Jack handed the key to Daniel and smiled.

"Well don't expect me to carry you over the threshold! My knees are all shot to hell and you've put on weight!"

Daniel returned the smile shyly and let himself into his new apartment. For the last three months, he had been staying on the base or at Jack's house so he was more than ready to move into his new place. Once his eyes had adjusted to the relative darkness, he gasped in surprise. All his things were here and not just stacked or crated, they were actually displayed. His furniture was all here too. He could hardly take it in. Jack's smile grew wider as he explained.

"All your stuff was put into storage at the Air Forces expense. I insisted."

"But Jack you had no way of knowing..."

"Hey - where there's life, there's hope and you sure as hell weren't dead! There was always a chance."

Daniel wandered around fingering things, his eyes trying to take it all in. He remembered all of these things. When they had first found him, he had no memory of who he was or who they were. It had taken time, but gradually his memories had returned. Well, most of them anyway.

"It seems so strange Jack. All these things. When I was ascended, I had absolutely no material goods."

"Including a body!" Jack snorted at his own joke. But Daniel had an odd gleam in his eyes as he wandered into the kitchen and ran his hand across the worktop.

"Which was exactly why I didn't need anything. This feels a little like the first time I came back to Earth from Abydos. I had only the clothes I stood up in."

"Robes."

"Huh?" Daniel turned confused blue eyes to his friend and raised an eyebrow in question. Jack picked up the grocery bags he's abandoned in the hall and followed his friend into the small kitchen. He began unpacking the groceries as he spoke.

"You were wearing robes when you came back remember? And you had some stuff. Pots and urns and the like; your marriage bowl. But the underwear you borrowed from me."

Daniel helped with the unpacking, looking distractedly and with some distaste at the food Jack thought he would like. The bowl had been one of the first things he had noticed when he came in. Jack had placed it carefully on a shelf where it would be safe. His friend's thoughtfulness touched Daniel deeply.

"What I *mean* is that I feel like I'm starting again from scratch. Trying to build a life again. Starting anew. Things look very different to me now."

Jack crumpled the brown bags and tossed them into the trashcan. He located a bottle opener and popped the lids on two bottles of beer. He handed one to Daniel and raised his in a salute.

"To new beginnings."

Daniel gazed at the beer bottle in his hand and smiled a little sadly. Beer. He hated beer. He had drunk the vile stuff for years because it was something Jack liked to share with him. Beer. Pizza. Hockey games. All things Daniel had hated but put up with to be close to his friend.

"I would rather drink to Old Friends."

"Hey - less of the OLD!"

Daniel saluted with his own bottle and watched through hooded eyes as Jack did the same. He came to a decision then. Life was too short and too precious to beat about the bush. He had been given a second chance, and he was going to take it no matter what the consequences. Carefully he placed the bottle on the counter and walked around to Jack's side.

"You know Jack. Making it to a higher plane of existence puts things into perspective for you. I have a very clear idea of what is right and what is wrong."

Jack nudged Daniel's beer with his own bottle.

"You always did."

"No, it's different now. I see things more clearly. I know what matters and what doesn't and I think that some people are not going to understand what I have to tell them. They may not be willing to understand or accept my position. It could cause problems."

Jack sighed and took another slug of his beer before answering Daniel's unspoken question.

"Would I be one of those people?"

Daniel took the bottle from Jack's unresisting fingers and held his hand firmly.

"Maybe, you see I love you Jack."

Jack gulped and tried to tug his hand free. Guys didn't go around talking about shit like feelings. They were brothers, fellow warriors, and close friends. Of course they loved each other. But guys didn't talk about that stuff. It made them uncomfortable. It made *him* uncomfortable.

Jack could see what Daniel was getting at of course. He had been enlightened whilst ascended so this relationship stuff wasn't a problem for him. He was just trying to break Jack into the idea that the new improved Daniel Jackson might get a little emotionally charged from time to time and demand that they all get in touch with their feelings! He could do that. Jack forced his hand to relax and his eyes to meet Daniel's.

"Thanks for sharing. Ditto by the way. It's good to have you back. Great - really it is. Missed ya. Things weren't the same..."

Daniel took another step and suddenly he was way inside Jack's comfort zone. Jack stopped talking and tried to step backwards but the counter got in his way. Daniel continued to stare into his eyes as he spoke.

"For six years we've danced around this *thing* between us. This - attraction. We both know it's there but we ignore it. We both had our reasons. There have been times Jack when we've come perilously close to stepping over the line, this will never go away and I don't think those reasons are important any more."

Jack gulped. Oh boy this was not good! In Jack's opinion, his own reasons for ignoring the *thing* were still valid. He was still the property of the United States Air Force and Daniel was still on his team. Oh yeah - and he was still a guy. That one was a biggie! Panic surged though his veins.

