Jesus Daniel, you're a slave driver!" Jack panted as his back began complaining at all the torture it was being put through. Daniel's apartment always looked so neat and tidy in comparison to his office on the base and Jack had never truly appreciated how much stuff the archaeologist kept on these selves. The majority of the work was now behind them, the shelves were cleared and moved away from the wall, but they still had the painting to do, then the shelves would have to be manhandled back into place and they were built of solid oak. No way would Daniel have managed this by himself.

Even Teal'c was grunting by the time they had pulled the huge bookcase out enough to get access to the wall behind. Daniel clapped him soundly on the back and offered one of his room illuminating smiles.

"Thanks Teal'c, I appreciate the effort." Daniel walked past a gasping Jack O'Neill without so much as a backwards glance and Jack glared at his retreating back. When he finally got his breath back to the point where he could deliver a suitably acidic comment, Daniel had disappeared into the bathroom and the moment had passed.

Sam emerged from the kitchen balancing a tray of beer and a jug of iced tea. She set it down carefully on the floor and took in the tired faces of the two men.

"Break time. You boys look like you need a rest." Jack flopped onto the floor, swiped up a bottle, took a deep chug and let himself slowly lean backwards until he was lying on his back staring at the ceiling. Teal'c lowered himself gracefully to the floor and accepted his glass from Major Carter as Daniel re-emerged from the bathroom. He smiled warmly at his friends and joined them.

"I really appreciate this, guys. I didn't realise it would be such a big job."

"Daniel your house has more artefacts than the New York Museum of Art!" griped Jack without opening his eyes, "and that book case? Fuck! Sorry Carter."

Sam smiled and saluted him with her bottle of Bud.

"Air Force brat, remember? I've heard worse. So Daniel, are we painting tonight?" Jack groaned and rolled onto his stomach, raising his arms up to clutch at his head as if he was protecting it from falling masonry. Daniel almost laughed at the Colonel's distress. They had been working since 9 am this morning to move things away from the walls and to cover the furniture, readying for the decorating phase and it had taken the four of them far longer than any of them had expected.

It was coming up on 7:30 and they were all tired, sweaty and hungry. Daniel reached for the phone.

"Chinese or pizza?" Jack perked up at that but looked suspicious as he turned his head to look up at Daniel.

"Do we still gotta paint after eating?"

"I think you've done more than enough for one day, Jack. I'm feeding you by way of thanks."

"And not for favors?"

"No, just for thanks."

"Okay. Pizza then, you know how I like it." Sam snorted at the double entendre and hid her embarrassment in gulping down her beer when three sets of eyes focused on her. Teal'c then turned to Daniel and inclined his head.

"DanielJackson I have so far managed to avoid eating this pizzapie O'Neill talks of. I would prefer to continue to do so."

"Don't say Kaa till you've tried it." Daniel sing-songed. Teal'c allowed an eyebrow to rise almost right off his face.

"Then I will refrain from saying Kaa indefinitely. If you no longer require my assistance, I would prefer to return to the base. I am in great need of Kel Noreem."

Carter finished her beer and replaced the empty bottle onto the tray. She ran a hand through her damp hair and grimaced.

"Actually Daniel, I could use a long hot soak in the tub myself. If you don't mind, I'll be heading off home now too. Unless you really want to start painting."

"Carter..." Jack complained loudly, ".so help me if I HAVE to shoot ya, I will."

Daniel sprang to his feet helping Sam up. "Are you sure about dinner? I feel terrible about not paying for."

"You can take us out for dinner when the work's all done. Shall we come round tomorrow morning again?"

Daniel bit his bottom lip guiltily, "9 am?"

Teal'c retrieved his and Carter's coats from under a dustsheet. She glanced down at the Colonel who was making no attempt to get to his feet.

"Sir? I'll drop Teal'c back at the base. I could take you home too if you don't feel up to the drive." O'Neill let his head roll from side to side.

"I'm Okay, Carter. Just need to let my muscles relax for a moment. You guys go on home."

Carter pulled on her heavy topcoat and fished in the pockets for gloves. It had been snowing steadily all day and the temperature outside had never gotten up above freezing. She was glad to have four-wheel drive. She wished the Colonel would let her drive him home, but knew that no matter how tired and sore he felt, his ego would never allow him to admit it to her. So she smiled and hugged Daniel enthusiastically.

"Ok then. See you tomorrow for round two."

Daniel saw them to the door and returned to his living room to find Jack lying in the same position. He was getting a bit worried about his friend. It had been a gruelling day of back breaking work and although Jack was exceptionally fit and healthy, they often forgot that he was older than any of them, well maybe not Teal'c, but the Jaffa was ageless and had the strength of three men.

"Jack, are you ok?" When Jack didn't reply, Daniel knelt down beside his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. Leaning in close, he heard Jacks soft snores and realised that the Colonel had fallen asleep on the floor. Damn! He must be bushed. Daniel was fairly exhausted himself and wanted nothing more that a shower, some food and then bed. He felt really guilty about letting Jack tire himself out to the point where he would drop like this. And he still had to face a long drive through thick snow to get home.

Daniel got up and went into the bathroom. Instead of switching on the shower, he decided to fill the tub instead and as the room began to fill with steam, he pulled a bottle of muscle relaxant from the cabinet and poured a liberal amount into the hot water. Then he hurried into the kitchen and used the extension there to phone in a pizza order. He was told that due to the adverse weather conditions, it could take up to an hour before delivery to which he agreed, thinking that Jack could do with at least that long in the bath.

He quickly and silently collected up the bottles and cups and washed them in the sink before going back to check on the progress of the bath. The water was hot, but not scalding and the room smelled incredible. He read the label on the bottle again. Lavender Essence. It reminded him of his grandmother who had died when he was a toddler. She had always smelled of lavender.

Finally, he squatted beside the softly snoring Colonel and shook his shoulders. It took some effort but, finally Jack rolled onto his back and forced a bloodshot eye open.

"Wasssup?" He muttered thickly.

"Jack, I've drawn you a bath. Come on, it'll make you feel better." Jack allowed Daniel to help him to his feet as he looked blearily around at his surroundings. He was obviously trying to get his bearings.

"Have the others gone? Damn. I must have drifted off to sleep. Sorry." Daniel guided him towards the bathroom.

"Don't worry about it, Jack. It's been a hell of a hard day. We're all bushed."

Jack registered that he wasn't heading for the front door and stopped walking. "I should go home. What's the weather like?"

"You're going to have a bath first. Get those muscles nice and relaxed, okay?" Jack looked confused but the pain in his back and legs insisted that a bath was exactly what he wanted right now so he allowed his friend to guide him into the bathroom. The scent of lavender and the steam enveloped his senses as the door swung open and suddenly, it was all he could do to stay upright.

Daniel pulled a bathrobe and a couple of towels from the cupboard and laid them on a chair. The he reached into the shower cubicle and turned on the spray.

"Do you mind if I grab a quick shower? I smell worse than an Unas." Jack shrugged, kicked off his shoes and began unbuttoning his shirt. The water shimmered like the event horizon of the stargate and looked so warm and inviting that Daniel offering to do a fan dance butt naked wouldn't have distracted him from his goal. Daniel took his silence for acceptance and left Jack to undress in peace while he went to fetch more towels.

When he retuned to the bathroom, Jack was already in the bath, only his head and one arm flopping over the edge visible. Daniel checked the temperature of the shower and quickly stripped off his sweaty work clothes and jumped in. The shower was set to needle spray and it felt wonderful against his tired skin. He groaned in appreciation and braced his arms against the cool tiles as it beat a tattoo against his back.

Jack sighed and slid further down in the beautiful, warm and sweet smelling water. He hadn't realised how tired he was and how tense, until the lavender muscle relaxant had begun to use its magic and he felt the knots in his spine unclench one by one. He was in serious danger of falling asleep in the bath, until Daniel had slipped into the bathroom and stripped off right in front of him. It wasn't as if he'd never seen Daniel naked before, just very rarely.

