Getting to Know You

by Mary Carothers

my1cutie@yahoo.com

Fandom: Stargate SG1

Pairing: Jack/Jonas

Genres: Established Relationship, Romance, Slash, Multi-chaptered

Warnings: Spoilers for episodes: “A Matter of Time”, “Descent”

Spoilers for the movie “Caddyshack”

Rating: NC-17

Summary: Jack takes Jonas home for the weekend so they can get to know each other better.

Timeline: Between Descent and Frozen

Authors Notes: This is the first in my Jack/Jonas "Sweetheart" series that will eventually cover all of Season 6. Many thanks as always to Huntress for her feedback and support. All archives are welcome; just drop me a note.


Getting to Know You
by Mary Carothers


1. A Weekend Off

Jonas popped his head into Colonel O’Neill’s office. “Colonel, did you speak with General Hammond?”

Jack looked up from his stack of paperwork. “Yeah, meet me at the truck at 1800.”

“Yes, Sir,” he responded then went off to rejoin Major Carter in her lab for the balance of the afternoon.

Jack took a moment to break from his reading and reflected on the young man who had come to not only earn his respect, but had also come to gain his affection. It had been about a week after returning Thor’s consciousness to the Asgard, and the whole team had come over for pizza at Jack’s house. By the time things broke up it was simply too late to drive Jonas back to the mountain, so the colonel kept him there while Carter took Teal’c back to her place. Jonas made the first move when he kissed Jack in the kitchen and from there things got intense with neither of them getting very much sleep before returning to the SGC the next morning.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Excuse me, Sir, have you seen Jonas?”

“Yeah, he just came by here. I think he was heading back to your lab,” O’Neill responded. “How’s it going with that…that thing?”

Sam smiled, “It’s going well, Sir. With what Jonas has translated of the markings so far, we’ve already greatly increased our understanding of…”

The colonel interrupted, “Very good, Major,” he opened a file on his desk and waved her off, “Keep me apprised.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said and left to return to her lab.

Three weeks had passed since Jack’s night with Jonas and SG-1 had been so busy that they had hardly had time to breathe. They had been off-world four different times, and when they were on Earth, their time had been occupied with meetings and other duties. Jack and Jonas hadn’t managed as little as even five minutes alone together in that time. They had eaten a few meals together in the commissary, but each time either Teal’c or Carter or both had joined them. The days had been long and the nights were too short, providing barely enough time for Jack to get back to his house, set the VCR, grab some sleep, and return to the mountain.

Finally, they were going to get a weekend off and Jack had spoken with General Hammond that morning and made arrangements to take Jonas off-base with him for the weekend claiming a desire to aid in his further understanding of Earth and wanting them to get to know each other better in the interest of promoting team unity, etc. The general was not fooled, O’Neill could tell, but he was a wise man who believed that as long as his personnel did their jobs, he didn’t care what they did off-base and on their own time. The colonel checked his watch, it was just after 1400. ‘Four more hours, and you’re all mine,’ he thought then returned to his reading hoping the time would go by quickly.

* * * * * * * *

‘Twenty-nine minutes to go,’ Jonas thought as he checked his watch for the second time in half an hour. He had spent so much time in Major Carter’s lab recently that he saw more of it than anywhere else, including his own quarters. In the past week, he had actually fallen asleep at his work station – twice – each time waking up the next morning with a very sore neck.

“Got a hot date, Jonas?” Sam teased.

“What? Uh…no…why?”

Major Carter turned away from her computer screen to look over at him, “You keep looking at your watch. What’s up? One of the nurses finally talked you into having dinner with her?”

“No. Just we have a couple days off and I’m looking forward to it,” he said studying the image on the screen in front of him.

“Ah,” she nodded and returned to her calculations.

Jonas continued, “What about you, Major?”

“What?”

“Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

She looked up from her work and responded, “I have stuff to do around the house. Maybe I’ll go to the gym. I’m not sure.”

“That sounds good,” he replied still staring at the screen in front of him not having heard a word she said.

“Uh-huh,” she replied as her focus returned to her own monitor, glad that Jonas no longer wanted to continue the conversation. From the corner of her eye she noticed as he looked at his watch again. Realizing that her teammate was going to be of no further help for the rest of the day, she decided to send him away so that he wouldn’t distract her. “Jonas, why don’t you go ahead? That’ll still be here on Monday.”

“Are you sure?” he asked turning around to face her.

She smiled at him and nodded, “Yes. Now, go on and enjoy your weekend.”

Jonas wasted no time in shutting down his computer and closing his notebook. “Thank you, Major, you, too,” he said on his way out the door.

* * * * * * * *

Jack and Jonas met at the colonel’s truck at exactly 1800, left the mountain and went directly to Jack’s house with each lost in his own thoughts during the trip. Once inside with the door closed and locked, Jonas found himself pinned to the wall with Jack’s mouth devouring his like a starving man with a steak. They dropped their bags and jackets by the door and started peeling each other’s clothes off with shoes and shirts scattering in various directions.

