• Spoilers: FIAD, Legacy, need, Anything involving Sha’re.
• Summary: whilst hoping to rebuild trust among the team after the events of legacy and FIAD, sg1 find themselves some potential new allies.
• PG-13 [A] [D] [S]

‘ SG-1 you have a go’ General Hammond informed his premiere team who stood waiting on the ramp at the base of the Stargate.

The Stargate was the large metal ring, which had been found in Giza, Egypt, back in 1928. It allowed them to travel between Earth and other planets millions of light years away.

The team had been through some rough patches lately. The General hoped that this simple mission would allow them to sort things out.

SG-1’s leader gave a slight wave towards the control room as he stepped through the wormhole, closely followed by his 3 team-mates.

Colonel Jack O’Neill smiled to himself as he stepped out unto their latest planet, P6X-402. The rest of his team, Dr Daniel Jackson, Major Samantha ‘Sam’ Carter and Teal’c followed him out.

‘ So Daniel, which way?’ he asked, having already assessed the area for any potential dangers.

Not getting an answer, he turned to their resident archaeologist/linguist who had his arms firmly wrapped around his chest and his head down, a stance the rest of his team knew all too well. Jack sighed; it was obvious his mind wasn’t on their current mission, though he couldn’t really blame him.

Daniel’s wife, Sha’re, had died only 3 weeks previously and just to top things off, Teal’c had been the one to kill her in order to save Daniel’s life. Everyone knew that Teal’c had had no choice, Ammonet, the symbiote who’d taken over Sha’re’s body, would have killed Daniel within seconds had Teal’c not intervened.

Daniel had barely spoken to any of them since it had happened, not even to Jack, his best friend. Not that Jack hadn’t tried everything he could think of to get his friend to open up and talk. Jack knew he’d been pretty effectively shut out, but he’d force his way if he had to. He knew that Daniel would have to talk about it sooner rather than later or it would just eat him up from within. Jack knew he’d not handled his own grief very well after his son Charlie had died, but Daniel had been there to stop him from making a big mistake and now Jack planned on returning the favour.

He hoped the mission would provide them with the opportunity to sort things out between them and the team in general.

He knew Teal’c still felt incredibly guilty for the part he’d played in Sha’res death, even though Daniel had assured Teal’c that he understood and forgave him.

If nothing else, the ruins the M.A.L.P had shown on the planet would keep Daniel’s mind occupied for a while. It would also give Jack the time to relax and do some fishing in the nearby lake, something he was very much looking forward to.

‘Daniel’ he called, moving closer.

Daniel looked up quickly as Jack’s voice startled him from his thoughts.

‘Oh…..uh…sorry’ he stammered, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

‘The ruins, which way?’ Jack repeated, running a hand through his grey silver hair as he tried to keep the exasperation from his voice.

‘Uh….that way’ Daniel pointed to the nearby woods that lay several hundred yards ahead of them.

Behind them lay open fields, but other than the Stargate and the DHD, there was no sign of anything manmade, not even a path.

‘Ok, Teal’c you take point, Carter your with Daniel and I’ll watch our six’

‘I thought we hadn’t detected any lifeforms on this planet?’ Daniel frowned slightly.

‘We didn’t, but you can’t be too careful’ Jack replied, picking up his pack before setting off.

‘Just how far are these ruins?’ asked Jack after they’d been walking for about an hour through the woods.

‘We should have reached them about half an hour ago, sir’ Carter replied ‘ they weren’t more than a couple of miles away.’

Jack raised his eyebrows in question.

‘So, what? We’re lost?’ he asked sarcastically.

Carte shrugged not knowing how to reply.

‘We should be right on top of them’

‘They should be here, O’Neill’ Teal’c put in.

Carter gave him a grateful look.

‘Do you see any ruins?!’ Jack demanded sarcastically, he was getting more than a little annoyed at running around in circles and the lack of answers he was getting.

A hesitant voice interrupted him.

‘Um…Jack’ Daniel tapped him on the shoulder.

‘What is it?’ he asked trying to keep his voice calm. Biting the archaeologist's head off would be counterproductive to his plans.

Daniel pointed into the woods and Jack followed his gaze, but saw nothing. He gave his friend a questioning look.

‘I…uh….I thought I saw a rucksack’ Daniel mumbled uncertainly, wondering if he’d been hallucinating again. ‘But I guess not’

‘No DanielJackson, I saw it also’ Teal’c reassured him.

Jack looked at the big Jaffa.

‘Then where is it?’

‘It vanished’ he stated

Jack regarded Teal’c incredulously.

‘Vanished?’

‘Yes O’Neill. One moment it was there, the next it was not’

‘okaaay’ Jack drawled. He turned to Daniel who was looking rather relieved that someone else had also seen it.

Jack realised he was probably remembering the last time he’d thought he’d seen something. Machello’s bug had infected him, making him appear schizophrenic, whilst waiting to attack Teal’c’s goa’uld symbiote.

Jack knew they would have to prove to Daniel that they still believed in him.

‘Ok, lets take a look around. Teal’c your with Carter, Daniel your with me’ Jack ordered ‘report back in half an hour’

Jack and Daniel headed towards the spot where the bag had been seen, whilst Teal’c and Carter headed in another direction.

‘See anything?’ Jack finally asked after searching the spot that Daniel had indicated.

Daniel shook his head.

They made there way around the area, searching thoroughly until their half an hour was up, but they found nothing.

Seeing Carter and Teal’c approaching, Jack could already tell that they'd not had any more luck than Daniel and himself.

‘We didn’t find anything, sir’ Carter confirmed his thoughts

Jack sighed,

‘Ok kids, I think it’s time to set up camp’ He decided, looking at the darkening sky.

The planets two moons had already made an appearance.

‘Carter, you and Daniel get a fire going and sort us out a meal. Teal’c and I will set up the tents and secure the perimeter. We’ll try again tomorrow.’

Unbeknownst to SG-1, a young pair of eyes watched as they set up camp. The eyes belonged to a 14-year-old girl, who wondered if the strangers would be able to help her, but until she knew for sure, she would have to be careful around them.

Earlier she’d almost been caught when she’d forgotten about her rucksack. She’d been busy keeping the ruins from their view but she knew it wasn’t an excuse for such a rookie mistake. What would the twins think if they knew? She settled into her sleeping bag within the ruins and fell in to a light sleep, which allowed her to keep up the telepathic illusion. Tomorrow she’d make a decision.

Jack crept up to Teal’c’s tent, intending to wake him up for his watch.

‘Teal’c!’ he whispered loudly ‘it’s 2.00.’

Teal’c nodded, got up and made his way to the fire.

Jack was about to enter his own tent and get some sleep, when he heard sounds coming from Daniel’s tent.

He could feel Teal’c’s eyes upon him as he made his way to Daniel’s tent.

Poking his head in, Jack could see that his friend was caught up in another nightmare and judging by the words he caught now and then, it involved Sha’re.

Reaching for his friend, Jack gave him a gentle shake.

‘Danny, wake up’ he whispered loudly.

Daniel sat up suddenly, almost colliding with Jack.

Jack placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping the contact would ground him to reality.

‘S’okay, you were dreaming’ Jack reassured his friend, rubbing his shoulder and trying to catch Daniel’s eyes with his own.

Daniel pulled out of his grasp, not willing to meet Jack’s eyes.

‘Sorry’ he mumbled

‘Don’t be’ Jack told him, ‘You wanna talk about it?’

‘No!’ Daniel shook his head vigorously,

‘I can’t. Not yet’ he tried to explain upon seeing the hurt look cross Jack’s face.

Jack nodded, ‘Get some sleep’ he suggested before going back to the fire where Teal’c sat watching.

‘Is DanielJackson alright?’ the Jaffa asked quietly

‘I’m not really sure’ Jack sat beside Teal’c with a sigh.

‘Was the nightmare of Sha’re?’

Jack nodded reluctantly, not wanting to lie to his friend.

‘He won’t talk to me though, or anyone else for that matter. He’s trying to pretend that everything’s fine when it’s not. I don’t think he’s even cried since…’Jack trailed off.

‘I killed her’ stated Teal’c

Jack grimaced.

‘It wasn’t your fault, Teal’c. You did what had to be done’

The Jaffa didn’t say anything, but Jack knew he wasn’t convinced.

‘Anyway, you know what Daniel’s like. I’m afraid that if he doesn’t start talking to someone soon, it’ll all catch up to him when we least expect it’

They sat together in silence a while longer before Jack finally headed for his tent, intent on getting at least a little sleep and hoped that Daniel would too.

It took a while for Daniel to get back to sleep, but at least he avoided having anymore nightmares.

He woke up feeling like he’d not had much rest. His eyes felt sore and his head ached, causing him to wonder if he was coming down with something or if it was just his allergies playing up again.

Rubbing his temples, Daniel stumbled out of his tent with his eyes half closed.

The rest of sg-1 watched as he sat down beside them.

‘You ok Daniel?’ asked Sam as she helped Teal’c and the Colonel to prepare breakfast.

‘Just a little headache’ he reassured her, one hand massaging his temple. ‘Probably my allergies’

Jack handed him a cup of coffee and a couple of aspirin.

Daniel nodded his thanks, but avoided his friends concerned gaze.

He felt more than a little guilty for brushing Jack off the night before. He knew his friend was only trying to help, but Daniel wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk to Jack.

A month ago, he would easily have done so but now after machello’s little surprise he wasn’t sure of how Jack would react.

Ok, so Jack wasn’t exactly well known for giving physical comfort, but the way Jack had avoided coming anywhere near him whilst he’d been in his padded room, had left him feeling hurt and abandoned. Not that it was the first time he’d been left on his own. Being orphaned when he was 8 years old and spending the rest of his childhood bouncing from one foster home to the next hadn’t really helped him feel like he belonged anywhere

He’d finally found himself a family and he didn’t want to risk sending Jack running again, especially now that Daniel really needed him around.

Jack was like his best friend and big brother all rolled into one, and he couldn’t bear the thought of losing him too.

Sg-1 was his family and he finally felt like he belonged somewhere

People found it strange that he and Jack could be so close, when they had so little in common. He certainly couldn’t explain it to them, as he didn’t really understand it himself. After his addiction to the sarcophagus, Daniel had found out just how much he meant to Jack, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

‘ I guess we’d better have another look for those ruins’ Jack said, starling Daniel from his thoughts ‘but keep an eye out for unwelcome visitors. That rucksack had to have come from somewhere.’

After cleaning their camp they set off once again in search of the ruins. They hadn’t got very far when Teal’c who was ahead of them, suddenly stopped ‘O’Neill, I hear something in the trees above us’ he aimed his staff weapon into the trees.

Jack and Sam mirrored his actions.

