing he might be - and he certainly did seem willing - Jack had a responsibility to make his first time as pleasurable as he possibly could. Slow, steady, and sexy then. Nothing rushed.

With his hands still holding Daniel's hair, Jack began to kiss and nibble that long, white, eminently biteable throat as Daniel shut his eyes and arched his back, clearly enjoying the sensation of Jack's teeth gently closing on his skin. Jack left a trail of little bites down Daniel's neck and then licked his chest. Daniel still had his eyes closed.

"That feels good," he murmured.

Jack smiled and ran his tongue across Daniel's left nipple. That elicited a most satisfactory spasm of pleasure. He felt warm hands stroke his back with light movements, a finger tracing his spine the same way he had seen Daniel trace hieroglyphs on stone tablets. He turned his head a little and licked Daniel's right nipple, feeling it harden beneath his tongue.

"Jack..." It was sighed rather than said. Daniel was smiling with contentment, eyes still closed as he evidently enjoyed every sensation.

Jack pushed himself up with his toes, feeling the smooth, warm flesh outside of Daniel's thighs against the inside his own. He kissed him on the mouth again, biting his bottom lip very gently. Playfully resisting Daniel's attempts to lure him in at first, Jack brushed his lips across his cheek and jaw before allowing himself to be drawn back to that hungry mouth so eagerly awaiting his tongue.

He kissed him slow and deep, stilling Daniel, calming him, wanting to feel that anticipatory tenseness drain from his body. He rubbed his thumb gently across Daniel's forehead, smoothing the light brown hair away from his makeshift dressing. Daniel opened his eyes to reveal dilated pupils made dark and drowsy with lust.

Jack kissed him again gently and then met his gaze. "You okay?"

Daniel blinked and nodded.

Jack kissed him again. "If there's anything you want me to do, tell me and I'll do it."

"Everything you're doing is fine with me," Daniel murmured, closing his eyes again.

"We don't need to take things any farther than this."

Blue eyes were open in an instant. "Yes, we do."

"There's really no need..."

"Speak for yourself."

Jack hesitated, biting his lip, then bent down and tenderly kissed Daniel again. Daniel immediately craned his head to meet him and pressed their mouths together.

"Please," Daniel murmured, his voice betraying a tremor of excitement. "I know what I want."

Jack kissed him again. "You're going to have to spell it out for me. A couple of hours ago you were unconscious and you've never done this before. That's two very good reasons for us not taking this any further that some very nice kissing and touching today."

"And we're alone in a log cabin on a bearskin rug with no clothes on. That's three very good reasons for us taking it all the way." Their gazes met and Daniel added quietly, "You want this just as much as I do."

"More, probably," Jack admitted, "because I know what it is I want." He withdrew his right hand from Daniel's hair and stroked it back from his forehead, then ran gentle fingers across his chest. He bit his lip. "But what makes you think you would enjoy...you know?"

"Because it's with you, Jack, and because I've just realized I'm in love with you and at the moment I am so turned on by just being in a room with you my head is swimming."

"That's more likely to be the concussion."

Daniel put a hand on top of Jack's hand, tracing the lines of the tendons with his fingertips, "Please, Jack. Let’s take it to...whatever base it is you get to when you’re going all the way." Seeing Jack frown and look very unconvinced, his eyes widened in realization. "I know, call it aversion therapy."

"What?"

"Aversion therapy. What you have to put you off something. You have sex with me and then if it's as horrible an experience for me as you seem to think it will be, that will put me off ever wanting to do it again, won't it?"

Jack sat back, his groin tantalizingly brushing against Daniel's as he did so. "Aversion therapy?"

Daniel nodded eagerly, lips half parted, eyes intent on Jack's face, fingers still stroking the back of the man's hand. "That's right. So you'd better give it everything you've got, really go for it, otherwise it might not work."

Looking down on a naked Daniel whose perfect body was just glistening with sweat and whose skin was burnished by the firelight, Jack felt the last of his resistance dissolving. He could see the bruises coming out on Daniel's ribs and there was one on his arm as well, but even that didn't reduce his ardor, it just made him want to kiss those places better. He'd been wanting this for almost two months and even Daniel had been wanting this for, oh...twenty minutes nearly, so that seemed like a good enough reason by itself for them throwing caution to the winds and getting the hell on with it.

