Another Story, Another Addition
Author: Orrymain
Author Email: marciastudley@comcast.net (Feedback welcome)
Category: Slash, Romance, Established Relationship
Pairing: Jack/Daniel .... and it's all J/D
Rating: PG-13
Season: 7 - Fall 2003
Spoilers: None
Size: 41kb
Written: September 10-12,16-17 2003
Archive: Area52, Comfort Zone, FanFiction.Net, Cartouche, AlphaGate, TheBoy
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers -- not mine, wish they were, especially Daniel, and Jack, too, but they aren't. This was a whim; all in fun. I don't have anything to do with them legally!
Summary: Jack ponders houses, artifacts, and Daniel, not necessarily in that order!
Notes: Thanks to Tina and Mama Beast for the read through corrections and suggestions, and to Brynn for the grammar beta!
Another Story, Another Addition
by Orrymain
"Jack, what are you doing out here?"
Daniel made sure his blue velvet bathrobe was tied snuggly, as he walked outside into the chilly early morning air. It was barely 6 a.m., and Daniel had awoken to a lonely bed, his lover regrettably absent.
The young man had felt a sadness in his heart when he had reached over for Jack with his arm and hit a pillow instead. They had stayed up late the night before, so for Jack to be up this early was a bit of a concern to Daniel.
"Just thinking, Danny," Jack said as he sat in a green patio chair that he had moved to the middle of their backyard. He faced the house at an angle, giving Jack a great view of the entire back of the two-story home. He wore only his hunter green robe, sashed at the waist but open quite a bit at the chest, revealing his gray chest hairs.
Daniel stood at the top of the patio steps, his hands crossed, rubbing his arms.
"Thinking about what?"
"The house. Danny, grab a chair, and come sit with me for a few minutes, okay?"
Daniel took one of the other patio chairs and placed it to Jack's right and sat down.
"Kinda early for this, isn't it?"
"Early? What time is it?"
"A little after 6 a.m."
"And you're up? Miracles do happen."
"Jack! I was ... worried. I woke up and you were gone."
Jack reached over with his right hand, took Daniel's in his, and leaned over and kissed him.
"Sorry, Love. I woke up a while ago with an idea and my brain wouldn't shut off, so I decided not to fight it and came out here to think about it."
"Okay, I'll bite."
"Love it when you bite."
"Jack!"
"Sorry."
"No, you're not."
"You're right. I'm not."
Jack snickered as he looked back towards the house. Daniel felt like he could see the wheels turning in Jack's mind.
"So, Colonel, what are thinking about?"
"Additions."
Jack squeezed Daniel's hand, bringing it up to kiss it, his fingers entwining with his lovers, as he continued.
"We love this house, right?"
"Right."
"You don't want to move ... ever ... or at least, not for a very long time, right?"
"Right. It's home, Jack. It took me a long time to find it, to find you, and I don't want to leave it."
Jack smiled. He clearly remembered a time when Daniel would have hesitated to say something so openly, without pause, so for him to have said this so bluntly meant that staying here was truly a personal want and need.
Jack felt a tingle of electricity flowing through him at the knowledge that Daniel was now so free of his "abandoned child" past, and he couldn't help feeling like he had done that; he, Jack, just by loving Daniel with every fiber of his being. Jack felt so good inside that at long last, his lover felt free to express his personal desires.
"So, do we build a third story, which we'd have to check the zoning laws about, or maybe extend the house, bring it back this way? We have a lot of room back here, so even if we built on both stories, we'd still have a huge backyard for the children."
"The four-legged or two-legged variety?," Daniel asked with a smile.
"Both."
"I don't want to lose the roof deck, so no matter what we do, we have to plan for that."
"Can't lose the roof deck."
They shared a look. So many tender and warm moments had happened on that roof deck. Laughter and tears had been shed by both men, separately and together, up there. No matter what, they'd always have some kind of decking at the top of their home.
"Actually, Jack, we don't really need to do any of that. We can just remodel. We have the spare bedroom and the utility room upstairs. We don't need anymore than that."
"We have ... stuff in there. What do we do with it?"
"Priorities. We can box it up, put some of it on the rafters in the garage, or if we need to, there's the apartment."
"Daniel, the day I retire, that thing goes on the market."
Jack had sounded sharper than he had intended. He grunted and shook his head rapidly as if trying to whip himself into shape.
"I'm sorry, Love. I just can't wait until we can be together without having to worry about all that mess. The apartment ... Geez, Danny, it's just a sign that we still have to hide."
"I know. It's okay, Jack."
Jack angled over for another kiss and stayed very close to Daniel's face afterward, as he said softly, "It's never okay when I snap at you for something you can't control," and then Jack kissed him again.
"Okay, the day you retire, we give notice on the apartment, so .. if we need storage, we rent space for a while. We don't need an addition, Jack."
"Yeah, but we'd have to move a lot of stuff. You remember what I said about toddlers and anything within their reach."
"Yes, I know. I also know we aren't in any rush, Jack. We have a couple of years here."
"I know. Like I said, just thinking!"
"I have another suggestion."
"What's that?"
Daniel smiled seductively as he moved his hand to rub against Jack's chest and slowly made its way down towards the sash and undid it.
"Oh, yeah, I could go for that. Excellent idea, Dr. Jackson."
====
Jack was tired of doing paperwork. SG-1 didn't have another mission scheduled for three days, and General Hammond had "strongly suggested" he catch up with two bins worth of reports and memos requiring his attention before he even considered stepping through the Stargate again.
As he signed his name for what he was sure was the hundredth time that morning, Jack figured he was due for a break. After all, he'd been working on the paperwork for ... Jack checked his watch ... a whopping two hours and fifteen minutes. He groaned and trudged through more papers until he couldn't take touching another piece of dead tree. Fifteen minutes had passed.
====
Daniel sat at his desk, studying an artifact brought back by SG-8 the day before. It had strange writings or symbols on it, and Daniel was struggling to decipher the language.
Jack sauntered into Daniel's domain and immediately picked up some pointy object.
"Jack, put that down."
Jack laughed. Daniel was still hunched over the vase-like object he was working on and had never even looked up to acknowledge him.
"What's that?"
"I have no idea. Looks like a vase, as I'm sure you can see for yourself."
"In other words, go away and leave me alone."
"Yes."
Jack nodded and walked over to another shelf where a blue and white crystal-like relic sat. He picked it up, bobbing it up and down in his hands.
"Jack, put that down."
"Put what down, Daniel?"
"Whatever you're holding."
"If you don't know what I'm holding, how do you know I'm holding anything?"
"Because I know you, and you can't walk into my office without holding something."
Jack put the article down and looked at all the different objects that were there. Daniel's office was more packed than ever. He thought back over the years since Daniel had first occupied this space.
They'd had to rearrange, add more shelves as time had passed. Some things were passing through, artifacts and relics Daniel had studied that SG-1 and other teams had brought back would find a place on the shelves for a while and then move on to Area 51 or to a storage facility.
But as he looked closely, Jack recognized a lot of things that once sat in Daniel's apartment, back when Daniel actually lived there. Other items Daniel had discovered or purchased were also here.
Jack knew Daniel treasured these rare pieces of history, and he was equally sure that having them shoved together on shelves wasn't what Daniel had in mind when he had acquired them.
There were lots of things Daniel kept at their house, but they still had to be careful. He kept a few things downstairs that he felt would mix in with Jack's things without too much of a question, and there were some in their bedroom and the spare room, but there was so much other stuff there that there had never been much room for Daniel to really exhibit his pieces.
Jack turned to Daniel and watched him scribbling a note about the vase, which he had apparently put down to open a book, and then glanced back over the shelves. He walked over behind Daniel and took a quick peak over to the open door.
Leaning in, Jack sneaked his arms around Daniel's waist, kissed his nape, and whispered "I love you."
"Jack," Daniel sighed. "I can't concentrate when you do that, and we're ... at work. No hanky panky at work."
"Spoilsport," Jack whispered again, his eyes focused on the door.
It was dumb, and a tad exhilarating to touch Daniel on base as he was now.
"Besides, you said I'm always holding something when I come in here; just wanted to prove you right."
"Get out, Jack."
"Get out? Why, Daniel, what happened to that "can't get enough, yes, Jack, more, Jack" you were screaming this morning.
"Jack, get out ... now," Daniel tried to bark.
The problem Daniel was having was that he was leaning into Jack, and he was shocked to realize his body was quickly responding to Jack's whispers about their interlude. He hated it when his body didn't listen to his brain, and his brain was screaming, "I need to finish this translation."
"Going, Love. You'll miss me."
Daniel grunted, but when Jack stopped for a quick look back as he stood at the doorway, Daniel smiled and mouthed, "I love you."
