Title: Resolutions

Author: Debi C

Email: dcole6@satx.rr.com

Rating: PG, language, Jackspeak!

Pairings: J/D

Category: Pre-slash. Post Meridian. Future

Story Date: November 17, 2002

Series: None

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/ Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions and The Scifi Channel. I do not own the characters and indeed am only playing with them for a little while. I am not making any money from this and I'm still paying for everything I own so there's very little point in suing me. No copyright infringement whatsoever is intended. The story is for entertainment purposes only. At least I hope it's entertaining. The original characters, situations and story are mine. Please check with me first if you want to archive or link to this story.

Notes: Thanks to CA and Devra for another plot bunny and the discussions about said rabbit.

Feedback: Ya chur ya bet cha, Please.

What Has Gone Before: Season 7 (please, pretty please.) Shades of Gray, The Fifth Race, The Other Side, The First Ones, Scorched Earth, The Curse, Legacy, Menace.

Summary: A summons to Abydos has surprising revelations.

Warnings: Bad language, sturm and drang, emotional catharsis, and HANKY WARNING!!

RESOLUTIONS by Debi C

SG1 disembarked onto the sands of Abydos. O'Neill adjusted his sunglasses, Carter pulled on the brim of her DCU boonie, Teal'c put his hat on and adjusted it, Quinn stared around at the sear desert landscape. They started towards the town of Nageda.

"It's very hot here." Jonas said to no one in particular.

"Ya think." O'Neill didn't even turn around.

"It must be over a hundred degrees."

Teal'c turned and looked briefly at their teammate. "Yes, it is."

"It's hard to believe that people can live here." Quinn looked around, shading his eyes with his hands."

Sam finally turned to him. "Jonas, people do live here. It's hot, it's dry but they do okay."

"Sure, okay. I'm sorry, I'm just nervous."

Jack mumbled something and Teal'c nodded as they walked on.

"How far to the city?" Quinn looked at Carter.

"Just a little over a mile." She answered him patiently.

"Wonder why they called."

Before Sam could answer her teammate's question,Jack O'Neill atopped, turned around and glared at Quinn. "Jonas, shut the fuck up!"

Jonas's eyes doubled in size. Then he looked down at the sand. "Sorry."

Jack paused a moment, then came back the few steps to stand in front of the Kelownan. "Look, Jonas, I'm not good here okay. This is Daniel's home, his place. You're nervous, I'm cranky, I'm sorry, just um, leave it alone, Okay?"

Jonas looked back up at O'Neill. "Okay, Colonel. I'm..."

O'Neill shook his head at him again and raised up his hand. Then he turned around and rejoined Teal'c.

Sam smiled sadly at Jonas. "I told you it would be hard on him."

Jonas nodded, then speaking very softly. "I understand."

*******

They approached the village, the huge gates already standing open. They were expected. The request for the visit had come from Skarra and his father, Kasuf, Daniel's brother and father-in-law. His only 'real' family, his wife's. But they had loved him, did love him, even though he was no longer in a physical form. Of course, Kasuf's grandchild, Shi'fu, was also in ascended state, so maybe the Abydonians were just more pragmatic about such things.

He looked up and saw Skarra hurrying towards him. "O'Nearr. O'Nearr!"

He raised his hand in a wave. "Skarra."

The young man, now grown into his own strength and spirit, ran forward and grabbed the Colonel in an effusive hug. "O'Nearr, it is good to see you again!"

O'Neill grinned at him and hugged him back. "Skarra! Let me look at you, you're a man. Where is the boy that fought beside me?"

Skarra took no offense and laughed. "He is still here, just older."

"Much older, and wiser." The two men parted, "So what's going on Skarra? What's the emergency?"

The happiness fled from the young man's face, seriousness adding maturity. "We have received words of warning. The words say that the Goa'uld are coming."

"Coming here? To Abydos?" O'Neill also turned very serious.

"Who told you this?" Carter asked.

Skarra looked at her with sincere eyes. "Dan-yel."

Jack didn't miss a beat. "Is he still here?"

"Yes," came the eager reply, "That is why we call you. He wants to see you."

"Take me to him." Jack was terse, but never doubting.

Skarra nodded and led the group into the walled city. Walking down the narrow alleyways of Nageda and finally crossing the city plaza to go to Kasuf's house. They entered the dark, cool stone dwelling. Kasuf was there in the meeting room. He exchanged pleasantries with everyone, but Jack wasn't listening. He only nodded to the older man. Kasuf smiled at him with understanding.

