Breaking the Curse

Chapter Thirteen: Evidence in Repetition

“What disturbs you, Daniel Jackson?”

Daniel sighed. He wasn't sure what had brought him here. He wasn't sure why he was still here. Well, he had some idea. He shouldn't—couldn't—be at home just yet, not according to Janet and the other medical personnel on the base. He did feel lucky that they still had Janet to harp on them, but not when he was the patient. She'd survived. It could have been so much worse. Would have been so much worse if she'd been just a few inches in the other direction. Still, he couldn't be that grateful when she was bossing him around, trying to keep him in bed. He bet she'd been worse when she was the patient.

He just needed to be alone. He was desperate to be alone. He needed space, time to clear his head. He'd been trying to hard to do it for the past month, but it just wasn't working. If he was really honest with himself, he couldn't ignore his feelings for Sam anymore. He had been saying that for a long time now, but what it really meant was that Sam was everywhere. Everywhere at the SGC, everywhere in his life. She was everything to him. He couldn't pretend that he didn't feel anything for her anymore. He couldn't keep the way he really felt from her, and trying to was killing him. It was a slow death, a painful one, far more painful in many ways than when he had died of radiation poisoning.

“I... don't know why I'm here,” he finally admitted as he shook his head. Teal'c just looked at him, inclining his head to the side. “Fine. Maybe I do know why I'm here. Maybe I... unconsciously wandered to your doorway because I can talk to you, and I can't talk to anyone else.”

“Indeed.”

Normally that response, so typical of the Jaffa, made Daniel smile, but this time was different. He laughed a bit hysterically. “I think I'm losing my mind.”

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Daniel resigned himself to explaining everything. Or close to it. “I think I hallucinated Sam... kissing me.”

“You believe you have had a vision, perhaps of the future?”

Daniel shook his head. “No, I believe I—I have vivid imagination and I started fantasizing about her while I was coming out of drugged sedation in the infirmary. That's got to be it. That's got to be why. That's my explanation. It's the only thing that makes sense.”

The Jaffa continued to look at him. Against that stony face, Daniel didn't really know what to say. The truth was that he probably did either dream it or imagine it or hallucinate it, whatever, but Teal'c had a point. There were other explanations. “What do you think happened, then? You were there, weren't you? You can tell me more of what happened in that facility.”

Teal'c bowed his head. “I was not present with you when you were attacked. We had previously located a Goa'uld a device that proved to be an explosive. A bomb. It would seem that Sekhmet was not as loyal to Ra as was believed and this device had been intended it as 'present' for Ra. The knowledge of the Goa'uld Sekhmet was within the girl Anna, the code to neutralize the device. You were attempting to solicit this information when the girl escaped.”

Daniel nodded. “Okay, that makes sense.”

“I was endeavoring to find the code by other means until there was little time left. When it became clear that my actions would not prevent the explosion, an evacuation was ordered. There were those who led me to believe that you and Major Carter were already outside the building.”

“Teal'c, you don't have to blame yourself for not knowing that we were inside. I mean, you don't, really,” Daniel tried to tell him.

“Major Carter had gone to find you. Due to your numerous previous injuries and the new ones sustained when the girl Anna escaped, she was unable to rouse you, unable to move you from the building. Major Carter was called upon to leave you. She would not. I returned to the facility to extract both of you,” Teal'c went on. “Major Carter gave me the shutdown sequence, and I was able to neutralize the device. What happened to her and you within that time, I do not know. I do know that she refused to leave your side.”

Teal'c's words hit him hard. Daniel sat back, not sure what to make of it. They were teammates; they were close. They had refused to leave in similar circumstances before, so why did it seem to mean so much that Sam had not left him then?

For what was probably the thousandth time that day—she didn't want to think about how many times it had happened that week—a blush crept over Sam's face. She tried to bury it, not to think about it, but it was constantly on her mind. She'd lied to Daniel. She hadn't told him the truth, but how could she, when she didn't know what that was? She didn't know how she felt about the truth. It didn't make any sense.

