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No Matter the Time, II...an Alternate Love Story

So far, Casey’s third mission was proving to be…interesting. The team was searching a large building, it seemed to be a temple of some sort, but the size was definitely intimidating. Jack had split the team into groups, sending Teal'c in one direction, Carter and Daniel in another direction, and he and Casey in a third. Daniel had not looked pleased at the arrangement, but said nothing as he and Sam headed off down the corridor.

She walked beside Jack, looking around her with open curiosity. "Any particular reason?" she asked at last.

Jack looked over at her. "Huh? For what?"

"Not letting us work together."

"Two civilians," he answered quickly. Too quickly.

"Uh huh. Spit it out, Jack, say whatever it is you need to say, or ask whatever it is you need to ask," she replied.

He stopped walking and turned to her, a grin on his face. "You know, that psychic thing you have going could get annoying."

She couldn’t help but smile. "Doesn’t take a psychic to figure some things out. So, spit it out already."

Jack began walking again. "Danny and I didn’t like each other at first. Hell, I thought he was the biggest pain-in-the-ass geek scientist I had ever met; I was too ‘gung-ho’ according to him. But he kinda…grew on me…proved himself to be one hell of a good man. We’ve been through a lot together. He’s a good friend. I watched him go through hell losing Sha’re…watched him fall in love with a woman who didn’t belong in this time line…I don’t want to see him hurt again."

"And you think I’m going to hurt him," she said softly. She'd wondered when one of Daniel’s friends would have "the talk" with her.

"I don’t know, Casey. Are you?"

"Yeah, sure Jack. I left Tacoma to move to Colorado to break his heart and wind up jobless and homeless," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Jobless?"

"You think I could break his heart, and then see him every day?" She shook her head.

Jack glanced at her. "I guess not. So, do you love him?"

Casey stopped and looked up into the colonel’s face. "Let me ask you a couple of questions, Jack. Have you ever been in love so deep it hurt? Woke up in the middle of the night and just looked at him…er…her, and wondered how you got so damned lucky? Ever made love and felt as if you had transcended to another plane because it was so wonderful?"

Jack nodded. "My wife…uh…ex-wife."

"I’m sorry to hear that, about the ex part I mean," she said softly. "Jack, I’m so in love with Daniel it scares me. Did you know that all it takes to make my world right is one kiss from him? Everything he wants, everything he needs, everything he desires, I want to give him." She sighed. "To answer your question, no, I’m not going to hurt him. Certainly not intentionally anyway. I’ll do my damnedest to not do it unintentionally as well."

He studied her for a minute. "What made you go out to dinner with him that first night?"

She smiled. "My heart took one look at him, and knew. It’s like…my heart and soul recognized him, and whispered to me that he was the one."

Again the older man nodded. "Okay. So…are you mad at me?"

Casey smiled and linked her arm through his. "No, I’m not mad at you, Jack. I think I would have been surprised if you hadn’t asked."

He grinned, and they continued on their way.

The corridor they had been traversing opened into a room with dimensions that were awe-inspiring. Marble statues of men and women in various erotic poses and various degrees of nakedness lined the walls. In the center of the room was what could only have been an altar. The pristine white stone was topped with a slab of blood red marble.

The radio on Jack’s shoulder crackled. "O’Neill, I have found nothing. I will return to the room we first entered," Teal'c’s voice said.

"Roger that, Teal'c."

Casey was looking around, examining the statues. That ‘something’ started nagging at her. Witnesses, a voice whispered in the back of her mind…the ceremony requires witnesses. The thoughts weren’t exactly lucid, more feelings than actual thoughts. She just knew that it was important that the team be together. "Jack, get the team together, now," she said softly.

Jack grabbed his radio. "Okay, campers, double time it. Casey and I are in a room at the end of the corridor. Move it, people."

Her eyes, and full attention, became fixed on the altar. She moved ever closer. The marble on the top began to swim before her eyes, a changing, whirling, maelstrom of blood. The sight had her breathless, but not afraid.

Teal'c arrived first, his eyebrow going up as he looked at Casey. She was obviously mesmerized by the altar. Sam and Daniel ran in, breathless, slid to a halt when Jack held up his hand, his brown eyes never leaving Casey.

"Okay, Case, what is it?" he asked softly.

