Title: Forty Minus One
Author: geonncannon
Pairing: Jack/Teal'c
Category: Drama, PWP
Spoilers: Changeling, Orpheus
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Notes: For joran for Christmas. Hope you like it! Thanks to purple_shoes for the beta! :D
Rating: Mature
Summary: "Yes... we're just going to sit here."

His hands cut through the shallow water in the dish, his fingers returning the soaking washrag to his shoulder. The cool water coursed down over his back and he released a quiet sigh. The room was empty, save for him and several dozen candles. He knelt before the wash basin wearing only his trousers; he found the shirt still chafed him a bit. He closed his eyes as the water soothed his skin, easing the pain from the shallow scars that still ran across his spine.

There was a knock on the door behind him. "You may enter, Dr. Fraiser."

The door opened, allowing the harsh artificial light of the corridor into the room. He looked over his shoulder and did not see the expected form of Janet Fraiser. He gathered his shirt, preparing to pull it over his head to cover his scars. "Colonel O'Neill. I was expecting..."

"I know," Jack said. "I asked her if I could bring it instead. She was kind of busy..."

"I see. Thank you."

"Hold on," Jack said, closing the door and crossing the room to Teal'c. He stopped the Jaffa from covering himself with the shirt, lifting it and examining the damage. He winced and said, "Is it getting any better?"

"With my symbiote, the scars would not be lasting. With the tretonin... I will be fine."

"The scars are gonna stick around, huh?" Jack asked.

Teal'c worked his jaw slightly and then nodded. "Dr. Fraiser believes several of them may be permanent."

Jack knelt next to Teal'c, his hand resting lightly on his friend's shoulder. "Teal'c, I... I gave the order to hold back." Teal'c looked at him questioningly. "When you were taken... when we knew Billy Idol back there was gonna flog you. Carter and Daniel both wanted to play cavalry and I... said no."

Teal'c thought for a moment. "Attempting rescue at that juncture would have proven unwise, O'Neill. Under cover of darkness, upon an unknown battleground with an uncertain number of..."

"I know, Teal'c. I know all the numbers, it's why we held back. I'm just... I feel responsible." He looked down at the tub of lotion in his hands and said, "Do you want me to, uh... I mean, it would help me..."

"You wish atonement?"

"Yeah," Jack said, exhaling and looking down at the wash basin. "I guess that's what I want."

"Very well," Teal'c said simply.

Jack moved behind Teal'c getting down onto his knees. Teal'c put the shirt aside once more and straightened his back, bowing his head slightly. Jack unscrewed the top of the lotion, bending down to sniff the ingredients. He made a face, then dipped the fingers of his right hand into it.

He put the tub down and turned to face Teal'c's bare back, spreading the cool lotion over both palms. He rested his hands on Teal'c's muscular shoulders, squeezing slightly in a slow massage. He tried not to focus on Teal'c's broad back, the tight muscles, the beads of sweat on the dark skin. He looked away, focusing on the candlelight, distracting himself from more base thoughts.

It had been so long... but he would wait years. Until Teal'c was ready. This was just comfort for a friend, not a preface to love-making. Teal'c's voice brought his thoughts back to the present.

"It was atonement for me as well, O'Neill."

"What was?" Jack asked quietly, pulling his mind back to the conversation.

"The flagellation. It was a test of strength."

Jack moved his left hand down, tracing the deep crease of Teal'c's spine and finding paper-thin white lines criss-crossing the dark flesh. "You've been whipped before?" Jack asked, his voice hoarse with disbelief.

"Yes."

"Who... Apophis?"

"No. Master Bra'tac."

Jack flattened his palm against Teal'c's back, forcing himself to continue to massage. "Bra'tac did this?"

"It was a test of my strength, to prove I had become a man."

"Like the Spartans."

Teal'c looked over his shoulder, one eyebrow arched in surprise. Jack shrugged. "What, is Daniel the only one who can spout useless facts?"

A slight smile tugged on Teal'c's lips and he turned forward again. "He never administered more than he believed I could withstand. If he believed I could handle ninety lashes, he administered ninety minus one."

