AN: The story will be humorous at some point, but before that I need to show the current feelings a bit better, to make it even more awkward later. Bear with me, it won't be all about feelings the whole time :) I should get to the 'action' soon now. And Sam's issues with Pete won't be the center of the story either. Also on a completely random note, in the search for a name for something, I wound up at the imdb site with pictures of the actor that plays Paul Davis on the show, which just made me laugh out loud. Did anyone ever see those? He doesn't look bad, it's just such a contrast to the neat Davis character. :)

Chapter 4 - Chicken Chow : Daniel's POV

After walking for almost 4 hours I was starting to feel really tired. And apparently my dosage of allergy medication needed to go up, because I had been sneezing most of the way, which only added to the growing exhaustion. Not to mention that if I wouldn't have some coffee soon, someone would end up hurt. The planet was….well...green, much to Jack's dismay. Although in reality we all knew he actually loved it. The path we'd been following was small, We couldn't walk side by side for most of the time. But about an hour ago it had gotten a bit wider. Along the sides of the path we'd cross a small clearing on the side every half an hour or so. They were probably made intentionally I realized, for the pilgrims to pause when the route was still used. Since we were used after so many years to walk long distances, we didn't really need to pause often. But the planet luckily had about as many hours in a day as Earth, and as it was a little later on this planet then on earth it was getting quite dark here. We we're just at a clearing, and I really wasn't up to walking another half an hour for the next one. I was about to suggest to Jack to call it a day and set up camp, when Teal'c did exactly that.

"O'Neill, I don't think it is wise to continue at this point. This appears to be a suitable place for camp."

"Sir, we still do need to set up camp, and if we go further it'll be to dark before we can."

Instead of adding to it I decided my I-need-coffee-now glare would probably do a better job at convincing him. He nodded and motioned for us to start setting up camp.

"Teal'c, we scan the area. Carter and Daniel, you set up camp. We'll be back in 15."

I looked at Sam. She'd looked pre-occupied for most of the trip. She glanced up from unpacking and gave me a lop-side grin.

"What's up Sam?"

"That obvious huh?"

"Well, unless you're blind and deaf, yes. That obvious."

"It's just...something doesn't sit right with me. I have a bad feeling about this. I mean, it can't be a good sign to forget he's coming over right..?"

What the..?

"Shouldn't I be unable to wait until he's here, instead of actually forgetting about it and then being annoyed at having to leave him a message at all?"

Ah. The Pete issue. I tried to smile reassuringly.

"Errr...Sam, it's probably just be some pre-wedding nerves. You have a lot on your mind, you know saving the galaxy and all, of course you're going to forget a few other important...things. I wouldn't worry about it to much. I'm sure he understands."

In reality, I really didn't want to talk about it. I thought she was making a big mistake, along with everyone else. But it wasn't my place to tell her that. I should just be there for her along the way, bad and good. If she was really happy, which I highly doubted, then she definitely deserved as much. It just pained me to see what she was missing out on with Jack, and to see Jack miserable by her decision. But I wasn't going to stop being her friend...or semi-brother more like it, because of it. And I didn't want her distracted because of Pete during this mission. I just wanted to enjoy the old team being together, like it used to be. She looked up at me, and visibly relaxed a bit. She didn't however, look convinced.

"Yeah...that must be it."

I wasn't sure what else to say now. I wanted to make light of the situation, but that was more Jack's department. Luckily, right now he had impeccable timing.

"Lucy I'm hooome! What no dinner on the table?"

"I decided coffee was a priority over dinner Jack."

"You've got to be kidding me. So what is for dinner now anyway: Mac and cheese that tastes like chicken or spaghetti that tastes like chicken?"

Either he hadn't noticed the slightly tense atmosphere he walked into or was intentionally ignoring it. Either way, it helped, because Sam seemed to have momentarily forgotten what she was worrying about. Smiling at Jack's greeting and actually giggling at his stab at the 'fine' cuisine we brought with us, we all seemed to be falling into our old routines. Teal'c immediately had started helping Sam with the tents, and seeing as I was actually preparing something that had to pass for dinner, Jack had apparently decided he would be of no further use for either of the tasks, and plopped down by the fire. The rest of the evening seemed to go like it did in the old days. We talked mostly. Jack annoying me, still on about that tablet I broke. Teal'c throwing in a unexpected joke of his own on occasion. He was really getting the humor thing down pat, sometimes giving even Jack a run for his money. And Sam was thinking, probably about the device now. It really felt like a couple of years after starting to go through the gate, about right before that whole zay'tarc mess happened. Of course, back then we'd usually end up captured, turned into something, almost killed, actually killed and brought back. Actually...that part wasn't too different these days. How was it we always seemed to end up in trouble everywhere? Surely that wouldn't happen now though, this was as safe as any mission could possibly get.