Samantha Carter sank into the tub wetting her hair, arching to bring just her face out of the luxurious hot water. She brought up her legs and glided back to one of the many ledges, stretching as the water jets worked on her muscles. Too bad she couldn't get this sybaritic delight into her pack.

Soon she would have to return to the rest of SG-1 and take lead on negotiations as P1N-848 was a matriarchal society. They'd assumed she was in charge, and taken her to task for 'risking such fine men', before extending the local hospitality. She wondered just what the rest of the team would say about the local treatment of men, as they seemed to be 'respected' by exclusion.

She soaked in the hot water by glimmering light , enjoying the perfumed air, unwilling to borrow trouble. Her 'entourage' was proof of her importance and ability to bargain; she'd seen the envy in their hostess's eyes even as she had made her rebuke. Her lips quirked.

Sam sat up and turned, relaxing once she saw that it was the handmaidens entering. She allowed them to dry her, apply lotions and dress her before following their escort from the bath. She was surprised when instead of being taken to an audience with their hostess she was reunited with her team.

"Guys." She looked them over, noticing they'd also gotten cleaned up, and put into native garb, disturbingly skimpy compared to her own diaphanous sheath. Generally she wasn't given such evident proof of how goodlooking the team was.

"Sam." Daniel greeted her.

She looked at each of them in turn, not liking Daniel's body language. The Colonel should have cracked an inappropriate wiseass remark. "What's wrong?"

Daniel blinked and breathed out, looked towards the others. "They want proof that you're not mistreating us. They want to see you copulate with all of us at the same time."

Sam's eyes went big as she tried to say 'what.'

Daniel pushes up his glasses. "Apparently they had some sort of immunological crisis that decimated the male population--"

Jack interrupted. "What he's trying to say is that they have theirs as studs and think farmer's leaving the cows unmilked."

Sam shook her head at the botched metaphor. "Colonel."

"They think we've got to have it all the time." He paused. "Which isn't true even at eighteen. When would we play hockey?"

Sam laughed, which was clearly the colonel's intent. "No treaty then?"

"Um..." Daniel bit his lip.

"Daniel." When he didn't answer, she turned to Teal'c.

"If they find you are mistreating us, they will send you back through the Gate and distribute us to new protectors. They have speculated whether more men might be sent with the retaliatory force."

"Protectors." She closed her eyes. "Colonel."

"Attatt. Look, Carter. You can walk out of here, tell George that they got hostile and send the Marines back to find us. Better have him send the extra ugly ones though."

She looked at Daniel. "What have you learned about the culture?"

"After the disease ran its course they placed the remaining men on pedestals and women incorporated to form joint hareems."

They'd be split up. She'd also expect they'd be kept separate from the native men. She didn't doubt the local women would start 'protecting' them quickly. "And the treaty if I do this?"

"Sam!" Daniel looked at her in shock.

"Retrieving you would take time and resources, under conditions of limited intel. Possibly lives. We have orders to gain materials and allies. If I do this, how does it affect the mission?"

"I expect she'll be willing to bargain." He looked down as he said it.

"Okay." She looked at the team, only Teal'c meeting her gaze. "At the same time-" Sam considered the options. "Sir, you've got my six."

Jack looked up. Surprise replaced confusion, to be replaced with understanding.

Sam put her hands on Daniel's shoulders. "You going to be okay?"

"That's---"

She stopped him with a quick kiss. "We'll get through it. Trust me?" She stroked one hand down to his chest.

Daniel nodded and placed one hand on her waist.

"Teal'c--" Her words were cut off as Teal'c kissed her, stroking her tongue. She was breathless when he pulled away.

"I understand my role."

Thankful for not having to say the words, she arched into Jack's lips on the back of her neck. Sam reached back, squeezing his thigh before setting herself to encouraging Daniel. She respected his choice to avoid eye contact and kept her attentions on points from his neck down.

Jack kept his eyes open, watching his team. Not Carter since he knew where she was; okay, on Daniel since Teal'c was flitting about lending a hand wherever Carter needed one. He didn't know just what the natives would consider 'proof' that they were being properly treated, but he was going to make sure they gave it their all. No sacrifice in vain and all that.

The dress came off easily, though it took some time for it to work free with Daniel and Jack pressing against it. She'd rucked Daniel's kilt tight across his ass, pulling him against her. Sam guided them down, Daniel on his back.
This was going to be hell on his knees. Jack focused on Sam's very shapely curves, drawing on years of experience to tease her to readiness. Tracing her spine, caressing her thighs, the crease under her cheeks. He judged how she was progressing with Daniel, keeping pace and encouraging in turn. Some of his best moves were ruled out given Daniel's position.

