A Ghost of a Chance
by Lady Anne

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Hamlet

Sometimes General George Hammond felt buried by his work. Not just by the tons of rock that hovered over his head. When you worked in a mountain, you got used to that feeling of heaviness or you found a new job. No, it was the details of his command that he sometimes thought might bury him alive. The massive amount of manpower and resources needed to keep the base functioning at peak efficiency was mind-boggling. He had a staff that tended to most of those details. Although they tried to take as much of the load from his shoulders as they could, there were just some things he had to do himself – like budgets.

He hated budgets and the penny-pinching bureaucrats that tried to block his efforts to take care of his base and his people. The bean counters just didn’t understand the day-to-day dangers they faced in the base under Cheyenne Mountain, questioning every penny. He wished he could bring them down sometime, introduce them to the Goa’uld personally. They might not be so quick then to call his expenditures ‘outlandish and excessive.’

There was a hesitant knock at his door; he looked up with a scowl. Heaven help the unfortunate soul who had interrupted him. "This had better be important…" he barked out. When he saw who stood there, his scowl softened to a gruff smile.

Rose Conner, the SGC’s librarian, stood at his half-opened door, her fist still raised mid-knock. She looked ready to flee at the slightest provocation, "I’m sorry, sir. I was told you wanted to see me." She began to back out of the room, pulling the door shut with her. "I can come back later."

"No, no, Miss Conner." He stood, moving to stop her exit. "You are a welcome interruption. Please come in." Laying a soothing hand on her shoulder, he propelled her towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. He closed the door shutting out the hum of busy activity from outside before moving back to his own seat.

She sat nervously, darting little glances toward the observation window that made up a large portion of one wall of his office. He followed her gaze trying to find out what was so interesting. Through the window was the conference room, beyond that the Stargate could be seen, barely. His eyes narrowing in speculation, he asked, "Have you never actually seen the Gate before, Miss Conner?"

She looked down at her hands, her cheeks flushing faintly at being caught looking, "I didn’t think I was supposed to. Isn’t it top-secret?"

The General nodded slowly, "There’s top-secret, and then there’s top-secret. We’re not going to bring the average visitor to NORAD down here and show them around; but you’ve been given security clearance to be on this base. That means you have clearance to see the gate."

"I, um… yes, sir." She floundered uncertainly, not sure of the proper response. She was curious about the gate; it had been a huge influence in her life of late, changing it completely. But she hadn’t known if she was allowed to visit it, like a tourist at the Eiffel Tower.

He smiled at her, trying to ease her discomfort, "I’m sorry, you haven’t done anything wrong. I just feel that it’s important that every recruit, no matter how insignificant, is indoctrinated in regards to the Stargate. It’s the very reason this command exists. So, yes, I would like you to see it."

He moved around the desk and indicated the door to the conference room. She whispered through dry lips, "Now?" She stood uncertainly.

"There’s no time like the present, I always say." He threw a glance at his desk cluttered with reports and budgets and duty rosters, "I can use a break. Let me give you the ten-cent tour, Miss Conner."

*****

"Alright." Rose felt his hand on her back, propelling her towards the door to the conference room. She took a hesitant step forward. She knew what she was going to see. Daniel had actually sketched a picture of the Gate in the journal that she had read. It held a mystery in her imagination; she wasn’t sure she wanted to see the reality, certain it could never live up to her expectations. Still the General applied a steady pressure to her back. Her feet kept moving her forward until she had moved through the conference room. Before she was ready she was standing at the glass, looking down upon the fabled gateroom.

It wasn’t at all the way she had imagined it. Shaped like a huge box with blast doors at either end, the room itself was as grey as every other place in the facility. It was the Gate itself that defined the room. The donut shaped structure dominated everything around it. With its strange alien symbols, it spoke to her of mystery and excitement, new worlds to be explored. Without realizing it, her hand reached out, trying to touch the Gate through the glass.

Behind her, the General chuckled softly.

In a daze, she let him steer her down the stairs. She stopped at the door of the Gateroom, trying to take in the enormity of the structure. Around her people scurried, efficiently doing their job. They were inured to the wonder that they worked with daily; but they smiled at her, remembering that sense of awe and wonder that they themselves had felt upon their first sight of the Gate.

The ramp that led up to it, just stopping at the Gate’s opening, called to her. "It’s amazing," she breathed, hardly aware that she had spoke.

As she watched, unable to move her feet farther into the room, the circle’s rim began to whirl, the chevrons to light. A klaxon began to sound around them. She always heard the alarm in her library. Somehow it sounded more urgent in this room.

Around her people dropped what they were doing, moving into position to welcome home a returning team or to repel an alien invasion. They were ready for whatever the Stargate might bring them.

The Gates outer rim circled, each chevron lighting in turn, until finally there was a huge ‘whoosh.’ Rose took an involuntary step backward as the wormhole established itself with an powerful outward explosion of what seemed to be blue liquid. It settled into a peaceful blue pool filling the interior of the Gate.

She didn’t hear the announcement of "IDC received. SG-11 returning." Her whole being was focused on the blue pool, her eyes as round as the Gate itself.

Suddenly through the blue liquid stepped figures, and miraculously SG-11 was walking down the ramp. They were casually nonchalant about the step they had just taken that had propelled them instantaneously across unimaginable distances. They walked down the ramp laughing and joking about something that had happened during their mission. Handing off their equipment to waiting techs, they headed towards the door for post mission medical exams and debriefing.

None of them noticed Rose still standing there entranced. She stayed staring even after the wormhole flickered and vanished as if it had never been. "Oh my," was all she could say.

*****

Rose did her very best to pay attention to the General as he continued his tour, but her mind kept returning to the Gate. In her mind’s eye she could see the explosion it made as it opened. The blue expanse beckoned to her, inviting her to step through.

She blinked in surprise when she realized that they had stopped and were once again back where they had started, in the General’s office. She sat on the edge of the indicated seat as he took his place behind the desk. Deliberately he set aside the files and reports he had been working on. When he finished, he turned to her with a decidedly satisfied air about him.

"What do you think of our Stargate, Miss Conner?" There was a twinkle in his eye.

"I’m not certain what to say, sir. It’s… just amazing." She looked stunned.

"I always like to be there when people see it for the first time. We forget what a miracle we have down here sometimes." He paused to open a drawer. He pulled out a file. From where she sat, Rose could see that her name was typed neatly on the tab. Across the front was stamped ‘Personnel File. Top Secret.’ She raised her eyes to his curiously. "Are you happy here, Miss Conner?"

She opened her mouth to answer his question, then she shut it again as she considered her question. Was she happy? Her life had changed so much since she had woken up that first time in the SGC’s infirmary. With her life turned topsy-turvy, she had been forced to give up certainty and safety for uncertainty and imminent disaster. She had faced danger several times and survived. Was she happy? She smiled thinking of Daniel and the new life she had found. It wasn’t the life she had chosen, more like it had chosen her, but she wouldn’t trade it now, even if she could.

"Yes, sir," she answered. "I’m happy here."

He settled back into his chair, considering her gravely, "I’m glad to hear that. I know that you’re not really here by choice. It would make things harder if you didn’t want to be here."

"It’s been…" she searched for the right word, "interesting. And," she looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap, "there’s Daniel."

"Yes," he agreed. "I’m glad that you two are learning some discretion."

Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of crimson but she didn’t answer, instead she asked, "General, pardon me for being blunt, but was there a reason that you wanted to see me?"

Folding his hands over her file he leaned in, "I’ve been thinking about what to do with you."

"Do… with me?" The surprise was plain on her face, "I thought I was the librarian."

"Pardon me for being blunt, Miss Conner, but this is a military base. We can’t waste any of our resources. You’re doing a fine job getting the library up and running, but will that really occupy all of your time on a full-time basis?"

Seeing his point, she shook her head, unsure where he was headed.

"I didn’t think so. I can’t afford to have anyone here who doesn’t pull their own weight." He gestured at the piles of budgets he had been working on. "I need to have more of a reason to keep you here. So, I have an idea that I would like you to consider."

"Alright."

"First of all, I do want to commend you on the work you’re doing in the library. It’s going to be a remarkable facility, and an excellent resource for all our people here. I really like what you’re doing with it."

"Thank you, sir."

"And I would like to take it a step further." He paused. She realized abruptly that she’d been holding her breath, waiting for whatever he had to tell her. She had been afraid that he was going to say that it had been decided she would be safer somewhere other than the SGC. It didn’t sound like that was the case though. She waited, a sense of excitement welling from within. "We have a lot of dignitaries coming through here, and more and more we have alien dignitaries visiting us. They all have a great curiosity about Earth – who we are, what we believe. It’s a little difficult to give them a pat answer when there are some 6 billion people on our planet. Obviously we can’t let them go see for themselves. So I thought your library might become a place where they could go, get some of their questions answered."

"I… my… library, sir?" Her voice squeaked on the last word. "I’ll get to meet them?" Her excitement was written plainly on her face for the General to see.

He chuckled softly to himself; sometimes he really loved his job. "Yes, Miss Conner. I’ve been very impressed with how well you handle yourself. And people respond to you well. They seem to trust you."

"Thank you, sir," she stammered yet again. She seemed to be saying that a lot, she just couldn’t think of anything else.

"Don’t thank me yet," he told her gravely. "This isn’t an easy responsibility I’m giving you. You’ll be shaping how alien races view our world. I would like for it to be somewhat balanced and favorable."

"Of course, sir." Her mind was already at work on just what books she would need to find. Was there enough room in her little library? Maybe she could… Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized that the General was still talking to her.

"I would also like for you to become familiar with our operations here on a more extensive basis. I’ve been thinking that we’re also going to need someone who’s a liaison between the SGC and our visitors."

She sat, her mouth open as the full import of what he had just said filtered through her stunned brain. "I’m flattered, sir. But shouldn’t it be someone with the proper training. I don’t know…, like a diplomat or something?" She stopped when she realized that she was arguing with him.

He didn’t seem to take offense, "Miss Conner, we face new things here at the SGC on almost a daily basis, things no one has ever had any training for. We have to make things up as we go and hope that we get it right. So far we’ve done pretty well." He paused to pull together his thoughts. "As I said, I’ve been impressed with the way that people respond to you. They trust you. Now, I need someone whose sole responsibility will be to see to the needs of our visitors. I want someone who doesn’t have a military background. It seems to be something that’s universal – a suspicion of the military."

She nodded her understanding unable to find words to answer.

"You’ll become the liaison between the SGC and our visitors. If they need something we haven’t supplied, they’ll come to you. It will be up to you to make sure they’re happy."

"Again," she began, choosing her words carefully, "I can’t help but feel that there have got to be people better qualified for this. Daniel…"

He stopped her; "Dr. Jackson has his hands full with his own responsibilities. No, I’ve given this a lot of thought. You’re the person I want for the job. I should warn you, it’s not going to be easy. Things are going to come up that none of us have even thought of, but I think you can handle it." He gave her a moment more to take it all in, "What do you say?"

She was speechless, unsure what to say, until, "Yes, of course. If you think I can do this."

"I do," he assured her. "Don’t think I’m giving you an easy assignment here. I’m going to expect you to work hard. You’ll have to undergo some very specialized training. Just being at this base requires a certain amount of training. I understand Major Carter has started you on some of it."

She worked hard to pull her scattered wits back together, "Um, yes, sir. She’s been giving me some weapons training. Something about the safety of the base could come down to one person." Rose hadn’t really given the idea much thought, but she’d enjoyed getting to know Sam. And if she admitted it to herself, she kind of liked learning to shoot. Her life had been so out of control. It felt like she was taking charge of it again in some measure if she could defend herself and those she held precious.

"Exactly right." He nodded approvingly. "I’ll meet with her and detail the rest of the things I expect you to know."

"Yes, sir," she replied faintly. What was she getting herself into? She sat impatiently waiting for dismissal. She could hardly wait to find Daniel and tell him her news. When it wasn’t forthcoming she asked, "Was there something else, sir?"

"There is just one thing," he opened her file. She glanced at it curiously and the words juvenile records jumped off the page to catch her eye. "I’ve been looking over your file. There’s one thing that concerns me."

Oh, G-d, he knew. Despair washed over her. She should have known she couldn’t keep her secret forever. Resigned; she sat, waiting for what was to come.

---

Daniel found her later, sitting at her desk in the library. He bounced in exuberantly. The General had just notified the team they had a weekend downtime, and he couldn’t wait to tell her. He’d thought he would tell her at lunch; but the time had come and gone, and she hadn’t shown up. Anxious to share the news, he’d gone in search of her.

Except that she didn’t appear to be working. She just sat with her back to him, staring into space. Her hands were clenched in her lap, her back stiff and straight.

"Hey," he called softly so as not to startle her.

She turned to him. Her eyes were red almost like she’d been crying. She brightened immediately, putting up a mask that he had never seen before – a forced cheerfulness that hid nothing. "What’s wrong?" He asked quietly.

