Fic: Faith of Spirit 2/2, Adult
Huh, I don't remember having to do this before. This story is longer than I thought ;)
Daniel crouched in the meager shade afforded by a tarp set up over the low wall that held the mysterious inscription. Sam stood a short distance away, not wanting to disturb him, while Cam was chatting up the locals. One of the diggers had set up a boom box that blared some kind of Middle Eastern pop music. While it seemed huge to Sam, according to Daniel this was a mid-sized dig for Egypt. The object of their interest was on the periphery of the main dig, fortunately.
They were all wearing civvies, since they didn’t want to reveal the US government’s interest in the discovery. The world wasn’t ready to know of the Ori threat. Personally, Sam wasn’t so sure of that determination. Their battle with Anubis had made it pretty clear that any battle with intelligent and malevolent aliens would not remain secret much longer. If one of those huge Ori ships made it into the solar system, the entire world would know before long.
Sam watched as Daniel’s long, slender fingers traced over the carvings in the stone. Daniel didn’t merely read or translate the text. He lived it. Took it in with sight, touch and smell. Sam recognized it as Ancient and could even translate a few words, but Daniel could comprehend it. Understood the meaning behind mere words inscribed eons ago and could assimilate the context.
Three times, Sam counted, three times his fingers traced the augmented, vertical hash marks, before standing and walking wordlessly out into the merciless sun. It wasn’t as hot as it was during full summer, but still much warmer than any of them were accustomed to.
Cam noticed Daniel’s movement too and directed a questioning look at Sam. Cam hadn’t been with the team long, but he’d learned their unspoken body language. Daniel was disturbed and this was rarely a good thing. With a simple hand gesture, Sam indicated that she’d take care of it, and Cam turned back to the man he’d been speaking with.
Sam waited patiently for some indication from Daniel that she could approach, but none came. He just stood there, motionless in the sun until she feared for his health. After a while, she walked up behind his left shoulder, slowly and making sufficient noise that he should hear her.
“Daniel? You okay?” She said quietly.
He didn’t answer her question, simply issued orders of his own, his head tilted down. Sam got the feeling he was watching her out of the corner of his eye.
“Tell the diggers to make camp here for the night. I want to look at those inscriptions again in the morning light. We’ll need a tent of our own,” was all he said before crouching down onto the sand, pulling his long sleeved shirt tighter around him as if he was chilled, even in the heat of the desert.
Daniel rarely issued orders. Offered opinions and perspective, yes, of course. But outright orders; almost never. Sam realized that he never really expected them to be followed, at least by others. He was simply saying that he was staying there. She and Cam were free to leave if they wished.
No way in hell was she leaving Daniel like this. She doubted Cam would either. Jack would have argued and cajoled, but not Cam.
“Daniel?” Sam asked, hoping for some kind of explanation.
“Later, Sam, I promise. I just need a little… time,” he replied, barely glancing at her.
“Sure, okay. No problem,” Sam said, moving off to tell Cam of Daniel’s request. Order. Whatever. On SG-1, everyone had a say.
<><><><><><><><><>
The diggers had outdone themselves. Sam wasn’t even sure where they’d come up with some of the things in their tent, set apart from the others. It looked more comfortable than their hotel room.
A brazier was set in the center of the tent, venting its smoke through a hole in the roof. Its warmth was welcome in the chill of the desert night. Oversized pillows where artfully placed around a low table. An evening meal had been prepared: Savory meats, cheese, candied fruits and breads were arranged on metal chargers. Small bowls held sauces and spreads.
Daniel seemed disinclined to avail himself of the food. He sat cross-legged, his back to the table and facing the brazier, as if the flames held some hidden message for him.
“Wow. I think we need to talk to Landry about getting something like this to take off-world,” Cam said when he entered the tent.
There was no actual floor in the tent. Instead, the sand had been covered with colorful, patterned rugs, giving the place more the feel of a room in a palace than a mere tent pitched in the middle of the desert. Thick, soft-looking sleeping pallets lay on the outside edges of the tent, covered with woven blankets. The whole tent smelled of herbs and spices that burned among the coals of the brazier.
Cam picked up a small hammered brass plate and began piling food onto it.
“Don’t touch anything with your left hand. It’s considered rude,” Daniel said, without even looking back at Cam.
“Right. I got it. You wipe your ass with your left hand,” Cam replied. He’d done a tour during the Gulf War and didn’t want Daniel to assume he was a complete dolt.
Daniel bobbed his head in acknowledgement, but said nothing else until Sam and Cam had seated themselves on either side of him.
“So, I’m assuming that… inscription isn’t good news,” Cam began, trying to keep it light and shoveling food into his mouth.
“I suppose that depends on one’s perspective,” Daniel replied, giving Cam a quick glance.
“Whose perspective? What did it say?” Sam asked, having heard the qualification in Daniel’s voice.
“It’s, uh, sort of… layered in between a lot of jargon, but it seems that someone is going to have to join with the Ori in order for us to defeat them,” Daniel replied, still not looking at either of them.
“Does it say who needs to turn darkside?” Cam asked point-blank.
“Well, no, not exactly, and certainly not by name. But it does give some qualifications,” Daniel answered.
“Which are?” Sam asked gently, leaning over so she could see Daniel’s face. She had a sinking feeling she knew where this was leading.
Daniel sat up straighter and squared his shoulders almost as if he was carrying a heavy burden, but his head still hung low. He now seemed focused on his own hands.
“Uh, yeah. This person… has to have been formerly ascended and retaken physical form…” he said slowly.
There was a long silence as Daniel’s revelation sank in. Even suspecting his answer, his answer hit Sam hard and she had to focus on one of the blank canvas walls to distract herself from the fact that her eyes were feeling particularly watery. Probably the smoke, she tried to tell herself.
Cam had stopped eating and his gaze was directed inward.
“Please tell me I’m wrong, but you’re currently the only person we know of who’s managed that trick, right?” Cam asked, surprisingly softly, after his internal database search was finished.
“Orlin,” Sam said, grasping at the only other option she could think of.
“Has regressed to a child and took the physical form of a child in order to retain the knowledge that destroyed his brain. Which pretty much puts him out of the running even if we were mercenary enough to deliver a child into the Ori’s hands….” Daniel replied. “I thought of that. Not something that makes me feel all that… enlightened.”
“No,” Sam agreed quietly. She was devastated at the idea of potentially losing Daniel again, even if it was at the suggestion of an inscription.
“I guess this ‘formerly ascended’ thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Cam said, trying to infuse some humor into Daniel’s revelation.
“No, it’s not,” Daniel replied, skewering Cam with a glance.
“Never was, actually. I had to watch as a friend - a dear friend was tortured and killed, over and over again. No. Definitely not it’s all cracked up to be,” Daniel took a long moment, but wasn’t done yet.
“Even if he begs you… yes, begs you, to release him from his torture,” Daniel continued, a hard edge to his voice. “I couldn’t do that, even for him.”
Cam didn’t respond, not even to refute Daniel’s outburst. He’d read the files. He knew. Daniel had been ascended when now-General O’Neill had been tortured repeatedly by Ba’al. O’Neill had never broken and neither had Jackson, though he had no official report to inform him. Mitchell had seen enough of both of them to know that neither of them would ever give in. Not on something that important.
Cam knew that nothing he could say would ever mitigate that blot on Daniel’s soul. He reached out a hand instead.
“You know that General O’Neill would never have accepted that option, right? Doesn’t matter who was doing the offering,” Cam said, his hand warm on Daniel’s bicep.
Daniel raised his head and looked Cam in the eye. Cam really didn’t feel up to Daniel’s scrutiny in that moment. He was no Jack O’Neill. He knew and accepted that. He was a bit astonished to realize that he respected Jackson just that much. Sure, he knew he was a brilliant scholar and… yada. And he’d seen Jackson hold his own in the field, but this was different, somehow. More personal.
“You’ll never know, Cam, until you’re there,” Jackson said, somewhat cryptically. But Cam knew what was meant. Daniel had somehow seen inside him. Seen all his doubts and insecurities.
“Are you sure, Daniel?” Sam asked, from the other side of Daniel.
“I’m as sure as I can be. I’ll take a rubbing in the morning and double-check it back at the SGC, but…,” he shrugged.
“You’ll be able to get back, though, right? I mean, you’ve done the ascension dance a couple of times now,” Cam asked.
Daniel turned to Cam, “I don’t know.” Jackson’s eyes were wide and very blue in the firelight. Cam could see the uncertainty and sadness threatening to overwhelm Daniel and an unexpected wave of emotion threatened to roll Cam under too. He felt his breath rush out of him in a long sigh and looked away.
“I just don’t know what it means or what’s required. Is it even a… a type of ascension or some other… bastardized thing?” Daniel continued after a moment.
When he opened his mouth to continue, Sam stood abruptly, cutting him off with a hand gesture. Both men watched her walk to the farthest corner of the tent. Her shoulders hunched as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Cam and Daniel exchanged looks and after a moment Daniel rose and went to her.
Giving her privacy for what he assumed were tears, Daniel stood at her back and put his hands on her shoulders, thumbs rubbing at the taut muscles.
“It’s not fair,” Cam heard her whisper, her voice rough.
“Maybe not. But I’m sorry,” Daniel replied quietly, his head bowed close to hers.
Sam whirled around, out from under Daniel’s hands, her eyes filled not with tears but with blind fury.
“Don’t you fucking dare be sorry, Daniel!” Sam hadn’t raised her voice much, but it was all the more deadly for its force.
“Goddammit, I will not lose you again. I won’t! Fuck the Ori! God damn them all to Hell,” she continued and punched Daniel hard in the chest.
Jackson rocked back on his heels at the force of her blow, but stood his ground silently, letting her rant.
“Why does it always have to be you, huh? Why? Haven’t you been through enough? Haven’t we all?” Sam hit him again, even harder on the other side of his chest.
When she raised her fist to strike him third time, Daniel grabbed her wrists and pulled her in close, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
Cam wasn’t sure he should be around for this, but he had nowhere else to go. Thunder was rumbling off in the distance, threatening rain before dawn. In his scan for a place to make himself as unobtrusive as possible, he almost missed Daniel’s silent head-jerk, asking him to join them.
Sam’s face was buried in Daniel’s neck, her body trembling with either anger or sorrow. Cam didn’t know which it was, perhaps both, and pressed his body lightly against her back.
“I’ve - We’ve got you, Sam,” Cam whispered, meeting Daniel’s eyes over her shoulder.
Sam nodded acknowledgement, her head tipping back just enough that Cam could see that far from crying against Jackson’s neck, she was kissing it, her tongue grazing the skin just below his ear. Daniel’s eyes slid closed. Sam’s hands came up to frame his face and she leaned back into Cam to give herself the room to kiss Daniel on the mouth.
Sam’s lips barely touched Daniel’s, but her tongue swept across his mouth in the space between them. She kept it up, teasing and taunting, until Daniel’s jaw dropped, letting his lips open to hers. For a long moment, Daniel just let Sam kiss him, her tongue dipping into his mouth to taste. Eventually, Daniel’s hand slid into her hair and Cam caught sight of Daniel responding just as he tilted his head to reciprocate.
