Author's Note: We are getting close to the end of this story, I am pleased to say that there is going to be a second story but its kind of up to you guys. I can pick up pretty immediately with these characters and the fun of SG1's continued life among the Vannas or I can skip ahead to another point. I would love your guys' input.

All disclaimers still apply: SG1 = not mine (sadly), Vannas and Zarkina = are mine so please don't touch.

Chapter Twenty-One: Royal Student

Jack watched Daniel wander around the tables he was using for his classes until the babies were born, grinning at Daniel since he was being ridiculous about this. The Queen was in the room and she was planning on staying for the class and Daniel was worried about what she was going to think.

The Colonel was under no illusion that Daniel needed him to get through this, but Jack wanted to be there because a squirming Daniel was funny to behold and as he told Daniel on more than one occasion in the last several days, Jack liked watching Daniel teach because it made him love the archeologist even more.

Daniel's students arrived moments later and Zarkina stayed away for the moment as Daniel announced that he was planning on speaking about Egyptian mythology, it was something that many of his students had a passion for and it was something that Daniel had extensive knowledge on. He had other more focused classes but these castle classes were kind of just for fun.

Once Daniel got started on the gods and goddesses plus the civilization of the Egyptians he didn't really notice when Zarkina sat down next to Jack in the back. Ever since Jack announced that watching Daniel teach was a hot experience for Jack, Daniel stopped looking at him while teaching. It was funny when Jack walked in mid speech, just to watch Daniel's face turn red and he would mumble for a few minutes until a student reminded him of what he was saying.

"He's really quite astonishing," Zarkina whispered to Jack.

He turned slightly to look at her, "I know he is, one of the many reasons I fell in love with him."

"You love his brain and his body?" she asked with a grin.

"As well as his heart, his compassion, his morality, I could go on."

Zarkina smiled at him, "I am in love as well, O'Neill, I understand."

"How long have you and Sir William been together again?"

"Our whole lives but there are pieces still missing, thanks to something that happened a couple years ago. We have been officially married for about two years."

"I have known Daniel for about five years, I remember when I first met him."

"Since he is no longer squirming, shall we go and have some pie in the kitchen and you can tell me all about it? I would hate to get into trouble with the professor the first time I get to hear him teach."

Jack stared at her in shock, "How'd you know?" he asked, he hadn't thought he was being that obvious about why he was there. Jack watched Daniel teach all the time.

She pointed to her temple, "I can't stop Zara from peeking every once in a while, it keeps her entertained remember? Also I hate to repeat myself but I love to watch William squirm when he's running the Council meetings, he hates them and I know it. Its why he's in charge of them."

Jack snickered as they stood, waving to Daniel who barely looked up from where he was writing the hierarchy of the Egyptian society. He would think Zarkina had something to do and Jack walks out of his classes all the time, he can always ask Daniel to talk about it later as foreplay.

They wandered through the halls towards the kitchen and Jack grinned happy that Zarkina had found a way to make pies for Jack since he raved about them all the time. They settled around one of the small tables and she waved over a kitchen server for the pie.

"So what happened the first time you met Daniel?"

Jack laughed, "He was this geek who sneezed a lot but he was a genius. They had the Gate for four years and they couldn't figure it out, it took him two weeks."

Zarkina's eyes widened in shock, "So he really is a genius?"

"I say he is but not because of some test which was how people used to gauge intelligence. His brilliance isn't determined on paper, its determined in the field. He has this amazing ability to see past what's right in front of you. I remember this one time when a creature called a Unas once kidnapped him, they are big and scary. You know what my Danny did?"

Zarkina shrugged, smiling as she dug into her pie, which was delivered to them by one of the kitchen workers. Jack noticed in the Valley that everyone was treated with the utmost respect from the queen, even those people who worked to serve them food three times a day, it was a welcome difference from even 2001 when food service industry workers are treated poorly.

Jack continued the story; "He befriended the creature, dissected and learned his language and saved himself instead of waiting to be saved. He probably saved the creature from being killed by me."