She waved a careless hand, "Oh, you know how I am when I can’t find a book I’m looking for. One of those volumes you were looking for is proving to be extremely elusive."

He didn’t pursue the matter for the moment. He had a plan and he was about to spring it. Capturing her hand he kissed it before he asked, "Did you hear? The General just gave SG-1 48 hours down."

Gently pulling her hand back she smiled a little self-satisfied smirk, "I know."

"Really?" Hm… Interesting tidbit that. "The General is running his memos by you now?"

She rolled her eyes at him, a real smile curving her lips, "I have my sources."

He lifted an eyebrow, "You don’t say? Is there anything else I should know?"

She blanched a little at that, but she answered breezily, "A girl has to have her secrets."

There was more, but he couldn’t decide what. "Well then, what do your sources have to say about what we’re going to be doing this weekend?"

She considered his question, "I’m afraid there’s been no intel on that."

"Well then, what would you say to a weekend away, just the two of us?"

A small laugh escaped, "And what does Jack have to say about this?" She asked skeptically.

He sat on her desk leaning down to kiss her forehead, "I have no intention of sharing this with him," he informed her. "He’ll have to find his own date for the weekend. What do you say?" He cupped her chin with a hand, tilting her head back so he could see into her eyes.

She smiled warmly, the shadows behind her eyes disappearing, "I say yes, I would love that." She closed the space between their faces to meet his lips with her own. It was a soft kiss, almost tentative; as if she were afraid she shouldn’t.

"It’s a date then?" He asked when they parted.

"It’s a date," she affirmed.

"See you at five?" He stood regretfully, pulling her up with him. He had a feeling there was more going on, but it wasn’t the time or place to deal with it.

She leaned against him for a moment, then, "That would be perfect."

He left her there, turning back to her computer. There had been an undercurrent to their conversation, he could tell; he just didn’t know what it was. But they had an entire weekend alone. It would give them a chance to say the things that they hadn’t had time for yet.

*****

‘You have to tell him,’ the General’s voice echoed in her ears drowning out everything else.

Rose turned back to her computer pressing her hands into her eyes, refusing to cry until Daniel’s footsteps had faded in the hall.

‘You have to tell him,’ there had even been kindness in his eyes as he said it.

A sob caught in her throat. Dropping her head onto her arms, she buried it as the tears ran down her face.

Why had he led her along like that? It didn’t make any sense. Why show her the Gate? Why all that talk of being a liaison, an important part of the SGC if he only meant to take it away in the end? Maybe it was what she deserved. A fit punishment for trying to keep her secret from them, for trying to hide from them what she was. How could she think for even a second that she would find acceptance here with these people.

‘Tell Dr. Jackson. He deserves to hear this from you. If you don’t want your relationship to be built on anything but lies, you have to tell him’

He was asking her to do the impossible, she couldn’t tell him. Daniel wouldn’t understand. No one had ever understood. Certainly not her mother, and she’d done it for her, to save her. She could still hear her mother crying, years later. She’d thought she was helping, but she’d just destroyed everything.

‘You were young and afraid. Dr. Jackson will understand that, but you have to tell him.’

Now she was going to destroy everything again. She would tell Daniel what she had done. He would never look at her the same again - not like he just had with love and desire. Scrubbing at her eyes, she sat up with sudden resolve. She would go with Daniel for the weekend. She could tell him on Sunday. At least she would have a weekend to remember after she was gone.

---

He couldn’t quite determine when, but sometime over the last few years it seemed to Colonel Jack O’Neill that his reason for living had become to worry about his friend and team mate, Dr. Daniel Jackson. It was crazy he knew, Daniel was a grown up. He had managed to survive for 30-odd years before he had joined the SGC.

Of course he hadn’t been surviving well. When Daniel had joined the program – then known as the Gate to Heaven, he had just been ridiculed and laughed out of his chosen profession. Thrown out of his apartment, he had carried all he owned in two dilapidated suitcases when he had arrived at the base that first day.

The hard-as-nails Colonel he’d been then had taken an immediate dislike to the geeky longhaired archaeologist. Somehow Daniel had broken through the walls the Colonel had built up to keep people out. He had slowly stripped away his layers of defenses until Jack couldn’t remember what his life had been like ‘before Daniel.’ Okay, the man had died for him, but it was more than that. Daniel had shown a passion for life and a compassion that had impressed Jack even before he liked him. Over the years Daniel had become Jack’s best and closest friend.

In the time following Sha’uri’s death, Jack had worried the Daniel he loved was gone forever. With his inability to save his wife, his young friend had seemed to retreat into himself, to cut himself off from his friends and teammates. Jack had been afraid of what Daniel might ultimately do in his grief and self-recrimination over his wife’s death.

The only thing that had seemed to keep him going was his search for Sha’uri’s son and the planet Kheb where she had said she had hidden him away. Jack still wasn’t completely sure that he believed Daniel’s story of Sha’uri talking to him through the Goa’uld hand device. But he would follow Daniel to… Kheb and back if he needed him to.

The difference in Daniel’s outlook since he’d begun dating Rose was nothing short of miraculous. The spark that had been extinguished with Sha’uri had been rekindled by the sweet young woman. For that Jack would be eternally grateful. Of course it meant that now Jack had two people to worry about. Rose could take care of herself; she had already proved that several times over. Jack still felt responsible for her safety. He didn’t know if Daniel would survive the loss of another woman that he loved.

He chuckled silently to himself; of course the two of them might eventually shoot him. Every time they had gone out lately his black-ops trained mind had begun to imagine the scenarios of things that might happen to them. They hadn’t had the best track record so far on their dates. He was compelled to check on them.

Carter and Teal’c thought him crazed, but so far they had accompanied him when he had crashed the couple’s dates. Actually it was probably Daniel who was going to do the shooting. Rose always took their presence with good grace – smiling and seeming genuinely happy to see them.

So, the team had 48 hours downtime. The Colonel wondered if he’d be able to convince Daniel to just tell him his plans or if they’d have to do it the hard way. He kind of hoped Daniel wouldn’t tell. Daniel was just so annoyed whenever his team mates appeared. Especially after the archaeologist thought he had thoroughly covered his tracks.

Like the previous evening at the movies, Jack really didn’t understand Rose’s fascination with spy movies. Did anybody really believe the spy business was anything like it was portrayed on the screen – suave gentlemen with fast cars and beautiful women? Yeah, right. It had been worth the price of admission though to see the look on Daniel’s face when Jack had leaned forward in the dark theater, offering, "Popcorn?" with his most innocent face. He’d been afraid Daniel would bust something important.

He stood outside Daniel’s office for a moment before he went in, planning his attack. Once he was ready, he thrust his hands into his pockets. Assuming an air of studied nonchalance he entered his friend’s lab, confronting Daniel in his den.

The archaeologist was doing pretty much what the Colonel expected him to be doing. SG-11 had returned with a crate of artifacts earlier that day. Now, those same artifacts were filling every available surface in the lab; bits and pieces of clay pottery covered with squiggly white markings. Daniel himself was bent over a piece studying the markings intently, pausing occasionally to scribble furiously on a pad at his elbow.

"Hey Daniel," Jack said by way of a greeting. He picked up a piece of the pottery that seemed to so enthrall his friend. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand what Daniel found so exciting about the broken pieces of clay with their strange writing - it looked just like the stuff that Charlie used to bring home from kindergarten. Come to think of it, Sara used to be just as excited about those as Daniel did. Ah well, it was all part of the mystery that was Daniel. A mystery that Jack would not have changed for the world, but it didn’t stop him from giving Daniel hell about it every chance that he got: like now.

"Hi, Jack," Daniel answered, glancing up over his glasses, his eyes bright and eager. Seeing the bit of artifact in Jack’s hand he issued an automatic, "don’t touch that," before he bent back to his work.

Putting the bit of broken clay back where he had found it, the Colonel thrust his hand back into his pocket with a scowl, "Dammit, Daniel, didn’t you hear? The General gave us 48 hours downtime."

"Yes," Daniel answered absently.

"You know that ‘downtime’ means ‘off,’ right?" The man could be so dense sometimes.

The man didn’t even look up. "Yes, Jack, I do know that. Believe it or not I have learned a few military terms in my time here. Like ‘pain in the ass,’ you do know that one, don’t you?"

"Believe it or not, Daniel, that particular phrase isn’t limited to the military." He paused to see if his friend had a rejoinder. When none was forthcoming, he continued, "Are you leaving any time soon? 48 hours," he tapped his watch, "tick, tick, tick."

Daniel sighed, looking up from his work. "The sooner I’m done here, the sooner I can leave," he answered. Pointedly he looked to the door then back to Jack.

Who refused to take the not-so-subtle hint, "For crying out loud, Daniel, no one said that every artifact that comes in here has to be catalogued and analyzed before Daniel Jackson can go home."

"Actually they did. I believe it was General Hammond who asked for an analysis of this before I left."

"Oh, well then." Jack suppressed a grin. Yep, Daniel was going to be difficult. Let the games begin. "So," he leaned against the counter, careful not to disturb any of the clay bits, "got any plans?"

Daniel graced him with a brief glare, "As a matter of fact I do, and they don’t involve you, SG-1, or the SGC."

"Hey, what do you have against us?" It came out a little more defensively than Jack had meant for it to.

With a sigh, Daniel put down the piece of pottery. "Jack, you’re my best friend, and SG-1 is my family and I love you all, but I would like to spend some time alone with Rose. I think we could have something special, but with my injury and then her almost dying and a rogue SG-1 unit on the base; well, things have been pretty crazy."

The other man waved a dismissive hand, "that was weeks ago. It’s been pretty quiet since then."

"Has it really?" Daniel’s tone was one of disbelief. "We’ve been off-world on missions almost continually. When we’re home I have a backlog of work that’s miles long. The few times that Rose and I have managed to get away from base, guess who shows up?" His glare had turned accusatory.

"Oh, come on Daniel, we haven’t shown up every time you two went out…," Jack protested weakly.

Daniel held up his hand to stop the rest, "Oh, please, Jack. You know, I think you must have flunked the whole covert ops course because Rose and I have spotted you every time."

"Give me a break. It’s not easy trying to disguise a seven-foot jaffa. Teal’c doesn’t do covert well. He just doesn’t understand the concept of disguise." He changed tactics mid-tirade, "Besides, you can’t blame your friends for worrying about you."

"And as much as I appreciate that, we’re big kids. You have to let us go sometime."

Jack knew that ‘says who’ was the exact wrong thing to say, so he asked instead, "So, just tell me, where are you going?"

Daniel regarded Jack as if he were an interesting new artifact brought to him for study, "Do you really think I’m going to tell you and make it that easy?"

"Have it your way." Jack smiled slowly, "I bet I can find you."

"Jack, don’t be childish." Daniel went back to his pottery. "Now, would you go away so I can finish here and take my girlfriend away for a romantic weekend?"

"Hm," Jack mused, his mind already beginning to work on the problem, "away implies away from Colorado Springs. Romantic, now that one’s harder. What do you consider romantic – a tomb by candlelight?"

Daniel bit back his answer by sheer force of will.

Jack continued, "I’ll show you covert ops. Fifty bucks says I can find you before the weekend is up."

"Jack, this is ridiculous. I’m not going to bet…" Daniel’s tone was exasperated in the extreme.

"Yeah," Jack crowed in triumph, "because you know you could never hide from me. So just tell me now where you’re going and save yourself fifty bucks."

Daniel’s bemused expression changed to one of resolve, "Alright, Colonel O’Neill, you’re on. If you can find us before SG-1 is supposed to report back to base on Monday morning, you win fifty bucks. If you don’t…"

"Yes?"

"You’ll let us go out in peace. You won’t show up out of the blue, won’t tail us, you’ll just leave us alone." He held out a hand, "Deal?"

Jack took it firmly with a feral smile, "Deal."

They shook solemnly.

"Now," Daniel asked in an aggrieved tone, "would you leave so I can finish?"

"Sure," Moving toward the door, Jack turned back, "be seeing you."

"On Monday."

"Keep telling yourself that, pottery boy. Right up until the time I collect my fifty bucks."

"We’ll see…" was Daniel’s only response.

*****

Jack now had a mission with definite parameters and an objective. He moved with purpose, his next stop the SGC’s new library.

Rose had transformed the space from a grey, dingy storeroom into a warm, inviting place. Bold tapestries and colorful prints hung on the walls. Over the concrete floors she had scattered some brightly patterned rugs. She had even brought in some comfortably overstuffed chairs, creating inviting nooks where people could sit and read. Along with the thick dusty tomes and volumes of technical manuals that lined the shelves there was the occasional surprise; Jack had been delighted to discover ‘Hockey for Dummies’ amongst the astrophysics texts and books on world cultures.

The Colonel found the pretty librarian bent over her computer absorbed in her work. Whatever it was, she wasn’t happy, she was frowning at the screen. Which was entirely too bad, her face was usually sunny and smiling. Jack found himself wanting to bring that smile back, frowns didn’t suite her. Perching himself on a corner of her immaculate desk, he waited to be noticed.

