Daniel wasn't a stranger to onbase gossip, he had been the target of a good amount of it at his time at the SGC. Therefore, he'd expected that between his text to Sam, and then of course she would tell Jack, and Adrienne would have to, naturally, show Vala and Cam her ring, that it wouldn't take too terribly long for news of the engagement to make its way around the base.

What he hadn't expected was exactly how fast that news would travel…

"Look cher, all I am sayin' is that given what we found out on Simarka I think that going back through old sections of the database and looking for specific instances of painful death of high level rulers might give us a clue as to whether or not that Asgard even encountered this sort of thing when tagging their own clones…" Adrienne argued as she and Daniel entered the commissary, their first meal there since Adrienne's return to work yesterday.

"Ad, I get that but…" he began to counter, not seeing the point, the Asgard weren't trying to accomplish the same thing, when the entire cafeteria area exploded into applause, personnel standing from their seats and clapping.

"Congrats!"

"Can we see the ring?"

"About time Dr. Jackson!"

"Addy, are you guys gonna get married off-world?"

"Torre mes chiens…" Adrienne muttered, blushing, "Does everyone know?"

"Evidently…" he answered with a shrug, as he set his hand on her back, directing her toward the line. There were murmurs as they passed, more kind words, and honestly, Adrienne, who hated to have attention drawn to her, was so red by the time they made it to the line Daniel felt bad that he even suggested that they eat here because he knew she would need a recharge after this. For as extroverted as he thought his love, his fianceé, Dr. Adrienne Rowan was, she really wasn't, and needed a good recharge after what she referred to as "performances."

"I'm sorry ja-wer," he whispered, grabbing her a bowl of salad and setting it onto her tray, "I had no idea."

"It's ok Indy," she said with a shrug, "It's sweet. And I'm proud of this, of us. We've got a good thing to be proud of."

He smiled, leaning to kiss her temple, hearing more whoops and hollers from the audience behind them.

"Let 'em cheer," Adrienne added, "With everything else going on, I think we all need some good news. I can deal with it. It'll die down."

He didn't fight her as she pulled her tray gently from his hand, grabbing the remainder of her rabbit food meal. He knew she really didn't like all of the attention, but as long as she was ok with it, he was going to remain quiet. He got his own food, following her over to a table in the corner the best he could, as they were stopped at least four times for personnel to see her ring, which she was proud to show.

That did make him feel good.

Her poor pale cajun cheeks flushed crimson, and she sat, not saying a word as she grabbed for her fork.

"So," he tried to change the subject, "You were saying?"

"I forgot shug, sorry," she replied as she set her phone on the table, trying to see where she left off.

"Then just eat," he laughed, "Don't hunt for work…"

Adrienne frowned, "Pot, kettle…"

"Whatever," he replied, "And here I was going to see if you wanted to go by the Museum of Natural History and see the dinosaur exhibit before they close it for those upgrades they just got that grant for…"

"Dinosaurs?" she asked as he smiled, shrugging.

"What dirt digger doesn't like dinosaurs," he noted, "Or am I engaged to one of those archaeologists?"

She winked, "What if I am?"

"Then I might need to rethink my future plans," he joked, scooping up some rice onto his fork.

"Ass," she said with a giggle, "Yeah, when are you thinking of going?"

Daniel swallowed, picking up his own phone and opening his calendar, peering back up at Adrienne, "So, I looked at our schedule and if we push through and get some of tomorrow's work done this afternoon, we can move up Thursday and…"

"Hey," Vala interrupted, taking a seat beside Adrienne, "You both can thank me later, but I found your honeymoon spot."

"I was only talking," Daniel noted as Adrienne grabbed the folder opening it.

"Shug, we haven't even talked about anything related to anything, my life didn't just become a wedding, what is this…" the cajun muttered as the pirate tapped the folder, Adrienne frowning as she tried to read.

"This is where we're going this weekend," Vala declared, reaching over to steal Daniel's soda.

He rolled his eyes.

"Where and why," he inquired, deciding to not fight her, but more annoyed that his nice relaxing weekend plans were going to be ruined in a snap.

"Lead, from intelligence," she answered simply.

Daniel frowned, "Sam didn't send me anything…" he trailed, reaching out to try to take the folder from Adrienne who held it tightly, frowning.

"It's not from Sam," Vala replied, grabbing Adrienne's fork and reaching over to Daniel's tray, cutting into his meatloaf and bringing the bite to her mouth, "It's from Wodnee."

"Chew shug," Adrienne muttered as Vala reached over to get more, Daniel smacking her hand away.

"Get your own damn lunch," he spat, pulling his tray away, "Since when does Rodney care about intelligence or get to send us on missions?"

"Since your mortal enemy is using what we think is Asgard cloning tech to build himself a body and an army and said cloning requires certain elements not all nicely packaged in a market on Chulac or some damn place," she shot back, smacking him to take more. He started to jerk his tray the other direction when the folder was thrust at him by Adrienne, concern on her face.

"Check it out cher," she said, "It looks like there's a compound that's less toxic for mammalian cloning than traditional means. Something the Asgard were looking for as well."

He took the folder, scanning its contents, recognizing some of the database work he had indeed been asked to share with Rodney, "So, do we have evidence that Anubis has been there? What are we going to look for exactly?"

"Head him off at the pass," Vala replied, sliding Daniel's tray closer to her as he was distracted, "And Addy I'm offended, that's not even what I wanted you to look at…"

Frowning, Adrienne reached for the folder, yanking it back from Daniel's hands and scanning eyes.

"What are ya talking about shug?"

"No, I don't exist in this conversation," Daniel muttered, "Take my lunch, my soda, my folder, why don't I just head back to the lab…"

"Go, I don't care," Vala replied, laughing at his small fit, cutting her eyes at Adrienne who was already flipping through the images and pages of data, trying to determine what in the world Vala was talking about.

"Ad?" Daniel asked, seeing she had slipped into her zone, those dark eyes of her scanning the file with intensity.

"No, cher, don't go..." Adrienne muttered, though Daniel wasn't convinced that she was even listening to him, "This is amazing. It looks like some samples from some seaweed yielded a series of microorganisms that might provide an alternative to 6-DMAP usage in oocyte alteration…"

Vala shoved another forkful into her mouth, pointing at the photos again, "THE WATER Addy not the seaweed in it, you're hopeless," she swallowed peering up at Daniel, "Ocean Daniel, beaches, it's a tropical paradise, maybe you care?"

Realizing that Adrienne was not going to hand over the folder, he stood, walking around the table, and effectively giving up his lunch, taking a seat to her right.

The folder was filled with gibberish, to him at least, equations, ones that he guessed Adrienne somewhat understood between her love of mathematics and her time with Rodney. He saw a few other notes, in Rodney's handwriting, notes on the Ba'al clones, the impact of the symbiote on the deterioration rate and some other things from the incident in Oregon. Rodney had some timelines, what seemed to be attempts at a countdown, and it seemed that Rodney was actually one step ahead of Anubis, of figuring out how to manufacture a clone that didn't need anything from a symbiote, that would not deteriorate. And, to test this theory, he just needed some more seaweed from this world…

"Nevermind," Vala sat back, sighing, "You're reading it too. You two are hopeless; I'll go show Cameron, he might want to surf or something."

Adrienne laughed, turning the page to look at the rest of the photos, her eyes widening.

"Fine, shug, fine...damn..." she exclaimed, tapping the folder, "Cher, have you all ever been to any world that looks this much like Polynesia?! It looks like Bora Bora…"

"You've been to Bora Bora?" Daniel asked, now that the conversation was turning somewhat into wedding planning, he was curious.

"No," Adrienne shook her head, "But bucket list. Well, pre-cool alien worlds without American assholes bucket list."

He went to ask another question, did she want to go, he really wanted to take her somewhere, alone, maybe celebrate their engagement, when Vala swallowed another bite of his lunch, nodding emphatically.

"See!" she noted, "Honeymoon planet. You two can't say I don't look out for you!" And with that she stood, reaching for the folder and leaving the now empty tray, "Briefing in an hour, gonna take SG-1 plus Rodney and Ronon."

"Awww…"Adrienne joked, "Look who gives me shit about Indy 24/7 and managed to get Ronon on another SG-1 mission…"

"Bye Addy," Vala grumbled, leaving the cafeteria, as Daniel stared at Adrienne in confusion.

"Are they?" he asked, but Adrienne shook her head.

"She's shockingly better at keeping her trap shut than we were, so I don't know the whole story..." Adrienne answered, honest enough to not lie to Daniel but also keeping her promise to Vala.

"Huh," he said, peering over at his tray, his expression changing into a frown, "She ate my lunch."

"You lived off Power Bars anyway before me," the Cajun teased, "And suddenly you care about nutrition? I thought Mr. Perfectly Fit Because the Ascended Gave Me This Body didn't need real food."

"Fine," he muttered, cutting his eyes at her playfully and grabbing the empty tray, "Let's go back and redo our schedules, again, before Rodney gets to ruin them…"

Smiling, Adrienne downed her last carrot, standing behind him to head back to the lab to prep.

"About damn time we are gonna get ahead of the bastard," Cam rejoiced as he entered the briefing room, slamming the folder that had been sent his way onto the table. Rodney grinned in return, preparing to take all credit for everything that came before the mission, Vala's intelligence, and everything after, which would be any studies that Zelenka would most likely be running for Rodney. Normally it would annoy Daniel, but at this point in this neverending wild goose chase he didn't care.

Stopping Anubis was all he cared about.

