Kissing it better

Another Christmas fic I had stored! Fluff, schmoop and more fluff! (And it may have a spoiler for a 5+1 I've not actually written yet...)

Dec 24

Jack was surprised, and concerned, when Nathan shook his head and stalked away from him when he asked whether he was ready to go to Fargo's Christmas Eve bash. They had been talking about it that morning over breakfast, Nathan was smiling at the thought of it, he'd missed a couple – one when he was floating around the many universes as a load of atoms out of time, the other when he had disappeared to CERN to get away from Senator Wen – and was looking forward to this one. He had still been excited for it when they had met for lunch at Café Diem, so something had happened between now and then, and Jack was determined to find out.

So he followed him back into his office in Global, made sure the door closed behind him and walked over to the desk where Nathan had already flung himself in his chair behind it. "What's wrong?" he asked him and perched on the desk in front of him so he couldn't ignore him. "You wanted to go this morning, what happened?"

Nathan looked away from him and at his hand in front of him, trying to find the words to explain what had happened that afternoon "I was checking some of the experiments going on," he told him, still looking at his hand and not Jack. "Making sure the ones running over the next couple of days are stable and stay that way." He sighed. "A couple of the scientists were already into the egg nog and were…" he paused. "Mean to me."

It took his lover a few moments to figure out what he had said and Jack stared at him in some surprise when he realised he had actually said that. "Mean to you?" he asked him, and forced himself to stop the words: "What are you, twelve?" coming out of his mouth when Nathan looked up at him. The Scientist was clearly unhappy, Jack even dared to think he was upset, and that was enough to get him serious again. "What happened?" he asked him and reached over to the hand Nathan had stared at in his own, using it to pull the man and his chair closer.

Nathan let himself be pulled forward, Jack had a thing about moving his chair around with him in it, and he also had a need to be closed to someone he knew cared about him. "Do you think I'm a freak of nature?" he asked him bleakly. "Really? That you and the others shouldn't have worked so hard to get me back?"

Jack gaped at him in shock and shook his head. "No, Nathan, I don't," he told him firmly. "I don't think you're a freak, and I would have worked a hundred times harder to get you back." He pulled him closer until Nathan was flush against him and let go of his hand to embrace him tightly. "Who was it and what did they say?" he demanded and softened it with a kiss pressed to his temple.

Nathan found himself embracing Jack's slim waist and laying the side of his face on his partner's sternum. He closed his eyes and told him the whole sorry tale, just letting Jack hold onto him for a while. He was stunned and upset that those people had said what they had to him, he had not expected it, at all, from any of these supposedly 'intelligent' people.

Earlier …

He spent a pleasant hour and change pottering around with Henry's work at GD, he and Henry had collaborated on most of these things anyway, making sure the ones that had to keep running weren't going to blow up and ruin everyone's Christmas, closing down the others that he could, and generally playing with someone else's toys and having a great time.

Then he decided to take one last walk around the place before he admitted defeat and went back home again.

There weren't very many people there, it was Sunday, and a couple of days before the holidays after all, but the people that were there were some that he didn't recognise or socialise with. One of them was standing over a pile of smoking tech in a lab with glass walls while another stood next to him, alternating between laughter and shouting, from what he could tell. So he knocked on the glass door with a knuckle and walked in when they both turned to face him. "Are you okay?" he asked them and looked around them, taking in the scorch marks on the floor and around the table their equipment was on. "Do you need…?"

"No, Doctor Stark," the scientist standing over the pile of damaged components, and Nathan noted the grim tone he used. "We're fine, thank you."

"Yes," the female scientist, who had lost her smile, nodded as well. "We're fine, thank you." She looked him up and down and frowned. "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked him, snidely he thought. "Checking up on us mere mortals?"

Nathan frowned at her. "Excuse me?" he asked her. "What did you just say?"

"Did you not know? You're a freak of nature, Stark," the guy snorted at him. "Back from the dead, how did that happen?"

