Mission Impossible

maiden insurgence

Summary: Rebellion, addiction and respect sometimes go hand-in-hand. Minor bondage alert - all in good fun. Many thanks to Joy for keeping me going through this and for the excellent beta as ever. Couldn't do it without ya, dahl.

I've got a headache - hardly surprising. We have been given our next instructions and we have a major job on our hands.

"Daniel, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Jack, just a headache. All this reading gets to me sometimes."

"Never thought I'd hear you complain about reading."

"I'm not - it's just I've had to do a hell of a lot. Anyway, I'm tired. Think I'll go to bed."

"Good idea, we'd better get ready then."

I love living in the cabin with Jack now. It's so much better.

"So," Jack says as we get onto our bed - which has finally been made! And it's big and really comfortable too.

"So?"

"If your headache isn't too bad, how about we, er, make out?"

Fact. Jack and I have been together for just about two years. Our anniversary is only a matter of days away. Fact. We've been fucking like bunnies on Viagra at every opportunity in those two years. Fact. Jack has the most filthy mouth I have ever known, second only to mine. Fact. He's still shy when it comes to asking, 'wanna fuck?'. Aw, it's so sweet.

"Well, I might be persuaded. How about you come here and, er, persuade me?"

"Come where?" he answers with a leer.

I throw the covers back, point to my dick and tell him, "Sit there."

When he stops laughing he arrives at the prearranged co-ordinates and lies down on top of me, treating me to the most mind-blowing kissing session. Damn, but he's good at that. I think he can take air in via osmosis he kisses so long. Sometimes I hate my sinuses, they stop me from breathing through my nose.

"What do you want, Daniel?" he whispers in my ear.

To get off, that's what. Don't really care how, either.

"You choose, just do whatever you want, babe, it's okay with me."

"Whatever?"

"Yeah," I reply carefully. I'm wondering what he's got in mind now.

"Get on your hands and knees," he orders in that sexy, husky voice of his.

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" Woo hoo! I know what he wants now.

He's rooting around, looking for something on one of the shelves we put up.

"Got it!"

"Is it infectious?"

"Yeah, you're about to catch it now."

"Oh, goody, what is it?"

"This. Put your hands together above your head, Daniel." Oh GOD! YES! I am so going to follow orders.

He's got one of my bandanas and he's tied my hands together and put them on a little hook we created for the wall (and which was questioned closely by the other two. They wouldn't believe our more innocent explanations, so I lost it and told them precisely, graphically and in great detail what it was for, what happened when we did this and why. They didn't ask stupid questions after that. But every further hook we made was greeted with suspicion.)

"Heads up, Daniel, I'm putting the lights out."

Oh boy. We haven't done this much. Jack took a hell of a lot of persuading to do it, but he finally agreed. He doesn't mind it so much now, but the first time he wasn't happy. And it was me that was being blindfolded. One day I'll get him to allow me the same privilege. He'll love it.

I really don't see what Daniel gets out of being blindfolded and tied up. Don't see it at all. But he gets something, that's for sure. It's the only time he's actually ever completely out of control too. Here goes, my honey is going to have a good time tonight. At least it will take his mind off his headache.

God, look at that. He's naked, on his knees, his hands prayer-like and attached to the wall, and he's all mine. Wow.

"Spread your legs, Daniel," I tell him and he groans as he opens them for me. I have got one hell of a view. I have so got to kiss what's in front of me.

"Jack! Ohgodohgodohgod, Jack!"

He so likes that.

-

My ass is sore. So is Daniel's. I took his mind off his headache all right. And he took my mind off everything except breathing I think. Damn, but that boy is hot. He's currently sitting (carefully) at the table and we're discussing that maybe getting his eyes checked would be a good idea. Teal'c and Sam wonder why he doesn't ask the Tok'ra to fix them for him. So do I.

"I don't really know," he says thoughtfully. "I guess it's that I'm reluctant to ask for that tech to be used on me. It was one thing you throwing me in the sarcophagus when I died again," he looks at me as he says that, "but to voluntarily want that tech used on me... I think I'll pass, thanks."

"Hey, I didn't throw you in the sarc, Teal'c was carrying you and he put you in carefully. And I put my robe thingy down first. Throw you, indeed. I dunno. Save a guy's life and he accuses you of stuff."

I'm muttering away and Sam and Teal'c are sitting open-mouthed. Daniel's trying not to laugh. He knows I'm teasing. He's standing up, coming around the table to me and in one swift move, he's twisted me around on the stool on which I'm sitting. He's now sitting on me, straddling my thighs, draping his arms over my shoulders and resting his forehead on mine.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly. "I should be more grateful. Perhaps I should show my gratitude?"

He's tracing a finger down my chest and I'm gasping for air. He is so damned seductive that sometimes it's like we're getting together for the first time all over again.

"That would be good," I squeak. Teal'c and Sam are laughing. He looks at me and winks. Oh crap, what has he got in mind?

He's off my lap, taking Teal'c by the hand and saying, "Well, as it was you that carried me to the sarc, Teal'c, it's only right that you get thanked."

Sam's lost it. Teal'c's mouth is wide open with shock. I think I'd better stop this before it goes any further.

"Oh no you fucking don't, Daniel. You come here NOW!"

He's let go of Teal'c's hand and he's off like a whippet down the corridor. Hell, he's fast, but I'm motivated. Sore ass or not he's just wound me up. The transport rings have activated, I go straight to them and up to the surface. He must have been waiting for me because I can see him not far ahead. He's running to the cabin. Got him now.

Or not. He's got me. Ah well, what the heck. He wants me, he's got me, he knows that.

"Jack?"

"Daniel?"

He's staring into my eyes, his fingers softly stroking my face and he's moving as close to me as he can go.

"I love you," he whispers against my mouth.

Shit. I never thought I could love him any more than I already did. I was wrong. I love him more every single day. I tell him that and I get the biggest, warmest smile I've ever seen in my life. It's looks like that that make life worth living.

Jack is going to kill Daniel one day. Daniel so loves to wind him up. I think he lives to wind him up. How he's still in one piece I do not know. Jack's face when Daniel sat on his lap was a picture. I've never had anyone look at me like that. I think I need to work on my seduction techniques. Daniel only has to look at Jack and he's got him by the gonads.

"Samantha, the alarm has gone off. The gate is open, I believe it may be your father."

Aw crap, we're going to have to disturb the guys.

"Okay, Teal'c, let's head on up there. We'd better detour to get the guys though."

"Would that be wise?"

"Would it be wise to not inform Jack?"

"Probably not. I shall go to them."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I've seen them making out a couple of times."

"You have? You did this deliberately?"

We've just appeared on the surface and we're going to the cabin.

"No, it was an accident, but I told Daniel. I'm not sure if he told Jack or not though."

"Then we will deal with this tactfully."

Well, duh, I wasn't going to barge in without knocking. I'm not that much of a mutt.

Oh, that's a surprise. They're outside and just sitting.

"Guys, the alarm's gone off."

"Tok'ra calling?"

"Most likely."

"Yeah, well, we're getting soft here. Come on, hide out till we're sure." Jack's back in colonel mode. He's right, we're letting our guard down. "Oh, and Carter?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"Next time, use your communicator to call us, will ya?"

Oops.

We have a few places that we can hide to watch out for visitors and we're in them; Jack and Daniel in one, Teal'c and me in another. I like snuggling up close to the big guy, he's just too cute for words.

I should like to tell Samantha that I am interested in her. However, I do not know how to approach her. The only relationship that I have closely observed is that between O'Neill and Daniel. Somehow, I do not think that they are typical Tauri, their gender not withstanding.

This is a moot point now, though, as Jacob has appeared. We leave our cover and go out to meet him.

"Ah, Jake, good to see you," O'Neill announces.

Samantha is hugging her father. Do I have to ask his permission to court her as I would do on Chulak? Perhaps I should speak to Daniel about it. We go down to the tunnels and sit around the table.

"Hi guys, how's it going?" Jacob asks.

"Daniel's getting headaches," O'Neill says, getting poked in the arm for his trouble by Daniel.

"Jack, I'm fine, it's probably only my eyes."

"Daniel, you're getting headaches on a regular basis."

"Jeez, Jack, I'm okay."

"Daniel? I can help you if you want," Jacob says.

"Daniel doesn't want Goa'uld tech anywhere near him," O'Neill announces. "Can't say I blame him really."

Jacob nods. "If you want, Daniel, we'll get you back to Earth via the back door, so to speak, to get you checked up. But it would be to your advantage to not need to wear glasses anymore. What happens if you lose them or they break out in the field?"

Daniel sighs.

"I know. It's just, well, you know - I don't have a good record with that tech, at least when I'm healthy. Last time my eyesight was corrected artificially I was addicted..." his voice trails off and he gets up and strides out of the room.

"Crap!" O'Neill has departed and followed him.

"Daniel! Daniel! Come on, hun, it's okay."

I do not want to talk about it.

"Daniel, please. I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you, okay? How about we ask the Tok'ra if you can use that other tech, the stuff we bought at the auction? That doesn't have the soul-sucking properties, does it?"

"Sorry," I tell him. "I just hate being reminded of that time. I so nearly killed you, Jack, so fucking nearly killed you."

"I know babe, I know. But you didn't, you stopped. You were stronger than the withdrawal, stronger than the whole fucking thing. I was so proud of you that day."

"You were?"

"Oh yes. You know how it was for me when I went through the same thing. I told you about it. It was so messy, so awful. I know how much you hurt then, Daniel and you handled it really well."

"I screamed the place down, Jack. I nearly put a bullet through your head. I don't think that decking Janet was handling it well."

He snorts a gentle puff of air and then hugs me close.

"Trust me on this one, Daniel. I know what I'm talking about. Come on, let's get back to Jacob. We'll ask him about the other alien tech. It's not such a bad idea, you know, he's right. Much as I think you are too fucking cute for words when you're wearing your specs..."