Jack nodded and continued the massage in silence for a few minutes, working until the dark flesh of Teal'c's skin was glistening in the candlelight. "You cried out," he said simply. Teal'c bowed his head ever-so-slightly. "I'm just... I've heard you cry out in pain before, but... to be so close and unable to do anything... All I could think about... all I could think about..."

Teal'c looked over his shoulder.

"Slavery," Jack finally said. "You, your people, being enslaved for so long."

Teal'c moved to his right, dropping from his knee to sit. Jack sat back, looking at his mostly-dry hands and smoothing them on his thighs. Teal'c looked at him for a long moment and then looked down at his own hands before beginning to speak. "You could have spared me the torture, O'Neill. It would have been an error on your part. I could have spared myself. My captor was inferior to me, as you witnessed during the final battle."

"Yeah," Jack admitted, allowing himself a small grin at the memory.

"I withstood my punishment because I knew the consequences of ending it. The consequences to Bra'tac, to R'yac... I could take what they could not."

Jack fiddled with the cuff of his trousers.

"The flagellation proved to me one thing, O'Neill. I was given everything he had. My tormentor had no reason to be lenient and he was not. I took what he had to give and I survived. For that, I will remember my time in that camp with pride."

Jack smiled and said, "You know, Teal'c, only you would come up with a bright side to being whipped for six hours."

A slight smile played on Teal'c's face as Jack stood. They walked to the door and Teal'c stopped Jack from taking the knob. "You would have come to my aid."

It wasn't a question. Jack didn't answer. He stepped forward and cupped the back of Teal'c's head, drawing his face down. He kissed just below the golden arc of Teal'c's tattoo before releasing him. "Yeah," he half-breathed.

Teal'c put his hand on Jack's hip, stepping in and bowing his head to kiss Jack's lips. Jack closed his eyes, standing stiffly until Teal'c broke the kiss and looked down at him. "T, are you... I mean, we haven't... since Junior was..."

"I haven't felt worthy of you since my symbiote was taken from me. Now..."

"Now?" Jack said, his voice rough with desire.

Teal'c turned them so that Jack was pressed against the wall, pinning the smaller man with his hips as he crushed their lips together. They met with such force that Jack breathed out forcefully. Teal'c took the opportunity to work his tongue into his mouth. Jack moaned, sliding one hand up to caress the back of Teal'c's head.

Jack moved his hands down, untying the string on Teal'c's pants. The baggy material poured down Teal'c's legs, revealing his growing erection. Jack looked down and then sagged against the wall, closing his eyes. "Ahh, Teal'c... I've missed you."

Teal'c smiled and pressed himself against Jack, his hard cock pressed between his nude flesh and Jack's smooth shirt. He rolled his hips slightly, brushing himself against the cloth and leaving a wet trail behind. Jack dropped down, kissing Teal'c's hard nipples. Teal'c put his hands on Jack's head, easing him lower.

Jack pushed one hand up Teal'c's inner thigh, feeling the coarse hairs under his palm and cupped his sac from below as he brushed his chin over the sensitive gland. Teal'c's uncircumcised cock was straining upward, past its hood, and Jack touched his lips to the exposed purple head.

Teal'c groaned, putting his head back as he felt Jack's mouth on him again after so long... Jack put his free hand on Teal'c's stomach, curling the fingers and dragging the nails along the tight flesh as he mimicked the move on Teal'c's tight sac with the opposite. He pulled back, touching his tongue to the eye of Teal'c's cock and tasted the pre-come before dipping his head again.

As he circled Teal'c with his tongue, he reached down and undid his own trousers, pulling his cock free and stroking it to take off some of the edge. He was almost painfully hard, having been holding himself back from release since his last night with his lover, saving himself. It felt like it had been ages; Teal'c had been refusing any company whatsoever since the loss of his symbiote. Daniel had told Jack it was a form of grieving, so Jack had... saved up his energy, as it were, for the moment when Teal'c was ready to receive him again. No masturbation, no other lovers, obviously. He was aching for release.

