She'd worked through lunch, again, trying to keep up with their continuously interrupted database schedule and Daniel felt a tinge of guilt because he knew she did things like that because he drove her too hard. That had been something lately he'd noticed. Rather than coach him on her dietary needs and go to the cafeteria every two hours, Adrienne had started to bring her Ninja Turtles lunch box to work, quietly nibbling away at things as the day passed by, something she had done again today. A quick glance at the clock told him it was six, much later than even he thought it was. He saw her leaned over the laptop, headphones in her ears, noting today's selection sounded like Korean Pop music.

He would never understand his assistant's extraordinarily varied taste in music.

She was staring intently at a side section of the database, hands working the keys feverishly, her cursor much further along than he had anticipated. The woman worked so fast, she was so driven, and with their lab output, he had really gotten used to having her around.

Daniel, you're in love with that woman…

"Fully aware of that now, shut up Jack," he muttered to the voice inside his head, "And trying to deal with it," making his way over to his desk. Forcing a smile, he reached past her and into the small white bag of snack something that she was eating in-between keystrokes, just wanting at the very least to hear her voice.

"Those are dried apples…" she stated without removing her headphones or glancing up.

Daniel made a face at the squishy food between his fingers, noting that she was indeed correct. He knew it would be healthy, but why did she insist on eating things that were just disgusting to look at or touch?

"I've learned the grosser it is, the less likely you are to steal it from me," she answered his unspoken question, pulling the ear buds from her ears.

"Why is it that we're in a continual competition with one another? Out gross, out smart?" he joked, leaning against her desk.

"You feel threatened by a woman with a higher IQ than yours," she said with a wink, Daniel frowning.

"What's your IQ?"

Adrienne laughed.

"I have no idea, but just the idea nearly sent you over the edge."

"You're so awful to me," he laughed, because she was, in a way. It was probably the reason why he had fallen for her so hard, and why he needed to talk to her, if not for any other reason than to gather information…

You can do this, and, if she feels the same, just go talk to Jack like he said.

"I know Indy, it's my mission in life," she said with a giggle, setting her headphones aside, "Actually, good thing you have the munchies. I need to detach from the desk and eat something of substance. I've gotta run five today anyway, so just let me get to a stopping point, maybe we can hit the cafeteria," she said, a finger at the screen indicating that she was nearly finished with her task.

"Yea, you do need to eat. I have yet to see you consume real food lately that's not from a cantina," he teased as she frowned at her screen, trying to get to said stopping point, "but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about..." he trailed, unable to say what he was thinking.

Adrienne, we need to talk, really talk, about what's going on between us…

"What's up shug?" and the laptop was shoved away, her pencil down, her full attention on him and him alone.

See THIS, this is why I'm driving myself insane. She has stopped EVERYTHING! Does she want me to say it?

Ad, listen, I know we had a rough start, but I fell in love with you and now I'm a total and absolute wreck because we shouldn't pursue this but I want to and I am now in a constant state of fear that you are going to get hurt and hell you might not even think the same way about me, I have no idea, but yeah, I love you and I'm falling apart.

"I wanted to know if I could ask you for some advice," he paused, grimacing, his stupid brain trying to concoct a way to ask what he wanted to ask without actually saying it, "some personal advice?"

What are you talking about you idiot, he thought, what crap is your emotionally stunted brain making up because you can't talk to her about what you're really thinking!?

Adrienne, on the other hand, was deadly serious, standing to walk to the door to shut it.

"Of course Daniel, I told you, you can tell me anything," she answered as it clicked shut, walking back to the center table to take a seat, neutral ground he could tell. As good of an archaeologist and translator as she was, the better he got to know her the more he thought she should have been a counselor.

"It's, well, not that big of a deal..." he began, taking a seat as she frowned.

Liar...

"If it wasn't you wouldn't be asking me like this."

Well you see Ad, since I realized that I am in love with you, my nightmares now come just about every night and you die some awful death or it's someone else I care about with your face in place of their own which is why we can never be together but there's a part to me that still doesn't care and just want to grab your face right now and kiss you, selfishly, and I am the WORST person when it comes to things like this, the worst, and I can't sleep or concentrate and…

"No," he clarified, feeling so stupid for even considering bringing it up, resorting back to his lie "you know how you can sleep anywhere. At any time?"

"Yea..." she led, appearing confused.

"I just wondered if there was a reason for it, like you have some sleep secret," he spat it out.

Great one moron, that's something totally believable to ask about and she's already given you that Melawhatever stuff...

Adrienne wrinkled her pale nose in sheer confusion.

"That's it?"

"That's what?"

"That's the serious thing you needed advice about?"

"Yeah," he answered flatly, "What did you think I was gonna ask you?"

"About Vala..."

Daniel nearly choked on his own saliva, "God no! What makes you think that's even in the realm of possibilities?"

"You've been just," Adrienne started looking away, "I dunno, distracted, and I thought that after the slavers, maybe you two, and she's been really coming down here a lot and you haven't been coming to hang out as much..."

She looks hurt; is she jealous? Could Adrienne be jealous?

What in the hell is wrong with you!?

No, Addy, I haven't been coming to hang out because I don't think I can control myself and might kiss you.

"No," he clarified, "trust me. Besides, as she likes to put it, you and I are practically married so I really don't have any time for her nonsense. You're with me enough to know that's true."

Excellent word choice there idiot…

"Ok, just wondering," she was smiling now, looking him up from head to toe, "so you really just wanted to ask me about sleep?"

"Yeah, I just, well, don't," he let the lie flow, too late now to stop it, "I've tried those teas you gave me, those vitamins, I'm still not using those pills Carolyn prescribed, I've even watched that damn Big Bird movie, but lately, I just don't sleep," he explained, noting that she was finally taking him seriously and talking about it medically, that would help, that would make his brain stop going in other crazy directions.

"Is it the nightmares?" she asked, Daniel's head about to explode with the correct answer, that it was, and that it was far worse since he realized he loved her.

"Not always," he lied, Adrienne nodding.

"You COULD lay off the caffeine…" she started, Daniel frowning.

"Or not," she amended quickly, "how about no more after five?"

"Seven."

"Six Daniel," she countered, "this isn't a negotiation. You asked me for advice and I'm giving it."

"Fine," he pouted, "good-bye evening coffee."

"Have you tried a bath?" she now asked, getting that same flat look.

"No, I don't like sitting in a tub of my own filth," he replied quickly, Adrienne now rolling her eyes.

"Because you get so dirty sitting on ya fool tchew in 'ere," she let the Cajun slip at his stubbornness.

Daniel chuckled; she sounded like some bad stereotypical TV character when she did that, his laughter stifled as she smacked his leg briskly.

"Fine," she said as she contained herself, "how about a hot shower?"

"I guess I could try," he said, "I tend to shower in the morning."

"Well, unless you sweat in your sleep it really doesn't matter," she was back into caretaker mode, Daniel noting that she didn't even counter that she knew he didn't and knew his showering habits and why, "the hotter the better too, soothing, and then go straight to bed. And if that's not working, believe it or not, either warm milk or a glass of red wine, either does the trick for me."

"Ok," he agreed, trying to quiet the screaming voice in his head that was telling him what he needed to sleep, to be wrapped up with her in bed, "so, no more coffee after six, warm milk and a hot shower."

"Start there, natural, you need to change your circadian rhythms," she replied, in full caretaker mode, Daniel just nodding in agreement.

"Thanks Ad, I knew you'd have some all natural hippie organic solution," he joked, standing to return to his desk.

And yet again, you have managed to NOT tell her you love her.

You're winning Daniel, for sure...

"I'm proud to be your personal health guru," she bowed, winking at him, "now if we can just get you off the sugar addiction…"

"Never," he replied quickly, pushing his other thoughts away.

"Small battles in the greater war," and she was back at her desk, Daniel taking a seat at his own.

"Indy?" he heard her asking, noting she was looking right at him, shutting the lid to her laptop.

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you shower up and head over to my quarters after dinnere. I'm crashing here tonight and was gonna watch some old monster movies," there were nerves in her voice, or were there, he could have been imagining things.

"I'm still shocked that they don't give you nightmares," he joked carefully, a smile in return.

She's inviting you to her room.

You can tell her, tonight.

"Lawd no," she laughed, thankfully, "Wolfman is just kinda ass kickin'."

"Ok, sounds like a plan," he replied carefully, was she asking him to stay, should he stay, no she'd fall asleep and then he would just go back to his quarters, they couldn't keep doing this, "I'll even bring red wine if you promise me that you'll get some real food from the commissary."

