---------------------------------
Here We Go Again
by Lianne Burwell
written July 1999
Zine: Gatecrashers
---------------------------------

General Hammond looked up as the SG-1 team came through the 
Stargate wormhole from P5R361. While he rarely got the 
chance to travel through the wormhole, there was just 
something about the idea that fascinated him. That was why 
he usually arranged to be present when anyone used it.

Then he frowned. There was something off with the team, he 
wasn't sure what. But there was something in the way they 
held themselves, the expression on their faces.

"Well, how did it go?" he prompted as they came down the 
ramp from the 'gate.

Colonel O'Neill grimaced, and Hammond waited for the 
obviously bad news. He looked a little sun-burnt, now that 
Hammond noticed. "We had a little trouble, sir. At least 
this one didn't try to eat my head," O'Neill said in his 
typically sarcastic tone.

Hammond closed his eyes. Out of all the Stargate teams, SG-
1 was the one that tripped over the most trouble, and out 
of Sg-1's members, it was usually O'Neill who did the 
tripping.

"Report to Dr. Fraiser," he said with a resigned sigh.

The team was already heading for the door.

* * * * *

"So exactly what happened?" Hammond asked later in the 
briefing. Dr. Fraiser had checked out the entire team and 
was waiting to make her report as well.

"Well, sir," O'Neill began, his eyes flickering to the 
members of his team, "We didn't find any people, but we did 
find the ruins of a city. We checked several buildings, but 
didn't find much of interest."

"I wouldn't say that," Daniel Jackson, the team's 
anthropologist and linguist broke in. "The city was built 
along the lines of the Mayan cities in Central America. 
Centuries ago, everyone seemed to suddenly just get up and 
walk out, leaving the remains of an entire culture to be 
reclaimed by the jungle. The same thing seems to have 
happened on P5R361, but much more recently. If we can 
figure out why it happened there, we might finally 
understand why it happened on *our* world."

O'Neill turned a fond, if exasperated, eye towards Jackson. 
"Like I said, we didn't find much of anything. Place was 
completely deserted and it had been stripped as well. Just 
a bunch of empty buildings. Anyway, we headed for the 
center of town where Danny said the temples would be. Might 
have been something too heavy to haul away left there."

Jackson was practically vibrating with excitement. "It was 
incredible. The jungle's taking over the city, but it 
hasn't reached that far into the center. I know a few 
archaeologists who would *kill* for a chance to take a look 
at the temples."

Everyone in the room turned and just looked at him. He 
blushed a little and fell silent.

Hammond frowned at that. "Do remember that isn't going to 
happen any time soon, Dr. Jackson." While he appreciated 
Jackson's intelligence, his enthusiasm could be a little 
wearing at times. Unfortunately, it also led to his 
breaking the rules on a regular basis. 

"Right," O'Neill finally continued. "We climbed one of the 
pyramids to check out the temple on top. I went inside 
first to make sure it was safe, and there was this bright 
flash of light. When I woke up, Teal'c had dragged me out. 
I was a little singed around the corners, so we decided to 
play it safe and come right back."

Hammond nodded. O'Neill, at least, could be expected to 
exercise a little caution. "Good idea, Colonel. Dr. 
Fraiser, what can you tell us?"

Janet Fraiser cleared her throat. "Other than a mild burn 
from the flash, there doesn't seem to have been any other 
physical effect. However that doesn't mean that there 
*won't* be. In the past, there hasn't always been an 
immediate effect. I would recommend Colonel O'Neill be 
placed under observation, just in case."

"I am *not* staying in the infirmary overnight," O'Neill 
barked.

"Colonel--" Hammond started to say, then bit back an angry 
response when O'Neill interrupted him.

"Sir, I feel fine. I just want to sleep in my own bed 
tonight."

"Fine. Dr. Jackson will take you home and stay with you, 
then."

"I don't need a baby-sitter, sir."

