of all the things I've ever lost...

by Medie

Summary:

"So, pink planet, T. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but this would be a first for us. Right?"

Notes:

written for the Jack/Daniel ficathon for niamaea. Thanks noveltea for the emergency beta.

"It's pink," Jack said, taking his sunglasses off for a better view. The sun was high overhead, beating down mercilessly, but this one he had to see for himself in all its Technicolour glory. "The planet, lady and gentlemen, is pink."

Not only was the planet pink, it was, in fact very, very pink. From the gravel that crunched beneath their boots to the tree leaves that rustled in the breeze. Everywhere he looked, everything was a shade of shimmering pink.

Nudging one rosy rock with his boot, Jack grinned to himself. Pink. Pink was new and like Pop O'Neill used to say, a change was a good as a rest. With all the shit that had gone down lately, God knew Jack could do with a rest. Besides, this one had to win the 'weirdest planet' pool this week. Nobody was going to be able to top pink.

Behind him, he could hear Carter fumbling with her instruments as she geeked out. There had to be days and days of fun for the geeks back at the SGC to be having here, he could practically see the blissed out geologists now. "Well, actually, sir, it's not really pink. There's a mineral in the soil that's giving it a quality that makes it appear to be -- "

"Ah ah ah," Jack held up a finger, cutting her off. "It is pink, Carter. If it looks pink, then I am going to have to insist that it is, indeed, pink. Got it? Pink."

"Yes, sir," she agreed in a tone of long-suffering amusement. "Got it, sir. The planet is pink."

"Exactly," Jack nodded in satisfaction and looked at Teal'c. The Jaffa was walking beside him and appeared to be considering an actual grin. His mouth was quirking up at the edges and if he recalled his copy of "Jaffa For Dummies" correctly, that was the universal sign for 'laughing hysterically on the inside'. "So, pink planet, T. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but this would be a first for us. Right?"

Teal'c stopped and gave it some thought (he totally kept track of those things) before he nodded. "Indeed, it is a first. I can recall no pink planets among the many that we have visited in the past."

"Indeed, I cannot recall any myself," Jack said, mimicking his tone. Out of habit, he turned to Daniel - expecting his usual dry, sarcastic retort - and immediately regretted it.

Caught off guard, Daniel smiled back at him, but it wasn't the smile that Jack remembered. There was nothing of Daniel in it. It was the polite, but befuddled, smile of someone who didn't quite know how he was supposed to be reacting to something.

That was the problem. He didn't have a clue. Daniel had that smile a lot lately.

"Pink planet," Jack prompted, filling the empty space where Daniel's comment would have been. "Very weird."

Daniel looked at him for a moment and, if he looked close, Jack could almost see the wheels turning. Daniel had realized his reaction was off and was quickly trying to puzzle out what it was supposed to be. He'd been doing that a lot lately too.

The hesitation was only a second, not long enough for the others to notice, and then he nodded. "Yes, pink planets are very weird."

Feeling hollow, Jack put his sunglasses back on. "Yeah," he said. Before the others could pick up on his discomfort, he clapped his hands together and started forward again. "All right campers," he added. "Let's see just what the powder puff planet has to offer."

0-0-0

As it turned out, what the planet had to offer was pretty damn impressive as the offerings of most planets went. When SG1 emerged from the treeline they found themselves at the base of a crystalline mountainside, out of which a city had been carved.

"Now that's something you don't see every day," Jack said, looking upward. "This planet's just getting better and better. Think anyone's home?"

"I'm going to go with yes," Daniel said. "Look." He pointed toward the very top-most level of the city where shadows could be seen emerging from the carved buildings. Hesitating on the balconies for a moment, they launched themselves into the air and began spiraling gracefully down toward the team. "Okay, are those wings?"

"Well, I'm impressed." Jack mused. "Wings are new."

"They are?" Daniel looked over. "Really?"

"Yep," he nodded. "Mostly, it's just very nice, very human looking people. Well, the Nox were a switch and then there's the Asgard, but yeah, mostly human looking."

"There is also the Goa'uld, O'Neill." Teal'c reminded.

"Well, I'm not sure if they count or not." Jack wondered. "Sure, snakes and all, but there's that hiding inside humans angle. It negates the snakehood."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.

"Okay, can we not be talking about this right now?" Daniel said quietly as the winged aliens landed a few feet away, their wings folding down onto their backs.

"Damn," Jack murmured, watching the process. "That just doesn't get less awesome." He lifted a hand in a wave. "Hi there."

The three that had landed approached cautiously, two following the third. All three were tall, head and shoulders over Teal'c, and like the planet, there was a pink cast to their skin. A pearly pink that appeared to shimmer and when they got closer, Jack realized it was due to a light dusting of scales on their cheeks.

Sweet.

"Greetings," the leader said with a slight bow.

An awkward pause followed after which Jack looked at Daniel and realized he was just standing there with an expectant look on his face. Right. "Okay, so, we would be folks just dropping by for a visit. Thought we'd check out the neighborhood and stumbled across your little city here." Hoping there'd be some alien technology inside they could use to blast the hell out of Anubis and the rest of the snakeheads. He didn't mention that part.

