Sam waited for the elevator, which was taking forever to come up to her floor. She needed to get a phone number and had left it in her car, or she hoped that was where it was. One of the scientists working in a few labs down from Vikki and Scott had disappeared a week ago, without a trace. His assistant had called the police when he hadn't shown up for work the next day, and they had gone to his house. Nothing had been disturbed, but a suitcase and several suits had gone. The police assumed the man had taken a vacation or had run away. Nothing had been missing from the lab, so they weren't going to pursue this man unless something else came up.

Sam had been curious when Vikki had mentioned it. She knew this man well, and while he didn't have a family, he wouldn't do something impulsive like this. She had called Vikki last night to get the phone number of the assistant, who was taking some time off until the scientist returned. She was going to call her on her break, and ask her some questions.

Exiting the elevator on the ground floor, she walked through the tunnel to the parking lot, thinking on what to ask on her phone call. At her car, she glared at the new, luxury car parked a little too close. She had bought the Mustang a little over 3 weeks ago, and had it repainted less than a week ago. She had been intending on buying a new car, possibly one of those new hybrids out now, but spotted this in the newspaper, and immediately fell in love with it. It needed some work, and the interior was a mess, but it had been love at first sight.

Opening the drivers side door, she noticed a mark on the body. She grabbed the phone number out of her car, slammed the door, and ran her hands over the mark. Fortunately the mark was just from the asshole next to her, probably his bumper. She wanted to leave a note under the wipers, but not knowing who the car belonged to, she decided not to. Instead she wrote the license plate down, and headed back to her lab, pissed off.

Walking towards her lab, she noticed the door to Daniel's was open. She knocked and started speaking as she opened the door.

"Daniel, some asshole hit me in the parking lot!" Sam walked straight to his desk and dropped the folder of papers she had grabbed from her car.

"Are you ok?"

"Not me. The car. Fortunately for them, the mark rubbed off, and they didn't do any permanent damage."

"Carter."

She swore her heart stopped beating for a few seconds, as she turned around to see if the voice was really his. He was sitting in Daniel's chair, behind the door, so she hadn't seen him when she opened it. Fighting the urge to salute him, she nodded at him, before turning to face Daniel again.

"Well that's good. Who was it?"

"I don't know, some jackass driving a rental car."

"What colour, Carter?"

"Silver." She turned slightly to answer him, so as not to appear too rude.

"You drive a Mustang?"

"That was you?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I did check to make sure there was no damage, but I guess I missed a spot."

His voice was cold and hard, and Sam felt uncomfortable being in the room with him. She grabbed her stuff, said a quiet goodbye to Daniel, and left for her own lab. Once there, she shut the door, and leaned back on it. No wonder he was so cold to her, as she had called him an asshole and a jackass in less than two minutes. Why was he here and how long was he staying? She sat down, and grabbed the phone. She needed to get her mind him, and dialled Vikki at work.

"Jack, what's with you two?"

"What d'ya mean?"

"Don't play stupid. You're acting like, well, like two people who broke up."

"Broke up! As in.. never mind."

"Yes. Like a couple that broke up, seeing each other for the first time in a while."

"What! We were never a couple, Daniel. Don't start any more rumours."

"No, I'm saying that's what you're acting like. Why were you so cold to Sam?"

"I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"I wasn't expecting to see her."

"You were going to run into her at some point, or were you planning on avioding her everytime you came to the base?"

"No. Just wasn't expecting to see her right away."

"Why? You were once friends."

"Once, we were. Things change Daniel."

"They do, but you can change things again, if they're worth it."

"Look, Daniel. She's been gone for years. People change. She's changed, I've changed. That's just the way it is."

"So you're saying she isn't worth it?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying we're both different. She married Pete. She moved away. I've moved on. That's it."

Daniel knew that Jack was as close to admitting his old feelings for Sam, as he ever would be. He knew that when Sam married Pete, Jack felt angry at himself for not saying anything sooner. Did he blame Sam when she got married and moved away? He couldn't be sure, but doubted it. Jack wasn't the kind of person to blame someone else when they were happy. Daniel shook his head and listened to Jack, who had changed the subject.

"So you think this 'treasure' is in England?"

"Yes."

"And you think you know the location?"

"Yes."

"What do you think is there?"

"Well, with the Ancients, who knows. Merlin was the one who hid it, so maybe technology? I don't think it's like Vala thinks, gold and such. I doubt it."

"How is Vala?" Jack grinned as he asked. For some reason, Vala had attached herself to Daniel, and it amused him to no end watching the two interact.

"Still in her room. Teal'c's heading down here as soon as he arrives and we're going to look at the bracelets, try and figure out what they are. When are you heading back?"

"Tonight. You're stuck with me all day Danny."

"Oh goody." Daniel rolled his eyes at Jack jokingly as the door opened.

"Teal'c. How are ya doin?"