Jack began moving down, nibbling on the younger man’s neck and shoulder, “You using a new soap?” he asked while undoing Jonas’ jeans.

Jonas returned the favor, working on Jack’s pants, “Yeah, you like it?”

“Yeah,” he said guiding them into the living room, “show it to me tomorrow and we’ll pick some up for here.”

“Ok,” Jonas said as he fell backward over the arm of the sofa now completely naked.

Jack stepped out of his pants and circled around to the front of the sofa kneeling down at Jonas’ hips. He removed the throw pillow from under Jonas’ knees and placed it under his own then he held the younger man in place to keep his calves elevated on the arm of the sofa.

“Jack, your knees,” he cautioned.

The taste and smell of Jonas was all Jack had been able to think about for the last hour, his knees be damned, he wasn’t going to wait any longer. “I don’t care,” he grumbled as he took Jonas’ semi-erect penis in his mouth, sucking on it, savoring the taste and the sensation of it growing until fully hardened.

All Jonas could do was lay there and moan as Jack drove him slowly insane with his talented mouth on his penis while his hand fondled and squeezed the younger man’s balls. When Jack sensed that Jonas was close, he lowered his hand to between his cheeks and stroked him, penetrating quickly with one finger while simultaneously sucking as hard as he could with his mouth. That sudden added sensation to his rear was all it took to send Jonas over the edge and his release came flooding into Jack’s mouth.

After draining his lover of every last drop, Jack got up slowly and sat down in the empty corner of the sofa. Jonas slid off onto the floor and kneeled before him. He spread his lover’s legs apart, guided his hips forward to the edge of the cushion, and moved in on his arousal, “My turn,” he growled as he took hold of Jack’s thighs.

“As you wish,” Jack whispered. Reclined with his head resting on the back of the sofa, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to get lost in the sensations of Jonas’ attentions sucking first on his penis, then on his balls, then back to his penis, teasing the tip with his tongue until Jack reached his limit and orgasm overtook him as well. Once finished, Jonas snuggled in next to Jack and burrowed his head into his shoulder letting out a contented sigh.

“Nice,” Jack sighed while running his fingers through Jonas’ hair now damp with sweat.

They sat a few minutes holding each other until their breathing calmed then Jack reached down and spanked Jonas on his rear end. “Let’s go shower, then I’ll order us a pizza.”

Jonas looked up at him through puppy dog eyes, “With anchovies?”

Jack rolled his eyes in response, “On the side….come on.”

They spent the rest of the evening enjoying each other’s company. After their shower they watched the Simpsons episodes that Jack recorded while they were off-world. The pizza came while they were watching and when they had finished with the tape, they had also finished off the whole pizza and a six-pack of beer. Jonas helped clean-up then Jack put in the movie “Caddyshack”.

When the character Carl was told to kill all the gophers on the golf course, Jonas grabbed the remote and paused the tape. “Why does he have to kill them? Why can’t he just relocate them like they do on that TV show?” he asked in all innocence and sincerity.

“Because,” Jack explained taking control of the remote, “the only good gopher is a dead gopher.”

Jonas opened his mouth to speak, but Jack cut him off by placing his hand on Jonas’ lips. “You’re just going to have to trust me on this one,” he said and then unpaused the tape.

For the rest of the movie Jonas silently rooted for the gopher and they both laughed harder and harder as Carl resorted to more and more drastic measures in his quest to kill it. Jonas was relieved when the movie ended with the gopher still very much alive.

Jack flipped over to a local station to catch the sports news and by the time it was over Jonas had gone from snuggling him to nibbling on him. Knowing well where this was heading, Jack turned off the TV and took Jonas down the hall and into his bedroom.



2. Wanting Him

Saturday morning Jack awoke to a noise coming from the master bathroom and instinctively reached out to the spot next to him in bed. When he found it empty, he didn’t need to be a quantum physicist to figure out that Jonas was most likely the source of the noise. He sat up and stretched. Damn he felt good – much better than he had in a very long time. Sex with a man, especially one so enthusiastic, was just *so* much more fulfilling for Jack than sex with a woman. He could just connect better with men and that made those relationships much more satisfying, and they were always far less complicated. So often women would just be too emotional, especially with the bizarre hours he worked. Or at least that was the case with the women Jack had been with since Sarah.

A quick scan of the room showed that Jonas had picked up the floor. The clothes they tore off each other the night before were folded and neatly stacked in the open closet. It reminded Jack of how Jonas always has stacks of books and papers all over the chairs and tabletops in his lab. The strange thing was that no matter how cluttered the room looked Jonas was always able to place his hand on just exactly the right piece of paper or text whenever he needed it.

Jack stood and started for the hall bath, but just then the door to the master bath opened.