"He's an amazing man for sure, when did you realize you were in love with him?"

"When Love dosed us," Jack said with a wink while he munched on the pie. It was some kind of fruit pie but he was just happy to be eating something that reminded him of happy days on base.

"I'm serious Jack, when?"

"I don't know when, he's the one who convinced me not to commit suicide on the first trip to Abydos, he moved into my place right after he got back a year later and we've been a part of each other ever since. I probably thought about him a lot that year but I wasn't in love with him, I had been in love with my wife. The first time I really found myself feeling something more than friendship was when I thought he was dead. I left him wounded on a ship that I then watched explode. I found out later that he healed himself in a Sarcophagus and jumped through the Stargate. I thought he was dead, I believed in my heart and soul that he was gone and I wouldn't ever get the chance to tell him how much I truly cared about him."

"But he didn't die."

"Obviously. When I hugged him after he made his grand appearance I didn't know what to make of the feeling of coming home finally," Jack murmured, remembering. "I couldn't find the strength, the courage it would take to be honest with him. I just became overprotective in the field as well as on the base. He was picked on a lot because of his beautiful hair and that he wasn't military."

"He seems to have come through it all very well," Zarkina replied with a smile.

"That's the perfection of Danny, he can live through anything and keep on loving and accepting whatever comes his way. He was the first to really accept this place as a home, we had to catch up with him, and he understood that we all left behind a life but truthfully, SG-1 is Daniel's family and we're with him. That's all he really cared about, us staying together and alive."

"You had family?" Zarkina asked though to Jack it didn't really sound like a question.

Jack flinched a little but with several years between the death of Charlie and now, he could share the story without falling apart. "I had a son and he shot himself with my gun on accident. My wife and I separated because of this."

Zarkina watched him with sympathy and touched his arm gently, "I am sorry you lived through that pain. I am surprised then that you decided to have children with Daniel so quickly then."

"I think about the life we have here together and I know that I am done waiting for everything. I want to be a dad again and Daniel is the love of my life, it only makes sense that we would take this step together. I'm sure there are going to be moments when Charlie pops into my head and I feel that pain once more but there is nothing I can do but try to move on and keep living. Daniel is naming our son Zale Charles, after my son who was named for a dear friend that we lost in combat the first year of the Gate Program."

Zarkina smiled, "Of course he is. He wishes to honor the beauty and innocence of your fallen son and friend. I am glad he has made it his middle name though."

Jack chuckled, "Yeah I would have a hard time calling a new little boy Charlie, I like Zale."

"It's a good strong name, one of our Gods is named Zale."

"Really?" Jack asked.

"Yes when the Magis Gods and Goddess were given corporeal form, they chose their physical bodies as well as their names, Zale is the God of strength and cunning. He used to reach out to our military leaders to give them help when they need it."

"You talk about these Gods like they are something you can see and touch," Jack responded, feeling a little concerned about anyone claiming to be Gods, even the Asgard were troubling sometimes.

"They were mostly destroyed when we came to this planet, they died to protect us all in the final days of the destruction of LeViannas. Many of them, like Zara, passed on their genetics and power by fooling around with Vannas but they are still something we pray to for guidance. Now Zale exists in his entire Vannas line, stronger than ever which is really important right now with the unrest we have with Zarcorp."

Jack nodded and went back to eating his pie. Zarkina continued to watch Jack but he ignored it for the pie in front of him but by the time he was done, he couldn't handle her attention anymore. "What?"

"You are an interesting man, Jonathon O'Neill."

"Its always strange when you call me that, my mother was the only one to ever call me that and you are younger than me by quite a few years."

"I also have a creature sharing my head space that has lived for a much longer time, I am also someone who has lived a lot in a short amount of time."

"I can't argue that, why am I interesting to you?"

"You were cautious of us with good reason when you got here, you were the leader of SG1 and that was all you knew. Less than a year later you train with my warriors and are married and expecting a family. Have you found acceptance in your heart to be here in this time?"

