Chapter 3

Daniel Jackson sat next to Helen Magnus in what seemed to be her own personal jet as they chattered away happily about archeology. After a call to Stargate Command which resulted in a search mission that was about to start being canceled, and a follow-up phone call in which Jack referred to him as "Space Monkey" no fewer than four times, proving he had been frantic, Daniel had accepted Helen's offer of a flight back to the States. A handful of painkillers had taken the edge off of what Helen had judged to be a mild concussion.

If Daniel found it odd that Helen didn't ask what an archeologist did for the Air Force, he didn't show it. And if Helen found it off that Daniel didn't ask about the abnormal that had almost killed him and was now contained in the rear of the plane, she didn't mention it.

Daniel was still shocked by Helen's resemblance to Sam every time he looked at her. But the differences ran deeper than the accent and the hair, he thought as she left him to go check on her passenger. He had always thought Sam was the epitome of confidence, but Helen Magnus did not seem as eager-to-please as Sam had always been. Helen had no superiors, she might not even have any equals, he thought with a private snort. She didn't need to make anyone happy except for herself.

And she radiated a sensuality he had never seen from Sam.

"So, Dr. Jackson, Magnus said she thought you were dead?" asked Will Zimmerman, plopping himself in the seat across from Daniel and fixing him with a sharp stare.

"Um….yes….and you can call me Daniel, please," Daniel said. He frantically tried to remember his cover story. "I went missing for a while in Egypt, but reports of my death were incorrect."

"Huh. You're an archeologist?"

"Yes…." Daniel was getting the feeling that the younger man didn't like him for some reason.

"And what do you do for the Air Force?"

"Most of what I do is classified, but I travel a lot looking at archeological sites as an Air Force consultant," he responded. Will was still glaring at him.

"Seems like an odd thing for the U.S. Air Force to need."

"Yes, well, I'm a linguist too, so that's part of it."

Ashley popped up behind Will's seat. "Linguist? Wow! How many languages do you speak?"

Daniel smiled at her. She wasn't openly hostile like young Dr. Zimmerman. "Around 20, 25. Some of variations or dialects of others."

"That is too cool!" Ashley enthused. "Mom says I can barely speak English!"

Daniel turned his laugh into a cough. Will Zimmerman turned his glare unto something behind Daniel's left shoulder. When Daniel turned his head to look, he found Helen Magnus standing behind him, smiling down at him. Will picked himself up out of Helen's seat and stomped away, vanishing through a curtain.

"Mom, I think Will is…." Ashley started, looking over her shoulder to see where Will had disappeared to.

"Yes, Ashley, I think so as well," Helen interrupted, holding her daughter's eyes. "Why don't you go back to your gun catalog and give him some peace?"

"Ookay, Mom, whatever you say. But I want Daniel to teach me some swear words in some language you don't know!"

Daniel laughed.

"Later, Ashley," Helen said, laughing with Daniel. "That might be harder than she thinks, Daniel," Helen added, sitting down across from him and fastening her seatbelt loosely. Daniel's eyes were drawn to the motion, caught for a moment by her fine boned hands, the small scars on the fingers.

"Oh, why is that?" he asked, tearing his eyes from her hands and focusing on her face. He was making a concerted effort not to focus on her very obvious and, he admitted privately to himself, impressive cleavage.

She didn't help that effort when she leaned forward conspiratorially and gestured him closer. "I speak about 20 languages myself. Some of them only a smattering, though."

She chuckled when Daniel's mouth dropped open. Then he smiled.

"I'm pretty sure I know one or two you don't," he said, eyes twinkling.

Helen found herself momentarily engrossed in his gaze. Then she shook herself and sat back. You're flirting with him, Helen, she mentally chastised herself. For god sakes, pull yourself together. But she found herself saying, "Oh, well I'd love to see if you have something new I can learn to wrap my tongue around."

Daniel stared at her. She felt herself blushing, something she hadn't done in so many years she wasn't sure her body even remembered how. Then he started to laugh, quietly at first, but it quickly became uncontrollable. Helen joined him, caught in the ridiculousness of her own comment and the situation.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Daniel said, laughing and clutching his head at the same time.

"What's so darn funny?" Ashley demanded, popping back up from behind Helen's seat to stare at her mother, who had tears rolling down her face, to Daniel, who was partially collapsed against the arm rest, holding his head and laughing loudly.

"Darling, I'm not sure anyone else in the world would find it funny," Helen gasped between snickers.

**************************************************************************************

Sitting up front on a pile of baggage, Will shrugged to himself. He couldn't understand why everyone was taking Dr. Jackson at face value. Especially since Henry had been able to find out next to nothing about him on the computer.

Helen had good instincts, he argued with himself. But she and Ashley both seemed captivated by this guy. Well, he was less likely to be sucked in by a pair of blue eyes and some broad shoulders. If no one else was willing to be suspicious, he would be suspicious for everyone.