====
"I'm going to miss you."
"Going to? I miss you already. I go crazy when you aren't here, Danny."
"It's going to be a long two weeks."
"Well, once you get there, you'll be so busy playing with your rocks you probably won't even remember my name."
"Jack."
"Good. You still remember."
"Jaa..."
Jack didn't let Daniel finish his word, his tongue entering his lover's mouth and waltzing with it as he devoured his love. He needed to taste as much of Daniel as he could with this last kiss, to hold him close, and make sure Daniel knew just how much Jack loved him and wanted him, so Jack stopped talking with words, and began a more intimate conversation with his body.
They only had a couple more minutes, and then Daniel was off with SG-11 for a two-week dig on PR9-112 while Jack puttered around the lonely halls of the SGC, alone and abandoned, or so Jack tried to say in order to gain sympathy from his lover. He didn't get sympathy, but he did get an evening of mind-blowing sex last night and Jack figured that, all things considered, it was a good deal.
The only reason Jack wasn't more upset was because he'd been to the planet himself and was satisfied it was "safe". Still, he spent 45 minutes lecturing Colonel Carl Rappaport on the proper care and feeding of his archaeologist.
Rappaport was fairly new to the SGC, and this was only his fourth mission as the leader of SG-11, so he had been a bit stunned at Jack's rambling "orders" about making sure Daniel stayed safe, until he mentioned it to his old friend Lt. Col. Lou Ferretti who spent another 20 minutes strongly advising Rappaport to follow whatever instructions Jack had given him, unless he wanted to deal with an unhappy Jack O'Neill.
"Let me put it this way, Colonel, the last mission commander who failed to see that Dr. Jackson was returned safely, ended up stationed at Elmendorf for six months. The one before that resigned his commission 48 hours after Daniel's release from the infirmary. He denies Jack had anything to do with it, but I wouldn't bank on that. Jack takes his archaeologist's safety very seriously."
====
"How's it coming?"
"Right on schedule, Colonel. You must have some real clout with the owners."
"Me? Nah."
The construction crew chief laughed
"Listen, Colonel, we had at least ten jobs ahead of this one, and on top of that, it was made clear this job HAD to be finished on time. I don't know who the heck you are, but my hats off to you for pulling this off."
Jack smiled as he watched the workers. Yes, sometimes it was good to be a United States Air Force Colonel, who had lots and lots of ties to "important" people who could make things happen in a hurry. He might regret it when his benefactors pulled in their markers, wanting favors in return, but right now, Jack was flying high.
====
It was late, about 10 p.m., and the SGC had only a skeleton staff on hand. Sam had been working late on a new dialing program for the computer and was about to head home. She had the next 24 hours off but knew Daniel was expected back and she wanted to drop a little "Welcome Home" note under his office door to greet him.
"Sir?"
"Carter, what the heck are you doing here?," Jack snapped, almost dropping some "rock" onto the floor.
"I wanted to leave this for Daniel, Sir," she said holding out the note which she sat on the keyboard of Daniel's primary computer.
"He'll be back tomorrow, Carter," Jack said anxiously waiting for his 2IC to depart.
"Sir, is everything all right," Sam asked as she leaned her head to the right to look behind Jack at the box on the floor.
"Everything's fine, Carter. Have a good night."
"Sir, are you sure ..."
"Goodnight, Carter."
"Goodnight, Sir," Sam nervously said as she reluctantly walked out the door. She was tempted to turn around and peak back through the door, but just then, the door closed and locked.
====
"Decided to come back, did ya?"
"Good to see you too, Jack."
Jack and Daniel stared deeply into each other's eyes. They had to act calm and nonchalant. They were at the base of the ramp in the SGC gate room, surrounded by marines, the rest of SG-1 and up in the control room was General Hammond.
Their vocal chords spoke calmly, jokingly, but their eyes were saying "I love you; missed you so darn much; can't wait to get you naked."
"Colonel, as you can see," Rappaport pointed to Daniel with one hand, "safe and sound, and well fed."
Daniel's eyes bulged.
"Jack!"
Jack smirked, ignoring Daniel's outrage and addressed his reply to the his fellow team leader, "Thank you, Colonel. Receipt acknowledged."
As SG-11 headed for the lockers, Daniel stared sharply at Jack.
"What did you say to him, Jack? Is that why he was stuffing power bars down my throat, and making Williams act like a water girl?"
Jack laughed, and took Daniel by the elbow to guide him out of the gate room.
"Now, Daniel, do you really think I would ..."
"Yes, Jack, and you did, or he wouldn't have said that."
"Daniel, I was only ..."
"I know what you were only. Jack, I can take care of myself. You don't need to go around terrorizing ..."
"I wasn't terrorizing anyone, I only suggested ..."
"Suggested or threatened?"
"Danny?"
"Jack?"
"I would never ..."
"But you did, and you know ..."
"I know nothing of ..."
The two were almost to the lockers. As they walked, various SGC onlookers steered clear. Jack and Daniel were known for their bickering or bantering or whatever people chose to call it, but when they were doing that thing where neither of them ever finished a sentence, most people figured they should steer clear.
Like a warning beacon, one marine nodded towards another, eyes waivering towards the oblivious Jack and Daniel, and the two were given a wide berth. It had been this way for years, but neither had a clue. When they talked like this, they never heard anything or anyone else.
"Jack, Rappaport was a like a scared ..."
"Scared? Cool! I haven't lost my touch."
"And you aren't getting touched any time soon either," Daniel whispered as he opened the locker room door.
Jack laughed loudly as Daniel looked back and glared. He saw what Jack's eyes were saying, which was "Right, Danny, two weeks of no touching, loving, fondling, kissing, and mind-blowing sex, you'll last about, oh, another hour, which is how long it will take us to get out of here and home."
What frustrated Daniel so much is that Jack's eyes spoke the truth, and what's worse, Jack knew Daniel knew it. Even worse than that, now surrounded by the members of SG-11, Daniel was unable to retaliate like he would liked to, so Daniel finally turned and tried to ignore his stalker as he prepared to shower and change.
"Colonel?"
"Ah, Rappaport, mission go well?"
"Yes, it did. Did you need something?"
Daniel was hiding a snicker. Jack had no reason for being in the locker room, and his nonchalant lingering, with hands in his pockets, made him look pretty suspicious.
"Actually, I ... needed to get something."
"In here?"
"Towel. I needed a towel. Something ... spilled in my office." Jack picked up a towel and gave a glance to his lover who was working hard to suppress a hearty laugh.
"You came all the way down here for a ... towel?"
"Yes, Colonel, I did. You have a problem with that?"
Jack stood nose to nose with Rappaport. When in doubt, Jack figured, intimidate. It worked.
"No, Sir, Colonel ... no, I don't," Rappaport said as he closed his locker and moved around the benches to put distance between him and Jack.
"Excuse me, Colonel."
Jack nodded and Rappaport headed for the showers, where his other team members now were. Jack surveyed the area and made sure no one else was near. He walked up to Daniel and startled him by pinching his right butt cheek.
"Jaaaaack!" Daniel almost yelled, but happily managed to make it a squeak.
"My office ASAP. Love you, Danny," Jack whispered softly in his ear.
Daniel wanted to wring Jack's neck for saying those two words, after two weeks apart, when they were surrounded by SG-11, and besides, Daniel was mad at Jack ... at least, he wanted to be, but darn, if Daniel didn't want to kiss Jack more than he wanted to yell at him for scaring Rappaport into playing Mother Hen in his stead.
Daniel shook his body as if to twist out the last several minutes and headed for the showers.
====
During the ride home, Daniel continued to give Jack a difficult time about Rappaport, but they both knew Jack would never change. As they pulled into the driveway and Jack shut off the truck, Daniel asked, "Jack, did you hear anything I said about taking care of myself and not terrorizing the rest of the SGC?"
Jack reached over and grabbed Daniel's left hand.
"Heard every word, Love. You're home, you're safe. That's all I care about, Danny."
Daniel sighed. Jack would never change. Somewhere down deep, Daniel didn't really care. It felt good to be loved to so much.
Jack and Daniel got to the door and looked at each other. They both knew what was probably going to happen as soon as they got inside the safe confines of their home.
Jack smiled, "Better say hello to the girls first. They've missed you."
"Are you suggesting I shouldn't jump your bones as soon as you close the door?"
Jack surprised himself. He didn't say anything. He wanted Daniel so much, and yet he felt a weird sort of paternal compassion for their beagles who had missed Daniel terribly.
Jack unlocked the door and pushed it open. Daniel followed him inside, shut the door, and paused to give Jack one very long, powerful kiss.
"Soon, Love."
