Although the Stars May Fade

Evan was pacing up and down of the walkways in the Gate room. He felt, rather than saw, Kazimir’s fur standing on end, and he knew his daemon was just as pissed as he was. SGA-1 was late for check-in by ten minutes, but he wasn’t allowed to make war on anyone until it had been a full twenty minutes. Elizabeth had made that rule, but Evan was going to bring up having it changed at the next meeting. Earlier responses meant fewer injuries and sometimes all it took was a second for everything to go SNAFU.

Sheppard was such a pain in the ass sometimes. Hell half of SGA-1 was. Ronon, Draven, Teyla and Chessa were exempt but the other four weren’t. He was worried and it wasn’t helping that Kaz’s worry was being played back to him through their link in an endless loop. He was just about to get his P-90 and head through the Gate, despite Elizabeth’s orders, when it activated. Frozen in place he looked across the gap to Chuck with his Ferret daemon, Sheik perched on his shoulder. His head was moving from monitor to monitor and he kept making aborted movements to climb onto Chuck’s head. The other human met his eyes with a smile. “No worries Major. Our wayward team is phoning Home.”

Evan rolled his eyes at the ET crack but slumped against the railing in relief. Being the 2IC of Atlantis sucked wide. He was just about to relax when Kaz hissed and made for the stairs. Not wanting to feel the tug on their link he followed grumpily. They planted themselves in front of the Gate and both of them glared at it.

Sheppard’s drawl filtered through the Gate to them. “Sorry we’re late for check-in guys! Rodney and Nikola are masquerading as Santa and an elf today. Presents for everybody!”

Okay so whatever it was had Sheppard practically singing with excitement and that was unusual. Normally it was only the Jumpers that caused that reaction. Evan felt a tingle of anticipation at the thought of new aircraft or Atlantis forbid; blasters! If he got a lightsaber out of this he might forgive his CO.

Nikola purred over the line and then told them all gleefully, “John shut up! We wanna tell everyone. No stealing our thunder! We made the find, we get the spoils.”

There was laughter throughout the Gate and Evan felt Kaz relax a little. It had surprised him when the Siberian Tiger had practically adopted McKay’s little female Sand Cat. They’d actually touched noses after Evan had been captured and subsequently rescued. It had been strange but not unlike finding a long lost sibling. He and McKay still had their differences but they did have a tentative and slightly confusing friendship so it all worked.

Nikola’s voice came through again. “Chuck, Sheik are Ev and Kaz close?”

Sheik let out a happy chitter and responded before her human could even think about it. “Yep, yep. Caution though, all the pacing and worrying put them in a tizzy. Swedish Fish are probably in order, yeah?”

If Nik could have blown a raspberry she would have. It was obvious from her tone of voice.

“The human is glaring at the Gate so maybe not.”

“Nope, nope they are. Kaz’ tail was all poofy and he hissed and everything. Ev was glaring at the gate so fishies or coffee are in order for sure.”

Evan turned his glare from the gate to Chuck. “You be quiet. They are complete and utter trouble magnets and the last three times they were late for a check-in it was because they were under some kind of attack. We’re allowed to be worried.”

It didn’t help that one of those times Nik had been captured and if it hadn’t been for Ronon both she and Rodney would have died. Sheppard’s daemon, an Andean Mountain Cat named Elweard, had been able to use his IDC to dial out and call for help. Evan had been shot in the forearm with a stunner and Kaz had his tail singed but they’d made it in time. That had only been a month ago and it was still fresh in both their minds.

Before anyone else could respond Rodney came through holding Nikola. He released her as soon as they cleared the Gate. He didn’t bother addressing anyone as he approached, he just walked over to Evan and Kaz as calm as you please. His eyes met Kaz and he smirked. “Sheppard made me start shooting with Cadman. I can hit anything between the eyes before they reach her now. I thought you knew.”

Kaz ears flicked up but he didn’t say anything, just rubbed his cheek against the top of Nikola’s head and then stepped back. Evan felt contrition from Nikola in the brief contact and that went a long way to ease Kaz’s anger.

Elweard growled over the link. “Wait until we all get there to tell them Rodney. We want to see their faces!”

Nikola rolled her eyes and flopped down next to Kaz muttering about slow humans and slower daemons. He tried not to laugh but he knew it showed in his eyes when McKay rolled his. The scientist started tapping his foot impatiently while Nik’s tail thrashed against the metal floor. Whatever it was must have been really good because while McKay and his daemon were both excitable, they didn’t normally look like they were going to come apart if they didn’t get to talk about everything all at once. Evan did laugh when Kaz let his tail flick Nikola in the nose. Mostly because it made her sneeze which caused her fur to puff out a little bit. It was endlessly amusing that such an irascible person had such an adorable daemon. Even Lieutenant Laura Cadman had mentioned wanting to snuggle the little cat close, though never within her human’s hearing.

Evan was just starting to wonder how long they were going to take to get here when Teyla came through with Chessa perched on her shoulder. The Athosian bird Chessa took her shape from was beautiful. She looked almost dove like but her feathers were a vibrant jewel green with ember colored eyes and a crest of electric blue feathers that normally lay flat against its head. Chessa had tried to teach him repeatedly how to say the name of the species but he still couldn’t get it right.

Next was Sheppard with Elweard, clutching his Andean Mountain Cat daemon to his chest. The little cat daemon squirmed as soon as they hit the platform and Sheppard let him down. Everybody just called him El or Elf.

Doctor Beckette was still speculating about all of the natural ATA gene carriers having daemons of the same gender. During the dark ages in Europe, it had been a sign of witchcraft until the new Pope ended up having a male daemon and informed the zealots that it was a sign of God’s divine plan. Evan thought they were full of shit and that they were just afraid of a little genetic mutation but whatever.

When Ronon slid through the gate with Draven everybody breathed a sigh of relief and Chuck shut down the gate. Evan was still utterly fascinated with Ronon’s daemon. He was a species native to Sateda called a Craxis. He looked like a cross between a big fucking wolf and a puma to Evan. On all fours he stood about four feet tall. His fur is colored in several shades of red from the bright primary red that everybody used in elementary school all the way to the color of dried blood and every tonal difference in between. Draven’s eyes were all black aside from the cornea which was a blue so bright it almost hurt to look at. Sometimes Evan ached for art supplies to paint or draw him. He was utterly amazing. Hell both he and Chessa were.

Before he could get too morose about not having any art supplies Rodney launched into an excited rant.

“We found another database. This one with more gate addresses and some of them had special notes beside them. I only caught ZedPM on one of them but this could be exactly what we’ve all been waiting on. I need Jackson here to translate the list and put it on our intranet. Hopefully I can just convince O’Neill that we need him to stay here and translate both databases. There could be weapons. We need to warn him to put anything that is from Janus in red. Big bold red with tons of warnings. Or maybe just put them on a separate network. But there could be blasters, and ZedPMs and more Ancient Technology.”

Rodney was working himself into a tizzy and Nikola was chasing her tail like a kitten. Before either of them could get too bad though John took Rodney’s tablet. The scientist made grabby hands for it and Nikola was on the floor giving them the cat equivalent of puppy dog eyes but at least they weren’t making themselves sick anymore.

“Calm down McKay. We’ll talk to Elizabeth and Miron as soon as we go through decontamination, which you get to go through now too Lorne.”

Evan glared at that. “Why?”

Sheppard rolled his eyes. “Don’t even try to tell me that Kaz didn’t at least hit Tesla with his tail. You know the rules. If even the daemons touch you shower and get checked out by medical.”

Evan shuddered, remembering the time that Jason Markham had brought back a weird bug that had caused the closest thing to an orgy that Atlantis had ever had, when Stackhouse’s little red fox daemon Jayne had slapped his wolf daemon, Sirius, in the nose for missing check-in by two minutes. Thankfully no one had been Linked and no one had touched anyone else’s daemon so there hadn’t been much to worry about, but waking up in the Gate room naked snuggling with Kaz had been really embarrassing. Especially when he’d been one of about four people totally naked. Everyone else was just in their underwear. He’d been asked on a few dates since then but that didn’t actually make him feel better.

Sheppard was smirking at him. “Yeah see. So you get to decontaminate too. Hop to Major.”

He and Kazimir both grumbled about it. Kaz liked swimming and water but he fucking hated the decontamination showers. They were cold and the spray was too fast. He also had a knack for getting hit in the face with the spray so really Evan couldn’t even blame him. Once they’d stripped and showered then redressed in PT gear they’d all moved to the main conference room. As Rodney repeated his good news Evan’s thoughts drifted. He was daydreaming about a sunrise he’d seen in Pegasus. One of the planets his team had visited about eight months back.

PX7-672 had been one of those places that Evan ached to put to paper. There had been two warring tribes on the planet and he’d been hit in the leg with an arrow but as soon as the sun had started to come up the crazy natives had scattered. The sun had crested through an outcropping of trees and where the light touched them they’d glowed purple. The native birds had come out and sung a song that Evan would never be able to describe verbally but he could get the feel of it down, he just needed some fucking art supplies. Of course that could have been the near death experience and seeing the jumper coming to his rescue at the same time but he wasn’t splitting hairs damn it.

Kaz nudged his leg and he jolted slightly. Sheppard was standing next to him with a frown on his face. “What did I miss, Sir?”

John’s frown deepened. “Are you okay Evan?”

Well at least he was talking to his friend and not his CO right now. “I was just daydreaming John. Nothing to worry about.”

Sheppard rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You’ve been daydreaming a lot lately and you keep saying it’s nothing to worry about but I’m calling you on your bullshit. What’s wrong?”

Evan debated lying and then slumped in his chair. “I just miss a few things from the Milky Way Galaxy is all.”

At that Sheppard smiled and tilted his head to the side a little. “I miss Ferris Wheels and bacon, not-bacon is nice but well, not bacon.”

Evan took it for what it was, the option to talk if it was necessary and suddenly it seemed like if he didn’t let it out he was going to be consumed by it. “I miss paints, canvas that isn’t made from animal hide, pastels, kohl pencils and thick sheets of the most perfect paper you’d ever lay your hands on. I miss getting lost for hours just remembering a scene so I could put it to paper. I love flying but it’s not the same. I feel like I’m losing little bits of myself every day and while Pegasus is home now and all of my family is here, I ache.”

John laid his hand on Evan’s shoulder and gave a light squeeze while Elweard sat a fraction closer to Kaz. El never touched other daemons, for any reason, ever but he was close enough for Kaz to brush with his tail if he wanted to. That level of trust wasn’t lost on Evan or his daemon and they were both very careful to respect it. Kaz might wrap his tail around the space surrounding El but he wouldn’t ever touch the little cat unless given permission. Most people went their entire lives without their daemon ever having touched anyone outside of family but Kaz hadn’t ever touched any of the daemons from Evan’s. Instead the big cat had adopted people and their daemons and Evan had made family without blood ties. Sometimes blood wasn’t enough to make up for everything else. That was where John and Evan’s kinship stemmed from. Well that and flying but fuck you he was waxing poetic right now.

“We’ll be getting early shipments when we get Doctor Jackson if General O’Neill agrees. Why don’t you put in the request Ev? You’ve got more than enough funds for it and no one would hold it against you. Hell you almost never request personal stuff and when you do it’s usually a toothbrush or movies and music that you share with everyone or get for someone that didn’t have the funds or spacing required for it. You’re allowed to need things too Ev.”

He sighed and looked at the table. “I know I just always feel guilty.”

John smacked him in the back of the head and Evan blinked up at him like he’d just said he was a purple unicorn that shit brownies. “What the fuck!”

“You’re being stupid, but you aren’t stupid so you should stop pretending to be stupid because stupid doesn’t suit the 2IC of Atlantis and it damn sure doesn’t suit the man that befriended Doctor M. Rodney McKay without judicious amounts of chocolate. Or the man that made me learn to talk about feelings and shit instead of standing back with stoic, manly resolve. You said it yourself, your family is here. Leave the rest of those bastards back where they belong, Earth.”

Evan glared at his friend and his CO and then sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

John smiled at him and then dragged him out of his chair. “Let’s go get lunch. Stackhouse said they had strorangeberry and chocolate chip muffins today. I have to hurry if I want a strorangeberry before Rodney gets there.”

That got him to laugh. McKay’s citrus allergy wasn’t funny but John refused to eat citrus in front of him. It wasn’t just because Rodney would rant for hours about it but John liked to pretend it was. They’d had a scare once when some of the new mess personnel came through. A few of them hadn’t been told about the allergy and Rodney had been in such a hurry he hadn’t asked if there was citrus in the dish. The next thing everyone knew he was on the floor and Sheppard was stabbing him with an Epi-pen. John had made all the new personnel run with him and Ronon until they’d puked. He’d then called a city wide meeting and made sure that everyone on Atlantis knew about all the food allergies present on the base including Markham’s peanut allergy and McKay’s citrus allergy. The information was now included in the briefing for all the new personnel as soon as they transferred to Atlantis.