"CUTE?"

"Ah. Shit. I meant gorgeous, stunning, sexy. Not cute. Definitely not cute. I've never seen anyone less cute than you. Teal'c's cuter than you."

"Jack?"

"Daniel?"

"Shut up."

"Okay. Shall we go?"

"I think it would be for the best."

Cute. Fucking CUTE. I am NOT cute. I'm pissy, short-tempered, okay, I can live with the other nice things he said even if I don't believe him - he believes them so that will do. But CUTE? I'll show him just how not cute I am.

"Jake, how about that alien healing thing that we bought at the auction. Surely that would be okay for him to use?"

"Don't see why not. We've been testing it carefully on volunteers. So far they're not showing any signs of incipient megalomania, tendencies to prance about or a sudden taste for gaudy clothing, so we think it's safe."

Huh? Okay, I'll do it. If nothing else it will help get rid of these damned headaches.

"So, are you guys ready for the off then?" he asks as Jack and I sit back down. Sam's reaching out and she's taking my hand. Aw, big sister strikes again. I still feel guilty for what I did to them back then and I think they know it.

"Yeah, we think we have it all sorted. We've not done this as a team before so we're treading carefully."

Jack's not too happy about this, but for some reason I'm not too bad about it. We have to basically start a rebellion. The 'goddess' is Anat - a bloodthirsty character from Ugaritic mythology, but worshipped all over the Near East. Her idea of a good time was to basically kill as many as she could. Her Goa'uld persona is no different. In myth, she was Baal's mate - in reality, she and Baal are not on speaking terms. Must have had a bit of a bust-up. Well, millennia with the same mate can do that to you I guess.

Whatever - she's dangerous and keeps her people subjugated in terrible conditions. The Tok'ra are small in number and can't afford to go in and get captured. We, on the other hand, are basically expendable. I just hope that none of us get caught.

"I've brought you the local costume - has Daniel briefed you on local customs?"

This is another problem. The local customs bear no real resemblance to what I'd learned of those times. I guess times change. I've committed everything to memory that has come my way, so hopefully I'll steer them all in the right direction.

"Yeah, we got well-lectured last night," Jack moans.

He got a lot more than that. I don't know what he's complaining about.

We've given Jacob a list of things that we want sent out and he's off to visit George now. We are going to our destination - Ugarit - in the morning. In two days' time, Anat will be insisting on her annual sacrifice. Human sacrifice that is. And we're not talking taking hosts here. We're talking decapitation.

In one of the myths about her Daniel said she was supposed to have anointed herself before going to the seashore. While there, she created a bloodbath by killing the locals. She hung the severed heads and hands of her victims off her body, but she wanted more violence. So she turned her household furniture into an army - neat trick if you can do it - and attacked even more till she was knee-deep in blood.

After this - AFTER this, mind, Baal decided that she was one cool chick and asked her to play house. If that story is true - and these days with Daniel's insistence that mythology has a basis in fact I'm pretty certain there's an element of truth in it - then I'm not sure who's the sickest. Anat or Baal. Whatever - we're going to incite a rebellion and take her out if we can.

This time, the idea isn't so much to assassinate but to stir up trouble. Anat is one of the major players in the minor Goa'uld ranks and a current enemy of Baal. If we can stir up trouble in Baal's name, she may turn to one of the other System Lords to help her out. If that's the case there's gonna be dissent among the ranks of the System Lords. If that's the case, then they'll take their eyes off the ball for a bit. We'll put it about that Baal's doing this on the say-so of Anubis, and hopefully it will turn them against him.

If the worst comes to the worst, we can just take Anat out and the universe will come up short one psychotic snake. Either way, I'll call it a result.

Jake says that he'll take Daniel to get his eyes fixed when we get back. I'll go along too - may as well get my knees fixed while we're at it. It's too damned dangerous to have any sort of weakness in the field and I don't want to put my kids at any more risk than is absolutely necessary.

Teal'c's been hunting and Daniel's now cooking our dinner. There's a small pig-like mammal on this island and it tastes pretty good. We're cooking our food on a spit for the most part - Jake wanted to know why we don't use the Tok'ra cooking facilities. We do, but it just doesn't taste the same when we cook underground for some reason.

We've had some bad weather recently, but today is dry and warm. Guess our summer is coming to a close. The cabin has stood up to the weathering though. The Tok'ra provided us with something akin to tar and we used it to waterproof it. It works too - there was quite a downpour the other day and we stayed dry.

We're also trying to get the other cabin up before the weather turns really bad, but I don't know if we'll manage it. The others are okay about the delay, they don't mind sleeping underground. Still, it will be good if we can finish it soon. It's not taking as long as ours because we've already made the mistakes and learned from them. This time we know what we're doing.

"Is that ready yet, Daniel?"

"Should be, the potatoes are cooked so it's worth starting to cut I think."

They're not really potatoes, they're root veg from the Land of Light, but it's close enough. They look like turnips but they more or less taste like potatoes. We always go by what we know when we're naming things.

Teal'c has sliced the outside of the pig thing and put some on our plates. Daniel's handing out the veg that was cooked in the side of the fire. Hmm, tastes like...

"Do not say it, O'Neill!"

"What?"

"It does not taste like chicken."

"Nope, I was going to say it tastes like wild boar, actually."

"You have eaten wild boar, Jack?" Carter asks.

"Sure. Caught one myself on a survival exercise somewhere I can't talk about."

"Me too," Daniel says in agreement. "You're right, it does taste like it."

"You've eaten wild boar? Where? When? What butcher does them?"

"Jack, what am I?"

Nope. I'm not gonna say it. Nearly got killed for the 'cute' thing. He's looking at me with a withering gaze and sighing.

"I've lived in many varied and different places, Jack, with many varied and different tribes. There aren't any supermarkets in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest or the Sahara, you know. I've gone hunting, caught my own food. Had to or I'd have starved to death. Went hunting most weeks on Abydos too. There's some weird creatures there, I can tell you. One animal, it's sort of like a Nile crocodile, lives in the river behind the town."

"There was a river there?"

"Well, duh! How did we get the water we needed to live?"

"Kinda figured the oasis would do that."

"For a population of over 5,000? In the one town? There are other towns and settlements on Abydos, you know. The river was on the far side of the town. It's how the farmland was irrigated. The oasis was far too small to service the population. We only used that for water when we were on the gate side of the town."

Oh. I never knew that. Never thought about it either to tell the truth.

"Do you want to hear about the crocs?"

"Sure, tell us oh great hunter."

If looks could kill...

"We'd go out in a dhow and sail to this place where they'd congregate. We could only take out ones that had grown beyond a certain size. The fertility of these creatures was completely based on their size - most likely something to do with their age. Obviously, we didn't want to take anything that was still reproducing or too young to, or we'd be eliminating our food supply too quickly."

He takes a drink with a smirk and then eats some more of his meat. He's giving off a very dangerous air tonight. My turn to get laid, methinks.

"Come on, Daniel, tell us more." I want to know!

"Okay, well, the way to catch these creatures was to literally creep up behind them in the boat. They're pretty placid for the most part, but when they get aroused they're very dangerous."

I look at Jack. He's trying not to look at Daniel, but I'd say he's very aroused at the moment too. Alpha Dan does it for him, eh? Who knew?

"Anyway, then we'd get the spears. The watcher would be at the front of the boat and would silently signal which ones were to be taken. We'd all be allocated one croc each. We had to wait till the signal was given and then we'd all attack together so as not to warn any of the animals that we were there. They were pretty thick, to tell the truth. They'd look at you, see you there with a spear, but it was only when the noise started and the fuss made would they wake up and move. So, we'd throw our spears simultaneously.

"The one spear wouldn't kill them though, their hides were too thick. We'd use them to hopefully immobilise them. More often than not though it would just piss them off. Then we'd have to jump in the water with our knives and kill them by hand."

Okay, my mouth is now wide open. Even Teal'c's is. Daniel never ceases to amaze us.

"You 'gater-wrestled?" Jack asks in astonishment.

"Ye-es," Daniel drawls. "Why, don't you think I could do it?"

"Daniel, you were as skinny as the proverbial rake back then. No fucking way you could wrestle one of those things. Not if it was as big as you're making out."

"They were big," Daniel says quietly. Then he shrugs and sighs.

"Daniel? What's up?" I ask him. He doesn't look happy.

"Nothing," he lies.

"Daniel, I didn't mean anything by it," Jack hurriedly puts in. "You say you went huntin', you went huntin'. Your word is good enough for me."

Daniel looks at him sadly. I guess he doesn't believe that one.

"Daniel." It's Teal'c. "Tell me, how did you kill one of these creatures? It may be useful information should we ever meet up with something similar."

Teal'c gets a small smile for that.

"There's a soft spot under its chin. Its whole belly is soft, but there's a specific bit that if you get a knife in it, it kills the beast quickly. We didn't want them to suffer," he says quietly.

"What did they taste like?" I ask him. He still looks... disappointed, I guess.

He grins, shrugs and says, "Chicken."

I believe that O'Neill said the wrong thing. Daniel looks sad. He is trying not to show it, but his body language has gone defensive. I am not sure that he is always aware of how well we can read his moods, or how his body betrays him. O'Neill's body is also sad, as if he has lost something. I am unsure as to what he has lost. Perhaps it is something that Daniel will know.

We have finished our meal. I should like to speak to him.

"Daniel. May we speak alone, please? I have a question of a personal nature that I should like to ask."

"Sure. Come on, we'll wash up the plates and stuff down at the river."

We collect the things and take them to the river, saying nothing until we arrive.

"What's up, Teal'c?"

"Are you all right? You seem hurt."

"Ach, don't worry about it. I'm just oversensitive today. Guess it's this damned headache. Was that what you wanted to ask me?"

"No. I wanted to know, of course, but there is something that I should like your advice on."

"Shoot."

"Is it customary to ask permission to court a woman among your people?"