‘Teal’c do you see anything?’ the Colonel whispered.

The Jaffa shook his head.

‘ I do not.’

Jack made his way to Teal’c’s position, ordering a Sam and Daniel to stay back incase there was trouble.

‘Come down where we can see you.’

They heard more rustling and a rucksack dropped down from the branches high above them. The rucksack was quickly followed by a smallish figure holding some kind of weapon.

Jack kept his gun trained on them, wondering how they’d managed to fall so far without getting injured.

They appeared to be facing what they assumed was a 10-year-old human boy. The eye’s which turned to lock on to Jack’s, were blue but not like any blue he’d ever seen human eye’s to be. They were incredibly bright, almost luminous, and incredibly blue. The deep blue of a bright summers day. The boys hair though technically blond, was more accurately described as yellow, it was styled similarly to the way Daniel had had his done when he’d first come back from Abydos.

He wore a pair of camouflaged combat trousers, a black T-shirt and the camouflaged jacket was wrapped round his waist. The camouflaged design Jack and Sam recognised as being British. The deeply tanned skin spoke of many hours spent outside in the sun.

The boy gave them a cocky grin, before slowly lowering his gun and leaving it on the ground.

‘Hi, I’m Lucy and I come in peace to ask for your help’ she said in a British sounding accent.

They looked at her in disbelief until Jack broke the silence.

‘Well that makes a change!’ he commented to his teammates before directing his next comment at the girl.

‘You’re a girl?’

‘Yeah’ another grin, Jack and the others could see the barely hidden mischief in her eyes.

‘How old are you?’ Jack made a guess ‘10, 11…?’

‘14’

Jack gave the 4 foot 10 inch girl in front of him a once over.

‘Right’ he drawled sarcastically.

She still looked very boyish and showed signs of muscle toning.

The look in her piercing blue eye’s stopped his next comment. Her eye’s spoke of more experience than even a 14-year-old should have and seemed totally out of place when she grinned.

He changed the subject.

‘ Where d’ya get the gun?’ he asked wondering who’d be dumb enough to just hand over a gun to a child. Maybe she’d stolen it?

‘It’s mine I didn’t steal it and I’m trained to use it.’ She told him firmly.

Jack gave her an incredulous look wondering how she’d guessed what he was thinking.

‘What?!’

Daniel gave Jack a concerned look. He knew how his friend felt about kids and guns, especially after Jack’s son Charlie had died after getting hold of his father’s gun. He stepped in quickly.

‘Aren’t you a little young to be a soldier?’

Lucy gave Jack a long look before answering Daniel’s question.

‘I’m not a soldier, I only said I was trained with it. Anyway it’s not really a gun in your sense of the word. It only has a stun setting and it’s programmed so that I’m the only one who can use it.’

‘Who trained you?’ Daniel continued.

‘The twins.’

‘Care to elaborate?’ Jack prompted.

‘Ryan and Vicky, my brother and sister.’

‘How old are they?’ Jack felt his frustration grow with the lack of answers.

‘20 years old. Look maybe I should start from the beginning.’

Lucy could feel the frustration and annoyance from Jack and the growing concern from Daniel. ‘Lets go to your camp and I’ll explain it all to you, ok?’

Jack nodded and led them all back to their camp.

‘It was your rucksack I saw wasn’t it?’ Daniel asked suddenly.

Lucy nodded, picking it up along with her gun. She handed the gun to Jack before he could say anything, surprising him slightly.

‘ Keep it until I’ve explained. It’ll make you feel better.’ She told him cryptically.

Once back at camp and settled down around the fire, coffee was made and handed out.

Lucy looked at her cup of cocoa.

‘ How come I don’t get coffee?’

Jack ignored her.

‘Ok, firstly. Are you alone here?’

Lucy shook her head.

‘My brothers here and so are the people who have him.’

‘And they are?’ Lucy felt Jack’s frustration rise again.

‘Jaffa, about 20 of them.’

‘You know of the Goa’uld?’ asked Daniel.

‘Oh yeah!’

‘So you know Teal’c…’

‘Yeah, I also know he’s against them, so don’t worry.’ Lucy reassured him, ‘If you let me explain you’ll understand, ok?’

‘Go ahead’ Jack motioned for her to start.

Lucy crossed her legs and leant forwards, resting her elbows on her knees before starting.

‘Ok, first of all you need to know that I’m not human. I come from a planet called Gondolia originally, though I’ve lived most of my life on Earth. Ryan and Vicky are my half-human brother and sister and even though they also half Gondolian, they are not my real brother and sister because they adopted me when I was about 4.

All Gondolians, physically, look human but there are some differences in our metabolism. We heal much faster than normal; a healing factor I guess you’d call it.

We’re also telepathic, have the ability to teleport and are generally faster, stronger and more intelligent than humans.’

‘You have these abilities?’ interrupted Sam.

‘ Yeah, but I’m also one of 6 children used in a Gondolian experiment back in 1989. So I’m stronger, smarter and more agile than even a Gondolian.’

‘Experiment?’ Jack raised his eyebrows.

‘I really don’t want to discuss it, ok?!’

Jack shrugged, though still curious, he let her continue.

‘All that you need to know is that I spent time in an orphanage, ran away and after spending a year with a local circus, Ryan and Vicky adopted me. They thought it would be a good idea for me to keep practising my acrobatic skills and when I got older they made me take self defence and combat survival lessons.’

‘Now see, that’s what I don’t get’ Jack interrupted ‘why train a kid to fight?’

Lucy glared at him.

‘ If you let me finish explaining, you’ll understand why they did it.

Anyway, as I was saying. They sent me to self-defence lessons. I used to get into a lot of trouble at school because of my intelligence and willingness to get into a fight with anyone who had a go at me.

After one kid ended up in hospital, badly injured after trying to fight me. Vicky felt that I needed to learn to control my strength and temper. That’s why they made that particular decision. They also didn’t want anyone to find out that I had a healing factor.’

‘Ok,’ Jack conceded looking thoughtful, ‘ are Gondolians very different from humans, technologywise?’

‘Oh yeah, more advanced, but they don’t really like to share.’ Lucy replied and carried on before Jack had time to comment, ‘ now I need your help to free my brother.’

She gave them a pleading look.

‘Why did you come here?’ asked Daniel.

‘And how?’ put in Sam.

‘Through the Stargate, we needed more Naquada for the Resistance.’

‘Resistance?’ Jack asked, wondering what they were getting themselves into.

‘A rogue group on Gondolia, intent on stopping experiments on children.’

‘They’re still happening?’ Jack felt slightly sick as he wondered why supposedly advanced people would experiment on their own children.

Lucy nodded and continued.

‘Anyway Ryan got captured and I need help to get him out. So will you help me?’ she looked at them expectantly.

‘Ok, wait a minute… you know about Teal’c because you what… read our minds?’ asked Daniel.

‘Yeah, I read your surface thoughts, so I know who you all are and where you’re from. I also know a few things, which tell me I can trust you.’ She explained ‘Don’t worry I only pick up what you think loudly, I don’t enter your minds.’ She told Jack who’d opened his mouth to protest.

‘How do we know that?’

‘Trust me?’ Lucy gave a slight smile ‘Seriously, I wouldn’t do that. I know first hand what it’s like having someone delve into your mind and searching your most secret thoughts.’ Her eyes darkened as she remembered things she’d much rather she hadn’t. ‘Anyway Vicky and Ryan brought me up to believe in loyalty, honesty and trust and that everyone has a right to privacy, so I always ask before going in and I only go in if it’s absolutely necessary. Surface thoughts are very hard to block though, sorry! It’s kinda like being sat between two people who are talking to each other over you, very hard to ignore.’

Lucy looked at Jack and then at her gun which sat beside him.

Jack suddenly understood way she’d handed it to him. She’d obviously picked up on his thoughts of Charlie.

‘Ok,’ Jack told her feeling rather uncomfortable and handed her the gun back ‘I guess we’ll help you get your brother back.’

He looked at the rest of his team for confirmation. Getting it he turned back to Lucy.

‘By the way, I’m Jack. That’s Daniel, Sam and Teal’c.’

‘I know.’ Lucy grinned.

‘Uh, yeah. I suppose you would.’

‘Actually, I’ve been observing you since yesterday. I heard you talking.’ Lucy admitted.

She released her psychic block and allowed them to see the ruins.

‘Oh’ for once even Daniel was left speechless. ‘Uh… how?’

Lucy shrugged,

‘It’s like putting a blanket over your minds. I only let you see what I wanted you to see. Don’t worry I’ve stopped. I couldn’t let you see me too soon.’

‘Well I guess we’d better let the General know what’s going on.’ Jack said, getting up ‘Then we’ll make plans for rescuing your brother.’

Jack and Sam left to inform the General about the change in their plans, leaving Lucy with Daniel and Teal’c to prepare their late lunch.

‘So what’s Gondolia like?’ Daniel asked as he sat beside their young guest beside the fire.

‘A lot like Earth really, though they’re more technologically advanced.’ Lucy replied ‘Gondolia’s in your future, 24^th century to be exact.’ Lucy held her hand up to stop him from interrupting, ‘we have to use your portal in order to get to your time. The portal is similar to the Stargate except that it not only crosses space but also time. There are 3 portals; ours, Earth’s and one in deep space. Ours and Earth’s have fixed times ours can also change destination but that’s never been tried before and the one in deep space can transport you to any time or place without the need for another portal. We use the shuttle for transportation.’ She stopped allowing Daniel to interrupt.

‘Uh maybe you should be talking to Sam about this.’ He gave her a sheepish grin.

‘Sorry, it’s not easy to explain to someone who hasn’t much knowledge of physics.’

‘Don’t worry, I find the same happens when I try to explain something archaeological to people.’ He gave her a shy smile.

‘You know I could teach you some of our language if you like.’ She offered.

‘Sure I’d like that.’ He grinned, his interest piqued.

She decided to change the subject.

‘You’re an orphan aren’t you?’

Daniel nodded slowly.

‘Is it that obvious?’

‘Not really. I’m telepathic but I also sense emotions, orphans, I don’t know, feel different I guess.’ She shrugged ‘I can’t really explain it.’

She watched him thoughtfully for a few minutes.

‘You can trust Jack you know.’

Daniel looked up from the fire, startled by the subject change.

‘I do.’ He told her, not really liking where the conversation was going.

‘I meant with your thoughts…’ Lucy hesitated ‘and Sha’re.’

Daniel looked at her coldly.

‘That’s not really any of your business, and I certainly wasn’t thinking about her.’

‘I wasn’t looking.’ She picked up a branch and poked it around in the fire. She knew she had to tread carefully, they didn’t really trust her yet but she couldn’t just sit and watch their friendship fall apart either.

