INTRODUCTION

This story was the first Stargate fanfic I'd ever written.  It was written during the mid-season hiatus of Season 7. Back then, we had a lot less knowledge about the Ancients. It was before Lost City, so we also didn't know about the Ancient gene and that Jack could control Ancient technology. Nor did we know of the existance of the Ori and the real reasons why the Ancients had their laws. Since it was written, a great many things have come to light that makes this fanfic even more AU than it was originally. Because of this, it is necessary to make clear that this story departs almost entirely from the canon of the series at a point somewhere between Birthright and Evolution.

In this "universe", there is no Ancient gene, and Jack cannot control Ancient technology. Therefore, the events of Fragile Balance did not take place since Loki would have had no reason to abduct Jack. Moreover, though the reasons why the Ancients have done some things remain the same, they also have plans and motivations that did not exist in the series. In the sequel, those plans and motives will be revealed.

In the years that have passed since I first wrote this story, my skills as a writer have improved, and I decided that this fanfic needed a major overhaul. If you have read it before, you may notice some of the revisions I've made, which do not change the main plotline but do make significant alterations to some key scenes, as well as correct mistakes and oversights I made when the story was originally written. My first revision was made in March 2008, the second a year later. I hope that you will enjoy the new, improved version.

CHAPTER ONE

"Hey, Daniel.  How are you doing?"

Daniel Jackson looked up from the photos scattered across his desk to see Samantha Carter standing just inside the doorway of his office.  "Hi, Sam.  Oh, I'm fine.  Too much work to do, but that's nothing new."

Sam came further into the room.  "You've been working too hard lately.  It seems like you're always here."

The archeologist smiled faintly.  "So are you.  You put in just about as many hours here as I do."

Sam smiled.  "Yeah, I guess I don't have much room to talk, do I.  I am going to take some time off next weekend, though.  Janet, Cassie and I are planning on getting together and go do something.  We haven't decided what we're going to do yet, probably just take a road trip."

"That sounds nice.  I haven't seen Cassie much since I came back."

"I know.  She misses you.  She was really lonely for you that year you were gone."

Daniel brought the subject back to the trip, not wanting to dwell on those months of which he had virtually no memory.  "So, a road trip, huh?  Have you ever been to Mesa Verde?  It's not all that far from here, just a few hours away."

"You know, come to think of it, I haven't.  Isn't that funny?  I've lived in this state all these years, and I've never seen one of its most well-known attractions."

"Well, you really should see it.  It's an amazing archeological site, but you don't have to be an archeologist to appreciate it."

"Hmm.  Maybe we'll do that."  A smile lit Sam's face.  "Hey, why don't you come with us?"

A spark lit momentarily in Daniel's eyes, but died quickly.  "I'm sure you wouldn't want me along.  I mean, this is going to be a weekend just for girls, isn't it?  The last thing you'd want was a guy along."

"You're not a guy, you're . . . you're Daniel."

The linguist's eyebrows rose.  "Excuse me?"

Sam smiled in embarrassment.  "Oh, that didn't come out right, did it.  What I mean is that you're not a typical guy.  How many guys do you know who would actually enjoy going off alone on a road trip with three female friends who were probably going to spend the whole trip yakking?"

"Probably not many," Daniel admitted.

"Exactly.  But you're not like that.  You'd probably actually have fun.  And we'd have fun being with you."

Daniel gave her a pleased smile.  "Thanks, Sam.  That's really nice of you to say."

"Which part?  The part about you not being a typical guy or the part about you being fun to be with?"

"Both, I guess, since it sounds like the first part was meant to be a compliment, too."

"Oh, it definitely was, believe me.  So, what do you say?  We can all go to Mesa Verde, and you can tell us all about it."

"I have to admit that does sound great, but shouldn't you ask Janet and Cassie what they think about it?" Daniel asked.

"I'll ask them, but I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have you come with us."

"Okay.  If they want me along, too, then I'd love to go."

"Great!  I'll ask Janet later, then she can ask Cassie."  She grinned at Daniel brightly.  "This is going to be fun."  She glanced at her watch.  "Oh.  I need to get going.  There are some things I want to get done before the mission.  See you in a bit."

The smile still on his face, Daniel returned his attention to the photos before him, which were of a structure that was found on the planet they were scheduled to visit this morning.  The building was rather odd-looking, and he was eager to see what was inside.

The next hour passed quickly, and it was soon time to go to the briefing.  He gathered up his notes and left his office.

"Hey, Daniel," called a familiar voice.  Not stopping his forward progress, the linguist glanced over his shoulder to see Jack trotting toward him.

