Title: Hammurabi's Code
Pairing: Jack O'Neill/Daniel Jackson, Teal'c/Samantha Carter
Rating: NC-17, please.
Spoilers: Beneath the Surface
Categories: m/m
Summary: SG-1 discovers a planet who's society was pulled off earth at the height of Mesopotamian development. The ruler of the world, King Hammurabi, is hiding something from them, and Jack must protect his team while finding out what that is.
Notes: co-written with Diana. 

- = - = - 

Sam Carter was a girl of many talents. Not only could she put a naquada reactor together, but she had the art of assembling both an M-16 an a Harley Davidson from memory, in twenty seconds flat. The M-16, of course, not the bike. She could put mascara on in the car, had a dozen home remedies for the flu, had latrine digging down to an art form, and could claim in full honesty that she'd spent most of her adult career on other planets.

And yet she still had no sense of direction.

It had taken a total of twenty minutes for her to get lost in the labyrinth that was the palace... temple... wherever it was they were staying. Had it not been for Teal'c flawless tracking skills she may have very well ended up lost in this place until someone came to physically look for them, and that wasn't acceptable after spending a mortifying night unconscious.

Teal'c was more than a little amused, though he kept most of it to himself as he always did. Teasing, he had found, was a Tau'ri art form that he had not yet mastered, though he studied it in his three teammates. It was interesting, he had noted, that the majority of the teasing went on between DanielJackson and O'Neill, or DanielJackson and Major Carter. It seemed that the teasing did not cross the lines of O'Neill and Carter's ranks, and Teal'c respected that. Therefore, he did not feel at ease to tease Major Carter about her ill sense of direction.

"Do not feel badly, Major Carter. Jaffa are well trained in navigating labyrinths such as this; many of the Gou'ald have these types of passages on their ships, to make insurgence and mutiny difficult," he explained, as he led them back towards the rooms that had been assigned to them.

Carter didn't pout. She wasn't the pouting type of girl. Still, she was mildly frustrated with having been unsuccessful, and she followed alongside the mountain that was Teal'c. "Do you think Goa'uld had a hand in designing this place, Teal'c?"

"It is possible, considering the construction of the passageways and hallways," Teal'c offered. "But I do not know for certain. It may be that the inhabitants of this palace merely modeled it after the Gou'ald temple, to show their appreciation for their god."

"See, it's the god part," Sam said with a wince, shaking her head. She cradled her gun closer to her chest and winced at the hard afternoon sunlight coming in through the windows. "Daniel and the Colonel said they'd be back by tonight. They were just finishing climbing down the temple when Daniel called in. What's your take on these princes?"

"My... take?" He paused, as he defined the term in his own mind. "I am not certain what to believe about them. I do know that they are hiding something from us. They were not surprised to see me, nor were they frightened of me, as the one who tended your illness was. That would lead me to believe they have no fear of Jaffa, though why that is, I am not certain. Nearly all the races who have had Gou'ald contact fear the Jaffa that serve them."

"For good reason. No offence," Sam added quickly, and bit her lip in thought. "All this technology SG13 claimed to have seen is nowhere in sight. Doesn't that come off as strange? It's like they hid it all."

"No offense taken." Teal'c looked around. "I would like to know why it was hidden, and precisely how long we were unconscious. I regained consciousness before the others, but we had already been brought to the city by that time. Would it seem possible to you that the appearance of a Jaffa would have caused them to hide everything that had been so openly displayed to the others?"

"I don't think so. From what Colonel Dixon said, it was everywhere. I think these people are waiting for something, Teal'c, and we just happened to show up."

Teal'c looked around again. "Then perhaps we should wait for O'Neill to return and see if he has found anything out from the princes," he suggested. "And if he has not, then we should begin looking ourselves."

- = - = - 

By the time the four of them got back to the city, the sun was setting. Daniel had been on a lot of field expeditions, and a lot of physically taxing missions with SG1, but no matter how much he wracked his brains he couldn't remember being this exhausted before. And he was. Exhausted, that was. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, every muscle ached, all his joints were sore and throbbing, and his back felt like it was going to give in at any minute. He couldn't imagine how Jack felt, but trekking twenty miles in each direction, and that god awful, if not interesting, ziggurat, was enough to tire the healthiest of men out. And he was healthy, no doubt about that. He didn't know what he wanted more -- to burn his clothes and take the longest shower of his life, sleep for two days straight, or eat a whole pig. Raw, if need be.

And what was worse -- the water they'd brought wasn't going to be enough to last them through the next few days. They were going to have to drink the water in the city. Daniel, knowing this was coming and having learned his lesson last time, grabbed the first aid kid out of the MALP and made sure it was stocked full of stomach medication and suppositories. Before the week was over they were all going to need them, no doubt. Except Teal'c, that bastard.

Jack was moving more on autopilot than anything else.

Tired. Tired didn't even come close to describing it. Exhausted came a little closer, but still was nowhere in the same league as how he felt.

He wasn't even paying attention to the aches in his knee and his back, because if he did, he was just going to stop, possibly cry, and never ever move again, ever. But he couldn't do that. So he just kept moving, ignoring the strong twinges, focusing on the back of Daniel's head as they walked.