She’d already watched her sister go through it several times before she met Ryan and she didn’t plan on watching her new friends do the same, especially as she liked them both immensely. They were meant to be together as far as she was concerned. She liked the others too, but there was something about Daniel and Jack that reminded her of the twins. Stubborn yet loyal to a fault!

‘I caught your nightmare last night, you were projecting.’

His expression softened.

‘Sorry.’

‘ Nah, don’t worry about that. I just wanted to let you know that you could trust Jack, he won’t let you down if he can help it. He feels the same way about you as you do about him, he’s just not very good at showing it.’ Lucy smiled at him ‘Your very lucky, he’s a good friend and there aren’t many of those around believe me!’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Daniel sighed.

‘So trust him.’

‘It’s not that simple.’

Lucy sighed knowing she’d have to go a bit further if she wanted to save their friendship.

‘Ya know, he did try to visit you, but they kept refusing to let him do so.’

Daniel looked at her knowing she was talking about his incarceration.

‘They?’

‘Mackenzie. The General was under orders I think. Anyway, when they finally allowed him to see you they were told to stay away from you, incase they upset you. Jack argued with them about it but they threatened to send him back to base and not allow him to see you at all. If he hadn’t obeyed he certainly wouldn’t have been allowed to return. It wasn’t his choice Daniel.’ Lucy explained gently.

Daniel gave her a questioning look.

‘How do you know all that if you didn’t read our minds?’

Lucy looked up as Teal’c came back from the surrounding woods and waited for Lucy to answer the question. Putting down the firewood he’d collected he sat beside them.

‘Jack knows how you feel about it all.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Daniel.

‘He knows you feel that SG-1, in particular himself, abandoned you. He feels guilty for not trying harder and scared that he’s lost your trust and friendship, not that he’ll ever tell you that. Last night after your nightmare, these particular memories were at the surface of his thoughts. It was hard not to pick up on them.’

Daniel sat silently for a while, going over what he’d just been told.

Lucy was about to get up and leave him to his thoughts when he stopped her.

‘Are you happy with Vicky and Ryan?’ he asked suddenly.

‘Oh yeah, definitely!’

Lucy grinned ‘I couldn’t ask for better guardians, we’re extremely close.

I guess we must seem like a pretty strange family to most people but it works for us.’

Daniel smiled glancing at Teal’c.

‘It doesn’t seem that strange to us. I’m glad you found a family so quickly.’

‘You’ve got a family right here Daniel.’ She smiled.

‘Yeah, I know. It just took me a while to find them. I wouldn’t worry, I don’t plan on losing them just yet.’ Daniel smiled back.

Teal’c cocked his head as if listening to something.

‘The others are returning.’ he warned them.

‘Hey kids, dinner ready?’ Jack called as he strode into their camp with Sam.

Teal’c stuck a bowl in his hands before Daniel could say anything.

Daniel watched in surprise wondering when Teal’c had had time to cook.

‘Hi Jack, Sam. What did the General say?’

‘We can go ahead with our plans to rescue….’

‘Ryan.’

He sat next to Lucy.

‘Anything exciting happen whilst we were gone?’

‘Nope.’ Daniel replied a little too quickly.

Jack gave him a surprised look.

‘Actually, I was telling Daniel about Gondolia.’ Lucy pulled Jack’s attention away from Daniel. ‘But I was told that Sam would be more interested.’

Sam looked up from her own bowl of stew.

‘Why’s that?’

Lucy started to explain about Gondolia and their portals.

Jack having gotten bored after the 5^th sentence that passed straight over his head got up and moved to sit beside Daniel.

‘Did you get any of this the first time round?’ he asked casually.

‘No.’

‘Good.’ Jack smirked at him.

‘Good?’

‘Yeah, now you know what it’s like listening to you.’ Jack replied, ducking Daniel’s half-hearted swipe at his head. ‘Your gonna have to do better than that!’

Daniel groaned. Jack could be impossible when he acted like a kid, but if it helped show him that there friendship was still intact and stopped Jack from feeling so guilty. Well, it would be worth it.

‘At least I have the decency to look interested.’ He shot back.

‘Hey! I can look interested!’ Jack looked indignant.

Daniel reached down and scooped up some nearby mud, which he then threw at Jack.

Jack sat there looking shocked for a moment, mud running down his jacket.

Daniel’s grin faded uncertainly as he wondered if he’d gone a bit too far.

‘I’ll get you for that Danny-boy!’ Jack grinned and flung some back at Daniel.

Lucy and Sam stopped their conversation, watching as two grown men sought to cover each other in mud.

‘Mud fight!’ Lucy yelled grinning as she scooped up some mud herself.

15 minutes later they’d succeeded in covering themselves in mud, not even Teal’c had escaped as Lucy’s reflexes proved faster than his own.

‘ So Jack, where’s that lake the M.A.L.P picked up?’ Daniel asked from where he lay on the ground trying to catch his breath and wipe the mud off his glasses, though without much success.

‘A bit further that way.’ He replied pointing to the ruins. ‘Why?’

‘Well it would be a good idea to get cleaned up and whilst we’re at it we should refill our canteens.’ Sam replied for Daniel, who’d closed his eyes and looked ready to fall asleep. Sighing she tried to get some of the mud out if her short blond hair.

‘Come on then let’s go.’ Jack prodded Daniel in the ribs.

Daniel sat up quickly looking annoyed.

The 3 men left allowing Lucy and Sam to get back to their conversation on Gondolia.

‘Ok Lucy, we need you to give us some idea what we’re gonna be up against when we rescue your brother.’ Jack told her. He handed her the pad of paper that he’d taken from Daniel’s pack. ‘Do you think that you can sketch us a map of the area, including the area where your brother is being held?’

Lucy nodded slowly, giving him a suspicious look.

‘Sure but why bother when I can show you where he is?’

‘Your not coming.’ He told her bluntly, ‘it’ll be too dangerous.’

‘Forget it! Your not leaving me behind!!’ Lucy glared at him angrily.

‘You’ll be safer if you wait here.’

Lucy stood up abruptly, only Teal’c didn’t flinch away from her gaze as she looked at each of them.

‘That’s where you’re wrong. I can fight better than any of you even Teal’c! You need me to come along, with 5 of us we stand a better chance of succeeding. I only asked for your help because I knew that I couldn’t do it alone.’ Seeing that they still needed convincing, she continued ‘You forget that I have a healing factor.’

Jack sighed,

‘That’s not why I don’t want you coming. We don’t know what states your brother’s in or even if he’s alive.’

A look of confusion passed over her face before realisation dawned thanks to Jack’s clumsy attempt at sending her some of his memories of the times when SG-1 had been captured. He tried to censor them but his lack of telepathic experience meant that Lucy picked up on memories that Jack didn’t mean to give her. Amongst these were memories of his time in Iraq as a POW. Lucy realised that Jack wanted to spare her from knowing the extent of any injuries Ryan might have, but what Jack didn’t realise was that he was relying on Ryan also having a healing factor.

‘Ryan doesn’t have a healing factor, he’s only half Gondolian.’

Jack tried to hide his dismay at the revelation as Sam cut in.

‘So half-Gondolians don’t inherit the abilities you mentioned?’

‘They do but only some of them and each person has a different combination. Ryan’s doesn’t include a healing factor.’ Lucy explained before turning to Jack. ‘You don’t have to worry I’ve seen much worse.’

Lucy watched as Jack wrestled with his decision, It went against everything he believed, to knowingly bring a child into danger.

‘I’ve lived through worse too.’ She added.

He looked at her in disbelief.

‘I can show you.’ She knew she had to convince him. ‘But it means that you have to let me into your thoughts.’

Jack looked rather disturbed at having his thoughts examined.

‘Look it’s up to you. Either way I’m going.’ She told him firmly. ‘Alone if I have to!’

Daniel glanced at Jack. He knew his friend would never allow her to go alone, but he also knew that Jack not want anyone to get hurt. If having Lucy with them gave his team a better chance of survival and success then her might consider taking her along, even if she was a child, but he would need to be sure it was the right thing to do!

Before Jack could make a decision, Daniel jumped in.

‘Why don’t you show me, Jack’ll believe me if I tell him that I think you should be allowed to come.’

‘Daniel!’ Jack warned.

‘It’s ok, I trust her.’ Daniel tried to reassure him.

‘That’s not what I’m worried about.’ Jack turned to Lucy ‘What exactly are you going to do and what will it do to me?’

‘Basically, I’ll let you have access to my memories. I’ll probably pick up on some of your surface thoughts, the things that are at the foremost of your mind. You’ll probably find it harder to control your emotions for a few days, but there won’t be any lasting effects.’ Lucy paused and looked at Daniel. ‘ I’d rather it wasn’t Daniel.’

‘Why not?’ Jack asked suspiciously.

Lucy hesitated.

‘His thoughts are centred on Sha’re. Emotionally he’s not stable enough to deal with a telepathic bond.’

Jack nodded agreement.

Daniel looked relieved, even though his offer had been genuine.

Jack sighed,

‘Ok, do it.’

SG-1 looked at him in surprise.

‘You sure Jack?’ Daniel gave him a concerned look.

Jack nodded and turned to Lucy.

‘What do I do?’

Jack didn’t want to take her in without knowing if she could handle it.

Lucy sat down and motioned for the rest of them to do the same.

Jack found himself between Lucy and Daniel who watched worriedly. He tried to give the young archaeologist a reassuring smile.

‘Ok, I need you to clear your mind.’ Lucy instructed.

Jack closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind.

Suddenly he "felt" Lucy as she entered his mind.

Acting instinctively, he tried to push her back out.

Calm down Jack! I won’t hurt you. Her thoughts came across clearly; you need to stay calm.

Sam, Teal’c and Daniel watched with concern as Jack became visibly distressed.

‘Lucy?’ Daniel asked, worried about his friend.

‘He’s trying to fight me.’ She explained. Taking Daniel’s hand she placed it in Jack’s. ‘The physical contact should help to keep him grounded, so that he doesn’t panic so much.’

Daniel placed his other hand on Jack’s shoulder, rubbing it to ease the tension he felt there.

‘Yeah, that’s it.’ Lucy encouraged seeing Jack begin to relax.

Trying again to enter his mind, she found it much easier.

Jack could feel Daniel trying to keep him grounded as Lucy came back. Using Daniel as his lifeline, he tried not to pull away.

Lucy gently let his thoughts merge with her own and he suddenly found himself looking out across a field.

Slowly he became aware that he was back in his own body. He found himself in Daniel’s arms.

‘Jack?’ Daniel asked softly, sensing his friend had returned.

Jack reached a hand up to his face, not really surprised to find it wet, but rather embarrassed to find Sam and Teal’c watching him with concern.

‘Just give me a minute Danny.’ He tried to reassure his friend whose very worried expression had fixed on his own.