Cam hadn’t ever watched two people kissing in such close quarters before. Certainly not this intimately. They were basically making out while his hands were still on Sam’s waist. He wanted to withdraw and give them some privacy for what was obviously an intimate moment but, at the same time, worried that any movement on his part would disturb them.
Yeah, he was the nominal leader of SG-1 and therefore shouldn’t be seeing this. But, if he’d learned anything in his short time with them, it was that the rules, as the Air Force saw them, didn’t apply here. He wasn’t sure why, but he was fairly sure this was a line that Jackson and Sam hadn’t ever crossed before. The way Sam had to coax Daniel into it and the time it took Jackson to respond. Certainly, there’d never been gossip about the ‘Science Twins’; not like there was about Carter and O’Neill.
No, Cam had never heard any gossip about these two, but he’d observed their connection the first time he’d seen them together. It felt like a puzzle piece clicking into place, watching them like this. And damn if he couldn’t hear the soft, wet sounds of their mouths, even with his eyes closed. He felt Sam shift against him. Cam took his opportunity and tried to move away. Sam caught his forearm in an iron grip and held him steady.
“Don’t leave me, Daniel,” she glanced back at Cam over her shoulder, “Don’t leave us.”
Cam wasn’t sure what he could add to her soft request. Over the past year or so, he’d gotten to know the man well enough to have perhaps an inkling as to why Daniel made some of the choices he had. As much as anyone could ever understand.
“We’ll find another way,” Cam said, leaning into Sam. He reached past Sam to put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. He squeezed, feeling hard muscle and bone beneath his fingers and wasn’t sure whether he did it for Jackson or himself.
Sam turned her head and kissed him. Her mouth was soft and warm and Cam thought he could taste Jackson on her lips. Cam slid his tongue into her mouth, glancing over at Daniel. There was a slight furrow between the other man’s brows, but he didn’t look possessive or angry. More like he was studying something.
Giving Cam a parting lick across his upper lip, she slid out from between the two men.
“Let us make love to you Daniel,” She said quietly.
Daniel drew back just a bit and blew a breath out through his nose. The furrow deepened.
“Sam, I….” Daniel began and dropped his eyes. Cam realized that Jackson was neither shocked nor offended by Sam’s suggestion. But something held him back.
On the heels of that thought, came another. Us? Cam thought, finally processing what Sam had said. A thread of panic rose in his gut. What did he know about making love to another guy? Not a hell of a lot. He hadn’t even traded hand jobs in the showers, like a lot of men on deployment. Hey, it was tame enough. Lots of fit, young, horny men, hot water and soap. Why not? It wasn’t a big deal, he just hadn’t gotten into it himself, sometimes watching from the sidelines and betting against himself on who was going to come first. Cam just preferred to get off in private, that’s all.
A light desert breeze made the canvas walls billow and carried a long, low roll of thunder with it.
<><>><><><><><><><>
Daniel pulled back a bit at Sam’s words. He knew her offer was genuine, not brought on by a fit of guilt or pity. And Cam? Well, he’d either figure it out or he wouldn’t. This wasn’t about sex, per se. Gender didn’t really figure into it at this point. Daniel knew Cam well enough to feel comfortable with him. Daniel’s concerns didn’t involve the physical. It was the emotional attachment. While Daniel wasn’t generally attracted to men as a gender, he’d lived and experienced enough to know that some relationships rendered gender irrelevant.
No, it wasn’t physicality that held Daniel back. Or, probably more accurately, when he delved really deep, it wasn’t merely the physical. It’d been a long, long time since he’d had sex and some small part of him worried about that. But it was an egotistical concern and he dismissed it. Solidifying the ties that bound them together, that… that was a much deeper concern.
Daniel had loved Sam almost immediately. He fell in love with her mind first. By intellectualizing it, he’d been able to justify it and not feel that he was being disloyal to Sha’re. Sam had never hesitated to touch him in those early years - had been warm and supportive, yet was careful to never let it cross over into the sexual. Oh, he’d been tempted on the rare occasion to reach out to her, but it never happened. What he’d thought and done in the darkness and safety of his own fantasies was another thing, completely unrelated to his daily life.
Later, he’d fallen in love with her strength and dedication. By then, the intimate little touches they’d shared had fallen away. It was almost as if, with Sha’re’s death, he was no longer safe to Sam. Or bad timing. Either way, Sam’s feelings for Jack had grown from admiration and respect into something more personal. But instead of intimate little touches, it was an awkward dance. Daniel had never asked, simply pretended it didn’t matter, and neither Jack nor Sam had ever confided in him. It made him feel a bit excluded, but considering the path his life had taken, it was probably a good thing. Or, at least, not a bad thing.
On some level, Daniel felt like Sam was offering redemption. A reprieve, at the very least. On the other hand, he knew she wanted to bind him closer to them, make it harder for him to do whatever it was that was inscribed in stone.
In the end, it came down to this: Could he give in? Take what Sam, and Cam, though Cam was looking distinctly conflicted, were offering and still do whatever would be required of him when the time came?
“I don’t know if you remember,” Sam said, her voice rough and intruding on his introspection. “When you were… dying, from radiation poisoning. I told you that we often don’t manage to tell those close to us how much they really mean to us until it’s too late. I don’t want to make that mistake again, Daniel.”
Daniel felt something inside him give, maybe even break. The memory was so sharp that he felt the burn as it cut into him. In his mind, he heard Sam speak the words and even though he couldn’t see her, he could feel the shudder of her body as she gently clasped his shoulder. He cursed himself for his self-centered perspective. This wasn’t just about him. Sam and Cam needed that connection at least as much as he did. Perhaps even more, since they might be left behind. Daniel didn’t want any of them to have regrets or be haunted by what-ifs.
“I remember.”
Daniel reached out and drew both Sam and Cam in, an arm around each. He bent his head to kiss Sam first. Deep and slow, putting as much of himself into it as he could. Then he turned to Cam. Mitchell returned his gaze steadily, but Daniel could feel the uncertainly beneath. Cam was unsure and a bit frightened by it all but he trusted his teammates. These people he’d come to know over the past 18 months.
With a hand on the back of his head, Daniel pulled Cam to him, pressing his mouth against Cam’s. Cam huffed a little through his nose, perhaps in surprise or even reflexive homophobia. Daniel kept it easy, not pushing Cam or demanding more of him until Cam gradually gave in, his mouth softening under Daniel’s.
<><><><><><><><><>
Cam knew he shouldn’t have been surprised when Daniel kissed him. He’d had enough time to get used to the idea. But the reality took him by surprise anyway.
Kissing Daniel was nothing like kissing a woman, not really. His mouth was larger and harder than any woman’s. But it wasn’t all that different, either. When he felt Jackson’s tongue against his lips, he opened almost automatically. Things got explosive then, both of them fighting for dominance. Cam’s hand came up to hold Daniel’s head in place as he tried to explore the other man’s mouth deeper and further. Daniel fought him, their tongues shoving against one another, which turned out to be hotter than anything Cam had ever thought possible. They both broke off at the sound of Sam’s throaty chuckle.
“What?” Cam asked, blue eyes guileless as Daniel coughed lightly next to him.
Sam just smiled and lay down on the closest pallet, She didn’t say anything, just looked at them, propped up on her elbows in a way that accentuated her bustline, though Cam was pretty damn sure that wasn’t intentional.
Jackson didn’t waste any time, lying on his side next to Sam and splaying his long fingers over her stomach. They both watched as Cam, unsure of where he belonged in this freaky triangle, sunk down on Sam’s other side.
Sam had no idea how this was all going to work out and she didn’t particularly care. She just knew she had to do this before… before they left this place. Things had a way of moving fast in their line of work. Daniel was stretched out on her right, Cam knelt on her left.
The desert breeze brought the scent of rain and lent a heaviness to the atmosphere. It felt appropriate to Sam. There was an almost ritualistic feel to what they were about to do. One of her oldest and closest teammates and the newest. Cam was still, barely breathing and she wondered what he was thinking. Hell, she wondered what she’d been thinking when she’d made her suggestion. It felt right at the time. Still did, but… she and Daniel had seemingly moved past their early attraction and while she felt attraction to Cam, well… she’d been down that path before.
Daniel moved his hand on her belly, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“You… we, don’t have to do this,” Daniel said softly meeting their eyes in turn.
“Yeah, I think we do,” Sam replied, reaching out and stroking her palm over Daniel’s jaw. Cam could hear the rasp of her skin dragging against his day’s growth of beard.
“I’m in,” Cam agreed, resolve written on his features. Perspiration had broken out on his forehead and upper lip, glistening in the firelight, but his eyes were steady and serious.
Sam got to her knees and faced Cam. Daniel sat up and positioned himself to one side of both of them. Sliding her hand into his hair, Sam leaned in and kissed Cam on the mouth. Cam kept his hands at his sides, fingers twitching, as Sam moved into him, pressing her body to his. She wrapped her arms around him and her strong hands massaged the long muscles of his back.
Daniel kept still and watched. Even if they didn’t, he knew why Sam had gone to Cam first. He was the most uncertain of them. The newest. Sam had been by Daniel’s side for over ten years. Sam’s hands trailed down Cam’s back and closed on the bottom of his tee shirt, drawing it up his body. She pulled back just enough to get it over his head before putting her mouth to his neck. Daniel saw Cam’s throat work as he swallowed down a moan.
As quietly as he could, Daniel slipped behind Sam, straddling her legs. Insinuating his hands between Sam and Cam, he tugged her shirt out of her jeans, slowly drawing it up her body. Cam’s eyes met his as Daniel pulled it over her head. Sam was busy exploring Cam’s collarbones and chest. With a single downward glance, Daniel unfastened Sam’s bra. Sam threaded first one arm through the strap, then the other without breaking off her attentions to Cam. Noticing that Cam still seemed reluctant to touch her, Daniel took one of Cam’s hands and pressed it against Sam’s ribs, right beneath a breast.
Cam saw a flash of teeth as Daniel’s head dropped to Sam’s shoulder. She let out a soft moan and pressed her breasts to Cam’s chest. Cam was torn between watching Daniel nibble at Sam’s shoulders and neck and wanting to kiss her. He did both, keeping his eyes open as he took her mouth in a deep kiss. She sucked on the tip of his tongue and it made his cock come immediately to attention. Oh, it had been interested before, but that pretty much sealed the deal.
Palming her breast in one hand, he thumbed her nipple while he trapped her tongue with his teeth. Her throaty moan went straight to his balls. Cam tried to rub his erection against her hip, but she wasn’t quite steady enough on her knees for that. Dropping his head to her breasts, he grasped her hips in both hands and rubbed up against her. Fuck, it was good. The spot his cock was pressing against was firm and… ridged? Cam dropped his hand to find that he was stroking against the backs of Daniel’s fingers, where he was holding Sam steady. Cam rolled his eyes up, finding Daniel looking right back at him from where his mouth was teasing Sam’s neck.
Cam’s stomach gave an odd little flip, but he didn’t feel the need to explore why. Hell, if Jackson wasn’t concerned, then he was resolved not to be either. Cam held Daniel’s eyes as he stroked himself against the knuckles again. Sam made a needy little sound and Cam got distracted. He slipped his hands under her jeans and underwear, where her skin was warm, smooth and soft.
