How Daniel Got His Groove Back
by Nel

Email: nel_ani@yahoo.se
Rating: NC-17
Category: Humor, angst, H/C, action/adventure, first time
Warnings: Language and adult situations.
Summary: Wherein Daniel remembers why he never gets drunk, Jack is having decision anxiety, Teal'c gets to be a spy and Sam has a secret.
Disclaimers: They ain't mine, I'm not making money, the world is unfair.
Spoilers: Some vague ones for Divide and Conquer, Ascension and Chain Reaction.
Author's Notes: So many people to thank this time around:
Willow, who sacrificed many an hour on this piece
Jean for reading through the ramblings of a madwoman
Danvers for "Then they had loud sex and broke the couch."
Kelly for "So, throw me a bone here. I need a basic something to get weird ideas from."
Sel for ::suspiciously:: "Is there a lot of slash?"
Alice for giving suggestions about a story she knew nothing about *and* allowing me to steal lines
Mairoh for betaing this over and over when she had so little time on her hands
Genie for helping with the summary and last but not least
Suz for being Suz and helping me with my troubles (aka Sam parts). Thank you *so* much, guys. You rock muchly.

I started writing this story two years ago, and I think that is one of the reasons it's taken so long to finish. My writing two years ago…not the best. Lots of editing has been done.

This just something that started out as one thing and turned out to be something else. And I love what it turned into.

For Danvers, who spent time and effort to help and even generously gave me a title that was hers from the beginning. And I've been dying to have something to dedicate to her for ages... For your absolutely-not-a-birthday dear. *hugs*

He was quite possibly - or rather decidedly, depending on ones opinion and/or view - drunk. It seemed like a reasonable assumption considering that this was the goal he'd been striving for while drinking all that whiskey.

He'd never been very fond of whiskey, but he'd been told that it was an excellent choice if one wished to reach a state of intoxication in a very short amount of time.

The taste had been horrifying at first, vaguely reminding him of some hazy nights in Algeria, blurry images of his colleague Dr. Drake dancing on the tables of some bar after drinking some of the local brew. Some very friendly young women had offered them the potent mixture and after moving past the fact that the liquid was probably acid in disguise, they'd come to enjoy drinking it quite a bit.

Still, Dr. Drake had been dancing on the tables. Wearing nothing but his underwear. Perhaps it'd be better if that night was lost in the mists of forgetfulness.

The whiskey, however appalling, had much like the home-brewed alcohol all those years ago lost a bit of its bitterness as he downed the shots, and by the fifth, he was buzzing in a pleasantly I'm-gonna-stay-on-my-couch-for-the-rest-of-my-life kind of way.

However, despite the pleasantness of the situation there was something nagging at the edge of his mind. He was drunk. He was in fact...drunk, but he had no memory of *why* he was drunk. Well, he was drunk because of the whiskey of course, but the motivation seemed somewhat foggy.

The chances were that the motivation might have been negative; he didn't really see the logic in drinking himself into oblivion if he was happy. Well, not without company anyway.

So that left something depressing, hurtful or shocking, which really should be enough reason for him to stop trying to remember.

Daniel smiled happily and sank further down on the couch, sipping from his half-full drink, feeling proud of his logic. Or feeling proud of his deductive reasoning skills, as Jack would put it.

Something clicked in Daniel's head, and he frowned a bit in concentration. Jack. There was something he was supposed to remember about Jack. Or was there something he was supposed to forget about Jack?

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, glasses having been abandoned early on when the room adopted a pleasing tilt.

He ought to just call Jack and ask. Yeah. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He'd call Jack and ask, Jack usually had the latest insights; the man gossiped more than Mrs. Brown and her cavalry of knitters next door.

Not without sadness Daniel put the glass down on the table and reached for the phone, which was next to the couch, bless it. Dialing the number without even having to think about it, he brought the receiver to his ear and started humming Auld Lang Syne.

One tone. Should auld acquaintance be forgot
A second. And never thought upon
A third. The flames of love extinguished
A fourth. And freely past and gone?
A fifth. Is thy kind heart now grown so cold
A sixth. In that loving breast of thine

Maybe he should have called a bit earlier. He squinted at the clock. Some people might be asleep at 3.28 am.

A seventh. That thou canst never once reflect
A - There was a click in the other end and some rustling noises.

"This'd better be good, I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it."

Jack sounded half-awake, a quality Daniel had always envied. When he himself was crawling out of a tent while off-world, desperately trying to get some caffeine into his system - which was still in sleep induced denial - Jack would be sitting by the fire he'd just made, whistling something off key.

Daniel's only comfort was that Sam seemed to share his difficulty with mornings, her zombie like appearance the cause of many a teasing remark from Jack. Teal'c didn't really count; the guy could practically take a nap every time they stopped for a break, thanks to kel'no'reem. So in Daniel's eyes he was one step ahead of the rest of them. One step ahead of the rest of humanity.

"Jack! How are you?"

"Awake, which was not the case twenty seconds ago." Jack's voice had that edge that meant I'm-very-annoyed-with-you-right-now-but-you've-managed-to-worry-me-so-talk-fast. "Is something wrong?"

"Weeell," Daniel drawled, "that's sorta what I called to ask."

There was a brief silence on the other end before Jack took a deep breath and spoke. "You called me at 3.30 in the morning to ask me if something was wrong."

Daniel nodded vigorously, then remembered that Jack couldn't see the movement. "Yes, exactly."

"Daniel, are you drunk?" Jack sounded annoyed.

"Yes." Daniel smiled happily and reached for his glass. "I knew you'd know what was wrong."

"O-kay," Jack said more carefully this time, "why are you drunk?"

Daniel frowned and put the drink down again. "I'm not sure, Jack, that's why I called you, since your gossip is better than Mrs. Brown's."

"I see." More rustling noises were heard, like someone throwing off a blanket. "Listen Daniel, you just stay put and I'll be right over, okay?"

Daniel had been reaching for the glass again, but just as he was about to pick it up, Jack's words sank in and he flinched violently, sending the glass tumbling to the floor, the carpet soaking up the whiskey.

"No!" He didn't know why, but Jack couldn't come over, no way, Jose.

"Daniel?" Now Jack sounded worried. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"Yes, I, I'm fine, Jack, you don't have to come over, I'm fine, so there's really no reason for you to come over. Because I'm fine."

"Uh huh. And-"

"...you don't have to come over."

"Right, because you're fine." There was another pause. "Well, if you're sure that you're okay..."

"Oh yes, I'm sure, Jack." Daniel nodded again.

"Okay then, I'll just go back to sleep then."

"Yes, you do that. 'Night, Jack."

"Daniel-"

Daniel hung up before he could hear the response. Jack. He was drinking because of Jack.

He was drinking because of Jack? Why on earth would he do that? It didn't seem like they'd been fighting, Jack hadn't been caustic enough for that. So why was he drinking because of Jack?

It hurt to think, and Daniel glared accusingly at the wet spot on the carpet, that mere moments ago had been his friend. Backstabbing whiskey. Focusing hard he thought back on the events of the day.

They'd been on a mission, but he couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary there. He sniggered a bit at that and wondered when stepping through a circle of alien metal only to travel to worlds thousands of light-years away had become nothing out of the ordinary.

Today... Today's mission had been a routine one, very brief, but offering them a chance to relax on a nice sunny planet. Nothing strange at all. Except that everything had been blue, now that he thought about it.

Sam had had a theory, naturally, about some kind of modified chlorophyll, but he couldn't really remember it. Daniel also doubted that the planet's flora had anything to do with his mental state, unless he was feeling blue of course.

He sniggered a bit to himself, then tried to recall the rest of the day. They'd been through the post-mission checkup, everything was normal there. They'd showered and changed their clothes, check. They'd debriefed-

Bingo! There was something about the debriefing. Now if he could only remember what...

He stood and started pacing, or at least tried to before he sat down abruptly again. His legs felt rubbery, they seemed to bend at their own will. He closed his eyes. Debriefing.

Jack. Jack was acting strange at the debriefing, very subdued. There it was!

Daniel did a triumphant gesture with his right fist, but then that annoying logic came back to kick him in the rear. That didn't add up either. Sure, he empathized when Jack got caught in one of his darker moods, but Daniel doubted that he'd start drinking because of it.

So, something after the debriefing. He frowned. But nothing had happened after the debriefing. He'd followed Jack to his office, asking him if he was okay, Jack had been evasive, Daniel had dug deeper, found out what was bothering Jack, shared a cup of coffee with him, Jack had fetched some files for him and-

Oh God. He was suddenly grateful that he was sitting down. There it was. That was why he was drinking. A mighty good reason if he did say so himself. A very good reason indeed.

Self-pity threatened to overwhelm him when he was saved by the bell. Well, sort of. In this case, it was a knock on the door.

Deciding that he didn't care that his legs were made out of rubber - he was the boss after all - Daniel stood and made his way, albeit unsteadily, to the door. He was about to look through the peephole when he remembered that he'd left his glasses in the kitchen when he'd opened the whisky bottle and taken the first couple of shots.

2-0 - whiskey.

Fumbling with the lock and the safety chain, Daniel finally managed to get the door open after figuring out that he had to back away, since it opened inwards.

Jack caught Daniel's arm, a concerned look on his face as he steadied his drunken friend from tripping over his own feet. Jack looked annoyingly good for someone that had only been awake for fifteen minutes, the eternal leather jacket seeming to fit better than ever.

Daniel sighed sorrowfully, earning him a raised eyebrow from Jack.

"Well," Jack said as he slipped by Daniel into the apartment, "how can I resist an invitation like that?"

Daniel stumbled after Jack, watching him pick up the empty whiskey bottle with a frown. Jack turned towards him.

"What's going on, Daniel?"

Daniel frowned at Jack and snatched the bottle from his fingers. "I told you I was *fine*!"

"Yes, you always call me in the middle of the night when you're fine," Jack snapped back.

Daniel considered that for a moment, swaying slightly, then turned to the kitchen, feeling Jack follow close behind him. The glasses lay where he'd left them, on the sink. He put them on and turned back to face Jack, putting on his scowliest scowl.

"What, a guy can't get drunk from time to time?"

"Not when said guy enjoys drinking as much as he enjoys getting a root canal." Jack looked Daniel squarely in the eyes, then sighed and scrubbed his head with his hand, closing his eyes briefly, and Daniel noted for the first time how tired Jack looked. He felt a small twinge of guilt, which he quickly stuffed away. He'd *told* Jack not to come over.

//Yeah, but you woke him up in the middle of the night,// a small voice whispered in his head.

"I just... I just get a bit depressed now and then."

Jack usually noticed when he was lying, something that had always annoyed him to no limit. Not that he made it a habit of lying to Jack, not really, but sometimes it felt good not being read like a book. Maybe Jack was too tired to notice. //Please be too tired to notice.//

Jack's eyes pierced his, and Daniel felt his hopes sink. Then without warning, Jack stalked to the cupboards, opened a door and started rummaging through the contents.