"Two sandwiches," she smiled, biting her lip, "one turkey on whole grain wheat and one death on lard, got it."

"Just let me finish up," he requested as he stood at his desk, his assistant packing up for the night.

"I'm thinking Nosferatu," she muttered, to him he thought but he wasn't sure, "Nosferatu would be good, and then maybe hmmm Monster Squad is cute…"

She was still muttering as she slipped out the door, Daniel shaking his head.

"Only Adrienne would think a monster movie is cute…" he mumbled, cleaning up the work from the day, needing to relax and maybe get some sleep.

If he could sleep...

"Did that kid just say what I think he said?" Daniel had to ask as Adrienne popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. He had learned too that veggies and fruit were HER movie snacks, but she didn't seem to give him too much of a hard time anymore if he brought M&Ms or something close.

"Yeah, and you know what nards are, right?" she clarified, Daniel frowning.

"Of course I know what nards are…"

"What are they?" she asked, grinning.

"Evidently, something the Wolfman has," he answered smartly so she'd unpause the movie and carry on.

"Cooyon," she said with a chuckle, shoving his arm, "They're…"

A hand clamped over her mouth, Daniel frowning.

"I know what they are Ad, hence the comment," he said with a raise of his eyebrows, "I'm just pointing out that, much like that Bill and Ted nonsense…" he paused dramatically as she was shoving him away, laughing, "I'm continually mystified by your choice of entertainment."

"Just because you don't know how to relax doesn't mean that I shouldn't," she choked out, her companion for the evening reaching for his soda.

"I'm here aren't I?"

Because I'm damn determined for us to be normal, regardless of whether or not I have lost my mind...

"And, like Bill and Ted talking through the good parts," she noted, directing his attention to the screen. Shaking his head he swallowed, his drink cast aside as he watched the pack of teen and pre-teen boys swear their way through a defeat of Dracula. He refrained from commenting further, though there was so much more he could say, so much more...

"Did you shower?" she asked as the credits rolled, as if she was cutting him off from any smartassery, her friend frowning in confusion.

"Yeah…"

"Last cup of coffee?" she now asked, Daniel's eyes shifting.

"Uh, before I came down…"

"Is that soda decaf?"

"Why would it be?" he inquired as she hit stop on the remote, frowning at him.

"You lied to me."

Her words were so flat, emotionless and cold. Daniel was lost for a moment, he would never lie to her, ever, when it hit him that he had, today, earlier, why didn't he just tell her...

"Not totally," he sighed out, giving in, not ready to tell her everything that was going on in his head, everything that had happened in the past few weeks, the daily turmoil he endured from the moment he woke up, "I AM having nightmares, not just the other day…"

"I figured," she said quietly, resting a hand on his knee, "I didn't think you'd show up at my door like you did without a pretty damn good excuse."

Daniel bit his lip, his eyes cast down.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," he let himself be honest with her about that at least. She breathed out herself, withdrawing her hand, gazing at him for a moment.

She knows, he thought, she knows why you're coming here and what she does and she's gonna say it…

"Do you need to stay tonight?"

Not what he was expecting her to say, hoping she'd say, was he hoping that she'd say…

STOP IT DANIEL!

"I'm fine," he said, standing from her bed and gathering his things, "we have a long list of things to get done tomorrow if I wanna get anywhere in the database by the end of the week and I'm wiped out…"

She didn't have to say a word, he could read her face as easily as she read his now and she knew he wasn't being truthful.

"I can't," he muttered as his bag was tossed over his shoulder, "you know how you always tell me that you went a long time alone and while you appreciate the help or occasional bailing out you can handle it on your own? Well, I did too. I appreciate you, and everything, I do, but this is something I have to deal with on my own."

She nodded, her face looking like she was gonna reach out and say something else, but she didn't, instead standing from the bed herself.

"Then sleep well shug," she muttered as she headed to her bathroom, "but you know the code if you need it."

"Your lover's birthday," he teased, "how could I ever forget?"

Not another word to say, and hoping indeed that he could handle it alone, Daniel trudged back to his quarters, his mind and his heart in a bitter battle of confusion.

He managed to sleep, somewhat, in his own bed all week, even making it to his apartment both Wednesday and Thursday night. They both worked like normal all week as well, typical joking, chatting, teasing and Friday rolled around, seeming like a normal Friday after all.

See Daniel, he told himself, you can do this.

Be normal and we will just see how this all goes...

Adrienne, on the other hand, was concerned.

Daniel was being weird again.

Not that she needed him in her room every night, but they texted each other every day, or joked around, but he was acting like he did so many months ago, when they were getting along and friendly, but not close.

She liked it now that they were close.

She racked her brain, trying to figure out if she crossed a line, had she angered him, or something? He was her best friend, or so she thought, and it was strange that suddenly he seemed to be so distant. Then again, the breakdown he had had the week before was not like she had even seen him, so many, in his way, he was embarrassed for showing himself to be that vulnerable to her yet again. After all, best friends or not, she was his assistant, and they often tiptoed that fine line on a regular basis.

She had been worried when he hadn't shown up at breakfast, but when she found him in the lab, a toaster waffle hanging out of his mouth as he stared at a book on the center table she knew that all was well.

"Early start?" she asked as she tossed her bag into her chair, brown eyes gazing in his direction.

"No, just got an idea in the shower…" he said, mouth full, Adrienne rolling her eyes as she cued up the screen.

"I thought you were switching to nights?" she pried, just a touch, wondering if he would catch on or just answer.

"Got sweaty," he answered but without tone, swallowing the last bit of waffle, pointing his finger at the book, "this book, in the non-computerized records from Thor, seems to date back further than we've been looking at," he noted, Adrienne walking over quickly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, makes it look like there were even more protected peoples, like dozens of groups," he said as he stepped back to allow her to see. Forgetting about her worries from the week in a flash, Adrienne was in work mode, reading the cryptic, and somewhat poetic writing.

That had been their morning, back ache, eye ache, headache, stanza after stanza of descriptions that really could have been any group of humanoids on any planet. They'd broken for lunch, yammering on about the possibility of various Earth civilizations of unexplained origins, the rest of their team joining them but staring in silence as the pair flipped back and forth between languages, pulling out their phones and cueing up pictures of the book to make an argument or support a point. They'd talked so much in fact that they missed everyone leaving, the archaeologists remaining seated until Daniel's phone began to bounce on the table. Frowning, he grabbed the device, holding up his finger to halt Adrienne's theory of the people of Basque Country and the Eskura language.

"Dammit…" he swore, the Cajun reaching for the phone.

"Everything alright?"

"Rodney," he muttered standing, "wants details about how we found that ZPM, again."

"We were briefed," Adrienne noted, frowning herself, "and then he trapped you for the weekend."

"And didn't listen to a damn thing anyone said apparently," Daniel grumbled as he shoved his phone in his pocket, "so now I get to repeat myself, recite our report to be called an idiot and god knows what else."

"Your friend," the Cajun noted, "not mine."

"That is a VERY loose interpretation of the term Ad," he answered as he started to leave, pausing to look down at her, "you staying on base tonight?"

"Ya need me to?" she asked in return, watching Daniel's face change, nervous it seemed to be.

"If I get outta there at a reasonable hour, I'd like to pick up where we left off," he said in reply. She knew that voice, that was the voice that said something completely different than it really meant, Adrienne catching a look in his eyes confirming her suspicions.

"Yeah," she lied since she'd planned on going back to her apartment, "I was planning on going running but then I have no problem coming back down to the lab. Can we order in?"

"Sure," he replied, seeming relieved, "whatever you want. I appreciate the help as always," he stammered a little bit, shoving his phone back into his pocket and walking out of the cafeteria without so much as a goodbye.

"Shug, what is going on with you!?" she whispered, standing to clear both his abandoned lunch tray and her own.

By 10 p.m., amongst a spread of Peruvian fire chicken in various stages of completion, Adrienne was glad that they had agreed to work late, Daniel's weird distance or not.

"For once I'm grateful ya have insomnia," the Cajun declared, grabbing a piece of green pepper and popping it into her mouth.

"And not for my neverending company during terrible film selections?" he joked, "I'm hurt."

"Yeah, that too," she said with a smile, bumping his hip with hers, like normal, gauging his reaction, "put in the MALP request?"

He smiled, playing normal himself, peering at the clock, "We have two hours of Sam left, so let's do this now to avoid Woolsey's line of questioning."

"Done shug," Adrienne declared, rushing to her computer to pull up the appropriate form, "You think she'll approve it tonight?"