She didn’t respond. Instead, she took another step closer, and touched the blood red stone, felt her hand covered with the warm, wet blood. She dropped her weapon in order to put her other hand on the altar as well. She felt the blood move up her arms, over her shoulders, warm and wet and…comforting. She closed her eyes, a soft smile on her face. This was the Blood of Life, the Beginning and the End of all things!

"Casey?" Daniel asked softly, moving closer to her, reaching out for her. "Babe, talk to me."

"It’s…wonderful," she whispered at last. "Magical…mystical…it’s…it’s the answer to all of our questions."

Daniel looked at the altar, saw only the marble. He reached out, put his fingers on top of hers. Suddenly the surface of the stone began to swirl, the patterns hypnotizing. He stared at it, began to feel the warmth of the blood. He looked over at Casey, his eyes as feverish as hers. He took a finger and traced her cheek, leaving a trail of blood that the others could now see. The sight stirred him, started a fire raging within him. He dropped his pack and weapon to the floor, pushed her pack from her shoulders. Blood stained everything he touched.

She looked up at him, her fingers marking his face with the blood. The sight excited her. She felt the fire begin to burn deep in her belly, in her soul.

Daniel ripped her shirt from her body, the buttons flying across the room.

"Whoa!" Jack said. "Okay, let’s get them away from that thing!" He took a step toward them, only to run into some sort of barrier…one that left him feeling as if he’d been hit with a few hundred volts. "Shit! Carter, what’s going on here?"

Sam shook her blonde head. "I don’t know, sir. Readings indicate some sort of force field. But it wasn’t there until just a few seconds ago."

Casey was unbuttoning Daniel’s shirt, hampered by the fact that he was pulling her tee shirt off. She managed to get it open, pulled his tee shirt loose, and pushed her hands up his chest, blood dripping off of his skin.

His hands were moving over her as well, leaving a trail of bright red blood in their wake. With a grunt, he picked her up and tossed her onto the altar, and climbed up beside her.

"Oh, hell!" Jack hissed, when it became obvious what the archaeologist was going to do.

"Uh, sir, don’t you think we should…uh…maybe…" Sam’s eyes widened when she watched Daniel pull Casey’s pants from her hips, toss them to the floor, and move his hand between her thighs.

"Turn around?" Jack finished.

"Uh…what? Sir?"

"Turn around, Carter. You, too, Teal'c. There’s nothing we can do to stop this, and right now it doesn’t look like they’re in any real danger. I don’t think. Right, Carter? No real danger?"

Sam forced herself to look away. "Uh...right, sir."

On the altar, Daniel had lowered his head to suckle at the breasts he had just exposed, her skin sweet and intoxicating and covered with blood, the coppery smell filling his nostrils, and his mind. His fingers were making her ready for him, moving slowly, gently over her wet folds, making them slick with her honey…and the blood.

Her body was arching toward him, soft sounds of pleasure filled her throat. Her hands moved over and over his bare shoulders, she had finally been able to get his shirts off of him. His skin was slippery with warm blood.

His mouth moved from her breast to her throat, he bit her, her cry making the fire burn hotter. "Need you, babe," he whispered softly.

"Take me, my love," she panted, the fire in her veins nearly unbearable. She reached down to unfasten his pants, released his swollen member and stroked it gently, covering it with that wonderful, warm blood.

He reached down long enough to push his pants off his hips, then slid into her warm, welcoming body. He began to move, slowly at first. But the fire demanded more, ever more, until he was leaning on outstretched arms, driving into her with such force her body was sliding against the altar.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, her hips rising to meet his with every thrust. She looked up at him and smiled, his face covered with blood where she had touched him, the flames visible in his blue eyes. Her back began to arch, her thighs began to quiver, and that sweet whimper began to fill her throat.

"That’s it, babe, give it to me," he whispered. "Come for me, Casey."

With a cry that echoed around the massive room, she flew into oblivion, her body shaking beneath his.

Daniel was right behind her. He threw back his head and cried out, his body throbbing and pulsing inside her. He collapsed on top of her, his breath coming in gasps.

A soft light began to shine around them, surrounded the altar. The rest of SG-1 glanced over their shoulders to see what was happening.

"The blood of life is upon you, the fire of love burns within you, so it is that you are bound together, soul to soul, heart to heart, body to body for eternity," a feminine voice intoned. "Go now, one entity from two. Two hearts that beat as one, forever."

