A/N: Okay, thanks for the wonderful reviews! I was a little worried that I was losing some of you, but you've set my mind at ease. And, yes, I apologize profusely for the snail's pace of my updates. If only real life didn't keep getting in the way of my fanfiction habit, LOL! I'll try to do better, I promise!

Chapter 15

Daniel closed his eyes wearily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. What had seemed like a huge victory several days ago was now feeling more like a very big pain in his hindquarters. The Tok'ra were pushing even his diplomatic instincts to their absolute limits. Half the time, they were annoying and condescending without being aware of it – and the rest of the time, they meant to be annoying and condescending.

Glancing over at Teal'c, he suppressed a sympathetic wince. Daniel knew that if the Tok'ra were trying his patience, they must be slowly driving Teal'c toward madness. He had no idea how the warrior stayed so stoic in the face of such utter disrespect, but he was doing a marvelous job of appearing unbothered by their contempt. Either the Jaffa was a master at letting insults bounce off of him, or he was silently plotting a spectacular, disgruntled-postal-worker revenge scenario. At that moment, Daniel wasn't entirely sure which alternative he was hoping for.

Refocusing on the matter at hand, Daniel took a deep breath and tried to make his point. Again. For at least the forty-third time. "Anise, I understand the Tok'ra's concern for secrecy. And I assure you, we have no intention of letting the Goa'uld know that you had anything to do with this raid. But, obviously, they already know we're allies. It won't appear terribly odd if we have Tok'ra technology. In fact, I think it would look more odd if we didn't."

The coolly beautiful woman looked at Daniel with a passionless, unblinking stare. "While I tend to agree with you, I'm afraid the High Council does not. Telston is not very confident in your ability to smoothly execute your plan. He therefore fears that any aid we provide will end up in the hands of the Goa'uld."

Daniel clamped his teeth together so tightly that his jaw actually cracked. The fact that he shared Telston's opinion of their plan was beside the point. It was rude to have their shortcomings pointed out. In any event, SG-1 usually failed to carry out Plan A, sometimes dropped the ball on Plan B, and oftentimes wound up improvising Plans C, D, E, and F on the fly. It might not have been organized or efficient, but it hadn't failed them yet. Still, he hardly thought that pointing those facts out to Anise would greatly help the situation. Trying a different tack, Daniel mustered the last of his diplomacy and tried to smile warmly.

"Anise, I know Telston has his doubts. But surely, you must have someone on the High Council who will listen to your concerns." Suddenly, a reckless, crazy idea occurred to him. He had no clue if it would work, but he was just desperate enough to try it. Gazing deeply into her brown-green eyes, he put on his best 'sincere' face and spoke with soft conviction. "We're really counting on you, Anise. I'm not sure how we'll succeed unless you find a way to help us." His words were simple enough, but they were laced with an undertone of something decidedly dark and sensual. He knew that, at that moment, his blue eyes would appear wide, helpless, and appealing.

With that thought, Daniel suddenly felt like melting into the floor. He couldn't believe he was sinking to this level. He was actually playing on the hormones of a Tok'ra in order to help save his friends. This was truly a new low in his career – and that was saying something, given the many low points he'd endured through the years. More than that, he fervently hoped that Jack had been truthful in reporting Anise's attraction to him. He'd look really stupid if it turned out she didn't like him at all.

Amazingly, however, his pleas seemed to do the trick. Anise's eyes grew darker, and her face softened noticeably. "Indeed, Dr. Jackson, I will do what I can. We have another twenty-four hours before our scheduled departure. Perhaps I can garner some support during that time." Then, in a shockingly unexpected maneuver, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek before swiftly leaving the room.

As her shapely form disappeared through the doorway in the Tok'ra conference room where they'd been discussing business, Daniel felt his jaw drop in a mixture of disbelief and horror. Since their arrival on the Tok'ra base, he'd almost convinced himself that Jack had been pulling his leg about Anise's feelings. After all, she'd been mostly distant, and it wouldn't be beyond Jack's sense of humor to torment him in such a way. However, it now appeared his friend had been completely serious. Worse yet, Daniel had just knowingly encouraged the woman in a desperate attempt to get more help for the rescue mission. He suddenly felt a little ill.

