Jack made a quick exit, leaving SG-1 standing at the edge of the ramp. Daniel looked at Sam in bewilderment and asked, “What was that?”
“I do not believe O'Neill liked your comment, DanielJackson,” Teal'c answered.
“What'd I say?” the archaeologist asked, truly having no idea what the problem was.
Sam shrugged and began to walk away, stating, “I need to call Pete, so I'll see you guys later.”
As Teal'c nodded, Daniel said, “Okay, Sam.” He looked at the Jaffa and asked, “Teal'c, why do you think Jack didn't like what I said? I mean, any more than he normally ... doesn't ... like what I say?”
Daniel smiled shyly at his awkward question.
“I do not know, DanielJackson. Perhaps it had something to do with the choices he made.”
“Yeah, I guess. We're going to be dealing with the Trust for a long time. I don't think they're simply going to disappear.”
“Nor do I. We will have to be vigilant. They have killed many Goa'uld, but also many Jaffa.”
“I know. I'm sorry, Teal'c.”
“As am I. If you'll excuse me, DanielJackson,” Teal'c said, nodding and walking out of the gate room.
Daniel returned the nod and looked back at the Stargate, still not sure why Jack seemed to have such a funny reaction to his comments.
~What'd I say?~
====
In an attempt to discover what had upset his lover, Daniel went to Jack's office. Peeking inside, he saw it was empty. He looked around and then noticed Sergeant Davis returning to his desk.
“Sergeant, have you seen Jack?”
Davis looked up and answered, “He left, Sir.”
“Left?” Daniel asked in surprise. “When?”
“About two minutes ago,” the sergeant answered.
“Oh. I guess I'll talk to him ... tomorrow. Goodnight, Sergeant.”
“Goodnight, Doctor Jackson.”
====
“Jack?” Daniel called out as he entered his home. “Jack, where are you?” he shouted as he entered the living room. “Sulking somewhere, I'll bet. Wish I knew why,” he muttered to himself as he went to the study. He sighed deeply when he saw it was empty. “Jack, where the heck are you?”
Daniel went upstairs, but found no sign of his lover, either in the master bedroom or the den. He walked downstairs and checked outside.
“Bij? Katie? Where are you?” The archaeologist checked the roof deck, and finding it empty, returned to the living room. He looked in the drawer where the harnesses were kept for the beagles, and saw they were gone, along with their leashes. “Okay, so you came home and left with the girls: sulking, and taking them for cover.”
Daniel went upstairs and changed into his brown sweats. Then he went to the kitchen and prepared a meat loaf for dinner. Placing it in the oven, he checked his watch.
~Hmm. How long do I let you sulk by yourself?~ the young man pondered. **Jack? Jack, will you answer me?**
Daniel growled. He didn't really know if Jack could hear him or not. Their special silent communication was never a sure thing and was often tied to a combination of proximity and urgency. Odds were, Jack had taken the beagles to the park and was out of range. Still, he was getting more and more frustrated by the minute.
--
When the minutes became an hour, Daniel was shifting from frustration to anger.
“You could have left me a note, or you could call *now*.” Pacing the living room, Daniel rambled on. “Actually, you could at least tell me why you're angry, and it's definitely clear to me that you're angry about something.”
--
When the hour became two hours, his anger escalated.
“Stubborn fox. Ruined my meat loaf, and I was hungry, too. I should eat without him. Pizza! I should have pizza delivered and leave him just a single crumb.” Daniel picked up the phone, but then put it back down. He swore in Abydonian at Jack's behavior. **COME ON, JACK. AREN'T YOU THE ONE ALWAYS TELLING ME TO TALK WHEN I'M UPSET?** He listened, but didn't receive a response. ~He is *so* sleeping alone tonight.~
Daniel was headed for the kitchen to salvage the meat loaf for another time when the phone rang. It was a wrong number, but it was enough to distract the archaeologist from his task.
~Wrong number. Yeah, that's what I've got right now. He'd better get home soon.~
--
When two hours became three, Daniel realized he'd forgotten to turn the temperature down in the oven. His meat loaf wasn't just borderline edible anymore, it was now singed. Disgusted with himself for being distracted, and with Jack for creating the entire mess in the first place, he tossed the meat loaf into the trash
Mixed with his anger was a touch of concern as he started to imagine all sorts of gruesome scenarios that might have befallen his family. Still, he just knew Jack was out there, stewing over something.
