By Lady Grey

Nominated for Stargate SG-1/Slash/Best Hurt/Comfort

Death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it.

-- Erich Maria Remarque

Prologue

Abydos, 1994

Daniel held the staff weapon in his hands and aimed it at Jack, praying for some way to keep from sacrificing the brave soldier who had led the mission to that alien world, the man who had trusted him to bring them all home.

Skaara’s flash of light from the crowd signaled the beginning of the uprising, and moments later he and Jack were hidden among the Abydonians, in robes hastily flung over them, mounted on the back of the mastadge that had taken such a liking to Daniel. 

Together, they raced off over the dunes, where the two of them were quickly separated from the crowd.  A massive sandstorm swept in, forcing them to dismount and stumble blindly, following the animal's shaggy bulk.  For what seemed like hours they wandered, trusting the animal they to find the way home, or to some shelter where they could wait out the storm.

Drained from his emotional and physical ordeal, Daniel grew so weary he could no longer keep up with the colonel as they trudged along behind the huge beast, the wind howling around them.  He dropped to the ground and fell on his side with his face half buried in the sand, aware that his consciousness was slipping away. 

A moment later, Jack knelt beside him, shielding him from the flesh-stripping power of the gritty wind with his own body.  “Jackson!” he called frantically. “Come on, get up!”

But Daniel simply didn’t have the strength to continue. He roused with the other man’s mouth on his, forcing air into his lungs. For a moment, he just lay there, trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

“Breathe, dammit!” Jack growled at him, covering his mouth again.

Daniel jerked his head away, but didn’t have the strength to respond. His mouth had been filled with grit driven in by the relentless wind. Thirst clawed at his mind, dried up his throat, but they had no water with them.

“Don’t you die on me,” the colonel demanded harshly. Then his voice cracked with emotion. “You hear me?  Don’t you die, Jackson!  Please.”

“Okay,” Daniel whispered, hoping he could be heard above the screaming wind. Then he felt Jack’s hands scraping over his chest, moving the heavy burden of sand that had collected there and had been slowly smothering him. Daniel tried to lift his hands, but found most of his body deeply buried.

“Fell asleep,” Jack panted. “Didn’t realize we were being buried. You quit breathing. Must’ve been the sand suffocating you.”

The load got lighter, and Daniel realized then just how close he’d come to dying… again. The storm still raged around them, but Jack was no longer kneeling by his head. He hauled Daniel upright, pulling him tightly against his chest. Daniel rested against Jack’s body, his face tucked just under the older man’s chin.

Jack pulled his robe around both of them and held on, his arms around Daniel’s shoulders. Daniel slipped his arms around Jack’s ribs, offering what body heat he could against the frigid desert wind. The world inside those robes was small and close, filled with the heated air of their breathing, a tiny oasis of life struggling to withstand the death-dealing storm.

Daniel thought of Nut, the Egyptian sky goddess, always shown positioned like an arch over Geb, god of the Earth, protecting her mate, sheltering him with her body made of stars. The image was comforting, filled with peace. With love. 

Jack relaxed with a weary groan, leaning against Daniel as much as the other man was leaning against him, propping each other up.  Jack’s cheek was pressed against Daniel’s hair. “Sorry about the close quarters,” he called above the wind.

“It’s okay,” Daniel assured him. Jack was saving his life now, evening the score. Daniel didn’t know how long they sat like that, their arms entwined around each other, their bodies being slowly covered by the sand, breathing each other’s breath, not a word passing between them.

Hours drifted by, and in that cocoon of safety, something happened between them.  Barriers slipped. Emotional doors opened, and it was as though Daniel could sense the other man’s thoughts. Curious, he opened himself to that experience, flinging open the boundaries of his soul.

The colonel seemed to be filled with a great yawning void of grief, edged with rage and self-loathing.  Daniel didn’t understand the source of those emotions then, but knew it was pulling the warrior away from life, slowly, by degrees.  That O’Neill was doing his best to protect the geek who so irritated him offered a little hope that there was something left to salvage, but just barely.  The slender thread of life that vibrated between the two men in the warm, moist air bound them up together, one inextricably tied to the other. As needy as he was, Jack still cared enough to protect him, and Daniel, as weary as he was, freely gave of his strength and support to his teammate. 

Eventually, the cold drove them back to sleep. Daniel slipped slowly downward until he fell over again and Jack struggled to stay upright, shielding him from the storm. The mastage still stood patiently nearby, calling mournfully for the man with the candy bar, and soon afterward, help came in response to the animal’s cries.  A group of Abydonian boys found them and brought them back to safety. 

In the same way, Daniel led Jack back to life through the bonds of friendship that now stretched between them, reeling him in with words of hope, and unspoken promises of support for and belief in Jack O’Neill. 

That was how it began between them.  Within days, they were separated by the enormous gulf between Earth and Abydos, but once he was back home, Jack continued to feel the subtle pull on his heart, the sensation that part of him was still out there, a universe away. 

Eventually, after he retired again, he bought a telescope and took up stargazing, hoping that some night, when the sky was clear, he might catch a glimpse of the Abydonian sun in the distance, and through the glimmer of its faint light, somehow reconnect with the man who had saved his life and sacrificed his own to do it. Daniel had gotten a miracle, being resurrected in that alien machine, and a chance at a new life.  As much as Jack had wanted to really get to know him and let that friendship blossom, he hadn’t forced Daniel to return with the team.

Instead, he and his men had lied to General West, to give Daniel the life he wanted.

They hadn’t spoken of what had passed between them during the storm, but it had changed both of them. Jack had seen it in Daniel’s eyes as he and his team had prepared to step through the stargate to go home.  They were friends, connected way down deep in a fashion that neither of them understood, but both equally treasured.

Daniel Jackson was still out there, living in a remnant of Earth’s ancient past, and as long as Jack O’Neill had breath in his body, he would continue watching over Daniel, a universe away.
 

2003

P7X – 666  

"Welcome to Wonderland," mused Jack O'Neill with a note of uneasy suspicion in his voice as he scanned the alien landscape upon exiting the stargate.

The ‘gate was surrounded by forest, but there were no trees in sight.  Vegetation of a different kind reached into the hazy, late afternoon sky. Bare, spongy trunks the size of mature oaks stretched upward, all ghostly pale in shades of gray, white, yellow, and tan. High overhead, each smooth, barkless trunk was capped with a thickly frilled parasol in a riot of colors.

SG-1 stood in a forest of giant mushrooms, toadstools, and other fungi.

"Anybody seen a big honkin' caterpillar with a hookah?" the colonel asked no one in particular.

"This is wild," Sam breathed in wonder. "It's just like the MALP transmissions showed it would be, but actually experiencing it for real is just… incredible."

"Welllll," drawled Daniel, "if the growing conditions for these species are the same for those on Earth, that means lots of damp and darkness." He looked down at the verdant carpet of velvety moss beneath his boots. "Ditto for the moss. Never seen the stuff so deep. It's up to my ankles."

"I do not like this world," Teal'c rumbled, frowning. His eyes shifted around as he studied everything with a deeply suspicious expression.  The place obviously gave him the creeps.

"Yeah. My spidey-sense is tingling, too," agreed O'Neill. “Never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I think I’m starting to miss trees.” He glanced around them and sidled up to the DHD, which stood in a cleared area in a patch of wan sunlight. Around the base grew a field of knee-high garlic plants that would have to be trampled on to dial home.

The colonel stomped up to the device and pressed the keys. While the gate spun up, he ambled over to the MALP to report in to the base. "Smells like a pizza kitchen here," he told the general once the event horizon stabilized. "Garlic and 'shrooms everywhere. No sign of anybody from that village the UAV mapped out."

He glanced up at the misty sky. "It'll probably be dark by the time we get there."

"Good luck with first contact," Hammond radioed back. "I'll expect a report from SG-1 in twelve hours. Hammond out."

Jack switched off the MALP to save the battery and ordered the team to move out. 

They walked due east, taking in the strange landscape and the odd alien creatures that skittered and slithered out of their path. Wanting to arrive before twilight, they jogged a good portion of the way and arrived breathless and sweaty just as a heavy silver-plated gate was being pulled across a gap in the massive stone walls surrounding the town. 

"Hey, wait up!" Jack called. "Company's comin'!" He waved at the two men straining against the gate.

The villagers glanced up at the visitors, up at the sky, then at each other. Without a word, one of them ran off into town and the gate stopped its progress. The other man gestured to them to move faster.

"Hurry," said the man, his speech heavily accented with slurred vowels and rolled r's. "Help me close the gate. Darkness falls, and the Ferretu will be coming to hunt. We must be indoors by then."

The team sprinted the last few yards.

The team pressed against the gate, every hand splayed against the ornately inscribed silver surface, driving it closed. The villager watched them, not offering to help, waiting until the gate clanged into place to give them a smile.

He wiped his hand off after screwing the lock down and then held it out to the Jaffa first, and the others in turn.  "I am Radu," he told them. "Come. I will take you to the Sing. She will find a place for you to stay the night."