It was usually a good idea to wait until the second date before you brought up the master plan to wipe out the bad guys. It gave the locals a chance to try and fricassee you or some such.

"Ah, you come to us through the great ring then?" The leader asked with a bright smile. "The gift of the Ancestors?"

"Yeah, yeah we did," Jack nodded. "I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, that's Doctor Daniel Jackson, Major Samantha Carter, and the big guy is Teal'c. Ignore the shiny thing on his forehead, he's on our side."

As if just noticing it, the aliens drew back slightly and looked suspicious. "We have seen those of his kind before."

"So have we," Jack said. "Not so good history with the Jaffa, but like I said, this one's on our side. Incited a rebellion and everything."

"He is a traitor to his masters?" The aliens relaxed visibly. "Excellent." The leader touched his chest, hand shining with the same dusting of scales that decorated his cheeks. "I am Nufar of the Shining Ones, my companions are Durhan and Nafeel." He gestured to them. "We have not seen those you call Jaffa in many generations but our ancient stories speak of them and those they served."

"Many worlds have such stories," Teal'c said with a nod. "I have spent many years engaged in an attempt to overthrow the tyranny of the System Lords. I can assure you that you have nothing to fear from me."

Nufar chuckled. "We have nothing to fear from any of you," he assured. "The Ancestors left us well prepared to deal with any invaders that might come to us through the ring."

"Now that," Jack said pointing at him, "that would be the kind of thing we'd be interested in talking to you about. If the Ancestors are the people we think they are, then we've found a few things they left lying around for us."

"You have encountered the Ancestors?" Durhan spoke up with interest. "None have appeared to us in untold generations. There have been some who claimed to sense their presence, perhaps see them in dreams, but we have not seen them."

"Well," Daniel hesitated. "We call them the Ancients and, no, we haven't encountered them either. Not really." He frowned and squinted. "We found this planet on a list of addresses left by them and we were hoping that perhaps you had."

Jack looked at him, holding back a frown. It was a nice save, but Daniel'd nearly given away a little too much there and he made a note to talk to him later. First, however, there was the glad-handing and diplomatic tap-dancing to be done.

Oh joy.

0_0_0

The city from the inside was even better than out. Inside, the crystal took on a luminescient sheen that drew the eye to the formations and when Carter discovered that Nafeel was an engineer, the two began eagerly chatting about the construction of the city.

Jack paid little attention to the conversation, knowing she'd take enough notes to knock out a rhino, and instead let himself gawk at the city. Yeah, it was just not getting less cool and it gave him something to think about other than the Daniel problem.

The memories were slowly filtering back in fits and starts but not the right ones and not fast enough.

He glanced over at Daniel, watched him nearly walk into a wall as he stared up at the translucent ceiling. It was reflex to reach out and yank him back at the last second, turning him in the right direction. The moment had happened a thousand times before and Daniel barely even noticed it, not even looking when Jack's fingers lingered a second too long on the skin of his neck.

He looked away with a frown, catching Teal'c's eye. The Jaffa quirked a brow at him, sympathetic, and Jack shrugged. Not a hell of a lot could be done. He'd decided not to push Daniel on the matter and this was him not pushing.

Goddammit, he hated the not pushing. He adjusted his grip on his p-90, keeping it pointed carefully away from the ever-cautious Nufar and stopped to look at a statue that looked vaguely Oma-esque. "This looks interesting," he said of no one in particular but wasn't surprised when Daniel stepped up next to him. Amnesiac or not, Daniel couldn't resist a good several thousand-year-old knickknack.

"It is," Daniel turned. "Nufar? Who is this?"

"The name is lost to antiquity," Nufar said sadly. "But we do believe it is the Ancestor who led us to this place. It was she who left us with the things we needed to build our city and protect ourselves from the invaders that would follow."

"Why was the name lost?" Daniel wondered. "If you've taken such care with everything else –"

"She forbid us from recording it," Nufar explained. "In our ancient stories, it is suggested that she brought us here at great risk to her own safety. Others of her own people would have forbidden her from doing so if they had known."

"Don't suppose those stories happen to mention why you were brought here?" Jack looked over at him.

"Not in so many words," Nufar shook his head. "But we do know that she and her people were embarking on a great transformation to the world beyond. One that we would some day follow when we were ready."

Jack and Daniel shared a quick, startled look.

"No way," Daniel said.

"Oh, now this is going to be sweet," Jack muttered.

0_0_0

"Apologies," Nufar sketched out a little bow, his wings fluttering with the movement. "Recent scans have detected the activity of ships in the area of or world and the High Council has retreated to a secure location to discuss the matter. They will not return until the morrow and so we invite you to remain with us in the city until then."

"That's fine by us," Daniel assured.

"Oh yeah, we love sleepovers," Jack affirmed. "But you mind if Teal'c and Major Carter just nip back to the Gate, er, the Ring, and let our people know not to expect us? They tend to worry if we don't call."