Unlike most military men used to communal living, Daniel was shy about getting naked and usually showered after the others had left. It was part of the reason that Jack had insisted SG1 got their own locker and shower room. Daniel was still shy about baring it all, but at least he didn't have to put up with so many people ogling at him now. Just Jack, and the Colonel had been very careful not to get caught staring.

The other reason for the separate showers was for Daniels own protection. He had never let his friend in on the fact that several of the SGC's more jar headed personnel thought Daniel was gay. In fact, Jack worked very hard to make sure he never found that out. Having been a soldier most of his adult life, he knew what could go on in locker rooms. He had no intention of letting a member of his team fall victim to a homophobic attack; but it was a secret source of great amusement to him, that those jarheads had picked the wrong member of SG1 to label `gay'.

And now he was being treated to an amazing floorshow. Daniel had pulled the opaque shower curtain closed but, the diffused light from the winter white world outside falling through the window threw him into silhouette. Jack watched in rapt fascination as his friend washed himself. Parts of Jack were waking up more quickly than others and he decided that it was time for drastic action. Taking a deep breath, he sunk right under the water and stayed there until he'd almost gone purple.

Daniel switched off the shower and groped for the towel he had left hanging on the peg. At first he thought Jack had left the bathroom and then he noticed the ripples forming on the water's surface a second before Jack broke the surface again spluttering and gasping for breath. Daniel smiled and scrubbed his hair dry, then wrapped the towel around his waist before stepping out of the cubicle. The doorbell chose that exact instant to ring.

"Damn. That must be the pizza. I hoped it would take longer." Daniel rushed out to answer the door. Jack wondered what the hell was going on, but didn't make any attempt to get out of the bath. Right now he should be home, face down in his bed, hungry and probably still wearing his filthy work clothes. Instead he was imposing on Daniels hospitality and, to be honest, enjoying the pampering.

A few minutes went by and Jack began to slide down in the bath again. Then Daniel was back, balancing a pizza box in one hand and a couple of beers in the other. He smiled happily at Jack and sat down on the floor, his back braced against the side of the bathtub.

"I don't normally eat in here but, you need the food as much as you need the bath so.."

Jack accepted the wedge of pepperoni with dripping hands and took a huge bite as the smell twisted his stomach into one intense hungry knot. He chewed ecstatically for a moment then smiled as a bottle of chilled Bud materialised in front of him just as he was about to ask for it. Woo hoo! Danny was psychic!

"Are you feeling better?" Daniel asked. Jack took several deep chugs of the beer and sighed in contentment.

"Oh yeah. Thanks for looking after me Danny. I guess I sorta overdid it today."

Daniel was more than a little shocked that Jack would admit it. They chewed in companionable silence for several minutes. Then Jack's hand flopped over the edge of the bath and landed on Daniels shoulder. Daniel looked at the wet hand then at the brown eyes glittering through steam dampened lashes at him over the rim.

"You keeping the rest of that pizza to yourself?" Jack asked the amusement evident in his voice. Daniel blushed and hastily handed his friend another wedge. Gulping down some beer he leaned back again.

"We were lucky to get this you know. The weather's taken a turn for the worse so the pizza place is closing for the evening. We were the last delivery they did." Jack swallowed the last of his wedge and wiggled his fingers on Daniels shoulder again. This time, the anthropologist understood what the gesture meant and handed him another wedge without even turning round.

"Did Sam and Teal'c get home okay?" Jack enquired.

Daniel popped the lid on side order of coleslaw and scrambled through the packaging for the plastic fork. He answered the mumbled query distractedly, "In these conditions, Sam will be lucky if she's gotten to the base yet."

"You should phone, make sure.."

"I will. I hope Sam has the sense to stay at the base tonight. I had a look outside and it's a blizzard out there now." As if to reinforce his words, the wind changed direction and gusted against the window, throwing snow hissing against the pane. Jack shivered and sunk a little lower in the water. Daniel found the fork and dug into the sweet relish with abandon.

"Daniel..?"

"Hmm?"

"What time is it?" Daniel shrugged and lifted his bare arm to show Jack.

"I have no idea. My watch is in the living room, but I would guess it's about 8:30 by now. Why?"

Jack shifted and pulled himself more upright. Daniel passed him the last wedge of pizza.

"Because as much as I am enjoying all this, I really should get going. The roads are only going to get worse the later I leave."

Daniel twisted around and looked at Jack with concern.

"Jack, are you considering driving in these conditions? I know you have four-wheel drive but it's bad out there. What if you end up in a snow drift or."

"Err, Daniel? Your couch is buried under three tons of Egyptian Artefacts. Not the sort of thing that can be swept onto the floor".

Daniel bit his lip. Obviously the archaeologist had forgotten that fact after the massive shelf clearing exercise of today; he had nowhere for Jack to sleep. Then a thought occurred and before he had a chance to think it through, the words had slipped out from his mouth. "Well I have a king-size bed, Jack."

Jack blinked and studied the drooping wedge of pepperoni in his fingers. Daniel wondered what was so fascinating about a piece of pizza. Finally Jack looked up and met his enquiring glance. "Sure. Why not."

It was as simple as that. Daniel nodded and got to his feet carefully, keeping his eyes averted from Jack. He busied himself in picking up the pizza packaging and then let himself out of the bathroom. Jack sighed. This was a bad idea, but he couldn't for the life of him imagine going home tonight. To emphasise the point, the blizzard picked up a notch and rattled the window in its frame. He'd stayed overnight at Daniel's apartment on countless other occasions but always on the couch. Never, and he stressed this mentally, never had he even considered crawling into the other man's huge bed, especially not with that man still in it!

That much temptation was more than Jack could take. He'd given up having sex with men when he'd enrolled at the Academy and never wavered from that path despite having had countless offers over the years. His career was more important to him than a quick fling, which was all such a relationship could ever be; and he could never risk it over something as fleeting as lust. But Daniel Jackson had the power to make that resolve crumble and that scared Jack.

He leaned forward and let the water drain out of the tub. It hadn't been easy to hide his attraction for Daniel. In the end, he had figured that it was best to hide in plain sight and gone out of his way to touch the younger man at every opportunity. No one questioned the affection between the two men because one questioned Jacks orientation. They all knew he had been a husband and father. Only a handful of people knew that Daniel had been married too, his relationship with an alien who had later become infected with a Goua'uld being classified as top secret. Jack remained where he was as the water drained around him. Finally he hauled his ass out of the tub and wrapped himself in the bathrobe, which smelled of Daniel, and dragged a towel through his hair.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Daniel was nowhere in sight. There was one small lamp on in the living room, casting enough light so that Jack wouldn't trip over anything, but the only other illumination was coming from Daniel's bedroom. Taking a deep breath, Jack climbed the steps. Now that he was feeling a little better, he was having serious doubts about sleeping with his friend. Three years worth of hiding in plain sight might just be about to go up in flames!

Daniel was rummaging in his chest of drawers when Jack pushed open the door. He looked up briefly and smiled then returned to his task.

"I'm sure I have something you can wear. We're roughly the same size."

Jack looked at the magnificent body clad in tight boxers and a loose t-shirt. These days, Daniel was probably slightly bigger than Jack. All those sessions in the gym and the hard physical graft inherent in off world explorations had given Daniel muscles even he wasn't aware of. Jack noticed. Finally he emerged triumphant and tossed Jack the flannel Pyjama bottoms.

Jack ran his hands over the fuzzy soft material and smiled. It had been years since he'd worn anything like this. He glanced back at Daniel. If he tried to leave now, it would look odd so he resigned himself to a night of lying awake staring at the ceiling. Turning his back on Daniel, he stepped into the nightwear before letting the bathrobe slip off his shoulders. Tossing it onto the nearest chair he sat on the bed and pulled back the quilt. Daniel was still standing on the other side of the bed. Jack turned and looked at him enquiringly. The younger man looked a little hesitant.

"You don't mind? Sharing the bed, I mean? I thought since we'd shared a tent so often it would be okay."

Jack smiled and slid beneath the covers, careful to stay as close to the edge as possible.

"It's fine Daniel. This is no different from the tent. If anything, we have more room. Goddammit man, why do you need a bed the size of Australia anyway?"