"Thank you, Radu," said Daniel warmly. He introduced the team as they walked quickly down the wide cobbled streets. "What is the Sing? I mean, I understand she's a woman of some importance, but I don't understand the title. What does it mean?"

Radu shrugged. "She is the Sing. She knows all the lore of the Ferretu, and keeps us safe from them."

Daniel exchanged a perplexed glance with Jack. "Okay. So what are the Ferretu? I don't know that word either."

Looking distinctly uncomfortable, Radu just stared at him. "You must come from very far away, then."

"Yes. Through the stargate." He saw that the villager showed no signs of recognizing that term.
 

"The chaapa'ai? Annulus? Circ Kakona? Stone ring? That big thing about ten miles out in the mushroom forest. Has another device standing nearby in a field of garlic."

Radu frowned, thinking. "We do not go so far from town.  It is not safe there. I will ask the Sing if she knows of this thing."

Daniel tried again. "We're from another world," he explained. "The stargate is a portal that connects them and allows us to travel to other planets, like yours."

The villager's face relaxed into a smile. "Yes, we have legends of this device. They say we came from the Old World, long ago." Sadness settled over his features. "But once we arrived here, we could not return, because of the Ferretu."

"What are they?" Daniel prodded.

Terror haunted Radu's dark eyes. "They are the ones who hunt us." An involuntary tremor ran through his body.  “I do not wish to speak of them.  The Sing will tell you all you need to know.”

He turned away and gestured toward a large building at the center of town. It was brightly lit inside, yellow lamplight peeking out through the tall, narrow slit windows barred with thick silver cages. Around the doors and windows were festive garlands of dried garlic, peppers and small dried mushrooms.

Blue twilight had fallen as they approached the door, and Radu hurried them inside, locking the thick wooden door behind them. He sighed with relief and smiled. "We are safe now, but you must not go out after dark." He headed toward another set of doors in the foyer. "We are preparing the harvest feast. You will be our welcome guests, and I will introduce you to the Sing. Please wait here."

He stepped through the doors and closed them after himself.

Jack sidled up to Daniel. "You get a good look at the buildings on the way in?" he asked quietly.

Concentrating, Daniel frowned. "The architecture suggests Eastern European origins; Carpathian, maybe. Perhaps late Middle Ages. Radu's accent confirms the region, but—"

"I was talking about the fortifications," Jack cut in irritably. "The walls look a foot thick on every house. And the wall around the town – that one's a good six feet of solid stone. Silver burglar bars on all the windows, and those not much more than arrow slits -- there's gotta be a good reason for needin’ that much protection."

Daniel set his hands on his hips. "Well, they're obviously afraid of the Ferretu, whatever they are."

He paused. "I keep getting mental pictures of these tiny little weasels, hopping around their ankles."

"Huh?"

"You know, ferrets. Ferretu?"

Jack just stared at him.

"Must be something else.”  Lost in thought, Daniel scratched idly at his cheek and offered Jack a fleeting smile.  “I'll keep working on it." 

"Uh-huh. Yeah. You do that." Jack turned as the doors opened again, and Radu came to retrieve them.

On the far side in the brightly lit hall, a crowd of villagers dressed in finery filled the room. Music started to play, with a tribal beat and a chorus of voices that lent a decidedly jazzed-up Gregorian air to the party. Women wore long dresses with white bodices, and men sported thigh-length tunics with wide white shawl collars over blousy trousers, with boots beneath.

Jack noticed the looks on the villagers' faces as they wended their way through the crowd. Slightly apprehensive, all. Everyone turned to watch as the newcomers were introduced to an elder woman seated at the back of the room in a high chair.

Radu bowed to her. "Greetings to the Sing," he intoned formally. "I bring you visitors. They claim to have come from another world, through a stone ring in the forest."

Surprise flickered in her bright blue eyes. She stood up, gathering her white shawl more closely about her shoulders. She was stooped with the weight of time, her ivory skin softly pleated with wrinkles. Her long, snow-white hair was pulled up into a chignon, pinned to the back of her head with a long, silver pick topped with a glittering green jewel. Though she was old, her expression offered clear evidence that her mind was still sharp and bright. "From the Old World, perhaps?" she asked the strangers, her voice trembling with age. 

Daniel stepped to the front of SG-1.  "Possibly," he told her. "We think your people may have originated on our planet, which we call Earth, and traveled here through the stargate. Or possibly on space ships, as slaves of the Goa'uld." He smiled and extended his hand. “I’m Daniel Jackson, and these are my friends. We’re peaceful explorers—“

"What is this… Goold?" she interrupted, her brows twitching together as she took Daniel’s hand.

"Go-ah-oold,” Sam corrected with a smile.  “They're a race of alien beings who use humans, like us, as hosts.  They pretend to be gods, and have enslaved people on many worlds."  Sam grasped the proffered hand.  “Major Samantha Carter. Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

"We have not heard of these Goold," the Sing declared, sticking to her own pronunciation. She dropped Sam’s hand and smiled at her guests, her frank gaze including all four of the visitors. "But we do know a little of the Old World. We would learn if there remain any of the Ferretu there?"

"Well, since we don't even know what Ferretu are, I'd say there probably aren't any.  Or maybe we call them by another name," Daniel declared with a shrug.  " After all, our world has changed a great deal since your people left it."

The Sing nodded, taking in their strange clothing and weapons. "I would wager you speak the truth, by your appearance."

She turned to Jack, eyeing him up and down.  "You are the leader, yes?  You have the look of quick decisions about you. You are impulsive, a man of hot temper, dangerous when stirred up, like a wildfire.”  She tilted her head and studied him for a few seconds.  “But, I can see, you are also capable of much warmth.”

A smile broke out on Jack's face. "Well, uh… thank you, ma'am, and yes, I'm in charge of our team. Colonel Jack O'Neill, at your service,” he added as he took the hand she held out to him.

The old woman guided it toward his face, and Jack understood he was supposed to kiss it. She seemed like a nice enough old lady, so he did. Something about her style reminded him of his late Nana O’Neill.

The Sing turned her attention to Sam. "A beautiful woman.  And a warrior," she commented happily. She laughed, looking around at the foursome.  “A flower among three thorns, I can see.” 

Everyone politely snickered at her small joke, but she sobered immediately.  "Strong women are a rare blessing, my fair one. They can be both gentle breeze and devastating storm."

Sam just grinned at her. “Yes, ma’am.”

Stepping over to Teal’c, she looked way up into his stoic face.  “And what are you called, my dark prince?”

The corners of Teal’c’s mouth turned up in a tiny smile.  He inclined his head as he gazed down into her upturned face.  “I am called Teal’c of the Tau’ri,” he rumbled with pride.

"You are strong, not unlike your colonel, solid as the earth itself, yet capable of great destruction when shaken.”  The Sing reached out with one bony index finger and poked Teal’c hard chest, as though to test him.  “But you are…  different from the others. You wear the same clothing as these three, but you are not cut from the same cloth, are you?” 

Teal’c didn’t answer, only stood, still as a statue, regarding the alien woman. 

“Well, whatever your origins, I like you, Teal'c,” she declared. “We shall endeavor not to arouse you to anger, and make you welcome, instead."

He gave her an elegant bow in return, smiling slightly at her poetic description of his nature.

Finally, she turned to Daniel. Her eyes roved over him, from boonie to boots and back again. She took his hand and guided him to turn around as she examined him.  When he turned slowly back to face her, his cheeks were slightly pink from being studied so openly.

The Sing chuckled. "You dress as these soldiers and carry weapons as they do, but truly, you are not one of them,” she surmised, a wave of her hand taking in Daniel’s teammates. "You do have strength, but it is the strength of water, which has the power to wear away stone and quench bold flames. You are a scholar, are you not?  A man of learning and thought. Tell me, my young friend.  Why do you travel with warriors?"

He smiled at her assessment and offered a slight bow of respect. "We're peaceful explorers," he explained. "But sometimes we need to be able to defend ourselves. I'm still learning that skill."

She eyed each of them in turn. "Fire, wind, earth, and water."  Raising her thin arms and opening them wide in a gesture of acceptance, she declared, "We welcome the Elementals to our world. Please, join us in our harvest feast."

With a glance behind her, she motioned for the young woman standing near her chair to approach. "Rawnie, see to our guests."

Rawnie tossed her mane of thick black hair over her shoulder and stepped forward with a wide smile. Ignoring the rest of SG-1, she took Daniel's hand and led him out onto the dance floor. He stood still, watching her dance around him with abandon, then began to shuffle uncertainly from one foot to the other.

"There he goes," Jack observed. "What is it with him and alien women?"

"He is quite a delicious young man," the Sing said gaily, settling back into her chair. "I am not surprised women are attracted to him. Like a panit to heram."

"Or a bee to honey," O'Neill returned. "I didn't think he was that… uh…" He flipped his hand in the air, grasping for a word that wouldn’t make him sound like he’d been looking at the other man, since he hadn’t.