"Okay," he said, "you win. Prepare to be averted."

He bent back down and found a mouth already opened and waiting to greet his, a tongue delving against his own, breath sighing with contentment against his lips. Daniel was trembling with excitement, taut as a fiddle string, and Jack smiled as he kissed him deeply and thoroughly. Daniel knew so much about so many things and probably knew a lot more then he did about the theory, not to mention the history, of what they were going to do next, but Jack was the one with the practical experience and this was definitely one of those skills where that put him oh so many jumps ahead. Daniel was eager, thrusting his groin up to clash pleasurably with Jack's.

"Settle down," Jack told him in amusement.

Daniel gave a little groan of frustration and Jack gently kissed his jaw and cheek, leaving a trail of soft kisses up to Daniel's small and perfectly formed ear, which he first nibbled and then tongued. Daniel gave a little sigh of pleasure as that hot tongue delved into his ear and Jack felt him relax slightly. Smiling, he continued to lave his ear, then kissed another trail back down to his neck, Daniel obligingly turning away from him a little so he could get to the back of his neck and kiss there.

Jack stroked a hand up Daniel's face and ran a hand through his light brown hair. Daniel turned his head to look up at him, a tongue darting across his bottom lip reflectively. Jack realized Daniel was tasting him on his mouth, savoring him, essence of O'Neill. He leant across to remind Daniel what his lips felt like and Daniel sighed with contentment. Jack lay down next to him on his side, Daniel almost supine but slightly turned away from him, head twisted to look at Jack like someone waiting for instructions. Jack stroked his left hand down Daniel's bruised ribs, very gently and Daniel sucked in his breath; the hand slid on down, stroked a bony hip before dipping like a skier on a slalom course to close over Daniel's groin, eliciting a definite gasp of pleasure.

Jack cupped his testicles for a moment, letting the heat from his hand warm them before he closed his fingers around Daniel's cock. Daniel bucked under his hand at once and Jack grinned and spooned in next to him, using his body to push Daniel up further and tilt him onto his side before whispering in his left ear, "Steady, Daniel, a little self-control if you wouldn't mind." He kissed the bruise on Daniel's left upper arm, licking it gently while his fingers worked Daniel's cock, a few deft strokes followed by a maddening pause, enjoying the way Daniel groaned with frustration each time he stopped.

Daniel said breathlessly, "Damnit, Jack, you're torturing me."

"Well? It's supposed to be aversion therapy, isn't it? It's not like you're supposed to be enjoying yourself. Now shut up and suffer."

Daniel's long eyelashes flickered against his cheeks as his eyelids fluttered, breath coming in short gasps as Jack's stroking of his cock began to have an effect. Jack used his right hand to tease Daniel's hair away from his left ear again and kissed his cheek before laving his earlobe deeply; Daniel was squirming against him from this dual assault on his erogenous zones, whimpering with pleasure. Smiling, Jack kissed and then began to bite the left side of Daniel's neck, harder this time. Daniel jolting in response to each one, he nibbled a trail down to Daniel's shoulder then began to lick and nip the smooth skin, at the same time keeping up the rhythmic stroking with his left hand.

"I know what you're trying to do," Daniel gasped.

Jack kissed a second trail from the base of his neck to the point of his shoulder. "You do?"

"You're...trying to make...me...come...so I won't...won't..."

Jack increased the pressure of his strokes, making them firmer and quicker. "What was that, Dr Jackson? Do try to be a little more articulate."

"Oh God, Jack...oh God...stop...stop!"

"Sorry, Daniel." Jack's smile got wider. "No can do."

Fingers clamped onto his wrist and yanked his hand away from Daniel's super-heated groin. Daniel said breathlessly, "Damnit, Jack. I know what I want."

Jack reached up and laved his ear again. "Really? You know what you want. Okay." He eased his hand away from Daniel's fingers, Daniel clutching at him reflexively before reluctantly letting him go.

"I'm trusting you," Daniel warned him.

"That's good because I'm a very trustworthy person." Jack stroked his freed left hand across Daniel's flat abdomen, smoothed a path up to his hip, then stroked the firm curve of his left buttock. He nuzzled into the back of Daniel's neck as he caressed his ass. "You have a very fondle-able butt, you know that."

"I do now."

