AWOL
Part 2

The sun was sinking low over the trees when Jack roused from his brief nap and found Daniel’s arms still around him. He flopped over onto his back, looking up at the darkening sky through the invisible roof. “That’s a helluva skylight, Daniel,” he murmured appreciatively. 

Daniel sighed with contentment, still remembering what they had done together. “It sure is.”  He turned his head to look at Jack.  “So.  You think this could work between us?” 

Jack rose up on one elbow, looking down at his lover. He lifted his free hand and began tracing Daniel’s face with his fingers. Daniel basked in that look of wonder and love and smiled. 

With a wicked grin, Jack answered, “I think it’s gonna be so good we’ll be fucking like bunnies every chance we get. We just might starve to death, Daniel. Love has negative calories, y’know.” 

Daniel grinned, looking up at Jack through his eyelashes, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “You know, food is plentiful here, but you have to work for it. Fish to catch in the lake, berries to pick…” 

Jack stiffened, all attention, eyes going wide. “Fish? There are fish? As in, for fishing?” 

“Yes, and I’ll leave you to that duty. You do the hunting, I’ll do the gathering, because I already know what to eat and what to leave alone.” 

“By watching what the mousie-bunnies ate, no doubt.” 

“They’re not mousie-bunnies, Jack,” Daniel corrected gently. 

“Well, what are they, then? Alien mousie-bunnies. We are now officially living in a Disney cartoon.” 

“An X-rated Disney cartoon,” Daniel teased happily. He grinned, blown away by the fact that he and Jack O’Neill had just made love together. He didn’t want to move, just lie there and look up into that loving face forever. 

Jack toyed with Daniel’s hair fondly, combing his fingers through it, then smoothing it back from his beautiful face. When he spoke, his voice was low and sexy, purring with desire. “You realize you fucked me today, don’t you?” 

Daniel nodded, his smile broadening. “Wanna do it again, too.” 

“Am I gonna get to fuck you, too?” He slipped one hand between Daniel’s legs, dragging his fingertips over the cleft between his cheeks, then stuffed his fingers beneath his butt, squeezing greedily. “I’ve been watching your six for way too long and jacking off dreaming about it. Gotta get me a piece of that beautiful ass of yours, Danny.” 

Daniel grinned rakishly. “It’s all yours, Jack. Just as soon as you can get it up again.” He started to rise off the bed. 

“Well, speak of the devil,” said Jack in mock surprise as his dick showed signs of resurrecting. He looked around. “Where’d that lotion go?” 

Daniel held up the tube, grinning. “What say we have a bath first? I’m kinda sticky.” 

“Better take it with us just in case the liquid soap doesn’t work,” Jack chuckled, and casually got off the bed, catching up to his lover and lacing their fingers together as they walked toward the bathroom. “You know, you’re too cute for your own damn good. I have the feeling I’m gonna be so whipped…”  

They sauntered to the bathroom, Daniel envisioning himself balls-deep in Jack, up against one of the columns, in the bathtub, on the bed, in the woods… Potential for lovemaking was all around them in their own personal Garden of Eden, filled with fluffy little harmless alien critters. 

“What’s up with them?” asked Jack, nodding at a pair of them apparently grooming each other. “They got fleas?” 

Daniel cleared his throat and pulled his gaze away. “Um, no… that’s foreplay. Don’t look, Jack. Give them their privacy.” 

“They’re in the hall, for cryin’ out loud,” Jack observed with a trace of amusement. He sidled closer and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “That was your little Jack Rabbit, right?” 

“Yes.” 

“Who’s the blond?” 

“Delta.” 

“And they’re both guys, right? Not that I meant to look, but it was kinda obvious. I mean, they’re dressed in the fur God gave ‘em, so it was all kinda… hanging out there.” 

Daniel tried to stifle a small smile. “Yes, they’re a mated pair. As far as I can tell, they’re exclusive to each other.” 

“Huh.” Jack glanced back at them briefly. “I guess they got a room. Jack and Delta, huh? You could rename him Daniel.” 

“I already had him named before I found out they were a couple. He answers to Delta, and I don’t want to confuse him.” Daniel stepped down into the tub and started washing, his back to Jack. He felt suddenly shy as he heard the other man splash into the tub behind him.  He fell silent, knowing Jack was looking at him. 

“First touch. First kiss… Last love,” Jack whispered, standing just behind his lover. He put his hands on Daniel’s shoulders, stroking his wet palms slowly down Daniel’s back. His lips brushed the base of Daniel’s neck with a silent kiss. 

The sweet tenderness of that declaration took Daniel by the heart, and he turned around to face his beloved. “Last love,” he echoed, nodding his head. “It’s never been like this before. Not for me.” He put his arms around Jack’s shoulders and tilted his head, angling for a kiss. 

“Yeah. Me, too,” admitted Jack huskily. “I mean, I’ve been in love before. Hell, so have you.” His brown eyes were filled with liquid passion. “But my God, Danny…” Jack’s fingers touched his cheek. They were trembling. “Everything else I’ve ever felt pales in comparison.” 

Jack kissed him again, his tongue mapping the inside of Daniel’s mouth, running his hands down over Daniel’s back and then the smooth, wet curve of his ass. Holding Daniel close, Jack suckled on his lover’s neck, licking and nipping at his flesh until a small groan welled up from his chest. 

Daniel was wide open at that moment, filled with total surrender. Jack could do anything he wanted with him. Anything. 

Jack lifted his head and looked down into Daniel’s eyes. His voice was deep, soft, low and rumbling, as intoxicating as his whiskey-colored eyes. “Gonna do you now, Daniel. Gonna fuck you in the tub. Do you want me?” 

Daniel’s heart jumped in his chest, clogging his throat for an instant as Jack’s voice sent shivers of excitement all through him. He swallowed it down and nodded, scared and excited and drowning in the love he felt for this man. Remembering how Jack tasted, how wonderful it felt when he came, how delightfully messy and surprising it was to have him go off like that… because of how Jack felt about Daniel. Because he was in love.  

Jack swooped in for a deep, bruising, hungry kiss, and Daniel was carried away with the reality of what he was about to do. What they were about to do together. Another first time. 

Daniel licked his lips as Jack pulled away. He took the soap packet Jack handed him and began to wash himself in anticipation, unable to look away from his lover’s face. 

“Let me do that,” suggested Jack coyly, slipping his hands in between Daniel’s as they worked up a lather around his stiffening cock. 

Jack was good with his hands. Daniel stared at those intoxicating eyes, unable to muster the slightest control. He was going to come in Jack’s hands and couldn’t stop it, didn’t want to. His mouth was hanging open but he couldn’t speak, couldn’t warn Jack, but somehow he already knew. 

He moved in close, his nose touching Daniel’s, his lips slightly parted, sharing each shallow breath. “Do it,” he whispered. “Come for me, Daniel.” 

The sound of his name catapulted him over the edge. Daniel’s knees gave out, and he started to fall back in the water but one strong hand let go of its prize and reached around him, catching him and pulling him hard up against Jack’s chest. Weakly, barely able to make his body obey him, Daniel threw an arm around Jack’s shoulders and held on, still spurting and feeling like he was going down for the last time. 

“Oh… my… Gooooodddd…” Daniel groaned. 

Jack hauled a boneless Daniel through the water to a sloped seat halfway across the tub. He sat down and turned Daniel around, pulling him up onto his lap with Daniel’s back against his chest. Water came halfway up Jack’s thighs.  Daniel sat on his wet skin with little waves sloshing up around them.  

Daniel felt that home-grown P-90 sticking into his back and stuttered a little as he tried to catch his breath. He was scared, but he trusted Jack implicitly. 

Daniel felt Jack’s breath gusting against his neck and shoulder.  He felt his lover’s mood in the reverent touch of Jack’s hands on his body. Jack had one arm around his ribs, holding him close. The other came up out of the water, sluicing a little of it over Daniel’s shoulder and chest. Jack’s hand was gentle as it caressed him, sliding up his neck to cradle his face. He leaned into it, needing that touch, needing Jack. 

He closed his eyes, using just his skin to tell him what was happening. He leaned back against Jack and felt the warm water squeeze up between them. He let his head fall back on Jack’s shoulder and lifted his arms, reaching up and back to grasp his lover, stroking what he could reach. Water splashed up onto Daniel as they moved and touched, each motion slow and graceful, languid and loving. They were in no hurry, just enjoying the wonderful closeness. 

“You have no idea how I see you, Daniel,” Jack whispered in his ear. His right hand cupped Daniel’s chest, clasping him close, massaging to feel that hard-muscled chest. Knowing fingers slipped downward and tweaked Daniel’s nipple. He gasped at the sudden, intensely erotic sensation. No one had ever touched him there, like that, and he wanted more. 

Daniel’s spent cock reacted, slowly arousing to that marvelous touch. He didn’t speak, just listened to Jack’s love-words. This was a side of the man Daniel had never seen, and he was breathless in anticipation of the revelation he was getting. 

“You fascinate me,” Jack growled softly into Daniel’s hair. “So fucking brilliant. So strong, yet so unaware of that strength.” His left hand stroked down from Daniel’s ribs to his thigh. Fingers dug into his flesh, holding on tight. “All that leashed power, just waiting to spring loose. One day, Daniel, I want you to use it on me. Want you to hold me down and show me who’s boss. I wanna see it in your eyes, that you own me... like I own you.” 

“Oh, God,” groaned Daniel. He was well and truly aroused now, those words working their sexy magic on his imagination. 

Jack’s hand released his grip on Daniel’s thigh and caressed its way to his dick. “Gonna make you come again, Danny,” he rasped. He stroked Daniel’s erection, his hand wet and warm. “Real slow, real easy.” 

Daniel nodded, unable to think of a single word, his hands greedy for contact and trembling as they stroked Jack’s hair and shoulder. Jack’s grip was gentle on his cock, his wet palm sliding slowly up and down, fingers exploring the shape of Daniel’s erection, learning every inch of him. Daniel moaned as Jack’s other hand slipped beneath him, gently exploring the curve of his buttocks, seeking and finding his entrance. 