"Excited?" he asked, seeing that sparkle that he loved to see.

"Lil bit shug," she answered as she typed, "lil bit."

"I figured as much," he joked, "I mean, it's an entire planet of your boyfriend. The description of these people reads like it's his personal stats or something."

"Cooyon," she muttered, hitting enter and standing, "Sent. Now we wait…"

Daniel walked over and sat at his desk, Adrienne frowning at his lack of a reply.

"Wanna go watch a movie, or something?" she asked, peering over at him, when she noticed him rubbing the bridge of his nose under his glasses.

"I think I'm gonna head to bed, before midnight for once," he replied, his head already screaming at him for that very answer.

What are you DOING!?

SHE asked YOU, you IDIOT!

GO TO HER ROOM.

"Fair enough and I see how you've been drinking the water instead of coffee, so yeah," she replied, disappointed, was she disappointed?

Not too late to change your answer stupid.

"Raincheck?" he offered instead, her face brightening slightly.

"Sure shug," she said with a nod, shutting down her things and packing her messenger bag, stopping at the door before she left for the night, "Night Indy."

"Night Ad," he replied, watching her leave in the direction of the elevators, "I love you," he added with a whisper, staring at his screen and not caring what it said.

Sam was just pissed off enough to put a rush on the information, having endured three meetings Friday with a focus on weapons technology. She received the message shortly after 10 and arranged for the MALP to go out with the dialings the very next morning, surprising Daniel at the close of work the very next day that he had initial findings to sift through. Thrilled at this development, Daniel again requested his assistant work late so they could go through the information together, and again, she agreed, requesting he order in dinner for them, again.

Her selection of the evening was Italian.

He ordered and paid without question.

They worked into the wee hours of the morning, preparing slides, Daniel shooting off a message to Sam around 2 a.m. letting her know that they were prepared to brief the team and get on the gate schedule. Message sent, the two went to their separate quarters to sleep, Daniel not even showing up at Adrienne's door when, yet again, he had to relive a new version of the most horrific times in his life.

Instead, he just lay there, debating on queuing up that Sesame Street movie of hers.

Sam, again, in a mood to prove the IOA did not control her or the Stargate program, managed to get the trip on the schedule fairly quickly, and Daniel found himself leading a briefing a mere 72 hours from discovery.

He had to make requests like this to a pissed-off Sam more often.

"Thank you to everyone for coming," Daniel greeted as his team entered the briefing room, taking seats around the table, Adrienne taking a seat close to the front, but by Vala,"We've got an opportunity to visit a pretty unique planet and people."

On cue, Adrienne pulled up her slides, images of what appeared to be an ice planet flashing on the screen.

"We are designating this planet, P4F-5692, and this is another find from the Asgard database. As you can see from Addy's slides, initial images from the MALP survey show a civilization that clearly seems to be living in an arctic climate for a large part of their solar cycle."

Adrienne clicked the next slide, images of what appeared to be a 14th century nordic village coming into view. The inhabitants were tending to animals and milling around. Adrienne clicked the slide again, the people of P4F-5692 coming into a closer view, their bright blue and purple eyes shocking. Hidden under layers of fur and skins, the people seemed to be very pale, their hair so blond it looked white.

"I am getting CLEAR Song of Ice & Fire vibes here," Adrienne added, scanning the room for anyone else that might be on the same page, her joke seeming to fall flat.

"Ad, Is there ANYPLACE we go that doesn't remind of something from pop culture?" Daniel asked from the front of the room, Adrienne disappointed no one was sharing in her fun.

"No," she replied smartly, "which really means that either people have been popping around through Stargates forever or humanoids are pretty predictable."

Noting, jokes aside, that she did have a point, Daniel just sighed, looking back out to address the group.

"It appears we are looking at something the equivalent of a dark ages Earth village, maybe later, as some of the architecture does not align with other known worlds or civilizations. What is most interesting about this civilization is that we know so little about them, other than they might have been a group of people protected by the Asgard. They, however, seem friendly, and have invited us to visit."

"Sounds good," Cam noted, "No surprises."

"Not that we can tell, but, then again, we never know," Daniel admitted, the group nodding in understanding, "Questions anyone?"

Vala's hand shot up.

"Yes Vala."

"Since you'll be keeping Addy warm, who's gonna to look out for me?"

Adrienne's head fell into her hands as the rest of the team laughed, Daniel rubbing his face.

"Any real questions?"

The room was silent now, not one of his friends willing to jump to his defense.

Yep, he thought to himself, I am at this point literally the only person who had no idea.

Except for Addy, but we're not going to worry about that right now.

"Then we leave, this afternoon, at," he stopped to check his notes, "1400 hours."

With that the room dispersed, heading out to prepare for the trip.

"You didn't sit by Glasses?" Vala asked as soon as they left the briefing, clearly intending to follow Adrienne to the lab.

"Huh?" the archaeologist muttered, not paying attention, her computer-like eyes scanning her iPad.

"You didn't sit by your boyfriend during the briefing," Vala clarified, enunciating the word boyfriend, a word which Adreinne caught, her eyes rolling.

"He's not my boyfriend," she argued back.

"Yet," Vala retorted, "Did you two have a fight?"

"No," Adrienne replied as she reached the keypad to the lab, coding herself in, "Why would you say that?"

"Because he had practically moved in with you," Vala answered, "and you two were attached at the hip until last week, then nothing. You're back to, I dunno, not, well, you two."

Adrienne sighed, because Vala was right, she had just hoped that no one had noticed.

Evidently, that was not the case.

Choosing not to respond, Adrienne walked over to her desk without a word, pulling out her chair and opening her laptop.

"Addy," Vala continued, grabbing Daniel's desk chair and dragging it over, "What happened?"

"Val, shug, nothin'," the archaeologist replied, "Really, I think it's just stress."

"So you've noticed it too," the pirate countered, Adrienne sighing out and rubbing her face in her hands.

"Yeah, I have."

"It's just so odd," Vala stated, concern in her voice rather than her normal teasing, "On that Moses or whatever planet, when he thought you were taken, he was crying, or damn close. I've never seen him like that before."

Adrienne just sat, picking her fingernails.

"And Sam was telling me that he had this whole weird moment at the last IOA meeting because they were trying to cut your job or something."

Again, Adrienne remained silent.

"Then, all of a sudden, he's acting like…" Vala trailed, her eyes widening.

"Like what shug?" Adrienne asked, genuinely hoping to gain insight that she had somehow missed.

"Oh shit..."

"Vala," Adrienne said, her voice raised, "Oh shit what!?"

"He finally figured it out, or at least admitted it to himself…"

"What?!"

"Oh you're so screwed," her friend continued, "He's finally realized we're right and he's trying to figure out how the hell to deal with that, and given we all know he's emotionally stunted, he's falling to pieces."

Adrienne sighed out, "Oh my gawd are we on this again!? He is NOT in love with me."

"Oh yes he is…"

"Vala, he, ugh," Adrienne started to argue again when she heard movement behind her, the man in question entering the lab.

"Everything ok?" he asked, curious, looking up from what he was reading.

"Yep, Vala needs me to dye her hair when we get back," Adrienne lied, shooting a glare at Vala, "She was just leaving."

Rolling her eyes, Vala stood, cutting her eyes at Adrienne before making her way to the door. Daniel stopped his stride, eyeing the both of them, confused, as his assistant stood and headed over to the coffee machine. Rather than leave however, Vala paused, looking Daniel right in the eyes.

"So, I was right."

Daniel frowned.

"You tell her yet?"

Sighing, Daniel just pushed past her headed to his desk.

"I knew the answer to that already, chicken," she stated, sashaying through the doorway.

Shortly after 1400 hours, they exited the gate and started down the typical stone steps to be surprised by a man and a woman, heavily clad in furs, holding spears in their direction.

"Stanna där ni är! Vilka är ni?"

"Uh," Cam spoke, peering over at Daniel, "I thought they spoke English."

"They did, on the MALP…" Daniel replied, reaching for Adrienne's iPad that she was already queuing up with the mission prep information. There was a moment of silence with the group as the two gate guards watched in awe, Adrienne replaying the video.

"Hello friends. We are delighted to have you visit our home and speak of how we can engage in a friendship."

"See," Daniel retorted, "English."

"Identifiera er nu!"

"That still doesn't sound like English to me Daniel," the colonel replied, clearly annoyed, "Do you speak whatever THAT is? Does Addy?"

Adrienne shook her head no, quickly.

