Perhaps if he hadn't been dying of embarrassment, Daniel might have taken the time to ask Jack what was wrong, but his head was spinning. He let the water out of the tub, helped Jack out, and wrapped a towel around him, all without looking him in the eye or anyplace else. Not a word passed between them.

Jack took his terrycloth robe off the back of the bathroom door, handing Daniel his shirt that was also on the hook. Slipping the shirt on, Daniel rummaged in the clothing pile for something dry to put on. His own jeans were sopping wet, but Jack's were dry. They were a bit snug on him, but at least they covered him, which was all he really cared about at that point. When he turned back, Jack had slid into the robe and belted it around his waist.

Daniel opened the bathroom door and stood back, letting Jack lead the way into the living room, where the fire crackled merrily in the grate.

"I need a drink," Jack growled, going to stand in front of the flames. Daniel watched him for a moment, hypnotized by the play of firelight on Jack's face. Then with a little shake of his head, he fled to the kitchen.

Jack kept a bottle of Drambuie in a cupboard for emergencies. If she found out about it, Janet would have his head on a stick for letting Jack into the hard stuff, but Daniel thought it was worth risking her wrath, given the events of the evening. He poured out a good measure into two glasses.

Back in the living room, Jack was in the same position as Daniel had left him, staring blankly into the flames, eyes unfocused and empty.

When Daniel came to stand beside him and held out a glass, Jack turned, looked at the whiskey and raised his wrists, reminding Daniel that even something as simple as taking the glass was beyond him right then.

Daniel slowly lifted the glass to Jack's lips, allowing him to use his bandaged hands to steady his own. Jack's eyes met Daniel's over the crystal rim, lingering for a moment before he tipped back his head, forcing Daniel a step closer. He drained the smoky liquid in three gulps.

Daniel watched Jack's throat contract as he swallowed, and suddenly heat flooded him again. He had the overwhelming urge to sink his teeth into Jack's neck, sucking the skin till it went red and left a mark. Oh, God! His cock twitched again with renewed interest, reminding him that Jack may have just gotten off, but he hadn't.

Jack released his hand, and Daniel stepped backwards, blinking in confusion. He raised his own glass and swallowed the fiery whiskey, satisfied with the burn it trailed over his tongue and down his throat. It seemed like every nerve ending in his entire body was firing at the same time.

"Put the glasses down," Jack ordered softly. Daniel reached out and put them on the mantelpiece, never taking his eyes off Jack's face.

"Damn! I swore I wouldn't do this," Jack muttered, fiddling with the loose end of one of his bandages, "but I can't stand it any longer. There're some things I should probably have told you long before now."

Now Daniel really was confused. Suddenly Jack seemed to be having a hard time looking him in the eye. "Jack...?"

"Shush, please, just... gimme a minute." Jack turned away from Daniel to stare into the fire. "It's time for the truth." He swallowed a couple of times and took a deep breath. "So here goes. Daniel, I sabotaged your date."

"My date... you mean with Nate?" Daniel frowned. Part of him wanted to step back, out of Jack's personal space, but he thought better of it and actually leaned in a little closer. At Jack's small nod of affirmation, he shook his head in confusion. "But how?"

"Got a friend of mine to come on to him in a bar before he met you, buy him drinks, get him shit faced..." While he spoke, Jack slowly unwound the loose, damp bandage, dropping it to the floor with a sigh of relief.

Daniel remembered how Nate had already been drinking when they met up, and how much of a turn off that had been. That had been Jack's doing? His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and then rapidly slid into another frown as anger replaced the faint haze of desire that had had him dazed.

"You bastard!" He remembered seeing Jack in the parking lot with that geeky looking guy, and now could put two and two together. Jack had sabotaged Daniel's date, and then gone home to fuck some guy he'd picked up in a bar? This time Daniel did step back, putting a little space between them. "Why, Jack?" he asked coldly. "Why would you do that to me?"

" 'Cause he wasn't good enough for you," Jack sighed, turning back to face Daniel once more. "No one is."

Whatever else Jack had been expecting, it clearly wasn't Daniel's guffaw of laughter. Unable to stand there and hear Jack's bullshit a second longer, he bolted for the hallway. By the time he reached the spare room, he was close to hysteria.