He leaned forward from the hips, giving Jack more access. Jack’s fingertip swirled gently around that tight ring of muscle, sending shivers of pleasure all through Daniel. He spread his legs wider as he sat on Jack’s lap, desperate for more from his lover. Holding onto Jack’s thighs, he felt Jack’s grip tighten, one finger rubbing just under the head of Daniel’s cock. The sensation was incredibly erotic, making Daniel twitch and moan.  

“Please,” Daniel begged, and instantly one finger broached him. So slow, so gentle, so patient. Jack was driving him mad with need. “More,” whispered Daniel roughly, his whole body shaking now. 

Jack’s finger pushed deeper, all the way in. 

“Ooooohhhaaaahhhh,” Daniel moaned. “Yes. Yes. Jack!” He leaned forward, hands reaching out to grasp the far side of the tub, hips rolled back to expose more of his ass to his lover, water lapping around his thighs. Jack let go of his dick, Daniel’s posture keeping it from him now. 

Jack slipped a second finger inside. Daniel gasped at that and abruptly Jack withdrew. A moment later, both soap-slicked fingers returned and slowly penetrated Daniel, stretching and probing him, heightening his arousal until he though he would explode with need. “More!” he demanded. “God, Jack, please!“ 

He couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything but that terrible need to be filled, to have Jack inside him, all of him, all the way. 

“Daniel, just wait—“ 

He wailed with anguish and reached behind him, fishing blindly for Jack’s cock. “Can’t!” He’d forgotten how to open his eyes. All he knew was that devastating hunger that could only be fed with one thing. “Fuck me!” 

Jack’s hand pushed his away. One of Jack’s arms reached around Daniel’s waist to hold him in place; the other hand took aim and as soon as Daniel felt Jack’s cock touch him there, he drove himself backward, impaling himself on it. He was so ready, there was no resistance at all. Daniel threw his head back and cried out with joy, his body shuddering at the blissful sensation. 

“Jack,” he groaned, holding onto the side of the tub and trembling, unable to move except to lower his head. “Jack.” He panted, trying to gain some sort of control. 

“Are you all right?” Jack murmured breathlessly, a trace of alarm in his voice. “God, Daniel, that had to hurt! You went too fast.” 

He shook his head, still quivering, barely able to speak. “No. No pain. S’good. Good. God. Jack. Love you. Love you s’much.” 

Jack’s hands were stroking him now, loving him gently, quieting him down. “I love you, Daniel,” he breathed. “I never imagined it could be like this. So beautiful. My Daniel. All mine.” Jack’s hands gathered him possessively, pulling him gently back against his chest.  

Daniel reclined against him, shaking with joy impossible to contain. Never in his life had he felt so loved as he did in than in that moment in Jack’s arms. He couldn’t stop quivering and felt hot tears seeping down his face. He wanted to tell Jack how much he loved him, but he couldn’t. There were no words to convey the depth of his feelings. 

He felt cheated by the languages he had so loved all his life, let down in the most crucial moment by his greatest passion… until now. Until Jack. 

“Shhhh,” said Jack, reaching up to wipe the tears from his face. “I know, Daniel. It’s all right. I’m with you. We’re together now. That’s all that matters.” 

Daniel nodded, Jack’s words and voice and hands easing his pain, healing him, chasing away all the monsters that had lived inside him, letting in the light. 

“Love you, Daniel,” he whispered. Jack’s arms released him and beneath him he felt Jack gather himself to rise. Daniel leaned forward again, catching the side of the tub and standing with Jack, leaning over as their bodies rose out of the water, still joined. Daniel stepped forward slightly to lean his upper body on the rim and Jack gave a little push, delving deeper. 

Daniel resisted, pushing back against his lover. “Fuck me, Jack,” he growled huskily. “Hard and fast.” 

Jack’s hands gripped his hips, those long fingers massaging his skin for a moment, greedy as they explored along his pelvic bones, seeking the best purchase. Daniel felt Jack’s hips roll back to pull his body away and the absence of his warmth left an ache behind. Then suddenly Jack was pounding against his buttocks, his ass quickly stretched and filled, taking his breath away, bringing his head up. 

Daniel nodded, telling Jack without words that he was okay, to keep going. Jack was slow and gentle at first, wanting to give Daniel’s body time to adjust to him, but Daniel wanted the sensation, the heat and speed, the rhythm to match his thundering heartbeat, the feel of Jack’s strength conquering him. Faster and harder Jack thrust, their bodies crashing together with solid thuds until Daniel’s every breath was a gasp or groan of pleasure. Jack rotated his hips, making long, screwing motions as he thrust into him, changing the angle and the rhythm of his strokes until he found Daniel’s sweet spot, hitting it every time to a chorus of soft, keening cries. 

Jack was artful with his dick, skillful and creative, now drawing great roars of delight from Daniel. Daniel’s hands were useless, just holding him up out of the water, so Jack reached around him, took Daniel’s cock in his grasp and worked it, squeezing and sliding fiercely until he had pushed Daniel past his limits, and he came with a wild cry, jets of semen shooting down into the water. 

“Yes,” whispered Daniel when he could speak again. Jack was still slamming into him, holding onto his hips again now and growling like a wild man as he careened toward climax. Daniel smiled, lifting his head, eyes closed, imagining how they must look together. 

Jack was fucking him, and he loved it. 

“Daniel!” he gasped. “Gonna…” He jerked into Daniel from behind, his cock pulsing with waves of ecstasy. “…come…” 

Daniel felt it, the swelling, pulsing, stiffening of his lover’s cock satisfying him completely. He smiled, panting to catch his breath. “Wow,” he whispered. 

Jack’s hands caressed him from his hips to his waist as Jack lay over his back and held on, arms wrapping fiercely around him. “You okay, Danny? I didn’t hurt you?” 

“Never felt better,” Daniel assured his lover. 

“Wow.” Jack collapsed bonelessly on him, one arm dangling limply in the water. He placed a kiss in mid-pant on Daniel’s shoulder. “God. I will never be the same after this.” 

Jack slid off and fell back onto the tub seat with a big splash. 

For a moment, Daniel just stood where he was, relishing the feel of his well-used ass. When he thought he could stand upright without his knees collapsing under him, he straightened and turned around, joining Jack on the seat. He couldn’t stop grinning. 

Jack stared at him, his brown eyes hooded and filled with wonder and love. “Wow, Daniel. That is sooooo different from being with a woman,” he purred. “Better. Tighter. Hotter. We shoulda been doing this years ago!” 

Daniel slipped off the bench and backed onto the steps, submerging in the water until only his head was above the surface. Jack joined him and Daniel reached around him, one hand stroking through Jack’s hair, the other around his shoulders. He grinned at Jack, feeling quite smug. “Liked that, did you?” 

Jack just nodded, his gaze riveted to Daniel’s mouth.

“You are all man, Jack. Wow.” He chuckled and shook his head a little. “I would never have thought being with another man could be that good.” 

“Backatcha, Daniel. You like it hard and rough, huh?” 

“I guess so. Didn’t know that till… you.” 

Jack kissed him, slow and sweet, his hand on Daniel’s cheek. “You know, I thought you’d be all sweet-talkin’ in a couple dozen languages when you made love. Your vocabulary seems to drop to about five words. God, Jack, more, fuck and pleeeeeease. Which doesn’t include the sundry assorted grunts and groans. Some linguist you are, Doctor Jackson.” 

Daniel was so busy watching Jack’s mouth and feeling that velvet voice roll over his skin that he barely caught the tease. “And who’d have thought that Colonel Hardass O’Neill was such a romantic poet? You hardly shut up the whole time you were fucking me, all those pretty, sexy words...” 

“Uh uh,” Jack corrected pleasantly, his head shaking slowly from side to side. “I was making love to you. There’s a difference, you know.” 

Warmth started as a sunny glow in Daniel’s heart and quickly filled the rest of him. “Yeah, I know, Jack. It’ll never be just fucking with us.” His happy smile widened, flexing into dimple territory. “But I do like to hear you talk dirty. Turns me on.” 

“Me, too. There’s just something about hearing such a nasty word come out of your mouth, aimed at me. It’s like lighting a bottle rocket in my dick. Boom!” 

“Well, as long as there’s no collateral damage and parts of you don’t fall off, that’s a good thing,” Daniel teased back. “Come on. All this fucking has made me hungry. We’ll spend an hour trying to find something to eat, and then it’ll be dark.” 

“We could have a picnic in bed with MREs instead,” Jack suggested. “I brought your favorite. Dessert and coffee, too.” 

Daniel tackled him with a kiss, dunking him completely in the tub. They both came up spluttering and wiping water out of their eyes. “Coffee! God, I missed that. Where is it, in your pack?” He was washed, dried, and on his way to the bedroom before Jack could gather his wits and follow him out of the tub. 

By the time Jack reached the bedroom, Daniel had a small fire lit in a tiny open hearth a short distance from the foot of the bed, and water heating in the collapsible coffee pot he’d filched from Jack’s pack. Daniel looked up and growled with happy passion, “Coffeeeee!” 

Jack just shook his head, still smiling. “Do you always run around the place in your birthday suit, Daniel?” Jack sat down on the foot of the bed and drew the covers over his lap. “Somebody might see you.” 

“The only somebodies here wear fur and sleep with me, and they’ve seen me naked when I bathe,” Daniel shot back playfully. “No signs of human habitation, Jack. Not now, not ever. I’ll bet we’re the first humans to come here.” 

“Works for me.” Jack just watched Daniel make a cup of coffee and drink it, eyes closing in caffeinated bliss. “I guess you’re not planning on sleeping tonight, huh?” 

Daniel eyed him with wickedness romping through his brain. “Nope.  Wanna fuck all night, Jack. I’ve finally got you here with me, and I’m not wasting a moment of it.” 

