Chapter nine

"Someone's coming," Minna said as she and Jack walked down the hall in the middle of discussing the Goa'uld Shuttle shaped Neuroi. "Grab my hand."

Jack complied and held her hand and the two continued their discussion. "So Sam and Daniel seem to think that the Neuroi are here looking for the Stargates, which would explain their presence in Africa, since that's where we found the Stargate in our universe."

"Then how come you arrived here in Romagna?"

"Daniel reckons it was moved in this universe…" Jack stopped speaking as Minna snatched her hand out of Jack's just as Flying Officer Clostermann appeared, walking toward them them. Minna had waited just long enough for Clostermann to get a slight glimpse of the two holding hands. Jack picked up where he had stopped, the time between stopping and starting only noticeable to someone who was looking for it, "but he doubts they knew where it was in the first place. The problem I see with it is that if these things can defeat the Goa'uld, then what chance…" the pair passed Clostermann and the blond Witch looked back at them over her shoulder, "… have you guys got."

"We have held out for several years already, so we can't be doing that bad. Speaking of this Stargate, why haven't you tried to use it to get home?"

"You want to get rid of us?" Jack said, feigning insult.

"No, it just strikes me as odd that you would not wish to return to your own time."

Jack huffed, "But that would mean I have to leave you, Min." There was a chance that Clostermann would still be in earshot. "But aside from that, we'd have to excavate the gate and the DHD. With the war going the way I think, I just don't think you would be willing to spare the resources, and chances are that we won't go back to our universe unless we recreate the exact circumstances," he shrugged and shook his head, "and we have no idea what they are."

"What is a 'DHD'?"

"Dial Home Device."

"So you believe we don't poses or are not willing to share the resources needed for you to return home?"

"Hey, don't forget we're learning about those Striker things. A weapon like that… we'd be more than capable of defending ourselves."

"So you really don't have Witches where you come from?" Minna asked, changing the subject as the two turned a corner, heading towards the dining hall for lunch.

Jack couldn't help but laugh, "You have no idea how weird you guys are to us. You people are circus freaks."

Minna glared at him and the two walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Good afternoon, campers," Jack greeted everyone loudly and happily as the pair entered the dining hall. There were only a couple of other people, but surprisingly those people were Sam, Daniel, Shirley, Sergeant Miyafuji and Teal'c.

"Good afternoon, Colonel O'Neill, Commander Wilcke," Teal'c replied, inclining his head in his way. Everyone else was too absorbed in what they were doing to notice the new arrivals. Sam was arguing with Shirley, and Daniel was taking down notes while Sergeant Miyafuji spoke.

Minna walked over to the kitchenette and rolled up her sleeves. "Hurry up, Colonel, lunch won't cook itself," she told Jack after he gave her a look.

"Oh? It's probably not a good idea to let me near the kitchen," he warned her, "I can't cook."

She smiled, "That's okay, I can't either."

Jack sighed and walked over to the kitchen, rolling up his own sleeves. "Okay then, what are we cooking?"

Minna shrugged, "Dunno. Let's have a look at what we've got." She started rummaging through cupboards.

"Tell you what," Jack said, beginning to rummage through cupboards also, "find some meat and I can burn it to perfection."

"Why don't you two let me handle lunch?" Sergeant Miyafuji offered, leaning over the counter to look at Jack and Minna. "I mean, no offence, Commander, but the last time you cooked…" the Fuso girl trailed off, as if afraid to mention what happened.

Minna stood up and put her hands on her hips, "Ah, c'mon, my cooking wasn't that bad."

"Are you kidding?" Shirley scoffed, also leaning on the counter, as Jack got up. Daniel was only a few steps behind Miyafuji, but Sam and Teal'c were just sitting back, watching the show. "We were out of action for over two weeks!"

"Really now…" Minna began, only to be cut off by Shirley.

"Barkhorn, Lucchini. Hartmann and I nearly died!"

Minna threw her hands up in the air, "fine, fine, fine. You cook."

Shirley sighed, "That's an order, isn't it ma'am?"

"Think of it as penance for talking disrespectfully to a superior officer," Minna told the Liberian, then turned to Sergeant Miyafuji, "Yoshika, why don't you help her? I'd rather not have canned Spem."

Sergeant Miyafuji smiled, "Yes, ma'am."

"That's one way to get a meal," Jack commented as he and Minna walked over to the table. "Did you plan that?"

Minna crossed her legs and smiled, "No, it was just fortunate. They weren't kidding about my cooking ability. A few of us got pretty bad food poisoning. The Major is going to be very upset when she finds out I went near the kitchenette."

"You're not allowed near the kitchenette?" Jack found that hard to believe.

"Something along those lines."