Evan suspected it was, in part, because Rodney had been so scared by the whole thing he’d only eaten Powerbars and things Doctor  Beckette had given to him for almost two months after that.

John got his muffin and two chocolate chip ones and Evan grabbed a sandwich and some fake-apple juice. They didn’t really talk when they sat down because John was literally trying to inhale his muffin before McKay got there. Evan slid him the second cup of apple juice he’d grabbed to help wash it down and John chugged it just as the scientist walked through the door. He made a beeline right for them.

“We sent out the databurst requesting Jackson. Hopefully he can get his currently unascended behind here without too much trouble, though I doubt it. He practically has trouble written into his genetic makeup. I think he’s actually got a gene specifically designed for finding the most trouble in the least amount of time.”

Sheppard waved one of the chocolate chip muffins at him and Rodney didn’t even pause in his rant to take a bite, he just took one and kept on going.

“We should hear back from SGC pretty quickly since there is a possibility of weapons and other toys for them to try and steal.”

Evan laughed. “O’Neill will be more concerned with new aircraft. He’s been dying to come out and try one of the jumpers but Landry wouldn’t approve it before he left and now that the General is in charge there is no way he would get approval. He might get it once he retires, if he ever does. You should have seen the look on his face when Doctor Carter told him about the chair. You could practically see the lust coming off of him.”

John laughed and then frowned. “Atlantis is my baby. He can’t come out here and steal her away from me.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Sir, all due respect, if the city were a person, she’d have married you and had your babies by now. She might be interested in the General but you’ll always be her best boy.”

That got a bark of laughter from McKay, Nikola and Elweard. It also got a glare from Sheppard. “I hate you all.”

The rest of lunch was spent discussing what things they needed Jackson to check for on the databases first and how they were going to ask him to organize things. They also needed to figure out who was going to assist Jackson because McKay couldn’t really spare his good people like Doctors Kusanagi and Zelenka but they were also the ones most fluent in Ancient. Either would also be able to keep Jackson on task and they could both work with the network without too much trouble.

It was eventually decided that though Rodney didn’t want to give her up he’d have to let Doctor Kusanagi do it because she was the best choice for the job. She knew the networks, had clearance for everything, was able to perfectly organize anything she touched and could easily handle Doctor Jackson without the man realizing it. She was also terrified of anything with the name Janus on it so she would make damn sure those things were put on a separate server so that no one but the chiefs of staff could access them and eventually destroy or contain them.

After that they broke apart and Evan headed down to the pier to run a few laps. Nothing else of note happened that day and Evan put it from his mind. There was always something more important to focus on in Pegasus anyway. At least for a week or so. Then they got news from O’Neill that he’d be sending Jackson through in a month and all of the senior staff were in a tizzy to organize a room for him and inform the rest of the city, get personal requests together and lists sent to SGC so they had time to get everything together. Basically it was one giant clusterfuck and Evan was right at the center trying to organize the chaos. He was so busy he totally forgot about requesting his art supplies and by the time he realized it the databurst had already been sent out. He was sitting on the pier staring out at the setting sun feeling slightly morose with Kaz. He had actually made a list of supplies he wanted to get the day John had suggested it. He’d had it sitting on his tablet waiting to be sent off to McKay with everyone else’s and still hadn’t managed to send it.

Kaz made a noise that he’d have called a whimper if his daemon had been any type of canine. Then the alarm sounded for unscheduled gate activity and Evan ran for the Gate room as fast as he could, his daemon working not to run faster than him.

They got there just as Sheik yelled, “It’s Stargate Commands IDC. Walter!”

Evan heard laughter and then, “Hey Chuck, hey Sheik, you two behaving?”

Chuck laughed too and responded with, “Oh we’re behaving alright.”

“I didn’t mean badly Chuck.”

Everybody in the Gate room laughed and Evan went to stand with Sheppard and McKay. “I thought Jackson wasn’t supposed to be here for two more days at least. Why are they activating the gate now?”

Rodney shrugged. “You’ll have to ask him when he comes through. We just got the normal databurst. Miko is decompressing it now but you know it takes time.”

Evan stood at ease while the supplies and new personnel filtered through. Sheppard waited until Jackson came through and then stood to his full height perfectly composed. Sometimes Evan forgot that the man could make himself an impressively scary looking officer when he wanted to. Evan stood at attention and flanked John on his right giving blank officer face as they approached the new military members.

“I am Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard. I am the head of the Military contingent for Atlantis. None of you will touch anything until you’ve had at least four briefings. Those of you that have the ATA gene are going to be tempted to reach out to my city. Let me assure you that should you do so she will make damn sure I know about it. She doesn’t let anything happen in this city without my say so. If you think for one second that you can sway her loyalties I can assure you that you’re wrong. As I have been told time and again, I am her favorite. You will respect the scientists on this city because they keep you alive. If you can’t respect them, they can shoot you because they have all been trained to do so.”

John stopped and so did Evan, both perfectly in synch. “For the new scientists, Doctor McKay requires you to be trained to do so before he will let you touch anything. If you have a problem with that, we need to know now so we can send you right back through the Gate. This is not a field trip, Ladies and Gentlemen. We are in an active war zone and while the Wraith might be dead, this Galaxy is an unforgiving place. We’ve lost people. Everyone on this city has done time in medical for injuries sustained while off world. We do not always find allies when we step through the Wormhole and dead weight doesn’t survive. If you came here for science and discovery, you better be prepared to fight for it.”

Evan watched as about thirty people stepped to the side Sheppard had indicated when he’d asked that they leave if they knew they couldn’t hack it. They’d done this song and dance before so he wasn’t shocked. He saw McKay noting their names so that they couldn’t put in requests for Atlantis again at a later date and waste time that was always crucial here.

“For those of you staying, this is my second in command, Major Lorne. You will typically get your assignments from him. If you think I’m a hard ass you should know that Major Lorne is worse. I will make you spar with Specialist Dex, Lorne will make you fill out paperwork in triplicate and if you forget to dot an ‘I’ he will, in fact, make you start over.” Evan valiantly withheld the eye roll that was begging to happen. Leave it to Sheppard to think paperwork was worse than training with Ronon.

“Don’t worry about any questions you have right now because as I stated earlier, you’ll be getting four briefings, or you can think of it as one giant briefing all day long with minimal breaks, to ensure that you don’t miss anything. You are all dismissed. Lieutenant Cadman owns you for the remainder of the day. Feel free to take your life into your own hands by making her mad. She is our resident demolitions expert.”

There was a chorus of “Sir, yes Sir,” and then Sheppard turned on his heel and walked back over to McKay and Jackson.

They were already talking and didn’t really notice when he and John approached so it was amusing watching Jackson’s eyes glaze a little when he said, “You mean I get my own lab and an assistant?”

Rodney rolled his eyes. “Doctor Kusanagi will be doing most of the heavy lifting; you’re just doing the majority of the translating.”

“Yes I understand that Rodney, but you’re giving me a capable assistant and my own work space. I had an office at SGC but that was it.”

Before Rodney could say anything too mean Sheppard stepped up. “We figured if you were going to be fixing the database for us we could give you a few creature comforts. Not that I mind but, you’re early Doc.”

Jackson smiled. “It’s good to see you again Colonel Sheppard, Evan. How are you both?”

John pouted. “We’re fine but you’re deflecting.”

That got a laugh out of the Archeologist. “The work that I was doing got finished early and the resupply materials were already together. Jack was just waiting on me. I didn’t want your contraband to take any longer than necessary.”

Evan perked up at that. “Did the General send us one of his special care packages again? Because we really love it when he does that. He sends the best care packages.”

Daniel smiled at him. “Actually we have a special care package for you Evan. Some friends thought you might appreciate it. Vala said to tell you she misses your pretty face.”

Evan could feel the blush spreading over his face but it wasn’t like he could really do anything about it. Smiling slightly, Daniel continued, “Yeah she has that effect on people. If you agree to show me my quarters later I’ll bring your surprise along.”

Rodney was pouting but before either he or Sheppard could get really morose with it Daniel laughed at them. “Relax. Jack sent presents for all the senior staff. Sam helped him pick them out too so while they may all have a bottle of whiskey or something with them there will be other stuff too.”

Rodney frowned. “She sent me a lemon I just know it.”

All four of them laughed and Daniel shook his head. “Sam actually said to tell you she misses you a little bit. Not much but a teeny tiny little bit. Maybe the size of a molecule. That’s not complete and utter hatred at least so no citrus.”

“Sam missed me?”

Rodney looked utterly bewildered and totally delighted all at the same time.

Daniel smiled and Evan felt a flicker of lust. He’d always thought Daniel Jackson was hot but he’d normally pushed it to the back of his mind. Now with the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell it was harder to do. Thankfully he thought of Sheppard and McKay as family or else he’d be in real trouble. Sometimes being surrounded by so much pretty wasn’t fair. So far though, he’d been able to avoid temptation. A one night stand wasn’t worth the awkwardness that both parties would feel for the remainder of the deployment and if Evan was being honest he never wanted to leave Atlantis. There was nothing for him Earthside. All the family he would ever have was right here and the city made him feel more at home than anywhere else he’d ever been. All of the ATA gene carriers that he’d talked to had said something similar too.

As his mind wandered he caught Kaz watched Jackson’s daemon closely. Evan could sense his interest but he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Kaz and Behrouz, Jackson’s jaguarondi daemon, had met before. They’d even talked once or twice but Kaz’s interest seemed a little more intent this time.

“Hello again Kazimir. Beh was excited when he found out we’d be stationed with you and Evan again.”

Beh rolled his pretty golden colored eyes and then sat right in front of Kaz. “Glad to see you again Kaz. We were worried when you and Evan got slotted for Atlantis.”

Kaz snuffed. “You didn’t need to worry. We’re fine. We’ve got family here.”

Daniel smiled softly at Evan’s daemon and it made Ev’s chest a little tight.

“That much is obvious but this is still a dangerous place to live.”

Before Evan could say anything Carson bustled up to them. “Which is why you get to come down to medical and have an evaluation right along with all the rest of the new personnel Doctor Jackson. Behrouz if you don’t mind with your permission Dia will be doing your exam.”

Evan smiled at the handsome little otter daemon that was hopping along beside Carson. Diancecht was completely unreserved. He didn’t bother hiding his mothering at all. It made him the perfect companion for Carson. Carson liked to take care of people but he didn’t always want them to know how much he cared.

“Sure thing Doctor Becket. Nice to meet you Dia.”

Before Rodney could stop her Nikola chimed in with, “You won’t say that when you see the size of the needles he uses. Dia is actually evil, he just looks cute to keep you from wanting to rip his throat out.”

Rodney snatched his daemon off the floor. “If the voodoo priest stabs me during our next visit because of you I’m going to hide your candy somewhere you can’t reach.”

That had everyone laughing. Before they all parted ways Jackson agreed to page him when his visit with Carson was done. Then he’d show Beh and Daniel around the city. He was already making a mental list of places the he had to take them and places that he thought they would appreciate. He stopped in and checked on each of the members of his team and was surprised when Doctor Parrish asked him for a moment when he’d peeked into the Greenhouse.

“What can I do for you Doc?” Evan adored David Parrish and Eve, his little hummingbird daemon, and always felt a fierce need to keep them safe. He’d thought about them romantically at one point but their friendship had been too important and then before he knew it they’d been friendzoned.

The other man blushed a little and wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Major I understand that we’ve always needed scientists that are willing to go through the gate so I don’t say this lightly, but with the new personnel it’s actually slightly important now. I need to focus more on getting our crops to grow than on finding new plants for medical to use. So as much as it pains me to ask would you mind replacing me on our team?”

He looked so sad as he said it and it hurt Evan a little to hear it but he understood what David was saying.

“How about we do a temporary reassignment instead? We can have someone fill your spot until you’ve got things under way enough here that you can ask Doctor Brown or another subordinate to take over when you’re off world? We’d all miss you and Eve a lot Doc.”

Parrish smiled softly and it made Evan smile in kind. Evan wasn’t sure what it was about the scientists from the first wave of explorers but they had a way of weaseling into your heart.

“Practical as always Evan. Yes I can accept that if Eve can.”

The little bird flitted around David’s head, landing softly in his hair for a second and then moving in a flash before she spoke in her high pitched trilling little voice.

“Sounds perfect. Thanks Ev, we’d miss you guys too.”

“No problem guys. Page me if you need anything else. I have to go wrangle the Colonel into more paperwork and then show Doctor Jackson around the city. If you have any of those plants we don’t talk about available for trade I may have some of those candybars we don’t talk about. But we’re not talking about that as you know.”

David laughed which was exactly what Evan had been aiming for.

“Eve will let Kaz know should any of the things we don’t talk about become available in the next week.”