"That's why I want all hands on deck people," Sam replied, cueing up the monitor for Rodney, not seeming to mind in the least taking a step back. Daniel peered around the room to see what all hands on deck meant, noting that it was all of the current membership of SG-1, himself, Adrienne, Cameron, Teal'c and Vala, in addition to Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex. Daniel couldn't help but wonder if Adrienne was correct and Vala had something to do with that last one…

"And, if we can get in, confirm, and then contain the planet," Rodney added, "We are able to stop him from making these advances."

"What advances are we talking about?" Daniel asked, having not truly understood the biochemical mumbo jumbo in the folder that was thrusted at him this afternoon.

"Radek," Rodney requested, Zalenka jumping up in response to cue up the slides.

"From samples gathered by our intelligence teams," he began, "we have determined that the marine plant life on the planet, coded P3O-170, contains a protein kinase and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor demonstrating similar properties to 6 Dimethylaminopurine, also known as 6-DMAP, which has been used for over two decades here on Earth in the cloning of mammalian species. However, while it has produced more intact nuclear membranes for cloned animal cells, there have been numerous studies on the toxicity of the inhibitor have shown that there is an increase in mutations as well with the addition of 6-DMAP during certain parts of the cloning process... "

"English?" Cam asked with a shrug.

"Trading muscles for brains, or extra arms or shit," Vala tried to explain, Sam laughing but nodding in agreement, somewhat.

"What we are seeing with this inhibitor, that I am tentatively calling the M-DMAP…" Rodney continued, as Daniel leaned over to Adrienne.

"If M stands for McKay, I may leave," he whispered, Adrienne kicking him under the table.

"Stop it," she hissed, looking forward as Rodney continued.

"As we are aware, the Ba'al clones would have experienced the same deterioration as we noted in later Asgard clones, the difference between the two being the symbiotes used by the Ba'al clones. Without symbiotes widely available across the galaxy, and those that are affordable or not part of the Tok'ra anyway, Anubis is going to need something to stabilize the nuclei and slow the denigration of the clone without compromising, as Ms. Mal Doran so eloquently put it, muscles for brains…"

"And Glasses thought I was dumb, well look," Vala mutteered, Daniel lifiting his shoulders.

"I never said you were dumb…"

Adrienne pinched his leg under the table.

"Ow… I never said…" he whispered at her, the cajun rolling her eyes.

"Ok," Cameron interrupted, "If we get to this first we might be able to stop this cloning mess and limit his recruits. What's the plan? Are we gonna just try to guard the planet, make friends or what?"

"Unfortunately, we still need to conduct more tests to confirm," Zalena noted.

"That's why we are going to go through," Rodney continued, "Let Daniel make friends with these people, collect some samples, and get a better idea of who and where we are dealing with."

"Meanwhile Dex and I will go, under the general guise of being just another part of the team, but to ensure that we are correct and there has been no contact with Anubis, Inpu, or any of those Lucian traders that he is using," Vala added, Adrienne leaning over to Daniel's ear.

"They're like this hot James Bond couple now or something," she joked as he nodded.

"The plan is we leave first thing in the morning, since they are off Earth EST by about 8-12 hours, that should arrive close to their mid-afternoon, when their chief will be most amenable to accepting visitors," Sam noted, indicating the file, "According to our initial intelligence and MALP exploration."

"Yeah," Vala added, "He seems to be in a generally better mood around dinner."

"Sounds like someone else I know," Daniel muttered at his fianceé, Adrienne again rolling her eyes.

"If you did this thing called exercise you might be hungry too," she shot back.

"Ok people, you heard her," Cam declared, standing, "study up on your info, pack your trunks and be at the gateroom at 0800."

The team stood, closing folders and heading out, Rodney and Zalenka holding back Cam and Teal'c, presumably to go over some of the security measures. Daniel closed his folder, standing, reaching down for Adrienne, instinctively now, and she smiled and took it, the pair feeling eyes on them.

"Vala showed me the pictures," Sam said with a smile as she approached them, "If we make allies that would be an amazing spot for a honeymoon…"

"It's the talk of the base, isn't it?" Daniel asked, grinning.

"Only for the past three days…" the general answered, laughing as Adrienne blushed.

"Sorry Sam…" she muttered, but Sam was shaking her head.

"No, we need some good news around here," she countered, "So don't be surprised if you both get a lot of volunteers for wedding planning."

Adrienne bit her lower lip, and Daniel could practically feel the anxiety rafting off of her.

"Or," Sam added, possibly feeling it as well, "There's always Vegas…"

Without anything else to add, she left, laughing to herself.

"A circus," Adrienne grumbled, headed for the door to return to the lab, "Yay."

A sinking feeling in his stomach, Daniel followed, not knowing what to say.

Let's just go to Vegas?

Or go to the Justice of the Peace.

We don't have to do this…

"Cher?" she asked, pausing at the doorway as he lagged behind, lost in thought, "You ok? I'm sorry this has gotten to be such a, well, big deal for everyone."

"No," he said, shaking his head, "It's fine. Like you said at lunch, everyone's excited. Let's retool our schedule so maybe we can still see some dinosaurs this weekend."

She smiled, nodding and reaching back to his hand.

Trying not to worry, Daniel took it, following behind.

"You know what Rodney reminds me of? " Adrienne asked, peering over her shoulder as Daniel entered her kitchen.

"What?" he asked, making his way to the fridge to feel a dishtowel hit him in the head.

"I'm cooking dinner tchew…"

"I just wanted a soda," he replied, "And it smells great. Chicken?"

"Pork actually," she corrected, "Some recipe Aunt Barb emailed me that I actually would eat."

"Wonders never cease," Daniel replied, grabbing a Coke and walking over to her small kitchen table and taking a seat, "So, Rodney reminds you of what?"

"Did you ever have to read that article in your undergrad theory classes? Golden Marshalltown or something?" she asked, stirring some rice and vegetable mixture on the stove.

"Hmmmm maybe," he answered, standing and walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing her neck, "Thank you for cooking dinner."

"It was my night," she replied as she snuggled into his embrace, "Some article from the 1980s about archaeology and the different schools of thought. Author was headed to a conference, on a plane, and encountered three other archaeologists?"

"Not ringing a bell, but, despite the fact I hate to admit this, I was already well into my degree with it sounds like this came out, and it probably took a few years to take off in popularity…" he grumbled, hating to again come to the realization as to how much older than her he was.

"No, no," she scolded as she continued to cook, "This doesn't get turned into a woe is me I'm old conversation," she teased with a chuckle, "You should look it up. It's funny and one of the archaeologists, I think the author calls him a New Age Philosopher or something, anyway he is painted to be this pompous loud ass who takes credit for the work of others for the sake of developing "theory". Rodney's performance today just reminded me of that."

Daniel pulled away, laughing, "While I am highly suspect of such a thing as a 'funny' article in our field, anything that could be used to mock Rodney would be worth the search." He kissed her head, walking back to the table to sit back down, pausing for a moment and peering back at her.

"Ad," he started as he pulled out the chair, "What did you think about those photos of P3O-170?"

She didn't answer at first, continuing to cook the meal before finally looking over at him, "What do you mean what did I think of those photos?"

"You know, Vala's suggestion," he led carefully, "about a honeymoon spot?" he said with caution, his voice fearing her answer. It's not that he thought they should start planning immediately, she had been injured after all and they had only been engaged a week, if that, he had lost track of days, but she hadn't mentioned anything about anything concerning any wedding at all.

Not one thing.

In fact, she hadn't even referred to him once as her fiancé or anything.

She didn't answer at first, still cooking when she just started to laugh…

"Oh cher, a honeymoon," she said, still chuckling, "You're already thinking about a honeymoon? You must need a vacation."

"You haven't? '' he asked and Adrienne looked back at him confused.

"No…" she said, her voice drawing out, "I'm still relishing in the beautiful ring you brought back to me. Am I supposed to be?"

"No," he said quickly, "no I haven't really thought about it either. It's just the pictures that got me thinking."

Liar, you've been thinking about the entire affair like a love sick teenager who doesn't understand what's going on with them…

"I didn't take you as a tropical location kind of man," Adrienne said with a smile, turning off the knobs and shutting down the stove as dinner was ready.

"I don't know,'' Daniel said, shaking his head, "I never been one to vacation much at all, so I guess I don't know what kind of honeymoon person I am."

"Fair enough," she answered, "Fair enough. I don't know, maybe we can scope it out while we're there? At least give us an idea if we would even like something like that?"

"Yeah, maybe," he replied, quietly as she pulled some plates from the cabinet, serving up their dinner.

"I'm still really surprised though you never struck me as the tiki type," she joked, walking over and passing him his plate, which he took it gratefully, grabbing hers from her hand as well so she could sit down unencumbered.

"You may think you know me so well Dr. Rowan," he said with a smile as she took her seat, "but I'm still full of plenty of surprises."

"Sure Indy," she said laughing, "Sure you are."

Smiling, he took a bite of his dinner, it was delicious, as always, and decided to not let himself worry about anything else for the evening.

Vala hadn't been wrong, at all.

P3O-170 was literal paradise.

The sun was higher in the sky than it would be on Earth this time of day, the sun gleaming across shimmering white sands and crystal blue ocean. As the team passed through each and every one of them could not help but stop and stare, scanning the horizon in silence for a moment.

"Damn Vala," Cam finally spoke, peering around, "You sure you were looking for Anubis when you found this place?"

"Yes, but I can assure you I was also happy with this outcome…" she answered with a smile as Cam just shook his head.

"Well keep doing this because we've got how many days here?" he now asked, peering back at Rodney, "Two, three?"