"Hi, Jack."

"So, you got any plans for tonight?"

"Um, yeah, work."

"Ah, come on.  You can do better than that.  There's a movie playing that I want to see.  How about if we catch an early show, then go for some pizza?"

"Sorry, Jack, but I can't," Daniel said.  "I've got to get those translations done for SG-2, and I need to finish cataloging the artifacts brought back from P9A-116.  Then there's the—"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, Daniel," the colonel interrupted.  "When's the last time you took any time off?  When's the last time you even went home instead of working half the night and crashing on the cot in your office?"

"Uhhh. . . ."  He paused, trying to remember how long it was since he had been home.

"Ah ha!  That's what I thought.  If it's been so long that you can't even remember, then it's been far too long."

"I've got a lot of work to do," the archeologist said defensively.

"You've always got a lot of work to do, and you're always working.  You need to stop and have some fun, loosen up, get a life."

"I have a life, Jack.  I just don't have a social life, which is something that's not easy to have when your job entails spending the better part of your time on other planets that most people on Earth don't even know exist.  That's not exactly standard dinner party conversation, even if I could talk about it."

"I'm just saying, Daniel, that you need to get a life outside the Stargate Program, maybe get a girlfriend."

"Have anyone in particular in mind?" Daniel asked sarcastically.

"Well, I've seen Major Brookings giving you the eye."

"Major Brookings?  The woman who has more muscles than I do?" Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, that could be . . . interesting."

Daniel rolled his eyes and resumed walking.

"Okay, how about Lieutenant Whitmore?  She's kind of cute," Jack suggested, catching up to Daniel.  There was no reply.  "Nurse Stewart?  Captain Marks?  That pretty girl in X-Ray?"

Jack kept spouting off names as they walked into the briefing room.  Daniel was relieved to see that Sam and Teal'c were already there.

Seeing the look on Daniel's face, the female member of SG-1 asked him, "What's up?"

"Jack's trying to fix me up with half the woman in the SGC," the linguist replied, looking like he was at the end of his patience.

Sam's eyebrows lifted in surprise.  "Uh . . . he is?  Why?"

"Because Daniel here needs to learn to live a little," the colonel answered, "and getting a steady girlfriend is just the way to do it."

Daniel opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the arrival of the general.  Everyone settled in their seats and began the briefing.  When Daniel's turn came, he revealed what little he knew about the structure on the planet.

"The walls are constructed of uncut stones," he said.  "The roof looks to be made of rough-hewn logs that have been stained or painted black.  As you can see from the pictures, there are seven pinnacles rising from the roof.  There is no clue as to the purpose of these pinnacles.  They may only serve as ornamentation.  The structure would appear to indicate that the builders used only rudimentary tools.  Surprisingly, the building is almost a perfect hexagon, which means that great care was exercised in the placement of the walls.  This is rather strange given the crudeness of the structure in other regards.  It may mean either that the builders did not have the skills or the means to do a better job or that the structure was built quickly with no time taken on its aesthetic value."

"Any idea what the purpose of the building is?" Hammond asked.

"Not really.  It's pretty hard to tell much of anything from the outside.  However, judging by the amount of plant life that has grown over and around it, I'd say it either hasn't been used in a while or is very seldom visited."

"Well, according to the rest of the footage taken by the UAV, there is no sign of civilization within ten miles of the Stargate," Sam said, "so it's possible that the entire area is now abandoned, though there is a rough trail leading from the gate to the temple, as well as in the opposite direction."

The rest of the briefing went normally.  Half an hour later, SG-1 was walking through the event horizon of the wormhole to P7Y-359.

"Oh, my.  Now, this is something we almost never see.  Trees," Jack remarked as they came out the other side, the sarcasm heavy in his voice.

They were standing in the midst of a small clearing, surrounded by a forest that was a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees.  A narrow path meandered off in both directions from the Stargate.  From the condition of the path, it was clear that it was seldom used.

"Okay, let's go check out that weird building first, then we'll go see what's in the other direction," Jack ordered.  "I'll take point.  Carter, on our six."

They headed off toward the structure the UAV had spotted.  Sam kept her eyes open for trouble, turning to look behind them often.  They'd been walking for about fifteen minutes when a small sound behind them drew her attention.  She turned to see a fox-like creature scurry across the path and into the trees.  She faced forward again and nearly walked right into Daniel, who had slowed his pace for some reason.  There was a deep frown on his face.

