It probably shouldn't have been surprising that neither one of them slept very well over the next couple of nights. At least one would wake up at some point in the early hours of the day with a nightmare. Daniel's were always the same – that Teal'c had actually killed Sha're and there was nothing anyone could do about it. For Sha're, things were much more complicated. The horrors she'd seen were things Daniel didn't even want to imagine. There was no use in telling her it was only a dream – they both knew better.

The night before he was supposed to return to work, the dream was so bad he could hardly wake her from it, and ended up with a split lip for his trouble. "It's okay, it's okay!" he tried to assure her, quickly licking the blood from his lip. "You're safe, Sha're. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again."

Her eyes finally opened, wild with terror. "Dan'iel?"

"Yes, my love."

"Apophis is gone?"

"He is, sweetheart. You're safe now."

She took a shuddery breath before the tears came. "It was so real. I could feel his touch…"

"He's gone now. He can't hurt you."

"Promise me you will never leave me?" Sha're whispered once she'd calmed down slightly.

Daniel kissed her forehead. "I promise."

In the morning, when Sha're awakened, she was alone in their bed, but could hear sounds coming from the kitchen. She pulled on a robe and went to investigate. Daniel smiled from his place at the counter, cutting up fruit.

"Hey, good morning. Are you okay?" he asked when he saw her.

"Yes, my husband." As she stood across the counter from him, she noticed the cut on his lip. "Dan'iel, what happened?"

"It's nothing," he told her. "Really, I'm fine. I've definitely had worse." He handed her the fruit to put on the table. "Come on, we need to eat and get out of here; I've got a meeting at 9:30. Hammond said you could use a computer on base to learn more about Earth, if you wanted. Or you could stay here for the day, get some rest."

Sha're shook her head. "I'll go with you."

Once they got to Cheyenne, Daniel got her set up in a spare office, made sure she knew how to find the cafeteria, infirmary, and conference room, and then headed to his meeting. They would be traveling off-world that afternoon, and had several other things to catch up on in the meantime.

After Hammond dismissed SG-1 and headed back to his office, Jack caught his friend's elbow before he could follow Sam and Teal'c downstairs. "How's the other guy?" he asked.

Daniel frowned. "What?"

Jack pointed to his lip. "Bar brawl?"

"Oh. No, just…nightmare."

Jack frowned. "Must have been pretty impressive."

"Yeah, you could say that. Sha're keeps remembering things…reliving them in her dreams. I swear that if Apophis wasn't already dead, I'd kill him with my bare hands."

"How's she adjusting?"

"Pretty well, all things considered…Is it wrong that I don't even want to ask her about the past two years? I mean…I've got a pretty good imagination. I can come up with ideas on my own. But I don't want them to be confirmed."

"Has she wanted to talk about it?"

"No. I know she's ashamed. I try to tell her not to be, but…I guess that's probably not very helpful if I can't even deal with it." He sighed.

Jack clapped him on the shoulder. "You'll figure it out. Been through too much already to give up now."

Daniel needed to talk with Sam, so Jack decided to go put in a visit with his best friend's wife. Sha're was completely enthralled with the computer screen before her when he came in the door.

"Anything interesting?" he asked her.

"So much that I hardly know where to begin. It is all fascinating."

Jack leaned against the doorjamb. "I'd imagine you know a lot more about the universe now."

Sha're looked down. "The Goa'uld do not want to learn, they want to control. So many worlds, so many cultures…and they don't care about any of it."

"But you learned," Jack deduced.

"What I could…Earth is unique. Your people are very fortunate."

"Yeah. If only the rest of the planet knew that…"

Silence lingered for a long moment. "Jack?" she finally asked, her voice low. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Taking care of Dan'iel."

Jack smiled. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"I can see that you care about him, as a man would his brother. He respects you greatly, and his trust is never misplaced."

"Well, I can't have anything happen to a member of my team…"

Sha're smiled knowingly. "I understand. But I thank you anyway."

Jack shifted his stance a little aprehensively. "Listen, I'm not going to pretend to understand what you've been through, but...if you need someone to talk to - someone who isn't your husband - remember that you can come find me, okay?"

After a moment, she nodded. "I will remember."

They all formed a nice routine over the next few days. SG-1 was back in action, and Sha're spent her days learning about Earth. She wished so badly that her brother and other childhood friends could be there to share in her discoveries. Everyone had enjoyed Daniel's stories of his homeworld, but to actually be there, to actually see pictures of all the places he described. It was amazing.

She was caught off-guard, however, the day that a Tok'ra named Martouf came to the planet, desperately seeking the SGC's help in order to save Samantha Carter's father and thwart a plot to destroy the System Lords. As Daniel shared the plan for their mission with his wife, she didn't think she'd ever felt colder in her entire life.

"General Hammond has said you can stay here," he told her. "That way, you'll know as soon as there's any word, and you don't have to be alone."

Sha're nodded slowly. She hadn't been prepared for this. Of course she'd known what his life was like, here with SG-1, but she hadn't been prepared to actually watch him go away on dangerous missions where there was no certainty that he would return.

On Abydos, the biggest danger he'd ever faced was the sandstorms; occasionally he would be so enthralled by the great pyramid that he'd forget her warnings and end up trapped there for half a day or more when a vicious storm blew through. She would always chide him and perhaps let him think that she truly was angry – he was always very good at making things up to her – but the danger in those situations was small compared to what he now faced.

"You must keep your promise to me, Dan'iel," she quietly said. He seemed slightly confused for a moment, not sure which promise she spoke of, then it dawned on him.

"I'll be back," he assured her. "Nothing can keep us apart now."

TBC...

Thanks to everyone who's sent feedback so far. Reviews are a writer's crack, so keep them coming.