"What are you doing?"

"I know it's gotta be here, somewhere... A-ha!" He straightened and showed Daniel the bottle he'd grabbed like it was some kind of prize. Daniel's second whiskey bottle. Jack brought forward two glasses and turned to the task of opening the bottle.

"How'd you know it was there?" Daniel asked with genuine curiosity.

Jack looked up briefly, a strange expression on his face, then looked down on the bottle again. "Because you don't do anything halfway." He poured the whiskey into the glasses.

Daniel struggled to gather his thoughts. "What are you doing?"

Jack gave a lop-sided grin and offered Daniel one of the glasses. Daniel took it with some confusion.

"Didn't think I'd let you drink all by yourself now, did you?" Jack said before throwing back his head and downing the drink.

"...so me and Ferretti had to drag him back to camp, hoping to God that the colonels were sleeping as soundly as those snores were indicating."

Daniel laughed hard, almost spilling the contents of his glass on Jack's jeans. "And I always took Kawalsky for the orderly kind."

Jack snorted. "The man was a menace." He smiled a bit ruefully. "Best menace I ever knew though." He quickly downed his drink.

"Reminds me of the party we threw for Skaara after he'd gone through his Bar Mitzvah and-"

"Whoa, whoa, his *Bar Mitzvah*?"

"Yeah, Skaara wanted a rite of passage of sorts that came from Earth, and Sha're thought it was a great idea..." Daniel faded off a bit, his smile faltering, then continued. "She thought it was a great idea, so she talked Kasuf into it." He smiled tenderly. "He never could deny her anything. So, afterward, since Skaara was now officially a man, he had to get drunk."

Jack looked skeptical. "You're trying to tell me that he hadn't been trying that moonshine we got to taste before?"

Daniel grinned. "Nope, only the men were allowed, they were very strict on that. So, it took about three cups, after that Skaara was totally out of it. He got a hold of a camel, rode off in the desert, and managed to fall into one of the wells."

Jack, who had just taken a sip of whiskey, nearly choked.

"Took us all night to get him out of there," Daniel said almost dreamily. "Those were the days."

"Yes, I suppose his... rite of passage was a memorable one."

Daniel grinned at him. "Oh yeah. Especially when Kasuf got a hold of him..."

Daniel stared up at the ceiling for several long moments before starting to wonder *why* he was looking at the ceiling. "Jack?"

"Uh huh?" Jack sounded very content, and Daniel turned his head a bit, getting a close up of Jack's right sneaker.

"What am I doing on the floor?"

"You fell off the couch."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Nice couch though." Daniel heard soft sounds of the pillows moving and saw Jack's foot slip down a bit on the floor as he settled back more comfortably.

"Thanks."

"Sure."

"Is there anything left in the bottle?"

"Not sure." He saw Jack's hand reach out, the view temporarily blocked as he grabbed something from the table. Then it emerged again, this time with the bottle. He tipped it upside down. A few surviving drops made their way out. "Nope," Jack said, sounding a little sad, "this is a of bottle ex-whiskey." There was a pause and Daniel could almost hear Jack thinking. "Or… A whiskey ex-bottle." The hands waved the bottle in a way Daniel guessed was dismissive. "We've probably had enough anyway," Jack concluded ruefully.

"Speak for yourself, you drank the last, I think I'm starting to sober up." He heard Jack's snigger and wanted to prove his point by standing up, but found that his carpet was actually pretty comfortable. "No really, I'm serious."

"Well, let's hope so, you do realize that we have to get to base tomorrow?"

Daniel groaned.

"But I don't suppose that worries you, Mr. Almost Sober." You didn't need a PhD to hear the mocking in those words.

"Oh shut up."

He awoke to a smell so horrific that his nose wanted to run somewhere and hide. The only comfort he had was that the smell distracted him from the taste in his mouth. It reminded him of something which had crawled down his throat, made a nest, thrown a rave party and died of ethanol poisoning.

He envied that something at the moment.

"Come on, Daniel, up and at it, you need to drink this," a familiar voice - which sounded shamelessly sober - said.

'Jack, I'm a grown man and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need you mother-henning me, thank you very much.'

That was what he'd intended to come out of his mouth. It didn't. What did come out was something along the lines of: "Oh fuck. Ow."

Maybe he should call an exorcist, the thing that had died in his throat had obviously started its afterlife inside his stomach. Something seemed to be alive in there. Which didn't make much sense, but-

"That's it, sleeping beauty, rise and shine."

"Jack. Two things." He carefully squinted up at Jack who must have dragged him up to the couch at some point, since he wasn't on the floor anymore. "One. I'm not any kind of beauty when I wake up, sleeping least of all." And Jack looked as annoyingly fresh as he always did in the mornings, eyes clear and hair as orderly as it ever got. The man had downed almost a whole whiskey bottle. Well, okay, half a whiskey bottle. There was no justice in the universe. "Two. I have no intent of shining. Rising I may consider."

"Well, maybe you should sit down while drinking this anyway." Jack waved the source of the odor under Daniel's nose. It was a steaming teacup, and Daniel squinted some more to try and find the sign that said *WARNING! Highly toxic waste.*

"What is this?" He carefully held his breath as he peeked over the edge of the cup. The stuff inside seemed to be liquid, and it was a curious mix of orange/brownish. "Wait. Do I want to know what this is?"

"This, my friend, is Granny O'Neill's special recipe."

"For what? Putting small animals out of their misery?"

Jack gave him a reproachful look. "No, it's an excellent cure for hangovers." He looked at the cup and shuddered theatrically. "It also discourages further drinking, which I think was exactly what Granny had in mind."

Daniel looked into the cup again, and his decision was made when he saw something floating around. "Jack, with no disrespect to Granny O'Neill, if I have to choose between this and a hangover, I think I'd go with the latter."

Jack shrugged and went back into the kitchen. "It's your funeral."

Daniel could hear the liquid hiss as it went down the sink, and made a mental note to check for burn marks later. "That's what I'm worried about."

Daniel valiantly tried to ignore his headache as he finished the report he'd been typing for the past hour. He only had himself to blame after all, he should have known better than to drink the night before a work day. They weren't going off-world for two more days, so at least he couldn't shoot anyone by mistake, but emergencies still happened, and he was supposed to be sharp and alert.

The airman that had come to give him his mail this morning would certainly have called him sharp, being on the receiving end of Daniel's tongue, but what did the man expect when he woke Daniel up?

Sighing, he saved his report, vowing to finish it later. He was certain he had some aspirin lying around somewhere, and he was bound to find them if he rummaged around enough. Normally he reserved them for Colonel Samuel's visits, but he supposed he could make an exception this once. Opening the top drawer of his desk he found a sealed box with a note on top.

Carter used your last pills after the mission to P5-something-whatever, the one where she enjoyed herself a tad too much.

Daniel couldn't help but grin a bit at the memory. Sam had been drinking generously at the celebration the natives of P51-92C had thrown for them some weeks back. He supposed asking Janet for pills for her hangover weren't on top of her to-do list. Still smiling he continued to read.

Figured you'd be somewhat grouchy if you didn't get your medication.

Daniel could practically see Jack's smirk before him.

Come by my office later when you're done with that exciting report of yours.

J

Daniel's smile faltered. He'd tried to avoid thinking of Jack the best he could, he really couldn't go on drinking like that every night. Being booted from the SGC for drinking wasn't really on *his* to do list. And it probably wasn't very good for his health either. Just the thought of Jack was depressing.

He sighed and leaned back in the chair, closing his aching eyes.

24 hours earlier

"Wait up, Jack." Daniel shoved his papers under his left arm and jogged after Jack as he exited the briefing room.

Jack shortened his steps marginally for Daniel to catch up. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Daniel said casually, "just thought I'd join you in your office."

Jack didn't look convinced. "Uh huh, since watching me do paperwork is so damn exciting?"

"Precisely."

They fell silent as they continued to walk, Daniel sneaking glances at Jack until Jack turned his head and caught him in the act. "Okay, what?"

Daniel put on his most clueless expression, or at least what he hoped counted as clueless. "What?"

"You're staring," Jack stated, not without exasperation.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"You're acting off." Daniel figured the game was up anyway, and looked searchingly at Jack again.

Jack frowned. "I'm acting off? In what way?"

"You're too quiet."

"Well, see," Jack started, the sarcasm already dripping, "there's this thing called thinking which doesn't require the mouth to move. Unlike you, who don't seem to be able to do one without the other, I'm afraid I'm not that much of a multi-tasker."

"Right," Daniel said slowly, "says the man who assembled a machine gun while dialing home and yelling at Lieutenant Moore."

"Yelling at Moore doesn't require any brain activity, it's something that comes quite naturally."

"And dialing?"

"I was motivated."

They both winced at the memory of the angry natives.

"It wasn't the lieutenant's fault, you know."

"Really? I didn't see anyone else insult the chieftain's daughter."

"Well," Daniel reasoned, "it's not like he could know that holding the door for the unmarried daughter of the chieftain's was a serious breach in etiquette."

"Which is why you never hold up doors." Jack sounded grim. "For anyone."

They came to Jack's office door, and both regarded the mountain of files resting on Jack's desk. At least Daniel assumed it was Jack's desk, it was hard to tell what lay underneath all those papers.

Jack looked pained but straightened his back, resolutely walking to the desk and pulling up the chair, which was also covered in paper.

"So what is it?" Daniel found a chair that was miraculously empty.

"Hmm?" Jack looked distracted as he slowly and carefully lifted a pile of papers off his chair and put it on top of the others on his desk, precariously balanced on the top.

"What is it you're thinking about?"

"I'm thinking if anyone would really miss the Sergeant down in supplies if he went missing." Jack waved the paper he'd grabbed from the top of the pile around.

"Complaints about losing equipment again?"

"Yep. I'm thinking of sending him to a nice, desert planet with no supplies at all." Jack looked longingly at the paper in his hand. "I'm sure he'd be very happy, certain in the knowledge that he wasn't damaging or losing any expensive equipment."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"What are you talking about?" Jack sat down and picked up the next paper from the pile.

"What have you been thinking about that's been making you act weird?"

"To my knowledge, you're the only one who thinks that I'm acting weird."

"No, I'm not. I'm just the only one impolite enough to snoop around."

Jack looked skeptical. "Like Carter wouldn't butt in if something was bothering her."

"She's busy with the report. She's almost finished her theory on the flora of P4X-523."

"And Doc?" Jack continued while making a ball of another paper and dropping it into the trashcan. "The last time she was discreet was probably when her parents told her to behave otherwise she wouldn't get any gifts from Santa."

"She's doing the evaluations of the medical staff."

"Then what about-"

"Okay, so I was the first one to get to you."

Jack gave him an odd look, and then glanced back down to the paper in his hand. "Right you are."

