The Present

by Danny SGC

Jack finds the perfect gift for Daniel, but lives to regret it. (Sequel to The Lioness' Challenge)

The Present

By Danny (SGC)

Caitlin stood in the store's aisle watching Daniel decide which coffee he wanted. People were milling around moaning about the price of this, the availability of that, the probability that Betty-sue would run off with Joe from the grocery section. All blissfully unaware that the man staring at the jars of caffeine fix frequently risked his life to preserve their right to discuss such trivial nonsense. It was so surreal.

She was frozen to the spot, desperately trying to control an overwhelming desire to scream at these people and to tell them that every moment of their insignificant existence the men and women of the SGC fought to protect that very way of life.

A large woman pushed past her, knocking the jar of strawberry jam that Caitlin was carrying out of her hand. Caitlin watched as it fell to the floor, as if in slow motion. As it hit the hard, tiled floor, the glass shattered, splattering the ground with its thick, red contents like blood spilling from a fresh staff weapon wound.

Caitlin just stared at the mess, mesmerised by the shimmering, red gunk that had spread across the floor. Her mind filled with images of Daniel's recent shoulder wound, of Jack's whip scars, of Daniel's leg wound from when he'd been shot by that crazy soldier. She stared, tears rolling slowly down her face.

Daniel was just about to make up his mind about which brand to pick when he heard the sound of breaking glass. He looked towards the noise. It was Caitlin, she'd dropped a jar of jam. It wasn't the mess on the floor that made Daniel run to Caitlin's side, it was the deathly white colour of her face. Side stepping the jam, Daniel took a firm hold of her arm. "Caitlin, are you alright? Did you cut yourself?"

Caitlin continued to stare at the floor. Daniel gently placed his hand on the side of her face and turned her head so that she was looking at him. "Caitlin?" He was really worried now. She was looking straight through him, the tracks of tears glistening on her cheeks. People were starting to look at them. Daniel shook her arm and said, his voice hard and urgent, "Caitlin!"

Caitlin blinked, the images of death and carnage melting from her sight to be replaced by the frown of a rather perturbed Daniel. "Caitlin, what's wrong?" She looked past Daniel at the nosy onlookers gathering around the pair. She shook her head, panic washing through her body. She mumbled, "Nothing. I..I just need some fresh air." She pushed past Daniel, "I'll be by the car." And headed out of the store, leaving a confused Daniel staring after her.

Caitlin burst out through the store door and gulped down lung fulls of fresh, clean air. She walked over to the Landrover and lent against the side, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, trying to push the panic back down inside. Ben pushed his nose out through the car window and licked her ear. She reached up and stroked his head. Her breathing steadied and she slid down to sit on the running board of the four by four, burying her head in her hands.

+++++++++

Daniel walked across the car park, carrying a bag of groceries. When he reached the Landrover, he put the bag on the bonnet and crouched down in front of Caitlin. He gently placed his hands around her wrists and removed her hands from her face. "What's wrong?"

She looked into those wonderful blue eyes, full of concern, and smiled. She was instantly rewarded with one of those dancing smiles that lit his eyes. He repeated his question, letting her wrists go and resting his hands on her knees. The smile on Caitlin's lips disappeared, as she reached up and traced the yellowing bruise that ran along Daniel's jaw line. Her hand dropped away to his left shoulder and he flinched at her touch, the wound still fresh and angry beneath his shirt and the heavy bandaging. Tears appeared in Caitlin's eyes again and she moved her hand away.

Daniel reached up and took hold of Caitlin's retreating hand, squeezing it gently as if to reassure her he was ok, really. With his other hand he brushed the tears from her face and then lifted her gently to her feet. He asked his question again, determined to get an answer.

Caitlin hesitated and then said, "How can you do all this?" She waved vaguely at the bag of groceries on the car's bonnet. She turned back to Daniel, her eyes on his bruise. "Yesterday, you were.."

Daniel placed his fingers gently on Caitlin's lips, halting her words. "We have to do this stuff. This real life stuff. Its what's keeps you from going over the edge. Day to day, routine stuff. It stops you from disappearing into the abyss left by everything else." He smiled, moving his hand away, "Jack taught me that." Laughing he added, "But don't tell him I was listening!"

Daniel could see Caitlin wasn't convinced, so he tried again. " When your parents died, what kept you going for those first few days? Routine. Get up, shower, brush your teeth, try not to think about the dark stuff. It gave you time to get to a point when you could go to your mountain and deal with the bad bits." He walked over and picked up the bag. "Routine. Like shopping for coffee." He laughed again. "Anyway, you wouldn't like the caffeine deficient me! Way too scary!"

This time Caitlin laughed. He was right, of course, she thought, about the routine stuff. It was just, one minute they're fighting for their lives the next they were buying coffee! She watched as Daniel placed the groceries on the back seat of the Landrover, trying unsuccessfully to push away Ben's enthusiastic but soggy greeting. He closed the car door and walked back over to Caitlin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the forehead. Caitlin responded by hugging him and burying her head in his neck. "Oh, Daniel," she whispered.

She held him tight not wanting to let go. She had him back and she intended to keep it that way!

++++++++++++

Jack pulled his jeep to a stop by the tatty looking building at the end of the small collection of downtown stores. He had overheard someone in the commissary talking about this place and how it was full of strange little niknaks, just the sort of place to find a birthday present for the archaeologist who has everything including the ability to travel billions of miles across the galaxy!

He jumped down from the vehicle and strode across to the store's entrance. As he pushed the door open, a bell sounded from the back announcing his arrival. The room was chock full of, well, stuff. There was no one thing the shop had, more a vast, varied collection of Stuff. All kinds of stuff, piled up in not so tidy piles, every space filled with some strange looking object. Jack walked slowly through the only clear pathway that led to the rear of the shop, looking at all the things, picking some up and wondering what they were or why someone would want to buy them.

"Hello, can I help you?"

Jack whirled round at the sound of the voice. An old man stood by a small desk at the back of the store, smiling, an enquiring look on his face.

"ErYeah." Jack put the thing' he had in his hand back down where he'd found it and rubbed the dust from his hands. Then he looked across at the man, "Yeah, I'm, er, looking for something for an, er, archaeologist as a birthday present. Oh, yeah, and he's also into languages, you know, German, Egyptian, whatever. Any ideas?" He said, waving vaguely at the piles of oddities.

The old man pondered for a moment and then, moving past Jack, walked over to a dusty looking bookcase. He scanned the titles and then reached up taking a book from one of the shelves. "This was my grandfather's." He gently brushed the dust from the beautiful, leather bound hardback. "He was interested in old ruins." He passed the book to Jack, adding, "Does your friend speak Russian?"

Jack took the offered volume. "Er, yeah, I think so, yes." Jack turned the book over in his hands. Even to his untrained eye, he could see it was a thing of beauty, never mind the quality of the contents. It was bound in a dark, red leather with gold coloured writing, intricately painted on the front, back and spine. Jack allowed the book to flop open, revealing intriguing plates and diagrams.

"The book documents various digs that took place throughout Russia prior to the First World War. My grandfather was very fond of it. I think your friend would appreciate and understand why he loved it so."

Jack smiled, Daniel was gonna love this! "I'll take it, it's perfect!"

++++++++++

Daniel winced as Caitlin removed the dressing from his repaired shoulder. It had been nearly a week since their return from Sekhesia and Doctor Frasier's repair job was healing beautifully.

"Don't be such a baby." Caitlin gently chided. "It's healing fine. It won't need another dressing, but be careful your top doesn't rub it." She pulled the last of the sticking plaster off.

"Ouch!" Daniel moved his right hand up to his shoulder protectively.

"Arhh," Caitlin cooed. "Does the little plaster hurt? Aww, I'll kiss it better." And she leant forward and gently kissed the healing wound.

"That's better." Daniel said, his voice a little sulky at her less than sincere words.

Caitlin smirked at his little childish pout and added in a slightly mocking voice, "Aarh, does it hurt anywhere else, my brave little soldier?"

Daniel looked sideways at her, allowing one of his infamous smiles to dance across his lips. "Well, since you ask." And he grabbed her, pulling her down on to him as he fell back, sinking into the couch.

Caitlin laughed, kissing him full on the lips, excited by the eager response.

They lay in each other's arms, relishing the intimate contact. Caitlin couldn't have been happier. She loved this wonderful man more than she thought possible and he returned her affection with the same depth of passion that he thought would never re-awaken inside him again.

Caitlin tilted her head to gaze up into those eyes, sighing as she did so. "Come on, we can't stay here all day."

Daniel smiled, mischievously, "Oh, yeah. Where do you suggest we go then?"

"Daniel, behave!" She sat up, pulling from his embrace. "You know what I mean, the others will be here soon."

Daniel reached up and gently ran his fingers down Caitlin's back, sending shivers down her spine. "And there I was thinking you were about to offer me your birthday present!"

"Daniel!" She pushed his hand way, turning to him. He lay there, the smile on his lips reflected in his eyes. She would dearly love to have dragged him off to the bedroom, but their guests would be here any minute.

Daniel noted the longing look in Caitlin's eyes, betraying the cross one on her face. He laughed, sat up, kissed her on the forehead and stood up. "Come on, stop sitting around, they'll be here soon!"

The flying cushion hit him squarely in the middle of his retreating back.

+++++++++++++

Jack knocked on the door to Daniel's apartment, Sam and Teal'c waiting behind him. Daniel opened the door, inviting them in.

Jack slapped Daniel on the back, "Happy Birthday, Danny-boy." Then, looking past him, "Where are the beers?"