He was finally forced to ask, "Watcha doing?"

She glanced up at him with a sigh, "The General has decided that the library would be a good place to bring visitors to the facility – part of the official tour."

He nodded, "We talked about it. I thought it was a great idea. Show them that we can do more than shoot at people. So, what’s the problem?"

"From what the General said, there’s the possibility that some of those visitors would be aliens curious about Earth and all our various peoples."

Jack nodded, "We’ve had a few of those come through here. Again I ask, what’s the problem?"

"It’s a small space," She waived a hand to indicate the room around her, "How do I represent all of Earth, the people and cultures on two shelves?"

The Colonel nodded thoughtfully, "I see your problem."

"And?" She asked wryly.

"Just be sure you have books about hockey, maybe some autobiographies of some of the great players. I can give you a list if you want." He leaned over her shoulder to look over the list of books she had already compiled.

She laughed a little, throwing up her hands, "How silly of me. I was worried about comparative religion when all I needed was hockey."

"Glad I could be of service," he moved to sit in the guest chair next to her desk. He leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him, "How much longer you going to be here tonight?" He asked casually.

She turned back, frowning once again at the list on her screen, "Um… I’m not certain. Daniel has some work to finish."

"So, you and Danny have big plans for the weekend?" He did his best to sound unconcerned, but subtlety never had been his strong suit.

Shooting a curious glance in his direction, she answered, "He won’t tell me. He said it’s supposed to be a surprise."

"No ideas? Oh, come on, now. You’re pretty smart. I bet you could get it out of him, if you set your mind to it."

She stopped working to fix him with an amused stare, "Jack, the last time I told you where we were going, you and the rest of SG-1 showed up at the table next to us."

"Hey, I had no idea that was Carter’s favorite restaurant," was his weak protest.

"And the bowling alley?"

He began to get the uncomfortable feeling that it was he that was being set up here, rather than the reverse. He shrugged, "Who knew Teal’c could bowl?"

"Well, Colonel Jack O’Neill, you can pull my fingernails out, but you’ll get no information from me this time," she informed him with resolve.

He stood, with his hand to his heart, "I am wounded. I had no such intentions. As I tried to explain to Doctor Jackson, I’m just concerned about the two of you, that’s all. You get into trouble without even leaving the base."

Okay, maybe that was too much. Her eyes flashed fire, "Excuse me, Jack. But who rescued whom last time?"

Something clicked in Jack’s mind, "He called you," he accused.

"The second you left his office," she answered sweetly, "and I’ve been sworn to secrecy."

"He bribed you, didn’t he? What did he offer you? I can top it, whatever it was."

"I doubt it," she told him with absolute certainty.

It didn’t happen often, but Colonel Jack O’Neill found himself flustered. "Oh, well, I don’t see why the two of you want to go off alone anyway."

She rolled her eyes before she asked curiously, "You have a better idea?"

"There’s nothing more romantic than a cabin in the mountains. Sometimes it snows and you feel like you’re the only people in the world."

"Just Daniel and I?"

"Well, and me and Carter and Teal’c, but," he was quick to add, "you’d never even know we were there."

"Jack," She moaned in exasperation. Then her tone changed, her face became thoughtful, "Jack, you do know I’m not trying to steal Daniel away, don’t you?"

For the second time in as many seconds, Jack O’Neill was struck speechless. She put her hand on his, "I know how much he cares for you and Sam and Teal’c. You guys are his family. I’d never come between that, even if I thought I could." She lowered her eyes so he couldn’t see what was in them, "My own family was never close, I always kind of dreamed of having people who cared enough about me to hunt me down to keep me safe." There was an undercurrent of pain in her voice.

"You’re part of our family now, you know that don’t you?"

She wouldn’t meet his eyes, "Everyone has made me feel welcome."

"That’s not what I meant," he pressed. "Daniel loves you and that’s good enough for us."

"Is it?" She asked quietly.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing." She smiled up at him to reassure him. "It’s just been a long day. I’m ready for the weekend."

Before he could say more, Daniel entered, "So am I." He took in the scene, Rose seated at the computer, Jack standing over her, "Are you interrogating my date?"

"I didn’t crack," she reassured him.

"Hey," Jack objected, "I wasn’t working that hard. If I’d really been trying to break you, you wouldn’t have been able to resist me."

"Yes," she agreed, "because you’re so irresistible."

"Damn right," he growled.

"I was agreeing with you, Jack," she said. "You know, if you really want to double date, I have a friend, Paula. I think you’d like her…"

"Rose," Daniel interrupted, "don’t encourage him."

She looked from one to the other and giggled, "Sorry, Jack. Maybe some other time?"

Daniel took her arm and they headed for the door, "See you on Monday, Jack," he said over his shoulder.

"Not if I see you before that," Jack called after them. He watched them disappear with a smile. He would give them a couple of hours, and then the game was on.

---

A Ghost of a Chance Continued...

Part 2

Checking the rearview mirror to make sure there were no obvious signs of anyone tailing them, Daniel breathed a sigh of relief when he finally pulled onto the highway headed out of Colorado Springs. Jack had spies everywhere. Daniel wouldn’t put it past his friend to have them followed just to satisfy his bizarre need to always know where ‘his kids’ were.

He wasn’t a kid and Daniel resented Jack’s efforts to protect him from every danger, real and imagined. Daniel intended to prove for once and all that he could take care of himself, and Rose too for that matter.

He had made his plans for the weekend very carefully; trying to take into account every detail that Jack might use to find them. He had withdrawn enough money from the bank so he wouldn’t have to use a credit card. Rose had thought him insane, but he had even gone so far as to leave his car at his apartment and rented a car for them to travel in.

He knew he was being a little, okay a lot, paranoid about the whole thing; but he was determined that this time Jack wasn’t going to find them. He felt like a 16-year old whose parents would insist on going with him on his every date. It just made him so mad every time his team showed up whenever he and Rose were out somewhere. They weren’t children; they could take care of themselves. He was going to prove it to Jack, no matter what.

The older man was going to have his work cut out for him this time though. Daniel was even a little proud of the lengths he’d gone to in order to fool his friend. Not only had he left his car parked in its usual space outside his apartment, he’d left lights on inside. Just in case Jack ‘happened’ to drive by. It might fool him for a little while at least. Give them that much more of a head start.

Rose had been more than a little exasperated with his preparations. She’d put her foot down when he tried to convince her to just buy new things when they arrived at their destination. She’d insisted he let her pack a bag. Grudgingly he agreed, taking her to Janet’s so she could get her things. He had stood, tapping a foot the entire time she packed. Finally he had gotten her into the car and they were on their way.

He didn’t tell her about the circuitous route they would be taking, just in case there might be someone following them. In fact he didn’t intend to tell her where they were going. Not because he was afraid that she might somehow get the information to Jack, although she had been responsible for inadvertently spilling their plans once or twice. No, he was delighting in the playful torture, in her entreaties. She had been moody and quiet as they set out. It had made him happy to see her spirits lift as she became involved in the game of ‘convincing Daniel he should tell me where we’re going.’

*****

Rose yawned as she curled in the seat; thoughtfully watching the Colorado landscape as it sped by her window. The sun had long since set and they were well into the evening; the stars twinkling high overhead. They were clear and bright in the cold night sky.

She had never seen Daniel so focused and determined. Even through her worry about the outcome of the weekend, she found herself consumed with curiosity about where they were going. She had questioned him at great length, but Daniel had remained tight-lipped. She had thought that once they were on the road he might tell her something, but no, he just grinned at her queries, remaining mysteriously silent all the while.

"I just hope we can get there before Jack puts out an A.P.B. or whatever it is the Air Force does," he grinned at her mischievously, checking the rearview for the nine-hundredth time.

She found his high spirits infectious. With every mile they put between them and the mountain, she found her own mood begin to lighten. Could it be possible? Could everything turn out all right? Hope began to bloom in her heart. If anyone could accept what she had done: not condemn her outright, surely it would be Daniel.

She twisted in the seat, turning to Daniel. It was time for another round of 20 questions, "Are you ever going to tell me where we’re going?" She asked plaintively.

"I’d say we were about half way there now," he evaded her question, again.

"Come on, Daniel, I didn’t know Jack was going to show up at the movie when I told him where we were going." Although she did have to admit that she’d found his arrival extremely amusing. "This is just silly," she declared, crossing her arms and facing forward in her seat, "you know, you’re both acting like children."

Fingers drumming on the steering wheel, he flashed her a quick repentant smile, blue eyes twinkling, "I know, but dammit I just want some time alone with you." Removing one hand from the steering wheel, he reached out to capture hers, squeezing it gently, "I was kind of hoping that was what you wanted, too." He didn’t look at her but the desire in his voice made her shiver.

Lightly caressing the back of his hand, tracing the long fingers, she asked "How long did you say it would be before we get there?" She kissed his fingers gently, each one in turn.

She almost got it out of him that time, but he caught himself just in time. Instead of answering her question, he cupped her face, running his thumb along her lips, "Not nearly soon enough," he earnestly replied.

Regretfully he put his hand back on the steering wheel, the better to concentrate on his driving. He did press a little harder on the gas pedal. He was willing to risk a speeding ticket if it got them to their final destination that much faster.

Rose laid her head back on the seat, her face burning where he had touched it. She breathed deeply, trying to imagine snowy landscapes in her mind’s eye. Unconsciously her hand stole up to touch the spot where the heartstone normally lay. She missed its warm presence and the steady assurance she received of Daniel’s presence through it, but they had agreed that the stones were too dangerous to wear off base until they could research their effects in more detail.

Selfishly she was just as glad she hadn’t been wearing it when the General dropped his bomb. There was no way she could have hidden her emotional turmoil from Daniel. She wasn’t sure she was really hiding it from him now; he was just giving her space.

She loved him so much; she had no idea how she was going to find the words to tell him the things she had to tell him. She turned back to the window, once again watching the landscape as it sped by. It passed so quickly, just like life. She sighed, leaning her head against the cool glass. The weekend would be over before she knew it, and so would her life.

---

Jack prowled the SGC restlessly. He kept telling himself he should go home. Time off wasn’t off if you spent it on the base. Teal’c knew what time off meant, he’d left for the Land of Light and his family the first second he could. Daniel and Rose had been gone for hours. Sam was doing whatever it was Sam did in her free time.

There was a game on he wanted to see. He should just go home, kick back, have a beer, and watch the game. Everything would be fine. Daniel and Rose would return on Monday, safe and sound. Sure, just keep telling yourself that, O’Neill. The knot in his stomach was telling him different. With every minute that passed it just kept winding itself tighter.

Daniel was out in the world and Jack had no idea where to find him. Daniel - who attracted trouble like a moth to the flame.

Finally he had to admit it, at least to himself. He didn’t like it, not one bit. Yes, the bet was childish, but he was determined to win it nevertheless. There was just no way he would allow Daniel and Rose to remain incommunicado for 48 hours.

As he passed Sam’s lab, the light spilling out into the hallway beckoned him in. The sight that greeted him left him gaping. Sam was there, sitting in the middle of her lab working on a… motorcycle. Did he even know Sam had a motorcycle?

"Carter, for Pete’s sake, what are you still doing here?"

She flashed him her most radiant smile, "I could ask you the same thing, sir." Picking up a cloth, she rose smoothly, wiping grease from her fingers.

"I just had some ‘stuff’ to do. I’m going anytime now." He frowned at her, "What about you?"

She didn’t let his gruff tone affect her. She was used to Jack’s mood. She knew his tone was used as a cover for his deeper emotions. "I’m leaving soon," was her cheerful reply. "I just wanted to do some work on my special project." She proudly indicated the motorcycle.

"For crying out loud, Carter. You could kill yourself on that thing."

She didn’t bother to dignify his ridiculous statement with a reply. Instead, she asked, "Can I do something for you, sir?" She had really thought he would be gone hours ago, tailing Rose and Daniel or otherwise involved in some cloak and dagger means of finding the couple on their latest adventure.

He looked a little abashed. He didn’t know how Carter was going to respond to his request. She’d flatly refused the last time, but he wasn’t leaving until he got what he wanted. "Do you know where Daniel went this weekend?"

"No, sir. He was going to tell me, but I told him not to. Is that all?" She turned back to her gleaming bike, counting down to the explosion she was sure would follow.

She didn’t even make it to 2, "No, that’s not all," he roared. "What do you mean you told him not to tell you?"

"Just what I said, sir. I wanted to have deniability when you asked. Like you just did." She sympathized with Daniel’s plight. She had been on the receiving end of the Colonel’s ‘need-to-know’ on more than one occasion.

"Carter, of all the…" He bit back the word that was on his lips. Taking a deep breath he started again trying for a calmer tone, "Sam, I have a bad feeling about this weekend."

