December X

SCIENCE FICTION

Stargate - SG-1 - Jack/Daniel

Author: Willing Prey
Title: Daniel's Christmas
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Rating: PG
Series: Stargate SG-1
Summary: Sometimes when you give something you get something in return.
Date of publication: Dec 14, 2004
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never will be.
Feedback address: willingprey@verizon.net
Beta: My dear husband who has 18 years in the service.
Note: Part of the Slash Advent Calendar of 2004 at: http://www.kardasi.com/Advent/2004/SAC-2004.htm

Daniel's Christmas

Jack cradled his coffee cup in his hands as he watched the rain fall through his back window. It was starting to get colder and that meant snow. And snow meant that soon the holidays would be upon them.

He had once been able to give Daniel a family Thanksgiving with the whole gang here. But that wasn't what he wanted now. If he could have his way… But he couldn't, too many things he had done. Stupid, stupid things. Circumstances beyond his control. Circumstances that he had tried to control, but couldn't. And his own shortsightedness lashed back at him.

But he knew how to plan, if he had to. It was almost second nature to him if it concerned a military operation. He just had trouble planning his personal life. It was time to put his oh so very expensive training to good use. He was going to start planning. It was time to start planning "Daniel's Christmas". His grammaw always told him that the best presents to give were those that were what someone really wanted, rather than what you wanted to give. Sometimes that meant giving someone something that leads them away from you rather than towards you. And it was hardest when you gave a gift like that to someone you love. He wouldn't know until after it was all over if he had done the right thing or not.

~^~^~^~

"Hey, Daniel." Jack poked his head into Daniel's office. Thing's still weren't right between them. They might never be right again. "Do you have plans for Christmas?"

Daniel lifted his head from where it was bent over studying something. Jack didn't particularly care what it was that interested Daniel at this moment. His job was to interest Daniel in something more. Or at least give him a grain of something to interest him, something that Daniel would come back to again and again in the next couple of weeks. Yes, today's visit was just to bait the hook. He'd set the hook more securely in a week or two.

"No, not really." Daniel told him carefully.

Jack grimaced inside. Daniel always seemed to be really careful around him and it wasn't a feeling he liked.

"Well, take a look at these." Jack put 4 photographs down in front of Daniel. Daniel pushed the tome he was reading away and took a look at them. "Do you recognize them?" The crux of his plan really depended upon Daniel recognizing the photographs.

Daniel looked at him with a crease in his forehead before turning back to the photographs in front of him. "Jack, my memory is still spotty but I haven't forgotten everything."

No, Jack admitted to himself. Daniel hadn't forgotten everything. He still seemed to be as sharp academically as he had ever been. Maybe the things Daniel had forgotten were only important to Jack.

"These are pictures of the Pyramids of Teotihuacán in Mexico. It means 'The city of the Gods' and is composed of a complex of about 600 pyramids but also contained vast avenues and plazas." He glanced over the pictures. "It was abandoned about 1500 years ago for no reason that could be discovered. Nor is it known exactly why and for what reason the pyramids were built. Is that what you want to know?"

Jack nodded, more to himself than to Daniel. "Now look at these." He put several more photographs on the table, putting four of them directly over the four that he had originally placed down. He closed the folder in his hand and crossed his hands in front of himself waiting for Daniel to realize what he was seeing.

Daniel glanced over the photographs then back up to Jack with his mouth open as if to say something. At the look on Jack's face, Daniel frowned and examined the photographs again. He turned another light on at the edge of his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a magnifying glass and looked at the photographs carefully.

"At first," Daniel said carefully. "I thought that these were merely pictures of the original dig that uncovered Teotihuacán, but I didn't think you'd just bring those to me to see if I was delusional or not. But it appears that these are pictures of a dig," that was obvious because some of the structures in the original photographs were only partially uncovered in these. "But not Teotihuacán, someplace very similar."

"Actually, almost identical as far as SG-18 can tell. They've been there for months uncovering it, and it apparently is newer. There are hints that the same people that built that Teo place built this one. However, there is also a probability that this city is related to this." He placed another photograph from his folder in front of Daniel.

Daniel looked it over carefully. He glanced at it and the newer ones Jack had given him. "Yes, I suppose. There are some definite similarities. But Jack my expertise is in Egyptian pyramids. What is this?" He shook the last photograph at Jack.

Jack nodded. "I know. But I thought you might be interested in this. Remember Hathor? You know; short, red hair."

It took a minute for Daniel to blanch. It let Jack know that Daniels memories weren't all that easy to access. "Hathor!" Daniel whispered.

"She was found here." Jack tapped the photograph and placed the folder on Daniel's desk. "I don't know if it means anything, and maybe it doesn't but I thought you'd want to look this over. Teal'c and Sam are going to be gone for a couple of weeks over Christmas. I thought," Jack shrugged at Daniel. "You might want to take a look. I mean if you don't have anything planned."

The look Daniel gave him told Jack that he was interested but was curious about why Jack had brought this information to him. "What are you going to be doing for Christmas Jack?

Jack screwed up his face and shook his head. "Dunno. I figure I'll find something to do to keep me out of trouble."