As darkness descended, they gorged themselves on Jack’s MREs and retired to the bed to indulge in each other some more. Eventually, Jack drifted off to sleep in Daniel’s arms and one by one the little aliens appeared to climb up onto the bed, choose their spots, and retire for the night.  

Daniel lay awake for a long time, listening to Jack’s soft, quiet breathing, his face aching from all the smiling he’d done, his ass still throbbing from another thorough fucking. He was well and truly worn out, and thought he must be the luckiest man on this or any other world, because he was loved by one Jack O’Neill. 

Jack had awakened tangled up in Daniel’s sleepy embrace, both of them surrounded by mousie-bunnies all snoozing heavily, curled up in little groups or sprawled out on the big bed.  

A little later, he watched Daniel emerge from the bathroom.  “You’re awfully quiet this morning,” observed Jack.   

Jack saw dark circles under his lover’s eyes and realized Daniel hadn’t gotten much rest, probably from the caffeine he’d ingested right before bed, but somehow Daniel’s expression told Jack there was more to his mood than stimulants and insufficient rest.  And unfortunately, he noticed that Daniel wasn’t smiling anymore. 

He came over to the bed but didn’t get back in it. Instead, he picked up his blue trousers and began to put them on, dressing for the day. Then he wandered out onto the little balcony and pretended to look out at the view. 

“Jack,” he said softly. 

Jack sat up, still eyeing Daniel, who was looking intently at the horizon.  Now there was pain etched into his fine features. “Are you going to take me back?” 

 Jack didn’t know how to answer that. If it meant putting Daniel in prison for running away, he’d never do that. He’d die before giving any information on Daniel’s whereabouts to anyone on any world. If Daniel wanted to stay there, he’d be safe for the rest of his life. 

It took a moment to speak past the constriction of his throat. “I have to go back, Daniel. I have responsibilities. I have to answer for my actions.” 

“You could stay here with me.” 

“I’d be AWOL. Hell, I’m already AWOL.  But no one knows where you are but me, and I won’t divulge that secret to anyone.” 

“So… you’re going back.” 

“I have to. You know that, Daniel.” 

He turned, his eyes full of tears and pain. “Stay,” he pleaded. “I love you. I need you.” His chin quivered, and he struggled to blink his eyes clear. “I was playing ‘gate roulette till I found this place and curiosity got the better of me. Stay, Jack. Please. For me. I’ve never asked you to do anything, just for me. I’m asking you for this.” 

“Oh, Danny. You know Carter will figure it out eventually,” he reminded Daniel, emotion choking him. “She’s working on a program to connect a laptop to the DHDs to ferret out the last address dialed. When she gets that going, the SGC will be able to follow us anywhere we go. We’d always be running, and way too soon, they’d catch us. I can’t stay, Daniel… but I can leave, and tell them I didn’t find you, and keep them away from you for a little longer.” 

Daniel turned away, putting his back to Jack, arms wrapped around his ribs, hugging himself like he used to do when he needed comfort. 

“I’m so sorry, Danny.”  

Jack saw him shrug a little, hopelessness written in his wilted posture. 

Angry with himself, with fate, the military, the stupid way life turns out sometimes, Jack flung the covers back and rose, stomping back to the bathroom without bothering to dress.  He was a man of honor, of duty, of high moral standards, and he hated that he’d had to burst Daniel’s bubble like that. 

He went through his morning ablutions and returned to the bedroom still angry. He had wanted more time to enjoy Daniel before he had to deliver the bad news, but Jack knew he’d already been away too long. He stood at the entrance to the room, just to one side of the bed, wearing only his boxers and pants. 

Daniel remained where Jack had left him, leaning against one of the columns separating the cooking hearth from the rest of the bedroom. He was turned partly away, looking out over the stunning view of the countryside. Just as Jack was about to call to him, he saw his lover wipe away a tear and straighten up, bravely trying to hide his pain. 

He turned around then, startled to see that Jack had returned and caught him crying. He glanced at the floor for a moment, then made an attempt to smile, pain still radiating from his eyes. “Time to go find our breakfast,” Daniel said with mock brightness. “They don’t serve it here, you know. We have to go out and find it. Get dressed and meet me at the front garden.” 

In that instant, Jack made his decision. There was no way Jack could leave Daniel behind. He also could not ask Daniel to go home with him. If this was where Daniel wanted to be, Jack’s place was at his side, in his arms, in his bed. He couldn’t take Daniel with him, so there was only one other option. Jack couldn’t leave the man he loved more than life behind, because he was certain it would kill them both.  

If he stayed, it would be a betrayal of all he had held dear his entire life: honor, duty, country… and the fate of the entire human race.  But right now his first loyalty had to be to Daniel.   

Suddenly his decision was crystal clear in his mind.  It had been made seemingly without effort, without conscious thought, and without a trace of guilt. He felt free, filled up with peace. He felt himself relax, as if a burden had been lifted from him. 

“Daniel,” he murmured. “Wait up.”   He reached out and caught Daniel by the arm as he started to go past and pulled him to a stop. Jack looked into those azure eyes, so full of pain and love and hopelessness. All Jack wanted now was to take that pain and hopelessness away forever. That was the only thing that mattered anymore. 

“I’ll stay,” he whispered. “For you.” 

For a moment, Daniel didn’t move. His lips parted slightly, his breathing shallower and faster. “Oh, Jack,” he whispered, “Do you mean it?”  Tears filled his eyes and spilled over, saying eloquently what words could not. 

Jack reached out and took him into his arms.  He let his body offer the comfort he knew Daniel needed. “Whatever happens, Daniel, whatever comes, I’ll never leave you.  I didn’t come all this way to lose you now.  We will always be together.  My word of honor on that. ” 

Three Days Later

“Holy shit!”

Daniel glanced up from his journal, watching Jack backing out of the lake, dressed in nothing but his boxers, the sapling in his hands bent nearly double. The line stretching from it disappeared into the water and from the swirls around it Daniel could tell it was a big one. He grinned broadly as he laid the book aside and stood up, making his way down the grassy slope to the riverbank. 

“Daniel, look! I caught a fish! A real fish! I caught it!” Jack’s eyes were on the water, his voice filled with unabashed enthusiasm. He dragged the big fish onto the bank, its skin glistening in the sunlight in a multitude of shades of blue-green iridescence. Jack pulled tight on the line until he could hoist the fish up into the air, his whole face gleaming with pride, a huge grin splitting his face from ear to ear. 

“Yep. That’s a big one. Those are particularly tasty.” 

Jack grabbed him by the drawstring waist of his blue pants and pulled him into a quick, sloppy kiss. “My first fish,” he panted happily. “I finally caught one! God damn, I love you, Daniel Jackson.” 

“What does that have to do with catching a fish?” asked Daniel, basking in Jack’s joy. He wondered if he was getting a tan from that sunny smile. 

“I dunno, but I love you and will you look at this thing! It must weigh ten pounds.” He kissed Daniel again and did an exuberant little dance, as excited as a boy. “I caught a fish! Me! All by myself.” 

“Yes, you did, Jack. So now you can kill it, clean it and skin it. We’ll carve off what we need and give the rest to the kids. They prefer sashimi to cooked.”  

Daniel eased away, looking down at the alien fish. He wouldn’t tell Jack that he’d been catching fish on that planet for quite a while now. That would take all the wind out of his lover’s sails, and Daniel wanted Jack to enjoy his prowess. 

“They eat meat?” asked Jack, glancing around to locate the ever-present furry crowd.  

Little Jack was having a nap beside where Daniel had been writing and Omega, the shy black one, was in the process of climbing down from her perch in the tree on the bank where she had been keeping Jack company. “Hey, c’mere, Meg.” 

She came scampering up, sat up on her hind legs and sniffed at the fish. Her expression brightened. She reached up with one paw and made a grab for it. 

“You want some? Be patient. I’ll give you some in a minute, little girl.” Jack trotted over to where he’d left his pants, pulled out his knife and made quick work of the fish. He sliced off a piece from the side and tossed it to her. 

She caught it in her paws and gobbled it up greedily. 

Daniel stared down at her, a sudden frisson of insight skittering up his spine. He squatted down and reached out, getting her attention before he touched her, asking permission with his hands. She didn’t flinch or move away. “Hey,” he murmured to her.  “Let me see you for a minute.”  Deftly he grasped one of her front legs and lifted it, then smoothed the thick furry “cuffs” away from her paw. 

“What’samatter, Daniel?” Jack called. “You went kinda pale, there.” He ambled closer, bringing the cleaned carcass with him. “You okay?” 

“Look at this, Jack,” Daniel breathed. He showed Jack the delicate little foreleg resting in his palm. Gracing the end of it was a small, slender, perfectly formed little six-fingered hand, opposable thumb and all. Beneath the tassel of fur, only the fingers had showed, which was why Daniel had never noticed the fact that they were equipped with the wonder of this fabulous biological tool. 

“So?” 

“They have hands, Jack.” Daniel was hardly breathing.  

He raised his gaze up to look into Omega’s bright green eyes, blinking innocently back at him. For a moment he just stared, weighing what he knew against what he thought he knew. He sat down on the grass, staggered by the implications of that one deep piece of genetic diversity. On Earth, raccoons had opposable thumbs. So did opossums and primates, but they were all still animals. Just like these wonderful creatures. Or were they? 

Daniel gazed into those guileless green eyes and saw nothing to indicate they were more than they appeared, beautiful little innocents that spent their lives playing, eating and enjoying each other. Nothing he had seen during his weeks on their world prompted the flash of intuition niggling for attention in the back of his mind. Maybe it was just because he wanted them to be something more, something important. 

Only they weren’t. He let the intuition settle quietly into his subconscious and forgot about it.  Omega climbed up into his lap and snuggled down, cuddling up into a little ball of warm black fur. 

“What an amazing people,” he whispered, his hands stroking her gently. 

“People?” Jack’s brows twitched together. 