As Jack moved on into the room, Sam entered, hugging Daniel in greeting and kissing his cheek. She smiled, "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks," Daniel beamed.

Sam followed the colonel and Teal'c stepped up to Daniel. Bowing his head, he said, "Greetings, DanielJackson, it is an honour to be at the celebration of your birth."

"Thank you, Teal'c."

Jack took the offered bottle of beer from Caitlin, "Thanks, cheers."

"Sam?"

"Thanks." Sam took the bottle.

"Come on, Danny-boy, its pressie time," Jack said, gleefully, as he sunk into one of the chairs opposite the couch.

Daniel grinned and when to sit next to Sam on the couch. Teal'c sat in the chair next to the colonel and Caitlin perched on the arm of the couch next to Daniel.

"Ok, who's first?" Jack's enthusiasm bought a smile to Sam's face. He'd been looking like the cat that had got the cream ever since returning from his little shopping trip. Sam turned to Daniel and handed over her gift.

Daniel took the offered gift, a silly grin plastered all over his face. It was great to have all his friends around him to help him celebrate his birthday, a strong reminder that despite everything, here they all were alive and well. He turned his attention back to the gift and unwrapped it. It was a Er "I'm sorry, Sam, what is it?"

Sam laughed, "It's a Palm Pilot. A PIM." Noting Daniel's still puzzled expression, she continued. "A Personal Information Manager. Here let me show you." She took the small electronic device and extracted the steel stylo from the rear of the device, tapping it on the screen. The device leapt into life. "Look, you can use it to record addresses, phone numbers and stuff. You can send and receive e-mails, make notes and use it as a diary. You can also download lots of extra programs to it from the Internet, such as dictionaries and games."

Jack's ears pricked up, "Oooo, games?"

Sam shot him a withering look and then turned back to Daniel, "The best bit is if you use it to make notes while we're off-world then when you get back you can download it straight in to your computer."

"Hey, that's clever! Thanks, Sam, but you'll have to show me how to use it." And he leant over and kissed her cheek.

"That's ok, Daniel, I hope it's of use."

Jack looked expectantly at Teal'c, clearly expecting him to go next. Teal'c stepped forward and passed Daniel a box.

"Thank you, Teal'c." Opening the box, Daniel reached in and lifted out a beautifully carved wooden bird. It looked like a bald eagle in flight, carrying a flower in its talons.

Sam gasped, "It's beautiful."

Teal'c bowed, acknowledging the compliment, "It is from Chulak. The animal is a Kaylak and represents strength and the blossom is from the ancient Sheelar tree which represents everlasting friendship."

"I'm honoured, thank you, Teal'c." Daniel said, truly grateful for the gift, not just for its beauty but for what it stood for.

A small smile played on Teal'cs normally impassive lips, "You are welcome, DanielJackson."

Caitlin took the carving from Daniel and placed it in the centre of the mantelpiece. It really was an exquisite ornament.

Jack beamed, "My turn now, Danny-boy." And he handed over his gift.

Daniel was intrigued, Jack was obviously pleased with his purchase. Daniel unwrapped the present, a little nervously. Inside was an old, leather bound hardback, with gold coloured writing on it. It was in lovely condition, one just didn't find books like this anymore. The title was written in Russian and said Archaeological Excavations - 1890 to 1911'. Daniel opened the book, his eyes lighting up at the contents. "Jack, this is wonderful! Where on earth did you find it?"

Jack was really smiling now. Daniel's reaction was everything he had hoped it would be. "Ya like?"

"I like!" Enthused the young man. "I really like." Then he blushed, "I mean, I like all the presents. Really."

Sam put her hand on his arm, smiling, "We know, Daniel." And they all laughed.

Caitlin disappeared in to the kitchen and returned with a cake with a single candle on it, the flame flickering as she carried it across the room. She placed it on the table in front of the couch.

"Oh, only one candle," Jack mused.

"Yeah, Danny doesn't like to be reminded how old he is." Caitlin laughed.

"Hey!" Daniel poked her in the ribs. "That's not true! It's cos you don't like to be reminded that you're two years older than me!"

Caitlin pulled a face at him and Jack laughed.

As Daniel listened to his friends sing (sing? Well, he used the term loosely) happy birthday to him, he couldn't thing of anywhere in the world, no universe, he would rather be than with the people around him now.

++++++++++++

They all had an enjoyable evening, especially trying to teach Teal'c how to play Monopoly! But Caitlin was glad when everyone finally decided to leave. Her throat was starting to feel sore and she was beginning to feel particularly tired.

As Daniel closed the door behind their retreating guests, he turned to Caitlin and, noticing for the first time how pale she looked, he frowned. "Are you ok?"

Caitlin nodded and walked over to clear the rest of the stuff from the table by the couch. Daniel caught up with her and took her arm, turning her to face him. He held her close, touching his lips to her forehead, feeling the unnaturally high heat in her skin. Then he led her to the bedroom, helping her to undress and tucking her in under the comforter.

Daniel sat on the edge of the bed, gently stroking her head as she eased off to sleep. Then he stood, kissed her gently on the cheek and left the room to finish tidying up.

++++++++++

Janet handed over the bottle of penicillin tablets to Caitlin. "Take one of these four times a day, drink plenty of fluids, rest and keep warm." Then she turned to Daniel, smiling. "And don't forget tonsillitis can be contagious!"

Daniel blushed at the comment, helping the doctor to put her things back in her medical case. "Thanks for coming over this morning."

"Yes, thanks," croaked Caitlin.

Janet patted her arm, "That's OK and rest your voice, it'll only make your throat more sore." Then she stood and followed Daniel out of the bedroom. "She should start feeling better in a couple of days. Will you be able to stay with her, Daniel?"

"Yeah, SG-1 is still on stand down until you pass Jack and I as fit."

"OK, well I'll sign you off for a few more days. Although you seem to be healing fine, the colonel could do with the extra time off, the wounds on his back were a little infected and are taking longer than they should to heal." She shuddered as she remembered the latest set of injuries the two men had returned with. "I'll also sign the sergeant off for a week."

"Thanks, again. Coffee?"

Putting her coat back on, the doctor shook her head, "No, thanks, I'd better get back. Call me if you need anything else." Daniel nodded and showed her to the door.

After the doctor had gone, Daniel checked on Caitlin. She was fast asleep. Good. Getting himself a coffee, he went and sat down on the couch. He looked at the pile of papers he should really be checking through. Mission reports from other SG units that the general wanted him to look over, making sure they weren't missing anything. His eyes strayed to the book Jack had given to him the day before. He picked it up, enjoying the feeling of the old leather bound volume in his hands. I'll just read a little bit and then I'll get on with my work', he thought to himself, opening the book to the first page.

++++++++++

Caitlin had been in bed for the best part of two and half days, Daniel providing drink, food and antibiotics at regular intervals. But now she was feeling a whole lot better and she thought it was about time she got up. Anyway, she wanted to see what Danny had been up to because he had seemed a little distracted even for him. Not that she'd minded, she'd been asleep most of the time.

She got up and showered. It sure felt good to be clean and up on her feet again. Her throat still felt sore and her voice was still a little croaky but she was definitely on the mend. She wandered into the lounge to find Daniel hunched over the table, which was spread with books and papers.

"Danny?" Caitlin said, huskily.

Daniel jumped. "Oh, hi." Then realising it was Caitlin up and about, he jumped up, "Hi! You're up, great!" He kissed her, enthusiasm oozing from every pore. Then he tugged her to the couch, inviting her to sit next to him. Sitting down again, he said, "Come and look what I've found!" And he picked up Jack's birthday present, "You'll never guess what was in this book! It's incredible!"

++++++++++++

Jack looked sideways at General Hammond and then back to Daniel, a puzzled expression on his face. "Let me get this straight," he said, waving his hand at Daniel's birthday present. "You're telling us that this old book I gave you has the location of a gould tomb?"

"Not a tomb, Jack," Daniel enthused. "Teal'c?"

"I believe it is what you would call a weapons depot."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Weapons depot?"

"Yes, O'Neill. A special storage area for Goa'uld weapons which I believe belonged to Ra."

Daniel laid out some enhanced images taken from the book. "Sam helped me with getting computer enhanced versions of the plates used in the book and along with the text recorded by the author, I could extract and translate the Goa'uld writing found at the dig."

"Are you saying that back before WW1 someone had their hands on staff weapons, Doctor Jackson?" The idea clearly perturbed the general.

"Well, no. According to the author, they only found a single large room with various carvings and not much else. Teal'c had a look at the images and believes the room they found is merely the entrance hall." Daniel dug out one of the enhanced images and pointed at a wall with what appeared to be archways drawn on it. "Teal'c believes these are real archways and the walls move away to the side, revealing the rest of the storage facility."

Now the general was interested. "So the weapons, if there are any, could still be there?"

"Yes." Daniel was looking pretty pleased with himself.

"Ok," Jack said. "Where is this alleged weapons store."

"Er, right." Daniel laid out a map of Europe. "It's here, about 23 miles north east of the Russian town, Zhdanov. In the woods overlooking the Sea of Azov."

"Russia? What the hell makes you think Ra and his cronies were in Russia?"

Daniel pointed at the map again. "Well, it isn't so unlikely given that the Sea of Azov connects to the Black Sea which in turn eventually leads out to the Mediterranean Sea, via the Aegean Sea. Teal'c thinks its quite possible that the Goa'uld, Ra, would have a number of these dumps at different, hidden away, strategic places."

Jack looked questioningly at Teal'c, "What are the chances of us meeting any goulds?"

"I believe that situation to be unlikely, O'Neill. The text and images DanielJackson has shown me indicate that this temple belonged to Ra and he would not share its location with any other System Lords."

