The Forever Series, Story 3 

JUST HOW FAR I'D TRAVEL, JUST HOW FAR WOULD I GO

Chapter 13 

(Open your heart and believe with me...Don't be afraid forever)

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN

Later that evening, Colonel Simmons eased quietly into the darkened clinic. The NID Colonel had seen something that had attracted his attention earlier that day. When he and Conrad had visited the SGC's clinic, he had caught a glimpse of someone or something in a supposedly vacant hospital wardroom. When asked if there were any patients on the ward, the woman doctor had nervously denied that anyone was assigned to the ward. Then later, he had seen the corpsman carrying a tray of food to the rear room. There was someone back there all right. But who?

And then, the Goa'uld Conrad had made a comment about feeling a presence of something, something not human, he had said. Something he had referred to as an Ascended One. Not human indeed! Was the SGC involved with some alien technological experiment of some sort, or was there an unauthorized alien visitor on the premises? Maybe an Asgard, or a Tok'ra. Hell, it could just be an injured Tollan for all he knew...but then why had they hidden him, or it, from him?

As Simmons eased back to the rear of the medical clinic, he could see a light shining from under a door. As he eased into the hallway, he could hear a voice droning on as if reciting or reading. As he quietly, slowly cracked open the door, he could see two figures outlined in the light of the monitors in the occupied hospital room. One of the men was lying in the bed with various medical equipment and sensor wires running from him to an array of equipment. He was either asleep or unconscious. The other man was slumped tiredly in one of the common metal-framed chairs, facing away from him as if watching the patient. It was his voice that Simmons had been hearing, apparently reading aloud from a book. But as the NID Colonel peeked in through the door, this second man rose from his chair and turned to face him. By his shape and stance, he was a young man, slender but with an athletic muscular build. The face was partially concealed by the shadows and was framed by long, light brown hair. He was fair skinned and dressed in a set of the green SGC sterile fatigues.

"Hello, Colonel Simmons. A little far away from the VIP quarters aren't you?" The man spoke first, showing that he had known they were being watched.

Realizing he was discovered, the NID officer stepped into the doorway and entered the room. He still couldn't see the man's face, but the assertive stance showed that the guardian was not going to be easily moved from his spot.

"And you are a little out of place, also. There isn't supposed to be anyone down here according to the doctor." Simmons replied easily, stalling for time and still trying to identify this person.

"Oh, I'm not anyone, really. I just haunt the place." The quiet voice answered him. It was familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on the identity yet.

"Haunt...?" Simmons forced a laugh. "Oh I get it. You're one of those poor unfortunates who have died here and now you've returned to stalk the hallways and wardrooms. I'd like to introduce you to Senator Kinsey," He continued on in a mocking voice. "He'd just love to meet a ghost after our conversation earlier today." He stopped laughing and put on a mocking expression. Then snapped his fingers and pointed at the figure. "Oh, no. Wait, you're not a ghost, you're an angel, right? You've ascended and now you're the Holy Ghost!" Simmons said in a greatly exaggerated tone of voice. "That's it! I'm right aren't I?"

*******

Their loud voices had begun to permeate Jack O'Neill's drugged state of semi-consciousness. He could hear Daniel talking to someone but couldn't quite grasp what was being said. He had to find out what was going on. As Jack struggled to wake up, he moaned and rolled his head to look for his lover. The young man was standing a few feet away in front of Jack's bedside, feet braced with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Jack couldn't see Daniel's face but he could tell by the body language that the younger man was in full stubborn mode. "Daniel," he whispered. "Danny, who's there? What's goin' on?"

Simmons jumped a little when he heard that voice. He'd know that one anywhere. "Ah, that's who our mysterious patient is!" He said a little louder. "Colonel Jack O'Neill, as I live and breathe. Is that you, Jack?"

Jack struggled against the bedclothes. "Simmons, you son of a bitch..."

"Yes, that's the Jack O'Neill I remember," Simmons said sarcastically. "I thought you were dead, Jack."

Daniel backed up to get closer to the bed. He reached back and half-turned, touching Jack on his upper arm. "Jack, take it easy," He murmured. "Don't hurt yourself. I'll take care of it. Lie back down." His voice and touch eased O'Neill back down onto the pillow. "Just rest."

"Danny?" Jack insisted.

Simmons finally got the connection. "Danny? Jackson! Daniel Jackson!" He said in amazement. "You are supposed to be dead!"

Jackson turned back to face his adversary. "As a matter of fact, yes. Yes, I am."

"Well, I must say, you're not doing a very good job of it." Simmons complained sarcastically to him. "Not very convincing at all. Maybe you need some help perfecting your acting style." He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a small 25 caliber automatic pistol, holding it easily in front of him.

Daniel looked from him to the pistol and shook his head slowly. "That won't do you any good here, Colonel."

"Oh, that's right, you're dead aren't you?" Simmons smiled. "Dead and gone. Only, it seems that you're not really gone after all...even if you are dead."

"Not as dead as you're going to be when your Goa'uld gets through with you." The young man looked at him knowingly. "Who's in charge now, Simmons? Are you still the master, or has he turned the tables on you now...or don't you even know?

"Look who's asking?" Simmons gestured to O'Neill's form lying on the hospital bed. "Who's the boy and who's the man here?" The lascivious grin on the Colonel's face was infuriating. "How long did it take him to seduce you, or was it the other way around...Danny-boy?"

Daniel was determined not to let the man get under his skin and ignored his comments. "Does he tell you what to do yet, Simmons? Or is he still just suggesting things? Was it your idea to bring him here to the SGC, or did he ask you to? Or did he tell you?"

"I'm in control here, Jackson." The Colonel almost snarled back. "I call the shots."

"That may not be the smartest thing, you know." Daniel mused aloud. "He could just get tired of things the way they are. They can jump hosts, you know. After he uses up Conrad, he may want a stronger, better body...one that hasn't been ravaged by disease." The younger man looked at him knowingly.

Simmons was taken by surprise. "No," he said slowly. "I'm sure that's not right. You're lying! You're just trying to protect O'Neill, so you can keep control of him."

Jackson shook his head. "You're wrong there." He answered trying to keep Simmons' attention on him and not his injured mate. "i don't control anyone. Jack and I are both free, to choose our own destiny ...unlike you. I wanted to come back to him."

"And I choose to get rid of you, Jackson. I don't care who you are, what you are or what you think you have become, but I do know that you've interrupted my plans for the last time. You're a dead man, Jackson!"

"I thought we had agreed that I was already dead." Daniel stated calmly, watching the gun in Simmons's hand, shifting his position again to stay between the man and where Jack lay semi-conscious on the bed behind him.

"Well, then I guess we'll find out if I can make you any deader, won't we?" The big man pointed the gun at Daniel.

Then, from behind the Colonel, another voice rang out of the darkness. "Simmons! What the hell are you doing, man?" Conrad and Kinsey were standing in the open doorway, Kinsey staring at Jackson, his eyes were wide open and dilated as if he were seeing a ghost.

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing?" Simmons snarled back at the Senator, half turning and breaking eye contact with Jackson. "I'm getting rid of two problems that have been sticking it to us from the very beginning."

Senator Kinsey looked from the NID Colonel to the glowing figure standing in front of him. The apparition was taller than the Colonel's six foot five inches. It was obviously male but it was unlike any human man the Senator had ever seen. The bright blond hair was long and flowing, the muscular torso clothed in radiant garments that seemed to flow with a graceful flicker, as if touched by a blue flame. And in his right hand the being held a mighty sword that glowed as if from an inner light, prepared to smite down the evil enemy that was Simmons.

Behind Kinsey stood the Goa'uld, Thanatos, who had been Adrian Conrad. He also was staring at the man, or what should have been a man. What he saw was a mass of glowing white energy with writhing extremities like arms that waved in the air. It was floating gently in the air of the infirmary; two sky blue eyes seemed to smolder from the depths of the dazzling light. It hovered in front of the hospital bed, imposing itself in front of the Colonel's weapon and shielding the man lying helpless behind it from any danger.

