Whispering To The Soul

Jack opened his eyes, cursed, and closed them again quickly. The cheerfully bright sunshine glowed through his eyelids sending shocks of pain through his aching head. Groaning, he pulled a pillow over his head and waited for the world to stop spinning. It did not help. The slightly suffocating feeling from the pillow made the headache and nausea worse, and, for a moment, Jack wondered whether it was actually possible to die from a hangover.

The sound of water running somewhere in the house forced him into action. There was no way that Jack O'Neill, Air Force Colonel and general pain in the ass, would allow Daniel Jackson to get over his hangover first. This was a matter of pride. Daniel might have been able to match him drink for drink last night, but in hangover recovery Jack was still the best.

Throwing the pillow onto the floor, Jack rolled out of bed and staggered across the room. He made a quick trip back to find some clothes before carefully making his way to the bathroom, hoping that his head would not fall off on the way. Standing in a cold shower woke him up a little although there was still a part of him that wanted to crawl back into bed and stay there until the world was less painful. That thought was firmly squashed before it could take root.

Jack glanced into the guest room on his way past, taking in the rumpled comforter on the bed and the shoes dropped unceremoniously on the floor. Apparently, even though Daniel was up first, he was probably feeling just as miserable. He found Daniel slumped at the kitchen table with a bottle of water in his hand, his hair still tousled from sleep and his face slightly green. Another bottle of water and two little white pills sat on the table. Jack grinned involuntarily. Daniel might well be regretting the hangover, but he was still Daniel and that meant that he cared about people. It was a warm thought and Jack felt his headache lift a bit.

"Good morn-"

Jack broke off as Daniel held up a finger and winced. The archaeologist slouched further in his seat and closed his eyes. All that Jack could do was wince in sympathy. How much had they drunk last night?

Jack sat down opposite Daniel, and washed the painkillers down with half the bottle of water in one long gulp. Then he closed his eyes, shutting out the too-bright sunshine, and sipped the rest of the bottle slowly as he waited for the pills to kick in. After a few minutes he heard Daniel stand up and move around the kitchen. The sounds of cupboards opening, the clink of china and the familiar smell, all heralded the welcome arrival of a mug of coffee. He opened his eyes and sighed quietly as his headache slowly began to recede. Daniel had put the jug of coffee on the table between them and was now back in his seat, inhaling the steam from the coffee with a pained grimace.

"Can you remember how much we drank?" Jack asked quietly.

Daniel shook his head and winced. "Too much."

"Yeah."

"I can't remember the last few drinks."

A few flashes of memory passed through Jack's mind, and he took a sip of coffee to buy some time. He could remember agreeing that the talk they needed to have would work better with alcohol. He could remember the first few drinks and some of the talking. After that the memories dissolved into fuzzy images of beer bottles, whiskey, warmth and laughter.

"Did we solve anything?" Jack asked thoughtfully as Daniel finally began to look less sick.

The archaeologist frowned as he tried to remember. "Well, you explained why you had to shoot Reese, and I think I explained what happened in the Gate room. After that it all gets a little . . .hazy."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "Maybe we shouldn't have drunk so much."

"Maybe."

For a while they drank their coffee in silence, shooting occasional glances at each other. If Jack was completely honest, their talk last night had been building for a long time before the android appeared. Little disagreements and arguments had been mounting for months, and Reese was just the final straw. Getting drunk and talking through everything - the only way that Jack ever talked about deep and meaningful stuff - had always worked before. In fact, it was close enough to a tradition that when Daniel appeared on his doorstep with bottles of beer and a frown he usually knew exactly what would happen. They would talk, get roaring drunk, and wake up the next day with hangovers and their friendship back to normal. Today something felt . . . off.

"I think we should agree to disagree," Daniel announced suddenly, reaching to pour a second cup of coffee.

"About Reese?"

Daniel shrugged. "About a lot of things."

"So last night didn't work."

"I wouldn't say that, exactly," Daniel said slowly.

"Oh?"

"I understand - sort of - why you do things. I don't agree with them, and I can't condone some of them, but I do understand."

Jack nodded slowly. "Thank you."

There was a brief pause as Daniel lifted an inquiring eyebrow.

"For trying to understand."

The unspoken words, "unlike me", hung in the air and Daniel nodded. An agreement to disagree was probably the best they could manage. So why didn't Jack feel better?

"Breakfast?" he asked, as a distraction from his increasingly odd thoughts.

Daniel shuddered and buried his nose in his coffee mug. Jack's stomach growled at the thought of food, and, with a slight grin, he realised that his hangover was already mostly gone. In fact, food sounded like a wonderful idea. Pouring himself a second cup of coffee, Jack stood and began putting together breakfast. At first Daniel shot him mournful, accusing glances as he mixed up pancake batter, set bacon to frying and sliced bread for toast. By the time Jack was sliding the food onto two plates, Daniel's nose was twitching and he even smiled gratefully as Jack set a plate down in front of him.

"Feeling better?" Jack asked, as he watched Daniel dig in hungrily.

"Maybe," Daniel said indistinctly before swallowing hastily and shrugging. "Next time, no whiskey."

"And we'll remember that the next time?"

On the surface, everything seemed fine as they ate. At first they were silent, concentrating more on the food than conversation. When the worst of their hunger was satisfied they talked and joked, settling easily back into old habits. But every now and again Jack noticed that Daniel was watching him with a slightly puzzled expression. It only lasted for a moment before the linguist dropped his eyes to his plate, but a few minutes later Jack would notice the same expression on his face. Something was nagging at the back of his mind, but he had no idea what it was. Had he said something, or done something, that he couldn't remember and Daniel could?

Even after Daniel left, when he was throwing out the bottles and tidying up the living room, Jack could feel something itching in his mind but he had no idea what it was. He paused with a couple of beer bottles in his hands and stared around the room thoughtfully, prodding at his memories.

A long moment later he sighed and gave up. Whatever had happened could not have been very important or he would be able to remember it. Jack made a mental note not to get that drunk again and put it out of his mind.

***

There was something strangely calming about his office, Daniel reflected to himself the next day. The rest of the base was usually filled people rushing around urgently, but in here, with the doors closed on the rest of the world, there were just his books and his work, and it was calming. Daniel had never been a morning person, and during his first couple of years of working for the SGC he had acquired a reputation for never arriving for duty earlier than was absolutely necessary. More recently, though, he had found that going in half an hour or an hour early gave him some quiet, peaceful time in his office without being interrupted. It gave him time to do some work or just sit thinking if he needed to. Of course it meant that he had to do without coffee because popping into the commissary would announce to everyone that he was on the base. But weighing up that little sacrifice against these rare peaceful moments made it worth it.

This morning he was sitting at his desk with books and a pad of paper spread out in front of him and a pen in his hand, but he had not even started translating the tablet propped up on an old Latin dictionary. Instead he was doodling absently on the pad of paper, deep in thought. It was easier to think when he had a pen in his hand, and the meaningless symbols allowed his mind to drift. Today his mind kept drifting back to Jack. It was a place that he was trying hard not to go to, but there seemed to be no way he could stop it.

Daniel frowned as he carefully wrote Sam's name in Cuneiform. Maybe this was something he needed to think about. Looking into Jack's eyes yesterday morning, Daniel could see that he couldn't remember much about the evening before. Jack had seemed perfectly normal and Daniel was absolutely certain that he would not have acted normally if he had remembered how close they came the night before to . . .

Daniel had never managed to get the hang of drinking to forget. A little alcohol loosened his tongue, a lot made him feel happy and silly, even more made him pass out . . . but he could always remember what happened the night before, even if it was sometimes a little hazy. Over the years he had called it his curse. How could you cut loose if you knew you were going to remember every stupid thing you had done? It was the reason he usually never allowed himself to get so drunk that he had no control. Now he was considering it to be an even bigger curse because it meant that he could remember not just his own actions, but Jack's as well. And that was what had him completely confused.

He had thought that he knew Jack. How had he been so wrong?

At first the evening had gone the way he had predicted. With a couple of beers inside them it became easier to talk through everything that had been building up over the past few months, and culminated in the Gate room over Reese's lifeless body. They had discussed everything. It wasn't just rehashing what had happened; they tried to talk about why it all happened as well. It was all fine, normal, and Daniel had been feeling fairly hopeful that their friendship would survive this latest rocky patch.

Daniel had gradually felt lazy warmth creeping over him, a combination of alcohol and relaxation after all the tension that had been in the air lately. It made him drop his guard and slowly, gradually, he had shifted along the sofa until he was sitting so close to Jack that their arms brushed each time they took a sip of the whiskey they were now drinking. Daniel knew at that point that he was pleasantly drunk, and blamed that for the fit of giggles that he had been unable to contain when Jack carefully put his glass down on thin air next to the coffee table.

Jack had sat back with a dopey grin on his face and, in a slurred voice, begun a rambling monologue about how much Daniel's friendship meant to him, and how much Daniel himself was valued. Cared for.

Daniel wanted to kick himself for not insisting that they should cut the evening short at that point. But it had been so good to hear those words, even if Jack wasn't sober, so he had allowed Jack to continue until he trailed off uncertainly. That was the moment when Daniel knew he should have backed away, but the alcohol had lowered his resistance. So he stayed, even when the air seemed to spark with electricity as Jack turned towards him.

Shutters had come down over Jack's eyes just before he pulled Daniel into a tight, rough hug, muttering, "If only you knew."

Daniel could only blame the alcohol for the hot rush of anticipation and desire that had, for a brief moment, overwhelmed all his defences and allowed him to return that hug just as tightly. He had firmly reminded himself that no matter how drunk Jack was, Jack was straight and therefore this hug did not mean what his own drunken emotions wanted it to mean. Friends occasionally hugged each other, and that was all there was to it.

It had taken him a moment to compose himself, but just as Daniel was about to take a deep breath and pull away, he felt lips nuzzling just below his ear. For a heartbeat he had been frozen with surprise and Jack had obviously felt that because he pulled back far enough to see Daniel's face. There had been a question in those brown eyes that Daniel wanted to answer 'yes' to. They had been so close that Daniel could feel Jack's breath on his lips. The need to close the gap between their mouths had been so strong that Daniel had been forced to close his eyes to resist it.

When he had opened his eyes, Jack was slowly, hesitantly leaning forward until their lips almost brushed. It would have been so easy to make that final, tiny move, but Daniel paused, a snide voice inside reminding him that Jack was drunk and he would be taking advantage of his best friend in the worst possible way.

In that moment of uncertainty Jack's lucidity had briefly returned. He had blinked, shaken his head, and when he opened his eyes again the question was gone from his eyes and he was back to being the Jack that Daniel saw every day.

Jack had pulled away completely this time, saying, "Damn, I'm very, very drunk. I think I'll pass out now."

The words had been slurred despite the obvious care he was taking so Daniel had known that Jack was indeed still far from sober. Putting some distance between them now seemed like a great idea so Daniel had quickly agreed that they should call it a night. Neither of them had passed out, although it had taken Daniel a lot of concentration to make his legs work properly, and the walls had suddenly become full of strange curves as they staggered along to hallway to the bedrooms. Daniel had made the decision at that point that he would not wait to see what happened at Jack's door, instead weaving towards the guestroom and shutting the door with a vague, "G'night."

When Daniel had woken up the next morning he had remembered everything about the night before. That, more than the hangover, was what had propelled him out of the bed and into the bathroom to splash his face with cold water. If Jack was the first to wake up he usually woke Daniel up with water, painkillers and a mug of coffee. Daniel knew that he would not be able to face Jack standing next to his bed being so kind after what had nearly happened, so he had taken the easy way out and not faced it. Looking into Jack's eyes when he had finally appeared, hair still damp from his shower, Daniel had immediately known that the colonel could not remember what had happened. Despite the preparations he had made for that moment, he had not been able to school his expression, and was afraid that he had shown some of the bitter disappointment he'd felt so keenly. But their mutual hangovers had apparently masked the worst of it and there was no hint that Jack had noticed anything unusual.

That was why Daniel was now sitting in his office, absently sketching a picture of the Stargate, as he tried to put everything back into perspective. He had managed to put the evening out of his mind for most of the previous day, but today he would see Jack again and he needed to put the emotions away before he did that. If he didn't . . . their friendship was more important than any half-formed wishes.

Daniel clinically examined each moment of that evening, noted carefully the confused mixture of attraction, friendship and love he felt for the man, and then separated out the more dangerous feelings and locked them all away in a box in his mind. He walled it away, fenced it in, and put the key into a safer part of his mind. When he was certain that his feelings were back where they had to be, Daniel carefully tore up his doodles and threw them away.

