Boys getting feisty! I love it when the boys get feisty :-) Oh, and Pie says Daniel is inconsiderate! *sniggers* Thanks to Pie for constructive criticism and reading every draft without complaint. Thanks to Ann and BJ for kind words and confidence building. And thank you to Pepe for the final polish. You guys rock.

Jack shut the front door on the outside world, slammed his back against it and gave himself over to the frustration of the day. Throwing his keys onto the hall table his hands found their way to a hockey stick standing in the corner. He hefted its balanced weight in his hands thoughtfully, before bringing it smashing down over and over in an orgy of destruction. Lamp, plant pot, change dish, in fact most of the contents of his hall lay in pieces on the floor.

Jack froze when he realised that he had run out of targets, toyed with the idea of taking it into the living room, then threw the stick into the corner in disgust, with the remains of his spider plant.

Thoughts turning towards beer now, his steps were halted by the sound of a car driving too fast down his road and sliding to a stop right outside his house.

Fuck. It would be Daniel.

Jack ran his hands through his short silver hair and sighed, hearing the sound of a car door being shut rather forcefully.

Fucking Euronda.

Fucking SGC.

And now a fucking showdown with fucking Daniel.

Jack surveyed his ruined hallway, briefly considered the ideas of 1. tidying it up quickly or 2. pretending to be out, but instead yanked open the door as Daniel's fist crashed against it.

"We need to talk," Daniel said, his face a study in barely reined in anger. He went to push past Jack, head down, shoulders rounded, but the older man stopped him dead with a hand against his chest. Daniel looked up into Jack's face for the first time and saw the bright glitter of his eyes and the flushed cheeks.

"Now is not a good time, Daniel," Jack growled, then drew back his hand from Daniel's shirt as if burned by it, and leaned instead against the doorframe, effectively barring the way.

"It has to be now, Jack," Daniel insisted, "before this gets out of hand." Jack's efforts to stop him entering just made him more determined, and he pushed against Jack's arm, taking in for the first time the devastation in the house. "Or perhaps I'm too late," Daniel observed coolly, understanding in an instant what had just happened.

With an angry flourish, Jack stepped back, letting Daniel pass and closing the door behind him. Daniel picked his way through smashed pottery and soil making his way to the living room.

Jack was taken aback when Daniel spun around as he reached the centre of the room. The archaeologist planted his feet and glared at him. This confrontational stuff was so not Daniel, well not the old Daniel, but lately....

"So, what is your problem, Jack?" he snapped, scowling.

"No problem, Daniel. We had a difference of opinion. We sorted it out," Jack shrugged with more nonchalance than he felt.

"If it were just today, Jack, I would agree with you, but lately it's every damn mission we go on... hell, it's every time we are in the same room."

Jack looked away from his angry friend and began to pace around the room.

"Is it because I'm a scientist?" Daniel pushed. His arms were crossed and his body language made it quite clear he was in this for the duration.

"No, Daniel, it's not because you are a scientist," Jack sing-songed back at him in a manner calculated to annoy him.

"No, you don't seem to argue with Sam like you go for me," Daniel mused. "So it's because I'm a civilian? I thought we were over that."

Jack just paused to give Daniel a withering look, before continuing his stalking around the furniture.

"Then you must have a problem with me personally," Daniel concluded evenly.

Jack stopped pacing and turned to face his team-mate and erstwhile best friend, from the opposite side of the room. "I think you should leave, Daniel," Jack said ominously quietly. His fingers clenched and unclenched into fists, a gesture not lost on Daniel.

"No," Daniel defied him.

"No?" Jack spat.

"No." Daniel turned and walked into the kitchen. He retrieved two beers from the refrigerator and returned to the living room, deliberately placing one beer at the end of the coffee table closest to Jack before sitting down at the opposite end of the couch.

"I'm not leaving until we sort this out," Daniel stated, placing his own beer, un-tasted, on the table. Jack ignored his bottle and wondered how to get Daniel out of his house with the fewest possible words. Daniel used words like weapons, targeted and calculated, occasionally turning his own words against him. Jack knew he could never win at that game. Short of physically throwing him out of the house - which Jack wondered if he still could without a struggle – he had little option than to give Daniel what he wanted. Jack hated having no options.

"Fine!" Jack snarled. "You disobey me. You go out of your way to undermine me. You use your smart tongue to make me look stupid and you are never done with the fucking questions."

"Questions? Questions like the ones that prevented us from wiping out a race of people today? Or how about whether we could trust Oma Desala and put down our guns on Kheb?" Daniel reacted bitterly.

"Should have known that would come back and bite me on the ass." Jack turned away in disgust.

"So you hate me?" Daniel said in a flat voice.

