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May 18, 2005
Beta’d by Allexandrya
Robert Rothman looked at his long time friend Daniel Jackson and just had to ask the question that had bothered him for the past few months. “SO tell me the real reason why Colonel O’Neill hates me and seems to really like you so much?’ He sneezed and blew his nose.
“Guzentheit,” Daniel offered.
“Dunkashein,” Rothman replied. ”Answer the question.”
Daniel Jackson shrugged. “I guess we’re friends.”
“Oh, come on, Daniel. WE are friends. You and O’Neill? That is SO much more.” Rothman rolled his eyes.
“Okay, fine, good friends.” Daniel retorted.
“Oi vey. Daniel, let’s get real, shall we? O’Neill touches you once an hour, at least. He was your housemate for a time. And he has publicly hugged you!”
“Best friends?” Daniel shrugged, focusing on another artifact. Rothman exhaled loudly, and shifted in the chair in front of Daniel’s desk.
“Okay, Daniel. How many times have the two of you slept together in a tent, sleeping bag or whatever?” Rothman waved a hand about in the air.
“Um, I don’t know, but that’s part of going off-world and the military. Sometimes you have to share.”
“Boi shamoi. Daniel, if you were to ask me how many times I’ve had to share sleeping quarters with anyone off-world the answer would be NONE.”
“Really?” Daniel looked a little surprised.
“Yes, oh innocent one, really. What does this tell you? Hmmm?” Rothman nudged. Daniel seemed to flounder for a moment then looked at ease.
“Jack is very protective, it’s in his nature. Jack seems to think I can’t be left alone. It’s probably left over displaced guilt from the death of his son and meeting me for the first time. The events were very close in time and my proximity to the man on missions probably created his protective side. “
Rothman’s eyes went wide in disbelief. “Okay then, did O’Neill ever share sleeping quarters with Teal’c or Major Carter?”
“Not that I ever recall actually. BUT,” Daniel held up a finger for emphasis,” we have gone on separate missions so he might have then.”
“Okay, forget it. Say, do you remember Sarah from school? It’s a shame you two broke up. You two were pretty hot there for awhile.”
“Uh, yeah, I suppose.”
“You never told me how you two got together.”
“She asked me out, end of story.”
“No way, really?”
“Really, I was so surprised…I just well, nodded without even thinking it through. But there was no way it would have worked out between us.”
“I can’t believe you were surprised! Didn’t you notice the way she acted around you?”
“What way?” Daniel asked.
“Daniel, Daniel, Daniel…the looks, the touching, or how about the way she’d just show up all the time?”
“Well, I guess I never thought about it much. But now that you mention, it she was always borrowing my things without bringing them back. I lost my favorite jean jacket to her that way.”
“Hey boys, chess club meeting?” Jack smiled peeking in Daniel’s office doorway.
“Hello, Colonel O’Neill.”
“Rothman, Daniel.”
“Is there something you wanted, Jack?” Daniel asked innocently.
Jacks’ face lit up in a wicked grin, and then his eyes shifted to Rothman. “No, um, just checking in. Say Daniel, mind if I borrow this?” Jack pointed to one of the music cd’s Daniel had sticking out of his pile on his desk.
“Jack! I haven’t gotten back the last you borrowed!” Daniel chided.
“Ah, c’mon Daniel. It’s not like you don’t know where I live right?” With a smile Daniel handed the CD over to Jack, who reached out for it and patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks, buddy boy.”
Daniel smiled watching Jack bounce happily out of his office then turned back to an open-mouthed Robert. “What?”
Rothman smacked his own forehead and repeated his earlier pronouncement,” Oi vey!”
~~~~~~~~
A clipboard with several pieces of paper firmly attached to it hit the table in front of Daniel as he sipped his coffee in his office the next morning. He jumped and then recovered pushing his glasses up his nose. “Robert, you almost made me spill my coffee!”
Rothman rolled his eyes. “Scandal! Look, my highly oblivious friend, I want to buy you a clue but will settle for this instead.”
“Robert?” Daniel had now given the dark-featured man his full attention.
“I have made you pass-sheets!”
“Pass-sheets?”