“Good morning,” Jonas purred, “Hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, not at all,” Jack said turning toward him. “Come here,” he ordered and pulled him close laying a kiss tenderly on his forehead.

Jonas could tell something was on his mind, “What is it?”

Jack stepped back and caressed Jonas’ cheek. Gazing into his green eyes, the colonel’s expression turned from tenderness to a sly grin. “Go back to bed. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Don’t take too long,” Jonas pecked him on the cheek and went off to wait.

Once in the bathroom with the door closed, the colonel took care of the necessary business. When he went to brush his teeth and rinse he found a second toothbrush, still wet, laying next to his on the sink, apparently Jonas had already brushed. ‘When’s the last time there was a second toothbrush in here?’ he wondered. It had been far too long. He had guests over from time to time, but they never shared the same bathroom and there was rarely enough lead-time for them to have an overnight bag with them, let alone a toothbrush.

While standing there with toothbrush in hand he noticed a shadow on the wall. He looked and found the reason for the shadow was the towel they used the night before to clean themselves; it was rinsed and hanging over the shower to dry. Jack shook his head and thought, ‘How the hell did you get so damn lucky, O’Neill? The guy’s hot, his kisses are so good they’re almost lethal, he’s *great* in the sack, and on top of all that, he’s thoughtful, practical, and crazy for you.’

Meanwhile, Jonas was leaning back on his elbows atop the bed and took the time while waiting to reflect on how he and the colonel had come to this point. It was about six weeks earlier when he had overheard the nurses in the infirmary talking about “Mr. Tall, Strong and Handsome.” He thought they were discussing him, so, naturally, he made a point to listen more attentively. It turned out that they were talking about Colonel O’Neill.

Over the next week or so, Jonas’ thoughts kept drifting back to that description and how perfectly it applied to the colonel. He was tall, but only one inch taller than Jonas, which opened the door for interesting possibilities involving different body alignments (that thought made him shudder). And obviously the colonel was strong given his readily apparent muscle tone, but he was also strong as a leader and as a man of character. And handsome, well that was indisputable by anyone’s standards. As he considered the colonel along those lines he had come to the conclusion that he had feelings for Jack that went beyond just physical attraction. The question was what would he do about it?

When SG-1 went for pizza at the colonel’s place, and then he was left alone with him, Jonas decided he wanted him enough to take the chance and kiss him. He reasoned that the worst that could happen was he would get a black eye and be transferred to another SG team. He definitely thought that a taste of those juicy lips was worth the risk. So, Jonas followed Jack into the kitchen, backed him against the counter, placed his hands on the colonel’s shoulders, stared into those deep brown eyes and went in for the kiss. He was pleasantly surprised when Jack grabbed him by the ass, pulled him close, and returned the kiss with great vigor. That night he found out that in addition to all his other outstanding attributes, the colonel’s *terrific* in bed.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Jack asked as he sat next to him.

“You,” he replied reaching over and running his fingers through Jack’s chest hairs.

“Really?” Jack asked as he lowered them to lay flat on the mattress rubbing his growing arousal into Jonas’ thigh.

“Uh-huh,” Jonas moaned as he began to melt again. It was amazing the effect that the man had on him.

“What about me?” Jack teased as his hands roamed over Jonas’ body.

“Only good things.”

Jack kissed him deeply, then broke off and whispered in his ear, “I want you.”

“Well, that would explain why you have me pinned down again,” Jonas teased.

“Seriously,” Jack stroked his cheek and cupped his chin, “can you handle me again so soon?”

“Yeah, it’s been a few hours. Don’t worry. I can handle it,” he winked.

Jack moved off to retrieve the lube and Jonas began to roll over in anticipation, but Jack’s hand on his hip stopped him. “No,” he said turning him onto his back, “I want to see your face this time.”

“Sweet,” Jonas replied as he relaxed into the pillows enjoying the soothing caresses Jack was placing on his thighs.

The night before they had taken their time in the bedroom, exploring every inch of one another’s body, but this morning was one of those times when Jack wasn’t in the mood for foreplay. Jack wanted Jonas and he wanted him now. That was one thing that women never accepted; it always made them want to have a “discussion.” It was refreshing to have a lover who understood when he was like this. It didn’t matter to Jonas if they “skipped the preliminaries” and the colonel reasoned that it was probably a “guy thing”. As chauvinistic as that may have seemed, the point was that Jonas might be from another planet, but he was still a human male and it was to be expected that some things just transcended cultural lines.