He looks at me in astonishment and sits down, patting the ground next to him and indicating that I should sit. I do.

"Are you interested in Sam?" he asks.

"I am."

"Is this just because we are all stuck here?"

"It is not. I have had... feelings for her for quite some time. Recently I have overheard a few things that she has said that would lead me to believe that she has some for me. Has she spoken to you about me?"

"She has," he says carefully. "She does love you, Teal'c, that is something of which you must be in no doubt. And one other thing of which I am certain is, well, if you were to initiate something with her, she'd take it extremely seriously. I do not think that she would entertain the idea of a casual relationship - not with you."

"I would not treat her like that. I, too, love her. I also respect her immensely, as a person, a warrior and as a scholar."

"I know, which is why she loves you so much. Your treatment of her has always been of the highest standard, Teal'c - and for that she has the highest respect for you. In the meantime, this isn't answering your question. No, you won't have to go to Jacob and ask - she'd probably be mortified if you did. Just talk to her, Teal'c. Tell her how you feel. I'm very sure that she would respond favourably. Would you like me to talk to her first, to make sure?"

"That may be wise, Daniel. I should not like there to be any misunderstandings."

"I understand. I'll sound her out for you."

"Thank you. And do not fear that O'Neill does not respect you, Daniel. I know he loves you more than his own life."

"Maybe," he says with a shrug, "but he doesn't really respect me. It doesn't matter. Let's get back."

I feel he is wrong, that O'Neill does respect him. However, it is up to O'Neill to prove it.

"Sam, can we talk, please?"

"Sure thing, Daniel. Fancy a stroll on the beach?"

"Sounds good to me. C'mon, let's go."

Jack's looking at me very sheepishly. Tough. I'm not in the mood to make up with him at the moment. Besides, I've got me a big sister to fix-up.

"Well?" she asks as we get out of earshot.

"You know what we were saying about you and Teal'c?"

"What about me and Teal'c?"

"You know, you and Teal'c - together - night-times - sex'n'stuff."

"OH! Ah! Ye-es."

"Well, he was wondering if you'd be interested. He doesn't want to fuck up your friendship, Sam, but he loves you. I think he's in love with you."

That brings her up short.

"Wow. Hadn't thought he'd feel like that. I mean, I love him to tiny little pieces. I know he respects me, but..."

"He loves you, Sam. Yours would be a relationship built on mutual respect and a rock-solid friendship. I think you'd be good together. I'm guessing that underneath that hard-man façade is a marshmallow just waiting to get out."

She giggles.

"He's serious?"

"Deadly."

"Wow. Um. Wow."

She's speechless, love her.

"So? Are you going to go for it?"

"What would you do?" she asks in all seriousness.

"If I were you? I'd go for it, Sam. Life's too short for 'I wish I'd done' and 'I regret not doing'. I took my chance. I think you should take yours."

We walk in silence for a while, then she turns us back to camp.

"I'm gonna do it," she says, her voice a little unsteady. "Thanks, Daniel."

"What for?"

"Matchmaking," she sniggers.

I pull her into a hug and kiss her head.

"My pleasure, angel. Make the most of it, enjoy yourself. I'm here for you if you want me, you know that."

She hugs me and kisses me back.

"Hmm. I know."

We're back at camp. I give Teal'c the thumbs-up sign and Sam marches over to him, takes him by the hand and yells 'goodnight' to Jack and me. They're off to the rings. I silently wish Teal'c luck. He's gonna need it - she's going to eat him alive.

Crap. It's Jack. I don't want to face him at the moment, I'm really pissed with him.

"Daniel, I'm sorry, hun. I've really put my foot in it with you today, haven't I?"

I don't want to talk to him but my tongue answers before my brain gets in gear.

"What do you really think of me, Jack? Am I some sort of boy that needs looking after? It that what you think of me?"

"NO! Of course not! I have the greatest respect for you, Daniel. I've told you that before."

"You say it but somehow I don't think you mean it. If you did you wouldn't say things like that. Why is it so hard to believe that I can do things like hunt? Huh? Why, Jack? Just because I'm some sort of geek in your eyes doesn't mean I'm not a man for fuck's sake!"

"I know, Daniel. I've said I'm sorry. I mean it! What do you want from me?"

"Respect, Jack. Don't just say it - LIVE it!"

I'm off to bed. I'm not sure I even want to share the bed with him tonight, but I'm not going that route. Not sharing with him isn't an option. Not unless I want to split with him. I don't want that. Not yet.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! I've fucked up. Trouble is, I have no idea how I'm going to make it up to him. I'm guessing there's no nookie on the schedule for tonight.

We're getting ready for bed - silently. Crap. This is the worst fight we've had since we got here. It's a doozy too. We're in bed now and he's facing the other way from me. At least he's here, in the bed. That's giving me some hope. He doesn't want to split up with me. If he did, he'd be elsewhere right now.

"Daniel? I'm sorry. Honestly. I don't know anyone braver than you, better than you. It's hard, ya know, trying to live up to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you any idea how hard it is - trying to be as good as you, I mean? You're brilliant, honest, brave... In many ways you're more of a man than I'll ever be."

"Don't be ridiculous, Jack. You were right. I'm nothing. Just a fucking geek."

That is bullshit.

"Look at me, Daniel," I order.

He turns to face me, his eyes have unshed tears in them.

"Daniel, I never said that. You proved to me a long time ago that you're the strongest man I've ever met. Maybe not physically, though these days you could give Teal'c a run for his money, but inside. I do respect you. I was just stunned earlier, that's all. You were so quiet in many ways when we met, that I have a hard time seeing that Daniel as a hunter.

"Of course, I'm wrong - a-fuckin'-gain. I always underestimate you. It's my failing, babe, and I know it. Forgive me, please. I'm just an old fool that's head over heels in love with the most wonderful man in the universe and sometimes I fuck it up. I'm crap at relationships, just ask Sara."

I want to say more, but his tongue is halfway down my throat. I don't think we're gonna talk anymore. Gonna fuck though if he has anything to do with it.

Somehow, without removing his face from mine, he's divested me of my shorts. I'm not putting up a fight though. No way. There, his are down too. Don't think that I'm being passive here, my arms are around him and I've got him locked in a hold that he's not getting out of anytime soon. I'm not letting him get away from me. I do, however, need to breathe.

Okay, a couple of gulps of air and back for round two.

This guy could kiss for the US, I'm tellin' ya. Oh God, the feel of his hot lips on mine, his tongue, his teeth - just him. WOOF! Short, snuffly breaths from his nose tell me he's getting close. He wants more. Whatever he wants, he's gonna get. Somehow I doubt I could stop him.

OhGODohGodohGod! He's got me by the dick. Literally as well as figuratively. He's broken from the kiss, his eyes black with lust. He's working me hard and fast, I'm jerking up into him.

"Come on, Jack, give it up for me. Come for me. When you come I'm gonna fuck you so hard you're gonna howl at the moon."

Oh shit. Nearly there... nearly there... God... Yes!

I didn't see him get the lube, can feel he is lubed though. I'd better try to relax because this is going to hurt otherwise. Ow. Not telling him that though. Shit, I knew he could go alpha on me but I've never seen him like this before. He's on fucking fire!

"Yes, Daniel, YES. So good, you feel so good. Nobody's as good as you. Nobody. Love you so much."

He's not talking, just grunting. NeanderDan. Woo hoo! Who knew? His head snaps up, his eyes fix a stare with mine. He's moving as hard and as fast as I have ever known anyone move. God this feels so good. If I can sit tomorrow it will be a fucking miracle - but I don't care. He wants this old ass, he's got it. God only knows he owns it.

My legs are up around his waist, his hips are pumping like a steam train's pistons, he grunting, panting, sweating... his face is as red as I've ever seen it.

"God, Jack, I'm gonna, oh yes, oh yes, oh... yes!"

I drop my legs down, he flops on my stomach and realises that he's got me going again. Ooh, he's sliding down, he's going too... oh yeah! Hot, wet, panting mouth. I'm not going to last - no fucking way. Jeez, that man gets some suction going. He's using every trick he knows and he's driving me out of my mind. I feel his head tilting - I look down, he looks up and I see the same, fiery look. It's too much for me. I'm gonna come, right... about... now.

I get the feeling that Daniel showed Jack just how alpha he can get last night. Jack's trying not to wince as he sits. So am I, actually. Teal'c's a big boy. Woo hoo. Daniel was right, underneath it all, Teal'c - my Teal'c - is a big, sappy, marshmallow. I'm not complaining. He's looking at me with shy smiles. SHY. Teal'c! Aw, it's so sweet.

Daniel's pretty quiet this morning. He doesn't look as upset as he did last night, but something's bothering him. I'm also guessing he's not going to talk about it. Hey ho, we'll have to play it by ear.

Anyway, we have an insurrection to organise. Jack's handing out the costume, they're just nondescript clothes, things to help us fit in and blend into the background. Though what with my blonde hair - and Daniel's now it's long and sun-bleached - we're going to stick out like sore thumbs if we're not careful. Fortunately the costume has coverings for our heads. We'll just have to hope that no one notices our blue eyes. Daniel's got his contacts in; his glasses would make him stick out on this mission.

We've eaten, made sure that we understand the intel we have and now we're off. Jack has taken Daniel to one side, he's stroking his face softly and saying something that I can't hear. Daniel's cheering up a bit at his words though, so I'm guessing it's something to do with last night. Ah, they're kissing. Really time to go now though, so we're going to the rings.

"Jack?"

"Sam?"

"Wouldn't it be better if we had our own teltac, you know, a cloaked one. Then we could do covert insertions a little more covertly than going through the gate."

"Good idea," he says. Woo hoo number two. I had a good idea! "We'll talk to your father when he comes back. Going through the gate isn't always going to be possible, I think. It will depend on the urgency of the mission and how far away the planet is. No point in using a teltac if it takes two months to get somewhere. But for more 'local' missions, yeah, it would be a good idea."

