So I have the beginning, middle & end of this story written am just missing the bits that link them together! Hoping that publishing this (& any reviews) will spur on my muse to fill in the blanks :)

I don't own SG1, the Stargate or any of the characters, I've just borrowed them & promise I'll put them back when I've finished with them.

Rated M for later chapters, contains adult situations & noncon/dubcon later, please avoid if this is likely to trigger! x

Chapter 1

Jack was having a bad morning. A bad few weeks actually if he was honest with himself. He'd been lacking his usually care-free, irreverent attitude and had, more than once, snapped at his team over insignificant details.

He didn't want to consider it too closely, but he had a feeling he knew what was up. It wasn't that he missed Sarah, but he was missing having someone to come home to. Someone to distract him from the few really crappy missions they'd had recently and to remind him what they were saving the world for. When he'd been in black ops, having someone to come back to who would nag him to paint the fence panels or fix the garage opener was a welcome glimpse of normality.

He'd never been 100% himself when he'd been home with Sarah and Charlie; he'd always had to keep a large portion of himself hidden. He had often caught himself at neighbourhood BBQs or Little League games observing the scene rather than being a part of it, no matter who he was with. Always alone in company.

Jack sighed to himself as he pulled his t-shirt down over his head and strode from his bedroom into the kitchen. For some reason it was getting harder to accept lately. When he was young there had been an endless supply of dorms, mess halls, parade grounds and communal showers - being lonely wasn't an option. But now, on base his rank set him apart and at home, well, even his pot plants seemed to be giving up on him.

As he filled a jug over the sink and ambled over to his drooping plants, he allowed himself a brief fantasy where a certain beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed scientist was telling him off for forgetting to water them before their last mission. He sighed again, returned the jug to the sink and decided to skip breakfast and head to the mountain.

As the front door swung shut & she headed for her car, it struck Sam Carter that she'd barely even looked in the mirror that morning. Again. Just a quick once over to check she didn't have toothpaste on her chin or hair sticking out at 90 degrees. She briefly wondered what it felt like to be one of those women who made time for their appearance, who had beautiful flowing hair, manicured nails & model perfect make-up every day.

She sighed to herself & decided that tomorrow morning she would make an effort- not for anyone else's benefit but just for her, she'd wake up a few minutes early & pamper herself... She sighed again, remembering that she was going on a mission that afternoon and tomorrow morning would probably wake up on a planet the other side of the galaxy with bits of twigs in her hair, grime on her face & not one of the males around her would even notice.

As she climbed into the car, she caught sight of her new neighbour putting out the trash. The women, a similar age to her she'd guess, waved & flashed a brilliant white smile as she tossed her long hair over her shoulder, showing off her perfect tan. Sam raised her hand & tried to look cheery as she waved back, even as she noticed the women's perfect makeup - at 7:30am?! The couple had only recently moved it, but from what she'd gathered from the snatched conversations over the fence, they seemed to be living the dream. Newly married, steady jobs, cute puppy... much as Sam wanted to get to know them, what on Earth would they have in common with a jet-flying, combat-trained, astrophysicist who spend half her life on other planets & the other half in an underground lab with tech she couldn't possibly talk about? Her whole life, she never seemed to be quite in sync with those around her. Her dad had once tried to tell her it was because she was 'exceptional' but as a teenage girl who was desperate to fit in, that sank like a lead balloon.

She sighed to herself yet again as she backed off the drive & headed towards the mountain. Much as she loved her team, was proud of her job & the amazing opportunities it gave her, there were times when she'd swap it all just to have a few days of being normal & fitting in.

Daniel Jackson lay flat on his back, staring at the plain off-white ceiling. He knew he should get up & get on with his day, but he desperately wanted to hold on to the last vestiges of the night's dream. Even as he lay there, he felt it slipping away, the feel of Sha're's gentle touch, her soft voice, the hot sand between his toes. But, as is the way with dreams, the vividness faded and he was left with a vague memory.

Slowly, he swung his legs off the bed, disappointed by the sensation of carpet under his feet. A cool breeze from his open window made him shiver slightly as he groped on the bedside table for his glasses. Once he could focus, he grabbed the remote & flipped on breakfast TV. The screen filled with a riot of colour as a perky newsreader in a bright pink jacket summarised the latest news- a shooting at a convenience store across town, a dispute with the school bus drivers association and the recent discovery of some civil war relics.

Daniel shook his head; if only they knew! If only the general public knew a fraction of what he knew. A shooting, a dispute & some recent archaeology? A single encounter with a Goauld would top that, let alone the numbers that they'd dealt with. Daniel sighed. The little clock in the corner of the screen read 7:30. The mission briefing wasn't until 09:00 so he had time to spare, but breakfasting alone while his thoughts still lingered on Abydoss and he got increasingly cross with the naive women in pink, did not seem a good idea.

T'ealc was not surprised to find the other members of SG1 already breakfasting in the commissary. He'd been for his usual morning workout in the base gym once he'd had enough of staring at the grey walls of his quarters. There was only so much Kelnor'eem a Jaffa could take. Whether it was his intimidating frame or the intensity of his workouts he didn't know, but no-one ever approached him in the gym, he was left to his own devices. Most of the time that didn't bother him, but today a friendly "good morning" wouldn't have gone amiss- he might even have replied.

Seeing the other 3 sat around the table lifted his spirits, and once he'd collected his food, he made for the empty chair next to O'Neill. There was a time when this was Major Carter's spot - at the colonel's side - but lately she seemed to have become closer to Daniel. Actually, Teal'c rethought as he lowered himself into the seat, it wasn't that she'd become closer to the archaeologist, more she'd become less close to O'Neill. The big jaffa didn't want to consider this too closely, SG1 were all the family he had on this planet, the thought of them no longer being close was not something he wished to entertain. Feeling his spirits sinking again, he gave his teammates a brief greeting and tucked into his scrambled egg.

The mission briefing began promptly and held no surprises; SG-1 were off to investigate ruins on yet another planet, make first contact with any locals they encountered and keep an eye out for useful tech and resources. Standard mission brief. General Hammond was keen to avoid a repeat of the chaos that had been their recent missions. No more injuries, unexpected stop overs or encounters with hostile aliens.

The MALP recon had shown the planet to be Earth-like; immediately though the gate was a large clearing with fairly hilly terrain beyond. A number of tall stone pillars were scattered around the edge of the clearing where it began being overgrown, presumably they were in a pattern but it was hard to tell with the amount of plant life around. Arial shots had been limited as the cloud cover was fairly low, but there was no indication of pathways, dwellings or inhabitants anywhere near the gate.

Close up images of the nearest pillars showed carvings on some of them. Although moss obscured most of the characters, Daniel was able to recognise enough to feel confident about translating the rest.

Briefing over, they retired to the lockrooms to gear up, and as usual Daniel was the last to arrive in the gateroom. He stumbled in to find the rest of the team waiting, "Sorry," he called genially, waving something over his head, "had to go back for my notebook!"

O'Neill shook his head "Again..." he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Carter to catch. She grinned & waited for Daniel as he made his way to the bottom of the ramp.

'Here we go again!' she thought as the wormhole engaged with a whoosh. Despite not believing in the concept of luck, she crossed her fingers as she crossed the threshold, hoping for an event free mission.