He dreamed he lost her.

They were face to face, their hands touching, and something yanked back on her and she was pulled from him. She flew backwards, screaming, and he could do nothing to stop it.

It wasn't the first time such a thing had graced his subconscious. Most of the time, however, he was able to pull her away from the thing that wished to take her – it was different in every dream – but this time, it had all felt wrong. This time, he sat up screaming her name and it took him moments before he was fully awake and aware.

All those other times, he had called her, had listened to her voice just to comfort his own dark fears. Now, as he sat in an unfamiliar bed, he realized he couldn't call her, couldn't comfort himself by listening to some inane story about her clumsiness. The presence of Admiral Belvedere Harrison in the corner of the small room only solidified this realization.

He'd lost her for real this time.


There was a very good possibility Sam was going to have to shoot both Jack and Cameron with tranquilizer darts just to keep them from moving. Neither of the two men had sat down since arriving at Hanscom and while she suspected that it was emotional energy keeping them on their feet, she knew that eventually they'd shut down and that would be bad.

"Jack, Cam, sit down."

Both men stopped their pacing and stared at her. "Huh?" Cam asked, his boyish features twisted into a look of complete and utter confusion.

She sighed. "You're wasting energy. Sit down and eat something before you both collapse."

Jack looked at the younger flyboy and shrugged. "No point arguing with her," he said.

Cam nodded and they each took a seat at the tiny mess hall table. They were the only people within the small space. Major Greene's people and SG-3 were discussing weapons while the Major himself was working on something with General Landry. The Admiral and Teal'c were taking turns checking on Daniel.

"This whole thing sucks," Cam said after a short silence had descended upon the group.

Sam nodded and rubbed the back of her neck. Her hand was gently pushed out of the way as Jack took over for her, rubbing small concentric circles along the top of her spine. She smiled gratefully at him.

"We've gotten out of worse situations than this one," Jack said.

"Never goes all that well for the hostage, though," Cam said and they both looked at him. He shrugged. "I spent a long time in that hospital with only your mission reports and soap operas to keep me entertained. There's really only so much drama one human being can take."

Jack laughed, shook his head. "Aeda's tough. Always has been. Just think of what she's been through and how she is now," he said.

Sam had a sudden flash of the conversation they'd had about Aeda over lunch one day.

"Her father almost died a year ago. He needed a heart transplant and they had trouble finding him one. He's just now getting back up on his feet. She lost her husband three years ago, around this time actually, to cancer if I remember right."

"No wonder she's sad." She dropped a couple of onions onto the plate.

Jack shrugged. "She's actually not, at least not anymore. I remember flying out there for the funeral. She didn't go to it, she couldn't even leave her bed and it was months before she actually left the house. You wouldn't think it to see her the way she is now."

"I wonder how she's doing?" Sam asked aloud and Jack snorted.

"Probably annoying the piss out of that grand asshole."

They all laughed.

"One can only hope," Sam said and very silently, she did.


"I remember when my daughter first told me about you," Bell said as he handed a glass of cold water to the haggard archeologist. Daniel thanked him and took a sip. "It was during Christmas, that year she spent in Colorado working with you and Jack. We were playing cribbage and she told me she'd met someone."

Daniel smiled slightly. Aeda had gone home for Christmas for a few days, leaving him in charge of Bear. Even that early on, he'd been eighty percent sure that he was in love with her. It was when she'd come to collect Bear and had left him a brightly wrapped box without him knowing it that he'd added the remaining twenty percent.

She'd given him a Harvard t-shirt and he'd fallen head-over-heals in love with her.

His smile widened as he remembered just how good she'd looked in it after their first night together. When he caught Bell's eye, his cheeks reddened and Bell grinned.

"You impressed me the day we met in Boston. Not because of anything you said, but because of the way she smiled when you were around her." He laid his hand on Daniel's shoulder and squeezed very slightly. "I haven't seen my daughter smile that way since Tim died."

Daniel nodded, covered the man's hand with his own. "I love her, sir," he said and heard his own voice break.

"We'll get her back." He shrugged very slightly. "I can't go home if we don't." Bell's expression was grave, even with the small smile he attempted. "I don't think I could face Carolina with news like that and I know I couldn't face Bear."

A knock on the door startled them both and by the time it had opened, they'd regained composure and were both on their feet. Teal'c inclined his head slightly by way of a greeting. "You are well, Daniel Jackson?" he asked.

"Better than before, Teal'c."

"How goes the planning?" Bell asked.

"We are ready to proceed to Salem, Admiral. General O'Neill sent me to get you."

Both men nodded and headed towards the door, preparing themselves for what they both hoped would be a simple mission. Then again, they both knew Aeda.

Nothing was all that simple when it involved Aeda Harrison.


A/N: How am I doing? This is a different type of story than the other two in the trilogy, but I figured Aeda deserved a chance to show everyone just what she's made of. Let me know what you think! Thanks for the reviews!