Jack continued to stroke Daniel's ass but then worked his fingers between those firm cheeks to find the hot, tight sanctuary his cock was already so hungry for. Daniel gave a little gasp as the tip of a finger breached him. "That's where the action's going to be if we go ahead with this," Jack told him softly, breathing it into his ear in between kisses. "Are you sure you're okay with it because there are so many other things we can do that are a lot less...problematic?"

Daniel twisted his head round to look at him. "I want you inside me, Jack."

"And if I told you that it was quite often painful, usually messy, and not really that much fun for the guy underneath you'd say...?"

Daniel didn't even blink. "I want you inside me, Jack."

"You know, if you'd just let me finish it, I give a great hand-job."

"Jack."

"And as for my blow-job, well - well I have no idea what's it like because unfortunately it's not something I've ever been able to sample for myself, but I've certainly never had any complaints."

"Jack!"

Jack winced from Daniel's exasperated yell. "Great, now we both have a headache."

"I thought you were a man of action, for crying out loud!"

Grinning, Jack withdrew his finger, gave Daniel's ass a gentle slap and then got to his feet. "Okay. The whole nine yards it is."

Daniel curled up on the rug and gazed after Jack with a sphinx-like smile on his face. "Someone certainly thinks a lot of himself."

Glancing over his shoulder, Jack was just in time to catch Daniel's maddening little smile. "You are so going to pay for that," he told him.

When that damned blizzard had almost killed them he'd been cursing the forecasters who'd warned against brilliant sunshine, but as he reached into the pocket of his drying jacket, Jack felt a sudden rush of liking for them. His fear those UV rays might hurt Daniel's pale skin was about to pay off nicely.

His fingers closed on the bottle and he pulled it out of the wet folds triumphantly. "Lucky I was a boy scout," he called over his shoulder, "I mean how many men would think to take sunblock along for a jeep crash in a blizzard?"

"Dumb ones?"

Jack strode back over to where Daniel was waiting for him and spooned in behind him again, before dangling the sunblock in front of him. "This, Mister Smartalec, is what is going to save your cute little butt from getting seriously burned."

"Oh, is that the twentieth century equivalent? The Ancient Spartans actually used..."

"Daniel," Jack leant across to kiss him tenderly, "shut up." Jack swiftly undid the bottle, slapped a generous helping of lotion onto his fingers and slipped his left hand back between Daniel's invitingly firm buttocks. He felt Daniel start as the finger breached him, everything clenching tight at once, and reached up with his right hand to stroke Daniel's short hair back from his face again, soothing and rhythmic, as he though he was a cat he was petting.

"Easy, Daniel. Try and relax. Deep breaths, okay? Breathe with me." He kissed Daniel's cheekbone and felt Daniel relax a fraction. He continued to stroke his hair as he talked. "We're going to take this just as slow and gentle as you want and any time you want me to stop you just yell and I'll stop. That's a promise. It doesn't matter if I'm ten minutes from coming or ten seconds from coming, you want me to stop and I'll stop, okay?" He felt Daniel relax some more, unclenching from around his finger as the deep breathing, the gentle caresses and the reassuring words all had their effect.

Daniel recovered his equilibrium. "Sorry, it was just kind of..."

"I know."

"...a shock."

"I know. That's why I said we had to slow things down. If you go for it too soon the guy underneath ends up screaming the place down and believe me, that isn't much fun for either party."

Jack bent his head and kissed Daniel's jaw tenderly before beginning to move the finger inside him. Daniel had relaxed a little more now and it slid in and out with less difficulty.

"Okay, Doctor Jackson, a quick guide to the evening's entertainment, this-" Jack found the little nodule he was seeking, "is your prostate gland and - "

"I know what a prostate gland is, Jack."

"But did you know that it could do this for you?" Jack rubbed it and Daniel bucked violently as the pleasure spasmed through him.

"Christ!"

"See? Look at all the fun things you learn when you're with me. Don't tell me this isn't more enjoyable than archaeology."

Jack fingered Daniel's prostate again, eliciting a gasp and a jolt each time, and more importantly, causing Daniel to relax considerably. He nibbled the back of Daniel's neck and felt Daniel arch against him, tension dissolving as he gave himself up to pleasure. Jack smiled and kissed his shoulders.

"You're a natural, Doctor Jackson. If they gave out degrees in this, you'd have a whole bunch of new letters after your name."

