Chapter 12

The doors opened and the valets came in, followed closely by Daniel. They were trying to convince him to do something and his friends caught the last of what he was saying. "Thank you, but I'll be fine tonight on my own. Consider yourselves dismissed for the night."

"Thank you, sir," they both said as they bowed themselves out.

Daniel closed the door and leaned against it, breathing out a long sigh.

"Daniel?"

Daniel turned around and saw them. "I had no idea; I swear!"

"Eh, that's what we thought," Jack said, noting how tense Daniel was.

"No, really, I had no idea," Daniel continued, just as if he hadn't heard Jack. He took off the circlet and tossed it on the bed and began pacing. "I had no way of knowing!"

"Daniel…" Jack said, but Daniel ran right over top of him.

"If I'd known, I would have gone straight back to Earth and to deepest Hades with the consequences! This is…"

"Daniel!"

Daniel stopped and looked at Jack. "What?"

"We know you didn't know," Jack said, putting a hand on Daniel's shoulder and leading him over to a chair. "Sit down. Take a deep breath."

Daniel fought to comply, his shoulders heaving as he took in air. "I don't believe this! You know, I love how the universe just dumps stuff like this in your lap! I mean, isn't it great? I get to get married!" He sank back into his chair, suddenly boneless and limp, and he groaned. "Why does this stuff happen to me?"

Wow. Was that actually a complaint coming out of his mouth? Jack thought in surprise. Daniel doesn't complain.

"Did they explain anything to you?" Sam asked.

Daniel rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. "Yes. They said that of all the people they'd been considering for Lyssa, no one had quite the qualities they were looking for, but then I showed up. That was why they had someone take a skin sample from me, to make sure that if we had children, they would be healthy. Once that was given the green light, other plans went ahead. They said that it was never intended for me to catch this virus of theirs, but now I guess that it's just as well I've caught it."

"How long has Lyssa known?" Sam asked, feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"It's tradition for the bride not to know until her parents announce it," Daniel said. "Trust me, she was surprised, but she told me that she's glad it was me. She likes me a lot better than some of the other people her parents were considering."

"And you explained to her how you guys can't get married?" Jack wanted to know.

"I did explain. More than once, actually. Both she and her parents had an answer for every objection I came up with, save one."

"And what one was that?" Teal'c asked.

"The fact that I don't want to get married!" Daniel groaned. "Somebody please zat me. Put me out of my misery."

"Don't," Jack said quickly as Teal'c reached for his zat. "He didn't mean it, Teal'c. So, even though you told them you don't want to get married, they're still making the wedding plans?"

Daniel gave him a look. "Of course they are. They wouldn't accept what I have to say and stop planning the wedding, would they? Of course not. It could never be that easy."

Woah. Spring one too many surprise weddings on Daniel and he became cranky. Well, that was certainly something to watch out for. "No, I guess it never could," Jack agreed. "And you can't leave the planet...hoo, boy. We're in trouble."

"I'm hearing wedding bells in my future, and you say we're in trouble?" Daniel demanded. "You're not getting married, Jack!"

"And neither are you," Jack assured him. "Calm down. Of course I mean 'we' because 'we' are going to help you out of this situation, Danny-boy. Relax."

To their surprise, he actually relaxed a little. "Sorry I snapped, guys. Thanks."

"No problem," Jack said while Teal'c nodded and Carter gave Daniel a buddy hug. "We'll get you through this. Now, who do you think would be most likely to listen to reason?"

Daniel rubbed his forehead. "Maybe all three of them. I don't know where Lyssa is right now, but I think the Rulers are still in their sitting room talking. That's where I left them, anyway."

"Okay, that's where I'll start," Jack said. "Teal'c, you stay here with Daniel and keep him company. Help him calm down and in the meantime, if anyone comes, Dr. Jackson is indisposed. Carter, you track down Lyssa and talk to her girl-to-girl. Try to find out what she's thinking. We'll all report back here in three hours."

"Yes, sir," Sam said, heading for the door. "Bye!"

Jack stared after her. "She seemed...awfully happy to get that order," he said thoughtfully.

"It is a chance for girl talk, O'Neill," Teal'c reminded him.

"Oh. Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna go track down Their Majesties and try to talk to them. Daniel, you focus on chilling out. You need it."

Silence.

