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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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2020-11-05
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Merlin’s Weapon

Summary:

Fandom: Numb3rs/SG-1
Rating: PG13/mild Slash/Incest
Pairing: Don Eppes/Charlie Eppes, SG-1 characters (mild hints of Jack O'Neill/Daniel Jackson, if you’re inclined to see them)
Length: 5250 words
Spoilers: Numb3rs: Nothing, really, but through 3.11 Killer Chat to be safe; Stargate SG-1: through 10.10 The Quest, Part I.
Summary: Don and Charlie are paid a visit by SG-1.
Notes: Incest; first-time kissing; crossover; complete and utter crack. Written for Numb3rs Flashfiction Challenge #30: Origin. After posting the challenge, I thought about it for a couple of days and nothing came to me. Even if it takes me two weeks or more to actually write a fic, it usually only takes a day or so for an idea to pop into my head. Not so with this prompt. I did the old, well, I guess I just won’t write anything this time, which you know is the *biggest jinx ever*! So I went to bed and the prompt ran through my head. Origin, origin, origin...! Blessed are the Ori, my mind went, and then it went, Merlin’s Weapon, and then it delved into Joss’ brain and stole an itsy bitsy idea, and thus crack was born. And it’s really less flash than, you know, crack. Enjoy. *g*
Feedback: Would be appreciated.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Written: January 18, 2007
Submitted through the SlashByTheNumb3rs_2 mailing list.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Merlin's Weapon
by Spikedluv

Two days after putting a serial murder-rapist behind bars, Don had stopped by CalSci to make sure that Charlie, who was having to deal more with the seedier side of humanity than with which Don was comfortable, was doing all right. He'd found Charlie staring out the window, Rubik's cube forgotten in his hand. After a round of both brothers insisting they were doing all right, Don had challenged Charlie to a game of darts to take their minds off the case.
Don was pulling his darts out of the board, arguing that Charlie had the scores wrong - ignoring his sputtered, *What? Wrong? Need I remind you that I'm a math professor?* - when they were interrupted by a strong female voice.

"Excuse me, Professor Charles Eppes?"

Don and Charlie both turned toward the sound. As soon as he saw the military uniform Don stepped forward, placing himself between Charlie and the two strangers who stood framed in the open doorway of his office. They didn't look dangerous, but Don wasn't taking any chances. The female wore the uniform; she had blonde hair and a serious expression. The man with her was apparently a civilian, based on the tan slacks and blue button-down. He had light brown hair cut short and wore glasses.

"Who's asking?" Don said.

"I'm Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and this is Dr. Daniel Jackson. Professor Eppes?"

Charlie stepped up beside Don, placed his hand on Don's arm. "I'm Professor Eppes. What can I do for the Air Force?"

Dr. Jackson stepped further into the room and held his hand out to Charlie. "Professor Eppes, we need your help."

Charlie had removed his hand from Don's arm so he could shake Jackson's. Don, not wanting to relinquish the contact, put his hand on Charlie's shoulder. Carter didn't miss the protective gesture, but Don didn't care. There was something about these people that raised his hackles. "Why does the military need a math professor?"

"I'm afraid that's confidential...," Colonel Carter said.

"Of course it is." Even though he was well aware of the need for confidentiality, Don still wasn't sure he liked the fact that Charlie had done work for the NSA, and that he didn't know what Charlie had done still niggled, though he'd never admit that to Charlie.

"...but I can tell you that it's an urgent matter of great importance."

"Isn't it always?"

"Don." Charlie gave him the look that said, 'I'm 30 years old and I can take care of myself.' Don didn't believe it for a second, but he just nodded and silently agreed to let Charlie handle it. For now.

"I'm sorry, Colonel Carter, Dr. Jackson, but I can't help you." Charlie was rubbing his hands together, a gesture that most people would take as nervousness, but which Don knew meant that he really *was* sorry, and part of him would have killed to know why the Air Force was asking for his help. "I'm in the middle of several projects and I can't take on any other commitments right now."

