Walter hated having the night shifts. Not only did they throw the rest of his week out of whack, but all the drama and action happened in the morning and afternoon. Nighttime Gate travel was rare, only happening when someone was coming out of a sticky situation and medical teams were needed. Tonight, all he'd had was SG-19's return because of a broken arm, and that had been hours ago.

It was six in the morning, now. Major Carter was, as was normal, there beside him, running Gate diagnostics. He didn't know how the woman slept, but he didn't ask -- she was the head of Gate technology, and anything she wanted to do, he moved over to let her.

So far this morning they'd launched six MALP's, four for the teams going through the gate today, one for a standard recon, and one going back to P42-909, the planet SG1 had returned from the day before yesterday. They were going to launch a UAV after the MALP's telemetry came back, hoping to understand what had all but poisoned SG-1, and if the planet should be taken off of the dialing network.

"Launch MALP," Walter said through the mike, and watched as the rolling drone went through, immediately bringing up the camera and other readings as the drone re-solidified on the other side.

And couldn't help frowning. "Major Carter?"

Sam looked up from her own readings and looked into the monitor.

And blinked.

- = - = -

The girl, petite and muscular, sat in the middle of the temple room. Her body was covered with tribal tattoo's, her hair full of feathers, and her dress something out of a painting of a warrior princess. Her short leather skirt was sewn with bright beads, a bow and quiver over her shoulder and across her chest, and huge boots, sheathed with twin knives, came up to her knees. Her skin, a rich caramel, was on display for all to see, as if she were proud of her near nudity and her handling of the weapons strapped to her body.

Her voice, low and strong, spoke. "Colonel Jack O'Neill and friends -- we need your help."

Sam cut off the video right there and looked at the rest of SG1 sitting around the Briefing room table. Daniel had been silent, the Colonel's jaw was black and blue, and Teal'c just looked cranky. What a morning for this to happen. "She said this over and over, for the ten minutes the wormhole was open. She didn't identify herself, but from the way she was dressed, I'd say she was a woman of great importance."

Jack couldn't have cared less, at this particular moment. He was very much of the idea that the planet should be taken out of the dialing rotation, and screw the whole damned planet and their Goa'uld too.

But he knew that realistically, that was in no way possible, so he just sighed. "General, I'd like to return to the planet alone, rather than expose the rest of SG-1 to whatever it was that caused the... whatever the hell it was last time," Jack said. He was sitting in his usual place, across from Daniel, but he was doing his level best to ignore the fact that Daniel was even there.

He'd even gone so far as to get his own coffee, and he was tapping a blue ink pen against the side of the mug. "They're addressing me by name, so I'd be comfortable with the assumption that this girl, whomever she is, is an accomplice or associate of Hammurabi, or his sons."

Hammond looked at him, ignoring the black and blue bruise on the Colonel's face. He'd already heard what happened, and planned on having a lengthy discussion about it as soon as this briefing was over. "Permission denied. We don't know what we're walking into." He glanced up. "Dr. Jackson, is their anything you can deduce from her dress and speech?" He blinked as the younger man continued to stare into space. "Dr. Jackson?"

"What? Oh... sorry. Ah... from what I can tell, her speech patterns match those of Linelos and Daphon, not necessarily Hammurabi. It's possible she's part of the underground resistance."

"It's very strange that she's in the temple, sir," Sam added. "It's almost as if they knew we'd be back."

Teal'c raised his eyebrow. "Major Carter, replay the video. DanielJackson, please turn your attention to the second column on the left of the screen, specifically, the empty cartouche. Only it is no longer empty," he continued, waiting for the video to play back. "Nor do I believe the glyphs on the wall are the same that we encountered before, but that supposition will require your examination of the walls."

"What? How could that happen?" Jack asked, turning to look at Teal'c, instead of Daniel.

Daniel did, and immediately, he saw what he should have picked up -- the empty cartouche. He'd marked it as being strange, because cartouche's were rarely ever left empty unless they were only half done. There was no way anything like what he was seeing could have been done in a single forty eight hour period. "You're right. I've downloaded the video from the temple into the base computer -- with your permission, General Hammond, I'd like to go back and get another look at those glyphs."

Hammond nodded firmly. "Agreed. However, I'd like to talk to the young lady first, and determine what it is that she's doing in the temple in the first place."

"General? Carter?" Jack leaned forward as the video replayed. "The MALP from last time; did anyone ever call it through?" He knew for a fact they'd forgotten it, which had been more than a little strange, but he had written it off to Hammurabi's directive, because it hadn't exactly added in *and don't forget your toys when you leave.*

"No, we didn't," Hammond said, and immediately got what the Colonel was saying. He rose, joined swiftly by Major Carter, and walked down the steps out of the Briefing room to the control room.

Sam slid into the chair beside Walter's, and within two minutes had dialed up the planet. She could feel Teal'c beside her, warm and big and... not something she should be thinking about, and Colonel O'Neill and Daniel, stony and silent and as far away from each other as possible.

The MALP camera flickered on after a moment, and Sam moved out of the way for General Hammond to speak.

"This is General Hammond of the SGC. Please identify yourself."

Eyes as brown as her lovely skin looked up from the candles flickering around her. She rose, swiftly, and leaned in close to the gray machine before her. "General Hammond of the SGC, thank you for responding to my plea. I am Ligoriana of the clan Hammurabi, crowned princess of Menua."

Jack leaned over to mutter in Teal'c's ear. "So... if we didn't bring the other MALP back... where is it?" Then he cleared his throat. "Ligoriana... this is Colonel Jack O'Neill. Why'd... you call us?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow to O'Neill's query, but had no reply for him.

"I am here at the will of my brother, Daphon. He asks for your assistance, though I fear we are too late." She leaned in close. "Menua was attacked three evenings ago, by the false god, Neb. My father has been taken prisoner. My brother Linelos is wounded, and Daphon and the rebellion are crumbling from within. Please. I ask for your help, on the behalf of my people."

Linelos wounded. Jack felt a savage spear of glee from that one. "Logir... you know, you people don't have easy names. You mind if I call you Xena?" A shrug. "The last time we came to your planet, Hammurabi told us to get out and not come back. Not to mention the fact that we were knocked out, drugged, and yanked around by your brothers. You're gonna have to tell us how and why your people drugged us, and we're going to need some reassurance that it's not going to happen again before we step foot back on your planet."

Ligoriana looked closer into the camera of the machine. Little to her knowledge, but her face filled the monitors of Earth. "It was not the intention of my father to drug you -- your bodies are different than our own. I promise you will be treated with the highest respect."

Hammond had one better. "Ligoriana, a member of SG1 will be arriving there momentarily to escort you back to Earth."

Her eyes widened with surprise, but she nodded gently. "I await your arrival."

"I'll go," Jack volunteered.

"No, Colonel, you won't." Hammond said, a little less friendly than usual. His eyes met Teal'c's. "Teal'c, I'd like for you to go through. Your symbiote has protected you in the past. I want you in and out as fast as possible."

"Sir, might I point out that Teal'c was affected last time, just like the rest of us?" Jack said, arms crossed over his chest.

Teal'c tilted his head, and nodded in response to the General's order. "Indeed I was affected, O'Neill. However, I recovered more quickly than you, and it did not have any of the lingering after-effects that it seems to have left in the three of you." He rose to his feet. "I will be there in moments, Princess," he said, before the transmission cut off. "If you will excuse me." Teal'c inclined his head again before exiting the briefing room.

Hammond watched him go, then looked at the two youngest members of SG1. Carter was busy at the computer terminal, and Dr. Jackson looked like he'd rather be anywhere but where he stood right now. He let them off the hook. "Keep me apprised, people. Colonel O'Neill? Why don't you join me in my office for a little chat."

"Yessir," Jack answered, exasperated as he could possibly be.

There were very few occasions that he resented being the team leader; being kept after school was one of those times, like now.

- = - = -

Had this been any other day, month, year, Ligoriana would have been thrilled to go on such an adventure. Like her older brothers, she was prone to looking for excitement, and at an early age had learned to ride the Re-Re's expertly, mark and aim with precision, and was the most skilled archer in the city. None of which had to do with being a princess. Her father had tried to stifle her, to make her wear miles of linen and gauze, but Ligoriana would have none of it. She was prone to wearing her leather and her weapons, being a little dirty, a little unkempt, her hair braided and piled atop her head to keep it out of her eyes.

Which was how she found herself in the middle of an enormous complex, a Jaffa at her side, weapons pointed at her and the whooshing glow of the...Star Gate closing behind her.

"Stand down, airmen," Hammond said. "Welcome to Earth, ma'am."

Earth was very... dark and dismal. "Thank you, General Hammond. On behalf of my people, I extend my most heartfelt gratitude for allowing me to travel through the Great Ring to your world."

Hammond gave her a small, grim smile. "Come with me, please, to the infirmary. Standard procedure."

Teal'c's hands were folded behind his back. "I will accompany you; there is nothing to be afraid of," he said, alien to alien. "This is merely for your protection as well as ours to make sure that you are not dangerous to us, and that we are not dangerous to you."

Jack was watching from the conference room, through the window that looked out onto the Gate room. Liggy came down the ramp, Teal'c following her, and Jack cut his eyes around to Carter, who was being a little too obvious in the fact that she was completely ignoring the new arrival. "Hey, Carter? I've got an idea. Work with me on this. Let's run away. We can make it through the Stargate and scramble the dialer before they know what world we went to."

"Huh?" Sam blinked at him, arching one blond brow. "Are you all right, sir?"