No, it did. From her brother's point of view, it made perfect sense, didn't it? Mark seemed to believe that she was involved with Daniel, and as she thought back over the last bit of time, Geek Week in particular, she knew there were many that thought they were a couple. She saw it. She saw what the others had seen, what she and Daniel could have had.

She remembered, not for the first time, how she'd felt when she first met Daniel in that room on Abydos. He had been talking about his theories, about the gate addresses, and spatial drift. His innocent “you mean I'm right?” and her babbling “I knew I'd like you.” There had been a connection between them from the start. Their minds were similar. They were different from the others. They were scientists, with an understanding of the world that other people lacked.

In fact, there were so many times over the years that Sam had thought that she would never find anyone who understood her the way that Daniel had, the way he still did. She tried to ignore how much that meant. She'd had to ignore that. She became good at it; she had to be. He was devoted to Sha're. There were times, yes, when circumstances beyond his control caused him to be unfaithful to his wife, but he had never, ever, betrayed her under clear mind. Sam knew that about him, loved that about him. She knew whatever she felt for Daniel it would have to...go away if they were going to continue to work together, so she buried it. Burying it was the only sensible option.

So she'd buried it, ignored it, made it go away until she... She fell for her commanding officer. The colonel. He was...He was like a lot of men in her life, and in some ways, like her father. They said every woman fell for her father. That wasn't it, not all of it. As she had learned on Prometheus, the way she felt was a safety net. She didn't have to worry about feeling things for Jack because they would never consummate it. Both of them were too devoted to their careers, too addicted to the stargate program to give it up. They would never let that happen, and she knew that her feelings for the colonel had allowed her to hide. After Daniel came back... Sha're had been dead for a while. Sam had been caught up in how she felt about the colonel and she had thought there was something between Daniel and Sarah. Now that he had been so clear about how he felt about Sarah... Sam's head was so confused.

That moment, when they sat there, when she couldn't get him up, couldn't get them both out of there, she knew they were going to die. She knew what she had to do to save herself, but she couldn't. She wouldn't leave Daniel behind again. She refused. She didn't care. She wasn't leaving him. She had been willing to die at his side. She had made that decision before, hadn't she? They'd all agreed to die together before, and they had. It was what they did. It was who they were. It was SG-1. Somehow, for some reason, this felt different. She didn't know or understand why.

That was not like her. She was used to being the one to understand, to figure out what others didn't. Super Sam, saving the day. But this time, she didn't understand. She was hiding from herself. She didn't just lie to Daniel. She'd told him that nothing happened because that was what she was trying to believe herself. Something had happened.

In those final moments, when she thought they were going to die, before she got what Daniel meant about the picture that he had her get, and even after she relayed it to the others, it was too late. She had sat next to him, touching his face. She had meant to kiss his forehead. That was all. It was supposed to tell him—it was just a moment of friendship and comfort—that he wasn't alone. Even if things looked bad, it was going to be okay somehow.

But it wasn't just a kiss on the forehead. A few seconds later, she realized she wasn't kissing him on the forehead. She was kissing him on the mouth. His hand had reached up into her hair. And then she heard Teal'c's voice in her ear. The shutdown code had worked.

She thought it was merciful when Daniel fell unconscious. She didn't know how to face him. Her training had taken over. She had called for a medic. He was safe. She didn't know why she could act like that when he was dying and not tell him the truth when he was alive and safe. It was really hard to know where Daniel was; he had been so off lately. He had been depressed, and maybe this was just too much more to put on him. It was crazy.

Maybe she was crazy. She certainly felt crazy.

“Is that the thing that almost killed you?”

Sam turned around to look at Janet. The other woman was still here, which was amazing, and Sam was glad, but she didn't know how to face her friend at the moment. She focused on the ark, clearing her throat. “Yes, yes, it is.”

“Why are you working on it?”