Jack O'Neill lay helpless in his hospital bed, watching what was going on in front of him. His mind and heart screamed at him to get out of his bed and defend his lover, but his body was held in the double grip of it's own injuries and the incapacitating drugs. He could see Daniel's body tensing to shield him with his life if necessary, and then he saw the glow begin to form around the young man's familiar body. There appeared to be an aura forming, outlining the shape of Daniel with an unearthly light. Jack knew what that meant, he had seen it before, it was his worst nightmare. Daniel was changing, he was ascending, leaving him again.

Thanatos/Conrad was behind Kinsey, watching in awe as the glowing mass of protoplasm fluxed and warped it's shape, first extending it's tentacles, then expanding its total mass to block the bed from view. He started to call out to Simmons, to tell him to stop, but realized the human wouldn't listen to him anyway. The Goa'uld knew that they were completely helpless before one of the Ascended Ones. His genetic memory warned him against trying to fight such a powerful being. Then he realized it could lead to the human's destruction and his own freedom.

When Simmons turned back to face Jackson, Daniel knew the moment had come. He had known all along that the NID Colonel was going to try to kill him and then Jack. In a split second, he moved forward, grasping the larger man's hand that held the pistol to force the weapon up and away from his helpless partner.

Simmons saw his movement and reacted by trying to shift away from the smaller man's aggressive action. In the struggle the pistol was pointed to the side and away from the bed. When it did go off, the bullet tore through the thin sheetrock of the wall beside where Jack lay and impacted the fully charged generator behind it. The electrical power shorted out through the damaged metal outer hull and exploded outward through the wall. A lightening bolt of plasma energy blew through the power cables and back out into the small enclosed room area engulfing the two struggling figures, blowing them apart and in opposite directions.

Kinsey had seen the vile blasphemer point the small gun and argue with the Heavenly Messenger. Then the iniquitous sinner tried to discharge the weapon at the Guardian Seraph. The Senator had tried to shout a warning at the man but a mighty hand clamped down upon his voice preventing him from even calling out to the prideful fool. Then, when the gun did fire, a mighty bolt of lightening descended upon the unbeliever and struck him down with a blaze of hellfire and the smell of brimstone, leaving the NID Colonel lying in a heap of his own vile wickedness. Simmons had been smote by the Avenging Angel who now stood above him, his terrible sword now smoking in his grip.

Conrad/Thanatos had watched in amazement as the stupid human had tried to destroy the Ascended One with his puny weapon. The glowing being merely swept the foolish man down with a huge explosion of its alien power, throwing Simmons across the room with its bioelectrical energy to crash unconscious into a metal and glass medical equipment cabinet.

Jack lay helpless, watching as Daniel fought to defend him against Simmons's weapon. He'd seen his partner grasp the gun and try to wrestle it from the much larger man's hold. The harder they fought, the brighter Daniel's aura glowed, seemingly enveloping both of the men in it's brilliant light. He struggled to get free of the bed, to at least get to Daniel's side but the combination of the powerful drugs and his physical weakness held him in an unrelenting grip. He could only watch impotent and frustrated as they struggled a few feet away from him. Then, the gun went off and a dazzling light flashed. An explosion shook the room, overturning the hospital bed and dropping the injured man onto the floor, blinding and stunning him. Jack could only hang on and pray to whatever god was listening that he could just stay with Daniel … wherever that might be.

When the generator exploded, the shock separated Daniel and Simmons blowing the two men to opposite sides of the room. Simmons careening into a glass medical supply cabinet on the far wall, and Jackson was thrown back against the room divider and the wall next to Jack's bed. The furniture was tumbled over against the wall; O'Neill partially buried in the bedclothes. Looking up from the floor, Daniel could see dark gray smoke boiling out from a large blackened hole in the wall. Regaining his breath, he glanced quickly around the room. Simmons was down in a pile of medical equipment, broken glass and twisted metal. Conrad, the Goa'uld, was hiding behind the outer door and Kinsey was crouched down on his knees apparently praying in supplication to some higher power. Daniel turned and crawled on his knees to where O'Neill lay on the floor. He carefully gathered his lover in his arms, checking him for a pulse and breathing. When he had ascertained that Jack was still alive, he started disconnecting the medical sensors and lines. The IV line had been ripped out of Jack's arm and Daniel applied direct pressure to the vein and wrapped it in a torn sheet to stop the bleeding . At first, the older man was stunned and unresponsive to Daniel's voice, but after a few moments of his prayer, cajoling and desperate begging, O'Neill finally opened his eyes. "Jack, can you hear me? Jack?"

O'Neill looked at him in confusion. "Danny? We dead?"

"No, Jack. Not dead, not yet." He looked at the smoke gathering in the room above their heads. An alarm sounded in the distance. "We've got to get out of here though. Can you move?"

Jack nodded, "If you can help me up..."

Daniel nodded and gathered Jack to him, gently lifting the weak but willing man in his arms. The two of them managed to get to their feet, Daniel supporting most of Jack's weight. Pulling Jack's right arm over his shoulder, Daniel made his way back through the small hallway that Clark had hidden him in earlier. Reaching the end of the corridor, he turned away from the generator room and could see the small metal panel in the wall he was looking for. He'd noticed it earlier when he had been there. He'd decided that the panel opened out into a room on the other side of the wall. As near as he could figure, it should be ia storage area on the other side of this section of the twenty-eighth floor. Keeping a firm grip on O'Neill, Jackson started kicking the thin metal plate with his foot. Finally, with a clang, the panel fell out the other side of the wall.

Daniel, supporting Jack, finally made it out of the smoke filled room. He looked around and was happily gratified to discover that they were indeed inside a storage closet. Feeling his way carefully in the darkness and carrying Jack, he managed to get to the doorway. The knob turned easily in his hand and they exited into the empty hallway.

*******

When the muffled sound of the explosion was heard throughout the SGC, Wallace had been with Colonel Chekov. The General had spent some time with the President on the red phone, and now he was trying to convince, inveigle, and sweet talk the Russian senior officer that the Senator did not represent either the SGC, the United States foreign policy, or the President of the United States. It was a little difficult to explain how one looney bird in the Senate had rights and privileges to feel the way he wanted to, but that didn't necessarily mean everyone else thought that too.

Chekov was finally beginning to accept the fact that Kinsey was a flaming bigot and an complete imbecile, when a fire alarm siren started it's whooping cacophony. Wallace and Chekov both leaped to their feet and headed towards the source of the racket.

Just as the General and the Colonel were heading for the infirmary, the klaxons blared an unauthorized Stargate activation. The two senior officers turned in their paths and headed for the gateroom. They arrived in the large room, just in time to see the Security Forces open fire on a fleeing figure that leaped into the wormhole's vortex. Ferretti was there shouting and shooting along with the SFs and running up the ramp in pursuit just as the Stargate snapped shut in his face.

Wallace yelled at the frustrated Lieutenant Colonel as Ferretti stood there shouting obscenities at the Gate.

"Who was that man, Colonel?"

"It was that guy, Conrad." Ferretti turned around to face his C.O. "We were going to assist in the infirmary fire when..."

"Fire?"

"Yes, Sir. That's what the first alarm was for. There was an explosion and fire in the rear wardroom of the clinic. Possibly the generator."

"Isn't that where...?" Wallace stopped himself before saying any names.

"Yes, sir. That's correct." Ferretti picked up smoothly. "We were headed there to assist when the gateroom alarm went off. We got here just in time to see someone, we think it was Conrad, run across the floor and go through the gate." He shook his head. "Sorry, Sir, but I'm sure that he was hit...though it won't do any good if Carter's correct."

Wallace nodded at his Lieutenant Colonel. "Let's get to the clinic and see what we can find out there."

*******

The Emergency Response Team was already on scene by the time the senior officers all arrived. All medical staff personnel had also arrived and was inspecting the damage to the SGCs main clinic. Master Sergeant Siler and his team were in the process of putting the fire out in the hidden generator room.

SG-1 had arrived at a full run, and Carter had taken command, directing the clean up team, and helping Doctor Fraiser put some order to her clinic. Kinsey had been located, sedated and removed to a safe place; the unconscious Simmons was being treated in the ER for severe burns, lacerations and smoke inhalation. Conrad was missing completely.

She saw Clark Brown was donning a gas mask as he got ready to go back into the rear ward room. It wasn't what the gas mask was designed for, but it was better than nothing at all. Carter yelled at the orderly over the noise of fire extinguishers, the shower system and the crackling of flames. "Where's O'Neill?"