When Daniel's steps slowed and Jack was able to catch up with him, he looked at his friend out of the corner of his eye. He'd seen what Daniel had packed, and part of his brain reminded him to buy the damned water filter at the store next week and pack it in with his gear. "I'm going to buy a water filter after this," Jack promised.

"Brita," Daniel panted. There was an alarming wheeze in his chest, which he figured was his asthma acting up in this god awful wet climate. He didn't even stop as he drank from his canteen -- if he stopped he wasn't going to keep moving. He took a few of the pills Janet had given him before they left for that precise reason, and swallowed them down with another drink. "I grabbed pain killers, glorious pain killers," Daniel said, as if this was a secret. Not that anyone could hear them but the princes, but they were trooping on cheerfully as if they made this trek every damn day. Damn twenty year old muscles to the furthest reaches of hell. He glared at the two bronzed backs ahead of them with hatred, and hoped Sam would let them take a shot of morphine. Vicodin would work too. Valium would be the best.

"Oh, God. Thank you. For that, I could promote you." Jack didn't let himself sag against Daniel in relief at the mention of painkillers, but it was a very, very close thing. But he did bring his hand to Daniel's chest and rubbed lightly. "Slow down; breathe deep," he said, brow furrowing at the audible wheeze coming out of Daniel as they walked.

"Can't. If I slow, I'm going to fall somewhere and stay there," Daniel said, and glanced at Jack's knees and the slight hitch in his step. "I think we both will. Almost there," he muttered, and touched the back of Jack's hand and squeezed it to show he was okay. Nothing he hadn't been dealing with since he'd been a kid, anyway. It hadn't slowed him down then and wouldn't now. They were just getting old -- prematurely so, but being in their profession, it was impossible *not* to, after all they'd experienced.

Daniel did spare a glare for the two assholes in front of them. "Lookit how fast they're going."

"Yeah, and if you don't slow down, you're gonna fall anyway, and I can't drag your ass that far," he said. He pressed his hand tightly against Daniel's heaving chest as Daniel squeezed it, and then let it fall, instead moving his other hand to rest on the small of Daniel's back. "They're used to this shit. I say we shoot 'em."

Jack wasn't the touchy feely sort with anyone but Daniel, and even then it wasn't like this. The touch, between his nipples, had been welcome. It had calmed Daniel down enough to get in some deep breaths as they walked. But the hand on his lower back, right where his thick vest ended, was intimate. Had Daniel been less exhausted he would have questioned it. For now, he leaned into it and sighed. "Know what I want? A bath. A very long, very hot, bath. And food. And a bed. Sam won't mind."

"Yeah. Yeah, I could get down with that. Bath, food, and bed. In that order, because if I get to the bed first? Screw the bath, I'm gonna sleep for about three weeks." A deep groan as Jack stepped on a rock, and his balance wavered, but he straightened immediately. His hand still stayed on Daniel's back, lightly touching and making sure that he was moving along all right even with the wheezing, which was starting to disappear. "To hell with anyone who minds. Let them come out and make this hellacious trek and see how THEY feel afterwards."

"God, and we've got to do it again in a few days," Daniel said, and it was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. When Jack stumbled Daniel decided enough was enough and put his arm around Jack's waist, hanging onto his vest and the strap of his side arm so they could share the chore of walking, even if the body heat coming off of Jack was nearly unbearable. "That is, if the marines don't have to come in and give us a hand."

"Hours," Jack corrected, sliding his arm around Daniel's waist and accepting the help, so that he was half walking and half dragging, while Daniel was half dragging him. "At least, I've got to drag ass back out there in twelve hours and check in with the General." Deep sigh, and a groan. "Maybe I'll skip the nap and just have the bath and dinner." A belated thought. "These guys were riding. Horse... things. I'll bet they'll lend us a couple to ride back here, so all we've gotta do is climb up and down."

Daniel shook his head tiredly. "Sam brought the new MALP radio thing she and Siler made, that bounces the signal off the worm hole. We can contact General Hammond from the palace when he opens the 'Gate," Daniel said. Tiredly. Because he was tired. So very tired. "I think there's something in the air, Jack. Harder to breathe, more work to move. And it's so hot."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. But don't think about it. Just... move." With the hand that wasn't maneuvering them along, he picked up the soggy bandana from the back of Daniel's neck and squeezed it, letting the lukewarm water slide over Daniel's head, chest, and face.

The touch, and the water, were so intimate and wonderful that Daniel could only sigh in the pleasure of the sensation as water cascaded down his damp t-shirt and over his vest. It felt good, so damn good in fact that he arched his back into it, and squeezed Jack's waist in thanks. Daniel sighed. "Thanks," he muttered, and tiredly looked up at the two princes looking back at them.

"No problem." Jack did the same thing a second time, wringing out the last little bit of water that remained in the bandana, and then wrapped the barely-damp cloth back around Daniel's neck. "That should help until we get back to the palace." He returned the gentle squeeze to Daniel's waist, and picked up his pace, just a little bit. "C'mon. Let's go, just a little faster, and we'll be inside before you know it," he murmured, trying to keep Daniel motivated.

And Daniel believed him, because Jack never lied to him. Ever. And as they were walking there Daniel forgave him for making assumptions about him, and being an overprotective Mama O'Neill, and an insulting prick, just like he always did. He was a forgiving kind of guy, after all.

