The Date - Stargate Fanfiction by Remma

The Date

A simple, straightforward, easy as pie mission. That's all this was supposed to be. A long abandoned planet with traces of naquada in the soil for Carter, and a broken down old ruin for Daniel to play with. A quick recon, grab some samples, snap some pictures and home in time for the game. Crap. Shoulda' known better. Since when did SG-1 ever not get into trouble. It was all Daniel's fault. All he had to do was duck...how hard was that for crying out loud. Jack tried to convince himself that the strange, fluttering feeling deep in his gut at the sight of a still unconscious Daniel, now draped over Teal'c's broad shoulder was anger, and not worry. Shouldn't he be coming 'round by now. "Carter, shouldn't Daniel be coming 'round by now?"

"That was a pretty big rock sir."

"I'm aware of that Carter." Jack still couldn't believe how quickly it had all gone wrong. The mission had been a success, Carter was exited about her dirt, Daniel was as happy as a clam with the nick-nacks he was hauling back to the SGC for translation, and they were headed back to the gate. A good time had by all. They'd just moved into single file to go through the narrow pass that led to the Stargate valley, when Jack saw movement above them. He called out a warning to Daniel, who was walking directly into the path of a rockslide, but it came too late. Jack had watched in horror as Daniel was caught in the shower of stones, reaching for him and pulling him clear, but not before he'd been struck a glancing blow on the side of his head by a rock the size of a small terrier. For one, terrible moment, Jack had been sure he was dead, and the relief on feeling a steady pulse was overwhelming. Jack's concern had returned however, as Daniel remained unresponsive.

"Ja-ackk wha' appen?"

"Daniel? About time. Teal'c, put him down. Come on Danny, time to wake up now."

"Ow. No. Don't want to. Hurts. Ow ow ow. Goway. Ow."

"Okay, he's awake. Teal'c, pick him back up and let's get on home. "

"I'm not a child Jack. I can walk."

"Daniel, you've been out cold for nearly ten minutes. You need help."

"Well I'm fine now.'' Daniel rolled onto his knees and tried to push upwards, ignoring the pick-axes in his skull, and the nausea turning his stomach. ''Well... maybe a little help. And a Tylenol."

"So, basically, he's fine, right Doc."

"He has a mild concussion, a few cuts and bruises, nothing life threatening. I'll be keeping him in overnight for observation since he was unconscious, but I don't anticipate any complications. You can go on through if you like, Colonel. Sam and Teal'c are already in there."

Jack thanked the doctor and walked into the infirmary to join his team. He knew that he should be relieved but he couldn't seem to shake that strange quivering feeling inside when he had seen Daniel injured. He reluctantly admitted to himself that his feelings for Daniel went far deeper than he was comfortable with, and that he had been deliberately distancing himself from the other man because of them. Maybe it was time to stop running away. Pasting a grin on his face, he moved over to the bed, patting his friend awkwardly on the shoulder. "How you doing big guy?"

"Apart for the hole in the head, I'm fine. I don't know why I need to stay in here overnight. I still have the artifacts SG-11 brought back from P5X 739 to classify, and then there are the ones we just found today. I don't have time to lie around like this; I need to start working on them right away. Janet's just overreacting. Can't you talk to her Jack?"

"Daniel, you were out cold, you may have a concussion. No way are you getting out of that bed anytime soon. Don't even think about it. Now stop complaining and go to sleep."

"Aren't you supposed to stay awake if you have a concussion? Sam?"

"Technically, yes. But that's not because you risk dying if you go to sleep, it's just because the first signs that you need to look for are drowsiness and disorientation, and you need to be awake to spot them, of course....."

"Carter!"

"Sorry sir."

"Indeed DanielJackson, you are most fortunate not to be more seriously injured. You would be wise to do as Dr.Fraiser instructs."

"What exactly did she 'instruct' huh?"

"She said to get some sleep."

"See. I was right. Sleep Daniel, you can check out your rocks tomorrow."

"Artifacts." Daniel sighed in resignation knowing he was never going to win this one, so he down settled more comfortably into the pillows and was asleep within minutes.

