The military transport had already left for the morning, so they went to the airport. Their uniforms and their names got them an immediate booking in First Class on the next flight out to Colorado. Daniel pillowed his head on Jack’s shoulder, asleep in minutes, and Sam was resting with her head against the window. There were two other military personnel on the plane, dressed in BDUs. A lot of military travel in BDUs or uniforms; they could often get better seating on public airplanes if they happened upon a reservations clerk with a patriotic bent. The two men paused and gave a startled salute which Jack returned. One of the men quickly hid a look of disapproval at Daniel’s sleeping head on Jack’s shoulder and the hand on Jack’s thigh.
“Get over it, Corporal,” Jack said. He settled in and shut his eyes.
“Yes, sir,” the corporal responded. They moved on to their own seats.
Jack knew there was going to be a problem with the new rules concerning gay military. They’d had it easy up ‘til now, being surrounded by their own men who knew them well enough not to care. The rest of the military was going to be a rough ride. Jack knew he was making serious waves, the new head of HomeWorld Security sleeping with another man. If there was an attack on Earth, it was now within Jack’s rights to declare martial law on the planet, making him the most powerful person on Earth. It didn’t help his digestion any when Gen. Hammond pointed it out earlier after Jack called him for a chat.
Hammond was comfortably relaxing in his retirement; the only thing pending for the day was to take his granddaughters to their various activities. Hammond was still at a loss after hearing about his favorite team, but he knew them and he knew that it wouldn’t be happening if they didn’t truly care that deeply for each other. Hammond was one of the few higher ups that didn’t care what his team was doing; he let Jack know what others were thinking, and it wasn’t wine and roses. Jack had a few people on his side, namely a few generals and the president. Some of Jack’s ex-Special Ops buddies had also put their names in the pro-Jack/Daniel/Sam ring; they didn't understand what Jack was up to, but they trusted him.
Jack was surprised to hear that almost two thousand men and women had come out of the closet since the president’s orders, and a few of them had high ranking positions. It was still impolite to ask one’s sexual orientation but many were no longer hiding it to the point where one didn’t need to ask. As long as they did their jobs, the base CO’s weren’t going to worry about it. Most of the base CO’s. There were a few who were on the border of insubordination, transferring their gay personnel out to other bases, and a few hard-liners were taking it to the Pentagon and the voters. Jack knew he could still be court-martialed even though he was retired, but he didn’t particularly care. No longer retired, he reminded himself, and in command of HomeSec. It was his record with the SGC that kept the higher ups from court-martialing him. It would be like trying to court-martial General Patton after he won the war.
“Sam, are you able to sense the naquadah thing in me?” Jack leaned over to whisper. She gave a nod. “How come you never told me?”
“You never asked,” she said.
“Who else can you sense it in?”
“Cassie, of course, and Nate,” she said. “Any of the Goa’uld, Jaffa, and Tok’ra. Anyone who has carried a symbiote. The Nox, Tollan, Asgard.”
“What’s it like?” he asked. He hadn’t expected so many.
Sam frowned, thinking. “Mmmm. Sort of a metallic tingle in my mouth. Like a new silver filling, when they used to use silver, I mean.”
“And it doesn’t keep you wired?”
“I’m used to it,” she said. “I don’t even think about it anymore.”
Jack thought about it. “You can’t sense Daniel?”
“No,” she shook her head. “He’s never carried a symbiote, and I guess those Ascended have a different vibe.”
Jack was quiet for a while.
“What do you think about this whole HomeWorld Security thing?” he asked.
“I think that we need someone in the Chair who knows what’s going on and how to deal with it, and that’s you or Gen. Hammond,” she said. “I’m happy it’s you.”
“Do you want to stay at the Yard?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’d like to get off-world once in a while, but I’m happy tinkering.”
“I’ll make sure you have lab space in the new place,” Jack told her. “That way you can come home for small things, if you’d like. I wish you weren’t working so far away, it’s a seventeen hour car ride out.”
“Yes, but much shorter if I take a helicopter home,” she commented with a smile. “Even shorter if I take a 302.”
“Ah ha!” Jack pointed a finger. “That’s why you want to stay at the Yard, it’s all that joyriding.”
“And you’re not jealous?” she looked at him with a grin.
“That isn’t the point.”