"Ok, so we get a little on world trip for a change. Sweet." He turned his attention to the general. "Sir?"

Hammond knew how much work Daniel, Sam and Teal'c had put into checking Daniel's latest find and was confident that they were probably right. Ok, the weapons may have been removed by Ra on his departure from Earth, but if there was even a remote chance of finding Goa'uld technology then it was worth the trip. "Ok, SG-1, I will talk to our counterpart in Russia and see if something can be arranged. Thank you everyone, dismissed."

As the general left the conference room to make some calls, Jack reached across the table and picked up Daniel's Russian archaeology book. "Some birthday present, hey, Danny-boy?"

+++++++++++++

It was the following morning before SG-1 was once again sat around the conference table. This time General Hammond addressed those present.

"After much toing and froing, the Russians have agreed to allow us to investigate this archaeological dig. However, they are obviously reluctant to have to explain the presence of US military on Russian soil, excavating one of their sites. Therefore, I have agreed that we will send a civilian' team who will establish the presence of anything of useful. Our Russian contacts will then assist in the retrieval."

"Civilian Team?" Jack queried.

"Yes. The team will consist of yourself, a retired colonel, assistant to the expedition leader, Doctor Jackson and his wife."

"Wife?" This time it was Daniel's turn to query the colonel.

"Assistant!" Jack exclaimed.

Ignoring Jack's protests, the general answered Daniel's question. "Yes, I need a three person team that will not attract unnecessary attention. So I propose you take Sergeant Mitchell." Then he turned to Sam. "Major Carter, you and Teal'c will liaise with our Russian contact, Doctor Markov, making the necessary arrangements to transfer anything the others find."

"Is that Svetlana Markov?" Sam asked.

The general nodded, "Yes. She is looking forward to meeting you all again."

"What's the deal with the Russians?" Jack questioned, ever the cynic.

Hammond smiled to himself, "Your team, colonel, will be accompanied by two Russian Special Forces soldiers and we have agreed to allow them to keep a sample of anything we find in return for full assistance and anonymity." He passed various documents across the table to his team. "These are your travel arrangements. You depart for Moscow in 24 hours."

Jack reached across and picked up the folder with his name on it and looked up at Daniel. "Assistant? Pah." Catching Daniel's little smirk, he added, "And don't think I'm carrying your bags, Doctor Jackson!"

+++++++++

It was another dark, dreary day in the dark, dreary offices of the Russian ministry. The small, insignificant looking man scurried through the corridors, clutching some transportation requests and special export papers, a smug expression on his face.

Disappearing into his office and closing the door behind him, he picked up the phone on his desk and dialled a well remembered number. This information was going to earn him quite a tidy sum.

++++++++++

Daniel closed the door of the suite behind the retreating bellboy and turned to the grinning Caitlin. "Nice room!"

Having parted company with Sam and Teal'c at Moscow, the three remaining SGC members had flown on a private plane down to the southern part of the country and there they'd been met by two Russian officers and driven the last several miles to the town of Zhdanov.

Having been dropped off by their escort, they'd checked into the local hotel without any trouble, except when Jack had found out that Daniel had a suite and not a standard room. He'd got the right hump when the bellboy had offered to take Doctor Jackson's luggage to his room. Ok, so Daniel spoke the same language but there was no need to be so arse licking! Daniel hadn't helped, as he'd obviously made some comment about Jack's behaviour to the Russian, causing him to look nervously at Jack and avoid him even more. Caitlin had struggled to hide her desire to laugh and make the situation worse, especially when Jack shot her a don't forget I'm still a colonel, sergeant!' kind of look. Jack had grabbed his keys and bag and stomped off to his room, saying that he'd meet them at their suite at 19:45.

Caitlin helped Daniel unpack their equipment, the main pieces of which were the laptop and GPS tracking system. This would be their position locator and means of staying in contact with Sam and Teal'c. Daniel checked his watch. Sam would not be in position yet, he'd contact them later, but Caitlin still took the opportunity to check everything was working before they put it away again.

"Alright, we've got 20 minutes before Jack gets here and starts moaning about his room. I'm going to have a quick shower, that was a long flight." Daniel disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Caitlin to ponder the wonders of Russian TV.

+++++++++++

Jack felt a whole lot more human after a shower and change of clothes compared to the hot, crumpled grump that had stepped out of the pick-up truck half an hour ago. He checked his watch as he placed it back on his wrist, 7:40. He unpacked the two automatic pistols from the case that had been supplied with the truck, along with other equipment that they either could not carry or could not bring through customs. He weighed up the gun in his hand, appreciating the fine quality and balance of the Russian piece. With practised ease, he slid the full clip into the handgun and slipped into the shoulder holster that came with it. He placed the gun in its position under his left armpit, smiling to himself at Daniel's protests at the need for Jack and Caitlin to carry sidearms. He could still hear him going on about not being off world and how you didn't need guns on modern day, authorised digs. But Jack had no intention of ever going anywhere without some kind of protection.

He put his jacket on over the holster and, as he was about to pick up the other weapon to take to the sergeant, there was a knock at the door. It was a woman's voice. She was obviously Russian from her accent and she spoke in hesitant, broken English. "Please to make bed?"

Jack looked at the bed. He frowned, it was already made. Oh, he thought, she means turn it down. "OK, just a minute," he called in reply.

He shoved the second gun out of sight under the bed and zipped up his jacket. He walked to the door and opened it.

"What the"

"Welcome to Russia, Mr O'Neill."

Jack was staring at the business end of a pistol being pointed at him by a tall, striking woman, whose English had suddenly improved considerable. Behind her stood two menacing looking heavies, also toting handguns. Jack raised his hands to show they were empty and stepped back into his room.

The Russian woman followed him into the room, her eyes running down his body and then appreciatively back up to the American's handsome features. "Mm," she said smiling.

Jack smirked at her. "Glad you like the view," he said, pointedly looking at the gun filling his view.

Taking no notice of his retort, she threw an order at the heavy by the door, who promptly disappeared outside, closing the door behind him. Holding out her left hand expectantly she said, "Your gun, please."

Jack looked at the two guns pointing at him. If they'd wanted to kill him they would have done so already. Shrugging, he slowly reached under his jacket and removed his pistol, placing it in the offered hand.

"Thank you. Now, please, take a seat."

Jack backed up and sat in one of the chairs in his room. Whilst the heavy stood staring malevolently at the colonel, the woman sat on the edge of the bed, facing Jack.

"I'd hate to break up the party, but what the hell are you doing in my room?"

+++++++++

Daniel was in the bedroom getting dressed, smiling to himself at Caitlin's unsuccessful attempts to pronounce the Russian subtitles running along the bottom of the TV screen she was sat in front of in the other room of the suite.

"How was that?" She called through to him.

"Interesting," he replied.

Caitlin could hear the amusement in his voice. "I suppose you think you could do" She stopped. Of course, he could do better. He was fluent in Russian along with 22 other languages, not to mention a few off world ones! She heard his little snicker and threw back at him, laughing, "No one likes a smart arse!"

There was a knock at the door. Caitlin checked her watch. Quarter to eight. "That'll be the colonel," she said, as she went to answer the door.

She'd barely turned the handle when whoever it was on the other side pushed the door hard. The force of the shove caught Caitlin completely off guard and she stumbled backwards. "Hey!" She exclaimed, as two heavy duty men pushed into the room, their pistols levelled at the SGC woman.

One of the men continued forward, adding his weight to Caitlin's backward momentum. She tripped on the edge of one of the chairs, falling to the ground. The man reached down, grabbing the collar of Caitlin's jacket, dragging her back to her feet and forcing her up against the wall, his gun jammed against her left cheek, as he hissed, "Don't move!"

Hearing the noises from the other room, Daniel went to see what was going on. As he entered the room, he saw a big, strange man wielding a pistol, dragging Caitlin to her feet. He ran towards them, yelling. "Get off her! What the hell are you doing?" With his attention firmly on the bastard abusing his girl, he never noticed the other hoodlum until the side of his head connected with the butt of the hood's pistol.

Pain exploded in Daniel's head, spinning the room wildly around and throwing him to his knees. He sensed his attacker step towards and he put his arms up around his head to protect it from further damage.

"Enough!" Someone's authoritarian voice broke through the chaos.

As no further blows came, Daniel gingerly removed his arms and looked up slowly. There was now a third man in the room. He was well-built and dressed in an immaculately tailored wool suit. He had closed the door to the suite and was now looking at Daniel kneeling on the floor. He smiled, one of those chilling kind of smiles that never reaches the eyes. "Good evening, Doctor Jackson." His voice was cultured and his English impeccable with only the slightest of accents. "Welcome to our humble country."

Daniel put his hand to his temple, feeling the warm, stickiness of fresh blood. Shit, that hurt. He lurched to his feet, hoping the room would stop imitating a Carousel anytime soon and that he could hang on to his in-flight food. As he stood, he noticed that the hood that had hit him was watching him closely, his gun pointed at Daniel.

Daniel rubbed his head again and said, "What the hell's going on?"

The cultured man answered, "I've come to make you a proposition, Doctor Jackson. You are here to retrieve some items to take to the US, items I myself am interested in obtaining."

"Items?"

"Yes, Doctor Jackson."

Daniel frowned, "But we're simply reviewing an already excavated site. We don't expect to find anything of note." He wiped the blood away from the side of his face. "What is it you want? Artefacts?"

The man laughed. "Artefacts? I don't think so." His two hoods seemed to find the comment funny as well. "No, Doctor Jackson. As a dealer in Military equipment, I am interested in the weapons you are intending to remove from my country."

