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Casey opened her eyes, groaned at the pain that filled her head, and her jaw. She remained still until the Quickening had taken care of the worst of it. She sat up, and looked around. Wade was standing at the door of what appeared to be a barn. "Why did you do that? Why did you take me?"

He turned around at the sound of her voice. "I didn’t want to see you killed. I didn’t want to be killed."

She shook her head. "That wouldn’t have happened. We’re trained. We’ve been in situations exactly like that one and walked away and were home in time for dinner."

"I didn’t know that. All I saw were too many weapons being pointed at us. I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing!"

She stood up. She was still armed. "Where are we?"

Wade shrugged. "I was too busy trying to get out of town. I didn’t exactly pay attention to where I was going."

"Okay, which direction did we come in from?"

He pointed. "I took a couple of turns," he admitted.

She bit back her groan. "Okay, I have my radio, I’ll just…" she stopped when she saw Wade shake his head.

"It fell off your shoulder. I didn’t take the time to pick it up."

This time she groaned out loud. "Oh, Wade. I understand why you did this. I just wish you hadn’t." She looked around again. "How long have I been out?"

"An hour. Maybe less," he said. "I’m sorry, Casey."

She smiled and put her hand on his arm. "I forgive you. It was really sweet of you to want to save me like that. Thanks."

He shrugged again, tried to ignore the heat of her hand against his bare skin.

‘Casey? Please, babe, talk to me!’

Her heart skipped a beat. She remembered now! She had cried out to him…screamed actually. He must be about to lose his mind! He sounded…felt…terrified. ‘Daniel?’

There was a slight pause. ‘Babe, thank god! Are you okay?’

She smiled. ‘I’m fine, Beloved.’

‘Where are you?’

‘On the planet with SG-1 and SG-6.’

‘I’m with them, Angel.’

Her heart began beating a tattoo against her ribs. ‘You’re here? Oh, Daniel!’ She reached for him, sent her love to him.

‘Look around, Angel. Tell me what you see.’

‘We’re in a barn. I’m not sure where. I don’t see a house anywhere near here, but there are some woods.’ She pulled out her compass. ‘The woods are to the north of us.’

‘What about hills?’

She stepped out into the rain, looked around the barn. ‘Low hills to the southeast.’

A  A  A  A  A  A

He looked around. He had been trying to reach her since his arrival. He could feel her, but she wasn’t responding. He looked at Jack and shook his head. His heart was pounding, he felt as if the world were spinning out of control. "Casey? Please, babe, talk to me!"

‘Daniel?’

He closed his eyes, whispered a prayer of thanks. "Babe, thank god! Are you okay?" SG-1 and SG-6 crowded close to him.

‘I’m fine, Beloved.’ 

He could tell she was smiling. He smiled just thinking about it. Those around him began to smile as well. "Where are you?"

‘On the planet with SG-1 and SG-6.’ 

His smile became a grin. She didn’t know he was here…yet. "I’m with them, Angel." He looked around at the faces of their friends. He could tell they were as relieved as he was that she was safe.

‘You’re here? Oh, Daniel!’ He could hear…feel…her excitement. Her love wrapped around him like a warm blanket.

"See if she can tell us where she’s at, or at least give us some landmarks to follow," Jack said quietly.

Daniel nodded. "Look around, Angel. Tell me what you see."

‘We’re in a barn. I’m not sure where. I don’t see a house anywhere near here, but there are some woods…The woods are to the north of us.’

Teal'c tapped him on the shoulder, pointed to some hills not too far from the town.

"What about hills?"

‘Low hills to the southeast.’

He closed his eyes again. "Okay, babe. I think we know where you’re at. Hang on, Angel. We’re coming. And tell that son-of-a-bitch I’m going to kill him."

‘Daniel, he was only trying to protect me. He thought that we were outgunned…well…actually we were. He was only trying to keep me from getting killed. Please, Sweetheart, don’t be angry.’

He decided the rest of the conversation was for her ears only. He followed as Teal'c led SG-1 toward the hills. The Marines and SG-6 would wait for Ba’al’s arrival. ‘Don’t be angry? Casey, you screamed for me! Scared me half to death! You were panicked…terrified. I know, I felt it.’

‘Yes, I was. At the time. I didn’t know what he was doing. Didn’t stop screaming long enough for him to explain.’

‘Why were you unconscious?’

There was a pause.

‘Casey, answer me.’

‘He uh…’

‘He hit you, didn’t he? To knock you out?’

‘But only because I was screaming. He wanted to get me to safety, that’s all. Please, Daniel, I’m okay. It was just…just a little misunderstanding.’

He felt his heart lurch in his chest. She was trying too hard to protect this guy. She had feelings for him. He could sense it. ‘Yeah, misunderstanding. Now I just have to figure out who is misunderstanding what.’

‘Daniel, don’t you dare get all pissy!’

‘Me? Get all pissy? Damn it Casey Renee! You’re the one who was screaming for me to come save you!’

He could feel the flood of anger. ‘I was…taken by surprise. I didn’t know what was happening.’

‘I walked…no I didn’t walk out…I ran out of an important diplomatic meeting because you screamed for me. Put a hole in the middle of the freaking table! Don’t you tell me not to get pissy!’

‘I am so frightfully sorry that I bothered you! It was an automatic response to the situation. Rest assured it will never happen again!’

He could feel her blocking him now. Even the slight ‘touch’ just to assure one another that they were ‘there’, was now being blocked. "Goddamn it!"

Jack looked over at the young man. "Something wrong?"

"I think I’ll kill both of them when I find them," Daniel growled.

Sam and Jack exchanged a worried look. "Daniel, whatever happened, Casey loves you," Sam said quietly.