Jack was hot on his heels, and they slammed into the room together. "Dammit, Daniel, why are you laughing? Pouring my heart out here. I'm a little confused."

"You're confused?" Daniel whirled around, his eyes wide and wild. "You showed up at my house and gave me a bag of condoms!"

Jack couldn't seem to drag his eyes away from Daniel's lips. "You saying you would have preferred flowers? I can do flowers, if you want. Or candy. Condoms are just a bit more macho is all..."

Daniel surged forward, one hand on Jack's shoulder and the other clamped firmly over Jack's mouth to shut him the hell up. "For my date with Nate... you gave me condoms for a date with a man that you felt wasn't good enough for me. What the fuck? I don't get you."

Jack mumbled something against Daniel's palm, sending little shockwaves of desire coursing through him with every movement of Jack's lips against the sensitive flesh. He let his hands drop as though they'd been burned.

"It was an excuse to see you," Jack told him, eyes glittering with anger. "But I also had to make sure you were gonna be all right. If things did get physical, I just wanted to be sure you were protected."

Daniel gaped. On the one hand, that was kind of sweet. But on the other hand, it was just another example of how Jack thought Daniel couldn't look after himself. "And what about the guy in the parking lot?"

"What the hell are you talking about? What guy?" Jack was clawing at his one remaining bandage, trying to work his fingernail under the material, and Daniel almost felt some pity for him. He supposed the bandages must have gotten wet after all.

"I saw you..." Daniel said flatly, pulling out his underwear drawer in the search for something clean to wear. "...in the parking lot. With some guy with glasses."

At Jack's snort, Daniel whirled around to face him, a pair of plaid boxer shorts dangling from each hand.

"You mean Ed? Short guy, gold glasses, and floppy brown hair?" Jack grabbed one of the pairs of boxers and tried to wriggle into them. Daniel nodded dumbly, amazed at how cool Jack was being.

"I was taking him home, all right," Jack grinned, finally getting the elastic up past his knees. "He was the friend I was telling you about, the one who hit on your date. I promised I'd drive him home safe and sound to his boyfriend afterwards."

Daniel let the boxers he still had clutched in his hand drop to the floor. "You're kidding?" he wheezed.

Jack sat down on the bed, breathing hard, and pulled the boxers up to mid thigh. He had a look of determination about him, like he was not about to lose the battle with his underwear. "I'm not kidding. Ed was an old friend of Sara's. He owed me a favor."

Daniel turned his back on Jack and tried to reign in his anger. This explained a lot, actually. A whole lot. "And my second date?" he asked through clenched teeth, watching Jack squirming in the dresser mirror.

"You had a second date? I didn't even know about that one."

Okay, so that time, Nate had been an asshole all by himself, even without Jack's intervention, but at this point, that was neither here not there.

"And if I had, I'd have threatened the smug bastard with reassignment!"

Daniel spun around, anger and shock warring with the sight of Jack lying back on the bed trying to get the boxers up over his groin.

"You... you don't have the authority to..."

"He wouldn't have known that, Daniel. Jesus FUCK can you at least HELP me a little here?"

Daniel walked to the end of the bed and stared down at a panting, frustrated Jack O'Neill. He tried not to give Jack's twitching cock more than a cursory glance. Reaching down, he grabbed Jack's forearms and hauled him roughly to his feet. One quick tug, and Jack was decently covered. He flopped back down on to the bed with a sigh. His other bandage now flapped like a flag in the breeze and it was only a matter of time before it came off too.

"Oh my God!" Daniel exclaimed as a sudden thought occurred to him. "Paul Davis? Tell me you didn't..."

Jack had the good grace to blush. "He was in on it from the start. Paul and I had a history a long time ago, but we're still good friends. He didn't want to get involved, but he was the only one I could talk to about it."

"In on it? In on what, for crissake?" Daniel's mouth fell open. "The blond in the club? Tell me that wasn't a set up."

Jack actually smiled, the bastard! "Ah. Now, that was nothing to do with me. Lucien gave me a few hairy moments back there, but I didn't think you'd be interested in that scene. Snake, on the other hand, was all my idea."