He'd never know how they made it into the palace. In fact, most of it was a blur. He very, very vaguely remembered the screaming sobbing woman, Yilenna, an enormous sunken bath tub that was full of floating flowers and scented blossoms that made him smell like a garden. He remembered shoveling food somewhere near his face, but at that point he'd been flying high on adrenaline and the need for sleep. He remembered Sam, Teal'c, the worry in their faces, and being dosed with more glorious medication that made him so loopy that he didn't remember being wrapped in the thin, light weight cotton robe and being put to bed.

So it was with a fair amount of surprise when what felt like an eternity later, he opened his eyes to Jack's chest. Where his cheek was pressed. Where his arm was thrown over the wide expanse. His hips and knee, where his leg was lying in between Jack's inflamed knees, which were spread for him. Where his groin was pressed close to Jack's hip.

Where he was as hard as nails.

Jack was still asleep. He remembered getting Daniel back to the palace, and he remembered, vaguely, that Lin and Daphon had helped them back to their rooms, and he was fairly certain he didn't dream telling Lin to go fuck himself when he tried to take Daniel off his shoulder and carry him alone. Though, the sense of self-satisfaction Jack got out of that memory might well have been a dream for all he knew.

He was sleeping soundly, with warmth pressed all around him and draped over him, so that the aches and the pains seemed like nothing but the nagging memory they were. He just shifted into the warm blanket over him, moving when it moved, and pulled it clo--

Wait. Blankets didn't move. At least, not any damn blankets he'd ever run into. Wishing for toothpicks to prop his eyelids open with, Jack pried one eye open to stare blearily at the person on top of him.

At the naked person on top of him, because the lump under his ass was, after a moment's investigation, the white robes he vaguely remembered being wrapped around him before he fell into the bed. "Um..."

He raised a hand up and shook Daniel's shoulder gently. "Daniel?"

The shaking caused Daniel's body to move, and Jack was suddenly aware of something else poking his hip, where he'd moved the robe from, and oh, shit. "Oh, shit."

Jack froze. Daniel froze. They froze together. Very carefully, with very, very, very little attention brought to... erm... Daniel's less-than-little problem he rolled off of... yes, 'shit' put it nicely. He rolled onto his back and swallowed, hoping for sleepy nonchalance when he murmured, "Sorry," into the dark room. They couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours -- the sun seemed to have gone down recently, and it was early evening. He rose, hoping the dark hid his red face, and swallowed the grown at the pain in his body. He didn't want it to sound like... oh God.

Daniel Jackson. King of mortification.

"No problem," Jack grunted, rolling in the complete opposite direction, so that he was sitting back--to naked back!!! his hysterical brain screamed--back with Daniel. "Shouldn't... ah, I shouldn't take up so much of the bed anyway," he continued, rubbing his hands over his face and staring down at the little tent in his lap. Nobody asked for your appearance so shut the fuck up. "Go on back to sleep. I'll... I'll move around a little, get stretched, get rid of some of the stiffness."

A second after he spoke, Jack realized what he'd said, but couldn't take it back.

Daniel couldn't help it. He dropped his head and choked off a giggle, which in turn brought on more giggles, which in turn... well, he wasn't giggling, dammit. He was...snorting. Chuckling. Something manly. Slightly hysterical, yes, but still. He was straight. Jack was straight. They were straight men who hung out together... straightly. Straight. Daniel blamed his body -- it hadn't been curled up to something warm and alive for four years, ever since Shau're was taken, and he sure as hell didn't count Hathor. After he'd buried his wife, he hadn't wanted to get close to anyone. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had any kind of sexual impulse that wasn't more than a nuisance.

At least the plumbing still worked.

"Daniel? You--yeah." Jack yanked up the crumpled robe from the bed and belted it firmly around his waist before sitting back down on the side of the bed. They were still back to back, but Jack looked over his shoulder. "You okay, Daniel? This... isn't really a giggling situation here," he said with a frown. In fact, it was the furthest thing from. And the last thing he needed was Daniel having a nervous breakdown. "Look, we're both exhausted, and neither one of us has been in the same bed with anybody in a long time. Natural reaction to a warm body."

It was the perfect giggling situation. This entire situation was ridiculous to the extreme, whether Jack admitted that or not, especially in light of their conversation earlier in the day and Daniel's vehement response to the implications in Jack's tone over Lin's attraction to him.

He choked on the snorts, glanced over his shoulder at the wide width of Jack's bronzed back, and said, "I'm really not, but thanks, Jack. Sorry again. It's been too long since I was… uh... well." He cleared his throat and sobered up. "Sorry. Just thinking about the irony of our conversation about Lin today and... this."

"I'm going to deck that son of a bitch," popped out before Jack could stop it, because the first mention of Lin made Jack remember, quite vividly, Lin trying to carry Daniel into the bedroom.

Which just got Daniel laughing all over again, his bare toes wriggling in the carpet. He couldn't help it -- it was hilarious.

Okay. At the second round of giggles, Jack had to smile. "Okay. So maybe not punch him, because he is our host. But I'm going to shoot him, Daniel. The next time he tries to lay a hand on you--or anyone else on the team," he added hastily, considering the situation, "I'm going to shoot him." A little cough. "So, uh. You want to... first, or should I? Because you know Carter's gonna have something to say about this, and I'd really hate to kill her."