~I can't believe he's doing this. I just can't believe it. Well, fine. He wants to stew, he can stew! I just wish I knew why. No! I don't care why. If he wants to act like a child, he can. Gawd, he better not be hurt somewhere, or I'll ... I'll kill him.~
Daniel had had enough of waiting. It was dark and cold out, and he wanted the beagles home now, not to mention his lover, sulking or not.
**Okay, O'Neill. You want a fight? You've got one. GET YOUR BUTT HOME NOW!**
Daniel checked the dogs' house and supplies. They had an automatic feeder for both food and water. Seeing they were both well-stocked and working, he walked inside and stood by the patio door. He tapped the floor with his foot, and stood rigidly, his arms folded.
**MOVE IT, O'NEILL!** Daniel knew Jack was out there, listening. He felt their connection now. Four minutes later, he heard the door open. “Bijou, Katie, come,” he ordered.
Jack released the dogs from the leashes, and they ran to Daniel. He knelt down to greet them, removing their harnesses.
“Okay, Girls, I'm sure you're hungry. You go outside and eat. Love you,” Daniel said as he opened the door, letting the two dogs out.
Jack stood near the stairs. He still hadn't said a word. He watched as Daniel closed the blinds.
“Why are you closing the blinds, Daniel? It's still light out.”
The younger man answered, “Because we're about to fight, and Bij and Katie don't need to see us. You know how upset they get when we argue.”
Turning around to face Jack, Daniel returned to his rigid stance, once again crossing his arms across his chest.
“Daniel ...”
“No, Jack. No excuses. I want you to tell me what in Netu has you all upset ... this time!”
“You.”
“Jack, we're not doing one of those one-word things where it takes me an hour to find out what's wrong. Now, I've had a long day, a very long day, and I know you have, too, but you walked out of the gate room and disappeared without saying a word.”
“I didn't disappear. I came home,” Jack corrected quietly.
“Without telling me?”
“What do you want me to do, Daniel, treat you like a time clock and punch in and out when I go somewhere?” Jack asked sarcastically as he walked over to the fish tank and stared at the colorful creatures.
“That's about the lamest thing you've said in a long time, Jack.”
“Well, excuse me, for being lame,” the older man replied without looking at his husband
“Okay, stop,” Daniel said, walking over to Jack and forcing his lover to look at him. “Answer my question.”
“What question? Last I heard you were lecturing,” Jack responded.
“I was not lecturing you. You disappeared, Jack. I got home, and you were gone, *and* you took the girls.”
“Is that a crime? They wanted to go for a walk,” Jack claimed, walking away from Daniel and heading for the television, picking up the remote control.
“FOR THREE HOURS?” Daniel shouted, hurriedly taking the electrical device from his lover's hands and putting it back onto the TV.
“They're healthy, active dogs. They like to walk.”
“They haven't even had their dinner yet. A walk is thirty minutes, maybe an hour if you take them to the park. Three hours, General, is abuse!” Daniel spoke pointedly.
“Abuse?” Jack questioned, becoming irate at Daniel's accusation. As the veins in his neck bulged, he blared, “I DID NOT ABUSE OUR GIRLS. I WOULD *NEVER* DO THAT, AND, YOU,” he extended his arm, pointing a finger at his spouse, “FRIGGIN' WELL KNOW IT!”
Daniel backed down a little, Jack's rage at his comment hitting home, and apologized, “Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm angry, Jack, okay? I made us a tasty meat loaf and had to toss it, and I was worried. I know you wouldn't hurt the girls. You couldn't. I'm sorry.”
“Sorry doesn't cut it, Daniel! I can't believe you'd accuse me of something like that,” Jack said as he turned and walked towards the counter that separated the living room from the dining nook and kitchen area. ~I can't look at you, Danny. How could you think that I'd hurt the girls?~
Daniel sighed, “Jack, I didn't think ...”
“THAT'S RIGHT!” Jack shouted, moving away from the counter. “YOU DIDN'T THINK ... AGAIN!” He kicked the side of the sofa in anger. Glaring harshly at Daniel, he sarcastically suggested, “Why don't you do us both a favor and try engaging that supposed genius brain of yours before you set your mouth in motion, which, by the way, is something you seem to be failing to do an awful lot lately.”
“And what's that supposed to mean?”
“Figure it out. You're the one with all the answers. I'm just Jack O'Neill. Didn't you know I'm incapable of making informed decisions of my own? Oh, I'm sorry, of course you know.” Jack laughed nastily. “Genius,” he said mockingly as he ran his right hand down the side of his head.