"We could use it to explore Remoc more thoroughly," Teal'c says. "There may be places which are more suitable for living or just to pick up different foods and materials."

He's got a good point too. We can see other land masses in the distance but we've never had a chance to explore. I'll see if I can't persuade Dad to help us get one.

We're at the gate, Daniel's dialling and Jack sends the VCD through.

"It's clear. Time to go, guys."

We've emerged onto a green planet. One of Anat's things that she was goddess for was 'fertility', meaning the land as much as anything else, so I guess it figures. The gate is only a short way from the town we have to go into so we'll be there in a few minutes. We've brought weapons - tons of C4 too. We've hidden it all outside the town walls.

Jack's making us hide out as much as possible as we go. The fewer the people that see us, the better. The plan is to listen in to the talk and see what the mood is among the people. If they're devoted to Anat, things are going to be much more difficult.

Dad already supplied us with the local currency. Taking the normal intergalactic currency would bring too much attention to us. There's the standard market set out in the middle of the town so we're heading there, saying nothing but listening out and picking up whatever we can. The local language is recognised by Daniel, we can tell. We're saying nothing to distract him so that he can pick it up and speak without getting it wrong later. We've been here for hours. I'm getting hungry.

Daniel's stopped. We do the same and pretend to inspect some goods. Daniel's listening into a conversation, his eyes are telling us that he's picked up something worth knowing.

I feel that Daniel has some information for us. We must get him away from the crowd so that he can impart it to us. O'Neill has seen this too. We have seen a small nod from Daniel and we're now making our way to a clear area.

"Oh boy," Daniel says. "Okay. As we know, tomorrow is going to be the day when she demands her sacrifice. Those guys I overheard in the market, well, they were talking cryptically, but I think they were talking about a revolution. There were mentions of 'action' and 'being prepared'. It could have been taken in a number of ways but I get the impression that that is what they were meaning."

"Could it be that you're interpreting it because you want it to be that way, Daniel?" O'Neill asks.

"Fair point. It's very possible. I'd suggest we listen in to more conversations, maybe even follow one of those guys and covertly check him out."

"Okay. You and Carter head back to the market. Pretend to shop or something. Listen out and see if you pick anything else up. Teal'c, you come with me and we'll follow that guy."

He points surreptitiously to one of the men that Daniel was listening to. We split up and follow.

"So, Teal'c, are you and Carter, er, together?" he asks quietly.

I am unsure as to the etiquette here, but Samantha's actions last night would make me assume that she does not mind O'Neill knowing.

"We are."

"Um, good, good. I wish you guys well. I'm sure it will work out for you."

"I hope so too, O'Neill. Are things well with you and Daniel Jackson?"

"Ah. Better than they were last night, thanks. But I think he's still not convinced that I respect him. I understand why and all, but still, I have no idea what to do to prove it to him."

"You have just left him to carry out a mission with only Samantha as backup. That will help."

"Yeah, I hope so. Heads up, he's going in there."

O'Neill is pointing to a building and so we head over to it. We saw the target looking around before he knocked on the door. His actions were reminiscent of someone trying to do something covertly. Perhaps we have 'struck lucky'.

There is a window but it is covered. We cannot see in. This is frustrating.

"We need to get in there, Teal'c."

"This is true. However, I do not see another way in."

"Perhaps we should knock and see if Daniel was right?"

"I do not think that would be a good idea."

"I was joking, Teal'c. I'm not that stupid. Oh crap, I am, however, on the wrong end of a knife. We're losing our touch, old friend."

"You may be, O'Neill, but I am not. It is you, after all, that is on the wrong end of the knife."

"Ya know, there are times I really regret Daniel teaching you ironic humour."

"He did not. I was already most humorous. You, however, have not always understood me."

"True, true, though joking aside, this hasn't extricated me from my little inconvenience, has it?"

"It has not. However, as the man holding the knife to you is the man that we were following, it may be to our benefit to go with him."

"That's what I like about you, Teal'c. Tactical thinking. It's good."

"Thank you."

The man holding the knife is looking bewildered at our exchange. I am in no mood to explain though. He points to the doorway and we go in.

"Jack hasn't checked in, Sam, I'm getting worried."

"Call him then." She's pretending to be interested in some clothes, but no way in hell is she going to get them.

"Not so sure that that is a good idea."

"Why?"

"If they're in trouble and we call them, we'll alert whoever's causing the trouble that they have people on the outside, so to speak."

"Yeah. Of course. Did you see which way they went?"

"No. Crap. What shall we do, Sam?"

"We wait. I suppose we could have a look around. The guy who was talking to the one that they followed may still be here."

"Okay. Let's look see. Oh shit!" I've seen some Jaffa marching into the square. This is not good news.

"Hide!"

Yeah, I'd kinda got that one Sam. Trouble is, there's nowhere to go. People are running, screaming, shit! This is not good news. Oh, I thought that already, didn't I? Great. Now is not the time to run a beta check on my contemplative literary skills. Fuckin' hide, Jackson!

Too late. They've seen us and they're heading towards us. Turn, run. Ah crap. They're coming from all directions, homing in on us. Sam's grabbed me - we're going where? Under a stall? Okay. Market stalls have to have some other uses I guess. Under the stall, pull the cover over us and pray. I can hear the feet, they're in front of the stall now. Voices - people screaming, Jaffa shouting. Oh shit, they're taking them for the sacrifice tomorrow. Obviously Anat is not bothered by who gets it, as long as sufficient numbers do get it.

Double crap. This is a flower stall. There are some under the covers. I'm gonna sneeze. I've got my nose pinched and I'm breathing through my mouth, which is now going dry. Sam's looking at me in confusion. I flick my eyes to the flowers and then hers open wide in shocked understanding. There's sweet FA I can do about this.

The noise of the footsteps is receding. Good. I think they're going. We'll wait till there's no noise at all before we come out though. Please let it be soon. I'm gonna..a-a-a-achoo!

Crap.

The covers have been lifted. A Jaffa's face appears. Sam and I crawl out from our hideout. My stupid fucking allergies have just cost us not only the mission, but likely our lives. I hate fuckin' flowers.

"Sorry, Sam," I tell her.

"Don't sweat it, Daniel, it couldn't be helped."

We're pushed in front of the guy with the staff weapon and off we go into captivity. There are days when I regret getting out of bed. I'm just glad that Jack and I made up last night. To die without him knowing that I still love him... well, it doesn't bear thinking about.

Say what you like about Goa'uld, they're predictable. We're in a large cell with about fifty others. I'm guessing that these people are scared shitless. Time to do some investigating.

Okay - we're in trouble. We just heard screaming out in the market square and one of our captor's pals has just come running in yelling that everyone there has been taken. Daniel and Sam were out there. I hope they've escaped. Trouble is, I can't call them just in case they're overheard. I can not deal with this. But I have to.

I'm guessing that these people here are against Anat. All we have to do is convince them that we are too.

"Hey, look, I understand the panic here. My, er, mate and his," I nod at Teal'c, "were in the market square. We need to find out if they were captured. If so, we need to get them out."

I only hope they understand me. Teal'c's been translating quietly for me all along. He doesn't speak this language, but it's similar enough to others that he does speak for him to get the gist of what they're saying. I need my linguist.

One of them is coming over to us.

"YOU!" he says, pointing at Teal'c. "You are Jaffa. You serve the Goa'uld scum." I guess he does understand us then.

"I am Jaffa," Teal'c says, "but I am not in their service. I left the service of Apophis so that I could fight the Goa'uld. I live in hope that one day my people will be free of servitude. You have nothing to fear from us. If you are the enemies of the Goa'uld, then you are our friends."

He's looking at us, not sure if he's wanting to believe us or not.

"Your mates, what do they look like?"

Shit. If these people aren't who they make out they are, describing Daniel and Carter could get them killed. However, I have to take a chance, I think. I need to prove that we are who we say we are.

"They are both blonde, I mean fair hair, like straw. One is male, a little shorter than me. The other is female, again she is tall, but only a little shorter than the other. They look similar, could pass for brother and sister. Their eyes are blue. They both wear jewellery, like this." I point to our communicator bracelets. I'm not saying what they really are, not yet. "It's something that binds the four of us together."

More suspicious looks. A man is despatched - possibly to find out if we're telling the truth. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I don't like this waiting. I've been talking, finding out what I can. The people are too afraid to act, but if something triggers them off they may well fight back. That's good to know. We're sitting out of the way, trying to stay apart and hidden. At least we're snuggled up together... this is nice.

"So, how did last night go with Teal'c?" I ask.

"Oh. Well. Um, very well, thanks."

"Sam? C'mon, spill. I want details."

"Okay, you tell me yours then. How did Jack get around you."

"He apologised profusely."

"And?"

"I fucked him. Hard."

"Yeah, I kinda guessed when he sat down. Damn, Daniel, I didn't know you were such an animal."

"Wish I hadn't done that. I hate seeing him like that. He says it's okay, but..."

"You're upset that you hurt him?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"Daniel, don't you think he could have stopped you if he'd wanted to?"

"I know. It's just I don't like to hurt him. He drove me nuts yesterday. I wanted to show him..."

"I understand. He didn't seem upset this morning."

"No, he wasn't... So, come on, I've told you mine, you tell me yours."

"Not too much to say. Teal'c told me how he feels about me - he loves me, you're right on that one."

"YAY!"

*snort* "Yeah. I told him the same. We, um, made out."

"Is he any good?"

"Good? Jack wasn't the only one having difficulty sitting this morning."

Oh, oh. There's a noise at the cell doors. Someone is coming in. Jaffa - well, that figures. Sam and I huddle back in a corner and in the shadows. Aw crap, we've been spotted. The Jaffa is going through all the people and looking at them as if they're being inspected. Hope this isn't a 'let's find a host' fest. He's got a couple of his pals with him so there's no point in trying to fight them. Yet. Here they come.