Daniel didn't look up from his file and his paperwork, slowly sipping his coffee and trying in vain to ignore the both of them.

"Yeah, I'm just fine." The light from the open Stargate blinked out of existence, and the room was suddenly less bright. "I'm going to my office, Carter. Call me when Leggy is done in the infirmary, huh?"

"Yes sir," Sam said, and looked from him to Daniel, ignoring them, then back to the Colonel.

"Thanks." Jack tossed his pen down on the desk, picked up the few notes he'd scribbled and the doodles he'd drawn, and stomped out of the room.

Sam looked from the Colonel's stomping, retreating form to Daniel. She paused momentarily, thoughtfully, and went back to sit at her spot at the briefing table. "Daniel?"

"Mm hmm?"

"Want to tell me what that was all about?"

"What?"

"What?" she repeated disbelievingly. "Well... how about you tell me how the Colonel got that black jaw, because rumor has it, Daniel Jackson went off on him, but we both know that isn't true."

"No, it couldn't be true. The meek, mild scientist against the hard nose Colonel, right?" Daniel asked, snapping without raising his voice even an iota.

"No, it couldn't be true that my kid brother developed a violent streak and punched his best friend in the face," Sam said calmly, and quietly.

Daniel looked up, then, and set his pen down. "What do you want me to say, Sam?"

"How about the truth, Daniel?" She paused her algorithm and turned around to face him. "What's going on with you and Colonel O'Neill. You're usually joined at the hip and now you can barely stand to be in the same room with each other. He hasn't said a word to you all weekend, and the SF's are even MORE terrified of him and his bad attitude than they've been all year."

Daniel tipped his head. "He said something he should have never said, no matter how much he believed it. Let's leave it at that, all right?"

"And that lead to you punching him in the face?"

"I'm not proud of what I did, Sam."

A small snicker. "I would be. I haven't seen the Colonel wearing a bruise like that... ever, actually. You might have done some good, straightening his jaw like that. He's kind of handsome since you decked him and shifted the bone structure around."

Daniel couldn't help a little smile at that. "I didn't say it didn't feel good." The smile slid from his face, and he shook his head. Sam was his friend. "He said some things about Shau're he shouldn't have. My temper got the best of me. I'm surprised he hasn't asked me to be transferred off the team, to tell you the truth."

Sam shook her head in return. "He's not gonna transfer you, Daniel. He likes you, and even more, he respects you, even if he'd rather choke on a lemon than admit it. He knows you're the best, and that's why he's never asked you to leave SG-1 in the first place. You're an important part of our family, and it just wouldn't be right with anyone else."

If only she knew. "Sam, things are different now," was all he said.

"Why, because you slept together? C'mon, Daniel, don't be shocked. I know, it might've been a surprise to you, but kind of not to the rest of us." Gentle smile. "It's been there all along."

Daniel looked up, paled abruptly, and nearly bolted. "What?"

"Calm down!" Sam said, getting to her feet beside Daniel and steadied him with a hand on his shoulder. "Daniel, the only surprise was that you hadn't been doing it earlier," she said, with a little cringe.

"What?!" Daniel cried, and stood up abruptly. "You too, Sam?!"

"Look, it's obvious that the Colonel adores you," she said quietly. "And it's pretty obvious you've got the same feelings for him. And I wasn't wrong about anything but the timing," she reminded him, pressing him back down into the chair. "Was I?"

One hysterical archaeologist, coming up. "I'm not gay, Sam. And neither is Jack. What happened between us is a fluke, some sick fluke by the people of that planet and the happy pills they put in the water. Nothing more, nothing less. He's my friend, or at least, he was. I'm not so sure about that now. Whatever it is, we're not gay, and we're not lovers, so get it out of your head and stop telling Janet to feed you those trashy novels. I'm not about to fall in his arms like some six foot tall prima donna, and if he does it to me I'm dropping him on his ass. There's nothing there." And if there was, the fierce need to protect and the heart stopping, aching.... love, well it was gone now after what Jack said yesterday.

Sam just shook her head. "Daniel... you know I'm crazy about you, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Listen to yourself," she said quietly.

"I am."

"No, you're not. You're a linguist, listen to yourself. Your tone of voice, your words. You're so defensive about me even *thinking* something dirty about you and Jack you're not thinking straight."

He was, and wasn't too stupid not to hear it. "That's not the point. The point is, we're not, we were drugged, and that's the end of it."

"The point is, you're so worried about someone thinking you two might be doing something together that you're completely discounting the fact that you *have.*" She sighed. "Daniel... Janet told all of us that we weren't ordered to do anything out of the ordinary, just... basically come home and find what makes us happy. Was it really that much of a shock to you to find out that it's the Colonel?"

God. *God*. "It doesn't matter now, because.." *he is never touching me again.* "What's done is done. Drop it, Sam. Okay?"

"Okay," Sam nodded. "So, what's the deal with the glyphs and the empty cartouche?"

Daniel didn't get a chance to respond, because Hammond chose that moment to arrive with Teal'c, Ligoriana, and Jack in tow.

Ligoriana immediately knew the two looking at her were the other members of Jack O'Neil's team. The woman Oneh had treated, Major Carter, and the man Linelos was smitten with. And it was no wonder, beautiful of face and body as he was, with old wise eyes and a tender face. Lovely. She bowed to each in turn. "I thank you for your hospitality and your kind welcome and regards to me, but I fear I must be quick in telling you all that has occurred."

Jack completely ignored Daniel, and Carter, just for the simple fact she was standing right next to him. He didn't bother sitting down, just stayed leaning against the door. "We're all ears," he said, watching Ligoriana.

Ligoriana looked from the Colonel O'Neill to General Hammond, and at his nodding request, took a seat beside him at the long oak table. The chairs, with wheels on the bottom, were sinfully comfortable on her aching body. "Three nights ago, the false god Neb attacked our neighboring city, Parmeth. He was searching for the Cure, a medicine we accidentally created which many years ago when my mother accidentally ate a combination of rich river bread, black seeds, and the barley flask wine made in the Old Country. Neb has always said any combination like the one my mother consumed was poison, and for many hours we thought mother lay at death's door. She was not. She awoke, she said, as if from a dream, and convinced my father to experience it as well. Since that day, the people of my city and the neighboring cities have been broken from Neb's evil curse and see him for what he is -- a parasite on our soil."

She took a deep breath. "Neb has spies amongst our rebellion, we now know. Three days ago he attacked Parmeth, hoping to kill my brothers, who were there trying to gather more supporters. When his Jaffa did not bring their bodies, he attacked Menua. It now lays in ruins, my father taken by the Jaffa, and my brothers in hiding. Even now Linelos fights for his life." Tears sprang to her eyes. "Daphon sent me to ask you for aid."

Jack just stayed against the door. "We'll go through and bring Linelos back here, to the SGC. We can at least make sure that he recovers with Dr. Frasier." He held up his hand. "You guys have technology, and we have the iris. It means that nobody from your world can get through to ours unless we open it. Linelos will be safe here." He looked at General Hammond. "We've already been discussing it, and we're going to take two more teams in, SG-3 and SG-5. Carter, you and Jackson are going to be responsible for evacuating Linelos and anyone else who needs to be tended or kept safe back here, while Teal'c and I work with the other teams to find out where Daphon is, and what we can do to shore up their defenses."

Hammond nodded firmly. "You have a go."

Ligoriana's chin trembled, but she straightened, standing, and bowed to General Hammond. "My people and I thank you for your aid."

"You're very welcome. I'd like for you to stay, ma'am, be here when your brother is brought through," Hammond said, as he led her out of the room.

Daniel nodded at nothing and gathered up his paper work, slipping out a moment later. He didn't fail to catch the fact that Jack didn't use his name.

"Teal'c, head down to the armory, and supervise handing out weapons. Zats all around, and make sure that anyone who doesn't already know how to use them gets refreshed. Make sure Carter and Jackson get cover from the units in the Gate room and on the ramp when they come through with Linelos. I'll talk to Dr. Frasier about having a medical team waiting on their call." He waited until Daniel was gone, and let himself slightly relax from the stiffness of his spine.

Teal'c inclined his head at O'Neill in acknowledgement of his orders, and followed DanielJackson out of the room.

Sam waited until it was just the two of them in the room. "Permission to speak candidly, sir?"

Jack sighed. "Carter, I don't have time for this." When she didn't budge, he just... shrugged. "Granted."

"Sir, I think you're making a mistake splitting up SG-1. The four of us are a team, and you're going to need people you can trust to back you up. You can call SG-4 in to evacuate Linelos just as easily."

"Objection noted," Jack said. "You've got your orders, Carter."

"Yes, sir," she answered tightly, slamming her notebook shut with a resounding smack as she left Jack alone to stew.

- = - = -

Jack had had quite a bit of practice at working with his mind going on two different trails. Granted, one was usually a simple track, such as keeping up with rendezvous times at the 'Gate, dial in codes, and how many rounds of ammunition his P-90 had remaining in the magazine.

It was not usual for both tracks to be running on complex tracks voluntarily, so Jack chose to ignore the one--the Daniel Track, he'd come to think of it recently, and focused his attention on the Ligoriana situation.

His gear was laid out in an orderly fashion, on the short line of hooks in his locker, and he was changing from the green uniform to camouflage and boots, vest and helmet and goggles, and all the protective armor that Hammond could have heaped on them. Kevlar body armor, the most high tech possible, though it still wouldn't stand up to a staff blast, it might against other weapons that the inhabitants of nine-oh-niner might turn against them.