The scientist shrugged, "Sam sent the Hammond into orbit to monitor, so as long as we need. I'll be sending Radek back samples as soon as I take them."

"And I brought two large tents," Ronon noted, "In case they don't invite us in."

"Good call," Daniel replied, "Because we don't know their rituals and can't assume that they'll just allow us to say."

"You heard him Daniel, right?" Vala added, "Two tents. For six people. So you and Addy need to keep your hands to yourselves."

"You keep that in mind yourself mon ami," Adrienne answered with a wink, Vala glaring at her in reply.

Cam shook his head, choosing not to engage in this sort of conversation with any of them.

"Ok," he started, peering at his team, "Rodney, you and I assume Dex, will head to the shore, start collecting what you need. Vala, you do that thing you do to make sure we missed nothing and Daniel, Addy and I will head to the village, do the pleasantries. Any questions?"

None to be had, the team broke into their individual units, Cameron, Daniel and Adrienne continuing forward.

"You got the whole schmoozing thing right, cher?" Adrienne asked as soon as they began walking again, "Because as best I could, I brought what I needed to conduct a basic ethnography."

"I figured," Daniel answered, smirking at her, "At least one of us gets to have fun."

"Tired of playing diplomat?" Cam asked now as Daniel shrugged.

"More like tired of watching others get to enjoy why I got into this field in the first place."

"Fair enough," the colonel replied as the three walked on further. It was eerily silent between the two archaeologists, Cameron unsure as to whether or not anything was going on, a fight maybe, problems wedding planning already, but he might have been wrong as well, given that they both were in those nerd zones that they would get into.

Instead, he decided that he would need to make sure they didn't walk into one another, or him.

As they trekked through the sand he did hear a mutter every now and then, usually in French, but he didn't bother to ask for a translation; he had long since given up on them ever speaking in English when they got like that. Leaving them to their nerd worlds, Cameron jogged lightly ahead, a short stone wall appearing in the near distance.

"Hey Drs. Jackson, I think we're here!" Cam shouted back over his shoulder, Daniel peering up but Adrienne just frowned.

Noting that neither of them spoke in reply, Cameron stopped jogging, shrugging and laughing.

"Come on," the colonel goaded, "It's funny there's gonna be two of you now…"

"No…" Adrienne clarified as she peered up from her folder, her face serious, "There will be one Dr. Jackson and one Dr. Rowan."

Seeing her expression, Cam cut his eyes at Daniel, who seemed confused and surprised.

"What?" Adrienne asked, halting her advance and cutting her eyes between the two of them, shrugging her shoulders, "Marrying someone doesn't mean you have to forsake your own identity. I'm a Rowan, like my dad, not a Jackson," she explained simply, about to chide Cameron about having old fashioned values when she caught, out of the corner or her eye, something in Daniel's face that she had never wanted to see, at least, if she was the cause…

Hurt.

He looked as if she had broken his heart.

"But, I thoroughly enjoy sleeping with a Jackson every night," she added quickly, trying to wink at Daniel, who forced a smile.

Oh no, I thought he just assumed...

"Now you sound like Vala," he joked back, peering ahead, "Cam's right, the luakini is ahead."

Trying to focus herself on work, she kneeled, removing her pack and opening it to remove her camera.

"One ethnographer ready to ethnograph!" she declared, repacking and standing, indicating that she was ready to go.

"Keep rubbing it in," Daniel joked, trying himself to push her words out of his mind.

There will be one Dr. Jackson...

I'm a Rowan…

...not a Jackson…

He breathed in, tucking the folder under his arm and heading to the front of the group.

Either Vala's intelligence was that good, or the chief was friendlier than he anticipated. The chieftain, Makua, which Adrienne noted on her iPad was the Hawaiian word for parent, greeted them warmly, immediately inviting them to join him in the assembly house for a welcoming ceremony and introductions. Daniel thanked him, following along the petite man, whose bare shoulders were draped in a bright red and yellow cape, to begin to explain who they were and why they were there, right now as explorers, when he noticed Adrienne clamping some sort of gadget to the front of her tac vest. He made a quick apology, explaining to Makua that he needed to speak with his colleague, lingering back to walk at her side.

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

"What's what?"

"That," he said, pointing to her chest.

"Oh that…"she replied, grinning brightly, "A bodycam."

"A bodycam?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I was trying to figure out a way to get footage and free my hands, so I hit up the MPs. They were cool."

He nodded, not having heard of this but thinking it was a great idea. Now, he was jealous more than ever that she was going to get to do real anthropology.

"Share your footage?" he asked with a smile, Adrienne grinning in reply, bumping his hip.

"Oh course," she answered, "But only because you're so handsome."

He laughed at her silliness, shaking his head, and hoping Cameron didn't hear, lest the harassment begin. He watched Adrienne glance ahead, Cameron now walking beside Makua, before she grabbed his arm, pulling him to her and kissing him quickly.

"What was that for?" he asked, worried about her slip of unprofessional conduct…

"I can't kiss my future husband?" she teased, and he bit his lip, glancing forward again.

"I'll behave Indy," she added, setting her hand on his shoulder as they walked into the village.

Missions like this Daniel really did miss the early days of the program when he could wander, camcorder in hand, filming, recording verbal notes in his hand recorder. Makua was a kind host, and thankfully spoke English because Hawaiian, or Polynesian languages in general, were not his forte. He spoke with Daniel at length of their interactions with the Goa'uld, which was limited, as the resources on this planet, referred to by the locals as Kai Moani, were nothing any System Lord considered valuable. The population of the village was small, maybe a few hundred, and Makua explained that due to the limited food resources most of the villages that he had contact with were also of that same small size. What the planet had in abundance was beauty, the translation of the planet's name, "Where the sky meets the sea" was no exaggeration. Daniel might have said that the sky was the most beautiful shade of blue that he had ever seen were it not for the fact that the ocean was equally as magnificent. The sands on the beach were a glistening pearl white, with some of the most gorgeous tropical foliage creeping slowly on to it, inviting visitors into the rainforest surrounding it.

He could see why "honeymoon" had popped into Vala's head because now that he was here, he was certainly feeling the same way. So much so that he wanted to mention it to Adrienne, maybe see her thoughts on at least a place that looked like this, but Adrienne was in "the zone."

In fact, he noted as he looked at his watch, he hadn't seen her in hours…

The last glimpse he had of her, she was being escorted by what seemed to be an assistant to the members of the priestly caste, Kahani they were called here, taking feverish notes on her iPad, her eyes wide and mouth open.

He was so jealous.

He just hoped that she was getting good video footage they could watch upon their return, maybe at his apartment, in bed, cuddled up with some good wine…

"Hey," Cam said as he waved a hand in front of Daniel's face, "You in there?"

"Yeah," Daniel replied, shaking his head, "Yeah, sorry."

"Makua said he was going to head back to the village, but he wants to take us to the shore as the sun sets, something about a ceremony of eternal life? I told him the rest of the team was there and he seemed pleased. Must be a friendship ceremony or something."

"Probably," Daniel responded.

"He said he would get Addy too. She's been in the hey you or somewhere…"

"Heiau, it's the high temple," the archaeologist corrected with a slight chuckle.

"Yep, there," Cam agreed, pausing for a moment before taking a breath and continuing, "Listen, man, I'm sorry about earlier, I wouldn't have joked like that if I knew, well…"

Daniel, however, shook his head.

"It's alright, don't worry about it."

Cam nodded, debating if he should say anything else, in support, or not, when he heard Makua shouting their names behind them, the colonel turning to see the chief accompanied by two men in a bright red priestly garb, Adrienne with them, happily chattering and taking notes.

"We have come to find the rest of your group so that you may attend the sunset ceremony!"

The moment the words crossed his lips, Adrienne dashed ahead, her face filled with utter glee as she came to his side.

"Indy this is soooooo close to Polynesian culture back home," she began to chatter, those dark beautiful cajun eyes filled with sheer joy, "They are going to summon the mana and ask for the matriarchal goddess for forgiveness as they go into evening rest! C'est magnifique!"

Daniel couldn't resist, reaching out for her hand to walk with her in this paradise.

She took it, squeezing it tightly.

"What else?" he asked, wanting to know more, to share in her excitement.

"The language itself, it feels more Hawaiian than any other Austronesian language, though some words seem to be Tongan…"

"You speak Hawaiian?" he asked curiously. Blushing, Adrienne shrugged.

"A little, remember, bucket list…" she trailed, Daniel about to ask her then and there if she perhaps wanted to go on a trip when they returned, together, to one of those bucket list places when he heard shouting ahead, peering up at the moment to see Makua and his priests racing for where Rodney and Ronon were working at the coast.

"Mai wehe i ka limu!" "Ku!"

Confused, Daniel looked at Adrienne for a translation as their pair broke out into a jog in that direction of the commotion.

"He said stop, I got that, and don't remove," Adrienne translated, surprised that Daniel didn't have any Austronesian languages in his long list of languages spoken.

"Shit, the samples…" Daniel said as it clicked, running faster, in the hopes that whatever Rodney was doing was going to kick them out of the village.

Or worse…

As the scene came into view, Daniel could see Ronon and Vala, who must have finished their sweep, with their pants shoved up to their knees and standing in the water, the pair selecting what seemed to be the darkest pieces of seaweed and sliding them into test tubes at Rodney's direction. Rodney, on the other hand, was not in the water, instead had some sort of scale, reader and laptop set up on a portable table.

"Mai wehe i ka limu!" "Ku!" Makua repeated, almost at Rodney now, his priests nearly having caught up to him. Rodney seemed deep in his task, now testing something on that scale type thing, but Ronon and Vala stopped, coming to a frozen halt but remaining in the water.