“To figure out exactly how it does what it does. We haven't actually been able to do anything with it since we got the shutdown code,” Sam explained.

“And you want to do something with it?”

“Well... No, but... Janet, it's the military. If it can be used as a weapon, they want to use it as a weapon,” Sam told her with a shrug. “We also want to make sure that what happened before won't happen again, that it really is shut down for good. If it is, it doesn't matter, but if it isn't, then... we're in trouble, you know?”

Janet nodded. “Have you seen Daniel? He seems to have... disappeared.”

Sam stopped for a moment. Her hands were shaking a little, and she swore she was blushing again. “Well... I doubt he left the base. Have you checked with Teal'c?”

“That was going to be my second stop. I actually thought he'd be here with you. The two of you have been almost inseparable lately.”

Sam shrugged. “Well, he's not. I haven't seen him.”

“Sam, are you all right?”

“I'm fine.”

“Hmm,” Janet's tone suggested that she didn't believe Sam, but with more pressing concerns like Daniel wandering off, she didn't push it. She left the room, and Sam lowered her head. She was alone again, and that should be better.

Maybe she should have taken the opportunity that Janet's visit had offered her. She should have taken the chance to tell her friend, to get it out in the open, to sort out her feelings. She didn't know what to do. This was going to take time.

Daniel adjusted his bag over his good shoulder and headed down the hallway. He was ready to go. The general had approved a few days leave. It would be good to leave the SGC. He had time to travel, time to get over what had been happening. Distance. He would have the distance he craved. A short time in solitude would do him a lot of good. That was what he needed. He would take as long as he needed.

He knew there was a lot of unfinished business at the SGC. Anubis. They... they had stopped him before he could deal with that Goa'uld, that ascended being... He knew that he had to face Anubis, that he had to find a way to stop him, as he had started. He needed to come back for that. He wasn't ignoring it. But he felt useless right now. He lacked focus. He needed time to get himself together. That was why he had to go, had to change. Nothing could stop him now. It was for the best.

He turned the corner, nearing the elevator to take him to the surface. He was so close, the final steps. He heard the sound of someone running behind him, and then they were calling his name. No, this couldn't be happening, not now... “Dr. Jackson! Dr. Jackson, just a second, please!”

With a heavy sigh, Daniel stopped and turned and looked at the young airman. He was one of Daniel's people, technically. A linguist from SG-3. Daniel forced a smile. “Is there something I can help you with because I was about to go, and I should—”

“I'm sorry, Dr. Jackson. I know you're busy, and I know you were about to leave, but this is important, and I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't. Really,” the airman insisted. “I just need you to confirm my translation because if I'm right... It's really, really big.”

Daniel had a feeling that he was going to regret this, but if it was as big a discovery as the young man said, he needed to do it, and it shouldn't take that long. He handed his bag to the airman, who cheerfully put it over his own shoulder and rushed down the hallway. “Come, this way. I'll show you what I found.”

For his part, Daniel moved slower, but he finally reached the room and went inside. Strewn across the man's table were dozens of pictures of a colonnade covered in Ancient writing. The airman picked up a few pictures and handed them to Daniel. “Here, right here. This is what I was talking about.”

Daniel started to read. He found himself frowning again and again. He couldn't be reading this right. No, it couldn't be. The airman from SG-3 bounced impatiently. Daniel knew that feeling. “Is it what I think it is? Is it what it looks like?”

“Yes, I think you may be right. This is the location of a depository of knowledge,” Daniel told him.

The airman's face fell, and he looked very disappointed. “Oh, I thought it was...”

“No,” Daniel corrected him quickly. “This is big. This is very important, could prove invaluable. Thank you for drawing my attention to it. I need to speak to General Hammond immediately.”

The airman smiled again, and Daniel let him go first as they left the room to go to the general's office. This was the younger man's find, and he could keep the credit for it. Daniel didn't want it. Normally, he was the one who found almost everything. He'd rather not be anymore. And he had almost walked away from this. It was the other man's persistence that found this, not Daniel's.