Evan smirked. Parrish had been secretly growing coffee and making chocolate in his private greenhouse for about six months now. McKay knew but David was keeping him quiet by promising a bag of beans and a cakes worth of chocolate as soon as everything was done. Evan himself had stashed all of his Ritter Sports bars as soon as David had let on that he’d have something to exchange for them shortly. When he’d been stationed in Germany he’d fallen in love with them and been overjoyed when he’d found out that most AAFES (Army and Air Force Exchange Services) stores carried them. Thankfully David liked the ones with fruit in them and Evan preferred the ones with nougat or biscuits inside.

“That works. I’ll see you later Doc.”

“Have a good day Evan.”

He stopped off at John’s office while he was off playing light switch for McKay and left a pile of paperwork on the man’s desk with instructions on filling it out left on top. Then he informed everyone on his staff what he’d done and how to properly wrangle the Colonel. They would all drop in on him strategically and ask for something in a different section of the pile and ‘help’ Sheppard find it while stealthily having him fill out everything above it in the process. Sheppard would complain about it but he’d do it and that was perfectly fine with Evan. That settled he headed off towards the dungeon, otherwise known as medical.

When he got there Doctor Beckette frowned at him. “Lad I don’t remember you having an appointment down here today. Are you feeling ill?”

Evan felt the smile before he could really do anything about it. “No I’m fine Carson. I’m just here for Doctor Jackson. I’m supposed to show him and Beh around once you’ve freed him.”

Carson rolled his eyes. “I’m not his jailor. He’ll be free to go shortly. Di is just finishing up with Behrouz now.”

That made Evan frown. “Was something wrong with him?”

“No, of course not, it just takes longer when new personnel come in. Di knows how hard it is for other daemons to let themselves be touched even by medical and he tries to respect that. Some daemons are a little more private than others so it takes a little longer for them to agree.”

Just then Behrouz and Dia came walking out chattering animatedly with Doctor Jackson in tow. “Actually Carson it was just that Dia and Beh started talking and lost track of time. We finished a half hour ago.”

Everyone laughed at that and Dia stopped in front of Kaz. “You know you’re due for an exam Monday right?”

Kaz huffed. “Yes. Evan got the memo and informed me of my coming torture.”

“Oh don’t be such a big baby. You don’t even have shots this time, just blood work.”

Kaz’s ear twitched at that. “Fine. But I’m not bringing you chestnuts this time.”

The little otter sat on his back legs and frowned. “That’s cruel.”

Evan laughed. “He’ll bring them Di, don’t worry. Now Doctor Jackson I believe I have a tour to give you.”

Jackson smiled and Beh sashayed closer to Kaz. “I expect you to tell me all the good spots to lounge while the humans are looking at stupid stuff.”

Kaz made a noise like a rumbling purr that was his equivalent to laughter. “Sure thing Beh. I can show you the best spots for swimming too.”

Beh stopped short. “Swimming? There will be no swimming.”

Daniel laughed and headed for the exit. “Beh we’ve been ascended. A little water won’t kill you.”

“Maybe not Danny but it would still suck and I’m not doing it unless I have to. Which I don’t.”

Daniel smirked and Evan had to slam down on a flicker of lust; because apparently Daniel Jackson smirking was hot as fuck. Who knew? Evan had been unaware of his evil genius kink but hey who could blame him?

“You’d have to if I decided I wanted to swim and since I do actually enjoy it you’re going to have to get used to it.”

“Danny, you’re an ass.”

Evan laughed and proceeded with the tour. He showed him the meeting room the senior staff used for everything, the mess, the light system the city used to guide people that were lost because he’d heard of Jackson’s ability to lose himself inside a paper bag. Then he took him out to his favorite spot to watch the suns rise and set. He showed him the chair room because that was cool damn it. They stopped by the jumper bay and then Evan walked him to his quarters.

“If you need anything at all Doctor Jackson, Kaz and I are literally next door. Oh and another thing. Doctor Parrish requested an indefinite leave from Gate travel today. We’re going to need a scientist on our team if you’re interested.”

When Jackson’s entire face lit up and Beh jumped up and started vibrating with happiness he and Kaz both felt such deep amusement and fondness that the shields blurred a little and it was hard to tell whose emotions were whose. He looked at Kaz out of the corner of his eye and his daemon was practically purring. This set off all kinds of alarms in his head but he pushed it aside.

“Yes, Danny and I accept. He’s not allowed to railroad me out of this. We are totally your new scientists until Doctor Parrish wants his spot back.”

Jackson nudged his daemon. “What Beh means is as long as we get approval we’d be happy to join your team. Do we need to head to the briefings now?”

Evan laughed. “No. Doctor McKay sent everything to you in an old dialect of Russian with Doctor Zelenka’s help. They figured it would help you pay attention better.”

“Of course they did. Although if everyone took into account how boring briefings are for me and did that I’d probably stop getting into half the trouble I find myself in.”

“Sure Doc. That’s the problem,” Evan said with a knowing look. It was fun teasing the other man. He had the absentminded professor thing down pat.

“Keep it up and I’ll keep your surprise to myself, Major Lorne.”

At that Evan couldn’t help but look interested. “You’ve mentioned this surprise a few times now. Mind letting me in on the secret already?”

Daniel’s smile softened and nodded his acceptance. “I had the crew put it in your quarters with strict instructions not to even think about opening it. Apparently McKay has done a good enough job of frightening your military contingent that they listen when one of us geeks threaten them.”

That had him laughing so hard he was gasping for breath. “If you think that was all McKay you’re underestimating the rest of them. One of the guys dropped a box that belonged to Doctor Kusanagi when we first got here. It happened to be her personal items and she had a stash of Belgian chocolate she hadn’t told McKay about. They were Brandy filled truffles. He dropped it in front of McKay. That particular Marine refers to her as Empress now because she hacked into the intranet and had him missing meetings and things for a long time. He was almost always on cleaning detail or some other crap job because he was constantly late for things. When he figured out what was going on he started ordering the truffles for her on his Daedalus requests. He’s just now getting hot water back but he’s not late for anything anymore.”

“It’s always the quiet ones.”

“No kidding. Now I’m going to my quarters because the suspense might actually kill me.”

At that Beh scrambled to get on all fours. “Danny and I are coming with. We wanna see you open it.”

“Beh what have I told you about inviting us places.”

“But Danny! It’s true! You want to see him open it too!”

Daniel blushed but didn’t argue further with his daemon which made Evan smile.

“You’re both more than welcome to join us. We were gonna eat lunch in our quarters anyway.”

“Thank you Major.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Just call me Evan. Standing on formality gets old fast, especially when you’re on the same Gate team and you’re actually holding your coworkers lives in your hands.”

“You make a good argument, Evan. Call me Daniel or Danny; just don’t ever call me Space Monkey. I could kill Jack for that some days.”

He laughed and walked through the door to his room. There was a giant crate next to his bed and a crowbar lying on his pillows. “What the fuck?”

Kaz climbed onto the bed and nudged the crowbar off. “Open it and see.”

He picked up the crowbar and popped the top off. When he looked inside his breath caught. On top sat at least twenty tubes of professional quality acrylic paints sealed in bubble wrap. He had to pick them up and set them on the bed before he could see anything else. Everything else was wrapped in bulky brown paper. His hands were shaking as he opened a package with tubes of oil paints and then two different brush sets, one for each paint type. There were several pads of paper, some for sketching and some for water colors which he found in a separate bundle along with their own brushes. His vision was a little blurry when he opened the pastels but it was the ten large canvases and the easel that broke him. He wasn’t even done but he climbed on his bed and hugged Kaz to help get himself under control.

“How did you even know?”

Daniel smiled at him from his seat across the room. “You used to sketch in meetings sometimes, and we always thought you were really talented. Sam mentioned all the requests you filled for other people and how busy you always are when we were making the surprises for all the senior staff. I still have friends in the academic circle so I asked one of the art professors I know to pick me out enough things that any artist would have an orgasm just thinking about touching the supplies.”

Evan’s throat was tight. “But why?”

Beh moved closer to the bed. “When we unascended you were one of the only people not on SG1 that treated us like we were still us. You didn’t act like you were afraid of us and you didn’t freak out that Danny had technically died and still managed to keep me. We’ve never forgotten that Evan.”

“You didn’t have to do this though.”

It was Daniel’s turn to talk. “No we didn’t but you didn’t have to do what you did either. You didn’t get to the things for Kaz or the chocolate and booze though. I think Jack put in some video games and a few movies for you too. I know Sam snuck a new iPod and a Kindle in there. We figured you guys could count them as Christmas and your birthdays all rolled into one with a few back payments. It’s not even close to all the things the SGC owes you for defeating the Wraith and staying out here keeping Earth safe. Yeah we had the Goaul’d, the Ori and System Lords but you guys have been seriously shafted.”

Evan laughed and hugged Kaz tighter. “Thank you both. I think we can break out the last of the chocolate cake and offer you guys a good lunch. Just don’t tell McKay you had the cake. He’ll take my hot water.”

Beh jumped up beside Evan and Kaz but he was careful not to touch them. “We’d like that. Danny can help you stow everything.”

Evan smiled and finished unpacking his contraband, stashed everything he’d want to keep to himself or trade on the black market and carefully set up a little art corner on his desk. There were people he’d be able to trade the paints with, but he’d sooner lose his ATA gene and never be able to fly again then give any of it away. They had lunch and then Evan and Daniel got paged for different things. He and Kaz spent the rest of their day in a bit of a haze. When they finally got back to their quarters that night Evan stared at his paints and thought about breaking them out right then.

Instead he took one of the sketch journals and a pack of the pencils and lay on his bed letting his hands work while his mind wandered. He didn’t even know what he’d drawn until he started dozing off and went to set the pad down. Behrouz’s expressive little feline eyes stared up at him from the page and Evan blushed. He never drew other people’s daemons without their permission. It felt rude, but the little Jaguarondi was so pretty. He decided to give the sketch to them in the morning. It would help remind him to ask Teyla and Ronon if he could draw them with Chessa and Draven. That decided he drifted off to sleep.

Life went on like that for about two months. He spent time sparring with Ronon and Sheppard. He geek wrangled because McKay and Jackson were serious trouble magnets even when they weren’t in the field and Sheppard couldn’t be expected to deal with both of them by himself.

They were actually in the middle of a run around the Pier when he got the call. “Evan come to the meeting room. Beh and I found something but we aren’t allowed to say anything outside of a meeting.”

Evan laughed and turned to the nearest transporter. “On my way Doc.”

He grabbed a towel along the way so he wasn’t dripping sweat on anyone. He’d have liked to stop and take a shower but being sweaty in a meeting was a lot better than making McKay wait to find something out. When he got to the meeting room they were waiting on Elizabeth and Carson to get there. Whoever was last was going to be missing hot water Evan was sure. At least it wasn’t him.

When everyone was there Daniel jumped out of his seat with nervous energy. “Miko and I found about fifteen different gate addresses with ZPMs previously located there. Five of the planets are dead now. Two from their sun exploding and the other three are just rubble. Probably from the Wraith. But that leaves ten of them with possible ZPMs.”

Rodney was out of his seat in a flash and snatching Jackson’s tablet. Things deteriorated from there until Elizabeth told them both to sit down and shut up. They’d been bickering about who should get to check out the addresses.

Elizabeth stood. “Both SGA 1 and SGA 2 will go. Every time you go exploring for a ZPM you end up in some kind of trouble. At least with more of you I hope you’ll be able to control some of it and I know at least either Major Lorne or Colonel Sheppard will be with the two of you at all times.”

Sheppard side stepped that land mine perfectly. “When can we get started?”

Jackson smiled in a totally wicked way and Evan thought about pinning him to the table and fucking him senseless but let the thought filter away before he got too invested in it. They’d taken to having at least one meal a day together and sometimes Jackson would come out to the range or the gym with him. They didn’t spend all their free time together but they did spend a decent chunk of it in one another’s company.

“As soon as we’ve got approval.”

Elizabeth sighed and Miron settled his feathers and he moved closer to her neck. Before she could really get started on all the reasons why they needed to wait Evan jumped in.

“Doctor Weir, from a military standpoint we are as prepared as we’re going to get for these missions. You said yourself you want both teams going on the away missions. I can have the schedule completed in the next two days so we can suspend any missions that aren’t important.”

Elizabeth looked like Evan had just ruffled her feathers as well as Miron’s but seriously both of them needed to start listening to their military contingent more.

“I also wanted to discuss the slow reaction times for late check-ins. Honestly we shouldn’t be waiting more than five minutes. I understand that sometimes teams lose track of time and it would be a waste of resources to go out half-cocked all the time but we still need to be able to go sooner. There have been a few times lately when injuries could have been prevented if we had just gone through the gate earlier.”