"Maui what?" Vala asked, confused, Adrienne making it to the shore next.

"Stop shug! Stop pickin' da seaweed!"

Ronon tossed up his hands, holding his palms up and open, Vala quickly doing the same.

"What is going on?" Rodney, still oblivious, demanded, "Why are you stopping?"

"Rodney," Daniel yelled, "Our hosts are asking you to stop, something about…" he went to explain, but honestly himself was confused, looking at their host.

"The limu is only used to test the connection between the 'uhane and and the kino, to see if it is time for the 'uhane to join the mother or to remain with the children of the lepo," he explained, Daniel getting the gist of the explanation with context clues.

"It's a part of their culture, Dr. McKay," Adrienne tried to clarify for the scientist, but he seemed just annoyed that his work was halted.

"Then can you explain to him that culture or not, we need this to keep certain evil mega villains from killing all of us…"

"He speaks English jackass," Adrienne muttered under her breath, Daniel already lifting his hand to stop the argument he could feel was about to happen.

"Rodney, please, just, stop," Daniel requested kindly, "We haven't had a chance to explain to Makua why we need the…"

"Limu," Adrienne filled in, Daniel nodding.

"The limu," he clarified, looking to Makua, "Your limu may be able to assist us in protecting our people, and by consequence, yours."

"The limu is sacred, Dr. Jackson," Makua replied, "It is used to summon the aumakua, who can reunite the 'uhane and kino if it is not time to join the makuahine in the lani."

"We understand," Daniel said kindly, shooting a glare at Rodney in warning, "We will stop, right Dr. McKay?"

Not answering verbally, Rodney slammed his palms on the table, walking over to where Ronon had pitched the two tents nearby.

"It's not our fault," Vala said quickly, "We were just doing what McKay said to do."

"It's ok shug," Adrienne assured, "It happens sometimes, nothing new here in anthro land."

Vala nodded, the team all deferring to Daniel for next steps.

"Makua," Daniel started, putting on his best both caring and diplomatice face, "We are indeed here to meet your people and start a friendship, but my colleague here is correct. There is a great evil that intends to harm many people, from our home and possibly even yours and we are trying to stop him."

"But the mother cannot allow you to take what is not yours," the chief argued.

"We understand," Daniel answered, Rodney fuming from behind the chief but Cameron looked ready to intervene if needed, "however we would like to share with you more about not only this threat, but our world as well."

The chief nodded, looking to the taller of his two companions. The priest glanced at Adrienne, before looking back at the chief.

"We have already made preparations to host Dr. Rowan so that she may attend the Hi'uwai at Ka puka 'ana o ka lā."

The Cajun nodded, "Yes, if that is still alright, I planned to shadow the Kahuni for the entire day."

"Then if Makua is amenable," Daniel replied, "We can continue with that plan, and Makua, I would like, if possible, to return as well and discuss our situation with you further."

"Of course Dr. Jackson," the leader agreed, "We can arrange for a second guest, please allow me time to secure those accommodations…"

"That's not necessary but thank you," Daniel answered with a smile, "Dr. Rowan's my wife, so I can stay with her."

Cameron's jaw dropped.

Jesus Daniel, that is not subtle…

Adrienne's face flushed.

"Awwww look how proud he is of staking his claim…" Vala teased in a light whisper as she and Ronon walked back to shore, the cajun glaring at her.

"My deepest apologies for my assumption," Makua continued, "Of course you may stay with your wahine."

And with that Makua urged his companions forward to the village, though he did shoot a look back to ensure that Rodney and the rest of the team were indeed stopping their harvest.

Trying to contain her embarrassment, Adrienne walked over to help Vala and Ronon clean up as Rodney approached Daniel, continuing to argue. Shockingly, Vala was more concerned with getting sand into her combat boots than harassing Adrienne any further, so the archaeologist just continued to work, trying to concentrate on continuing her ethnographic work this evening, when she felt a gentle tap at her shoulder.

"Don't kill him…" Cameron whispered into her ear. Frowning, Adrienne turned to face him.

"Was my expression that obvious?"

The colonel shrugged, "Probably not to him, but to me…"

Adrienne went to reply, looking around to see where the man in question was, or Vala for that matter, the former still dealing with an angry Rodney, the latter already off with Ronon by the tents.

"I'm not gonna kill him," she said with a sigh, "He's just…"

"Excited," Cameron finished, "And out of his mind since he clued into, well, you as more than a coffee errand girl."

Adrienne frowned again.

"Clever shug," she shot, kneeling to lock the sample truck to take it to the tents, "It just caught me off guard."

"Ya gotta admit though," Cam laughed, "For all of the time you two have had to play married, some when you could barely tolerate one another, it's kinda funny that it's real now…"

"Laugh it up colonel," Adrienne grumbled, "I am so happy that my relationship with Indy amuses you all…"

"It does," he chuckled, turning to walk over to where Daniel was still talking to Rodney.

Rolling her eyes, Adrienne looked down at her left hand, where her ring had been all week, a ring she had tucked safely into a small box in her dresser so she would not lose it. She sighed out, smiling at the line on her finger, peering back over at her future husband.

"Ya damn lucky I love ya cher," she muttered, "Because ya drive me crazy."

Daniel and Adrienne sat at the fire outside of the primary structure, clearly the home of Makua. They would be housed in the building immediately to the right, a guest house, the only guest house, one that was now being prepared like a damn shrine to matrimony, as their hosts felt the arrival of a couple was some sort of sign that this friendship was blessed. Normally, Adrienne would be annoyed, things like what was happening right now were the exact reason she had been concerned about their relationship going public. This time, however, it seemed to work in their favor, so Adrienne decided to contain her annoyance to see how this would all play out.

She just hoped that Daniel didn't decide to hold her hand or something.

"Again, Dr. Jackson, Dr. Rowan, we are most honored that your people have opened your ohana to our people," Makua began kindly.

"And we are honored that you have accepted our apology," Daniel began, "We did not intend to violate your customs. We've been…" he paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "We have been trying for a long time to find a way to protect our people, and our visitors to your planet…" Daniel paused again, realizing that he was admitting that Vala's team had infiltrated this planet long before this already precarious interaction.

"We are aware of those who visit our 'āina Dr. Jackson," Makua assured, "We may seem primitive to you, our connection to our world sustains us more than the technology of the gods, or of anyone else."

"So we are not your first visitors?" Adrienne asked, Makua shaking his head.

"No," Makua answered simply, "There have been many visitors through the Hōkū-Wai, and some that just come from the Makuahinelani, as your friends did."

Adrienne smiled, signing to Daniel quickly Star and Water, what they were clearly calling the Stargate. He nodded in understanding, glad and still surprised how much Hawaiian she actually knew.

"Vala," Daniel continued, "The leader of the team that came before, she was looking for a God, named Anubis."

Makua nodded, "The 'Īlio, we have heard of him."

"You have?" Adrienne asked confused, "Have you spoken with him? His people?"

Makua shook his head.

"As I said before, we are primitive in the eyes of many," the chief replied, "and are often passed by."

"You're far from primitive," the cajun spoke without thinking, "You're perfect," she looked around and sighed, "This is perfect."

Makua smiled, "Thank you Dr. Rowan, we are honored you think so."

Not wanting to push their luck, but also wanting to complete their mission, Daniel took a deep breath before continuing.

"The limu, Makua," the archaeologist resumed, "contains a substance that Anubis may use, if we were to find it. If we are correct, we can use it to not only protect ourselves from him, but we could offer protection to your world to ensure that he continues to be blind to the value of your beautiful world."

"The limu is sacred," Makua countered, "It is only to be used to summon the aumakua and judge whether it is time for the 'uhane to join the makuahine or whether the 'uhane remain with the kino."

"How do you summon the aumakua?" Adrienne asked, iPad out and ready to take notes.

"When the kino of a kama'āina succumbs to the end of ola, we must ascertain as to whether it is the correct time or not. There is an 'aha'aina to determine whether the time has come," the leader began to explain.

"And the limu?" Daniel questioned.

"The alaka'i kahuna administers the limu during the 'aha'aina and we wait for a sign from the makuahine," he explained, Adrienne looking at Daniel before speaking again.

"How is this administered?"

"Through the waha," Makua said, pointing to his open mouth so Adrienne did not have to translate, "It is made into a wai wai and placed into the waha."

"Reanimation smoothies," the cajun said laughing out, "They've developed their own form of a concentrated adrenaline shot…"

Makua looked confused for a moment, Daniel preparing to explain.

"We have similar compounds in our homeworld, not necessarily given during ceremonies, but we are familiar with this practice."

"Then you understand why we hold the limu sacred?" Makua asked, his eyes darting between the two archaeologists.

"To an extent," Daniel replied with honesty, "It is mainly used in hospitals, in places of healing, and only in some situations."

"I see…" Makua acknowledged, but there was concern on his face.

"But we hold it in equal regard," Adrienne added, "Our ways are just different."

Daniel looked over at her.

"We don't just give out adrenaline on the streets Indy," she noted, Daniel finally nodding in agreement.

"It is late," Makua declared, standing, "and I know that Dr. Rowan requested to attend our Hi'uwai and," he looked at Adrienne, "if you would like any preparations prior."

"I would love to," she replied, "Thank you."

"Then I leave you two to retire," the chieftain added, and with that left through the curtained door of the guest quarters.

Daniel waited until he was truly gone before looking over at Adrienne.

"But we do…" he continued, "share with other doctors and hospitals…"

"Daniel, this is…"

"Different, I know, and this can't be a resource grab a la colonial Europe…" he started, his future wife just resting her head in her hands.

