Thanks so much to everyone who read, and in particular those of you who reviewed! Your feedback was useful and greatly appreciated! Right now it seems that the common opinion is keeping all the virtual episodes in one story (with maybe side stories). That lines right up with what I was thinking, so we're going to go with it for now!

Open question: how to show what characters are central to each episode/story (as we know, some episodes are more focused on one or two characters, and we'd like to showcase that). If anyone has any ideas on how to deal with that while keeping the format as one single story, please let us know!

Also, an episode guide and further details will be posted on my profile page shortly.

State of Affairs, pt. 2

The pictures bore the grainy, out-of-focus mark of amateur photography, and the angles and bad lighting made it difficult to see the details. Still, it was clear that they all showed the same thing.

What was less clear, was what he was supposed to do with it.

"Are these…crop circles…?" Daniel looked up from the photos spread across the conference room table.

"I find that there's such a negative image associated with that, don't you think?" Jack maintained a perfectly serious expression. "The politically correct term would be 'crop formation'."

Daniel gave him an incredulous look. "You need my help with…crop circles." He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Is this some sort of prank? April Fools isn't for another few months."

"Ah, I see that you're a nonbeliever –"

Daniel cringed. "Bad word choice."

" – which is surprising," Jack continued, ignoring his comment, "considering that you've spent more than a decade chasing…or, more frequently, being chased by," he amended with a smirk, "extra-terrestrials." He spoke the last word in a hoarse whisper, with eyes widening for emphasis. "One would think you'd be a little more open-minded to alien theories," he added in his normal voice.

"Yeah, except the aliens we've met aren't exactly the kind to land UFOs at night in cornfields."

"These ones might be."

Daniel stared for a second. "You're not serious. You've actually come all the way here…from DC…because of crop circles." A short pause, then: "Are things that boring over at Homeworld Security?"

Jack shrugged. "What can I say, it's just not the same when there's no one trying to blow up the planet. So," he leaned forward in his chair, "now that we've established that we're both bored, how about you indulge me for a few minutes?"

"Really, Jack?"

The general raised his eyebrows. "It's not like you've got anywhere else to be."

Daniel's expression soured at the reminder. "Point taken," he said dryly. "By all means, tell me the story, Mulder."


"Sir." Carter greeted as she entered the General's office.

"Colonel." Landry indicated the chair next to his desk. "General O'Neill was looking for you and Dr. Jackson earlier."

"He found us," she smiled as she sat down. "He's asking Daniel to join him on his...project, as we speak." She tried to keep the doubtful edge out of her voice out of loyalty, but Landry's knowing look made it plain that he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Thankfully, he let it go. "So I hear. So tell me, Colonel, what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to take another quick trip to the Odyssey later this week, Sir, if you don't need me on base. We've been having some problems with this temporal mismatch between our atomic clock and the Asgard particle timer, and I think I've found a solution that I'd like to try!"

"Ah, I see you're enjoying the down time. Relaxing, keeping your mind off work..."

Sam chuckled at the mild irony. "Exploring the Asgard technology is fun, Sir," she pointed out. "Everyone on the technical crew loves it."

"I don't doubt it," Landry nodded. "Dr. Lee has mentioned – repeatedly," he added wryly, "that it's any scientist's dream to 'discover the mysteries of a race as technologically advanced as the Asgard'. I think he's resenting me for not allowing him to move on board," he joked.

"Well, he's right, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The technology, the understanding that the Asgard gave us is…vast, and brilliant, and the chance to explore it…" her eyes lit up with excitement, and she seemed ready to launch into a longer speech, but caught the General's amused visage. "Right," she cleared her throat, a little embarrassed. "The Asgard upgrades are a great chance to expand our understanding of science and the laws of the universe," she finished in a more subdued tone.

"That's what Dr. Lee says. " General Landry gave her another knowing look. "But I get the feeling that working on the Odyssey is about more than that, to you."

Sam held his gaze silently for a moment, then nodded. Her expression grew serious. "Thor was…" She sighed. "A very good, very dear friend. He saved our lives more times than I can count."

"From what I understand, you returned the favour, too," Landry said softly.