He pulled back, letting Teal'c's erection fall from his mouth with obvious reluctance. When he stood, Teal'c wrapped both hands in Jack's t-shirt and pulled it upward, peeling it from Jack's flesh. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder, pinning him to the wall again as he lowered his head and kissed the pale skin of Jack's chest.

He worked his mouth over rough scars, past the budding nipples, over the cold length of chain holding his dog tags in place and straightened, looking Jack in the eye. He cupped his own cock in the palm of his hand, moving his hips forward until Jack's naked erection lay alongside it. Jack closed his eyes, swallowing hard as Teal'c closed powerful fingers around both shafts.

Teal'c watched the tip of Jack's tongue as it passed over his lips, watched his Adam's apple bob once, twice, three times as he tried to contain himself. Teal'c moved his hand, stroking his fingers up Jack's cock as his palm stroked down his own. He leaned forward, licking and nipping at Jack's neck as he stroked them in unison, feeling Jack's penis get as hard as his own.

When his hand was wet, Jack's cock throbbing in time with his own, he released them both and stepped back. As he walked backwards to the bed, Jack undressed hastily and followed him step for step. As Teal'c lay on the mattress, Jack climbed alongside, straddling Teal'c's muscular thighs as well as he could. His erection hung between his legs, swaying back and forth like a pendulum, the head like the tip of a heat-seeking missile closing in on its target.

Teal'c stopped when his shoulders hit the wall, propping himself up on his elbows. Jack put one hand above Teal'c's shoulder, stopping when they were face-to-face. Breathing heavily, Jack sat back and took Teal'c's cock in both hands. He pushed the shaft up, resting it against Teal'c's stomach, and bowed his head to run his tongue along the underside.

Teal'c shivered beneath him, gripping the sheet tightly with white-knuckled fingers. Straightening his back, Jack kept his lover's erection aiming north, resting his own cock on top of it. Teal'c was a few inches longer, leaving Jack no choice but to move forward a bit to line their heads up together.

Jack licked his lips and then ran his tongue over his hand, moistening the palm before he gripped their joined cocks like a saddle horn. Locking eyes with Teal'c, he began to thrust. Teal'c groaned low in his throat, lifting his hips off the mattress to meet Jack thrust for thrust.

Squeezing his eyes closed, Jack arched his back, gritting his teeth to hold back orgasm. He didn't want to come too soon, he didn't want this over before it began, he didn't... God...

His come moistened his fingers and the cup of his hand holding their cocks became well-lubricated enough that his hand was sliding effortlessly along their lengths. He bowed his head, released Teal'c's erection and stretched over his chest. Teal'c slid from beneath Jack, keeping the other man where he was with a hand on his shoulder. Jack watched as Teal'c moved to the side of the bed, putting his face against the pillow when Teal'c moved to get on top of him.

He felt Teal'c's hand in the small of his back, the fingers splayed. He lifted his hips in anticipation as Teal'c slid two fingers along the crack of his ass, finding the puckered hole and toying with the muscular ring. He gripped the sheets suddenly as the come-wet tip of his lover's cock appeared, gritting his teeth and sucking in a sharp breath as Teal'c was, once again, inside of him.

He worked one hand between his body and the mattress, touching his now flaccid cock and wishing he could jack himself off, wishing he hadn't come so early. Teal'c had one arm around him now, holding him up, his back to Teal'c's front as Teal'c pistoned against him. Jack cried out, his body trembling in his lover's arms. Teal'c bit down on Jack's shoulder and froze, his body taut as a high wire. The warmth spread and Jack exhaled, easing back against Teal'c's chest as the other man came inside of him.

Kissing the back of Jack's neck, Teal'c moved back, easing his cock from Jack's body. Jack lay facedown on the bed for a moment before rolling over, facing Teal'c. The larger man was seated on the edge of the mattress, looking down at him. Jack sat up and ran his hands over the wounds from the prison camp. "Does it hurt when I touch you here?" he asked.

Teal'c shook his head slightly. "Never more than I can withstand."