Daniel looked at the door silently for a good long moment. "She won't be back for a while, right? I vaguely remember her saying she and Teal'c were going to, uh, take a tour with Hammurabi."

Jack's brow furrowed. "I thought she and Teal'c were already back from the tour?" He rubbed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "What are you asking me for, I remember less than you do."

"So...it's just us."

"Looks that way," Jack finally agreed after a moment.

Jack was hard. Jack. Jack was uncomfortable, and Jack was hard.

Daniel had no idea what he was doing. He felt impulsive and wild and drunk on fear, and a little giggly too. Maybe it was that fear that had him pushing in the first place, because Daniel didn't back away from anything or anyone. Maybe it was the fear that kept him from moving. Maybe it was the guilt over his dead wife -- or maybe it was because of her, blessing him to find happiness again. Maybe he was delirious from exhaustion.

He'd woken up hard as rock, and he wanted relief. Now. He was too tired to get up, too tired to move really. He didn't even think his legs worked right now. But if he was going to get any more rest, he needed an orgasm. ... now. He didn't say a word -- for the first time in years he was literally too tired to flap his gums, a rare pause in his usual monologues.

Slipping his fingers under the sheets to grasp his cock felt so damn good he gasped.

"Daniel? What in the--oh." Jack's head snapped back around to stare at the wall. The heat of Daniel's back and shoulders radiated through Jack's body as he tried to deny the fact that yes, Daniel *was* starting to jack off on the other side of the bed there.

Not that it was an unusual occurrence, no. They'd done this more often than not, sharing a tent and tucked away in sleeping bags with quiet grunts and little groans, but not...

Not quite this bold and brazen about it, and Jack felt entirely too weird with the situation to tell Daniel to stop. Because really, why would he? It's not like he was watching, and Jack snapped his eyes forward again, and took a deep breath.

Touched his own erection under the cotton robe and shivered, his shoulder sliding slickly against Daniel's slightly sweaty skin, and he jerked his hand away.

Jack's little arch and rub was all Daniel needed. He heaved a low, expressive, deep moan of pleasure at the skin-on-skin contact and squeezed his cock more firmly. The head of it was slickening up nicely. Daniel was tired, but he wasn't too tired to murmur, "Can't sleep if not. Need to sleep." He punctuated this with a rough pull on his cock, and groaned in his throat. "God I'm tired, Jack. I'm sorry about this."

"No problem," Jack strangled out, half-turning his head so that he could speak to Daniel calmly. "I understand entirely."

He was very, very tempted to do the same thing he'd done time and time before, but for some reason, he just couldn't. He stroked his cock again, watching it jump as his body shivered again, sliding against Daniel's shoulder as he leaned back just a little more, giving him a firmer surface to rest against.

And as soon as Daniel was done, Jack was going to abandon him to the bed and find the first lockable door in the palace and make sure nobody interrupted. Because this was just weird.

Daniel was a perceptive guy, and when the familiar motion of Jack's hand, the tug pull flick he was so used to, didn't come, he stilled his hand on his cock. "This is bad," was all he said quietly, and blushed so hard he was sure his whole body lit on fire. "Jack..."

"It's not bad, Daniel," he muttered, shaking his head. "I'm just tired. And considering whether or not I'll have the energy to get up and take a piss if I jack off." Lie, but it was good enough.

It was a fabulous lie, but Daniel was utterly humiliated. Not too humiliated to stop. But humiliated nonetheless. He squeezed hard on the tip, closing his eyes against the sounds in his throat as he continued -- faster. Harder. Tomorrow they would forget this had ever happened. It never took him long when he was this tired and this needy, and a few minutes later, minutes which felt like eternities, he finally climaxed.

He was thinking, God, I'm such an idiot as he was coming, sloppy and wet and everywhere, satisfying but hardly earth shattering. Enough to bring him relief, and that's all he'd wanted. A shameful orgasm, if that's what it took to go back to sleep. He sighed deeply and moved off of Jack's back, muttering a low, "Sorry," again as he wiped himself off with the edge of the robe and stretched back out tiredly.

"Don't be sorry at all." Jack gave a little grin over his shoulder as he watched Daniel stretch back out. "I've done it before and you never begrudged me, I don't see how it's any different." He yanked the robe tightly around his waist and back over his shoulders, tying it with a flourish and a knot just to make sure that what needed to be hidden stayed hidden. "You... uh, you want somethin' to drink?"

Kill. Me. Now. "No," Daniel said, voice slurred with sleep. "Thanks, though."

"You sure?" Jack turned and let the back of his hand rest against Daniel's forehead. "You're still flushed, and not just... from afterglow," Jack said, and was proud of himself for not blushing beet red.

Daniel opened his eyes and glared at him. Flushed? Could it be because he was mortally embarrassed? "Please go."

"I... yeah. I'm going. Just making sure." Jack got to his feet, and looked back over his shoulder again.

Daniel rolled over onto his belly as he liked to sleep, exposing most of his back as he did so before he tugged the blankets back up. God. God.

Jack reached out and fluffed one of the pillows that Daniel was lying against, pushing it under him more comfortably, and then pulled the blankets up the same time Daniel did. "I'll be right back."

Daniel, despite being as embarrassed as he was, felt sleep tugging sharply at his eyes. He couldn't quite help himself. Orgasm made him fall asleep --Shau're used to get so mad at him for falling asleep on top of her, which had actually happened more times than he liked to think about. He'd needed the relief, even if he'd gotten hard from Jack in the first place and it was kind of a gay thing to do.