"That *wasn't* a request, Colonel. You have a choice. The 
infirmary, or Dr. Jackson's company." Hammond glared at 
O'Neill, making it clear that he wasn't going to change his 
mind.

O'Neill sighed. "Fine. C'mon, Danny-boy. Let's get going."

* * * * *

Daniel decided to play it safe and not try to insist on 
driving. Jack was already in a foul mood over being 
assigned a 'babysitter', and Daniel didn't want to make it 
any worse.

Personally, he was with Jack on this one. The colonel 
looked fine, if a little red. This device, whatever it was, 
seemed pretty harmless. They'd find out more when they went 
back the next day.

Jack unlocked the front door and went in, leaving Daniel to 
close and lock it behind them. He headed for the living 
room without a backward glance. When Daniel caught up with 
him, he was standing next to the phone.

"Haven't been shopping," he said. "Chinese or pizza?"

Daniel shrugged. "Either is fine with me," he said. 
Considering how much time they spent at the base or on 
other worlds, his fridge was usually in a similar state: 
empty.

"All right, pizza it is."

Daniel was amused to note that the pizza place was on 
O'Neill's speed dial; number four. He also noticed that 
Jack didn't have to give them an address. Obviously he 
ordered from this place on a regular basis.

"Forty minutes," Jack said over his shoulder as he headed 
for the bedroom. "Mind if I take the shower first? Need to 
put that cream the Doc gave me on, too." 

Daniel shook his head. "It's your home. Go ahead."

Daniel headed for the kitchen and opened the fridge. Sure 
enough, while there wasn't any food, there *was* half a 
case of beer. Molson Canadian, to be exact. Seemed that 
Jack had a taste for imported beer. Daniel grabbed one and 
twisted the cap off before heading back into the living 
room.

The cold brew felt good going down, and Daniel started to 
relax. After a few minutes, the sound of water stopped, and 
Jack came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around 
his waist.

His face, neck and lower arms were red from the burn, but 
Daniel noticed that the rest of him had a nice tan. 
Obviously he managed to get some sun when he wasn't on 
duty. Daniel knew he'd be pale next to the man, having lost 
most of his Abydos tan in the years since he'd returned to 
Earth. Of course, spending most of his free time in labs 
going over artifacts didn't help.

Jack also got more time in a gym than Daniel. His muscle 
definition was much better than Daniel's ever had been. 
There wasn't an ounce of wasted material on his frame, 
despite the fact that he was well into his forties.

//Sure, Danny,// he laughed quietly. //Sliding into his 
dotage is Jack.//

He blinked suddenly, and shook off his reverie. Jack was 
still standing there, staring at him with a contemplative 
expression. Daniel started to wonder if he'd spilt 
something down his front or something.

"What?" he asked.

Jack shook his head, a puzzled expression on his face. 
"Nothing. You want to grab a shower before the food gets 
here?"

"Sure. Be right back."

The bathroom was steamy from Jack's shower, and Daniel 
started to feel even grimier than he had before. He 
stripped off his fatigues and dropped them on the floor 
before turning on the water and stepping under the spray.

The water felt so good running down his face and body. 
Daniel reached out for the soap. It was still soft from 
Jack's shower, and he rubbed it across his chest, enjoying 
the feel of the bubbles against his skin.

He soaped up his entire body, then turned, letting the 
spray of water rinse the suds away. He decided he might as 
well go the whole distance and grabbed Jack's shampoo. Just 
your basic two-in-one, of course. Jack wasn't the type to 
use fancy shampoos or conditioners.

He sighed in contentment when he was done, his scalp no 
longer prickling from the dried sweat and dirt that had 
been trapped in his hair. Then he just stood and let the 
water cascade down his chest, his face lifted up to the 
spray.

"Danny, I'm leaving some dry towels for you here."

Daniel spun, jolted out of his haze by the sound of Jack's 
voice. He couldn't see more than a vague form through the 
frosted glass of the shower door. His hand came down 
automatically to cover his genitals, even though he knew 
that Jack couldn't see anything more than a vague outline 
either.

