Title: What Do We Do Until The Decision Is Made?
Author: Debi C
Email:dcole6@satx.rr.com
Category: Action/Adventure, AlternateUniverse, Angst, Drama, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Series, Smarm
Episode related: 001 Stargate - The Movie, 101 Children of the gods, 105 First Commandment, 209 Secrets, 211 TokRa 1, 212 TokRa 2, 310 Forever in a day, 405 Divide and Conquer, 509 Between Two Fires
Season: Season 5
Pairing: Daniel/Sam
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: adult themes, minor language, sexual situations
Summary: This is a part of the Drunken Colonel Saga. The team goes off world on a mission to explore a planet. But as usual things begin to happen.
Sequel to: The Drunken Colonel Saga # 8 What Do You Do With An Angry Doctor?
AUTHOR WEBSITE: "http://www.geocities.com/crashtomcat/debic/debicindex.html"
CATAGORY: Het, Alternate Universe, Romance, Humor, First Time
DATE: 25 January 2002
STATUS: Series In Progress, All Stories complete within themselves.
SERIES TITLE: The Drunken Colonel Saga.
SEASON/SPOILERS: Season 5. Stargate, Children Of The Gods, Tok'ra, Divide and Conquer, Between Two Fires, and probably more whose name I can't remember.
ARCHIVE: Alpha Gate. Heliopolis. Incoming Wormhole. Stargate Novels. Anyone else please ask.
SYNOPSIS: Finally the team goes on a mission, because we really need to get off planet and quit talking about babies.
NOTES: This is a continuation of the story begun in 'What Do We Do With A Drunken Colonel' and is a work in progress to see what happens. Cause I don't know yet. Read at your own risk...I make no promises.
WARNINGS: This takes place as an Alternate Universe. The series is not finished yet. I do not know where it will go or who it will talk to along the way. Like the energizer plot bunnie, It keeps on going and going.
DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/ Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I do not own the characters and indeed am only playing with them for a little while. I am not making any money from this and I'm still paying for everything I own so there's very little point in suing me. No copyright infringement whatso- ever is intended. The story is for entertainment purposes only. At least I hope it's entertaining. The original characters, situations and story are mine. Please check with me first if you want to archive or link to this story.
The Drunken Colonel Saga Pt 9
What Do We Do When the Decision is Made
Sam Carter tapped on the door leading into Dr. Daniel Jackson's office. He looked up briefly from his paperwork. He was still trying to translate the new and different script that SG2 had brought back from their latest mission. It was a combination of about three different languages plus something else. He was beginning to get annoyed with the artifact, Ferretti (who had brought it back) and himself, not necessarily in that order. "Hi Sam. What's up?"
Thus invited, the young woman meandered in and pulled up a stool across from where Daniel was working. "Problems?"
"Yea," He answered absently. "I'm getting several Middle Eastern dialects in addition to an unknown one." Daniel looked up at her curiously. "How did you know?"
"Your expression, your hair is ruffled, you're muttering to yourself, you've drunk all the coffee and it's only 0930 hrs." She grinned at him. "Any other questions?"
He laid the pencil down. "Uh, no, actually. You've summed it up rather succinctly." Jackson slid off his perch and went over to the Mr. Coffee that was ensconced on the sideboard surrounded with various paraphernalia used for the creation of coffee. The archeologist rummaged through the objects and found a sealed container. He opened it, added the proper dose to the machine and poured a bottle of spring water into the top. All ready on, it began to brew immediately and the rich odor of the beverage began to fill the air. Daniel then turned back to Sam. "Now that you've saved the day for me...what can I do for you?"
She dismounted the stool and came over to stand beside him. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that...ah, well the three months are up today."
He looked at her in confusion. "Three months?"
Sam returned his gaze, debating. She could pretend to be 'hurt' by his incomprehension or she could just tell him and know that Daniel's mind worked in mysterious ways and he was just on a different wavelength today. She picked the latter as it had been a while. "THE three months...you know, what Janet had said when we talked three months ago?" He continued to look at her blankly. "Daniel, I've been off the pill for three months today."
"Pill?" Then comprehension dawned. "Oh, the pill. THE pill. I got it. I'm sorry." He blushed pinkly. "Honest, Sam. My mind was somewhere else. Forgive me."
She shook her head and smiled at him. "I know three different dialects and something unknown."
Daniel poured them each a cup of coffee, doctored her's with creamer and handed it to Sam. "So...?"
"So?"
"So, have we made a decision?"
"You'd forgotten. No decision there." She looked at him curiously. "Actually, there's none required. If you don't want to do this..."
Daniel ran a hand through his hair again, tousling it even further. "What do you want to do?"
"I don't know." She replied honestly. "I think that, since we had a grace period, that I had probably put the whole thing on the back burner while I worked on my last project."
He nodded. "I know what you mean. It's not that I don't want to, I just have been putting off thinking about it." Daniel looked up at her. "It's such a large step."
She smiled back. "You can say that again. I just keep thinking how everything will change for you and me."
Daniel watched her. "You more than me. You'll be more restricted...very much so while you're...ah..."
She had to laugh at his expression and lack of words. "Pregnant, Daniel. The word is pregnant, fat, gravid, knocked up, an olive on a toothpick, one in the oven, eating for two..."
He looked at her with a grin, pretending to put his hands over his ears. "Stop channeling Jack for pity's sake. Arrggh!"
A quick knock of 'shave and a haircut' tapped on the office door. "Hey," Jack O'Neill ambled in. "Whatchadoin?"
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Jackson said and Carter giggled.
"Nice, Daniel. Way to make me feel wanted." Jack wandered over to the coffee maker and helped himself to a coffee mug with a picture of a cartoon fish and the legend, 'Fishing (v) a jerk on one end of the line waiting for a jerk on the other end' and poured himself some of the fresh brewed coffee. Teal'c had given it too him after their fishing trip vacation. Daniel caught another stool away from the wall and drug it up to the workbench for him to sit on. After Jack had filled the cup, he joined them at the workbench. "So why were you talking about me?"
"It was Sam, she was doing an...Ouch." He leaned over and rubbed his shin, glaring comically at her.
"Carter? You weren't making fun of your supervisor, were you?"
"Sir, I would never do that..."
"At least not while he was in the room." Daniel muttered into his cup as he ostensibly took a sip of coffee.
"Well, if you're talking about me," Jack gazed about innocently. "You were probably talking about the upcoming mission."
"Of course, Sir." Sam nodded excessively. "Absolutely."
"Up coming mission?" Daniel pushed his glasses back up his nose and looked interested. "We have a new mission assignment?"
"Well, actually it's an old mission assignment." Jack nodded agreeably not at all fooled by their innocent act. "Remember that little planet with the three pyramids all in a row we went to last year. You know, the one with the Egyptian one, the Aztec step-thingy and the summer cigarette."
Daniel and Sam both looked at him in confusion. "No, Sir." She finally answered.
"Oh, come on. Of course you do. The one where Daniel broke his glasses and you had to film the interior stuff and he still couldn't figure it out."
"Yes! Ah, you mean we're going back?" Daniel couldn't believe that the opportunity had presented itself a second time after his last fiasco there.
"Yep, Hammond said that some of those samples that Carter picked up had some kind of mineral deposit that the boys in the lab went gaga over." He had to smile at Daniel's excitement. "So I said since it was kinda quiet around here that SG1 would like to go back and pick up rocks and let Daniel play in the pyramids. The General agreed."
"That's great Jack! When do we leave?"
"Well today's Tuesday, we'll pre-brief and load up tomorrow...so, we'll go Thursday, spend a couple of days gathering more samples and letting you explore pyramids then get back say, Saturday. If we find a good reason to stay, we can get an extension for a few more days."
"Great, Jack!" Daniel enthused. "I didn't think I ever get to go back."
"Well, now that I've brought a little sunshine into your lives...." Jack got up to leave, then stopped and eyed the two of them suspiciously. "Is there something you're not telling me? Cause if we need to..."
Carter immediately spoke up. "No, Sir. Nothing to discuss at this time."
Jack chewed on his lower lip and nodded. As he headed for the door he waived at them over his shoulder and said as he left. "Okay. Well, see you kids later."
"Uh, Sam. This is okay with you...I mean?"
"What? We're getting to repeat a valuable mission that we had problems with last time. Why would I mind? And besides," She got up from the stool and smiled at him. "We'd both sort of forgotten our uh, subject of discussion. No worries, no hurries. Right?"
"If you say so." He got up and came around the table over to Sam. "I mean, it's not that..." He grimaced and shook his head. "The time just got away from me."
She chuckled. "I know. The only reason I knew about it was, well, I found my empty prescription box and saw the date."
"Okay." He acquiesced. "Look, after this mission, let's get together and figure this out." Daniel shook his head. "I need to tell you something anyway and I don't want to just say it and not talk it out."
"Oh, that makes me feel eversomuch better, Daniel Alexander Jackson." She pouted jokingly.
He rolled his eyes at the extended name. "If I ever doubted your mothering ability, you just laid it to rest. Let's plan on our down days."
"You got it, Dr. Jackson." She patted him on the arm as she left his office. "I'll send you a memo."
He made a face at her and settled back over his hand written transcripts. She laughed and walked out of the office.
SG1 walked out of the Stargate on to a beautiful lush planet. The flora here alone was breathtaking, and it seemed to be spring all year long. The unusual thing was that there seemed to be no sapient inhabitants, either indigenous or transplanted.
"Well Campers, no welcome committee again." O'Neill commented as he adjusted the ever-present sunglasses as a shield to the almost overwhelming effects of the riotous floral colorations.
"Indeed, it would appear that whoever the Goa'uld brought here did not flourish."
"How do we know they even tried to colonize this world?" Sam asked absently as she was adjusting the MALP's instrumentation and monitors.
"Well, l would be surprised." Commented Daniel. "Surely the Goa'uld and their Jaffa didn't build three different types of ancient temples here for no reason."
"Practice?" O'Neill asked in a bantering tone.
Daniel just looked at him in wonder, then shook his head.
"It is not their usual way, O'Neill." Teal'c peered at his leader. "Oh, that was a joke." He continued on deadpan.
O'Neill cocked his head back and smiled. He then adjusted his P90 and stepped off in the direction of the three structures, his three teamies following his lead. Daniel up close behind him, with his map from last time here, Carter driving the MALP with it's hand controls, and Teal'c with his staff weapon at their six.
After several miles and hours SG1 finally had to give up the idea of taking the little vehicle all the way with them. The terrain was even rougher than last time due to the flourishing greenery that had overgrown their trail. But when they reached the steep precipice with its rocky ledges and overhangs, there was no way to get it down. Jack called a halt for a lunch break and planning session. They pulled out the cold-camp food rations and debated their method of transporting their equipment. Both Daniel and Carter looking longingly at their little mechanized pack beast.
" Well, we knew we'd have to pack it in ourselves sooner or later." Daniel commented dourly as they redistributed their backpacks to include Carter's instrumentation and his laptop and video cam. "I was just hoping it was later."
"Leave the ropes out." O'Neill directed as he loaded the ammo for his weapon on top of the personal items. "We'll each carry one for climbing. I don't want the same thing to happen as did last time so we'll do a climber's thing with them."
Teal'c looked at him. "What is this Climber's thing, O'Neill?"
Sam looked up from her packing. "It's where we tie ourselves to each other, in case one of us slips, the others can help support whoever it is until they get their grip."
"That is a wise practice for us. Though I would not recommend it if the largest person were a weak climber."
"Well," Jack drawled. "Luckily we don't have that problem." He glanced over at Daniel who returned his gaze strongly.
"Yes Jack." Daniel commented back at him. "Since you were the one hanging onto that sapling over a twenty foot drop and I broke my glasses when I pulled you up."
O'Neill grinned back at his indignant expression. "I told you a rock rolled under my foot, and I said thank you."
"Jaack." Daniel had to protest laughingly.
"Daaniel." He reached over and gently slapped the younger man on the arm. "Daniel, you are too easy." Daniel just shook his head.
Several hours later, the team finally reached their destination. The three mammoth structures were still there, patiently waiting to be explored and charted. The two scientists started to set up camp while the two warriors proceeded to delineate and secure their perimeter lines, cutting down underbrush and inspecting suspicious nooks and crannies that could hold some unperceived dangers. They had opted for having an early camp that night for a fresh start in the morning. O'Neill knew that when Carter and Jackson started their duties, that they would be difficult to rein in. This way they would all be rested and well fed for the tasks before them.
After a good meal the four settled back to catch up on what the others had been doing recently. One of the advantages of the extended missions was it allowed them to cultivate their friendship to a deeper level. A team of this small size that literally depended on each other for their very lives. That and none of them having a family waiting for them at home made them that much closer.
Early the next morning they split off into two pairs, one scientist and one soldier each. Carter and O'Neill started the sample gathering, Teal'c and Daniel proceeded to the first of the monuments. As the two Air Force officers headed towards the only sizable body of water, Jack concentrated on the local fauna while Sam picked, prodded and dug up sample of flowers, leaves, fruits and berries. After several hours of general discussion about seasons and weather, O'Neill couldn't stand it anymore and brought up the heretofore undiscussed topic of his visit from ole' Doc Fraiser. Carter proceeded to dissolve into giggles as he described the conversation.
"I wondered why you finally got rid of your 'Captain Kirk' chair." She commented. "I thought you liked that thing?" Thinking of the angular piece of 'modern' furniture that had been in O'Neill's office since she'd known him.
"Well, it looked cool, when I moved into that office...but well, it was hard and nobody seemed to like to sit in it except Teal'c." O'Neill replied in all seriousness. "Then it occurred to me that he never sat down so I was wrong there too. Daniel used to do this contortionist act whenever he was in it." He explained while scanning the tree tops for any life forms. "For the longest time, I thought he had claustrophobia and didn't like my small office. Then one afternoon, when he was still living with me, he was waiting for me to get out of a meeting and he actually fell asleep in it. But when I opened the door he fell on the floor right out of the damned thing. I think he was upside down or sideways and he just slipped out. Damnedest thing I ever saw." He shook his head. "I think that's when the monkey thing started."
"You probably need to tell him that." She laughed at the mind pictures. "He still doesn't get the Space monkey nickname."
"Nah, it's good to keep you geniuses off balance." He smiled over at her. "It gives us regular people a fighting chance."
"So Janet got on you about your suggestion?"
"Yea read me the riot act, and told me I was way out of line. Sad thing is she's right." He looked at her seriously.
"But you did bring up some valid points. I've never had time to think about a normal family. My Dad always pushed me to the fast track. The only guys I ever really dated were other military and there were always the assignments to worry about, our careers, and the fraternization rules." She shook her head. "It never seemed worth the trouble. But I'm not so sure that anything would have come about with Martouff. Latesh was in love with Jolinar, Martouff with the host. I was just...the closest thing he could find to them." She shook her head. "And the Jolinar memories keep feeding the feelings."
"You really liked Narim though."
"Yes, I did." She admitted. "I really did. I still wonder if he's alive and or if he's a host. That would be my worst fear, to find him again like that."
He nodded sympathically. "Yea, after watching Daniel searching for Sha'uri, then to lose her like he did." Jack shook his head sadly. "I really don't know how he's handled it as well as he has."
"I think Teal'c still has problems with it." Sam spoke quietly. "The two of them work so closely together now. I know he had problems with it in the beginning."
"I know. I knew we needed Teal'c on the team because of all the Intel he could give us about the Gould, and I really thought Daniel would back off and not want to go off world with us. But the kid's got more heart than I knew and stood up to everyone, including Hammond. Then that night at the house we had a long talk about why I wanted Teal'c. But he stuck to his guns and continued to go out with us." Jack shook his head. "He was a lot bigger man that I could have been."
"He loved Sha'uri." Carter said simply. "She was his everything." They worked together in silence for a long while. "Was she really a gift?"
"Yea, Katherine had given Daniel a medallion to wear, for luck. She'd found it when she was with her dad when he found the Stargate. Well, Daniel was wearing it when we met Kasuf. He thought that Daniel was the emissary of RA. So, as a token he gave him his daughter." Jack smiled, remembering the young man's expression."