Jack wriggled looking for the all the world like a kid that had sneaked into his parent's bed. Daniel smiled a little shyly and climbed in beside him. There had to be at least two foot of space between them. Daniel clicked off the light and lay rigid on his side, trying not to breathe at all.

Daniel's eyes flickered open as he slowly drifted awake to the realisation that he was trapped. After sleeping alone so long, the feeling of sharing his space with someone else was more than a little disconcerting. It was still some time before dawn would break, the light in the room coming from the moonlight reflecting off the snow covered world outside the windows. Daniel turned his head slightly and gazed down at the man wrapped around him like a second skin.

Jack looked much younger when he was asleep. The careworn face that had seen so much horror, so much suffering was relaxed, leaving only the laughter lines crinkling at the corner of his eyes. His lips were slightly parted, small puffs of air escaping with each deep breath. His hair was mussed and sticking up at odd angles, but it shone silver in the strange, diffused light like a halo around his head.

He lay on his side, one arm pillowing his head, the other draped heavily over Daniel's chest, his fingers tightly gripping the soft material of Daniel's T-shirt. Somehow the T-shirt had worked its way up his body and the younger man could feel something metallic rubbing against his chest. He twisted round a little more to see what was causing it. Two shinny dog-tags moved rhythmically against his skin with each breath Jack took.

Daniel couldn't seem to drag his eyes off the tags. He'd seen them before. Jack rarely took them off. But he'd never seen them this close before, and never felt them against his skin. It was strangely erotic. He gulped and reached for the tags, moving them out of the way while trying to tug the hem of his T-shirt back down. His movement disturbed Jack, but didn't quite waken him.

Mumbling something incoherent, Jack moved closer, sliding his leg over Daniel's bare thigh to trap him even further. This move also served to illustrate to Daniel quite graphically that what ever Jack was dreaming about, it was making him horny. The warm, solid erection now poking demandingly into his thigh was even more distracting than the dog tags had been and Daniel found himself groaning.

He wasn't a big fan of close physical contact; he hated being touched and disliked overt shows of tenderness. And yet he had allowed this man to touch almost from the first moment they had met. He had no idea why it should be different with Jack, it just was. Jack could reach out and pat his shoulder; Jack could ruffle his hair or draw him into a fierce embrace that robbed him of breath without fear of rejection. But in all that time, they had never been as intimate as they were right now.

They had shared a two man pup-tent on countless occasions, slept a hands breath away form each other too many times to count. And yet this was the closest they had ever been. Daniel licked dry lips and tried to work out where his brain was leading him. He felt like his head was filled with cotton wool.

Jack moaned then, deep in his throat and pushed his hips against Daniel's thigh. The breath froze in the younger man's throat at the sensual feeling of flannel-sheathed hardness pressing against his sensitive skin. He had the urge to reach down and touch, imagined what it would feel like to run his hand softly down that inciting heat. His eyes fluttered shut. His breathing became deeper and he felt the first stirring of arousal twitch inside his boxer shorts.

Damn! It really had been too long if a sleeping Jack O'Neill humping his leg was turning him on! Crushing down the mounting tension, he gently freed himself from Jack's grip and slipped out from under the quilt. Jack rolled into the warm spot Daniel had vacated and rubbed his face into the pillow that still bore the indentation of Daniel's head.

Daniel waited until the Colonel's breathing had evened out and sat carefully on the edge of the bed. Jack was his friend. Jack, along with Teal'c, Sam and one or two others at the SGC were his family. Jack was his brother and sometimes his overprotective surrogate father. Jack was...? He really had no words to describe what Jack was to him. Jack was so much more than all those things. He was everything.

It wasn't like this was news to Daniel. He had accepted the fact that he loved his friend a long time ago and had moved on from the slightly panicky feeling that knowledge had given him. He loved them all. It was difficult to work with people you cared deeply for, when every time you stepped through the gate, one or all of them might not be coming back. He had worked so hard to learn to be a good soldier. He was determined not to be the cause of one of his friends not making it.

Jack would fuss and mother hen him till the day he died, but these days it wasn't really necessary. Daniel was more of a soldier than a scientist than even Jack was comfortable with. But he still held onto his morals, his beliefs, and his principles. It was a daily balancing act, but he managed somehow. He had carried his love for his friends with him on every mission; its brightness holding them all together where many would have given up. They were a team. They were four parts of a whole, none of them complete without the other.

But the love he carried for Jack went deeper even than that.

He sighed as he watched his friend sleep. His brave, beautiful, straight friend. Why the hell did his love for this man have to change from the pure, innocent and mutual admiration they had always shared, into this burning desire to have more of Jack than he would ever be willing to give? It had not been easy to push these feelings aside; mostly he had just ignored them. But occasionally, like right now, they overwhelmed him with a sense of deep hopelessness.

Jack was never going to be his.

He padded to the other side of the bed and climbed into the space Jack had vacated. The pillow smelled of Jack's aftershave and there was still a residual trace of body heat clinging to the sheets. Daniel turned onto his side, facing away from his gently snoring friend and closed his eyes. He lay awake, savouring the tiny sounds Jack made, storing them in his memory like they were precious gifts. And in a way they were, for the events that had led to his sharing a bed with the object of his passion, would probably never happen again, and this was as close to Jack as Daniel was ever likely to get.

"Sir? Colonel O'Neill...SIR"

"Wha?"

Jack stared at the blonde haired and fuzzy apparition bending over him. It was. "Carter?" he guessed. She released his shoulders, which she had been shaking, and straightened up. He rubbed the heel of his hand over his eyes but it didn't really help. She was still there!

"Rise and shine, sir."

Jack took a deep breath, which mutated into a yawn, accompanied by a backbreaking stretch. Beneath the warm quilt, his toes scraped down something that felt remarkably like a bare calf and he froze. One eye popped open, swivelling to the side, his brain hoping he wasn't going to see what he knew he was going to see! Daniel was stirring restlessly under the quilt beside him. He snapped his eye shut again.

//Okay, I'm dreaming. That's it! I'm dreaming that I'm in bed with Daniel and Carter's here too. Weird dream. Very weird dream. Odd really that Teal'c..//

"O'Neill, it is 0900 hours. You and DanielJackson have overslept."

//Oh there ya go. The team's all here!//

Jack groaned and slid back down pulling the quilt over his head.

Carter sighed and tugged it back down again. "Sir, I'm gonna go make some coffee. You two had better be up and awake by the time its ready."

"C'fee?" A croaky voice issued from beneath the quilt and Sam tugged it down further to reveal a very sleepy archaeologist.

"Yes coffee, but you have to get up. I'm not serving you boys in bed."

"Shame," muttered Jack as he hauled himself to a sitting position. Things were feeling a little strange to him right now. Firstly, he was on the wrong side of the bed. How the hell had that happened? Secondly, he was half naked in bed with his male team-mate and the other two team-mates didn't seem to be finding this at all odd. He forced both eyes to open if not to focus.

//How much did I have to drink last night?//

Teal'c held the bedroom door open for Carter and tossed Jack an odd look over his shoulder, then the door closed and they were alone. Jack glanced sideways at his friend who was really no closer to consciousness than he had been a minute ago.

//Right, well. it's fine. Nothing to be embarrassed about. I crashed at my friend's house last night and shared a very BIG bed with him; it's nothing to get uptight about. So the other half of my team managed to ambush me whilst still IN that bed. Again nothing to worry about. The others don't seem to think anything is going on. And nothing IS going on. It's fine.//

Jack threw back the quilt and padded after his friends.

Teal'c opened the refrigerator and pulled out the milk carton, handing it to Sam with a small nod of his head. She smiled her thanks then turned back to her task. Teal'c sniffed at the bowl of raw eggs and received a light swat to the back of his bald head as a reprimand for daring to crinkle his nose.

"It smells better once its cooked Teal'c." Sam grinned, whisking a fork through the egg mixture until it was light and fluffy. He merely raised an eyebrow. Jack emerged from the bathroom a moment later and padded barefoot into the kitchen to see what was happening. He could smell toast and coffee and see that Carter was whipping up scrambled eggs. He smiled widely at her.

"Good morning campers."