"You know that," she replied, "I know that, but the IOA won't care. There is no way that Rodney isn't gonna balk at that, especially given his own experience with Anubis now."

Daniel sighed, reaching down to remove his boots, a frown still on his face.

"And we've already seen what they do in the pursuit of Naquada," he added, "I mean, look at the Unas…" he flashed back to the rebuilding he had seen then doing in the recent weeks, and a memory of being trapped in their old home with nothing…

Peering over at him, Adrienne let out a soft breath, removing her boots as well.

"But this might be our chance," he continued, "I never, ever wanted to be that person, the one that goes and dictates the value of one society over another but I just can't let Anubis destroy everything…"

Tossing her boots and tac vest aside, Adrienne crawled to her knees, making her way over to him. She touched their foreheads, before giving in and leaning forward to kiss him. He kissed her in return before sitting back, his palm still resting on her arm.

"You'll figure it out," she assured him, "You always do."

Daniel laughed as he shut off the light, "You of all people know that's not true. But I appreciate the vote of confidence."

Shrugging, Adrienne stood, shucking her BDU pants to sleep, revealing running shorts underneath.

Why was she so beautiful?

"Always prepared," Daniel teased.

"I can't sleep in those damn BDUs," she argued, but Daniel just chuckled, crawling over to her, pushing her back on the pillow.

"Indy," Adrienne scolded, "What are you doing?"

"Screwing up again, apparently," he answered, rolling and leaning back beside her, "I just thought, this place, I have no idea, I'm sorry."

He felt movement, an arm at him, pulling it up and around her as she cuddled into his chest.

"No, it's ok, just stressed, and still feeling like Woolsey is gunning for us," she tried to assure him.

"You're probably right," Daniel admitted, "But I do think Vala has a point. Maybe if we get through this we could consider this for the wedding or the honeymoon…" he trailed but Adrienne laughed as she lay across him.

"What?" he asked as she kissed him gently through his shirt.

"Can't we just enjoy being, I dunno, engaged for a while," she whispered into the darkness, "I'm not going anywhere…"

His stomach sank...

"Right," he agreed, "It's only been, what, a little over a week. Remember, I told you, I'm terrible at all of this."

Adrienne pushed herself up, peering down at him.

"No you're not cher," she said right before kissing him, "Not at all."

He didn't respond as she cuddled back down into him, getting in the position that they normally slept in, and, as expected, Adrienne was asleep in mere moments.

Not tired, Daniel lay there in the dark, holding her, his anxiety getting the best of him. They just had to determine if this enzyme did what Rodney thought it would, and if not protect this planet at all costs and keep it out of the hands of Anubis. There was so much at stake, Earth, the Milky Way and selfishly, Adrienne. He glanced down, watching her sleep, the person he loved more than he had ever loved someone else before, his other.

Who was going to be his wife, his forever…

Or so he hoped.

I'm a Rowan...not a Jackson…

...my life didn't just become a wedding...

Can't we just enjoy being...engaged for a while…

He lay there, worried, not only about protecting everything he loved from Anubis, but also that he had pushed Adrienne into something she really didn't want, until he passed out from exhaustion.

When Daniel awoke the next morning, Adrienne was gone, as he expected. Her larger backpack was still shoved into the corner, but what she called her "Anthro Kit" was gone, and he was certain he would run into her at the early morning ceremony, which given that it was still dark he had luckily not missed. He sat up, stretching, reaching for his glasses and taking a quick glance at his analog watch to see what time it was.

7:15 local time.

Daniel frowned.

If he was remembering their pre-mission information correctly, the sun should have started coming up at least 45 minutes ago if not before.

Was there bad weather?

He crawled from their pallet and over to his boots, slipping them on and trying to get ready to go and see what was going on when Adrienne came tearing back into the tent.

"Cher, thank gawd ya up!" she shouted, too loud for him having just woken up, "We got a problem. Big problem."

"Ad, I was just coming to look for you," he answered, lacing up his boots quickly, "What's wrong? It's still dark, is there a storm coming?"

"Not the kind you're thinkin'," she replied, "But we gotta get down to the encampment the team made fast."

He raced to his feet, looking around at their things but Adrienne was shaking her head.

"No attack, it's not Anubis, we're fine," she read his mind, reaching out his hand to pull him along, "Well sorta. The Kahuni wanna sacrifice Rodney, Val and Dex."

"Wait what?"

Adrienne pulled his hand more forcefully, "Move cher, I'll explain on the way."

Taking another glance before deciding to leave everything behind, Daniel followed, Adrienne already breaking out into a jog.

"So, to answer your first question, Rodney, Vala and Dex broke the Kapu laws by trying to harvest that Limu…"

"Yeah, we dealt with that yesterday," he replied as he tried to keep up, "Don't tell me Rodney decided a midnight harvest was his next course of action?"

Adrienne shook her head.

"No, shockingly he behaved," she answered, reaching again to pull him along faster.

"Ok so why do they want to sacrifice them? Makua seemed alright with our explanation..."

"Makua was," Adrienne continued, "Until the sun decided to not make an appearance."

Daniel stopped in his tracks.

"Ja-wer, what do you mean the sun decided not to make an appearance?"

"Daniel, have you checked your watch? The sun should have begun to rise over thirty minutes ago and do you SEE any sun?" she shouted, waving her hands above her.

"Adrienne, the sun just doesn't not rise some days," Daniel noted, "That's not how it works."

"Thanks Dr. Astrophysicist Jackson for that knowledge bomb," she sniped back, "Please educate me more on how day, night and planetary rotation works."

He made a face, not at the words, but the tone she gave him, one she hadn't in a long time.

"As I was trying to say," the cajun continued, "While I am sure there is a completely logical scientific explanation for this that I am just hoping is not Anubis related, our hosts have instead decided that their gods are angry at them for our little harvest yesterday and are now trying to figure out how to appease them!"

"Ok," Daniel said, pushing Adrienne back toward the encampment, "We'll just go and explain that to them. Makua seemed very reasonable."

"Daniel," Adrienne said with a sigh, "How much Star Trek did you watch as a kid?"

"Some," he answered, "why?"

"Ever heard of the Prime Directive?"

Daniel made a face, "Ad, we discussed this ages ago when you were hired. In a typical anthropological scenario, yes, but Ra and the rest of the Goa'uld kinda took that option off the table a long time ago."

"Right, no I know, and I get it, but think about exactly how many misunderstandings like this have occurred since you guys brought those bibettes down?"

"Are you forgetting the reason we're here," he heard his voice raising, what was she talking about, why was she acting like he was an idiot, what was going on, "You know the System Lord that wants to MURDER me and everyone else around us for god knows what he's after."

"How in da hell could I forget!?" she shot back, "My every fuckin' waking moment is worrying about you!"

"GUYS!?" a voice interrupted their argument, Cam racing in their direction, "What in the hell is going on with you two?"

Embarrassed in front of Cameron, again, Daniel took a breath, avoiding eye contact with Adrienne for the moment.

"We're fine, it's just…" he started, selecting his words carefully, "Nothing. What's the situation?"

"Not sure what Addy's already told you but Rodney's little party yesterday has started some brouhaha and the high priests are claiming that the sun is not gonna rise because of it…"

"She said," Daniel agreed, "But Makua? He seems to be on our side?"

Cameron shrugged, "For now, but the longer we don't have sun the harder it is for him to argue against whatever their laws are called…"

"Kapu," Adrienne continued, "They use the same word as the ancient Hawaiians, Kapu. It's a list of does and don'ts, and depending on the society can get pretty granular."

"Let me talk to Makua," Daniel suggested, "See if I can at least keep him on our side."

"Good luck," Cameron sighed out, "Because he doesn't seem like he wants to listen any more…"

Nodding, Daniel peered back at Adrienne to see if she was following, wondering what exactly was going on with her…

"Go ahead shug," she urged, "I'll catch up."

Daniel frowned, "Are you sure?"

She shook her head in the affirmative.

"You're mission lead cher, it's better coming from you," she assured, her fiancé still pausing. It looked as if he was going to answer, but then didn't, turning to jog back to the encampment.

"You guys ok?" Cam asked the moment Daniel was out of earshot, "Aren't you supposed to be in engagement bliss?"

Adrienne shrugged, "I guess so."

Concern swept over Cameron's face, the colonel stepping forward and reaching for her shoulder.

"Addy, are you having second thoughts?"

Adrienne, however, shook her head quickly.

"No, no, not at all," she said with a soft smile, "As much as all of you find it hard to believe, I love that big awkward genius with every fiber of my being."

"Then what's going on?"

"The fact I'm an engaged woman in a society founded by religious wackos that were kicked out of every other country in the world and as a result of their massive influence on our pathetic belief system my entire existence is now being condensed to being Daniel's future wife."

"Oh," Cameron said in reply, "That."

Adrienne sighed out, pointing in the direction of their current dilemma, continuing, "Case in point, here we are, discussing Indy and I's gawd damn relationship when there's an entire village that wants to kill Rodney, Vala and Ronon."

"Then you didn't hang back to talk to me?" Cameron asked, confused.

"UGGGHHHHH," Adrienne groaned out, facepalming, "NO I hung back so Daniel can play Daniel and I can stand out 'ere a bit longer and try to figuya out wha is goin' on. I hung back because DANIEL is in charge, NAH ME!"

"Jesus Addy," Cameron responded, "Sorry, I was just worried."

She looked like she was going to snap at him but instead she took a breath, composing herself.

"Cam, go help Indy, please," she shrugged him away, pointing ahead as she turned to head back to the village.