He knocked on Hammond's office, and the general motioned them inside. The airman gave a salute. “Sir, with your permission, Dr. Jackson and I have made an important discovery.”

“It's an ancient repository of knowledge.”

“SG-3 spotted a Goa'uld reconnaissance drone while on the planet where they found the colonnade. Since that obviously means the Goa'uld were aware of it's existence, SGs 3 and 5 will be providing backup, if General Hammond approves the mission,” Sam began. She had her doubts about this idea, but Daniel seemed surprisingly behind it, and if he was behind it, then so was she.

“What mission?” the colonel asked, and Sam exchanged a look with Daniel, who lowered his head onto the table with a moan.

“Good morning, SG-1,” General Hammond said as he came into the room. He looked pointedly at the colonel. “Nice of you to join us.”

The colonel didn't seem to realize how late he was or how upset anyone was about it. That, or he just didn't care. Sam couldn't believe this. “Good morning, sir.”

Hammond took his seat, and they followed suit. “I've heard Doctor Jackson's report on his translation. Given what happened the last time you encountered something like this, I'm surprised you're so willing to take on this mission.”

“So am I, sir.”

Daniel had straightened up when Hammond came in, and now he rolled his eyes. “Jack?”

“Daniel?” the colonel countered in a mocking tone.

“Why wouldn't we want to gain access to the greatest repository of knowledge in the known universe. Once and for all finding the Lost City of the Ancients, and use their advanced technology to save the entire galaxy from the evil oppression of the Goa'uld?” Daniel's voice had an edge to it that Sam didn't like.

“Well, there's that,” the colonel admitted, clearly showing he had no idea what was going on.

“From the mission file I've read, this is one of those things that whips out from the wall, grabs your head and re-arranges your brain right?” Reynolds asked, looking over at the colonel and trying to interrupt the awkwardness.

Daniel held up a hand. “Sort of.”

Reynolds frowned. “Sort of?”

“It basically downloads the entire library of Ancient knowledge into a persons mind. That massive amount of data then slowly unspools into your brain, eventually taking over your consciousness completely,” Sam explained.

“Except for it wasn't meant for a physiology as primitive as ours,” Daniel added.

“Easy, fella,” the colonel began, and Daniel looked at him without much of an apology as he muttered sorry. Sam had to keep herself from laughing. The colonel was supposedly a specimen of advanced physiology, but he hadn't been acting like one in the past few years. He was deliberately obtuse.

“I thought the report said you almost died last time, sir,” a young airman began. The colonel just looked at the man.

“The Asgard were able to remove the information from O'Neill's mind before he was lost to us,” Teal'c told the airman, who nodded, refusing to look at the colonel again.

“So why don't we just shoot Thor a call, get him standing by as back up?” the colonel asked.

“We tried, sir,” Sam told him. “He's not responding.”

“None of our alien allies have been particularly reliable of late,” Hammond began, and Sam looked down, knowing that he spoke of the Tok'Ra and rebel Jaffa. The breakup of the alliance still felt personal, almost as if she was to blame. It hadn't been her fault that the Kull warrior had come to the base, hadn't been her stubbornness that caused the alliance to break, but it sometimes felt that way. “If something happened again....”

“General, no one's saying that anyone should directly interface with the device,” Daniel said quietly. “We're suggesting that it be extracted and brought home for study.”

“The engineering team that studied the last one of these devices you found, determined nothing after six months of research,” Hammond reminded them.

“We believe that that device's power source was depleted when Colonel O'Neill activated it,” Sam said. It was the logical conclusion after the researchers came home with nothing. She believed it.

“Recent intel suggests that Anubis has become a serious threat to dominate the rest of the Goa'uld in a very short time,” Hammond spoke to the colonel, but his words were not lost on anyone in the room. “We have to consider that Earth is at risk now more than ever. If the knowledge contained within this device can lead us to technologies we can use to defend ourselves, we must pursue it.”

