*
*
"Jack, you're never going to believe this...."
Colonel O'Neill swiftly held up his hands, partially to defend himself from Daniel's enthusiastic advances, partly to shut him up. "Wait, let me guess, let me guess. They're *not* human. They were *never* brought to this planet by Goa'uld. They have senses that humans don't and that enables them to see people's auras? Am I close?"
Daniel's shoulders slumped. "Oh. I guess you know then." The notepad that he'd been waving in the air ever since he saw them approach dropped to his side. He kicked at the ground. "Well. That's just fine, then."
Taking pity on him, Sam gave his shoulder a squeeze before she headed straight for Teal'c, who almost psychically sensed her need and was brewing coffee for her. "Never mind, Daniel. Next time."
"Thanks, Teal'c," Sam murmured gratefully as her friend handed her a tin of coffee. She savoured the smell first - it had been a long and mentally exhausting day, after all - and then took a sip. "You know, Teal'c. I think you brew the best coffee."
"That's just great." Daniel threw his hands in the air and then threw the notepad in the general direction of his pack. "First you knock my translation skills. Now it's my coffee."
"Daniel, don't sulk," Colonel O'Neill entreated.
"I'm *not* sulking." He sighed, then smiled slightly. "Okay. I am. Just slightly. And Teal'c's coffee is, admittedly, better than mine."
Teal'c took this all with equanimity, smiling ever-so-slightly, as if he was much more mature than the humans.
Which, Sam thought, he probably was.
Suddenly filled with overwhelming affection for her friend, Sam leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "I do love you, Teal'c."
Not phased in the least, he bowed slightly. "Thank you, MajorCarter. If I may, I would return the regard."
"You certainly may."
Out of the corner of her eye, Sam clearly saw Colonel O'Neill mouth 'hormones' to Daniel. And Daniel nodding sagely in agreement. Giving him a dirty look, Sam went to sit down in the mouth of their tent and sip her coffee.
Clearly his throat, Daniel quickly same to sit next to her. "So, tell me all about it."
"It's amazing. Their people evolved on this world just like humans evolved on Earth. While they seem more primitive than us, they seem to know enough about anthropology to understand the evolution of their species. So while they're physically very similar to us, I would imagine that they use more of their brain then we do. That is, if their extra senses are located in their brains. Which isn't necessarily the case considering...."
"Ah! Carter! Let's leave it to the experts. I suggest we pack up and head on home, send out a few... alien specialists." He smiled as he said it. "Which I guess would be Fraiser."
Sam nodded in agreement and sipped her coffee. "God, this would make a great study opportunity. That is, if we can convince them to have CAT scans."
"Do you think that's likely?" Daniel asked. "The impression I got... it's not like they trusted us initially."
"They performed some ceremony on Carter, can't we just return the favour?"
She made a face. "It's not like it's the same. They genuinely thought they were trying to help me. Us," she corrected, grinning suddenly at him.
"Let's pack up. We're due back in a couple of hours. Let's give Hammond a heart attack and return early but still standing."
Sam jumped up only to find Colonel O'Neill raising his eyebrows at her. "What?" she demanded.
"Sit. Rest."
"I'm not sick," she protested defensively.
"Carter, I'm giving you the opportunity to get out of packing up the tent," he pointed out.
She blinked. Very rarely did her give anyone the opportunity to get out of chores. Except Daniel. And usually when he had food poisoning. "Okay. Gonna go sit."
"Atta girl."
She sat. She drank coffee. She made idle conversation with Daniel who was sneakily 'packing' up his pack very, very slowly right by Sam so he could share every single bit of information he had gleaned from the ruins. Colonel O'Neill kept shooting him death looks but Daniel was oblivious in way that only Daniel could be. Sam had a sort of sixth sense when it came to her CO; she always knew when he was looking at her. It made ignoring him very difficult.