He was just in time because a moment later there was a knock at the door, and Jack strolled through.

"I thought I'd find you here," Jack said cheerfully. "Want to grab some breakfast before the briefing?"

Daniel felt his heart miss a beat before he firmly pushed his emotions back into their boxes and swung to face Jack. "Sounds good. Just let me get some stuff and I'll be right with you."

Jack waited patiently as Daniel pulled out the files and notes he needed before herding the archaeologist out of his office toward the commissary.

***

Sam yawned as she waited in the line to get some breakfast in the commissary. The world seemed much too bright and far too early right now. It was her own fault, she remembered miserably. She should have known better than to accept Janet's invitation for a girl's night in when she had an early briefing and a mission the next day. Cassie was away on a school trip for the week so Janet had decided that it was the perfect excuse to spend some time not being a mom. Sam had agreed, despite her better judgement. They had stuck to low-alcohol wine so there was no hangover to battle with, but that did not make the lack of sleep the night before any easier in the morning. As Sam took a bowl of cereal and some orange juice, she wryly admitted to herself that they should have called it an evening after the second film, and watching a fourth film had been a very bad idea. Sam had woken up with a stiff neck from falling asleep on the sofa, and numb feet because Janet was still sitting on them, snoring gently.

She rotated her neck slowly, trying to work out the remnants of the stiffness, and looked around the crowded commissary for a spare seat. Immediately she spotted the table where the colonel and Daniel were having an animated discussion. Sam watched carefully for a moment, but could not see any of the tension or anger that had characterised their interactions recently. This just seemed to be one of their normal, everyday disagreements, and Sam grinned at the sight. Obviously they had used their downtime to work through a few of their issues. Watching the way that they were leaning towards each other across the table, completely focused on whatever they were talking about, was familiar and reassuring. Sam always felt awkward about interrupting when they were like that so she began scanning the room for another seat.

When her eyes fell on Daniel again she realised that he had noticed her presence and was beckoning to her even as he made an emphatic point about something with a bacon-laden fork. The colonel's expression of outrage piqued Sam's curiosity so she made her way to the table, narrowly avoiding a collision with a sleepy-looking nurse as she went.

"Taking their society as a whole-"

Jack cut Daniel off. "Do we know it's their entire society? We only see a few of them at a time - for all we know, there could be millions that we never even hear about!"

"We make the same assumptions each time we step through the Stargate," Daniel pointed out, gesturing with his knife. "We assume that the indigenous people and plant-life we see are typical of the planet as a whole because we don't have time to investigate what the planet is like a more than a few miles from the Gate."

"So your guesses about the gene pool could be completely wrong," Jack said triumphantly. "You're just guessing without proper evidence."

Sam blinked, and tried hard not to ask the question bubbling up, but it was no good. "Is there something wrong on PCR-578?"

The two combatants paused and exchanged puzzled glances.

"PCR-what?" the colonel asked after a moment.

Why did Sam suddenly feel as though she was going to regret opening her mouth? "That's where our mission is, sir."

"Oh." Daniel paused and looked slightly embarrassed. "No, no, there's nothing wrong."

Ah. Sam took a deep breath. "So, what was," she gestured with a spoon, "all that about?"

The two men exchanged what she could only describe as mischievous grins, and Sam winced internally. It was one of *those* arguments. When they had nothing better to do they bickered about something so crazy that, if she had not heard it herself, Sam would not have been able to believe that Daniel would be drawn into it. After five years of serving with Colonel O'Neill she was used to his slightly skewed perspectives, but it always amazed her that Daniel could join in so easily despite his genius.

Daniel's lips twitched suspiciously but it was the colonel who answered.

"Smurfs," he said cheerfully. "Daniel has some crazy idea about their genetic . . . something-"

"I simply pointed out that with only one female they cannot maintain the genetic diversity necessary to sustain a long-term population," Daniel corrected easily, ignoring Sam's amused grin at his serious expression. "They're a doomed race."

"So unless we're going to the land of little blue people, this has nothing to do with a mission," Jack added.

Oh, yeah, Sam definitely regretted asking. It made no sense that someone as academically focused as Daniel could cheerfully argue over breakfast about something as insignificant as Smurfs. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it. His blue eyes were alight with passion, he was managing to eat and gesture at the same time, and there was a grin twitching at the corners of his mouth as he spoke. Sam allowed the debate to rage around her, barely paying attention as they moved from Smurfs to other improbable cartoon populations.

It was comforting to see the two men engaged in such a harmless, if slightly bizarre, debate. The tension that had been between them was probably not obvious to anyone who did not know them well, but Sam had known and it had been . . . worrying was the only word she could think of. SG-1 was the best team on the base, and she was not going to let it fall apart due to internal problems. She had been on the verge of intervening, had been planning to find out from Daniel what was wrong, but thankfully they had already taken steps. If the Colonel and Daniel were back to their old selves then the team would be back to normal. Sam had made a private promise never to let problems get to the point where Daniel had to spend time with other teams again. They were family and Sam fiercely protected her family.

A low burst of laughter pulled Sam away from her intent focus on her breakfast, and she looked up to see the Colonel grinning and Daniel smiling indulgently. Their empty plates were piled between them and they both had mugs of coffee in their hands. Sam felt herself smiling as well even though she had no idea what the joke was. Her spoon scraped in the bottom of her bowl, and she realised with a start that she had been so deep in thought that she had eaten the entire bowl of cereal without even noticing. She yawned again, briefly wishing that the briefing were hours away so she could take a nap.

"Late night, Carter?" the colonel asked, grin still in place. "Haven't we had words about spending too much time with the naquadah reactors?"

"Yes, sir," Sam said, cheerfully letting him think that she had spent the night in her lab again. "But there was-"

"Ah!" He held up a hand. "It's way too early to be thinking that hard."

Sam forced her mouth to stop grinning. "Yes, sir. The briefing starts in . . . how many minutes?"

It was as close as she could get to needling him without being insubordinate, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Daniel's mouth twitching again as he restrained a grin.

"Ten minutes," Daniel said helpfully. "Which means I shouldn't be here anymore."

"I have ten minutes before I have to start thinking, and I'm not letting you two spoil it for me," the colonel said irritably, already beginning to clear the table.

Sam picked up her tray. "I wouldn't dream of it, sir."

***

"PCR-578," Sam said, as she put up the first photo on the screen in the briefing room. It showed an aerial view of a forested area with several large clearings covered with a profusion of flowers. "The air is a little higher in oxygen than Earth's, and the gravity is slightly lower, but the MALP data shows that it's safe for humans."

Hammond nodded as he looked at the pictures. "I assume there's a reason why both you and Doctor Jackson are so eager to explore this world?"

"Yes, sir." A graph appeared on the screen behind Sam. "The planet seems to have two moons, and from the data I've been able to gather they will both line up to eclipse their sun tomorrow. It's a unique opportunity. I can set up a field lab for a couple of days to observe the phenomenon."

"Doctor Jackson?"

Daniel stood and clicked through a couple more graphs before he came to the image he wanted. "You all remember Ernest's Planet?"

"How could we forget?" Jack muttered.

Ignoring the comment, Daniel pointed to the familiar photos of the writings in the room they had found it the crumbling building. "There were four races that met here. We've met the Asgard and the Nox, and we have some idea of what the Ancients were, but we have no idea what happened to the Furlings. I've been studying this text for years, but I've never been able to make anything out of it."

The next picture on the screen showed a tall pillar in front of some trees. It was made of a glossy black substance with white writing on the lower two-thirds. Daniel clicked to the next slide to show a computer-enhanced section of faintly familiar writing.

"This pillar is directly in front of the Stargate on PCR-587. I've made comparisons and it seems to be the fourth language on Ernest's Planet." Daniel's eyes were lighting up with excitement. "It's the first trace we've found of the Furlings on any other world."

"Is there any chance that they're still there?" Hammond asked.

"Well, there's . . .uh . . ." an aerial photograph appeared on the screen, "there are some ruins about five miles from the Gate. That's all the UAV could find. It looks like the planet has been abandoned for at least five hundred years. But there may be clues about where they are or why they left."

"If you can read them," Jack noted. "Right?"

Daniel shot him a mildly irritated look. "I'm working on it."

"Sir, we've got an interesting sun, Furlings and some ruins. Sounds like a mission just crying out for us." Jack grinned.

Hammond looked around the briefing room, taking in the three eager faces. There was even a hint of curiosity and anticipation on Teal'c's face. It had been a long time since they had found a planet apparently tailor-made for his top team's unique combination of skills. "SG-1, you have a go."

***

The embarkation room was busy when Jack strolled in, the last to arrive. He watched his team with a deep feeling of pride for a few minutes. Teal'c was the only one standing still, waiting for the word to leave. Carter was next to the FRED, checking that her equipment was secure. Jack made a mental note to find a way to sneak a look at the eclipse tomorrow. It was surprisingly easy to snowball the astrophysicist into forgetting that he was an amateur astronomer. In fact it was a little unsettling how easily everyone seemed to forget that he could not be entirely stupid if he had made it to the level of colonel. The smoke screen could be useful most of the time but this was one mission where Jack did not want to be on the sidelines of the scientific stuff. He was itching to get his hands on the telescope strapped to the FRED.

Maybe Carter needed reminding that her C.O. wasn't entirely clueless. She was beginning to get a little too sure of herself again.

Daniel was crouched next to his packs checking his supplies. One of the packs had the familiar square outlines of books pressed tightly against the sides, and Jack felt his mouth curve up slightly in a grin. The pack would weight a ton and Daniel would just pretend that it was fine. He would never admit that maybe, just maybe, he didn't need all the books he was bringing and that possibly he could do the actual translation on Earth.

The Gate began to spin as it dialled their planet and Jack pulled himself back from his contemplation. "Ok, kids, are we ready to go?"

"Yes, sir," Carter said, stepping away from the equipment.

"Just about," Daniel said absently.

"Daniel, either you're ready or you're not," Jack said, striding across the room to stand next to him.

Daniel fastened both packs closed and stood up. "I'm ready."

"That's better."

The archaeologist picked up the lighter pack and slipped it on his back before picking up the book-laden pack with a grunt.

"Need a hand?"

Shaking his head, Daniel carried the heavy pack to the FRED and carefully strapped it on. "No, I'm fine."

The wormhole engaged with a roar and the room was filled with shimmering blue light. Jack exchanged an amused glance with Teal'c as the two scientists focused intently on their transport, making final checks so they could be absolutely certain that their equipment would get through the wormhole safely. Then he strode up the ramp, P-90 held ready just in case, and stepped through the Gate.

As soon as Jack stepped out on the other side he swept his gun around the clearing, ready to shoot and roll if anything appeared to be hostile. He heard Teal'c emerge beside him and the quiet sound that his staff-weapon made as it was activated.

Nothing in the clearing moved. Daniel's pillar glistened in the sun, the white writing standing out starkly against the pure black of the stone. There was a sweet fragrance in the air that Jack, after a moment, thought might be close to honeysuckle. Green grass covered the ground around the Gate, with low flowering bushes forming a wide circular border that separated the clearing from the surrounding trees. The air felt clean and pure, and Jack took a deep breath as he slowly began to relax a little.

"We should not be here, O'Neill," Teal'c said warily.

Jack turned to the Jaffa, surprised to see him clenching his jaw. "What's wrong?"

"I do not know. Something here is . . . wrong."

"Are you kidding me? This place feels great."

"I should not be here," Teal'c insisted.

Jack made another assessing sweep of the clearing and frowned. "Steady, big guy. I know we see a lot of trees but . . ."

He trailed off as Teal'c shot him a warning look.

"How about seeing if Carter and Daniel feel the same before we go making any decisions?" Jack suggested, moving away from the Gate onto the soft, springy grass.

He knew it was just the slightly lower gravity making him feel so light, but it felt amazingly good, and Jack had to force himself back into commander-mode. Teal'c followed warily, still sweeping the clearing with his staff. A moment later the FRED burst through the Gate horizon followed by Daniel and Carter. Daniel's face immediately lit up as he took a deep breath of the fresh, clear air. Then he took in Jack's frown and Teal'c's staff weapon.

"Uh, guys, is something wrong?" he asked cautiously.

Carter already had the safety off her P-90 and was sweeping the clearing as Jack had done a moment ago.

"Teal'c thinks we shouldn't be here," Jack said briskly.

"This world feels wrong, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

Daniel cocked his head as though he was listening for a moment, and then shook his head. "It doesn't feel wrong to me. If anything, it feels good. Can you smell the air?"

"Major?"

Carter shook her head, frowning slightly. "I can't see anything. The UAV didn't pick up any signs of current occupation. But something does feel . . . off, sir. I can't explain it, exactly, but I keep thinking that we should leave."

