Marik, Ishizu, Patrick, Seto, Mokuba, Bakura, Yugi, Sam, Jack, Daniel Teal'c

Credit for the "Marik-Seto" idea goes to my friend Elliora. I came up with Three Doors Down, she just helped me think of the first instance.

Sorry for all the confusion (i read through the last chap, not good...) To clear things up, Isis (the cat) belongs to Pat. Also, she is nothing special, she doesn't help them find a secret or do anything very special. She's just a cat. (Reminding myself as well.)

Ancient Discovery

Chapter 5 – Curiosity: It causes the death of a feline

Daniel was the last one on watch for the night. By morning he had nearly fallen asleep and was staring into an empty coffee mug. He barely noticed when the rest of the team woke up to relieve him of his duty. It wasn't until Jack jumped out from behind and scared him that he paid them any attention. He jumped up with a start, his coffee mug clattering to the ground. Jack laughed and slapped him on the back.

"You were meant to be on watch."

"I was watching! I just... I'm just a bit tired. Where is everyone?" Daniel asked, staring at the empty camp.

"We decided it would be in our best interests to wake before the rest of them. Now hurry up before all the coffee's gone!" Jack said before taking off towards the breakfast area. He held the small bag of Moccona© up in a teasing way.

This got his attention. Daniel jumped up and ran after him, as if he was in preschool again. When he caught up, he jumped in the air, trying to grab hold of the bag The surrounding teammembers just laughed. They knew better than to stand in the way of Daniel and coffee. He had just managed to grab it off Jack when they heard a scream coming from one of the tents.

They all turned around startled, putting their hands on their guns subconsiously. Jack was already aiming his in the direction of the yell. What they saw was enough to make anyone laugh until they had lost breath. Yugi ran out of his tent at top speed wearing only his boxers, a pair of white socks and his puzzle. He ran past the rest of the group and hid behind Patrick's tent.

Soon after Seto also emmerged from Yugi's tent, although he was fully dressed. They stared at him as he walked behind Pat's tent, grabbed Yugi by the collar and started dragging him away.

"What do you think that was about?" Asked Teal'c.

"I don't know. Whatever it was it was weird." Sam said. The rest of the group agreed with her.

"I'll try and find out what the matter was." Teal'c said, walking off. Daniel just shrugged and started making some coffee.

Teal'c first went to Yugi's tent. He could hear voices coming from inside, hushed so it was hard to make out. He thought he heard the words "three doors down" and "never again" but that was it. He waited until Seto had left before entering.

"Greetings." He said. Yugi just gave him a glare. "My friends and I were... worried about you. Is everything alright?"

"Fine." He said, finally speaking. "Nothing happened."

"Why did you scream?"

"I... I'm sorry, I can't say. He'd kill me."

"Did he harm you in any way?"

"Please, just drop the subject. You know what they say about curiosity..." he trailed off.

"It causes the death of a feline?"

"Well that's one way of putting it."

"I used to own one you know."

"What? A cat?"

"Yes. It was... a most interesting experience. O'Neill bought me one as a house warming gift. He said it's name was Schrodinger Two."

"That's an odd name."

"Samantha Carter once gave a friend of her's a cat named Schrodinger."

"Oh I see. What happened to it? You didn't test Schrodinger's theory did you?"

"No." Teal'c said, smiling. "It was most uncooperative. It would not eat any of the vegetables I gave it and often stole my chicken."

Yugi started laughing. "What did you do with him?"

"I gave it to an old lady who lived across the road from me. I assume it is behaving for her." Teal'c gave Yugi a nod. "Now that you are fine I will leave. Goodbye."

"Ok, see ya!" He called after him. Teal'c rejoined the rest of the team. Daniel was sipping on his third cup of coffee and was finally starting to resemble a human. Sam and Jack were arguing again, this time about whether Jack should call her "Sam" or "Carter". He was about to sit down with Daniel when he noticed someone else joining him. Instead he decided to continue watching the argument with Jack and Sam. After all, they had the most colourful conversations.

Daniel sat sipping on yet another cup of coffee. He felt just about ready to face the day when someone sat down beside him. It was Ishizu.

"Hello again." She said.

"Oh, it's you. Whatcha up to?"

"You looked lonely. The rest of your friends seem to be in another argument. Do they do this often?"

"Oh all the time. I don't think I've seen a day go by where Sam and Jack aren't at each other's throats. It quite interesting to watch."

"I'm sure there are more interesting things you can be doing. Don't you have a PhD in Archaeology?"

"Yeah, but that wont help me much. I was the coot who came up with the idea of the pyramids as alien landing pads."

Ishizu started laughing. "That was you?"

"Yeah, I know. I've grown up a lot since I thought that's what they were."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now I know they are."

Ishizu laughed again. "It's refreshing to talk to someone interested in normal things."

"Normal? I wouldn't go that far. My life is anything but normal. The things I've seen you probably wouldn't believe if I showed you pictures."

"I think I could say the same about my own life." She fiddled with her necklace.

"What is that? That Yugi kid has one similar."