Jack's first stop the next morning was the infirmary, but, surprise surprise, no Daniel. He had spent a sleepless night trying to figure out the reason for his unease, but all that had given him was a massive headache and a strange craving for peanut M & M's. Must be the sugar rush. He headed for Daniel's office, pretty sure he would find him with his nose buried in some book. He paused outside the door for a minute to try and collect his thoughts, feeling as though he was about to go into battle. What was wrong with him? Daniel wasn't the enemy, he was a friend. His best friend. He really needed to get over this...whatever it was. On that thought he entered. "Hey Daniel, feeling any better?"

"Fine Jack."

"Good, good. You know, you really ought to learn to duck."

"I'm really not in the mood for a lecture on landslide etiquette right now Jack."

"Well maybe if you listened more you'd get hurt less."

"Hey, don't yell at me, it was your fault I got hurt."

"What! How exactly?"

"You distracted me."

"I distracted you?"

"Yes, you distracted me."

"Did not."

"Did."

"Did not."

"You did. You yelled at me."

"I was warning you!"

"How was I supposed to know that? You distracted me."

"You were supposed to duck!"

"Well then you should have yelled duck."

"Dammit Daniel!" All the fear and the worry Jack had been fighting to contain was suddenly too much to bear, and taking two rapid steps forward, he pulled Daniel from his chair and pressed their lips together in a rough, clumsy kiss. It was over in seconds, and then Jack was back where he'd started, backed up against the door gasping in astonishment at what he had just done.

"You kissed me."

"Uh-huh, I guess."

"Uh, umm...uh...urm...are you....uhm... going to do it....uh... again?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Later. A little freaked right now."

"Oh, okay. Um..uh how long have you.....um...."

"I don't know. Awhile maybe"

"Okay"

"Daniel?"

"Jack."

"Daniel."

What?"

"Do you wanna go out?"

"What?"

"Out?"

"Yes, out. With me."

"What, like.....on a date?"

"Yes."

"Really. Wow. Cool. Tonight?"

"Okay.....um..should I ...uhh...meet you..uhrm."

"I'll pick you up."

"At my apartment?"

"No, at the zoo."

"Sorry.''

"S'okay. 7.30?"

"Okay."

"Right then."

"Right. I'll just.....go write some reports...or something."

"Right. I should.....um.....''

"Tonight then. Right?''

"Yes. Tonight.''

Jack rapped smartly on Daniel's door at 7.29 precisely, showered, shaved and nervous as hell. The door opened wide on the third knock to reveal an equally nervous Daniel. Breathing deeply to calm himself Jack stepped inside and handed Daniel his first date gift.

"It's a fish."

"Yes. It's for you."

"A fish?"

"It's a first date gift. Usually it's ....you know....flowers or something but that was a bit...girly, so I got you
the fish. It's an Angelfish. You like fish, right?"

"Yes, I like fish. That's... very.... thoughtful Jack. Thank-you. I'll..um..I'll just...um put it in water."

"Right. Good idea. So...are you..."

"Ready. Yes ....umm..shall we...ummm where are we...um?"

I booked a table at that new Egyptian place downtown, I thought you might.....um."

"Great, yes that's....um..great....thanks."

"This feels really weird. Does this feel weird to you?"

''Oh yes.''

"Look, Daniel, why don't we just go out for dinner, have a good time and if anything happens it happens if not..."

"So it's just dinner now, not a date?"

"It's still a date. I'm just saying that nothing has to happen tonight. We can take it slow and give ourselves time to get used to this."

"What if I want something to happen tonight?"

"Then it will"

Dinner had been perfect. Daniel had relaxed completely, helped along by some obscure, and ridiculously expensive red wine. They'd talked more in the last three and a half hours than in the whole of the last year, and Jack couldn't remember the last time he had felt so much at peace....so complete. This was so right, and the possibility that Daniel might not feel the same way was crippling him. As he pulled up outside Daniel's apartment block, Jack looked over at the man sitting beside him, a question in his eyes. The small answering smile was all it took to release the breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding.

"Coffee?"

"Oh yes."

"Daniel...what are you doing?"

"I'm making coffee."

"We're actually having coffee?"

"What, you didn't want coffee?"

"I guess. Since you're making it. Are you gonna put those little sprinkles on top? And what about those little Italian biscuit things?"