He was pulling on his clothes and armor methodically, not thinking about something he'd done a hundred times before as he concentrated his attention on the offensive they were about to launch.

And Daniel was doing the same. He had catalogued all of his knowledge about the Menua, which was pitifully small, and had brushed up on his political wheedling with a nights sleepless read involving a certain ex-president and his vast...affairs. He'd gone to the shooting range at the crack of down to make sure he remembered how to fire a P90 still, and had been pleasantly surprised both at his skill and his pleasure at holding such a weapon. Then again, he'd been picturing Jack's head, so that wasn't entirely healthy.

Camo went on, his vest, gun straps, and tied a handkerchief around his forehead, keeping his hair out of his eyes and giving him a good place to perch his glasses should the need arise.

And ignoring Jack O'Neill's presence completely.

Jack, on the other hand, was well aware of Daniel's presence. It was something he'd always been aware of, because of the first Abydos mission.

Daniel had wandered off, and gotten dragged across sand dunes by the big beast of burden the Abydonians used.

After that, Jack made sure that Daniel didn't wander too far off, and had, at times, considered shoving a leash up his ass.

But that was not the thought to have today, and Jack slammed his locker shut loudly. "Make sure you report to Carter and stick with her. You're going to be looking for Linelos together, and radio in to Teal'c or me when you find him." Jack shouldered his weapon. "Pick up a zat if you haven't already, and be in the Gate room in twenty minutes." Jack stalked towards the door.

"Yes, sir."

Daniel didn't even look up from his pack, which he was making sure had enough water purifying cubes in it before he zipped up and snapped his pack on.

Jack slammed the locker room door on his way out, nearly plowing into Sam as she came in. "Carter," he said tersely. "Jackson's in there, and he's got his orders. Now you're getting yours. Stick together, pick up a zat, and radio in when you find Linelos. We're jumping in twenty minutes."

"Yes, sir," Sam said, unconsciously echoing Daniel himself as she stepped around him and headed towards her own locker.

"Good." Jack stalked down the hallway entirely, and nearly bumped into Ligoriana, who was milling around almost aimlessly. "Ligoriana. You're a couple levels down from where we need to be. C'mon. I'll walk you back up."

Sam glanced out of the door just as it rocked closed, noting both the Colonel, his tone of voice, and the hand he put low on her back.

She turned back just in time to catch the jealous, heartbroken look on Daniel's face, and her heart went out to her poor, stupid, brilliant little brother. Sadly, work was work, and she put it out of her mind as she focused on the mission.

- = - = -

Daniel did as he was told, for possibly the first and last time in his life. He went to his office and packed his bag, making sure he had all of his medication and his camera, and after double, and triple, checking, he went back upstairs.

His mind was a mess, and he'd be the first to admit it. His heart, or at least the place it should be, ached uncontrollably. He felt guilty, and angry, and upset, and furious, and reproachful, and inconceivably horny, which just depressed him more. And to top it all off, he had a Very Bad Feeling about this mission. Something wasn't right -- Ligoriana wasn't telling them something important. What it could be, Daniel didn't have a clue, but he did know it was going to come back and pop them in the ass before the next two days were over.

He hoped he lived to see them. ... He hoped he lived to see them in his own clothes.

And he'd make it a point, he swore to himself on the elevator, to apologize to Jack for punching him square in the jaw. He had to apologize now, in case something happened, and he'd never get a chance to.

Or at least he would have tried to apologize, had he not walked into the gate room to find Jack hanging all over Ligoriana.

"Okay. You're saying that everything around Menua is gone?" Jack was leaning over Ligoriana's shoulder, peering at the hand-drawn map she'd brought with her, and comparing it to some of the film that Daniel had brought back and printed out of the base computer. "As soon as we exit the temple, we're going to need some kind of cover." His finger jabbed at the printout. "Before, we were using the trees for ground cover, but if they're gone... between the climate and the fact that we're all going to get shot as soon as we exit... is there anything else around the temple area we could use?" He leaned a little further over her shoulder, tilting his head enough to see around the thick braids piled on her head.

There were other photos and printouts in Jack's hands, but he was looking over the Princess' shoulder because she was holding her own map and their photo surveillance together. "How many Jaffa does this Neb command?" He was only peripherally aware of Daniel coming into the 'Gate room, and he waved him forward. "Up the ramp, find Carter and stick with her."

Daniel's eyes narrowed to dangerous little slits, fury masking the sharp hurt inside of him. The look he speared Jack's back should have de-balled him, or beheaded him, but Jack was too busy looking down Princess LegsUpToHere's shirt to notice Daniel.

Fine.

Fuck.

Daniel turned away from them both, nodded sharply, and plunked his hat on his head before stepping up the ramp where Sam was waiting. He missed the slightly knowing, sad look in her eyes because he was so furious he couldn't see in front of his eyes.

Fine. If Jack wanted to fuck him one second and get back at him with Princess ChokingOnHerBoobs, FINE. Daniel didn't care. See if he cared!

Sam tried. Give her points for that. "Hey, Daniel?" Her hand reached out, and rested against Daniel's shoulder. "C'mon. Calm down. You can't go through the 'Gate like this," she murmured softly. "You gotta get yourself calmed down, before you get hurt."

If Daniel stopped being mad, he was going to cry. And blacken both of Jack's eyes. He nodded sharply at her though, took a deep breath, and without attracting any more attention to himself, stepped through the wormhole and disappeared.

- = - = -

Lou Ferretti wasn't built for this off-world crap.

Granted, he was the leader of the second first-contact team at the SGC, and he'd been to over fifty planets in the last year alone. And, granted, he had more experience than any of these spring chickens, save for Dr. Jackson and Colonel O'Neill. He could do the job with his eyes closed, but that would hinder the whole 'staying alive' initiative he was interested in following.

Regardless, he wasn't built for this off world crap, let alone escorting two scientists offworld to some hell hole that had fucked with their heads.

That the scientists were two of the most capable people he'd ever met didn't mean squat. Lou didn't like this, not one bit.

He stepped out of the Stargate with the prerequisite stumble, straightening with his P90 he had hugged to his chest. The air was cool, almost cold, and the sky above the temple room or whatever whatsits they were in was a dark gray, like it was going to start raining any second. The way the sky looked after war.

The landscape was completely changed than the photos Dr. J. had brought back with him from their first visit. Literally. There was no castle, only a sprawling town. No forest, just an ocean, where docked ships were still smoking. There was fire everywhere, and the far-away screams of women, and...carnage.

Utter carnage.

"Fuck."

"I heartily agree with that assessment," Sam breathed, looking around.

Everything was *gone.*

The palace, the trees... even the swamps looked to be gone from the face of the planet. They'd have to have been destroyed, for the Jaffa to be moving around as they had been. There was no one out now, but that didn't mean anything. "I can't believe it's all gone."

Daniel saw it. Instantly. The writing on the wall was completely different from... from the other temple they arrived to the last time they came to Menua. "No, Sam," he said, staring out at the fire blazing in the city, hand braced against one side of the doorway leading down the ziggurat. "This isn't Menua."

"WHAT?!" Ferretti bellowed, and without a word, held a hand up to his team and spun back to the Stargate. "Dial it up, Fletcher!"

"Wait!" Came a cry from below. Whoever screamed it shrieked, and burst into tears.

"Yilenna?" Daniel asked, eyes wide, and instantly, he was over the side of the Ziggurat, ignoring Ferretti's yell to get his 'ass back up here!', but Daniel didn't one to listen to the military types. He heard the woman before he saw her, shrieking and screaming and sobbing hysterically, where she was climbing the face of the pyramid. "Yilenna?"

"Daniel!!!!" Sam lit out after him. "Ferretti, don't dial the damn Stargate until we find out what's going on! Daniel!!! Get back here!!!" She followed him down the side, and nearly cursed at the missing steps that Daniel was scrambling over. "Get me an anchor line now! Daniel, stop, head back up, and tell the woman I'll rappel down and get her. There's too many steps gone!"

"It's okay! I'm almost there!" he yelled back, thumped down a dozen more steps and... "Yilenna!"

Ferretti was midway out of shucking out of his pack when the ear-piercing shriek rent the air and he winced. "Dr. J, stay where you are! We're sending rope down!" He bellowed, hoping the scientist heard him over the screaming woman.

Daniel had, but Daniel wasn't worried about that. Yilenna's hands were stained with blood, as was her dress. "Yilenna!" He yelled over her screaming, only to have her scream all the louder. "Yilenna!!! Stop a second!! Where is Linelos?"

"DEAD!" She shrieked, and screamed, and fell into his arms.

"Not dead. Where is he?!" Daniel asked again. Demanded, actually.

"HE DOESNT MOVE!" Yilenna screamed. "He is dead!"

"Lead me to him," Daniel demanded, hoping it helped her calm as he pointed down the ziggurat.

"Daniel!" Sam took the rope that Lou was feeding her, and put it on her harness. "The steps won't take both your weights, and there's no way you can go down without backup!" she yelled, and wondered, very briefly, if this is how Jack felt when dealing with the headstrong man. "I'm coming down, and if you're gone when I get there, I swear I'm going to kick your butt!"

Just because Lou wasn't made for offworld missions didn't mean he didn't come prepared for them.

In five minutes flat he had two workable harnesses and a backboard for the prince when they found him, all connected to a folding metal cage that they could use to drag him up the side of the pyramid between four men. With efficiency born of necessity he tied the workable harness to the temple walls after checking for strength, tied it around his own waist, and braced himself. "You've got a go, Major," he announced.

