Well, the midterm elections certainly made things more interesting. Normally, politics weren’t something John gave all that much thought to, unless they were politics that sent him to fight in some war or another. And after finding out about the Stargate program, politics seemed more and more like background noise. But even he couldn’t help but perk an ear at all the idiotic things this administration was doing to make their party seem more liberal before they lost their majority.

After twenty-one years in the Air Force, John never thought he’d see the day when you could be openly gay in the United States Military, and yet the president, conservative warmongering asshole that he was, had signed the order today.

There were parties all over the base - balloons and confetti and everything. John was disgusted, which meant that Rush must’ve been ready to kill someone. John was doing his best to keep a low profile, and keep from getting kissed by one of the technical sergeants who seemed to be taking today as a great excuse for a free-for-all.

He ducked into Rodney’s lab. None of the civilian scientists had need to celebrate, and the ones that did were probably out in search of Sergeant Harriman.

“Hey,” Rodney said with a smile, alone in his lab for once. “Not out enjoying the orgy?”

John shook his head ruefully. “Not my bag.”

“Colonel Kirk, miss out on a party? I’d never!”

“Asshole. I’m just not into the bells and whistles, gaudy, in-your-face thing.”

“Yeah, it is pretty ridiculous, isn’t it? I finally ended up giving my people the day off. You’d be surprised how many of the scientists here have been getting some from military officers, or at least wanting to.”

“We’re just irresistible like that.”

Rodney snorted. “Oh, so you’d like to think.”

“Worked on you.”

“Trust me, you and I had nothing to do with the uniform and the gun fetish.”

“You have a gun fetish?”

“No, *you* have a gun fetish.”

“Maybe it was the charming officer mystique.” It felt weird, talking about it openly like this.

“Dream on, flyboy. You were handy and not unattractive.”

“And your best friend.”

“And that.” Rodney seemed almost reluctant to admit it, even though they both knew that was the most important part. After a moment’s strange, but not quite awkward, silence Rodney asked, “So are you going to come out?”

“It was none of the Federal Government’s business who I was sleeping with before they changed the policy and it’s none of theirs now.” It came out more resentful than he’d intended.

Rodney looked slightly disappointed. “But what about to your friends?”

“Look, Rodney, I’m not out to hide anything, okay? I just really don’t see how the gender of people I may or may not sleep with in the future matters to my colleagues and coworkers.”

“It’s part of who you are.”

“Yeah. And if and when it becomes relevant, I won’t hesitate to bring it up,” he snapped.

“You’re ashamed of it, aren’t you?” Rodney seemed hurt, almost disgusted.

“No, God, no, Rodney. If you and I . . . if things didn’t turn out the way they did, I’d be the first up to throw a damned coming out party, balloons and all, but I’m not dating someone here at the SGC right now, and not a man and I don’t want to give General Dickwad yet another reason to hate me.”

Rodney only looked slightly pacified. “All right. Does that mean you’d be Opposed to going to Miko and Corporal Saunders’ wedding as my date?”

“Miko, the little Japanese girl who used to have such a crush on you?”

“The same one. Apparently, finding me unavailable, she got over her broken heart with the pretty young officer assigned to her SG team.”

“Ah, you’re a hard one to get over.” He was only half joking.

“Of course I am. Must have spoiled her to brains forever, poor thing.”

“Sure you did. Sam’s not going with you?”

“She has some unavoidable business in Washington. Besides, I think it might be sorta a themed thing . . . at least that’s what I got from Miko mumbling at me that I should take you. That girl really needs to learn how to enunciate.”

“In that case, I’d love to.”

“Good.”

The grinned at each other awkwardly before breaking out into laughter.

<<<>>>

The wedding was wonderful, a hilarious break from it all. Rodney caught one of the garter belts and wore it around his arm like a guerilla. Sergeant Harriman was still on his kiss-any-guy-within-reach kick, which made for some pretty disturbed officers, the few who were there. Most of the guests were family, scientists, and those returned from Atlantis. Everyone was more than a little tipsy by the end of the night. Whatever those blue fruity drinks were, they packed a pretty surprising punch, turning shy little Miko into an absolutely amazing dancer, and almost causing Rodney to punch Harriman when he tried to cut in and kiss John. It probably wouldn’t have been as funny without all the alcohol.

They’d danced together like a couple, like they never had. And while it earned them a few raised eyebrows, everyone was having a little fun experimenting with the same-sex thing in the whole spirit of the event, even Lin, who was probably the most devoted family man John knew.

Of course, all that dancing close and staring at each other with nothing to do about it left them horny enough to go make out behind some bushes by the end of the night, only to have the DJ announce the last dance about five minutes later.

John drove them back to Rodney’s place, trying to navigate between the tipsiness and the hard-on. Thank God this was Colorado in the middle of the night and he was a damned good pilot.

As they stumbled in the door, kissing desperately, hands roaming, they were just sober enough to know what they were doing and drunk enough not to care.

John didn’t know how they made it up the stairs, only that he was pulling off Rodney’s pants and that shirt that Sam’d picked out for him that made his eyes shine a brilliant green-blue, and that he’d missed this, missed it so damn much.

