All things considered? Having Daniel Jackson in his bed wasn't nearly the pain in the ass Jack thought it was going to be.

Sure, it occasionally made his eyes cross when the Geek Squad flocked into the bedroom and spread out all over the place. He felt like he should have offered a communal retainer-washing trough in the middle of the floor, or something. But even the nearly-daily descent of Geeks didn't put a damper on his good feelings.

While it was a well-known fact that Jack couldn't cook, Jack was more than capable of calling in take-out. And Sam, bless her meddling heart, had come over the day before and cooked about twenty cans of soup, so that all Jack had to do was take it out of the fridge, pop it in the microwave, and make sure it got into Daniel like it was supposed to.

It'd been amusing, seeing her burst into his house, Teal'c in tow, carrying every kind of grocery bag known to mankind. She had pre-made sandwiches--peanut butter and jelly, cut diagonally, the way Daniel liked--made and stacked in airtight containers by the side of the toaster. There was every color of Jell-O cups sitting around the kitchen, except for blue. Jack figured those were sitting at home waiting for Sam and Teal'c and--

Stopping THAT thought in mid-track. Jack didn't want or NEED to be thinking about Teal'c, Jell-O, and Sam in the same breath.

There was every kind of clear soft drink--Sprite, 7Up, three brands of Ginger Ale, two bottles of Gatorade, and one of Pedialyte before Jack had put his foot down on Capri-Sun and apple juice, because Daniel was NOT actually five years old, and while he might be on a liquid diet for a few days... Christ.

Teal'c had just sat in the bedroom, visiting with Daniel while Sam had badgered Jack, drilling the re-heating instructions into his head until he'd threatened to kill her, and now, Jack was staring at the army of sandwiches and soup bowls. He piled two sandwiches onto Daniel's lunch tray, and popped a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup into the microwave. He added a bottle of ginger ale and a glass of apple juice, along with the vitamins Janet had sent home with him in a little plastic cup. The orange gelatin cup sat on the other corner of the tray, and Jack added silverware, then considered.

Added three more PB&J sandwiches for himself, poured a glass of milk, and got a packet of chocolate Pop-Tarts out of the cabinet. He toasted them while the soup was heating, and nearly burned himself on the hot pastries when he piled those on the tray too, and added the soup as soon as the microwave was done. "Don't get used to this, Danny!" he yelled out, balancing the tray carefully.

Same damn thing he'd said for the past three days, and yet, here he was, serving Daniel lunch in bed for the third straight day. Christ, he was a sucker for that archaeologist.

Who was asleep.

All of Jack's bellowing threats were for moot, because Daniel was deeply asleep, head back against the pillows, book pressed to his chest and his notes and paperwork all around him. His glasses were crooked and falling to one side as he took his second power nap of the day. They were getting less and further in between -- he could make it through the day with three or four little such naps, while three days ago he'd slept almost the whole day. An improvement, if he said so himself.

Of course, he wasn't saying much of anything, aside from snoring softly.

Which Jack found out a few minutes later, as he carried the tray into the room. He just sighed, because he had no intention of waking Daniel up... except, yeah, he did, because he needed to eat, and he needed his medication, and he could sleep after the hot meal.

Balancing carefully, Jack put the tray on the table beside the bed, table moved in especially for Daniel's convalescence, and leaned over, shaking his friend gently. "C'mon, Danny boy. Wake up. Lunch is served."

Daniel opened his bleary eyes, staring at the ceiling, before... "Oh," he said, clearing his throat and sitting up. Shooting Jack the eagle eye in case he decided to be a smart ass, he rubbed his cheek and heaved a jaw-cracking yawn. "More food?"

He didn't whine.

...of course not.

"Yep, more food, and more vitamins, right on schedule," Jack said, with entirely too much relish. He perched on the side of the bed, and started unloading the tray. "We got peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, two for you and three for me, a chocolate pop-tart each--hey, hands off the milk buddy, that's mine too--juice and ginger ale for you, chicken and wild rice soup, aaaaaaand...." Jack picked up the gelatin cup and dangled it in front of Danny. "Jell-O!"

Daniel made a face. A big, gruesome, disgusted face. "Jack, didn't your mom ever teach you about the foods that go together and the foods that don't?" he asked, sitting up a little more with a grimace and a tug of the blankets closer around his lap.

"Hey, blame Carter. She's the one who came over and commandeered my kitchen to make all this for you. I'm just the patsy she left behind to serve it up." Jack cleared the tray and made sure all of Daniel's food was with easy reach, and then Jack took his own and kicked back in the chair at the end of the bed as he dug into the sandwiches.

"Sam could eat -- " He stopped the thought right *there*, his blush turning his cheeks crimson, and cleared his throat as he looked down at the food. "Jack... thanks."

"For what?" he asked, through a mouthful of peanut butter, so it sounded more like "bur-wah?"

"For everything," Daniel said, and smiled himself as he picked up a sandwich. "Janet said I can go back to my place tomorrow, though. I know you've got to be sick of me."

Jack shook his head, nearly strangling on the sandwich until he got the milk to wash it down with. Then he made a face, because what in the *hell* had possessed him to drink milk instead of something good. Like, you know, *beer.* "No way," he wheezed, when his airway was finally clear.

Which was what Daniel had expected, actually. "Thanks," he said again, and they ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. Daniel polished off a sandwich and a little bit of the soup and juice, but that was all his stomach could handle without serious problems.

"You're welcome," Jack said, glaring. There was no way in *hell* he was letting Daniel out of his sight. "How you feeling? Want me to call the Geek Squad and call off this evening's little powwow?"

"They're really offended you call them that, by the way. And your little cracks about the retainers and horn rims have got to stop. Remember, Jack. Scientist types know whole ways of torture you would never see coming. We're all insane -- have to be, after eight years of college."

"Yeah, but I trust YOU, Daniel. You'll keep them away from me because torturing me is your personal pastime, and don't you think I don't know it." He grinned over his milk glass.

Daniel grinned, there and gone again, and glanced up. "A lot of things about me are your personal pastime."

"Yep. Like keeping you out of trouble. Full time job right there." He gave Daniel a wink.