Jack smiled as Daniel went off to greet the two dogs who were jumping up and down excitedly on the patio, tails wagging, letting out little "woofs".
Daniel walked outside to the patio and the dogs went crazy trying to get to him. He kneeled down and Bijou stood up on her hind legs and pushed against him, causing Daniel to roll back on the deck. He was lying prone on the wooden deck, gigging and smiling, petting the happy dogs who were licking and pawing him with zeal.
Jack stood happily watching his lover romping with their pets. It was a beautiful sight, and Jack felt very lucky that he was there to witness it.
====
"Hmmm, I missed you, Jack," Daniel moaned as he kissed his lover at the foot of the stairs. After 20 minutes of playing with the girls, Daniel was now ready to play with his Colonel, and the Colonel seemed willing, at first.
"Danny, I want to show you something."
"I know exactly what I want to see, Jack."
Daniel's hands were roaming Jack's body, and oh yes, Jack was eager, but this was important, too. Then again, Daniel's hands were like magic and Jack figured what the heck, if Daniel didn't notice, his surprise could wait.
They made their way up the stairs, Daniel totally oblivious to anything but Jack. As they touched and fondled their way into the bedroom, they began to undress each other. Their shirts were on the carpeted floor, when Daniel gently pushed Jack backwards onto the bed and began planting a row of kisses on Jack's chest. Suddenly, Daniel's head popped up, a look of confusion on his face.
"Danny? Are you okay?"
Daniel turned his head towards the door and then back at Jack. He didn't say anything, but he got up and walked into the hallway and stared.
"Jack?"
Jack shook his head and laughed.
"Oh well," he thought to himself. He'd waited two weeks for the mission to conclude, and 20 minutes for the dogs to get in their licks. He figured he could wait a few more minutes in order to show Daniel his surprise.
Jack walked up behind Daniel and put his arms around him.
"Surprise, Love. This is for you."
Daniel turned his head back to look at Jack, still unsure of all Jack had done. When he had left the upstairs consisted of three very separate rooms -- the master bedroom and bath, the spare bedroom, and the smaller utility room -- and the hallway had been white whereas now it was a light blue.
Instead of the spare room and utility room doors Daniel remembered, there was a set of two ornate-styled sliding panel doors that were located in the center of where the two separate rooms used to be. Daniel was speechless.
Jack moved to get in front of Daniel and took his right hand and lead him into his new piece of heaven. "This is ... Daniel's Den," Jack smiled with pride as Daniel stared at him and then ran his hands over the white carved doors. He noticed locks were on the door.
Inside, instead of the two rooms, there was now one large room, with overhead lighting as well as several small accent lights to highlight certain shelf areas. The room was painted a light wedgewood blue, and the wall to wall plush carpeting was the same color.
Daniel started on his right as he entered the room, and saw a wall of built in shelves against the hallway wall. They were full artifacts and relics from his office and apartment, all carefully placed on display with the appropriate lighting to display each piece in their ancient beauty.
He turned to the wall facing the front of the house. There were a couple of bookshelves, that reached from the floor to the ceiling in each corner of the wall. The shelves were about 11" deep and they were full of books, ones Daniel had kept in boxes in the garage as well as in his apartment and his office, and some from the living room of their house. Jack had even placed the dreaded Budge in the center of one of the shelves which garnered a soft snicker from Daniel as he browsed the collection.
In between the bookshelves was an expensive and complex stereo system complete with phonograph, AM/FM radio, cassette player, MP3 player, and CD player. The speakers were massive. All of Daniel's favorite CDs and cassettes were there, plus some new ones he had been wanting.
There was also a 30" Tivo in the center of the display with two VCRs, plus a collection of documentaries and specials that Daniel had and a group of blank tapes.
In addition, there was a nature sound device so that Daniel could relax to the sound of rain or ocean waves or perhaps birds chirping or winds blowing. There were 30 different selections available including whale sounds and dolphin songs.
What affected Daniel the most as he looked at this wall was that on two shelves there was a group of personal items, memorabilia from Jack and Daniel's secret life together. Many of these things had been kept tucked away in their special keepsake box, but Jack had pulled out a few photos and framed them to adorn the shelves.
None of them were the most "incriminating" photos, but the photos were of the two of them, smiling for the camera, or looking at each other saying words no one but they would understand.
Daniel chuckled at the Mickey Mouse ears Jack had set out, but was grateful his lover had kept the photo of them and Goofy under wraps. He looked affectionately at the collection of assorted items -- an empty bottle of St. Juliens from a wine tasting trip, a mini-pyramid from their trip to Egypt, a large wooden Hershey chocolate bar, and even a bobble head for the Colorado Avalanche. Daniel looked at Jack and shook his head as he made the 4" tall item bob up and down several times.
Center stage amid the decor was the dreaded Boonie Bear which Jack had brought from his office. Daniel traced his fingers over the boonie hat and wire framed glasses and turned to Jack who had the sweetest smile on his face. For the first time, Daniel thought maybe that bear wasn't so bad after all ... and it looked like it belonged on that shelf, just as Daniel knew he belonged here, in this house, with Jack.
Daniel turned to the outer wall. There was a large double window at the center of it. If Daniel wanted to open either section of it, he could. The midnight blue blinds were room darkening so that if he wanted to rest or sleep in the recliner (which he had yet to survey) without the invasion of sunlight, he could do that, too.
Daniel noticed there seemed to be more light coming into the room than from the window and when he looked up, he saw six skylights evenly spaced across the room. They could also be opened if he so desired via a remote control he saw sitting in a cradle attached to the wall.
Centered below the window was an antique cherry wood desk which was large enough for Daniel to easily spread out his books, laptop, and an artifact or two, but not so large that it took away from the ambiance. If Daniel wanted to work in his den, he could, or he could get lost in the sounds of the nature or opera or rock 'n roll, all the while enjoying the relics and treasures he had discovered over the years.
Daniel noticed a phone one the desk, plus there was another jack for the computer line in case Daniel brought his laptop into his "den" and needed to use the phone and be online.
Jack even put in a small navy blue bean bag next to the desk for the girls to relax in if Daniel chose to let them up there. Their dogs were well trained and Jack hadn't been too concerned about their potential to ruin anything, but that would be up to Daniel. Jack simply wanted to cover all the bases.
In the middle of the room, closer to the window and desk though, was an extra wide navy blue recliner and ottoman. A navy blue blanket sat on the ottoman.
At the wall that joined with the master bedroom, there were more bookshelves filled with many of Daniel's favorite artifacts that he had collected over the years. These were things Jack specifically remembered Daniel handling with great care or talking about endlessly. Some of the things had been at the house already, but most were buried on the "busy" shelves of Daniel's SGC office. A few larger pieces were retrieved from Daniel's apartment.
While most of what Daniel had left there had been for "show", a few of the pieces Jack knew he loved but hesitated to bring to the house because there was no proper place to house them.
On the final section of wall, that part of the room that was to Daniel's left when he first walked in, Jack had hung many of Daniel's other personal items, including a set of swords. There was plenty of room to add more. In fact, there was room on all the shelves for Daniel to add to his den.
For the most part, Daniel had been silent as he had carefully and slowly checked out each shelf. He had occasionally reached in and touched some precious artifact before checking out the next unit. He had run his fingers across the antique desk and sat quietly for a few minutes in the chair, reclining it backwards and surveying the room. He had noticed the chair came with a massager and heater that would certainly come in handy.
Jack had watched with a mixture of emotions. At first, he had wanted to gloat that he had done good, but watching Daniel, his heart had turned into mush. Daniel hadn't been acting like the kid in the candy store, he had been acting like someone who had gotten something they had never even thought about wishing for, a dream come true, a dream that maybe he hadn't been deserving of.
If Jack had had any doubts about what he had done, they had vanished with each touch of Daniel's hand to some "rock".
Having examined the room thoroughly, Daniel went to the middle of the room and stood and slowly turned around in a circle, taking in the panorama ... of his sanctuary. He stopped looking out the window, and didn't move for a couple of minutes.
Jack finally walked to Daniel, and put his arms around his waist, and Daniel automatically leaned into him, a contented sigh escaping from his throat.
"You can change anything you don't like, and I mean anything, Daniel. This place, it's for you. I tried my best not to forget anything, but I'm sure I did. Danny?"
Jack turned his silent motionless lover to face him, and saw the tears that his heart couldn't hold back.
"Ah, Danny," Jack whispered as he pulled him in tight, lovingly caressing Daniel's back as the young man rested his head on Jack's shoulder, still having not spoken a word.
"I love you, Danny."
