'It won't work Jonesy.' Darren looked up at him with an expression that Daniel couldn't figure out. It looked part sad, part regretful. But not regret at what he had done, what had occurred between them, but perhaps regret that he had been found out in this manner.

'Erm, Captain Jones?' Lee's voice was hesitant, obviously confused at hearing two voices answer him.

'Yes Mr. Novak, carry on.' Daniel was already getting out of bed and retrieving his clothing.

'I've located Captain Hayes, sir. It would appear that he is in your holosuite.'

'Yes I know,' Daniel ground out, 'thank you Lee.'

'Right...ermm ok... Novak out.'

'Why?' Daniel rounded on Darren, 'What sick mind-fuck are you trying to pull on me now?'

'Did you mean it?'

'Huh?' Daniel mentally kicked himself. Why was Darren constantly able to do this to him? To rob him of all power of logic and reason.

'Did you mean it when you said you loved me?'

'Of course I did you arsehole, though fuck knows why and you still haven't answered my question.' Daniel went and stood with his back to the door, his arms folded across his chest, his face set, 'You have about thirty seconds before I forget diplomacy and sling your scrawny arse out of the nearest airlock.'

'I meant it too.'

'Darren will you stop talking in fucking riddles and for goodness sake cover yourself up.' Daniel stepped forward and flung a discarded bed throw in the general direction of the unabashedly naked figure still lying prone on the bed.

Darren sat up on his heels and put out his arms towards Daniel. 'I meant it when I said I loved you. That's why I did this. I had to know, I told myself that I felt nothing but now I know otherwise. I still love you Daniel. I have never stopped loving you.'

'That doesn't change the fact that you hacked into my holo-program and then gained unauthorised access to my suite.'

'Right and you haven't been anywhere near my logs?'

Daniel blushed and looked guilty.

'Might have known.' Darren continued.

'You're still running 'Ganymede'.'

'Of course I am, it's my fucking program after all.'

'With me?' Daniel enquired softly.

It was Darren's turn to look guilty and fidget with his fingers. 'Yeah.' He whispered.

Slowly Daniel advanced back towards the bed. His mind racing. What they were doing here was wrong. He should never have written this damn program. He should have left it behind him when he left Darren and the UNSC. But now faced with the objective of his fantasies all rational thought left him.

'How did you...your beautiful hair...what did you do?' Daniel ran his fingers through Darren's dark hair.

'I raided your ship's kitchen. Vhaliorian katli root, crushed and applied as a paste. It stank like a Mecurian's fart but it did the trick,' he paused and raised his eyes to peer up at his fringe, 'it washes out,' a grimace, 'at least I hope it does.'

'Me too,' Daniel curled a strand around his index finger, 'I kind of quite liked the blond, it suited you.'

Darren shrugged. 'It was time for a change so I thought I would go back to my natural colour.'

'Well that's true.' Daniel's eyes flickered down to Darren's groin and then back up again to meet a cheeky grin.

'What are we doing Doze? Is this just a casual fuck for old times' sake? I can't take any more of your games.'

Darren shook his head emphatically. 'No, it's not. At least not for me. What we did felt so right. I'd forgotten how right it feels, how good you feel. Daniel,' he slid his arms round Daniel's waist and looked up at him, capturing Daniel in an intense gaze, 'I want us to try again.'

'It won't work Darren.' Daniel told him sadly but making no move to break the embrace, 'You are still as ambitious as ever. Youngest admiral in the fleet, I believe your goal was. It was always your ambition above all else including me. You made your choice and I can't see either of us changing our minds. I'm happy doing what I do now, I have no desire to go back to the Corp, all their rules and regulations, structure. It was slowly killing me but you, you thrive on it. Constantly meeting alien dignitaries, all the pomp and pageantry, you love it so don't try and deny it.'

'I'd give it all up for you.' Darren replied, his tone indicating that he was sincere but Daniel just shook his head.

'You couldn't if you tried and besides,' Daniel took a deep breath, 'I could never ask you to, it means too much to you.'

'You mean more, you mean everything.' Darren gently moved his hands to rest on either side of Daniel's face, stroking his cheeks with his thumbs, 'You mean the universe to me Danny.' Slowly, hesitantly he pulled Daniel down to him, pressing his lips to the younger man's and Daniel found himself unable to resist, he had never been able to resist Darren. Such soft lips, such love poured out between them.

For a moment Daniel found himself wavering in his resolve, drowning in the taste of his lover, remembering all that has passed between them. Then, drawing back, he rested his forehead against Darren's.