They got home and immediately put Daniel back to bed. The neighbors showed up an hour later, carrying dishes.
“We thought you’d be too tired to cook,” was the common theme. Jack was touched; he had lived in the neighborhood for years and everyone knew him. They knew he’d come home after long absences, sometimes bruised almost beyond recognition, and now they knew why. Jack had expected to see his place vandalized upon returning home, but found it in the shape he left it. The neighbors had taken care to chase away anyone who invaded. A phone call to the sheriff assured Jack that Daniel’s house was also in good condition. They did remove a few unauthorized persons attempting to get in, though.
“Oh, Jack,” Armando turned back to him after handing over an enchilada casserole. “I don’t know if you’ve considered a larger house, now that there’s three of you, but the old Gilbert place is up for sale.”
Jack perked up. “Really? Thanks, Mandy.”
The Gilbert place was only up the road and it had five bedrooms. He rounded up Sam, left Daniel asleep, and they walked up the road, hand in hand as they breathed in the cool, fresh mountain air, a pleasant treat after breathing Chicago fumes for a couple of weeks. The Gilbert place sprawled with a wrap-around porch and two floors. Four, if one included the basement and attic.
“I want the attic,” Sam declared. “That way if I blow something up, the entire house doesn’t go with it. Daniel can take the basement; it would be easier to keep his treasures protected.”
“I take it you like the place?” Jack asked with humor. “Do you want to call the realtor and see inside or shall we start moving now?”
“Realtor,” she said with a grin. “But let’s do it when Daniel is awake.”
Jack took out his cell phone and dialed the number on the sign. He spoke to the realtor and made an appointment for the next morning. A nice strong cup of coffee would get Daniel out of bed.
Later in the evening, Cassie came over long enough for hugs and kisses.
“How will you be dealing with us, Jack?” she asked.
“Who?”
“Aliens among you,” she said, making fake antennae on the top of her head with her fingers.
“Oh,” he smiled. “I don’t know. I don’t think this society will accept aliens living next door, yet, so I’m not going to worry about green cards. It’s the unauthorized ones I’m worried about and with most of them looking human, it’s going to be hard to keep track of them.”
Cassie gave her love to them and left them for the evening. Jack and Sam dug into Armando’s wife’s casserole woke Daniel up long enough for a few bites, and then crashed next to him.
In the morning, Jack dealt with a phone call informing him that the remaining three symbiotes had been killed during the night and the information had leaked to the press. Jack called his new assistant and issued a non-committal press release, and pulled the phones from the wall. HomeWorld Security was on the job. Davis suggested that Jack begin to write up SOP’s for HomeSec, because the standard US civil and military court policies were not going to cut it when it came to aliens. It may have been a suggestion, but Jack heard an underlying “Do it, Sir.”
Sam practically dragged Daniel up the road to show him the house. The realtor was waiting for them, glowing from the coup of just being able to offer a house to these particular three people. Jack watched in amusement as the two scrambled through the house like a couple of exited kids. Daniel saw the large, empty library with built in shelves and nearly went catatonic in joy, Sam found that the master bedroom was twice the size of a regular bedroom and had a shower in the bathroom that was separate from the huge tub. Jack found a pond out back. With fish. They would all go see the mortgage guy first thing Monday morning and in the meantime, Jack told the lady realtor that she could start the paperwork on getting his house sold.
The three got breakfast downtown and then went to the Mountain. The dust was being shaken out and offices being reopened. Col. Reynolds greeted them and ushered them to the control room.
“Sir, who shall we call this morning?” Reynolds asked Jack.
“Who else?” Jack responded. “Get Teal’c’s Jaffa ass in here.”
“Yes, sir,” Reynolds smiled. “Sergeant, dial up Dakkara.”
“Yes, sir!” Walter was happy to respond. Everyone relaxed as the familiar sound of the gate dialing out began.
Within a short time, Jack was bounding into the Gate room to greet Teal’c. Sam gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. Teal’c gave a surprisingly shy smile at her. Sam knew the women of his world didn’t touch men so, but she couldn’t help it; he was too much the brother and he needed a hug.
Seeing SG-1 walking the halls together made everyone happy and the cleaning went quicker as everything shone with pride. They caught up on things, telling Teal’c about Daniel’s seminar and that everything was now public, and Teal’c told them about the Jaffa council. He wasn’t happy with some guy named Garek. If Teal’c wasn’t happy, SG-1 wasn’t happy.