"Hmm." Daniel leaned back in his chair and considered the pictures that lay out in front of him.

While Daniel was so engaged, Jack stepped back. He knew if he stayed too long he'd end up opening his mouth and saying something to make Daniel suspicious. In the next couple of weeks he could avoid Daniel giving him the third degree.

The only missions they had were a couple of sneak and peeks. They weren't expected to be any surprises. The MALP hadn't shown any signs of intelligent life so they were supposed to go in, take a quick look around, come back and write up reports. They'd learned long ago that even if something was expected to be easy, it didn't always turn out to be so. Only one of the initial contact teams went on these. There shouldn't be any problems, but in an unfamiliar situation, he didn't think Daniel would be concerned with anything but the mission. It had been difficult for Jack to convince the General to include Daniel in the team with his lapse of memory, but Jack had convinced him to let Daniel come with them. After all, Daniel seemed to have all of his skills as a linguist/archeologist. On the initial trip through the Stargate, Daniel knew little about any of them, as they actually knew little of Daniel. He hoped that they would be as uneventful as he thought they would. But he wasn't looking foreword to looking at a lot more trees.

~^~^~^~

Jack walked down the hallways of SGC with a lift in his step. He had some more pictures for Daniel and it was time to set the hook. He was sure he could do this without Daniel suspecting anything. If he worked it right, even if Daniel did suspect someone, it wouldn't be him.

"Hey, Daniel." He grinned widely at Daniel's startled expression. "Is your mission report done yet?"

"Oh, Jack." Daniel turned back to his computer screen. "I'm almost done." Daniel scowled at the screen. "I thought I told you that I'd drop it off this afternoon." He said as he went back to typing.

"You did." Jack looked over the collection of items on Daniel's desk, only to stop when Daniel leaned over to slap his hand, not even taking his eyes off the screen. Jack wished he knew how Daniel did that.

Jack decided that sometimes retreat was the better part of valor and stepped back from the desk, looking around the room. He took the cowards way out and put his hands behind his back holding onto the folder he was carrying. That way it would be easier not to touch things he shouldn't.

"I thought I'd wander down here anyway." Jack glanced at Daniel, still working on his report, and then turned his attention at some weird looking statue on a shelf.

"I was talking to Jenkins a little while ago and he sent some more pictures." Jack put the folder on Daniel's desk and put his hands back in his pockets. The last thing he needed to do was to break one of Daniel's somethings and get him too irritated to cooperate with Jack. He watched Daniel out of the side of his eye. Daniel was interested in the photos. Jack didn't want to seem too interested in Daniel's interest so he continued his perusal.

"I figured that I could pick up your report if it was ready. Are you almost done?" Jack suddenly asked. "Because if you're really busy I can leave." He almost hit himself at that. He knew that to seem more like himself he should stay around and annoy Daniel. He didn't want to wander too far from normal but he didn't want to be too annoying to Daniel either. He was trying very hard to be good. He knew that sometimes in the past he had annoyed Daniel just for the pleasure of seeing him react. Of course he had annoyed Daniel for other reasons as well. Now some of those reasons seemed petty and small.

"No," Daniel said as he turned around. "I'm just now done. It'll be coming out of the printer in a moment."

"Good." Jack tried to sound enthusiastic, only not so good. He had mistimed it a little. He thought Daniel would need more time for his report and he could hang around and annoy him a little. But he needed to make sure that Daniel was interested in the pictures. Jack waited by the printer as it spit out pages of Daniel's report. He knew that Daniel had emailed a copy to him but he always liked to see the printed page in his hands. Of course he knew that a signed copy would be going to the General as well. In the past they used to say that an army traveled on its stomach. Today's military stood on mountains of paper. Jack didn't think there was any paperwork that didn't get filled out in, at the very least, duplicate. Jack knew of some forms that were filled out in quadruplicate. He suspected that there were reports, not counting documents, which had dozens of copies. He was quite satisfied in having to do only three, thank you very much.

Jack picked up his copy of the report from the tray after it was spit out. He opened his mouth to volunteer to take the General's copy to him before snapping it shut again. That would be a sure fire way to make Daniel suspicious.

"Thanks." He turned to Daniel. "I'll read this and sign off on it, then send it up the chain." He saw that Daniel was immersed in the photographs that were on his desk. Jack almost did a little dance. Daniel was interested.

"Hmm-mm." Daniel mumbled to himself. Jack saw that he had the magnifying glass out again and was studying one of the pictures.

"You know, about Jenkins?" Jack kind of sidled towards the door, as if he wanted to bolt.

"Yes." Daniel looked up at him and Jack froze. He could do this. He had to make it look like he wasn't too interested.

"I mentioned that you might not have anything to do over Christmas and he said you were welcome anytime. I'm sure he could find something to keep you interested." Jack kept on moving sideways towards the door.

"He did?" Daniel seemed genuinely surprised. "Well, I'll have to think about it."

Jack shook the papers in his hand at him. "Now you do that. I've got to go read this." He got to the door – safe!

"And Jack." Drat! Jack turned back with a little bit of a scowl on his face as if he was upset about the interruption. "That was a copy of a fertility symbol called the Venus of Willendorf. I keep it around as a comparison for other prehistoric symbolic statuary."

