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“I love you.”
Daniel’s hand froze as he was about to draw the tail of an a. From above his glasses, he looked at Jack, who was seated on the floor, leaning against the opposite wall.
“Come again?”
“I love you,” the colonel repeated as he raised a knee and rested an arm on it.
The archaeologist turned his head to the right and left, glancing over his shoulders, totally bewildered.
“What are you looking for?” Jack laughed.
“Uh, I don’t know,” the younger man frowned. “The receiver end of your statement? Sam, maybe?”
“Why would I say that to Carter?” The colonel replied, dumbfounded. “I don’t love her. Well, I do, but you know what I mean.”
“Uh… no?” Daniel raised his eyebrows, his face the picture of confusion.
“I care about her, and about Teal’c, too, of course, but it’s different with you.”
“As in…”
“I love you.”
“As in…”
“I'm in love with you.”
“Is this a joke or something?” The crease on Daniel’s brow deepened. “Because you should know this isn’t funny.”
“Do you really think I would joke about something like that?” The colonel made a face.
“I don’t know.” The archaeologist adjusted his glasses. “Would you?”
“Daniel!”
“What?” The younger man abandoned his pen and notebook on the floor, the Goa’uld writings on the walls forgotten. “What do you want me to think? You’re supposed to be old-badass-straight-as-an-arrow Colonel Jack O'Neill, and now, all of a sudden, you say you’re in love with a man? I mean, come on!” He threw a hand. “You go around sharing your fantasies about Mary Steenburgen!”
“I can't go around sharing my fantasies about Harrison Ford,” Jack shrugged.
Daniel stared at him, open-mouthed.
“What? You… you have fantasies about Harrison Ford?”
“Uh, no. Actually, that part was a joke.”
“Jack!”
“And for the record, I didn’t say any man. I said you,” the colonel pointed out. “But don’t worry. I'm not asking for anything. I just… well, it was, uh… way too close again and I, uh… I wanted, uh… I wanted you to know in case next time, well…”
A veil of sorrow covered Jack’s eyes, and Daniel knew he was being honest. The archaeologist’s heartbeat rocketed.
“Oh my God, you’re serious.”
“As a heart attack.”
“I… I had no idea.” The archaeologist blinked repeatedly.
“Yeah, well, neither did I,” the gray-haired sighed. It hit me a few days ago when I found you on the wrong side of your balcony.”
“I'm sorry, balcony?” Daniel cocked his head.
“You don’t remember?”
“What?”
“You, uh… shit, Danny…” Jack ran his fingers through his hair. “Barber wasn’t the only one who went suicidal after his exposure to the light.”
Daniel’s face contorted in shock.
“I… I tried to commit suicide?”
“You were late for work and didn’t answer the phone,” Jack explained, his gut clenching at the memory. “I went to your apartment, and I found you… you… you were about to jump.”
The archaeologist squinted his eyes as he tried to remember.
“I… I recall yelling at General Hammond and leaving his office,” he said, “but nothing else until I woke up here. I assumed I had passed out shortly after that.”
“When I saw you there, I… God, Danny, I've only been that scared once in my life, when Charlie…” Jack’s lower lip quivered and his face scrunched in pain. “At that moment, all I wanted was to hold you, not precisely in a fatherly way, and take all the pain away. And I knew,” he smiled softly. “And everything made sense, you know? All those times I got mad at you when you put your life at stake or when you gave your attention to someone else, it was because I was terrified of losing you because, without you, my life makes no sense.”
“Wow, this is, uh… wow.” Daniel shook his head, still not daring to believe.
“Yeah.” Jack took a deep breath. “Thank God I could reach you before you performed a swan dive, but then you passed out on my truck on our way to the base, and later, your heart stopped in the gateroom, and I panicked. But letting you die wasn’t an option, so I hoisted you on my shoulders and carried your lifeless body through the Stargate. My legs were shaking so hard that it was a miracle I made it. Actually, I was so terrified that it didn’t even occur to me to perform CPR.”
“Hey, hey, for what you say, you saved my life not only once, but twice.” Daniel crawled toward the older man and sat on his knees a few feet closer.
“Consider it an act of selfishness,” Jack said earnestly. “I can no longer function without you.”
Daniel noticed his cheeks warming with a blush, and he bowed his head in embarrassment.
“I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” Jack said with a hint of fear in his voice. “I just thought that it was fair for you to know and I… shit, I'm an idiot!” He scrubbed his face furiously. “Jesus, what was I thinking? Of course you feel uncomfortable! We work together!”
The colonel stood up abruptly and started to pace across the room.
“Jack…” Daniel tried to stop him.
“Oh, fuck!” The colonel halted and looked at him in horror, his face suddenly very pale. "You won’t leave, will you? Oh, shit! Of course you will! You'll transfer to another team and… no, no way!” He exclaimed before resuming the pacing.