Daniel frowned. "So?"

Jack quirked an eyebrow. "So what?"

"Are you going to tell me, or do I have to get you drunk?"

Jack snorted. "Daniel, I could drink you under the table any day."

"I wasn't planning on drinking anything except soda." He grew serious again. "Is it something serious?" His eyes widened. "It's nothing medical is it? You're not-"

"Relax, Daniel, I'm not sick." Jack gave Daniel an annoyed look. "Unless Nosey Doctor Syndrome is a little known and undocumented illness."

"Then what?"

Jack rubbed his face and leaned his elbows on the desk, making the files tilt dangerously.

"Why me?" he said to the room in general. "Did I do something evil that no one told me about? Is this a punishment of some kind?"

Daniel just smiled at him, waiting.

"Fine. You want to know? It's nothing."

"Okay, nothing." Daniel tried to look attentive and encouraging.

"Nothing at all." Jack stood and walked to the coffee maker, and got two cups. He put one in Daniel's hand. "Sara wants to get back together."

Daniel was absurdly grateful that he hadn't had time to take a sip; he doubted that Jack would have appreciated him having done a spray job on his paper work.

"She what?"

"You heard me." Jack sat down again, looking carefully detached as he sipped his steaming coffee.

"O-kay," Daniel said carefully, "so how'd she take it?"

Jack looked confused. "Take what?"

"Your answer. You told her no, right?"

Jack frowned. "Why would I do that?"

Daniel felt strangely cold. "So you told her yes?"

"I haven't told her anything," Jack said irritably. "I mean it's not exactly a decision you make at the snap of a finger."

"But… It would never work."

Jack's eyebrows rose. "Why not?"

"Well… The hours, you'd never be at home…"

"Daniel, Sara and I were married more than ten years, and I was away more than a third of that time. We wouldn't have broken up if it wasn't for…"

Daniel didn't need to hear the rest. No matter how much time passed by, everything always led Jack back to Charlie. Daniel felt a sting of compassion for his friend.

"But you're never home, she'd never be happy." He had a nagging feeling that he was repeating himself, but right then he didn't care.

Jack sighed. "Daniel, do you think I spend time on base because I have some strange kink for paperwork? I'm on base this much because there isn't much to go home to."

Strange that Daniel's fingers could be so cold when he could clearly see the warm steam rise from the cup in his hand. "You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?"

Jack nodded and looked down on the next paper, even though Daniel could see that he wasn't reading.

"So… What? You're thinking about leaving?"

Jack's head snapped up. "Hell, no!"

That made the frost that was obviously covering Daniel melt a bit.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Daniel, but I'll be sticking around for quite some time. God knows what would become of you kids if I let you out of my sight." Jack smirked at him, but Daniel could tell that his heart wasn't all in it.

Cold. It was so damned cold.

"So… What are you going to tell her?" Daniel felt divided in two; one part of him having to know Jack's answer, the other not wanting to know for fear of what the answer would be.

Jack sighed and looked straight at him, and Daniel's chest ached. There was an uncharacteristically lost expression in his friend's eyes, one he'd only seen a few times and hoped to never see again.

"I have no idea."

He was gratefully brought back to the present by a warm hand on his shoulder. Looking up he saw the concerned eyes of Teal'c.

"You did not respond when I summoned you, DanielJackson."

Daniel smiled and mentally shook himself out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Teal'c, I guess I was just lost in thought."

Teal'c studied him carefully, hand still firmly on Daniel's shoulder. "You were thinking of a particular matter?"

"No, nothing important. Did you need something?"

With a final squeeze the Jaffa let go of Daniel's shoulder. "I am in search of MajorCarter."

"She should be in her lab."

"She is not, I was there only moments ago."

Daniel frowned. "That's odd, she said she had some reports to finish."

"Indeed. This is only one of the several instances where MajorCarter has behaved in an unusual manner in a short span of time."

"Yeah," Daniel said slowly, realizing Teal'c was right, "she has, hasn't she? I've barely seen her since the mission, and you usually can't get her away from the lab unless there's an alien invasion."

"Or if the commissary is nearing an end of its supply of blue jell-o."

Daniel nodded, not as amused as he should have been. "Right."

A rap on the open door made them both turn their heads.

"Hey, kids, what's up?" Jack seemed filled with even more energy than usual as he threw himself down on one of the chairs in front of Daniel's desk.

"We were discussing the unusual behavior of MajorCarter, O'Neill."

Jack frowned. "Carter? She's a scientist, Teal'c, if you're looking for sensible behavior..."

Daniel raised his eyebrows as he looked at Jack.

"What? I meant that in a good way."

Daniel gave Jack his best 'you're so full of shit' look and continued. "No, we were talking about how little she's been at base lately and how stressed she's seemed."

Jack looked thoughtful. "When you mention it, she has been a bit-"

"Yeah," Daniel agreed.

"You guys have any idea what's going on?" Jack tapped his fingers against Daniel's desk.

"We are as much in the dark as you, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

The object of their discussion chose that moment to appear in the doorway, breathless and flustered, her blonde hair ruffled.

"Hey, guys, just wanted to say bye before I went home." Without waiting for an answer she turned to leave.

"Carter!"

Sam turned back and looked questioningly at Jack. "Sir?"

"You feeling alright, Carter?"

Daniel noticed a guilty look flash over Sam's face. "Of course, sir, I'm fine, never been better." She stood in the doorway for a few more seconds. "Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you guys later." She turned swiftly and made a hasty retreat, almost knocking an unsuspecting airman over in her hurry to leave.

"O-kay," Daniel looked at Teal'c and Jack who looked similarly confused, "something's not right with that picture."

"Right," Jack agreed.

"Do you believe we should pursue this further?" Teal'c managed to look concerned without moving a muscle.

"No, I was thinking of just leaving it," Jack said sarcastically, resuming the tapping of his fingers that had been interrupted by Sam's arrival. "I don't think we'll get any more insights from Carter though."

"No." Daniel frowned at Jack, the fast beat of his fingers distracting Daniel.

"I think we need to do a little snooping around ourselves." Jack said, his face taking on a slightly juvenile expression, and Daniel shook his head.

He looked at Jack, not bothering to hide his smile. "You saying we should spy on her?"

"Spy is such a nasty word, I was merely suggesting that we watch out for her-"

"Spy."

"-study her-"

"Spy."

"-make sure she's in no real trouble-"

"Spy."

"Fine," Jack snapped, "spy on her."

"Thank you."

"Only to make sure of course."

"We understand, O'Neill," Teal'c assured.

"You feeling up to some espionage, Teal'c buddy?"

"The same as Ms. CharleneBaltimore?"

Jack looked confused. "Ms. who?"

"He's talking about the movie 'The Long Kiss Goodnight', Jack."

Jack studied Teal'c carefully. "We need to do something about your choice of movies, Teal'c."

"That will not be necessary."

"I think it will, Teal'c. I think it will..."

Daniel started to read a document as Jack and Teal'c continued to argue. Who was he to barge in and confess that he'd bought Teal'c the movie?

The next morning Daniel found Jack sitting in the back corner of the commissary, pushing food around his plate with a far away look in his eyes.

"Hey," Daniel greeted as he sat down opposite Jack with his tray, getting a preoccupied wave in return. "Well," he said, "nice to see you too."

"Huh?" Jack looked up, bemused, then gave Daniel a small smile. "Sorry, guess I'm not quite awake yet."

"Right, because you always have trouble getting up in the mornings," Daniel said, not without skepticism.

Jack shrugged and chased a gloopy yellow mess that could have passed for scrambled eggs in another life with his fork.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Jack's voice had a disinterested tone, but it didn't fool Daniel.

"Ah," Daniel said, "nothing again. Any progress on the nothing situation?"

Jack gave him a sharp glance, then sighed. "No, I haven't told her anything yet."

"Still don't know?"

"Does it *look* that way?" Jack snapped.

"Hey, just asking," Daniel defended with an 'I surrender' hand gesture.

"Well, don't."

The silence that followed was tense, Jack not meeting Daniel's eyes. Daniel studied him for a moment, having an absurd wish that he could read minds, then sighed and looked around the commissary. Not a lot of people were there, it was rather late for breakfast, but since SG-1 was on downtime they had an opportunity to indulge themselves. If this could be called indulging...

He gave the egg on his plate an experimental stab, but when his fork bounced off, he decided that he didn't feel that adventurous today.

Finally Daniel sighed. "Look. Whenever, whatever you decide, just, so you know, I'd… I'll support you." He looked down, studying the eggs on his plate.

Funny how he could sound so sure of himself when the last thing he wanted was to support Jack's possible decision of leaving.

It was childish, there was no reason to feel this way, he knew that Jack wasn't leaving. He'd said so in no uncertain terms. Daniel just had a nagging feeling, that if Jack went back to Sara, he'd somehow lose him, and as annoying as Jack could be, that wasn't something Daniel wanted to happen. Or even think about.

He could almost feel Jack's eyes boring into him, and as he looked up he caught a strange expression on Jack's face.

"What?" Daniel snapped, unnerved by the steady gaze.

Before Jack could answer, a shadow fell over the table and Teal'c seated himself next to Daniel.

"News?" Jack was in full commander mode within the blink of an eye.

"MajorCarter returned to her home yesterday and did not exit again until this morning, nor did she receive any guests."

Jack tapped the fork thoughtfully against the table. "I don't think that we should trash the dating-theory just yet." He looked at Teal'c. "She didn't leave later?"

"She did not."

Jack looked thoughtful. "Okay, we'll just have to keep surveillance up for a while longer. Teal'c, you'll follow Carter home tonight as well and see if anything new turns up."

Teal'c looked reluctant.

"What's wrong?" Jack said curiously.

"I had hoped for this evening... off."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Jack continued to look expectant, but Teal'c seemed reluctant to co-operate. Jack got a shrewd expression on his face. "You're staying in to watch 'Return of the Ewoks", aren't you?"

Teal'c looked unimpressed. "If I happened to be present in front of the television at the time, it would seem wasteful to turn it off."

"Of course," Daniel said, not even cracking a smile.

"So," Jack looked over at Daniel, "that only leaves you and me then, Obi-Wan."

Daniel snorted. "Whose idea was it to spy on Sam in the first place?"

"I don't remember you being particularly opposed to the idea."

"Fine," Daniel conceded with ill-grace, even though some part of him deep down was cheering for some time alone with Jack.

He was so pathetic.

Something suddenly struck him. "Wait. How did you know that 'Return of the Ewoks' was on tonight anyway?"

Jack froze in the process of bringing his fork to his mouth and stared a Daniel with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

//Busted.//

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Sam's cheerful voice made them all flinch and look guilty. Well, not Teal'c, he didn't do guilty. And not Jack; he looked relieved. This left Daniel, who quickly made his face look pleasantly surprised. Or he might look like something had gone down the wrong pipe. There was a very fine line between the two, he'd noticed.