"I think he has fallen asleep, O'Neill."

"Well, leave him that way. Thanks, Teal'c."

"Of course, O'Neill."

--

It took Jack close to a half-hour to locate the Rulers (he kept getting lost), but he found them in their sitting room as Daniel had said, the two of them chatting away to one another. To his chagrin he heard them discussing wedding plans and they both sounded so happy that he felt a little sorry for coming to rain on their parade like this. A footman at the door spotted him and gave a bow. "Colonel."

"I would like to speak to the Rulers," Jack told him. "It's very important, and it cannot wait."

Seeing how serious he was, the footman nodded, knocked on the door, opened it when told to, and announced "Colonel Jack O'Neill."

"Come in, Colonel!" Mara said brightly. "You've heard the news?"

Jack decided to play innocent. "News?"

"Lyssa's and Daniel's engagement, of course!"

"Oh, yes. Yes, I've heard. Actually, that's what I came to talk to you about. Daniel has told you, hasn't he, why he can't get married?"

"Not can't, but doesn't want to," Stane corrected him.

"Exactly," Jack said. "Well, he doesn't want to, but I'm getting the impression that you're going ahead with planning the wedding anyway?"

"Well, these events do take time to coordinate, Colonel," Mara said.

"And you're certain that by the time the wedding is planned and everything he'll have changed his mind about getting married?"

"That's almost certain," Stane assured him.

"Why?"

Stane looked at him. "Colonel?"

"Why is it almost certain he'll have changed his mind by then?"

"Have you seen the two of them together?" Mara asked. "Seen how they look at one another? He already cares for her."

"He may care for her, but that doesn't mean he wants to marry her," Jack pointed out.

"Whyever not?"

"Well, maybe it's because he hasn't gotten over losing his wife," Jack said.

Silence.

"Wh-what?" Mara stammered, surprised.

"Martiis knows, but I don't think he told you. Okay," Jack said. "I'm pretty sure that if he'd known you were planning on announcing the engagement, he would have told you. Daniel was married, and he saw her die in a fairly awful way a few years ago. It's been a few years, I know, but Daniel loved her very, very much. I don't think he's ready for any kind of relationship anytime soon."

Stane appeared to be thinking about this. "Isn't it also true that relationships can help people heal from grief?"

"I don't think this marriage would do that," Jack said hastily. "I really don't. All it will do is drive Daniel distracted. You guys can't insist on this." He was beginning to get worried. The mood in the room had changed from calm and receptive to mildly hostile all of a sudden and he had a feeling that they weren't going to listen.

"Colonel, why did you come to talk with us?" Mara wanted to know.

"Daniel's my friend, and he's already talked with you. According to what he said, you guys really didn't listen to his objections, so I decided to come and try to talk to you."

"Daniel's a grown man, colonel, and he doesn't need your help to make decisions."

"That's just it!" Jack said, his patience getting very thin. "He's already made his decision, but you guys aren't listening to what he wants!"

Stane smiled. "He doesn't know what he really wants," he said, sounding completely certain. "He just needs time to realize what it is."

"A marriage to your daughter?" Jack asked, feeling the whole operation going south.

"Exactly," Mara told him. "Colonel, I'm getting the feeling that you and your friends aren't happy about this situation. If you and the rest of SG-1 can't be happy for him, perhaps you shouldn't come to the wedding."

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Oh, don't worry. We won't be going anywhere, but we won't do anything like kicking up a rumpus, either. The...situation...does call for a bit of decorum."

"As long as you recall that, Colonel, we will still be happy to have you here."

Ohh, yeah, the whole operation was going south. Way, way south. Practically tropical. They were threatening to persona non grata SG-1. Wonderful. Just wonderful. They could easily have their access to Daniel cut off if any of them did anything that the Rulers didn't like and Jack had no idea how to fight that if they decided to make that threat real.

Oh, crap.

--

Sam approached Lyssa's rooms, wondering how to approach this. While she always enjoyed talking with her, she wasn't entirely sure how to talk about this with her. She could just imagine it. Oh, hi, Lyssa. Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about how you're planning to marry my friend when he really doesn't want to to marry you. Yeah, that would go over really well. Couldn't be easier, in fact.

Yeah, right.