"My Prince Lord, he is bleeding, blood everywhere! Daphon, he is gone, fighting in the bloodbath!" Yilenna screamed, and began to drag Daniel down the pyramid. "He is near, at bottom!"

Daniel wasn't scared of Jack, but Sam was a different story. "It's sturdy!" he yelled back, over the explosions rocking the town in the distance. "Linelos is nearby!"

"Daniel Jackson, if you move one more step, I'm going to feed you to Colonel O'Neill personally STAY THE FUCK WHERE YOU ARE!" Sam blushed as she bellowed the obscenity, and started rappelling down the rock face with Ferretti beside her. "Call back up to your team and have SG-4 jump through the gate, and be ready to grab Linelos as soon as we get there," she said, feet bouncing off the rock face.

Way too long since she'd had to do this and it was jarring her teeth together as she spoke. "Daniel, stay PUT!" she bellowed again. "Tell the woman we're on the way with medical help, if she'll just hold on for two seconds!"

Lou huffed and muttered under his breath as he repelled down, but he radioed up to his team as they went. "Franklin, call through for assistance. SG4, in ten minutes. Got it?"

The expletive made Daniel nearly want to smile. Had he been anywhere but where he was, he might have. Instead, he held the old woman a little tighter against him as he held tight to the Ziggurat steps under him. "We're going to get you out of here," he soothed, even as the little woman cried hysterically into the shoulder of his uniform. The wet was soaking through to his skin.

"Yes, sir!" At the top of the ziggurat, Franklin was organizing the rest of their men into a defensive position, leaving one man out to anchor the ropes that the Majors were using on the descent. "Calling for SG-4 now!"

Sam nodded at Ferretti and picked up the pace, jumping down faster and wincing as the rock crumbled in several places as she rappelled down. Already she was worrying about how in the hell they were going to get back up, and the thought hit her that they could roll the round Stargate down the steps to the bottom.

Somehow, she didn't think that was going to work, and she gave a bark of laughter as soon as her feet hit the platform where Daniel and Yilenna were standing. "I hope you're gonna explain how we're not at the same point we were before?" she muttered, steadying the rope for Lou as he came down after her.

"You're dead, Dr. J," Lou hissed, glaring at the somewhat smug scientist, and then softening for the woman. "Ma'am, you shouldn't be climbing this thing. Looks ready to go any second." He fixed the second part of the repelling rope around her. "We're gonna go up, kay? I want you to hang onto me as tight as you can, all right?" He pulled her in towards him, her screaming in his ear, and he winced as he started back up. "Major Carter, Dr. J, stay put. I'm coming back down with Franklin and Smith."

"What, you want me to *sit* on him?" Sam hooked her thumb over her shoulder at Daniel, who was already getting ready to scramble down. "We'll hook up the backboard and the pull cage, and meet you on the way down." A pause. "I'll take responsibility for Daniel with the Colonel, Lou."

"Yeah right. It's my ass he'll have in a wringer," Lou muttered, grabbed the screaming, kicking woman tight, and started back up.

"Come on, Sam, we're almost down. She said he was behind the Ziggurat," Daniel said, and began to slowly go down.

"Daniel!!" Sam was scrambling to hook the cage together around the backboard, and rigged it on the pulley. The pneumatic anchor dug itself deeply into the stones of the ziggurat, and Sam closed her eyes and jumped down, using the guide rope to steady her as she swung over close to his position. "Get your harness up and hook onto my rope!" she yelled at him.

Daniel caught it, wound it around himself and through the loops in his vest made for that purpose without stopping, and kept going.

When Sam got back to the SGC, she was going to make it a personal goal to apologize to the colonel for all the crap she'd *ever* put him through. No wonder his hair was going that attractive shade of gray; much more of this and hers would be too.

Her legs and her training let her catch up to Daniel faster than another climber would have, and they were going down, side by side. "You're going... to kill me, Daniel," she panted out. At least this was easier than the *other* climb.

"We've got to get Linelos before this thing falls, or those forces to the east decide that the Stargate coming to life means its time to blow up the ziggurat. I don't know where we are, but we need to get gone as soon as possible," Daniel said, panting as he plunked down faster, legs working, burning as they moved.

"Not arguing there," Sam agreed. At times like this, she really missed consulting with Teal'c about which plan of action was going to be the most likely. In fact, she just missed Teal'c period, which just made her go a little faster. "I don't think they'll blow it up; as far as they know, we could be reinforcements coming through on the other side," she huffed.

"Unlikely," Daniel gasped, thumping down the last two steps and hitting solid earth. "Hammurabi said his people didn't use the gate -- only Neb," he said, undoing the rope quickly. He'd forgotten about Jack, about his problems, about home. This was for the job, right now, saving the young kids life.

Sam hit a minute after him. "Yeah, but when a Goa'uld is in trouble, more Goa'uld usually come. Not to mention, we don't know if all of Neb's Jaffa have been deployed." She winced, and then snapped the rope up, to start the backboard cage rolling down. "C'mon, help me winch it down and we can strap Linelos up when we find him."

Daniel pulled it with her, watching the cage as it moved, and heard the 'Gate come to life above over the crashing roar of bombs in the distance and Yilenna's screaming. No gun fire, so it was SG4. Good. He pulled and snapped at the rope until the cage fell to the ground in front of them. He hoisted it easily over his shoulder, the lightweight material sitting comfortably on his shoulders. "Lets go," he huffed.

Sam nodded, picking up her weapon and slinging the strap down over her shoulder so she could raise it to the ready. "Okay. I'm going first--no argument, Daniel, you've got your hands full." She ducked under the cage and slipped in front of him, letting her gun lead her around the corner.

As soon as she did, she saw the bloodstained cloths hung on an outcropping that provided shade for the alcove beneath, and used her gun to point. "There he is," she said grimly, and a pair of hands waved out to them from the darkness.

"This way, please, hurry!"

The voice was masculine, and Sam recognized the dirty straw-colored hair of Oneh, the one who had tended her illness. "Daniel, it's okay, it's the doctor."

Oneh had known they'd come -- the oracle had prophesized it, and he knew better than to question her. It had only been a matter of keeping Linelos alive until they did.

Oneh was a skilled junior physician, but even that had not helped him to keep Linelos alive. He had done everything he knew and THEN some, had not slept in days, and had wept profusely over his friend's body as he lay in the grass, dying. Nothing Oneh could do would help, and it had taken the oracle's faith to help Oneh bring Linelos through the night.

He nearly wept when he saw the strange green clothing of the offworlders, and his hands trembled as he clapped them together. "God save us. Linelos is this way -- you must hurry. I've done all I can, but.."

"But that's why we're here." She turned to Daniel, dropping her gun and reaching for the cage that was over his shoulder. "Come on. Help us get him on this. It's called a backboard, and it'll help keep his body stable. You'll have to help us carry it back to the temple, but we can get it from there. Do you know of a way to the top of the temple, where the Great Ring is, that doesn't involve climbing on the outside face?"

"No," Oneh said, and his face crumbled for a minute before he got a hold of himself. He shook, all over.

"Don't fall apart yet," Daniel instructed, and squeezed his shoulder, hard, as he went around him, taking the young man with him into the small clearing. Linelos was in a sort of out cropping, covered with low trees to provide some sort of shelter.

What stunned Daniel, at first, was the fact that Linelos was clean of blood. He lay on his back, unconscious, his skin waxy and pale but his otherwise clear complexion free of wounds. It was only when he got closer that he saw the thick bandages coated with blood along one side, hidden half under his back. High, near the kidneys.

"He was stabbed in the back," Oneh said, voice trembling madly. "One of our friends. A loyalist, a *snake*, ruled under Neb. He stabbed Linelos in the back as we fought the Jaffa attacking Menua."

Sam was right behind them, manhandling the cage down onto the ground and making sure it was open enough to get Linelos onto the backboard. "Okay. Daniel... grab his feet. Oneh, get his head, and make sure that his body fits exactly on the board."

The radio on her shoulder shrieked, and she picked it up. "Carter here. Patch me into Colonel O'Neill's team. Over."

Daniel crouched low on Linelos' side, taking a quick field inventory. Thready pulse, cool skin despite the blankets over him. His eyelids were blue-ish, his lips pale. Too much blood, dehydration. Oneh had done well to keep him alive for.. "When was he stabbed?"

"The night before last. I hid him here, hoping we would not be found, and sent for Yilenna."

Daniel squeezed the boys shoulder again. "You did good," he murmured, and then nodded at Sam. But before he could get up a low, soft wheezing cough interrupted him, and he looked down. "Linelos? Linelos, can you hear me?"

An angel. Soft brown hair, soft glowing skin...beauty. His brother? ...No. "M...m-my love," he wheezed.

"Patching through, Major." Walter's voice was only slightly staticy. "You've got O'Neill."

"What is it, Carter?" Jack demanded. He was retreating as fast as he could, Teal'c right beside him. The rest of the team was clustered around the open 'Gate, waiting for the wormhole to shut down so they could dial out and get the hell out of this horrific war zone. "I'm a little busy here, spit it out!! Teal'c, down!"

Sam's brow furrowed. "Sir... we've found Linelos... where *are* you?" She craned her neck, trying to see to the top of the temple.

"Slight thing Ligoriana forgot to mention; there's three Stargates on this planet! They rotate dialing order; you're not in Menua, you're in Parmeth, the middle city. We're in Sion, Neb's power base. We're fighting our way back to the 'Gate now; hold your position and we'll join you as soon as we can."