Jack turned to Sam, who was standing next to the table with a tray. Daniel could practically see the gears move as Jack turned on his most winning smile. "Carter! Have a seat."

Sam smiled a bit, a confused look on her face. "Thanks, sir."

She sat down next to Jack and started eating. Daniel tried again to eat his eggs, but his eyes were drawn to Sam against his will. As Sam looked up at him with a confused frown, he concluded that he was probably the only one staring.

Sam looked questioningly at him. "What?"

Daniel smiled hurriedly. "Oh, nothing, we were just... Um..."

"Discussing tomorrow's mission, MajorCarter."

Daniel shot Teal'c a grateful look, and threw himself into a discussion about the mission with a rush of words. He was really quite excited about it; the visual on the MALP had shown an enormous wall, every inch covered in writing. The writing had been faded, making it impossible for the MALP to take any helpful footage, and he was itching to have a closer look at it. Preferably without any hostiles shooting at them. A nice relaxing mission would be a welcome change.

As Teal'c piped in with his take on the planet, Daniel couldn't help but notice Jack's lack of participation in the conversation, and how he kept staring into thin air. Daniel felt the cold feeling creep back up on him. It was almost as though Jack had already left.

How much longer would Jack actually be with them? What would Daniel do if Jack really did leave? If he went back to Sara, what reason would he have to stay on SG-1? The first mission that went wrong, Jack would be out of there. Being the all too decent guy that he was, he wouldn't want to put Sara through losing him like that so soon after getting him back.

Giving himself a mental shake he told himself to get over it. So what if Jack left? They'd still see each other. Oh yeah. Most of the time it would probably be some months apart, the SGC being the overly busy place it was, but they'd see each other. Wouldn't they?

Daniel suppressed a sigh and continued the discussion, faking an enthusiasm he wasn't feeling anymore.

The rain was pouring down in such great amounts that Daniel was starting to think of Noah and his ark and whether or not they could find something to float on before it was too late.

"Whose idea was this again?" Jack sounded miserable.

Daniel gritted his teeth together so they wouldn't clatter. "Yours."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Next time I come up with an idea like this?"

"Yes?"

"Shoot me." With that, Jack gave a full body shake that splattered Daniel's already wet clothes with more water.

"Hey!"

"Sorry." Jack did actually look sorry. Daniel just wasn't sure if it was for spraying Daniel or for generally being wet.

He had to admit, though, that for all the discomfort of being soaked by chilling rain, it was worth it when looking at a wet Jack.

He really needed to look over the pleasures he found in life.

"At least you weren't the one who forgot the umbrella."

Jack ran his hand through his wet hair, making it stand up in small spikes. "Why would you bring an umbrella when the sun was shining?"

"Because, by now, I should know how these things works."

Jack gave a nod at that. If something could go bad, it most likely would; Daniel knew it, Jack knew it.

Daniel dried his glasses off with his sleeve for the umpteenth time, ignoring their smudged blurriness as he put them back on. "You sure she'd spot us if we were in the car?"

"At this point, I'd be pretty far from caring, if it weren't for the fact that we're *not* getting the seats wet."

"And how do you propose we get home?"

"Cab."

"And the car?"

"Will be okay 'til I pick it up. This ain't exactly a bad neighborhood." A violent shiver ran through Jack's body, visible even to Daniel.

He pulled off his jacket. "Here."

"Daniel," Jack started to protest.

"Shut up and take it. I've got at least one sweater on you."

Reluctantly, Jack accepted Daniel's jacket and pulled it on, not quite sighing. Daniel hadn't been the only one to miscalculate the weather; Jack had done the unthinkable and left his leather jacket home. He'd only put on a flannel shirt, that outlined his chest very nicely when wet, but Daniel suspected that it was far from warm. Maybe pulling a jacket on a sodden shirt wasn't ideal conditions, but it couldn't really make things worse.

They were standing under a tree across the street from Sam's house. The tree itself would give them enough time to hide if she happened to look out a window, but it didn't do much in the way of stopping the rain.

"So," Jack said after they'd spent another ten fascinating minutes watching the lights shine out of the windows in Sam's house. Sam's undoubtedly warm, dry house…

"So?"

"You going to tell me what the other night was about?" Jack didn't look at him, but he didn't have to. He knew Jack was somehow still scrutinizing him.

He tried stalling. "The other night?"

"Even if you were too drunk to remember, I think the hangover was quite memorable."

Daniel made a face. "Yeah."

Jack somehow even managed to make the silence sound expecting, still without looking at Daniel.

"I told, I just get-"

"-depressed from time to time, yeah, I remember."

"Right."

Jack looked at him, and there was no mischief in his solemn eyes. "I didn't buy it then, and I'm not buying it now."

"I thought it was a pretty good excuse," Daniel joked weakly, rubbing his hands against his upper arms, trying to find some kind of warmth.

"Not bad," Jack relented, "if it weren't for the fact that you're a really bad liar when you're drunk."

"Look, why don't we call it a night." Daniel didn't care if his changing the subject was obvious; he was just too tired and too cold and too *wet* to do this right now. "I think getting pneumonia is way above the call of duty."

Jack just looked at him then fished out Daniel's cell from the pocket of the jacket. "You'll tell me later?"

Daniel stared at the man dialing the phone to get them a cab, the man whose hair was dripping with water and who looked really great in Daniel's jacket.

He would. He'd keep quiet about it for as long as he could, but sooner or later, he'd tell Jack about it. There was really no use in trying to fight it.

"Yes, Jack, I'll tell you later."

They were silent the entire cab ride to Daniel's place. When they finally arrived, Jack slipped out of Daniel's jacket. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Daniel opened the door and shook the jacket off slightly. It'd had stopped raining, naturally, since they no longer intended to stay outside.

"No no, I mean it. Any time you wanna maybe, borrow a jacket-"

Daniel smiled. "That's fine."

"-or maybe talk…" Jack left the rest unsaid and looked at Daniel, a reassuring glint of humor in his eyes.

"Or we could get drunk again," Daniel suggested.

Jack made a face. "I'd rather do the talk thing without large amounts of alcohol." He paused. "Well, at least without large amount of alcohol on your behalf."

"Now," Daniel stepped out of the car and leaned down to look at Jack, a hand resting on the door, "where's the fun in that?"

"I'll let you ponder that question alone, grasshopper," Jack said dryly. "Don't try it out tonight, though, I doubt having a hangover while being off-world is recommended."

"Party pooper."

"Don't you know it."

"Chevron four encoded."

Daniel adjusted his backpack and looked up to see Jack impatiently scanning the gate room "Where the hell is Carter?" He turned to the tall Jaffa standing next to him. "Teal'c?"

"I do not know, O'Neill."

Jack turned toward the door just as Sam entered jogging. "A bit late aren't we, Major?"

"Sorry, sir."

Daniel could see Jack waiting for the expected explanation as Sam bent down to tie her shoelaces, and when none came he quirked an eyebrow. "And I suppose you had a *good* reason, Major?"

Sam looked up. "Yes, sir."

With a look that indicated there would be no explanation she returned to tying her laces. Jack shot Daniel an exasperated look and turned towards the gate just as it opened with a mighty *kawoosh*.

"Now that everyone has graced us with their presence," Jack shot a glance at Sam, "off we go."

With that Jack walked up to the gate and vanished behind the shimmering surface. Daniel was a few steps behind, entering side by side with Teal'c.

He would probably never quite get used to the sensation of gate travel. Although he didn't find it quite as freezing as he had those first fateful trips he still got that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him that if it went on much longer, he'd probably throw up.

Stepping out of the gate relatively steady, he was greeted with the sight of twenty or so locals staring at them in what could only be described as awe. Sam stepped out behind him and Teal'c and the gate closed behind the quartet.

"Daniel." Jack's tone was watchful, and even though his hand was only resting lightly at his rifle, Daniel knew that he'd have it up and ready within a second if necessary. "Feeling up for a bit of meet and greet?"

Daniel stepped up by Jack's side. "Uh, hello."

Jack threw him an incredulous look.

"What? It's not like I can tell by the way they look what language they speak."

As one, all of the people started cheering and yelling in some language that Daniel found familiar, its identity teasingly lurking at the edge of his memory.

The people hushed down and one of the locals, a tall man with a scar on his left cheek stepped forward. He hesitantly began speaking, and Daniel focused on the way the words were fashioned on their tongues before being roughly spat out in… Well, it could either be paranoia and distrust, or the man could be talking about the weather.

"Daniel?" Jack sounded a bit tense.

"Give me a second." He racked his brain for the answer he knew to be there…somewhere.

With a snap of his fingers, it came to him. Inuit. Of course. The dialect was obscure, due to centuries of change, but the basics were remarkably preserved. He tried a few words of greeting and was heartened when the man who had approached answered in a rush of words. Now all he had to do was understand them...

After some questions in the tongue he felt like he was limping through, he'd managed to get the gist of the man's words. It had been at least ten years since he'd tried speaking it and he had a suspicion that his accent was grating on the ears of the man he was speaking to, but he was able to make himself understood. At least he hoped so...

The man waited patiently for him to finish his sentence and then answered quickly. O-kay. Piece of cake. He turned to the others, expectant expression on their faces.

"If I got this right, these people apparently regard us as heroes."

"They do? Wow. How'd they know?" Jack had lowered his rifle marginally

Daniel gave Jack a dry smile. "It seems that we saved them from, eh, 'death and annihilation' by getting rid of the shaman of the enemy tribe."

Sam looked around. "What shaman?"

Daniel pointed towards the bottom of the steps and a pair of wooden sandals, with feet still present, that had nothing attached to them a few inches above the ankles. "It seems as though our shaman wasn't at the most tactical position when the gate opened."

"Er… eugh?" Jack said making a face. "So, what's next?" Jack looked around at the people who were openly laughing and hugging each other.

The man with the scar said some words to Daniel, to which he nodded.

"We've been invited to a celebration," Daniel translated.

"Oh goody." Jack still looked watchful, and Daniel thought with a roll of his eyes that Jack was just as paranoid about happy people as he was about a Gou'ald pointing a hand device at him.

"What now?" Sam said.

"I'm not sure," Daniel answered, watching in amusement as a short and chubby woman tried to reach high enough to give Teal'c a hug. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"No way!"

"Jack..."

"Read my lips: No. Way."

"Jack, it's an important part of the ceremony."

"I don't care if it means that the *sun* will rise in the morning! I'm not. Wearing. A dress!"

"Actually, it's not a dress," Daniel said as he held out the long, very yellow and very wrinkly robe, "as much as it's-"

"I don't *care* what it is, it looks like a dress!"

"Well, some of us have been forced to wear a dress before, sir," Sam said sharply.

"I hate to break this to you, Carter," Jack snapped, "but you're allowed to wear a dress from time to time."

"That doesn't mean I like it."