Jack frowned slightly, his fingers tightening on his gun. "Major, I'm afraid we can't scrub a mission just because 'something feels wrong'."

"I know, sir. I can't explain it better than that, though - I wish I could."

"Daniel?"

The linguist had already made his way over to the pillar and was videoing with practised swiftness. "Hmm?"

"Got any ideas?"

Daniel stared off into the distance for a moment. "Don't you think it's a little odd that you and I are fine yet Sam and Teal'c are getting jittery?"

"Jittery?" Teal'c asked gravely.

"Maybe," Jack said slowly.

"It wouldn't be the first time that we've felt something that you haven't," Sam pointed out.

Daniel nodded. "There weren't any signs of Goa'uld occupation on the surveys. Maybe there's something here that keeps them away. Sam has naquadah in her bloodstream and Teal'c has a symbiote - those seem to be the markers that are used on most of the worlds we've found with anti-Goa'uld devices."

Jack thought for a moment, but there was only one option. "If there's some kind of anti-Goa'uld thing hidden here then our mission just got upgraded. Sorry, Carter, Teal'c, but we'll have to stick around and find whatever it is that's making you 'jittery'."

Teal'c's expression said that he was not happy about the idea, but he simply nodded his assent. Carter took a deep, calming breath before she too nodded her agreement. Jack had always considered himself to be good at assessing moods and right now the only word he could think of to describe his second in command was . . . afraid. Her face was pale, her lips pressed so tightly together that they were edged with white and she held her P-90 as though she was sure something was about to jump out of the bushes at her. He had seen her angry, nervous and even frightened, but never this kind of deep fear that was one step away from outright panic.

"Carter, where do you want to get your stuff set up?" He hoped that pulling her back to the normal mission requirements might leach some of the fear from her eyes.

Carter glanced around, and visibly forced herself to act professionally. "There's a hill just above Daniel's ruins. There are no trees on the top two thirds, so that's probably the best place to set up a base-camp."

It was also easily defensible if they needed it, but Jack kept that thought to himself. "All right, let's move out."

***

The team reached their chosen base-camp with no problems. In fact, Daniel was sure that he had never seen a planet that was quite so peaceful and beautiful. If it had not been for the tension in Teal'c and Sam he would have enjoyed the walk. The peace of the planet was such an odd contrast to his teammates' extreme agitation that his hand had hovered near the butt of his pistol throughout the hike. Jack had taken point, and Daniel had firmly kept his eyes away from his friend as he trudged behind him. Teal'c had covered their rear, and there had been several occasions when the Jaffa had been convinced that something was following them. Even with the quiet calmness of the planet around him, it was impossible not to absorb some of the tension from Teal'c and Sam.

Daniel realised that he was breathing a sigh of relief at safely reaching Sam's hill. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to breathe normally.

The top of the hill was as desolate as the forest had been lush. A few boulders and scrubby bushes dotted the grassy hill, but other than that it was bare. A quick perimeter search found nothing more intimidating than a few squirrel-like animals so Jack nodded his satisfaction with the base-camp. They had to leave the FRED at the bottom of the slope and carry their equipment up. Even though there was no sign of danger, Jack had taken Sam and Teal'c's fears seriously so he made sure that there was always one member of the team scanning the forest and skyline while the rest of them carried equipment and set up the tents.

"Carter, how long to do we have until nightfall?" Jack asked when the camp was ready.

"I'd say about three hours, sir," Sam reported at her watch. "That should give me time to get my instruments set up."

"Jack, I'd like to get an initial recording of the ruins done before the sun sets," Daniel reminded him.

Jack frowned and made another quick survey of the forest. From their position on the hill they could see for miles in every direction. The ruins were clearly visible through the trees, pale grey stone rearing up through the canopy, but that was the only sign of civilisation.

"I do not believe you should go down there," Teal'c said gravely, eyeing the ruins with dislike. "We should not be here."

"Yeah, Teal'c, I heard you." Jack cocked his head as though he was listening to something before shaking his head. "Carter, are you picking up anything to indicate that this planet is occupied?"

She shook her head. "The air's clean and there's no radio traffic, Sir. There doesn't appear to have been anyone living in this area for a long time."

"I shall stay here with MajorCarter," Teal'c announced, not meeting anyone's eyes. "I do not believe that I should approach the ruins."

"If there is anything down there to repel or kill Goa'uld, Teal'c is probably in the most danger," Sam added. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"I don't like splitting up when we think there might be a problem," Jack began eventually, holding up a hand to cut off any protest. "But we aren't going to get everything done if we don't. Carter, you and Teal'c stay here and get your doo-hickies put together. I want radio check-ins every ten minutes. If you see anything suspicious, call it in. Daniel, you're with me."

Daniel pulled on his pack, leaving the book-filled pack behind, and followed the colonel. "Are you sure about this?"

"You wanted to see your ruins, so we're going," Jack replied, watching the trees as they marched down the slope.

***

The ruins were fascinating. Daniel almost did not know where to start with his observations. Unlike most of the worlds they visited these were truly alien. There was nothing about them that he could relate to any Earth civilisations. It had always amazed him how rarely they found cultures and races that had not been influenced by Earth, but it looked like they had found another one.

From a distance it had looked like a large town, or small city, made of pale grey stone with no real organisation. Now that he was walking through the abandoned buildings Daniel was revising his opinion. Whatever purposes the buildings had once had, they had been arranged to be aesthetically beautiful rather than functional. Each building complimented and continued the theme of the buildings around it. That meant that the city had to have been planned rather than growing up gradually, or if it had grown then there had been some authority that dictated how and where the buildings were constructed.

The forest was beginning to reclaim the land, the paving slabs beneath his feet were starting to crack as grass pushed through, and there were low shrubs growing wherever they could find a foothold. But the grandeur and beauty of the city still shone through. Looking at it closely, the grey rock turned out to be filled with tiny crystals so that in the bright sunshine the buildings shine brilliantly. Daniel had already picked up a small piece of rock as a sample for the geologists to analyse back on Earth. Now he was slowly walking through the city filming everything he could with Jack keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. If something went wrong, as often seemed to happen, he would at least have video footage to work from.

"Jack, can you imagine the work that went into building this place?" he murmured. "The artistry . . . the care . . ."

Jack grunted and Daniel shrugged. There were days when Jack made no effort to understand what he was talking about, and today was apparently going to be one of them.

The buildings were as varied as they were beautiful. Some of them were only one or two stories high and others had graceful towers that soured towards the sky. Frescos of alien creatures and plants covered some of the walls, carved so delicately that they almost looked ready to move despite the weathering of years of neglect. Some of the towers connected to each other with bridges so delicate that it was impossible to believe they had stood for as long as they had, let alone been able to take any weight. There did not seem to be any true right angles - everything curved or flowed around corners rather than having harsh edges.

All that Daniel could do was tape everything he saw, and lose himself in the beauty of the city.

"Jack, I doubt that any of this was built by humans," he said quietly as he gazed up at one of the impossibly thin towers. "I've never seen anything like this in any culture on Earth. We are looking at something that's completely alien. I'm not even sure that these people - whoever they were - ever had any contact with Earth."

Beneath a carving of a flying creature on the side of a single story building joined to the tower Daniel spotted some writing and he stepped closer to examine it.

"This is the same as the writing on the pillar by the Stargate," he said with rising excitement. "Whoever built this must have also left the pillar. Maybe it's some kind of . . ."

Daniel trailed off as he felt goose bumps shiver down his spine. He was being watched. As he turned around he heard a quiet click as Jack took the safety off his P-90. There was a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and Daniel spun to face it, his hand already pulling his revolver out of its holster.

There was nothing there, just ancient, derelict buildings and weeds.

"Do you feel like you're being watched?" Jack whispered.

Daniel nodded warily and began scanning the area, aware that Jack was doing the same with silent intensity.

There was a quiet clicking sound to their right, possibly a pebble falling onto stone, and they both spun towards, it but there was nothing there. The feeling of being watched was getting stronger, and Daniel was suddenly aware of a low-pitched buzzing noise, almost too quiet to be heard. Without a word they slowly began moving closer together until only a couple of feet separated them standing back to back. Daniel could almost feel the tension radiating from Jack. The buzzing, humming noise grew a little louder and Daniel frowned as he tried to identify the direction it was coming from.

Jack's radio crackled and then Carter's voice drifted out. "Colonel, I-"

It was drowned out by static for a moment before dying completely.

"Carter?" Jack called into the radio, keeping his gun trained down the deserted street. "Teal'c? Ah, crap, this does not look good."

Daniel had already worked that out for himself. He glanced back at Jack for a moment before returning his attention to his side of the abandoned street . . . and had to bite his tongue not to shout his surprise.

"Uh, Jack?" he said quietly, hoping that his voice sounded unthreatening.

The . . . being . . . standing in front of him reminded Daniel of the conversation over breakfast. Somehow, Jack had jinxed the mission by mentioning planets of little blue people.

"Holy . . . is that . . .?"

The only resemblance to a Smurf was its colour. It was only a couple of inches shorter than Daniel, with narrow features and a delicately slender body. Its skin was pale blue, with a thick mass of deep blue hair cascading down its back. The slanted eyes were violet with slit, cat-like pupils. There was no nose that Daniel could see, and its narrow, angular face came to a point at the chin. Set in the centre of its forehead there was something that looked like an iridescent stone, slightly larger than one of its eyes. A white tunic and pants made of a silky material clung to its body and revealed just how thin its limbs were; its legs looked too thin to hold its weight. Despite the oddness of its appearance, Daniel felt no fear.

The being slowly raised its arms from its sides in what Daniel thought might be a gesture of greeting, and the stone in its forehead began to glow. At the same time the buzzing sound grew louder until it was just below painful.

"Daniel, you're on." Jack's voice sounded strained.

Daniel took a step forward and lowered his gun. The light from the alien's forehead brightened and the noise grew more intense, throbbing through his bones until it washed away all thought. It was sending sparks of pain through his head in fiery waves, and he dimly heard a pained grunt from Jack. Daniel was not even aware that he had sunk to his knees and put his hands to his ears to try and block the noise out. All he could feel now was the pain and the sound, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. He thought for a moment that he could hear voices in it, but even that was drowned out as it became louder and louder. Pain, burning and icy all at once, lanced through his body and shut out everything else. Slowly greyness tugged at his mind, and then everything went black.

***

For what felt like the thirtieth time, Sam carefully examined the walls of her cell. Nothing had changed. They were still white and featureless, without even a hint of a crack where a door might be hidden. Frustration boiled up inside her, and she resumed the restless pacing she had been doing ever since she woke up. Teal'c was sitting in a corner of the cell deep in kel'no'reem so Sam had no one to voice her frustration to.

She was annoyed, both with herself and with their circumstances. They were locked in a cell with no idea what had happened to the Colonel and Daniel and apparently no way to escape. The worst part was not knowing how they had got there. One moment she had been radioing the Colonel to make her ten-minute sit-rep and the next thing she was aware of was waking up in this sterile white cell. All of their gear was gone; they had not even been left with their own clothes. Instead they were both dressed in long-sleeved tunics and loose pants made from silky grey material. Even their boots had been taken, and as soon as Sam thought that she realised that her bare feet were cold.

She ground her teeth and sat down with her back resting against one of the walls. There was no point in wasting energy that she might need later for escape. Their captors had not given them water let alone any food and Sam could already feel her stomach growling in complaint. That meant that they had been unconscious for several hours. Without a watch she could not be sure how much time had passed since they had been taken from the camp, but it was long enough that she was worried. The Colonel and Daniel could also be prisoners, or they might already be trying to work out a rescue.

Sam firmly clamped down on that hope. It was dangerous to rely on a rescue that might never come. Instead she needed to work out some way of getting out of this fix herself.

The wall behind her was not as firm as it looked to be. It was dull white rather than shiny and when Sam pushed against it she discovered that it was slightly spongy. The floor seemed to be made of the same material, and, if she could have reached it, she thought that the ceiling would probably be made of it too. It was like sitting or leaning against one of the mats in the gym, with just enough give that she would not hurt herself badly if she fell or hit it, but firm enough to be comfortable to walk on. The colour and texture of the room reminded her a little of the room Daniel had been put in when Machello's bugs were attacking him.

Now there's a cheerful thought, Sam mused. Maybe they think we're insane, or dangerous.

