"The answer is obvious, O'Neill," Teal'c said in that imperturbably confident way of his.
"Oh?"
"You are in love with Daniel Jackson."
Of all the things Teal'c could have possibly said to Jack, that.. that didn't even make the list. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before settling on an eloquent, "What?"
Teal'c inclined his head, "My apologies, O'Neill, I know that your culture has taboos about warriors in such a relationship. I should not have said anything."
"Yeah, yeah, you're forgiven," Jack said with a wave of his hand as he tried to wrap his mind around the concept of being in love with Daniel.
Jack makes one final stab at retaining his sanity, "I don't suppose you were talking about brotherly love?"
"I was not."
***
Carter hesitated before finally admitting, "Everyone knows, sir."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone, sir."
"Frasier knows?"
"She was actually one of the first people to figure it out, sir."
"If Hammond knew, I wouldn't be here having this ridiculous conversation!"
Carter shrugs, "Don't Ask Don't Tell, sir."
"The Tok'ra!" Jack says triumphantly in his best 'gotcha' voice.
"When I say everyone, I mean everyone, sir," Carter is apologetic, but there's an annoying twinkle in her eyes.
"The Asgard?" Jack practically begs.
"Actually, I think Thor's starting to get a little impatient. He doesn't really understand homophobia," Carter pauses, "Well, he knows what it is, he just thinks it's primitive and silly."
Jack glares at her until she adds a belated, "Sir." Which was not what he was glaring about, but fine, whatever.
***
Jack swings around the doorjamb of Daniel's office, "Did you know that we're in love?"
Daniel glances up from the photo he was staring at, and goes back to examining it before he's even finished saying, "Oh, hi Jack."
Daniel compares a symbol in the photo to a symbol in the open book on his desk before processing Jack's initial question and startling up to peer at Jack confusedly, "Wait, what?"
"That's what I said!" Jack moves further into the office.
Daniel eyes the open door behind him, "Uh, is this something we should even be talking about here?"
"Apparently, everyone already knows, including our alien allies. Thor thinks homophobia is primitive."
"Well, actually, many older civilizations had much more accepting attitudes towards all forms of sexuality as well as gender expressions. European colonization and cultural genocide is responsible for a lot of modern-- Wait, why are we talking about his again?"
"Because we're in love."
"And everyone knows this?" Daniel asks with raised eyebrows.
"Yep."
"Except for us."
"Apparently!"
"Huh." Daniel's eyes glaze over in that way they do when he's thinking about something.
Jack sits down in the inevitably available chair that he always sits in when he's loitering in Daniel's office and waits.
Jack O'Neill has never been a patient man. "Daniel..."
"Jack..."
The next "Daniel," translates more or less to 'Whatcha thinkin?'
"Thinking about what- well, what about our behavior might lead someone --or 'everyone'-- to think that about us."
"I've been wracking my brain since yesterday. I got nuthin."
"I mean, we care about each other... because we're friends, right?" It ought to be a rhetorical question, but Daniel manages to put that little quaver of doubt into it.
Which compels Jack to say "Right," very firmly.
"Hey Daniel- oh, hi sir," Carter stops in the doorway, "I can come back another time if--"
Daniel perks up, "Is that the..?" he gestures to the folder in Sam's hands.
"Parchment fragment, yes. I sent the analysis to your email. The animal isn't native to earth, and the ink has naquadah in it." Carter enters the room and makes her way toward Daniel's desk.
Daniel looks intrigued but Jack snatches the folder from Carter as she reaches to hand it over. "Naquadah?" he asks suspiciously, "Does that mean it's going to explode?"
"Uh, not unless you light it on fire, sir."
Daniel reaches out his hand to Jack and makes a 'gimme' gesture, "I promise not to read it in the vicinity of Teal'c's quarters."
Jack sighs and hands it over.
Carter makes her excuses and leaves to go work on her latest doohickey.
Jack looks at Daniel.
Daniel looks at Jack.
Daniel clears his throat, "Well, uh, even if everyone is right about um, 'us', we wouldn't be able to do anything about it."
"Kinsey would kill for the ammunition," Jack muses.
"Right."
***
Years later, Daniel is sitting at the desk of his home office, current translation forgotten, contemplating Jack's recent retirement announcement, when he is interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Think of the devil and he shall appear," Daniel mutters as he walks over to the door. He opens it, and, as expected, Jack is standing there with a bit of a smirk on his face.
"Did you know that we're in love?"
Daniel smiles, "Yes, I did know that."
[Context: I've been rewatching SG-1 from the beginning and yesterday I read several fics that had Daniel and Jack both being aware of their feelings but unsure about how the other felt until being awkwardly forced (usually by aliens) to admit it to each other. And now I want a fic where everyone knows except them.]
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