"Once or twice." She smiled fondly at the recollection of all the times SG1 had worked together with Thor and the Asgard. Then the look in her eyes grew determined as she met the General's gaze again."Thor…the Asgard…they trusted us with the knowledge of their entire race. One of the four Great Races, and they gave us everything they had." She swallowed hard. "Because they trusted that we'd make good use of it, and carry on their legacy. So you're right, Sir," she nodded gravely, "working on the Odyssey is about more than just learning about new technologies. I promised Thor personally that I'd do my best to make sure his legacy is used responsibly…and I plan to do exactly that."

There was a brief silence as the General pondered her words, and Sam recalled the events on the last voyage of the Odyssey. Landry, too, had made that same promise to Thor, and she knew that he, too, had meant it.

"Well, the first step to using their legacy well is to understand it," the SGC commander said finally, in a lighter tone. "And if anyone can do it, Colonel, I'm sure it's you."

Sam picked up on the attempt to lighten the mood, and smiled. "I sure hope so, Sir."

"And from what I'm seeing, I'm not the only one who thinks that. I receive requests every day to permanently reassign you to lead the Odyssey engineering crew." He nodded to a small stack of papers next to the phone, then his expression grew serious. "If you were interested in that position, Colonel, I assume you'd let me know, correct?"

Sam felt her cheeks heat up. That was a question she had asked herself repeatedly over the past couple of months, ever since they had brought the Odyssey home with the Asgard upgrades. The answer was not an easy one.

"Uh," she coughed to clear her voice. "Yes, Sir…I'd, uhm, let you know."

Landry gave her a sharp look, but he was not one to pry unnecessarily. "Good," he replied briefly, and dropped the issue altogether. "There was something else I wanted to discuss, Colonel." His eyes narrowed as he considered his next words. "I'd like you to look into something for me. Let's call it a…side project."

Sam's eyebrows rose up in surprise.


Jack set a thin folder on the conference room table. "A few months ago –"

"Should I be wearing my tinfoil hat for this?"

The quip earned Daniel a trademark 'you're-trying-my-patience' look.

"Ya done?" When the younger man held up his palms in resignation, Jack resumed. "Couple of months ago, I got a...tip. About these crop formations turning up in unusual places. Forest clearings, mountain woods, remote and out-of-the way locations. And there's been rumours of sightings of…alien vessels." He paused for a moment. "What, no wisecracks?"

"I'm saving them for the end," Daniel informed him.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Our satellite network didn't detect any suspicious activity. Then again, the damn thing's been up and running for two years and it still pops gaps the size of small islands whenever a light bulb goes out."

"So…you're worried that an alien fleet is secretly invading us, going undetected through the satellite network, and leaving mysterious crop circles behind to…what? Taunt us?"

"A whole fleet wouldn't make it past the sensors," Jack replied, choosing to ignore the sarcasm. "A single small ship, on the other hand, might not have that much trouble, especially if it's got a cloak, which, need I remind you, the satellite network isn't that great at detecting."

For the first time in the conversation, Daniel seemed to concede the point. "Yeah, we should really do something about that."

"Already talked to Carter about it."

"So...you think a small ship's been sneaking past the sensor barrier and…what, hopping around the countryside giving UFO nuts something to talk about?"

Jack tapped the photos spread out on the table. "Take another look at the time stamps."

Daniel did so, and frowned in puzzlement. "They're…months apart." He moved the photos around to arrange them in chronological order. "And each new one was taken about a month and a half after the previous one." He met Jack's gaze, this time cautiously curious. "Okay…so that's a little weird, but it doesn't really prove anything. Hoaxers make crop circles all the time."

"Do those really look like circles to you, Daniel?"

With an exasperated sigh, the archaeologist picked up another photo.

"Well…kind of…I mean, they're not perfectly round, and they seem to maybe have … edges...I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered with a roll of his eyes, but continued to study the photos. "Okay, fine, they're pretty badly drawn circles, which only makes it more likely that they're the work of some kids playing a practical joke. This one doesn't even look like a circle, it looks more like a rounded…triangle…" He trailed off as he processed that, then an expression of disbelief crossed his face. "So, what, an Alkesh is out there making crop circ –triangles?"

Jack reached inside the thin folder, pulled out a paper, and wordlessly handed it over. After a few moments, he saw Daniel frown again.

"Most of the dates on this list match up pretty closely to the time stamps. What –"

"The times that the sensor network crashed over the past year."

