Chapter 37 by Abbot & Natters

Sam's POV

I feel like I'm going to be sick any moment. I wish we didn't have to go back into the village again this afternoon. I can't stand the thought of them all pointing and whispering at me, before we go home at first light tomorrow.

Of course, the alternative is to stay in the camp, which is equally unacceptable. I can't stay in my tent without being tortured with the memory of… him. I stay out of my tent and Daniel looks at me like he's waiting for me to burst out crying. Teal'c glares at the Colonel. Janet offers her silent sympathetic looks, which make me want to scream. The Colonel is ignoring me, except to give the occasional order, while Janet's nurses are grinning smugly like they just won the lottery or something.

As we enter the village square, where the ceremonial tent was set up a few days ago, Olmas and Hugh hurry over to us. Olmas hugs me gently, and I'm torn between wanting to kill her for inviting us in the first place, and thanking her for giving me Jack O'Neill, however briefly.

"Sam, are you well?"

"I'm fine Olmas, thank you. All cured."

She smiles proudly. "Then much good has come from your participation in the ceremony. Perhaps you will even be blessed with Sparel."

"Sparel?" interrupts Janet softly, and I jump as she comes up beside us.

"The result of the ceremony in the majority of cases, Doctor Frasier. Only children born after the ceremony are called this. The probability of conception during the ceremony is extremely high. Your Doctor Jackson was most interested in the roots of the ceremony."

"Yes, that's my Daniel." She replies and I can hear the possessive pride in her voice, tinged with concern for me as she starts trying to turn the conversation away from the ceremony that has ruined my life. I listen with half an ear as they discuss Daniel and his interests.

Children? But we used protection, right? Didn't we?

Suddenly, I remember. Yes. He did. I wait for the feeling of relief to rush through me.

Nothing.

Except an image of a little girl with blue eyes and brown hair, dressed in blue with a baseball cap stating "Daddy's fishing buddy" perched on her head. A mischievous glint in her eye and a quick smile. She's playing with a yoyo.

Janet's giving me a concerned look now as she and Olmas discuss… something. I smile reassuringly and shake my head.

I automatically fall back on old habits, and check the position of the rest of my team. Teal'c holding fast, staying directly between the Colonel and myself, while Daniel has already started loosing himself in the Yamyrian culture. He's talking to a familiar woman.

She turns her head slightly towards me. Keja. The idiot from the ceremony. I feel a triumphant smile start to spread. 'He's all mine. And you can't have him.' But my glee soon turns into a lead weight in my stomach.

The woman laughs at something Daniel said and I catch Janet narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Ahh. I see Keja has found your Doctor Jackson again. Perhaps we should interrupt?" says Olmas. Young, she may be, but Olmas has an uncanny ability to sense where trouble is brewing. The three of us head over to Daniel and Keja.

Poor oblivious Daniel has no idea the effect he has on some women. And it's not like I can't see why they're so attracted to him, but it would be like kissing my brother. He's sweet and caring. There are days I wish I could have fallen for him instead… but then, he only has eyes for Janet anyway.

Daniel pauses in mid conversation and smiles warmly at Janet, before remembering his manners. "Keja. I'd like you to meet Dr. Janet Frasier. Janet, this is Keja."

"Good eve Dr. Janet."

"Good eve Keja. Please, call me Dr. Frasier."

"As you desire. Daniel was just explaining the origins of certain words to me. We are to discuss it further over nourishment."

"Oh really?" asks Janet with a mild glare in Daniel's direction. Looks like he's back in the dog house.

I decide to step in and save the day, as I got him into this in the first place. "Janet? Olmas and I have a few things to discuss. Why don't you go with Keja and Daniel?"

Daniel leaps on the idea at once. "Yes Janet? Please?" He's looking at her with those eyes again. I've never seen her turn him down when he uses that particular look.

She rolls her eyes. "Alright."

Hah! It's almost worth it to see Keja's reaction to Janet's acceptance.

SG-1 SG-1 SG-1

Janet's POV

This place isn't so bad. Keja's brought us to the Yamyrian equivalent of a country inn. The cosy fireplace is lit in the corner and we're enjoying a fruit juice that tastes like cranberries. I can feel the stress from the past few days start to leach from my bones as I relax beside Daniel. How can listening to Daniel talk to another woman be relaxing?

Because my spectacular man is rubbing small circles around and down my spine with one hand while he makes points to Keja with the other.

I was suspicious of the grasping devious tall woman the second I laid eyes on her, and hearing Olmas speak her name made me hate her on sight. How dare she mark my… boyfriend? I wrinkle my nose at that description. Partner? Yeah, that's a better word.

My partner. My lover.

I know each scar of every man and woman on base. But Daniel's body is like the Bayeux tapestry, a work of art that I discover something new about, every time I indulge myself in an exploration. The tiny healing appendix scar is a sensitive spot where the nerves are not fully regenerated, but give a tingly sensation that quickly drives him over the edge.

Has it really been five days since we shared a bed? I stifle a gasp as Daniel's hand slips under my t-shirt and massages my back under the cover of my BDU jacket. The things this man can do to me with these nimble fingers of his.

Daniel's POV

The local in is pretty nice. Comfortable furniture, local artistry on the wall. Fireplace, tapestries, a few locals around. Janet's sitting next to me, with two bowls of soup in front of us. Keja's off in space as I discuss the contrasts between her own society and the Japanese. Hell, Keja even got us these weird fruit drinks to go with the soup. They're good. Janet's been giving me a hard time lately about Keja being all over me.

So, we eat, and I'm still talking. I've moved onto the honor system developed in the Heian period, and how the Shinto/Buddhist co-mingling influeneced it. She's still nodding and smiling.I'm talking about the concept of giri, and Keja's smiling at me and nodding. Of all things, giri is interesting to her, a girl who never had any formal schooling, nor ever showed the slightest interest in the ruins. Something is wrong. Something is terribly, terribly...

Oh.

Janet's cuddling up to me. Her hand is in mine, fingers interlaced. What a change of heart. Well, that's fine. I guess having me so close yet so far has finally taken its toll. So, I start rubbing the skin of her back, hand under her shirt. She shudders. That's a great sensation. She does it when she... heh. I'm still talking, Keja's off in her own world.

I wonder how comfortable the beds upstairs are, because Janet's rubbing up against me something fierce.

SG-1 SG-1 SG-1

Keja's POV

These Earther's are a strange people. They allow their women to fight, dress them in men's clothing and do not permit them to be women.

This new female, Dr. Frasier, is as repressed as her blond friend. She keeps her hair restricted, wears men's clothing and does not claim her desired one.

She will benefit from the N'Tinevale I slipped in her drink, as Samantha did during the ceremony. They have no right to remain single and barren. Should the Sparel implant and grow, perhaps their men folk will be ordered to be honorable and stop all this foolishness.