The Tok’ra had gone underground again; Teal’c was pretty sure there were a few operatives on Dakkara, so he would make sure to spread the word that the Tau’ri were back on-line. The Goa’uld were quiet. Too quiet, Teal’c felt. He speculated that there was a lot of internal shuffling going on. Baal currently had the most toys, having inherited all of Anubis’ territory after the Tau’ri destroyed him. The destruction of the bugs had put a temporary hold on all Goa’uld activity, though.
They were not sure how to take the fact that the Tau’ri had destroyed a plague that even the Goa’uld could not conquer. Garek had many Jaffa convinced that they did not need the Tau’ri, and would be trading one master for another if they did side with the Tau’ri. Jack let out an impatient sigh which Teal’c gave a nod to.
“T, it took many wars and many lives for this country to free herself from England,” Jack said. “It wasn’t done in a day. Remind Garek who helped to free his sorry ass and we’ve asked for nothing in return except a little help in getting rid of Enlil.”
“I will, O’Neill,” Teal’c murmured.
“He thinks he can take on Baal, let him,” Jack continued. “Whoever wins, there will be one less asshole to deal with. We still haven’t seen Enlil’s head on a platter, so there may be more from him, too.”
They put Teal’c in civvies and left the Mountain. They showed him the house they were going to buy, Teal’c gave his approval, and then they drove outside of town to the abandoned school that Daniel had been talking about for the new HomeSec base. Teal’c walked around, giving the area a warrior’s eye. The buildings stood in the middle of a field with the tree line about a half mile away.
“It is very open,” he commented with a slight disapproving tone.
“Yes, but this is just administrative offices,” Jack told him. “The real work will still be done by the SGC, and the Nevada site will still be our hanger bay. Sam will be in Nevada during the week, Daniel will be at the SGC, and I have Major Davis coming in as my new assistant here. Bases are covered.”
Movement caught Daniel’s eye. He stepped up behind Sam and put his arms around her, pointing out in front of her.
“Look,” he whispered. They followed his finger.
“Deer!” Sam whispered back excitedly.
“Oh for my gun,” Jack commented. He was smacked by his partners. “Just kidding,” he whined, swatting back.
“Do we have another naquadah generator to use on this building?” Daniel asked.
“Keep it clean?” Sam guessed. Daniel nodded. “I’ll see if one is available. We have two more ships that will need them soon, so this may not be a priority.”
“The Daedalus is about to go out; what’s next?” Jack asked, trying to remember the schedule.
“The Europa is almost ready for her first test drive,” Sam told him. “The next ship doesn’t have a name, yet; someone suggested the Icarus.” Daniel looked at her in horror. She waved a hand. “I know, I know,” she told him. “It would be like naming her the Titanic. I already handed out a summary of the Icarus story.”
“Daedalus is going to Atlantis, Jack,” Daniel told him. “It’s a two-week trip out. I’d be gone for about two months altogether.”
“No.”
“Jack….”
“No, Daniel,” Jack insisted. “From the reports that are coming back about those wraith creatures, I’m going to be selfish and ask that you please stay home.”
Jack could see that this conversation wasn’t over and he had the feeling Daniel would be going with or without his blessings. Whoever he got to command the SGC was going to need a manual on the care and upkeep of Dr. Jackson. Jack sighed and turned to Daniel who was trying hard not to pout.
“I know I’m being over-protective, and I can’t stop you from going, not if your new CO approves the trip,” Jack told him, holding the blue eyes with his own dark ones. “I’m asking you not to go. When we know Atlantis is going to be safe from the wraith for a while, then go out. I haven’t had enough time with you and I don’t want to lose you to those creatures. Please.”
Daniel gave a reluctant nod and accepted the peck on his mouth.
Teal’c was staring at them.
“What?” Jack asked. “You knew we were together.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c acknowledged. “You have told me, but I have not seen you kiss a man before.”
Jack rolled his eyes, hooked an around Daniel’s waist and pulled him close. He gave Daniel a proper kiss, putting his apology into it. Daniel accepted it and put his arms around Jack’s neck.
“Happy now?” Jack asked Teal’c as he drew back from Daniel.
“Ecstatic,” Teal’c said tonelessly.