When Daniel looked up again, the mocking twinkle was gone from his eyes.

"You think whoever was flying that ship took advantage of the blinks in the network to make it through undetected."

"Oh, I doubt they were just hovering around hoping to get a lucky break."

Daniel nodded, his expression grave. "You're saying that someone's been disrupting the sensors to make sure the ship stays off the radar." Jack silently stared back, his eyebrows raised meaningfully, so Daniel continued the train of thought. "It would have to be someone with enough authority to know about the satellite network, and have the power to tamper with it…I don't know, Jack," he shook his head, suddenly doubtful, "who would want to regularly sneak a small cloaked ship to Earth for, what, a year now? And why? And, no one's caught on to it yet? It's all a little…implausible."

With an eye roll, Jack pulled another sheet of paper from the folder and slid it across the table. "That, doubting Thomas, is the map of all the locations where these photos were taken."

There was a brief silence, as Daniel studied the map. Then he dropped it back on the table and sighed.

"Spots in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania. They're all within a few hours' drive of DC," Jack pointed out impatiently. "So is it possible that this is all a bunch of kids playing a prank? Yeah. Is it possible that someone in DC's been messing with the satellite network to sneak a little alien tourism business right under our noses? Also, yes." He leaned forward in his seat again. "You'll notice the last timestamp was about six weeks ago. My…source…has information that another ship will fly in some time in the next few days. So…how'd ya feel about a little field trip?"


"At least being head of Homeworld Security comes with nice flying perks." Daniel leaned back in the comfortable leather seat and adjusted his seatbelt. "Maybe to compensate for the increased paranoia," he muttered in an undertone, though loud enough to be heard.

Jack tossed a bag of peanuts at him in response.

"So, how come Sam's not coming with us? Actually – how come you don't have a team of your HS people on this?"

"Because we're going to investigate crop circles, Daniel." Jack arched an eyebrow. "Not exactly the kind of mission ya wanna pitch to the President."

"Ha! So you do think it's a wild goose chase!"

"No, Daniel, I think it's real, and if it were up to me, we'd be sending teams to all the possible landing places from Jersey to South Carolina. Unfortunately, that's not how the game works."

"So why'd you refuse General Landry's offer to send an SG team with us?" Privately, Daniel had been surprised that Landry had offered at all, but apparently the SGC General had been up to date on Jack's suspicions and not nearly as sceptical.

Jack sighed. "Because any mission involving an SGC team needs to be planned, detailed and entered on record," he explained, "and if someone in DC is behind this business, I'd rather not write to them and let them know we're coming."

Daniel bit his lips to keep from making another paranoia-related comment. "Okay," he said instead, "but now there's only you and me, and about ten possible landing locations based on your extrapolations of that map." He took a sip of soda, and gave Jack a doubtful look above the rim of the can. "It's gonna be a little hard to cover all that space with just the two of us."

"It's not going to be just the two of us, Daniel."

"No?" The archaeologist looked confused. "I thought you said you weren't bringing anyone from Homeworld."

Jack opened his own can of soda with a loud pop. "I'm not."

Daniel tilted his head. "Are you being intentionally obscure?"

Jack smirked. "I am."

"I hate it when you do that."


The wormhole blinked out of existence, leaving the gate room just a shade darker. Teal'c paused for a moment to take in his surroundings, nodding briefly to himself as he noticed that all appeared well, then he walked down the ramp, raising a greeting hand to Walter in the control room. A familiar face met him just as he stepped into the corridor.

"Colonel Carter." He inclined his head in his customary greeting, but was not surprised when the woman gave him a quick hug.

"Teal'c, welcome back!"

"It is good to be back," he smiled. "I am surprised to find you here. I believed you were aiding the technical crew working on the Odyssey."

"Well, I'm kinda going back and forth a little bit," she admitted. "I have a few ongoing projects here that I like to check up on. So, how was the summit on Chulak?"

Teal'c's expression took on the slightest hint of dissatisfaction, and he thought for a long moment before replying:

"The Jaffa people are finding it...challenging...to agree on a common path. There have been too many directions in our recent past. People are conflicted, and their loyalties divided...many still feel more loyalty to their factions than to the Free Jaffa as a united nation."

Sam nodded sympathetically. "It's not easy to form a nation from many groups with different ideologies and priorities. Several countries in our history have faced similar dilemmas."