But he wasn't. Gay, that was.

Yeah. Jack just watched Daniel fight falling asleep for those few seconds, like he always did.

He should have been very worried that he knew Daniel's post-orgasm routine as well as he did. But he knew it. Quick clean-up, then fighting sleep for about a minute or two before giving in and sleeping.

Jack found it endearing, actually, and he couldn't help smiling and petting Daniel on the shoulder. "Go to sleep, cowboy. I won't wake you up."

"Emasculating prick," Daniel muttered into his pillow.

Okay, what?

"Excuse me?" Jack's expression changed quickly from amused to angry.

Daniel opened one eye and looked up at him. His eyes were bloodshot. "I wanted you to come with me."

Okay, that was news. "Back up. Say again? Cause you know, I could have sworn I heard you say you wanted me to come with you."

Daniel nodded, as if this weren't news. "You always do. I did something wrong."

Yeah, Daniel had gone around the bend this time, Jack was sure of it. "What... are you talking about? You didn't do anything wrong, dammit!" Except... y'know, be naked in my bed and everything.

Little did he know it, but Daniel was so tired that what was making perfect sense in his head wasn't coming out right. "You always come with me. Always. I like hearing you come.. makes me feel less alone. My best friend. You're not lonely with me, right?" Daniel's voice slurred with sleep. "I embarrassed you. Sorry."

Jack sat heavily back down on the bed, and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "You didn't embarrass me, Daniel." He squeezed gently. "And no, I'm not lonely with you." A quiet pause. "You're probably the only person that I don't get lonely around." And that was pretty much the extent of Jack's ability to reassure. He just kept his hand rubbing gently on Daniel's shoulder because he couldn't think of anything else calming to say.

Daniel turned his face so his cheek touched Jack's arm once before he rolled back into his pillow.

Within seconds, he was asleep.

Jack didn't move until he was certain Daniel was asleep, and the first thing he did was groan. He let his head drop back on the pillow with a huge sigh, and then forced himself back up. He got off the bed entirely, and looked around desperately for another small room to hide in.

The bathroom was the only option, and Jack nearly tripped over his own feet running to get to it, and pulled the heavy brocade curtain closed over the doorway.

He wrapped his hand around his cock, tightly as he could, stroking and squeezing the shaft as he jacked himself off. It was the work of quick moments for Jack's experienced hand to do its work, and he splashed himself clean with water from the bubbling fountain in the wall.

Clean and slightly refreshed, Jack re-entered the bedroom. Looked at the dresser where he'd tossed his gear, decided it was going to be entirely too much trouble to get dressed again, and looked at Daniel in the bed.

If he got back in that bed with Daniel, he was fairly certain there was going to be another embarrassing moment for the both of them.

If he didn't, Daniel was going to be hurt, because he already thought something was wrong with him. And because Jack would have rather gouged out his own eyeballs with a dull and rusted spoon than see Daniel hurt, he sat carefully on the side of the bed.

On his stomach, without his glasses, Daniel looked a hell of a lot more fragile than he usually did, and Jack just pulled the blanket up to hide the curve of his hip before lying back down beside him, and closing his eyes. "Sweet dreams, Danny boy," he muttered softly.

- = - = -

After the eighteen hours of sleep interrupted only once, by the unfortunate waking up incident, Jack felt... so much better. He vaguely remembered hearing Sam and Teal'c talking to Hammond, and he just couldn't drag himself up out of the soft cushion of sleep and painkillers to get up and talk himself.

His back didn't hurt, surprisingly enough, and neither did his knee. In fact, *nothing* hurt as he lay in the nice, warm bed, with soft blankets and a warm--

Crap.

Hadn't he said it was going to happen?

Jack sighed as he woke up, finding Daniel snuggled up to him again, and his fingers brushed idly through the ends of Daniel's hair as he shook his head. Hadn't he said there was going to be a nice, embarrassing situation for them all to wake up to, so early in the fucking morning?

He just... threw his arm over his eyes, pretended there wasn't a tent big enough to camp under rising from the sheets, and he poked Daniel. "Hey. Wake up. S'morning. Breakfast."

Daniel didn't often sleep like the dead. When he slept his mind was too busy, too filled with images and ideas and thoughts and half-done translations to get the deep sleep of his youth. But after pulling an all nighter, then hiking to and from the Stargate twice in a single day, Daniel slept like the mummies he'd so revered as a child, dead to the world.

So when Jack nudged him, Daniel was difficult in waking up. He shifted closer to the warmth, keeping his head propped up against a firm.... something. Shoulder? Ohhh... Jack.

That thought brought him awake faster than coffee ever could and he groaned in his throat, forcing himself to roll onto his back and away from the hot flesh that had been pressed against him from toes to head. God. God. He heaved a jaw-popping yawn and stretched, toes out, arms over his head and back bowed before he exhaled in one lusty gust and collapsed back onto the mattress.

He turned his head to look at Jack. When he spoke his voice was thick with sleep and grumbling in his chest. "More like evening," he muttered, and sat up with a creak in his back to reach for his glasses.

"No, it's actually morning." Jack held out his watch, which clearly read 0500. The sun was still rising, and the room was just lightening.