Don felt a rush of relief, despite Charlie's disappointment, but the look Carter shared with Jackson told Don they weren't going to give up that easily. Carter motioned to Jackson to take the lead.

"I think," Dr. Jackson said, "if you allow us to explain why we need your help, you'll agree that it's more important than anything else you're working on right now."

And that might have been the right tactic to use on Charlie, pique his interest beyond his ability to say 'no', if not for the case he'd just helped the FBI close. Instead, it only served to anger him, gave him an outlet for his frustration.

"More important than my life's work? More important than matters of national security? More important than taking a serial murder-rapist off the street?"

Charlie's face was flushed and he was breathing hard. Don slid his hand over Charlie's shoulder, curled his fingers around his neck, a reminder that he was there, that Charlie wasn't alone and he had Don's support.

After a moment of respectful silence as the last echo of Charlie's voice died, Colonel Carter said, "Yes, more important that all of that."

Charlie's voice was small and tired-sounding when he said, "What could be more important than that?"

Carter and Jackson shared another look during which they reached an agreement. Jackson took a deep breath and said, "The fate of every person on the face of the planet."

Charlie, who still had dark circles under his eyes from the last case, blanched. "The entire planet? You're exaggerating."

"I wish we were," Colonel Carter said.

"Will you at least let us explain?" Dr. Jackson asked again.

"Don?"

Charlie was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, but the thought that he was needed combined with the challenge he was being faced with, might be too much for him to resist despite the bad timing. But there was no way that Don was going to leave Charlie alone with these people. No matter how old Charlie was he'd always be Don's little brother. Besides, Don didn't trust them.

Don squeezed Charlie's neck. "It's all right, Charlie."

"I have to hear them out, Don." He sounded determined, no matter the fact that he hadn't yet fully recovered from ten hours sleep in three days.

"I know. But I'm not leaving you alone with them." The last was said to Carter and Jackson, who didn't seem the slightest bit surprised.

Colonel Carter confirmed his suspicion. "If you're Special Agent Don Eppes, then we were hoping to speak with you, as well. We'll need your help, also."

Don's stomach turned over. Something was very, very wrong here. Charlie was a math professor, a genius in his field, and he'd been asked to help the NSA as well as the FBI, so Don could see why the Air Force might need his help, but what could Don offer that a well-trained Air Force officer could not?

Before Don could ask any questions, Carter presented them with the confidentiality agreements they needed to sign. Don took his time reading them over before he signed, or allowed Charlie to sign. They were both tired and prone to missing something, and he didn't want to be trapped by the small print later.

While he was reading the agreement, he kept part of his attention on Carter and Jackson, who had pulled out a cell phone and made a call. They kept their voices low, but Don heard Colonel Carter ask, "Where are they?"

Jackson's confused, "He said something about frisbee?" was met with a snort and an irreverent, "Of course he did."

Don and Charlie handed the signed forms over and Carter made sure they'd both been signed in all the right places. When she was satisfied, she said, "Thank you."

It was heartfelt and full of so much relief that Don was filled with apprehension, wondering what they'd gotten themselves into that was so big the entire military couldn't take care of it, but a mathematician and an FBI agent could.

Colonel Carter began, "There's a lot we need to show you, so if you'd come with us...."

"To where?" Don asked. Sure, they'd signed the confidentiality agreements, but that didn't mean they couldn't change their minds. Something about this whole thing felt wrong, and Don was looking for any excuse to call it off.

"Colorado," Jackson replied.

"Colorado?" Don had expected somewhere private and secure, but he hadn't anticipated that they'd have to fly all the way to Colorado. "I can't just leave my team and fly to Colorado on your say so!"

But Charlie was already gathering his things - putting on his jacket, making sure he had his cell phone - as if he'd done this before, packed up on the spur of the moment and taken off. Which, given his work with the NSA, he very well might have. "I'll have to see if Amita can take my afternoon class. And we'll need to call Dad."

