Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

‘Thanks so much for staying over.’ Doctor Janet Fraiser turned to the blonde Air Force Captain behind her and gave a tired smile. It had been a long day. A standard morning filled with gate travel checks and ad hoc injuries had given way to an all-out fight against the Goa’uld Hathor in the afternoon; a fight that had set the women on the base against the men and had resulted in Janet being shot. She looked down at her sling ruefully and missed the smile on her companion’s face.

Samantha Carter closed the front door and locked it. ‘Just remember this moment the next time you try to restrict me to the infirmary.’ She joked. Janet’s refusal to stay in her own infirmary amused her. Doctor Warner had only released her on the proviso that she had someone stay with her; Sam had volunteered. She had always liked the petite doctor and enjoyed working with her but somehow the events of the day had cemented the embryonic friendship between them.

Janet rolled her brown eyes expressively. ‘Doctors make the worst patients, haven’t you heard?’ She led the way into her house switching on lights as she went. She was headed to the kitchen.

Sam dumped her overnight bag in the hall and followed the doctor. She found her wrestling with a milk carton which wasn’t going well given Janet was one-handed. ‘Here. Let me get that.’

‘Thanks.’ Janet relinquished her place. She slid into a wooden dining chair and watched the other woman open the carton, dump the contents in the pan Janet had put out ready and set it on the stove. ‘I thought some warm milk might help me relax before I head up to bed.’

‘What about your painkillers?’ Sam asked, slightly amused at the turn around of roles.

‘I’ve got some to take.’ Janet admitted, easing her arm out of the sling. ‘Hopefully, the combination will knock me out.’ She gestured with a nod of her head at Sam. ‘What about you?’

‘I’m good.’ Sam said, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the kitchen counter.

Janet’s medical eye ran over the too bright eyes and flushed cheeks. The Captain was probably still coming down from the adrenaline high of the battle and the heady sense of achievement, she mused, and no wonder. The commendation recommendation from the General and the approval of the Captain’s CO, Colonel O’Neill, had almost sent the younger woman spinning into the stratosphere with pride and delight. There was no doubt in Janet’s mind that the latter was the one Sam had most wanted and appreciated. She had positively glowed when Colonel O’Neill had invited them both to dinner with the rest of SG1 to ostensibly celebrate their victory and the commendation.

The meal at O’Malley’s had been a nice end to the day, Janet mused. The SG1 team were an interesting bunch and Janet wasn’t averse to spending the evening with three cute guys even when one of them was a ninety-eight year old Jaffa. She winced. Teal’c had hardly shown any signs of his injuries unlike her, she thought wryly, but then he had the assistance of a Goa’uld larva to help him heal and despite the pain she was in, Janet figured it would be a cold day in hell before she volunteered to have a Goa’uld inside of her. She wouldn’t have minded a go in the sarcophagus though. It was a shame Hathor had blown it up.

The dull thud of a mug hitting the surface of the table beside her had her looking up in startled realisation that she had drifted off into her own thoughts. ‘Sorry.’ Janet said as she grasped the mug and blew on the milk to cool it slightly before taking a sip.

Sam slipped into the chair opposite her. ‘You seemed miles away.’

Janet noticed Sam had poured herself a mug of warm milk with silent approval. ‘I was thinking about the sarcophagus.’ She admitted.

‘Yeah.’ Sam sighed. ‘I would have loved to have gotten a look at what makes one of those things tick.’

The doctor smiled at the calculating look in Sam’s blue eyes. Her godson had gotten the same look in his eye just before he had taken the toaster apart. ‘Personally I wouldn’t have minded a go in it.’

Sam smiled sympathetically. ‘I can’t believe it managed to heal Colonel O’Neill.’

Janet nodded and took another sip of milk. ‘I know.’ She grimaced remembering the flaps of flesh in the Colonel’s abdomen indicative of a Jaffa Goa’uld pouch. She’d had the dubious honour of sticking her hand in to ensure a larva hadn’t entered it. She sighed. Her memories were more vivid than the Colonel’s. It seemed the drug Hathor had used to control the men had made their memories of what had happened vague and fuzzy. Janet figured that was a good thing.