“Right! Okay here’s the deal. You remember our conversations yesterday about O’Neill and Sarah?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Okay, from that conversation I eliminated everything but the common denominators that we both agree constitute someone making a pass at you.” Daniel spluttered, grabbing the clipboard to look at the sheets. “This is an experiment, Daniel; just think of it that way.”
Daniel rolled his eyes.” Fine, if it will make you happy then just tell me what to do.”
“Ha! I knew you’d do it.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead often as Robert explained the pass-sheets and how Daniel was to pick a test group; including O’Neill and rate them. A check mark would be given for each;
1) touch
2) smile
3) borrowed item
4) unexpected visit
5) offer to go to their house
6) concern for health or well-being
7) silly names or nicknames
8) need to see him happy
9) something nice given
10) goes out of the way to do any of the above
“So are we clear, Daniel? One checkmark for each one, and we agree a perfect ten or more means someone is hitting on you?”
“Robert, this is crazy!”
“So humor me, eh? It won’t be the first time, right?”
“If anyone finds out about this…” Daniel growled
“Then I’ll…I’ll dust your entire room and categorize your artifacts for a MONTH. Come on, what’s a little top secret experiment on a military base?”
Daniel laughed,” Okay, fine, so who’s the test group?”
“Well, I don’t count so let’s say…Major Carter, Teal’c, O’Neill, Doc Fraiser…”
Before long Daniel had the name of each person written at the top of each page in Russian. He was very happy Robert had made the checklist in Greek, so no one could read it. Rothman smiled, rubbing his hands together. Daniel wondered if his friend had finally lost his last shred of sanity.
####
Daniel finally managed to chase Rothman from his office then sat down to do some translation work.
“Morning, rock boy,” Jack smiled coming into his office unannounced, as usual.
“Hi, Jack.”
Jack frowned. “Didn’t you sleep last night, Daniel? You look like something’s bothering you.”
“Um, I’m fine, just a bit distracted.”
Jack snorted at this then grinned. “I gotcha something on my way in to put a smile on your mug.” Grinning further he pulled out a large Starbucks coffee cup out of a bag then scrunched the bag into a ball tossing tit into a can across the room. “YES! Two points!” Jack said with glee.
“WOW, Jack, thanks!”
“I bought a whole bag of the stuff to make at the house in case you ever wanted to drop by and visit sometime?”
“You may never get rid of me!” Daniel laughed, sniffing his coffee in near bliss.
Jack smiled, patted his arm, and then looked at his watch. “Whoa, sorry to cut this visit short, Dannyboy but I’ve got a meeting with George in ten. Don’t forget I borrowed this, too.” He grabbed a notebook and pencil off the desk. “See you later? Lunch maybe?” Daniel nodded and Jack left, whistling as he went.
“Hmm, he’s in a good mood.” Daniel muttered to himself. He shrugged then returned to his stack of work. His eyes caught sight of the clipboard from Robert. “Oh damn, the experiment!” Grabbing the board, he looked for Jack’s sheet. His blue eyes went wide as he proceeded to check off every single box on Jack’s sheet, until he had a perfect 10 score, plus actually since he’d set up a time to see him later. “Oi vey!”
Daniel made a beeline to find Rothman. “Hey, Daniel, what’s up?”
“The experiment, it’s wrong, faulty. I’m not sure how or why but it’s obviously flawed in some way. There’s no way that it could possibly be correct!”
Rothman laughed. “Let me guess and see if I’ve got this right. You already had a perfect score on a pass-sheet?”
“Yes, precisely! So you see it has to be erroneously conceived on what are stereotypical rituals which have now become commonplace!”
“Oh, Daniel, get real, O’Neill was the reason I went through all this to prove it to you.”
“How did you know that Jack was making passes at me?” Daniel whispered mindful of Jacks’ career and that they were on base.
Robert shook his head. “You have two doctorates and no common sense!” He threw his hands up in the air and walked away in disgust.
Daniel stood in the middle of the hall lost in thought. If Jack was making passes at him did that mean he wanted to have sex with him? Or was he looking for a relationship? What about Sha’re? Wasn’t Jack straight? What about their friendship? Would they still be able to work on the team together?