"Where are you going?" he asked, now even more confused.

"Ta get my gawd damn research," she shot, turning to jog back to the village, trying to contain her growing frustration with every element of her current situation.

"It's a polar night!" Rodney was screaming when Daniel arrived, "The prelims on this planet show that it had the same axial tilt as Earth and we just must have gotten here right at the onset of a polar night cycle."

"Rodney," Daniel said as he shook his head, "Doesn't polar imply a climate that is significantly different than this one?"

"Not when the planet orbits the sun at this distance," the scientist argued, reaching for his tablet but realizing that his arms were bound, "And if our hosts would untie me, I could show you…"

"You have broken kapu and you must be sacrificed to the Gods," one of the Kahuni answered, Rodney shaking his head again.

"Didn't Daniel go over this with your chief or whatever?" Rodney spat, "We defeated the gods and all that shit. There aren't any more Gods, hell, for all you know we're the Gods now…"

"Rodney," Daniel interrupted, "This is not the time and we are NOT Gods."

"No, we're not Gods okay, fine, whatever," Rodney spat, "The point is there that there are no Gods, there's nobody, there's nothing out there and this is just a natural phenomenon of your planet tilting too close or too far away from your sun and without more information I can't tell you all how long it will last until you let me have my goddamn tablet."

Daniel sighed as Vala and Ronon, who were bound beside him, rolled their eyes.

How in the hell did they take Ronon down? Daniel thought, but focused instead of ensuring that Rodney did not further exacerbate the situation.

"He continues to speak against the gods after taking the Limu," the tallest of the Kahuna gathered continued, "And your actions have brought shame to Hine-nui-te-pō so she had made all of this her domain."

"How many times do I have to tell you!?" Rodney spat, "WE KILLED THE GODS!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP RODNEY!" Vala finally spat, "Shut up before I find a way out of these ropes just to choke you with them!"

Rodney went to open his mouth, but Daniel was already glaring at him to remain quiet. Huffing out, he hunched forward, remaining silent.

"The false gods you have defeated are not our Gods," Makua finally spoke, Daniel nodding in understanding.

"Yes Makua," he replied, "I recall from our discussions last night. But, I don't believe that this is a punishment for anything, there must be a logical explanation for this…"

Yet Makua was already shaking his head solemnly.

"The kapu is sacred and breaking the kapu is punishable by death but we chose to forgive your friends. But Hine-nui-te-pō is a vengeful goddess and has taken the Lalani from us and now we must beg her forgiveness."

Daniel frowned, understanding the gist of his explanation, but also lacking in knowledge of Polynesian culture that might give him a better argument other than, no, it's probably a polar night.

He needed his research, which was with Adrienne.

Wait, where was Adrienne!?

"Makua, please," he started, needing to talk to Adrienne as soon as possible, "Would you allow me the time to consult with Dr. Rowan and perhaps we can together, with your Kahuni, identify a path to forgiveness that does not involve the sacrifice of my colleagues?"

The taller of the Kahuni shot a glare at Makua, clearly angry that the imprisoned trio were still alive at all. The chief made eye contact and then looked to the second priest, before beginning to speak to both of them in what Daniel could only assume was some version of an ancient Hawaiian tongue. There was some clear tension, the taller priest speaking in a more harsh tone, but Makua remained calm and even through the exchange. Finally, the caramel skinned man turned to face Daniel, nodding in the affirmative.

"We have agreed to allow you some time to work with our priests on a solution," he conceded, "However, if a solution is not found soon, then we will have to make the appropriate offering to the Gods."

"Appropriate offering!" Rodney shouted, "I am NOT an offering."

"Thanks Rodney," Ronon responded, clearly annoyed, "Just forget Vala and I are in this too…"

"Thank you Makua," Daniel replied, "Thank you," he turned, reaching for that radio at his shoulder when Cameron came jogging up, Adrienne nowhere to be found.

"Where's Addy?" Daniel asked, concerned now given their current situation.

"Headed back to the village, something about the research on the culture to get us out of this?" Cam replied, Daniel nodding.

"Thank god that woman can read my mind," he answered, breaking out into a light run in the direction of the village.

Daniel ran into Adrienne, literally, as he entered the guest house, the cajun swearing at him and nearly dropping her iPad onto the ground.

"Damn tchew, slow down," she fussed, tightening her grip on the gadget and reaching to catch his shoulders.

"Please tell me you've found something?" he dove right in, not even apologizing and Adrienne let out a sigh of frustration, shaking her head.

"Yeah, but you're not gonna like it…"

"Try me," he answered. Shrugging, Adrienne cued up their mission notes on the iPad, gently tapping the "Related Mythos" tab.

"So... did anyone say anything about Hine-nui-te-pō?"

"Yeah, and that she's angry," he replied. Adrienne reached to rub her temples.

"Damn, I was hoping they would go Nightwalkers, but no, gotta be the vengeful vagina monster…"

"The what?"

Frowning, Adrienne turned to the iPad to face him.

"Ever heard of the demi-God Maui?"

Daniel shook his head in the negative, "Nope, only the vacation spot."

"Ok," Adrienne continued, "Think of Maui as the Loki of Polynesia. Anyway, in one of the tales, in order to bring immortality to all mankind, Maui tried to sneak into Hine-nui-te-pō, literally, she's also the goddess of death, conveniently, and she crushed him mid-entrance with her obsidian vagina teeth."

"Did you say vagina teeth?" he clarified.

"Yep."

"I have so many questions…"

"And I barely have answers, but for now, that is the goddess in question that we seem to be dealing with…"

"Ok but you know and I know that no one is trying to sneak into anyone and that vagina teeth certainly do not exist nor do they have any bearing on our current situation," Daniel continued, "So what does?"

"That colorful little tale cher was just to outline for you exactly how feared this particular goddess is," Adrienne added, flicking her finger again, "Nearly every tale of her through all societies within Earth Polynesian culture has her exacting revenge through gruesome killing or just snuffing out the sun for a while."

"Great…" Daniel sighed out, rubbing his temples, before looking up, "Do you have anything on there about the astrophysics?"

Adrienne nodded, "I have the complete file from Rodney and Intelligence, not that I can totally understand it. What are you looking for?"

"Rodney said something about a Polar Night and a closer than typical orbit around the sun…"

"Ok," she replied, those computer eyes of hers scanning, "This is literally theoretical astrophysics, I'm totally lost."

"Try?" he said with a shrug.

"It looks like this planet has a truly elliptical orbit, but not where their sun is centered in that ellipsis?"

"Which means…"

Adrienne looked up at his frowning.

"Something in Sam language?" she replied with a grimace.

"Alright, better Sam than Rodney anyway," he answered, squeezing the radio at his shoulder, "Hey Cam?"

"I read you Daniel, any luck?"

"Not so far, but I need you to gate back and get Sam."

There was static on the line for a moment.

"Rodney right about that Polar Night thing I'm guessing?"

There was commotion behind him, and shouting along the lines of "OF COURSE I'M RIGHT!"

"Daniel," Cam whispered into the radio, "Can I leave them here?"

"Yeah, Makua has assured me that he will give us time, but hurry," Daniel requested, "And bring her here…"

"Trusting you man," Cameron replied, ending the communication. Daniel peered over at Adrienne.

"Ok, Sam's coming, but we've gotta dive into your vagina monster…" he stated, Adrienne laughing lightly.

"Right, poor word choice," he replied, extending his hand for the iPad. Without question, Adrienne handed it over.

"What are we lookin' for cher?"

"If this is a polar night that means that eventually there will be day," he explained, flicking through their files, "And, if we don't want to violate the Prime Directive, we need a logical explanation as to why the sun isn't coming up that frees Vala, Ronon and Rodney."

"Can it just free Vala and Ronon?" Adrienne teased Daniel, chuckling.

"We would never get that lucky."

"Also thanks," Adrienne added, Daniel peering back at her confused.

"For what?"

"For listening, the Prime Directive thing and all," she said quietly, as her fiancé peered up at her, letting the iPad drop and taking her hand into his.

"Because you're right," he explained, "No civilization should have to abandon all that they have ever known just because we show up. There's a better way, Anubis or not, and we should work to be better."

She squeezed his hand.

"Back to work then," she declared, taking a seat on the pallet and reaching for the paper file in her bag.

"Back to work," he agreed, hopeful that Makua would keep his promise.

"I will always take great pleasure in being called in to get Rodney out of trouble…" Sam said as she strode up the hill happily in full SG gear, Cam to her left. Daniel waved as he saw their lanterns bouncing in the dark upon their approach, passing the iPad back to Adrienne.

"You're awfully chipper for three of our people being considered for human sacrifice…" Daniel noted as Sam shook her head.

"Cam briefed me and we have eyes on the entire situation," she explained as she pointed upward, "There's no dampener or anything so we can beam up the entire team if needed on my command."

"Then why are you here?" Daniel now asked as Sam smiled, Adrienne walking the iPad with the premlins over to her. She took it gratefully, opening the folder.

"Between a polar night on a tropical world and Vala's prelim photos, I wanted to come," she answered honestly, "Jack's gotten to have all of the fun lately. Besides, it's in our best interest to keep these folks on our allies list and off of Anubis's…"

Daniel nodded, having to agree. He stood there, letting Sam read for a moment, her eyes scanning the screen. She didn't speak for what seemed to be an eternity before quietly handing the iPad over to Adrienne before tapping her ear.

"Commander, can you send me the data from your scans to my personal device?"

Adrienne peered over at Daniel, a smile on her face.

"That's the cool, calm confidence of a woman that can blow up suns and I love it."