‘I’ve lost you again.’ Sam said wryly.

Janet smiled apologetically. ‘I was just thinking it was a good thing that the guys don’t really remember much of what happened to them.’

‘Yeah.’ Sam agreed, shifting her position a little. Her hand stroked the warm ceramic of the mug she held. As frustrating as it was for the guys not to remember, she knew it was probably better if they didn’t. ‘They seem to be handling what they do remember OK.’

Janet nodded. ‘Although I wouldn’t be surprised if we some fallout in the next couple of days.’ Her lips twisted wryly. ‘I can see the testosterone levels rising as the men try to prove they are men.’

Sam made a face. ‘Great. I think I’m glad we have that mission to P8X987 to join SG7.’ She was looking forward to getting back to normal. The mission to observe a black hole during an eclipse would be SG1’s first after their encounter with a fish-like alien who had made them believe Daniel had died while he had kept the archaeologist hostage. Their recall to the base with the delivery of the sarcophagus had effectively brought them off stand down a day early.

‘That’s if the gate room’s cleared up in time.’ Janet murmured.

‘Right. I think the General plans…’ Sam stopped as she caught the pain gleam momentarily in Janet’s brown eyes. ‘You should probably head up to bed. You have to be wiped out.’

‘Pretty much.’ Janet admitted. Her eyes fell on Sam. ‘You should get some rest too. From what the Colonel said you took a quite a blow from Hathor back in the locker room.’

Sam shrugged. ‘Just some bruises. I’m fine.’ She saw the sceptical look creep across the doctor’s face. ‘But you’re right.’ She said hurriedly. ‘I am tired. I’ll just clear up down here first.’

Janet nodded slowly. ‘Spare room’s on the left at the top of the stairs. Bathroom’s across the hall. It’s all made up so…’

‘I’ll be fine, Janet.’ Sam said. ‘Do you need a hand?’

Janet shook her head. ‘I’ll see you in the morning. ‘Night.’

‘Night.’ Sam replied. She waited until Janet had gone upstairs before she got up from the table and cleared away the small amount of debris from making the milk. She wiped the surfaces off and threw the cloth back in the sink before turning round to stare at the empty kitchen.

She was buzzed.

If she’d been in her own home she would have taken her motorcycle out, she mused. Ridden off some of the energy. She sighed, poured a glass of water and headed out of the kitchen. She followed Janet’s instructions and easily found the spare room. She prepared for bed, visited the bathroom and paused on the landing; the light was off beneath Janet’s door.

Sam shook her head. The doctor had to be exhausted. She closed the door on the pretty blue and yellow room she was staying in and climbed into the bed. It was extremely comfortable and Sam surprised herself with an unexpected yawn. She snapped the light off and burrowed under the covers.

The events of the day flashed through her head and she found her mind ticking over everything that had happened. She sighed. Thank God, Daniel didn’t remember much. She didn’t think he’d want to dwell on his acquiescence to Hathor’s every whim and especially on how the Goa’uld had extracted Daniel’s DNA to make Goa’uld infants. She pulled a face as she remembered how she had found him almost comatose with shock in Hathor’s quarters. Had Hathor used some technology to extract his DNA or had they…? Sam shivered. She hoped for Daniel’s sake it was the former although either way, Daniel had effectively been raped although she doubted he would categorise it as such.

As a woman in a frontline team, Sam was under no illusion that she ran the risk of rape every time she stepped through the gate. It was a brutal form of torture and, with a woman, the most direct form of subjugation. She had been lucky so far, Sam considered. Her early experience with the Shavadai and the warlord Turghan had been the only real moment of danger for her. There was no doubt in her mind that Turghan would have raped her if her team hadn’t shown up to rescue her. But all in all she had been luckier than her male team members.