“You’d better be,” Jack told him as they turned and walked back to the car. “Because you’re not getting to watch anything else.”
“Is that a promise, O’Neill?” Teal’c asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“Thank you.”
“Teal’c, you should watch,” Sam told him, grinning evilly. “It’s a really good show and they both have terrific….”
“AHHHH!” Jack covered his ears as did Teal’c who walked ahead of them.
“La la la la la la….” came a low drone back to them.
“Butts, I was going to say butts,” Sam told the men. “You both have great asses.”
“Actually, I think the proper sentence would be we both have A great ass,” Daniel informed her. “Asses, plural, would imply that we each have more than one.”
Sam thought about it and nodded. “You may be right,” she said. “Thanks, Daniel.”
Jack covered his eyes and walked ahead with Teal’c.
“You know who else has a great ass?” Sam asked Daniel, hooking her arm with his.
“Who? Teal’c?”
The big guy stumbled slightly as he kept walking.
“Besides T,” Sam said. “The new CO of the Daedalus, Col. Caldwell.”
“Really? I haven’t met him, yet.”
“I have; he’s been out at the Yard getting to know his new baby. Ohhh my, Danny,” she breathed, fanning her face with a hand. “He’s got these incredibly long legs and wonderful chocolate brown eyes just like Jack’s.”
“You two stop it!” Jack shouted. “Samantha Carter, that man is fifty-four years old, he’s too old …. Never mind.”
Sam snickered and snuck up behind Jack. She took hold of his belt and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“But I like my men older,” she playfully whined.
“It’s a Daddy complex, is what it is,” Jack told her over his shoulder.
“Why, Jack, are you saying you want me to call you Daddy? What’s that?” He was mumbling under his breath.
“I said I should turn you over my knee!” he informed the world.
“Kinky, Jack,” Daniel responded. “What else would you like to do?”
“Get drunk,” Jack said.
“Really?” Daniel asked. “’Cause I’d kinda like to tie her to the bed and drip candle wax on her….”
“La la la la la la….” came a low droning again.
“Danny, I think we may need to talk when we get home,” Sam told him with a grin. He laughed and kissed her.
“Jack, you better be nice to me because Col. Caldwell asked me out,” Sam informed him. Jack stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at her.
“What?”
“He asked me to dinner,” Sam told him. “I, of course, excused myself unless my men were also invited.”
“And?” Jack stared at her intently.
“And he was very gracious and apologized for the intrusion. I like him, Jack, and I think you would, too, if he were going to be spending more time on soil.”
Jack grumped and got into the Jeep. Teal'c took shotgun.
“At least the man has good taste,” he muttered.
“Forget Caldwell,” Daniel told her. “Go on a date with me tonight?”
Sam smiled at him and snuggled in under his arm. “Sure, what did you feel like doing?”
“I need to get out some restless energy,” he said. “How about we hit that discotheque?”
“Great. Is Jack coming with?”
“Jack doesn’t disco,” Jack informed them. “You kids go have fun while Teal’c and I catch up.”
They picked up lunch on the way home and sat out on the deck to eat. Teal’c glared at the mosquitoes while Daniel dozed in the hammock under the trees. Sam joined him and dozed against his chest for a while. Daniel’s cell phone rang and he reluctantly looked at the ID before deciding to answer it.
“Hi, Paul,” he said sleepily. “No, just napping. He did? Good. He spent the entire week snarling at Erra,” Daniel said with a chuckle. “You think it’ll work out? Really? I’m actually surprised. Just go easy on the poor man, okay? You will? I’ll see you then. Bye.”
“What was that?” Sam asked into his chest.
“Nick finally asked Paul out,” Daniel said with a chuckle. “Apparently Erra was hitting on Paul again and Nick had had enough. So he told Paul to choose. Paul made him ask nicely and Nick hemmed and hawed about it until he worked up the nerve to ask him out. Nick hasn’t been with a man before, which I think is justice because Paul was giving me hell about Jack and the trouble bi-curious het men can be. He’ll be coming out here later in the week, so I’ll get more info then.”
“Tell me about how you and Davis got together?” Sam asked, leaning up to look at him.