After a few moments of trying to regain control of his emotions, he pulled away from Daniel’s embrace.

Jack turned to Lucy.

‘How did you get away?’

‘What you saw was the last time I saw him. I lashed out with my mind and killed him instantly.’ Lucy told him quietly her voice full of guilt.

‘You didn’t do anything wrong, Lucy. You just did what you had to do to survive.’

Jack began to realise just how dangerous Lucy could be without the proper guidance.

‘I know.’ She didn’t sound convinced.

‘Do you know what happened to the other kids?’ Jack asked needing to know before going to find some solitude. He needed to sort his thoughts out before he made any decisions. Half his team probably already thought he was nuts!

‘No, but Vicky’s trying to find them.’

Daniel watched as his friend got up and went to his tent.

Lucy gave them a quick explanation of what she’d shown Jack, leaving out most of the details.

‘Would you like me to show you some of the Gondolian technology I have with me?’ she asked Sam and Teal’c as Jack made a reappearance.

Sam nodded, she knew that it would be best if Daniel were to go alone to speak to the Colonel to check that everything was ok.

Go and talk to him, he needs you. Lucy told Daniel telepathically.

Daniel followed his friend out deeper in to the woods.

‘Mind if I join you?’ he asked falling into step with Jack.

Jack shrugged not looking at Daniel.

When they reached the lake, Jack sat on a nearby log.

Daniel studied his friend carefully before sitting beside him.

Jack’s eyes were reddened and his face pale. Daniel had never seen Jack cry before and to see the tears running down Jack’s face earlier had shaken him. Such outbursts of emotion from Jack were non-existent, Daniel knew he must be pretty embarrassed.

They sat in companionable silence for a while before Daniel decided it was up to him to get things started.

‘What happened?’ he asked gently.

‘Lucy told you.’

‘She told us the bare facts.’

Jack shrugged unsure how to explain the horror of seeing the children in the helicopter.

He guessed he owed Daniel an explanation for his earlier outburst.

Taking a deep breath, he plunged in.

‘I think that the memory Lucy showed me, happened soon after the "experiment" Lucy told us about. Their helicopter was shot down as they made their escape.’ He paused momentarily before continuing ‘The pilot died before impact and 2 of the kids were already dead when Lucy brought me to the scene.’

Daniel’s concern grew as Jack’s eyes filled with tears.

‘Three kids, including Lucy, escaped, but they had to leave behind the youngest boy because of his injuries. Later they separated, but Lucy doesn’t know what happened to the others who escaped with her. Lucy went to a nearby farm for help but….’

Jack struggled to continue as the tears he’d been struggling to hold back began to roll down his cheeks. He swiped at them as he continued, choking back a sob.

‘If she’d been human, he’d have killed her.’

Daniel knew how hard it was for Jack to talk about it, so he didn’t press for details.

‘It’s ok, Jack, she’s ok.’

Daniel reached for his friend and gently pulled him close. He wasn’t sure if Jack would accept the comfort, but he needn’t have worried as Jack quickly relaxed into his embrace.

Daniel rocked him gently, giving Jack the comfort he seem to need so badly. It was something Jack rarely accepted, even from Daniel.

The younger man knew that the Jack O’Neill who hid behind the tough military façade cared more than most people ever would. Children especially seemed to get through the façade that he’d learnt to put up over the years to protect himself but Daniel knew that somehow he’d also breached it. Over the years he’d caught more and more glimpses of the real Jack. It showed just how much Jack must trust him, as he allowed Daniel to comfort him as he did. Lucy had been right; Jack’s emotions were very near to the surface after the telepathic link.

After a while Jack pulled away, wiping the tears from his face and feeling more than a little embarrassed.

‘Sorry.’

‘She’s tough you know.’ Daniel told him gently dismissing the apology as unimportant.

Jack looked over at him.

‘Yeah, I know. She was so young though, they all were. Kids shouldn’t have to live with things like that, noone should.’

‘From what she told us. She’s got a good family now. People who care about her a lot.’ Daniel reminded him.

‘Ya know, if that’s true then where’s her sister?’ Jack asked him. ‘You’d have thought that she would’ve come after her brother and Lucy wouldn’t you?’

A voice behind them gave them a start.

‘She can’t.’

They spun round to see Lucy watching them.

‘How long have you been there?’ Jack asked annoyed that he hadn’t heard her approach.

‘A few minutes at most.’ She told them ‘ I teleported, that’s why you didn’t hear me.’

‘Ok…’ Jack drawled ‘so why don’t you tell us why your sister isn’t here?’

‘She’s disabled, Ryan and I do the physical stuff. Vicky does the research and keeps in contact with us. She sometimes comes with us, but only if we’re sure it’s safe.’ Lucy explained ‘She hates being left behind.’

Jack was left speechless.

‘Why d’you come after us?’ asked Daniel as it occurred to him that there must be a reason for her coming to see them.

‘Oh, Sam wants to finish making our plans for tomorrow. I told her I’d fetch you as I wanted to check that Jack was ok.’

‘I’m fine.’ Jack stood up quickly, ‘Let’s go.’

He gave Daniel a quick smile as they made their way back, reassuring his friend that he’d be fine.

Carter looked up as Lucy, Jack and Daniel approached.

‘Everything ok, Sir?’

‘Just peachy Carter.’ Jack grinned, once again taking his place between Daniel and Lucy.

‘So Lucy, what do you suggest? How do we get your brother out?’

Lucy looked at Jack in surprise.

‘I could teleport you into the tunnels but I can’t get you all the way. They set up some shields designed to stop me from going any further.’

‘Can you teleport us all at once?’

‘No, it’s too much of a strain even for me, most Gondolians can’t take even one person with them.’

Jack nodded slowly.

‘So you’d teleport us in one at a time?’

Lucy nodded confirmation.

‘Is there anywhere safe you could drop us off until we’re all together. Someplace where noone would notice us?’

‘Yeah, I think they use a smaller cave as a storage room. It has only one entrance, so it should be easy to secure it.’

‘Ok, how easy will it be to rescue Ryan from there?’

‘We aren’t too far from Ryan’s cell, but we’ll have to deactivate the shield in the corridor leading to it. That’ll be the hardest part but Sam can help me. A simpler shield also guards Ryan’s cell. I’ll need the rest of you to help me get rid of any Jaffa we come across.’

‘How many are there?’

‘I’m not sure, sorry. The same shield that blocks my ability to teleport, also blocks my telepathy. I’m not in contact with Ryan any more. I only know about the shields because Ryan had time to warn me before they were activated. Once we have him it won’t be long before they notice he’s missing so we’ll have to make a run for it. I won’t be able to teleport you out.’

‘Could Ryan not help to teleport us?’ asked Teal’c.

‘No, he can’t teleport. The abilities he got were speed, strength, agility and intelligence.’

‘What about Vicky?’ asked Daniel, curious as ever.

‘Telepathy.’

Jack glanced at his friend.

‘Ok, getting back to our plan here. So basically we teleport in, get past the shields, collect Ryan and make a run for it taking out any Jaffa who happen to get in our way. Any question’s?’

Daniel raised his hand.

Jack rolled his eyes.

‘Daniel, you’re not in school you know.’

Daniel gave him a mock glare, before turning to Lucy.

‘Does this teleporting hurt?’

‘No, it might be a little disorientating though. It might be best if I were to give you each a trial run now so that you know what to expect.’

‘Why not, we don’t really need any surprises tomorrow.’

Lucy got up.

‘I’ll take each of you to that tree, who’s first?’

Jack nodded.

‘I’ll go first.’ He certainly didn’t want to risk any of his team until he knew it was safe.

Lucy held out her hand and Jack took it, bracing himself for what was to come.

For a split-second everything went black and suddenly he found himself next to the tree she’d pointed out.

Everything spun around for a few seconds but it soon settled down.

‘Ok?’ asked Lucy, waiting until he seemed to regain his equilibrium before letting go of his arm.

Keeping one hand on the tree, Jack nodded.

‘I’m fine.’

Lucy brought Sam over next.

‘Easy there, Major.’

Jack steadied her as she almost lost her balance.

‘I’m fine Sir, just a little dizzy.’

‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’ Jack grinned at Sam as Lucy went back for Daniel.

She returned with the youngest member of their team after a few moments. Jack and Sam grabbed him as the disorientation threatened to send him to the floor.

‘You ok?’ Jack asked, concerned at how pale the archaeologist had gone, but his colour soon improved.

‘Uh, yeah, I guess so.’ Daniel turned to watch Teal’c ‘That was weird.’

Lucy appeared once again beside them and all 3 team-mates watched with alarm as all the colour drained from Teal’cs face.

‘Teal’c!’ Jack caught the large Jaffa, slowing his decent with difficulty as Teal’c passed out. They gently laid him on the ground.

‘Damn it Teal’c, wake up!’ Jack tapped his cheek trying to rouse him.

The Jaffa groaned and struggled to sit up.

‘My symbiote did not like teleporting.’ Stated Teal’c, as Jack helped him in to a sitting position.

Jack raised an eyebrow,

‘Uh, this could be a problem.’

‘Not necessarily. Some people react badly the first time, but after a few more teleports, they get used to it.’ She turned to Teal’c. ‘Want to try again?’

Reluctantly he agreed, unwilling to let his team go into danger without him.

The second attempt had Teal’c on his knees but he didn’t pass out.

After the 4^th try, Teal’c found the process much easier to handle. As Lucy had told them, teleporting was something that he could get used to.

Lucy gave Teal’c a triumphant look.

‘ You’ll be ready to go tomorrow.’ She informed them.

Jack nodded his agreement, clearly relieved that he wouldn’t have to leave him behind. They had a much better chance of succeeding if the Jaffa was with them on the rescue mission.

‘Carter?’

‘Sir?’

‘How about you and Daniel start preparing supper?’ he gestured at their camp, ‘I’m starting to feel pretty hungry.

Once they’d eaten, Daniel went to explore the ruins as Jack kept an eye on him.

Jack had not had the heart to refuse. He was glad to see his friend looking happier than he had at the start of the mission.

The ruins hadn’t really been that interesting and so Daniel had spent the last hour talking to Lucy as she gave him a crash course in the Gondolian language.

During this time the rest of SG-1 had gone over their rescue plans again to try and eliminate any potential problems they might face.

Jack sat by the fire having recently taken over Carter’s watch. He watched as the Major headed for her tent where Lucy already lay sleeping.

The young tomboy had wanted to sleep under the stars but Jack had insisted that she share Carter’s tent, it was for her own safety he told her, but knew she understood the real reason behind his request and she’d done as he asked.

He felt pretty sure that Daniel wouldn’t get much sleep during the night and preferred not to have an audience since he planned on confronting Daniel about his feelings on Sha’re.