Jack sighed. "I'm sorry you had to wear that dress with the horse people, Carter."

"Apology accepted, sir," Sam said in a dignified voice, then added in a lower tone, "only took five years."

"I heard that, Major."

"Yes, sir," Sam said, a grin tugging at her lips.

"So, if Sam has to wear a dress, it's only fair that we have to wear a dress," Daniel tried to reason.

"Didn't you just say that this wasn't a dress?"

Daniel sighed. "Jack..."

"My mother has a dress like this." Jack's voice had a distinct whine to it now.

"And I'm sure she'd be very proud of you. Come on, the sooner you wear it the faster this'll be over."

Jack sighed in resignation and unzipped his jacket. "How long was this ceremony gonna take anyway?"

"Ehm, well..."

"Daniel..." Jack's tone held a warning.

"I doubt it'll be more than...a few hours..."

"Daniel!"

"Do not concern yourself, O'Neill. We will not tell anyone." Teal'c was still wearing his fatigues, since they hadn't found a robe that fit him yet.

Jack glared at Teal'c. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Teal'c smiled. "Indeed."

Daniel glanced over at Jack, who was smiling with the clear message that the receiver of the smile better back off, or he might get bitten. After years of working with Jack O'Neill, that was a smile you knew well.

"Jack, I think your smile would look more convincing if it didn't make people wonder if you're having a stroke."

Jack's face adopted a more normal expression as he looked at Daniel. "Maybe I am."

"Jack..."

"Daniel, I've been smiling for. Four. Hours."

"And I'm sure it'll be over very soon," Daniel tried.

"You said that two hours ago." Jack had the stubborn look of someone who knew he was right and wasn't giving in.

"Well, at least you get to sit down, sir." Sam was sounding more than a little annoyed.

"Indeed." Even Teal'c looked less than happy. Daniel suspected that it was the robe; they hadn't been able to find any in Teal'c's size, since the Inuit weren't a large people in general. On Teal'c, the difference showed drastically; the sleeves only reached to his elbow, stretched to their limit by his muscular forearms, and the robe ended somewhere around his knees.

Daniel had noticed Jack having the same problem, but the colonel had hurriedly sat down on one of the few still empty seats and pulled the robe down over his bent knees. After that he'd given Teal'c a satisfied grin and Daniel had just been waiting for his tongue to stick out.

"Think of this as a once in a life time experience, Jack."

"Oh, it damn well better be," Jack muttered and smiled at one of the locals.

"This is quite interesting actually. I've heard about ceremonies like this before, but I've never actually witnessed one." Daniel had been studying the proceedings carefully, memorizing everything for his notes later on.

"Daniel, we're sitting inside a fish." Jack sounded very annoyed.

"Standing, O'Neill," Teal'c put in.

"Technically, sir, whales aren't fish," Sam said.

"They're not?" Jack looked suspicious.

"No, sir."

"Could have fooled me."

Daniel found the prospect of sitting inside the remains of what must have been a huge whale exciting; the trouble the people must have gone trough to drag the skeleton out of the ocean...

"What's the shaman saying?" Sam sounded interested to know, mostly, Daniel suspected, because she was bored to tears.

"Hmm, pretty much what he's been saying for the past hour," Daniel said, listening. "Making sure he isn't offending any spirits by not mentioning their names. We should be looking out for when he stands up, that's supposed to signal the end of the ceremony."

"Maybe he's stuck, he's been sitting on his knees for a long time now." Jack was glaring at the shaman in question, all pretenses of a smile gone.

"Jack..." Daniel started.

"Sir!" Sam sounded excited, and Daniel looked up, "I think he's-"

"The shaman appears to be-" Even Teal'c had a note of excitement in his voice.

"Come on, come on, come ON already!" Jack had the same expression he had when he was cheering for the home team in hockey.

Collectively, SG-1 sighed as the shaman only stretched and then fell back flat on his face, chanting.

"I think he's doing it on purpose. He's enjoying it." Jack's eyes narrowed as he took in the ecstatic figure in front.

"Jack, I think you're getting a tad too paranoid," Daniel said reproving.

"Yeah, well, it's in the job description."

The first one down was Sam. They'd barely even gotten out of the gate and walked down the ramp when Daniel saw a strange expression cross her face.

"You okay, Sam?"

She'd frozen for a moment, but now she smiled at him. "Yeah, Daniel, I'm f-" She frowned and a mix of bewilderness and horror crossed her face. Suddenly she started tearing at her clothes.

"Major Carter, are you all right?" Hammond's voice over the speakers was concerned.

Sam didn't answer, she'd gotten her backpack off and was now struggling with her jacket.

"Medical team to the gate room!" Jack shouted, and was by Sam's side in an instant. "Carter, what's wrong?"

Sam didn't answer, desperation showing in her jerky movements.

"Are you in pain, MajorCarter?" Teal'c hovered at her left side, careful not to touch the wriggling woman but Daniel was certain that if Sam stumbled, Teal'c would catch her within moments.

"Stand clear!" Janet came running through the doors, her nurses following her closely. Daniel backed off, giving the medical team space and noticed Teal'c and Jack doing the same.

"Sam." Janet had her patented gentle voice on; the one everyone knew didn't stop her from sticking a needle in people's rear ends. "Can you hear me?"

Sam nodded, although Daniel found it hard to tell for sure from all the other movement from her. Heart pounding in his chest, he watched as the normally controlled Major thrashed around, the people around her making room for her in a way that would have been amusing if not for the seriousness of the situation.

"What's wrong? Where's the pain?" As Daniel watched, Janet tried to get closer, missing being knocked down by one of Sam's flaying arms by only a few inches.

Sam had finally gotten her jacket off. "No pain," she said between clenched teeth, "just..." she started scratching her belly furiously, "itches!"

Daniel caught a movement in from the corner of his eye, and he turned his head to see Teal'c, looking absent, bring a hand to his neck and scratch.

"Oh, God, Jack! Yes!" The pleasure was unbelievable. He'd obviously died and gone to heaven.

"Like that?" Jack's voice was husky, and it sent shivers down Daniel's spine.

"Yes, more! Mmm…" He leaned into Jack's touch, his surroundings disappearing, the only thing mattering the exquisite fire spreading from Jack's hands.

"Easy, Daniel," Jack's voice gentled him.

"Right there. Yes!" Daniel's eyes closed in pleasure.

"Okay, that's it, I'm getting the tube."

His eyes shot open again. "No, don't stop! Get your ass back here!"

"Daniel, if I scratch any harder there will be blood shed!"

"I don't *care*!" Daniel threw himself back on the couch and started wriggling around wildly, closing his eyes as the rough surface of the couch made the itch feel a little less intense. He heard Jack cross the room and rummage through something and when he opened his eyes Jack stood above him, tube in hand. Daniel tried giving him his best puppy-dog look, the one that never failed. It did this time.

"I said no, Daniel," Jack said, sounding like he was talking to a small child, and Daniel gritted his teeth. "Look, after you get this stuff on your back, the itch will ease off."

Daniel sighed and sat up with his back to Jack, and took off his shirt. He sat still as he heard Jack squirt out a generous amount of the mint-scented cream and smeared it over Daniel's back, but he couldn't stop a twitch now and then.

"How come you're not itching yet?" Daniel didn't care if he sounded petulant.

"I might have gotten off easy."

"Or you could have a delayed reaction."

"Could be," Jack admitted. He cursed softly. "Geez, Daniel, your back looks like someone spray-painted it red."

"What, red not my color?" he said, trying to suppress a particularly nasty itch on his right shoulder.

"Apparently not."

Daniel sighed in relief as the itch slowly started to fade away at Jack's gentle ministrations.

"See, I told you that wearing those things was a lousy idea."

"And how was I supposed to know that those dresses-"

"Robes."

"-shut up, Jack- were dyed by a flower that…" he gave in and furiously scratched his shoulder, "doesn't really agree with the human immune system."

"Well, I don't know. Intuition?"

Daniel gave him an acidic look over his shoulder. "What, like female?"

"More like *anthropological* intuition."

"Sorry, must have left that at home."

Jack finished with a big swipe and Daniel turned to see him put the cap back on the tube.

"I feel sorry for the big guy though. I don't think he's used to actually being affected by alien concoctions."

"It wasn't a concoction, Jack, it..."

"Daniel.," Jack said in his best do-I-sound-like-I-care-right-now? voice.

"Sorry."

"Unfortunately I couldn't get the General to postpone tomorrow's mission, the deal with the Mininans is too important."

"Why can't they just come here?" Daniel liked to think that the question was a valid one and not really as whiny as it sounded.

"You're the one who's been negotiating with them, you know how paranoid they are. And you also know we really need that mining treaty."

"Yeah." Daniel sighed as he pulled his shirt on again. "I know."

He wished that SG-9 could have taken care of this, but the Mininans were probably the most paranoid aliens they'd ever come across (which was, frankly, saying quite a lot). He'd had to grovel for days after mentioning that the diplomatic team was in charge of negotiations. The Mininans apparently thought themselves generous that one team from Earth was allowed to talk to them.

Sometimes he really understood why Jack wanted to shoot first and ask questions later.

He turned to face Jack fully only to see the other man freeze up, and a muscle twitch in his jaw. Daniel smiled, feeling generous now that his own back was itch-less, and reached for the tube. "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."

The sunrise on P3R-513 - or Min as the locals called it - was quite spectacular, Daniel decided. The glade in which they'd set camp the previous evening lent a perfect view of the landscape, and the sun had nearly risen fully, spreading a purple and pink fire over the horizon. A mist was rising in the woods surrounding them, giving the whole scene a mystical look. It was the perfect way to greet a morning. Almost.

It *would* have been a perfect way to greet a morning if his eyes weren't trying to shut themselves on their own accord and his entire body still itching.

Daniel gingerly rubbed his neck and yawned, the skin there sore from scratching. The salve that Janet had given him didn't last for very long, and they could only use it five times a day or risk an even worse allergic reaction. Jack had been very vocal about that and Janet very smug. Daniel thought, a bit suspiciously, that their doctor seemed to be enjoying their discomfort a little too much, but then again, being cooped up on base 24/7, the things to amuse a doctor were probably few and far between.

Jack had grudgingly given in to Janet, in his own charmingly ungracious way. Daniel just wished that the itching would go away already; he didn't think he could stand it much longer. Well, maybe he could, but the scarring wouldn't be pretty.

He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air, trying to wake himself up a bit and wondered where Jack could be. His sleeping bag in the tent had been empty when Daniel woke up, and as far as he knew Jack didn't have last watch. He himself had had the first watch, Teal'c the second and by the alertness in Sam's face as she was sitting by the fire outside the tents, Daniel knew that she must have had last watch.

She looked up at him and smiled, handing him a full cup of coffee. "Morning."

Daniel made an acknowledging noise and sat down next to her, swallowing the warm liquid in one gulp. The faster he got some caffeine in his system, the faster he'd be able to actually think.

