Okay, you guys rock. The reviews have been awesome and the feedback has been great. I'm thinking this is going to be less of an adventure and more of a laidback cozy story. So snuggle up to the fire (if you're somewhere cold) or the air conditioner (if you're somewhere warm) and enjoy the story. Thanks!

They're nowhere near being mine and never will be. Well, except for Aeda. She's mine, through and through.

It should have come as no surprise to Jack O'Neill that his goddaughter and his archeologist would eventually butt heads and in truth, it didn't. He knew that, at some point, they'd disagree and the war would start. However, he didn't realize it would be two weeks into their tenure as man and assistant. If he had, he'd have hired the prepubescent boy the Joint Chiefs had originally offered him. Seriously, the man was twenty-three, greener than Kermit the Frog, and his voice cracked on every other syllable. It wasn't a hard choice.

It was a Thursday, and he and Teal'c were on their way to lunch – they always had lunch on Thursdays – when Jack had the genius idea of inviting Aeda and Daniel to come along. So they stopped into Daniel's office and were consequently just in time to watch Aeda tear a piece of paper into very tiny pieces and toss them up in the air.

"Don't you think you're being just a tad bit immature?" Daniel asked, his voice dripping with disdain and sarcasm as the snowfall of paper rained down upon him and the workbench.

Aeda smiled sweetly. "What? The theory was utter rubbish, you said so yourself."

Jack recognized the tone of voice as one Aeda's mother used – quite often, actually – when good old Belvedere was being a stubborn ass. Carolina Harrison could be a scary woman when crossed and it had become apparent over the years that her daughter had inherited that trait.

"Uh, so, what's new?" he asked, hoping to stop the war that was starting to build.

Neither occupants of the office garnered him a glance. Instead, they continued the battle.

"I didn't say it was rubbish. I said it was foolish." He arrogantly brushed a piece of paper off his shoulder.

Two rosy spots appeared on Aeda's cheeks. Bad news. Jack leaned over to Teal'c and whispered, "Ten on the tiny one." To his credit, Teal'c didn't offer a bet but instead smiled and watched the verbal sparring match with great interest.

"I'm a theorist, Doctor –" the emphasis she put on the word was harsh enough that even Teal'c flinched, his eyebrow raised. "So when you ask me to create a theory based on what you've given me, chances are I'm going to go with the most radical option simply because of the things you've put in front of me. If the theory's foolish, then it's the information that's ridiculous, not the outcome."

As though by a twist of fate, Sam chose that moment to join the melee. "What's going on?"

"Daniel called Aeda's theory foolish. She's a little…perturbed."

Sam glanced over his shoulder at the two combatants. "Aren't you going to do something?"

"I'm considering getting some popcorn," he said quietly.

Sam shook her head, but said nothing more.

"That information is not ridiculous. It's a six thousand year old text. I translated it myself."

"Maybe you translated it wrong."

"And just what would you know about the Ancient language?"

"Enough to know that this –" she pointed to a symbol that none of the onlookers could see – "means 'child of life' not 'child of god'."

To his credit, Daniel looked at the symbol. "Oh," he said. To Aeda's credit, she didn't gloat when he nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Well, then, I guess your theory isn't as foolish as I thought."

"That was somewhat unsatisfying," Jack said and immediately wished he hadn't because with the fight over, the two warriors were aware of their audience and neither one looked all that pleased that they'd been observed.

"Can we help you?" Daniel asked in a tone a little harsher than a general deserved.

Jack let it slide and smiled. "We're headed to lunch. Hungry?"

Aeda frowned. "Not really."

"Me either."

Jack shrugged. "Your loss." Teal'c and Sam turned away from the doorway and started the short walk down the hallway to the mess hall. Once he was sure they were out of earshot, he took a couple of steps into the office and said, very quietly but loud enough to be heard, "Either get along, or I'll drop you both on PX-823 and you can sort your differences out from a Hell Prison. Understand?"

It was a tone both of them were familiar with – it begged no arguments, no ifs, ands or buts, and was instead simply meant to be agreed with, though not verbally. Conscious of this, they both nodded and Jack's smiled returned.

"Good. Now don't forget to eat something. I know I'm always a little hungry after battle." He left the office with the sense that he'd just disciplined a pair of children.

Daniel waited until he was positive Jack was gone, then turned to Aeda. He took his glasses off and let them sit on a pile of papers between them. "I owe you an apology," he said.

She took her own glasses from her hair and set them next to his. "No, you don't. You've been doing this a whole lot longer than I have. I should have told you about the translation before working on the theory."

He stared at her with something akin to amazement. "Huh?" It wasn't intelligent, by any means, but it was about all he could manage.

She smiled slightly. "I hate being wrong. I hate being told that I'm wrong. It's why I don't get along with my colleagues at Harvard. It's why I'm on 'sabbatical' for the next year." The air quotes were almost enough to make him laugh. "I'm sorry I tore up the theory and threw it at you."

He blinked steadily for a minute or so and then, finally, came to the realization that he should say something – especially because she was beginning to look worried. "You threw it up in the air, actually. It really just…landed on me."

She looked at him, her head cocked to the side. "You're a wicked smart ass," she said.

"And you're more stubborn than the goat my parents let me keep track of when I was eight." He saw the puzzlement in her face and smiled. "I tied it to a post outside our villa in Thebes and it chewed through the rope and got inside. Then, every time I would try to pen it up, it would find a way inside. Stubborn."

"Are there serious mental side effects from Stargate travel?" she asked, only slightly serious.

He laughed. "It depends on who you use as an example. Take Jack for instance."

She laughed as well. "You lived in Thebes?"

He nodded and then a sudden realization hit him. They had shared the same space for two weeks and he knew almost nothing about her. Plus, he was fairly certain she knew next to nothing about him. Time to remedy that.

"What time is it?" he asked.

She glanced at her watch. "Quarter past one. Why?"

"We're going to take our lunch off-base." He stood and grabbed his glasses. "Come on."

She spread her hands out and indicated the workbench. "What about the translations and the theory?"

He shrugged. "They'll be here when we get back. Come on."

"If I lose my job…" Her voice trailed off as she picked up her glasses and set them back on top of her head.

He took her coat off the hook near the door and helped her into it. "You won't. Trust me."

She turned around and without really realizing he was doing it, he did the top button for her. She watched his fingers work the wooden button through the hole and then looked up at him. His mind shut down on him.

They were in closer proximity of each other than they ever had been. She smelled like cinnamon and some other spice that he couldn't name. His heart sped up a little and his fingers wouldn't let go of the button even when her fingers reached up and covered them.

"Lunch?" she asked, a hint of a smile playing at her lips.

He nodded, took a step back, and swallowed. "Right. Lunch. Let's go."

If he'd asked, he would have found out that Aeda's heart had sped up a little and that at that moment, Daniel had smelled like wood smoke and sage, a smell that reminded her of Boston. At that moment, he'd smelled like home.