Jack held his speechless lover for a few minutes, his hands caressing his back, his lips kissing Daniel's neck. Daniel didn't seem to want to move, but when he finally pulled back, and his teary blue eyes met the misty brown eyes of his love, Daniel asked for the one thing he wanted most in that moment.
"Make love to me, Jack."
====
Jack awoke at 3 a.m., alone in the king-sized bed. He and Daniel had made tender and lingering love for hours, savoring the taste of the other. Jack's lover still hadn't said much in words, but with his heart and body, he had spoken volumes. They had fallen asleep holding on to each other, Jack's arms around Daniel, their hands entwined.
Jack marveled that Daniel had been able to disentangle himself from Jack without waking him, but over the years, Daniel had learned Jack's sleeping patterns pretty well, and was an expert on how not to wake Jack.
Jack put on his robe and went in search of Daniel, though he had a hunch he'd find him in the den he had created for him, and Jack was right. Daniel, wearing his own robe, was seated Indian style in the middle of the floor looking up at the shelves full of artifacts on the wall that was closest to the master bedroom.
"Hey," Jack said with a smile.
"Hey," Daniel said with a whisper.
"To heck with my knees," Jack silently thought as he sat on the floor in front of Daniel and reached out and took his hands.
"You okay?"
"No one has ever done anything like this just for me before. Jack, this is incredible. And ... it's all ...," Daniel looked down. He thought he must sound terribly silly and look even sillier, but he couldn't help it, and another tear escaped.
"It's all for you, Daniel. This is, " Jack paused and looked around the room and then back at Daniel, giving him a big smile, "This is Daniel's Den. It's your place for the things you love most, to keep them safe, where you can look at them and appreciate them, and ... do whatever you do with those rocks. It's all for you. Remember, you can change anything you don't like."
"No, Jack. It's perfect, except for one thing; well, maybe two things."
Jack laughed.
"Make a list, Love; we'll do whatever you want."
Daniel shook his head.
"No, it just needs ... Jack, I know you don't like this stuff, and it's for me, but sometimes, maybe ... "
"What, Danny?"
"It needs ...," Daniel looked over at the window, his eyes blinking several times. Jack could see Daniel working something out, so he waited patiently.
"Jack, could we get another one of those leather sofas, the comfy ones, and put it there, under the window, and then maybe sometimes you could, I mean, if you ..."
Jack leaned over and kissed his heart, their tongues tingling from the delight of touching.
"I'd like that, Danny. You can tell me the stories about each one of your treasures, and we can listen to opera."
"And the girls have their own spot, too. I'm so glad you thought of that, Jack. They're really careful."
Daniel was looking at all the things in the room as Jack caressed both his hands, keeping him grounded. Daniel was truly overwhelmed.
"How'd you do all this Jack? I didn't think you could outdo yourself after the car and that crazy day when everything went wrong, but this ... Wow, Jack. How'd you do it?"
"I've been thinking been about it a little while. You needed a place for you stuff, and since we decided to add to our family, you needed someplace that would be "off limits", someplace where your things would be safe. Danny, your office is crowded with stuff. You can't enjoy much of it when it's shoved into small spaces like it was in your office.
"I used a couple of contacts to get a good construction crew lined up, at a great rate; talked over the ideas with a couple of people and then when I found out you were going to be gone with SG-11, it seemed like the perfect time."
Jack brought Daniel's hands up to his mouth and kissed them before continuing.
"And then I slowly brought things home from the office and the apartment that I thought were special, and I do have to admit, Danny, I took some stuff from the apartment to fill in some of the spaces in the office temporarily. You'll have to sort through that, but I didn't want it to look like everything disappeared overnight. As it was, Carter caught me there last night."
"Sam?"
"That would be Carter."
"Jack," Daniel laughed softly.
"It wasn't that hard, Danny. I ... went shopping. Notice all the blue."
Daniel lowered his head for a moment as he blushed slightly. Jack loved Daniel's blue eyes, and he tried to surround him in shades of blue whenever possible. There was blue all around in Daniel's Den. Jack smiled, glad that Daniel just happened to consider blue to be his favorite color so he couldn't go wrong. It was a win-win situation, color-wise.
"I love you, Jack. I can't believe you did this. Thank you."
"Come back to bed, Danny."
Jack and Daniel stood and headed for the door. Daniel took another look around before they walked out.
"It really is perfect, Jack, but you were wrong about one thing."
"What was that?"
"I do love those things, but what I love most, is you."
Jack's knees felt like Jell-O, his heart was melted butter. He could hear the sweet violin music in the air. How he loved this man who was his heart. They kissed and went back to their bedroom, and made love again before falling asleep and sleeping in late the next morning.
====
Daniel cozied up behind Jack, putting his arms around his waist as Jack scrambled the eggs.
"Morning."
"Good Morning," Jack said, leaning back a little and turning his head to give Daniel a morning kiss.
"Smells good."
"Hope so. I'm starved. Worked up quite an appetite with all that exercise we got last night."
Daniel laughed.
"Jack, is the den what you were thinking about last month when you were outside in the middle of night?"
Jack shook his head. "It wasn't the middle of the night, Daniel. It was what? 6 or 7 a.m."
"Like I said, the middle of the night," Daniel laughed leaning his chin against Jack's shoulder watching Jack preparing the eggs.
"No, then, I was thinking about the kids."
"Bijou and Katie?"
"Daniel, it's not the middle of the night now."
"Oh," Daniel said shyly.
"Danny, we both use the study, but it's always been my place with all the sports stuff. I wanted you to have your own place, too, for your stuff. I figure we can add an addition to the house, cut off part of the backyard for the human kids. What do you think?"
"I think I'd better keep my job so we can afford it, which reminds me ..."
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"You paid me back for the car. You are not paying me back for your den. End of subject."
There was a definite finality to Jack's statement, and Daniel didn't mind. There was a big difference between the car and the den, and their relationship had even been different. With every month, Jack and Daniel became stronger, and they were about to be married.
They were going to make everything as legal as possible when they wed, and what they couldn't do now, they would do once Jack retired, including getting a joint bank account.
They really didn't pay attention to who paid for what anymore anyway. It was usually whoever had their credit card or checkbook the handiest that bought or paid for whatever they wanted. Daniel sighed at the thought of sharing so much with this man who continued to make him feel like a precious angel.
Jack turned off the burner and moved the pan to a cool burner and then turned to embrace Daniel.
"Happy?"
"Eternally. You?"
"Forever...ly."
"That's not a word, Jack."
"Daniel?"
"Yes?"
"Forget you're a linguist and concentrate on being a lover for a minute, okay?"
"Okay."
They engaged in a round of heavy duty kissing for a few minutes, the scrambled eggs cooling significantly as the men share their love.
"I love you so much, Danny. Only you."
"Then stop ruining my breakfast. The eggs are cold," Daniel teased before they kissed again.
"I'll have to warm them up."
"Jack, are you sure you're that hungry?"
Seeing the gleam of lust and desire in Daniel's eyes, Jack took a brief look at the eggs before planting another kiss on Daniel's soft lips.
"Hungry for you."
Their hands around their waists, they walked back up the stairs and once again exchanged their passion with the trembling and rocking of their bodies until they collapsed onto one another.
"Jack?"
"Yes, Love?"
"This is going to be real sappy, okay?"
Jack chuckled a little as he kissed the top of Daniel's head. "Okay. I consider myself duly warned about ... the impending excessive use of sap."
Daniel chuckled and then let the words flow as best he could.
"We're forever, Jack. I know that, but I need you to know that no matter what happens or what we deal with in the future, I'm ... happy, so incredibly happy, and I never thought I could be, not really, not like this.
"And it's all because of you, and how much you love me, and the thing is, Jack, you don't just ... tell me, you show me in a ways I couldn't ever have imagined, and you give me so much, way too much, Jack. And I don't mean things, not possessions and ... and ... stuff, but your heart and your soul, they're mine and I know it.
"Geez, Jack, I know it like I've never known anything before. You've sacrificed for me over and over again, and you never let me run. Gawd, Jack, I tried to run so many times, but you wouldn't let me. I love you so much, Jack. Thank you for loving me, too."
Jack leaned his chin against Daniel's forehead and tried to stop his eyes from tearing. He had a lump in his throat that was the size of an apple. He wasn't sure he could ever speak again.
He kept caressing Daniel, placing small kisses on his silky hair, but he couldn't speak. He felt a bit of moisture on his chest and he knew it was from Daniel's eyes, and then he couldn't stop his own tears.
"Sappy to the max, Danny," was all Jack could say, his voice cracked and full of emotion, but he needed to say just one more thing before they settled and regained control over their emotions, so he choked out, "Love you, Space Monkey, forever and always."