Sam's grin got broader as she looked at him, and Daniel could only imagine how he must have looked, having been unable to fall asleep until hours after the end of his watch.

He drained his cup and reached for the pot for his second refill. "Jack?"

"The colonel got up about an hour ago. He's checking the perimeter at the moment." Sam looked around. "He should be back soon though."

Daniel nodded and emptied the second cup. That was more like it. He looked around, his eyes finally seeming to understand his intentions and noticed again what a beautiful morning it was.

"Guess we should start packing up the camp before the colonel gets back." Sam handed Daniel his breakfast. "I think he's eager to get back home."

Daniel accepted the MRE and looked at the surroundings. It was so peaceful. "Yeah, but what would you rather do, Sam? Race back home to paperwork or stay here and enjoy the peace and quiet for a little longer?"

When he got no answer, he looked up to see a flash of guilt run over Sam's face. "Sam?" He tried the gentle approach, with the expression he'd learned could get the most closed off of people to open up to him. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine, Daniel." She poked her fork in her ham and cheese, avoiding Daniel's eyes.

"Right." He suppressed a sigh and put his own breakfast down, having hardly touched it. Even Beef Wellington grew old after a while. "Look, I know I've been a bit far away lately, but you know that you can talk to me about anything, right?"

As she was about to answer, their attention was drawn to the left by the loud cracking of a branch. They looked over to see Jack exit the forest, cursing as he tried getting his hand beneath his jacket to scratch his back. Sam quickly stood and offered her hand to help Daniel up from the ground.

"So how did you sleep last night?" Sam said, smoothly changing the subject.

Daniel made a mental note to talk to Jack later about his characteristically bad timing, then reached back to absently scratch his neck again, making a face. "As well as can be expected with the feeling of fire ants crawling all over you. I know Jack didn't sleep that well, spending the entire night tossing and turning. How about you?"

He threw a glare at Jack, still a bit peeved over the interruption, receiving a confused look in response.

"Morning, campers," Jack said, questioning eyes on Daniel, but Daniel just shook his head a little, letting it go for the moment.

Sam frowned, and Daniel found himself on the receiving end of the infamous Carter grilling look. "You both look tired. At least the itching isn't quite as bad as it was yesterday. You sleep all right, sir?"

"I slept fine, Carter, thank you." Jack looked at Daniel. "And if anyone spent the night tossing and turning it wasn't me, Dr. Insomniac."

"I was lying on a rock," Daniel mumbled.

"Uh huh," Jack said knowingly, idly scratching his left arm. "Okay, time to get this show on the road, kids. Is Teal'c up yet or do we get to wake him up with a nice refreshing bucket of cold water?"

Teal'c chose that moment to exit his tent and shot Jack a look. Daniel noted that even Teal'c was starting to show signs of weariness, and that just wasn't like the Jaffa.

"There will be no need for water, O'Neill."

"Morning, Teal'c," Sam greeted him cheerfully, "sleep well?"

Daniel watched as Teal'c's eyebrow started climbing his forehead. It always amazed Daniel how many emotions Teal'c could display with just the movement of his eyebrows. This morning he could tell that Teal'c wasn't in the mood for pleasantries, and he prayed to any god out there that they didn't meet up with any surprise visitors on their way; they wouldn't stand a chance against a grumpy Jaffa and an itchy Jack.

Sam handed Daniel another cup of coffee, which he gratefully accepted and watched as she filled one up for Jack as well.

Daniel saw how Jack's eyes slid over them all, and paused on Teal'c. "Hey, buddy, you look tired. Itch keep you distracted all night?"

Daniel wondered if Jack had a death wish and moved a little further away from him, looking back at Teal'c again.

"I am a Jaffa, O'Neill, I am trained to ignore physical discomfort." Definitely a frosty note in that level voice.

Jack looked sympathetic. "Kept you up, eh?"

Teal'c sighed. "Indeed."

Breakfast went on without any incidents and Jack glanced around with a pleased grin after they'd all gotten their dosage of the salve. "Right. Let's pack up and hit the yellow brick road, kids."

Teal'c looked at Daniel and Sam. "This movie never grows old?"

"Not to the colonel, Teal'c," Sam said. "Not to the colonel."

Things were going so well. That should have tipped him off right away. Due to the relentlessness of Murphy's Law, he should have been assured that things would find a way of fucking themselves up sooner or later. Especially since the Mininans were very cooperative and unusually kind where they were normally paranoid and snide he should have guessed that other things would have been less forgiving.

And when it came, it wasn't even the usual disaster. There were no cultural or linguistic misunderstanding, no attacking Jaffa, no death gliders, not even an itty bitty Goa'uld. It was something so trivial that Daniel didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

At first he thought it was his own stomach grumbling, since it was past lunch, but as the rumble increased he had to conclude that not even a day of Teal'c's cooking would evoke such a hunger.

Later he would wonder why the hell they'd been so close to the ledge anyway. He knew that being at a high altitude meant luck for the Mininans, they believed that by standing high, the Gods would pay attention to them and give their blessing. It was written exactly NOWHERE that they had to be close to the ledge to do that.

And why couldn't Jack just sit still for once in his life? He'd managed on the last planet they'd been on, and the itch wasn't so bad at this point that he couldn't endure it sitting still. But no, being the curious son of a bitch that he was he had to go to the edge and look down.

And with his marvelous sense of timing, that was when the earth started to tremble.

Daniel had been in his fair share of earthquakes, that came with traveling to exotic places, or San Francisco for that matter. None of them came close to this. It was impossible to stand upright, even Teal'c, the walking rock, fell to his knees.

Daniel felt a cold hand squeeze his heart in an iron grip as he rolled on the ground and looked around for Jack. When he spotted him, his mouth ran dry.

Jack was standing at the very edge, the sandy, grassy - and oh how Daniel wished they were on a rocky cliff - edge, balancing back and forth, fighting against the tremors that were doing their damnedest to throw him off the 25 foot cliff.

Dozens of moments in the past came back to Daniel where he'd teased Jack for being born an officer, but at that moment he thanked whatever power there was that Jack was a trained soldier, since it was only years of training that had given him the exceptional balance that was keeping him upright. That, and that mulishly stubborn will of his. Just as he looked about to fall, the earth went still and Jack caught his footing again.

Jack was giving Daniel a reassuring smile as the second tremble set in. Daniel only had time to catch the look of fear on Jack's face as he stumbled backwards...backwards...slipping off...falling...

Daniel was vaguely aware of screaming something as he clambered to his feet, desperately stumbling towards the edge. The tremors increased, as though they knew what he was trying to do, and by Murphy's Law yet again, he stumbled and managed to hit his head on, probably, the only rock within a square mile.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, probably not more than a few seconds, since when he came to he felt the tremors stop and got up on his elbow to see Sam helping a Mininan and Teal'c heading towards Daniel.

Daniel stared fearfully at the ledge for a few seconds, then scrambled up, ignoring the pounding in his head, ignoring Teal'c.

"Daniel, no! There could be another tremor any moment!" He hardly even registered Sam's shout.

He didn't care. He didn't care about anything except getting to that cursed ledge. And when he got there, he wished he hadn't, he wished he'd never looked down.

Jack.

Jack was down there, at the bottom, still as if sleeping, one arm pointing at an awkward angle. And Daniel couldn't even see if his chest was moving! Damn it!

Suddenly he was furious, and he ran as fast as he could to the left, the same direction he'd seen the Mininans coming from in the first place. He sent tiny rocks tumbling as he slipped down, sand and grass flying in all directions as he drew up a dusty cloud in his wake.

And when he reached Jack, reached the still - too still, damn it - form at his feet, he was suddenly frozen. He couldn't move, terror gripping him. What if he checked for a pulse and there was none to be found? What if there was a pulse, but it stopped beating right under his fingers? What if-

"DanielJackson."

Teal'c was next to him, hardly even breathing hard after what had to have been a wild dash after Daniel.

"Is O'Neill-"

"I don't know."

Shaken out of his shock, he kneeled next to the prone colonel, carefully shaking him by the arm that looked undamaged.

"Jesus... Jack? Jack?"

Heavy boots hitting the ground announced that Sam was there as well, but Daniel was busy studying Jack's face for any sign of life.

Nothing.

"Jack? Say something." Hands shaking, he reached to search for a pulse.

"...something..."

"Jack!"

"Speaking. I think..." Jack blinked a bit, his dusty face contorting in pain and Daniel felt his vision turn blurry.

Sam knelt on the other side of Jack and carefully lifted his arm, getting a yelp out of him.

"Your arm is broken, sir."

"No kidding, Carter." Jack sighed. "I suppose you're gonna try and put a splint on it."

"Don't worry, sir," Sam smiled, even though Daniel could hear a slight trembling in her voice, "I've been practicing." She looked over at Daniel, her smile vanishing.

"Daniel, you're bleeding."

Only then did Daniel realize that the blurriness came from blood slipping in behind the glasses from a graze on his forehead.

"Nothing that won't mend," Daniel said absently, his eyes never moving from Jack and his heart still hammering. Jack was still there. Thank god he was still there.

Some time he should try and count the times they'd been here. There had to be some little column in the Guinness Book of Records where 'infirmary visits' had a designated place.

At least they were here in the morning now. Daniel tried to ignore the confusion of having a second morning in one day, it was something that came with the job. Point being, if he spent the day here, maybe, just maybe, he might convince Janet to let him go home and sleep in his own bed.

Looking over at Sam and Teal'c who were standing next to the wall he said the first thing that came into his mind. "Well. That sucked." He experimentally touched the bandage on his head.

He glanced over at Jack who sat on the bed next to his, making a face as the nurse finished the last adjustments to the sling around his cast. "Isn't that my line?"

"I thought I'd borrow it for the occasion."

"This is your fault you know," Jack said after waving the nurse away.

Daniel felt his eyebrows climb his forehead. "My fault? How is this my fault?"

"I don't know, but it is. I'll think of something. Give me ten minutes."

"That is a most illogical approach, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"What can I say, logic never appealed to me."

"Besides, if you hadn't been trampling at the very edge of the hill, sir..." Sam's voice was neutral, but Daniel still caught the irritated note in it. Sam had a tendency of being annoyed when they made her worry.

"Sure," Jack said dramatically, "kick the guy who's down."

"At least you don't have someone with a huge sledgehammer banging inside your head." Daniel looked longingly towards Janet's office, where he knew there was a medicine cabinet with aspirins.

"Pain is good for you." Jack didn't sound all too convinced.

"Is this another example of your strange sense of humor, O'Neill?"

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with my sense of humor."

"I never said there was," Teal'c said coolly.

"You were implying," Jack insisted.

"You are being paranoid, O'Neill."

Jack snorted. "Right. You were wearing your skeptical expression."

"I did no such thing."

"Sorry, Teal'c," Sam said, "but you were."