The lusty sigh that Daniel gave had Jack's toes curling, and he left his arm over his eyes so that he could to pretend not to see. "Higher and left corner of the dresser," Jack said, seeing Daniel fumble blindly. "You should really think about contacts.

"Allergies," was all Daniel said, but after making sure his glasses were there he collapsed back out again and yawned again. Jack, the most god-awful morning person on the planet, was usually up and chipper at this point, and that he wasn't made Daniel turn to glance at him a little. "You all right?"

Jack peeked out from under his elbow. Was he all right? Yeah, mostly. "Yeah, mostly."

"Mostly? Knees hurting you?" he propped up on one elbow, and that's when he caught sight of -- ohhhh. "Oh, uh... sorry. Want some privacy?" he asked, motioning around waist level. He blushed to the roots of his hair.

Jack just let his elbow fall back down. "No, no, it's fine." Little gesture towards Daniel with his elbow. "Unless you need it for yourself?"

Daniel blushed harder and glanced up under his eyelashes. "Uh, no. I'm fine. Uh...but thank you. I'm glad after M23-419 that you're not embarrassed about it," he said, the last time they'd jacked off together in their little pup tent one freezing night on that miserable planet.

"I don't embarrass easily." Which was mostly true. He didn't. "It kept us warm and got our blood flowing, and we didn't die of hypothermia. Always a plus."

Daniel smiled. "Always a plus. Besides, seeing Sam blush for two days was worth it," he teased, and rolled up to sitting. He stretched, the sheet falling into his lap and exposing most of his back and a good portion of his butt, until he snatched his pants from his pack, which sat beside his bed.

And if Jack peeked a look when he sat up, he'd never admit it to anyone, even himself. "How's your asthma?" he asked, leaning back to disentangle his feet from the sheets and bumping gently into Daniel's bare back.

Daniel scratched his hip idly and glanced over his shoulder. "Better. The medication Janet gave me last month seems to be doing the trick. It only really acts up on planets like this one, where the air is as wet as it is here."

Jack frowned at that, but nodded. "Did you bring enough or do we need to get Frasier to send you more through the 'Gate?" He stayed leaned against Daniel as he finally got free of sheets and the twisted up robe, and made sure it was tucked around his waist as he got up and walked to where he'd tossed his gear.

Frowned again at the dirty fatigues, and pawed through his pack for the clean t-shirt and camouflage pants, about all that he could stand wearing in the heat, along with his vest. "C'mon. Let's find something to eat and we'll talk to somebody around here about seeing if there's a laundry lurking around."

Daniel was sure Jack caught him looking. It was only a little look, but when Jack bent over all the muscles in his shoulders shifted and.. he cleared his throat and stood. In his pack he found toothpaste and toothbrush, soap, and good God in heaven, deodorant. He pulled out his extra change as well. "We should get down to the baths again. At this time of day there shouldn't be anyone there."

Jack's eyebrow raised. "You tryin' to tell me I stink?"

"Was I too subtle?"

Jack's face cracked into a grin. "Just a little. You know me, I don't do subtle."

"No, just loud and obnoxious," Daniel agreed, and grinned back. "Come on. And don't bother Teal'c and Sam -- they're in the room beside ours. She told me last night. Possible I dreamed it, but I don't think so. General Hammond sends his greetings, by the way."

"Tact is for wussies," Jack agreed, draping his clean clothes over his shoulder and tossing a thin, travel-size bar of soap at Daniel. "Don't forget to wash behind your ears."

Daniel caught it, and tossed back his extra pair of socks. "Don't forget your foot powder. I think Yilenna took your boots out back and shot them," he said, and after making sure his clean pants were hitched on his hips and buttoned enough to make it to the Baths, he left ahead of Jack.

Jack caught the socks, and raised his middle finger to Daniel's retreating back. "She better not have!" he yelled, picking up the socks, foot powder, and his own little green drawstring bag of toiletries along with his clothes.

His boots had NOT been taken out and shot, but they had been scrubbed within an inch of their lives, and he grabbed his boots, as well as Daniel's, and followed him down the hall.

He got a flash of bare back and green fatigues disappearing into the bathing room, and Jack straightened his shoulders as he followed, giving Daniel plenty of time to get settled into the water.

Oh, which he did. The enormous tubs, as big as swimming pools and filled with oils and flowers and wonderful smelling soaps, was a sin on his skin. He sank down to the nose in it, eyes closed, and waded gently before sitting himself on one of the built in ridges to sit down. It was lovely, and warm, and oohh yeah.

When Jack walked in, the only thing he saw above the water was half of Daniel's hair, his eyes, and his forehead. "Get a little deeper there, Danny, and you'll be breathing the water," he said with a snort, wading into the large sunken tub up to his waist before taking the robe off and batted away several of the floating water lily-like flowers that tried to acquaint itself with his anatomy. "I'm expecting fish to start nibbling my toes," he grunted, wrinkling his nose at the flowery scent as he settled on one of the risers across from Daniel.

Daniel opened his eyes and lifted up, rubbing the water from his face to smile. The dawn was just settling over the horizon, highlighting the dark room with soft color. Anywhere else it might have been... romantic. With Jack it was just comfortable.

He waded over and took a seat behind him, reaching out but only to undo the knot Jack's dog tags had gotten around his neck. "One of these days these damn things are going to choke you."

