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phantismaFandom: Stargate SG-1
Title: And Yet, Here We Are (Part One)
Characters/Pairings: Cameron Mitchell/Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, Jack O'Neill, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran, Hank Landry, Carolyn Lam
Word Count: 17832
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Cameron and Daniel have a casual sort of relationship that they keep discrete and away from the base (or so they think) until a visit to a planet with temple ruins that may have been built by a contingent of Ancients brings the two of them face to face with everything between them, because what is between them is increasingly Cameron's belly.
Notes:
A/Ns & Warnings: I keep saying that I don't write mpreg. And I don't. Except when I do. And usually, once Brain gets her teeth into one, she doesn't let it go. I apologize for the saccharine sweetness to follow. And if Cameron seems a little flat, I apologize for that too. He and my muse weren't getting along. #sexpollen #aliensmadethemdoit #mpreg
Daniel looked up as Cameron came into the bathroom behind him, reaching around Daniel for his toothbrush. "You're still here?" Daniel asked. "You're usually gone by the time I get out of the shower."
Cameron shrugged as he put toothpaste on his toothbrush. "Both going to the same place, figured I'd grab a shower here."
Daniel nodded and finished shaving, turning on the water to rinse off the razor. "Coffee?"
"Already started it." Cameron said around his toothbrush. "I just need ten minutes."
Daniel ducked around him and headed into the bedroom to get dressed, dropping the towel he had wrapped around himself as he got out of the shower in the hamper near the bathroom door. He heard the shower turn on as he pulled on clean underwear and a pair of jeans.
It wasn't the first night Cameron had spent in Daniel's bed, in fact, lately it seemed to happen at least once a week, but every morning, when Daniel climbed in the shower, Cameron snuck out and went home and the two of them would pretend it never happened.
Daniel finished getting dressed and poked his head into the bathroom. "Hey, those clothes you left here last week are clean. I left them on the chair."
Cameron said something Daniel didn't get, and Daniel followed the smell of coffee down the hall, through the living room and into the kitchen. Two mugs sat on the counter in front of the coffee maker. Daniel smiled to himself as he poured his coffee and went back to the living room, where he'd left the translation he was working on before Cameron had showed up the night before.
The work was spread out over the coffee table, mixed with DVD cases and covering the pizza box that had accompanied Cameron. Daniel sat on the couch, sipping at his coffee and tried to pick up the threads of understanding he had abandoned when casual touching had segued into kissing, and from there into the shedding of clothes and the heat of two bodies moving as one.
Daniel licked his lips and pressed one warm hand against the response the memory evoked in his groin before setting the coffee cup down to gather his research together. Cameron appeared a few moments later as Daniel stuffed papers and a book into his briefcase.
He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with his own cup of coffee, plopping down on the other side of the couch. "Where is it we're going tomorrow?" Cameron asked, one hand fishing under the coffee table for his shoes.
"P3X-742." Daniel replied. "SG-16 documented some ruins that have some of the hallmarks of Ancient design. They didn't get close, but the aerial pictures look promising."
Cameron nodded. "Right…ruins of some temple? Locals think the place is cursed or something?"
Daniel watched him shove his feet into his shoes. "Legends say that at one time the temple was a place of great blessing and magic, but those that venture there now are struck down with some disease."
"Let me guess, you can't wait to test that theory." Cameron said, looking up at him.
"Judging by the aerial photos, I'm guessing that at one time the temple was home to the Ancients and that the 'magic' was advanced science and that the 'curse' is a story that grew up to explain why there isn't magic anymore." Daniel said dryly, standing and finishing his coffee.
"So, you want to go in and debunk the curse and find out what the Ancients were doing?" Cameron stood, grinning. "Sounds like fun." Daniel couldn't help but chuckle as Cameron reached for his coat. "Come on, I'm driving."
Daniel grabbed his briefcase and followed Cameron to the door, pausing to lock it while Cameron headed for the car. Sometimes Cameron's enthusiasm was contagious…which might have been what originally led to the two of them ending up in bed together that first time, more than eight months ago. Despite the fact that they weren't that far apart age wise, Daniel could sometimes feel like he was older, or at least had been around longer…but when Cameron grinned, when he practically vibrated with excitement over things that Daniel now found everyday ordinary, sometimes Daniel could remember when he was filled with wonder and excitement too and let the emotion carry him.
As they pulled in to the base, Daniel put Cameron and their off base relationship out of his mind. It was an unspoken agreement with them, it stayed away from work. Never off world. Never on base. In fact, it only ever seemed to happen when Cameron would show up on Daniel's doorstep with take out and beer, and it would start as dinner and morph into something more.
He and Cameron moved silently until they reached the men's locker room, separating to go to their various lockers to change out of their civilian clothes. "So I'll see you at lunch?" Cameron asked as he finished tying his boots.
"Yeah, Teal'c should be back then too." Daniel replied, buttoning up his shirt.
"I'll grab Carter. It's been a while since we did a team lunch." Cameron stood, smirking. "And no, I'm not counting that meal on P3X-204. We barely tasted the food before we were running for cover."
Daniel chuckled, remembering the freezing cold rain that had started falling from a sky that had moments before been completely cloudless. "I have a meeting with Dr. Lanister just before lunch, so I might be a little late."
"She still trying to get you to endorse her project?"
"Probably. She means well, I just think we could use her talents more effectively." Daniel sighed and sat to pull his boots on. "And, I'd appreciate it if she stopped trying to get me to ask her out too."
Cameron laughed as he left the room and Daniel shook his head. He finished dressing and grabbed his suit case to head to his office, determined to get more of the photos taken by the drone translated, so they weren't walking into the temple site with absolutely no idea what to expect.
What he'd managed to decipher before Cameron knocked on his door the night before had him a little baffled, because while the architecture was clearly of ancient design, and the guideposts on the path that once lead to the temple was written in something that looked very much like ancient, it was proving to be something else, some derivation he had never seen.
Daniel stopped in the mess hall for a cup of coffee, then headed to his office. As he reached his office door, Dr. Tranke flagged him down, a file in her hand. "Ah, Dr. Jackson, I'm sorry I took so long with this."
He frowned at her and waved her into the office, flicking on the lights and moving to his desk to set his briefcase and coffee down. "With what?"
She handed him the file. "It's everything I was able to gather from the villagers about the temple. I had to transcribe a bunch of notes, and I have the worst handwriting. I really need to start carrying a tape recorder."
Daniel flipped open the file and scanned through the first and second pages. "This is interesting. The temple was devoted to fertility?"
She nodded. "There were stories going back centuries about couples going to the temple to be blessed with children. I included one of their myths I thought you might be particularly interested in. It's at the back."
Daniel flipped a few more pages as he sat down. "Thank you, Dr. Tranke. This will be very helpful."
"Good luck tomorrow." She smiled at him and left, though Daniel barely noticed as his attention was pulled by the story.
"So are we talking about the kind of fertility that matters to farmers or the kind that matters to midwives?" Cameron asked as they left the village behind and started the long walk up to the temple.
Daniel sighed and shook his head. "Midwives. The lore is that any couple seeking to have a baby would make the pilgrimage to the temple, where they would undergo various ceremonies that were meant to increase their fertility, then they would go into special rooms to conceive."
"So, Mommy and Daddy get it on right there in the temple?" Cameron asked. "That's kinky."
"It's not all that uncommon, Cam." Daniel said. "Many temples on Earth had sexual rituals as well. It's one of our primal urges. It makes sense that we would build ritual around it."
"So what's your theory?"
Daniel shrugged a little. "I'm not entirely sure. The dialect is…different. We should be able to tell more once we reach the guidepost."
"How far?" Cameron asked, glancing around them.
"Judging by the aerial photos, we should start seeing red flowers on the sides of the path, then about a mile on we'll find the guidepost. The temple is a few miles beyond that." They were quiet as they trudged up the slight incline, following a path that had once been a wide road, but was now little more than a footpath, overgrown and all but disappearing under a thick carpet of grass in places.
"I think I see your red flowers." Cameron said, jogging up ahead and plucking one, grinning at Daniel as he reached the spot. He held it out, twirling it in his fingers. "Maybe you should take a bouquet back to Dr. Lanister."
Daniel made a face and pulled back from the red petals. The flower exuded a heavy scent, part lilac and part honeysuckle, sweet and somehow sultry at the same time. He fully expected it to set off his allergies, but when he didn't sneeze, he started walking again. "Maybe you should stop before I stop letting you into my house every time you knock." Daniel said, hiding his smirk.
Cameron shrugged and tucked the flower behind his ear. "Nah, you like when I show up at your house." Cameron's shoulder bumped his. "Especially when I'm horny."
Daniel snorted and pushed him a little. "When are you ever NOT horny?" He frowned and shook his head. "And stop. We're off world."
"We're alone." Cameron countered.
"Still off world." Daniel answered. "We have a job to do."
Cameron's hand found Daniel's ass, rubbing over it suggestively. "You telling me you never thought about it?"
Daniel stepped out of his reach. "What? No. Of course not."
"I have." Cameron waved a hand at the field beside the path, filled with the red flowers and punctuated by yellows and blues. "Right now, I'm thinking about taking you out into that field and fucking you until neither one of us can stand."
Daniel stopped and looked at him, frowning hard enough it hurt a little. "What has gotten into you?"
"Well, I was hoping you would." Cameron responded before he was frowning too. "Sorry. I…" He pressed the heel of one hand down on his groin and exhaled. "I don't even…sorry."
Daniel shook it off and pointed ahead of them where he could just barely see the top of what he assumed was the guidepost. "Let's just get to the post and figure out what it says."
Cameron fell quiet as they walked and Daniel tried to rationalize his behavior. It wasn't like he'd never thought about things like what Cameron was suggesting, but there had always been a line, unspoken but never crossed. It wasn't like they were lovers exactly. They were friends. Friends who sometimes spent all night fucking one another senseless. Friends who knew every inch of each other's bodies and how to make them go speechless, make them scream out in passion as they came for the third time that night.
Daniel cleared his throat as if that would stop the cascading thoughts that now included every sensation of the last time they had been together. By the time they reached the guidepost, Daniel was grateful that Cameron moved around it, saying he was going to look around. It gave Daniel a moment to make his own attempt at controlling his body's reaction, pressing in against his cock and telling himself to focus.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pushing away the distraction and exhaling slowly. When he opened his eyes, Cameron was not in his line of sight and the obelisk of black stone was waiting for him. He skimmed over the writing, working his way around the four sides before coming back to the beginning. The dialect was one he'd never seen, though it had its roots in the familiar phrasing of the Ancient he had been years learning.
