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Title: After the Universe is Saved
Fandom: SG-1
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Stargate. It's not my toy box.
Pairing: Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson
Rating: PG
Summary: It’s a long road to retirement and then there’s retirement.
A/N: Written for Emdash for the JD ficathon 2015. Thank you to midnightclarity for the beta.
After the Universe is Saved:
Jack wraps his hand around Daniel’s hip and stares into the fire. It crackles and he can’t help but close his eyes against the warm glow. He rest his head against Daniel’s stomach, smiling when his check touches that bit of flesh that’s peeking out from the t-shirt that’s ridden up. Daniel’s fingers absently slide into his hair, scratching slightly and Jack relaxes at the feel of it. He listens as Daniel turns a page in the book he’s reading.
“I want this, all the time,” Jack hears himself say.
“If we cuddled all the time you’d get sick of it,” Daniel counters.
“We should be able to have this whenever we want, not just when we take a vacation out in the middle of nowhere.”
“You love your cabin,” Daniel points out.
“Yeah,” Jack agrees, opening his eyes and tilting his head to take Daniel in, “I love you more though.”
Daniel closes the book around one of his fingers and frowns, “What are you saying?”
“I’m pipe dreaming Danny, let me pipe dream.”
“What were you going to say before you talked yourself out of it?”
Jack’s lips quirk up, “This, as our life.”
Daniel smiles back, fingers flexing in Jack’s hair again, “That’s a nice pipe dream.”
“We’d have to quit our jobs. Or I’d have to quit the Air Force and wonder why I’m not running around with SG-1 saving the universe.”
“The universe is more important than the two of us,” Daniel decides wistfully.
Jack makes a non-comital noise of agreement.
~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~
Jack takes the eggs off the burner and sets the pan aside. He crosses his arms and turns towards Daniel. He looks away, “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” Daniel responds from where he’s sitting at the kitchen table.
Jack pushes away from the stove and runs a hand through his hair.
“We agreed to try again. I know we aren’t going to be exactly as we were before, the way I remember. We’ve had a whole year apart, but…”
“You died,” Jack grits out.
Daniel opens his mouth to respond and then closes it. He watches Jack silently for a moment, takes in the rigid lines of his body, the tension in his shoulders.
“You died,” Jack repeats.
“I’m not dead anymore.”
“You were dead,” Jack corrects. Daniel starts to stand, but sits back down when Jack backs away. Daniel raises his eyebrows. Jack throws up his hands and drops into the chair next to him, “I don’t know how to do this.”
Daniel isn’t sure how to respond, until Jack’s reaches across the table and takes his hand. He sighs, “I’m sorry. I keep expecting things to be exactly like I remember them, but I don’t remember everything yet.”
“No,” Jack shakes his head, “You’re right. I used to touch you all the time. I’m just not there yet. I’m not used to having you there to touch.”
Daniel nods.
“Danny,” Jack tries, “I don’t invite just anyone to my cabin.”
Daniel’s lips quirk up as he gives Jack’s hand a squeeze.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack opens the door to his cabin and stills at the sight of Daniel standing there. He opens his mouth and then closes it.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel tries.
“You’re supposed to be in Atlantis.”
“I’m not.”
“Whole new universe to save Danny! That’s where you wanted to go!”
“Turns out this universe is just as important,” Daniel tries.
“You’re still angry…”
“I’m not,” Daniel interrupts, “It wasn’t fair of me to ask you to go.”
“How?”
“Cameron Mitchell.”
Jack takes a step back.
“Not like that,” Daniel dismisses, “He got SG-1 back together. I’m staying.”
“You missed your transport.”
Daniel smiles and shakes his head.
“There’ll be other transports.”
Daniel steps in the doorway, “There won’t. You were right. I’m sorry. I want to stay here. I want…”
Jack pulls him close, cuts Daniel’s words off with a kiss.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack crosses his arms and regards his cabin. He glances over at Daniel, then looks away when Daniel smiles. Jack sighs, “We’re going to get bored.”