"I don't think so, but, well, we've been in situations like this before, right, no problem," the elder archaeologist continued, "In fact when we met the Unas, not one of them spoke any English, the common tongue, whatever, and we made out just fine."

"DanielJackson," Teal'c noted, "The Unas took you prisoner and you learned their tongue to negotiate for your life."

"He has a point shug," Adrienne agreed, Daniel frowning at her.

"Thanks for the support," he muttered, reading through the notes on the iPad again.

"Stanna där ni är! Vilka är ni!"

"Do either of you two have any idea what he is speaking then? At all?" Cameron continued, pointing to the guards, who added something else to their demand, though no one seemed to know what.

"Swedish?" Adrienne guessed, "The vowel structure sounds Swedish, or maybe Icelandic?"

"I think you're right Ad," Daniel replied, tapping around on Adrienne's gadget, muttering to her about a's and o's and trying to pull up whatever he could without an internet signal. The poor guards stood there confused, muttering to themselves as the archaeologists spoke to one another, not a member of the group noticing Vala removing her backpack from her back, opening it and digging around for something. Daniel and Adrienne continued to talk, Cameron rubbing his temples while Teal'c waited calmly when there was a clearing of a throat, preceding the following:

"För mig till er fogde!"

Puzzled, the remainder of SG-1 glanced over at the source of the voice, Vala, who was holding a paperback book in her hand, reading something from the page and repeating her previous command.

"Mon ami," Adrienne questioned, peering around Daniel's shoulder, "You speak Swedish?"

"No, but Pam and Eric do and the lovely Harris woman that wrote these books put a glossary in the back!" she declared, shaking her paperback at her friends.

"Hold on, Vala," Daniel tried to clarify, "Is that one of Addy's damn vampire books?"

"It is," she answered proudly, Daniel visibly cringing.

"And what did you say to them?" he continued, Vala grinning from ear to ear.

"I told them to take me to the area sheriff," she replied, Daniel breathing out.

"Dammit, Vala, give me that book," he requested, as he rushed over to her, jerking the book from her grasp.

"Hey, you're gonna lose my place!"

One guard stepped forward, the woman, nodding her head, "Då är ni väntade? Var vänliga och följ mig." She signaled the group to follow, and clearly annoyed, Cameron did, motioning for Teal'c to as well.

"It worked," Vala stated proudly, ripping the book back from Daniel, who was glaring at Adrienne.

"I blame you for this," he grumbled, his assistant rolling her eyes.

"Whatever Indy," she spat in return, joining the team to follow the guards down the stone pathway.

Vala walked through most of the village still reading the back of her book, quite proud of her victory. As per normal, the rest of the team took to their mission tasks, Cam and Teal'c surveying their surroundings to assess any threats, Daniel and Adrienne deep in their notes, taking pictures every few feet.

They passed through the same village they had seen on the MALP, the archaeologists taking copious notes while the polite guards paused, waiting for their guests. Adrienne could hear Vala trying to talk to them, but chuckled, as she was fairly certain the glossary provided in the Southern Vampire Mystery novels was limited to a lot of Vampire politics, sexual innuendos and swear words, hopefully none of which her friend would try to use to communicate.

As they reached the back of the village, it was clear to see that it was not a mountain range in the fog on the MALP images, but rather a large wall, made of a white stone or some other material. Adrienne gasped, Daniel hearing her mutter things about some book series she had read, resisting the urge to tease her. He did, though, allow himself a moment to watch her face, to relish the excitement in her beautiful eyes. They found themselves hanging further and further back, taking copious notes and pictures, everything seemingly back to normal.

Well, except for the fact that Daniel spent the entire time resisting the urge to touch her, brush a loose hair from her face, hold her when she shivered, kiss her when she peered over at him…

"Indy?" she asked, waving her hand in his face, "Ya comin'?"

He shook his head, realizing just how far ahead the group had gotten as they were reaching two gates built into the wall.

"Yeah, sorry, this was just, this IS just pretty neat," he answered, beginning to walk forward, when Adrienne stopped him, gently reaching out and holding his shoulder.

"Daniel, what's going on?" she asked kindly, "You haven't been yourself…"

Nope Addy, not even a little bit, because I love you and if I ever tell you might either be shipped off to Area 51, lose your job or die, because I am a walking disaster.

"Shug?"

"Yeah, yeah, just between work this week and the cold I could use another coffee," he lied, hoping she wouldn't read his face as she would normally do.

And there she goes reading my face.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Adrienne pushed, gently, Vala screaming their names and something about stop making out in the distance, "I mean, I know you know that but in case you needed a reminder."

Not this Ad, I can't tell you this.

"Promise, I just need caffeine, and I forgot my beans," he said with a forced smile. Giving up, Adrienne grabbed his arm one more time, squeezing it.

"If you change your mind, it's not like you can't find me," she smiled, sincerely, lighting jogging the best she could in winter gear to catch up to the group.

"If only I could," he muttered, pulling up his pack straps to fall in step behind her.

Daniel and Adrienne arrived at the doors after they had been opened, the cajun turned around to tease Daniel for being slow, not even noticing the rest of their group had come to a grinding halt, frozen in place, the guards nowhere to be seen. Adrienne turned slightly, walking backwards through the door as she mocked her boss and best friend, Vala catching her by the shoulders unexpectedly.

"Shug, whatcha-"

"Turn slowly," Vala said, "And take a deep breath. No matter what you do, do not scream…"

Confused, Adrienne did as she was asked, "Vala whatcha mean don't-"

Warned or not, Adrienne began to shriek the minute she looked over Vala's shoulder, the pirate clamping her hand over her friend's mouth.

"Addy, I said NOT to scream," Vala warned as she held her hand tighter to Adrienne's mouth, "Because I do not want my head on a goddam pole either."

Daniel was there nearly the instant that Adrienne screamed, Vala not shocked at all, shooting him a glare that he needed to remain completely quiet himself.

"Vala, are those?"

"Yep," she said, glancing at Adrienne to see if she could remove her hand, "And they seem to be from all sorts of potential visitors through the gate, Jaffa, Ori, Kull…"

There was movement behind her, and she knew Cameron and Teal'c most likely were coming to give a better account of exactly what types of heads and how many there were, not that she cared because heads on stakes could never mean anything good…

"Addy," Vala turned her attention back to her friend, "If I move my hand can you promise me that you will not scream?"

Adrienne nodded, Vala slowly removing her hand from her mouth. The cajun took a deep breath in, eying her companions for their next move.

Daniel meanwhile peered over at Teal'c, "Kree tak?"

"Shal tai," the Jaffa responded.

"Chan'te," Daniel added, Teal'c nodding and walking ahead, in presumably the direction the guards had gone.

"Shin tel?" Adrienne asked, Vala grabbing her arm lightly.

"Shal'tek satak," the pirate answered, Cameron rubbing his face.

"Dammit, stop speaking sandworm, didn't we determine they speak Swedish and not English. So speak English so we all understand what's going on," the colonel complained, Daniel peering ahead to Teal'c to see if he had made contact with anyone.

"Not all of them, and because of the wall, we didn't see any of this on the MALP," Daniel replied, scanning the row of staked heads, a row that seemed to go on indefinitely in the direction of the city center, if that was what this was.

Not a sole was nearby, no typical city bustle, no voices in the distance, nothing…

"Where is everyone?" Adrienne asked, in a normal tone of voice thankfully Vala noticed.

"I have no idea," Daniel answered, wishing he had a better answer when the worry flooded him, worry of what they had all walked into now.

Worry of what he had walked the love of his life into now.

"We are sorry to have startled you," he heard a voice ahead, peering to see the man from the MALP video standing in their path, though from where he came Daniel was uncertain. He was in furs as well, but his were a brilliant white, almost shining. His skin was pale, so pale he wanted to make a joke to Adrienne about him possibly being a distant relative, and his eyes a greyish purple. Standing beside him was a woman, dressed in a similar manner, her eyes a deeper purple, but her hair the same bright white as his.

"They are merely a deterrent, many old, but just preserved," his companion spoke, indicating the rows of heads with her eyes.

"Deterrent from whom?" Daniel had to ask, worried they had walked yet again into a mess. Their host smiled.

"From any that wish to bring harm to us," he explained, pointing to the heads closest to where they were standing, "When the gods fell, their warriors needed to understand that we were not to be bothered, and then when the prophets of Origin came, we needed them as well to understand what was going to happen should they attempt to convert our people."

Impressed, Cam nodded, resting his arm on his P90 as he glanced at the heads again.