Jesus, it’s hot in here, Cam thought, hands squeezing Sam’s ass, pulling both her and Daniel’s hand tighter against his dick. He could feel the sweat forming on his back, Sam’s fingers sliding easily against his damp skin. She nuzzled at his neck and Cam turned to kiss her, Jackson’s deeper note of male musk mixing with her lighter feminine scent. It didn’t smell like sex, not quite, but it was still very erotic to Cam. He felt hands moving near his dick and Sam’s were still low on his back, tracing over the scars there. Then Sam’s jeans and underwear were slipping away, over his hands and Cam realized it’d been Daniel’s work.
Sam slipped out from between them, bending to untie her boots before peeling her jeans off. Cam and Daniel were left facing one another. Cam twisted his fingers into the front of Daniel’s tee shirt and roughly pulled him close, but it didn’t feel right. Cam struggled with what, exactly, might feel right. He knew he didn’t want to be as soft and tender as he was with Sam.
Jackson went, catching himself with his hands on Cam’s shoulders, a stubborn set to his mouth that told Cam he didn’t like being manhandled, but would tolerate it. Cam relaxed his fingers and reminded himself that Daniel wasn’t a rival to be bested or dominated. Hell, he didn’t know how he should be with another man. He had no frame of reference for it.
Cam looked down at Sam. She’d flipped a corner of the blanket over her groin, covering herself, but leaving her breasts exposed. Her little show of modesty moved him and reminded him what this was about. It was about showing Daniel what he meant to them and to comfort him in the darkness of his discovery. Steeped in military tradition, as Cam was, this was usually done with a night of alcohol and perhaps strippers, culminating in drunken embraces and affirmations of the doomed man’s worth and friendship. This wasn’t so incredibly different then, minus the booze and strippers.
Cam leaned his forehead against Daniel’s and dragged his shirt out of his pants, slowly lifting it until he had to lean back to pull it over his head. Daniel’s glasses were dislodged and Cam caught them, carefully folding them and placing them off to the side. Without meeting the other man’s eyes, he turned back and unbuckled Daniel’s belt. Jackson cleared his throat. His fingers hardly trembled at all as he worked the button and zip of Daniel’s chinos. Cam glanced quickly up at Daniel’s face when he put his hands on Daniel’s hips, his fingertips pressing into the skin and slipping under the waistband of pants and shorts. Thumbs stroked into the hollow just inside Daniel’s hipbones, tracing the contour before sliding the clothing down the long thighs.
The number of scars on Jackson’s body surprised Cam. He’d seen Jackson naked, or nearly so, a couple of times, but had never really taken note of the imperfections before. Maybe because they’d either been playing basketball or in the locker room at the time and it wasn’t wise to pay much attention to another man’s body under those circumstances.
Jackson rolled back on his ass, kicked off his shoes and shoved his pants and shorts the rest of the way off. Cam took an inventory as he picked up the clothing and put it aside. Daniel’s right deltoid had a faded irregular burn, long healed. Staff blast, Cam noted, pairing it with a mission report from early in their history. The left bore a more recent and more neatly healed scar. A bullet wound from O’Neill while Daniel was possessed by Anubis. Right above his left knee was a long, jagged scar from shrapnel, earned while they were fighting their way out of Hathor’s base. A neat straight line, low on the right side of his abdomen where his appendix had been removed. The history of SG-1 was written on Jackson’s body.
Daniel stretched out next to Sam again. She curled into him and they both looked at Cam expectantly. Waiting for him. They looked good together and Cam wasn’t sure where he fit into this whole… thing. The air was stifling, warm and close, heavy with the smell of spices and the wet-dust scent of impending rain. His jeans felt glued to him with his own sweat.
“Cam,” Sam said softly and with just a hint of impatience.
“Yeah,” he replied, more an exhalation of breath than voice. He dropped his head and unbuckled his belt. His jeans were indeed sticking to him, the legs turning inside out as he stripped them off.
Cam felt a flicker of embarrassment as he shucked out of his shorts. He was harder than Jackson but instead of feeling male pride, he felt like a horny kid. Like it was somehow inappropriate for him to be this aroused right now. As he raised his eyes, he snuck a look at Daniel’s dick. He’d been only half-hard when Cam had undressed him, but he’d gained a bit of length, what with Sam’s skin pressed against him.
Cam chose the obvious option and lay down next to Sam, molding his chest to her back while trying to keep his dick a discreet distance from her. Sam twisted her upper body around to greet him with a slow kiss. So much for discreet distance. Cam leaned over her and draped his arm over her waist, splaying his fingers over her stomach.
When she pulled away from the kiss, Sam searched his eyes. Cam felt like she was trying to see inside him, but didn’t look away. She was afraid. Of losing Daniel and wasn’t as sure of what they were doing as she seemed.
You lead, I’ll follow. Cam thought at her, keeping his eyes steady and calm, his mouth turning up at the corners. She was the catalyst, the center of this thing, but it was all as new to her as it was to him and Jackson. Well, he assumed it was new to Jackson.
Cam looked over at the other man. Daniel lay with one arm folded under his head, his eyes half closed and watching them. A light sheen of sweat on his chest lent an almost golden glow to his skin. Cam tried not to think of him as their sacrificial lamb. He reminded himself that Jackson would not go along quietly, if it came to that. Daniel was as much a warrior as any of them. The man had already been thrown out of heaven once for refusing to stand on the sidelines. Yeah, Mitchell knew that wherever Daniel had been, it wasn’t heaven, but he couldn’t shake the allegory. He shoved those thoughts out of his mind. Time enough to deal with them later.
Sam had turned back to Daniel. His hand lay along her neck, fingers slipping under the hair at her nape.
“Why now?” he asked, his voice low and rough. The way the shadows fell across his face made Jackson look younger - the way Mitchell imagined he might have looked when he first opened the Stargate.
“It’s time, Daniel. Way past time, maybe,” Sam answered against his lips. She pressed her mouth to his.
For a long moment, Daniel didn’t move; just lay there letting Sam kiss him. Slowly, his mouth opened under hers, fingers flexing against her neck. Taking possession of her mouth, Daniel eased her back until she rested against Cam’s chest. The tension that had drawn tight between them eased and Cam dropped his head to press his mouth to Sam’s shoulder, his hand gliding over silky skin until he reached her breast.
Daniel made small noises in his throat as Sam explored his mouth. Daniel’s hand wandered blindly and found Cam’s hand on her breast. The fingers lingered on the back of Cam’s hand, brushing idly across the knuckles, then moved on.
Cam watched as Daniel’s hand moved down Sam’s torso. It curved over her hip and settled low on her belly as he pulled back and looked into her eyes. Sam smiled up at him, lips parted. Daniel licked at her mouth while he slipped his hand between her legs.
Sam’s head arched back at whatever Daniel was doing down there and Cam pulled lightly at her nipple with his fingers, leaning over to flick the nub with his tongue. Sam threw a leg over Cam’s, opening herself more fully to Daniel’s touch. Until then, Cam hadn’t realized that Sam’s fingers were wrapped around Daniel’s now-full erection, stroking slowly.
As he dropped his head to nip at her nipple, his eyes settled on Jackson’s cock and Sam’s busy hand. He had a moment of cognitive dissonance - looking at another guy’s hard-on was a little jarring - but recovered quickly. Cam felt a jolt of arousal in his own flesh. In this moment it was… graceful, sort of. Sam’s fingers played along Daniel’s shaft, tracing the smooth, slightly curved surface, her thumb stroking into the sensitive spot just beneath the head. Daniel’s cock twitched, a crystalline bead of fluid emerging from the tip.
Cam felt like he’d been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. Like the very first time he’d watched a porno with his high school buddies. It was overwhelmingly erotic, not only sending an unmistakable message to his own dick but heating his skin. He felt like he was going to overheat - burst into flame. He felt a trickle of sweat along his spine. Jesus.
Shoving all his ingrained mores aside, Cam drew Sam’s nipple into his mouth, gently gripping it between his teeth. The crease beneath her breast was damp, slick and fragrant with her perspiration. Her essence, unmasked by toiletries. Musky, yet clean and arousing. He released her nipple and let his tongue explore, drawing her smell up into his nose as the salty taste filled his mouth. Cam felt her hand come up to cup the back of his skull.
Absorbed as he was, Cam let his free hand trail down Sam’s body. Cam paused a moment when he encountered Daniel’s wrist, resting easily against Sam’s soft curls, but continued onward. Their fingers tangled somewhere in the vicinity of her clit, but rather than fighting for position, Cam just moved on, finding the place where she was wet and wanting. He slipped first one, then two fingers inside her, but soon decided that his mouth was much better suited for the job.
Cam shifted his body first, sliding down and letting his prick slip along her thigh. It felt good to him. Sam’s fingers followed him down, affirming his decision. Sam draped a leg over Daniel’s hip as Cam settled himself between her thighs. He kissed the smooth skin of her inner thighs; breathing in her rich scent, let his tongue sweep over the crease between leg and groin, the sweet-salt taste filling his mouth. Sam’s fingers gripped his hair, meeting Daniel’s when they traced over the bridge of Cam’s nose and over his forehead into his hairline. Their fingers twined against his scalp and then disappeared for parts unknown.
If he shifted his eyes to the left, Cam could see Sam toying with Daniel’s cock. She wasn’t really trying to bring him off, just keep his level of interest high. Not that Daniel needed it. Cam usually kept his eyes closed while going down on a woman. Not because he didn’t enjoy the sight, but because he preferred to immerse his other senses in the experience. Eyes really weren’t much good down here, but it was a feast for touch, taste and smell. This was different, though. Cam raised his eyes to see Daniel holding Sam in his arms, running the fingers of one hand through her hair, the other stroking her breasts and chest. When Cam did something Sam especially liked, made her arch her back, Daniel kissed her forehead and whispered to her.
It wasn’t long before Sam was surging against Cam’s mouth, her body flexing smoothly. Daniel held her, sucked at her neck, fingers busy at a nipple and she came with a loud gasp. Her hand reappeared on the back of Cam’s head and she pushed herself against the tongue sliding against her clit. Cam kept it up until she hissed and pulled at his hair. Cam eased back up to lie alongside her.
Daniel raised his head to look at Cam, his pupils blown. Cam glanced down at Daniel’s prick. Sam was stroking his balls, hanging heavy against his thigh in the stifling heat. Daniel’s belly was damp, the sparse hair matted down where his cock had leaked against it. With considerable restraint, Cam managed to keep from grabbing his penis, knowing that it’d only take a pull or two and he’d lose it.
Cam swallowed a gasp of surprise when Daniel interrupted his thoughts, grabbing his head and shoving his tongue into Cam’s mouth. The gasp morphed into a pleasured moan as Jackson’s mouth worked against his, seeking out Sam’s taste. Almost overwhelmed by the combined scent and taste of Daniel and Sam, Cam felt the tickle of fluid moistening his abdomen.
Daniel was on the move, even as he kissed Cam. When they finally broke apart, it was to the sight of Sam pulling Daniel on top of her, her slender legs framing his hips, her hands guiding him to her. Daniel supported himself on straight arms and sunk deep.