Jack was trying to struggle upright using his elbows, but one well-placed shove had him sprawling again, and Daniel quickly crawled on top, glowering down at him, his unbuttoned shirt dangling down. Immediately, Jack's arms slid inside, winding around him, holding him in place.

He could feel the rough bandage scraping the skin of his back, and the terry cloth of Jack's robe grazed his chest where his shirt and the robe had both fallen open. The tiny wiry hairs on Jack's chest rasped against his nipples, and he could feel every single breath Jack took. In other circumstances, there was little doubt he would have been very aroused by it all.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Daniel hissed, "What gives you the right?" As he spoke, Daniel roughly pulled Jack's arms up over his head, one by one, too angry to care that it must hurt, but Jack just lay still, gazing sadly up at him in the gloom.

Daniel couldn't drag his eyes away from Jack's. As he watched, they went from warm amber to black, pupils dilating with need and lust. Not goofing around. Not joking. Not playing some weird 'Jackian' mind game. Jack thrust his hips gently upwards. He was hard. Very hard. Rigid, actually.

"Oh. My. God!" Daniel gasped when he felt Jack's cock graze against him. How the hell could Jack be hard again so soon? The man was a monster.

"Feel that?" Jack hissed, doing it again, burying his face in Daniel's neck. Daniel closed his eyes. Feel it? Oh, god, yes. He could feel it, all right! "That's what you do to me, Daniel."

"Shit!" Daniel muttered under his breath. His legs were trembling. Jack never talked to him like this. Jack was his friend. His best friend... his... Oh, SHIT! "But you already... you came already," he whispered weakly.

"Barely took the edge off, Daniel. When it comes to your ass, I think I could go all night." Then Jack did what Daniel had been fantasizing about earlier. He opened his mouth and sank his teeth into Daniel's throat, sucking hard.

Hardly able to credit the growl of pleasure that escaped him, Daniel finally gave in and slumped against Jack. "Jesus, Jack, are you saying you want to fuck me?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Daniel regretted the coarseness of the words. They echoed around the room, accusing, harsh, raw. He reared back and looked into Jack's face.

Jack's eyes narrowed to slits, glittering in darkness. "No, Daniel, that's not what I'm saying!"

"Then..."

"I want to make love with you! Hell, if a nameless fuck was all I wanted, don't you think I could have found someone a little more willing to accommodate me? Daniel... Jesus, I...I..."

Jack's fingers flexed a little over the top of the one remaining bandage, and Daniel belatedly saw that he was hurting his friend. In more ways than one. He released his grip a little, watching the relief flood over Jack's face.

Jack closed his eyes, and then let them flutter open again. "I'm in love with you. Have been for years, you clueless bastard!"

Daniel actually gasped in shock. "Whaaaaa?" he spluttered indignantly.

Jack arched his body against Daniel, showing him exactly what the contact was doing to him. "I said, I love you, Daniel," he whispered sadly. "I really hoped that you'd buy a clue one day, but I guess that's just not gonna happen. I'm sorry."

Daniel's mouth opened and closed a few more times before Jack decided to twist and roll them both over, reversing their positions. Daniel was still in too much shock to object. He lay motionless with Jack settled between his spread legs. He stared up into his friend's eyes.

Daniel gulped. Jack loved him? Wow. That was... that was... well, that was kinda cool, actually. Hesitantly, he slid his hands down Jack's back and let them rest on his ass. He could feel the muscles moving under his palms. Jack's hips pushed against him gently. Strangely, it didn't feel threatening, even though he was all but trapped underneath the other man.

"Jack, I'm speechless," he whispered, feeling his body begin to respond to the friction. He might never have looked at Jack this way before, but Jack was his friend, his buddy, and sure he cared, he cared a lot. Okay, okay, if push came to shove, he'd have to admit that he loved Jack. They'd been through a lot, been there for each other too many times to count. He'd stepped in front of a staff weapon for Jack almost the moment they'd met, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

"I finally found a way to shut you up? Cool." Jack's lips twitched, but Daniel could see the sadness in his eyes. Jack had interpreted Daniel's immobility as a rejection. He'd assumed that Daniel didn't feel the same way, and it was breaking his heart. It was all there in those expressive brown eyes.