Jack shrugged not really knowing how to answer the question because he still had mixed feelings about the life they were living here. "I accept that there is no way to rebuild the DHD as well as a way to track solar flares, and I understand in this time humans are the ones that are making the wrong choices. I have been held on both sides of the equation and your people have never purposefully tried to hurt my team or I. And I have Danny; I could have never been with him in our time because of my position and my unwavering heterosexuality. I didn't know that he could ever love me in return and back then a homosexual couple did not have it easy."

Zarkina smiled, "You also still have Samantha and Teal'c as well as their child."

Jack shrugged, "It might be strange but honestly that's all I need though we might need a bigger place soon with three children on the way."

"Well we can work on that, I am not worried about you being harmed outside the castle anymore, Daniel is well loved in the classroom and you are respected in the fighting exercises as well as Sam's intellect and Teal'c being a fighter as well."

Jack frowned, "You offered us the rooms here because you thought people would hurt us?"

"I didn't know what my people would do about strangers who weren't like us, Amada and Nadio proved that it was a good choice at the time but now, it seems unfair to keep you here where you won't have room for the children and you won't have a chance to get to know other people of the Valley."

"What about Taylor?" Jack asked, thinking of the daughter he'd come to thoroughly love.

"She would always be allowed to visit your family. We can either move you to a bigger apartment here in the castle or we can build you a house somewhere close by, I imagine that being without powers means that your families will need to be able to see our healers on a semi constant basis so I wouldn't want you guys across the island where you couldn't get the care you need."

"All your people have healing abilities?"

"We have several healing families but all Vannas have the added benefit of accelerated healing."

Jack nodded in understanding, luckily something about this place and the people in it many of his aches and pains from being close to fifty had dissipated but someday that wasn't going to be the case. Daniel was also an accident waiting to happen most of the time because he was clumsy and most of the time his mind was elsewhere. He had recently requested that many of the outer lying towns start looking for books that may have survived the end of the world and so far several had been found and sent back to Daniel. He was teaching with them as well as starting a library in their apartment. They set in some bookcases and the man had taken several tumbles from his ladder already causing problems. "I will speak to Danny, Sam and Teal'c about our options but I know for sure they are not going to want an upheaval this close to the twins giving birth."

"Of course Jack, I completely understand. We can discuss it after you have spoken to your team." She continued to stare at him in confusion.

"What?" Jack asked with a breathy laugh.

"Are you sad to give up your station with SG1?"

"You mean being a Colonel?" he asked.

She nodded as she nibbled on the last bite of forgotten pie in front of her. "Yes, I have known all my life that I would be stepping into this position of power, I hated it and ran from it. What is it like for you now that you've been forced to leave the title behind."

"Well I think you have to understand that when I was on missions, which translates to a lot of the time only Sam had to listen to me. Teal'c chooses to listen and Daniel argues more than he agrees most of the time. I was second in command on base but that didn't change who I was, I am bossy and I tell it like it is. I haven't lost the respect of my team or my partner; they still trust my judgment so in a way my place here with Daniel, Teal'c and Sam has been solidified. They live their own lives and make their own choices but they trust me. Not to mention, in the bedroom Daniel calls me 'Colonel' not that he listens to me there either."

Zarkina chuckled before she nodded in understanding, "Interesting man."

"Why did you fight your position?" Jack asked, curiosity forcing the words from his mouth.

Zarkina sighed, "There were many prophecies about my leadership and the contribution I would make as queen as well as many of the large decisions were already made, I just had to follow the script they laid out before me. I have no intention of allowing Seers to control my decisions."

"And now?"

Zarkina smiled, "I have not changed my mind, I make decisions and let the history holders and seers decide if I did what I was supposed to. I accepted my position finally because my people needed me and I love them. I would do anything to make sure they are safe and protected."

"Including letting Nadio take me?" Jack asked, he didn't really think she did it but he had to be sure.