The light faded, and Casey looked around. Her cheeks began to blaze red when she realized that Daniel was on top of her, and in her as well! The events of the preceding half-hour flashed through her brain. "Daniel?"

"It’s okay, babe, don’t worry," he whispered. He glanced over to see that the rest of the team was standing with their backs to the altar; pulled himself to his knees, then climbed off of the altar. He helped her to her feet, and they dressed quickly. There was no trace of blood on either of them. "Uh…it’s…uh…we’re…" he muttered.

Jack turned around to see them dressed and blood free. "What the hell was that all about?"

Daniel shrugged. "Some sort of marriage rite. I don’t understand what happened, exactly. Only that we didn’t seem to have any…control…over the situation."

"Yeah, that was sort of obvious," Jack replied.

"What about all that…blood?" Sam asked.

"I don’t know," Daniel replied. "I could see it, smell it…taste it…but…" he looked over at Casey, and then down at himself. "It was obviously an illusion of some sort."

Casey was still blushing, couldn’t look up at the rest of the team.

"Let’s get out of here and get you two checked out. I want to make sure that…thing," Jack said, frowning at the altar, "didn’t do something to you."

She held tightly to Daniel’s hand as they walked back through the corridor and returned to the rotunda where they had entered. His fingers squeezed hers reassuringly.

A   A   A   A   A   A

Janet shook her head, and checked the results under the microscope again. She sighed, and picked up the phone. "Sir, I think you should come down here. You’re going to want to see this."

She went back into the infirmary, where Daniel and Casey sat side by side on one of the beds. Teal'c was standing at the foot of the bed, Sam and Jack were sitting on the bed across from them. She had to smile. The team had always stayed together when one of them was injured or ill. Nothing had changed with the addition of the newest member.

General Hammond hurried into the room. "Doctor, what’s wrong?"

Janet smiled. "They’re in perfect health. I do mean perfect health. But there’s more." She crossed the room, picked up a scalpel, then went to stand next to the now Immortal couple. "Watch this." She took Daniel’s arm in her hand, cut it open. They all watched as tiny blue sparks moved over his skin. She grabbed a towel, wiped the blood away, and revealed no sign of a wound. She repeated the procedure on Casey.

The general’s eyes grew wide. "Is this condition…permanent?"

"I believe so, yes." Janet replied. "Whatever happened on that…altar…changed them at the molecular level. It changed their DNA. It…corrected…all of the…uh…flaws…in the human genome. They’re…well, sir, they’re Immortal. Just like the other Casey. All of the tests I’ve done on them match exactly the results from the tests I did on her. They won’t age, wounds heal within seconds, I’m figuring that they won’t die."

"Didn’t the Casey from the alternate universe say something about other Immortals?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, she did," Daniel replied.

"Do you still have that list of names and numbers she gave you, sir?"

Jack looked at Sam and nodded. "I guess we should check it out, huh?" He hadn’t pursued the matter, he didn’t believe in immortality. Well, not before today, anyway. He jumped off of the bed. "I’m on it," he said, with a glance at the general. That man nodded, and Jack headed for his office.

Casey looked up at Daniel. "We need to talk," she said softly.

He looked at her, felt his heart begin to pound. When a woman used those words, it wasn’t good. He looked at Janet.

"Use my office," she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

Sam watched as the two went into the small room and closed the door. "Oh, lord, I hope this isn’t bad," she said softly.

Casey looked up at Daniel, her green eyes haunted. "I’m so sorry," she whispered.

He braced himself for the worst. His heart was in his stomach. "For what?"

"If I hadn’t touched that altar, none of this would have happened! Now…" she took a deep breath. "Now you’re bound to me for eternity! That’s a long time, Daniel! What if…what if…" she lowered her face. "What if you get tired of me?"

Heart back in the chest. Beating just fine. He smiled, and pulled her into his embrace. "Won’t happen, babe. I promise. What if you get tired of me?"

She looked up at him, her smile warm and full of love. "Won’t happen."

He kissed her, deep and hard, telling her with his lips and tongue what she needed to know.

Janet and Sam smiled, watching through the small window as the couple stood kissing. "Guess it’s not bad," Janet said. She giggled when Daniel groped with one hand toward the window and closed the blinds, his mouth never leaving Casey’s. "I’d say it’s not bad at all."

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