On the way back, the Colonel and Teal'c walked behind Sam and Daniel, keeping an eye out while the two scientists chatted. Sam passed over the notes she had made in his notebook during the meeting with Oolah and Edin, explaining the significance of the drawings they had used to communicate.
Daniel flicked to the last page and laughed. "What's this?"
Blushing slightly, Sam tried to look as soldierly as possible. "Oh... I was drawing... well, that one's me."
"Yes, I can see that, Sam. And this one is Jack - nice hat. And this one is... little Jack junior."
"Uh... Oolah drew that."
"And this one?" he continued, taking considerable delight from Sam's embarrassment. "This one's gotta be Sam junior. So.. a boy and a girl. What are you gonna call them?"
"Danielle and Murray," the Colonel called from behind.
"Danielle? You're gonna name the girl after me?" Daniel exclaimed, looking, at the same time, delighted and slightly unnerved.
"Murray?" Sam said, turning around to walk backwards in front of her CO. "I know you're kidding about Danielle but please tell me you're...."
"You're not even gonna name your daughter after me?"
Colonel O'Neill gave Daniel a withering look. "Daniel, would you shut up?" Then he turned back to Sam. "Yes, I was kidding about Murray."
Teal'c didn't look impressed. "Why would you wish to name your children after Daniel Jackson and myself?"
Sam rolled her eyes and left the Colonel to field that one.
"Seriously, Danielle? Would you really?"
"Daniel, our children are not going to be named after anyone we know." She couldn't believe she was having this conversation. This went way beyond the limits of normality. "Can we drop this now?"
"Oh. Okay."
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked suspiciously like he was mulling something over and she really hoped it had nothing to do with children's names.
Behind her, she could hear the Colonel explaining the reasons behind naming a child after a good friend or respected person. Teal'c seemed rather taken with the idea and Sam really hoped he wasn't getting any ideas. Danielle she could explain, Teal'c or whatever feminine form of the name they could come up with, she probably couldn't.
Thankfully, the Stargate came into view almost immediately and Sam breathed that sigh of relief she always did at the sight. No matter how well the mission went, it was always with relief that she returned home.
"Dial us up, Daniel," the Colonel said, fiddling with his watch and frowning. "You know, this has stopped working."
Sam held out her hand for it and he ripped it off his wrist to give her. She peered at the digital face and frowned too. "That's nearly impossible. These things are practically invincible."
"Check yours."
She did so, pulling the velcro off. "My God. Mine too."
Daniel paused mid-dial and checked his own. "Mine's working fine."
They all looked at Teal'c expectantly.
"You're not wearing yours again, are you?" Colonel O'Neill sighed.
"My sense of time is impeccable," Teal'c replied proudly. "I have no need for a time keeping device."
"That's not the... what?" he asked when Sam hissed at him to be quiet.
"They stopped at exactly the same time." She shoved her watch in front of his face.
He blinked at it. "Freaky."
"No, no, I mean... they stopped in that room. With Oolah and Edin."
This made him smile and, funnily enough, it warmed her from the top of her parting right down to her toes. "*Really* freaky."
*
'Is it just me, or is she bouncing in her seat?'
Sam glanced up from the Colonel O'Neill's pad of paper and checked on Janet who was excitedly gesturing with her hands. Surreptitiously sliding her notepad to rest on her lap, she wrote a reply in big letters.
'I'd call it jiggling'
He nodded minutely and turned his attention back to the meeting. For show, he reached out to pick up the copy of the file that Doctor Fraiser had passed around the table. Brain scans showed prominent differences between humans and the natives from P2Y 942 and this was, primarily, what had Janet so excited.
"... I mean, with this kind of brain structure, it's possible that they would be able to distinguish differences between people. What they call 'auras' could well be some kind of electro-chemical emission from every person that we, as humans, can't see. Judging from the brain waves, I would say they produce stronger emissions which could account for the watches of both Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter stopping."
Janet did a little excited jiggle in her chair again.