Not exactly what Daniel meant, but he wouldn't push it. Instead he swung his legs out from under the blankets, legs in flannel fleece pajama bottoms that Jack had insisted on, as well as the socks, and straightened. His back tugged, but as he straightened it was better, and he was able to walk to the bathroom without any problem. He closed the door behind himself and sighed.

While Daniel was in the bathroom, Jack dragged his fingers through his hair with a huge sigh. He cleared the mostly-uneaten tray out of the bedroom and dumped it on the dining room table to be dealt with later, and he went to work on picking up the papers that had fluttered to the floor when he'd moved the tray.

Once they were back in place, Jack sat back down, and stared at the bathroom door. The last time he'd offered to help, Daniel had all but torn his head off. "Daniel?"

"I think I'm capable of using the bathroom, Jack. Would you like to come in and monitor the situation?" Daniel asked, sugar sweetness, through the door.

"The thought had crossed my mind!" Jack yelled back.

Daniel muttered under his breath and turned the sink water on after getting one of Jack's towels down from the linen closet. With efficiency he washed his face, his hands and his neck. Once he got to that point, though, he realized he couldn't get his shirt up over his head and exhaled slowly. "Jack?"

"Yo!"

"Can you give me a hand?"

The sound of applause filtered through the bathroom door as Jack walked across the room, and peeked his head in, still clapping.

Daniel glared, so hard his glasses moved on his brow-furrowing forehead. "Are you done?"

Jack gave a little cough as he slipped into the bathroom, and closed the door behind him. "Yeah, for the moment. What can I do for you?"

Yes, well. "Never mind, now. I can do it myself."

Jack frowned. "Daniel... c'mon. If I couldn't give you a hard time, who could, huh?" A gentle pat to his shoulder, and a squeeze to the back of his neck.

Daniel may have graced him with more grump, had Jack not touched the nape of his neck, where the dog tags he hadn't taken off were nestled. Oh. He cleared his throat a little, looking up heavy eyed. "I wanted to wash my neck, but my shirt got wet."

"Well, I think I can take care of that." Jack slid his hands over Daniel's sides, and started tugging the t-shirt up. Slowly and carefully, he rolled it up, exposing Daniel's stomach, accidentally bumping the appendectomy scar, and easing it up to his chest with a little smile. "Left arm up first."

"Ow," Daniel said under his breath, face scrunched. "I feel like a three year old," he muttered, eyes half closed.

Just like he had whenever else Daniel had needed his help, Jack just gave a little grin instead of nuzzling against the bare skin there, because he had no idea if he was welcome or not. "You're not. You're just tired, Daniel. I mean... C'mon. Almost four days with no food, no water, no sleep, and keeping another wounded man alive with you? You've earned the right to be catered to a little."

"Try telling that to Janet. She's a tyrant. You'd think I was in the middle of World War three," Daniel muttered, and looked up at the two of them in the bathroom mirror. He looked pale and beat up, bruised, but slowly going back to his old self. Jack looked...tall, golden, handsome, in his t-shirt and jeans, with the gray hair that was softer than it looked.

He liked Jack's dog tags better on himself than on Jack. And if he tilted his head just a little, well then.

"She's just trying to take care of you, which, for once, I agree with her on, so shut up." He met Daniel's eyes in the mirror, and slowly eased Daniel's shirt off the other arm, then brushed his fingers lightly over his dog tags on Daniel's neck.

Daniel's Adam's apple bobbed. "She's like my mother," Daniel murmured, never looking away from those eyes. "And if she's my mother, what are you?"

"Hopefully, no relation whatsoever," Jack answered, dropping the shirt onto the floor, and then reaching around his waist. The wet cloth was easy to find by touch, and Jack brought it up, wiping along Daniel's chest and then over the back of his neck. "How's that?"

Better than good. Fantastic, even.

The cloth stroked over his sticky, clammy neck and he closed his eyes against the sigh that escaped through his nose. The warm, wet cotton gently wiping away the sweat around the dog tags left the metal cool to the touch, cooling off his overheated skin while starting a fire further down in his gut. He tipped his head to the side, ignoring the crinkle and rustle of the bandages on his back. "Good," he murmured, eyes finally sliding closed.

Jack didn't stop with the careful wipes, just slowly moving the cloth down Daniel's back as far as he could. Every time he saw the bandages, it made him frown, because he'd seen the healing lash marks the day they'd come home, when he'd helped Daniel change the bandages, and he'd see them again tomorrow morning, when they changed again after Daniel's shower. He paused in his gentle strokes to wet the cloth again, wringing out the excess water as he dragged it over each of Daniel's shoulders, and then down each arm. "How's a hot shower in the morning sound? Right after breakfast? Hot shower, fresh bandages, and real clothes if you feel like it. One of your Geeks swiped your civvies out of your locker."

Daniel's lips curved, and he cracked one eye open. "What you mean is semi public nudity for which I will have been properly caffeinated, Janet bandaging me back up, and then...actual clothes," which surprised and pleased him, "and maybe we can take a walk if it doesn't snow."

"Nope, I mean a shower, here, in my bathroom, because I'm not hauling your ass back to the Mountain to have Janet Frasier do something I'm damned capable of doing myself," he said, leaving the cloth around the back of Daniel's neck for a minute as he picked up one of the fluffy towels from the counter, and started drying Daniel's skin. "I'm perfectly capable of changing a damned bandage, Daniel."

"I know," Daniel said, his eyes traveling down Jack's arm, where scattered scars peppered the tough skin. Hard skin, with harder muscles underneath, powerful as a horse. He helped Jack dry him until Jack's towel swept over his chest, and the tags, and nearly jolted at the pleasure that gave him. His glasses slipped down his nose with the movement.

Jack wasn't nearly dim enough to not notice. He'd been trying, granted. He'd been trying to not notice for the last three days, and failing miserably, just like he failed this time. "Arms up," Jack said, shoulders nudging them up. They settled around his neck, which surprised him, and Jack's drying strokes slowed down over Daniel's stomach before the towel fell to the floor entirely. Quietly, Jack raised a single finger, and pushed the bridge of Daniel's glasses back up his nose, and then gave a little grin.