Jack finally took her lifted hips as a sign and reached for the oh so convenient jar. He had given her an out. Jack dipped his fingers into the oil and rubbed one over her pucker, getting it slick. He slid it in. He kept working at getting her stretched, while he mentally field-stripped every weapon he knew, alphabetically.

Sam looked up at Teal'c's rampant cock, ass clenching in surprise before forcing herself to relax. She licked her palm and grasped Teal'c firmly before wrapping her lips around the head. Slowly she took more of him into her mouth, bobbing several times before crawling forward and sinking onto Daniel.

Jack pulled out his fingers, replacing them with the head of his cock, waiting for her to bear down before sliding deeper, balls deep, in time with her descent onto Daniel. He was hyperaware of Daniel, feeling him through Carter, their hot hairy balls rubbing together. He pulled back slowly and stroked back in, dragging down both directions, against Daniel's hard length inside her.

Sam sucked hard as her ass was filled, taking more of Teal'c as she ground down. It was overwhelming, getting double-barreled. She rocked, lifted and gyrated, needing more, needing it over, wanting it to last.

Teal'c knelt, allowing her to lean forward, supporting her weight on her arms along his thighs. She arrowed her tongue against the underside of his cock, drawing back before taking him deeper than before. She mewled around him as her breasts were lifted and caressed. Sam felt the tension in Teal'c's thighs and made fingertip circles as she stretched forward.

Jack lifted his face and glanced at Daniel around her shoulder. Daniel's eyes met his and he was falling into blue, mentally chanting 'sorry' even as he picked up his pace. He blinked at the between knuckle pinch of his nipple, shivering at the fingertip skimming the disc. He looked back at Daniel, shuttering his eyes against the heat he found. He reviewed pre-flight checklists for every plane he knew as he drew out his strokes, making them torturously slow, giving Daniel everything he and Carter could.

Sam wrapped her arms around Teal'c's waist in response to Daniel's broken reticence, needing the leverage as he got with the fucking program. Her tremors washed over her as orgasm came, pistoning encouragement as she clenched, released, clenched. She relaxed her throat and took more of Teal'c, needing everything, more than everything three men could give. Bigger waves overcame her and she took Teal'c's last inch.

Teal'c grabbed Sam's arms, hooking her hands over his shoulders, bracing her against his chest as he thrust shallowly. She pulled back swallowing him fast, willing him to use her, to take. She moaned, tightened her lips and used every lick and trick she had. She hummed as he stroked long, throat clenching as he popped past the ring. She drew back, took a deep breath and bore down.

Daniel was close, Jack could feel it, drawn up hard balls and all. He rubbed his face against Carter's back, desperate to kiss, to hold on until Daniel came. He bit back words, balls deep in everything he couldn't have. He was losing it and then Daniel started and Jack let go. He spilled into Carter, riding Daniel's orgasm, unable not to find Daniel's gaze and follow it straight to the ground.

Sam swallowed quickly the flood in her mouth, pulling back to give her more time to not lose a drop. Her arms slid down Teal'c, catching at the crease of his thighs. His hands were heavy on her back. Slowly she released him, slurping him clean as he pulled away and she settled onto Daniel, who was boneless below her, Jack pressing her down.

She tongued her palate slumped cheek against shoulder. They were still hard within her in their aftermath and she basked between them, their combined breathing rippling aftershocks through her.

Jack opened his eyes, reason returning reminding him where he was stretched. He pushed up on his arms slightly. "Carter," he stroked her shoulder trying to get her attention. He couldn't just pull out and staying this way was out of the question.

"You could call me 'Sam', considering. Sir."

"Push." He pulled out, giving her butt a few pats before standing. "Daniel." Jack went to clean up, avoiding eye contact.

Daniel blinked and Sam tried not to take his sudden deflation personally. She rolled off, glad when the colonel returned so she could move to the facilities.

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SG-1 walked down the ramp into the Gateroom, and the SFs lowered their weapons.

"No time to talk, infirmary first, got the treaty, debrief later." Jack herded his team out the door while Hammond was still registering his impertinence. First thing was to get Carter to Janet. Explaining this one to Hammond would have to wait.

Janet looked up at SG-1 as they came in, their tenor stopping her question. Sam stepped forward and she followed Sam to one of the examination bays.

George found Doctor Jackson, Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill loitering in the infirmary. Before he could speak the petite CMO came from behind a curtain and hustled SG-1 into her office. Save one. He stepped over. "Major Carter."

"We had a strange experience on P1N-848 She's gathering information before we confuse each other."

"Major, you've been gone two hours."

"That's part of the strange experience."

Janet looked at each of the men as they, mostly Jack, gave a laconic account of why they'd escorted Sam straight out of the Gateroom.

"She shows no signs of sexual activity." She watched the three look at each other. "Gentlemen, time for your exams."