'No Darren I can't. We can't.'

'Danny...' Darren purred, seeking to reclaim his lips, 'Why not?'

...and as if on cue a voice came over the intercom. 'Captain Hayes?'

'Yes Mr. Lewis.' Darren replied wearily.

'The search team have completed their survey, sir, and the ship is clean. We will be ready to depart at 21:00.'

'That's why.' Daniel told him.


~Chapter Six~

Sighing Darren broke their embrace and getting up retrieved his jumpsuit from under the bed.

'I'm sorry.' He said as he zipped it up and then pulled on his boots

Daniel waved him aside. 'Go, duty calls.'

He was still unsure what to make of the whole episode.

'At least think about it.' Darren placed a gentle kiss on Daniel's lips. 'I meant it. I want to be with you, whatever it takes.' And then he was gone, the doors hissing gently shut behind him, leaving Daniel still sat on the bed, his mind a mass of confusion and conflicting emotions.

Much as Daniel loved Darren, and he had finally admitted to himself that he was still in love with his former lover, he knew that it could never work. There were just too many obstacles in their way.

Lying back flat he linked his hands behind his head. Why had the fates deemed that Darren should re-enter his life and why now?

Once upon a time he would have moved the entire galaxy to be with Darren but that was before. Before Darren had become power-hungry, desperate to gain promotion after promotion. Daniel preferring to remain in the background as they were posted to one star station after another. Always supportive, always there for him but soon it had all become too much for him. Gone were the carefree early days when they were both young lieutenants eager to explore the delights and wonders of outer space. Exploration inevitably gave way to diplomatic missions, meeting and greeting various dignitaries, always having to perform and project the Corps' image. Daniel hated it and as time went on felt that somewhere along the line they had lost sight of what was important, what had initially attracted them to each other.

Darren changed.

He changed.

And they had parted ways. Seemingly amicably, seemingly accepting that they just wanted different things from life, from their careers but everyone around them knowing that it went much deeper than that. To put it bluntly they had just drifted apart.

The past was just that, past and there was nothing he could do to alter that. He wasn't even sure he wanted to. Yes, it had been rough towards the end but they had also had some very good times together, yet was there still enough there to try and recapture those times?

Letting a moan of frustration and unknowing slip from between his lips, Daniel levered himself up and straightening his clothing made to leave the suite. At the end of the day he still had a ship to run and a UNSC search team to see safely off his vessel.

'Computer end program.' He called out and the Venusian room along with its intimate furnishings disappeared to be replaced by the bland, white visage of the holodeck in stasis. He stepped through the doors and paused by the control console. His fingers hovered over the keyboard and then tapped in a few lines of command.

'Are you sure you want to delete program DV_5?' The screen enquired.

Daniel resolutely hit two more keys.

'Program deleted.' The screen confirmed in stark black lettering.

Daniel turned his back on it and entered his living quarters. A shower and a change of clothing.

It was time to return to the present and be a Captain again.


~Chapter Seven~

Daniel sat in his study fastidiously studying the flight plans for the next few weeks. They had some supplies to drop off at an out station and then they would continue onto Minerva where they were due to rendezvous with a scientific team in order to transport them back to Pluto. Once there they would pick up yet more supplies and the process would start all over again. It was a process that Daniel enjoyed, ok it might not quite have the prestige of serving with the Corp but the lifestyle suited him.

Looking up from the screenpad in front of him Daniel's gaze fell on the time display embedded in one corner of his desk. The small blue lights taunted him mercilessly. 20:46. In less then fifteen minutes' time Darren and his team would depart. In less than fifteen minutes he would be gone from his life again and who knew when their paths would cross again.

He was still unsure about the whole situation.

The rational part of him said that it was for the best. That what they had could never be again and it was useless to think any other way. It was this 'rationally' that had prompted him earlier to delete his favourite 'Darren' program. Erase the past and move on.

But however much he tried to deny it there was another part of him, the part that had loved Darren, mind, body and soul, that kept whispering Darren's words to him,. 'I meant it. I want to be with you, whatever it takes.' Had he really meant it, was it just possible that they might be able to find a way to be together again? Was it worth the risk? Darren had hurt him badly and it had taken him a long time to recover from his indifference.

Daniel sighed and cradled his aching head in his hands. He just didn't know anything anymore. 20:51. The sooner the search team were off his ship the better, at least then the decision would be beyond his control and his life could return to normal. He would wipe the rest of his programs that contained Darren images and finally put it all behind him.