She was unimpressed, "Daniel told me before he left that the two of you had a bet. Something about fifty dollars?" She watched him skeptically. If she didn’t know better, she would think there was something else going on in the Colonel’s brain besides the need to best Daniel one more time.

"Geez, Carter, this doesn’t have anything to do with the bet. I mean it did, but it doesn’t anymore. I just… I don’t know… need to know where they are." He couldn’t explain it to her, the knot that was twisting in the pit of his stomach. His brown eyes entreated her to listen to him, hear more than his words.

Unable to take his gaze any longer, she looked down at her hands, "Come on, sir. They’re big kids. They can take care of themselves. Just this once." Carter hung on to her determination not to let him get to her.

"Carter, this is Daniel we’re talking about."

Was that fear she heard in his voice? "And Rose," she quickly pointed out. "Don’t you think you can trust them this once?"

His gaze was fixed on the bike, "I’ll tell you, Carter. I was actually going to let it go this time. I was thinking I was prepared to lose the bet. But, I don’t know… I just...," he shrugged, unable to articulate his worry, "I need to know," he repeated simply. Call it a gut feeling, call it years of relying on his instincts, but Colonel Jack O’Neill’s instincts were telling him there was trouble in River City. And it was spelled Daniel Jackson.

He raised his eyes to hers, willing her to understand his anxiety. She sighed. "Okay," she gave in, gracelessly. She never could resist for long when he turned those brown eyes her way, "We can do a trace on the tracking device on his car."

"Yes!" He tried not to sound too triumphant. Judging from Sam’s sour expression, he had failed miserably. It was what he had been hoping for. That tracking thingy had come in very handy; he hoped Daniel never learned of its existence.

"But this is the last time," she insisted firmly, moving to her computer.

"Absolutely," he would have agreed to anything right then, up to and including having his head shaved. As long as she would do what he asked.

She shook her head at him, pulling up the needed programs. Jack hovered, watching anxiously over her shoulder as she zeroed in on Daniel’s location. She laughed when she finally had it pinpointed.

"What?" Jack queried.

"He’s outsmarted us this time." She told him laughing, "They’re at his apartment."

*****

Jack was at Daniel’s door, hand raised to knock before he realized that he hadn’t even told Carter goodbye. He hesitated, standing there in the dark hallway listening carefully. The building was quiet, there wasn’t much to hear. It was late, everyone was probably asleep. Including Daniel and Rose, or involved in things that they really didn’t want interrupted.

He let his hand fall, undecided. He really needed to see them, to know that they were alright. The knot in his stomach was still twisting, presenting scenarios for his edification: they could be inside, tied up, the NID could be torturing them for information. The possibilities were endless. He raised his hand to knock, he was going to do it. He had to know.

He let it fall again. The evidence just didn’t support it. There was no sign of foul play. Daniel’s neighbors were the kind to call the police at the first sign of trouble. Everything looked… normal, quiet. No, they were inside, doing… okay, he really didn’t need that visual. The bottom line was, they wouldn’t welcome Jack O’Neill at their door at; glancing down at his watch he was surprised. He hadn’t thought it was that late.

He tried to approach the problem logically. Okay, look at the facts. Fact one: Daniel’s car was outside. It was cold, it had been sitting there for several hours. Fact two: There were lights on. Despite the fact that he didn’t hear any noise from the apartment, the forensic evidence pointed to the fact that they were there.

Struck with sudden inspiration, Jack pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket quickly punching in Daniel’s number. Faintly from inside, he could hear the ringing of a phone. When the answering machine picked up, Jack jabbed the end button. Just what he expected, Daniel wasn’t going to answer the phone tonight. The next number he dialed was Daniel’s cell phone. The man never went anywhere without it, he was fanatical about that. Listening carefully, Jack thought he could just make out the Egyptian ring the archaeologist had downloaded from the web. No one else in the world would have that tone. Grinning, he dialed the last number just to make sure. A little louder this time, he heard the melodic tone Rose liked to use. Three for three, batting one hundred was the Air Force Colonel, Jack O’Neill. He lifted his hands in a victory salute to his own brilliance.

Okay, he could be reasonably sure they were there. He could go home, have a beer, hope that it would loosen the knot a little. Morning was soon enough to confront Daniel and Rose and collect his bet. Daniel owed it to him for causing him so much anxiety. The man was going to make his hair turn grey.

---

Rose stirred groggily as the car finally came to a halt. Rubbing her eyes, she peered over at him sleepily, "Are we there?"

He leaned over, kissing her lightly on her nose, "Yes, sleepy head, we’re there. Do you know that you snore?" Climbing out of the car, he went to open the trunk and pulled out their bags.

"I do not." She peered through the window, eyes still bleary with sleep, trying to get her bearings. In the dark, all she could make out was a wrought-iron fence rising along the tree-lined street.

"Yes, you do. But it’s a very lady-like snore." He opened her door to help her out, admitting a rush of cold night air.

She decided that it was best to just let the matter drop. It’s not like she actually knew if she snored or not. Dewey had never complained. "Where are we? Can I ask now?" She shivered a little after the warmth of the car.

"We’re away from Colorado Springs and all things SGC," was his cryptic reply. Wrapping his jacket around her, he located a gate in the fence. Holding it open, he swept her a low, courtly bow. Unsure what to expect, she pulled the jacket tighter as she stepped through.

To discover a cobble-stoned courtyard. It was lovely, with dim lights and flowing fountains arranged around little nooks and crannies secreted in the shadows It was a place where lovers could meet, whispering sweet nothings to one another. It was late in the season, but the smell of flowers wafted through the air.

Beyond the courtyard rose the house. It had been built in the time when houses were showcases. Rising at least three stories, it was a huge rambling affair complete with turrets and arches and gabled windows. Smoke curled lazily from a chimney. The front porch spread across the front of the house; lights shone in the windows, warm and inviting.

"What do you think?" Daniel whispered in her ear.

She just stood, taking it all in, eyes huge, "It’s beautiful," was all she could find to say.

Her gathered her under his arm and propelled her up the porch stairs, into the house. The entry was as grand as the courtyard with a polished wooden staircase branching in two directions, the mirror on the landing reflecting their images back at them. In the main room the fireplace danced merrily, Daniel pushed Rose in its direction while he proceeded to the little reception desk to check them in.

The clerk glanced up surprised as he approached, but asked politely enough, "Can I help you, sir?" He was a teen-ager with a mop of red hair falling into his eyes. On the counter in front of him was a textbook.

Daniel smiled. "Getting in some late night studying?"

"Big chem test," the young man admitted ruefully. "Gotta ace it." He took in Rose standing at the fireplace, "I wasn’t really expecting any more guests tonight. I thought everyone was in for the night." His tone was doubtful.

"I have a reservation," Daniel informed him, frowning. It was late; he didn’t relish having to find another place to stay. It would put a damper on the romantic evening he had planned. "Under the name of Daniels? I talked to Mona, she gave me a confirmation number."

"Oh, sure," the youth ran a harried hand through his hair. "That’s my mom, she owns this place. But she’s forever forgetting to write things down." He began typing frantically on the computer next to him. "We’re all full, maybe I could.."

"Listen," Daniel glanced over at Rose who still stood next to the fireplace, hands outstretched soaking in the warmth, "don’t you have anything, just for tonight? It’s cold out. I don’t want to have to spend half the night looking for another place to stay. I had a reservation," he repeated firmly.

"I guess… I do have one room left," the young man began doubtfully.

"We’ll take it," Daniel seized the offer immediately. "Then we’ll talk tomorrow about what the word ‘reservation’ means."

"But we don’t usually…" the other began to protest weakly.

"You will this time," Daniel replied, easily overriding any objections. He could see that Rose was entranced with the place. He knew she would go somewhere else if he asked, but he didn’t want to disappoint her.

The boy shrugged hesitantly, and then began to check them in. Uncertainly, he handed Daniel the key to their room. He took it before the kid could change his mind.

*****

Daniel was more than a little afraid their room would turn out to be a glorified closet with a cot in the corner. Jack’s idea about a tomb by candlelight was becoming more appealing by the minute. Whatever, he was determined they would make the best of it.

Slowly he opened the door to find the room was bathed in darkness. He searched around, finally locating a light switch. He was pleasantly surprised to discover a large airy room that featured a king-sized bed at the far end. He glanced over at Rose who blushed, dropping her eyes to her feet. He took her hand, pulling her inside.

There was a cozy seating area.  The couch, replete with pillows, was placed in front of a fireplace. The wood was already laid out, ready to be lit. Along one wall was a mini kitchen complete with a sink, microwave and coffee pot. Daniel was pleased to note there were even the supplies they would need to make coffee. Yes, things were definitely looking good.

The entire room was done in a rose motif from the rose sprinkled quilt on the bed to the hand-stenciled roses climbing up the walls. It was a room that had been designed for romance. He couldn’t imagine why the kid had made such a big deal about giving it to them.

Clutching her bag to her, Rose moved past him into the room. "It’s just perfect." Tears shone in her eyes. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. She was overwhelmed at the sense of loss she had when she thought that after Sunday she might lose Daniel.

He dropped the bags he was carrying, closing the door with his foot. "Hey, don’t do that." Setting her bag aside, he pulled her close. "What’s wrong?" He teased her gently. "The room too small? I know, you don’t like roses?"

Wrapped in his arms, she buried her face in his chest. He rubbed her back in soothing circles until she regained her equilibrium. He felt her take a long shuddering breath before tilting her head back to look up at him, "I love it, I do."

"So why are you crying?" Using his thumb, he wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I’m not crying."

He smiled down at her tenderly, "You could have fooled me. Tell me, what’s wrong?" He ran his fingers through her hair, smoothing it away from her face.

"Nothing, really," she insisted, smiling back up at him.  She ran a hand down his arm, entwining her fingers with his. "Did you bring me here to talk?"

He knew she was changing the subject, but he was willing to be sidetracked, for the moment. They had an entire weekend, time enough for everything in the world.

He didn’t answer her question. Instead, with a quick kiss, he released her. Turning off the lights, he  pulled back the curtains. Moonlight filled the room with an ethereal glow. Moving back to Rose who was watching him with a bemused smile, he asked, "So, Miss Conner, exactly what did you have in mind?"

She thought a moment and shrugged, "Hm… I suppose… we could play chess, no wait, sorry. I didn’t bring the board." She affected a yawn, "I can’t think of a thing. Maybe we should just… sleep?"

The desire in his eyes as he moved to take her in his arms warmed her to her toes, "Not likely," he promised. "Can I have this dance?"

He danced her around the room in time to music that only he could hear. She relaxed into his arms, letting him guide her movements. His hand was firm and warm on her back.

"You really know how to dance," was her surprised comment.

"I had a counselor in college who thought my schedule was too skewed to academics, she ‘strongly advised’ me to balance it with some recreational activities. She was really surprised when I opted for a ballroom dance class." He grinned down at her as they circled the room. He loved the way she moved with him, her body in perfect synch with his.

"I’ll have to send her a thank-you note." She laid her head on his chest, "I wish I had known you in college."

He laughed, swinging her in a dizzying arc around the room, "I was a geek back then."

She gazed up at him with wide innocent eyes, "Jack says you still are."

"Ah, ah, ah," he admonished her with a finger to her lips.

"Sorry," she playfully kissed his finger before correcting, "he who must not be named. But really, I would have liked to have known you then," she insisted, "I think geeks are kind of sexy."

"Really?" One eyebrow arched in the most fascinating manner.

"Oh, most definitely. I always wondered just what it was they were learning in all those books. And the glasses."

"Glasses are sexy?" He asked skeptically.

"Oh, yes, I always want to take them off." Putting action to her words, she reached up to remove his. Setting them aside carefully, she brushed her fingers across his face. They had stopped spinning around the room; they swayed in place, their bodies barely touching.

She traced his face with her fingers, lightly brushing his cheekbones and the arch of his eyebrow. Time seemed to tremble between them until at last he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her. It was soft and gentle, delicate as the kiss of a butterfly’s wings.

She responded by wrapping her arms around him; one hand found its way to his neck, pulling him closer. The other worked its way inside his shirt to find warm, smooth skin. His hands slipped down her back, pulling her closer, she snuggled in with a sigh.

"I keep expecting a knock on the door," she admitted breathlessly when they parted, "and Jack and your team are going to be there."

He chuckled; she could feel it reverberate deep in his chest. Whispering in her ear, he feathered kisses along its edge, "I tell you what, if there’s a knock on the door, we’ll just ignore it." He caught her face in his hands and just stood, drinking in the sight of her. She smiled tremulously, desire and love shining up at him from her hazel eyes. "Besides, no one would dare knock on our door tonight. Not even Jack O’Neill," he said with finality. His tone changed and he regarded her seriously, "Are you sure you’re ready for this, Rose?"

She laughed softly in wonder, "Are you serious?"

He smoothed her hair back, running his fingers through the fine silky strands, "I love you. Have I told you that yet?"

"I seem to recall you saying something like that."