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Hours later they sat around General Hammond's desk for their debrief, Janet sitting in.

Hammond mulled what he had heard, considering their actions, or virtual actions, during the circumstances they believed they had experienced. "Is any part of their account real?"

"Given that they were gone for two hours, I suspect that all real events have been overlain by the virtual reality. I found no physical injuries or any known residual effects so I don't know how this was instigated. It's possible it started as soon as they stepped through the Gate on the other side."

"We'll lock the coordinates out of the dialing computer."

"Sir, I think we should investigate this."

"We've already seen that energy can come through an outgoing wormhole. I will not leave this base open to manipulation. The MALP signal is suspect under the circumstances. I know this mission was difficult for all of you. Doctor."

"I know your reticence with mental health, but you will need to deal with these issues. Virtual occurrences are no less real as regards your thought processes. If I can help you, please speak with me."

Hammond let them consider her words, then added his own. "I want the team to work on on-base projects for a week, and I'll consider resuming off-world duties at that time. Dismissed." He let them stand. "A word with you, O'Neill."

"Sir." Carter looked between her two direct superiors.

"Major, I'll speak with you tomorrow. I just want you to know that I'm proud to have you in my command."

"Yes, Sir." She saluted and left the office.

"Sir?"

"Jack, sit down. I need to know your actions and statements that led up to this event, virtual event."

"We stepped through the Gate and were met by a scout party checking out the MALP. Minnesota might want them for the women's volleyball team. They got rather curious about Daniel, well the three of us but especially Daniel and then they started talking to Carter. For some reason the fact she was traveling with three men interested them more than us stepping through the Gate. When we got to the city she was led off one way and we got the tourist class, spa locker room. An old man came in to show us about and gave us some instructions before the hostess appeared. Very solicitous about how we were treated." He figured her coming in after they had gotten out of their wet BDUs wasn't very pertinent. Nothing as subtle as undressing them with her eyes. "She made some intimations that if we weren't being properly treated we could ask for asylum."

"Daniel went into his explorers' speech and learning about others. I pointed out that we were happy the way were were. She left and some food was sent in. We took that opportunity to question the attendant and learned just how their society was arranged." Daniel had covered cadres of women holding as many men in common as their social ties could provide, so he didn't need to rehash that. "We felt it prudent not to say ours was radically different. Not separated from Carter and our P-90s."

"By then I was concerned about Carter's absence and inquired after her. Our hostess came back with friends. This time they were empathic that they needed proof we were well treated before conducting negotiations or letting us leave. It was made graphically clear they would only accept sexual proof, and that if Carter couldn't satisfy us concurrently they would give us to their women."

Jack grabbed his mug and drank cooling dregs just to gather himself. He sat it down, futzing with it for a moment before he continued.

"Daniel did his best to sway them about hospitality, coveting and so forth. They said our welfare was the most important thing, and until it was assured they weren't bound to respect Carter's claims to us."

"Skip to your actions when Major Carter rejoined you."

"I didn't tell her about the ultimatum. She got it out of Daniel and Teal'c. When she asked my advice I recommended her heading for the Gate and sending back Marines."

"I see. But you didn't order she return."

"That would have been a de facto order to leave behind a civilian. If the situation had been different I'd have done what Major Carter did."

"Dismissed." Hammond spoke again while Jack had his hand on the knob. "Go home. Start on your paperwork tomorrow."

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Jack managed to drive home, enter his house, open a beer and drop onto his couch before he lost it. He'd accepted his attraction to Daniel long ago, walled it off so it only intruded when Daniel almost died. To make love to him and then find it was all in his head was too much. It wasn't real, but it felt real, he recalled it as if it was real. He could see Daniel's blue eyes when he closed his, see them in the throes of lust.

He had clung to the nipple pinch and the fire in Daniel's eyes during the interminable 'negotiations', allowed himself during the slog back to the Gate to consider how to talk to Daniel. Just lies he'd fabricated to ignore that he was raping his best friend.

Beer wasn't strong enough but he didn't trust himself in his kitchen. Ever since Daniel took that staff blast on Abydos, Jack's life wasn't his. When they got Daniel back from Apophis's ship Jack had flashed on the kiss in the cartouche room. He managed to turn it into a hug at the last moment, "Spacemonkey" replacing everything he couldn't express.

He could still feel him. The grinding strokes haunted him. A false sense-memory that bled into every real shoulder slap, one-armed hug and covering tackle. It could only be worse if he had kissed Daniel. His mind had all the rope it needed to hang him. It was doing it right now, taunting him with what it would be like. He ground the heels of his hands against his eyes. Jack needed to be much drunker, and he headed for a bottle, skipping a glass.