“God… Sam,” he groaned, letting his head drop between his shoulders.
Cam felt the years between them drop away. This wasn’t the Sam and Daniel he knew - it was the Sam and Daniel of their early years together. He couldn’t explain it. Perhaps it was the way the firelight seemed to erase the years that had worn on them. And yet, it seemed to shine on the scar tissue of their battle scars. The healed bullet wound on the back of Daniel’s thigh and the long, jagged scar on the front of Sam’s. Daniel’s scarred deltoids.
Daniel thrust slowly perhaps half a dozen times and stopped dead.
“Sam… I’m sorry. I just… Please,” he gasped, his voice raw.
Cam looked at him and understood Daniel’s problem immediately. He was already too far gone. Left to his own devices, he’d be coming in moments and Daniel wanted it to last longer than that. Hell, who wouldn’t?
“S’okay, Daniel,” Sam said, her hand sweeping over his chest.
“No. Switch positions,” Cam offered. Hey, it’d worked for him in the past when he felt like he’d had a hair trigger.
They rolled toward him and Cam didn’t know who really initiated the move. Didn’t matter. Sam was now astride Daniel, her hands on his chest. Thunder rolled, much closer now after an extended absence, bringing with it a hot, humid breeze that made the walls of their refuge billow and snap.
Slowly, she straightened, her fingers sliding down Daniel’s body to his hips. Sam kept her movements small and even. She blew out a long, shaky breath as she settled more fully on Daniel, taking him deep. Daniel’s hands settled on her thighs, thumbs circling on her skin.
The fire in the brazier flared up. In its flickering light, her back shimmered with beads of sweat as she moved over Daniel. Her head fell back and the light painted her throat in golden shadow. Sam looked like a glowing, wild… primal thing, her breasts swaying softly in time with her undulations. Beneath her, Daniel groaned, muscles shifting under his skin as he moved with her.
On impulse, or out of sheer horniness, Cam didn’t know, Cam straddled Daniel’s legs behind Sam. Drawing her up against him, Cam fit his cock against the small of her back and wrapped her up in his arms, his palms sliding over her smooth, damp skin. Putting his mouth to Sam’s neck, Cam let himself fall into the rhythm of her body against Daniel’s, rising and falling with her. His hands skimmed over her body; hips, belly, breasts, and back down again. Together, Sam and Cam watched as pleasure washed over Daniel’s face.
Cam unsheathed his teeth and scraped them over Sam’s shoulder. With a low moan, she tensed and twitched in his arms. Daniel gave an answering groan and pushed his hips up into her. Cam marveled at the way sensation was transmitted one to the other when Sam’s back flexed against his cock, completing the cycle. Tightening his arms around her, he let one hand drop low, between her legs and cupped her breast with the other. Nipping at her earlobe, Cam moved her on Daniel.
“Jesus,” she gasped, her voice almost lost in the clap of nearby thunder.
“Relax, Sam. Let me do this,” Cam said as the noise rolled and echoed into the distance.
Fingers stroking lightly over her clit, his teeth on her neck, Cam moved them against Daniel, who was pushing into her from beneath. It was quite possibly the most erotic thing Cam had ever seen, much less been involved in. The energy bouncing between all three of them was incredibly erotic without the taint of sordid, frenzied coupling. He’d never felt so intimately connected to anyone else before. As Daniel stroked into Sam and Cam’s fingers slipped over her clit, she moved against him, his cock sliding against her spine, her vertebrae bumping under the head. It was a sexual synergy he hadn’t even realized was possible.
Sam reached her peak and Cam held her steady as the waves washed through her. Daniel still moved below her and Cam grabbed his hand, anchoring Daniel as his climax hit. Daniel let out a little shout, his fingers tightening on Cam’s and using him as leverage to arch up into Sam. Cam wasn’t quite there yet, but felt something like release himself in response to the powerful spasms exchanged by his partners. He heard his own panting breaths against Sam’s neck as he watched Daniel stretched taut beneath them, eyes squeezed shut and gasping through full, moist lips.
Sam went limp in his arms and he held her steady through the tiny tremors that still coursed through her.
“Shh… easy… yeah, that was incredible…” he murmured to her, his eyes locked on Daniel.
After a long moment, Sam shifted and Cam loosened his grip, letting her slip into Daniel’s arms. Sliding his fingers into her sweat-damp hair, he kissed her on the forehead before moving to her mouth.
Cam heard the patter of rain on canvas as he stretched out on his side next to them. He hadn’t noticed it until now. When a gust of wind snuck under and around the tent, it cooled the sweat on his skin, making him shiver just a little. It felt good, but he missed the warmth that Daniel and Sam were now sharing.
Almost as if she’d heard his thoughts, Sam reached out for Cam. After a brief tangle of limbs, he found himself lying between them; Daniel at his back with Sam pressed to his front. Sam kissed him, long, slow and deep, while Daniel’s fingers slipped over his back. It felt like he was drawing symbols there. Marking him as theirs, perhaps. Lying between them, Cam was immersed in the scent of sex. The sharp smell of Daniel’s semen muted by Sam’s smoother, musky tones. The combination was just this side of sweet.
Cam jerked, sucking air and breaking the kiss, when Sam closed her fingers around his erection.
“Sam, you don’t have to-“ Cam started, not wanting her to feel obligated to get him off.
“Shhhh… just relax,” she whispered back, her voice a sultry contrast to the staccato sound of rain on canvas. Her fingers slid smoothly along his shaft and Cam swallowed down a dry throat.
Daniel’s larger, rougher hand materialized on the back of his thigh and pushed up, urging Cam to lift it. Cam cooperated, settling his foot behind his other knee. He felt Daniel licking at the back of his neck as his hand crept between Cam’s legs to cup his balls.
“Ooooh, fuck,” Cam swore as their attentions became more coordinated.
Sam stroked her palm over the tip of his cock while Daniel massaged his balls, a finger prodding the tender spot just behind them. Cam felt his eyes roll back into his head and made a choking noise when Sam started long, firm strokes. Daniel set his teeth against Cam’s shoulder, his fingers applying just the right pressure in just the right places. Fresh sweat broke out on Cam’s brow in spite of the cooler air. He knew he wasn’t going to last long in the face of this much stimulation.
Sam whispered something filthy into his ear, Daniel’s fingers pressed just there and that was all it took. Cam cut off his own triumphant shout and gasped through gritted teeth instead. He felt like he was shooting the entire universe out through the end of his dick; star systems and galaxies streaking through the air to crash against his chest and stomach. It seemed like it went on much longer than possible but the ecstasy finally eased its grip on him and Cam felt himself go slack. Good thing he was already laying down. There was some shuffling around as Cam drifted off to sleep.
<><><><><><><>
Cam awoke sometime later, several hours by the feel of it, to soft sucking sounds behind him. Groggy, his limbs heavy with sleep, he turned to find Sam going down on Daniel, her blonde head bent over his groin. Daniel made quiet little sounds in his throat. Some sounded like humming and others were more like soft moans. Before he realized what he was doing, Cam had stroked his hand over Daniel’s flank and down near where Sam’s mouth was busy. He could feel her warm, moist breath on the backs of his fingers. She lifted her head and looked at him, her eyes holding a sexy glint he’d only discovered tonight.
“Want to take over?” She asked.
“Wha - huh?” Cam answered in surprise. He wasn’t so much opposed to the idea, as out of his depth. Sam leaned over and kissed him, slipping her tongue alongside his. A distinctively male salt-musk taste lingered in her mouth and Cam was relieved that it wasn’t so different from his own, shared with him by past girlfriends.
Sam drew away, giving him a little smile of encouragement. Cam glanced up at Daniel who’d risen up on his elbows.
“You don’t have to, Cam,” Daniel said quietly.
“I know,” Cam replied, hoping it didn’t sound petulant. He couldn’t bring himself to say the rest of the words, ‘I want to’. He wasn’t all that sure he wanted to and was pretty damn sure he wouldn’t want to under normal circumstances. But everything that had transpired this night had been outside of anything like normal.
Cam took Daniel’s cock in his broad hand and drew his tongue from base to tip along the underside. Sam watched him get started and then crept up until she cradled Daniel’s head in her lap. She brushed her fingers along the planes of Daniel’s face, as if memorizing them. Cam stroked into the sensitive spot under the head and Daniel’s dick gave a little jump in his hand. Sam’s thumbs smoothed out the lines in Daniel’s forehead as he groaned.
Between Sam’s hands and Cam’s mouth, it didn’t take long before Daniel was close, stretched between them. Sam leaned over and kissed Daniel, nipping at his lips and soothing them with her tongue. When Daniel started getting noisy, his hips flexing with Cam’s tempo, Cam pulled away and took him the rest of the way by hand. He didn’t trust himself not to choke if Daniel came in his mouth.
Sam pinched one of Daniel’s nipples as Cam brought him off, his thumb on Daniel’s sweet spot. Hands flexing, heels digging into the bedding, Daniel came with a guttural groan, pale fluid spattering his chest and belly. Cam worked him through it until Daniel stopped him with a hand on his wrist. Instead of releasing him, Daniel tugged at Cam’s arm until Cam crawled up and flopped down next to Daniel. Sam drew her fingers through the semen on Daniel’s belly, seemingly fascinated with the slick feel of it. Cam covered her hand with his own, just as Daniel kissed him. Cam opened to him, letting Daniel taste himself in Cam’s mouth.
Daniel’s hand joined Sam and Cam’s on his belly and their fingers twined around each other, against each other. Solidarity against what was to come. If any of them thought it a bizarre ritual, no one said anything. They all just exchanged kisses and then Sam scrambled over Daniel to Cam.
Daniel turned onto his side and Sam stretched out beside him, pulling Cam down on top of her. Daniel watched with sleepy, shining eyes as Cam made love to Sam, his hand reaching out occasionally to stroke one of them. It was slow, almost somber in tone, heavy with emotion. They all knew that tomorrow could be the beginning of the end. They had to take what joy they could before dawn. When Cam glanced over at the other man, he could almost feel Daniel pulling away from them already, though his body remained close. When Sam came, tears fell from the outside corners of her eyes. Cam followed her a moment later and damn if he didn’t feel like crying, too.
Curling around each other, a blanket thrown over them against the pre-dawn chill, they fell into exhausted sleep.
<><><><><><><><>
Sam woke to a distinct absence in the bed. A quick check confirmed that Daniel had gone. Careful not to wake Cam, she dressed quickly and found Daniel sitting cross-legged in the sand just outside the tent. Dawn was just breaking on the eastern horizon and the air was clean and cool from the rain that had fallen during the night.
“Daniel, you okay?” she asked. The words sounded ridiculous as they left her lips. How could he be okay?
“As good as I’m going to be,” he shrugged and invited her to join him with an outstretched arm.
Sam settled between his legs as his arms wrapped around her, his face against her hair.
“I don’t want to lose you again, Daniel. I don’t know if I can,” she said.
“I don’t want to go, if that’s worth anything. I’m afraid, Sam,” he admitted.
She bit her lip and blinked her eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. Daniel kissed her temple.
“Don’t give up on me. If there’s a way back, I’ll find it. I promise you.”