Steeling herself and trying to bolster her courage, Sam knocked on Lyssa's door. One of the maids opened it, announced her, and then left the two of them alone.

"Hello, Sam!" Lyssa said brightly, looking up from a large scrapbook. "I'm so glad you came!"

Sam blinked. "You are?"

Lyssa ran over to her and hugged her. "Of course! I need your help!"

There was something that she just wasn't getting. "Help with what?"

"I need your help with the wedding, of course!" Lyssa said, taking her hand and leading her over to the table where the scrapbook was. "Choosing colors, flowers, dresses, my dress, the menu, and most important of all, a wedding present for Daniel! I have no idea what to give him!"

"Oh, with Daniel, he's usually happy with a book."

"I want to get him something very special," Lyssa said, opening the scrapbook. "I was thinking about these colors for the wedding, though."

Sam forced herself to look at the book (Lyssa had excellent taste when it came to color, though) and made herself think. "Um, Lyssa? I think we need to talk a bit."

Lyssa looked up from the fabric samples she was examining. "About?"

"Well, I've just come from talking to Daniel, and he said that he tried to tell you no on getting married, but that neither you nor your parents would listen. Is that true?"

To Sam's surprise, Lyssa laughed. "Of course he would say no at first! Grooms always do, but by the time the wedding arrives they're just as eager to get married as the brides are!"

Oh, great. That's why they weren't listening to Daniel--a groom's initial refusal was expected in this culture, so no one ever took it seriously. Fabulous. That made her job so much easier, NOT. "This isn't a matter of form, Lyssa. Daniel was really saying no and I have a feeling that he'll still say no even on the day of the wedding."

That caught Lyssa's attention. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he said no and he doesn't understand why you wouldn't accept that, so I decided to come talk to you to see why. I understand now, but I think I should let you know that there's no such custom on our planet. When Daniel said no, he wasn't adhering to form. He meant no."

Lyssa looked surprised, but she stayed calm. "I know that he cares for me, at least. Do you think he'll change his mind in a few months? Do you think it's possible?"

Sam had to answer honestly. "I don't know, Lyssa. I think that it would be good for Daniel if you and he were to become a couple because it's been quite a while since he's had anyone to care about in that way, but at the same time I'm not so sure."

"Why?"

Sam wondered if she should tell her or not, then decided that she needed all the ammunition she could use to help convince Lyssa to see things her way and to let Daniel off the hook. "Well, he lost his wife a few years ago."

Lyssa blinked. "Daniel never mentioned her."

"That's probably because her loss still hurts him. She was kidnapped and held prisoner by a race we'd come across on another planet, and Daniel searched for her for years. When he finally found her the only way to save her from her captor was to kill her, and she died right in front of him. He felt like he failed her. He didn't even have to tell me that; I could see it on his face. Since then, he's never really come close to having a close relationship with another woman. He and I are friends, like siblings, but that doesn't count."

"And you think that's why he said no? That he still mourns his wife and does not feel ready to become close to another yet?"

"Without looking inside his mind, that's as sure as I can be," Sam told her.

Lyssa got quiet, as if thinking very hard. "I see."

Sam waited, sure that Lyssa was about to say something else.

"I will think about what you've said. I promise you, Sam. I...didn't know, or I didn't want to let myself realize..." She stopped and seemed to think. "I will think about this. Very much."

Sam smiled, and because Lyssa looked so miserable, she gave her a hug. "Thank you, Lyssa."

--

Teal'c was amazed that Daniel Jackson had slept for so long without moving. Occasionally he shifted a little, but he didn't really move. He would be more worried if Daniel's face were flushed with fever, but he seemed fine.

So far.

Teal'c had shifted Daniel from the chair to his bed and covered him with a blanket. It was amazing how often Daniel got himself into difficult situations like this, but still, he didn't let the negative experiences sour his kind and understanding nature. That was part of what Teal'c liked about the intelligent Tau'ri--he learned from mistakes and experiences, but he never became bitter from the difficult or trying ones.

At the present moment, Teal'c wondered how the latest situation was affecting Daniel. He'd been proposed to several times during their journeying through the Stargate, but this was the first time he'd received a proposal from someone in a highly-advanced society. Teal'c didn't entirely trust the Rulers since they'd seemed to be doing everything without telling anyone about it. Shouldn't they have told Daniel Jackson about their wishes before announcing it in so public a fashion? It seemed they only gave information once it became crucial for them to give it, instead of freely sharing what others needed to know. Withholding information only made everyone else's tasks more difficult and it was hardly fair to Daniel.