It could be argued the Colonel had been raped on Argos even if Kynthia had believed the acceptance of the cake was consent; Jack hadn’t known what the cake represented. She rubbed her nose. Given the Colonel’s attitude afterwards towards Kynthia, Sam figured he didn’t consider his experience to be rape, not that he had ever volunteered the information and not that she would ever ask. She sighed heavily and turned in the bed. She could only hope Daniel would be able to come to terms with his experience however he decided to view it personally. All she could do was be there for him, she mused.

She felt a wave of guilt at not having prevented it – whatever it was – from happening. She should have acted sooner, she thought regretfully. She shouldn’t have waited until the Colonel’s dismissal of her concerns had sent her in a huff to look up Hathor for herself; she should have done it after Daniel had brought Hathor to the briefing room and the whole bizarre introduction of her to the rest of them. She sighed again and pleated the quilt between her fingers. Maybe if she had acted sooner, she could have prevented what had happened to Daniel and to the Colonel. Jack had looked just as shell-shocked at being made a Jaffa as Daniel had about what had happened to him.

She altered position again and stared sightlessly up at the ceiling. The day had given her a better understanding of the pressures that the Colonel operated under on a daily basis, she realised ruefully. She had led teams before in exercises and quite often on scientific projects but never in a real battle situation. Suddenly finding herself as the ranking officer in charge of a small team of female personnel trying to win back the base from a Goa’uld had been a little daunting. Thank God, she’d had Teal’c and Janet helping her; the Jaffa’s steady presence had calmed her as had Janet’s slightly older and wiser head. Sam was able to admit, if only to herself, that when the sarcophagus had cured Colonel O’Neill of Hathor’s control along with the rest of his physiology, she could quite happily have cheered; it had been a relief to hand the mantle of ‘leader’ back to him. She wasn’t quite ready for it, she mused; maybe in a couple of years. At least she was learning from the best; she had a renewed respect for her CO and it would seem he had a renewed respect for her.

The smile crept across her face before she could stop it. ‘Nice job.’ The simple two words rang through her mind and she hugged the quilt to her. Sam knew the Colonel had doubted her abilities when she’d first been assigned to SG1 and she had worked hard to gain his approval especially as she had been the only member of the team that he hadn’t chosen himself. Logically she had known for a while that her CO had changed his opinion of her. It had been evident in the small things; the way he automatically turned to her to fix something, or for an opinion; the steady confidence in her that he displayed when he gave her an order; the increased tolerance for her technobabble; the way their relationship had shifted away from the rigid formality that had edged their first few months of working together. But, she realised, that moment in the locker room when Colonel O’Neill had uttered those two little words had been the first time she had felt deep down in her bones like she had his unequivocal approval. The warm brown gaze looking over at her proudly hadn’t hurt either.

Sam sighed and turned over again. OK, so it was hard not to notice her CO was an attractive guy. He was in good shape as the smooth plane of his stomach had aptly demonstrated when she had checked to ensure the Jaffa pouch had been eliminated by the sarcophagus. He had a face that spoke of a life rich with experience and a personality filled with character and those eyes…she shifted restlessly. This was wrong. He was her CO. They couldn’t have a relationship. The thought froze her into stillness.

She frowned. Where had that come from? Sure, she found him attractive, respected the hell out of him and, on a personal level, liked him – he was a smart, charming and funny guy beneath all the layers of military soldier – but a relationship? Sure he might flirt with her a little but it meant nothing because it had to mean nothing; the regulations would never allow anything else. Actually, she thought, if she did want to engage in a little harmless flirting, the Colonel was probably the safest option. She shook her head. She was going crazy. Or maybe she was developing a crush. Oh, that was so bad. Take a step away from that precipice, Sam, she told herself firmly. No crush. Not on the Colonel. Why couldn’t she be attracted to Daniel? No, that was just as bad – he was married as was Teal’c.