"What the hell are you talking about Daniel?"

Jack tried to slip sideways, feeling very aware of his friend's proximity. He was almost hypnotised by the huge blue eyes, glittering so close to his own. He felt the adrenaline rush and wondered which would win - fight or flight. Daniel reached out to lean both hands on the worktop, one on either side of his friend, effectively imprisoning him, and leaned in closer still. Flight was out of the question then. That left him with fight.

"You know very well what I mean but if you need a demonstration...?"

Jack felt his mouth go dry. He knew what was coming, and he both dreaded it and longed for it. He needed time out to think, needed more oxygen than his lungs were dragging in, needed .

Daniel moved so quickly that Jack never stood a chance. His fingers slid through the thick silver mane and clutched the back of Jack's head tightly while the other hand slid around his waist, pulling him into an intimate embrace. Jack opened his mouth to protest only to find Daniel's tongue filling the void. He was so shocked that he stood rigid and rooted to the spot, quite incapable of stopping the kiss.

Daniel held Jack tightly, determined that he wouldn't deny his feelings a moment longer. He felt the rigidity of Jack's posture but continued his slow languid exploration until he felt Jack's muscles relax by a fraction.

Jack felt the ice that had cocooned his heart melt. Daniel's mouth on his felt absolutely incredible and he let his eyes flutter closed. His own mouth opened hungrily and without awareness, he devoured Daniel. He heard a ragged moan escaping and realised that it had come from his own lips.

This wasn't exactly a bolt from the blue, more a quiet surrendering to things he had always known but never acknowledged. Only once in six years had Jack come close to letting his true feelings show. Sitting at Daniel's bedside, watching as his friend slowly lost the battle against the radiation eating him alive, Jack had felt the crush of hopelessness pressing down on him from above.

He had almost spoken the words aloud. The words he had never been able to articulate. But even then, something had held him back. Daniel had chosen to take another path, one that at least gave him a chance to continue in his battle against the Goa'uld. But to Jack, he was as good as dead. Watching him walk through the Stargate into the light beyond had been the hardest thing Jack had ever done beside standing next to a grave and watching a small coffin being lowered into the ground as his wife wailed at his side.

Over the past year, he had functioned as best he could, never falling back into the cold, suicidal bastard that he was pre-Daniel, but never really living either. Existing - that's what he had been doing. Even when they knew for sure that Daniel was coming back, he hadn't truly let himself believe.

Six years, six godammed years of wanting but not having, of needing but not giving in. And in one swift movement, Daniel swept all his resolve away. This is what Jack had feared all these years, and this is what he had craved. He was drowning. Unable to find the strength he had so prided himself on, unable to find the willpower to pull away, unable to stop the feelings cascading through him, making him shake like a leaf, making him cling to Daniel, making him weak. Daniel had always had the power to do this to him. He had just chosen not to.

Jack's hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. Daniel was crushing him against the worktop, his hips grinding into Jack's groin, his breath coming in short panting gasps right into Jack's mouth. It was overwhelming and terrifying and so fucking erotic. His hands came up and buried themselves in the soft brown hair. Six years. How had he gone six years without this?

"Danny!" he groaned against the other man's flushed neck when he pulled back for air. His legs were like jelly and he really needed to sit down before he fell down. Daniel took an unsteady breath and bracing himself on the worktop, pushed backwards until he was standing straight again. He looked into Jack's passion darkened eyes and smiled.

"Sorry. I had to know."

"Six years, and now you suddenly have to know? Why now Daniel?"

"I had a lot of time to think about us when I was..." he pointed vaguely upwards towards the ceiling, "And I came to the conclusion that we were both in denial. I missed you Jack. A lot. We've been given a second chance and I don't want to waste it."

"Six years!"

"I know."

Jack gazed into his friend's eyes and saw the truth in them. They were meant to be together. Neither one of them was complete without the other. It had finally taken Daniel's 'death' and 'rebirth' to make the crusty Air Force Colonel face up to the fact that he had been in love with his archaeologist for six years. It had taken a year without that steady presence at his side to know that he couldn't function properly without it.

He licked dry lips and continued to stare into eyes the colour of a summer sky. Daniel made no further attempt to reach for him, giving his friend time to process what had just happened and make a decision. If Jack walked away, Daniel would deal with it the same way he always dealt with loss. Jack was shaking his head and Daniel felt his heart sink.

"Six fucking years!"

Jack reached out and caught his friend's face in firm yet trembling hands.

"Got a lot of catching up to do Danny."

And suddenly Daniel was in Jack's arms again. They may have waited six years to catch the clue bus, but now that it had finally arrived, they were on it till journey's end.