“The universe is in good hands. We’re not needed,” Daniel reminds him.
Jack rolls his eyes, “It’s a good thing Sam and Teal’c know where this is because in a month or so they’ll be pulling us out of retirement and we fought hard for retirement. We’re going to be so bored.”
“You love your cabin,” Daniel reminds, “This was your idea.”
“For a vacation,” Jack stresses, “If I start hating it because I live here…”
Daniel rests his chin on Jack’s shoulder. Jack cuts off to glance at him. Jack looks away for a moment, then can’t help it as his lips quirk up into a smile.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack frowns at the ceiling of their bedroom, “I’m thinking we should have carpet.”
Daniel closes his book and glances over.
“At least in the bedroom,” Jack wheedles.
“We have hardwood floors.”
“Your feet get cold when you step out of bed in the morning,” Jack points out.
“No,” Daniel disagrees, “Your feet get cold because you don’t have slippers.”
“Carpet.”
Daniel raises his eyebrows as he looks at Jack.
“I’ll let you pick the color,” Jack offers.
“I’ll get you a pair of slippers.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack stares at the row of curtains in front of them and fervently wishes they weren’t at the store, “The curtains in the kitchen are fine.”
“They’re ratty and falling apart,” Daniel reminds.
“They are not.”
“Really?” Daniel asks.
Jack grumbles, “They won’t have the same ones.”
“We’ll pick something out together.”
“I’m not getting the ones with the giant rooster on them!”
Daniel gives him a fake pout, “You don’t think it’s funny?”
Jack stills. His eyes slowly widen and a grin starts to spread his face.
“No,” Daniel tries.
Jack wets his lips and starts considering the curtains in front of him.
“No,” Daniel groans, “We’re not getting joke curtains.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
“It’s just for a few days,” Daniel reminds.
Jack pauses the DVD he’s watching and frowns at Daniel, “Just do your work here.”
“It’s research for the book I’m working on,” Daniel reminds.
“So?”
Daniel sighs, “I need the internet.”
“Use the internet here.”
Daniel throws up his hands in frustration, “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“Thor likes me.”
Daniel drops into the nearest chair, “We’ve had internet this whole time?”
“For several years,” Jack smiles, “Surprise!”
“I could’ve done my research here this whole time,” Daniel glares.
“I thought you liked going into town,” Jack shrugs.
“You know how long it takes to get to the nearest library,” Daniel groans.
“The Asgardians thought I was evolved,” Jack reminds, “I liked them.”
“I’m really annoyed with you right now,” Daniel sighs.
“You’ll get over it,” Jack smiles as he turns his TV back on, “Just remember I’m evolved.”
“They didn’t know you well enough.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack frowns at Daniel’s lap top, “This place requires a home visit. It’s a dog. I’m not adopting a child!”
“I still think we should get a cat.”
“This place requires a fenced in yard! I’m not putting a fence up.”
“Then your dog will have to be on a leash whenever we leave the house,” Daniel reminds.
Jack glares at the computer, “I should be able to walk into a place, pick out a dog, and go home.”
“We could buy one,” Daniel points out.
“Shelter,” Jack counters.
“So accept there are hoops you have to jump through,” Daniel sighs.
“It’s stupid. I just want a dog,” Jack grumbles.
“They just want to make sure you’re not going to return it two weeks later,” Daniel points out.
“We’re retired. We’ve almost redone our whole cabin. We need a pet.”
“I like cats.”
Jack rolls his eyes, “Dogs are great.”
“So where are we putting the fence?” Daniel asks.
“Maybe a big kennel will appease them.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Daniel eyes the puppy that’s looking at Jack and sighs, “If you pick him up you’re not going to put him back down.”
“We’ll still look at dogs. He looks sad. He’s saying, ‘Get me out of this crate,’ and I’m only going to hold him until someone says they want him.”
Daniel shakes his head, “Keep telling yourself that.”