"Thanks," he called out, resisting the urge to blush.

"No problem. I also put out some sweats for you in the 
bedroom. I figured you wouldn't want to put your clothes 
back on after getting clean."

Daniel smiled at that. Jack was always very considerate. 
"Thanks," he said again.

"Right. Food should be here in five, maybe ten, minutes."

Daniel waited until the door closed behind Jack before 
turning off the shower and sliding the door open. The 
promised towels were piled on the counter next to the sink.

He took one and used it to squeeze the excess water out of 
his hair before toweling off the rest of his body. Looking 
into the mirror, he noticed that he was definitely putting 
on muscle. With a grin, he struck a muscle-man pose, 
flexing his arms. The image made him laugh. He didn't have 
anything to be ashamed about in his body, but he was 
certainly never going to be built like Teal'c. Even Sam had 
more muscle than him. Still, he had improved since his 
first trip through the Stargate.

He picked up a second towel and tied it around his waist 
before going to look for clothes.

The promised sweats were waiting, laid out on the big 
double bed. They were originally black, but had been washed 
so many times that they were now more gray than anything 
else.

He was just leaving the bedroom when he heard the doorbell 
ring. Jack was just putting down the pizza boxes when 
Daniel came into the room. Daniel eyed the two large boxes.

"Don't you think that's a little much?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "Hey, we need something for breakfast," he 
pointed out. Daniel remembered the empty fridge and decided 
that cold pizza was definitely better than nothing.

Daniel grabbed plates from the cupboards, even though Jack 
complained that they didn't *really* need them, and they'd 
just need to be washed afterwards anyway. A couple pieces 
of pizza and another beer and Daniel was feeling happy. He 
was clean and fed and Jack was a great person to hang out 
with. What more did he need?

The TV in the background was spouting on about the latest 
conflict overseas, but he ignored it. It was kind of hard 
to get interested in those sorts of things when there were 
scarier enemies to worry about. Like the Goa'uld. Callous 
as it might sound, compared to Apophis, Milosevic was an 
amateur.

He realized that he was hungrier than he thought after he 
finished inhaling his first slice. He was licking his 
fingers clean before reaching for the next piece when he 
became aware that Jack was staring at him.

"What?" he asked, feeling a little self-conscious. Jack's 
eyes seemed glued to... his mouth?

"You missed a spot," Jack finally said in a strangely husky 
voice.

Daniel blinked, then grabbed his napkin. A quick swipe of 
his face left an orange smear of sauce on the napkin.

"Got it," Jack said, then went back to his own slice. 
Daniel frowned. There was a little smile on the older man's 
lips that usually meant that he was up to no good. 
Expressions like that usually presaged practical jokes that 
left people soaked or with pie in the face. Jack's sense of 
humor often tended towards slapstick.

A half-hour later, they were both finished and there hadn't 
been any sign of practical jokes, so Daniel started to 
relax. Instead they'd spent a rather pleasant evening, not 
talking about anything more than the Avalanche's chances of 
winning a Stanley Cup and the idea of a ski trip for the 
team.

Daniel picked up his plate and headed for the kitchen. The 
sink was filled with several meals' worth of dirty dishes 
and he grimaced.

"Wash or dry?" he asked, already rolling up his sleeves.

"Wash," Jack said promptly, the smile back on his face.

Daniel started getting suspicious again when he saw how 
much soap Jack added to the sink, but the man behaved 
himself. It took a surprisingly short time to wash the 
dishes, dry them and put them away.

Daniel closed the last cupboard, and turned around. Jack 
was standing in the middle of the room staring at him with 
a puzzled expression on his face.

"Jack?"

There wasn't an answer. Just that silent stare, which was 
so unlike the man.

Daniel stepped forward, stopping right in front of his 
friend. "Jack?" he said, a little louder this time.