Jack prepared himself and then his lover quickly, first one finger, then two and then three with Jonas pushing himself onto Jack’s hand asking for more. He put Jonas’ feet up on his shoulders and positioned himself at his entrance. Then he pushed in feeling just the head break through the first ring of muscle and paused to be sure that Jonas was truly able to “handle it” as he had claimed. The glare of passion on his lover’s face was all the confirmation he needed. Jack focused on Jonas’ face making eye contact and then let himself go, thrusting hard and fast, being sure to angle just right to hit the prostate sending wave after wave of pleasure through both of them until they were panting and dripping with sweat. Then Jack reached down and took hold of Jonas’ erection causing the younger man to writhe, drawing Jack in deeper. It was only a few thrusts more before he erupted crying out, “Damn, Jonas….you feel so…fucking…good.” Jonas came as soon as he felt the first of hit of Jack’s semen inside, arching up even more off the bed. Once both were spent, Jack released Jonas’ legs then pulled out and rolled onto his back resting beside his lover.

About fifteen minutes later, the stickiness became too much to bear, so they got up and showered and shaved. Afterwards, they dressed and went out to breakfast at a local coffee shop and then they were off to do the shopping they discussed the night before. They went to the bed and bath store and picked up the soap that Jonas had come across – a sports bar with a kind of musky scent – and selected an assortment of massage oils to try.

Knowing that Jonas was a voracious reader, Jack next took him to a mega bookstore where he told Jonas that he could get any three books he wanted. Jonas was like a little child in a toy store spending an inordinate amount of time in the science and history sections. Jack waited patiently for him occupying his time by sitting in the café with a cup of coffee and reading the latest issue of “Mad” magazine. They left with two history books, one science book, half a dozen magazines and a book of English logic problems that Jonas wanted to give to Major Carter.

They made a couple of other stops then, lastly, they went to the supermarket. Jack needed everything since he hadn’t really shopped in the last month, so he got the basics – coffee, milk, Fruit Loops, beer, etc.

“Pick out some things you like,” Jack ordered.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I can’t read your mind.”

Jonas chose grapes, bananas, Ginger Ale, an assortment of lollipops, and four different ice creams to add to the basket. Jack made a mental note of his selections so that he could be sure to keep them on hand from now on, just in case Jonas received permission to come over again some time.

When they got near the floral section, Jonas wandered over to the roses and began to look over the display very carefully.

“You like roses?” Jack asked.

“I’ve read about them, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen them in person.” He bent down and sniffed at one of the arrangements, then continued, “They smell nice, and look at all the colors.” He pointed at the side panel of the display case, “There’s a chart here that explains the symbolism of the different colors.”

“Really? I thought there are different colors just because there are different colors.”

“Nah, see here,” he ran his finger along the chart as he read it out loud, “All roses symbolize love, but different colors take on additional specific meanings. Red is for love, respect, and courage. Yellow is for friendship. Pink and Peach are for gratitude, appreciation and admiration.” He stopped reading and picked up a mixed bouquet of pink and peach roses and handed them to Jack. “Here, I want to get these for you.”

O’Neill was stunned and genuinely touched. In all his years of dating, he had given roses many times, but no one had ever given roses to him, not even his ex-wife. He took them and placed them in the cart. “Thanks, that’s really sweet.”

“You’re welcome,” Jonas said before drifting off to the adjacent bakery section where he added a loaf of fresh sourdough bread and a box of assorted donuts to the basket.

One last quick stop at the deli for sandwiches, potato salad and steak fries, and they were ready to checkout. At the counter, Jonas picked up a tabloid that had an article titled “Interview with Nevada Alien”. He stepped behind the colonel, looked to see that no one would hear him, and whispered in his ear, “When did a reporter get access to the Nevada facility?”

Jack continued unloading the cart, “What are you talking about?”

“This,” Jonas said holding the paper for Jack to see.

“Ah,” he held back a laugh, “that’s just made up stuff in there. Don’t take any of it seriously.”

Jonas put it back in the rack. “Oh…well…that explains why I’ve never seen that magazine in the base library.”

They finished checking out, but not before Jonas picked up three different chocolate bars one of which he ate on the way out to the truck. They loaded up the bags in the back and Jonas took the roses to hold on his lap to keep them safe from harm then they headed back to Jack’s looking forward to the rest of the weekend still ahead of them.



3. Let Me Show You

When they arrived back at the house, Jack pulled into the driveway and exclaimed, “Ah, hell!” as he turned off the ignition. He exited the truck in a hurry and walked back down the drive. “Son of a bitch!” he shouted.

Jonas put down the roses, jumped out of the passenger side and raced around the rear more than a little concerned. Then he saw the reason for the colonel’s rage – a gopher hole – a fresh one from the looks of it, right in the front corner of the lawn.

“Damn,” Jack continued, “now I’ll have to go out tomorrow and get something to kill the little asshole.”

Jonas was taken back a bit, usually if Jack’s mouth was spewing forth profanity it was in the bedroom, not in public where others could hear. He bit his lip to keep from smiling at the sight of the colonel, so full of bravado, reduced to babbling obscenities by a mere rodent. “You really don’t like gophers much do you?” he asked the obvious.

“Can’t stand them, and don’t even *try* to tell me we can catch it and relocate it because that is so NOT going to happen.”