**
Jack rounded the corner and saw Daniel looking like a lost puppy. “Hey, Daniel, you okay? You look like someone just stole your best friend.” The younger man opened his mouth several times to speak then shut it audibly. “Wow, speechless, too. C’mon,” Jack grabbed Daniel by the arm leading him back to Daniels’ office. He sat Daniel down in the chair facing the desk and sat down on the edge of it. “So cat got your tongue? Or are we going to play twenty questions?” Daniel hung his head.
Daniel didn’t know what to say. Now that he knew Jack was attracted to him, he had to admit a certain attraction back. But he was married! Granted she was host to an alien life form but she was still alive out there somewhere. Didn’t that mean he was still married? He looked up at Jack then quickly back down, closing his eyes. Gawd, had Jack always been that good looking? Those brown eyes, that silver tipped hair and tall, yes tall. Oh gawd, how long had he been thinking this way about Jack? It seemed to be pouring out now.
“Okay, Daniel, I’ll let it go for now. But if you need someone to talk to you know how to find me, right?” Daniel nodded. After Jack left he put his face into the palms of his hands. “Oh gawd, what do I do? What do I say? What if I’m wrong?”
Jack stopped in his tracks a few steps away from Daniel’s door, upon hearing the mutterings. But as much as he wanted to go back into the office to try to help, it seemed Daniel couldn’t talk to him. Even though seeing Daniel usually made him happy, he was just the opposite now. He put his hands deep into his pockets, let his shoulders slump and trudged back to his office. He dug into his mountain of paperwork and kept to himself for the next few days.
In the meantime, Daniel was tearing himself apart. The dam that had burst on his feelings toward Jack had crumbled away. To make matters worse Jack was now hiding from him in the sanctuary of his office. Was he doing this because he thought Daniel had rejected him? Or was he hiding because he didn’t want to be friends anymore? Were they about to go into a military only 24/7 relationship? Daniel shuddered.
If he were really truthful with himself he wanted to be with Jack. His guilt over Sha’re might last the rest of his life. But his wife was long gone to the parasite within. It had taken a very short time for the Goa’uld to win over Major Kawalsky and he was military. Sha’re was a simple woman who would not have had the training to fight against such an intruder. Yes, duty would make him go after her and try to find her. But it was time to move on. Yet, when could he get to talk to Jack??
Jacks decision to lock himself up in his office was, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by Fraiser. She decided to invite a few base friends over while making sure to put both Jack and Daniel on the list along with anyone who would support them getting together while keeping their traps SHUT. So it was, a week later the usual gang was gathered at Janet’s. Jack had arrived early to help set up since he and Janet were friends. Janet wondered if it wasn’t to give grill advice. At least, she noted, Jack seemed to be in a decent mood. So maybe it was safe to approach the private man.
“So Jack, you’ve been kind of edgy lately.”
Jacks’ face fell. “Probably,” he stuck his hands into his pockets,” So what?” he answered defensively.
“Whoa, easy Jack. It’s just me, remember.”
Jack sighed. “Yeah, sorry, doc.”
“Look, it’s me, you can spill; doctor- patient confidentiality and all that.”
“Something is wrong with Daniel, and he doesn’t feel like he can talk to me about it. Do you think you could talk to him, doc? I mean, I thought we were best friends, but I guess I was wrong.”
Janet was about to correct him when the rest of the guests started to arrive. He grabbed her arm. “Will you?”
“I promise, Jack. “ The man seemed satisfied, and put on his game face. As Janet feared, he began to hover by the grill. So as soon as Dr. Jackson arrived she honed in on him, in order to save her food from being charcoal black a la Jack. She dragged him over to a secluded spot.
“Okay, Dr. Jackson, I have it on good authority that something is bothering you. Spill.” She put her hands on her hips, casting nervous glances toward the grill where Jack was starting to open up packages.
“Rothman made me do this test to see if anyone was making a pass at me I hadn’t noticed before. But it’s taken me all this week to realize I care about them too. I’ve just never been in a situation like this before. Janet, I don’t know what to do!”
“So how high did Jack score?” Janet grinned cheekily.
Daniel groaned. “Does everyone know but me?”