“Well, he was at the Mountain and he was obviously preoccupied, so I asked him what the problem was,” Daniel said. “He told me that he had just broken up with his boyfriend of many years. He didn’t even realize he had said the B word until it registered and he was completely in shock that I would tell on him. I told him not to worry about it, I’m bi, and I asked him if he’d like to go out to dinner and talk about it. I actually hadn’t planned on doing anything, but we ended up in my bed. After that, we talked and agreed that neither of us had strong feelings for the other, but it was a pleasant evening so we started spending time together whenever he was in town. It was good relaxation for both of us and we were honest with each other about other partners.”
“I thought you guys didn’t get together until the wedding reception?” Sam asked in confusion.
Daniel chuckled. “It had been a couple of years by then,” he admitted. “We went for a walk during the reception and took a path up into the woods. Paul’s a little self-conscious, but we fooled around while we were in the woods. So, I guess we did get together during your reception, just not the way you think.”
Sam stared at him, slightly flushed, fascinated. She went quiet as she lay in Daniel’s arms. She played with his fingers, her bare feet intertwined with his.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, seeing that look of deep thought on her face.
Sam snuggled into his chest. “Sort of a fantasy.”
“Why, Col. Carter, you used the F word,” Daniel gently teased. She turned red. “Tell me the fantasy.”
She cleared her throat a couple of times. “Well, I see the both of you loving me. Just touching me, real easy, and then Jack… making love to me. At the same time, I mean. Both of you in me.”
Daniel nodded. “It’s possible. Tricky, but possible.”
Birds and insects chattered and buzzed, commenting on the beautiful day. The temperature was pleasant, perfect for napping, which Sam and Daniel did for a while.
“You know you have this celibate image, don’t you?” she murmured into his chest.
“At the base?” he asked. She nodded. “I know,” he said. “I’ve been sleeping with a male Air Force major these past few years, I wasn’t going to announce it and get him into trouble. I like sex outside, not in public.”
Sam frowned. “Danny, we’re having fun now, playing house, but sooner or later, someone is going to make a really big stink and I don’t mean you guys and your fume fests. We need to come up with an argument for this situation that will turn the anti-everything crowd on their collective head.”
“I know,” he said, giving her shoulders a squeeze. “I’m already working on a statement, in case we get taken to court. The last thing I want is to see either of you court-marshaled. And retired or not, I am fully aware that Jack can still be court-marshaled. You can, too, especially since you’re on active duty. I will leave before that happens, though. We need numbers on our side, just like we’re getting with the public on the alien situation. I think the ball has started rolling; everyday there are more and more people in the military coming out. We need them to make it loud and clear, and we don’t need any of this Gay Pride stuff. We need the public to see that people in alternative lifestyles are just as normal and everyday as the so-called straights are, and the flamboyant ‘in your face’ stuff isn’t going to cut it. Even Paul gets impatient with the June parades; he keeps getting this image of parades to celebrate Straight Pride Day and Black Pride Day and White Pride Day and Hispanic Pride Day and Jewish Pride Day and… you get the picture.”
Sam chuckled and nodded. “Why don’t we keep Earth Day and celebrate who we are every day?” she guessed.
“Exactly,” Daniel said.
They snoozed a little longer, resting up for an evening out. Neither of them were the greatest of dancers, but they could jump around and get their ya-ya’s out to the beat of the techno music at a local dance club. Most of the dancers were much younger, but they didn’t care. They were having fun!
Sam had to leave in the morning by 5am for the Yard, so they weren’t out too late. They weren’t teenagers anymore, able to stay out until three in the morning and be ready for the day a few hours later. By the time Daniel woke up after their late night of dancing, she had gone. He had a vague memory of soft lips on his cheek. He gave a blurry glance at the clock. 10:23 a.m. He groaned and turned over just as the phone rang. He didn’t hear Jack in the house so he reluctantly answered it.
“’lo?” he grunted.
“Rise and shine!” Jack caroled.
Daniel groaned again and hid his head under the covers. “Fuck, Jack, go ‘way.”
“Language, language, Dr. Linguist,” Jack teased. “And here I was going to tell you to get showered and meet me for lunch.”
“Hmmmmwhere are you?”
“Out at our potential new offices with Sgt. Silar and an accountant from the Pentagon who is scowling like a prune addicted old lady as he makes his little notes. Daniel, I need to be rescued.”