Carter grinned at him. "Oh, yeah, Colonel. Daniel's quite the babe. He just doesn't know it." She laughed. "Which actually makes him even more of a babe. But don’t worry. He doesn't have that effect on me. I think of him as a brother." 

"Daniel Jackson, intergalactic babe.”  Jack shook his head, trying to grasp that impossible concept.  ”Carter, the human race is doomed."  He looked around and decided, "Well, we might as well hang it up and party.”  He clapped Teal'c on the shoulder.  "Make friends, big guy.  Be popular, as always."  He made shooing motions at Carter and T.  “Food awaits. Schmooze. Go on, mingle." 

Then Jack turned to the Sing. "Do you dance, ma'am?"

"Not for a long time," she chuckled with a shake of her white head.

"Good. Neither do I,” he confessed with a smile.  “You hungry?  Can I bring you a plate of something?"

Her eyes twinkled. "That would be very nice, Colonel. Thank you." 

He ambled off toward the bountifully laden table, his P90 still around his neck, keeping a watchful eye on his team. 

“We have no ruins,” Rawnie explained to Daniel as she led the way through the revelers, toward the back of the great hall. “We made our village strong, to last, so our buildings do not fall down.”

“What about temples, then?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder at his team, all mingling with the aliens and doing their jobs. “What gods do you worship?”

He really ought to tell Jack he was leaving, but they’d done this a thousand times. He knew this kind of people, and when SG-1 were so readily accepted, the natives rarely had anything to hide.

Ignoring Rawnie’s question for the moment, Daniel’s gaze settled on Jack, who seemed entranced with the Sing, smiling at her as he so rarely did with strangers. He really seemed to like the old woman.  Daniel didn’t want to bother him.  After all, Daniel wouldn’t be gone long, and the village was pretty small. But protocol demanded, so with a sigh of resignation, he obediently touched the button on his comm. unit.  “Jack?”

The scratchy reply came instantly. “Daniel? Report.” The colonel’s eyes scanned the room until he located his teammate.

“I’m just gonna go for a tour of the village with Rawnie.”  Daniel waved at him from the back of the room near the doorway. ”I want to get a look at their temple.”

“Take Carter with you,” Jack ordered.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Jack,” Daniel assured him. “The village isn’t that big.”

Daniel saw Jack glance down at his watch, then say something to the Sing. Finally Jack gave a nod and the radio activated again. “All right.  But stay sharp,” Jack’s voice cautioned from his shoulder.

“I’ll be careful,” Daniel promised.  He turned and followed Rawnie through the arched doorway.

It was quieter in the corridor, and cooler, too. He’d been starting to get a little hot from all the collective body heat and dancing, and the little bit of wine he’d had was making him even warmer.

He was distracted by his thoughts and didn’t quite hear what she was telling him, but followed her out of the party, leaving his friends behind.

Rawnie led Daniel out of the great hall, his hand in hers. She was smiling, a look of mischief in her eyes. He found her charming, pretty, and flirtatious, but she also seemed quite intelligent. From conversation while they danced, he’d learned she was the Sing's apprentice, though what exactly the Sing did was still unclear.

Down a series of halls she led him, telling him brief histories of the people in the huge portraits hung on the walls, though they moved by most of them so briskly that he didn’t get much of a look. His attention was so fractured, it was hard to keep track of where they were going, in case he had to find his way back alone. The place was like a maze, with all the twists and turns and passageways leading off from one building to the next, all of them seeming to radiate outward from the great hall.

She took him into what appeared to be their temple, with three statues behind the altar, all wearing veils hiding the deities' faces. He was interested, of course, and went up to the altar to examine the tools of ritual on display there, murmuring aloud to himself while he strolled about the temple, looking at everything and trying to decide where he should start studying more intently. 

At one point, he turned around to ask Rawnie's permission to look beneath the veils, but she was gone.  He called out to her a couple of times, even stepping back into the corridor to look for her. He was concerned when there was no answer, but he decided to return to his examination of the statues until Rawnie returned. He knew he could always use his radio to call for help if needed, and give her a little time to finish whatever errand had sent her off on her own.

He shelved the idea of peeking beneath the veils, meaning no disrespect, and tried to discern the identity of their goddesses using other clues.  Moving toward the inscriptions chiseled into the stone in a frame all around the altar, he started to read out loud.  “Hecate, all powerful goddess and protector. That’s interesting. Triune Greek goddess of night, magical empowerment, mutation—“

"Daniel," Rawnie called out a moment later. She’d returned to the temple breathless and bright-eyed, her cheeks flushed with excitement and a broad smile showing off her perfect white teeth. "Come and look.  I've brought someone to meet you."

Ready to receive a warm introduction, he turned, starting to smile and offer his hand, but he stopped short when he caught sight of the young man at her side.  There was something odd about him, aside from his elegantly chiseled face and long blond hair. He moved with an unearthly grace as he crossed the room, and his expression was one of pure pleasure, utter serenity and superiority. He looked like a born aristocrat.

"Daniel Jackson," the archaeologist said, introducing himself with a voice gone strangely flat and mechanical.  His mind was awhirl with the tickle of intuition tugging at his thoughts. There was something not right about this young man, but Daniel couldn’t put a finger on what, exactly, that might be.

He couldn't take his eyes off that gorgeous face. The pale sea-green eyes were haunting, compelling.  They looked… dead. Soulless.  A great yawning void of evil, sparkling with cunning intelligence. 

And there was a scent on the air that made gooseflesh rise on his arms.  Daniel looked questioningly at Rawnie. It had to be her. It smelled like… womaaaaan, revved and ready. His body reacted, and for some reason, he didn't mind a bit that it did.  Without a trace of embarrassment or self-consciousness, Daniel was only pleased when he felt his cock thicken and lengthen, pushing against the restraints of his clothing.

"This is Mihnea," she whispered, a note of pride in her voice. She had possessively interlaced her arm around the elbow of the stranger.  "He is the man I love."

Love, Daniel thought. Sex. Yes.  Now.

His mouth watered. He felt light-headed. Euphoric. Intoxicated. Horny as hell.  His erection tented the front of his pants, his balls heavy and tight between his legs.  It was all he could do not to grab onto himself with both hands and try to relieve the pressure.

His eyes strayed back to the young man's face, seeking the source of the growing current of desire that threatened to sweep him completely away. It couldn’t be the man, could it?  Well, maybe it could.  Daniel felt his resistance to that taboo fading quickly as he looked into those beautiful, otherworldly eyes, glittering with lust… for him.  Daniel didn’t feel that way toward men; at least, not toward most men, but he couldn’t seem to move or speak to protest or announce his orientation. 

Part of him rebelled, screaming at him to leave, to run away, that there was danger there, but the greater part of him wanted to stay, curious to discover why this guy seemed so incredibly magnetic. Sexy.

"You are from another world, yes?" asked Mihnea. "You know how the stone ring works, do you not?"

"Yes," Daniel replied lazily.  He ignored the niggling voice at the back of his mind, reminding him that he wasn't supposed to reveal things like that to aliens, until the ground rules had been laid and treaties signed.  "I know the addresses of hundreds of worlds.  I've been to many of them already."

"Then you must join us," Mihnea announced, his voice a sensual purr. He reached out to touch Daniel’s shoulder, letting his hand stroke slowly down the sleeve of his uniform, leaving a trail of gooseflesh under his fingers. "Your knowledge will help our people to survive. Our race was dying before you came. In one generation, we would have vanished completely, but now you offer us salvation."

"I do?" Daniel was vaguely aware that he was holding the other man's hand, and that it was cold.

Cold as death.

Mihnea smiled. His eyes glittered with an unholy desire. "Yessss, you do, Daniel. Let me kiss you, to show my gratitude. It is our custom. And afterward… I have a gift for you. A very precious gift."

Mesmerized, Daniel stared into those eyes. The young man was beautiful. Daniel wanted—

A new wave of lust hit him in the pit of his stomach.  He swallowed audibly, gasping through his mouth as he fought to stay alert.  His dick was hard, hot against his thigh. Visions fleeted through his consciousness, fantasies of this young man, naked and aroused, spread out on the floor beneath him while Daniel pounded fiercely into his body. He clenched his teeth, hunger rising, sweeping away reason. He was sure he’d never felt this way before for any man, but Daniel knew he had to have this one.

Without another coherent thought, Daniel reached out and wrapped the fingers of one hand around the nape of Mihnea’s neck, grasping a handful of golden hair.  He drew Mihnea fiercely to him and kissed him on the mouth, hard and merciless, demanding. The chill of Mihnea’s lips shocked Daniel, but he couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to stop kissing him.

Mihnea’s hands stroked over Daniel, pulling him closer, and then the stranger pulled his mouth away.