He parsed through it, jotting down notes. All in all, it didn't tell him much more than he already knew. He sighed and stepped around the pillar, shoving his notebook into his pocket. Cameron was up ahead of him, though the path seemed to have disappeared into an overgrowth of the aromatic blossoms. Daniel headed his way, static filling his ear, followed by Cameron's voice.
"Carter?"
Daniel frowned at him, touching his earpiece. "Problem?"
Cameron shrugged. "I could have sworn I heard Carter a second ago. Now she's not responding."
"I didn't hear anything." Daniel said, reaching for the button on his radio. "Sam, this is Daniel." There was more static, then distantly, Sam's voice.
"We may be getting some interference from the temple." Daniel offered. "If it's ancient tech and they had a reason to block signals…"'
Cameron nodded. "Be advised, we are having intermittent signal failure. We may lose radio all together. Sit tight. If we aren't back within 24 hours, head back to the gate and call in back up."
"Roger that." Sam responded. "You two be careful."
"We will." Cameron responded, then hitched his thumb toward the next hill. "Learn anything new?"
Daniel fell into step behind the Colonel, blushing as he realized he was staring at Cameron's ass. "Um, not a lot. More of the 'welcome traveler' stuff, telling them to prepare their offerings for the gods. I don't think that guidepost is as old as the temple itself."
"No?"
Daniel pulled his eyes off Cameron's ass yet again and stepped up so that they were shoulder to shoulder as they picked their way through the winding vines of flowers at their feet. "It's stone, not metal and the language is some derivative of Ancient."
They hiked through the increasingly dense field of flowers for a while in silence before Cameron snorted. "Wizard of Oz."
Daniel frowned at him. "What?"
"That's what this reminds me of. You know, the field of poppies…"
Daniel snorted. "I hope these don't have the same effect."
The ground started to climb beneath their boots and as they topped the hill, Daniel realized that Cameron's hand had slid into his. He turned to say something, but before he could, Cameron had grabbed his shoulders, their mouths coming together almost forcefully as Cameron kissed him.
Daniel put his hands on Cameron's chest to push him away, but couldn't remember why and all he could think was that there was too much clothing between them.
Cameron's hands were pulling at Daniel's vest before Daniel remembered himself and stepped back, one hand still on Cam's chest, holding him there. "What…was that?" Daniel asked breathlessly, watching the confusion creep over Cameron's face.
Cameron licked his lips and looked around them. "Daniel, I'm sorry. I…I don't know what I was doing."
"Kissing me." Daniel replied, licking his own lips and attempting to suppress the smirk. "Quite well, actually. I just, …we're off world."
Cameron nodded, squaring his shoulders. "Right. Save it for when we get home."
Daniel turned, pointing. "I think we found the temple."
"Or what's left of it." Cameron started toward what had once been an impressive building, judging just from the scale of the ruins. The flowers slowly gave way to the remnants of a stone road, which lead up to large doors, or the archway that once held them. The doors themselves were broken, one clinging to the hinges, the other on the floor of the main entry way to the temple. Daniel paused there, his eyes scanning over the frame.
The writing on the arch was more directly related to the Ancient he was familiar with than what had been on the guidepost, but still not purely the same. "Okay, this says that the temple was meant as a place of …I think this is aid to…oh." Cameron looked at him, the question on his face. "Um, sex. I'm not used to Ancients being so…blunt." He shook his head and parsed through the rest of the statement. "Basically it is what we thought, a place for couples to come when they're having trouble conceiving."
"But a temple? Doesn't that seem kind of…not Ancienty?" Cameron asked.
Daniel lifted an eyebrow and stepped through the doors, pulling his flashlight out. "Ancienty?"
"Aren't they all hands off, no interfering in the lower levels, yadda yadda?"
Daniel nodded, picking his way over and around debris from the walls that covered the floor of what had once been a beautiful entry way. He could still see parts of the mosaic that had been tiled into the floor. "The lore Dr. Tranke gathered said that prior to the temple being built here, the people suffered a great plague that rendered most of the population sterile. I'm thinking that whoever built this place was trying to help."
"But Ancients don't help." Cameron countered.
Daniel shrugged. "Some of them do. Granted, they usually get shut down quickly, but…who knows, maybe these Ancients grew a conscience…or they came here before they ascended."
"And caused the plague in the first place." Cameron offered. "I mean, we've seen that too."
"Well, we won't know more unless there's something in here to tell us."
"Let's just watch our step, okay? Don't go turning anything on, or breaking anything." Cameron flashed his light around the place. "I'm going to check our perimeter."
"I'll get started in here."
Daniel moved further into the shadows, grateful that Cameron had moved away. The earlier contact had only heightened his distraction and he wanted to be focused on the task ahead, not on the taste of Cameron's cock on his tongue.
He groaned as the thought only filled his head with images of moments between them and he pressed his hand down against his suddenly very interested dick. "Get it together," he growled at himself, annoyed at the failure at self-control. He wasn't a school boy with a crush. He had work to do.
"From what I've been able to gather so far, the cult that built this temple were not Ancients as we have come to know them, but it seems likely that they were descended from Ancient stock. The myths played out on the walls that remain standing speak of a group that came from the sky in ancient times and built many wonders." Daniel spoke into his recorder, setting it down on some rubble before moving closer to the wall he'd been examining. "Not the least of which was the stargate. Something happened that caused them to bury the gate many years later. Which fits with what we were told by the people of the planet. The gate was only unburied in recent years."
He pulled at flower vines that covered part of the wall, wiping his hand against his leg to try to get free of the clinging pollen that seemed to stick to everything it touched.
He moved further into the room he hand found off the main sanctuary, his light slipping over debris to what looked a lot like an altar. He picked his way over to it, wishing he had a better light. Almost as he thought it, the altar itself started to emit a soft glow, drawing him in even as it cast light through the room.
Hands slid around his waist, a hot body pressed against him as those hands caressed over his cock, through his pants. "Cam…" He turned his head in an effort to say something, but Cameron's face was right there and his mouth covered Daniel's in a hot, messy kiss that made the words just skip off into the corners. Cameron's hands had Daniel's pants open and falling before Daniel even registered that Cameron was naked and as the kiss ended, Daniel couldn't remember what he was going to say, only that he needed more.
Cameron's cock was hard and already pushing against Daniel's ass, the head rubbing over the hole and Daniel belatedly realized that Cameron's cock was lubed as Cameron pressed him forward, over the glowing altar, sinking slowly into him.
"Daniel." Cameron gasped as he pulled out, his left hand settling on Daniel's hip as his right circled Daniel's cock, pulling in counter rhythm.
Daniel shuddered, grabbing the edge of the altar and shifting his stance to make it more comfortable. "Need….fuck…" Cameron was moving faster, his whole body taking part in the effort to fuck Daniel into the slab of stone beneath him. When he came, it was with a shout that bounced back off the wall, stumbling back, leaving Daniel standing in the puddle of his pants, his hard cock needy as he turned.
Cameron was flushed, his body pink and heated, his cock still mostly hard. Cameron stumbled, landed on the floor and Daniel took the two steps to close the distance, his cock in his hand. Cameron seemed to understand, planting his feet and lifting his hips, offering himself to Daniel's need.
Here too, Cameron was prepared, already lubed and Daniel sank into him easily. Sweat dripped from his face as he fucked down and in with abandon, his ass tight, his stomach pulled taught, grunting with the effort. Cameron's hands grabbed Daniel's elbows, lifting his head, his eyes wide with need and lust, spurring Daniel into even faster, harder movements until suddenly he was coming, heavy like he hadn't come in weeks, months even.
He collapsed backward, landing on his bare ass panting. "What…just…" He shook his head, trying to clear it, but mostly what he wanted was more.
"Couldn't stop myself." Cameron said, finally getting his own breathing under control.
"Me either." Daniel said cautiously. "Where are your clothes?"
Cameron looked down at himself as if he wasn't aware he was naked. "Um. There's a…" He gestured over his shoulder. "I'm not sure."
They both got to their feet slowly. "Maybe you should find them and we should head back." Daniel said, trying to tuck his still hard cock back into his pants.
"Yeah, okay. Good plan." Cameron stopped two steps away. "I came to tell you I found stairs…and smaller rooms downstairs, thought you might want to take a look."
Daniel zipped himself up and moved away from Cameron to where he'd set his pack down. He grabbed the voice recorder and rewound it back, listening to his last few words and stopping it so he could record over whatever the machine had picked up of the last twenty minutes. Part of his brain was warning him they should leave before whatever was causing this lack of self-control got worse, but his curiosity was itching to discover more about the place. "Okay, a quick look, but…" He turned to find Cameron leaning against the glowing altar, his cock in his hands. "For gods sake, Mitchell, put your clothes on."
Cameron started and shook his head. "Damn." He moved away from the altar and out into the main sanctuary, where he found his underwear as Daniel followed. "Over there." Cameron pointed toward some shadows cast by still standing columns.
Daniel left him still gathering his scattered clothing and headed into the shadows, finding the staircase easily enough and heading down. He'd look around quickly and maybe come back without Cameron to distract him.
He expected the lower level to be dark, but as he opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, the hallway was lit by sconces on walls that reminded him of Atlantis. Directly ahead of him was a door ajar and he could glimpse inside looked like control panels of some sort. He glanced behind him, half thinking he should go check on Cameron, but that just made him want to shove Cameron into a wall and fuck him hard and fast.
He shook his head and moved into the room, his eyes skipping over half familiar consoles before finding one that looked a lot like the database interface in Atlantis. That would give him the best information. Daniel did his best to put his physical needs aside and focus, bringing up the display and paging through the information. Just a quick look to confirm the narrative he was starting to put together, and then they would get out.
Daniel was suddenly aware of the silence, rubbing at bleary eyes and looking around him. "Cam?" He stepped back from the console, blinking a little to adjust his vision. He had no idea how long he'd been absorbed in reading the history recorded in the database, but he had a better idea now of the way the temple had been used.
"Cameron?" Daniel stepped into the hallway, looking up and down and trying to decide where to start looking. Almost instantly he was hard again, his cock straining against his underwear. At least he understood that a little better.
The flowers were a powerful stimulant and aphrodisiac that the former priests of the temple cultivated and used in their rituals to arouse those who had come seeking fertility. The pollen was enough to arouse most people, but the flower was pressed into an oil, the pollen mixed in and the resulting mixture was used to "bless" the participants before they had sex in the special rooms that lined the hall.
Each room seemed to be geared toward a different type of couple, or problem. He was going to need more time to fully translate that part of the text. But the flowers had over run the place once the temple was abandoned, and the concentration of so much pollen was what was affecting them both.
Daniel tried to ignore it as he looked into each of the rooms, finally hearing what sounded like moaning as he neared the end of the hall. Cautious, Daniel pushed the door open to find Cameron, still naked and with a fine sheen over his skin as he fucked his hand. His head was thrown back, his eyes closed, his body languid against a table or altar in the center of the room.