It was one thing when he'd been working fugitive recovery to be called in on a moment's notice and sent after a fugitive, but that was his employer sending him on a mission, he expected that. This was totally different.

"Don't worry, Agent Eppes," Colonel Carter said, "if you don't agree to help us, we'll have you back by dinner time." She pressed a button on a radio communicator that Don hadn't noticed before. "Thor, we're ready. Daniel and I are together with two others. Do you have Mitchell, Vala and Teal'c?"

"I am reading five transponder signals and two other life signs, Colonel Carter."

"Whenever you're ready, Thor."

"I am ready, Colonel Carter."

A loud whine filled Don's ears and the next thing he knew he was no longer standing in Charlie's office, but on what appeared to be the bridge of a spaceship, based on his experience of what Hollywood thought the bridge of a spaceship looked like. He gazed around them in shock, eyes continually moving, torn between the metallic-looking walls, screens through which Don saw the inky blackness of space, and a naked gray alien. He was only broken out of it when Charlie said, "Okay, that was weird.... Oh, crap!" and pulled Don down to the floor as a frisbee went sailing over their heads, slammed into the wall and clattered to the floor where it rolled around until it fell over, rocked, then finally lay still.

A female voice Don didn't recognize said, "Nice throw. Other than the fact that you nearly took the heads off the two men we need to help us. Good job."

As he climbed to his feet and helped Charlie up, Don saw that the, "Bite me," was directed at the woman with long dark hair, while the, "You couldn't have given us a little bit of warning?" was directed at Carter, who just shot him a sweet smile and said, "Daniel said you were ready."

"I did not! I said he was...oh never mind." Jackson turned to Don and Charlie. "Let me introduce the rest of our team. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran and Teal'c."

Mitchell waved hello, Mal Doran said something about Charlie being so cute she could eat him up, and Teal'c silently inclined his head in greeting. Don ignored all of that - except the eating comment, which made him take a protective step between Mal Doran and Charlie and shoot a glare at her, but she just smiled back, turned her hungry gaze on him, then said something about brothers that made Jackson blush and made Don glad he didn't hear it - and said, "What the hell is going on here?"

Mitchell said, "Time is of the essence, so we hitched a ride with Thor. Thanks for that, by the way, buddy."

Thor, who was apparently the naked gray alien, bowed slightly. "It was my pleasure, Colonel Mitchell."

Mitchell slapped the wall nearest him. "This thing is hella cool, isn't it?"

Don felt something inside himself unclench at the pure joy in Mitchell's voice. If they were on a spaceship, then yeah, it was pretty damned cool. He dragged Charlie over to one of the view screens, and looked out. Beneath them, Earth rotated lazily.

Charlie pushed up against Don as they both stared out the window. "Oh, man. Larry would love to see this."

Colonel Carter interrupted them, though she sounded reluctant to do so. "I'm afraid we really don't have much time."

Charlie immediately turned away from the view, and Don followed him. "Where to now?"

"Colorado," Jackson said, and everyone turned their attention to Thor.

"Goodbye," Thor said, and the loud whine filled Don's ears again.

This time they were standing in a conference room, a large rectangular table in the middle, two doors, one on either end. From one of the doors appeared another man. Carter and Mitchell immediately stood at attention.

"General," Colonel Carter greeted him.

"Colonel. I see you convinced them to return with you."

"Yes, Sir. General, this is Special Agent Don Eppes and Professor Charles Eppes. Agent, Professor, may I present General Hank Landry."

The General shook their hands. "A pleasure to meet you both. We appreciate your coming, especially on such short notice. Please, everyone, be seated so we can begin." To Don and Charlie he said, "Can we get you anything, coffee?"

Jackson, who'd already poured himself a mug of coffee, set it beside a pile of folders already on the table. "We could get you something else, tea, water, soda."