"But that's barbaric." She protested.
Jack nodded. "Carter, I like Kasuf but you gotta remember...they are barbaric. They live in a world we only see in National Geographic or old Tony Curtis movies. Later, though, Daniel told me that he 'refused' her that first night when he got the whole picture. Said she nearly died of shame from his trying to send her away. So she stayed with him and they acted like everything was cool." He shrugged. "Later...when everything was over and we were leaving, I promised him that I'd lie in my report. So nobody else would try to 'close the gate' with another tactical nuke." He laughed, dismissively. "Yea, like that worked." He snorted. "One year later, Hammond tried the same damn thing. That's how he got me back." He watched her face as everything came together for her in her mind.
"General Hammond was going to send a bomb through? To Abydos?" Sam shook her head in amazement.
"Yea, a Mark 5 Tactical Nuke. As far as he was concerned, I'd left the back door open and the bad guys came in and started shooting up the place. His place. And he started pulling strings and getting his shit together. Sent Samuels after me, dug up Kowalski and Ferretti, had you transferred in. You know the rest."
"And it's been one wild ride."
"That Major, is an understatement."
Daniel Jackson and Teal'c had started with the 'classic' Egyptian Pyramid. The verdant greenery had to be chopped away from the doorway on the north face of the structure, but once they had gotten through the overgrowth the young archeologist had to search for a while before they located the entrance and mastered the lock on the huge swivel door. The stones were so perfect a fit that the door could have scarcely be detected if Daniel hadn't known where to look. There was not enough crack or crevice around the edges to gain a finger hold on the joints from the exterior. Its locking mechanism was a puzzle based on the riddles of the Sphinx legend that had surrounded the monolithic statue on the Giza Plateau. Interestingly enough, it used the same legendary riddle that the statue asked of its challengers. 'What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening?' Daniel had smiled secretly to himself and pressed the proper hieroglyphs on the huge swivel door. The door, weighing approximately 20 tons by eye measure was so well balanced that it opened by pushing with only minimal force. But the mammoth door opened to reveal 'nothing'. There were only corridors, no burial chamber, no sarcophagus, no mummy's curses and no Goa'uld. It was almost as if the pyramid had been left there to confuse or misdirect the searcher.
But the two men determined that at least the measurements could be taken and the inscriptions videotaped for later study when more time could be had. It used the expected hieroglyphs, hieratic script and the not unexpected Goa'uld markings. Daniel was handling the video cam with one hand and doing a running translation as he passed over the ancient markings. Occasionally he'd call on Teal'c to assist him with a marking that he wasn't familiar with. The large alien was always amazed to watch the younger man working. The words and ideas seemed to leap fully formed from the wall's facing to Jackson's brain and proceed out his mouth as if a high speed computer was at work. After several hours hard at it in the dark abscesses of the Teal'c called a halt to his progress.
"Daniel Jackson, did not O'Neill require us to return to base camp at 1200 hours?"
"Uh, yes. But we're so close to finishing this inscriptions...I can't quite 'get' this last part. Can you make out this hieroglyph? I can't tell if it's Gould or if it's just unreadable."
The Jaffa examined the etched symbol. "I do not recognize it. Perhaps it is unfinished or damaged."
"Perhaps," Daniel stepped back a few feet and looked into his flashlights dim beam. "Or perhaps we might be able to recognize it if the damned flashlight would work properly."
Teal'c looked at him curiously. "It does appear to have diminished in its strength in a very few hours. Did you not check the batteries?"
Jackson nodded, frowning. "I put new ones in before I packed the light." He shook his head. "Oh well, maybe these were weak or even old. I didn't check the date on the box." He then looked up towards the bright outline of the door and down at his watch's illuminated dial. "It is 1147, and Jack will come looking for us if we're late. We'll go back to camp, keep him happy and get some more batteries." He grinned up at the larger man. "A happy Jack is a happy camp."
"Indeed, O'Neill is always pleased when things go as planned."
"And so am I, Teal'c." Daniel replied as they emerged from the darkness of the stone building. "I don't want to wind up in the infirmary this time." He spoke under his breath as he packed the video machine and tapes in their carrying case.
"Oh?" Teal'c eyed him appraisingly.
Daniel glanced at the Jaffa and blushed slightly. "Uh, yea...well, I've made some plans for this weekend and I don't want to be...uhm, unavailable."
Teal'c nodded. "With Majorcarter."
Jackson laughed self-consciously and shook his head. "It's that obvious?"
"You forget Danieljackson. I know you both well. I also know that there has been no contact between you and she. After our discussion of your proposed plans. I did not know of your decision or what has made it." The Jaffa looked at him curiously. "Something must have occurred to encourage you."
He nodded at the older man. "You said once, on the Salish planet that Jaffa do not believe in such things as ghosts but Teal'c..." Daniel looked over at him. "I believe I was visited by one...at Jack's house last month."
"What 'ghost' was it, Danieljackson?"
He stopped and tipped his green camo boonie hat back off his forehead. "Sha'uri came to me. She said it would be a good thing, that the child would be a ...a pure thing that we could have... with no sorrow, no grief, and no sadness." Daniel looked up at his friend. "I would like that very much, Teal'c...to create something that wonderful."
"Such it is with all children, my friend. When you look into the eyes of your child, there is none...there is only caring. Caring for it and for the woman who gave it to you." Teal'c nodded at his young friend. "But that was no ghost my friend...that was a vision...a true seeing. That...that Jaffa do believe in."
The two men returned to the campsite just in time to assist with the preparation of lunch. They normally only had a simple meal at noon, comprised of MREs and fresh coffee. The four team members compared notes and determined what could be done in the remainder of the afternoon. It was decided that O'Neill would return with Daniel to the pyramid and attempt to complete the exterior measurements. Teal'c would accompany Carter and assist with the sample gathering. By this time the meal was ready and they sat down to eat together.
"So, did you find anything interesting in there this morning, Daniel?" Jack pressed his friend for any important information.
Daniel looked at him from where he was seated on the ground eating. "Interesting? Yes. Of military value, no. I'm afraid that this particular pyramid is pretty much empty...like it was built but not used."
Carter looked over at him from her place on the ground. "Really? Isn't that unusual, to put that much effort into building something like that and just going off and leaving it?
"Well," Daniel got the professorial glint in his eye. "Actually, yes. It took so many man-hours to build an edifice like this in the relatively primitive ages of their constructions; it would be very unusual. However since we really don't know what the purpose of building them here so closely together, was anyway, well I just can't say right now." He finished his cup of coffee and poured another one. "Traditionally all of theses uh, monuments served for one or more of three main purposes...as a tomb of a king, a place of worship and sacrifice or as a celestial observatory to note and chart the movement of the stars, planet, seasons et cetera. All of these cultures that are represented here practiced these traditions. We have an Egyptian Pyramid, a Mayan step-pyramid and a Sumerian Ziggurat."
"But Daniel," Carter asked. "There weren't the only societies to practice these activities were they?"
"Oh, no. By no means...it's just that these are the ones that are here. Almost all societies had places for performing similar rituals. These were the most well known due to their imposing size and advanced design." He smiled at her and pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose. "But now I know that this pyramid is directly related to the ones on earth. The have so many similarities."
O'Neill had been listening intently to his friends. "Like what?"
Jackson glanced in his direction and nodded. "Well, for one thing... the 'key' to the pyramid is the Sphinx riddle. I had to properly encode the answer into a mechanism to open the door."
"Like you did on the Russian planet with the Marduk legend?" Jack prompted.
"Exactly."
"What is the Sphinx riddle?" Carter asked confused.
"It's a classic riddle that supposedly the Sphinx would ask of penitents that requested his help." He sat back and looked at O'Neill. "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?"
Sam watched him intently then said. "Well, so what's the answer?"
O'Neill smiled, shook his head and dumped his remaining coffee on to the fire. "Mankind."
"Mankind?"
"Sure," he grinned impishly at his second in command. "A baby crawls on all fours, an adult walks on two feet and an old person uses a cane."
She looked back and forth between O'Neill and Jackson. "Is he right?"
Daniel nodded and laughed. "Oh yea. Exactly right. So all I had to do was press the proper hieroglyphs and, voila! Open sesame." He nodded at the Colonel. "Very good, Jack. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, and I can open a Gordian knot too."
Daniel laughed out loud at Jack's announcement. "I bet you can."
After cleaning up the 'kitchen' area, the two pairs split up and went their separate ways. Carter and Teal'c went off towards the cliff face to look for minerals and Jack and Daniel headed back to the Pyramid.
"So Daniel, what are we up to this afternoon anyway?"
"Oh, I'd say about 5812.98 Pyramid Inches or 184.722 meters." Daniel replied as they reached the foot of the massive structure."
"184.722 meters?" Jack looked at Daniel blankly.
"Yea, I'd say about."
"That's high."
"Yes, it is, Jack. It's high, about 606 feet. We're going to measure the pyramid to see if it's as big as the Great pyramid on earth."
O'Neill made a face at Daniel. "I thought you were afraid of heights?"
"No, Jack, just falling off heights. It's kind of hard to fall off a pyramid."
"I guess that makes sense. They don't jump around much." O'Neill craned his neck to look at the top. "Okay, you bring the tape measure?"
Several hours later found the two men still diligently measuring but with instruments, not tape measures much to O'Neill's relief. But none the less, they had been toiling up and down the sides, widths and lengths of the huge building. Finally, as the last item, Daniel climbed up to the very apex, standing literally on the capstone. He took a moment to straighten up and look across the landscape. He could see the other two 'temples' standing out proudly from the trees and undergrowth, but then something caught his eye. "Jack. Jack, come up here. There's something you should see."
O'Neill had been sitting about a third of the way down taking a drink from his canteen. "Is it a mother ship?"
"No."
"Good, then I don't need to see it."
"Ah, Jack. I think you'll want to see this." Jackson's insistent voice echoed down on his tired head.
"Is it Thor's ship?"
"Jack! No, it's not an Azgard ship."
"Then I don't want to see it." He looked up at the younger man. "Don't fall off, Daniel."
"Jack, get up here, please." Daniel's voice sounded excited. "You'll be interested...I promise."
Releasing a long deep sigh, Jack closed and secured his canteen then got to his feet and wearily started climbing the pyramid's steep side. Once he arrived he stood next to Daniel and looked in the direction his younger friend was pointing to. "Okay, what's the deal?"
"Look over there Jack, just under the setting sun."
"It's a hill Daniel. I climbed a pyramid to look at a hill. I don't get it."
The patient professor primly pronounced pedantically. "It's not a hill, Jack. It's a Tor."
"What? What's tore? The hill?" He had a small urge to push Daniel, just a tad. "The hill is tore?"
"No, Jack. The hill is a Tor; the Tor is a hill. You know, O'NEILL. A Tor!"
"Daniel, this was fun five hours ago, it's not fun anymore. What the hell are you talking about?"
"A Tor, Jack O'Neill, is a manmade structure used at either a burial place for a high king, a druid religious place for worship or sacrifice or celestial observation in ancient Celtic times in what is now Great Britain." Daniel looked down at him from his lofty perch. "Irish stuff, Jack."
Jack rolled his eyes, shook his head and dropped his chin to his chest. "And this means what, Daniel?"
"It's a fourth structure. It's man-made and it's totally unconnected to the other three in terms of history, location or civilization." Daniel looked as happy as if he'd caught Santa and all his reindeer on his roof on Christmas Eve. "We have mystery Jack. We have archeological ambiguity. We have...Can you tell if there's any structures on it? There, that glint of white through the trees."
Jack obediently pulled out his field glasses and trained them at the indicated spot. "Hum, well. Maybe. There's something there all right. I can't tell what it is though. Structure or just a rock." Jack lowered the glasses, rubbed his eyes and gazed back at Daniel. "Daniel, we have 1800 hours and twenty minutes until dark. Let's climb down Egypt and worry about the old country tomorrow."
"O'Neill, you have no...."
"Energy, strength, power, youth and enthusiasm." He reached up and grasped Daniel's hand. "Come on, Danny. Let's go back to camp. I promise I'll be enthusiastic tomorrow."
Jackson looked down at his friend and realized that Jack was tired. And truth be told, he was too. Tomorrow, the Tor would still be there and so would they.
The two friends got back down safely, just beating the coming of darkness. By the time they had made it back to base camp, the fire was burning cheerfully and dinner being prepared by Carter. Teal'c met them at the end of the fire's glow. "We were becoming worried O'Neill." He commented sounding almost disapproving of their lateness.
Daniel spoke up. "Sorry, it was my fault". He dropped his backpack and settled onto a log that faced the campfire.
"Yea, Daniel found something and had to show it to me." He looked at the other two team members. "And our radios went dead. Batteries drained."
"Are you sure, Sir?" Carter formed a concerned look on her face. "We haven't had any problems this afternoon, but Teal'cs also showed low power."
"My flashlight went dead inside the pyramid this morning." Daniel commented. "I put new batteries in at noon." He pulled it off of his utility vest and clicked it on and off a few times. "Hum, that's funny." The light still worked but it was dim. O'Neill's had been fine when they used it to come back to camp.
"The only common thing that comes to mind, Daniel is that you and your partner worked in and around the pyramid all day. I and mine worked away from it." She seemed to chew on this along with her Chili-Mac MRE. "Isn't the shape of a pyramidal construction supposed to have some magnetic powers?"
Jackson shook his head. "That's a new age idea. Supposedly small crystal ones can re-charge batteries, store meat and milk, and assist in the mummification process. It's never been scientifically proven that I'm aware of."
"Key word though Daniel is re-charge...not drain." O'Neill was still thinking about the hazards of equipment failure this far from the 'Gate." It was a problem that he couldn't ignore. "Well, tomorrow when I do sit-rep to Hammond, I'll have some more, newly checked batteries delivered. Moonlight may be romantic, but I prefer my Mag-lamp."
After finishing the evening meal, while Jack and Teal'c cleaned up and set up the security perimeter, Daniel and Sam both checked all the battery operated equipment in the camp. All the pieces that were in direct use in and around the pyramid showed definite draining of their power cells. Of the pieces that Carter had used and the ones left in camp were fine. The two scientists started throwing out ideas of causes and preventions.
"What is the pyramid made of, Daniel?" Carter asked curiously.
"I'm not really sure." Her teammate replied thoughtfully. "It appears to be an almost exact replica of the Great Pyramid on the Giza Plateau. But, it's never suffered the damage that the original has." He looked at her over his glasses. "Between wars, looting and out and out vandalism, ours has not had an easy go of it. There's a lot of Egypt in France and England."
"I know, when my family was stationed in England Mom took Mark and I to every single museum within driving distance of Bentwaters- Woodbridge AFB. I think I saw Tut's tomb's stuff once or twice a year."
"I don't doubt it. It's an archeologist's nightmare. What should be there isn't and what is there is often damaged." He shook his head. "A lot of history has been lost. But to answer your original question, this one is untouched and is still covered with a sheath of a quartz mineral of some sort, grainy and reflective. It even still has its capstone in place. No one in recorded history ever saw the capstone on the one in Giza."
"Anything inside?"
"No, interestingly enough. It's empty. Curiously enough though, this one has hieroglyphs, hieratic and Gould markings."
"So there's no doubt, it is Gould in origin." She asked.
He nodded. "They were here, but why or when? I don't know. And why three, well four different cultures represented? I just don't know enough yet."
"Did you say four cultures? I thought there was only three structures?" She looked at him curiously.
"Oh, yea. That's why we were late." Daniel replied in a more animated voice. "I went to the top of 'Egypt' to check the height. When I got up to the capstone, I looked around and saw a fourth structure." He continued on excitedly. "There's a Tor, just past the Ziggurat. Appears to be intact with something on top."
"You mean like Glastonbury Tor--Chalice Hill?" She looked at him in surprise.
He returned her expression with a startled on of his own. "Yes, exactly, only well, I haven't been there so I can't say if there is a structure on the top. It's very overgrown, like everything here. I could see something, but we couldn't tell if it's a structure, a stone ring or just large rocks."