She started to giggle; the thought of her being attracted to the Jaffa striking her as deeply funny. God, she liked older men but a ninety-eight year old was probably pushing it a little. The fit of laughter settled her and she turned over in the bed again, snuggling purposely and with determination into the pillow. She was having a mad moment, she decided, just because she finally felt like the Colonel truly, completely and whole-heartedly accepted her. That’s all it was. She drifted off to sleep replaying his words in her head again.

o-O-o

Jack O’Neill’s eyes snapped wide open and stared sightlessly at the shadows in his bedroom as he tried to regain his breath. Awareness came back with swift brutality and his hands immediately went to his stomach, pulling up the sweat-stained cotton of his t-shirt to stroke trembling over the intact flesh and skin. No pouch. He wasn’t a Jaffa. The words repeated in his head like a talismanic chant. He pushed the covers back and sat for a moment on the side of the bed. He rubbed his hands over his face.

The nightmare was worse because he knew with a surety borne of his soul that it wasn’t a nightmare; it was the memory of what had happened that day unburied from his subconscious in sleep. Or maybe the fog left over from whatever drug Hathor had used to control them had worn off. Either way he could remember the day with the detail written vivid and graphic in his mind. He could remember her touch in the briefing room; suddenly looking at her and thinking incongruously that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen when only a moment before he’d been wondering whether Hammond and Daniel had caught the crazy bug. He winced.

He remembered the way he had brushed off Carter’s concerns about Hathor but how the conversation had prompted him to go to the Goa’uld; ‘You have me a little off balance.’ Off balance. He clasped his head hard as the feel of her as she pulled him into an embrace and the searing pain in his gut that had followed shot back into his mind. He got to his feet and stumbled across the hall into the bathroom. He retched into the sink until he didn’t think he had a stomach lining left. He cleaned up, brushed his teeth and splashed cold water on his face. Well, getting back to sleep was probably not going to happen, Jack thought reviewing his tired expression in the mirror. He couldn’t resist the urge to check his stomach again; he lifted the t-shirt and lowered the waistband of the pyjama bottoms he wore. Still not a Jaffa. He sighed and left the bathroom, snapping off the light.

He stilled in the corridor. Something was wrong. His brown eyes narrowed as he checked the darkness. The door to the spare room; it was open. He frowned. Daniel was staying with him while he found somewhere to live after losing his apartment during the brief time he had been believed dead on their last mission. If he had remembered what had happened with Hathor then there was the real possibility that Daniel had too, Jack realised. Damn. He took the two steps to bring him flush with the door. He pushed it open with a finger. The empty bed had him whirling around to check the rest of the house.

Crap. Daniel wasn’t anywhere inside. Jack grabbed his coat, shoved his hands into it and opened the front door. He was about to make a cursory check of the garden when some instinct had him looking up to the roof. He froze. Daniel stood on the edge by the telescope Jack had set-up. Damn, damn, damn. Jack raced back into the house and picked up his cell phone. He hit the speed dial.

‘Colonel?’ Carter’s voice was sleepy but curious.

‘Carter, you’re staying with Fraiser right?’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam replied back instinctively responding to the commanding tone in his.

‘Wake her up and get her over here pronto. I think Daniel’s remembered what happened with Hathor.’ Jack ended the call before she could respond.

He hurried out and made his way up the ladder. He slowed as he stepped onto the roof. Daniel was standing right on the edge and he didn’t want to alarm the other man and cause him to lose his footing.

‘Daniel.’ Jack cleared his throat. ‘Whatcha doing up here?’

The other man didn’t reply; he just continued to stare out at the night sky. Jack could see Daniel was still dressed in his sleepwear; pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, his arms were wrapped tightly around himself. His face gleamed white in the darkness; the sharp angles looking tight and pinched. He was without his glasses and his blue eyes seemed dark and glazed in the moonlight.

‘Why don’t you come down?’ Jack coaxed softly. ‘You have to be cold up here.’

Nothing.

Jack sighed and moved a step closer; just close enough that if Daniel slipped or…or…slipped, Jack thought firmly, he would be able to grab him. He settled into wait and prayed Carter would turn up with Fraiser quickly.

It was another tense fifteen minutes before Jack heard the squeal of brakes in his driveway and the sound of car doors opening and slamming shut. He glanced over at Daniel. He stood stock-still with only the faintest of dazed expressions on his face. Jack had tried talking to him again but he couldn’t get a response.