The alien’s cock was hard and cold, like a huge Popsicle thrust against Daniel’s belly. They rubbed together, groaning and jerking, lost in the throes of passion. Daniel’s heartbeat speeded up as the other man unbuttoned Daniel’s fly. He gasped in shock as icy fingers touched his overheated cock, freeing it from his clothes. Daniel felt Mihnea’s cold hand touch his face, those frigid lips press not against his cheek, but against the side of his neck while they clutched and strained against each other.

He wanted to move, to push Mihnea down on the floor and take him, but he couldn’t let go of him. He was frozen in that sensual grip, his heartbeat thrumming wildly in his ears.

Something sharp scraped his skin, followed by a lancet pain, piercing him deeply.  A minute or so went by while warmth gushed out, filling that cold mouth suckling his neck.

Daniel whimpered, his knees getting progressively weaker, his thoughtless, desperate lust vanishing abruptly in the wake of a painful, shattering orgasm. In his mind, he cried out, knowing that this was wrong, that he was dying, that Mihnea was feeding on him, but he couldn’t give voice to his horror. 

His knees buckled, and he fell, his vision graying as he slipped toward unconsciousness.  He was distantly aware of a soft cloth being pressed to his neck, and then cold fingers cleaning off his spent cock and tucking it back into his pants.  Voices sounded a moment later, but Daniel couldn't understand the unsteady echo of noise. Something cold and viscous dribbled onto his neck and oddly, he felt his flesh begin to seal up, his lifeblood cease to flow as the wound quickly closed. 

Then a limb was pressed to his lips.  It was a cold wrist, sticky with chilled gore.  "Drink," a tinny voice commanded. “Taste. Know.”

Daniel shook his head as the metallic taste filled his mouth.  Tears sprang to his eyes.  A sob escaped him.  He tried to fight, to refuse to cooperate, understanding instinctively that what was happening was horribly wrong, dangerous, inhuman, but he had no choice.  The cold blood trickled across his tongue, and he swallowed involuntarily.  And then unable to stop himself, he sucked, drawing more of it into his mouth, weeping at the bitter, coppery taste. 

Mihnea jerked his arm away and straightened.

Rawnie’s voice, somewhere above him, was soft, filled with wonder. “It never ceases to fascinate me how quickly your wounds heal.” 

Minhea turned to Rawnie and smiled at her, touching her hair. "You have done well, my love," he cooed. "Soon the Ferretu shall spread across the universe. No longer do we fear our extinction looming before us. And we owe this to an unexpected visit from strangers who would be our friends." He kissed her, chastely, on the cheek.

She pressed herself against him. "Take me with you, Mihnea," she begged. "I am ready to join you now. Give me the gift, too."

He shook his head. "Not yet, my beloved," he whispered, stroking her cheek. "Not yet. There is still much to do." He stepped away from her, glancing down at the man on the floor. "Watch over him, my love. And when it is time, you will help him return to his world… as a god."

She nodded as she watched Mihnea draw away. Hurrying out of the temple after him, she accompanied him to the nearest exterior door, removed the bar, and replaced it when he had gone out into the night.

With head high, she returned to where she had left Daniel on the floor near the statues of the goddess. She took a bowl of sacred water from the altar, and began to wash away the evidence of what her lover had done with the man from Earth.

Sometime during the course of the party, when it was getting very late, Jack became aware that Daniel hadn’t yet returned from his explorations of the village with Rawnie.  Jack had gotten caught up in conversation with the old lady, and now realized with a start that more time had passed than he had realized. 

He touched the controls of his radio. “Daniel, report.”

There was no reply. Jack looked around at the natives clustered around Teal’c and Carter. They were open and friendly, and had an air of innocence about them that soothed Jack’s worry. His gaze wandered back to the Sing, and he knew instinctively that he could trust the old gal. She didn’t seem to have a deceptive bone in her body, so Jack decided to be patient and check again in a few minutes.

Maybe Daniel was off somewhere getting lucky.  If he were, it’d be the first time since he’d been all glowy, but then Jack knew Daniel didn’t work that fast.  It’d been a long time since Daniel had shown any sort of attraction to a woman, and he needed that kind of jostling of his hormones. He needed to be reminded now and then that he was a man, and let nature take its course. It was hard enough to get him to drop his work and go home to sleep, much less have a social life.

Not that Jack himself was much better at that sort of thing. He didn’t date, didn’t feel the need. He figured he was too old for that sort of nonsense, but a pretty woman walking into view could still draw his eye and make him wish he were younger and less dented.  He missed kissing, having a significant other waiting at home for him, not to mention the more exciting parts of being close to someone. But like Daniel – hell, like the whole team – they put the SGC and its objectives first and themselves dead last. Opportunities to get naked with someone came rarely. 

Jack lifted his cup of punch in silent salute to the absent man, hoping he was enjoying some real quality time with the little hottie, and not looking at some dusty old artifacts somewhere else in the village.  Which, he thought to himself, was entirely too possibly exactly what Daniel was doing, off on his own, away from his colonel’s watchful eye. He’d give Daniel another couple of minutes to answer, and then he’d gather the team and start looking for him if there were no reply.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jack demanded hotly as Daniel and Rawnie returned to the great hall. "You haven’t reported for over an hour.“ He checked his chronograph to punctuate his irritation as he, Carter and Teal’c stood in the doorway of the great hall, just about to go after their missing man, now returned to them in apparently perfect health.

Daniel smiled and shrugged. "Everything’s fine, Jack. Rawnie was just showing me around, that’s all. The great hall here connects to almost every house and building by way of enclosed passageways. It's a maze, if you don't know your way around. I reported in when we were on the way back and I realized I was totally lost. I wasn’t sure how long it would take us to get back here, so I thought I’d better let you know I was okay. We didn’t mean to worry you." 

"Sometimes it is even difficult when you do know your way around, if you are not paying attention to the path," Rawnie added, laughing. Her eyes sparkled as she walked with him, her hand tucked into the crook of Daniel's arm. "We were in no danger, Colonel, though we got a little lost. Do not worry."

"I wasn't worried," Jack lied. In truth, his stomach had been tied up in knots as he’d waited, watching the minutes tick by with no response from his second summons. He’d signaled the rest of the team, bringing them to the doorway to reconnoiter, preparing to give Carter the order to stay put in the hall to report in if Daniel returned, while he and Teal’c would be searching the corridor down which he had disappeared.

Daniel had chosen that exact moment to call in, and they’d waited for him to return with his guide. It’d taken him ten minutes to arrive, and he was slightly out of breath when he got there.

O’Neill eyed the archaeologist, noting something about him was different, and not in a good way. "You feelin' okay? You look a little pale."  He inhaled, trying to get a good whiff of Daniel, without being obvious about it. He looked okay, smelled perfectly normal and, aside from his lack of color, seemed calm and at ease.

"I'm fine," Daniel assured him as they headed for the banquet table. "In fact, I feel great. A little tired, maybe. But other than that—" He shrugged and didn’t finish the thought.

The colonel watched the young woman take a sweet bun and nibble on it, sipping at a cup of punch she’d poured. He also noticed she didn’t offer anything to her special guest, and Daniel made no attempt to indulge in the sweets just in front of him. That was unusual.  But maybe Daniel had gotten lucky and just wasn’t interested in food right then.

The young woman had a twinkle in her dark eyes, full of secrets, and the way she was looking at Daniel—

Jack was certain something had happened between them. Even if it were just a really hot kiss, there were hints of intimacy that he recognized instantly. For some reason, that irritated Jack, and so did Rawnie’s presence.

"Well, did you find anything of interest on your tour?" Jack asked, leading the way toward the Sing’s chair at the back of the room. Carter caught his eye and, with a nod, he sent her back to the group of elders she had been chatting with earlier. Teal’c stayed behind them, always aware and on guard, so Jack felt he could concentrate on Daniel for a few moments. Jack wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

"I haven’t found anything significant yet, but we've got plenty of time to look for more interesting things." Daniel cleared his throat and looked decidedly like he was about to deliver some unpleasant news. "Uh, Jack, I did find out that the nights here are in the neighborhood of 22 hours long at this time of year. Days are only about eight hours. We won't make the deadline for reporting back to General Hammond."

That sent a ripple of warning through Jack, but he shook it off. "Sure we can. Just a ten-mile jog back to the 'gate in the dark—"

"No," Rawnie said sharply, her dark eyes flashing with alarm. "You cannot go outside in the night. It is too dangerous." She glanced at the Sing, who nodded in agreement, overhearing the group as they arrived in her presence again.

Jack patted his P-90 and smiled. "We brought protection, thanks."  And speaking of which, he wondered if Daniel had used any protection, because he was pretty sure he detected the faint odor of feminine arousal on his friend. Daniel had apparently gotten busy with the little hottie, and Jack didn’t like it one bit. He knew Daniel was aware of the dangers of unprotected sex with aliens, because that had been drummed into the heads of every SG team since his disastrous encounter with Kynthia on Argos, but whether Daniel had used a condom or not remained to be discussed between the two of them in private. He stared hard at the smug little bitch, wanting to hate her, but he didn’t know her well enough for that.