"I am well O'Neill."

"Teal'c, you're early."

"The council declined to meet today, so I took the opportunity to arrive early."

"Teal'c, Vala tried to use these on me."

Daniel handed one of the bracelets to Teal'c, who inspected it carefully.

"They are called kor mak. I have not seen them before, but I believe it was Coronus who used this technology when a prisoner of value needed to be transported by one of his Jaffa. He would affix a bracelet to both the prisoner and the Jaffa responsible for him."

"Why?"

"If they became separated for more than a short period of time, they would both become ill and die."

"Does Vala know this?" Jack was curious at why Vala would use such a device if she could die, and if she did know, there was no way they were letting her out of her room.

"I don't think she would. Knowing her, she probably stole them."

"Daniel, you think Vala stole them?"

"Likely. Probably the tablet too."

"So what would've happened if she had managed to get these things on Daniel and herself, Teal'c?"

"If they did not remain in close proximity with each other, they would likely die."

"How would we take them off?"

"I do not know. I would suspect that when both wearers of the bracelets died, they would unattach and could be used again."

"Smart technology. Give the Jaffa an incentive to not loose the prisoner." Jack mused out loud, as Daniel put the bracelets back in the case. "Are those going off to Area 51?"

"No. We're keeping them here for a while to have a closer look at them."

"Anyone tell Vala what they do if she doesn't already know?"

"I was going to. Want to come?"

"I will follow shortly. Cameron Mitchel has requested to talk to me and I wish to visit Samantha Carter." Teal'c bowed his head, and exited the room. Daniel grabbed the case and Jack followed him out of the lab.

Jack drove back to the airport, relieved that the day was over. As he left the SGC, it had felt like a weight on his shoulders had been lifted. He knew that having Carter at the base would mean he would run into her at some point, but he hadn't been prepared for it today. What he had said to Daniel was true. They had both changed and drifted apart. Not long after she left, he and Kerry broke up. When she told him what she was feeling, he remembered not feeling too bad about it. He did feel upset that he had hurt her, pulled her into a relationship that started off great, but as Sam's marriage got closer, he pulled away from everyone. He still heard from her, as they still had to work together to a certain extent. He had passed on his congratulations when she married a teacher not long ago. He had not tried to have any other relationships since, not wishing to hurt or mislead another woman.

Seeing Carter in Washington had brought back the old dreams, except now he didn't hope for them to come true. When she married Pete, he had felt angry at himself for not saying something to her. He had also wondered why she was entering a lifelong relationship that was supposed to be based on trust and love, with a man who had done a background check on her, and followed her to Daniel's house, when they watching for Osiris. He had been almost disappointed in her, that she would forgive and forget so easily. Something had happened in the past few years, and the two were together no more. He felt a strange satisfaction that Pete didn't have her, and wondered what the idiot had done to drive her away.

Even though, watching her walk out of Daniels lab, flustered that he had been there, had upset him. They were friends once, and realistically, he wondered why they couldn't be again. Both of them were too damn stubborn to say anything to each other, other than the polite greeting, and how do you do's. How would a friendship work between them now? Would they be polite old acquaintances, or could they be as close as they were all those years ago. With her working as a civilian, there were no longer any regulations stopping them from finding out what could be.

Jack tried to force those thoughts out of his mind. Carter had made her choice, and he would respect that. Not only that, would she want to get to know him, even as a friend? She wasn't the only one who had been cold and distant. His mind neglected to process that she had thought he was dead all this time, and his lack of communication certainly hadn't helped.

He came to a resolution. There was no way that he could allow her to almost run from another room when he was in it. What would happen next time if it was a briefing? He needed to talk to her, and get things sorted out, so they could be in the same room together, without either of them loosing their cool. He knew the old rumours and didn't want any new ones surfacing, especially as she couldn't pull rank on anyone now. Next time he was at the base, he would make a point of talking to her, fixing whatever problem was between them.

Daniel found Sam in her lab, stuffing papers into a folder, obviously not too happy.

"How's your day been?"

"Fine, Daniel, just fine."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I had a good day."

"That's good."

"He left."

"Oh." Sam tried to pretend she wasn't interested, but Daniel wasn't fooled. He could see her relax and stopped moving papers violently around her desk.

"You leaving soon? I'm starving."

"Yes. Just gotta get this stuff together for tomorrow."

"You hungry?"

"Why Daniel, are you asking me out for dinner? In that case, yes, I'm hungry too." Daniel received one of Sam's ear to ear smiles, and held out his arm mockingly.

"Yes, we shall dine at the finest restaurant, with the finest food, and the finest wine, my dear. Please allow me to escort you."

Sam dissolved into giggles as Daniel bowed overzealously and bashed his hand on the door frame.

"That's ok. Pizza will do just fine."

"Nah, I'm in the mood for something else. How 'bout O'Malleys."