His eyes flickered over to the ladder at the sound of someone approaching and he breathed out deeply when he saw Sam. She had obviously responded to the urgency in his voice because she hadn’t bothered smoothing her blonde hair which was mussed from sleep and she was wearing the female version of his and Daniel’s sleepwear – a simple vest top over matching pyjama bottoms. Her feet were incongruously clothed in sneakers. Jack looked down at his and Daniel’s bare feet. Shoes. He should have thought of that.

‘Sir.’ Sam kept her voice low. ‘What happened?’

‘The damn drug wore off and we remembered everything.’ Jack growled frustrated. He shoved his hand through his hair. ‘He won’t talk to me.’ He hated the slight note of panic that had crept into his words.

‘Let me try, sir. Janet thinks he’s probably just deeply in shock.’

‘Where’s Fraiser?’ Jack asked impatiently.

‘On the ground, sir. She can’t come up the ladder with her arm.’ Sam moved slightly more towards Daniel and Jack had to stop himself from reaching out and pulling her back. ‘Daniel.’ She took another step. ‘It’s me, Sam.’

Jack saw the flicker of recognition hit the other man’s features. Thank God, Jack thought, she was actually getting through to him.

‘Sam?’ Daniel’s querulous tone was more suited to a young child than a grown man but Jack would take it.

‘Yes and the Colonel’s right here with me too.’ Sam said. ‘What are you doing up here?’

Daniel looked back at them and then back out at the night sky. His jaw worked for a long moment. ‘Dream.’ He managed eventually. He shook his head violently and the movement caused him to slip.

He teetered perilously on the edge, arms waving wildly.

Jack and Sam both reached forward and snatched him back. The momentum had them all falling back on the roof’s hard surface in a tangle of arms and legs.

Sam started to breath again. ‘Are you alright, sir?’

‘Peachy.’ Jack said, recovering his own breath. ‘Give me a hand here, Carter.’ He held a hand out and she helped pull him to his feet. They both reached down to help Daniel and they manoeuvred him down the ladder where Janet met them with a warm blanket that she threw over Daniel’s shoulders.

‘Help me get him into the car.’ She said. ‘I’ve informed the base to expect us.’

Jack adjusted the blanket more firmly around Daniel and walked him over to the doctor’s sedan lowering him into a back seat.

Sam ran round to get into the driver’s seat and Jack saw Janet move to sit next to her patient leaving the front passenger seat for him. He climbed in wearily. He flipped open his cell phone as they set off.

‘We’ve already called the base and asked General Hammond to recall all male personnel, sir.’ Sam said seeing the move.

Jack closed his phone. ‘Good thinking.’ He sneaked a glance into the back. Daniel was staring out of the side window ignoring Janet as she resolutely checked his vitals despite her handicap. ‘How is he?’

Janet gave a little shake of her head as though to say ‘not here.’

Jack sighed and turned his attention back to the road. He wondered how fast Sam was going as the dark tarmac whizzed past and his eyes flickered to the speedometer. They widened abruptly. ‘Carter, you’re speeding. A lot.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Sam didn’t take her eyes off the road and her hands remained steady on the steering wheel. ‘Don’t worry, sir. I used to race speed cars when I was younger.’

‘Of course you did.’ Jack muttered.

‘Sir, exactly what happened?’ Janet asked.

‘I think the drug wore off while we were sleeping.’ Jack answered briefly. ‘I woke up from a nightmare and I knew I’d just been reliving the past day.’ He couldn’t prevent the small pat of his stomach. Not a Jaffa. ‘I got up. Discovered Daniel’s bed was empty. I called Carter. You know the rest.’

‘Janet, when Daniel came to on the roof briefly he said ‘dream’ when we asked him what he was doing up there.’ Sam added. ‘If he did remember everything that happened…’ her eyes met Janet’s in the rear view mirror.

‘What?’ Jack asked seeing the exchange.

‘Not now, Colonel.’ Janet said firmly.