"I just want you to know, there’s no hurry. If you’re not ready, you know…"

"Why do you think I’ve been seeing a therapist so regularly?" she queried quietly. "It was precisely for this moment. I love you too, you know."

"I seem to recall you saying something like that," he echoed her words back with a tender smile.

"I’m just saying, are we here to talk, or are we here to dance?"

"Oh, dance most definitely," he spun her around the room in another dizzying circle before dumping her breathless onto the bed. She held onto him tightly, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

"Are you sure?" His gaze was intent, granting her one last chance to change her mind.

Very deliberately she lay back on the bed, her hair fanned out under her, framing her face. "I think there’s been enough talking for one night." She caught his hand and drew him down to lie beside her.

*****

Downstairs, the young man, Travis, tried to study, but it was no good. His mind was no longer on his books. He had watched the couple disappear in the shadows of the hallway. They had looked so happy, so in love. Why had he given them the room? He knew better, he had grown up hearing the stories of what happened in that room.

It wasn’t fair. He hated running the counter, but his mother had gone out for dinner. She’d entreated him to do it, just this once.

The front door opened, this time admitting his mother. "Hey kiddo, sorry I'm so late.  Anything exciting happen tonight?" She moved to give him a quick kiss so he could head for bed.

He debated not telling her, but she’d find out. Soon enough, everyone would find out. "You booked a reservation today for a Mr. Daniels?"

She nodded with a grin, "He was so cute. He’s taking his girlfriend for a romantic weekend." She took off her coat and hung it on a hook. "He actually found us on the Internet. That website you put together is really beginning to pay off." She glanced at the guest register and her face went white. "Travis, you didn’t?"

"Mom," he wasn’t going to take the rap for this one, "you didn’t write down the reservation. I gave away our last room an hour before they came in."

Mona stared at the book, hoping the numbers she saw there would miraculously change, "Honey, you know that couples never go into that room, men never go into that room."

"I know, Mom, but he was upset. I didn’t know what to do," he finished lamely.

"You could have told him ‘no’ and sent him on his way. I would rather he were mad at us and alive tomorrow. Please G-d, this can’t be happening, not again." She was shaking.

"I’m sorry, Mom," Travis was miserable. "Maybe nothing will happen this time?"

"And maybe the sun won’t come up tomorrow," she snapped, instantly repenting her harsh words, "I’m sorry, Travis, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone. What are we going to do?"

He grasped for some answer, "They’ve only been in there for an hour. Maybe you could find them another room somewhere else? Maybe nothing’s happened yet?"

"Why didn’t you think of that earlier?" She rubbed her forehead trying to think around the headache was starting to form. "Okay, you start calling around, see if anyone else has any vacancies. I’ll go knock and see if anyone actually answers the door." She didn’t have any hope that it would happen. But she at least had to try. She knew what had happened last time. She didn’t ever want to have relive that horror again.

*****

Rose was dreaming she was awake. It was the only explanation that made sense.

The room around her was the one she had gone to sleep in, wrapped in Daniel’s arms. It was the same room that she and Daniel had danced in, but; in the way of dreams, not. It had changed in subtle and not-so subtle ways. The lighting was different, softer; the furniture more massive - the bed had become a wooden four-poster bed with masses of pillows and curtains draped artfully from the corners of the posts. There was a full-length mirror beside the bed with a changing screen next to it The fireplace roared, warming the room, casting flickers of light into the dim corners. The small sofa was now an overstuffed monstrosity with chairs on either side of it.

She could hear music coming from somewhere. Not the clear strains that you would get from a CD player or even filled with static as you might get from a radio station out of tune. It sounded scratchy almost, with a bold brassy sound.

The room wasn’t the only thing that had changed. She herself was different, she was some new dream person – perhaps the woman she had always longed to be. Catching sight of her reflection in the mirror, she stood entranced by what she saw there. Blonde curls framed her face; her heart-shaped face - like the heroine of a romance novel. Her eyes had changed too, from a smoky hazel to vivid green.

She smoothed a hand down her body, admiring the soft texture of her dress. Her slender form was clothed in a gown from another era, straight to below the waist with flounces and pearls hung round her neck. It wasn’t a style Rose would have chosen, but it suited the tall elegant woman looking back at her sardonically from the mirror. She lifted the hem to reveal long legs in stockings and garters.

Behind her, in the mirror’s reflection, she saw a man enter the room, shutting the door behind him. She was disappointed to find that it wasn’t Daniel. He was handsome enough in a tall dark sort of way; but if she were having dream fantasies, she really would have preferred that they feature Daniel as the hero.

Except she didn’t have to dream about him, he was lying in the bed next to her. Wasn’t he? Rose felt confusion rise within her. The dream was feeling altogether real.

She turned as the man in the mirror approached, her lips curving into a seductive smile. "Sara, my love," he entreated, "come away from the mirror. You look altogether ravishing."

Rose realized that she wasn’t in charge of her dream when she leaned in, kissing the man by way of greeting. "Am I the most beautiful in all the world, Lover?" She whispered in his ear. Even her voice was not her own, it was low and smoky.

The man responded, pulling her close, "There is no one more beautiful, and you belong to me. Never forget it." He kissed her with a hungry passion that threatened to consume her. Rose wanted to push him away, to wake up; instead she found herself responding in kind, pressing herself against him.

Where was this coming from? Was her hazy thought as she felt need for him rising within her. She loved Daniel; she had no desire for a dream lover that wasn’t him. So why was she dreaming this fantasy from a cheap romance novel? She’d never had a dream like it before, why start now?

But she couldn’t stop it when her dream self drew the man down to lie beside her on the bed. He pulled away to look down on her, his dark eyes fairly smoldering with his desire, "Sara, don’t tease me. Tell me that you love me."

She stretched beneath him languorously, laughing up at him. He watched her every move, but came no closer. At last she relented, "Adam, you know there’s no one else for me." She pouted up at him, holding out her arms in invitation, with a groan the man, Adam, dropped into them.

It occurred to Rose that Sara had never said that she loved him.

*****

With a start Rose awoke. She lay for a moment, gathering her scattered wits, clutching at the remnants of the dream that had seemed so real only moments before. The room around her had returned to the way she remembered it. More importantly Daniel lay beside her in the bed, warm and solid.

It had been the most realistic dream she had ever had. Part of her wanted to wake Daniel up, let him reassure her that it was just a dream. But looking at him sleeping peacefully, she didn’t have the heart. Already the dream was almost gone, leaving behind only vague images and a snatch of a song running through her head.

She moved restlessly and he turned to her, snoring softly. In a rush she remembered what had happened between them. She was just as glad that he was asleep, she was certain that she blushing down to her toes. She smiled to see him there, and the dream was gone as if it had never been.

If this was going to be their only weekend, she wanted to remember every second of it. She propped her head up on one hand to watch him while he slept. When he was awake, Daniel was rarely still. Except when he was injured, she had little opportunity to just look at him. In repose, the innocence that was so a part of him made him look younger, almost a child. Now, with the moonlight cascading over him, he looked like he was carved from marble-a statue of a God from Mount Olympus come to dally in the bed of a mortal female.

She ghosted her fingers through his hair lightly. She didn’t want to disturb his slumber. She loved the soft silkiness of his hair. She gazed at his face, trying to memorize its planes and surfaces. She paused when she discovered a small scar on his temple. Where had it come from? Was it from some adventure through the Stargate or did it have some purely mundane explanation. No, she decided, nothing about Daniel could ever be mundane.

She snuggled against him, resting her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating, strong and sure, just like him. ‘How had she come to this place?’  Was her drowsy thought. Faintly, far away she could hear her mother’s strident voice telling her, "You’re going to say ‘till death do you part’ some day. Then you’ll know."

Hope stirred in her once again. Maybe things would turn out all right. ‘You were wrong, Mom,’ she replied to that inward voice. ‘You’ve never met, Daniel.’

Her eyes closed in sleep. She didn’t hear the ghostly voice reply, "Honey, they’re all alike."

---

The morning dawned bright and beautiful. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, it was time to start the day. Colonel Jack O’Neill arrived at Daniel’s apartment with his friend’s favorite flavor of Starbucks coffee and a bag full of muffins.

Whistling, he pounded cheerfully on the door. Sure it was still early but he had big plans for their day. They needed to make an early start if they were going to pick up Carter and make it to his cabin before the day was completely gone.

Waiting patiently at the door, he smiled as he pictured Daniel cursing, struggling into his clothes. Rose would shriek and pull the sheet over her head. He tapped a foot while he waited, sipping his own coffee.

Time passed, a lot of time. He frowned when no one came to the door. Were they ignoring him, hoping he would go away? Well, they could give that up. He pulled his key out of his pocket. Inserting it into the lock, he pushed the door open. "Good morning, campers," he called out as he entered, warning them of his imminent presence. "Ollie, ollie, oxen free. Ready or not, here I come." He shoved the door shut behind him with a foot.

The apartment was oddly silent. By now, Daniel should be up, making coffee. There should be the sound of water running in the shower, breathing, something; but the apartment was completely still. It wasn’t the silence of people trying to evade him; no, it was completely silent, with the feeling that no one had been there in a while.

Laying his packages on the counter, he moved into the living room. The gentle burble of the fish tank was the only sound to break the silence cloaking the apartment. A note taped to the tank caught his eye. In two quick strides, he had crossed to the fish tank and tore it off.

"Please feed the fish. Thanks." Without thought he picked up the little jar of fish food, scattering some flakes across the top. The fish went into a frenzy of feeding delight. How long had it been since they’d been fed? That done he grimly continued his inspection of the apartment.

It wasn’t large. It didn’t take him long to find that there was, indeed, no one home. Opening the door, he gave the bedroom a cursory glance. The bed was neatly made, it had obviously not been slept in.  He was on his way out when something caught his eye. He turned back to see that there was something on the bed. Upon closer inspection he found two cell phones, along with a note. 

"Have a good weekend, Jack. See you on Monday." It was signed simply, "Daniel."

Jack stood in the empty bedroom clutching the note. The knot in the pit of his stomach twisted viciously. There was something wrong. He knew it. He needed to find Daniel, soon.

---

Mona had been up all night. Travis had eventually gone to bed. She doubted that he’d actually gone to sleep. The kid felt pretty bad and she didn’t know how to ease his guilt. She shouldn’t have left him alone, that’s all there was. He never could say no to anyone. It was how she’d talked him into duty for the evening.

Her mistake was going to cost some poor unsuspecting person his life. Mr. Daniels, he’d sounded so nice on the phone. He’d been so excited that he and his girlfriend were getting a weekend away. He’d wanted to know what there was to do in the area. They’d chatted for an hour about museums and cafes and bike trips. She’d been envious of the lucky woman who had such a thoughtful man. Her own husband had been like that.

She’d gone back and knocked on the door to their room hourly, just hoping. She’d known it would be in vain, but she had to try. She had to do something. Because she knew, no one ever came out until it was over. She shuddered, remembering the last time. She’d lost her own husband that time. Wearily she made her hourly trek back to bang on the door, dreading that this time the door would open. She knew what she would find when it did.

---

After several minutes of determined pounding on Jack’s part, Sam finally opened her door. Her hair was spiked and sleep-tousled. She wore only the bare necessities to answer her door, a t-shirt that skimmed her curves nicely and a pair of boxer shorts. For a brief second all thought of Daniel was forgotten as the Colonel realized that his briskly efficient 2^nd in command was a woman. He knew it, he really did. He just forgot it, until times like this.

She leaned against the door, peering at him blearily, "Do you know what time it is, sir?"

He decided that the best tact to take was to pretend he hadn’t seen anything, "Geez, Carter, do you always answer the door like that?" He thrust the bag of muffins into her hands along with Daniel’s now-cold coffee, "Go put some clothes on. We have work to do." She followed him as he charged into her living room pacing back and forth. "We have to find Daniel."

She still wasn’t awake. Her brain wasn’t up to complex equations at, she frowned at the clock, 08:00 on Saturday morning. She sat down whatever the Colonel had given her, scrubbing a hand through her hair, trying to think, "Didn’t we find him last night, sir?"

"No, Carter, they’re not there."

"Sir, you didn’t…?" She could just imagine Daniel’s face when he opened his door to find Jack O’Neill standing on his doorstep.

"I did," he confirmed. "I went by …," he trailed off. She didn’t need to know that he had been fooled by Daniel’s subterfuge the night before. "I went by there this morning," he stopped pacing and held out a crumpled piece of paper, "This is what I found."

Not really sure what to expect, she took the slip from him. As she read it, she worked hard to hide the grin that spread over her face, she really did.

Jack’s scowl deepened, "This isn’t funny, Carter."

"No, sir, you’re right. Of course, sir." She tried to remove the smirk from her face without much success. She turned away with a hand to her mouth when she felt the giggles rising, "it’s absolutely not funny."

"Carter," he barked.

Her military training kicked in. She straightened, the smile and the giggle gone.