"This?" She pointed to it. "This is my millenium necklace. It has been handed down through my family for thousands of years. It was created in ancient times."

"It's been in your family for that long? That's really fascinating!" He stared at her for a while.

"Come on Daniel, we better get moving." A voice called. He looked over to see Jack, Sam and Teal'c waiting for him. "Oh well, until next time." Picking up his gear he headed off to join the rest of the group.

Pat gathered the group around him as if they were sitting in an oversized pre-school playground. The grin he had on his face was that of a pre-schooler as well, so it fitted the mood. Once they had all stopped talking he pulled off his hat and gave them a look.

"Ok group, I have a confession to make. Today we will not be investigating the tomb. It's a relaxing day for you all to puchase souvineers for those loved ones I know you all have. Then, after lunch we're heading over to the great pyramids for a comlpete inside tour."

Most of the group groaned at this, they had been looking forward to exploring the tomb more. Daniel esspecially looked agitated. He had his sights set on filming more of the tomb. He'd thought he made a breakthrough with the refrences to Ra he'd managed to see. It was still making no sense to him and he wanted to know more.

"Don't worry gang! We're going to venture into the throne room tomorrow. I just figured you needed a break from being cooped up in a dark space." Pat went on, seeing the dissapointment in the group.

"I guess I won't be needing all of my equipment. Jack, Sam, just take it back to my tent." Daniel said. The rest of the team gave him a look.

"And why isn't T spared from your service oh great one?" Jack said sarcastically.

"Are you kidding, we're visiting the Great Pyramids! I'm gonna take some pictures."

Jack gave Daniel another look, one which said 'if I wasn't posing as a civilian you would be dead right now'. Daniel just shrugged and grinned. He was relishing the time he had to command Jack for a change.

The group filed out of the bus and looked around the street. It was a busy market place with stalls on every free patch of ground. Daniel was especially interested. Although he had been to Egypt before, he hadn't revisited for quite a few years. No matter how many alien worlds they explored, for him, nothing would beat Egypt.

Pat called them all over and stood with his usual over-cheery expression.

"Ok gang, feel free to explore the streets. Make sure you're back by 1 o'clock or we might just take off without you!" Most of the tour group chose to ignore this remark, but Bakura rolled his eyes and glared at the pathetic tour guide. "Right, well. Have fun, jolly good!"

Jack motioned for SG:1 to come over to him. They huddled together to discuss their plan of action for the day.

"Ok, 'gang'," Jack said sarcastically, "we need to stick together. We'll just casually walk around, maybe buy a few trinkets..."

"Wait a minute Jack, is that really such a good idea?" Daniel interrupted.

"What do you mean?"

"Well think about it. We're a bunch of civilians on our first trip to Egypt. Would we really be grouped together and moving carefully?"

"He has a point sir. Besides, I'd like to explore this place a little." Sam said.

Jack sighed and looked at the team he used to have control over. "Fine. Just try and stay close. I want you all within radio range."

"Jack, we're civilians. We shouldn't be contacted on military radios." Daniel said.

Jack sighed again and looked towards Teal'c. The Jaffa hadn't said a word since they arrived. "Come on T, back me up on this!"

"I do indeed agree with DanielJackson and MajorCarter. We should not draw attention to ourselves."

"Fine. Just... don't wander too far off."

Daniel immediately seized the opportunity. Saying a quick goodbye he headed in the direction of town like an excited child. He was a little dissapointed at not being able to see anyone else from the tour group, but was still more interested in the stalls.

The first thing, he decided while heading in the direction of a clothing merchant, was to change out of his current attire and into something more comfortable. He was used to robes, not to mention they struck him as slightly more Egyptian. He tried to convince himself that Egypt was his only reason for changing his wardrobe as her purchased some robes resembling those he wore as an Ancient.

His first task complete, Daniel set about finding other useless nicknacks to buy. It was a big market place and they had pleanty of time.

It was 12:30 and Daniel had visited nearly every stall in the bazzar. During the day he'd managed to see every member of the tour at least once. Every member, that is, except Ishizu. It seemed she was keeping out of sight. The members of SG:1, however, he swore were following him around to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

He'd passed Sam and Jack a number of times, all of which they had been arguing. The first time it was about whether or not Jack should follow Daniel's example and wear Egyptian clothing. Obviously they had agreed on a compromise as he later noticed Sam in the dress of an Egyptian woman. The second time, Jack was trying to make Sam eat something which looked mysteriously like a bug. After that the various arguments became a blur and he only noticed what he was buying.

Just as he was about to head back to the bus for some reading, Daniel saw a booth he hadn't noticed earlier. Something was twinkling and it caught his eye. Walking over he saw exactly what he had been looking for. Hurriedly pullin notes out of his various bags, Daniel bought the gift and had it wrapped in tissue paper. Excited about finally finding what he wanted, he placed the item in his bag and headed back to the bus.

Thank-you for all the reviews, it really keeps a writer going. I hope you like this chapter, sorry I had to cut it so short. Challenges still being accepted. Also, something is happening, who can guess what? Rememeber, this is a Daniel story.

Disclaimer: I don't own this and never will. This goes for all chapters past and future.