Nodding against his cheek, Sam watched the new day dawn as the sun climbed over the horizon.
``fin``
Daniel crouched in the meager shade afforded by a tarp set up over the low wall that held the mysterious inscription. Sam stood a short distance away, not wanting to disturb him, while Cam was chatting up the locals. One of the diggers had set up a boom box that blared some kind of Middle Eastern pop music. While it seemed huge to Sam, according to Daniel this was a mid-sized dig for Egypt. The object of their interest was on the periphery of the main dig, fortunately.
They were all wearing civvies, since they didn’t want to reveal the US government’s interest in the discovery. The world wasn’t ready to know of the Ori threat. Personally, Sam wasn’t so sure of that determination. Their battle with Anubis had made it pretty clear that any battle with intelligent and malevolent aliens would not remain secret much longer. If one of those huge Ori ships made it into the solar system, the entire world would know before long.
Sam watched as Daniel’s long, slender fingers traced over the carvings in the stone. Daniel didn’t merely read or translate the text. He lived it. Took it in with sight, touch and smell. Sam recognized it as Ancient and could even translate a few words, but Daniel could comprehend it. Understood the meaning behind mere words inscribed eons ago and could assimilate the context.
Three times, Sam counted, three times his fingers traced the augmented, vertical hash marks, before standing and walking wordlessly out into the merciless sun. It wasn’t as hot as it was during full summer, but still much warmer than any of them were accustomed to.
Cam noticed Daniel’s movement too and directed a questioning look at Sam. Cam hadn’t been with the team long, but he’d learned their unspoken body language. Daniel was disturbed and this was rarely a good thing. With a simple hand gesture, Sam indicated that she’d take care of it, and Cam turned back to the man he’d been speaking with.
Sam waited patiently for some indication from Daniel that she could approach, but none came. He just stood there, motionless in the sun until she feared for his health. After a while, she walked up behind his left shoulder, slowly and making sufficient noise that he should hear her.
“Daniel? You okay?” She said quietly.
He didn’t answer her question, simply issued orders of his own, his head tilted down. Sam got the feeling he was watching her out of the corner of his eye.
“Tell the diggers to make camp here for the night. I want to look at those inscriptions again in the morning light. We’ll need a tent of our own,” was all he said before crouching down onto the sand, pulling his long sleeved shirt tighter around him as if he was chilled, even in the heat of the desert.
Daniel rarely issued orders. Offered opinions and perspective, yes, of course. But outright orders; almost never. Sam realized that he never really expected them to be followed, at least by others. He was simply saying that he was staying there. She and Cam were free to leave if they wished.
No way in hell was she leaving Daniel like this. She doubted Cam would either. Jack would have argued and cajoled, but not Cam.
“Daniel?” Sam asked, hoping for some kind of explanation.
“Later, Sam, I promise. I just need a little… time,” he replied, barely glancing at her.
“Sure, okay. No problem,” Sam said, moving off to tell Cam of Daniel’s request. Order. Whatever. On SG-1, everyone had a say.
<><><><><><><><><>
The diggers had outdone themselves. Sam wasn’t even sure where they’d come up with some of the things in their tent, set apart from the others. It looked more comfortable than their hotel room.
A brazier was set in the center of the tent, venting its smoke through a hole in the roof. Its warmth was welcome in the chill of the desert night. Oversized pillows where artfully placed around a low table. An evening meal had been prepared: Savory meats, cheese, candied fruits and breads were arranged on metal chargers. Small bowls held sauces and spreads.
Daniel seemed disinclined to avail himself of the food. He sat cross-legged, his back to the table and facing the brazier, as if the flames held some hidden message for him.
“Wow. I think we need to talk to Landry about getting something like this to take off-world,” Cam said when he entered the tent.
There was no actual floor in the tent. Instead, the sand had been covered with colorful, patterned rugs, giving the place more the feel of a room in a palace than a mere tent pitched in the middle of the desert. Thick, soft-looking sleeping pallets lay on the outside edges of the tent, covered with woven blankets. The whole tent smelled of herbs and spices that burned among the coals of the brazier.
Cam picked up a small hammered brass plate and began piling food onto it.
“Don’t touch anything with your left hand. It’s considered rude,” Daniel said, without even looking back at Cam.
“Right. I got it. You wipe your ass with your left hand,” Cam replied. He’d done a tour during the Gulf War and didn’t want Daniel to assume he was a complete dolt.
Daniel bobbed his head in acknowledgement, but said nothing else until Sam and Cam had seated themselves on either side of him.
“So, I’m assuming that… inscription isn’t good news,” Cam began, trying to keep it light and shoveling food into his mouth.
“I suppose that depends on one’s perspective,” Daniel replied, giving Cam a quick glance.
“Whose perspective? What did it say?” Sam asked, having heard the qualification in Daniel’s voice.
“It’s, uh, sort of… layered in between a lot of jargon, but it seems that someone is going to have to join with the Ori in order for us to defeat them,” Daniel replied, still not looking at either of them.
“Does it say who needs to turn darkside?” Cam asked point-blank.
“Well, no, not exactly, and certainly not by name. But it does give some qualifications,” Daniel answered.
“Which are?” Sam asked gently, leaning over so she could see Daniel’s face. She had a sinking feeling she knew where this was leading.
Daniel sat up straighter and squared his shoulders almost as if he was carrying a heavy burden, but his head still hung low. He now seemed focused on his own hands.
“Uh, yeah. This person… has to have been formerly ascended and retaken physical form…” he said slowly.
There was a long silence as Daniel’s revelation sank in. Even suspecting his answer, his answer hit Sam hard and she had to focus on one of the blank canvas walls to distract herself from the fact that her eyes were feeling particularly watery. Probably the smoke, she tried to tell herself.
Cam had stopped eating and his gaze was directed inward.
“Please tell me I’m wrong, but you’re currently the only person we know of who’s managed that trick, right?” Cam asked, surprisingly softly, after his internal database search was finished.
“Orlin,” Sam said, grasping at the only other option she could think of.
“Has regressed to a child and took the physical form of a child in order to retain the knowledge that destroyed his brain. Which pretty much puts him out of the running even if we were mercenary enough to deliver a child into the Ori’s hands….” Daniel replied. “I thought of that. Not something that makes me feel all that… enlightened.”
“No,” Sam agreed quietly. She was devastated at the idea of potentially losing Daniel again, even if it was at the suggestion of an inscription.
“I guess this ‘formerly ascended’ thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Cam said, trying to infuse some humor into Daniel’s revelation.
“No, it’s not,” Daniel replied, skewering Cam with a glance.
“Never was, actually. I had to watch as a friend - a dear friend was tortured and killed, over and over again. No. Definitely not it’s all cracked up to be,” Daniel took a long moment, but wasn’t done yet.
“Even if he begs you… yes, begs you, to release him from his torture,” Daniel continued, a hard edge to his voice. “I couldn’t do that, even for him.”
Cam didn’t respond, not even to refute Daniel’s outburst. He’d read the files. He knew. Daniel had been ascended when now-General O’Neill had been tortured repeatedly by Ba’al. O’Neill had never broken and neither had Jackson, though he had no official report to inform him. Mitchell had seen enough of both of them to know that neither of them would ever give in. Not on something that important.
Cam knew that nothing he could say would ever mitigate that blot on Daniel’s soul. He reached out a hand instead.
“You know that General O’Neill would never have accepted that option, right? Doesn’t matter who was doing the offering,” Cam said, his hand warm on Daniel’s bicep.
Daniel raised his head and looked Cam in the eye. Cam really didn’t feel up to Daniel’s scrutiny in that moment. He was no Jack O’Neill. He knew and accepted that. He was a bit astonished to realize that he respected Jackson just that much. Sure, he knew he was a brilliant scholar and… yada. And he’d seen Jackson hold his own in the field, but this was different, somehow. More personal.
“You’ll never know, Cam, until you’re there,” Jackson said, somewhat cryptically. But Cam knew what was meant. Daniel had somehow seen inside him. Seen all his doubts and insecurities.
“Are you sure, Daniel?” Sam asked, from the other side of Daniel.
“I’m as sure as I can be. I’ll take a rubbing in the morning and double-check it back at the SGC, but…,” he shrugged.
“You’ll be able to get back, though, right? I mean, you’ve done the ascension dance a couple of times now,” Cam asked.
Daniel turned to Cam, “I don’t know.” Jackson’s eyes were wide and very blue in the firelight. Cam could see the uncertainty and sadness threatening to overwhelm Daniel and an unexpected wave of emotion threatened to roll Cam under too. He felt his breath rush out of him in a long sigh and looked away.
“I just don’t know what it means or what’s required. Is it even a… a type of ascension or some other… bastardized thing?” Daniel continued after a moment.
When he opened his mouth to continue, Sam stood abruptly, cutting him off with a hand gesture. Both men watched her walk to the farthest corner of the tent. Her shoulders hunched as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Cam and Daniel exchanged looks and after a moment Daniel rose and went to her.
Giving her privacy for what he assumed were tears, Daniel stood at her back and put his hands on her shoulders, thumbs rubbing at the taut muscles.
“It’s not fair,” Cam heard her whisper, her voice rough.
“Maybe not. But I’m sorry,” Daniel replied quietly, his head bowed close to hers.
Sam whirled around, out from under Daniel’s hands, her eyes filled not with tears but with blind fury.
“Don’t you fucking dare be sorry, Daniel!” Sam hadn’t raised her voice much, but it was all the more deadly for its force.
“Goddammit, I will not lose you again. I won’t! Fuck the Ori! God damn them all to Hell,” she continued and punched Daniel hard in the chest.
Jackson rocked back on his heels at the force of her blow, but stood his ground silently, letting her rant.
“Why does it always have to be you, huh? Why? Haven’t you been through enough? Haven’t we all?” Sam hit him again, even harder on the other side of his chest.
When she raised her fist to strike him third time, Daniel grabbed her wrists and pulled her in close, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
Cam wasn’t sure he should be around for this, but he had nowhere else to go. Thunder was rumbling off in the distance, threatening rain before dawn. In his scan for a place to make himself as unobtrusive as possible, he almost missed Daniel’s silent head-jerk, asking him to join them.
Sam’s face was buried in Daniel’s neck, her body trembling with either anger or sorrow. Cam didn’t know which it was, perhaps both, and pressed his body lightly against her back.
“I’ve - We’ve got you, Sam,” Cam whispered, meeting Daniel’s eyes over her shoulder.
Sam nodded acknowledgement, her head tipping back just enough that Cam could see that far from crying against Jackson’s neck, she was kissing it, her tongue grazing the skin just below his ear. Daniel’s eyes slid closed. Sam’s hands came up to frame his face and she leaned back into Cam to give herself the room to kiss Daniel on the mouth.
Sam’s lips barely touched Daniel’s, but her tongue swept across his mouth in the space between them. She kept it up, teasing and taunting, until Daniel’s jaw dropped, letting his lips open to hers. For a long moment, Daniel just let Sam kiss him, her tongue dipping into his mouth to taste. Eventually, Daniel’s hand slid into her hair and Cam caught sight of Daniel responding just as he tilted his head to reciprocate.