Daniel looked up at him. “We’ve been so busy with each other the past few days that we haven’t really had a chance to talk about what I’ve been discovering since I left a few months ago.” A strange sense of inevitability settled over him, but this wasn’t the time to share everything with Jack. Not yet.  

He had to confirm his suspicions first. 

“How would you feel about exploring this place a little more?” asked Daniel cautiously. “See what there is to see in our private paradise?” 

Jack’s expression softened, love shining from his face. “As long as we’re together, I’ll go anywhere you want.” 

That brought a lump to Daniel’s throat and tears to his eyes. “I know that,” he said softly. “Even to hell.” 

“Already been there, ‘member?” asked Jack, grinning. “Didn’t like the décor, the air conditioning didn’t work, and the company left a lot to be desired, so we left.” He glanced around them. “This is muuuuch better.” He leaned in for a quick kiss. “C’mon, Danny. I gotta go make dinner. We can talk about the trip on the way home.”  

He got up to put his pants back on, picked up the fish fillets and tucked them into a net bag Daniel had made, along with the rest of their harvest – an assortment of fruits, vegetables and eggs that they would enjoy with their dinner of fish. Jack ran the sturdier end of the fishing pole through it, hoisted it over his shoulder, and shoved it back a way so it wouldn’t drip on him as they walked. He fell into step beside Daniel, who still carried a sleeping Omega in his arms, his journal tucked under one arm. 

Jack squatted down and scrubbed the back of Little Jack’s neck, easing the critter to wakefulness, and told him they were leaving. The little grey beastie got up, stretching and flicking his short, fluffy tail wildly, fell into step beside them, yawning and rubbing at his eyes.  

Jack smiled at Daniel. “Aren’t they cute? And so cuddly. Like a pack of two year olds. They love to be held and petted, don’t they?” 

“Yeah,” agreed Daniel quietly. “They’re adorable.”  

He looked up at the late afternoon sky. “It’s going to rain tonight. You won’t believe how beautiful our home is when it’s raining.” 

He glanced at Jack, walking along beside him, and saw that Jack was staring at him. “Not as beautiful as you are when you come,” Jack breathed huskily. “Or when you look at me… like that.” 

Desire shot through Daniel and made his heart ache. “I want to make love tonight,” he whispered back. “All night long.” 

Jack’s free hand snaked out and smoothed over Daniel’s ass, giving him a squeeze and then slipping inside the waistband of his blue pants at the small of his back. “Yeah, me, too.  I can’t seem to get enough of you, Danny.” 

There was worship in Jack’s eyes, and Daniel knew he meant every word. Here, in this place, for the first time, Daniel was beginning to see the real Jack O’Neill: boisterous and playful, horny and exquisitely sexy, tender and deeply committed. On this alien world they were totally free to live without anything hidden from each other, and what Daniel saw in him was breathtakingly beautiful. Loving Jack was far more fulfilling than he’d ever envisioned, far more satisfying than he believed he deserved. 

Jack crowded close to him on purpose, bumping shoulders as they walked, just to be touching him. Daniel had to keep an eye on the uneven ground as they walked, but as much as possible he and Jack just looked at each other, grinning like the fools in love that they were. He would’ve loved to be holding Jack’s hand, but his were full of furry love at the moment, so he contented himself with the view, and Jack’s constant need to be touching him somewhere. 

As the house came into view, Daniel remembered the shape of the invisible roof as he’d seen it the last time it rained. Over the bedroom was a fluted dome with a spiral cap. Over the cooking hearth it spread out like a sloping fan, joined to the base of the bedroom’s dome. The bathroom ceiling was mostly flat, allowing a splendid view of the rainwater pooling up directly above the bathtub. Once he had lain in the tub looking up at it, watching the raindrops fill the long, rectangular area, and then he’d looked at the surface shimmering with additional falling drops from the underside as he lay below it. It had reminded him of the event horizon of the stargate, once it stabilized and waited for something to break its surface. 

He wanted to show that to Jack, but the thought of that flat roof atop those high columns brought something else to mind as well. “I think I know now where I should look for the city I thought would be here,” Daniel mentioned quietly, “To be sure, I’m going to climb up on the roof while it’s raining and see if I can see it.” 

“Okay, but why?” Jack looked a little concerned. “The roof is not a good place to be during a storm.” 

“Don’t worry. There’s never any thunder or lightning,” Daniel assured him. “The weather is precisely controlled, always temperate, with just enough rain to keep everything growing properly.”

”It’s controlled?” Jack seemed surprised by that assumption. “How do you know?” 

Daniel glanced up at the clouds gathering overhead. “The shower will start at precisely six PM, by my watch. It will rain for exactly twelve hours at a measured rate. Then the clouds will fade, and in three more days, it will rain again. Nature doesn’t have that sort of schedule, Jack. There’s a weather control device on this planet somewhere.” 

“Like on Medrona?” 

“Maybe more complicated than that one.” 

Jack stopped walking. “Why do I get the feeling there’s something important that you’re not telling me?” 

“I’ll tell you when it’s time.” 

“Dammit, Daniel…” Jack frowned at the ground as they walked back to the house. “I don’t like being kept out of the loop, here. I’m not gonna go tell anybody your secrets, you know.” 

“Jack, I just need some more time to think. I’ve got ideas coming at me left and right, and I need time to make sense of it all.” He looked at Jack worriedly, wishing he could hold his hand. “Trust me?” 

Jack’s gaze was steady and sure. “You know I do.” 

Daniel gave him an uncertain smile, wishing he could be more certain of the places his imagination was taking him. He needed to give Jack that reassurance; needed it himself, but it wasn’t there. All he had were annoying little nibbles at his subconscious, telling him that something was coming, that he was on the trail to something big. 

Omega awoke with a sigh in Daniel’s arms and yawned. He looked down into her mouth, getting his first really good look at her teeth. They were omnivore’s teeth, very much like those in his own mouth, but with smaller incisors and more prominent canines. She stretched and stood up in his grasp, draping herself over his shoulder, and returned to her nap. 

He patted her back, stroking her soft, glistening fur, while he ruminated on those passages left on the markers by the Four Races. 

When the young begin to grow wise, they seek among the missing for that which will make them whole. 

He had done that. So had Jack. That journey had led them to this paradise. 

Peace comes in silence and introspection to one who travels alone, yet is never lonely. 

He had found a sort of peace on that planet, a sense of rightness and belonging that he had found nowhere else. Even as upset about Jack as he had been when he’d first arrived, he’d always had the sense he was meant to be there. Since the other solitary traveler, Jack O’Neill, had arrived, there was no more loneliness for either of them. 

Revealing one’s true self can only be accomplished by those worthy of trust. 

Here, in this place, he and Jack had both begun to live without pretense, taking down the walls they had built up around themselves on Earth. Did that make Daniel worthy of trust, now that he was revealing who he really was to Jack? Daniel trusted Jack implicitly and always had. 

He was sure there was something he was missing, something the other markers would tell him once he found them all. The message, he felt, was important. 

Those little teasers Daniel had found salted away on different worlds, written in the languages of the Four Races, were part of a bigger riddle, one he had yet to solve. Somewhere on that world, he believed he would find all six of the markers, along with the glyphs that formed the address of this unlisted world. That was the invitation that the Four Races had left behind them, the instructions for the curious travelers passing through the stargate system that was intended to bring them to that paradise. 

If that was so, if he was reading everything correctly, then this place might be far more important than the Lost City. 

He just had to be sure, to clarify and order his thoughts, before he could talk to Jack about any of it. 

Daniel put the idea out of mind for the moment, his thoughts turned back to Jack and to the wonderful fish he had caught that they would share for their dinner. Jack was so proud of the thing, and it would make Daniel happy to eat it with him.  

In short order, the fish was cooked, saved from being burned at the last moment when Daniel had the presence of mind to tear himself out of Jack’s arms long enough to check on it as it sizzled over the fire.  

They ate it with relish, feeding each other with their fingers and sharing a laugh. Jack insisted on cleaning up after they finished eating, so Daniel headed for the bathroom to wash up just as the first drops of rain began to fall. 

He rose and climbed the columns as the drizzle grew into a steady shower, using the pattern of water trickling over the invisible roof of the building to find his hand- and foot-holds, gingerly testing the invisible surface to make sure it would hold him.  

When he reached the flat top over the bathroom, he stood and walked carefully over its chilly, slippery surface, looking out at the horizon for signs of additional structures, possibly also made visible by the rain. Even with his myopic vision he could see it, the huge shape off to the northwest towering above the trees. 

“It’s a city,” said Jack from behind him, just arriving on top of the structure. 

Daniel nodded, his throat too tight to talk. 

“Big one,” Jack added. “The Lost City, maybe? Can you see it, Daniel?” 

He pushed past the constriction in his throat, his voice sounding unnaturally thin to him. “I don’t know, Jack. Maybe. We’ll have to go there and find out.”  

He turned to Jack, a clear invitation in his eyes. He grasped Jack’s upper arm and stepped closer, careful of his footing on the slippery roof. “Let’s go back down and make love, Jack. All night long, remember?” He hoped his need, and not his fear, was showing. 

Jack nodded, his expression serious, patient, adoring.  

They turned together and made their way back down the columns and into the bathroom, stripped off their wet clothes and left them draped beneath the shelter of the roof to air dry. After a bath, they stood beneath the dryer, running their hands over each other’s bodies, holding each other close as the warm air blew down on them and warmed them up as it dried them off.  

Daniel felt the comfort of Jack’s lips on his shoulder, at the base of his neck, moving up to his ear and jaw, making his way slowly to Daniel’s mouth. He ran his fingers through Jack’s short, silver hair as they kissed, slow dancing in the shower of heated air to the rhythm of their pounding heartbeats.  

Daniel sighed and moaned into Jack’s mouth, lost in the feel of Jack’s hands against his skin, touching him everywhere, carding through his hair as it dried. He wanted this to go on forever. 

