"Have I mentioned just how much I hate swampy land?"

"More than once, O'Neill."

"Just checking."

Ian hid his grin, although he had decided he didn't like swampy land any more than Jack did. Because of the direction they'd decided to go to get back to camp before Daniel had called them, they were on the wrong side of the bog from the direction that both Jack (the dog) and Jaffer were telling them they needed to go. And neither dog was willing to go around. They didn't care about getting mud and ooze on their hides, and didn't seem to care that Jack, Teal'c and Ian were slipping and sliding their way through the crap that the dogs were slogging through happily.

The humans had stopped just long enough to tie the legs of their pants tightly around their boots, in case the water and muck came above their boots, and then had followed the dogs as well as they could, sometimes with only Jack's cheerful barking to tell them which direction they were supposed to be going.

"It could be worse," Ian said from the back of the group, where Jack had put him, telling him to walk where he and Teal'c walked.

Jack turned around, giving the cadet a scowl.

"Yeah? How?"

Just then Teal'c tripped over something unseen in the ankle deep muddy water and fell face first into it, just managing to catch himself before he lost his staff weapon and pack.

Jack stopped and offered him a hand up, but the Jaffa was already getting to his feet, looking at Ian and scowling.

"I recall Major O'Neill warning you to refrain from using that comment," he said in his deep gravelly voice – and looking ready to pop Ian for even thinking it.

"Sorry, Teal'c."

Jack smiled – a grin that immediately disappeared when Teal'c turned towards him – and looked Teal'c over.

"You okay?"

"Indeed."

"You look…"

"Messy," Ian finished.

Teal'c didn't scowl, but it was obvious he didn't find it nearly as amusing as the other two did. He gathered as much of his dignity as he could, and started walking again. And a moment later Ian tripped over the exact same thing under the water, and fell face first, nowhere near as quick when it came to catching himself.

"Mother fucker…"

He sputtered when he pulled his face out of the muck – which was luckily more water than mud, although it reeked, and he scowled at the look of amusement on Teal'c's face as he regained his feet, pulling his Glock out to make sure there wasn't water in the barrel. There was, which meant he was going to end up spending an hour cleaning the bastard that evening so it didn't rust.

"You alright?" Jack asked him as Teal'c reached over and rearranged his pack before it slid off over his head.

"Yeah. Just wetter than shit."

And wishing he'd tucked his shirt back in when Jack had pulled it out to look at his side, because now he was drenched, and he had that shit all over his skin. He hoped it was just regular mud with nothing in it.

Jack keyed his radio.

"Daniel?"

The response was immediate.

"Yes?"

"You haven't wandered off, have you?"

"No. I'm still sitting by the same tree…"

"And the same bog?"

"Yes."

"We'll be there shortly. Listen for Jack."

"Okay."

Jack looked at the sky. According to his watch it was early afternoon in Colorado, but here it was starting to get late, and the last thing he wanted was to wander through the swamp in the dark.

"Let's pick up the pace and see if we can't catch up with the dogs," he told Ian and Teal'c. "I want to get out of here…"

They didn't argue with that.

OOOOOOOO

Just like Jack had said, Daniel heard the barking long before he saw either dog. As soon as he heard the first barks, though, he knew which direction to look, and sure enough, less than five minutes later he was swarmed over by Jaffer and Jack – both of which were covered in mud and smelled terrible. And didn't seem to care at all that he didn't really want them all over him. Before Jack and the others appeared, Daniel was smeared with goo as well, a byproduct of the dogs rubbing all over him, eager for attention and praise for finding him.

But Daniel looked positively clean compared to the other three.

All three of them had taken falls eventually, and Ian and Jack more than Teal'c because of the Jaffa's superior reflexes. He'd managed to catch himself more often than not, and Ian was soaked to the skin and shivering, even though the day was still relatively balmy. Jack was just as wet, and scowling something fierce when they walked up to Daniel.

"What happened to you guys?" Daniel asked.

Jack didn't answer. He just walked past Daniel on the way towards the gate – which if memory served, and it usually did in these cases – was only an hour or so from where they were. And through solid ground.

Ian stopped long enough to wait for Daniel, since he hadn't been told he wasn't on rear guard still, and Daniel shook his head.

"You look terrible."

"Yeah… well…"

He felt like a drowned rat, so there wasn't much he could say to that.

Instead of walking ahead of him, Daniel fell into step beside him, but under the best of circumstances Ian wasn't big on small talk, and at the moment he was feeling just a little worse for wear. If this was how every mission went for SG-1, then he was glad he was only going to be on the team for a few months – maybe a little longer. He wasn't sure he could survive much more than that.

It was just a little over an hour later when the Stargate came into view, with the sun sinking in the sky to their right and the day getting almost chilly – especially in wet clothes, which were still damp even after an hour. Ian could have cheered when Teal'c started dialing.