For the purposes of this story DADT is gone. No specific time frame but if forced to give one season six or seven just because I mention naquadria.
It was a sad day for the ego of Colonel Jack O'Neill. He didn't know if he would ever recover from the deterioration of his pride or from the looks that he would be forced to endure from his team as a result of what had happened. The embarrassment alone should have been enough to kill him let alone that pain being compounded with the emotional trauma of it all. It didn't matter that only a few people had seen him because his life was ruined and there was nothing that could be done to remedy the situation. He would now be the laughing stock of SG-1 if not all of the SGC.
He lay in his bed at his house determined in his decision to quit his job the next day and maybe move to Alaska or a remote island that nobody had ever heard of. He was retired in any case so it wouldn't make much difference. Some would say he was drama queening but it couldn't really be helped because this was impossible to live down.
It had been a routine trip. Daniel had won over the locals as usual; Teal'c had stood back and watched diligently alert for any signs of danger, Carter had begun to see what the village had to offer and O'Neill had simply watched his team do their thing happy that nobody had decided to spontaneously attack them because his knees were literally killing him and the whole surprise attack thing was really getting old.
After chatting it up with the locals they had been invited to a ceremonial feast seeing as their arrival had coincidentally coincided with one of their religious holidays. At first it had been great, the ceremonial beverage tasted like wine the food was edible and dare he say even pleasant. The company was the ten high ranking people in the village so it was truly an honor to dine with them since the commoners celebrated with them the next day.
After the meal Jack had assumed that they would head for the gate and give a long boring report about the uses that the world could serve and all the other yakking that usually occurred post mission. But he had been wrong. To conclude the feast they were to give thanks to the gods that the feast celebrated. To do this on honored individual dressed in the divine garment another dressed in the divine fleece and the other individuals played subservient roles in the ceremony.
Since SG-1 were the honored guests at the ceremony it was unanimously decided that that two from their company would play the part of the gods. Jack, since he was the leader would wear the divine garment and Daniel would wear the fleece because he was their favorite from the group which was hardly a surprise.
The two were led away by some of the servants and other servants came to clean the hall of the remnants of the feast. After the clean-up was done everyone remaining in the hall was given a white fleece that was tied around the neck with an attached string and went down to the middle of their backs. A hood was affixed to it as well but they didn't put them up yet. Sam and Teal'c followed their hosts as they got up and sat on a surprisingly soft floor in front of a large stage that had a curtain drawn in front of it.
Suddenly there was a loud drumming that rang through the crowd and they all quickly pulled their hoods up and shifted so that they could bow down.
"My Flock I return to grace you with my presence. I have been gifted but I have not forgotten what it is to roam amongst you." Daniel said in a voice that was deeper than usual. Sam would even dare to say that it was quite sexy in fact and had a brief moment of wondering if he was trying to imitate Teal'c. "I will always be one of you my brethren and we are the same because we serve our queen." He continued. The crowd beat fists on the ground rhythmically but still did not look up.
"Rise and look upon me my friends." Daniel said and at his words the crowd rose and looked upon him. A dim spotlight had been cast and he wore a large black gold-streaked fleece that had a hood much like the small white ones. It was tied at the waist, neck and ankles underneath it was obvious he had on nothing but the underwear from his original clothing. His glasses were gone so the startling blue of his eyes set contrast to the black paint under his eyes that extended in thin lines on his cheeks. He stood for a moment, as though, appraising his flock and was apparently satisfied with what he saw.
Then he sat on stage and knelt down facing away from the crowd. "Our mistress will soon arrive. She is the one who cares for us and to her we owe much. We are privileged to be allowed in her presence. Now we bow for she will soon arrive." With that he bowed and once again the flock bowed and awaited their mistress.
"My Flock," Jack said in a startlingly pleasant sounding falsetto. "You serve me well and I am privileged to walk amongst you. Rise my loyal ones so that you may see me."
Once again the crowd looked up. Daniel still knelt down in front of the 'mistress'. Jack had been put into a fairytale dress. It was long and white and ran all the way to his feet slightly covering the white shoes that peaked out. From the waist down it was slightly puffier and two gold pieces flared out like flattened wings one to each side. The sleeves were long and stopped at the wrist allowing the gloves to show. From the waist up there was a ribbon that had been tied in a bow behind his neck. In one hand he carried a white staff which was curled at the top and to finish the effect his hair had been smoothed down and a gold headband had been placed on his head.