"This is amazing, Daniel. Why four temples? All different but all for the same purpose, well on Earth anyway."
"Exactly, it's unprecedented. We've never found such diversity within such close proximity...."
A large and ominous shadow cast itself across the two scholars. "It's 2130." Jack announced in a spooky, hollow sounding voice. "Do you know when your watch shift is?"
"It can't be that late..." Daniel protested as he glanced at his wristwatch. "My watch has stopped." He announced in an irritated voice.
Carter checked her's. "It is that late." She agreed with their team chief. "Well, Colonel, all the equipment is checked out for the evening. Which watch do you want?" Sam asked as she got to her feet to get ready for bed in her own tent.
"I'll take graveyard and wake you for early." He looked down at the two younger members. "Daniel, you want first shift since your still in energizer archeologist mode? Teal'cs doing kel-nor-reem now. You can wake him next."
Daniel looked up at him with a grin, his eyes dilated from the darkness, almost black. "Sure Jack. Suits me. Anything you want me to do before I get to bed?"
O'Neill looked around casually. "Sure, stoke the fire...it's gonna get cold. Set up a pot of coffee for me and warm your feet. Goodnight." He turned and walked over to their shared tent, waving as he slid inside.
The next morning, O'Neill woke Carter for her early watch at sunrise. As she pulled her boots on, Teal'c came out of his tent.
"Good Morning, Teal'c."
"Good morning, Majorcarter, O'Neill."
"Teal'c". Jack nodded. "Want to take a hike with me?"
The big man nodded amicably. "To perform the Sit-Rep to the S.G.C?"
The Colonel threw out the dregs of his coffee cup. "Yea. We need to do one and get some fresh batteries since something is draining all of ours." He glanced at Carter. "Did you get any ideas as to what's causing it?"
"No Sir. I talked to Daniel last night about any properties that the crystalline covering of the structure might have. He said he'd never seen anything like it."
"Yea, I've seen the pyramids before Carter. They don't look anything like this one does, at least not any more." O'Neill nodded in agreement. "Danny said that this one is pristine, where the Earth's version is badly damaged."
She nodded. "I've seen lots of things in England and France that came form the various tombs of Egypt. Evidently whatever conqueror was in power at the time, just took what they wanted from them."
"Yea." He chewed on his lower lip. "Conquerors have a bad habit of taking souvenirs to show the folks back home to prove what a great deal he got for them."
O'Neill stood up and stretched to his full six foot two inches and sauntered over to 'his' tent. "Daniel! Daniel! Wakey, wake." He ducked his head into the tent. "Daniel!"
"What is wrong, O'Neill?" Teal'c had followed his leader to the tent's opening as Jack pushed his way inside.
The Colonel was kneeling by Daniel as he lay in the sleeping bag. "Daniel." O'Neill grasped the younger man's shoulder and shook him. "Danny! Wake up!" Nothing happened. O'Neill, growing concerned, shook him again. "Daniel." The younger man's limp body rolled over to face the tent's ceiling, arm splayed out beside him. "I don't know...I can't wake him up!"
O'Neill reached and checked Daniel's breathing and pulse. "Danny," His voice became more demanding. "Daniel!" Jack looked back at Teal'c. "Hand me a canteen or a cup of water or something. Daniel! Wake up!"
At the concern in her team leaders voice, Sam came in past Teal'c with her canteen of water and one of the small med kits. O'Neill poured some water on a discarded t-shirt and wiped Daniel's face, dribbling the cold water down his neck for good measure. Nothing happened, Carter squatted down next to her teammate, opened the kit and pulled out a small ampoule of ammonia. O'Neill saw what she was doing and cleared back from the immediate area. "Be careful." He called out. "He'll come up swinging." She looked back at him and acknowledged the warning. She then cracked the ampule under Daniel's nose.
Jackson had no reaction at first. But within a few seonds he finally moved, reacting violently to the stimulation of the chemical, rolling out of the sleeping bag, arms flailing violently. Carter did a tuck and roll out of harms way. Coughing and blue eyes tearing up, Jackson emerged from the green nylon cucoon. "What?" The gasping, wheezing, muffled voice responded. "Ja'k? Whazgong? Whazatstuv?"
O'Neill and Carter sat back and waited for the chemical to disperse and Jackson to quit swinging. "Danny, are you okay?"
"Yea, I guess so." The bleary eyed, tousled head answered through his hands against his face. "Why? wotzapdn?"
"Danieljackson, we were unable to awaken you. We were growing concerned." Teal'c answered peering into the tent at his teammates.
"Mumph," Jackson rolled over and peered blearily at his wristwatch. "Whatimzit?" He tapped on the uncommunicative timepiece.
"It's after seven. How do you feel?" Jack looked at him closely.
"OgayInowImuptanks." Danielspeak was in full flow now and the lights were beginning to come on.
Jack came close again, knelt down next to his friend and put his hand on Daniel's forehead. Daniel sleepily batted the hand away. "ImfineJa'k. levmelone. I'mup."
"Okay Danny." He got to his feet and looked down at his friend. "Teal'c and I have to go sit-rep to Hammond. You need to get organized for this morning." Daniel looked at him, sighed and nodded. Jack looked at him worriedly then slipped out the tent to face the concerned faces. Jack stood up, dusted off his knees and shrugged. "He was asleep."
Carter shook her head. "Sir...he..."
"I know, Carter. Just keep an eye on him. We'll be back in..." He glanced at his watch. "Damn it, my watch has stopped too." Carter slipped hers off and handed it to O'Neill. He accepted it, noticing it was a wind up model.
She smiled at his expression. "I have another in my pack." At his expression, she smiled. "EM fields sometimes drain watch batteries. These don't have that particular problem.
"Thanks, Carter." He turned and walked back to the fire, where he stood staring down into the embers.
She came up beside him and looked into his frown. "What are you thinking, Sir?"
"I'm thinking that I've got a bad feeling here, Carter." He turned to face her. "Since we've arrived, our flashlights, radios, watches, anything that's gotten near those structures has run down their batteries. Now, it's beginning to affect us."
"But O'Neill." Teal'c put in. "Danieljackson is often difficult to awaken."
"Yea, but it's because he sleeps restless. Last night when he came in, he didn't even wake me up. He just crashed and burned. Yesterday, at the pyramid, I was exhausted by evening; I could barely climb up the damned thing." He looked over at his two teammates. "And you had to wake me for my watch. That's not normal, for either one of us."
After reporting their status to the S.G.C., O'Neill and Teal'c returned to the camp carrying supplies, batteries and four small medical sample kits. Daniel was up and moving, apparently no worse for wear, and the two younger members of the team were busily working on the equipment and labeling yesterday's samples. As the two travelers unloaded their parcels, Carter picked up the small sample boxes and looked up at the colonel. He shrugged then inadvertently glanced at Daniel who lifted his head and frowned.
"What?" He protested
O'Neill pitched the small boxes onto the pile of supplies. "When we reported our condition, Doc sent these along to take some tests and keep track of us." At the younger man's dour expression, O'Neill shrugged. Daniel bent his head back to his samples with a shake.
The Colonel looked at his Second in Command. "So, what's the plan for this afternoon?"
Carter looked at him. "Daniel was telling me about the Tor you two saw. Maybe we should go there. You two can do your exploring and Teal'c and I can check for another location as source of the mineral."
He nodded. "Sounds good. I'd prefer us to stay together."
Teal'c started to add wood to the fire. "We should eat before we go. We will save time by not breaking our activities with a large meal." At the Colonel's nod, the warrior started preparing the noon meal.
"We can carry some energy bars for a snack." Jack went over to where the food pack was laying next to Daniel's work area and started digging for the box of bars.
Daniel looked up at him. "Jack, I'm all right. I was just tired this morning. There's nothing wrong with me." He indicated the med supplies. "We didn't need to do this."
"No, Daniel. It's me too. Last evening I was so dragged out I could barely get to the top of the pyramid. I couldn't even think about hiking over to the other place. Teal'c had to shake me awake last night, and you were so gone we didn't even disturb you." He shook his head. "Then there was this morning. No, there's something here that's draining us and our equipment's batteries. We just need to keep tabs on it." He indicated the other two teammates. "Teal'c and Carter aren't affected. Maybe it's cause of the naquada in their systems or maybe cause we're two human males. I don't know...but we need to find out before they send in another team."
"It could be from the material covering the pyramid itself. I've never seen anything quite like it, kind of a shiny granite/marble combination." Daniel seemed more at ease with Jack's confession of weakness too. "We were there the longest."
Jack flashed him a look. "You were there all day long. I had, what, six hours tops."
Daniel looked at his friend sideways. "Well, I am younger than you..."
"Right... that's why we had to use the smelling salt capsule this morning to wake your sorry butt up." He looked over at Daniel. "So, how do you feel now?"
Daniel frowned back. "A little silly." He thought a second. "I was having a dream.... a very vivid dream...and I really didn't want to wake up. I could hear you calling but...you seemed a million miles a way. And I didn't want to answer you; cause you'd stop me from doing whatever it was I was doing.
Jack looked back at him. "Maybe you were exploring that Tor and didn't want to come in."
"It's possible...but, well I guess it really doesn't matter now." The younger man flashed him a grin. "I guess I just have to put up with keeping my team chief and doctor happy." He indicated the med kits. "It's a small price to pay, it's only blood."
"Speak for yourself. I'm fond of mine and I like it just where it is...in me."
About an hour's march from the camp found SG1 standing at the foot of the Great Tor. O'Neill pulled his sunglasses off and tipped his head back to peer up its impressive sides. "Looks like a hill to me." He commented flatly. "What's the difference? It's a steep hill with grass growing on it and trees at the top."
Daniel looked over at his friend and shook his head. "The same 'difference' as the other three. It's man made and it was a pilgrimage place during Druidic times, from about 2,000 years ago to back in Megalithic times, 4,000 years ago. Tor means rocky hill or peak. The Glastonbury Tor in England has many legends connected to it. One says that it was the location of King Arthur's stronghold. Another legend says that it is the home of the Fairy King and that the top of the Tor was a place of fairy visions and magic. Celtic legend says that the hill is hollow and that the top guards the entrance to the Underworld, as well as being the home of the Lord of the Underworld, Gwyn ap Nudd. Glastonbury is also believed to be the place known in Arthurian lore as the Isle of Avalon. According to the legend, Arthur, after being mortally wounded by Mordred, was taken by a sacred boat to Avalon. And it is in Avalon that Arthur waits the day when Britain requires his services as the "once and future king".
"Are you telling me that King Arthur was a Gould?" O'Neill looked at Jackson with a shocked expression on his face.
Daniel rolled his eyes. "No, of course not Jack. That particular Tor is just tied to him."
"Well, how about that Gwen-ape-Nutt guy?"
Daniel flinched at the name change. "Now, that... that's possible. He was the lord of the underworld, like Sokar." He's also been connected to pagan gods such as the Egyptian god Thoth, the Greek Hermes, the Roman Mercury and the Celtic Bel.
"Well, at least we know Sokar's dead." O'Neill snorted. "But nothing like bringing up old acquaintances to put a damper on a party."
Carter had been listening intently to the two men. "When we visited the Glastonbury Tor they said that it symbolized the search for the Holy Grail, represented by the Silver Chalice used at the Last Supper. Joseph of Arimathea supposedly brought the chalice to Glastonbury where it was buried."
Daniel nodded at her information. "Dod Lane and the trail by Chalice Hill are remains of an old processional path on which an Abbey is situated. "Dod" means dead, and Dod Lane is a spirit path leading to Avalon, the western isle of the dead. The Abbey is supposed to be King Arthur's burial place. The Silver Chalice may also be hidden here. The 5th century Melkin Oracle says that one day the chalice in St Joseph's tomb will be revealed and "thenceforth nor water nor the dew of heaven shall fail the dwellers on that ancient isle". That's the prophecy of Albion. A church dedicated to St Michael's on the hilltop is all that's left." He looked at Jack. "That's why we need to see what's on top, if it's a church, a stone ring like Stonehenge or just a pile of rocks."
"Or a hole to the underworld with the Grape-nut guy. Sweet." Jack groused, as he reevaluated the climb facing them. "So how tall is this 'Tor' that we're going to climb? Today. Again."
Daniel looked at O'Neill with a grin. "Well, if it's the same size..." O'Neill glared at him. "170 meters or about 600 feet."
The older man shook his head and pointed to the equipment packs. "Lead on, McJackson."
After securing their climbing ropes to each other, the two men started their ascent to the top of the hill. The footing was good and handholds easily accessible due to the grass and small brush growing up the sharply angled sides. From long partnership, the two moved effortlessly as one, O'Neill in the lead Daniel following behind, the rope an easy umbilical between them.
About half way up, Jack called a rest stop. As they sat next to each other, he pulled out his canteen and glanced over at Daniel. "I recognize Thoth. Isn't he Egyptian too?"
Jackson nodded. "He was considered the god of scribes and magicians. Sort of a Merlin figure in the Egyptian pantheon."
"Oh," Jack said quietly as he handed the container to Daniel. "Sort of a Geek God."
Daniel suppressed a smile. "Sort of...he had the body of a man and the head of an ibis. Married to Hathor."
Jack groaned, "I'm so not going there, Daniel."
"Thanks for that anyway." The younger man grimaced, and took a drink of water. He turned to look over his shoulder and up towards the top of the Tor.
Carter and Teal'c circled the foot of the huge hill, checking for outcroppings of rocks or breaks in the surface of the ground. They could do the measurements and check for the mineral at the same time. The trees were quite thick around the very bottom but didn't seem interested in climbing up the sides. Carter also kept her eyes open for any openings or obvious doors or markings that might indicate them. Teal'c kept to her six and watched the surrounding woods for any movement.
"Teal'c, why would a Gould build four of these structures so close together and then leave the world uninhabited?" She asked the big man.
"I do not know, Majorcarter. Perhaps it is as O'Neill said... practice." He looked at his female companion. "Danieljackson spoke as if you believed that humans built these buildings' Earth counterparts. Surely, you must realize that the System Lords had the capability of creating them without human assistance."
She looked at him in surprise. "You mean the Goulds built the pyramids?"
"Perhaps not all, but certainly some of them." Teal'c looked at her calmly. "It would take too long for Stone Age people to accomplish such a great work.
The two teammates continued to circle the huge hill, measuring its circumference and watching for any unusual breaks or indentations into the grassy sides. Carter proceeded to think aloud. "The reason the techs at SGC are so excited about this mineral that we're looking for is because, in it's natural state, it puts out an unusual electro- magnetic field. That's not strong enough to affect out equipment's power sources." She stopped to push back large limb that was blocking her way. "But it the substance was refined, to a different consistency, say one of a smoother, shinier texture, the result might be different."
Teal'c saw where she was going. "You believe that this mineral maybe effecting our equipment's batteries."
She nodded at him. "Exactly, running the batteries down or rather draining them."
"Could these E M fields be affecting O'Neill and Danieljackson as well?"
"I don't know," She answered honestly. "But I am concerned with their lack of...vigor."
"As am I." the Jaffa conceded his concern. "Both of them are exhibiting negative affects from something here. Whether it is from the mineral or some other outside source."
"It doesn't seem to bother us though. Why?" Sam pressed him for an opinion
"Perhaps it is our physical makeup?'
She nodded. "Maybe. We both have the naquada markers in our blood; we both have symbiote exposure." Carter looked at him curiously. "Has junior had any opinions about this place?"
"None that he has seen fit to inform me of. My symbiote is not at all active."
"Humm." She hummed. "Less than normally would you say?"
He had to think a moment, recalling the last two days. "I would say yes. It is less active than is its' wont. I had not noticed until now."
"That is interesting, Teal'c. Especially with all the other 'less than normal occurrences' right now." She glanced up the steep slope of the Tor.
Jack and Daniel had made the crown of the hill safely. They were taking a breather and rolling up the nylon rappelling rope and storing it in their backpacks. O'Neill tossed an energy bar at Daniel when he was through. Daniel caught it, looked at the wrapper and grimaced. "Can't we get brand name granola bars once in a while?" He groused.
