"But just think," Daniel said, spreading his hands to stop Cam's words. "If the Ori need to have a person convert in order to maintain their power, then couldn't someone become a convert and from the inside use that power against them?"

We sat back and thought about it. "I don't think that is how it works, Jackson," Cam said after a moment. "That person has to be damn sure they know what they are doing, not to mention damn strong enough not to be totally taken over by the Ori."

"That person must accept that they could be wrong and be lost," Teal'c said solemnly. "It is not a task for the weak."

"Well then, I know I will not be asked to do it," Vala said, picking up a stone and throwing it into the fire.

"I know it would have to be someone who was grounded, deeply grounded, in what they believe, and that belief would have to be fundamentally opposite the Ori. They would also have to realize it's a risk," Daniel paused and looked at Cam. "A risk that could help us defeat them."

"We are not talking about dropping a man behind enemy lines, Jackson. Your theory means that whoever would be crazy enough to try to test this, has to be a kamikaze. They would be turned into the enemy, no matter what their intentions going in would be. They would have to become the enemy to fool the enemy."

"Well, I know it's a lot more dangerous what your theory proposes, but it's not unlike undercover detectives. I mean there are some out there who are planted within gangs or the Mob -" I started.

"What is the Mob?" Vala interrupted.

"Later," Cam said. "Go on."

"Well, they are good guys, disguised as bad guys so that they can get in deep and find out things only members would know. What Daniel is proposing -"

"Theorizing," corrected Cam.

"...Theorizing, is that someone would be deep, deep undercover in the Ori... operation if you will. They would become the enemy to be accepted as one, and learn how they work, and be able to tell us how to defeat them if we can't find Merlin's device," I finished.

"That is supposing whoever does this can come back and communicate with us," Cam said. "I don't like the idea. Jackson, keep the theory as a theory and we will find Merlin's device. I am not going to ask anyone to do that when Merlin has already made something that can destroy the Ori."

Daniel had nodded and we all went back to talking about the tactics we had learned over the course of the last few encounters with the Ori. With Vala being Adria's mother, it seemed as if she had become a bit less cautious when Vala was around. Adria acted like a child needing her mother's approval; of course Vala was just stubborn enough not to give any indication she would ever approve of Adria's rather far-reaching and scary ideas. Adria, I was sure, would never harm Vala as long as both were alive. She wanted her mother to convert, to have the approval. But neither would happen as long as Vala had a say in the matter.

After Cam and the rest of the team had turned in, I was up for the first watch. Daniel sat beside me and handed me a fresh cup of coffee. No matter that we were off world, chocolate and coffee were always at the ready.

"I think I scared Mitchell," Daniel said at last.

"I think you scared most of us. I think the hardest part is the reverting back to a non- believer. Who's to say they will not find out? Who's to protect the person who tests your theory when the Ori find out that they have a double agent?" I asked, staring at his profile. "I wouldn't let anyone risk their lives like that. The risk of being found out, of being converted totally..."

We fell into silence. The silence stretched on as the two of us reflecting on the past day, on what Daniel had said. I was thinking about the last place we had to scout before going back to the Stargate. The locals had said they no longer performed their celebrations at that spot since a man who spoke of doom had shown up. Cam had told the villagers we would scout it out. We all knew we would be facing another Ori Prior in the morning.

"Thank you," Daniel said suddenly.

"For what?" I asked.

"For ... everything. I don't think I could have survived all the things we have gone through without knowing you were there. I don't think I would have ever been able to keep facing evil if I did not have such goodness next to me.

I smiled at him and leaned my head on his shoulder. "I don't think I could have been next to anyone else fighting evil. We make a good team, Doc."

As he chuckled, I felt it vibrate through his body. He wrapped an arm around me and whispered, "That we do. I can't think of anyone else I would rather be teamed up with when fighting a problem. You're so smart, Sam, so determined. You make us all rise to a higher place so we can just keep up with you; another thing that makes you so beautiful." He kissed the top of my hair, and then rested his cheek on my head. "I have the next shift and it starts," he pulled the sleeve of my arm up and turned my wrist to check the watch, "now. So you close your eyes and get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow."

I fell asleep in his arms, only waking up when I felt the cool morning breeze and his body heat gone.

Gone. I looked up at the shower head and squinted, watching the last drop of water make a slow descent down to the small puddle at my feet. It made a 'plink' sound and I looked back up at the shower head. I took my hand away from the handle and tugged a towel around me, watching the last bits of dirt swirl down the drain.

I had slept sounder but with dreams still plaguing me. I decided they were not worth mentioning to the doctor when I saw him. No one needed to know that Daniel had almost confessed to following through on his theory himself to me. I did not need Cam finding out and storming in, demanding why I did not stop Daniel, or let him know.

I don't even have an answer to that.

Slipping on a pair of pants and a top, I reached for my boots. I paused when I saw the small picture of Daniel and myself when we went to Jack's cabin. Jack had insisted we use up a roll of 34 pictures to "document the occasion." I picked it up and sat on the edge of my bed, tracing Daniel's features and imagining that day once more. I almost laid back to dream of the day when a knock on the door interrupted me.

"Yes?" I asked as Cam turned around.

"He's been spotted, Sam. He made it. We don't know how he is doing though," Cam said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We are still on stand down and Landry is not letting us go, but Sam, we can be there for the briefing."

I nodded, understanding Landry's orders were still in effect. We were his team and we all cared about Daniel – I cared about Daniel. "At least we can sit in on the briefing. When is that?"

"SG-17 is due back in 30 minutes."

I closed the door to my room and hiked my chin up. "Okay, well, I'll be in my lab just working on some things then."

Cam left me to ride the elevator to my lab in silence. I passed two of my scientists in a heated argument on the positions of Orion and the corresponding planets and moons during the summer solstice on P2X-4903. I locked myself in the lab and sat on my stool, staring at the computer as it cycled through the pictures of my screensaver. I tried to read a few reports as I waited but found it hard to keep my mind on solar refractions in linear time dilations.