John obviously decided that this was a good time to chime in. “If we hadn’t waited for the full twenty minutes, Stackhouse wouldn’t be seeing Doctor Heightmeyer right now either. We loaned him to SGA 5 with the express directions to return him unscathed. Instead he’s got PTSD because a local tribe wanted to keep Jayne because she’s pretty. And no Elizabeth, we are not going back and working out a trade agreement with them. They tried to Separate him from his daemon. Even five minutes would have saved him from that. Imagine if it had been you and Miron.”

Evan would have kissed him if he didn’t think Rodney would murder him. Those two needed to stop dancing around each other and fuck it out already. And then Elizabeth opened her mouth again.

“Militarized daemons have training for things like that. Miron and I do not.”

Evan went to stand from his chair but Daniel struck first. Behrouz jumped up on the table and hissed at her. Danny narrowed his eyes. “Then it’s you that’s lacking not the military contingent. Both McKay and I went through the same training before we were allowed to step through the gate. You can’t expect to be a proper leader for this base if you treat your military like an inanimate shield instead of like they are people. They bleed just as readily as you and I, even if not as easily. Their daemon hurt just as much when they are injured. Haven’t you ever lost anyone Doctor Weir?”

Elizabeth looked like she’d been struck but Evan wanted to smooth Behrouz fur and tell him that he was fine, he didn’t have anything to worry about, because Evan would make sure Danny was safe.

“I left my fiancé back on Earth Doctor Jackson. Yes I’ve lost someone.”

Everyone in the room stared at her hard but it was Rodney that spoke this time. “You’re being purposefully obtuse Doctor Weir. Have you ever watched a daemon burst into Dust and that flicker of human snuff out in a friend’s eye? Have you ever watched as a friend and their daemon were Separated right in front of you? If you’d read the mission reports from Earth, the Goaul’d did things like that for fun. They wanted to see how much the daemons could take before either their human died or they turned to dust. There were facilities on other worlds filled with humans that were insane from the Separation. General O’Neill wanted to kill them to put them out of their misery. Especially when he’d seen what had been done to the daemons. One young woman had been separated from her daemon at eleven. She hadn’t even settled yet. Her daemon was stuck in between a rabbit and a cat.”

Elizabeth looked ill. Kazimir stood and let out a war cry that Evan had never heard outside of battle. He was on his feet and hugging Kaz before he’d even realized he moved. Behrouz was huddled against Jackson’s leg, Elweard was curled up in John’s lap shaking and Nikola was sitting on the table rubbing her cheek against Rodney’s hand. Draven was sitting with his side pressed against Ronon’s thigh and Chessa was nestled against Teyla’s neck. Carson had Dia in his lap and none of them were speaking.

“The military doesn’t negotiate with terrorists Doctor Weir, and anyone that wants to experiment on us or wants to eat us is a terrorist. We are reducing the check-in wait or I’m making a full report to the IOA and I will be taking as many of my minions back to the SGC with me as possible.” Daniel said, voice firm with his conviction.

Evan snuggled closer to Kaz and rubbed his cheek against the top of the big cat’s head. Even thinking about a daemon getting Stuck was enough to make him sick and he’d watched the video of Todd feeding on his best friend. He’d watched as El had aged and become almost fragile looking, flickering in and out of focus like an old television set. When his team had been kidnapped, he’d been so bloody and broken that when Koyla had started hurting Kaz he’d been unable to do more than drag himself towards his daemon. The bastards had been talking about trying to see what would happen if they put them in separate rooms when Sheppard and the rest of the cavalry had burst in and saved the day. Kaz had been put through hell because of him but at least he hadn’t been Stuck because of a Separation. He’d met two Witches in his life and he still couldn’t understand how they could make that choice. To have their soul ripped from them. Even being able to fly the way they did wasn’t worth it to Evan.

No one said anything for at several minutes and then Elizabeth cleared her throat. “I’ll approve the reduced check in times and you may start the expeditions once the new schedule has been finished. You will send one of the MALPs through to each planet first though, and that is non-negotiable. Have you found anything else of note in the database Doctor Jackson?”

Evan could see the tightness around Daniel’s eyes and figured that the Archeologist wouldn’t be warming up to Elizabeth any time soon. “I was under the impression that finding information of the ZPMs was the most important task and that everything else was secondary until that was done. I haven’t searched for anything else and I still haven’t finished going through the database for ZPM information. Some of the texts indicate that we may eventually be able to produce our own and I’ve come across at least three vague references for a way to recharge them. Once I’ve finished this task I’ll be sure to make a full report on anything else I find.”

Rodney cut Elizabeth off again and Evan couldn’t believe what came out of his mouth. “We are all aware of how difficult your task currently is Doctor Jackson, and we appreciate everything you’ve accomplished so far. Take your time. We don’t want to miss anything.”

Elizabeth actually huffed and looked at Rodney. “Doctor McKay do I need to remind you that I am the head of this expedition?”

“Not at all Doctor Weir. Obviously I need to remind you that I am the head of Sciences though. This includes the soft sciences, such as Archeology. If you have a problem with this we can discuss it with the IOA and General O’Neill in the next databurst. I’m sure Jack wouldn’t mind helping us resolve this matter and Patrick Sheppard is always willing to help in any way he can as the head of Homeworld Security.”

Evan bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing like a moron. God sometimes watching Rodney be himself was the best entertainment Atlantis could offer. Today was no exception. Seeing Daniel flush at the compliment Rodney paid him was an added bonus. The meeting was adjourned shortly after that and when it was he got a message on his tablet from McKay. All it said was a time and a place. He shrugged and put it from his mind. Currently he had a scientist to make sure got fed.

“Hey Danny, Beh you two want to get some lunch? The mess has zucchini muffins and strorangeberry juice today.”

Danny quirked and eyebrow at him. “What exactly is a stroangeberry?”

Evan laughed. “It’s one of the best trade items we’ve come across since we’ve been here. It’s sort of like a cross between a strawberry and an orange but it’s bright purple. Doctor Parrish just started growing them. He said that they seem to be doing really well in the faux greenhouse. Eventually he wants to ask the Athosians to plant some on the mainland.”

“Rodney can’t eat it can he?”

“Nope, but if you want anything made from it you better have it when he’s not around. The citrus seems to be stronger in them, or at least whatever makes the citrus fatal to him is. Nikola accidently knocked over a cup of the juice into his lap and he had hives within a minute. Sheppard usually has the mess make Rodney something ahead of time on the days they serve anything with the fruit in it.”

Daniel looked at him inquisitively. “Why is Colonel Sheppard so concerned for Rodney? They don’t appear to be bonded and I know they aren’t dating.”

Evan was hesitant to say anything because really it wasn’t his place and he hated gossip even if he was the best source for intel in all of Atlantis. “Look I like you Doc and I consider you a friend, but John is like a brother to me. Hell so is Rodney, even if he’s a pain in the ass. I don’t know exactly what’s up with them but there’s been a lot of life saving passed back and forth between them and there may or may not be a betting pool on when they’ll finally start dating. But as with most things I can neither confirm nor deny any black market activities.”

Danny laughed and smiled at him. “Okay. Let’s go get something to eat and discuss preparations for the first expedition. I’d also like to go to the range with you and the rest of the team because I am actually good with a gun and I’d like to prove it out of the field first.”

“That’s probably a good idea. It would help ease everyone’s minds and its better going into the field knowing you can rely on someone than wondering if you can. I’ll work the details out with the Colonel.”

When Evan finally got off shift that day his nerves were worn thin and he just wanted to sleep for a week. One of the teams had come back with a new trade agreement, but three of them had been injured in totally stupid ways. One had tripped and cracked his head on a rock, another had fallen out of a tree trying to help a native get a pet back and ended up breaking an arm and cracking two ribs. The last one had eaten a local pastry and ended up going into anaphylaxis. Thankfully the team had known about her nut allergy and gotten her squared away but she was still off duty for a week. There was so much paperwork just from that one mission.

His head was throbbing and Kaz was lashing his tail and growling at anyone that got too close. He was eternally grateful that people didn’t have to apologize for their daemons or he’d probably be sending out so many apology cards he’d have another migraine before he was done. He considered taking some Excedrin before bed but until they found another ZPM it wasn’t like he had an unlimited supply. He was gauging how bad the migraine was when he bumped right into Danny. “Sorry Doc.”

Daniel smiled at him. “It’s alright Evan. Beh and I were just coming to see if you and Kaz would like to have dinner with us and maybe relax a little bit. We heard about Team 7 and all the paperwork today.”

As much as Evan wanted to accept he wanted to curl up with Kaz more and he almost said so, but he looked up at Daniel and the other man was frowning. “Why so glum, Doc?”

The scientist seemed to shake off what was bothering him. “Come have dinner with us. I’ve got some Excedrin with your name on it. There’s even blackberry cobbler that if anyone else finds out about I will kill you over.”

Beh purred and rubbed against Daniel’s leg. “Kaz you look like you could use a bit of relaxation too. I’ll even share my blankets. Don’t let the human say no.”

If a cat could smile Kaz would have been. He pushed Evan forward with his head. “We’re coming. Evan’s just going to shower and change out of his uniform.”

When they got inside their room Evan glared at Kaz. “What was that about? I just wanted to sleep and so did you until Daniel asked us over.”

Kaz gave him a warning growl. “You aren’t the only one that’s attracted to them Evan. Beh is fun to be around and he hasn’t ever tried to touch us even when it’s been obvious we wouldn’t mind. Daniel is fun too. He likes to tease you but he’s never mean about it just playful. They’ve been hurt too. They’ve been to war just like we have. They aren’t weak and I want to keep them.”

Evan blinked and sat woodenly on his bed. “Kaz they haven’t even been here that long.”

“Six months, and I wanted to keep them the moment we met them. Having them around every day hasn’t changed that. It’s only made it stronger. Now get up, take a shower and then get dressed and give Daniel the drawing you keep forgetting about.”

Sometimes he almost considered having a daemon a curse. Right now was one of those times. You couldn’t lie to your soul. It was you even in the ways it wasn’t. Even when Evan was little Kaz had always been a predator because he’d wanted to be able to protect his human. Once when a bully at school had held Evan down and tried to get his friends to take Kaz into another room Kaz had turned into a grizzly bear cub and scared them half to death with his roar. When the teachers had come Evan was clutching Kaz to him and sobbing. After the teacher had gotten the entire story out of him and witnesses the boy had been sent away. Evan found out when he was in college that they’d put him in a home for the mentally unstable. Separating someone from their daemon would always be taboo.

He rubbed his hand through the fur between Kaz’s ears. Thinking about all the times someone had tried to Separate them always upset him. Heaving himself off the bed he stripped and threw his uniform in the hamper then went to shower. He made quick work of it and was on his way to Daniel’s room in short order. Kaz made him double back to their room for the picture though. “What if he doesn’t like it or it upsets him Kaz? I should have just erased it when I realized what it was.”

Kaz hissed at him. “Stop being an idiot. He’ll love it and so will Beh. Quit acting like a little girl. You’re a Major in the United States Air Force. Act like it.”

He glared at his daemon and considered the merits of dumping water on him but unless it was freezing Kaz wouldn’t care. With a put upon sigh he resigned himself, once more, to a life of snark. “I’m telling Beh you think he’s pretty.”

Kaz rolled his eyes at that. “I did that months ago you moron. And he is pretty. Stop dragging your feet. They are literally two minutes from us and you’ve made it five so far. If I have to bite you to get you moving I will.”

Evan glared but complied. When they reached the door he sighed again then knocked. Daniel opened the door for him but didn’t move out of the doorway right away. “Doc?”

The other man shook his head and smiled at Evan. “Sorry Evan. I was a little distracted.”

That surprised a laugh out of him. “Daniel when exactly aren’t you distracted? Thinking of the database again?”

This teasing banter had become so familiar recently and Evan relished that. They’d actually taken to having most meals together.

Jackson smirked. “Not exactly. Are you two coming in or do Beh and I get double rations tonight?”

The smile that had been almost constant when he was around Daniel was back. Some nights it was harder to go back to his rooms than others. Tonight was going to be one of them. “Well if you’d step aside we could come in Doc.”

Daniel’s eyes were filled with mirth as he moved to the side. Kaz pushed him through the door and then sat in front of Beh doing the feline equivalent of a smile. “Evan has a present for you both.”

At that Evan felt himself blush and look at the floor. “It’s nothing special really just something I found myself doing and I couldn’t leave it unfinished. I wasn’t sure if you’d want it or not and if it offends you I’m really sorry. Normally I’d have asked first but it just sort of happened.”

Kaz nudged him in the hip. “Just give it to them Evan.”

His hand held up the piece of paper totally without his consent. Before he knew what was happening he’d let the paper go as Daniel had gently taken it from him. His heart was racing in fear because this could be something that might end their friendship. There were still cultures that wouldn’t let their daemons be photographed because they felt it would kill them so when Daniel gasped he figured that was the end of it. Then the other man was hugging him and shaking. When Evan realized he was shaking he rubbed his back. “Hey Doc, everything okay?”