~~Finis - Finished - Done - The End - But is it ever Really?~~
Author: Orrymain
Author Email: marciastudley@comcast.net (Feedback welcome)
Category: Slash, Romance, Established Relationship
Pairing: Jack/Daniel .... and it's all J/D
Rating: PG-13
Season: 7 - Fall 2003
Spoilers: None
Size: 41kb
Written: September 10-12,16-17 2003
Archive: Area52, Comfort Zone, FanFiction.Net, Cartouche, AlphaGate, TheBoy
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers -- not mine, wish they were, especially Daniel, and Jack, too, but they aren't. This was a whim; all in fun. I don't have anything to do with them legally!
Summary: Jack ponders houses, artifacts, and Daniel, not necessarily in that order!
Notes: Thanks to Tina and Mama Beast for the read through corrections and suggestions, and to Brynn for the grammar beta!
Another Story, Another Addition
by Orrymain
"Jack, what are you doing out here?"
Daniel made sure his blue velvet bathrobe was tied snuggly, as he walked outside into the chilly early morning air. It was barely 6 a.m., and Daniel had awoken to a lonely bed, his lover regrettably absent.
The young man had felt a sadness in his heart when he had reached over for Jack with his arm and hit a pillow instead. They had stayed up late the night before, so for Jack to be up this early was a bit of a concern to Daniel.
"Just thinking, Danny," Jack said as he sat in a green patio chair that he had moved to the middle of their backyard. He faced the house at an angle, giving Jack a great view of the entire back of the two-story home. He wore only his hunter green robe, sashed at the waist but open quite a bit at the chest, revealing his gray chest hairs.
Daniel stood at the top of the patio steps, his hands crossed, rubbing his arms.
"Thinking about what?"
"The house. Danny, grab a chair, and come sit with me for a few minutes, okay?"
Daniel took one of the other patio chairs and placed it to Jack's right and sat down.
"Kinda early for this, isn't it?"
"Early? What time is it?"
"A little after 6 a.m."
"And you're up? Miracles do happen."
"Jack! I was ... worried. I woke up and you were gone."
Jack reached over with his right hand, took Daniel's in his, and leaned over and kissed him.
"Sorry, Love. I woke up a while ago with an idea and my brain wouldn't shut off, so I decided not to fight it and came out here to think about it."
"Okay, I'll bite."
"Love it when you bite."
"Jack!"
"Sorry."
"No, you're not."
"You're right. I'm not."
Jack snickered as he looked back towards the house. Daniel felt like he could see the wheels turning in Jack's mind.
"So, Colonel, what are thinking about?"
"Additions."
Jack squeezed Daniel's hand, bringing it up to kiss it, his fingers entwining with his lovers, as he continued.
"We love this house, right?"
"Right."
"You don't want to move ... ever ... or at least, not for a very long time, right?"
"Right. It's home, Jack. It took me a long time to find it, to find you, and I don't want to leave it."
Jack smiled. He clearly remembered a time when Daniel would have hesitated to say something so openly, without pause, so for him to have said this so bluntly meant that staying here was truly a personal want and need.
Jack felt a tingle of electricity flowing through him at the knowledge that Daniel was now so free of his "abandoned child" past, and he couldn't help feeling like he had done that; he, Jack, just by loving Daniel with every fiber of his being. Jack felt so good inside that at long last, his lover felt free to express his personal desires.
"So, do we build a third story, which we'd have to check the zoning laws about, or maybe extend the house, bring it back this way? We have a lot of room back here, so even if we built on both stories, we'd still have a huge backyard for the children."
"The four-legged or two-legged variety?," Daniel asked with a smile.
"Both."
"I don't want to lose the roof deck, so no matter what we do, we have to plan for that."
"Can't lose the roof deck."
They shared a look. So many tender and warm moments had happened on that roof deck. Laughter and tears had been shed by both men, separately and together, up there. No matter what, they'd always have some kind of decking at the top of their home.
"Actually, Jack, we don't really need to do any of that. We can just remodel. We have the spare bedroom and the utility room upstairs. We don't need anymore than that."
"We have ... stuff in there. What do we do with it?"
"Priorities. We can box it up, put some of it on the rafters in the garage, or if we need to, there's the apartment."
"Daniel, the day I retire, that thing goes on the market."
Jack had sounded sharper than he had intended. He grunted and shook his head rapidly as if trying to whip himself into shape.
"I'm sorry, Love. I just can't wait until we can be together without having to worry about all that mess. The apartment ... Geez, Danny, it's just a sign that we still have to hide."
"I know. It's okay, Jack."
Jack angled over for another kiss and stayed very close to Daniel's face afterward, as he said softly, "It's never okay when I snap at you for something you can't control," and then Jack kissed him again.
"Okay, the day you retire, we give notice on the apartment, so .. if we need storage, we rent space for a while. We don't need an addition, Jack."
"Yeah, but we'd have to move a lot of stuff. You remember what I said about toddlers and anything within their reach."
"Yes, I know. I also know we aren't in any rush, Jack. We have a couple of years here."
"I know. Like I said, just thinking!"
"I have another suggestion."
"What's that?"
Daniel smiled seductively as he moved his hand to rub against Jack's chest and slowly made its way down towards the sash and undid it.
"Oh, yeah, I could go for that. Excellent idea, Dr. Jackson."
====
Jack was tired of doing paperwork. SG-1 didn't have another mission scheduled for three days, and General Hammond had "strongly suggested" he catch up with two bins worth of reports and memos requiring his attention before he even considered stepping through the Stargate again.
As he signed his name for what he was sure was the hundredth time that morning, Jack figured he was due for a break. After all, he'd been working on the paperwork for ... Jack checked his watch ... a whopping two hours and fifteen minutes. He groaned and trudged through more papers until he couldn't take touching another piece of dead tree. Fifteen minutes had passed.
====
Daniel sat at his desk, studying an artifact brought back by SG-8 the day before. It had strange writings or symbols on it, and Daniel was struggling to decipher the language.
Jack sauntered into Daniel's domain and immediately picked up some pointy object.
"Jack, put that down."
Jack laughed. Daniel was still hunched over the vase-like object he was working on and had never even looked up to acknowledge him.
"What's that?"
"I have no idea. Looks like a vase, as I'm sure you can see for yourself."
"In other words, go away and leave me alone."
"Yes."
Jack nodded and walked over to another shelf where a blue and white crystal-like relic sat. He picked it up, bobbing it up and down in his hands.
"Jack, put that down."
"Put what down, Daniel?"
"Whatever you're holding."
"If you don't know what I'm holding, how do you know I'm holding anything?"
"Because I know you, and you can't walk into my office without holding something."
Jack put the article down and looked at all the different objects that were there. Daniel's office was more packed than ever. He thought back over the years since Daniel had first occupied this space.
They'd had to rearrange, add more shelves as time had passed. Some things were passing through, artifacts and relics Daniel had studied that SG-1 and other teams had brought back would find a place on the shelves for a while and then move on to Area 51 or to a storage facility.
But as he looked closely, Jack recognized a lot of things that once sat in Daniel's apartment, back when Daniel actually lived there. Other items Daniel had discovered or purchased were also here.
Jack knew Daniel treasured these rare pieces of history, and he was equally sure that having them shoved together on shelves wasn't what Daniel had in mind when he had acquired them.
There were lots of things Daniel kept at their house, but they still had to be careful. He kept a few things downstairs that he felt would mix in with Jack's things without too much of a question, and there were some in their bedroom and the spare room, but there was so much other stuff there that there had never been much room for Daniel to really exhibit his pieces.
Jack turned to Daniel and watched him scribbling a note about the vase, which he had apparently put down to open a book, and then glanced back over the shelves. He walked over behind Daniel and took a quick peak over to the open door.
Leaning in, Jack sneaked his arms around Daniel's waist, kissed his nape, and whispered "I love you."
"Jack," Daniel sighed. "I can't concentrate when you do that, and we're ... at work. No hanky panky at work."
"Spoilsport," Jack whispered again, his eyes focused on the door.
It was dumb, and a tad exhilarating to touch Daniel on base as he was now.
"Besides, you said I'm always holding something when I come in here; just wanted to prove you right."
"Get out, Jack."
"Get out? Why, Daniel, what happened to that "can't get enough, yes, Jack, more, Jack" you were screaming this morning.
"Jack, get out ... now," Daniel tried to bark.
The problem Daniel was having was that he was leaning into Jack, and he was shocked to realize his body was quickly responding to Jack's whispers about their interlude. He hated it when his body didn't listen to his brain, and his brain was screaming, "I need to finish this translation."
"Going, Love. You'll miss me."
Daniel grunted, but when Jack stopped for a quick look back as he stood at the doorway, Daniel smiled and mouthed, "I love you."