Her CO leaned over his pad again, scrawling another message for Sam.
'I agree: definite jiggling'
Sam tried not to smile, instead she looked firmly down at her own file and made an unnecessary notation in the margin.
"Colonel? Something you'd like to add?"
"Ah, yes. My suggestions for the research team, sir," Colonel O'Neill said smoothly, clearing his throat and acting as if he hadn't been caught out not paying attention.
"Go on."
"No women, sir."
"Colonel," Doctor Fraiser protested immediately, as did Sam.
"Sir, really, this is too good an opportunity for Doctor Fraiser and the other female scientists to miss," Sam continued.
Janet nodded, fervently agreeing with Sam. "Exactly, sir."
"Look, Doc. We had enough problems with Carter. The people on that planet will know the lot of you are on birth control." His faced turned a shade darker but he carried on regardless. "The impression I got was that, and Daniel will back me up on this, they view it as some kind of... sickness."
"I'm afraid I'd have to agree...." Daniel faltered a little bit as both women turned to glare at him. "I'm sorry, but I do. Not only the modern day people but some of the more... local descriptions in the ruins described the role of children, particular male children being extremely important in the culture. You saw how they reacted initially to you, Sam. Before you were... purged," he winced, "they couldn't trust us."
"Do we really want to put everyone through that?" Colonel O'Neill said, looking at both women appealingly.
"Major Carter can go back, then," Doctor Fraiser said, sighing deeply. She looked at Hammond. "Sir?"
"I'm afraid that's not possible, Doctor Fraiser. SGC regulations strictly prohibit any female officer from going off-world when she is not on some form of birth control. Technically, Major Carter was breaking that regulation on the mission."
Sensing a huge opportunity slipping from Sam's fingers, she hurried to butt in, "But, sir..."
"Sam," Hammond said, gently, using her name for deliberate emphasis, "that regulation is there for a reason. It is not a guideline, it is a rule and one I believe in. I'm sorry."
Sam's shoulders slumped. Great, she thought.
"We'll take a video recorder," Daniel said, trying to be helpful.
He was shot two very piercing glares from two very different pairs of eyes.
"And notes?" he added. "I make great notes."
Janet and Sam continued to glare.
"I'm gonna shut up now. Jack?"
Colonel O'Neill smiled slightly. "Perhaps once the site is as secure as we can get it, there will be more opportunities for women on the planet but until that time... it's a guys-only deal. I'm sorry."
Sam tried not to pout. It wasn't professional, after all.
It looked like Janet was having the same problem.
"If there's nothing else...?" Hammond raised his eyebrows, looking around the quiet table. "Fine. Dismissed." He rose and gestured to Teal'c, smiling slightly. "Teal'c, can I speak to you for a moment? It's about the new candles you ordered."
Teal'c walked off with General Hammond and Daniel, glancing at both Janet and Sam, slipped quickly out of the room.
"Well," Doctor Fraiser said, "this sucks."
Colonel O'Neill looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, Doc. If I could, I change the regs for you, but I'm with Hammond on this one." He looked at Sam significantly. "You both know why that rule's in the book."
"Doesn't mean it doesn't suck, though," Sam pointed out. She looked down at her hands and noticed for the first time since she'd come back through the gate that she'd yet to take off the ring.
Janet sighed deeply. "I guess I'll go and prep Dr Warner. And you know he's a terrible gate traveller."
"I'll see you at lunch, Janet."
"Good." The doctor picked up her files, looking resentfully out of the glass towards the gate. "I'll need to bitch." She swept out of the room.
Sam laughed a bit, still staring down at her hands.
"Sorry, Carter."
"It's okay. At least I got a chance. Just... you know," she said, hoping he did.
"I know." He nudged her knee with his own and smiled charmingly at her. "Can I sit next to you at lunch while you bitch with the Doc?"
"Sure. So long as you don't say anything in defence."
He took her left hand, ran his finger over the wedding band. "It's a deal."