Nathan's frown deepened. "I wasn't dead, and a lot of hard work by a lot of people went into getting me back," he replied firmly.

"And I suppose you think you're worth that work," the woman added, her sneer marring her features. "We can't all be as perfect as you, so just go away and leave us simpletons alone. You may have managed to brainwash the Sheriff and your little clique, but the rest of us know what's going on. You're a freak; most of us don't want you here, especially when you're checking our work. Just go back to whatever planet you came from, and leave us alone."

He'd left then, gone back to his office and hidden out, and brooded over it. Did everyone feel that way about him? Were they all thinking that he had somehow brainwashed Jack into living with him, loving him? Did they all prefer it in Eureka when he was dead?

"No way!" Jack replied, and Nathan hadn't realised he'd said that out loud. "Of course not, Nathan, don't be stupid." He pressed a kiss to his forehead and then thought about it for a moment. "I think they are jealous," he told him after a few moments, and smiled down at Nathan when he looked up at him with a frown.

"Ohkkaay…" the scientist said to him, confused. "That one's gone over my head."

Jack grinned. "Now that doesn't happen very often," he retorted, and lightly kissed his mouth. He had to fight to pull away though, Nathan tasted just too good for only one little peck, and he could, and had, spent all day kissing the guy. "Think about it this way:" he suggested. "Yes, they were way out of line, and I hope Fargo fires their asses. But I also think they're jealous of you so have to come up with crap to explain why they aren't you. Understand?"

Nathan shook his head, his expression now of fond bemusement, rather than upset, so at least that was a bonus. "I don't think so," he admitted. "What's going through your head?"

Jack sighed theatrically and shook his head. "Geniuses, I don't know," he said to the sky. "What I mean is this: you have I don't know how many degrees, several Masters, three PhDs, a Nobel and are in the running for another one," he told him when he looked back down at him. "Your IQ is the size of the GDP of a South American country, you're the head of R and D for the DOD, you've written more books than the rest of them put together and…" he paused for dramatic emphasis. "You live with me. They've probably worked hard to get where they are, probably think they've worked harder because they don't have the same amount of brain power, and they just can't understand why it's not them in your position, why they don't have the big gong on their wall, why they're not Doctor, Doctor, Doctor Smartass, why they don't have the book contracts or the incredibly hot boyfriend," he explained, and let go with one hand to demonstrate himself. "So they come up with those stupid, hurtful things as a way to explain your success. They say you're a freak of nature, rather than admit you've worked so much harder than they have for a lot longer, that you come from a different planet rather than you've used your IQ properly and not wasted it. That you've brainwashed me rather than charmed me with your great personality and really, REALLY nice body," he added with a self-indulgent grin. "They don't get it, Love, they don't understand, and they're jealous."

Nathan was grinning now, that wide, happy smile that was such a rarity Jack felt blessed every time he saw it, especially when it was aimed at him. "You think I have a big gong?" he asked him impishly.

Jack laughed fondly and shook his head. "That was what you took out of all that?" he asked him. "Seriously?"

Nathan shook his head. "And the part where you think I've got a nice body," he added.

The Sheriff shook his head again and checked his watch. "Come on," he said to him with a smile. "Let's go home, have a shower, and then decide whether you want to cow tow to some mean scientists, shall we?"

Who was Nathan to argue with that invite?

They were late to the party, their shower had turned into … other things, and Henry smiled knowingly when they both walked in about half an hour after start time, hand in hand, just happy to be with each other. They also seemed to have pulled out a lot of stops – Jack in a dark grey suit that fitted him very well indeed, Nathan in a dark blue suit that probably cost more than his car. He looked … well, it wasn't just Henry that followed his progress through the atrium towards Fargo, speaking to Alison a few yards away from Henry himself.

Doctor Blake took a double take at them both and grinned as she looked them up and down. "GQ coming into town?" she asked them both.