Don figured he didn't need any caffeine, but he could use some water, and Charlie agreed, so the General called someone named Walter and asked him to bring some bottles of water from the mess. The General took the seat at the head of the table, and Jackson took the seat at his left, by the pile of folders. Don put Charlie beside Jackson and took the third seat on that side. Teal'c sat at the end of the table, while Mal Doran, Mitchell and Carter sat opposite them.

With the aid of diagrams and video, Jackson talked for two hours, moving quickly over the discovery of the Stargate, and the subsequent discovery of the Goa'uld and the Jaffa, and T'ealc joining their cause against his former masters. He spoke briefly about the Ancients, and then moved on to the reason that he and Charlie had been brought here: a group of ascended beings called the Ori.

They were only interrupted twice. Once when Walter showed up with their water, and once when Mal Doran said, "Wait, aren't you going to tell them how you met me?" Jackson's vehement, "No," left Don wondering how, exactly, they had met, but Jackson's explanation of who the Ori were, and what they wanted, quickly smothered any sense of mirth Don might have been enjoying.

When Jackson was done, Charlie said, "So, when you said 'the fate of the entire planet', you meant...."

"The entire galaxy," Colonel Carter said.

A professor of mathematics, genius notwithstanding, and an FBI agent against a race of powerful god-like beings? "And you want us to do what, exactly?" Don asked.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Mal Doran leaned forward and whispered loudly, "They don't really know."

Don looked around the table and saw that Mal Doran was right, they didn't know. "You don't *know*?"

The General said, "We were kind of hoping that you could help us figure that out."

"You want *us* to help *you* figure it out?" Don was ready to pull them both out of there, and only the fact that the Ori threat was real enough to scare the people sitting around this table kept him in his seat. He should have known that Charlie would miss the fact that they were totally and utterly screwed and concentrate on the one thing he could possibly do to help.

"You mean, like, research?"

"Jackson's already done all the research," Mitchell said, "we just need help...interpreting it."

Charlie loved nothing better than when he had a problem to solve. "What have you got?"

Jackson returned to lecture mode, something Don felt comfortable with from Charlie's work with the FBI. "Merlin creaâ€"."

"Merlin?" Don said.

"Long story short, he was an Ancient. Anyway, Merlin created a weapon that could be used against the Ori, and we have been searching for it."

Charlie interrupted, "You haven't found it yet?"

"Well, we thought we had, but apparently not. Though we are getting close, very close. We recently found a scroll, and this." Jackson held up a heavy chain with a pendant, a blood red stone. "We originally thought that the Sangraal was the weapon. Instead, it led us to you. And we're hoping that the two of you can tell us where the weapon is."

What the fuck? "How the hell can *we* tell you where the weapon is?"

Mal Doran hissed, "They don't know," and Jackson threw a wadded up piece of paper that bounced off her forehead.

"Ow! What did you do that for?"

"Doctor, Vala."

"Sorry, General," Jackson said, contrite, though annoyance still colored his tone and he shot a glare at Mal Doran.

"Yes, sorry, General." Mal Doran, on the other hand, didn't sound repentant at all, and she returned Jackson's glare with a batt of her eyelashes.

Just then the door opened and another man in uniform entered. This one had silver hair and an irrepressible grin. "Hey, kids."

General Landry smiled at the newcomer, stood up and shook his hand, called him General O'Neill. The greetings around the table ran the gamut from Carter's and Mitchell's respectful, "General," as they both rose to their feet, Vala's irreverent finger-wave, Teal'c's silent but regal bow of his head, and Jackson's dry, "Jack."

O'Neill rubbed his hands together. "Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?"

"We just finished filling them in on everything up to our discovery of the Sangraal," Jackson said.

"Ah, all the boring stuff. Then I guess I'm right on time."

"That's funny, Jack."

O'Neil ignored Jackson and crossed over to Don and Charlie. "The brothers Eppes, I presume?"