"Daniel, I requisitioned these from the supply Sergeant along with the MREs. I don't buy them; I just sign for them. Bar, nutrition. One each. Individually wrapped. Government issue." He sat down next to his friend and ripped the foil paper off his own bar and bit into it. "Oh, yumm. Just like momma used to make. And with everything a growing archeologist needs to give him strong teeth, bones and a healthy skin and coat."
"Yea, and bright eyes and a bushy tail. Unfortunately it left out something in the taste department." Daniel chewed on his, then chased it down with a swig from his canteen.
"Hey, a thousand lab rats can't be wrong Daniel." Jack looked around over his shoulder to view the thick corpse of trees that crowned the hill. The white objects that had been visible from the ground were hidden by the forest. "So, we're here at the top. What's next."
Daniel swallowed the last bite of his food bar and stowed his canteen back on his vest. "We need to find whatever it was that we could see yesterday. If its' a building or structure, then we examine it. If they're just rocks..."
Jack chuckled. "Then we examine them" He shook his head at Daniel's expression. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a cheap date?'
"Yea, I seem to remember the subject coming up a time or two." Daniel answered as he stood up and brushed off his backside. "Usually after someone forced me to drink too much beer at his house on Friday."
"Forced? I'm hurt." Jack started in again. "I buy you good beer and you make fun. I buy you good wine, you complain. I feed you pizza..."
"And I eat it. I like pizza." The two men stood side by side, surveying the area for the easiest path of entry through the thick trees. O'Neill pulled out some colored plastic ribbons to use as trail markers through the trees. "Sam says we don't have a life."
"Who doesn't?"
"Well, I guess all of us." Jack had started off towards and indentation in the tree line. Daniel followed him. "She says I spend my time with my boss and she spends her time with Janet and Cassie."
"So?" The reply came back over Jack's shoulder. "This is a bad thing?"
"No, not bad. Just, Well I think her point is that we work, play and breathe SGC. We don't have separate lives from our work."
"The difference between 'us and them', Daniel is that the SGC is our lives. Sam's right. We are different from the vast majority of everybody out there. I don't like everybody. Everybody doesn't like me." O'Neill slowed down in his forward advance to check for another opening. "Daniel, remember before the SGC?"
"Sure."
"What were you doing?"
"Lecturing on the circuit, trying to get grant money, well, trying to pay the rent actually." Daniel's voice even seemed depressed. "About to sell my books to buy a ticket to England to accept a job at a museum there, as an assistant curator." There was a pause. "I wasn't even going to be able to do any research at first. Just a technician. I was pretty miserable all right."
"And we know where I was at." Jack's voice was gentle. "Daniel, we, you and I were losers. But put us together and we became winners. I mean who would have thought it. West thought he had the two biggest fuck-ups in the world, a has been and a wannabe."
Daniel stopped and looked at his friend. "What's wrong with you Jack? That wasn't us! Maybe, that's what he thought, but he was wrong. You know General Hammond doesn't feel that way."
Jack rubbed his hand across his face. "Yea, I know...I guess I'm getting tired again." He straightened up. "Okay. Which way now Mr. Wizard?"
Daniel eyed him for a moment then went on. "The structure we saw should be just ahead, on the very top of the hill. If it is a structure, we need to be careful of openings into subterranean chambers. It may have a door or it may not. That would be the entrance to the underworld or into fairyland or it could be the entrance to a tomb, possibly Brian Boru or Cu Cuchalain." Daniel smiled at Jack's expression. "Well, it could be!"
Jack chuckled. "Or King Arthur or Merlin the Magician? Just don't fall into any rabbit holes, Daniel."
At the bottom of the hill, Carter and Teal'c were having their own luck. "Majorcarter. Here, I have located something."
The young woman pushed her way over to her companion's side. In the flank of the Tor, a large stone sunken into the earth around it. It was at least seven feet tall and four feet wide "Yes, I'd definitely say that you have found 'something'." She reached forward to an apparent indentation and gingerly touched it. It didn't react in any way to her probing. Heartened, Carter pushed harder. Nothing. She stepped back and keyed her radio mike. "Colonel?" All she got was some static, then dead air.
Teal'c looked down at his and turned it on. "O'Neill."
Carter's radio picked up his signal but neither of them got anything else but the momentary carrier wave and silence. She tried again. "Colonel O'Neill. Status? 10-4?" She shook her head and looked at Teal'c.
"Both of our units appear to be functioning." He stated the obvious and she nodded.
"And neither of theirs is. They've either turned them both off or if they're on, they've gone dead." She eyed the doorway hostilely. "Teal'c, I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Jack! Look!" Daniel's voice bounced back gaily over the meadow. "This is it! This is perfect...exactly what's supposed to be here."
O'Neill was following his friend more sedately out into the Stone Circle. "Yes, Daniel. I see that it is."
Jack proceeded out into the middle of the Circle, then turned around. He saw he could be in the center of the famous English stone construction from the Salsbury plain. On the outside was the circle of 30 sarsen stones, or sandstones. They stood four meters or 12 feet high and weigh about 25 tons each from the look of them. However, these still retained their lintels, unlike their counterparts on Earth. Within this a larger sarsen stone horseshoe stood in the middle of the monument, five sets of two stones with a lintel on top, the trilithons, he vaguely remembered, after the Greek word for three stones. The tallest of these upright sarsen stones was about 7 meters tall with lintel.
The bluestones, the small rocks set in a circle between the sarsen stone circle and sarsen stone horseshoe, also appeared intact with what looked like as many as sixty in number. Within the large sarsen stone horseshoe, he could see a bluestone horseshoe was also in place with twenty of the stones. The stones were placed in such a way that they increased in size towards the center and alternated in shape between tall, thin pillar-like stones and stones of a tapering obelisk shape. Within the bluestone horseshoe stood an Altar stone -- a blue-gray stone about five meters long stood upright underneath the center sarsen trilithons. Around the stone circles were four pillar stones placed in the shape of a rectangle. Along a lane that extended from the open horseshoe, He could see a pair of stones, forming a gate to the main monument. Further away was a single stone, standing as if marking the way to the gate.
"Jack. This is so fantastic." Daniel was almost orgasmic with excitement. "T.t.his is it...this is Stonehenge. This is e.e.xactly what it was; only everything is still here...still in.in.tact. It's a miracle. I can't believe it..."
Jack shook his head. "Daniel...calm down. Daniel, you are stuttering. Calm down." He wished he could get a hand on his friend before he exploded or something. "Danny."
"I...I...I know, Jack. It..it's just...God I can't believe it. It's too much."
"Daniel, come here." O'Neill finally used 'the voice'. "Daniel."
The younger man circled in slowly, still taking in the edifice then finally came to stand by his friend. "What!"
"Daniel," Jack gripped his arm above the wrist and led him to the edge of the circle. "Sit down for a minute, will ya." He finally got Jackson to look at him. "Daniel, I know this is as exciting for you as a Gould Armory is to me but take a minute please." At his friend's nod, Jack went on. "I want to understand this. This..." O'Neill swept his arm around to include the whole circle. "This is what the original Stonehenge was like, right?" Daniel nodded, grinning at Jack. "This is a perfect representation?" Another nod. "Daniel, I've been to Stonehenge. It wasn't on a Tor. It was on a plain. Why the difference here?"
Jackson took a deep breath. "You're right, of course. It wasn't on a Tor, at least not one of this magnitude. But, the stone circle is a pattern that repeats itself all over the UK and some other parts of the world. Maybe this is the perfect combination of both the religious construction and physical placement. Like the pyramid here has inscriptions and the Great pyramid on Earth doesn't. Maybe this is the 'perfect' temple for these cultures and the ones on Earth fell short." He shrugged happily. "I don't know."
O'Neill tried not to chuckle at his friends delight. They really did need to get back to business. "Daniel, please work with me here. I need you at...oh nineteen years old here okay...not twelve."
Daniel straightened up a little. "I know, I'm sorry, I am trying..." He gazed around the circle. "It's just too...unbelievable."
"I know." O'Neill intoned. "Believe me, I know. Now...openings into the hill? Any sign, clue, hint, idea?"
Daniel pursed his lips. "Not really, no. And yes, we do need to look. I would say that it would be a possibility, though there's not one at Stonehenge."
"Hum." Jack thought then clicked his radio mike. "Carter. Come in Carter." Nothing. "Damnit. Radio's dead again." He looked at Jackson who had turned his off when they ascended the hill.
Daniel obediently tried his. A click then a carrier wave opened. "Sam?"
Response was immediate. "Daniel? Are you all right?"
"Yea, we're good. Jack's radio went dead again, but I had mine turned off."
'Daniel, we found a doorway here in the side of the hill." Sam reported. "A very large wooden door."
Jack nodded to him to talk. "Sam, we found a pristine Stonehenge here on top. It's awesome! Totally intact!"
"Wow!" She was suitably impressed. "Colonel, what next?"
Jack leaned over to speak in Daniel's mike. "Is your watch working?"
She checked. "Ten-four"
"Mine too. What else did you find?"
"We're getting traces of the mineral again. There must be a source near here. Colonel, I have a theory about the batteries, I think it is the mineral in a refined state that's draining them, and maybe you too."
"Copy." He pursed his lips and looked at Daniel. "We're not suffering any effects right now. I want to do a sight survey then come down before dark. If it is the mineral, I don't want to be stuck up here overnight. I'll turn the radio off to preserve the power. We'll do a sit-rep at 1600 hrs"
"Ten four sir. I'll be waiting to hear." She checked her watch. "Time hack, 1450. Sit rep, 1600."
"Ten four and be aware. Possibility of top subterranean entrance exits to match your doorway. Be alert."
"Good copy. Sierra Gulf 2 out."
"Sierra Gulf 1 out."
Jack looked around and back at Daniel. The younger man was still busy at the trilithons, taking his rubbings of the intricate carvings that appeared on the huge, solid stones. Jack walked up behind Danny and studied the position. O'Neill congratulated himself on his self- restraint. If he'd been an evil man, a naughty man the potential there was endless. Jackson had started out kneeling, then gone to squatting, and finally leaning forward on his knees and balancing on his elbows, his hips in the air and wiggling as he frottaged the rough surface. O'Neill shook his head, turned and walked away. He was a good man, but he wasn't a great man, and he knew that he'd have to go somewhere else or he'd do something not nice.
So O'Neill continued to pace the stone circle, tilting over large lumps of leaves, windswept piles of branches and other detritus as if doing something gainful. Ultimately, Jack approached the massive altar stone. It stood at about three feet tall and four foot wide; a huge horizontal plinth, balanced on two massive wide legs with a clearance of about two feet underneath. He bent over and leaned in from the waist. Was that a depression he saw, under the cover stone? He nudged the hollow area with the barrel of his rifle and a slender white hand reached up and grabbed the metal, jerking O'Neill off balance and, unbelievably, under the alter and down into a hole.
Before he could let go of the gun, cuss in 5 languages or yell for help. Jack was gone! Daniel continued to rub the graphite block against the white wrapping paper as it lay drifting over the surface of the interior 'blue' stones of the Henge.
Jack awoke lying all-akimbo on a soft fragrant pile of golden hay. His P90 was still beside him, his hat had been knocked off, his sunglasses askew on his nose, and he was looking up at the yellow teeth of a rather elderly looking flea-bit gray pony. The pony was eating the hay.
O'Neill groped through the sweet-smelling fodder, locating his weapon and pulling it nest to his side. He then pulled his hat and glasses off and gathered them in one hand. The other, right hand reached forward to pat the animal on its nose. His fingers must have tickled its whiskers because it snorted; spraying him with a fine mist of equine produced humidity.
A voice seemed to trickle down into the hay to seep it's way into his brain. "Shur 'n' it's abowt toime that you've come back to the land o the livin'."
Jack sighed. He raised his head and wiped the pony moisture from his face with his empty hand. He peeked across his chest to see a small wizened, creature perched there by the pony, seated on a three legged stool. O'Neill glared at him balefully. The manikin returned his look. This went on for 10 or so minutes. Finally, Jack gave in from sheer boredom. "Who are you?"
The little man stared back for another five. "Hheeow ar yeeew?"
"I asked first."
"And hew might yew be, ya big gomp?"
Jack sat up and hung his head. It hurt famously and well. He half suspected he was still unconscious anyway so it really didn't matter. "O'Neill."
"Whadyasay?"
"O'Neill, one oh, two ells, Jack, Colonel, U.S. Air Force." He spoke to his belt buckle, head still hanging. "Who are you?
"Gwen ap Nudd"
Jack continued to speak to his belt buckle in a very calm voice. "I knew you were going to say that."
"Hoewdeyaknow?"
Finally he raised his head to look directly into the raisin-like features of the little one. "Daniel told me about you." He shook his head, then continued on in a reasonable tone. "Now, I have to kill him."
"An now why, would a big gump like yew, want to harm a hair on da boy's fair head?" The leprechaun shook his head at him and took a draw from the long throated pipe that had appeared in the tiny claw like hand. The being then released a long exhale of fragrant smoke directly into Jack's face. "Ee's a good heart." The man shook the mouthpiece end of the pipe under Jack's nose. "Ye'll ne'er foind a better lad."
"I know, but he makes me think, and then I see things like you." Jack groused slowly and with feeling, as an excuse.
"Now, Jacko. I know Yew knew abowt me long before you met yur Danny- boy." The pixie said primly. "Ye can't blame me on da lad. I know t'was yer own Grand-da dat introduced us, dem long yers ago in da meadows and trout streams of dose headen lands he'd moved too." The Fairy man leaned back against the forelegs of the stolid little pony who stood, dreamily chewing the fragrant hay. "How he'd tell ya all the tales of our fortune and our magic. How da Ban-shee would be coming for ya at da end, and how da pooka whoud hide in da rivers. How da Hooded Man hunted da winter woods til da lady came in da spring."
Jack could only shake his head in denial. Maybe he'd been injured. Maybe the Tor hadn't been as safe a place as he'd thought. Where was Daniel? Was he okay? What the hell was going on here?
The little man that couldn't be, watched him out of blueberry eyes. "No. No. De Fairy circle. Yes. Yer education, Jacko."
O'Neill frowned at him. "Fine. You can do tricks. You can read my mind."
"No tricks, me boyo. No tricks at'tal." The little man sucked on his pipe and shook his head sadly. "An' I also know abowt how yer plagued by da Fearsom Darrig-Red! Ee's a real joker dat one, and bringing yerself horrible nightmares and dem evil waking dreams about yer adventures in that dev'l, blarsted foreign land, and about yer puir lad, Charlie."
Jack looked at the elf and didn't say a word.
Daniel had finished with the graphite rubbings of the blue stones. He stood up stiffly and realized that the shadows had lengthened considerably since he had started, apparently several hours ago. He was surprised that Jack had left him alone to do his work for so long. He glanced around. "Jack?"
When no answer came, he tried again raising his voice. "Jack? Where are you?"
Still no answer. Well maybe Jack had needed to go...relieve himself and he' d left the Stonehenge like circle. But that didn't make sense, O'Neill would have told him if he was going any distance away. And that wouldn't have happened anyway. Jack categorically, would not leave him alone in a place like this. That was as sure as the nose on his face. Daniel checked his watch but remembered that the battery had been drained and it wasn't working. He frowned and turned on his hand held radio, half- afraid that it wouldn't work either. But it clicked on obediently and produced the familiar carrier wave hum.
"Sam, can you hear me?"
Immediately her breathless voice returned. "Daniel! Are you all right? Where are you?"
"Uhmm, I'm in the Stone Circle. I'm fine, except I don't know where Jack is." He frowned a second looking at the radio. "Where are you?"
"We're enroute to your location. You were overdue on your sit-rep and I couldn't raise you. Teal'c and I have just made the top of the hill. We see your trail; we're coming in."
Daniel nodded. Jack had left the colored nylon streamers as trail markers when they worked their way through the thick brush earlier that day. "Okay, I'll wait for you here so we don't miss each other in the trees."
"Copy, ETA 15 mikes."