"Therefore," his female companion continued, "If you are friends, then you have nothing to fear."

"You sure about that?" Vala asked, unconvinced.

"We are certain," the man replied, motioning they join them, "Please, accompany us to the city center," he paused, pootining to the large building in the center of the complex, "Welcome to Narke."

Cameron brought up the rear of the party, as Teal'c had fallen in somewhere in the middle, still surveying. Vala was still reading that stupid paperback trying to find more clever phrases to use, and the clueless lovebirds of the SGC trotted behind their hosts, enthralled, Daniel already rambling on as they set off again about some wintery forest elves.

For one, he'd love to find a nice world of things he understood so he could ramble on and discover things, rather than cover for the nerds.

But such is life.

He did catch a few words here or there, enough to make him catch up and snatch Daniel's barely used iPad to see what he was reading, or choosing not to read, since he heavily relied on Adrienne when it came to all technology that was Earth developed. Instead, Colonel Cameron Mitchell decided to brush up on this himself.

The page in the iPad was cued up to pages and pages of Earth folklore that seemed to be cross referenced, with French tags of course, with medieval and winter based societies. Annoyed, again, that those two damn lovesick nerds used every language but English it seemed, Cameron started tapping on any image he could find, scanning for anything familiar with English information.

He heard a laugh from Adrienne, peering up to see her jumping up and down like an excited kid, grabbing Daniel's shoulder and yammering on. He thought he heard her say, "Ice Dragon," which made him look around, hoping that she was just wishing to see one rather than have gotten some evidence that one was headed their way. Coast clear, he glanced ahead again to see Daniel put his arm around his assistant, making Cameron laugh to himself.

"That man is the stupidest genius I have ever met," he muttered, returning his gaze to the pictures. Nothing stood out to him, MALP images, cross references with what he could only assume were images of locations from Earth or historical drawings. Not a thing to be found on the primary tabs, Cam scanned the French tags to see if he was able to recognize any word at all when he saw "Mythologie" which he assumed meant what he thought it did, clicking that tab to open the files.

They walked on, Cameron noting the lack of people in the city. There were a few clusters of people, who looked at them, frightened, and more guards dressed the same as the ones they met at the gate, but no one else other than their hosts, whose names Ulda and Kall he caught trying to keep tabs on the nerd conversation.

Everything seemed pretty cut and dry, and he was assuming that Daniel and Adrienne would want to stay at least a couple of nights, but there was still something about the entire mission that seemed unsettling. Lately, with the IOA breathing down everyone's necks about one thing or another, he felt that Sam had been rushing missions pushing Daniel and Addy to either find something that would satisfy the IOA or find something that would satisfy her own agenda which seem to be proving that the original intention of the program was valid. He knew it wasn't his place to question, however, he couldn't help but wonder if they were walking into yet another not well thought-out disaster.

"Cam!" Daniel was shouting ahead, the colonel just now looking up to see how far behind he had fallen, "Catch up!"

The colonel frowned, still uncertain about what lay ahead. regardless he touched the iPad under his arm and jogged forward to catch up with his team.

They were led into a great hall, something that was definitely out of at least two of Adrienne's favorite TV shows, if not three or a movie series, but she decided to keep her mouth closed and not make any more jokes given that these people had literal heads on stakes lining the road to this very building. The hall they entered was indeed great, with at least one hundred foot ceilings supported by large rafters made of gigantic ancient trees criss-crossed back and forth in a haphazard fashion. There were large wooden candle lit chandeliers dropping down every ten or fifteen feet or so. It didn't appear primitive, however, in the way that one would expect of a civilization with limited technology, but rather artfully simplistic and beautiful. Adrienne noted some of the windows toward the back of the hall were elaborate stained glass with images showing a forest, one she could only assume was the towering forest that had emerged from the fog only when they had entered the city. Best Adrienne could tell, the city was built at the edge of the forest, maybe even acting as a threshold to its secrets. Various woodland animals and creatures that appeared to be elves were etched into the glass, making Adrienne wish they would stop long enough for her to queue up her iPad and pull out some of the various mythologies that she had stored on there. She noticed Cameron had taken Daniel's making her geek out slightly because her dear running partner was a really smart guy; he just never seemed to be interested in the same things that she and Daniel were interested in. He seemed, however, to take an interest in this civilization and it made want to go and grab his arm and see if he had watched Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings so she could at least get her jokes out of her system, since Daniel was otherwise occupied.

She'd hung back from Daniel for two reasons, well three really, the first of which being that she wanted to take pictures and film and Daniel was busy doing what he did best, talking. The second reason was that he was still acting weird and she could hear Vala in her head telling her he was in love with her and that he didn't know how to express his emotions which was making her doubt herself on a mission that she needed to focus on and not a stupid man. Lastly, however, the alien woman, Ulda her name was, had taken a great interest in Daniel.

Shocker…

Therefore, Adrienne stayed back because she didn't know if she could refrain from making any smart remarks. Ergo it was best she hang back, take pictures and make notes to tease him later.

"Ad!" she heard Daniel calling her name from ahead and she nodded, jogging up to finally join him at his invitation. The woman paused as well, waiting for the archaeologist to catch up.

"Ulda, my assistant, Dr. Rowan, I believe she can show you what I was referring to," he spoke to their host, turned back to Adrienne, "Ad, can you pull some of the more common ancient axioms, in written form. Ulda's people have found evidence of what looks to be ancient but on way to decipher it."

Adrienne nodded, tapping around on her iPad to find the files that categorized the more common messages that had been found over the, both before and during heer him in the program.

"We would greatly appreciate your help in this matter," the woman continued, "As we have sought to understand our ancestors for generations."

"You're not alone," Daniel assured her, "Many worlds we have visited are looking for the same sorts of answers and we are happy to help in any way we can."

"Here," Adrienne interrupted, pulling up the main page, "But it's pretty standard stuff if you are looking for a match, 'The Place of Our Legacy', and 'Kingdom of the Path' and weird things like that. We are happy to take a look at your specific text, see if we can help."

"Daniel here has offered to assist in that, thank you," she replied, but took the gadget from Adrienne nonetheless. The cajun did her best not to roll her eyes, this was the garbage she gave him hell about, and stood there doing nothing and waiting what it felt like to be dismissed.

"This one," she said after scanning a few moments, "This one appears in more than a couple of places."

Adrienne reached out to take the iPad, but the woman was passing it to Daniel, who, in his neverending cluelessness, took it from her as if Adrienne wasn't there.

"Praclarush Taonas," he read aloud, looking over at Adrienne finally before peering back at Ulda, "Was there a great fire in your city's history?"

"There was," she replied, nodding, "A great fire which took place on this very spot."

"Interesting…" Daniel muttered, turned the gadget toward heer, "Is there anything else familiar? And where did you say these inscriptions were? I'd like to take a look at them."

"I can take you now, and I would appreciate any assistance you can provide," she said, motioning Daniel to follow. He tucked the iPad under his arm, proceeding, Adrienne bringing up the rear when she was stopped by Cam, who must have approached them when Adrienne was reading.

"Hey Daniel," the colonel said, the elder archaeologist pausing, "Can I steal Addy?"

"Sure…" Daniel answered, curious, but Cam just flashed the borrowed iPad, "Is everything ok?"

"Yep," Cameron replied, "Just saw something cool and I need a nerd to make sure it is what I think it is."

"Adrienne Rowan, Nerd on call at your service," she joked with a dramatic bow, peering over at her boss before leaving him to his latest admirer, "Ya good shug?"

"I can make due," he said with a smile, "Just catch up when you can."

With that he turned to follow their hostess.

"Take pictures!" the cajun added, Daniel giving a wave of his hand as he walked away. Adrienne smiled, though a tinge of worry crept into her stomach, and she turned to face Cameron and see what he needed.

"Everything ok, really?" she asked, Cam pulling her aside and over to those windows she had noticed earlier.

"I hope so just, maybe I've been watching too much TV in our downtime lately, I dunno, but take a look at this," he said, pointing to the elves in the windows, "those, little people, whatever they are, look, they look empty."

Frowning, Adrienne stepped closer to the glass, reaching out to one of the elf-like figures.

"Huh," she said, "Looks like there's a piece of colored glass missing, and they've replaced it with black. Maybe they just ran out of glass."

She scanned the rest of the image, noting it was only one generic elf in the foreground that seemed to be out of place.

"Right, I thought so too," Cam continued, "but your myth research here mentions empty people and how they steal the souls of travelers…"

Adrienne looked surprised, "Wait, you've read the, well, me & Indy part of the prelims?"