He didn’t have to wait long. Daniel had been asleep for about an hour, having found it difficult to fall asleep in the first place. His dreams quickly caught up to him.

Hearing the sounds of his friend’s distress, Jack quietly made his way to Daniel’s tent.

Kneeling beside his friend, he called out softly to him.

‘Daniel, wake up.’

He lay a gentle hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

‘Come on Danny, wake up!’

Suddenly Daniel woke up with a start. Jack could feel him trembling slightly as he gripped his friend firmly by the shoulder.

‘Jack?’

‘Yeah.’

He gave the shoulder a gentle rub to reassure his friend.

‘I…I was dreaming?’

‘Yeah.’

Jack watched Daniel’s face closely as the different emotions passed quickly over his pale features.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

Hoping that Daniel would take the offer, Jack couldn’t help but feel hurt when Daniel shook his head.

Daniel caught the hurt look before Jack could mask his feelings.

Remembering Lucy’s words, he changed his mind. He knew he should talk to someone, he wasn’t the type of person who could bottle up his feelings for long and their wasn’t anyone he trusted more than Jack.

‘Want some coffee?’ he asked getting up.

Jack looked at his friend and saw that he’d changed his mind.

‘Sure.’

Daniel averted his gaze and hurried to the fire.

Jack followed more slowly, giving Daniel time to gather his thoughts.

Sitting down he took the mug Daniel offered him.

‘Thanks.’

Daniel sat beside him with his own mug.

For a while they sat drinking their coffee.

‘Wanna tell me what you were dreaming about?’ Jack asked quietly as he drained off the last of his coffee.

Daniel shrugged setting his cup down.

‘The usual. Sha’re… padded rooms…’ he trailed off staring in to the fire.

Jack flinched, as if he’d been hit.

‘Look Daniel, about the whole padded room thing…’

‘It’s ok Jack, I understand. Don’t blame yourself because I know you did everything you could.’

‘Maybe, but I’m sorry anyway. I should never have left you there.’

‘Jack..’ Daniel’s tone held a slight warning.

Jack decided to change the subject.

‘Ok, so tell me about your other dreams. The ones about Sha’re.’

Daniel looked away at the gentle tone.

‘What’s to tell. I keep seeing her there after Teal’c..’ he swallowed convulsively. ‘God, I can’t believe she’s dead!’ he choked back a sob as his eyes filled with tears, ‘I’ll never see her again!’

Jack barely caught the last bit as it was whispered.

‘You still have the memories of the year you spent together.’ Jack told him softly.

Daniel looked up and found himself looking into his friend’s warm brown eyes. The compassion in them loosened the hold he had over his emotions.

‘Why her?’ he asked, trembling as he made a last ditch attempt to keep from falling apart.

‘I don’t know Danny.’

Jack watched as his friend struggled to keep the tears back. The tears fell as he lost the battle.

‘Come here.’ Unable to stand watching his friends distress any longer Jack pulled Daniel into his arms and held him tightly as Daniel finally allowed his grief to surface.

‘It’s ok, let it go Danny.’

Jack rubbed his back in soothing circles, gently rocking his friend as he’d done many times for Charlie.

After a while Daniel quietened down, before finally falling asleep in Jack’s arms.

Jack was loath to wake him up, but the night was growing colder and Jack didn’t really want his friend catching cold.

Lucy approached solving the problem for him.

‘Here.’

She handed him Daniel’s sleeping bag and helped him settle Daniel into it, before heading back to her tent.

‘Thanks.’ He called quietly; he settled Daniel’s head on his lap, thinking that it would be more comfortable. Watching her go Jack was slightly puzzled as to why she was up in the first place.

Daniel stirred in his sleep and Jack absentmindedly stroked the young man’s hair to calm him, whilst Jack lost himself in his thoughts.

A few hours before dawn, Lucy approached him again as he prepared to wake Daniel up and send him to his tent. It was time for Teal’c to take his watch.

‘Don’t wake him.’ she whispered, handing him his sleeping bag. ‘I’ll take last watch.’

Jack nodded, glad that he wouldn’t have to wake his friend who now slept peacefully.

He gently lay Daniel’s head on the sleeping bag that Lucy had brought with the sleeping bag. He then lay down beside Daniel.

Jack saw his friend shiver from the absence of warmth and scooted closer. He saw Lucy grin as Daniel snuggled in next to him, seeking a new source of warmth.

‘He’s spent most of his life in hot countries, he’s not used to being cold.’ Jack explained in a whisper, unable to stop himself from smiling.

‘I know.’ She picked up the coffee and put some in her mug.

Jack gave her a disapproving look. Lucy caught it

‘Healing factor.’ She reminded him.

Jack rolled his eyes before settling down to sleep.

Daniel awoke first; he wasn’t really surprised to see Jack sleeping beside him.

‘He’s been there all night.’

Daniel looked up searching for the source of the voice.

‘Lucy?’ he squinted.

‘Yeah.’ She handed him his glasses and a cup of coffee.

Daniel took them gratefully.

‘How long have you been up?’

‘I took over last watch. Jack wanted to let you sleep and decided to stay close.’

Daniel looked at his sleeping friend, surprised and touched.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know that Jack cared about him. He only needed to think back to his addiction to the sarcophagus to know that but Daniel was rather curious as to why Jack was suddenly that much more willing to give and take physical comfort, he wasn’t sure how much the psychic link accounted for it.

Lucy sensed his thoughts and decided an explanation was in order. She knew her telepathic link had loosened Jack’s usual control over his emotions and heightened them. She explained as much to Daniel.

‘He’s probably finding it hard to control his thoughts and feelings after I linked to him. I think he’s subconsciously reaching out to you because he already trusts you with that part of himself and knows you’ll understand.’

Before Daniel could comment further, Jack woke up.

‘Something wrong?’ he asked sleepily as he sat up.

‘No, we were just talking.’ Lucy put a cup of coffee in his hands.

‘Are the others up yet?’

Daniel shook his head.

‘I’ll go wake them.’

Jack watched him enter Sam’s tent, before turning to Lucy.

‘How come you were up last night?’

Lucy gave him a pained look.

‘His nightmares woke me up again.’

‘Again?’

‘I caught the last one too.’ She admitted busying herself with preparing breakfast.

Jack took the hint and eyed her in surprise as she pulled a couple of tins of beans and sausages from her bag.

Frowning he decided to ask one last question.

‘Do you actually see his dreams?’

Lucy looked at him searchingly for a few minutes.

‘Yeah. Hand me the plates would ya.’

Jack handed her the plates knowing the subject was effectively closed.

It didn’t take long for the others to join them. Filling each plate, she handed one to each of them.

‘Oh wow, real food!’ Sam grinned as she took her plate from Lucy. ‘Where did it come from?’

Jack pointed silently towards Lucy.

‘Thanks.’ she told Lucy, digging into her plate with obvious relish.

‘You know, I don’t see why General Hammond won’t allow us to bring our own food.’ Daniel commented.

‘It’s not really up to the General, Daniel.’ Sam explained.

‘It’s one of those military things, huh?’

‘Yup.’ Jack held out his plate for more.

‘Anyway, they probably think that normal food would make us soft and careless, not to mention make us all unfit with all the extra food we’d be eating.’

Sam added;

‘MRE’s aren’t exactly comfort food’

‘Tins are also much heavier to carry around on missions, so unless you plan on leaving some vital piece of equipment behind, it’s not really worth it.’

Jack shared a look with his 2IC.

‘Tell ya what. I’ll put the idea to the General, Danny, but you’ll have to carry them.’ Jack told his friend seeing the disappointed look. ‘It’s about time you pulled your weight!’

‘Jack!’

‘Sir!’

‘What?!’ he asked trying to look innocent.

They were all secretly glad to see Daniel smiling again. Daniel regarded Jack carefully.

‘Ok.’ He told them finally.

Sam and Jack looked at him in surprise.

‘But your gonna have to carry my books.

‘What!?’ Jack spluttered. ‘No way am I carrying those musty old books that you insist on carrying with you on every mission.’

Daniel shrugged.

‘Take it or leave it.’

The archaeologist got up and began cleaning things away.

‘Hey! Who’s team leader here?’

Jack got up to help Daniel.

‘Carter, you and Teal’c get the camp cleared up. We’ll be off as soon as we’re ready.’ He told the grinning Major before following Daniel to the lake.

Reaching the lake, they quickly began to clean the plates and pans.

‘Uh Jack, about last night… I just wanted to say thanks.’ Daniel set the last plate aside to dry. Jack glanced at him.

‘No problem. It’s what friends do, you know. Help each other that is.’

Daniel gave him a quick shy smile before ducking his head.

‘I’m not exactly used to it I guess.’ He mumbled softly getting up. ‘I’ve always been on my own.’

Jack stood up slowly.

‘Your not alone anymore.’ He gave Daniel’s shoulder a quick squeeze, ‘Let us help you.’

He was rewarded with another smile.

‘Come on, we’d better get back before they send out a search party.’

Once everything had been packed up and hidden within the ruins, Jack gathered them all together.

‘Ok, everyone knows what they have to do, so let’s go.’

He made a few last minute checks before turning to Lucy.

‘Lead on.’

He gestured in the direction they had to take.

Lucy gave a nod and set off with Teal’c at her side. Daniel and Sam followed, leaving Jack to watch their backs.

They’d been walking for about an hour. Reaching the edge of the forest, Lucy stopped.

Jack joined her, crouching at her side and scanned the area.

There was about 200m of clear ground between the forest and the cliff face. The opening to the caves was slightly to their right.

‘The guards are just inside the entrance.’ Lucy whispered to him.

‘How did you get past them the first time?’

‘I shielded myself but I can’t do that this time because of those shields they put up. It interferes with my telepathy but I can use my empathy and spatial awareness to warn you if any Jaffa are approaching.

‘Empathy?’ Jack looked confused.

‘It means I can sense people’s feelings. That and the spatial awareness, which helps me teleport, are too instinctive and basic to be dampened by their shields. Come on we’d better get started. Jack first.’ She turned to her new friend ‘You’ll have to secure the area. I’d have taken Teal’c but I can’t risk him passing out.’

Jack suddenly looked worried.

‘I thought you said he’d be fine.’

‘He should be, it’s just a precaution. He’s not human so I can’t be 100% sure how he’ll react.’

Jack didn’t look convinced.

‘Ok let’s get this show on the road.’ He stated. Making his decision, he took Lucy’s hand.

Lucy teleported and Jack found himself in a cave full of boxes.

Shaking off the effects of the teleport, Jack glanced around quickly before peering out of the narrow entranceway. There was no door.