Teal'c reached out and yanked O'Neill down to the ground, barely getting him out of the way of the staff blast that grazed his hat.

"Sir, we can't wait," Sam said. "Linelos is badly hurt. We're going to have to take him up the face of the ziggurat, and we're going to have to do it now."

Daniel looked up, eyes wide. His heart clutched up somewhere in his throat, grabbing him at the Adam's apple, but he didn't interrupt. He just began to unwrap the blankets, putting a spare one inside the wire cage even as he unrolled the thick sleeping bag. Janet had taught them some basic field training for this stuff, but he was still really, really glad when Colonel Russell and the rest of his med team showed up in the clearing. He backed away to let them do their job, listening to the bullets in the radio helplessly. It made sense, what Jack was saying -- he knew they hadn't been in Menua. But if Parmeth... "Jack," Daniel interrupted anyway, speaking quickly into the radio. "Parmeth is under attack. The western part of the city is in flames, the eastern moving this way."

Jack swore colorfully into the phone. "Of course. He's started with Menua and worked his way across the damned continent. Get Linelos *out* of there. We've got Daphon and his contingent--what's left of them, anyway--and we're trying to make it back through the Stargate. Call SCG and tell them to shut down the wormhole, and we'll open it from our side, so I can start moving my team back through. we'll have to dial twice more, once to dial through Menua and the second dial should have us coming out at your 'Gate. Carter, tell Ferretti that SG-4 is stuck in the Menua temple, and have SGC tell them the situation and how to get out. Daniel... take care of yourself. Out."

Sam cleared her throat as she looked around. "You heard the colonel. We've got to move, now, before the Gliders get up and we're sitting ducks on the stairs."

Daniel didn't ask twice. When Russell's men had Linelos inside the wire basket, wrapped in a thick thermal sleeping bag, connected to IV's and oxygen and God knew what else, Daniel stepped in and grabbed a handle of the basket. It took four of them to carry Linelos, who was an *enormous* man, but Daniel was strong, as were the men of SG4 and Oneh. it didn't take them long to get to the ziggurat, but hooking Linelos up to the wires and rope provided an interesting challange. In the end, they jerry rigged a sort of four-man pulley, which Ferretti's men up top pulled up even as Ferretti barked through his radio to the SGC.

By the time they scrambled to the top, scratched, bleeding, sweating and suffocating with the billowing smoke in the air, the fire had begin around the Ziggurat and Jaffa were bellowing up at them.

Daniel had never been happier to say goodbye to a world than he was this time, as he stepped through the gate after Sam and SG-4.

As soon as the wormhole closed behind Daniel's team, it burst into life again, sirens and alarms blaring.

Jack's voice crackled over the speaker. "Close the iris as soon as the last man is through, General!" he bellowed from his hiding place. "Jaffa are coming, and they're not friendlies!"

He stood his ground, behind the outcropping of rock, until only he and Teal'c were left. They stumbled backwards together, falling through the Stargate and rolling down the ramp into the 'Gate room as the iris snapped shut.

"General Hammond!" Jack shouted, pulling himself up onto his knees. "Get the Princess in here now, because I'm gonna shoot her."

- = - = -

Daniel was covered in Linelos' blood.

His hands, his vest, his pants. The sleeves of his jacket, and his radio. He hadn't noticed it until they'd come through the gate, Jack had taken one look at him, and snapped so hard Daniel's ears were still ringing. As were his brains, where Jack had shaken him to make sure he was all right.

The cold curtain fell back between them instantly after that, but Jack's frustration was out there for everyone to see. Mostly because he was yelling. Very loudly. As were Daphon's men, Daphon himself, and General Hammond. The Princess was screaming to match their tones and Yilenna was sobbing hysterically. And Daniel stood there, watching as the SFs tried to get some order.

He exhaled softly.

"Don't you DARE act that stupid with me, Miss Princesss High And Fucking Mighty!" Jack was pacing the crammed-full briefing room as much as he could, hands slamming down on the table when he finally turned around to snarl at her.

Part of his frustration, he knew, was seeing Daniel covered in blood and having that rush of sick worry hit his gut like a brick. It was still there, even though he knew Daniel was all right, and it was all coming out.

Daphon and his men--less than a dozen of them left, from the original twenty five--were crammed into the room with them, and he was shouting at Jack even as the men with him clamored with each other, mingling with shouts of "how dare you speak to our Princess like that!"

Which Daphon was just demanding, incidentally. "How dare you speak to Ligoriana in that manner!! She is the Princess of our people, to rule after Linelos should anything happen to him!" He had seen his brother before Oneh had secreted him to the temple, and knew that Ligoriana's rule was closer than anyone else in the room might know.

"I'll talk to her any way I want to!" Jack yelled back, switching his attention to Daphon. "You guys are the ones coming here to ask for help saving your ass, and what do we do but walk into a firefight because nobody told us about the THREE DIFFERENT STARGATES!"

Daniel left right about the time Daphon nearly leapt over the SF's separating them to choke Jack with his bare hands. Daniel knew just how tempting that could be -- he'd barely kept himself from it many a time. So, though his sympathies were with Daphon, there was no possible way he could put himself in the middle of this one without having Jack blow his top, and the last thing Daniel wanted was for everyone to know just *why* he and Jack had fought. There were enough rumors going around.

He left, Jack's voice ringing in his ears, and rubbed a hand through his sticky hair. He'd cut himself on the scramble back up the ziggurat, nothing but a scalp wound, but he'd promised General Hammond he'd have it looked at.

"Daniel Jackson?" Ligoriana's long legs were carrying her down the hallway. "Daphon asked me to go and find Linelos and see how he is doing. Colonel O'Neill was very angry with me, but he said that you brought my brother back? Can you take me to him, Daniel Jackson?" Her braids were still piled atop her hair, and her weapons had been returned to her by security. But one small braid at her temple had fallen out of the pile atop her head, and she twirled it around her finger like a frightened little girl. "Please. I am worried for my brother."

She sounded like a little girl. As odd as it was to hear it, Daniel couldn't help but be reminded of Cassie, who was fourteen this year. So young. So unmarred by the world. Daniel wondered if he'd ever sounded this young, or rather, if he'd ever *seemed* so young. This girl, with her weapons and the toned arms made for using them, had seen more than her appearance might let on.

It was that and that alone that kept Daniel from snapping. "I did. Or, *we* did, rather." He motioned for her to catch up with him with a hand. "You won't see him. He's in surgery, now."

"Surgery?" She frowned, letting her braid drop as she hurried to catch up with Daniel. "How long will he be in surgery, and why can I not see him?" Ligoriana tilted her head to the side. "Thank you, for saving my brother's life. He cares for you a great deal, and knew you and your people would be the one to ask for aid."

Daniel glanced down at her. "Surgery. An operation." He'd been going into kidney failure when Janet and Dr. Warner had rushed him into the OR, but Daniel wasn't going to tell her that. "The medical staff here is the best in the country. Your brother is in good hands, Ligoriana."

"I do not doubt he is in the best hands; he had faith in you that you would save him," Ligoriana repeated. "Please, can I not at least look in upon him?"

He looked at her, more gently this time, and scanned his card to get the elevator started up. He could still hear Jack and Daphon screaming at one another as the doors closed. "They have him covered, Ligoriana. As soon as he's out, I'll have Dr. Frasier call for you, though, all right?"

Ligoriana bit her lip, and then straightened her back. She was a princess, and a warrior, and she wouldn't shame either title. "Thank you, Daniel Jackson," she said calmly, swallowing hard. "I will wait for your Dr. Frasier to call. If there is anything I or my people can do to repay you for my brothers' lives, do not hesitate to let me know."

Daniel reached out to gently touch her shoulder. He could feel it trembling under his hand. "Ligoriana, everything is going to be okay. Linelos was hurt, but not badly. I've been hurt worse than Linelos was, and I'm standing here today. You don't have to worry about him." He squeezed. "What we both need to worry about is the situation on your world."

Ligoriana nodded. "We do. Neb is moving across the cities and decimating everything. Our weapons are strong, and they defend against his Jaffa and his falcon guards without a doubt, but we are still defenseless against the gliders and the pyramid ships," she offered. "He already holds my father captive, and I fear that he will soon be killed, or Taken. Once my father is out of his way, I fear Neb will take what he truly wants, which is the mineral in the soil that helps us to grow our food. It makes our crops rich, and helps us to create the Cure."

Yes, well, while Daniel liked that, it wasn't as important to him as...okay. He took her hand, turned on his heel, and headed back to the Briefing Room. The screams had died down, somewhat, but the Briefing Room was nearly empty when he walked back in.

"There's naquada in their soil," he blurted.

"--but that's not anything we can handle at this point." Jack looked away from General Hammond, and up towards Daniel at the interruption. "Yes, we know that," he answered. "Daphon just enlightened us. He... decided that it was time to come clean with us after we threatened to boot his ass back through the Stargate without our help."

"Oh." Well then. Daniel didn't bother blushing, just pulled Ligoriana after him to sit at the table beside him. He left dust from his uniform all over the chair. "That explains things, like why this Goa'uld is still on the P42-909."

"Gella," Ligoriana said. "The name of our planet."

"Gella," Daniel said. "It may also be how he's kept the people under his control -- the Goa'uld may use the naquada consumed in their daily diets in some way." Daniel looked at Daphon. "But there hasn't been any naquada in the soil for some time, has their? That's why the cure works so well -- because it purges the system of any remaining naquada."

