A/N: Minusculespoilers for two episodes: one in season 3 and one in 4 in this chapter. Just in case for the new people who got hooked onto SG1!
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SG-1 said their goodbyes to Teal'c as he walked up the ramp to the 'gate. A parting quip from Jack asking for a souvenir had his human colleagues rolling their eyes while Teal'c just nodded solemnly. After seeing Teal'c off, Jack and Daniel offered to wait with Sam for Jacob, but she could see the colonel was eager to be out of the mountain.
"It's okay, sir, he'll probably still be here when you get back from your trip," Sam said.
Jack grinned. "Excellent! Tell him hi for me, wish I could be here, and so on. Have a good time, Carter. Daniel."
"Thank you, sir."
"Jack, are you bringing your cellphone this time?" Daniel asked, but Jack was already halfway down the hall.
The remaining members of SG-1 looked at each other and shrugged.
"I'll see you later, Sam. Say hi to Jacob for me, too."
"Will do. Take care of yourself, Daniel."
He smiled. "You too, Sam."
His plans for the week were much like Jack's, in that it would be in pursuit of something well loved. While Jack spent his time at his bug infested lake, Daniel would be sifting through hundreds of books and thousands of pages for any pertinent information that would aid in his research.
The support of the military was exceptionally helpful in securing the full use of this prominent library, that reputedly had the most exhaustive collection of ancient texts and cultures available. Without the SG project's backing he doubted he'd have been given such unrestrained access to their materials.
Of course, beside telling General Hammond -who had helped him secure the funding and, more importantly, the support of certain individuals, whose help granted him the full use of the library's research facilities- he had only made vague references to his friends about how he planned to spend his downtime. Jack would have been furious if he found out he was doing anything remotely work related. Sam would be more sympathetic but no less critical on the use of his days off.
Daniel's mood continually brightened at thoughts of days spent in uninterrupted research, only a few hours away.
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Sam was pleased to hear from Daniel a few days later. He sounded tired, but extremely excited. She could hear the childlike delight in his voice as he described the treasure -his word- he discovered among the dusty tombs.
"Daniel, you were supposed to take it easy," Sam admonished.
"I did! Anyway, I just wanted to see how you're doing."
Sam grinned, "Just wonderful." She glanced behind her shoulder to see the kids and Jacob tackling the puzzle with such serious expressions on their faces that she couldn't help but laugh.
"It's good to hear you laugh, Sam," Daniel said softly.
"Daniel." She knew the work was hard on all of them, but to hear Daniel say it.
"Sam, I've gotta go."
"Don't tell me you have more work to do!" She looked at her watch, noting how late it was. The past few days passed by fast; they were heading back to Colorado Springs tomorrow. She assumed Daniel would be doing the same as they had a scheduled briefing early the day after.
"No, just meeting a few colleagues for dinner. They insisted since I'm leaving tomorrow. Apparently they enjoyed working with me."
"Don't sound so surprised," Sam said.
"Well, you would be if Jack's anything to go by," Daniel said.
"What?" Sam asked in surprise.
"Sam, they're here. I'll talk to you later." She frowned at the phone after hearing the click signifying the end of the conversation.
"Sammy? We need some serious help here if we're going to finish this tonight." Jacob's voice turned all thoughts back to the moment with her family.
"Coming, Dad."
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Daniel folded his cellphone shut. What he said took him by surprise as much as it did Sam. Shaking his head, he went to answer the door, expecting to see the people he had been working with the last few days.
His phone rang. He answered it automatically as he opened the door, ready to tell whoever was calling that it wasn't a good time.
"This is Daniel Jackson," Daniel said.
"Daniel! Whatcha doing?"
"Jack, can I call you back?" He gave the people gathered outside his room - who he was surprised to find he didn't recognize - an apologetic look while he tried to get Jack off the phone as politely as he could.
Jack was in the middle of telling him no when the strangers forced their way into his room. He uttered half formed noises of surprise and indignation. The phone was taken out of his hand and Jack received a rude hung up.
"Hey!" Daniel tried to gain control of the situation. "What do you think you're doing?"
Instead of an answer, one man wrestled him to the floor while another hovered at his side. A woman closed the door softly behind them, her composure never wavered as she watched the man as he pushed a needle into Daniel's neck.
Daniel's world turned dark.
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When he woke up, he found himself in a familiar situation which he was not at all fond of. That is, he found himself waking up from a drugged sleep seated with his hands bound behind him.
"Dr. Jackson."
Daniel squinted up at the man, still feeling the effects of the sedative. "What do you want?" he asked.
Amery sat down opposite Daniel. "I'm glad you asked. We have a little translation problem we would like your help with."
"Okay." That didn't help Daniel at all. "Let's start over. Who are you?"
"Believe it or not, Doctor, both of our respective organizations have the same goals in mind. Though you might not approve of our methods in reaching that goal."
Daniel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The NID. Of course. This was sounding more and more like a bad cliché from an espionage movie.
"Um, one thing. Didn't we bust you guys two years ago?"
"You are, of course, referring to the time when Jack O'Neill exposed certain members of our group by pretending to be a traitor?"
"Good times," Daniel said.
"You realize that they were only a small faction within the NID?"
"Knew it was too good to be true," Daniel muttered.
"O'Neill's stint did manage to halt our access to the Stargate, if it's any consolation," Amery said with no hint of humor.
"Can we get to the point?" The woman finally spoke up. What Daniel took as unfeeling calmness was, in fact, tightly controlled nervousness. Her hands were fiddling with silvery wires and her voice was high with tension.
"That would be up to Daniel." Amery did not once turn to look at her.
"Ah, the translation. I think you already know the answer." Daniel thought for a moment. "If you no longer have access to the Stargate, where did you find this.. whatever it is.. for me to decipher."
"It was recovered before we were cut off."
"And you guys still haven't figured it out?" Daniel was pleased.
"No. Fortunately, we have your help now."
"Um, no, you don't."
"You'd be surprised." Amery smiled. Daniel cocked an eyebrow.
Daniel noticed the woman moving forward with the wires. A picture was beginning to form in his head.
"What's that?" he asked, trying to stall for time.
"Something our good doctor," Amery nodded at her, "came up with. You might recognize the small object she is attaching to your temple as a Tok'ra memory device. The other, rather larger, piece was passed on to us from a native of P3R-118, after a little negotiating."
His brows furrowed in thought. "The planet that was going through an ice age?" Unpleasant memories, both sets of them, came unbidden to his mind. His eyes widened as the meaning sunk in.
"You're lying. That happened well after Jack's undercover op."
"Yes, it did. But I'm not lying. A few of our operatives," Amery held up a placating hand to forestall anymore questions, "were part of the team evacuating the worker classes of that planet. They approached -what was his name?- Caulder with the offer of taking him with them if only he'd provide one of the memory stamp devices to us. He was, shall we say, more than happy to comply; the prospect of remaining on an ice planet with no workers to keep the cold at bay helped in our negotiation."
Daniel didn't know what to say. The fact that there were undiscovered NID personnel at the SGC was the least of his worries in the face of what was about to happen. His only hope lie in the fact that the stamp was not permanent.
Seeming to sense Daniel's line of thought, Amery leaned forward and said quietly, "I know what happened last time and let me assure you: the modifications we made will remedy the problem."
Smiling pointedly, Amery waved the scientist over to start the process.