Skarra took O'Neill by the sleeve and led him on, away from his team. A few minutes later, they were in the enclosed garden behind the living quarters. Skarra showed O'Neill a place to sit in the shade then left, going into the house through another door.

He waited there alone for a few minutes. Then he heard a soft sound from behind him. Jack turned, expecting to see Skarra or Kasuf. But it wasn't either of them.

Daniel stood on the stone walkway; he was wearing a soft robe of sorts. His head was bare; his hands empty, his feet had no shoes. He looked 'real'. He looked solid. Then came the voice. "Hello, Jack."

He stood for a second, just looking. He picked up a small smooth stone and tossed it at the other man. Daniel caught it easily with his right hand. "How did I know you were going to do that?"

But Jack wasn't listening. He was staring…at Daniel. O'Neill's face had gone an interesting shade of pale and his mouth was slightly open as if he had started to say something of interest but had gotten cut off mid sentence. His eyes had a strange expression, a sort of yearning, to be read there.

Concerned, Daniel crossed the short space between them. "Jack," He reached out as if to touch the older man. Before his hand had made contact, O'Neill's had snaked out like a serpent, striking and gripping the younger man's wrist before he'd even seen it coming

"Jack?" Daniel asked calmly, looking into the other man's eyes. "Jack, what's going on?"

O'Neill didn't reply, just held on to Daniel's forearm. Then, slowly, he raised his other hand to Jackson's face, just barely touching the fair skin.

Daniel remained standing stock still as O'Neill slowly made contact with the other man's face. It was interesting, Daniel thought, that he was getting this quiet, cautious type of reaction, not at all what he had expected.

"Daniel?" A question in a rough voice. "Danny?"

He tried to put reassurance in his answer. "Yes, Jack. It's me."

"Really you?" The hand had strayed to his hair and ear. He shivered, it tickled.

"Yes, Jack. Really me…in the flesh."

"How?"

He could only shrug. "De-ascended I guess is the only way to say it. I found out something, something important and…well, I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't not act."

Jack nodded.

"I tried."

"Yeah, I know."

The blue eyes locked with the brown.

"You tried before, too."

"I didn't…"

"Yes you did." Came the quiet comment. "I know, I asked around, I found out."

Daniel just shrugged. The hand that had been on his shoulder and neck now shifted to behind his back. Jack tugged on him gently; Daniel stepped forward until they were in contact. It was a soft hug, almost shy. Daniel had to smile at it. "Jack, I'm real. I'm back."

"You're real, your back." The hug grew stronger, more powerful; the voice whispered in his ear. "You're real, your back. I've missed you. Oh, god...how I've missed you."

*******

When Skarra let O'Neill away, Carter turned to Kasuf. "Hello, Kasuf."

"Hello, Major Carter." He smiled warmly at the three remaining teammates. "Teal'c." He looked at Jonas in curiosity.

Sam indicated the other man. "This is Jonas Quinn."

Kasuf looked at him gravely, recognizing who he was. There was a heartbeat before he spoke the greeting. "You are welcome to this house. May you find peace within it's walls."

Jonas nodded, grateful for the acceptance. "Thank you."

Carter waited until the traditional greeting was complete. Kasuf indicated an inner room and they entered the cool shadowy area.

"Kasuf, Skarra said that Daniel was here." She asked curiously.

"And so he is, he came to give us warning that the evil gods were returning to threaten us again. He first appeared as if in a vision to me," The old man smiled at her as if he held a secret. "But then, he came in truth. My good-son Dan-yel, I have missed him so."

Skarra silently slipped back into the room and began pouring water into ornate metal goblets. These he offered to his guests. "When he told us his news, Dan-yel said I must call to O'Nearr. We must tell him so that he would know what to do."

Carter nodded, sipping from her cup. "We'll tell General Hammond. We should be able to assist with weapons and manpower." She had no doubt that the General would assist the Abydonians, their oldest allies in the galaxy.

Teal'c also offered. "I can stay here and assist in the defense until the SGC sends more support. What weapons do you have?"

Skarra replied eagerly. "We have some of the weapons that Dan-yel and O'Nearr and Fur-getti brought through the Chappa'i the first time. Since then, we have gathered a few more."

Their attention was drawn to the doorway as O'Neill came in. "Carter, Teal'c." He spoke their names quietly. "Come here." As they stood, someone entered behind the Colonel. It didn't take long for them to recognize him.

"DANIEL!" Carter cried out. She quickly went to where he was standing, then stopped suddenly, a few inches away from him. "Daniel?"