His voice softened, "Sam, I’m sorry. It’s just…," he spread his hands helplessly, "I’m worried about them."

She studied his face, "This isn’t just about the bet?" She asked, puzzled. Last night she’d almost managed to convince herself that Jack’s concern was only for the bet.

"Carter, if I want to win some stupid bed, would I go to these lengths? Wouldn’t I just order you to tell me where the hell they are?"

He had a point. Jack could bluff with the best of them, but for the most part the Colonel was a straightforward man, direct and to the point. He didn’t prevaricate or beat around the bush. If he said he was worried, then he was worried. "Let me just get dressed."

"Didn’t I say that in the first place?"

She left the door to her room slightly ajar so they could talk, "What are we looking for?" She pulled her clothes out of drawers, tossing them on the bed.

The Colonel continued pacing; it helped him think, "Anything to help us find them. Daniel said he was taking Rose for a romantic weekend. Maybe he has brochures in his office, did research, I don’t know. You’re the smart one, Carter. Why do you think I’m here?"

"Did you check the apartment while you were there?" She ran a brush through her hair, running a critical eye over her appearance in the mirror. It would have to do, no time for more. "See if he left anything behind?" She emerged from the bedroom. The Colonel was relieved to see that she had changed into a sweatshirt and jeans. She looked more like the Carter he was used to seeing everyday.

"Yeah, I swept the place. It was clean. I think Daniel must have wiped it for fingerprints before they left. Um, Carter, you gonna brush your teeth before we go?"

She rolled her eyes at him as she headed for the bathroom. He continued to pace restlessly, unable to stand still even for a moment.

The knot in his stomach just kept twisting tighter and tighter.

---

And now the conclusion....
A Ghost of a Chance – part 3

Sara Mitchell lay after waking, listening as her husband snored next to her. She could wake him, but really why would she want to? If she were lucky, he might sleep another hour or two. She welcomed the respite from his smothering need for constant reassurance of her love and fidelity; it was growing tiresome, he was growing tiresome.

She’d married him, not because she loved him, but because she’d loved the idea of being Mrs. Adam Mitchell. She’d loved the world he lived in: the clubs and the clothes, the wealth and the power, the way other men looked at her when she was with him. He was wealthy, exciting and charming and he had swept her off her feet. It had seemed to be the perfect opportunity for a smart girl trying to make it to the big time.

Too soon after they were married, however, she saw his true face. He became jealous and controlling, watching her every hour of the day. He’d beaten her once because she’d smiled at a waiter in a club. That had been the first time. It hadn’t been the last.

It would have been intolerable if it weren’t for his money, for the power he wielded. She desired those things more than she desired the man himself. She’d go to great lengths, do almost anything, to have it for herself. She was determined to figure out a way to take those things from Adam, and then she wouldn’t need him anymore. She longed for the day when she’d be free from him.

But for today, she needed a distraction from him. Carefully sliding out of the bed, she moved across the room to the windows. She pulled the curtain aside, making certain that no errant rays escaped into the room to disturb the sleeping man. It was bright out, the sun well on its way to its zenith, the sky blue and cloudless.

In the yard below her window she could see the corral, the stables beyond which housed Adam’s other passion, his horses. There were times when she suspected that he loved his horses more than he loved her. That was as intolerable as his jealousy.

She hated the horses and everything about them. They were dirty, they smelled bad, and Adam smelled ripe and rank after he’d been riding. She had refused to allow him into their room once until after he’d bathed. He’d beaten her for that, too, but she didn’t care. Some day he would pay for every bruise and cut. Maybe she’d get lucky and one of the vile animals would throw him and he’d break his bloody neck.

This morning though she did enjoy the view from her window. Below her in the yard Adam’s newest groom was working one of the horses. It was wild and untamed, straining against the hand of its master. She watched as he skillfully tamed the animal to his will. She thrilled to his strength, to the way he smoothed his hands over the animal – firm but gentle. She could imagine those hands on her body, taming her to his will.

She let the curtain close. With one last scornful glance to the sleeping man, she left the room, closing the door behind her with a sharp click.

---

Carter crowed in triumph, looking up from Daniel’s computer. It’d taken her a while, but she’d done it. "We’ve got him, sir."

He leaned in over her shoulder where he had been hovering, watching her work, "And?"

"He was looking at bed and breakfast inns on the Internet." Her face was bright with the excitement of solving the puzzle. "I cross-checked his phone records from yesterday morning, one of the numbers is a match. Dollars to donuts, he made a reservation there." She handed him a map she’d printed out, "It’s only a couple of hours from here."

He snatched up his jacket impatiently, "Well, what are you waiting for? We can call them en route."

"Just a minute, sir," she held up a hand. "I’m running a search to see if there’s any suspicious activity in the area."

"Carter, do it on the road. We’re going now." Time was passing, too much. He just kept feeling that Daniel’s time was running out.

---

Sara hummed a tune as she climbed the steps, straightening her clothes. She was coming to appreciate Adam’s passion for his horses, at least for his horse master. Now she wanted a bath, filled to the brim with hot water and bubbles. A good long soak was what she needed to wash off the reek of the stables.

Still humming, she wasn’t paying attention as she entered the room. She didn’t see Adam until he grabbed her, slamming her against the door.

"What are you doing?" She shrieked in anger, trying ineffectively to push past him.

He slammed her back, "I saw what you were doing. With him." His voice was filled with betrayal and pain. She’d heard that voice before.

So, he’d been watching out the window, too. He’d seen her and the cowboy disappear into the stable together. She smiled in cruel delight. Had he snuck down to see them together in the hay? Could he smell the scent of horses and sweat on her? "Did you enjoy watching?" She whispered in his ear, "Did it make you hot, Lover?"

He slapped her, splitting her lip. She glared at him, refusing to let him see that he had hurt her.

"Don’t you know I love you?" He implored her. "How could you do that with another man?"

"Oh, but, Adam," she taunted him in a mocking voice, "you know you’re the only one for me. I couldn’t possibly want anyone but you, Lover."

"Don’t say that," he shook her violently. She just laughed at him. The harder he shook her, the more brittle and shrill her laughter became.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it," he slapped her one last time, hard. With a jerk, her neck gave an odd snap. He released her, backing away in horror as her body slid down the wall, lifeless.

With a heartrending sob, he threw himself on her.

---

Lying warm and drowsy in the bed, Daniel could almost believe he was back on Abydos. The sun was warm, shining on his face. And, for the first time in many years, there was someone lying next to him in his bed. For a giddy second he even convinced himself it was Sha’uri. Tightening his arms around the woman who lay with him, he opened his eyes. Only to know a bitter welling of disappointment when he found that it was Rose that slept there; her head pillowed on his chest, her arm curved around him as if embracing him in her sleep.

He thanked whatever G-ds that might be listening she was asleep. She didn’t deserve bitterness and disappointment from him. She deserved someone who would love her wholly and completely. She had given him so much. She had filled much of the void that had been left in his soul after Sha’uri died, but he realized there would always be a part of him that hoped to find Sha’uri next to him when he woke.

Was it fair to ask Rose to love him when he couldn’t give her his whole heart? It was a little late for that question, he knew. There was no turning back now for either of them. And he didn’t want to, he didn’t regret what had happened between them for a moment. He just hoped she knew how much he loved her, and that it was enough. He wouldn’t hurt her for the world.

Someone had in the past. He could see it in her eyes when she thought he wasn’t looking. It hung over her like a cloud blocking the sun. He tightened his hold on her; wishing he could protect her from her own pain, take it away as if it had never been.

Stroking her hair lightly, he hoped she would trust him soon with whatever secret it was that haunted her. A sorrow shared was a sorrow halved, his mother had told him once. He had slowly learned the truth of it at the SGC. He didn’t know what he would have done after Apophis took Shau’ri without Jack, Sam and Teal’c.

When she stirred in his arms, he tickled her ear with a finger, "You waking up, sleepy head?"

He wasn’t sure if she was really awake; but when she pulled his head down to hers, he didn’t need any persuasion. He responded eagerly, rolling in the bed so he cradled her in his arms, giving the kiss his complete and undivided attention.

"Uumm…," she purred in satisfaction when she pulled away, "I could get used to that, Lover." Looking up at him from under her eyelashes, Daniel gasped in shock when they flashed with green fire.

"And what do you think dear Rose would say if she knew you were with another woman, naughty boy?" She stretched lazily, trailing a finger across his chest. Her touch was icy.

Pushing himself away from the atrocity in his arms, Daniel demanded, "Where is Rose? What have you done to her?" He pulled the sheets around himself tightly.

"I don’t know what you mean," her voice was playful and lazy. "She’s right beside you in the bed, dreaming dreams you can’t even imagine." She tugged playfully on the sheet, "Come on, Lover, you should have a little fun," she crawled toward him, "live a litlle."

Her eyes flashing green again, she whipped the sheet away from him laughing. It wasn’t Rose’s sweet gentle laughter, it was a sound of pure cruelty and evil. Daniel shivered, not from cold, but from fear. Fear for himself and fear for Rose, wherever she was.

---

One of the perks of being part of a top-secret government project was that you got to play with the good toys. Carter sat in the seat next to him intent on the computer in her lap. It had all the bells and whistles complete with wireless Internet access. He didn’t know how it worked. She’d muttered said something about satellite access. For him all that mattered was that it gave them what they needed.

Jack drove as Carter worked, absorbed in whatever it was she was doing. The click of the keys was the only sound in the car.

He glanced down at the speedometer. At least they were making excellent time. Of course that was always possible if you didn’t pay any attention to the posted speed limits. He was more than willing to play the National Security card if they were pulled over.

They had tried to call the bed and breakfast. All they got was a steady busy signal. The operator had told them it wasn’t a problem with the line, which meant there was something wrong at the inn. Which meant that Daniel was right in the middle of whatever was happening there, like the moth to the flame.

"Well, Carter?" He asked finally, his patience stretched thin.

"I don’t know, sir," her tone one of frustration. "This is just weird."

"Did I tell you there was something wrong?" He couldn’t help the ‘I told you so’ from bursting forth. "What is it? Another Goa’uld hanging out right here in Colorado? Government conspiracy? What? So help me, Carter, if you don’t tell me…"

She was almost embarrassed, "I think it’s a ghost, sir."

They swerved in the lane as his head snapped to gape at her in open-mouthed surprise, "Carter, for crying out loud, there’s no such thing."

"Sir, after all the things we’ve seen, can you really say that?"

"Yes," he answered with finality. Jack O’Neill didn’t believe in anything he couldn’t see to shoot.

"All I can tell you is what it says here," she gestured at the computer screen.

Damn, he didn’t like it, but Jack O’Neill never ran from the truth. "Just tell me." He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the road in front of them as she began to tell him what she had found.

"The bed and breakfast has had um… some bizarre deaths."

"Bizarre, Carter? Is that a scientific term?" His own frustration was evident in his tone.

She ignored him, "Okay, the original owner of the house in the 20’s was one Adam Mitchell. Handsome, wealthy, he married a girl from the wrong side of the tracks."

"This fairy tale doesn’t have a happy ending does it?" Jack asked grimly.

She shook her head, "No, Adam Mitchell was known to have a temper. It seems he killed his wife one day in a fit of jealous rage. The staff testified that he was known to hit her from time to time. It seemed that Mrs. Mitchell was very ‘friendly.’ He took exception to her friendly ways."

"Nice."

"That’s one word you could use." It didn’t sound like it was the one she would have chosen. "Then in an excess of grief, he killed himself."

"Sweet. So, we have a couple of ugly deaths in the 20’s. Exactly what does that have to do with our kids?"

"Well, the house sat empty for a long time, no one wanted to have anything to do with it. There were reports of unusual activity."

"Unusual Activity?"

"You know, people would hear music from the empty house, see lights, hear a woman laughing in the middle of the night. That kind of thing."

He clutched the wheel tightly, "Ghosts. Remind me that we are never letting Daniel out of the mountain ever again. He has to ask permission to go to the john."

"Roger that, sir. Anyway, the house sat empty, until about 10 years ago. Someone thought the ghost angle would make for a good tourist angle. They bought the house and converted it into a bed and breakfast.

"A bed and breakfast?" He was incredulous. "And then?"

She shrugged, "Things seemed okay a while, nothing unusual happened, until the next murder."

"Next?"

"A woman murdered her husband. She insisted that after 8 years of marital bliss she was suddenly afraid for her life. Her plea was self-defense. The murder weapon was never found, but the jury convicted her anyway."

The evidence was mounting, but Jack had to at least try to refute it, "Okay, it’s weird that two murders happened in the same house, but it’s not unheard of."

"That’s what the owners of the house said. But no one really mentioned the first time that it happened in the exact same room that Sara Mitchell died in."

"Creepy." He did a double take when it hit him, "First time?"

"Yes, sir. There were a total of three murders that year. Every time, the woman killed the man. Every time it was in the same room where Sara Mitchell died. In every instance the women claimed it was self-defense in relationships that had never shown signs of trouble before. The murder weapon was never found, but it was determined that it was the same gun in all three cases."

