<<Previous  | Story Intro | Return to Stories | Next >>

Teal'c was the first to gasp for breath, his back coming up off the stone slab on which he lay. He opened his eyes, looked around warily. Immediately noticed that there was something wrong…something different. He could not feel the presence of his symbiote! His hand went to his abdomen. Where he should feel the edges of the pouch in which he carried a larval Goa'uld, his fingers found only strong muscle. He tossed about in his mind. The normal side effects of being without the Prim'ta were not present. He slowly sat up.

Jack was the second one awake, coughing slightly. He too did a mental inventory of his body before moving. Whaddya know, he thought, the knees don't hurt today. He stared at Teal'c for a moment, then looked down to find that he was wearing the same type of white robe. A very wet white robe.

Daniel rolled his eyes. Where the hell was he this time? What had happened? His memory seemed fuzzy. He sat up slowly. Looked at Teal'c then at Jack. Took note that neither Sam nor Casey seemed to be breathing. He frowned, tugged on the robe in preparation for standing, having every intention of getting to his wife.

Sam and Casey seemed to gasp for air at nearly the same moment. Having been trained as an Air Force officer, the blonde major remained still until she'd mentally checked her body. No aches, no pains. That's always a good sign, she thought.

Casey sat up, her heart pounding against her ribs, her green eyes wide. Images had been moving through her mind so quickly that it had made her dizzy.

"Okay, what happened?" Jack asked.

"I have no idea," Daniel murmured. He pressed the fingers of one hand to his forehead. Slowly the memories were returning. "I think we died."

Jack looked around. "So is this heaven, or hell?"

"I have no idea," Daniel said again. He looked at where Casey sat. The fear that had filled those amazing green eyes was gone, replaced with confusion, and a bit of curiosity. It wasn't until he twisted around, ready to put his feet out that he noticed where they were. "Uh…does anybody think this water will hurt us?"

The team members began to examine their predicament. Jack slowly lowered his pinky finger into the water. Cold, but nothing else happening, he decided. He slid off of the slab, into the water, gasped slightly from the sudden shock of the cold water surrounding him. The pool was deep, no way to just walk to the side and get out. He swam to the side of the pool farthest from the altar, pulled himself out onto the tiled floor.

One by one the rest of the team followed. None of them said a word about the fact that the white robes they wore had become nearly translucent when they hit the water. Casey's teeth were chattering, and Daniel pulled her close, trying to offer his body warmth to her.

When Sam's teeth began to chatter, Jack ordered the group to cuddle together. He'd have ordered the wet robes off, but that was just a bit more than what he was willing to do. If it had been just him and Sam, or him and Daniel, or him and Teal'c, or him, Daniel, and Teal'c, not a problem. But he wasn't ready to see Casey naked; he already had enough images of her dancing around in his head. He certainly wasn't ready for her to see him in the altogether!

"We'd warm up faster if we took these wet robes off," Daniel said quietly.

"I know," Jack replied, rolling his eyes mentally. Leave it to the Space Monkey to point out the obvious.

"We're all adults here," Daniel said.

"Yep."

Daniel bit back his smile. Jack could be downright bashful when it came to nudity. Oh, he'd parade around in the locker room bare-ass naked without hesitation. But throw a woman into the mix and he became almost prudish. "Case, think you can handle being naked with the rest of us?" he asked softly.

She blushed slightly, but nodded.

The young archaeologist stood up, ready to pull his robe off.

"Daniel!" Jack's voice held a warning tone.

"Jack, these things aren't hiding anything in the first place, they're dripping wet and making us cold in the second." Daniel pulled the robe off.

Teal'c stood and removed his as well, and with only another second's hesitation, Sam followed suit. Casey refused to look at anyone as she let the wet material fall to the floor at her feet.

Jack rolled his eyes, and dropped his own robe. Shy glances were stolen for the first few moments. He'd seen Daniel and Teal'c in the locker room. And thanks to the president, he'd seen all of one Major Samantha Carter as well. He tried not to look at Casey. Noted that her nipples were the same shade of pink as that hint of tender flesh between her thighs, beneath that carefully shaped vee of dark blonde curls. Wondered how that slender body could take in the piece of meat that hung between Daniel's legs. He'd seen the young man aroused. If Casey had been a virgin the first time the two were together, it had probably scared her to death! He tried to ignore the fact that those green eyes had brushed over him. Fought the urge to cover his cold manhood with his hands.

Sam had seen all three of her teammates in their military issue white boxers at various points in time. There were times on missions, during the routines of taking care of personal hygiene, when it was just impossible not to see. Jack she'd seen, up close and personal. But she wasn't prepared for the full, unobstructed view of her other two teammates. Teal'c was muscular all over. His manhood was thick and meaty, pretty much what she'd expect of a Jaffa. Her glimpses of Daniel hadn't hinted at such length, or girth. Even cold he was damned impressive! She wondered just how big that thing could get; then, her thoughts following those of her CO, wondered how Casey could take all of it and not be hurt. The fact that Daniel and Teal'c had both glanced at her made her fight the blush she felt on her cheeks.

Daniel glanced at Sam. Noted that her breasts were high and pointed, shaped like the traditional champagne glass. Which, according to legend, had been designed as a reflection of and tribute to Marie Antoinette's perky little breasts. The nipples were a dusky rose, and puckered from the cold. Her long legs were slender, and much more muscular than he'd ever realized. His glance barely stopped on the soft dark blonde hair at the apex of her thighs. She didn't trim hers as closely as Casey did. He'd seen her eyes widen slightly when she'd looked at him, although she was trying damned hard not to look. He glanced at Casey, noted the slight blush on her cheeks, proud of the fact that her head was held high. God he loved her! He let his gaze linger on his Wife, her body worthy of the worship due a goddess.