Jonas stepped over the hole and began to kick at the mound of dirt. “Well,” he suggested, “we could bring some C-4 home and blow…”

Home. Jack didn’t hear anything after that one word. Jonas had just referred to his house as “home”. His thoughts flashed back to an evening roughly four years before…

“Hi, Honey, I’m home!” Jack called out in jest as he closed the front door behind him.

A man’s voice came from the kitchen, “It’s about damn time, O’Neill. Dinner’s going to get cold.”

“Hey, just because tomorrow’s your first mission leading your own SG team that doesn’t mean you get to be a smart ass.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m the smartest ass you’ve ever had.”

*

Back in the present Jonas was standing in front of him waving his right hand before his eyes. “Jack? Colonel, are you ok?”

O’Neill shook off his thoughts and returned to reality. “What? Oh, yeah…fine…just thinking.”

They unloaded the truck and put everything away. Jack put the roses in a vase he found stored in the hall closet and placed them on the end table in the living room then they sat down in the dining room and ate the deli food they had gotten. After lunch, Jack went into his den to check his email and take care of the backlog of mail piled on his desk while Jonas settled in front of the Weather Channel with a bowl of grapes and a book he had brought from the base quite content for the rest of the afternoon.

That evening at dinner Jack saw that Jonas’ book was on basic conversational Russian and just had to ask, “Russian? Why are you studying Russian?”

“Well, we have the Russian SG team now.”

“Yeah, so they’re on an American base. They can speak English.”

“I know, but, it’s just, well, they still speak Russian to each other – especially in the gym and the commissary – and I thought it would be a good idea if someone understood what they’re saying.”

Jack approved. “Good thinking, but be careful,” he warned, “you’re a little young to be sounding so cynical.”

Rain started to fall while they were eating, so O’Neill’s plan to spend the evening at his telescope with Jonas by his side was literally washed out.
Instead they relaxed in the living room and watched a rebroadcast of a “classic” hockey game on ESPN2. Jack, of course, knew the outcome, but it was a hell of a terrific game to watch anyway. Besides, for Jonas it was his first time to see it, so watching him cheer for the underdog made the time that much more enjoyable, especially when they scored the winning goal in the last twenty seconds and Jonas literally jumped off the sofa with excitement.

When the game was finished, Jonas turned off the TV, took Jack by the hand and began leading him down the hallway and to the bedroom. Jack stopped in the doorway. “Jonas, sorry, but if we keep up this pace, Sweetheart, you’re going to kill me.”

Jonas turned around and placed his hands along the back of Jack’s neck rubbing tiny circles up and down the sides of the vertebrae. “No problem. You seem kinda tense. I just want to give you a nice relaxing backrub.”

“*Just* a backrub...”

“Yeah,” he said as he took him by the hand again and led him into the room, “You know, on Kelowna I was told on more than one occasion that my hands can work magic.”

“Is that so?” Jack asked as he allowed Jonas to undress him.

“Let me show you,” Jonas nudged as he positioned Jack face down on the bed then removed his own clothes before joining him.

Jonas took some of the vanilla scented oil they had picked up and warmed it a little in his hands. “Mmm…smells good, don’t you think?” he asked as he held his one hand down in front of Jack’s nose.

“Yeah…not bad…good choice.”

Jonas began the massage by rubbing Jack’s shoulders then worked his way up and down the sides of his spine. “How’s that?” he asked.

The only response was a deep moan.

“Good. Now just relax.”

He continued working with his hands up and down Jack’s back until he had given it a very thorough treatment and Jack was so relaxed that he was almost asleep. Then Jonas leaned down and lightly bit Jack’s left shoulder and nibbled his way across to the right one.

“Jonas…” Jack warned.

Jonas returned to rubbing Jack’s shoulders and leaned in close and whispered in his ear, “Relax, let me make love to you.”

Jack was too tired to argue, besides the idea of feeling Jonas inside of him just sounded too good to refuse and he was certainly relaxed enough. He nodded his head in consent and relaxed even more deeply into the bed.

Jonas resumed his bites, gentle and determined, working back and forth all along his back, kneading Jack’s buttocks as he went along. He stopped long enough to put a couple of pillows under his lover and to get the lube. He coated his own erection before returning to his massage of Jack’s thighs and ass. Then he placed his hand between Jack’s cheeks and spread them moving in with one finger, penetrating nice and slow, in and out. Then he added a second finger and began to scissor, opening and preparing his lover until Jack’s moans intensified signaling that he needed more.

Jonas positioned himself and entered Jack slowly. It took a couple of thrusts to get the right angle, but once he hit the right spot, Jack was crying out his passion. Jonas wanted the pleasure to last so he moved slowly and deliberately coming almost completely out then thrusting back in until fully sheathed. He kept in control while continuing the slow and steady motion until he felt Jack squeeze down on him as his orgasm hit then Jonas let go at the same time, filling him. He leaned forward as he slid out and whispered in Jack’s ear, “Thank you…that felt sooo good.”