“Jack, you've headed into the Twilight Zone again. You're not making any sense. What is this sulking session all about? And don't tell me nothing, because I swear, if you do I'll ...” Daniel began, his words cut off by his infuriated soulmate.
“You'll what? Sit me down in a chair and explain to me exactly where I went wrong, or how I should have handled what was bothering me? Oh, I forgot. You're Doctor Daniel Jackson: you know everything. Well, you're an archaeologist, Daniel, not a psychiatrist. STOP TRYING TO GET INSIDE MY HEAD!”
“WELL, THÉRE SURE SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF ROOM IN THERE, AS IN IT'S EMPTY, JACK!” Daniel challenged angrily.
“Oh, here we go again. I bow before your superior intellect and wisdom, Daniel. Can I leave the room now, Mom?”
“No!” Daniel groaned, pacing the room for a minute. He took a deep breath and turned towards his lover. “Jack, I'm sorry if I'm upsetting you even more. Gawd, we're saying things now that don't even make sense. We're fighting just to ... hurt, and I don't want to do that. I'm worried about you, and I don't know what's going on.”
Jack stared in silence, angry, frustrated, hurt, and tired, more from his emotional state than from anything else.
Daniel sighed, “You know me. When I worry, sometimes I get defensive.” He sat for a moment at the side of the sofa, staring down at the carpet with his hands clasped together tightly. Then he looked up at Jack. “You're right about what I said about the girls. It was out of line, and sometimes apologies don't ... cut it, but it's all I have to give. I was wrong, and I'm sorry.”
~Geez, look at those blue eyes.~ Jack flinched a little at the sincerity he was witnessing. He wasn't prepared for the apology, and it disarmed him. He nodded and said softly, “Okay.”
“Now, tell me what has you upset.”
“I told you, Daniel. You.”
“Okay, fine. What about me?” the younger man asked.
His calm gone again, Jack threw his hands up in the air and shook his head back and forth rapidly as he spoke, “I just don't believe you, that you could say such a STUPID AND IDIOTIC thing to me, especially today. HOW COULD YOU DO THAT, DANIEL?”
“What did I say?” Daniel asked, standing up again.
Jack was breathing hard, his anger boiling beneath the surface as he responded, “I can't believe you are going to stand there and act like you don't know.”
“I DON'T KNOW!” the younger man shouted.
“Think, Daniel. That's your specialty, isn't it ... thinking?”
What Daniel was thinking at the moment was that he was tired of being called 'Daniel' by his husband. It was never a good sign when it happened back to back to back to back like it was now.
“Jack, you aren't helping by making me play twenty questions,” Daniel advised frustratingly.
Jack sneered, “I'm surprised you think I can count to twenty.”
“Jack!”
“Fine. I'll play this little game with you, if it makes you happy. Why don't you start by replaying that dandy conversation we had in the gate room before I left. Come on, you've got a great memory. Tell me the conversation.”
Daniel rolled his eyes and sighed at the challenge, saying, “Well, Sam told you the Gate was operational, and we could resume missions, and I said something about the bad news being that the Trust now has a fully functional al'kesh.”
Daniel stared at Jack who didn't blink, but said, “And?”
“Um, gawd, Sam said something about jamming devices, or something, to prevent the Gate from being taken again. I think that's when Teal'c asked about the poison the Tok'ra had created. Sam told him that the Trust still had enough to destroy, um, I think it was a half-dozen Goa'uld worlds. That was about it.”
“NO, IT SURE THE BLAZES WASN'T ALL!” Daniel stood with a questioning look on his face. “Tell me what you said next, Daniel?”
“I don't remember.”
“OH, YES, YOU DO,” Jack yelled, determined not to make this easy on his husband.
“No, I don't.”
“Well, then, let me refresh your memory, Doctor Jackson,” Jack said, moving forward and not stopping until he was just inches from Daniel. The two were both staring into each other's eyes, anger clearly visible in both. “You said, and I quote, 'In retrospect, maybe you should have destroyed the ship when you had the chance.' Remember now?”
“And maybe you should have,” Daniel supposed.
“OH, FOR,” Jack turned and walked furiously to the sofa, picking up a cushion and slamming it down onto the carpet. “I do *not* believe you can stand there and say that to me again.”
“Why? It's the truth,” Daniel answered. “The poison is still out there. Millions died, Jack, and they have the al'kesh. The Trust is growing. We have to defeat them almost as much as we have to defeat the Goa'uld. They can't keep destroying life in the name of protecting our world.”