Daniel chuckled lightly, nodding in agreement.

There was a beep and Sam pulled a small device out of her pocket, the light from the screen illuminating her face which was furrowed in concentration. She read for a few more brief moments, Daniel wondering if he should say something, do something, when she finally peeked up, smiling.

"Rodney's right about the polar night," Sam agreed, "And what's fascinating is that this will happen just like this once every 13.4 years…"

"Then why was Makua ready to sacrifice our people?" Cam asked, "That man is old enough to remember that for sure…"

"Wait," Daniel said, shaking his head, "This happened thirteen years ago? About?"

"Yes, the last event should have been around November of 1999," Sam agreed, Daniel turning to Adrienne.

"Don't look at me cher, I was in college," she said with a shrug but Daniel shook his head, reaching for the iPad.

"This have old mission files on it?" he asked, Adrienne nodding.

"Mostly, this is me we're talking about," she handed it over, Daniel flicking away at the screen.

"November 99," he muttered, "Where were we in November of 99?"

"The Stragoth!" Sam exclaimed, "It's not gonna be in the files! It was wiped."

"The what?" Daniel asked as Cam and Adrienne, both having no idea of anything that happened in Stargate Command in 1999, remained quiet.

"Remember, dammit what was that planet code, they were able to mimic us, they took over the base?"

Daniel shook his head, frowning.

"Well, you were unconscious for most of that actually…" Sam noted, "They were mimetic, like I was saying and after the incident, I surmised that they were using that technology, coupled with the Stargates, to invade as many worlds as possible, maybe due to some sort of environmental catastrophe on their own world."

"No, no, I remember now," Daniel said, "But we dialed THEIR world, not the other way around. Didn't they impersonate one of the other teams?"

"They did," Sam agreed, "But we have very little information about them. You have to remember, Apophis was also solidifying his power, and for all we know they could have been shadowing him, getting addresses, and popping in after."

"Makua did say that there was contact with one of the "gods" but they didn't find anything of value so they left," Daniel confirmed, Adrienne shaking her head in confusion.

"Ok, I'm still trying to figure out why any of this matters…" the cajun spoke, tossing up her hands.

"Because Addy," Cam answered, "It explains that despite appearing to be primitive yet understanding what the gate does, why they're still thinking this polar night thing is bad, or punishment from their actual gods."

"Since the last time they experienced a polar night, chances are Apophis had just left…" Daniel started.

"...And the Stragoth came right in to take over…" Sam finished, "A failed attempt it seems as there were no signs on our scans of anything other than regular old transplanted human DNA, but I bet that if you go back 26 years there is another major event that was attributed to breaking their religious laws."

"And lemme guess," Adrienne added, "They probably sacrificed those copycat aliens to their gods and poof, the sun came back."

"Precisely," Sam agreed.

"So, based on that theory," Daniel continued, "All we have to do is get them to stay calm until the sun comes back and they will see it had nothing to do with Rodney's poor choices."

"In theory, yes," Sam answered.

"Ok, great," Cameron spoke again, "so any idea how long before the sun rises again."

Sam peered back down at the device, her eyes scanning before she drew her face into a frown.

"Based on my calculations…" she trailed, looking up again at the team, "anywhere from ten to twenty days."

Daniel dropped his head into his hands.

"I barely bought us enough time to get you here Sam," he explained, "I have no idea how we can convince the high priests to NOT kill them…"

"Wait," Adrienne spoke, "Remember what Makua said about ohana? He already said that you and I were some sign from the gods and Hine-nui-te-pō, well, the entire reason for her going off the rails was her husband betraying the sanctity of their marriage. If we tell them that Ronon and Vala are married as well that might at least make sacrificing them less appealing because it would incur Hine-nui-te-pō's wrath even worse…"

"Vala will kill you," Daniel noted, as Sam looked at the pair in confusion.

"I mean, she'd be alive TO kill me at least…" Adrienne countered, "And playing doesn't break anyone's confidence…"

"No, no," Cam interjected, "Am I gonna have to write a report?"

"How exactly were you two a sign from the Gods?" the general interrupted, still stuck on the first part of Adrienne's statement.

"Jackson told Makua Addy was his wife," Cameron answered, looking back at the archaeologists, "Come on, are they?"

"No," Daniel replied to Cameron, "Hence Vala killing Addy for opening her big cajun mouth."

"Daniel you did what?" Sam asked, shaking her head, "Why?"

"They were going out of their way to set up accommodations for me in limited space, so I told them Adrienne was my wife and not to bother," he answered plainly, quickly changing the subject, "Ok, so that might work for Ronon and Vala, but what about Rodney?"

Sam sighed, at both their next dilemma as well as Daniel's admission.

She'd worry about the latter later.

"Addy, what else do we know about Hine-nui-te-pō?" she now asked, Adrienne returning her face to the glow of the iPad.

"Like I said, became the goddess of death and the underworld after she found out her husband was lying to her and was really her dad. I know, gross and incesty. Maori legend claims that she is responsible for the red in the sky at dawn or dusk, kind of a reverse of the sailors' warning and more like a sign that she is pleased with the world for the time being. Let's see, she killed the demi-god Maui, the trickster of their lore by…"

"We can skip that part," Daniel noted, Adrienne nodding.

"Right," she continued, "Ok physically she is a giantess of course, bright red eyes, teeth made of volcanic glass and/or obsidian. She's muscular, strong, her pupils are jasper, and her hair is…"

Adrienne paused, sighing and looking back up at the group, "Seaweed. Her hair is seaweed. We took the hair of the damn goddess without permission…"

"How did we miss that?" Daniel asked, Adrienne shaking her head.

"We didn't cher. This was a purely intelligence mission, so we didn't do the standard anthropological prelims. Also, rememba, what we had didn't point toward any specific tropical culture on Earth, sort of a mishmash, which is the entire reason I came on this one, to do the ethnography."

"She's right," Sam agreed, "We don't need two archaeologists on something like this, but we did need one negotiator and one ethnographer…"

"So, we've been harvesting their damn hate goddess, that's great," Cameron sighed out, "And this polar night they think is the result of it could last almost three weeks and the only way to get two of our three ppeopple out is to act like we're some big damn squad of cute married couples? Well, for the record, I am NOT gonna act married to Rodney. No way I'd ever date someone that damn rude."

"Ad, is there anything else?" Daniel questioned yet again, "Anything?"

Adrienne shook her head, "I mean, I can lecture you on the neglect of Polynesia at the onset of post processual archaeology for just another set of white bias but…"

"No, ja-wer, I get it," Daniel relented, looking back at Sam, who was already reading her own device a second time.

"Adrienne," Sam addressed, still not looking up, "What was the part about the red at dawn or dusk?"

"Not a lot Sam," she answered, "Just that when either is red as opposed to another color, that the goddess is pleased and it is considered a good sign."

Nodding, Sam looked up smiling.

"Then no one needs to pretend to be married to anyone," she declared, "All we need to do is demonstrate that the goddess is pleased."

"How?" Daniel asked, as Sam pointed upward.

"By sending out a few old drones and activating the Horizon weapon in a targeted pattern at the precise time that dusk should occur."

"That would do it," Cameron agreed, "If mapped out right, the explosions would look like light on the horizon."

"That then goes back to dark," Daniel argued, "Which we don't know if that will be misinterpreted as another event, and then we lose access to everything here and possibly open it up for Anubis to come right on in."

"Not necessarily Indy," Adrienne spoke, "It's just gotta be the right sign and it won't matter. Darkness is her realm, and if we can make it look like she's pleased and that maybe this time in her realm is a blessing, they might throw the damn seaweed at us."

"Look for more signs Addy," Sam ordered, "Anything that can be considered a sign from the gods, a sign from this goddess anything."

"On it," Adrienne said, taking a seat right where they were and setting up her lantern as she dug through file folders, even producing a hardcover book from her backpack.

"Cam, you're with me," she added before looking back at Daniel, "And I'm looking to you to sell this Daniel, use what you and Addy find, speak with the chief and high priests and…" she sighed out, still not completely happy that he brought his personal life into a mission, why did his relationship with Adrienne make him act like a love-sick teenager, "leverage the family thing if you need to."

Daniel nodded, peering back at Adrienne as Sam and Cameron disappeared into the darkness. He started to tease, lighten the mood of their current situation and, after Sam's remark, call her Dr. Jackson when his stomach sank.

I'm a Rowan…

...not a Jackson…

Instead, not saying a word, he knelt beside her, intending on assisting.

"Indy," Adrienne said some time later, Daniel looking at his watch and wondering at what point the Kahuni would convince Makua to begin the sacrifices, "I just…"

He nodded, placing a hand gently onto her calf, "I know Ad. I can't either."

"I mean each and every one of their signs from the gods involves sun, daylight, the ocean…" she said, peering up sorrowfully, "I guess we're just gonna have to beam everyone out, disrupt an entire damn society and give another planet a reason to align with Anubis…"

"Then we go with what we have," Daniel said with a sigh, standing and reaching down for here hand, "We head back to the village, talk to Makua, signal Sam and try to work our Ohana into Hine-nui-te-pō's story and hope that we can salvage this."

She took his hand, sighing, "I guess this is why the Prime Directive only works on Star Trek?"

Daniel shrugged, "Probably, but that doesn't make it a bad idea."

Adrienne squeezed his hand before letting go, shouldering her pack.

"I guess so," she muttered, beginning to head the village.

"You really are so much like me, you know?" he teased, adjusting his own pack and vest and following, "It creeps me out sometimes."

Adrienne laughed lightly.

"And then you asked me to marry you, so, as Jack likes to point out...narcissism maybe?"