Obviously whoever had captured them did not think they were a danger to each other. Sam closed her eyes and rested her head back against the wall, allowing her thoughts to drift. Sometimes just letting her thoughts wander aimlessly rather than deliberately focusing on the problem at hand allowed her to see solutions that were otherwise hidden. There did not appear to be any way out, but their captors seemed to have been fairly careful with the way they had been handled. Sam could not feel any bruising even though they must have stripped and re-dressed her while she was unconscious.

The thought made her shudder, disturbing the momentary calm she had been floating in. There was a world of difference between someone she trusted removing her clothes and treating her when she was sick, and some aliens stripping her without consent and doing . . . Sam shuddered again. It was better not to think about what might have happened.

She opened her eyes and turned her head to see Teal'c watching her. "Are you well, MajorCarter?"

"I'm fine, Teal'c," Sam said, her voice sounding slightly rusty. "You?"

Teal'c inclined his head gracefully. "I do not feel the urge to leave this planet as I did earlier."

"I noticed that too. I guess they don't want us going crazy trying to get out now that they've got us locked in here."

"There does not appear to be an exit."

"They got us in here so there must be a way out." Sam paused as a thought struck her. "Does this remind you of anything?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"Quarantine," Sam elaborated. "This place seems to have been designed to stop us hurting ourselves or anyone outside. It doesn't feel like the kind of place you'd put someone to punish them."

"I believe that you are correct."

"So what do you suppose they've done with the Colonel and Daniel?"

***

Slowly darkness faded and Daniel struggled to pull himself out of its sticky embrace. He pushed upwards away from the seductive promise of unconsciousness, forcing his way back to the waking world.

The first thing he was aware of was that his head hurt. He groaned quietly, but apparently not so quietly that Jack couldn't hear him.

"Daniel? You ok?"

He seemed to be lying on something soft and sinfully comfortable. As Jack spoke Daniel could feel a warm hand rest on his shoulder before moving to cup his cheek. Tingling warmth spread out from the contact.

"Hey, wake up. Please. I'm bored here."

The slightly mocking tone of voice told Daniel that Jack knew he was awake. He cautiously opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times until he could focus on Jack's concerned face above him.

"I'm awake," Daniel croaked, wincing at the dryness of his mouth.

"Finally."

"Were you worried about me?"

"Hell, no," Jack quickly denied, not making any effort to move away. "Well . . . maybe a little. Possibly. I hate these locked room scenarios."

"Thanks."

"Can you sit?"

With Jack's help, Daniel managed to sit up even though the effort made his head swim and throb. He swallowed hard, trying not to notice that his stomach was rolling, and took a deep breath.

"Think you'll stay upright if I leave you for a moment?"

Daniel cautiously nodded, and Jack left his side. Curiously, Daniel looked around the room. Three walls were covered with pale blue, gauzy drapes that hid any sign of a door. The fourth wall was opposite him, and for a moment Daniel thought it was a clear route to the outside world. The entire wall seemed to look out over a lush, neatly kept garden with tall trees and brilliantly coloured flowers. Then Daniel realised that he could not smell any of the plants or the earth, and there was no breeze in the room even though the leaves on the trees were swaying.

"It seems to be some kind of glass," Jack said, and Daniel suddenly noticed that the colonel was standing over him. "Pretty solid. I tried it earlier."

A bar of chocolate landed on the cushion next to Daniel. "Eating something seems to help the hangover."

Jack flopped down next to Daniel, so close that Daniel could feel the heat from him, and handed him a canteen of water. "According to my watch we've been out for about twenty hours."

The sinfully soft surface he had been sleeping on was a pile of large cushions in shades of blue and green. There was another pile a few feet away with the impression of a body still on it, a few single cushions dotted around the room and their packs and guns were sitting in a corner. Daniel shifted a little to get comfortable, trying not to notice when their shoulders brushed, and then took the canteen. The water was lukewarm with a faint aftertaste from the container, but it cleared away some of the dryness in his throat and Daniel began to feel better almost immediately. He handed the canteen back to Jack, who immediately gulped some of it down, and took a bite of the chocolate.

"Does this," Jack gestured around the room, "tell you anything?"

Daniel shook his head, his mouth full of chocolate.

"I can't find a door," Jack continued. "We got in here so there has to be a way out, but I can't find it. We've still got our stuff so they can't be too worried about us breaking out and killing someone. Either they don't know what our weapons can do or they're so advanced that our weapons won't do any good against them."

"Sam and Teal'c aren't here," Daniel noted.

"Hopefully Carter had the sense not to get caught."

"Or if they did they aren't being kept with us."

"Aren't you the soul of optimism today?"

Daniel swallowed another bite of chocolate. "I'm just being realistic. We're not Goa'uld and we've been taken. Wouldn't it be foolish to assume that the only ones in the team that could be connected with Goa'uld haven't been caught?"

Jack grunted and took another sip of water. "Well, whoever set this up hasn't thought that we're important enough to visit yet. I'm hurt."

As he swallowed his final bite of chocolate, Daniel realised that he was feeling much better. In fact, he was feeling normal again. He held up the wrapper. "Thanks."

"You look better."

"I feel better."

"Feel ready to help me find a way out?"

***

"The General will have sent out a search party by now," Sam commented without opening her eyes.

After another fruitless search of the walls for a door she was lying on her back with her legs drawn up, trying to ignore the insistent emptiness in her stomach. Teal'c was sitting with his back against the wall his legs folded Indian-style. By unspoken consent they were resting to conserve their strength, but kept a constant watch. Sam had tried to sleep but the tension from hours spent in their white room, and her intense hunger, were making it hard to clear her mind enough to sleep. Instead she was lying down thinking restful thoughts until Teal'c needed to perform kel'no'reem again. Hopefully their captors would show themselves before that.

"I do not believe they would find us," Teal'c said gravely.

Sam sighed. "Yeah, that thought occurred to me too."

"If O'Neill and DanielJackson are still free they will try to rescue us."

"Only if they can find us. We don't even know if we're on the same planet anymore."

"This place appears to have lower gravity than Earth as PCR-587 does. Therefore I believe that we are still on that planet."

Sam gave up on rest and sat up, running a hand through her hair. "I think you're right. Not that it helps-"

She stopped, staring at the plate of covered dishes that had abruptly appeared in front of her. There had been no warning, no flash of light; one moment there had been no dishes and in the next moment three were sitting a foot away from her. A heartbeat later a large jug with condensation beginning to form on the sides joined the dishes. Sam exchanged a puzzled glance with Teal'c before returning her attention to the meal in front of her. The jug and the dishes looked to be made from white, slightly iridescent metal. She reached out and lifted the lid of the nearest dish. Steam wafted out carrying a tantalisingly savoury smell. Sam's stomach growled.

"It smells safe," she said cautiously, staring at the slices of rich brown meat.

Teal'c lifted another cover to reveal what looked like flat pita breads. "It may be poisoned."

The jug turned out to be filled with clear, cold water. "If they wanted to kill us they would have done it by now."

The last dish was filled with a mixture of long green vegetables and squares of bright red . . . something . . . that had a slightly spicy smell.

"My symbiote protects me from most poisons."

Sam took a deep breath and winced as her stomach gurgled loudly. "I think I'll risk it."

***

Daniel dropped down onto the pile of cushions with an irritated sigh. He and Jack had spent a couple of useless hours examining every inch of the room that they were being kept in without finding as much as a hint of how to get out. There had been a brief moment of hope when he had brushed his hand over a section of one of the walls and a door had appeared, but it had turned out to lead to a small room with bathroom facilities.

I guess finding a bathroom is a good thing. Life could have become pretty awkward in a couple of hours, Daniel mused to himself. A way out would have been even better though.

After that brief moment of hope he and Jack had felt every inch of the walls that they could reach. They had even tried the floor, shifting all the cushions into a pile in the middle of the room in case there was a trapdoor hidden underneath. Jack had tried gouging at the walls and floor with his knife, but he had not even been able to make a scratch on the surface. Whatever the window was made of it was also completely scratch-resistant. Jack had briefly considered trying his gun on the window but the risk of ricochet ruled it out.

Apparently all they could do was sit here and wait for someone to explain what was going on.

"Had any insights yet?" Jack asked.

Daniel turned his head and opened his eyes. Jack was sprawled a couple of feet away on the large pile of cushions. It had seemed pointless to put them back once they had been moved, and neither of them were feeling particularly co-operative towards their gaolers at the moment.

"No," Daniel answered shortly. "You?"

"Apart from boredom? No."

Daniel pulled his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The bar of chocolate seemed like a long time ago. He was beginning to seriously consider breaking into their supply of energy bars. Between hunger and the low, buzzing noise his head was starting to throb again.

Catching his breath, Daniel sat up.

A buzzing noise? He hadn't noticed it before, but there was definitely a noise just at the edge of his hearing. It was a gentle susurration, as though several people were whispering in another room, and the sound was quiet enough that he had not consciously been aware of it before.

"Jack, can you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?"

"There's a noise."

"You know, the first sign of madness is-"

Daniel held up a hand to cut him off. "Just . . . listen."

They sat in silence for a moment. Daniel watched as Jack cocked his head, trying to hear, and then his eyes slowly widened.

"Ok, I hear it," Jack said slowly. "What does it mean?"

"I have no idea." Daniel shrugged. "But don't you think it's interesting?"

"No, I think it's annoying now that you've pointed it out to me."

Daniel smiled briefly. "Yes, it's annoying. But it's also the same noise that I heard just before that . . . being knocked me out."

"You too, huh?" Jack frowned. "Ok, so we've got a locked room and an annoying noise that made us pass out. How does this help us?"

"I have no idea."

Sliding his glasses back on, Daniel took a deep breath and tried to think. Outside, the sky was beginning to turn pale pink as the sun sank down towards the horizon. His stomach rumbled and he realised that it had now been over a day since he had eaten a proper meal.

"We missed the eclipse," Jack complained quietly. "I hope Carter got her equipment set up."

Out of the corner of his eye Daniel watched Jack. The colonel had his gun across his lap and he was staring out of the large window at the setting sun. The faint frown on his face said that he was not pleased about something, and Daniel knew him well enough to know that he was probably beating himself up for letting the team get separated. A quiet rumbling sound made Jack shoot a quick look at his stomach and Daniel hid his smile. The energy bars in their packs were starting sound like manna from heaven.

~ Food is here. Eat? ~

The thought echoed around Daniel's head, closer to a feeling than actual words. It took him a moment to realise that the thought was not his. He was a beat behind Jack in springing to his feet. Jack had already whirled to train his gun on the intruder. Daniel moved slightly slower, turning with his hands up in the universal symbol of peace. Standing a few feet away was one of the blue aliens. It had appeared silently and Daniel still could not see any sign of a door.

The iridescent crystal in the centre of its forehead flickered with white light. ~ Not to hurt. You are safe now. ~

"Are you catching this?" Jack asked, not letting his gaze move from the blue alien.

Daniel nodded. "I think it might be telepathic."

"No kidding," Jack said sarcastically. "Can you communicate with it?"

"I can try." Daniel stepped forward. "Hello. I'm Daniel Jackson, and this is Colonel O'Neill. We're peaceful explorers. We mean you no harm."

~Daniel. Jack. ~ The alien blinked its violet eyes. ~ Sh'sh'na. ~

With the word came an image of the alien in front of them. Now that Daniel was looking more closely he could see that there were slight differences from the first one they had met. This one was an inch or so taller and its body looked a little more muscular. Daniel thought that its hair might be a slightly lighter shade of blue than the other one, and there was white embroidery on the cuffs of its tunic.

~ Eat. Sh'sh'na brings food. ~

Its hands were suddenly filled with a tray of covered dishes. Rich food smells wafted towards them and Daniel felt his mouth water at the enticing smell.

~ Food. Eat. ~

"I think it wants us to eat," Daniel said quietly.

"I caught that."

"If they wanted to kill us they could have done it while we were unconscious. I don't think they intend to hurt us."

Jack nodded towards the dishes. "They might not intend to hurt us, but have you forgotten the trouble we've had when we've eaten food from other planets?"

"Jack, what are they going to do? If they wanted information from us I'm sure could take it straight out of our minds."

Sh'sh'na held out the tray. ~ Eat. No harm. Safe now. ~

The thoughts from the alien were not actually words; they were more like sensations with undertones that could be read as easily as words.

"They think they've rescued us," Daniel realised.

"From what?"

The linguist looked at Sh'sh'na inquiringly. "From the Goa'uld? They think we were Sam and Teal'c's slaves so they rescued us."

Jack gestured with his P-90. "Where are our friends?"

~ Friends? ~

"The ones we came through the Stargate with. Carter and Teal'c - where are they?"

~ Safe now. No harm. ~

"No, no, they weren't hurting us," Daniel said quickly. "They are our friends."