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Sam sat back from her kneel, pulling Daniel forward and into her as she sunk onto the colonel's cock. Though she was doing this to get her team home safe she was woman enough to admit it wasn't especially onerous. O'Neill's big hands cupped her breasts. Awkward. Daniel's situational enthusiasm would at least get them through the Gate and she pushed all other thoughts out of her mind.

She couldn't place it but something was missing. She let that also be swept away as she pretended these sensations were for her, not fuck or fail. She let herself be pushed all the way back, squirming against the chest hair scrubbing her back. Sam wrapped her arms tight across Daniel's back while they gave their all. Pounding her into each other, rutting as their hands poured over her, up and down her spine, across her belly and breasts, making it exquisite.

Sam threw back her head as the tingling built, sighing as wet lips and calloused fingers stroked her throat. She needed more, and she tilted her head to catch a finger, Jack's, Daniel's, she didn't know or care, in her teeth. She teased it with her tongue, pulling it in with her lips. It was joined by another and she sucked them.

Close. Her orgasms were coming faster, breaking over each other as Jack and Daniel pounded together. Some rock and hard place! She was swept away as they came, flooding her.

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Daniel sat up in bed. What they'd thought had happened on the planet was bad enough without him working out variations in his sleep. He clearly was more confused about Jack than he'd suspected, enough so for his subconscious to drag Sam into its ruminations. He didn't feel that way about either of his friends, though he supposed under different circumstances he might have let Sam catch him. She was a bit like Sarah, though nicer.

Daniel headed for his kitchen, needing caffeine if he judged by that uncharitable thought. He hadn't thought of Sarah in years. Which probably meant she'd been right to break things off. He got wrapped up in his work, even before it was important like the SGC. He just wasn't good at relationships. He scooped grounds into the machine, filled the water and slumped against the counter.

So why had he imagined the look in Jack's eyes during the hallucination? How was that the least bit helpful in getting through the incident? Why fuck just your fictive sister when you can rub off on your best friend through her? When he had thought it was all happening, he'd latched onto the 'discovery' like a lifeline. Utterly bizarre way to deal with the situation.

Daniel closed his eyes and admitted it had been hot. Maybe that was why, a perverse need to think he was wanted and desperate enough to project that desire onto Jack. He'd wished to believe he wasn't raping both of his friends. How was he going to face either of them? Especially considering he was dreaming about the nightmare.

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Jack slogged through his paperwork and hangover dutifully, happy for once to hide in his office. He desperately wanted to check on his kids, except this time he was part of the problem. Carter he could deal with, once his head was back on straight. What he'd told Hammond was the truth. She'd evidenced sound tactics under trying circumstances, and he expected she was well onto compartmentalizing the matter. Jack was still a bit dodgey, but that had everything to do with Daniel and how he'd taken advantage of the younger man.

Daniel just couldn't get a break. He should be back on Abydos playing dune tag with his children. Bad for Earth. Jack had no illusions that they wouldn't have been overrun if they hadn't retrieved Daniel. Of course he figured out the Gate wasn't a single connection. He'd brought back intel from another reality even! Saved another another reality by thinking to call their Thor.

Jack figured that Sam and Kolwalski were married by now. If the house hadn't been destroyed, Charlie had probably helped her clean up the uneaten dinner. He hoped they were able to find a Daniel. Maybe that reality figured out a way for the archaeologist not to have to go into the den over and over.

Hathor. Now him. Daniel really couldn't get a break. Shyla. Him 'Touched'. They'd both been lucky the SFs were able to pull him off. Jack had been furious that Daniel was concerned about anyone. He was possessive, jealous and, thanks to the virus, completely unhinged. Jack became a bit lost in the lie, the feel of Daniel beneath him years ago, snapping out of it when he realized what he was doing.

If he was lucky, Daniel hadn't caught onto the excess to purpose in Jack's actions. Unfortunately he figured it would depend on Daniel's luck, which seemed to be restricted to coming back from the dead and making allies. His personal life had a way of going to shit around his ears. That encapsulated the whole situation.

Jack returned back to his paperwork.

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It was fortunate that he could get by on limited sleep. Caffeine and translations to all hours might not stop the dreams, but they at least kept him from remembering them. He'd come to terms with P1N-848 but he didn't want to face his inability to deal with this 'attraction' to Jack. If his subconscious needed a buffer so badly...

He was married. He didn't know if Shau're could forgive him for digging up the Gate. For not rescuing her before now. Shyla. He loved Shau're, barged his way onto a front line team, learned to fight, for her. Why think of Jack this way?

Daniel thought of his departure from Abydos, what were to be his last moments with Shau're before she was taken. He'd wondered at the time why she'd kissed him so passionately, publicly. When he'd found himself adrift back on Earth he'd held onto that kiss.