“Have you even asked Silar how he’s been?” Daniel questioned as he debated getting out of bed and dragging himself into the kitchen for coffee.
“No, why?”
“Well, last I heard, he had started dating Silvia Milligan.”
“Who?”
“One of my geeks?”
“Oh. Silar is straight?”
“Jack.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll ask how he’s doing. Just meet me for lunch?”
Daniel rolled his eyes at the begging.
“Fine,” Daniel conceded. “Is Teal’c with you?”
“No, he needed to head back to Dakkara.”
“Did you guys have a nice time?” Daniel asked as he staggered to the bathroom.
“Yes, we did, thank you for asking. Sam said you two danced your hinnies off.”
“Yes, we did, thank you for asking. Sam got three hits, I got six.”
“Hits?”
“Phone numbers. Hit on.” Daniel flushed the toilet and rummaged for clothes before turning the shower on.
“I’m feeling like I should be handing out curfews,” Jack grumped.
“Don’t bother, Pop,” Daniel told him. “We’d only sneak out when you fell asleep. Where am I meeting you?”
“Fred’s.”
“I’ll be there.”
Lunch was quick; Jack was swamped with planning stages and getting his office personnel together. Davis shortened the list considerably before passing it on to Jack for the final cut. Daniel was on his own for most of the day, so he scheduled a meeting at the university to discuss a new class. The Board would be pleased to meet with him. He then headed down to the Mountain and made the rounds, making sure his own team was back to work. Daniel pulled Nyan aside and offered him the spot of understudy for his new classes. The young man may be from another planet, but no one needed to know that and he understood Daniel better than anyone else in the labs. Daniel wished Jonas was living on Earth, but with their first baby on the way, he understood Jonas wanting to stay home.
He thought about his schedule for the upcoming weeks; a meeting with the university to go over proposed curriculum, reviewing the mountain of applications for service on his staff of -ologists at Cheyenne, and he needed to fly out to Egypt and have a private chat with the Egyptian president. The State Department would make noises about it, and Jack wouldn’t be happy with it once Daniel informed him, but he was going anyway. The Egyptians were already miffed at having the original gate removed from their soil without their permission and had demanded it back. Fortunately, they could be honestly told that the gate was no longer in existence, having been destroyed off-world during an accident and NO they could not have the current gate. Daniel held back a grimace as he took his cell phone out and dialed.
“Can I invite the Egyptian president over for dinner and a tour of the SGC?” he asked when Jack answered. There was silence for a moment.
“Why?”
“Well, it’s either that or I go to Egypt for the funeral,” Daniel countered.
“I’ll get back to you.”
Daniel was already beginning to feel choked by the reins around his neck. If it were a year earlier, he wouldn’t have needed permission to leave the country, now he’s the most valuable person on the planet and he couldn’t breathe. Daniel briefly contemplated excavating their back yard to see how long it would take before Jack handed him his dig equipment and sent him to the nearest thousand-year old site. It was ridiculous; they’d let him go off-world but not to the other side of his own planet.
He shut his eyes for a while but was too restless to sleep so he went into the office and turned the computer on. He found several emails from researchers around the world who had sent him images of various artifacts, convinced that the unusual markings on them were significant. All but one Daniel had to turn away. He turned everything off, found his keys, and left the house.
When the phone rang again, he noted that it was several hours later.
“Where are you?” he heard.
“Home.”
“Daniel, I’m home and unless you’re hiding, you aren’t here.”
“I’m at MY home, Jack, surrounded by MY things, working at MY computer in MY office and I’m about to take a shower in MY shower and then go to MY bed.”
Jack was silent.
“Okay. Good night.”
“’Night.”
Jack looked at his phone for a moment, his lips pursed in thought. He redialed.
“Do you know what’s bugging Daniel?” he asked.
“No, why?” Sam responded. Jack told her. “He was fine last night, as far as I could tell,” she said. “Jack, don’t let him clam up.”
“I’m going to give him some space,” Jack said. “He’ll talk when he’s ready, he always does.”
“Alright, but don’t let it go on for too long,” she told him, clearly not happy about it. “Remember, he’s never had to be answerable to a family before.”
It was three days before Jack decided to take the bull by the horns. He showed up on Daniel’s doorstep and knocked instead of using his key. When the door was opened, it was obvious that Daniel hadn’t shaved in those three days. Jack held up a large cup of Starbucks. Daniel looked from the cup to Jack and silently held the door open.