"Almost ready, sir. Why don't you take some coffee into Daniel?"

Jack glanced nervously at the bedroom door then at the coffee percolator. He seemed lost in thought for a few moments before coming to a decision. He poured two cups and bracing his shoulders, he headed for the bedroom. When the door closed behind him, Teal'c turned to Carter, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I do not understand MajorCarter. If O'Neill spent the night in DanielJackson's bed, does that not make them lovers? And if that is the case, why does he appear so unwilling to return to his lover's arms?"

Sam Carter blushed red to the tips of her ears. She buried her embarrassment in pouring the egg mixture into a pan and placing it on the heat. When her colour had faded sufficiently, she turned back to the patiently waiting Jaffa.

"They're not lovers, Teal'c. Why the hell would you think that?"

Teal'c frowned and retrieved the two pieces of toast from the bunker, where the over enthusiastic toaster had flung them. He selected a knife from the block with the same care he would select a weapon, and answered her question with as much honesty as he could.

"Because, they are obviously attracted to one another. Have you not noticed that MajorCarter? Sometimes the air around them is so thick with sexual tension that it is quite hard to breathe."

"Teal'c. The Colonel is... well he isn't... and Daniel is... they were both. Oh damn it Teal'c, they're both straight."

"Perhaps. However, the attraction exists. When we found them together this morning, I had hoped they had finally come to terms with it."

Sam passed Teal'c the butter and watched as he carefully spread it on the toast. She was way out of her depth here. The truth was that she had noticed the tension between Jack and Daniel, but Air Force policy required her to mind her own god dammed business on that subject. She was really uncomfortable talking about it now, even if Teal'c was a civilian with an entirely different worldview and sense of morality to her own.

Despite having been brought up as an Air Force brat, Sam was remarkable open-minded but the thought of her very Alpha CO and her `little brother' doing the `wild thing' filled her with horror. Her mind just would not take her there!

Teal'c placed the toast onto the large plate with the other slices and folded his hands behind his back. He was about to regale the Major with more of his insightful revelations, when the bedroom door opened and a very mussed looking archaeologist staggered out, clutching a steaming cup to his chest. The cup was empty. Behind him trailed Jack, now clad in Daniel's old sweats and a T-shirt. He was shaking his head and trying to get Daniel to relinquish the cup.

"I swear Danny you must have an asbestos tongue. That coffee was scalding."

Daniel looked distractedly into the empty but still steaming cup and let Jack take it from him. Jack headed to the kitchen for a refill as Sam scooped the scrambled egg into a large bowl. Daniel sniffed the air appreciatively and slid into a chair at the set dining table.

"I thought I was dreaming when I heard your voice, Sam" he yawned, arching his back in a spine cracking stretch. The T-shirt rode up to reveal a large expanse of stomach and Sam surreptitiously turned to see Jack's reaction. Oh boy!

Jack's eyes were glued to the exposed skin, his pupils had dilated so much that there was almost no brown left and his hands were shaking, causing the freshly poured coffee to slosh around in the cups. Sam quickly turned away and brought the bowl of scrambled eggs to the table. A few minutes later and the whole team was seated, silently lost into heir own thoughts.

Daniel was completely oblivious to the tension in the room. He munched appreciatively, thanking Sam for making such a delicious breakfast. She offered a small smile by way of acknowledgement, but watched Jack watching Daniel with a growing sense of impeding doom. Teal'c was right, if these two weren't lovers already, they soon would be.

By lunchtime, the majority of the painting had been finished and the team was admiring their work when Daniel's phone rang. He glanced about, wondering under which dust sheet the phone was hiding. Teal'c saw his confusion and immediately lifted a discarded work shirt to reveal the phone. For such brave and capable warriors, the Tau'ri seemed to have abysmal hearing!

Daniel used the shirt to wipe his paint covered fingers. Teal'c noted the angry look thrown his way by O'Neill. The shirt obviously belonged to him. Daniel seemed oblivious to the glare, smiling his thanks to Teal'c as he took the phone.

"Daniel Jackson. Oh, hello General Hammond. Yes he's here, do you want.Oh! I see. Okay then, yes, yes of course I'll tell him. Yes, thank you, goodbye."

Jack took the phone from Daniel's unresisting fingers and replaced it on the cradle giving his friend a quizzical look. Daniel was frowning and biting his bottom lip, which Jack found unbelievably fascinating. At last, Daniel released the lip and cast his gaze towards Jack.

"That was General Hammond."

"Ya don't say?"

Daniel thrust his hands into his jeans pockets and sighed. "Jack, he just got a call from Sarah. Her father had a heart attack this morning."

The silence in the room was like a tangible thing. Three sets of eyes focused on Jack's face. Their concern radiated out towards him. His eyes seemed to seek out Daniel's which mirrored his sadness with memories of their own.

Sam reached out and squeezed the Colonel's arm in sympathy and Teal'c let his large hand settle on Jack's shoulder, but the Colonel's eyes never left Daniel's. The younger man stepped closer and took Jacks hand in his, squeezing gently.

"He's on the critical list."

Jack's eyes closed. Teal'c understood his pain. He needed to go to his ex-wife and be with her at this time of great sorrow. Teal'c knew a little of his friend's personal history. Knew that Jack had reacted badly to the death of his son and that now he would want to offer his wife the comfort he had been unable to give before. Jack's eyes sought Daniel's again. The younger man stepped back and nodded in silent understanding.

"Sam can drive you home, Jack. You'll need a change of clothes. The General says to take as much time as you need."

Sam nodded and went to find their coats. Teal'c watched his friend and fellow warrior reign control over his emotions and released his grip on the trembling shoulder. He observed Daniel's quiet concern and frowned. This world was indeed strange if it did not allow a love as pure as the love he was witnessing to be acknowledged aloud. He moved back out of their private space and listened to their exchange fondly. Jack was back in control now; the initial shock was wearing off. He was attempting to lighten the mood with his inappropriate use of humour as he so often did.

"The things I'll do to get out of decorating! You be sure and have this finished by the time I get back now."

"We're all coming with you Jack. The painting can wait."

Jack reached out and squeezed the younger man's shoulders tightly, smiling a little sadly and keeping his grip there a little longer than strictly necessary.

"That's okay, Danny. It's a long drive. I don't know how long Sarah will need me so you'd be stuck in a motel or something. There's no need really."

Daniel smiled and crossed his arms over his chest covering the hands that rested lightly on his biceps with his own.

"It's no bother, Jack."

"I should go alone."

Jack shook his head and suddenly Daniel was pulled roughly into his arms, his face buried in the younger man's neck. Daniel held Jack's head gently and rocked him where he stood. Teal'c watched the embrace with a faint smile on his face. A strange world indeed.

Daniel wiped the sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand and reached for his glass of iced water. Bringing the glass to his lips without looking at it, he grimaced, realising that the ice had melted a long time ago and his refreshing drink was now at room temperature. He had managed to get almost all of the books and assorted publications back on their respective shelves, the artefacts were mostly still on the couch and in boxes on the floor but apart from that, his loft was beginning to look more liveable.

It had been two days since Jack had left. Teal'c had remained after Sam had driven Jack home and between them, they had managed to get all the shelves back into place. Teal'c had remained with him for several hours after that, quietly offering his help when Daniel needed it and often when he didn't. Eventually Teal'c asked for Daniel to phone the base and have them send a driver to pick him up. But before he left, he had asked Daniel a very strange question.

At the time, Daniel hadn't really understood, but had answered as best he could. Now though, as he recalled the conversation, he found new levels and layers to the casual question.

"DanielJackson, are there not some things which transcend even the discipline of the service?"

"That's a Star trek quote isn't it? From one of the films? And yes I suppose there are some things that mean more than any man made rule or law."

"Such as?"

Daniel had crossed his arms across his chest and given the question the thought it deserved.

"Loyalty to your friends and family. Honesty, above all else. Love."

"Indeed." Teal'c inclined his head, somehow implying that there was far more to this question than the words chosen with which to ask it could convey. The shrill honking of a car horn outside had cut the conversation short, but Daniel got the impression that Teal'c had said all he was going to say on the matter. He thanked his friend for his help and locked the door behind him.