“Pretty much, look as a favor to me and everyone who has to eat off that grill can you please take him inside and talk to him? Please?” She looked toward the grill again where Jack was loading it up. Daniel chuckled and agreed. Janet walked him over to Jack. “Move over, Daniel needs you to help with something inside.”
Jack would have pouted except the idea of being alone in the house with Daniel was too enticing. He followed him eagerly. Rothman came up to Janet’s side. “Did Daniel finally admit to my test results?”
“Yes, he did. Can I ask how high Jack scored?” she laughed.
“Ten points, a full score,” Robert grinned and the two clinked beer bottles together looking toward the house.
**
“So, Daniel,” Jack asked when they’d settled on sitting in a back room of the house. Jack noticed gleefully that the video and gaming room had no windows. “What needs to be done?”
“We need to talk, Jack.” Daniel replied quietly, pacing back and forth for a few minutes running his hand through his hair before plopping down on the couch.
“Okay, glad to hear it. I could tell something’s been nagging at you and I hate to see you like this Danny.” Jack sat down next to Daniel on the couch.
“Jack, have you been making um, you know,” he waved his hand about in the air,” towards me?” Daniel asked nervously.
“Passes? Oh yeah, hundreds actually, why?” Jack asked calmly.
Daniel was surprised that Jack was acting so cavalier about it. “You aren’t surprised I noticed?”
“Well, yes, I am, considering how long it took you to notice!” Jack laughed. “Is this going to be a problem?”
“I, uh, um, I don’t know actually, Jack. I’ve never um…”
“Been with a guy, done the two backed beast, done the ball bop, gone up the dirt road?” Jack supplied.
“Oh, gawd. No, I mean, yes, I never…” Daniel stuttered.
“That’s okay. Hell, that’s what I had hoped. No problem, I’ll be more than happy to teach you, thrilled, in fact. That is, if you’re interested?”
Daniel wondered if he was blushing yet or not, but there was no doubt as to the smile on his face, “Are you asking me out, Jack?”
“Yes, I mean I understand that you are hoping to get Sha’re back and all. I’ll be more than happy to stand aside at that point. But face it, Daniel, she’s with him. She’s not herself and may never be. Yes, you can be ever faithful to a dream. But I’ve seen you around women, you just seem uncomfortable.”
Daniel nodded his head. Jack was right he never was really comfortable with women. He could understand them but more on a level of a big brother. Was he bi? He hated to define it like that. But Jack has always been someone he could be comfortable with. What if he waited the rest of his life for Sha’re and, like Kawalsky, she couldn’t be saved?
There was no way to honestly know for sure. And if there’s one thing he’d learned with the Stargate program, it was that life was precious, happiness rare and never to take life for granted. He looked up at Jack. His brown eyes were looking at him filled with love, then he smiled and Daniel felt the warm happiness he’d taken to be part and parcel of being around Jack.
“Yes, but can we go slow?” Daniel asked nervously.
“Yes! Yes? You mean it, Danny?” Jack was almost bouncing out of his seat.
“Um, yeah, but I mean you’re not just talking a one-night stand, are you? Because if that’s it, you can forget it, I won’t have you touting around, wherever, that you had your way.”
Jack laughed. “Not a chance. Now that I’ve got you I’m not letting you go.” He put his arms around Daniel bringing him in for a hug. Daniel sighed happily, snuggling into the taller man. He always loved Jack’s hugs, though he’d never admit to it.
Holding on tighter and nuzzling into Daniel’s neck he couldn’t recall the last time he’d been so happy.
“Jack, what about your career?”
“Simple, we’re careful. Trust me, there’s plenty of this going on. I know and George knows, but as long as it’s kept out of sight, conversations and behind closed doors, we’re A-OK.” He pulled away holding Daniel’s hands, “Speaking of which, we better find something to carry out there or people will talk.”
“I saw some folding chairs on my way inside. She could probably use a card table, too.” They both got up and sharing a smile walked back out to the party with chairs and a table in tow.
Janet called Jack over to serve out the grilled food. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, thanks for the set up Dr. Ruth,” he kissed her on the cheek before taking the food away.
On the other side of the yard Robert had cornered Daniel to ask him the same thing. “Well, it looks like I’ll be doing my own dusting.” Daniel said with a grin.
Ten Points Plus by Keikokin [ - ]
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