Come coated his thighs and stomach, telling Daniel he'd been there a while. He stopped in the doorway, one hand cupping his cock through his pants. Images filled his head, thoughts of pushing Cameron's legs up to his chest and fucking into him, of draping him over the table and taking him from behind. Daniel cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to clear it. "Cameron. Come on, we should go."
Cameron's eyes opened, the blue shot through with red, his pupils wide. His nostrils flared and his hand stopped jacking his cock, reaching out to Daniel. He was three steps into the room before he realized it. "No, really, Cam. It's the flowers. We…we…" But Cameron's hand was on his, the smell of come and sweat and something sweet…there was a thud that Daniel vaguely recognized was his vest, and then cool air was caressing his skin. "Cam…"
Daniel forgot what he was trying to say as Cameron kissed him, hands rubbing over his skin, down to his belt. His cock jumped from his pants as they fell and Cameron's hot hand, slick with oil rubbed over his cock while Cameron groaned in needy waves that filled Daniel's stomach with want.
They stumbled back toward the table, Daniel vaguely aware of a soft humming. Cameron's kiss was desperate, tongue teasing along Daniel's before he bit down on Daniel's lower lip. "We…" but Daniel had lost the reasons for trying to leave, lost words beyond fuck and yes and more and when Cameron climbed onto the table, Daniel followed, chasing after Cameron's mouth, fingers pulling and pushing until Cameron was on his back, his knees bent and pulled aside, stretching himself open and Daniel's cock pulsed with the need to sink into the heat.
"Daniel…please…" Cam's voice was ragged and rough and dripping with lusty need. It was more than Daniel needed, holding his cock as he guided it to Cameron's well lubed hole, sinking in with a low groan that Cameron echoed. "More."
Daniel nodded and pulled out slowly, but it was too much separation and he sank back in quickly, rocking his hips, pressing in until Cameron yelled and his cock twitched, attempting to come though it was clear Cameron was dry. Daniel guided Cameron's legs to circle his waist, leaning in over Cam as he began to snap his hips, hard and fast until he was coming and even then he couldn't seem to stop. He was still hard, panting as he leaned back, first on his elbows, then down onto his back, Cameron following, never letting him pull out as he adjusted, straddling over Daniel and riding his cock until Daniel was pretty sure his cock was screaming in overstimulation.
When the second orgasm hit him, he was unprepared for its intensity or duration, quivering as he filled Cameron with waves of come that shouldn't be possible.
The room was hot, or maybe it was just them, but he couldn't let Cameron's body move from his, he needed to be touching him, kissing him. Cameron covered Daniel, their cocks rubbing together as they kissed slow and messy, and Daniel could feel Cameron hardening again, his own cock following. "Fuck, Cam…we gotta…"
"I know." Cameron whispered back. "Just once more."
"No, really…" Daniel's voice faded, then he yelled as Cameron's hand circled his cock, pulling up it.
"Need you to fuck me." Cameron whispered.
"Just did." Daniel whispered back.
"More, need…." Cameron's eyes closed and his forehead pressed to Daniel's chest. "You're right." Cameron's voice was tight, and he pushed himself up to sitting between Daniel's legs . Daniel sat up slowly, attempting to put some distance between them, but then he was reaching for Cameron's face, pulling him in to kiss, his cock fully hard and he craved the feeling of fucking down into Cameron again.
"Stomach." Daniel gasped, shifting around and helping Cameron get down on his stomach, stretching the length of the table before he brought his knees up under him, tilting his ass up in offering. Daniel moaned at the sight, his hole slightly open, glistening with come and lube and he sank in as though they hadn't fucked in weeks, holding his hips as he thrust in and down and fuck but he was going to come again.
Somehow he managed to pull away after he came, sliding off the table to sit on the dusty floor. They were both panting and Daniel's head was buzzing. He knew they should go, but he was spent, his limbs heavy and before he could get to his feet, Daniel was asleep.
Daniel moaned as he became aware of himself, of the aches and pains in his body, the dehydration and pounding head. He was partially dressed, half in the hallway. All he could smell was sex and sweat and the smell of that damn flower. He pulled himself fully out of the room and pulled his pants up, zipping over his protesting cock.
Cameron was somewhere behind him, but for the moment Daniel decided it was better to let him sleep. The last time he had tried to wake the colonel up they had ended up fucking each other into exhaustion again.
Daniel climbed to his feet, thinking what he really wanted was a shower. Despite all of the sex, he had parsed through enough of what he'd read to understand at least a little of what was happening, and getting the oil and pollen off their skin would go a long way to getting them back to normal.
He stumbled down the hall, peering through doors until he reached the end of the hall, where he was rewarded with a chamber that looked different than the others. The lights came on as he stepped in to reveal a sunken tub. As he stepped closer, steaming water rose in the tub, fed by some unseen mechanism. The information he had read earlier had alluded to a ritual bath to end the rites, and it would make sense that even when this place had been fully functional the couples seeking fertility would need to wash off the aphrodisiac before they left.
Daniel shut the door and stripped slowly, the aches in his body reminding him that he wasn't a teenager anymore. He stepped down into the tub, sighing as the heat wrapped around his legs and sank into his skin. Everything hurt, and he cradled his over used and still semi-hard cock as he sat in the water, breathing through the sting as the hot water surrounded it, but in only moments he could feel the difference, his cock deflating, his body relaxing.
He let his body slip down, immersing his head in the water and scrubbing his fingers through it. He surfaced and sat back against the side of the tub. He had no idea how long they'd been gone, or how much time they had before Sam came looking for them, probably with an SG team of marines as back up. That meant he couldn't sit and enjoy the hot water. He needed to get Cameron into the tub and get them both out.
Reluctantly, Daniel pulled himself up and out, dressing slowly before shuffling back into the hallway and down to the door of the room he and Cameron had spent the last hours in. Cameron was up and dressed, leaning against the table and rubbing his eyes. Daniel stood in the hallway, careful not to cross the threshold. "You look like shit."
Cameron nodded, but didn't say anything. Daniel shifted and Cameron looked up. "There's hot water at the end of the hall. Get cleaned up."
Cameron lurched up and toward Daniel and Daniel backpedaled away, toward the stairs, pointing. "Don't take too long. I don't know how much time we have." Once Cameron was behind the door at the end of the hall, Daniel went back into the room, gathering their vests and his pack before moving to the bottom of the stairs.
Ten minutes later, Cameron emerged from the bathing room looking like he need a couple days' worth of sleep, but better than he had. "Let's get out of here."
Daniel nodded, leading the way up the stairs. They were quiet as they picked their way out of the temple, into a cool night that looked well on its way to morning. The dual moons hovered close to the horizon to their right and the sky to their left was showing the first signs of dawn.
Neither of them spoke until they were well passed the guidepost and nearly to the turn in the road that would take them either to the village or the gate. "So, that was…something." Cameron said awkwardly as they paused.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Daniel offered, shaking his head. "If I hadn't insisted we check it out…"
"No, you were right. It was something we had to do." Cameron argued, scratching at his head. "Even if it wasn't entirely useful."
"Well, we did learn that pre-ascended Ancients at some point in time interfered a lot with local populations. Judging from what I got from the computer, a whole group of them settled here, eventually intermarrying with the locals."
"I'm just glad the rest of the team wasn't with us." Cameron replied.
Daniel shook his head at the thought. "Speaking of…should we just call them and have them meet us at the gate? I'm exhausted."
Cameron nodded and they turned for the gate. "I'm sleeping for a week when we get back. By myself."
"No argument here." Daniel agreed. In fact, he was pretty sure he wouldn't think about sex again for a very long time.
***
Cameron padded on bare feet to the front door, surprised to find Daniel on the other side of it.
"I brought pizza."
Cameron stepped back to let him in, frowning a little. In all the time they'd been doing this thing, Daniel had never come to him. It was always Cameron showing up on Daniel's door. This was twice now in two weeks. Not that he was complaining.
Daniel put the pizza box down on the coffee table in the living room and turned to Cameron, one hand finding his belt loop and pulling him in. His lips were soft on Cameron's, his tongue warm as it swiped over Cameron's lips. "Hi."
Cameron smiled, his hands settling on Daniel's hips. "Hi yourself. What's going on?"
Daniel shrugged and kissed him again. "Just wanted to see you."
"I do like to be seen." Cameron agreed, turning them. Daniel's hands caught both sides of his face, his mouth covering Cameron's, his tongue curling along Cameron's as Daniel slowly sank to the couch, drawing Cameron with him.
They ended up with Cameron straddling Daniel's lap as they kissed, groins rubbing together through layers of denim. "Kissing…is good too…" Cameron murmured as they came up for air.
Daniel caressed over his thighs, up onto his abs, his fingers playing up the ladder of Cam's ribs. "I just wanted to touch you." Daniel said, blushing a little. "You didn't come over last night and I realized that I had really wanted you to."
Cameron licked at Daniel's lips, sucking his lower lip before kissing him deeply. "You could have called."
Daniel nodded, his fingers rubbing over Cameron's nipples, then leaning forward to lick at them. "Thought about it…laid in bed thinking about you, about touching you…" Daniel bit lightly against one nipple and the sharp sensation shot through him, hardening his cock. "I'm here now." Daniel said, looking up into Cameron's eyes.
Cameron shifted enough to rub his cock against Daniel's, smirking. "Oh, me too."
Daniel grinned and thrust up against him. "So I'm noticing."
Cameron rocked against him briefly, then got up. He knew this dance. If they went too far now, the evening would be over and they'd fall asleep on the couch. "Beer?"
Daniel nodded and leaned forward to open the pizza box. Cameron grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and a handful of paper towels before coming back to the couch. "So, Sam said you ended up in the infirmary today?" Daniel said in a tone that Cameron had come to understand was meant to hide his concern, but didn't.
He rolled his eyes as he handed one of the beers over and sat. "It was nothing. I forgot breakfast, ran a couple miles while waiting for Teal'c to spar. I got dizzy."
Daniel opened his beer, his eyes narrowing. "You passed out."
Which explained why Daniel had shown up. "I'm fine. Lam took some blood and checked me over and let me go."
"You've been hitting the gym awfully hard the last couple of weeks." Daniel observed. Cameron could feel his eyes as he reached for a slice of pizza.
"I had been slacking off. It was starting to show." His hand subconsciously rubbed across his lower abdomen, where no matter how much he worked at it, he had developed a bit of a pouch.
"Come on, Cam, you're in better shape than most of the guys at the SGC." Daniel countered. "What's really going on?"