"Daniel, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Hmm?  Oh, uh . . . nothing."  The archeologist picked up his pace.  It wasn't long, though, before he was slowing down again, his eyes darting about the forest as if looking for something.

"Daniel?"  Sam touched his arm and was surprised when he jumped.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to startle you.  What's going on?  You look . . . I don't know, kind of skittish."

Daniel kept his eyes on the forest.  "Sam, do you feel anything strange?"

"Strange?  In what way?"

"I don't know, sort of like the feeling you get in the air just before a really big storm breaks, only . . . stronger."

"Um, no, I don't feel anything like that.  Sorry."

Daniel rubbed his arms.  "It's kind of chilly."

"Chilly?  Daniel, it must be at least seventy-five."

"It is?"  The archeologist said in surprise.  "It feels cold to me."

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?  Maybe you're coming down with something."

Daniel shook his head.  "No, I'm okay."

"Hey!  We're not on a Sunday stroll here!" called Jack's voice from up ahead.  "Are you coming or not?"

Daniel and Sam hurried to catch up.  As they continue toward the structure, Sam divided her attention between watching for potential threats and Daniel.  He was growing progressively more nervous, his eyes darting about quickly, muscles tense.  Finally, he came to a complete stop.

"Sam, I think we should turn around and go back," he said in low, tight voice.

"What?  Why?"

"It's just a feeling I have."

Just then, Jack came walking up to them.  "Is there a problem?" he asked, a slight edge of irritation in his voice.

"Yeah, I think we should go back, see what's in the other direction instead," Daniel replied.

Jack stared at him.  "And is there a particular reason why?"

Daniel paused for a long moment.  "I just have this really strong feeling that we should turn around and go back."

"A feeling?  Carter, do you have a 'feeling', too?"

Surprised by the sharp tone in the colonel's voice, Sam looked at him.  "Uh, no, sir, but—"

"Hey, Teal'c!" Jack shouted, interrupting Sam.  "Do you have any feelings that we shouldn't keep going?"

"I do not, O'Neill," the Jaffa replied from where he stood several yards further up the path.

"Well, fancy that.  Neither do I, and since I'm the team leader and the one who makes the decisions, I guess you're overruled, Daniel.  Now, get a move on.  I want to be off this planet well before nightfall."

Not waiting for Daniel and Sam, Jack strode up the path.  Sam looked at the archeologist, whose jaw was clenched in anger.  "Daniel—"

"Forget it, Sam.  Let's just keep going," he said tightly.

They continued up the path.  Sam couldn't understand the colonel's reaction.  He had been pretty chipper earlier.  Now, he suddenly seemed to be in a bad mood and was unfairly taking it out on Daniel.  Unfortunately, there was nothing she could say or do about it, except give her friend all the support she could.  This wasn't the first time that she had been in this position.  There had been plenty of times in the past when Daniel and the colonel had been at odds.  Colonel O'Neill's military outlook often clashed with Daniel's humanitarianism.  More often than not, Sam leaned toward Daniel's viewpoint, though she usually kept it to herself.  Ironically, just about the only time that she openly agreed with Jack instead of Daniel was during that horrible debacle with the Eurondans.  Though she conceded Daniel's point about them not having the right to choose sides in a war they knew nothing about, her desire to get hold of the Eurondan technology affected her judgment.  Well, Daniel had turned out to be completely right in that situation.  They should have learned all the facts before helping Alar and his people.

Daniel and Jack's relationship had gone through a lot of rough spots over the years, but, since Daniel descended, things had been going along pretty well between them.  There had been no arguments nor even any big disagreements.  Which made what just happened all the more puzzling.

Sam put a halt to her thoughts as they broke into a clearing and saw their goal before them.  Sam moved toward the odd-looking structure.  As seen from the UAV's video footage, the walls of the building were made of uncut stone mortared together.  The roof was constructed of roughly cut logs that, upon closer examination, appeared to be coated with a tar-like substance.  The roof sloped upward to the center, where a single log, cut into a pinnacle, rose upward around eight feet above the top of the roof.  Six smaller pinnacles were equally spaced around the outer edges of the roof, positioned at the juncture of each wall.  There were no windows, the only opening being the single wide doorway.  Weeds were growing all around the structure, several different species of vines clinging to the walls.

Sam had gone forward about five yards when she realized that Daniel was not with her.  Turning, she saw him at the edge of the clearing, standing utterly still, his eyes fixed upon the building.  She returned to him.

"Daniel?"

"Sam, I have a really bad feeling about this place."

"Like what you were feeling before?"

"Yeah, only a lot worse.  I . . . I don't think I can go in that building."