"I believe Daniel Jackson has mentioned this. How did your planet's nations solve this?"

She took a moment to consider it. "Uh...a lot of different ways." The worse examples came to her mind first. War. Tyranny. Bloodshed. "I think the way that worked was...finding a common message...a common ground...a common enemy, a common god...some sort of middle point where all the different parties could meet."

Teal'c's voice bore a hint of sadness. "The Jaffa have had common gods, and they were false gods who enslaved us, and became our common enemy. Yet that has not been enough to make our nation strong. We stand together to rebel, stand together to fight, but now when the times of conflict have passed,we are divided." He looked down at her when they stopped by the elevator. "I believe you are right, Colonel Carter. The Free Jaffa do not have a common message to seal our nation past the times of war."

She put a comforting hand on his arm. "It takes time, Teal'c. Time for the Jaffa to realize what it is that matters to them, and what they want. They'll come together as a true nation, in time."

He dipped his head. "Perhaps. That is my hope." There was a brief, comfortable silence between them, then Teal'c spoke again. "Yet I have grown...impatient. Hearing the faction leaders squabble makes me wish to confine them together in narrow quarters until they have resolved their differences."

Sam smiled. "Trust me, that's a pretty common way to feel when you're trying to get people to work together."

He gave her an inquisitive look as they stepped inside the elevator. "Has that strategy worked for any Tau'ri nations in the past?"

This time, she chuckled. "I'm not sure, actually. You'll have to ask Daniel."

"Perhaps I will indeed, Colonel Carter." Teal'c nodded. After another brief silence, he asked with just the right note of polite curiosity. "Has Daniel Jackson departed for Atlantis yet?"

Sam grinned. "No, no he has not."

"Indeed." Teal'c's expression was perfectly straight. "When I left to attend the summit, he appeared quite determined to do so."

This time, Sam couldn't hold back a chuckle. Teal'c's particular brand of deadpan humour could always make her laugh.

"Oh, he's determined, alright," she agreed.


Daniel shut the car door, and slipped the straps of his backpack over his shoulders. The he hurried to catch up with Jack, who was already walking away from the crowded parking lot into the streets of Arlington, VA.

"Okay, now can you tell me?"

"Patience is a virtue, Daniel." Jack was clearly amused by his curiosity.

"One I can do without," the other grumbled. "Why won't you just tell me who else you recruited for your little UFO hunt?"

"Because I enjoy watching you whine about it for four hours straight," the general said dryly. "Besides, we'll be there in a few minutes and you'll find out."

"It's not like I can change my mind and turn back."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Jack muttered.

The sidewalk was wide enough to allow four people to walk side by side, but crowded enough that Daniel had to constantly fall behind a step or two to allow bikes, parents pushing prams, or large groups of loud students to pass in the opposite direction. "Excuse me," he sighed as a young man with a particularly large backpack rammed into him. "What on Earth are we doing here, anyway? This isn't exactly your neighbourhood."

"We're meeting a…friend," Jack said with a slight hesitation, "and maybe the rest of our manpower."

"This isn't Mission Impossible, you know," Daniel rolled his eyes. "Just tell me who you got to come with us on this wild goose chase."

"There we are." Jack ignored his question, and instead grabbed his arm and ducked into a small coffee shop that buzzed with activity. He paused for a moment to get his bearings, then…"Table near the back."

"What, no meeting under a remote bridge at midnight?" Daniel quipped as they made their way to the back of the coffee shop. "I'm at least hoping your mysterious partner turns out to –"

For the second time that day, Daniel's words completely failed him, as they finally reached the high round table and he set eyes on the person they were meeting.

"Hi, Daniel." A slender young woman with long strawberry blonde hair jumped down from her chair and hugged him. Then she turned to Jack. "Okay, you win… he doesn't look at all happy to see me."


Thanks for reading! Drop us a line and let us know what you think. We're always happy for new ideas and new collaborators on this somewhat huge and slightly scary project:).

Note: I said last time that each story would be published in 3 parts. This one has 12,000 or so words, so it will end up split in 4 parts. (also because I did not realize how long it was when I posted the first chapter.) In the future, I'll try to stick to the 3-part format, although it will also depend on what the natural breaks in the story are.

And again, episode guide & further details coming soon to my profile page!