“Jack…”
“You’re way too important to the program! The Stargate is your life! You belong to SG-1! I'll retire! Yeah, I'll retire and you won’t have to put up with me anymore!”
“Jack…”
“I'll talk… I'll talk to Hammond as soon as we come back and…”
“Jack!”
“What?!” The older man finally stopped.
“There’s a small flaw in your plan, you know?” Daniel stood up and took a step towards his friend.
“Flaw? What… what fl-flaw?” Jack stammered.
“You failed to consider a possibility.” Another step.
“What possibility?”
And another.
“That I might love you, too.”
“What? You… you do?” The colonel blinked, stunned.
“Yes, Jack, I do.” The corners of Daniel’s lips curved upward.
“You… you love me?” Jack didn’t dare to believe his ears.
“I love you.”
The older man's heart began to race. He turned his head to the right and left, glancing over his shoulders.
“What are you looking for?” Daniel laughed.
“There’s no one else here.”
“Of course not, you idiot." The archaeologist rolled his eyes. “I love you.”
“Wow, I… wow, I…I had no idea,” Jack whispered, completely flabbergasted.
“Well, in my case, I figured it out a while ago,” the younger man confessed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” the colonel stared at him, still not trusting his words completely.
“Old badass straight-as-an-arrow Colonel Jack O'Neill, remember?” Daniel bit his lower lip.
“You know, for an anthropologist, you’re an awful judge of character,” Jack observed.
“Maybe,” the scientist shrugged, “but there’s something I'm really good at.”
“Which is?” Jack swallowed.
Daniel stepped closer until the tips of their boots touched.
“Kissing,” he whispered huskily.
And with that, he closed the gap between them, and their mouths joined in a first chaste kiss. Daniel leaned back slightly to meet Jack's gaze, ensuring he could see his eyes. They were shining with desire as much as the archaeologist’s blue pools. Daniel licked his lips and the next thing Jack knew was that he was floating in heaven. The passion the archaeologist poured on the kiss was like nothing the colonel had experienced before. Daniel’s tongue met his partner’s, and they engaged in a frantic dance. Jesus Christ! Daniel hadn’t lied. He was a hell of a kisser! Not that it surprised Jack. The archaeologist poured his soul into everything he did. Needless to say, the colonel surrendered to the program with enthusiasm. Jack's hands moved to Daniel’s smooth, long neck. The younger man entwined his fingers with the colonel’s silver strands and deepened the kiss even more. His hearts swelled, and with them, other parts of their anatomy. Oh, yes, it felt so, so good, and so right… Both men felt as though they could continue kissing forever. However…
“Sir!”
Sam's voice startled them, and they pulled away. They heard the major's footsteps in the hallway as she approached the room. Jack growled in frustration, headed to the door, and waved at her.
“In here!”
He stepped aside and let her in.
“Oh, Daniel, I'm glad you’re here, too,” she greeted his friend. “Janet made contact through the Stargate,” she informed the duo. “The last blood tests came up clean! We can go back home!”
“Really?” Jack raised his eyebrows. “Oh, well, that’s good news, right Daniel?”
“Oh, yes, absolutely,” the archaeologist grinned innocently.
“You, uh… you go help Loran pack.” Jack told Sam as he pointed at the door. “I'll help Daniel pick his stuff and we'll be there in a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted and left.
Once her footsteps faded, the colonel stood before Daniel and gently cupped his jaw.
“Tell me that wasn’t an incidental kiss.”
“Are you kidding?” The archaeologist’s eyes were shining in a mixture of joy and hope. “I've been dreaming about this for one year!”
“One… year?”
“Yeah, it hit me when Hammond declared you MIA on Edora.” The memory shaded Daniel's blue eyes. “The idea of not seeing you again…
“Jesus,” Jack gasped. “The way I treat you after you rescued me!”
The colonel’s mind reeled as he recalled the undercover operation to capture Meybourne’s goons, plus the harsh treatment he had given Daniel in Euronda, or during the situation with the Enkarans, or when Osiris possessed Sarah Gardner.
Daniel bowed his head and looked at the older man from beneath his lashes.
“Yeah, I thought that maybe you knew, that I had given myself away accidentally.”
“No, I think it was me.” Jack shook his head. “I mean, I think it hit me while I was stranded on Edora, too. I just… I couldn’t admit it to myself. Shit, I can’t blame you for thinking I was joking before.”
“Hey, it’s ok,” Daniel smiled softly. “That belongs to the past. I don’t want to base this relationship on regrets. Only the present and the future matter.”
“Relationship.” Jack’s face lit up. “So, you’re in? As in… you know, in?”
“If you really think we can make it work…” Daniel frowned in concern. “I mean, our job, the military…
“Hey, I'm an expert in black ops, remember?” the colonel grinned.
And his chocolate eyes radiated so much love that Daniel knew that, despite the difficulties, everything would be alright.
“God, I love you,” the archaeologist said with emotion.
“I love you, too, baby. Let’s go home.”
The end