He smiled at her and opened his arms. "Sam, it's okay. It's really me."

She stepped into his embrace. "How? Why? When? Daniel, how did you do it?"

"Well, I didn't exactly do it on purpose." He grinned a little shamefacedly. "I uh, well, I've been..." he looked at Kasuf, who smiled happily back at him. "I guess expelled sort of covers it."

"Expelled?" She pulled back to look at him. "Expelled like in school?"

"Yes, like that." Daniel smiled at her comparison.

Teal'c, who was now standing beside his friend with his hand on Daniel's shoulder, said. "You did not follow the rules."

He nodded, looking a little ashamed.

O'Neill looked at him in surprise. "You mean you didn't come back on purpose?"

Kasuf spoke up in an indignant tone of voice. "My good-son, Dan-yel, came to warn us of the return of the false ones. At first, he was as a vision to me and Skarra." He stepped closer to his prodigal looking at his as if he were a miracle. "Then, he truly returned to us in his fleshly form, to help us fight."

"I'm not, well, I wasn't supposed to take any actions." Daniel looked at Jack stubbornly; "you know that, but.... When I learned about the impending invasion I had to warn Kasuf. I couldn't stand by and see it happen to my home and family again."

Carter immediately nodded her understanding and approval. "So like Orlin, you were banished."

He laughed a little shamefacedly. "Yes, like Orlin."

Teal'c also nodded his approval. "An honorable man could do no less, Danieljackson."

"Well, it's nice to know someone appreciates me." He glanced over at Jonas "And my actions."

Jonas finally got up enough nerve to step forward. "Doctor Jackson, I've been appreciating your actions and what they can do for a planet for over half a year now." He flushed to a darker color of embarrassment. "You are the bravest man I know."

Daniel looked from him to Jack. "Or one of the stupidest." He shrugged and looked back at Kasuf and Skarra. "But be that as it may, we need to talk."

*******

Later that evening, after the last meal of the day was eaten and strategy had been formed and rehashed until the planning committee had called a night, Jack O'Neill couldn't sleep. He was restless over the impending battle, unsolved mysteries and unresolved issues so he had come to the top of Kasuf's house. As with most desert dwellings the flat, enclosed roof also served as an open room, becoming a lookout post, a weapons platform, or a laundry room serving the needs of the family as was required. Tonight, it would serve as a confessional. Jack was seated cross-legged looking up at the brilliant stars of Abydos, remembering things that he wished he could change or, at least, forget.

His joy at finding his friend was there also, but it was a bittersweet emotion. Daniel's revelation that he had returned, not for love of his friends but because of a duty to his family was.... disappointing...at best. Though for the life of him, Jack didn't understand why he found it so unacceptable. God and all his angels knew that Daniel's reason couldn't have been their friendship. After the situation with the Eurondans where he had insulted and criticized Daniel, the fiasco with Machello's little Goa'uld killers when he had failed to understand and protect his friend, the disagreement over the fate of the Enkarens, and ultimately the disastrous episode with Reece in the gateroom it was no wonder they had become estranged. They had lost their trust in each other and had said and done things that should never have been exposed to the light of day.

Jack knew it had been his fault too. He'd been ordered to produce results, visible, tangible things to help keep the Stargate program alive and afloat. O'Neill knew the imperatives, understood them, but Daniel had always been the idealist. He truly had never understood why weapons should be the end all and be all of their trips through the Stargate. He had wanted to use it to further mankind's knowledge, for the betterment of the human race. Hell, he'd wanted to cure the common cold and find world peace. But all he'd found had been death and destruction, disappointment and heartbreak. And in the final picture, even his best friend had turned against him. Jack O'Neill had done it again. Fouled up another of the best things that he'd ever had. He had driven Daniel away.

A slight sound alerted him to the fact that someone else was on the roof with him. He turned around a saw the solitary figure standing fifteen or so feet behind him. "Hello, Jack." The tone was eerily familiar. It had sounded exactly the same as when he had traveled through the Stargate for the second time six years ago and found Daniel, Sha'uri and the others in the temple area.

"Daniel."

"What are you doing up here?"

The older man shook his head. "Nothing. Oh, I don't know, thinking." He put a foot up of the raised wall at the very edge of the building.

"Thinking about?"

"Us."

Daniel approached silently on bare feet. He could have been a ghost in the moonlight, ephemeral looking in the beige colored robe he was wearing. "I didn't think that there was an 'us' anymore, Jack." Even the voice sounded wispy, blown about by the dry desert wind.