Daniel's arms went to Jack's neck because he couldn't lift his arms any further without it hurting. Or, at least, that's what he'd swear by if asked. The urge to kiss him was nearly more than Daniel could bear, but he had the feeling that doing so would be the wrong thing to do. He was trying to hold on, he really was.

Mouth may have been off-limits, but when Daniel turned his head and skimmed his lips so gently over Jack's wrist it was like he hadn't touched at all. Just a small touch.

Jack gave a small groan, and let his head fall forward, thudding against Daniel's temple. "First you want to kill me. Then you want to kiss me. Danny boy..." He just let it trail off.

"I really want to kiss you," Daniel said, hoping that he conveyed the right amount of, oh, desperation. He frowned, thoughtfully, rubbing his cheek gently against Jack's. Their stubble rustled against each other. "Words are only words unless there's somewhere to put them. I've spent my life putting them into context. I know about love, in a scientific sense -- there are entire Sumerian clay tablets devoted to the histories of men and their wives, from the moment they're married to the moment they both die. Entire monuments and civilizations have been built in the honor of spouses and lovers, cities built on the memory of cherished daughters, a hundred thousand men slaughtered for a single woman. Our history, as a species, is shaped by love. I've been lucky enough to feel it twice in my lifetime." He closed his eyes.

Jack just shook his head, and let his fingers trail over his dog tags against Daniel's skin. "I'm not... good. With words. Not like a certain linguist I know, who can spit them out like water." Little glare, at that. "I'm... just an old soldier who occasionally gets decked for saying one thing, when all he meant to say was, he didn't want you feeling guilty about anything, because... it's time. I'm not saying get over it. I'm saying... it's okay to move past it. If you want to."

"It hurts," Daniel said, and tightened his eyes shut. "I can eat and have sex and its *okay*. A year ago, I almost couldn't get up in the morning." And Daniel didn't have to explain more than that. Jack had lost his son, he understood. "I *am* really sorry for punching you, Jack."

"Like I said. I'm sure I deserved it. If not for that, then one of the ten thousand other times I've swallowed my size twelves." He wiggled his feet to make the point. "And yeah. It hurts." He let his arms wrap around Daniel's waist. "But it doesn't have to. I know it's hard, but... you gotta realize that going on is just a testament of how wonderful a woman Shau're was, because she taught you to love so much, that you can still do it after she's gone." A little eye roll. "God, that was painful."

Daniel's shoulders shook against Jack's. When he looked up, rather than crying, he was laughing, eyes dancing and dimples winked on. "We actually got through it without babbling. That's actually fascinating. I wonder if it's our approximate distance from one another. When we're further away, I tend to sound like a skipping CD. You just scratch your head and scuff your feet a lot. We're improving," he said, and wound his arms under Jack's, elbows along his ribs and his hands hooked gently around Jack's shoulders.

"It's your fault," Jack groused. "All this..." he waved his hands around behind Daniel's back. "*talking.*"

"I'm a linguist. It's natural. But, you know, there's something else you could do to occupy my mouth," Daniel said, smirking just a little.

"Mmm... there's a lot of things I could do to occupy that mouth," Jack agreed. "Like, feeding you the rest of your lunch, because you ate like a bird." Teasing grin as he kicked the bathroom door open. "Back in bed with you, Dr. Jackson."

"No, Jack. It's just you and your pie fixation. It's got your whole view on food all skewed," Daniel said, but didn't let go until he gave Jack's shoulders one last squeeze. He didn't know what this meant for them and the weird.... thing they had going on, but whatever it was, he had a feeling they were going to be okay.

He let go with one last touch and pulled his clean t-shirt on. Both arms, then over the neck, which didn't hurt, and then back to the bedroom.

"Hey, there is *nothing* wrong with a good slice of pie, dammit," Jack glared. He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from helping Daniel back into bed. "Pie's one of the best foods around. Goes with anything--ice cream, coffee, more pie, a meal, you name it. Everything's good with pie, you can get it in any flavor, hot or cold, and it's the one thing the commissary doesn't fuck up because they get them pre-made."

"Did I ever tell you I make the homemade kind?" Daniel asked, as he slid under the sheets with a low sigh, upsetting his books, but they'd be okay. "My foster mom, Sheila, taught me when I was about fourteen and went through my one and only rebellion phase. I learned how to cook all sorts of things."

Jack had slouched in his chair, but at that, he sat straight up. "You've been holding out on me, Danny? You cook *and* bake pies? Who do I have to kill to get one? Anybody you want, just tell me. They're gone, as long as there's hot pie waiting." A little lick of his lips.

Daniel snickered. Loudly. "It's been ten years, but I'll bet I can make you something." He pulled open the sheets so Jack could get in too, pushing some of his books onto the floor. "A friend of my parents, who'd later become my archaeology professor, found several of my mother's notebooks that she'd given to him for safe keeping years ago. After I read them, I realized I'd been running from her, and my father and grandfather, and that ignoring my true passion would give me nothing but unhappiness."

Jack kicked off the comfortable brown loafers he'd been wearing around the house, and accepted the invitation without a word, sliding into the bed beside Daniel and pulling him in close, so that Daniel's head rested on his shoulder. "And your true passion was... old things?"

"Well, not so much old things, but the stuff written on old things. I had a choice at that point, culinary school or UCLA." He let Jack pull him close, and sighed, holding him right back against the firm strength of his chest. "UCLA was pretty scary at fifteen, but I never regretted it."

"Let me guess; that's where you met... Christ. You told me about her--him! On nine-oh-niner. The guy, that helped you deliver babies. You meet up with him there?" Jack looked down at Daniel. "When I was fifteen, I was definitely not thinking college at that point."

"Blair," Daniel said. "And believe me, I wasn't thinking college either, but I was bored. I grew up on digs in Egypt and Iraq. Orange County didn't have a lot to offer me."

"Blair! That's right." Hey, Jack felt like he'd done good to remember anything that Daniel had said to him on the planet. He frowned briefly as he remembered Daniel's parents, and how his childhood had ended, and he gave Daniel a soft kiss on the forehead. "I bet there's a lot of places that didn't have a lot to offer a brain like yours." A little grin. "Who teaches Thinking Outside The Box 101 again?"