Daphon shook his head. "The Cure works on our people because it purges the mineral from our bodies. That is why the food we grow supplies the entire continent. In the soil in the other cities, the mineral remains, and it is extracted and processed into eating utensils, dishes, and preparation devices, so trace amounts still enter the bodies of people in Parmeth and Sion. Menua is the only true free city-state, though we spread our Cure and our food throughout the planet."

"That's why I found no naquada in the soil," Sam said, and frowned as she looked at the two of them. "Daphon, we've encountered cultures where the mineral, naquada, was in the blood stream of the population, but it didn't control them the way yours seems to. Do you know how Neb does it?"

He nodded. "We do; there is a device, that fits over his hand, and his fingers. He calls it the Enforcer, and has used it to extract the formulation of the Cure from those few outside of Menua that know it's true composition. There is another device, on a pedestal, that we do not know the name of, because none of our people have seen it. He uses the pedestal device to activate an orb that spreads his commands throughout the city, and we have come to believe that there is something in the orb's display frequency that interacts with the mineral in our people's bodies. Other than that, we do not know."

Daniel met Sam's gaze, then glanced at Jack. "Where is the pedestal located?" he asked Daphon.

Jack appeared to be barely listening, but appearances were deceiving. He was hearing every word.

"I can answer that; it is located in the floor of his throne room, and it rises to meet his command, and then sinks to the floor when his will is done," Daphon answered. "But as I said, we do not know it's purpose or how it functions."

"How well protected is his throne room?" A stupid question, but Daniel had to ask it.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "If you have never seen this device, how do you know of it's location and function?"

Ligoriana looked at the large Jaffa. "We have people placed high in Neb's court, that tells us the information that we need to know," she answered, then turned her attention to Daniel. "It is very well protected; there are no less than four Falcon Guards surrounding Neb at all times, and they change every four hours, so that there is a small window or opportunity for compromises in his security."

Sam looked at the Colonel, hoping he was thinking what she was thinking.

Daniel did the same, not quite looking at Jack before glancing up at Hammond.

General Hammond nodded tightly. "Slipping in undetected will prove difficult." To Jack, "You think you're up to the task, Colonel?"

"Always, sir," Jack answered brightly. Then he turned to Daniel. "And I just bet you've got an idea, don't you?"

Daniel bristled slightly. Of course he did. He always did. "Um... well, yeah, actually, since you're asking." Smartass bastard that he was.

"I just thought you might." He turned to the General. "I trust him, sir. Anything Daniel comes up with is okay by me."

Wasn't that sweet. Daniel ignored him. "The best thing to do would be to go in covertly. With all the chaos going on among the three cities, it would be...not simple, but less difficult. Our Stargate opens to a different Stargate on the planet every time it opens. It goes in order, a sequence, Menua, then Parmeth, then Sion. Our best bet would be to go back to Menua and walk through the forest, across and into Sion. The forest would give us cover."

"There is no forest left, Daniel Jackson," Ligoriana said sadly. "It has all been destroyed, except for the temple. Menua has been razed into the earth from which we rose."

Damn. Daniel frowned thoughtfully. "Was Parmeth flattened too, Jack?:"

"As a pancake," Jack agreed. "It's a war zone down there. We tried to send in a UAV, but it was shot down within a few seconds of going through the Stargate. We've turned the iris on, and kept our wormhole open as long as we can, to prevent the Goa'uld from dialing in to our 'Gate, now they know we're here."

Daniel shook his head. He didn't know how practical his next suggestion was going to be, but... "So was Sion. But there's one thing Sion has that the other two cities don't -- a river."

Daphon nodded. "Yes. We all have a river, Daniel," he said. "We use them for trade, for fishing, for transportation. Our palaces are built on them, as the one in Menua was. My father's throne room sat on the shores of it; I believe in Sion, if our information is correct, Neb has his personal chambers in that room."

"No...you don't have a river like what I'm thinking of. Your river doesn't have a port -- Sion's does."

Sam's eyes widened with alarm. No, he wasn't...surely not. She hated the water. if she wanted to be in the water, she'd have been a marine. "Daniel..."

"The current heads west, towards his palace. Look, I know its very James Bond, and its only a suggestion, but the only logical way to get to the palace would be to use the water way."

"Dunno if you noticed, Daniel, but the Stargate is on top of a *pyramid*. We can't just send through a sub."

"We don't need a sub. Just some flippers."

"Flippers." In the same tone of voice Jack usually reserved for *Maybourne* and *Kinsey.* "I know you're not thinking what I think you're thinking,"

"Daniel... it'll never work. Carter hates the water, I'm not sure how Jaffa *or* Junior likes taking a swim, and did I mention it's never going to work?" He heaved a deep sigh. "General? How much equipment do we have on hand?"

Hammond looked up. "Enough to equip SG-1 with everything they'll need."

"Damn," Sam muttered. She glanced up at Hammond, colored, and mumbled, "Sorry, sir."

Teal'c rumbled beside her. "It will be all right, Major. Jaffa do not like the water, but we are quite capable of swimming. I will follow you, to make sure that nothing happens to you."

"All right. Daphon, Ligoriana... do your people have equipment for swimming under the surface of the water?" Jack turned his attention to the two Gellans.

Ligoriana nodded. "We do. Many of our families fish in the off season and we have something like what you are talking about," she answered. "If they have not been destroyed, that is."

Daphon piped up at that. "They haven't been. When we were overrun, our people moved as many of our weapons and things that we could. They are being stored safely in the unused storage room in the base of the temple."

For a moment, Daniel forgot about their fight, their anger, the new tension between them, and smiled at Jack. He won.

Hammond nodded firmly. "You have a go, in three hours time."

Jack nodded. "Thank you, sir." Turned his attention back to Daniel. "Don't get too comfortable, Daniel. You're going to teach us all how to scuba in less than half an hour."

- = - = -

Rob Castleman wasn't a stupid man. Yes, he was a young man, a man into his thirties, but what Rob lacked in years he made up in smarts. He'd been out on the street at the age of fifteen, till he turned 18 and enlisted. He'd worked hard to get to where he was, and what he lacked in the fancy schmancy book smarts his fellows had gotten from officer school, Rob had earned through the work he did. Many said it was no surprise he'd made it into the SGC -- he was a dedicated officer, who'd worked his ass off to get where he was.

Men like Rob didn't *get* to where they were by being stupid, and Rob wasn't stupid.

So when he saw Colonel O'Neill walking like a thunder cloud, gray and all, towards him in a dripping wet suit, Rob very smartly got out of the way.

"I used to be fucking covert ops!" he was snarling to the man over his shoulder.

"With all due respect, Jack? The operative word there is used to be." Daniel couldn't resist the little poke. He wasn't feeling... completely at ease with Jack. More like not at all, but there was just enough of a sliver of their camaraderie remaining right now to make this situation not completely awkward.

The glare that Jack threw back at Daniel should have reduced him to cinders. His flippers were flapping against his back, banging against the oxygen tank, and his hood was thrown down around his neck as he stomped. Little wet footprints marked Jack's path into the Gate room. "Little bastard," he groused. "Who in the hell does Siler think he is, anyway, shoving me in the pool with his cast?" Grumbling the entire way as he stomped up the ramp, still leaving little wet footprints as the water sheeted down his back.

They'd *just* been fished out of the practice pool, and told to report to the Gate room immediately because it was time for their jump. Castleman was standing at the top of the ramp, his Marines standing beside him, and Jack glared. "Castleman. What are you doing here?" They were all outfitted in the same wet suits and gear that SG-1 was, and he put his hands on his hip, banging his gun and his tank together.

"Providing backup, sir," Rob drawled, tipping his head at Dr. Jackson, who looked entirely too pleased with himself. Carter and Teal'c trailed in after, and he allowed himself a little look at his fellow Major before looking back at the Colonel. "SG12 is waiting on the other side, sir, holding down the 'Gate."

Daniel adjusted the last of his vest snaps, made sure his knife and gun were in their respective sheaths, and tucked his glasses into one of the vest pockets for the wet suit. He felt... strangely exposed in skin tight lycra, but at least the vests and gear covered most of everything. Even then he didn't much care, and he pulled his goggles out and hung them around his neck.

No, he wasn't smirking. Because he hadn't done much better than Jack, but he didn't have a mammoth, man-eating ego to deal with either.

"Backup my ass," Jack snarled. "Just... stay out of the way and do what you're told." He pulled the radio receiver into his ear and made sure it was attached to his vest as he shrugged into it, snarling and glaring the whole time as he pulled recalcitrant straps into position around and on top of the tanks. "Fucking thing. Is Daphon and the others in position on the other side?"

Sam nodded, trying not to twitch and itch in the wet suit. "Yes, sir. We received a transmission from them; Daphon remembered how Daniel used the DHD, and General Hammond gave him a temporary GDO. They're in position and ready for us." A little cough. "And sir, he said to tell you not to worry, you didn't have to climb this time." Oh, she hadn't wanted to deliver that message. Not at all.

Jack just snarled. "Can it, Major." Glare at the lit chevrons as the dialing sequence started up. "I'm going to shoot that bastard."

Daniel gave Major Castleman a winning smile over Jack's head, winked, and when Jack turned to glare at him his face was once again calm and controlled. "We won't be diving much, Jack. You don't have to worry. So long as you remember not to inhale and choke like you did an hour ago."