“Let’s go to bed, Jack,” he said huskily, easing away and catching Jack’s hand in his.  

Jack nodded, towed along in his wake. Daniel let go of his hand when they were almost there and walked faster, arranging himself on the bed before Jack arrived. His heart was pounding and his whole body was quivering with anticipation.  

Then he remembered it was raining and looked up at the ornate roof, made visible now by the water. He watched the water droplets land on the transparent structure and drizzle down to highlight the shape of the dome with its fluted ribs. It sparkled like it was made of stars glinting rainbows in the light of the setting sun, just peeking out from beneath the high clouds. 

He realized Jack was looking at it, too, standing beside the bed now, dry and fresh and naked, mesmerized by the incredible sight. Light and color were dancing above them like living things, casting rainbows all over the room and everything in it. The sight was so beautiful it brought a lump to Daniel’s throat, because Jack was also awash in starlight and rainbows. He sparkled as if he’d been sprinkled with… magic pixie dust.  

Daniel just stared at him. Jack met his eyes and Daniel knew he was thinking the exact same thing. 

“Magic pixie dust,” said Jack, a note of wonder in his voice. “Your letter, remember?” 

It’s one thing to hope and fantasize that maybe one day magic pixie dust will make everything you wanted fall right into your lap, and something else all together to know with concrete certainty that your dreams are gone forever. 

“Are we dreaming?” asked Daniel breathlessly. 

Jack crawled onto the bed and settled over him with feline grace. “If we are,” he murmured in a purring whisper, “I hope we never wake up.” 

His lips brushed Daniel’s, and Daniel just lay there, letting Jack do whatever he wanted with him. There were no kisses now, just that sexy mouth stroking over his face, his neck, his ears. A gust of warm breath in his ear made him shiver down to his toes. Jack slipped his arms beneath Daniel and held him and, for the first time in as far back as he could remember, Daniel felt safe and whole. He felt loved, cherished, completed. 

He was in awe. 

Jack lifted his head and looked down into his face as Daniel embraced his lover’s waist with his legs, holding onto him tightly. This was a moment of pure, fulfilled love, untainted by passion. It was intoxicating. 

Irish whiskey, Daniel thought, looking up at those liquid brown eyes. Fireworks. Pixie dust. The stuff of dreams. His fingers traced over Jack’s high cheekbones, threading into his hair. 

“I’m flying,” he said simply, lost in Jack’s eyes. 

Jack nodded, unable to speak. His left hand settled on Daniel’s face, holding him for a moment, worshipping Daniel with his eyes. Jack kissed him then, his lips settling as tenderly as falling snow. They moved as one, ocean and shore, wind and leaves, their bodies in perfect harmony.  

Hands caressed smooth skin and firm muscle, exploring, memorizing each curve and hollow. Daniel’s feet skimmed over Jack’s calves as he released Jack from his embrace, lowering his long legs. Daniel rubbed the inside of his thighs against the outside of Jack’s and felt his cock filling. Jack lifted his lower body onto his knees for a moment, allowing both their stiffening erections to spring up so he could lower himself again with them pinned between their bellies. 

There was no breathless passion this time, no urgent need demanding to be satisfied. Daniel could do this with Jack for hours, maybe all night as he’d wanted. A gentle sweetness flowed all through him, a sense of peace and rightness beyond anything he’d ever experienced. 

Daniel lay with his eyes open as Jack’s mouth moved down his throat and lower, making his way with delicious slowness down Daniel’s body. He stared up at the rain, aware of everything, his senses on overload. The fresh-scented cool air provided sharp contrast to Jack’s warm male musk. The patter of raindrops on the leaves and ground outside were the only sound other than their deep, sighing breath and moans. Daniel savored the taste of his lover in his mouth, that unique flavor that was Jack O’Neill’s alone. 

Cool air made him tingle in the wake of Jack’s kisses, making gooseflesh rise and Daniel’s skin tighten. Jack moved steadily, slowly down Daniel’s body, keeping him covered as he tasted and explored. Daniel groaned as Jack’s lips slid along his cock, Daniel’s hands instinctively reaching for Jack’s hair, losing his fingers in the silky stuff. His body undulated on the bed beneath Jack’s gentle, sure touch and when he could manage, Daniel lifted his head and watched as Jack loved him. 

This was the first time Jack had gone down on him, and it was beautiful. Wonder lit up Jack’s face, and he smiled as his tongue slipped out for a taste of pre-come, glistening at the tip of Daniel’s dick. Jack looked happy. He was obviously enjoying himself and the way his eyes closed when he took the head in his mouth left no doubt in Daniel’s mind that he loved doing this with him. 

Daniel curled up, rising on one elbow so he could reach Jack’s head and shoulders better. He caressed and stroked Jack’s warm skin, his heart in his throat, so in love, so in awe, so rich in everything that mattered. Useless words choked him, and he pushed them away, emptying his mind and letting his heart pour out the love he felt for this man, filling the room without walls. 

His orgasm was gentle and unhurried. He watched Jack drink it down, greedy for all of it.   

When the last spasm passed, Daniel reclined against the bed, and Jack covered him again, face to face, his hard cock pressing into Daniel’s belly. Jack rocked into him, thrusting between them as he reached for Daniel’s hands. He laced their fingers together and pushed their hands up beside Daniel’s head on the bed. 

Jack’s eyes were filled with awe as he watched the wondrous sparkles play over Daniel’s face, over their bodies. Questions and assurances passed silently between them, asked and answered in their eyes. Daniel could feel Jack’s body tensing, and knew he would be coming soon. He squeezed Jack’s hands, and he nodded at him, telling him yes, that Daniel wanted this, wanted to see the pleasure and watch it course through him. 

Closing his eyes, Jack hitched a breath and jerked, his body curling up as he thrust hard against Daniel’s abdomen. Daniel felt every pulse, every spasm, and sensed the tension flowing out of Jack’s body along with his seed. The sounds of Jack’s softly panted groans were a symphony Daniel would remember forever. 

He studied Jack’s face, sated and peaceful, so full of love and wonder and quiet joy. It was the most beautiful sight Daniel had ever seen, and suddenly he couldn’t bear to see it any longer. He disentangled his fingers from Jack’s and threw his arms around his lover’s neck, pulling Jack down into a fierce, desperate embrace. He began to weep openly, unable to staunch his emotions. 

Pixie dust, he told himself. We had the pixie dust. Maybe it’ll be enough. 

Jack’s arms slipped around him, and he began to rock him slowly, whispering in his ear and kissing his hair. “Shhhh, it’s okay, babe. I’m here. It’s okay.” He rose up a little and looked down at Daniel, pulling one hand out from beneath him to touch his face.  “I’ll always be here.  Don’t worry.”  

His thumbs stroked slowly over Daniel’s temples, wiping away the tears with incredible gentleness. Jack looked helpless and a little sad, aching to fix whatever was wrong with the man he loved. He seemed to be searching for the right words to say to make it all better, and failing because he didn’t know what was wrong. 

Most of the sunlight had faded now.  There was just a little glimmer remaining, sparkling silver among the falling droplets, making the roof look like it was made of a multitude of tiny stars. Jack’s face was in shadow, barely visible now, lit only with the flickering reflections of the star-rain. The moment was burned into Daniel’s mind, something never to be forgotten, always fresh and radiant whenever he traveled back in his memory to this moment in time. 

Daniel kissed him, giving him a reassuring look, telling Jack without words that he was all right.  

Carefully untangling himself, Jack moved off him and retreated to the bathroom. He returned moments later with Daniel’s bandana, damp and warm with water from the tub. With exquisite care he washed Daniel clean, and then he cleaned himself, tossing the cloth onto the floor to deal with later.  

Jack reclined on the bed again, lying close at Daniel’s side, his head propped up on one hand, the other reverently exploring the curves of Daniel’s face with his fingertips.  

“Are you okay?” he asked uncertainly. 

Daniel nodded, unwilling to commit to a verbal answer. “Let’s rest for a little while, okay?” Daniel suggested huskily. “When you’re ready later, we can make love again. Wake me if I fall asleep?” 

Jack shook his head. “Not ready to rest just yet.” For a long time he just stared at Daniel, his free hand and his gaze exploring his body in the starlight.  “I can’t get enough of you, Daniel.” 

Finally, they pulled down the sheets and blanket and got covered up against the evening chill, Jack’s head on Daniel’s shoulder, arms and legs wrapped possessively around him.  

As the hours passed, they made love twice more before Jack crashed for the night, too exhausted to move. Daniel closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but found it elusive.  Occasionally he opened his eyes to view the rain on the roof by starlight or the deep shadowy curves of Jack’s body as he dreamed.  

As always, the little aliens came to bed with them very late, arranging themselves in bunches all over the bed, everywhere except between the lovers.  

Daniel wondered how he was going to tell the man he loved that, if it turned out he was right, they were going to have to leave their idyllic paradise and return to the cold reality of their homeworld and whatever punishments that awaited them both. He had asked Jack to stay and by agreeing to that request, Daniel had destroyed Jack’s career and possibly his life. Because he had stayed, Jack was AWOL.  When they returned, there was a good possibility that they’d be sent to separate prisons to pay for their dereliction of duty and breach of contract. 

Love and duty often demanded a heavy price. When the time came, when he was more certain of the intuitions brewing in his mind, he would share them with Jack.  Together they would face whatever the future held. Daniel just hoped this night and the few they might have remaining would be enough to keep them looking toward the future, to a time when they could be together without fear. 

With a final kiss to the top of Jack’s head, he snuggled his cheek against the silver mane, and closed his eyes. Tomorrow.  Tomorrow they would talk and make a plan. Jack would be with him always, and somehow, they would find a way to make everything all right. 

Sleep, when it came, was a welcome respite. 

The next morning, Jack awoke wearing a warm fur collar. Without opening his eyes, he grasped the short, fluffy tail and moved it, cracking open one eye to take note of the animal’s position beneath his chin. It was Alpha, her little head tucked up against his neck, her body curled up in a ball against his chest, tail curled over his neck until he had moved it. She twitched it across her as soon as he touched it, covering her face with the plume without ever waking up. 