Carter once again handled the introductions and General Jack O'Neill shook both their hands. His grip was firm without the extra dose of testosterone Don might have expected. "It's a pleasure to meet you both." His greeting was brief and to the point as the coffee in the corner caught his attention. "Is this one of Daniel's blends?" he asked, even as he poured some of the brew into a mug.

"I believe so, O'Neill," Teal'c said, and Don slid a glance his way, thinking that the deep rumbling bass of his voice suited him.

For a moment, the camaraderie between the other people in the room took Don's mind off the reason he and Charlie had been brought there, but then O'Neill said, "Daniel?"

Jackson pushed his glasses up his nose, said, "Right."

Before Jackson could return to his lecture, Charlie said, "What did you mean when you said the, uh, Sangraal...?" At Jackson's nod, Charlie continued, "...led you to us?"

"Uhhh, well, we're not sure what it was looking for, but it locked onto your positions."

"Like GPS."

"Similar, yes."

Don felt like he and Charlie were being bounced around. They'd been brought here to save the Earth - entire galaxy, if these people could be believed - but they had no idea *how*, or even if they had the right people! "But if you don't know what its, uh, criteria were, then we may not be the people you're looking for."

Colonel Carter said, "You're right that it didn't lock onto you and Professor Eppes specifically, just your location, but we worked up a profile, and the two of you are the only ones in that area who fit it."

"A profile?" Don's tone was scathing, but Carter merely nodded in reply. "Based on what?"

"Based on Jackson's translation of the scroll." Mitchell leaned forward in his seat as if to say, 'Don't mess with my geeks.'

Don gave Mitchell his own, 'Don't mess with my geek,' glare and was wondering if he could take him when Charlie interrupting their macho posturing. "Can we see the scroll?"

"Sure." Jackson slid the scroll, inside a protective glass case, down the table. "It's written in Ancient."

Charlie placed the case between them so Don could read it as well. Unfortunately, the characters were unrecognizable to Don. He'd had a fleeting hope that, if they really were the ones who could help, then they might be able to read this Ancient language. From the expression on Charlie's face, he was disappointed as well.

Giving up on the scroll, Don returned to the question he still wanted answered. "Tell us how you were able to find us."

Jackson once again took on the role of teacher. "From what we've been able to translate, Merlin created his weapon and hid it, but he left clues, bread crumbs, if you will. The scroll told us what we needed to look for, and the Sangraal was the key that led us to the two of you.

"Now, the scroll says that Merlin took the knowledge of the weapon and he gave it human form. Throughout history there have existed pairs of men who have been given the task of hiding this knowledge until it was needed. One of the pair held the knowledge, while the other protected him."

"There have been others before us?"

"We believe so, yes."

"What happened to them?"

"From what we've been able to tell, they passed out of existence in their own time and the knowledge, and the task of protecting it, was passed on to the next generation."

Charlie frowned. "You think we have this knowledge. The Sangraal is the key, you say?"

"It led us to you."

"What good has that done you?" Don asked.

"May I see it?" Charlie asked.

Jackson held it up by the chain and Charlie let the blood red stone settle into his palm. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It is the key," he said, and then closed his fingers around it.

A flash of light enveloped Charlie. Don yelled his name and reached out for him. As soon as Don's hand touched Charlie's arm, the light enveloped him as well.

Don felt like he was on a roller coaster, speeding along upside down, then moving backwards, spinning around before plummeting toward the ground. As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. They'd been right, the Sangraal had been the key. It unlocked all of the knowledge that had been hidden inside their minds. But they'd also been wrong, so very wrong.

"What the hell was that?" Mitchell growled, but Charlie, voice eerily calm, as if their entire world hadn't just been turned upside down, said, "It is not our purpose to lead you to the weapon, for we are the weapon," and then he passed out.