Fifteen minutes later when Carter and Teal'c arrived at the imposing stone structure, Daniel was just finishing repacking his supplies in his backpack. He waived them over to the opening of the center horseshoe of the tall gray stones.
As the two teammates arrived, Carter who had been looking in amazement at the imposing edifice shook her head in wonder. "Wow, Daniel. No wonder you were excited. This is amazing!"
"I know. This must be exactly the way Stonehenge looked three thousand years ago when it was first completed. Everything is precisely where it's supposed to be....except Jack, of course." He noticed Teal'c was scanning the area, putting all of it's features into his mind.
"Where was O'Neill when you last saw him, Danieljackson?" The big man asked.
Daniel grimaced. "Well, I was over here doing some rubbings of the inscriptions on the blue stones. I could hear Jack wandering around, poking at things. He had come up behind me and watched a while but then he left muttering about something and I think he went this way over to the Altar stone.
"Did you hear what he was saying?" Carter headed towards the horizontal behemoth. The indicated altar was as large as a small car.
Daniel frowned. "He said something about too much temptation and left." He looked at her. "I was all bent over with my butt in the air trying to get something from a difficult angle. I thought he left so he wouldn't be tempted to, uh, annoy me while I was working." He shrugged.
The Jaffa warrior was studying the ground at the Altar. "I can see signs of disturbance here, but I cannot find where the trail leads to."
Carter suddenly turned and looked at Daniel. "What did the Colonel mean earlier when he said 'subterranean entrances.' Had you seen something to indicate any caves or pits?"
"Well, no." Daniel remembered that phrase too now that she mentioned it. "But all Fairy legends in Great Britain involve the little people coming from under the earth. They live underground during the day and at night they come out through openings in the 'Fairy Circles' or small mounds. It's a common legend and it holds true for fairies, elves, leprechauns and lots more."
"Did you tell him that?"
"Probably." He shrugged. "It's common folklore in the British Isles area where stone circles exist."
"Danieljackson, why would O'Neill know so much about these things?" Teal'c asked as he circled the 'altar'.
"Teal'c, Jack's paternal grandfather was Irish. The family name indicates that. Since he spent time with him in his youth, he was probably taught some of their myths and legends." Daniel followed the Jaffa over to the area and started examining the altar itself. Sam came up to stand beside him, glancing around for something out of place. She did not feel good about this at all.
Jack finally got to his feet and straightened his uniform. Then, he had started examining his surroundings. He was evidently in a cave of some sort as the wall was a natural and rough-hewn rock face. The furniture and fittings were all of a wooden construction with any textile materiel appearing to be coarsely woven.
The pony was standing loose in the room and grazing on the hay covered floor. The little man was seated on a three-legged stool, wearing a woolen knit outfit, a peaked cap and still smoking a pipe. The tobacco didn't smell like anything he'd had any experience with. The fairy looked up at him and grunted. "Ay, ye be a true grandson o' Niall all right. Long tall men dey are an wid great feet. Ay could get a crik in me neck just lookin on ya." He got up off his stool and knocked the ember from his pipe's bowl.
"What now?"
"What now indeed." The little man indicated a sideboard against the wall. "Do ye t'irst or hunger?"
Something nagged at the back of Jack's mind. "No. No I don't think so." He looked around. "What else is in here?"
"What else? What else is it?" The leprechaun glared at him. "It's me home, bucko. I keep my t'ings about me, I keep my friends about me, I keep my..."
"Gold?" Jack smiled as he remembered the legends his Granddad had told him as a boy. "Do you keep your pot of gold around you too?"
The manikin changed the subject abruptly. "Weell, lad. Don't know about you, but I'm fair famished." He proceeded over to the cabinet and uncovered a plate of some brown bread and cheese. A tall pitcher stood next to two flagons. The little man poured what appeared to be a type of beer into both containers and handed one to Jack.
O'Neill glanced at the 'pony'. He shook his head. The silver-maned equine, looked at him doubtfully through the bushy tassel of his forelock, shook its head in return and stamped a forefoot. Jack knew what it meant, this was getting weird.
O'Neill set the still full container back down on the sideboard. The leprechaun glared at him. "Are ya too good to drink wid me now?"
"Let's just say I've had some bad experiences with untested foods on other worlds." He replied dryly. "No offense."
The little man glared at him. The pooka chewed the hay contentedly.
"Daniel, we really need to get down off this hill." Sam Carter was fussing at her teammate.
"Sam, I'm not leaving Jack up here over night by himself."
"But Daniel, that's just it. He's not here." Sam was beginning to appreciate Jack's legendary patience with her teammate. "And I do want you to wake up in the morning. After the problems you had today..."
Daniel looked at her with the same intensity he had so often given to Jack during their disagreements. "But Sam, you'll be with me. Jack's..." the young man paused to gesticulate around the stone circle. "Jack's out here somewhere alone. What do you want us to do? Leave him here and come back to try and find him in the morning. Well, in the morning it may be too late." He finished stubbornly.
"I will remain behind..." Teal'c started to offer, but Carter shook her head.
"No Teal'c, either we all go or we all stay. I'm not splitting up the team anymore." The Jaffa nodded his acquiesce to her leadership. She looked around and made a decision. "Okay, if we're going to stay here it's going to be roughing it. We won't have time to return to camp then come back. We all have our emergency gear?" At the two men's nods she looked around. "Well, lets get a short camp set up. We'll need a fire and break out the MREs. Daniel, you have coffee makings?"
"Sure, Sam. Never leave home without it." He nodded knowingly.
Later after they had set up their night's bivouac at the stone circle, they were planning tomorrow's actions. Since they didn't have tents, they were gathered around the fire wrapped in their emergency 'space' blankets. The shiny sheets of Mylar were not comfortable, but....none of them had wanted to abandon O'Neill to a night on the Tor alone and unaided. With this plan, at least they could resume the search at first light.
"If Daniel's in no difficulty tomorrow morning, We'll set up a search pattern and work it until noon." Sam was explaining what she wanted to do. "If we don't find him by them, we'll go back to the camp and Teal'c, you can go back to the MALP and do a sit-rep to the General and bring back a Search and Rescue team." She poked the fire with a long stick.
"But, Sam."
"Don't but Sam me, Daniel." Our batteries are almost gone now. By tomorrow they will be...The Colonel...well, we'll find him tomorrow and all go back to the camp...but if we don't you know he wouldn't want us to endanger ourselves without being able to do him any good." She frowned at her teammate. Daniel had that look in his eye that always scared her. The 'I'm going to do what I think is right, even if it's not smart' look.
Jack was bored stiff. This was not the way he remembered the stories that Grandpa Pete told him about the little people. This particular specimen was not particularly smart or crafty. His stories were weak and he was, well, boring.
They had been sitting in the 'cave' for hours. The little man hinted at wonderful things yet didn't produce any. He told Jack stories without proof and tried to get him to 'eat o' drink sumpting'. Like Grandpa Pete hadn't told him that if you did eat or drink the food, you couldn't leave the fairy mound. Hell, every Irish kid in Chicago knew that!
But then he also couldn't get the Leprechaun to give up anything important like his pot 'o gold's location or even to tell him how to get out of the cave. He was bored and worried about his team, and he was getting sleepy...a not good thing Jack was positively sure of. He needed to leave.
Finally, equally fed up with him, the Fairy creature dozed off on his own, snoring jerkily curled up around his stool in a homespun mantle. Jack had stretched back out on the hay and was just about to nod off when he felt someone shake his arm.
He opened his eyes to see what appeared to be a young woman of about seventeen years of age. She was dressed in a shimmering silver cloak and her hair, which had fallen down across her face and eyes, was an unusual platinum blond. "Whist'now, whist." She whispered to him.
He lay there looking up at her. She was pale, wan and drop dead gorgeous. Her sapphire blue eyes pulled him into her very being. "Waken, human."
"I'm awake." He mumbled. "What's going on?"
"Tis you that must be goin' on." She glanced back over her shoulder. "Whilst the Fey one sleeps. T'will do no good ta be a stayin' here." Jack nodded and got to his feet. He glanced around; there was not one else here except the leprechaun. The girl motioned for him to follow her. She led him across the room and down into a blind corner that continued on as a narrow shaft.
"Why are you helping me?" O'Neill asked curiously. She turned to look at him from her soul deep eyes.
"I only wanted yoir help for da ouwld one, but I fear t'was no use. Our Magic is fading. Our race is growing old. We left your world long ago but many like he, is unsatisfied." The fairy girl replied sadly to him. "Once we were da power and could help and advise kings and druids. Now we are de faidin' ones. Perhaps tis for da best; for once we were powerful and now but weak. Once we were wise, now only a little silly."
Jack followed her down the dark narrow cleft of the cave, more than a little saddened by the lady's declaration. "You know, you're not alone in the galaxy." He finally spoke. "There are many more kinds of people out there." He thought of the Nox and how they would get along well with these people. "We could help you, like you once helped us." She stopped by a crack in the wall and looked to him again. He stopped and looked down at her. "You should come and speak to my friend." Jack continued. "Daniel would love to talk to you. He'd probably have all kinds of ideas to help you."
She smiled her sweet smile at Jack. "We shall t'ink on it, grand son o Niall. Perhaps tis time for us to seek council of da warrior and da wise man as ye once sought our wisdom." She directed him to the split rock. He could see the darkness of nighttime awaiting him. "Here, I give you a talis'man as proof of your time amongst the old ones." She handed him a round, flat smooth object. "Follow the path to da top of da Tor. Take your ease dere and your safety will be shure til yer folk find ye."
He glanced out the narrow opening again and when he turned back there was only the old gray pony that had followed him out of the cave. Jack reached out and stroked her face and he went through the huge stone door that was set deep into the ground with heavy timbers and started up the path to the top of the hill and the starlit night.
The next morning, all three of the remaining members of SG1 woke without too much difficulty, though Daniel was not even really sure he had slept. They packed their gear, grabbed a quick bite of energy bars and coffee then started to work their search grid. It was hard going. The trees seemed to have grown closer together and even more impenetrable over night as if trying to slow them down.
Then finally, after several hours of searching, Teal'c spotted something. As he called the others over he proceeded to a small hollow under a very large tree's overhanging branches had formed as small sheltered chamber. There, sound asleep and lying in a fetal position, lay Jack O'Neill, gripping his P90. His hat was missing, his hair mussed and with leaves in and on his BDUs. The Jaffa warrior carefully pulled O'Neill's weapon from his grasp, rolled him onto his back and straightened out his limbs, then stood up to stand guard as the two scientists arrived and checked out their leader's condition. Searching for any injuries. Daniel quickly ran his hands over Jack's body, searched for a pulse and ensured he was breathing properly. Carter pulled out the med kit and checked his eyes for dilation and when finally satisfied that he was basically intact, she popped an ammonia ampoule under his nose. He continued to remain in a deep sleep for several seconds then reacted violently to the chemical stimulus. Daniel Jackson took the first blow to his right arm and ribs, Teal'c moved in to deflect the arm swing before Carter got nailed and jerked her out of harms way.
Daniel made a brave move and got O'Neill around the upper arms from behind to try to prevent anymore team injuries. "Jack! Jack! Stop it, it' s us! JACK!"
Finally, O'Neill slumped back into his friend's grasp and ceased to struggle, coughing and breathing deeply to counteract the irritating substance that had been inflicted upon him. Carter knelt in front of him and handed him a canteen of water.
"How do you feel, Sir?"
O'Neill took a drink of the water and spit it out. Then another, swallowing this one. "Oha--gaugh, that stuff's horrible. Don't ever do that again!"
Teal'c looked insulted. "You were unconscious, O'Neill. And you struck Danieljackson."
The Colonel finally took a deep breath. "I'm not surprised." He turned to look at Daniel. "You okay?"
Jackson nodded, rubbing his arm. "Yea, I'm getting used to it."
"What happened Colonel? Where did you go?" Carter pressed him. "You've been missing for over twenty hours."
"I'm not sure that you'd believe me." He looked at her perplexed. "Actually, I'm not sure that I believe me."
"Well, Jack. It's either your story, or the thought that you left the stone circle, wandered off three miles away, curled up beneath a tree and fell asleep." Jackson said sounding entirely too reasonable for O'Neill's liking.
Teal'c glanced at him in confusion. "That does not sound like something O' Neill would do."
"No, it doesn't." Jack said softly. "But then again..." He started repeating his adventures.
Later that evening back at the camp site, SG1 had settled down, eaten an good meal and were discussing the previous days adventures.
"So, Jack, you think these 'people' are leprechauns?" Daniel Jackson pressed his friend for more of his observations.
"No, Daniel." Jack replied patiently. "I said that they said they were the Fairy folk. I didn't say that they were." He took another sip of coffee and leaned back against a friendly log. "Everyone knows that Leprechauns and Fairy's aren't real." He raised an eyebrow. "Even Archeologists."
Daniel looked at him crosswise from his seat on the other side of the fire. "So, you spent the day talking to the old man. Where did the girl come from?"
"What girl Daniel?"
"The girl that led you out of the cave Jack." Daniel's voice flattened in irritation.
"Oh, that." He sniffed and yawned. "That wasn't a girl, Daniel. That was the Pooka."
"Riiight." Carter sat down next to Daniel. "So what happened to the pony?"
"That wasn't a pony, Carter. That was the Pooka."
"The girl was a pony was a Pooka?" Even Carter looked confused. Daniel looked...amazed.
O'Neill sat down his cup of coffee and fished into his pocket, pulling something out about the size of a pocket watch. "She gave me this as a talisman, to prove my 'time amongst the old ones'." He tossed it to the two young scientists.
Carter caught the object and held it up to the fire to examine it. The disc shaped object seemed to glow a rich honey yellow. She inspected the center of the item carefully, then handed it to Daniel. He held it up, allowing the fire to glow throw the golden light onto his face as he concentrated on it. He could just make out the shape of a four-leaf-clover frozen forever in time in it's crystalized golden setting of pure amber.
"Jack, I've never seen anything like this." Daniel remarked, fascinated by the crystal and all its portents.
"And you never will again, Danny boy. They quit giving these away quit some time ago." Jack stood up and crossed over to where his friend was sitting. He reached down and Daniel handed the amber back to Jack, then grasped his young friend's hand to pull him up onto his feet. "Well, if you kids will excuse men, I'm going to bed. Wake me for early watch."
"Yes, sir. Daniel, will you take first watch? And Teal'c second?"
"Of course, Majorcarter."
"Sure thing, Sam." Daniel glanced over at the Colonel who was walking to the tent. "Say Jack is there anything you want me to do for you while I'm still up?"
O'Neill looked around casually at the opening. "Sure, stoke the fire...it's gonna get cold. Set up a pot of coffee for me and warm your feet before you get into bed. Goodnight." He turned and slid into their shared tent, waving as he pulled the flap shut.
The following day they had decided to work in the Sumerian Ziggurat. Their time was limited, the extra two days still not enough to do complete surveys of the man-made structures. O'Neill was also growing concerned with the continuing lethargy that he and Daniel were suffering. Add to that the difficulty of trying to operate battery-powered instruments that were continually being drained was growing. To save time, Teal'c and Carter were doing the exterior measurements while he and Daniel explored the interior passages of the temple. The Ziggurat was in poor condition compared to the other temples and they had been a bit concerned about going in too deep. The Egyptian pyramid had been a bit of a disappointment, the Tor was a mystery that they plain didn't have the time to explore and the Central American step pyramid would have to be left for a later survey also. But in the one and a half days they had left, Daniel had decided that this would be a relatively quick survey. In and out without any problems. However a puzzling inscription in the hieroglyphs of the Goa'uld had led the curious Archeologist deeper inside the structure than they had originally planned upon. O'Neill had accompanied him as security.
The first indication they had of any trouble was a dull rumbling inside the man-made mountain. The two men exchanged glances and started to retrace their steps out of the narrow tunnel without a word. The rumble rapidly evolved into a vibration and then finally a full-fledged quake. The dirt that had been merely a nuisance now became an impediment to their movement out of the passageway as it shifted from a fine dusting to a rain of debris. Then the channel started to collapse in earnest around them.