"That, Daniel Jackson, was not a strategy I had been anticipating. However, it would appear that your novel approach met with a great deal more success than previous methods." Teal'c's deceptively mild voice was laced with a rare note of humor.

Daniel felt a hot flush creep into his cheeks. It was bad enough that he'd tried seducing a Tok'ra into helping them. It was much worse that this stoic Jaffa warrior had witnessed it. Certainly, Teal'c would never stoop to such low means of persuasion. "I can't believe I just did that," he muttered dismally.

Seeing his friend's obvious distress, Teal'c placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You were merely doing all you could to assist Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. A true warrior uses every weapon in his arsenal when confronted with an impasse."

I spite of those comforting words, Daniel grimaced slightly. "That may be true, but I have no idea what I'm going to do if she does manage to come up with more help for us." He couldn't suppress a small shudder of discomfort at the notion that perhaps he'd just traded sexual favors for influence in the High Council.

Teal'c inclined his head thoughtfully. "On the bright side, Daniel Jackson, she is rather physically attractive."

Eyes widening in shock at that comment, Daniel turned to his friend incredulously. For a moment, Teal'c regarded him with his trademark steady stare. Then, after several seconds, they both burst into raucous laughter at what could only be labeled as 'Jaffa humor.'

It was nearing sundown when Jack and Sam finished setting up camp for the night. They hadn't gotten as far as they'd originally planned, due to their, er, unplanned stop earlier in the day. However, Sam estimated that they were no more than an hour's walk from the edge of the blast zone. It had been nearly two weeks since the original eruption. Thanks to low winds and small but frequent evening rainstorms, there had been little evidence of forest fires and few signs of heavy mudflows. With a little luck, they'd be able to traverse the desolate ash-covered terrain with few problems.

As evening closed in, they worked together wordlessly, each performing the required tasks to prepare camp with an easy, familiar manner. After years of working together, their routine was second-nature. The fact that they now shared an intimately personal bond merely added to their warm, contented mood.

When the tent was erected and their sleeping bags were snugly zipped together, Sam settled next to Jack in front of the small, cheerful campfire. Gently resting her head on his shoulder, she sighed with satisfaction.

Jack gazed down at her and was unable to suppress an affectionate smile. "Happy?" he asked quietly.

She nodded and nestled closer to him. "Deliriously so," she replied. "But I am a little worried about what we're going to find tomorrow. We'll need to carry plenty of extra water. Given the heavy tephra emissions, we're unlikely to find any clear streams."

Jack blinked. "Sometimes, Sam, when I get lost in thoughts about your long legs and cute tushie, I forget how damn smart you are. Then, you go off and use a word like 'tephra' in ordinary conversation, and I'm reminded that you're pretty much a genius."

She chuckled. "Well, I must be somewhat intelligent," she said warmly. "I did, after all, decide to fall in love with you."

He rolled his eyes. "As sweet as that sounds, we both know you're full of crap. You certainly didn't choose to fall for me. And if you did, then you're definitely not as smart as I just gave you credit for."

Punching him lightly in the arm, she drew back and leveled a wry look at him. "I'll have you know that being with you is the best thing I've ever done," she said simply.

Jack smiled faintly, but a serious note remained in his voice. "Maybe," he said doubtfully, "but even you won't claim it's not complicated as hell."

She shrugged. "Nothing worth having is ever easy to get hold of, Jack." Then, pushing the somber tone from her words, she smiled brilliantly. "You think I have a cute tushie?"

Laughing in spite of himself, he hugged her tightly to his side. "Now, now, Major," he teased, "Don't go fishing for compliments."

Sam just smiled and settled against him. "I wasn't fishing," she said defensively. "I've just always wondered whether you were as aware of me as I was of you." She blushed as she continued. "There were times I thought I might actually lose control and jump you in the middle of a mission, especially if things were fairly boring."

