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jack

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Having his own hut was a blessing, it really was, especially one as fine as the one Chris and his crew had surprised him with. But Dale found that when he went home at night he spent more time sitting out on the deck than actually inside the hut. He liked watch the sky darken, listen to the birds in the trees that arched high above him and all the other sounds of the jungle. He was situated just high enough that he could see the roof the compound in the distance, too, and watch the suprising number of people who made their way up there over the course of an evening.

It was the ideal place to spend some time alone and also, he discovered, the ideal place to entertain a guest. So after he brought Jack back from the clinic and showed him around, he situated the both of them on the deck with glasses (okay, coconut shells) of homemade lemonade in their hands, to enjoy the solitude of the evening.

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"Well, why would you want to tie yourself down when you could have anyone in the universe?" said Dale, giving him a smile. "I may not choose to live like that, but I can see the appeal."

"You should try it for a week," Jack smirked, then shook his head. "As the Doctor likes to point out, the time and training I come from make me perfectly suited for what most people consider completely out of the question. Flings, liasons, one-offs. It's just how I enjoy people," he said with a shrug. "You wouldn't believe how many people don't think they're beautiful."

"Unfortunately, I know all too well how many people have those sorts of thoughts about themselves," said Dale. And how often it led to the sorts of things that he investigated, in his former life. "Not so long ago I did give some thought to letting go, having a fling, actually. But then the moment passed me by."

"If it ever comes back around, you'll find me, right?" he laughed. "Not on a weekend though. I hate being a regret."

"Yes, well, instead of having a fling with you I became friends with you, so I think that moment's gone," Dale told him with a grin. "But you ever need to share a bed with someone in an almost completely platonic way, I'm your guy."

"I haven't done that in a long time, Dale. I don't even know if I could," he said as he shifted again, legs sread wide and stretched out as he slouched down. "I guess it would be easier if I could...now. Rob seems to think I have trauma or whatever, and House thinks I have issues too. Doctors," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"Would you hate me forever if I agreed with them?" said Dale, giving him a smile that was a little gentler than his previous grin. "I know you haven't told me what happened, Jack, but... well, as a member of the Council and the IBI I saw the reports. It's only fair you know that." He figured Jack had probably already known, especially after seeing what Dale had been working on in the council office, but he felt more honest having said it.

"No, I wouldn't hate you. I...I could have taken the knife, you know. I had a choice. I would have done it anyhow. He didn't have to...gods, Dale, I don't want to talk about this," he said as he looked off through the darkness at the spots of firelight and lanterns as people settled in for the night.

"I've never not enjoyed a person so much."

"Okay," said Dale, quietly and easily. If Jack did want to talk about it, he would keep going; Dale just hoped he knew that he could. "You don't have to, Jack. But as an agent of the FBI I've seen and heard a lot of things. I'm no doctor, of any sort, but... well, I've seen a lot. Actually, you know, just forget I was ever an FBI agent. Right now I'm just a friend."

Jack sighed heavily and stared straight ahead, wondering what he'd tell 'just a friend'. Where to start...

He lolled his head to the side and looked at the shape of Dale, just a little darker than the night behind him.

"I freeze if anyone tries to kiss me."

Dale nodded his head, taking every word Jack told him seriously. "I can imagine that you do," he said, warmly but with no pity in his voice or his thoughts. "Have a lot of people tried to kiss you?"

"No," he sighed. "People I trust. Should trust. Whatever. I can kiss them if I do it first, but I...it should be natural. I like kissing people. It feels like something's really wrong about it now."

He was quiet for a second and then began to laugh. If he didn't, he might just cry.

"I never thought there would be a thing in the universe I thought felt dirty."

"Well, it's not the act itself," said Dale. He didn't reach out for Jack, but he certainly wouldn't have declined the contact if Jack initiated it. "It's the issue of consent. Nothing to do with being adventurous as you are. Give it some time, Jack; I know people always say that, but they say it because it's the truth."

"Yeah. Time," he said as he held his hand out. "The last time I felt like this was when the Time Agency wiped my memory. Don't know why, don't know how. It just happened. I don't even know if I consented," he said with a sigh.

Dale reached for him this time, letting Jack take the lead in all things, as he so clearly needed to do. "Very different circumstances, but the same principle," he said. "Something happened to you that you didn't want to happen."

Jack could be hard when he needed to be, but no one had ever mistaken him for stoic. He clasped Dale's hand tightly and held on as if everything depended on it.

"But I did want it. I thought he was gorgeous. I flirted with him, and I thought he'd had a change of heart. He had...but not how I thought."

"Maybe you did," said Dale, "maybe you did want him. But you didn't want what happened. Not like that, I know you didn't, Jack, you just told me as much. That's the difference."

"Yeah," he agreed, holding on but falling quiet. The birds and the other night sounds quieting as everything settled into the darkness. "So do you have any other sagely advice so I can tell Rob I'm taken care of?" he asked, only half joking.

"Well, you could tell him you're talking to someone about it, like he wanted, so he can stop worrying," said Dale, only half-joking himself.

"I think he had someone more like Dr. Deane in mind, but this had better be good enough. I've seen her and if you think I flirt with you..." he said, leaving the rest unfinished.

"Is this all you do, Dale? Sit out here and watch the island?"

Dale gave him a smile. "No, it's not all I do," he said. "But I like it. Sometimes, after a day like today, it's a really nice place to have to come back to." Dale gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "You talk to who you need to talk to, Jack. Sometimes it's the talking that's the important thing."

Jack squeezed back and pulled a little, not standing just yet. "After all that, do you still feel like sleeping with me?"

"If you want me to," said Dale still smiling and leaving that decision in Jack's hands. "Be easier to keep an eye on you from there. Plus, in a blatant abuse of my position on the council, it's a real mattress."

"Ohgod," he sighed heavily. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I slept with someone on a real mattress?" he asked, standing as he pulled at Dale's hand. "Show me where and I promise, no hands. Or feet. Or anything," he grinned.

"I promise too," said Dale, grinning back. "No anything, no hands, no feet. Well, except if my feet get cold, then all bets are off." He led Jack into the hut, to the perfectly made bed in the corner. "I bet we'll both get a good night's sleep, here."

Jack followed along and waited for Dale to get in before he slid in beside him. "I can handle cold feet, Dale. I can actually handle a lot more than you'd imagine," he said as he completely went back on his word and pressed close, wrapping his arm around him as he closed his eyes.

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