Sam threw her sports bag into the back seat of her car and slammed the door. The two hour work-out at her favourite gym had done nothing to relive the tension she had been struggling with for days. Usually she could work off the stress in half and hour but nothing had worked today.

She got in and gunned the engine, leaving the parking lot in a flurry of screeching tires. She was going to drive home but once on the road, she found herself heading for Daniel's apartment. She took the stairs two at a time, going over what she would say in her head and coming up blank each time. By the time she was knocking on his door, she was having serious second thoughts about the wisdom of her chosen course of action.

Daniel answered the door wearing nothing but a bath towel draped precariously round his hips. He let the door swing open and ushered her inside. Sam blushed furiously but entered the apartment looking anywhere but at her friend. The first thing she noticed was that the decorating was finished and that almost everything was back in place. The couch was still covered in carefully wrapped artefacts, but all the books seemed to have been put back. She was impressed at the amount of work her friend had achieved.

Daniel headed for his bedroom throwing her an over the shoulder glance as he went. "Help yourself to coffee or anything else you find in the fridge. I won't be a minute."

She wandered around fingering things and seeing, for the first time, Jack's presence all over the loft apartment. A photograph of the team and next to it a photo of Jack by himself, taken when he wasn't looking and capturing him smiling at something off camera; A pile of National Geographic magazines stacked by the couch with the TV remote balanced on top of a copy of a sports guide; A small blue and red striped yo-yo half hidden beneath a garish car magazine featuring the latest 4 wheel drive on the cover with some brain-dead bimbo draped over its hood; A case of Budweiser stored at the bottom of a cupboard along with several large packets of potato chips.

In the bathroom there was further evidence that Jack O'Neill spent time here. Two toothbrushes in a cup. One a plain and practical Oral B and the other a garish blue Monster's Inc Junior featuring Sully's smiling face showing a nice clean and scarily sharp row of teeth. (That would have to be Jack's) She saw two brands of shower gel in the stall and two types of shampoo. She pulled open the medicine cabinet and saw two brands of razors and a large bottle of Jack's prescription pain meds.

And she was sure that if she were in Jack's house right now, she would be finding similar traces of Daniel there too. She quickly washed her hands and emerged from the bathroom as Daniel came out of his room, dressed now in Jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt. He smiled at his friend and padded barefoot into the kitchen to fix coffee.

Sam leaned against the counter and watched him. She loved Daniel. Had for the longest time. That first time way back in the first year of their travels, when they had been brainwashed into believing him dead, she had faced the fact that her team meant the world to her. Daniel was like a little brother, Teal'c a wise uncle and Jack, depending on his mood was a cantankerous father or wilful child! These three men were her life. Her career had made forming lasting relationships almost impossible and until she had made it into the Stargate Program, Sam had hardened herself to a life spent alone. But these men would never allow that.

It was hard not to get too close. She had been attracted to all of them at some level over the years. They all possessed characteristics that she found compelling. Jack was an Alpha Male with a quirky sense of humour, Daniel was sensitive and caring, Teal'c was strong and brave, and that body - woof! They all possessed intelligence and fierce loyalty. A girl would have to be dead not to notice that they all looked dammed fine. But Sam wasn't ready to commit to a relationship with any man right now. She was too involved in her career. She was happy to share their lives to some extent but wanted no deeper commitment from any of them.

Now that she was forced to examine the group dynamic, she could see clearly that Jack and Daniel were so deeply involved with each other that they hardly even needed words to communicate anymore. If she was ever to be a true friend and support these two men if they decided to take their relationship to the next level, then she had to get over this slight feeling of nausea when she thought about them together.

She looked up to see that Daniel was watching her and blushed. Good job one of Daniel's many talents wasn't mind reading. He offered her a tentative smile as he placed a mug of coffee on the counter in front of her.

"Penny for them," he teased lightly. Sam stared into the steam wondering how she could possibly broach the subject when her thoughts were interrupted by the phone on the wall. Daniel rolled his eyes apologetically and grabbed the receiver.

"Jack! Hi. Where are you? Oh right."

Sam sipped her coffee and watched as Daniel's face lit up with joy at the sound of his friend's voice. She heard the teasing tone and gentle words and smiled. It really didn't matter how much she disliked the idea of male/male sex, and it wasn't like they were offering her ring side seats at their first attempt at it! What they did in the privacy of their homes was their business. She saw now that what was important here was getting that smile to stay on Daniel's face for as long as possible. For that, she would put up with just about anything.

Daniel hung up a moment later and offered his friend a smaller version of the room illuminating smile of earlier.

"He's almost home. The roads east of here are still quite bad but his truck can handle it."

"Did he say how Mike and Sarah are?"

Daniel's smile grew a little wider. "Mike is off the critical list and expected to make a full recovery and it seems that Jack needn't have worried about Sarah being alone. Some guy called Ronnie or Lonnie, I didn't quite catch it. She's been seeing him for several months."

"Poor Jack." Sam couldn't begin to imagine how hard it must have been for her CO to find his wife seeing another man.

Daniel patted her hand. "No Sam, he's really happy for her. He always felt he'd let her down badly after Charlie died, and things got so strained between them. He felt she deserved better and in his opinion, this guy is better."

Sam drained her cup and took a deep breath. The subject was as open to debate as it was going to get. She took both of Daniel's hands in her own and smiled encouragingly.

"He deserves better too, don't you think?"

"Well he certainly deserves happiness if that's what you mean."

"You make him happy, Daniel"

Daniel squinted at his friend through hooded brows. He shook his head in confusion and let out a nervous giggle. "I don't know what you mean Sam."

"I think you do."

She got off the bar stool and poured them both a refill from the percolator. Daniel tracked her movements with his eyes, obviously trying to gauge how much she knew and how much she was guessing.

"I would never do anything to break up this team, you guys are my life, my family, but I also would never hurt Jack. I love him Sam. I'm IN love with him."

"I know."

"And you're okay with it?" There was a slight note of hysteria hidden in the deep voice and she almost laughed. Only the fact that Daniel was obviously struggling to keep his emotions in check stopped her.

"I'm getting accustomed to it. I take it Jack knows how you feel?"

"Ah. Well..." it was more of a statement than a true answer but it conveyed everything she needed to know. Jack didn't know that his feelings were reciprocated. And if she were any judge of these things, then Daniel didn't know that he stood a snowballs chance in hell with Jack either. She grinned widely as she set his mug on the counter.

"You guys.! Why don't you leave everything to Aunt Sammy?"

"Oh why do I not like the sound of that?"

"You're insane!"

Daniel's mouth hung open as Sam grabbed the receiver and dialled the base, a huge smile lighting her face.

"I'm telling you Daniel, he wants you too; he just doesn't know he wants you yet."

"Sam, while I truly appreciate what you're trying to do here.." Daniel made a grab for the phone but the light footed Major sidestepped him easily enough, ".I think you have definitely got this wrong. VERY wrong. Jack is straight. I think I would have noticed if he weren't."

Sam was momentarily distracted when the phone was answered.

"Major Carter, put me through to extension 4325, thank you.Teal'c? It's Sam. Get a driver to bring you over to my place, and Teal'c, get dressed up, were going to a nice restaurant. What? Oh err, wear that African ceremonial tunic we got you, that way you'll get away with keeping the skull cap on to cover the tattoo. See you soon."

"Sam..!"

Carter grabbed Daniel and hauled him into his bedroom. She flung open his closet and began raking through the wardrobe, coming up for air a few moments later with a triumphant whoop of delight. Over her arm was slung a dinner suit and a crisp white shirt.

Daniel looked at the suit and shook his head. "That's not mine. Jack stayed over here the night of that big reception at the local hotel. Remember? He got absolutely pickled and I let him crash here? That's what he was wearing. I got it dry-cleaned after he puked all over it. He went home the next day wearing my chinos."

"Okay, Jack can wear this then." Sam grinned and launched herself at the closet again with renewed determination. "Aha! This!"

She held a Charcoal Grey Armani suit and electric blue silk shirt up for Daniel's inspection. He blushed and tried to remove the shirt from her reluctant fingers.

