Regret

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=120 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="01078642egerdp.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=428 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00f64643.jpg"> <div> <B>Regret</B></div> <div>  <A NAME="regret"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>This was written as a 'comment fic' for the lovely and talented Princessofg.  She was offering comment fics in her journal and I thought I would return the favor.  She wanted "J/D; R; est. rel.; regret".  This is the result.</B></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> It was late. Air hummed and hissed through the vents and ducts weaving like a honeycomb through the depths of the mountain stronghold. 0238. Most people were sound asleep by now. *He* wasn't. Nor was Jack. Fresh off the plane and on a mission of his own, he made his way through corridors he knew so well; corridors that looked and sounded and smelled like home. One more for the list, he reckoned. Just one more regret for the long string that threatened to bind him up like an ancient mummy and leave him dead and dry.</div> <bR> <div> Brief mental flashes of sweaty flesh beneath his tongue, writhing bodies pressed close in the firelight of a rustic cabin, grunted pleasures given and received as he and Daniel tried to make up for so many lost years between them; these things danced just behind Jack's eyes as his feet took him unerringly into the presence of a man whose skin he'd tasted from head to toe. The taste and smell of arousal that never seemed to leave his senses these days, always there, always a sharp, keen reminder that a phone call was all it took to have Daniel in his bed before the sun fell on the east coast. Warm, all encompassing, slick heat as he thrust and ground against a body that was pliant and demanding in turns … and his any time he wanted it. Languid, slow mornings when there was nothing else to do but trace patterns on a naked, broad back with his fingertips and drink in the body heat of the one person he loved above all others.</div> <bR> <div> If he listened close enough, he could hear the sound of his heart cracking in two at what he was about to say.</div> <div> Jack leaned on the doorframe, hands in his pockets, tie loosened. Daniel mumbled and brooded over a book, muttering to himself as he fought with a translation. The stubble on his chin showed he'd been here for probably two days straight. Smudges under his eyes hinted it may have been longer.</div> <bR> <div> "Pack your bags," Jack said quietly.</div> <bR> <div> All movement ceased as Daniel squinted up through bleary eyes. The silence in the room was a palpable thing. "Jack?"</div> <bR> <div> "Better take a sweater. I understand it gets cold in Atlantis these days."</div> <bR> <div> Understanding flooded into Daniel's eyes, chasing all traces of tiredness and frustration away. "What?"</div> <bR> <div> "They need you. Carter needs you. It's going to hell there and I … I can't keep you here any longer."</div> <bR> <div> "You're coming with me," Daniel said, more statement than question.</div> <bR> <div> "No."</div> <bR> <div> "Yes," was the petulant reply.</div> <bR> <div> "I've held you back too long. Held you here within reach of me. I can't do that anymore."</div> <bR> <div> Daniel's back straightened. Cold determination settled around him. "I'm not going without you."</div> <bR> <div> The smile on Jack's face was sad. "You're going. I've got a crew scheduled to pack up your apartment day after tomorrow. Gives me a day to clean out any … unmentionables. I'll send what I know you'll want through the gate in a few weeks' time…"</div> <bR> <div> "I need *you*."</div> <bR> <div> "I appreciate the sentiment…"</div> <bR> <div> Daniel was around the desk and in Jack's personal space. "I left you behind once and I've regretted it for years. I'm not doing that again. We opened that damned gate. You and I. It's how it's supposed to be - the two of us walking through together. I won't let you send me away because you think it's the noble thing to do. Either you come with me, or I won't go."</div> <bR> <div> "They need you."</div> <bR> <div> "Fuck them," Daniel growled. "I've given them enough. I'm not giving them this, too. Not when I finally have it all to myself."</div> <bR> <div> Jack couldn't help but smile. "I'm trying to be heroic about all this," he said with a small shrug.</div> <bR> <div> "Screw heroic," Daniel said. "Me and you. Package deal."</div> <bR> <div> "I'm gonna live to regret this, aren't I?"</div> <bR> <div> "I hope so," Daniel said and dragged Jack home to help him pack.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ~finis~</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto:claforce@plotexpo.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:claforce@plotexpo.com"><U>Give the author's ego a marshmallow . . . please feed the bear.</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3_sg1_slash.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stargate SG1 Slash Fiction"><U>Back to Fic List</U></A>     <A HREF="id2_directory.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directory Listing"><U>Back to Directory</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=120 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="01178643.jpg"> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=52 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00f64643.jpg"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="161" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 45 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="29"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Plotexpo.com"><U><IMG SRC="0181d270.jpg" border=0 width="29" height="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="45" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="15" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id208.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Of One Mind"><U><IMG SRC="017271d0.jpg" border=0 width="39" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id211.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cam Me"><U><IMG SRC="016271d0.jpg" border=0 width="39" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>