The colonel looked to Daniel. “Why didn't you just say that?

Daniel's sigh made it clear that he felt the colonel should have been able to figure it out for himself. His words were still unapologetic. “Sorry.”

Jack was sitting on the ground, looking bored as he stood watch. Daniel continued to walking around, his mind going over all of the translations he had done again. He knew there was something there, something he must be missing. He should have let someone else do it, but unfortunately, no one else knew the language like he did. No one else could do this. “You know we've searched this place up and down.”

He didn't miss it when Jack looked at his watch. “I know.”

“We could have Goa'uld on our collective asses any minute now,” Jack reminded him.

It wasn't like Daniel had forgotten that. He knew the risks. He knew this had to be done, or he would never have come on this mission. He was supposed to be somewhere else getting his head on straight, not here. “I know....According to the text on this column, it's inside.”

“Inside you say,” Jack muttered sarcastically. He stood up and walked toward Daniel. “Well, let me tell you, my friend, there is no inside. There's just a whole lot of... outside.”

Jack wasn't the only one who was frustrated. Daniel was, too, with himself and with Jack. “I know.”

“I'm getting some strange readings coming from here,” Sam said, pointing to the wall in front of her. Daniel crossed to the wall opposite her and looked at it carefully.

“If I'm right,” he began, pressing a stone on the wall. The wall in front of Sam warped, and she jumped back when the interface appeared.

“Look out,” Jack said, and Sam shook her head. He turned away and spoke into his radio. “Reynolds, come in.”

“Go ahead.”

“Yeah, we got something here, stand by,” Jack ordered. He motioned with his hand for Daniel and Sam to work on the device.

“All clear for the moment.”

“We just have to figure out how to get this thing out of the wall,” Sam said, studying the device. Daniel joined her, getting close to it, trying to help. It opened, blue light spiraling out of it. Sam caught his arm. “Careful!

“Alright, one more time. Why are we doing this? Why?” Jack asked. Daniel ignored him as he and Sam continued to work carefully. This didn't seem like something that could be done in the minutes that Jack would want. It would probably take hours.

“SG-1, we have incoming.” Reynolds' voice came over the radio, and there were sounds of an unmistakable gunfight. Gliders. This was bad.

Daniel looked up to see one of the gliders getting very close to them. Sam was working as fast as she could, trying to ignore the fire, but it was too close. They couldn't stay. Jack called it. “Alright, let's go.”

“Jack, we can't just leave,” Daniel began.

“Daniel—”

“We must not allow this device to fall into the hands of Anubis,” Teal'c said, and Daniel was grateful for the Jaffa's words. Jack had been unhelpful, dismissive of the entire mission. Daniel wouldn't do this if it wasn't important. Not after everything that had happened, but Jack didn't seem to see that at all.

“Fine.” Jack started to rig the device with an explosive.

“Jack!” Daniel cried in protest. They couldn't just destroy it. Not with so much on the line.

“Sir, he's right,” Sam added a calmer, logical voice to the argument, “if we destroy it we lose our only chance to find the location of the Lost City.”

“O'Neill.” Teal'c was on their side, too. Jack was outnumbered, and it was clear that he didn't like it.

“Ah, crap! All right then, what?” he asked in exasperation. Daniel moved towards the device. Jack grabbed him, stopping him, and pushing him hard into the wall. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“Jack, somebody has to do it. The answer is in there!” Daniel said as he pointed to the device. “If we don't find the Lost City we're as good as dead. Let me do it.“

“And who does the translating when you go Ancient?” Jack demanded. The gliders started shooting. They took cover, protecting their heads. Jack handed him his hat. Daniel looked down at it and back at his friend. “In fact, you're the one person who can't do it.”

He turned to the device before anyone could stop him. It shifted and grabbed him by the head. Daniel shook his head, unable to do anything but stare and shout in disbelief. “Jack!”