"Biscotti."

"Right. Those."

"Jack, how can you want more to eat, you worked your way through half the menu."

"Hey, what can I tell ya. I'm a growing boy."

"Right... I'm not so sure you really want to draw attention to that Jack."

"What's that supposed to mean! Are you saying I'm fat? And you can quit that with the eyebrows and the 'who me' look."

"What with the eyebrows?"

"That thing you do with your eyebrows."

"Quit dissing my eyebrows. You have to be nice to me now. We're dating."

"I wasn't dissing them, I was just saying that they were.... expressive. Nothing wrong with that. It's cute. And what about you. You called me fat. Don't you have to be nice to me too?"

"No. I'm the datee. I can do what I want."

"What the hell is the datee?"

"You asked me on the date, so your the dater; I'm the one you asked so I'm the datee. And I didn't say you were fat. I may have implied it though."

"This is so not fair. Who made up these rules anyway?"

"It's an ancient tribal mating ritual. Now drink your coffee and come to bed."

Okay, now what? Daniel's boldness had quickly evaporated when confronted by a naked and very obviously willing Jack. Together they'd climbed into the enormous bed to lie side by side, not touching.

"Jack?"

"Yes Daniel."

"Do you have any idea how we do this?"

"I've heard rumours. Not really the sort of thing you talk about in the locker room."

"Yeah right. You wouldn't believe how many times I've been propositioned in the locker room."

"What! On the base? Who? What did they say? Are you okay? Were you hurt? Just tell me who Daniel and I swear I'll..."

"Jack! God! It's no problem. No one has ever done more than ask. I'm fine. I can take care of myself, calm down. You are such a worrywart. How long have I been going on missions now? And still you act as though I need a constant bodyguard."

"I do not. Name one time I've acted like that"

"P6Z 495"

"Where?"

"The place with the bookroom you refused to leave me alone in."

"That was a perfectly reasonable reaction to the situation. Anything could have happened."

"I was in a room with one door and no windows. Teal'c and Sam were just outside. What could possibly have happened? Did you think I was going to be kidnapped by a gang of itinerant librarians, and carried off to do their filing?"

"Librarians are the worst. You know they only do that job so they can get at the 'special' books that the rest of us have to fill out forms to get."

"Jack, are you saying that all librarians only do the job to get at classic pornography?"

"Yesureyoubetcha. The quiet ones are always the worst."

"My god Jack, your mind works on a whole other level to the rest of humanity."

"And you love it."

"Yes, I do"

Jack reached out to pull Daniel closer against him, trying to tell him without words how much he was feeling. Daniel rolled towards him and cuddled close. Jack gently caressed the back of his head and softly kissed the closest ear.

"What are you doing!"

"I'm kissing your ear."

"Well don't.....it echoes."

"Way to break the mood Daniel."

"Sorry. I really hate having my ears kissed."

"Anything else I should know about? Do you at least have the same erogenous zones as normal people?"

"Don't get snarky with me. It's not my fault you didn't do research before asking me out."

"I was supposed to research your ears?"

"Well it would help if you at least had some idea what guys do with ....other guys."

"This really sucks."

"Yeah. Pity you don't."

"Daniel! "

"I can't believe I just said that."

"Is that what you want?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. Maybe we should just....you know...umm..uhh...."

"For each other?"

"Okay...um..do...you want to....or I could.....um......uh.....maybe ..."

"Maybe we should just keep it simple this time. We can try other stuff later. This first time we could just maybe face each other and do it together."

"Yeah, I could do that"

Jack drew Daniel closer until they lay face to face, only a few inches apart, leaning in to very gently kiss his lips. He kept one hand on Daniel's face as he reached down and began to stroke himself, amazed at how much just looking at Daniel could excite him. He gasped as he felt his cock brush against Daniel's, and moving closer he gently stroked them together. He could feel Daniel's entire body vibrate as they both cried out together in an ecstasy of release. Daniel moaned softly as he clung to Jack, his body still trembling with aftershocks, only Jack's soothing touches stopping him from flying apart.

"Wow."

"Oh yeah. Absolutely wow. I could really get used to this."

"Jack, if it was this good now, just think how great it'll be after we do some research."

*** THE END ***

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