Silently, he signalled that she should bring the others. Within moments Sam joined him. Teal’c followed shortly and Jack was glad to see that the big Jaffa recovered quickly.

Once Lucy had joined them with Daniel, Jack once again checked the tunnel, which was dimly lit with torches, placed at intervals along the walls.

Before he could give the all clear to Teal’c, Lucy headed past him into the tunnel. Jack made a grab for her but she was too quick for him. Cursing under his breath, he motioned for Teal’c to follow her. Sending Daniel and Sam after them, Jack took up the rear so that he could watch their backs for any unwelcome visitors.

For around 5 minutes their progress was uninterrupted as Lucy led them through the twisting tunnels. Teal’c followed, looking out for hidden dangers she might have missed, though he personally thought that it wasn’t really necessary. For someone so young she was an incredibly gifted warrior. Teal’c knew of no others even among the Jaffa who possessed the skills that Lucy did.

Suddenly Lucy stopped and drew her weapon.

She fired twice, her speed and accuracy proving once again that she wasn’t human.

Two Jaffa lay on the ground unconscious.

Jack made his way up to Lucy.

He glanced at Teal’c who gave a slight shake of his head. Jack met Lucy's gaze with his own and gave her an approving nod. Lucy barely acknowledged him before moving on down the tunnel.

They came across several more Jaffa but Lucy was quick to dispose of them too.

After several more minutes Lucy stopped once again.

‘Sam, can you come here please? I need help with the shield.’

‘What shield?’ Jack asked in confusion, as Sam went to join Lucy.

Lucy bent down to pick up a small stone from the floor and tossed it down the passage ahead of them. It only got a couple of metres down the passage before disappearing in an explosion.

‘Woah!’ he took quick step back

‘I wouldn’t suggest walking into it.’ Lucy told him as she uncovered a section of the tunnel wall, revealing an access panel.

‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ Jack gave her a quick grin.

They watched silently as Lucy and Sam worked together to disable the shield.

Some 30 minutes later, Jack was getting seriously edgy. They hadn’t had any Jaffa come across them yet but it was only a matter of time before their luck ran out. He really didn’t want to get cornered between some Jaffa and that shield.

‘You nearly done yet?’ he asked finally.

Lucy spared a moment to glare at him before answering.

‘Would you like to try this?’

‘No, but we "really" need to be going soon.’

‘I "know" that!’ Lucy shot back, ‘We’re trying. It’s not exactly technology we’re familiar with. We’d be done a lot quicker if you’d just shut up!’

Jack looked up; a shocked expression adorned his face. Had he really just been ordered to shut up by a 14-year-old? The grin his 2IC would seem to confirm it.

‘Jack?’ Daniel looked at his friend with a mixture of concern and amusement as Jack stood there, his mouth hanging open.

Jack quickly shut his mouth and schooled his features as he looked at Daniel.

‘What?’ he half snapped.

Daniel looked at him.

‘Sorry, I…uh…’ he trailed off but Daniel understood.

‘She’d be an asset to the SGC, wouldn’t she? Imagine if she met Maybourne?’ Daniel commented.

Jack smiled at the thought.

‘Yeah, I can just see her putting Apophis in his place too.’

‘Now that I’d like to see.’ Daniel grinned back.

‘It’s done. Let’s go!’ Lucy interrupted them as the shield lowered.

Again Lucy went first, checking the tunnel ahead.

‘It shouldn’t be too far now.’ She whispered.

She stopped suddenly once again, almost causing them all to bump into her.

‘Shh!’ she motioned for them all to be quiet.

They held their breaths, listening intently. Teal’c was the first one to pick up what she’d heard. Footsteps approached from the tunnel ahead, just beyond the turning.

‘There are 10 of them and they are headed this way.’ Teal’c informed them.

‘Crap!’ Jack muttered under his breath, ‘Now what?’

Lucy turned to him.

‘Ryan’s just a bit further. If I teleport ahead with Sam, we’ll disable the next shield and get Ryan out. Do you think you can hold them off until we get back?’

Jack didn’t look happy with her plan but nodded.

‘Ok but your gonna have to be quicker this time.’

‘We’ll do our best.’ She promised and left with Sam.

Standing protectively in front of Daniel, Jack and Teal’c readied themselves to fight.

The Jaffa, not really expecting trouble, lost 4 of their own to Jack and Teal’c’s Zat shots before they realised what was happening and began fighting back.

Meanwhile Sam and Lucy reappeared further down the tunnel, in front of Ryan’s cell.

Going straight to the shield’s controls, they set to work.

‘Lucy!’

They both looked up to see a brown eyed boy with short spiky brown hair, whose skin had the same deep tan that Lucy’s did. He was short at 5"2’, but Sam could help but notice his boyish good looks, especially with that grin with which he greeted them. Sam would never have guessed that he was 22 had she not already known.

‘Sam, meet Ryan.’ Lucy grinned glad to see he brother was fine, ‘Sam and her team are helping me to break you out’ she told her brother.

Ryan’s grin widened, making him seem even younger.

‘Nice to meet you.’

The shield went down suddenly as they managed to disable it.

‘Come on, let’s go!’

Lucy started back down the tunnel at a run, closely followed by her companions.

They arrived in time to set that 7 of the Jaffa had been disposed of already.

Lucy watched in horror as one Jaffa lifted his staff weapon and pointed it at Daniel who was completely oblivious to what was happening behind him.

Jack looked up for a moment and caught the look on her face. He turned to where she was looking and saw the weapon discharge. Jack tried to reach his friend, but he already knew it would be useless. Daniel was at least 5m away and there wasn’t enough time to issue a warning.

At the last second Ryan came barrelling out of nowhere and managed to knock Daniel aside, but it still wasn’t enough as the blast still caught his arm.

Within the next few minutes Teal’c managed to disable another Jaffa. Lucy tackled the one who’d shot Daniel. Sweeping his feet from under him, she swung her right fist and knocked him out cold.

Getting up and leaving the Jaffa, Lucy joined Jack and Ryan where they’d sat Daniel against a wall, leaving Sam and Teal’c to deal with the last Jaffa.

‘Can he walk?’ she asked, kneeling beside Jack.

Daniel’s face was pale but he managed to grin at her.

‘Yeah, I think so.’ He told her trying to struggle to his feet.

Jack grabbed him and forced him to sit back down.

‘Wait a minute. Let’s at least patch you up first.’

‘We don’t have time.’ Daniel started to protest.

‘Don’t worry we’ll keep watch. Let jack help you or you won’t make it back to the gate.’ Lucy told him, though she wasn’t sure that he would anyway.

Jack searched though his pack and produced several bandages and a small tube of antiseptic cream. Using the canteen of water that Carter handed him, Jack set about cleaning up Daniel’s wound.

‘There. Come on let’s go!’ Jack and Ryan each grabbed an arm and hauled Daniel up.

Daniel swayed for a moment as the sudden movement caused the tunnels to spin in a nauseating fashion.

‘You ok?’ Jack asked, he kept a steadying hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

Daniel gave a slight nod.

‘Let’s go.’

With Jack’s help, Daniel followed Ryan and Lucy allowing Sam and Teal’c to take up the rear.

Jack watched slightly surprised at how well Ryan and Lucy worked together to eliminate any opposition they came across. They seemed to work as one and the Jaffa didn’t stand a chance.

Once they’d left the tunnels behind, they headed for their campsite.

‘We should head straight for the gate.’ Ryan told them, as they all sat hidden within the ruins for a momentary rest.

‘I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.’ Jack glanced at Daniel who was laid out on the ground beside him and tried to hide his concern. ‘Daniel won’t make it to the gate, I think we should spilt up and get help. I’ll stay here with Daniel whilst you go back and get help.’

‘They’ll be searching for you. You won’t be able to hold them off alone.’

‘I know, but there's not much else that we can do. Daniel’s out on his feet, he’ll only slow us down if we try to take him.’

‘I can walk, I’m fine.’ Daniel mumbled.

They all turned to look at the archaeologist who was struggling to sit up. His face was pale and glistened with sweat from his exertions. It was obvious to them all that he wouldn’t make the trip back to the gate under his own steam.

Lucy sat fidgeting for a few minutes before speaking up suddenly.

‘I can heal him.’

‘No!’ Ryan gave her an angry look.

‘Why not? I’d be easier to carry than Daniel, wouldn’t I?’ Lucy argued.

Teal’c spoke up.

‘You are able to heal DanielJackson?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Lucy, I said no!’ Ryan warned her.

‘Why not?’ countered Jack.

‘Because she’s my sister and I won’t have her risk her life. Healing other people is extremely dangerous. Gondolians never do any healing alone because of the amount of energy used would easily kill them!’

‘You know I’m not like them!’ Lucy shot back, ‘and you also know that I’ve done it before!’

Yeah, and spent 3 days in a coma!’

‘Daniel’s injuries aren’t so severe, I can handle it. I didn’t hear you complaining last time!’

‘Vicky’s my twin! I couldn’t just watch her die!’

‘But you expect me to let Daniel die?’

Ryan just shook his head.

‘Are you sure you can heal him safely?’ Jack asked unwilling to risk her life.

‘Yes. It’ll knock me unconscious for a few hours whilst I regain my strength, but it shouldn’t be a problem.’

‘Shouldn’t be?’

‘I can’t give you absolute guarantees, but the risks are extremely low.’ Lucy shrugged.

‘O’Neill, I will carry Lucy once she has finished healing DanielJackson.’ Teal’c informed him.

Jack sighed,

‘Ok, but only if your brother agrees.’

Lucy turned to Ryan.

Reluctantly he nodded his head.

Lucy turned back to Daniel and Jack.

‘Hold him so that he won’t move around too much. He might get a little uncomfortable.’

Jack positioned Daniel against his chest and held him securely.

Teal’c and Sam watched in concern as Lucy placed her hands on Daniel’s wound.

Jack felt Daniel start to struggle away from the uncomfortable sensation of having his arm healed. Jack held him tighter, whispering in Daniel’s ear to try and calm him.

As Lucy continued, he began to struggle more violently.

‘Daniel, it’s ok, she’s trying to help you.’

Jack shifted his hold to feel one of his hands and began to stroke Daniel’s hair, trying to calm his friend.

Daniel’s eyes opened a crack as he looked up at Jack, with Pain-filled eyes.

‘It hurts.’ He mumbled.

‘I know, it’ll be over soon.’ Jack reassured him as he continued stroking.

Several seconds later Daniel relaxed in Jack’s arms as Lucy finished healing him.

Moments later she lost consciousness and collapsed into her brothers waiting arms.

‘Is she ok?’ asked Sam.

Ryan checked her pulse and nodded.

‘She just needs to rest now.’

‘How is DanielJackson?’ asked Teal’c.

Jack looked down at his semi concious friend.

‘Daniel…Danny? You with us?’