"Not many people," Daniel said. "UCLA bored me too. More work, but the same brain-dead drones who were just wash, rinse, repeating stuff from sometimes grossly misprinted books. My sophomore linguistics class, for instance, had textbooks by Budge. I *hate* Budge. You gotta wonder if he ever even studied the Rosetta stone, with the way he translated the glyphs on Ramses the Second's temple and....that's probably more than you needed to hear," he said, and shifted a bit. He glanced up under Jack's chin, tracing Jack's throat with his finger, over stubble. "Where'd you go to school?"

Jack's eyes were only a little glazed over. "You were so... *earnest* when you showed up at the Mountain for the first time. Catherine had just recruited you, and you came in and re-did in a few weeks *correctly* what it'd taken months for everyone else to do. I really, really disliked you. I even called you a geek. Which, granted, you still are, but it's a term of endearment now," he added quickly, then shook his head. "Place called Hard Knocks."

"Well, they were using Budge. I hate Budge," Daniel muttered. "One day, when the program goes public, I swear I'm going to organize my notes and have it printed. I've got a better system," he said, and shook his head. "You have a lot of life knowledge, Jack, but you play dumb. You're probably the best tactician I've ever met, and I say this having met politicians."

"Trust me, Daniel, I'm not nearly as smart as you think I am. I just have a talent for making people underestimate me. That way, when I do something right, it's a shock. Throws people off-balance, makes it easier to deal with them when they don't know what the hell to expect from you." Jack couldn't help the smirk.

"That what you were doing when you sucked my cock down your throat, Jack? Throwing me off balance?" Daniel asked.

Jack didn't even blink. "I think that's what's generally called a blow job," he answered. "Though it's been a while, so the terminology might have changed."

"Blow job's a classic, but there are variations now, like 'giving head', for example," Daniel said, completely serious.

Jack made a face. "I'll stick with the classics. Blow job's good enough for me."

Daniel rolled his eyes but fell quiet there against Jack's shoulder, eyes falling to half mast as he studied the hairs peaking up from Jack's t-shirt. Curly and gray. Just like he'd seen a million other times.

He wondered, abruptly, how he'd only ever been friends with this man. it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Jack was...that he'd always been...

"Hey, Jack?"

"Yeah?" He was just as quiet as Daniel, letting his fingers stroke lightly through the spiky ends of Daniel's hair.

"You know I...you know."

"Yeah. I know." Awkward moment of silence as Jack fidgeted, scuffling his toes against each other and digging his heels into the mattress, all he could do since he wasn't standing. "You know... same?"

"Oh, yeah. I... I know." And he did, and it was... so great. Just... "Yeah." He looked up. "And you want to...you know. Even if you could get court...uh... martialed?"

A quiet snort. "Of all the things I could get court-martialed for, Danny, this'd be the least of it." Aaah. easy to make a joke, anything to get away from the insane babble. "Because... yeah. It's... yeah. Y'know?"

"I... I know." His ass knew, too. "But… if we're gonna...you know...we need to make a few rules."

"Rules. Like what?" Jack's eyebrow had the Teal'c crook going, the one that said, *This is gonna be good.*

"Like, we take turns. I may...*like* you in my ass, but that doesn't mean you own it," Daniel said, seriously.

"I don't think we've had any problem with that so far," Jack pointed out. "In fact, if my memory serves, we're two for two each." He used a finger in Danny's dog tags--because that's how he thought of them now--to pull him closer. "And yes, Danny, I *do* own it. Because if I find out anyone else has been in it, I'm going to have to kill them."

Daniel's belly turned to water. Tugged by the tags. Nnnughghnn. He pushed his thigh between Jack's legs and pulled him just as close. "We're not two for two. You ruined the books in my office, and one of the times that night, you were almost completely asleep. So unfair," he groused, squeezing the leg between his thighs.

"Ohhhhh, yeah." Jack gave a lazy, half-lidded grin. "The books. And hey!" He turned a glare down to Daniel, even as he slid his hand down Daniel's back. "I wasn't the one coming all over the books, y'know. I have respect for the--" Jack cracked up before he could finish the sentence. "Written word!"

Daniel glared, and shut Jack up in an age old method.

By sealing his lips over his.

Daniel was not, in any way, a shabby kisser. He'd brought women's knees to water with his mouth, had a talent for knowing how to suck and when to suck -- all those years of learning different languages had made his tongue agile. All he had to do was murmur in Arabic for his tongue to do all the right things, his own fingers sliding down to Jack's hip and pulling him close. "No," he whispered, filthy, in his ear. He sucked on the lobe. "You came inside me. I felt it for hours."

Jack closed his eyes and kissed back. His tongue slipped and slid around Daniel's, feeling the vibrations of the strange words murmured in his mouth as his hands slid over Daniel's sides, down over his hips, then back to anchor in handfuls of firm cheeks. He yanked Daniel close, carefully as he could, arching when Daniel's mouth slid over to his ear. "Tell me... what it felt like," Jack demanded hoarsely. Daniel's tags jingled between them, chafing against his skin.

"It burned," Daniel whispered, licking around the shell. He groaned, low in his throat, at the memory. "I felt it inside, wet, slick. It slid down my thighs when I stood straight...I could smell you on me, everywhere." A strange, horrifying, beautifully erotic sensation. "It hurt for hours. Every time I sat down, I got so hard I thought I'd put a hole in my pants," he whispered, lips curving against the side of Jack's neck.

Jack gave a little shiver at that, and rolled completely onto his back, so that Daniel was plastered to his chest. His hands eased out of Daniel's pajama bottoms, slid up his chest, and one fisted in the dog tags. Using the grip on the metal chain, Jack hauled Daniel's mouth up to his own, shutting up the litany of beautifully filthy words with his tongue pushing its way into Daniel's mouth. He was careful as he could be, with half his mind already in his pants, not to jostle or squeeze anything too hard as he rubbed against Daniel, letting one of his lover's legs fall between his own as he thrust.