"This is starting to tip the weird meter," he admitted reluctantly.

"Then listen to this. Some clever detective checked the old case file from the original Mitchell case. The bullets matched the original gun that Adam Mitchell used to shoot himself. That gun was never found by the way."

"Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do," Jack had seen the Twilight Zone when he was a kid, he even watched the X-Files every now and again. He just didn’t like being part of one. "What are you saying, Carter? Keep it simple."

"Well, sir. An expert in paranormal activity was called in. This ‘expert,’ and I use that term loosely, claims that the ghost of Sara Mitchell was haunting the room. He said she was seeking revenge for her own murder by killing the men who came into the room."

"Creepy," he shuddered. "What do you want to bet that Daniel and Rose are in that room?"

"I think it was a bet that started all this, sir."

"Carter," he moderated his tone down to a reasonable decibel. "Do you have anything else to add to your list o’ weirdness."

"The last three women were never charged. It was all just too weird, they couldn’t connect the women with the murder weapon, and there was no real motive besides ‘the devil made me do it.’ The case files are all still open, all of them unsolved."

He pressed down harder on the gas and the car leapt forward. He didn’t intend for Daniel and Rose to become the next ‘file.’

"It says here that the last woman bought the house. She swore that no one would ever have to go through that again. The owners were afraid she might sue, and sold to her pretty cheap. She’s done a good job. There haven’t been any more murders since."

"Let’s hope there hasn’t been one now." Grimly he kept his eyes on the road. It wouldn’t help Daniel and Rose if he and Carter died in a fiery car crash.

---

The thing in Rose’s body crawled across the bed towards Daniel, pouting. "Come on, Lover, we could have some fun. You’d like me, if you just gave me a chance."

He tumbled off the bed away from her, twisting the sheet around his body. He was working hard to remain calm, trying to pull the pieces of the situation together, figure out what the hell was going on. "What did you do to Rose?" He demanded.

She laughed shrilly, "Don’t worry about Rose, Lover, she’ll be back soon enough. I wouldn’t be so anxious to see her if I was you." She cocked her head to one side, looking him up and down appreciatively. The sheet covered little more than his modesty, "It really is a pity you have to die."

His blood ran cold. "Die? Wha… Why do I have to die?"

"Because you’re a man." Her voice turned brittle and cold, her mouth tightening into a thin grim line, "You’re going to die for what he did to me." Rose’s hair began to crackle with blue energy.

"He?" Just keep asking questions, keep her talking, it was Jack’s strategy, it even worked sometimes.

"My husband, Adam, he said he loved me." A strange wind began to blow around Daniel, ruffling his hair.

Daniel had never really believed in ghosts: When you dug up tombs and ruins from long dead civilizations for a living, it didn’t do to believe that the undead residents might come back to haunt you. He was quickly becoming a believer. "What did he do?" He was desperate to understand.

"He killed me. Didn’t you know? Adam killed me, here in this room." Her eyes wandered the room, taking it in. "It’s nice don’t you think. I like it like this, it’s pretty."

Sweet. Not just a ghost, an insane vengeful ghost. "Well, then shouldn’t it be Adam who dies, not me?" Could you argue logic with a spirit?

Obviously not: With a shriek, she stood on the bed, arms outstretched. The air began to swirl faster tugging at his clothes and hair. He ducked to avoid the debris swirling around him.

Rose stood in the center of the storm, her hair stood straight out, the ends crackling with the weird blue energy, "Adam can’t die, he’s gone, long gone. He took the coward’s way out. So now, someone else has to pay. You" She pointed at him, accusingly, "have to pay." Blue light flickered around her body, the wind in the room kicked into gale force.

Daniel didn’t see the lamp that hit him. All he knew was that he was sure he was dead when the darkness took him.

*****

Rose floated, neither here nor there. Not in the past reliving the terror of Sara Mitchell’s final moments, nor in the present with Daniel. What was happening? Was she dead? She’d read somewhere that if you dreamed you died, you really died. Was this grey nothingness the after-life? She hoped not. It was more depressing than the walls of the SGC.

It occurred to her that if she were dead, she’d never have to tell Daniel what she had done. It made her sad to think that he would wake up to find her dead; but there was relief too, she wouldn’t have to tell him after all.

The greyness around her resolved itself into a room. It was a different room than the previous two she’d been in so far; but this one she knew. She had grown up in this room. She thought she’d erased all of those memories from her mind, but it looked just as she remembered it.

There was her little bed tucked up against the wall with its threadbare coverlet. She’d spent hours under that coverlet reading. As long as she was under it, nothing could touch her. Next to the bed was her white dressing table with its round mirror, hand painted with flowers. One whole wall was lined with shelves, crowded to overflowing with books.

She ran a hand down the spines, reading the titles. When she had lived in this house, the books had been her only friends, her only escape. When she was reading, she could block out the grim realities of her own life. She didn’t hear the voices screaming at one another, the pleading, the bruising slaps, the weeping and the recriminations. When she read, she was transported to other places and times where good always triumphed over evil and parents always loved their children.

Catching a glimpse of her face in the mirror she saw that the soft blonde curls were gone. Her hair was once again chestnut, cropped short as she had worn it as a kid. Her eyes were the ordinary hazel; her teeth sported the hated braces from her teenage years.

She swept the room with her gaze trying to figure out why she was there. She’d never dreamed of her childhood before. Why now? Was it because of her anxiety about telling Daniel what had happened? What she had done in those long gone days? Was that causing her horrific dreams?

Her gaze came to rest on the book lying open on the bed. She didn’t even have to pick it up to know what it was. The Fellowship of the Ring was well worn, an old friend. She’d read it over and over when she was fourteen. Frodo’s journey to Mordor had seemed less perilous to her than her own life had been at that time. She had imagined herself as one of the fellowship set out to accompany the hobbit on his journey to destroy the ring. She’d felt warm, surrounded by friends who would protect her with their very lives. With a start she realized that it was the way she felt at the SGC.

Her life had shattered that year. She was removed from her home, her care taken over by the courts. Of all the things she had been forced to leave behind, it had been that book she had missed most. Her own personal library now included an original copy of the book, signed by Tolkien himself. As valuable as it was, she still missed the tattered paperback copy. It had been her closest companion when her life was at its darkest.

With sudden terror she knew what day it was. She knew what was about to happen. She froze, willing herself to wake up, desperate to escape. Then she heard it, the way she’d heard it 20 years before.

The scream from the kitchen sliced through the house. The heavy sound of a fist hitting flesh, the delicate tinkle of glass breaking, her mother crying, "no, please don’t hurt me. Dear Lord, help me."

It was the worst it had ever been, that beating. It had sounded like he was never going to stop. Rose had sat in her room, clutching her book to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.

As she stood there remembering, time seemed to bend in upon itself. She was both the adult watching the horrible scenario replay itself as she knew it would, and the child living the events for the first time.

The child Rose looked frantically around the room for a place to hide. He was going to kill her this time, and she would be left alone with him. It was the nightmare that had haunted her dreams for years. Then a voice whispering out of nowhere came to her, it whispered of the gun.

The gun frightened her almost as much as he did. She had seen it once when he was cleaning it. He’d pointed it at her and laughed when she’d scurried away. He’d hidden it away, but she knew where it was. Without thought, Rose’s feet carried her to her parent’s room as they had 20 years before.

The entire house was silent now, heavy and oppressive. Had he killed her at last? Was Rose going to be next? With growing determination, she pulled out the drawer, shoving aside the t-shirts. It was at the bottom that she found it – gleaming black and deadly. Picking the gun up, she found it was heavy in her hand, cold and awkward.

Shaking, she slowly descended the stairs into the kitchen. Her mother was there, lying broken and battered, bleeding from a dozen places. Rose ran to her, skidding on the blood covering the floor. She fell to her knees at her mother’s side.

The woman’s eyes fluttered open, they were filled with pain as she tried to focus on her daughter, "Rose," she whispered through bloody lips, "get out. Go, now."

She held her mother’s head in her lap, crying. She couldn’t leave. If she did, he would surely return and kill the woman this time. At the sound of heavy footsteps, Rose stiffened. He was coming back: For her.

He saw her sitting there, "What are you doing, you brat? Leave her alone." He moved toward her. Rose raised the gun. She gripped it tightly, she couldn’t seem to hold it steady, her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"Leave us alone, please, Daddy. Just leave us alone," she begged, or at least thought she did.

"Stupid, kid, I’ll teach you to come down here and get in my way." He unbuckled his belt, pulling it off. He doubled it in his hand, slapping it against his thigh, "You’ll wish you’d never been born." His voice was low with menace.

Rose sat, her mother’s head in her lap. She felt as if she was being choked from the terror that filled her. She concentrated on the gun. It was ready; all she had to do was pull the trigger. She’d seen them do it on TV, lots. She’d read about it in books. She heard a voice say in her head, "You just sight down the barrel, then pull the trigger slow and steady." It was easy as that. Time seemed to slow and stretch as her father moved across the kitchen toward her with murder in his eyes.

*****

Consciousness returned in a rush along with the memory of where he was and why. Okay, definitely not dead. Death couldn’t possibly hurt this much. With careful fingers Daniel probed the tender area on the back of his head. He wasn’t surprised when he found a goose egg sized lump, his fingers came away sticky. Oh, great, blood, too. Well, he never did anything by half. Suddenly, leaving the cell phones at home didn’t seem like such a such a good idea now. Who’s laughing now, Jackson?

With a low groan, he cracked his eyes open a slit. He had a brief feeling of being closed in a tomb, then realized he was lying in a corner of the room with the overturned sofa sheltering him.

Peering around it blearily, the room looked like it had been the site of a full-fledged hurricane. Furniture was overturned, lamps lay in broken bits, and the pictures on the wall were crooked with cracked glass, the ones that were actually still on the wall. Irrationally, he wondered if he’d be charged for the damage. Cautiously he raised himself, using the sofa as a shield between himself and the entity in Rose’s body.

At first he didn’t see her. He had a moment of panic when he thought she might have left the room to wreak havoc elsewhere in the inn. Then he spied her, sprawled next to the bed. Painfully he crawled to her. Had the entity left Rose to herself? Was she injured? He gathered her close, pulling the quilt from the bed to cover her.

There were no obvious wounds, but she didn’t respond when he patted her cheek gently. With a shaking hand, he felt for a pulse. Relief flooded through him when he found it. It was erratic and thready, but there. He did a more careful inspection to make sure she wasn’t hurt in some way. She seemed fine. Except that she wouldn’t wake up.

Feeling another presence in the room, he searched the room wildly. Finally turning his gaze upward, he found a green glow pulsing on the ceiling. He could feel its malevolent presence, its delight at the destruction it had caused, its eagerness for whatever was going to happen next.

Abruptly Rose sat up in his arms. There was awareness in her eyes, he was thankful that they were once again hazel; but her curious gaze swept right past him as if he weren’t even there.

"Rose," he called her name softly.

She stood, seeming to be unsure of where she was. She said not a word as she wandered around the destroyed room in her bare feet, glass crunching at her every step.

He cast around desperately trying to find their clothes in the wreckage of the room. He pulled on his pants and socks before scrambling after her. She let him wrestle her into a robe all the while seemingly unaware of his presence. He couldn’t get her to sit down so he could put shoes on her feet. He settled for trying to clear a path for her. He winced with every footstep she took, leaving behind a path of bloody footprints.

What was wrong with her? What had the malevolent entity done to her? He glared up at it. It pulsed brighter as if it approved of the turmoil it was causing.

He followed as she moved around the room reaching out as if to touch things that weren’t there. It seemed to him that she was moving with purpose. Her eyes were clear, seeing things that he couldn’t. A half-smile formed on her lips as she reached out to touch some unseen thing with love and reverence.

"Rose," he implored her, "come back to me. Talk to me, please." He reached out to her trying to get her to stop, to see him. She ignored him, not quite walking through him, but brushing past him. He picked up a lamp that had miraculously survived intact, heaving it at the green glow on the ceiling. It pulsed and twinkled, winking at his rage.

Rose paused, tilting her head as if listening, her whole body became stiff and still. Terror sufficed her face.

He reached out to take her hand, hoping that some form of comfort could be communicated to her from his touch. She jerked away from him and ran.

He watched helplessly as she pantomimed pulling out a drawer. Out of nowhere, a gun was in her hand. He would have liked to think that it was as insubstantial as the thing floating on the ceiling, but he knew it wasn’t. It weighted her hand down, filling it. She dropped the gun to her side as she moved again. He stood, unsure what to do, not knowing what was playing out before his eyes.

For the first time since she had woke, she made a sound. A wrenching sob tore from her as she dropped into a crouch. Clearly her hand stroked a ghostly forehead as tears ran unheeded down her cheeks. He didn’t know what to do. Could he jar her from whatever nightmare held her in its grip?