~ Not . . . Goa'uld? ~

"Not in the way you think."

~ But their blood . . . blocks minds . . . Goa'uld. ~

"Something in their blood . . . you mean the naquadah in their blood stops you reading their minds?" Daniel asked. "So you are assuming that they're your enemy because you can't see their minds?"

~ No. See their blood. It hurts. Goa'uld hurt. Others have mind-blocked, but do not hurt. ~

Slowly Daniel nodded as the thoughts began to make sense. He exchanged a quick glance with Jack, who nodded his understanding too, before focusing on Sh'sh'na again. "Not all Goa'uld are evil. Sam was a host but her Goa'uld died. You can just feel the naquadah in her blood now. Teal'c is Jaffa, not Goa'uld, and the symbiote inside him isn't controlling him."

"They're our friends and we need to know that they're ok," Jack added. "I don't like to threaten possible allies-"

Daniel snorted. "Jack, I don't think your gun will do any good here."

"Oh?"

"No. Sh'sh'na could take it away if it wanted to."

The blue creature nodded gravely, and Jack glanced at the dishes that had appeared out of thin air.

"Ok, well, I still need to see Carter and Teal'c. If you can see into our heads or whatever, then you'll know that they're good people."

~ Eat. Sleep. ~

"Not before I know my people are ok," Jack insisted.

The blue creature closed its eyes for a long moment and the crystal in its forehead pulsed brightly. The whispering noise at the edge of their hearing grew louder for an instant before subsiding again.

~ They are well. Have food. Cannot talk. We will care for them. ~

An image of Sam and Teal'c sitting in a white room accompanied that thought. Daniel could even see empty dishes between them. The flash of image only lasted a heartbeat, but he somehow knew that it was a memory from someone else of watching them.

Jack grunted and slowly lowered his gun. "First thing tomorrow you'll take me to them. No tricks."

~ Agreed. ~

Sh'sh'na disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving the dishes on the floor. There was no flash of light, no sound of transport; one moment it was there and in the next moment it was gone.

"So . . ."

"So . . ."

They both eyed the dishes hungrily.

"I guess if they wanted to make us tell them Earth's secrets they could have just got them straight from our heads," Jack said thoughtfully.

"Probably."

"Teal'c's fine."

"Sam's fine."

"It might be an insult not to eat."

"It is in a lot of cultures."

Jack put his gun down on the floor and lifted the cover on one of the dishes. "Smells kinda like beef stew."

***

** The living room was warm and Jack could feel the buzz of the alcohol he had indulged in running through his body. He was drunk and he knew it. They both were. With a shrug he looked down at the glass at his hand and decided that it was time to quit the whiskey if he wanted to moderate his hangover in the morning. He leaned forward and carefully set the glass down. It landed on the carpet with a muffled thud and there was a quiet snicker next to him. Jack settled back on the sofa and felt the vibrations from Daniel's laughter where their shoulders were pressed tightly together. Every nerve on that side of his body was desperately aware of the heat from Daniel's body.

Jack turned his head and met Daniel's laughing eyes. Slowly the light-hearted atmosphere drained away to be replaced by something more intense and far more dangerous.

He was suddenly overwhelmed by the impulse to kiss those smiling lips. Jack had no idea how it happened or who initiated it, but he found they were both slowly leaning closer to each other until he could feel Daniel's warm breath on his lips. He searched Daniel's eyes for a clue about what to do next and the invitation in them burned away the alcoholic haze he had fallen into. Jack was completely sober when he moved forward until their lips almost touched. It would be so easy to take that final step and taste what he had wanted for so long.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a small voice of conscience shouted, "No! It didn't happen that way!"

With that reminder it came flooding back. This was just a dream of a memory. Somehow in the hangover of the morning over he had forgotten ("Deliberately forgotten," the annoying voice insisted) what had happened that night. Or, more importantly, what he had not allowed to happen.

This was a dream so he could choose what would happen. Jack refocused on the blue eyes burning so close to him and made his choice.

The kiss was a feather-light touch that left Jack shaking and aching for more. Without hesitation he leaned in to press his lips more firmly against Daniel's, and was rewarded as those lips moved beneath his in a delicate caress. He was able to ignore the snide voice that shouted that this was all his imagination so of course Daniel's lips were as soft as he had hoped they'd be. Instead he put all his focus into enjoying this kiss. It quickly progressed from hesitantly tender to passionate as he kissed and nibbled the amazingly warm lips beneath his. One hand crept up to Daniel's shoulder and then into Daniel's hair where he curled his fingers in it, and was slightly disappointed that it was so short now. At the same time he felt a hand skim down his back and warm fingers creeping under his shirt. He gasped and pulled back slightly.

"Daniel, I-"

The archaeologist covered his lips with one finger.

"Shh, Jack, no talking," Daniel whispered.

He nodded and Daniel replaced his fingers with his lips. The warm hand on his back slid upwards, caressing and kneading his flesh. Jack felt a hot tongue lick his lips and he opened his mouth to grant Daniel entrance. It was as good as he had hoped and Jack moaned softly as his mouth was thoroughly explored. Somehow he was now on his back on the sofa with Daniel lying on him, kissing with wild abandon and feeling absolutely incredible.

Jack freed his mouth and began kissing down Daniel's throat, pausing at the base of his neck to bite down lightly. "Daniel, I-"

"Why are you talking?"

"Right, no talking," Jack agreed.

There was something not quite right about that. Daniel always talked about everything so why was he so reluctant to talk now?

That was when Jack remembered again that this was all a dream. It could feel incredible, amazing, but he was still dreaming about making love to his best friend and that was just not right.

He looked up and found that he was looking into Daniel's wide, startled eyes. A moment later he was wrenched away . . . **

***

Daniel lay curled up in a corner of the aliens' bathroom. He had been so close. It would have been so easy to just carry on making love to Jack in his dream and damn the consequences. Even after waking up it would have been easy to just lock himself in this bathroom and finish off the erection that the dream had aroused. He was so close that just a few strokes would have been enough. But that same inconvenient sense of honour that had reared its head when he was about to dive back into the dream-kiss had forced him to remove his hand and curl up in this corner.

He needed to be able to look at Jack in the morning. Dreaming about sex with Jack felt no different to jerking off to a fantasy of Jack. Either one would fill him with guilt, and make it impossible to look at the other man without remembering. So he chose neither and instead tried to think calming thoughts so that he could will away the powerful arousal.

God, this is going to be a long night, he thought miserably.

***

Jack curled on his side on the pile of cushions he had chosen as his bed and tried to ignore the persistent ache in his groin. He only hoped that his position, and the blanket thrown over his lower half, would disguise his arousal from Daniel when the man eventually returned from his bathroom break.

A long time ago he had learned deep breathing exercises as a way to work out stress. It was useful on missions when he would otherwise be too tense to sleep. At the moment Jack hoped that the technique would calm his body down and fool Daniel into thinking he was asleep.

It had been one of the most intensely arousing dreams of his life. Every time he allowed his thoughts to roam all he could think about was strong arms holding him, hot hands on the bare skin of his back, and Daniel's lips against his. Jack kept firmly telling himself that it was a dream, it meant nothing, and it was wrong to even be thinking of Daniel that way. The snide voice in his head seemed more interested in wondering whether the dream matched the reality.

Jack tensed and a moment later he heard the quiet scuff of Daniel's feet padding across the floor. The archaeologist had left his boots behind but to Jack's oversensitive nerves he could have been wearing tap shoes. Jack heard a quiet rustle as Daniel settled down on his own pile of cushions a few feet away and concentrated hard on maintaining his deep breathing exercises.

Christ, it's going to be a long night, he thought tiredly as he heard Daniel shift on his makeshift bed.

***

Jack stared out at the garden lying just beyond reach on the other side of the transparent barrier. The early morning light glittered off the dew on the grass. The plant-life was lush and wild, but there seemed to be faint hints that it might be organised. Some trees framed a view of distant mountains. Low flowering shrubs circled a few of the bushes. At first glance the garden seemed natural and disorganised, but a closer look showed that it was not that simple.

Nothing about this alien world was turning out to be simple.

This should have been a simple survey, a treat for Daniel and Carter. Instead they had all been captured by a group of odd blue aliens that seemed to talk telepathically. Jack could still hear the faint whispered noise at the edge of his hearing, and he was beginning to have some suspicions about it.

He was sitting on the floor in front of the transparent 'window' with his gun at his feet. Normally he would have simply woken Daniel up when he woke up so they could talk and make plans for getting to Carter and Teal'c. After last night's dream the thought of reaching out and nudging Daniel awake made him feel oddly jittery. In the cold light of day it seemed strange and wrong to have dreamed about his very male best friend that way.

He heard a quiet rustle behind him and a soft grunt. Immediately he tensed and felt his cheeks heat.

I'm getting paranoid, he mentally scolded himself. There was no way that Daniel could know what he had dreamed about. The archaeologist would not take one look at him and know every thought in his head. The guilt and the embarrassment were all his own. They might be on a planet of telepathic aliens, but that did not mean that Daniel could read his mind. Jack closed his eyes briefly as his wayward imagination conjured up an image of Daniel's horrified reaction if he could read Jack's mind.

"Have you been awake long?"

The voice behind him sounded slightly husky from sleep, and Jack had to take a deep breath before he felt ready to turn and answer. Daniel's hair was sticking up in all directions and he was busy rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Jack felt an unexpected wave of affection flow though him at the sight.

"Jack?"

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and refocused on the present. "Not long. The sun came up a few minutes ago."

Daniel nodded. "I'm going to wash up. Do you mind if I . . ?"

He gestured towards the bathroom, indicating that Jack could have first claim on it if he wanted to. Jack shook his head and managed a quick grin.

"Nah, you go ahead. Just don't use all the hot water."

Daniel paused in the middle of picking up his pack. "Do you suppose they have hot water?"

Jack shrugged. "Go find out."

As the bathroom door closed he became aware that he had watched Daniel as he walked across the room. More than watched: his eyes had wandered across Daniel's back and his fingers had itched to find out whether the skin was as smooth as it had felt in his dream. Even now he could remember the glide of muscles under that warm skin and his fingers seemed to tingle.

With a snort of annoyance, Jack turned back to watch the garden and firmly put any thoughts of Daniel, skin and dreams out of his mind. It was more important to work out a plan than to worry that he might be cracking up because he was having erotic dreams about his best friend.

Too soon, Jack heard a tiny click as the door opened and then quiet footsteps crossing the floor behind him.

"It's all yours," Daniel said.

Jack got to his feet quickly and snatched up his pack before striding to the bathroom. He had already worked out the mechanics of the bathroom facilities the night before so it was not long before he was dunking his head into a basin of lukewarm water. That cleared the remaining fog from his mind, and Jack began to find it easier to push the memories of the dream away.

His pack yielded clean shorts, socks and T-shirt. Everyone in SG-1 included basics like that in their packs because there had been too many so-called simple missions that had been extended beyond the original parameters. It was an unspoken standing order not to ignore a chance of cleaning up if it was offered. Spending five days in dirty, sweaty clothes was an experience that nobody enjoyed. The aliens had thoughtfully provided pieces of rough cloth so Jack dried off and pulled on the clean clothes. He pulled his fingers through his damp hair to comb it into some semblance of order, and emerged from the bathroom feeling cleaner, refreshed and ready to face anything.

Daniel was sitting on the floor with a jug, some bowls and a plate with a stack of . . . something in front of him. He turned as soon as Jack appeared and grinned. "Breakfast arrived a couple of minutes ago. I have no idea what it is but it tastes great."

Jack was relieved to be able to meet Daniel's eyes without flinching. "I hope you saved me some."

He dropped his pack next to Daniel's and grabbed a cushion to sit on. The plate turned out to have a stack of thin things that looked a lot like poppadoms. Daniel was using one to scoop up mouthfuls of porridge-like food from a bowl. A large bowl in the centre seemed to hold fruits, or at least Jack assumed that the brightly coloured ovals were fruits. Another bowl was filled with small brown nuts that Daniel had already sprinkled over his own bowl of 'porridge'. Jack shrugged and followed his example. The 'porridge' tasted nutty and slightly spicy. They were both silent as they ate their breakfast slowly, savouring the unusual combination of flavours. They had barely finished when they both tensed and looked at each other for a moment before turning their heads towards the presence they could both sense.

Sh'sh'na was standing a few feet away accompanied by another of the aliens. This one had hair that looked more turquoise than blue and its skin was slightly paler. It was less muscular than Sh'sh'na, and its white tunic had tiny white beads worked around the hem.

~ Rested now? ~

Jack was not sure how he knew it, but he was sure that the query came from Sh'sh'na.

