The elevator doors opened on the Mess level and Daniel took the lead towards the commissary.

"Ah, the smell of burnt toast in the morning."

He glanced at his watch, which showed that it was nearly quarter to two in the morning. "Yup, morning. So we'll have even more of a wonderful variety of reconstituted and institutional foods to choose from," he told Shannon with a grin. She chuckled.

"Awesome."

Daniel made his way into the main cafeteria, which was nearly empty. He picked up a tray and handed it to Shannon before grabbing one for himself.

"See? What did I tell you? Meatloaf and Salisbury steak," he said. "Oh and look! Chicken nuggets." He peered more closely at the display. "At least I think they're chicken nuggets." Shannon took a look.

"Salisbury steak, I think." Daniel nodded. "On second thought," Shannon said, "how about fruit?"

"Fruit! Can't go wrong with fruit. There's a full salad bar over there," he pointed. "Actually, they've also got breakfast up, too. There's always one shift coming and going, so you can have them make an omelet for you just about any time of day or night."

Daniel picked up his tray and continued looking over his choices before deciding on meatloaf, green beans, and corn. Then he headed in the direction of the salad bar.

"The desserts, on the other hand, are pretty good just about any time of day or night," he commented while picking up a piece of apple pie and walking towards a table in a far corner.

"Is here okay?" he asked Shannon. Shannon set her tray down and smiled.

"It's great." She sighed and looked around, content for the first time in days. The interviews she been holding hadn't been going over very well and she was exhausted. She had a final meeting with Martouf and Lantash the following morning and she wasn't looking forward to dealing with another one of Ma'at's boys. Directing her attention to the man across the table, she asked, "So, what else can you tell me about yourself?"

"Other than the alphabet soup after my name? Doctorate this and that?" he replied, settling his napkin on his lap. "My parents were archeologists, so it's kind of in the blood. I spent a lot of time in the back yard pretending I was digging up dinosaurs and ancient Egyptian tombs." He thought a moment. "I love to play chess, as you've probably already figured. And hockey." He smiled at her. "Your turn."

Shannon shrugged lightly. "Where to start? I joined the CIA about 7 years ago. Cryptoanalysts are in high demand. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I ended up in weaponry. I really enjoy reading, as you saw, and ancient Egypt astounds me. So advanced and yet...."

"Have you ever been to Egypt?"

"Several times as a child and once or twice in my line of work," she said cryptically. "My grandparents lived in Saudi and we would go visit them during the summer. Side trips were common and Africa is a really a beautiful place. All OVER Africa." Daniel laughed.

"Okay, so maybe now I should ask -- what haven't you done, that you'd like to do?" he asked her.

Deadpan, she replied, "I've never been skydiving." She kept a mock serious look on her face.

Equally mock serious, Daniel said, "So, CIA, wants to jump out of airplanes into Africa. You wouldn't happen to be related to Lara Croft, would you?"

"No." She took a bite and swallowed. "Okay, funny guy, what's something that you've never done that you still want to do?" Unbidden, thoughts of Sha're came to Daniel.

"I'd rescue my wife."

Shannon's eyes widened slightly, but she hid her shock and slipped into super spy mode.

"Is there some reason why you can't do that now? I'm sure with all the resources here…" She trailed off at his expression, a rock sitting firmly in her stomach. Daniel sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Right now, she doesn't want to be rescued. And she doesn't want to see me." He smiled at her sadly. "I guess you could say we're estranged."

But still married, Shannon thought.

"Can I ask what happened?" she pried, purposely keeping her voice as light as possible.

"Sha're was kidnapped and chosen to be a host for Apophis' Queen, Amonet. A Goa'uld. I searched for her everywhere. Every world we went to through the Gate, all I could think of was finding Sha're. Of freeing her from Amonet..." He paused. "Well, we found her. And Amonet is still there. Sleeping, mostly. But in control more often than note. And while she's there . . . Sha're won't see me. Won't let me visit. Talk to her. Touch her. You know. Estranged." Shannon reached out to touch his hand.

"I'm sorry. That has to be extremely difficult," she said softly.

"It hurts like hell. But I respect her decision. I don't like it, but I respect it." He covered her hand with his own and offered her a grateful smile. "Thank you. I'm sorry; this was supposed to be a nice little dinner. Not Dear Abby."

"That's okay. Sometimes it helps to talk." She stood. "I have an early meeting... and I'm sure you have to get back to Bes," she said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I should." Daniel was feeling even more sadness, afraid that he had already chased her away. "I'm glad you stopped by. It was a pleasure getting a chance to chat."

"The pleasure was all mine, Doctor Jackson," Shannon told him. "Maybe we can get together tomorrow, when it isn't so late." Daniel brightened.

"I'd like that very much. And it's Daniel."

"Okay, Daniel, call me Shannon." She became serious. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to stop by my... room."

Daniel nodded, giving her a boyish smile. "Alright, Shannon. And thanks, I'll keep that in mind. And if you need anything, well, I'm pretty easy to find."

Shannon nodded again and left. All the good ones are married or gay, she mused to herself.