“So you would rather I blew the blasted ship up?”
“I ... didn't say that.”
“YES, YOU FRIGGIN' DID. TWICE NOW!”
“Jack, what is wrong with you?” a totally confused Daniel questioned.
“YOU WERE ON THAT FRIGGIN' SHIP, DANNY. YOU, MY HUSBAND, AND YOU STAND THERE AND TELL ME TO BLOW IT UP ... AGAIN!”
“Again,” Daniel echoed, a light bulb going off in his head.
Jack saw it. It was as if the sun had risen and let in a light of clarity for the younger man.
“Again, Danny. I did it once, and if it hadn't been for a miracle, you would have died.”
“Jack ...”
“No, it's your turn to listen,” Jack interrupted. “I know we put it behind us, but you disobeyed my orders and went up to that alien ship, knowing, *knowing*, Daniel, what I was going to have to do: choose ... between you and an entire civilization. Geez, Daniel, do you have any idea how hard that was?”
“Jack, it was a long time ago. You did what you thought was right, and I was never angry with you for that.”
“YOU DON'T GET IT, DANIEL,” the older man grunted as he clenched his fists together.
“Get what? Jack, this is different.”
“How? Tell me how this is different. You can't, because it wasn't.”
Jack turned, walked into the kitchen, and got a beer. With the door still open, he took two drinks from it, hoping it would help, but it didn't.
“I can understand how it might seem ... the same, but ...” Dainiel began, having followed his soulmate, so that the two of them were within two feet of each other, Jack still standing in front of the open refrigerator.
“Daniel, with the Enkarans, I stood there and let Carter and Teal'c goad me into pressing that f-ing button. My life ended in that moment. Do you understand that?”
“Jack ...”
“SHUT UP, AND LISTEN TO ME!” the general commanded.
Daniel blinked several times. He couldn't remember Jack ever telling him to shut up after the incident on Euronda, and hearing it now made the archaeologist fully aware of just how angry his husband was. Daniel said nothing and waited for Jack to continue.
“I, not you with your moralistic high ground, but *ME*, pushed that button, and here we are, deja vu time. Instead of Carter and Teal'c, I've got Pendergast yelling at me for the entire SGC to hear. 'I recommend we open fire immediately,' he says. 'General, *please* advise,' he says. And it got worse. 'General, I recommend we proceed *now*.' 'General, we're running out of time.' 'General, what are your orders?' And the ever popular, 'General, I need to know what you want me to do.' You know what I wanted him to do? Find a way to get you home, and I wanted him to shut the heck up. *That's* what I wanted him to do.”
Jack put the beer back and slammed the refrigerator door shut. The sound of bottles falling over inside could be heard from the hardness of the door closure. He stared at the appliance and then took a giant breath. He brushed by Daniel, returning to the living room, where he paced for a minute or so, finally stopping at the mantle.
As he stared at one of the photos of the couple, Jack said softly, “I couldn't do it again. I just stood there, told him to wait. I was waiting, waiting for you get out of there. You shouldn't have been there in the first place.” He snorted, shaking his head at the same time. “I didn't even give you permission to go.” He turned his head to face Daniel. “You know that, don't you? I did *not* give you permission to go. You just went.”
Jack closed the gap between him and his lover. He had softened for a second as he remembered the nightmare, but now he was full of rage again.
“I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU, DOCTOR JACKSON. IT MAY COME AS SOME KIND OF INCREDIBLE SHOCK, BUT *I* AM IN CHARGE OF THE SGC, NOT YOU! I'M THE ONE WITH THE STARS ON MY UNIFORM, NOT YOU. *I* AM THE ONE WHO SAYS WHO GOES AND WHO DOESN'T, NOT YOU! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? DO YOU?”
Jack barked his question as if he was talking to a new recruit who had messed up big time.
Saying nothing, Daniel just stared, stunned by the rage that was spewing from his lover.
“See you soon,” Jack mocked, turning away from Daniel and walking back towards the fireplace.
“What?” Daniel questioned.
“That's what you said. Geez, I'm not big on command structure. I don't really care about it, but you ignored me in front of Siler and Davis, and I don't know whom else. I don't care about that, not really,” Jack said, again speaking softly. “'See you soon'. I almost didn't see you again at all. 'See you soon'. Geez,” Jack lamented, bowing his head.
“Are you done?” Daniel asked, licking his lips for a moment.
“What?” Jack said, turning around to face his husband again.