If Jack hadn't felt so relaxed in the hot water, he'd have batted Daniel away. As it was, he was entirely too comfortable to move, and he just gave a loud, long-suffering sigh. "I've worn them for twenty years or better, and they haven't strangled me yet." A beat. "I'm waiting for you to do that."

"There are more fun things to choke you with, but I can't think of any," Daniel said, and after jerking the last tag free of the knot he let them fall into the water. "General Hammond asked my opinion about having all social scientists at the SGC wear those."

"What, dog tags? If none of the others wear it, I'm gonna get a set for you. So next time you get lost? Somebody can stamp your ass with Air Mail postage and send you back through the 'Gate," Jack said with a snort, relaxing into the water as the tags lay wetly against his skin. "It'd be damn convenient to keep up with you; the next time you wander off, all I have to do is listen for the jingle of tags."

Daniel glared at that. "Would you like me to pant for treats and heel too?"

Well? Now that he mentioned it?

"No, I think just learning, dammit, Daniel, stay! will be good enough."

Daniel's glare turned to amused anger and he thumped Jack in the arm. "Bastard," he said, rolling his eyes, and grabbed his soap to start lathering himself up. Quick, efficient, mindless. "Linelos and Daphon asked us to be at breakfast with them today. Hopefully they'll answer our questions."

Jack let the bastard slide, because he really was being one. Not a serious one, anyway, but enough of one.

Then he cracked an eye open. "If they don't, can I shoot him?"

"No shooting, Jack," Daniel said, and ducked under enough to give them both some space and to scrub his shoulders and neck. They'd forgotten shampoo, but soap was soap, so he lathered his hands up, ducked his head under to get his exactly three hairs wet, and scrubbed his hands through it.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jack groused, going through his own little bag and pulling out his own little bar of soap. He ran it through his hair first, then his face, then chest and neck and finally, everywhere else, down to his feet. He gave a little groan of pleasure as his fingers massaged between his toes, and his head fell back in the water from it. "Oh... that feels good." Little grunt as he straightened back up, and he started scrubbing his fingers through what was left of his hair to get it clean.

That feels good. The little murmur sent a shiver up Daniel's spine he didn't understand, and he cleared his throat and looked away. A very quick, sideways glance told him Jack's...er...little problem was gone, but that didn't mean anything because Daniel's was making a reappearance. And in the back of his mind he remembered a dream he'd had overnight, where he'd sat back-to-back with Jack and came, and came, and it had felt so good only because Jack was there.

Oh, God.

"Uh, Jack? Did I...erm... embarrass myself last night?"

Define--" Jack spluttered a bit as he dunked under to rinse his hair, and then resurfaced. "--embarrassed."

Oh, God. He felt himself go hot and cleared his throat again. "Ah.."

"Linguist at a loss for words?" Jack's eyebrow rose again, very reminiscent of Teal'c, and Jack realized it was a quirk he'd picked up from his teammate.

Daniel's lips curved at that. "Indeed," he said, mimicking Teal'c himself, and with that the situation was diffused, his embarrassment gone, and his mind already easing away back into the problems at hand. "The Goa'uld here is Nebuchudnezzar, Jack. Post-Babylonian civilization with heavy Greek and Persian influence. These people were taken from Earth, between 1000 and 500 BC, possibly a little sooner than that. Not long enough for Roman influences, so it's before the turn of the century and Christ's death. Nebuchudnezzar was the last Babylonian king, and King Hammurabi is the first ruler of Babylon who created the Eye for an Eye system of punishment. He was harsh but fair, and its because of him that a lot of rules about marriage, divorce, and property were so highly valued in Mesopotamian society. What I don't understand is how Nebuchudnezzar fits into the System Lords. They're mosty Egyptian, with," he ducked down to rinse, nearly choked trying to talk underwater, and after he came up and coughed he continued on. "a few different deities mixed among them -- Lord Yu, for example, and Ba'al. Nebuchudnezzar had to be a minor Goa'uld, there's no other explanation. He may be hiding on this planet from the other Goa'uld."

"Or working for one of them," Jack said patiently. "Ba'al was a Canaanite deity, worshiped by not only the people you're talkin' about but the Israelites ran into him too, during their 40-year exile in the desert. Ba'al was on Earth too, kickin' around about the same time as the Egyptians were still worshipping their pharaohs as incarnations of the Sun God, which'd read to me like the big system lord infecting the Pharaohs with little snakes, and when one snake dies and can't move to another host, then that'd be the end of the dynasty and the start of a new one. Don't know why Ba'al couldn't or wouldn't be working along these same lines, with old Nebbie here holdin' down the fort while Ba'al goes about his Gou'alding." Then he snickered, at the astonished look on Daniel's face. "What? I listen."

Daniel's mouth was hanging open. It only snapped shut when he got a suspicious look on his face, and then rolled his eyes to heaven. "Jack, what have I told you about looking up Goa'uld Harems on the SGC database?" he demanded, glaring at him sideways even if he was amused. "Next time you want to know if the rumors about Ba'al are true, just come and ask me." But, he nodded, pleased that Jack had learned *something* even if it was in a seriously naughty context. "You're right, though. But somehow, I don't see it that way. When have you ever heard of a Goa'uld leaving a Stargate to the people, willingly? Even if there *was* a rebellion against him, he'd have wiped out half the population. And from what I've seen, and from the way Linelos and Daphon spoke about the temple, that isn't the case."