Rob didn't *smirk*. Wisely, if the look of murder that crossed the Colonel's face was any indication.

The gate whooshed to life and Rob saluted the General up in the control station before leading his troops through first.

Jack glared over his shoulder at Daniel. "I'm going to drown you, Daniel. Just so you know. Write your will out accordingly." Snarl as he waited for the Marines to go through, and then raised his voice. "All right, kids, you're next! Teal'c, remember to lock the door behind you!" Jack popped through the Stargate first, knowing that his team would follow.

Daniel turned a pleased smile back at General Hammond and stepped through himself, with Sam.

They quite literally stepped onto another world.

The night was black, the only light given by the waxing moons in the sky. The ziggurat was black, so dark Daniel couldn't see a hand in front of him, worse when the gate closed and spilled the temple into darkness.

"This way, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel started, but recognized the voice immediately. "Major Barrett," he whispered back, stepping clear of the gate. Now that his eyes were adjusting he recognized SG12 and their guns, already set up in a perimeter. Jack stood to one side, still seething, and Sam caught Daniel's arm before he stepped into Teal'c.

Barrett's voice, low and soft, was a whisper in the air. "We've got base covered here, Colonel O'Neill."

Jack looked around. "Should have brought night goggles," he groused. "Too late now. Hold the 'Gate no matter what. Do not leave unless you are ordered by General Hammond to retreat through it. This is our only way home, gentlemen, and I don't need to remind you that none of us are going to survive the trip across the continent with no cover and Goa'uld Death Gliders on our butts." Serious stares all around, even as Carter twitched in her suit. "All right. Let's move."

Sam pulled Daniel closer, so that they were following in Jack's footsteps, helping him steer in the darkness until they got out to the moonlit tier, where Daphon and the others were waiting. "Looks like you and the Colonel are getting along better," she hissed in his ear before they separated.

And backed right into Teal'c. He did not mind in the least, merely reached out and steadied Samantha with a grip on her shoulder. "Be careful, Samantha."

Barrett nodded. "Yessir, will do, sir. Hour check ins until you make it to Sion," he said, and put his own night goggles on before he took up position guarding the gate.

Oh, Samantha was it. Daniel waited till Teal'c had stepped away again to arch a brow down at her. He would have spoken if they'd been alone -- for now he merely shrugged, because no, they weren't really, but that was for another time.

Sam blushed bright red in the moonlight at Daniel's knowing eyebrow, and shifted back just a little until she was standing close to Teal'c, but not noticeably so.

Jack glared at Daniel behind him, just for the hell of it, because there was no reason for him to be uncomfortable about this mission, and yet, he was. Possibly it was the wet suit trying to crawl into crevices it had no business invading, but Jack was thoroughly unhappy with the fact that Daniel was all but ignoring him and Carter was flushing bright red and Teal'c was... never mind what Teal'c was doing. He was the only one on the team NOT acting like a possessed pod person. "Daphon."

Daphon smiled as his men clustered around him. "Come forward, Colonel Jack O'Neill." He held out his hand, and revealed a small triangular device. "Here. Put this on your belt or somewhere on your clothing. When the small light turns green, take the hands of your friends, and press it." Daphon brought his fist to his chest, bowed, and pressed the green light on the shoulder of his tunic. In a flash of light, he disappeared.

"Whoa."

"No climbing down the ziggurat, then," Daniel murmured, and glanced at Jack. "Well? Come on."

Jack glared. "Carter, Teal'c, Castleman. Get your men over." He felt entirely too foolish reaching for Teal'c or Daniel, and settled it by reaching for Carter. "Join hands, make a daisy chain, people. We don't want anyone left behind."

Rob moved SG5 in position like the professional soldiers they were, quickly and efficiently. He grasped Davidson's wrist, motioned for him to hang onto the guys beside him. He held onto Dr. Jackson's wrist, slender but muscular under his hand, and held tight.

Daniel took Teal'c's big hand in his as he grabbed Sam, and almost immediately felt a flash through him, like a mild electrical shock. His hair stood on end and when he opened his eyes again, they were all in a well lit room, facing Daphon, his men, and Ligoriana. "Whoa."

Daphon was beaming when the travelers materialized. "I told you, Colonel Jack O'Neill, you would not have to climb!"

Jack was *this close* to punching the smug bastard in the face. "You didn't think to offer this one of the OTHER ten times we've climbed this fucking monstrosity?"

Daphon was still beaming. "We were not sure that we could trust you not to use this technology against us. Once we had ascertained that you were willing to help us, our father sent you away, and we were waiting for your return."

Ligoriana smiled as well, gave Samantha a little hug, and led them over to the equipment waiting. "You will please take our communication devices with you, as well as our weapons?"

"I'm not following. He sent us away *why*?" Daniel asked, grumpily.

"Because our Lord King Hammurabi was being watched. He knew you would return after he tainted your food and you felt the effects of the Poison. On his behalf, I apologize for our underhanded manipulation of your people, but we had no choice," A man with a deep, rumbling voice said. A mammoth of a man, fully bearded, bare-chested but for the *enormous* amounts of chest hair, stepped out from the crowd and thrust out a hand. "I am the King's most trusted General, Lord Samsu. I welcome you to Gella, and Menua, with heartfelt thanks."

Hand. More like paw, and for once, Jack felt utterly dwarfed. His hand was completely swallowed in the man's great mitts, and he felt like his arm was about to be wrenched off at the shoulder from the enthusiastic shaking. "Charmed. I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, this is Major Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c."

"He is not an evil Jaffa, General," Daphon added quickly, as he saw the others start to raise their weapons. "He is a friend."

"I know this, young one. Keep your tongue," Samsu said firmly, but gently. "Hammurabi told me much about you. Your arrival was prophesized by our Oracle, and we have had time to prepare for your arrival for some time." He looked back to Jack. "Prince Daphon has told me what you wish to do. I will escort you across the fields to the river, but no further. From there, you must finish your task alone."

He hefted a crossbow that must have weighed fifty pounds, easy, over his shoulder, where his quiver was latched tight. His great mane of hair fell over it, masking the glowing leather and sharp arrows. "We will go. Come."

Daphon obediently closed his mouth, but grinned over the massive shoulder at his newly arrived friends.

Jack barely managed not to roll his eyes at the mention of Oracle, but he did give Daniel a glance over his shoulder. When the return amusement didn't twinkle in Daniel's eyes, Jack's shoulders stiffened just a little as in a few seconds he remembered the situation between them, and the last of the panicked relief of before at seeing Daniel covered in blood not his own for once faded. "That's fine. The fewer there are of us, the better. My teams, Daphon's men, that should be enough for what we mean to do."

Ligoriana stood beside her brother. "I am going to remain at the Great Ring with the other offworlders," she said, as though her wishes would automatically be accepted. "They will need reinforcement if the Gliders come."

When Jack looked back at him, his gaze was expectant. But Daniel couldn't give what he didn't have.

He was worried. So worried, in fact, that his knees were a little shaky. Things, as a rule, didn't go right for SG1 and when they *did* it was a cause for panic. Things were going too easily, too smoothly. There was something up, something coming, and Daniel wasn't sure he wanted to be around when it happened.

If anything, he made sure his gun was clasped tight to the leg of his scuba suit every, oh, five seconds.

"No, Princess. You will stay here in the bunker with the other women and provide strength to them. Do not argue," Sansu said. He was not a man to be argued with. He picked up his sword to slide into an enormous sheath at his waist, grabbed up a Jaffa staff weapon, one of many on the wall, and motioned one enormous burly shoulder. "Come."

"I will argue!" Ligoriana called. "I have won my rank and braces as every man in this room has!" She strode over to stand in front of Sansu. "You have trained me yourself, Dominus Sansu. I have every right to choose my station, and I choose to fight with those who risk their lives for our world!"

Sansu lifted her two feet off the ground by the straps of her heavy weapons, set her to the side, patted her on the head, and strode out of the ziggurat to where his men were holding ten re-re's, all braying loudly, snorting and huffing. The humans were small, and so two could fit easily on one re-re. All of the creatures had been fit with double harnesses. "We ride to the palace," he said, and mounted the biggest horse of all, a rich black one with fiery eyes and stamping feet.

"Unfair!" Ligoriana shouted after them, stomping her booted foot against the floor.

Jack looked back over his shoulder. "Nice way you have of handling problems there, General." And then balked when he saw the size of these animals. "Oh boy." He'd loved to ride as a kid, but that was on normal, well-broken horses. Not... huge snarling beasts that looked as though they'd be just as happy kicking him in the gut and trampling his broken body under their hooves.

"I have no time for little girls and their temperaments," Sansu said.

While Daniel, on the other hand, had spent his life riding horses and camels all over the world. It was easy enough for him to climb up onto one of the animals, adjust his pack where his oxygen tank was heaviest, and motioned for Sam to join him.

Teal'c had managed to mount one of the large animals easily, and it quickly gentled to his sure hand on the reins. Before Samantha could protest, he had reached down and pulled her into the front half of the dual saddle, one arm around her waist to act as a seat belt while the other twitched the reins and moved the Re-Re forward to join Sansu and the others already mounted.

"Teal'c!" she hissed, blushing fiercely red in the silvery moonlight. "You can't just *do* that!"

"I believe you are wrong, Samantha, as I just did so." A small non-grin.

She elbowed him in the ribs, but didn't say anything else.