"Jack bought me that as a joke. It was never going to see the light of day."

She made one final foray and came out dangling another silk shirt, this time in cream. It was similar to the blue one but at least it was more subdued. He nodded in approval and she laid the clothing out on the bed.

"Okay, I need to go home and get changed. I'll fill Teal'c in on his role on the way back here."

"Sam. This is ridiculous. If we have to do this, why does it have to be Teal'c?"

"We've been over this Daniel. Jack knows I won't jeopardise my career by getting involved with a fellow team member, but you and Teal'c are both civilians so he can't say a dammed thing about it. Besides, seeing you with another man will tip him over the edge, you'll see."

She kissed him reassuringly on the cheek and herded him towards the bathroom.

"Go. Shower. We'll be back in an hour. If Jack gets here first, tell him you're taking us out to thank us for the help decorating. He'll buy that."

"Wow!"

"Is my appearance satisfactory?"

Sam grabbed Teal'c by one impressive bicep and pulled him into her hall, closing the door behind him with a bang. The driver had been getting an eyeful of half naked and still damp Carter. Teal'c didn't seem in the slightest bit embarrassed to be talking to a towel draped Major, in her hall.

"You look great, Teal'c. Make yourself at home while I finish getting dressed, okay?"

Teal'c chose to sit on one of the dining room chairs, finding the Tau'ri sofas to be very bad for his posture. Sam emerged from her bedroom a couple of minutes later clad in a full length evening gown in midnight blue shot through with sparking threads of sliver. She was struggling with the zipper and Teal'c, a recent convert to the wonders of the zip fastener, offered to help. As he carefully fastened the dress, mindful not to catch her skin, Sam outlined the evening's plan. She turned to see his reaction and was surprised to see him smiling a little enigmatic smile.

"This strategy has great merit MajorCarter. I believe its chances of success are high. Is DanielJackson in agreement?"

Sam grabbed the chiffon wrap from the back of a chair and fished in her handbag for her car keys.

"You won't get a slap in the face, put it that was Teal'c."

"Not from DanielJackson at any rate." Teal'c stated as he opened the front door and allowed Sam to precede him out.

Jack looked absolutely stunning. Those were the only words Daniel could think of to describe his friend's appearance in that suit. The first time he'd seen Jack wear it, at the reception in question, Daniel had had to fight down the urge to push his best friend up against a convenient wall and hump his leg! The only thing that got him hotter was seeing Jack in the full dress blues compete with hat. Throw in the sexy aviator shades and Daniel was a basket case in need of an oxygen mask.

Jack emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of `Obsession for men', looking like James Bond and gave Daniel a twirl. "How do I look?"

//absolutely fucking shaggable//

"Fine, Jack."

The Colonel smiled and tilted his head towards Daniel, still dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. "I'm thinking this fancy restaurant will have some issues with your attire though?"

Daniel glanced down at his clothes and smiled lopsidedly. He had pulled these on after his shower. He glanced nervously at his bedroom door, thinking of the silk shirt. Too obvious? He looked at Jack who was admiring his own reflection in the full length hall mirror. The door bell chose that moment to ring and Daniel fled for the bedroom, not wanting to get Sam annoyed that he wasn't even dressed yet. Jack sing-songed at his retreating back

"I'll get it"

The waiter snapped shut the wine menu and gave the group a small bow. "Excellent choice sir." He enthused at Daniel, who fortunately knew enough about wine not to make a complete fool out of them all.

When he had gone, Jack began fiddling idly with the silverware. "I brought Sarah here once. Nearly bankrupted me."

Daniel sat opposite at the discreet booth table. Next to him sat Teal'c and next to Jack, Sam. Jack wasn't sure how that had happened, but it seemed to hinge around Teal'c getting in his way when he tried to slip in next to Daniel. Sam had been powdering her nose at the time so he had been forced to take the seat opposite his friend. He had glared at Teal'c for several minutes but had been studiously ignored by the large Jaffa.

Daniel shifted in his seat and rested his hand on the crisp white linen tablecloth next to Teal'cs. Jack's eyes settled on the two hands lying next to each other then tracked back up to Daniel's smiling blue eyes. The archaeologist leaned a little closer and said in a hushed voice,

"It IS a little dear. Did you notice that there were no prices listed on the menu? If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it."

Jack saw a minute movement and his eyes fell to the two hands across the table from him. Was it his imagination, or had Teal'c's pinkie moved closer to Daniel's. Jack cleared his throat and looked back up, but those baby blues where no longer focused on him. They were glittering merrily at Teal'c. Jack gaped and glanced between them. Sam broke the awkward moment.

"Which is why you have to let us help pay for it, Daniel."

Again was it his imagination, or did Daniel have to DRAG his eyes away from the big guy?

"Hmmm? Oh no, really it's no problem Sam. I wanted to thank you all for working so hard. I couldn't have done it alone. Thanks guys."

The waiter chose that moment to return with their wine and made a huge production out of pouring a taster glass for Daniel who made an equally huge production out of tasting it and showing how much he appreciated the flavour. Jack watched unenthusiastically as the waiter poured them all a glass, wishing he could ask for a beer but knowing from his last visit here, that it wouldn't go down well with the Maitre'D.

It was a while before their entrée arrived. The one thing that really put Jack off this place last time, apart from the cost and the elitist attitude of the serving staff, was the amount of time everything took. A man could die of starvation waiting to be fed. He wished again that Daniel had offered to take them to a steak house as a reward instead of here.

The servers fussed around, placing food before them, and then discreetly left. Jack glared at his melon. It had been cut into tiny balls and replaced in the half skin, doused in something that smelt vaguely alcoholic and garnished with what looked like an exotic orchid. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to eat it or wear it behind his ear. In the end he presented it to Carter. She was having salmon pate', Teal'c and Daniel were having.

Jack stared at the plates before the two men. Oysters. They were having oysters. Even before he could fully articulate the thoughts beginning to form in his head, Daniel had scooped up one of the slimy oysters and without taking his eyes off Teal'c, he tossed it back. Jack watched in rapt fascination as the other man's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and mirrored Daniel's motions, right down to the intense staring into the eyes bit. Jack's mouth went dry. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stand on end. Daniel was flirting. With Teal'c. Damn!

By the time the plates were empty Jack was close to meltdown. He was oblivious to the amused glances being cast in his direction from Sam. The next course arrived and Jack was momentarily distracted by the smell wafting up from his plate. He would have preferred one of O'Malley's T-Bones, but in a pinch, Steak au poivre would do. He closed his eyes and sniffed the aroma appreciatively, a small sigh of pleasure escaping his lips. His eyes fluttered open to find Daniel staring at him intently. He smiled and Daniel grinned back. Suddenly, he felt Daniel's foot bump against his under the table.

Then the moment evaporated as the waited placed Daniel's spaghetti al Forno before the younger man. Jack gaped at the dish disbelievingly. He's seen Daniel eat spaghetti before and it was a culinary experience he really could do without in such tight quarters. He grabbed his steak knife and attacked his meal with some force.

Teal'c had ordered a steak too, and Carter, Canard a L'Orange. They ate in silence for a while, and then Jack made the mistake of glancing across the table. Daniel loved spaghetti. His eyes were closed in supplication as he slowly sucked an errant strand into his mouth. Jack watched open-mouthed, as the spaghetti slowly disappeared inside leaving a tiny drop of tomato sauce adorning Daniel's full lips. His focus narrowed until all he could see was that tiny drop of red. Then the pink tongue snaked out and tried to swipe the sauce away. As Jack sat transfixed, Teal'c leaned closer and removed the sauce himself, popping his finger into his mouth and smiling at Daniel suggestively. Jack couldn't take it anymore.

"Excuse me Sam. Nature calls."

How Jack made it through the next hour he would never know. The flirting got more outrageous as the night went on and a couple of times, Jack had to excuse himself and go to the men's room to splash cold water on his face.

On the last of such occasions, Sam waggled her eyebrows suggestively at Daniel once she was sure the Colonel was well out of earshot. "Believe me now Daniel?"