"Surely-"

Sam made a slight face. "I think you'll have to give up on this one, Teal'c."

Teal'c regarded Sam solemnly. "Are you certain, MajorCarter?"

"Oh yeah. Your skeptical expression is quite a leap from your other ones."

Teal'c started to look a bit concerned. "My 'other' ones?"

"Easy now, Carter," Jack said warningly.

"It's better that he hears it from us than from some stranger," Daniel pointed out

"DanielJackson?"

"Easy, Teal'c," Jack said reassuringly, "don't let him get to you."

"I believe that it is too late for that, O'Neill."

Janet didn't let him go home to sleep in his own bed ("Just because your skull is very thick doesn't mean it can't be broken, Dr. Jackson." That woman needed more sleep and less caffeine.) and Daniel was thinking that staying awake would be an impossible task when Jack came back to the infirmary, a bag in his good hand.

Janet had let him go since there were things the general needed to be briefed about, although she made Jack promise to come back straight afterwards. Daniel smiled a bit. Jack might grumble, but he kept his word, and Janet always took advantage of that.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Jack sat down in the chair next to Daniel's bed, gingerly arranging his sling in a more comfortable position.

"Doped up. Bored. Tired."

Jack grinned. "The usual infirmary feeling, eh?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well, fear not, your Colonel has come to the rescue." He reached into the bag and brought up a box, which smelled suspiciously like donuts.

Daniel gave Jack a look that he suspected came close to adoring. "How'd you manage to get a hold of those?" He reverently lifted the lid of the box. "And warm?"

Jack grinned. "I have my sources."

Daniel knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he closed his eyes and took a pleasurable bite out of one of the donuts before Janet would come along with some excuse why he shouldn't eat it.

They sat in relaxed silence for a while.

Then, "Did I tell you that I made up my mind about Sara?"

The question was so out of the blue that it took Daniel a second or two to answer. "Uh, no. No you didn't."

"Yeah, well... I did." Jack picked up a donut and studied it.

Trying to adapt to the change from relaxed to tense, Daniel scolded his features into what he hopes was a neutral expression. "Right. And?"

"And..." Jack kept studying the donut as though it held all the answers. "I think it could be worth another shot."

The now familiar coldness came seeping into his veins, and he suppressed a shiver. "Oh. I mean, good, great, that's great. Right?"

"Yeah. I mean, she's the only person that's ever been able to stand me for more than... Hell, Daniel, I don't know..." Jack sighed and threw the abandoned donut back into the box.

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "That's not really decisive, Jack."

Jack quirked an eyebrow and gave him a 'no kidding' look. "No, I don't suppose it is. It's just..." He stopped and looked down at the cover. "Me and Sara, we worked, we were great, the greatest, and... I just..." He looked up into Daniel's eyes and something vulnerable in them made Daniel's chest hurt. "I miss that."

"Or maybe..." Daniel swallowed and tried to find the right words, "you just miss having someone to home to. Maybe it has nothing to do with Sara."

"Maybe," Jack admitted, "maybe not. Either way, don't you think it's worth giving it a shot? I mean, it's not like I have anything to lose anyway."

Who was he kidding anyway? Even if Jack didn't go with... "Sure. I guess it's always worth a shot."

"Gee, keep the enthusiasm down, people will start talking," Jack joked weakly.

Daniel laughed. "Sorry... But you know what I mean."

Jack smiled and cuffed Daniel lightly on the arm. "Yeah. Sorry, didn't mean to get all serious on you. I know that must be a traumatic experience." This time the joke sounded less strained.

Daniel grinned. "Most of the time."

"You're a good friend, Daniel." Jack's voice was warm and Daniel had to look away.

"Well," he nodded, "I hope it works out."

"Yeah, you and me both, buddy..." Jack closed his eyes and slipped down on the chair, relaxing into a sprawl that didn't look all that comfortable and rested his head against the back of the chair. Daniel just watched him, aware that Jack's breathing hadn't evened out enough for him to be asleep, but watched him never the less until the evening nurse came to check his vitals.

He'd fallen asleep watching Jack pretend to sleep, and when he woke up in the morning the plastic chair next to the bed was empty. As was Jack's office, the piles of paper revealing that he hadn't been in his office since before they went off world.

Janet released him after admitting that getting out of bed would probably be good for him and gave him the usual urgings of caution and rest. Feeling tired but strangely energized Daniel called for a taxi, figuring that he might as well take the opportunity to spend some time at home, maybe dust the place up a bit so he wouldn't have to get a maid to avoid sneezing his head off.

Halfway there he changed his mind and told the driver to take a left turn. He needed some time to relax and think.

Sitting down in a quiet corner in the library with one of his favorite books about Egyptology (it always made him laugh) he found himself unable to focus on the words. He kept running the conversation he'd had with Jack the previous evening over and over in his head.

*"Did I tell you that I made up my mind about Sara?"*

*"Uh, no. No, you didn't."*

*"Yeah, well... I did." *

It was time to face the music. He had it bad for Jack O'Neill. Nothing really surprising in that, he'd had a soft spot for the guy ever since he found out that Jack had lied for him and retired after returning from Abydos, such a long long time ago.

And, he admitted to himself, he'd had a bit of hero worship for him. *That* didn't last very long as he noticed that just because Jack wasn't thinking of killing himself anymore, he could still be a royal asshole. Daniel still admired him though, because royal asshole or not, Jack was there when it mattered. And that turned out to be quite a few times.

*"Me and Sara, we worked, we were great, the greatest, and... I just... I miss that."*

For a long time he'd thought that Jack and Sam might actually go ahead and…do the deed. Regulations had never really been Jack's strong point, and Sam, who initially had seemed to be a by-the-book kind of person, showed tendencies to bend the rules on occasion. They'd certainly flirted, especially after the za'tarc situation last year, but that seemed to have been it.

Unless they were having wild monkey sex without him knowing about it, but somehow he didn't think Jack would think of pursuing Sara if that was the case.

Sighing, Daniel closed the book with a *thump*. Yeah, that was Jack alright, managing to distract him even when he wasn't around. He walked towards the exit, smiling politely at the librarian who always gave him the evil eye no matter how quiet he tried to be.

He walked out into the sunshine, and just stopped for a moment to look around. Sometimes he worried that the Stargate thing would be too much, that one day he'd come back to Earth and wonder what was so special about the place anyway.

It was certainly dirtier than most planets, since a majority of the planets they'd visited had yet to reach an industrial stage. More familiar, granted, but somehow no less intriguing.

Feeling the warm autumn breeze against his cheek and the sun warm his head and shoulders he closed his eyes and smiled. He still had quite some time left before he got sick of this.

Not without reluctance, he opened his eyes again and started walking down towards the street. He didn't really want to go home, the place was too…empty. Dusty, but empty. Smiling a bit ruefully, he waved over a taxi.

"Aren't you supposed to be home resting, son?"

Daniel flinched a bit at the familiar voice coming from behind him. Caught.

"General," he smiled and turned around, meeting the knowing eyes of General Hammond. "I just," his eyes flew to the green-gray walls of the corridor, looking for inspiration, "came back to catch up on some work."

"I'm pretty sure that the doctor gave you some sick leave, Dr. Jackson." The general's face remained passive, but there was a glint in his eyes. Daniel wasn't quite sure whether or not that was a good sign.

"Well, she didn't actually ban me from base." At the general's steady gaze, Daniel made a face. "She pretty much banned me from base."

The general smiled. "I would have been surprised otherwise. Don't you think it might be a good idea to do what she says?"

Daniel felt a wave of dread run through him. "What, she's on duty?" He looked over his shoulder, almost expecting to see Janet come walking down the corridor.

He heard a chuckle from the general and turned back to see the glint in his eyes having turned into full-out amusement. "No, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Warner is the head medical officer at the moment."

"Oh. Well. Good for me then, I guess."

"I could order you off base," he pointed out.

"But you won't," Daniel said, unable to hide the hopefulness contradicting the certainness of his words.

"I'll give you one hour, then I want you home resting. Dr. Fraiser generally doesn't give sick leaves without a reason."

"Generally, no." Daniel sighed and muttered, "I guess I can always sit and watch as the dust settles around the place."

If the general heard him, he didn't show it, he just patted Daniel on the shoulder. "Excellent. I expect you to convey the same message to the colonel if you see him." He gave Daniel a pointed look. "Tell him that target practice does not count as R&R."

Daniel felt a twinge of…something…at the mention of Jack's name. "Will do, general."

"Very well. One hour, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel nodded. "One hour."

As the general turned and left, Daniel stood in the corridor indecisively, unsure of where to go. He was pretty sure he'd come here for a reason, his subconscious just hadn't bothered to tell him what that reason was yet.

Making a decision, he started walking down the hall. This might not have been the reason his subconscious wanted him here, but he liked the idea, so it'd just have to live with it.

As he came to a stop outside Teal'c's door, he considered the possibility that thinking of your subconscious as though it were an annoying younger sibling might not be completely normal. Then he considered the fact that he was on his way to ask a 102 year old alien for answers of questions he wasn't sure he could answer himself, and decided that normal wasn't really in his vocabulary anymore.

He knocked on the door carefully, mindful not to disturb Teal'c if he wasn't awake. A newly awakened Teal'c was very…cranky.

"Enter." Teal'c's voice was muffled.

Daniel entered into the room that was dark except for the candles spread randomly around the sparsely furnished area. The only ones set in some sort of order were the ones in a circle on the floor, which Teal'c was sitting in the center of.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were in kel'no'reem."

"I was not." Teal'c relaxed his shoulders and shifted his legs slightly from his lotus position to look at Daniel. "I was in a light state of meditation."

"Well, I didn't mean to bother you anyway." Daniel stood awkwardly inside the door. He'd been into Teal'c's quarters more times than he could remember, but this time was different.

"You do not bother me, DanielJackson. Is there something on your mind?"

Daniel smiled ruefully and relaxed a fraction. "That obvious, am I?"

"Yes. Also, the fact that you are meant to be home, resting, further helped my suspicions." Teal'c's voice was dry as dust.

Daniel grinned. "I thought you only did the sarcasm thing with Jack."

"Indeed. However, distracting him is becoming increasingly difficult."

"Not as easy to annoy anymore?"

Teal'c sighed. "He is not."

"Tried Sam?"

"MajorCarter is sufficiently distracted already."

Daniel's smile of amusement slipped off, his worry breaking through. "Yeah, do we know what's up with that?"

Teal'c was quiet for a moment before answering. "I believe MajorCarter has received some disturbing information."

Daniel frowned. "Is she okay? What information? Is it her family?"

"It is not. However, I believe it is for MajorCarter to decide when she wants this information to be common knowledge."

Daniel smiled a bit at that. "Meaning, I'll have to snoop like you did to find out?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough."

Teal'c smiled slightly. "Now, of what did you wish to speak?"

