Hiya, this is just a short little diddy I might go farther with... it was fun to write, at any rate! Please read and review, I'm open to suggestions/comments/help/flames, anything...

Disclaimer: Yeah, actually, I own Stargate. I keep SG-1 in a closet in my room. The base is my summer home, and the gate was given to me by my grandmother on my birthday. My precious...

))OoO((

The team stood clustered together just in front of the Stargate, listening to a sound more dangerous than Jaffa footfalls. Silence.

"It would seem that the wormhole has failed to engage." Teal'c stated.

"Uh, Carter...?" said Jack, turning to the confused looking scientist.

"I don't understand Sir, it was working an hour ago when we came through..." said Sam. She knelt down to take a look at the DHD. "I don't see any obvious signs of tampering, Sir." she reported.

"Other then the fact that it's... not working?" Daniel interjected. Jack made a sound half way between exasperation and amusement. He threw his hands up in the air and turned out towards the tree line, shaking his head.

This mission had been botched from the get-go; he knew he shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning. They were supposed to be taking samples of mineral deposits (a waste of time on its own) but somehow they had ended up lost in the never-ending wood of P3X-495. After wandering for hours they had finally stopped for lunch in a seemingly clear meadow; that had been a mistake. A swarm of wasp-like bugs had descended upon them and pursued them, stinging all the while, for almost a mile. As if that weren't enough, Daniel had been hassling him the entire time about some old thing the UAV had spotted on a fly-by. All Jack wanted was to get off this hot, humid, and weird planet. But it didn't look like that was going to happen any time soon.

"Can you fix it?" Jack said, looking up at the clear skies.

"It'll take me awhile, Sir. The crystals appear intact, but I'll need to take look around inside a bit more. It could have something to do with electron interference from the hydrogen ions in-"

"Carter," Jack snapped.

"Sir?"

"Just fix it." He stalked off towards the tree line, and shade. More heavy silence fallowed in his wake.

"Okay, what's up with Jack?" Daniel said slowly. The commander had been acting strangely during the entire mission. He scratched an insect sting on his wrist. Sam shrugged without looking up from the partly disassembled DHD, and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. SG-1 was no stranger to mind altering technology, and in their experience such things could be very troublesome. But for some reason Daniel's gut told him that was not the case. Jack had been edgy ever since departure, or even before that. Something was eating at the Colonel.

"I'll go... talk to him." Said Daniel. He shrugged off his pack and jogged after his CO, who was already halfway across the bare land surrounding the Stargate. Maybe it was just the heat that was getting to Jack.

Daniel caught up with him at the tree line, but he didn't say anything. Neither did Jack. In fact, Jack was standing perfectly still, not even breathing. He looked like a dog poised to hear the sound of the can opener.

"Jack?"

"Shhh." He answered. Daniel looked into the trees, but saw nothing.

"What-?"

Jack listened carefully, wondering if he had really seen what he thought he had. No way... Impossible... It had only been a flash, but still...

"Jack," Said Daniel, trying to get his attention. "What did you see?"

Jack considered whether or not he should tell the archeologist. Would he think he'd gone mad? Have I gone mad? He took off his sunglasses and rubbed his face.

"I thought... I saw..." Oh, this is going to sound so stupid- "an... elf."

Daniel couldn't help himself. His face split into a wide grin.

"An elf... as in, Santa, or Harry Potter?" He let out a breathy, false chuckle. Jack gave him a look that silenced him.

"No. I just saw... pointy ears... for a second..." He said defensively.

"Your not kidding," said Daniel.

"I know what I saw. Get back to the gate, no one is going back into these trees until we know exactly what that thing -things- are." Jack had reverted back into a military man. He pulled the P-90 out of the pack behind him and unclicked the safety.

"Jack-" Daniel protested, "Elves have always been portrayed as benevolent creatures in Earth mythology. If what you saw really was an Elf, I really don't think-"

"Daniel!" said Jack. "Get back to the gate now!" Daniel stopped talking abruptly and turned away from the commander, walking slowly towards the gate. Jack fallowed him wordlessly, scanning the forest behind them.

One thing's for sure, Daniel thought, something's definitely up with Jack.