Henry joined them and smiled too. "Must be," he agreed and gently nudged Jack with his elbow. "You scrub up nicely, Sheriff,"

Fargo smiled too. "I'm pleased you came," he said to them both, and gave Nathan a meaningful look. "They've already gone," he told him in a quieter tone. "Jo dealt with it. Now," he said in a louder tone. "Secret Santa and I have gotten everyone a gift. Shall we?" he suggested and ushered the group he was with towards the huge tree in the centre of the atrium and Jo standing there too.

Nathan, still not letting go of Jack's hand, stayed back for a moment and watched the other people crowd around his ex assistant. He had thought they other people would ignore them, but he and Jack got plenty of greetings and Christmas cheer from the others there. At one point, when he found himself involved in an animated conversation with a couple of scientists about the pros and cons of interstellar travel, Kevin standing next to him and all for it, Jack, who had escaped from his own conversation with some more people, pressed a glass of something amber and cold in his hand and smiled up at him. "Okay?" the Sheriff asked him and leant against him, clinking his own bottle of beer against Nathan's glass.

The Scientist nodded and used his free arm to hug him close. "Fine," he assured him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Good, actually."

Jack smiled and leant against him. "Good, Babe," he approved. "Good."

Dec 25

Nathan woke slowly and stretched out in their large bed at home and smiled as his feet hit someone else's. Jack was still next to him, which was a bonus, he hadn't been called out in the middle of the night, and Nathan turned onto his side and spooned up behind him. "Morning, Jack," he greeted him, and pressed a kiss to the nape of his neck. "Merry Christmas."

Jack grumbled and sighed, and tried to snuggle back into his pillows. "Too early," he moaned, and tried to go back to sleep again.

But Nathan knew his kids, and even as he chuckled in Jack's hair he could hear his terrors bursting out of their room and running towards theirs, Kevin's deep laugh and Jenna's high pitched squeal as he probably caught her, just before their door opened and they both tumbled in. "Merry Christmas!" Kevin yelled as he bundled both himself and Jenna onto the bed with them.

"Santa's been!" Jenna giggled and latched on to Nathan as he sat up, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Really?" he said to her with a smile and pressed a sloppy kiss to her forehead. "Have you been good?"

She nodded, her eyes wide, and he grinned at her. "What about your brother?"

Kev, sitting next to Jack, rolled his eyes, as she shook her head. "You can't have my gifts, Jenna," he told her firmly, and shook Jack's shoulder as the Sheriff attempted to pull the duvet up and over his head. "Can she, Jack?"

"Mmmmmrrphh," Jack replied, and, under the cover of the duvet, smiled to himself as his family laughed together around him. Only one was missing, and he could hear her running up the stairs as he thought about her too. "Dad! Nathan!" Zoe shouted as she also burst through the door. "Hurry up, Alison's here, Henry and Grace are on their way. Get out of bed!"

Nathan bent over and murmured in Jack's ear. "You can't hide under there forever, Love," he assured him. "All right, Zo, you got us," he said louder. "Kev, can you take both your sisters back downstairs? We'll be down in a few."

Kevin laughed. "Come on you two," he agreed and grabbed Jenna. "Dads want some 'adult time'." he added suggestively.

"Eww!" Zoe answered, and quickly got up again. "PDA! Let's go get some coffee."

Jack was going to comment, on both, but Nathan just squeezed him a little tighter and pressed a kiss to the nape of his neck. "Zo's probably had 2 cups already," he murmured in his ear. "And Kevin's not wrong. Is he?"

Jack found himself laughing and turned round in the cocoon of his arms so he could embrace his neck and kiss him properly. "No, he's not," he agreed. "Merry Christmas, Nathan," he added.

"Merry Christmas, Jack," the Scientist replied, and gently pressed his lips to his lover's. Their kiss lingered, Jack opened his mouth when Nathan pushed for entrance and they explored, tasted and just enjoyed.

End