Sam didn't know what the hell she was doing. A few days ago, she'd been thinking about how connected she was to Daniel. She'd been thinking about telling him how she felt. Then the colonel pulled a stunt, and she was back to him. She was at his door, as unbelievable as that was, and she didn't know what had led her here except sheer stupidity. Well, maybe it was another probably going to die situation. The colonel was going to die, right? More than likely because there was no way they could get that knowledge out of his head. What did that make what she was about to do then?

Oh, god. She knew what he would call it, and she couldn't face that. She should go. Belatedly, she realized she'd already knocked on the door because he answered it. She forced a smile. “Hi, sir.”

“Carter?”

He said that like she was the last person he expected to see. Maybe she was. This was a stupid idea. “Did I wake you?”

“Sort of.”

“I couldn't sleep... I guess I should have called, but I didn't want to bother you, and I... I was out driving, you know....in my car, and I, um...I drove here...”

The colonel shrugged, motioning her inside. “I was just looking at the sky. Trying to figure out how many stars we'd actually been to.”

“Actually, only a few of the stars visible from Earth have Stargates on them, so...” she trailed off. She should go. This was awkward, and she couldn't believe that even a part of her had been dumb enough to come here. Oh, hell, did I really think he'd want me here like this? Am I that desperate?

“There's coffee around here,” he told her, heading into the kitchen. She stood there, looking around his living room. How would she say it? Colonel, with everything that's happened, and the fact that you might die, maybe we should see if there's anything to this thing between us? Get it out of our systems and out of my head?

Right. She didn't like that idea at all. And she felt guilty, too, for reasons she just didn't want to think about.

“Maybe not,” the colonel said. “How about a beer?”

“Sure, why not?” she asked nervously, shrugging. Beer might make this a little less awkward or might make her get the words out if she could even say them. She heard clinking glasses as he took the bottles from the fridge. She went down the steps to his living room, looking at pictures.

“Want a glass? I can wash one.”

“No, I'm fine,” she said, thinking back to her last visit to the colonel's house and the state it had been in. His place was a mess. Sure, she had her share of clutter, but that was because she always had another project. Daniel was like that, too. The colonel was just... lazy. She took the beer, cursing her decision again. Thank you, sir.”

He sat down on his couch and made quick work on his beer. She closed her eyes with a wince. “You want to be alone. This was a bad idea... I... should go.”

“Finish your beer. And then you have to wait at least an hour before you drive.”

An hour? Here? With him? That was crazy. She shouldn't even be here in the first place. An hour might give them the time they needed to do what she thought she'd come for, but... “Sir?”

“What?”

“I...” Sam couldn't finish that. She couldn't say it. “I should have done it.”

“What? Stuck your head in that thing? Are you nuts? Carter, you're one of this country's natural resources, if not a national treasure. You and Daniel. It couldn't have gone down any other way,” the colonel insisted firmly. He took a sip of his beer. “I just hope it's worth it.”

“Even if we do find the Lost City. Even if we get there and find exactly what we're looking for to defend the planet,” Sam began, unsure what to say under the circumstances. She sat down next to the colonel on the couch, unable to continue.

“That... would be worth it. Don't kid yourself, Carter. This was always in the job description.”

Someone knocked quickly on the door. Sam looked up in surprise. She really shouldn't be here. The door opened, and Daniel called inside. “Hello?”

“In here,” the colonel called.

Daniel and Teal'c came inside and down the stairs. Sam looked up at him, feeling another wave of guilt. He stopped when he saw them sitting like they were. She was suddenly aware of how close it was. “Oh, sorry, are we interrupting something?”

“No,” Sam answered immediately, this time looking at Daniel with relief. He and Teal'c had probably saved her from doing something really stupid that she would regret later.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, we... Well, Teal'c wanted to get off the base, and since everyone was kind of worried about you, we came here,” Daniel said, and the colonel looked at him. He shrugged. “I could have tried to lie about it, but it would have been something lame like us driving around and ending up here. Teal'c would have said to me—he wouldn't actually say anything—he would just kind look at me and do that eyebrow raise thing that he does and I would say to him, 'hey, why don't we stop by and...'”