Daniel stepped back and wiped at the tears on his face. “I don’t have any pictures of Beh as an adult. I have pictures from when we were little because Jack was kind enough to keep them for me even when I didn’t come back through the gate with them that first time. I know you said it was just something that happened so you have no idea what this means to me but god Evan it’s beautiful.” He touched the paper reverently and then tacked it to the board in front of his desk.

“I’ll have to get a frame for it later. I want to keep it in here because this is the closest thing to a photo of Beh that I have.”

Evan frowned at that. “What happened to your copies of the pictures of SG-1?”

Daniel looked down. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what happened to a lot of my stuff after I Ascended. Jack had a lot of it but the pictures weren’t with the things I picked up from him.”

Evan made a mental note to send General O’Neill and e-mail later, but before he could go any further with his questioning Daniel stopped him. “I didn’t invite you over so we could both be upset. Come on let’s have dinner.”

Beh looked at the drawing from the floor and then over at Evan then over at his human. He and Daniel seemed to have a lengthy conversation and whatever the end result Beh didn’t seem happy about it. Either way, Daniel took dinner out of the warmer in his room and Evan closed his eyes and inhaled. Real fried chicken, mashed potatoes and sweet rolls. Daniel had set both plates on the table in front of his little seating area.

“How in the hell did you pull this off Doc?”

Daniel smiled smugly. “I mentioned to Chuck that it was for you and he did the rest. Apparently he hasn’t forgotten about the time you ordered him three cases of PayDay’s because he’d just found out his dog had been hit by a car. Even though the dog made a full recovery. He was of the opinion that if you ever decided to call in all your favors the BlackMarket would be totally empty for at least two Daedalus runs.”

Evan blinked and looked at him. “That’s just crazy. He’s exaggerating.”

Beh laughed. “No he isn’t. Sheik confirmed it and daemons don’t lie. They actually have a file on it in case you ever need anything. It’s a big file.”

Daniel laughed again so apparently Evan’s disbelief was painted all over his face. “They like you Evan. You’re good to them. You and John have done a lot to ensure good relations between the military and the civilians. It’s not something anyone is going to forget.”

Evan shrugged. “It’s not a big deal Doc. Can we just eat?”

Daniel smiled at him and for some reason it made Evan blush. “Dig in Major. Oh before I forget let me get you that Excedrin. What did you want to drink? I’ve got water, strorangeberry juice and Blue Moon Pumpkin Harvest which no one else better find out about.”

Evan smiled. “Just water tonight Doc, I might take you up on the beer another night though.”

The rest of the night passed in a happy haze of conversation and laughter. It was difficult to pull himself off the couch and head to bed when dinner was over but eventually he had to, because he had work the next day. “Night Doc, night Beh.”

“Goodnight Evan, Kaz.”

With that he went to bed dreaming of gold and hazel eyes and laughter. The rest of the week passed in a blur and then they were strapping on gear and heading through the gate on the first expedition. The planet was deserted as was the Ancient outpost they found. There was no chair, no secret rooms, not even a database. It was just rocks and a few pictographs. Daniel said that the planet seemed to be an Ancient crop outpost. There were signs of an attack though and it was clear the Wraith had utterly destroyed everything of value. They took samples of everything just in case they could eventually start doing the same.

The next three planets didn’t turn up any ZPMs but they did find another Database, though it was smaller than the one they had on the city. One of them actually had some seriously useful medical equipment that Carson was having far too much fun researching. It was actually really cute watching him and Dia fanboying all over the new tech.

This would be the fifth expedition and they were really hoping to find something. Pegasus was all too eager to comply. They were met by some natives as soon as they stepped through the gate. They’d been more than happy to show Daniel and Rodney the Ancient catacombs. They’d even been happy to let them have the ZPM on the alter because their texts said that someone from the Ancient city would be coming to collect it someday, and then Sheppard and Evan had gone down to get Rodney and Daniel and accidently turned something on. Evan looked at Sheppard in horror because they hadn’t wanted the people on P77-4X2 to know about their gene. They had been actively thinking about not turning anything on, but the research facilities protocols apparently didn’t care.

The guards that were escorting them glared and moved their spears up. John lifted his P90 at the same time Evan took out brought his up. What they didn’t know was that there was a hidden offshoot of the tunnel behind them. Kaz was watching their backs but his roar came too late and John was struck unconscious while Evan got stabbed in the side. He fought with everything he had and screamed for the rest of their teams over the radio.

He was losing blood and his vision was slightly blurry around the edges. He fired his gun as Kaz huddled over John and Elweard making sure the natives couldn’t get close to them. Evan moved them close to the wall and kept his eyes open for as long as he could. He didn’t know if the others had been captured, his commanding officer was immobilized and he was bleeding out. He couldn’t let himself panic though. Panic would be what got him dead. His eyes started tingling but he fought the wave of blackness as long as he could. Just when he was on the verge of passing out he saw an unfamiliar face and fired hoping the bullet would hit its mark.

When he came to he was in a room he didn’t recognize with Sheppard next to him. They were both shackled, but that wasn’t what caused him to double over and vomit. He couldn’t see Kazimir or Elweard. His throat was tight but just as he was about to scream for him Kaz hissed. “We’re here Evan. We’re here. You still have your radio. Nudge it against the post beside your head and see if you can get anyone. These people are really primitive so they have no idea what half of your equipment does. Stay calm. Just stay calm.”

Evan had tears in his eyes and he wanted to scream in rage. He couldn’t deal with this again. He would not be left in the hands of enemies for any length of time ever again.

He forced himself to breathe calmly and do as Kaz told him to. When his radio clicked on he called softly, “This is Major Lorne. Colonel Sheppard and I have been captured. Status update now.”

He could practically hear Stackhouse laughing at him as he said, “We’re five by five Major. Cadman came through with some presents for the natives and we’ll be giving them a surprise party shortly. The geeks have been secured and are totally pissed off so I wouldn’t be surprised if they raze this place to the ground once they clear out the cache you and Sheppard opened with your spiffy genes. How are you and our Lady’s golden boy?”

Evan rolled his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. “Marcus do you want me to schedule you for a few rounds with Ronon during the next base wide training day? Because I totally will. Tell Cadman I want extra fireworks. Sheppard is unconscious. I can’t see Kazimir or Elweard but I have been assured that they are in the room with us. We’re both shackled so when you come to get us we won’t be much help.”

He could hear Jayne singing The Hero of Canton in the background and couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of his throat. It made his side hurt and he was reminded that he’d been stabbed.

“Hey Stackhouse. I don’t know how long I’ve been here but I got a little stabbed and I may have lost a small bit of blood. So you know, the sooner you get here the better. I mean it’s only a flesh wound but I don’t want an infection.”

For some reason Stackhouse sounded scared when he came back on the radio. “Sir I need an accurate estimate of how much blood you’ve lost. Can you do that for me?”

“Actually, no. I was unconscious for a little bit. The Colonel hasn’t woken up yet though so the sooner you get here the better.”

Jayne came over the com this time. “If you can’t see Kaz or El how do you know they’re with you?”

Evan shut his eyes tight for a second and took a deep breath. “When we were little my dad used to put us in separate rooms if we were bad. One time my mom shoved us into a vase and it shattered. Apparently it was important so he knocked Kaz into the hall closet and put me in the attic. I remember what that felt like. Kaz is in the room with me. He told me El was here.”

He heard Stackhouse muttering but couldn’t make out what he was saying. His vision was getting blurry and it was getting harder to stay awake. “Kaz, talk to me.”

Evan knew he sounded panicked and there was fuck all he could do about it. He was terrified that he was dying because Kaz didn’t deserve that. Not that Evan wanted to die, especially when he’d just found a family that actually loved him and made friends that wouldn’t hurt him.

“I’m right here Evan. Stay awake until they get here. I need to make sure no one hurts El. We promised Daniel and Beh that we would take them exploring the city when we got a new ZPM. There are all those labs and towers that we still haven’t been to yet. We’ve got to make sure no one finds anything from Janus before we can break it. Poker night is in three days too and we still have to ask Teyla, Chessa, Ronon and Draven if you can paint them. Evan what was that song you were humming earlier? I’d like it if you sang it for me now.”

Which is how SGA-1 and SGA-2 found him singing ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ by The Animals. Stackhouse smiled and started singing with him. When he caught sight of Daniel he waved at him weakly. Rodney wasn’t focused on anyone but Sheppard. Nikola was wrapped around Elweard nuzzling the top of his head gently. If she’d been able to cry Evan was sure she would be. When one of the rescue team tried to pick El up she hissed at him and Rodney rushed over berating them while he scooped El up. Evan’s heart clenched because he wanted that. He wanted someone he could trust with Kaz. Someone that would snarl and fight everyone off of them when they were injured but would take care of them until they were better. He sighed and wrapped his arms around Kaz like he had when he was little. “Can we go home now?”

Kaz licked his face. “You have to let go of me first Ev. They can’t transport us both like this.”

“Okay but stay close.”

“Always.”

He felt when Kaz let the shields they normally kept in place drop and let his own do the same. He needed that extra bit of closeness right now. They both hated how it felt like they were a shared consciousness. It reminded both of them how his father and his viper daemon had been. They had always referred to themselves as ‘we’ and it had freaked Evan and Kaz out. People were meant to be close with their daemons. It was part of having one, but you weren’t meant to lose yourself to them. The people that did typically went insane. Kaz helped Evan push the thoughts away though and forced him to focus on breathing properly.

Evan let Ronon put him on a stretcher and he and Teyla carried him. Kaz walked beside him just in Evan’s line of sight. Draven was on his other side and everyone gave them a wide breadth. Daniel was the only person who didn’t. He wasn’t touching anyone but he and Beh were close by.

“I think I’m going to pass out now guys. I just figured I should let you all know.”

Kaz made a displeased sound but Evan couldn’t stop the blackness that claimed him. He didn’t dream. He wasn’t even aware. Something shifted and eventually he felt an overwhelming sense of safety and home. Once that was all he could feel he let even the feelings drift away until there was nothing.

Whiskers tickled his cheek and Evan groaned. He felt weak, he had a massive headache and his side was throbbing. He tried to move but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Don’t even think about it Major. If you rip your stitches Kaz and Beh both have offered to murder you. You lost enough blood that Kaz was actually flickering at one point. We were afraid we were going to lose you both.”

Daniel’s voice was soft and matter of fact.

“Sorry. Head hurts.”

There were some shuffling and distant voices, then Carson was there with Dia. “I heard you’ve got a bit of a headache lad. I’d wager your side is a bit sore too. I’ll be needing to change the dressing on it now anyway so we’ll get you drugged after we’ve gotten something light in you.”

Evan groaned but didn’t protest. Unlike some of his friends he tried to follow Carson’s orders as much as possible because it got him out of the infirmary sooner.

Kaz nuzzled his neck then moved to the floor. “Don’t ever scare me like that again Evan. I don’t appreciate it.”

He rolled his eyes and let Carson take care of him while Kaz and Beh chatted with Dia. Daniel never left his side but he didn’t say anything either.

When Carson was done and he had a bowl of soup with some soda bread he looked at the scientist. “So how bad is it?”

Daniel glared at him. “Kaz flickered. How bad do you think it was?”

He winced. “I’m sorry. Where’s Sheppard?”

At that Danny smirked. “He’s hold up in a suite with Rodney right now. Their new living quarters actually.”

Evan blinked. “But John took a nasty blow to the head. Shouldn’t he still be in the infirmary?”

The smirk only got wider. “You’ve been out for three days and Sheppard only had a mild concussion. He’s on desk duty and Rodney isn’t letting him out of his sight.”

“Okay what aren’t you telling me because you seem awfully smug right now.”

Danny laughed wholeheartedly. “For once Rodney McKay was the most stupid man in two galaxies. I won’t tease him about it but he knows I’m smug every single time I smirk at him. I will be lording it over him for years to come.”

“No, really, what the fuck?”

Beh laughed and shifted closer to Kaz, his tail twitching just enough that he could almost touch Evan’s daemon. Kaz shifted and let his tail brush Beh’s. Evan gasped but their shields were still down and Kaz let him know just what he thought of Evan even thinking about protesting the closeness.

“What Danny is dancing around is that Colonel Sheppard and Rodney are soulbonded and neither of them even realized it. He thinks they’re stupid but really it’s just that they were both terrified of rejection for different reasons. Stop being smug Danny. It’s not always attractive.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and then glanced at where their daemons were touching. He clamped down on his emotions because he really didn’t need Evan to realize just how much he craved touching him. It was getting a bit pathetic.

Kaz let his tail twine with Beh’s and Evan gasped. It was strange feeling someone else’s daemon like this. Not strange in a bad way but definitely strange. He wasn’t sure if it was the pain meds that Carson had given him or just his weakened state causing him to imagine this. If it was real he and Kaz were going to have to talk, then his brain caught up with what Beh had just said. “Wait. They’re soulbonded? Oh my god, that explains so much!”

