Chapter 2: Meetings and Missions

Daniel couldn't help trailing farther and farther behind his two companions, finding the city much more interesting then the conversation between the other two men. Which, right now, revolved around the chances of different baseball teams had of making the World Series and the prospects of the football teams about to start their season. Now, if they had begun debating games common to Ancient Egypt as compared to the ball game of the Mayans, he might have paid attention. Which could have prevented the collision between himself and the young Czech woman muttering furiously under her breath in her own language who came blindly around a corner.

As his glasses went flying, the archaeologist grabbed the woman with reflexes honed by years of training with Jack and Teal'c, preventing them both from hitting the floor. She recoiled back from him in shock and embarrassment, immediately bending to retrieve his fallen glasses.

"Oh! Sorry! Am so sorry!"

"That's alright, wouldn't be the first time I've been run down in a hallway. Are you alright?" Daniel grinned wryly as he accepted the wayward spectacles, sticking them back on. He neglected to point out, however, that nine times out of ten, he was the cause, not the victim, of such incidents. Head cocked, his grin slipped a little as he noted the tears running down the woman's cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong, are you hurt?"

"No, I am fine. Dr. McKay, he demands new archaeologist off Daedalus, now! I'm not knowing who, or where to find them. He will yell more at me, with lots of insulting!"

Daniel instantly grimaced, feeling sorry for the woman, who probably had a Ph. D. in her own right, and shouldn't have been running anyone's errands. Yep, that sounded like the McKay SG-1 knew and hated alright. Ego as big as the Pegasus Galaxy and as demanding as a Gou'ld System Lord. The only person to ever call Carter a 'dumb blond' to her face and come away with all his limbs intact. Of course, it was only because Jack was nursing a concussion, Teal'c was stuck in the Stargate, and Daniel himself was in Russia. Maybe it was time for a little long-delayed payback.

"Well, I'm the archaeologist, so I can save you the tongue-lashing, at least. Lead the way."

The woman brightened up, looking incredibly grateful, as well as astonished. "You would not mind? You have just gotten here, I am thinking."

The SG-1 member gave her his most charming smile, the one that Sha're had so loved. "Not at all. I've worked with Dr. McKay before, so I understand completely. Let's just go see if we can deflate the good doctor a bit, shall we?"

The woman looked a little shocked, but turned around and led the way to an open door just down the other corridor. Entering, Daniel took note of several groups of scientists clustered around, but carefully avoiding the lone figure in the center of the lab. One look at the slightly pudgy blue-shirted figure with balding head bent intently over a piece of stone and the archaeologist knew he had found his prey. The man didn't even have the politeness to look up when he heard the footsteps approaching him.

"That better be you with that new translator, Madlenka, because I was about to send this to Dr. Weir's office, where we'll see it again sometime next year. I swear, do they really think I have time to be learning all these languages just so they can save a little money on another salary? Hello! Doing work that could save the galaxy here!" The irritated grumbling gave way to the snapping of demanding fingers. "You! New guy! Got something for you! Show me you're worth giving a paycheck to!"

Yes, indeed, Mr. Arrogant hadn't changed a bit! Daniel stood there for a second, debating the best way to respond.

"Hey! Am I talking to the brain-dead here? What are you, military?"

"Mc-Kay..." A new voice drawled from behind him. Turning, he saw that his two companions had finally noticed his absence. John was rolling his eyes in annoyance, obviously the one who had just spoken. "You might want to actually look at who you're talking to before making demands. Saves you from being a total ass."

Still, the astrophysicist didn't take the hint.

"Go away, Sheppard. We have a bunch of Ancient things in here, and I don't need you suddenly making one take off."

John just shook his head, leaning back against the door jam. Sometimes trying to save his friend a little embarrassment was more trouble than it was worth. Daniel correctly read the resigned look and grinned, moving to right behind the preoccupied genius.

"Last I checked, it was Dr. Beckett that shot the drone in Antarctica, not Colonel Sheppard."

