Inconceivable
Set a year after "Surprises" ends between seasons 8 and 9
Friendly reminders: Janet's not dead, Jack's in command of SGC.
"So, Daniel…this temple…what's the significance?" Jack asked, as they walked up to the large Parthenon-like structure with its pillars and marble walls.
"Well, this temple was built to worship Hermes, the Greek god. He was the messenger and as such ruled over travelers and roads and doorways. In addition, some worshipped him as a god of fertility, others as a god of dreams, and he's also well-known as the protector of sheep and cattle. This is particularly fascinating because on Earth, Hermes was one of the…lesser gods. There weren't any temples constructed to honor Hermes. Maybe we can learn more about his value in Greek mythology by studying his importance to these people." Daniel said, in response.
There was a pause as Jack absorbed the information. "Right."
"Jack, just because you don't appreciate the significance doesn't mean that it's not important. We have to see this."
"Yes, and I'm here…because…?" He prompted.
"Because initial tests indicate that this is a viable location for a research colony. You said that you wanted to see first-hand any viable research colony planets, so…you're here." Sam said as they walked up the steps to the temple. "And I wanted to get permission to study a piece of technology we found in the temple that Daniel figured might be important."
"But I thought you said you still don't know what it is!" Jack protested.
"That's why I want to study it, Jack…"
"But on a lighter note, she didn't mention that you're barely willing to let her out of your sight..." Daniel said, teasingly.
"Hey, just because I don't like the idea of someone else watching my wife's six doesn't mean that I don't want to let her out of my sight."
"Oh really?" Sam asked, skeptically. "You have to admit it, you've been a little…clingy since Grace was born."
"I never heard you complain before…" Jack said, a less than innocent twinkle in his eyes.
"OH!" Daniel groaned, closing his eyes in protest. "I SO didn't want to even think about you two…"
"Procreating, Daniel Jackson?"
"Thanks, Teal'c." Daniel said, his eyes firmly shut as he tried to forget the whole conversation.
"Hey, just because we had one 'immaculate conception' doesn't mean that we want to have another." Jack said, seriously.
Sam laughed and shook her head. She knew full well that Jack was only pressing the issue further to keep getting a good reaction out of Daniel, and…as usual, it worked.
"AGH!"
"Jack, leave Daniel alone. Just because he and Janet have started dating doesn't mean that he really understands the birds and the bees." Sam said, a smirk on her face as she walked toward the power source of the device she wanted to study.
Daniel, surprised, stopped howling. "Wait! How'd you know we were dating?"
Sam rolled her eyes. "A) I talk to Cassie regularly, and she told me you've been there for breakfast more than a couple of times."
Daniel turned scarlet at this point.
"And B) Janet and I compare stories sometimes."
"WHAT?" Came the response from both Jack and Daniel as Jack's face turned a light pink and Daniel's became fuchsia.
"Gotcha." She said, with a grin as she looked around the corner from where she was about to begin working.
Both men looked at one another and then at her. "Let's just pretend that didn't happen." Jack whispered.
"I'm with you."
Only a few minutes later, as Daniel began working on translating the ruins and Jack approached Sam, who had opened the power source at the base of this platform. Strange as it sounded, Jack thought it looked remarkably like the beaming platform in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Not that he ever watched any of that…SciFi stuff…
"So…is it cool?" Jack asked, standing near her.
She looked up at him, amused. "I'm sure it is, I just haven't had enough time to figure out how cool, Jack."
"Oh."
She laughed. "Come on, why'd you really want to come with me this time?"
"Well, Sam, it's been exactly eighteen months since we got married."
She looked up at him. "You're serious, aren't you?"
He nodded.
"I can't believe that I forgot that!" She said, trying to put the crystals back into the device.
"Sam, I wasn't saying that to make you feel guilty, I just thought that we could spend some quality time together…you know, the way we did twenty-one months ago."
She looked at him. "Trapped in a blue beam together as I was…impregnated?"
"Yeah…that."
She laughed again. "You're something else."
"I know…and thank you."
"Unfortunately, our daughter thinks that your something else is normal…"
"Lucky me."
She went back to work before he sat on the platform. "Sam…I know this probably isn't the place or the time, but…"
"But what?" She asked, still working.
"You're not turning this thing on, are you?" Jack asked, looking down at the platform where he was sitting, somewhat nervously.
"No. As far as I can tell, we'll have to go back and get a naquadah reactor before it'll start up. I'm just trying to figure out how best to attach it to a reactor, and…the possible outcomes of that decision."
"Ah. Good. As I was saying…Sam…"
"Jack!" Daniel said, running into the room, some crayon rubbings in his hands.
"Daniel! You always knew how to ruin a moment, didn't you!"
Daniel looked up from his paper. "What?"
"Never mind…what is it?" Sam asked.
"Well, it turns out that Hermes was actually Dionysus's…governor. He took over this planet like it was his own, but…Dionysus was the one who defended it and represented it in the realm of the system lords."
"Dionysus?" Jack asked, confused.
"Think Hathor's twin brother, and you get the general idea…"
"Ah."
"I guess I'd better run away before I have no choice but to do his will." Sam said, with a teasing grin in reference to the men's first encounter with the Queen Seductress as she was called in the SGC's female circles.
"Actually, Dionysus was bisexual…men and women would have…interested him."
"So, he was friends with everybody?"
"Basically."
"Nice guy." Jack said, glancing at Sam, who hid a chuckle.
"That's not the point. I think I've just learned more about Greek mythology than I ever thought I would." Daniel said, pushing his glasses further onto the bridge of his nose as he looked back at his rubbings of the temple.
"Good for you. Go and…hypothesize. Let me know what happens…" Jack said, still as interested as a horsefly.
"Thanks, I think I will." The archaeologist said, returning to where Teal'c stood, analyzing some of the glyphs barely looking up from the papers in his hands..
"Sometimes I'm able to forget that he's a geek, and then…"
She smiled. "I know."
Jack stood as Sam placed the crystals back into their place at the base of the platform. He stepped up and began walking on it. "Anyway, back to what I was saying…I think we should…"
The platform illuminated and Jack turned to Sam. "Hey! I thought you said this thing was dead!"
"I thought it was!"
She reached down to remove the crystals again, but as she reached out to it, the energy of the shield now surrounding the platform shocked her so badly that she was sent sprawling and landed, unconscious a few feet away.
"Sam!" Jack called as he ran to aid her, but he hit the barrier. His breath caught. This was so much like the time when they had been wearing the armbands…except he was stuck and she was unconscious on the other side.
All of a sudden, a beam shot out from the center of the platform and scanned the entire protected area. His face contorted in pain as the beam landed on him. Dizziness and nausea were his only companions as he fell to the ground after the shield deactivated. Then, he passed out.
Daniel and Teal'c heard the commotion and hurried from the other room to find Sam and Jack lying sprawled out in their respective places around the room. Daniel ran to Sam as Teal'c ran to Jack. Each checked their pulses, and Daniel checked the back of Sam's head that had hit the wall opposite from Jack.
"We've got to get them to the infirmary." Daniel said, looking at Teal'c.
"Indeed. O'Neill's pulse is weak and rapid."
"So is Sam's and I think she's going to have one hell of a goose egg."