Sam didn't know if she should laugh herself sick or go 'aww' so she settled for a stunned silence which was just as well. Casting a glance over a Teal'c she found that it seemed as though one of his eyebrows had simply vanished. An errant thought of 'do they make prosthetic eyebrows' ran through her mind and she quickly turned her attention back to the stage.
Now that his loyal followers gazed upon him he walked over to Daniel and commanded him to rise. As he did they stood side by side and he spoke once more. "Behold your Chosen." At that there was another round of fist pounding.
Then the two men turned and gazed lovingly at one another and moved closer and closer until their lips had connected with one another in a sweet kiss. After the kiss the blushing pair exited the stage and another man came onto it.
"Once again the Mistress has claimed Ha'baa the last Ka'kri Chosen and prosperity shall rein once again." Another round of fist pounding and the ceremony was concluded
About thirty minutes later the team was cleaned up, had thanked their hosts and had begun to make their way back to the gate. Jack, had taken the lead, as usual, and walked ahead alert for any signs danger. He was unusually silent though and they all chalked it up to embarrassment. Sam and Daniel, on the other hand, were talking quite animatedly.
"…their goddess," Daniel was saying, "claimed a mate that was chosen by her followers. She loved them all equally and only claimed another when the previous died. When she met Ha'baa she took him and she loved him so much that she split her life force with him and she lived with him forever. Afterward she came down to visit her loyal ones and he came with her. So the ceremony is not only to honors her but it honors him since he also became a god."
"Wow it's like a fairytale." Sam said sighing and making a face that made her seem like a little girl and not someone that was in the military.
Then they both looked at Jack and then back at each other. Each wondering if the older man could get over what had happened today. In truth they were worried about him. He had been so silent since the ceremony. Both of them had to wonder how they had convinced him to do it in the first place.
Daniel began to wonder if it was only because of having to wear that dress or if more of the embarrassment was due to the fact that he had, had to kiss him. For a moment an irritated thought of 'is he trying to say that I'm a bad kisser?' ran through his mind and he firmly gave his head a firm shake that was hardly the issue, he scolded himself wondering why the thought had crossed his mind.
As he walked the thought reoccurred and he was forced to admit – if only to himself- that Jack was a great kisser. The thought made him blush and he was happy that it was so dark. Suddenly he surprised himself with the thought that he actually didn't mind kissing Jack he chalked that up to being bi-sexual. He wasn't ashamed of that though because he looked for love he didn't care what kind of package it came in. The greater shock was that he wanted to do it again. Did he love Jack? Sure he was his best friend they had been through a whole lot together you get real close to people when your job is saving worlds on the day-to- day basis. Was he in love with Jack though? That was the question he was thinking about the rest of the way to the stargate.
When they arrived through the gate Jack immediately left the room without even saying a word to anyone.
"What's the matter with him?" The general asked mystified at the behavior the leader of the front-line team had exhibited.
Teal'c came forward knowing that Carter didn't know how to explain it without embarrassing Jack in front of the commanding officer.
"O'Neill had been picked to participate in religious ceremony, he did not wish to be rude to our hosts, and as a result he had to engage in a lip- to –lip connection with another male. I believe he is still in shock because of that event."
By that time Jack had taken off and was headed home. When he got there he took a shower and then flopped on his bed his thoughts in overdrive. It was the dress that had destroyed his pride and made him want to disappear it was the fact that he had kissed his best friend that sealed the last nail in the proverbial coffin.
The worst part was that he liked it. Sure he could move past the fact that he always thought himself straight. He was but Daniel was an exception. He had never had feelings for another guy so it only made sense that he say he was straight or perhaps Daniel-sexual. But that wasn't the point. The issue was that it was Daniel his best friend and now that he wanted more than that to him so he was destroying the friendship and betraying his friend at the same time.
He sighed wishing he had the energy to get up and pour himself a nice mind-numbing drink. But he didn't so he had to settle for just going to sleep. He sighed again and tried to bury the thoughts so that he could sleep.
The next morning he woke up feeling terrible which made no sense at all seeing as he hadn't even gotten drunk last night. He tried to sit up but decided it wasn't worth it when the room decided to start spinning like a merry-go-round running in hyper drive and powered by naquadria. Moments later he was out like a light.