Jack threw his head back to look at the ceiling, slowly breathing in and out through his open mouth to contain his agitation. "No, Daniel," he sighed finally, lowering his eyes to Daniel's face. "Hate is not the word I would use."

A prickly silence fell between the two men. Daniel took a sip of his beer, and then replaced it on the table, staring at the beads of condensation, which slid down the side of the bottle.

"I have a theory," he began. Jack rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Daniel stood up and started pacing his side of the living room, prudently avoiding Jack's space. "I don't think it's because I undermine you, or any of the other reasons you gave."

"Really?" Jack drawled.

"No." Daniel ignored the sarcasm in Jack's voice, seemingly wrapped in his ideas. "I think it's because being around me scares you." Daniel screwed up his courage and plunged on, knowing that this would fix everything or blow them both straight to hell. "You're right. I don't think the word is hate. I think the word is want." Daniel paused and watched the realisation dawn on Jack's face. Not breaking eye contact with Jack, not letting him look away, he said slowly, "You want me."

"You are fucking delusional, Daniel," Jack exploded, his face unnaturally white in the gathering dusk.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't want me, Jack," Daniel challenged quietly, lifting his chin defiantly.

"I don't want you, Daniel," Jack repeated, a flush creeping back into his cheeks.

"You're lying." Daniel swallowed immediately but a hint of uncertainty flickered in his eyes. As the silence lengthened, neither man would look away, but the confidence in Daniel's gaze ebbed away to be replaced by disbelief and a desperate sorrow. His regard was like a silent plea to Jack, who slowly closed his eyes and seemed to fold in on himself as he brought his hands up to scrub over his face.

In an instant Daniel was standing in front of him. Jack's small gesture had given Daniel a renewed hope. He laid a gentle hand on Jack's arm. To Daniel's surprise Jack blindly pushed his touch away, shoving him in the shoulder. The anger in Jack's eyes and stance had returned.

"Don't push me, Jack," Daniel warned quietly, his own temper rising to meet Jack's.

"You push me every fucking day, Daniel" Jack growled at him as he punctuated his words with another shove to Daniel's chest.

Daniel stood his ground, breathing hard and, suddenly, the intensity of the situation boiled over. "Well you've been fucking pushing me away for months now," Daniel yelled, shoving Jack with both hands, making the older man stagger. "You flinch when you touch me like you have been zatted. You avoid me on base. You never invite me over any more. Hell, we can't even have a conversation without some sort of argument these days. What did I do wrong? What the fuck happened to us, Jack?"

"Get out," Jack hissed at him, but Daniel made no move to leave. Jack watched as his hands curled into fists at his side, his eyebrows low over his flashing eyes. "Get out before I lose it, Daniel," Jack threatened. They stood, their noses barely a hand apart, each attempting to stare the other into submission.

"I'd like to see that, Jack," Daniel countered smoothly.

Jack clenched his jaw and subconsciously balled his fists.

"You want to hit me? Would that make you feel better?" Daniel goaded.

"It might."

"Go for it, Jack." Daniel stepped back, ostensibly to give Jack room to swing at him. He crossed his arms and presented Jack with his jaw. "What are you waiting for? Having me around makes you crazy – you need some release. Do it! Hit me! Then I'll know for sure."

"Know what?" Jack spat at him.

"That I was wrong. That you don't want me," Daniel explained. "Hit me – I'll go. You'll never have to work with me again, Jack. I'll ask for reassignment first thing tomorrow."

"I'm warning you, Daniel," Jack ground out through gritted teeth, almost shaking with anger.

"Go on, Jack! Hit the fucking annoying archaeologist who makes your life a misery; get rid of me once and for all. It's what you want."

"It is NOT what I want," Jack shouted.

"So what do you want?" Daniel demanded. He imperceptibly moved back in closer to Jack. Crowding him, demanding a reaction – whatever it might be. Jack remained silent, the muscles in his jaw working as he tried to regain a grip on the situation.

"Shall I guess?" Daniel continued, pressing his advantage.

"Last chance, Daniel," Jack whispered. His breath ghosted over Daniel's cheek as the archaeologist continued his subtle assault on Jack's personal space.

Keeping his hands at his side, Daniel closed the final inches between them and roughly forced his mouth onto Jack's with such pressure, he could feel Jack's teeth through his crushed lips and the swelling as they bruised. After a moment Jack reacted with a violent push, which sent Daniel staggering back a pace.

Jack stared wild-eyed at his friend, who was smiling sadly and still making no effort to leave.

"Fuck it, Daniel...." Jack growled. He grasped two fists full of Daniel's shirt and pulled him in against his body as his mouth clamped over the startled archaeologist's.