As soon as the worker hands Jack the puppy he’s cuddling the ball of fluff against his chest. Jack grins and Daniel has to smile back.
“Let’s go look at dogs,” Jack suggests.
Daniel looks towards the door and takes in the influx of people, “Let’s just stand here for a moment.”
Jack looks at him suspiciously.
“Oh! Look at the puppy! I want that one!”
Jack glares, “Get your own. This one’s mine.”
Daniel leans in close, “See?”
“Don’t say I told you so.”
Daniel leans back and gives Jack his best innocent face.
Jack shakes his head, “Come on, let’s go look at kittens. This guy needs a friend.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Daniel leans in and rests his head on Jack’s shoulder. He reaches over and scratches Thor’s ears, “I still can’t believe you named him Thor.”
“Thor would’ve like it. You’re the one who named his kitty, Kitty.”
“She’s awesome.”
“People do not automatically think comic books when you say that,” Jack points out.
“Who is going to criticize me out here except you?”
Jack sighs, “We’re bored. I was worried we’d get bored.”
“We’re not,” Daniel counters.
“We’re use to more excitement than this.”
“We save the universe,” Daniel agrees, “More than once.”
“We did.”
“Cassie thinks we should travel,” Daniel tells him.
“When did she say this?”
“When she stopped by with her baby last week.”
Jack smiles, “I like being the cool uncle.”
Daniel laughs, “And what does that make me?”
“The guy cool enough to be with the cool uncle,” Jack suggests.
Daniel laughs, “I can’t decide if I want to kiss you or be upset with that.”
“Kiss me,” Jack grins, “You know you want to kiss me.”
“After we discuss travel. I don’t want to get distracted,” Daniel decides.
“You like when I distract you,” Jack pouts.
Daniel raises his eyebrows.
“Travel?” Jack questions.
“We’ve seen the universe, why not explore the world we help keep safe.”
“I could be on board with this, as long as we find a pet friendly way to do it,” Jack nods,
“Cassie’s the smartest.”
“She is.”
Fandom: SG-1
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Stargate. It's not my toy box.
Pairing: Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson
Rating: PG
Summary: It’s a long road to retirement and then there’s retirement.
A/N: Written for Emdash for the JD ficathon 2015. Thank you to midnightclarity for the beta.
After the Universe is Saved:
Jack wraps his hand around Daniel’s hip and stares into the fire. It crackles and he can’t help but close his eyes against the warm glow. He rest his head against Daniel’s stomach, smiling when his check touches that bit of flesh that’s peeking out from the t-shirt that’s ridden up. Daniel’s fingers absently slide into his hair, scratching slightly and Jack relaxes at the feel of it. He listens as Daniel turns a page in the book he’s reading.
“I want this, all the time,” Jack hears himself say.
“If we cuddled all the time you’d get sick of it,” Daniel counters.
“We should be able to have this whenever we want, not just when we take a vacation out in the middle of nowhere.”
“You love your cabin,” Daniel points out.
“Yeah,” Jack agrees, opening his eyes and tilting his head to take Daniel in, “I love you more though.”
Daniel closes the book around one of his fingers and frowns, “What are you saying?”
“I’m pipe dreaming Danny, let me pipe dream.”
“What were you going to say before you talked yourself out of it?”
Jack’s lips quirk up, “This, as our life.”
Daniel smiles back, fingers flexing in Jack’s hair again, “That’s a nice pipe dream.”
“We’d have to quit our jobs. Or I’d have to quit the Air Force and wonder why I’m not running around with SG-1 saving the universe.”
“The universe is more important than the two of us,” Daniel decides wistfully.
Jack makes a non-comital noise of agreement.
~~~~~*****~~~~~*****~~~~~
Jack takes the eggs off the burner and sets the pan aside. He crosses his arms and turns towards Daniel. He looks away, “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” Daniel responds from where he’s sitting at the kitchen table.
Jack pushes away from the stove and runs a hand through his hair.
“We agreed to try again. I know we aren’t going to be exactly as we were before, the way I remember. We’ve had a whole year apart, but…”
“You died,” Jack grits out.