Jack rolled over and mumbled, “Yur welc’m,” just before he lost consciousness.

Jonas tended to the necessities. He removed the pillows and cleaned up the area and then both of them. Jack regained consciousness briefly as Jonas snuggled into him and covered them both with the bedding.

“Good night, my love,” Jonas whispered.

“Good night,” Jack responded.

Within minutes they both drifted off to sleep at peace in each other’s arms.




4. We Need To Talk

Knowing his taste for Mexican food, Jack took Jonas to a local Mexican restaurant in Colorado Springs and introduced him to the Sunday morning custom of the all-you-can-eat champagne brunch. Once again, like when they went shopping the day before, Jack took note of Jonas’ selections so that he could be sure to keep those things on hand at his place. Specifically, he learned that Jonas was fond of all (not just some) Mexican foods, especially anything fried and most definitely anything involving beef or chocolate and he drank an unbelievably large amount of orange juice.

Afterwards, they took a walk in a nearby park and in the surrounding area for about an hour talking about things that they like to do. Jonas found out that Jack likes to play chess and golf in addition to going fishing. And Jack found out that Jonas likes to watch NASCAR and to hang out with Carter when she works on her motorcycle. They decided that as time provided that Jack would teach Jonas how to play both chess and golf and that he would try watching NASCAR sometime when Jonas spent the weekend.

They got back to the house and Jack left Jonas to entertain himself while he did the laundry and other odds and ends that needed to be done before they returned to the base the following morning. When he passed the living room and glimpsed the roses, Jack took a moment to stop and think about the day before. It had really been fun to watch Jonas so wide-eyed in the bookstore, just like the nerd he had been when they first met on Kelowna, fascinated by every little thing about SG-1. And later when he handed Jack those roses the sincerity and the love in his eyes were enough to melt the colonel’s heart. ‘That’s it, O’Neill, you’ve fallen for a nerd,’ his inner voice pronounced. ‘You didn’t have a chance. You never even saw him coming.’ Of course, from then on the colonel had better not hear anyone else refer to Jonas as a nerd – or else.

When he was finished with all his chores he went to find Jonas. The rain from the night before was a faint memory and the sun was now peeking out, so Jonas was outside sitting on the deck reading a book and listening to classical music.

“Hey, whatcha reading, more Russian?”

Jonas closed the book marking his place for later. “No. This is that book we got yesterday about Einstein and the Theory of Relativity. It’s fascinating.”

Jack felt a twinge in his stomach. He knew he should have kept Jonas from getting *that* book when he saw him bring it to the checkout counter, but by then it was too late to have him put it back without having to explain why and he didn’t want to go ‘there’. “Yeah, know all about that. The whole ‘time is relative’ thing, right? That’s a classic,” he quipped.

Jonas raised his eyebrows in understanding and slight excitement could be heard in his voice, “Yeah, I guess you would. I read the report about the time when the SGC was caught in the gravitational field of a black hole. That must have been something, I mean, what a great opportunity. To actually witness something like that defies the laws of physics.”

The colonel had seen a lot of horrific things in his career, especially over the last ten or fifteen years, and most of the time he was able to keep the gruesome memories buried, but sometimes he just couldn’t. He snapped at him, “Opportunity? Yeah, if you call watching good men being ripped apart atom by atom in slow motion an opportunity then I guess it was!” He leaned forward and got in Jonas’ face. “For me? There was nothing great about it!”

Jack stormed back into the house, down the hall and into his bedroom slamming the door behind him. He sat on the bed shaking with his head in his hands as tears streamed uncontrollably down his cheeks. The images flashed in his mind as if it were just yesterday…



Carter: Sorry, Sir. Their bodies will be pulled apart by increasing tidal forces.

Teal’c: They did manage to activate the Stargate once.

Carter: Yeah, but from their perspective, it couldn't have been open for more than a second.

General Hammond: Is there nothing we can do to save them?

Jack: They've had it, Sir.

General Hammond: You know that for a fact, Colonel?

Jack: No, Sir. I don't, but have a look at Major Boyd's face. What does that say to you?

(Major Boyd’s face was full of horror and panic as he looked back over his shoulder at the black hole. He obviously knew that he and his team were already dead men.)

General Hammond: Very well. Disengage the Stargate.

Carter: (excited) Sir. By some fluke of Stargate technology, we are witnessing something that the laws of physics say we can't possibly witness.

Jack: (not believing what he just heard) We are witnessing good men dying in slow motion, Captain.

Carter: You're right.

General Hammond: Shut it down.



Major Boyd had been a good officer and a very smart one too, a lot like Carter. For weeks after SG-10 was lost, Jack was reminded of him every time that Carter started to give one of her scientific explanations. Eventually, Jack got past the incident and the memories of that day were tucked away with all the others that he had accumulated over the years – buried but never completely forgotten. ‘Why did I let him get that book?’ he wondered as his tears finally began to subside.