Brown, unwilling to break the seal to his mask just pointed back towards the damaged area. "Jackson, too!" He enunciated through the voice box, then turned and plunged into the smoke. Teal'c arriving in time to hear the pronouncement, followed him in without taking time for the mask's slight safeguard, trusting to his symbiote to grant him some protection against the toxic smoke.

Carter could only stand and watch, grabbing Haley and Quinn to direct them in assisting the clean up crew and prevent them from following the Jaffa into the dark, smoky room.

Major General Wallace arrived in the clinic to organized chaos. Doctor Warner was already in surgery with Simmons who had sustained the worst injuries so far. Senator Kinsey was in one of the private wardrooms, safe for the time being but out of the way.

Wallace and Chekov made their way back to the damaged area. There the General found his CMO busily directing the clean up activities. She brushed her sweat-dampened hair out of her eyes with a dirty hand adding another black smudge to her face.

General Wallace nodded at her. "Any casualties, Doctor?"

"Only two so far, Sir." Frasier replied. "Colonel Simmons was injured in the explosion; Senator Kinsey is…uh, in shock, Sir."

"Any…other personnel involved, Major?"

She shook her head, "We haven't found anyone else, but two men are missing. Teal'c and Clark are conducting a complete search of the affected areas. " She looked up at him worriedly. "They were here an hour ago, but they seem to have disappeared."

*******

Clark and Teal'c brushed past the shambles of the wardroom's furniture heading for the overturned bed. Clark knelt down to go through the tumbled linen of the bed that O'Neill had occupied, then held his hands up to indicate that he had found nothing except the abandoned medical equipment. The Jaffa had dug through the upended furniture and, finding no sign of either man, he shook his head. The corpsman climbed back to his feet and turned to look at the far wall. He motioned Teal'c to follow then swept aside a smoke-stained curtain. He indicated a small hall. At the end of the hallway, smoke still billowed from the door to the generator room where they could hear Sergeant Siler shouting directions to his technicians. Brown went a little farther back; feeling his way along the outer wall then turned to face the Jaffa. "There's a panel here that's been knocked loose leaving a hole in the wall," He shouted over the noise. "Someone went through it here."

"Where does that exit to?" Teal'c asked him.

"One of the storerooms off the next hallway." Clark answered him. "I hid Daniel in this room earlier, maybe he remembered the panel here and they used it to get out."

"Danieljackson would remember...I think you are correct." The Jaffa turned and led the way back to the clinic. "We must find them and be sure they are safe."

*******

Daniel had managed to get Jack up the one flight of stairs to the level with the VIP suites on it. He fished the key out of his pocket to the room that Sam had gotten for him and pushed the door open, practically carrying Jack to the bed. After securing the door behind them and returning to where the older man lay, he started to examine him for any further injuries. They were both covered with a black residue from the explosion and the subsequent smoke. Jack hadn't spoken since their exchange on the wardroom floor. The Colonel lay on the bed silent, with his eyes open. At first Daniel had thought he was unconscious again but then noticed the brown eyes, tracking him, watching him as he moved about the room.

"Jack? Jack can you hear me?" He wiped the black off of the beloved faced with a damp washcloth from the bathroom. "Jack, say something please?"

"Danny?' The voice was barely audible.

"Yes, love." He smiled down at him.

"Alive?"

"Yes. Alive, still." Daniel kissed him lightly on the lips. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

Jack shook his head slightly, then grimaced. He moved one of his hands from where it lay on his chest to his partner's face. Daniel picked it up and kissed the dirty fingers.

"Thought..." The older man licked his dry lips. "Thought...lost you."

"Lost me?" Daniel leaned forward, to kiss the mouth again. "No, never...never lose you again."

"Thought...you'd...ascended."

"What? And leave you? Never happen." Daniel said adamantly.

"Glowing...you were...glowing..."

He shrugged, "Maybe it was a reflection of the explosion," Daniel finished bathing his face and started on his hands. "No glowing, no ascension. I'm still here Jack."

"Kay...'s good," The exhausted, semi-conscious man mumbled. "Don't leave."

"Yeah, I think so too." Daniel stood up again. "Look, I'm going to go to the bathroom and clean up a bit. I'll be right back. Don't worry." He got up and went to the bathroom where he ran some water, washed his own face and hands and pulled off his dirty fatigue shirt. Returning to the bed, he brought a clean wet cloth and finished cleaning the remaining marks off Jack's face, hands and arms. Jack lay quietly permitting the attention, just watching Daniel. When the younger man was finished, he kicked off his shoes and lay down beside his lover. O'Neill moved into his Daniel's arms with a trembling sigh. Jackson kissed him on the forehead, cuddling the shaken man in his arms until Jack finally dozed off into a quiet sleep. Daniel lay there watching him sleep until he too, drifted away.

*******

Sam Carter was heading to the VIP guestrooms. She had made sure that the clean up effort was in good hands, but once that was accomplished she had headed to the VIP suite area. The spare key to Daniel's room was in her pocket, and she was hoping desperately that her two friends were there. Teal'c and Clark had returned from the wrecked wardroom to report that there was no sight of either Jack or Daniel, but they had found a hole kicked through a wall panel. She was almost sure she knew where they had gone.

When she reached room number seven, she knocked softly on the door. There was no answer so she fit the key in the lock and turned it. The room was dark with only a light shining out of the bathroom for illumination. She could just make out what appeared to be a still form on the bed.

As she stood there in the doorway she heard a soft voice call her name from the bed. "Sam?"

"Daniel? Are you okay?" She could barely make out a large shape lying on the bed. Then he slipped out of the bed and stood up, padding over to her in bare feet. She could see now there was another figure still on the bed. Jack.

"Hi," She whispered as he came over and hugged him hard. "Is Jack...?"

"He's finally asleep. He was shook up a bit during the explosion." Daniel laughed self-depreciatingly. "We both were."

"What happened?"

"Simmons found us, then Kinsey showed up and Conrad." Daniel told her. "We exchanged a few words, and then Simmons pulled a gun. We struggled, the gun went off and I guess the bullet hit the generator because there was an explosion. We decided we needed to leave the area, so we came up here." He shrugged.

Carter looked at her old teammate suspiciously. "That's it? That's all that happened?"

"Well, Kinsey was yelling some really odd things about angels...but I didn't really get it."

"I need to get Janet, so she can check you two out." She turned to leave.

"Sam," Daniel looked unhappy. "Can't it wait until tomorrow? He's finally asleep and quite honestly, I could use the rest too."

Carter looked at him, noting his bruised face. "Well, if you're sure neither of you is badly hurt."

He smiled in relief. "I promise."

"Okay, then." She returned his smile. "I'll tell her, but I'll try to convince her to wait."

"Thanks, Sam."

She glanced over at the bed, O'Neill still hadn't moved from his sleep, obviously exhausted. "See you in the morning then."

He hugged her again and kissed her on the forehead. "In the morning."

She closed the door behind her, and Daniel went back to curl back up with Jack.

"Who was that?" The older man mumbled sleepily.

"Sam found us; she'll bring Janet later."

"Danny, I want to go home."

"So do I Jack, so do I."

********* Chapter 14 (This world is never enough and I'm not giving up.)

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN

Doctor Frasier was not particularly happy this morning. She had a mess on her hands. The NID Colonel, Simmons had been seriously injured with a concussion, multiple lacerations and a broken shoulder. He was also found in possession of a small caliber automatic pistol, one that matched the bullet that was found imbedded in the generator's interior. What possessed the man to go into an occupied wardroom and shoot through a wall was unknown at this time, but he was responsible for the explosion and destruction of the generator and the surrounding area.

Senator Kinsey had quieted down finally. He had been declaring that the Archangel Michael, or was it Gabriel, had been in the room protecting someone. According to Kinsey, the tall blond male apparition had pulled forth his terrible swift sword and smote the evil philistine Simmons asunder, causing the explosion and resulting damage to the surrounding area. She knew that Daniel had been the only other person in the wardroom. Though he didn't fit the description the delusional man was spouting to anyone who would stop and listen to him, if anyone was doing any smiting it had to have been him.