Jack turned around to argue with her and at the stern look in her eyes subsided. The rest of the journey was made in silence. The entrance to the base was still relatively clear and Jack breathed a sigh of relief. They were greeted by Teal’c and two of Janet’s staff. Daniel was placed firmly on a gurney before being rushed down to the infirmary. Teal’c and Sam were kindly but firmly told to wait outside as the medical staff attended to Daniel while Jack was escorted protesting into another examination room for his own check-up.

He rejoined them twenty minutes later, looking disgruntled and grumpy. Teal’c was stood at attention by the infirmary door. Sam rested against the wall opposite, her arms crossed over her chest tightly. Jack took a section of wall next to her, leaning his shoulder tiredly on the concrete.

‘Any news?’ He asked.

Sam shook her head and adjusted her stance a little. ‘No, sir.’

Jack looked over at her and her lack of apparel hit him full force. Up on the roof with the danger of Daniel falling he’d been able to ignore that she wore only her sleepwear. He cleared his throat and offered her the jacket he was carrying. ‘You have to be cold, Carter.’

Sam looked at him a little startled. She hadn’t noticed the cold on the roof or when driving but standing in the corridor she had become more and more aware of her lack of clothing. ‘Yes, sir. Thank you.’ She took the jacket and put it on gratefully.

‘You should remember to pick up a coat next time.’ Jack said idly.

‘If you remember to pick up shoes, sir.’ Sam responded with a smile.

Jack looked down at his still bare feet and smiled ruefully. He was saved from a reply by the infirmary door opening and the nurse ushering them inside.

Janet beckoned them over to the bed where Daniel was curled up. ‘We’ve sedated him. He’s sleeping.’ She sighed. ‘We’re hoping he’ll be slightly more responsive when he wakes up.’

‘Do you think this shock has something to do with what he said about that Goa’uld DNA being mostly his?’ Jack asked bluntly.

Janet and Sam exchanged a look.

‘Quite honestly, we don’t know, sir. Anything we say would be a guess.’ Janet replied.

‘Daniel Jackson spent a great deal of time alone with Hathor.’ Teal’c commented. ‘We are unable to determine exactly what may have occurred between them.’

Janet sighed. ‘I’m going to move Daniel to a side room. The first recalled personnel have started arriving topside and we’re going to get really busy in here.’ She looked at them ruefully. ‘I won’t have the staff to sit with Doctor Jackson so…’

Jack waved at her. ‘We’ll sit with him.’

Teal’c nodded. ‘Indeed.’ He turned his attention to his team-mates. ‘I will watch Daniel Jackson while you and Captain Carter use this time to change, O’Neill.’

Jack looked over at Sam wryly; guess that told them. ‘Right, Teal’c.’

In the end, with the base routine disturbed, one or two of them were pulled from their vigil occasionally to deal with some other task; both Sam and Jack took a shift in charge of the gate room; Sam went off to deal with an explosion in one of the labs and Teal’c was called into gate room guard duty. When Daniel finally stirred, Jack was pleased to find himself alone with the archaeologist.

‘Hey.’ Jack leaned forward.

Daniel’s blue eyes blinked at him and he rubbed his hand over his face. ‘Jack?’ His face creased in confusion. Why was he in the infirmary? Recollection was swift. Hathor. The dream. The roof. Hathor. He gave a small moan of embarrassment and turned his face into the pillow.

‘You remember…’ Jack gestured awkwardly, ‘everything?’

‘Yeah.’ Daniel mumbled. ‘Everything.’

‘Look, Daniel,’ Jack began determinedly.

‘Don’t.’ Daniel begged.

‘I know how you’re feeling here.’

‘Jack.’ He burrowed further under the covers.

‘Remember Argos, Daniel?’ Jack asked.

Daniel peeked over the covers. ‘Argos? What’s Argos got to do with this?’

‘Kynthia? The cake?’ Jack said waving his hands. ‘Ring any bells?’

‘Oh.’ Daniel struggled with the covers and sat up. His blurry eyes met Jack’s. He frowned. ‘But afterwards, I mean, not immediately afterwards, but,’ he gestured, ‘afterwards, you seemed fine about what happened.’