Cam hadn’t ever watched two people kissing in such close quarters before. Certainly not this intimately. They were basically making out while his hands were still on Sam’s waist. He wanted to withdraw and give them some privacy for what was obviously an intimate moment but, at the same time, worried that any movement on his part would disturb them.
Yeah, he was the nominal leader of SG-1 and therefore shouldn’t be seeing this. But, if he’d learned anything in his short time with them, it was that the rules, as the Air Force saw them, didn’t apply here. He wasn’t sure why, but he was fairly sure this was a line that Jackson and Sam hadn’t ever crossed before. The way Sam had to coax Daniel into it and the time it took Jackson to respond. Certainly, there’d never been gossip about the ‘Science Twins’; not like there was about Carter and O’Neill.
No, Cam had never heard any gossip about these two, but he’d observed their connection the first time he’d seen them together. It felt like a puzzle piece clicking into place, watching them like this. And damn if he couldn’t hear the soft, wet sounds of their mouths, even with his eyes closed. He felt Sam shift against him. Cam took his opportunity and tried to move away. Sam caught his forearm in an iron grip and held him steady.
“Don’t leave me, Daniel,” she glanced back at Cam over her shoulder, “Don’t leave us.”
Cam wasn’t sure what he could add to her soft request. Over the past year or so, he’d gotten to know the man well enough to have perhaps an inkling as to why Daniel made some of the choices he had. As much as anyone could ever understand.
“We’ll find another way,” Cam said, leaning into Sam. He reached past Sam to put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. He squeezed, feeling hard muscle and bone beneath his fingers and wasn’t sure whether he did it for Jackson or himself.
Sam turned her head and kissed him. Her mouth was soft and warm and Cam thought he could taste Jackson on her lips. Cam slid his tongue into her mouth, glancing over at Daniel. There was a slight furrow between the other man’s brows, but he didn’t look possessive or angry. More like he was studying something.
Giving Cam a parting lick across his upper lip, she slid out from between the two men.
“Let us make love to you Daniel,” She said quietly.
Daniel drew back just a bit and blew a breath out through his nose. The furrow deepened.
“Sam, I….” Daniel began and dropped his eyes. Cam realized that Jackson was neither shocked nor offended by Sam’s suggestion. But something held him back.
On the heels of that thought, came another. Us? Cam thought, finally processing what Sam had said. A thread of panic rose in his gut. What did he know about making love to another guy? Not a hell of a lot. He hadn’t even traded hand jobs in the showers, like a lot of men on deployment. Hey, it was tame enough. Lots of fit, young, horny men, hot water and soap. Why not? It wasn’t a big deal, he just hadn’t gotten into it himself, sometimes watching from the sidelines and betting against himself on who was going to come first. Cam just preferred to get off in private, that’s all.
A light desert breeze made the canvas walls billow and carried a long, low roll of thunder with it.
<><>><><><><><><><>
Daniel pulled back a bit at Sam’s words. He knew her offer was genuine, not brought on by a fit of guilt or pity. And Cam? Well, he’d either figure it out or he wouldn’t. This wasn’t about sex, per se. Gender didn’t really figure into it at this point. Daniel knew Cam well enough to feel comfortable with him. Daniel’s concerns didn’t involve the physical. It was the emotional attachment. While Daniel wasn’t generally attracted to men as a gender, he’d lived and experienced enough to know that some relationships rendered gender irrelevant.
No, it wasn’t physicality that held Daniel back. Or, probably more accurately, when he delved really deep, it wasn’t merely the physical. It’d been a long, long time since he’d had sex and some small part of him worried about that. But it was an egotistical concern and he dismissed it. Solidifying the ties that bound them together, that… that was a much deeper concern.
Daniel had loved Sam almost immediately. He fell in love with her mind first. By intellectualizing it, he’d been able to justify it and not feel that he was being disloyal to Sha’re. Sam had never hesitated to touch him in those early years - had been warm and supportive, yet was careful to never let it cross over into the sexual. Oh, he’d been tempted on the rare occasion to reach out to her, but it never happened. What he’d thought and done in the darkness and safety of his own fantasies was another thing, completely unrelated to his daily life.
Later, he’d fallen in love with her strength and dedication. By then, the intimate little touches they’d shared had fallen away. It was almost as if, with Sha’re’s death, he was no longer safe to Sam. Or bad timing. Either way, Sam’s feelings for Jack had grown from admiration and respect into something more personal. But instead of intimate little touches, it was an awkward dance. Daniel had never asked, simply pretended it didn’t matter, and neither Jack nor Sam had ever confided in him. It made him feel a bit excluded, but considering the path his life had taken, it was probably a good thing. Or, at least, not a bad thing.
On some level, Daniel felt like Sam was offering redemption. A reprieve, at the very least. On the other hand, he knew she wanted to bind him closer to them, make it harder for him to do whatever it was that was inscribed in stone.
In the end, it came down to this: Could he give in? Take what Sam, and Cam, though Cam was looking distinctly conflicted, were offering and still do whatever would be required of him when the time came?
“I don’t know if you remember,” Sam said, her voice rough and intruding on his introspection. “When you were… dying, from radiation poisoning. I told you that we often don’t manage to tell those close to us how much they really mean to us until it’s too late. I don’t want to make that mistake again, Daniel.”
Daniel felt something inside him give, maybe even break. The memory was so sharp that he felt the burn as it cut into him. In his mind, he heard Sam speak the words and even though he couldn’t see her, he could feel the shudder of her body as she gently clasped his shoulder. He cursed himself for his self-centered perspective. This wasn’t just about him. Sam and Cam needed that connection at least as much as he did. Perhaps even more, since they might be left behind. Daniel didn’t want any of them to have regrets or be haunted by what-ifs.
“I remember.”
Daniel reached out and drew both Sam and Cam in, an arm around each. He bent his head to kiss Sam first. Deep and slow, putting as much of himself into it as he could. Then he turned to Cam. Mitchell returned his gaze steadily, but Daniel could feel the uncertainly beneath. Cam was unsure and a bit frightened by it all but he trusted his teammates. These people he’d come to know over the past 18 months.
With a hand on the back of his head, Daniel pulled Cam to him, pressing his mouth against Cam’s. Cam huffed a little through his nose, perhaps in surprise or even reflexive homophobia. Daniel kept it easy, not pushing Cam or demanding more of him until Cam gradually gave in, his mouth softening under Daniel’s.
<><><><><><><><><>
Cam knew he shouldn’t have been surprised when Daniel kissed him. He’d had enough time to get used to the idea. But the reality took him by surprise anyway.
Kissing Daniel was nothing like kissing a woman, not really. His mouth was larger and harder than any woman’s. But it wasn’t all that different, either. When he felt Jackson’s tongue against his lips, he opened almost automatically. Things got explosive then, both of them fighting for dominance. Cam’s hand came up to hold Daniel’s head in place as he tried to explore the other man’s mouth deeper and further. Daniel fought him, their tongues shoving against one another, which turned out to be hotter than anything Cam had ever thought possible. They both broke off at the sound of Sam’s throaty chuckle.
“What?” Cam asked, blue eyes guileless as Daniel coughed lightly next to him.
Sam just smiled and lay down on the closest pallet, She didn’t say anything, just looked at them, propped up on her elbows in a way that accentuated her bustline, though Cam was pretty damn sure that wasn’t intentional.
Jackson didn’t waste any time, lying on his side next to Sam and splaying his long fingers over her stomach. They both watched as Cam, unsure of where he belonged in this freaky triangle, sunk down on Sam’s other side.
Sam had no idea how this was all going to work out and she didn’t particularly care. She just knew she had to do this before… before they left this place. Things had a way of moving fast in their line of work. Daniel was stretched out on her right, Cam knelt on her left.
The desert breeze brought the scent of rain and lent a heaviness to the atmosphere. It felt appropriate to Sam. There was an almost ritualistic feel to what they were about to do. One of her oldest and closest teammates and the newest. Cam was still, barely breathing and she wondered what he was thinking. Hell, she wondered what she’d been thinking when she’d made her suggestion. It felt right at the time. Still did, but… she and Daniel had seemingly moved past their early attraction and while she felt attraction to Cam, well… she’d been down that path before.
Daniel moved his hand on her belly, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“You… we, don’t have to do this,” Daniel said softly meeting their eyes in turn.
“Yeah, I think we do,” Sam replied, reaching out and stroking her palm over Daniel’s jaw. Cam could hear the rasp of her skin dragging against his day’s growth of beard.
“I’m in,” Cam agreed, resolve written on his features. Perspiration had broken out on his forehead and upper lip, glistening in the firelight, but his eyes were steady and serious.
Sam got to her knees and faced Cam. Daniel sat up and positioned himself to one side of both of them. Sliding her hand into his hair, Sam leaned in and kissed Cam on the mouth. Cam kept his hands at his sides, fingers twitching, as Sam moved into him, pressing her body to his. She wrapped her arms around him and her strong hands massaged the long muscles of his back.
Daniel kept still and watched. Even if they didn’t, he knew why Sam had gone to Cam first. He was the most uncertain of them. The newest. Sam had been by Daniel’s side for over ten years. Sam’s hands trailed down Cam’s back and closed on the bottom of his tee shirt, drawing it up his body. She pulled back just enough to get it over his head before putting her mouth to his neck. Daniel saw Cam’s throat work as he swallowed down a moan.
As quietly as he could, Daniel slipped behind Sam, straddling her legs. Insinuating his hands between Sam and Cam, he tugged her shirt out of her jeans, slowly drawing it up her body. Cam’s eyes met his as Daniel pulled it over her head. Sam was busy exploring Cam’s collarbones and chest. With a single downward glance, Daniel unfastened Sam’s bra. Sam threaded first one arm through the strap, then the other without breaking off her attentions to Cam. Noticing that Cam still seemed reluctant to touch her, Daniel took one of Cam’s hands and pressed it against Sam’s ribs, right beneath a breast.
Cam saw a flash of teeth as Daniel’s head dropped to Sam’s shoulder. She let out a soft moan and pressed her breasts to Cam’s chest. Cam was torn between watching Daniel nibble at Sam’s shoulders and neck and wanting to kiss her. He did both, keeping his eyes open as he took her mouth in a deep kiss. She sucked on the tip of his tongue and it made his cock come immediately to attention. Oh, it had been interested before, but that pretty much sealed the deal.
Palming her breast in one hand, he thumbed her nipple while he trapped her tongue with his teeth. Her throaty moan went straight to his balls. Cam tried to rub his erection against her hip, but she wasn’t quite steady enough on her knees for that. Dropping his head to her breasts, he grasped her hips in both hands and rubbed up against her. Fuck, it was good. The spot his cock was pressing against was firm and… ridged? Cam dropped his hand to find that he was stroking against the backs of Daniel’s fingers, where he was holding Sam steady. Cam rolled his eyes up, finding Daniel looking right back at him from where his mouth was teasing Sam’s neck.
Cam’s stomach gave an odd little flip, but he didn’t feel the need to explore why. Hell, if Jackson wasn’t concerned, then he was resolved not to be either. Cam held Daniel’s eyes as he stroked himself against the knuckles again. Sam made a needy little sound and Cam got distracted. He slipped his hands under her jeans and underwear, where her skin was warm, smooth and soft.