The third member of their party, Adrian Conrad, had disappeared in the resulting confusion. He hadn't been found, injured or healthy, so he wasn't her worry at this point. Thank goodness for small favors. However, Master Sergeant Walter Davis was found in the control booth with a broken arm and a mild concussion. The ongoing theory was that Conrad was the one who attacked Davis, opened the Stargate and escaped to parts unknown.

The only good news Frasier had gotten was that her missing unofficial patient, Jack O'Neill, had been located. Sam Carter had found him and his guardian, Daniel Jackson a.k.a. Archangel Michael, safely tucked away in VIP Suite number seven. She was presently in route to their room for a quick check up and to see if the Colonel needed to come back to the clinic for further treatment. It just seemed to be his luck that, wherever he was, stuff happened.

She arrived and knocked lightly on the steel door. She could hear some movement from inside the room and finally Daniel opened the door a crack. When he recognized her, he opened it wide stepping back to allow her entrance. She looked at him critically, noting a new bruise on his cheekbone.

"You don't look much like John Travolta to me." She said with a straight face.

Daniel looked at her in confusion. "I'm sorry, John who?"

"John Travolta, you know, Archangel Michael."

Daniel was definitely confused now. "I don't get it. I thought he was Vinnie Barbarino?" He followed her over to Jack's bedside.

She laughed at his expression. "Daniel, you really ought to go to the movies more often. The movie Michael was out years ago."

O'Neill was sitting up in bed looking more alert than he'd been in several days. "Hi, Doc."

"Hello yourself," She said happily. He certainly looked no worse for wear. After seeing the destruction in the wardroom where he'd been staying, she'd been very concerned. "I should have known you'd come out of that mess smelling like a rose."

Jack wrinkled his nose at her. "Doc, I'm a long way from smelling like a rose, more like a polecat."

"You're fine." Daniel had sat down on the other side of the bed. "He's just mad because I wouldn't let him take a shower."

Frasier nodded at him. "Daniel's right, sir. You don't need to get this wound of yours wet." She gave him a stern look. "If you want, I can have a nurse give you a sponge bath."

He scowled at her. "No thank you very much." He replied, glancing at Daniel who nodded. "I just wanted a shower." He groused.

"By all rights, I ought to pack you up and take you back down to the clinic…" she held her hand up to silence both of them. "But with all the wrong people populating the wards, I'll let you off the hook this time." She sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. "Can you sit up so I can look at your back?"

He grimaced and shifted his weight. Daniel scooted over from his side of the bed and helped Jack to lean forward while she removed the dressing. Her patient caught his breath when the bandage clung on his healing flesh.

Frasier looked at it and hummed in the doctor's universal language. "Not bad, no infection but there looks like some secondary bruising on your lower back."

"Maybe from the fall?" Daniel asked.

"Fall, what fall?" She asked, looking over at her anxious assistant.

"When the bed fell, or was blown over in the explosion, actually." Daniel reminded her.

"Oh, from the bed. Yes, possibly." She glanced at Jack and they helped him lie back down against the pillows. "What do you remember, Colonel?"

He shook his head as she applied an ointment and began to rewrap the burn wound. "Not a whole lot. I remember Simmons arguing with Daniel, then Kinsey yelling something." He turned to look at his partner. "I saw…it looked like you were…glowing. I thought…I thought you were…leaving again."

Daniel shushed him gently, still holding on to his shoulder. "Jack, I'm fine…I not going anywhere." He reassured his partner. "I won't leave you…you know that."

"I know what I saw, Danny. You were glowing."

"That's impossible, Jack. I don't glow." He glanced surreptitiously at the doctor as she treated the wound.

"Funny," Janet commented as she finished, "That's what Kinsey said too."

"Janet, Kinsey's an obtuse delusional idiot and you know it." Jackson shook his head.

"Danny, I saw you," Jack objected "when you were arguing with Simmons...you were glowing." Daniel just shook his head.

Frasier continued. "Well, according to the Senator, he had followed Simmons and Conrad into the clinic after hours... evidently Simmons had seen Clark when he brought you your dinner, and I didn't lie well enough to convince him that there wasn't anyone back there. When he got to your room, he said Simmons was talking to someone," she looked over at Daniel, "someone Kinsey described as over seven foot tall, long flowing blond hair, white celestial robes and a sword. Simmons pulled a gun on the angel and the Archangel smote him with holy sword, and all the wrath of Jehovah descended upon the sinner." She shrugged; "the only one here that even vaguely fits that description is you, Daniel."

Daniel laughed softly at her, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm not anywhere near seven feet tall, my hair isn't blond and these," he indicated the sterile fatigues he was wearing, "are a long way from celestial robes." He shook his head. "And Jack can tell you; I'm no angel."

"Oh, I don't know, Danny." Jack said softly, looking at him. "You better not ask me that any time soon."

"Good grief, Jack." Daniel admonished him gently. "Let's not get carried away here." He looked up at the doctor. "What happened to Conrad? Is he still a Goa'uld?"

"Sam says yes." Janet answered. "But he's gone. When everyone was in the clinic cleaning up after the explosion, there was unauthorized gate activation. Sergeant Davis was knocked out and Colonel Ferretti saw someone he thinks was Conrad go through the gate. He was shot several times by the security detail, but we don't know if he was only injured, or if he was terminally wounded." The Doctor continued, watching her friends. "Kinsey also said that Conrad told Simmons that there was one of the Ascended on the base, but evidently neither he nor Simmons knew what he was talking about. We think that's where Kinsey got the angel image in his head. Of course, Simmons is still unconscious, so we won't know what he saw until he wakes up."

Daniel looked at her seriously, concern showing on his face. "Well, he could have sensed me. I'm not sure how that works. I may have a different...well, aura or signature. But Sam and Teal'c don't notice anything."

"Well, be that as it may." Frasier rose to go, "You show up human normal on my all my instrument's readings. So as far as I'm concerned...you're just Daniel Jackson, born again archaeologist, and I'm pleased as punch to have you back with us.... glowing or not!"

Daniel turned a little pink and smiled at Jack. "Not glowing, at least normally."

Jack twitched an eyebrow at him. "Oh, I don't know about that."

"Shut up, please." Daniel turned a progressively darker pink.

"Okay, guys." Janet commented laughingly, rolling her eyes. "TMI."

"Yeah, right, Doc." Jack smiled sweetly at her. "You don't know nothing about anything."

"Well, you know us innocent military types..." She shook her head.

"Riiiiight." O'Neill nodded still grinning at her. "We're innocent until proven guilty."

Frasier continued to chuckle as she walked towards the door. "Riiight, I won't ask, and you don't tell and I don't know nothing about anything."

As she went to the door to let herself out, there was a knock. She looked back at the two men, Jack was back in his original position, leaning up against some pillows with the covers drawn up to his waist. Daniel was back sitting on the other side of the double bed. Jack nodded at her to let the new visitor in.

She opened the door and Major General Wallace was standing outside holding a tray of food. Frasier immediately tried to take it from him but he pulled it away. "Uh uh. I've got it." He looked into the room. "I figured if I brought food, I'd get let in quicker."

Daniel jumped off the bed and hurried over to relieve the senior officer of his burden. The General surrendered it to the younger man as Doctor Fraiser said her goodbyes and left the room.

O'Neill spoke up from the bed. "General Wallace, you didn't..."

Wallace laughed. "Oh, I know. I met Sergeant Brown on his way down the hall with this. I only carried it about ten feet. I seem to remember you carrying me a lot farther in the North African Desert."

Jack smiled depreciatingly. "It wasn't such a big deal, Sir. It was my job."

"You'll never convince a man whose life you saved that it wasn't a big deal. It was a big deal to me." Wallace walked over to the bedside and pulled up a wooden chair. "How are you feeling, Colonel?"

"Pretty good actually, but the name is just Jack now, Sir. Just an old retiree here."

"I've got thirty-three, well I guess it's thirty-four very grateful refugees who seem to think your name should be Saint Jack." Wallace smiled at the injured man, then glanced over at Jackson. "And Archangel Daniel." He smiled at the young man's uncomfortable look. "Uh, bring that tray over here, son. Don't let the food get cold on my account." Jackson brought it over and set it down on the bed next to Jack.

"Thirty-four?" Jack looked up at the officer.