Daniel gulped again. While his body might want this, his head was putting up a fight, and his heart... well, his heart was just desperately trying to escape his chest right now. He had to be honest. "Jack, this is all just too weird."

Jack's eyes fell to Daniel's lips, and he sighed wistfully. "I guess you're right. If you've never thought about this in five years, then you clearly never will. I shouldn't have said anything."

Before he could think about what he was about to do, Daniel let go of Jack's ass and slipped both hands up to cup his face. "Wait! Not so fast! Kiss me." Jack couldn't just tell him he was loved then get up and walk away! That wasn't how it worked, surely?

"What?" Jack croaked, trying to pull away, "I don't think that'd be such a good idea, Danny."

"Please, just one kiss."

Jack shook his head, trying not to look into Daniel's eyes, but Daniel couldn't let this end without finding out how it felt. He needed to know, once and for all, if kissing Jack would feel good, and if it would make any difference in how he thought of his friend.

"Daniel, please, this is..."

Daniel let his head fall back onto the pillow, "...too weird, I know," he whispered, letting his hands slip back down onto Jack's butt. "Just do it, don't argue with me." He closed his eyes and waited.

Somehow, Jack had slipped one arm under his head, and he could feel his pulse thundering against the sensitive skin at the nape of his neck. He felt Jack's warm breath ghosting across his lips. Then Jack was pressing his lips against Daniel's. They kissed lingeringly, their lips gliding softly over each other's. He swallowed Jack's tiny gasps of pleasure, pressed against him, moaned with him, until they were rocking desperately against each other.

Daniel had his answer. Kissing Jack rocked his world.

Breaking the kiss, Daniel gazed up at Jack. "Wow," he smiled, pressing his lips lightly against the pulse vibrating in the other man's neck. "Okay, that was... wow!"

Jacks' words ghosted over the skin just under his ear. "Oh, yeah" Jack replied, voice shaking with nerves.

"Still feels weird," Daniel grinned, shifting position so that he could trail his tongue down Jack's neck and suck the little indentation above his collarbone. "But I'm getting used to it."

Jack's arms were shaking with the effort to keep his weight off Daniel without putting too much stress on his wrists. "What about the 'L' word Daniel? Can you handle that I have feelings for you? 'Cause I have to tell you here and now, I'm too old to be someone's one night stand, okay?"

Daniel nodded. He wasn't sure how to answer with words. The moment he'd kissed Jack, he'd never considered that this would be a one-off. They had history, he and Jack. They had friendship, respect, shared pain and sorrow, and yes, they had love. As far as Daniel could tell, that meant they were in a relationship. Had been for years, only Daniel hadn't put a name to it, hadn't realized until now.

Taking pity on Jack, he flipped them over so that Jack was sprawled beneath him once more, wincing in sympathy as the trailing end of the remaining bandage got tangled somehow and jerked Jack's injured wrist.

Daniel reached for it and slowly unwound it. The stupid thing was next to useless now anyway. He would do his best to bind Jack's wrists up later. But right now, they still had some things to work through. "Jack, why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell me how you felt?"

"You could have anyone you want," Jack grumbled. "You're young, fit, healthy and fucking gorgeous..."

Daniel felt his body flush in embarrassment at the unexpected compliments.

"...and I'm a worn-out old fart with bad knees and a head full of grey. I could tell you didn't look at me that way. Figured there was no point making a fool of myself. What did I have to offer you anyway?"

Daniel trapped Jack's face between his hands, until Jack had no option but to look at him. "You could have offered me exactly what I've been looking for all my life, Jack. Love. Your love."

Jack's eyes widened. "Daniel...?"

"I went to that club because I was lonely. It wasn't just because I needed sex, although that was part of it. I needed to feel the closeness, the human interaction, and the intimacy again. You stopped touching me, Jack. You used to touch me all the time, and you stopped. I missed it."

"Couldn't trust myself." Jack muttered gruffly. "Wanted to do so much more than just touch, but I couldn't believe you'd ever be interested."

Daniel leaned down and kissed Jack again. Parts of his body were interested now. Very interested. There would be time for them to work this out. They had the rest of their lives. Right now, Daniel figured that the best way to reassure Jack was to show him just how much he was interested.