Cameron sat back with his pizza and shook his head. "Nothing is going on." He huffed and didn't look at Daniel. "Okay, so I tried to put on my favorite pair of jeans and I couldn't zipper them." And that had been almost three weeks before. Since then, Cameron had needed to go up a size in almost all his pants. He hadn't said anything, just increased his work outs, but that hadn't helped any.
"Did you tell Dr. Lam that today?" Daniel asked, his voice soft.
Cameron sighed and dropped his pizza back into the box, standing up to pace. "No, because it sounds stupid. I mean, it is stupid. I don't know why it's got me so worked up. It's normal, right? For a man my age to slow down, to get a little soft around the middle?"
Daniel stood, setting his beer down and crossing to intercept him. "Yes, but if it doesn't feel normal for you, maybe it isn't."
Cam sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay. Okay. I want to show you something." He shook his head and dropped his hands to his waistband, popping the button and unzipping before he could change his mind. He let the jeans fall and eased his underwear down.
"I've seen--oh." Daniel frowned as he leaned in closer, his hand ghosting over the small, but growing, swelling in Cameron's lower abdomen. "Okay, that….that isn't exactly normal."
Fear stabbed through him and he pulled away, pulling up his pants and going back to pacing. "And it just…gets bigger. No matter how much I work out."
"Okay, Cam. Calm down." Daniel's voice was strained and Cameron could see the very tight lines of concern in his face. "We should get you back to the base, get Dr. Lam to have a look."
Cameron shook his head, his hand rubbing over the spot. "I'm sure if there's something wrong it will show up in the bloodwork."
"Cam, something is wrong." Daniel said, his hand rubbing up Cameron's back. "A growth like that…you passing out…it can't be good."
Cameron didn't like the word growth, but really, it was an accurate word.
"I'll be with you." Daniel said softly, his warm hand replaced by his lips pressing kisses along Cameron's spine. "Go get dressed, I'll drive."
He wanted to say no. He wanted to go back to the couch, to the kissing that would lead to more and a long night spent in a warm bed with a warm body…but he knew Daniel was right. He headed into his bedroom, digging out a clean shirt and socks and shoving his feet into his shoes with a heavy sigh.
Daniel's hand was warm on his thigh as they drove quietly from his house toward the mountain. "I called ahead, made sure Lam would be there."
The tone of his voice and the warmth of his hand was comforting, but somehow his words irritated. "Sure, why not ruin everyone's evening?" Cam growled, shifting away from Daniel.
Daniel didn't respond, just turned them onto the base, slowing down for the checkpoint. A few minutes later they were headed down in the elevator and Cameron felt like an ass. "I'm sorry."
Daniel's hand touched his and he smiled. "Don't worry about it."
They walked down the unusually quiet corridors of the SGC in the early evening and into an otherwise empty infirmary. Dr. Lam stepped out of her office area, lifting her stethoscope as she approached. "I was just going over your test results, Colonel."
"I thought you said you wouldn't have them until tomorrow." Cameron said, frowning.
"When Doctor Jackson called, I put a rush on them."
"Anything we need to worry about?" Daniel asked as Lam walked them into one of the curtained off exam areas.
"There are a few anomalies. I want to confirm them before we jump to conclusions. Sit." Her fingers were warm where she touched his wrist once he was sitting, feeling his pulse beat against his skin. "I'm going to have some blood drawn and I want you to get out of your clothes. There's a gown there on the bed. I'll be back in a few minutes."
She stepped out of the space and pulled the curtain closed and Cameron stood up. "This is stupid."
Daniel stopped him from taking a step away. "Yes, it is. Do what she said." He brushed his lips over Cameron's. "Please?"
Cameron's heart sped up at the sound in Daniel's voice in that simple word. He was afraid. Cameron blinked a little and let Daniel pull his t-shirt up and off of him. Somehow Daniel's fear only made Cameron's worse. His hear was racing by the time he realized that Daniel would stand there and undress him if he let him and that would be bad for both of them.
Cameron took Daniel's hands and lifted them to kiss the fingertips lightly. "Okay, point made. Why don't you step out so no one…."
"No one here but you and me." Daniel said softly, kissing him again, his lips warm. "But yeah, I'll just be out here."
Cameron watched him go and finished pulling the hospital gown on before he dropped his pants and toed off his shoes. He folded all of it up and stacked it on the end of the bed before opening the curtain enough to let Lam know he was ready, then pulled the light blanket down and got into the bed. He already knew he wasn't going anywhere very quickly.
One of the techs came in with a quick smile to draw his blood and as she disappeared, Lam returned. "Okay, Colonel, let's have a look."
"You don't have to sit here." Cameron said two hours later as Daniel sat beside him, reading a file.
"I don't mind." Daniel responded looking up. He put the file down and Cameron followed his gaze to find Lam approaching. "She looks serious."
"She always looks serious." Cam said under his breath. He exhaled and told himself that whatever it was, he was in the best hands, that there were no better doctors anywhere. He pushed himself up straighter as Lam stopped at the end of his bed. "So what's the prognosis, doc?"
"Well, Colonel, the first thing is your bloodwork is showing an abnormally high white blood cell count, but far more concerning is that there is also evidence of nanites in your blood."
Cameron frowned and glanced at Daniel. "Nanites? From where?"
"I'm not sure. There were only a few, and they seemed to be inert. However, there were a few other strange results. That, combined with the symptoms you described has me concerned."
"What strange results?" Cameron asked.
"The biopsy I took from your stomach appears to be very similar to amniotic fluid."
Cameron wasn't sure he could frown any harder. "What? Are you trying to tell me I'm pregnant, doc?"
"I'm telling you I don't know anything for certain." Lam responded, her voice even, her eyes flashing to Daniel. "But I need you to stay calm and relax. "We'll get to the bottom of this."
"Relax?" Cameron attempted to get up, but Daniel's arm across his chest held him to the bed.
"Cam, calm down." Daniel said. "Let Doctor Lam do her job."
"You calm down." Cameron responded, pushing his hand away. "You're not the one with something growing in his stomach and nanites in his blood."
"Where are you going to go?" Daniel asked, stepping back. "How far are you going to get with your ass hanging out of that gown and armed marines between you and the front door?"
Cameron crossed his arms and sank back onto the bed.
"At least we know you're not pregnant." Daniel offered with a tight smile as Lam turned to confer with one of the other doctors.
"I'm not sure that's helping." Cameron groused. "Look, I feel bad about this. You don't have to stay. I'll be good and listen to Lam. Why don't you go get some rest."
"Not going anywhere, Cam." Daniel said.
"Actually, Doctor Jackson, I need you to step out for this next round of tests." Doctor Lam said. "I think Colonel Mitchell will be more comfortable without an audience."
Daniel stood, folding his arms over the file and nodding. "Okay, but I'm not leaving. I have a ton of cataloguing to do. I'll be in my office when he's ready for company."
Cameron watched him go, trying not to worry as his hand rubbed over the swelling in his stomach. "Why don't you close your eyes and try to rest while we wait for the rest of your test results."
He sighed and laid back against the thin hospital mattress. He doubted he'd be resting any time soon as Dr. Lam rolled some equipment in and pulled the curtains shut.
It was early morning and Cameron was feeling queasy as they transferred him into a private room, hooking him up to monitors of all kinds as soon as he was in the bed. He grabbed a nurse as his stomach twisted and she got a basin under him just as he threw up.
"I was going to ask how you were feeling." Dr. Lam said dryly as she jotted notes into his chart and handed it off.
"Like someone is rearranging my insides." Cameron said once he had wiped his mouth.
"From what I can tell, that's pretty much what is going on." Lam said, coming to stand beside the bed, her eyes flicking over the monitors. "The second sample we took from your stomach gave us much more information and the ultrasound showed us what is going on in there."
"Well?" Cameron's heart thundered, half sure she was about to tell him he had four months to live or something.
"The nanites have rearranged a few things, to make room for what they've built."
"Are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on or just keep me guessing?" Cameron asked, his face red with fear and anger. "I can take it Doc, whatever it is, just spit it out."
Lam looked startled, her face paling. "It looks like a uterus."
"A what?" Cameron pushed himself up off the bed, pulling the leads to all of the monitors off and making alarms sound. "You have got to be kidding me." His head buzzed as he took a step, blood rushing in response to his swift movement and he had to grab the bed to keep from going down.
"I wasn't finished." Lam said as she helped him find his feet.
Cameron shook his head and sat on the bed, trying to reason through what she was saying. "Why would nanites do that?"
"Probably to have a place for the fetus." Lam said, her eyes on his and holding him.
"Fetus." He shook his head. "As in…fetus."
"Unborn child, yes." Lam turned as the door opened and Daniel poked his head in.
"I heard you moved our patient."
Her eyes sought out his permission and Cameron nodded minutely. "Come in, Dr. Jackson. We're just making Colonel Mitchell comfortable."
Both of Daniels eyebrows rose as he came to the end of the bed. "I take it this means he'll be staying?"
Dr. Lam nodded. "I am going to be keeping him, yes. I've signed him off of active duty."
"For how long?" Daniel asked, his blue eyes flooded with worry.
"Well, if I had to guess, the next four months or so, depending on how the situation progresses."
Daniel's hand caressed over Cameron's shoulder. "What situation?"
"I'm pregnant." Cameron said, his voice oddly flat.
"Funny." Daniel responded before he looked at Lam who shrugged and nodded. "Wait, what?"
"I'm guessing about five months along." Lam said.
Daniel froze, looking at Cameron for a long second before blinking and taking a step back. "Five…months."
"What?' Cameron asked, trying to track where Daniel's mind had wandered.
" P3X-742." Daniel said as if that answered everything. "The temple ruins, the…the…" He snapped his fingers, his face starting to turn pink. "Fertility temple." His head turned slightly side to side as if he was reading. "I remember seeing references to kahazic shaw, um…loosely translated, ah, well, male couples wanting children. I chalked it up to local folklore because there weren't any direct correlations in the actual archives of the temple. And men don't…"
He looked up, his face registering shock and realization as his eyes fell from Cameron's face to his stomach. "Oh…."
"I still don't understand how…" Dr. Lam looked at Daniel, her own eyes going wide as she realized what Daniel was reacting to. "Oh. Oh. Okay. That explains…."
"It wasn't like I asked for this." Cameron said. "I didn't want this. Daniel, how did this happen?"
"If I had to guess," Daniel said, "the nanites were in the oil made from the flowers. I told you I couldn't translate the formula they used." He bit his lip. "Which means, you should probably test me for nanites too. I didn't use quite as much of the oil, but I did use it."
Lam nodded. "Okay, head down to the infirmary. I'll be there in a minute. We'll do a complete work up on you too." She patted Cameron's knee. "And for now, I need you to just relax, let Margie hook you back up to the monitors, I want to keep a close eye on you."