"Rose, please," he tried one more time. He took a step toward her. This time she appeared to have heard him. Her head swung around, her eyes fastened on his. A terrible awareness flooded them. Fear and terror shone up at him.

"Leave us alone, please, Daddy. Just leave us alone." He could barely hear her whispered words, but the fear in her voice was plain. How could anyone be that afraid of their father? What had he done to cause such terror? Daniel clenched his hands helplessly.

He took a step toward her. The gun came up, her hands shaking. It was aimed straight for him. He stopped, shaking his head in horror.

"Rose, no, don’t do this." He knew she would never forgive herself if she killed him. What was she seeing, what was she feeling that she could point that gun at him, death in her eyes?

"Stay back." She stood, using the wall beside her as leverage, pushing herself to her feet. "I won’t let you do it." The gun was still pointed in his direction. Her whole body shook as if caught in a palsy, but her finger on the trigger was steady. One step… two, "I won’t let you hurt her again."

He wanted to weep for her. What had happened to her was becoming all too obvious. Oh, Rose, why did you keep this to yourself? "G-d, Rose," he pleaded. "Listen to me. You can’t do this. You’ll never forgive yourself."

Whatever drama was playing out for her, she wasn’t hearing his words. He was sure that somehow it was the glowing entity that was controlling things. How to break that control? Now that was the question.

"Why do you hurt her?" The tears ran down her face as she came closer, ever closer.

Daniel backed away until he ran into the wall and could go no further; still she advanced on him, limping, until the gun was against his chest. He could feel the weight of barrel as it rested over his heart. He looked into her eyes. All he saw there was his death.

*****

Rose shook all over as she advanced upon her father. At last he must have felt some fear because he backed away from her, until he hit the wall. There was nowhere else for him to go. She could see his lips moving, but she couldn’t hear the words through the roaring that filled her ears.

All the years of fear and terror, of loneliness and pain came to this one moment. She could end it all, just by pulling the trigger. She could feel it, her finger curled around it, just the way she had seen it done. It would be so easy.

The voice in her mind was seductively whispering to her, "Do it. He deserves it. Look at what he’s done to her your mother. You know what he’ll do to you."

Then there was another voice, compelling, "Don’t do it. You’ll be sorry for it the rest of your life. Please don’t." She paused as she listened to the voice. "Your mother won’t thank you. You’ll just destroy everything. Please don’t."

The other voice hissed, "Don’t listen. You have to do this. He has to pay. He has to pay now," it rose like a shriek in her mind. Rose froze in indecision, the gun shaking wildly in her hands.

She was only fourteen. She was frightened out of her mind, "Tell me what to do, someone please, tell me what to do." She shouted wishing for someone, anyone to help.

The calm voice spoke to her; "We’ve regretted this for 20 years, Rose. We wanted to take it back. Listen to me."

The voice was familiar, she thought; she should trust it, she wanted to trust it. "But he hurt Mama," she whimpered. "He’s going to hurt me."

"Honey," the voice was soft and soothing, "he can’t hurt you if you don’t let him. He’s long dead and the only way he can hurt you now is if you let him. Don’t do it, please."

The other voice shrieked madly, "Do it, do it, do it, now. He deserves to die! He’s got to die!"

Rose stood rooted, unable to know what to do. Then she dropped her arm, "No, I won’t do it. You can’t make me do it."

From somewhere she felt an arm wrap around her, a hand took the gun from her. The room around her seemed to splinter into a thousand pieces and dissolve, with it her father and mother.

She was locked in Daniel’s embrace, safe. His eyes searched hers as he held her close. The gun in his hand disappeared, dissolving like the room.

There was a terrible shriek of, "No!" The green essence swirled around them, with it darkness descended upon them. Unsure of anything else, Rose clung to Daniel; she had a feeling her very life depended on it, maybe his life, too. He held on to her with all his strength determined that the entity would not have her again. It seemed to go on forever, the wind buffeting their bodies, the shriek all around them. It tore at them trying to separate them; but they held on, arms wrapped around one another, bodies hugged tight.

Then, with one final shriek of anger, the wind was gone and sunshine returned to the demolished room. Rose was surprised to discover that she was alive and so was Daniel. As they gaped at one another, the door crashed open.

Standing there like avenging angels were Jack and Sam.

Jack stalked into the room, gun at the ready. He took in the wreck of the room, the couple kneeling on the floor, clutching one another.

"Daniel, is this your idea of a romantic getaway?" He asked incredulous.

Before either could answer, another woman entered. Daniel cringed as she stepped through the broken glass, but she just gazed around in wonder.

"She’s gone, isn’t she?" She whispered.

"Green glowy thing?" Daniel asked, "Doesn’t like men much?"

She nodded.

"She’s gone," Rose confirmed before passing out in his arms. Daniel caught her, supporting her gently. He looked around the ruins of the room; "I really don’t want to leave her in here."

The woman nodded, "You can lay her down in my room. I’m Mona by the way, we talked yesterday."

Daniel began to pick his way through the ruins of the room, "I don’t think we should be charged for damages caused by your ghost."

She had the grace to look mortified, "There’s nothing I can say to tell you how sorry I am, so I won’t try. Just know that I’m grateful you’re walking out of here alive. Other men weren’t so lucky." She ducked her head, leading him to another room down the hall, where he could lay Rose until she recovered.

*****

While Jack and Sam took on the task of retrieving their things from the wrecked room, Daniel began to bandage Rose’s feet. The more serious cuts would have to wait for the SGC, because there was no way he was taking her to anyone else. He was nearly done with the task when she jerked awake.

"Daniel?" She searched the room, trying to decide if she were really awake, or if this was some new part of her nightmare.

"Sh…" He moved quickly to calm her, sitting beside her on the bed.

She reached out, touching him tentatively; afraid he would disappear. When he proved to be substantial, she turned white. "I almost killed you. Oh, Daniel…" She pulled away from him, huddling under the cover.

"You didn’t do it. That’s what matters," he assured her gently.

She shook her head, "No, no it’s not. Daniel if I had shot you, I wouldn’t want to go on."

"Don’t," he tried to pull her to him, but she wouldn’t let him.

"I have to tell you, Daniel. I have to tell you the truth about me."

"What truth, Rose?" He didn’t need to hear it, he’d seen all to plainly what had happened, he’d almost lived it. But he knew that she needed to tell him; this was the cause of her pain, that moment with the gun and her father.

She met his eyes, then, her eyes square on his as she told him, "I killed him, Daniel. I killed my father." She stated it baldly with no extenuating circumstances, no excuses.

Her mother had been wild in her grief; she had screamed at the teen-aged Rose, "How could you do that? He loved me, he didn’t mean to hurt me." She had cried and cried until years later it was all Rose could hear. She had let the courts take her daughter because she couldn’t bear to see her after what she had done. Her mother had condemned her; she waited for the words to come from Daniel, too.

Keeping his eyes on hers, Daniel very slowly moved to sit next to her. He took her shoulders and spoke very clearly so she would understand, "Rose, you’re going to have to tell me something worse than that if you’re trying to get rid of me." His teasing was a gentle mockery. "You were young and afraid for your life. You were trying to save your mother. I think you must be one of the bravest people I know to have stood up to that."

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She’d been afraid for so long of anyone finding out, but she could see the truth in his eyes – he still loved her. She could still hear her mother’s cry of ‘murderer,’ but Daniel didn’t add his voice to that accusing cry.

He pulled her to him and she didn’t resist this time. He rubbed her back soothingly as she finally cried, the sobs shaking her body. "It makes me love you all the more, to know where you came from. To know just how far you’ve come." He murmured quietly into her ear.

"How could he do that?" Unconsciously she echoed her mother’s long-ago words. She sobbed. "How could he hurt her if he loved her? Why didn’t he love us?"

Daniel took in a deep breath. He had seen so many abused kids in his years in and out of foster homes; kids that were hurt so bad. He had asked himself that very question. He rocked them both gently, "I don’t know, Rose." He told her honestly. "I don’t know, but he can’t hurt you anymore." He took her face in his hands, looking deep into her eyes, letting her see the truth in his, "I won’t let him. Do you hear me?"

Unable to speak, she just nodded mutely.

"And I don’t ever want you to think you did something wrong. You were lucky to survive. I’m lucky you survived. Because you’ve saved me too." He kissed her then, the taste of salty tears was on her lips. She responded to his kiss with a small sigh.

It was at that moment that Jack and Sam entered the room, their luggage in tow. "Well, kids," Jack said, "are you ready to blow this pop cycle stand?" He dropped the bags in a corner. "I think you owe me fifty bucks," he informed Daniel smugly.

"It’s a bet I don’t mind losing," Daniel told him. Turning to Rose, he asked, "Are you ready to go home?"

Her smile was like the sunshine after a storm, "Oh, yes. Please."

---

Epilogue

Jack couldn’t get them all home soon enough. No one objected when he suggested that they leave the rental car. Mona, eager to do whatever she could to help, offered to return it to the local office of the rental company.

It was a tight fit in the jeep for the return trip, but that was all right. They were glad of the comfort of being close together, able to touch and see that everything really had turned out okay. Slowly, in bits and pieces, with first Daniel telling the story and then Rose, they recounted their experiences of the last 24 hours. There was quiet in the jeep for long miles afterwards as each thought about what might have happened.

Jack insisted that they all come to his place. He wasn’t ready yet to let any of them out of his sight. He needed the people he cared about all in one place where he could see them, and make sure they were safe.

Janet met them there, fussing over Rose’s feet. Somehow she had avoided serious injury, although it was going to be some time before she would walk comfortably. The doctor examined the bump on Daniel’s head, muttering something under her breath about "thick-headed archaeologists."

Finally it was just the four of them, the pizzas and the videos. The evening passed in pleasant company, Daniel even gave in, letting Jack choose the movie.

Finally, Daniel yawned a jaw-breaking yawn. He shifted carefully, Rose was asleep with her head on his lap. He didn’t want to disturb her; they’d had a hell of a day, literally. "So, where’s Teal’c?" He asked.

Fixing him with his best unreadable glare, Jack answered, "Teal’c actually knows what time off means. He went to see his family."

Picking up the remnants of her pizza crusts, Sam dumped them into the empty box, "Okay, I’ve just got to ask." Her curiosity was about to kill her. "Just how did you get out of that room alive? Not that I’m not happy about it," She rushed to assure him. "It’s just that no one else was able to do it before. Why you?"

"Yeah," Jack chimed in. "What’s so special about you?"

Daniel shrugged, "I have no idea. To tell you the truth, I don’t think it had anything to do with me."

"I think I know," Rose spoke without opening her eyes.

"Hey, you’re supposed to be asleep." Daniel stroked her hair with a gentle hand.

She smiled up at him, "Hm… I’ve slept so much, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight." He was glad to note that the sparkle was returning to her eyes. The sadness was still there, it always would; you didn’t just lose pain like that. But you could share it and let others help you with its weight.

All of them had wounded hearts, he reflected, all of SG-1. But they took care of one another, its what they did. When one of them was injured, they all bled, and they all healed-together: It was their strength, it was how they survived. "So, how did I escape in one piece?" He asked to humor them.

She sat, snuggling into his side. Jack had covered her with an afghan earlier; she tucked it around her feet. "It’s just, I’ve spent the last 20 years wishing I could undo that one moment, take it back."

"Rose, don’t…" Daniel began. She shushed him with a finger to his lips.

"No, Daniel, I have to. I’d convinced myself over the years that if it hadn’t happened, things would have been different, they would have changed; my mother would have loved me, my father would change and not hurt her anymore." Her voice cracked a little, but she continued, "Standing there with that gun, it came to me that it wouldn’t have happened. He would have just kept hitting her until he really did kill her."

The room was silent as the words poured out. She was pouring out her pain and they were there for her, supporting and caring about her. "There was nothing else I could have done when I was fourteen. I know that now. But this morning when that time came again; then, I knew I had a choice; I could shoot him again and go on being his victim or I could say no and put an end to the cycle." Her voice failed her; Daniel hugged her close.

"When you said no to him, you also said no to Sara Mitchell. You broke her cycle of violence." Sam finished for her.

Rose nodded.

"It’s a good thing the bastard’s dead," Jack growled. "Because he would have me to answer to. I wouldn’t be so kind as to just shoot him." Jack had very definite attitudes about people who hurt women and children.

There was a long silence and Daniel yawned again, deliberately breaking the moment.

"All right, bed time, campers," the colonel in O’Neill took over, assigning rooms and KP duty.

****

"I was so afraid to tell you," Rose confessed drowsily as they lay snuggled together in Jack’s spare room. "I was afraid you wouldn’t want me anymore once you knew what I had done."

Some part of him would always wish for Sha’uri, Daniel knew, would long to have her back. But he had Rose now and she was infinitely precious, too. He wrapped her in his arms, holding her close, "Hush, he admonished her, "go to sleep."

With her head on his chest and her hand clasped in his, she slept, confident that this night it would be Daniel in her dreams.

Finis