"Hey! Careful!" Bastard's knocked our head covers off. They'll know we're not from around here now then. Damn and blast.

"Stand up, come with me!"

I guess we don't have a choice, do we? The crowd is parting and we're walking through them. Sam's desperately trying to fight off the urge to lash out, I can tell. I take her hand in mine to calm her. She looks at me. My eyes tell her 'Not now'. A tight nod and a squeeze of my hands tells me that she's got the message.

We're out of the cell now and heading down a corridor. A man, a local man I think, is looking at us hard. I stare at him, trying to figure out what he's wanting. His eyes open wide and then he shrinks back into the shadows as we pass. Hmm. Interesting.

O'Neill is not happy. Neither am I, but I am better at hiding my feelings I think. We are waiting for the messenger to report. He has been gone for quite some time. A short while ago, O'Neill's stomach rumbled and our captors realised that we were hungry. They fed us. This leads me to believe that they will be on their side. They actually cared about our welfare - something that the Goa'uld do not do unless it is to their advantage.

There is a knock on the door, a pattern of raps; two knocks, a pause, two more knocks, another pause and a final knock. That may be useful to remember. The door has opened and it is the messenger. He is speaking quietly to the others and looking at us. The one that speaks our language comes over.

"Your friends have been taken out of the cell. They are being taken to Anat most likely. Why? Are they spies?"

O'Neill stares at him and then says, "Yes. But not for Anat. Against her."

"Who do you work for?"

"Ah. I want to tell you but I can't. Let's just say there's an intergalactic group of superpowers that want to get rid of the Goa'uld. I can't tell you any more than that. If you are against Anat, we are on the same side. We came here to incite a rebellion."

I am most surprised that O'Neill has imparted this bit of information. Perhaps he feels that it will mitigate our not telling them about our ostensible employers. The information has been relayed to the others and they are agitated.

"Crap. Perhaps I made a mistake telling them that," he says to me under his breath.

Perhaps not.

"We are the resistance," the one says. "We will give no names. You, however, will tell us how you were to start this rebellion."

O'Neill takes a deep breath and speaks.

"We have weapons," he says. "They are stashed outside the town. We were going to set off explosions around the town just before the so-called sacrifice started. We hoped that it would prompt the victims to escape and maybe to fight. To tell the truth, our primary objective is not to assassinate Anat. It's to create trouble. She's going to hear that Baal started the trouble."

"Why would you not kill her?"

"The bigger picture. It's not just your people who are suffering, it's countless planets. There is something much, much bigger going down. A Goa'uld more powerful than the System Lords and more nuts than Anat is on the rise. He has the System Lords on his side at the moment. Baal is one of them. By blaming a revolution on Baal, Anat may go to one of the other System Lords to ask for assistance, thereby creating trouble among the alliance.

"We need the System Lords in power, until we can get rid of Anubis. Then we can take them and the minor Goa'uld out. Anat's first on the hit list. Of course," he drawls, "if we can't do that, killing her wouldn't upset us at all."

He passes this new information onto his cohorts then turns back to us.

"You will take us to your weapons. If they are there, we will take a chance and believe you. Many of our families have been taken for the sacrifice. We wish to rebel and to remove Anat from our lands. You will help us do this. We will help you retrieve your mates in return."

"Fair enough," O'Neill says, and we get up and head off into the night.

"Who is this?"

I'm guessing that this is Anat. Pretty enough host, I guess, but the frown lines on her face from years of scowling haven't done much for her.

"They were in the market, my lady. They are not from Ugarit."

"I can see that," she replies.

Can a snake sound exasperated? She's heading over to us now, much closer. Daniel's trying to look bored. Perhaps he is. It's not as if we haven't been in this sort of situation before, is it? If we get out of it, it probably won't be the last, either.

"Who are you?" she asks Daniel.

One of these days someone's gonna speak to me first. I'm likely to die of shock if they do. However, there are advantages to being ignored. It gives me the opportunity to check stuff out without being noticed.

"No one," Daniel says dismissively.

"No one? You look like someone to me. We do not have people that look like you on this planet. I think you intrigue me."

"Fucking great. What is it with you snakes? I always fuckin' intrigue you. I've got news for you, I'm not very interesting. Ask anyone that knows me."

That's so not true. He's very interesting. If you like archaeology and stuff.

I think that Daniel actually knows that when he does this 'don't care' act it does, in fact, get the snakes more interested in him than they were before. Doh! You know, Sam, there are times you are so stupid you surprise yourself. Of course he knows. Anat hasn't taken her eyes off him all this time. The pissier he is, the more interested she is, the less I'm noticed. And the less likely I am to get hurt. Bastard. He's trying to protect me again.

Still, I'm the warrior here, it's up to me to figure out the military options. And Daniel's giving me the chance to do my job. Love him. Still going to smack him when we get home though.

So, what do we have? Only a handful of Jaffa. Too many for us to take out. There's a sarc in the corner - Daniel's trying not to look at it. Does he still get drawn to it, I wonder? I know it frightens him.

The snake is all over him, trailing her finger down his face. He's still trying to look unimpressed with the whole thing.

"Look," he says, trying not to shout. "I don't know if you understand this concept, but I'm not interested in you. I really have a problem with snakes - as in, 'I think you should all be wiped off the face of the universe', and all that. Not to mention that fuck one fertility goddess and you've fucked them all. I mean, I'm sure that you're probably every bit as good as Hathor in bed, but puh-lease, she was fucking awful so I don't think that that would be difficult."

Nice one, Daniel. Pander to her, why don't you?

"YOU! You were the mate to Hathor? I do not believe you."

"Couldn't give a shit whether you do or not, it's true. Hated her, hate you. Hate all snakes to tell the truth. Actually, that's not quite true - I can tolerate Yu, he's not too bad. But then he's not so full of himself. But after that, nope. You make me sick."

"Who are you?" she demands.

"Who am I? I told you, I am nobody. Certainly nobody you want to know."

"Who do you work for and why are you here?"

Daniel just rolls his eyes. He's not going to tell her, not yet anyway. Unlike some of the other Jaffa we've had to deal with, these guys give me the impression that they really can hit a six foot target from ten feet away, so we have to be careful. I'm guessing that Daniel has no intention of being put in the sarc again.

"You will tell me everything I want to know," she says carefully.

"Nope. I won't."

Daniel, don't do this. Snake-baiting may be fun for you but it has a nasty habit of getting you killed. Yep, she's just smacked him one. A back-hander across the face. To be fair, Daniel looks distinctly unimpressed. That lip is going to be swollen for a while, I think.

We are outside the town and taking the rebels to our weapons.

"I want to know what's happening to our friends," O'Neill demands. "You can get someone on the inside?"

"We can," the rebel replies.

"Get a message to them, please. Just tell them that Jack says it's good to talk. Nothing else. They'll know what's meant by it."

"What good would it do us?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe, if they are in a position to cause trouble, they'll be able to help. If you can get some zats to them too, that would be a huge help."

"Zats?"

"Zat'nik'a'tels," I inform him. "We named them zats for convenience."

We are at the weaponry. My staff weapon, the zats and the C4 are all here. Our costume wouldn't have hidden all of our weaponry, and we were afraid of being seen with any by Anat's Jaffa, so that is why we hid them. The rebel now believes us, I think.

"What is this?" he asks, pointing to the C4.

"An explosive. It's safe to mess about with it until it is primed with a detonator. When it goes up - it goes up. It's effective."

"Indeed it is. I have used it on many occasions. For a small device, it has a large destructive capability. What targets would you like destroyed?"

The rebel thinks about this for a moment.

"How do you make it explode?"

"We can set a timer on it, or we can do it by hand - remotely of course."

More thought.

"The place of sacrifice is an arena. She stands and watches from on high. The victims are taken in together, along with the Jaffa and the doors to the arena are closed - the walls are high, there is no way out. If we could remove the doors, we could provide an escape route."

"What is the arena made of?"

"The walls are stone, but the doors are wooden. Thick and heavy, they would withstand a battering ram for quite some time."

"We can take them out," O'Neill says with confidence. "Will you ask one of your friends to take these zats to our friends? While he's doing that, the rest of us can go and plant some explosives."

For the first time, the rebel smiles.

"My name is Kalib," he says.

"Jack O'Neill, this it Teal'c," O'Neill smiles back. We may be making a friend here.

Okay, this is getting old. Sam and I are in a room, no windows, only the one door and that's guarded on the other side. Anat was called away for a while - something to do with the preparations for tomorrow, I think.

"Daniel, must you bait the snake? Look at the mess on your face."

"I can't. She knocked my contacts out. Don't have a mirror anyway."

"Surely you can feel it?" Sam asks in horror. Well, of course I can fucking feel it - it hurts!

"I'm fine, Sam. I've had worse. The more I bait her, the more distracted she is, giving Jack and Teal'c a chance to complete the mission and hopefully get us out of here."

"They'll get us out of here first, knowing them," she snorts.

"Not if it compromises the mission, Sam. Jack won't save me unless he can."

"How can you be so sure?"

"The Gadmeer?"

"Oh yes, you two were together then, weren't you?"

"Um, yeah - not for long. We split when we got home. He hated that I'd put him in that position, I hated that he didn't trust me to do as he'd requested. We didn't get back together until we got Jack and Teal'c home from the death glider."

"Wow. That was a big gap. What prompted the change?"

"Ah. Well, it was the night we got back. I was, um, seeing someone else. He came over, caught us in bed and went insane. We had the biggest fight we've ever had. My, er, other half of the time and I decided that seeing each other probably would be damaging to his health, given Jack's mood. He knew I'd go back to Jack if I had a chance anyway - knew that from the get-go.

"Next morning, Jack came over, white as a sheet, shaking like a leaf. He'd been up all night, talking to Charlie at the cemetery I think. He pleaded with me to take him back. Somehow, we've stayed together ever since. It's come close to me leaving him - him leaving me too. But we won't. I can't go on without him and I know it. He feels the same way."