Daniel gawked at the man. Well, at least he didn't have to pretend to be surprised. "Weapons? We're here to look at an archaeological dig! Where on Earth did you" Daniel didn't finish the sentence. With surprising speed for such a large man, Mister Culture' strode across the room and swung the back of his hand hard across the SGC man's face, knocking him to the floor.

"Don't play games with me, Jackson!" His voice was hard now, the accent stronger, his posture threatening.

Caitlin struggled against her captor's grip, only to be rewarded with the pain of the gun barrel being pushed harder into her cheek.

Daniel tried to sit up, his head really hurt now and the Carousel was back. He could taste the salty, warm blood oozing from his split lip. "I don't know what you're talking about", he muttered.

The big man sighed, "Well, Doctor Jackson, let me jog your memory." The cultured voice was back again. "An acquaintance of mine has been asked to provide some export papers and transportation forms for a weapons shipment out of a local airport. Then along come a group of Americans to examine a local landmark. Now one of these people is a disgraced archaeologist who has not been heard of for over four years, no doubt because he's been mixing with the wrong type of people. And another is a retired US Special Forces colonel. Now, tell me Doctor Jackson, how many archaeological digs do you know of that require the unique talents of a Black Ops soldier?" He reached into his pocket, retrieving a syringe and passing it to Caitlin's assailant. "So, I put two and two together and came up with a scam involving the removal of some valuable weapons."

Caitlin saw the syringe and started to struggle again, but this time she kicked out catching her attacker on the knee. He swore dropping the syringe. Caitlin threw her weight forward, pushing him off balance and shoving him to one side.

Mister Culture saw Caitlin's attempt to escape and moved quickly to block her exit, giving her attacker enough time to recover and grab her from behind, wrapping his left arm around her throat.

Choking, Caitlin reached up, clawing at his arm.

Daniel grabbed the arm of the chair beside him and struggled to his feet, only to be kicked brutally in the kidneys and collapse sprawling to the floor again.

Caitlin pulled frantically at the arm around her throat kicking out wildly.

"Hold her still!" Mister Culture hissed, picking up the dropped syringe and moving purposefully, yet warily towards the SGC woman.

Caitlin was pushed up against the wall, her struggles diminished in their effectiveness as she was pinned between her attacker and the room. Terrified, her eyes locked on the syringe moving towards her arm. "Daniel!" She called, partly to know if he was ok and partly because she needed his help.

Daniel's attempts to get up and reach Caitlin met with more kicks, each one knocking the breath from his body and throwing him to floor. Through a spinning haze of pain and nausea, he saw the syringe being pushed into Caitlin's arm and her body go limp. "Nooo!" He cried.

The big man removed the syringe, throwing it to one side, and turned to look down at Daniel. His expression was cold. "You have 48 hours to find the weapons and call this mobile." He threw a card at Daniel's crumpled body. "Otherwise you'll not see your wife alive again!" He nodded at his men and, collecting Caitlin's unresponsive body, they opened the door to leave.

Daniel tried to get to his feet. The whole world was spinning now and his entire body was screaming out with pain from the kicking he'd just received. He struggled to breathe, pushing the words out of his lips in desperation, "Don't take her, please. Don't! I don't know what you want. Please, don't take her!"

Mister Culture stopped for a second at the door and, without turning back, said, "48 hours, Doctor Jackson." Then speaking to one of his henchmen, he said, "Make sure he doesn't follow us."

The hoodlum smiled, an evil, unnerving grin as he moved towards Daniel, who was trying to get to his feet. Daniel saw the flying fist too late for his battered body to react and he took the full force of the blow across his jaw, knocking him across the room into the furniture. As he slumped to the floor, the darkening fog of unconsciousness took over his mind and his last sight was that of the men retreating from his room, carrying Caitlin's inert body.

++++++++++

Jack was getting extremely irritated with this woman and her mate. The only words he had been able to elicit from either of them was a clear instruction that he stayed put until they said so or they'd make him stay put with a bullet in his leg. Even the usual Jack witticisms were only being rewarded with the odd raised eyebrow.

Jack checked his watch. He'd been sat here for a little over twenty five minutes and it was now was past eight, Daniel would be wondering where he was by now. In fact, why hadn't he come and checked on.. Oh, shit! That's why they wanted him to stay put. But what the hell did they want with Danny?

Jack shifted in his chair, watching the woman. He'd waited long enough, it was time to make a move.

Just as he was about to do something that might just have turned out to be pretty stupid, there was a knock at the door. The woman's mate answered it, spoke briefly to whoever was on the other side and then nodded his head to indicate to the woman it was time to leave.

Jack watched as she stood and moved easily across the room, turning as she reached the door. "Well, Mr. O'Neill, this has been fun," she cooed, looking at him through her long eyelashes. "Please, do not attempt to follow us, it would be a shame to damage such a nice body." She smiled and followed her colleague out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Jack leapt out of his seat and grabbed the spare gun from its hiding place under the bed. He moved quickly to the door, opening it slowly and peering out through the small gap. No one. He moved out into the corridor, checking carefully down the hall. Nothing. He crossed towards the stairwell and, careful not to get his head blown off, checked up and down the stairs. Nothing. Goddamn it! Where had they gone? Shit! Daniel's room!

Taking the stairs two at a time, Jack ran headlong up to the next floor to Daniel's suite and along the empty corridor, until he was level with the door to Daniel's room. Without hesitating, he crashed against the door, the weak latch giving way easily, and he exploded into the room, gun ready.

The room was a mess. The furniture was strewn all over the place and Daniel's inert body was lying amongst the debris. Jack scanned the room, nothing. Then he quickly and quietly checked the bedroom and the bathroom. Nothing. No one.

Jack's heart was pounding hard, as he dropped to his knees beside his friend. "Damn it, Daniel, what the hell happened this time?" Jack muttered to himself, gently turning the young man onto his back and cradling his head in the crook of his arm. Breathing steady, pulse strong, face, damn it, a mess. Blood smeared the side of Daniel's face from a long gash running across his temple, his lip was cut spilling more blood down his chin and his cheek and jaw line were tinged with the deep red of promised bruising to come.

Anger threaded through Jack's body, his mind filled with thoughts of exactly how he would tear the heads off the bastard who'd done this. He gently shook Daniel, calling his name as he did so. No reaction. He called his name again, a little louder this time, as he wiped the blood from the side of Daniel's face. Jack watched his eyelids flicker and then struggle to open.

"Danny?"

"Jack?" The answer was slurred and disorientated.

"Yeah, I'm here. What the hell happened?"

Daniel frowned trying to remember where he was. Why was he on the ground and why did Jack looked so concerned. He closed his eyes again, desperate to drag to the forefront of his befuddled brain what was going on.

Jack's voice again, "Where's the sergeant?"

Suddenly Daniel's thoughts became crystal clear. His eyes shot wide, locking on enquiring brown eyes, and he quickly grabbed Jack's arm. "They took her, Jack! They took her!" The words were spilling out of his lips, his voice desperate, shocked.

"Easy, Daniel. Slowly now, what happened?"

"They came, three of them and they drugged Caitlin and took her. She tried to fight but they drugged her. Oh, god, Jack, they took her." Tears filled his eyes and a chilling, haunted look spread across his face, as he clutched Jack's arm tighter. "Jack, not again, please, not again, I couldn't bear it" His voice trailed away, as his body started shaking from the shock.

Jack frowned, anger raging in him at the ironic injustice of the situation. "We'll find her, I promise," he said through gritted teeth.

Daniel pushed Jack away and sat up. "You said that last time." His voice was flat as he spoke.

Ouch, Jack thought, that was a little low, Danny-boy, but said, "We will!"

Daniel sat for a moment, allowing the shakes to go away and then without looking at Jack, put his arm out towards him. Jack jumped to his feet, grateful for the offered invitation of help and took Daniel's arm assisting him to his feet.

Daniel swayed on his feet, putting his hand to his head as if holding it still might stop the room doing somersaults around him. Jack steadied him. Daniel turned to look at his friend, always there to steady him. He regretted what he'd said. His thoughts must have reflected in his eyes, because Jack squeezed his arm and said, "We will find her." It was a typical Jack statement of fact, something not open for negotiation.

Daniel nodded, instantly regretting the move, and sat down on one of the chairs Jack had set upright. He told Jack everything he could remember from the attack, describing the three men as best he could. Jack sat opposite, listening, thoughtful.

"OK, first things first." Jack checked his watch. "We'll contact Carter and let them know what's happened." Daniel told him where the laptop was and Jack disappeared off to get it.

With the laptop switched on and connected to Jack's mobile phone, the colonel set up a video call to Carter's mobile. After a couple of minutes, Sam's smiling face appeared in a window on the computer's screen. "Hi, colonel, Daniel. You obviously got there ok." The smile disappeared, to be replaced with a frown, as she noticed the cold, angry look in Jack's eyes. "Are you OK, sir?"

"Carter, code 34, now."

Sam frowned again, but immediately nodded. Jack closed the connection, Sam's face vanishing, and then he started a different program. The computer whirred to itself for a moment and then the screen was filled with the message scrambler enable, enter security code'. Jack tapped away at the keyboard. Another message appeared, initiating call', followed by a lot of whistling noises from the laptop's modem and the message scrambler handshake in progress, standby.'

Jack waited, Daniel at his shoulder. Then Sam's face appeared again, with the message secure, scrambled channel established.' "What's going on, colonel?"

Jack quickly explained what had happened, Sam's face paling as he spoke. Jack could not see Teal'c on the videocam but he could hear his rumbling voice in the background, as the big Jaffa showed his displeasure at the situation.