"We do not mind at all," Nufar said. "Durhan and Nafeel will take you there. The journey passes more quickly by flight."

"Uh, are you sure?" Carter asked.

"Are we not too heavy to carry such a distance?" Teal'c said, passing his staff weapon to Jack.

"Our wings only seem fragile," Nufar said. "We are able to carry things of great weight. Far greater, I assure you, than either you or Major Carter." He smiled. "We often move large pieces of crystal that are removed from the mountain as we expand our city. We will not drop you; we have special harnesses that we use for the injured and those too young to fly long distances on their own. I expect you will find them most comfortable."

As he shepherded them back the way they'd come, Jack called out, "Just remember, Carter, don't look down."

She tossed a glare over her shoulder and he grinned cheerfully. Better them than him.

"Thanks," Daniel said as they left.

"For?"

"Not sending me."

Jack looked at him. "You mean you went all glowy and didn't ditch that fear of heights? Daniel." He grinned, thumping the staff weapon on the crystal floor. "They teach you nothing up there?"

Daniel's face took on a studiously blank expression and, for a moment, he seemed like Jack's Daniel as he said, "I don't know. Can't remember a thing."

0_0_0

At least the beds weren't made of crystal. They were even comfortable for the most part, although the pillow kept slipping down. Yanking it up again, Jack looked over at Daniel who was sprawled out on the bed across from him. Carter and Teal'c had, as usual, claimed the other room (he was really starting to wonder about those two) before Jack had even had a chance to protest the idea.

Ordinarily he wouldn't have complained a bit, it was easier to torture the hell out of Daniel when they were alone, but at the moment...

"Screw that," he muttered and propped himself up on his elbow, throwing the slippery as hell pillow across the space between them. "Whatcha doing?"

"Notes," Daniel said, not looking up as his pen danced across the page. Whatever he was writing, Jack knew if he looked over he wouldn't be able to read a word of it. Ascension hadn't improved Daniel's handwriting anymore than his fear of heights.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Allow me to rephrase, what are you making notes about?"

"The annoying interruptions of bored Air Force colonels," Daniel grumbled, finally looking up at him. "I think I've probably forgotten enough material on it to fill out an encyclopedia."

"Oh, you could probably fill out a set," Jack nodded. "Pity you can't remember a bit."

"I remember enough," Daniel reminded, his tone softening. "Just working on the details."

"Right," Jack said, closing his eyes. "Just make sure you remember to turn the light out okay." He paused. "We do know how to turn the lights off right?"

"Yes," Daniel assured patiently. "Wave a hand over the panel by the door."

"Well, don't kill yourself trying to get back to bed." Jack muttered. "I'm pretty sure you've used up your Ascension credits for the year and Hammond'll kill me if we've got to find another geek to replace you. Last time was bad enough."

Last time had damn near killed him. He wasn't sure he had it in him to do that again.

"I won't," Daniel said.

"Good." Jack settled down again, trying to shut out the sound of pen scratching over paper. It had taken six months of sleeping alone to be able to fall asleep without that sound, he wasn't going to let himself fall back into that habit again. "Try to keep it down, huh?"

He hid a wince at the unnecessarily sharp tone of voice but Daniel didn't seem to notice. The pen just kept on scratching and, if it was possible, moved faster this time.

Daniel was on to something and he started counting from ten. At the same time he hit 'one' Daniel called his name.

Opening his eyes, he looked over. "You got something?"

"They do." Daniel sat up and turned the notebook so he could see. Yep. Chicken scratch on Meth. Some things never changed. "The aliens? Whichever one of the Ancients brought them here - I think they left the instructions to Ascension."

Jack blinked. "You mean - "

"Nufar showed me a temple on the way here." Daniel said. "There were engravings on the walls, Ancient writing. I only saw it for a few minutes, I know, but..."

"You just know," Jack nodded. "Okay, we've got alien butterflies with a religion surrounding Ascension. We might want to avoid mentioning the part where you got kicked out. That'd probably make you their idea of the Antichrist or something."

Daniel gave him a dirty look. "Cute."

Jack smiled at him and closed his eyes again. "I thought so," he said, smug. "Gimme a poke if you come up with something interesting."

0_0_0

Daniel was looking at him, eyes shuttered and masked. Whatever he was thinking, feeling, it wasn't good and Jack wasn't permitted to see it. Fuck, this wasn't a conversation that he'd seen coming when he and Hammond had planned the operation. He clenched his teeth and worked on keeping his face impassive as Daniel stumbled through, "So, what? This whole friendship thing that we've been working on these, uh, these few years –"

Jack felt his shoulders move in a slight, dismissive shrug. Dammit, he wasn't going to be able to keep this up. It had damn near killed him the last time. Last time? Despite his confusion, he heard himself say, "Apparently not much of a foundation there, huh?"

He didn't want to see this; he didn't want to watch the look of confused hurt slowly slip into Daniel's eyes. The lack of comprehension as one of the mainstays of his life seemed to crumble out from beneath him.

God this sucked.

Daniel sat in stunned silence for a long moment, as if waiting for Jack to wink, say "gotcha" or do anything but what he was doing. Sitting silently with his beer and letting his words sink in.