Daniel quickly got the idea though, and reached one arm around Jack's waist while the other hand raked through his hair to come to rest at the back of Jack's head, to still him as Daniel pushed his tongue into Jack's hot, needy mouth. Pulling away momentarily, Jack pulled Daniel's glasses off and tossed them onto the sofa before climbing back into Daniel's embrace and opening his lips again to Daniel's insistent tongue.

Jack growled low in his throat as Daniel's hand slid under his T-shirt and his nails dragged down his back. He brought his hands between their pressed bodies and fumbled with the buttons on Daniel's shirt before giving up and ripping it open, forcing it off his shoulders. Daniel hissed into Jack's open mouth as Jack's callused hands sought and found his nipples and pinched.

Daniel released Jack's mouth and kissed and licked desperately along his jaw, moving down to his neck, where he bit down hard and sucked, marking Jack as his own, needing to see evidence of his connection to this man. Jack groaned and let his head fall back, giving Daniel tacit permission to claim him. All the while they strove to have as much of their bodies in contact as possible, their eager erections rubbing and straining together, desperate to increase the sensations that assailed them. Reaching up, Daniel grasped Jack's face between his hands and returned his attention to his mouth. He let Jack's sweet tongue slide possessively between his lips and welcomed the sensation of part of Jack inside him.

With a gasp they broke apart. For the space of three heartbeats, they stared at each other, panting and dishevelled. Then, in a perfect instant of accord, they began to strip; their own clothes, each other's clothes, as the goals were the same it didn't matter how they were attained. In an urgent tangle of arms and legs and stolen wet kisses, they emerged upright, each drinking in the sight of the other.

For so long they had shared showers without being able to truly look and appreciate the object of their most deeply buried desires. Now, in this darkening room, at last they could take in their fill. Jack reached out a tentative hand and stroked a path from Daniel's neck to his appendectomy scar. In turn, Daniel rested his hand over Jack's heart, feeling the reassuring thump of it through the crisp hairs of Jack's chest.

With a growl reminiscent of Jack's brush with the Touched, he threw himself onto Daniel, guiding him down onto the rug in front of the fireplace. With athleticism Jack could only wonder at, Daniel flipped him over and pinned him on the floor, his weight squarely astride Jack's hips and trapping his cock in an exquisite pressure. Daniel bit at Jack's nipples, causing the older man to arch up.

Jack let his hands glide over Daniel's smooth warm skin – wanting to feel every single square inch of him right now. He let his curious fingers drift lower to claim Daniel's ass as he rolled the taut muscles under his rough hands. Tracing a path around his hip, Jack took Daniel's ready, weeping cock into his hand.

At his touch, Daniel shuddered and moaned. Emboldened by the reaction, Jack began to slowly stroke a counterpoint to Daniel's laboured breath.

Throwing his head back, eyes closed, Daniel bit his lip to stop the words in his head falling from his lips. This was need, pure and simple, urgent, aggressive and vital. And this was an action of supreme vulnerability too; Daniel would save his words of devotion for another time... if there were to be another time.

Jack was trapped under Daniel, he felt unable to move over the younger man's body the way he wanted to, the way he had dreamed of. Suddenly Jack threw Daniel off, onto his back and pressed his hips into the floor with strong, broad hands. With a swift glance at his face to gauge his reaction, Jack engulfed Daniel's thick straining cock with a hungry mouth until he felt the head hit the back of his throat.

Daniel cried out Jack's name as the sensation of Jack's tongue on the underside of his length almost made him come right there and then. Just the feeling of Jack's lips on him was overwhelming and this was all gonna be over real soon unless... Pushing Jack's shoulders, Daniel managed to wrestle him back down onto the floor, matching Jack's disappointed growls with hungry snarls of his own. Daniel held Jack down with his upper body laid over Jack's abdomen, then he flattened his tongue against Jack's dick and slowly licked from tip to balls, savouring the taste of Jack's arousal.

Surreptitiously coating his fingers with saliva, Daniel turned his body, keeping his mouth on Jack's cock and pressed a finger into Jack's ass. Jack yelped and dragged Daniel up to kiss him, desperate, hard kisses punctuated with whimpered moans. Daniel tentatively placed a second finger at Jack's entrance, and was pleased when he eagerly pushed down onto it. Jack's panting became so loud, Daniel wondered if he was hyperventilating and decided to act. "Hands and knees, Colonel" he growled into Jack's ear.

Jack had to think very hard about budget reports for a minute; Daniel never called Jack by his rank and given the reaction it had caused in him, Jack was glad he didn't. As Jack scrambled to obey his direction, Daniel dashed across the room to his discarded clothes and riffled through them before turning back to Jack with a predatory smile and a tube of lubricant.

Jack's eyebrows rose in surprise and silently asked a question.

"What?" Daniel asked defensively. "A guy can live in hope, can't he?"