Title: And Yet, Here We Are (Part One)
Characters/Pairings: Cameron Mitchell/Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, Jack O'Neill, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran, Hank Landry, Carolyn Lam
Word Count: 17832
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Cameron and Daniel have a casual sort of relationship that they keep discrete and away from the base (or so they think) until a visit to a planet with temple ruins that may have been built by a contingent of Ancients brings the two of them face to face with everything between them, because what is between them is increasingly Cameron's belly.
Notes:
A/Ns & Warnings: I keep saying that I don't write mpreg. And I don't. Except when I do. And usually, once Brain gets her teeth into one, she doesn't let it go. I apologize for the saccharine sweetness to follow. And if Cameron seems a little flat, I apologize for that too. He and my muse weren't getting along. #sexpollen #aliensmadethemdoit #mpreg
Daniel looked up as Cameron came into the bathroom behind him, reaching around Daniel for his toothbrush. "You're still here?" Daniel asked. "You're usually gone by the time I get out of the shower."
Cameron shrugged as he put toothpaste on his toothbrush. "Both going to the same place, figured I'd grab a shower here."
Daniel nodded and finished shaving, turning on the water to rinse off the razor. "Coffee?"
"Already started it." Cameron said around his toothbrush. "I just need ten minutes."
Daniel ducked around him and headed into the bedroom to get dressed, dropping the towel he had wrapped around himself as he got out of the shower in the hamper near the bathroom door. He heard the shower turn on as he pulled on clean underwear and a pair of jeans.
It wasn't the first night Cameron had spent in Daniel's bed, in fact, lately it seemed to happen at least once a week, but every morning, when Daniel climbed in the shower, Cameron snuck out and went home and the two of them would pretend it never happened.
Daniel finished getting dressed and poked his head into the bathroom. "Hey, those clothes you left here last week are clean. I left them on the chair."
Cameron said something Daniel didn't get, and Daniel followed the smell of coffee down the hall, through the living room and into the kitchen. Two mugs sat on the counter in front of the coffee maker. Daniel smiled to himself as he poured his coffee and went back to the living room, where he'd left the translation he was working on before Cameron had showed up the night before.
The work was spread out over the coffee table, mixed with DVD cases and covering the pizza box that had accompanied Cameron. Daniel sat on the couch, sipping at his coffee and tried to pick up the threads of understanding he had abandoned when casual touching had segued into kissing, and from there into the shedding of clothes and the heat of two bodies moving as one.
Daniel licked his lips and pressed one warm hand against the response the memory evoked in his groin before setting the coffee cup down to gather his research together. Cameron appeared a few moments later as Daniel stuffed papers and a book into his briefcase.
He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with his own cup of coffee, plopping down on the other side of the couch. "Where is it we're going tomorrow?" Cameron asked, one hand fishing under the coffee table for his shoes.
"P3X-742." Daniel replied. "SG-16 documented some ruins that have some of the hallmarks of Ancient design. They didn't get close, but the aerial pictures look promising."
Cameron nodded. "Right…ruins of some temple? Locals think the place is cursed or something?"
Daniel watched him shove his feet into his shoes. "Legends say that at one time the temple was a place of great blessing and magic, but those that venture there now are struck down with some disease."
"Let me guess, you can't wait to test that theory." Cameron said, looking up at him.
"Judging by the aerial photos, I'm guessing that at one time the temple was home to the Ancients and that the 'magic' was advanced science and that the 'curse' is a story that grew up to explain why there isn't magic anymore." Daniel said dryly, standing and finishing his coffee.
"So, you want to go in and debunk the curse and find out what the Ancients were doing?" Cameron stood, grinning. "Sounds like fun." Daniel couldn't help but chuckle as Cameron reached for his coat. "Come on, I'm driving."
Daniel grabbed his briefcase and followed Cameron to the door, pausing to lock it while Cameron headed for the car. Sometimes Cameron's enthusiasm was contagious…which might have been what originally led to the two of them ending up in bed together that first time, more than eight months ago. Despite the fact that they weren't that far apart age wise, Daniel could sometimes feel like he was older, or at least had been around longer…but when Cameron grinned, when he practically vibrated with excitement over things that Daniel now found everyday ordinary, sometimes Daniel could remember when he was filled with wonder and excitement too and let the emotion carry him.
As they pulled in to the base, Daniel put Cameron and their off base relationship out of his mind. It was an unspoken agreement with them, it stayed away from work. Never off world. Never on base. In fact, it only ever seemed to happen when Cameron would show up on Daniel's doorstep with take out and beer, and it would start as dinner and morph into something more.
He and Cameron moved silently until they reached the men's locker room, separating to go to their various lockers to change out of their civilian clothes. "So I'll see you at lunch?" Cameron asked as he finished tying his boots.
"Yeah, Teal'c should be back then too." Daniel replied, buttoning up his shirt.
"I'll grab Carter. It's been a while since we did a team lunch." Cameron stood, smirking. "And no, I'm not counting that meal on P3X-204. We barely tasted the food before we were running for cover."
Daniel chuckled, remembering the freezing cold rain that had started falling from a sky that had moments before been completely cloudless. "I have a meeting with Dr. Lanister just before lunch, so I might be a little late."
"She still trying to get you to endorse her project?"
"Probably. She means well, I just think we could use her talents more effectively." Daniel sighed and sat to pull his boots on. "And, I'd appreciate it if she stopped trying to get me to ask her out too."
Cameron laughed as he left the room and Daniel shook his head. He finished dressing and grabbed his suit case to head to his office, determined to get more of the photos taken by the drone translated, so they weren't walking into the temple site with absolutely no idea what to expect.
What he'd managed to decipher before Cameron knocked on his door the night before had him a little baffled, because while the architecture was clearly of ancient design, and the guideposts on the path that once lead to the temple was written in something that looked very much like ancient, it was proving to be something else, some derivation he had never seen.
Daniel stopped in the mess hall for a cup of coffee, then headed to his office. As he reached his office door, Dr. Tranke flagged him down, a file in her hand. "Ah, Dr. Jackson, I'm sorry I took so long with this."
He frowned at her and waved her into the office, flicking on the lights and moving to his desk to set his briefcase and coffee down. "With what?"
She handed him the file. "It's everything I was able to gather from the villagers about the temple. I had to transcribe a bunch of notes, and I have the worst handwriting. I really need to start carrying a tape recorder."
Daniel flipped open the file and scanned through the first and second pages. "This is interesting. The temple was devoted to fertility?"
She nodded. "There were stories going back centuries about couples going to the temple to be blessed with children. I included one of their myths I thought you might be particularly interested in. It's at the back."
Daniel flipped a few more pages as he sat down. "Thank you, Dr. Tranke. This will be very helpful."
"Good luck tomorrow." She smiled at him and left, though Daniel barely noticed as his attention was pulled by the story.
"So are we talking about the kind of fertility that matters to farmers or the kind that matters to midwives?" Cameron asked as they left the village behind and started the long walk up to the temple.
Daniel sighed and shook his head. "Midwives. The lore is that any couple seeking to have a baby would make the pilgrimage to the temple, where they would undergo various ceremonies that were meant to increase their fertility, then they would go into special rooms to conceive."
"So, Mommy and Daddy get it on right there in the temple?" Cameron asked. "That's kinky."
"It's not all that uncommon, Cam." Daniel said. "Many temples on Earth had sexual rituals as well. It's one of our primal urges. It makes sense that we would build ritual around it."
"So what's your theory?"
Daniel shrugged a little. "I'm not entirely sure. The dialect is…different. We should be able to tell more once we reach the guidepost."
"How far?" Cameron asked, glancing around them.
"Judging by the aerial photos, we should start seeing red flowers on the sides of the path, then about a mile on we'll find the guidepost. The temple is a few miles beyond that." They were quiet as they trudged up the slight incline, following a path that had once been a wide road, but was now little more than a footpath, overgrown and all but disappearing under a thick carpet of grass in places.
"I think I see your red flowers." Cameron said, jogging up ahead and plucking one, grinning at Daniel as he reached the spot. He held it out, twirling it in his fingers. "Maybe you should take a bouquet back to Dr. Lanister."
Daniel made a face and pulled back from the red petals. The flower exuded a heavy scent, part lilac and part honeysuckle, sweet and somehow sultry at the same time. He fully expected it to set off his allergies, but when he didn't sneeze, he started walking again. "Maybe you should stop before I stop letting you into my house every time you knock." Daniel said, hiding his smirk.
Cameron shrugged and tucked the flower behind his ear. "Nah, you like when I show up at your house." Cameron's shoulder bumped his. "Especially when I'm horny."
Daniel snorted and pushed him a little. "When are you ever NOT horny?" He frowned and shook his head. "And stop. We're off world."
"We're alone." Cameron countered.
"Still off world." Daniel answered. "We have a job to do."
Cameron's hand found Daniel's ass, rubbing over it suggestively. "You telling me you never thought about it?"
Daniel stepped out of his reach. "What? No. Of course not."
"I have." Cameron waved a hand at the field beside the path, filled with the red flowers and punctuated by yellows and blues. "Right now, I'm thinking about taking you out into that field and fucking you until neither one of us can stand."
Daniel stopped and looked at him, frowning hard enough it hurt a little. "What has gotten into you?"
"Well, I was hoping you would." Cameron responded before he was frowning too. "Sorry. I…" He pressed the heel of one hand down on his groin and exhaled. "I don't even…sorry."
Daniel shook it off and pointed ahead of them where he could just barely see the top of what he assumed was the guidepost. "Let's just get to the post and figure out what it says."
Cameron fell quiet as they walked and Daniel tried to rationalize his behavior. It wasn't like he'd never thought about things like what Cameron was suggesting, but there had always been a line, unspoken but never crossed. It wasn't like they were lovers exactly. They were friends. Friends who sometimes spent all night fucking one another senseless. Friends who knew every inch of each other's bodies and how to make them go speechless, make them scream out in passion as they came for the third time that night.
Daniel cleared his throat as if that would stop the cascading thoughts that now included every sensation of the last time they had been together. By the time they reached the guidepost, Daniel was grateful that Cameron moved around it, saying he was going to look around. It gave Daniel a moment to make his own attempt at controlling his body's reaction, pressing in against his cock and telling himself to focus.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pushing away the distraction and exhaling slowly. When he opened his eyes, Cameron was not in his line of sight and the obelisk of black stone was waiting for him. He skimmed over the writing, working his way around the four sides before coming back to the beginning. The dialect was one he'd never seen, though it had its roots in the familiar phrasing of the Ancient he had been years learning.