“No strings attached,” Jack said quietly as he placed the cup on the counter. “If you’re not ready to talk, I’ll go away.”
He wasn’t immediately kicked out, so he perched on the edge of a chair, sipping his own coffee. The house, although always slightly cluttered, was currently in a state of open warfare. Papers were scattered everywhere, dishes were in the sink, dust settled onto everything, and it was unknown as to whether or not the pile of clothes on the floor were dirty or clean.
“I can’t breathe,” he finally heard.
Jack felt his heart begin to race. “With me?”
“In general. I want to go where I want, when I want, and at the moment, I can’t even go to the country I was born in without asking permission. I feel like I should be asking permission to take a piss.”
“Ninurta made a request; he's in no position to order you around,” Jack promised. “And unless you're on duty, you're certainly not answerable to me or anyone else. It would be nice to know where to start looking for your body, or at least the general vicinity.”
Daniel paced in agitation. “I’m a free, legal age, American citizen, and I want to get on a plane and GO somewhere. I want to crawl around something ancient and dusty, I want to learn something new, I want to… I want to… be ME again!”
“I thought you wanted to write?”
Daniel almost sobbed in frustration as he pulled at his hair with both fists. The hair remained standing up. “I want that, too.”
Jack put his cup down. “Daniel, you are one person,” he said quietly. “We all have to give up something in our lives, to sacrifice one important thing in order to promote another important thing. I don’t care what you choose; I will do my best to support your decision. But you can’t hide from us, Daniel; we need to know what’s going on. Inside. I know you’re under a lot of stress, probably more than anyone else, but how can I be your partner if you don’t let me in? I’m not the greatest one to talk about ...emoting..., I realize that, but this is part of what being in a relationship is about. Take some time for yourself, not a problem, but don’t blow up at me for not realizing that something’s going on if you haven’t bothered to open up and tell me. Or tell Sam. I know you’re sometimes more comfortable talking with her about things, and that’s fine; you are part of us, Daniel. Or do you want that to change, too?”
Daniel swiped a hand across his face, not answering. He picked up the pile of clothes and a moment later, Jack heard the washer start. Daniel came back into the living room, paused, and sat, staring at the ceiling.
“No,” he whispered. “I don’t want that to change. I need room, Jack, something to call mine. I need to bury myself in something interesting and I don’t want to be made to answer for it. I want to take a walk without having to think about the weird looks people are giving me. And I want to go to Cairo.”
“Okay,” Jack nodded. “But if you go to Cairo now, you’ll be on your own because the State Department has already issued an invitation to the President and he has accepted. Can you wait on Cairo until later and stick around to escort him through the SGC?” Daniel nodded. “Good. Make your schedule whatever you want it to be. You don’t need to ask permission, just tell me what it is. I’m going to be picky about you telling me where you are, not to be a control freak, but for your safety. There are plenty of people who would find you to be a prize worth the risk of taking you. Sam and I tell each other where we are, it’s only fair. Can I make a suggestion for the near future? Go find the nearest Jaffa and spend some time sparing. At the moment, I’m not going to trust that you wouldn’t wipe out all the Marines on base.”
“As for space of your own, the realtor said we could start moving in anytime,” Jack said. “We thought you’d like the basement to yourself, for your artifacts and your workspace. Pick another room, if you don’t want the basement, doesn’t matter to me. You’ve got the library, too. Do you still want to do this with us?”
“I don’t know how to do this, Jack,” Daniel whispered. Jack stood and went over to him, scrunching down next to him.
“Yes, you do,” he told Daniel. “We told you. Just talk to us. This is how communication works, Danny. If you need space, just say that. Jack, I need space. It’s easy. And it isn’t being answerable to anyone; it’s being considerate of your partners’ feelings. God, Daniel, do you think it was easy for me to admit how I feel about you? It nearly killed me when you didn’t come home the other night. To our home. I need you, Danny, so if you’re going to split up with us, tell me now because this hurts.”
Daniel slid to the floor and buried his head in Jack’s lap. Daniel was usually one of the most easy-going people Jack knew; crap slid off Daniel like water off a duck. But sometimes he would hold stuff inside until he exploded. Like now. Jack gently stroked his hair.
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