"Yeah, and we still don't know what Ferretu are," Daniel stated, turning to look at the Sing before turning back to Rawnie. "Like, how big are they, how fast they move, what they look like.  All that would be helpful to know."

Rawnie looked up at Daniel from beneath her lashes, her chin tucked down. "They are like us. Only different. Stronger. Deadly. They have great power. And they do not die easily."

"Like us?" Daniel asked uncertainly. "You mean they're people?"

Rawnie nodded. She turned away, her head down, glancing at the Sing to take up the narrative.

The old woman’s voice was grave. "They claim many of us each year, in spite of the precautions we take. We watch those whom we love add to their numbers and are helpless to stop it."

Jack shot Daniel a meaningful glance, temporarily distracted from his reaction to Rawnie by the informative conversation. "Wonder if they might be a rogue breed of Goold, or somethin' like that? Maybe like us on the outside, but hosts on the inside." 

Daniel pondered. "It's worth checking out." He clasped his hands behind his back and directed his question to the old woman. "Have your people ever captured one of these Ferretu and studied them?"

"It has been done, long ago," she told him. "Though it is not safe to keep them prisoner."

"Not safe?" Daniel repeated. His heavy brows twitched together. "If you have them locked up, how can they hurt you?"

"They have great power," the Sing repeated enigmatically. "They are able to persuade their keepers to let them go. Or become willing victims."

Rawnie lifted her chin with pride, her gaze on the old woman seated beside her. "Our Sing knows more about the Ferretu than any who came before her. She is very wise. If anyone can help them and end this curse, it will be her." 

Jack and Daniel exchanged another look. "So being a Ferretu is like being sick," Jack clarified. "They have a disease of some kind that makes them… ah, hunt others who aren't sick?"

"Yes."

"And what do they do with the people they catch?"

The Sing swallowed visibly and closed her eyes. "They feed upon us," she said in a hoarse whisper, her lined face growing pale.

“Welcome to the Twilight Zone.” Jack cocked his head and eyed the Sing. "I don't suppose you've seen 'Night of the Living Dead', have you?" At the blank look he received, he added, "Didn't think so.”

Turning to Daniel, he asked, “So.  Wanna go zombie hunting later?"

The archaeologist gave Jack a secretive smile. "I'll stay indoors, thanks anyway. And I think we should wait 'til morning to check in at the stargate. Rawnie told me the Ferretu don't go out in the sunlight."

"They're still human," Jack countered. "We can kill 'em if they go medieval on us." He glanced around at the medieval decorations in the medieval building, and the people in their medieval clothing, suspecting the Ferretu would do just that. There was just something about the setting that made his mind rush to weird places.

The old woman sighed and touched his arm. "No. Please.  Believe me, your weapons may be useless.  I have seen a Ferretu brought down by a sword's blow that nearly cut him in two. He healed before the swordsman could pull his blade free, and killed the man with his bare hands, snapped his neck like a twig. Not a mark was left on the Ferretu as he walked away in one piece… laughing at our poor attempt to defeat them."

"Oh." Jack pictured grisly scenes from the old black and white film, of zombies being knocked down and getting right back up again to stagger on toward their live dinner. He offered a humorless grimace of a smile, his heart sinking at the predicament they’d unwittingly gotten themselves into that trip.  "Then maybe we'll just be a tad late reporting in."

“And I think we should try to find out more about these Ferretu,” Daniel added. He gave a polite half-bow to Rawnie. “Thank you for a most interesting evening.” He smiled at her.

There were secrets in his eyes.  Jack noticed the look passing between them. He hadn’t seen obvious attraction like that in his teammate for a long time. And aside from that, something about Daniel was different, but Jack couldn’t pin it down. He hoped it was simply the aftermath of a good poke. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it. Didn’t like Rawnie, and wanted to question her in private, without Daniel around.

Jack turned to the apprentice and smiled. “So, you folks got any interesting weapons? Medicines? Stuff you might wanna trade?”

She took him by the hand and led him back to the banquet table, pushing a cup of wine at him, which he politely declined. With a smile, Rawnie stepped closer. Jack let her, only now he wasn’t so sure of his earlier conclusion that she and Daniel had gotten frisky with each other. He sniffed again, hoping to catch the scent of his teammate on her, and doing his best to be discreet about it. As far as he could tell, she just smelled like clean woman, and that was all.

“We do have some powerful medicines, yes. But we have yet to find a cure for the Ferretu, or weapons that will deter them. They are far more powerful than mere humans.” She gave a delicate shudder. “Almost like gods.” Her eyes opened and she glanced around guiltily, as if concerned that she might have been overheard speaking blasphemy.

He tried to remember what the chick had said last, off balance with this whole issue of what might have happened in some dark corner between her and Daniel. It was damn distracting, and he was having a hard time concentrating on matters at hand. “So, what kind of religion do you folks practice?”

“We worship the goddess who is three. Whom do you worship?”

“I’d rather hear about your goddess and that three thing. I don’t get that.” Jack listened to her, not really paying attention except to look for any clues that might indicate this goddess of theirs was a Goa’uld. Nothing she said rang any bells or sounded familiar in the least, so eventually his mind wandered off to other things, and his eyes sought out his teammates while the young woman chattered away at his side. He threw in occasional nods and smiles to make her think he was still listening, but what he really wanted now was an avenue of escape.

Rawnie was hardly stopping to breathe, and Jack began to wonder if this was why Daniel had been gone so long, and why he had been so willing to ditch her at Jack’s side in order to talk to the Sing. Then he remembered that it had been his own idea to get the girl off alone, not Daniel’s. So when the subject of her monologue turned to other things, Jack found himself wanting to just drop his plate and run. Only he was acting as an official representative of Earth, and that would be rude, so he had to stay and hope that one of his teammates would notice and come rescue him.

By rights, it should be Daniel, since he was the one most recently cursed with this non-stop chatter.

Fortunately, one of the young men from the village asked Rawnie for a dance, and she went away happily, leaving Jack in peace. He heaved a sigh of relief, rubbed a weary hand over his face and sagged against the nearest wall, thoroughly wrung out from his latest near-death experience.

Jack watched the party and his team, having fulfilled his duty to check out the potential dangers in that alien place, and finding there were plenty – not including the mind-numbing chatter of that young woman. Jack had decided that she wasn’t really a threat, just a big honkin’ pain in the ass, and shouldn’t really be classed in the same category as the enigmatic Ferretu.

The team would have to wait until daylight for their return trip to the stargate, so he busied himself watching over his people. Teal’c stood at the best vantage point – right beside the Sing’s chair -- and watched everyone, but at one point the Sing engaged him in conversation and even had him smiling a couple of times. Daniel had moved away and was talking with a mixed group of folks seated near the foyer doors, and Carter’s hands were waving in the air as she talked to a trio of gray-haired scientist types. The team were all apparently doing their jobs, and he shouldn’t be worried about anything.

He let his gaze go back to Teal’c and the Sing. Jack decided he liked the old lady, and that she was most likely the best source of information on what her people had to offer.

Obviously, with the threat of the Ferretu, their usefulness to these people was limited. But if Fraiser could pull another rabbit out of her hat and find a cure for the disease that caused human beings to go zombie, they’d earn lifetime friendship with these folks. He could hope that was how it turned out. They’d present the problem to Hammond once they got back, and the general would determine whether or not it was worth the risk.

Carter seemed engrossed in her conversation with the elders, discussing possible technological and/or medical items that might be of interest on both sides. Jack watched her for a few minutes, then scanned the room to look for the fourth in his party. Daniel was on the dance floor – again – only now he seemed to have found his groove thang.

Jack’s brows drew together as he studied the man. He’d known Daniel for ten years (if the year he was gone on Abydos counted, and he wouldn’t leave out the year Daniel was a fluffy white cloud), yet never in all that time had he seen the man look so downright comfortable. Daniel was always just a little on edge, slightly out of place, searching for somewhere to belong and never quite finding it. Now, however, he was picking up the native dances and adding to them, gyrating his hips and shaking his ass like Michael Jackson.

That was so not the Daniel Jackson he knew.  Something was wrong with that picture, and Jack needed to find out what it was.  It was… disturbing, seeing him like that, and Jack struggled to push the feelings it stirred in him away.  He kept watching, unable to tear his gaze away.

Daniel was smiling, his face relaxed. He leaned in to his newest dance partner and whispered in her ear, his fingertips brushing her cheek. To his left and right two other women were dancing – also with him. And as Jack watched, totally incredulous, he noticed other women in the room drifting toward Daniel, leaving their partners, and joining in.  Soon Daniel was surrounded by smiling, starry-eyed women, all gyrating to the beat of the music in what could only be described as a suggestive way.

Carter stole up to his elbow, grinning from ear to ear, her eyes on her science twin. “Wouldja look at that! The doctor of babeness is definitely in,” she breathed. “I didn’t know Daniel had it in him.”

“He doesn’t,” Jack shot back grimly. The more he watched, the more certain he was that he could hear Twilight Zone music playing in the background somewhere. “But somehow, his intergalactic babeness factor just went through the roof. These women must be really deprived.”