"What are we going to do, sir?" Sam asked.

"There's not much we can do right now," Jack said, sensing Daniel fidgeting next to him at the colonel's words. "I don't believe Sergeant Mitchell's in any immediate danger, she's their bargaining tool." Jack didn't look at Daniel, but hoped the words were at least a little reassuring.

"That makes sense, sir." Sam added, more for Daniel's benefit than anything else.

"Tomorrow, we'll go to the dig as planned and see what we can find. From what Daniel remembers of the conversation, these people have inside information but not very detailed as they bought the retired colonel and wife bit." Again, Jack sensed Daniel flinch at his words. "I'll bet a month's pay they'll put a tail on us tomorrow, may be we can use that to our advantage somehow. I'm gonna need some stuff, Carter." And he reeled off a list of items, Sam making a note as he spoke. "Get the good Doctor Markov to help you, I'm sure the Russian Military have assess to those things."

Sam nodded, then said, "How do I get them to you, if they're watching you?"

Jack pondered for a moment, then, "On the way into town, there's a milestone kind of thing. Package them up and hide them there, we'll collect them on our way out. We'll aim to be there around eight, be long gone by then, OK?"

"Ok, sir."

"Right, we'll check in again tomorrow. Use the scrambled mobiles if you need us in an emergency." Jack waved a sort of salute and ended the call, Sam's concerned face gone. He closed down the computer, putting it away safe, and turned to Daniel. The young man looked like shit. Pale, save for the angry red wields on his jaw line, the bruised, swollen lip and the streaks of dried blood on the side of his face. But what really hit Jack hard was the desolate look in his friend's eyes, the resigned droop in his shoulders, as if he'd given in, accepting some fated situation. Jack reached out, placing his hand gently on Daniel's shoulder. "We will get her back, Daniel. Whatever it takes, we'll get her back, I promise."

Daniel looked at Jack. He wanted to believe him, more than anything but well, he'd been here before. Oh, god, not again, he couldn't bear it. He stood up and wondered off to the bathroom, muttering something about getting cleaned up.

Jack watched him go. Come on, Danny, he thought to himself. Stay with me, its not over, I promise.

++++++++++++

Caitlin paced around the room like a caged tiger. She'd been awake for about half an hour and apart from a mildly throbbing head, she was in one piece. The room was about twenty foot square with a small half-light window in the top corner of the wall opposite the locked door. She could tell from what little she could see through the window, that she was in a basement room, as the bottom of the window appeared to be level with the ground. It was dark outside, but she could hear the odd footstep coming from the room above, so she have been out for long.

She was pacing because she was frustrated. One window she couldn't squeeze through. One solid, locked door she couldn't open. Damn. She thought back over her abduction. Could she have done something different that would not have put her here? Damn it, the colonel was gonna be pissed. May be if she'd just.. well, may be.. Then her thoughts filled with the sight of Daniel being booted around the room. He'd tried to help her, but. Oh, Daniel. She hoped to god he was ok.

The sound of withdrawing bolts, brought her attention back to her current predicament. She moved away from the door, warily watching it. The door swung open and Caitlin found herself looking at the face of the bastard who had taken more than a passing pleasure in kicking the shit out of her Danny.

The thug looked pleased, as he smiled menacing at the SGC woman. "Recognise me, huh?" His English was good, but he had a heavy Russian accent, that made his voice guttural and frighteningly deep. He moved towards her, the bulge of a pistol clearly visible under his armpit. Behind him a second thug, Caitlin didn't recognise, entered the room carrying a tray with a plate of food and a mug of something.

Caitlin kept her eyes on the advancing Danny-beater. She backed away until the cold wall stopped her retreat. The menacing smile broadened, as he reached up and touched Caitlin's face. She flinched, making him smile even more. "Mmm, very nice. You should let the great Gustav show you what a real man is like, instead of that sniffling, wimp of a husband of yours."

Caitlin face flushed with anger, "He has more courage in his little finger than you'll ever have in your whole body." She pushed his hand away, side stepping to get further way from him.

Gustav grabbed her arm, stopping her retreat. Instinctively, she punched out at him. A short, hard punch, that used the power in her shoulders to connect the base of her palm with the bridge of his nose. There was a satisfying crack and blood spurted from the Russian's flat nose. "Arggh! You bitch!" He squawked, his left hand going to his broken nose. Before Caitlin could retreat any more, Gustav, moving surprisingly fast, swung his right hand, slapping her hard across the face.

The force of the blow knocked her sideways and her head bashed against the wall. Concussed, Caitlin legs gave way, but before she slid to the floor, the Russian grabbed her around the throat. "You'll pay for that!" He hissed, squeezing hard.

Caitlin clutched frantically at the hands constricting her breathing. She struggled, weak from the blow to her head and lack of life giving oxygen. Gustav was close to her now, his sickly breath making her nauseous. He was grinning again, his bloody nose making the whole visage even more grotesque. He pushed her against the wall, releasing his grip just enough to allow Caitlin short, sharp breaths, and reached up to caress her cheek. "You will pay, dearly."

The leer that crossed his face made it perfectly clear to Caitlin exactly what he meant by pay'. She struggled more, her head fuzzy and uncooperative, making her attempts weak and ineffective. If she hadn't been scared before, she was definitely scared now. No, make that terrified. She watched in helpless horror as the Russian ran his hand down her face to her neck and then, grabbing her shirt and jacket collar, ripped the fabric away, exposing her shoulder.

"Gustav!" The other thug was speaking, urgently, the Russian words flowing off his tongue. He was waving at Caitlin and looked distinctly uncomfortable. The words did the trick though. Gustav hesitated for a moment and then released Caitlin, dropping her to the floor. He leered down at her, "You're lucky that the boss wants you in one piece for now!" He gingerly touched his bleeding nose. "But when this is over, you're mine, got that!" He sneered and then turned and left the room.

Caitlin sat slumped where he'd dropped her, her hand at her throat, as she dragged air into her tortured lungs. She watched the men leave and listened to the door bolts being pushed home behind them.

She slowly sat up, with her back against the wall, and her body started to shake. Not the gentle shivers of cold but great shudders that were a mixture of relief and fear. She drew herself into a ball, her head buried in her hands, clinging to the one thing in the whole universe that mattered to her, meant something in the craziness that was threatening to engulf her. Daniel. She whispered his name to herself, allowing it to wash through her, slowly steadying the shudders. Knowing that whatever they did, they could never take away the feelings she had for that gentle man. He would always be in her heart, now and forever. She only had to close her eyes and he would be there next to her, reaching for her as only he knew how.

Caitlin closed her eyes and felt his presence. Hold on, we're coming!

+++++++++++

The two Russians from the previous day had arrived to collect Jack and Daniel from the hotel early and had been promptly relegated to the back seat of their jeep. Captain Kashenko and his lieutenant had not been particularly happy with the change of plan, but he had his orders and they were simply, stay with the Americans and do as they tell you.

Jack pulled the jeep to a halt by the milestone just outside town. His sixth sense told him they were being followed but whoever they were they were good. He couldn't tell for certain that anyone was there. Still he wasn't taking any chances.

He jumped down from the vehicle and walked across to the stone. He then started to relieve himself, as he glanced around to see if he could see Carter's package. Yep, there it was. Good. He finished what he was doing and zipped up his flies. As he did so he accidentally' dropped his sunglasses. He crouched down, looking' for them and discreetly pocketed the package, retrieved his glasses and returned to the jeep.

Back on the road, he glanced at Daniel. The kid hadn't said more than a handful of words since they had set out this morning. He'd spent all his time checking his notes and fiddling with the GPS system. Not that he could blame him. After all what was there to say that hadn't already be said or thought. Jack turned his eyes back to the road. "OK, Danny-boy, which way?"

Without taking his eyes from the display, Daniel replied. "Along here for another 6 miles and then right onto the road sign posted to Kasotov. Then left after just over 2 miles on to an unmade road."

Silence again.

Jack continued down the road, keeping half an eye on the tachometer. He turned on to the Kasotov road and then on to the unmade road, heading North. After about a further 2 miles, under Daniel's instructions, he turned on to a dirt track heading North East. After 10 minutes, bouncing about, they came to a dead end, where the dirt track gave up the fight against the encroaching woodland. "OK, we walk the rest of the way."

"How far?" Jack asked as he stepped down from the pickup, making sure he had Carter's package and reassured by the feel of the sidearm nestled in its shoulder holster.

"About a mile," came the distracted reply.

The four men took their packs from the back of the jeep, locked it and headed into the woods, Daniel leading the way.

As Jack followed Daniel through the trees, he checked Carter's package, fishing out two objects about the size of a quarter only twice as thick. Sweet, he thought, just what he wanted.

They carried on walking, Jack still aware they were being followed. He wondered if Daniel had worked out the probability that as soon as they had found the tomb with its supposed contents, you could start counting the sergeant's remaining life span in hours not days! And that their tail would be high-tailing it out of here straight to their boss to give them the location. Carter's closing expression last night clearly said she'd worked it out, especially given the equipment the colonel had ordered.

His eyes fell on the back of Daniel's head as the kid walked ahead of him. Perhaps, he had worked it out, hence the silent treatment. Perhaps he should tell him what he had planned but he didn't want to get Daniel's hopes up and it was such a long shot. He shook his head, may be the real reason he hadn't explain it to Danny is because straight forward this is what we're going to do' conversations with the kid always ended up in arguments about the merit of the proposed action.

Who are you trying to kid, O'Neill? The reason he didn't want to discuss his plan was because he didn't want to discuss' Sergeant Mitchell's situation. Hell, this was way too familiar territory and there he was making the same promises he couldn't be sure he could keep.