Surprised and more than a little concerned, Sam studied the expression on her friend's face.  She had never seen him acting like this before, not even when their lives were at risk.  Daniel almost always possessed an air of composure, even in dangerous situations.  The fact that he was acting so out of character really worried her.  "Maybe you should tell the colonel how uncomfortable you feel."

"I doubt he'll listen."

"Well, let's try."

With obvious reluctance, Daniel followed her to where Jack and Teal'c were.

"Daniel, you go check that place out," Jack said.  "The rest of us will look around out here and keep a lookout for natives."

"Um, I'd really rather not, Jack," Daniel told him.

Jack turned around and stared at him.  "What?"

"I said that I'd rather not go in there.  In fact, I'd prefer it if we would just leave."

"You keep saying that, Daniel, and it's getting more than a little irritating."

"Why do you wish to leave, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.

"Because there's something about this place that gives me an extremely uneasy feeling."

Jack glared at him.  "There you go with those 'feelings' again.  So, what are you saying, that the place gives you the heebie-jeebies?"

"Define heebie-jeebies," Teal'c requested.

Before anyone could explain to the Jaffa, Daniel said, "All right, Jack.  Yes, it gives me the heebie-jeebies.  Are you satisfied?"

Jack gave a short, nasty laugh.  "I don't believe this.  We come up against slimy snakeheads, club-wielding neanderthals, giant flying bugs, even nastier mechanical bugs, invisible bug-like monsters, black holes, exploding suns, meteors, and all kinds of other life-threatening things, and it's all just part of a day's work, but here's this one little abandoned building, and you get all jittery.  We came all this way to see that thing, and I'm not about to tell Hammond that we turned around and went back just because it gave you the creeps.  Just get in there, Daniel, look around, take your videos and your notes, and come back.  That's all you have to do."

"No."

Jack's eyes narrowed.  "No?  Did I hear you say no?"

"I'm not going in there."

Barely controlled anger twisted Jack's face.  "Now, you listen to me, Daniel.  You are on my team, and as long as I'm in charge, you will do as I say.  You got it?  I am fed up with your defiance and disobedience.  I am sick of your attitude, the way you think that everyone should do what you want to do and what you think is right.  And then there's your insistence on exploring every rock and building on the planets we go to.  Every time we find something like this, all you want to do is explore.  That's all you ever want to do.  Even when the Goa'uld are breathing down our necks, you want to go off and play with your rocks.  And, now, all of a sudden, you say that you don't want to?  I am so damn sick of this!  What is it with you?  If you're not whining about one thing, you're whining about something else.  I don't want to hear about your 'feelings' about this place.  It's all in your head.  There's nothing here but rocks, and trees, and a dusty old building.  So suck it up, stop whining, go do your job, and get out of my hair!"

An expression of shock and pain passed over Daniel's face.  Then an emotionless mask fell over the archeologist's features with such suddenness that it was like a door had been slammed in Jack's face.  Without a word, Daniel turned and went into the temple, his back ramrod straight.

"Sir—"  Sam began.

"Not a word, Carter," Jack commanded.  "Come on.  Let's scout the area, make sure there are no unfriendlies."

The major sighed, glancing at the temple.  "Yes, sir."

Sam did as her C.O. requested and searched the immediate area for signs of recent activity, but her mind was not on what she was doing.  Instead, she was thinking about Daniel and the look that had been on his face.  It hurt her to see him in pain, whether that pain was physical or emotional.  Ever since he'd descend, she'd found herself feeling rather protective of him.  She knew it was a reaction to his "death" and having been without him for a year, but that didn't stop her from wanting to shield him from more pain and suffering.  Since his return, he'd been in life threatening situations several times, and there had been moments when she'd been terrified that she was going to lose him, but she knew that, as long as Daniel was a part of SG-1, he'd be putting his life on the line like the rest of them.  The last thing he needed was to be yelled at and insulted by his C.O.

The more Sam thought about what Jack had said, the angrier she became.  What had possessed the colonel to say those things to Daniel?  What gave him the right to be such a bastard?  The colonel's verbal attack on Daniel had been cruel, hurtful, vicious and totally unwarranted.  She had half a mind to go find that insensitive jerk and kick him in the—

Whoa!  Where did those thoughts come from?  There had been times when she had been irritated with her commanding officer, even times when she'd been angry with him, but she had never seriously thought about physically attacking him.  'Calm down, Sam,' she chastised herself.  'It's neither healthy nor good for your career to consider making your C.O. sing soprano.'

Shoving down her anger, Sam forced her attention back to her job.

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