* * * * * * * *

Jonas had only known Jack a few months and had seen him angry, but never this upset. Drawing on his previous experience with men, not to mention his own experience as a man, he knew that if a man gets so upset as to lose it as Jack had just done that the best and only safe course of action would be a twofold approach. First, leave him alone if he wants to be alone, and second, sit quietly and listen, if and when, he wants to talk. So, Jonas quietly entered the house and peered down the hall to determine what he should do. When he saw the bedroom door closed that told him all he needed to know. He packed away his book and brought the CD player in from outside then planted himself on the sofa with the music playing softly and waited.

As he sat there Jonas reviewed what he remembered of the mission file in light of Jack’s outburst and suddenly it hit him like a ton of bricks – Major Boyd. That assignment was his first mission leading an SG team and Colonel O’Neill had been the one who recommended him for that command. ‘No wonder,’ Jonas reasoned, ‘He must feel in some way responsible for his death.’ He hit himself upside the head. ‘Great job, Quinn. Way to go. You find a man that you love and then screw up any chance for a relationship by opening your stupid mouth without thinking.’

* * * * * * * *

Once he regained control, Jack washed his face and went to join Jonas. Jack felt like a complete heel for having lashed out at him like he did. Jonas couldn’t possibly have known...

“Hey,” he said sitting down next to him.

“Hey.”

“About earlier…”

“I’m sorry, Jack, I…”

“Yeah, me too. Come here,” he said as he sat back and pulled Jonas into his shoulder. After a few minutes, Jack broke the silence, “What are we listening to?”

“Beethoven. I brought a CD over with me.”

“Beethoven?”

“Yeah, I like the passion in his music.”

“Ah, well, if you like passion, you should try listening to opera.”

“Who is he?”

‘That’s my Jonas,’ Jack thought. He smiled and explained, “Opera isn’t a person; it’s a type of music. Let me show you,” he said as he got up and walked over to the CD player. He took out Beethoven and put in Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci”. They sat in silence snuggled together with their eyes closed and let the music wash over them. When it was over, Jack used the remote to turn off the player. “Now, that’s passion” he declared.

“Definitely,” Jonas replied then looked up at him and asked, “Jack, are we okay?”

The colonel pulled him tighter and stroked his hair before responding, “Yeah, we’re okay…more than okay.” He paused in hesitation. Before he had left his bedroom earlier, he had decided that he would tell Jonas the reason for his sudden tirade. If they were going to have a relationship, he felt that it was only fair that Jonas be given an explanation for his erratic behavior, but this was hard for Jack. He had never been very good at talking about his feelings. He took a deep breath and continued, “Jonas, we need to talk. There’s something you should know.”




5. The Next Step

It was important to Jack that he kept his “regular” schedule whenever work allowed, so Monday morning he and Jonas were up early and back on base at 0600 so that Jack could work out in the gym before it was too crowded. They crossed paths briefly around 0700 when Jonas and Teal’c arrived for their pre-arranged sparring match. They all exchanged the customary “hellos” and the colonel took a moment to admire how good Jonas looked in his workout clothes. He was tempted to stay and watch, but that would have been inappropriate since he’d never stayed to watch them before. That was Jonas’ time to be alone with his teammate and friend and Jack respected that, so he showered and changed then went off to the commissary where he joined Carter for breakfast before his meeting with General Hammond.

Teal’c and Jonas meanwhile conducted their sparring practice, that morning using mock staff weapons. As usual, Teal’c had the upper hand with Jonas falling down, bouncing up and then falling down again, but his reflexes and countermeasures were improving, so the length of time between falls was longer than it used to be.

“You were not in your quarters last evening when I returned to the SGC,” Teal’c stated as he parried then thrust his staff at his opponent.

Jonas blocked, “No, I was with Colonel O’Neill.”

“Yes, that is what the guard at the front gate said when I inquired.”

“Sorry,” Jonas advanced, “I guess I should have left you a note.”

Teal’c blocked him, “O’Neill has finally accepted you, JonasQuinn, as I always knew that he would.”

He smiled, “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” He landed a clean hit on the Jaffa’s left leg.

They reset and began again. “I am pleased that he has chosen to bond with you.” Teal’c advanced. “Will you be spending more nights off-base with ColonelO’Neill?” The question caught Jonas off-guard and Teal’c laid him out flat on the mat.

Jonas bounced back up, “Bond?”

“It does not go unnoticed by me that the two of you have grown closer. I have known O’Neill for several years now, and I can see in his eyes what others cannot.”

“Oh,” Jonas responded as they reset.

“Do not worry. I do not intend to speak of it with anyone other than you and O’Neill,” he said beginning his next assault.

“Thanks,” he blocked.

“You are welcome,” Teal’c said then knocked him down once again.