Daniel twisted his head to give him a sly smile. "What, like S.L.U.T.?"

Jack craned his neck to reach across and lick his eyelids. "I was thinking of E.A.S.Y. but I like that one even better." He winced as an elbow was jabbed into his abdomen. "Ow! Oh, come on, Daniel. When did you ever turn anyone down who made a play for you?"

"Bastard," Daniel muttered. He had a lot of things he wanted to say in rebuttal but Jack's skillful middle finger was lighting all kinds of fires inside him that made concentration difficult. "Oh boy!"

Jack could feel that tight hot channel loosening a little, which was good because his cock was growing impatient, blood pumping harder every time Daniel squirmed and his erection brushed against Daniel's left buttock. He reached across to lave Daniel's ear again, making sure his tongue was delving in deep and hot as he slid a second finger inside his lover. Daniel bucked but then pressed back against him, spreading his legs and turning his head to give Jack the best possible access to both of the orifices he was exploring.

Having thoroughly laved Daniel's ear, Jack tilted his head to look at Daniel's face. The man's eyes were closed, impossibly long eyelashes casting lines of shadow onto those pale cheeks; there was a little smile playing on Daniel's lips and he was now not just relaxed but pushing back against the fingers as they entered him, hips moving in a gentle rhythm. Jack decided that 'gentle' was going to be the watchword for today's events. There might be other occasions - if their aversion therapy failed - where they could try wild and uncontrolled, but today they were going to take things very carefully and tenderly. He made a scissor motion with his two fingers, gently stretching the ring his cock was hardening at the thought of entering then stroked the side of his thumb up Daniel's face. After a few moments of careful foreplay he slid the two fingers out of him, fumbled for the sunblock one-handed and then slid in three slicked fingers. Daniel gave a small exclamation but then pushed back against him, more urgently now and Jack responded by increasing the pace, driving the fingers into him deeper.

"Do it harder," Daniel said breathlessly.

Jack hesitated then did as he asked, jabbing the fingers in deeper and harder, trying to make contact with the prostate as he did so. Daniel grunted in response and whimpered with pleasure, back arching. He was relaxed inside and out now, wet, willing and wanting, just the way Jack had been dreaming about him.

"Please, Jack," Daniel breathed. "Please?"

"Okay." Jack continued to drive his fingers into him, checking that the guardian ring of muscle was properly stretched. "But only if you're sure you want this."

Daniel groaned and shoved his hips down onto Jack's hand, simultaneously pushing his rear back towards the man's erection in obvious need. "What do you want, a printed invitation?"

Jack kissed him on the ear again. "Okay, Daniel, but remember we can stop whenever you want." It was all so perfect he kept thinking he was going to wake up and find it was all a dream. Deciding that if this was just a dream he'd damned well better get to the good part before the weird stuff started happening, he slid his fingers out, eliciting what sounded like a sigh of disappointment from Daniel as he did so, and touched his thigh. "You want to roll onto your back?"

Daniel frowned, opening his eyes. "Don't you mean my front?"

"Well, whichever position you prefer. It can be a little hard on the knees if we do it doggy style but it might be the easiest from an entry point of view."

"I have young knees, they can take it." Daniel rolled onto his front and then got up onto his knees, opening his legs before resting his head on his arms. "I can't believe you've done this so many times before. Who would have thought that Jack O'Neill had a Secret Past?"

Jack thought of all the other things he'd done that Daniel didn't know about, all the blood on his hands he never wanted Daniel to know about. "Fucking a few of my fellow soldiers is really not the only skeleton in my closet, Daniel. And anyway, it doesn't have a lot to do with what you and I are about to do."

"Why not?"

Jack stroked a hand across Daniel's firm rump, hardly able to believe that Daniel was here and offering himself to him like this. He felt suddenly scared of getting what he wanted because it would be so unbearable to lose it once he'd had it. "I wasn't in love with them, Daniel. They were just a means to scratch an itch I had for a couple of hours."

Daniel abruptly rolled over and then turned around to face him until they were both kneeling on the bearskin, looking at each other. Jack raised an eyebrow, heart beating a little faster, disappointment tugging at him because Daniel obviously didn't want to go through with this and who the hell could blame him?