The unexpectedly familiar voice finally caught McKay's attention, twirling him instantly around.

"Where did you come from! Aren't you supposed to be on Earth keeping Samantha out of trouble!"

"Well, you're much more fun to bug. After all, Sam's usually right." That received a laugh from John, who had once again winced at the word 'bug'. He really needed to talk to them about not using that around him. It took the astrophysicist a minute to work out the insult, however, then his face began to turn a lovely shade of red. "Oh, ha, ha. Very funny. See if I break my back pulling your worthless butt out of one of the many piles of stinky stuff the Pegasus Galaxy can land you in! As long as you're here, make yourself useful and translate this." McKay waved in disgust at the tablet he'd been studying so intently.

Curiosity quickly overcame Daniel's distaste for the other man, and he hurried over to have a look. The first thing he noted was that it looked almost too new to be anything of interest to an archaeologist. The carvings were all still sharp and clear... and written in a dialect of Ancient Egyptian.

"Where did this come from?" He couldn't help putting a little demand in his own voice.

"Ah... You! Russian scientist! Where did item 5703-0PG come from?" Rodney turned, snapping at the person nearest the cataloging computer. The man rolled his eyes in disgust, earning another bark of laughter from John, but quickly looked up the requested information.

"P9057-M715. Scouted by Major Lorne's team. No indigenous people, but extensive ruins of Ancient origin. On the list for further investigation."

"Doesn't sound too exciting. What's up, Jackson?" Cam raised an eyebrow at his colleague, more interested in dinner and guest quarters than weird pieces of rock at the moment.

Daniel instantly pushed his glasses back up his nose, a move that had his team mate paying a little more attention. Cam had only been leading SG-1 for a few months, but he had already learned a number of Jackson's quirks. The move he had just seen meant there was something significant, but Daniel wasn't sure quite what it was yet.

"This tablet looks new, no weathering, and its written in Egyptian!"

That got John's attention, too. "In the Pegasus Galaxy? Are you sure?"

Rodney was looking over the man's shoulder, frowning. "That can't possibly be right. We haven't found any signs of any modern Earth cross-over like in the Milky Way. The Gou'ld never got out this far, with or without servantsMight have been interesting if they had. Can you imagine a Wraith trying to feed on a human serving as a Gou'ld host?"

John smiled tightly, walking over to see the controversial item for himself and not so incidentally swatting Rodney on the back of the head.

"Ow! Sheppard!"

"Don't even suggest that as a joke, McKay, 'cause it sure as hell isn't funny! So, what does this impossible item say?"

Daniel frowned. "Ah... That which you seek the most... The doorway to the answer lies here."

"Oh, how spectacularly unhelpful. What did the Ancients do, take lessons in cryptic?" Disgust laced Rodney's tone. "The last time we found something so vague, we almost lost Sheppard. Again."

"Still, it might be worth investigating, Rodney. Didn't Carson say I could start back in the field with some nice, boring survey missions, anyway? Ancient ruins, never know what might light up."

"You're just tired of sitting around Atlantis doing paperwork. Not to mention helping the science staff with very important research."

"Its called playing lab rat, McKay, and yes, I'm sick of it. I'm 100 Sheppard again and its time the team got off their flabby rear ends. This sounds perfect."

"Flabby? Flabby! I dare you to say that in front of Ronon and Teyla. Oh, and you get to convince Elizabeth. I think its a waste of time."

"Sounds like fun to me, and Jackson's eyes just lit up like it was Christmas morning. Mind if we tag along?" Cam grinned, never tiring of ribbing the other SG-1 member about his instant enthusiasm for all things Ancient.

"Sure, right after you help me explain to Elizabeth how the two temporary replacements just happen to be from SG-1 and the notification you were coming happened to fall through the cracks." John grinned, seeing someone else to absorb some of the expedition leader's wrath.

Cam just shook his head, "Got any dragons you want slain instead?"

TBC... You know what they say, you should never tempt fate, especially if the designation number after your team is 1!