“Hey, Daniel’s a good looking guy, sir,” Sam informed him.  When Jack glared at her, she quickly added, “Do you think he wants to be rescued?”

Jack shook his head, his eyes pulled back to Daniel and his harem.  “Nah. Let him enjoy it. Probably the only time in his life this’ll ever happen.”

But something about the women’s reaction was just wrong.  Alarm bells were going off in Jack’s subconscious.  He was listening, but there was nothing in the world he could do about it but wait and watch, and stay alert.

He didn’t like what he was seeing, and wanted to push all those women away.  They had no right to be looking at Daniel like that, flaunting themselves at him. Daniel was Jack’s – rather, he belonged to SG-1 – and those women couldn’t have him.

The party went on until the wee hours by Jack’s watch, and Daniel showed no signs of slowing down.  He smiled and touched women’s faces as if he were a rock star and they were his groupies, dancing with them, always out in the middle of the floor.  The more time passed, the more erotic the dances got. Daniel held the women close, teaching them to Lambada, all but having sex with them on the floor.  As he moved around through his crowd of admirers, his hands started stroking over his own body through his clothes, making Jack’s mouth go dry and his pulse quicken.

Jack was worried about him, but more disconcertingly, he was embarrassed at how the sight of Daniel shaking his ass affected him. Daniel, on the other hand, was making a fool of himself and didn’t seem to care. This behavior was so un-Daniel-like that Jack knew for certain something was up.  He just didn’t have a clue what it was. It bothered him, irritated him that this guy who was so out of it socially seemed to have found the key to being Mr. Popularity all of a sudden. He tried not to watch, to concentrate on Carter and Teal’c, but invariably his eyes strayed back to Daniel and always stayed there far too long, with an unsettling response he didn’t want to name burning way down low in his belly.

Jack noticed the Sing watching his archaeologist as well. She and Teal’c had stopped talking, and the Jaffa stood at parade rest beside her chair. The old woman’s eyes never left Daniel’s form, until she looked up at Teal’c and said something to him, pointing toward the dancing man.

Teal’c gave her a polite nod, then moved away to one of the food tables. He picked up a small sweet roll and a clay cup filled with fruit punch, and made his way through the sea of women to offer them to his friend. With a smile, Daniel just shook his head and turned back to dancing.

Jack looked at his watch. It had been nearly eight hours since Daniel had returned to the party with Rawnie, 12 hours since they’d arrived on that twilight world. And in all that time, Jack hadn’t seen him eat or drink anything since he got back to the great hall after the tour. The younger man was known for ignoring his appetite, especially when he was busy. But liquids – especially coffee, when he could get it – were Daniel’s lifeblood. Even in the field he pulled more often at his canteen than any of the others.

Daniel hadn’t had a drink of anything in a long time. He was bound to be thirsty, especially with all that physical activity. Another red flag went up, and Jack started looking for other things, anything that would give him more information. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was a necessity.

Near 0400 hours Earth time, people started drifting away, going home to their beds. The Sing showed the team to a small room just off the main hall where beds had been set up for them, bade them all good night, and admonished them to remain inside at all costs. Tired as he was, Jack volunteered to take first watch while the others got some rest.

Without a word, he watched Daniel unlace and remove his boots and get into one of the beds, humming a snatch of one of the tunes from the party.  Carter took another bunk, and Teal’c settled into a corner with a couple of candles to do a little meditation. Jack moved into a shadowy corner and sat on a stool, his hand on his P-90, and his mind on full alert.

As he waited, he wondered again what had happened during the missing time Daniel had been out of sight. Whatever it was, Jack was certain now that it wasn’t good.

Daniel tossed and turned on the borrowed bed. He had trouble sleeping, and when he did manage to nod off, he had disturbing, vivid dreams that brought him bolt upright beneath the blankets. Nights were cold on this world, and though he had removed his boots before climbing into the bed, he simply couldn’t get comfortable in his clothes. He flung the covers back and took off his jacket, shirt and pants, stripping down to his boxers before getting back under the blankets again. He was still too warm, even though the chill in the air registered against his skin.

“You okay?” Jack called softly from the shadows in his corner.

“Just restless, I guess,” Daniel sighed. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?”

“Must be you,” Jack replied. “I could use a blanket, myself.”

Daniel got up, stripped one of the covers off his bed and walked directly over to where Jack sat on a stool in the darkened room. He draped the blanket over Jack’s shoulders and toddled back toward the bed.

“You’ve got good night vision,” Jack observed. “It’s almost pitch black in here, but you knew exactly where I was.”

Daniel could see his commander clearly, with nothing but the light of Teal’c’s distant candles illuminating the entire room. Daniel grinned and pointed to his face. “My, what big eyes I have,” he teased. “I’m light sensitive. With pupils this big, I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed.”

“What, that you look like you’re on drugs all the time? Yeah, I’ve noticed. I just didn’t say anything. Figured it was the daily overdose of caffeine.”

“Nah. My eyes have always been like this. Sunlight’s a killer without prescription shades.” Daniel slid down beneath the sheet again. He turned onto his side. Then he turned back to face Jack.

“If you’d try being still, you might get some sleep,” Jack suggested helpfully.

“I’m itchy,” Daniel countered. “Maybe I’m allergic to their bedding materials.” He sighed and closed his eyes, rolling onto his back. “G’night, Jack. Wake me when it’s my turn at watch.”

“ ‘Night, Daniel.”

With a sigh, Daniel folded his hands across his chest and belly. He let his mind settle, imagining it drifting down like a feather dropped from a high place. It was a trick he often used to get his busy mind to cooperate and shut down enough to let him rest. Only tonight it wasn’t his mind that was responsible for his insomnia.  It was his body calling to him.  He felt the warmth of his hands, the ridges of his fingerprints resting against the short, sparse hairs on his torso. Smooth skin sheathed plates of toned muscle, rising and falling as he breathed. There was something innately sensual about his hands, and he began to move them slowly over his body, feeling the ripples and curves of solid form beneath his skin. He felt electric, aroused, aware of himself in a way he had never been before, and he felt compelled to explore.

Lower and higher his hands drifted, one sliding over the bulging bicep of his arm while the other halted in the rough hair at his crotch. He heard himself rumble with pleasure as he touched his body in that private place, letting his fingers drift idly over his awakening penis. He hadn’t enjoyed the pleasures of his body for far too long, and at that moment, even though he was in a room full of other people, he wanted this moment of sensuality.

But he was sure Jack would hear him, and he didn't want that invasion of his privacy. Solo sex would have to wait until he was home again. He didn't like having an audience, and Jack would criticize him in private if he indulged in that semi-public place. He sighed and thought about his last sexual encounter with anything other than his own right hand -- Kera, nearly four years back. He needed a girlfriend, but there was slim chance of finding one anytime soon. Alien women never worked out, and he was never on Earth long enough to make a connection that could turn into anything of quality.

Daniel sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he'd be celibate for quite a while. He thought about women… how they smelled, how they felt when he was making love to them, and as the night wore on, he slipped deeply into sleep, and dreamed.

Cold. Cold on his neck.

Sharpness grazing his skin. Piercing him.

Fear, making him turn, making him want to fight.

Something else, something sexy, centering him, arousing him.

Yes, yes, this… Do it. Yes.

Something pressed to his lips.

Drink. Taste. Know.

No! I won’t. I can’t… No…

Too late.

It was done, and he lay on the floor as something cold poured onto the holes torn in his neck. He could feel the flesh closing, sealing up the darkness inside him.

Daniel cried out in his dream, a whimper of defeat as the metallic taste flowed into his mouth and down his throat. He had no choice, and he surrendered, though his mind screamed at him to fight.

He didn’t know how long he lay there. He could see Rawnie’s feet, pacing restlessly nearby. He could hear her talking… to Mihnea, he remembered. They spoke in whispers as he lay on the temple floor, sure he must be dying. And then his eyes closed. Time passed, but he wasn’t sure how long.

He awakened with a start, his hand going automatically to his neck. The wound that should have been there was gone, healed almost completely. He could feel strength coursing inside him, changing him. Already his eyesight was sharper, his sense of smell more defined. He felt good… sensual… sexy. Power radiated from him, and it felt wonderful.

Slowly, carefully, he rose.

Rawnie smiled at him, and tugged the collar of his jacket up to hide the mark on his neck. She brushed off the debris from the temple floor that clung to his jacket, took his arm, and steered him back toward the great hall.

“You will be better now,” she told him. “Stronger. Smarter. And when you return to your world, you will bring to it the salvation of a better way. But you must tell no one, Doctor Jackson. Only you and I may know what has passed in this sacred place, of the gift that has been given to you.”

Daniel smiled in his sleep. He would be going home soon. And when he did, he would be a new man.

He would be the first of the Ferretu on Earth.

Daniel opened his eyes to the dark room, chuckling silently.