Just like he had before (before?) Jack reminded himself of the listening devices and the NID on the other end. Maybourne would just love it if the leader of SG1 – Hammond's right hand guy – were to jump up and start professing some very inappropriate feelings for his primary geek. His very married primary geek. It was just the kind of scandal that Stargate Command didn't need, not with the Pentagon already twitchy over the mission and the Alpha Site proposal.

The sharp reminder le[t Jack quiet and in his seat as Daniel grabbed his coat and – again, just like before – started for the door. But, unlike before, he stopped and looked back to say, "Nobody's listening now, Jack."

The comment snapped Jack out of his melancholy and he looked up to see the Daniel that looked back at him wasn't the Daniel that was supposed to be there. This Daniel didn't look like a scrawny geek who occasionally read his way through dinner; this was a guy who looked like he'd spent his Ascended days pumping serious iron with an Ancient named Tiny.

Fuck. He was dreaming. The abrupt realization made the beer in his hand vanish and took him to his feet and across the room in a heartbeat.

Dream or not, Daniel's body felt very real beneath his hands as Jack pressed him into the door, slamming it shut with the force of their movement. "Dream, huh?" he asked.

Daniel grinned, nodding. "Dream."

"Feels real enough to me," Jack said. Dream or not, he'd rather cut off a limb than wake up now. "You remember?"

"Everything," Daniel said and, grabbing him, pulled him in for a hard kiss that was heat, teeth, and hands that couldn't get enough.

Jack grunted when Daniel's hands moved to his ass, yanking their lower bodies together. Jack rubbed against the eager body in his arms and grinned smugly when Daniel slumped back against the door, groaning his approval. "Good. Try not to forget this, okay?"

Daniel nodded mutely as Jack came in for another kiss, unzipping Daniel's pants and shoving a hand into them in search of his cock. Finding it, it was Jack who groaned and pressed his face into the crook of Daniel's neck, tasting the salt skin he found there. His hand moved, slow at first until he found the rhythm that made Daniel mutter an oath and thrust with it.

"I'll remember," Daniel sighed out the promise, his hands threading their way through Jack's hair. "Just give me time okay? We've got it now. We've got all the time in the world."

Before Jack could argue, he woke up to a dry mouth and the hard on from hell. Groaning, he passed a hand over his face and then realized the weight on his hip wasn't his sidearm. Looking down in the predawn light, he realized who the hand on his hip belonged to.

Daniel?

He looked across the small gap between the beds to see Daniel facing toward him, slack-jawed in sleep and drooling on his pillow. One hand clutched a notebook and pencil but the other one had bridged the space between them and now rested on his hip.

Well, at least he remembered something.

The hand on his hip flexed, squeezing, and then dropped to brush over him. Jack grunted and set his jaw, reaching down to carefully move the intimately questing fingers back to Daniel's side.

When he was sure Daniel wasn't going to wake up, he rolled off the bed in the other direction and stumbled into their host's idea of a bathroom to take care of his little 'problem.'

"Damn it," he muttered, taking himself in hand. Resting the other on the intricately carved wall before him, he closed his eyes and let the memories of the dream fill his head. He was sure that Daniel remembered. Somewhere in that mixed up head of his, Daniel, remembered. His body sure as hell seemed to remember what went where; it was just that damn swiss-cheese memory of his that was fucking things up.

Whatever it was Oma didn't want Daniel to remember, did she have to go and play hell with Jack O'Neill's love life? Hadn't she been paying attention the part where he'd spent a year in hell, wondering where the hell Daniel had gone off to?

The memory of Daniel's skin beneath his mouth had Jack groaning Daniel's name and spilling over his fingers.

"Jack?" Daniel's voice, rough with sleep, made his body tighten up again and Jack grinned wryly. Always did have lousy timing that man. "You up?"

Jack's grin turned to a wry smirk. "Not exactly," he said, tucking himself away and wiping his hands on a cloth. "What is it?"

"Uh, well, Nufar is here," Daniel cleared his throat. "The Council's back and they're not happy."

"Oh, of course they aren't," Jack said, throwing down the cloth and walking out of the bathroom. Emerging into the bedroom, he found Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c waiting with Nufar and a newcomer that looked about as happy as Jack felt.

"Colonel O'Neill," Nufar sketched out another of those bows he seemed so fond of. "I trust that your night was spent pleasantly?"

The image of dream!Daniel, slumped against the door and blissed out from the feeling of Jack's hand on his cock flashed before his mind's eye and Jack swallowed. "Oh, well, you know how it is," he waved a hand. "Strange bed plays hell with the back. Strange foods give you all kinds of weird dreams." He rubbed his face, wishing for a shave, and looked at the newcomer. "So, who's your friend?"

"Uh, Jack, this is Grand Councilwoman Ahjess," Daniel interrupted. "She's in charge around here and responsible for planetary security." He looked sidelong at Jack, his voice dropping into a lower register on 'security'. He caught Jack's eye at the same time and made a minute gesture with one hand. Okay, whatever was going on it wasn't good. It really wasn't good.