He parsed through it, jotting down notes. All in all, it didn't tell him much more than he already knew. He sighed and stepped around the pillar, shoving his notebook into his pocket. Cameron was up ahead of him, though the path seemed to have disappeared into an overgrowth of the aromatic blossoms. Daniel headed his way, static filling his ear, followed by Cameron's voice.
"Carter?"
Daniel frowned at him, touching his earpiece. "Problem?"
Cameron shrugged. "I could have sworn I heard Carter a second ago. Now she's not responding."
"I didn't hear anything." Daniel said, reaching for the button on his radio. "Sam, this is Daniel." There was more static, then distantly, Sam's voice.
"We may be getting some interference from the temple." Daniel offered. "If it's ancient tech and they had a reason to block signals…"'
Cameron nodded. "Be advised, we are having intermittent signal failure. We may lose radio all together. Sit tight. If we aren't back within 24 hours, head back to the gate and call in back up."
"Roger that." Sam responded. "You two be careful."
"We will." Cameron responded, then hitched his thumb toward the next hill. "Learn anything new?"
Daniel fell into step behind the Colonel, blushing as he realized he was staring at Cameron's ass. "Um, not a lot. More of the 'welcome traveler' stuff, telling them to prepare their offerings for the gods. I don't think that guidepost is as old as the temple itself."
"No?"
Daniel pulled his eyes off Cameron's ass yet again and stepped up so that they were shoulder to shoulder as they picked their way through the winding vines of flowers at their feet. "It's stone, not metal and the language is some derivative of Ancient."
They hiked through the increasingly dense field of flowers for a while in silence before Cameron snorted. "Wizard of Oz."
Daniel frowned at him. "What?"
"That's what this reminds me of. You know, the field of poppies…"
Daniel snorted. "I hope these don't have the same effect."
The ground started to climb beneath their boots and as they topped the hill, Daniel realized that Cameron's hand had slid into his. He turned to say something, but before he could, Cameron had grabbed his shoulders, their mouths coming together almost forcefully as Cameron kissed him.
Daniel put his hands on Cameron's chest to push him away, but couldn't remember why and all he could think was that there was too much clothing between them.
Cameron's hands were pulling at Daniel's vest before Daniel remembered himself and stepped back, one hand still on Cam's chest, holding him there. "What…was that?" Daniel asked breathlessly, watching the confusion creep over Cameron's face.
Cameron licked his lips and looked around them. "Daniel, I'm sorry. I…I don't know what I was doing."
"Kissing me." Daniel replied, licking his own lips and attempting to suppress the smirk. "Quite well, actually. I just, …we're off world."
Cameron nodded, squaring his shoulders. "Right. Save it for when we get home."
Daniel turned, pointing. "I think we found the temple."
"Or what's left of it." Cameron started toward what had once been an impressive building, judging just from the scale of the ruins. The flowers slowly gave way to the remnants of a stone road, which lead up to large doors, or the archway that once held them. The doors themselves were broken, one clinging to the hinges, the other on the floor of the main entry way to the temple. Daniel paused there, his eyes scanning over the frame.
The writing on the arch was more directly related to the Ancient he was familiar with than what had been on the guidepost, but still not purely the same. "Okay, this says that the temple was meant as a place of …I think this is aid to…oh." Cameron looked at him, the question on his face. "Um, sex. I'm not used to Ancients being so…blunt." He shook his head and parsed through the rest of the statement. "Basically it is what we thought, a place for couples to come when they're having trouble conceiving."
"But a temple? Doesn't that seem kind of…not Ancienty?" Cameron asked.
Daniel lifted an eyebrow and stepped through the doors, pulling his flashlight out. "Ancienty?"
"Aren't they all hands off, no interfering in the lower levels, yadda yadda?"
Daniel nodded, picking his way over and around debris from the walls that covered the floor of what had once been a beautiful entry way. He could still see parts of the mosaic that had been tiled into the floor. "The lore Dr. Tranke gathered said that prior to the temple being built here, the people suffered a great plague that rendered most of the population sterile. I'm thinking that whoever built this place was trying to help."
"But Ancients don't help." Cameron countered.
Daniel shrugged. "Some of them do. Granted, they usually get shut down quickly, but…who knows, maybe these Ancients grew a conscience…or they came here before they ascended."
"And caused the plague in the first place." Cameron offered. "I mean, we've seen that too."
"Well, we won't know more unless there's something in here to tell us."
"Let's just watch our step, okay? Don't go turning anything on, or breaking anything." Cameron flashed his light around the place. "I'm going to check our perimeter."
"I'll get started in here."
Daniel moved further into the shadows, grateful that Cameron had moved away. The earlier contact had only heightened his distraction and he wanted to be focused on the task ahead, not on the taste of Cameron's cock on his tongue.
He groaned as the thought only filled his head with images of moments between them and he pressed his hand down against his suddenly very interested dick. "Get it together," he growled at himself, annoyed at the failure at self-control. He wasn't a school boy with a crush. He had work to do.
"From what I've been able to gather so far, the cult that built this temple were not Ancients as we have come to know them, but it seems likely that they were descended from Ancient stock. The myths played out on the walls that remain standing speak of a group that came from the sky in ancient times and built many wonders." Daniel spoke into his recorder, setting it down on some rubble before moving closer to the wall he'd been examining. "Not the least of which was the stargate. Something happened that caused them to bury the gate many years later. Which fits with what we were told by the people of the planet. The gate was only unburied in recent years."
He pulled at flower vines that covered part of the wall, wiping his hand against his leg to try to get free of the clinging pollen that seemed to stick to everything it touched.
He moved further into the room he hand found off the main sanctuary, his light slipping over debris to what looked a lot like an altar. He picked his way over to it, wishing he had a better light. Almost as he thought it, the altar itself started to emit a soft glow, drawing him in even as it cast light through the room.
Hands slid around his waist, a hot body pressed against him as those hands caressed over his cock, through his pants. "Cam…" He turned his head in an effort to say something, but Cameron's face was right there and his mouth covered Daniel's in a hot, messy kiss that made the words just skip off into the corners. Cameron's hands had Daniel's pants open and falling before Daniel even registered that Cameron was naked and as the kiss ended, Daniel couldn't remember what he was going to say, only that he needed more.
Cameron's cock was hard and already pushing against Daniel's ass, the head rubbing over the hole and Daniel belatedly realized that Cameron's cock was lubed as Cameron pressed him forward, over the glowing altar, sinking slowly into him.
"Daniel." Cameron gasped as he pulled out, his left hand settling on Daniel's hip as his right circled Daniel's cock, pulling in counter rhythm.
Daniel shuddered, grabbing the edge of the altar and shifting his stance to make it more comfortable. "Need….fuck…" Cameron was moving faster, his whole body taking part in the effort to fuck Daniel into the slab of stone beneath him. When he came, it was with a shout that bounced back off the wall, stumbling back, leaving Daniel standing in the puddle of his pants, his hard cock needy as he turned.
Cameron was flushed, his body pink and heated, his cock still mostly hard. Cameron stumbled, landed on the floor and Daniel took the two steps to close the distance, his cock in his hand. Cameron seemed to understand, planting his feet and lifting his hips, offering himself to Daniel's need.
Here too, Cameron was prepared, already lubed and Daniel sank into him easily. Sweat dripped from his face as he fucked down and in with abandon, his ass tight, his stomach pulled taught, grunting with the effort. Cameron's hands grabbed Daniel's elbows, lifting his head, his eyes wide with need and lust, spurring Daniel into even faster, harder movements until suddenly he was coming, heavy like he hadn't come in weeks, months even.
He collapsed backward, landing on his bare ass panting. "What…just…" He shook his head, trying to clear it, but mostly what he wanted was more.
"Couldn't stop myself." Cameron said, finally getting his own breathing under control.
"Me either." Daniel said cautiously. "Where are your clothes?"
Cameron looked down at himself as if he wasn't aware he was naked. "Um. There's a…" He gestured over his shoulder. "I'm not sure."
They both got to their feet slowly. "Maybe you should find them and we should head back." Daniel said, trying to tuck his still hard cock back into his pants.
"Yeah, okay. Good plan." Cameron stopped two steps away. "I came to tell you I found stairs…and smaller rooms downstairs, thought you might want to take a look."
Daniel zipped himself up and moved away from Cameron to where he'd set his pack down. He grabbed the voice recorder and rewound it back, listening to his last few words and stopping it so he could record over whatever the machine had picked up of the last twenty minutes. Part of his brain was warning him they should leave before whatever was causing this lack of self-control got worse, but his curiosity was itching to discover more about the place. "Okay, a quick look, but…" He turned to find Cameron leaning against the glowing altar, his cock in his hands. "For gods sake, Mitchell, put your clothes on."
Cameron started and shook his head. "Damn." He moved away from the altar and out into the main sanctuary, where he found his underwear as Daniel followed. "Over there." Cameron pointed toward some shadows cast by still standing columns.
Daniel left him still gathering his scattered clothing and headed into the shadows, finding the staircase easily enough and heading down. He'd look around quickly and maybe come back without Cameron to distract him.
He expected the lower level to be dark, but as he opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, the hallway was lit by sconces on walls that reminded him of Atlantis. Directly ahead of him was a door ajar and he could glimpse inside looked like control panels of some sort. He glanced behind him, half thinking he should go check on Cameron, but that just made him want to shove Cameron into a wall and fuck him hard and fast.
He shook his head and moved into the room, his eyes skipping over half familiar consoles before finding one that looked a lot like the database interface in Atlantis. That would give him the best information. Daniel did his best to put his physical needs aside and focus, bringing up the display and paging through the information. Just a quick look to confirm the narrative he was starting to put together, and then they would get out.
Daniel was suddenly aware of the silence, rubbing at bleary eyes and looking around him. "Cam?" He stepped back from the console, blinking a little to adjust his vision. He had no idea how long he'd been absorbed in reading the history recorded in the database, but he had a better idea now of the way the temple had been used.
"Cameron?" Daniel stepped into the hallway, looking up and down and trying to decide where to start looking. Almost instantly he was hard again, his cock straining against his underwear. At least he understood that a little better.
The flowers were a powerful stimulant and aphrodisiac that the former priests of the temple cultivated and used in their rituals to arouse those who had come seeking fertility. The pollen was enough to arouse most people, but the flower was pressed into an oil, the pollen mixed in and the resulting mixture was used to "bless" the participants before they had sex in the special rooms that lined the hall.
Each room seemed to be geared toward a different type of couple, or problem. He was going to need more time to fully translate that part of the text. But the flowers had over run the place once the temple was abandoned, and the concentration of so much pollen was what was affecting them both.
Daniel tried to ignore it as he looked into each of the rooms, finally hearing what sounded like moaning as he neared the end of the hall. Cautious, Daniel pushed the door open to find Cameron, still naked and with a fine sheen over his skin as he fucked his hand. His head was thrown back, his eyes closed, his body languid against a table or altar in the center of the room.