"I've become a masochist because of you," Daniel hissed, his hips moving against Jack's, their bodies tight and the pressure high. He would have said something else if Jack hadn't tugged him -- dear God, by the chain around his neck -- for another hard kiss that Jack controlled. He lifted up only to tug his glasses off and throw them onto his books on the night table before sliding his fingers through Jack's hair and tugging sharply to get that mouth back on his.

"Masochist?" was all Jack managed to choke out, because when Daniel reared up to toss off his glasses, that had to be the hottest thing that Jack had ever seen. He dove in, attacking Daniel's throat with his teeth, barely feeling the vibrations of Daniel talking as he bit and sucked, and didn't fight when Daniel yanked him back.

Didn't really stop to think that Daniel couldn't *answer* him while they were kissing, just kept Daniel's leg between his own, rubbing up against it as he sucked hard on the slippery tongue that Daniel was teasing him with.

Daniel kissed until he needed breath or he'd suffocate, and he let go of Jack's mouth with an explosion of air, moaning low and deep as he panted and sucked on Jack's throat, his neck, his Adam's apple, fingernails scratching down Jack's arms. "I like the pain. I *want* the pain. It makes the sex so much better, and when you hit my prostate...*God*," he groaned into a bite on Jack's jaw.

"So... that's a go for the lotion again?" Jack panted out, words exploding out with harsh breaths. He brought Daniel's hand down, down to his groin to rub against the hardness growing there as Daniel responded to him.

"You come near me with that lotion and I'll kill you," Daniel panted, then groaned out loud when Jack led him right where he wanted. He responded eagerly, nearly tearing the bottom of Jack's pants off as he slid his hand in past denim and warm, sticky underwear to the heavy cock that slapped into his hand. He tugged it out into the air, squeezing and stroking it while his mouth moved down, down, down.

Jack's breathless laughter choked off when the room's cool air hit his hard cock and he shivered. He almost shivered himself off the bed, but for Daniel's weight on him, and--

Jack groaned, wrapping his arms around Daniel and glaring at him, pulling him back up to the top of the bed. "Shouldn't... be wearing yourself out! Hurt yourself again," he grunted, rubbing his hands soothingly over Daniel's shoulders and chest, palm rubbing each hard little nipple. "Let me. When you're better, you can do anything you want."

"Fuck off," Daniel gasped, biting Jack's belly button. He didn't even think about it when his mouth moved instantly to wrap around the hard length in his hand. He sucked hard, lapping at the head for several long moments, making Jack hard and needy before he let go with a dirty wet pop and slid his cotton covered thigh back between Jack's thighs for him to rub.

"That's the--" Jack gasped when Daniel's mouth wrapped around his cock, and he arched his back, pushing the length into Daniel's throat. "Idea!" he shouted, breathing heavily as he fell back to the bed, rocking his hips into each of Daniel's licks and sucks until he was released.

Almost instantly, the welcome pressure of Daniel's thigh pressed against his wet cock, and Jack thrust urgently against it, hips still rocking in the same rhythm as he slid his hands back under Daniel's t-shirt, then started shoving it over his head.

Daniel lifted his arms as much as he could while busy with Jack's own shirt. Which he didn't bother pulling off, of course, just pushed up to wrap his mouth around stiff nipples and suck as hard as he had on Jack's cock, knowing exactly what it did to him. He reached down, fumbling with the elastic waist of the pajama bottoms he wore, tugging them down sharply.

The first touch of skin-on-skin contact made him groan loudly into Jack's nipples. It was easy enough to reach across Jack's body, squeeze a dollop of lotion on his hand, and then take the both of them in his head, stroking them together. The rough bump of the heads was enough to make Daniel's eyes roll back in his head.

Jack wasn't content until he got the shirt entirely off Daniel's body, and tossed it into the floor.

The cold slide of lotion against his skin shocked him out of the red haze that Daniel's sucking on his nipples had put him into, and he reached down to wrap his own hand around Daniel's. The added tightness, the wider girth of both hands stroking put their cocks into alignment, heads scraping along each other's shafts as they rocked.

One leg rose, to hook around Daniel's thighs and pull him down, and Jack winced as his knee twinged in doing it. But it was worth it, to feel the sudden shift and press of weight against him, which did nothing but drive their cocks harder and closer together.

When Jack yanked him Daniel fell against him and rolled slightly, which just made Jack roll with him until they were almost side by side, still rutting furiously against each other. Hot, sweet, agonizing pleasure made him growl low in his throat, bucking into Jack's hand as the heads of their cocks bumped against each other, flat bellies and hard chests pressed tight. it was only a matter of lacing his fingers in Jack's hair and tugging him to his mouth for a furious kiss, throwing his leg over Jack's hip and moving them hard and fast.

Jack's mouth accepted the furious kiss hungrily, snuggling Daniel close between his legs as he slowly let go of their cocks, squeezing Daniel's shaft tightly in farewell. It was a battle within himself to abandon the delicious kisses for even a moment but he managed to move them enough to get to Daniel's ear. "You feel like evening the score?" he panted out, biting Daniel's ear hard before moving back to the kisses, which he devoured like a starving man.

"Uh!" Daniel grunted. The bite at his ear sent a shock wave down his body, clear to his toes, which curled against Jack's jeans. He continued to buck against Jack despite the pressure being gone, mouth sucking at Jack's throat as he whispered in his ear.

Daniel lost his mind. He pushed back down Jack's body, sucking the furiously hard cock back into his mouth, fingernails raking down taut thighs. There and gone again he left the hard cock and sat up, pushing Jack over onto his belly with a flutter of a falling pillow and the rumple of blankets underneath, which he shoved out of the way.

It was a fever. Plain and simple. He was caught up, hooked, addicted to this gray, scarred body, with its golden skin and imperfections and absolute beauty. The musk of him, the taste of him, the feel of him. Daniel forgot himself when he was with Jack, and that relief, that pleasure, that ecstasy, that simple joy of being with *Jack* was worth more to him than all the gold in the world.

He didn't hesitate, when he pulled Jack's hips up, spread those cheeks, and buried his mouth between them.