Daniel had begun to worry when Jack hadn't shown up at the mountain and quickly got permission to go check on his teammate when Jack didn't answer the phone. When he got to Jack's house he knocked but getting no answer he went ahead and used the spare key that Jack had given him. He wandered back into Jack's room and found him sleeping. At first he thought he had just overslept. But as he got closer he could see the flushed skin of his friend and reached out hoping that he was wrong. Yup the idiot had a fever. Daniel sighed and went to retrieve the thermometer from the bathroom.
When he got back he took the reading and his eyes widened as he saw that it said 104.6. He went back to the bathroom and wet a cloth. After placing that on Jack he went to the kitchen and hunted for a can of soup. When he found it he placed it on the counter so that it could be there when Jack woke up then he filled a cup of water from the tap and got a large bowl. Back in the bathroom he hunted for some Tylenol which he quickly found and filled the bowl with water then he headed back to Jack.
He placed the huge bowl on the nightstand along with the Tylenol and the cup of water. He took the damp cloth and wet it again in the bowl before he replaced it. Then he pulled out his phone to call and say that Jack was sick and that he was taking care of him.
After the phone call he saw that glazed brown eyes were watching at him.
Daniel helped him sit up and take the medicine, and then helped him lay back down. The brown eyes stayed on him the whole time hardly even blinking. It was as though he was scared that if he looked away Daniel would disappear. Jack tried to say something but his voice was to faint for Daniel to hear and so he leaned down and that's how he ended up having his second kiss with Jack. Startled he pulled back and saw a stupid goofy-looking smile on Jack's face.
It took two days for Jack to be well enough to think straight and when he woke he found himself alone in his room. He must have dreamed that Daniel had taken care of him. Wrapping a blanket around himself he made the journey to his kitchen only to find Daniel there wearing boxer shorts and a white t-shirt. His hair was plastered to his head so he assumed that he had just taken a shower.
"Morning" Jack said.
Daniel turned and looked at him. "How do you feel?"
He shrugged "A little achy but I'll live. What are you doing here anyway?"
"Making coffee." He laughed at the irritated look Jack gave him. "I've been here taking care of you for the past two and a half days."
"I didn't do or say anything weird did I?"
"No. But you did do and say something sweet."
"What?" He asked, hesitantly while grabbing the offered cup of coffee.
"Well you kissed me and you told me that you loved me twice." He said with nonchalance causing Jack to nearly choke on his coffee.
Jack murmured a string of curse words under his breath.
"Your feelings aren't unrequited," Daniel said staring into his cup of coffee.
Jack looked up sharply wondering if he had heard correctly. Reaching out he touched Daniels arm to get his attention. "So now that you're my…boyfriend I demand an explanation for why you're so… perfect"
Daniel blushed because he couldn't believe that Jack could say something so adorable and sappy and got up to get a refill on his coffee just so he could turn away so that he wouldn't see Jack's smirk of amusement.
The next day they both went to work. None of the gang mentioned the incident, though Jack was sure that Carter had laughed a little when he passed her in the hall that morning, nobody tried to kill them and best of all nobody tried to annoy him to death. All in all a good day the only drawback was that he didn't get to see Daniel that much which really sucked because now that he felt how he did it was hard to be away from him. Of course he would never admit it out loud seeing as he had an image to maintain but that didn't stop it from being true.
Soon enough lunch came around and they got to see each other.
"So when do we tell people?" Daniel asked cautiously eating a sporkful of mystery food to see if it was edible.
Jack shrugged he didn't care if they told everyone or nobody at all. "We can keep it to ourselves or tell the world now or whenever."
"Let's get it over with." Daniel said .
A little surprised at the normally reserved person before him Jack nodded and proposed his plan.
An hour later the two of them stood in the gate room in front of the gate. As expected the rest of the team was called as well as the general. Quite a few people were gathered there and Daniel and Jack looked at one another making sure they were both still fine with the plan. Three seconds later their lips were locked and they ignored the collective gasp in the room.
"Sir I didn't know you were on the market and playing for both sides at that," Someone called out in an amused tone.
"I don't play for both sides," Jack said not even turning to look at the person "I'm just Daniel-sexual."
Daniel rolled his eyes, resigning himself to the fact that the man he was in love with was an idiot, and moved in for another kiss.
This was supposed to go up a long time ago and I just up and forgot. This story was started because I got an image put in my head by gatehead81 of Jack in the little bo peep dress. Then it morphed into a slash story all by itself. Reviews are much appreciated.