Daniel walked several steps towards Jack and repeated his question -- “Are you done?”
“I love you, Danny. Don't *ever* tell me to kill you. I won't do it. I can't do it, and I can't hear you asking me to. Don't ...” Jack was again trying to control his emotions. “Please don't ever say something like that to me again, especially, *especially*, not so nonchalantly like talking about swatting a fly. You didn't even realize what you said, did you?”
“No, I didn't,” Daniel admitted softly, walking another few steps forward. “Jack, I'm sorry. I should have waited for you to say it was okay.”
Jack shook his head, and replied, “That wasn't the point. It's just ...”
“Cover,” Daniel said calmly.
Jack nodded his affirmation. He couldn't care less that Daniel had acted independently, except that his action placed his life in jeopardy, and the idea itself had been on the edge of sanity.
Daniel continued, “It was our only option, Jack. You know that.”
“We didn't even say good-bye,” Jack croaked out, trying to hide the mistiness in his eyes.
“Gawd, we argued. Oh, Jack, I'm sorry,” Daniel said closing the distance so that he could bring his lover into his arms, which he did. “I am so, so sorry. I was trying to convince you that it was the right thing to do. We didn't have a lot of time.”
“You kept moving, getting things ready. I was like a little kid, following you, and then you just left. 'See you soon' you said, and you were gone. That's what I would have remembered.”
“Jack, gawd.” Daniel held Jack as close as he could. The palm of his right hand both massaged the back of Jack's head and held the older man to him. His other hand rubbed his lover's back, pressing Jack to Daniel. “I'm so very sorry,” he repeated, suddenly very aware that he and Jack hadn't even taken thirty seconds for a silent 'I love you' as he had prepared to leave. “I love you, Jack. Love you so much. I was wrong. I'm sorry.”
Jack buried his face in Daniel's shoulder. He said nothing, but continued to let the younger man comfort him.
Daniel sighed, then placed several kisses along Jack's neck and cheek and said, Sorry, so sorry. You were right about what I said in the gate room, too. Sometimes, I'm so closed off in there. That freakin' game we play. I have to distance myself so much from you, from us. I'm not excusing it. I think it was a ... it was a cold thing for me to have said.”
“Danny, you know what it's like. I know you know.”
“I do,” Daniel responded.
Both men had streams of tears running down their faces, and now, Daniel's increased as he recalled the time when Jack had ordered him to blow up the submarine he was in. It had been an attempt to destroy the Replicators, and the price would have been costly -- both Jack and Teal'c. Having had no other option, Daniel, too, had symbolically pressed the button, giving the order that resulted in the destruction of the submarine. Fortunately, the Asgard had come to rescue, beaming up both men just in the nick of time.
Daniel sighed again, “I do know how you feel, Babe. I really do.”
“Then why do you continue to push me that way? If you know me at all, you know that you are my life, and that my instinct is to protect you, not to endanger you. I understand that I can't wrap you in cotton wool; that you have a job to do, but, Angel, game or no game, you have to think more before you speak. When you get wrapped up in the welfare of the world, or just in rocks, the words just come spewing out of your mouth, and sometimes ... sometimes ...”
“Sometimes it hurts,” the younger man completed for the older.
“A lot,” Jack acknowledged. “It wasn't a tough choice, Danny. I would never give the order, not again. It's not in me. It wasn't a tough choice at all because, Angel, there was no choice to be made, not from where I stood.”
Daniel's fingers walked through his lover's hair, and then he pulled back to see Jack's eyes. His right hand lowered to Jack's face, his fingers and thumbs rubbing away the moisture.
“So sorry,” he whispered as he touched Jack's lips with his. “Mmm,” escaped from his throat, and then more moans from both as their tongues eagerly explored the others mouth.
“Love you, Danny.”
“Love you, Jack,” Daniel said, pushing them both downward to the floor.
Their passion exploded, both needing to reconnect with a desperation that made nothing else in the world matter. Their minds raced with just one thing: the tremendous urge to be inside the other, to remind the other just how much they were needed.
It was a ferocious union of their bodies, each taking their turn as the night passed driving and pounding inside the other, eliciting pleasure that sent both to another plane of existence for minutes at a time.
When they were done, when they were both sure their nation of two was intact and whole, they settled together in their bathtub for a leisurely snuggle fest amid the soothing water and bubbles.
“Bubble baths. Gawd, I love them.”
“Not exactly the image a hardened general is supposed to have.”
“Hardened?” Daniel said, perking up.