"Heads on stakes Addy," Cam noted, "Normally only engines have my heart, but this place had HEADS on STAKES and your boyfriend…"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Whatever," Cam continued, "Daniel is just socializing with her like everything is alright. And this story, here," the colonel pointed out, "See, it talks about some Swedish creature that steals men's souls."

Choosing not to argue with Cameron over her non-existent personal life with her boss, Adrienne reached out to take the iPad, scanning the story he had found. She read through, smiling and nodding before passing it back over, "Yeah, we read this but Daniel and I have a few theories. This isn't the first time that you all have encountered this and we continue to encounter it. Things like this were told to explain actions of System Lords, of Ancient Tech, and served as a warning. In this case, it is the men that fall prey to a forest woman that steals their souls. It was probably an issue of drunken hunters going out into the forest and getting eaten by something, dying, disappearing, and leaving the rest of the village to fend for themselves. Make a story to scare them off and keep everyone in line."

The colonel did not seem satisfied with this answer.

"Trust me shug," Adrienne assured, resting her hand on his arm, "You'll drive yourself crazy reading too much into this. Indy and I excel in that."

"Alright girlie, I'm trusting you," he said, peering up into the direction that Daniel was taken by their host, "Then you might wanna catch up with Daniel, before someone steals him from you," he tried to joke, Adrienne rolling her eyes.

"Stop talking to Vala," she replied, passing the iPad back to him before doing just that.

"Addy, no one needs to talk to Vala to jump to that conclusion, trust me."

"Bye Cameron," was all she added, dashing ahead to find her boss.

When she caught up to Daniel, Adrienne's stomach began to do somersaults. It wasn't that Daniel was talking to yet another alien woman interested in him, he could do whatever the hell he wanted in that department, despite popular belief Adrienne didn't care, but it was the fact that he was giving details about their encounters with the Ori, about specific events that she had only read about, and talking much more than, well, even Daniel would talk.

It was unsettling.

At one point it sounded like Daniel was even going to tell this stranger that he had once been a Prior, but in a panic with no other recourse, Adrienne decided to fall over, feigning illness or fainting because she knew that would get him running.

It did.

"Ad!" he exclaimed the moment she hit the ground, her right hip already yelling at her for doing something so stupid, "Are you ok? What happened?"

"Yea Indy, I'm alright, just got lightheaded…" she trailed dramatically, eying their host. Her demeanor changed, thankfully, and she seemed concerned, joining Daniel to stand over Adrienne.

"My deepest apologies as the air here is thinner than you may be accustomed and you all probably require food and drink," she declared, assisting Daniel in bringing Adrienne to her feet. The cajun put on her best performance, maybe she was getting better at this acting thing, anything to try and get Daniel away from blabbering everything to this stranger.

"We would appreciate that, yes," Daniel replied, thankfully taking Adrienne into his arms, which was at least somewhat normal behavior. Ulda nodded, whisking herself away as a pair of guards stood by to let them back into the main area.

"Ad, seriously, you just toppled over," Daniel asked as he led her back to the central part of the hall, where their friends were hopefully waiting.

"Like she said, it's altitude, I just need to sit," she lied, oh how did she lie, but it was working and he seemed to be out of whatever spell the woman had over him before. She let him lead her, waiting until they were out of earshot of the guards left behind when Adrienne grabbed Daniel's arm lightly.

"Daniel, what's going on with you," she whispered softly, "You're spilling out your guts to a complete stranger…"

He frowned, confused, shaking his head, "What are you talking about?"

"Indy, you were just about to tell that woman about your time as a Prior and I'm your best friend and STILL do not know all of those details."

Daniel still looked confused.

"No, I wasn't Ad, you must have misheard me."

This time Adrienne made a face. She hadn't misheard anything and Daniel would never try to gaslight her.

Something was wrong.

"Shug, I swear," she urged, "You were…" but he stood there at the doorway between this back area and the great hall staring at her, "Ok, nevermind, just be careful, okay? I know we get excited, but we still don't know them that well."

His face turned now to frustration, something she hadn't seen him express, at least towards her, in a long while.

"I think I have it covered Addy, but thank you for your concern," he spat, walking into the Great Hall and leaving her behind. She was momentarily hurt, that anger in his face something she hadn't seen in a long time. As she watched him walk away, however, instead of being hurt, she just got angry herself.

"No Daniel," she muttered under her breath, "Something is wrong and I intend to find out what."

Not even an hour later, they were led to another area adjacent to the Great Hall, one with a fireplace and smaller tables. The tables were lined with food, typical fare that one would expect from such a region, bread, meats, root vegetables and mead. Daniel seemed to be completely fine taking their hospitality, and Cam did dip a small gadget, probably from Rodney, to test for poisons, discretely and Adrienne appreciated it since her boss didn't seem to be concerned. He hadn't really spoken to her much, in fact, which was even more strange than his outburst earlier.

What was happening!?

Instead, Adrienne just sat picking at a plate of bread and meat, a headache slowly forming.

"Oh look," Vala cooed as she took a seat beside Adrienne passing her over a cup of mead, "He found another one."

Adrienne rolled her eyes, ignoring her friend as she looked at her cup, "Should we be drinking this?"

Her friend nodded in the affirmative, taking a sip, "Trust me I can tolerate a lot more than you guys can. It is what they say it is. Cam tested it too."

Shrugging, Adrienne took a sip of her drink, meaning more about drinking alcohol with Daniel acting weird as hell, but she had no real proof that anything was going on.

"So, are you going to do something about it?" Vala pushed, peering in the direction of where Daniel was standing with their hostess, still yammering away.

"About what?" Adrienne replied, "Daniel doing his job?"

"About that look on your face that says you're so jealous you're going to explode."

"Dear lord Vala," Adrienne grumbled, now chugging her mead, "I am not in love with Daniel. He is not in love with me. I just don't understand why you won't let up with this."

"Because," her friend answered, "I don't let up when I'm right. But whoever that woman is, I don't like it and I don't even bother with him anymore."

"What don't you like about it?" Adrienne questioned, wanting to hear that someone else was feeling as she was so that she knew she wasn't totally insane.

"I don't know exactly," Vala explained, "It's not like they need to kiss the whole team's ass but her fascination with him is just unsettling."

"Indy's an alien chick magnet, isn't that what you and Cam say all of the time?" the cajun woman countered but Vala was already shaking her head.

"That's not always a good thing," she noted, a seriousness in her voice.

She breathed in slowly, "Yea shug, you're right."

"I usually am yet no one ever listens."

"He's not acting like himself, and it's not just the, well, the way we act together. Something's wrong. I should do something," Adrienne said, just as Ulda laid an open palm on Daniel's upper arm.

"Do what?" Vala asked, "You gonna go over there and act all jealous? See how he reacts?"

"No," Adrienne spat, drinking more, "You just said, ugh, I, nevermind…"

She started to argue more, tell Vala what had seen, when she remembered her conversation with Cameron from earlier and the stained glass.

"Where's Teal'c?"

Vala leaned back in her seat, pointing to the Jaffa and Cameron enjoying their mead by the fire, neither of them seeming to be worried about Daniel and his new friend.

"Thanks," the cajun muttered, dashing from her seat and toward the Jaffa. Vala watched as Adrienne said something and the warrior stood, taking her by the arm and out into the main hall area. Shaking his head, Cameron stood, walking over and joining Vala at the table, stealing Adrienne's food in the process.

"Do I want to know what she's up to?" he asked, popping a piece of dried red meat into his mouth.

"Probably not," Vala agreed, but her eyes said otherwise, "But it probably involves Daniel."

"Oh I am SOOOOO surprised," the colonel joked, "So is Addy jealous?" he now asked, cocking his head in the direction of the enthralled archaeologist and the Ulda woman.

"Yep."

"So they've…" Cameron pushed, not really wanting the answer but completely confused given Daniel's behavior on this mission.

"Nope," Vala replied, "She has no damn clue."

"What's going on with them then? After the last mission I was pretty damn sure but now," he said, pointing in Daniel's direction, "Now I have no clue."

"I know him. He's realized he's in love with her and is most likely flipping out. If Daniel excels at one thing, it's avoidance. But as for a "them"? Not even close. Actually I think if he kissed her Addy would find a cave to hide in and never be seen again."

"Then what is he doing?" Cam asked, "Is he trying to make her jealous? It's like none of the rest of us are even ON this mission…"

"No," Vala sighed out, "Trust me, he's in too...no. He's in love with her, of that I am completely certain. Something else is going on."