"Nah, Daniel. You keep it around cause you like prehistoric porn." He ducked out the door and heard an outraged "JACK!" and a crash against the wall as he left. He hoped Daniel didn't throw anything important at him.

~^~^~^~

Thing had actually worked out better than he had imagined. He had made arrangements to go with Daniel, to watch his back. Because Daniel was a trouble magnet. If something could possibly happen, it would happen to Daniel. Daniel didn't comment on Jack being his watchdog, just accepting that if he was going to the site, Jack was going to follow.

Jack was hoping that Daniel wasn't going to be disappointed, although he did expect some disappointment at first. It had to be that way, the way he planned it. And so far things were going well, or at least well in Jack's opinion.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Jackson. I can show you around the site but almost everybody is gone for the holidays. No one will be back for at least two weeks. Even most of the military personnel are going to be leaving." The large man was talking as they walked to what Jack would call the command tent although in this heat, most of three sides of the tent had been raised and it was little more than a sun shelter, with an open room at the back. "In fact, I'm planning on leaving tomorrow."

Dr. Jenkins showed them a large map that was pinned to a cork wall that had been built in the shelter. "These are active sites." He pointed to the areas on the map that were marked with green push pins. "These are potential sites." He pointed to areas that were marked with yellow push pins. "These are areas of interest but at the moment are marked too dangerous to explore because either of unknown objects beneath the surface or open caverns." These areas were marked with red push pins.

"What do you mean objects beneath the surface?" Daniel asked, noting the large amount of electronic equipment.

"We have echolocation equipment that gives us an idea of what is beneath the surface." Dr. Jenkins said. "Similar to the sonar equipment a fisherman might use."

Daniel nodded. "It will tell you when the densities of the earth change indicating that you might have a building or road beneath."

"Yes, although these weren't totally buried in the earth as some of the pyramids in Mexico were, this equipment tells us the extent of some of the more deeply buried pyramids. Since most of these have at least some of the exterior decoration still on them we're having better luck identifying the use of many of them." Dr. Jenkins glanced over at Jack while Daniel was looking at the map.

Daniel sighed. "Well, I was hoping that while I was here I could get a little field work in. I don't get a chance much to practice my profession."

Jack nodded. This was as good an opening as any.

"Wellll…" Dr. Jenkins seemed a little hesitant, but then Jack had said he didn't want Dr. Jenkins to act too enthusiastic. "If you don't mind there is something you could do."

"What is it?" Daniel perked up a bit.

"Look at this." Dr Jenkins pulled a rolled up map off a nearby table and pinned it to the corkboard.

"There's something odd about 15 miles from here." He pointed to a location on the map and walked over to a nearby file cabinet and pulled out a manila file. Daniel looked at the aerial map. It obviously had been created from an over head photograph.

"These were taken from an unmanned recon plane." The photographs showed an isolated pyramid, surrounded by softly rolling hills.

"Now I know you can't tell from the photograph but from what we can tell from the readings we took, this thing is only about two or three stories high. Although it has the proportions of one that is much taller. The only thing that tells us that we have the size likely correct is the stairs that lead to the top." He stopped and considered. "At least we think they are stairs."

"What do you want me to do?" Daniel asked.

"Well, if you want to get your hand back in, why don't you do a preliminary survey of the site. Take measurements and pictures. We don't have the resources to send a team out there for that. I mean most of the people here are civilians and much of the military assigned here are people on restricted duty. You couldn't stay out there alone, but I'm sure you could find someone to go with you." He looked at Daniel with hope.

"How dangerous is it?" Jack asked. If he didn't Daniel would surely suspect something.

"Well, we've been here for months and seen no sign of intelligent life. There are a few animals that can be dangerous, but you can go with a perimeter alarm for nights. But, like I said, most of the military personnel assigned to us are on restricted or limited duty, recovering from injuries or illness." He cocked his head at Jack. "I'm sure you understand."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, not quite well enough to be called fit, but not bad enough to fly a desk."

"Well, from what I've seen of some of them, they may have been sent here because they were driving everyone crazy when they were 'flying a desk'." He chuckled deeply.

Jack grimaced. He knew it wouldn't be long before he'd be in that category.

"So Dr. Jackson," Dr. Jenkins turned to him. "What do you think?"

"I'd like to, but who would go with me?" He asked.

"I would." Jack answered before Jenkins could reply.

Daniel stared at him.

"I'm watching your back, Daniel." Jack said firmly.

Jenkins cleared his throat. "Colonel, it would mean Dr. Jackson is in charge."

Jack appeared to mull it over. "Okay, as long as I'm in charge of security."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Daniel said.

"Sure it is." Jack beamed. "Besides look at it as payback for all the times I've told you what to do. This time you get to be in charge."

Jenkins looked hopefully at Daniel. Jack knew that Daniel liked to help and if the price he paid was Jack's company, Daniel would likely do it. Moments later Daniel agreed.

Jack agreed to let Jenkins show Daniel around while he talked to some of the soldiers on duty. He had checked the reports on this place thoroughly, but nothing replaced actually talking to someone who was actually assigned there.