Smiling to himself, he carefully began to turn over, moving Alpha aside, searching behind him for his lover.  He found that Daniel wasn’t in the bed. Instead, the critters had moved into the warm spot he had left behind, and Jack had slept through it all. 

“Daniel?” he called. 

There was no answer. He rose, doing his best not to disturb the little beasties, but they simply ignored his movement and slumbered on. He fetched his boxers off the floor and slipped them on, took a couple of soap packets from his vest and padded up the terrace toward the bathroom. 

Jack came to an abrupt halt in the doorway.  Daniel was just getting out of the tub, his back to Jack, water sluicing off his body as he came up the steps. For a moment, Daniel stood still, seemingly lost in thought, naked, wet and beautiful.  

Jack let his gaze rove over that gorgeous body, thinking that Daniel was Adonis personified.  He took note of all the scars, of the slabs of muscle down his back, the healthy curve of his buttocks, the swell of his thighs tapering down to flaring calves. 

As he continued to watch, Daniel half turned and headed for the dryer, lifting his face up to the warm jet of air, eyes closed and rubbing himself dry in the gentle breeze. Jack appreciated the broad shoulders and bulging biceps, but as he watched he began to notice something that hadn’t really registered earlier. He could see Daniel’s ribs a little too clearly. His muscles seemed bulging and cut because he didn’t have much body fat left.  

Thinking back, he realized Daniel had gotten full awfully fast whenever they ate. His stomach had to have been shrinking.  It was entirely possible that Daniel had gone hungry a lot before he arrived on that planet. Food was plentiful there, he had said, but Jack wondered if his lover had actually been eating much of it or been wasting away in mourning instead. 

That was going to have to change.  

Jack wished he had more coffee just then. And chocolate. Definitely chocolate, for Daniel to enjoy. 

Then another alarming thought struck him. What if Daniel were sick? Was that why he’d been so emotional the previous night when they’d made love, because he was sick, and he knew it? Was that why he wasn’t eating much? Jack knew Daniel would never tell him if he was. He’d hold it back, thinking he was sparing Jack that pain. 

His throat tightened. Without making a sound, he padded over to the dryer and stood still, waiting for Daniel to finish and open his eyes. He saw that delicious mouth quirk upward in a pouty little smirk. 

“Morning, Jack,” said Daniel in a sexy growl. 

“How’d you know I was here?” he asked, pushing his boxers off his lean hips and letting them drop. He pitched the soap packets over by the tub, where they’d be in easy reach in the water. 

“You smell like sex,” he rumbled, lowering his chin and opening his eyes. “You smell like me.” 

Jack looked down at his rising hard-on. “Look what you do to me, Daniel,” he observed in a low voice, and then stepped closer to sweep in for a taste of those lips. 

Passion flared between them, and they kissed as they made their way down into the water. Daniel’s hands were all over Jack, pushing, pulling, stroking and squeezing. Jack held on, unwilling to let him go even to change positions, nuzzling his neck and nibbling along his shoulder. The raw power he felt in Daniel’s arms intoxicated him. Heat pounded in his veins, throbbing like drumbeats in his ears. 

Daniel’s hands, slick now with soap, slipped all over his erection, caressing his shaft, massaging his balls. His knees threatened to give way as Daniel drove him backward, catching him as he stumbled against the steps and lowering him in the water until he was seated on the topmost step. He felt utterly powerless, as if Daniel were in complete control of his body. 

“Love you,” Daniel whispered against his neck.  “Want you so much, Jack.”  

Jack groaned in response. He felt Daniel’s teeth then, scraping against the sensitive skin of his throat. He tipped his head back to give Daniel better access. The sensation set him on fire, burned away his senses. “Mark me, Daniel,” he whispered hoarsely, his hands lost in long, silky hair. 

“What?” Daniel tilted his head back, to look into Jack’s eyes. 

“Mark me,” he growled. “Do it.  Someplace where I can see it. Please. I want it. Need it.” 

“God, Jack.”  

Jack groaned at the rough edge of desperation in Daniel’s voice.  “Do it,” he insisted again. 

He felt Daniel’s teeth scraping him, no longer gently. Daniel’s hands cupped beneath the water and scooped it up to dump on Jack’s crotch, rinsing away the soapsuds. Daniel’s hot mouth trailed across Jack’s chest, choosing a spot near his right nipple. Daniel sucked hard, and it hurt just enough to send tiny bolts of lightning directly to Jack’s dick.   

When that mark had been made, Daniel trailed gentle kisses lower down to his belly, just near the base of his cock, right above the thatch of salt and pepper pubic hair.  

Jack curled up on the tiles and looked down at him, watched while Daniel made the suction bruise, his lover’s hands working his freshly rinsed cock harder. Then Daniel’s mouth was in motion again, wet heat trailing over his balls, that hot velvet tongue laving up the underside of Jack’s dripping shaft. Daniel swallowed his cock, descending on it like a starving man while Jack watched in erotic fascination. 

Daniel pulled back a little, changing the angle of Jack’s dick with his hands, gazing up to see Jack watching him, never stopping what he was doing. His azure eyes were blazing with love and need and some terrible unspoken pain that tore at Jack.  

“Daniel,” he pleaded. “Tell me. I need to know.” 

With a groan and a small shake of his head, Daniel closed his eyes and redoubled his efforts, drawing Jack’s attention back to his groin. He held Daniel’s face, his hands caressing his beautiful sun-bleached hair, as fair now as it had been on Abydos. He looked down and saw the bruises Daniel had made, the need in his eyes, and immediately pitched headlong into ecstasy.   

Daniel moaned as he swallowed every drop. 

Jack collapsed back against the tile floor with a grunt of surrender and lay still, desperately trying to catch his breath. He was light-headed now, incapable of coherent thought in the wake of his orgasm.    

Daniel reached for the soap packet and squeezed out a little more, bending to kiss and nibble Jack’s belly and chest while slipping one soapy finger gently into his ass. Jack laid himself back against the steps, legs spread, arms stretched out on the flat rim of the tub, head pitched back. He was wide open to whatever Daniel had planned for them. 

Soon Daniel’s amazing mouth closed on Jack’s throat, suckling gently, his tongue scorching and wet against his flesh. His teeth closed again, grazing his collarbone, moving downward. Jack could hardly catch his breath now, each exhalation leaving with a groan. “Fuhhh…” he panted, trying desperately to tell Daniel what he wanted, but his lover was already way ahead of him. 

Daniel’s hands slid under his butt, lifting him up in the buoyant water. He slid inside him easily, Jack’s body already stretched and lubricated from the previous night. Jack wrapped his legs around Daniel’s back, trying to pull him closer, delirious with the sensation of Daniel inside him. The pounding pushed him steadily up the steps until he was lying on his back on the stone tiles with Daniel kneeling on the steps, still half in the water.  

“Need you,” Jack panted, pulling at his lover. 

“You’ve got me,” Daniel promised, thrusting harder, deeper, gazing down into his eyes. “Always. Forever.” 

“On me. Want you on top of me.” 

“Don’t wanna come out,” Daniel groaned. “Fuck, Jack! Can’t stop now. Gonna c-cuhhh… OOOOHHHH!” 

Jack stared at him as the heat of Daniel’s orgasm filled him, watching the pleasure and pain on Daniel’s face. He looked like he was going to cry, but then he opened his eyes and forced a smile.  Jack could see that he was afraid, and that his heart was breaking.

”Jesus, Danny, what is it?” he begged.  He reached out one hand to touch Daniel’s cheek. 

Daniel just shook his head, mouth pulled into a grimace of pain. “Love you, Jack,” he whispered in a shaky voice. Daniel bent over to kiss him, devouring Jack’s mouth in desperation. 

Jack held him, his body slipping back down into the warm water with his lover. For a long time he just sat there on the steps, his arms around Daniel, comforting him with contact, not wanting to push when Daniel obviously didn’t want to talk about whatever was bothering him, but needing to understand.  

Eventually Daniel stopped kissing him.  Foreheads touching, Daniel’s eyes closed, catching his breath, they snuggled their faces together.  

“I do want to know about whatever it is you’re keeping from me,” he told Daniel, carefully keeping his voice neutral. “I know it’s something important… but I’ll wait till you’re ready to tell me.” 

“I’m sorry.  I will,” Daniel promised. “Just give me a little more time, Jack.” He pulled back and made eye contact, checking to make sure Jack wasn’t angry with him for holding back.  He was comforted when he was silently assured all was well between them. 

Jack didn’t move when Daniel splashed out of the tub and returned to drying off, this time humming a little tune Jack couldn’t identify. 

“Singing, are we?” he mused. Very carefully, he eased himself back into the tub to finish getting himself clean. Parts of him were already quite sparkly. 

“Mmmmm. A Josh Groban tune. Remember When It Rained.” 

“Rained last night, just like you said it would.” 

Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed. 

“Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Jack declared in an embarrassed whisper. 

Smiling as the memory slipped through his mind, Daniel nodded and slanted a cat-like gaze Jack’s way. “Yes. You were.” 

Jack eyed him for a moment, then he submerged himself to get himself wet all over.  Coming up out of the water, he shook himself like a wet dog.  He squeezed out the last of the soap in the opened packet and started scrubbing, starting with his hair and then his armpits.  

Daniel didn’t stop rubbing himself dry until he was finished, then left to put on his freshly laundered robes without responding to Jack’s gentle inquiry into Daniel’s all too apparent distress. 

“Dressing up today?” asked Jack, eyeing his partner, who was fully dressed for the first time in days. 

“You should, too. We might meet some interesting people in that city.” 

“Okay, but I didn’t do my laundry last night. I guess I should have. Got any aftershave on ya?” 

Daniel stopped dressing. He looked down at Jack in the tub. “Um…” One hand reached up and stroked over his chin. “Speaking of shaving, have you shaved since you’ve been here?” 