Jack nodded back, tipping his head in an equally spare movement as his body tensed. Even as his body prepared for the possibility of a fight a contradictory surge of pleasure raced along his spine at the intimate little exchange. It had been a long time since they'd conducted a conversation in gestures and looks alone, it felt right in a way few things had since before Daniel's Ascension. "Okay, so I'm going to take a guess here and say there's some kind of Goa'uld fleet in-bound and you think we tipped them off? Brought them here to bring unholy hell down on your feathered heads?"

"That'd be it, pretty much," Daniel said, and sighed. "They know, Jack."

Jack looked at him sharply. "They know?"

Daniel nodded. "I didn't tell them."

"He did not have to," the Grand Councilwoman said. "Our High Priestess is closer to those who have undergone the great transformation than any others. She claims that your Doctor Jackson is fallen, cast back from their presence because of his unworthiness."

"Well, it's not quite as cut and dried as your High Priestess thinks," Jack sighed.

"I'm not sure they're going to believe that one, Sir," Carter said. "They brought guards."

"And have confiscated our weapons," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, I noticed that," Jack sighed, having surreptitiously looked for them when he'd come out of the bathroom.

"I tried to explain it, Jack," Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't think they believed it."

"We did not," the Grand Councilwoman nodded. "You would say anything to save your skins at this point."

"At this point, Ma'am," Jack said pointedly, "Our skins are in twice the danger yours are. Those Goa'uld you're so worried about? Well, they're not exactly our biggest fans either and if they decide to look around before they try obliterating your nice little crystal palace here? We'll be the first ones they round up and execute. We've been at war with them for a hell of a long time and to be honest? They're more of a concern to me right now than you are. I don't suppose you know just which one of the System Lords it happens to be?"

"We do not," she admitted reluctantly. "It has been many generations –"

"Since you had a run in with these guys, yeah, we got that." Jack jerked a thumb at Nufar. "He mentioned it yesterday. How about you let us take a look and see who it is before you go for the tar and –" Daniel cleared his throat. "Before we hit the panic button, all right?"

The Grand Councilwoman looked at Nufar for a moment, their voices dropping into a light trilling language. They debated for a moment and then she closed her eyes, her wings moving once in a single beat. "Nufar will show you."

"Good," Jack agreed. "Thank you."

Nufar turned, gesturing them out of the room. "This way, honored guests," he said, shooting a look at the Grand Councilwoman.

Falling into step with Daniel, Jack wasn't surprised when he leaned over to say, "Tar and feathers, Jack?"

Jack winced and nodded. "Forgot myself for a second."

"Just don't make any jokes about KFC, okay?"

Daniel's wry comment made Jack grin brightly. "Well, now, Daniel, I can't make any promises about that but I'll give it my best shot."

0_0_0

They followed Nufar deeper into the mountain city, away from the more elaborate carved rooms. The farther in they went, the more functional things became, and soon passed from the crystal into pure, solid rock structures.

"This was the first place built by our progenitor," Nufar explained from ahead. "She knew there would be many that would try and take this place from us," he said. "She gave us the necessary tools to defend ourselves but it has been many generations since we had occasion to employ them."

Jack shared a look of foreboding with Teal'c. "Which is your polite way of saying that, perhaps, you're not entirely certain if they're going to work?"

"We are not," Nufar agreed.

"Well, that's just peachy." Jack leaned past Teal'c to look at Carter. "You think you can do something about it?"

"Possibly, sir," she said thoughtfully. "It all depends on what condition things are in."

"How far out is the fleet?" Daniel wondered.

"Days, hours, we cannot be certain." Nufar said. "They will not find the city easily," he explained. "The crystal is of a composition that makes it impossible to scan. It is why this mountain was chosen to be our home."

"First line of defense," Carter said. "You can't destroy what you can't find."

"Yes, exactly," Nufar nodded. "Eventually they will simply begin shooting from orbit but among the things left to us was a shield. If we can activate it, the whole of the mountain will be impervious to weapon's fire."

"Good times." Jack dropped back to walk with Daniel again. "You think it might be Anubis?"

Daniel shrugged. "I'm not sure. It depends on what memories he retained when the Ascended tried to force him out. We know he doesn't remember everything, but we can't be sure that this place wasn't one of them."

"I think we can," Jack said. "Nufar's been saying all along that whichever of the Ancients hid them here; she did it against the wishes of the others. If she managed to pull the feathers over their eyes, this might not be common knowledge."

"And if the others don't know, then Anubis wouldn't have any access to the information either." Daniel realized. "Right."

"Only other guy with a fleet big enough to be a real worry right now would be Ba'al."

"There's always the chance it's someone new," Daniel said oh-so-helpfully. "It wouldn't be the first time that a new System Lord came out of the shadows right when we didn't need another one."

"You're just a real bright ray of sunshine aren't you?" Jack groused.

To his surprise, Daniel winked at him. "Just the way you like me."