Jack didn't even stop to question Daniel rolling him over, or to ask if Daniel felt like doing this. He just moved when Daniel moved him, and his fingers slid under the pillows to grip the sheets tightly as Daniel's tongue flickered over him. Daniel had been the first man to do this to him in a long time, decades even, and it was like a wholly new pleasure every time Daniel did it. The second time, now, and it felt more amazing than the first as Daniel's tongue speared into him, sliding in and out. He groaned, pulling himself up onto his knees and spreading his legs a little wider, feeling absolutely decadent as he encouraged Daniel's licks as much as he could.

Daniel didn't just like doing this to Jack. He *loved* doing this to Jack. The way he cried out, his fingers knotted into the sheets, his hips squirming and thighs trembling. The way he shook when Daniel took his firm dick in hand and stroked with each lashing of his tongue as he buried it deep, sealed his mouth tight around the little hole, and sucked as hard as he could.

The suck felt like it was liquefying Jack's brain. He could swear he felt it melting, sliding down his spine, and right out of his ass with every suck. Even his toes curled, forehead rubbing against the pillows as he buried the scream in the pillows. His fists yanked the fitted sheet up off the mattress but he didn't *care* because the suction was still happening and he was feeling hollow, achingly so, and ready to plead for Daniel's cock to fill that emptiness. "Daniel!!"

The scream made Daniel moan into his mouthful, eyes squeezing shut as his hand squeezed Jack's cock. Oh God yeah, that was good. His muscles protested but his cock did not, thumping against his belly as it twitched. He let go of Jack's dick only to grab the chain from around his neck, yank it off, and with a twist of his fingers and wrist he wrapped it around Jack's dick and balls, snug underneath, not to impede orgasm but just so he...could feel it. He laced his fingers in the chain and stroked again, sucking harder, as hard as he could, before lashing his tongue in deeper.

Jack gave another loud cry, wordless this time, as Daniel's hand swiftly wrapped the dog tags around his cock. The flat of the tags themselves rested against his balls, cold metal against warm skin and they twitched, throbbing against the metal as he arched his back into Daniel's stroking. Going to go crazy, going to lose his fucking *mind* as Daniel sucked it out through his ass, and he shuddered hard, his cock humping through Daniel's grip.

Daniel continued for as long as he could, eternities or seconds, it was hard to know, before he couldn't take it anymore. He pulled his tongue free, mouth and jaw aching, and bit Jack's ass before sliding, trembling, off the bed. He threw open the side table drawers, rooting inside, looking for...bingo.

The tube of KY.

The warming kind.

He climbed back onto the bed, taking care not to touch his cock because if he did he was going off like a rocket, and opened the bottle quickly. It went onto his fingers slick as oil and he warmed it into his hands before leading two fingers to Jack's body and sliding them in at the same time. Slow, careful....deep.

Jack's entire body tensed, and then relaxed as Daniel's fingers slid into him. Immediate tension, because oh, God, yes, finally, pressing *in* instead of sucking out, then slow relaxation as his eager body pulled Daniel's fingers in deeper, wiggling just a little to invite a harder push in. He forcibly slowed his breathing, and then couldn't help the gasp as the lube in his body started to warm, a slight tingle as he squirmed harder on Daniel's fingers.

The squirm on Daniel's fingers nearly did him in, but the tension kept him from losing control. "Too much?" he gasped, pushing in past the second knuckle. He slowly pulled his fingers out a little and pressed in again, opening Jack's body to the intrusion, slow and sure.

"Not enough!" Jack yelled back, looking over his shoulder. "Not enough." He squirmed again, sucking more of the lubed fingers in, panting softly.

"Good," Daniel snarled, and pressed them in all the way to the second knuckle, and scissored his fingers slow and careful inside Jack's body. He pulled them out and gently thrust them back in, over and over, until Jack's body opened to him. When he came back, it was with three fingers, which he bunched and pushed in, slow, careful, deep, a firm hand on the small of Jack's back.

"Daniel, please. C'mon." Jack's fingers were digging into the mattress, and his legs were spread as much as he could manage. One fist let go of the mattress, and slid down his chest, pinching each of his nipples and gasping hard when it made his muscles twitch around Daniel's fingers. He pinched again, gasping louder with the harder pressure, and then slid his hand down to his cock, still wrapped in his tags and sticky with pre-come.

"Gonna give it to you," he said, voice low and rumbling. He slapped Jack's hand away and led it back up to the sheets, even as his cock bumped against Jack's thigh. He wanted to try something, but he didn't know how Jack would take it. Now, caught up in such intense pleasure, it slipped before he could stop it. "I'm going to buy you plugs, Jack. You're going to stick it up your ass," he jerked his fingers in hard just to show Jack what he meant, "To keep you open, dilated, grasping, so all I have to do is slide it out and thrust into you. Screw you into the wall. You want that, Jack? You want this," he grasped Jack's cock, giving it a hard squeeze, "to be bound up? Tied up, hard until I gave you relief? You want me to buy you clamps, so even as you move, your nipples," he moved his wet hand from Jack's pre-come soaked cock to the firm nipples, "are so hard they hurt? Pinched and tight?"

Did he?

Jack wasn't sure he had enough brain power to assimilate anything Daniel was telling him right now, but boy, to what few cells remained, it sounded like a very, very good idea. Watching Daniel's back on the missions while at the same time, having physical and incontrovertible proof that Daniel was just waiting for a chance to take care of him.

Jack's entire body shuddered in response to that idea as he lunged back, giving positive cries and nods as he gripped the mattress again, just like Daniel had guided him to do. Couldn't think enough to formulate full answers, but did the best he could. "God yes."

"God yes, *Sir*," Daniel snarled, his voice a command, as he screwed his fingers in tight once more before pulling them out. He stroked a wet fist over his burning cock, adding more KY which warmed and *God*! He lined himself up with one movement, pulled back, and thrust in, careful not to hurt but not gently, pulling out and thrusting in all...the...way.

He grabbed Jack's hair, yanked him up and back, so his ass, packed full with Daniel, was pressed to Daniel's groin and his back was bowed against him. "Say it!" he growled, taking hold of Jack's cock.

