When Daniel arrived to the SGC the following morning he was in a foul mood. He had spent a restless night unable to shake the image of Vala leaving him at the table. Finding Mitchell and Teal'c waiting for him by the elevator did little to improve his state of mind.

"Jackson. Nice. I met Vala a minute ago. Very inconspicuously to arrive one by one." Mitchell laughed and put an arm around his shoulder. "You dog! Now spill! All the juicy details."

"There's nothing to spill."

"What do you mean?" Mitchell looked surprisingly at him.

"Was the date not a success Daniel Jackson? Are you in need of consolation?" Teal'c cast a concerned look at him.

"No. It was as close to a disaster as anything that has to do with Vala."

Mitchell stopped. "Isn't that a bit a harsh?"

Daniel rubbed the base of his nose. "That woman is a menace and I'm, thank god, still in control over my faculties."

"Rather sounds as though you aren't. Exactly what happened?"

"Nothing worth repeating. I did what Landry ordered me to do and if you'll excuse me. I have a report to hand in."

Daniel walked off. Mitchell turned to Teal'c.

"If that's the way he behaved, I'm sensing that Vala is pissed. Perhaps better to avoid her today, or say the entire week, as much as possible."

"Indeed."

"So, what do you think happened? Nothing good, that's for sure."

"I think Daniel Jackson requires warm foot wear."

"Foot wear? You lost me…"

"I believe his feet are cold."

---

Daniel entered his office only to find another person waiting for him, Jack. Seated at the desk, Jack was casually flipping the pages of a book that had been left open. What is this? Why can't they just leave me the hell alone and deal with Vala the way I see fit?

"Jack?"

"Daniel!"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were in Washington?"

"I had…some business to, hrm, attend to." Jack closed the book and stood up.

Daniel walked up to the desk and started to sort through some papers. "Nothing serious I hope?!"

"Serious? Well, yes, and no, but mostly yes. I think?"

"And this business involves me or is this just a social call?"

"It does, it certainly does."

"Right…?" Daniel looked quizzically at Jack, but he remained silent. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"You know, I spent last night with two women."

"Really?" Daniel looked chocked and he was more than a little surprised. He had always figured Jack as a 'one woman kind of guy'.

"Apparently it's every man's dream. At least that's what they say."

"Who?"

"People?"

Daniel could still not really wrap his head around it. "Two? Simultaneously?"

"You owe me a dinner!"

"What? What happened with the two women?"

"Dinner. You. Owe. Me. One."

"Had we made plans to meet up and I forgot? I can't even remember you calling and telling me you were coming?"

"I didn't."

"Then I don't understand…?"

"Apparently Danny boy, there's a lot that YOU don't understand."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Despite all your books," Jack looked around at Daniels stuffed bookshelves, "there are some things you can't read your way to."

"Ok…I suppose. What about the two women?"

Jack smiled. "I thought that would get your attention. As it happened, I spent most of the night with two women, on a bed, with ice cream."

"Ice cream? What did you do with …?" At that moment Daniel envisioned Vala and some imaginative images of what exactly ice cream could be used for.

"Yes. Ice cream! And talking! Lots of talking. Of you!!! Not exactly how I had envisioned it. That is, uhm, if I had ever envisioned being with two women."

"Right," Daniel smiled, "but I'm not sure I'm following. What did I have to do with….oh, Vala?"

"Yes, Vala."

"Why would you be with Vala?" Daniel could at first not really comprehend. "Oh, you weren't. You were with…Sam?! You're with Sam?"

Jack just looked at him. "You owe me a dinner!"

"I'm sorry."

"You should be. Things were going, eh, well when the phone rang and I got word that the kids had been fighting and that someone, who shall remain nameless, required a ride. So, besides being a driver, my services for the duration of the night was to offer insights into the psyche of why men do the things they do, or more precisely, you. Something I'm not clear on myself.

"How did that go?"

"I woudn't have a clue what to tell a woman in the middle of an emotional crisis. This of course reflected badly on me, so in the end I was apparently to blame for all the crappy things you or any man in the entire galaxy had ever done or would ever do. Because, after all, I'm too am but a man. So, I was banished to the couch and then someone fell asleep in the bed I was supposed to sleep in. I had more fun being tortured by Ba'al!"

"Jack, I'm really sorry."

"For crying out loud Jackson, you need to fix this before I come back. If I have to spend anther night listen to that woman's whining OVER YOU, I can't be held responsible for my actions!"

Daniel didn't really know what to say, not knowing if it could be fixed. He raised his hand from his sides in a helpless gesture. "You wouldn't have any advice…?"

Jack began to leave, but turned around in the doorway. "About that woman? Seriously?! You're the one with the alien fetish."

"Hey! Now who's having a bad memory?!" Daniel started counting on using his fingers. "Eh, Laira, Kynthia….Hathor?!"

"I thought we agreed never to mention that?!!! You're the one to talk…I was not the one she…you know!"

Yes he remembered, unfortunately. It wasn't everyday he helped to father evil Goa'uld spawn. So he remained silent.

"Seriously though," Jack looked at him, "for what it's worth, she really likes you."

"I know!"

"Good! Then don't be such an ass!"

Even though Vala was high up on his mind as Jack left, all he could really think of was Jack and Sam. Together. Wow!