0_0_0

Leaning against the wall, Jack let his boot tap out a staccato beat as he waited for Carter and Daniel to finish their examination of the equipment. Teal'c and Nufar waited more patiently beside him as he listened to the quiet conversation that went back and forth between his geeks. Unsurprisingly, the controls and screens were all in a variation of Ancient which kept Daniel on his toes as Carter worked.

"You two got any ideas yet?"

"Some," Carter said, looking up. "We've got the long range scanners working. It looks like Ba'al's fleet. As for the shields and weapons, it's going to take a while longer." She stood, brushing the dust from her hands. "I can say one thing, whoever it was that hid them here? She left them a lot of things to work with. This is the highest concentration of Ancient technology I've ever seen."

"Sweet," Jack pushed away from the wall. "Daniel, you talk to them about that later, all right. In the meantime, you two do whatever it takes to get this thing up and running." He looked at Nufar. "You wanna go tell your Grand Councilwoman the latest?"

"I cannot leave you," Nufar said with a hesitant frown.

"Yeah, you can." Jack promised. "We're not going to go anywhere." He gestured toward the tunnel. "Maze you led us through to get here, we wouldn't have any idea which way to go anyway. Just tell her what's going on and that we're working on it." He smiled tightly. "We want her all nice, happy, and not inclined to throw us over the nearest balcony, understand?"

"Yes," Nufar looked sheepish. "Of course, I will be back when I am able."

He rushed from the room and as soon as Jack thought he was out of earshot, he looked at Teal'c. "Keep an eye on the door, I don't want anyone coming in and finding us poking something we're not supposed to be poking."

Teal'c looked amused but said nothing, just took up position. There were times that Jack would have given almost anything to know what the former First Prime was thinking. But that smirk on Teal'c's face at that moment told Jack he really didn't want to know. Somewhere in there, he suspected the word stupid and humans were running together in varying combinations.

"Right, okay, so anything we can shove down our pants when we leave?" Jack asked, looking at Carter.

She grinned. "No, sir, but we can take a copy of the database when we go. There are plenty of redundant storage crystals here. We can use some of them."

"I love it when you plot thievery, Carter," Jack said. "Remind me to promote you or something."

"You can't, sir," she reminded with humor.

"Details, details," Jack waved a hand and turned away.

"You know, Jack, it's conceivable that Ba'al doesn't even know that the city is here." Daniel said, standing up. "He might just be looking for a new site for a base, there's a good chance that Anubis has compromised the others."

"Here's hoping." Jack agreed.

"In that case, sir, I don't think we want to start a shooting war." Carter said. "If we can hide the city then, there's a chance he'll, just bypass the planet."

"Or set up shop all nice and oblivious to his brand new neighbors." Jack nodded.

"That would mean they'd be cut off from the Stargate." Daniel frowned.

"Would it not be better, Daniel Jackson, to allow themselves to be temporarily cut off from the Stargate than to risk fighting for it and revealing their location?" Teal'c asked from the door. "If Ba'al does wish to use this planet as a secondary base, he will not remain here permanently."

"I'm with Teal'c," Jack said. "It's better to go under the radar for a while than risk them dying. I don't think these guys have much of a chance in a fight, abundance of Ancient doohickeys or no." He shrugged. "Relax, Daniel, it's their decision what we do. If they want to fight, we'll help fight. If they want to hide, then Carter fixes everything up and we make for the Stargate."

He looked at Daniel. "Sound good?"

Daniel waved a hand and shrugged. "It sounds… not hideous."

"Didn't you just miss this guy's constant optimism?" Jack asked, looking at Teal'c. "How'd we ever survive without the constant pep to keep us going?"

He grinned broadly and bounced a little. "Hurry up and copy the database, Carter. I have a feeling Nufar's going to haul wing to get back here before we smudge something."

0_0_0

The Grand Councilwoman was with Nufar when he returned, her expression considerably less combative than before. "You believe that you can help us?" she asked, lifting her chin in defiance.

"Well, we believe that Carter can help you," Jack nodded to where she was head and shoulders inside one of the ancient consoles. "And she is, in fact, engaged in that particular endeavor at this very moment. I think. She may be stuck but we'll worry about that later." Nufar looked at him for a long moment, as if uncertain whether or not he was serious and Jack enjoyed it before saying, "We've got two potential plans and whichever one you decide to go with is fine by us."

He quickly laid out both options for her, explaining the pros and cons of both. "We can't make the decision for you," he said in closing. "But whatever you want to do…" He gestured. "We do."

She drew in a breath and looked at Nufar. "How much time do we have to prepare?"

"They have entered the system but seem to be taking time to examine each world." Nufar's wings beat quickly with his nervousness, stirring the dust around them up into the air. "We cannot be certain but our best estimates suggest a day at most."

"And I wouldn't bet on that long," Jack said. "It seems like Ba'al's looking for a new hidey-hole and this planet's got a lot of great little places for a god to hide out. Nufar said the crystal in these mountains make it hard for ships to scan, right?"

He waited for the Grand Councilwoman to nod before continuing, "Then if your planet is the only one in the system with that advantage, it's is going to look pretty attractive to him."