He learned that other than a couple of large carnivores that mostly hunted in the early morning hours, the largest problem was a deer like creature that was quite enamored of the material that the army tents were made of. But if they used a perimeter alarm on their camp there shouldn't be much of a problem. More of a problem was a rodent that was the size of a large house cat. It looked like a gerbil with a long tail that had a tuft of fur at the end. It liked to eat boots.

It wasn't really anything that Jack hadn't heard before. He hoped that things would go smoothly for Daniel. Because if this was what Daniel really wanted, field work rather than working as one of the first contact team, Jack would bite the bullet and let him go. Daniel would never ask for a transfer, but Jack could get him assigned here with the option of working with SG-1 or even another contact team when necessary.

He didn't know if he was making Daniel uncomfortable or what. It seemed that Daniel had recovered almost all of his memories except for one important thing. He'd forgotten that there was a them. In spite of all the bickering between them, and god knows Jack would never see things the way Daniel did, Jack wanted the best for him.

Jack figured he'd be able to tell if Daniel were happier doing this than with the team. And maybe it would be easier if Daniel didn't remember what there was between them.

Jack had done monumentally stupid things in his life, admittedly. However, the worst thing he had ever done was to push Daniel away when they got too close. He knew now why he had done it. He had been scared. Scared that someday Daniel would realize what a mistake he had made getting involved with Jack and leave. So it was easier to push Daniel away before it came to that.

Only he had been wrong. He should have enjoyed the time they spent together instead of worrying about what the future would bring.

And now he was paying for it.

He tried to push such thoughts away as he came up to Daniel and Jenkins. Jack wasn't going to leave him alone for any considerable length of time. Daniel would probably want to strangle him before their time here was finished but Jack hoped at the best he could rekindle part of their friendship. He figured the worst consequence of this situation would be that he would recommend that Daniel be transferred to the care of Jenkins to continue his career as an archeologist. Jack would far rather have Daniel be with him, but he would do what was best for Daniel in the long run if Daniel couldn't or, and the thought pained him, wouldn't remember.

"…plaza is identical to the one at Teotihuacán." Jenkins was saying as Jack approached.

"But there's a Stargate here, but not one at Teotihuacán." It seemed that Daniel was objecting to something Jenkins said.

Jenkins nodded to Daniel. "I know. But the original city in Mexico was abandoned rather suddenly. The major part of the population just vanished. My theory is that they went through the Stargate, probably to here. Please follow me."

Jack followed behind Jenkins and Daniel barely listening to the conversation. He didn't think he'd really be needed in the city but he still was going to watch Daniel's back. Although in an odd way he wanted to see if he could get Daniel tired of seeing his face.

"The same situation that happened in Teotihuacán happened here. The city was built and occupied mostly by humans."

Daniel put his hand on Jenkins shoulder to stop him. "What do you mean 'mostly by humans'?"

Jack had to admit he was interested in the answer to that question himself.

"It appears that some of the decoration on the exterior of the buildings indicates that at least part of the population was Jaffa." At Daniel's skeptical look he added. "We think."

Daniel nodded, absorbing the information.

"And, some of the adobe bricks have plant material imbedded in them. The material was sent out for analysis and was dated to about 1500 years ago." He paused for a moment as if to gather his bearings. "Of course, we know that the Goa`uld have used naquadah for power for years and this may have some bearing on the actual aging of the artifacts."

Even Jack knew that. He'd heard Daniel and more than one of the other archeologists complaining that they didn't know if naquadah would have an effect on carbon-14 levels and there by render such dating inaccurate. On the other hand, it was also possible that only adjustments would have to be made.

"And the situation here is similar?" Daniel asked Jenkins. "The population disappeared, leaving the city abandoned, for no apparent reason."

Jenkins nodded. He started to explain to Daniel what had been discovered at this location and the ramifications of it.

Jack listened to the conversation between them with only half his attention on the conversation itself. Most of what they were saying wasn't of a whole lot of interest to Jack. This place had been abandoned centuries ago. Of course, there was always the possibility that they might learn some new information or some interesting device that could be back engineered would be discovered. That would be important to SGC.

Meanwhile, the other half of his attention was on Daniel.

~^~^~^~

Two weeks.

Fourteen days.

It was all the time he had.

The next morning they rose early, having gone through available equipment the night before packing up a Jeep for transport. Instead of using a F.R.E.D., since they were in short supply, the SGC had decided that it would be just as easy to give the archeological teams old Jeeps. The terrain wasn't too rough for them to navigate and since the site they were working on was a bit of a distance away, it gave them transportation for themselves as well as their gear.

They were to camp at a spot a good distance away from the pyramid itself. They didn't want to chance any contamination.

Daniel wanted to check out the pyramid immediately. Jack put the kibosh on that. The camp had to be secure.

Setting up the security devices had been pretty easy, a 12-foot pole extended to set up the perimeter alarm. After it took an electronic 'snapshot' of the area they could work in relative safety to give themselves some comforts. However Jack kept his weapon nearby. He remembered one thing from the conversation between Daniel and Jenkins yesterday.