Jack in the rear, stepped wrong on the moving ground, twisting his knee and losing his footing. Daniel hearing his exclamation of pain stopped, returned to his friend, grabbed him by the arm and lifted pushed him through the narrow opening of the stone support girders. With an explosion, the granite columns disintegrated, dumping tons of rocks and dirt upon the two men.
When O'Neill regained his senses, he was overwhelmed with a sensation of being smothered. The pitch-black darkness was all encompassing and the only sounds were the deep subterranean moans of the temple's passageways settling. A huge weight was pressing on his lower half as if a giant hand was attempting to force him down into the dirt floor. An experimental movement wrung a painful gasp out of him. His 'bad' knee felt as if it exploded into tiny glass shards and the pieces were grating against each other. So he lay there trying to remember what had happened.
Daniel! Where was Daniel? They had been close together at the time of the cave-in. He should be right next to him. "Daniel. Danny!" No answer. O'Neill tried to stretch his arms around him as far as he could, trying to remember which side his friend had been on as they ran to escape. Finally, to his left, his questing hand struck something solid, soft and warm. A forearm. He tried pulling himself to that direction, but was stopped by the pain in his knee. But by stretching Jack could touch soft hair and....something warm, sticky and liquid. Blood!
"Daniel, can you hear me? Danny, talk to me now!" Still no response. Jack tried to pull himself closer to his friend's body. "Daniel, don't do this. Please, talk to me." By shifting carefully, he could place his hand on the unconscious man's face. The young archeologist was lying face down in the soft dirt, glasses long gone, and bleeding from at least one long deep laceration to his scalp and forehead. O'Neill tried brushing the loose dirt away from his friend's mouth and nose with one hand to keep him from inhaling any of the fine powdery substance. He then tried checking for a pulse and heartbeat but couldn't manage to find the pressure points necessary and his breathing was so shallow Jack was believing his friend was alive more by faith than actual proof.
Jack continued to try to examine the younger man relying on his sense of touch. He could 'tell' that Danny was lying on his belly and that there was a large support beam lying across Jackson's upper torso with dirt and stones as far back as he could reach. The rubble hid any injury from there down. Jack himself was buried from his waist down with at least one large object lying on him. They were both effectively trapped by the dirt and shattered stone remains of the passageway. He had a better range of movement than Daniel would have but was no closer to being free.
The Radio. Radio, did it still work? He grasped the microphone praying that the power was still available. Jack pushed down on the button. "Carter. Carter, come in. Can you hear me?"
Immediately her voice crackled in the still air of their prison. "SIR! I can hear you. Are you all right?"
"Uh, that would be negative." He managed a small prayer to the gods of archeologists and the fools that traveled with them. "Looks like we've got half the damned mountain on us."
"Are you hurt?" Concern colored the question.
"Yes. I'm partially trapped, buried, My knee is gone but good, and Daniel...Daniel's unconscious with at least a bleeding head wound. There's no light, I can't guess how bad he's hurt. We're gonna need some help on this one. How long since the collapse?"
"At least two hours, Colonel. We heard noises from the shaft and started digging when we discovered the cave in." a pause. "How far back are you?"
"I don't really know." He paused trying to remember. "Quite a ways I think. Carter, you and Teal'c go back to the Gate and request assistance. There's no way you'll be able to get to us yourselves before the air runs out, much less get us both back to the gate."
"Sir, Teal'c can go and I can keep digging..."
"Negative." He was sure on this one. "Do not split up, it's too far. Travel together..." He tried to move himself again and cursed at his painful knee. "And Carter, hurry up."
"Ten-four, Sir. Understood." He could hear Teal'c murmuring in the background. Then the deep voice came over the channel.
"O'Neill. What is your long-term situation?"
"Well, the tunnel appears stable now, but my main concern is air and immediate medical assistance for Daniel. He hasn't moved since I came to. I think he's still alive, but only cause he's still bleeding. So hurry up, would ya."
Carter came back on. "Hurrying up Sir. Don't go anywhere without us."
"Yea, ten four." He released the button and reached over to his friend's unresponsive body. "Hear that Danny. Don't go no where without us."
After some time had elapsed, Jack was comforted to hear a low moan from his companion. He reached back to Jackson and grasped his forearm. "Danny, can you hear me?" The moan was quickly followed by a liquid sounding cough. "Daniel? You with me?" The arm moved under Jack's hand. Another cough followed by a rasping breath.
"Jack?" Not strong, not good, but a voice none the less.
"Here Buddy. Right here." He patted the forearm. It slid under his touch and a damp dirty hand made contact with his and intertwined fingers with him.
"Jack...w't hpnd?"
"Some kind of earthquake. Ceiling collapsed on us. Can you tell how bad you're hurt?"
"Ribs hurt, can't breath." Daniel coughed, his breath caught in pain. "Head hurts. Concuss'd."
"Can you feel your legs? Can you move 'em?"
A moment for a reply. "Yes." "No." "You?"
"Damned knee again. Doc's gonna get me for sure this time." He could feel Daniel moving his upper body. "Where ya going?"
A barely audible gasp of pain answered him.
"Daniel. Talk to me. Don't move."
A spate of heavy panting, then a little moan. "Can't..."
"Talk or move?"
"Breath...can't breath." Some more heavy panting followed by a gagging cough.
"Are you coughing blood?"
"Yes."
"Jack closed his eyes in sympathy. "Sounds like you've punctured a lung with a rib. Just lie still. Carter and Teal'c have gone back to the 'gate for reinforcements. We just have to hang on till they get back. Okay?"
" 'kay."
"I'm gonna try to shift closer to you. Just stay where you are...and don't laugh."
A pregnant pause. " Not laughin', Jack."
"Okay, sorry." O'Neill pushed himself up on his elbows and tried to drag his torso closer to his friend. Lightening struck his knee and leg again and he passed out.
Carter and Teal'c left the ziggurat immediately after their communication with O'Neill. Teal'c took the lead forcing his body through the dense vegetation. They both knew that their two teammate's survival hinged on the time it took for them to return to the Stargate, send a message back to the SGC and return with reinforcements. As they chopped and slashed their way through the heavy forest, Sam's always-active mind kept bringing up her and Daniel's plans for the weekend. Daniel had approached her before they left with a 'date' that would have determined the rest of her life's path. She'd agreed to go with him. But now...they weren't going to have that date. She angrily dashed the gathering tears from her eyes. Damn it, she didn't have time for this now. She would not slow up Teal'c. They would make it back in time. Daniel and the Colonel would be fine. It was only a postponement, nothing more. She sped up to the Jaffa's heels. He glanced at her. "I'm fine, Teal'c. Don't slow down on my account." He nodded and increased his pace.
Jack returned to consciousness slowly. There was a hand on his face, the thumb making gentle circles on his cheek. He groaned softly and put his hand on top of the hand.
"Jack?" A soft gasp. "Jack, you awake?"
"Yhea." He grunted in return.
"Scared me." The soft voice reprimanded him gently.
"Sorry, Danny." He managed. "Didn't mean to leave ya like that." He coughed the dirt out of his mouth. "How're you doin'?"
"Okay." Another liquid-sounding cough. "Gettin' harder to breath."
"Running outta air." O'Neill acknowledged.
"Jack... Favor?"
"Sure....?"
"In my locker, blue box...be sure Sam gets it."
"kinda box?"
"Blue velvet ring box...for Sam."
"You'll give it to her." Jack tried to sound definite. "Not my place."
"Just do it...be sure...gets it."
"Kay." The foul air made him want to cough. "We'll be okay, be rescued. Stay still...save air. Sleep if ya can."
"Sleep...per chance to dream...best friend, Jack."
"I know, Danny. Me too." He managed to grasp Daniel's hand and intertwine their fingers in a gesture of support and confirmation. "Best friend..."
"Never had one...Jak...til you."
He thought about that. Daniel was 35 years old and he was his first best friend? "Geez, Danny."
"S'okay, Jack. Got you now." A small space of ragged breathing. " Tired, Jak."
"Sleep, Danny. I'll watch your back for a while."
They had made it back to the cave-in in record speed with three teams including the medical team lead by Dr. Fraiser. The Search and Rescue team and the Marines started to tunnel in with a vengeance. But it did take extra time to shore up the crumbling walls as they worked. Amazingly they had to go only 18 feet before they found O'Neill's booted feet. He had obviously been facing the other direction when the collapse caught him. The rescuers started working more carefully, so as not to dislodge the ceiling or possibly injure the Colonel any worse.
O'Neill had reported his 'bad' knee injured. He had also reported Daniel with at least head injuries. Janet already had the immobilizer out and the cervical collar ready. She also had the portable oxygen tank ready and the Automated External Defibulator charged. She just hoped the air lasted for a good long while...a looooong while.
"Doc?" Major Haverty's voice called back out of the tunnel. "Which knee is injured?"
"His left." She called back. "Have you got him?"
"Almost, another three feet or so, but we've got to be careful or their air pocket could collapse." The voice reported. "We haven't reached Dr. Jackson yet. Were they close to each other?"
Carter had been carrying the dirt away from the mouth of the tunnel when she heard the question. "Colonel O'Neill reported they were right next to each other. He could touch Daniel. He should be right there too."
"Nothing yet, Carter. But we're almost to the ....here, here we broke through. We're in the pocket!"
"Can you see Daniel?" Sam wanted to go in but she knew that space was extremely cramped at the neck of the tunnel.
"Yea, he's here, I see him." Haverty reported, then silence for three heartbeats. "Doc. You might want to come in here. I think we need an opinion." Fraiser had to wait while Teal'c and a large marine slid pushed the unconscious O'Neill out of the crawlspace. Janet gave him quick once over, slapped the oxygen mask on him and handed him off to Clark, her corpsman. She took a deep breath, looked hopefully at Carter and ducked into the tunnel.
Even the small-framed Doctor had to crawl in on her hands and knees. She passed the other members of the S and R team as they scrunched up against the wall to allow her room to pass. Finally, she got to the end of the line. Haverty was kneeling by Jackson's still form; his helmet light playing on the unconscious man's bloodied face. She could just make out Daniel's still form as he lay face down on the dirt passageway floor. His hair and face were covered with his own dried blood from a six-inch gash in his scalp. Some one had dug a small depression under his nose and mouth to give him a clear space to breathe in. There was blood in the dirt there also. About a foot down and directly across his shoulder blades a huge granite pillar lay across his torso. She knew she was looking at least a few broken ribs and from the amount of blood that had apparently been coughed up, a punctured lung. Doctor Fraiser looked at the Major squatting next to her patient.
"Can you get him out?"
Haverty nodded. "Yea, we can get him but it'll take time. The question is how much time does he have?"
Janet knelt down next to Jackson and started taking what vitals she could. "Pulse is very weak, breathing labored. He's obviously got at least a punctured lung, a concussion and maybe spinal damage..." she shook her head. "He doesn't have long...not like this. And I can't treat him here."
"Okay. Guys, I need some thoughts here." The Major looked back at his team members.
The Tech Sergeant on his team crawled up beside the Doctor. She vaguely remember his name was Jones. "Well, Sir. Two ways to pick up that much weight. Winch it or jack it. No support for winching...so it's got to be a lever or a jack of some sort. Hell, even a pneumatic car jack up and under that column would probably do it."
"Do we have one?" Haverty asked him.
"Nope, not unless the good Doc here has one in her little black bag."
Janet looked at him unhappily. "No, not this time."
A deep timbered voice broke in. "What does it look like?" Teal'c had squeezed his considerable size back into the small cramped area.
"Well, it looks like a canister with a little handle attachment. It's got a flat head that you can put under the weight and crank it..."
Teal'c was beginning to lose patience with him. "Would we have one on the MALP or the FRED?"
"I don't know." The Sergeant thought a moment. "It's possible."
Teal's turned and crawled back out of the tunnel. When he emerged he immediately located his teammate. "Majorcarter." He called to her. She was sitting by their C.O. watching as Clark treated some minor cuts and abrasions on the unconscious man.
Sam turned to his voice. "What?"
"Do we have a pneumatic jack with our equipment?"
She nodded. "Sure, the Colonel insisted we put one in the FRED as soon as he saw they had rubber tires. Why?"
"We may be able extricate Danieljackson with it. He is trapped under a fallen beam."
"Well, come on." She stood immediately.
Teal'c turned to the Marine Corporal going back into the passageway. "Advise Major Haverty, I will return shortly with the jack." The two SG1 members started back to where they had left the freight sled at a run.
Thirty minutes later, they returned with the jack and Teal'c ducked into the tunnel. A few minutes later, Fraiser and Major Haverty came out. Sam was waiting anxiously by Colonel O'Neill's stretcher.
The two other officers came over and joined her. "They've put the jack under a stone column that's laying across Daniel's back. They're going to try to lift it with the jack and slide him out."
"But, isn't that...?"
"Yes, Sam. It probably is, but he can't last much longer where he is." When she saw the look on her friend's face, Janet remembered the 'plans'. This was supposed to be the weekend that Sam and Daniel were going to take the big step, to try to get Sam pregnant. "Oh, honey. I'm sorry." Janet put her arm around her friend's waist.
"It's okay, Janet." Sam ducked her head and looked down at the Colonel. He was looking up at her in confusion. "Sir!" Carter exclaimed.
Jack had been hovering right on the brink of consciousness. He could hear snatches of conversations, but couldn't quite break through the energy barrier, his own. But Sam's voice had called him back. "Carter?" He gasped.
"Colonel!" Fraiser immediately bent over him. "How do you feel?"
"Tired, very tired." He admitted groggily, trying to keep his eyes open.
Sam glanced from him to the Doctor. "He and Daniel have been having problems with exhaustion and not being able to wake up in the mornings."
Fraiser nodded. "I remember."
"Where's Daniel?" O'Neill managed to croak.
The doctor hesitated, glanced up at Sam then began. Jack O'Neill would not thank her for lying to him. "He's alive, but still trapped. They're trying to free him now. I haven't been able to examine him completely." She shook her head grimly. "I really don't know how badly he's hurt." She tried a small grin. "We should know in a minute though."
At just that moment, another sound came from within the tunnel. A dull thunderclap of an explosion, then a cloud of black dust spewed from the tunnel opening. The people outside of the passageway to a person stood up and moved towards the opening. O'Neill tried to sit up, fighting the IV as he pushed the blanket off of himself and the stretcher, stopping only when Carter pushed against him.
Then from out of the dust cloud Teal'c and Jones crawled, pulling a tarp with a still form still lying on his front between them, followed closely by SG6. As they cleared the opening, another deep groan came from the ziggurat and the whole tunnel collapsed, sealing the passageway completely.
Doc Fraiser and Clark took off at a run to their patient's side. Jack weakly pushed Carter toward them. "Go and report back to me." Teal'c assisted in their transfer of Daniel to the backboard, then stepped back to give the medical personnel room to work. He then came over to O'Neill's side. "We used a pneumatic jack to lift the obstruction from Daneiljackson's back, but the stress caused the beam to shatter and the ceiling and walls to collapse inward." The Jaffa told O'Neill. "We were hurried in our extraction. I fear we may have damaged him more so."
"Not more so than that would have." O'Neill pointed out to the big man. "You didn't have any choice, Teal'c."
The Jaffa nodded. "We were indeed choiceless."
Teal'c and O'Neill watched worriedly as the doctor started to examine Daniel. She searched for a pulse at his wrist, then at the carotid. The two men were too far away to hear the terse instructions that were being given when Carter dropped down on her knees next to her teammate and started doing CPR, breathing air into her friend's lungs. Janet started to do chest compressions and Clark hurriedly drew some clear fluid into a large syringe. Another med team member hurried over to relieve Sam from her efforts, but she waived the man away, continuing to assist Daniel's breathing. Quickly, the small portable defib unit was pulled over, Daniel's already torn shirt ripped off and the adhesive strips applied to his chest. Clark stepped in and pushed the syringe full of liquid into Jackson's chest and stepped back pulling Carter with him. Fraiser called it and hit the power on the AED. One discharge, then a second and finally the Doctor pulled the machine away and took vitals again. Fraiser managed a smile back in Sam's direction. Then she gave the nurse the go ahead to start with the Ambu-bag. They saw Clark speak gently Sam and push her in their direction. He then took his place assisting Doctor Fraiser in preparing their patient for transport.