Jack, kneeling on the fireside rug, reached a hand up to Daniel and pulled him back down with him. Jack claimed Daniel's mouth, pressing warm kisses interspersed with tiny bites on his lips. Their hands roamed each other's passion-warmed skin, testing, searching for the areas that invoked a response.

"Hands and knees," Daniel panted.

"Hands and knees, what?" Jack ground back at him, his eyes dark and heavy with lust.

Daniel stared at him in surprise for a moment, before he frowned. "Now, Colonel," he commanded. Jack complied gleefully, trembling like a teenager. Daniel returned his hand to Jack's ass, roughly preparing him with the cold gel. All the while he licked and bit at Jack's lower back and cheeks.

Jack's trembling became a shiver as Daniel continued to tease him with his fingers. "Christ, Daniel! Now, please now. I need you," he begged.

Daniel didn't need telling twice. He quickly positioned himself at Jack's entrance and with one long slow stroke buried himself in the tight heat that Jack had become.

"Oh fuck, Daniel! That is so gooooood," Jack moaned as Daniel paused to regain some measure of composure.

They both knew this would be fast, and Daniel started a rhythm that had them both sweating and groaning very quickly. With each thrust, Jack began to push back, demanding more, harder, faster and Daniel gladly obliged. Daniel took a hand from Jack's hip, where he had been bracing himself and reached around, unerringly finding Jack's cock and stroking him roughly with a counter rhythm to his own pounding pace.

"Oh God, oh yes, yes, yes! DANIEL!" Jack shouted as his climax broke over him.

The sound of his name on Jack's lips as he came pushed Daniel over the edge too and he came deep inside Jack in wave after perfect wave of release.

Jack opened his eyes to a dark room and found himself nose-to-nose with a sticky, sweaty archaeologist. Daniel's blue gaze never wavered and for what seemed like an hour they lay wrapped in each other's embrace, silent and watchful. "So," Jack said finally, starting to feel chilled where his skin was not touching Daniel's. "That theory of yours."

"Yes?" Daniel asked, eyeing Jack warily.

"I think you almost had the right of it," Jack continued, idly pushing back Daniel's hair from his face.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you thought I wanted you."

"Erm, yes, that was what I thought...." Daniel said, his brows knitting as he tried to follow Jack's thought process.

"Well, I think you were almost there. I do want you... because I love you." Jack smiled into Daniel's eyes, but his own held a question and a fear. Jack need not have worried as a beatific smile lit up Daniel's face.

"I knew that, Jack. I just wasn't sure if you did." Daniel allowed a smug grin to settle on his sleepy face.

"Oh, you knew that?"

"Yep."

"Sure of that were you?"

"Sure enough to stop off at the drug store on the way here," Daniel grinned. Jack sniggered and kissed him. "It doesn't change the fact that you were an asshole today," Daniel said, the smile slipping from his face.

"No," Jack agreed, "but it does explain why it's always so personal with you. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you today, Daniel."

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. "I could have put my views to you in a less confrontational manner," he conceded finally.

"It's just the way you are, the way I am, I don't think it's gonna be all sweetness and light from here on," Jack smiled gently.

"No, I think we'll always disagree on most things," Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, but think of all the make-up sex we can have," Jack purred, waggling his eyebrows comically. Daniel rolled his eyes and they fell silent again, sleepy and sated. "So," Jack began again, when his ass began to go numb from the cold.

"Want to fight some more?" Daniel asked, hopefully.

"Mmmmmm, later. Bed?" Jack countered.

Daniel smiled and untangled his limbs from Jack's. He stood up and held out a hand to Jack, who gratefully took it. As he came eye-to-eye with Daniel, Jack recognised the look on the younger man's face. Daniel was thinking, considering the path they had started down. "Jack...." he began slowly.

Jack quickly kissed him. "I know, Daniel. And you are right; we do have a lot to discuss. But can we please do it tomorrow? Let's just have this night, one night, before we have to start thinking about the consequences and the price that we'll have to pay for this, okay?" Jack rubbed a thumb across the bow of Daniel's top lip. Daniel relaxed and nodded after a moment, a small smile playing across his lips. Jack held tight to Daniel's hand and started towards his bedroom, picking their way through broken pot and splintered wood.

"Jack?" Daniel asked quietly as they reached the door to Jack's bedroom.

"Yes, Daniel?" Jack sighed. He would have to get used to never having the last word in any conversation ever again. What demon had Daniel's imagination unleashed this time? What out of the blue question would he want answers to now?

"You know you said later? Well, how much later were you thinking?" the younger man pondered.

Jack could hear the grin in Daniel's voice; he didn't need to see the almost innocent look on the archaeologist's face. Closing the door behind them, Jack placed a hand on Daniel's chest and gave him a shove onto the bed.

"Don't push it, Daniel," Jack smiled as he joined him.

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