"Well? Maybe not. Cause... look at Teal'c. Junior there couldn't protect him from the swamp fumes, and I'd bet that the snakes can't protect the Gou'ald either," he said thoughtfully. "Teal'c's been in more hours of Kel-no-reem since we got here than I've ever seen him in before, and I can't imagine that the swamp gas is the only biological pathogen around here that'd poison a Gou'ald."

"Maybe," Daniel said. Something was still off, something serious, and he frowned as he waded, thinking. He blinked, focusing, and said, "I made passionate coupling with Augustus here."

"WHAT?"

Jack really didn't mean for his voice to raise quite *that* high. Nothing *rattled,* which was a good thing, but.

He bellowed.

Daniel looked at Jack impassively and waded over to an outcropping of rock made into the pool, where chiseled symbols had been carved roughly into it. "I made passionate coupling with August here," he repeated, tracing the words with amusement. "Huh. It looks like someone tried to shave off the words, but they're still here. Written in a variation of the ancient Greek alphabet, which is strange, considering the temple is all cuneiform."

Jack's eyes were almost crossing. "Graffiti??" he demanded. Not at *all* what he'd thought Daniel was talking about, and where had the rage came from? "You're translating *graffiti?*"

Daniel's smile was big and sweet. "Graffiti. You'd be surprised how much of it there are on other planets. The Goa'uld especially love leaving it in their temples. 'I fucked so-and-so here with my big dick' is the favorite. I break in new linguists at the SGC by having them translate graffiti, see how close they get to the meaning. If they pass, they're on."

"Graffiti," Jack repeated, for the third time. "Gou'ald graffiti." He closed his eyes, and breathed the flowery scent of the oily water in deeply. "So, there's Gou'ald graffiti here, that these people have tried to erase, which would mean this place, too, was once taken over by the Gou'ald and they'd been completely driven out?"

"No. This is graffiti some kid scraped in. Probably Linelos," Daniel said with a grin, and glanced back at Jack who was red around the face. He waded back over to Jack who looked like he'd been given a savage jolt of electricity and sat beside him again.

"Considering the looks he's been giving you? Yeah, I can believe it." Jack was cranky as he settled back onto the riser, and he gave a little glare out of the corner of his eye at Daniel.

"Don't start that again, Jack," Daniel answered, and glared back. Just a little. "Can I ask you something personal? And hey," he rolled over onto his knees on the bench and leaned over Jack's chest to get the other bar of soap so he could finish washing up.

"Yeah, you can ask--" Jack got cut off as Daniel leaned across him, pressing close.

He really, *really* wanted to shove Daniel off. Because what in the hell did he think he was doing, all but crawling in--oh.

Soap.

Daniel was after soap. Jack took another deep breath, and leaned his head back against the side of the pool. "You can ask anything. I might even answer."

"Well, it's kind of personal," Daniel said, but when Jack only looked at him, he said, "I just wanted to know if you bought into that Don't Ask, Don't Tell thing."

"If I buy into it?" Jack looked seriously at Daniel. "As in, do I think it's a good idea? Or...?" He left the sentence open-ended for Daniel to fill in the blank.

Daniel frowned. Wrong question to ask, apparently. He lathered his hands and scrubbed his shoulders. "Look, you practically bleed camo, Jack. I just wanted to know if that extended to.... well, you know." He glanced up. "Though your apparent severe dislike for Linelos is answer to that. It was a stupid question."

"No, it's not a stupid question. I dislike Linelos for a lot of reasons, actually, not the least of which being he's a lying son of a bitch who was hiding important information from us," Jack answered. "As for the policy? I think it's actually... not a bad idea, but not the best idea either. It keeps a lot of guys from getting their asses kicked unnecessarily, but that shouldn't be a consideration."

Daniel nodded, still frowning, still thinking, his expressive brows drawn tight. He let the subject drop, just soaped his shoulder and ducked down to rinse before glancing back at Jack. "Let's finish up here and go see if Teal'c and Sam are up."

"Your eyebrows are doing that thing again," Jack said with a sigh.

Daniel risked a glance under them. "Morning workout." Which actually made him stop, and frown a little. "Hey." He looked up. "Hey! Jack, I didn't need coffee this morning. How weird is that?"

"That's... very weird, actually," Jack said seriously, putting his feet down on the bottom of the tub and standing up. "I've never known you to be functional without caffeine."

"I haven't been. Not since I was twenty." He frowned. "Maybe it was the medication," he said, and climbed to his feet too.

Jack snorted. "If it was the medication, I'm going to have Janet hook you up to a constant IV drip," he said, giving Daniel a hand up against the slightly slippery pool bottom.

"I already asked. She said no," Daniel said, a touch mournfully as he took Jack's hand gratefully and climbed up with a rush of water and bare skin. He turned to help Jack up too. He picked up on a conversation thread he'd left over ten minutes ago. "Nebuchudnezzar, Jack. We've got to know what these people have done to drive him out of their city, and what they're still doing, and how Linelos and his brother fit into all of it."

Jack agreed, and got to his feet by balancing against Daniel's weight. He ran his fingers through his hair, and shook it lightly to get it somewhat dry. "So let's go make nice over breakfast and *ask.*"

- = - = -

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