Jack didn't get the opportunity to ponder anymore, because as they walked out of the woods into a small clearing, Daniel stopped and put his pack down, packing away the GPS system and retrieving a torch. The two Russians followed suit and watched as Daniel started pushing the bushes away from what looked like a large rock. Jack put down his own pack, stepping up to help and as they moved the debris to one side, he could clearly see that the rock was in fact a stone archway.

Daniel pushed through the arch. This was definitely the place. The two Russians followed the disappearing scientist and Jack bought up the rear. The four men found themselves standing in a large, plain stone room that was uninspiring save for the archways etched into the walls. Daniel moved purposefully towards the first archway and started to study the small symbols surrounding the arch. With the Russians' attentions fully on Daniel, Jack watched for a moment and then said, "I'm just going to get my torch." And he disappeared back outside.

Jack knew they had themselves a tail and, checking carefully that the tail hadn't reached them yet, he slunk off into the cover of the trees. He waited, out of sight, watching the route that he and the others had used earlier to reach the tomb. After a few minutes, a man appeared, moving quietly and carefully, following their trail. Jack watched as the man seemed to satisfy himself that the two men he had been following had indeed reached their destination and then turned and headed back the way he had come.

Jack followed the man, the irony of the situation bringing a wry smile to the colonel's face. The man followed the route back to Jack's jeep, passed it and walked back down the dirt track to what Jack presumed was his own vehicle. Reaching into his pocket, Jack retrieved Carter's coins' and scooted forward, moving ahead of his target. As the man walked to the driver's door, Jack moved up to the passenger side, making sure he stayed out of sight. As the man climbed into the car, Jack reached under the car's chassis and placed one of the disks against the metal, its built in magnet sticking it firmly in place. Jack heard the engine being turned over and quickly attached the second disk in another spot, just in case the first fell off or was discovered. As the engine purred into life, Jack rolled way from the car into the nearby undergrowth and from his hiding place he watched the car disappear from sight. When he was sure it was gone, he jumped to his feet and ran back to find Daniel.

Jack pushed through the entrance to Ra's armoury and down the steps into the first chamber, finding one of the archways was now open. Jack walked through the arch calling Daniel's name.

"In here, Jack," came the reply and Jack emerged out of the short corridor in to a second chamber.

"Wow!" Jack exclaimed. Daniel was standing in the middle of four stacks of crates, like the ones they had found on Apophis' attack ship. The stacks were three high, making a total of twelve boxes, all potentially stocked with useful Goa'uld butt busting weapons. "Are they.."

"Yep, they all appear to be full of staff weapons and those ones have zats in them. I've checked the other rooms and they're pretty much the same as this except they've got other devices, such as shock grenades."

Captain Kashenko's eyes were on stalks as he rummaged through the nearest open crate, which was full of zat guns, his lieutenant at his side gawking at the strange weapons.

"Sweet." Jack stepped up to stand next to Daniel. Keeping one eye on the two Russians, he whispered to Daniel. "We're outta here, now, on our own." His voice, though quiet, had a tone to it that made it clear now was not a time to ask questions but to do as he said. Daniel nodded, turned and left the inner chamber, quickly and quietly, Jack close on his heels.

The first the Russians knew about a further change of plan was the sound of the stone door grinding shut. "Hey!" Kashenko shouted running to the archway.

O'Neill's voice drifted through the narrowing gap, "Won't be long, guys. Get cataloguing, we'll be back as quick as we can."

The captain slid to a halt by the stone door as a puff of dust and a soft thud heralded the finality of being shut in. He swore to himself. He would be in trouble if anything happened to his charges, damn Americans.

Daniel frowned, looking slightly nervously at the closed door, and then he turned to follow Jack. Back in the clearing outside, Daniel found Jack collecting up their packs. He passed Daniel his and headed off back towards their pickup. Daniel slung his pack over his shoulder and, once again, followed the retreating colonel.

"Jack, wait up." He jogged to catch up with the long strides of the taller man. "Jack, where are we going?"

"Back to the car."

"Well, yeees! But why?"

"I'll show you when we get there. We'll need the GPS gizmo and the video link to Carter."

"Okay." Daniel frowned again. He was having to jog every so often to keep up with Jack, who was a man with a mission. Yet, he was far from forthcoming about what exactly that mission was. Not that this was a particularly unusual situation, but Daniel could think of nothing else except Caitlin and Jack had not talked much about what they were going to do once they'd found Ra's storage rooms. And now they were practically running away from the place.

Before he could push Jack for more information, Daniel found they were back at the truck. He climbed in next to Jack and had barely shut the door when Jack started backing up the jeep and turned it round to head back down the dirt track towards the road.

Daniel fished out the GPS system and powered up the laptop. Establishing secure communications, he was rewarded with Sam's face appearing on the screen. "Hi, Daniel, are you ready?"

Jack answered the question, "Yes, major. The trackers are in place, now what?"

Sam looked enquiringly at Daniel's own quizzical look. She couldn't see the colonel but could hear his response and matter of fact tone. Ok, so he hadn't filled Daniel in on what was going on. Sometimes he could be so obtuse! "Daniel, do you have the GPS?"

"Yep."

"OK, use the serial cable from the stuff you collected this morning and connect it to the laptop."

Jack passed Daniel Carter's package, as he steered the pickup over the rough ground and out onto the road.

Daniel took the package, noting Jack was keeping his focus completely on the road, making sure he didn't catch Daniel's own gaze. Daniel connected the GPS to the laptop.

"OK, Sam, I've done that."

"Good. Switch on the GPS and run up the Tracker6 software on the laptop."

"OK, done. It's asking for a tracker code."

"Right, enter 3498/2576 and then your security clearance code."

A pause whilst Daniel tapped the keyboard. "Done."

"OK, you'll need to wait a moment while the GPS changes satellite feed. You'll know it's on-line when you see a map come up on the GPS screen."

Daniel watched the blank GPS screen and after a couple of minutes the clearly defined coloured lines of a street plan appeared on the screen, complete with two flashing blobs, one red and one blue. "Sam, I've got a map with two dots moving on it."

Sam's face beamed, "Excellent! The blue dot's you and the red's the target."

Daniel looked sideways at Jack's passive expression. So this is what he was up to. Sam's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Daniel, can you give me your current position?"

Daniel looked back at the GPS screen and read out the numbers next to the blue blob.

Sam disappeared from the video screen for a moment and then was back, "Doctor Markov says we're twenty minutes from your current location. What do you want us to do?"

Jack felt Daniel's eyes on him again. Without looking he knew he was thinking well, its your plan, you tell her'. Continuing to watch the road ahead, he said, "We'll call you when we know where they're going, major. But I want you ready to go immediately we contact you."

"Ok, sir, but Svetlana wants to send back up with you."

"No!" Jack practically shouted the answer. Calming slightly, he added, "That's too risky. They don't know we're following them and I want to keep it that way. Remember, Carter, they have a leak somewhere."

Sam nodded, "I'll speak to her."

Jack fell silent again.

Sam addressed Daniel, "I'll wait for your call, ok?"

"Ok. Bye" And he severed the connection, returning his attention to the GPS.

They drove in silence for a few miles.

"They've turned left and they're about a mile ahead of us."

"Mm, OK." Came the curt reply.

More silence.

"Here."

Jack took the left turn.

"Jack?"

OK, here it comes, Jack thought.

"When were you going to tell me about your plan?"

Jack looked across at Daniel, a mixture of hurt and hope? Yes, hope in those sensitive, blue eyes. He returned his gaze back to the road ahead. "To be honest, Danny, I don't know. Now, I guess. And before you ask, I don't really know why I didn't tell you about it in the first place." He glanced momentarily across at the young man again. Daniel was back watching the GPS screen. "I didn't want to get your hopes up, it's such a long shot."

"Jeeez! Jack! I'm not a three year old." Jack felt Daniel's glare, as he continued. "Sometimes, you can be such a. " He was struggling to find the right word and then settled on, "Jerk!"

Jack thought he deserved worse than that. "I'm sorry, its just.. well.."

"Its just you don't trust me!" The anger was very clear in Daniel's words.

"Hey, now that's not fair!" Jack threw back.

"Turn right."

"What?"

"Turn right, here!"

"Oh." Jack turned the wheel, pointing the pickup down another road.

Silence. Two more changes of direction.

"You think they're not going to wait for an exchange, don't you?" Daniel's voice was quiet, the anger gone. He knew Jack had been trying to protect him. He knew he'd done what he thought was right in the circumstances but he could be too protective. "Jack?"

Jack didn't look at Daniel, "No, I don't think they'll wait." His voice was matter of fact, as if he was telling Daniel the time, hiding the desolate feeling he felt inside at the thought that they would be too late to save Daniel's woman, again!

Daniel watched Jack's face, noticing the clenched jaw and hard look in his eyes. He knew instinctively what Jack was thinking. "We'll get her back."

Jack jumped, looking across at Daniel, surprise in his eyes. Shit, the kid can read my mind, he thought. Daniel smiled, a small reassuring smile, "You promised."

Jack returned the smile with a small laugh, a new resolve crossing his face. "Yeah, I promised."

The strained atmosphere lifted from the jeep's cab and was replaced with a sense of determination as the two SG-1 members steered the blue dot towards the red dot.

++++++++++++

They'd been driving for a little over half an hour, when the red dot stopped for a few moments, continued forward and then stopped, for good. "It looks like they've arrived," Daniel said.