"You were seeing Paul Davis, weren't you?"

I look at her and grin but I don't say anything.

"Daniel, should we ever get back to Earth, I'm not going to tell anyone, am I? I'm not in the Air Force anymore."

"Okay - yeah, it was him. He's a good friend, Sam. He knew what I needed and he gave it to me. I love him, I guess, but not the way I love Jack."

There's a noise at the door. Crap. It's the bitch.

We've hidden the packs of C4 and set them to go off by remote. I wish I could show Kalib how it's going to work, he's not getting the explanation. Still, he's having to trust me. There's no news from Daniel yet. I'm getting extremely worried.

It's dark, we're still scouting out the place, watching the Jaffa, taking mental notes of where things are and so on. I need to rest, but until I hear from Daniel I'm not going to sleep.

"O'Neill, you should shut your eyes. If you are not rested for the morning we may make mistakes and that could be disastrous."

I know it. But how can I sleep if I haven't heard from them?

Daniel's been taken away. I've been left in the room on my own. I'm not sure what to feel at the moment. Oh crap, someone's at the door. Oh, it's a servant I guess. He's got something on a tray for me.

"Food," he says to the Jaffa on the door. The Jaffa nods and lets him in. Good, the door's shut.

"You are a friend of Jack?" he asks.

"I am." He looks worried, as if he shouldn't be here. I have to take a chance on him.

"I have some food for you and something else."

A zat? Two? Oh Jack, nice one. I slip the weapons under my cloak and thank him quietly. I could do with the food too.

"Jack says it's good to talk," he adds before turning away.

"Thank you," I call out. "For everything."

"You are welcome."

"Do you know what's happened to my friend?"

"Anat has him. I am afraid that she will want him for, er, entertainment tonight."

Fuck. Well, that was an apposite obscenity I'm sure.

"Right. Thanks. Be careful."

"I will. You must not be taken to the arena in the morning. If you do, you will not likely survive."

"Yeah, I'd kinda got that one. Thanks again."

He nods and leaves.

"Jack! Jack! Answer me!"

W.w.wha? Fuck it. I was sleeping too. Okay, this is good, it's Sam.

"Sam, what's going on?"

"Daniel and I were separated from the crowd. I'm in a room, trapped. Only one way out and there are a couple of Jaffa on the door. Daniel's been taken to Anat's room. I doubt it's good news."

FUCK!

"He will be okay, Jack, you know Daniel. He'll bounce back."

Bounce back? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Oh crap. Not again.

"Did you get the zats?"

"Yes, thanks."

"Good. Stay low. I'll signal you when it's time for you to break out. If you can, contact me in a couple of hours."

"Shall do. Get some rest."

I'm up, rousing the others too. We have to get Daniel away from her.

"Teal'c, Anat's got Daniel. I have to go in to get him back. Sam's okay, she's in a room on her own."

The big guy looks relieved at that.

"We cannot disrupt our plan, O'Neill, no matter how much we want to."

"Daniel's been taken to Anat, Teal'c. You know what that means. And this time there's going to be no nishta to take away the pain for him."

"You said you had to prove to Daniel that you respected him, O'Neill. Respect him now."

"By letting him get tortured? Raped?"

"No, by letting him deal with it himself. You have no way of knowing that this is the case. He may just be being questioned. If you go to him now, the element of surprise that we will have tomorrow will go. He will be keeping our presence a secret. If you trust him to do his job, if you respect his ability to accomplish his task, then let him be.

"I know it is hard. I am fighting my desire to also rush in and rescue them both. But I do respect their abilities and their strength. You must concentrate on the mission, O'Neill. By doing that, you will prove to him that you have the utmost respect for him."

"I do, Teal'c, I do. But what if she kills him tonight?"

He looks at me with sad eyes.

"Then we will mourn him greatly."

I really don't like Anat at all. She's tried to seduce me - sheesh. She's threatened me with torture if I don't talk - been there done that one. We've had the 'kneel down before me' crap too. Needless to say it took a couple of large Jaffa to get me into that position. I don't think that Jack is going to be very attracted to me when he sees me next, I'm not looking very good at the moment.

"Your face is a mess," she announces.

"What do you expect? You've been beating it. Think about it for a minute. I'm sure that the logic behind my statement will sink in eventually."

Jack sneers much better than she does.

"I should like to see you as you are supposed to be."

"Yeah, well I shouldn't like to see you are you are supposed to be, that's for sure."

"SILENCE! I have tolerated enough of this insolence. There will be no more."

Somehow, I doubt that. Though, the little voice in the back of my head (which sounds remarkably like Jack) is saying, 'shut the fuck up Jackson and survive this'. The longer I keep her occupied, the less likely she is to hurt Sam or figure out that something else, something bigger is going on. I just hope - I just pray that Jack is all right. I have to take it on trust. He has to complete his mission and not come looking for me. I know he'll want to. I know it.

"Jaffa, kree."

Oh shit, what now? Oh no. No fuckin' way. I am NOT getting in that thing.

"You will be repaired," she's saying.

"Oh no. I'm quite happy as I am thank you very much. I'll live with a face that looks like it's been attacked with a mallet. Permanently if necessary."

Don't show her how afraid you are, Jackson, you can't. Somehow I don't think I've done a good enough job at hiding it.

"You know my old friend, do you? You have been in one before?"

"On a few occasions, yes. Usually to repair injuries - though I've come back from the dead a couple of times using one. It's nothing special. No need to try to impress me at all. I've been there, done that. No, I'm fine. Thanks."

I don't think she's going to listen. Oh crap. Okay, calm down. The once won't hurt. It will fix what's wrong and that's all. I'll be okay with it. I will. Just try to stay calm, Daniel.

O'Neill is fighting the urge to blast his way into Anat's palace. I understand. I wish to retrieve Samantha - and Daniel, of course.

However, my words to him stand. We may not do that for fear of spoiling our surprise attack. O'Neill is talking to the rebels, giving them advice on fighting, planning how to keep Anat away from the place if she survives the revolution and so on. She has no ships, so she will need the gate to escape. However, if she secures assistance from the System Lords to fight Baal, she may return seeking vengeance.

The colony here is not particularly huge. There are but about 10,000 people. It is possible for them to be relocated to a different planet. We know of some suitable places. I am sure that the Tok'ra will assist in their relocation. I would hope so.

"You. Come with us."

Okay, here we go. I've hidden the zats in my cloak, so they're ready for when we need them. Shit, the two - big - Jaffa have got me by my arms. I can't get to them. Damn and blast.

Daniel. Thank God. He's not looking happy but he doesn't look injured. Hang on, what about his face? It's okay. There's nothing... wrong... oh my God. The sarcophagus. He's trying not to either look at me or it, but I can see him being drawn to it. Anat knows this, knows his weakness. He's always been afraid of going in one without extreme injury just in case this happened. He wants to go back in there. Not intellectually, but physically. How many times has he been in there overnight?

"You will get back into the sarcophagus," she's telling him. "Or else, your friend here will suffer the consequences."

"Don't do it," I tell him. "Please, don't do it."

His eyes are pleading with me to stop this. I can't get to the zats. I'm struggling but the Jaffa tighten their grip. I've tried kicking out but nothing is working. I can't stop this.

Anat has her ribbon device and she's pointing it at me. Here we go. It's okay, Daniel. It's okay. You can't go through that again. I don't want you to go through that again. It's... fine.

"STOP! Okay, okay, I'll get in it. Don't know what you think you're going to get out of me," he's yelling. "You'll get nothing. But if you want me fitter and stronger than I already am, then fucking DO IT!"

God, no. Not this.

"DON'T!" He's not listening to me. Shit.

The sun is up - she'll be out soon. There's noise coming from the palace. There must be all of her Jaffa excepting her personal bodyguards here. They're forcing the crowd into the arena. We have to get the timing of this right. Somehow we have to help these people escape and let her know who was behind this - then we have to let her escape. I don't want to do that but if we can, we have to.

We're all in position. Teal'c's hiding out near to where she'll be sitting. We're hoping that Sam and Daniel will be here - either in the arena or with her. We still don't know what she pulled them out of the cell for.

The messenger who came back said that the Jaffa had gone through the cell, looking at all the prisoners before they were either spotted and recognised as foreign - or, and this is the thing we're dreading, they were found. As in she knew they were there. If that's the case, there's a spy in the Tok'ra ranks because they were the only ones that knew we were coming. We've had that before so we're really hoping it's not the case now.

Crap. She's come out onto her viewing platform. She's standing about twenty feet above the arena and looking down. Daniel's with her and he looks... different somehow. He's got royal robes on. Where have I seen that before? And his stance, it's almost... arrogant. Oh shit. I know. He's saying something to her and she's smiling at him. I was afraid of this.

No! Sam! She's been brought out of the crowd, there's a Jaffa holding onto her. He's got a short sword in his hands, it's glistening in the morning sun. It looks sharp. Sam's on her knees but looking defiant, staring up at Anat and looking like she wants to spit in her eye. That's my girl. I think it's nearly time.

Anat's speaking. I have no idea what she's saying but the people in the arena are scared shitless. They know they're about to die, I think. The Jaffa surrounding them have drawn their blades. Nobody's moved yet. Anat has raised her hand. I think it's about time to blow this joint.

*BANG*

Thar she blows. The doors have splintered. I'm taking that Jaffa out. Sam's away from him, great. The rebels have invaded the arena and they're taking on the Jaffa. We can't stop to help them. Sam's firing her zats at anyone that comes close. I'm down to her.

"CARTER! COME ON!"

She sees me and comes running. We're off to get Daniel.

The C4 has exploded. It is time for me to retrieve Daniel. I was here in case she had our mates here. I see that O'Neill has assisted Samantha's rescue, I will hope that they get out of the arena quickly.