The city apparently hadn't been abandoned all at once. Much like its namesake, it had been mostly abandoned; there were no mass graves or other sign that there had been war or disease that would prompt such an action. There had been signs that there were some inhabitants for at least a century after losing the majority of the population.

There could still be humans on this planet. Jack knew that humans were probably the most dangerous predator that they could encounter. It was a big planet. Because of the Goa`uld, this place could be designated as dangerous territory. It didn't eliminate the possibility of humans investigating.

It took a full day to set up their base camp, after putting up perimeter alarms, clearing brush to building latrines and setting up the water purifier. Since the archeological dig was in such a remote area, they relied on naquadah generators for power. It powered the water purifier and recharged the electronics like the computer and the cameras, as well as powering the alarms.

The next day would be the preliminary survey. Jack got an education.

Jack insisted that they should put up a sunscreen near the site, since at midday it would be scorching. The mornings were cool but by midday they both were down to t-shirts and Jack wished he could wear shorts, it was so hot. One thing he did do was insist that Daniel drink plenty of water. Heat stroke was nothing to take a chance with.

Jack ended up watching Daniel and doing a lot more fetch and carry than he expected. Pictures taken, measurements taken, surveys of the area. Finally Jack had to ask.

"Daniel," Jack held the end of a tape measure and waited while Daniel took the measurement and wrote it down. He knew that although they had been given a fancy computer, it was back at camp. Daniel had promised to make entries in it nightly, but he used a notebook for his original observations. It was something he had seen Daniel do for years. "Why are we taking so many pictures? I mean we haven't gotten that close to the pyramid yet."

They hadn't, although Daniel had been thrilled with one of the new toys he had. It was a camera that he could set up at a set height and it would take photographs that gave a 360 degree view of the surroundings. Daniel took a sighting from each side of the pyramid at the same distance away. Jack knew. He'd helped with the measurements.

"And we don't usually do this on missions?" Daniel asked him.

Jack nodded. He knew that Daniel was confused at how easily he was cooperating. It wasn't quite so easy on himself though. He sometimes got irritated, but he was making a conscious effort to be helpful to Daniel.

"Well," Jack waited. He could see that little line between Daniel's eyes that meant he was arranging his thoughts. "Most of the time when we're on missions, I don't have time to do this. We need an answer to something and we need it now."

"So, why do we need to do it?" Jack knew this was important to Daniel and he did want to understand. Just then his watch beeped.

Jack glanced down at the time even though he knew what the disturbance was for. "Time to get a drink, Daniel." He walked to Daniel as Daniel wound the tape up. "You can explain to me while we rest."

Jack knew he was probably being a pain in the butt when it came to resting, Daniel's sigh of defeat told him that Daniel wasn't in any mood to take more rests. If nothing else he wanted a well rested and well fed Daniel at the end of this little vacation, instead of one running on caffeine and fumes.

He encouraged Daniel to eat something while they rested in the shade. When the heat of the day had hit, Daniel had admitted that Jack had been right about working through the hottest part of the day. Yesterday, setting up the camp had shown Daniel that the heat could get bad. It didn't matter that he had been raised in the desert and lived on Abydos for a year. He hadn't been recently and that made a difference.

"So, why all the photographs?" Jack asked again after they settled down.

"Do you watch any of the cop shows on television?'' Daniel asked.

Jack nodded. He wondered where this conversation was going. Daniel had been noticeably tense, at least noticeable to Jack. He wanted to erase some of the tension between them. Sometimes it felt like, even though they weren't together, they were fighting like they were.

He didn't know if the off feeling he had was because Daniel didn't have all his memories, it was just something about him. He'd wait and pay attention, not only because he enjoyed Daniel watching, but because he could feel an undercurrent that shouldn't be there.

"What's the first thing they do at a crime scene?" Daniel continued. "Not an emergency but just a crime scene."

Jack thought. "Well, they look around. Nobody touches anything. And they take pictures." Enlightenment dawned.

Daniel nodded and put down his water bottle. "Archeology is like an ancient crime scene. Nobody was there to see what happened, but if we're careful and get all the information hopefully we can figure out what happened." Daniel started gesturing.

Jack hid his smile. This was the Daniel he wanted to see back. He hadn't seen this Daniel in some time.

"Years ago, many archeologists were more like treasure hunters than looking at the past just for the information that the past could give us. Not all, by any mean," he hastened to add. "But there were enough that a vast amount of information was lost."

Daniel got up and gestured with his arms flung wide. "Now we have much better tools. And we can find out much more information. But if it's destroyed. It's gone. It can never be recovered."

Jack actually understood what Daniel meant. He'd heard Daniel bemoan not being able to keep complete records of things that had been discovered. He knew that there simply was not time to study all the different cultures that they had come across. It would be nice if they could, but even Daniel knew that it wasn't practical.

And if they didn't need information to fight the Goa`uld, the government wouldn't be as interested in the Stargate as it was.

"Why is this place," Jack waved his arm around. "So important? I mean, I know Goa`uld and such, but why here?" Jack really didn't know. He hadn't dug into the why of the archeological ramifications of this world.

Daniel stared at him for a moment. "Because it's a civilization based in Mexico."