The entrance pad to his study chimed and Daniel groaned out loud wearily. What now? Were his crew really so incompetent tonight that he couldn't even leave them alone for a few hours to run things without him?

'Come.' He called out, the interruption only serving to strength his resolve, this was where he belonged, this was his ship and he was her captain. He wasn't about to give her up on a lovelorn whim that might well turn sour again after a few weeks.

That resolution evaporated the minute that Daniel saw whom it was that had disturbed his solitude.

'Darren?' The note of query due to the fact that man who entered his inner sanctum wasn't dressed as he might have expected in the familiar pale blue jumpsuit but instead in a pair of dark brown trousers and a loose unbleached linen tunic that reached to just above his knees.

'I told you I meant it.' Darren stated, his eyes hesitantly searching out Daniel's own.

'Meant what?' Daniel inquired cautiously.

'That I would give everything up for you if that was what you wanted.' He came 'round and leant on the desk beside where Daniel was sat. 'Is that what you want Danny?' He asked softly.

'You mean?' Daniel waved his hand up and down Darren's apparel.

'Yes,' Darren took Daniel's hands in his and drew him to his feet, 'I've resigned my commission, effective immediately.'

'Darren...' Daniel begun.

'Sshhh,' Darren silenced him with a finger to his lips.

'But what are you going to do now?' He whispered.

Darren's face broke into a faint grin and he raised his eyebrows expectantly.

'I will do anything you want me to if it just means that we can be together. I'll be you undercook, fourth class, I'll clean out your radiation ducts. Daniel I want you to let me stay.'

Daniel didn't know what to say. Darren had been serious. He had just given up everything he had ever dreamed of, worked so hard for and he had given it up for him.

'Danny?' Darren said, dropping his hands and stepping back. Disappointment clearly evident in his features. 'You didn't mean it did you?' He said quietly, 'I don't mean anything to you anymore.'

Belatedly Daniel's brain caught up with the rest of his body and reaching out he pulled Darren into his arms. 'I meant every word,' he murmured against Darren's black and blond-streaked hair.

He lifted his head and gazed tenderly into Darren's eyes, 'Every single word. I love you Darren.' He brushed his lips over Darren's just gently at first but the pair of hands that crept up to rest at the base of his neck quickly brought him into a deeper kiss. A deeper kiss that he sighed into, felt Darren part his lips and grant his tongue entrance. A kiss once more full of sweetness and love.

'So I can stay?' Darren said huskily when they eventually, and reluctantly, parted.

'No.' Daniel shook his head, noting with amusement the look of consternation that over came the visage that his fingers were now gracefully ghosting over.

'But I thought...'

One hand left Darren's face and depressed the intercom call button. 'Mr. Carey, please report to my study immediately.'

'On my way captain.' Came the disembodied reply.

Turning back to Darren, Daniel kissed the tip of his nose lovingly. 'You are far too good to ever do anything as menial as working for me.'

The entrance pad chimed once more.

'Enter.' Daniel commanded, his hands dropping down to loosely rest on Darren's waist.

'Captain?' Ben enquired, tilting his head minutely in question and barely disguised surprise.

'Ben how would you like to captain your own ship.'

'Erm, yeah, one day, yeah.'

'How about now?'

'I'm not sure I follow you.' Ben said.

'Me neither.' Darren muttered beside Daniel.

Darren smiled and took a deep breath. 'Mr. Carey, I am hereby promoting you to the rank of captain and handing complete control of the 'Selene' over to you.' He dropped his tone to something much less formal. 'Ben I'm taking an extended period of leave, I have no idea when I will be back, if ever and I want you to look after my girl for me. Will you do that for me? You're a good starman, you are more than capable of handling her and more importantly you've been a very good friend, I know she will be in good hands with you.'

'It would be a pleasure and an honour...Daniel.' Ben smirked slightly.

'Good...well...' Daniel temporarily parted himself from Darren and picking up the screenpad from the desk handed it over to the new captain. 'Those are the flight details for the next few weeks, I think you will find that they are all in order.' He glanced down at the time display. 'Now your first duty as 'Selene's' new captain is to get that damn search team off of my ship.'

'Consider it done.' Ben said with a huge grin.

'And then perhaps you would be so kind as to allow me use of one of the transport pods.'

'Hey it's still your ship Dan. I'll see that it's ready for you within the hour.' And with that Ben departed leaving the two lovers alone again.

'So my love,' Daniel asked as his hands once more came to rest on Darren's back, 'where shall we go first?'

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