Intrigued, Jack pulled back a little and looked at her closely. "Really? Like when?"

Certain that her face was now vividly red, she avoided meeting his gaze as she replied. "Remember that meteorological survey of P12-1003?"

He thought for a moment. "Was that the one where Daniel had me gathering samples of tree bark?"

Sam nodded. "He was using core samples to estimate annual rainfall."

Jack's expression grew slightly whimsical. "I do remember that mission. But I was so annoyed with having to climb all those stinking ladders that I don't remember having impure thoughts about you even once."

Sam laughed guiltily. "Do you remember who was holding the ladder?"

Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Samantha Carter! Don't tell me that the whole time we were working, you were staring at my behind?" He sounded almost scandalized by the thought.

She buried her face in her hands, clearly embarrassed by the conversation. "Gimme a break," she groaned. "I spent the better part of three days with my eyes a few inches away from your butt! Don't tell me you've never had missions like that!" she said pointedly.

Jack, laughing loudly at her revelation, pondered her statement and grinned. "Hell, yeah," he admitted proudly. "And my job requires far less thought than yours, which leaves me a lot of time for having impure thoughts."

Sam dropped her hands from her face and gaped at him. "How much time?" she asked faintly.

He wiggled his eyebrows at her in a decidedly naughty fashion. "Let's just say that I know the position of every patch, flaw, and rip on all twelve sets of your BDUs."

Eyes wide, she looked truly astounded by his admission. "Are you serious?"

He nodded, not looking even remotely contrite. "Yup. And, by the way, I'm betting I've come much closer to losing control on a mission than you ever have. Remember the swamp planet?"

Sam's brow wrinkled. "P2W-764? The one with all those disgusting leech-like organisms?"

"That's the one," he said immediately. "Remember how you got one of those suckers stuck to your thigh?"

She grimaced in recollection. "Do I ever. It was incredibly disgusting."

Jack nodded sympathetically, but never lost the roguish gleam in his eye. "After Teal'c helped you get rid of the nasty little booger, do you remember what happened?"

Sam frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not… Wait!" Suddenly her head jerked up. "While I was having that awful worm pulled off my leg, my pants mysteriously managed to fall into a puddle. I had to sit under a microscopically small towel for the better part of two hours while they dried!" Seeing the wicked cast to his features, she leveled a finger at him in condemnation. "You did that? You dropped my pants into the swamp just to make me run around half-naked for a few hours?" She sounded absolutely appalled.

Jack was shaking with laughter. Trying to sound contrite, but failing miserably, he just shook his head. "That was our third mission in a week," he explained mirthfully. "Not only that, I kept getting stuck having to bed down in your tent. I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought Daniel and Teal'c were trying to lock me away with you. Anyway, I'd been cooped up with you and those long legs for the better part of five days, and it all just got to be too much. I knew if I didn't have a chance to really ogle you, I'd end up completely losing it and would probably wind up kissing you senseless in the middle of our next briefing with Hammond. It was a survival instinct, I swear."

Sam continued to glare at him, but there was no real anger in her eyes. "Oh, you're in trouble now, Colonel." Without warning, she turned and launched herself on top of him. Since he wasn't putting up much of a fight, it didn't take much effort to get him pinned to the ground. "I sat on cold, squishy mud all afternoon because I was afraid of showing everyone my undies," she muttered accusingly.

He chuckled. "I don't know how to tell you this, Sam, but we all saw your undies." Grinning mischievously, he relished the blush that crept up her neck. "Pink hip-huggers with grey elastic trim."

"Oh, you–" Whatever expletive had been about to emerge from her mouth was suddenly cut off as Jack roughly pulled her lips down to his. After a few moments, she found she'd completely lost track of her indignant thoughts.

Jack pulled away slightly and examined the soft, passion-filled look on her face. "Am I forgiven?" he asked gruffly.

Eyes dark with emotion, she nodded solemnly. "Of course you're forgiven," she whispered. Then, just as she leaned down for another heartfelt kiss, she murmured, "Besides, it makes me feel better about what I did on P3X-595…"