My position is now not good. I cannot access Daniel. Anat's personal bodyguard have surrounded them both. I believe they are heading to the stargate.

"O'Neill! Anat is heading to the gate. She has Daniel with her. Hurry, we have to get there before she gets away!"

We cannot let her take him. It would kill O'Neill.

"Gotcha! Go, get there, we're on our way!"

I run ahead of the Goa'uld and her guards to get to the DHD. They will have to get past me to leave the planet. As we wish her to leave, however, it may be a better idea to head them off away from it. Here. This will do. The path narrows.

"O'Neill, I am in the narrow stretch of the path on the town side of the gate. We should attack here."

"Right behind you. Or rather, right behind her. Keep them occupied."

"I shall."

I am standing in the path and the Jaffa are coming towards me.

"Halt! You will hand over your prisoner and then I shall let you go."

"Why should I believe you?" She is speaking to me directly.

"I have no need to take you prisoner. I only wish the return of my friend."

Daniel is not looking at me. I believe he has been hurt in some form. It is only my orders that are stopping me from killing the Goa'uld and her five Jaffa. If I were to follow my instinct I would tear them all apart with my bare hands.

"Get out of my way, Jaffa, and I will spare your life."

"You are mistaken. It is I who will decide on who will live and who will die."

I see O'Neill and Samantha behind them. We need to co-ordinate our actions.

"I will kill you all. Starting with your pathetic specimen in front of me. Then, maybe the even weaker ones behind you."

O'Neill nods. He understands.

Anat is blustering, wondering how one man could do this. I just smile, power up my staff weapon and say, "Watch."

I have to dive to avoid the fire that comes my way, but I have taken out the one in front. Daniel has dropped to the floor. O'Neill and Samantha have taken out the ones behind them.

Anat is afraid. Before I can pick myself up her remaining Jaffa have grabbed her and they are running for the gate. I let off a few shots either side of them. I do not want them thinking they have had an easy escape. I see them at the DHD. Good. It is time to see to my friends.

"Samantha, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Teal'c. It was a close one."

"We were watching you, my dear. We would not have allowed you to come to harm."

"I know. I felt you there."

I hold her in my arms for a moment. We will be more attentive back on Remoc, I am sure.

"Daniel?" Samantha is now sitting with him. He is staring into space.

"It's there - in her palace," he says.

"I know, sweetie, I know. You can't go back."

"Daniel? What's wrong?" I have a sickening feeling that I know what's wrong without asking.

"The sarc." His voice is cracking.

"Fuck. Okay, let's get you out of here, shall we? When was the last time you were in it?"

"Just before we were taken out."

"How many times were you in it?"

"I don't know. Four, five, maybe more. She'd put me back in more or less as soon as I got out." He's shaking - I don't know if this is fear of what is going to happen, or just the shock of it all.

"O'Neill!" It is Kalib.

"Kalib. How did it go?"

"There was a bloodbath," he says with a wry laugh. "But not the bodies that she wanted in sacrifice. Your friends, are they hurt?"

"Not as such. Thanks for your help, by the way."

"The thanks are returned. We could not have completed our task without your assistance. The explosions you set around the town were most successful. The access we had to the Jaffa's normal weaponry allowed us to defeat them much more quickly than we would have done otherwise."

"You'd better evacuate the planet. She may come back with help for revenge. We have some friends who can come here and take you to uninhabited places - places of safety. If you want that, of course."

"These friends, who are they?"

"The Tok'ra. They are like the Goa'uld but they do not enslave people. They are the enemies of the Goa'uld. Just don't be surprised when they sound like them. You can trust them, Kalib."

I don't know why I say that, I certainly don't trust them. However, he is taking me at my word. I tell him that those that come through will ask for him personally so that they know it's really the Tok'ra.

"We have to go now," I tell him. "My friend will get sick soon. We need to get him to help."

"Is there anything we can do?" His voice is gentle and he's looking at Daniel who is still shaking on the ground, shivering with fright I think.

"No. Just let us go and live well."

"We thank you all. You will always be welcomed among us."

We have got to go now.

I didn't think we were going to make it. More to the point I didn't think I was going to make it. We're at the gate and dialling up. I've told them some of what happened, the rest will come when we get home. And we're through... the gate now.

"Did she know that Baal was behind this?" Jack asks as we step out and head to the tunnels.

Ah.

"Ye-ah."

"Sam?"

"Well, when Daniel was in the sarc she asked me what I was doing there. I told her that Baal had sent me to kill her but that for long and convoluted reasons that I wasn't going to explain to her I had to bring my brother and we got side-tracked and..."

"SAM! Whoa. You told her you were going to kill her?"

"Yeah. Well, she already had Daniel there and I didn't want her adding to his troubles and I figured that the brother thing would cover for me spilling my guts out and..."

"Sam, stop. You're getting as bad as Daniel for long sentences. Okay. I want a proper report from you when your dad gets here. But for now, let's go and rest, shall we?"

"I'll get the VCD and call him straight away. You put the coffee on, Jack."

"Jeez, take her out of the Air Force and she starts giving me orders. Watch it, Teal'c, you're next on the hit list."

Teal'c smiles at me.

"I do believe that I have already been hit."

He puts his hand out and takes mine. Hmm, he's not the only one that's been hit.

"Hey, Daniel, here's a coffee. Are you feeling all right?"

Jack's treading on eggshells around me. Can't say I blame him. Last time this happened I tried to kill him.

"Hide the weapons, Jack. Knives, zats, everything. When Jake leaves get Sam to take the crystal out of the DHD or I'll be heading through the gate. Tie me down if you have to. You know what I'm going to get like, don't you?"

"Hopefully it won't be so bad, Daniel. She only had you in there over one night. Last time it went on for days. Maybe you'll come down quicker."

"Sure. Of course I will Jack."

"You haven't answered my question, Daniel. How are you feeling?"

"Scared. Physically I feel fine. No contacts in but I can see. No headaches. I feel better than I've done in a while. But I know what's coming this time and I'm afraid. I don't want to hurt you - any of you. Keep Sam away from me, please. I know she's a strong woman and a much better fighter than I'll ever be, but if I hit her or hurt her I'll never forgive myself. I guess that sounds sexist, doesn't it?"

"Ye-ah, sort of. But I understand. It's human nature to want to protect those we love, Daniel. I doubt you'd feel to wonderful about hitting me or Teal'c either."

"No. No, I wouldn't. But you and I, well, we've fought on a few occasions and whether I'm physically stronger than normal or not, Teal'c can take me in his sleep."

Jack lets out a snort when I say that. He's letting me be for a few minutes, just quietly watching over me as I drink my coffee. He looks upset about something.

"Jack? What's wrong?"

He's about to say 'nothing', when he realises that I can see right through him.

"In a minute, Daniel. Let me organise a few things first, will ya?"

"Sure. I'll get something to eat. I'm really hungry."

"Good idea. You do that."

I hear the transport rings. It must be Sam.

"Dad said he'll be here as soon as he can. He'll bring some sedatives, Daniel. They'll help you over the worst of the withdrawal if you want them."

"Right. Thanks. Are you hungry?"

"Sure. C'mon, let's eat."

She's back in big sister mode, I can tell. Oh God. I don't want to hurt her.

Good. Jake's come. He's come through quickly. We tell him what happened and what we need the Tok'ra to do in a hurry. He nods, says he'll get onto it right away.

"Um, Jake," I take him to one side. "Those sedatives, will they be enough for him?"

"They'll help him sleep through the worst of it, Jack, but don't administer them till he looks like he's going to come down. You can't give him any more than the doses that I've told you about. Do not give him an overdose. It would hurt him."

"That alien tech. Would it help?"

"I don't know is the honest answer to that. It might. On the other hand, it might kill him. Mixing the effects of two different technologies on him... Well, let's say that none of the Tok'ra wanted to volunteer trying out a sarcophagus first to see what would happen."

Can't say I blame them.

"When he's better, bring him to our base. We'll cure his eye problems. Your knees too if you want. We need you all in perfect health out there, Jack. You're doing one hell of a job. The minor Goa'uld are starting to get worried. Rumours of crack hit squads are out there, they're not a hundred percent certain who's behind it all."

"Yu knows we're around," I point out.

"True. But you know him, he'll keep that information to himself. He's the one Goa'uld that we can rely on to help us take out Anubis. He is only part of the alliance because he has no choice. We're not sure about the others. Some would go to Yu's side if he was in a strong enough position. The others would stay with Anubis, I'm certain.

"The minor Goa'uld are starting to ally themselves with each other and the System Lords. The whole fabric of Goa'uld society is splintering. You've only had a few missions, Jack, but you're starting to make great inroads. We're hoping that one of these days you'll get to take out Anubis himself."

"You think we'll get that chance?"

"Who knows? It's got to be worth looking at. In the meantime we'll keep undermining him, chipping away at his support network. Petrocus was definitely going to be on his side, Ibo was already allied with him. You're doing a great job, Jack."

"At what cost, Jake? Daniel's already died once and now he's addicted to the fucking sarc again. Not to mention Sam's illness."

"That had nothing to do with the missions, Jack."

He says that a little too quickly for my liking. I wonder.

Night-time has fallen. Samantha has prepared our evening rations and we are sitting around the table and eating. Daniel has said nothing. He is not like he was the last time. There is no sign of his arrogance. He said that he was having to pretend to Anat that he was on her side earlier today. It was the only way he could guarantee that he would be at her side during the sacrifice.

We have eaten and cleared up. I do believe that it is time to sleep.

"Teal'c? Do you need to do kel'no'reem tonight, or can you sleep with me?"

"I can do both, Samantha. Come, let us lie down."

We are ready for bed and now lying together. She has 'snuggled', as she puts it, in my arms. I think that she requires the comfort.

"Um, Teal'c, do you mind that I only want to sleep tonight?"

"Of course not. I understand. The last few days have been... busy. Make yourself comfortable my love and sleep. Tomorrow, things will look better."