Danny looked at him as if he’d lost his damn mind but Evan can’t be bothered to care.

“No really. John has always known, in some freaky ass way, when Rodney is in trouble. If it hadn’t been for John knowing when to make Rodney stop he’d have blown up half the galaxy because of a project on a planet called Doronda. As it is they were both furious with one another and didn’t talk for months but it took its toll on both of them and the rest of the city. There was one time Rodney ended up in the bottom of the ocean in a broken Jumper and John managed to find him with some seriously supernatural luck. That whole giant storm and the Genii invading Atlantis. If John hadn’t gone all stealth ninja assassin murder killer on them because Koyla cut Rodney we’d have never gotten the city back.”

“John didn’t let him out of his sight for about six months after that. Then there was the whole thing with the parasite slowly eating his brain. That almost killed them both because John just wanted to break Keller’s face and no one would have blamed him. We were all so glad to have Carson back. Sometimes when those two are talking it’s like half the conversation happens in their heads.”

Kaz was making that weird feline laughing sound and Evan looked at him all bleary eyed. “What’s so funny Kaz?”

His daemon snorted. “I forgot how chatty you get on pain meds. What my human is trying to say is that it makes a lot of their weird little friendship less weird. He’s also getting sleepy thanks to his medication.”

Danny smiled at him and it made Evan’s heart do funny things. He felt a bit like there was some kind of rabid animal in his chest trying to escape. “We’ll let you get some rest then Evan. Beh and I will help you back to your room when Carson frees you.”

Evan was asleep before they left.

When he opened his eyes he was sitting in a room by himself. A deep sense of panic flooded him and he called out softly for Kaz. A door he couldn’t see opened and someone started screaming at him. He couldn’t make out the words and when he didn’t give the voice the answer it wanted they started hitting him. He felt blood seep into his eyes and he was crying but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He was so small. When did he get this little again? Nothing made sense. He screamed for Kaz but he couldn’t feel his daemon. It just made him scream louder.

His eyes fluttered open again and he was back with the Genii. Kaz was on the floor and Kyola was standing over him. He’d burned Kaz and was starting to skin him alive. Evan slid himself forward with one hand. His legs weren’t working and he couldn’t feel them. Kaz was calling out to him. He had to get to him. Kaz was right there. He had to make Kyola stop. Evan would fucking murder him if it was the last god damn thing he ever did. He would string him up by his wrists and peel strips of his skin off then pour salt over the wounds. Suddenly Kaz gave a war cry and then burst into golden dust and Evan’s heart just stopped. He was sobbing and screaming and his best friend, his soul was just fucking gone.

Carson slapped him and Evan jerked awake. He was crying and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Kaz was right beside him and he wrapped his arms around the big cat and sobbed into his neck. At least John had thought to request a military psychiatrist because Evan was going to end up having to go eventually. Thankfully Carson and Kaz didn’t try to make him talk, they just let him go back to sleep. This time though Evan was wrapped around Kaz like a small child with a teddy bear.

When Carson released Evan from the infirmary he went straight to his room just like the doctor had ordered and then proceeded to do as much paperwork as he could before Sheppard or McKay knocked him off the server. He didn’t want to go back to sleep. He didn’t want to dream again. They hadn’t been this bad in a while. The last time was the five months following his rescue from the Genii. It had gotten to the point that John had threatened to start slipping sleeping pills in his water. It wasn’t that Evan was actively trying to becoming a walking zombie, it’s just that even if he laid down he wouldn’t sleep. There wasn’t anything he could do about it but take sleeping pills and he didn’t like the way those made him feel. They tended to muffle his connection to Kaz and that just made the nightmares worse.

This lasted for all of a week and then he had a seriously pissed off scientist in his room glaring at him with an equally pissed off jaguarondi barring its teeth at him. He looked at them confused. “What’s up Danny?”

Jackson narrowed his eyes at him. “You tell me Evan?’

That just confused the fuck out of him. “Seriously Danny what’s wrong?”

Jackson scowled at him. “You have horrible circles under your eyes. You aren’t eating as much as you should and while you haven’t been in your office you also haven’t stopped working. What the fuck Evan? You almost died!”

Evan blinked. “I’m fine Danny.”

Jackson picked up a pillow off of Evan’s chair and threw it at him. Evan normally would have caught it but he was totally shocked and it managed to thump against his face. “No you aren’t. Two weeks ago you’d have caught that and thrown it back at me before it hit you in the face you big jackass. Now what the hell is going on with you?”

Evan rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. Before he could speak though, Kaz chimed in. “He’s having nightmares and it’s keeping him up at night. We both hate the way sleeping pills dull our connection so he won’t take them. He’s not actively trying to hurt himself Daniel, we just aren’t sure what else to do. We decided to ask John to go running with us once Evan’s side was doing better but right now he can’t do anything.”

Daniel frowned. “Carson would let you work out if it wasn’t high intensity and you were supervised. Beh and I can come with you. We’ve both been slacking on our exercising anyway. If you want we can do something light.”

Evan sighed. At least Daniel hadn’t asked what he was having nightmares about. That was something he’d come to love about the scientist. He didn’t push unless he felt he had no choice.

“I’ll radio Carson and ask.”

Daniel smirked. “No need. I asked him earlier. I knew you weren’t sleeping, I just didn’t know if it was self-induced or a side effect. I figured it was best to assume it was self-induced and brow beat you into getting my way.”

That actually shocked him a little. “You are a devious person Doctor Jackson.”

The laughter that followed that made him smile. “I was on SG-1 for a long time Evan. Sam and Jack had a long time to rub off on Teal’c and I. And if you think either of them are more devious than Teal’c you’re crazy because that man has layers of devious, layers and layers and layers.”

Both of their daemons laughed and Beh rubbed his cheek against Kaz’s. “Evan and I met him once. He was very polite but there was mischief in his eyes. You can’t really hide that, especially from daemons.”

Beh nodded his agreement and Evan looked at them both speculatively. “Are we going to talk about this?”

Daniel looked at him confused for a second and then realized that Kaz was lying sprawled on the floor with his front paws brushing against Beh’s. “Do you want to?”

“Not really. Talking about feelings isn’t exactly fun. But we might need to.”

“Why? Does it make you uncomfortable Evan?”

That was an excellent question. He thought about it and he knew Daniel was tensing the longer he thought but he didn’t want to lie to the other man. It would be cruel and he wasn’t much for cruelty considering the bullshit he’d been through. “No Daniel and that’s what makes me uncomfortable.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and sat next to him on his bed. “Stop freaking out.”

Before Evan knew what was happening Daniel was straddling him and kissing him softly. He groaned into the kiss and let his hands settle on Jackson’s waist. “You’re trouble Doctor Jackson. Lots of trouble. Is this a requirement to becoming a scientist within the SGC?”

Daniel laughed and kissed him again. It was more like a caress it was so chaste but Evan wasn’t complaining even if he was seriously hesitant to take it any further. “Yes actually. Samantha Carter, Radek Zalenka, Carson Beckette, M. Rodney McKay, David Parrish. I can list more if you’d like. I myself have an impressive list of trouble I’ve gotten into through my fault or someone else’s.”

Laughter bubbled out of his throat and he smiled up at the other man. “I’ll take that as a yes. Danny you know that if we’re going to do this it’s going to be more than a quick fuck and I’m going to be difficult right?”

A hand cupped his cheek and he leaned into the touch. “I’m not asking you to be anything other than yourself Evan. If we have to work at it that’s just going to make it better. It’s not like I’m asking you for anything other than whatever you can give Evan, but I’m going to push and pull you and you’re going to want to kill me a lot. It’s something I’ve come to terms with. People want to kiss and kill me in turns. You’ll live.”

Beh gave the feline equivalent of a laugh and brushed one of his paws over one of Kaz’s. Daniel kissed Evan again and then moved to sit beside him. “You want to tell me what you’re dreaming about?”

“Nope. I would like to get out of my room though. I need to get a shower and then you can help me hunt down Ronon.”

“Sounds like a plan. Go shower and I’ll grab some lunch.”

Evan rushed through his shower as quickly as the knife wound would allow. When he got out of the shower he realized he’d forgotten to bring his clothes in with him so he opened his shields with Kaz a little. He caught the faint hint of Beh and his knees almost buckled from the pleasure of touching a part of Daniel Jackson. Jesus the scientist was going to be his fucking death. Kaz paused for a moment and then grumbled about lazy humans. He strolled into the bathroom three minutes later with a pair of Adidas track pants that had survived college, officer training school and the trip through the gate.

“Thanks Kaz.”

He got a flick of the tail to his hand in acknowledgment as the door swished shut behind. After he’d dried off and pulled his pants on he stepped out to find Daniel lying on his bed. Lust and possessiveness flooded him and he wasn’t sure what to do with all that but he pushed it aside. Danny had his tablet out and he looked totally engulfed in it.

“What’s up?”

His companion jolted and looked up at him totally bewildered. “Uh, they’re going to start exploring and opening up some of the parts of the city that were closed off until we got an auxiliary power source. There were two ZPMs in the cache you and Sheppard found so we got a total of three. The two in the cache were fully charged and the one Rodney and I found was three-fourths charged. We also got another database and an actual directory with a search program. This one actually has information on a lot of the people, plant life and planets in Pegasus.”

Kaz and Beh both purred and Evan laughed. “So you and Rodney have been having wet dreams since we got back and everyone was safe. Good to know. What aren’t you telling me?”

Jackson smirked at him. “We’re going with Stackhouse and Markham on a field trip today. We’re the secondary team so all we’re doing is assessing the rooms that are usable and the ones that need repairs.”

His tablet beeped to notify him of a message. “And Carson just said it was fine as long as you wear a TAC vest and you take breaks continuously. Elizabeth is coming with our team.”

Evan groaned. He didn’t want to deal with Elizabeth right now. She was getting a little bit self-important lately and really those types of people just pissed him off. It wasn’t that she was a bad leader but her inability to think of Atlantis as a war zone was more than a little beyond the pale. Jackson laughed at him and then went to his own quarters so Evan could get into his uniform without flashing him.

When he was dressed in his uniform he went to get Jackson. They headed to the ready room and Evan looked at his TAC vest. He didn’t want to ask for help but he knew that he couldn’t get the straps tightened by himself. Before he could say or do anything Daniel was beside him tightening the straps into place. Evan blinked and looked up at him. “Sometimes it’s easier to deal with help than to ask for it.”

“Voice of experience?”

Daniel smiled sadly. “All too often. Let’s head out before they page us.”

“Lead the way Doctor.”

Danny laughed, which was exactly what Evan had been hoping for. Anyone being sad bothered him but the man at his side being sad just seemed so wrong. They walked quietly to the meeting room and waited for everyone else in a comforting silence. Ronon called them when they felt it was safe for Evan’s team to start exploring behind them. Doctor Weir tried to bitch about being in the middle but Evan just glared at her and reminded her that she’d refused to get field certified with the fucking guns so she could just suck it up.

The first four hours found them a few new toys but nothing that was really useful. A lot of the rooms had water damage and would need repairs. They were exploring what had once been a research facility and a library. The tower had other uses but the scientists weren’t sure what those had been yet. They’d been through a few labs but hadn’t found anything to be overly excited about until half way through hour five. Elizabeth had just broken out of the center of the group, again, much to Evan’s annoyance and he was just moving to get her when she started screaming like someone was killing her.

It took Evan a minute to understand what was happening but then he caught sight of the Wraith with its hand pressed to her chest. As soon as he did he was across the room with his gun to the Wraith’s head. “Put it back.”

The Wraith blinked milky eyes at him and snarled. “Never. A Wraith does not take orders from their food.”

He cocked the P90. “You’ll put it back or I’ll put you in a holding cell and watch you starve as we keep a constant food source outside your cage. No one here is susceptible to your mental gifts so they won’t release you. You’ll waste away slowly until even sleep won’t be a release for you.”

“You are not capable of such things food.”

Evan shot the Wraith in the foot. “I am capable of things you can’t even imagine you parasite. This is the city of the Ancients. They built shields for you, which you’d know since you’re in one of their research labs. Obviously they were running experiments on you. Did you think they didn’t make cages to go along with those? Now put it back and I’ll just kill you quickly.”

The Wraith seemed to consider him for a long time and replied, “I have been asleep a long time and yet the experiments they did are perfectly etched into my mind. You will make it quick, meat.”

Evan nodded and waited until he was sure Elizabeth was at least close to the age she had been before and then pulled the trigger. Once the Wraith fell he shot it in the face three more times to make sure. He had Markham and Stackhouse secure the body and then called for a medical team.