Jack slowed as they approached the spot where the target had stopped briefly before reaching its final destination. Gates. Gates that broke a long high wall and stood at the head of a driveway. Jack backed the jeep up and parked it off the road, behind a low wall.

"OK, call up Carter."

Daniel made the call, giving Sam their new co-ordinates.

"You're over an hour from us now, sir," came the concerned reply.

Jack thought for a moment. He didn't think they could wait that long. Or more to the point, Caitlin didn't have that long. Looking at Daniel's face, he knew he was thinking the same. "Major, get yourself over to Ra's place, with as much fire power as you can muster. They're going to be heading there."

"But, sir!"

"Major. Go. We'll handle things here. Oh, and by the way, you'll find our escorts counting the boxes in the third chamber, OK?"

Carter frowned at that statement. "Markhov's not going to be happy about you going it alone."

"Tough!" He said, then, "Let them concentrate their energies on stopping Mister Culture and his pals." Jack could hear Teal'c's protests in the background. "Teal'c, go with Carter. Make sure you get these bastards," his tone clearly telling Teal'c what he meant by that statement. Sounding more confident than he felt, he added, "We'll contact you again, when we're clear."

Sam hesitated, clearly not liking the situation but knowing the colonel was right. "Be careful," she said simply and terminated the call.

Whilst Daniel put away the GPS and laptop, Jack retrieved the last item from Carter's goodies. An automatic pistol and silencer. He screwed the silencer in to place and handed Daniel the sidearm from his shoulder holster. They left the vehicle and headed over to the wall, about 100 yards from the gates.

Both men pocketed their guns and then Jack cupped his hands, bracing his back against the wall. Daniel bounced into Jack's offered lift, reaching up to grab the top of the wall as Jack pushed up with his hands. Daniel hauled himself up, checked the other side was clear of people, swung his legs over and spun around on his belly to face back towards the colonel. He reached down grabbing Jack's hand as the taller man leapt up the wall. The extra lift from Daniel grasp was enough to allow Jack to stretch out and grab the top of the wall with his other hand. He pulled himself up the rest of the way, as Daniel dropped easily to the ground on the other side of the wall. Jack joined him.

They were standing in woodland that bounded the lane leading from the gates. Jack redrew his pistol and started jogging along, parallel with the lane but in the cover of the trees. Daniel followed wordlessly behind him, daring not to ask about or think about what might be happening ahead.

The woods eventually gave way to a sweeping drive and open grass area in front of a large, opulent house. Jack halted, crouching at the edge of the trees, watching the hive of activity unfolding on the drive outside the house's entrance. Two lorries and two cars were being readied for departure. Daniel immediately spotted Mister Culture standing at the top of the entrance steps, orchestrating the twenty or so people milling around the vehicles. Pointing him out, Jack nodded, "looks like our pals are about to go collect the goods."

Jack scanned the surrounding area. The woods curled around the drive and reached to within ten yards of the house at its sides. Pulling Daniel's sleeve, he headed off through the woods towards the right hand side of the building. At least they had the element of surprise on their side, he thought as he pushed through the trees with Daniel on his sixes.

The side of the house was dark and deserted, but the windows were high up out of easy reach. Jack moved to the back of the house and peered around the corner. Ground based halogen lamps lit up the rear of the building, showing a back door guarded by one man sporting a kalashnikov rifle.

Jack slunk back. One guard? Well, they weren't exactly expecting anyone. He checked his pistol, then once again peered around the corner. He carefully took aim. No room for mistakes, O'Neill. He took a deep breath, held it and fired. There was a dull phut' sound and the guard dropped like a stone to the ground. Jack sprinted across to the fallen man, spun him over and checked his pulse. Nothing. Daniel stopped next to Jack and looked down at the neat little hole in the dead man's temple. "Nice shot," he whispered, as he helped Jack drag the body into the trees.

Retrieving the kalashnikov, Jack headed towards the back door. Carefully, he pushed it open. No one waiting. He stepped though into a small hallway, with a door leading off to what looked like the kitchen and another to a hallway leading to the main entrance hall.

With the entrance hall full of people, they SGC team opted for the deserted kitchen. Big houses usually had servants' stairs at the rear of the building and, thankfully, this place was no exception. Daniel stood at the flights of stairs, "Up or down?"

"Down," Jack whispered. "In my experience, dungeons are always down." He moved stealthily down the stairs, his pistol at the ready, Daniel close behind. No one. They really were complacent, thank god, Jack thought. The basement was fairly empty except for a room tucked away in the far corner. "Bingo," Jack muttered.

+++++++++

Caitlin knew something was up, that the situation had changed because of all the footsteps running backwards and forwards above her head. She dared not hope that it was good news, but equally she couldn't allow herself to think that it would lead to anything else. She waited.

The footfalls on the concrete outside her prison made her jump. She stood grabbing the metal tray that had been used to bring her food and positioned herself by the door. She wasn't going to let that bastard touch her again without a fight.

She tensed as the bolts started to slide across. One. Two. Three. Ready. The door swung slowly open and a tall figure stepped into the room, the Russian firearm pointing into the centre of the room. With all her strength she swung the tray, connecting, with a satisfying thud, with the intruder's face. He dropped to the floor, clutching his face, and Caitlin stepped forward, raising the tray ready to crash it down on the back of the man's head.

"Caitlin!"

She spun round, dropping the tray in shock. That voice! Could it be? Yes! "Daniel!" She threw herself into his arms. "Oh, Daniel, you came!" She hugged him desperately, hardly daring to believe her own eyes. Then realisation dawned. "Oh, shit!" She spun back around, pulling from Daniel's embrace, in time to see Colonel O'Neill dragging himself to his feet, one hand clutching his bleeding nose. "Oh, god, I'm sorry, sir, I didn't know it was you, sir." Her words tumbled out, partly from relief at seeing them, partly in embarrassment for busting a superior's nose.

Jack moved his hand from his face and looked down at the blood on it. "That's one hell of a swipe you've got there, sergeant. Remind me not to piss you off whenever you're holding a tray."

She smiled at his quip, "Sorry, sir."

"Come on, let's get out of here."

She nodded, slipping back into military mode, but not before she'd turned back to Daniel and kissed him quickly.

+++++++++

Gustav stood on the front steps and watched his boss leave, leading the convoy off to collect the horde of goodies that the American thought they could steal out from under their noses. Hah, were they in for a surprise.

As the vehicles disappeared from view, he turned and strode back into the house, followed by the two remaining personnel. He smiled to himself. His boss had made it perfectly cleared that Gustav was to tie up the remaining loose end, but he hadn't specified what form the tying should take. This was going to be fun. Unconsciously he reached up to gently touch the butterfly stitches that crossed the bridge of his nose. He was definitely going to enjoy teaching that bitch a lesson and he headed towards the basement stairs at the rear of the house, the two armed thugs close behind.

++++++++++

Daniel led Caitlin out of the room, trying unsuccessfully to tear his eyes from her ripped shirt. Caitlin saw his look and reached up, pulling the tattered cloth back over her shoulder. She stopped just outside the doorway and gently touched his face, "I'm ok, really. No one did anything." She smiled, trying to reassure him. His look clearly told her that his relief at finding her in one piece was tinged with a deep concern for her wellbeing.

Caitlin ran her hand gently down the side of his face, tracing yet another Daniel bruise, causing him to flinch slightly. She took his hand and held his finger tips to her own reddening facial bruise. "That's all that happened, Danny. That and a bump on the back of my head." She watched the concern grow deeper in his eyes, so she added, "Are you ok?"

The question clearly surprised him but he nodded.

"Well, then since we seem to have matching bumps and bruises that means I must be ok, too!"

Daniel sighed, a smile flitting across his face and he pulled her into him, clutching her as if he would never let her go again. Caitlin sunk into the embrace, allowing relief to flood though her body.

Daniel looked up and over Caitlin's shoulder at Jack standing in the room, blood dripping from his nose, clearly waiting for them to get out of the doorway and get a move on. He threw Daniel a when you've quite finished' expression and took a step forward.

Suddenly, Daniel spun round, moving apart from Caitlin. She'd heard it too, footsteps on their way down the basement steps. Jack tensed, raising the Kalashnikov and switching it to rapid fire mode. Caitlin indicated he should stay put for now, as he was out of sight.

Daniel raised his pistol, watching first a pair of boots appear, then the rest of the bully who had beaten him up in his hotel room.

At first Gustav looked shocked, then composing himself, he sneered, knowing he was backed up by the two men now standing behind him carrying automatic weapons. "Well, well, if it isn't wonderboy come to rescue his missus." He laughed at the gun Daniel had levelled at him. "What are you going to do, shoot me? Hah, you do that and these guys will kill you before you can blink!" He waved vaguely at the men behind him. He stepped forward, closing on Caitlin, leering. "I've been looking forward to this moment." His eyes fixed on the tear in her clothes. "Maybe you'd like to watch," he sneered at Daniel.

As this little conversation was unfolding, Caitlin was watching the two men behind Gustav and as Gustav moved towards her, so the henchmen did too, bringing themselves in to a clear line of sight. She had her left hand hanging at her side but slightly towards her back and out of view of the advancing men. She knew the colonel was watching her and as the three men moved forward, she raised three of her fingers and counted down.

As she reached zero, Caitlin threw all her weight sideways, pushing Daniel sideways with her to the floor. At the same time Jack ran out of the room, swinging left and spraying the room with bullets. The three men went down before they had time to react to Jack's presence, let alone get anything like a shot off.

Jack stopped firing, the sudden silence unnerving. He moved to the bodies, checking for pulses. Nothing. Good. Caitlin appeared at his shoulder, "Nice shooting, sir."