Jack's cock burned as the lube from Daniel's fist spread over his skin. It felt *deliciously* good and the teeny working cell in the back of his mind reminded him to thank Frasier for it.

That thought was immediately knocked out of his head as Daniel slowly sunk into him, and then yanked his head back by the hair. Jack's eyes glossed over with the pleasure of it, the extra yank back pushing Daniel just an extra centimeter or so deeper that felt... so good. "S-sir!" he yelled out, squirming against Daniel, tags jingling quietly as Daniel's fist gripped his cock and held him still.

"God, I *love* you," Daniel growled, bit Jack's neck hard enough to leave a row of teeth marks dotted with blood, reared his hips back, and thrust forward hard enough to send them both against the head board. "Hold on!" he commanded, yanking Jack's hands to the board and head post, and began a wild, rough pace against Jack's prostate, which he knew by heart now, pounding in against it as one hand stayed on Jack's cock, pulling at it, the other at his nipples. His chest was plastered to Jack's back, mouth at his ear, and as he moved he hissed, "Imagine a chain between the clamps here," he tweaked a nipple, hard, "and here, so I can pull and make you scream. Imagine wearing your plug underneath your clothes, knowing any moment I could find you, fuck you, and bury the plug back in, keeping all my come inside you. Imagine smelling it, smelling *me* all day, knowing my come is inside your ass and not being able to do," a twisting thrust, "a thing," another, "about it." He pounded forward.

*God, I love you.* Jack didn't hear a single word Daniel uttered after that. He vaguely felt Daniel guiding his hands to the headboard of the bed, and he gripped it tightly, his knees shifting to take more of his weight as he prayed for the wild, hard fucking he hoped was coming.

Didn't hear the beautiful things that Daniel was threatening him with, because his head was already arched back, neck corded and exposed as his eyes closed. His grip on the headboard made his knuckles white, and he was *smiling.* Grinning, ear to ear, panting through it, grunting as Daniel drilled against his prostate, and nothing else mattered. Because "I... love you too... Danny."

"You'd fucking well better, because you're *mine*, and no one has what's *mine*," Daniel growled. Jack shifted, moved, as if preparing himself, and Daniel felt a dark, wild thrill rise up to choke him. Jack was moving to take it, to take it all, and Daniel was ready to give it.

He lost control. It was as easy as that. Whatever he'd been holding onto slipped out of his fingers like water, and Daniel showed Jack just how powerful he was.

He fucked Jack so hard the bed shook. Pounding thrusts that drilled in and yanked out, and when Jack shuddered Daniel reveled in his power over him, in the pleasure he was sharing so bright and hot that he could feel it radiating from Jack's skin. His fingers were clamped around Jack's cock, jerking and thrusting fast and hot, like lightening, balls slapping against Jack's ass and Jack's slapping against Daniel's fingers. Hard and fast, over and over, biting marks down the column of Jack's throat and sucking the one at his neck into bright, vivid redness. He scraped his nails down Jack's chest, over those hot nipples, before up to yank his hair, pull his head to the side, and kiss him with all the wildness inside.

And Jack didn't fight it, because it felt *right.* Daniel, with him, like this, without being influenced by anything. This was Daniel, the same energy and determination he attacked his books and his missions with was getting turned onto Jack now, and he was being attacked with the same intensity. And it turned Jack *on,* because being the focus of Daniel's attention for ANY reason was a powerful thing, but this took the cake.

The bites on his throat made his cock twitch in Daniel's fist, every one of them causing a jerk or a spasm, and he groaned, pushing his cock forward into Daniel's grip even as he surged back, seeking the next powerful stroke of Daniel's cock in his ass. Rules, rules, something about rules and switching off, and Jack couldn't have given a *fuck* because "Oh, God, harder, there, right there," and his brain effectively closed down.

He reached up and grabbed Daniel's hand at his nipple, squeezing the fingers tightly with his own before letting it fall again, head leaning back against Daniel's shoulders as he accepted the hotly animalistic kiss as he tightened his ass around Daniel's cock, bearing down.

"Come, goddamn you!" Daniel snarled into Jack's mouth among kisses, hot, lashing kisses. He pinched and kneaded Jack's nipples into erect hardness, high and hard and *big*, just like Jack's cock seemed to have grown more than he thought possible, swollen with his pleasure. He fanned the flame of pleasure higher, faster, the clink-clink-clink of the tags snug around Jack's balls so arousing, so powerfully erotic, that Daniel's body nearly hummed. Jack's pleasure meant more to Daniel than he could ever say, from the way he twitched and sobbed out to the spasms of his ass around Daniel's dick, that made him see stars.

He had appealed to Jack's submissive side. Now it was time to call out the lion.

"You want me tied up, Jack? Bound hand and foot, spread out on my knees, gagged, pinched, filled with the plug of your choice? You want to know I'm dying with it in me because it isn't moving, my dick dripping for you? You want to see me cry, see me beg for you to fuck me, God, fuck me, just like you're crying out to me?" He dragged his tongue over the moisture that had trailed from Jack's eyes down his face. "Always wanted to put a leash on me, Jack. Leash, and a collar, so you can tug me into your lap, demand I suck your hard, wet cock," a rough squeeze, there.

No.

Wasn't going to come yet. Couldn't.

He growled softly at the demand, squeezing hard against Daniel's cock and tossed his head back as his eyes flared open. Daniel tied up and offering himself to Jack, just like he was offering himself *now* was more than Jack could stand. He dropped his hands from the headboard and flattened himself on his belly before pushing backwards.

All the way back until Daniel was leaning against the footboard and Jack's back was to his chest. Then Jack started to ride, pulling Daniel's hand around his hip to stroke his chained cock.

"Uuuh!" Daniel roared, thumping back against the footboard hard, pain flaring, but God it just led to the pleasure, which flooded him all over. With one hard push Jack had taken control again, had the power again and he roared again with ecstasy, yanking at Jack's cock as Jack rode him...backwards. Up and down, so tight in this position because Jack was bearing down on gravity and holding himself up, so tight that Daniel's eyes crossed. He scraped Jack's nipples, jerking his hips up with each of Jack's thrusts down as his hand flew on Jack's cock.