"Yes, we've had a blessed event over on the Tollan side of the house, a little boy, seven pounds and six ounces." Wallace announced with a grin, "a real fighter. He came into the world screaming the house down."

"That's great!" Jack grinned, remembering the heavily pregnant woman whom Narim had helped to get to the Stargate. "They needed the good news."

"Yes and I was able to deliver some more to them right after the birth. The President has made some arrangements for them to stay here on Earth, if they want to, as political refugees with the right to apply for citizenship as soon as they meet all the requirements. I'm authorized to offer any of them jobs to fit their skills and training here at the SGC if they want them, or to assist in finding them other locations if they prefer."

"That's great." Daniel was smiling broadly. "I'm sure they can assist in scientific advancements here at the SGC."

"That's what we're hoping. Ambassador Narim has all ready introduced several of the scientists to Colonel Carter. It seems that these people are from all walks of life, from a Weapons Technician to their equivalent of a Registered Nurse." The General continued, returning the enthusiasm.

"Soon, we'll have to invent a different kind of green card for all the off-worlders in Colorado Springs." Jack smiled.

"Oh, no you don't. That'd be considered profiling. They're just newly arrived immigrants, nothing more."

"From France." Jack joked, Wallace laughed. Daniel just shook his head at the two men.

"The Coneheads, you know, Saturday Night Live?" Jack explained to Daniel. At the young man's continued confusion, he shook his head. "You know, you're as bad as Teal'c sometimes and you grew up in the States." He looked at Wallace. "I'm trying to civilize him, sir, but sometimes his lack of social education is a disadvantage."

Daniel looked confused. "I don't get it." Daniel shook his head. "I don't get the angel thing either. What angel?"

"Son," the General chuckled at the man's confused expression. "Senator Kinsey is telling everyone who comes into earshot that O'Neill here was being guarded by an Archangel. I know that there was only one other person in that room, you. Now, I'm sure your terrible swift sword and celestial raiment were part and parcel of his delusion, but you're the only one that he could be talking about.

"Why does everyone have to bring in religious icons?" Daniel lamented out loud. "I don't get it."

O'Neill and Wallace exchanged glances. "Obviously not the product of a conservative religious upbringing. Wherever did you find this heathen, Jack?"

"Actually, someone else brought him in. He just showed up one day and stole my astronomy charts." Jack grinned at Daniel's disgusted look. "And the rest, sir, is history."

"Please, call me Bill. You'll have to rent him some movies, Jack." The General got up. "I've got to run, but if you need anything at all, just call."

"You know, sir, Bill; there is one thing, if you can pull a few strings..." Jack glanced from him to Daniel.

"Name it."

"Well, Daniel was declared legally dead a year ago." Jack nodded to the younger man. "And it's kind of a hassle. He can't apply for a driver's license and his property is all tied up in probate. Is there any way we can slip him in when the Tollan's paperwork goes through? Maybe list him as a relative of himself so he can get his stuff back...and his savings?"

Wallace looked thoughtful. "Would you rather be just reinstated under your old name? We can do it quietly without a lot of fanfare, like we did for the POWs in the seventies. That way you can keep your academic degrees and credentials intact."

Daniel looked very happy. "That would be wonderful. I'm not so much worried about the credentials as just the little things like getting a license and a social security number so I can work if I want to."

Jack looked at him. "You don't have to..."

"I know, I know, but it would be nice to at least know I could."

The General nodded, "Yes; you don't realize how much you are until you aren't anymore. I'm sure something can be arranged. I'll put my hounds on the trail for you, no worries." He shook Jack's hand. "You just concentrate on getting well. I'll take care of the light work."

"Thanks again, Bill."

"Anytime, Jack." Wallace smiled at him. "You've still got lots of credit due back in my book."

After the visitors had left, Daniel came back over to the bed and sat cross-legged on the bed next to Jack. "You need to eat something." He prompted. He could tell that Jack was tired from his front of invincibility from their visitors.

"I'm not hungry." Jack shook his head and tried to smile convincingly.

Daniel looked at him suspiciously, and filled a fork with the meatloaf. "Too tired?"

The patient nodded, admitting his weakness to his lover, but Daniel persisted. "Come on, just a few bites." He smiled teasingly. "Here comes the airplane, into the hangar." Jack gave him a long-suffering look and opened his mouth obediently. This kept on for a few minutes before the hangar closed due to exhaustion. Daniel took a few bites himself then picked the tray up and relocated it on the dresser. He then came back and helped the injured man to lay flat. Once he'd gotten Jack settled, he cuddled up next to him.

"Daniel."

"Yes, love."

"What are you?"

Daniel lay there thoughtfully for a few seconds. "I'm me, Jack. At least I feel like me, I'm your lover, your partner, an archaeologist by training, an explorer by inclination, and a waiter by circumstance. What more do you want?"

"You left out helper and guardian." Jack turned his head to look at his Daniel. "Are you an angel? Are you real?"

"Jack, when you get well, I'm going show you just how much I'm not an angel." He rolled over on his stomach and stroked Jack's arm. "I'm going do things to you you've never even thought of ... and you're going to just love it."

"There's more to be done?" Jack had to smile at the declaration. "I thought we'd done just about all of it." He altered his expression to one of suspicion. "You been reading again?"

"Of course. I got the book just before we left the cabin. I didn't get a chance to read all of it...but the pictures are dynamite." Daniel smiled his best evil grin and reached his fingers up to Jack's face.

Jack bit them and sucked two into his mouth. He then raised his eyebrows at his young lover.

Daniel groaned softly. "You shouldn't do that...there's no telling what will...turn up."

Jack reached over and twisted his fingers through Danny's long hair. "I'm counting on it, buddy-boy." He tugged on the soft strands gently.

"One thing for sure that I am."

"What's that?"

"I'm yours, Jack O'Neill. Totally and completely yours." He pulled free from the older man's grasp and headed to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Jack complained.

Daniel stopped and looked back at him, "To take a cold shower, thank you very much."

*******

It was early the next morning when there was a tap on the suite's door. Jack was still sleeping though Daniel was up, wearing his fatigue pants and a black tee shirt, and reading a new issue of Current Archaeology. The article was on Gertrude Bell the woman archaeologist that was active between World War I and 2, the so-called Daughter of the Desert. He had resolved to show it to Sam when he heard the knock.

When he answered the door he was surprised to see Jonas Quinn standing outside bearing a tray with breakfast. Jonas looked very uncomfortable but like one who had set himself a task. "Good morning, Doctor Jackson."

"Good morning, Mister Quinn." Daniel stepped aside to let him enter, but put his finger to his lips for the other man to keep his voice low.

"I don't want to disturb you, but Colonel Carter had a staff meeting and Teal'c had his training class this morning. So I uh, volunteered to bring your breakfast."

"Well, thanks." Daniel took the tray. The two men stood looking at each other awkwardly. "Look, Jonas, I'd ask you to stay and talk but Jack's still asleep and…."

"I understand, really. Uh, look…I'd really like to talk to you, whenever it's convenient."

"Sure, fine. Why don't you come back later?"

"Daniel? Is someone there?" A groggy voice came from the bed. "Daniel?"

He indicated for Jonas to take the tray over to the small table in the room. Quinn sat it down by the one from the night before, then waited. Daniel crossed back over to the bed. "I'm here, Jack. Jonas just brought us some breakfast. Everything's okay."

"Who?" O'Neill seemed caught in that area between sleep and wakefulness.

"Jonas Quinn. You remember."

"Oh, yeah. Okay."

"Is he going to be all right?" Quinn asked nervously.

"Jonas," O'Neill grumbled. "I was shot in the back…I'm not deaf."

"Oh, yeah, of course. Are you going to be all right?"

"I'm peachy…just flaming peachy." Jack groaned as he tried to sit up. Daniel came around to his side of the bed and helped shift him to his preferred position, leaning back on some pillows.

"Well, I'll just go and maybe, I can come back later."

"Jonas, you're already here for crying out loud." He made a face as Daniel brought the tray over to the bed. "Why are you always trying to feed me?"

"Because you haven't eaten anything for three days, and if you don't, Janet is going to put an IV in your arm again." Daniel arranged everything for his easy reach and put sugar on the oatmeal, tipping a little milk over it. But when he picked up the spoon, Jack took it away from him.