He opened his mouth to make a smart remark, then closed it again as realization struck. “Just the first day, come to think of it. Not since then. Have you?” 

“I arrived here over a month ago and shaved a couple of times afterward.  Then I decided I should save my knife blade for utility purposes. I figured shaving would be a luxury I couldn’t afford.”  His eyes were wide as he looked around the elegant bathroom with its tall columns instead of walls and that amazing invisible roof. “Come to think of it, I haven’t shaved since that last time, weeks ago. Haven’t needed to. I’m apparently no longer growing facial hair.” 

Jack smoothed a hand over his own cheek. “Yup.  Soft as a baby’s butt. No five o’clock shadow at all. Huh. Wonder why?” He frowned over that thought for a moment, then went back to happily splashing in the water. 

A sleepy-eyed Omega wandered into the room and sat down on the side of the tub with a great yawn. Without warning, she tipped over into the water, swam around a little, then climbed out on the steps behind Jack and trotted over to the dryer, which came on while she sat motionless in the warm breeze, eyes closed, apparently sleeping herself dry. 

When Jack finished watching her, he dunked himself again to rinse the last of the soap from his hair and body. He staggered out of the tub and straddled Omega, who promptly moved out of the way so Jack wouldn’t drip on her freshly dried fur. 

“Um, Jack…” 

“Daniel?” He tipped his head down so the warm draft wouldn’t dry out his eyes as quickly, and risked a glance at his lover. Daniel was staring at him, eyes as round as saucers. “What’s the matter?” 

“Your hair.” 

“Wish I had some shampoo. Our soap’s almost all gone, too.” He closed his eyes and fluffed up his hair as the warm air blew over it. “And we’re almost out of that hand lotion, Daniel. I don’t know what we’re gonna use for lube when it’s gone.” 

“Jack, your hair…” 

“Probably needs conditioning, too, I know. We’ll just have to make do with split ends. You any good at giving haircuts among your many talents? ‘Cause if you suck at it, I may just grow it into a ponytail.” 

“Jack,” Daniel said insistently. “Your hair. It’s turning dark again.” 

Jack’s eyes flew open, vanity fully engaged. He looked down at his chest, which three days earlier had been almost totally gray. Now it and his crotch were both peppered with dark brown hair, mixed in with far less of the silver. 

“Mirror! I need a mirror, Daniel, quick!”  

“Sorry, don’t have one,” said the younger man with a grin. “Just trust me on that. You look almost like you did the first time I saw you in the mountain. Ten years younger and pretty damned hot, if I may say so.” 

A light bulb went on in Jack’s head. He bent his knees and gave a couple of test squats. He bent backward a little, looking for the old familiar aches and pains, but they, too, were gone. He grinned at Daniel. “We really have died and gone to heaven, haven’t we, Daniel?” 

Eyes wide with wonder, Daniel gazed around him, turning in a big circle. “I don’t know, Jack. I don’t think so, but…” Finally, he stopped turning and made eye contact. “Hurry up and get dressed. We’ve got some research to do.” 

“Breakfast? We’re all out of MREs. I might have a Powerbar left, if Little Jack hasn’t found where I hid it yet. He loves those things.” 

“We’ll eat on the way,” Daniel promised. “We’ll be walking through the funnel cake patch on the way there. I’ve explored a little way in every direction from here, but didn’t find anything of note till last night. I was going to take it up again, but—“ 

“The what patch?” Jack was already hurrying into his boxers and walking back to the bedroom with Daniel to finish dressing. 

“Wait and see.”  

Daniel’s smile was as mysterious and filled with secrets as Mona Lisa’s. 

The bushes were thick and lush, just about waist high on the men. Broad, heart-shaped leaves spread out from a central trunk, and here and there long spikes shot out of the trunk bearing clusters of golden globes, slightly transparent except for the single large seed attached to the stem. Daniel picked one of the globes, stuck it into his mouth, stem and all, and bit down on the fruit, pulling the stem and seed out and tossing it far away. 

Clear juice flowed out of his mouth and over his chin, and he wiped it away on his sleeve. 

“That’s how you eat them,” he told Jack. “They taste just like funnel cakes, sort of cherry tomato consistency, but kind of oily and rich and sweet. Toss the seed as far as you can, to spread the growth of the plants.” 

Jack heard the excited chatter of the “tribe” as Daniel called the mousie-bunnies, all helping themselves to the juicy fruits.  

He pulled one off and tried it, and his tongue knew a brand new kind of bliss. He groaned and reached for another and another. While wiping the juice off his chin, he had a thought. He looked at his hand and rubbed the clear juice on his fingers together. 

A big grin spread over his face. “Daniel, I think we just found our lube.” 

A startled laugh burst out of the other man. “Jeez, Jack, you’re right! This should work perfectly. I wonder how long these are in season? We’ll harvest some on the way home and try it out.” 

“If the kids don’t eat ‘em all up first.” He smiled warmly at the critters grazing their way through the patch. “They sure are fun little beasties, aren’t they?” 

“You like them a lot, don’t you?” asked Daniel warmly. He reached out and took Jack’s hand, lacing their fingers together. 

“You should talk, Doctor Dances With Mousie-Bunnies.” Jack shot him a grin that hid absolutely nothing of how he felt. “I’m in love with this place, Daniel. Don’t wanna leave, not ever. I’m thinking of naming the planet… New Minnesota.” 

“There aren’t any loons.” Daniel was looking at him from under those lashes that were such a sin, the tiniest little teasing smile on his lips. He looked terribly kissable, so Jack did. 

“Mmmmm,” Jack said to the inside of Daniel’s mouth. He smacked his lips happily as he drew away. “Now, what the hell were we talking about? I can’t seem to remember my own name at the moment.” 

“Loons,” Daniel reminded him. “New Minnesota.” 

Jack looked down around his thighs at the furry heads bobbing out from under leaves. A pair scampered past, apparently arguing over a particularly big bunch of funnel cake fruit that one of them had found, screeching like angry squirrels. One of them started pelting the other with the fruit, which exploded on contact, and the two ended up wrestling in the grass. When that appeared to be turning into another kind of groping all together, Jack took Daniel by the arm and got him started on their walk again. 

“Oh, I don’t know, Daniel. They look pretty loony to me. As in Looney Toons.” 

For a long time Daniel didn’t say anything, just walked with his gaze moving thoughtfully from one furry animal to another. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” asked Jack, reaching into his pockets. “Damn, I left all my money back at the base. D’you take credit?” 

Daniel’s eyes were saucers again. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. “Um, Jack… Did you notice what Theta and Chi were doing back there?” 

“Makin’ more mousie-bunnies?” Jack couldn’t help the grin. He’d seen several of the critters couple up, stealing off for a little privacy – just like Theta and Chi did at that moment – whenever things got serious. Little Jack and Delta were a particularly affectionate couple. They disappeared a lot. 

“Yeeessss, but that’s not… They were, um, doing it face to face.” 

“So they like missionary. So do we.” Jack patted Daniel’s butt affectionately. “Among the many and varied other positions listed in the Gay Kama Sutra. Which I intend to work on re-creating here, since there’s no handy reference library.” 

Daniel just stared at him, wide-eyed. 

“The wheels are turning, but I don’t hear any squeaking,” Jack observed, teasing lightly. “You gonna tell me what’s goin’ on in that big honkin’ brain of yours?” 

“Still putting all the pieces together, Jack. I could be wrong.” 

“And I could be elected the new Soviet Premier.” 

“The USSR no longer exists, or hadn’t you heard?” 

“My point exactly. Trust your instincts, Danny-boy. I do.” He leaned over and kissed Daniel on the cheek. 

They walked together in silence for a while, Jack falling back into soldier mode, scanning all around them and threat-assessing. He hadn’t seen any fearsome wild animals or hostile natives, but it was a big planet and they’d only seen one tiny part of it. He had his P-90 handy and warm, ready for action if necessary.  

Near midday, they came to what must have been a road at one time, now completely overgrown with a soft green carpet of moss, thriving in the bright sunshine.  The little creatures walked right onto it, keeping in a loose group all around them, as if they already knew where the humans were going. 

Toward mid-afternoon, the lane appeared to disappear into a foggy patch of woods.  Just outside it stood two smooth stone plinths, two obelisks and two tall white stone trees, one on each side of the road. They looked newly made, but apparently were identical to the ones Daniel had seen on other worlds.  

He walked up to them in wonder, running his hands over the surfaces, fingering the carved characters in the stone. 

“If these were made at the same time as the others I found on those other planets, Jack, they must be thousands of years old,” he mused. “It’s funny, because they look brand new.” 

“What do they say?” Jack sidled up beside his lover, recognizing the lettering on that particular face as Ancients’ Latin. 

“I’ve seen these four structures before,” Daniel stated certainly, pointing to one tree, both plinths and one obelisk. He read the final passages on each one aloud to Jack. “These others may take me a little while to translate.” 

Jack glanced at the Latin on one of the untranslated ones. “ ‘All is revealed in the light, but those who live in darkness remain blind.’ Is this the origin of fortune cookies, Daniel?” 

“Wow. I knew you learned the language back during the time loop thing,” Daniel observed with an amazed twitch of his eyebrows, “but I didn’t know you learned it that well. I’m impressed.” 

“I’m just full of surprises, Daniel. Just like you. Want me to read you the others?” Jack felt pretty damn smug at that moment and was sure it showed on his face. 

Daniel stood and gestured toward the next carving. “Go for it, big guy.” 

Jack cocked his head and moved to the other stone tree. “ ‘Sorrow opens unknown doors, where hope may be found.’  And the last one over there…” He sighed as he sauntered over to the final obelisk. “ ‘Truth reveals itself only when one has stopped looking for it and sees with the eyes of joy.’ Very Zen, all of them. So what do they mean?” 

“Let me look at the order a minute.” 