Jack squinted and shook his head, not getting the connection.

Daniel started counting off fingers of his right hand onto the palm of his other hand. "Ra was situated in Egypt, as well as Apophis."

Jack leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. "Yeah, so?"

"We know Yu had control of the Far East, at least for some time."

Jack nodded in agreement.

"We know that Hathor was found in stasis in a pyramid in Mexico."

Again Jack agreed.

"From the appearance of this city and a Stargate, we may have another Goa`uld to worry about. Quetzalcoatl. The winged serpent, who in a few ancient images looked a lot like an Unas." Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose and stared at Jack, obviously expecting a response.

For once Jack was struck speechless.

~^~^~^~

Daniels was taking it to heart that he was in charge. However Jack laid on the charm and convinced him that since they were doing most of the hard labor in the early mornings and late afternoons when it was marginally cooler, they should rest in the middle of the day. It wouldn't do if either of them became careless because he were tired.

The days passed and became a rhythm to them. Early rising and Daniel used the sun to illuminate one side of the pyramid. He took careful photographs, combined with copious notes. As the sun moved, they moved, mapping it in sections. Yes, the pyramid was smaller than the others that it was similar to. There was still a large amount of decoration that had to be cataloged and examined. Jack had seen Daniel work before but this time he got to really see him in his element.

The nights were what Jack enjoyed the best and it seemed that Daniel was getting more comfortable in his presence. Jack wasn't sure what it was, but perhaps something had changed. If Daniel remembered what they were to each other he never mentioned it. Jack wouldn't do something that would make Daniel uncomfortable. They remained at an impasse. Jack couldn't do anything and Daniel didn't know. So Jack reminded himself, this Christmas was for Daniel, not for himself. He just had to be content with Daniel's company.

Jack was sitting on a log by the fire sipping on the last of the coffee. The flames had almost burned down until they were only coals. Jack knew he should bank the fire soon and let the alarms take the night watch. It had unnerved him a little the first night. He jumped at every little noise. Now he knew what to expect, and although the sounds of the night often woke him, he could go back to sleep fairly easily. What made it hard was sharing a tent with Daniel.

Jack heard footsteps behind him and knew it was Daniel returning from shooing one of the giant gerbils away from the camp. Daniel sat on the ground in front of the log, leaned back against it and, perhaps inadvertently, against Jack's leg.

Jack refused to give himself the hope that it meant more.

"We're safe another night?" Jack teasingly asked.

"Yeah. I don't know what it is about this place that attracts them." Daniel said pulling his legs up and putting his arms on his knees.

Jack nodded, more to himself than to Daniel. "Well, let's hope that they're only furry little animals and not really stobor."

Daniel cocked his head to look at Jack. "Stobor?"

Jack grinned at him. "Stobor was the danger in an old Heinlein novel, 'Tunnel in the Sky'. When I got on the Stargate team, I went back and reread it. It had some good ideas in it as well as some not so good ideas. There are dangers everywhere, and some of the things you may think are harmless aren't."

"'Tunnel in the Sky', hmm." Daniel mused. "Think he knew about the Stargate?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know. If you read a lot of Heinlein, there's no telling what he actually knew and what came out of his head."

"Maybe." Daniel answered.

The silence between them was getting to be more accepting. Jack watched Daniel as Daniel watched the fire. It was calming and in a way it was – freeing. He didn't have to worry here. It was an odd Christmas, here. Instead of being surrounded by ice and snow he was surrounded by heat and scrub desert. The scent of the scrubby short trees was reminiscent of Balsam, close enough to the piney fir that he usually had in the corner of his living room that it brought out the feelings of Christmas. The open fire was in a way better than the fire he always had in his fireplace at home. He didn't have the bittersweet memories that Christmas at home always seemed to bring out in him.

He would almost feel out of place, except with Daniel he felt as if he belonged. He always felt at home with Daniel. He turned his attention back to the fire. He didn't want to be caught watching Daniel, although it was something that he had been doing a lot of recently.

Eventually his cup was empty and it was time to be heading to bed, when he noticed what he had been doing, totally unconsciously. He was carding his fingers through Daniel's hair. Daniel had sagged against his thigh and was almost asleep. Maybe he could stop and Daniel wouldn't notice.

Carefully he withdrew his hand. "Jack…" Daniel murmured.

Jack froze. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I didn't mean… It won't happen again." Jack stuttered out, pulling away from Daniel. He didn't want to loose the easy camaraderie that had developed over the last few days. Things were going back to where they were comfortable with each other and he didn't want to have to go back to walking on eggshells. Like had happened more than once in the past few months.

Daniel shook his head a little and looked up at Jack. The only illumination was the moon and a glow from the fire. Not much but enough that Jack could see the reflection in Daniel's eyes.

"It's okay."

Jack started to shake his head. He didn't want Daniel to hate him. Didn't want to lose at least the friendship they had.

Daniel reached up and grasped his hand. "I remember."

Jack didn't know what he was expecting but it wasn't this. He didn't expect Daniel to tell him that he remembered. Jack reacted rather than acted. It was a fault he had never been able to control.