"I can do this myself."

"Then do it." Daniel agreed threateningly. "Don't make me play airplane again."

O'Neill gestured towards Jonas who was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, watching the exchange. "Go talk to him, and here you take something too."

Daniel obediently took a piece of toast and the lone cup of coffee and went back over to where their visitor was waiting. He motioned to the two remaining chairs around the table.

After they had sat down, Jonas started hesitantly. Doctor Jackson..."

"Daniel." He corrected.

"Daniel, I just wanted to say how happy I am to see you, to see that you're all right."

"Well, I'm kind of pleased about that too." Daniel agreed taking a bite of the toast.

"When I saw it was you with the Colonel after the Tollans came through the Stargate, I couldn't believe it. But, well, Teal'c told me to be quiet...I knew there was a reason you didn't want to be identified."

"I'm glad that you didn't." Daniel nodded as he took a sip of the coffee. "It would have led to too many questions that I can't answer."

"Oh."

Daniel could see that the other man was disappointed. "Sorry, you'll just have to trust me on this one, Jonas." He smiled.

"Oh, I trust you, Doc...Daniel. Don't worry about that, I mean, if Colonel O'Neill is satisfied you're you..."

"Oh, yea. It's him all right." O'Neill called out from the bed. "Same wise guy, know it all, pissy geek that we all know and love."

Daniel glanced over at the patient. "You're sick...be quiet."

"Not sick, wounded here."

"Yea, Jack. We know, eat your breakfast, or I'll tell Janet."

Someone knocked on the door and Daniel went over and opened it for Doctor Frasier. She nodded to Daniel and Jonas as she headed towards the bed. She glanced at the empty oatmeal bowl and the drained milk glass. "Well, I see your appetite is back."

"Don't have any choice with Clara Barton over there." He looked up at her as she took his pulse. "When can I go home, Doc?"

"Ohhhh," She stretched out the word on purpose. "As well as you're doing, I'd say, hum, tomorrow." She held up her hand. "But only if you can get proper transportation. No car trips, I want you to fly so you can get there in a few hours."

"Yes!" Jack looked over at Daniel. "Uh, no...actually...uh, we can't."

She looked at him in surprise. "Why not?"

Daniel came over to the bed. "Well, actually, it's me. I don't have any identification." He shrugged. "I'm dead, remember?"

"Oh," she said, not really knowing what to say. "And you have to go with him; no one else will put up with him."

"Gee, thanks." Jack said sarcastically, then he shook his head. "I was hoping to have Sam rent us a car. He could drive; we just couldn't get stopped by anyone." He thought a moment. "Hell, we can't even go space A on a military plane..."

Another knock on the door came and Daniel strode over to check on the identity of the visitor then let in Sam and Teal'c.

"You look good, O'Neill." Teal'c stated happily.

Sam nodded in agreement. Janet smiled at the two charter members of SG1. "He's doing very well; in fact I was going to release him to go home. But we seem to have some minor logistics problems.

Daniel smiled shyly at his friends. "I uh, don't exist... no ID, no Drivers License, and no credit cards. This being dead really sucks."

"Well, we can get you a military ID. That's not a problem." Sam said, chewing her lower lip in thought. "I know the General is working on the other thing, but that's going to take some time."

Jonas spoke up. "Can't you fly them, Colonel? You are a pilot."

"That's true. I can rent a Cessna at the base Aero Club." She glanced at Janet. "Would that do?"

"Well, he really needs to be able to lie down." Janet said thoughtfully.

Sam nodded. "Let me talk to General Wallace. We'll come up with something." She smiled encouragingly. "We always do."

********* Chapter 15 (My baby, love is like blood, I spill it freely.)

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN

When the answer to O'Neill and Daniel's transportation problem was solved, it was with great simplicity. Major General Wallace decided that he had a meeting to attend at Grand Forks North Dakota. As one of his senior officers, Lieutenant Colonel Carter would act as pilot using an opportunity for some very necessary flight hours to maintain her flying status. The Air Force Base's Command Staff and several representatives of the Canadian Government had wanted to discuss using some wilerness areas of Canada for training purposes. The SGC and NORAD wanted in on a piece of the action. It had been easily orchestrated and actually did serve a legitimate purpose.

There was also plenty of room in the C-21 Lear jet for some Space Available passengers: a retired Colonel, a civilian nurse and a Department Of Defense civilian who wanted to spend some leave time with his friends. Once they reached Grand Forks, a four-wheel drive suburban was leased from a local rental agency. The two members of the original SG1 team had been granted four days of leave while their General attended his meeting.

The big vehicle made the trip to Elk Horn easily with the three drivers trading off. O'Neill was ensconced in the rear cargo area on a large air mattress with the wide portion of the back seat folded down. The small area that remained carried Teal'c and Sam's luggage, Jack and Daniel's backpacks and three of the four weapons that Jack and Daniel had taken off world with them. The two men had been quite touched to discover that Narim had thought to bring them back through the Stargate in their mad rush for safety. The only one missing was the 9 MM pistol that Daniel had dropped to carry Jack. O'Neill had declared it a good trade off.

They stopped in the town of Elk Horn to pick up supplies and any mail that had arrived during the ten days they had been gone. The owner of the grocery store that also served as a post office had been happy to see Daniel, saying that he was beginning to be concerned by their lengthy absence. When he heard that Jack had been injured, he came out to check on his regular customer. He offered to deliver anything that they discovered they needed and instructed them just to call. As they were filling the gas tank on the SUV, before heading up the mountain, their neighbor, Mr. Lyles the dairy farmer, saw them and said he'd drop by the next morning with two gallons of milk, some sweet cream, and some of Marthy's blueberry cobbler.

By the time the group finally reached the cabin, it was nearly dark. Daniel and Teal assisted Jack, exhausted from the long trip, onto the living room couch, where he continued his nap while the others unloaded the vehicle. Daniel started a fire in the old cook stove and began preparing a dinner of venison chili and cornbread. Sam went out to the back yard for some more wood to start a fire in the large stone fireplace while Teal'c finished the unloading of the heavier items.

*******

The two men had just about finished their work when Carter came back inside the kitchen with an odd look on her face and no wood in her arms. "Daniel, do you have any scraps of that meat left?"

"Sure," He indicated some of the tougher portions of meat he had removed from the pieces he was browning. "Why?"

"Well, you seem to have a squatter in residence under the back deck." She smiled playfully, "Come and see."

She motioned for him to come with her and Daniel followed curiously. After about 15 minutes, just when Teal'c was about to see if they'd been eaten by something, the pair came back into the cabin, Daniel cradling something small and white with in his arms. He came and knelt in front of the couch where Jack was watching them sleepily.

O'Neill looked at him curiously. "What do you have there, Danny?"

Daniel was examining the creature and finally discovered what he wanted to find out. He settled it down on his lap. "Well, Jack. We seem to have acquired a puppy." Daniel handed the little thing over to O'Neill. "How do you think she got way up here?"

He cuddled her to his chest. "Hey there, little girl. Where'd you come from?" The pup was eight inches long, bony to the point of near starvation; mostly white in color with a black head and some quarter sized black spots showing through a rough wiry coat. She had a white stripe on her face to her nose and more prominent hair over the brown eyes and the muzzle proclaiming at least partial terrier antecedents.

"Ya got me, Danny." He replied, "By all rights the wolves should have gotten her by now." Jack looked at her critically, rubbing her ears and making cooing noises.

Carter was watching her two friends with a little grin. She had a feeling the pup's lean days were over. "Here, let me give her a bath while you finish dinner, Daniel. Then we can tell more about her and not worry about any fleas or ticks she could be harboring."

O'Neill reluctantly handed the puppy back to Carter. "You'd better feed her first, Sam. She may pass out on you."

Daniel went into the kitchen and came back with a bowl in his hands. "Here's some bread in some powdered milk. She probably won't mind it not being fresh." As if to prove him right, the little mite literally dove into the bowl.

Jack watched her critically as she ate. "It looks as if that's the first meal she's had in a while."

"I wonder where her mother is?" Carter said softly as she watched her eat.