"Which the least experienced member of our team has now decided she is going to investigate without telling any of us…" Cameron groaned, wishing their radios worked in this strange cold, but he and Teal'c had tried that first, to no avail.

"She's tougher than you think," Vala added as Cameron frowned.

"Uh huh," he replied, eating a piece of bread but refraining from the mead in order to stay alert.

"T, can you give me a boost over here," Adrienne asked as she stood at the window from before, the one that Cameron had pointed out, "I just wanna see this top part, see if I missed anything."

"AdrienneRowan," Teal'c questioned, but still walked to her side, lifting her with ease as she requested, "Why are you not examining this with DanielJackson?"

"Indy's occupied," Adrienne grumbled, tapping Teal'c to put her down because that was not going to work, "Can I sit on your shoulders?"

Sighing, Teal'c knelt, allowing the hippy cajun woman to climb up, before hoisting her back into the air.

"I have seen him talking with our hosts," the Jaffa noted, "And he has not invited you?"

"Nope," Adrienne muttered, pulling up the story on her iPad Cameron had shown her before, the story of the Hulder and Skogsra of Swedish folklore.

"Are you two no longer together? I have noticed his distance on this mission," Teal'c kept talking more talkative than normal, of course about her non-existent love affair with Daniel.

"We're not a couple Teal'c," Adrienne moaned, trying to focus on the task at hand.

"That is not how it appears AdrienneRowan."

"I get enough crap from everyone else, not you too," Adrienne whined back, trying to focus, "Daniel is my BEST FRIEND. Period. And right now, he's acting extra, well, Danielly. But it's nothing. He…" she stammered more, sighing out, "We're just close."

"I have noticed."

Adrienne grumbled, "To the left please."

Teal'c stepped left until there was a tap at his shoulder indicating he stop. She scanned the glass art again, seeing what appeared to be writing on the largest tree in the picture.

"Step forward please."

Teal'c did as asked.

"Ok, remember how you and everyone else always used to go on and on about how he was going through something before I came here?" she kept talking, now upset that the man she felt was her sensei evidently was seeing something as well, something Adrienne was starting to worry might be a bigger issue, "Well apparently part of him dealing with that now is talking to me about it. I think he feels like he can talk to me about things he kept bottled up inside before."

"He speaks to you about many things; things he would not speak to others about," Teal'c noted, the Cajun shrugging from atop his shoulders.

"He talks to you."

"In the past perhaps," the Jaffa countered, "but no longer, now that you are here."

"Dammit, Teal'c, I'm sorry," she said, ignoring his comment, "Right again."

He shifted as requested, trying to not chuckle as she rested the iPad on his head.

"AdrienneRowan," he continued, as the archaeologist worked feverishly, "I have known many things in my long life and I have seen many things, many years of DanielJackson's life, including fifty that he will never know."

Adrienne didn't say a word, her heart racing in her chest, knowing to what exactly he was referring.

"At times people are known to do things that make sense for their situation, whether they are a good choice, a bad choice, or just a choice," Teal'c spoke further, "but in all of those years I have seen DanielJackson change, suffer, celebrate and care for others."

The Cajun remained silent, trying to pay attention to the strange script on that tree, what did it say, why did it bother her so...

"You call him your best friend and that he may be," the Jaffa paused, not for his own sake but for Adrienne's, it was clear, "But I know, because I have seen, though never before, as strong as I see now. DanielJackson is in love with you, as you are in love with him."

"I am NOT in love with Daniel," her response was immediate, Adrienne nearly falling from his shoulders. How could he even think that? Teal'c knew her, he was her teacher, how could he think such a thing.

"AdrienneRowan?"

"Yeah," she answered, having lost her focus.

"Have you found what you are looking for to rescue DanielJackson?"

"Wait what?"

Laughing, he knelt, letting her down from his shoulders. She hopped off, standing and staring at him incredulously.

"These people put heads on stakes and have taken a great interest in DanielJackson. We are also trapped in a large edifice surrounded by guards. You must be looking at this because you have realized that we are in danger and have an idea."

Damn smart Jaffa.

"I don't know for sure, T, I just know that this figure here," Adrienne pointed to where Cameron had shown her that same figure earlier, "see, it's missing a piece. It's empty. Like a part of their soul is missing."

The Jaffa nodded.

"And the city, it's medieval somewhat, and they were asking Indy an awful lot of questions about the Ori…"

Adrienne stood, thinking, racking her brain.

"So, I am trying to find a connection. They've staked Ori soldiers, but seem to be fascinated by them. I mean, Indy almost told him about when he was turned to a Prior, because Ulda was asking about whether or not the Priors had powers or whether it was, I can't remember how she put it, but she seems to understand enough about technology to get that they might not be actual powers but a tool of some sort and she was most concerned with…"

Adrienne trailed, her eyes wide as she raced back over to the glass, reading the word in ancient in her head...

Esus

"Merde! Da forest. T, da stakes, da show of powa!" she shouted out, her accent popping out in her excitement, "It's not for us. There's something in the forest, after them, and they are looking for a way to protect themselves. And they think Indy can tell them how to do that!"

She looked around, eying her surroundings, trying to determine her next move.

"Teal'c," she said, decision made.

"Yes AdrienneRowan," he replied, awaiting her idea.

"Go get Cam and Val, and try to figure out what exactly is in those woods."

"And you will?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

"Like you said," she replied with a smile, "I'm gonna go rescue Indy."

And with that she dashed back out to where they came, hoping she was right.

Daniel wasn't in the Great Hall, or any side rooms, sending Adrienne into a panic. They hadn't been given a tour of the rest of the city, and given that the city itself wasn't even in the MALP videos Adrienne had no idea where to even start.

So she decided to start where they needed him, the edge of the forest.

And she hoped her theory was right.

Adrienne had originally thought their guest was a Huldra, or whatever the inspiration for the Huldra tale had been, because in some versions of the Scandanavian myth the Huldra lured handsome men into the forest to keep them as lovers, draining them of the essence, or as Adrienne thought as she remembered Daniel a few hours earlier, their common damn sense. It would be just her boss's luck that he would be lured away by yet another alien woman. However, while the Huldra were mischievous and lovesick in some versions, it wasn't consistent with the tales, as the Huldra were not violent. And again, there was the matter of the empty city. Granted the village on the MALP had been sparsely populated, but this city itself was near deserted, and given the grandeur of the city center, it made no sense that the city was deserted.

No sense at all until Adreiine went back to look at the stained glass that had bothered Cam so much, that she had blown off because she thought it was just a missing piece when she had seen that one word, a word that was intentionally "carved" on the glass tree right by the "empty" elf.

Esus

Ancient for devoured.

And then it hit her.

Someone, or something, was taking the people of this city.

And, given all of the heads they had seen of their enemies not a one was the head of a Prior, leading Adrienne to hope she was right and that they must have come in contact with a Prior, one with the full Prior abilities and her blabbermouth boss must have indicated that he knew too much and they figured out he either had been a Prior or knew enough about them to stop whatever was killing them.

She needed to find Daniel before this Ulda woman figured out that he had no idea how to do anything Prior-like anymore, thanks to Merlin, and added his head to her collection.

The sun had set, the mostly empty city lit only by a few sparse lanterns and moonlight, a light so bright it made the forest glow in the distance. Adrienne ran faster, her heart pounding in her chest, the Cajun woman having no idea whatsoever what she was going to do if she found him. Without radio contact, she had no idea if Teal'c, Vala and Cam were ok and if they found out anything about what was in those woods, so chances were she was running right to her own death, but she didn't care.

All she could think about was Daniel.

If she survived this, Cam, and maybe even Sam, was going to kill her.

There was a different glow ahead, kind of orange in color, fire it had to be. Adrienne rounded the corner, nearly tripping over her own two feet in her rapid pivot, but she remained upright, Daniel, Ulda and her companion Kall. She hadn't expected much resistance, at this point she assumed the guards they had seen were the only guards at all. Daniel was on his knees, bound, his arms tied in front of him, the woman holding a Prior staff and screaming at him.

"You said you were Prior!" she demanded, "Then use your magic! Remove the monsters!"

Damn Daniel and his damn big mouth.

"I told you it was stripped from me; I have no powers!" he shouted back, the man Kall shaking his head.

"It is a deception; he possesses the knowledge of the Ori."

"Only because he can damn read, now back off!" Adrienne shouted, alerting the trio to her presence, Daniel peering at her in shock.

"Adrienne?"