Suddenly, it was like something let go of Jack. He blinked 
and shook his head. "Sorry, Danny. What were you saying?"

"Are you alright? Maybe we should go back to the base, see 
Dr. Fraiser."

Jack recoiled at that. "No, I'm *fine*. I was just a 
little... distracted."

"By what?"

Jack just shrugged, then turned and left the room. Daniel 
was left staring at the door swinging shut, feeling totally 
confused. Briefly, he considered calling Janet, but decided 
not to. It was getting late. It could wait until morning.


When he went back to the living-room, he found Jack pulling 
out the sleeper sofa.

"The mattress isn't too bad," Jack told him. "Teal'c's 
slept on it a couple times without much back pain the next 
day." He opened up the cabinet that doubled as a side table 
and started pulling out sheets and pillows and blankets. 
"If it's a problem, you can take my bed and I'll sleep out 
here."

Daniel shook his head. "No, this is fine. I'm sure I've 
slept on worse."

"Yeah, I suppose so. Anyway, there's a spare toothbrush in 
the bathroom. I usually stoke one for unexpected guests. 
It's the one still in its wrapper. I'll see you in the 
morning."

Daniel waited while Jack brushed his teeth and used the 
toilet before doing the same. Then he pulled off the 
borrowed sweats and climbed into bed. He felt a little 
weird sleeping in somebody else's house without even 
underwear on, but his briefs were in the laundry room with 
his clothes and he felt awkward about asking Jack if he 
could borrow the man's underwear.

He turned off the lamp on the side table and let the 
darkness lull him into a doze.

* * * * *

Sometime later -- Daniel wasn't sure how much later -- he 
was woken by the mattress he was on dipping. The springs 
squeaked.

"Wha?" Daniel said, twisting to face whoever it was. Of 
course, there was only one person it could be: Jack.

In the dim moonlight coming through the window, Jack's face 
was shadowed. He was just sitting there, staring at Daniel. 
As near as Daniel could tell, there was no expression on 
the man's face.

"Jack?" he said, starting to sit up. This was worrying him. 
Maybe that flash of light *had* done something to Jack. He 
was certainly acting strangely.

A hand came down, pressing his shoulders back into the 
mattress. Jack sat there for a moment longer, then swung 
his legs up onto the sofa-bed. A tug at the covers and Jack 
was under them, stretched out next to Daniel.

"Jack?" Daniel asked again.

"I was lonely."

"Lonely."

"Yeah. Lonely. Big bed, but no one else in it."

Okay, Daniel thought. Jack was lonely. It wasn't exactly a 
concept he associated with the man. Jack was always so in 
control. The idea that he woke up in the middle of the 
night just wanting some companionship was startling.

"That's okay, Jack," he finally said. "You're welcome 
here."

"Thanks, Danny," Jack said.

Daniel rolled over and closed his eyes. Truth be told, he 
was a little lonely in the night too. Having another warm 
body in bed with him was comforting. It had been a long 
time. Much too long.

He was just starting to drift off again when Jack moved 
closer. Daniel's eyes flew open as his friend spooned up 
behind him, one leg coming over Daniel's, an arm slinging 
over his mid-section. Jack's face nuzzled at the back of 
his neck and Daniel suddenly realized that the other man 
was as naked as he was. Jack's hips pressed a little closer 
then, and the hand against his chest moved slightly so that 
it was grasping his pec, pressing warmly against one 
nipple.

Daniel drew a quick breath, shivering slightly at the 
touch. "Jack?"

"Hmmmm?" was the sleepy reply.

"What are you doing?"

"Not being lonely."

Ooookay. That certainly made a lot of sense. Not.

The hand started rubbing in small circles, and Daniel 
realized that his nipple was starting to get erect. Against 
his buttocks he could feel Jack getting hard. This was not 
a good thing. Obviously whatever had happened back on 
P5R361 *had* had an effect. The question was how to deal 
with it so that Jack didn't hate him in the morning.