"Well, if they even brought mom along, she probably went out hunting and became dinner for something else." Jack commented. "She looks about five or six weeks old, so more than likely some bastard just dumped baby here off down on the road and she managed to find the cabin by herself. Probably just crawled under the deck to hole up."

Teal'c had sat quietly watching his friends interact with the creature. "You will keep this animal, O'Neill?"

"Might as well." He mused. "These terriers are tough little critters. Obviously nobody wanted her, though she will kill some of the squirrels and other little varmints around here. So don't be surprised if we lose some of the nosy neighbors, Daniel."

He nodded as he put out the plates on the counter. "One of the foster families I stayed with had a rat terrier. He was hell on wheels when it came to mouseing. Better than a cat."

After a dinner of warm milk, the little dog looked up at Jack. "What do you want, pup? If you eat anymore tonight you'll get sick. So why don't you and Sam go visit the little girls' room?" He glanced up at Sam who nodded and picked her up careful not to put any pressure on the now round little tummy.

"Come on sweetie. Time to get all pretty and girlie." The pup looked up at her happily and burped. Sam laughed as she went into the bathroom with her.

After dinner, when the four friends had gathered back in the living room, the pup was once again the center of discussion. She had been washed and toweled dry and was presently curled up on Jack's chest next to the back of the couch.

"So what are you going to call her, Jack?" Daniel was sitting on the floor up against the couch with the older man's arm lying loosely over his shoulder and chest.

"I don't know. You and Sam found her, what do you kids think?" He replied, falling back into his old speech pattern.

Sam looked at him and the puppy. "From where I'm sitting, she looks like one of those things that my grandmother used to put on the back of her chairs and couches. The lacy things, what were those called?"

Daniel shook his head. "I don't know, but she is kind of lacy looking with all the fringes and spots."

Jack smiled and tickled her ear, causing the little dog to shake her head and yawn. "You're thinking of a doily. But Lacy fits her, though I don't think she's very delicate."

"Sounds like a fit to me." Daniel smiled and got up. "Come on, Lacy; let's go take a walk for the night. Then we can help Jack into bed."

"I will assist O'Neill into the bedroom, Danieljackson. You and Samantha take the puppy for her walk."

"Oh, okay." Daniel scooped the pup up off her Jack-pillow. "Come on, Lacy. Let's go OUT."

A few minutes later, they returned with little Lacy, gamboling in front of them...both Daniel and Sam exclaiming over what a good girl she was as they entered the bedroom where Jack was lying in bed propped up on his pillows.

Jack looked up at Teal'c with a grin. "For scientists, they're remarkably easy to please...just eat all your food and don't pee on the carpet."

"Indeed," The big man intoned. "Perhaps if you would eat all your dinner, you too would receive congratulations."

"I wasn't hungry, and I don't pee on the carpet." He protested.

"Perhaps that is why Danieljackson has stayed with you; he is easily satisfied."

"Thanks for the show of support, T." Jack watched as Daniel pulled an old towel out of the closet and arranged it in a cardboard box. "You don't actually think she's gonna sleep in that do you?"

"Why not?" He put the puppy in the box and talked soothingly to her. As soon as he stood up, she jumped out and trotted over to the bed. There she looked up at Jack and whimpered.

"Come, Lacy." Daniel retrieved the little dog. "You're not sleeping in the bed with us." Jack didn't say a word. Daniel put her back in the box. She jumped out. Daniel got one of Jack's tee shirts from the laundry hamper and put it in the box, then deposited the pup back in it. She gave him a disgusted look and finally curled up on the shirt.

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Why my tee shirt?"

Daniel looked at him impishly. "Lacy likes you best anyway."

"That's just cause I stay in one place, not jumping around all the time."

Teal'c shook his head and went back out into the great room, Carter following. Daniel came over to the bed and kissed him on the forehead. "I'll make sure they've got everything they need, then I'll come to bed. You get some rest." Jack nodded sleepily.

After about fifteen minutes spent ensuring the comfort of their old teammates, Daniel came into the bedroom. When he looked into puppy's box, it was empty. A glance revealed the little Lacy firmly settled in the bed, under the blanket and next to Jack. She had nuzzled her way up under his arm and was peering out at Daniel from the area of his lover's ribs. Jack was snoring peacefully and there was no way to dislodge her without waking him. Daniel sighed and pulled off his clothes, crawling in on the other side of the bed. He peeked under the blanket. Lacy laid her head and one paw on Jack's belly and yawned at him. He gave up...two against one was not fair.

*******

Two days later, their brief visiting time up, Sam and Teal'c had left early in the morning to drive back to Grand Forks Air Force Base for the return trip with the General. Daniel had helped Jack out to the sunny back deck where he was sitting on one of the two rocking chairs holding Lacey in his lap, alternating between scratching the pup's ears and the beginnings of a beard he had started growing upon their return to the cabin. The two of them were watching Daniel practice his archery. The younger man had re-strung his bow and set up the target again in the meadow behind the cabin. His aim was improving with the custom-made bow and Jack wasn't shy about calling out instructions from his perch overlooking Daniel's activities.

The little terrier turned to look out into the brush and growled low in her throat. Daniel suddenly turned from his target and loosed an arrow into a grove of Aspen trees. Before Jack could get a grip on her, the little dog leaped from his lap and took off into the woods in the same direction. Daniel pulled another bolt from his quiver and ran after her. Jack managed to stand up out of his chair, but all he could do was curse his weakness and inability to act.

"Hey, Watch out! Ouch, stop it!" A voice came out of the woods, then the puppy yelped. Jack could hear Daniel's voice but couldn't make out what was being said. Next, he heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh, solid bone to bone. Within minutes, Harry Maybourne came rolling out of the trees to land face down in the dirt. Daniel followed him, carrying Lacy in his left arm, as she licked his face with gratitude. In his right hand he had the bow and his two arrows. The young man had a very angry look on his face and he seemed to be surrounded by a golden aura in the late afternoon sunlight. Jack shook his head. It had to be an optical illusion.

When Jack saw who the intruder was, he limped back to the rocker and sat down, waiting for the group to come to him.

Harry tried to get to his feet, but Daniel put his moccasined foot on the older man's back and forced him back down on the ground. The ex-NID agent hit the dirt again with an audible oof.

Jackson stood over him for a second. "Just lay there, Maybourne, where I can keep an eye on you." He then jogged over to the deck and handed the pup up to O'Neill. "Look at her, will you? Harry kicked her."

"I did not! I was just trying to knock it off. It bit me." Harry protested from the ground in an injured voice. "What was I supposed to do? Let it puncture my leg."

Jack looked up from his inspection of the little dog's side. "Good girl." He scratched her neck. "You're okay, aren't you? Yeah you are. You're a tough little rascal!" She looked up at him and licked him on the cheek.

Daniel had jogged back to where Maybourne lay in the dirt. He reached down and gave the man a hand up. Once on his feet, he glared at the young man. "I told you she bit me."

"And I told you she had every right to. Good guys don't skulk around in the brush, Maybourne. She was just defending her territory."

"So, I'm supposed to let her bite me?" He retorted as he brushed the dirt off of his clothes.

"No, you're supposed to come to the front door like normal people so you can be introduced." Jack called out to him. "What do you want, Harry?"

Harry gave Daniel an angry look then quickly headed over to O'Neill. "I was just checking on you. I lost track of you two right after my visit." He turned to glare at Daniel. "I was concerned."

"Yeah, right, Harry." Jack held the little dog to keep her from jumping out of his arms. She was growling again. "So, Harry, why does this pup hate you so much?"

"I don't know. I came by a few times, but I didn't see her." At Jack's disbelieving look, he raised his hand. "I swear, Jack. I didn't even know she was here."

Knowing Jack had the situation under control Daniel had gone out to the target area again. He turned and aimed an arrow at the mark releasing the shaft smoothly and effortlessly.

"You owe me a hat, Jack." Harry put in. He pulled his canvas fishing hat off his head and poked a finger through a hole. "He shot at me, he barely missed."

Jack watched Daniel put two shafts into the red center circle. "Harry, look at him. If he had wanted to hit you..." He left the sentence unfinished to admire the view.

"You might want to keep him reined in a little closer, Jack. I'd hate to see something happen to the good Doctor."

O'Neill looked ominously at the smaller man. "Harry, don't be playing at making threats. There's more here than meets your eye." He said quietly.