Come coated his thighs and stomach, telling Daniel he'd been there a while. He stopped in the doorway, one hand cupping his cock through his pants. Images filled his head, thoughts of pushing Cameron's legs up to his chest and fucking into him, of draping him over the table and taking him from behind. Daniel cleared his throat and shook his head, trying to clear it. "Cameron. Come on, we should go."
Cameron's eyes opened, the blue shot through with red, his pupils wide. His nostrils flared and his hand stopped jacking his cock, reaching out to Daniel. He was three steps into the room before he realized it. "No, really, Cam. It's the flowers. We…we…" But Cameron's hand was on his, the smell of come and sweat and something sweet…there was a thud that Daniel vaguely recognized was his vest, and then cool air was caressing his skin. "Cam…"
Daniel forgot what he was trying to say as Cameron kissed him, hands rubbing over his skin, down to his belt. His cock jumped from his pants as they fell and Cameron's hot hand, slick with oil rubbed over his cock while Cameron groaned in needy waves that filled Daniel's stomach with want.
They stumbled back toward the table, Daniel vaguely aware of a soft humming. Cameron's kiss was desperate, tongue teasing along Daniel's before he bit down on Daniel's lower lip. "We…" but Daniel had lost the reasons for trying to leave, lost words beyond fuck and yes and more and when Cameron climbed onto the table, Daniel followed, chasing after Cameron's mouth, fingers pulling and pushing until Cameron was on his back, his knees bent and pulled aside, stretching himself open and Daniel's cock pulsed with the need to sink into the heat.
"Daniel…please…" Cam's voice was ragged and rough and dripping with lusty need. It was more than Daniel needed, holding his cock as he guided it to Cameron's well lubed hole, sinking in with a low groan that Cameron echoed. "More."
Daniel nodded and pulled out slowly, but it was too much separation and he sank back in quickly, rocking his hips, pressing in until Cameron yelled and his cock twitched, attempting to come though it was clear Cameron was dry. Daniel guided Cameron's legs to circle his waist, leaning in over Cam as he began to snap his hips, hard and fast until he was coming and even then he couldn't seem to stop. He was still hard, panting as he leaned back, first on his elbows, then down onto his back, Cameron following, never letting him pull out as he adjusted, straddling over Daniel and riding his cock until Daniel was pretty sure his cock was screaming in overstimulation.
When the second orgasm hit him, he was unprepared for its intensity or duration, quivering as he filled Cameron with waves of come that shouldn't be possible.
The room was hot, or maybe it was just them, but he couldn't let Cameron's body move from his, he needed to be touching him, kissing him. Cameron covered Daniel, their cocks rubbing together as they kissed slow and messy, and Daniel could feel Cameron hardening again, his own cock following. "Fuck, Cam…we gotta…"
"I know." Cameron whispered back. "Just once more."
"No, really…" Daniel's voice faded, then he yelled as Cameron's hand circled his cock, pulling up it.
"Need you to fuck me." Cameron whispered.
"Just did." Daniel whispered back.
"More, need…." Cameron's eyes closed and his forehead pressed to Daniel's chest. "You're right." Cameron's voice was tight, and he pushed himself up to sitting between Daniel's legs . Daniel sat up slowly, attempting to put some distance between them, but then he was reaching for Cameron's face, pulling him in to kiss, his cock fully hard and he craved the feeling of fucking down into Cameron again.
"Stomach." Daniel gasped, shifting around and helping Cameron get down on his stomach, stretching the length of the table before he brought his knees up under him, tilting his ass up in offering. Daniel moaned at the sight, his hole slightly open, glistening with come and lube and he sank in as though they hadn't fucked in weeks, holding his hips as he thrust in and down and fuck but he was going to come again.
Somehow he managed to pull away after he came, sliding off the table to sit on the dusty floor. They were both panting and Daniel's head was buzzing. He knew they should go, but he was spent, his limbs heavy and before he could get to his feet, Daniel was asleep.
Daniel moaned as he became aware of himself, of the aches and pains in his body, the dehydration and pounding head. He was partially dressed, half in the hallway. All he could smell was sex and sweat and the smell of that damn flower. He pulled himself fully out of the room and pulled his pants up, zipping over his protesting cock.
Cameron was somewhere behind him, but for the moment Daniel decided it was better to let him sleep. The last time he had tried to wake the colonel up they had ended up fucking each other into exhaustion again.
Daniel climbed to his feet, thinking what he really wanted was a shower. Despite all of the sex, he had parsed through enough of what he'd read to understand at least a little of what was happening, and getting the oil and pollen off their skin would go a long way to getting them back to normal.
He stumbled down the hall, peering through doors until he reached the end of the hall, where he was rewarded with a chamber that looked different than the others. The lights came on as he stepped in to reveal a sunken tub. As he stepped closer, steaming water rose in the tub, fed by some unseen mechanism. The information he had read earlier had alluded to a ritual bath to end the rites, and it would make sense that even when this place had been fully functional the couples seeking fertility would need to wash off the aphrodisiac before they left.
Daniel shut the door and stripped slowly, the aches in his body reminding him that he wasn't a teenager anymore. He stepped down into the tub, sighing as the heat wrapped around his legs and sank into his skin. Everything hurt, and he cradled his over used and still semi-hard cock as he sat in the water, breathing through the sting as the hot water surrounded it, but in only moments he could feel the difference, his cock deflating, his body relaxing.
He let his body slip down, immersing his head in the water and scrubbing his fingers through it. He surfaced and sat back against the side of the tub. He had no idea how long they'd been gone, or how much time they had before Sam came looking for them, probably with an SG team of marines as back up. That meant he couldn't sit and enjoy the hot water. He needed to get Cameron into the tub and get them both out.
Reluctantly, Daniel pulled himself up and out, dressing slowly before shuffling back into the hallway and down to the door of the room he and Cameron had spent the last hours in. Cameron was up and dressed, leaning against the table and rubbing his eyes. Daniel stood in the hallway, careful not to cross the threshold. "You look like shit."
Cameron nodded, but didn't say anything. Daniel shifted and Cameron looked up. "There's hot water at the end of the hall. Get cleaned up."
Cameron lurched up and toward Daniel and Daniel backpedaled away, toward the stairs, pointing. "Don't take too long. I don't know how much time we have." Once Cameron was behind the door at the end of the hall, Daniel went back into the room, gathering their vests and his pack before moving to the bottom of the stairs.
Ten minutes later, Cameron emerged from the bathing room looking like he need a couple days' worth of sleep, but better than he had. "Let's get out of here."
Daniel nodded, leading the way up the stairs. They were quiet as they picked their way out of the temple, into a cool night that looked well on its way to morning. The dual moons hovered close to the horizon to their right and the sky to their left was showing the first signs of dawn.
Neither of them spoke until they were well passed the guidepost and nearly to the turn in the road that would take them either to the village or the gate. "So, that was…something." Cameron said awkwardly as they paused.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Daniel offered, shaking his head. "If I hadn't insisted we check it out…"
"No, you were right. It was something we had to do." Cameron argued, scratching at his head. "Even if it wasn't entirely useful."
"Well, we did learn that pre-ascended Ancients at some point in time interfered a lot with local populations. Judging from what I got from the computer, a whole group of them settled here, eventually intermarrying with the locals."
"I'm just glad the rest of the team wasn't with us." Cameron replied.
Daniel shook his head at the thought. "Speaking of…should we just call them and have them meet us at the gate? I'm exhausted."
Cameron nodded and they turned for the gate. "I'm sleeping for a week when we get back. By myself."
"No argument here." Daniel agreed. In fact, he was pretty sure he wouldn't think about sex again for a very long time.
Cameron padded on bare feet to the front door, surprised to find Daniel on the other side of it.
"I brought pizza."
Cameron stepped back to let him in, frowning a little. In all the time they'd been doing this thing, Daniel had never come to him. It was always Cameron showing up on Daniel's door. This was twice now in two weeks. Not that he was complaining.
Daniel put the pizza box down on the coffee table in the living room and turned to Cameron, one hand finding his belt loop and pulling him in. His lips were soft on Cameron's, his tongue warm as it swiped over Cameron's lips. "Hi."
Cameron smiled, his hands settling on Daniel's hips. "Hi yourself. What's going on?"
Daniel shrugged and kissed him again. "Just wanted to see you."
"I do like to be seen." Cameron agreed, turning them. Daniel's hands caught both sides of his face, his mouth covering Cameron's, his tongue curling along Cameron's as Daniel slowly sank to the couch, drawing Cameron with him.
They ended up with Cameron straddling Daniel's lap as they kissed, groins rubbing together through layers of denim. "Kissing…is good too…" Cameron murmured as they came up for air.
Daniel caressed over his thighs, up onto his abs, his fingers playing up the ladder of Cam's ribs. "I just wanted to touch you." Daniel said, blushing a little. "You didn't come over last night and I realized that I had really wanted you to."
Cameron licked at Daniel's lips, sucking his lower lip before kissing him deeply. "You could have called."
Daniel nodded, his fingers rubbing over Cameron's nipples, then leaning forward to lick at them. "Thought about it…laid in bed thinking about you, about touching you…" Daniel bit lightly against one nipple and the sharp sensation shot through him, hardening his cock. "I'm here now." Daniel said, looking up into Cameron's eyes.
Cameron shifted enough to rub his cock against Daniel's, smirking. "Oh, me too."
Daniel grinned and thrust up against him. "So I'm noticing."
Cameron rocked against him briefly, then got up. He knew this dance. If they went too far now, the evening would be over and they'd fall asleep on the couch. "Beer?"
Daniel nodded and leaned forward to open the pizza box. Cameron grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and a handful of paper towels before coming back to the couch. "So, Sam said you ended up in the infirmary today?" Daniel said in a tone that Cameron had come to understand was meant to hide his concern, but didn't.
He rolled his eyes as he handed one of the beers over and sat. "It was nothing. I forgot breakfast, ran a couple miles while waiting for Teal'c to spar. I got dizzy."
Daniel opened his beer, his eyes narrowing. "You passed out."
Which explained why Daniel had shown up. "I'm fine. Lam took some blood and checked me over and let me go."
"You've been hitting the gym awfully hard the last couple of weeks." Daniel observed. Cameron could feel his eyes as he reached for a slice of pizza.
"I had been slacking off. It was starting to show." His hand subconsciously rubbed across his lower abdomen, where no matter how much he worked at it, he had developed a bit of a pouch.
"Come on, Cam, you're in better shape than most of the guys at the SGC." Daniel countered. "What's really going on?"