No, he would not be the first. The Ferretu had been legend on his world for millennia, in countless cultures, but most prevalent in the area of Eastern Europe that this alien culture mimicked. Somehow, these people had come to this world and brought the plague with them, and the Ferretu had gradually disappeared on Earth, save the tales told in the dark of night to frighten small children. 

He understood the words now, his clarity of thinking much sharper than usual.

The Sing was the one who kept the lore and directed her people how to fight the Ferretu.

And reaching far back into literature and whispered history, he knew where the words originated.

The Sing was most likely a descendant of Van Helsing, carrying on as chief hunter of the children of the night. And they were Noseferatu – Ferretu – who walked in darkness, preying on human beings and drinking their blood to slake an unquenchable thirst.

Daniel Jackson was becoming a vampire. Logic told him he should be horrified, afraid; yet he wasn’t. He was curious, almost anticipating what was happening to him. Soon, he could have anything – anyone – he wanted.

He glanced at the shadow in the corner, knowing Jack couldn’t see him smiling in the darkness.

Soon, Jack, Daniel told himself. Soon you will belong to me.

Sam thought she smelled something, but the whiff seemed to disappear as quickly as she sensed it. Her turn at watch would be over in a little while, though the darkness would remain for a few hours yet. She was restless, sensing something not quite right, but unable to pinpoint where the problem lay.

Checking her watch, she woke the colonel and touched Teal’c on the shoulder to rouse him. Then she moved to Daniel’s bed and put a hand to his arm to wake him. 

“Holy Hannah!” she cried, jerking away. Whirling around, she spotted Jack lighting a lamp near his bunk. “Colonel, Daniel’s cold as ice. If he weren’t breathing, I’d think he was dead.”

Instantly, Jack was at Daniel’s bedside, his hands touching the sleeping man’s forehead and patting his cheek. “Daniel,” he called. “Hey!  Wake up! Tell me how you feel.”

Languidly, Doctor Jackson stretched beneath the covers and smiled, opening his eyes just a crack. “I feel fine, Jack. What’s the problem?”

Sam watched the colonel study the man in the bed, looking him over, searching for signs of… well, she really didn’t know what he was seeking. She saw O’Neill grasped Daniel’s chin and turn it to the side. He grabbed the lamp off the table between the beds and held it closer, examining a small red mark on Daniel’s neck.  Shock and horror skittered across the colonel’s face, to be replaced by anguish.

“Not zombies, like we thought,” Jack muttered, his voice sounding so tight Sam thought it must hurt his throat to speak. He cursed and straightened up, setting the lamp back down. “Something a lot worse, if that’s even possible. Dammit, Daniel! One of those things got you.”

“One of what things?” Daniel asked sleepily. He didn't bother sitting up, but tucked one hand lazily behind his head, the middle fingers of his other hand tracing slow circles on his bare chest.

Sam stared at him. She’d never noticed how well built he was under his usually rumpled clothes, but this guy had a great body.  And his face!  How come she’d never really noticed his perfectly sculpted jaw line, those full lips, the cerulean blue of his eyes and those gorgeous long lashes?  He really was incredibly hot.  She’d joked about it with the colonel, but now she could see it clearly for herself.  Daniel Jackson was a babe, and that knowledge made her feel all warm and gooey inside.  She was also freaked out, big time.  There was just something wrong with that assessment of a man she considered a brother.

“Quit the dumb act, Daniel,” Jack rasped. He seemed to struggle for words for a moment. He swallowed hard, more pain and anger in his eyes than Sam had ever witnessed until that moment.  “The Ferretu. One of ‘em bit you, didn’t they?”  He glared down into Daniel’s serene face. “Only that’s not what we called ‘em, back on Earth. They’re goddamned vampires, aren’t they?”

Carter felt her heart drop into her boots, in shock. “Oh, God, sir!” She bent over Daniel, searching for the spot on his neck. “Vampires?”  A fading suction bruise darkened a place just above his carotid, and two fine red dots marked the remains of puncture wounds. It wouldn’t have been easy to see, hidden by the collar of his BDU jacket, as it must have been during the party last night. But half naked as he was now, the mark was obvious, even in the wan amber lamplight.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daniel insisted, sitting up in the bed. He looked Jack right in the eye as he spoke, his expression intent.  “Nothing happened to me. I’m fine.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed numbly, his expression now vacant and bland. “He’s fine.” He stood up and moved away, eyes glazed, his body language mechanical.

Daniel looked at Carter. “I’m fiiiiine,” he repeated, staring into her eyes, stretching the last word out a little with emphasis.

She felt her mind go blank. “You’re fine,” she heard herself agreeing.  Riveted, she looked into those beautiful, blazing, brilliant blue eyes, not at all surprised to feel her vagina pulse with a sudden gush of wetness.  She wanted Daniel.  Now.  She was helpless in the face of her need, her knees weak, her mouth slack, horny beyond belief. 

Teal’c’s hand settled on her shoulder. “DanielJackson is not fine,” he told her with a small shake. “MajorCarter, why did you and O’Neill say that he is well, when he so obviously is not?”

She turned her face up to the Jaffa. “Huh-- ?”

“MajorCarter… are you all right?”

He turned his gaze to Daniel, his eyes narrowing. “DanielJackson, are you manipulating them?” 

A sly smile slid across Daniel’s lips. “Why would I want to do that, Teal’c?”  His eyes glittered, his head tilting in a most suggestive manner, all the while running his hands slowly up and down his own his chest, his hand drifting lower with each pass.

The big man arched an eyebrow, pushing MajorCarter back and inserting his body between her and the archaeologist. “If you are, indeed, infected with this disease, you might wish to return to Earth and spread the infection further. We cannot allow this, DanielJackson.”

Sam tried to step around Teal’c, but the colonel caught at her sleeve and hauled her backward. She glared at him. He glared back, a distinctly jealous glint in his eyes. That pissed her off, and she started back toward Daniel’s bed.

Teal’c’s arm lifted to catch her and bar her way.

Daniel sighed in mock weariness. “Do what you have to do, Teal’c,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.  “But I promise you, I’m okay. Perfectly healthy. See for yourself.”

Jack stepped closer and grabbed Sam’s uniform shirt again, fisting up the material between her shoulder blades, to keep her from getting any closer.

She wanted to be right beside Daniel. She wanted him as close as it was humanly possible to get. Her mouth was watering, desperate for a kiss, a taste, a touch – anything he wanted to do to her, anything he could give her. Daniel’s expression was all come-on and promises. If she could just get there…

“Perhaps DoctorFraiser should be the judge of that.” Teal’c glanced at the colonel, looking over Sam’s head, still holding her back.  “O’Neill, we might inquire of these people if they have secure facilities where DanielJackson might be held, until we are certain whether or not he has been infected.”

Jack shook himself a little. His eyes cleared. “Uh… yeah. Don’t know what happened to me there. I kinda zoned out for a minute.” He eyed Daniel uncertainly and reluctantly released his hold on Sam’s jacket. “I’m gonna go find the Sing. You guys keep Daniel… at a distance. According to the old lady, this persuasion thing only works when you’re close.”

“It does not seem to affect me, O’Neill,” Teal’c assured him. “Perhaps the tretonin in my body protects me from such influence.”

“That’s good.” Jack headed for the door. "Make him put some clothes on and just keep him here." He glanced back at his team from the doorway, then closed it after himself. 

Sam stared at Daniel. The scent she kept smelling was stronger the closer she got to him. He smelled gooood. It made her hungry. Her mouth watered, and she wanted his dick in it. She didn’t care what might or might not have happened to him. That hickey on his neck could’ve been from that girl he’d gone off with last night.

She thought he’d probably fucked her, and that pissed Sam off. She didn’t want the bitch anywhere near Daniel again. He was hers, and she’d damn well show the little whore the next time she laid eyes on her. 

“DanielJackson, you must rise and dress, as O’Neill has ordered,” Teal’c intoned.

Sam snatched up Daniel’s pants and ducked under Teal’c’s arm. He reached for her shoulder, but she shook him off with a glare, then turned and held them out to her teammate.

She smiled at Daniel. “Hey, want me to go make some coffee? I have some in my backpack. That special blend you like so much.”

She sat down on the side of his bunk, vaguely remembering the colonel’s warning to keep her distance, but ignoring it. She wanted to fuck Daniel, just strip off her pants and mount him, right then and there. She didn’t even care if Teal’c watched.  There was nothing wrong with Daniel.  He could be trusted, and she wanted to “trust” him right through the mattress.

“MajorCarter,” Teal’c rumbled. “You must move away.”

Daniel’s eyes dilated as he smiled at her, both of them ignoring the Jaffa. “No, thanks. I’m not thirsty, Sam. But it was nice of you to offer.”

There was something innately wrong with that answer, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think what it might be. “I wouldn’t mind. Really.” She clenched her thighs together, the throbbing need increasing exponentially.