"Ah, Jesus Christ, Daniel." He turned to look at his...what was he again? Best friend, younger brother, beloved son,...or was he merely a dream.

"No, Jack. Never that." Daniel responded as he always did, in complete brutal honesty. "Only just me." He sighed. "And that was never enough."

"What?"

"Never enough to be just Daniel." The voice was even more hollow now. "I guess I didn't know how to even be him anymore. I tried, but...well it wasn't good enough even then, was it? Only just barely adequate."

"NO! That's not true. " Jack protested, "It wasn't you! It was me! I'm the one; I couldn't meet your standards." The bitter words came out of somewhere inside of Jack. "I'm the one who lost control of the situation! I'm the one who made the decision to leave you there alone..."

"No, Jack..."

"Yes, Jack! Yes, damn it." Jack turned to look down into the warren of streets and alleyways. "I didn't expect it, I let my guard down, I got suckered in by them! It was my fault you died! I left you there and you died!" His anguished voice cried out in the night.

"Jack, please. That's not what happened." Daniel's voice was suddenly very close to him...but he couldn't see anything anymore. There was something wrong with his eyes. Everything was blurry, unreal, incomplete. A roaring sound filled his ears, unbalancing him. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he felt himself falling. Then strong arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his shoulders. They were pulling on him, guiding him backward away from the edge, away from the end, away from oblivion.

Suddenly, he was sitting on his butt on the hard clay roof. The arms were still there, and there was a familiar voice in his ears, and a well-known scent in his nostrils. Daniel...Daniel... Daniel...it was Daniel. Tears that had been in his eyes for six months finally began to fall, the sobs that had remained in his chest for over half a year broke out and the loneliness in his heart finally burst through. Colonel Jack O'Neill wept like a lost child in Daniel's arms for the first time in a very long time.

*******

Down in the house, Jonas Quinn had been awakened by voices. He had gotten up and come out into the main room. He could just hear the words echoing down from up above on the roof. Now that he was closer, he could recognize Colonel O'Neill's voice though he couldn't understand the words. There was another softer voice also, Doctor Jackson. He started to move closer to the source to try to understand what was being said.

But as he took a step, a strong hand came out of the darkness and grasped him by his upper arm in a hard, painful grip.

"Jonasquinn." The voice was Teal'c's.

"Teal'c, I heard voices." He said urgently. "I was just going to see...."

"No." The voice was implacable. "No, you are not going. You must return to your room."

"But they may need our help."

"No." Teal'c came out of the shadows and looked down at the small man. "They neither need nor want our help." He looked from Quinn, to the direction that the voices were coming from. "They must now help themselves and...each other."

*******

By the time O'Neill finally regained some control, he was sitting with his head and shoulders in Daniel's arms and his face pressed tightly up against the other man's neck. Daniel was holding him and rocking him like he had the infant Shi'fu, like a little child, murmuring something in Arabic to him, something about heart and love and safety.

Finally, Jack sniffed and gasped and began to breathe normally again. Daniel allowed him to pull back, and he looked down into Jack's wet face. He wiped the tears from his cheeks with delicate strokes of his fingers.

"Oh, Jack. What have we done to ourselves?" Daniel murmured as he watched his friend try to recover. "What happened?'

"I don't know." Jack shook his head and sniffed. "Oh, Danny, I'm so sorry. I know it's not enough. I swear, I didn't mean for it to get so out of control."

"Shsssh, it's okay."

"No, no, it's not okay. Not anymore." He reached out to touch Daniel's face, to stroke his hair. "I was so...such a bastard to you. You meant too much to me, you were too close and worse, you were on my team. I cared more for you than I was supposed to and I had to drive you away...and I did a damned fine job of it too."

"No, Jack..."

"Yes. Yes, Daniel. I've had a long time to think about it." He took advantage of his position and leaned back into Daniel's chest. "I might as well have put a bullet in your brain."

"No Jack, you saved my life. You released me, let me go with Oma." He rested his chin on Jack's head. "That's why I'm alive today, here, with you."

"But it never should have happened." He shifted and looked up into Daniel's eyes. "I can count on one hand the number of times I've left you alone on other planets. And every fucking time, something happened. I knew better, but I still did it."

"I would have argued with you." Daniel protested.''

"So! You would have argued with me. We always argued. Daniel, I'd much rather have you mad at me then... well, what happened. I can deal with a mad Danny...I just couldn't deal with...." A sob came back out of nowhere. "I can't deal with..." Jack couldn't force any more words out past the tears that had begun again.