"I hope that Daniel is all right." Her voice is quiet and sleepy.

"As do I. As do I."

I wish Jack would stop treating me like I'm going to break. I'm not. I won't allow it.

"You were going to tell me something, Jack. I've waited. Tell me now."

"Um. Okay. I'm sorry I didn't come and get you, Daniel. I was afraid for you. Given her fertility goddess status I thought she was going to, er..."

"What? Rape me?"

"Yeah. That or torture you. I was scared for you."

"Why didn't you come then?"

He looks at me and gives me a wry smile.

"The mission. It had to be completed. Many would have died otherwise. I had to trust that you would come through this, Daniel. I knew that you wouldn't let me down - that was never in doubt. I feel like shit that you've been hurt again. And it's not because I don't think that you can handle it.

"Personal feelings for you aside, Daniel, you're one of my kids - part of my team. I'd feel like this if it was Sam or Teal'c. I wanted to break the palace doors down and rescue her too, ya know. So don't you think that I don't respect you or something. It's not true. If I didn't, I would have come knocking the doors down as soon as you were taken. I knew you wouldn't tell her anything she wasn't supposed to know, no matter what she did to you.

"But I love you, Daniel, and seeing you hurting like this, it hurts me. I hope you understand."

I study his face for a while, he's wanting an answer. Part of me wants to yell at him, accuse him of treating me like a child again, but I know that that is just the start of the withdrawal talking. I'm going to have to show him that I believe him. He hasn't lied to me. I can read him like a book. He showed me his respect by letting me stay there and do my job, irrespective of what happened to me. I appreciate that.

"I do, Jack. Thank you. Now, I'm starting to feel a touch irrational and irritable. I'm fighting that at the moment, but I know that soon I'm going to start being unreasonable and the chances are I'm going to say things that I don't mean. Whatever I do or say while I'm going through this I want you to know something.

"I love you more than my life, Jack. And I don't want to hurt you. I'm likely to, and I want to say I'm sorry now. You have to know that I mean that, Jack. Please say you understand."

"Better than you realise, Daniel. Come on, let's get you some of the Tok'ra joy juice. Hopefully you'll sleep through the worst of it."

Okay - probably not a bad idea. I'm really hoping that it's going to help. Last time, it hurt.

He's asleep now, wrapped in my arms and clinging on to me as if I was a lifeline. Perhaps I am at the moment. Oh oh, here we go.

"NO! Don't put me in there you bitch!"

I wonder which bitch he's screaming about this time. This is the third nightmare he's had in the last hour or so. I'm shattered, but I can't ask one of the others to come here now and I won't leave him. I can sleep later.

"I'm not going to tell you anything. You hear me? Not going to tell you a thing!"

That's my Daniel.

"Fine. Fucking kill me, see if I care."

KILL HIM? Shit. What is he dreaming of? I hope this is just a mix of stuff, his brain playing tricks on him.

"Jack, where are you? I know you want to come for me. Come for me Jack."

Cripes, even his nightmares are full of double entendres. Anyway, that's my cue.

"Hey, Daniel, I'm here. I've got you. You're safe now, it's just a bad dream."

I'm getting too old for this crap. He's fighting me, screaming that I want to kill him. No, Daniel, I don't. Love you, I'll never hurt you. Come on, babe, wake up for me, please. That's it, come on. It's only a dream.

He's struggling to get out of my arms but I can't let him go. Now his eyes are wide open.

"Jack?"

"Yes, Daniel, it's me. Are you awake now?"

"Where are we? What are you doing in my bed?"

"Daniel, we're on Remoc. Remember? We live here. You and me. Carter and Teal'c live underground, we live in the cabin. Here. Together. C'mon, Daniel."

"NO! You're messing with my mind!"

"No I'm not, babe. Please calm down. I can't give you any more sedative for another couple of hours and I'm tired. I can't fight you anymore."

He's still trying to get out of my arms, it's as if he can't remember that we're together.

"Daniel. Please calm yourself before you get hurt. You should know I'd never hurt you. I love you, remember? We're together. Have been for two years. Two years in two days' time in fact."

"Jack?" He's putting his hand on my cheek and smiling at me. "You and me, of course. Always, huh? Love you. You love me?"

"Of course I love you. And you're right. Always."

"Do you want me?"

"Daniel?"

"C'mon. We're together, huh? So, you must want me. Don't you?"

"Of course I do, but you're sick. I don't want to do anything..."

"To hurt me, I know. You said. If you loved me you'd want me. I want you. It won't hurt me you know. Unless you're just saying this and you don't know what you're doing."

This is the withdrawal talking and I know it. Perhaps a little tactile reassurance.

"Can I kiss you?"

"You can fuck me if you want."

"I want. But I'd rather just kiss for now, if that's all right with you."

"Sure," he says as nonchalantly as possible.

It's obviously not all right with him though. Still, he's good at this, drugged out of his skull or not. He's not the same as he was first time around with the withdrawal. Perhaps the sedatives are doing it or perhaps it's because he's been through it all before. Who knows? Last time he was more violent.

He's hard as nails - me too, but then he's kissing me so that's expected. I doubt it will hurt to get him off.

"Do you really want me, Jack?" he whispers.

I just grab his hand and shove it down the front of my shorts.

"That answer your question? Of course I want you - I always fucking want you. Wanting you was never the problem, Daniel."

"Then fuck me," he growls.

Ach - I'm not sure that I should do it. But then, if he wants this, it may help. Can't really hurt, can it?

"How do you want it, Daniel? On your back?"

"No. Like this."

He's on his stomach - his favourite position. As long as he sleeps on the wet patch I guess it's fine. Besides, I get to see that lovely ass of his. Such a shame.

I'm lubed and ready. He's spread his legs - doesn't want any foreplay tonight, obviously. Some nights, we'll fuck like this the moment we hit the bed. It takes the edge off things. Then we get to the foreplay. If we've already fucked it can last for ages - hours even. And when we finally get down to making love, oh my, it's mind-blowing. I don't think that that is likely tonight somehow.

He's moaning as I enter him, telling me how good it is, how much he wants me. Hmm. That feels so fucking good. Concentrate, Jack, this is for him.

"This how you want it, Daniel? You like this?"

"God, yes. Feels so good, Jack. More, just do it, please Jack."

His wish, etc., etc. I'm going at it as hard and as fast as I can. He's moving underneath me, writhing around, groaning and moaning in that low and sexy voice he's got when he's in this mood. It's a sound that goes straight to my groin. I defy anyone to turn Daniel down when he's like this. Ain't nuttin' hotter than my baby.

He's pushing back, begging me for more. There is no more! I'm giving him all I've got. Perhaps I should get the T man up here! Oh yes, he's close, I can hear that hitch in his voice that tells me he won't be long. A couple of grinds into his ass should do it... about... now. Oh yeah! He's coming and fuck, he's bringing me with him. So good, so fucking good.

I'm laying on his back, panting hard, trying to get my breath back. His back is moving, small shudders... oh shit, he's crying. Silently. He can't hide it though.

"Daniel?" I pull off him and roll to one side. I'm not letting him shut me out of this one. I grab him and pull him into my arms and hold him closely. "Danny, speak to me. Tell me what's wrong, please. I can't help you if I don't know."

His voice is small, almost whispering.

"It hurts, Jack."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, babe, so fucking sorry. Should've come and got you sooner."

"Had to help, Jack. Had to free them."

"Yeah. Doesn't stop me feeling like crap though."

"Not your fault. Shouldn't have let her put me in there."

"You put up a fight, didn't you?"

"Not first time, I should have. Thought it would just fix up my face. Tried to fight them after. Each time I tried to fight them. She threatened Sam if I didn't go in it. Had to. Knew you'd get me in the end."

Fix up his face? Aw shit.

"Hey, Daniel, next time, don't worry about your face, okay? I'll still love you no matter what you look like."

He's sniggering, gentle puffs of warm air waft over my chest.

"Prick."

He's going to be okay.

It's all over. Daniel's feeling better, thank heavens. We celebrated their two year anniversary by going to the Tok'ra. While there Daniel got his eyes fixed up and Jack got his knees sorted with that healing device. They're quiet and not leaving each other's sides for now, but they're happy.

It took three days for Daniel to get over the addiction. Dad said that the sedatives would have prolonged the effect but they also lessened its intensity. At least this time he didn't try to kill anyone. I'm afraid he'll freak next time he sees a sarc.

In a quiet moment, the four of us were sitting around a camp fire and drinking some wine from the Land of Light. Daniel needed to talk.

He said that the pull of the sarcophagus was incredible, worse than any other addiction he could imagine. He said giving up smoking was way easier than that. All the time, Jack wouldn't leave him, making sure that they were touching in one way or other. I think it was reassuring Daniel that he was still loved and still wanted. Given all of Daniel's history I can see that that sort of reassurance is necessary. Not surprising really.

We're having a couple of days off, resting up and playing silly games. Just trying to forget what happened. The Tok'ra did as asked. The entire population of Ugarit was relocated to a planet not on the Abydos cartouche. In the end they actually settled on a planet that's already occupied, but by people of a similar background to them, ones who had already fled a diabolical snake.

When their situation was explained, the natives of the planet welcomed them with open arms. They're helping them settle in an area suitable for a good life. It's away from the natives, but close enough to trade. There's plenty of good land either side of the two peoples, so war over territory is highly unlikely.

And the best news of all was that Anat really does think that Baal had something to do with it all. She's gone to Morrigan and she's stirring up trouble in the alliance. The more unstable that is, the less help Anubis will get. Daniel cheered up at that news. Knowing that the people are as safe as we can make them and that the mission was accomplished is helping him deal with the aftermath of addiction.

Oh no, what are they doing now? Water? Where did that come from? Oh God, no! ACH! I'm wet. Right, you bastards, I'm coming to get you! Don't you hide, Teal'c. You're on my team now.

mayan influences