Jesus, it’s hot in here, Cam thought, hands squeezing Sam’s ass, pulling both her and Daniel’s hand tighter against his dick. He could feel the sweat forming on his back, Sam’s fingers sliding easily against his damp skin. She nuzzled at his neck and Cam turned to kiss her, Jackson’s deeper note of male musk mixing with her lighter feminine scent. It didn’t smell like sex, not quite, but it was still very erotic to Cam. He felt hands moving near his dick and Sam’s were still low on his back, tracing over the scars there. Then Sam’s jeans and underwear were slipping away, over his hands and Cam realized it’d been Daniel’s work.
Sam slipped out from between them, bending to untie her boots before peeling her jeans off. Cam and Daniel were left facing one another. Cam twisted his fingers into the front of Daniel’s tee shirt and roughly pulled him close, but it didn’t feel right. Cam struggled with what, exactly, might feel right. He knew he didn’t want to be as soft and tender as he was with Sam.
Jackson went, catching himself with his hands on Cam’s shoulders, a stubborn set to his mouth that told Cam he didn’t like being manhandled, but would tolerate it. Cam relaxed his fingers and reminded himself that Daniel wasn’t a rival to be bested or dominated. Hell, he didn’t know how he should be with another man. He had no frame of reference for it.
Cam looked down at Sam. She’d flipped a corner of the blanket over her groin, covering herself, but leaving her breasts exposed. Her little show of modesty moved him and reminded him what this was about. It was about showing Daniel what he meant to them and to comfort him in the darkness of his discovery. Steeped in military tradition, as Cam was, this was usually done with a night of alcohol and perhaps strippers, culminating in drunken embraces and affirmations of the doomed man’s worth and friendship. This wasn’t so incredibly different then, minus the booze and strippers.
Cam leaned his forehead against Daniel’s and dragged his shirt out of his pants, slowly lifting it until he had to lean back to pull it over his head. Daniel’s glasses were dislodged and Cam caught them, carefully folding them and placing them off to the side. Without meeting the other man’s eyes, he turned back and unbuckled Daniel’s belt. Jackson cleared his throat. His fingers hardly trembled at all as he worked the button and zip of Daniel’s chinos. Cam glanced quickly up at Daniel’s face when he put his hands on Daniel’s hips, his fingertips pressing into the skin and slipping under the waistband of pants and shorts. Thumbs stroked into the hollow just inside Daniel’s hipbones, tracing the contour before sliding the clothing down the long thighs.
The number of scars on Jackson’s body surprised Cam. He’d seen Jackson naked, or nearly so, a couple of times, but had never really taken note of the imperfections before. Maybe because they’d either been playing basketball or in the locker room at the time and it wasn’t wise to pay much attention to another man’s body under those circumstances.
Jackson rolled back on his ass, kicked off his shoes and shoved his pants and shorts the rest of the way off. Cam took an inventory as he picked up the clothing and put it aside. Daniel’s right deltoid had a faded irregular burn, long healed. Staff blast, Cam noted, pairing it with a mission report from early in their history. The left bore a more recent and more neatly healed scar. A bullet wound from O’Neill while Daniel was possessed by Anubis. Right above his left knee was a long, jagged scar from shrapnel, earned while they were fighting their way out of Hathor’s base. A neat straight line, low on the right side of his abdomen where his appendix had been removed. The history of SG-1 was written on Jackson’s body.
Daniel stretched out next to Sam again. She curled into him and they both looked at Cam expectantly. Waiting for him. They looked good together and Cam wasn’t sure where he fit into this whole… thing. The air was stifling, warm and close, heavy with the smell of spices and the wet-dust scent of impending rain. His jeans felt glued to him with his own sweat.
“Cam,” Sam said softly and with just a hint of impatience.
“Yeah,” he replied, more an exhalation of breath than voice. He dropped his head and unbuckled his belt. His jeans were indeed sticking to him, the legs turning inside out as he stripped them off.
Cam felt a flicker of embarrassment as he shucked out of his shorts. He was harder than Jackson but instead of feeling male pride, he felt like a horny kid. Like it was somehow inappropriate for him to be this aroused right now. As he raised his eyes, he snuck a look at Daniel’s dick. He’d been only half-hard when Cam had undressed him, but he’d gained a bit of length, what with Sam’s skin pressed against him.
Cam chose the obvious option and lay down next to Sam, molding his chest to her back while trying to keep his dick a discreet distance from her. Sam twisted her upper body around to greet him with a slow kiss. So much for discreet distance. Cam leaned over her and draped his arm over her waist, splaying his fingers over her stomach.
When she pulled away from the kiss, Sam searched his eyes. Cam felt like she was trying to see inside him, but didn’t look away. She was afraid. Of losing Daniel and wasn’t as sure of what they were doing as she seemed.
You lead, I’ll follow. Cam thought at her, keeping his eyes steady and calm, his mouth turning up at the corners. She was the catalyst, the center of this thing, but it was all as new to her as it was to him and Jackson. Well, he assumed it was new to Jackson.
Cam looked over at the other man. Daniel lay with one arm folded under his head, his eyes half closed and watching them. A light sheen of sweat on his chest lent an almost golden glow to his skin. Cam tried not to think of him as their sacrificial lamb. He reminded himself that Jackson would not go along quietly, if it came to that. Daniel was as much a warrior as any of them. The man had already been thrown out of heaven once for refusing to stand on the sidelines. Yeah, Mitchell knew that wherever Daniel had been, it wasn’t heaven, but he couldn’t shake the allegory. He shoved those thoughts out of his mind. Time enough to deal with them later.
Sam had turned back to Daniel. His hand lay along her neck, fingers slipping under the hair at her nape.
“Why now?” he asked, his voice low and rough. The way the shadows fell across his face made Jackson look younger - the way Mitchell imagined he might have looked when he first opened the Stargate.
“It’s time, Daniel. Way past time, maybe,” Sam answered against his lips. She pressed her mouth to his.
For a long moment, Daniel didn’t move; just lay there letting Sam kiss him. Slowly, his mouth opened under hers, fingers flexing against her neck. Taking possession of her mouth, Daniel eased her back until she rested against Cam’s chest. The tension that had drawn tight between them eased and Cam dropped his head to press his mouth to Sam’s shoulder, his hand gliding over silky skin until he reached her breast.
Daniel made small noises in his throat as Sam explored his mouth. Daniel’s hand wandered blindly and found Cam’s hand on her breast. The fingers lingered on the back of Cam’s hand, brushing idly across the knuckles, then moved on.
Cam watched as Daniel’s hand moved down Sam’s torso. It curved over her hip and settled low on her belly as he pulled back and looked into her eyes. Sam smiled up at him, lips parted. Daniel licked at her mouth while he slipped his hand between her legs.
Sam’s head arched back at whatever Daniel was doing down there and Cam pulled lightly at her nipple with his fingers, leaning over to flick the nub with his tongue. Sam threw a leg over Cam’s, opening herself more fully to Daniel’s touch. Until then, Cam hadn’t realized that Sam’s fingers were wrapped around Daniel’s now-full erection, stroking slowly.
As he dropped his head to nip at her nipple, his eyes settled on Jackson’s cock and Sam’s busy hand. He had a moment of cognitive dissonance - looking at another guy’s hard-on was a little jarring - but recovered quickly. Cam felt a jolt of arousal in his own flesh. In this moment it was… graceful, sort of. Sam’s fingers played along Daniel’s shaft, tracing the smooth, slightly curved surface, her thumb stroking into the sensitive spot just beneath the head. Daniel’s cock twitched, a crystalline bead of fluid emerging from the tip.
Cam felt like he’d been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. Like the very first time he’d watched a porno with his high school buddies. It was overwhelmingly erotic, not only sending an unmistakable message to his own dick but heating his skin. He felt like he was going to overheat - burst into flame. He felt a trickle of sweat along his spine. Jesus.
Shoving all his ingrained mores aside, Cam drew Sam’s nipple into his mouth, gently gripping it between his teeth. The crease beneath her breast was damp, slick and fragrant with her perspiration. Her essence, unmasked by toiletries. Musky, yet clean and arousing. He released her nipple and let his tongue explore, drawing her smell up into his nose as the salty taste filled his mouth. Cam felt her hand come up to cup the back of his skull.
Absorbed as he was, Cam let his free hand trail down Sam’s body. Cam paused a moment when he encountered Daniel’s wrist, resting easily against Sam’s soft curls, but continued onward. Their fingers tangled somewhere in the vicinity of her clit, but rather than fighting for position, Cam just moved on, finding the place where she was wet and wanting. He slipped first one, then two fingers inside her, but soon decided that his mouth was much better suited for the job.
Cam shifted his body first, sliding down and letting his prick slip along her thigh. It felt good to him. Sam’s fingers followed him down, affirming his decision. Sam draped a leg over Daniel’s hip as Cam settled himself between her thighs. He kissed the smooth skin of her inner thighs; breathing in her rich scent, let his tongue sweep over the crease between leg and groin, the sweet-salt taste filling his mouth. Sam’s fingers gripped his hair, meeting Daniel’s when they traced over the bridge of Cam’s nose and over his forehead into his hairline. Their fingers twined against his scalp and then disappeared for parts unknown.
If he shifted his eyes to the left, Cam could see Sam toying with Daniel’s cock. She wasn’t really trying to bring him off, just keep his level of interest high. Not that Daniel needed it. Cam usually kept his eyes closed while going down on a woman. Not because he didn’t enjoy the sight, but because he preferred to immerse his other senses in the experience. Eyes really weren’t much good down here, but it was a feast for touch, taste and smell. This was different, though. Cam raised his eyes to see Daniel holding Sam in his arms, running the fingers of one hand through her hair, the other stroking her breasts and chest. When Cam did something Sam especially liked, made her arch her back, Daniel kissed her forehead and whispered to her.
It wasn’t long before Sam was surging against Cam’s mouth, her body flexing smoothly. Daniel held her, sucked at her neck, fingers busy at a nipple and she came with a loud gasp. Her hand reappeared on the back of Cam’s head and she pushed herself against the tongue sliding against her clit. Cam kept it up until she hissed and pulled at his hair. Cam eased back up to lie alongside her.
Daniel raised his head to look at Cam, his pupils blown. Cam glanced down at Daniel’s prick. Sam was stroking his balls, hanging heavy against his thigh in the stifling heat. Daniel’s belly was damp, the sparse hair matted down where his cock had leaked against it. With considerable restraint, Cam managed to keep from grabbing his penis, knowing that it’d only take a pull or two and he’d lose it.
Cam swallowed a gasp of surprise when Daniel interrupted his thoughts, grabbing his head and shoving his tongue into Cam’s mouth. The gasp morphed into a pleasured moan as Jackson’s mouth worked against his, seeking out Sam’s taste. Almost overwhelmed by the combined scent and taste of Daniel and Sam, Cam felt the tickle of fluid moistening his abdomen.
Daniel was on the move, even as he kissed Cam. When they finally broke apart, it was to the sight of Sam pulling Daniel on top of her, her slender legs framing his hips, her hands guiding him to her. Daniel supported himself on straight arms and sunk deep.
“God… Sam,” he groaned, letting his head drop between his shoulders.