====
"I'm going to miss you."
"Going to? I miss you already. I go crazy when you aren't here, Danny."
"It's going to be a long two weeks."
"Well, once you get there, you'll be so busy playing with your rocks you probably won't even remember my name."
"Jack."
"Good. You still remember."
"Jaa..."
Jack didn't let Daniel finish his word, his tongue entering his lover's mouth and waltzing with it as he devoured his love. He needed to taste as much of Daniel as he could with this last kiss, to hold him close, and make sure Daniel knew just how much Jack loved him and wanted him, so Jack stopped talking with words, and began a more intimate conversation with his body.
They only had a couple more minutes, and then Daniel was off with SG-11 for a two-week dig on PR9-112 while Jack puttered around the lonely halls of the SGC, alone and abandoned, or so Jack tried to say in order to gain sympathy from his lover. He didn't get sympathy, but he did get an evening of mind-blowing sex last night and Jack figured that, all things considered, it was a good deal.
The only reason Jack wasn't more upset was because he'd been to the planet himself and was satisfied it was "safe". Still, he spent 45 minutes lecturing Colonel Carl Rappaport on the proper care and feeding of his archaeologist.
Rappaport was fairly new to the SGC, and this was only his fourth mission as the leader of SG-11, so he had been a bit stunned at Jack's rambling "orders" about making sure Daniel stayed safe, until he mentioned it to his old friend Lt. Col. Lou Ferretti who spent another 20 minutes strongly advising Rappaport to follow whatever instructions Jack had given him, unless he wanted to deal with an unhappy Jack O'Neill.
"Let me put it this way, Colonel, the last mission commander who failed to see that Dr. Jackson was returned safely, ended up stationed at Elmendorf for six months. The one before that resigned his commission 48 hours after Daniel's release from the infirmary. He denies Jack had anything to do with it, but I wouldn't bank on that. Jack takes his archaeologist's safety very seriously."
====
"How's it coming?"
"Right on schedule, Colonel. You must have some real clout with the owners."
"Me? Nah."
The construction crew chief laughed
"Listen, Colonel, we had at least ten jobs ahead of this one, and on top of that, it was made clear this job HAD to be finished on time. I don't know who the heck you are, but my hats off to you for pulling this off."
Jack smiled as he watched the workers. Yes, sometimes it was good to be a United States Air Force Colonel, who had lots and lots of ties to "important" people who could make things happen in a hurry. He might regret it when his benefactors pulled in their markers, wanting favors in return, but right now, Jack was flying high.
====
It was late, about 10 p.m., and the SGC had only a skeleton staff on hand. Sam had been working late on a new dialing program for the computer and was about to head home. She had the next 24 hours off but knew Daniel was expected back and she wanted to drop a little "Welcome Home" note under his office door to greet him.
"Sir?"
"Carter, what the heck are you doing here?," Jack snapped, almost dropping some "rock" onto the floor.
"I wanted to leave this for Daniel, Sir," she said holding out the note which she sat on the keyboard of Daniel's primary computer.
"He'll be back tomorrow, Carter," Jack said anxiously waiting for his 2IC to depart.
"Sir, is everything all right," Sam asked as she leaned her head to the right to look behind Jack at the box on the floor.
"Everything's fine, Carter. Have a good night."
"Sir, are you sure ..."
"Goodnight, Carter."
"Goodnight, Sir," Sam nervously said as she reluctantly walked out the door. She was tempted to turn around and peak back through the door, but just then, the door closed and locked.
====
"Decided to come back, did ya?"
"Good to see you too, Jack."
Jack and Daniel stared deeply into each other's eyes. They had to act calm and nonchalant. They were at the base of the ramp in the SGC gate room, surrounded by marines, the rest of SG-1 and up in the control room was General Hammond.
Their vocal chords spoke calmly, jokingly, but their eyes were saying "I love you; missed you so darn much; can't wait to get you naked."
"Colonel, as you can see," Rappaport pointed to Daniel with one hand, "safe and sound, and well fed."
Daniel's eyes bulged.
"Jack!"
Jack smirked, ignoring Daniel's outrage and addressed his reply to the his fellow team leader, "Thank you, Colonel. Receipt acknowledged."
As SG-11 headed for the lockers, Daniel stared sharply at Jack.
"What did you say to him, Jack? Is that why he was stuffing power bars down my throat, and making Williams act like a water girl?"
Jack laughed, and took Daniel by the elbow to guide him out of the gate room.
"Now, Daniel, do you really think I would ..."
"Yes, Jack, and you did, or he wouldn't have said that."
"Daniel, I was only ..."
"I know what you were only. Jack, I can take care of myself. You don't need to go around terrorizing ..."
"I wasn't terrorizing anyone, I only suggested ..."
"Suggested or threatened?"
"Danny?"
"Jack?"
"I would never ..."
"But you did, and you know ..."
"I know nothing of ..."
The two were almost to the lockers. As they walked, various SGC onlookers steered clear. Jack and Daniel were known for their bickering or bantering or whatever people chose to call it, but when they were doing that thing where neither of them ever finished a sentence, most people figured they should steer clear.
Like a warning beacon, one marine nodded towards another, eyes waivering towards the oblivious Jack and Daniel, and the two were given a wide berth. It had been this way for years, but neither had a clue. When they talked like this, they never heard anything or anyone else.
"Jack, Rappaport was a like a scared ..."
"Scared? Cool! I haven't lost my touch."
"And you aren't getting touched any time soon either," Daniel whispered as he opened the locker room door.
Jack laughed loudly as Daniel looked back and glared. He saw what Jack's eyes were saying, which was "Right, Danny, two weeks of no touching, loving, fondling, kissing, and mind-blowing sex, you'll last about, oh, another hour, which is how long it will take us to get out of here and home."
What frustrated Daniel so much is that Jack's eyes spoke the truth, and what's worse, Jack knew Daniel knew it. Even worse than that, now surrounded by the members of SG-11, Daniel was unable to retaliate like he would liked to, so Daniel finally turned and tried to ignore his stalker as he prepared to shower and change.
"Colonel?"
"Ah, Rappaport, mission go well?"
"Yes, it did. Did you need something?"
Daniel was hiding a snicker. Jack had no reason for being in the locker room, and his nonchalant lingering, with hands in his pockets, made him look pretty suspicious.
"Actually, I ... needed to get something."
"In here?"
"Towel. I needed a towel. Something ... spilled in my office." Jack picked up a towel and gave a glance to his lover who was working hard to suppress a hearty laugh.
"You came all the way down here for a ... towel?"
"Yes, Colonel, I did. You have a problem with that?"
Jack stood nose to nose with Rappaport. When in doubt, Jack figured, intimidate. It worked.
"No, Sir, Colonel ... no, I don't," Rappaport said as he closed his locker and moved around the benches to put distance between him and Jack.
"Excuse me, Colonel."
Jack nodded and Rappaport headed for the showers, where his other team members now were. Jack surveyed the area and made sure no one else was near. He walked up to Daniel and startled him by pinching his right butt cheek.
"Jaaaaack!" Daniel almost yelled, but happily managed to make it a squeak.
"My office ASAP. Love you, Danny," Jack whispered softly in his ear.
Daniel wanted to wring Jack's neck for saying those two words, after two weeks apart, when they were surrounded by SG-11, and besides, Daniel was mad at Jack ... at least, he wanted to be, but darn, if Daniel didn't want to kiss Jack more than he wanted to yell at him for scaring Rappaport into playing Mother Hen in his stead.
Daniel shook his body as if to twist out the last several minutes and headed for the showers.
====
During the ride home, Daniel continued to give Jack a difficult time about Rappaport, but they both knew Jack would never change. As they pulled into the driveway and Jack shut off the truck, Daniel asked, "Jack, did you hear anything I said about taking care of myself and not terrorizing the rest of the SGC?"
Jack reached over and grabbed Daniel's left hand.
"Heard every word, Love. You're home, you're safe. That's all I care about, Danny."
Daniel sighed. Jack would never change. Somewhere down deep, Daniel didn't really care. It felt good to be loved to so much.
Jack and Daniel got to the door and looked at each other. They both knew what was probably going to happen as soon as they got inside the safe confines of their home.
Jack smiled, "Better say hello to the girls first. They've missed you."
"Are you suggesting I shouldn't jump your bones as soon as you close the door?"
Jack surprised himself. He didn't say anything. He wanted Daniel so much, and yet he felt a weird sort of paternal compassion for their beagles who had missed Daniel terribly.
Jack unlocked the door and pushed it open. Daniel followed him inside, shut the door, and paused to give Jack one very long, powerful kiss.
"Soon, Love."