A small part of Jack's mind worked to keep his weight off Daniel, but that was deep down, instinct that he wasn't even aware of as he fucked himself on Daniel's cock. He grunted softly as Daniel's hand slid over his cock, and the scraping nails against his chest was a pleasurable little glory that just *added* to the waves of it cresting through his body.

Decided he didn't like it, and winced sharply as his back complained about the twisting around, but his ass gripped Daniel's cock tightly, protesting the rasp of skin on skin even as he was unwilling to give up the intimate contact as he turned himself around, so that he was finally facing Daniel.

Looked down at his flushed, sweaty face and leaned down, biting Daniel's neck in almost the same place he'd been bitten as he rode again, cock jerking hard. "H-hurry up," Jack panted into Daniel's throat, the only warning he could give as he rubbed the leaking head of his cock against Daniel's hard stomach.

"You first!"

Harder, faster, moving so hard the headboard was slamming against the wall, a picture frame fell and crashed, the blankets and pillows and everything else on the *floor*, so hard where they fucking. So good, so masculine, so powerful and rough an *real*. Daniel could have *never* done this with Shau're, just letting go because it felt so good, and one hand grasped one powerful ass cheek as the other jerked Jack's cock, over and over and over, faster, faster, faster.

Jack nodded in response; the shaking of the walls, the falling objects in the hallway, he really didn't care, arms going to wrap around Daniel's waist and hold him close as he shuddered.

The hand stroking his cock, rubbing the little balls of the bullet chain over the throbbing shaft, and that was it. The same pull-tug that Jack knew Daniel used to jack himself off, he was using now on Jack, and that was all he could stand. He tried to look down and *see* it instead of just feeling the rhythm he knew better than his own, but all he could see was a bright white light behind his eyes as his cock exploded.

His ass locked tightly around Daniel's cock, squeezing it as hard as he could as he came. Jets of white come spurted out, thick and sticky as it rolled down Daniel's skin, and Jack was panting hard. His heart was thudding against his collarbone, it felt like, ready to leap out of his skin as he rode out the orgasm.

Jack locked around him and Daniel couldn't stop his orgasm.

He came forever. He came for ages. Every rolling muscle in Jack's ass sucked him harder, pulled his orgasm deeper, until he screamed against Jack's throat as he shot between them. Ecstasy so powerful it brought the hair on the nape of his neck up flew through him, made him choke on the cries, made him writhe under Jack's body as he pumped his orgasm into Jack's willing, gorgeous body.

Jack's arms stayed around Daniel's waist, rocking them together as he squeezed Daniel's orgasm out, groaning in deep satisfaction as he felt it filling him up deeply.

His weight shifted until they rolled to the side, Jack landing on his back with a breathless oof as Daniel landed half on top of him, and the first thing Jack did was crack an eye open and grin at Daniel's tired face over him. "Y'okay? Didn't hurt you?" He made no other moves to let Daniel go; on the contrary, he kept him plastered tightly to his chest.

"Oh, God," Daniel moaned, low and deep, squeezing Jack tightly. "I should… be asking you," he whispered, panting hard, fingers tight and stroking over Jack's arms. "God," he moaned, laying his head on Jack's chest. He shuddered all over with ecstasy, cock twitching as it softened inside of Jack's body.

Jack grinned again. "Not the one... who ended up in the infirmary," Jack teased. "Fit... as a fiddle."

Daniel didn't have the energy to thump him, so he nipped at the nipple by his cheek instead.

His eyes closed, his body relaxed, and the only sound now was the soft whir of the fan on overhead, the low sound of the TV in the living room, and the wind blowing against the window.

The best sex he'd ever had.

In his life.

...bar none.

"Ow," he said, pretty much out of habit, because the bite to his nipple was more pleasurable than painful.

Then he wrinkled his nose. The sheets were in the floor, the blankets were in the floor, and there was a big, honkin' wet spot right smack in the middle of the mattress. "Oh....kay. Next time, we're doing this on your side of the bed. Or we're getting rubber sheets. 'Sup to you."

Daniel's body shook with laughter and he lifted his head, bleary and sweaty and sticky, and covered his mouth over Jack's.

If anything, just to shut him up.

==========

Daniel's eyes traveled down the length of the report, until he got to the blinking line.

A moment later, his fingers tapped on the board.

Daniel crunched on a walnut cookie, sighed, and shoved Jack's feet off his desk again.

Jack had finished his report four hours ago--two pages, and he'd said everything he needed to say. Daniel? Had taken four times that, and he was *still* typing.

As soon as his feet hit the floor, he put them back up on the desk. "Are you done yet?"

"Not since the last time you asked," Daniel said, chewing and elbowing Jack's feet down again. He put one booted foot over them, and when Jack tried to pull them up he stomped down.

Jack wiggled uncomfortably in the chair, the booted foot on top of his own keeping his feet flat on the floor and much less comfortable against his full backside. He watched Daniel type a few more lines. "Are you done *now?*"

Oh, Daniel knew, if the slightly devious brow he arched Jack over his eastern Bantu mask had anything to say about it. "Not yet," he said, and popped the last of the cookie in his mouth.

"There, he said, saving it before hitting 'send' on his email, and leaned back in his chair to finish chewing.

"Finally," Jack groused, feet still on the floor, and he glared balefully at Daniel. He snagged one of the cookies and shoved it into Daniel's mouth, on top of the one he was currently chewing, and his face spread into a grin. "That should keep 'em busy for a few hours, going through that sixteen page monstrosity," Jack said, as he settled back in the chair. "Whatever shall we do?"

Daniel didn't smile wickedly.

Much.

"I need a light bulb. I think I'll go down and get one from the supply closet on the twenty fourth floor."

Oh yes. The one no one ever used because there were rats, a vicious rumor spread by Daniel himself.

He smiled, eyes bright, and left on a flounce.

Jack nodded, and stuck his hands in his pocket. "I'll help," he agreed, sauntering out the door after Daniel. "Someone'll have to protect you from the rats."

THE END

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