She nodded. "Then I believe you are correct, it is best to disguise our presence. If their presence here will be temporary, it is the only option I dare take. We are not warriors, Colonel O'Neill, I'm afraid in the generations since our arrival here we have let such skills lapse."

"Then, Madam Grand Councilwoman, I'd suggest you start brushing up."

0_0_0

Daniel fell asleep. Jack looked over and shook his head at the sight of him propped up against a console, mouth hanging open. Leaving Teal'c at the door, he eased Daniel down into a sitting position on the floor and sat beside him.

When Daniel's head slipped down onto his shoulder, Jack folded his arms across his chest and stared at the far wall. No one said anything.

0_0_0

This time, Jack knew it was a dream. Stretched out on the floor of the cargo ship, the mine floating overhead, and la familia Carter nowhere in sight.

"You know, if I didn't know better," he said thoughtfully, "I'd swear you were sneaking into my dreams just to molest me a little."

"Well, if I were going to be sneaking into your dreams, can you think of a better reason?" Daniel asked, rustling the papers in his hands. "I still can't believe I was off by one number."

"I still can't believe I didn't blow us to hell and back," Jack countered. "Flying this thing? Surprisingly difficult when you're surrounded by a couple bajillion mines."

"It was a couple thousand," Daniel disagreed. "Not a bajillion." Jack could practically hear the frown in his voice. "What is a bajillion anyway?"

"About as high as Carter can count when she's had one too many margaritas." Jack rolled over onto his stomach and wriggled in so he could look down at Daniel. "Wanna try the Spiderman kiss?"

Daniel made a face. "Not especially."

"C'mon, Daniel," Jack wheedled, leering. "If you're sneaking into my dreams to molest me, there isn't a whole lot of it going on." He leaned over, brushing his lips against Daniel's in a slow, leisurely pass. "See? Not so bad right?"

"No, but I prefer them the other way." Daniel twisted around and grinned. "See?" He reached out, sliding a hand around the back of Jack's neck and pulling him in for another, longer, kiss. "Ever make love in the middle of a minefield underneath a mine?"

"That would be a first." Jack agreed. "Pink planet, flying people, sex next to a megaton explosive - Captain Kirk would be green with envy." He pressed a hand over Daniel's mouth. "Don't say it."

When he pulled his hand away, Daniel's lips quirked into a grin. "I was still thinking it."

"Doesn't matter," Jack dismissed. "Just don't say it." He leaned in to kiss Daniel again. "Missed this," he muttered against his mouth.

"So did I." Daniel said. "It's not half as fun when you can't feel me doing it."

"Say what now?" Jack sat up and banged his head off the mine, cursing when he did. He rubbed at the spot and edged out from beneath the mine to stare down at Daniel. "What did you just say?"

Daniel looked up at him then at the mine. "Lucky this is a dream," he mused. "Or we'd be space dust right now."

"Forget the mine," Jack straddled him, staring down at him. "Daniel?" He squinted. "Is it... Son of a bitch." He rocked backward and Daniel responded by groaning, rocking up into him. It was distracting as hell and he sucked in a breath, reluctantly pushing it out of his mind. "Daniel?"

Daniel grinned sheepishly. "Yes, Jack?"

"The hell?"

"I don't know how this is happening, exactly." Daniel shrugged. "I've tried to figure it out but, yeah, I got nothing. All I know is it's only happened with you. Not any of the others. At least, not that I can remember and that's the thing, Jack. Here? I remember." He looked frustrated. "Not what happened when I was Ascended but everything before that, and I mean everything. I remember us."

He sighed. "Out there, remembering is murder. I get bits and pieces, little parts of nothing and the harder I tried, the less I got. I knew there was something more, I could almost feel it but -- " He shrugged. "Maybe that's why. I knew it was us, it was important, and maybe somehow I knew if I was here, I could remember."

Jack looked at him and shook his head. "Idiot," he said affectionately, holding out a hand to help Daniel up. "C'mere." He pulled Daniel to his feet and into his arms, pressing his face into his neck. "So, out there -- "

"I remember," Daniel said, turning toward him and kissing his neck. "Not everything but I remember enough, enough of what I couldn't before." He stepped back and looked at Jack. "I hate my new house, I hate the new bed, and I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since I moved in. Can I come home now?"

Jack just grinned and kissed him again. When they came up for air, he found himself staring blearily at Teal'c's face. "Huh wha?" he said thickly, trying to swallow around a dry mouth.

"Major Carter is ready to attempt cloaking the mountain, O'Neill."

Rubbing an eye, Jack disentangled himself from a similarly bleary-eyed Daniel and got up. "Sweet, let's see it."

"I'm not sure if it will work, sir," Carter said, turning to look at him. "These systems have been running on minimal levels for thousands of years probably. I've been trying to ramp up the power slowly, but I'm not sure. The second I throw the switch, the whole system could just shut down on us."

Jack frowned. "Well, too late to worry about it now." He cast a glance at the long-range sensors. "Ba'al's practically banging down the door." He tapped the console. "Time's a-wastin'."