Zarkina frowned at him, "Of course not, I believed that what he was asking was too dangerous for any of you. You stood up to him for me, which is worth protecting. SG-1 is worth protecting, you are my people as well."

"I apologize for questioning you," Jack replied though he didn't really mean it. He had to be sure his team was safe with this woman.

Zarkina snorted, "No you are not sorry, so do not pretend with me. I have accepted that you do not respond to my position like the rest of the world."

"I mean no disrespect of your position," Jack responded honestly.

"I know that, Jack, I enjoy our talks. You are honest and as you said, you do not put on airs. Its refreshing to have someone treat me like a human outside the immediate family."

Jack grinned, "Danny is always trying to get me to behave myself when it comes to royalty and people of power, I wasn't even really the perfect respectful soldier with my General but Daniel just doesn't want me put in prison."

"Well with my family, you do not have to worry about that."

Jack grinned, "So it's true that sometimes having friends in high places is very good."

"Oh yes, Jack very good. So why don't you go find your Daniel and go do something together. He should be done with class."

"Thanks for the pie, Queen, and the talk." Jack gave her a silly salute, which she reciprocated with a laugh. She turned to speak to someone in the kitchen as Jack left and walked back to the throne room where Daniel was cleaning up and speaking to a few students who were waiting for his attention. Jack just stood inside the door and watched him, his hands moving wildly around as he spoke about Egypt. The ancient civilization was one that Daniel had a deep passion for because it was where he grew up with his parents and that's why he'd chosen the topic for these classes, they weren't going to help anyone in this time but it was fun for his students and they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the topic, if the crowd waiting was an indication.

As the last student asked their questions and got their answers, Jack walked closer to Daniel and moved up close behind him as Daniel was neatly piling leftover work sheets in front of him. The younger man's body completely melted against Jack's chest and he purred inside his chest. He loved that response and he got it every time.

"The queen thinks you're a genius," Jack murmured into his lover's ear.

"Oh," Daniel whispered as he held Jack tightly against him. "She didn't stay all that long."

"She didn't need to, your genius is pretty obvious," Jack whispered as he sucked at Daniel's ear lobe before he nipped at the bit of skin.

"Where did you go off to in the middle of my lecture?" Daniel husked as pressed back against Jack's body.

"The queen and I went to have pie and talk about you," Jack said as he crouched down so he could lay down wet kisses all along Daniel's throat.

"Why would you talk about me?" Daniel questioned, his voice growing husky. Jack moved one of his hands to the middle of Daniel's chest so he could feel the thump of his quickening heart beat, while the other moved to play over and under the edge of Daniel's pants. Daniel's breath came out in a whoosh when Jack's hand slipped a little too low for public.

"Because when you are teaching, I want you so badly. It makes me achingly hard and I desperately need to be inside you."

Daniel squeaked, "That's what you talked about?"

"Of course not Danny, we just discussed your genius and how I first fell in love with you."

"Sounds like a nice conversation, can we go upstairs please?" Daniel pleaded.

Jack grinned as he pulled Daniel's face around and kissed his hot husband quickly before he shifted his hard and aching cock and started walking out of the room. Daniel was left standing in front of the table, breathing heavily as he grabbed all his paperwork and put it conveniently in front of his pants before he moved to follow Jack. They stumbled up the stairs, trying to get to their door first. They made it into the apartment and Daniel abandoned his papers and books on the table before he pushed Jack up against the nearest wall and ravaged his mouth, the kisses long and passionate. Daniel's alpha persona didn't show up very often but when it happened Jack sat up and took notice, it was an incredibly hot thing to behold.

Before they started climbing out of their clothing though Jack pushed Daniel into their bedroom where everyone wouldn't hear them who happened by, plus the two couples tried not to have sex in the living room since the four members of SG-1 shared the space.

Jack slammed the door behind them and turned to watch Daniel strip off his shirt and slip into their big bed, the younger man settled on his back and spread his legs provocatively. Jack smiled as he stripped out of his clothes and followed Daniel onto the bed, determined to follow through on his promises.