"Sure. Got all my stuff. Meet you there or do you need a ride?"

They arranged to meet at O'Malley's in an hour, as Daniel wanted to go home and change. As soon as Daniel mentioned that, Sam had the urge to go home and shower. They took the elevator up to the surface, and Sam headed back to her car. She carefully examined the drivers side of the car, as who knew what Jack had done while leaving. Satisfied there was no damage, she got in, turned on the engine and drove home.

At O'Malley's they were seated right away, and their orders placed quickly. It wasn't too busy for once, and except for a rowdy bunch of guys down at the pool table, fairly quiet.

"So, Sam, how was your day?"

"Great." Daniel could hear the sarcasm in her voice.

"Why? What happened?"

"I'm worried about the scientist that went missing."

"The one that works with Vikki and Scott?"

"Yeah. Andrew's not one of those guys to just up and leave. He doesn't have any family that I know of, and if anything had come up, he would've called Mary, his assistant."

"What was he working on?"

"I think he was testing some kind of disinfectant for use in hospitals. He hasn't been on it for long, and it's not something that I could see him getting into trouble over."

"What about before?"

"Er, not too sure on this one, but I remember he was working on a team of several chemists. I think it was something to do with water purification. I think that was the last one he did."

"For where?"

"Where?"

"Yeah, like if he was working on something that could expose a company of polluting water supplies, there are ways the company could deal with him."

"No, it was nothing like that. They were working on helping create a cheap method of water purification for third world countries. It wasn't a US contract, I remember that. There was a bunch of them, from all over the world working on it. They did the testing here, in the US, then it went back to Europe or something."

"Hmmm. What do you think happened?"

"Not a clue. I've just got a bad feeling about it."

"You're going back tomorrow, right?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to take a look, see what you can find?"

"Yes. I'm meeting Mary tomorrow in the afternoon. She has a key to his place so she could feed his cat while he was gone, so we're going to have another look. She knows I'm ex Air Force, and asked me once the police said they couldn't do anything."

"Let me know if you need any help. Jack could help too, if you asked him."

"Nah, that's ok. He's probably got enough on his plate right now."

"Sam, you two need to talk it over."

"Talk what over?"

"C'mon Sam. You practically ran out of my lab today. Whatever is or isn't going on between you guys needs to get sorted out. He does come to the base and you will see him. What's going to happen if the two of you end up working together in close proximity?"

"Yeah, like that will happen. General O'Neill, head of homeworld security, and Dr. Carter, a scientist in a lab, working together."

"What happens if you're both at a briefing, or a meeting, and you can't get along. You know how this place works. You two need to get this figured out before the entire population of the SGC has you back in bed with him."

"Back in bed with him!"

"You've heard the rumours, so don't try to act oblivious."

"I didn't hear that one. When did that start?"

"After the za'tarc mess."

"Like anyone will remember that. It was over 10 years ago."

"Some people never forget things like that. Don't steer away from the problem here. What I'm trying to say, is that you need to fix whatever is going on, before it blows out of proportion."

"Hey, it's not all my fault you know!"

"I had noticed that. Both of you are avoiding each other, and at some point that's not going to work anymore."

"Let me guess. You had a chat with him too." Daniel could see Sam's defenses going up every time she opened her mouth. He was going no where, like with Jack.

"Tried to. Look, I'm just trying to be a friend to both of you. I don't want to get in the middle of a huge argument over something silly. I also don't want to end up having to split my time between you two as you can't get along."

"I'm not trying to put you in the middle of anything Daniel, you're putting yourself there."

"I'm doing it to try and save a friendship between you and Jack. Remember when we were all on SG-1?"

"Yes." Sam calmed down and looked upset.

"I'm not asking for that closeness, just a little more civility."

"Fine. I'll be civil to him."

That was the best Daniel knew he was going to get out of Sam right now. His hope was that the friendship could be restored, as he knew the value of a true friend. Watching these two, who used to be so close, drift apart, and now, not want to get along, was almost painful.

"What time does your flight leave tomorrow?"

"8am."

"And you're going straight to the labs?"

"Yes."

"When are you going to be back?"

"I'm flying back Saturday afternoon, so four days."

"Well, it's getting late, and you have to be up early."

Sam stood and put on her jacket as Daniel grabbed the bill.

"How much do I owe you?"

"You get the next one."

"Sure?"

"Sure."

"Thanks Daniel."

"No problem. Just one small favour."

"What?"

"If you turn up anything remotely suspicious, call me or Jack."

"You really think we might?"

"I've learned that you never can tell what's suspicious and what's not. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Daniel held the door for her, and walked to her car. He gave her a hug goodnight, and watched as she drove away.

AN: Didn't think this one would be that long! As I got this out quickly, there may be one more before Christmas. Thanx to all who reviewed the last chapter. Can I hit 100 before the holiday:-) That would be an awesome Christmas surprise...