Daniel opened his eyes fully and twisted around to look at Jack.

‘What happened?’ he asked as he struggled to sit up.

‘You got shot, but Lucy managed to heal you.’ Jack told him, helping him to sit up. ‘Don’t you remember?’

Daniel nodded,

‘Yeah, I do.’

The confusion of the last few hours lifted.

‘I remember Ryan knocking me to the ground, but I got shot in the arm. Things are a little hazy after that. How’s Lucy?’

Daniel turned to the young girl, full of concern for his young friend.

‘She’ll be fine. How about you?’

Daniel looked surprised.

‘Fine actually.’

‘Think you can make it to the gate?’

‘Sure.’

Jack helped him to stand, whilst Teal’c took Lucy into his arms. They all made their way to the gate.

This time their progress was much quicker and they reached the gate within half an hour.

‘Oh wonderful!’ Jack mumbled from behind the tree where he hid.

Having checked the area surrounding the gate from their position in the forest, they found it to be guarded by a lot more Jaffa.

‘We need to set up a distraction.’ Ryan whispered from a tree to his left.

‘Really?’ came the sarcastically whispered reply. Jack wanted nothing more than to get back home and have a hot shower.

Ryan glared at him before noiselessly climbing his tree and noting the Jaffa’s positions. His task complete, he dropped back down to the forest floor earning himself several surprised winces. He spared a quick glance for the branch he’d just vacated 20ft above, before getting back down to business.

‘I’ll distract them whilst you get back to the gate.’ He reached for his wrist, earning several curious glances from various people.

‘Well that’s not much of a plan.’ Jack told him. ‘We didn’t just rescue you so that you could be recaptured.’

‘Don’t worry I won’t get caught.’ Ryan told them confidently as a small black, boxed shaped object appeared on his wrist.

‘What’s that?’ asked Sam, curiosity burning in her eyes.

‘You’ll see. Just get ready to dial out.’

Abruptly, Ryan vanished, leaving the rest of them looking around in confusion.

‘I’m off to do some distracting.’ Ryan’s disembodied voice made them all jump. Even Teal’c looked startled.

‘What the…?’ Jack spun in the direction of the voice but saw nothing.

‘Sir, we could really use some of their technology.’ Sam told him.

‘Not to worry Major. I plan on trying to get an agreement with the Gondolians. I’m sure the General will agree.

‘O’Neill!’ Teal’c warned them.

Following his gaze, they saw the commotion near the gate.

For several minutes they watched. Obviously Ryan was holding up his end of the bargain. The Jaffa were running around in confusion as Ryan took out several of them. He then suddenly reappeared gaining the Jaffa’s attention and began to lead them away from the gate.

‘Let’s go!’ Jack ordered, as he began running towards the gate.

Daniel followed and began dialling in Earth’s address on the DHD.

Hearing the familiar and welcome sound of the gate opening, Jack turned to his companions.

‘Carter!’

‘Done sir!’ came the reply as she entered the last digit of the IDC code.

‘Go then.’

Carter ran for the gate, closely followed by Teal’c with Lucy still unconscious in his arms.

Daniel hesitated looking at Jack, not happy about leaving until his friend did.

‘Go Daniel!’ Jack ordered and turned back to watch Ryan once Daniel had gone through.

Ryan vanished once again and circled back towards the gate. Reaching Jack’s position, he reappeared.

‘Come on!’ he urged pulling on Jack’s arm.

They both turned and ran through the gate.

‘Close the iris!’ yelled Carter as they came through.

‘SG-1 we debrief in one hour, I suggest you take our guests down to the infirmary.’ The General told them gaining their attention.

Teal’c lay Lucy on the waiting gurney before following the other in to the infirmary.

‘Can anyone explain to me what happened?’ asked Janet Frasier, the bases CMO, as she began to examine Lucy.

‘Uh…she healed me,’ Daniel spoke up, when noone else seemed forthcoming.

Seeing the look on Janet’s face, Ryan decided he’d better explain.

‘Healing people uses up a lot of energy, which is why Lucy’s unconscious. She’ll be fine in a few hours or so after some rest.’

Having not found anything wrong with her young patient, Janet decided to follow his advice.

‘Ok, so maybe now you could explain how she did that.’

‘Well… she sorta laid her hands on him and hey presto, next minute Danny-boy here’s in perfect health.’ Jack explained in his own unique fashion.

‘She didn’t use a healing device?’ Janet looked surprised.

‘No, no device.’ Ryan confirmed.

Janet gave him a sceptical look.

‘She’s not human.’ He informed her.

‘But her blood is identical to that of a human, her x-rays too.’ Janet looked even more confused.

‘Oh…she’s definitely not human.’ Jack drawled unhelpfully.

Seeing the look that now adorned Janet’s face, Ryan decided the quicker he gave her an explanation the better off he’d be.

‘We’re from a planet called Gondolia, but I’m half-human. Gondolia is more advanced than earth so I’m guessing your devices won’t be able to pick up the slight differences in our genetic structures, physically we’re almost identical to humans.’

Janet sighed, ‘Ok I need you all to be checked out before you see the General.’

Leaving the various members of SG-1 for her staff to deal with, she turned her attention to Ryan.

‘Ok, sit down.’

‘But I’m fine.’ He favoured her with a grin.

‘I’ll be the judge of that.’ She gave him the same look she used on a certain Colonel when he was being stubborn.

Ryan glared at her, but sat anyway.

15 minutes later she’d finished with him.

‘Well I can’t find anything wrong with you…’

‘Told ya.’ He grinned.

Seeing the look Janet gave him, Ryan wisely kept his mouth shut.

‘I’ll get the Colonel. He can escort you to the briefing room.

A few moments later Janet came back in with Jack in tow.

‘You ready to get out of here?’ he asked.

‘Oh yeah!’

Ryan was out of the door before Janet could comment.

‘I see you’ve made a great impression on him.’ Commented Jack and quickly began to make his way out of the infirmary.

Unfortunately, Daniel chose that moment to come in and check on Lucy. Unprepared for the Daniel-shaped wall blocking his escape route, Jack found himself sprawled on the floor.

‘Damn it!’ Jack muttered under his breath from where he now lay on the floor.

He glared at Daniel who’d somehow managed to stay on his feet.

Daniel gave his friend a hand up, as he tried in vain to smother the smile that threatened to show itself.

‘Maybe that’ll teach you to watch what you say.’ Janet didn’t try to hide her own smile.

Ryan popped his head around the door, interrupting his reply.

‘Jack?’

Jack sighed and brushed himself off.

He turned to Daniel, ‘Coming?’

The archaeologist shook his head.

‘I’ll be there in a minute, I just wanted to see how Lucy’s doing.

Jack nodded and followed Ryan out of the door.

At the briefing, once they’d given all their reports, they were left with the problem of how to get Ryan and Lucy back to their home planet.

‘Will you be able to get through the Stargate?’ asked Carter. ‘Lucy told us it was guarded.’

‘Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem. We just need to let Vicky know what time we’re coming through and she’ll create a diversion so that we’re not detected.’

‘How will you tell her of your plans?’ asked Jack.

‘I’m a telepath, remember?’ a young voice piped up from the doorway.

‘Lucy, shouldn’t you be in the infirmary?’ Daniel asked in concern.

‘I’m fine.’

The General waved away the guard who’d tried to follow her.

‘Where’s Doctor Frasier? Does she know you’re here?’

Lucy shrugged, looking innocent but fooling noone, ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about.’

The phone rang before anything else could be said.

The General picked up.

‘Yes, she’s here…ok, I’ll let them know.’

‘That was Dr Frasier. She wants one of you to bring Lucy back to the infirmary when we’ve finished.’

Jack nodded indicating that he would do so.

Lucy sat down on a spare chair and closed her eyes. Before anyone could ask her what was wrong she opened them again.

‘Vicky will create a diversion at 17.00 hours.’ She informed them.

Carter looked at her watch, ‘That’s in 5 hours.’

‘Very well. Colonel, I’d like you to take Lucy back to the infirmary. In the meantime I’d like to discuss an exchange of technology with Ryan.’

Jack led Lucy out of the room.

‘You probably won’t get much.’ She told him as they walked down the corridor. ‘The resistance don’t have much to spare.’

When the others entered the infirmary a short while later, they found Lucy squirming on her bed whilst Janet tried to examine her.

Seeing that Janet was rapidly losing patience, Ryan decided that it would be best if he stayed well back behind the others before the good Doctor found a reason to perform some more tests on him.

‘Can I go now!’ Lucy asked impatiently, as Janet finally removed the thermometer from her mouth.

‘You don’t have anything wrong with you as far as I can tell, so I guess I can let you go…’

Lucy leapt from the bed and had gotten halfway down the corridor before anyone thought to stop her.

‘Lucy!’ Jack yelled after her.

Ryan ran after her.

‘What?’ she stopped and turned round to face him.

‘You can’t go running round the base unescorted.’ Jack explained.

‘Then come with me I want to go to the surface.’

‘No, we can’t.’ Jack wondered how she knew that they were underground. ‘We’re confined to base.

Lucy’s face fell.

‘You mean I’m stuck here?!’

‘Yup, General’s orders.’

‘We’ll see about that!’

She stormed off down the corridor.

SG-1 exchanged looks before hurrying after her.

‘I’m not staying here!’ they heard as they approached the General’s office.

They didn’t catch the General’s reply, but Lucy’s rising voice came back to them loud and clear.

‘You think I don’t know anything about keeping secrets? I’ve spent my whole life hiding who I am…’

Against his better judgement, Jack came in and interrupted before she could continue.

‘Uh, General, Sir. I’ll take responsibility for her if you’ll allow us some time topside. She’s not really used to being underground.’

‘Colonel, I cannot allow her to leave the base. In a few hours she’ll be going home, surely she can wait that long.’

Lucy interrupted,

‘Hey, I’m here! Talk to me.’

Jack turned to her.

‘Lucy, go wait outside.’ He ordered firmly, in the same tone that he’d used on Charlie.

She glared at him but left all the same.

He turned back to the irate General to explain.

‘General, I’ve seen some of her memories. They’re not very nice. She’s also told me that she was part of an experiment, being on an airforce base is probably stirring up those memories. I strongly suggest you let SG-1 take her out for a while, her brother too.’

Jack saw the General take his argument into consideration.

‘She’s also spent most of her life on Earth with her older sister, so it’s not like she hasn’t already seen our planet.’

Hammond sighed,

‘Very well Colonel, but your to stay on the mountain and your responsible for her. Understood?’

‘Yes Sir. Thanks General.’

‘Dismissed.’

Jack left to find the others waiting for him in the corridor.

‘Well?’ Lucy looked at him hopefully.