"You can't deal with a dead Danny...Oh, God, Jack....you weren't supposed to have to." Daniel pulled him in tight again and kissed him on the forehead, hugging him back to his chest. "It wasn't your fault, it was my decision. I'm the one who did it. I could have left, run away back to the Stargate. But I didn't think, I...couldn't stop myself. Then, then it was too late and I was already exposed." He took a deep breath. "Oh, God, Jack. I did it to myself. Nobody could have stopped me."

"Yes, I could have." Jack argued back soggily. "I should have made you come with us, forced you kicking and screaming, to come with us." He looked at Daniel. "I was in charge, it was my decision...it was my fault."

Daniel sat there quietly, gently stroking his friend's hair. He knew what he had done, but he also knew Jack O'Neill and his concept of responsibility. And he refused to argue anymore on the matter. What was important now was Jack's state of mind. They had to get things out into the open and set to rights. "Jack,"

"Yes." The voice was still rough.

"Jack, can we talk about it?"

"Yes," the voice was positive, but the body language was one of insecurity. Jack sat still wrapped in Daniel's arms with his head resting on his friend's collarbone.

"Do you know what started all of this?"

A pause, "Was it the sting to catch Maybourne?"

A return pause. "Maybe."

"I...I was afraid for you. I thought you'd be in danger."

"Not Sam or Teal'c?"

"Yes, no, I don't know." The reply was an honest one. "But you were the one who came to the house. You were the one who questioned it all. And then when I found out it was Makepeace...l couldn't believe it...My team...at risk...my fault."

"No. That wasn't your fault." Daniel was emphatic. "No one suspected him. No one could have known it was him... a Colonel in the Marines."

"Did you really draw straws?" a soft quiet question.

Daniel looked down at the salt and pepper hair and chuckled. "No, I came on my own. Sam wanted to come, but I insisted on being the one."

"Strong foundations, Danny."

"Strong as a rock, then?"

"Yes, Daniel."

"A cracked foudation, Jack. Like Machello's little trick on me."

Jack's head came up and nearly bumped Daniel's chin. "NO!"

"Shssssh, you didn't know." He tried to calm his friend again. "Jack. You couldn't have known."

"Oh really," Jack said dryly, sitting up under his own power. "You told me. You said you felt something on the planet. I ignored you."

"You didn't ignore me. You tried. You stayed with me in the VIP suite."

"Yeah, until you saw it, them again and I called the Doc and then we turned you over to that quack, Mackenzie."

Daniel shook his head. "You came to see me, and then when I called for you...you came."

"When the Ancients downloaded their language in my head, you stayed with me. You didn't leave me alone."

"That was different, I knew what was happening to you."

"Daniel," Jack laughed bitterly. "I didn't know what was happening to me...but you stayed anyway. You wouldn't leave until your figured it it and then you helped me."

'Jack," the younger man murmured. "Jack, it's okay. It's all right."

"NO! It's not all right Daniel. If it were all right...well, we wouldn't be here...like this."

"Jack." He sighed, there was no answer to that.

"It was Reece, wasn't it?"

"Jack,"

"Wasn't it? That's what did it, finally. When I...killed...Reece."

Daniel chewed his lip for a moment, "Yes, that was the final straw, but it wasn't just Reece." He looked thoughtful. "It was a lot of little things, things that finally drove us apart." He sat a little while, gathering his memories. The memories that showed him not only Jack's few mistakes but also all of his own as well.

"Tell me." Jack prompted him.

"You won't like it."

"Daniel, I've just spent the second worst time of my life, thinking, remembering, guessing. Please, I need to know...so we can fix it."

He formed his mouth into the shape of a smile, but it wasn't one...really. "Okay, but..."

"Yeah, I know, I asked for it." Jack shifted again, hiding his face in Daniel's chest, drying his tears with Daniel's robe, inhaling Daniel's scent.

Daniel squeezed him with a hug before he started out dubiously. "Robert's death." Jack nodded. He'd known about that one, but...there was no correcting or apologizing for it, but Daniel continued to speak. "Robert's death was my fault, Jack. If I hadn't wanted to do that dig so badly...I talked him into going. Hell, I brought him into the SGC. I should have left him alone, where he'd never even have heard about aliens." Daniel sighed. Jack started to speak but Daniel shushed him again. "Then, Sarah was taken. I don't know, Jack. It's like I'm a walking invitation...Hey Goa'ulds, look, another of Daniel's friends. He really knows how to pick them, doesn't he. They make great hosts." He leaned back against the stone wall. "It's no wonder you didn't trust me, I didn't trust me." He paused. "I think it was my unhappiness about not being good enough anymore." He looked down O'Neill. "I got tired of being a disappointment to my friends, to you especially. So...I withdrew into myself again...that way I couldn't hurt you or anyone else anymore."