Daniel drained the contents of his wine glass in one swallow and reached for the almost empty bottle to refill it. He had managed to put away more than his fair share of the wine, obviously storing up Dutch courage. The dessert course had been a bit of a give away as far as Jack's feelings were concerned. Daniel had ordered Teal'c's favourite, apple pie a la mode, and proceeded to feed it to the Jaffa from his own spoon.

Jack had decided to forgo dessert altogether and sat in morose silence, watching his two friend's antics with barely concealed fury. At one point, Daniel was sure he could see hurt in those expressive brown eyes but it was hidden as soon as it showed. He would have come clean right there and then, but Teal'c, who had requested a fruit basket for dessert, was doing strange things to a banana, and he had become distracted again.

Now he looked at his friend searchingly and shook his head. "I don't know Sam; he just looks kinda pissed to me. Maybe he's freaked out watching Teal'c and I."

"Canoodle." Teal'c supplied helpfully which earned him a double take from both Daniel and Sam.

"Yes.er, thanks Teal'c. What he said!"

Sam leaned closer and gave Daniel her most piercing stare.

"He's jealous as hell. Daniel. Trust me here. Are you ready to proceed to Phase Two?"

Daniel pulled his wallet out and waved his hand at the nearest waiter. The man nodded his understanding and went to get the bill.

In the men's room, Jack rested his head against the cold white tiles and tried to get a grip on himself. There was no doubt left in his mind that Daniel and Teal'c were involved. He wondered how long it had been going on and how the hell he could have missed the signs? He had assumed Daniel was happily straight because he showed no interest in his CO. How arrogant had that been? Daniel was attracted to men alright, just not; it would appear, to Jack. And, the tired Colonel admitted in the privacy of his own head, Teal'c was a far better catch than he was!

He straightened up and slapped his palm against the unyielding wall. What difference did it make anyway? Jack couldn't be involved with another guy, not while he was still in the Air Force. He'd made certain promises, sworn oaths. He had been faithful to the flag. Daniel had always been the one man he would have broken the rules for, but he had managed for nearly four years now to get by on friendship alone. In that time, he's watched the younger man get into several fleeting relationships with women, but that had never hurt the way this did.

He ran a shaky hand through his already ruffled hair and sighed. Daniel deserved to be happy and so did Teal'c. He had to be strong, and get the hell though this evening so that he could spend the rest of the night getting drunk at home.

By the time Jack returned to the table, Daniel was signing the credit card receipt. Jack frowned in confusion.

"Sir, Daniel has suggested we all go back to his house for coffee. It's a bit cheaper there."

"Do you have any beer?"

Jack really, really needed beer right now. Daniel blushed deeply and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"In that case, let's move the party to my place."

The Maitre'D arrived at their table and presented Daniel back his card on a small silver tray and told them that their taxi was waiting outside. He bowed politely as they left despite the dirty look Jack threw him.

Sam was a little drunk. She slumped against Teal'c who was sitting next to her on Jack's sofa and tried not to giggle. Daniel had planted himself on the floor in front of Teal'c who was currently running his fingers though the archaeologist's hair. Jack sat on a chair at the other side of the room glaring at the Jaffa angrily. Sam was beginning to think this wasn't such a great idea.

Although she had drank the coffee Jack made her, she had soon progressed onto bottles of Bud, feeling a little odd drinking from the bottle while clad in the flowing evening gown. Jack didn't seem to be making much of a dent on his own bottle, only managing the occasional sip while glaring at the antics of the other two men. Daniel was just drunk enough to be feeling uninhibited and was almost purring under the big guys gently stroking hands. He was happier than Sam had seen him in ages, obviously feeling relaxed and glad to be sharing this time with his friends.

She was feeling a little glad and sappy herself. These guys were the best friends a girl could ask for. They were brave and loyal and fiercely protective of their team and she loved them all too little tiny bits. Then she slid down Teal'c arm, her head coming to rest face down in his lap. Teal'c looked at the blonde head nestled in his groin and raised an eyebrow.

"I believe MajorCarter had passed out O'Neill."

"Ya don't say." Drawled Jack sarcastically, getting up from the chair and helping the other two men to sit Carter up.

"Damned scientists can't handle their booze!" he said almost under his breath as he scooped up the nearly comatose woman and headed for the spare room. Teal'c followed to offer moral support. Jack laid Sam down carefully on the bed and frowned. If she spent the night sleeping in that frock, it would be ruined. Gingerly he began to search for a way to peel her out of it but before he could find one, the large Jaffa knelt down beside him.

"If you are searching for the zip fastener, it is located here O'Neill" said Teal'c lifting Carter's arm and indicating the concealed fasteners location with a tilt of his head. Jack's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"How the hell did you know that?"

"I helped the Major into these clothes earlier." He said innocently. Jack got to his feet and headed for the bedroom door saying to Teal'c as he passed him, "then you can help her out of them now big guy."

In the living room, Jack ignored Daniel and began collecting up the empty coffee cups and beer bottles. He could feel Daniel's eyes watching him as he padded back and forth between there and the kitchen. Eventually he sat back down in his chair and looked at his friend for the first time. There was no way he could avoid this moment. Knowing Daniel the way he did, it was only a matter of time before his friend spilled his guts about Teal'c and frankly, Jack would rather hear it on his own terms.

"So, Daniel. How long?"

"How long what?"

Daniel was having real trouble concentrating on Jack's words. His eyes were riveted to the enticing wisp of chest hair poking out from the unbuttoned white shirt. Jack had lost the tie and jacket the moment they had arrived at his house. Within moments the shoes and socks had been discarded and the top three buttons undone. Jack had then sighed, obviously feeling far more comfortable.

Daniel, on the other hand, was feeling far from comfortable, especially in the boxer short department. He had spent the remainder of the evening on the floor at Teal'c feet with his knees drawn up to hide his erection. Why the hell did Jack have to look so good in everything he wore?

"You and T. I take it this is a relatively new thing? He didn't rip my head off when he found us in bed the other morning so I figure it's just getting started?"

Daniel gulped. Much though he'd enjoyed watching Jack's reaction to seeing him flirt with Teal'c, Daniel wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the deception. He was considering how best to come clean, when the big guy himself rejoined his friends in the living room.

"I have successfully divested MajorCarter of her clothing and placed her within your spare bed O'Neill."

Jack snorted and shook his head. Despite everything, Teal'c sense of comic timing never failed to raise a grin. His matter-of-fact report detailing getting Sam separated form her kit brought smiles to both his lips and Daniel's. He wondered if Danny had been giving the Jaffa lessons. And in what subject. That thought wiped the smile off his face.

Daniel got up and stretched. He went over to stand next to Teal'c but his eyes were on Jack.

"Well I suppose we should be going. It's very late. Can you drive me home Teal'c?"

"I cannot."

Two sets of eyes snapped round to look at the impassive face. Teal'c shrugged.

"I have learned how to operate your land vehicles, but the weather conditions are beyond my experience and at MajorCarter's insistence, I drank two glasses of wine in the restaurant. I do not believe I should attempt to drive under these circumstances."

"Oh right, of course you're right. We should phone a taxi."

Jack looked down at his shoes and then back up at the two men standing before him. He swallowed hard and made a difficult decision.

"You should stay." He looked directly into Daniel's wide eyes, "I'll take the couch."

"O'Neill." The deep voice halted him half way across the living room. He stood there, unable to turn and face his friend and his shoulders hunched. He wanted happiness for Daniel, and if that could be found in Teal'c arms, then so be it. Just don't ask Jack to look them in the eyes anytime soon. Teal'c walked up and placed a hand on his friends shoulder.

"I require several hours of Kel Noreem. I would prefer to remain here. You are welcome to sleep on the couch if that is your wish, but you might be more comfortable in your own bed."

Jack glanced at Daniel and let his head hang again.

"Fine, I'll take the bed."

He really didn't want to think what his two friends would get up to on the couch and it really was none of his business. He went into the kitchen and pulled out a handful of candles from a drawer which he tossed to Teal'c. He wanted to tell them that he was happy for them, but he was too tired and too soul weary to get the words out. Besides, it wasn't true anyway. He gave them both another searching look and headed for his bedroom.