Could she have known? He shook his head. He hadn't known. There wasn't anything to know. Jack was Jack. Best friend, superannuated class clown, skilled military man. This was all just the after-effects of P1N-848.

Guessed he hadn't come to terms with that. He poured himself more coffee and resumed translating.

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Teal'c observed his teammates with concern. Major Carter occasionally still flushed or smiled at odd moments, but otherwise appeared to have dealt with the virtual experience.

"DanielJackson." The young man looked up from his laden desk. "You do not look well. Have you slept?" The frown while Daniel tried to come up with an answer was a clear indication that he had not. O'Neill should have 'motherhenned' their friend before now. Most troubling. "You will join me for breakfast."

"I've got a lot of work..."

"It is the most important meal of the day. You will be more effective nourished." Without distraction sleep might catch up with him. "Come."

Daniel looked up and decided he should humor Teal'c. Jotting his last insight down he stood and turned off his desklamp. "Lead on, MacDuff."

Teal'c crooked an eyebrow.

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"O'Neill." He finally found their leader in the gym. It would save time should he need to 'beat sense' into him.

"Teal'c." He observed, stance shifting subtly. "Wanting to spar?"

"When did you last see DanielJackson?" He continued when there wasn't an immediate answer. "Are you jealous?" While the expression was gone in an instant Teal'c knew he'd found a 'live one'.

Jack recognized he was in trouble when Teal'c started to continue his argument and fell silent. Silent because he'd realized Jack wasn't jealous of Daniel but of Carter. Jack refused to look down.

"I am confused by your actions. Your lack of them. Is he not your friend?"

Now Jack did look down. "How is he?" Trust him to be a selfish bastard. He'd given Carter a breather and then checked in with her, made sure they were okay. They were. Good.

He hadn't done the same with Daniel. That he kept dreaming of having sex with him had made him loathe to face his best friend. The best friend he'd promised they'd rescue his wife. The best friend he'd lied for when Jack had returned from Abydos the first time. Daniel probably could spout all sorts of theories as to why Jack kept putting Carter in the middle. All the more reason for Daniel never to find out, and what she didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"When he wakes, you must talk to him."

Jack looked up. He thought he saw, something, faintly, in Teal'c's expression. "Okay." With that Teal'c tilted his head and headed for the weight bench. Jack left for the showers.

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Jack intercepted Daniel between the VIP quarters and the younger man's office. No questions asked, Daniel just let himself be escorted up top and out of the base. Clearly something was wrong when he didn't fuss either about the BDUs or leaving his car. Jack wasn't strong enough to deal with Daniel and the locker room, or the thought that Daniel could escape part way through his revelation.

Neither of them said anything on the drive, which really should have been a tip off. They went in and sat on the living room sofa.

"I'll resign. Change teams." Daniel stood up with his outburst. He didn't say he'd leave the SGC because Shau're was still out there and Earth needed him. For once he was needed, and he liked it. But some distance, what he could have from Jack...

"Daniel." Jack took a moment to assess his friend. He looked as bad as Jack's own reflection. "Is this about P1N-848?"

"No. Sort of." Daniel looked up. "Why did you drag me off base?"

"Not exactly the sort of conversation to have on a military base. Look, I'm sorry. I've got some issues, and I've been hiding from them and I let that keep me from checking up on you." He watched Daniel sit back down.

"I don't need a keeper."

Jack chose not to step into that trap. He sat down on the couch, beside Daniel. "It's P1N-848. Me, I mean. Dredged things up." Memories of nights looking through the telescope after his divorce was final, thinking about the dweeb he hadn't even liked. The breath had been knocked out of him on seeing Daniel a year later. Shau're had known. Daniel hadn't known what hit him when she'd laid that kiss on him. Shau're had been staking her claim. Who wouldn't?

"Yeah."

Jack looked at Daniel. "Daniel?"

"I've got to go." Daniel turned, headed for the door. Jack followed, put his hands on Daniel's shoulders. It was too much and rather than deal with Jack's questions, Daniel kissed him, held onto his head with both hands, and kissed him.

Two breaths and Jack was kissing back, hands shifting onto Daniel's shoulders to draw him closer. He broke the kiss at the hands pushing against his chest, shifting his grip to Daniel's arms. "That's what I've been hiding from."

Daniel tried to break free, looking anywhere but Jack's eyes. This was so much worse than he'd thought. Jack held on, not letting him go. Daniel relented, capitulated, finally returning to the couch. He dropped down. "Me too."

"You pinched me." Jack realized that maybe it hadn't been just wishful thinking.

"I'm married." He lifted his hand to Jack's face. "I did." He pulled away, still sitting on the couch. "Jack." He rubbed his lip distractedly. "It may take years to find Shau're. Making you wait... She might take me back."