She looked at him, chewing her lip. "Here goes nothing," she said and flipped the switch. Briefly the lights flickered, dimmed, and then flooded back to full. Around them consoles leapt to life with reports and readouts as long-dormant systems came online. "Daniel? Does this say what I think it says?"

Pushing past Jack, Daniel put his glasses back to rights and leaned in. "If you think that it says all systems functioning within normal parameters, then yeah it's what you think."

"Okay, so it's what we think." Jack agreed. "Do we think that whatever it is that's supposed to be hiding this place actually is?"

He watched as Daniel and Carter bent over another screen, poking at things and muttering at each other. After a minute or so, they turned to look at him and nodded.

"Yes," they chorused.

"Okay, great, let's go tell the locals so they don't boil us in oil or whatever's in fashion these days." Jack gestured to the door. "C'mon, kids."

"Actually, sir," Carter said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to stay behind for a little while and make sure everything's going to stay working."

Jack considered it for a moment and then looked over his shoulder. "T, you mind staying with?" He gestured around. "Just in case."

"I do not mind a bit." Teal'c affirmed.

"Great, so he'll keep an eye on the door and you keep an eye on the computers, Daniel and I will go make nice." He paused and looked back. "You kids play nice. No making out when the rest of us aren't watching."

Carter raised a brow at him. "I don't think that's our problem, sir."

0_0_0

Jack and Daniel were halfway through the tunnels before Jack stopped. "Uh, which way do we go now?"

Daniel shrugged "Damned if I know."

0_0_0

"Well, now, that is just creepy." Jack said, looking down at the Jaffa swarming the valley. "They look like little ants." He glanced over at Nufar, saw the confused look, and grinned. "Tiny insects. Bugs."

"Ah, yes," Nufar nodded. "Would that they were, they would be far easier to deal with."

"If everything holds," Jack said, "you won't have to deal with them at all. Just hunker down and wait them out. The way things have been going lately, Ba'al isn't going to be here long and Anubis has no interest in a former secret hide out. If he knew about your little treasure trove, he would have been here by now."

"Yes," Nufar nodded. "So you have said and we have your device," he held up the GDO. "Should we require assistance, we will send someone with it to the Ring."

"Otherwise, you keep that locked up tight, okay?" Jack warned. "We don't hand those out to just anybody." Not that Anubis or Ba'al really needed one to raise hell on Earth but it was the principle of the thing. "And watch yourselves, all right? Hate to see anything happen to that city of yours."

"As we would hate to see anything happen to your world, Colonel," Nufar bowed again as they walked to the Stargate. "Please, be careful in your battles." He looked at them with a smile. "It would be unfortunate if you did not survive to return again. Your first visit did not go according to plan."

"You'd be surprised, actually," Daniel said. "We tend to get accused and nearly thrown into prison, or actually thrown into prison, fairly regularly."

"Daniel's got one of those faces." Jack shrugged. "Guess he just looks like he belongs in a prison movie."

Nufar looked blank. "I do not understand your meaning, Colonel O'Neill."

"Most people don't," Jack agreed. "You'd be surprised how often that comes in handy." He grinned and turned. "Dial it up, Carter, before Anubis decides to take an afternoon stroll."

0_0_0

"Think they'll be all right?" Daniel wondered as he stretched out on Jack's couch, book in hand.

Jack sat down, lifting Daniel's feet into his lap, and handed him a cup of coffee. "Yeah, they'll be fine. I read the reports. Carter built enough back ups into that system that they'd have to smash the whole thing to hell to crash it." He relaxed, putting his own feet on the coffee table and sliding one hand along Daniel's leg.

"Stop it," Daniel warned from behind his book.

"Stop what?"

Suspicious eyes appeared over the edge of the book as Daniel slanted one of those looks at him. "Nice try, Jack, you know what."

Jack grinned innocently. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Daniel. I'm just sitting here, enjoying a sunset and thinking about watching a game while you read War and Peace, or Gone with the Wind, or whatever the hell that is. It'll be a nice evening at home for once. You know how long it's been since I had one of those?"

Daniel snorted and went back to his book. "You're not trying to have a quiet evening at home."

"I'm not?"

"Nope, you're trying to get laid."

"Well, can you blame me?" Jack protested. "A man has needs and no, dream sex does not count so you can't even count those. It's been a year, Daniel."

"So sorry that my death inconvenienced you," Daniel said dryly. "I'll try to avoid that the next time."

"Damn straight you will," Jack agreed, plucking the coffee and book from his hands and putting them on the coffee. "And no amnesia next time either. That's worse." He moved over Daniel, pressing him down into the couch. "Got it?" His voice roughened on the last and the look in Daniel's eyes said he'd gotten a peek at just what Jack was really feeling.

"Got it," Daniel said quietly, thumb rubbing over Jack's lower lip.

"Good," Jack said. "Because you ever do that to me again, Daniel? I swear to God, I'm shooting myself and coming after your ass."

Daniel grinned at him wickedly. "Is that supposed to be a deterrent?"

With a shake of his head and a muttered, "Idiot," Jack grabbed Daniel and kissed him.