Jack tugged open his trousers and let them slip to the floor. He looked down at his boxers then roughly pulled them off too, throwing them into the corner of the room then kicking his discarded suit trousers in the same direction. Then off came the shirt, which he roughly wadded into a ball and threw after his trousers with considerable force. He would regret that in the morning no doubt. The suit had cost him nearly a month's wages. He stood naked in the middle of his dark bedroom, staring out the window. The snow covered world outside mocked him with its purity. He felt the darkness within him knot and twist in his gut as he thought about Daniel and.

It was too hard. He stumbled to the window, intending to pull the drapes closed, but the huge silver moon caught his attention. He so rarely saw it these days that its pale shimmering beauty took his breath away. He braced his hands against the window pane and let his head rest on the cool glass.

Daniel had never seen anything so beautiful. Jack stood naked and magnificent, framed against the window, bathed in the moonlight, hair shimmering as he swayed back and forth, lost in thought. He closed the door silently behind him and padded barefoot across the room. It was a measure of Jack's preoccupation that Daniel made it almost to his side before the Colonel was even aware of him. Spinning round, the older man gasped in surprise to find Daniel behind him.

"Jack?" Daniel's voice was low and questioning.

"Dammit Daniel, you scared the shit out of me!"

Daniel's eyes drifted downwards, noticing that the other man's chest was rising and falling in rapid panting breaths like he had just had a fright. But Daniel's eyes refused to stop there. Jack had the most amazing body Daniel had ever seen. Wide muscular shoulders, a faint sprinkling of wiry silver hairs on a broad chest that stood out against the darkness of his skin. For someone that spent so much time under a mountain, Jack somehow managed to keep that `Coppertone' look. Small dark brown nipples, erect now in the coldness of the bedroom, a trail of soft hair tapering down over tight stomach muscles and narrow hips to darken in a mass of curly.

"Daniel?"

"You're naked."

"You're very observant."

"I'm an archaeologist. We're trained to notice things. You're also shivering."

Jack stormed past his friend and pulled his silk robe from the back of his bedroom door. The cold fabric slid across his heated skin and he quickly sat on the bed and crossed his legs.

"If you're looking for you're your spare PJs, I'm afraid they're in with Carter. I'm sure Teal'c would be happy to get them for you."

Daniel plonked himself down beside his friend and turned to face him, his leg brushing against the other man's naked calf.

"Actually, I came to say sorry."

"Yeah? What the hell have you got to be sorry about? You're little performance at the restaurant nearly gave me a god dammed coronary; but apart form that, I'm happy for you, really I am."

Jack inched further across the bed until his left butt cheek was almost hanging off the edge. He really wished that Daniel would go away and leave him to his misery, but this was so typical of Daniel. This `need' to make sure that everyone was okay.

"Ah! About that, Jack"

"Oysters, Daniel? I'm not dim. I got the message."

"Yes, I thought you might."

"Look, you don't have to apologise for getting a life Daniel. If you're worried that it's freaking me out, it isn't. I'm cool with the whole guy/guy thing."

Daniel reached out and grabbed a handful of silk lapel. For an instant, Jack thought he might be about to see a rare glimpse of the alpha male Daniel kept hidden from the world. But Daniel just slipped his thumb under the fabric and ran it across the older man's collar bone. Jack shivered.

"I'm glad about that Jack, because now I know I won't get a sock in the mouth when I do this."

Jack didn't have time to react to the words, Daniel surged forward, taking his lips in a kiss so full of passion and longing that it curled his toes. Daniel's hand buried itself in the cool folds of silk and forced the robe roughly over Jack's shoulder. His other hand slid right under the material and glided over Jack's nipple, one finger at a time, achingly slowly, until the thumb closed on the sensitive nub and squeezed.

Jack's body reacted then, a bolt of pleasure ripped though him from the assaulted nipple to his groin and he dragged his lips from Daniel's, a groan breaking free as his head shot back. Daniel sunk his teeth into the exposed throat and Jack lost it.

In an instant, Daniel was flat on his back, Jack looming over him and pinning him to the mattress, his shaking hands, holding onto the broad shoulders with bruising force. Mere inches separated their faces. Jack's eyes were black and unreadable in the darkened room. He was panting with desire and his hips were rocking back and forth despite his obvious attempts to hold back.

"Daniel," he gasped, his eyes darting between the other man's hypnotising blue ones, "You and Teal'c?"

"It was all Sam's idea." Daniel sighed, waiting for the shoe to drop. Jack pulled back a fraction, enough to look into his friend's eyes properly.

"You set me up?"

Suddenly Daniel was alone on the bed. He rolled onto his side and watched as Jack angrily paced the room, silk robe flapping around his legs as he turned.

"I didn't believe them. They told me you were attracted to me only I couldn't accept it. I told them you were straight but..."

Jack stopped pacing and pulled Daniel up from the bed. They stood toe to toe, reading between the lines, learning new truths, accepting. Then Jack smiled and pulled Daniel into his arms. Against the top of his friend's head he whispered,

"I'm gay, Daniel, non-practicing."

Daniel couldn't help it, he giggled. Burying his face in Jack's exposed neck he snorted with merriment.

"Thank god one of us knows what he's doing then."

Jack wrapped his arms tightly around his friend and let his hips gyrate against Daniel's fledging erection. He smiled into the soft brown hair when he heard the younger man's gasp of pleasure and smiled.

"Oh, I know what to do Daniel. It's been 25 years since I was last with a guy, but I have a good memory."

Daniel tilted his head up and lost himself for a moment in chocolate brown eyes full of devilment.

"That's a long time Jack."

"I gave up guys to get my wings. I stayed straight to keep them, and then I met Sarah. I really loved her Daniel. Like you loved Sha'ure."

Daniel smiled and stole a small kiss.

"However, that's not the problem. We have house guests. And we don't want to wake them."

Daniel pulled back, a look of confusion on his face.

"Wake them?"

"You and Teal'c have got me so fucking horny that nothing short of `10' on the Richter scale is going to satisfy me now. If the Earth doesn't move, I'll get the Asgard to tow it! Oh and I intend to make you scream, Dannyboy!"

It was difficult to tell in the diffused glow of moonlight, but Jack thought Daniel might actually be blushing. Sweet!

"Am I disturbing you, Teal'c?"

"No. I was disturbed already."

Sam lowered herself gingerly to the floor beside her friend and looked at him quizzically.

"For the same reason you yourself appear to have been disturbed," he answered, casting a telling glance in the direction of the master bedroom. Sam's jaw dropped open.

"You can hear that from here?"

"They make little attempt to stifle their enthusiasm."

Sam flushed red to the roots of her hair. Teal'c must have exceptional hearing to have picked up the frenzied cries and moans from way down here in the living room. They were being a bit on the loud side, probably thinking that a full scale nuclear alert would not rouse the drunken Major. Of course, what they didn't know was that her earlier collapse had been planned in advance, as a way of forcing Jack and Daniel into the same bed, hence the reason Teal'c offered to undress her. The moment O'Neill had left, she had stripped herself quite efficiently and pulled on the sweat pants and t-shirt they had located in a drawer which obviously belonged to Daniel.

Now they sat quietly staring into the flickering candle light. Teal'c watched the major from the corner of his eye.

"Are you not pleased for them, MajorCarter?"

"Yeah, I guess so Teal'c. But I'm never staying over with them again. My nerves are shattered."

As if on cue, there was a crash from the bedroom, and the sound of something impacting against the wall repeatedly, and she could definitely hear Daniel's voice this time. Clear as a bell.

"Jack!.Oh GOD Jack!.yes!.yes.YES!!!"

Then Jack's deep baritone, "Danny.!Oh Jesusfuckinchrist!"

Teal'c got up and went over to Jack's hi-fi. He opened a drawer and pulled out two sets of earphones. "Do you prefer classical or jazz Major?"

She cast an amused look towards the master bedroom door which was now rattling against its hinges. Any minute now, it would collapse into the hall, depositing the two men in a heap. She smiled at the image and turned back towards the waiting Jaffa.

"Anything, just play it LOUD!"