Jack looked at Daniel. Might?! "You hit your head too many times?" He couldn't resist temptation and kissed Daniel while he was too dazed and confused to evade. With difficulty Jack pushed himself away before they got swept up in the moment. He wouldn't do that to Daniel. "Married. I love you." Sucked, but there it was. Not saying it wouldn't keep it from being true.

"Ditto." Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses.

"Ditto?" Jack looked at his, his everything. "Ditto?"

Daniel looked back at Jack. Haunted.

"I'm sorry." Jack clasped Daniel's hand. "We'll find her."

"Even though-"

"You love her." Jack could feel the tension drain from Daniel. "She's a special lady." He considered his friend. "You look like shit."

Daniel chuckled.

Jack stood, pulling Daniel up. "Guestroom. Sleep. Go on."

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Daniel hated this. He put his hands on Sam's waist, watching Jack's on her shoulders. He'd known she wouldn't leave them behind, had known she'd know they'd be split up, isolated and 'sampled' before she'd debriefed Hammond. That shouldn't be worse than this. He redirected his thoughts.

The natives wanted proof they were 'well-treated'. Sam wasn't really his sister. She was a very attractive, smart woman. This would all be for naught if he couldn't-- he stomped the thought down while he focused on gliding skin and curves.

He let her take them to the floor, moaning at the unexpected friction and pressure. He looked over her shoulder, into brown eyes, into Jack's eyes. He couldn't look away, couldn't help but thrust, feel nuts against his own.

He moved his hands across Sam's back to feel Jack's chest hair across his knuckles. Slid them down her spine to Jack's stomach, around Jack's hips to pull him forward, deeper, harder against him. He kneaded the hard ass, thrust up, twined their legs together.

It wasn't enough. Couldn't be enough, but he rolled them anyway, grinding down. Something teased him. Something wasn't right. Nothing about this was right, fucking his team. His team. He worried the thought.

Team. They were a four person team. Where was their fourth member? Who was their fourth member? Why couldn't he remember?

Daniel sat up in the guestbed. "Jack?" He patted the night stand for his glasses as he peered at the doorway.

"Yeah."

Glasses on, Daniel moved his hand to the lamp.

"Don't." Jack stepped closer. "You've been having them too."

"Teal'c doesn't sleep."

Jack slumped onto the foot of the bed. "Not just nightmares." Jack got up and headed for a phone.

Daniel got dressed while Jack spoke to Janet. Now came tests to find out what they'd brought back. They wouldn't answer how this had affected his waking thoughts.

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"We need to go back." Sam looked General Hammond, Janet, the Colonel. "Find out how this works, how it was delivered. Why. We don't know anything about P1N-848."

"And that is why it is locked out of the dialing computer."

"Sir, Carter's got a point. We need to know this isn't going to be found somewhere else. And a lot of other things." He didn't want to bring up what a security risk this made them, though he was sure Hammond was aware of that. "Janet, any thoughts on a cure?" He took her dipped eyes as answer enough. "Send us through and if we don't give a satisfactory report, follow up with a bomb."

Daniel looked at Jack in surprise.

"We know too much if we aren't in control of our thoughts." He faced George. "Give us a chance."

"Doctor?"

"It's not something we'd have found without strong indications to keep looking. The only measures I could suggest is having them sleep on shifts, and tests to determine if it's affected by distance."

Hammond thought for a moment. "I'm going to approve this mission. Before you go I need protocols in place so you can report back without placing this facility in any further jeopardy. Doctor, any signs that this has be transmitted from SG-1 to any other personnel?"

"Nothing that points to such a conclusion, but honestly I can't be positive. I know very little about this."

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SG-1 stepped through the gate onto a small pedestal and the wormhole closed.

"Someone hasn't paid the power bill." Jack looked into the murk, stepping closer to the edge of the platform.

Daniel looked up. "Au contraire." He pointed at the aurora and the more distant lightening.

"Carter."

"I don't have any readings of technology besides the Gate and our own equipment."

"What about this sludge?" Daniel looked at a quivering puddle.

"Ahtaht." Jack pulled his archaeologist back. "Where'd that come from?"

"The surface of the surrounding area seems to be covered with the same substance."

Carter set a small device on the ground. The puddle headed for it. She hit a button on a small remote and the puddle stopped.

"What is that?" Jack looked at the puddle moving towards and away.

"I think that's the inhabitant of this world. This device gives off a low electromagnetic field. When I turn it off, the puddle loses interest."

"Um, don't we give off an electromagnetic field?" Daniel was looking around their island.

"Yes. That's what gave me the idea."

"A bigger or smaller field?" Jack thought he saw currents forming.

"This is more regular, though lower in power."