Daniel looked at her. "What? Oh, no…it’s nothing like that…at least it better not be!"

"Then what is it?"

Daniel took a deep breath, blew it out slowly. "She says that Wade was only trying to protect her. That he thought you guys were outgunned, and he was trying to save her life."

"Well, he doesn’t have military training, he’s never seen us in action, so that would be a perfectly logical assumption, considering the way things looked. We were outgunned. We were just lucky enough to be dealing with men who hadn’t been using those weapons very long," Jack said. "I figured that out by watching how they were holding them."

"You’re upset because she’s defending him," Sam said softly.

"You didn’t hear that terrified scream," he argued. "She was scared to death!"

"I’m sure she was. Until she found out what was happening," Sam agreed.

"He hit her…to knock her out!"

"Hey, when you’re trying to get away from bad guys, a screaming woman can be a problem," Jack said.

Daniel scowled at his friends. "In other words, you think I’m acting like a jerk."

"Not at all, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "We believe you are behaving in the same manner as all jealous husbands do."

Sam and Jack both struggled to hide their grins.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Teal'c," Daniel grumped.

A  A  A  A  A  A

‘Okay, babe. I think we know where you’re at. Hang on, Angel. We’re coming. And tell that son-of-a-bitch I’m going to kill him.’ She could feel his anger.

She had to make him understand that Wade had never meant to hurt her. ‘Daniel, he was only trying to protect me. He thought that we were outgunned…well…actually we were. He was only trying to keep me from getting killed. Please, Sweetheart, don’t be angry.’

‘Don’t be angry? Casey, you screamed for me! Scared me half to death! You were panicked, terrified. I know, I felt it.’  

She remembered well the terror that had such a grip on her when she cried out for him. ‘Yes, I was. At the time. I didn’t know what he was doing. Didn’t stop screaming long enough for him to explain.’ She had get through to Daniel that nothing was wrong, that it was just…a mistake.

‘Why were you unconscious?’

He was already angry. This would only exacerbate the problem. No matter what she said, he would never forgive Wade for hitting her, no matter what the reason.

‘Casey, answer me.’

‘He uh…’ Okay, how did you say someone knocked you out without saying they knocked you out?

‘He hit you, didn’t he? To knock you out?’

‘But only because I was screaming. He wanted to get me to safety, that’s all. Please, Daniel, I’m okay. It was just…just a little misunderstanding.’ Why was he being so stubborn about this? Considering the circumstances, he should be thanking Wade for trying to save her life!

‘Yeah, misunderstanding. Now I just have to figure out who is misunderstanding what.’

Now just what in the hell did he mean by that? ‘Daniel, don’t you dare get all pissy!’

‘Me? Get all pissy? Damn it, Casey Renee! You’re the one who was screaming for me to come save you!’

His words were like ice water down her spine. ‘I was…taken by surprise. I didn’t know what was happening.’

‘I walked…no I didn’t walk out…I ran out of an important diplomatic meeting because you screamed for me. Put a hole in the middle of the freaking table! Don’t you tell me not to get pissy!’ More ice water down her spine. What was he really angry about, the fact that Wade had scared her in his attempt to save her life…or the fact that she had interrupted a meeting?

She closed her eyes. Obviously he was tired of her calling him for help every time she was frightened, or facing demons, or…being carried off. Okay, she was a big girl. She could take care of herself. His anger was still coming through to her. She blocked him out…completely. ‘I am so frightfully sorry that I bothered you! It was an automatic response to the situation. Rest assured it will never happen again!’

Wade had been watching her. He wasn’t sure, but he thought that maybe she was…talking, to…him. The emotions playing over her face told him that there was a very…heated… discussion going on. "Casey, I’m not sure, but I think I can remember the way back to town," he said softly.

"SG-1 is on their way here now. It will only make things worse if we aren’t here when they arrive," she said softly.

"For me…or for you?"

She dropped her eyes.

"He has every right to be angry with me. There isn’t any reason to be angry at you."

"There is if I’m defending your actions," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

He looked at her, his heart thumping against his ribs. "You were…you were defending me?"

"What you did was very sweet, and very brave. It was just a misunderstanding, that’s all," she insisted.

Wade shook his head. The more time he spent around her, the more facets of her he was exposed to. And every one of them attracted him like a magnet to steel.

"When you…grabbed me…I screamed for him."

"Mind to mind?"

She nodded. "He was in the middle of a very important…diplomatic meeting. I…sort of ruined it…he came right here, thinking I was in real trouble. That part is my fault."

He frowned. "I don’t understand. How is it your fault?"

She shrugged. "I need to start fighting my own battles, stop calling him when I’m frightened… or…whatever."

"I don’t think he’d like that at all."

"I think he would prefer it," she said, her anger seeping into her words.

Wade shook his head again. "You’re wrong, Casey. He loves you. Whenever you need him, he wants to be there for you. He just doesn’t want you defending a man that he sees as a threat."

Her head jerked up, and she looked into blue eyes too much like his. "Now that is just ridiculous."

He gave a small, sad smile. "You know that, and I know that. But he doesn’t."

She saw the hurt in his eyes. She reached up, brushed his hair from his forehead. "If I didn’t have Daniel…I think I’d want very much to get to know you," she said softly.

"Thank you," he whispered.

She smiled at him. "Well, I guess we just sit here and wait to be rescued. Ever play poker?"

"I have never heard of it."

She grinned. "Then there’s a chance I might actually win for a change!"

He couldn’t help but laugh at the look on her face, the light that danced in her eyes. He sat down on the hay beside her, and began to learn a game called Texas Hold’em.

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