"They're impossible," O'Neill muttered as he came in.

"O'Neill?"

"The Rulers," Jack explained. "I tried talking to them, but for them, this whole engagement thing is the best thing since sliced bread."

Teal'c considered that. "I see." He didn't, not really, but he figured that it was one of O'Neill's sayings that would make sense after he thought about it for a while. Perhaps.

Jack looked at Daniel. "Has Daniel woken up at all?"

"He has not," Teal'c admitted. "He seems exhausted."

"After all he's been through today, I'm not surprised."

The door opening drew their attention. Sam came in and closed it quietly behind her. "Hi. How's Daniel?"

"Dead to the world," Jack said, checking on Daniel again. "Report."

"I spoke with Lyssa, and I think the reason why none of them have listened to Daniel's refusal is because it's a cultural thing. From what Lyssa told me, it's actually expected for the groom to say no when he's told about the engagement, but it's purely for form's sake. They thought he was following form, rather than actually saying no."

"Oh," Jack said. "No wonder they were so..."

"Impossible?" Teal'c supplied.

"Exactly. What did Lyssa say, Carter?"

"Well, I told her about how such a custom didn't exist in our culture and how Daniel may still be mourning for Sha're. She was genuinely surprised and she promised she would think about everything I'd told her. How did your attempt do, sir?"

"I wish her parents were as half as reasonable as Lyssa," Jack said calmly. "I told them that Daniel had really, truly meant no but they weren't too willing to listen. Then I told them about Sha're and how she'd died--I glossed over details, don't worry--and although they were surprised and sorry for Daniel, they suggested that this marriage might help him heal. Then they went on to say that if we can't be happy for him, maybe we shouldn't come to the wedding."

Carter looked shocked and Teal'c looked concerned. "Indeed?"

"Oh, indeed, buddy," Jack assured him. "I have a pretty good feeling that we came close to being PNG'd."

Teal'c gave him a look.

"Sorry," Jack said, sounding truly contrite. "It stands for persona non grata. That means a person isn't welcome somewhere."

"Hoo, boy. That was close," Sam said.

"Yeah."

"And it would be useless to try it."

All three of them stared at Daniel, who opened his eyes and sat up. "Hi."

"Hi," Sam said. "Did we wake you up?"

"No, I woke up on my own," he said. "I caught what you were saying about being persona non grata."

"And why would it be useless to try it?" Jack wanted to know. "They're the king and queen, Danny-boy."

"I want you guys here as often as you can be here. If they try to keep you away, then they'll have one very, very upset archeologist on their hands, and they really don't want that."

He sounded so grim and so determined that they were surprised.

"And how will you make sure that we're not PNG'd?" Sam asked.

"I may not be able to leave the planet, but that doesn't mean that I can't leave the palace and the University," Daniel said. "I can disappear into the bush for a while. According to Martiis, this is the only settlement on this world since everyone wants to be near the University. I remember you and Teal'c telling about how it seemed you couldn't leave the campus, but this place isn't really the campus. It's just outside, and we've left the campus plenty of times before. I'll just have to slip away when they aren't expecting it. I won't really feel bad about it when I do, except for not telling Lyssa."

"You won't?" Sam said, more than a little surprised. Daniel usually put himself through half-a-dozen guilt trips over stuff like this.

"No, I won't," he restated. "The Rulers haven't exactly been completely honest about things, even after they claimed to have given us answers. And have you noticed how they always answer questions after certain events have taken place? They've never told us what we needed to know beforehand, it was only afterwards that we got the information we needed. I'm really, really getting tired of that."

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c exchanged looks. Daniel sounded...well, pissed. He sounded as if he were ready to do something desperate. Worse than that, he sounded ready to lose it. None of them knew which was worse.

"You really are fed up, aren't you?" Jack said, more than a little surprised.

Daniel nodded. "Oh, yeah."

Jack's theory about springing one too many surprise weddings on Daniel was beginning to bear fruit.

"Okay," Jack said. "I think we need to make plans. Hopefully, we won't have to use them, but it's better to be prepared. Let's start, campers."