Don caught Charlie before he fell out of the chair, pulled him half onto his lap. "Come on, Charlie, wake up." Don gently patted his cheek. "Wake up for me, buddy."

Charlie's eyelids fluttered, then opened, and he looked up at Don. "Donny, what happened?" But Don didn't need to answer, he saw the moment Charlie remembered everything. "Oh."

Don forced Charlie's fingers open and removed the Sangraal, threw it onto the table, then pulled Charlie close and buried his face in Charlie's hair. The worst thing he thought he'd have to handle today was Charlie's reaction to the case, but that would have been a walk in the park compared to what he - they - had to deal with now. It had been bad enough finding out that aliens were real and wanted to wipe them out, but to find out that he and Charlie were the only ones - things - standing between the Ori and their domination of the entire galaxy? Don didn't think anyone could blame him if he wished for a do-over.

"We can't do it here," Charlie whispered. "We have to be where they are."

"Charlie...."

"We have to do it, Don."

"I know."

"All right, somebody want to tell the rest of us what just happened here?" O'Neill demanded.

"What he said," Mitchell added.

"I think we just found Merlin's weapon," Jackson said. He reached out to touch the Sangraal, but O'Neill grabbed his arm.

"Is that thing safe?"

"It's dormant now," Charlie said.

"You willing to bet Daniel's life on that?"

Don snapped. "Hey, you're willing to bet *our* lives on this whole thing, so just lay off him!"

Silence hung heavy as the weight of what they had to do settled on Don's shoulders. The knowledge that had flooded their minds once Charlie touched the Sangraal told them how they could defeat the Ori, but didn't tell them what would happen to them after they'd served their purpose.

Finally General Landry spoke. "Let me get this straight, you two are the weapon?"

Don lifted his head, pulled Charlie closer. "So it seems."

"And you can do this?"

How in hell did they expect them to know that? They were new on the scene, had just found out about the Ori and discovered that they were, supposedly, the secret weapon that Merlin had created. Instead of yelling, he took a deep breath, and thought about what he'd learned from these people, what the Sangraal had shown him and Charlie. "We can. Unless Merlin screwed up, in which case, our attack on the Ori galaxy will probably be seen as an act of war, and they'll invade ours."

"I thought the Ancients wouldn't let them do that," Mitchell said.

Don opened his mouth, but O'Neill got there first. "Because they've been such a big help up to now? If we take this fight to the Ori, the Ancients will probably see it as voiding their pact of protection."

"Is it worth it?" Landry asked.

"If it works," O'Neill said.

"And if it doesn't?" Mitchell questioned.

"It has to." Carter leaned forward, gestured towards the folders piled in front of Jackson, the scroll, the Sangraal. "Everything we've found has led us here, to these two men. We thought they could give us another piece of the puzzle, but instead they've given us the weapon itself. We have to use it."

O'Neill turned to Jackson. "Daniel?"

"Sam's right." He gave the pile a push, knocking folders off. "There's nothing else here. If this doesn't work, we've got nothing to fall back on, anyway."

"It appears we have no choice," Teal'c said

Landry looked around the table, gauging his officers and other advisors. "All right." He turned his gaze onto Don and Charlie. "What do you need from us?"

"We just need to be there, where they are," Charlie said.

Less than an hour later they were on the Odyssey. He and Charlie had been installed in one of the VIP guest quarters aboard the spaceship for the trip to the Supergate. They'd turned down the chance to call their father before leaving, because what could they tell him that would lessen his worry? Instead, they'd asked for pen and paper to write their goodbyes, should they not survive their mission. Writing condolence letters when he'd lost agents had given him a sense of futility, knowing that there was no way his empty words could ease their loss; saying goodbye to their mother had been difficult, though knowing that she'd no longer be in pain made her passing easier to bear, but this, saying goodbye to their father, knowing they were leaving him alone, was the most painful thing he'd ever had to do.