Jack looked up at the animal in front of him, and then at Daniel out of the corner of his eye. "Whoa, boy." He slowly approached the creature, and swung himself into the back half of Daniel's saddle. It was very strange to be on the back instead of the front, but he didn't argue, just steadying himself on the pommel as he turned around to observe the rest of SG-5 doubling up and Daphon's men mounting singly.

Daniel caught Jack's hand as he leapt up onto the animal, tugging him up with a helping hand. Instead of letting go, which is what any sane person would have done, he squeezed the fingers in his just a little. The tremble in his fingers was more than obvious. The raw power of Jack's body reassured him where nothing else could, and he let go and cleared his throat as he grabbed up the reins.

Jack's fingers immediately tightened around Daniel's in answer to the squeeze, and for a brief moment, wished like hell he could lean forward and reassure Daniel with physical contact.

Then he remembered the fist connecting with his jaw, and when Daniel let go, so did he, and instead wrapped one arm around Daniel's waist to keep himself from falling off the animal's back.

Daniel allowed it, careful to keep minimal, masculine contact between them but enough that Jack could hang on. His voice pitched low for their ears only, maneuvering the beast beneath them easily after Sansu, Teal'c, and the other members of SG-5. The less talk about their personal lives, the better. "I have a bad feeling about this."

A low snort. "I thought that was usually my line, Mr. Chipper," Jack answered. "But, yeah, I'm right there with you. Look at it this way; you don't have any clothes to lose this time."

"That's what you said on P33-425, and I still haven't lived the loincloth down," Daniel said.

In that moment, weakness took him over. He wanted to apologize for the bruise on Jack's jaw, for the angry words traded. But that's all it was -- weakness. All Daniel had to do was remember the casual way Jack had dismissed his wife, and the life Daniel had shared with her, to grow furious all over again. If only Jack had known about Shau're's miscarriages, the fear and anger they'd both felt to bring life into the world, all the doctors who told them they'd never have children. It was for her that Daniel had uncovered the Stargate, and because of him that she'd been condemned to a living hell that culminated in her death at what was essentially Daniel's hands.

He nearly vibrated with anger, pure, hot anger that welled up inside of him like molten lava. He shoved it into the here and now. He could deal with the here and now. He couldn't deal with the then and was and before.

"No, Jack; something isn't right. This is too simple, too easy. There isn't any fighting going on. There's nothing. We're walking into a trap."

"Tell me something I don't know, Daniel," Jack said quietly. He tightened his arm briefly around Daniel's waist, but when he felt the stiffening in Daniel's body, he let go and steadied himself entirely on the saddle again. "But it's either take the chance this way, or leave this world to the Goa'uld. Which would you rather do?"

"I didn't say I had to like it. I'm just telling you what I think. This isn't right," Daniel said, flicking the reins and reaching back for Jack's arm. "Hang on," he said, and clicked his teeth, digging his heels in. The horse neighed and sped up with the group, slipping in right behind them and staying on them. He could hear the murmur of voices, but the hooves were too loud to make it out.

"I know how to ride a horse," Jack gritted out as Daniel gripped his arm, and he braced himself until the canter eased into a regular trot to stay in step with the rest of the herd, and yanked his arm away as quickly as he could. "And no, it's not right, but there's a lot of things happening lately that haven't been right. But we've done them anyway and damned the consequences, so why is this any different?"

Nice. Real subtle there, Jack. "I'm glad you're finally seeing that actions *do* have consequences, Jack."

"I never thought they didn't," he said, cracking his jaw deliberately. "I was just under the impression--wrongly, apparently--that they were consequences we could both handle."

Daniel heard the crack, both literally and figuratively, and narrowed his eyes. "Funny, I thought the same thing."

"Apparently not. We don't do that much anymore," was all Jack said.

"What, think? I think I do enough of that."

"No, think the same thing," Jack clarified. "We're miles apart, Danny boy, and I don't see us getting back together anytime soon." Emotions made him babble, but metaphor he could do without sweat, and he shifted on the saddle, gripping the animal with his thighs as his torso turned around to make sure everyone was still in line.

Daniel couldn't help the way his heart tightened at that any more than he could help the way he lashed out. "For us to get back together there had to be a 'together'. first, and there wasn't," Daniel said, viciously, hoping and praying that it hit Jack as hard as Jack had just hit him. He was stiff as a board in the saddle in front of Jack's own body, so close and yet never so far away.

Jack drew back at that. "Excuse me for thinking there was, then," Jack growled back. He wasn't about to bring up anything else that was boiling in his mind, but oh, God help the first person that got in his way because he was ready to shoot something now. That always made him feel better, and he wasn't sure that Daniel wouldn't be the perfect target.

He couldn't help himself. "I wasn't aware you were into pity fucks, Daniel, but you should have told me that's all it was."

"And you should have told me that all the time you were inside me you were hoping I'd get over losing my wife to the Goa'uld," Daniel said, calmly.

"You lost her a long time ago, Daniel," is all Jack said. "You can't keep carrying that as a shield around you for the rest of your life. But if you want to? That's fine. Find someone else to fuck when you get the urge, because my dick is off limits."

"Thank you, Jack, but I think you've killed any further urges I'll ever have." Daniel snapped the reins to get the horse to go faster. "And yes, I lost her, and I deserve to carry it if I want to. No one, not even you, will take what she meant away from me."

"You know, if you weren't my friend--and hell, maybe you're not right now--I'd return that punch you threw with interest for even implying I'd try to do that," Jack said casually. "I'd no more try to take that away than you'd try to take Charlie away from me, and to hell with you for implying it," he continued. "But it is nice to know what you think of me now that I've filled your needs and you don't need me anymore." He turned and raised his voice just enough to be heard to the next animal over. "How long until we hit the city?"

"Imply? Who's implying? You flat out *told* me!" Daniel hissed, lowering his voice when Sansu called back 'Ten minutes!', and letting it rise the smallest bit again. "It's nice to know you think I don't need you, but I'm not going to stroke your ego any more than it already has been -- its, what? The size of Texas? The entire southwest?"

Ten minutes. They were going to be lucky if Jack didn't kill Daniel before then. Or throw himself off the horse's back, because he'd had just about enough of the soul-bearing agony here, thanks ever so much. Daniel had made it exquisitely clear, with a well-thrown punch, that Jack was no longer wanted, or needed, but he wasn't going to argue the point.

"Look, I don't give a shit what you think about me, or my ego," Jack finally answered. "Just... shut the fuck up and do what you're told. Get through this mission alive, and we'll deal with this when we get back to Earth."

"We're not dealing with it when we get back to Earth, we're dealing with it now." Because apparently, Jack couldn't get it through his thick skull. "If you hadn't stuck your foot in your mouth, you'd have realized that what I was trying to tell you yesterday was that I needed you to help me let her go. Because I *wanted* you, in every sense of the word. Well, you know what? Not anymore! You can keep all your sex." *Because I don't need anybody* was implied.

"No, Daniel. We're not dealing with it now. Because I don't know about you, but I need to focus on what we're going to be doing, and how I'm going to get my team out of here intact and alive. That might not be important to you, but it is to me. So do me that favor, all right, and shut the fuck up."

Daniel colored, clenched his jaw, and shut up. If Jack didn't want to hear it, fine.

Fine.

Sam was watching. Her mind filled with their mission, her brain on autopilot, she'd glanced over at the Colonel and Daniel, only to see them in a heated, nearly silent debate. She couldn't hear anything, but from the way they were arguing, and the tension in their bodies, she knew it was bad. Then Daniel quieted and fumed, and the Colonel did the same, and Sam filed it away in her mind to get back to later.

At the red flush, which Jack could barely see in the moonlight, he tried to relent. "Daniel. Put away the hurt feelings for two seconds and listen. I cannot hear this right now. All right? Not when I'm sending you out in a few minutes with the rest of the team. Just... wait until we get back to Earth. Then you can yell at me all you want to, and I promise you, I will listen."

"Fuck you, Jack," was his answer.

He pulled the reigns just as Sansu did, stopping the stallions almost as one. Daniel pulled back and jumped to the ground, pack in arm, which he threw back over his shoulders.

Sansu led his horse to the water, letting it drink from the rapid flow, and bowed his shaggy head. "Daphon will take you from here. He and four of his most trusted warriors go with you. We will guard this place through the night, should you at any time require a safe return passage."

Castleman liked it. Closed waterway, difficult to access, nearly impossible to cross in the current. Nice.

Jack had never been more tempted to yank Daniel off the team than he was in that moment. But he couldn't do it. "That's thirteen men to run this operation," Jack said, keeping his voice low as he looked around. "Carter, Daniel, go with Major Castleman's team," he said, suddenly deciding he didn't want Daniel anywhere near him on this. He needed his head clear and undistracted, and that meant getting rid of Daniel Jackson. "Teal'c and I will go with Daphon and his men." He reached into his vest pocket, and pulled out a blank mission report, which had a hasty sketch on it, but he was interrupted by a burbling coming from the water.

He nearly dropped his teeth as the submarine surfaced. At least, he assumed that's what it was; the massive metal ship rose majestically from the water, sleek lines and silver points glistening in the moonlight as the water poured down from her sides.

"We call her the Lady of the River," Daphon said as she rose. "Parmeth has the Lady of the Lake, and Sion has the Lady of the Sea, because they are closer to the seaport where our river empties into the oceans," he continued to explain. "She will take us to the outskirts of Sion, and we will make our way upriver from there."

Jack tucked the sketch away as he gave a low whistle. "Hey Carter?"

"Yes, sir?" she answered distractedly, eyes on the ship.

"I think we found where they were hiding the technology."

- = - = -