"Jack?"

"Hmmm?"

"You're straight."

Daniel could feel Jack's shrug against his back.

"You don't want to be doing this."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a man."

"So?"

"And you're straight."

"So?"

Daniel groaned. Obviously Jack wasn't in the mood to listen 
to that line of reasoning. Time to try another.

"We could get in trouble for this."

"Why?"

"The military doesn't exactly like their people to do 
this."

"Do what?"

"Have... umm... sexual relationships where both parties are 
of the same sex."

"You gonna tell them?"

"No! Of course not."

"Then it isn't a problem. Don't ask, don't tell and all 
that."

Okay, the straight angle didn't work, and neither did the 
military attitude towards anything but straight behavior. 
Next argument, please.

"I don't wanna, Jack."

A warm chuckle answered him. The nuzzling at the back of 
his neck had graduated to nibbling, which made him shiver. 
The lips moved around his neck and started on his earlobe.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes," he said in a slightly breathless tone. Problem was, 
he wasn't so sure anymore. It was nice to be touched. He 
hadn't been touched like this since Sha're was stolen from 
him, unless you counted the manipulations by Hathor. Or 
when he was under the influence of that devolving disease, 
and he couldn't even be sure about that one, since he 
didn't remember anything that had happened.

"This says you're lying, Danny-boy," Jack said in a husky 
tone. His hand slipped down further to grasp the erection 
Daniel hadn't even realized was forming. Jack stroked it 
once, twice, bringing it to full-size, then let it go. 
Before he could bite back the sound, Daniel moaned in 
protest at the loss.

Jack pulled on Daniel, rolling him over onto his back. 
Before he could martial his next argument, warm lips 
pressed against his and a slick tongue worked at prying his 
lips apart. Without intending to, Daniel opened his mouth 
and let the invader in.

That tongue moved in and made his mouth home. Every nook 
and cranny was examined in detail. Then the tongue 
withdrew, using tiny flicks to coax his own into following. 
It did. Immediately, Jack's lips closed around it and the 
man sucked it even deeper into his mouth. The sensation 
shot through his body, ending up in his groin. The 
intensity of the feeling was overwhelming.

Then Jack pulled away, moving to nibble along his 
cheekbone. Daniel gasped, trying to collect his scattered 
thoughts.

"This... The flash... You're being influenced," he finally 
managed to say.

"So?" Jack growled in his ear before diving in to suck at 
his neck. Immediately, Daniel tilted his head back, 
offering the other man better access which Jack immediately 
took advantage of.

"So... You're not... yourself."

"Yes I am."

"You'll hate me tomorrow."

"No I won't."

"Why?"

Jack reared up, his teeth gleaming brightly through his 
grin. "Been watching you for a while," he said, tossing a 
leg over Daniel.

"Watching... me?

"Yep." Jack shifted his weight so that he was directly 
above Daniel. He lowered himself, carefully positioning 
himself so that their erections were nestled together like 
two long-lost friends. He gave a small, experimental thrust 
of his hips, rubbing the two cocks together, causing a 
delicious friction. Daniel gasped and arched up into the 
sensation.

"Why?"

"You're smart and dedicated. You chew on your lip when 
you're trying to figure out a puzzle. You're tireless in 
your search for a way to stop the Goa'uld and free your 
wife. You're eternally optimistic. *And* you're cute. It's 
a deadly combination, you know."

"Com... combination..." Daniel gasped. The now-steady 
thrusting of Jack's hips was driving all thoughts from his 
mind.

"You ever done this before?" Jack growled, leaning down to 
suck at one of Daniel's nipples. Daniel moaned.

"This?" Daniel whimpered as Jack changed sides. All 
thoughts of resistance had disappeared. He reached around 
to grasp Jack's buttocks, trying to urge a faster pace to 
the thrusts. Jack seemed more than happy to oblige.