"I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you," the Cajun joked, trying to buy time. Daniel's hands were bound but not his feet, thank god for small miracles, and Kall had to be at least 70 so he wasn't a threat, which left her with Ulda to deal with. Breathing in, Adrienne scanned the area for a weapon, since in her haste she had just dashed after him without thinking about anything other than Daniel being ok. There was nothing, just Adrienne, their two hosts and Daniel.

"Let him go," she requested, strong, but polite, hoping that maybe they could be reasoned with, "He can't help you, but maybe, if you tell us what is happening we can help you, all of us. But you have to let him go."

"You only possess weapons inferior to those of the dead gods and we have tried those. Only the powers of the Prior can save us and he is the only Prior we have been able to capture."

"Right," Adrienne clarified, "Ex-Prior. Hence the whole capturing…"

Ulda looked unphased.

"Listen, Ulda, I'm gonna ask one more time for you to let my friend go, ok?" Adrienne tried one more time, taking a step forward, realizing that she was running out of options.

"Once he reveals his power and only then will I-"

She never got to finish what she was saying, as a pale cajun fist slammed across her face, knocking her to the ground.

"And stay down, unless you want that again," Adrienne spat, peering over her shoulder at Kall, "And I'm not afraid to knock you too, unless you start untying my friend real fast."

Nodding, the old man knelt at Daniel, undoing the bindings before crawling over to Ulda who clearly had no intention of getting up.

"You punched her?" was the first thing out of Daniel's mouth as he stood rubbing his wrists.

"You're welcome Indy, love you too," Adrienne grumbling, helping him steady himself.

"No, Ad, of course I lo-," he stopped himself, realizing what he was about to say, "Where are the others?"

"Trying to figure out what in the hell is evidently eating these people."

"It's wolves, or something close, they think they are werewolves but…" he started to explain, staggering, "I think they put something in my drink earlier or did something to me on the tour, I'm not sure what."

Adrienne nodded, putting his left arm around her shoulders and reaching around his waist to help him walk. She started to walk him away, leading Daniel back to the city center and hopefully their friends when she paused, peering back.

"Now, if you know what's good for you," she wanted, "You will not follow us and you will leave him," she stressed the word him as she cocked her head at Daniel, "alone. Got it?"

The two didn't argue, Adrienne leading Daniel back to the city center.

Adrienne sat with her computer, lounging on her side listlessly searching for another episode of something to watch since she just couldn't sleep. For once, it wasn't work stress keeping her awake; she couldn't get her friends' words and insinuations out of her head.

Daniel Jackson is in love with you, as you are in love with him.

"No, he's not," she muttered, settling on a Dr. Who rerun, one that she had seen over and over again but didn't mind too much.

Daniel had been right, there was some breed of wolf that was starving and picking off villagers in the night. Teal'c argued the animals had just as much of a right to their lives as the people, so Sam decided to send back a Jaffa team with some perimeter technology to better protect the villagers. Adrienne wasn't a huge fan of that, given that Carolyn had indeed confirmed that Daniel had been probably misted with something and also given a much stronger mead, most likely to loosen his tongue and see if these visitors had answers that previous visitors had lacked. He was still intoxicated enough that when they did rejoin their friends, Daniel proudly told the tale of Adrienne punching out their host to rescue him, the cajun blushing as her friends rolled their eyes.

She was never going to live that down.

In fact, he had been so grateful for her rescue that the weirdness from earlier seemed to have vanished, at least for a little bit, Teal'c now joining the ranks of smiling at Adrienne when he got the chance. The doc cleared them, the briefing closed, and like a switch, Daniel was back to being weird, heading off to the lab, as if nothing had happened at all.

So here was Adrienne, in her room, not as concerned about yet another messed up world, Daniel was right, she was getting used to it, but instead worried about what in the hell was going on between her and Daniel.

Cheesy sci fi music played, her show coming back from commercial, the Doctor trying to figure out who Professor Song was, one of Adrienne's favorite parts in the series, when there was a little bing on the sidebar of her computer, her messenger box for chat screen.

You up?

It was Daniel.

Shocked, Adrienne sat up in bed.

Yah shug, she typed back, deciding to be silly and put in the little emoticon of a man sticking out his tongue, that's why the little green light is on…

His response was quick.

Come on, I'm using one of YOUR methods of communication, can you work with me here?

Huh, she thought, wonder what's up.

Just teasin' … my aren't we touchy.

He didn't reply.

Frowning, she set her fingers on the keys lightly, typing again.

What's up Indy?

The little dots in the box flickered, Daniel typing back already.

My head hurts, I don't wanna work anymore tonight but I don't wanna go to bed.

Wait what? she thought, he's barely acknowledged me for weeks outside of work and now he's texting me out of boredom.

Daniel Jackson is in love with you, as you are in love with him.

"Addy, you've gotta get a grip and stop listening to everybody else with their idiotic ideas," she grumbled, still not replying to his message.

"And I'm not either Teal'c," she muttered, finally keying in her reply. Daniel was her best friend and she cared for him a great deal and regardless of anyone else's opinions on the matter, she wanted for things to go back to normal between the two of them.

Come here.

That requires driving.

He'd told her to go back to her apartment, but she thought that she made it clear that she was staying on base when she left the briefing but she guessed not. She typed her reply.

No, that requires an elevator.

Wait? You're on base? I thought you said you were going home.

For you, she thought, I stayed on base because I'm worried about you after what happened…

Daniel Jackson is in love with you, as you are in love with him.

"Nope, just worried…"

Yeah. It's cold and raining and I was too lazy to go home.

Glad you can admit that; usually you just blame me.

He seemed in a good enough mood though, maybe he wanted them to have a normal friends evening after all.

She decided to play along.

And with a few strokes of the keyboard Daniel has lost his invite to hang out in my room.

His reply was quick.

I know your codes.

I can change them.

Never underestimate my knowledge of Alexander Skarsgard…

She laughed, fairly certain that he had bookmarked a fan page JUST to decipher her secret codes.

She'd need to pick another celebrity...

Well, I was gonna fold some laundry then crawl into bed, you're welcome to join me.

"Great choice of words there genius," she scolded herself, too late to take it back now.

To make matters worse, Daniel didn't respond.

"Merde," she swore, her heart racing, her stomach churning when she finally saw the dots near his name start to wiggle.

Hang on.

You ok? she typed back, I didn't mean that like it appears…

More little dots.

I know, but I still wanna take a picture of this conversation to send to Vala, with you inviting me to bed and all.

"Damn tchew…" she laughed; he was kidding, there was nothing going on and Teal'c was just insane.

And Vala.

And things between them were gonna be ok again, normal even.

Bye Daniel.

She typed, awaiting his reply.

I'm joking! Sorry, just bored and, well, just bored.

A grin spread across her face.

Ok, well, I want to relax so I'm shutting this lid. If you wanna join me, I'm here. If you don't, fine.

No, no I do, the reply was quick, the dots lighting up as soon as she hit enter, I need to shut down here and go to my room and grab some things but I'll be down.

Adrienne frowned.

What kind of things?

Clothes…

Sighing, the Cajun rubbed her temples before replying.

This is why people think we're sleeping together shug.

"And why Teal'c thinks we're having some secret love affair…" she added to herself, his reply popping up on her screen.

And yet you don't want me to send this conversation to Vala.

The Cajun shook her head, typing back.

I love being used to make your girlfriend jealous.

I don't need a girlfriend. I have you. You're pain enough ;)

"Maybe we do need to talk," she muttered, making sure her answer didn't lead him to that conclusion just yet, "maybe we need to lay some friend and assistant ground rules…"

She tapped enter.

Emoticons? Impressive. I'm going to shut this ok, ya coming down?

Watching the dots again, she waited for the answer she knew was coming.

In about fifteen or twenty minutes.

See ya soon shug.

Adrienne stood, setting her computer aside with every intent to clean up a bit before he arrived when she heard that familiar ding, making her reach over and peek at the screen.

Ad? You still there?

A frown across her face, she keyed in a quick response.

Yeah, what's up.

A pause, no dots at first, making Adrienne even more worried when his reply popped up in the window.

Thanks for saving my ass. Again.

It's nice to have someone that looks out for me.

"Dammit Daniel," she swore, trying to figure out what to say, "you kill me shug, I hope you know this."

:) I can't lie, she typed, pausing, debating, choosing to finish her thought, I like having you around. A lot.

The reply this time was instant.

Be there soon.

Daniel Jackson is in love with you, as you are in love with him.

"Brain," she warned, walking over to pick up her discarded bra from the floor, "we are NOT doing this tonight."

She could only hope it would listen.