"Daniel, you've never disappointed me." Jack protested. "Frustrated, confused, rattled, but never disappointed me." He shifted in Daniel's hold to lie back and look up at him. "More often than not, you amazed and bewildered me. You and Carter would go running off at warp speed and I just pick myself up out of the dust and have Teal'c try explain things to me. And then to have you put yourself at risk for nothing, for no good reason. You would make me so crazy! Then, you finally did it. You got yourself into a situation that I couldn't fix. God, Daniel, I was so mad at you...and then you were dying in front of me by inches. And I couldn't stop it. I couldn't bear it. I didn't know how to keep going. After you...left...I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Carter got all worried, Teal'c started watching me like a hawk. Hell, Hammond started inviting me over to watch the game on Sunday afternoons so he could keep an eye on me." He took a deep breath. "Then, Jonas showed up...and I saw my failure and his guilt in his face every day."

"Jack, Jonas didn't push me out that window." Daniel scolded him softly.

"No, he didn't, he just watched you jump." O'Neill buried his face in Daniel's neck again. It seemed the safest thing to do. He stayed there for a long time.

Just as Daniel was beginning to think his friend had fallen asleep in his arms, Jack started talking again. "On Ball's planet, that was really you wasn't it?"

"Baal." Daniel corrected automatically.

"Bocci. That was you, right?"

"Yes, Jack. That was me." Daniel had unconsciously started rubbing Jack's back.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you come?"

"How could I not? You would have come for me."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"No. No well yeah buts. You needed help, I needed to help, so I came." He grimaced, "Sorry, I didn't do more. And sooner."

"You did a lot, you got me out..."

"No, you got yourself out."

"Well, you did a lot towards the final goal." Jack looked at Daniel, "When you were gone that time, you came back to the SGC...and told Carter, Teal'c and...him, didn't you?"

Daniel just shrugged.

"Thank you." Daniel didn't say anything. "This is what would have happened to you then if you'd gotten caught."

"Well, yes."

"And this time you got caught?"

Daniel ducked his head, not looking at Jack, "Yes."

"Was, it bad?"

"Bad? No, not really. Oma and some others came, they explained that I'd broken the rules once too often." He shrugged. "I understand."

"Wait, once too often? Then they knew."

"Yes, they knew." Daniel smiled sadly. "Oma said they understood about you, but they couldn't let it go again." he shrugged, "so here I am."

"What did they understand about me?" He was unsure of what his friend meant.

"They understood that I had to help you, that I couldn't leave you there like that. One person, they could overlook. But when I interfered on a planetary scale....well it was too much." he rubbed his cheek on Jack's hair. "I missed you, Jack." He said quietly.

"And I missed you, Danny."

"Can we start over?"

"No, but we sure as hell can pick up where we left off."

"Do we want too?"

Jack looked at him dubiously. "Don't we?"

"I'd like to…maybe do better this time."

"I'd like that too, Danny." Jack murmured sleepily into the robe, the physical and emotional exhaustion catching up to him.

Daniel smiled down at him. This was a Jack O'Neill he hadn't seen in a long time. "Jack, do you want to go back downstairs?"

"Huh uh."

"Okay," Daniel scooted down to make himself and Jack more comfortable. Jack shifted his position to rest his head on Daniel's shoulder. Daniel used the extra material in his robe to cover them both against the chill of the desert night air.

*******

The next morning dawned clear and bright, it was discovered that Jack and Daniel were both missing from their respective rooms. A brief search was conducted and, as Teal'c had suspected, he located the two men on the roof.

They were lying asleep against the eastern most wall sheltered from both the cool early morning breeze and the bright morning sun. The two men were both wrapped in Daniel's voluminous desert robe against the chill of the morning air. The Jaffa stood looking at his two friends as they slept peacefully. Daniel, perhaps feeling that someone was watching shifted in his rest, protectively pulling his sleeping friend closer. Jack, responding in kind, burrowed deeper in to the folds of their shared woolen robe.

Teal'c could hear a desert dwelling bird call to its mate. Children were playing in the streets below, their laughter singing through the alleyways. Women called to their men as they left for their daily labors. It was indeed a beautiful morning.

The end