Carter then managed to walk back over to her other two men. She had blood on her hands and face and was literally shaking. The tears in her eyes were threatening to give way as she collapsed, sitting on the ground next to O'Neill and Teal'c. Teal'c took it upon himself to dampen a cloth and hand it to her. As she began to wipe her face, her features crumbled and finally she allowed her tears to come. The Jaffa gathered her into his arms and held her to his shoulder. O'Neill could only lay helplessly on his stretcher and watch.
After getting Daniel prepped for travel, the Doctor stepped back and the stretcher was lifted by two of the marines, Jones and Clark. Haverty and another member of the S & R team took point and drag and they wasted no time in starting their trip back to the Stargate. A female nurse accompanied them to monitor Daniel's vitals. Fraiser then turned her attention back to the remaining members of SG1.
As Janet joined them she smiled gently at the worried expression of the Colonel. "What happened?" O'Neill demanded.
Janet knelt down by him and started cutting the fatigue leg of his left leg to expose his injured knee. "Shock from the handling caused him to code. As you saw, we got him back, but I want him in surgery ASAP, so we're leaving now." She began palpating his knee much to his discomfort. "Is this your worst injury, Sir?"
"Yea," He acknowledged. "It would have been a lot worse. Daniel came back for me when I fell. He could have made it all the way out without me."
Fraiser looked up at him and caught his eye. "Sir, is that guilt I hear?"
He shook his head. "No, I guess regret is a better word Doc."
She returned her attention to applying the immobilizer to his leg. "You can't regret Daniel being Daniel, sir. My Granny in Louisiana used to say, 'Honeychile, you can't teach a pig to sing. It'll just frustrate you and irritate the pig'. You of all people know how Daniel is."
He nodded, acknowledging her wisdom. "Yep, me of all people." She stood up and wiped her hands and nodded to Teal'c and the other remaining men. Jack lay back down on the stretcher. He noticed that Fraiser walked over to Carter and hugged her. She took the damp cloth from her friend and started wiping the taller woman's face, removing what was left of the blood. He could only remember seeing Carter cry three times. Twice it had been for Daniel. He felt the sledge lift up and his own trip back to the Stargate began. He looked around the area, the collapsed entrance to the monument that had almost been their tomb. He decided that he really didn't like this planet and would be glad to see the last of it.
As they reentered the Gateroom, Major General Hammond and Lieutenant Colonel Ferretti were there to greet them. Doctor Fraiser spoke a few words to her C.O. then left to go on to the Infirmary. Then the two men approached the gurney that O'Neill's stretcher had been placed on. The remainder of SG1 gathered beside their leader. "Colonel. How are you?"
O'Neill could only shake his head. "It's going to be a long debrief General. It was a weird trip."
Hammond acknowledged him with a frown. "We'll send SG2 back after your equipment. Is there any particular danger Colonel Ferretti should be aware of?"
"Well, if you stay overnight take extra batteries the refined minerals on the monuments drain them. Your men will get tired quick, we don't really know why. Your female Lieutenant probably won't but let Doc know either way. Oh, and don't go to the monuments."
"Why Colonel?" Ferretti asked him.
"Well, we didn't get to the South American one, the Egyptian pyramid was empty, the Sumerian one tried to eat Daniel and me and the Irish one...well, either it causes hallucinations or it's occupied by a leprechaun and a pooka." O'Neill shook his head. "It's really not worth the trouble. Just get the stuff and come back, Lou, believe me."
Ferretti smiled down at him. "Okay, Colonel. I believe you, in and out."
Teal'c spent the night sitting by Jack's bedside. Carter haunted the hallways outside the Surgery. Finally, Fraiser emerged from the surgery,looking exhausted. She immediately saw Sam, sleeping curled up on one of the couches. General Hammond was dozing in the chair next to her. Shaking her head the Doctor walked over to them.
"General Hammond. Surely you have a better place to be then here."
He raised his head to look at her. "Well, I finished my paperwork this evening. I went to the infirmary ward but your floor nurse seemed nervous when I was there and Major Carter here seemed to need some company." He glanced over at the sleeping woman. "So what's the good word, Doctor?"
Janet sat down next to Sam and shook her gently. "Sam, wake up honey."
Carter jerked awake. "What happened?" She looked around then at Fraiser. "How is he?"
"He'll be all right." She glanced over at Hammond then back to Carter who was sitting up now. "The worst of it was the punctured lung and two broken ribs. The head wound was evidently a glancing blow, enough to tear the scalp but not fracture the skull. No spinal trauma at all. He's a very lucky man." She patted Sam's hand. "He'll be awake by tomorrow, or make that later today." She was rewarded by two smiles. "Actually, if I have to do surgery on the Colonel's knee they'll be down about the same amount of time."
General Hammond sat up straight in the chair and did a small stretch then got up with a satisfied smile. "That is good news Doctor. Good enough for this old soldier to hear as the last news of the day." He smiled and patted Carter on the shoulder. "Sammi, go check out a VIP room and get some sleep." He used his old pet name for her, sounding a lot like the 'uncle' he used to be for her. "Jack's asleep and Teal'c is in Kelnoreem. They'll get the news as soon as they awaken."
Janet hugged her. "Go on, honey. They'll need you in the morning."
"What about you, Janet?" Carter asked sleepily.
"Sam, I'm a Doctor. I don't need to sleep. We're trained for it." She pulled Carter to her feet and pointed her to the doorway. "See you in the morning."
The double doors opened and the gurney rolled out of the door. They could just see the pale face and light brown hair of the patient as he was whisked away to the ICU until he awakened. General Hammond took his Major by the arm and walked her to the elevator. "Major Carter, Sammi, go get some sleep. That's an order." He said gently.
"Okay, sir. See you in the morning."
Colonel Jack O'Neill awoke and looked up at the ceiling listening to the familiar sounds. Infirmary again. Cave-in. What was with Sumerian things anyway? Nothing but bad luck for his team. Note to self: No more Sumerian cigarettes, he'd give them up right along with those Camels he used to smoke.
He looked around the room. Carter was asleep in the chair. The other bed in the room was empty. Empty? Where was Daniel? A stab of worry went through him. They had to have found him, Daniel was right next to him in the collapsed passageway. Remembered talking to him before the air went bad and they'd passed out. Now he was getting worried. He had to find out before he could go back to sleep.
"Carter." Jack rasped out. He could tell his voice was rough from breathing in too much dust. "Carter."
Sam Carter snapped awake. She looked over at him and smiled with relief. "Colonel. You're awake." She got up out of the chair and came to lean over the bed. "How do you feel?"
"I'm back in the infirmary; I don't like the infirmary. Where the hell is Daniel?"
She flashed him a relieved smile. "I'm glad you're feeling well enough to complain, Sir." She reached over to the table beside the bed and picked up a glass of water with a straw in it and offered it to him.
He did want the water, but that didn't answer his question. " Where is Daniel?" He said it plainly. "You did find him, right?"
Carter realized that he didn't remember, that he wanted to know, that he was getting worried... and mad. "OH, yes Sir. We found him; he's in intensive care. I'm sorry, I didn't...." She looked upset. "He had surgery as soon as they got him back. He's pretty banged up but Janet said he'll be fine. He's in the ICU for now."
Well, at least that explained where his missing friend was. O'Neill was able to relax a little more. "I was afraid of that. He sounded pretty bad, but I couldn't see him."
Sam nodded. She could imagine lying in the pitch black with one of her men injured, unable to see how badly hurt they were or to offer any help, only listening as they lapsed into unconsciousness. "Janet says he'll be all right, Sir."
"That's good." O'Neill lay silent, remembering the sounds of Daniel struggling to breathe, the liquid, rattling sounds as his friend lost consciousness mere inches from him and he helpless to give him aid.
"Sir." She said gently.
"Major?"
"It wasn't your fault." She leaned forward and took his hand in hers. "You didn't make Daniel go into the Ziggurat. He went in there because it was his job, and you went after him." She shook her head. "He's probably alive because of you."
He shook his head. "No. If I hadn't tripped, we would have both made it out."
"And if Catharine hadn't hired Daniel, we wouldn't have opened the Stargate. Sir, please don't play could of would of should of with me or yourself.
O'Neill continued to stare off into space. "My job...to protect him."
Carter frowned at him, but before she could say anything else, Doctor Fraiser came into the room. The woman Doctor smiled at them both and began to check his condition. "Good, I thought I heard your voice. I'm glad to see you're awake. How do you feel, Colonel?"
"Groggy," He rasped out to her. "Sore."
"Oh, that good, hum?" She picked up his chart and checked the earlier readings from the nurses.
"He asked about Daniel." Carter commented to the doctor as she got up from her chair, then took the opportunity to go on that hike the Colonel was inviting her on with his expression.
"What's the matter Colonel?" Fraiser asked solicitously.
"How's Daniel?"
She flashed her penlight into his eyes to check his pupil dilation.
"Ugh!' He squeenched his eyes shut after the flash of the bright light.
"He's going to be fine, Colonel. Some broken ribs and a punctured lung. No skull fracture, no spinal damage. He's still asleep but he should be waking soon. I have him intubated and he has a chest tube in place." She put a thermometer in his mouth and started inflating the blood pressure cuff. "He's very lucky...again."
"I suppose you want to talk about my knee...again." He grumped changing the subject and looking down at the soft cast that enveloped his 'bad' leg.
"Not particularly." Janet replied, checking the monitors and finally leaning forward with the stethoscope. "There's nothing to talk about. It's done."
"What? What's done?" He didn't understand that choice of word.
She helped him lean forward to apply it to his back. "I mean your knee is done. I 'fixed' it yesterday when you were under the anesthetic. Repaired the ACL and the Meniscus. Well as much as I could. Your next step, down the line, may be a knee replacement if you're not careful."
"You fixed my knee?" He looked at her in amazement.
"Yes, Colonel O'Neill." She allowed him to lay back down. "I fixed your knee. It's done. The damage was too much this time. The Orthoscopic surgery went well. You'll be in bed for several days then in therapy for a week or two. It's not as good as new, but it's better than it was." She finally smiled at him. "You'll be ready to go home before Daniel is."
"He's going to be all right?"
"Yes, He's going to be fine." She watched her friend's demeanor change. When O'Neill didn't respond to her promise, she studied her patient with concern. "What's wrong Colonel?"
He shrugged. "It's been a long mission, Doc. I thought this time..." he shrugged. "Its one thing to lose someone then find them. It's something else to lay there and listen to them suffer and not be able to help." O'Neill admitted to her.
"I know." She took his wrist in her hand to check his pulse and then held his hand a moment longer than necessary. "Every time one of you comes in here, I know. I listen to you all." She lay his hand back down on the bed. "But that's why I stay. I know if I'm here, then I'm sure every thing that can be done will be done." She gave him a little smile. "You going to ride that guilt trip all the way to the pity party? Come on Colonel. The both of you could be crushed under tons of rock and dirt on an alien planet right now. This is much better, isn't it?" His dark brown eyes studied hers. "Look," she continued, holding his gaze. "Don't try to pick on me like you do Sam. Or I won't give you what you want." He raised his eyebrows at her choice of words. "I have a wheelchair out in the hall. If you're nice to me, I'll have Clark take you in to see Daniel. He's been trying to wake up and I think your voice will do it." She removed the instrument from his mouth. "Of course he's intubated and will still be very groggy."
"Wheelchair?" He wheedled.
"Wheelchair. Don't push your luck, this is a one time good deal. Take it or leave it."
He looked up at her, surrendering easily. "I'll take it."
She nodded. "Thought you would." She turned to the doorway and the corpsman that was waiting there for her word. "Clark, the Colonel's taking us up on our offer."
The big NCO came in pushing the chair. He nodded a greeting to O'Neill. "Morning Colonel O'Neill. Glad to see you're feeling better."
O'Neill grinned sardonically at him. "Oh yea, you know how I love the accommodations here."
"Well, gee, Sir. We figure you must, you're here so much." He moved around to help O'Neill into into the chair. "Still haven't gotten that Lazyboy chair for you yet, but I did put in the requisition form." The young corpsman bent down to adjust the leg rest out from the chair to support O'Neil's immobilized leg.
"I'll put out a trace on the requisition when I get out of here next week." The Colonel went along with the SG1 running gag. "I'll need it so I can watch the hockey games in comfort."
The large, gentle medic guided the 'chair into the ICU, next to the occupied bed and set the hand brake on the back wheel. O'Neill looked at he still form lying on it with a sense of relief.
"Oh, Colonel O'Neill, I almost forgot." Clark stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small padded, day-glow-orange nylon bag used by the SAR Team for delicate instruments. "Major Haverty said he found this in the cave in. He's sure it's yours or Doctor Jackson's."
O'Neill took it and tucked the small bag into the wheelchair's carry pocket along with his bag of hospital 'stuff' that always seemed to collect and nodded his thanks as Clark left. Daniel was the sole occupant of the room. He was lying in the bed festooned with tubes; wires and pads attached to the instruments that surrounded him. And he, as usual when he was unconscious, appeared to be about eight years old; an abused eight-year-old. The gash in his scalp had been closed with tiny, neat stitches, but a large dark bruise extended down below the hairline onto his forehead and ended in a spectacular black eye. Some bruising along one arm was visible. There was bandaging starting at his upper chest that continued on beneath the covering sheet. Jack knew just how painful those broken and cracked ribs were and that Daniel was going to be very uncomfortable for a long while until they healed.
Jack leaned over and took his friend's lax hand in a firm grip careful not to dislodge the IV. "Daniel. Hey buddy, how Ya doing?" There was no initial response from the unconscious man but Jack was satisfied just to sit there and watch his friend indulge in painless, restful sleep. "Ya know you really had me going this time, I think that we need to stay away from those Sumerian things. I think cigarettes are bad for our health." O'Neill thought he felt Daniel's grip on his hand change, tighten. He looked up and saw the blue eyes half open looking at him. "Hey, there ya are. Look, I know you can't talk. Doc's got one of those damn air tubes in you, to help you breathe. You've got a punctured lung, some broken ribs, coupla stitches and a beautiful black eye. The good news is no fractured skull and no back injury, so you'll heal okay." He saw Daniel's blue eyes regard him sleepily. O'Neill chuckled softly, happy to see them again. "And she got me when I wasn't looking. Fixed my knee, Sneaky woman that she is." He shook his head. "You scared the shit out of me again, Danny. When you gonna learn, you are not expendable." There was a definite squeeze this time. "Yea, I know. But...just don't do it again. Okay."
A soft scuffle behind O'Neill brought their attention to Dr. Fraiser as she slipped into the room. "Well, there you are Daniel." She came over to the bed and smiled at her patient. "I was getting a little worried since you hadn't seen fit to wake up."
Daniel looked up at the doctor. She relented. "Want to try without the breathing tube, now that you're awake?" Assuming his agreement, Fraiser quickly got the uncomfortable assist disconnected and removed. "There. That's better." She had brought a cup of ice slivers from the nurses' area and slipped a small one in his mouth. He managed to smile briefly at the Doctor's thoughtfulness. Fraiser was adjusting the cannula to continue to assist with Daniel's oxygen needs. She glanced warningly at O'Neill. "Don't let him talk, and don't you get out of the chair." She flashed a look of warning to the two men. "I'll be back in a little while."
Jack watched her as she left the ICU and noticed that she left the door open. He turned back to Daniel who was watching him patiently. "So, broken ribs. I hate broken ribs."
Daniel nodded weakly. Jack released the brake on his wheelchair and maneuvered it closer to the bed. He was able to reach the cup of ice chips and he slipped another piece into Daniel dry lipped mouth. "Don't try to talk. I'll do a down and dirty sit-rep for you." He sat the cup back down. "We were in the temple, you'd found some Goa'uld writing and we went farther down that little corridor. Then either we set off a booby trap or there was an earthquake. So we ran like hell to get out. I tripped, you grabbed me and the ceiling fell in on us. Carter and Teal'c hotfooted it back to the 'Gate and brought the Calvary. They dug us out and here we are." O'Neill grimaced, "Just another day at the office."