"You remember." Jack said quietly. Slowly he rose to his feet, feeling his chest tighten as if a steel band was wrapped around it slowly tightening. "You fucking remember! And you put me through this shit!" Jack knew he was shouting at Daniel. And it wasn't the way he wanted this to go.

He wanted Daniel to remember. So why was he acting like an ass?

Daniel sat with his back braced against the log and stared at him.

Jack took a deep breath, trying to loosen the tightening in his chest. "How long. How the fucking long have you known?" NO – NO – NO – NO, not like this. Shut your fucking mouth now idiot. And shouting at himself in his head wasn't helping. Jack stood there breathing at Daniel.

"Are you finished?" Daniel said quietly, as if he had been expecting the blow up.

It startled Jack enough that he actually replied. "I think so." He wasn't but something was different about Daniel.

"I didn't know at first. I kind of felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Like I knew all of you but I couldn't remember.

Jack wanted to stomp away and shout, break something, do anything but look at the man that was still sitting at his feet. He curled his hands into fists and wrapped his arms around himself. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm himself, reminding himself that this was what he had wanted. He wasn't going to get angry and fly off the handle at Daniel. Not when he was so close to getting what he wanted.

"Go on." He couldn't keep the anger out of his voice. He hoped that Daniel would let it lie.

"I still can't remember the accident. The time before it and afterwards. Janet said I kept calling for you. But afterwards you kept away from me."

Jack remembered that time. When Daniel was unconscious he stayed away. And after he woke, he couldn't talk to a Daniel that didn't know him. It was like right after he broke up with Sara. That was when he realized what he'd been doing to Daniel. And breaking up wasn't what he wanted.

But Daniel was still talking. "Janet said it was probably because you felt guilty. I didn't know, or understand. When I recovered some of my memories, I asked her why I couldn't remember the accident. She said that sometimes the brain protects us from that sort of trauma. Often the victim of an accident never remembers what happened."

Now Jack was totally lost. "And that has what to do with what?" He was loosing his anger in confusion.

"We were fighting, over everything it seemed like. So I decided that it might be easier on you if I just forgot. We could stay friends, no messy break up. Have things go back to the way they were." Daniel looked hopefully at Jack over his glasses.

"Jack?" He heard Daniel say cautiously.

"Just a minute." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply once again. He sat back down on the log and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I… I don't know what to say." He wanted this, wanted Daniel to remember, but he was angry that he had and hadn't said anything. Not that Jack had said anything either.

Then he had a thought. "What changed your mind?" If he was going to pretend that he forgot, what was different now?

"I figured a few things out." He pushed himself up and sat on the log rather than on the ground. He patted the log beside him and looked at Jack in question.

Jack sat a little gingerly, a little further away from Daniel than he really wanted to be.

Jack opened his mouth to speak but then he mentally slapped himself upside the head. It wouldn't do to say the wrong thing and have Daniel stop talking to him again. So he nodded instead.

Daniel looked him over and then continued. "I figured that if you didn't want to be around me, you wouldn't have arranged this little trip."

Jack thought about objecting but if Daniel remembered he also knew how Jack's mind worked and objecting, at least in this case, wouldn't make any difference.

"And, it took me a few days to realize what you had been doing."

Jack cleared his throat. Sometimes the way Daniel's mind worked it was scary. "And what was I doing?"

"You were pushing me away." Daniel said softly. "Like I was pushing you away, by pretending that I didn't remember."

"It wasn't like that…" Jack started to object.

"It doesn't matter why." Daniel interrupted.

Jack was silent for a moment. "We have a couple of more days."

Daniel nodded. "We can work things out." Daniel stuffed his hands in his pockets and straightened his back up as if making a decision. "By the way, merry Christmas. I figure that this trip was my Christmas present."

Jack picked up a stick on the ground and tossed it in the almost extinguished fire. "Well, yeah, it was," he chanced a look at Daniel. He was glad that the moon was so full here. It made it easy to see without a lantern and actually in this case he was rather glad.

"But it was something else as well." Jack decided that confession was good for the soul. "If this was what you wanted, I could have you assigned here. Permanently." He bit his lip as he said it.

Daniel was quiet for a while, then took his hands out of his pocked and clasped them together with his elbows on his knees. "Do you want me to leave SG-1?"

Jack shook his head. "No, but I want you to be happy."

"I'm happy when I'm with you." Daniel was looking at him as he said it. Jack knew that Daniel was expecting him to know something he hadn't put in words.

Jack put his fingers on the bridge of his nose and thought, especially the past few days when Daniel seemed to lose the tension he always held around Jack. "The other day you were watching me—you got this strange look in your eyes."

Daniel nodded. "I put a few things together."

"You used to be so tense all the time…" Jack stared at Daniel.

"That's when I put things together. I thought I'd give the game away. I'd let something drop and you'd know." Daniel tilted his head to the side as if gauging his reaction.

Jack leapt.

"Umph." Daniel grunted as Jack landed on top of him. Jack was careful to make sure that he landed so that Daniel was well away from the fire pit.

"You know we're a pair." He said as he pinned Daniel to the ground.

"Jack!" Daniel sounded exasperated and, as far as Jack could tell, a little pleased.