Daniel swallowed. "I haven't touched you. I haven't shown you..." He put his arms around Jack's neck and kissed him, not just passionately, but hungrily, desperately, then kissed his jaw, his neck, his shoulders, his chest.

Jack stayed still and let him do it at first and then wiped his sunblock covered fingers clean on his own thigh before tentatively reached out, cupping Daniel's face in his hands, tilting his head back. "It's okay. This is new to you. You don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"There's nothing about you I'm not comfortable with." Daniel looked into the older man's brown eyes and frowned. "You don't believe I love you, do you?"

"Of course I believe you love me. I just don't believe you're 'in' love with me."

Daniel rubbed the side of his face against Jack's chest. Jack couldn't help giving a little shiver of enjoyment at the contact but it was a pleasant surprise when Daniel began to kiss and lick his skin. Jack gasped as a warm mouth closed over his right nipple, sucked it to hardness and then moved onto his left. Then he was being kissed all over, moist butterfly kisses that traced a line down through his chest hair, across his abdomen to his...

"Oh boy!" Jack swallowed convulsively as Daniel dug his fingers into his hips, holding the older man still as he buried his face in Jack's groin.

Jack gasped again as a tongue licked his balls, tentatively at first, and then with sudden hunger, sucking on them in their sacs, before warm breath was hitting the straining tip of his cock and then a mouth was closing over it.

"Oh God, Daniel!" Jack put one hand up to his forehead, the other automatically going to the back of Daniel's head. He made himself just stroke that short thick hair when his loins wanted him to pull that delicious wet heat in even tighter against his cock. Daniel was suckling hungrily, like someone starving who had just been given food; although he was clumsy and amateurish, he was also eager and clearly enjoying himself.

When pleasure began to build from the soles of his feet, Jack realized he was getting dangerously close to the edge. "No! Daniel, stop! Stop!" His fingers tightened in short hair as he pulled him off his groin. Jack found himself face to face with a dazed Daniel who was still licking his lips in an experimental way.

Daniel met his gaze. "That was fun," he said in mild surprise.

"From where I was sitting too," Jack assured him.

"So why did you stop me?"

"Because I'm not twenty-one anymore and if you want me to have any snap in my snake for the Main Event you can't make me come three minutes before you want me to do other stuff with you."

"You poor old man. I'd better get Janet to lay in some Viagra for you." Daniel licked his lips again. "You taste salty."

"You taste like ambrosia and honey and strawberries and cream with a double fudge sundae on top."

Daniel smiled. "Really?"

"No. You taste salty as well."

Daniel put his head on one side. "Now do you believe I love you?"

"I believe you're a horny little tart who is suspiciously good at giving a guy a blow-job for someone who has supposedly never done this before."

"I'll try to take that as a compliment."

"Come here." Jack abruptly scooped him into his arms, pulling him in close to kiss him properly, the way someone as beautiful as Daniel deserved to be kissed, deeply and tenderly and passionately. They were both breathless but smiling when they finally came up for air.

"Sorry," Daniel said, "I interrupted you. You were about to do something really interesting when I got worried about you not having had any foreplay. Where were we again?"

"We were about to expand your education."

Neither of them were quite sure how they ended up lying back down on the bearskin, Daniel underneath and Jack on top kissing him tenderly, they just knew how right it felt. Jack reached out and pulled the other quilt across, folding it and pushing it under Daniel's ass to raise it without even really thinking about what he was doing. When Daniel canted up his legs invitingly, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to just slide down that smooth body, reach underneath and slip a finger back inside him. The channel was hot, moist and still very relaxed. Jack fingered him gently with his left hand while bending his head to gently mouth his groin, using one, then two fingers to open him up.

Daniel gave a little gasp as his testicles were sucked and his cock licked, pushing his hips down to get Jack's fingers deeper inside him. When Jack began to suck on the head of his cock, Daniel ground his hips down sharply, impaling himself deeper, groaning with wanting. "Jack, please..." he said breathlessly.

Jack was already reaching for the sunblock, doubts dissolved. Although Daniel might have been able to convince himself he was in love with someone when he wasn't, just to hold onto his friendship, his body could hardly collude to the extent of remaining so receptive and relaxed when there was an erect cock en route to enter it. Jack slid his fingers out and put his hands underneath Daniel's thighs, raising them slightly so he had the best possible access. Daniel obligingly wrapped his legs around Jack's back and crossed his ankles.