Elizabeth was on the floor sobbing and cradling Miron. Evan pulled an emergency blanket out of his pack so no one could see that she’d wet herself. Evan had wanted her to accept that it was a war zone but he hadn’t wanted her to be hurt, especially not like that.

Hours later Elizabeth was sedated and recovering in medical and both teams were in the conference room along with the senior staff. John and Rodney exchanged looks and whatever mental game of rock, paper scissors they’d been playing Sheppard lost.

He stood and addressed everyone. “We’re going to have to open the gate and let General O’Neill know what happened. The sooner we tell him the better he can keep the IOA out of it. They’ve been trying to force a new mission leader on us for years now. Elizabeth has been working hard to keep that from happening but unless she wants to stay in Pegasus when she recovers we’re going to need all the help we can get preventing that. Whoever we get sent we’re going to have to take some time feeling out to make sure they don’t mess up all of our progress. This means sometimes we’re going to have to be diplomatic about mission assignments, training rotations and paperwork. Major Lorne you’re going to be giving refresher courses since you’re team of paperwork fairies has been spoiling all of the senior staff.”

Evan laughed despite the mood. “Kaz can help your daemons learn too. Someone is bringing coffee and cookies though and they are not coming from my stash.”

Rodney snorted and Nikola smiled at him across from her perch on the table. “We still owe you Swedish fish. I’ll see what I can do.”

Her human glared at her. “Tesla go back to sleep.”

“Yes Mer.” The glare turned frosty and she rolled her eyes but she did go back to sleep.

“If it wouldn’t deprive the world of my brain I’d kill you, you evil cat.” He got hit with her tail for his trouble.

They discussed what they could do to make the transition easier if they ended up needing to and then they talked about all the areas of the city that still needed to be explored. Evan was bored so he started doodling on his notepad. Before he realized it he had a little montage of everyone at the table.

He was lost in the details of the drawing and didn’t realize the meeting was over until Daniel was leaning over his shoulder to look at the picture. The other man snatched it before Evan could cover it up.

“I still think you’re extremely talented and if you’d let me I’d push you into a gallery.”

Evan smiled softly. “I like art Danny but I don’t want a gallery and I don’t want millions of strangers looking at the things I make for my friends and family. It’s a very expensive, but well-loved hobby.”

Amusement twinkled in the other man’s eyes and then he was being dragged out of his chair. “Let’s grab something from the mess and go back to my room. I want to watch ‘Iron Man’ finally.”

“Sure, I haven’t seen it yet either. If I fall asleep just throw a blanket over me.”

After they’d gotten food and got settled onto the couch in Daniels room Evan’s mind started to wander. Beh was curled up close to Kaz practically laying on him and Evan was shielding as much as his mind would allow. He didn’t think he could stand the type of intimacy the scientist and his daemon were offering even after months of living inside each other’s pockets. It wasn’t that he was afraid of it, he was afraid of what would happen when it was gone. He trusted Daniel or else Kaz wouldn’t have let Beh touch him but it was hard to trust himself. His brain was working too hard and after the past few weeks they’d all had he was utterly exhausted. He felt sleep tugging at him until finally it was all he had.

He was dreaming again. This time he was sitting in the living room at his parents’ house and his mother was glaring at Kaz. She’d told Evan to get off his lazy ass and get her the bottle of pills from her bathroom but Kaz wouldn’t let him move. She glared for a while and then got up and snatched Kaz away from Evan. They both screamed in agony.

Daniel was shaking him. “Evan, Evan wake up. It’s a dream. You aren’t there. It’s just a dream.”

Kaz was actually pressed against Daniels side with his head on Evan’s chest. That sent a fresh wave of panic through him. Even his daemon was pushing for this and he wasn’t sure he could handle it. He’d have to actually talk to Daniel about things that he actively hated remembering. His life had been a constant warzone before he’d joined the military. Now he lived in one and it was still easier to deal with. Sometimes he wondered if he’d rather be tortured by the Genii again than have to relive the horrors that were his childhood.

Daniel stroked his cheek and looked at him sadly. Not with pity but with the futility of wanting to protect something and knowing it’s too late. It made his chest tight and he didn’t realize he’d even moved until he was kissing the other man. They both gasped in surprise and then swallowed the shared groans. Daniel pulled back first and Evan sighed. “As much as I was enjoying that we’re not doing anything tonight. What where you dreaming about Evan?”

He sighed and refused to meet Daniel’s eyes. “Can we talk about it some other time Danny? I’m tired, my side hurts and I don’t want to remember things I’d rather never happened right now. I’m not saying I want sex as an escape but I’d like it if we could just lay here and enjoy each other’s company and not talk.”

Daniel kissed his cheek and then pulled him up off the couch. “We can share the bed. Don’t hog the covers.”

“I have a feeling that’s something you’re more likely to do.”

“Mmmm.”

He was pretty sure that was all the answer he was going to get but he didn’t doubt that he was right. They both took off their shoes and stripped to boxers and t-shirts. Daniel climbed in first and waited until Evan was settled to wrap around him.

Evan hadn’t really ever slept next to someone he hadn’t just had sex with so this was new territory for him. He turned on his side and pulled Daniel too him. He snuggled into the pillow and eventually drifted off. He didn’t notice Kaz and Beh settling close on the floor but he did notice the feeling of complete contentment that washed over him. Dreams flooded him but nothing like before.

There was skin and fur and he couldn’t even understand everything that was happening but when he woke up he felt safe, warm, loved and he was harder than he’d ever been in his life. They’d changed positions while they’d slept and Daniel was laying on top of him between his legs. They were pressed together from groin to chest, Daniel’s face tucked against his neck with little puffs of breath ghosting across his skin. Evan was still mostly asleep and he moaned because this was the best way to wake up ever. His hips rolled into Danny’s and his mind fogged with sleep and want.

Soft lips pressed against his neck and a sleep rough voice rasped, “Evan.”

He groaned louder as his dick twitched and his balls clenched just a little. Having Daniel Jackson say his name in that tone should not be as hot it was.

Daniel licked his throat and he felt a jolt slip from where the tongue touched him right to his balls. “If you groan again I’m going to take some serious liberties with you Ev.”

The other man’s teeth nibbled along the path his tongue had traveled only to be followed by feather light kisses. “Danny.”

The other man moaned and rolled his hips into Evan’s. “Jesus your voice could be bottled and sold as liquid sex when it’s like this.”

Before Evan could say anything Daniel was kissing him. More like claiming him with lips and teeth and tongue but the only word for it was a kiss even if it was totally inadequate. When the other man pulled away Evan chased his lips and pouted when Jackson sat up. “We agreed no sex last night. As much as it pains me to do this if we don’t stop I’m going to have sex with you and then we’ll have had meaningless sex for our first time.”

Evan frowned up at him because he brain was still fried from sleep and lust. “No sex with you could ever be meaningless Danny.”

The other man smiled down at him, kissed his cheek and climbed out of the bed. “Maybe not but still it’s not happening.”

He was pouting. He knew he was pouting but he wasn’t really able to stop so he just climbed out of bed. Before he could really do anything else his radio went off. He sighed and fished it out of his pants and clicked it on. “Lorne.”

“Major, you feel like going for a run with me this morning?”

Sometimes Sheppard had the best timing in the world. “Let me check something first.”

He clicked the radio off before John could protest and looked over at Danny padding around his tiny kitchen area making coffee. “John wants me to go for a run with him. Do you mind if I do?”

Daniel smiled at him. “Evan if you want to go for a run with Sheppard I’m not going to bitch. Just wait for me and Rodney so we can watch you both in your PT gear. Those shorts are the best thing ever. Whoever designed them loved me and wanted me to be happy.”

Evan laughed and shook his head. He clicked his radio back to John. “Yeah I can go but Danny says you have to wait for him and Rodney to get good seats. They want to ogle us.”

Sheppard laughed. “Whatever. Tell him to hurry up then. Sheppard out.”

Evan met John at the mess, Danny and Beh trailing behind. Rodney was poking away at his tablet and Nikola jumped on Beh as soon as he got close enough. Both scientists rolled their eyes and they all headed towards the pier. Rodney and Daniel headed up to one of the balconies and John and Evan started stretching so they wouldn’t cramp half way through.

John took off and Evan raced to keep pace with him. “So you and Rodney are soulbonded huh?”

John sighed. “Does the entire base know?”

Evan would have shrugged but it would have thrown off his stride. “I don’t know. Danny is the one that told me. You do know I can’t run as far as we usually do right? Carson will probably be waiting at the balcony with Rodney and Danny when we get back. I’m already incurring his wrath.”

John laughed breathlessly. “Yeah but there are a few new medical devices we’re able to power now that we have 2.8 ZPMs. Hopefully that will have him in a good enough mood that it won’t be too terrible. I can’t promise you won’t get a big needle for your trouble though. So what’s up with you and Daniel?”

Evan sighed. “I don’t know. I slept in his bed with him last night but we didn’t do anything. Kaz and Beh have been touching a lot lately. I’m not really sure how to handle it.”

He could practically see the sarcasm coming off of Sheppard in waves. “Well you should run the other way for sure.”

“Hey it’s not like you and Rodney have been together forever okay. You can get off the high horse right now.”

“You’re so mouthy when we’re off the clock.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “No I’m just more honest with you.”

Laughter was his only answer for a while and then John broke the silence again. “Evan you’ve been through enough in your life. You deserve to be happy and so does Doctor Jackson. The man Ascended and had to fight tooth and nail to come back with his daemon. The Ancients were actively torturing him. You should both let yourselves have some happiness when you can get it. Rodney and I could have been together from almost the start if we’d just stopped being afraid. Instead we’ve been hurting each other and our daemons. You’re my friend and I don’t want to see you make that mistake.”

“I’ll think about it John but we aren’t soulbonded like you and Rodney.”

John stopped running. “You are almost as oblivious as I am.”

Evan blinked and looked at Sheppard owlishly. “What are you talking about?”

“Dude, Kaz took three years before he let El anywhere near him and Nikola took two. It’s been a handful of months, less than a year and Kaz and Beh are practically always brushing each other in some way. When you were passed out in the hospital Kaz waited for Beh to get there so they could curl up together. That’s partly why Carson gave you one of the isolation suites.”

Evan shook his head. “We aren’t bonded. I’d know it. I’d be able to feel Daniel too.”

He got a glare for his trouble. “How tightly are you shielding?”

“Enough to keep me from losing myself in Kaz’s head.”

John nodded. “Evan, that’s how tightly I was shielding before I got knocked unconscious. When El and I woke up I wasn’t shielding at all and Nikola and Rodney weren’t in the room but I knew they were worrying about us. It’s not like you lose yourself in your bondmate. It’s just, comforting.”

Evan’s head was swimming a little. He was terrified right now. He wasn’t sure how to process this. John reached out and touched his shoulder. “Evan, you don’t have to tell him now but don’t let something good pass you by because you’re scared, please. If nothing else, go on a few dates and let things progress naturally. Daniel is pretty patient; he has to be in order to be an archaeologist.”

Before Evan could respond his radio pinged at him. He turned it on. “Lorne.”

“Evan it’s Daniel. You need to bring John down to the infirmary. Rodney and I went to get something from the mess because he was feeling a little lightheaded. He’s having a pretty bad allergic reaction. I gave him his epi-pen but he’s upset and Carson is on his way with a team. As his bondmate John needs to be here to act as medical proxy. Don’t tell him why just get him here. Make something up. Tell him Carson paged you and wants to look at your stitches whatever just get him here!”

Evan grabbed Sheppard and started running towards the infirmary. John tried to ask what was going on but Evan wasn’t going to lie to the man and he damn sure wasn’t telling him until he could see for himself that Rodney was okay. Today was so fucked up. He wanted a do over, damn it. Sheppard was protesting the entire time but Evan didn’t stop until they were in the infirmary.

“Carson!”

He didn’t even feel bad about screaming in the infirmary and normally that shit was not on. John stopped dead and puked in the trashcan near the door. He looked around shakily and Evan could see the moment panic hit him. Thankfully Carson came out of the back.

“He’s stable but he wants to see you John. You and Elf can stay with him tonight but in the morning you’re going to have to leave for a little while and he’ll probably be asleep soon.”

“What in the fuck happened?”

“Doctor Jackson said that they went to get a snack. Rodney picked up a muffin without looking at it and before the staff in the mess could tell him not to eat it he’d taken a bite. It was one of the strorangeberry muffins they made yesterday.”

John looked like he was going to puke again but he just followed Carson to Rodney’s bed. Daniel looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack and Rodney looked completely worn out. He mustered up a weak smile for them both when they entered his room. “Guess that will teach me not to look when I go to the mess again.”

No one laughed and John made a choked sound. Evan grabbed Daniel and stepped out of the room. John and Rodney needed their privacy.

“Evan, he could have died. I was right there and he could have died and taken Colonel Sheppard with him. They could have died.”

