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He knew she did. It would come with better clarity later, when he could review the vision over and over again at his leisure and compare it to their time together, against velvet-sleep words and quiet actions, what was said and what was unspoken or left out. But in a way Jack already had known, because it would have been too easy if Chel had accepted Lina's existence, and easy didn't exist in either of their lives. The fact that Chel, who could find camaraderie with most anyone, couldn't stand her, warmed his deeply sequestered heart; a decision to ignore her would have been one thing, but to use the word hate...It was a very strong word. People could throw it around like something common, but this is something different. Intimate.

Skin to skin suddenly felt too distant, the press of their lives without warning not nearly warm enough. If he could have buried himself under Chel's skin, carved himself a place so that every movement, every breath, every single thought was a shared experience, he would have if it meant pulling her doubts out until the roots were destroyed. The lack of boundaries was a wildly frightening thing, but words felt so inadequate to describe how laughable her fear was, how mild and pointless and yet touching. He wasn't a creature who knew how to share; she already held too much as it was, and yet he still wanted more--give more, take more, mine mine mine.

In contrast, his gaze sharpened as he touched her cheek, not born of cruelty or anger like it often was but with a different kind of blaze, a determination like a large campfire rather than an inferno. "You won't," he told her, "because I'm never going to let you go." A promise, a threat, a fact.

He gave a soft laugh and said, "God damn it," before leaning in for another kiss, longer and warmer than before. "If I wasn't so tired, maybe; for now, just enjoy the ******** started to scratch her back. "I'm staying over at your place for the next few nights at least." Just in case.

"She did what now?"

"Gross." Jack snorted and withdrew his hands. "Well, if that's how you really feel, who am I to stand in the way of true love? Especially one with boobs?"

Her return was rewarded with a renewed and tighter hold as well as an affectionate answer in the kiss, framed with a smile he rarely wore so openly. It was a new experience to allow himself to be this comfortable with someone else, and it was a heady feeling. There was no shame felt when Jack bumped his head gently against hers, hungry for contact in a way only Chel managed to bring out of him.

"What about Nest?" he asked, clearly preferring to indulge their moment since it was less thoughts and more sensations. "We're not getting at her anytime soon."

"No," he replied as he curled his fingers around the back of her ribs, equally as pleased to feel skin. A hint of frustration crept into Jack's tone nevertheless. "A vision's not the same as the real deal. Not that this is me asking you to go looking," he added. "Nest isn't a priority."

He made a musing noise as he tried to remember. "I think....maybe..." It was hard, sifting through all of those memories at this late an hour. But he did remember those little motions, vaguely, and he tried to shape the one he remembered most clearly against her back.

"There was one--I remember it meant 'I love you'." He almost had the gesture down. "I'm not sure why we knew sign language, though. Maybe just for shorthand conversations?"

"Wasn't even trying that time," Jack half groused, half teased. Saccharine statements were apparently only allowed when he was consciously making them, otherwise it was a double edged sword that had him making faces in return. "I don't see why not, though. I doubt the Deus library has anything on it, but we could check it out next time we're on leave."