‘Well, I wasn’t.’ Jack confessed. ‘Exactly.’ Daniel looked at him with concern. Jack sighed. There was no doubt in his mind that Daniel was now diverted onto what had happened with Jack and had stopped dwelling at least for a moment on his own experience with Hathor. That had been Jack’s intention but it didn’t stop him squirming in his chair. ‘I was embarrassed, Daniel. I’m a seasoned veteran and I got taken in by a pretty face.’

‘You can’t blame yourself for what happened.’ Daniel stated.

‘You’re not?’ Jack shot back.

Daniel flushed.

‘You didn’t have a choice, Daniel.’ Jack said. ‘I did, at least, choose to eat the cake.’

‘You didn’t know it was drugged.’ Daniel pointed out.

‘No I didn’t.’ Jack admitted. ‘And you had no way of knowing the crazy lady you were trying to be nice to was really a Goa’uld who was about to drug you.’

‘At least Kynthia didn’t mean to…’

‘To what? Rape me?’ He said bluntly causing Daniel to flinch. ‘And yet that’s what she did.’

Daniel was looking anywhere but at him and Jack was absurdly grateful. It was the first time he had actually come right out and actually voiced the truth about what had happened to him on Argos. ‘Look, I’m not saying my experience was exactly the same as yours but on the basics…I understand.’

‘Hathor. She…’ Daniel thrust his hair into his hands and flushed bright red again. ‘We…’

‘I know.’ Jack said quietly.

‘Does everybody know?’ Daniel asked, slumping back on his pillows.

‘I think Sam and Teal’c have an idea. The Doc.’ Jack shrugged. ‘No one else.’

Daniel gave a huge sigh and looked over at him. ‘How did you…’ he gestured, ‘afterwards?’

Jack shrugged. ‘I convinced myself that I’d eaten the cake so as far as local custom was concerned I consented therefore I consented so what happened wasn’t…’ he struggled to say the word again.

‘Rape.’ Daniel supplied.

Jack nodded. ‘Fraiser had a lovely term for it: non-consensual sex.’

‘Great.’ Daniel muttered. He tried it out in his head. He had engaged in non-consensual sex with Hathor. ‘I thought she was Sha’re. In my head. When it happened.’ He closed his eyes. He clapped his hands over his face and groaned. ‘God, I can’t even stay faithful to my wife!’

‘Getting raped isn’t being unfaithful, Daniel.’ Jack said forcefully. ‘You know that.’

‘What about on the Land of Light with Melosia?’ Daniel reminded him.

‘You were under the influence of an alien virus, Daniel.’ Jack said. ‘Carter and I almost ended up having sex that time. If I’d succumbed to the virus a couple of hours earlier at the same time she did, we probably would have.’

‘So did not need that image.’ Daniel mumbled. He lowered his hands. ‘As cliché as this sounds I think I want a shower.’

‘Down the hall.’ Jack replied simply.

Daniel nodded and shoved the covers back. He stopped suddenly and frowned. ‘Did you remember what happened to you yesterday?’

‘Being turned into a Jaffa?’ Jack asked dryly. ‘Oh yeah.’ He shrugged. ‘Freaked me right out.’

‘Yeah.’ Daniel saw Jack’s hand slide towards his stomach surreptitiously and suppressed his smile, sympathetic though it was. ‘I’m…’ he waved a hand in the direction of the door.

‘You know Fraiser told me after Argos that I should talk to someone. She’ll probably make you the same offer.’ Jack said casually as he stood up.

Daniel paused with his hand on the door handle. ‘I thought I was talking to someone.’ He said catching Jack’s gaze firmly.

Jack nodded in understanding.

‘Thanks, Jack.’ Daniel said quietly.

Jack shrugged. ‘You should really thank Carter.’ He caught Daniel’s questioning gaze. ‘If it wasn’t for her we’d be living our nightmares.’

Daniel shuddered. ‘I don’t even want to think about it.’ He said as they stepped out into the corridor.

‘Me either.’ Jack admitted. ‘Me either.’ His hand slipped over his stomach one last time.

fin.