He didn’t know what else to do but hug him. “Danny, why don’t we go back to my room? You can take a shower and we can watch a movie, maybe just sit and I can draw while you read or take a nap.”

Daniel shook his head no. “I want to stay and make sure Rodney is okay.”

“Danny, he’s stable and John is here with him now. He’s as okay as he can be and there isn’t anything we can do here now except be in the way. Let’s go. Please?”

Daniel looked like he wanted to protest for a minute and then he sighed and followed Evan. When they reached his quarters Evan sat Daniel on the bed and went to get his laptop. He set it up and then set it on the bed so he could get snacks and a beer for the both of them. He’d been saving it but today was basically what it had been intended for anyway. He wasn’t even sure what movie he put on he just clicked something and then pulled the scientist to him.

Danny was shaking and Evan didn’t know what else to do but keep hugging him. Kaz and Beh were both eerily quiet and had been since earlier today. His side was throbbing from the knife wound but he didn’t want to take anything for it right now. He needed to make sure Daniel was alright and that nothing else was going to happen today. He wasn’t sure either of them could handle it. With a sigh he shut down his computer and moved it away from the bed then settled in for a long day of snuggling. He was so not complaining about that.

Slowly he let his mind drift over the conversation he’d had with John. In light of what had just happened with Rodney he started actually listening to what Sheppard had said to him. He hated to admit that the other man was right but really he was. Evan couldn’t deny both of them a chance at a bond. It was stupid and hurtful to both of them. Yeah his life had been fucked up and he’d been shown the worst sides of humanity at the hands of his own family but at the same time he’d been show some of the best at the hands of almost strangers.

Atlantis was his home now and Daniel fit into that perfectly. They took most of their meals together, spent a reasonable amount of free time together and always enjoyed one another’s company. Sometimes they fought but it was never serious enough to warrant the level of hesitation that Evan had been giving them so far. Even Kazimir was trying to tell him that Daniel and Behrouz were there to stay. The only person that wasn’t pushing him was the man curled around him like he was a security blanket right now.

They’d talked about it but it wasn’t like they were making definite plans and Daniel had respected that Evan would need time. They were basically already in a relationship and had been for months now. The only difference that making it official would give them was an added layer of intimacy. An intimacy that Evan found himself craving. He’d thought Daniel was hot from minute one and the more he’d gotten to know him the more attractive he’d become.

With a sigh he let the thoughts go and focused in on Daniel. When he looked down the other man was studying his face. “Evan?”

“Hmmm?”

Daniel bit his lip and let his fingertips brush Evan’s cheek. “I don’t want something to happen to one of us without either of us knowing where we stand.”

Evan blinked and gave Daniel his full attention letting his thoughts drift away. “I’d like to have a relationship with you. We’re great as friends and I love what we have already but I’d like for us to have more. I’d like for both of us to stop holding back so tightly.”

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. If he was going to open himself up for this, he might as well just say fuck it and do the entire thing in one go. “I’d like for us to stop shielding so hard and see if we’re actually soulbonded. John mentioned it when I spoke with him earlier and if it’s true then I want to know. I want to have everything we both deserve. It’s not fair for us to keep hurting each other with bullshit excuses.”

Daniel smiled and kissed Evan softly on the mouth. “Well okay then.”

As soon as the words left his mouth Evan felt Danny drop his shields. He shivered in fear and anticipation as he lowered his own. The second they were down Evan’s breath caught and he felt frozen. He was in two places at once. Staring at Daniel and looking at himself through eyes that didn’t belong to him. There was a warm ember colored light everywhere and he wasn’t sure if he was coming or going, all he was certain of was Daniel. He pulled the other man to him and ate at his mouth like a starving man. The action itself wasn’t gentle but he could feel the affection behind it. There was too much need right now. Evan decided right then that clothes were going to be banned on Atlantis. He needed the touch of skin to skin like a drowning man needed air.

Daniel pulled away laughing. “You are not banning clothes on Atlantis. No one else gets to see you like I’m about to.”

“Oh and how is that?”

Daniel smirked. “Very, very naked.”

Evan licked his way back into Daniel’s mouth and worked at getting the other man out of his shirt. Daniel had similar ideas but as soon as he touched Evans side Evan gasped in pain.

“We’re going to have to wait.”

Evan groaned in frustration. “I don’t want to wait. We can be careful.”

Daniel smiled and kissed his cheek. “We can still have fun tonight Evan but we aren’t having sex when one of us isn’t going to enjoy it as much as we both deserve. Sex is supposed to be fun for both parties involved.”

He sighed and acquiesced. “Fine no sex but as soon as Carson clears me for full duty I’m stripping you down and fucking you raw.”

“Mmmm… Sounds like a plan. Now take your clothes off Major.”

And really who was Evan to argue with that? They both got naked as quickly as possible and as soon as Evan was bare Daniel had his hand wrapped around him. Evan could have sobbed it felt so perfect. His breath left him and he gasped out, “Daniel.”

The scientist didn’t respond but his lips quickly wrapped around the head of Evan’s cock and his mind left him after that. He could feel lips and teeth and tongue working him with patience and determination but he could also feel his cock down a throat that didn’t belong to him. He could taste himself but it wasn’t his tongue. He could feel Daniel’s excitement. It was too much and not enough and he needed so much more and for it to end. Just as everything was becoming too much his orgasm slammed into him. He felt Daniel’s follow shortly behind and then they were both lost.

When he finally regained higher brain function Daniel was nuzzling the inside of his thigh. There was a feeling of total contentment that settled over the link between them. God. If that was just a blowjob he couldn’t even begin to imagine what actual sex would do to the two of them.

Laughter filled his head and his ears and when he looked down Daniel was smiling up at him. “We’ll survive, I’m sure. But if we don’t at least we’ll go together in the best possible way.”

Evan laughed and pulled Daniel up the bed. He started to drift off but Daniel squirmed out of his grasp. He would have complained but he knew the other man was just getting a washcloth to clean them both off with.

As he padded back in the room Evan watched him like a hawk. He hadn’t gotten to enjoy the sight of all that bare skin before they’d jumped on each other. Now he was going to sketch every detail into his memory and possibly on some paper later. Sleep first though.

Three and a half weeks later and Carson had cleared him for light desk duty. His stitches were out and though his side was still a little tender sometimes, Evan was feeling more himself than he had in ages. He and Danny had been going on dates whenever they had the free time. They had made out a little and had some heavy grinding sessions here and there but nothing like that first night.

Elizabeth was back in her office but she was on restricted duty and she was a lot more conscientious of her military contingent now. John and Ronon had been working with her on hand to hand combat along with Teyla and everyone had taught her how to fire a gun. She was slowly, ever so slowly coming to terms with what had been done to her.

Rodney was doing better too. He was still a little shaken by the entire episode but he was eating things other than Powerbars, with a little coaxing from John. Things were finally settling down.

Evan was planning on asking Daniel to dinner tonight but first he needed to get a shower. He’d made his way back to his room and was stripping out of his jacket and shirt when he noticed Danny was sprawled on his bed in a pair of sweatpants and nothing else. He felt his eyes dilate and then he met the scientists gaze.

“I heard Carson cleared you for light duty.”

Evan nodded utterly dumbstruck.

“I thought maybe we could eat in your room tonight. Watch a movie. Make out. Have sex.”

The other man smirked when the last words left his mouth. Evan was across the room and crouched over him in a matter of seconds. “Has anyone ever told you that you’ve got a dangerous streak Doctor Jackson?”

Danny smiled up at him. “Mmm. I’ve been called a trouble magnet before but I work for a program that actively throws their people through a wormhole without knowing what’s on the other side all the time. Living dangerously can be so fun though, Major.”

Evan laughed and then wrapped on hand around Daniel’s hip and pulled the other man so their cocks lined up through their clothes. He ground down lightly as he sucked Daniel’s tongue into his mouth. The other man moaned into the kiss and Evan followed his tongue to lick the roof of his mouth and bite his lip gently. He trailed kisses from Daniel’s jaw down to his collarbone where he nibbled gently. He slowly let his shields drop as he kissed down Jackson’s body. He’d wanted to do so many filthy things to Daniel and now he couldn’t decide what he wanted to do first. He settled for teasing.

He tortured one nipple with tongue and teeth and gently caressed the other one. When Daniel was babbling mindlessly he switched nipples and then trailed kisses and playful bites down to the other man’s hip bones. He let his fingers dig into one and his teeth the other. Slowly his tongue trailed from the peak of the hip bone down to just under the belly button. His fingers tangled in fabric and he slipped the sweats down then moved off the bed and stripped out of his boots. His pants, socks and boxers all came off in one smooth motion and then he was back covering Daniel.

He ground down and felt when Daniel’s shields dropped fully. It was always so good when there were no barriers between them. His hands cupped the other man’s face of their own accord. The kisses grew gentle and intimate but no less filthy. His mind was on overload but before he could start looking for the lube a tube was shoved into his hands and Daniel pulled away from his mouth to snatch his earlobe between sharp but careful teeth.

His hips jerked into Daniels’ when the other man whispered “You can fuck me anytime now Major. I’ve been waiting for this but even my patience has its limits.”

He ground down again and then kissed another trail down Daniels’ front. If he was going to do this he was going to do it his way. He’d figured out that if he didn’t want Daniel to know something when their shields where open all he had to do was focus on blocking that specific though. So he wrapped his plan of attack up tight and locked it away from the other man.

Before Daniel could protest he lifted the other man’s hips and licked a stripe from the back of his balls to the tip of his dick and then swallowed from tip to base. Daniel wasn’t small but Evan was determined and he didn’t have a gag reflex.

Daniel shouted above him but he didn’t pay that any attention. He lubed his fingers while he hummed around Daniel’s cock and then gently ran his index finger around the rim of skin. The body beneath him trembled and then grew taught as he gently let the finger slide inside. He sucked harder and moved slowly up and down giving the barest hint of teeth but not enough to ruin the blowjob, only heighten it. He worked his finger in and out carefully searching for that perfect bundle of nerves inside his bondmate, and he was certain that’s what Daniel was now.

When he found it the link between them flashed brightly and Evan sucked in a breath around Daniel’s dick. He relubed his fingers and gently prodded two inside, careful to hit that spot as often as possible while scissoring and twisting his fingers to stretch the other man. Two became three and he considered going for four before fucking Daniel but the other man was so incoherent by now that even the link between them was pulsing with ‘more, more, more’ so he decided against it.

He let Daniel’s cock slide out of his mouth and leaned back thinking for a moment. For a second he stopped himself and then he didn’t want to anymore. He let his mouth slide down to where his fingers had just been. He let his tongue run gently along the abused hole and then let it slip inside carefully. Daniel was practically sobbing, begging for Evan to fuck him but he needed to do this, some part of him craved it like air. He lost himself pushing his tongue in and out of the perfect pink hole he’d be encased in shortly. He let his hand gently cup his bondmate’s balls gently as he let his tongue circle the hole one last time and then he pressed a soft kiss there before leaning back and lubing his cock. Daniel looked drunk on pleasure. His hair was a mess, his arms were sprawled above him and he was gasping for air. His eyes were barely even slits.

“I can’t decide if you’re the most evil or the most giving person I’ve ever met, but if you don’t fuck me soon I’m going to have to go to the bathroom and take care of myself. Jesus, Evan.”

Evan smirked and Daniel moaned. “I can’t have that. Let’s get you squared away then.”

Before Danny could retort Evan slipped his cock inside in one smooth stroke. The doctor was gasping underneath him and his eyes were closed head thrown back in ecstasy. “Evan!”

He pulled almost all the way out and rolled his hips as he pulled Daniel up so he was practically sitting in his lap. Daniel melted into him and started nibbling on his neck softly. Evan lifted him up and down gently at first and then faster. He slammed up into Daniel on final time and then laid them both on the bed so that he could fuck in and out of him with as much strength and speed as possible. They were both utterly lost for words and Evan couldn’t think past reaching that edge that was so close. He fucked in and out of Daniel hitting that bundle of nerves over and over until his hole was like a vice grip and Evan couldn’t do more than rut against him. He felt Daniel’s orgasm pressing against him and then it crashed over them both sweeping Evan’s along with it. The mental loop was endless. It milked them both until their dicks were both too sensitive for anything. He pulled out carefully and slid next to his bondmate.

“Fuck if it’s always like that we’re going to die in bed.”

“I find that I’m strangely comfortable with that Ev.”

They both laughed and shared a soft kiss. “As long as you’re with me Danny comfort won’t be an issue.”

“Although the stars may fade our love will live even past the end of days.”

Evan blinked and looked up. “What’s that from?”

Daniel smiled. “A poem I found scrawled in the back of a used English textbook when I was studying for my bachelors.”

Evan kissed him softly. “It fits.”

“No. We fit.”

“Mmm”

They snuggled together and fell asleep. No matter what else they would have this, they would have each other. Everything else was just extra