Jack moved back up for a bruising kiss. When he pulled 
away, Daniel was pleased to see that the man's eyes were as 
glazed as his own no doubt were. Jack had been far too 
coherent up until now.

"Sex with a man," Jack said.

"Yeah."

That was obviously a surprise to Jack. "You have?" he said, 
sounding faintly disappointed.

"Back in college," Daniel said. The pause in motion was 
letting him recover his wits slightly. "It was my 
preference before Sha're. What about you?"

"Yeah, I know what I'm doing," Jack said.

"Then why aren't you doing it?"

"I thought you wanted me to stop."

Daniel growled, and grabbed the back of Jack's neck to pull 
him down closer. "Stop now," he hissed, "and I will *kill* 
you. Now move! Please?"

Jack grinned. "Your wish is my command," he whispered 
before bringing their lips together.

This kiss was even more intense than any that had gone 
before. They exchanged domination back and forth, until 
there was no spot unexamined and their saliva was 
thoroughly mixed. Skin pressed against skin, lubricated by 
a sheen of sweat, and Daniel was having trouble telling 
where he ended and Jack began. He clawed at the other man's 
broad back, trying to pull him closer, even though there 
was no way to *get* any closer.

Not separating their lips, Jack rolled over until he was on 
the bottom and Daniel was spread over him like a blanket. 
Daniel immediately took advantage of the new position to 
start thrusting again. By this point, his cock was so hard 
that it was aching, and all he cared about was his climax. 
Selfish but true.

His eyes closed, and a fireworks display went off behind 
his eyelids. His stomach muscles were spasming and his full 
awareness was centered on his groin. Every touch of Jack's 
fingers was a line of fire drawn across his skin. When a 
finger traced the line of his lips, he opened his mouth and 
sucked it in. With every pull on the finger, he could feel 
Jack's cock twitching against him, and it just encouraged 
him to suck harder.

"Oh God, Danny. Yeah, that's good, so very good. Do it, 
Danny-boy."

Daniel growled, and gnawed lightly on the finger in his 
mouth. When Jack tried to pull it away, he latched on 
harder, not willing to let it go.

Then it was gone, and he blinked in surprise. He felt two 
hands pulling his ass cheeks apart and a finger slick with 
his own saliva probing for the opening there. It found it 
and stabbed in, sending new shockwaves through him.

Suddenly it was like his body had gone into overdrive. He 
was thrusting down against Jack, then back against that oh-
so-talented finger that was doing delightful things to his 
prostate. He could feel his climax building, and he 
realized that he was going to scream. He *never* screamed 
during sex, but he was going to...

He did. Well, maybe bellow was a better term for it. 
Whatever term you chose, though, he made more noise than he 
could ever remember making during sex before. Of course, 
with Sha're they were sharing a house where there were no 
doors with her family, but still...

He collapsed onto Jack's chest, only dimly aware that some 
of the fluid squishing between them belonged to the other 
man. He hadn't even noticed, which was shameful.

"Sorry, Jack," he mumbled, already more than half asleep 
after the intensity of his climax. "Should have made it 
better for you."

"Just having you here was good enough, Danny."

"Yeah, but you're gonna hate me tomorrow..."

"No I won't."

'Yes you will,' Daniel thought to himself, but couldn't 
work up the energy to say it out loud. Long fingers were 
combing through his hair, making him feel like purring 
under the touch. Instead, he fell asleep.

And as he drifted completely asleep, a gentle kiss was 
pressed against his forehead and he heard a soft voice say, 
"You'll see, it'll be fine."

* * * * *

When Daniel woke the next morning, he was alone in the bed, 
covered in dried semen and the smell of coffee filled the 
air. He sat up carefully, and the bedsprings squeaked.

"You awake, Danny?" Jack called from the kitchen. "You 
might want to shower before we head in. I washed your 
clothes, and they're on my bed."