"Jack, I wouldn't hurt him out of respect for you, but don't let him go up against the NID alone or let him even expect to be able to." Maybourne replied equally serious.

"I won't, and he wouldn't, unless they came up here looking for us" Jack said with forced casualness. "As I said, we have some backup if we needed it."

"Like that glowing kid?" Maybourne looked at him suspiciously

O'Neill just looked up at him. "I didn't say that Harry. Don't be putting words in my mouth."

The two men just looked at each other for a moment, before Maybourne continued on with his conversation.

"Well, anyway, do you want to hear the latest news from Washington, or not?"

"Sure, why not?" Lacy had finally settled down in O'Neill's lap and was watching her other master shoot. She kept an ear cocked towards the stranger though.

Maybourne started to talk. "Kinsey's retired from his Senate seat. Rumor has it he had a nervous breakdown during a visit to the SGC. Had some hallucinations. Probably saw an alien or something. Simmons was injured in some sort of explosion, but that's all very hush hush. Oh, and Conrad, he's gone...disappeared. Nobody's talking about what happened to him. He's either dead or...."

"Gone through the Stargate."

The other man looked at him sharply. "How did you know that?"

"We were there at the SGC, Harry. Which is why we weren't here, cause no matter where you go, there you are." Jack smiled and looked down at the dog that was now snoozing in his lap.

"Oh, then you know about the Tollans?" Maybourne sounded disappointed.

"Yes, Harry. We know all about the Tollans." Jack smiled down at the sleeping puppy. "So how do you like Minnesota?"

"I don't," He declared. "It's too cold, has too many mosquitoes, and the people aren't very friendly."

"Ah, Harry; don't be like that... Wear a coat, put on insect repellant, and quit hiding in bushes. After a year or two, they'll warm right up to ya."

"No," Maybourne groused, looking from the little dog to where Daniel was still practicing putting arrow after arrow into the target's bull's eye. "No, no, Jack. I think I'm heading back to Acapulco, where the weather's warm and the living is easy."

"Well," O'Neill replied, turning to watch his partner in his own backyard. "There's no accounting for taste."

*******

***From the Historical Romance, DESERT STARS by Jonathan O'Neill***

Iskander arrived back at the house and let himself in through the kitchen area. The cooks were already preparing the master's dinner of roast fish, bread, and dates. As he passed through the cook's area he picked up a date, the cook glowered at him. "The Master has been looking for you, ungrateful one."

"He's back already? I didn't expect him until this evening."

"Since when does a Master tell a slave anything...he's been calling for you, that's all I know." The short fat man looked at him with a grin. "Perhaps you'll be beaten this time, young scholar." Iskander looked at the older man. "Perhaps. I do not know, oh cook of many talents. But I do know that I must go and find out."

The slave left the kitchen as quickly as he could. If his master was angry with him, he could very well be punished. The Greek didn't know how far the General would go. He had been an honor gift from the Pharaoh, but what did that mean here? His only excuse was that he had been given a difficult task by his new master. To properly translate a Nubian message he had needed to look at a certain scroll in the Great Library. Now he had only to complete the written transcription. So his master AmunNefer, might understand.

Iskander hurried on to his master's small library of military history and tactics. He arrived at the tall, carved doors of mahogany and tapped lightly to be admitted. Senit, the small houseboy, opened the door. The General was at his writing desk, several scrolls piled around him, bent over his writing desk. He looked up at the slave as he entered the room. The piercing brown eyes caught the blue of the Greek's and beckoned to him as Zeus called to an unsuspecting mortal to trap him in his limitless power.

The General was large for an Egyptian, almost six feet and though of middle age his life as a professional soldier was reflected in his hard lean body. The man was handsome in a hawkish way but obviously not one to be trifled with. His skin had been burned to the brown color of cured cedar by the long years of constant exposure to the sun. He kept his head shaved in the manner of all Egyptian nobles so that he could properly wear a helmet, a linen headdress or a woolen wig, as was the fashion in the Egyptian court. Occasionally, when he was too busy and didn't have time for fashion, it would grow out to a graying crop. At home, AmunNefer did not bother much with it and would often go bareheaded in his own house. The only face paint he normally wore was the heavy kohl eyeliner and then because it served to lessen the harshness of the brilliant Aten-disc on the hot desert sand. Even the gold eye powder was left off unless he was going to the court that day to advise the Great Pharaoh on military matters.

*******

When AmunNefer had returned to his city dwelling next to the palace that day, the house slave had told him that Iskander had gone to the Great Library to look at something. At first he'd been angry, but later had realized that his library was woefully incomplete for so difficult a translation that he had set before this new slave. He had then become worried. Not only was the slave a gift from the Great Pharaoh, Akenaten but he was very beautiful. Any of the ruffians on the street could attack the attractive Greek. He was unused to Amarna; he didn't know the streets. But worrying was useless. If he didn't return soon, AmunNefer would have to send someone... No, he would have to go himself...to search for the missing servant. But, he would wait a little longer. No use taking water from Mother Nile before the rainy season stopped.

So the General had concentrated on his work, trying not to think of his beautiful slave of the light hair and remarkable blue eyes.

Several hours later, a light tap came on this study door. The houseboy, eight year old Senit, got up from his place in the corner and ran to open the door.

The missing Greek slave, Iskander stood at the door waiting. AmunNefer motioned for him to enter. Senit scurried back to his corner and his empty cushion. The General sat back in his chair and watched the young slave enter. "There you are." He commented harshly.

"My Lord." Iskander walked over to the Egyptian's chair with his head bowed then genuflected at his feet.

AmunNefer looked at him in surprise. This was very unlike the actions of the slave that had glared up at him from below the Great Pharaoh's throne. The oddly colored blue eyes had looked up at him with fire. At first he had thought the young man didn't understand the language. But he had later learned that the Greek spoke ten different languages and thirteen dialects within them. This itself was an amazing accomplishment. Then he discovered the young man could read and write them also. This finding had prompted him to ask the slave to translate several scrolls, including one in a particularly difficult Nubian dialect. The Greek had quickly agreed to attempt the work, but had been unsure of the Nubian scroll. He seemed pleased to have been asked to use his mind in a challenging way.

"Well, Scholar." AmunNefer looked down at the slave with forced anger. "I see you found your way back."

"Yes, Lord."

The General glanced at Senit in his corner. He waved the boy away. He bowed and left the room, closing the boor behind him. "You do know what can happen to you."

"Yes, Lord." Iskander remained in the kneeling position, head down on the floor. "I know that I can be beaten for not satisfying my Lord's requirements."

The answer surprised AmunNefer for a moment, but he continued on in an angry voice. "You could be much worse than beaten. You could have been killed!"

"Lord?" The startling face looked up at him in shock. "Lord, I...I only went because..."

"Yes, I know. You went to the library to search for knowledge to translate the Nubian letter." He reached down and put his hand under the jaw and forced Iskander to look up directly at him. "Look at me, slave! I am not the Great Pharaoh." He jerked his hand, forcing the Greek to fall backwards. When he did, a fold of leather and a page of papyrus fell from the servant's cloak. "What is this?" The General picked up the items from the marble floor. "Is this the scroll?"

"Lord?"

*******

Jack, who was laying on the couch reading, looked up from the book at Daniel. His partner was sitting on the floor playing with Lacy. "Why does this conversation sound so familiar?" Daniel looked up at O'Neill. "Which conversation?"

"Iskander just got back from the library and AmunNefer is pissed."

"Oh, yea." The younger man blushed and scratched the puppy on her belly. "Well, actually, we have had that conversation."

"We did?"

"Yes, uh, after Enkara." Daniel looked up at him. "Not those exact words per se, but the basic idea is the same."

"Oh, yeah." Jack commented dryly. "I guess we did. I just wasn't ever sure that you heard me."

The younger man grinned up at him. "I DO listen, Jack."

Jack gave him a disbelieving look and returned to the book. "I never knocked you down."

"You wanted to."

"But I didn't." He groused and turned the page.

"Why not?"

Jack looked at him with a small crooked smile. "Because I loved you, Danny, even then, I loved you."

TBC

On to Just How Far I'd Travel, Just How Far Would I Go, Part 5