* * * * * * * *

“Off the record, strictly as your friend, I have to ask: Are you sure about this, Jack? It’s a big step to be taking so quickly, don’t you think? Not that long ago you didn’t even want to be in the same room with the man.”

“Yes, General, it’s a big step and yes, George, I’m sure. I blamed him for what happened to Daniel, but if he hadn’t come forward and told the truth…” O’Neill paused. “Well, anyway, I’m past that now and with our hours and the dangerous nature of our work…” he continued as he shifted from one foot to another, “Sir, I just don’t want to miss out on any time we might have. I learned that lesson the hard way.”

General Hammond looked at the colonel and thought of Major Henry Boyd. When the black hole had taken his life, the general watched helplessly as a he saw a piece of his 2IC die along with the major. In the end, they hadn’t even been able to say goodbye. The space inside the colonel that died that day had been void until recently and the general understood all too well how empty a void like that could be. He thought of his late wife and how precious little time any of us really have to spend with the one we love. Hammond knew that Jack had dated since then, but he couldn’t remember the last time he actually saw him like this. The happiness that only comes from being in love with someone was reflected in the colonel’s eyes when he spoke about Jonas and the general was glad for his friend. Hammond decided that after all he had done for his country (hell the whole planet), after all that he had been through, and the personal sacrifices that he had made along the way that if anyone deserved a chance at happiness it was certainly Colonel Jack O’Neill.

“Very well, Colonel. Permission granted for Mr. Quinn to stay off-base with you in the interest of facilitating his adjustment to Earth culture. Understand that he will be *your* responsibility. However, he will still need to be monitored and will not be allowed to leave the base unaccompanied. Therefore, I will require that he continue to maintain his quarters here at the SGC, at least for the time being. Now, if there’s nothing further, I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 0800, assuming the briefing goes as planned, SG-1 will be gating out at 1100.”

“Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

* * * * * * * *

Jonas popped his head into Colonel O’Neill’s office. “Colonel, did you speak with General Hammond?”

Jack looked up from his slowly diminishing stack of paperwork, “Yeah, meet me at the truck at 1800.”

“Yes, Sir,” he responded then went off to rejoin Major Carter in her lab for the balance of the afternoon. He needed to finish his translation as much as possible before the artifact was shipped out to Area 51 the next morning and he was left with nothing but video images and photos to reference.

Jack took a moment to break from his reading and reflected on the young man who had won his heart and had made his house a home once again. Jonas had handled himself very well the evening before when Jack told him about his relationship with Hank Boyd. He didn’t push for more information than Jack was willing to give and remained calm while listening. Most importantly, he didn’t morph into an overemotional mother hen like some people would have.

They talked about what they both wanted and agreed that their feelings for each other were deeper than just physical desire. They wanted more than just sex (as great as that might be); they wanted a relationship. They also agreed that for the sake of Jack’s career that they would be willing to keep their private relationship just that – private – and separate from their working one. In the end, they decided that they were ready to move forward and that Jack would speak with General Hammond when he met with him in the morning and request permission for Jonas to live off-base with Jack.

Of course, Carter and Teal’c would need to be told about the new living arrangements, but O’Neill wanted to guard against putting the major in a position where she would know too much. And Dr. Frasier was bound to figure out the true nature of their relationship at some point, but they chose to just deal with one thing at a time and to decide how much to tell the others when the time was appropriate.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Colonel O’Neill, I wish to speak with you.”

“Sure, Teal’c, come in.”

Teal’c entered the office and closed the door. That was something he rarely did, and as soon as he had, Jack just knew that the “all-seeing” Jaffa had figured it out already. ‘Damn, he’s fast,’ he thought and decided to just get it out in the open. “This is about Jonas, isn’t it?”

Teal’c arched an eyebrow and looked somewhat surprised. “Indeed. I wish to offer my congratulations.”

“Are we that obvious?”

“Only to me. I know you too well.”

“Ah,” he said raising his eyebrows and nodding his head in understanding.

“Do not worry, O’Neill. JonasQuinn is a good man whose discretion is beyond reproach.”

“Thanks, Teal’c.”

“You are welcome,” he said with a slight bow of the head then turned to leave. He opened the door and turned back. “Let me know if either of you ever require my assistance,” he added then walked out the door.

After Teal’c was gone Jack opened one of the personnel files he was working his way through, a Lt. Carl Penderson. ‘Carl?’ The name floated through his mind looking to be connected to something. Jack focused, ‘Carl…Carl…gopher,’ and then suddenly he realized that he had forgotten to get the poison to kill the gopher that was residing under his front lawn. He wanted to get the stuff in the ground before they went off-world again or who knew what would be left of his lawn once they got back. He made a mental note to make the stop on the way home. ‘Home,’ he mused then he checked his watch; it was just after 1500 hours. ‘Three more hours and you’re all mine, Sweetheart’ he thought then returned to his reading hoping the time would go by quickly.



FIN