Once Jack was totally engaged with the kissing, Daniel tugged the robe from his shoulders, letting it slip completely open.

"Oh, shiiiiiit!" Jack groaned, burying his face in Daniel's neck. His hips began pumping faster as his breathing became more labored.

Jack was a lot closer to losing control than Daniel had thought. The idea that he was doing this to Jack, that he was the reason Jack was about to blow, and for the second time in a half hour, was such a turn-on, Daniel found his body matching Jack's frantic rhythm. Dimly, he was award of Jack's fingers fumbling with the fabric of his shirt, but he wasn't having much luck.

With a strangled cry, he pushed up, dragging his mouth from Jack's, and tore the shirt from his own body, flinging it across the bedroom. They were both panting. Daniel wanted it to last a little longer, but it had been literally years since he'd been this intimate with anything other than his own right hand. Very quickly he began to lose focus, as the incredible sensations washed over him.

Finding some self-control from somewhere, he braced his hands on Jack's chest and took several calming breaths. There was something he wanted to do for Jack, something that he had always excelled at. Ignoring the whine of protest, he slowly kissed his way down Jack's chest. Remembering how sensitive Jack's nipples were, he took a moment to nip each one to hardness before continuing his downward quest.

Jack had clearly guessed Daniel's intentions and was fighting to stay still. His erect cock jabbed into Daniel's belly through his damp boxers, and a moment later, freed from the soft jersey material by Daniel himself, it waved enticingly in the air.

Faced with his target, Daniel had a small moment of panic when he wondered if he could remember how to do this. It'd been a long time, but it was like riding a bike, wasn't it? Once mastered, never forgotten? He could feel Jack's fingers in his hair. Not gripping or forcing him, just holding him gently.

And that's when he had the epiphany. Jack was in love with him. Jack had done all that, planned, plotted, and connived, because he'd wanted Daniel to be with him, to fall in love with him, to be his in every way. And he had. He HAD fallen in love. He'd just been too stupid to realize that what he'd had with Jack for the last four years was the real thing.

All his nerves left him. It didn't matter if he got this wrong. If he fucked it up, so to speak. This was Jack. They would laugh about it, crack some off-color jokes about it, but they'd work it out, try again and again until they got it right, because that's what they did. That's what they always did. He didn't have to impress Jack O'Neill one bit.

Licking his lips, he bent forward and ran his tongue the full length of Jack's cock, pleased with the gasp of astonishment the move elicited. He did it again, this time swiping his tongue over the spongy head, tasting Jack for the first time, and it was a taste he could get very used to.

"Da...aniel, shit!" Jack's hips bucked a little, but Daniel had anticipated that, and he moved back before Jack could choke him. Wrapping his hand firmly around the base of Jack's cock, he opened his mouth and slid his lips slowly downwards and then back up repeatedly until he could feel Jack's trembles turn to full-scale shakes.

"Stop, Daniel. Stop. Too close!" Jack cried, trying to curl his body into a ball. Daniel was almost beyond control himself. Releasing Jack's cock with a wet pop, he surged upwards, trapping Jack's cock between their bodies. He sank his fingers deep into Jack's hair and kissed him, letting Jack get a taste of himself on Daniel's tongue.

His own erection felt like it was trying to crawl out of the tight confines of the denim all by itself, and he would dearly have loved to give it a helping hand, but it was already too late for that. He threw his head back. "Jack! Oh, God," he groaned. "I-- I'm gonna-- oh, crap!" he hissed, digging his knees firmly into the mattress for added purchase. Jack's cock was slamming against his groin, and he was going to come in his fucking jeans, and it was because of Jack, and it was too weird, and too all consumingly good.

"D...Daniel! Ohhhhhhhhh, fuck!" Jack shuddered against him, body straining against Daniel's, the cords on his neck standing out like ropes.

When he felt the first wave hit, Daniel cried out, shaking and bucking wildly. Their rhythm was all shot to hell, now but it didn't matter. He was coming, and Jack was coming, and it wasn't weird anymore, it was fucking fanTAStic!

"Oh! Shitjackshit!"