“All right. I get it,” the colonel held up a hand before Daniel said anything else. “Is that doughnuts?”

Teal'c held up the box. “Indeed.”

The colonel did an impression of Monty Burns. “Excellent.”

Sam passed a red drink in a glass to Teal'c. Daniel already had a beer, he'd gone through several in a very short time, actually. He couldn't help where his mind went, and knowing that Sam and Jack had been alone, drinking beer... He hadn't really wanted to come here, well, he did and he didn't, but he definitely regretted it after seeing them so intimately. Daniel tried to concentrate on balancing an orange on his beer bottle. He might be drunk, but it was distracting. He needed a distraction.

“You are so wrong. It's a perfect analogy. Burns as Goa'uld,” Jack insisted.

“They are merely animated characters, O'Neill,” Teal'c disagreed.

Jack shook his head. “You are so shallow.”

“Oh, please! Teal'c is like one of the deepest people I know. He's so deep,” Daniel Daniel dropped his orange as he protested. He prodded Teal'c to respond. The Jaffa looked at him for a moment. “Come on! Tell em how deep you are. You'll be lucky if you understand this.”

Teal'c seemed vaguely amused when he said, “My depth is immaterial to this conversation.”

“Ooh,” Daniel muttered excitedly. “See?”

Jack pouted. “No more beer for you.”

“I'm sorry, sir, but I have to agree. I don't see the connection,” Sam told him. Jack looked at them like they were all traitors.

“All right. You don't get that one. I'll give you an easier one,” Jack began. He finished his beer and went for another, and Daniel had a bad feeling about this. Then again, maybe it was just time for him to puke or pass out. He had to be close to one of them. “Here's something you'll all get. We all know how Carter's cursed, right?”

Sam's mouth dropped open in shock. “Uh—”

“She is,” Jack insisted, ignoring her protest. “Guys who like her end up dead. We've got Narim. Jonas Hanson. That stupid diplomat. Pete. Almost every guy she's been with since the stargate program, right?”

“Jack, stop,” Daniel began. He started to get up and got dizzy. He sat back down and tried not to be sick. This was not a conversation any of them wanted to have.

“And then we have Dannyboy over here. Every woman in his life ends up being a Goa'uld. Sha're. Sarah. Hathor. And they die, too,” Jack went on. Daniel was really going to be sick this time. He pushed at Teal'c, hoping the Jaffa would get the message that he needed help to the bathroom.

“Sir,” Sam said, her voice strained. “Please...”

“So here's the thing,” Jack was winding up to some brilliant conclusion. Or at least he would think it was brilliant. “Carter's guys always die. Danny's girls always end up Goa'uld. But Danny doesn't stay dead. And Carter's already had a Goa'uld and survived. You see? They're perfect for each other. They'd break the curse.”

“That was low even for you, Jack,” Daniel managed to say, getting to his feet again with Teal'c's help. Sam took his other side and they headed for the door, ignoring Jack as he continued to dig his hole deeper. Sam had just opened the door when they all took a step back. Daniel's head spun again.

“Is this a bad time?” General Hammond asked.

“It's always a good time for you, sir,” Jack called, coming over from the living room. “Come on in. Let me get you a chair.”

“General,” Sam managed to say. Daniel shook his head. The others could stay, but he wasn't about to. He couldn't. He was probably going to puke on the general's shoes or something. If he didn't end up falling. Thank you, Teal'c.

“At ease, Major, please,” Hammond began as he headed for a chair. Sam looked torn between following him and her desire to leave. Daniel didn't know how to stay. He was still leaving. He had no choice. Sit down or fall down, leave or humiliate himself. But the general kept talking. “I'm glad to find you all here. I have... an announcement to make. I've been relieved of command.”