"We're both trying so hard not to get hurt we end up hurting each other." He said quietly. He knew he'd figured it out when Daniel got still and stopped wiggling underneath him. Although he didn't mind the wiggling a bit.

Daniel sighed. "Yeah." It was little more than a whisper but Jack knew there was a lot behind it. He knew that Daniel had done the amnesia thing for him but there was something inside that Daniel didn't want to get hurt either.

At Daniel's admission Jack leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't one of those passion filled kisses that lit up the sky in the movies. But he tried to fill it with promise. Not only a promise of today, but a promise of tomorrow.

When he pulled back, Daniel adjusted his glasses that had been knocked awry. "Rule one." He grinned at Jack.

Jack rolled off Daniel and stood up. He put his hand out to help him up. "I wouldn't break rule one."

"Jack, your Christmas present is at home. I figured that if we didn't end up staying I could give it to you on Christmas day. And if we ended up hating each other I could give it to you to make up."

Jack pulled him into his arms. "That's okay." But the small package in Jack's pocket burned like the fire in his belly. He wanted more. He was a little afraid to mention this but with Daniel in his arms once again he thought he might never have the chance again.

"Move in with me. Wait, wait, and don't object. Listen I've got that great big house, and you lived with me right after Abydos, you could have your own room and everything." He knew he would have to give Daniel a little space.

"I—" Daniel wet his lips. Jack saw the worry lines between his eyes as he thought. "Yes. But what about the military?"

Jack shrugged, but didn't give up his hold on Daniel. "I retired once. I can retire again if they want to make it difficult."

He felt Daniel sag against him slightly. "We'll work it out."

"Yeah. Let's get to bed." Jack tugged Daniel off in the direction of their tent. "Rule one is 'No sex on missions'. But there's nothing that says we can't cuddle." He grinned at Daniel as he picked up the flashlight to take them to their tent.

~^~^~^~

The next few days went by quickly as they talked while they worked. Rather, Daniel talked and Jack listened. Mostly about what he was discovering about the pyramid. So, when Daniel got quiet on the last work day, Jack was a little concerned.

Back at camp, with almost everything they could pack put away in preparation for leaving the next morning, Jack asked. "Why so quiet?"

Daniel was looking over some of his notes when he looked up at Jack's question.

"It has nothing to do with us." Daniel explained. "It's just…"

He showed some of the drawings he had put in his notebook. Jack didn't ask why Daniel resorted to drawings when he took pictures of everything. It was simply something Daniel did.

"I think we've stumbled on something serious." He glanced at Jack to see if he was paying attention.

"Quetzalcoatl isn't even on any pantheon of Goa`uld that we have ever seen among the system lords." Jack nodded in agreement. They had never seen any sign that pointed to a Mayan system lord.

"But there is a Stargate on this planet and, from appearances, there was one at Teotihuacán." Jack nodded in agreement.

"But that one could have also been the one that ended up in the arctic." He objected.

"True." Daniel agreed. "But Quetzalcoatl was powerful enough to have at least initiated this settlement, and perhaps moved his people elsewhere. We don't know anything about him and I think it would be foolish to assume that he's disappeared."

Jack let out a breath. "Especially when we've stirred up the order of power among the system lords."

Daniel nodded.

"I'll tell the general when we get home." Jack told him as he finished packing up. "There's nothing solid we can do about it now, but we'll have to study it."

He glanced over at Daniel as they arrived at the main camp. "Besides, I expect you to give me my present and finish our Christmas at home." Daniel gave him a half smile as they stopped and were greeted by Jenkins.

~^~^~^~

They arrived back at the SGC tired and dirty, after talking to Jenkins and turning over all the supplies to him. Daniel carried the laptop that had the information on it though. To both their surprise, they were greeted by both General Hammond and Janet Frasier.

"We're glad to have you back." Hammond told them. "Teal'c has been delayed and won't return until tomorrow and Major Carter is stuck in the airport in New York. I suspect that you two have had the best vacation."

"You may not think so when you read my report." Jack told him quietly.

"A report on your vacation?" The general's eyebrows climbed up his forehead. Jack merely nodded. He could explain later.

"Phew!!" She waived her hand in front of her nose. "You guys are a little ripe."

Jack raised one arm and sniffed. "Well, maybe."

Daniel smacked his shoulder. "Jack!" He reprimanded.

"Well, you both look well, and I'll be seeing both of you in the infirmary." She turned to leave. "After you shower."

~^~^~^~

The trip down the mountain was uneventful after showers, MRI's, comments from Janet about how good Daniel looked, comments made about how Daniel was a slave driver. And even more banter about Jack's cooking. Jack stopped in the General's office to let him know that there may be more importance to this archeological dig than just the possibility that they might discover some technology.

Jack stepped back to let Daniel open the door with the key Jack had given him. It felt a lot better having it in Daniel's hand rather than in Jack's pocket.

It was well after three in the morning when they finally ended up in Jack's oversize bathtub – together rather than apart. It would take them a couple of days to get back on Colorado time.

With Daniel's back against his chest, and the water cooling around them, he decided that he didn't need the trappings to make Christmas. He held it in his arms.

END