Daniel instinctively took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he felt himself breached. He breathed out slowly as Jack's cock penetrated him, Jack entering him so gently and gradually that Daniel was only aware more of a growing discomfort rather than something sharp enough to be called actual pain. And it felt right too. He was astonished by how right it felt to have this alien object being so carefully pushed inside him: perhaps because it was part of Jack and they had become so close that it now also felt like a part of Daniel. Despite the occasional uncomfortable spasms as muscles unwillingly stretched to accommodate Jack's length and width, he liked the sensation of fullness it gave him and there was also the sudden awareness of Jack's strength, a feeling that could have been frightening, given the circumstances, but wasn't. In fact Daniel found himself reveling in the discovery that Jack's lean, lanky frame contained so much concentrated power; a strength currently being used to hold him absolutely still and penetrate him with that incredible gentleness. It was a little scary when he realized how much deeper a cock reached than he'd bargained for. Suddenly he was finding parts of himself stretching and opening up to Jack that he hadn't even known he possessed.

The deeper Jack delved into him, the more aroused Daniel found himself by their respective situations. He'd always known he trusted Jack but now he could feel it in the heat welling up inside him, wrapping itself around that so-wanted invader. He was enjoying this. Even though it hurt a little and he was helpless, impaled on Jack's cock, with Jack's hands gripping his hips and holding him so still he couldn't have pulled away if he'd wanted to, he was enjoying the sensation of Jack being inside him more than he'd ever enjoyed anything – proof there was no limit to how much he trusted Jack O'Neill.

There was a little jolt as Jack took his weight on his arms, hesitating before the final push and Daniel opened his eyes to see the man looking down at him concernedly, brown eyes as soft as Daniel had ever seen them.

Jack said quietly, "You okay?"

Daniel smiled. "Fine. You?"

"I've got three-quarters of my cock buried in the man of my dreams, I am not the one who we need worry about right now. Am I hurting you?"

"No." Daniel moved a little, testing the sensations and felt Jack slide in a little deeper; he winced and smiled at the feeling. Then he frowned. "Three-quarters? Either you give me the whole thing or I'm asking for my money back."

"Daniel I'm not sure we should..."

Daniel promptly crossed his legs behind Jack and pulled the man into himself, grunting with a mixture of pain and satisfaction as the last couple of inches penetrated him in a millisecond, the wet slap of Jack's balls against his ass the proof and punctuation of his success. "Never argue with an anthropologist about mating rituals, Colonel O'Neill. We always know what we're doing."

Jack looked down at him in mingled fondness and exasperation. "You know there's a reason people don't go out of their way to annoy men who have eight inches of cock rammed inside them, Daniel."

Daniel smiled at him sweetly. "Oh don't be a pain in the ass, Jack." He wrapped his arms around the man and pulled him down for a kiss, inevitably grinding their bodies even closer together.

"Damnit, Daniel!"

Jack's protest was smothered by passionate kisses from the most delectable mouth he'd ever tasted. Part of him was still a little anxious that Daniel was concussed and had never had this kind of sex before and might be in pain but his tongue just wanted to dive in deep and taste those tonsils, and his fingers just really needed to push up through that hair and hold it tight, keep Daniel still so he could push his tongue even further down his throat. Daniel was reciprocating hungrily, wrapping his tongue around Jack's, welcoming him in. Daniel's whole body was like a warm house with all the lights left on only for him.

He didn't even make a conscious decision to start thrusting; his body just assumed that was what it should be doing right now, his fingers disentangled themselves from Daniel's hair, his weight went forward onto his arms and his hips pulled out gently before pushing back in a little faster. His tongue however, stayed firmly locked around Daniel's, Daniel obligingly craning his head up so they didn't have to stop kissing even for an instant. He thrust again, still gently, and Daniel gave a little grunt into his mouth. Jack began to have some awareness of how many good sensations there were in his groin right now as well as his mouth. It was difficult having to divide his attention between them because both were so wonderful he felt they deserved all the concentration he could give them.

Daniel couldn't keep his head up any longer and broke the contact, flopping back down onto the rug. His eyes were open and he arched his back down into the next gentle thrust, wincing at the extremity of it, mouth half-open, a trickle of sweat tracing a shiny line down his left cheek. He turned his head to the side and gave a little moan of pleasure as the next thrust went in.