Jack smiled as Daniel went off to greet the two dogs who were jumping up and down excitedly on the patio, tails wagging, letting out little "woofs".
Daniel walked outside to the patio and the dogs went crazy trying to get to him. He kneeled down and Bijou stood up on her hind legs and pushed against him, causing Daniel to roll back on the deck. He was lying prone on the wooden deck, gigging and smiling, petting the happy dogs who were licking and pawing him with zeal.
Jack stood happily watching his lover romping with their pets. It was a beautiful sight, and Jack felt very lucky that he was there to witness it.
====
"Hmmm, I missed you, Jack," Daniel moaned as he kissed his lover at the foot of the stairs. After 20 minutes of playing with the girls, Daniel was now ready to play with his Colonel, and the Colonel seemed willing, at first.
"Danny, I want to show you something."
"I know exactly what I want to see, Jack."
Daniel's hands were roaming Jack's body, and oh yes, Jack was eager, but this was important, too. Then again, Daniel's hands were like magic and Jack figured what the heck, if Daniel didn't notice, his surprise could wait.
They made their way up the stairs, Daniel totally oblivious to anything but Jack. As they touched and fondled their way into the bedroom, they began to undress each other. Their shirts were on the carpeted floor, when Daniel gently pushed Jack backwards onto the bed and began planting a row of kisses on Jack's chest. Suddenly, Daniel's head popped up, a look of confusion on his face.
"Danny? Are you okay?"
Daniel turned his head towards the door and then back at Jack. He didn't say anything, but he got up and walked into the hallway and stared.
"Jack?"
Jack shook his head and laughed.
"Oh well," he thought to himself. He'd waited two weeks for the mission to conclude, and 20 minutes for the dogs to get in their licks. He figured he could wait a few more minutes in order to show Daniel his surprise.
Jack walked up behind Daniel and put his arms around him.
"Surprise, Love. This is for you."
Daniel turned his head back to look at Jack, still unsure of all Jack had done. When he had left the upstairs consisted of three very separate rooms -- the master bedroom and bath, the spare bedroom, and the smaller utility room -- and the hallway had been white whereas now it was a light blue.
Instead of the spare room and utility room doors Daniel remembered, there was a set of two ornate-styled sliding panel doors that were located in the center of where the two separate rooms used to be. Daniel was speechless.
Jack moved to get in front of Daniel and took his right hand and lead him into his new piece of heaven. "This is ... Daniel's Den," Jack smiled with pride as Daniel stared at him and then ran his hands over the white carved doors. He noticed locks were on the door.
Inside, instead of the two rooms, there was now one large room, with overhead lighting as well as several small accent lights to highlight certain shelf areas. The room was painted a light wedgewood blue, and the wall to wall plush carpeting was the same color.
Daniel started on his right as he entered the room, and saw a wall of built in shelves against the hallway wall. They were full artifacts and relics from his office and apartment, all carefully placed on display with the appropriate lighting to display each piece in their ancient beauty.
He turned to the wall facing the front of the house. There were a couple of bookshelves, that reached from the floor to the ceiling in each corner of the wall. The shelves were about 11" deep and they were full of books, ones Daniel had kept in boxes in the garage as well as in his apartment and his office, and some from the living room of their house. Jack had even placed the dreaded Budge in the center of one of the shelves which garnered a soft snicker from Daniel as he browsed the collection.
In between the bookshelves was an expensive and complex stereo system complete with phonograph, AM/FM radio, cassette player, MP3 player, and CD player. The speakers were massive. All of Daniel's favorite CDs and cassettes were there, plus some new ones he had been wanting.
There was also a 30" Tivo in the center of the display with two VCRs, plus a collection of documentaries and specials that Daniel had and a group of blank tapes.
In addition, there was a nature sound device so that Daniel could relax to the sound of rain or ocean waves or perhaps birds chirping or winds blowing. There were 30 different selections available including whale sounds and dolphin songs.
What affected Daniel the most as he looked at this wall was that on two shelves there was a group of personal items, memorabilia from Jack and Daniel's secret life together. Many of these things had been kept tucked away in their special keepsake box, but Jack had pulled out a few photos and framed them to adorn the shelves.
None of them were the most "incriminating" photos, but the photos were of the two of them, smiling for the camera, or looking at each other saying words no one but they would understand.
Daniel chuckled at the Mickey Mouse ears Jack had set out, but was grateful his lover had kept the photo of them and Goofy under wraps. He looked affectionately at the collection of assorted items -- an empty bottle of St. Juliens from a wine tasting trip, a mini-pyramid from their trip to Egypt, a large wooden Hershey chocolate bar, and even a bobble head for the Colorado Avalanche. Daniel looked at Jack and shook his head as he made the 4" tall item bob up and down several times.
Center stage amid the decor was the dreaded Boonie Bear which Jack had brought from his office. Daniel traced his fingers over the boonie hat and wire framed glasses and turned to Jack who had the sweetest smile on his face. For the first time, Daniel thought maybe that bear wasn't so bad after all ... and it looked like it belonged on that shelf, just as Daniel knew he belonged here, in this house, with Jack.
Daniel turned to the outer wall. There was a large double window at the center of it. If Daniel wanted to open either section of it, he could. The midnight blue blinds were room darkening so that if he wanted to rest or sleep in the recliner (which he had yet to survey) without the invasion of sunlight, he could do that, too.
Daniel noticed there seemed to be more light coming into the room than from the window and when he looked up, he saw six skylights evenly spaced across the room. They could also be opened if he so desired via a remote control he saw sitting in a cradle attached to the wall.
Centered below the window was an antique cherry wood desk which was large enough for Daniel to easily spread out his books, laptop, and an artifact or two, but not so large that it took away from the ambiance. If Daniel wanted to work in his den, he could, or he could get lost in the sounds of the nature or opera or rock 'n roll, all the while enjoying the relics and treasures he had discovered over the years.
Daniel noticed a phone one the desk, plus there was another jack for the computer line in case Daniel brought his laptop into his "den" and needed to use the phone and be online.
Jack even put in a small navy blue bean bag next to the desk for the girls to relax in if Daniel chose to let them up there. Their dogs were well trained and Jack hadn't been too concerned about their potential to ruin anything, but that would be up to Daniel. Jack simply wanted to cover all the bases.
In the middle of the room, closer to the window and desk though, was an extra wide navy blue recliner and ottoman. A navy blue blanket sat on the ottoman.
At the wall that joined with the master bedroom, there were more bookshelves filled with many of Daniel's favorite artifacts that he had collected over the years. These were things Jack specifically remembered Daniel handling with great care or talking about endlessly. Some of the things had been at the house already, but most were buried on the "busy" shelves of Daniel's SGC office. A few larger pieces were retrieved from Daniel's apartment.
While most of what Daniel had left there had been for "show", a few of the pieces Jack knew he loved but hesitated to bring to the house because there was no proper place to house them.
On the final section of wall, that part of the room that was to Daniel's left when he first walked in, Jack had hung many of Daniel's other personal items, including a set of swords. There was plenty of room to add more. In fact, there was room on all the shelves for Daniel to add to his den.
For the most part, Daniel had been silent as he had carefully and slowly checked out each shelf. He had occasionally reached in and touched some precious artifact before checking out the next unit. He had run his fingers across the antique desk and sat quietly for a few minutes in the chair, reclining it backwards and surveying the room. He had noticed the chair came with a massager and heater that would certainly come in handy.
Jack had watched with a mixture of emotions. At first, he had wanted to gloat that he had done good, but watching Daniel, his heart had turned into mush. Daniel hadn't been acting like the kid in the candy store, he had been acting like someone who had gotten something they had never even thought about wishing for, a dream come true, a dream that maybe he hadn't been deserving of.
If Jack had had any doubts about what he had done, they had vanished with each touch of Daniel's hand to some "rock".
Having examined the room thoroughly, Daniel went to the middle of the room and stood and slowly turned around in a circle, taking in the panorama ... of his sanctuary. He stopped looking out the window, and didn't move for a couple of minutes.
Jack finally walked to Daniel, and put his arms around his waist, and Daniel automatically leaned into him, a contented sigh escaping from his throat.
"You can change anything you don't like, and I mean anything, Daniel. This place, it's for you. I tried my best not to forget anything, but I'm sure I did. Danny?"
Jack turned his silent motionless lover to face him, and saw the tears that his heart couldn't hold back.
"Ah, Danny," Jack whispered as he pulled him in tight, lovingly caressing Daniel's back as the young man rested his head on Jack's shoulder, still having not spoken a word.
"I love you, Danny."