Daniel opens his mouth to respond and then closes it. He watches Jack silently for a moment, takes in the rigid lines of his body, the tension in his shoulders.
“You died,” Jack repeats.
“I’m not dead anymore.”
“You were dead,” Jack corrects. Daniel starts to stand, but sits back down when Jack backs away. Daniel raises his eyebrows. Jack throws up his hands and drops into the chair next to him, “I don’t know how to do this.”
Daniel isn’t sure how to respond, until Jack’s reaches across the table and takes his hand. He sighs, “I’m sorry. I keep expecting things to be exactly like I remember them, but I don’t remember everything yet.”
“No,” Jack shakes his head, “You’re right. I used to touch you all the time. I’m just not there yet. I’m not used to having you there to touch.”
Daniel nods.
“Danny,” Jack tries, “I don’t invite just anyone to my cabin.”
Daniel’s lips quirk up as he gives Jack’s hand a squeeze.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack opens the door to his cabin and stills at the sight of Daniel standing there. He opens his mouth and then closes it.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel tries.
“You’re supposed to be in Atlantis.”
“I’m not.”
“Whole new universe to save Danny! That’s where you wanted to go!”
“Turns out this universe is just as important,” Daniel tries.
“You’re still angry…”
“I’m not,” Daniel interrupts, “It wasn’t fair of me to ask you to go.”
“How?”
“Cameron Mitchell.”
Jack takes a step back.
“Not like that,” Daniel dismisses, “He got SG-1 back together. I’m staying.”
“You missed your transport.”
Daniel smiles and shakes his head.
“There’ll be other transports.”
Daniel steps in the doorway, “There won’t. You were right. I’m sorry. I want to stay here. I want…”
Jack pulls him close, cuts Daniel’s words off with a kiss.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack crosses his arms and regards his cabin. He glances over at Daniel, then looks away when Daniel smiles. Jack sighs, “We’re going to get bored.”
“The universe is in good hands. We’re not needed,” Daniel reminds him.
Jack rolls his eyes, “It’s a good thing Sam and Teal’c know where this is because in a month or so they’ll be pulling us out of retirement and we fought hard for retirement. We’re going to be so bored.”
“You love your cabin,” Daniel reminds, “This was your idea.”
“For a vacation,” Jack stresses, “If I start hating it because I live here…”
Daniel rests his chin on Jack’s shoulder. Jack cuts off to glance at him. Jack looks away for a moment, then can’t help it as his lips quirk up into a smile.
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack frowns at the ceiling of their bedroom, “I’m thinking we should have carpet.”
Daniel closes his book and glances over.
“At least in the bedroom,” Jack wheedles.
“We have hardwood floors.”
“Your feet get cold when you step out of bed in the morning,” Jack points out.
“No,” Daniel disagrees, “Your feet get cold because you don’t have slippers.”
“Carpet.”
Daniel raises his eyebrows as he looks at Jack.
“I’ll let you pick the color,” Jack offers.
“I’ll get you a pair of slippers.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack stares at the row of curtains in front of them and fervently wishes they weren’t at the store, “The curtains in the kitchen are fine.”
“They’re ratty and falling apart,” Daniel reminds.
“They are not.”
“Really?” Daniel asks.
Jack grumbles, “They won’t have the same ones.”
“We’ll pick something out together.”
“I’m not getting the ones with the giant rooster on them!”
Daniel gives him a fake pout, “You don’t think it’s funny?”
Jack stills. His eyes slowly widen and a grin starts to spread his face.
“No,” Daniel tries.
Jack wets his lips and starts considering the curtains in front of him.
“No,” Daniel groans, “We’re not getting joke curtains.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
“It’s just for a few days,” Daniel reminds.
Jack pauses the DVD he’s watching and frowns at Daniel, “Just do your work here.”
“It’s research for the book I’m working on,” Daniel reminds.
“So?”