Daniel sat up and took his pants from her, his fingers drifting lightly over her hand, sending sparks through her arm and right to her crotch. “That’s sweet of you, Sam, but I don’t want any coffee.” He smiled at her seductively. ”I do think we should be going home soon, though. These people don’t really have anything we want, and there are other places waiting to be explored.”

“I was just thinking that,” she giggled, eyes glazed. “We’ll go as soon as Colonel O’Neill gets back.” She leaned closer, inhaling deeply, sniffing near his neck. “Oh, man, I can’t wait to get you home…”

Daniel lifted his chin, encouraging her to come closer.

Teal’c’s hand grabbed her BDU jacket and hauled her off her perch on the side of Daniel’s bed, almost flinging her across the room. 

“Hey!” she cried, rounding on him, mightily pissed off. “What’s the big idea, Teal’c?”

She could see the startled horror in his dark eyes. “You were about to kiss DanielJackson, MajorCarter,” he declared.

“So?”

“O’Neill warned us to keep our distance.  If DanielJackson is ill, we cannot take the risk of his passing the illness on to you.  Can you not see that yourself?”

The logic of his words made terrifying sense as the need to fuck Daniel vaporized. Carter couldn’t explain why she had behaved like that. She had been about to kiss Daniel, for cryin’ out loud, which was just wrong on way too many levels. Daniel was not a sex object in her book. There was something vaguely incestuous about that idea.

“Whoa,” Sam breathed. She backed toward the door. “Teal’c, I don’t think it’s safe for me to be in the room with him. You seem to be the only one who’s immune to his… charms.”

Daniel was still reclining on the bed, one arm behind his head, a studied look of feigned indifference on his handsome face.  His eyes followed them as they talked about him.

“Indeed.” The Jaffa eyed Daniel.  “Perhaps you should wait outside for O’Neill and the Sing to return.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, already heading toward the door. “Jeez. Ewwww. I need some air.” She rubbed her face and left the room.

Once outside their room, everything seemed to change. That wonderful male aroma was gone, along with the cobwebs in her mind and the twin driving needs to go home and get laid, not necessarily in that order. 

She was horrified at her behavior.  This was certainly a dangerous development, and if Daniel were infected, she was sure he would never go home unless a cure could be found.  She leaned against the wall in the corridor, her insides twisting up with fear.  Deep in her heart, she knew her friend and teammate had already gone over to the other side.

Daniel was a Ferretu. A vampire.  An image of him in a long black cape came to mind, and when he smiled in her imagination, his canine teeth were long and sharply pointed. That was not something they could bring back through the stargate with them. Not ever. 

Jack walked along beside the old woman, headed back to the quarters he and his team had shared through the night. 

Carter was standing outside, pacing the floor with her head down, worry obvious in her expression. She stopped walking and straightened as they approached.

“Sorry, sir, but I was falling under his influence,” she explained, her eyes pleading for understanding. “I had to leave.”

The Sing stood very still. “You felt it, then? The pull? The desire to comply with his wishes?”

Sam swallowed hard. “Yes, ma’am. I believed everything he said. And I would have done whatever he wanted.” She rolled her eyes guiltily up to the colonel’s face, knowing she was blushing beet red. “And I mean anything.”

Tension intensified in the elder woman’s face. She sighed heavily. “And there were marks on his neck?”

Jack closed his eyes briefly, the tone of his words far lighter than what he felt. “Yup. Great big hickey. We just didn’t see it last night because of the jacket collar.”

“This is why our people wear clothes with open necks, and white cloth surrounding them. If one is bitten, the slightest drop of blood will show.” The Sing bowed her head. She looked at Jack with genuine sorrow in her eyes. “I wish your visit to us could have ended pleasantly, with new friendships, Colonel O’Neill. Now you have lost one of your number to our curse.”

“Maybe,” Jack ventured cautiously. “I’m not ready to give up on Daniel just yet. You folks got a secure holding cell where we can keep him for a little while?”

“Yes, though what good it will do you—“

“Just give us a chance to get started with figuring this thing out,” Jack told her. “Bring some help from home.”

Already he was thinking of Janet Fraiser, of how often she had saved their asses from alien diseases. The only problem was, they couldn’t risk taking Daniel back to the base in that condition. Jack remembered all too well how Hathor had manipulated everyone into doing her bidding. If Daniel were capable of that sort of thing now, it was a risk they simply couldn’t take.  Fraiser would have to bring her medical expertise to this world, and do her best to find a cure where these people had come up empty-handed.

“There are tests to determine if a person has been infected,” the Sing told them. “I will perform them now.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew a small device, fixing it to her nose to pinch her nostrils shut.

“What’s that for?” Jack asked.

“The Ferretu emit a scent that clouds our minds and stimulates us to the madness of mating,” she explained.  “If we cannot smell them, we are less easily manipulated by them.”

“Then it wouldn’t work with me,” Jack argued gently. “He’s a guy. I’m a guy. No chemistry.”

The Sing smiled knowingly and shook her head, her eyes twinkling with knowledge. “With the Ferretu, it does not matter. A male can create the scent of a woman to seduce another man, or heighten their natural scent, to persuade a woman. The sickness creates the scent, and they will lure you, regardless of your sexual preference. Beware, Colonel O’Neill. The Ferretu are dangerous creatures. Even more so when they are someone who already holds a place in your heart.” Her smile faded into abject sorrow. “How long has your team been together?”

“Seven-ish years,” Sam answered. “Daniel and the colonel have known each other for almost ten years. We’re practically family.”

The Sing’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Then you will all be especially at risk, for he will draw on that connection and use it to force you to comply with his wishes. The scent is not the only weapon in his arsenal, colonel. He knows your secrets. He knows what hurts you most deeply, what moves you most profoundly, and he will use these things to control you. Each of you. All of you.”

Colonel and major exchanged a glance, and said nothing.

The old woman stepped into the room. Jack and Sam followed her in, though she gave them a warning glance as they closed the door. “Say nothing to him,” she instructed gently. “And if you are in danger of being swayed, I will help you. You will recover once you are outside.”

Jack looked at Daniel. He lay on the bed, wearing just his pants, his chest and feet still beautifully bare. As they approached, he stretched lazily and smiled at them. Jack glanced at the Jaffa. “I thought I said to make him get dressed?”

Teal’c inclined his head, frowning mightily. “He would not, other than this. I did not think it wise to touch him.”

Nodding, Jack accepted that and turned his attention back to their linguist.

“Jack. Sam.” Daniel eyed the older woman. “Greetings to you, Van Helsing.”

The older woman frowned. “How do you know this name?”

“Isn’t that who you are? A descendent of the original? Keeper of the lore?”

“There are few on this world who still know that name. I fear you will be particularly dangerous, Doctor Jackson, if you are, indeed, infected.”

“I’m not sick,” he assured them emphatically. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, his posture erect, head high, shoulders squared. “None of you have anything to be concerned about. We should just pack up our gear and go home. There’s nothing wrong with me.”

The old woman reached into her pocket and tossed something at him.

Instinctively, Daniel reached out to catch it, but then he quickly flung the item away from himself, shaking his hand and gasping in pain.  He glared accusingly at the little silver ball rolling across the floor as the Sing picked it up.

She tossed it to Jack.  The ball was cool in his palm, but didn’t cause the reaction it had in Daniel.

It looked like Daniel’s hand had been burned when he held it palm up. Jack could see black marks where the ball had made contact. Strike one. Jack didn’t need to see any more. He already knew the diagnosis, and his insides curdled. He stepped back, to one side of the old woman, his heart heavy with fear and dread.

“What do I have in my pocket?” the Sing asked Daniel. Her hand reached into a deep pocket in the front of her skirt. Her fingers brushed against something that made dry whispers as it moved.

“Garlic,” he replied with certainty. “I can smell it from here, but you don’t need heightened senses for that.”  He gazed up at her with a low chuckle, as if they had shared some small joke.

He smiled. “You’re a very intelligent woman, Van Helsing. We could talk about all kinds of cultural deviations from Earth’s history…” He stood up, leaning on one hip, posing in a way that showed off his muscular body, letting one hand stroke downward from the middle of his chest to his abdomen, heading lower. “All we need is a little time to chat, maybe some privacy—“

“For crissake, Daniel,” Jack groused as heat shot straight to his groin.  He struggled to swallow.  He thought of stepping up and blocking their view of Daniel with his own body.  His emotions were in a jumble.  Was he jealous that the women were looking at Daniel, that he was showing himself off to them like that?  He stood there, inviting them with his posture, his wanton expression, his sexy eyes.

“Dammit, Daniel, just stop!” Jack exploded. Adrenaline surged through his body, heating his face and clearing his mind. He stepped close to the bed, bent down and picked up Daniel’s T-shirt, discarded onto the stone floor sometime during the night. He flung the garment at the other man, and noted that Carter’s face was flushed red. Her eyes were wide and dilated, and she licked her lips in anticipation. 

She shouldn’t be looking at Daniel like that, Jack thought, instantly furious with her. Daniel belonged to him and no one else. He turned back to look at his teammate, desire heating him up as h