"Yessss!" Jack collapsed beneath him, panting, still thrusting upwards, still coming, body trembling and straining. "Yes, baby, yes!"

"Didn't know! I didn't know!" Daniel cried, fighting to breathe around Jack's hot wet tongue. "I didn't know it could be like this between us, Jack."

They lay tangled in each other for long, quiet moments, only the rasping sound of their breathing breaking the silence. Gradually, as their bodies cooled, it was Jack who spoke first.

"Tell me that wasn't out of pity, Danny," he whispered.

Daniel stirred, looking up at Jack from where he lay sprawled over Jack's chest. He couldn't see Jack's face from that angle, but he could hear the fear in Jack's voice.

Gently, he threaded his fingers into the soft wiry chest hair and sighed. "No, that sure wasn't out of pity, you asshole."

"You still mad at me? I'm sorry about your dates," Jack murmured, running his fingers slowly though Daniel's hair.

"No you're not, Jack. Don't lie to me. You're smug and full of yourself for foiling my plans to get laid."

"Okay, ya got me there," he admitted with a little huff of a laugh. "I was a jealous bastard." He took a deep breath. "I am a jealous bastard."

Daniel finally found enough energy to roll to the side and peel himself out of his ruined jeans. Then he scrambled up the bed, so he could look Jack in the eye. "I'm not exactly a novice at gay sex, you know. No virgin here."

Jack grinned back at him. "Yeah, I get that. I think it was the hand-job in the bath that tipped me off, or maybe the blowjob. No, wait. It might have been the file I read five years ago with a list of your previous lovers in it."

Daniel should have been angry at that, but he'd learned to accept a long time ago that a military establishment as top secret as Stargate Command had to be very thorough in its investigation of its staff.

"When I say not a novice, I mean I've done some stuff. I haven't exactly done everything."

Jack struggled up so that he has looking down into Daniel's eyes. "By that you mean you haven't gone all the way with a guy?"

Daniel felt a blush grow on his face. He nodded, not trusting his voice to hide his embarrassment.

"You wanna do that some time, though, right?" Jack asked, and Daniel found himself nodding again. He'd never wanted to before, but this was Jack, and he wanted everything with Jack.

Jack lifted one hand and wiggled his fingers experimentally. "Well It ain't gonna be anytime soon. Janet said I would need a lot of therapy before I got the full use of these babies again."

At Daniel's blank look, Jack wiggled his fingers again. "Prep, Daniel. Especially important if you've never been fucked before. I don't have the strength in my fingers to do it properly yet. However, there's nothing to stop you from drilling my ass, now, is there?"

Daniel's eyes went wide. He'd honestly never thought of that particular scenario. Jack was just so... very alpha, Daniel was amazed at what he was offering him. His cock twitched suddenly, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he would be very, very up for that.

"Wow. Um... well, sure, if that's okay with you," Daniel breathed, trying not to look too eager.

Jack kissed him gently on the lips. "It's more than just okay. I love you, and I want everything with you. Everything. And maybe one day, you'll come to love me as much as I love you."

Daniel's eyes were shining brightly in the darkness of the bedroom. He hadn't told Jack yet, about his epiphany. Smiling, he touched jack's face gently with two fingers. "Already there, Jack. I just didn't recognize it for what it was until I saw you standing outside that club. All my perceptions changed that night. It took a while for the world to stop spinning, but when it did, you were standing right in front of me."

It was Jack's turn to go wide-eyed. "Daniel?"

"Not kidding, Jack. I love you. I want to be with you. I want everything with you, too, but mostly I just want to have the right to touch you and be touched by you. I want to feel loved. That's all I ever really needed."

Jack gulped, and ignoring the pain it must have caused, he pulled Daniel tight against his body. "Daniel, you have no idea how happy that makes me feel, but if you make me cry, I'll kick your sorry ass, do you hear me?" His voice was muffled against the top of Daniel's head, accompanied by a soft sniff.

"I hear you, Jack." Daniel smiled and snuggled closer. It was going to be an interesting life, with Jack at his side. Full of adventure and danger and all kinds of challenges, but it was also going to be full of laughter and love. Of that he was very sure. "I hear you."