Daniel had no idea how he'd become a diplomat. It had just happened one day. They'd needed someone level headed to mediate a disagreement between two sects of Jaffa and without really knowing why or how, Daniel had found himself volunteered for the job. It had come out of left field, really, and smacked him in his archeological head. The worst part was that the mediation had gone well and from that point on trying to convince General Hammond that he wasn't a good diplomat was like trying to convince Teal'c that Ben & Jerry's wasn't a food group.

Now, though, his diplomatic skills were of a more personal importance. He couldn't lose Aeda, not like he'd lost Sha'are, like he'd lost his parents. It was for that reason alone that he allowed them to wrap a bullet proof vest around his torso and strap a gun to the underside of his left arm.

He fixed his jacket over the gun, unhappy with how bulky it looked. He didn't want there to be any reason – past his own beef with the Goul'd – to incur a firefight. Jack, who had been watching him all along, tilted his head to the side and frowned.

"What?" Daniel asked as he pulled at the hem of the jacket.

"I can see the butt of it when you move your arms."

"So what should I do?"

"Don't move your arms."

Daniel nodded. "Sure. I'll try to remember that piece of wisdom."

Jack grinned slightly, glanced at his watch. "Show time," he said and pushed off the table he'd been resting against.

Daniel fell into step next to him and they headed across the hangar to where the three black SUVs waited for them. They were a hundred or so feet away from the crowd when Jack leaned in and said in a half-whisper, "Do me a favor."

Daniel nodded.

"If you get a chance, shoot that bastard in the head. Don't hesitate." Jack clapped the archeologist on the shoulder and the two of them joined the fray.

"Are you ready for this, Dr. Jackson?" Major Greene asked as the two men approached.

Daniel checked his weapon for the millionth time and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They didn't search her.

She sat quietly in the back seat of the SUV, her gaze concentrated on the unfamiliar scenery as it passed by the window. Every time she breathed, the cool metal of both the corkscrew and its corresponding blade touched her skin and she had to consciously stop herself from shivering. There was too much at stake to risk being discovered because of a little cold metal.

Beside her, Ba'al was content to pay little attention to her. Maria was not with them and every so often Aeda would speculate internally about what had happened to vicious little blonde. She was tempted to ask, but the tiny smirk on Ba'al's face told her all she needed to know. Maria would not be joining them on their current adventure, nor any future adventure.

She thought about Daniel, thought about what it would feel like to hug him, to kiss him. Her memory of him, their last night together, had faded with the seriousness of her current situation. She had been trying desperately to cling to anything from that night, but as the hours went on, even his scent began to leave her.

"If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?" he asked her, his arms wrapped around her as they sat on the porch of her old cabin.

She smiled, gazed up at the sky. She turned her head to look at him, felt the scratch of the wool blanket against her cheek. "Live in this cabin, write a novel, spend copious amounts of time in bed with a hot archeologist." She felt him laugh more than she heard it. He kissed the top of her head. "What about you?"

"I don't know, that sounds pretty good to me."

"Writing a novel?"

"No, the copious amounts of time in bed with a hot archeologist."

She elbowed him gently in the ribs and this time she heard his laughter. It rumbled in is chest and she felt the vibrations. "Are you happy?" she asked.

"I'm with you."

"Good answer."

"It's the truth." His arms tightened around her middle and she became instantly aware of the fact they hadn't bothered with clothes when deciding to stargaze off the back porch.

"Perhaps we should go inside." She turned around so that she was half facing him and she kissed his jaw. The stubble reminded her of just how long they'd spent wrapped up in the blanket on the floor. "I'm only here for another eight hours. Might as well make use of our time."

"Sleepy?" he asked.

She grinned devilishly. "Who said anything about sleep?"

"Daydreaming?" Ba'al asked, shaking her from her memory.

She turned toward him slightly and forced herself to betray nothing. "Thinking of ways to escape, actually."

He chuckled and she inwardly cringed at the sound. "I would have been disappointed by anything else."

The SUV slowed and she looked through the windshield just as the main house of an old farm came into view. A gigantic, dilapidated barn took up most of her view and she wondered if there were any shovels hidden within its walls. She made a mental note to look for one the first chance she got.

"We're early," she said.

Ba'al nodded. "Early, yes, though I am quite positive your friends know this place just as well as I do."

"Well, they are military and you did steal one of their own, so my guess is they know it better and are probably waiting for you."

He nodded once more. "I had anticipated that."

She frowned, looked away. "Of course you did."

xxxxxxxxxxx

From their vantage point on the ridge above the farm they could see the black SUV pull into the driveway from the main road. It stopped a hundred feet or so from the barn and two oversized guys in suits got out of the front. The driver opened his door and Ba'al stepped out. The passenger did not open his door but instead stood in front of it with his arms crossed.

"Aeda?" Sam asked, the binoculars still attached to her eyes.

"My guess would be yes," Jack said.

Beside him, Cameron shifted slightly. "We could take them out now."

Teal'c, who had said very little since their arrival at the ridge, inclined his head slightly. "I do not believe that is wise, Lt. Mitchell. There is no telling what might happen to Aeda if we remove her captors from the equation."

Jack grinned very slightly. "You always were a deep guy, Teal'c." He looked at Cameron. "In this case he's also right. They might have her wired for a bomb, or the car might be wired, or the whole damn thing might be wired. I'm not risking it."

"So we sit here and wait?" Cam asked, annoyed.

Jack looked at Sam. "Is he always this gung-ho or is it just in moments of extreme stress?"

Sam grinned at the massive frown that graced Cam's features. "It's a flyboy mentality, sir. Nothing you'd know about, I'm sure."

A rustling behind them heralded the arrival of the Marines.

Major Greene settled between Jack and Sam and pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. "Recon shows it's just the four of them. Aeda is definitely in the back seat of the vehicle, guarded by tank number one. Tank number two just went into the house with Ba'al." He pointed to the barn, then at the paper. "There's an energy signal coming from within the barn. The schematics don't show us anything but my guess is he's waiting for that generator so he can power up a cloaked Alkesh."

"Are your guys in position near the barn?" Jack asked.

Greene nodded. "Affirmative. Dr. Jackson should be arriving any minute now. His car is rigged with a tracking device and he's wearing an earwig. Anything he says or hears, we hear. Anywhere he goes in that car, we go."

There was movement from the SUV and they watched as tank number one took Aeda from the backseat and led her into the barn. She didn't appear to be in bad shape, though even from the ridge Jack could see she was in a foul mood. He'd seen Aeda in that kind of mood before and the end result hadn't been pretty.

"What now?" Cameron asked.

He took a deep breath as Daniel's green sedan pulled into the driveway. He looked across Greene and locked eyes with Sam. She nodded very slightly.

"We wait."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: Okay, so it's been awhile and I feel kind of bad, but in my own defense I'm changing jobs, participating in one hell of a grand wedding, and trying to figure out what being 25 means...thanks for the reviews and your patience. I hope it was worth the wait!