"Yeah, we're rested," Jack said. "And you've fed us. Now we want to see our friends."

~ Yes. ~

It was easier than he had thought it would be. Jack had been prepared for a long argument with the alien before he was allowed to see his 'dangerous' friends.

~ Xe'sh'hn takes you. ~

The other alien stepped forward and bowed its head. ~ Friends are well. Come, see. ~

"Thanks."

Without any warning, Jack was suddenly in another room. There were no lights, none of the dissolving feeling he had when a ring transported him. It was simply that in one moment he was standing in the gauze-draped room next to Daniel and in the next he was standing in a bare room with light green walls. There was no window, but light seemed to radiate from the walls and ceiling.

Xe'sh'hn glided to the wall on Jack's right and waved its hand over it. A section of the wall immediately disappeared, and bright white light shone out. The rectangular opening was taller than Jack and wide enough for two men to walk through side by side. Xe'sh'hn stepped in and beckoned to him. There was nowhere else to go so Jack decided to trust the odd alien and followed it into the room. The floor, walls and ceiling were bright white and for a moment that was all Jack could see. It seemed unnaturally quiet in the room. Jack realised immediately that the odd buzzing noise he had been hearing since he woke up yesterday had stopped the moment he stepped in. The room was somehow shielded from the aliens' constant stream of mental 'chatter'.

He had to blink a couple of times before his eyes adjusted to the light so that he could see Carter and Teal'c standing in front of them. Neither of them appeared to be injured although their uniforms had disappeared at some stage and they were now dressed in grey versions of the aliens' tunics and pants.

Carter straightened. "Colonel."

"O'Neill. It is good to see that you are well." Teal'c managed to sound concerned and grave at the same time.

Jack grinned at them. "Hi kids. Having fun?"

Teal'c's expression did not change. "We are not."

"They've given us food and water, but our gear has gone," Carter elaborated.

"Yeah, I know. Look, these . . . people appear to communicate with their minds somehow. There's something in your blood - Daniel thinks it's the naquadah - that hurts them. They said you're worse than 'mind blocked'." Jack turned to Xe'sh'hn. "Is this place shielded?"

~ Yes. Contained. Safe for us. ~

Overlaying the thoughts, Jack could feel the Xe'sh'hn's discomfort and realised that the close proximity of Carter and Teal'c was actually making the alien hurt. This white room was not a prison; it was closer to a quarantine to keep the aliens safe. When he returned his attention to Carter he was surprised to see a look of astonishment on her face.

"Sir, I felt him say something," she said with awe in her voice. "Just faintly, but I'm sure I felt something from him."

~ Can speak to them. Speech weak. Not hear them. Mind-block. You hurt us. ~

Carter nodded. "They were the ones telling Teal'c and I to leave when we first arrived."

"I guess we can't ask you to let them out now that you know they're not dangerous," Jack said to the alien.

~ No. ~

"It wouldn't be fair to them," Carter said at the same time.

"That's what I thought." Jack thought quickly. "Daniel will want to find out whether these guys are the Furlings. He's probably itching to find out everything they can tell us. Will you be okay in here for a while?"

Carter shrugged. "I could use some socks but other than that it's not too bad in here. The food's pretty good. It could get a bit boring but we can cope."

"We know that you and DanielJackson are being treated well so we are no longer concerned," Teal'c added.

Jack frowned at the alien. "Think you can get some of Carter's gear in here so she's got something to do while Daniel does his thing?"

Xe'sh'hn seemed to understand Jack's concern. It stared intently at the floor for a moment before a laptop and a couple of books appeared there. A beat later some cushions and a stack of neatly folded blankets arrived next to them.

"Thank you, sir," Carter said, her eyes on the blankets.

"Wouldn't want you to get cold while you wait," Jack said easily. "We've got twenty-four hours before Hammond expects us back."

"Yes, sir."

Jack turned to Xe'sh'hn. "I need to get back to Daniel."

The alien nodded and inclined its head silently. It glided out of the room leaving Jack to follow when he was ready.

***

Daniel glared at Sh'sh'na when Jack disappeared. "Where is he?"

~ Friends. ~

A vision of Sam and Teal'c in a white room mingled with the thought. Oddly, Daniel found that he could not maintain any concern over Jack. Somehow he knew that Jack was safe even though the colonel had disappeared with no warning. He was able to sense that Jack was somewhere to the left of him, not far away.

"Do you think you could warn people before you do that?" he asked mildly. At the same time his mind was racing with all the questions he wanted to ask about these people and their world.

~ Ask. I answer. Nothing hidden. ~

It was a strange sensation to have someone respond to his unspoken thoughts instead of the questions he asked aloud. That thought prompted some of his questions to settle into order.

"Do you-"

Daniel broke off as his sensation of Jack and his whereabouts was suddenly cut off. The tiny space in his head that he always associated with Jack was abruptly empty. Without even being aware that he had moved, Daniel suddenly found himself clutching Sh'sh'na's thin arms.

"What's happened to him?" he ground out.

~With friends. Shielded. They hurt us. ~

It took him a moment to separate out the disparate thoughts. "Sam and Teal'c are shielded from the rest of us?"

~ Yes. ~

"And Jack's inside that shielding?"

~ Yes. ~

"There's something about them that hurts you?"

~ Goa'uld hurt us. Blood is pain. ~

"Something in their blood hurts you?"

~ Yes. ~

"Is that why you tried to make us leave when we first arrived?"

~ Yes. ~

"I assume the Goa'uld have come here before."

~ Sent away. ~

Daniel caught a flash of memory from Sh'sh'na, of ships appearing in the sky and the pain the aliens felt at the proximity of so many Goa'uld. Then all he felt was a desperate need to make them go away, of sending out their thoughts with all their strength until finally the ships left and the aliens fell to the floor in exhaustion.

~ See nothing here for them. They go. ~

It was incredible. The aliens had forced the Goa'uld to leave, making them think that the world was too poor for exploitation and that it wouldn't even be worth the effort to destroy it. Despite their frail appearance these creatures were in their way more powerful than the Goa'uld. There was no way that Earth could use their power in their own defences, but it was beautiful in its simplicity.

~ Goa'uld return but go again. Never stay. ~

"It's amazing."

Sh'sh'na did not reply. It turned to look at the gardens through the window. There was an emotion in its eyes that Daniel could not place, but he knew it was not a happy one.

"I have other questions."

~ Yes. Ask. ~

Daniel followed its gaze to the trees waving slightly in the bright sunlight. "Could we go out there? Your world is very beautiful."

The only answer was an abrupt movement. Between one breath and the next he was standing outside the window with the fresh breeze caressing his face, bringing with it the scent of earth and growing things. Daniel turned around, and looked up to the building where they had been kept. His mouth opened in a silent 'O' as he saw the scale of the complex.

It looked as though someone had seen the ruined town near the Stargate and decided to recreate it with their own personality imprinted on it. Daniel could tell with one glance that the buildings in front of him had been made by a different culture from the one that created the other town. Where the first town had all been shades of grey stone, these buildings were subtle shades of every colour. There was still an organic feel to the architecture, as though someone had tried to reflect the world around them in stone, and the differences only added to that effect. Colours shaded into each other, patterns chased each other around lacy towers - the artistry was stunning.

"You built this?" he breathed.

~ Yes. ~

The amazing part, Daniel reflected, is that it's not garish even though they seem to have used every colour in nature.

Other, lesser artists might have left out the subtle shadings that made the complex beautiful. The colours acted to accent and enhance the organic roots of the building's design instead of drawing attention away.

"It's beautiful," Daniel breathed.

~ Gratefully pleased. ~

"I've never seen anything like it. The town near the Stargate is amazing, but this . . . I'm overwhelmed." Daniel slowly walked backwards, his eyes never leaving city, until his back hit a tree and he sank down to sit beneath it. "Did you build this first or . . ?"

~ Only copied. Not created. ~

Sh'sh'na gracefully folded itself to the floor next to Daniel. It sat with its legs crossed Indian-style and pushed a lock of blue hair away from its face.

"Who built the other town?" Daniel asked.

~ Others. ~

Accompanying the thought came a flash of memory, a ship rising above the branches of the forest, but the image felt old.

"Where are these 'others'?"

~ Gone. Many lives have passed. ~

The aliens were able to keep a race memory intact for generations due to their telepathy. Daniel felt a surge of excitement at the thought.

"Can you remember the Others? Do you know where they went?" he asked quickly.

For a heartbeat there was no response from Sh'sh'na and then . . .

** Vague images of others, not the People. Greyer. Quieter.

Great sadness.

Ships leaving, never to return. Burning away into space forever.

Why have the Others left us?

The People choose; leave the city and find our own place.

Many days pass walking through the forest. Find the plateau overlooking mountains - a new home.

Building.

Life. **

The thoughts were fuzzy and old, held for so many generations that they no longer had the strength of the original memories. The People could no longer remember the faces of the Others, and if they had ever known the reason for the sudden departure it had been lost for a long time. There was no clear sense of how old the memories were but Daniel felt sure that what he had experienced had happened at least a thousand years ago. The People had left that first city, and tried to recreate it in their new home.

~ Failed. ~ Sh'sh'na thought sadly.

"No, no," Daniel said quickly. "What you created is different, but just as beautiful as their town. It's your own interpretation of their work."

~ Grateful thanks. ~

"The Others left behind writing." Daniel formed an image in his mind. "Do you know what it says?"

~ Confusion. ~

"Uh, the markings on the pillar and some of the houses are words."

~ Words? ~

"Yes, words."

Sh'sh'na cocked its head, uncertainty plain in its eyes. Daniel frowned intently as he tried to find a way to explain the concept of language and words to the telepathic creature.

"You speak mind to mind," he began.

~ Communication. ~

"We speak aloud, using words."

~ Aloud? ~

Sh'sh'na felt even more confused.

The linguist sighed with frustration. "We make sounds and those sounds are put together into words."

~ Sound. Noise. Confused? ~

Overlaying the bewilderment came an image of Daniel facing Jack, his lips moving but no sound emerging. Another image came, Sam and Teal'c looking at each other with their lips moving silently. Other images followed of beings that looked human and appeared to be talking but it was like watching a film without the sound track.

With a start, Daniel recalled the memory Sh'sh'na had shown him of the Others' departure. There had been no sound even when the ships had powered into the sky. Daniel had never yet seen a ship that could lift soundlessly from the surface of a planet.

"Hey Daniel. What's up?"

Jack's voice coming from behind him made Daniel jump. He turned and looked up at the colonel. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he had been completely unaware of Jack's return. It was a relief to have that awareness of the other man back at the edge of his mind. Daniel briefly wondered if Jack had also felt its absence.

~ Of course I did. ~

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Jack commented aloud.

Daniel pulled his attention back to the theories he was forming about the aliens. "Jack, I think they're deaf."

"Deaf?"

"As in, unable to hear."

Jack shot him a glare. "I know what it means. I'm just not sure how it's relevant."

"Of course." Daniel mentally winced. "I think that they have been using their telepathy as a substitute for hearing. They may even have evolved with it. They certainly have no concept of the idea of sound."

"How is that even possible?"

"I have no idea. I mean I can theorise, but I'm not an evolutionary biologist so . . . I do know that trying to explain sound to them is like trying to explain light to a blind man who doesn't even know that it's possible to see. One sense has been substituted for another. They've never been able to hear so they can't even imagine what sound is like." Daniel paused to take a breath. "Jack, their entire system of communication and data storage is radically different to anything we've seen before."

Ignoring Xe'sh'hn and Sh'sh'na, Jack crouched down and focused on Daniel. "What kind of differences are we talking about?"

Daniel hesitated until he realised that Jack really was inviting him to explain. He took a moment to condense his thoughts, and wondered how far he would get before Jack interrupted.

"The first writing systems on Earth appeared as simple markings used to note what was contained in jars or where taxes came from so that seals did not have to be broken to find out what was inside. Gradually the systems evolved so that symbols represented words or syllables in the spoken language. Here that never happened. They're all connected telepathically so information is stored in an advanced race memory. There is no need to mark anything or record it; the information is somehow kept and maintained by everyone. They're deaf, so no spoken language evolved. That means that there's never been any reason to create a writing system for their culture."

He took a deep breath and continued. "Jack, the People have no concept of language. They convey ideas directly to other minds so they've never had to create words. That's why we can communicate with them - they pick up ideas straight from our surface thoughts and project back the same way. If they can't do that to Sam and Teal'c then it's no wonder they assumed they were enemies. They had no way to communicate. I bet this isn't the first time people have come through the Gate they couldn't communicate with."