Jack studied Daniel as he thrust into him, noticing where every tiny bead of sweat was, the exact texture of his skin, the different strands of color in his hair, the way he looked with his mouth half open. He kept the rhythm slow and regular so Daniel knew when each thrust was coming and could relax into it, not wanting him jolted or bruised by anything unexpected. He'd thought his arms would get tired at having to take his weight, his knees complain, his back protest at the extra burden of Daniel's long slender legs canted up around his hips, but his whole body seemed united in thinking this was the best idea he'd ever had; the tingles of pleasure radiating and thrilling through him along every nerve.

Daniel gasped as another thrust went home, arms thrown wantonly back behind his head and his fingers curling into fists. "Jack, please..."

"Less?" Jack paused at once. "Is this too deep? Too fast? Too hard?"

Daniel opened his eyes and moistened his lips, breathless and dripping with sweat now. "No...the opposite of everything you just said...do that..."

"What?"

Daniel gave him a look of mingled exasperation and admiration. "Damnit, Jack, I'm not feeling very...articulate right now...Just do it...more."

Jack frowned. "You mean faster, deeper, harder?"

"Yes!" Daniel raised an arm in a vague motion of agreement. "All those things."

Again, Jack's brain had a whole speech it wanted passed on to Daniel about how it was important they took things very gently the first time, how he'd be sore later if they didn't keep the brakes on now, but Jack's groin got in first with a message to his hips to start thrusting harder. Now.

"Oh God..." Daniel gasped with pleasure as Jack's cock scraped against his prostate, pulled back, then slammed into him again. The thrusts were jolting into him now and he loved every second of the sensation; he loved the sharp clarity of it penetrating him, the incredible fullness, had never been as aware of every muscle and tendon in his own body until these tiny stabs of pain had been mixed with an explosive cocktail of nerve-thrumming pleasure to produce a heightened awareness of absolutely everything.

He wanted this to go on forever, Jack thrusting into him so deeply he could almost feel it in the back of his throat; the wet slap of their flesh meeting, the slippery cock sliding in and out of him with such ease, filling him, stretching him, completing him. Jack was hitting his prostate with every stroke now, pounding into it so that the ecstatic shock of the last contact was still reverberating through him as the next thrust hit its target.

Daniel was vaguely aware of someone grunting, gasping, and moaning, occasionally making little whimpering noises, saying incoherent things like 'Oh God yes...!' And 'harder' or 'deeper' and a lot of breathless 'Jack!'s and then there was a sort of bass line to that tenor solo, groans which seemed to come from deep inside someone's chest and some equally breathless 'Daniel's and 'Danny's. And he didn't want this to ever end, but it was going to, all too soon. Daniel could feel that unstoppable wave coming; the cries and moans were getting more frantic, sounding as if both parties were in pain. He became aware of a throat raw from moaning Jack's name and then it was too much, a whiteout of sensation that picked him up and tossed him into the air...

Daniel came back to earth to find himself seriously short of breath, and with a panting and exhausted Jack O'Neill collapsed on his chest. He reached for him blindly, sinking his fingers into that grey hair and tightening in it. "Oh God, Jack," he managed in between gasps, "that was incredible."

Jack crawled up him slowly and kissed him, a very brief kiss because they were both still trying to claw some air back into their lungs, but still a flavor Daniel was very glad to taste again.

Jack reached out blindly and stroked Daniel's sweat-soaked fringe back from his forehead. "You okay?"

Daniel gazed up into those brown eyes and wondered how the hell he had failed to realize before how much he loved and needed this man. He studied his face, forgetting Jack's question in his need to imprint this moment on his memory, so that when Jack was older than this he would remember how he'd looked the first time they'd made love, and when Jack was being impossible he would remember the first time they'd made love, and when Jack was being...

"Earth to Doctor Jackson? Daniel, how many of your brain cells did we just fry? Are you okay?"

...When Jack was being just like he was now, he would remember the first time they'd made love and love him anyway.

"No, I'm not okay, Jack. I'm so much better than 'okay', I don't think there is a word for it in any language."

Jack smiled and bent his head again to tenderly bite his bottom lip. "Well, I know comparisons are odious but you might be interested to know that you are now officially the Best Sex I Ever Had."