Cameron sat back with his pizza and shook his head. "Nothing is going on." He huffed and didn't look at Daniel. "Okay, so I tried to put on my favorite pair of jeans and I couldn't zipper them." And that had been almost three weeks before. Since then, Cameron had needed to go up a size in almost all his pants. He hadn't said anything, just increased his work outs, but that hadn't helped any.
"Did you tell Dr. Lam that today?" Daniel asked, his voice soft.
Cameron sighed and dropped his pizza back into the box, standing up to pace. "No, because it sounds stupid. I mean, it is stupid. I don't know why it's got me so worked up. It's normal, right? For a man my age to slow down, to get a little soft around the middle?"
Daniel stood, setting his beer down and crossing to intercept him. "Yes, but if it doesn't feel normal for you, maybe it isn't."
Cam sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay. Okay. I want to show you something." He shook his head and dropped his hands to his waistband, popping the button and unzipping before he could change his mind. He let the jeans fall and eased his underwear down.
"I've seen--oh." Daniel frowned as he leaned in closer, his hand ghosting over the small, but growing, swelling in Cameron's lower abdomen. "Okay, that….that isn't exactly normal."
Fear stabbed through him and he pulled away, pulling up his pants and going back to pacing. "And it just…gets bigger. No matter how much I work out."
"Okay, Cam. Calm down." Daniel's voice was strained and Cameron could see the very tight lines of concern in his face. "We should get you back to the base, get Dr. Lam to have a look."
Cameron shook his head, his hand rubbing over the spot. "I'm sure if there's something wrong it will show up in the bloodwork."
"Cam, something is wrong." Daniel said, his hand rubbing up Cameron's back. "A growth like that…you passing out…it can't be good."
Cameron didn't like the word growth, but really, it was an accurate word.
"I'll be with you." Daniel said softly, his warm hand replaced by his lips pressing kisses along Cameron's spine. "Go get dressed, I'll drive."
He wanted to say no. He wanted to go back to the couch, to the kissing that would lead to more and a long night spent in a warm bed with a warm body…but he knew Daniel was right. He headed into his bedroom, digging out a clean shirt and socks and shoving his feet into his shoes with a heavy sigh.
Daniel's hand was warm on his thigh as they drove quietly from his house toward the mountain. "I called ahead, made sure Lam would be there."
The tone of his voice and the warmth of his hand was comforting, but somehow his words irritated. "Sure, why not ruin everyone's evening?" Cam growled, shifting away from Daniel.
Daniel didn't respond, just turned them onto the base, slowing down for the checkpoint. A few minutes later they were headed down in the elevator and Cameron felt like an ass. "I'm sorry."
Daniel's hand touched his and he smiled. "Don't worry about it."
They walked down the unusually quiet corridors of the SGC in the early evening and into an otherwise empty infirmary. Dr. Lam stepped out of her office area, lifting her stethoscope as she approached. "I was just going over your test results, Colonel."
"I thought you said you wouldn't have them until tomorrow." Cameron said, frowning.
"When Doctor Jackson called, I put a rush on them."
"Anything we need to worry about?" Daniel asked as Lam walked them into one of the curtained off exam areas.
"There are a few anomalies. I want to confirm them before we jump to conclusions. Sit." Her fingers were warm where she touched his wrist once he was sitting, feeling his pulse beat against his skin. "I'm going to have some blood drawn and I want you to get out of your clothes. There's a gown there on the bed. I'll be back in a few minutes."
She stepped out of the space and pulled the curtain closed and Cameron stood up. "This is stupid."
Daniel stopped him from taking a step away. "Yes, it is. Do what she said." He brushed his lips over Cameron's. "Please?"
Cameron's heart sped up at the sound in Daniel's voice in that simple word. He was afraid. Cameron blinked a little and let Daniel pull his t-shirt up and off of him. Somehow Daniel's fear only made Cameron's worse. His hear was racing by the time he realized that Daniel would stand there and undress him if he let him and that would be bad for both of them.
Cameron took Daniel's hands and lifted them to kiss the fingertips lightly. "Okay, point made. Why don't you step out so no one…."
"No one here but you and me." Daniel said softly, kissing him again, his lips warm. "But yeah, I'll just be out here."
Cameron watched him go and finished pulling the hospital gown on before he dropped his pants and toed off his shoes. He folded all of it up and stacked it on the end of the bed before opening the curtain enough to let Lam know he was ready, then pulled the light blanket down and got into the bed. He already knew he wasn't going anywhere very quickly.
One of the techs came in with a quick smile to draw his blood and as she disappeared, Lam returned. "Okay, Colonel, let's have a look."
"You don't have to sit here." Cameron said two hours later as Daniel sat beside him, reading a file.
"I don't mind." Daniel responded looking up. He put the file down and Cameron followed his gaze to find Lam approaching. "She looks serious."
"She always looks serious." Cam said under his breath. He exhaled and told himself that whatever it was, he was in the best hands, that there were no better doctors anywhere. He pushed himself up straighter as Lam stopped at the end of his bed. "So what's the prognosis, doc?"
"Well, Colonel, the first thing is your bloodwork is showing an abnormally high white blood cell count, but far more concerning is that there is also evidence of nanites in your blood."
Cameron frowned and glanced at Daniel. "Nanites? From where?"
"I'm not sure. There were only a few, and they seemed to be inert. However, there were a few other strange results. That, combined with the symptoms you described has me concerned."
"What strange results?" Cameron asked.
"The biopsy I took from your stomach appears to be very similar to amniotic fluid."
Cameron wasn't sure he could frown any harder. "What? Are you trying to tell me I'm pregnant, doc?"
"I'm telling you I don't know anything for certain." Lam responded, her voice even, her eyes flashing to Daniel. "But I need you to stay calm and relax. "We'll get to the bottom of this."
"Relax?" Cameron attempted to get up, but Daniel's arm across his chest held him to the bed.
"Cam, calm down." Daniel said. "Let Doctor Lam do her job."
"You calm down." Cameron responded, pushing his hand away. "You're not the one with something growing in his stomach and nanites in his blood."
"Where are you going to go?" Daniel asked, stepping back. "How far are you going to get with your ass hanging out of that gown and armed marines between you and the front door?"
Cameron crossed his arms and sank back onto the bed.
"At least we know you're not pregnant." Daniel offered with a tight smile as Lam turned to confer with one of the other doctors.
"I'm not sure that's helping." Cameron groused. "Look, I feel bad about this. You don't have to stay. I'll be good and listen to Lam. Why don't you go get some rest."
"Not going anywhere, Cam." Daniel said.
"Actually, Doctor Jackson, I need you to step out for this next round of tests." Doctor Lam said. "I think Colonel Mitchell will be more comfortable without an audience."
Daniel stood, folding his arms over the file and nodding. "Okay, but I'm not leaving. I have a ton of cataloguing to do. I'll be in my office when he's ready for company."
Cameron watched him go, trying not to worry as his hand rubbed over the swelling in his stomach. "Why don't you close your eyes and try to rest while we wait for the rest of your test results."
He sighed and laid back against the thin hospital mattress. He doubted he'd be resting any time soon as Dr. Lam rolled some equipment in and pulled the curtains shut.
It was early morning and Cameron was feeling queasy as they transferred him into a private room, hooking him up to monitors of all kinds as soon as he was in the bed. He grabbed a nurse as his stomach twisted and she got a basin under him just as he threw up.
"I was going to ask how you were feeling." Dr. Lam said dryly as she jotted notes into his chart and handed it off.
"Like someone is rearranging my insides." Cameron said once he had wiped his mouth.
"From what I can tell, that's pretty much what is going on." Lam said, coming to stand beside the bed, her eyes flicking over the monitors. "The second sample we took from your stomach gave us much more information and the ultrasound showed us what is going on in there."
"Well?" Cameron's heart thundered, half sure she was about to tell him he had four months to live or something.
"The nanites have rearranged a few things, to make room for what they've built."
"Are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on or just keep me guessing?" Cameron asked, his face red with fear and anger. "I can take it Doc, whatever it is, just spit it out."
Lam looked startled, her face paling. "It looks like a uterus."
"A what?" Cameron pushed himself up off the bed, pulling the leads to all of the monitors off and making alarms sound. "You have got to be kidding me." His head buzzed as he took a step, blood rushing in response to his swift movement and he had to grab the bed to keep from going down.
"I wasn't finished." Lam said as she helped him find his feet.
Cameron shook his head and sat on the bed, trying to reason through what she was saying. "Why would nanites do that?"
"Probably to have a place for the fetus." Lam said, her eyes on his and holding him.
"Fetus." He shook his head. "As in…fetus."
"Unborn child, yes." Lam turned as the door opened and Daniel poked his head in.
"I heard you moved our patient."
Her eyes sought out his permission and Cameron nodded minutely. "Come in, Dr. Jackson. We're just making Colonel Mitchell comfortable."
Both of Daniels eyebrows rose as he came to the end of the bed. "I take it this means he'll be staying?"
Dr. Lam nodded. "I am going to be keeping him, yes. I've signed him off of active duty."
"For how long?" Daniel asked, his blue eyes flooded with worry.
"Well, if I had to guess, the next four months or so, depending on how the situation progresses."
Daniel's hand caressed over Cameron's shoulder. "What situation?"
"I'm pregnant." Cameron said, his voice oddly flat.
"Funny." Daniel responded before he looked at Lam who shrugged and nodded. "Wait, what?"
"I'm guessing about five months along." Lam said.
Daniel froze, looking at Cameron for a long second before blinking and taking a step back. "Five…months."
"What?' Cameron asked, trying to track where Daniel's mind had wandered.
" P3X-742." Daniel said as if that answered everything. "The temple ruins, the…the…" He snapped his fingers, his face starting to turn pink. "Fertility temple." His head turned slightly side to side as if he was reading. "I remember seeing references to kahazic shaw, um…loosely translated, ah, well, male couples wanting children. I chalked it up to local folklore because there weren't any direct correlations in the actual archives of the temple. And men don't…"
He looked up, his face registering shock and realization as his eyes fell from Cameron's face to his stomach. "Oh…."
"I still don't understand how…" Dr. Lam looked at Daniel, her own eyes going wide as she realized what Daniel was reacting to. "Oh. Oh. Okay. That explains…."
"It wasn't like I asked for this." Cameron said. "I didn't want this. Daniel, how did this happen?"
"If I had to guess," Daniel said, "the nanites were in the oil made from the flowers. I told you I couldn't translate the formula they used." He bit his lip. "Which means, you should probably test me for nanites too. I didn't use quite as much of the oil, but I did use it."
Lam nodded. "Okay, head down to the infirmary. I'll be there in a minute. We'll do a complete work up on you too." She patted Cameron's knee. "And for now, I need you to just relax, let Margie hook you back up to the monitors, I want to keep a close eye on you."