Daniel's train of thought was cut off by more images from the aliens. He had no time to wonder why Jack hadn't cut him off; his mind was filled with images of beings, some human and some not, coming through the Gate. There were no sounds and sometimes Daniel felt the memory of the pain the aliens felt when Goa'uld came to their world. The Others had told them that these were evil creatures.

The surge of memories abruptly ended, and Daniel came back to find Jack sitting in front of him with a stunned expression.

***

Jack took a deep breath and shook his head. That had to have been one of the weirder experiences of his life. It felt as though someone had just shoved a bunch of memories into his head, and they were swirling around, trying to find a place to fit.

~ Hurt? ~

The mental voice was Xe'sh'hn's and he quickly tried to project reassurance at the blue alien. "No, it didn't hurt. It just . . . surprised me a little."

~ Sorry. ~

"Just warn a guy next time, ok?"

~ Agree. ~

He turned back to Daniel. "Did you find out anything else?"

Daniel gave him one of his quick, wry smiles. "That's about it. How are Sam and Teal'c?"

***

** Daniel stood in the midst of a gathering of the People. Every shade of blue imaginable surrounded him and he was surprised to be able to put names to many of the faces.

Hh'nt'ah stood nearby with its two young ones. Sh'mn'il crouched next to a pack, adding a few last minute items. Three younglings played chase between the legs of the adults, their innocent excitement bringing smiled to the faces of those around them. Even old Sh'na'hm had come from its home to watch this momentous departure.

Daniel realised that he was seeing this memory through the eyes of one who had been there. Each piece of information, each name and recollection, flitted in as though it had always been there waiting for him to need it.

His hand lifted to pat the blue-pink hair of his mate.

~ Go safely. ~ The thought tasted of tula syrup.

~ I will. ~

He turned towards the Great Ring - the Stargate - that was the centre of the activity. The memories of how the Others used it were still strong in the People. They could still remember each combination of symbols that would lead them to safe worlds. Maybe the Others were beyond the Ring, waiting for them to take this first step and prove themselves worthy of the help they had been given in times past. The nature of the help and the reasons for it had long faded but not the People's gratitude.

~ It is time. ~

The thought ran through the People with the certainty of a choice made by all. Those who would go separated from those who would stay until a group of twenty were left standing in front of the Ring. Daniel was unsurprised to find himself in that group with a heavy pack dragging at his narrow shoulders. A frisson of excitement shivered through him. Today they would begin their explorations of the worlds beyond this one.

Hh'nt'ah carefully touched each of the symbols that the People had chosen, and rested its hand on the red crystal at the centre of the board. The Ring rushed into shimmering life, but this drew no excitement from the crowd. They had seen this much many times before as they planned their expedition. It would be the memories they brought back and shared that would be new.

The chosen ones linked hands and walked through the Ring. Even in the confusion and cold of their travel they felt the reassurance of the People like a rock behind them.

Daniel emerged from the Ring, shaking and frozen, still clinging to the hands of his fellows. The sun was bright above them, hotter than their own sun, and quickly the cold left them. They drew away from the Ring, and marvelled at the differences in this world.

There was no warning of what would happen when the Ring closed, cutting them off from all contact with their own world. From one moment to the next they went from People to a few chosen, and it was emptier than any of them had imagined. They tried to draw closer to each other, but the sense was fading.

Daniel felt as though everything was falling away around him. The minds around him disappeared, leaving only the faintest impression of their presence. When he closed his eyes he was truly alone.

The feeling was terrifying. Panic one step away from madness enveloped him. He desperately tried to reach out, but there was no one there.

Around him, Daniel could see the others reacting to the sudden mind-blindness. Stark terror stood out on their faces and in their eyes. He watched Mn'sh'ra run to the symbol board and bang its hands on it when it could not remember the combination. The People had always kept such knowledge. Daniel felt his own panic rise. He began to clench his hands, uncaring of the pain as his nail bit into his palms and drew blood. Mn'sh'ra had sunk to the base of the board and was cradling its head, rocking like an infant. Daniel desperately wanted to join it. In a few short moments their proud, hopeful quest had turned into a nightmare. The emptiness inside threatened to swallow him whole.

Hh'nt'ah seemed to be coping better than the rest. It rushed to the board where Mn'sh'ra still hid and began roughly thumping the symbols before slamming its hand on the crystal.

The Ring sprang into life and Daniel felt a small spark of hope flare despite the despair. Hh'nt'ah jumped through the Ring and, without a thought to his fellows, Daniel followed.

The People stood before the Ring, their faces his only clue to their shock. Hh'nt'ah lay unconscious in front of him. Daniel had time to take two staggering steps before the People rushed back into his mind.

He basked in their presence for a moment before he passed out. **

***

"Daniel? Come on, Daniel, wake up."

Jack cursed himself and every blue alien they had ever met. He had only been gone for five minutes - how could things go so wrong in such a short time?

Xe'sh'hn had produced lunch, which tasted just as good as the rest of the food had so far, while Sh'sh'na continued 'talking' to Daniel. Everything had been relaxed and productive so Jack had had no qualms about leaving them alone for a few minutes for a bathroom break. So far the aliens - the People, as Daniel called them - had shown no signs of aggression. In fact they had been downright helpful once the initial confusion had been resolved.

Now Jack felt much as he had yesterday when he came around to find Daniel still unconscious next to him - worried and the tiniest bit afraid.

"Daniel, quite fooling around and wake up," he said sharply, trying orders where coaxing had so far not worked.

~ He remembers. ~ Sh'sh'na said.

A wave of reassurance washed over Jack.

"Would you quit doing that?" he snapped to the alien. "If I want to worry about him, I will. I don't need you trying to . . . make me feel better, or whatever you're trying to do."

~ He remembers. ~ Sh'sh'na repeated, this time without the extra emotions. ~ The People give him answers. ~

Jack pulled back from leaning over his unconscious friend and knelt next to him. The sun was still shining brightly over them, and the air was filled with the scent of the flowers nearby.

"What does that mean?" he asked more calmly.

~ Daniel needs to know. We tell him. Xe'sh'hn helps. ~

For the first time, Jack noticed that the turquoise alien was sitting with its back against a tree and its eyes closed. Its face was still, and it looked like it was sleeping.

"Are they ok?"

~ Yes. ~

"So I should just leave them to it?"

~ Yes. ~

Jack sighed and gave in. Daniel was unconscious, but he did not appear to be in any pain. He somehow had the feeling that he would know if anything was happening to the linguist against his will. He sat down on the grass next to him, and rested his hand on Daniel's shoulder to wait for the other man to wake up.

***

Sam moved the five of diamonds over the six of spades and watched her points increase. The extra laptop batteries in her pack would be enough to keep her up and running for about eight hours as long as she didn't use the CD or DVD drives. She had done as much work as she could with the small amount of information her instruments had captured so Solitaire was the only thing she had left to do. It was the universal tool of the massively bored. She spent a brief moment wondering if the Asgard had anything similar before deciding that boredom must be sending her loopy.

The aliens had been as good as their word. She had socks to keep her feet warm and a USAF issue blanket draped across her legs. Most of her equipment had not been set up yet when she had Teal'c were 'beamed' away from the base camp, but some of gravity sensors had recorded data during the eclipse. Unfortunately her laptop was not powerful enough for the number crunching she needed to do so that would have to wait until she got back to the SGC.

Sam clicked on the pack of cards, and blew out a frustrated sigh when the next cards were revealed. She was sure that Solitaire deliberately hid cards you needed under cards that were completely useless. Scanning the displayed cards, she decided that this was a hand she would never win and shut the game down.

"Do you think the colonel and Daniel are ok?" she asked, more for something to start a conversation with than out of any real concern for her teammates' safety

"O'Neill did not appear to be in any distress," Teal'c said without opening his eyes. "He would not have left DanielJackson alone if he had been concerned for their safety."

Sam opened Minesweeper on the most difficult level. "I know."

"Are you in distress, MajorCarter?" Teal'c asked, finally opening his eyes to look at her.

They were sitting opposite each other in their padded white room. Sam had no idea how he could sit in silence with nothing to do or read for hours at a time the way he did. She was even wishing Daniel's pack of books had been included in the gear the aliens brought just so that she had something to read.

"I'm bored," she said, clicking on a square in the corner. It immediately revealed a red three. "There's nothing I can do here and I feel surplus to requirements. The colonel and Daniel are out there making contact with a new race, and all we can do is sit here and wait until it's time to go home."

"We would cause the residents of this planet great pain if we left this room."

"I know." A click on another corner revealed several squares. "It's just that it's frustrating. I feel like I should be doing something, not just sitting here waiting."

"We are accustomed to helping our friends and it is . . . difficult when we cannot," Teal'c said slowly. "I feel that too."

Sam flashed him a quick grin. "Thanks."

"What have I done for you?"

"Reassured me that I'm not alone in this."

Teal'c inclined his head, the corners of his lips twitching minutely. "You are not alone. I am also having difficulty keep my mind occupied."

"Bored, huh?"

"I believe that I am."

"Fancy playing Minesweeper?"

"I do not play computer games."

Sam grinned at him. "Could it be worse than staring at blank white walls?"

Teal'c considered the question. "It could not. Teach me this Minesweeper."

***

Jack was in a half-trance watching the sun slowly set when Daniel finally woke up. At first he was just aware that Daniel's presence at the edge of his mind was growing stronger. He barely noticed Xe'sh'hn and Sh'sh'na standing and moving away. Then he felt a slight shudder run through the shoulder under his hand, and he looked down in time to see two blue eyes blink dazedly up at him.

"Daniel?" he inquired softly.

The linguist blinked again and groaned quietly. Jack winced in sympathy for Daniel's throbbing head.

He held up his hand. "How many fingers?"

Daniel peered up. "Fifteen. Why do people always ask that?"

"It's either a sight test or to make sure you can still count," Jack said lightly. "Either way you failed."

"Oh, damn, what a shame," Daniel said in the same tone.

"Isn't it just?" Jack waved a finger in front of Daniel's face, relieved to see the linguist's eyes track it. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Daniel replied instantly, grimacing as he accidentally moved his head too fast.

"I can see that. Think you can sit up?"

"I hope so."

It took a couple of attempts and some help from Jack, but they managed to get Daniel propped up against a tree. Jack turned to sit beside him and noticed that a tray of food had appeared while they were otherwise occupied.

As he watched, a pitcher of water appeared next to the tray and Sh'sh'na's thought whispered, ~ Eat and recover. ~

There was a plate with a pile of thin, pale yellow round things. Jack picked one up and broke off a bit to taste. It was sweet and crispy, somewhere between a cookie and a cracker. He offered the plate to Daniel and poured them each a cup of water. The taste of the cookie-cracker reminded him that it had been a while since he last ate so he took a round purple fruit that tasted similar to melon. Daniel devoured three of the cookie-crackers and a couple of cups of water, and seemed to recover as he ate. By the time he was finishing a second piece of fruit his colour was normal, and the sympathetic headache Jack had been feeling was gone.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Jack asked as he poured Daniel a third cup of water. "I was only gone for five minutes. How did you get into trouble so fast?"

"I asked a question and they were answering it."

"What was the question? It must have been a doozey."

"I asked them-"

At that moment all thought stopped as the most exquisite pain he had ever felt swallowed Jack's mind.

***

He had no idea how much time passed before the pain began to recede and he could push past it to think again. For a long moment he just concentrated on keeping the pain away. Then he tried to open his eyes and felt a moment of dizzy fear as he realised that he could not feel his body. At the same time sensation suddenly rushed in. He could feel hundreds, thousands, of minds pressing in all around him, straining towards some distant goal that he could not quite understand.

Jack fought against the minds and their pull, trying to find his way back to his own body, but it was impossible. He was being tugged further away and his very being felt compressed and stretched at the same time by the pressure.

As he fought against the pull he suddenly caught a flicker of familiarity in the distance. He felt it again and Jack knew who it had to be. Now he had a purpose. He gathered everything he could and made one huge, desperate effort towards that faint flicker. It was like moving through molasses, but the presence slowly came closer until he was able to reach out with an impossibly tiny, weak part of himself, and grip as tightly as he could.

Relief pulsed through him, a mixture of his own and Daniel's, at the feel of something so familiar and welcoming among the strange minds.

It was odd to feel his friend's soul so intimately. They had been friends for so many years, but Jack had never imagined touching Daniel like this. He could feel everything that made Daniel who he was, the bright intelligence, the compassion and love, and the dark streak that Daniel usually hid so well. Jack thought that he was probably the only person who knew about that part of Daniel's personality, and his friend agreed.