Cam felt the years between them drop away. This wasn’t the Sam and Daniel he knew - it was the Sam and Daniel of their early years together. He couldn’t explain it. Perhaps it was the way the firelight seemed to erase the years that had worn on them. And yet, it seemed to shine on the scar tissue of their battle scars. The healed bullet wound on the back of Daniel’s thigh and the long, jagged scar on the front of Sam’s. Daniel’s scarred deltoids.
Daniel thrust slowly perhaps half a dozen times and stopped dead.
“Sam… I’m sorry. I just… Please,” he gasped, his voice raw.
Cam looked at him and understood Daniel’s problem immediately. He was already too far gone. Left to his own devices, he’d be coming in moments and Daniel wanted it to last longer than that. Hell, who wouldn’t?
“S’okay, Daniel,” Sam said, her hand sweeping over his chest.
“No. Switch positions,” Cam offered. Hey, it’d worked for him in the past when he felt like he’d had a hair trigger.
They rolled toward him and Cam didn’t know who really initiated the move. Didn’t matter. Sam was now astride Daniel, her hands on his chest. Thunder rolled, much closer now after an extended absence, bringing with it a hot, humid breeze that made the walls of their refuge billow and snap.
Slowly, she straightened, her fingers sliding down Daniel’s body to his hips. Sam kept her movements small and even. She blew out a long, shaky breath as she settled more fully on Daniel, taking him deep. Daniel’s hands settled on her thighs, thumbs circling on her skin.
The fire in the brazier flared up. In its flickering light, her back shimmered with beads of sweat as she moved over Daniel. Her head fell back and the light painted her throat in golden shadow. Sam looked like a glowing, wild… primal thing, her breasts swaying softly in time with her undulations. Beneath her, Daniel groaned, muscles shifting under his skin as he moved with her.
On impulse, or out of sheer horniness, Cam didn’t know, Cam straddled Daniel’s legs behind Sam. Drawing her up against him, Cam fit his cock against the small of her back and wrapped her up in his arms, his palms sliding over her smooth, damp skin. Putting his mouth to Sam’s neck, Cam let himself fall into the rhythm of her body against Daniel’s, rising and falling with her. His hands skimmed over her body; hips, belly, breasts, and back down again. Together, Sam and Cam watched as pleasure washed over Daniel’s face.
Cam unsheathed his teeth and scraped them over Sam’s shoulder. With a low moan, she tensed and twitched in his arms. Daniel gave an answering groan and pushed his hips up into her. Cam marveled at the way sensation was transmitted one to the other when Sam’s back flexed against his cock, completing the cycle. Tightening his arms around her, he let one hand drop low, between her legs and cupped her breast with the other. Nipping at her earlobe, Cam moved her on Daniel.
“Jesus,” she gasped, her voice almost lost in the clap of nearby thunder.
“Relax, Sam. Let me do this,” Cam said as the noise rolled and echoed into the distance.
Fingers stroking lightly over her clit, his teeth on her neck, Cam moved them against Daniel, who was pushing into her from beneath. It was quite possibly the most erotic thing Cam had ever seen, much less been involved in. The energy bouncing between all three of them was incredibly erotic without the taint of sordid, frenzied coupling. He’d never felt so intimately connected to anyone else before. As Daniel stroked into Sam and Cam’s fingers slipped over her clit, she moved against him, his cock sliding against her spine, her vertebrae bumping under the head. It was a sexual synergy he hadn’t even realized was possible.
Sam reached her peak and Cam held her steady as the waves washed through her. Daniel still moved below her and Cam grabbed his hand, anchoring Daniel as his climax hit. Daniel let out a little shout, his fingers tightening on Cam’s and using him as leverage to arch up into Sam. Cam wasn’t quite there yet, but felt something like release himself in response to the powerful spasms exchanged by his partners. He heard his own panting breaths against Sam’s neck as he watched Daniel stretched taut beneath them, eyes squeezed shut and gasping through full, moist lips.
Sam went limp in his arms and he held her steady through the tiny tremors that still coursed through her.
“Shh… easy… yeah, that was incredible…” he murmured to her, his eyes locked on Daniel.
After a long moment, Sam shifted and Cam loosened his grip, letting her slip into Daniel’s arms. Sliding his fingers into her sweat-damp hair, he kissed her on the forehead before moving to her mouth.
Cam heard the patter of rain on canvas as he stretched out on his side next to them. He hadn’t noticed it until now. When a gust of wind snuck under and around the tent, it cooled the sweat on his skin, making him shiver just a little. It felt good, but he missed the warmth that Daniel and Sam were now sharing.
Almost as if she’d heard his thoughts, Sam reached out for Cam. After a brief tangle of limbs, he found himself lying between them; Daniel at his back with Sam pressed to his front. Sam kissed him, long, slow and deep, while Daniel’s fingers slipped over his back. It felt like he was drawing symbols there. Marking him as theirs, perhaps. Lying between them, Cam was immersed in the scent of sex. The sharp smell of Daniel’s semen muted by Sam’s smoother, musky tones. The combination was just this side of sweet.
Cam jerked, sucking air and breaking the kiss, when Sam closed her fingers around his erection.
“Sam, you don’t have to-“ Cam started, not wanting her to feel obligated to get him off.
“Shhhh… just relax,” she whispered back, her voice a sultry contrast to the staccato sound of rain on canvas. Her fingers slid smoothly along his shaft and Cam swallowed down a dry throat.
Daniel’s larger, rougher hand materialized on the back of his thigh and pushed up, urging Cam to lift it. Cam cooperated, settling his foot behind his other knee. He felt Daniel licking at the back of his neck as his hand crept between Cam’s legs to cup his balls.
“Ooooh, fuck,” Cam swore as their attentions became more coordinated.
Sam stroked her palm over the tip of his cock while Daniel massaged his balls, a finger prodding the tender spot just behind them. Cam felt his eyes roll back into his head and made a choking noise when Sam started long, firm strokes. Daniel set his teeth against Cam’s shoulder, his fingers applying just the right pressure in just the right places. Fresh sweat broke out on Cam’s brow in spite of the cooler air. He knew he wasn’t going to last long in the face of this much stimulation.
Sam whispered something filthy into his ear, Daniel’s fingers pressed just there and that was all it took. Cam cut off his own triumphant shout and gasped through gritted teeth instead. He felt like he was shooting the entire universe out through the end of his dick; star systems and galaxies streaking through the air to crash against his chest and stomach. It seemed like it went on much longer than possible but the ecstasy finally eased its grip on him and Cam felt himself go slack. Good thing he was already laying down. There was some shuffling around as Cam drifted off to sleep.
<><><><><><><>
Cam awoke sometime later, several hours by the feel of it, to soft sucking sounds behind him. Groggy, his limbs heavy with sleep, he turned to find Sam going down on Daniel, her blonde head bent over his groin. Daniel made quiet little sounds in his throat. Some sounded like humming and others were more like soft moans. Before he realized what he was doing, Cam had stroked his hand over Daniel’s flank and down near where Sam’s mouth was busy. He could feel her warm, moist breath on the backs of his fingers. She lifted her head and looked at him, her eyes holding a sexy glint he’d only discovered tonight.
“Want to take over?” She asked.
“Wha - huh?” Cam answered in surprise. He wasn’t so much opposed to the idea, as out of his depth. Sam leaned over and kissed him, slipping her tongue alongside his. A distinctively male salt-musk taste lingered in her mouth and Cam was relieved that it wasn’t so different from his own, shared with him by past girlfriends.
Sam drew away, giving him a little smile of encouragement. Cam glanced up at Daniel who’d risen up on his elbows.
“You don’t have to, Cam,” Daniel said quietly.
“I know,” Cam replied, hoping it didn’t sound petulant. He couldn’t bring himself to say the rest of the words, ‘I want to’. He wasn’t all that sure he wanted to and was pretty damn sure he wouldn’t want to under normal circumstances. But everything that had transpired this night had been outside of anything like normal.
Cam took Daniel’s cock in his broad hand and drew his tongue from base to tip along the underside. Sam watched him get started and then crept up until she cradled Daniel’s head in her lap. She brushed her fingers along the planes of Daniel’s face, as if memorizing them. Cam stroked into the sensitive spot under the head and Daniel’s dick gave a little jump in his hand. Sam’s thumbs smoothed out the lines in Daniel’s forehead as he groaned.
Between Sam’s hands and Cam’s mouth, it didn’t take long before Daniel was close, stretched between them. Sam leaned over and kissed Daniel, nipping at his lips and soothing them with her tongue. When Daniel started getting noisy, his hips flexing with Cam’s tempo, Cam pulled away and took him the rest of the way by hand. He didn’t trust himself not to choke if Daniel came in his mouth.
Sam pinched one of Daniel’s nipples as Cam brought him off, his thumb on Daniel’s sweet spot. Hands flexing, heels digging into the bedding, Daniel came with a guttural groan, pale fluid spattering his chest and belly. Cam worked him through it until Daniel stopped him with a hand on his wrist. Instead of releasing him, Daniel tugged at Cam’s arm until Cam crawled up and flopped down next to Daniel. Sam drew her fingers through the semen on Daniel’s belly, seemingly fascinated with the slick feel of it. Cam covered her hand with his own, just as Daniel kissed him. Cam opened to him, letting Daniel taste himself in Cam’s mouth.
Daniel’s hand joined Sam and Cam’s on his belly and their fingers twined around each other, against each other. Solidarity against what was to come. If any of them thought it a bizarre ritual, no one said anything. They all just exchanged kisses and then Sam scrambled over Daniel to Cam.
Daniel turned onto his side and Sam stretched out beside him, pulling Cam down on top of her. Daniel watched with sleepy, shining eyes as Cam made love to Sam, his hand reaching out occasionally to stroke one of them. It was slow, almost somber in tone, heavy with emotion. They all knew that tomorrow could be the beginning of the end. They had to take what joy they could before dawn. When Cam glanced over at the other man, he could almost feel Daniel pulling away from them already, though his body remained close. When Sam came, tears fell from the outside corners of her eyes. Cam followed her a moment later and damn if he didn’t feel like crying, too.
Curling around each other, a blanket thrown over them against the pre-dawn chill, they fell into exhausted sleep.
<><><><><><><><>
Sam woke to a distinct absence in the bed. A quick check confirmed that Daniel had gone. Careful not to wake Cam, she dressed quickly and found Daniel sitting cross-legged in the sand just outside the tent. Dawn was just breaking on the eastern horizon and the air was clean and cool from the rain that had fallen during the night.
“Daniel, you okay?” she asked. The words sounded ridiculous as they left her lips. How could he be okay?
“As good as I’m going to be,” he shrugged and invited her to join him with an outstretched arm.
Sam settled between his legs as his arms wrapped around her, his face against her hair.
“I don’t want to lose you again, Daniel. I don’t know if I can,” she said.
“I don’t want to go, if that’s worth anything. I’m afraid, Sam,” he admitted.
She bit her lip and blinked her eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. Daniel kissed her temple.
“Don’t give up on me. If there’s a way back, I’ll find it. I promise you.”
Nodding against his cheek, Sam watched the new day dawn as the sun climbed over the horizon.
``fin``