Jack waited for way longer than a minute, and his empty stomach was protesting. He examined the scenery and saw that the little mousie-bunnies had flopped down all around them in the sun.  Some were curled up together in a cozy pile, others seeking shady places nearer the trees for their well-earned nap. Jack was surprised they had all accompanied him and Daniel this far, but apparently wherever they went, the fuzzy kids did, too. 

He would have liked to take a nap, but they were on an alien world and there was no telling who or what was in that fog-shrouded city.  So he did what he’d been doing for most of the last decade.  He watched over the linguist, keeping him safe and letting him work.  

While he waited, Jack daydreamed about what they would eventually do there on that paradise planet. Daniel would need something to keep his mind occupied, so they’d probably explore it all, eventually. Jack was a simple man with simple needs, and he could be happy just fishing, foraging and fucking until he was too old to do anything but remember what it was like to jump Danny’s lovely bones. 

That would be a good life, for him, and all he needed.  

His eyes caressed the shape of his lover, the unconsciously elegant drape of robes over his body, the graceful way he moved as he paced from one sculpture to the other, and the intensity in those beautiful blue eyes as they read… 

“Daniel?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Can you read those things all right?” 

The answer was distracted, like he was shrugging off an annoying mosquito, dismissing him with a wave of one hand. “Just fine, Jack.” After a beat, Daniel’s head came up. He made eye contact, obviously surprised. “Oh.  I can see just fine. Without my glasses. Jack, what the hell’s going on?” 

“Beats me.” He shrugged. “It seems to be all good stuff, though.” He smoothed a hand over his hair and wished he could see it. 

“We’re undergoing some kind of change,” Daniel observed, his eyes haunted now. “Without our permission. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing, Jack. What other changes might be going on that we don’t know about yet?” 

Jack’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, why don’t you figure out your puzzle, and then we’ll go into the invisible city and see if we can find some answers there. Get to work while we wait for the fog to clear.” 

Daniel nodded and turned uneasily back to the carvings. Finally, he heaved a heavy sigh. “We should probably scout around for something to eat and take a break. I’ve tried to make some sense of the messages, but I guess I’m just not getting it.” 

Jack squatted down and jiggled Alpha’s shoulder, waking up the soundly sleeping female. “Hey, princess, where does a guy go for lunch around here? We’re hungry.” 

The mousie-bunny lifted her head and looked around as if noticing for the first time that they weren’t in their usual neighborhood. She got to her feet and pushed up onto her haunches, scanning the landscape through half-closed eyes, squinting into the brightness of the late afternoon sun. After a moment, she seemed to finish waking up.  Her ears perked up, and with eyes wide and blinking, she looked up at Jack. 

“Hungry,” he repeated and sniffed his sleeve where he’d rubbed funnel cake berry juice, then held it under her nose. Her own belly growled and she glanced down at it, then up at him, all innocence. “Yeah, hungry. Where’s the food?” 

Alpha got up and padded off toward the trees just to the north. Not only were there were more of the berry bushes there, the rest of the tribe climbed up into the trees and tossed down some interesting looking nuts.  They had pliable green shells that peeled right off, once the men learned how to open them properly.  

Alpha presented Daniel with a root she’d dug up, showed him how to peel it, and he gave it a test crunch. It tasted like carrot, though it was white instead of orange. As she found more, Daniel pulled them up for her, sharing them with Jack and the others. For most of an hour they foraged among the trees, then ambled slowly back to the mossy road and the sculptures. 

“The only order of alignment possible is the one for the coordinates for this planet,” stated Daniel certainly, walking up and down between the statues. “And the first passage is obviously an invitation. So is the second, both clues to look among the recorded ‘gate addresses and figure out which ones are missing.” 

“Unlisted numbers,” said Jack with a shake of his head. “I guess they wanted whoever found them to be really interested in figuring out the Big Picture.” 

Daniel nodded, still pacing. “Anyone traveling to just a few planets would never put this whole puzzle together, so the message was directed at those who had the intention of going to all of them, exploring every place the Ancients went to set up their Stargates.” 

“An intergalactic game of Clue,” agreed Jack. “Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick. A great cosmic whodunit. That’s pretty cool, when you think about it.” He grinned. 

“The second passage is the one that throws me,” Daniel went on. “ ‘Sorrow opens unknown doors, where hope may be found.’ I mean, I know I felt pretty grim when I deserted my position, but I don’t think this could have been directed at me specifically. They would’ve had to have been fortune tellers to know I’d use their clues to find my way here.” 

Jack pondered that. He thought about himself and his own sorrow that had drawn him along in Daniel’s footsteps and agreed. This wasn’t just about two lovesick men on a journey to find each other. It was about something much bigger. 

“The Big Picture,” he said, excitement notching up in his body. “Daniel, why did we go through the stargate in the first place?” 

“To see what was on the other side?” His brows scrunched together in deep thought. 

Jack gave him a poke in the arm and grinned at him.  “Will you forget the chicken and the road?”  He laughed.  “No, that’s why we sent the MALP through! We went through for threat assessment and what did we find?” 

“Ra?” Daniel smiled sheepishly.

Jack nodded, grinning back at him. “And Apophis and Anubis and a whole big bunch of other rotten snakeheads out there. We found sorrow, Daniel. ‘Sorrow opens unknown doors—“ 

“—Where hope may be found’,” Daniel finished, getting it now and leaping ahead. He whirled back around to the next passage and pointed at it. “ ‘Revealing one’s true self,’ that could be about the whole journey we’ve been on, Jack. We’ve been tested, every time we passed through a gate. We’ve put our compassion as well as our prejudices on display for anyone who’s watching. Our journeys have shown what kind of people the Tau’ri are, what we value and what we disdain, revealing who we are over and over again, with every mission.” 

“Ouch,” said Jack, making a face. “Not always pretty, but hopefully we’re worth saving as a species. Ya think?” 

“That’s not our judgment call,” Daniel shot back excitedly. “The rest of the passage tells what they’re looking for. If we show our true selves as we go through the ‘gates, we’re worthy of trust.” 

“Oy.” Jack frowned. “Then that would apply to the snakeheads, too. Not likin’ this, Daniel.”  

His gaze dropped to the next carving. “That one talks about ‘one who travels alone, yet is never lonely.’ Sounds like Goa’uld and host, to me.” 

Daniel shook his head, his whole body quivering with excitement. “No, no, the next one cancels that out! Look. ‘Truth reveals itself only when one has stopped looking for it and sees with the eyes of joy.’ What host of a Goa’uld could possibly be at peace with what the snakes do to them? How could they see with eyes of joy, when the host is a prisoner in a life of eternal horror?” 

“Okay, I’ll buy that, but there could be one or two.” 

“Big Picture, Jack.” Daniel put his hands on Jack’s shoulders. “Think in terms of the whole human race.” 

He tried, frowning and trying to pull all the pieces together, but it was beyond him. This was Daniel Jackson territory, thinking way outside the box. “ I guess I don’t get it.  Tell me what it means, Daniel.” 

The younger man pointed to the first inscription. 

When the young begin to grow wise, they seek among the missing for that which will make them whole. 

“Look for the unlisted numbers in the phone book,” Daniel translated, smiling now, “and you’ll find what you need there.”  

He stepped to the second statue, looking down at it. He pointed again. 

Sorrow opens unknown doors, where hope may be found. 

“Tragedy will force you to travel through the stargates in search of hope… and help.” 

At the next inscription, they read, Revealing one’s true self can only be accomplished by those worthy of trust. 

“Show us who you really are. Let us know we can trust you.” He chuckled, shaking his head in wonder, eyes gleaming and dancing with joy as he moved to the next one. 

Peace comes in silence and introspection to one who travels alone, yet is never lonely. 

“This message is for those few who can solve the riddle; those who carry the fate of their people with them on this journey, seeking peace.” 

Jack felt a thrill of excitement quivering in him. He always loved it when Daniel did this stuff. It was better than watching David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear, and every bit as magical. 

All is revealed in the light, but those who live in darkness remain blind. 

Daniel’s wild joy faded somewhat, his expression growing more sober, but the undercurrent of happiness was still there. “If you’re smart enough to figure out that this is where you’re supposed to be, you still won’t see what’s right in front of you unless your heart is in the right place.” 

“So folks like the snakes, they’re the ones who live in darkness, right?” 

Daniel nodded. “If one of the Goa’uld had come here, he wouldn’t have seen what we have. He might have been interested in the technology, but not the people who created it. He’d have come away with nothing, because he wouldn’t have been able to figure out the final part of the mystery.” 

Truth reveals itself only when one has stopped looking for it and sees with the eyes of joy. 

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he met Jack’s gaze. He spoke rapidly, his words tumbling over one another in his excitement.  “We stopped looking, Jack. We were happy together, and that’s when I realized… that’s what these people wanted to see.” He cocked his head and smiled, blinking at Jack, willing him to understand.  “Don’t you see? They wanted to see us, the real us, without artifice, no political posturing.  Not using lies or deception just because we coveted what they might give us. They wanted to see us without those masks, and then judge us on that honest revelation.” He dropped his gaze to his feet, his face coloring with embarrassment. 

He closed his eyes. “Oh, crap.” The full impact of the puzzle hit Daniel’s consciousness like a naquadah bomb.  

Jack cocked his head. “They, who? What crap?” 

“The people who put these messages out there around the galaxy in the first place, Jack.” He looked up into his lover’s eyes with a smile, but there was grief blossoming in those beautiful baby blues now. Daniel turned away and stared down at the last inscription. 

Jack saw tears standing in Daniel’s eyes. He had felt the subtle shift away from joy, felt it echoing in his own soul and knew that whatever this was, it would carry a heavy price. He swallowed hard and nodded, indicating that he was ready to hear the truth now, and Daniel should explain the rest. 

“I think the people who built this place have been with us from the first moment we stepped through the stargate.”  As he spoke, Daniel waved his hands around to indicate their personal space. 

Daniel squatted down and looked into Alpha’s endearing little face. He extended hi