The younger man was seated in front of Jack, between his legs. Jack was gently caressing Daniel's abdomen, and placing kiss after kiss on Daniel's back, shoulder, and neck.
“Insatiable archeologist. Aren't you tired yet?”
“Never *that* tired, Babe.”
“Ah, Danny,” Jack sighed, resting his chin on Daniel's shoulder.
“Jack, I love you.”
“I love you, too, Space Monkey.”
Daniel shifted slightly, turning his head so he could look at his spouse as he responded, “Always yours, Jack, and I promise, I'll try not to say things that ...”
The archaeologist sighed, turning his head back, and leaning it against his husband.
“I'm sorry I told you to shut up,” Jack spoke.
“That's when I knew we were really fighting.”
“You didn't know before then?” Jack asked with a small chuckle.
Daniel chuckled lightly, “Well, you know us. Arguing is part of who we are, and we do it on so many different levels. I didn't realize how deep this one went until then.”
“Danny, I'm sorry I took the girls, but there was a reason for it.”
“Which was what?”
“I didn't want you to worry. I was furious. I was so angry I thought I might explode. I needed time to process, and I just wanted to be alone for awhile. I started to take a walk, to just leave the truck, but I wasn't sure that would be enough.”
“So you took the girls so I'd know ...” Daniel stopped and turned completely around so that he was straddling his husband. Some of the water overflowed the tub. He cupped Jack's face as their eyes connected. “You took the girls so I'd know you were coming back.”
Jack nodded, swallowing hard as he did so, and confirmed, “I had to be sure you'd know, and it was the only thing I could think of. We walked around for a while, but then I took them to the park. They ran a little, and then we just sat. I didn't want you to worry about that, about me not coming back, because I was coming back. I'll always come back, Danny.”
“Oh, gawd, I love you,” Daniel said, diving in for another helping of Jack kisses. “Thank you,” he gasped in between their tasting of the other.
Daniel knew Jack was right. If Jack's truck had been gone, even if the older man had left him a note, he would have imagined the worst. In doing what he had, it was only Daniel's anger that flared, not his fear of losing Jack or of Jack leaving him. Not for one moment had he even considered the possibility, and he knew it was because Jack had taken Bijou and Katie with him.
The lovers let their desire rule them, making love again in the calming water of their bubble bath. They had so much love to give, and nothing would ever interfere with that. Secure in their forever, the lovers gave their bodies the freedom to ravish and devour.
====
The next day, Jack did something he hadn't done in quite a while.
“Davis, I'm calling in sick,” Jack spoke into the cordless phone.
“But, General, you're schedule is full for the day,” the sergeant informed as he looked at the calendar.
“I don't friggin' care. Tell Carter to handle any issues that come up with the Gate. Tell any of the Brass that unless we're declaring war that this general isn't available until tomorrow. No, make that the day after tomorrow. Walter, do you have the Fourth off?”
“Me? Ah, no, Sir, I don't.”
“You do now. Leave me the paperwork on my desk, and have ... well, you pick on someone, and enjoy independence,” Jack quipped.
“Thank you, General, but there is one thing you should know about. Doctor Lee has created some new ...”
“Walter, I don't want to hear it.” Jack grinned as an idea occurred to him. “Tell Teal'c to take care of Doctor Lee.”
“Yes, General. Ah, Sir, another ...”
“Goodbye, Walter,” Jack said as he pressed the appropriate button and put the phone down onto the nightstand.
Daniel smiled as he rested on Jack's chest in the comfort of their bed and sighed contently, “This really wasn't the best day to do this.”
“I don't care. We need it, and besides, if there's a real end-of-the-world crisis, they'll call,” Jack said.
“You're right.” Daniel looked up and chuckled. “You've been right a lot lately.”
“It can happen,” Jack teased.
“General O'Neill?”
“Yes, Doctor Jackson.”
Daniel smirked, “Without regret, I have to inform you that I'm not going to work today, or tomorrow. I have ... needs.”
Jack grinned and asked, “Anything I can do?”
“Definitely. Uh, you know that *hardened* general you mentioned before?” Daniel asked. Seeing his lover laugh, he stated, “I need him.”
“Love you, Angel,” Jack said, just before attending to Daniel's needs.
“Love you, too, forever and always.”
“Forever and always,” Jack echoed in the throes of passion, a passion that was greater than anything else in the universe, not just for Jack, but for Daniel, too.
Once again, life in Colorado Springs was oh-so-good for the happily married Jackson-O'Neills.
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