Daniel blinked. How early had Jack been up that he'd been 
able to wash Daniel's clothes? He glanced at the clock on 
the wall and realized that they were supposed to be back at 
the base in less than an hour. He'd slept more than two 
hours later than he usually did.

He pulled on Jack's sweatpants and headed for the bathroom. 
"Why didn't you wake me earlier?" he called.

"You looked like you needed the sleep. Now take your 
shower. There's cold pizza when you get out."

Daniel showered as quickly as he could, rinsing off the 
evidence of what had happened the night before. Jack hadn't 
said anything, so it might have been just an intense wet-
dream.

No, it hadn't been. No matter how much he might like to 
think that, it had happened. He'd taken advantage of his 
team leader and best friend. Daniel thumped his head 
against the shower door a couple times, and gave serious 
thought to staying in the shower for the rest of the day. 
Hell, the rest of the *year*.

No. He couldn't do that. Reluctantly, he turned off the 
water and went in search of towels and clothes.

Decently dressed -- including underwear this time -- he 
headed for the kitchen, dreading what he was going to have 
to deal with.

What he had to deal with was a cup of instant coffee and 
cold pizza: The breakfast of champions. That, and a 
brilliant smile from Jack that made his insides melt and 
certain portions of him firm up. No mention was made of 
what had happened the night before and he wasn't about to 
bring it up.

As soon as they'd eaten, Jack was rushing them out the door 
and into the car. Daniel stayed quiet during the drive to 
SGC, still braced for the storm. Once they arrived, Jack 
was immediately sent to the lab for more tests, and Daniel 
decided to beat a hasty retreat to his office until the 
morning briefing. Just call him a coward; he didn't care.

When the eleven o'clock meeting rolled around, he couldn't 
put it off any longer. Squaring his shoulders and taking a 
few deep breaths, he headed for the meeting room.

"So good of you to join us, Dr. Jackson," General Hammond 
said as he came in the door. He was a few minutes late, and 
everyone was already there. Jack patted the seat next to 
him, and since it was the only one available, he took it.

"Now, Dr. Fraiser, you were saying?"

Janet smiled, her eyes meeting Daniel's briefly. "I 
examined Colonel O'Neill this morning, and it confirmed 
what I'd suspected after going through the sensor readings 
of the incident yesterday. The flash of light seems to have 
been some sort of decontamination beam. Sort of like what 
we use for people going into clean rooms, but without 
reducing the outer epidermis to dust. To put it simply, the 
only effect on Colonel O'Neill was that he ended up 
completely germ- and bacteria-free."

Daniel blinked. "That's *it*?" he said in disbelief. Janet 
shrugged.

"You sound almost disappointed, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said 
in a mild tone.

"No," Daniel said quickly. "I'm just a little surprised, 
considering Jack's track record..."

Everyone, except Teal'c, chuckled at that. It gave him time 
to cover up his own reaction.

"Well, then, there's no problem with heading back to 
ruins," Hammond said.

While the others discussed the return to P5R361, Daniel 
wondered: If Jack's mind hadn't been affected, then what 
had last night been about?

Daniel nearly jumped when a hand touched his knee. He 
glanced over at Jack who was smiling at him fondly. Jack 
leaned over.

"See?" he said quietly. "I told you I wouldn't hate you in 
the morning." His smile was teasing, with a definite 
fondness to it. Daniel felt his face flush. He was going to 
have to have a little chat with the man later on.

But first, they needed to head back to P5R361. They had a 
puzzle to solve. Why was the city abandoned? And how did 
such a primitive appearing culture come into possession of 
a decontamination beam of such obvious sophistication? And 
why was it mounted in a temple?

He didn't even realize he was chewing on his lower lip 
until he caught sight of the grin that Jack was trying to 
hide. He froze, remembering what Jack had said the night 
before about things he found attractive about Daniel, and 
he felt his own expression soften into a shy smile. Across 
the table, Teal'c was watching them with great interest.

Yep. They were definitely going to have to talk.


THE END