Daniel sighs, “I need the internet.”
“Use the internet here.”
Daniel throws up his hands in frustration, “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“Thor likes me.”
Daniel drops into the nearest chair, “We’ve had internet this whole time?”
“For several years,” Jack smiles, “Surprise!”
“I could’ve done my research here this whole time,” Daniel glares.
“I thought you liked going into town,” Jack shrugs.
“You know how long it takes to get to the nearest library,” Daniel groans.
“The Asgardians thought I was evolved,” Jack reminds, “I liked them.”
“I’m really annoyed with you right now,” Daniel sighs.
“You’ll get over it,” Jack smiles as he turns his TV back on, “Just remember I’m evolved.”
“They didn’t know you well enough.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Jack frowns at Daniel’s lap top, “This place requires a home visit. It’s a dog. I’m not adopting a child!”
“I still think we should get a cat.”
“This place requires a fenced in yard! I’m not putting a fence up.”
“Then your dog will have to be on a leash whenever we leave the house,” Daniel reminds.
Jack glares at the computer, “I should be able to walk into a place, pick out a dog, and go home.”
“We could buy one,” Daniel points out.
“Shelter,” Jack counters.
“So accept there are hoops you have to jump through,” Daniel sighs.
“It’s stupid. I just want a dog,” Jack grumbles.
“They just want to make sure you’re not going to return it two weeks later,” Daniel points out.
“We’re retired. We’ve almost redone our whole cabin. We need a pet.”
“I like cats.”
Jack rolls his eyes, “Dogs are great.”
“So where are we putting the fence?” Daniel asks.
“Maybe a big kennel will appease them.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Daniel eyes the puppy that’s looking at Jack and sighs, “If you pick him up you’re not going to put him back down.”
“We’ll still look at dogs. He looks sad. He’s saying, ‘Get me out of this crate,’ and I’m only going to hold him until someone says they want him.”
Daniel shakes his head, “Keep telling yourself that.”
As soon as the worker hands Jack the puppy he’s cuddling the ball of fluff against his chest. Jack grins and Daniel has to smile back.
“Let’s go look at dogs,” Jack suggests.
Daniel looks towards the door and takes in the influx of people, “Let’s just stand here for a moment.”
Jack looks at him suspiciously.
“Oh! Look at the puppy! I want that one!”
Jack glares, “Get your own. This one’s mine.”
Daniel leans in close, “See?”
“Don’t say I told you so.”
Daniel leans back and gives Jack his best innocent face.
Jack shakes his head, “Come on, let’s go look at kittens. This guy needs a friend.”
*****~~~~~*****~~~~~*****
Daniel leans in and rests his head on Jack’s shoulder. He reaches over and scratches Thor’s ears, “I still can’t believe you named him Thor.”
“Thor would’ve like it. You’re the one who named his kitty, Kitty.”
“She’s awesome.”
“People do not automatically think comic books when you say that,” Jack points out.
“Who is going to criticize me out here except you?”
Jack sighs, “We’re bored. I was worried we’d get bored.”
“We’re not,” Daniel counters.
“We’re use to more excitement than this.”
“We save the universe,” Daniel agrees, “More than once.”
“We did.”
“Cassie thinks we should travel,” Daniel tells him.
“When did she say this?”
“When she stopped by with her baby last week.”
Jack smiles, “I like being the cool uncle.”
Daniel laughs, “And what does that make me?”
“The guy cool enough to be with the cool uncle,” Jack suggests.
Daniel laughs, “I can’t decide if I want to kiss you or be upset with that.”
“Kiss me,” Jack grins, “You know you want to kiss me.”
“After we discuss travel. I don’t want to get distracted,” Daniel decides.
“You like when I distract you,” Jack pouts.
Daniel raises his eyebrows.
“Travel?” Jack questions.
“We’ve seen the universe, why not explore the world we help keep safe.”
“I could be on board with this, as long as we find a pet friendly way to do it,” Jack nods,
“Cassie’s the smartest.”
“She is.”
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