"Given how much you seem to have had in your time, I think I'll take that as a compliment." Daniel stroked a finger down Jack's face, tracing the line of his cheekbone, feeling the rasp of his stubble against the tip. He could feel Jack's finger on his own face as the man did the same thing, tracing the line of his cheekbone, briefly touching his nose and then covering his mouth.

Jack bent and kissed him again. "So, how did that aversion therapy work for you?"

Daniel looked up into Jack's eyes, got momentarily distracted and then collected himself. "Oh, the aversion therapy... Um, really well. I definitely think a few more sessions like that would probably do the trick."

"Ya think?" Jack slid off Daniel to lay on his right side on the rug, resting on his elbow, a hand cupping his cheek.

Daniel turned over onto his left side, book-ending his body language. "Yes, I think if we did it a few more times on the rug and then maybe tried out the bed once or twice, we'd pretty much have this fixation of ours licked."

Jack nodded. "Perhaps I should actually...I don't know...tie you to the bed, maybe? I mean neither of us are likely to enjoy that so that might speed things up a little."

"Oh yeah!" Daniel coughed. "I mean - Oh yes, good idea, Jack. Because there's that big old iron bedstead there just kind of calling...I mean...asking to be utilized in a serious scientific experiment." He glanced across at the bed and his tongue flickered across his lips in anticipation.

Jack craned his neck to look at the little window of the cabin. "The snow's still falling."

"Shame." Daniel tried to look as disappointed as he could.

"So we could be stuck here for a while. Not just tonight. Maybe a couple of days."

"A week even?" Daniel suggested.

"Well, Teal'c and Carter will have the search parties out for us before then. We were only supposed to be gone for two days after all."

Daniel couldn't help his gaze straying back to the bed. They had their belts with them, they would probably make very serviceable straps for tying someone to the bed - should that someone so desired to be tied to the bed by another someone with incredible brown eyes who just seemed to be getting more and more good-looking with every grey hair that appeared. He collected his thoughts. "They might be looking but that doesn't mean they're going to find us straight away, does it? I should think the jeep was probably hidden under a snow drift by now and this cabin is kind of tucked away."

"That's true." Jack heaved a big, unconvincing sigh and shook his head. "Guess we'll just have to make the best of things."

Daniel shrugged. "We've been in worse situations before. And we do have food and a bathroom and lots of logs to keep the fire going - not to mention plenty of blankets and things."

"We've only got the one bottle of sunblock though." Jack picked up the plastic container and tried the weight of in his hand. "How much do you think they put in one of these things?"

"Well, when it runs out we'll just have to try all those other things you mentioned - the fun, non-penetrative things."

Jack met his gaze unblinkingly as he sat up. "You mean for therapy?"

"Absolutely. I mean we should really try out everything, shouldn't we? Really get it out of our systems." Daniel also sat up and looked at Jack, looked at that mouth whose dry lips he now knew the taste of so well and yet already wanted to savor again.

"Definitely." Jack reached across and stroked the back of his hand up the side of Daniel's face, then slipped his hand behind Daniel's head and pulled him in for a sense-dizzying kiss. As Jack reluctantly uncurled his tongue from Daniel's he looked at Daniel's dazed expression and nodded. "See, you definitely look like someone who is not having a good time right now."

"Oh I'm...suffering here, Jack, no question. You keep kissing me like that and I'm going to be so cured of thinking that I'm madly in love with you and want to spend the rest of my life with you and have sex with you at least once a day and twice as much on weekends. That's going to clear my head in no time."

"Same here. I mean I might be fixatedly thinking that you are the only person for me and that no one else in any universe will ever even come close to how I feel about you, but that's nothing a lot of really depraved and disgusting physical acts won't cure me of." Jack pulled Daniel back in for another kiss and felt Daniel's arms wrap themselves around his neck, Daniel's sigh of contentment find its way into his mouth.

"You know, Daniel," he murmured in between kisses, "people have been lost in these mountains for days before now."

"Weeks, I heard." Daniel sucked on Jack's tongue, savoring the delicious taste of it.

Jack touched his face again; unable to believe how beautiful Daniel was even now. He withdrew his tongue to nibble deliriously on Daniel's full bottom lip, pulling at it gently with his teeth, before kissing him again. "Actually, I've heard of people who were lost up here for months."

"Years..."

"Decades..."

"Eons..."

The End