Daniel rolled his eyes, continuing back toward the campsite, where Makua's priests had already crafted what looked to be some sort of ceremonial area.

"It was a joke cher," she added, following.

"No, I know, I just…" he began when there was a loud clanging, sending both archaeologists racing to the sound, and their friends. Sand flew around their boots as they raced, and, much to their relief, the only noise audible upon their arrival was Rodney, cursing and swearing up a storm about being released. Daniel jogged ahead, trying to ascertain where their friends had been led now, hearing Vala ordering Rodney to shut up yet again, when he was met by Makua, deep concern on his face.

"Have you found a solution Dr. Jackson?" the man asked, as Adrienne came to a halt beside Daniel. The elder archaeologist sighed out, shaking his head.

"Unfortunately," he replied as he cut his eyes at Adrienne, lightly tilting his head upward, "We ask that you allow us more time to see if the gods send you some sort of sign."

Adrienne nodded, tapping her ear so that Sam would hear the conversation and know to at least prepare to get the light show started when she saw Makua bow his head lightly.

"And do you anticipate a sign from the gods soon?" he now asked, his words and tone making Daniel frown.

"Uh...maybe…" he didn't know what else to say, Makua's expression was so strange, knowing, and finally the old man smiled, looking behind him to ensure that they were alone.

"I was there," he explained, as he looked from one archaeologist to the other, "I was there many cycles ago when the Nahesa came, and he found our home, our people, to have no value to him…"

Confused, Daniel looked at Adrienne, who signed "snake" quickly.

"...shortly after, the sun disappeared and the huaka'i pō came…"

"The night marchers…" Adrienne translated, Makua nodding.

"Yes, that is what the Kahuni called them, but they were not, just as in the years prior, when my father was Ali'i, the night came. It was believed that we offended Tanē, and after two weeks of doing my duty as the son of the Ali'i, and ending the ola of my own people to regain the son, my father explained to me what it was to be the Ali'i and that was to preserve our way of life, at any cost."

"You know," Daniel replied, surprise in his voice, "You know that this is a natural phenomenon and you've been trying to mitigate the outcomes in a less brutal way than your father."

Makua nodded in agreement, "Our Honua, our world, as your friend with the black hair put it, is a paradise and it is my sworn duty to preserve that, to preserve all of that. Part of that preservation is to ensure that the core of our society, our beliefs are carried on, but, as well, ensuring that our practices improve and protect our people."

"And you know that the sun will return?" Adrienne clarified, Makua nodding.

"Yes, it always does," he continued, "And I likely will see one more neverending night before my son must carry on in my place."

"Then why not tell us?" Daniel asked, "Why let us run around frantically looking for a solution?"

"Prime directive Indy," Adrienne said with a smile, "They have their own Prime Directive, for self-preservation. If we find a solution, Makua can also attribute our solution to the gods and preserve the belief system."

"So again, I ask," Makua, "Do you anticipate a sign from the gods soon?"

Daniel looked over at Adrienne, smiling, "I guess call her?"

Nodding, Adrienne tapped her ear, "Sam, we're ready. Light it up."

Makua stood, so calm and so peaceful, his arms crossed over his tanned chest as he gazed upward. There was relative silence for an indeterminable amount of time, only the sound of waves crashing onto the shore and the light breeze blowing through the palms serving as a sort of white noise. Adrienne felt movement beside her and felt a hand slide into her, squeezing it and she gazed over at him, smiling softly. In an instant there was a loud pop above, and the trio looked up to see a flash of light and red race across the sky. Makua turned his head, looking at Daniel and Adrienne with a soft smile before walking toward the makeshift ceremonial area, shouting commands in his native tongue.

Out of earshot, Adrienne pulled Daniel's hand, still clasped in her own, turning him to face her.

"You know, there is a problem with the Prime Directive," she noted.

He didn't respond, just reached over to place both of his palms on each of her biceps.

"What's that?"

"It's just another form of colonialist thinking," she admitted, "Who are we to judge who is less evolved and what less evolved looks like? Real understanding of other societies, other worlds would respect their own choices in their own societies, not label them based on our biased opinions."

Daniel smiled, leaning in and kissing her forehead, before pulling away softly, "Yep."

"You knew that, didn't you," she asked, cutting her eyes at him, "Back when I kept bringing it up in the past."

He let go of her arms, "Maybe."

"I hate you," she laughed, hearing shouting and peering up to see Vala racing towards them.

"You two might want to go deal with Rodney because he's about to get himself thrown back into a cage or something!"

"You might wanna deal with that," Adrienne noted, Daniel shaking his head and peering at their advancing friend.

"I should have brought citrus," he said with a sigh, turned to head for the commotion, Vala pivoting as well to lead him to the disaster.

Adrienne smiled softly as she watched him head to do his job, this man that she had agreed to marry…

Dr. Rowan's my wife…

She flashed back to his admission to Makua, and how, upon that admission Daniel had suddenly become the one that Makua and Kahuni spoke with…

...and not her.

I have plenty of money in savings and I can take care of both of us.

It had been weeks since he had threatened to quit, and asked her to essentially run away with him.

And leave her career, her friends, her own life behind...

She loved him, she really did but…

"Addy!" Vala shouted, "Are you coming?"

"Yeah!" she replied, adjusting her pack and walking to join the group.

Makua had done more than just convince his priests that the red lights in the sky were a sign of forgiveness from the gods.

He convinced them they were a sign of friendship, or welcoming, and, as a result, should include a luau, complete with traditional costuming, grass skirts, shell jewelry and brights red and yellow feathers.

Adrienne was thrilled.

She was up as soon as the kahunas invited her, Daniel only surprised that she seemed to know the basic steps of the slow hula that they were beginning, and not that she was dancing. If there was music, Daniel was always certain that Adrienne would dance. He couldn't help but smile as she lifted up her hands, mimicking the arm movements of the other dancers, her smile contagious as it showed amongst the flicker of the torches.

"So…" Vala said as she took a seat beside her friend, "my people have scouted the perimeter and once we set up the cloaking system, Anubis will never find this place. When were you two planning on having the wedding, I can make sure that we cover you all for at least a week, here, maybe more, if you two can separate yourselves from work."

Ah, the wedding, Daniel thought to himself, the one thing Adrienne didn't seem to want to discuss.

He shrugged.

"We haven't really talked about it yet," he answered honestly.

"Well we have been busy," Vala continued, "and I think Carolyn is gonna make Addy do PT for a while on that arm, so what is Addy thinking on-world for the ceremony? Off? What time of year because that's gonna make a difference for a lot of things…"

"No, I mean, Vala, we haven't talked about it yet," Daniel answered, slowly, taking in a breath, "at all…"

"Oh…" Vala whispered, finally catching on.

Daniel shrugged, resting his arms on his legs.

"She said we should just enjoy being engaged, live for the moment or something," he said with a sigh, peering back up at her to see her smiling at him.

"Have you tried to talk about the future at all…" she continued, trailing to allow him a chance to answer. He sighed, looking ahead to where Adrienne was beginning to dance again with their hosts.

"A couple of times," he started, not getting into too much detail, "but it's soon. I mean, it's only been a little over a week, and it's not like our lives are simple or anything. Neither of us really takes much of a break from work…"

She sighed, reaching her hand over to his. Adrienne had been excited when she showed Vala the ring, telling her about the story, the proposal, but despite the Cajun's eagerness Vala was still worried based on the many many hours of girl talk between the two women. She remembered the first thing Adrienne had said when she decided not to go out with Ronon a second time, that Ronon wanted a wife and Adrienne wasn't interested in getting married, ever. In all of their conversations about Adrienne staying with Daniel, she had made it quite clear to her friend that Adrienne never wanted to be anyone's "little woman."

"I'm scared," he admitted quietly, "I'm terrified that she's feeling pushed into something that she doesn't really want and is just accepting it to make me happy."

"No," Vala said as she shook her head, "She wouldn't do that to you."

"I hope not," he muttered, picking his nails.

She squeezed his hand again, "Trust me."

He merely nodded in silence, his gaze back at the laughing, dancing woman on the stage, truly hoping that Vala was right.

"Anything Rodney?" Sam asked from the doorway of the lab, both Zalenka and McKay peeking up from their respective workstations.

"I was correct," he lauded himself, not surprisingly, "this sample of DMPA slows down the fatal reaction to some of the other toxins in the planet's environment, which is why they would have used it in their death ceremonies. Such a dose in contrast to various planetary poisons would look like reanimation, when it was really a chemical AED."

"And in terms of Anubis," Sam continued, walking to read his computer screen for herself as well.

"It might solve his longevity issue, not perfect by any means, but it certainly would allow for clones to last longer."

"Then, it's a good thing we got to it first," she concluded, "I'll contact the Hammond and let them know they need to continue their orbit."

"And I'd like to take my team back," Rodney noted, "With Radek and Jennifer. Take some more samples and talk to Makua about what he can remember from the last time it was used."

"Can you be nice?" she joked, Rodney frowning at her.

"Of course Samantha," he replied, "They are very amenable to our presence since you showed them the wrath of the gods."

"Uh huh," she responded with a slight smile, "Make sure that Teyla goes down to speak with Daniel and Addy and is briefed so we can avoid another situation."

"I don't need babysitting, but if that makes you feel better…"

Sam gave him a look, one that at least he respected from her, before taking another look at the screen. She read over what she could make out, astrophysics being her domain, but read enough to understand that they were truly one step ahead of Anubis, finally.

She had to hope this was the break they needed.

"Keep me posted," she directed, turning to leave and head back to her office.