"So, we would be noticeable?" Daniel continued, "what about the MALP?"

Sam thought about it. "It generates a lot of different signals. Telemetry, recordings, servos, noise."

"What about the puddle?" Jack looked at the blob, hand going to his zat. He really hated science-fiction.

"It's got a very interesting electromagnetic signature. I really need different equipment." She looked at the Colonel. "I was working from a hypothesis, not a packing inventory."

Jack turned and smiled. "So this wasn't quite what you expected, but there's some overlap." He stepped back from the puddle.

Daniel glanced over at Jack's slow game of keep away. "I didn't know you could do the polonaise."

"Yeah, well. Depths." Jack segued into a waltz.

Sam looked over and smiled, then became very focused on her equipment. "Sir, I'm getting a fluctuation in the background signal. Could you jitterbug?"

Jack looked at her and switched to a schottische. "Carter?"

Sam looked up. "They are relaying information as far as I can sense, potentially further. You're dancing with more than just that puddle."

Jack stopped. The puddle paused, then backed, side slid, forward, side slid.

"It's trying to communicate." Daniel pushed Jack out of the way and cut in. "Sam, any suggestions? I'm better with vertebrates."

"You were fine with the Clege on M5Q-630." Sam thought while she watched her friend. "Colonel, it would help if you could dance in time with Daniel."

Jack looked at her and then glanced at Daniel to pick up the measure. "Maybe we should get someone from Arthur Murray's?"

Sam snorted and Daniel executed a turn.

Teal'c started waltzing, covering more of the limited space, weaving between the others.

"This is fantastic. They're learning. They're dancing independently, while maintaining the basic pattern." She kept watching with her infrared goggles.

Jack worked in more turns. "You have a plan beyond dancing the night away?"

Sam fought the smile that bubbled at the sight of her teammates dancing without any music. "I think they were trying to communicate. Consider it. Our brains function through electrochemical signals, which these 'puddles' generate. We sent the MALP through which would have been very strange and intriguing. Then we came through, very different and unpredictable. It's very possible that our brains simply 'found' patterns in their chatter."

Jack stopped cold, moving only to stay away from the puddle. "That's not helpful."

"It is. They're unlike anything we've seen before. Not that I think they are the Furlings, but consider what they can teach us about life under conditions so different from our own. This might get us closer to being able to understand the language from Ernest's planet."

Daniel picked up Sam's idea. "They came to investigate us, touched us. The impulses weren't compatible, we fell unconscious or into some sort of hypnotic state, one that resumes during sleep and is shared irrespective of space."

"At least over the short distances in Colorado Springs. They're communicating but it's not radiowaves. Nothing that I have equipment to measure. It could be from subatomic particles."

"How do we end it?" Jack had started playing chicken with the puddle. "They've aligned our brains in some sort of 8th dimensional kismet."

Daniel tilted his head, blinking.

"It's going to take time to learn to communicate with them. But, I don't think that will be necessary. If it's a subatomic alignment, we just need to be unaligned." Sam reached down to a encroaching puddle.

Jack pulled Daniel away from trying to reach Sam. The entity covered her quickly. "What is it with you touching things?!" He tried to think of options, considering all they had were doohickeys, zats and dance. Within two minutes the entity receded, Carter falling back on her butt.

"We're out of here." He looked at Daniel. "Dial us out."

"Sir."

"Tests. Lots and lots of tests, Carter." He frowned deeper as she smiled brighter.

The kawoosh came, they sent the GDO signal and got back their clear. They stepped through.

"SG-1." General Hammond looked them over.

"Oatmeal, possibly intelligent oatmeal." He put down his weapons, gesturing to his team to do the same, then stepped back unarmed. "We've got great physics-related-things to discover. Tests to run on Carter. And the rest of us."

"Understood." Hammond nodded at several SFs to escort SG-1 to medical.

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Jack looked around, seeing only Daniel. Only Daniel. No walls, no floor. He jumped a few times, just to prove to himself there was a floor. "Daniel?"

Daniel looked over and started to stand shakily, doing so smoothly once he closed his eyes. "I remember the planet."

"So we're not stuck in the dream?"

"Yes and no."

Jack thought for a moment and a couch appeared a bit behind him. "Sit?" He did so, looking at the jeans he was wearing. Ones that had worn out over a decade ago. He looked at Daniel. It was a nice plaid shirt, one that brought out the color of his eyes. "I don't remember that one."

Daniel looked down as he sat. "I lost it on a dig." His lips quirked.

"Lost?" There was a story here.

"I think one of the team 'borrowed' it. I never asked her."

Jack smiled. "Yes and no?"

"We're still linked but we no longer believe the scenario. We're all asleep, wired up."

"Damn."

"Damn?"

"I'd sorta hoped for a replay, sans Sam."