If he could feel so much of Daniel, then Daniel must be able to feel just as much of him. Jack felt a moment's shame at that until a wave of reassurance washed through him. Nothing inside him could ever make Daniel hate him.

Jack caught a fragment of thought, an image, and had reassured Daniel even before he realised what he caught. The image came from his dream but it was from Daniel's point of view, not his. They had shared it?

He felt something tug at him gently. He clung closer to Daniel.

The next tug was sharper and almost pulled him away. Jack caught a rush of mixed emotions from Daniel, love/desire/shame, which matched emotions buried deep within him. His grip on Daniel loosened for a moment and he was pulled away. With a last, fading effort he sent back his own thoughts, and then he had to allow the other mind to take him.

***

Jack woke up lying on his side. He could feel the chill in the air around him and a warm, rough hand in his. He opened his eyes and met Daniel's worried gaze. Jack squeezed his hand lightly and the worry cleared away. Words seemed unneeded in this moment. The magic would be broken if either of them spoke. Instead, Jack lifted his free hand and lightly touched Daniel's cheek. It was warm beneath his fingers, and Jack trailed his hand across to softly trace Daniel's lips.

~ Jack. Daniel. ~

Jack jumped at the sudden intrusion of Sh'sh'na's thoughts, and pulled away from Daniel. He had rolled and sat up before he was even aware of what he was doing.

~ It is time. ~

Sh'sh'na and Xe'sh'hn appeared in front of him silently, and for the first time Jack noticed that night had fallen.

~ You must go, ~ Xe'sh'hn thought. ~ Not safe. ~

"What happened to us?" Daniel asked, sitting up.

The two aliens exchanged glances.

~ Goa'uld came. Sent away. ~

Sh'sh'na bowed its head. ~ Are sorry. Did not mean to join you. You must go. ~

~ Link almost failed. You fought us. ~

"We didn't understand what you were trying to do," Daniel said. "We didn't mean to fight you, but we were taken out of our bodies without warning."

~ Our fault. Not yours. ~

Xe'sh'hn's eyes were filled with sorrow. ~ Did not want to harm you. We have. You must go. ~

~ Farewell. ~

The aliens vanished before either man could protest.

"I guess we're leaving then," Jack said.

"I guess-"

***

"-so," Daniel finished as he reappeared in front of the Stargate.

He immediately looked for Jack, who was standing next to him with an exasperated expression.

"I wish they wouldn't do that," the colonel complained.

Sam and Teal'c arrived as abruptly, still dressed in their grey tunics and pants, and they were followed a moment later by the FRED with all their gear packed neatly on it.

~ Goodbye ~ a multitude of voices said in Daniel's head.

"Sir?" Sam queried, turning to Jack.

"We're leaving," Jack explained tersely. "Daniel, dial it up."

They were being allowed to leave of their own volition, but Daniel had no doubt that the aliens had the power to compel them through the Stargate if they hesitated for too long. He began punching in the symbols on the DHD with regret to be leaving a world he had barely scratched the surface of. They ended so many missions like this, forced to leave before they could gain a real understanding of the culture. Just once he wanted to have the time to thoroughly explore a truly alien culture. That would never happen while he was on SG-1, but what he gained from being on the team still far outweighed the negatives. Daniel shelved his regrets as usual and pressed the red centre of the DHD.

***

The briefing room was silent after Daniel and Jack gave finished giving a complete account of the mission. Daniel could only feel a faint impression of Jack's presence at the edge of his mind. Jack seemed to be avoiding meeting his eyes.

"Major Carter, do you have anything to add?" General Hammond asked eventually.

"No, sir. As the colonel said, Teal'c and I spent most of our time locked in a room. We only saw the native that accompanied the colonel, and it barely spoke to us."

"Couldn't speak to you properly," Daniel corrected. "Something about the Goa'uld symbiotes alters a host's brain and blood chemistry to be hostile to the aliens. The presence of Goa'uld seems to cause them great pain. The mother ship that they drove off was . . . extremely painful."

"It could be the naquadah or . . . well, I have no idea hew their telepathy works so I can't speculate. Physically they were completely alien," Sam said.

"Could their . . ." Hammond paused to find an appropriate word, "abilities be any use to us?"

Daniel shook his head immediately. "No, sir. They can't leave their planet. That's the question they were answering when Jack found me unconscious."

"Oh?" A spark of interest showed in the colonel's face although he still avoided Daniel's eyes. "Care to explain?"

"They were showing me what happened the only time they tried to travel through the Stargate. They learned how the Stargates work from their 'Others', who I think are the Furlings, and decided to explore after the Others left. Apparently there's something about their planet that amplifies natural empathic abilities to powerful telepathy. However, that condition only exists on their planet, and as soon as they left their abilities were severely diminished. They completely lost all ability to communicate. The small degree of natural empathy they had was nowhere close to what they had before. In a few seconds they went from having thousands of voices in their minds to being completely alone in their heads with no way to communicate with the people around them. There was absolute panic, and only a few made it back to their world. It would be impossible for them to leave their planet again knowing what they now know."

Hammond sighed. "I thought you'd say something like that. I assume you were affected while you were there?"

"We couldn't have communicated with the aliens if we hadn't been affected," Daniel said carefully.

"And there have been no lasting side-effects?"

Daniel did not look at Jack although he was unsurprised to hear the colonel chorus his, "No, sir."

Hammond appeared satisfied with their answer. "Major Carter, did you gather any information on the eclipse?"

Sam shook her head. "I managed to get a couple of the gravimetric sensors set up before we were taken but they didn't collect enough data to really be of any use."

"I understand, Major. It's good to have you all back safely. I'll expect full reports on my desk before you leave and I'm giving you all two days leave."

"Thank you, sir," Jack said on behalf of his team.

"Dismissed."

***

Daniel stared at the half-finished report on his computer screen. He had been looking at the screen for the past ten minutes without writing a word. It was odd how so much could change in just a few days. When they set out on the mission he and Jack had been friends and he had been happy with that. Their friendship had lasted for years despite the recent rocky patches, and it had seemed that the friendship would always be there. Now all he was certain of was that Jack had feelings deeply hidden even from himself, and he was fighting those feelings as hard as he could. Already Daniel could feel a distance between them that he had thought they were past, and it was likely that this time a few beers and a late-night confession would not solve the problem.

There was a knock at his door and Daniel called out for the person to enter, only realising a moment later that he already knew it was Jack out there. He had always known when it was Jack at his door. It was strange how he was only noticing small details like that now.

Jack closed the door behind him and stood with his back against it and his hands in his pockets. "So . . ."

There was an awkward silence. Daniel flicked a glance at Jack's face and looked away when his eyes met Jack's. He focused on a point just above the colonel's left shoulder.

"So . . ." Daniel trailed off.

"Why did you lie to Hammond?" Jack asked eventually.

"Why did you?"

"I asked first."

"I asked . . . second."

Daniel winced. Only Jack could reduce him to kindergarten level in arguments.

"And your point is?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't have one. I don't know why I said that."

Before they could start arguing over the form of their argument, Daniel added, "I didn't lie. This has always been there so it's not a side-effect of the mission."

"It's always been there?"

"Yes, Jack. We weren't aware of it before but it's been there. Haven't you always been able to feel when you aren't alone? I've seen you avoid ambushes that no one could have known were there."

"We've been ambushed," Jack protested.

"By Goa'uld or Jaffa."

"I thought that I was just good at my job."

"You are," Daniel assured him. "It's just that you've got a natural ability that helps you to be good at it. There's nothing wrong with that."

Jack scrubbed at hand through his hair. "It feels wrong."

"Probably half the people on this planet do the same thing. We all have a tiny bit of empathy in us. It's just that most people aren't aware of it so they accept it as a part of themselves. We've been through something that made us unnaturally conscious of it and now we can't help noticing it."

"I want it to go away."

"That's not going to happen."

For the first time since they came back from the planet Jack met Daniel's eyes.

"I know," he said. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."

Daniel forced himself to put the hurt he felt into one of the boxes in his mind and took a deep breath.

"I can feel you doing that," Jack said softly. "You're closing yourself off."

"You're closed off most of the time," Daniel replied. "We protect ourselves, it's a natural response."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"It can be."

Daniel held Jack's gaze for a long moment. Even though Jack's presence in his mind was muted and tightly closed off he could see the confusion in Jack's eyes. It mirrored his own.

"Jack, we need-"

"I should let you finish your report," Jack interrupted.

"Maybe we could-"

Jack was already halfway out of the door. "Don't stay too late. Hammond gave us leave. I'll see you in a couple of days. Have fun."

The door slammed behind him.

"-talk sometime," Daniel whispered into the empty room.

He touched his mouse and the screen-saver cleared to show his half-finished report. Jack was probably running as hard and as fast as he could, and Daniel knew that there was no way he could catch the other man at the moment. He would give Jack a day and then they would have to talk. It was the only way that they would be able to work together.

He began typing rapidly and was soon lost in his theories about the people of PCR-587.

***

Daniel pulled up in front of Jack's house and turned the car's engine off. For a while he sat resting his hands on the steering wheel as he worked to clear his mind and calm down. The sun was beaming down out of a cloudless blue sky and he could hear distant birdsong. It all seemed far too cheerful and normal. In a few minutes he could lose the most important friendship he had ever had, and the rest of the world did not care. The tiny portion of his mind that he now knew was Jack did not give him any clues about what the man was feeling. Daniel could feel that Jack was there, could tell which direction he was in without hesitation, but that was it. Jack's presence was there, but he was so closed down that it was all Daniel could feel.

Eventually Daniel took a deep breath and opened the car door. Sitting there was only putting off the inevitable and it was better to face it now rather than waiting with it hanging over his head.

He could hear the music from Jack's house as soon as he stepped out of the car, and Daniel's heart sank. Jack's music always reflected his mental state and the Wagner pouring out of the house was the worst of all possible situations. Over the years Daniel had learnt to read those kinds of clues without having to think about it. Of course, now he knew that part of it had probably been the odd connection they appeared to share, but some of it was just years of familiarity. When Jack was relaxed and happy he played Mozart or Puccini. If he was energetically working on something around the house he played loud rock. Rare, thoughtful moods usually meant no music. Jack hated Wagner, and he only played it when he was struggling with something that he did not want to think about. The volume he was playing it at suggested that he was trying to shut something out and Daniel knew exactly what that was.

Daniel had to hammer on the door for a while before the music finally stopped and Jack pulled the door open to stand wordlessly in the doorway.

"Hi," Daniel said, trying to sound casual. "I was just passi-"

"Don't lie. You can't anymore," Jack said abruptly. "I know you too well."

Daniel shrugged. "Okay, I wasn't just passing. I thought we should talk. I would have brought beer but I didn't think that would be a good idea."

"You're probably right."

They stood in silence for a long minute.

"Are you going to invite me in or do you want to do this here?" Daniel asked with a wry smile. "I promise I won't bite."

Jack hesitated.

"Or do anything you don't want me to," Daniel added carefully.

Was that disappointment on Jack's face? Daniel almost wished he could read Jack's mind properly rather than just getting occasional glimpses. Jack stepped back and allowed Daniel through the door, making sure that he was far enough away that they could not accidentally touch. Daniel pretended not to notice and went through to the living room without looking at him. There was a brief moment where he stood in the room wondering what he should do before sitting down in his usual seat on the sofa.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Jack asked, his voice tinged with sarcasm.

Daniel smiled innocently. "Thanks, I have."

Jack sighed and crossed over to his seat in the chair by the window. Daniel took the moment to study him, taking in the loose faded denim shirt and worn jeans. Damn, why did the man have to look that good?

Would it make any difference if he didn't look like that, Daniel wondered to himself briefly? No, it wouldn't. He'd still have these feelings and Jack would still be Jack. Damn.

"So, do you want to go first?" Daniel asked.

"Not particularly."

"All right, I'll start. What do you want to know?"

"I . . . .uh . . ."

Jack's deer-caught-in-headlamps expression was strangely comical, and Daniel could not help grinning at the sight. The colonel choked and spluttered for a moment, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Daniel would have given good money to know exactly what thought had prompted that reaction.

After a couple of minutes Jack recovered enough to ask, "What do you mean, what do I want to know?"

"We need to talk and I honestly don't know where to begin." Daniel shrugged. "I thought it might be easier if you asked questions and I tried to answer."

"You think I know where to start?"

"Come on, Jack, you must have a hundred questions - I know you. Pick one."

Jack squared his jaw and looked directly into Daniel's eyes. "Ok then. When did you know that you were . . . are . . ." A deep breath. "How long have you known that you are b-bisexual?"

Oh, boy. Go for the big one first. Daniel met Jack's eyes steadily and decided that, as they had already established that he c