"Oh yeah, that." He looked around the room, searching for inspiration. As his mouth blurted out: "Have you seen Jack?" seemingly on its own accord, he assumed none was found.

"I have not seen O'Neill since he left earlier today. He is perhaps home resting." The weight on 'he' was slight, but it was there.

Daniel raised his eyebrow and looked steadily at Teal'c.

"Or perhaps not," Teal'c conceded. "Your matter concerns O'Neill then?"

"Yes. I mean, no. Uh... see, I have this friend..."

"Is his name Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel looked at Teal'c, pasting a neutral and hopefully innocent expression on his face. "Uh... no."

Teal'c stared blankly back at him.

"Maybe. It's a very common name."

"Continue."

"Well, a friend of my friend…"

Teal'c frowned slightly. "Another friend of yours?"

"Um, no. My friend's friend."

"A friend you do not know."

"Right. Well, this friend-"

"Your friend?"

"No, my friend's friend." Maybe he should have named the other friend Jack, for simplicity's sake. That was a pretty common name as well.

"Ah."

"Yes, well, his ex is asking for them to get back together, and *my* friend is worried that *his* friend is going to leave." Daniel ran the last sentence through his head again to see if he'd gotten it right, and nodded to himself. Right.

"Would it not be easier if your friend spoke to his friend about this?"

Daniel's eyes slipped away from Teal'c's calm ones. "Maybe he's afraid of the answer."

"If so, why is he asking the question?"

"Because," Daniel said quietly, meeting Teal'c's eyes again, "he needs to know, but is afraid to ask."

"Perhaps," Teal'c's voice was equally soft, "the question is nothing to fear."

"How could it not be something to fear? It's his best friend."

Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps so. But if his friend's feelings are reciprocated, then he will most likely not leave."

"He can't know that for sure. The feelings between his friend and his friend's ex have never really died."

"Why is his concern of his friend going back to his former partner so great?"

"Because then his friend would leave."

"How so? Partnerships of the romantic kind do not, to my knowledge, hinder other relationships of friendship."

"Well…" Daniel stopped at that.

"Perhaps your friend is romantically inclined to his friend?"

"Perhaps."

"Then, your friend will have to ask the question."

Daniel blew out a gust of air. "Yeah. I think he knows that." He rubbed his neck absently, then looked at Teal'c who was regarding him patiently. "Thanks, Teal'c. I'm just gonna go and, uh, tell my friend this."

Teal'c inclined his head. "Very well. Tell him that he has yet to return the tape of Star Wars."

Daniel smiled. "Yeah, he'd forgotten about that. He'll get it for you tomorrow."

"Good."

Next day it was considerably harder to get into the SGC. Already at the gate the guard in charge informed him that he'd gotten order to not let Dr. Jackson in unless "Dr. Jackson wanted his next medical check up to be his worst nightmare.". Fortunately for Daniel the guard in charge was Sergeant Combs, the same officer whose wife Daniel had thrown together a crash course in French for ("Honestly, Dr. Jackson, I hate to ask, but do you have any idea what a French tutor costs?").

He was let in under the promise to only be there for an hour, to do his *utmost* important errand, and then he'd stay away from base the entire week.

True to his word, he went straight to Sam's lab, carefully on a look out for Dr. Fraiser or the general.

The door to the lab was open, and he heard voices from inside. He slowed to a stop and listened.

"You didn't just come here to play with my "gizmos", did you?" There was affectionate amusement in Sam's voice that told who the other occupant of the room was, but there was something else in her voice as well, something that made Daniel frown.

"No, I didn't." Jack paused. "Hey, what's this?"

"That's the particle reactor I've been working on. I've been trying to make it less unstable."

"Unstable?"

"Think 'ka-boom'."

Silence. "You're kidding."

"Yes."

Daniel grinned and got a strange look from a passing airman.

"Okay, so I didn't just come to play with your gizmos." Some shuffling noises, as though space was being cleared and something being carefully put down. "Although it's a very good reason if you ask me."

"Sir…"

"You gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"Sir?"

"The disappearing act you've been pulling lately."

"I don't know-"

"Vanishing from base every time we have down-time."

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but not all of us are."

Daniel leaned back against the concrete, absently noting its coldness. Jack had gotten to the heart of the matter. Not all of them were supposed to be on base, so only Teal'c and Sam, out of SG-1, were here.

Well. Sort of.

The silence inside the lab was broken by Jack. "Is it me?"

The slight hesitation before Sam's answered, "No." told Daniel enough. He knew Jack hadn't missed it either.

"Look, Carter, if there's something with Daniel, that's between the two of you, but if it's me…"

"It's not."

"Carter."

Daniel kept as still as possible.

"I'm just… adapting to some things."

"This isn't Star Trek, Carter. Adapting isn't necessary, telling me what I did to make you upset is."

"You haven't done anything, sir. I just have some things to think through."

"Carter…"

"Really, sir, I'm fine."

Jack sighed. "You're about as fine as *I* am when I go around telling everyone I'm fine. When, in fact, I'm actually kinda not."

"You mean you're not fine now?"

"No, that's not what I..." Jack stopped abruptly before continuing. "...and stop changing the subject. As a matter of fact, I'm *not* fine because a good friend of mine is acting...freaky."

"Freaky?"

"I believe that's the technical term."

"Sir, really. I'm fine."

There was a long silence. Then, "Okay. You're fine."

"Yes, sir."

"If you don't wanna tell me, that's okay."

"Sir-"

"Ack! You're fine. You don't have to tell me."

"Right."

"Just this once. Just because I'm feeling gracious." Pause. "And because I hope we're good enough friends that you'll tell me when you're ready."

"I…" Sam sighed. "Emotional blackmail is low even for you."

"That's what you get for messing with the master."

"I'm gonna be fine."

"Gonna be, huh?" Jack's voice was soft. "Alright. But if you wanna talk-"

"-I know where to find you. I know."

"Right." There was another silence, one that was considerably less tense than the last one. Well. At least Daniel thought so. What did he know; he was just standing outside in the corridor trying to be one with the wall.

"So. Anything else kaboom-y in here?"

As Sam continued on Jack's easy banter, Daniel slipped away from the door opening.

Sam was acting weird because of Jack. That sounded familiar. Heck, even he'd been acting weird because of-

Daniel came to a full stop and a cynical voice in the back of his mind wondered if there'd be more airmen coming to stare at him. Sam had been acting strangely for a week, give or take. Jack had told Daniel about Sara a week ago.

Daniel had been around too long to believe in coincidences and he was suddenly sure of what it was that was bothering Sam.

She knew about Sara as well. And she was handling it about as well as Daniel was.

God, what a mess.

So, this was what complete and utter boredom felt like. He'd actually forgotten. The tediousness of watching the clock tick minutes away. The dullness of watching dust settle (even more). The dubious amusement of listening to cars passing his apartment.

The sad thing was that he shouldn't be bored. He had plenty of books in his bookshelf to go through, lots of texts that he'd snuck home that he could translate. But he just couldn't work up the energy. As dull as it was, it was just much easier to just sit in his favorite chair in the living room and watch time pass by.

Dear god. He'd turned into one of those women from a '50s movie. The ones that sat home, sighing wistfully as they wished that the big, butch hero would come and sweep them off their feet.

Jack would laugh his ass off if he knew.

He was considering whether or not to reach for the remote control to turn on the TV, when the phone rang.

Looking at it thoughtfully as it emitted that shrill sound he'd always hated, he considered letting the machine take it.

Then he decided that he really *didn't* want to be like one of those sighing women in a '50s movie, so he stood and went to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Daniel, thank god."

It was Sam. Daniel frowned; she sounded upset. "Sam. Is everything okay?"

"No, everything is not okay. Daniel," she sounded pleading, "I need your help."

Daniel was already patting his pockets for his car keys when he remembered he wasn't allowed to drive. "What's wrong?"

"I… Could you come over here?"

"I'll be there in twenty-five, I just got to call a cab."

"Okay, but…" Suddenly there was a crashing noise and Daniel heard Sam yell, "Shit!"

Daniel's heart started beating triple-time. "Sam?"

The only answer he got was the long, monotone sound that told that the call had been interrupted.

He didn't even stop for his jacket as he ran out the door.

The trip to Sam's place seemed to take forever. With some financial encouragement, he'd convinced the driver to bend the speed limits a bit, but there were still other cars to take into consideration, not to mention traffic lights.

Of course, the first thing he noticed as he was sitting in the back of the cab, cursing every red light they came across, was that he'd forgotten his cell. No way to call for either Teal'c or Jack, no way at all to let anyone know that something was wrong.

Cursing himself now, he noticed with some amount of relief that the red light had turned to green and with some luck they might be at Sam's in five minutes.

The cabbie made it in four, and Daniel pressed a few extra dollar bills in his hand as the car stopped a few houses from Sam's. He suspected that discretion would definitely be the better part of valor this time, but there was no way he could make it to the front door unseen. Deciding that acting normal was probably the best approach, he walked up to the house marked #1025, trying to spot anything that looked out of place while trying not to look like he was doing just that.

The house was quiet and seemed absolutely normal, which didn't make him the slightest bit calmer. Not bothering to knock, he tried the door knob and let out a small breath he hadn't even been aware he was holding as the door opened easily. Step one complete.

He listened hard as he stepped into the hallway, quietly closing the door behind him and looking for any signs of an intruder. The kitchen was a mess; from the look of things, Sam hadn't cleaned up from lunch yet. Taking a couple of careful steps forward, he braced himself and looked into the living room.

Nothing.

Starting to feel a bit silly and wondering if he'd just had the biggest overreaction of the century, he considered calling for Sam when there was a loud crash, something hitting the floor with a lot of force, and then he was running.

The sound had come from the right and as he stopped in front of the stairs to the basement, unsure of whether to descend them or continue to the bedroom, when there was another noise: Sam yelping in pain.

It'd come from the bedroom.

The few feet left to it were gone in a couple of quick steps and without really thinking about it, he twisted sideways just before reaching it.

His shoulder and the bedroom door met with a resounding crash and the door gave up the fight easily. As one part of his brain was amazed that he a) had actually busted the door and b) had actually *busted* the *door*, another part of his brain had him rushing inside, finding Sam on her belly on the floor, reaching under the bed for something that looked like a…

Tail?

As he entered, Sam rolled onto her back, looking at Daniel. She then turned her eyes to the doorway. Daniel turned and regarded it as well. The door looked decidedly worse for wear, especially the way it was hanging of its hinges.

Maybe he should have tried opening it the normal way, but damn it, he'd though there was an emergency.

Sam looked back at Daniel, her face a mix of amazement and annoyance. "Next time I'm calling Janet."

There was a lot of water, pretty much everywhere. There was also a lot of meowing, and quite a few scratch marks. At least it wasn't struggling as much anymore, just trying its claws on the nearest things moving.

"So, explain to me again just *why* you're cat sitting." Daniel fli