Daniel looked at him in comprehension. Then he swallowed and croaked. "Others?"
"Oh, them." He grinned at his friend's typical concern. "They're fine, last I saw Carter was in my room cause Doc wouldn't let her stay in here. They'll come looking for us soon, never fear."
Daniel nodded, and closed his eyes. "You should sleep," Jack said softly then tried to remove his hand but Daniel still had a firm grip on it. Then something seemingly occurred to the younger man. He opened his eyes with an effort and looked at Jack questioningly. Jack read his mind and shook his head. "It's still in your locker. You can give it to her at the right time."
Another shuffle of footsteps sounded out in the hall. Carter and Teal'c entered the room and approached them, Sam coming up on the other side of the bed and Teal'c standing beside O'Neill. Carter gently placed her hand on his arm. "Hi, Daniel. Glad to see you're awake." He smiled weakly at her. "We're only allowed a few minutes. Janet says you need to rest." She looked at her Colonel questioningly.
"He's not supposed to talk yet, and with those broken ribs, he may not want to." Jack nodded. "I gave him a quick rehash, in case he didn't quite remember everything."
"Did he sustain any other than the obvious injuries?" Teal'c asked O'Neill.
"No, I'm happy to say, just the head and the ribs, no back injury at all. You did a good job getting him out from under that pillar."
Teal'c nodded. "The credit goes to Sgt Jones and Maj. Haverty. Theirs was the good idea. I did not know the pneumatic jack could be so used in such a manner."
Doctor Fraiser re-entered the room. "Okay, now, you've all seen that they are alive and breathing. This one", she pointed at Daniel. "Needs his meds and sleep." She looked at O'Neill. "And you Sir, need to go back to bed, take your meds and get some sleep of your own." Janet then glanced at the other two. "And you two...go eat something and get some rest in your own beds."
Jack leaned forward and squeezed Daniel's hand. The younger man looked at him and smiled. "Got to go, Grasshopper. See ya later." Daniel nodded slightly and closed his eyes, releasing Jack's hand.
Teal'c took control of the wheel chair and guided them all back to O'Neill's room. Once there he assisted the Colonel back into his bed. Sam waiting in the hallway until he was rearranged. She stepped in and the team spoke quietly until the Colonel, tired by his exertions dozed off on his comrades.
When Daniel awoke the next time he had the feeling that he was being watched over. As he sleepily opened his eyes he saw Sam Carter sitting next to him. She was reading a book and holding his hand. He must have made a small sound, as she put the book down and smiled at him. "Hey, sleepy head."
"Hey." His throat hurt still and his chest felt like a ton of bricks was sitting on it.
"No, don't talk." Sam offered him a cup of water with a straw. "Janet says you're doing really well. We don't want to prove her wrong."
He nodded, but did anyway. "Jack?"
"Shush." She shook her head at him. "The Colonel's doing fine. He's still bitching cause Janet operated on his knee and now he has to do the therapy." She shook her head. "Like he wouldn't have had to have it done eventually anyway. You'll probably be moved next to him tomorrow so you'll have plenty of entertainment."
Daniel nodded, complacently. His presence would give Jack someone else to pick on besides the long-suffering nurses.
Sam continued. "Janet said you'd both be ready to go home at the same time, but that you'd have to have supervision and assistance. So Teal'c and I will probably take you both to the Colonel's place and we'll all stay there Unless you specifically wanted to stay here or go back to your place?" He shook his head. It really didn't matter to him. "That way we can all get a little down time away from the mountain." She continued on, watching for a negative response from him.
"How long?" He asked by mouthing the words.
"Janet said about a month on home rest barring complications. So you have to be good and follow her instructions.
Daniel nodded. Then murmured. "Sorry. About...weekend."
"Sorry?" She looked at him in confusion. "Sorry for what?" Then it dawned on her. This was supposed to have been 'their' weekend if she had agreed to it. She got up from her chair and bent over him. "Oh, Daniel. It doesn't matter. You are alive. That's all I care about." She kissed him on the forehead. "When Teal'c and I got to that collapsed tunnel and we didn't get any answer from you guys, I was so worried. And Teal'c, he just about went nuts. I thought he was going to tear that temple down with his bare hands. Finally, when the Colonel answered us on the radio, all we could think about was getting you out of there. We must have set some kind of land speed record getting the crew back to you guys. Then, when they pulled you out and you weren't breathing...I was so scared that we'd lost you." Her eyes were suspiciously full. "I just kept thinking how I screwed up and missed an opportunity to have something wonderful, and I'd let it slip away." She sniffed. "I realized just how much I care about you."
He smiled up at her and reached with his other hand to wipe away her tears. "It's okay, Sam." He spoke, his voice raspy from its soreness and his emotions. "We're all right, all of us."
She laughed a little, in embarrassment. "Janet will kill me if I get you upset." She kissed him again, this time on the mouth. They heard a noise behind them and Sam turned around quickly.
Janet entered the room and proceeded to start taking Daniel's vitals. "Are you sexually harassing my patient, Major?"
Sam covered her suspiciously damp eyes with a grin and replied. "No, it's a desensitization procedure. It seems that I still consider him a sibling-figure and, well, that needs to change."
"Oh, well. As long as there's a good reason, I won't report you to your superior officer." She winked at Daniel. "I might give him silly ideas."
Jack O'Neill lay back and put his arms behind his head and sighed. Teal'c was about to remove the wheelchair that he had used earlier, when he pulled the carry bag out of the chair's pocket. A garish orange bag caught his eye and showed it to O'Neill with a curious look.
"Clark gave it to me...said it was from Haverty." Jack explained. "What's in it?"
Teal'c opened the bag and removed the precious amber piece with a clover imbedded in the ancient crystalized sap. It was the talisman the silver lady had given to him when she had led him to the surface of the Tor. "I would say, O'Neill, that it contained your 'good luck piece'." He carefully handed it to the Colonel. "I believe that I would keep this safe."
"I believe you're very right, my friend." Jack held the golden disk up to the florescent light above his bed and let the glow wash over him. "I do believe you are very right."
(2 weeks later)
Daniel opened his eyes and watched a ceiling fan that was rotating above him. He found it curious; he didn't have a ceiling fan. And at last note his ceiling was ivory beige, this one was a pale blue with sparklies in it. There was a television playing on a dresser showing an old black and white movie. He tilted his head slightly to the side and noticed another form in the larger-than-his bed. It was long and relatively flat, and the hair that stuck up past the bedclothes was a grizzled salt-and-sand shade.
He was in bed with Jack for some reason, one that escaped him at the moment and by the amount of light coming in through the tall windows with the sheer curtains on them, it was fairly late in the day. Not early enough for him to make it in to work on time, obviously. Of course, the fact that he was in bed with his immediate supervisor sort of took the edge off of the importance of this observation. That and his chest hurt...a lot.
As if sensing that he was being watched, Jack rolled over and peered into Daniel's face. "Good Morning."
"Good Morning," Daniel tried to roll over to face his friend but thought better of it when his side caught in pain. "Don't take this the wrong way but why am I in your bed?"
"And after last night?" Jack put on a mournful face. "You said it meant so much to you."
"Jaaack."
"Daaaaniel." O'Neill rolled over and studied his friend. "I don't know what it was that Doc gave you yesterday, but I'm gonna tell her not to do it again. You were really out of it.
The younger man looked at him and shook his head in confusion. "The last thing I remember I was in the infirmary and Janet was talking about letting us go home."
Jack nodded. "Yep, we agreed that you would stay here and Carter and Teal'c would take turns fetching and carrying stuff for us. Then yesterday afternoon, we came home." Jack paused and looked at his friend. "You really don't remember how you got here, do you?"
Daniel concentrated a moment. "I remember Janet said that I would be really uncomfortable during the ride and then she gave me something to relax me."
O'Neill nodded. "Carter, Teal'c and Fraiser brought us home in a Motorpool vehicle yesterday evening. We got you to the van and you fell asleep in the backseat. When they got you out of the car you were still pretty dopey and Teal'c carried you up here." Jack watched him curiously.
Daniel looked at him, perplexed. "It must have had been some sedative."
"I guess so." Jack shook his head in amazement and reached over to touch Daniel's cheek. He nodded, apparently satisfied. "How do you feel now?"
"I'm a little dizzy, but okay." He saw O'Neill's expression. "No pain unless I move. I think the stuff is still working. Uh, how are you feeling?"
"Sore, stiff and bored already." He grinned Daniel. "Race ya down stairs."
"No, Colonel. I don't think so." Carter appeared at the door carrying two glasses of orange juice. She put one down on Daniel's side of the bed first. "Hello again. Do you need something, Daniel?"
He looked at her a little embarrassed and glanced at the bathroom door. "I uh, need to get up."
"Okay, I'll get Teal'c." She smiled at him, went around the bed and sat the glass of orange juice down on the table on Jack's side. "Sir, do you need anything?"
"Yea," He replied easily. "I'd like a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, cold; and a hand tossed pepperoni, black olive, mushroom pizza with extra cheese."
"Okay, Sir. Let's try this again." She shook her head. "What would you like that you're allowed to have?"
"Anything but oatmeal and toast. I've had enough of that in the infirmary."
"Yes Sir. Oatmeal and toast, coming right up." She smiled brightly at him and left the room.
O'Neill made a face at her retreating form and called after her. "You've been hanging around Janet Fraiser too much, Carter. She's corrupting you."
After all requirements of personal hygiene and nutrition had been fulfilled, Teal'c assisted O'Neill down to the larger area of the living room and started with Jack's exercise therapy. Sam came up and sat on the bed where O'Neill had been, flipping through the channels of Jack's bedroom's color television. Sam looked over at her friend. "How are you really feeling, Daniel?" Sam was concerned by his quietness.
He flashed her a quick grin and shook his head. "I'm sore, but Janet said to expect that with the ribs. I'm okay, really."
She reached over to where he lay and took his right hand in hers. She spent the next few minutes examining the long slender calloused fingers, the chipped nails and the minute scarring that spoke of long hours excavating in the field. She found two minute indentations in the flesh between the thumb and the forefinger. "What happened here?" She asked curiously, stroking the thickened skin that ran along the index finger.
Daniel watched her curiously. "That was the present of an Asp that I disturbed in Egypt while digging in the Valley of the Kings about oh, ten years ago."
"Aren't they poison?" She looked up at him.
"Oh, yea, very much so. Luckily I was with some of the workers and they got me to some help in time."
"So you were risking your life even before the Stargate." She mused softly.
"Yes, I suppose so." He shrugged. "Anytime you go out on digs, there's some risk involved. Snakes, cave-ins, explosives, hostile government officials...you know, the regular stuff." He looked at her curiously. "Why?"
"I've been thinking about...this...for a long time now, Daniel." She looked up at him, her blue eyes meeting his. "I've made my mind up. I definitely think we should do it."
"It?" He looked at her curiously, not sure he caught her meaning.
Carter turned a little pink then spoke firmly. "I want to have a child by you. Cassie's almost grown up, I'll be thirty-nine next May, and my biological clock is ticking. But it's more than that, Daniel. We nearly lost you...again and..."
"Sam, look...don't do this as a knee-jerk reaction to this accident." He interrupted her in a soothing tone. "I'm fine. If anything it should be a warning. Things happen in the field, on Earth or otherwise. I don't want a child that would be a burden on you if something happens to me."
"No, Daniel. Not a burden, but a gift. A little part of you, and me, to care for and to love." She rolled over on her side to face him. Close to him, she lay her hand along his cheek as he looked at her from his pillows. "Look maybe our relationship isn't the usual romantic one, maybe it never will be, but I do know that I love you and I want to have your child."
Daniel looked at her for a long time before saying anything, but she could see the thoughts running through his head. Though, when he did speak, it wasn't what she expected him to say. "Sam, remember when Jack called in and put me on sick leave several weeks ago?"
She nodded, mystified. "It was the morning after our dinner date, a Friday, and Nyan had to give your presentation. I remember he was terrified, but he did very well with your notes."
Daniel dropped his eyes and turned back to the television, but she could tell he wasn't listening to it. "That night I wanted to...to make contact with someone." He looked back at her from under long lashes. "I came here to Jack's place and went up on the deck. While I was there, I had a dream. Teal'c said it was a vision."
When he remained quiet for a few minutes, Carter pressed him. "What was it, Daniel? Was it about us?"
"Yes, well sort of." He continued in a low voice. "I dreamed that I was back on Abydos, and Sha'uri came to me." Daniel winced for his ribs as he turned to face Sam. "She told me that this was a good thing, and that she approved. She called you the sister of my heart, and said that our child would be a gift to us. I think that's what convinced me that it would be all right." He chuckled. "Jack came home late that night and found me on the roof. It was thirty degrees and I had fallen asleep up there. He was furious. But he pulled me off the deck, warmed me up and put me to bed; then he called the SGC and told you all I was sick or something."
Carter nodded. "I remember, but I think he was more scared than mad. Then Janet went to see him and jumped him good about putting us up to this in the first place."
"Oh, I didn't hear about this." He smiled. "I would have liked to been a fly on that wall."
"Yea, The Colonel told me when we were still on planet. I had just talked to her about 'the plan'. That's when she told me we were NOT brother and sister." She smiled at Daniel and squeezed his hand. "Then that evening when you kissed me good night, well...we could have started right then. I knew that I wanted to, but it kind of got pushed to the side with everything that's been happening. This latest little adventure of yours and the Colonel's, well, I guess it just gave me the added impetus."
"So, I guess it's a go then." He murmured and captured the hand that had been stroking his and pulled it to his lips for a chaste kiss.
"Yea, I guess it is." She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. "So you need to hurry and get well. No deep breathing exercises with broken ribs."
"That's certain. I can barely stand to cough." He smiled at her. "Let's make an appointment for oh, say...four weeks from tonight. A Saturday night."
She pulled back from him and laughed merrily. "An Appointment, hey. Well, I'll have my answering machine call your answering machine and set it up." Then she leaned over and kissed him on the lips, pulling back to study his face. "Now, I hear the Colonel and Teal'c coming." She whispered conspiratorially. "We'd better be good or we'll never hear the end of it."
By the time the two older men got back up the stairs, the younger members of SG1 were sitting primly and properly on opposite sides of the king-sized bed apparently occupied in a show about The Abominable Snowmen in the Himalayan Mountains. Teal'c and O'Neill were involved in a deep discussion of their own.
"And how would you do this impossible task, O'Neill?" The Jaffa Warrior was asking.
"Why the same way Alexander the Great did it." Jack answered gamely as he limped back to the bed where Carter had moved from to the foot of the bed to give him room. "That's why he knew he could conquer the world."
"What are you two talking about now?" Carter asked curiously.
"On the planet O'Neill stated that he could also undo the Gordian Knot. Since we have returned, I looked up the reference. The Gordian Knot was a huge knot of hempen rope that was said to be impossible to separate."
"Oh, and how did Alexander untie it Colonel?" Carter asked him curiously.
Jack and Daniel looked at each other, the younger man raising an eyebrow at his friend. Jack laughed. "He 'untied' it with his sword. He cut it."
Daniel watched his friend's expression. Teal'c looked thoughful, Sam looked amused. "He cheated." She said.
"No!" O'Neill responded archly. "He used military strategy. He saw the objective, considered his resources and took action. He succeeded in his mission."
Daniel looked at the smug Colonel and nodded. "He thought outside the box. Alexander changed the rules." He became pensive. "But he did win the world, or at least the world as he knew it."
Jack nodded. "The key to a successful military mind. Wars are won by inspiration, not perspiration." He glanced over at Daniel. "Isn't that right Professor Jackson?"
Daniel nodded in agreement and lay back on the pillow. "If you say so Professor O'Neill. But I still think it's cheating."
Jack grinned at him and glanced from him to Carter where she was sitting next to him at the foot of the bed. "All's fair in love and war, Danny-boy. You pay your money and you take your chances."
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