Rodney’s skin burned beneath him, seemingly rising up to meet him with every touch, and Rodney’s cock was slick and smooth and fit into the palm of his hand, as familiar as his own.

And then there were expressive lips, lips that knew him just as well as he knew them, finding every hotspot flawlessly, perfect, right, everything.

He slid down Rodney’s body, so good. He found Rodney’s cock, took it’s familiar weight in his mouth, sucked down and tasted the taste he’d never forgotten, and some part of it was like a revelation, but of what he didn’t know.

“Oh, God, John! Oh, God, so good!” Rodney’s hands were in his hair, the perfect combination of urgent pressure and leeway. They stroked, Rodney moaned, and in his half-drunken haze, John knew that moan, it played his body like a harp, like an instrument thrumming in sympathetic vibration. And, without the familiar inhibitions he asked himself the question he probably should’ve asked himself a long time ago: why had they given this up?

And as he was right there, perched on the brink of a familiar, but no less passionate, orgasm, they heard the front door slam shut.

“Not good!” Rodney said, still sober enough to freak out. “So not good!”

John leaped out of the bed and groped in the dark for his clothes. His car was parked in the driveway . . . she was going to find out. She was going to . . . he dove for the bathroom, hearing the rustle of Rodney pulling his pants on from the other side of the door.

Then, Sam’s voice. “Rodney?”

“Mmmmmphf,” a drunken moan.

“I take it someone had fun at the party.”

“Fun. You’re home early.”

“Last meeting got canceled.”

“Hmm . . . looking pretty.” Rodney was putting on a good drunken act. Either that or he was more wasted than John had realized. He was kind of a lightweight, after all. And God knows what he’d been drinking – the blue shit had citrus.

“You’re drunk.”

“Yeah, and?”

“Let me get you some water . . .”

“No! Don’t go in there!” John debated whether or not to go hide in the shower.

“Why not?”

“John . . . puking the last twenty minutes, very not pretty.” Good one, Rodney. Still, not so good, as John felt obliged to prove it, sticking two fingers down his throat and vomiting into the toilet. This sucked, but at least it killed the hard-on.

“And you just left him to it?”

“Yeah. He’s a big boy. Can handle himself.”

“Maybe I should go check on him.” Footsteps and a knock on the door then, “John? Are you okay?”

“Fine. Go away.” He congratulated himself on his acting ability.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”

He gave a half-growl in response.

“Okay, just call if you need help.”

“Told you he ‘as a big boy. You’re pretty.” God, he knew that Rodney was just trying to explain away any physical excitement she might discover, but John really didn’t want to be on the other side of this door if they started having sex. It was one thing to know that Rodney and Sam were together and another to have to experience it.

“God, Rodney, you’re not at all attractive when you’re like this.”

“So no sex then?” John almost choked trying not to laugh at that one. Rodney really was a hilarious drunk.

“No, no sex. I know you and John were enjoying yourselves, but Rodney . . .”

“Ah, we made out okay.” John winced, so maybe Rodney wasn’t as in control of the situation as it seemed.

“Yeah . . . Rodney, who drove?” she sounded frightened and pissed, justifiably so, as John hadn’t been totally drunk, but definitely in the arrestable range.

“John did.” Oh, big mistake. So Rodney really was a crappy liar.

“John, who’s so drunk that he’s been puking up in the bathroom for the past twenty minutes?” She sounded incredulous and even more angry.

“Please, the man’s flown a Puddle Jumper drunk off his ass and with a sprained wrist.”

“Which is also a really stupid idea.”

“Hmmm . . . let me think about that.”

He didn’t need to see her to know she was fuming. “Look, we’ll discuss this in the morning when you’re coherent, okay? I’m going downstairs to the guest bedroom. When John gets out of the bathroom, he can crash up here, or you can drag him down to the couch.”

John heard the sounds of Sam opening and shutting drawers and then the door closing. He grabbed Rodney’s toothbrush and started brushing, suddenly sober.

A minute later the door opened and Rodney came in, looking sheepish. “Sorry about that.”

John rolled his eyes and grimaced with a mouthful of toothpaste before spitting it out. “Yeah, that was a close one. Can’t believe she didn’t bust us.”

“I know. I’m such a bad liar.”

“She trusts you.”

“I know,” Rodney said, stepping closer and kissing the taste of alcohol right back into John’s just-fresh mouth.

But now John was way too sober for this. “We can’t.”

“Who says?”

“Well, the fact that your girlfriend’s downstairs asleep in the guest bedroom and the fact that we almost got caught once tonight, for starters. And then there’s the whole ethical thing . . .”

“I didn’t hear you complaining ten minutes ago.”

“I was a lot less sober ten minutes ago. Trust me on this. Let’s just go to sleep. You’ll thank me for it in the morning.”

Rodney looked pissed and disappointed, but he obliged, snuggling up against John just like they used to and snoring loudly. John slept deeply and without dreaming.

Rodney never thanked him, not that he was expecting it.