Charlie'd also writeen letters to Larry and Amita, which had made Don realize that he should probably send a letter to his team, let them know how much he'd appreciated them, how much he'd enjoyed their sense of duty as well as their sense of humor. He'd finished before Charlie, then laid down on the bed and watched him continue to write, thought about the daunting task ahead of them.

When Charlie was done, he stood, shifted on his feet as he rubbed his hands together, looked around their quarters. Don held his hand out. "Come here."

Charlie practically levitated onto the bed, which brought a weak smile to Don's face. He wrapped his arms around Charlie as Charlie burrowed into him, just like they used to do when Charlie'd had a nightmare. "It's all right, Charlie," Don said, just like he'd said then.

"I'm scared." Charlie's voice was tiny, muffled.

"Me, too, buddy." Don rubbed Charlie's back, something that had always calmed them both, and hoped that it would work in this instance, as well.

Charlie gave a little moan of contentment, but his mind was still racing. "What if it doesn't work?"

"They won't be any worse off than before," Don said. "They'll just need to find another way to fight them. Maybe those Ancients they spoke of will finally help." He tried to sound positive, certain, but he wasn't sure he believed what he was saying. If they failed, it might very well spell the end for the entire galaxy.

"But what'll happen to us if we fail?"

Don's hand froze on Charlie's back, his heart started pounding and he felt sweat break out on his back. He'd not thought of that. He'd considered that they might die, just pass out of existence, once their task was finished, but he'd never considered that they might fail and be captured by the Ori, possibly tortured. He couldn't let that happen to Charlie. "I won't let that happen," he whispered into Charlie's hair. "You hear me, Charlie? I won't let that happen to you."

Charlie lifted his head and looked right into Don's eyes. "I know."

Don looked back, couldn't pull his gaze away. Charlie's eyes were open, now, hiding nothing from Don, and they were telling him things that Don had only ever dreamt about, things he'd kept hidden himself, pulling out only at the darkest time of the night when he couldn't bear the loneliness any longer.

"Charlie," he said, and shook his head. But they were putting their lives on the line here, they might die, and could he live with himself if he didn't at least meet Charlie halfway? Don pressed their foreheads together. "Charlie." Then their lips. A quick kiss, chaste, something they could pretend was brotherly, if that's what Charlie wanted.

But it appeared that he didn't, because Charlie just said, "Donny," and kissed Don. It wasn't quick, and it wasn't chaste, and there was no room for pretending. And because he was sick of hiding, sick of pretending, Don kissed him back. Kissed him until Charlie's lips were red and swollen. Kissed him until Charlie was breathing heavily, rubbing against him. Kissed him until their door chimed and their time was up.

Jackson and Teal'c stood outside their quarters, silently led them to the bridge. Don and Charlie ignored the group of people gathered there, their eyes immediately drawn to the Supergate.

"It's time," Charlie said, and took Don's hand.

Don smiled at him, because this was Charlie, and Don couldn't *not* smile at him, and because he didn't want Charlie to be afraid. "Yes, it is." He took Charlie's other hand.

They raised their joined hands and reached toward the gate; it started dialing.

"What's going on?" Colonel Carter asked, checking her readouts. "Are they dialing in?"

"No," Charlie said, the last word he spoke as they began to change, the physical forms that had trapped them falling away until they were nothing but two streams of light, dancing and twirling around each other, twisting and twining together until they were one. No longer Don and Charlie, older brother and younger, no longer a vessel of knowledge and its protector, but some combination of the two men they'd been for thirty years and more, and the purpose they'd been given millennia ago.

"Oh, crap, not this again."

When the gate stopped dialing and the event horizon appeared, the being formerly known as Don and Charlie shot out of the Odyssey, a bright streak in the black emptiness of space.

"Geez, we didn't even get to say goodbye."

DonandCharlie reached back, brushed against O'Neill's face like the softest breeze, said, "This isn't goodbye, not if we can help it."

And then they shot through the gate.


The End

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author Spikedluv.
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