"I saw them," Perrine said to Hartmann as she slipped into the bath. She had just returned from training with the Lynette, Barkhorn and Hartmann, but only the latter had gone to the bath. Perrine had no doubt they would arrive soon, though, but for now she would talk to Hartmann, who was sitting with her arms and legs stretched out and her eyes closed. "They were holding hands."

"Who was holding hands?" Hartmann asked without opening her eyes.

"That Colonel O'Neill and the Commander."

Hartmann opened her eyes and smiled at Perrine, "I told you it was true, didn't I?"

"This proves nothing," Perrine sniffed, "Just because they were holding hands doesn't mean they are…"

"Having sex?" Hartmann finished, with a raised eyebrow and a cheeky grin.

"Um… yes. It doesn't mean they are having sex."

Hartmann rubbed her chin, "Maybe not, but it's a step in the right direction."

"What?!" Perrine shouted, standing up, "A step in…?! ARGH! You are insufferable!"

"She may be a little lazy," Barkhorn said firmly as she entered and sat across from Hartmann and Perrine, "But 'insufferable' is a bit of a harsh word, yes?"

"You wouldn't be saying that if you heard what she had just said," Perrine huffed.

"And what did she say?" Lynette inquired sitting opposite everyone.

"I said that Colonel O'Neill and Commander Minna holding hands is a step in the right direction for having sex," Hartmann said matter-of-factly.

"What?!" both Lynette and Barkhorn exclaimed at the same time. With Barkhorn adding angrily, "You are out of line, Flying Officer."

Hartmann put her hands behind her head, leaned on the edge of the bath, and shrugged, "Court martial me."

It was three days until the party, and Erica had already organised for Lynette and Yoshika to cook, but she still needed drinks. As she skipped past the library where DanielJackson was working, she got an idea.

She poked her head through the door to find standing up, reading a book, and Lucchini asleep on the desk. "Excuse me, ?" Erica would have used his rank if he had one, but wasn't in the military.

The American turned around and closed the book, "Oh, hello Erica. Please, just call me Daniel. Did you need something?"

"I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something. You know about science and chemicals and stuff, right?"

"Yes," Daniel said carefully.

Erica stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, "There's going to be a party for SG-1 this Friday to commemorate your first kills – don't tell anybody, it's a secret – and I need some help with the beverages."

"Well, I'm not sure wha…" by Daniel's change of expression, Erica knew he knew what she was alluding to. "You want me to help you distil something?"

Erica nodded with a smile, "Yup. I've got plenty of potatoes hidden away, but I'm not sure where to go from there."

Daniel thought about it for a moment and then pushed his glasses up on his face. "Yeah, okay. I'll help." He gestured at the door, "Lead the way."

It was dinner, and everyone was around the table. Sam was arguing with Shirley and Barkhorn, Daniel was discussing something with Perrine, Lynette and Yoshika were talking to one another, Eila and Sanya were quiet as usual, Erica was trying to pry information out of Teal'c, though he kept his answers to one sentence much to the dismay of the Karlslander, Lucchini was stuffing her face with a second helping already, Jack and Minna were discussing either the Neuroi or the Goa'uld or logistics or something, and Mio just sat quietly observing everyone.

As far as she could tell, everyone was getting along well enough, with no more major fights breaking out since the Eila/Barkhorn incident. It would seem that Minna's plan to pretend to be in a relationship with Jack was also distracting everyone from their other troubles.

"Excuse me, Major Sakamoto," Teal'c said, from across the table, "are you recovered from the battle."

"I am, thank you for asking, Teal'c. You?"

"Indeed. Since we are both recovered, should we not take the opportunity to continue out match after the meal?"

Mio grinned, "I think that would be a good idea."

"No," Minna said firmly, silencing everyone out of shock. It was very rare for Minna to speak so loudly or firmly, at least as far as the other Witches knew. "You two will not fight. That is an order."

"Very well," Teal'c said, complying with the order.

Mio on the other hand had some arguments. "May I speak to you outside, Commander?"

"Of course," Minna said, pushing her chair out as she stood up to walk out of the room.

"I don't understand why you're doing this," Mio said angrily once the two were out the room.

"You two nearly killed each other last time you fought; I'm not letting that happen again."

"We wouldn't have killed each other," Mio told her friend, levelling her voice somewhat, "everything was under control."

Minna put her hand on Mio's shoulder, "You tried to run him through with your sword and he broke a few of your bones, I'd hardy call that 'under control'."

"We said we wouldn't hold back. The training would have been useless otherwise."

"Mio," Minna said with a friendly smile, "if I'm not allowed in the kitchen, then you're not allowed to spar with Teal'c."

Mio also smiled, "There's a difference between two people hurting each other and putting the base out of action for several weeks."

Minna shook head, "We get incapacitated longer every time someone tells that story."