Jack held his speechless lover for a few minutes, his hands caressing his back, his lips kissing Daniel's neck. Daniel didn't seem to want to move, but when he finally pulled back, and his teary blue eyes met the misty brown eyes of his love, Daniel asked for the one thing he wanted most in that moment.
"Make love to me, Jack."
====
Jack awoke at 3 a.m., alone in the king-sized bed. He and Daniel had made tender and lingering love for hours, savoring the taste of the other. Jack's lover still hadn't said much in words, but with his heart and body, he had spoken volumes. They had fallen asleep holding on to each other, Jack's arms around Daniel, their hands entwined.
Jack marveled that Daniel had been able to disentangle himself from Jack without waking him, but over the years, Daniel had learned Jack's sleeping patterns pretty well, and was an expert on how not to wake Jack.
Jack put on his robe and went in search of Daniel, though he had a hunch he'd find him in the den he had created for him, and Jack was right. Daniel, wearing his own robe, was seated Indian style in the middle of the floor looking up at the shelves full of artifacts on the wall that was closest to the master bedroom.
"Hey," Jack said with a smile.
"Hey," Daniel said with a whisper.
"To heck with my knees," Jack silently thought as he sat on the floor in front of Daniel and reached out and took his hands.
"You okay?"
"No one has ever done anything like this just for me before. Jack, this is incredible. And ... it's all ...," Daniel looked down. He thought he must sound terribly silly and look even sillier, but he couldn't help it, and another tear escaped.
"It's all for you, Daniel. This is, " Jack paused and looked around the room and then back at Daniel, giving him a big smile, "This is Daniel's Den. It's your place for the things you love most, to keep them safe, where you can look at them and appreciate them, and ... do whatever you do with those rocks. It's all for you. Remember, you can change anything you don't like."
"No, Jack. It's perfect, except for one thing; well, maybe two things."
Jack laughed.
"Make a list, Love; we'll do whatever you want."
Daniel shook his head.
"No, it just needs ... Jack, I know you don't like this stuff, and it's for me, but sometimes, maybe ... "
"What, Danny?"
"It needs ...," Daniel looked over at the window, his eyes blinking several times. Jack could see Daniel working something out, so he waited patiently.
"Jack, could we get another one of those leather sofas, the comfy ones, and put it there, under the window, and then maybe sometimes you could, I mean, if you ..."
Jack leaned over and kissed his heart, their tongues tingling from the delight of touching.
"I'd like that, Danny. You can tell me the stories about each one of your treasures, and we can listen to opera."
"And the girls have their own spot, too. I'm so glad you thought of that, Jack. They're really careful."
Daniel was looking at all the things in the room as Jack caressed both his hands, keeping him grounded. Daniel was truly overwhelmed.
"How'd you do all this Jack? I didn't think you could outdo yourself after the car and that crazy day when everything went wrong, but this ... Wow, Jack. How'd you do it?"
"I've been thinking been about it a little while. You needed a place for you stuff, and since we decided to add to our family, you needed someplace that would be "off limits", someplace where your things would be safe. Danny, your office is crowded with stuff. You can't enjoy much of it when it's shoved into small spaces like it was in your office.
"I used a couple of contacts to get a good construction crew lined up, at a great rate; talked over the ideas with a couple of people and then when I found out you were going to be gone with SG-11, it seemed like the perfect time."
Jack brought Daniel's hands up to his mouth and kissed them before continuing.
"And then I slowly brought things home from the office and the apartment that I thought were special, and I do have to admit, Danny, I took some stuff from the apartment to fill in some of the spaces in the office temporarily. You'll have to sort through that, but I didn't want it to look like everything disappeared overnight. As it was, Carter caught me there last night."
"Sam?"
"That would be Carter."
"Jack," Daniel laughed softly.
"It wasn't that hard, Danny. I ... went shopping. Notice all the blue."
Daniel lowered his head for a moment as he blushed slightly. Jack loved Daniel's blue eyes, and he tried to surround him in shades of blue whenever possible. There was blue all around in Daniel's Den. Jack smiled, glad that Daniel just happened to consider blue to be his favorite color so he couldn't go wrong. It was a win-win situation, color-wise.
"I love you, Jack. I can't believe you did this. Thank you."
"Come back to bed, Danny."
Jack and Daniel stood and headed for the door. Daniel took another look around before they walked out.
"It really is perfect, Jack, but you were wrong about one thing."
"What was that?"
"I do love those things, but what I love most, is you."
Jack's knees felt like Jell-O, his heart was melted butter. He could hear the sweet violin music in the air. How he loved this man who was his heart. They kissed and went back to their bedroom, and made love again before falling asleep and sleeping in late the next morning.
====
Daniel cozied up behind Jack, putting his arms around his waist as Jack scrambled the eggs.
"Morning."
"Good Morning," Jack said, leaning back a little and turning his head to give Daniel a morning kiss.
"Smells good."
"Hope so. I'm starved. Worked up quite an appetite with all that exercise we got last night."
Daniel laughed.
"Jack, is the den what you were thinking about last month when you were outside in the middle of night?"
Jack shook his head. "It wasn't the middle of the night, Daniel. It was what? 6 or 7 a.m."
"Like I said, the middle of the night," Daniel laughed leaning his chin against Jack's shoulder watching Jack preparing the eggs.
"No, then, I was thinking about the kids."
"Bijou and Katie?"
"Daniel, it's not the middle of the night now."
"Oh," Daniel said shyly.
"Danny, we both use the study, but it's always been my place with all the sports stuff. I wanted you to have your own place, too, for your stuff. I figure we can add an addition to the house, cut off part of the backyard for the human kids. What do you think?"
"I think I'd better keep my job so we can afford it, which reminds me ..."
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"You paid me back for the car. You are not paying me back for your den. End of subject."
There was a definite finality to Jack's statement, and Daniel didn't mind. There was a big difference between the car and the den, and their relationship had even been different. With every month, Jack and Daniel became stronger, and they were about to be married.
They were going to make everything as legal as possible when they wed, and what they couldn't do now, they would do once Jack retired, including getting a joint bank account.
They really didn't pay attention to who paid for what anymore anyway. It was usually whoever had their credit card or checkbook the handiest that bought or paid for whatever they wanted. Daniel sighed at the thought of sharing so much with this man who continued to make him feel like a precious angel.
Jack turned off the burner and moved the pan to a cool burner and then turned to embrace Daniel.
"Happy?"
"Eternally. You?"
"Forever...ly."
"That's not a word, Jack."
"Daniel?"
"Yes?"
"Forget you're a linguist and concentrate on being a lover for a minute, okay?"
"Okay."
They engaged in a round of heavy duty kissing for a few minutes, the scrambled eggs cooling significantly as the men share their love.
"I love you so much, Danny. Only you."
"Then stop ruining my breakfast. The eggs are cold," Daniel teased before they kissed again.
"I'll have to warm them up."
"Jack, are you sure you're that hungry?"
Seeing the gleam of lust and desire in Daniel's eyes, Jack took a brief look at the eggs before planting another kiss on Daniel's soft lips.
"Hungry for you."
Their hands around their waists, they walked back up the stairs and once again exchanged their passion with the trembling and rocking of their bodies until they collapsed onto one another.
"Jack?"
"Yes, Love?"
"This is going to be real sappy, okay?"
Jack chuckled a little as he kissed the top of Daniel's head. "Okay. I consider myself duly warned about ... the impending excessive use of sap."
Daniel chuckled and then let the words flow as best he could.
"We're forever, Jack. I know that, but I need you to know that no matter what happens or what we deal with in the future, I'm ... happy, so incredibly happy, and I never thought I could be, not really, not like this.
"And it's all because of you, and how much you love me, and the thing is, Jack, you don't just ... tell me, you show me in a ways I couldn't ever have imagined, and you give me so much, way too much, Jack. And I don't mean things, not possessions and ... and ... stuff, but your heart and your soul, they're mine and I know it.
"Geez, Jack, I know it like I've never known anything before. You've sacrificed for me over and over again, and you never let me run. Gawd, Jack, I tried to run so many times, but you wouldn't let me. I love you so much, Jack. Thank you for loving me, too."
Jack leaned his chin against Daniel's forehead and tried to stop his eyes from tearing. He had a lump in his throat that was the size of an apple. He wasn't sure he could ever speak again.
He kept caressing Daniel, placing small kisses on his silky hair, but he couldn't speak. He felt a bit of moisture on his chest and he knew it was from Daniel's eyes, and then he couldn't stop his own tears.
"Sappy to the max, Danny," was all Jack could say, his voice cracked and full of emotion, but he needed to say just one more thing before they settled and regained control over their emotions, so he choked out, "Love you, Space Monkey, forever and always."
~~Finis - Finished - Done - The End - But is it ever Really?~~