Daniel closed his eyes. "Jack."

"Sorry." He thought a moment. "How much can they tell about what's going on in here?"

"Sam's the right one to ask that." He was relieved she wasn't about. It was going to take him time to deal with everything. "Just what parts of our brains are active, I suppose. They'll focus on those parts where each of us shows activity."

"So, making out would be out of the question? I'm just saying."

Daniel leaned back. "I am married."

Jack thought that was all his friend would say. He had been looking forward to a replay, though he hadn't meant to speak it. He didn't want to make this harder on Daniel. He stifled the entendre. Apparently here he had even less control over his mouth.

"She may not feel the same way, but I love her."

Jack felt like a heel.

"It's a big universe. Don't wait for me, Jack."

"She's a smart lady. Shau're will hold onto you with both hands."

"Thanks." Daniel sat quietly for minutes, what he perceived as minutes. "I--"

"It's okay. I won't wait for you." He slid closer and pulled Daniel to him. He'd wait for himself, for them. Jack tamped down his bad, beautiful thoughts as Daniel relaxed against him. He'd have to save them for when he was awake. Knowing was way more than he deserved. Being loved was unexpected and a gift. "So, we get to keep this?"

Daniel looked at Jack.

"It only works while we're both asleep." He didn't think he'd been any less able to wake up, but then they'd been earthbound, except for their return trip to pudding world. "It'd be an advantage. Secure channel." He wanted to solve Daniel's skin hunger in a way he couldn't in the real world. He wanted a lot more, but this much he might have if Daniel was amenable.

He didn't get an answer as the waking world intruded.

Jack pushed up and sat on the gurney, frustrated by the web of leads coming off his head. "How long?"

Janet looked at him. "Two hours. What was it like?"

"Like a looney tune with the animator on strike." It did make him wonder where the fictional P1N-848 had come from. "No scenery."

Teal'c leaned slightly forward from his seated position so the nurse didn't have to stretch so far to remove his leads.

Sam was delicately removing her own leads. "I have a theory about that. Daniel?"

"Jack created a couch."

Janet started going over Jack, checking his pupil response.

"There was nowhere to sit." Trust Daniel to volunteer him in distraction.

Sam considered. "Did you think of a couch or did you think of sitting?"

"I don't know, probably sitting. Okay, so I was thinking about sitting." The couch had been the one from his parents' rec room. Sitting wasn't exactly his strongest memory of that couch.

Sam and Janet kept up their interrogation until he and Daniel were repeating themselves. Hammond appeared at that point.

"How's SG-1?"

"The puddle on P1N-848 changed the subatomic signature that we've been sharing."

"Carter's not on the partyline." Jack looked around him at the stunned expressions. "Telephone, geesh."

Hammond relaxed his shoulders. "Debrief at 1700 hours." He turned and exited.

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"At this time I'm not prepared to send SG-1 back through to P1N-848 simply to break the subharmonic convergence between Col. O'Neill and Doctor Jackson. I may consider including you on any team that returns to the planet once we have a better idea for communicating with the puddle. If this link proves not to be as innocuous as I've been assured, I expect to be notified immediately. Dismissed."

Jack stood, wanting to get Daniel alone, find out if he was okay with everything. An unscheduled return prevented that conversation. In the real world. Eventually, even Daniel had to sleep.

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"You're enjoying this." Daniel looked over at Jack, the only other thing besides him to be seen.

"I'll miss the chase." Jack stepped closer to his friend. "Does this bother you?" They really needed to decorate. Walls would be nice.

Daniel closed his eyes for a moment. "You can't escape either." The realization brought a light to Daniel's eyes.

"Chess." Jack called it like shotgun. Daniel could probably manage a powerpoint in here, and Jack wasn't going to sit through any more lectures than he had to. Not ones where he couldn't think about backseats, clawfoot tubs or rain.

The backseat in the rain had strong possibilities. He pushed the thought away for later use. Getting wet wasn't on the itinerary. He watched as a chess set appeared on a small table, then chairs. "Where are the castles?" He started picking up pieces to look at them. Eventually he looked to Daniel. "You remember them well."

"They were my parents'. I think they were a wedding present."

Jack looked back to the board. Twenty-five years. Why was Daniel always left alone? Parents. Nick. Wife. Jack reached out for Daniel's hand, squeezing the back of it. Not him. He wasn't going anywhere. "I'll take black."

Daniel looked at Jack, then moved out his left-hand knight.

It wasn't everything he wanted, but Jack knew he'd been improbably fortunate to be be loved by Daniel. That was always true, but especially for him, especially by Daniel. Benefits would be good. Great. He clamped down on elaborating on that 'great'. They'd just have to deal as life played them. He made his counter-move.

Fin