Teal'c observed that both women on the team were slender, Major Carter's breasts appeared smaller than those of Casey Jackson, although not by much. While the taller military woman had rosy nipples, the bride of his friend had pink nipples, both sets hard and pointed from the cold. Both women had dark blonde pubic hair, and both obviously trimmed it. Noted that while both women were blushing slightly, they held their heads high, refused to cover themselves with their hands. He nodded mentally in approval. He'd always found the Tau'ri…aversion…to nudity a bit odd. One's body was one's body. It simply was, and there was nothing to be ashamed of, or embarrassed by.

Casey tried not to look. But just couldn't help but to take a quick peek. Nothing about Teal'c surprised her. She'd been aware of his physique due to their workouts in the gym, and the close hand to hand combat he taught her. Jack was more toned than she expected, he was every bit as muscular as Daniel and Teal'c. She supposed his gray hair had something to do with her erroneous assumption. The hair that covered his chest had flecks of gray in it, and it thinned over his belly, before it thickened again above an impressive manhood. He wasn't as large as Daniel, but he was certainly above average, she was sure. He had several scars, and she knew instinctively that the stories that went with them were more painful than the wounds had been.

The air was too cool, standing and gawking at one another wasn't going to get them warm. In a moment of pure inspiration, Jack told Casey and Sam to cuddle up to Teal'c. He settled himself beside Sam, Daniel wrapped himself around Casey.

Within minutes they had stopped shivering. "Does anyone else remember what happened?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yeah," Daniel replied.

"I remember also," Teal'c said. He shifted slightly, tightening his arms around the two women beside him. It was a gesture of protection, one made automatically.

"So, how long do you figure we've been…um…dead," Casey asked softly.

"I don't know, Angel," Daniel replied.

"Were we were put into a sarcophagus?" Sam asked.

Daniel frowned. "I don't know. I suppose we could have been. But normally the sarcophagus doesn't open until the healing process is complete, and that means that you're conscious as well." He'd been in a few of the healing devices. Too many times, as far as he was concerned.

Sam was the first to actually notice, when she put her arm around Teal'c's waist. She pulled back, ran her fingers over his stomach. "Oh my god! Teal'c! Junior is missing! Your pouch is gone!"

"Of that I am aware, Major Carter," Teal'c replied quietly.

"How do you feel?" she asked worriedly, checking his forehead with the back of her hand.

"I feel well."

"Something weird is going on," Daniel mused.

"Ya think?" Jack asked, a bit crossly. This was not a situation in which he had any control. He hated not being in control, at least to some extent.

Casey shivered. "We're not alone," she whispered. She instinctively moved closer to Teal'c, felt Daniel shift closer to her in order to hold her tighter.

The four Beings looked like shadows. "You will come with us."

Nervous glances were exchanged among the team members.

"You will come with us," the speaker of the group repeated.

It was bad enough to not know where they were at, or what was happening. Being without their weapons was unnerving as well. But being confused, unarmed and naked, well that was almost more than they could handle. Slowly the five people stood to their feet. Tried to remain as close to one another as they could. Immediately two of the Beings grabbed Daniel, each holding one arm. They began to lead him toward the pool of water.

"Daniel!" Casey screamed, trying to follow. One of the Beings roughly pulled her back to stand with her teammates.

"Just hold on a minute!" Jack said, trying to step forward. The two Beings who remained blocked his path. One of them pointed toward a door that none of the team members had noticed before.

"Daniel!" tears were rolling down her cheeks. She could barely see him, held between the two black robed figures, standing at the edge of that pool, directly in front of the altar. She heard a whisper. "Test, Daniel! It's a test!"

Before she could say more, one of the Beings who led the remaining team members toward the side of the room touched her forehead. She fell unconscious to the floor.

"Casey!" Jack yelled, racing to her side.

Daniel heard his friend call out, and began to fight against the two who held him in their grasp, trying to see over his shoulder. He could see Sam and Jack kneeling, could only see Casey's legs. "Casey!" He tried again to pull free of his captors. "Casey!"

"She's okay, Danny," Jack called, hearing the panic in the young man's voice. "Just out cold."

The two Beings tightened their grip on him, forced him to face the altar. His heart was pounding in his chest. What the hell was going on?

SG-1 was led into what looked like a dungeon. They were placed in separate cells. Rough, white cotton robes were laying on the narrow bench that sat against the wall of each cell. They were gratefully pulled over shivering bodies.

Casey was still out. Jack, Sam and Teal'c watched as the two black robed figures carefully pulled the robe over her, and laid her gently in the hay that covered the floor.

"They didn't want her warning him," Sam said.

"Yeah, I got that," Jack said. "But they don't seem to want to hurt her, or us, for that matter."

"Yet," Sam replied.

"Ah, ah, ah, no negative thinking," Jack said. He was already pacing the cell, looking for a way out. Teal'c was doing the same thing in his cell on the other side of Casey. He glanced at Sam, who was in the cell next to his, between him and Casey.

"Yes, sir," she sighed.

"We'll get out of this, Sam," he said softly.

The blonde major looked over at the man in the cell beside her. "I hope so, Jack," she replied just as softly.

<<Previous  | Story Intro | Return to Stories | Next >>