9

The Colonel had cooked steaks on Sunday afternoon, as Dominics parents were invited, Sam had arrived as ordered by Cassie half an hour after Pete had left to go back to Denver, Cass had some literature for the resort they were going to and the poor people were grilled the whole time by the full team.

However they took it in good part, even Teal'c had to agree in the end that they may be suitable to be responsible for Cassie for a fortnight. All Sams questions and fears were answered, they were going to LA, and Cassie had to promise over and over that she would do as she was told. All in all it wasn't a bad night.

She had looked over the Colonels pathetic attempts at the Saturday crossword when she arrived, she actually didn't notice a single one right! And he acted all offended when she told him so!

He made a bet for double or nothing for the weekend after and she told him he could have an extra day, she had planned to see Pete in Denver that weekend so wouldn't be at the team night to collect her winnings.

Cassie was flying out on Thursday evening with the Millers, Sam insisted on taking her to the airport and it ended up a full team trip! On the way home her CO told her not to bother going into work the next day, to have some time off, so she decided to go to Denver early and surprise Pete.

He had once again booked a hotel for them, she was starting to wonder if she would ever see where he lived, and was getting curious as to why he wouldn't let her know the address. But she decided to trust him, if he wanted her to know, he would tell her!

She went into the city centre and bought herself some treats from Victoria Secret, as she was leaving the shopping centre she noticed an 'adult' shop, she wondered what Pete would say if she went in and bought a few toys… but then decided not to bother, she didn't want to risk offending him, and men were notoriously sensitive if they thought you weren't satisfied with their performance.

She sighed, the romance was great, the companionship better, it was just that one small part of it that was … lacking, and it wasn't such a big deal was it? She had gone years without in the past… she thought of the scraps of lace and satin in her bag and hoped maybe they would inspire something a bit more, just this once.

0o0o0o

Saturday morning Daniel called her early, he had finished the translations he had been working on and had found something important! She packed up and returned to Colorado Springs as soon as she could, not even going home she headed straight for the mountain, she thought she saw someone following her but by the time she reached the base gates there was no one there. She descended though both sets of lifts to find Daniel waiting by the lift shaft. It was unusual to say the least. He also had blue BDUs on, which she knew he must have been wearing at least a day, probably more.

"Seen Jack?" he asked as soon as she came out

"Not since Thursday" she answered, it couldn't be urgent or he would have called him. "I'm going to get ready" she said, and headed to the locker to get her green BDUs on, she hated the greens but she knew they were the next set up, and as the call from Daniel had not specified a desert world she knew that it would be green.

She changed and Daniel was still by the lift when she returned! Teal'c joined them waiting and eventually the door opened. She noticed he was already in his BDUs.

Daniel challenged him about his tardiness, and she was amazed to realise while they were waiting for a go ahead on a mission he had been doing the crossword! Not only that but he had got it all wrong again!

He had even tried a trick she had not seen since Tommy Jones in 6th grade, when he had tried to fit an 8 letter word into 5 spaces! She knew he had to be doing it deliberately, but he acted so offended when she called him on it.

He confused her!

Later that day he more than confused her, when he and Daniel were talking about the repository she had had the wild idea that she should try to absorb it, but he had stepped up before she could and suddenly it was too late, he was half unconscious, able to stagger along if helped but not really 'there' and she was going to have to live through watching him slip away from her again!

Thank God Cassie wasn't there, by the time she returned, hopefully, Thor would have arrived and helped him recover, and if they were really lucky Anubis would be dead.

0o0o0o

He asked for the weekend to get things in order, and she managed to convince the General that he would not be in any danger leaving, though she was annoyed to hell that he kept making jokes about his impending death.

She called Pete and cancelled the rest of the weekend, she had told him when she left that she probably wouldn't be back but he had insisted that she could wrap it up and return. She really couldn't cope with him as well as what was happening to her CO, and on Sunday afternoon she found herself sat in her car outside his house, wondering what the hell she was going to say to him. She noticed a car down the street, the driver sat doing nothing, just as she was… maybe she wasn't the only pathetic person in the world? Though actually, that looked rather like the car she thought was following her the day before.

She eventually got up the courage to get out and knock. He answered the door and she looked at him, properly, he looked tired, and older somehow. As if part of the vital energy that he always had was drained away. She wanted to hold him, comfort him, but she knew she had no right.

She waffled away when he asked what she was doing. How could he reduce her to a bumbling idiot just by asking a simple question? She tried to tell him all the things she had held back for so long, but she was just about to get somewhere, they were talking properly at last when Daniel and Teal'c turned up! She could have cried in frustration.

The afternoon cheered up once Daniel got drunk and tried to persuade everyone how deep Teal'c was, then the General turned up to tell them he was leaving!

She couldn't have been more shocked, especially as the new commander was a civilian, and what the hell was going to happen to the Colonel with this happening? He only had days!

0o0o0o

She spent her time watching him, trying to gauge the changes, last time he had started doing some things that did not make sense before the download began affecting his brain.

He didn't start making anything, or even filling a blackboard with complex base 8 maths. In fact she didn't notice any changes and he was getting annoyed with her watching him.

"Carter stop it!" he snapped "When I change I'm sure there will be notice."

They were saved by Bra'tac arriving and they made their way into the briefing room. He burst out during the conversation with an ancient word, it had started!

He managed to persuade Dr Weir to allow a mission if he came up with somewhere to go, much to Kinseys disgust.