Jack grinned like a small child, patting the automatic rifle, "Do you think Hammond'll let me keep this puppy?"

Daniel joined them, rubbing the shoulder he had landed on hard when Caitlin had pushed him to the floor. He looked at them both grinning and shook his head. "Next time, would someone please let me in on the plan!"

Jack glanced at Daniel, not sure for a moment if he was still upset about the tracking devices, but Daniel was smiling. Smiling to himself, he looked back at the first of the henchmen, noticing the panda eyes and the butterfly stitches. "More of your handywork?" He asked Caitlin.

Caitlin nodded, a little concerned as the colonel wiped the blood from his own nose. Jack saw her look at him and he laughed, "Got a thing for noses, huh?" Then he stepped over the bodies and headed for the stairs. "Come on, kids, let's get outta here."

Meeting no further resistance, the SGC members were soon back in the pickup and heading along the road in the direction from which they'd originally come.

Daniel got the laptop back on-line and called up Sam.

Sam's concerned face flashed up on the screen, "Daniel, you ok? What's going on?" The words tumbled from her lips, desperate to know what had transpired since they last spoke.

Daniel smiled reassuringly, "We're OK, Sam. And Caitlin's here with us."

The relief on her face was reflected in her sparkling smile. "That's great, Daniel!"

Jack's voice, "Carter! You got visitors yet?"

"Yes, sir. They arrived about five minutes ago. Svetlana had over forty special forces soldiers out lining the dirt track. Needless to say, they met with very little resistance. The Russian authorities are apparently over the moon. The boss man is Gregor Volasnov, a notorious arms dealer they've being trying to pin something on for years." She paused for breath, still smiling broadly. "Teal'c's out there scaring everyone to death and collecting more evidence against Volasnov!"

Jack grinned, he could imagine what was going on with the big Jaffa. "We'll be with you in about half an hour."

"Good. Svetlana wants to move the weapons as soon as possible. The transporter plane is standing by."

"OK, we're on our way."

+++++++++

General Hammond stood looking at row upon row of Goa'uld weaponry, as a number of SGC personnel moved around the equipment, carefully cataloguing and marking the individual items. Already they'd counted nearly forty staff weapons, twenty five zat guns, fifty or so shock grenades and the best haul of all, three staff cannons. This really could make a difference in the fight against the System Lords and they still had five boxes to unpack.

He turned to O'Neill standing next to him. "Good work, colonel."

"Thanks, sir. But it was hardly the piece of cake it was supposed to be," he muttered.

Hammond sighed. Nothing was ever simple where SG-1 was concerned. But this latest adventure had not just bought them back in one piece but had bought back stuff that might well make a big difference to helping to protect the SGC and its teams. He smiled, "well, its good to have you all back."

Jack nodded and turned to go.

"Jack."

"Sir?"

"I think it's time you gave me that recommendation for Sergeant Mitchell's promotion."

Jack smiled, it was about time. "Yes, sir. It'll be on your desk first thing!"

++++++++++

Caitlin lay on the grassy bank overlooking the SGC entrance, staring at the sky. Ben lay contentedly at her side, glad to have his mistress back with him. The few stitches on the back of her head were starting to itch, maddeningly.

The last 36 hours had been a whirl.

After watching Daniel and Jack oversee the removal of all those boxes of weapons, they'd all been whisked off to catch a flight home. As soon as they'd got back to the SGC, Caitlin and Daniel had found themselves in the infirmary, being poked and prodded and asked that stupid question are you alright'! It was sooo tempting to answer, yes, that's why I'm here'!

Caitlin had finally been discharged an hour ago, on the proviso she took 48 hours shore leave and checked back in if she felt at all nauseous or tired. Tired? Of course she felt tired, she hadn't slept properly since they took off for Moscow, how many days ago? She'd lost count.

Doctor Frasier hadn't discharged Daniel, yet, because of a hair line crack in his jaw bone that she wanted to check out further to make sure it was stable enough to not need wiring. Wiring! Caitlin shivered at the thought. Daniel hated all that shit and she knew he was crawling up the walls to get out of the infirmary. The doc had stitched his cut across his temple but wouldn't let him go until she was happy about his jaw.

Caitlin closed her eyes and soaked up the warm sun. As she tried to relax, the face of Gustav sailed into view, his leering expression all too plain on his ugly face. She opened her eyes and sat bolt upright, shudders coursing through her body. She hadn't thought about that incident since it had happened. As soon as she let her guard down, though, there he was.

She lay back down on the grass, trying to relax again. She wished Daniel was here. She hated being apart from him but Janet had practically thrown her out of the infirmary, making it clear if she didn't leave and get some rest, she sedate her and make her stay there! Caitlin didn't need to be told twice. She went to close her eyes again and thought better of it. Coffee, that's what I need, she decided.

With Ben at her heel, she made her way to the commissary deep in the SGC complex. She opened the door to enter, but seeing all the people milling about, talking and eating, she hesitated. Suddenly, she didn't want to be there. She wasn't ready for crowds or noise, she wasn't sure which, just knew she didn't want to be there. She stepped back, allowing the door to close again. She noticed her hands were shaking. She needed her Danny. She took the next best thing.

She sat in the darkness, content to be surrounding by the familiar scents that made Daniel's office so Daniel-ish. Ben lay at her feet, his head resting in his paws, at home here as Caitlin was. Caitlin crossed her arms on Daniel's desk and rested her head on them. She closed her eyes allowing the feeling that Daniel's presence was represented in every book and artefact to wash through her, pushing away the sense of loneliness that seemed to be consuming her.

Lonely? Why should she feel lonely? As her mind tried to make sense of the feeling, she suddenly found herself back in that room, hearing the approaching footsteps. Oh, god, no. Please, not again. She sat up, opening her eyes, panicking slightly at the darkness of the room, and switched on the desk lamp. Her hands were shaking again. The lonely, desolate feeling she had felt sat in that room threatened to overwhelm her again.

She reached across the desk picking up a jumper Daniel must have discarded. It was full of his scent and she clutched it to her, burying her head in it. As she held it close to her, the tears that had been locked up inside her throughout the ordeal and Fraiser's subsequent investigations started to fall and soak slowly into the woollen fabric.

+++++++++++

Daniel practically ran out of the infirmary when Janet had given him the all clear. And, yes, of course, he'd take it easy, and, yes, if he felt tired or nauseous or if his jaw started to hurt more he'd come back and see her, and, yes, he promised.

He strode to the commissary. Sam was there. No, she hadn't seen Caitlin. He about turned and headed out. Next, he asked the sergeant on duty at the entrance to the SGC levels. Yes, Sergeant Mitchell and her dog had come though about three hours ago and, no, they hadn't gone back up. Thanking the sergeant, Daniel walked back down the corridor, pondering where she might have gone.

Thinking, he found himself wandering towards his office, his sanctuary. He stopped, noticing the light spilling out from under the door. Caitlin? He walked up to the door and pushed it open gently.

She was there. Ben stood up, nuzzling Daniel's offered hand in greeting.

"Hello, fella," Daniel said, softly, not taking his eyes from Caitlin. She was asleep, her head resting on one of his jumpers, scrunched up like a cushion on his desk, her arms encircling it. She was facing him and he could clearly see that even in sleep her features were twisted in anguish, her eyes flicking rapidly beneath their lids. He moved to stand next to her and gently ran his long fingers through her short hair.

Caitlin stirred, her dream reaching her lips. "Don't leave me here, please," she muttered, the distress obvious despite the slur of sleep. "Please, he'll come back, please don't let him touch me again. Please!" Her voice was desperate, pleading.

Daniel could stand no more, he put his hand on Caitlin's shoulder and shook it. "Caitlin," he said gently, wanting to wake her but not startle her. Her voice stilled. He spoke again. This time her eyes flickered.

Caitlin was in that small room pleading for someone to take her away, she couldn't see who it was. She was calling to them but they were walking away. She could hear those footsteps coming, coming to get her. She begged again but they wouldn't stay, stay and stop that man. She turned to hide but she felt something reach out and touch her shoulder. They were calling her. Please no, not that man, please. The hand closed on her, squeezing. "No!" She screamed.

Caitlin woke suddenly. She screamed, "No!", and roughly pushed Daniel's hand away as she stumbled to her feet, fear bright in her eyes.

Daniel stepped back, shocked by her expression. "Caitlin, its me."

For a moment, Caitlin looked lost, then recognition, then relief. She threw herself into his arms. "Oh, Daniel!"

He held her close and he could feel her body was shaking, no more like shuddering. He hugged her tighter, as if the action would stop the unnatural reverberations. "Caitlin, what's wrong?"

She didn't answer, burying her head in his chest, under his chin.

Daniel allowed her to stay like that until her body stilled. Then gently taking hold of her shoulders, he moved her away so that he could see her face. Putting his hand under her chin, he tenderly lifted her head until she was looking at him properly. "Caitlin?"

Tears welled in her eyes, as she spoke. "I was so scared. I couldn't stop him." Her hand went instinctively to the bruising around her neck. "He was too strong." She dropped her gaze from his. "I should have tried harder."

Anger flared in Daniel. Again he raised her face to his. "You did what you could. It's not your fault! You mustn't blame yourself. He did this, not you!"

"But.."

"There are no buts! Anyone would be scared in your situation! Hell, I've been shit scared on way too many occasions. Everyone gets scared, but you do what you do to survive, to make it home." He allowed her head to rest again on his chest, holding her close. "And you're home now, that's all that matters."

Daniel could feel the dampness of her tears, but the shakes did not return. They were home and they were together. There would be nightmares, but they would get through them. They would be ok because they had each other.

The End

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Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended.