"I am not permitted to enter the Stone Circle. No one is." Ajax stared at the Stargate as Daniel began to dial it up.

"What do you mean? You've never been through the Gate before?" Jack shifted his weight to his good knee. Camping out never did his aching joint any good.

"N... no. I know you have, but that was to get here to Elysium. Nobody has actually left here by the Circle. Rhadamanthus won't allow it."

"You're not following Rhaddy's rules anymore remember. We need to get back to the SGC so we can enlist the help of some friends with more firepower." Jack noticed the anxiety in the Elysian man's face. "You don't have to come Ajax."

Ajax thought about it for a while. He chewed the information in his head before straightening his back and looking Jack right in the eyes.

"No, you are right Colonel. I am no longer under Rhadamanthus' thumb. I will accompany you to your S... GC. Whatever that is."

"It's home."

"I see. Then I am glad that you are taking me with you."

It had taken SG-1 and Ajax nearly 3 hours to trudge back towards the Gate after their makeshift camp-out under the Elysian stars. The morning was cold, and the grass slippery. Jack glanced over at Daniel, who had dark stains streaked across his sodden backside. The poor archaeologist had fallen over so many times that he was now complaining about bruises in undesirable places. Daniel could hardly contain his shivering as his hands glided over the symbols on the DHD.

The sixth chevron engaged.
"How does it work?"

"That's something I've never understood myself Ajax. But you can ask Carter soon enough."

Those few words brightened Ajax's mood. Finding Samantha Carter meant finding Pandora.

"I shall. And you may ask Pandora for one of her home cooked meals." His smile was unwavering. Jack caught himself smiling too.

"Deal."

The seventh symbol engaged and the event horizon spewed from the Stargate into the Elysian air before it sucked itself back and sat, glimmering brilliant blue. The almost comforting sound of the Gate as it sat, waiting for travellers was a sound SG-1 had been craving for days.

Ajax staggered back and fell flat on his behind, mouth gaping. Teal'c helped the man to his feet.

"Have you not witnessed this before Ajax?"

The stunned man just shook his head and stared at the sight before him. Already inches from the event horizon, Daniel was getting irritable.

"Guys, could we, uh, hurry it up?" Daniel glanced down at his wrist and dialled in their IDC. He was thankful that the Elysian government had been too stupid to realise that SG-1 may have needed it to escape. Foolishly they had given one back to Daniel when they had asked to go back to the Gate to inform Hammond of their whereabouts.

"After you Ajax." Jack coaxed him towards the shimmering blue.

"What do I -" Ajax was cut off by a swift shove. He went head first into the Stargate, his startled cry cut short.

"Jack, that was mean." Daniel waited for Teal'c to join them.

"Yeah, but we would've been here all day."

Suddenly Daniel remembered something.

"Jack, there are two of our containers around here somewhere. Shouldn't we grab them?"

Jack looked around, "I don't think they're still here Daniel."

"No, Sam and I hid them. If they're still there we can't let her research go down the drain." Daniel knew all too well how it felt to leave behind artefacts and information. He'd had to sacrifice many an item in the past. True, it was for their own safety. Most of the time they were being attacked by locals or Goa'uld, but he still felt bitter about not being able to go back for the things he'd worked so hard to find.

Jack gave him a serious look, "You've got two minutes to find them Daniel. We have to get outta here."

Daniel ignored the cold shudders running through his body and raced across to the patch of dirt he and Sam had been working at days ago. There was a small line of bushes just a little further, and if they were lucky that's where they would find the containers. Teal'c joined Daniel.

"Have you located them Daniel Jackson?"

"Uh... I think so. Can you lend a hand?"

Teal'c crouched in the bushes beside the archaeologist and pushed at a bunch of leaves that were concealing a shallow hole.

"Sam and I dug this before we left. We figured it'd be safe that way in case anyone saw our stuff. We couldn't fit it all in though. I hope Sam's put all the stuff she really needs into these things. Rhadamanthus and his goons have the rest."

Teal'c remained silent and pulled at one of the black containers. It moved easily. The strong Jaffa could manage on his own with the heavier of the two containers. Daniel found a way to drag his across the dirt towards the Gate. Jack could help him carry it through.

"Time to go campers!"

Relieved that they were going home and that they would soon be storming Ptah's ship down to rescue one of their own, Daniel closed the gap between himself and the Stargate at a run. Jack grabbed hold of the other side of Daniel's container. He cast one last look around him, looking for anyone who might have been spying, then disappeared with Daniel into the wormhole. Teal'c's presence through the Gate seconds later, sent a final wave of ripples through the event horizon. A few minutes later the Gate shut down and the connection to Earth was severed.

Arriving at the Gate an hour later, Telamon, Aenaes and Pollux stopped dead in their tracks. No sign of SG-1.

"They have come through this way." Pollux was on his knees in the dirt beside the DHD.

"How long ago?"

"We have only just missed them. These tracks are fresh." Pollux followed the footprints right to the Gate and cursed.

"They have escaped!"