‘Yeah, we can go up but we have to stay on the mountain. First though I’m getting something to eat. Anyone hungry?’

A chorus of affirmatives greeted him, so he led them to the mess.

Lucy had spent the last 5 minutes poking at the unidentifiable substance that sat on her plate. As far as she was concerned, it bore absolutely no resemblance to any pie that she’d ever eaten.

‘You should really try to eat something.’ Daniel told her. ‘ It really doesn’t taste as bad as it looks.’

Lucy gave him a look of total disbelief.

‘Yeah right!’

‘What on earth is Ryan up to?’ Jack asked suddenly.

Lucy looked up to where her brother stood. He was at the front of a very long queue of airforce personnel who were waiting to get something to eat.

‘Probably trying to find something edible to eat.’ Lucy shrugged and started poking at her pie once more.

Daniel groaned.

‘Lucy, stop that!’

She ignored him.

Daniel got up and walked out of the room, leaving the others to stare after him. He came back several minutes later with a plastic bag.

‘Here.’ He tipped the contents out on to the table. Lucy’s eyes lit up as she took in the pile of chocolate bars and packets of crisps.

‘Ryan, food!’ She yelled making Daniel wince. Ryan came over quickly, much to the relief of the waiting airforce personnel, and together they devoured the treats that Daniel had given them.

‘Thanks Daniel!’ Lucy told him swallowing the last mouthful.

After finishing in the mess hall, they’d gone up to the surface. Jack was now glad that the General had relented, as he watched Lucy playing around with her brother and the rest of his team.

The young tomboy had dragged them all into a game of hockey. Luckily for Jack, Lucy had been on his team along with Sam. Watching from his place in goal, he couldn’t help but be glad that he wasn’t in Teal’c’s position.

Teal’c tensed, ready to block Lucy’s shot. The puck seemed to blur as it raced towards him. His Jaffa enhanced senses allowed him to knock it safely away, but its new path now took it towards Daniel. Luckily Ryan had been paying attention and knocked the archaeologist out of harms way.

Jack released the breath he’d been holding as his friend got up and dusted himself off.

‘Are you ok Daniel?’ Sam asked him.

Daniel nodded absently.

‘I’m fine, just a bit bruised.’

Their game carried on for a while longer before they finally stopped. Daniel dropped exhaustedly onto the ground next to the others.

‘We’d better be going back soon.’ Sam reminded them looking at her watch.

Jack checked his and nodded.

‘Come on kids, let’s go.’

Daniel groaned, ‘Ja-ck.’ He whined.

Jack grabbed him and hauled him up.

‘Come on Danny-boy, time to see our new friends off.’

Daniel sighed allowing himself to be led back into the mountain.

‘We’ll arrange for you all to visit.’ Ryan told them as they waited for the Stargate to engage.

‘Yeah, we’d like that.’ Sam told him, smiling.

Jack exchanged a look with Lucy before the young girl flung herself into his arms, almost knocking him flat.

‘I’ll miss you!’ she mumbled, her head buried in his flak jacket.

‘Me too!’ he whispered, trying to ignore the lump in his throat. He was NOT going too lose control in front of the whole base watching. ‘ See you soon, kiddo.’

Pulling away she turned to Daniel and gave him a fierce hug too.

‘See you soon, Daniel.’ She told him aloud, at the same time sending him a telepathic message. Look after Jack for me, he’s still having problems recovering from the link and they’ll get worse for a while once I’m gone. Though he probably won’t admit it he’ll need your company.

‘I will.’ He promised her quietly, already making plans for spending the night at Jacks house.

After saying goodbye to the rest of the team she entered the wormhole with her brother.

As soon as the gate shut down, Jack turned and rapidly walked out of the gateroom, leaving them others to stare after him in confusion.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s ok.’ Daniel reassured them as he followed.

It took him a while to find his friend, but he eventually found him in his office.

Jack moved some of his books to make himself a place on the couch that Daniel had acquired at Jacks insistence after he’d fallen asleep at his desk once too often.

‘You ok?’ asked Daniel.

He sat across from Jack at his desk.

‘I think so.’

‘Maybe we could get some pizza and beer.’ Daniel suggest, ‘We could even watch some hockey.’

Jack smiled, knowing exactly what his friend was trying to do but he was glad because he really hadn’t wanted to spend the night alone.

‘You want to stay over?’

‘Sure.’

‘Ok, beer and pizza it is!’

Jack waited in his car whilst Daniel went into the store to get the pizza and beer.

He couldn’t seem to get Lucy out of his head. Ever since she’d gone it had felt like there was a part of him missing but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Daniel climbed into the car, startling him from his thoughts.

‘You ok?’ he asked, noticing the strange look on Jacks face. Jack nodded and started the car.

Reaching his house, Jack let them in and collected some glasses and plates so that they could eat. He was surprised to find that Daniel had switched the TV onto the sports channel.

Dividing up the food, Jack absently noted that the Chicago Blackhawks were playing Colorado Avalanche, a match Jack would usually be very interested in, but that night he couldn’t seem to concentrate on it. He felt too drained and empty. He didn’t even notice the concerned glances that Daniel kept giving him as the evening progressed.

Worried about his friend’s abnormal silence, Daniel decided to try the direct approach.

‘Jack?’

No answer.

‘Jack?’ this time Daniel placed a gentle hand on his arm.

‘Huh, what?’

‘Are you alright?’ Daniel already knew what his answer would be but he wanted to give Jack the chance to talk if he wanted to.

‘Fine.’

Daniel tried a different approach.

‘What are you thinking about?’

‘Nothing.’ Jack stood up and took their empty plates into the kitchen, effectively stopping Daniel’s questioning. At least for the time being.

Daniel sighed and followed to help his friend.

‘I’m going to bed.’ Jack announced as they finished. He left the room before Daniel could reply.

Daniel opened his eyes and sat up. Looking at his watch he noted it was about 2am.

Allowing his eyes to roam the room, he wondered what had woken him up. It wasn’t long before he found out. He easily recognised the sounds coming from Jacks room .it wasn’t like he’d not had them before.

He got up and made his way quietly towards his friend’s room. Pushing the door open he slipped in and waited a few moments before making his way to his friend’s side. Jack tossed and turned restlessly and Daniel could make out a few mumbled words indicating that the dream involved Charlie. It wasn’t a good sign.

Daniel reached out a hand to shake him awake but then thought better of it. Jack could be unpredictable when surprised as his black ops training took over.

‘Jack!’ Daniel called loudly, ‘Jack, wake up!’

Jack sat up suddenly, startled from his nightmare.

He let out a groan before burying his face in his hands, breathing heavily.

‘Jack?’

Daniel reached out a tentative hand and placed it on Jacks shoulder, fully expecting it to be shrugged off. He was a little surprised and unnerved when it wasn’t.

Jack slowly dropped his hands as his breathing slowed; though it still wasn’t quite normal yet. He drew his knees up and rested his arms on them, before finally looking at Daniel.

‘Guess I woke you up, huh?’

‘Um…yeah.’ Daniel took his hand away.

‘Sorry.’

Daniel shrugged. ‘Do you want to tell me what that was all about?’

Jack looked away.

Daniel had almost decided that Jack didn’t want to talk, when he began to speak.

‘Charlie.’ He spoke softly, so that Daniel almost didn’t catch it.

‘Huh?’

‘My dream. It was about Charlie.’ Jack explained raising his voice slightly, though Daniel still had to strain to hear what he said. ‘But Lucy was in it too.’

‘Oh.’ Daniel didn’t know how to reply to that, so he waited for Jack to continue.

‘They’re very alike you know. Not only in their looks but also in their personalities and interests.’ Jack finally told his friend. ‘Lucy told me that she likes baseball, they even support the same team.’

Jack finally turned to look at Daniel.

The young man was surprised to see the tears glistening in his friend’s eyes.

Jack attempted a watery smile.

‘I think Lucy’s telepathic link messed with my head a bit.’ He admitted quietly. ‘It feels like I’m missing something important, like a piece of my soul got ripped out.’ Jacks voice broke on the last word and refused to meet Daniel’s eyes. ‘Not quite what you expect to hear from a hard-assed Colonel, is it?’ he joked trying to keep his composure.

Daniel watched his friend in dismay. He’d known Jack would be affected, Lucy had warned him, but he’d never expected to hear his friend admit it so openly.

Impulsively Daniel sat on the bed beside Jack and put an arm around his shoulders.

The compassionate act almost cost Jack the little control he still had over his emotions.

‘It’s ok Jack. Let it go.’

Daniel knew how difficult it was for his friend to not have any control over his emotions, but he also knew that in the long run it would be better if Jack didn’t try to fight it alone.

Seeing Jacks tears finally spill over, Daniel pulled his friend in closer. Jack lay his head on Daniel’s shoulder as he finally stopped struggling to hide the tears.

Daniel just held him, rubbing his back and offering support until the sobs eased. Finally Jack pulled away, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

‘Do you think you can get back to sleep?’

Jack shook his head, studiously avoiding his friend’s eyes.

‘How about I make us some coffee? We could watch some TV?’ Daniel offered seeing his friends embarrassment at the emotional outburst, his second in as many days.

‘Sure, You can chose which channel if you like.’

Daniel nodded, reading the hidden gratitude the offer contained as Jacks eyes met his.

The next day SG1 found themselves back in the gateroom, ready to embark on their next mission.

‘SG1, you have a go.’

Jack and Daniel exchanged a look before entering the wormhole. The look told him that Jack would be ok.

Hopefully they’d meet their new friends again one day.

‘So when are we going back to visit?’ Lucy asked her brother.

Ryan shook his head in exasperation.

‘Lucy, we only just got back!’

‘Yeah, but I miss them already.’

Lucy turned to the third person in the room they had in the base of the resistance’s HQ.

‘You want to meet them, don’t you Vicky?’

If anything, the young woman who’d sat on the bed whilst Lucy had recounted their adventure on the other side of the Stargate, looked even younger than her twin did.

It wasn’t hard to see that they were related because the twins, even though they were of different gender and had spent most of their lives apart, looked almost identical. The only real difference was their eye colour. Vicky’s blue eyes were a contrast to Ryan’s brown ones.

Vicky grinned at her sister.

‘You bet. I can finally go through the Stargate with you, instead of waiting for the two of you to come back!’

‘Not to mention, we did offer to bring them back some technology.’ Added Lucy.

‘I know. I know!’ Ryan told them, ‘ but your both just gonna have to wait.’

‘But we will go back?’ Lucy insisted.

‘Yes, Lucy. We will go back one day.’ Ryan reassured her.

‘Yes!’ Lucy couldn’t stop herself from grinning.

Authors note: This is my first attempt at stargate fiction so any feedback would be welcome! Please no flames (or only gentle ones)

© January 2003 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.