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Daniel was nearly beside himself with excitement. There were seven crates full of artifacts from the site that SG-1 had found, and no reason to believe that the other site wouldn’t provide just as much. The ruins seemed to indicate that the villagers were Norse, another link to Thor. Where the people had gone, what had happened to them, had yet to be determined; but a wealth of tablets, as well as almost a dozen animal skins covered with runes, had been found.

Duncan watched as Daniel hovered nervously as the Marines, newly assigned permanently to Gamma, carried each of the crates to the elevator to be taken to the Center. He glanced at Casey, saw the amused look on her face. "He’s in his element, isn’t he?"

She laughed. "Oh, yeah. Wish he got that excited about me," she said teasingly.

"I heard that!" he exclaimed. "I’d have to come down a notch or two to get this excited about you," he said, pulling her into an embrace.

"Is that your way of telling me that I excite you more than archaeological finds?"

"You seemed to get it all right," he grinned.

"Daniel, I really want to get home. I haven’t seen Emily in almost eight days," she said softly.

"Go on, both of you. I’ll make sure these crates make it topside safe and sound," Duncan said.

A  A  A  A  A  A

Daniel had been sincere in his offer to go to see Gwenyth Blackstone with her, and they had talked with the woman at length two days after returning from their finds on PX7 199. She had told them that she wanted to think about what she had learned from them, and hoped to have an idea about what the problem was the next time they met.

He was holding her hand as they walked into the tastefully decorated office. It was located on ground level, and thus had windows and a view of the rest of the mountain range that surrounded them. The peaceful setting was extremely conducive to dealing with the problems that faced those walking through the door.

Gwenyth stood and greeted them, smiled as they sat down together on the sofa. "Well, I have some good news for you," she said.

"I’m cured?" Casey asked with a smile of her own.

"Close. But it’s going to be…difficult." She looked at them. "I’m going to be asking some very probing questions. You must be honest; with yourself, with me, and with each other, do you understand?"

Both blonde heads nodded.

"We’ll start with you, Daniel," the psychologist said. "I want you to tell me about each of the women in your life, starting as far back as say, high school."

He shifted uncomfortably. "There weren’t any women, or girls in my life when I was in high school," he mumbled.

"Not even as a friend?"

He started to shake his head. "Well, there was one girl. Becky Windom."

"Was she just a friend?"

"Yeah. I liked her…you know, but she…she didn’t like me…that way."

"What color was her hair, her eyes?"

He shrugged. "Dark blonde, blue eyes, I think."

"Mmmhmm. Okay. What about college?"

"I was only sixteen when I started college. So there weren’t any girls there either. I had a study partner when I was a junior. She liked me…but…I don’t know, she was nice and all, but…" he paused.

"You didn’t feel the same way about her," Gwenyth finished. "Hair color?"

"Uh…dark hair, can’t remember about her eyes."

Gwenyth smiled. "All right Daniel, what about grad school?"

"There was Cindy Thompson, she was a blonde. We dated for a couple of months."

"You asked her out first, correct?"

"Yeah.

"All right, anyone else?"

"Carrie Weaver. She sort of pursued me though," he admitted.

"Dark hair, am I correct?"

"Redhead, actually," he grinned.

"Okay, now, who did the pursuing in your relationship with Sarah?"

He frowned. "She came on to me…but then sort of backed off, so I guess I actually went after her."

Gwenyth smiled. "Okay. Here’s what I think. Casey, your theory that Daniel prefers brunettes just got blown out of the water. Every woman he has pursued, or felt attraction to, has been blonde. Granted, fate seems to toss brunettes at him, but each time, the feelings are not reciprocated. The exception being Sha’re. She was given to Daniel, and I believe that attraction was coerced. Daniel, please understand that I’m not saying that the love wasn’t deep or real, I know that it was. She just wasn’t a woman you would have chosen for yourself. Casey, every time you’ve seen him with a brunette that you perceive as a threat, he has at some point had his arms around her. Neferteri in the throne room, Doria Olmstead in the conference room-"

"I never had my arms around her," Daniel protested.

The older Immortal looked at him and smiled. "Casey, come here dear, sit down in my chair."

Casey looked confused, but did as Gwenyth requested. "Now what?" she asked, settled into the leather chair.

"Describe how Daniel was sitting next to her," the woman instructed, pulling a chair to sit beside the young blonde.

"Well, he had his arm across the back of the chair…"

Gwenyth’s arm went on the back of the chair behind Casey.

"He was leaning toward her…"

"Like this?" the woman asked, leaning toward Casey.

"Yep."

"What else?"

"He grabbed one of the information folders, and slid it in front of her, started going through it with her," Casey replied.

Gwenyth grabbed a folder from her outbox, slid it in front of Casey, opened it.

"Holy shit," Daniel breathed.

"It might not have been an actual hug, Daniel, but the symbolism was there," Gwenyth said, nodding at his perception.

"Yeah, I can see that," he said, frowning.

"All right, Casey, you may go sit back beside your husband."

When they were once again seated properly, Gwenyth continued. "You told me that Sheila Roberts ‘tripped’, and fell into Daniel’s arms," she said.

Casey nodded. "I couldn’t actually see much of his face, he was looking down at her, she was looking up at him…"  Her voice wavered.

"The same way he and Neferteri had looked at one another," Gwenyth finished.

She closed her eyes for a moment, fought back the tears and the pain. "Yes," she whispered.

Daniel groaned. "Damn!"

"Don’t give up, Daniel; you either, Casey. I think I’ve worked out a way to fix all of this. We’re going to back into that throne room, and you’re both going to do exactly what you wanted to do that day."

"How?" Casey asked.

"Hypnotism."

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